FU Viability Rankings

[Magnemite]

A couple of noms:

Vanilluxe from unlisted to B+

This was a bit more useful in the Fraxure meta but it's still pretty good now. The Life Orb 4 attacks set is really threatening since people stopped preparing for Articuno. It hits really hard, has good coverage between Freeze-Dry and Hidden Power Ground, which make it hard to deal with if it comes in on something. SR damage + LO recoil wear it down pretty quickly, and it's not really that fast, plus it's not the strongest thing ever, which is why I'm not nomming it for a spot in the A ranks, but it's still a really solid Pokemon in FU right now.

Stunfisk from A- to S-

This is a pretty big jump, but Stunfisk is really, really good in FU. It has really solid bulk, a phenomenal typing, and great utility. Additionally, for a defensive mon it's really hard to switch into, as not much wants to get paralyzed or Toxic poisoned, and most of the few other Ground-types don't want to take an Earth Power since they're pretty frail (especially Krokorok). It also has a ton of utility, being a good SR setter and a great Electabuzz counter, basically turning it into a liability just by being on a team. Overall, Stunfisk is really hard to deal with both in theory and in practice, which on top of its utility and bulk makes it one of the best mons in the tier right now. (Also Mambo told me to make this nom)

 

[Gary]

Unlisted ---> B+: What Mag said. Best Ice in tier and hits hard as fuck + priority. Weak Armor is a really fun ability to abuse and it can be very pressuring. When played right, it's a bitch to deal with. Could be ranked a bit higher in the future.

B+ ---> A-: Mambo has a boner for this thing and I hate him for it because it always tears my asshole apart. Seriously though Vital Spirit Electabuzz is like the only reliable switch into this thing, as a Tinted Lens Bug Buzz is going to hit everything hard while Sleep Powder lets it set up or neutralize bulky shit like Stunfisk. Compoudeyes is also viable as well, seeing as how Sleep Powder becomes VERY accurate and with sleep being so good in FU AND most of its switch-ins being weak to Bug Buzz, it can function as either a cleaner or more of a disruptor that aims to put something to sleep then start spamming Quiver Dance. All in all, Butterfree is a very solid Pokemon at the moment, and is a lot better than most of the things found in B+.

A- ---> A+: Stunfisk is indeed VERY good, but I can't really see it being S- more than most of the stuff found in A+ right now, especially Lairon or Zweilous. But don't get me wrong, Stunfisk has single handedly turned the best Pokemon in the tier to a liability on a lot of teams. It's so damn bulky and can eat up crazy things such as Life Orb Leaf Storms from Simisage and LO Hydros from Golduck. It can spread status easily with Toxic or T-wave, and it's by far the most reliable Stealth Rocker in the tier. Seeing it in A- right now is an insult.

S+ ---> S: This is probably FU history in the making considering that Buzz has always been considered the best Pokemon in the tier. It's still one of the best Pokemon, and most likely always will be unless something crazy like Raichu dropped, but Stunfisk being so good really hinders its effectiveness. Not much else to say really, that's pretty much the only reason why it's dropping.

S ---> S+: Mambo and I have come to the conclusion that Simisage is by far the best Pokemon in the tier right now. It has zero switch-ins outside of very niche shit, and its Speed tier is so good that even offense has difficulty checking it. Every time it comes in for free, something is most likely going to die. I always find myself being weak to it, and it's just so useful that I see no reason not to ever use Simisage on my team. Seriously though, much like E-Buzz pre Stunfisk meta, Simisage is just so fucking amazing why wouldn't you use it? It practically guarantees at least 2 kills per match and has an amazing matchup against like everything bar something random like sun and I guess rain can be a bit annoying. Scarf is also a really solid revenge killer as well that can check itself as well other things such as Smash Huntail, RP Rampardos, and opposing Scarf Mons.

