Lower Tiers GSC NU Viability Rankings

[BigFatMantis]

• I think Weezing is the clear best pokemon of the tier atm, it guarantees progress every game, has something to threaten every single mon, and even has Rest sets. I put it alone at S
• Primeape also seems to always make progress even if it just paralyzes grasses with Thunder. I don't think Pineco is mandatory and in fact I think there's plenty of great non-Pineco structures already out there and more to be explored.
• Xatu I think is still near the top of the tier
• Fearow is a real mon people gotta stop hating, the RestTalk version is maybe nothing special but it has other great sets too to be tried, it's more versatile than you think and in a tier where Fighters are being used more it has great potential.
• Kingler is better than Dewgong that's right I said it. Oct is still the best Water though by far.
• Farfetch'd is a phenomenal passer that can pass both Speed and SD AND if you're crazy you can even tech it for Pineco so it doesn't boom on you with Protect or HP Fly.
• Tangela is rising rn I expect it to be explored more.
• Arbok, Raticate, Dunsparce are not NU at all, like not even close. Come on bruh.

I put the cutoff for PU between B- and C (let PU keep Delibird ig)

 

[Indulge in dreams]

My experience with GSC NU is quite limited. Many of the Pokémon mentioned on the tier list are ones I've never actually used—in fact, after seeing some of them, I realized, "Oh, so that's an NU Pokémon." I don't have any hands-on experience using Pokémon outside of NU and NUBL. As for the tiering from S to C, including the ordering within each rank, I've arranged them based on my understanding.

 

[JensenDale]

 

[MrSoup]

Zpice LustfulLice Lyra hammer798 Oathkeeper feen one day left to submit

 

[Oathkeeper]

if i'm allowed to abstain, i do that. I wouldn't want to just put mons somewhere just to put them somewhere.

 

[MrSoup]

Yes absolutely abstain if you’d prefer

 

[feen]

Abstaining

 

[MrSoup]

GSC NU VR January 2026 Update

Thank you to everyone who submitted for this year's VR MrSoup, DAWNBUSTER, Shengineer, Real FV13, Indulge in dreams, BeeOrSomething, Zpice, BigFatMantis, Estarossa, JensenDale, leoperi, zben, Lyra, Deezcastforms
Thank you to bee for putting in the effort in previous years so this post was much easier to make! And huge thank you to Wanted in 49 States for helping so much!

Collection of Data
- Players who got at least 1 win and played 3 games in GSCPL VI, NUCL 3, or NUFL 1 and/or Semifinals or higher in GSC NU Cup or GSC NU Invitational and/or 1 GSC NU win in GSC Slam Playoffs and/or at least 1 win and played 2 games in GSC Slam League were invited to submit their rankings.
- Submitters could rank any Pokemon on their list with no limit to how many Pokemon they could nominate for the VR.
- None of the Pokemon were mandatory to rank.
- It was possible for players to make edits to their rankings after submitting their list until January 11th, 2026

Flaws
- Smallish sample size that can lead to inconsistent subtiering and significant skewing
- Most players opted to submit a tier list and may have left out Pokemon potentially relevant for ranking or ranked Pokemon they may not have deemed relevant enough
- This VR has two sets of ties. Dewgong and Octillery & Wigglytuff and Graveler have the same average ranking with outlier compensation.

S Rank
01 Weezing
02 Pineco

A1 Rank
03 Primeape
04 Stantler
05 Dewgong (tie)
05 Octillery (tie)
07 Xatu
08 Porygon

A2 Rank
09 Ninetales
10 Rapidash
11 Wigglytuff (tie)
11 Graveler (tie)
13 Kingler

A3 Rank
14 Sudowoodo:
15 Gloom
16 Pupitar
17 Persian

B Rank
18 Hitmontop
19 Rhyhorn
20 Shuckle
21 Chinchou
22 Exeggcute
23 Hitmonlee
24 Flareon
25 Magnemite
26 Dugtrio
27 Pidgeot
28 Fearow

C Rank
29 Delibird
30 Dragonair
31 Gastly
32 Tangela
33 Magmar

D1 Rank
34 Ariados
35 Tentacool
36 Cubone
37 Ledian

D2 Rank
38 Farfetch'd
39 Bayleef
40 Omanyte
41 Lickitung
42 Azumarill
43 Corsola

E1 Rank
44 Venomoth
45 Dunsparce
46 Seaking
47 Hitmonchan
48 Houndour

E2 Rank
49 Arbok
50 Furret
51 Raticate
52 Poliwhirl
53 Machoke
54 Sneasel
55 Voltorb
56 Mantine
57 Staryu

