Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon In-Game Tier list (v2)

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
took me some time, but managed to complete both of my runs. Klefki is in there, so feel free to read through it, if you wish to.

Magnemite
As I said, I aimed to have detailed logs of Magnemite. Some results were suprising to me, others not so much. Anyways, here are they:

Gumshoos(14): Thundershock 4HKOs Totem Gumshoos, which deals 7 out of 33 HP with Bite, thus a 5HKO. Gumshoos will often Scary Face you, so you have to paralyze to avoid Bite flinches (and sometimes, it will just Scary Face you again anyways). Bite + Pursuit deal around 11-12 HP, which amounts to a 3HKO. Bite after Leer deals around 12 HP, which also amounts to a 3HKO. All in all, Magnemite cannot win with a 100% guarantee here, because the trial duo can potentially 3HKO it before Magnemite can KO Gumshoos

Hala(19): I know I said I was going to be detailed, but do I need details for Hala? It cannot 2HKO anything there and everything manages to 2HKO it one way or another

Araquanid(23): Araquanid outspeeds and 2HKOs with Bubble. Needless to say, you won't win anything here

Marowak(25): lol

Lurantis(28): Metal Sound make Silverpowder Signal Beam an OHKO on Lurantis. Lurantis has 75% chance to 2HKO with Low Sweep. However, Lurantis almost always goes for X-Scissor turn one, so more often than not, Magnemite wins

Olivia(31): Mirror Shot OHKOs Anorith and 2HKOs the rest. Eviolite makes Magneton pretty much untouchable

Togedemaru(36): Signal Beam 3HKOs after Metal Sound is spammed to the max. With Eviolite, you are basically untouchable. However, this takes incredibly long time, so it's not very efficient

Guzma (37): destroys this fight easily. Shock Wave 2HKOs everything and Eviolite + Steel typing make the matchup safe

Mimikyu(40): Z-Flash Cannon OHKOs Mimikyu. It doesn't deal much to Zone and Banette i slower, so the matchup is pretty much guaranteed

Guzma(45): outspeeds and OHKOs Golisopod with Discharge. OHKOs Masquerain with Discharge while not taking damage. Pinsir is OHKOed by Z-Discharge and doesn't OHKO with Storm Throw.

Nanu(46): it can 1v1 anything on his team; Sableye is 2HKOed by Discharge and 4HKOs with Shadow Ball. Krokorok dies to Signal Beam if you have Sturdy and Persian dies to Z-Signal Beam while 2HKOing with Z-Dark Pulse (deals around 100 out of 135 damage). If you want to, you could beat Sableye, heal offscreen, then use it for Persian

Guzma #3 (50): Specs Discharge OHKOs everything but Vikavolt, which generally finihes you off. However, you beat the rest with no problems

Kommo-o(56): Drain Punch 2HKOs you and you can't do much in return

Ultra Necrozma(56): Roto Boost twice, Z-Signal Beam, then heal, then finish it off

Ribombee(58): Z-Flash Cannon into Flash Cannon to KO

Hapu(60): Magnet Rise on Golurk which wastes a turn trying to hit you with EQ. Flash Cannon 2HKOs on rolls (seems to be a low roll, though) and it 2HKOs with Hammer Arm, but tends to go for SR at some point. Mudsdale dies to Z-Flash Cannon. If your Magnet Rise is over, Flygon generally finishes you off. You also cannot deal much damage to Gastrodon, so it's going to be a slow showdown

Molayne(63): Specs Thunderbolt OHKOs Bisharp and 2HKOs Klefki and Metagross. Metagross deals a lot of damage with Hammer Arm, but doesn't threaten you enough. Avoid Magnezone and Dugtrio

Olivia(63): Specs Flash Cannon OHKOs everything but Probopass, though Gigalith is rolls. Lycanroc is OHKOed even under sand and its best move is Crunch, so...

Acerola(64): Specs TBolt OHKOs Banette. Switch out against Palossand. Then spam Specs Flash Cannon, which OHKOs Froslass and 2HKOs the rest

Kahili(64): Specs Thunderbolt OHKOs everything. Oricorio is the only Pokemon that can beat you, as it deals heavy damage with Revelation Dance

Hau(65): Specs Signal Beam kills Raichu after taking Focus Blast damage. Tauros comes in and destroys you with EQ. Vaporeon, Crabominable, and Noivern are all OHKOed by Specs Thunder, though Noivern is a roll, so I assume Crabominable is too. Vaporeon is also faster (if my memory serves me right), so it can hit you with Hydro Pump pretty hard


To summarize, Magnemite is shaky for the first trial, is outright bad for the next three fights and then becomes pretty good. However, this "good" has a bit of hiccups here and there, with Togedemaru, Kommo-o, and Hapu being all bad matchups, while Nanu being a minor contribution only. All in all, I can see why one would consider this S, but I am personally leaning more towards A-tier. It's a great Pokemon, but it takes some time to actually become that good. And even then, you aren't going to destroy everything, so you have that problem. Regardless, A-tier doesn't mean it's bad, it means it's great with some flaws that you need to cover to make it broken tier (at least imo).

Eevee (Jolteon) -> leaning towards B
Jolteon was a big surprise to me, because I wasn't expecting it to perform that well. The ranking assuems that you evolve it ASAP. Jolteon, in summary, is very fast and has a good Special attack, meaning it can take out some opponents pretty efficiently. To see some good matchups:

Araquanid - Magnet Charge Beam, then KO with +1 Shock Wave

Lurantis - Silverpowder Signal Beam 2HKOs Lurantis while outspeeding. I was at 85 Speed, so lower IVed Jolteon could struggle here instead

Olivia #1 - Work Up, then OHKO Anorith with Magnet Discharge. Then Work Up twice on Lileep and OHKO it with Signal Beam and then OHKO Lycanroc with Shock Wave. Not the most efficient way of sweeping, given the huge amount of setup, but if you need to sweep with it, this is how you do it.

Guzma #1 - spam Magnet Discharge to win

Guzma #2 ad #3 - Work Up then OHKO Golisopod and Masquerain with Discharge. OHKO Pinsir with Z-Thunder. The sweep depends a lot on whenever Golisopod Sucker Punches or not for the second fight, can't do much to Vikavolt in #3

Nanu - Z-Thunder OHKOs Sableye and Signal Beam OHKOs Krokorok while outspeeding. Persian generally KO with Z-Dark Pulse, but if you live and haven't used your Z-Move, you can OHKO with Z-Signal Beam

Molayne - Specs Thunderbolt OHKOs Bisharp and 2HKOs Klefki and Metagross.

Acerola - beats Banette, Driblim, and Froslass

Kahili - outspeeds and OHKOs everything with Specs Thunderbolt

the most notable achievements, imo, are the Araquanid, Lurantis, and Kahili matchups. I could maybe see this dropping to C, but right now, I will put it in B, as I had very good time using it.

Paras -> E
I used it only because I couldn't think of using anything else. Basically, Paras barely has any good matchups, which mostly consist of... Olivia #1 and Hapu. Nanu is very shaky and the rest simply are too much for it because its typing is pretty bad. Spore would in theory help, but sleep being active only 1-3 turns means that it's very unreliable and somewhat against your favor. All in all, not a good Pokemon

Minccino -> E
Biggets issue is that you are stuck with a Minccino till you get a Shiny Stone, which is either post-Nanu or post-Aether. Furthermore, you are often reliant on multi-hit moves hitting more than twice to actually OHKO anything (and anything more than three is pretty unlikely for efficiency purposes). It does have a few pluses, such as the Fast experience group, Encore for support, and,obviously, being pretty strong when it hits more than twice, especially if more than thrice. But it's not reliable, doesn't come very early, and is stuck as a Minccino for half of what is left of the game.

Frillish -> D
Jellicent is bulky, but I couldn't really do much with it that I couldn't do with another Water-type. It comes rather late, being post-Togedemaru. The only notable thing it did was beat Ribombee through Psych Up and Z-Sludge Wave, but, other than that, it has uses against Hapu and Olivia #2 and generally contributes with kills elsewhere. But most of those are typical Water-type achievements too, so it's not really impressive. All in all,not particularly impressive, you could probably just use another Water-type that comes earlier and get similar results.

Klefki -> leaning towards C, maybe D?
As pahgawk3 pointed out, Klefki's bane is definitely the speed at which it beats things. Klefki has several good matchups that are plagued by the fact it won't be killing them fast without heavy set up. Pahgawk3 says that Kommo-o is a bad matchup, but, in reality, you can win with Klefki there, albeit not with a straightforward way (will talk about it a bit later). However, Klefki also has another advantage, which is its Fast experience group, which allows it to be grinded easily and lets you use another Pokemon on your team to get the full portion of Exp. instead. Here are the matchups below:

Guzma - Specs DKiss 3-4HKOs Golisopod and 3HKOs Masquerain. Pinsir beats you if you got a Defense drop, if not, you can muscle through it (DKIss should be a 3-4HKO)

Nanu - With Specs DKiss, it loses only to Krokorok, but 2HKOs the rest

Kommo-o - Psych Up (you are faster due to Prankster) and 2HKO Noivern with Draining Kiss. If you get Screeched at any point, simply use Z-Psych Up on Kommo-o to restore your HP and stat boosts. Then 3HKO with Draining Kiss (3HKO due to Roseli Berry)

UN - Even after a Psych Up, Photon Geyser is a 2HKO on rolls. Foul Play is a 3HKO on Ultra Necrozma. If you are in range for Photon Geyser, throw in a Roto Boost then heal, if no, then Foul Play, then heal then Roto Boost. All in all, the battle is winnable, but it will require a bit of careful play

Ribombee - You can use Psych Up to copy its stats. If its SpD is two stages above your SpA, Z-Flash Cannon will leave it in red. It doesn't threaten whatsoever, so easy win

Hapu - Magnet Rise, then set up a CM. Hit Golurk with Draining Kiss twice then KO with Flash Cannon. OHKO Mudsdale with Z-Flash Cannon. Set up a Magnet Rise against Flygon and 2HKO with Draining Kiss. Gastrodon is a bit of a stalemate

Olivia - CM twice on Armaldo and OHKO with Flash Cannon. Against Probopass, you will be stalemating, so either spam CM there or just switch out. +2 Flash Cannon OHKOs everything else, with Z-Flash Cannon being for Cradily.

