Lower Tiers BW NU Viability Rankings

[tennisace]

A significant number of Haunter carries T-Bolt and a significant number of Scolipede carries Bug Gem or Life Orb, which means you cannot set up. Some Scolipede also have three attacks, which is most likely EdgeQuake, and LO EQ from Scoli also deals a number to Carracosta.

Usage of Thunderbolt on Haunter: 36.677%
Usage of Bug Gem on Scolipede: 2.134%
Usage of Life Orb on Scolipede: 18.257%

Admittedly EQ is used more than 50% on Scolipede, and Rock Slide is almost 50%, but you get the picture. This is all I'm going to argue about Carracosta, as I've said all I needed to and the people running this thread all agree Carracosta is S-rank.

Anyway, I pushed for Seismitoad to be S-rank when this thread was being crafted. The fact that it has a huge amount of versatility makes it by far the best "catch-all" Pokemon in the tier. It has like 4 "main" sets, and another handful that are more team specific but still very useful. If you need a Rain Sweeper, Seismitoad can outspeed opposing Ludicolo and hit hard with Sludge Wave. If you need a check to opposing Carracosta and Physical Samurott, Physically Defensive Seismitoad can set up SR and check them. If you need a Jynx check, Specially Defensive with Earthquake. If you need a lure for Tangela and Alomomola, SubToxic is there. Heck, even Sub Endeavor is a good set. This versatility, combined with great typing and great abilities is what I believe pushes Seismitoad over the edge (plus I think it's darn cute).

 

[Aasgier]

Usage of Thunderbolt on Haunter: 36.677%
Usage of Bug Gem on Scolipede: 2.134%
Usage of Life Orb on Scolipede: 18.257%

Admittedly EQ is used more than 50% on Scolipede, and Rock Slide is almost 50%, but you get the picture. This is all I'm going to argue about Carracosta, as I've said all I needed to and the people running this thread all agree Carracosta is S-rank.

You only prove my point. 34% + ~20% (Grass coverage, mostly Giga Drain, and rarely Energy Ball) and ~20,4% respectively is common enough, at least when you realize both of these things completely screw up Carracosta's set up (Haunter even KO'ing) IF carried.

That aside, we disregard even other ways of disposing Carracosta, most notably Substitute, which both Haunter and Scolipede can utilize, (and both have common Substitute sets. Haunter's Substitute usage is 44% (!), whereas Scolipede's Substitute usage is 16%. Not that rare with Scolipede being everywhere. And then Scolipede's EQ, so I assume the majority of Scolipede can defeat Carracosta (or cripple it beyond repair), as well as more than half of all Haunter.

 

[MMF]

"And then Scolipede's EQ, so I assume the majority of Scolipede can defeat Carracosta (or cripple it beyond repair)"

You are severely underestimating Carracosta's natural bulk. Scolipede's EQ probably does around half which is nowhere near "crippling it beyond repair". You still have 5 or so hits (assuming LO) which as far as you know could be 5 KOs.

 

[Punchshroom]

"And then Scolipede's EQ, so I assume the majority of Scolipede can defeat Carracosta (or cripple it beyond repair)"

You are severely underestimating Carracosta's natural bulk. Scolipede's EQ probably does around half which is nowhere near "crippling it beyond repair". You still have 5 or so hits (assuming LO) which as far as you know could be 5 KOs.

No, several times I have overestimated Carracosta's bulk and realized I could not sweep an opponent's team after taking that kind of damage, usually taking hazard damage into account (that's one or two less attacks for you right off the bat). People mention that LO Carracosta doesn't need to Smash in order to be effective, but be aware that every unboosted attack Carra launches eats away at its HP bit by bit, decreasing your chances of getting an all-out sweep.

It has come to my attention though that the threat of Shell Smash scares your opponent from making much/any switches, and usually prompts them to stay in to try and hinder Carracosta's sweep the best way they can, even if it means they would be KOed as a result, thus guaranteeing a kill in some cases. This is a pretty valuable asset if pulled off right, with my gripe being that Carracosta is usually successfully crippled or outright beaten by a lot of things it would have liked to set up on, but at least now I'm not totally opposed to Carracosta being S-Rank.

