Resource SS RU Viability Rankings [Pre-DLC]

[Mavis]

Mantine has been removed.

The VR council will be taking a look at all of the April drops, and ranking the ones we feel have a solid niche within the metagame at the rankings we think they fit best at. We know the shifts may have been large and very impactful, but stay tuned!

 

[Mavis]

April Drops have been added!

Raichu-Alola has been placed in A+.
Virizion has been placed in A.
Frosmoth and Weezing have been placed in B+.
Claydol, Morpeko, and Decidueye have been placed in B.
Linoone has been placed in B-.
Rapidash and Alolan Dugtrio have been placed in C+.
Alolan Persian and Corsola have been placed in C.

Voting for overall changes will proceed shortly and this post will be updated with them once they're up.

 

[termi]

ok i feel the rankings should be changed quite a bit, here's a few noms

S -> A+/A: plume simply is not the mon it was last meta, as its drop in usage previous week of RUPL signifies. while this is no doubt in part because of the now-banned centiskorch roaming the meta, the fact of the matter is that it really preferred the more balance-oriented meta that we had before the april shifts. right now it has to deal with the rise in xatu, which can deny it its recovery, the addition of new threats that can either switch in on it or break it (raichu-a, cm viriz, weezing), and the general faster pace of the meta that keeps it from doing its thing consistently. growth sets also seem a lot less rewarding right now. undoubtedly still a good mon but not as splashable as it used to be

A+ -> S: idk how strongly i feel about this myself but i think it's at least worth discussing. one of its biggest defensive counters moved up and the other big one is getting less popular, so it has become easier to clean with the very popular and splashable scarf set

B -> A: xatu is imo the face of hazard removal in RU right now thanks to mantine's departure and the more offensive slant of the meta. everybody knows how stupid of an ability magic bounce can be, it's very annoying to play around especially with rockers like lix and mudsdale just being nearly unable to break it. xatu also provides a lot of miscellaneous utility thanks to its ability to nab momentum (huge in this meta) and check a number of dangerous threats like scarf indeedee and several fighting types despite its poor natural bulk. not much else to say, everybody knows what it does, good mon

B+ -> A: zard was already ranked too low but i think especially after mantine's departure it's just been great. it distinguishes itself from other fire types thanks to its amazing typing which grants it both a number of valuable resistances (notably checking the two best scarfers in the meta in apssimian and rillaboom, as long as you watch out for knock off), reliable recovery, and defog, which it probably does better than anything else in the meta atm. i've found this thing to be pretty splashable as of late and it just always puts in work, easily a top threat

B+ -> A: sorry for trying to get everything into A rank but honestly B+ is seriously underselling its potential. the power of its draco meteor is ridiculous and given that we don't have a lot of viable fairies and only a handful of good steel types, most of which are hella slow, it never catches a matchup where it isn't seriously threatening. as the best dragon type by a decent shot it also has a very valuable defensive typing that allows it to come in on and threaten the likes of vileplume, ninetales, silvally-ghost, decidueye, jellicent, rillaboom, raichu-a, rotom, etc etc. crazy breaker imo

A- -> A/A+ & A+ -> A/A-: probably a controversial opinion but i honestly think rhydon is the best rocker in the current meta. expulso already covered a number of rhydon's positive traits last month, but i would like to add to that that the recent changes in the tier have made rhydon a lot more appealing. xatu and charizard have been on the rise quite a bit and seeing how the tier has little else to offer in terms of hazard removal (silvally is a mediocre defogger imo), being able to threaten the former with an ohko on the switch and being able to come in on the latter is huge if you actually want to keep your rocks up. steelix meanwhile struggles against both, often needing head smash just to threaten them and then still struggling to actually beat xatu if it'srunning rocky helmet. while lix undeniably is easy to slap on a team just to have a relatively solid indeedee check, it also loses to a lot of things in the S and A ranks and in practice just seems a little passive in this more offensively slanted meta. also, while losing mantine did remove lix's most prominent switchin, it also removed its most prominent partner. imo these two can be swapped around but if they both end up in A rank i think that's acceptable too

& (ghost) A -> A-: grouping these two together because i feel they're very similar in that they're very threatening offensive mons that can catch matchups where they just cleave through teams, but are very difficult to build with since they both preclude teams from using mons that have more general utility (lazzle and zard in the former case, silvally steel/fairy/dark in the latter). great with the right team support, but you really have to go out of your way to make them work, which is not really the case for anything else in the higher A ranks

some other points:
- flapple should definitely drop, it's just a really awkward mon to fit on a team and dd sets cannot beat any of the better scarfers which renders it not worth the trouble a lot of the time
- golurk and malamar definitely deserve to be placed in B+ right now as expulso suggested
- i disagree with nomming coalossal down, despite its passivity issues it has a lot of utility and is the only mon that beats all common fire types in one slot, making it a decent fit on teams that require some role compression
- i also agree with a rise for bewear, easily one of the most threatening breakers in the meta, nothing is completely safe from it and its bulk gives it a lot of opportunity to come in
- i would sooner see jellicent and rillaboom move up than down but i dont feel too strongly abt it
- decidueye is probably underrated rn but i need a bit more experience with it before i can confidently say where it belongs
- scrafty i think is also a lot better than is given credit for here

ok thats abt all i have for now. bye

 

[413X]

B—>B+/A-

Dhelm is a monster with a stab power whip coming off its base 131 attack and a trapping steel type move in Anchor Shot, which effectively gets stab with its ability Steelworker. Its niche as an offensive spinner is only competed by Morpeko and to a lesser extent Hitmonlee. Over both of these mons, Dhelm has reliable recovery in Synthesis and also in Pain split. With Mantine gone, as the best and most consistent hazard removal mon and only one similar spinner coming from the drops(Clayd has its own niche as a defensive spinner/rocker and I dont care enough to talk abt it), Dhelm seems to be upon the best hazard removal mons, as it beats the best rockers in the tier currently, being Rhydon who gets OHKOed by Whip and Lix who gets walled by this suprisingly heavy anchor(Heavy Slam is 40 BP against this mon its crazy). Item choice on this mon is a very interesting process. There are 2 options, those are Boots, to switch in repeatedly on rocks, or CB to claim even more damage on mons when it can come in.

Bad things time

Now that everyone knows how broken this mon is, we can go into its weaknesses. Even though it has many useful resistances from its type, it has many weaknesses that hurt its viability. The most glaring are a Fire weakness, and weaknesses to Ghost and Dark(Aah Knock is so scary I dont like it). This mon also has a rather slow speed stat, which is why other spinners might be used over it, but it makes up with resistances and offensive prowess. The most glaring weakness this mon has is definitely 4MSS. It needs Power Whip for a high BP stab and spin, because its main niche is as a spinner, but it has MANY other moves that it would love to have. It loves having Anchor shot to keep threats in on switches, potentially giving u a free switch. Shadow Claw is a great option because it can hit many of the ghosts in the tier for major damage, such as Rotom, as well as having great neutral coverage throughout the tier. Knock is very similar to Shadow Claw, as it has great neutral coverage, but with the extra upside of knocking the opponents item off, which is great on a mon that lures in Fire types that rely on their Boots to be able to switch in. Synthesis/Pain Split is the last of the many options I will mention on this anchor(also I'm tired). Reliable recovery is incredible on any mon who wants to repeatedly come in on the opponents team to fill such an important role, which is as a spinner.

TLDR:
Even though the Bad things section has more words, this mon is very powerful in the meta. It has monstrous attack, and amazing utility in spin and knock, with the option of reliable recovery, makes this mon able to come in over and over again and claim more and more value.

Notes:
This is kinda sad I wrote sm and then summed it up in like 2 sentences, maybe even better than in the actual review.
I should've written this for an analysis or something whats wrong with me.
Is saying mons unprofessional, because there's a red underline whenever I write it.
Thank u for coming to my TED TALK.
Note to mods, can I repurpose this and maybe put it in an analysis or smth that would be rlly cool because this goes indepth very well.

