Resource LC Viability Rankings

[Anthiese]

where is Seel? It's pretty good at stopping any Fire-type thanks to a resistance, and Thick Fat.

Stopping Fire isnt all that potent. Literally Seel isnt good for much in this meta with better water types like Chou who has better typing and ability and Shellos who is much bulkier and able to keep it's item thanks to sticky hold.

Ive used Seel to trap water types with whirlpool and kill them with perish song. rest + rain dance + hydration gives me status immunity and all my health back while i wait it all out. Then i trap them in with wynaut so they cant run when i switch out. albeit i dont need too since they cant switch anyways but i always like to be sure that they cant run.

but yeah seel faces a lot of stiff competition from other water types. And it doesnt have any boons that make it more of an asset on anyone's team unless you like Perish Song + Trapping moves.

 

[Camden]

I'd like to nominate Slowpoke move down to Low B. Quite frankly, it has an awful typing that prevents it from properly doing its job. While I will give it credit in that it has Regenerator + Slack Off to help sustain itself with, most of the Pokemon it wants to check have tools to use against it. Most fighting-types have Knock Off, and so many Pokemon have Volt Switch or U-turn that it becomes nothing more than to help the opponent keep their momentum up.

 

[Rowan]

changes:
Slowpoke Mid B -> Low B
Ferro Low A -> Mid A
Stunky Mid C -> Low B
Vullaby High B -> Low A
Gothita Low B -> High B
Staryu High C -> Low B
Pumpkaboo D -> High C
Drifloon Mid C -> High C


please continue to discuss:

Drilbur A or A+

Now my controversial nomination: Chinchou to S

chinchou looking scary

I strongly believe that Chinchou is the best pivot in the metagame at the moment. It's unique typing and ability make it an amazing switch-in to so many Pokemon and it also threatens so many Pokemon, making it one of the hardest Pokemon to switch into. Volt Switch is an amazing momentum gainer, and the threat of Water STAB on ground-types makes Chinchou by far the best user of it. you can't really counter it, only check it because it just volt switches out of counters. Physical threats also hate risking Scald burns making them bad switch-ins for it. It can also go offensive and run Hydro Pump for extra power making it quite an offensive threat. Scarf set is actually really cool, since Volt-switch is great on a scarfer and Chinchou is free to revenge many of the threats that sit around the 17-24 speed tier like +2 Tirt, +1 Scraggy, Drilbur, Abra, Gastly etc... Finally Heal Bell is fantastic support in LC, because quite a lot of things hate status, and Chinchou is by far the best user of it, because it gets loads of free turns.

basically this guy is almost impossible to switch into, creates momentum for the team, gets many free turns, has the perfect typing/ability to be a bulky attacker and has a great offensive typing as well, offers invaluable support and checks some of the most prominent threats in the tier.

 

[Anthiese]

changes:
Slowpoke Mid B -> Low B
Ferro Low A -> Mid A
Stunky Mid C -> Low B
Vullaby High B -> Low A
Gothita Low B -> High B
Staryu High C -> Low B
Pumpkaboo D -> High C
Drifloon Mid C -> High C


please continue to discuss:

Drilbur A or A+

Now my controversial nomination: Chinchou to S

chinchou looking scary

I strongly believe that Chinchou is the best pivot in the metagame at the moment. It's unique typing and ability make it an amazing switch-in to so many Pokemon and it also threatens so many Pokemon, making it one of the hardest Pokemon to switch into. Volt Switch is an amazing momentum gainer, and the threat of Water STAB on ground-types makes Chinchou by far the best user of it. you can't really counter it, only check it because it just volt switches out of counters. Physical threats also hate risking Scald burns making them bad switch-ins for it. It can also go offensive and run Hydro Pump for extra power making it quite an offensive threat. Scarf set is actually really cool, since Volt-switch is great on a scarfer and Chinchou is free to revenge many of the threats that sit around the 17-24 speed tier like +2 Tirt, +1 Scraggy, Drilbur, Abra, Gastly etc... Finally Heal Bell is fantastic support in LC, because quite a lot of things hate status, and Chinchou is by far the best user of it, because it gets loads of free turns.

basically this guy is almost impossible to switch into, creates momentum for the team, gets many free turns, has the perfect typing/ability to be a bulky attacker and has a great offensive typing as well, offers invaluable support and checks some of the most prominent threats in the tier.

