S Rank
Charizard-Mega
:S
Gyarados-Mega
:S
A+ Rank
Dragonite
:+1 Dragonite keeps losing threat after threat. Flyinium was mostly ran alongside Bulldoze or Rock Tomb as a countermeasure to Mimikyu, and now Dragonite is no longer limited to just that, making it free to run rampant with pretty much any move/item combination it wants.
Magearna
:S
Metagross-Mega
:-1 Metagross suffers strongly from 4mss. While it certainly does have many different ways of being used that all combine to take out a massive portion of the metagame, you're limited to only being able to use one at a time, which means you'd have to constantly be cycling out Metagross sets to keep people on their toes.
A Rank
Landorus-Therian
:-1/S Landorus-Therian finds itself bending over backwards to beat all the things it wants to. It has to run max speed for PZ, special bulk for HP Ice, Physical bulk for Gyarados, etc. The main reason I included staying the same rank as a possibility is because it forces people to second guess themselves in regards to whether it's Groundium or Flyinium in the same way people have to guess whether Charizard is X or Y.
Porygon-Z
:+1 Porygon-Z has also been happily losing threats with each suspect. Nowadays, there are tons of ways to use PZ between being bulked, being fast, being Choiced, etc. Pretty much everyone has their own kind of PZ set, and I believe that that alone should reflect on the versatility this thing has to offer.
Tapu Lele
:+1 Tapu Lele is
also reaping the benefits of less and less threats. When dealing with it, you're always stuck having to figure out whether it has physical bulk, special bulk, max speed, taunt, even Choiced, etc, all of which only help to make Lele incredibly hard to predict, on top of the beyond Zard-Y level of power it's bringing with Z-Psychic/Psyshock.
Zygarde-Complete
:S
A- Rank
Greninja
:+1 Greninja's ability to make everyone second guess themselves is staggering. It has a move/set for pretty much every mon on the VR (some better than others) and even still cleans out large chunks of the upper
and lower meta with Specs alone.
Lopunny-Mega
:S
Magnezone
:S
Slowbro-Mega
:+1 As always, Slowbro just hardwalls massive portions of the meta, both physical and special. It certainly has weaknesses, I just believe it has less than the other mons of A- Rank.
Venusaur-Mega
:-1 Who let this thing into A-? The only mon of A- to S that it reliably beats is Lopunny, and that alone should spell out this mon's viability. It at least cleans out the B+ mons, but even then, that's still the
best it can do. It has many different movesets and spreads to choose from, but they all pretty much do the same thing/have the same weaknesses.
B+ Rank
Aegislash
:+1 It cleans out a lot of the metagame with either Z-move you give it, and has great coverage moves to handle other threats like Magnet Rise, Metal Sound, Laser Focus (it's good, I swear!), etc. Physical is also a bit of an untapped resource, so it still has room to grow even further, potentially.
Altaria-Mega
:+1 Cleaning out the S ranks
and Dragonite should be enough, yet this mon only continues to be one of the best examples of bulky offense in the meta, almost always having a coverage slot or two available for it to do whatever it wants with, in addition to its core moves of Roost + Pixilate-boosted attack.
Donphan
:-1/-2 Donphan's best set it honestly its level 25 FEAR set, which doesn't even do anything to help it, since the fact that it's level 25 is immediately revealed at team preview. The next best thing it has going for it is Choice Band, which
does let it clean out a lot of threats, at the expense of being able to nuke + Ice Shard like it can with Groundium, in addition to often relying on having to hit consecutive 80% accuracy moves.
Gardevoir-Mega
:S
Genesect
:+1 Simply put, Genesect beats way too much to only be B+ rank. Additionally, physical is an untapped resource, as well as Z-move sets, so it definitely has plenty of building room for those who want to experiment with it.
Golem
:-1/-2 It's really not bringing as much to the table as Donphan, besides Rock STAB and Rock Blast. If we ignore the fact that Choice Band Donphan has really low usage and use the set's matchups to compare to Golem's, Donphan is just plain superior in almost all regards.
Jumpluff
:+1 It basically soft checks most of the entire VR now, thanks to Grassium, making it beat about as much as Snorlax did (if Yawn were 75% accurate). It's almost always had great options for coverage moves over Protect, such as Encore, Strength Sap, Infestation, Cotton Spore if you
really hate zard, etc.
