Project Personal BDSP OU Viability Rankings

[adem]

approved by my bestie Eve

Hey in order to fill in some downtime before the initial VR comes out and for you guys to share your own takes on how the meta feels / looks like right now, I started this thread ! It's simple: post your own VR here. Explanations are not necessary but of course welcome and appreciated, as they help others see the reasoning behind potentially interesting rankings ! If you are unsure of how to format your post, you can check here for examples. Have fun posting !


Reminder: this thread is just for posting your personal VR takes, any form of discussion should be done in the Metagame Discussion thread.

 

[AM]

S


A+


A


A-


B+


B


B-


C+


Not placed by order just sub-rank. Anything not here is one of three things. 1) Something ranked below C+ which shouldnt exist in ranking lists (2) A meme used by memers (3) Something I haven't used that would eventually be part of point 1 or 2. Most of the C+ suck but have some sort of use on specific teams.​

 

[QY_CS]

S+:
Clefable (Specially Defensive Unaware set is what truely shines in this meta as it counters both Latios and Manaphy. Other sets does their job well too. Extremely threatening with the setup sets either by Calm Mind or Cosmic Power, be aware that Spdef Scizor fails to beat it)

S:
Latios (Very self explanatory, Specs / LO can absolutely dismantle unprepared teams)
Scizor (Mostly seen with investment into special defense, bulky enough to check a lot of threats and gain momentum through U-turn, and Bulky SD set sweeps very well in mid-late game)


A+:
Breloom (A lot of teams struggle against Spore, and LO mach punch is not easy at all to take)
Garchomp (Even more threatening to play against defensively than Latios, Band, SD LO and Scarf all have their unique functionality)
Magnezone (Essential part of the DragMag strategy, very strong due to Latios and Garchomp)
Starmie (Very quick Rapid Spinner, do not underestimate its attack power! Natural Cure and Analytic are distinct ways to play it but they are both useful)
Weavile (Basically the fastest unboosted pokemon in the meta apart from Aerodactyl, SD and Band can both punch holes, however weakness to Mach Punch and Bullet Punch limits it by quite a bit)

A:
Alakazam (Hits like a truck at +2 and Sash gives it big advantage in trading)
Blissey (The bulb, Calm Mind sets recently performing better than expectations)
Gliscor (Rocks setter / Defogger that is not afraid of chipping, can also grab momentum with U-turn)
Manaphy (Destroys balance with Tail Glow boost, but suffers against Stall and is not very impressive against offense. Chesto Rest set can be used to trade better with offense)
Rotom-Wash (Great Pivot that can check Scizor, and also has Trick to dismantle stall)

A-:
Gengar (Sweeps after Nasty Plot and cannot be stopped by Blissey, but does suffer against faster pokemons and priorities. Also hits quite weak without the boost)
Heatran (Still strong but gets limited by the common pokemons like Gliscor and Garchomp, quite a few people takes Flame Body to attempt to burn Scizor. Very effective counter to Clefable when equipped with Taunt)
Infernape (Another good stealth rocks lead, but also has a lot of uses other than leading such as breaking / revenge killing, has no real switchin before set is revealed but suffers a lot from 4MSS)
Latias (Not as commonly used due to Latios being better a lot of the times, but better bulk / Healing Wish has its values)
Mamoswine (Great coverage with Ice / Ground STABs and can also set up rocks, be careful of its freeze-dry!)
Rotom-Mow (Scarfer with Trick and kills Manaphy, very pressuring with the ability to Nasty Plot after using trick)

B+:
Azelf (Solid lead for HO)
Azumarill (Choice Band / Belly Drum are both hard to deal with altho Band is much easier to use, Fairy type helps against the dragons too)
Roserade (Very versatile with Spikes and Toxic Spikes, Sleep Powder and Grass / Poison STABs, deals with Breloom and can also be scarfed to deal with Manaphy)
Skarmory (Excellent physical wall that can set up Spikes, also seen as lead but less relevant)
Slowbro (No Teleport sucks, but still tanky enough to take hits. Future Sight is not as good)
Tangrowth (More defensive answer to Breloom that also keeps physical water attackers in check)
Tyranitar (Rocks setter, Band / Special / Mixed / Defensive are all viable and can fit into different teams nicely, often bait kills Gliscor and Scizor)

B:
Bronzong (Rocks setter that counters Latios, surprisingly effective in offensive teams)
Cloyster (Sweeper but losing King's Rock is very painful. Also requires appropriate hazard control from teammates)
Crawdaunt (Hits really hard but is hindered by its slow speed)
Feraligatr (A threatening sweeper under specific circumstances)
Mantine (True Manaphy counter, also beats a lot of other setup pokemons such as Latios and Clefable)
Mew (Does a lot of different stuff and excels at none, but will be much more used after the more powerful breakers such as Manaphy gets banned)
Nidoking (Another Rocks setter that pressures defoggers a lot)
Quagsire (Enjoys the meta lacking Toxic and has Toxic himself)

B-:
Aerodactyl (Fast Rocks lead that almost guarentees rocks on opposing team at the cost of its own life, can't deal with some Rapid Spinners though. Has a niche to beat opposing Azelf leads, giving a huge advantage in HO vs HO)
Donphan (Anti-lead thats durable and hits decently hard)
Dragonite (Can sweep but demands a lot of support from teammates in order to function, recently seen a few times as Special / Mixed attacker as well)
Gyarados (Can force sweep in late game but generally inferior to other water attackers due to lack of immediate power and ability to wallbreak. Hurricane can really catch Tangrowth offguard tho)
Lucario (Can boost with both SD and NP, making it very unpredictable. Speed is subpar though)
Shuckle (Webs setter that lost encore and gives free setup for opponent, but still has Toxic)
Smeargle (Webs setter that doesn't give too much free setup for opponent but dies to anything you can imagine)
Togekiss (Paraflinch and tanky enough to check the dragons)

