Resource 1v1 Sword and Shield Viability Rankings

[Here Comes Team Charm!]

Roserade: UR to C+/B-

Roserade @ Wide Lens
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Sludge Bomb

That's right we're submitting the actual identical venusaur set but on a different mon.

Roserade is nearly identical to venusaur, but trades some bulk for 25 points of special attack and 10 points of speed. This is actually huge, and singlehandedly makes it a competitive option over venusaur. Hitting 306 speed instead of 284 means you naturally outspeed pokemon like band Darmanitan-Galar, Suicune, Modest Kyurem, Adamant Haxorus, Adamant Urshifu, and the occasional adamant Zapdos-G. You also beat anything that tries to creep venu (a certain sample team zygarde comes to mind) or the above mons. Lastly, your higher speed lets you win the venusaur mirror, where you 3hko it (even if it's leftovers or 252 HP) before it can 3hko you.

The special attack is also significant. Venusaur can't 2hko haxorus, but roserade can. Venusaur may fail to get the 2hko on bulky avalugg spreads, while roserade is guaranteed to. Sawk, Regidrago, Blaziken, the list of matchups where it might matter goes on. Lower HP might also be significant somewhere, as it lets you drain more % with leech seed, but I can't think of anything right away.

The above spread runs max speed, with bulk ensuring you live one hit from scarf haxorus. You can lower speed to get 40 HP and tank a band fire punch from zeraora, but outspeeding adamant/modest base 100s is more important in my opinion.

After testing it some, I don't think roserade is quite as good as venusaur, but it has its share of advantages and should be ranked only slightly below it in the VR.

 

[beansontoes]

Tentacruel: UR to D/C-

Tentacruel @ Black Sludge
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mirror Coat
- Acid Armor
- Rest
- Sludge Bomb

Toxapex is ranked and Tentacruel isn't so I have decided to take a stand against this injustice. Tentacruel walls a lot of influential mons in the meta such as Sylveon, Tapu Fini, Urshifu-R, Volcanion and Primarina simply through its typing, allowing you to slowly take them down with sludge bomb and recovering with rest (if Tentacruel had recover it would be even better but unfortunately rest is the best it gets). Sludge bomb is used over sludge wave because the extra 5 bp makes very little difference but the 30% poison chance over 10% makes it far more probably for you to get an early poison and take the opposing pokemon down fast/force recovery in stall vs stall mus while being able to pp stall with acid armor. Another reason I think Tentacruel deserves to be ranked is its ability clear body which guarantees the Sylveon mu as specs psyshock doesn't kill and you mirror coat and mirror coat t1 can't be punished because Tentacruel 3hkos with sludge bomb and fake tears can't drop spdef to facilitate a 2hko for Sylveon. Also I don't know whether this really counts but Tentacruel can change its moveset to include scald to ensure the mu against some physical mons like more defensive Zygarde, or can run dazzling gleam with some Spatk investment to beat Urshifu-S. Running either of these moves also allows you to beat some Magnezone sets with mirror coat into scald/dazzling gleam. The main appeal of Tentacruel over Toxapex is mirror coat as this also lets it beat Naganadel, Specs Dragapult and it has a 25% roll to live Choice Specs 252+ Kyurem Freeze Dry.

I have used this set quite a bit on ladder and the main issue is barely dying to scarf earthquake users so in hindsight Air Balloon is almost certainly a better item. Basically I just think that Tentacruel is at least as good as Toxapex and deserves to be ranked similarly.

NOTE: This set isn't fully optimised because after doing calcs for about 3 hours I realised that Tentacruel had mirror coat and gave up on life so the set is 252 252 and the move choices might be a sub-optimal combination with other move combinations being able to pick up more mus. Also, the black sludge doesn't make a huge difference in basically any mus so you could use Air Balloon instead to secure wins against both Darmanitan forms and basically any other pokemon that uses a choiced item and relies on ground moves to hit Tentacruel super-effectively.