E3 Rank
58 Aipom
59 Wartortle
60 Seadra
61 Sunflora
62 Noctowl

Full Pokemon Dendrogram

Dissimilarity Matrix

Outlier-Compensated Z-Score Rank Improvement (Unsorted and Sorted)

Outlier-Compensated Ranking with Deviation

Voter Dissimilarity Matrix

Voter Dissimilarity Dendrograms

 

[LHF]

GSC NU VR January 2026 Update

It wasn't very long ago that I remember speaking with some prominent GSC NU names who felt sour and discouraged by the state of the playerbase, and now going into 2026 there's so much to look forward to in this tier. A shoutout must be made to JensenDale for hosting the first Jensentational, which did a lot to get fresh faces and new eyes onto this tier, as well as the collective NU community for being welcoming of a GSC metagame and working their magic on helping to breathe new life into yet another oldgen NU(we first saw this with SWSH NU).

One observation that immediately stands out is that I believe this is the first time Dewgong outpaces Octillery on the VR. And prior to Shengineer's efforts speed pass as a team style in GSC NU was not taken very seriously at all beyond funny memes in friendlies; now it's something you actually need to consider as a respectable option when you load into a game. While we could talk about a number of changes and be here all day, one I'm most excited about is how Kingler has been tearing things up recently. With SD + Sub/Protect or even 3 attack, Kingler has found itself as an excellent means of crushing fatter compositions and/or simply trading with that one annoying piece preventing the rest of your team from going in.

For both those who love this tier and those who are just viewing this VR for the first time and thinking "what the fuck is GSC NU," one other small bit I can yap about is that I do not expect the Weezing Pineco debate to ever truly settle down for who is the best in the tier. We will see these two fight for #1 until the end of time. Weezing offers a key offensive and defensive presence in this tier that simply cannot be replicated. With its vast array of coverage(as if poison/fire/water/elec wasn't enough, now we're seeing PSYBEAM of all things for role compressing the mirror, gloom, and fightings all in one), the ability to boom, the ability to thief, and even the ability to be a one man army with curse restalk, this pokemon is simply THE standard of GSC NU.

And then we have Pineco. Although spikes teams sometimes fall in and out of favor, we must remember that without Pineco, spikes does not exist as a consistent playstyle as Delibird cannot hold the role of spike and spin at the same time. Even if we just talked about its spike and spin role compression, that enough would be alone to consider this pokemon in the all time great category. But then you have to add in its ability to explode on a variety of pokemon, spread toxic, even act as a lure into one of the significant spinners of the tier(Graveler) with Giga Drain, act as a Primeape switchin, and so on. Using Pineco skillfully is an art, unlike what some people who love their GSC NU gifs think, and it genuinely rewards you for using it correctly by giving you almost everything you could want in a pokemon. If you keep it around, you have the means of spinning and freeing your team from a consistent 12% chip every time you switch. Your boom is a life or death situation where you could easily blow open your opponent's team or give up major momentum, but hey, that's why it takes skill to use.

I'll cease yapping for now but I would love to see anyone else's observations or thoughts on the tier as it is.

 

[MrSoup]

Observations based off the January 2026 VR

A1 Rank
The top tiers of NU have a lot of fluctuation this year. The most interesting bit is that Dewgong has risen two spots to effectively tie Octillery, making it the first time Octillery is not above Dewgong on a VR. Meta trends have suggested players find Dewgong easier to build with compared to Octillery given its stronger matchup into Xatu and Dugtrio. Dewgong also generally pairs better with Weezing than Octillery, and Weezing has maintained its #1 spot. Xatu has also fallen 3 places, which is quite significant considering its high placement. Xatu is still incredibly strong, but may struggle into more Fire types and more Dewgong. Stantler is the main beneficiary, regaining its status in the top 4 after a weak performance last VR. Finally, Porygon has moved itself from A2 rank to A1 rank despite maintaining it's 8th place ranking. It will be interesting to see if it can crack GSC NU's 'big 7' in future VRs.

Ninetales
From 13th to 9th (+4)
Ninetales is back to its highest spot from the March 2023 VR at 9th. The meta currently favors Ninetales, who is able to punish certain Dewgong structures without a Fire resist. Ninetales also enables almost all balance builds, allowing teams to more easily run Pokemon like Graveler, Gloom, and Porygon, who may struggle into breakers like Weezing, Xatu, and Magnemite. Its most popular set, Reflect, also allows teammates set up opportunities, which can force progress given Ninetales is not commonly paired with Spikes.

Kingler
From 17th to 13th (+4)
Equipped with a fancy new RestTalk set, the community has revived interest in Kingler as a balance breaker. While Swords Dance sets are still popular, Kingler being able to function as a team's Rest water type pushes it over the edge, with better matchups against things like Gloom and Stantler than Octillery has. Kingler also enjoys free real estate offered by Dewgong, who has to fish for freezes in order to decommission the crab.