C+:
Blastoise (Shell Smash abuser but gets stopped by Manaphy counters)
Cresselia (Trick Room user but more commonly seen as a fast Calm Mind user right now)
Froslass (Spikes lead that also blocks Rapid Spin)
Hippowdon (Solid physical wall but lacking Toxic makes it extra hard for it to retaliate)
Raikou (Sets up with Calm Mind but lacks the coverage / power / speed / durability to abuse it against most teams, still works late game.)
Staraptor (Very powerful normal-type attacker but lacks longevity)
Torkoal (Useable in both sun teams and Trick Room teams)
Venomoth (Niche pokemon that takes advantage of teams lacking counters to it with Sleep Powder)

C:
Ditto (Anti-sweep and also annoys stall)
Entei (Band Entei hits very hard and can catch people off guard)
Honchkrow (Sucker Punch and Moxie forms an unique way of sweeping when properly played)
Jirachi (Does not have Iron Head and utilizes Doom Desire instead)
Machamp (Fearsome wallbreaker but is very slow)
Shedinja (Latios and Manaphy counter but is afraid of any form of chip)
Suicune (Just use manaphy instead Bulky water type that can set up with Calm Mind)
Uxie (Trick Room setter with U-turn and rocks)

C-:
Espeon (Has Magic Bounce to take advantage of passive pokemons, but lacks Power / Coverage to be effectively offensively)
Linoone (Belly Drum Espeed can sweep late game but is hard to pull off even with screens on, and lack of coverage hurts its viability too)
Metagross (Checks Latios and hits quite hard but lacks recovery / power / coverage to be effective. Scarf can surprise people at times)
Porygon-Z (Hits hard but struggles in the current meta that lacks slower balanced teams)
Salamence (Decent sweeper but has little use compared to other dragons, but can be used defensively due to Intimidate)
Victreebel (Sun team sweeper that can be unpredictable at times due to potential to use both physical and special moves)
Xatu (Screens setter that has Magic Bounce)
Yanmega (Takes advantage of HO that lacks Flying / Bug resists, functions well when opposing Scizor is down)

Feel free to suggest pokemons that I might've missed / misplaced in this list :)

Edit 1: Updated at 12/6 with a lot more gameplays and obs

 

[HonchTheConch]

Just my own thoughts on the metagame

A lot of mons have their own niche in the tier that can be built around and seen with success even in higher or upper ladder. Its crazy seeing mons that were Uber in DPP now being stable or even considered bad in OU. Despite Blaziken now being banned, and mons like manaphy and latios soon to be suspected, Garchomp has been the biggest thorn in my side, its versatility and abillity to 2hko almost every mon in the tier is annoying at best.

I think there are some mons not getting as much love as they deserve either such as Hippo, Gastrodon, Rhyperior or Pory-z who arent S tier by any means but I believe are a lot better than some people think they are

Try new mons and develop new metas. Have fun in BDSP OU

 

[VTMagno]

hot take time!
only S and A tiers are ordered, might update with C tiers later down the line
S:
Latios
Garchomp

Scizor
A+:

Gliscor

Breloom

Starmie

Weavile

Gengar

Mamoswine
Alakazam

Infernape
A:
Rotom-W

Magnezone

Azumarill

Clefable

Dragonite

Heatran

Blissey
A-:

Azelf
Crawdaunt

Skarmory

Bronzong
Salamence

Gastrodon (dont see much of this mon but its pretty good, being a hard stop to Washtom, Raikou and Heatran while also softchecking some other special threats. Clear Smog to prevent it from being setup on is rlly nice too.)

Nidoking (check your stall team and tell me what answer it has to focus punch nidoking. either it doesn't have one or you're running shed which loses anyway if hazards are up)

Tyranitar
Manaphy (manaphy finds itself in the weird spot where it does well vs BOs and Balances which arent too common but does poorly against HO and stall teams which are prevalent rn. Its often either gonna get beaten by CM Bliss and Clef or get outsped and killed by the opposing Specs Latios.)

Staraptor

Feraligatr
Rotom-C
B+:

Empoleon

Jirachi

Latias

Lucario (lucario is cool in theory until you realize how hard it is to find setup opportunities in a preview meta. only works on screens imo but its pretty good there)

Quagsire

Roserade (turns out having the 2 best ways to force progress in this meta (spikes and sleep) is pretty good)

Slowbro
Tangrowth
B:

Aerodactyl
Cloyster (shell smash moment)

Froslass

Metagross (ok rocker on offensive teams, kinda like a Jirachi with some more offensive pressure and priority)

Raikou
Smeargle
Weezing (incredibly underrated. has tspikes, walls breloom for days, doesnt care about Azu due to removing its Huge Power, annoys Gliscor quite a bit. great on stall)
B-:

Cresselia (the amount of times I saw this mon on ladder and realized it walls all my threats is far more than im willing to admit)

Forretress

Heracross (guts CC + Megahorn is hard to switch into, decent breloom check as well)

