Resource AAA Viability Rankings

[April]

AAA Role Compendium
​

This is the Role Compendium for the AAA tier. Each Pokemon that is here is, at least theoretically, viable in the AAA metagame, and as such, it will change as the viability rankings get updated. Feel free to discuss below whether a Pokemon should be added to or removed from a certain role; however, please refrain from discussing the order of a given subsection aside from glaring issues.

Hazard Setters

Hazard Setters

Stealth Rock:
|

Spikes:
|

Toxic Spikes:
|

Sticky Web:

Hazard Control

Hazard Control

Defog:
|

Rapid Spin:
|

Other removal:
(Court Change)

Spinblockers:
|

Momentum

Momentum

U-turn:
|

Volt Switch:
|

Flip Turn:
|

Parting Shot:
|

Set-up Sweepers

Set-up Sweepers

Swords Dance:
|

Nasty Plot:
|

Bulk Up / Curse:
|

Calm Mind:
|

Iron Defense:
|

Other:
(Fiery Dance) (Cosmic Power) (Dragon Dance) (Quiver Dance) (Tail Glow) (Take Heart) (Belly Drum)

Status Afflictors

Status Affilictors

Burn - Direct (Will-O-Wisp):
|

Burn - Indirect (Lava Plume/Scald):
|

Paralysis - Direct (Thunder Wave/Stun Spore/Zap Cannon):
|

Paralysis - Indirect (Discharge/Thunder):


Bad Poison - Direct (Toxic):
|

Bad Poison - Indirect (Malignant Chain):


Utility

Utility

Knock Off:
|

Wish:


Heal Bell:

Wallbreakers

Wallbreakers

Physical Amplification (Sword of Ruin, Adaptability, etc.):
|

Special Amplification (Sheer Force, Adaptability, Hadron Engine, etc.):
|

Magic Guard - Physical:
|

Magic Guard - Special:
|

Magic Guard - Mixed:
|
Weather - Desolate Land:
|

Weather - Primordial Sea:
|

Dedicated Walls

Dedicated Walls

Physically Defensive Amplification (Intimidate, Fluffy, etc.):
|

Type Immunity Walls (Well-Baked Body, Volt Absorb, Earth Eater etc.)
|

Regenerator - PhysDef:
|

Regenerator - SpDef:
|

Speed Control

Speed Control

Naturally Fast:
|

Choice Scarfers:
|

Extreme Speed:
|

Sucker Punch:


Other (Amplification):
(Surge Surfer) (Protosynthesis) (Rapid Spin)

Other (Priority)
(Aqua Jet) (Fake Out) (First Impression) (Shadow Sneak) (Vacuum Wave)

This has been updated have fun im going to bed

 

[cat]

munkidorilover99 here to post a vr nom ^_^

UR --> B- / B

set

Munkidori @ Choice Specs / Choice Scarf
Ability: Hadron Engine / Adaptability / Tinted Lens
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock / Psychic
- Sludge Bomb
- U-turn
- Focus Blast / Future Sight / Shadow Ball

this mon has seen almost 0 use in tour play at all but i genuinely believe that this mon is viable. yes, its basically a worse azelf but it has the benefits of being a poison type and having focus blast. psyshock is pretty fucking broken in a tier like aaa where theres close to 0 mixed walls and most spdef walls being much frailer on the physical side. having a secondary stab is amazing for this mon since it has a reliable way of dealing with most darks now and shuts down scream tail who can check it otherwise. focus blast is also really great to have as an option to hopefully beat steels, another roadblock azelf struggles with. ability wise, hadron allows it to just blast corv away after a fair bit of chip while adapt hides your ability. tlens is also pretty fine to use, blasting away ghold without needing sball and bproof treads. specs is great, scarf is fine too since it still gets important 2hkoes on stuff like mglo moon. with that said its speed tier, while good, isnt particularly fast, leaving it lacking at times. it also still suffers from competition from azelf and is prediction-reliant, which is why i think a B- / B ranking would be a fair slot for it.

calcs

252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Swampert: 285-336 (70.5 - 83.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Manaphy: 261-307 (64.6 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Manaphy: 196-232 (48.5 - 57.4%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Manaphy: 189-223 (46.7 - 55.1%) -- 69.5% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Corviknight: 298-351 (74.5 - 87.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roaring Moon: 291-343 (82.9 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Sludge Bomb vs. 248 HP / 68 SpD Assault Vest Roaring Moon: 183-216 (44.3 - 52.3%) -- 16% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Munkidori Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 376-444 (119.3 - 140.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Munkidori Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Corviknight: 252-296 (63 - 74%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Munkidori Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Iron Treads: 198-234 (51.6 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Tinted Lens Munkidori Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 236-280 (74.9 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO



252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Swampert: 190-225 (47 - 55.6%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Manaphy: 174-205 (43 - 50.7%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Sludge Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Assault Vest Manaphy: 132-156 (32.6 - 38.6%) -- 98.6% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Manaphy: 127-150 (31.4 - 37.1%) -- 83.4% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Corviknight: 199-235 (49.7 - 58.7%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Sludge Bomb vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Roaring Moon: 195-229 (55.5 - 65.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Sludge Bomb vs. 248 HP / 68 SpD Assault Vest Roaring Moon: 121-144 (29.2 - 34.8%) -- 11.1% chance to 3HKO
252 SpA Hadron Engine Munkidori Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 250-296 (79.3 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Tinted Lens Munkidori Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Corviknight: 168-198 (42 - 49.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Tinted Lens Munkidori Psychic vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Iron Treads: 132-156 (34.4 - 40.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Tinted Lens Munkidori Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 158-186 (50.1 - 59%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[April]

double post lel

I've got a minor announcement for everyone regarding the Role Compendium as well as the new ability guide! After talking with players as well as other resource council members on how to make these resources equally valuable for both new and experienced players, I've gone ahead and edited both to split each relevant role/ability into three subdivisions: Common, Uncommon, and Niche.