Creepy ass pic but imma agree and i literally have nothing to add on to Chinchou being a bitch and a half to beat in this meta. YAS FOR S~

THAT ASIDE

Drilbur is deserving of A+ Rank. It's slightly bulky with Evio, SR set up is literally free as hell on it. Not to mention Mold Breaker is the literal antithesis to forget you Sturdy and Levitate switch ins. Drilbur isnt scared of a whole lot when its hitting 17 Speed. If anything Drilbur better dig his way up to A+ at this point. Literally the only down side to it is that Grass types are a straight no, and certain Water types spell doom.

Also can I hype the fact that Gothita and Pumpkaboo rose up, it's like a dream come true~

 

[chimp]

changes:
Slowpoke Mid B -> Low B
Ferro Low A -> Mid A
Stunky Mid C -> Low B
Vullaby High B -> Low A
Gothita Low B -> High B
Staryu High C -> Low B
Pumpkaboo D -> High C
Drifloon Mid C -> High C


please continue to discuss:

Drilbur A or A+

Now my controversial nomination: Chinchou to S

chinchou looking scary

I strongly believe that Chinchou is the best pivot in the metagame at the moment. It's unique typing and ability make it an amazing switch-in to so many Pokemon and it also threatens so many Pokemon, making it one of the hardest Pokemon to switch into. Volt Switch is an amazing momentum gainer, and the threat of Water STAB on ground-types makes Chinchou by far the best user of it. you can't really counter it, only check it because it just volt switches out of counters. Physical threats also hate risking Scald burns making them bad switch-ins for it. It can also go offensive and run Hydro Pump for extra power making it quite an offensive threat. Scarf set is actually really cool, since Volt-switch is great on a scarfer and Chinchou is free to revenge many of the threats that sit around the 17-24 speed tier like +2 Tirt, +1 Scraggy, Drilbur, Abra, Gastly etc... Finally Heal Bell is fantastic support in LC, because quite a lot of things hate status, and Chinchou is by far the best user of it, because it gets loads of free turns.

basically this guy is almost impossible to switch into, creates momentum for the team, gets many free turns, has the perfect typing/ability to be a bulky attacker and has a great offensive typing as well, offers invaluable support and checks some of the most prominent threats in the tier.

I fully agree with Chinchou to S and I tried to get it a while back only for it to get shot down. I've tried many times to make a team without Chinchou and I just could not leave it out. Steel, Electric, Flying, Water, and Fire types can't stand Chinchou, and a huge amount of Pokemon and strategies revolve around removing Chinchou for them to work. Scald, Thunder Wave, Heal Bell, and Volt Switch are great support moves and scarf Chinchou has great coverage ranging from Volt Switch/Thunderbolt, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and Dazzling Gleam. You know a Pokemon is great if its best counter is itself.

 

[Rowan]

more nominations:

Spritzee low A -> Mid A apparently this was nominated a while ago and i must've missed it, but yeah, it's really good, fantastic support mon and it's so bulky even with eviolite knocked off

Carvanha High A -> Mid/Low A dunno why this is so high, it's like a one trick pony, and it faces loads of competition from other water-type late game sweepers. can't switch into anything, and it often just struggles to do its job with the amount of bulky things in the meta

Munchlax Mid B -> High B really cool now missy is gone, beats abra, gastly, sun sweepers, omanyte has a really high attack which makes for a really cool tank pokemon

 

[RZL]

Vanha should be Low A because it does that one trick very well but priority is everywhere but, it still can clean a team.
Chinchou is so good right now it definitely should be S more than Fletch should be. It has great bulk and drivers one of the best archtypes in the current meta game. Chinchou is just very reliable and it almost always puts in work and never weakens a team.