Machamp (basically hera but with priority and Knock Off over speed and bug stab)
Mismagius (great on webs as a spinblocker but it pretty much only fits on webs)

Nidoqueen
Torkoal

Uxie
Victreebel (Weather Ball is much more preferred on a chloro user than Earthquake, especially with many heatrans opting for Flame Body)
Xatu

 

[FailureGirl]

not ordered

 

[Lily]

Nothing is ordered within its rank:

S:
Latios
Scizor
Slowbro

First two are likely uncontroversial, Latios is the best offensive mon in the tier and Scizor is the best Latios answer as well as the best pivot in general and a key member of the tier's dynamic.
Slowbro is imo the best defensive Pokemon in the tier, completely unkillable for a significant amount of physical offenses because Regenerator is just so damn strong and it's really tough to switch into because Scald + Ice Beam + Thunder Wave cripples everything. It counters SD Garchomp, Gliscor, Infernape, Salamence, Dragonite, Lucario, Gyarados, pretty much any physical attacker not named Breloom has huge Slowbro issues. In particular it pairs exceptionally well with Unaware Clefable, which answers the annoying Manaphy that often gives Slowbro issues and acts as a backup check to most of the things Slowbro hates, giving these teams exceptionally strong MUs into Dragon spam.

A+:
Clefable
Gliscor
Garchomp
Manaphy
Latias
Gengar
Breloom

All very strong mons in their own right. Clef is hard to kill and good as ever; don't use wishtect, if you want Wish just use that + Moonlight so you don't lose your entire Clefable to anything with Roar (Heatran + Empoleon in particular). Gliscor is not the unkillable beast everyone expected it'd be but it's an integral part of most balances/BOs because it's just so damn easy to fit and does so much in one slot. I don't rate Manaphy as highly as others but it's tied with Garchomp as the 2nd most important offensive mon to account for, both only losing to Latios; Latias is essentially just budget Latios but it's actually better on a fair amount of teams imo because having the easier pivot into Manaphy and a better MU against annoyances like Nidoking and Infernape is great. Gengar is highkey broken because this tier's best Ghost resist is Gliscor. Breloom is insanely hard to switch into and provides pretty good defensive utility as well despite its frailty. Mach Punch is really annoying and Spore is as broken as it's ever been.

No more explanations for stuff below because I'm lazy, also only going to B because I don't really have enough experience with anything below it

A:
Heatran
Alakazam
Azumarill
Starmie
Crawdaunt
Mamoswine
Mew

A-:
Dragonite
Nidoking
Skarmory
Blissey
Feraligatr

B+:
Magnezone
Rotom Wash
Tyranitar
Weavile
Salamence
Empoleon

B:
Lucario
Infernape
Jirachi
Roserade
Tangrowth
Hippowdon
Slowking

Probably missed some stuff but yeah this is how I feel about early meta impressions, so far so good!

 

[L27]

S


A+


A


A-


B+


B


B-


C+


Not placed by order just sub-rank. Anything not here is one of three things. 1) Something ranked below C+ which shouldnt exist in ranking lists (2) A meme used by memers (3) Something I haven't used that would eventually be part of point 1 or 2. Most of the C+ suck but have some sort of use on specific teams.​

What makes you rank Blastoise so high?

 

[adem]

Just my own thoughts on the metagame

A lot of mons have their own niche in the tier that can be built around and seen with success even in higher or upper ladder. Its crazy seeing mons that were Uber in DPP now being stable or even considered bad in OU. Despite Blaziken now being banned, and mons like manaphy and latios soon to be suspected, Garchomp has been the biggest thorn in my side, its versatility and abillity to 2hko almost every mon in the tier is annoying at best.

I think there are some mons not getting as much love as they deserve either such as Hippo, Gastrodon, Rhyperior or Pory-z who arent S tier by any means but I believe are a lot better than some people think they are

Try new mons and develop new metas. Have fun in BDSP OU

What makes you rank Blastoise so high?

Reminder: this thread is just for posting your personal VR takes, any form of discussion should be done in the Metagame Discussion thread.




anyways, onto my personal viability rankings.

S Rank

S Rank

Truly the epitome of “offensive threat” in this meta, warrants a solid Draco Meteor switch in on every team, and its great 110 speed tier make it a pain to deal with offensively even. Its defensive utility from being a dragon type (fire resist, grass resist) and psychic type (fighting resist) as well as having a ground immunity is also extremely useful for offensive teams.

A+ Rank

A+ Rank

Manaphy is a potent breaker, finding itself on bulky offenses to balances and is extremely hard, or near impossible to check defensively. It is a key part in why IMO balance is a terrible playstyle and BO is mid, and overall it can be a pain to deal with without aggresive plays / hard walling it on stall. Its bulk is also great to check Ground and Flying types like Gliscor, Garchomp, and Dragonite. It is IMO a needed mon on screens just because of how good it is.

Garchomp is an incredible asset for offensive teams, fulfills many roles as a breaker, a scarfer, a cleaner and a rocker, all depending on what your team needs. Defensively this is a very annoying Pokemon to switch around due to Ground / Dragon being great offensively, especially with Clefable as really the only fairy type.

Scizor is the glue that holds a lot of offense / bo teams together as it checks a myriad of top tier threats in Weavile, Latios, and Azumarill, and works surprisingly well on HO with more offensive sets. However, I do not think Scizor is S tier because i do feel it can be more of a burden by teams over relying on it to check a myriad of threats in the tier while also filling up roles like a defogger. This is basically where my deep hate for Defog Scizor comes from. It is a great mon, but it is not a catch-all for everything, thats a big misconception, and if people keep treating it like one the mon will perform even worse.

