Some thoughts because VRs gather dust lol.
Rises
The big 3
A+ to S-/S. I just don't see why a mon with more usage than Great Tusk in OU (70% vs 55%) isn't S so far? We can say it's not that great or anything but at the end of the day that's just the most splashable mon of the metagame for every team balanced-like. It provides a lot of defensive utility, a slowpivot and is by far the best and viable Defogger in the current metagame.
A to A+ or S-. Garchomp just cemented itself as one of the best mon in the metagame especially Regen one providing a lot of defensive utility while being extremely flexible. Regenvest doesn't offer momentum compared to Roaring Moon but has less exploitable weakness. Offensive one like Galvanize, Regen mixed LO, etc are also cool.
A+ to S-. Goes to S- as well if Chomp goes too. Iron Moth just provides a lot as weather control, some speed control, defensive utility, power, pivot utility or Tspikes. It's pretty much never a burden to a team like Garchomp and Corviknight completing them so well. Offensive set like Hadron/SFLO/BoR are one of the scariest thing in the metagame but hopefully they are some drawback compensating the devastating potential they get to me, at this time.
A to A+. Far from falling, this mon continued its ascend competing with Garchomp as Regen Dragon. The best and almost only RegenVest able to pivot in the current metagame. You can find it to be easy to abuse but it doesn't change the fact it's able to answer a wide range of threats making it great at compressing defensive roles in more offensive teams while providing momentum.
A- to A/A+. The most problematic mon at this time. MGLO is so good at making progress over long games especially when paired with status spam. SFLO is still the same deadly breaker and able to break through things like Blissey, Florges or Clodsire sometimes thanks to Body Slam. Even RegenVest Garchomp isn't perfectly safe considering people tried Icy Wind for it lol. Overall much more versatile than Gengar.
B+ to A/A+. Big jump there but seems realistic to me. Scream Tail is one of the best mon in the metagame. Unaware CM/TW/Encore is a glue against many setup sweepers that can also autowin some MU without Iron Moth for instance. Far from just dealing with setup, it acts as Wisher for the team pairing well with Iron Treads for instance. Pixi can still does well especially the fully offensive one LO 3atk CM bypassing usual counterplay in Poison mon. Regen is also cool especially Scarf Trick. Doesn't seem that great on paper but really does the job in game.
A- to A. SoR Band is prob the best abusing Fluffy so well thanks to Icicle Crash. Put a lot of pressure on Intimi Corviknight requiring to stay full to avoid the 3HKO. Almost fastest mon in the metagame.
A- to A. Please nerf UT! Joking aside, this mon exerts a tremendous pressure in the builder because BU + WoW is able to bypass many counterplays such as Garganacl or WBB Corviknight (no BU)/Iron Treads. Provides WoW utility + speed and is a great wincon.
B+ to A-. Triage LO is just great and surprisingly just win so many games almost alone lol.
B+ to A-. Abuse so well Roaring Moon or Garchomp as special tank. BoR Specs can just break anything but Blissey really while Scarf still hits hard and provides a great speed control. Mega Launcher is still good too.
B+ to A-/A. Offensive sets are still great with variety from the classic Tinted to SoR, Scrappy or MGLO ones. However recent metagame changes lead to the WBB defensive set which is really good. Provide momentum and WoW utility often annoying to deal with considering Fire mons can't absorb it due to EQ threat.
B to B+. Even though it loses the busted Flip Turn under rain, Barraskewda is still a scary fast breaker benefiting from its large coverage. Quite underrated mon.
B to B+. If some think special threats are too many, then the anti-special threat should rise! Blissey usage increased past months and it deserves to be higher imo.
B to B+. Even though Garchomp is top tier, this mon remains scary with the busted Bitter Blade under sun backed by Close Combat and/or Solar Blade strong coverage. Desolate Land also provides some defensive utility against Quaquaval or Hatterene for instance.
B to B+/A-. This mon is way more scarier than it looks like tbh. MG and Natural Cure are pretty cool which decent staying power. Regen is harder to use because it requires the Regenslot but Regen SubCurse is a scary monster you should definitely not underestimate.