 

[aVocado]

ok i feel the rankings should be changed quite a bit, here's a few noms

S -> A+/A: plume simply is not the mon it was last meta, as its drop in usage previous week of RUPL signifies. while this is no doubt in part because of the now-banned centiskorch roaming the meta, the fact of the matter is that it really preferred the more balance-oriented meta that we had before the april shifts. right now it has to deal with the rise in xatu, which can deny it its recovery, the addition of new threats that can either switch in on it or break it (raichu-a, cm viriz, weezing), and the general faster pace of the meta that keeps it from doing its thing consistently. growth sets also seem a lot less rewarding right now. undoubtedly still a good mon but not as splashable as it used to be

A+ -> S: idk how strongly i feel about this myself but i think it's at least worth discussing. one of its biggest defensive counters moved up and the other big one is getting less popular, so it has become easier to clean with the very popular and splashable scarf set

B -> A: xatu is imo the face of hazard removal in RU right now thanks to mantine's departure and the more offensive slant of the meta. everybody knows how stupid of an ability magic bounce can be, it's very annoying to play around especially with rockers like lix and mudsdale just being nearly unable to break it. xatu also provides a lot of miscellaneous utility thanks to its ability to nab momentum (huge in this meta) and check a number of dangerous threats like scarf indeedee and several fighting types despite its poor natural bulk. not much else to say, everybody knows what it does, good mon

B+ -> A: zard was already ranked too low but i think especially after mantine's departure it's just been great. it distinguishes itself from other fire types thanks to its amazing typing which grants it both a number of valuable resistances (notably checking the two best scarfers in the meta in apssimian and rillaboom, as long as you watch out for knock off), reliable recovery, and defog, which it probably does better than anything else in the meta atm. i've found this thing to be pretty splashable as of late and it just always puts in work, easily a top threat

B+ -> A: sorry for trying to get everything into A rank but honestly B+ is seriously underselling its potential. the power of its draco meteor is ridiculous and given that we don't have a lot of viable fairies and only a handful of good steel types, most of which are hella slow, it never catches a matchup where it isn't seriously threatening. as the best dragon type by a decent shot it also has a very valuable defensive typing that allows it to come in on and threaten the likes of vileplume, ninetales, silvally-ghost, decidueye, jellicent, rillaboom, raichu-a, rotom, etc etc. crazy breaker imo

A- -> A/A+ & A+ -> A/A-: probably a controversial opinion but i honestly think rhydon is the best rocker in the current meta. expulso already covered a number of rhydon's positive traits last month, but i would like to add to that that the recent changes in the tier have made rhydon a lot more appealing. xatu and charizard have been on the rise quite a bit and seeing how the tier has little else to offer in terms of hazard removal (silvally is a mediocre defogger imo), being able to threaten the former with an ohko on the switch and being able to come in on the latter is huge if you actually want to keep your rocks up. steelix meanwhile struggles against both, often needing head smash just to threaten them and then still struggling to actually beat xatu if it'srunning rocky helmet. while lix undeniably is easy to slap on a team just to have a relatively solid indeedee check, it also loses to a lot of things in the S and A ranks and in practice just seems a little passive in this more offensively slanted meta. also, while losing mantine did remove lix's most prominent switchin, it also removed its most prominent partner. imo these two can be swapped around but if they both end up in A rank i think that's acceptable too

& (ghost) A -> A-: grouping these two together because i feel they're very similar in that they're very threatening offensive mons that can catch matchups where they just cleave through teams, but are very difficult to build with since they both preclude teams from using mons that have more general utility (lazzle and zard in the former case, silvally steel/fairy/dark in the latter). great with the right team support, but you really have to go out of your way to make them work, which is not really the case for anything else in the higher A ranks

some other points:
- flapple should definitely drop, it's just a really awkward mon to fit on a team and dd sets cannot beat any of the better scarfers which renders it not worth the trouble a lot of the time
- golurk and malamar definitely deserve to be placed in B+ right now as expulso suggested
- i disagree with nomming coalossal down, despite its passivity issues it has a lot of utility and is the only mon that beats all common fire types in one slot, making it a decent fit on teams that require some role compression
- i also agree with a rise for bewear, easily one of the most threatening breakers in the meta, nothing is completely safe from it and its bulk gives it a lot of opportunity to come in
- i would sooner see jellicent and rillaboom move up than down but i dont feel too strongly abt it
- decidueye is probably underrated rn but i need a bit more experience with it before i can confidently say where it belongs
- scrafty i think is also a lot better than is given credit for here

ok thats abt all i have for now. bye

: i disagree on vileplume dropping to A, i can see it in A+ but i honestly think it fits better in S. it still blanket checks a scary amount of things even when u only look at the higher rankings. it's just a super good, consistent mon that can fit in too many teams right now so imo its place in S is warranted.

: agree on A, been using it as a crutch for too many teams and it's super consistent, plus it can be versatile and tailored to whatever your team needs. for example i had earthquake on one zard to never give salazzle a free toxic/sub without punishing it, and i had flame charge once to clean late game which is nice cuz it outspeeds indeedee, and has the survivability it needs to defog and still sweep late game.

: hard agree on A, this thing is scary and resists all the good things, immunity to strength sap means it cucks vileplume hard. hyper voice ohkos lazzle through sub. it learns roost, and fire resistance in this meta is always good.

: underrated true, itried the specs set u talked about on discord and it's been doing very well. it's a bit awkward when they have a steel and normal type on the same team but that's what u-turn is for. leaf storm in general is surprisingly strong and if their steel type is silvally-steel it's gonna take a chunk. i think B/B+ is fine which is where it is rn.

: stop talking about my homie like he's bad :[ band is *exceptionally* strong, it can fit on some teams cuz it forces hella switches and u-turn is nice. it has flaws sure but like its flaws are hustle and speed. it's faster than everything it should be faster than, like bewear and fat mons, but yeah 70 speed is underwhelming so i get it. it's fine in B+ imo just cuz of how stupid strong it is, i haven't explored the DD set much besides on veil but it has performed well also. dragon/grass coverage is good when u 2hko all steels.

: so long as indeedee exists it shouldn't be S. if anything, indeedee should be S.

and a nom of my own:

: B+ -> A/A+
webs + ghosts is stupid rn cuz vikavolt is bulky and can set up webs multiple times. silvally-ghost is a good spinblocker that also is amazing in webs with SD. it honestly is the reason i run zard on most my teams cuz its the only defogger that can ohko vikavolt and is not affected by webs so it can usually pull it off. pretty stupid mon and a stupid playstyle that too many mons suffer from. A+ might be extreme but it 100% doesn't belong in B+ imo. it's honestly bringing back early XY flashbacks where teams ran shuckle/braviary for defiant/double ghosts, cuz i've been seeing a lot of vikavolt/ghostvally/scarf pass on ladder and it's very frustrating

 

[termi]

: so long as indeedee exists it shouldn't be S. if anything, indeedee should be S.

i dont see what bearing indeedee's existence has on passimian's viability. true, scarf indeedee can outspeed and ohko passimian which few other mons can boast, but scarf indeedee isn't that hard to account for. it certainly doesnt switch in on anything passimian throws at it either, and in fact helps passimian in some ways by being an excellent partner that breaks passimian's usual checks with ease. i do think indeedee deserves S too btw i just forgot to comment on it

 

[aVocado]

i dont see what bearing indeedee's existence has on passimian's viability. true, scarf indeedee can outspeed and ohko passimian which few other mons can boast, but scarf indeedee isn't that hard to account for. it certainly doesnt switch in on anything passimian throws at it either, and in fact helps passimian in some ways by being an excellent partner that breaks passimian's usual checks with ease. i do think indeedee deserves S too btw i just forgot to comment on it

just meant it in the sense that indeedee is a faster scarfer thats on every other team, and i don't think its as easy to account for as you say tbh, every time i use scarf it always ends up claiming a surprising number of mons, even psychic resists, with enough chip z_z thats the problem with indeedee, resists take like 30% from psychic and have no recovery, and immunities get popped by dgleam. sure the same can be said about passimian, but stuff like zard, bewear, plume, fairy vally, and ghost vally all can be fairly annoying for it. indeedee doesn't have that many answers imo

and yes 100% agree on indeedee being S

 

[Mavis]

Okay, here we go! Apologies for the wait. Our newest set of VR changes is here, and boy is it a doozy!

RISES

Indeedee: A+ to S: Indeedee's ceaseless dominance has mandated its presence be taken into account in the builder with multiple checks and is almost single-handedly responsible for the rise in viability of a number of Dark-types. It is without question one of the most lethal attackers in the tier, and absolutely must be respected for the terror that it is.

Rhydon: A- to A: Cementing itself as a premier Stealth Rock user and RU's most consistently splashable answer to Salazzle means Rhydon's talents are in high demand right now, reflected in it being involved in a number of speed creep wars. Its high usage across RUPL cements this further and entrenches Rhydon firmly in the high tiers.

Charizard: B+ to A: A bit of a late bloomer compared to the other two Fire-types, Charizard came into its own once people realized a ground-immune Ninetales-checking Defogger was just what the doctor ordered. Its sharp rise in RUPL usage also backs this up, and Charizard has earned its place among the high tiers.

Xatu: B to A: As the meta shifted, Xatu finds itself now in a prime spot to succeed. Being able to handily take on a number of defensive Pokemon as well as use its offensive speed and coverage to threaten good damage, Xatu fulfills a myriad of roles, most notably being a great Indeedee check.

Scrafty: B+ to A-: Another Dark-type influenced by Indeedee, Scrafty finds new life through its Bulk Up set allowing it to function as a deadly wincon once its few answers are dealt with.

Togedemaru: C+ to B: Yet another Pokemon whos viability has undoubtedly been influenced by Indeedee, Togedemaru is able to use its Steel typing and U-turn access to carve out a niche as a usable revenge killer.

Vikavolt: B+ to A-: Sticky Webs are incredible, and Vikavolt's mammoth attacking stats and stellar typing allow it to set them up easily, being a far more consistent setter than Galvantula. It's place among the A ranks reflects this, and while it suffers a bit from RU's searing Fire-types, Vikavolt has more than the appropriate tools to succeed.

Slurpuff: B+ to A-: Aurora Veil making a resurgence means so has Slurpuff, as it can abuse the presence of Passimian as a slappable scarfer to set up a Belly Drum and sometimes just win games on the spot.