Breloom is another potent offensive powerhouse, with band sets taking advantage of how offensive the meta is currently to throw off strong Mach Punches, chunking even resists for huge damage. It is personally one of the main reasons why dragons defensive utility is so good, and stuff like latias and latios are great to preserve throughout the game. SubSets i personally dont use much but they can be extremely annoying to deal with over the cross of a game due to its longevity, and having a teammate shut down by spore is always terrible.

Clefable is what makes BO barely usable (but still quite mid) playstyle due to it soft checking Mana as well as other extremely annoying sets. With HO being so good, Unaware is better than ever to blanket check a myriad of threats in the tier. Furthermore, the main unaware mon for stall due to it + a mantine / bliss dealing with Manaphy and is a big reason why stall is IMO a top 3 playstyle. Very much a bandaid mon though for a lot of teams which end up making the team bad because it relies on Clef to check half the tier by itself.

A Tier







A- Tier












B+ Tier












B Tier








B- Tier








C Tier



















ill edit with explanation in a bit

 

[Lalaya]

i'm only going up to c+ because who cares about niche mons the meta is too new and I honestly don't know what to think about niche mons, also i'm only going to explain them up to A- because we should know what they do overall and they deserve the mention
also not in particular order

S

S Ranks:

I put here the Pokémon that in my opinion, make or break whole archetypes or are just the lonely dominant force of the metagame; Latios is obviously the latter, while Scizor is basically everywhere to be Latios' shadow while being a very strong Pokémon in its own right, boasting a good variance in sets that can deal effectively with multiple things, capable of supporting the team both defensively through Defog and sheer tanking and pivoting, and offensively thanks to SD sets; all while being just so damn splashable in every type of comp. Clefable is the reason why Bulky Offense and Stall teams have a chance to survive in this meta, and we all know how competent CM sets are, or just Lure Fable with FThrower, and even if it lost Soft-Boiled its still a very prevalent presence in the metagame, while Manaphy just annihilates every balance in existence and has a chance to sweep any slower team with the right support, which isn't... very much to be honest, and you can sport it basically anywhere, from Webs, to Screens, to Dragmags (yes, Azu would be a better Water type there, but honestly Mana still fits perfectly since those comps love to get rid of Clef with their Steels), and more. While he IS slow, he's also fat and he won't go down with a simple Meteor from full. Just meta-defining, all four of them

A+

A+ ranks:

Gliscor is a damn solid glue to almost every team, and one of the best answers available to a mad Breloom going for a Spore, not to mention his variance in the sets from SD to defensive Defog and being one of the lucky souls that can still Knock, while Breloom is the good old "get a Pokèmon to sleep and watch the dead unfold", having a good priority, perfectly abusable stats and Technician; Starmie is the game's best Spinner, and with Rapid Spin's buff, a Orb Starmie can seriously wreak havoc on any offense team, while it also has Recover niches to outlast any opponent, and while he's frail and rkillable is a presence to fear and nothing is going to switch in on it; Zone is the glue for any Dragmag, nothing to say except he hits extremely hard. Really, it's a Magnezone. Chomp is pretty much the strongest dragon available after Tios, boasting the usual combination of good stats, Speed, typing and set variance; SD Chomp is as lethal as it can be, ScarfChomp is a solid revengekiller, and MixChomp is a nice surprise, and ofc there are other sets. Lastly, Weavile deserves the A+ for his stellar performance in the tier, given by his typing, strong priority against Dragons, and build options, since both SD and Band are valid sets and it even has Beat Up to get past some of its would be checks, like SashZam.

A

A ranks:

First of all: WHY ISNT RAIKOU HIGHER? Really, this Pokémon is a beast, both Specs and CM, him getting Scald is genuinely a blessing since he can beat most of his checks, and cripple others, like even Garchomp isn't safe from Burns, and his bulk is deceptively high enough to tank some unboosted hits pretty much in all the metagame. Seriously, this mon is a demon, especially against other offenses with only mons like Gliscor as an answer, and it actually benefits with Zone too since they can get past their shared checks. Seriously guys, I just dont wanna use the whole paragraph for him, but in all the games I saw with him he always performed EXCELLENTLY.
Ok, on the other mons: Ape is pretty much the strongest Fire type available, sporting the same STAB combo that made Blaziken unstoppable, at a better starting Speed tier so he can go every kind of Choice item while also being an excellent offensive Rocker and LOrb abuser. Gengar showcases what this metagame lacks: a good Ghost answer. Nothing much to say, he dismantles cores relying on Clefable almost too easily, he's the reason why some Blisseys started running Shadow Ball and being in the 110 tier means he's the other perfect Scarfer of the tier. Alakazam is pretty much the usual business, except thanks to NPlot he can't be stopped with anything but priority moves or revengekillers, especially if you give him a free turn. I'm only putting him on A based on current trends, but he's genuinely strong and should be explored more. Mamo is here for obvious reasons, being almost uncheckable defensively while being a menace for DragMags, although he gets this spot because Weavile is waaay faster and Mamo suffers a bit from his speed. Still a great lead and a great Orb abuser, though, don't get me wrong. Lastly, Slowbro got already explained by people in here, but he's THE physical glue of any stall and fat cores worth of merit, and he sports a move for literally any threat in the game, while Tangrowth is your "DENY KNOCK OFF and Breloom" option, and they make a killer Regencore together, while having merits by themselves already.