Meloetta
:+1 Meloetta has certainly enjoyed a meta without Mimikyu, Snorlax, or Koko. The growing popularity of Laser Focus has made Meloetta into an excellent special-killer of sorts. Meloetta is very flexible when it comes to setbuilding, making it unpredictable movewise, spreadwise, and even itemwise (if Specs is still a thing).
Mew
:+1 Mew certainly appreciates Mimikyu, Snorlax, and Koko being gone. Genesis Supernova has gotten much better, people are starting to realize Calm Mind is a good move, and I've even made a neat
set that beats both zards (given that you know the zard form in advance). I'd even argue for +2, but I think it'd be better that we stick to what's obvious to a majority of people, for now.
Naganadel
:S
Primarina
:+1/S Primarina cleans things out pretty much just the same as Altaria does, exchanging a few better/worse matchups, like Metagross for Dragonite. The reason why I think it could possibly stay B+ as well is that it lacks the viable sustain that Altaria has.
Tapu Fini
:S
B Rank
Aggron-Mega
:S (I could see Aggron going to B+ if we combine it with regular Aggron, as we've done for Charizard, Blaziken, and Sceptile)
Blaziken
:-1 While it may have a similar damage output to zardx, Fighting is a much worse offensive/defensive typing to have for 1v1 without having the bulk to back it up. When combined with regular Blaziken and all the potential sets the two could run, they can beat pretty much everything, but usage stats don't really reflect people using it to that potential, so I believe it should drop, until that happens.
Chansey
:S
Ferrothorn
:+1 Ferrothorn's been pretty buildable for as long as it's been in 1v1. It certainly appreciates the lacking presence of Snorlax and 50/50's with Cursikyu. It has a very wide variety of viable moves, spreads,
and items that all combine to make Ferrothorn a somewhat-unpredictable type wall.
Garchomp
:S (You could possibly argue a case for B+ if you combine it with Megachomp, but even then idk)
Heatran
:+1 Heatran's always had several moves to choose from that all made it unpredictable and viable. Grassium-Z has only aided Heatran in giving it a way to deal with the Water types that would otherwise have countered it, at the expense of losing Air Balloon.
Heracross-Mega
:-1 Heracross simply gets eaten alive by over half of just about every rank all the way down to C+ or C.
Kartana
:+1 Grassium alone eats up good chunks of each rank, but when combined with Band and other possible sets, I really think Kartana is worthy of B+.
Kommo-o
:+1 Kommo-o is very buildable in terms of spreads. While it effectively only really has one good set, it still uses it very well.
Mawile-Mega
:S
Necrozma
:+1 The Necrozma set I like to refer to as Jacrozma (James' Necrozma) has blown a quite a bit since its initial introduction. While it certainly is Taunt bait, it effectively mandates that you have Taunt, else it just sets up and wins. The problem with Taunt, however, is that you risk getting completely blasted away by Specs. Because of this versatility and viability between each set, I believe Necrozma is worthy of B+, if not potentially higher.
Pinsir-Mega
:S
Sableye-Mega
:+1 Sableye has been getting lowkey better without people even noticing. It's only gained viability from the removal of Mimikyu, Curselax, and Koko. Add this to the viable variety of moves and spreads that it has, and you've got yourself a great mon.
Sawk
:-1 With Flame Charge becoming mainstream, Sawk's former niche of being able to combat Charizard has crumbled. Not to mention, Sawk's sets have only gotten increasingly more one-dimensional as time has progressed, to such extent that it no longer even acts as a possible check to Gyarados as it once used to (It still
can, people just don't use it for that anymore).
Tyranitar-Mega
:+1 It performs the role of beating essentially everything that doesn't have a super effective STAB quite well. In addition, it's quite buildable, having many spreads and movesets that all work quite well.
Zeraora
:+1 Zeraora has been surprisingly effective at handling a lot of metagame threats, high and low (mostly high). I feel that Charge + Z-Thunder is a bit slept on, as it allows Zeraora to handle a lot of defense boosters, but even then, it's been pretty effective at challenging the upper metagame.