 

[PokeOtter]

Ninetales : UR to D/C-

WP (Ninetales) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Drought
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 32 SpA / 12 SpD / 20 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Solar Beam
- Overheat
- Calm Mind
- Will-O-Wisp/Encore

Ninetales is an all-around solid Pokémon, beating prominent steel, fairy, and stall Pokémon. Its access to solar beam in conjunction with its weakness policy let it beat the most common water types like urshifu-rapid-strike, primarina, and tapu fini. This is especially good after the ban of genesect and jirachi as primarina and tapu fini have become better in the current metagame. The speed allows it to outspeed max speed jolly primarina. The special defense means that it can tank 3 surfs from scarf tapu fini, and a specs hydro cannon from primarina after ninetales uses calm mind. The use of will-o-wisp and overheat helps it beat avalugg, and ninetales tanks a choice band eathquake and a bulldoze, and even after the lowered speed from bulldoze, Ninetales still outspeeds. Encore is also useful on ninetales as it allows it to beat some stall and set-up mons. The defense helps ninetales beats Urshifu rapid strike, with a +2 solar beam killing the urshifu. The defence also helps beat life orb rillaboom, as it survives both a fake out and high horsepower, KOing back with overheat.

Ninetales Calcs (pokepast.es)

Edit: Thanks to Krycoton for helping optimise EVs

 

[Vrji]

Vileplume UR -> C/C-
I saw yall talk about offensive roserade earlier so this is basically that except it actually beats the things it's supposed to.

Bulky Life Orb

Vilepluwume (Vileplume) @ Life Orb
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 228 HP / 8 Def / 132 SpA / 56 SpD / 84 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Petal Dance
- Moonblast
- Sludge Wave
- Sleep Powder / Strength Sap

EVs

SpA to always kill AV Urshi and HP + Def to life LO Urshi Wicked Blow, as well as Specs Sylv's Psyshock with <90% so you can get a chance with sleep powder. Spe for base 60s (namely bulky Sylveon), rest dumped in SpD (helps with some very weird things like LO Hydra, these EVs could also be put into Def or SpA if you want)

This beats Urshis, Fairies, most Grasses, and most Grass weak mons, but can also cheese a lot of other stuff with sleep powder and effect spore (with 2 sleep turns you beat aggron, thugg etc, if you're lucky enough you can beat the likes of kiss, zone, etc.). The reason to use this over Venu is moonblast, making the Urshi mu 100% reliable and helping with some dragons like Hydra or Komoo. I would still say this is overall worse than venu because its stats are a bit worse and it's kinda linear, but it's a real and solid niche, kinda similar to something like Nidoking, which is why I nommed it for C (fine C- works too).

 

[Pikachu_fan4820]

Shelmet
D to UR
What? This exists? it doesnt survive well even with evolite and better options like pex exist

 

[Here Comes Team Charm!]

Ninetales: D to C+

Ninetales current ranking is (to the extent of my knowledge) based on some EncoreDisable set with Protect or Substitute, running fire stab to set itself apart from the other mons in that niche. However, this massively underestimates what ninetales can actually do in the current metagame. I'll be showcasing two sets that I believe have enough use together to warrant a rank increase from D to C+.

LO Setup

LO Setup (Ninetales) @ Life Orb
Ability: Drought
EVs: 216 SpA / 156 SpD / 136 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Solar Beam
- Encore
- Calm Mind

Outspeeds jolly rillaboom, tanks 252+ Specs Necrozma at +1, OHKOs the specially defensive necrozma spread at +1.

Encore + CM makes ninetales a sort of special zarude, making it immensely threatening to slower mons like Sylveon, Tapu Fini, and Primarina. It can Encorelock most things that try to set up on it, or simply tank a hit at +1 and retaliate with an immensely powerful Overheat. The given EVs let ninetales click Solar Beam on nearly any fini set and 2hko while comfortably tanking its attacks (scarf hydro pump only does very slightly more than 45%).

Specs

Specs (Ninetales) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Drought
EVs: 28 Def / 240 SpA / 240 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Overheat
- Mystical Fire
- Solar Beam
- Scorching Sands / Shadow Ball

Outspeeds jolly rillaboom, tanks a -1 psyshock into a -2 psyshock from the compendium psychic seed tapu lele spread, rest in special attack.

Specs Ninetales reminds me of Blacephalon, but now with actual useful coverage and something to click against mons you can't OHKO. The basic damage output of a sun-boosted specs-boosted Overheat is immense, OHKOing things like defensive specs necrozma and Clefable. Mystical Fire is a cool tech that beats mons like non-Mirror Coat Magnezone, Taunt Spectrier, and Psychic Seed Tapu Lele. Solar Beam beats waters like Swampert and Tapu Fini (176 spa scarf hydro pump depends on hits and rolls but is still in your favor). Scorching Sands beats Scarf Heatran, while Shadow Ball beats Cresselia and some Blacephalon sets.

In addition to those, there's of course still the old Salac Endure/Disable/Pain Split set, which beats most choiced mons (minus scarf archeops minus regieleki minus scarf unnerve hax), as well as Protect/Encore/Disable sets that deal with slower choice and match up better versus stall and setup. I don't like them much, but they add to Ninetales' overall versatility and power.