 

[Raseri]

Carracosta stays S-rank for the time being, discussion on IRC shows that many top players (including Zeb) believe that it is worthy of being in S-rank. So I'm going to ban discussion on it for one week, just so we can talk about something else. In one week feel free to post about Carracosta again, thanks :)

Changes that have been made:

Metang up from B to A
Seismitoad up from A to S

Proposed Changes:

Braviary down to B from A
Rotom-F down to B from A
Armaldo down to C from B

I personally supprt moving Braviary down to B just because it is far to slow to use its monstrous attack in the metagame. The CB set is frightening, but the majority of an offensive team can outrun it, while defensive teams usually have a good switchin for it. The Scarf set is cool but still slow for a scarf user. SubBU is still a cool set but harder to set up in this meta. If any set was to keep it in A it would be SubBU. I just want to see a little more discussion on it!

 

[vyomov]

Why is Rotom-F moving down to B? I haven't used it much, but it has good bulk and Bolt Beam(although admittedly Blizzard Bolt) coverage is quite good! It's ability allows it to come in on mons like Golurk and sweep. Trick also allows it to cripple defensive mons like Alomomola who are hindered by the item. I'm not very knowledgeable on the topic, so hopefully somebody can enlighten me on this(maybe it's weakness to SR?)

 

[Infernis]

Anyone have something else to say about Ninjask? I brought it up in this post, but the discussion steered towards Carracosta instead.

I honestly have not used Braviary enough to decide, but Armaldo seems to be pretty solidly B-Rank. Some teams absolutely need a rapid spinner, and Armaldo is, despite his shortcomings, one of three-ish viable spinners in the tier. Torkoal is in B-Rank, and I'd consider the two to be roughly equal. Both are weak to rocks, but otherwise pretty solid team support. Both can go on the offense with Armaldo's Swords Dance and Torkoal's Shell Smash.

 

[Ewil]

Braviary down to B from A

Due to the drop down, Brav's Speed isn't fantastic anymore and his SR weakness doesn't helps him. The CB set is actually useful, but Sawk does it better. The Sub-BU set isn't so easy to use anymore due to the drops in usage of a lot of Rock-Type wich Brav loves to set up on, also the popularity of Seismitoad and Piloswine as SR setters stops Brav. B-Rank for me.

Rotom-F down to B from A

The first part of the Braviary discussion can be applied to Rotom-F. Not counting his others weakness to Rock and Fight, and the popularity of Piloswine that resists his STABs and Seismitoed that can come in on Volt Switch and can tank 2-3 Ice Move. B-Rank for me.

Armaldo down to C from B

The only reason that Armaldo is B, is because he knows Rapid Spin, the second one is that he knows SR too. Number 1 in usage, Golurk totally blocks Armaldo with a combination of Ghost-Type, Dynamic Punch and Earthquake/Stone Edge, he only fears Armaldo if he knows Toxic or Aqua Tail that are pretty rare. You really need Armaldo if you need an SR setter and a spinner in the same pkmn and you have Torkoal too that can do this probably better and has a better niche in a Shell Smash set with Rapid Spin. C-Rank for me.

 

[wiitle]

Ninjask stays where it is. Not really much discussion needed on it imo.

I'm going to have to disagree with moving Braviary down to B mainly based on its scarf set and SubBU, and its access to U-turn. As we all know, U-turn is a fantastic move and scouts a shitton while giving you a lot of momentum. Braviary's scarf set is still quite fast and hits everything you need to as long as it is unboosted. It has a monstrous attack and hits very hard. Its SubBU set is still very good with its ability to break and wear down a lot of stall teams. Overall, I say Braviary stays A-Rank.

I don't mind Rotom-F moving down to B-Rank. Ground types are too common this meta and Blizzard's shady accuracy isn't doing it any favors. It is also unfortunately outsped by the ever common Scarf Primeape. Agreeing with B-Rank.

Armaldo is a shitty mon outside of SR and Rapid Spin. It can't beat any spinblockers and is pretty much deadweight with its ridiculously low speed. If you must, Armaldo is a decent choice for a spinner (key word being must) so C-Rank seems fine

 

[Aasgier]

Ninjask stays where it is. Not really much discussion needed on it imo.

I'm going to have to disagree with moving Braviary down to B mainly based on its scarf set and SubBU, and its access to U-turn. As we all know, U-turn is a fantastic move and scouts a shitton while giving you a lot of momentum. Braviary's scarf set is still quite fast and hits everything you need to as long as it is unboosted. It has a monstrous attack and hits very hard. Its SubBU set is still very good with its ability to break and wear down a lot of stall teams. Overall, I say Braviary stays A-Rank.