Common is reserved for Pokemon who are, well, common in a particular role. They're commonly seen Pokemon who commonly run the relevant ability/move/etc. This much is pretty self explanatory.

Uncommon fits two categories of Pokemon: Commonly seen Pokemon who can uncommonly but viably run a certain option, or uncommon Pokemon who can run said option. While these are technically two different categories, I've chosen to combine them together to make it easier to digest for new players, and this should hopefully help them realize, for example, that Stealth Rock Azelf is something they should worry about roughly the same as they should worry about Stealth Rock Cobalion, despite one only occasionally running the move and the other almost always running it.

Niche is a catch-all category for any Pokemon ranked B- or lower on the viability rankings. This distinction from uncommon was chosen both to make it clear that these lower ranked Pokemon are lower ranked for a reason as well as to make these resources slightly more useful for any AAA UU players in the crowd, I'm looking out for all 3 of you

An example to illustrate this distinction:

Great Tusk is a pretty common Pokemon who commonly runs Stealth Rock. There's no disputing that it should be considered a Common Stealth Rock user.

Deoxys-Speed is by all means a common Pokemon, but it usually prefers running all out offensive sets. Stealth Rock is still a perfectly viable option, though, just a somewhat rare one, so it would be Uncommon.

Cobalion is a pretty uncommon sight, but it's not ranked at B- or below just yet. It pretty commonly runs Stealth Rock, so it would also be uncommon.

Kommo-o almost always runs Stealth Rock, but it is currently sitting in C tier, so it would be ranked Niche.

Hope you all enjoy this change and that it makes these resources more useful to you!

 

[RBLT Puff2Tuff]

Nominating to B+ (Lvl 1 Adding the Ability Sturdy)

I've noticed a serious lack of gimmicky mons in the OM, and this one, is super necessary. I would send it straight to S, but given it can be situational due to lack of the ability to run more than one item on a mon, it just has to sit below A. You can't, unfortunately, simultaneously avoid hazard damage, encore, multi-hit moves, and secondary status effects. So, heavy duty boots, covert cloak, and mental herb, are the three main options to run. At the end of the day, Misdreavous will just about always take a mon with it as long as it avoids multi-hit moves, and priority. Which is why I opted out of using Custap (although it could have its place). Trick Room, Destiny Bond, Pain Split, and Curse, are optimal, with Will-O being a good alternative (minus accuracy) for Curse. Having the ability to get rid of just about every powerful mon in this meta with a lvl 1 Misdreavous is pure value.

 

[aim]

just peaked rank 1 in your amazing tier. thank you for all the awesome teams. Roaring Moon is actually insane.

I think Chien Pao should rise up to A since crash can't be punished by helmet and the flinch rate helps it smoke its "counters"
also think primarina should have stamina as a slash/bolded ability. the sub calm mind draining kiss set being able to set up on eq pert and get its help back is wild.

Keep up the good work

 

[aiko's band]

Nominating UR -> C/B-

Abilties: Technician, Sword of Ruin
Mamoswine is a menace offensively having more 10 more attack than Chien-Pao, Its electric immunity (allowing for switchin opportunities) and resistance to Stealth Rock. (Adamant) Icicle Spear can pressure and (potentially) 2hko Intimidate and it naturally threatens . It also decks with Earthquake. Unlike Chien-Pao, it has the option to switch moves without sacrificing longevity or power, and thus can also deck a common ice check with Earthquake, Knock Off or (my personal favorite move), Trailblaze. With Trailblaze, It becomes unironically a terrifying cleaner, clicking just Icicle Spear and Earthquake on everything it outspeeds. Not to mention Ice Shard is just useful in checking everything faster than it like , and and just in general set-up sweepers. The reason why this mon isn't higher in nomination, is that it really needs Trailblaze, cause it's so damn slow without it. Not to mention how prediction reliant it is.

 

[April]

Viability Rankings + Sample Sets (and Analyses)
Last update: 3rd August, 2024​

- Each Pokemon links to its page in Smogdex.

Votes: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...FM8isGtTkr/pubhtml?gid=1632258521&single=true

