Resource National Dex AG Viability Rankings [DLC I]

[Chloe]

¡Hola! We have a VR update, the metagame has seen some stabilisation in the recent months, with no extra large metagame shifts occurring since the last update. That being said, there were a fair few inaccuracies that hopefully this update fixes. Also, sorry BananaLaddersPS but we voted on nominations prior to that last post, so I'll include it in next update's voting.

Rises
S to S+
S- to S
A+ to S
(Ground) A- to A
B+ to A-
B+ to A-
B+ to A-
(Water) B+ to A-
UR to B+
UR to B+
B- to B
(Fairy) C to B-
C to B-
D to C
(Poison) D to C
UR to D

Drops
B+ to B
B to B-
B to B-
C to D

A lot to unpack here, but I'll try to go over the essential points rather quickly. Not going to write too much except for more controversial nominations. Yveltal still stands above the rest of the metagame. Xerneas is still however a very potent Dynamax sweeper that limits teambuilding immensely and is still unable to be competently checked without Dynamax or something otherwise subpar. Zygarde-C, both with defensive sets and offensive DD sets is incredibly potent and very often it is a disservice to your team not to include it. It's such an essential and useful glue that helps teams deal with many common threats easily (you know what Zygarde does I don't know why I'm explaining this oops).

The rise of Refresh Recover Arceus-Ground enables it to be incredibly difficult to overcome, and additionally to force out Pokemon that would otherwise check it such as Ho-Oh, as it can't do anything. ReRe Arc-Ground is such a potent set at the moment. Ferrothorn is very very good at the moment, doing Ferrothorn things. Primal Kyogre, Ultra Necrozma and Arceus-Water are all examples of Pokemon that we mistakenly dropped in previous updates, but their viability has been reassessed, Arceus-Water specifically has also taken the aforementioned Arceus-Ground Refresh set and benefited from using something similar.

Mega Tyranitar has seen usage alongside regular Tyranitar due to the lack of consistent Mega Evolutions in the metagame at the moment. Most of the time when you're running Tyranitar in the metagame at the moment and don't have a Mega Evolution on your team, you'd benefit from running Mega Tyranitar instead. Gliscor breaks common cores very well with its Taunt + Partial Trapping, it's a very good Stallbreaker and whatnot, for more detail consult pichus's post.

Choiced Kyogre has seen a resurgence, with strong special Water-types being incredibly threatening against common cores, once Primal Groudon is removed or weakened sufficiently, Kyogre has a very easy time putting in work in the current metagame. Arceus-Fairy helps teams deal with Yveltal, by allowing a consistent switch-in. It's also overall a decent support Arceus forme and B- suits it better than being paired with the rest of C. Chansey is another example of a Pokemon that was underrated for a while, but people are starting to see that it can still check Xerneas and Primal Kyogre, among other things, which makes it incredibly valuable for bulkier archetypes.

Amoonguss's niche as a consistent Xerneas check that doesn't require you using up your Dynamax definitely helps it a lot, with teams often appreciating not being required to defensively Dynamax. Its ability to take strong special hits and pivot is incredibly underrated as well. Arceus-Poison is another example of a Xerneas check that doesn't require Dynamax, personally I prefer Psych Up variants at the moment due to how little you'd be doing to Dynamaxed Xerneas otherwise. Shedinja has risen for god knows what reason.

As for drops, Zekrom is just not a very prominent Dynamax sweeper or wallbreaker, with other options just outshining it consistently. Its still fine, so it can justify B rank for now. Lugia isn't as consistent in a metagame dominated by potent Dynamax sweepers that are immune to phazing. Theres not as many Pokemon Lugia appreciates switching in on nowadays, especially considering the abundance of Toxic-heavy teams. Vivillon isn't consistent, Whirlwind Ho-Oh is exceedingly common and Safety Goggles Zygarde-C is growing in popularity. Mega Blastoise, albeit very powerful, is otherwise kind of trash. Its Ditto weakness and inability to handle priority moves definitely hurt it excessively, and not many people are using it on serious teams.

Rejected Nominations
UR to C/D
A to A-
A- to B+

For rejected nominations. Dracovish just can't catch a break huh. Unfortunately, it's outclassed by Choiced Kyogre, which is miles better at consistently wearing down teams. This isn't a horrible nomination as others might put it, but it just doesn't have enough to differentiate itself. Mega Gengar is still quite potent, especially with the resurgence of support Arceus formes in the current metagame. I believe Lunala should've dropped personally, but its offensive sets are still fairly good and can potentially justify it remaining in A- for the time being.

Anyway, thanks as always for your nominations, we all appreciate your posts, I look forward to seeing more in the coming months!

Voting Sheet

 

[Kate]

While a solid clean up update, there were two rises that actually baffle me as to why.
Uhhhhhh.... What the fuck? This is much worse than last gen, even with HDB. It's still only really usable on stall and checks like two things from what I can see, being Zacian(which often runs crunch) and Primal Kyogre (which sometimes runs toxic). Rest PDon checks both of these p well and doesn't autolose vs everything else so I'm not actually sure what prompted this rise. From the vote, I can see that this was close, but in all honesty this is just fucking insane, Shed has zero right to be on VR right now.

A similar situation with Shedinja, with Crunch Zacian-C increasing in usage, it's too shaky of a check to really justify.

This was on LAST VR. Crunch Zacian is even MORE common right now. ???????????????????just quoting u chloe, ik you didn't vote for this to rise.

Yeah, I made a post on this earlier but I actually thought that this thing rising was ludicrous and nobody would actually nom it up. Apparently, I'm crazy or smth cuz this rise was fawned over. I actually went in AG chat and tried to figure out how anybody would agree with this, and the most I got was Ice saying it was a good non dynamax answer to Xerneas. That's all fine and dandy but there's a few things to note here. Amoonguss is not a Xerneas check. Amoonguss literally always loses 1v1 to Xern if the opponent still has their dynamax.
1. Amoonguss is a good answer to Xerneas; a bad check
2. Nothing has changed to warrant this rise; Xerneas has not increased in popularity yet pokemon Amoong hates, such as ferrothorn(guss doesn't have a slot for hp fire) and Yveltal have risen.
3. Amoonguss simply fails to meet the requirements of a C pokemon; it simply does not defensively check enough Pokemon to put it there
4. Amoonguss is perfectly fine in D; there is not enough here for it to be any higher
I know you guys are gonna vote No across the board for this, but idrc, this shit is kinda just dumb. I've gone into way more detail than anyone Pro Guss has done (srsly the nom post was like a line lol) so I would, at the very least, like some clarity on this that isn't something I've already covered.

If it wasn't clear To UR and to D.

C to D
Isn't worth a Dynamax slot ever, prediction reliant and doesn't offer much usefulness. Haven't seen a serious team with this in a couple of months so I think a drop is fair.

C to D
Similar to Deoxys, except I've actually never seen this on a good team in all of gen 8. There's very little reason to use this, especially with webs being kinda eh right now, and Dynamax breaking Encore can be pretty problematic for it in some situations.

There are some nominations I may make later but either don't have enough details yet or don't feel strongly about it. If anything, I would genuinely like some insight into my first two mentions, as I cannot think of any real reason for their rises at all. Thank you for reading, bit more rambly than normal so sorry for that, I'm not at 100% rn.

 

[Geysers]

While a solid clean up update, there were two rises that actually baffle me as to why.
Uhhhhhh.... What the fuck? This is much worse than last gen, even with HDB. It's still only really usable on stall and checks like two things from what I can see, being Zacian(which often runs crunch) and Primal Kyogre (which sometimes runs toxic). Rest PDon checks both of these p well and doesn't autolose vs everything else so I'm not actually sure what prompted this rise. From the vote, I can see that this was close, but in all honesty this is just fucking insane, Shed has zero right to be on VR right now.

This was on LAST VR. Crunch Zacian is even MORE common right now. ???????????????????just quoting u chloe, ik you didn't vote for this to rise.

Shed‘s still pretty good as a dynamax waster. But imo, the most useful things it does in the current meta is willo / force out all non-crunch zacians, which is huge, and completely wall those annoying sub dd zygarde sets. The ability to completely counter sub / dd / arrows / dragon tail zygarde should not be understated, because most teams have to build in specific checks for those, but even those specific checks can be easily overwhelmed. Shed can force it out and slow pivot away with baton pass, gaining a lot of momentum. If a shaky check to xern can somehow get C, this hard counter to the main offensive set on zygarde should absolutely be D-worthy. Shed should not drop.

 

[Negative Charge]

This isn't a nom yet (I'm still testing looking for some replays) but in the meantime I wanted to discuss Mega-Salamance. Between Defog, Refresh/Double Edge, Body Slam and Facade surely someone can make something work? In theory it can set up on Dusk Mane and Ho-Oh this gen (though Ho-Oh is running Whirlwind) but I suppose you run into Zygarde at some point, which means you want Draco and at that point why are you not just running Mega Ray? The more I think about it offensive sets are probably bad but I feel like Defensive defog sets allow for some interesting building possibilities. Whatta yall think? I'm assuming the lack of regenerator and boots makes this strictly worse than Ho-Oh but I really like the idea of refresh + not being as scared of random stone edge.