 

[zeriloa]

Want to nominate Dwebble low A --> High/Mid B. i've always found dwebble really underwhelming, most teams have hazard removal (and missy isn't even here to spinblock), or at least something to limit it to 1 layer of hazards. Smash Dwebble isn't terrible, but definitely isn't a set worthy of A-.

agree with Drilbur in A+, SD Dril is a huge threat to so many teams, and its still the best hazard remover in the tier. Don't really think Chinchou is worthy of S, but w/e.

 

[Yagura]

I'll talk about some of Rowan's nominations but first I'd like to nominate a really underrated Pokémon that packs up some huge power:

Larvitar unranked -> Low C: Having access to Dragon Dance as well as having Guts makes Larvitar a deadly sweeper once it sets up. Having an awesome coverage with STAB Earthquake and Rock Slide (or Stone Edge) as well as cool coverage moves like Crunch to deal with Phantump, Pumpkaboo and the rare Bronzor and also Superpower. Guts makes Larvitar a great status absorber (it can run Toxic Orb or Flame Orb too), the only problem about it is that it can be easily revenge killed by Choice Scarfers or priority Mach Punch from Timburr or Vacuum Wave from Croagunk. I tried out Larvitar and it can be really deadly once its counters and potential revenge killers are down (Thanks to Goddess Briyella for the inspiration)

Spritzee: Spritzee is a really nice Pokémon, it can fit quite easily in any kind of play style to give great support to its teammates being one of the best clerics available. Spritzee supports its team really well with the ability to pass Wish healing (which works as a recovery to Spritzee itself too) and Aromatherapy to heal its team as well as itself. Spritzee also has a marvelous 78/60/65 bulk that allows it to tank a lot of its and accompanied by its Fairy-typing it can easily wall the threatening Fighting-types. Spritzee can also run a Calm Mind set and has a wide offensive moveset with access to Moonblast, Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Flash Cannon.. So I believe it's worthy of being Mid A.

Carvanha: Being one of the best late game cleaners Carvanha works really well late game when its counters are down, with Speed Boost and a 90 Attack stat it's able to 2HKO most of the metagame as long as it doesn't resist it. However, Carvanha has many counters that can safely switch on it like Croagunk, Carvanha and it can be easily revenge killed with priority because of its really low defenses. So I believe Carvanha should drop to Mid A.

 

[Goddess Briyella]

Carvanha: Being one of the best late game cleaners Carvanha works really well late game when its counters are down, with Speed Boost and a 90 Attack stat it's able to 2HKO most of the metagame as long as it doesn't resist it. However, Carvanha has many counters that can safely switch on it like Croagunk, Carvanha and it can be easily revenge killed with priority because of its really low defenses. So I believe Carvanha should drop to Mid A.

To be honest, I can't even remember the last time I've even seen Carvanha used.

 

[chimp]

Want to chip in regarding Carvanha: I've been using it awhile it is defiantly underwhelming for A+, maybe even for A. There are just so many things capable of walling/revenging it that sometimes it requires so much support that its not even worth it. Cottonee, Spritzee, Croagunk, CHINCHOU, Ferroseed, Snubbull, Foongus, Vullaby, Timburr, Magnemite, Fletchling etc etc. There are probably better cleaners/sweepers out there and needing all that speed without being able to boost its Attack seems dubious.

 

[Superpowerdude]

I agree with moving Chinchou up and I was thinking about nomming that a little earlier. It's resistances make it very easy to fit on teams, it walls Fletchling, makes Magnemite useless until Chou is dead, and it does the same to Staryu. So it is very easy to switch in. It is impossible to stop it from grabbing momentum unless your using stuff like Trace Porygon or opposing Chinchou (another reason why Chinchou is good lol) threatens ground-types with its water stab, it's got supporting options in Heal Bell and Thunderwave, it's got nice coverage moves with Dazzling Gleam, Ice Beam and Hidden Power Ground being good options. It can run an offensive pivot set, a defensive Restalk set, and a Choice Scarf set that are all very viable.