	Pokemon	Abilities
S Rank
Great Tusk	Great Tusk	Scrappy, Fluffy, Regenerator, Mold Breaker, Immunity Abilities
Roaring Moon	Roaring Moon	Sword of Ruin, Magic Guard, Regenerator
A Rank
A+
Corviknight	Corviknight	Fluffy, Intimidate, Volt Absorb, Well-Baked Body, Prankster
Manaphy	Manaphy	Regenerator, Motor Drive, Protosynthesis
Gholdengo	Gholdengo	Well-Baked Body, Adaptability, Hadron Engine, Magic Guard, Immunity Abilities
Deoxys-Speed	Deoxys-Speed	Psychic Surge, Sheer Force, Protean, Hadron Engine, Prankster
Swampert	Swampert	Regenerator
Zapdos	Zapdos	Primordial Sea, No Guard
A
Scream Tail	Scream Tail	Pixilate, Unaware
Zamazenta	Zamazenta	Sword of Ruin, Scrappy, Purifying Salt, Tough Claws
Pecharunt	Pecharunt	Prankster, Intimidate, Corrosion, Well-Baked Body, Levitate
A-
Ceruledge	Ceruledge	Desolate Land, Sword of Ruin, Adaptability
Chien-Pao	Chien-Pao	Sword of Ruin, Adaptability, Magic Guard
Heatran	Heatran	Desolate Land, Water Absorb, Magic Guard, Earth Eater
Iron Moth	Iron Moth	Desolate Land, Sheer Force
Primarina	Primarina	Primordial Sea, Regenerator, Sheer Force
Skarmory	Skarmory	Well-Baked Body, Fluffy, Intimidate
B Rank
B+
Azelf	Azelf	Psychic Surge
Cinderace	Cinderace	Desolate Land, Magic Guard, Mold Breaker, Sword of Ruin
Electrode-Hisui	Electrode-Hisui	Magic Guard, Hadron Engine
Empoleon	Empoleon	Volt Absorb, Levitate, Bulletproof, Vessel of Ruin
Iron Boulder	Iron Boulder	Sharpness
Iron Hands	Iron Hands	Regenerator, Earth Eater, Surge Surfer
Kingambit	Kingambit	Adaptability, Well-Baked Body, Earth Eater
Latios	Latios	Tinted Lens, Hadron Engine, Adaptability, Dragon's Maw
Meowscarada	Meowscarada	Sword of Ruin
Ogerpon-Cornerstone	Ogerpon-Cornerstone	Rocky Payload, Sword of Ruin
Ogerpon-Wellspring	Ogerpon-Wellspring	Primordial Sea, Sword of Ruin
Sandy Shocks	Sandy Shocks	Hadron Engine
Ting Lu	Ting Lu	Regenerator, Fluffy, Magic Guard
Volcarona	Volcarona	Sheer Force, Magic Guard, Desolate Land
B
Barraskewda	Barraskewda	Primordial Sea
Cobalion	Cobalion	Magic Guard
Garchomp	Garchomp	Regenerator, Sword of Ruin, Adaptability
Gengar	Gengar	Sheer Force, Normalize, Beads of Ruin, Hadron Engine
Goodra-Hisui	Goodra-Hisui	Regenerator
Iron Treads	Iron Treads	Bulletproof, Regenerator, Immunity Abilities, Magic Guard
Iron Crown	Iron Crown	Tinted Lens, Psychic Surge
Mandibuzz	Mandibuzz	Well-Baked Body, Fluffy, Magic Guard, Unaware, Immunity Abilities
Moltres	Moltres	Desolate Land, Magic Guard
Ogerpon-Hearthflame	Ogerpon-Hearthflame	Sword of Ruin, Desolate Land, Magic Guard, Mold Breaker
Slither Wing	Slither Wing	Tinted Lens, Magic Guard, Sword of Ruin
B-
Archaludon	Archaludon	Primordial Sea, Regenerator
Blissey	Blissey	Magic Guard, Unaware, Well-Baked Body
Deoxys-Defense	Deoxys-Defense	Unaware, Intimidate, Fluffy, Regenerator
Garganacl	Garganacl	Earth Eater, Fluffy
Landorus-Therian	Landorus-Therian	Desolate Land, Fluffy, Regenerator
Regieleki	Regieleki	Refrigerate
Terrakion	Terrakion	Sword of Ruin, Adaptability
Thundurus-Therian	Thundurus-Therian	Sheer Force, Primordial Sea, Surge Surfer
C Rank
Chansey	Chansey	Unaware, Magic Guard, Pressure
Chesnaught	Chesnaught	Flame Body, Well-Baked Body
Cresselia	Cresselia	Unaware, Stamina
Enamorus-Therian	Enamorus-Therian	Sheer Force, Well-Baked Body
Entei	Entei	Desolate Land, Sword of Ruin, Magic Guard
Gliscor	Gliscor	Well-Baked Body, Regenerator, Water Absorb
Goodra	Goodra	Regenerator
Grimmsnarl	Grimmsnarl	Pixilate
Jirachi	Jirachi	Regenerator
Kommo-o	Kommo-o	Regenerator, Galvanize
Landorus	Landorus	Desolate Land, Fluffy
Meloetta	Meloetta	Regenerator
Mew	Mew	Regenerator, Magic Guard
Quaquaval	Quaquaval	Intimidate, Magic Guard, Fluffy
Ribombee	Ribombee	Prankster
Smeargle	Smeargle	Prankster, Aroma Veil
Talonflame	Talonflame	Magic Guard
Thundurus	Thundurus	Sheer Force, Magic Guard
Toxapex	Toxapex	Corrosion, Prankster
Ursaluna-Bloodmoon	Ursaluna-Bloodmoon	Adaptability, Storm Drain, Steam Engine
Zapdos-Galar	Zapdos-Galar	Sword of Ruin, Magic Guard
Zoroark-Hisui	Zoroark-Hisui	Sheer Force

New VR update!