 

[Twix]

I'd like to resuggest the idea of:

(Unlisted -> C)

Pignite is such a cool and unexpected Pokemon in the metagame, which can do a lot of things with the right support. The main thing that outclassed it before, Flareon, has moved up by usage, making it face less competition in general. Although Simisear can cover Fire + Fighting moves, it lacks coverage from moves such as Wild Charge, HEAD SMASH, Thunder Punch, and Sucker Punch, as well as status moves such as Roar and Curse. Simisear still have more effectiveness in most areas, so C-rank fits almost perfectly for Pignite, as it:

1. Has a few notable niches and flaws.
2. Requires some support.
3. Faces Competition from Simisear.

 

[ExplosiveChaos]

Unranked ---> A: Hear me out, it may seem like Munchlax is another one of those horrible Pokemon. The reality is it can take so many hits in the Special departement. It can beat Simisear without Focus Blast, and even with Focus Blast, it is a 3HKO. Although Knock Off destroys Munchlax, it can usually beat Simisage in a 1 v 1. Electabuzz is a joke to Munchlax. It can set up Curse on so many things, and go on to sweep. Ghost-types? Krokorok can easily Pursuit them. Munchlax is very effective, and can work very similarly to Vigoroth.

 

[Twix]

Ghost-types? Krokorok can easily Pursuit them. Munchlax is very effective, and can work very similarly to Vigoroth.

Just due to it being completely walled by Ghost-types and needing teammates to help it take care of them, it doesn't seem to fit in A-rank. Vigoroth was a much more influential Pokemon due to Taunt, Knock Off, Speed and bulk, where Munchlax is just slow and much more Eviolite reliant. The best I could see it is B- or C tbh.

 

[Kushalos]

I believe munchlax should be ranked as well, just not in A. I think B-/C would be better for now cause I've seen Curse resttalk put in a lot of work but its still very vulnerable to Knock Off and it doesnt really have reliable recovery.

 

[ExplosiveChaos]

I believe munchlax should be ranked as well, just not in A. I think B-/C would be better for now cause I've seen Curse resttalk put in a lot of work but its still very vulnerable to Knock Off and it doesnt really have reliable recovery.

I was aiming a little high, and I agree about B. I think B over C in my opinion because it is also a good special wall and can use Whirlwind to stop a setup Pokemon or to do some good damage with Hazards in a tier with not many good Defoggers.

 

[Gary]

Yeah Munch is definitely a cool Pokemon cause it can check a bunch of shit while also being threatening thanks to Curse. The biggest issue isn't really Ghost-types because all we have is Dusclops (which is passive as fuck and easy to take advantage of) and Gourgeist-S which is even easier to take advantage of especially with something like Toxic Spikes support. The biggest issue is mostly Lairon, as it 4x resists its only move while Head Smash will most likely kill it faster than it can Curse up. Lairon can also Roar it out. Then of course there's things like Quill which can Taunt Munch and set up Spikes all over it, and Evio Krow which Taunts it, sets up its own CM, and even if it get paralyzed it still outspeeds Munch. And as Kush said, Knock Off being so common is a dick as well. It's still a solid Pokemon though and with support it can be very annoying and effective, so I will put it in B- for now, as it is better than most of the Pokemon in C anyway.

Also I put Scraggy in B+. It's a very underrated Pokemon right now that can take a huge dump on a lot of bulky offense with Clefairy gone. Fighting is such an AMAZING typing in FU but it is extremely uncommon, and as we all know Dark is a really good typing as well, so putting them together makes for a great combination. So far I've only tried Bulk Up but maybe DD could be good.

 

[ExplosiveChaos]

B ---> A- or A: Frogadier checks a lot of FU Threats because of Protean. Simisage, Simisear, Quilladin, Murkrow, Pignite, and so many more are checked by the diversity of Frogadier's movepool. Even Toxic Spikes is a good option for Frogadier to surprize Grass-types or quickly set up some Hazards.

B+ ---> A- or A: On the surface, Whismicash seems rather average. Decent Attack, mediocre Speed, and okay defenses. What really sold me away is Whismicash's typing. Ground and Water is amazing. So many S and A rank Pokemon are weak to Ground-type moves, notably Lairon and Electabuzz with HP Ice. Whismicash is rather underrated, even with the fabulous boosting move Dragon Dance. The only things that really uses Grass-type moves, its weakness, are Simisage and Servine, but there are ways to handle them.

 

[Skankovich]

Why is mothim at B? It's basically outclassed by Butterfree in every role, unless you're going band tinted lens u-turn lol. Other things:

Furfrou to B: Cornerstone of stall and switches into pretty much every physical attacker except mold breaker ramp. Just support it with some rocks and you're good to go- I've heard offensive sets have merits but I've never used em so idk. I'd push it higher but I know people are largely unconverted to it's merits rn.