A-

A- ranks:

Tias is Tios' little sister, sporting worse offensive stats but better defensive ones, and most importantly the same Speed. After Latios will be gone, Latias will probably take his place in some builds, sporting almost every advantage Latios has, although definitely more checkable all around and not as explosive. Beware though, she has all the tools that made her great in Gen6 and this might happen again #freecmreflecttype; Jirachi and Empoleon are getting mentioned together because they're the other SpDef sponges we currently have, both being also excellent Stealth Rock setters, and both having their own niche, Rachi getting some explosive power with Doom Desire lining up targets for teammates and pivoting abilities, while Empoleon makes also up a decent Defogger and a phazer, not to mention other underrated sets like CM or Endure Custap, respectively. Tom-W isn't quite as solid as before, since he lacks ANY form of recovery now, but it retained Trick, and gained Nasty Plot, so being able to screw over stallcores, volturn away in peace and being the usual mischievous little bulky water didn't change. Azumarill is the usual Azumarill of Gen6+: bulky water that hits extremely hard, being CB or Drum. Nothing much to say, this is still strong, although not speedy at all and not the strongest Water we have, although the Fairy type blesses him. Now, on a maybe controversial nomination, I'm nominating Salamence as the third strongest Dragon in the tier, since it has some qualities over Dragonite that makes him less relying on external support to shine. First, Moxie makes him snowball EASILY through teams that lost their full HP Clefable, especially after a single DD; secondly, his base Speed tier is better, which matters a lot in my opinion, and third is that he doesn't NEED hazard support to shine, although he still loves it, while DNite is basically with a worthless ability if you lost your hazard removal tool. DNite has a strong priority, but Salamence has better snowball potential overall, especially since you don't beat a Weavile without rocks up anyways. Lastly, putting Azelf here for his suicide lead capabilities, nothing much to say except his set variance and momentum grabbing capabilities makes him the best suicide lead and a good surprise attacker.

B+


B


B-


C+
​

Some C+ and B- are terribly close for me but otherwise this is pretty much what I think, if you have any questions, feel free
cheers <3

 

[Meme Guy 924]

Not ordered but here we go. If I'm missing a Pokemon I probably forgot about it or haven't seen it enough to judge its viability

S tier
Latios
Manaphy

A+ tier
Clefable
Garchomp
Gengar
Gliscor
Scizor
Starmie

A tier
Alakazam
Empoleon
Heatran
Infernape
Magnezone
Slowbro
Weavile

A- tier
Azumarill
Breloom
Dragonite
Gastrodon
Jirachi
Mamoswine
Rotom Wash

B+ tier
Azelf
Cloyster
Crawdaunt
Latias
Lucario
Nidoking
Roserade
Salamence
Swampert
Tangrowth
Tyranitar

B tier
Blissey
Bronzong
Feraligatr
Flygon
Froslass
Hippowdon
Metagross
Mew
Milotic
Skarmory
Staraptor

B- tier
Aerodactyl
Heracross
Machamp
Raikou
Shuckle
Slowking
Smeargle
Suicune
Togekiss
Torkoal
Venusaur
Yanmega

 

[ausma]

i made the upcoming vr team mad with my takes, so i decided i will also make you all mad at me too. i'm only going to explain the S's, A+'s, and A's, but if you want explanations on anything below then give me a message and ill happily answer (don't do it in this thread please).
(also a reminder this is a week 2 vr so take some of this with a grain of salt)

view at your own risk

S Rank

S tier:


S- tier:


These are probably fairly unsurprising. These Pokemon completely run the show in the tier, all of which see usage on nearly every offensive team either for their incredible progress-making abilities, unparalleled role compression, or a blend of both. I don't necessarily see S-rank as being inherently reflective of broken Pokemon, however depending on how splashable they are, they certainly can be. Latios and Alakazam are the big ones imo, applying an obscene amount of pressure to pretty much every defensive Pokemon in the tier, even those that can block them from making irreparable-levels of progress in the mid-game.

- Latios is Latios, but Choice Specs is definitely overrated. Use Soul Dew or Life Orb and watch as Latios finds breaking opportunities left and right and is really hard to consistently overwhelm thanks to reliable recovery and how hard it is to pivot around without dedicated checks; fits on pretty much every archetype as a win-condition, wallbreaker, and offensive check pretty much simultaneously.

- What Alakazam lacks in defensive role compression it makes up for with its insane Speed tier, perfect neutral coverage, and Nasty Plot. It doesn't really need boosts to break holes into teams, especially if it's Life Orb; if you opt for Focus Sash Alakazam becomes an egregious Pokemon to safely revenge kill and it's generally a 2 for 1 Pokemon, especially if you pair it with Healing Wish support. Alakazam is incredible on pretty much any offensively inclined team as it has a lot of really wacky options that can mold to the needs of its teammates such as Encore, other coverage moves to snipe random checks like Spiritomb, Recover + 2 Attacks, etc; which definitely warrants S-. Though, I don't really think it's exactly S-rank worthy mostly because it lacks the aspects of key bulk and defensive typing that pushes Latios into the realm of near perfection in the tier as a catch-all kind of 'mon with some major power to boot.