Kahili - CM once, then spam DKiss on Braviary. Switch out against Oricorio and bring it back against Hawlucha (or Toucannon), CM twice and spam DKiss. OHKO Toucannon with Z-Flash Cannon

Hau - CM twice on Raichu and spam DKiss on it. Magnet Rise on Tauros, then Draining Kiss spam it as well. Spam DKiss on Vaporeon (which only threatens if it crits), OHKO Decidueye with Z-Flash Cannon and spam Flash Cannon on the rest for the sweep.

All in all, I am going with C-tier for now, with the possibility of it dropping to D, because it does have a solid typing and the fast experience group makes it easy to grind, while having issues with quickly beating the opponent

Nihilego -> C, maybe D
Nihilego performs well against Ribombee (OHKOss with Z-Sludge Wave), Hapu with Specs Grass Knot (youcould even sweep if you live Earth Power from Flygon), Acerola, and Kahili. Kahili is notable, as Nihilego just crushes her like nothing. It could maybe be D, because it has like four matchups only, but finding a Nihilego by itself is pretty easy due to it being common in Type 1 white wormholes. Beast Boost stat: Special Attack

Buzzwole -> C
sweeps Hapu, Molayne, Olivia, and Acerola, while beating half of Hau's team with no problems (including Tauros). Similarly to Nihilego, it'scommon in Type 1 wormholes, though it is also uncommon in Type 2. Similarly, could be D, but I feel like C is ok too. Beast Boost stat: Attack

Pheromosa -> D
Pheromosa doesn't sweep anything because its bulk means that it will be dying every time it fails to OHKO. It generally contributes with kills rather than sweeps. Against Molayne, it beats Dugtrio, Bisharp, and Klefki (you will have to heal offscreen). Against Hapu, you can grab KOs with Icy Wind. Olivia is perhaps its best matchup: OHKO Armaldo with Z-BB and spam BB on Gigalth till it's down (it goes for Bulldoze, negating your Speed boost). Switch out against Lycanroc and use Pheromosa to beat Probopass and Cradily (Probopass goes for TWave, though you still outspeed). Against Kahili, Specs Ice Beam beats Braviary, Toucannon, and Hawlucha. Against Hau, you can beat Raichu and Noivern easily.

Another flaw of Pheromosa is getting Beast Boost on an offensive stat. On every other UB, all you have to do is ensure that the best stat for this purpose gets 31 IVs from thre three guaranteed IVs and it will be the one affected by Beast Boost. Pheromosa's highest stat is Speed, so you have to rig its stats in such a way that your desired stat is higher than your Speed. Beast Boost stat: Speed

Xurkitree -> C
Xurkitree is pretty bonkers. While I couldn't find a way to beat Ribombee with it, it just ran through Hapu with Specs Grass Knot like she was nothing. Against Molayne, Z-Hypnosis (for the Speed boost, no need to hit) + Tail Glow were more than enough to sweep. Against Olivia, you OHKO Armaldo with Z-Thunderbolt, then spam Thunderbolt on Probopass, then spam Energy Ball for the win. Against Acerola, Thunderbolt, then Energy Ball, then Thunderbolt, then Z-Thunderbolt, then Thunderbolt. Frolass can confuse, Z-TBolt is for Dhelmise to be OHKOed. Kahili is an easy sweep with Z-Hypnosis then Thunderbolt spam.

Against Hau, you Z-Hypnosis. If it hits, set up Tail Glow then spam Thunderbolt for the win. If it does not hit and you are not 2HKOed by Psychic, you can simply set up Tail Glow then heal then spam Thunderbolt. Even if you don't count this matchup, Xurkitree is pretty broken, given it crushes the entire E4. It is also easy to obtain, since it's common within Type 2 and uncommon within Type 1 and 3. Beast Boost stat: Special Attack

Kartana -> C, possibly D

Kartana can crush Ribombee so as long as it doesn't attack it first. It crushes most of the E4 with no problems It has some uses against Hau too: lure in Tauros, set up SD and kill it and Crabo. Switch out against Noivern. Put it up against Vaporeon (OHKO with Leaf Blade), set up a SD against Decidueye and OHKO with Z-Smart Strike. The biggest issue is that finding a Kartana is slightly harder than the previous UBs, since its common only in Type 3. However, it is uncommon in 1 and 3 and rare in 2, so Kartana can be found in realistically any wormhole, though Type 3 is your biggest chance. If you have experience with hunting a Kartana, let me know. Beast Boost stat: Attack

Celesteela -> C, possibly D?
Celesteela performs well in every single matchup that is left of the game:

Ribombee - handled by Z-Fly and Iron Head

Hapu - Specs Energy Ball

Molayne - Specs Flamethrower, avoid Zone

Olivia - Specs Flash Cannon spam

Acerola - Specs Flash Cannon spam

Kahili - Specs Flash Cannon spam, avoid Oricorio

Hau - if you can lure in Tauros or Noivern in, you can set up an Autotomize, spam Flash Cannon on them, OHKO Vaporeon with Z-Energy Ball, and then spam Flash Cannon on the rest for the win

similarly to Kartana, getting one isn't going to be as easy, but it's still cpaable of appearing in every single White wormhole. Beast Boost stat: Special Attack.


here is our newest "daily" (tm) slate:

Shellder -> C
Tentacool -> D
Tyrunt -> D
Rhyhorn -> D
Swinub -> D
Scraggy -> C
Phantump -> C
Hoothoot -> D
Tirtouga -> D
Houndoom -> D
Alolan Graveler (Trade) -> C
Guzzlord -> E
Crabrawler -> D
Vullaby -> E
Staryu -> C
Lileep -> E
Skarmory -> D
Elekid (Trade and No Trade) -> D
Horsea (No Trade) -> D
Fomantis -> E
Shieldon -> E
Alolan Graveler (No Trade) -> D
Manectric -> D
Slowpoke (Slowking) -> C
Mankey -> C
Mareep -> C
Fletchling -> B
Cranidos -> C
Comfey -> C
Magnemite -> A
Eevee (Jolteon) -> B
Paras -> E
Minccino -> E
Frillish -> D
Klefki -> C
Nihilego -> C
Buzzwole -> C
Pheromosa -> D
Xurkitree -> C
Kartana -> C
Celesteela -> C


decided to slate Golem for C, but will be put with two asterisk to confirm C-tier placement. Manectric is going to be a subject of a retest in the future to see if it can rise to C itself.

Mega slate is going to be in another post. I need first to prepare it. The current slate will be in effect tomorrow. As always, a Pokemon's rank can always change later, but if you have an objection to any rank nomination right now, you are better off speaking up now.

e: results are in, not gonna make a separate post to reduce flood
 
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Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
apologies for double posting, but as I said, I wanted to make the mega slate in a separate post rather than dump it into the same post as the other slate.

Spinarak
Furfrou
Pichu
Abra (No Trade)
Dunsparce
Growlithe
Drowzee
Flabebe
Cottonee
Seel
Roggenrola (No Trade)
Carbink
Sableye
Clamperl (Gorebyss)
Clamperl (Huntail)
Eevee (Leafeon)
Igglybuff
Poliwag (Politoed)
Basculin
Kecleon
Trubbish
Cleffa
Elgyem
Pancham
Dedenne
Trapinch
Gabite
Shuppet
Snorunt (Glalie)
Vanillite
Bisharp
Granbull
Shellos
Dhelmise
Carvanha
Clawitzer
Wailmer
Lapras
Tropius
Exeggcute
Corphish
Mienfoo
Jangmo-o
Aerodactyl
Beedrill
Pidgeot
Chesnaught
Delphox
Greninja


The mega slate is basically all the Pokemon that have to receive a rank, but haven't been ranked yet. This includes some of the Pokemon currently in use.

The Pokemon will be placed in some rank that I will vote on somewhere this Friday. The ranks have not been decided yet, which is why the slate doesn't feature nominated ranks.

Pokemon will be placed in specific ranks, but most of them will receive a test (especially from me if it's D or below) to make sure that they are placed correctly at some point in the future.

The mega slate will be in effect in Sunday. This time, I am giving some time as a compensation for no ranks and no tests for the Pokemon. If you fear that I may misplace some Pokemon, you are free to suggest a rank yourself and, provided that the arguments behind it are good, will most likely override any possible rank I may have thought of for it.
 
Wow completely didn't think of priority psych up, that would have came in handy a lot. I also second the fast Exp group, I often times found myself coming close to over leveling with how quickly Klefki would level up. In regards to your mega slate, a couple months ago I did a casual playthrough where I used Ariados (spinarak). This was another case where I was expecting to have to slog through large portions of the game with it, but once it evolved found it to be pretty self sufficient. Early sword dance, priority for psychic types (shadow sneak then sucker punch), and reasonably early leech life helped a fair bit. Especially since I felt like there are a solid amounts of dark, grass and psychic types throughout. It's a shame it gets poison jab so late though. The stats do start to catch up to it late game, but really I was expecting it to be F-tier trash so a decent contribution is always appreciated. Curious to see if anyone else finds similar results or if maybe I am just looking back with rose-tinted glasses.
 

DHR-107

Robot from the Future
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Orange Islands
I don't think any of the UBs should be higher than D. They all come extremely late in the game, with like you said, barely any matchups at all left. Elite 4 Matchups Feel like they shouldn't really count as matchups because if you're reasonably close to UN (or beat it easily), then you're going to smash the E4. UN is Level 60 while the E4 are 56-57. What levels do the UBs spawn at in the wormholes?

What sort of levels are you typically finishing runs at? Thats more aimed at anyone who has done a run.
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
What levels do the UBs spawn at in the wormholes?
they all spawn at level 60.