This thing and Mienfoo are the reasons I'm running Foongus on every team, but being able to volt switch on Pokemon that walls it makes Chinchou the most annoying Pokemon in the tier to deal with.

 

[boo836]

I think that with the death of Fletchdig (people finally learned that Chou will Scald instead of Volt Switch rofl), Chinchou has gotten better. However, I do have my doubts on it being S-worthy. While it's certainly capable of grabbing momentum (like any other Turn user imo), that's really as far as it goes. It doesn't have nearly as much survivabillity as Mienfoo, and doesn't always have little to no cost to its use, like Fletch or Pawniard, as you're typically stuck with a pivot with no recovery and whose only other USED support option has a 30% chance of working. Chinchou might be the best pivot in this metagame, but does it have those perks shared by S-ranked Pokemon?

 

[gali]

I think that a good indicator of something being S-rank is that you can put it onto pretty much any team and the team is always better off for it. While not quite to the extent of Mienfoo, Chinchou certainly falls under this category. Scald+Volt Switch is an amazing combination both offensively and defensively, and combine that with its well-rounded stats and you can pretty much fit it on any team archetype imaginable. Seriously, just by putting this thing on your team, you already have the best bird check, the best Pony counter (side note: Pony should be A/A+ imo, a lot of teams rely almost exclusively on Chou to switch into it and once that's out of the picture it wrecks shit), and arguably the best pivot. Definitely S

 

[chimp]

I think that with the death of Fletchdig (people finally learned that Chou will Scald instead of Volt Switch rofl), Chinchou has gotten better. However, I do have my doubts on it being S-worthy. While it's certainly capable of grabbing momentum (like any other Turn user imo), that's really as far as it goes. It doesn't have nearly as much survivabillity as Mienfoo, and doesn't always have little to no cost to its use, like Fletch or Pawniard, as you're typically stuck with a pivot with no recovery and whose only other USED support option has a 30% chance of working. Chinchou might be the best pivot in this metagame, but does it have those perks shared by S-ranked Pokemon?

I'd argue that Chinchou has almost no "usage cost" at all. The ratio of Pokemon Countered/Checked By Chinchou to Pokemon Who Counter Chinchou is like 5,000 to 3.
Also, RestTalk is really hard to kill most of the time. In most battles I've played with a Chinchou on my team, its usually been one of my last mons standing.

 

[boo836]

imo there's little that Chou can offer at times relative to other S-Ranks. But yeah, it's fair to consider what it checks just by being damn bulky.

Though Resttalk just lives through stuff. It's still not fully reliable when it's gotta eat Knock Offs and stuff. It just seems that A+ is a better fit.

 

[Anthiese]

more nominations:

Spritzee low A -> Mid A apparently this was nominated a while ago and i must've missed it, but yeah, it's really good, fantastic support mon and it's so bulky even with eviolite knocked off

Carvanha High A -> Mid/Low A dunno why this is so high, it's like a one trick pony, and it faces loads of competition from other water-type late game sweepers. can't switch into anything, and it often just struggles to do its job with the amount of bulky things in the meta

Munchlax Mid B -> High B really cool now missy is gone, beats abra, gastly, sun sweepers, omanyte has a really high attack which makes for a really cool tank pokemon

Nothing really to say about Spritzee that hasn't already been said. It's better at walling physical things and that doesnt extend very far. It's fave type to deal with has the best neutering move in the game, and other physical mons hit too hard for it to effectively wall them. It's still the best damn cleric and it's not hampered by taunt / encore which is godlike for a cleric. but move down time :(

Vanha literally cannot get in scot free anymore, Cottonee is a nope for him still (HP Poison is a slot waster if you want DBond or Prio) as well as bulky fighters (AND SPRITZEE BC MOONBLAST OHKOS) Move on down.