B- Rank
Blastoise-Mega
:S
Blissey
:S
Celesteela
:+1 Leech Seed stall just outright beats a lot, combine it with the offensive capabilities it has, and it's worth B imo.
Crustle
:S
Diancie-Mega
:+1 While sets are often pretty generic, what really matters is understanding how to dance around matchups with pre-mega plays, like Rock Tomb vs Gyarados and Porygon-Z. Add regular Diancie to it and you've definitely got a B worthy mon, maybe even B+.
Durant
:S
Gengar-Mega
:-1 Realistically, there are just too many matchups that Gengar needs more than just hitting Hypnosis to win, most of which being matchups where you need a 2nd turn of sleep, due to boosted Hex not being enough to OHKO. If you really wanted to keep Gengar at B-, the best I could suggest is adding regular Gengar to it, as regular Gengar does have some decent niche to it with Specs/Ghostium/etc.
Hoopa-Unbound
:S
Swampert-Mega
:S
Togekiss
:S
Victini
:+1 The thing has about as many sets as Kyub, and they're all good! A case could even be made for B+, but we'll leave that for later.
Volcarona
:+1 Has a great variety of moves backing it up, a good speed tier, a very helpful ability, etc. The ability to take on either physical or special threats at the simple change of a move makes it very splashable and buildable.
Whimsicott
:S
C+ Rank
Archeops
:+1 Punches through a surprisingly large number of threats, and isn't limited to a single viable set or item.
Avalugg
:S
Buzzwole
:+1 Absolutely obscene physical bulk that even lets it eat Megagross Zen Headbutt. Can run a wide variety of items (Though Fightinium and Buginium are best) and moves.
Carracosta
:S
Deoxys-S
:+1 Soft checks most of the VR, given that you don't get crit, and are good at predicting stuff like Zard-X vs Y or when someone's about to use Taunt.
Excadrill
:-1 With Mimikyu gone, Excadrill just isn't good for much, anymore, beyond a high-power Z-move. It just needs too much bulk or too much speed to cover other things.
Gallade-Mega
:+1 Good defensive typing, decent enough bulk, speed tier, and excellent variety of moves all combine to make Gallade a surprisingly good anti-meta threat.
Incineroar
:+1/+2 Intimidate and good bulk is always a great combo, add in a neat Z-move and great moveset, and you've got yourself a good mon. Also pretty nice not having to run a shitton of speed and Flame Charge to beat Mimikyu.
Kyurem
:+1 Good stats all around and the capability of stalling down while at the same time being capable of delivering a very strong Z-Blizzard/Ice Beam at any given moment makes Kyurem p cool.
Latios
:S
Marowak-Alola
:S
Medicham-Mega
:+1 Medicham is part of the reason why so many things are running Protect. It cleans out a good chunk of upper rank mons with the right moves and a great speed tier backing it up.
Pheromosa
:+1 Has good STAB moves and coverage for dealing with threats, as well as an excellent speed tier that surpasses Lopunny. Can also be toyed around with for certain bulk benchmarks when combined with moves like Lunge or Quiver Dance.
Porygon2
:+1 It eats just about everything that isn't a nuclear Fighting move. Has a very wide variety of moves that all allow it to take on different threats, different spreads, and even 3 great choices in abilities. The only real struggle it has is with special setup mons.
Scizor-Mega
:+1 While it definitely struggles with being Taunt bait and easily cteam-able with random Fire coverage, Scizor still manages to eat up a lot of physical threats, while also being able to snag some wins against special threats through virtue of typing alone.
Tapu Bulu
:+1 Very easily buildable, even if it only mostly uses Grassium. Taunt + setup is always great.
Terrakion
:S
Umbreon
:+1 Great bulk, can be given many different spreads for handling different things, good moveset that allows it to dismantle heavy hitters while at the same time being able to disrupt stall with Taunt.
Vivillon
:+1 Without even factoring in the possibility of mons not running max speed, Vivillon autowins vs a lot of the upper and lower ranks.
C Rank
Blacephalon
:+1 Has a wide variety of item options, and Specs alone takes on a good chunk of threats.
Camerupt-Mega
:+1 STABs + Ancientpower alone eat up a ton, adding Yawn into the mix only gives it a chance vs even more.