Rises:
to A+
to A
to A
to A-
to A-
to A-
to A-
to A-

to B+
to B-
to B-

to C
to C
to C
to C
to C
to C

Drops

to A
to A

to B
to B
to B
to B-
to B-
to B-
to B-

to C
to C
to C
to C
to C

to UR
to UR
to UR
to UR (finally)
to UR
to UR


You may have noticed this already, but we updated our resources early to match the new VR!

We're also introducing a totally new resource, the AAA Common Ability index! We're aware that AAA, especially on ladder, can be hard to get into due to the innate unpredictability here. This resource intends to serve as a guide to ongoing ladder trends, allowing new players a tool to help understand what they're up against and get past the 1200s slog!

This will be updated roughly once a month to account for new ladder trends as they come and go. I hope you find this useful if you're new here!

 

[UT]

to A

to B+

Explain yourself

 

[April]

Explain yourself

i just work here man

 

[April]

despite making fun of chessking for this exact thing, here's a big VR noms post. i don't think we're going to be actually voting on anything for a while given a lack of tournaments, so consider this more of a guide of how I see the metagame/my votes swinging in the next few months.

Rises:

A+ to S / S-: I've been advocating for an S- tier for quite a bit, but I would genuinely consider voting S on this as well if that continues not to be an option. Gholdengo has continued to cement itself as one of the most versatile Pokemon in the metagame, with everything from Choice Specs to (Trick)Scarf to even deceptively powerful bulky sets able to consistently make progress even in the face of prominent checks like Roaring Moon and Swampert. The re-discovering of Dazzling Gleam on Hadron/Beads sets is what really makes this guy feel S worthy now, not having to flip a coin to totally eviscerate Roaring Moon is absolutely huge for it and makes even Scarf sets feel really tough to switch into bar Swampert or Treads. I would rather see it in a hypothetical S- tier, since it does have some rising counterplay both defensively in the form of Iron Treads and offensively in the form of Lando-T and the continued excellence of Ceruledge, but it's a solid step above the rest of it's A+ peers and an S rank wouldn't be totally unwarranted either. This, Moon, and Tusk very solidly feel like the "big three" of the metagame that everything else revolves around.

A to A+: This only really fell as low as it did because of an outlier vote, it's absolutely still one of the best and most versatile RegenVest users. People bring up the Swampert comparison quite a bit, but honestly it feels like it competes more with options like Iron Hands and Primarina rather than Pert (who I feel instead competes with Roaring Moon or Tinkaton for the Regen slot). The two of them both have significant advantages and disadvantages, but Manaphy's sheer versatility as a mixed wall gives it the edge alone, let alone the potent offensive Tail Glow and Stored Power sets Manaphy can still effectively don. No reason for it to still be so low

A- to A: In a tier with plenty of slow but immensely powerful wallbreakers, Ceruledge still stands out as the best among them for just how effective it is at putting your opponent in lose-lose situations. Desolate Land is really, truly trash, but Sword of Ruin is so incredibly hard to switch into. The fact people are still running absurd tech like Itemless Well-Baked Body Pecharunt or Tinkaton only to still get goobed by the rise in Shadow Claw as a 4th move is just a testament to how threatening this is. Even without damage amplification, Ceruledge can viably run abilities to patch up that low Speed like Surge Surfer or, my personal favorite, Prankster. The only reason this isn't being nommed for A+ is because it can struggle to get onto the field and importantly makes Knock Off a much harder move to click, forcing you to run weaker options like Throat Chop Moon, but those drawbacks aren't enough to stop this from continuing to be a dominant metagame presence

A- to A: Yeah I wasn't a believer at first but this guy really is fantastic. The bulk isn't amazing, but the typing and movepool is so good that it feels sturdy and consistently useful regardless.

A- to A: Skarmory feels like a really consistent mon right now, Fluffy and Intim put in so much work against so many of the tier's physical attackers, and with Iron Treads as a viable Steel-type spinner you really don't miss the Defog that normally gives Corviknight an edge. No U-turn is unfortunate, but your typing and bulk are so good that you don't really need it to still be an effective pivot. Skarmory is just a metal bird that rewards good play, rather than Corviknight which just lets you compensate for bad play. Shout out to Eject Button sets

B+ to A-: Not too much to say here, Latios is just a really consistent Scarfer that can reliably break through even would-be checks like Iron Treads with a bit of team support. Psyshock is an absolutely broken move in a metagame where the most common special walls regularly run no Defense investment and the ones that do tend to either fold anyway or dread Hadron-boosted Thunderbolt. Specs sets are also really good, especially Dragon's Maw, but CM or AoA sets feel like trolling.

B to A-: *gets booed off stage* I had this at A+ on my personal viability rankings, but I'm nowhere near gone enough off the deep end to suggest it actually deserves that ranking. Iron Crown is a really good pivot on offense teams, I've made my piece on that already and you can read the linked post if you want more detailed (though slightly exaggerated) thoughts on it. In short though, Iron Crown functions a lot like an attacker like Fluffy Great Tusk does, being an incredibly potent offensive piece that still provides significant defensive utility where it matters. That alone is already a very valuable niche, but when looking at other powerful sets like Specs, Scarf, and Double Dance, an A- ranking feels completely justified. I can only hope to see this do well in the upcoming tour season so i can say i was right all along

B- to B+: Desolate Land fell off and it fell off hard, but Fluffy and Sword of Ruin Scarf are both pretty dangerous and versatile. Glory's VR post details a lot of what I like about Landorus, though I wouldn't go as high as A given how the typing is just as exploitable as it is amazing and how common Pokemon like Earth Eater Gholdengo are. Not that it makes this mon bad at all, but it isn't quite as consistent an offensive threat as it is a Stealth Rock user.