Drampa: B+ to A-: Filling Goodra's shoes isn't easy, but Drampa more than manages. It's perhaps the most apocalyptic wallbreaker RU has ever seen, as its world-ending Draco Meteors cleave through just about anything, especially seeing as most teams lack dedicated Dragon resists.

Gastrodon: B to B+: Gastrodon's modest surge in popularity comes as people realized Salazzle was just about the best thing ever, and its defensive utility combined with Alolan Raichu-checking prowess means Gastrodon is a fine choice right now.

DROPS

Silvally-Ghost: A to B+: Silvally-Ghost suffers from the general issue of not really being able to do enough as teams have started using a lot more Normal-types, and it faces stiff competition from other Silvally forms.

Vileplume: S to A: A fall from grace, Vileplume suffers from RU's fiery climate more than most. Her utility is still phenomenal, but teams have adopted ways of dealing with Vileplume, shunting her just a little bit. Steel-types becoming more common isn't anything to smile about either.

Coalossal: B to B-: This thing just doesn't excel at anything it sets out to do- it's a Fire check that can't check Fire types, a spinner that can't spin well, and a rocks setter that suffers against common defoggers.

Froslass: B to C+: Froslass has been phased out, only seeing use on dedicated Spikes-lead offense teams. Qwilfish is usually seen as the spiker of choice on balance teams, and Froslass just isn't really seen much.

Leafeon: B- to C+: Leafeon is completely, utterly useless outside of sun. It has no place among the more consistent B ranks.

Drifblim: C to UR: We have more than three defoggers now, and Drifblim hasn't been relevant in a while.

Mawile: C to UR: Any and all niche Mawile has has since evaporated, as we have a myriad of better Stealth Rock users to choose from.

Lapras: C to UR: Mantine leaving means any semblance of a niche Lapras had is now eclipsed entirely by Vanilluxe, not that it wasn't already.

Butterfree: C to UR: !dt frosmoth

Rotom: A to A-: Rotom's small decline results from more popular Normal- and Dark-types, seeing use to stop Indeedee. It's still good, just not as consistent as it once was.

Piloswine: B to B-: Piloswine simply isn't seeing much usage, as its talents are less needed with the amount of Fire-types running around. RU's stealth rock game revolves around the setters that simply do more than Piloswine.

NEW ADDITIONS

Lanturn: UR to C+: Lanturn found life as Barraskewda was terrorizing RU, and now after its ban, finds new purpose in stopping Alolan Raichu as well as providing cleric support, something almost nothing else in RU can.

Malamar: UR to B: Wielding a superpower booster set with resttalk, Malamar abuses Indeedee's presence by being able to threateningly boost and attack at the same time, as its sharp rise in popularity makes it a fine choice among the B ranks.

Drednaw: UR to B: The Serpmon is finally here, as its great defensive typing allows it to pose an offensive threat while checking Salazzle and setting Stealth Rock. We believe it fits best alongside new addition Malamar in the B ranks.

 

[L. Telles]

Ok, I believe this may sound strange, but I have to say that Unfezant deserves a spot in the VR,it's speed is good for the tier standards,tying Indeedee-M, which can make it a decent scarfer that has a powerfull stab with no immunities, can grab momentum and work as a late game cleaner if the answers to it were removed or weakned to the point of dying to Brave Bird. Obviously it´s not that efficient, nor splashable on every team, but with good suport and team coverage for it´s weaknesses, it can manage quite well. Also,being a scarfer that outruns Passimian and threatens it with a guaranteed KO is nothing to scoff at.
I´ll leave some calcs to show Unfezant's prowess against some of the tier´s threats and it´s potential towards the late game:
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Indeedee: 291-343 (111.4 - 131.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raichu-Alola: 155-183 (59.3 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 271-321 (97.8 - 115.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ninetales: 229-270 (79.7 - 94%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard: 220-259 (74 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 288-342 (81.3 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Xatu: 241-285 (88.9 - 105.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Fluffy Bewear: 216-255 (56.6 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Drampa: 205-243 (57.1 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 172-204 (50.1 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Jellicent: 241-285 (59.6 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Silvally-Fairy: 187-222 (56.4 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Summing up:

: Unranked -> C+

 

[MaahirMomtaz12]

Ok, I believe this may sound strange, but I have to say that Unfezant deserves a spot in the VR,it's speed is good for the tier standards,tying Indeedee-M, which can make it a decent scarfer that has a powerfull stab with no immunities, can grab momentum and work as a late game cleaner if the answers to it were removed or weakned to the point of dying to Brave Bird. Obviously it´s not that efficient, nor splashable on every team, but with good suport and team coverage for it´s weaknesses, it can manage quite well. Also,being a scarfer that outruns Passimian and threatens it with a guaranteed KO is nothing to scoff at.
I´ll leave some calcs to show Unfezant's prowess against some of the tier´s threats and it´s potential towards the late game:
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Indeedee: 291-343 (111.4 - 131.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raichu-Alola: 155-183 (59.3 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 271-321 (97.8 - 115.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ninetales: 229-270 (79.7 - 94%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard: 220-259 (74 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 288-342 (81.3 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Xatu: 241-285 (88.9 - 105.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Fluffy Bewear: 216-255 (56.6 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Drampa: 205-243 (57.1 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 172-204 (50.1 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Jellicent: 241-285 (59.6 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Silvally-Fairy: 187-222 (56.4 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Summing up:
View attachment 239381: Unranked -> C+

Unfezant has 88 Speed, not 95

 

[DaemonChop]

Ok, I believe this may sound strange, but I have to say that Unfezant deserves a spot in the VR,it's speed is good for the tier standards,tying Indeedee-M, which can make it a decent scarfer that has a powerfull stab with no immunities, can grab momentum and work as a late game cleaner if the answers to it were removed or weakned to the point of dying to Brave Bird. Obviously it´s not that efficient, nor splashable on every team, but with good suport and team coverage for it´s weaknesses, it can manage quite well. Also,being a scarfer that outruns Passimian and threatens it with a guaranteed KO is nothing to scoff at.
I´ll leave some calcs to show Unfezant's prowess against some of the tier´s threats and it´s potential towards the late game:
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Indeedee: 291-343 (111.4 - 131.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raichu-Alola: 155-183 (59.3 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 271-321 (97.8 - 115.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ninetales: 229-270 (79.7 - 94%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard: 220-259 (74 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 288-342 (81.3 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Xatu: 241-285 (88.9 - 105.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Fluffy Bewear: 216-255 (56.6 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Drampa: 205-243 (57.1 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 172-204 (50.1 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Jellicent: 241-285 (59.6 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Silvally-Fairy: 187-222 (56.4 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Summing up:
View attachment 239381: Unranked -> C+

A wall of calcs is essentially totally meaningless without replays or at least some kind of practical evidence. Plenty of things can hit the top threats of a tier for at least decent damage, it's what they can actually achieve in a game that matters. Unfezants problem is that it can't switch in to things and has pretty downright bad STAB. Raichu and Drampa are gonna destroy this thing before you can get a 2HKO off:
252 SpA Raichu-Alola Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Unfezant: 380-450 (126.2 - 149.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Drampa Hyper Voice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Unfezant: 347-409 (115.2 - 135.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
And the same can be said for most of the top threats. Unfezant can't do anything but beat things in niche situations, and people will continue to believe that unless you can have some evidence of it doing something - and even then, maybe not lol

 

[Ningildo]

Ok, I believe this may sound strange, but I have to say that Unfezant deserves a spot in the VR,it's speed is good for the tier standards,tying Indeedee-M, which can make it a decent scarfer that has a powerfull stab with no immunities, can grab momentum and work as a late game cleaner if the answers to it were removed or weakned to the point of dying to Brave Bird. Obviously it´s not that efficient, nor splashable on every team, but with good suport and team coverage for it´s weaknesses, it can manage quite well. Also,being a scarfer that outruns Passimian and threatens it with a guaranteed KO is nothing to scoff at.
I´ll leave some calcs to show Unfezant's prowess against some of the tier´s threats and it´s potential towards the late game:
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Indeedee: 291-343 (111.4 - 131.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Raichu-Alola: 155-183 (59.3 - 70.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 271-321 (97.8 - 115.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Ninetales: 229-270 (79.7 - 94%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard: 220-259 (74 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Vileplume: 288-342 (81.3 - 96.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Xatu: 241-285 (88.9 - 105.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Fluffy Bewear: 216-255 (56.6 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Drampa: 205-243 (57.1 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Escavalier: 172-204 (50.1 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Jellicent: 241-285 (59.6 - 70.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Unfezant Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Silvally-Fairy: 187-222 (56.4 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Summing up:
View attachment 239381: Unranked -> C+

It lacks a good Normal STAB (Quick Attack, Facade and Giga Impact are it's only physical Normal moves), can only really U-turn or Night Slash resists, only really has Grass and Ground as decent resist/immunities (ignoring that most mons using these as STABs have secondary STABs or coverage to overcome this), coupling the prior with lacking bulk all around makes it lack defensive utility (even more niche scarfers like Togedemaru have great defensive typing to both offset mediocre bulk and provide defensive uses). It gets support moves like Wish and Defog, which "could" help offset the lacking offensive presence, but, again, it lacks the typing to switch in consistently and actually do this.