- Scizor, however is pretty much entirely for its role compression, and while it lacks that oomph that Alakazam and Latios have, it is easily the most splashable Pokemon in the tier even without Knock Off and in my eyes is right up there with Latios for how much it can provide for literally any team. Priority STAB Bullet Punch is a great way to revenge kill things like Weavile and Mamoswine giving you the leverage to double into them and other Bullet Punch-prone threats, which is its unique caveat that lets it pull off some really nifty emergency pivots. However, aside from that, it has access to a very solid Defog, STAB U-turn, a superb typing that checks a shitload of things including Latios, Alakazam, Breloom, and Clefable. It also has access to Swords Dance to capitalize on its fantastic Bullet Punch, which can let it perform as a win condition with great defensive utility, alongside a base 130 attack stat to dip into more dedicated offensive sets. Put it on any team you want and it will pretty much guaranteed bring you value every game.


A Rank

A+ tier:


I see A+ as a tier to represent the extremely powerful, flexible, and super strong Pokemon that are quite good and can fit a wide array of structures with different sets, but have a couple caveats that hold them back from being S-level.

- Gliscor would be S-level if Manaphy and Latios weren't dominating offensive threats capable of exploiting its attempts at making progress. It's up there with Scizor in flexibility and splashability with access to a Toxic immunity, obscene longevity, Stealth Rock, Defog, Knock Off, U-turn, Swords Dance; the works. But it is really held back by how sour its matchups against those two and a few other really dangerous Pokemon like Feraligatr and Azumarill are that can more freely use it as setup fodder, and 4MSS really does not help considering how much it wants to do but can't.

- Starmie is the best removal option in the tier and an incredibly potent offensive threat with crazy good Analytic-boosted coverage options/Scald to make consistent progress, on top of boasting a very premium Speed tier that lets it revenge kill a lot. Its offensive Rapid Spin set is really good since its matchup against the tier's setters is by far the best out of the removal options we have, but if you have another form of removal on your team, Recover + 3 attacks is near unwallable without a Blissey and is a gigantic pain to revenge kill.

- Manaphy is comically powerful and needs no introduction, but its Speed tier that's just short of greatness and its mediocre matchup against offense (which dominates the tier right now) can sometimes relegate it to being an emergency pivot in some matchups. It completely blanks and singlehandedly mauls balances and fatter structures with Tail Glow and its obscene bulk, but its matchup fish nature caused by its underwhelming offensive matchup can make it inconsistent at times.

- Breloom is honestly the most fun Pokemon in the tier, but aside from being fun it has numerous viable sets that all make progress in some pretty menacing ways; as it turns out, Spore and Technician Mach Punch are one hell of a drug. Choice Band has no switch-ins, Swords Dance takes 2 for 1s at minimum and can just win games that have few Mach Punch checks and/or have their checks crucially chipped, Choice Scarf is a neat Manaphy revenge killer and boasts a fast Spore, and SubPunch makes comical levels of progress against teams that lack a Grass/Poison Pokemon or a Weezing while boasting great staying power. Grass/Fighting defensively has some nice defensive utility against Rotom appliances and things like Tyranitar in a pinch. It's amazing but its speed and proneness to chip damage when not using SubPunch can lead to it just taking a pick and then dying, and it isn't really a fan of the Latios-infested metagame alongside Mach Punch resistances in general.

- Slowbro walls nearly every Physical attacker in the tier, boasts a STAB Scald, great utility, staying power with Regenerator/Slack Off, and also has that really weird interaction with boosted Future Sight that lets it break Unaware Pokemon for some reason which can be really great for CM Lati and SD Chomp and whatnot. Losing Teleport sucks but its role compression and great defensive profile more than makes up for it in this metagame.

- Gengar has a Shadow Ball with no switch-ins, a premium Speed tier, and also has access to great coverage and Nasty Plot. Choice items and Nasty Plot are both very strong offensively and it's really hard to answer consistently; imo Choice Specs Gengar is a huge reason Protect is such a solid option rn on a decent amount of defensive Pokemon simply because most teams cannot afford to guess incorrectly against it.

- Clefable has like 5 sets or something and all are good. Not only is it a Fairy-type in a Fairy-sparse metagame, but Unaware lets it beat nearly every setup Pokemon in the tier which is really crucial with Manaphy and Garchomp around, and it doesn't really need Magic Guard that much with such limited Toxic distribution. Calm Mind is a stupid good win condition, and Utility sets also get quite a bit of value since they can set Stealth Rock, spread status, and Wish pass.

A tier:


A-tier is a step down from A+; still incredibly great Pokemon but a couple more caveats that can be a bit more costly.

- Garchomp is immensely strong but falls just short of A+ due to how many things are around to revenge kill it. Latios Mamoswine and Starmie are everywhere, Alakazam Weavile and Gengar are stupid good, and other things like Infernape and priority are pretty annoying too. Defensively there's a lot of Clefable, a decent amount of Slowbro use, and it needs to have chip against things like Azumarill if it wants to knock it out unboosted. I imagine it will become much, much stronger if Latios leaves the tier since Latios is the biggest reason it's struggling to consistently rip through teams. Though that being said Garchomp is absolutely crazy if you give it the space to do its thing or if you lack a Latios/Ice Shard user, so it's certainly still quite good and I imagine it will only get better.

- Azumarill is the second best Fairy-type; Belly Drum and Choice Band are good but it actually brings defensive utility if you run Substitute +3 Attacks to highlight its crazy good type which imo is its best set since it is really easy to throw onto offense. Its Speed tier is all that holds it back and it's admittedly a giant problem, but it's still really good.