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 Spe
Impish Nature
- Body Slam
- Defog
- Roost
- Refresh/Dragon Tail

EDIT okay here's a nailbiting replay where Body Slam puts in stupid amounts of work, seriously I think this was the most stressful game I've ever played, especially with all the ditto bullshit at the end https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8nationaldexag-1087497062

I'd like to propose Mence UR to D, it has enough in its toolkit and stats to be a comfy Ho-Oh check and general utility mon. I know nomming things to D is kind of a pain because it gets clogged with lots of useless junk but I think you can build with Mence viably in Gen 8 AG.

 

[Ktütverde]

Until now i've been too busy learning the tier, but I think i've got a good grasp on it and here are my opinions. First, the exotic one:

Diancie: UR > B-

Honestly I had this idea as soon as i realized yveltal>xerneas, and i'm pretty sure you reader had a similar idea. But until now I thought it wasnt worth it. But it is actually very usable over tyranitar. Why?

1) In base form, it walls dmax yveltal thanks to its typing and resistances+clear body preventing spdef drops from max darkness. You need to keep it healthy tho. But you can pair it with ho-oh or an arceus with toxic since they wall yveltal after it has used its dynamaxed and somehow beaten diancie.

calcs

Yveltal dynamax vs base form Diancie: 252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie: 109-129 (35.8 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
Yveltal non-dmax vs Mega Diancie: 252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie-Mega: 83-99 (27.3 - 32.5%) -- 79% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock

2) With its mega evolution it also prevents ferrothorn spikes, as well as Smeargle's spore.
3) Healbell is also very useful to cure burns from opposing hooh or sleeping zygarde.
4) You guys also know that ttar's sand prevents duskmane from functioning correctly cuz morning sun heals 0 during sandstorm.
Donwsides: loses to mewtwo/eternatus. Doesn't have pursuit for Mgar/chansey. Has 0 offensive presence.

So really, try this cute gem out at least once to see that it is viable, it can do much more stuff than the rest of C and D ranks.

If you aren't convinced, I built a very viable team (the 3rd one of the post) with it: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/national-dex-ag-team-bazaar.3658537/#post-8408745

Primal Groudon A+ > A.

Yeah okay this might sound super weird. But i think pdon isnt needed too much. It often takes a slot u want for something else. Yveltal, zygarde and groundceus being so common and good make pdons day hard. Kyogre is nowhere to be seen, and u can check it with ferro chansey rayquaza. Pdon wants to be spdef but that doesnt help vs zacian much. And yeah, it can waste xern dmax turns, but hooh/duskm/ditto already deal with that. Honestly im not fan of pdon at all, and i dont see it too much either. My nom will probs not go through, but give it some thought.

Mega Rayquaza A > A+

"Geez dude stop bullshitting us". Welp, yeah, you might think that, and I'd have thought the same a while ago. But some things have changed: one, we have five S ranks now, not 2, and second, whetever u do with the meta, rayquaza remains as powerful as always. A rise is warranted to make up for the gap left behind when zygarde and NDM rose. We used to think "nah dynamax makes mray meh, also zacian/etern outspeed", but like, DD ray remains ridiculously busted, zygarde barely checks it in regular form and has to be alseep to be healthy in complete form, leaving the team defenseless vs ray. DD Rayquaza forces groundceus and duskmane to dmax, so if ur still living in the past using awkward mega gengar techs to force dmax, stop wasting ur time, use mray instead. Also SD sets and mixed can annihilate balance, and it's kinda ditto proof cuz it is forced to extreme speed to beat boosted ray, so u can easily predict that/take advantage of it. Mray has no counters, remember that too, it isn't the emblem of AG for no reason.

I respect ladder, because it is during laddering that I underwent broad opinion changes during my time in OU, UU and PU. For two months i was like "whys ladder spamming mray like that", well, because its just super strong and really rewarding. You can also use it as your pogre check if u want some... practicality.

Mega Gengar A > A-

I just give up. This thing fits nowhere and is unreliable. If u want to break bulky shit and force dmax, use mray or unecro. It is nowhere to be seen either. Annoying as hell when it predicts right and u have a bad MU, but that's it.

Arceus-Ground A > A+

This mon is gooood. Seriously it invalidates groudon and zygarde sort of especially with Refresh. Few things wall it, ho-oh loses to refresh, ferrothorn takes significant damage from judgement. Really, nothing truly beats the ground god. I read somewhere that it doesnt check anything, but that's so wrong.

Blissey to UR

Shed shell... no, no. What's the point of evading mgar's trapping if UNINVESTED TTAR PURSUIT destroys it (and believe me ttar is way more common than mgar):
+2 0 Atk Tyranitar Pursuit vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Blissey: 459-540 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Also without an eviolite, xern and yveltal destroy it:
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 364-429 (50.9 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (dynamax)

But like this is irrelevant, chansey completely outclasses it and if u are obsessed with mega gengar dont use the blobs. Period.

Arceus-Rock to UR

If you are using this you mispelled tyranitar or diancie in your builder. Even rhydon looks better (yeah, at least it can check Mray). I did use this mon with willowisp and rocks, but nah, can't spread burns when there are rest zygardes and refresh arceus everywhere.

Shuckle to UR

I say, Smeargle.
Shuckle lets oppo get rocks up, set up and break the encore with dmax and then win. Wonderful. I say, Smeargle.



Thanks a lot for reading, please feel free to react to these nominations and bring new ones, the VR is getting clearer and clearer especially thanks to previous waves of URing, that's super cool. Ciao!

-ktut

 

[Rose]

Until now i've been too busy learning the tier, but I think i've got a good grasp on it and here are my opinions. First, the exotic one:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Diancie: UR > B-



Honestly I had this idea as soon as i realized yveltal>xerneas, and i'm pretty sure you reader had a similar idea. But until now I thought it wasnt worth it. But it is actually very usable over tyranitar. Why?



1) In base form, it walls dmax yveltal thanks to its typing and resistances+clear body preventing spdef drops from max darkness. You need to keep it healthy tho. But you can pair it with ho-oh or an arceus with toxic since they wall yveltal after it has used its dynamaxed and somehow beaten diancie.

calcs

Yveltal dynamax vs base form Diancie: 252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie: 109-129 (35.8 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

Yveltal non-dmax vs Mega Diancie: 252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie-Mega: 83-99 (27.3 - 32.5%) -- 79% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock

2) With its mega evolution it also prevents ferrothorn spikes, as well as Smeargle's spore.

3) Healbell is also very useful to cure burns from opposing hooh or sleeping zygarde.

4) You guys also know that ttar's sand prevents duskmane from functioning correctly cuz morning sun heals 0 during sandstorm.

Donwsides: loses to mewtwo/eternatus. Doesn't have pursuit for Mgar/chansey. Has 0 offensive presence.



So really, try this cute gem out at least once to see that it is viable, it can do much more stuff than the rest of C and D ranks.



If you aren't convinced, I built a very viable team (the 3rd one of the post) with it: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/national-dex-ag-team-bazaar.3658537/#post-8408745



Primal Groudon A+ > A.



Yeah okay this might sound super weird. But i think pdon isnt needed too much. It often takes a slot u want for something else. Yveltal, zygarde and groundceus being so common and good make pdons day hard. Kyogre is nowhere to be seen, and u can check it with ferro chansey rayquaza. Pdon wants to be spdef but that doesnt help vs zacian much. And yeah, it can waste xern dmax turns, but hooh/duskm/ditto already deal with that. Honestly im not fan of pdon at all, and i dont see it too much either. My nom will probs not go through, but give it some thought.



Mega Rayquaza A > A+



"Geez dude stop bullshitting us". Welp, yeah, you might think that, and I'd have thought the same a while ago. But some things have changed: one, we have five S ranks now, not 2, and second, whetever u do with the meta, rayquaza remains as powerful as always. A rise is warranted to make up for the gap left behind when zygarde and NDM rose. We used to think "nah dynamax makes mray meh, also zacian/etern outspeed", but like, DD ray remains ridiculously busted, zygarde barely checks it in regular form and has to be alseep to be healthy in complete form, leaving the team defenseless vs ray. DD Rayquaza forces groundceus and duskmane to dmax, so if ur still living in the past using awkward mega gengar techs to force dmax, stop wasting ur time, use mray instead. Also SD sets and mixed can annihilate balance, and it's kinda ditto proof cuz it is forced to extreme speed to beat boosted ray, so u can easily predict that/take advantage of it. Mray has no counters, remember that too, it isn't the emblem of AG for no reason.