Munchlax i havent seen much of yet but im aware of it and it's ability to be a thick special wall with nigh unbreakable recovery (sans knock off). Im a bit worried with Foo lurking around though.

Also all the weirdness on Chou moving up i have one question for you. How hard is it to switch in on chou and how hard is it to pin it down for the KO for you? Literally Chou gets so much free damage; it's akin to Foo in that regard that it racks up free damage.

 

[Aerow]

First of all, I don't really agree with Chinchou to S-rank. It's a great Pokemon indeed, but it's not that good, and I rarely have any problem at all dealing with it, idk.

I do agree with Spritzee to mid A though, it's a great Pokemon in this meta (especially together with Ferroseed n_n), great cleric, physical wall, and can even perform a late-game sweep with Calm Mind.

Carvanha should also be low A yeah, I tried it out recently since I haven't seen it in ages, and it was definitely underwhelming. Carvanha just struggles doing much work in the current metagame, mostly because it is fairly easy to wall.

I also fully agree with Dwebble to high or mid B, it's just not really good right, due to what zeriloa said above here. Munchlax looks p cool, but I need to test it out more before commenting.

 

[Coconut]

As much as I've been using Resttalk Chou more recently, I don't look at Chinchou and say that it can run though me. I believe it belongs in A+. Probably not S.

I feel close to the same way about Carv. With Missy gone, I don't see it as a massive threat and I could even argue that it should be High B. It has a very Cookie Cut set and does not diverse outside of that. It's also very underused more recently, taking the 75th spot in the month of August. I would say it is not as much of a threat anymore, and would agree with Low A, but would prefer High B.
75 | Carvanha | 2.54274% | 4212

 

[Fiend]

The one thing that holds Chinchou back from being an S rank mon is that it's just too offensively weak. Sure it has an amazing typing that grant it brilliant STABs and rather nice resistances, but unless the pokemon doesn't have an Eviolite, neither STAB with do decent damage with a neutral hit. The lack of recovery is also an issue, but can be sorta negated through means of RestTalk and Berry Juice. Nevertheless, Chinchou does check and counter quite a bit of pokemon, yet I find it still something that only troubles me when I don't have what is considered a check to it (ie no Diglett, no Drillbur, no Foongus, ect). But 90% of the time, that's my own fault for not including one the team in the first place as I often don't care enough to teambuild properally. However, Chinchou does grab momentum really, really easily, but that's frankly not enough (in my opinion at least) by itself to make it S rank. Chinchou just manages to fall short of breaking the barrier between A+ to S.

 

[spuds4ever]

I think chou is really good in this current metagame and is a dominant force behind why you can't just have croagunk on your team as your only water resist and call it a day, making it have a substantial impact on team building already but then, pokemon in A+ rank like tirtouga is also something that has a strong impact on teambuilding (e.g. foongus can't be your only water resist either generally). In this respect, I can still see it in A+.

In comparison to mienfoo, fletchling and pawniard, I think it is evident where it falls short. Mienfoo is probably the most similar in role in S rank so makes for the easiest comparison. Chinchou's great typing is better than mienfoo's generally and chinchou has an advantage to of having the more threatening scout move in volt switch. Scald also gets a shout for having a very threatening burn chance while getting STAB. Those are its only advantages on a very fundamental basis, however. Mienfoo is better because it gets knock off, has much more powerful STAB options such as HJK and more importantly, can be played much more recklessly in a game thanks to the combination of eviolite and regenerator, allowing to survive a 2hko from masses of neutral hits which chinchou can't really afford to do with it's lack of eviolite and one off health restoration in BJ. Another noticeable lack that chinchou has is that it is forced out by knock off. Scarf chou doesn't mind it too much but BJ and restalk are both really crippled by the move. Chinchou also has to sacrifice speed if it wants to retain bulk which makes a big difference, meaning that unlike mienfoo, you'll be forced out by things like archen if you don't know if it's running quake or not or can't stay in and v switch out of pawn if you came in on an iron head for example. Essentially, mienfoo can be used as an at least emergency check to most of the metagame while still supporting the team with knock off and possibly taunt (both easily on the same set) and providing while chinchou can only offer a limited amount of switch ins and while still providing momentum, can only offer direct support in the form of healbell and fishing for scald burns, both of which it noticeably will have more trouble providing if it wants to have some offensive presence and run a decently powerful STAB move like hydro pump. I could run a comparison with the other two in S rank but I want breakfast and I think my argument is quite well backed up. Chinch for A+