- Magnezone crucially chips things like Scizor, Heatran, and Jirachi, while trapping Empoleon and Skarmory. It can single-handedly enable some insanely powerful Pokemon by itself and it's got some other nice applications like an annoyingly strong Flash Cannon behind a Choice Specs that can exploit Fairy-types, as well as a pretty nasty Substitute + Thunder Wave set. Let's be real though, Magnet Pull is a gigantic reason it's so good.

- Weavile has the best speed tier among the tier's top threats and has an obscenely difficult dual STAB combination to keep in check. Choice Band Throat Chop is really hard to pivot into and it's got the Speed tier to wipe games pretty consistently. Swords Dance NMI is a neat win condition as well but Choice Band really has that immediate oomph that makes Weavile as consistent of a wallbreaker as it is. A lousy defensive typing, mediocre staying power, proneness to Scizor, and a crucial Stealth Rock weakness limits it greatly.

- Dragonite with Multiscale is a beast. It has a great Dragon Dance set, but its Choice Band set is also really strong especially considering it has Extreme Speed which picks off pretty much everything and can dominate offense. It's kind of reliant on Extreme Speed since its Speed tier is a bit underwhelming without a Dragon Dance, and a weakness to Stealth Rock blocks some defensive utility you'd otherwise get out of it, and also crucially breaks Multiscale.

 

[TheKingKarp]

Hey everyone, here's my personal VR with the official OU mons. I made a video with my explanations. Feel free to check that out.

 

[su1p]

6.12.2021

 

[buayagator]

My personal viability ranking
(Alphabetical Order)

S Rank

• Gliscor
• Latios
• Scizor

A+ Rank

• Breloom
• Clefable
• Garchomp
• Infernape
• Manaphy
• Skarmory
• Starmie

A Rank

• Azumarill
• Blissey
• Dragonite
• Empoleon
• Gengar
• Heatran
• Magnezone
• Weavile

A- Rank

• Alakazam
• Azelf
• Crawdaunt
• Mamoswine
• Rotom-Wash
• Slowbro
• Tangrowth
• Tyranitar

B+ Rank

• Feraligatr
• Jirachi
• Lucario
• Nidoking
• Raikou
• Roserade
• Staraptor
• Togekiss

B Rank

• Aerodactyl
• Cloyster
• Cresselia
• Donphan
• Froslass
• Gardevoir
• Gastrodon
• Latias
• Mew
• Salamence

B- Rank

• Blastoise
• Forretress
• Gyarados
• Hippowdon
• Honchkrow
• Quagsire
• Rotom-Mow
• Slowking
• Suicune
• Zapdos

C+ Rank

• Abomasnow
• Bronzong
• Ditto
• Mantine
• Shuckle
• Smeargle
• Swampert
• Torkoal

C Rank

• Entei
• Flygon
• Heracross
• Metagross
• Milotic
• Rotom-Heat
• Tentacruel
• Uxie
• Victreebel
• Xatu
• Yanmega

C- Rank

• Charizard
• Crobat
• Espeon
• Masquerain
• Mismagius
• Shedinja
• Umbreon
• Venusaur

Edit :
This VR has icon now thanks to Fix and avg

 

[Tuthur]

I'm bored, so let's make this

S
Latios
Scizor

A+
Breloom
Clefable
Garchomp
Gengar
Gliscor
Manaphy
Starmie

A
Alakazam
Azumarill
Blissey
Magnezone
Rotom-Wash
Weavile

A-
Aerodactyl
Azelf
Crawdaunt
Dragonite
Feraligatr
Heatran
Roserade
Slowbro
Tangrowth
Tyranitar

B+
Empoleon
Latias
Lucario
Mamoswine
Quagsire
Salamence
Skarmory
Smeargle

B
Cresselia
Gyarados
Heracross
Hippowdon
Jirachi
Mantine
Nidoking
Raikou
Staraptor
Togekiss
Torkoal
Venusaur
Victreebel

B-
Blastoise
Bronzong
Ditto
Donphan
Entei
Espeon
Rotom-Mow
Shedinja
Ursaring
Uxie
Xatu
Yanmega

C
Bibarel
Cloyster
Froslass
Honchkrow
Linoone
Slowking
Suicune
Venomoth

 

[KaenSoul]

One of the best current gen formats.
S+

S

A+

A

A-

B+

B

B-

C

 

[Sputnik]

Sure why not. Nothing is ordered, also prolly forgot something important somewhere in here.

S
Latios
Scizor

A+
Gliscor
Breloom
Clefable
Manaphy

A
Alakazam
Gengar
Azumarill
Weavile
Dragonite
Garchomp
Starmie
Magnezone
Heatran
Rotom-Wash
Slowbro
Infernape

A-
Mamoswine
Crawdaunt
Latias
Tangrowth
Skarmory
Blissey

B+
Feraligatr
Quagsire
Tyranitar
Slowking
Nidoking
Empoleon
Donphan
Roserade

B
Jirachi
Azelf
Raikou
Staraptor
Gyarados
Salamence

B-
Honchkrow
Espeon
Froslass
Smeargle
Gastrodon
Hippowdon
Mantine
Lucario
Bronzong
Aerodactyl
Heracross
Cresselia
Rotom-Heat
Weezing

C
Aggron
Yanmega
Rotom-Mow
Ditto
Gardevoir
Flygon
Medicham
Xatu
Torkoal
Victreebel

 

[RedDiamond1024]

I decided to try my hand at a tier list despite my somewhat low experience with the metagame, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt. This list will be based on my personal experience with these mons, how I think they do in the current meta(if I don't have experience with them), and what I've heard of them from other people. I will give explanations to some pokemon, and will try to give more pokemon explanations in the future.