I don't think any of the UBs should be higher than D. They all come extremely late in the game, with like you said, barely any matchups at all left. Elite 4 Matchups Feel like they shouldn't really count as matchups because if you're reasonably close to UN (or beat it easily), then you're going to smash the E4. UN is Level 60 while the E4 are 56-57.
I think this is fair, for most parts. Xurk and Celest, imo, have a bit of a stronger case for C, Kartana a milder case, and Nihilego and Buzzwole could probably drop to D (and Pheromosa to E). But this depends a lot on how much you value E4 matchups and how much you tier in vacuum (since, while it is true that if you reached the UBs, you probably have a competent team, I don't think it's a good idea to assume that this is always the case, at least when it comes to ranking consistently). I feel like, though, that similar logic could be applied to Solgaleo/Lunala/Necrozma (which, for the record, I have zero problems dropping to D, as long as there are logs and the wish to do so).

Anyone else want to add in something about UBs? I'd like to hear a bit more opinions before I change their tiers (just to make it clear, I applied the results, didn't make a post (I edited the slate post) cause I didn't want to flood the thread constantly).

What sort of levels are you typically finishing runs at? Thats more aimed at anyone who has done a run.
Can't speak for everyone, but I generally end around level 60 without Candies, 63 with candies (there are around 18 across Alola) and I generally skip all the Vast Poni Canyon and Mount Lanakila trainers (where possible, of course). I am pretty sure Celeb also ended at level 63 in their run. Drums, while he has to finish his run, has been having levels which are consistently similar to mine, so my assumption is that he would also end up at around the 60s. In general, being higher leveled is pretty easy and the game (imo) is designed around being a few levels above the opponent due to their usage of EVs and good IVs (unless you are a Totem, in which case the IVs are... pretty weird).
 

Fusion Flare

i have hired this cat to stare at you
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
How’s people’s experiences with Honedge? I hear its not too terrible, considering its at a relatively solid B rank, and being one of the best answers to Ultra Necrozma never hurts, no?
 
How’s people’s experiences with Honedge? I hear its not too terrible, considering its at a relatively solid B rank, and being one of the best answers to Ultra Necrozma never hurts, no?
My summary from when I used it:

Honedge - C tier. While I can maybe see it in B, it has a LOT of losing matchups. Togedemaru, Mimikyu, Olivia 1, Nanu, AND Hapu all bone it hard. It picks up in the E4 though, doing pretty well. I think this is kind of a borderline B / C really. I think someone else might have to use it; it doesn't come early and it doesn't have the best start. Pretty good for mooks at least. Also has some 4MSS. Yeah I'm not super sold on this one. I can see B but it just loses so often after you get it.
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
I also used Honedge at one point and have some experience with it. The reason why I put it in B-tier is mostly cause of the end-game; as Fusion Flare pointed out, it's good for Ultra Necrozma (all you need is a Roto Boost and you can OHKO with a Z-Move). It also crushes Ribombee easily and is generally good for the Elite Four. One notable thing it did for me was also the fact that it swept Hau just by setting up SD and Autotomize.

With that said, Drums's issues with Honedge are valid and I could maybe drop it to C in the future if there is more support behind it that is supported by logs. Personally, I think it's fine in B, but I also value greatly a good Ultra Necrozma matchup and a Hau sweep, as both of these are pretty hard to come by, especially on the same Pokemon, so it comes a lot to how much you value those fights.
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
okie, so Sunday's here, so it's time to announce the ranks I have come up with (for now):

Spinarak -> D
Furfrou -> B
Pichu -> D
Happiny -> F
Abra (No Trade) -> D
Dunsparce -> D
Growlithe -> C
Drowzee -> D
Flabebe -> F
Cottonee -> D
Seel -> E
Roggenrola (No Trade) -> E
Carbink -> E
Sableye -> E
Clamperl (Gorebyss) -> E
Clamperl (Huntail) -> E
Eevee (Leafeon) -> C
Igglybuff -> E
Morelull -> D
Poliwag (Politoed) -> D
Basculin -> C
Kecleon -> E
Trubbish -> E
Cleffa -> E
Elgyem -> E
Pancham -> D
Dedenne -> E
Trapinch -> E
Gabite -> F
Shuppet -> E
Snorunt (Glalie) -> E
Vanillite -> F
Bisharp -> C
Granbull -> E
Shellos -> E
Dhelmise -> D
Carvanha -> E
Clawitzer -> D
Wailmer -> E
Lapras -> D
Tropius -> F
Exeggcute -> E
Corphish -> E
Mienfoo -> E
Jangmo-o -> E
Aerodactyl -> E
Beedrill -> F
Pidgeot -> E
Chesnaught -> E
Delphox -> E
Greninja -> E


Eevee (Leafeon) was slated to C rather than B due to current data on it not convincing me it should be that high. However, Drums's test should enlighten us more on its overall performance once he's done.

Any Pokemon currently in use from the list will be marked with three asterisks, which means that they are subject to change ranks once the people that are using them finish their runs with them and make a full nomination

I cannot really provide justification for every Pokemon and its rank right now due to them simply being too much to report all, so if you have questions about any of them, feel free to ask and I will provide details.

Remember that the whole mega slate was basically theorymonned, so something's bound to have been misplaced. If you have an issue with a Pokemon's ranking, feel free to make a nomination to another tier and provide some arguments in favor of the proposed rank.

Now let's move on to confirming tiers. I will be dealing with D-tier in the following weeks, then E and then F. Once I am done, I will help out with higher tiers as well, assuming some things still need confirmation.

e: forgot the QR mons that were not tiered, this was fixed
 
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Don't feel like posting many logs with the exception of Leafeon atm because it's a lot of copy pasting, but I have them if need be and they've been approved by Ryota. At the Pokemon League with everyone level 62 all around, and I've been marathoning the game after a long hiatus recently. Figured I'd drop some pre-final battle thoughts, as the League will take a while, obviously.

Basculin is odd. You get the Mystic Water from the kid beside the Sudowoodo after scaring them off with Waterium Z post-Water trial, which is conveniently right after you catch Basculin at Brooklet Hill. At a mere level 20, you get Aqua Tail. With Adaptability, Mystic Water, and Aqua Tail, you're looking at a 216 base power move when you hit neutrally off 92 Attack that early in the game if my calculations are correct. Yeah. Only problem is that 10% miss chance.My issue with it is that 10% miss chance will make you sweat and want to use Z-moves with it on the field, but it's generally pretty good there.

The problems come in at bosses. You have Alolan Marowak, and you can SSSS Lurantis with Bounce to red if Power Herb is wasted, but from there on it just kind of...exists, mostly getting off a strong hit and dying, but never sweeping per se. Which makes it hard to judge. For example, if Togedemaru doesn’t use Spiky Shield, you can Hydro Vortex off Aqua Tail to get it to about half HP, which prompts Sitrus Berry to get it up to about 3/4s HP.

Elsewhere, it does good for Nanu and Hapu (does not sweep the latter) and with Guzma, you can kill something with a Z-Move but need an X Attack otherwise it seems. So it's kinda all over the place, B / C borderline maybe. The fraility hurts it: it gets 2HKOed by many neutral hits lategame.

Furfrou, believe it or not, could honestly see B. Soloing Hala, Lurantis, Araquanid, Hapu, and contributing great on the field elsewhere with Z-Last Resort until Return is seriously amazing. It's not so hot on Ula'Ula, where everything starts evolving, both Totems resist you, and you have to Z-Move more. However, support options like Charm, Thunder Wave, and Cotton Guard are honestly really nice for this game.

Aside from Togedemaru, Ribombee, and Kommo-o, it's relevant pretty much everywhere to some extent, which is not true for a lot of mons in this game. It won't be good for the League, I know that for sure, but it's been very solid up to now.

I hate to say this, but Leafeon in B is just...something I don't really support. I mean, in the field, it's fine, but against bosses...it's not very good. Both Ula'ula Totems, right when Leafeon starts taking off, are some of the hardest, and you have to Protect + Swords Dance to be anything relevant for Guzma with Aerial Ace, which is seriously something I don't see a casual player doing.

Here are some logs for it (sorry for inconsistent formatting, but eh):
Lurantis (27): Only possible with a Rare Candy. Best niche here is Baby Doll Eyes thanks to Lurantis’s X-Scissor. You can get off 4 Baby-Doll Eyes before you die (Kecleon’s Screech ruins you).

Leafeon (30): Bug Bite from Anorith hits really hard as almost a 2HKO, but you OHKO it with Razor Leaf after Swords Dance. +2 Bloom Doom ALMOST nukes Lileep from the face of the earth as it is a range as revealed on replays (+2 Razor Leaf seems to do about half). Unfortunately Lycanroc outspeeds you, but if you get a +2 Razor Leaf off it is OHKOed. Both Lileep and Lycanroc seem to do about roughly under damage (a 5HKO) on you with Ancient Power and Bite respectively.

Togedemaru (35): Swords Dance on a Spiky Shield to effectively take away Togedemraru’s Defense buff, then do…barely 1/4 of its HP with Bloom Doom lol. Bounce is a rough 4HKO (30 of you 94 HP). Halfway decent here even with Torment in play: I got three Baby-Doll Eyes off and activated Togedemaru’s Sitrus Berry while alternating with Bite. You’re never killing Togedemaru ever, but you can chip it and debuff its Attack.

Mimikyu (39): Leech Life outspeeds and 3HKOs Leafeon sadly. Bloom Doom Seed Bomb leaves Mimikyu at roughly 1/3 HP (Banette’s Curse finished me off). Seems like a straightforward result as SDing here seems unlikely unless Disguise is broken.

Nanu (45): Don’t Swords Dance. 2HKO Sabelye with Leaf Blade, then OHKO Krokorok despite Intimidate. Die to Persian. Sabelye Shadow Ball 2HKOs you, Crunch from Krokorok does 1/3 and Persian finishes you off. Even 1v1ing Persian, if it Fake Outs + Black Hole Eclipse you are just outsped and OHKOed.