I respect ladder, because it is during laddering that I underwent broad opinion changes during my time in OU, UU and PU. For two months i was like "whys ladder spamming mray like that", well, because its just super strong and really rewarding. You can also use it as your pogre check if u want some... practicality.



Mega Gengar A > A-



I just give up. This thing fits nowhere and is unreliable. If u want to break bulky shit and force dmax, use mray or unecro. It is nowhere to be seen either. Annoying as hell when it predicts right and u have a bad MU, but that's it.



Arceus-Ground A > A+



This mon is gooood. Seriously it invalidates groudon and zygarde sort of especially with Refresh. Few things wall it, ho-oh loses to refresh, ferrothorn takes significant damage from judgement. Really, nothing truly beats the ground god. I read somewhere that it doesnt check anything, but that's so wrong.



Blissey to UR



Shed shell... no, no. What's the point of evading mgar's trapping if UNINVESTED TTAR PURSUIT destroys it (and believe me ttar is way more common than mgar):

+2 0 Atk Tyranitar Pursuit vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Blissey: 459-540 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



Also without an eviolite, xern and yveltal destroy it:

+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 364-429 (50.9 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (dynamax)



But like this is irrelevant, chansey completely outclasses it and if u are obsessed with mega gengar dont use the blobs. Period.



Arceus-Rock to UR



If you are using this you mispelled tyranitar or diancie in your builder. Even rhydon looks better (yeah, at least it can check Mray). I did use this mon with willowisp and rocks, but nah, can't spread burns when there are rest zygardes and refresh arceus everywhere.



Shuckle to UR



I say, Smeargle.

Shuckle lets oppo get rocks up, set up and break the encore with dmax and then win. Wonderful. I say, Smeargle.







Thanks a lot for reading, please feel free to react to these nominations and bring new ones, the VR is getting clearer and clearer especially thanks to previous waves of URing, that's super cool. Ciao!



-ktut

Diancie-Mega UR > B-

Agree, this is definitely beats the most yveltal sets, only losing to the extremely uncommon hp steel / steel wing variants. It also, as stated, does provide further team support: bounce utility and stealth rocks.



Groudon-Primal A+ > A

Although the prevalence of yveltal and arceus-ground do hinder this Pokemon’s role, I still disagree. This is definitely the most reliable kyogre switchin and only to namely the specs spout set which destroys a lot of common balances.

252 SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn in Rain: 199-234 (56.5 - 66.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



Rayquaza-Mega A > A+

Agree. People have been underestimating the former king of AG (stop using scarf it’s bad). Choice Band is still a very powerful breaker and along with dd, do indeed deal massive damage and often force a dynamax.

252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega V-create vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 442-522 (111 - 131.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 320-378 (80.4 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



Gengar-Mega A > A-

Yes, very mu based, mediocre ‘cheese’ sets (nasty plot encore). I guess the hex sets are nice.

252 SpA Gengar-Mega Hex (130 BP) vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 303-357 (76.1 - 89.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage



Arceus-Ground A > A+

100% agree. This arceus forme has become a staple of balance and deals with the incredibly threatening zygarde, losing on to sub dd sets if they dynamax for special defense boosts. Stone edge is also run now, so ho-oh is not a reliable check anymore and the refresh set is just great.



Blissey to UR

While UR may be a bit harsh I definitely agree with this dropping. Shed shell is definitely useful as it prevents gothitelle from tricking it a choice scarf (seismic toss prevents it from being complete goth fodder).



Arceus Rock to UR

Agree. Why is this ranked again? There are far better yveltal checks that aren’t weak to max darkness, and mega rayquaza dd sets beat this anyway.



Shuckle to UR

Disagree but should definitely not be B- instead drop to D. While hazards have had a nerf this gen with the new item heavy duty boots it doesn’t mean they’re bad. Shuckle is one of the best web setters, even if HO is still not a great playstyle right now.

 

[Rose]

Unlike most people who seem to be fighting for the little guys, I have come to you to advocate for the top of the food chain.

Zacian From S- to S

Currently, Zacian is at the bottom of S tier, which I don't think is representative of it's impact in the meta game. Zacian just has everything. Great bulk, absurd power, fantastic typing, and a shallow but extremely effective movepool. It fits every offensive role. It can fit every offensive role. Revenge killer, wall breaker, and sweeper all in one set. It doesn't even need SD for this, although it definitely makes sweeping and breaking walls a lot easier. It even shuts down most abusers of dynamax with Behemoth blade since it's actually kinda hard to OHKO it without a really powerful stab or super effective coverage even with a boost. The only things holding him back is that he he can't hold an item and he can't dynamax, which sucks but is definitely made up for with his overwhelming strength. Also, look at the viability ranking. He solidly wins against the top 4 and it's matchup dependent for Necrozma. He loses to Groudon but it depends on the set and whether or not he has Wild Charge for Ho-oh. You have to head all the way down to Arceas Ground before you get a losing matchup and even then if he has a boost he wins. He will always lose to Ditto but he wins against the other 4.

An example of what Zacian can do
(If I didn't embed this right, please tell me because I'm not quite sure how to do this)
This battle is a perfect example of why Zacian is so broken. I should have lost this battle, I didn't play very well yet I still made a gigantic comeback because Zacian just won against everything. There wasn't anything he could have done to stop the sweep, he just lost the moment Zacian came out. This wasn't at all a bad team either, and the player was pretty good.

Overall, I believe that Zacian should be in the middle of S tier, better then Zygarde but worse then Xerneas.

With defensive dusk mane on almost every balance team and the rise in popularity of rocky helmet zacian crowned finds itself having a hard time. However, this is still a phenomenal breaker and is also able to punish defensive pokemon for dynamax via its signature move behemoth blade, which only eternatus is able to replicate. I believe that this pokemon is still not as good as zygarde though which finds itself being able to easily 6-0 many unsuspecting balances with its substitute dragon dance set and providing great defensive utility with coil and rest. (Also RIP link).

 

[Negative Charge]

Mega Blastoise D to UR

This is bad. It can't take hits, it's ditto bait, it has 0 defensive utility and you're using a non-kyogre mono water when you have access to Ogre and Pogre who are immediately threatening. You're also using an offensive Mega that's not Ray, which needs to be justified. (I think Diancie and Salamence can do utility stuff). In short, you can 100% build a better team by not using this. I honestly think Dracovish and Ash-Gren are better than Blastoise and the rankings should reflect that, nobody is using this on a serious team. For every replay of this thing sweeping I can show 10 of it doing literally nothing.

Kartana C to D
Again overstating its viability. You have access to DM and Zacain and Zacain-C as breakers. Zacain can do black hole eclipse better than Kart because it's faster and outspeeds Ultra Necrozma. Fat Duskmane mostly does not give a shit about this and the abundance of Ho-Oh doesn't help either. Offensive DM is infinitely bulkier while still maintaining defensive utility. The only conceivable argument is that rising ferrothorn use gives Kart a small niche when paired with Kyogre but idk man. In theory you threaten utility arceus-ground but you really can't risk switching in on Judgement or Ice Beam. Common play sequence would be Doubling your Pdon to Kartana as they go Groundceus but I don't think Kartana rewards you enough even in the ideal situation (why not double in an Ogre if you hate Groundceus?)

Also big ditto bait and kind of a waste of a Dynamax user, there's better users of setup + airstream in this tier (Yveltal, Mewtwo, even regular Ogre with HP flying). I'm gonna try building with this and will report back.

Diancie to C I agree it should definitely be ranked but B- seems a little high, let’s start in C and move it from there.

 

[dru88]

I know I don't post on here often but for me I have been making a pokemon viable for a while and my pokemon I would like to nominate would be chandelure. I know everyone has rejected this idea but I have spent 4 consecutive years on putting my case in. I have proof that chandelure should at least be a D-class pokemon. Here is my proof. I have had chandelure on my team since day one. Since then I have made a heavy beating on myself to prove that willpower and the ability to conquer the best teams like a full Arceus team and a crazy win against Lance stall team. I have used chandelure to beat them. And when dynamax came out I have proven again hat dynamax chandelure took out 5 Pokemon alone. So if that's a big enough feat for class D then I don't know what is .

 

[Chloe]

I know I don't post on here often but for me I have been making a pokemon viable for a while and my pokemon I would like to nominate would be chandelure. I know everyone has rejected this idea but I have spent 4 consecutive years on putting my case in. I have proof that chandelure should at least be a D-class pokemon. Here is my proof. I have had chandelure on my team since day one. Since then I have made a heavy beating on myself to prove that willpower and the ability to conquer the best teams like a full Arceus team and a crazy win against Lance stall team. I have used chandelure to beat them. And when dynamax came out I have proven again hat dynamax chandelure took out 5 Pokemon alone. So if that's a big enough feat for class D then I don't know what is .