Gourgeist-L to B+: Nothing switches into its double status now Clefairy is gone and it's as fat as ever. Also a simisage counter!

 

[Kushalos]

B ---> A- or A: Frogadier checks a lot of FU Threats because of Protean. Simisage, Simisear, Quilladin, Murkrow, Pignite, and so many more are checked by the diversity of Frogadier's movepool. Even Toxic Spikes is a great option for Frogadier to surprize Grass-types or quickly set up some Hazards.
EDIT: I am going to add some more opinions on this post to not cluster the thread.

How does it check simis when simis just outspeed and kill easily? Frogadier is fine in B trust me

 

[Cheryl.]

Fearow should probably rise to B+ now that Dodrio is gone

 

[Realistic Waters]

Guessing with a choice scarf set but that doesn't sound too appealing :l
and yeah it doesn't really check Murkow either, pretty sure offensive life orb sucker punch OHKO's Frogadier.

 

[ExplosiveChaos]

How does it check simis when simis just outspeed and kill easily? Frogadier is fine in B trust me

I messed up the speed count, but I still feel that it is better than B. But I guess B is fine.

 

[Gary]

B ---> A- or A: Frogadier checks a lot of FU Threats because of Protean. Simisage, Simisear, Quilladin, Murkrow, Pignite, and so many more are checked by the diversity of Frogadier's movepool. Even Toxic Spikes is a good option for Frogadier to surprize Grass-types or quickly set up some Hazards.

B+ ---> A- or A: On the surface, Whismicash seems rather average. Decent Attack, mediocre Speed, and okay defenses. What really sold me away is Whismicash's typing. Ground and Water is amazing. So many S and A rank Pokemon are weak to Ground-type moves, notably Lairon and Electabuzz with HP Ice. Whismicash is rather underrated, even with the fabulous boosting move Dragon Dance. The only things that really uses Grass-type moves, its weakness, are Simisage and Servine, but there are ways to handle them.

No offence, but if I were you I'd do a little more testing before making huge jump nominations such as these ones. Frogadier is B because outside of Toxic Spikes it doesn't really have much of a niche. Sure Protean seems like a cool ability and all, but it's not fast or strong enough to leave much of an impact on the tier. All of the Pokemon you mentioned above minus Quill and maybe Pignite, either outspeed it already or can OHKO with a priority move. With a Choice Scarf, it's very weak, and cant even OHKO Pokemon that are weak to its coverage moves. Offensive T-spikes is good, but any other set is terrible.

Whiscash is only B+ because of its Choice Specs set, which hits pretty hard and has near perfect coverage between Hydro Pump, Earth Power, and Ice Beam. Ground/Water is a very unique and good typing in FU, and because of that, even a Pokemon with a pretty subpar SpA stat can still deal lots of damage because of how many things are weak to its STABs. Dragon Dance is absolutely terrible atm, and there is no reason to use it. With Quill and Sage being so good, as well as Goat, Gourgeist, and even Servine, DD Cash just never finds the chance to sweep. If it were given some kind of physical coverage move to hit Grass-types with, than it would be great, but because of how good Grass-types are right now and how easy it is to wall DD Cash, I just don't see why I would ever want to use it as a physical attacker. Specs is cool, and Cash is a great check to a lot of upper tier threats, and is especially cool with Stunfisk being so common, but as it stands now, Cash is no more than B+.

A- ---> B: Marshstomp was good because it was like the only VERY reliable switch-in to Buzz back in the day, and it was also an amazing check to Flareon and Electrode. Now that Stunfisk is the best Buzz counter in the tier, the aftermentioned Pokemon are gone, AND it being a free switch into Simisage, I just don't see Marsh being effective as it used to be. It's definitely not A- material that's for sure.

 

[Gary]

I made a few shadow bumps the other day and didn't address them, but I will today:

B+ ---> A-

B ---> B+

A- ---> B+

B ---> B+

B ---> B+ (might be A-)

B+ ---> B

Pretty much self-explanatory. Klang is just a lord right now, and Beartic is pretty much what makes rain so threatening aside from Golduck itself. Dusclops is good, but its passiveness and reliance on Seismic Toss + residual damage is way too much to be in the upper ranks. Omniprecense of Scraggy and Klang also hurts it too. Fearow is no longer outclassed by Dodrio and Drill Run is such a good move on a Flying-type. Whirl is like one of the only reliable switch-ins to Simisage and it's actually a very solid Pokemon in general because of its access to Spikes, T-spikes, and bulk. Purugly is mostly outclassed by Persian with webs being banned but it's not unviable nor bad at all so B is perfect for it.