Ninetales matches up well against common fairy/psychic cores without autolosing to the steel answers (waters, fires, etc.) those bring. It beats steels and fairies, making it a good partner for Regidrago, other fairies, or Zygarde, all of which are notable forces in the current meta. Its Disable sets can catch would-be counters like Aggron and Choice Specs Volcanion by surprise, making it even harder to reliably answer. Most importantly, it's a Fire-type that can reliably answer Tapu Fini (and unlike Volcanion, the other such mon, it doesn't lose to necrozma or stall). I think putting this on the same level as Rotom-Heat isn't a stretch: at the very least it's straightforwardly better than the C-ranked Salazzle.

 

[HeyMan]

nominating excadrill for UR to D/C-

disclaimer: this is my first ever nomination so im sorry if i make any mistakes which im prob making alot of, so uhh....

sets: https://pokepast.es/d7615cf1fec423f2

AV: 252+ atk has no calcs but it 2HKOs a couple of things, AV let's it survive and 2HKO some things but 32 SpD is for specs modest necrozma so that u can survive and 2HKO it afterwards since 184 spe allows it to guarantee outspeed non timid 252 spe necrozma, the SpA is for steel beam which guarantee OHKOs ava(THUGG IS IN), I was originally running focus blast but THUGG users can mirror coat to beat it and focus blast can miss (smh unlucky noobs) pointed out by a good friend of mine, adam3560. but yea if ur not running steel beam then the EV spread, 252 atk/ 40 def/ 32 spdef/ 184 spe/ adamant nature is good enough, rock blast beats pressure stall users like zapdos and entei

Custap: honestly i don't have much to say about this but it can beat choiced mons like gdarm, naganadel, zeraora, maybe prim users if no sparkling aria and pheromosa. that's about it but it also beats stall necrozma which is big funni :D and m/u with togekiss is also nice since u have the rolls over it but u survive one fire blast and bonk it with the second custap iron head

Life Orb: SpD for guarantee beating togekiss even if it clicks fire blast, substitute beats crap that put u to sleep like Venu/Butterfree and toxic/t wave users or even wil o wisp volcanion, x scissor for hydreigon :O, steel beam also beats avalugg and crustle with good rolls and rock blast to beat pressure stall again

Scarf: outspeeds crap like naganadel, scarf fini and scarf shit that have lower base than 88 like dracozolt. fling into SD is a nice combo

Band: this one's p similar but it beats non ID THUGG and does more damage than the last one

Occa: EV'd for 252+ Band Arcanine and Scarf Heatran, and to outspeed base 60s. Rapid Spin beats Sub Petaya Volcarona, Swords Dance beats WP Incineroar

LO Magnet Rise: EV'd for 2 Band Rhyperior Avalanches.

that's about all i have to say about this mon, it kinda sucks but its still usable and it has decent bulk as well as decent attack so i was kinda surprised when i first saw it wasnt ranked

credit to these who helped, analyzed and provided the sets: XSC, hctc, smely socks, adam3560, linux user, vrji and fraun

 

[XSTATIC COLD]

You forgot occa berry, and a set with magnet rise.

 

[Vrji]

didn't even include the best set

but we have (Excadrill) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 104 Atk / 164 SpA / 240 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Earthquake
- Steel Beam
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

beats avalugg

 

[HeyMan]

mb mb, will include the superior sets next time if im nominating something o7

 

[LeCehlou]

Nominating Garbodor for UR -> C


Garbodor @ Assault Vest
Level: 100
Adamant Nature
Ability: Stench
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Stomping Tantrum
- Seed Bomb

The most beloved hated Pokémon of Black And White is here to soil the metagame !
I like the actual metagame but a lot of people are people complain that's just fairy spam. Ok, just throw that Garbodor on them :

252+ Atk Garbodor Gunk Shot vs. 248 HP / 148 Def Primarina: 372-438 (102.4 - 120.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Specs Primarina)
252+ Atk Garbodor Gunk Shot vs. 248 HP / 160 Def Primarina: 366-432 (100.8 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Sitrus Primarina)


Garbodor is naturally faster than Prismarina.. oh you missed gunk shot ? Don't worry !