I don't mind Rotom-F moving down to B-Rank. Ground types are too common this meta and Blizzard's shady accuracy isn't doing it any favors. It is also unfortunately outsped by the ever common Scarf Primeape. Agreeing with B-Rank.

Armaldo is a shitty mon outside of SR and Rapid Spin. It can't beat any spinblockers and is pretty much deadweight with its ridiculously low speed. If you must, Armaldo is a decent choice for a spinner (key word being must) so C-Rank seems fine

QFT. I completely agree, though I want to add that I rather pick Wartortle of all things than Armaldo as a spinner, as Armaldo adds upon the rock weakness of Scolipede and Jynx and the water weakness of most Normal-Flying resists in the tier (bar Metang). It also compounds weaknesses with other SR weak mons, most notably Charizard. Yeah, I would pick Wartortle over Armaldo if I am that desperate for a spinner, unless I really need a spinner that can check Musharna as well. Armaldo is an overrated piece of garbage.

 

[Raseri]

kk time to post about the other 2 suggestions I have.

Although I personally voted Rotom-F for A rank, I've been thinking about it lately and it really fits into B-rank better. It's typing is amazing offensively, but it leaves it with a lot of really crippling weaknesses. Fire and Fighting are weaknesses that you just can't afford to have right now. Rotom-F also doesn't have enough great resistances right now, which makes it hard to use the SubSplit set as well.

Rotom-F is simply to slow to be a great offensive threat. When you look at A-rank, every offensive Pokemon on there is either faster than Rotom-F, or has a way to boost their speed, with the exception of Braviary which should be B rank anyways. It's former most popular set, the Choice Scarf set, is outran by all of the common scarfers in this metagame, making it nearly useless. It's other sets (LO, Ebelt) are still viable but struggle with everything outrunning it and doing massive damage to it. The only things it can really switch in on in S and S rank are Alomomola, Missy, and Piloswine. As even Garbodor carrys Rock Blast to hurt it.

So Rotom-F is a really cool offensive mon, but it is far to slow and can't switch into anything, doesn't have the typing that you'd hope for, and can't boost its stats at all. Sounds like a B-rank to me.



Armaldo is basically the sandslash of NU. It looks cool in theory, but in practice it just doesn't have the ability to spin consistently against The 2 main Ghost-types in the tier. Armaldo as a support mon is just bad, it doesn't beat anything. Loses 1v1 to nearly every other SRer, cant wall anything more than once. It just shouldn't be used. Armaldo as an offensive mon is decent enough to warrant C-rank, it has SD and Rock Polish, as well as a really good offensive movepool. Bug STAB is consistently good in NU, Rock wrecks everything. Rock Polish + 3 attacks is cool enough to break through a lot of offensive teams if it gets to set up. Double Dance is alright and can break stall teams decently. The problem with Armaldo is its really shitty typing. 2 resistances, crippling weaknesses to Water and Rock. It's poor special defense also makes it hard to switch in to even neutral hits. So Armaldo is C-rank just because its a spinner and decent attacker. B is far to high in this metagame.

 

[Punchshroom]

I personally don't get why Liepard is still C-Rank. Don't get me wrong, there are still those skill-less parafusion Liepards out there which either hax through the whole game or die turn one, completely shifting people's opinions of the feline, but Encore Liepards, while less effective in this fast paced metagame (being outsped and set up on by Scolipede sucks), can still do some cool stuff.

Being the only Prankster Encore user of the tier, it faces no competition with others in this role, allowing it to easily stop the likes of SubBU Braviary, Coil Eelektross, SubNP Jynx, Calm Mind Musharna (even with Signal Beam) and various RestTalking pokemon if you can catch them on the switch, shifting momentum to you. Prankster Substitute is also handy for blocking status (and Encoring right after) or to soak up U-turns.

From there, Liepard has a few attacking options: Swagger + Foul Play is the more infamous one, but really Foul Play is usually good enough on its own since it can hit a number of threats hard without the need for any investment, while I only use Swagger as a desperate means to stop a threat or to set my opponent up to be either overpowered by Liepard's Foul Play or even itself. Nasty Plot + Dark Pulse is another option Liepard can go for, pissing the pants of regular switch-ins such as Alomomola or Torkoal, and grants Liepard more offensive presence in general. If one so wishes, running a coverage move and Unburden + Dark Gem gives you an even bigger chance at a sweep, though Liepard would lose a lot of survivability, bulk(?) and utility as a result.