Guzma 1 (before I remembered Protect) - Leafeon (35): Leafeon dies to First Impression.
Guzma 2 - Leafeon (44): Post-Protect-Golisopod Razor Shelled once, no Defense drop as I SD. SD to +4 on Sucker Punch. He doesn't Sucker Punch next turn and gets knocked to red by Aerial Ace. Masquerain comes out and dies. Golisopod comes out, Protect, then kill. Pinsir comes out and lives +3 Aerial Ace in red, while Leafeon lives an X-Scissor in red. A Supersonic Skystrike would ensure the KO on Pinsir.
Guzma 3 - Leafeon (48): Protect, boost to +4, murder Golisopod with Leaf Blade (Return leaves it in low yellow FYI), Return kills Masquerain at +3, but annoyingly leaves Vikavolt alive in red, meaning you use Z-Return to OHKO it. Sadly +3 Return looks like a range on Pinsir, but SDing three times is…questionable, despite my Furfrou logs where I also boosted.

Kommo-o - Leafeon (54): Supersonic Skystrike off Aerial Ace doesn’t even put Kommo-o in yellow (3HKOing) while it outspeeds and does roughly the same damage with Poison Jab. Next turn you knock it to 1/3 HP before Scizor destroys you.


Ribombee - Leafeon (57): Z-Return is a rough 3HKO and you die instantly to Bug Buzz. Toss up if you get a hit off or it Quiver Dances. Obviously bad (I didn't test SSSS here because RNG to get it off, really).

Hapu - Leafeon (57): With +2 you OHKO everyone with Leaf Blade. Hammer Arm from Golurk is a 4HKO while you SD. Flygon outspeeds and can paralyze with Dragon Breath which is annoying since you 2HKO it without boosts (DB is a 3HKO). Might wanna pack a Cheri Berry here. Mudsdale is also 2HKOed by Leaf Blade without boosts.
As you can see, it's often forced into a support role and only really does much of a clean sweep to Olivia and Hapu, only sweeping Guzma with Protect and max boosts, and I'm generally not a fan of going above +2 most of the time. I also don't enjoy waiting past two to three totems using Eevee before I can use Leafeon, where everything else does the fighting for it. I feel like it's a C, maybe even D. It can do very niche things but most of the time, it's not because it's a Grass type. Heck, you could argue it uses Supersonic Skystrike more, and if you're resulting to non-STAB Z-moves to be relevant I think you're in trouble as a mon.

Pancham sucks. Seriously. You sweep Hapu and do okay for Nanu and that's literally it, though it may pick up at the League. It's too slow to make use of the elemental punches most of the time and only gets by with Z-Work Up occasionally. Generally is restricted to 1v1ing one thing against Guzma and dying, and simply is outmuscled everywhere else. Even if it's League contributions are good, I might still throw it in D. So many better options for Fighting and Dark types, like...

Bisharp, wow! This thing is incredible. Getting one as a 5% with Defiant and non-trash IVs sucks, but that's where the negatives end, more or less. Does good for Guzma with Protect + Rock Polish strats (hoping for a Razor Shell Defense drop for a Defiant boost). I know I said with Leafeon I don't like boosting a ton, but when you go from average to sweeping a pretty hard recurring boss with minimal prep, I change my mind, especially because a casual player would likely bench Leafeon for Guzma completely and without the boosts you do literally nothing in Leafeon's case.

Going back to Bisharp, it's very late, but has a good showing almost everywhere. Does good for Guzma, takes out half of Hapu with Magnet Rise, nukes Ribombee (sadly it lives and kills you), nukes Ultra Necrozma to red with a Roto Boost, and has been great and customizable in the field. Iron Head tutor, Brick Break, Rock Tomb, and Rock Polish / Thunder Wave is a great starting moveset. Probably going to be a C due to the sheer pain of getting one and how late it comes.

Growlithe is two different Pokemon: the utter dumpster fire as Growlithe you put up with for 25 levels that loses to pretty much EVERY boss until Ula'ula, then the admittedly good Flamethrower bot as Choice Specs Arcanine from then on, even with a -Special Attack nature and iffy IVs. Even then though, you still lose to both Rimbombee and Kommo-o, though you can Intimidate and burn the latter with a detour for the TM. Probably going to be C at best, because while it does get going, it has too many issues to be in the higher tiers.

And that's my thoughts, hope you enjoyed reading them!
 
Okay so that took...less time than I expected!

I'm not really going to talk about my other mons much, as I mostly covered them above. Growlithe is a borderline C / D, maybbbbbe C, Pancham is D (had an okay performance in League), Basculin is C as while it's not great in bosses Adaptability Aqua Tail kills things, and Leafeon...

I was being nice above, but I'm not gonna mince words at all anymore. Leafeon is straight up garbage. I tried to like this mon. I really, really did. But you can't do anything with it. Swords Dance? Totems are one Pokemon. Leaf Blade spammer? Sorry, Grass is resisted everywhere you turn, and even against stuff like Nanu or Olivia 2 it's a range to kill Armaldo at +2. And Olivia, one of the easier bosses being the highlight is just bad. Everywhere else? Coverage smacks it. This is one of the most disappointing mons I've used in-game in a long time, only slightly more usable than BW1 Garbodor and Swoobat. I hate to rag on a mon with good stats but Grasses can't catch a break in this game unless you go extremely out of your way. Like I'm almost inclined to think Pangoro was better, and Pangoro wasn't even that great.

Leafeon for D. If anyone wants to say C that's okay but I want some really good arguments, because the performance mine has was abysmal pretty much everywhere with less than a handful of passable matchups. Maybe someone else will have a different experience.

Now let's talk about Furfrou and Bisharp.

Furfrou is amazing on the first two islands. It falls off from Ula'ula on, but it can always play a nifty support role, which I think is pretty helpful in this game, and even sweep Acerola with some luck. Mine even 1v1ed Molayne's Metagross with Cotton Guard and Black Hole Eclipse. My consensus is that the performance kinda nosedives at the Elite Four due to the stats not being that good anymore, but the early performance is so strong I still don't mind saying B, because Hala and Totem Araquanid and Lurantis in one slot as well as decent support on other members (as well as sweeping Hapu) is jussssssssst enough to be B in my eyes. If someone wants to argue C I can see it, but it can't be understated how great the first half of the game is.

Bisharp for C! It literally sweeps the entire E4, including Hau with some luck (his Raichu is annoying with Focus Blast). Most probably wouldn't use Bisharp much on Hau but I don't think that would change its tiering either.

Molayne (62): Rock Polish to +2 and Swords Dance to max until one turn before Reflect wears off. Klefki is a roll to OHKO at +3 with Iron Head, but Molayne restoring it means it should not reset Reflect. Everyone is demolished. His Bisharp might live your Iron Head but does crap. If you don’t flinch Magnezone with Iron Head, you should live Thunderbolt in red and basically sweep by nuking Bisharp.

Olivia 2 (62): Swords Dance and Rock Polish and hope you kill everything, flinching Probopass along the way. Without an Attack buff, everyone is 2HKOed by Iron Head save Probopass who is 3HKOed. Probopass will kill you off if you do not flinch it; otherwise this sweep seems watertight.
Acerola (62): Rock Polish, Swords Dance, sweep. Super easy.

Kahilli (63): Rock Polish until Braviary Scary Faces you for +2 Attack (even up to +6). Everyone is OHKOed by the appropriate STAB move, mostly Iron Head save Oriocorio. Mandibuzz dies to Corkscrew Crash. Oricorio is a roll for Bisharp, apparently. At +4 and Burned Night Slash missed the kill.

Hau (64): Dodge Focus Blast somehow, Rock Polish then Night Slash to kill Raichu. Incineroar dies to Continental Crush Stone Edge. You live Tauros EQ in yellow and barely miss the OHKO. Crabominable dies. Leafeon comes out and flinched, a 2HKO. Noivern lives Iron Head and knocks me to red off Dragon Pulse and I win via 2HKO.

Also did good before then, with the only rough spot being Hapu, where it can deal with half her team. Finding one with Defiant and 5% encounter rate combined with being late keep it firmly in C, though it's one of the best mons you can use.

Thanks for reading.
 
How does a Pokemon that solos the entire E4 and contribute against Hau and earlier bosses = C-tier? I get that obtaining one with Defiant and good IVs sucks, but C? If they're this good, they should be a low B at least, and I don't know how seriously IVs should be taken into account. Sure, you don't want 0s in all of them, but as long as your Attack and perhaps Defense IVs are in the 10s or higher...shouldn't be too bad IMO.
 
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Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
in addition to the availability thing RSE raised, I also want to note that the E4 in this game is notably a lot easier than in other games, so crushing it isn't as impressive as other games. Furthermore, the 5% encounter + Defiant reliance is a lot worse than you may think, because it really needs Defiant to take out as many boss fights as possible and getting a 5% encounter alone in this game is a huge effort.

With that said, I agree that it should not be higher than C. For Furfrou, I will keep it B for now, though I can certainly see arguments for C myself. Its awesome early-/mid-game + the support it can provide later on are its biggest selling points, but suffers being a Normal-type later on.

Pancham and Basculin will remain in their respective tiers, the logs provided for them are convincing of their tiers

for Leafeon, I will move it to D-tier for now, given Drums is the only person that's provided logs for it. I could maybe raise it to C-tier if RSE's tests find a way for Leafeon to be more useful, but, at this point, I think it's fair to say B is out of question, simply because Grass-types have too many issues in this game.

(note: rank changes here will be applied now, rather than being slated, due to the fact they were only provisionally added to their ranks)

e: for Growlithe, it will remain C-tier for now. While I understand that it's not a particularly great Pokemon, it still performs well against Lurantis, Togedemaru, and Guzma, and early Intimidate is a good utility, so I'd rather keep it out of "trash" tier

e2: I will also use this post to let you guys know that schoolwork has kicked in more and I have exams and uni applications coming up later on, so expect reduced activity for my test runs.
 