B to B+: Adaptability is just a really consistent hazard setter, not many notes here. I've also ran sets like Surge Surfer Swords Dance and Fluffy to decent success in roomtours and friendlies, but these face really heavy competition from other offensive Ground-types. I like it a little more than Lando-T as an entry hazard setter for its better matchup into Great Tusk with Draco and not having to spend a turn using Smack Down to kill Corviknight, but overall they're roughly equal

B- to B: Better into Great Tusk, less threatening overall. Primordial Sea sets are interesting, but as far as I'm concerned they're meme territory until proven otherwise. SFLO Nasty Plot is a deceptively powerful wallbreaker that plenty of teams struggle to switch into outside of Pert, but it hasn't seen enough use for me to really consider.

C to B-: Though HO is worse than it was before, Deo-D is probably the best Screens user thanks to that juicy Speed tier and access to Teleport. Unaware sets are still kinda cool but why would you run them

C to B-: I've been a believer in this guy for a few months, I would've put it in B if you asked me a month ago, but I find the offensive pressure of the Landos to be considerably more valuable than Gliscor's good movepool. Still an underrated Fluffy user though

Drops:

A to A-: It's not as bad as people suggest, and TrickScarf is still a great ball of utility, but it's fallen off pretty hard. Could talk me down to B+ with enough effort

B+ to B / B-: I respect the people still trying to make this work, and there's some great players who still believe in it, but Cinderace is on mega fraudwatch. It's like HOME meta Pawmot; it consistently loads into matchups where it should do well then just does jack shit because the mon itself isn't that great. Offensive sets are still pretty threatening though, and there's some potential in Scarf.

B to B-: Yeah it's okay, but the role of "Mixed Stealth Rock user" is pretty contested right now and it's fallen off a lot in usage. It's never gonna be that bad, but I'm unimpressed.

B to B-: Who the fuck is still using this mon? Whoever they are, they definitely aren't winning with it. Hadron Engine sets are pretty cool but it's not enough to save it from mediocrity.

B to B-: Who the fuck is still using this mon? Whoever they are, they definitely aren't winning with it. Magic Guard sets are pretty cool but it's not enough to save it from mediocrity.

C to UR: Full stop, nobody has used these guys in months, let alone to success. C tier is insanely bloated, let's get rid of the rot.

 

[Subsonic72]

B+ to A-: Not too much to say here, Latios is just a really consistent Scarfer that can reliably break through even would-be checks like Iron Treads with a bit of team support. Psyshock is an absolutely broken move in a metagame where the most common special walls regularly run no Defense investment and the ones that do tend to either fold anyway or dread Hadron-boosted Thunderbolt. Specs sets are also really good, especially Dragon's Maw, but CM or AoA sets feel like trolling.

Hey, another Latios believer

C to UR: Full stop, nobody has used these guys in months, let alone to success. C tier is insanely bloated, let's get rid of the rot.

Don't sleep on Talonflame. The others are pretty meh, yes but flame is at least workable. The goofy semi defensive set with roost given as a sample sucks more often than not.
I got 2nd in the room tour last month and like 11 on the ladder with a tflame team using it as an offensive pivot/late game wincon.
Set was Uturn, SD, flareblitz and brave bird with max attack and max speed jolly. This becomes super spooky if it's the fastest mon alive and can still switch into some moves once or twice (notably hearthflame, flower trick, and ground moves).

 

[Subsonic72]

After getting to 5 on the ladder recently I've got some more changes I could see.

1. Corviknight Rise to S
When teambuilding this is funny enough the most restricting mon for making offensive cores. Barring stuff like mold breaker ace, there is always a viable corc set that stonewalls your (physical) attacker. This is especially hard for teams that want to be more balanced and can't include 4 different breakers to always have one that's not walled.

Unlike something like blissey, which also walls tons of attackers, corv isn't passive. Idbp sets are lategame Demons, and it's uturn is the safest way to bring it attackers. So even stuff like cb zama which could force its way through fluffy with rocks up, ends up as a free entry for a monster like ceruledge. Nothing to say of clicking a grass move on Meow or knock on Moon and instantly loosing momentum.

Lastly, it can easily fit on every single team. It's a sweeper/screens user for Ho even and can abuse its defensive profile there to great effect. Balance also loves corves pivoting and stall is not a real playstyle.

2. Inteleon rise to B

Telly plus spikes is a really easy wincon that can brute force its way through basically anything that isn't running water absorb. (Hoodra being the exception). It's notably faster than moon and can this 2hko non scarf sets on the switchin. Regenvest also looses with hazards up and doesn't really make progress by coming in.

Let me say, this shit is strong. Specs primordial sea weatherball does 40 to spdef toxapex ffs. This is dracovish levels of power.
Imo its very comparable to prim, this other prim sea weather ball spammer. Prim has defensive utility but doesn't combine breaking and cleaning the way Telly can into certain mus. Though prim is still a better breaker.