Steelix existing also makes most physical Flying types unviable if they lack coverage, because it stonewalls them forever.

And finally

Unfezant has 88 Speed, not 95

You're both fake news as it's 93.

Some replays indicating it's strong points and usability as stated above would help your case, but I kind of doubt you (or anyone, really) getting replays showing Unfezant accomplishing anything other than cleaning weakened offensive teams (which most other scarfers already do with more efficiency or utility added on top).

 

[King Roma]

It lacks a good Normal STAB (Quick Attack, Facade and Giga Impact are it's only physical Normal moves), can only really U-turn or Night Slash resists, only really has Grass and Ground as decent resist/immunities (ignoring that most mons using these as STABs have secondary STABs or coverage to overcome this), coupling the prior with lacking bulk all around makes it lack defensive utility (even more niche scarfers like Togedemaru have great defensive typing to both offset mediocre bulk and provide defensive uses). It gets support moves like Wish and Defog, which "could" help offset the lacking offensive presence, but, again, it lacks the typing to switch in consistently and actually do this.

Steelix existing also makes most physical Flying types unviable if they lack coverage, because it stonewalls them forever.

And finally

You're both fake news as it's 93.

Some replays indicating it's strong points and usability as stated above would help your case, but I kind of doubt you (or anyone, really) getting replays showing Unfezant accomplishing anything other that cleaning weakened offensive teams (which most other scarfers already do with more efficiency or utility added on top).

I've been using unfezant to nice results and saving a couple replays, but if braviary drops unfezant isn't viable, even with higher speed, it's not high enough to matter, so maybe i'll post my replays later if i deem it worthy

 

[alternatecurrent]

Hiya! Quick nom:

Qwilfish: B -> B+

I'm really liking this mon rn, especially as a lead, considering it beats most relevant rockers (bar Claydol), by virtue of its typing, its ability in Intimidate - further augmenting its physical bulk - as well as the fact that it can spread status and generally be annoying ; I love it.

This is the set I've been using:

Hide

Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Spikes
- Pain Split
- Taunt

Furthermore, a lot of the fatass ground types that Qwil lures in despise the chip that spikes provide, and can thus open windows for qwil's teammates to either set up or start breaking, and the set above has a decent form of recovery in Pain Split.

Sidenote: despite all these merits in its favour - Xatu is very problematic for this mon.


Wall of calcs:

Hide

0 SpA Qwilfish Scald vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Steelix: 110-132 (31 - 37.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 4 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 102-122 (30.5 - 36.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery
-1 4 Atk burned Steelix Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 51-61 (15.2 - 18.2%) -- possible 8HKO after Black Sludge recovery
0 SpA Qwilfish Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Steelix: 152-182 (42.9 - 51.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Steelix Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 152-180 (45.5 - 53.8%) -- 2.7% chance to 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

0 SpA Qwilfish Scald vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Rhydon: 268-316 (64.7 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
-1 252+ Atk Rhydon Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 192-228 (57.4 - 68.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
-1 252+ Atk burned Rhydon Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 96-114 (28.7 - 34.1%) -- 99.3% chance to 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery

0 Atk Coalossal Rock Blast (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 54-66 (16.1 - 19.7%) -- possible 7HKO after Black Sludge recovery
0 SpA Qwilfish Scald vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Coalossal: 168-204 (39.6 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO


-1 4 Atk Mudsdale Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 140-168 (41.9 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
4 Atk Mudsdale Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 210-248 (62.8 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
0 SpA Qwilfish Scald vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mudsdale: 122-146 (30.1 - 36.1%) -- 52.4% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery and burn damage
4 Atk burned Mudsdale Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 105-124 (31.4 - 37.1%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Black Sludge recovery
-1 4 Atk burned Mudsdale Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Qwilfish: 70-84 (20.9 - 25.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Black Sludge recovery

also he a naturally speedy boi so he gets fast taunts

 

[L. Telles]

Unfezant has 88 Speed, not 95

Actually,neither of us is right,it has 93 base speed,which can still get the job done

 

[L. Telles]

It lacks a good Normal STAB (Quick Attack, Facade and Giga Impact are it's only physical Normal moves), can only really U-turn or Night Slash resists, only really has Grass and Ground as decent resist/immunities (ignoring that most mons using these as STABs have secondary STABs or coverage to overcome this), coupling the prior with lacking bulk all around makes it lack defensive utility (even more niche scarfers like Togedemaru have great defensive typing to both offset mediocre bulk and provide defensive uses). It gets support moves like Wish and Defog, which "could" help offset the lacking offensive presence, but, again, it lacks the typing to switch in consistently and actually do this.

Steelix existing also makes most physical Flying types unviable if they lack coverage, because it stonewalls them forever.

And finally

You're both fake news as it's 93.

Some replays indicating it's strong points and usability as stated above would help your case, but I kind of doubt you (or anyone, really) getting replays showing Unfezant accomplishing anything other that cleaning weakened offensive teams (which most other scarfers already do with more efficiency or utility added on top).

Looking at these aspects,it really leaves much to be desired,which is why I mentioned it deserving a C+.Though, having your arguments as basis,maybe just C rank fits it better.Also,your point on showing replays to prove what I said is really important for such discussion,thus,I’ll be sure to share any future replays here to better emphasize my points or outright prove me wrong.

 

[cyanize]

b- -> b
how's this only b-? sneasel is actually nuts, cb has like ...3 good switchins in the whole tier (and i use good very generously here, as aroma is Not Very Good imo). it's crazy fast which is immensely useful in this fast paced meta, having a mon to revenge viriz/raichu/tales while using strong stabs w/o being scarfed is immensely liberating for various builds. also, the presence of an immediately threatening dark-type makes rotom raichu and indeedee play much more wary with their 50/50s, and knock is an absurdly broken move and removing lefties from lix/gastro, boots from zard and scarf from pass can hugely dictate the pace just about any game especially given the raw strength of cb knock. course, weakness to rocks w/o any way to really mitigate it is rather restricting, and you have to play a few 50/50s to get the most value out of it, but knock's so busted that it's probably the right move to click most of the time regardless lol. definitely way more valuable in ur average match than this ranking reflects.

b- -> b
similarly, i think whimsi is way undervalued at b-. specs may not be the strongest thing around, sure, but a fast grass type attacker is v useful vs lame fwg cores and it puts a lot of pressure on lix thanks to lix not being an actual grass resist. an offensive switchin to viriz (and rilla kinda) is also extremely helpful for offensive builds. it also helps a lot that ppl are using lame ass 0hp zard and allowing themselves to take 45 from specs psychic and 50 from cane. specs being a free in for tales sorta kinda blows cus that mon's broken, but luckily specs isnt the only good set - lefties w/ utility is also mad good, getting rid of boots on fires and lefties on fatmons w knock is extremely valuable (sound familiar?), and that little bit of longevity goes a long way vs stuff like viriz and jelli. you can also para annoying mons like lazzle and zard on the switch and make them way easier to deal w/ in the long run. id definitely rather use this than like, half of the current b rank

b -> b-
rotom-s is preeeeetty mediocre imo. scarf is just bad and its only real redeeming value is revenging viriz i guess. np or defog boots has a pretty lame secondary stab as a breaker and gets hardwalled by 2 of the 3 most common rockers which means p much every team has half decent counter play to it. np doesn't ever rly break balance cus they're all gonna have stuff like gastro, lax, av jah, etc that also sit on it in addition to the lix/rhydon that already does the job well enough. toge is a pretty solid scarfer and also just sits on this. all the things that switch into elec flying coverage turn this basically into a wisp bot, except it's way worse at that than rotom-n as it can't rly capitalize on the wisp and pretty much everything it wisps still wins the 1v1 lol. it's also at a pretty unfortunate offensive speed tier where it's slower than the busteds like tales and indeedee and such, and it doesn't make up for that like most other <90 speed breakers do with either crazy power/coverage or good defensive value - just look to its brethren; rotom-n provides a far more useful ghost typing, and rotom-f is extremely hard to actually wall outside of snorlax and luck.

ur -> b or something
noticed y'all didn't seem to vote on this, so i'll throw my hat in the ring as well and bring it back to attention. golurk's a very neat offensive rocker atm, given it just kinda pops all the common hazard control. eq/ice punch/tpunch or eq/edge/dynamic punch both provide extremely solid power and coverage and make it threatening enough to set rocks by scaring off junk that doesn't wanna get blasted to the other side of the planet (opposing rockers like rajah, lix, rhydon come to mind.) it also has 3! immunities which is flames for offense as it forces stuff like passimian, rotom, cb bear to guess twice when the click lest they give a free turn to a 123 attack eq-clicking coverage-having monster. to top it all off, golurk has pretty decent uninvested bulk, which allows it to come in on weak stuff like curselax and careful lix once or twice to put out even more damage or set rocks even more often. overall a vry cool mon that brings some pretty valuable traits to the table for offense.