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Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
okay so I managed to do one run and will post about it as to introduce the way I am going to make my nominations from now on:

Dunsparce
Reasons for initial placement - lack of good stats and typing, was not put any lower due to interesting movepool
What I actually experienced - Dunsparce comes early... and that's where most of the pros come to an end. Dunsparce lacks stats and so isn't hitting particularly hard. It has to set up Coil to even deal respectable damage and by the time you are done, you will be worn out. Dunsparce does have a few good things about it, though: firstly, it gets Screech + Glare, so it could use that to support teammates. Secondly, Dunsparce does manage to actually win a few boss fights on its own. The first one is, funnily, Lurantis, which is OHKOed by Z-Body Slam after a Screech. The second is against Olivia #1, where Z-DCurl + Rollout beats her two Fossils. Nevertheless, it's not a particularly great Pokemon. If you want a support mon, you probably should use Ekans, which also gets Glare + Screech, but also Intimidate + Haze + Acid Spray. But Dunsparce is definitely not lower than D.

also, note that it does not learn Headbutt efficiently (aka per level, TMs, or tutors), so no flinchhax strategies :(((

Abra (No Trade)
Reasons for initial placement - terrible defensive typing + stats, assumption that it needs a significant type advantage (which it often does not have) to win
What I actually experienced - pretty much what I described above came true. Kadabra was useful for Hala (sweeping him with Confusion spam). It can also OHKO Kommo-o with Z-Psychic after a Psych Up, but Kommo-o, in my case, had a 31% chance of OHKOing it first. Kadabra is also capable of contributing against Olivia #1, beating Lycanroc with Z-Grass Knot easily (it can also be useful for Hapu with Specs Grass Knot). However, Kadabra felt like a complete deadweight outside of those matchups, as it dies easily to most neutral attacks and it cannot really OHKO most boss fights. Needless to say, I am satisfied with its current placement and have no plans of moving it higher. Poor Psychic-types in Alola

Mantyke
Reasons for initial placement - nominated by someone else and I found the nomination reasonable enough to accept it.
What I actually experienced - I agree with its D-tier placement. Mantine is good for Marowak, but you need to do a heavy backtrack to obtain it before the trial (you also need to catch a Remoraid, but that isn't really bad). Mantine is also useful for Olivia #1 (beats Anorith and Lycanroc), Hapu, and Guzma. It can also contribute against Nanu. However, given that it levels up slowly and the fact that one of its important matchups requires a heavy backtrack, I am fine with D-tier and don't feel like it deserves to be higher.

(note: nomination assumes a Swift Swimmer set)

Finneon
Reasons for initial placement - nominated by someone else and I found the nomination reasonable enough to accept it
What I actually experienced - I feel like D-tier is way too high for this thing. First of all, Finneon's in the Erratic experience group, so have fun leveling this up for most of the game. Furthermore, it sucks on the route as a Finneon, for most parts, and evolves at level 31, which means you are unlikely to have it for Olivia #1. It is also mediocre for Hapu, as even rain Scald doesn't OHKO (unless you are holding MW) Golurk and Mudsdale. It does have one impressive thing about it, which is that it beats Ribombee with Psych Up; just Psych Up and OHKO with Z-Scald. But this reminds me a lot of when I (for short time) used Goldeen, which equally felt like a deadweight that wouldn't be worth the "reward" later on. So Finneon will be slated for dropping to E.

(note: nomination assumes a Swift Swimmer set)

Kabuto
Reasons for initial placement - nominated by someone else and I found the nomination reasonable enough to accept it.
What I actually experienced - agreed with D. Kabuto is an awful Pokemon itself, but when it evolves, it becomes a lot more usable. Kabutops is good for Ribombee, Acerola, notably Kahili, and can be useful for Olivia #2. It's not super useful for Guzma, as it generally takes out only two of his Pokemon (typically Golisopod and Masquerain). All in all, Kabutops isn't bad, but you have to keep a Kabuto for 25 levels and invest a lot of effort in it due to Slow experience group

Lapras
Reasons for initial placement - Perish Song strategies, which allow it to beat UN and Ribombee, and ability to help with type-advantageous matchups
What I actually experienced - honestly, it was slightly worse than I expected. While it does beat UN (with Sash) and Ribombee with Perish Song, it didn't feel too great outside of that; it needs a healing item to sweep Hapu and it contributes with kills only at the E4. Furthermore, it requires a lot of effort to catch up with your team, as it's in the Slow experience group and comes pretty underleveled (41-44), while your team is going to be around 10 levels higher than it at that point. Nevertheless, I am going to leave it at D-tier, because beating Ultra Necrozma is significant and it's not like it's a total deadweight after that, just not as good as I expected it to be.

(note: Perish Song wouldn't work against Kommo-o due to Soundproof)


I have an idea of how to test more Pokemon and not lose too much time, so expect more runs in the future. Cannot say when due to exams coming up and me not knowing whenever the idea will work out, but hopefully, it will be soon (tm)
 
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Just wanted to give an update on the run I'm doing, really haven't had much time unfortunately, but I should have some free time clearing out soon. As an aside, every time I play USUM I am reminded that half the time I feel like I'm in a cutscene, quite annoying lol. I just finished the water trial and want to agree with drumstickgaming on furfrou early. Early stab z-move and solid stats at that point in the game helped me get through Gumshoos, Hala and Araquanid. Pichu has been absolutely awful, dies to literally every physical hit and struggles to beat even water/flying types. Thankfully it evolved right before the water trial, but really all it could contribute was a thunder wave and a small chunk of damage thanks to the berry. Due to pichu being so bad I decided to sos a jigglypuff, instead of dealing with another baby, which took 5-10 minutes. So far jigglypuff has been decnt at dealing with trainers, but I have a feeling it will fall off quick. Just caught a basculin, but haven't really used it yet. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this run up soon, I have a feeling most of these mons will fall off heavily late game though.
 
Just wanted to give an update on the run I'm doing, really haven't had much time unfortunately, but I should have some free time clearing out soon. As an aside, every time I play USUM I am reminded that half the time I feel like I'm in a cutscene, quite annoying lol. I just finished the water trial and want to agree with drumstickgaming on furfrou early. Early stab z-move and solid stats at that point in the game helped me get through Raticate, Hala and Araquanid. Pichu has been absolutely awful, dies to literally every physical hit and struggles to beat even water/flying types. Thankfully it evolved right before the water trial, but really all it could contribute was a thunder wave and a small chunk of damage thanks to the berry. Due to pichu being so bad I decided to sos a jigglypuff, instead of dealing with another baby, which took 5-10 minutes. So far jigglypuff has been decnt at dealing with trainers, but I have a feeling it will fall off quick. Just caught a basculin, but haven't really used it yet. Hopefully I'll be able to finish this run up soon, I have a feeling most of these mons will fall off heavily late game though.
weird, was thinking about using Jigglypuff the other day

Also don’t expect much out of Alolan Raichu. Seems great on paper but EVs on opponents mean it’s never as fast or strong as you want it to be IIRC. Also Pichu and Pikachu really are nothing to write home about.

Curious of what you will think on Basculin. Mine again was alright, just didn’t do a whole lot in bosses. It’s a hard Pokémon to judge overall I feel.
 
Sorry about the wait, getting a new 3ds was a trial (and the one I got has a broken circle pad, so I'm getting another one and keeping this one for Pokemon trade evolutions lol). Anyway, here's everything through Totem Raticate.

Ratatta-A: Really rough early game. It hit fairly hard with Hustle, but it honestly wasn't special until it got Bite. Because it couldn't fight on its own, and lost fights it should've won due to Hustle misses, it was pretty underleveled, making it to Illima at Lv. 9, where it could do nothing. Againt Totem Raticate (Lv. 13), it did decent damage (~30%) after a Tail Whip but it got hit really hard, losing over 50% after taking both the Totem and helper's hits. It would need to get really lucky to win. EDIT: To elaborate, while you could deal a significant chunk of damage to Raticate, it would require that you don't be attacked often at all and that you hit several 80%s in a row. Quick Attack does help with avoiding Bite flinches but I still think it's not very reliable even if you want to just use it to soften the Totem up.

Makuhita: It's nothing special until it gets Brick Break, but it pulls its weight. Not actually a guarenteed win against Raticate; you cleanly one shot it at Lv. 13 (and you have Fake Out if you need it) but you're slower, it has Bite to Flinch you, and Fury Swipes hurts. Still probably one of the best options against it.

Bulbasaur: Vine Whip kinda sucks, but Sleep Powder is broken so it's fine... right? Well, when you have another enemy pokemon that deals almost 50% to you (and my Bulbasaur is Impish) it's not great. You're just not gonna be able to keep the Totem asleep, keep Bulbasaur healthy, and deal enough damage to kill it (I never got close, but it looks like Vine Whip is a 6 or 7HKO before Work Up boosts). If it had Leech Seed, it would be more doable; heck I'd give it props for supporting its teammates in an absolute worse-case scenario. But Grassy Terrain overwrites Leech Seed because we can't have nice things. Oh well.

Apologies again for my slowness, but if I can deal with the broken circle pad Hala should be done some time this weekend.
 
Took me longer than it should have but finally finished my run. Ultra Necorzma one shot my whole team so just slapped a focus sash and toxic on garchomp lol.