3. Brambleghast Rise to B-

What the hell is Brambleghast doing here ?
I'll tell you. It's a spiker that walls Tusk, and all the fighting types, spin blocks for itself and also spins to get hazards off. The best part is that it gets poltergeist with a decent attack stat. Thus, it's not even a bad spinner due to being able to smoke ghost types.
It obviously needs to run fluffy to wall anything and it can struggle to fit every move it wants to.
It wants to run leaf storm and shadowball to beat scrappy Tusk, it needs strenght sap to stay healthy. At the same time it need spikes and spin to be different from sinistcha and it also wants the generally stronger hit from poltergeist.
If you wanna see a good brambleghast team in action, you can check out Pokeaims video "What if Inteleon had Primal Kyogres ability ?"

I personally hit my ladder peak at around 1650 with a brambleghast balance. I ended up taking a break after loosing 50 elo to a sd swift swim Hearthflame that randomly outsped my Inteleon. (There was no rain on his team...)

 

[cat]

After getting to 5 on the ladder recently I've got some more changes I could see.

1. Corviknight Rise to S
When teambuilding this is funny enough the most restricting mon for making offensive cores. Barring stuff like mold breaker ace, there is always a viable corc set that stonewalls your (physical) attacker. This is especially hard for teams that want to be more balanced and can't include 4 different breakers to always have one that's not walled.

Unlike something like blissey, which also walls tons of attackers, corv isn't passive. Idbp sets are lategame Demons, and it's uturn is the safest way to bring it attackers. So even stuff like cb zama which could force its way through fluffy with rocks up, ends up as a free entry for a monster like ceruledge. Nothing to say of clicking a grass move on Meow or knock on Moon and instantly loosing momentum.

Lastly, it can easily fit on every single team. It's a sweeper/screens user for Ho even and can abuse its defensive profile there to great effect. Balance also loves corves pivoting and stall is not a real playstyle.

2. Inteleon rise to B

Telly plus spikes is a really easy wincon that can brute force its way through basically anything that isn't running water absorb. (Hoodra being the exception). It's notably faster than moon and can this 2hko non scarf sets on the switchin. Regenvest also looses with hazards up and doesn't really make progress by coming in.

Let me say, this shit is strong. Specs primordial sea weatherball does 40 to spdef toxapex ffs. This is dracovish levels of power.
Imo its very comparable to prim, this other prim sea weather ball spammer. Prim has defensive utility but doesn't combine breaking and cleaning the way Telly can into certain mus. Though prim is still a better breaker.

3. Brambleghast Rise to B-

What the hell is Brambleghast doing here ?
I'll tell you. It's a spiker that walls Tusk, and all the fighting types, spin blocks for itself and also spins to get hazards off. The best part is that it gets poltergeist with a decent attack stat. Thus, it's not even a bad spinner due to being able to smoke ghost types.
It obviously needs to run fluffy to wall anything and it can struggle to fit every move it wants to.
It wants to run leaf storm and shadowball to beat scrappy Tusk, it needs strenght sap to stay healthy. At the same time it need spikes and spin to be different from sinistcha and it also wants the generally stronger hit from poltergeist.
If you wanna see a good brambleghast team in action, you can check out Pokeaims video "What if Inteleon had Primal Kyogres ability ?"

I personally hit my ladder peak at around 1650 with a brambleghast balance. I ended up taking a break after loosing 50 elo to a sd swift swim Hearthflame that randomly outsped my Inteleon. (There was no rain on his team...)

Corv is not the unbreakable wall you make it out to be. The standard Fluffy sets lose to a variety of mons (pao, fires, ogers, spatkers, even stuff like cb zama if youre not careful with your hp because its very easy to get put into cc 2hko range). Intim has a better mu into pao and non-fire ogers but the missing bulk is very notable. WBB is a terrible set frankly in this day and age, you're basically just beating ceru and oger-h in exchange for being much weaker to any breaker in general. SpD Vabs is a solid check to shocks helec etc but its far from being impossible to beat. Corv is not unbreakable as it cannot run all of Fluffy / Intim / WBB / Vabs while being physdef and spdef at the same time.

IDBP means you have to drop one of defog / uturn which severely compromises how much utility corv provides to the table which is one of corv's defining traits imo. It's also not an amazing set by any means and dropping defog leaves your team much more vulnerable to hazards and dropping uturn means youre a momentum sink when youre being forced out.

Lastly i'd just like to note that corv isnt really that splashable - deo-d is a better screens setter (in my opinion, at least) with better special bulk and teleport, as well as being able to beat smeargle which is good for the webs mu. It also isnt amazing on offense since it tends to be more fast paced and corv cant really keep up with the pace.



Inteleon is an okay mon but you're not mentioning a lot of its checks. PhysDef RegenVest Manaphy can switch into it quite safely and uturn out into your speed control like scarf moon or whatever and the mana/moon player gets momentum in exchange for barely any chip even with rocks up. And god forbid its spd regenvest which you cant even beat. RegenVest prim does a great job of beating it too (does anyone even use it though?), and RegenVest moon also does a great job of scouting what move it is --> hard switching to your ice beam switchin if it clicks that or doing whatever you want with it if it clicks wball. If it uturns thats fair game, your opponent will have momentum but if they were in a position to uturn on you they already had momentum anyways. It also lacks defensive utility and tends to be very annoyed by hazards. I suppose B tier is fine? I'd lean much closer to B- if anything.


Brambleghast just isnt really a great pokemon. Sure, its a neat dedicated tusk / fighting answer that can spike and spin in theory but in practice does it really get the opportunity to stay in forever and do its thing? Even with fluffy it isnt particularly bulky and its very easily forced out by literally any special attacker except like shocks. It also just sits there and waits to be forced out which is very easily abusable and gives momentum to the opposing player. Its also dead weight into any defogger, mglo moon (i suppose its rare?), and eleki (unviable ass mon but ladder loves it so im counting it) and you cant really do much to the first 2 while they can pivot out and you dont really want to stay in on the last 2.