My personal thoughts on the rankings (not actual changes, just my opinion):

Murkrow in my opinion is S-/A+ at the moment. With the new addition of Stunfisk to the tier, most of Krow's best sets are now hard walled by what is now one of the most common defensive Pokemon in the tier. Life Orb Krow can't touch it, bulky Krow can merely Taunt it, and CM Krow can somewhat set up on it but Fisk can just fish for paralysis and it will take a LOT of boosts before Krow will be doing any damage to it. Add this to the fact that Buzz is still relevant, Lairon is very popular and Klang is rising in usage, and finally Rampardos is back and the most Krow can do to it is paralyze it, while dying to a Rock-type move in the process (unless you run LO Foul Play which is a really good set atm). Krow is still a very solid Pokemon in the current meta, but with the recent meta changes and influx in Steel-types Krow is just not nearly as useful of a glue Pokemon anymore. I think S- is good for it, because I personally think it's better all around than Quill (I never liked Quill THAT much in S-).

Metang should drop to at least A. Metang's biggest niche was its ability to check the ever living fuck out of Frax as well as Cuno, and with both of those gone Metang has lost its favor in exchange for other Steels such as Lairon and Klang. Metang is still an all around good Pokemon though, especially because it lacks a major Ground weakness and a neutrality to Fighting-type moves is always nice.

Whirlipede is A- no doubt in my mind at the moment. Much like Quilladin, Whirlipede is splashable enough that it fits very well on both offensive and bulkier teams depending on how you invest in it. However, unlike Quill, it's not a free switch into Simicyook, and as well all know if Simicyook gets a free switch into offense, something IS going to die. Whirl is bulky enough to take repeated Knock Offs even with little defensive investment, and after a single Speed boost it's able to actually threaten to smack Simi around with a Poison Jab or weaken it with Endeavor. The ability to lay T-Spikes AND Spikes is incredible for offensive AND balance teams, which is why Whirl fits so well on them and why I think it's more useful as a Spiker than Quill (in the current meta). Getting off that extra Spike or T-spike thanks to Speed Boost can be absolutely game changing, especially on offense.

Butterfree is pushing A rank for me. Outside of Eviolite Vital Spirit Buzz, what the fuck can reliably switch into Butterfree? Tinted Lens Bug Buzz 2HKOes practically everything, while most things that can survive a 2HKO, are just sleep fodder. I've already explained why free is an excellent Pokemon in the current metagame, but I really can't get over how it's able to so easily tear offensive and bulkier teams apart despite the fact that they oftentimes will run Buzz or SpD Stunfisk. It's just so fucking stupid lol. Stealth Rock is annoying I guess but, 75% of the time it runs Sash and it can do so much work Turn 1, even if the opponent is so obviously going to lead with it.

 

[Kushalos]

Nominating for Unranked>B/B+, Walrein has excellent all-around stats and cool stabs. Gets nice support moves like Encore, Roar and Super Fang. Typing is pretty good in combination with Thick Fat, giving it a Fire resist as an Ice type, although Stealth Rock weakness still sucks. Choice Specs hits very hard and even Choice Scarf is an option for catching things like Simisage off-guard. Not outclassed since Articuno and Lapras are gone and its bulkier than Vanilluxe+has water STAB.

Set I've been using:
Walrein @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 176 HP / 236 SpA / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Substitute
- Toxic

Sets up subs on bulky waters or weak attackers and proceeds to toxic something or hit hard with a STAB move. HP is for making 101 HP subs and speed is for outspeeding neutral nature max speed 45 and some uninvested mons from a that have slightly higher base speed. Rest in special attack to hit as hard as possible.

 

[Gary]

Okay I'll put Walrein in B for now. Also went ahead and bumped Whirl to A- as well after some discussion with council and I also bumped Wiggly to A- as well, as it is the only good Fairy at the moment that has coverage for like everything in the meta. It just checks a lot of good shit right now.

 

[Cheryl.]