Entei
:+1 A well-made Rockium set eats a bunch of the upper VR on its own, let alone all the other possibilities, such as Firium or even Rump's AV.
Garchomp-Mega
:X (hopefully will be combined with Garchomp)
Haxorus
:+1 Scarf and Band really screw with the upper VR, not to mention other possible alternatives with Z-moves.
Hydreigon
:+1 I was uncertain on this one, but its speed, power, coverage, and typing all combine to give it advantageous matchups vs quite a lot of the upper VR.
Infernape
:+1 Fake Out and a high-powered Fire move is always nice, especially when it can be physical
or special.
Keldeo
:S
Krookodile
:+1 TDA's set is neat.
Landorus
:-1 Landorus hasn't been the same since Flame Charge. It 50/50's zardx, struggles outspeeding everything else it needs to, doesn't deal enough damage without a Life Orb, and is outclassed by Lando-T for physical
and special Z-moves (I think).
Latias-Mega
:+1 Between Charm/CM and Reflect Type, I feel like Latias-M beats way too much to be just C.
Meowstic-M
:S
Nihilego
:+1 It can beat a good chunk of upper VR between Acid Spray Z-move and Specs.
Pidgeot-Mega
:S
Skarmory
:+1 Good enough speed tier to take advantage of strategies like SD Taunt, while at the same time having a great defensive typing, bulk, and access to Roost.
Relicanth
:-1 People have learned and adapted to Relicanth, at this point. It doesn't beat much, and pretty much all of its stats besides Defense are insufficient to be ranked at even C.
Thundurus-Therian
:+1 Charge + Z-Thunder is way too slept on. Throw in Sub and now you have wiggle room around nukes like Lele.
Type: Null
:+1 While it is a bit of an oddity, Null is insanely bulky, and has the setup to make it even more so.
C- Rank
Cloyster
:+1 Actually punches through a decent number of mons with Icicle Spear and a Life Orb.
Lucario-Mega
:S
Manaphy
:+1/+2 Manaphy takes on decent chunks of the meta just with the set I shared above, throw in stuff like CM and I'd even argue it could go to the B's.
Ninetales-Alola
:+1 Takes on a pretty sizable number of threats just with the combination of Blizzard/Sub/Z-Moonblast/Freeze Dry
Pyukumuku
:+1 Eats hits for days and stalls. It has decent move variety between Soak/Taunt/Toxic/Hail/etc. Can be built to take on particular matchups to cover team weaknesses, making it a pretty splashable team support.
Quagsire
:+1/+2 Same as Pyu, but also not quite instantly doomed vs Taunt users. Main downside is being stuck with Normalium, but Z-Stockpile is at least really good to make up for it.
Rhyperior
:+1 While it may struggle in many matchups, it can still be tailored to win vs things like Magearna, Dragonite, Magnezone, etc.
Serperior
:+1 Wins many matchups simply through virtue of being a fast and bulky Grass type with Z-Leaf Storm; Contrary and the other 3 moves all help in tailoring it for whatever your team needs it to beat.
Salazzle
:+1 Between Z-Overheat and Z-Belch, it snags a surprising amount of wins.
Suicune
:S
D Rank
Abomasnow-Mega
:+1/+2 I looked into matchups and did a bit of teambuilding, and lo and behold, it's actually really good! Albeit selectively good at being anti-meta, but way better than D Rank, at least.
Alakazam-Mega
:+1/+2 Megazam just isn't that great anymore, thanks to Z-moves getting around the old Encore/Disable trick,
however regular Alakazam is actually quite proficient at nuking things with Z-Future Sight, and I feel that that alone brings it up to C- or C. Alternatively, you could unrank Megazam and switch it to regular Alakazam, do what you think is best.
Aron
:+1/+2 As much as FEAR is frowned upon, it still does a good job at catching mons that don't run Sub or any form of passive damage (Metal Burst is a good move I swear).
Azumarill
:+1 While it isn't exactly great, it at least has sufficient bulk and power to experiment around with. Again, not amazing, but not worth unranking imo.
Barbaracle
:Unrank Barbaracle isn't doing much of anything anymore, with Kyurem-Black and Snorlax both gone (nor was it really used much when they were around, to begin with).