Hey, I appreciate the contribution and I'm willing to hear you out on your case, but generally nominations like this should accompany replay evidence of the Pokemon doing well, against competent players. Additionally, taking out five Pokemon against one team against a random opponent is generally not sufficient reasoning to rank something. There are plenty of stallbreakers that can accomplish this. Again, I appreciate the post, but would appreciate substantially more justification if I and others were to consider it a serious nomination.

 

[Kate]

I got scammed at my job earlier today, and am now incredibly high, so what better time then to respond to vr noms?
Ktütverde Nominations:

UR to B- Leaning NO
Honestly this mon is quite decent and I could definitely see some good stalls with it, but idt it's quite realistic to 1. Keep hazards off the field with Magic Bounce and 2. Also have dealt with Yveltal. The rising popularity in Rock Slide and the Physical set aren't particularly kind to it either. However, this 100% belongs on vr, I'd go with a preemptive D but C seems completely reasonable.

A+ to A Hard NO
Nah mate, the sheer utility it provides, the possibility to run offensive sets, and being one of the best Rockers in the tier, there's no way this thing belongs in A, it's simply too good.

A to A+ Neutral
I used Mray, and tbh it was extremely hit or miss. There's a lot of MUs where its p shit, and some where the opponent may as well not even try. I could get behind A+ but I don't think it's very cut and dry.

A to A- Hard YES
Broooo this suuucks. Its whole existence now relies on getting a prediction right, which is really a downgrade from last gen. It's still a great revenge killer and a good Dynamax waster, but A is a huge overstatement.

A to A+ Neutral
It's amazing, really annoying to kill, but I don't think it reaches quite the level of meta defining as higher ranked pokemon. Wouldn't be upset if this passes, but I can't lend my full support.

mons To UR Of Course
No one ever uses these shitty things for a reason; they're really really awful.

Patricick 's Nomination:

S- to S Hard NO
Zacian is an amazing mon and all, but nowhere near Zygarde right now. The meta has definitely adapted to it and there's no reason for any changes to happen to it right now.

Negative Charge Nominations:

D to UR Soft YES
This is a pretty awful mon, but it still does have somewhat of a niche. Drop it for now, but I can see it rising if it gets some tournament results.

C to D Neutral
I've never lost to this, but I can definitely see how one might. It's very dangerous given the right MU, but it also doesn't have much of a reason to be used over better Dynamax abusers.

S rank this puppy right now, dru88 is the GOAT.



And for my nom:
S to S-
I hope no one disagrees with me that this is nowhere close to Yveltal/Zygod levels. The meta has solidified Xerneas checks for a while now, and while it undoubtedly warps the builder, Xerneas last generation also did that(not to as extreme a degree) while only being A rank. Think of it like the Dracovish of AG. It's still an easy top 4 mon, but I cannot justify putting it in S when it is clearly outclassed in that subrank.

 

[Ktütverde]

Diancie isn't good, and yeah D or C is totally fine. I didn't explain why B- in my last post (my bad). The reason is because arceus-rock, shuckle, and arceus-fairy are all B-, and Diancie is quite obviously better than those. Also if u look at C rank mons, only amoonguss has an actual niche (Msab, blissey, poisonceus, are kinda useless in the meta). Amoonguss is probably has good or better than diancie (checks ground/waterceus+ xerneas+pogre+smeargle), but everything else in C or lower dont have real niches, so i think B- for diancie would be fine (B- is still very low).

 

[Bread Sandwich]

Some more noms cuz I feel like it

diancie ur to C

I see you guys are talking about mega diancie but normal diancie can also pull the same niche of checking yveltal and gets the benefit of being able to run lefties, access to heal bell and not getting its special defense lowered by max darkness gives it a definitive niche over tyranitar too. also diancie has the option to dynamax to beat yveltal if its health gets too low

Arceus electric ur to D

I would actually argue this mon is a pretty good, electric + ice coverage makes it able to threaten a large portion of the Meta and it is immune to ditto
it loses to pdon the rest of the metagame is pretty weak to it so I think it earns a spot in d rank.

aerodactyl D to ur

this mon is just zacian food and it is outclassed by excadrill.

Shuckle B- to D with necrozma-dm and zacian everywhere you are never going to get webs and rocks up.

 

[Geysers]

Some more noms cuz I feel like it

diancie ur to C

I see you guys are talking about mega diancie but normal diancie can also pull the same niche of checking yveltal and gets the benefit of being able to run lefties, access to heal bell and not getting its special defense lowered by max darkness gives it a definitive niche over tyranitar too.

Arceus electric ur to D

I would actually argue this mon is a pretty good, electric + ice coverage makes it able to threaten a large portion of the Meta and it is immune to ditto
it loses to pdon the rest of the metagame is pretty weak to it so I think it earns a spot in d rank

aerodactyl D to ur

this mon is just zacian food and it is outclassed by excadrill

Shuckle B- to D with necrozma-dm and zacian everywhere you are never going to get webs and rocks up

Can you please hold off on UR-ing aerodactyl for a little while? I've got an analysis on it that I've already written. That aside, I support all the other noms AGL is making here.
Zac up: hard no
Gar down: yeah
neutral on everything else

 

[Tic-Tac-Toe Guru]

Hey, I appreciate the contribution and I'm willing to hear you out on your case, but generally nominations like this should accompany replay evidence of the Pokemon doing well, against competent players. Additionally, taking out five Pokemon against one team against a random opponent is generally not sufficient reasoning to rank something. There are plenty of stallbreakers that can accomplish this. Again, I appreciate the post, but would appreciate substantially more justification if I and others were to consider it a serious nomination.

You're just filibustering. The great dru88 is infallible.

Look at this man's legendary stats.

 

[Hematite]

Guys, that was maybe the most wholesome and innocent post I've ever seen on a viability ranking - I kinda wish you wouldn't make fun of them for it like this. I think Chloe handled it perfectly well by respectfully and kindly explaining the procedure for VR nominations, while the teasing and sarcasm that followed seem highly unnecessary (as well as being completely unrelated to the content of the thread).

 

[Patricick]

With defensive dusk mane on almost every balance team and the rise in popularity of rocky helmet zacian crowned finds itself having a hard time. However, this is still a phenomenal breaker and is also able to punish defensive pokemon for dynamax via its signature move behemoth blade, which only eternatus is able to replicate. I believe that this pokemon is still not as good as zygarde though which finds itself being able to easily 6-0 many unsuspecting balances with its substitute dragon dance set and providing great defensive utility with coil and rest. (Also RIP link).

Fair enough, I can see why you'd think that, I just don't necessarily agree.
(EDIT- Coming back to my original Zacian Nomination, I realize that I was wrong, Zaian is fine where it is. Zacian is great but Zygarde is definitely better overall. Live and learn I guess.)


I actually have some other noms that I think are definitely due. As I went up in the ladder, I noticed some common trends on a lot of teams. One of the most prevalent was the presence of Mray. Which is why I think that it definitely deserves to be higher.

Mega Rayquaza from A- to A
Honestly, Mega Rayquaza's placing right now is pretty ridiculous, especially being below Eternatis. It's pretty rare that I see Eterna and I find that it never really does much, although this might be because of my team. But regardless of the viability of Eterna, I wholeheartedly believe that M Ray should be in A. It's a great revenge killer, sweeper, and breaker all in one. A huge positive about M Ray is that it straight up breaks the rules of the game, and can mega with an item, so it gets base 180 attack with a life orb, which is absurd power. We also can't forget about his ability, which gives him all the benefits of a flying type with non of the weaknesses. It has around the same power of Zacian with a much better movepool. There are very few pokemon that can just straight up win the 1v1, with Zacian being one of the only ones who can consistently do it. Xerneas can, but they usually try to geomancy and get Dragon ascented and killed with E speed unless they dynamax. Out of the top 10 pokemon, the only one that it will almost 100% lose to is Zacian, and possibly Xerneas if the opponent know what they're doing. The rest lose the direct 1v1 if played correctly. Another one of the huge benefits of him is how easy it is to sweep. He threatens out so much that he can easily score a ddance and his absurd raw power allows him to score OHKOs on almost everything. Depending on the set, +1 Dragon Ascent will kill Groudon. And even if it is a defensive set, there's not much he can do in return, unless you're me and carry T wave, because toxic doesn't really hurt him that much. Sure, it wears him down, but you're gonna die in one hit anyways.

Another nom that I have is Pdon for S. Pdon is so ubiquitous that he absolutely deserves to be in S. For gods sake one of the most common leads is surf Rayquaza specifically for Pdon (Now that I think about it some of the people who lead with surf ray do that because they see that I have a Pdon and don't have a dedicated lead, but the point still stands that so many people have Surf Ray just for Pdon)). Now, I'm not gonna lie and say he's as good as he was in the last couple of gens because he's not, he's not mandatory on a team anymore, but he's so effective at what he does that deserves the spot. He's also a blanket check to pretty much every single physical attacker, and can usually take a strong special hit before dying and cripple or kill whatever he's facing. Just an all around consistent, useful pokemon. He's also by far the best rocker in the tier.