This may be weird, but I'm nominating Pikachu for B/B-. You're probably saying "Why would I use this over Electabuzz?" Well, Pikachu hits a bit harder than Electabuzz with Light Ball since it has powerful move options in Volt Tackle and Thunderbolt. It has HP Ice or even Icicle Crash for ground types, and priority in ESpeed and Quick Attack. It even can set up with Nasty Plot on a predicted switch and it has pretty good speed for FU. Only problem keeping it low is competition from Electabuzz and it can't live ANYTHING AT ALL EVER IN ITS LIFE. But I think Pikachu is a powerful wallbreaker and a cool mon and deserves a spot on the list.

 

[Mistress Remilia]

This may be weird, but I'm nominating Pikachu for B/B-. You're probably saying "Why would I use this over Electabuzz?" Well, Pikachu hits a bit harder than Electabuzz with Light Ball since it has powerful move options in Volt Tackle and Thunderbolt. It has HP Ice or even Icicle Crash for ground types, and priority in ESpeed and Quick Attack. It even can set up with Nasty Plot on a predicted switch and it has pretty good speed for FU. Only problem keeping it low is competition from Electabuzz and it can't live ANYTHING AT ALL EVER IN ITS LIFE. But I think Pikachu is a powerful wallbreaker and a cool mon and deserves a spot on the list.

Eeeeeeh, maybe C at best, but i can't find any reason to go Pikachu over Electabuzz.
The main problem that i have with Pikachu is that more often than enough, he will be stuck in a lose/lose matchup:
- Offensive teams all pack at least one threat that is faster than Pikachu, 90 Speed is decent, but far from amazing. Most top offensive threats outspeeding or having priority doesn't help our poor mouse either.
- Balanced teams are probably the worst because they usually can either tank & then OHKO you, or simply outspeed.
- Its pretty strong yes, but not enough to wallbreak most defensive teams, Stunfisk dropping is horrible for it as well.

Overall, the sheer power of Pikachu just isn't worth because it still isn't strong enough, and the speed tier, while not bad, is not good either, leading into a much worse matchup vs offense, and as you mentionned, Pika just can't take one hit.
Now for a nomination of my own:

Yanma C -> B-: Yes, the limited & poor hazard removal doesn't play in the favor of Yanma. Yes, Yanma can't take a hit either or find a way to get in aside from mindgames. Yes, Yanma is a one trick pony, but he's a very decent one at that. Yanma's Speed Tier allows him to do just what you'd expect him to do: Clean offensive teams. +1 Yanma basically outspeed everything, and the loss of Articuno makes Yanma much more viable, as he doesn't get cockblocked by something that you could find in a lot of teams.
Yanma is not amazing, but he can eventually be very helpful in mid/late game vs offense or even balanced teams

 

[Gary]

Yeah I agree on what has been said about Pikachu by Mistress. Pikachu is by no means a terrible Pokemon in FU, but there are so many good wallbreakers in the tier AND Electric-types I just don't much of a reason to use Pikachu over them. If only Pikachu had like 102 Speed so it could outspeed the monkeys or equivalent to Buzz because than it could be a much more aggressive alternative to Buzz on HO, but because Pikachu lacks the Speed and enough raw power to OHKO everything like Rampardos, there's just little reason to use it outside of getting brownie points.

S ---> S-: This is pretty huge considering that Krow has always been seen as one of the best Pokemon in the tier right next to Buzz and Simicyook. But due to the recent meta shifts and the massive influx in Steel-types, Stunfisk, and surprisingly seeing Buzz make a decent comeback, Krow is just really struggling to find itself on most teams. Its best set at the moment is its LO set, which used to be one of its least effective sets, but because of how easy it is for Fisk and Klang/Lairon to take advantage of its bulkier sets, it is forced to be more aggressive. It's still very effective though, and I can't really see it being any lower than S-, at least for now.

S- ---> S: Simisear on the other hand, is ridiculously good right now. With Spike offense being really big, Simisear is practically impossible to switch into, and its NP sets are able to bust through bulky offense like there's no tomorrow. I just always find myself slapping random Scarfers on my team just to have another solid check to Simisear, seeing as how outside of Tortle there are VERY little defensive answers to Sear, and Salac variants can mow through offense. It's definitely on level with Electabuzz atm, no doubt.