-> a+ /

-> a
gonna echo termi's sentiment that imo rhydon is the best rocker in the tier atm - and by a good bit too. THE DON has a pretty excellent defensive typing rn thanks to lazzle being broken and tales almost mandating zard on offense, please fix this! :), so despite not running bulk you can still come in many times a game even vs offensive teams and heavily punish something or get rocks up - don's also extremely good at keeping rocks on the field since every defogger bar bold decid is scared as hell of sharing the same space as it. sd is hella scary for balances and it grants so many free turns just by using its stabs bc damn near everything you can consider a switchin has to recover on it or they risk getting 2hkod the next time they try to come in. the addition of viriz is a little troublesome but you can just tech ice/fire punch and chunk it for like 80 then keep on truckin'. don's also one of the few things i consider a true snorlax counter, as stuff like lix jah and roar muds end up losing long term, especially if they lose their lefties, whereas don just outboosts it and does 30 million and now you have to deal with a +6 rhydon.

lix on the other hand actually has the opposite problem; steel/ground isnt that great for a "steel" type atm, as you lose critical grass and ice resistances, and the electric immunity you gain is sorta neutralized by the fact that all the good electrics beat you anyway. you also don't beat either of the two most common hazard control mons without running head smash, and you still don't even really beat xatu with it - ntm you still lose to bold decid and the uncommon rest dhelm. despite running max/max careful, it's still a pretty poor special blanket, even vs stuff lix should theoretically resist; broken fires obviously smash it, specs drampa draco does like fuckin 50 lmao, raichu just surf/fblasts, whimsi gk does a shitload, special decid breezes through it, hell even specs indeedee breaks lix by literally just clicking psychic - 252 SpA Choice Specs Indeedee Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Steelix in Psychic Terrain: 134-158 (37.8 - 44.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (you can literally beat it on the switch lmfao.) its typing doesn't really do it any favors vs physical mons atm either, with the tier being chock full of fighters, knock users, things with strong fighting coverage, or even a mix of the two. in fact, the only things in the a ranks id consider steelix a half decent stop to are snorlax, slurpuff, and silv fairy/steel without flamethrower - but even then, silvallies are running ft like every other game now, and lix technically loses to lax long term w/o curse, especially given how liable it is to trick and knock off.

discussion pts, previous noms, and stuff i dont feel strongly about

qwilfish is pretty cool and quite underutilized, but idk if i would put it in b+; i dont think it's as good as weezing and it's pretty similarly good to garbodor so i think it's fine where it is atm. it's probably one of the best mons currently in b, but i would have considered this more in a skewda/centi meta.

rilla prolly should drop. it's not bad, but zards usage is is almost criminally high, viriz makes it choose between eq and dick ass acrobatics for rkilling, weezing is just a fat L, and xatu/vika are both coming up in popularity as well. pretty much everything is working against this.

in a similar vein, please drop flapple. dd actually stands for donkey dick in honor of how undesirable and useless it is, and cb is basically just worse cb rilla that has less defensive value, no knock, and misses uturns. not a very good mon atm.

escav is a tough one, since i don't think it's really worse - bulky sd sets are still quite threatening, knock off is broken, cb is really really good at just clicking and taking something with it - but it's hard to deny that meta shifts have been unkind to it. that said, i think it's about as good as silv-dark, and i think silv dark is easy a- material, so maybe it should stay.

speaking of, silv dark is easily a-. psychic switchins with immediate offensive presence are very very valuable to make up for the fact that fire switchins with immediate offensive presence damn near don't exist. you gotta be able to click buttons eventually, yeah? not a whole lot actually beats silv dark one on one other than like bear, viriz, scrafty and plume, so it's part of a coveted group that actually punishes the living hell out of indeedee for clicking psychic attacks. very good mon.

as a habitual jellicent hater, i gotta admit that jelli's actually pretty clean rn. surprisingly annoying to switch into, one of like 2 lazzle switchins with actual real recovery, switches into THE DON with a bit of speed (tho u have to play mighty careful), taunt wisps lax into oblivion, and is just generally rather difficult to break. it can definitely rise.

i think decid at b is a little low. specs decid is pretty baller rn actually, and bulky defog being an Actual Virizion Counter (use hurricane it's very cool) that can clear hazards and also actually beat the hazard setters with gk is a super valuable trait. i dont have a particularly strong argument for this tho so i'm not gonna do a whole paragraph on it.

indeedee-f should prolly be unranked cus hw is not a big enough niche to make up for the drop in power and speed, but i havent actually played with scarf hwish so im not super set on this one.

i know we ain't talking about unfezant in a tier with steelix, rhydon, mudsdale, bold jelli, silv steel, and rajah all being like top 15 mons. i know i didn't just read that.

 

[L. Telles]

It lacks a good Normal STAB (Quick Attack, Facade and Giga Impact are it's only physical Normal moves), can only really U-turn or Night Slash resists, only really has Grass and Ground as decent resist/immunities (ignoring that most mons using these as STABs have secondary STABs or coverage to overcome this), coupling the prior with lacking bulk all around makes it lack defensive utility (even more niche scarfers like Togedemaru have great defensive typing to both offset mediocre bulk and provide defensive uses). It gets support moves like Wish and Defog, which "could" help offset the lacking offensive presence, but, again, it lacks the typing to switch in consistently and actually do this.

Steelix existing also makes most physical Flying types unviable if they lack coverage, because it stonewalls them forever.

And finally

You're both fake news as it's 93.

Some replays indicating it's strong points and usability as stated above would help your case, but I kind of doubt you (or anyone, really) getting replays showing Unfezant accomplishing anything other that cleaning weakened offensive teams (which most other scarfers already do with more efficiency or utility added on top).

Well, after playing a bit I realised you're right, Unfezant has to have a perfect match-up to work well, guess I just had a wave of good match-ups before posting.

 

[ausma]

A --> A+

Ever since Mantine rose, I feel like Charizard has snagged a spot as the most splashable Flying type in the tier. I feel like this thing has a degree of flexibility that it's been aching to show off for generations, and thanks to HDB, it no longer has to worry about pesky Rocks damage in order to fully make use of its surprisingly potent, relevant defensive typing and incredible options on both the offensive and defensive end of the spectrum.

Its incredible offensive coverage; great offensive stats and speed tier; access to amazing STABs that nail a lot of the defensive metagame, breaking such things as Vileplume, Virizion, Steelix, and Escavalier, for example; and a great boosting move in Dragon Dance not only make it a huge menace offensively, but access to Defog, Roost, Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, and Roar allow it to capitalize on its relevant defensive typing in order to form a utilitarian role. The amazing thing is that Charizard is able to mold itself to your needs, and no matter what you need it for, it can pull it off effectively and consistently. This isn't even bearing in mind its mind breaking power under Sun.

I believe that flexible, yet efficient Pokemon are always top threats. If a Pokemon is able to work in consistently, fit onto most if not all team archetypes, and possess many options, then it's a perfect candidate for a higher ranking most definitely.

This being said, though, I don't believe it is S rank worthy, as it necessitates HDB to not fold to Stealth Rock. This prevents its flexibility from reaching its max potential, as potential Scarf/Specs sets are generally difficult to run due to Stealth Rock greatly hindering Charizard defensively and halting easy switch-ins. This has it fold to faster threats or Scarfers, which is a very relevant issue it faces. But, its splashability and overall usefulness is not to be understated.


B --> B-

Morpeko is sadly quite underwhelming in practice. I think it has a lot of potential due to the ungodly Aura Wheel and its great movepool, but its ability is really exploitable thanks to Protect, and it detests the prevalence of bulky Grass and Ground types. It doesn't help that it dies to literally any move, and that it has no way of boosting its offenses outside of items. However, I think it's one of those Pokemon that can shine in the hands of a skilled, patient player, but that's exactly why I don't think it's exactly a B rank Pokemon. It's not easily accessible, and requires set-up/good team support to cleave through teams. That being said, though, I could see this thing rising instead if its checks have a shake in viability.

Other noms I want to address:

B- --> B
Unsure, leaning toward Disagree

I kinda see where this is coming from? It's an absolute menace offensively for sure, however, while it may lack many effective switch-ins, it in of itself struggles to switch in due to its frailty and hazard weakness. It needs a lot of team support to work, but it can break house if given the opportunity.

B --> A-
Agree

This thing is underrated, as it's a menace offensively and can be a bitch to deal with thanks to its triple STABs and access to Rapid Spin/a viable trapping move. Its AV set in particular has been great for me, as its a surprisingly solid check to Indeedee and Raichu, and is an effective spinner due to lacking a particular hazard weakness. HDB works nicely as well, as its defensive typing is still a great natural check to things like Virizion and it has Synthesis to heal off damage. Decidueye sadly pales in comparison to it.

B --> B+
Unsure, leaning toward Agree

Stupid carrot fish. I hate that I actually kinda agree with this, because it does have some really nifty toys that help it establish a niche as a Spiker and defensive mon. Though, I don't think it's fantastic due to its proneness to being worn down. Something I do like, though, is its ability to take on some of the Defoggers of the tier.

A+ --> A
Agree

It's without a shred of doubt that its utility as a Rocker should not be understated, as it is capable of almost always getting its Rocks up. Though, the fact it lacks incredibly important resists as a Steel type and has some dangerous weaknesses to relevant metagame threats is very problematic. At the moment, this meta is a time for Fighting types, Grass types, and Salazzle; Steelix does not at all like this due to its inability to fight them back with its abysmal speed.