Pichu:

Pichu can be caught immediately at the start of the game, and that’s about where the positives end. For the first island pichu is virtually useless, losing to even flying types it should beat due to its terrible stats. Mine evolved to pikachu right before the water trial, but due to araquanid’s high special bulk, charge beam your best electric attack and the wacan berry, pikachu is useless, doing around 15% before dieing. You can evolve pikachu before this, but I can’t see that helping at all. I got raichu right before royal avenue thanks to the eevee hatching and grabbing a thunderstone from the nursery. Raichu has actual useable stats, and gets psychic upon evolution. Though the psychic typing tends to hurt more then it helps. Raichu isn’t helpful for the fire and grass trial, but can now fight route trainers effectively. I didn’t try raichu against olivia, but I can’t see that being a good matchup either, raichu is just too physically frail and doesn’t deal enough damage. Funnily enough, the most use I got out of raichu was in the togedemaru trial. Using Furfrou to get it to -3 attack, Raichu could then set up nasty plots since it resisted all the attacks from it and skarmory, and eventually beat it down with psychics. With my current team this was my best way to beat it, not efficient as I had to heal twice, but possible none the less. Mimikyu trial was a no go, guzma battles are also terrible since golisopod one shots with first impression/sucker punch and masquerain out speeds. Nanu is a bad matchup, and the whole aether saga is also bad. At this point in the game raichu is starting to struggle with even route trainers, and the lack of solid electric move sucks. All of poni island goes the same, though getting thunderbolt is nice after machamp. I didn’t try z-psychic against komoo-o, but I’d imagine I get outsped and one shot. Ribombee trial was a no-go, same with hapu. At elite 4 Raichu’s contributions were OHKOing Toucannon and 2-shotting vaporeon. Even against Kahili Braviary lives an expert belt thunderbolt at equal levels. Overall, Raichu was a massive disappointment, due to terrible physical bulk, getting outsped by the things it could kill, and just generally not hitting hard enough. I think D is fair, since as a Raichu it can help with most route trainers, but just comes up short for most boss battles.

Furfrou:

Furfrou has a terrific early game, soloing the first island (rotoboost for Hala), and can deal with Araquanid and Lurantis (could probably deal with marowak with bite flinches). By the third island the stats start to catch up with furfrou, but as a support mon it is usefull in almost every battle, between baby-doll eyes and eventually charm/cotton spore, and thunder wave into headbutt/bite. Furfrou ended up being an emergency check for me for all the mons I didn’t have anything for at the time, whether that be 1v1ing Golisopod everytime, crippling togedemaru and mimikyu with twave and babydoll eyes, Hau’s Tauros, etc. The only point I found that Furfrou didn’t contribute a ton was the E4 since Molayne and Olivia just naturally don’t take much from anything, however I am confident if needed Furfrou could 1v1 any of the mons with the proper moveset/item. Late game not the most efficient mon, but one of the best 1v1 mons for problematic matchups (mostly physical attackers) and a stellar early game, I think B is a good ranking.

Jigglypuff(Igglybuff):

Jigglypuff can be SOS’d from Igglybuff, it took me about 5 minutes to find one, I would definitely go this route since Igglybuff is probably dead weight for all of island 2. Off the bat jigglypuff is actually ok against route trainers, and can hold its own til about digletts cave. It can’t contribute in any of the boss battles though, as it is just too weak to do anything. Once on the third island, jigglypuff becomes generally useless everywhere until you get the moon stone on route 13. Wigglytuff can kinda contribute against Mimikyu by paralyzing it and breaking its disguise. Its strongest matchup is against Nanu where it can easily beat sableye with disarming voice (lol) and alolan persian with a potion thrown in at some point. By Poni island you finally get access to all the tms Wigglytuff can want (dazzling gleam, elemental moves) which helps against the trainers on the island. Wigglytuff also is able to 1v1 ribombee thanks to psych-up copying all the boosts and slowly hitting it back with body slams (or fireblasts if no rain). In the elite 4 I used wigglyutff once, to kill ~55% Pallosand with grass knot, so not a great showing there. Overall, jiggly/wiggly’s super low speed, combined with only ok bulk is its main down fall, it doesn’t hit hard enough (most of it’s good moves are late game too) so it will be 2hkoed before it can do so back. I would end up going with E for jigglypuff, does have a few matchups where it can contribute but has large portions where its mostly useless even against route trainers. If for ever reason you wanted to use igglybuff, I can’t see it being anything but F, loses out on an ok portion of the game and becomes literally useless til wilgglytuff. As an aside, I ran quick claw most of the game on wigglytuff, which was nice for letting me get in the 2nd blow for a KO instead of the other way around, not reliable at all though lol.

Basculin:

Basculin really is just a water move disguised as a pokemon, I can count on two hands the number of times I clicked anything outside of aqua tail/jet. It has a strong start with needing just a couple trainers to Ohko marowak with z-water. Not usefull for Lurantis, but can Ohko Olivia’s anorith with aqua tail and lycanroc with z-water. Togedemaru is a no go, didn’t try it against Mimikyu but can’t see that being a good matchup, and Ohko Nanu’s krookadile (got outsped and took a big chunk of damage). From there, Basculin was more relegated to getting a big hit off with z-water and finishing things with aqua jet, he can Ohko Hapu’s Golurk with z-water and 2hko mudsdale, while living one eq. The only other contribution was 2hkoing alolan-dug with aqua jet, and Olivia where I Ohko the armaldo then swept the rest of her team with mienshao lol. Basculin is usefull right away when you get it, and throughout the game is a reliable water type attacker, however its low attack means its coverage isn’t doing much (~50% z-head smash on totem ribombee), its speed is also very mediocre and it means it will often take a hit in major battles, which coupled with poor defenses isn’t a good combination. I would probably aim for C since it does have a few good matchups and can contribute with route trainers, but it is a very black and white pokemon where I found it either had a very large contribution or could bring nothing to the table. As an aside, I exclusively ran z-water on it since I really didn’t have another pokemon that I ran z-moves on outside a couple boss battles, so I didn’t have to deal with the 90% accuracy problem, I imagine that would have been quite annoying.

Gabite:

I must have gotten lucky; it took me about 10 minutes to get a gabite to spawn. Got fairly poor IVs but didn’t want to test my luck. The gabite stage is rather lack luster, with an eviolite it can take hits ok, and has decent attack/speed. It also can learn a plethora of tms right away and should be getting dragon claw shortly, but it won’t be contributing in boss battles. Guzma is too strong, and while you could probably do a bit to Nanu I didn’t try. By the time you get to Vast poni canyon you should be evolving into a garchomp. Garchomp is a big improvement, and can deal with most route trainers, but the last two trials are poor matchups (Ohko’d by both). Against Hapu a dragon claw just falls short of Ohkoing flygon (which outspeeds and does ~60% with dragon breath) but a z-draco would KO. Garchomp’s main usefulness is in the elite 4, where it can comfortably beat every mon on her team except alolan-dug (unless you run z-ground). The big problem I had with garchomp was no eq, so I was relying on dig. This works against molayne at first as two digs will KO klefki through reflect, wasting 4 turns, then another dig will get rid of the reflect before hitting the next poke. Metagross can live one, but can’t KO in return, same boat with magnezone (sturdy) so you’ll need to heal or choose one the kill. Bisharp dies to a soft sand dig, but alolan-dug will KO you with eq if you have any prior damage. Olivia is also a good matchup as you can 2hko all her mons and they can’t in return, but once again it’s not a clean sweep. For Acerola black glasses crunch Ohko’s bannette and 2hkos everything else (maybe not pallossand? Didn’t try), but froslass will kill you if it hits blizzard. For kahili I only used garchomp to Ohko the oricorio with rock slide (took an air slash first), and only used garchomp to Ohko Hau’s raichu (after eating a psychic). One thing I wanted to try, but realized I hadn’t bought the weather tms until it was too late was z-sandstorm. A speed boost plus the evasion from sand veil and residual chip sounds really nice. In conclusion, I would lean towards garchomp being a D rank thanks to its ability to customize and beat the elite 4 mostly on its own, but coming late and lacking a more solid ground stab are a negative. The big question mark for me is its availability, my first time in the desert was a sandstorm, and the SOS chaining was very short. I’ve heard it can be a pain to get gabite, so maybe that could knock it a notch down, but would need other people’s input on that.

Meinfoo:

Comes super late, but once you get one you can slap an eviolite on it and it should be able to deal with most the trainers in vast poni canyon, I was able to evolve to meinshao right before Komoo-o trial. Doesn’t really contribute much til the E4 outside of route trainers, but can sweep olivia’s team (didn’t use it against Armaldo, but it can’t do too much to you) with high jump kick. Also, can clean up some of molayne’s team in bisharp and magnezone (barely lives a flash cannon). Didn’t try it against Kahili and Acerola. Can Ohko Hau’s crabominable but is outsped and Ohko by his Tauros with double edge. Meinfoo is probably an E rank mon as it comes way to late, plus will have very little EVs by the E4, yet can still contribute against them.
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
Took me longer than it should have but finally finished my run. Ultra Necorzma one shot my whole team so just slapped a focus sash and toxic on garchomp lol.

Pichu:

Pichu can be caught immediately at the start of the game, and that’s about where the positives end. For the first island pichu is virtually useless, losing to even flying types it should beat due to its terrible stats. Mine evolved to pikachu right before the water trial, but due to araquanid’s high special bulk, charge beam your best electric attack and the wacan berry, pikachu is useless, doing around 15% before dieing. You can evolve pikachu before this, but I can’t see that helping at all. I got raichu right before royal avenue thanks to the eevee hatching and grabbing a thunderstone from the nursery. Raichu has actual useable stats, and gets psychic upon evolution. Though the psychic typing tends to hurt more then it helps. Raichu isn’t helpful for the fire and grass trial, but can now fight route trainers effectively. I didn’t try raichu against olivia, but I can’t see that being a good matchup either, raichu is just too physically frail and doesn’t deal enough damage. Funnily enough, the most use I got out of raichu was in the togedemaru trial. Using Furfrou to get it to -3 attack, Raichu could then set up nasty plots since it resisted all the attacks from it and skarmory, and eventually beat it down with psychics. With my current team this was my best way to beat it, not efficient as I had to heal twice, but possible none the less. Mimikyu trial was a no go, guzma battles are also terrible since golisopod one shots with first impression/sucker punch and masquerain out speeds. Nanu is a bad matchup, and the whole aether saga is also bad. At this point in the game raichu is starting to struggle with even route trainers, and the lack of solid electric move sucks. All of poni island goes the same, though getting thunderbolt is nice after machamp. I didn’t try z-psychic against komoo-o, but I’d imagine I get outsped and one shot. Ribombee trial was a no-go, same with hapu. At elite 4 Raichu’s contributions were OHKOing Toucannon and 2-shotting vaporeon. Even against Kahili Braviary lives an expert belt thunderbolt at equal levels. Overall, Raichu was a massive disappointment, due to terrible physical bulk, getting outsped by the things it could kill, and just generally not hitting hard enough. I think D is fair, since as a Raichu it can help with most route trainers, but just comes up short for most boss battles.