 

[The Quasar]

...
Carvanha should also be low A yeah, I tried it out recently since I haven't seen it in ages, and it was definitely underwhelming. Carvanha just struggles doing much work in the current metagame, mostly because it is fairly easy to wall.
...

I agree with you. Its poor movepool and its strong weak (e.g. vs Much Punch and others common priority moves, use of Porygon and Spritzee and so on) validates A-. But do not further down. It's always a good late-sweeper and quite powerful as this equation proves: (its Speed + Destiny Bond + its Weak) = (Removing it and its foe).

 

[Shrug]

I think Shellos should move up from C+ Rank to Mid-B Rank. On the basis of comparison, it is certainly better than its C+ counterparts (Aipom, Biancle, Honedge) as well as B- (Elekid, Koffing, etc.). However, the most apt comparison is to Slowpoke, a current Low B mon who Shellos fulfills a similar role to. In this metagame, Shellos is better. It beats all of S-tier 1 v. 1 (assuming Clear Smog against SD Fletch) without being crippled by a Knock Off thanks to Sticky Hold. It can dent Chinchou switch-ins with Toxic, clear the stats of Shell Smash Tirtogua, and generally stop opposing physical attackers, especially considering that it always retains its item. In contrast, Slowpoke is punked by Knock Off, either from Pawniard or Mienfoo, as well as U-Turn. It also offers a safe switch-in for something like Pawniard to come in and fire off a free Knock Off. Overall, Shellos is better than Sloiwpoke right now and therefore deserves to be in Mid-B Tier

 

[Max Carvalho]

It seems to me that Carvanha shouldn't belong to A- not only because it's a really good late-game sweeper, but also provides invaluable support with Destiny Bond. Speed Boost is a blessing with Destiny Bond as after one boost basically everything is outsped and due to Carvanha pathetical bulk any decent hit will KO it. It's also worth to note that Carvanha resists to two of the most common priority in the meta (Water- and Dark-type.). And Carvanha still is quite powerful, so if the opposing tries to switch out or use weak priority, Carvanha will have a free hit and do huge damage. Tl;Dr Carvanha isn't only a late-game sweeper it also fills a useful support role which allows something else to sweep; for instance, Carvanha KOes Chinchou so Fletchling may now sweep. A+ seems too much due to being walled by a lot of things and Fighting-priority, but A- can't be accepted imo due to the reasons above. Mid A to Carvanha.

 

[antemortem]

Carvanha KOes Chinchou so Fletchling may now sweep.

countering your theorymon (as that's what it looks like to me) with my own. How does it KO Chinchou, especially if Chinchou has Eviolite? Carvanha also obviously won't be holding Eviolite, but rather Life Orb in this instance, which proves fatal given it's abysmal defenses, so priority still walks over it. A Fake Out along with a Black Glasses boosted Sucker Punch from, say, Pawniard and I doubt Carvanha is staying in very long at all. Even if Pawniard (for sake of this example) isn't holding a boosting item, if it's got Eviolite Waterfall won't be OHKO'ing it. other stuff like Timburr wreck it without blinking too. also I don't think it can even kill Eviolite Mienfoo?? Destiny Bond is still a thing but it's possible to resort to priority to work around DB so I don't think that's grounds to move up

or maybe i'm completely viewing it wrong but I highly doubt it as Carvanha has never ever been a constringent threat