Liepard's extreme fragility is always its biggest issue, but considering how skilled it is at not being actually hit this flaw is easily circumvented. Now tell me if Liepard is "outclassed" enough to be C-Rank, and not B-Rank.

 

[ryan]

I personally don't get why Liepard is still C-Rank. Don't get me wrong, there are still those skill-less parafusion Liepards out there which either had the whole game or die turn one, completely shifting people's opinions of the feline, but Encore Liepards, while less effective in this fast paced metagame (being outsped and set up on by Scolipede sucks), can still do some cool stuff.

Being the only Prankster Encore user of the tier, it faces no competition with others in this role, allowing it to easily stop the likes of SubBU Braviary, Coil Eelektross, SubNP Jynx, Calm Mind Musharna (even with Signal Beam) and various RestTalking pokemon if you can catch them on the switch, shifting momentum to you. Prankster Substitute is also handy for blocking status (and Encoring right after) or to soak up U-turns.

From there, Liepard has a few attacking options: Swagger + Foul Play is the more infamous one, but really Foul Play is usually good enough on its own since it can hit a number of threats hard without the need for any investment, while I only use Swagger as a desperate means to stop a threat or to set my opponent up to be either overpowered by Liepard's Foul Play or even itself. Nasty Plot + Dark Pulse is another option Liepard can go for, pissing the pants of regular switch-ins such as Alomomola or Torkoal, and grants Liepard more offensive presence in general. If one so wishes, running a coverage move and Unburden + Dark Gem gives you an even bigger chance at a sweep, though Liepard would lose a lot of survivability, bulk(?) and utility as a result.

Liepard's extreme fragility is always its biggest issue, but considering how skilled it is at not being actually hit this flaw is easily circumvented. Now tell me if Liepard is "outclassed" enough to be C-Rank.

Volbeat

 

[Punchshroom]

Volbeat can't fight back, he's pretty much aggro support. (No words can save one from retardation if I see him/her making Tail Glow Volbeat without Baton Pass)

 

[Infernis]

Ninjask stays where it is. Not really much discussion needed on it imo.

What, in your opinion, keeps it C-Rank material? Its offensive sets slaughter all three (important) new drops, all of whom made the top 10 in usage last month, and it beats a surprising number of other offensive Pokemon. That's in addition to its already stellar baton pass set. Being able to outrun every scarfer in the tier without a scarf of its own is a pretty big niche. I can't be the only person using that set, can I?

PSEUDO-EDIT: I meant this post on Ninjask, not the PBS special on crows.

 

[Punchshroom]

What, in your opinion, keeps it C-Rank material? Its offensive sets slaughter all three (important) new drops, all of whom made the top 10 in usage last month, and it beats a surprising number of other offensive Pokemon. That's in addition to its already stellar baton pass set. Being able to outrun every scarfer in the tier without a scarf of its own is a pretty big niche. I can't be the only person using that set, can I?

PSEUDO-EDIT: I meant this post on Ninjask, not the PBS special on crows.

You might want to slash Baton Pass in that set, since it allows Ninjask to support teammates while still remaining offensive at the cost of being unable to pass anything but Speed.

 

[tennisace]

What, in your opinion, keeps it C-Rank material? Its offensive sets slaughter all three (important) new drops, all of whom made the top 10 in usage last month, and it beats a surprising number of other offensive Pokemon. That's in addition to its already stellar baton pass set. Being able to outrun every scarfer in the tier without a scarf of its own is a pretty big niche. I can't be the only person using that set, can I?

PSEUDO-EDIT: I meant this post on Ninjask, not the PBS special on crows.

If by beats a surprising number of offensive Pokemon, you mean beats Pokemon weak to its STABs, then yes, it does. However, Ninjask is pitifully weak outside of that, and your set fails to 2hko Swellow on average, to name something frail off the top of my head.

I also wouldn't call the Baton Pass set "stellar", as it's 100% beaten by Golem (and I suppose Rock Blast Garbodor / Rock Blast Armaldo), which is still quite common.

It's also really frail, and with SR being everywhere it rarely gets a chance to get in safely, even on resisted hits.

With a lot of support, you can make Ninjask work. However, the fact that you need a lot of support tells me Ninjask should stay in C-rank.