For my last nomination, I have something that's probably going to be really controversial. Xerneas for A+. Not gonna lie, this one is pretty subjective, but I find that Xerneas isn't as good (EDIT- Good wasn't the right word here. It's just not as easy to fit on teams as some of things below it.) as some of the other metagame threats, and I definitely don't think that it deserves to be second best in the whole tier right behind Yveltal. A lot of my opinions have to do with how rare Xerneas is in comparison to things like Mega Ray, Pdon, and Ho-oh. I just don't see it that often. I am well aware that how common something is has nothing to do with it's viability, but I find that how often you see it is a pretty big sign. I'm pretty sure that the reason it's so rare is because you can't just slap it on any team and have it do work. You have to build your team with it in mind, because a lot of things can stop your sweep and you only get one opportunity at it. But, i can't just sit here and only say the negatives. It has overwhelming strengths in it's ability to just win games by dynamaxing after geomancy, It's such a huge threat that you have to build with stopping it in mind. But it also has some glaring flaws, like it's susceptibility to bulky steels, the fact that it requires certain threats to be gone before attempting a sweep, and how easy it is to lure in, and it's volatile nature. (what I mean by that is Xerneas is kinda all or nothing, it either does jack shit all game or it will win you the entire game with one sweep) It's great, absurdly powerful when set up, but it has some pretty big flaws as well. The last thing that I want to mention about Xern is the fact that is only has one set. It's only good set is Geomancy, and that makes it predictable. The other two best don't have this problem, so I feel like that's a sizable issue too. That's why I feel it belongs in A+, because it has overwhelming positives but some pretty big negatives. In my opinion, S tier should be for the pokemon that will consistently do excellent work game in and game out. The perfect example is of course Zygarde.

Anyways, these are just my opinions and I can understand if you disagree with me. I'm just glad to be able to stimulate discussion.

 

[Geysers]

----> D

Set

Palkia @ Psychium Z
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Block
- Hydro Pump
- Fire Blast
- Spacial Rend

I know I nommed this before, but since then, I've had the opportunity to use it on a playstyle other than Trick Room. Z-Heal Block Palkia is capable of shredding most meta cores by setting up on a healing turn for a pokemon like NDM. Once it's set up, Dragon / Water / Fire coverage is very strong, capable of trashing most of the metagame. Palkia's decent speed tier of 328 doesn't hurt matters either. I can testify firsthand to its effectiveness, because I used a ZHB Palkia balance to qualify for AGLT. Once fast threats such as Zacian are down, Palkia is easily capable of sweeping most balances. While it is a pain to improof, the combination of Ferrothorn + Pdon is often sufficient. In order to kill the Palkia, Ditto must use spacial rend. Next, ferro can come out, forcing dynamax, and allowing a switch to Pdon to absorb the fire move. From there, you can go to a dragon resist / immunity, and play from there. Palkia has enough firepower to easily trash pokemon such as NDM or Pdon. I truly believe that palkia has the necessary tools to make a good D-rank mon, as it's a capable sweeper, yet one that requires quite a bit of team support.

E: grammar fix

 

[Chloe]

a few nominations that i have, not the most standard of nominations but i feel like theyre popular enough opinions.

b to b+
i genuinely think this is the third best dynamaxer in the tier, with potentially the strongest wallbreaking potential. the set i'm referring to is one thimo and i discussed, a life orb calm mind set that has no switchins whatsoever. the set here, this thing ohkos max hp spdef pdon at +1, it 2hkos confide chansey at +1, doesnt fear ferro, you calm mind on the switchin to these mons and just ruin them. not much can come in and revenge, it can potentially run a timid hp flying set if you dont care about ohkoing pdon and want to outspeed zacian-c, there's so much you can do with this mon. scarf sets are as potent as ever, specs is still usable as a nuke, i encourage people to try out the set i posted above.

Calcs:
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Max Quake vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon-Primal: 442-520 (109.4 - 128.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Max Geyser vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Rain: 446-526 (69.4 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Origin Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane in Rain: 437-515 (109.7 - 129.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Max Geyser vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn in Rain: 352-416 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Examples:
Replay vs YaBoiJD
Replay vs Staxi

d to ur
i agree with this honestly, no one has managed to make this work to its fullest potential and ditto just ruins it, it's outclassed by other things such as geoxern or the next pokemon im about to post about, it's incredibly difficult to justify. i don't feel as strongly about this nomination as i probably should, but that's just because of the rare occasions it 6-0s on team preview. i'd much rather run the next pokemon though.

ur to d
omastar manages to be consistently a better shell smash mon, it has genuine set up opportunities and it doesnt struggle with pdon like blastoise does. it's relatively easy to imposter proof with ferrothorn/amoong/chansey. it has a much better ability and the ability to dynamax push it over the edge. i believe this pokemon is a much more reliable shell smasher than blastoise, and would like to see it ranked.

Calc:
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Omastar Max Quake vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon-Primal: 520-614 (128.7 - 151.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
idk what else you want me to show you

ur to c
genesect is an amazing wallbreaker in the current metagame, with dmax it ohkos dusk mane, ho-oh, zygarde-c, zacian-c, xerneas, arceus-ground and barely misses another bunch. genuinely has a lot of options too, can run shift gear/agility burn drive techno blast if it wants to ohko zacian without dmax and easily imposter proof itself; there's so much you can do with this pokemon and it never fails to get something done.

Calcs:
+1 (Download) 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Flutterby vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 398-469 (100 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Rockfall vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Ho-Oh: 432-510 (103.8 - 122.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Hailstorm vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Arceus-Ground: 489-577 (110.1 - 129.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde-Complete: 821-972 (129 - 152.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas: 538-634 (136.8 - 161.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Steelspike vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zacian-Crowned: 382-450 (117.1 - 138%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade (100 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Genesect: 342-404 (60.4 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Genesect: 275-324 (48.5 - 57.2%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO

+1 252+ SpA Genesect Burn Drive Techno Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zacian-Crowned: 362-426 (111.3 - 131%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Techno Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon-Primal: 204-240 (50.4 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (if you're that scared of this)

Example:
Replay vs Dockiva~~

a to a+
it's no secret this pokemon is worse than the last two iterations of anything goes, but its band set and more importantly its swords dance set are incredibly potent in the current metagame. i find myself adding these sets to my teams incredibly frequently especially because of the lack of preparation people have for mega rayquaza sets that can break through zygarde-c, ttar, dm etc with ease. there's still zacian-c of course threatening these sets but id argue that even with this looming threat, rayquaza-mega holds up enough to be classified a+

SD Ray in Action:
Replay vs Unicorns

b+ to b
i still believe we ranked this too highly initially, sure it's an excellent balance/stall breaker but a lot of other pokemon can do this efficiently and i don't think that alone is good enough for b+. this definitely is not a b+ pokemon.

b- to c
webs are far worse this gen, plus why would i want to use shuckle over smeargle or another webs lead that can reliably set vs ho-oh.

thanku for reading my post.

 

[Kate]

Heyo! I did a little recap of AG VR with a fren, and talked briefly about some current noms. Sorry for this one being much longer than usual, but I think it's p good, so I hope y'all like it!

 

[Rose]

Until now i've been too busy learning the tier, but I think i've got a good grasp on it and here are my opinions. First, the exotic one:</p><p></p><p>Diancie: UR > B-
View attachment 232220
Honestly I had this idea as soon as i realized yveltal>xerneas, and i'm pretty sure you reader had a similar idea. But until now I thought it wasnt worth it. But it is actually very usable over tyranitar. Why?

1) In base form, it walls dmax yveltal thanks to its typing and resistances+clear body preventing spdef drops from max darkness. You need to keep it healthy tho. But you can pair it with ho-oh or an arceus with toxic since they wall yveltal after it has used its dynamaxed and somehow beaten diancie.

calcs

Yveltal dynamax vs base form Diancie: 252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie: 109-129 (35.8 - 42.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
Yveltal non-dmax vs Mega Diancie: 252+ SpA Life Orb Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Diancie-Mega: 83-99 (27.3 - 32.5%) -- 79% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock

2) With its mega evolution it also prevents ferrothorn spikes, as well as Smeargle's spore.
3) Healbell is also very useful to cure burns from opposing hooh or sleeping zygarde.
4) You guys also know that ttar's sand prevents duskmane from functioning correctly cuz morning sun heals 0 during sandstorm.
Donwsides: loses to mewtwo/eternatus. Doesn't have pursuit for Mgar/chansey. Has 0 offensive presence.

So really, try this cute gem out at least once to see that it is viable, it can do much more stuff than the rest of C and D ranks.

If you aren't convinced, I built a very viable team (the 3rd one of the post) with it: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/national-dex-ag-team-bazaar.3658537/#post-8408745

Primal Groudon A+ > A.