48+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Hydro Cannon vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Garbodor: 204-240 (67.5 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

(Specs)​

252+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Hydro Cannon vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Garbodor: 237-280 (78.4 - 92.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

(Max SpAtk Specs)​

36+ SpA Primarina Hydro Cannon vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Garbodor: 135-159 (44.7 - 52.6%) -- 18.4% chance to 2HKO

(Sitrus)


​

You also outspeed all Sylveon's Set Compendium sets.

252+ Atk Garbodor Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 232 Def Sylveon: 366-432 (92.8 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO (Yawn)

252+ Atk Garbodor Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Sylveon: 398-470 (101 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Custap)

252+ Atk Garbodor Gunk Shot vs. 72 HP / 8 Def Sylveon: 488-576 (139.8 - 165%) -- guaranteed OHKO (Specs)

You could still lose to specs if you miss your Gunk Shot T1 and if the sylveon has psyshock.


Cool, but Garbodor just beats Fairy isn't it ? No.


224+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Garbodor: 144-169 (47.6 - 55.9%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO

252+ SpA Magnezone Thunderbolt vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Garbodor: 97-115 (32.1 - 38%) -- 95.7% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Garbodor Drain Punch vs. 8 HP / 4 Def Magnezone: 128-152 (45.2 - 53.7%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO

Use Drain Punch T1 and kill it with stomping tantrum.


You don't have 100% to win vs togekiss, but you will a lot of the time.

252 SpA Togekiss Air Slash vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Garbodor: 70-84 (23.1 - 27.8%) -- 74.9% chance to 4HKO


I will not show all calcs, but it could win vs Specs Spectrier if you use PayBack, Kyurem Scarf / AV , Offensive Zapdos , Aromatisse, Clefable and i guess you could do some techs to beat other mons. (Oh with stench it could theorically beats almost any pokemon who is slower than him)

 

[Vrji]

252+ SpA Choice Specs Sylveon Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garbodor: 302-356 (100 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Honestly I don't see what this does over other poison types that don't have to rely on Gunk Shot hitting to beat fairies.
This is a worse version of [barely viable] Silvally-Poison of all things, Seed Bomb isn't actually useful as it doesn't even come close to killing something like Rhyperior, and if you really want a Gunk Shot mon even Raboot is faster and has priority.

 

[LeCehlou]

You can change the moves if you want, ig you can use payback and stomping tantrum.

And you wrote that before i finished posting, he beats a lot of things that silvally-p doesn't beat, and have a better chance to win vs togekiss

 

[fruan]

nominating the forgotten fossil duo for c-.
Shoutout to Urfgurgle for running Aurorus and getting me to look into hail/ice mons.

Arctovish

Arctovish @ Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 136 HP / 24 Atk / 84 Def / 180 SpA / 84 Spe //// 136 HP / 24 Atk / 84 Def / 128 SpA / 52 SpD / 84 Spe 
Naughty/Adamant Nature
- Hail
- Fishious Rend
- Icicle Spear / Icicle crash
- Freeze-Dry

beats random endure sets with hail, freeze-dry for outplaying counter-coat, decently bulky, great zygarde counter.
speed and bulk for garchomp, spatack for zygarde, rest in attack
it can run icicle crash and sacrifice sptack for spdef to beat all dragapult reliably, beats curse and wips hex with icicle spear into freeze dry.
it can also run speed to beat metagross as it lives banded m-mash/m-mash into bp with no bulk investment and 2 hits with fishous rend.

calcs

offensive
180 SpA Life Orb Arctovish Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Zygarde: 421-499 (100.4 - 119%) -- guaranteed OHKO

24+ Atk Life Orb Arctovish Icicle Crash vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Dragapult: 312-369 (98.4 - 116.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

defensive
252 Atk Choice Band Garchomp Stone Edge vs. 136 HP / 84 Def Arctovish: 300-354 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Dragapult Draco Meteor vs. 136 HP / 52 SpD Arctovish: 300-354 (84.5 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Arctozolt

Arctozolt @ Life Orb
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 148 SpD / 76 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hail
- Bolt Beak
- Stomping Tantrum
- Icicle Spear

same anti custap idea, with different mus.
bulk for specs magnezone hyper beam and zapdos life orb heat wave so you safely hail t1 into tantrum/icicle spear. speed for base 100s.
beats non specs sylveons with hail into bolt beak, yawn its a roll very much in your favor for them to need 3 sleep turns.

it can also run 84 spdef to guarantee live non specs hyper beam from sylv and invest in speed to beat specs sylveon. (specs drops to bolt beak t1).