 

[vyomov]

I personally don't get why Liepard is still C-Rank. Don't get me wrong, there are still those skill-less parafusion Liepards out there which either hax through the whole game or die turn one, completely shifting people's opinions of the feline, but Encore Liepards, while less effective in this fast paced metagame (being outsped and set up on by Scolipede sucks), can still do some cool stuff.

Being the only Prankster Encore user of the tier, it faces no competition with others in this role, allowing it to easily stop the likes of SubBU Braviary, Coil Eelektross, SubNP Jynx, Calm Mind Musharna (even with Signal Beam) and various RestTalking pokemon if you can catch them on the switch, shifting momentum to you. Prankster Substitute is also handy for blocking status (and Encoring right after) or to soak up U-turns.

From there, Liepard has a few attacking options: Swagger + Foul Play is the more infamous one, but really Foul Play is usually good enough on its own since it can hit a number of threats hard without the need for any investment, while I only use Swagger as a desperate means to stop a threat or to set my opponent up to be either overpowered by Liepard's Foul Play or even itself. Nasty Plot + Dark Pulse is another option Liepard can go for, pissing the pants of regular switch-ins such as Alomomola or Torkoal, and grants Liepard more offensive presence in general. If one so wishes, running a coverage move and Unburden + Dark Gem gives you an even bigger chance at a sweep, though Liepard would lose a lot of survivability, bulk(?) and utility as a result.

Liepard's extreme fragility is always its biggest issue, but considering how skilled it is at not being actually hit this flaw is easily circumvented. Now tell me if Liepard is "outclassed" enough to be C-Rank, and not B-Rank.

I agree with you on the ranking, but based on usage, I can firmly say that SwagPlay is probably the most ANNOYING set EVER. The idea? Set up a Sub on a Psychic Type who switches for the Fighting/Bug type. Swagger it while it attacks, chances are it will attack itself, leaving the sub intact. Even if it doesn't, Foul Play then OHKOes.
Prankster Encore is also annoying, taking out all the set up sweepers. I like to use a combo of Encore and SwagPlay to beat out set up sweepers.

 

[Cherub Agent]

Just wanted to point out that while liepard is the best encore user, kadabra also naturally outspeeds alk of these pokemon and can lock them in, or if need be take a hit with its sash and then encore. Generally though, you should be able predict a setup/status move that you can come in on. Kadabra's Speed is also excellent in this stage, edging out on the 95s, charizards and even the monkeys

 

[Punchshroom]

It's true that Kadabra can Encore many moves, including Toxic and Will-o-Wisp without the need to Sub, the trade off being that he cannot Encore speed boosters. I'd like to know how Kadabra does in this meta: it seems fast enough to fit in, but its coverage isn't as great as Jynx's and is 2HKOed by everything (Jynx at least has some special bulk and a Water immunity).

Something as frail as Kadabra wants to make its hits count. Sash Kadabra can serve as a one-time check to any sweeper that it can KO and is an extremely annoying offensive presence since it will survive your hit and retaliate with base 120 Special Attack; Life Orb Kadabra is cool since it hits hard without any repercussion, can use Substitute and KO some threats it otherwise couldn't have and avoid any damage altogether (unlike Sash Kadabra in some instances), with the obvious downside that Kadabra is now totally exposed. The beauty of this is that your opponent can't tell which is which unless they are savvy about damage calcs, sees Sub or until it is too late.

 

[Manectrifier]

I agree with Infernis about Ninjask deserving B-rank. With a X-Scissor/Aerial Ace/BP/protect set you check the majority of the tier, and with a little team support from for example Alomomola (which checks all rock blast users and supports with wish), Ninjask is a real anti-meta pokemon that can also pass speed boosts to support its team and for example let a Golurk or Samurott sweep a team.
Ninjask deserves B-rank because it both uniquely (is that a word?) supports its team and gets rid of a lot threats in NU, as mentioned by Infernis. Ninjask has the ability to KO Scolipede, Jynx, Primeape, Sawk, Musharna, Gardevoir, Exeggutor, and a lot of other lesser used pokemon which can be seen in Infernis's post about Ninjask. That's what makes it B-Rank.