Yeah okay this might sound super weird. But i think pdon isnt needed too much. It often takes a slot u want for something else. Yveltal, zygarde and groundceus being so common and good make pdons day hard. Kyogre is nowhere to be seen, and u can check it with ferro chansey rayquaza. Pdon wants to be spdef but that doesnt help vs zacian much. And yeah, it can waste xern dmax turns, but hooh/duskm/ditto already deal with that. Honestly im not fan of pdon at all, and i dont see it too much either. My nom will probs not go through, but give it some thought.

Mega Rayquaza A > A+

"Geez dude stop bullshitting us". Welp, yeah, you might think that, and I'd have thought the same a while ago. But some things have changed: one, we have five S ranks now, not 2, and second, whetever u do with the meta, rayquaza remains as powerful as always. A rise is warranted to make up for the gap left behind when zygarde and NDM rose. We used to think "nah dynamax makes mray meh, also zacian/etern outspeed", but like, DD ray remains ridiculously busted, zygarde barely checks it in regular form and has to be alseep to be healthy in complete form, leaving the team defenseless vs ray. DD Rayquaza forces groundceus and duskmane to dmax, so if ur still living in the past using awkward mega gengar techs to force dmax, stop wasting ur time, use mray instead. Also SD sets and mixed can annihilate balance, and it's kinda ditto proof cuz it is forced to extreme speed to beat boosted ray, so u can easily predict that/take advantage of it. Mray has no counters, remember that too, it isn't the emblem of AG for no reason.

I respect ladder, because it is during laddering that I underwent broad opinion changes during my time in OU, UU and PU. For two months i was like "whys ladder spamming mray like that", well, because its just super strong and really rewarding. You can also use it as your pogre check if u want some... practicality.

Mega Gengar A > A-

I just give up. This thing fits nowhere and is unreliable. If u want to break bulky shit and force dmax, use mray or unecro. It is nowhere to be seen either. Annoying as hell when it predicts right and u have a bad MU, but that's it.

Arceus-Ground A > A+

This mon is gooood. Seriously it invalidates groudon and zygarde sort of especially with Refresh. Few things wall it, ho-oh loses to refresh, ferrothorn takes significant damage from judgement. Really, nothing truly beats the ground god. I read somewhere that it doesnt check anything, but that's so wrong.

Blissey to UR

Shed shell... no, no. What's the point of evading mgar's trapping if UNINVESTED TTAR PURSUIT destroys it (and believe me ttar is way more common than mgar):
+2 0 Atk Tyranitar Pursuit vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Blissey: 459-540 (64.2 - 75.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Also without an eviolite, xern and yveltal destroy it:
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 364-429 (50.9 - 60%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (dynamax)

But like this is irrelevant, chansey completely outclasses it and if u are obsessed with mega gengar dont use the blobs. Period.

Arceus-Rock to UR

If you are using this you mispelled tyranitar or diancie in your builder. Even rhydon looks better (yeah, at least it can check Mray). I did use this mon with willowisp and rocks, but nah, can't spread burns when there are rest zygardes and refresh arceus everywhere.

Shuckle to UR

I say, Smeargle.
Shuckle lets oppo get rocks up, set up and break the encore with dmax and then win. Wonderful. I say, Smeargle.



Thanks a lot for reading, please feel free to react to these nominations and bring new ones, the VR is getting clearer and clearer especially thanks to previous waves of URing, that's super cool. Ciao!

-ktut

Mega Blastoise D to UR

This is bad. It can't take hits, it's ditto bait, it has 0 defensive utility and you're using a non-kyogre mono water when you have access to Ogre and Pogre who are immediately threatening. You're also using an offensive Mega that's not Ray, which needs to be justified. (I think Diancie and Salamence can do utility stuff). In short, you can 100% build a better team by not using this. I honestly think Dracovish and Ash-Gren are better than Blastoise and the rankings should reflect that, nobody is using this on a serious team. For every replay of this thing sweeping I can show 10 of it doing literally nothing.

Kartana C to D
Again overstating its viability. You have access to DM and Zacain and Zacain-C as breakers. Zacain can do black hole eclipse better than Kart because it's faster and outspeeds Ultra Necrozma. Fat Duskmane mostly does not give a shit about this and the abundance of Ho-Oh doesn't help either. Offensive DM is infinitely bulkier while still maintaining defensive utility. The only conceivable argument is that rising ferrothorn use gives Kart a small niche when paired with Kyogre but idk man. In theory you threaten utility arceus-ground but you really can't risk switching in on Judgement or Ice Beam. Common play sequence would be Doubling your Pdon to Kartana as they go Groundceus but I don't think Kartana rewards you enough even in the ideal situation (why not double in an Ogre if you hate Groundceus?)

Also big ditto bait and kind of a waste of a Dynamax user, there's better users of setup + airstream in this tier (Yveltal, Mewtwo, even regular Ogre with HP flying). I'm gonna try building with this and will report back.

Diancie to C I agree it should definitely be ranked but B- seems a little high, let’s start in C and move it from there.

And for my nom:
S to S-
I hope no one disagrees with me that this is nowhere close to Yveltal/Zygod levels. The meta has solidified Xerneas checks for a while now, and while it undoubtedly warps the builder, Xerneas last generation also did that(not to as extreme a degree) while only being A rank. Think of it like the Dracovish of AG. It's still an easy top 4 mon, but I cannot justify putting it in S when it is clearly outclassed in that subrank.

Some more noms cuz I feel like it

diancie ur to C

I see you guys are talking about mega diancie but normal diancie can also pull the same niche of checking yveltal and gets the benefit of being able to run lefties, access to heal bell and not getting its special defense lowered by max darkness gives it a definitive niche over tyranitar too. also diancie has the option to dynamax to beat yveltal if its health gets too low

Arceus electric ur to D

I would actually argue this mon is a pretty good, electric + ice coverage makes it able to threaten a large portion of the Meta and it is immune to ditto
it loses to pdon the rest of the metagame is pretty weak to it so I think it earns a spot in d rank.

aerodactyl D to ur

this mon is just zacian food and it is outclassed by excadrill.

Shuckle B- to D with necrozma-dm and zacian everywhere you are never going to get webs and rocks up.

----> D

Set

Palkia @ Psychium Z
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Block
- Hydro Pump
- Fire Blast
- Spacial Rend

I know I nommed this before, but since then, I've had the opportunity to use it on a playstyle other than Trick Room. Z-Heal Block Palkia is capable of shredding most meta cores by setting up on a healing turn for a pokemon like NDM. Once it's set up, Dragon / Water / Fire coverage is very strong, capable of trashing most of the metagame. Palkia's decent speed tier of 328 doesn't hurt matters either. I can testify firsthand to its effectiveness, because I used a ZHB Palkia balance to qualify for AGLT. Once fast threats such as Zacian are down, Palkia is easily capable of sweeping most balances. While it is a pain to improof, the combination of Ferrothorn + Pdon is often sufficient. In order to kill the Palkia, Ditto must use spacial rend. Next, ferro can come out, forcing dynamax, and allowing a switch to Pdon to absorb the fire move. From there, you can go to a dragon resist / immunity, and play from there. Palkia has enough firepower to easily trash pokemon such as NDM or Pdon. I truly believe that palkia has the necessary tools to make a good D-rank mon, as it's a capable sweeper, yet one that requires quite a bit of team support.

E: grammar fix

a few nominations that i have, not the most standard of nominations but i feel like theyre popular enough opinions.

b to b+
i genuinely think this is the third best dynamaxer in the tier, with potentially the strongest wallbreaking potential. the set i'm referring to is one thimo and i discussed, a life orb calm mind set that has no switchins whatsoever. the set here, this thing ohkos max hp spdef pdon at +1, it 2hkos confide chansey at +1, doesnt fear ferro, you calm mind on the switchin to these mons and just ruin them. not much can come in and revenge, it can potentially run a timid hp flying set if you dont care about ohkoing pdon and want to outspeed zacian-c, there's so much you can do with this mon. scarf sets are as potent as ever, specs is still usable as a nuke, i encourage people to try out the set i posted above.

Calcs:
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Max Quake vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon-Primal: 442-520 (109.4 - 128.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Max Geyser vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Rain: 446-526 (69.4 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Origin Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane in Rain: 437-515 (109.7 - 129.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ SpA Life Orb Kyogre Max Geyser vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn in Rain: 352-416 (100 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Examples:
Replay vs YaBoiJD
Replay vs Staxi

d to ur
i agree with this honestly, no one has managed to make this work to its fullest potential and ditto just ruins it, it's outclassed by other things such as geoxern or the next pokemon im about to post about, it's incredibly difficult to justify. i don't feel as strongly about this nomination as i probably should, but that's just because of the rare occasions it 6-0s on team preview. i'd much rather run the next pokemon though.

ur to d
omastar manages to be consistently a better shell smash mon, it has genuine set up opportunities and it doesnt struggle with pdon like blastoise does. it's relatively easy to imposter proof with ferrothorn/amoong/chansey. it has a much better ability and the ability to dynamax push it over the edge. i believe this pokemon is a much more reliable shell smasher than blastoise, and would like to see it ranked.