Calcs

offensive
252+ Atk Life Orb Arctozolt Bolt Beak (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Sylveon: 378-446 (95.9 - 113.1%) --(dies to hail)

252+ Atk Life Orb Arctozolt Bolt Beak (170 BP) vs. 252 HP / 232 Def Sylveon: 348-411 (88.3 - 104.3%) -- roll not in favor but if they yawn extra hail turns should secure ko.

252+ Atk Life Orb Arctozolt Stomping Tantrum vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Magnezone: 348-411 (101.1 - 119.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

defensive
252+ SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Hyper Beam vs. 32 HP / 148 SpD Arctozolt: 272-321 (82.6 - 97.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Zapdos Heat Wave vs. 32 HP / 148 SpD Arctozolt: 265-315 (80.5 - 95.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

80+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Beam vs. 32 HP / 148 SpD Arctozolt: 252-297 (76.5 - 90.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

8+ SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 32 HP / 148 SpD Arctozolt: 142-168 (43.1 - 51%) -- 3.1% chance to 2HKO

also nominating my pal xurk for d rank.

Xurkitree

Xurkitree @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 80 HP / 180 SpA / 248 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Charge
- Thunderbolt
- Energy Ball / Dazzling Gleam
- Protect

beat special attackers with charge into tbolt, protect for custap shenanigans.
outspeeds non scarf volcanion and sylveon.

Calcs

offensive
180+ SpA Life Orb Xurkitree Energy Ball vs. 240 HP / 48 SpD Assault Vest Swampert: 463-546 (115.4 - 136.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

+2 180+ SpA Life Orb Xurkitree Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 16 SpD Sylveon: 394-464 (100 - 117.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

180+ SpA Life Orb Xurkitree Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 187-222 (57.7 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

defensive
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Beam vs. +1 80 HP / 248 SpD Xurkitree: 282-333 (86.2 - 101.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

 

[el baguette]

Clefable

Kebia Berry + Counter

 

[XSTATIC COLD]

el bagette it's "bagUette" , avec du fromage c'est meilleur.

 

[el baguette]

el bagette it's "bagUette" , avec du fromage c'est meilleur.

Ok

 

[Here Comes Team Charm!]

Kebia Berry + Counter

252+ Atk Garbodor Gunk Shot vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 306-360 (77.6 - 91.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

What's a kebia berry?

 

[Murm]

UR -> C/C-

For those who have joined me in my testing VCs, you know I am a fan of this thing. It is decently bulky with investment, very strong, and has an amazing movepool, with coverage such as Play Rough, Heat Crash, Power Whip, Outrage, and Earthquake. It is generally worse than Celesteela but I believe that it can fit on a decent amount of teams over it. It can beat a lot of Electric types that Celesteela can't, like Regieleki and Zeraora, and some other important things like Kyurem. It is an overall cool mon that fits on a decent amount of teams. I have compiled a few sets, here they are.


AV (Copperajah) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 4 HP / 108 Atk / 192 Def / 80 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Power Whip
- Outrage / Heat Crash

AV Alt Loses to Regieleki (Copperajah) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 4 HP / 248 Atk / 192 Def / 64 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Power Whip
- Heat Crash / Outrage

I would say AV is it's best set. AV allows it to be a great blanket Fairy check, along with beating some other Special Attackers like Regieleki and Kyurem.

Calcs

252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Electro Ball (120 BP) vs. 4 HP / 80 SpD Assault Vest Copperajah: 327-385 (84.7 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Thunder vs. 4 HP / 80 SpD Assault Vest Copperajah: 300-354 (77.7 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
108+ Atk Copperajah Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Regieleki: 372-438 (123.5 - 145.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO


252+ SpA Choice Specs Primarina Hydro Cannon vs. 4 HP / 80 SpD Assault Vest Copperajah: 321-378 (83.1 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
108+ Atk Copperajah Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 160 Def Primarina: 204-241 (56 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
108+ Atk Copperajah Power Whip vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Primarina: 332-392 (91.4 - 107.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
232+ Atk Copperajah Power Whip vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Primarina: 364-430 (100.2 - 118.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Torrent Primarina Hydro Cannon vs. 4 HP / 64 SpD Assault Vest Copperajah: 327-385 (84.7 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
248+ Atk Copperajah Power Whip vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Primarina: 368-434 (101.3 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO


176 SpA Tapu Fini Surf vs. 4 HP / 80 SpD Assault Vest Copperajah: 91-108 (23.5 - 27.9%) -- 83.8% chance to 4HKO
176 SpA Tapu Fini Hydro Pump vs. 4 HP / 80 SpD Assault Vest Copperajah: 109-130 (28.2 - 33.6%) -- 0.5% chance to 3HKO
108+ Atk Copperajah Power Whip vs. 248 HP / 0+ Def Tapu Fini: 210-248 (61.2 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
108+ Atk Copperajah Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0+ Def Tapu Fini: 157-186 (45.7 - 54.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
108+ Atk Copperajah Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 80 HP / 20 Def Tapu Fini: 169-201 (56.1 - 66.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Custap (Copperajah) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Heavy Metal
EVs: 244 Atk / 172 Def / 92 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Outrage
- Earthquake / Filler
- Endure

Really cool set that beats Regidrago.