Breloom
:+1/+2 Outspeeding things with a 100% accuracy Sleep move would be nice on literally anything, let alone something with Poison Heal and Leech Seed, as well as sufficient capability of dealing damage.
Clefable
:+1 Clefable is neat, albeit a bit squishy. Like Azumarill, it's definitely worth experimenting with and keeping on the VR.
Dusclops
:+1 It nets a lot of wins through virtue of taking hits with its obscene bulk and stalling opponents down. Another mon worth experimenting with.
Magneton
:+2/+3 It's basically just a faster, frailer, weaker Magnezone without Mirror Coat or the viability to use Specs. A majority of matchups are basically the same, and could be argued for even higher placement as a result.
Manectric-Mega
:Unrank Pretty much any niche it once had in being a fast Electric attacker is now gone with the inclusion of Zeraora.
Sceptile
:+2/+3 In the same sense as Serperior, Sceptile and its Mega get a decent number of wins against the upper VR simply from being a fast, special attacking Grass type. While their movesets are a bit more limited, they make up for it by having considerably more Speed and Special Attack, making that Frenzy Plant hit hard, in addition to outspeeding Lopunny and Gyarados after Dragon Dance.
Slaking
:+2/+3 While it may be a bit old, the classic Band nuke still works wonders, especially with the decrease in max speed zards since its introduction.
Smeargle
:+2/+3 The addition of Z-Transform has only made Smeargle's life much easier, even if it can't cheese matchups against faster opponents without Quick Claw.
Stunfisk
:+1 As much as I hate this stupid thing, being a bulky, special attacking Ground type with Yawn has decent-ish benefits against an ok number of upper VR threats. If I wanted to keep the D rank, I'd leave it, but I don't.
Talonflame
:+2/+3 Priority Z-Bird gets kills, while Taunt/Roost/WoW/Bulk Up/SD/etc are all great moves that breathe viability into this bird.
Volcanion
:+2/+3 Volcanion is a weird, interesting mon with great STABs and coverage moves between Flame Charge, WoW, and Sludge Bomb/Wave. It shares many aspects in common with Heatran, in the sense of taking on many Steel types and Fire types at the same time.
Unranked Nominations
Empoleon
:B Rank I know this might be a little high, but I believe it's 100% suitable for it (B- minimum, otherwise). Z-Hydro Cannon demolishes so much of the upper VR. Water/Steel is excellent defensive typing backed up with pretty great bulk, to boot. Laser Focus allows it to punch through other special setup, and Ice Beam, Icy Wind, Yawn, and Flash Cannon are all great coverage to hit the Water resists. Empoleon itself is very buildable, spreadwise, having a variety of ways you can use it to take on threats, making it hard to get an exact read on what it's gonna do in battle.
Chandelure
:B- Rank To my surprise, Chandelure actually took out a bunch of the VR (about 60 mons ((most of which were lower ranks))). It'd be higher if it weren't at a bit of a disadvantage vs the upper VR, but cleaning out everything else is nice, too. It's also not limited to just TSC's set, there's always the more traditional fast Chandelure with Choice items, or Firium, or Flame Charge, or Taunt, or something, so it's not entirely one-dimensional. The lowest I'd be willing to budge for it is C+, because I really do believe it's worth something.
Zapdos
:B- Rank It is pretty much Thundurus-Therian, but with Heat Wave, Reflect, and Roost in exchange for Volt Absorb. While you kinda sacrifice the Zard-Y matchup due to not reliably outspeeding it, you gain a lot more, due to the ability to run bulky sets, thanks to Roost. Key matchups that you gain being: Dragonite, Lopunny, Naganadel (50/50 between Charge/Roost vs Draco/Sludge Wave), Garchomp (I think), Heracross, Kartana (Choice Band), Avalugg, etc. It also has a massive variety of moves to choose from, between Thunder/Zap Cannon, Charge, HP Ice, Heat Wave, Roost, Metal Sound, Reflect
and Laser Focus.
Cobalion
:C/C+ Rank I'm not entirely sure on this one, but the gist of it is that it's actually pretty good on the special side, thanks to Calm Mind. Physical Cobalion is still an option, which only adds to its versatility. It may not be perfect, but it's at least capable of taking on a good range of threats.