Furfrou:

Furfrou has a terrific early game, soloing the first island (rotoboost for Hala), and can deal with Araquanid and Lurantis (could probably deal with marowak with bite flinches). By the third island the stats start to catch up with furfrou, but as a support mon it is usefull in almost every battle, between baby-doll eyes and eventually charm/cotton spore, and thunder wave into headbutt/bite. Furfrou ended up being an emergency check for me for all the mons I didn’t have anything for at the time, whether that be 1v1ing Golisopod everytime, crippling togedemaru and mimikyu with twave and babydoll eyes, Hau’s Tauros, etc. The only point I found that Furfrou didn’t contribute a ton was the E4 since Molayne and Olivia just naturally don’t take much from anything, however I am confident if needed Furfrou could 1v1 any of the mons with the proper moveset/item. Late game not the most efficient mon, but one of the best 1v1 mons for problematic matchups (mostly physical attackers) and a stellar early game, I think B is a good ranking.

Jigglypuff(Igglybuff):

Jigglypuff can be SOS’d from Igglybuff, it took me about 5 minutes to find one, I would definitely go this route since Igglybuff is probably dead weight for all of island 2. Off the bat jigglypuff is actually ok against route trainers, and can hold its own til about digletts cave. It can’t contribute in any of the boss battles though, as it is just too weak to do anything. Once on the third island, jigglypuff becomes generally useless everywhere until you get the moon stone on route 13. Wigglytuff can kinda contribute against Mimikyu by paralyzing it and breaking its disguise. Its strongest matchup is against Nanu where it can easily beat sableye with disarming voice (lol) and alolan persian with a potion thrown in at some point. By Poni island you finally get access to all the tms Wigglytuff can want (dazzling gleam, elemental moves) which helps against the trainers on the island. Wigglytuff also is able to 1v1 ribombee thanks to psych-up copying all the boosts and slowly hitting it back with body slams (or fireblasts if no rain). In the elite 4 I used wigglyutff once, to kill ~55% Pallosand with grass knot, so not a great showing there. Overall, jiggly/wiggly’s super low speed, combined with only ok bulk is its main down fall, it doesn’t hit hard enough (most of it’s good moves are late game too) so it will be 2hkoed before it can do so back. I would end up going with E for jigglypuff, does have a few matchups where it can contribute but has large portions where its mostly useless even against route trainers. If for ever reason you wanted to use igglybuff, I can’t see it being anything but F, loses out on an ok portion of the game and becomes literally useless til wilgglytuff. As an aside, I ran quick claw most of the game on wigglytuff, which was nice for letting me get in the 2nd blow for a KO instead of the other way around, not reliable at all though lol.

Basculin:

Basculin really is just a water move disguised as a pokemon, I can count on two hands the number of times I clicked anything outside of aqua tail/jet. It has a strong start with needing just a couple trainers to Ohko marowak with z-water. Not usefull for Lurantis, but can Ohko Olivia’s anorith with aqua tail and lycanroc with z-water. Togedemaru is a no go, didn’t try it against Mimikyu but can’t see that being a good matchup, and Ohko Nanu’s krookadile (got outsped and took a big chunk of damage). From there, Basculin was more relegated to getting a big hit off with z-water and finishing things with aqua jet, he can Ohko Hapu’s Golurk with z-water and 2hko mudsdale, while living one eq. The only other contribution was 2hkoing alolan-dug with aqua jet, and Olivia where I Ohko the armaldo then swept the rest of her team with mienshao lol. Basculin is usefull right away when you get it, and throughout the game is a reliable water type attacker, however its low attack means its coverage isn’t doing much (~50% z-head smash on totem ribombee), its speed is also very mediocre and it means it will often take a hit in major battles, which coupled with poor defenses isn’t a good combination. I would probably aim for C since it does have a few good matchups and can contribute with route trainers, but it is a very black and white pokemon where I found it either had a very large contribution or could bring nothing to the table. As an aside, I exclusively ran z-water on it since I really didn’t have another pokemon that I ran z-moves on outside a couple boss battles, so I didn’t have to deal with the 90% accuracy problem, I imagine that would have been quite annoying.

Gabite:

I must have gotten lucky; it took me about 10 minutes to get a gabite to spawn. Got fairly poor IVs but didn’t want to test my luck. The gabite stage is rather lack luster, with an eviolite it can take hits ok, and has decent attack/speed. It also can learn a plethora of tms right away and should be getting dragon claw shortly, but it won’t be contributing in boss battles. Guzma is too strong, and while you could probably do a bit to Nanu I didn’t try. By the time you get to Vast poni canyon you should be evolving into a garchomp. Garchomp is a big improvement, and can deal with most route trainers, but the last two trials are poor matchups (Ohko’d by both). Against Hapu a dragon claw just falls short of Ohkoing flygon (which outspeeds and does ~60% with dragon breath) but a z-draco would KO. Garchomp’s main usefulness is in the elite 4, where it can comfortably beat every mon on her team except alolan-dug (unless you run z-ground). The big problem I had with garchomp was no eq, so I was relying on dig. This works against molayne at first as two digs will KO klefki through reflect, wasting 4 turns, then another dig will get rid of the reflect before hitting the next poke. Metagross can live one, but can’t KO in return, same boat with magnezone (sturdy) so you’ll need to heal or choose one the kill. Bisharp dies to a soft sand dig, but alolan-dug will KO you with eq if you have any prior damage. Olivia is also a good matchup as you can 2hko all her mons and they can’t in return, but once again it’s not a clean sweep. For Acerola black glasses crunch Ohko’s bannette and 2hkos everything else (maybe not pallossand? Didn’t try), but froslass will kill you if it hits blizzard. For kahili I only used garchomp to Ohko the oricorio with rock slide (took an air slash first), and only used garchomp to Ohko Hau’s raichu (after eating a psychic). One thing I wanted to try, but realized I hadn’t bought the weather tms until it was too late was z-sandstorm. A speed boost plus the evasion from sand veil and residual chip sounds really nice. In conclusion, I would lean towards garchomp being a D rank thanks to its ability to customize and beat the elite 4 mostly on its own, but coming late and lacking a more solid ground stab are a negative. The big question mark for me is its availability, my first time in the desert was a sandstorm, and the SOS chaining was very short. I’ve heard it can be a pain to get gabite, so maybe that could knock it a notch down, but would need other people’s input on that.

Meinfoo:

Comes super late, but once you get one you can slap an eviolite on it and it should be able to deal with most the trainers in vast poni canyon, I was able to evolve to meinshao right before Komoo-o trial. Doesn’t really contribute much til the E4 outside of route trainers, but can sweep olivia’s team (didn’t use it against Armaldo, but it can’t do too much to you) with high jump kick. Also, can clean up some of molayne’s team in bisharp and magnezone (barely lives a flash cannon). Didn’t try it against Kahili and Acerola. Can Ohko Hau’s crabominable but is outsped and Ohko by his Tauros with double edge. Meinfoo is probably an E rank mon as it comes way to late, plus will have very little EVs by the E4, yet can still contribute against them.
Great post! I agree with most of your points, but I will go over each of your nominations anyways:

for Pichu, you pretty much successfully explained what are its issues. It starts out very badly and doesn't really see an improvement. In one of my runs I am currently doing (I am doing like 10 with the use of Citra Canary's save states), I decided to use an Alolan Raichu in a fun way by evolving Pichu right at level 13 (to get both NP and Electro Ball) and then evolving PIkachu as soon as I got the Thunder Stone from Paniola Ranch. Even with that, Raichu still fails to actually win the major fights it has paricipated in (the run with Raichu is at Ula'Ula currently, so it hasn't been finished yet). Anyways, I am glad that you agreed with its preliminary tier.

for Furfrou, it seems like the general consensus is that it's B-tier. While I do have a run with it, I can't say when I will be able to finish it (it's still on Akala), so rather than stall it, I will just declare that on the next slate, Furfrou will have its asterisk removed. If I come up with serious objections to the tier, I may bring back the asterisk, though I doubt this will happen. Also, as a side note, Furfrou doesn't even need Roto Boosts to sweep Hala. In my case, I used Work Up twice, OHKOed Crabrawler with Z-Headbutt and spammed Headbutt on the rest. Machop doesn't even 4HKO with Karate Chop unless it crits, so the matchup is pretty safe.

as another side note, I am going to raise the possibility of raising Caterpie to B-tier. Caterpie has a similar case of having an extremely good early-game. While it doesn't offer much beyond Sleep Powder as utility later on (and sleep isn't that broken at this point, given you will have to switch ou for a teammate in most cases), it does have a bit more use later on, being useful for Guzma and having good matchups against some of the end-game bosses like Ribombee. In fact, I even swept Hau with it, although it's not a 100% reliable one. You can dig up my nomination from somewhere in this thread, I am too lazy right now to look it up myself, if anyone is interested in learning more about it.

for Jigglypuff, I have one in one of my runs, but I have not been able to do anything with it. The only good thing going about it is that it's in the Fast experience group, so at least you don't have to use it on trainers to keep it on par with your team. I would support a drop to F-tier, but I'd like first to use it completely to see if I can find a way for it to contribute (I don't think Puff is a particuarly high priority to warrant immediate tiering actions, at least in my opinion, so that's why I am giving myself the liberty to first finish my run with it)

for Basculin, I have it in one of my runs, but I haven't had an opportunity to actually use it (the run is still at the beginning of Akala). On the next slate, Basculin will have its asterisk removed. I cannot really comment much on it, since I haven't used it, but it seems like the issues with Basculin are pretty consistent and clear, so I don't mind just removing the asterisk at this point.

for Gabite, this is probably the only nomination where I have some disagreements. While I am going to admit that putting it in F-tier may have been a bit of a stretch, I don't think I am currently able to see D-tier, more like E-tier instead. First, it's still an SOS mon and taking 10 minutes doesn't sound ideal either. And the logs you provided for it aren't convincing me that something with what I'd call an atrocious and late availability that has like two good matchups only (couldn't determine whenever Acerola was a good one, and even then, she's not particularly difficult, so it might be a poiint anyways) deserves D-tier. I will slate Gabite for E-tier for now, but I want to see some more arguments for D before I am convinced of that tier, as I think it has a lot of issues that plague it really hard. I probably should mention that it levels up slowly, so it will take some effort to catch up with your team.

also worth mentioning that, should Gabite rise to D, I will most likely move Golett and Baltoy to D too, as those are Haina Desert SOS mons too (though they don't require sand to appear). Golett is probably even better than Gabite, since Golett gets Curse and thus can be more useful in its otherwise bad matchups.