Calcs

252+ Atk Choice Band Regidrago Hammer Arm vs. 0 HP / 172 Def Copperajah: 326-384 (84.6 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
244+ Atk Copperajah Outrage vs. 0 HP / 212 Def Haban Berry Regidrago: 179-211 (33 - 39%) -- 99.9% chance to 3HKO
244+ Atk Copperajah Outrage vs. 0 HP / 212 Def Regidrago: 358-422 (66.1 - 78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
140+ SpA Dragon's Maw Regidrago Dragon Energy (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 92 SpD Copperajah: 182-215 (47.2 - 55.8%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO
140+ SpA Dragon's Maw Regidrago Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 92 SpD Copperajah: 158-186 (41 - 48.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO


252+ Atk Zeraora Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 172 Def Copperajah: 282-332 (73.2 - 86.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
244+ Atk Copperajah Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zeraora: 304-358 (95.8 - 112.9%) -- 75% chance to OHKO


252 Atk Haxorus Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 172 Def Copperajah: 312-368 (81 - 95.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
244+ Atk Copperajah Outrage vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Haxorus: 312-368 (106.1 - 125.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO


176 SpA Tapu Fini Surf vs. 0 HP / 92 SpD Copperajah: 133-157 (34.5 - 40.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
176 SpA Tapu Fini Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 92 SpD Copperajah: 162-192 (42 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
244+ Atk Copperajah Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0+ Def Tapu Fini: 174-205 (50.7 - 59.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
244+ Atk Copperajah Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 80 HP / 20 Def Tapu Fini: 186-220 (61.7 - 73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Chople (Copperajah) @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 176 Atk / 240 Def / 92 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head / Heavy Slam
- Play Rough
- Power Whip / Filler
-Earthquake / Whatever

This is more of just a funny set, but it does have a niche. It can beat most Urshifu-Singles, only losing to bulky Life Orb with Bulk Up or the rare Roseli Berry. Iron Head is mainly better since you need Sheer Force anyway but Heavy Slam might do some other stuff idk.

Calcs

176 SpA Tapu Fini Surf vs. 0 HP / 92 SpD Copperajah: 133-157 (34.5 - 40.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
176 SpA Tapu Fini Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 92 SpD Copperajah: 162-192 (42 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
176+ Atk Copperajah Power Whip vs. 248 HP / 0+ Def Tapu Fini: 222-262 (64.7 - 76.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
176+ Atk Sheer Force Copperajah Iron Head vs. 80 HP / 20 Def Tapu Fini: 154-183 (51.1 - 60.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


252 Atk Choice Band Zeraora Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 240 Def Chople Berry Copperajah: 178-210 (46.2 - 54.5%) -- 59% chance to 2HKO
176+ Atk Copperajah Earthquake vs. -1 4 HP / 0 Def Zeraora: 432-510 (135.8 - 160.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO


252+ Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 0 HP / 240 Def Copperajah on a critical hit: 325-384 (84.4 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Urshifu Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 240 Def Chople Berry Copperajah: 325-384 (84.4 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
176+ Atk Sheer Force Copperajah Play Rough vs. +1 0 HP / 0 Def Urshifu: 356-420 (104.3 - 123.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
176+ Atk Sheer Force Copperajah Play Rough vs. 248 HP / 244 Def Urshifu: 424-500 (105.2 - 124%) -- guaranteed OHKO
176+ Atk Sheer Force Copperajah Play Rough vs. -1 0 HP / 0 Def Urshifu-Rapid-Strike: 400-472 (117.3 - 138.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Overall Copperajah is a cool mon that fits on a decent amount of teams. It has some nice top tier matchups and really cool options, like the ones mentioned above but even things like Screech and Earth Power have niches, and it can customize moves to fit the team very well. These are just my sets but it has a lot of room for experimentation. It can struggle with consistancy sometimes, and some of the other steels rn, especially Celesteela but also Registeel and Metagross can fit on more teams, but I still feel that this thing is good and worth ranking. Thank you.