Have a good day. Sorry if this seems harsh; I assure you I do not mean to offend you.

 

[April]

Viability Rankings + Sample Sets (and Analyses)
Last update: 6th March, 2025​

The AAA Viability Rankings have been updated!

Rises:
A+ -> S

A- -> A
B+ -> A

B+ -> A-

B -> B+
B -> B+
B -> B+
B- -> B+

B- -> B
B- -> B
C -> B
C -> B

C -> B-
C -> B-
C -> B-
C-> B-
C -> B-

UR -> C
UR -> C
UR -> C
UR -> C

Drops:
S -> A+
S -> A+
A+ -> A
A+ -> A
A+ -> A

A -> A-
A -> A-
A-> A-

A- -> B+
A- -> B+
A- -> B+

B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B+ -> B

B -> B-
B -> B-
B -> B-

B -> C
B- -> C
B- -> C
B- -> C
B- -> C

A- -> UR
C -> UR
C -> UR
C -> UR
C -> UR

POST AAAPL VR ARCHIVE

 

[Rabia]

(sry if this is the wrong thread to ask this in; this is sort of a nomination post anyway ig?)

What's the rationale behind Roaring Moon's drop out of S rank? Since I've started playing this metagame for a couple months now, it's felt to me like the clear-cut best Pokemon available. This isn't even a shot at Gholdengo's placement because its versatility and usefulness definitely matches Roaring Moon, but Roaring Moon has always felt like a Pokemon I really need to struggle to not include on my teams. Also, I consistently feel like preparing for all of Fluffy Dragon Dance, Choice Scarf Sword of Ruin, and Life Orb Magic Guard feels quite tedious at points unless I run Regenerator Great Tusk 99% of the time (and honestly, I think my usage of this set is probably close to that KEK). So yea, Roaring Moon still feels S rank to me and I'd like to hear why it dropped thx :]

 

[Jrdn]

My only guess is not appreciating how Fluffy makes Moon far more difficult to prep for. The things that stop regular moon suddenly empower Fluffy moon. I still don't think it should be banned, as it does do a huge amount to keep the meta together, but it's definitely S to me. If it didn't have fluffy it would be much easier to prep for

 

[April]

(sry if this is the wrong thread to ask this in; this is sort of a nomination post anyway ig?)

What's the rationale behind Roaring Moon's drop out of S rank? Since I've started playing this metagame for a couple months now, it's felt to me like the clear-cut best Pokemon available. This isn't even a shot at Gholdengo's placement because its versatility and usefulness definitely matches Roaring Moon, but Roaring Moon has always felt like a Pokemon I really need to struggle to not include on my teams. Also, I consistently feel like preparing for all of Fluffy Dragon Dance, Choice Scarf Sword of Ruin, and Life Orb Magic Guard feels quite tedious at points unless I run Regenerator Great Tusk 99% of the time (and honestly, I think my usage of this set is probably close to that KEK). So yea, Roaring Moon still feels S rank to me and I'd like to hear why it dropped thx :]

Firstly, Moon's A+ rank is quite honestly a bit misleading at first glance; it's still ahead of the other Pokemon in A+ tier by a notable margin (in fact, looking at our votes again, it's quite literally as close to being in S tier as it could be without actually crossing the line) and there's still a very reasonable argument for it to rise back up to S tier for a lot of the reasons you've listed.

The main reason Roaring Moon dropped isn't because it got all that much worse, but moreso because it isn't quite as dominant in any of its niches anymore. It faces serious competition as a Choice Scarf user from the likes of Meowscarada and Latios who both have relatively similar matchup spreads across the board, Magic Guard sets have fallen off somewhat and notably face some competition from Zamazenta in the role of "fast attacker that can leverage MG + good bulk to come in repeatedly" while also struggling to fit all the moves they want to run, and even roles like RegenVest have to seriously justify their use over Swampert or Lefties Ting-Lu depending on the team. The only niche where I'd personally say it rules the roost is as a Choice Band Dark-type, and even that both struggles in a metagame full of Zamazenta + Tusk and can be replaced with something like Meowscarada or Chien-Pao pretty often. Fluffy sets are also really dangerous and nothing quite does them like Moon, but they're relatively uncommon off of HO.

TL;DR Roaring Moon didn't really fall off that much, and could very well have been S tier if our numbers were just a bit different, but it did go from being the best choice in most roles you'd use it in to just one of 2-4 amazing choices

edit: it averaged a score of 4.72 when our benchmark for S is 4.75, so yeah it was really really close and truthfully a bit of a flaw with our numbers considering just over half of the resource council voted it for S

 

[Yunie]

so what i'm hearing is bring back s- and put moon there

idk i just feel like a+ is super underselling not only its ingame prowess but also how influencial it is in builder. contact abilities, scarf meow, and fi are just some of the things that hinge a lot of their viability on the presence of moon. it's splashable, strong, and prepping for it properly is mandatory on every team. ghold is super good and versatile too but moon clearly feels a cut above the other mons and i think s- would be fitting, if not putting it back on s and punting ghold down to s-.