 

[ryan]

On Braviary: I posted my opinion on Braviary here, but I mainly covered its Sub/Bulk Up set because I feel that it is by far its best set right now. But I still think that there is merit to using the Scarf set. No, it's not the most potent revenge killer in the tier, but it still has a lot of potential for a late game clean-up. While it is, by no means, the best revenge killer in the tier, if you pair it with a priority user such as Kangaskhan, you can take care of most anything in the tier. Kangaskhan can clean up against the likes of scarf Jynx, Zebstrika, etc, while scarf Braviary still outspeeds the entire unboosted tier.

A good reason to use scarf Braviary is that the metagame has adjusted to base 95 Speed or higher Choice Scarf users, so when your opponent sees Braviary in the team preview, Choice Scarf user doesn't really come to mind. This alone can net you some crucial KOs.

CB still wrecks. Yeah it's slow, but it's fast enough to wreck some of the tier's most prominent walls. See my post I linked above for an Alomomola calc.

Anyways, Braviary is surely not the same force it used to be, but I feel like it's still worthy of A-Rank. Plus, it's a bird. Kacaw!

I'll post on the others later, but I wanted to post about this one now because it is the only change I would not like to see.

 

[Punchshroom]

Seconding what Treecko said. No other pokemon in the tier has Braviary's combination of speed (enough for walls like Misdreavus), bulk and of course power. Its good coverage helps him out as well.

Between Choice sets and SubBU Brav, it is extremely difficult to counter both, especially if it hasn't revealed its set. Scarf Braviary may miss out on the 95 base speed benchmark, but has more bulk, U-turn and power by his side. Banded Braviary can 2HKO almost everything in the tier, and has enough speed to threaten a variety of pokemon such as Samurott or Golurk. SubBU Brav sets up on its usual counters/switch-ins bar Psych Up Metang, and is harder to revenge kill due to its deceptively good bulk.

One set I'm testing is Tailwind Braviary, which is Braviary's only way to outspeed faster Scarfers and can outpace faster threats without being locked into a move, allowing you to brutalize stuff like Scolipede and Zebstrika without the need to switch. U-turn also allows Braviary to "pass" the Tailwind boost to teammates without losing offensive momentum.

With all these traits, putting Braviary in B-Rank doesn't seem to do the proud eagle justice, as it is still potent enough to be considered a threat. A-Rank for Braviary. Kacaw.

 

[Raseri]

Changes that I made:

Rotom-F down to B from A
Armaldo down to C from B

Proposed Changes:
Liepard up to B from C
Ampharos down to C from B
Articuno down to C from B

Liepard has always been a hot topic, and I think a conversation about its use in the tier is long overdue. C-rank is really selling it short. Ampharos is struggling with all the other electrics in the tier, though a personal favourite I cant stall this forever :(. Articuno had a split vote when we made the rankings. I'll post my personal opinions later!

 

[Aasgier]

Liepard can easily be fit on a team, at least if you want to. It's EncoreSwagger set is very deadly and can easily capitalize on mistakes made. It's T-Wave-Swagger set is very annoying to face and has no counters at all bar Own Tempo Lickilicky and Magic Coat + Rock Blast Bastiodon. It should be B-Rank, without a doubt.

Ampharos is an unlucky case. It has a weird stat distribution, and lack of reliable recovery hurts its defensive sets. An Agility set with a Life Orb can be very deadly though, as BoltBeam (HP Ice) hurts most of the time, and Focus Blast can be put in the last slot to hurt the things that can take it. It could also put Heal Bell in that slot to put an end to status attempts which Ampharos despises, as well as to support the team, though that is not a priority with Heal Bell on Agility variants of Ampharos. Ampharos at +2 is also outsped by most Scarfers in the tier, which frankly sucks. Then again, Ampharos can be very troublesome to beat and I know how powerful a well-handled Ampharos can be, but also that it is easily to go wrong with. I don't mind if Ampharos drops or stays in B.

Articuno is greatly hindered by its Stealth Rock weakness, and that's unfortunate since Articuno's main task is to stop special attackers with a defensive set, and it greatly reduces the number of cases it can switch in. However, Articuno's offensive sets can easily tear through unprepared teams, and its defensive set is no slouch either if either Rocks are not up (through a Taunt lead or Wartortle Rapid Spin support), or if it gets a safe switch in on a slower wall and can safely Roost off the SR damage. But despite this, Articuno is very hard to use well, and can easily fail, especially since the drops as they caused the metagame to speed up beyond what Articuno can safely handle. It should drop to C-Rank.