 

[Vrji]

Metagross A- to A+:
After everyone spammed tf out of this in wc (having higher usage than 8 of the 14 A and above ranked mons (and going >50% wr)), I feel like this mon is absolutely top tier.
It's the single best way to deal with fairies and dragons across the board, and while it can't check them all at once (nothing can), every single one of meta's sets maintains a pretty good matchup spread (for example AV additionally deals with eleki and cres, WP deals with av arcanine etc.).

This thing has options on options with both its items (band, scarf, lo, wp, av, more fringe stuff like occa etc.), EVs (is it fast to outspeed necrozma? is it bulky to deal with zera?) and moves, having a great movepool (notably includes great utility in Bullet Punch, Psychic and Trick),
making it both kinda annoying to deal with while building and in battle (zygarde is one of the more convincing checks but you still have to be careful not to run a set that loses to wp ice punch, and coiling might get you tricked), and also very customisable to fit a team's needs (especially if these needs consist of a lot of fairies and dragons, which they frequently do).

Overall Metagross is a very strong, flexible meta pick that has proven itself in tournament, and should therefore be A+.

 

[airfare]

Wsg @everyone @us south Potatochan zioziotrip pqs crow crumbs DEG Itchyy D2TheW Mubs Aliss lvl100Blaziken eblurb omicorio Rellia 413X smely socks @shitballs thanks for supporting me in wc and I'm glad south had such a good run this year!! I had lots of fun in my first season thanks to u guys and hope to keep participating in 1v1 tours with the rest of the community

After going positive in world cup (unlike everyone else on my team), and building extensively for myself and for the south SS core, I have developed some VR noms I would like to share.

Regidrago to S: Regidrago is currently one of the most constricting mons in ss, both in the teambuilder and in battles. It's only truly countered by fairies and a handful of other steels/ices (haxorus, [haban]kyurem, registeel, spd band metagross, avalanche/band glastrier, celesteela, leech seed ferrothorn). All of its sets are outstanding in the current meta and it almost never has a bad matchup on preview.

Togekiss to S-: It's a fairy with good matchups into other fairies and is techable (lots of normal options like scarf/maranga but also many other techs like babiri specs n stuff) broken woah

Ferrothorn to A-: One of the few mons in ss 1v1 that can pretend to beat dfs cores. Ferro is super anti-meta and it's able to wall a fair share of the lower tiers. Fires are not really good right now and a fair amount of the mons that can run fire coverage generally really want to have something else in their moveslots (toge, zera).

Tapu Lele to A-: Taunt cm, in particular, is a spectacular set right now and all of its tech options (scarf, custap, id, specs, natures madness) added together create a very versatile mon that reaches kyurem levels of flexibility. Its options are arguably unexplored but fairies with good matchups into other fairies are just good and taunt cm alone justifies a raise.

Kommo-o to B+: Kommo is in a great spot rn despite fairies being omnipresent. Haban and yache are both very splashable, effectively checking sylv ursh glastrier steels and pult/gdarm. Its matchup spread being weird isn't nearly the problem it once was with mons like arcanine and nihilego being on a general decline.

Entei to B+/A-: Best fire and not a lot else beats croz sylv and gdarm in the one slot. -airfare

Lando-T to B+: AV is a great glue but this mon just does not compare to the rest of the A- rank. Most of its other options like band tend to be super lackluster and generally face competition from garchomp and zygarde.

Naganadel to B-: | 57 | Naganadel | 4 | 1.15% | 0.00% |
I don't trust this mon to check anything, every relevant dragon except hydreigon (:joy:) has a pretty good set that beats it and it doesn't really work as a blanket fairy check due to it losing to sylveon. Non-specs sets are in theory an option to fix some issues but they just don't do enough damage to break through most of the metagame, especially as teams are trending fatter.

Regieleki to C+:

Slowking-G to C+: compared to other blanket fairy check special attackers (zone, venusaur, naga), Glowking is able to beat several mons that they tend to struggle with such as trick cress (hex), ferrothorn, volcarona (power gem), and tapu lele while also having a good matchup against stall thanks to its access to trick. Its niche isn't spectacular but beating fairies is very valuable right now and it has enough on its competition to justify C+.