S tier
Latios
One of, if not the best special attackers in the tier with its specs and lo+3 attacks sets. Its decent coverage lets it hit different threats, and choose to either have more longevity with recover or setup with calm mind. Psychic dragon is a powerful stab combination that is really only walled by steels, who latios still chunks with draco meteor.

Scizor
Probably the best pokemon in the tier rn, with a great defensive typing of bug and steel, this pokemon can tank many hits and recover with roost or pivot out with u-turn. Much like lando in ss ou scizor can run both offensive and defensive sets to great effect. Bug-steel is a hard type combo to resist in this metagame, with the only mon that really can being heatran.

Manaphy
This mon may not be as good as when rain was allowed, it still is a powerhouse of a mon, with one of the best boosting moves in the game with tail glow, decent bulk, a good speed tier, and a great defensive typing, this mon can setup reliably and start shooting holes in the opponent's team. Manaphy's power is also helped by its access to enough coverage to take down many of its checks depending on its teammates.

S- tier
Gliscor
Good defenses with access to poison heal and knock off makes this mon quite hard to break through without a super effective hit, the only reason for not being s tier is the large amount of ice and water type moves flying around the tier rn.

Clefable
The best fairy in the tier obviously has a lot on its plate, especially with all of the dragons running around. Its good move pool, abilities, and typing let it shine with all of the dancing dragons infesting the place. The main thing keeping it out of s tier is that it has to choose between unaware and magic guard

Magnezone
The zone's ability to deal with steels is greatly appreciated by the powerful offense of the tier, but also somewhat by defensive mons like clef who don't wanna eat powerful steel type attacks.

A+ tier
Heatran
Alakazam
Gengar
Garchomp
Tyranitar
Weavile
Breloom
Skarmory

A tier
Feraligatr
Azumarill
Gyarados
Starmie
Infernape
Slowbro
Mamoswine
Tangrowth
Swampert
Donphan

A- tier
Dragonite
Latias
Slowking
Crawdaunt
Blissey
Rotom-Wash
Gastrodon
Azelf

B+ tier
Mew
Uxie
Empoleon
Roserade
Froslass
Hippowdon
Cresselia
Bronzong
Rotom-Heat
Aerodactyl

B tier
Lucario
Salamence
Raikou
Suicune
Staraptor
Milotic
Quagsire
Heracross
Has either guts or moxie depending on what you want it to do, bug stab keeps psychic types from switching in willy nilly
Togekiss
Jirachi
Honchkrow
Good dual stab, moxie sucker punch to revenge kill powerful psychics and ghosts

B- tier
Machamp
While champ has its own advantages over cross, its far lower speed keeps it from being on par with it despite getting access to priority bullet punch.
Snorlax
Smeargle
Forretress
Cloyster
Torkoal
Victreebel
Metagross
Mismagius
Rotom-Mow

C+ tier
Charizard
Zard require a lot of team support to function well, but it acts as a total nuke in the sun, with very little wanting to even try switching in.
Flygon
Flygon is one of the two defoggers that resists stealth rocks, and while empoleon gets trapped by zone, flygon has a worse defensive typing imo. Its other sets are mostly outclassed by other mons, such as choice scarf and ddance.
Nidoking
In theory this mon looks pretty good, with a great stab combo and excellent coverage it looks prime to rip through the tier, except for its less than stellar speed, only decent special attack even after lo+sf, and weakness to common types like ice, water, psychic, and ground.
Gardevoir
Rhyperior
Hard to switch into, but is easy to revenge kill with its extremely low speed and two 4x weakness
Xatu
Yanmega
Shuckle

C tier
Typhlosion
Venusaur
Espeon
Crobat
Fastest toxic and u-turn in the west, but weak to common types and stealth rocks
Sableye
Shedinja
Abomasnow
Great dual stab, gets free chip with blizzard, but slow and weak to common types
Drapion
Medicham
Has nuclear power, but bad defenses and middling speed can keep it from using that might
Jolteon

C- tier
Bibarel
Simple, thats all
Linoone
Manectric
Has access to fire type attacks to hit grass types, lightning rod lets it absorb electric attacks, and switcheroo can cripple walls, but is frail and has a middling spa at 105, decent speed tier at 105 as well though
Venomoth
Best quiver dancer in the game
Ditto
Sharpedo
Good stab combo + speed boost
Zapdos
has good defense, but has zero coverage, and is stealth rock weak
Sandslash
Literally the only sand rush mon

 

[oraacle]

In alphabetical order

S
Latios
Scizor

A+
Breloom
Clefable
Gliscor
Manaphy
Starmie

A
Alakazam
Azumarill
Garchomp
Gengar
Infernape
Magnezone
Rotom-Wash
Weavile


A-
Blissey
Crawdaunt
Dragonite
Heatran
Latias
Mamoswine
Skarmory
Slowbro
Tangrowth

B+
Azelf
Empoleon
Feraligatr
Roserade
Tyranitar

B
Donphan
Gastrodon
Jirachi
Lucario
Nidoking
Staraptor
Togekiss

B-
Aerodactyl
Mantine
Poliwrath
Quagsire
Smeargle
Tentacruel

C
Hippowdon
Salamence
Torkoal
Venomoth
Victreebel

Will add more pokemon once I've tried them