A --> A+
Disagree

Rhydon is really weird. With Eviolite, this thing becomes an equivalent of the Berlin Wall, but as stated before, this is something of a Grass/Fighting meta currently. Rhydon has the unique ability to take on Salazzle and rising star Charizard, but it's usually pretty easy to guess when a Rhydon will switch in and soak a crippling Toxic from either Pokemon in addition to its inability to heal reliably. I think it definitely is a strong Pokemon, and I can see a case for it rising, but I think it isn't really worthy of A+ just yet.

 

[Expulso]

Figured i'd give my thoughts on the new Viability Rankings, mostly agree but there are a few things i'd change. This might all change if we get drops in a day or two but here goes:

Virizion: A --> A+

Virizion is a meta-defining threat, and I think this should be reflected by a bump up in the rankings. It makes up for being slower than other offensive staples Raichu-Alola and Salazzle in a few ways. It provides good defensive utility for offensive teams, letting them comfortably switch into Rhydon without dying if they predict incorrectly; it takes advantage of common defensive Pokemon like Snorlax, Steelix, Jellicent, Mudsdale, Gastrodon, and Silvally-Dark, using them all as an opportunity to set up / get off a free attack; and, most importantly, it can run multiple different sets which have different checks. I have run SD / Leaf Blade / CC / Stone Edge the most, but sometimes switch things up and run SD / CC / Stone Edge / Zen Headbutt, trading its weaker secondary STAB for the ability to run two coverage moves and tear apart the Zard + Poison-type cores often used to check it. VIrizion can also run CM or, with the addition of Leaf Storm, Choice Specs, changing its counters each time. Physically bulky Sableye and Aromatisse do well against SD but get blown back by a Specs Leaf Storm; Charizard handles all Specially attacking sets but gets bopped by Stone Edge; Vileplume must watch out for either Air Slash on Special sets or Zen Headbutt on physical ones.

I often feel ok against Salazzle if my team has just one switch-in (Specially bulky Rhydon, Gastrodon, or Snorlax) -- even though Salazzle's Toxic + Protect/Knock Off can wear them down eventually, I can switch into Lazzle 3-4 times before I start to get worried, and Lazzle's lack of defensive utility makes it hard to bring in that often. Virizion, however, forces me to always bring multiple Pokemon in order to ensure that I am safe against every set Virizion can run. I think this absolutely makes it an A+ Pokemon.


Rotom: A- --> B+ or B

Scarf Rotom is incredibly weak, outspeeding Passimian but doing 40% at most. It cannot 2HKO Indeedee even after Stealth Rock damage, an absolutely embarrassing stat for an offensive Pokemon.

Specs Rotom is better; Ghost coverage is threatening against teams that don't have a Snorlax, and Snorlax is crippled by Trick. However, it now faces competition from Specs Decidueye, which gets far more switchins due to its superior bulk and has access to the much stronger Leaf Storm [Volt Switch, which Rotom spams, is a measly 70 BP, and Thunderbolt is just 90; a 130-BP Leaf Storm + Decid's higher Special Attack leads to a very noticeable power difference]. Trick is very useful to take on Snorlax, and then Rotom can do other things like Nasty Plot or Wisp. I've even run a non-choiced set with Colbur Berry and Wisp+Hex to annoy the shit out of teams with passive rockers like Mudsdale that let it in for relatively free. However, even then, its lack of reliable recovery made it less effective than VIkavolt in that role. Rotom is definitely usable but I think a B+ or B rank would more accurately reflect its place in this meta.

Flapple: B+ --> B; faces competition as an offensive grass from Viriz/Decid, it definitely isn't better than Decid due to its unreliability, mediocre bulk, and lack of coverage for steel-types. it's definitely usable and, with a CB / Hustle, very strong, but it's a glass cannon [slightly tougher than glass? its bulk isnt all that bad] with mediocre speed.

Decidueye: B --> B+; strong, versatile mon that can do multiple different things well (SD, Specs, Nasty Plot, Defog) while using its typing, good bulk, and access to reliable recovery to check Viriz/Raichu-A. It even gets Knock Off to sweeten the deal, which Ive enjoyed using to cripple stuff like Zard. Ghost coverage is good rn and this is stronger than Rotom + has the versatility to attack physically or specially. Def a B+ mon in my eyes, look forward to using it more in the team tour / seasonal / ladder whenever im not prepping for finals :'(

Sneasel: B- --> B: 1000% agree with cyanize's post above, which makes the case for it well. I'll add a replay to show you how threatening it can be:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ru-491966
(was gonna do more but the last one i found was from Mantine meta LOL so uh just watch this one, shows how threatening CB can be as a cleaner mid to late game while also Knocking misc. mons early)

gastrodon: B+ --> A-: there are just a lot of bulky offensive where gastro walls 4/6, 5/6 mons. running a non-sr ground type really isnt that bad rn with sr jah. gastrodon walls so, so much of this meta [including being the best or 2nd best Salazzle answer] that it's difficult for me not to view it as an A-rank defensive threat. A- seems appropriate, I honestly would prob put it as an A-rank in the "Pokemon expulso spams the shit out of" rankings but think A- is appropriate for the general RU VR due to low damage output, mediocre synergy with some of the SR users, and the fact that it lets in Lazzle/Plume/Decid kind of for free [Scald burns and toxic annoy the 2 that arent Plume, and you can consider ice beam which is def usable on it]. A gastro team needs answers to the grasses in the tier. although they all have different checks, charizard/salazzle/ninetales/xatu/escavalier/vikavolt/drampa [all in A ranks!] give you plenty of options there.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ru-495329
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ru-489535

lots of times gastrodon gets excellent MUs like these where it is one of, if not the, best Pokemon on the field that game. Def an A- mon at least, imo.

Escavalier: A- --> B+; awkward to build around this; your steel is 4x weak to fire, so one right prediction from Indeedee and it's gone, making it a poor check to a mon you expect your steel type to do well against. It doesn't set SR or pivot like the other steels in the tier; it has good special bulk (esp. if invested) but often gets Volted on and chipped to death. I cant describe it super well here but this has definitely better on paper than in practice for me; if others have thoughts on this i'd be curious to hear, although it's most likely going UU in like 2 days.

Lightning round:

B --> B-
None of these mons are particularly impressive in RU. I have never felt an urge to use them, and the one time i have tried each of them has left me super unimpressed by their mediocre bulk and offensive presence (plus, u can use another silv/rotom forme to more success). these do not belong with the other mons in B; they sure as hell do not belong above Sneasel, which is currently in B-


B --> C+ or B-
These mons do not have much value here at all; I have never seen anyone use them or feel a reason to. They are not completely unviable -- both are pretty bulky, i guess? --but they sure as hell aren't B rank.

Unranked --> C/C+ prob
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...d-teams-aka-heat-thread.3662577/#post-8446653

i have written a bunch on this and dont want to write more words on this so just read that. tldr specs hurricane does 90% to Rhydon and 70% to Steelix LOL this thing is insanely strong with Tinted Lens this gen, definitely viable alongside mons that appreciate steels / rhydon weakened (indeedee comes to mind thx to owl's ability to weaken jah/steelvally, e.g.)

Unranked --> B-/B

Strong AF with 124 Atk, potent ground stab, and great coverage. SR is usable but Ive been running CB and Rock Polish to some success. Here's two replays (nvm i could only find one, here's a bunch of text instead):

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ru-1096684513-b97oevhy5emm8eihmksegxsh10takkwpw <-- rp golurk, doing 99% to Xatu instead of KOing in early game was unfortunate [that was min roll if spdef Xatu] made me take an extra 26% in LO + Helmet damage. Otherwise, if u look at Ajna's team there (a solid, fairly typical team) RP Golurk has a good shot to clean if it stays healthy. despite it getting chipped too much, bringing in Xatu and doing 99% in one hit is still pretty nice.

i apparently cant find my replay with CB, which I really regret :( but I like that set a lot better, CB EQ is so good if your ground resist is viriz/plume and golurk has every conceivable coverage move for the predictable flying type switch in (stone edge, tpunch, ice punch, shadow punch for xatu/rotom/secondary STAB that's pretty click-able). again this is off of a 124 base attack stat. good stuff, give it a try.

ok have fun guys :-) hope someone replies to this before drops; nonetheless, i look forward to trying out anything that might drop in a few days!