Sawk to D: Look at the vr and look at sawk. It beats very little reliably and is outclassed by most other fighting types. Sawk on deez nuts

Thanks for reading friends

 

[PokeOtter]

Terrakion: UR to C-

Terrakion @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 80 SpD / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Endure
- Swords Dance
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat

Terrakion is an all around powerful Pokemon, being able to beat many viable Pokemon in the current metagame, such as Tapu Fini, Celesteela, Glastrier, and many more. Through use of a weakness policy and its seven weaknesses, along with its decent speed tier, Terrakion is able to endure on supereffective attacks and then use either Stone Edge or Close Combat. Swords dance can be used to boost Terrakion's attack further, which helps against pokemon which are not able to kill Terrakion in one hit. Terrakion is able to tank any hit from 176 special attack tapu fini and ko back with a +2 stone edge. Once Terrakion is at +2, it is able to KO pokemon like Kyurem, Porygon-Z, Volcanion and more. Terrakion also has many matchups where it wins most of the time, such as custap Magnezone and custap Sylveon. Overall, Terrakion has a positive matchup against many of the most influential pokemon in the current metagame.

Calcs

Scarf Tapu Fini:
176 SpA Tapu Fini Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 80 SpD Terrakion: 270-320 (83.5 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 80 HP / 20 Def Tapu Fini: 312-367 (103.6 - 121.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Sitrus Tapu Fini:
+4 252+ Atk Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 248 HP / 0+ Def Tapu Fini: 433-510 (126.2 - 148.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Primarina:
+2 252+ Atk Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 240 HP / 160 Def Primarina: 376-444 (104.1 - 122.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Goodra:
+2 252+ Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Goodra: 385-454 (100.2 - 118.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Kyurem:
252+ Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kyurem: 468-552 (119.6 - 141.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Porygon-Z:
252+ SpA Adaptability Porygon-Z Hyper Beam vs. 0 HP / 80 SpD Terrakion: 185-218 (57.2 - 67.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Porygon-Z: 576-678 (185.2 - 218%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Volcanion:
+2 252+ Atk Terrakion Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 96 Def Volcanion: 560-662 (153.8 - 181.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Darmanitan-Galar:
252+ Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Darmanitan-Galar: 686-810 (195.4 - 230.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Tyranitar:
252+ Atk Terrakion Close Combat vs. 200 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 792-936 (202.5 - 239.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Volcarona:

 

[XSTATIC COLD]

yes and put whiscash in c too.

 

[Vrji]

Dragalgae D -> UR

If Toxicroak is UR this should be too, slow poison type that only barely does enough damage with [exploitable item] Band. The Dragon typing helps with actually nothing except losing to every other Dragon and specs Sylv. This mon beats barely anything, not even Urshi reliable with Prough (bulk up lo or just band wins).
This mon mon gets to have all the negatives of a dragon and none of the positives, is incredibly slow, and therefore beats basically nothing. It shouldn't be ranked.

For consistency, calcs:
specs sylv: 252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Dragalge: 360-424 (107.7 - 126.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
band shifu: 252+ Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Dragalge on a critical hit: 352-415 (105.3 - 124.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
bu shifu: 252+ Atk Choice Band Dragalge Play Rough vs. +1 0 HP / 4 Def Urshifu: 300-356 (87.9 - 104.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ Atk Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Dragalge on a critical hit: 352-415 (105.3 - 124.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Further note: It has also come to my attention that AV is also a set that exists. That one actually beats sylveon reliably (as reliably as Gunk Shot's 80% is), but is forced to go mixed, meaning it struggles greatly with EVs, having an even worse Urshi mu (only actually beating bulkupless lo which is not a set). Its dragon type still helps with nothing, and overall I don't think AV contributes to this mon's supposed viability.

 

[UwUTheGreat]

nominating suicune b-> b
set:
Suicune @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 128 Def / 212 SpA / 168 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mirror Coat
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Icy Wind

Suicune is a mon with amazing bulk. 100 hp, 115 on both defenses, and only 2 weaknesses which is pretty good. Of course, not the best special attack, but good enough. Wacan berry helps beat some bulky special electric mons like specs magnezone.
Moveset explanations: Mirror coat is for obvious reasons, to beat special attackers. Hydro pump is for phermosa, ice beam is for some zygarde, and icy wind to slow down pokemon with around 280 speed.

EV stuff: (not much lol)
252+ Atk Choice Band Pheromosa High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 128 Def Suicune: 288-340 (84.4 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
212 SpA Suicune Hydro Pump vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pheromosa: 288-340 (101.7 - 120.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Naganadel Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 168+ SpD Suicune: 241-285 (70.6 - 83.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Choice Specs Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Beam vs. 0 HP / 168+ SpD Suicune: 300-354 (87.9 - 103.8%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

thats my first nomination lol it kinda sucks but i like using this mon and its fun to build around