Calc:
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Omastar Max Quake vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon-Primal: 520-614 (128.7 - 151.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
idk what else you want me to show you

ur to c
genesect is an amazing wallbreaker in the current metagame, with dmax it ohkos dusk mane, ho-oh, zygarde-c, zacian-c, xerneas, arceus-ground and barely misses another bunch. genuinely has a lot of options too, can run shift gear/agility burn drive techno blast if it wants to ohko zacian without dmax and easily imposter proof itself; there's so much you can do with this pokemon and it never fails to get something done.

Calcs:
+1 (Download) 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Flutterby vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 398-469 (100 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Rockfall vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Ho-Oh: 432-510 (103.8 - 122.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Hailstorm vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Arceus-Ground: 489-577 (110.1 - 129.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde-Complete: 821-972 (129 - 152.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas: 538-634 (136.8 - 161.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Max Steelspike vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zacian-Crowned: 382-450 (117.1 - 138%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade (100 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Genesect: 342-404 (60.4 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dynamax Genesect: 275-324 (48.5 - 57.2%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO

+1 252+ SpA Genesect Burn Drive Techno Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Zacian-Crowned: 362-426 (111.3 - 131%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+1 252+ SpA Life Orb Genesect Techno Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Groudon-Primal: 204-240 (50.4 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (if you're that scared of this)

Example:
Replay vs Dockiva~~

a to a+
it's no secret this pokemon is worse than the last two iterations of anything goes, but its band set and more importantly its swords dance set are incredibly potent in the current metagame. i find myself adding these sets to my teams incredibly frequently especially because of the lack of preparation people have for mega rayquaza sets that can break through zygarde-c, ttar, dm etc with ease. there's still zacian-c of course threatening these sets but id argue that even with this looming threat, rayquaza-mega holds up enough to be classified a+

SD Ray in Action:
Replay vs Unicorns

b+ to b
i still believe we ranked this too highly initially, sure it's an excellent balance/stall breaker but a lot of other pokemon can do this efficiently and i don't think that alone is good enough for b+. this definitely is not a b+ pokemon.

b- to c
webs are far worse this gen, plus why would i want to use shuckle over smeargle or another webs lead that can reliably set vs ho-oh.

thanku for reading my post.

Ok. I have done this for Ktüt’s post already but after more nominations, two analysises and an opinion shift I thought I’d share my opinions again. (I hope I don’t bore you all).

Ktütverde’s Nominations
UR > B-
As I mentioned before, I do believe that Mega Diancie should be ranked. It checks even Focus Blast variants of Yveltal, and is immune to Special Defense drops pre-Mega due to Clear Body. It also provides further team support in Stealth Rock, Magic Bounce and Heal Bell. So I agree, but put in C Rank instead, if only to begin with.

A+ > A
No. This just provides to much valuable utility. It can set Rocks while pressuring Ho-Oh with Rock Tomb, and effectively check Zacian Crowned (it can even use Rest to cure status and recover health). Way too good for A, even with Arceus Ground being more

A > A+
This might be controversial but I agree. Dragon Dance sets are better than ever, using V-create to make Dusk Mane cower back into Ultra Space and pick of weaker foes with Extreme Speed. While the former king of AG can’t just freely use Dragon Ascent or easily beat Dynamaxers, it is deserving of a rank higher than A.

A > A-
Uh yeah. This is bad. Still a nice revenge killer but by far the worst ‘mon in A. Too prediction heavy and matchup based to deserve A. I’m even tempted to say banish it to

A > A+
This ‘mon is just too good. Checks a lot of the meta including Zygarde, Dusk Mane and Primal Groudon, even being able to 1v1 its would be check in Ho-Oh using Refresh. Definitely

C > UR
Blissey is bad. Without Eviolite it really struggles against the likes of Xerneas and Yveltal. Shed Shell does help with the Gothitelle matchup, but isn’t usually worth it. Drop this to D.

B- > UR
Wow! It’s a support Arceus that gets Stealth Rock up in Ho-Oh’s face! Oh wait. So can Arceus Water, Tyranitar and Diancie. I really don’t see a reason to use this.

B- > UR
Zacian and Dusk Mane make sure this is never getting both Stealth Rock and Sticky Web up. Also, surprise, it lets Substitute Zacian Crowned possibly 6-0 your slow Offense team.

Negative Charge’s Nominations
D > UR
Ditto food. Too easily revenged. Super niche. Drop this into oblivion. Just use Calm Mind or Choice Specs Kyogre / Primal Kyogre if you’re looking for a Water-type wall-breaker.

C > D
There are definitely better Dynamax abusers that are also more consistent. However, this thing can snowball super fast. I see this as too good for D Rank, but that’s mainly just due to personal experience.

UR > C
See my point above. (I assume you meant Mega Diancie as no-one had mentioned base forme before your post).

MDB’s Nomination
S > S-
Not going to lie, this is overrated. I agree with this not being able to stand with the superior Zygarde.

Bread Sandwich’s Nominations
UR > C
While not holding a Mega Stone denies Diancie Magic Bounce and a greater offensive presence, the freedom of item choice allows it to check Yveltal more reliably. Definitely on the same level as its Mega Evolution.

UR > D
It is no secret that BoltBeam is an amazing coverage combination. Unlike most other CM Arceus variants, Arceus Electric can deal with Whirlwind Ho-Oh due to its Electric-type Judgement. Like in the previous Gen, this should rise up to D Rank.

D > UR
Why would I use this as a suicide lead over Excadrill, which can actually deal with Substitute Zacian Crowned.

B- > D
See previous point.

BananaLaddersPS’ Nomination
UR > D
With its largely unresisted dual STAB and mildly impressive stats, nothing will keep this from D Rank! Oh wait there are better offensive Water-types. Shh let Palkia have its moment.

Chloe’s Nominations
B > B+
Yep. This is good. Chloe’s set has proved to make it an effective Dynamax abuser, and Choice Specs on webs is next to uncounterable.

D > UR
See above point. (Chloe proceeds to UR the mon she got on the VR in the first place).

UR > D
Pretty easy to Imposterproof and works sometimes as an effective wall breaker. Let it be D.

UR > C
I’m not sure if Genesect has earnt C Rank due to its reliance on Dynamax to beat common walls, but this seems legitimate enough to be ranked.

 

[Geysers]

I sense an inbound VR update so I’m going to provide my thoughts on people’s noms.
-> B-
Absolutely. This is a really cool mon capable of doing anticheese while still checking xerneas pre-mega. Very good.
-> A
Definitely not. Pdon is incredibly good rn for good reason, because it beats Zacian and ogre sets. It’s also literally the only way to beat specs ogre without sacking something.
-> A+
Leaning now on this one, because this mon just isn’t as good as it feels like it should be. It suffers immensely from high ditto usage, and the fact that it no longer has a great speed tier also hurts it. In addition, it misses out on a lot of kills thanks to defensive dynamax.
-> UR
Why MDB, why? This mon has a ton of defensive utility, capable of completely countering sub dd zygarde sets. It also can force a lot of switched, and slow pivot out of them. In addition, it forces opposing Zacian-C to run suboptimal coverage in Crunch, reducing its ability to break Pdon. This is still a pretty good mon.
-> D
I do agree with this one. Amoong is strictly outclassed by Chansey at what it does, which is check xern. Chansey does that a thousand times better, and can also serve as a cleric to boot.
-> D
Yeah, this mon really isn’t great. It’s sometimes a pain in the ass to deal with once it’s got terrain up, but the splashability of mons like Chansey rn make it very easy to check unless it’s running some sort of wack-ass mixed set. Drop this thing.
-> D
Yeah. This thing’s pretty fun, it’s got a lot of defensive utility as a status absorbing defogger, and can also be really annoying as a paralysis spreader. I’ve used this, it’s really fun. Megamence deserves D.
-> A-
Yeah. Drop this puppy. I’ve used it and every single damn time I encore something into a support move, it dynamaxes and kills my gar. Literally the only utility this has is in MU fishing. I’d never use it on a serious team. I say drop Gar to B+.
-> A+
For sure, this thing is really splashable rn; it’s hard to find a balance that doesn’t benefit from it. Groundceus can run so many different sets to fit the needs of its team, and it runs every one of them well.
-> UR
Yeah. This thing is strictly outclassed by Chansey outside of the trapper MU, but trappers are really bad right now so there’s really no reason I’d use this over Chansey.
-> UR
100%. I don’t see any reason I’d ever use this on a serious team.
-> UR
Nah, shuckle is a good anti-balance webs lead. While sure, things can dyna to break encore, that’s only really an issue if you’re playing vs some HO team that leads with a sweeper.
-> S
Hard no, as other people have said.
-> UR
Support. This mon really struggles to break common special walls, and can’t do jack against ditto. I see no reason anyone would ever use it on a serious team.
-> D
Yeah, this is outclassed by a lot of other dynamax users, and it struggles with common physical walls like Zygarde-C.
-> C
Absolutely. Hell, put this in B-. It’s a really strong yveltal check that should see more usage.
-> D
Boltbeam like this is a pain to deal with, especially if webs are down. I think this deserves D.
-> UR
Unfortunately, this probably should drop. It’s just really not great and autoloses to sub Zac. I like it and would still use it, but it’s not very good.
-> B+
100% support. This mon is amazing rn. Cm dynamax sets are nigh impossible to stop, and specs and scarf are really good too. Kyogre is a really solid dynamax abuser with any of its sets, and specs is virtually impossible to switch into. Hell, I’d support moving this to A-, it’s just that good right now.
-> D
I... guess? I haven’t seen this enough to know if it’s actually any good, but I guess it’d be ok in D?
-> B
Yeah. This mon just isn’t that great. It struggles against a lot of common defensive pokemon, like groundceus, and any player with a brain can just play around sand tombs and go to, say, a dd ray, to get a setup turn.
-> C
Yeah, this thing is a terrifying wallbreaker. I hope I never have to play against this thing since my go-to for special sweepers is a Chansey, but this can run mixed coverage so idk what I can do about it. Give this C.