B to B+. One of the greatest fat/stall breaker in the current metagame. Quite difficult to enter because it's quite slow (as an offensive mon) and has almost 0 defensive utility but breaks usual defensive core so well tbh. One of the biggest winner of Gholdengo's departure. SFLO, Hadron Engine or BoR are all good and does similar thing.
B to A-. The rising star of wallbreaking nowadays. Should definitely be higher considering how great it is at breaking fat teams. MGLO is ofc the set that stands out abusing Steel Beam with mixed set. TCLO exists and can rapidly be out of control at +2 with Extreme Speed being able to OHKO mon like Sandy Shocks after SR damage. Adapta can also work considering Iron Moth dies from CC + BP. Easier to use than Gardevoir but you need a solid heart to deal with focus miss moment.
B to B+. Might be biased a bit there but Scarf Hadron Rotom-W is great. I find it easier and more effective than Hadron Scarf Sandy Shocks in many situation thanks to Hpump really threatening Grounds to more freely abuse boosted Vswich. Trick is also a valuable move to get an out against some bullshit setup. You can try to drop Tbolt sometimes for WoW to cripple things like Roaring or Garchomp.
B- to B. Rised recently it seems? This is prob due to Ghosts. Corrosion is good at spreading status for Hex based team.
B- to B+. Fluffy Taunt DD Gyarados is a monster that can autowin so easily and a great defensive value for Offense. You can finally remove Stone Edge because Dragonite is gone. Do not underestimate!
B- to B. A dumb and fishy mon but still annoying. Good players tend to not try priority against it because it's often Dazzling so you can try something else and bait. I often lost a Roaring Moon to Pixilate Terablast lol.
B- to B+. Ngl this mon is good. It has some rare qualities to compete the Regenslot and even without, WBB, EE and even the fancy Grassy Surge are good. Full SpD it's not 2HKO by Sball from SFLO Gengar. Knock Off and TW are both great moves.
C+ to B/B+. This has been criminally underrated lmao. TC/SoR is really scary with Tusk being gone considering Fighting + Elec + Ice coverage pretty much delete usual defensive cores but Scream Tail. You also get a prio, Revival Blessing, pivot or something else as last. Being faster than Chomp is great.
Drops
B+ to B. Didn't really take over from Tusk tbh. It's a decent mon ngl but there's a lot of competition for the Regenslot and Donphan isn't really worth. With Dragonite gone you can run Poison Jab which is great at spreading status giving it more utility but that's all.
C to UR. No need to argue.
Nominations
UR to idk. Beat Up is the only niche over Chien-Pao but damn, if you manage to abuse the move properly that's one of the scariest thing alive.
UR to C+/B-. Stupid dumb fishy mon reminding Kommo-o from last gen. Completely inconsistent but can just autowin MU sometimes by just clicking BD and spamming Drain Punch. Bullet Punch at +6 OHKO Gengar and H-Zoro btw.
UR to C+. Corv trapper or Knock Off + U-Turn is the niche of this mon over Bramble.
UR to C+. Regen offer defensive utility vs Meow, Chien-Pao and Kingambit and annoys things with WoW. Is that worth the Regenslot? Probably not. MGLO has some tools Cinderace doesn't get but is that worth? Idk. Still has tools to do something.
UR to C+. Knock Off + Spikes + Tspikes + Leech Seed + Toxic + Rapid Spin = should be ranked. Even Regenvest could be decent still using Knock Off and Rapid Spin with EP Giga Drain or Sludge Bomb.
UR to C+. Technician Shell Smash is extremely low cost Bax.
UR to C+/B-. I never thought I'll nom this mon somewhere lmao. Ice Beam + Freeze Dry with Mud Shot support for Iron Moth is a devastaring combination with BoR.
UR to C. Refrigerate Boomburst + Shift Gear with Throat Spray can still work even though extremely MU fishy (Garga and Iron Moth rip).
UR to C. Just click Final Gambit on chipped Corviknight.
There's a lot of place for another column with more niche abilities btw. Have a good day AAA people