 

[gorex]

kinda bored rn, so i figured id find something to do. guess ill share my thoughts about certain noms made so far, and nom 1 or 2 of my own.

b+ -> a-
firstly, wanna discuss slightly why toxicroak is potentially underrated in meta rn and why i think it should be more commonly used. as of the meta position right, i don't really think sd is its best set, np or scarf are better but on to that later, because it struggles to break your commonplace defensive mons in the tier. having to pick between sucker and knock is one of the set's downfalls, because opting for sucker means you cant touch jellicent at all, which is kinda wack when its meant to set up over water types w/ dry skin, and getting blocked by psy terrain is kinda awful as well. on the other hand, opting for knock means that at the cost of being able to handle jellicent, you miss out on being able to kill faster mons such as raichu-a, salazzle, etc. also, sd's damage output is kinda laughable, when you take into account that you cant even ohko rhydon at +2, and jellicent tanks with colbur and just wisps to cripple it for the rest of the game. additionally, when you compare dmg of sd vs np on stuff like mudsdale, gastrodon, weezing and the earlier mentioned mons, np outshines sd in damage output.

sd calcs

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Colbur Berry Jellicent: 214-253 (52.9 - 62.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Rhydon: 315-374 (76 - 90.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gastrodon: 253-298 (59.3 - 69.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Drain Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mudsdale: 199-235 (49.2 - 58.1%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Toxicroak Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 152+ Def Weezing: 151-178 (45.2 - 53.2%) -- 33.2% chance to 2HKO

np calcs

+2 252 SpA Life Orb Toxicroak Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Jellicent: 330-390 (81.6 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Toxicroak Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Rhydon: 954-1126 (230.4 - 271.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Toxicroak Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Gastrodon: 316-372 (74.1 - 87.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Toxicroak Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mudsdale: 441-520 (109.1 - 128.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Life Orb Toxicroak Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 88 SpD Weezing: 229-269 (68.5 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

moving on to np, thanks Loom for making me want to write this post to talk about np. its the best set up variant available right now, being able to beat down most of the defensive commonfare with a bit of chip (as evidenced in calcs above). only real thing that stops np croak in its tracks are misses and faster mons, which means that it almost always should be able to clean 1 mon of the battlefield which is extremely valuable in comparison to sd. its ability to excel against the common defensive mons in the tier is what i believe to be incredibly important and worth pushing it up a tier.

additionally, there's also scarf croak, which has pretty good revenge killing potential with gunk shot / low kick / earthquake / knock off, allowing you to revenge kill most fast mons / breakers, examples being viriz with gunk, lazzle with eq, and raichu-a with eq / knock. its speed tier putting it over scarf passi is also incredibly valuable when taking into account that passimian is the most splashable scarfer in the tier right now bar none, and its typing also offers it cool resistance / defensive utility, allowing the user to pivot it in on stuff such as viriz stabs.

i think the traits that np and scarf offer to a mon like croak as highlighted above definitely makes it worthy of being pushed up a tier

a- -> a
i think copperajah being put at a- is slightly unfair to how good it is right now. well, by now, everyone should know how effectively this can run an av set, being one of the best stops to indeedee in the tier, along with being able to switch into other special attackers such as frosmoth and whimsicott pretty well. however, the set that makes me believe copperajah should be pushed one tier up is not the av set but the rocks set that has been rising in popularity.

firstly, being able to have the flexibility to run a non-ground rocker is insanely valuable, as it paves way to run stuff such as gastrodon and silv-ground (as evidenced in this replay, even though its mantine meta) without typing overlaps. considering how good gastrodon is in the meta right now (which will be covered later on in the post), having this sort of flexibility is greatly appreciated. secondly, although its 69/69 defenses may put you off this mon, it does have a fat 122 hp stat, which means investing in bulk along with its good typing can make it surprisingly bulky. additionally, it can effectively pull off lure sets with resist berries such as shuca (as underlined in this post), occa or chople, which provide tons of versatility in one slot. also, its one of the few rockers that does not instantly cede momentum to stuff like gastro as its able to outspeed and power whip it, while the rest just rely on toxic'ing it and wearing it down gradually.

I believe that all the traits offered by copperajah as highlighted above definitely make it worth pushing up a tier.

now, time to support some noms.

b- -> b
i think what cyanize and expulso highlighted about this mon and why it should rise is pretty accurate. its speed tier is insane, only losing out to lazzle and boltund, and allows you to catch up stuff like viriz and raichu-a after they kill off a mon. additionally, it hits pretty hard, with the utility of knock being very valuable as it can remove items such as lefties / black sludge of defensive switchins, making them easier to wear down over the course of the game. there isn't much answers to this mon, and it even has ice shard to be able to catch out some scarfers / clean late game. overall, think this mon is pretty underrated and sleeper good rn, should be worthy of b.

b -> b-
agree with this, essentially does not hit enough to be worth running as a scarfer, and does not effectively run a defog set in our tier for it to be ranked this highly. flying stab does not really do much in this metagame with mons such as copperajah and rhydon running around, and the only real thing this mon does is catching out these defensive switchins with wisp and doing nothing much else throughout the course of the game. definitely should be worth pushing down to b-

ur -> b
golurk definitely deserves to be ranked, and i think somewhere around the b region won't be bad to start. for starters, this mon is one of the few rockers that is able to threaten most of the common hazard prevention such as zard and xatu. it is able to flex with iron fist shadow punch / ice punch, or no guard dynamic punch / stone edge to hit most of the tier relatively hard. it can even effectively pilot a cb set as mentioned in expulso's post, as it is able to 2hko some of the most bulky stuff in our tier such as physdef gastro, jellicent and vileplume. additionally, there are few to none effective ground switchins in the tier, which makes ground stab typing very valuable. definitely should be ranked somewhere around b

a -> a+
zard definitely deserves a+ rn due to the fact that it's the most splashable defogger in the tier rn and serves a blanket check to stuff like scarf passi, cm viriz, ninetales etc. it provides insanely valuable utility with defog and toxic to catch the bulky switchins, can flex eq to catch stuff like lazzle or hurricane to catch stuff like viriz, and isnt a slouch in the damage department either, hitting off a 109 spa stat albeit unboosted (can even be boosted by blaze sometimes). i think the only real thing that stops this from going to s rn is that its heavily reliant on boots to perform its duty, and also the omnipresent rhydon + bulky waters can really hinder zard as it gives up momentum to these said mons. definitely still worthy of pushing up to a+ tho for how splashable it is

a -> a+
viriz has 3 sets (cm, sd, specs) that it can flex effectively, and all the sets have different checks / counters to them, as checks to one set often get manhandled by the other sets (expulso highlights this really well in his first para of viriz nom, recommend you read that cuz i would just be repeating). as a result of this, it is often mandated to pack at least 2 answers to this mon, which is pretty restrictive in building, similar to how it is often necessary to bring a steel + dark for indeedee. additionally, with its typing and bulk, you can bring this in on stuff like rhydon to start threatening attacks, which makes it incredibly menancing to handle in game. definitely worth pushing up to a+, maybe even s.

a- -> b+ / b
definitely agree with this, don't think rotom is in a good place rn, doesn't hit as hard as say a passimian to really make it a good scarfer. i think the only real tools it has right now is volt for momentum and trick to cripple defensive answers. not really worth running as a scarfer right now, and i think its only possible saving grace rn is colbur / spell tag with wisp hex, but even then it still has some downsides like speed tier being lower than that of all the vallies and other common offensive mons like viriz lazzle indeedee. should defo be pushed down a tier or 2.

b+ -> a-
think this is a long time coming ever since april drops, being one of the best lazzle answers in the tier and also being validated by the shift in metagame pace making rajah more prevalent as a non-ground rocker which gives more breathing room to gastrodon due to non type overlap. think its also a good switchin to stuff like gk-less raichu-a (this mon rly shouldn't be using gk tbh its a meme only hits gastro), and some others such as croak, zard, that definitely makes it worth putting in a- for how much better this mon is in the meta. fwiw, i think the only real thing stopping it from going slightly higher to like an a is 4x grass weak which makes it prone to stuff like viriz plume, and also how piss weak it is with attacks.

hopefully reading this post didnt bore you guys as it did to me while i wrote it up, and hopefully there's some good points in there worth being discussed, or points that convinced you about the viability of certain mons. thanks for reading

 

[Mavis]

New shifts time, everyone! Rises of two subranks or more are highlighted in green, and drops of two or more are highlighted in red.

New Additions

Inteleon (A+): Inteleon wasted no time cementing itself as one of RU's premier offensive threats, mandating usage of one of only a handful of checks lest a team be at massive risk of being drowned by its Hydro Pump. Its offensive prowess is amplified by its great coverage, incredible Speed, and access to U-Turn to augment its flagship Choice Specs set.

Rotom-Mow (A+): Rotom-Mow received a decent amount of hype coming into the tier, owed to being an outstanding Defogger with newfound access to Nasty Plot. Bringing with it Choiced sets from previous generations for a healthy dose of versatility, Rotom-Mow finds itself in a prime position to succeed.

Vaporeon (A): Vaporeon is an astoundingly well-rounded support Pokemon, capable of using its incredible defenses to pass massive Wishes to teammates and cure their ailments with coveted access to cleric moves. Its passivity and predictability leave it just shy of the highest ranks, but its more than worthy of being placed in A.

Braviary (A-): Braviary's wallbreaking and setup sets all make their return to RU, beefed up by its access to Close Combat. Its versatility in terms of move and item choice make it a great choice to fit on many teams, but just a step below the meta-defining threats above it.

Duraludon (A-): RU finally gains an offensive Stealth Rock user not named Rhydon, and Duraludon is definitely more than a one dimensional threat. Able to use Choiced sets as well as Stealth Rock ones, Duraludon is backed up by great Speed and a stellar typing that allow it to fulfill its role well.

Drapion (B+): Losing Pursuit was definitely a massive blow to Drapion, but it finds itself able to succeed nonetheless. Choiced sets as well as Swords Dance and more specially defensive ones all are usable, giving Drapion a healthy dose of versatility, though it doesn't excel in any particular area.