Sudowoodo
From 19th to 14th (+5)
Sudowoodo has established its value as a way to force progress on nearly any team. Being able to live a water type attack and boom in response, Sudowoodo is a Pokemon often used as targeted removal to enable a threat in the back. It does this while also doubling as a normal resist, being able to force trade on Pokemon like Wigglytuff and Porygon.

Persian
From 12th to 17th (-5)
Persian is currently struggling to maintain is high tier status. It effectively is unchanged from the last VR, still able to be a lead disruptor and have the occasional Rest set. Player preferences seem to have just shifted to less offensive styles. Its fall may also be a symptom of other Pokemon simply getting better. This is a Pokemon to look out for on the next VR to see if it's able to regain any ground.

Hitmontop
From 25th to 18th (+7)
Hitmontop for the second VR in a row has risen 7 spots. This is frankly insane to accomplish in two consecutive rankings, but may be warranted due to its flexibility. Hitmontop is a staple on stall teams for a consistent Rapid Spin user, but keeps evolving to get mileage out of its Curse set. Partners can help to eliminate Hitmontop's checks like Gloom and Xatu over the course of a game and open up the opponent to a Curse sweep, making Hitmontop an extreme threat in the builder.

Rhyhorn
From 30th to 19th (+11)
Rhyhorn has skyrocketed itself to be a main fixture of NU thanks to being one of the only reliable phazers in the entire tier. It faces a lot of competition from Pupitar and Sudowoodo, but carves out a small enough niche due to its access to the move Roar. Rhyhorn is the best punish to Wigglytuff and Porygon in the tier and can make those matchups dire for opponents. We will see how it stabilizes over time, but right now the future for the rock rhino looks bright.

Exeggcute
From 31st to 22nd (+9)
Exeggcute has risen significantly from being recently considered PU-caliber to now being amongst NU staples. Mainly due to the prominence of new players entering the NU scene, Exeggcute's revived viability comes from its very unique set of resistances, matching up well against Octillery, Rhyhorn, Pupitar, Graveler, Primeape, and Dugtrio. Exeggcute pairs nicely with non-Dewgong water types in order to cover their weakness to Xatu and Dugtrio, as well as fire types, who can stomach threats like Magnemite and Weezing.

Dugtrio
From 15th to 26th (-11)
Dugtrio has fallen drastically this VR, despite still being relatively good in NU. Similarly to Magmar below, Dugtrio struggles due to being an AoA in a more balanced meta, meaning teams have to sacrifice a bit to run it. It also suffers from more Kingler, Dewgong, Tangela, and Exeggcute being used. That said, it's still quite offensively potent and is a fantastic punish into many opponents who may sleep on it.

Fearow
From 14th to 28th (-14)
Fearow has fallen from grace, when just two VRs ago it was considered #8 in the tier. Fearow struggles to maintain its previous role as a RestTalker with dual STABs due to the presence of rock types in the tier, who give it much strife. These days, players are opting to run HP Water, Thief, Substitute and more on AoA sets, which has likely saved its VR rating from further disaster.

Tangela
From 44th to 32nd (+12)
Tangela is a large beneficiary of rock types and Kingler becoming more used in NU. It's able to stop these threats cold. Although it is passive, it's able to fit itself nicely on stall teams, replacing Bayleef in many instances in order to wall Kingler more effectively. It has also managed itself onto a few balance teams with tools like Thief and status, but those are much more fewer and far between.

Magmar
From 26th to 33rd (-7)
Magmar continues to drop on the VR, not because it's particularly bad, but because it struggles to carve out a niche compared to other fire types. It has access to Thunder Punch and Cross Chop, allowing for deadly AoA sets, however it struggles to punch through opposing fire types and lacks access to any good recovery. Magmar is likely better than its ranking suggests, players just have little incentive to use it currently over less risky options.

Ariados
From 42nd to 34th (+8)
Ariados continues to rise (it also rose 8 ranks last VR) and become more threatening in NU. It doesn't get used very much, but the ranking is likely symptomatic of it filling two important niches. On stall, it can check Primeape and TrapPass to make progress. It also can pass speed boosts to Pokemon like Cubone on Baton Pass teams. As such, this rise feels more like a theoretical placement rather than one that's played out in practice. Time will tell if its usage rises to match its placement.

Bayleef
From 29th to 39th (-10)
Bayleef has fallen out favor on stall due to Tangela's ability to match Kingler easier. Bayleef does have more favorable matchups against Octillery, however, which lets it maintain its niche on teams without something like a Chinchou to cover.