 

[UT]

so what i'm hearing is bring back s-

I will unretire just to veto this

for legal reasons, this is a joke

 

[April]

I disagree with the "answer" to this being the creation of a new viability rank, especially one like S- that struggles to justify its existence. Rather, the solution to avoiding cases like this is simply to reevaluate our standards for what makes a Pokemon S tier or not. This could be as simple as a minor numbers adjustment; making our threshold for S such that a 60:40 vote still results in an S tier placement rather than an A- one. An S- rank fails to communicate enough information to be worth adding at this point in time. If something is a clear cut above the rest of the A+ tier, then IMO it's an S tier Pokemon, plain and simple. I voted Moon to be A+ but I can still recognize that when a supermajority of the council thinks it's S tier then it should be in S tier, rather than making a new rank just for it.

 

[mineblast99]

Nominating from UR to C. Now i know what you're thinking. "spidops? really? what could spidops possibly have that would give it any sort of niche?" Well as it turns out spidops actually has quite a bit going for it, giving it a distinct and respectable niche. Spidops has the outstanding combo of sticky webs, spikes, and memento. Its the only webs setter with access to spikes, but more importantly, its the only webs setter with access to a self KO move. This means spidops can get its hazards up, and ensure they dont immediatly get removed. Spidops also has kind of an insane movepool for some reason, with a lot of options for the fourth move. Taunt is probably the best for the last slot, but you can go with knock off, or toxic spikes, maybe circle throw if you want some sort of phasing, you could potentiolly run block if you want to try to lock in opposing hazard setters that cant kill spidops before it gets up all three layers of spikes, maybe silk trap if you want some kind of immediate speed control. Now spidops is, overall, not a very good pokemon. However considering all of the tools it has, and the one of a kind niche it holds, i think it deserves a ranking.

 

[Subsonic72]

Nominating from UR to C. Now i know what you're thinking. "spidops? really? what could spidops possibly have that would give it any sort of niche?" Well as it turns out spidops actually has quite a bit going for it, giving it a distinct and respectable niche. Spidops has the outstanding combo of sticky webs, spikes, and memento. Its the only webs setter with access to spikes, but more importantly, its the only webs setter with access to a self KO move. This means spidops can get its hazards up, and ensure they dont immediatly get removed. Spidops also has kind of an insane movepool for some reason, with a lot of options for the fourth move. Taunt is probably the best for the last slot, but you can go with knock off, or toxic spikes, maybe circle throw if you want some sort of phasing, you could potentiolly run block if you want to try to lock in opposing hazard setters that cant kill spidops before it gets up all three layers of spikes, maybe silk trap if you want some kind of immediate speed control. Now spidops is, overall, not a very good pokemon. However considering all of the tools it has, and the one of a kind niche it holds, i think it deserves a ranking.

But why not run smeargle ?
Spidops is decently bulky so that's something but smeargle has so much going for it:
Burning bulwark to burn spinners, counter to get a random kill because you hit it, mirror coat same thing. You also get ceaseless and stone axe so that you don't get rekt by taunt.
I've genuinely seen smeargle go 3 for one: Burn roaring moon t1 on uturn, kill ogerpon t2 with counter and take down something with destiny bond.
Granted, this is the highest class of cheese but the fact that your opponent has to watch out for this already makes smeargle a pretty good lead.

 

[mineblast99]

But why not run smeargle ?
Spidops is decently bulky so that's something but smeargle has so much going for it:
Burning bulwark to burn spinners, counter to get a random kill because you hit it, mirror coat same thing. You also get ceaseless and stone axe so that you don't get rekt by taunt.
I've genuinely seen smeargle go 3 for one: Burn roaring moon t1 on uturn, kill ogerpon t2 with counter and take down something with destiny bond.
Granted, this is the highest class of cheese but the fact that your opponent has to watch out for this already makes smeargle a pretty good lead.

Oh yeah i forgot about smeargle. Well i still think spidops has a solid niche, enough for it to be ranked, as that extra bulk often means you can get up even 3 layers sometimes. Also spidops has better suprise value (especially the memento) so i still feel like it distinguishes itself from smeargle.

 

[DeepFriedMagikarp]

Small noms
UR > A-/B+ scary breaker/sweeper +strong priority only really stopped by physdef corv in the metagame
Best form of ogerpon currently and is alot better than them. The other ogers also lose a lot of power if running grassy glide unlike zarude.
Its also the good version of meowscarada + good results in open
Add and bold surge surfer

 

[Sizzlipede & Snom]

Very small nom:

UR --> C

Mainly, it is this set:

Hoopa @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Trick Room

252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Hoopa Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Manaphy: 203-239 (50.2 - 59.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Hoopa Psychic vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Primarina: 177-211 (48.6 - 57.9%) -- 95.7% chance to 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Hoopa Psychic vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Swampert: 156-185 (38.6 - 45.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

(The above are probably the only mons in the meta that can tank more than 1 hit from Hoopa that are common enough to be counted, unless I'm missing something).
In Trick Room Hoopa can literally flip a losing game into a winning one, (if you hit Focus Blasts). It absolutely runs over offense and most bulkier teams still can't deal with the sheer damage output of SFLO Hoopa. It is, however, very hard to get Hoopa in safely. Most common ins are on Corviknight (Skarm can click Whirlwind).

Prankster Destiny Bond sets exist as well, but Pecharunt is better suited for that role. Pixilate Tera Blast also works but does a lot less than SFLO.