Avalugg (C+): The Table is a niche physical wall offering spinning and a surprisingly strong Body Press that really only fits on stall-oriented teams. Nonetheless, its paper thin special defense, weakness to the abundant Fire-types, and susceptibility to Knock Off leave it out of the spotlight to most, making it a fine fit for C+.

Silvally-Water (B-): Silvally-Water has proven itself to be a capable Defogger that threatens a lot of popular Stealth Rock setters as well as the ever-common Fire-types.

Rises

Virizion: A -> A+
Xatu: A -> A+
Drampa: A- -> A
Decidueye: B -> A-
Gastrodon: B+ -> A-
Sableye: B+ -> A-
Aromatisse: B -> B+
Cramorant: C+ -> B
Sneasel: B- -> B
Whimsicott: B- -> B

Drops

Indeedee: S -> A+
Vileplume: A -> A-
Mudsdale: A- -> B+
Rotom: A- -> B+
Flapple: B+ -> C+
Weezing: B+ -> B
Garbodor: B -> B-
Gurdurr: B -> C
Morpeko: B -> B-
Qwilfish: B -> B-
Rotom-Fan: B -> C+
Silvally-Ground: B -> C+
Abomasnow: B- -> C+
Cinccino: B- -> C+
Mr. Rime: B- -> C+
Sawk: B- -> C+
Alcremie: B- -> C
Haunter: C+ -> C
Lanturn: C+ -> C
Rapidash-Galar: C+ -> C
Rapidash: C+ -> UR
Corsola: C -> UR
Indeedee-F: C -> UR
Mr. Mime-Galar: C -> UR
Quagsire: C -> UR

 

[Molk]

So i have a bit of inside info from Mavis that Wishiwashi is going to be added to the slate next time the VR is updated, and as one of the people who theorycrafted its niche in the current metagame i figured i'd fill people in on why it's going to be added to the slate.

It's no secret that there's a very large of special threats running around RU right now, and this has resulted in most teams adding a blanket check to special attackers such as Snorlax and/or a bulky Water-Type like Vaporeon. The issue with this is that these Pokemon tend to be momentum sinks and/or lack offensive presence, which can be trouble when a player is trying to make a more aggressive build. After thinking for a bit and checking the NU forums, i noticed that Wishiwashi was starting to pick up, and that's when i realized that it can take on a lot of the more prominent special attacking threats in the tier such as Salazzle, Inteleon, Charizard, and Ninetales without giving up either offensive presence or momentum. I brought this up to atomicllamas and he made a few teams with it and used it in seasonal, where it proceeded to be one of the MVPs of his team and help him win the match. The set that he used (bar some specific EVs) is below.

The Memers (Wishiwashi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Schooling
EVs: 248 HP / 20 Atk / 240 SpD
Sassy Nature
- U-turn
- Scald
- Protect
- Earthquake / Toxic (?) / Ice Beam (?)

Wishiwashi has the luxury of being able to run a fully defensive EV spread like this while still hitting as hard as an offensive Pokemon both physically and specially unlike other bulky Water-types such as Vaporeon and Jellicent. For reference, even without any investment at all, Wishiwashi will have offenses of 316/316, about the amount of a fully invested positive natured Pokemon with 95 in either attack or special attack. Scald is obviously a given, since it's basically the best STAB move a bulkier Water-type Pokemon could possibly run. U-Turn is what stops Wishiwashi from being a momentum sink, and actually makes it a great pivot, as it can take repeated hits, force switches, and use its extremely slow U-Turn to get other Pokemon into the match for free. The combination of Leftovers+Protect here is to keep Wishiwashi out of Schooling as much as possible by giving it at least some form of recovery, and as a bonus Protect also lets Wishiwashi scout choiced attacks from its opponents. Earthquake hits Ninetales (in sun), Toxicroak, and Duraludon, among others, with the attack EVs in the spread above guaranteeing a OHKO on Toxicroak after one round of Life Orb damage, but depending on the rest of the Wishiwashi user's team structure i could see Toxic (for opposing bulky Water-types, plus Protox is neat) and Ice Beam (for a hard hit on Grass- and Dragon-types like Decidueye and Drampa) working.

EDIT: phantom also brought up running Liquidation over Scald but Scald burns are just so good.
EDIT2: had a brain fart and forgot about U-turn being weakened if you used a Calm nature on EQless sets lol

I don't know where exactly i'd rank it because i'm frankly very new to this meta, but i believe Mavis mentioned in the RUcord that she thinks it's possibly better than anything in the C ranks right now.

 

[Mavis]

the hell you mean inside info i blurted that out in general chan MULTIPLE times

later, more serious 2AM edit: this thing is actually pretty damn good. it's the only thing that can check both the normal specs set and the evinteleon set outside of gastrodon, which is a total momentum drain. to elaborate on molk's last sentence, if it was up to me to put it somewhere in the ranks, it fits pretty squarely in C+ as it's a new, relatively undiscovered Pokemon. being held back by it's lack of reliable recovery stings a lot, but I could see it getting as high as B if it takes off in the time between now and the next time we vote.

good discovery friend, it's nice to see you enjoying the tier again :)

 

[Expulso]

Raichu-A: A+ --> A-

Unlike the other Pokemon in A+, such as Virizion, Indeedee, and Rotom-Mow, Raichu-A has very little utility on the defensive end. It cannot check any threats defensively or switch into anything freely. Virizion and Rotom-Mow can switch into the super-common Ground-type Stealth Rockers and the equally common Vaporeon, while Indeedee can use its decent special bulk (aided by the fact that it does not run LO) to switch into some special attacks as well as being immune to Ghost-type attacks.

Raichu-A, however, has very few opportunities to switch in. Its best shot is coming in on a defensive Pokemon that it can force out, such as Vaporeon or Vileplume, but it can only do that once:
0 SpA Vaporeon Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Raichu-Alola: 108-127 (41.3 - 48.6%) -- 73.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock (kills if it comes in on SR twice, takes SR + LO recoil, etc.)
0 SpA Vileplume Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Raichu-Alola: 120-142 (45.9 - 54.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

In this bulky offense meta, there are almost no other Pokemon that cannot switch into anything but the weakest attacks. This means that Raichu-A very dependent on teammates for switch-in opportunities and makes your team worse defensively, which often makes it a liability.

Now I'll discuss its offensive flaws. At base 110 Speed, Raichu-A is slower than the other two top-tier powerful yet frail offensive Pokemon, Inteleon (base 120) and Salazzle (base 117). Salazzle is able to uniquely cripple its checks with Toxic / Knock Off and has Boots to come in and out of the game to spread status before going in to clean up against weakened teams. Inteleon has a super-powerful move, Specs Hydro Pump, that every team must explicitly prepare for (u need to run a Water immunity on basically every team now), and it can very easily press U-Turn to chip them and pivot into its teammates.

Raichu-A theoretically also has the ability to pivot out of its checks with Volt Switch, but doing so means it usually takes 23% (SR + LO) every time it switches in, and switching in usually requires it to take 40% from even the most defensive Pokemon, so it is not able to pivot more than once or twice. It has good coverage, but its attacks are also much weaker neutrally than Salazzle's or Inteleon's:

252 SpA Life Orb Raichu-Alola Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Silvally-Fairy: 142-169 (42.9 - 51%) -- 4.7% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Salazzle Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Silvally-Fairy: 169-199 (51 - 60.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Inteleon Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Silvally-Fairy: 273-322 (82.4 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
[Silvally-Fairy is just a neutral target to demonstrate their relative power]

This means that it is a lot less able to scare out neutral Pokemon; while Inteleon can force out of a neutral target like Silv-Fairy, a healthy Silv-Fairy can just stay in versus Raichu-A knowing that Raichu-A has no way to seriously damage it.

Finally, the new meta shifts also were not kind to Raichu-A. Inteleon is a faster and much stronger frail attacker that offensive teams can now use. Rotom-Mow is a much better Electric-type pivot and Nasty Plot user thanks to its ability to switch in far more often, use its way stronger Leaf Storm, cripple things with Wisp or Defog, and pivot out of the Grass-types (which, admittedly, do wall it) into a teammate that beats them. Duraludon is a good switch-in to Raichu-A, and it has the option to be a Choice Scarfer that can switch in and then outspeed Raichu-A.

Tl;dr:
- Raichu-A's bad typing and poor bulk mean it can't switch into anything more than once. Even offensive Pokemon like Salazzle can reliably switch into some offensive Pokemon (Physical Virizion, Charizard not running EQ, any Passimian attack but Rock Slide, Plume, a bunch more). Using a Pokemon that can't switch into anything automatically cripples your team in this bulky offense meta.
- It is too weak to be threatening with non-super effective attacks; it is ~80% as strong as Salazzle and just 50% as strong as Inteleon.
- It faces competition from new Pokemon like Rotom-Mow, and the meta shifts also gave it new checks like Duraludon

I think this should go A-; it's about comparable to Rillaboom in my mental rankings of "how likely am I to use this?" and probably below A- Pokemon like Braviary, Silvally-Fairy, and Slurpuff.