And now, it’s time for a nom of my own.
B- —> B
Chansey is an amazing answer to most of the specially offensive dynamax abusers in the game. It stops Xerneas and most Yveltal sets in their tracks, while also beating strong pokemon like non-specs Kyogre and Kyogre-Primal. It‘s incredibly splashable right now, on bulky balances and semistall, that always appreciate a cleric. Chansey also makes it incredibly easy to improof strong special sweepers, making it a very strong choice on semistall. Its only main liabilities are a weakness to trapping and passivity, rendering it setup bait for a lot of sweepers. To the former, I really haven’t seen many trappers out there, and they can all be played around with decent team support. To the latter, yes, things like Zekrom and Sub Zac can setup for free on this, but that probably means you kept Chansey in longer than you had to. This is a mon that should switch out as soon as it’s done what it needs to (I.e. beating a xern, toxicing pogre and knocking its spa way down, etc), enabling its teammates to prevent setup opportunities.

 

[dru88]

I would

Hey, I appreciate the contribution and I'm willing to hear you out on your case, but generally nominations like this should accompany replay evidence of the Pokemon doing well, against competent players. Additionally, taking out five Pokemon against one team against a random opponent is generally not sufficient reasoning to rank something. There are plenty of stallbreakers that can accomplish this. Again, I appreciate the post, but would appreciate substantially more justification if I and others were to consider it a serious nomination.

have evidence however I am not on my laptop I am at my grandmothers house when I posted this I will not be near that aptop until school reopens.

 

[Kate]

UR to D - I think it's pretty clear from the success of my Lycanroc HO why I'm making this nom. On a VR slate where Aero is likely to fall, I fully believe Lycan should become the next stupid Rock Suicide lead meme. Its unique ability to set rocks, keep them off your side, lower the opponents speed, and most of all, potentially bring them down to 1 HP, is insanely good for this meta. There's very few MUs where Lycan fails to contribute, and HO really appreciates effectively eliminating insane bulk mons like Dusk Mane and Arceus Forms. Combine that with its solid speed tier and STAB Rock tombs, and I believe it justifies a place on VR as a niche but respectable Suicide Lead.

 

[Chloe]

hello friends and welcome to the next anything goes viability ranking update. not too long since the last update, but there's been a substantial amount of nominations made, so we voted on them. this includes every nomination made from #75 to #96 including mdb's video nominations, which i painstakingly watched for the sake of fairness. the late chansey nomination made by ben and lycanroc nomination by mdb were not included in this slate due to voting already being underway by that point in time.

rises.
ur to b-
ur to b-
ur to d
b to b+
ur to d
a to a+
ur to d

drops.
d to ur
(rock) b- to ur
d to ur
c to ur
c to d
b to c
a to a-
b+ to b
c to d
b to b-
c to ur
b to b-

not any major metagame shifts since last vote; however, yveltal remains as overwhelming and overpotent as it always is, diancie is seeing use on serious teams, along with mega variants, acting as solid checks for standard yveltal. actually has valid niches over tyranitar due to not being removed by focus blast, doesn't require sand stream which can be difficult to build with at times (see: defensive ndm recovery, lugia, lunala, shedinja, etc). has decent utility and its offensive mega sets are relatively unprepared for with earth power doing sufficient damage to even ndm.

genesect is an excellent lure, doing substantial damage and ohkoing many standard metagame threats, breaks stall relatively well especially with the requirement to overprepare for yveltal. kyogre's scarf, specs and cm dynamax sets are all incredibly potent in the current metagame, having kyogre at a measly b rank felt as an injustice so it's been promoted to b+, omastar is better than mega blastoise, is relatively easy to imposter proof and has a very miniscule amount of solid answers. rayquaza-mega is increasing in potency, sd band mixed dd are all getting better, zacian-c's existence doesn't really impact mega rayquaza's viability enough to prevent it from being a+. mega mence has nice defensive utility sets, defensive dd sets, and genuinely has a niche in the metagame.

as for drops, a few hyper offense leads dropped, namely aerodactyl, excadrill and shuckle, as hyper offense is bad in the current metagame. arceus-rock has trouble solidifying itself on any serious team, as better more adequate ho-oh checks exist. mega blastoise hates ditto so much, and fails to see use on any serious team. blissey isn't a requirement in a metagame where mega gengar is becoming increasingly rarer every day. deo-a, kartana and zekrom are examples of offensive pokemon that are very difficult to justify over more potent dynamax pokemon such as yveltal, xerneas and kyogre. deo-a while not usually a dynamax candidate just doesn't really have a place in this metagame bar niche physical lure sets and psyspam, which are both unviable. mega gengar was ranked too high, mega gengar builds are very rare and very hard to justify, i would not be surprised to see this drop more in future. gliscor was initially overhyped so gliscor sky drops itself down to the b tier. mmy is cool but isn't as prominent a threat as other b rank pokemon. overall a fair few drops, but all boil down to a few metagame trends.

rejected :(
(electric) ur to d
(fairy) b- to b
(ground) a to a+
ur to d
s- to s
ur to d

c to d
(normal) b to b-
(poison) c to d
b+ to b
a+ to a
b to b-
a- to b+
d to ur
s to s-

as for the rejects. eleceus isn't good and fairy isn't good enough to increase to b. groundceus however is a swell nomination and is by far the best pokemon in a rank, but i don't believe it pushes itself above the tier to compete with metagame staples like ho-oh and pdon. chandy uwu! ndm doesnt compare to xern's offensive prowess and zyg's defensive blanket checking / offensive sets, but overall it's not a horrible nomination. palkia still doesn't do enough, even with zhb, show me it working ben :(

amoonguss checks xerneas, ogre, groundceus, switches into most special threats with ease, you do what amoonguss does by now. it justifies c rank fairly easily, and sees use semi-frequently on serious teams. ekiller is honestly only getting better in the current metagame, there's very little most teams can do against ekiller, especially dmax variants. ice coverage allows it to blast past zyg and sweep virtually the whole metagame. poisonceus is yet another xern check that is actually good and sees use on serious teams. it doesn't require dmax like dm does and it actually benefits. reverse sweeps with psych up poisonceus aren't that uncommon.

gothitelle still breaks through most common builds, every team is balance and stall, and no one prepares for gothitelle. pdon remains a prominent threat that more than justifies a+ at the moment, all 7 votes were strong no for this. mewtwo is yea hard to justify over yveltal, but the lack of preparation definitely aids it. does anyone even read this i feel like i'm writing paragraphs for no reason. tttg's whole reasoning in the video for dropping ultra necrozma relied on not being able to set up dd with ultra necrozma? which seems more than silly to me, regardless, ultra necrozma remains potent enough for a-.

shedstall is very good in the current metagame. around 1/3 of round 1 series in ladder tour playoffs had shed stall of some kind. perfectly walls dd dtail zygarde-c, kyogre, etc. i see the placement of xerneas and zacian-c continually being problematic and discussed, all seven of us believe s is accurate, not really outclassed by yveltal at all, sure it has stiff competetion as a dynamax sweeper but generally has niches like forcing opponents to dynamax to check it which can aid teammates, prevents opponents from using dmax yveltal or whatever dedicated sweeper they have and eases matchup. there are plenty of qualities that i could list if required to that make xerneas fair game to keep at s.

as always thank you for the nominations, i always appreciate reading them and they help this project keep running so thank you! i implore anyone that feels like there's any problems with the viability rankings to please post! the worst thing that happens is people disagree with your nomination, so it's worth it to voice your opinion. anyway thank you again and see you next shift.

voting sheet