 

[Gary]

Pidgeot is now FU but i am highly doubtful it would be that useful. The only cool thing about it is that it can use Brave Bird, but it lacks Drill Run like Fearow, it's weaker than Fearow, its abilities are useless while Fearow's Sniper ability can be super clutch, and its 1 extra BP in Speed doesn't do much for it other than force ties against the simis. There just seems like VERY little reason to ever use Pidgeot over Fearow unless you're using it alongside Fearow on some kind of birdspam.

It is also probably not much better than Unfeazent, whose niche is its sky high Attack stat which allows it to deal very heavy damage to pretty much everything found on offense with Return bar Steels or Rocks (although Night Slash does heavy damage to Metang). It also has a few cool move options such as Hypnosis and Taunt which can be game changing in some situations, and believe it or not, it can actually get away with running Fly as its primary form of Flying STAB. While technically speaking it is out damaged by Aerial Ace, its ability to OHKO a lot more things without having to worry about taking prior damage from two Aerial Aces is actually pretty significant, although I would only use Fly on its CB set. I wouldn't recommend it obviously, but it has it uses. While Unfezant is slower than Pidgeot, it still has a very usable Speed tier, and once again, Super Luck is a MUCH better ability than what Pidgeot has, seeing as how crits can be game changing whereas evasion bonuses and confusion moves are extremely rare in FU.

So yeah even though Unfezant lacks a good Flying STAB, I still don't see Pidgeot being any better. It's literally just a generic Flying-type that has a very sparse movepool with the bare minimum that a Flying-type can have, the only advantage being Brave Bird and slightly higher Speed which doesn't really come into play that often. Unfezant at least has some interesting support options to make up for its lack of Brave Bird but Pidgeot has literally nothing else. I will probably put it in C though because it's very outclassed but far better than the shit found in D, although if I ever were to separate the C ranks than it would definitely be lower than Unfezant.

 

[RawMelon]

Despite being somewhat passive I think that Munchlax should rise to maybe B/B+. It definitely sets itself apart from other B- mons such as Mothim, Magnemite, Octillery, Lumineon, etc. by being a pretty good wincon (Body Slam, Curse, rest, Sleep Talk) on tankier teams and most teams don't prep for this thing. Of course it requires some support to remove ghosts and Klang but once they're out of the picture it isn't difficult at all to set up on top threats like Buzz, Swanna, Special Simisear, Stunfisk, Butterfree, Seviper, etc.

 

[Gary]

Okay so I'm kind of going to be treating the ranking thread a bit differently than how most other tiers are doing it.

A Pokemon's placement in the rankings will be faced VERY heavily on actual viability, and not simply how good something is. For example, Pidgeot is not in anyway, a bad Pokemon, as a matter of fact it's quite decent for FU standards. But in a tier where Fearow AND Swanna exists, there is practically nothing Pidgeot has that will ever warrant it a slot over these two in any serious team building circumstance. The only reason to ever use Pidgeot in FU, it just to use it for fun or unless you want to use like some super bird spam team. Pidgeot is a LOT better than say Anorith or Marill in D-rank, but even those shit mons have actual niches that would give them SOME viability on teams given certain builds. Pidgeot on the other hand, despite being decent, has zero niche in FU, therefore it will be thrown into D-rank. The only reason why it wont go into E rank is because E rank is specifically for shit tier Pokemon, whereas D rank is for Pokemon that either have a VERY SMALL niche, or are just too outclassed to be have any sort of niche in the current meta. So yeah, Pidgeot will be dropped to D.

Purugly will be dropped to C+ from B. Purugly is not much worse than Persian, in fact, it's almost just as good, and would be better if its ability would come into play more often, but Persian is just all around a better Normal-type with stronger priority and higher Speed as well as NP lure sets. Purugly has Defiant and Sucker Punch, which are the only two things it has over Persian, but that's enough to keep it out of D rank.

I might clean up the rankings a bit more, but those will be the two most obvious changes. Most of the shit found B- and up are all properly placed by viability, and not simply how good the Pokemon is itself.

 

[Skankovich]

I think you're dramatically underrating defiant. Despite persian's physical set being a little better in terms of damage output and speed, purugly provides important pressure for hazard reliant teams since defog is one of the most common forms of removal. Considering that besides this the differences in their physical sets are largely minor such a disparity in ranking isn't representative of its actual viability- I'd choose physical purugly over physical persian any time the team really likes hazard support, which isn't a rare occurrence at all.