I'd like to receive a few more nominations before I create another slate, but if some time passes without nominations, I may just go with whatever we have right now.

e: no comments on Mienfoo
 
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Glad you agree with most of my points, be curious to see if anyone who uses jigglypuff what they think of it. I do think it could be an F tier mon, but it was decently effective against totem ribombee and you can customize its moveset enough to help with certain things. Personally I usually leave F tier for mons who legitimately don't help in any way, but I wouldn't have many qualms with it dropping. In regards to Garchomp, my main concern with my ranking was its availability. I got one extremely quick so it wasn't a hassle at all, but I have a feeling I was just quite lucky. As far as gabite goes, the next chunk of battles is predominantly team skull, with their abundance of poison types were basically free exp, so getting gabite to catch up wasn't too hard. I think if optimized Garchomp can effectively sweep all E4 members. I would be curious if anyone who decided to use it would have had more success with utilizing z-sandstorm. My Garchomp also had very poor IVs (15-6-3-17-4-16), so I wonder if that came into play at all? Like I said before though, I think my idea of its availability is skewed, and can see that being a factor for knocking it down. Also don't have any input on golett and baltoy, but from other games baltoy is straight booty lol.
 
Sorry for my slowness, work has been really draining lately. On the upside, I just got through Totem Araquanid so I'll have logs for that.
Breakneck Blitz is a massive usability upgrade, reliably ohkoing most trainers' pokemon, especially since you get Hyper Fang, Last Resort, and an evolution all in quick succession. After Illima's trial, it has no problems training.
Against Hala (Lv. 17), Z-Hyper Fang clean OHKOs both Machop and Makuhita and deals around 2/3 to Crabrawler. I saw it use Leer once instead of blowing me away with a Z-move, so maybe you can win the 1v1 since I saw Hyper Fang can do about 33%? I never landed both a Z move and the follow up though, I imagine the odds are low. Overall, better matchup than a Normal/Dark type has a right to have, with 1 KO and then a decent hit on the next mon.
Against Totem Araquanid at Lv. 21, you can just about knock it into the red with a Z-Last Resort, but it Leech Lifes you for around 50% and heals itself beyond the follow-up Hyper Fang's range. Still, you don't need too much chip for a kill so this is decent.

Not much to say on the route performance, low speed and middling bulk isn't great but brick break, especially as a Z-move, hurts.
Against Hala (Lv. 17), it actually really struggles. Machop's Revenge really hurts, even without the boost, so you can't set up reliably, and I didn't OHKO at +2. Makuhita also avoids an OHKO and can Sand-Attack you, while Crab isn't even 2HKOd while it bonks you with its Z-Move.
It also struggles against Araquanid (Lv. 21) since Bubble does well over half so you struggle to get off even 2 attacks, needing a Quick Claw activation or for it to use Aroura Beam on you (which could lower your attack anyways). 2 Smack Downs doesn't even do half so getting lucky doesn't make too much difference. Hariyama likely fares much better but I didn't want to grind the three levels to try.
I've honestly been disappointed so far with Makuhita. Outside of its Totem Raticate matchup, it just hasn't performed well at all. Hopefully Hariyama fares better (also let me know if I'm missing something in the Hala/Araquanid matchups)

Once it evolves and gets Giga Drain, things really turn around for it, hitting really hard and not dying. It feels powerful for once, not sure how long that's gonna last (75 BP can only go so far) but it's a great change on pace for now.
Against Hala, you can set up pretty easily against Machop especially with some Sleep Powder luck and easily beat his whole team at +2 (Z-Work Up gives extra Attack, in case you're like me and didn't know that), unless your Sand-Attack luck is as bad as mine and you miss like 8 times against Crabrawler. You could just go higher vs. Machop, though.
Vs. Araquanid (Lv. 22), it actually exceeded my expectations by 1v1ing the Totem, and from what I can tell it's pretty reliable, not even really needing Sleep Powder. You get to +1 off Work Up and then you can just outdamage its Leech Lifes with your Giga Drains. As a reminder, my Ivysaur is Impish, it both took and delt less damage than the average. It's a close fight, but with an Oran or Sitrus berry you get through fairly cleanly. I was worried you needed to get lucky and have the ally Pokemon be Dewpider but Masquerien (sp?) is only called after you kill Dewpider or if you do ~33% to the totem on turn 1.
Overall I've been pleasantly surprised by Bulbasaur. It starts a bit slow but it really picks up once you evolve. It feels borderline B/A tier for now but all its worst matchups are ahead of it, so...

It has a couple slow levels but it's self-sufficient once it gets Air Cutter, and with Flynium Z, it absolutely wrecks house.
Hala is a clean sweep. It might not OHKO everything, mine was level 15 and it was a roll vs. Machop and I don't think it OHKOd the others either, but it doesn't fear any significant retaliation. Also this is before I realized it got Work Up, I imagine +1 gives you 3 one-shots.
Araquanid is a clean OHKO with +1 SSSS and does under half with Bubble, which it prefers over Aroura Beam. Easy money.
Oricorio is easily an A-tier mon. It feels borderline S right now but I know its stats will fall off a bit by endgame. Honestly I didn't expect to find anything groundbreaking with it but I've always wanted to use it so I took this run as that excuse lol.

Hatching the Egg is a bit annoying but you get the appropriate Roto Power for free and you can fill part of that time looking for wild Eevees with decent stats/natures. Flareon itself has a high enough BST to fight comfortably, even with a subpar starting level and movepool.
I didn't bother testing it too much vs. Araquanid because lol Fire-type, but it's dissapointing. You get outsped, 2HKOd by Bubble (Lv. 20 btw), and Bite + Quick Attack does like 25%.

e: misstyped, oops
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
Typing from mobile, so expect possible incoherence at parts.

For Rattata, I don't have much to comment on, although I am sure that you could have just Worked Up on Araquanid to secure the OHKO. I am looking forward to its next matchups.

For Makuhita, our difference seems to be that I managed to get it evolved for Araquanid. I most likely did the Roto Exp. trick (get the story one and fight all possible trainers) and used it on the field a lot. Honestly, since this is very... specific usage for an A-tier, I wouldn't be opposed to B-tier, though it'd be great if you can get it evolved before Marowak, it would be great (although it's OK if you can't, this probably would speak about its performance even more). I probably shouldn't have glorified a Pokemon I used in 2019, but *shrug*

For Bulbasaur, I don't even remember how it performed when I used it, other than that it was capable of sweeping fights with Growth / Z-Sunny Day strats. From a more modern perspective, B would probably make more sense, but I'd need to see all the matchups

For Oricorio, I believe the previous iteration of the list had it at S, but I dropped it to A because I found it very weak on the field when not using Z-Moves (at least till it got better STAB moves). Although most of Ula'Ula is pretty bad for it too... Anyways, if you wanna make a case for S once you are done with your run, go for it.

(No comments on Flareon)

Update to my numerous runs: one of them is on Poni, another is on Aether, and the rest are on Ula'Ula. I am currently taking a few days off testing due to personal reasons, but I hope to end all runs within June.
 
Typing from mobile, so expect possible incoherence at parts.

For Rattata, I don't have much to comment on, although I am sure that you could have just Worked Up on Araquanid to secure the OHKO. I am looking forward to its next matchups.

For Makuhita, our difference seems to be that I managed to get it evolved for Araquanid. I most likely did the Roto Exp. trick (get the story one and fight all possible trainers) and used it on the field a lot. Honestly, since this is very... specific usage for an A-tier, I wouldn't be opposed to B-tier, though it'd be great if you can get it evolved before Marowak, it would be great (although it's OK if you can't, this probably would speak about its performance even more). I probably shouldn't have glorified a Pokemon I used in 2019, but *shrug*

For Bulbasaur, I don't even remember how it performed when I used it, other than that it was capable of sweeping fights with Growth / Z-Sunny Day strats. From a more modern perspective, B would probably make more sense, but I'd need to see all the matchups

For Oricorio, I believe the previous iteration of the list had it at S, but I dropped it to A because I found it very weak on the field when not using Z-Moves (at least till it got better STAB moves). Although most of Ula'Ula is pretty bad for it too... Anyways, if you wanna make a case for S once you are done with your run, go for it.

(No comments on Flareon)

Update to my numerous runs: one of them is on Poni, another is on Aether, and the rest are on Ula'Ula. I am currently taking a few days off testing due to personal reasons, but I hope to end all runs within June.
Thanks for the reply! I thought the same about Ratatta vs. Araquanid... then I learned that Alolan Ratatta does not learn Work Up, even though the regular form does. So, yeah, that sucks.
I'm pretty sure I can evolve Makuhita, it only has 2 levels to go.
I'll try to get Marowak and Lurantis logs out by the end of this week.
Edit: anyone have Totem Marowak's speed stat? I want to know if my Raticate's perfect speed iv makes a difference
Edit 2: nvm, just found the pastebin in the OP
 
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