Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon In-Game Tier list (v2)

[DrumstickGaming]

quick post, know I'm late to the party on this but want to say that B tier seems good for Vikavolt, been a while since I've used it and pre-Vikavolt is pretty meh but Thunderbolt Vikavolt does really hurt and...you don't really need Bug Buzz THAT much in the grand scheme of things to my knowledge?

Nanu and Hapu really aren't the hardest bosses in the world and I think it's consistent enough B tier is good for it, even if the early phases are a little weaksauce without outright advantages.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

A bit late to the party since I wanted to see if other people wanted to chime in on the current discussions, but anyways: I am planning on doing some tier changes in the weekend. In particular:

Zorua B -> C
Grubbin A -> B
Steenee D -> C
Cottonee D -> C
Stufful lock to A-tier
Makuhita lock to A-tier

Please post if you are against any of those changes and/or you want an extension to finish a run. I am assuming that HydreigonHydrogen (assuming he hasn't finished his run)'s thoughts on those are settled and the E4 performance wouldn't change his thoughts, let me know if that's not the case.

Now, the reason why Cottonee is also rising is because it's more-or-less a better Steenee. It comes earlier, has Prankster and Charm, and even has good matchups (mainly Hala and Nanu with Moonblast). So if people want Steenee in C-tier, I assume they would be fine with Cottonee in there too for consistency's sake.

Grubbin is dropping to B-tier due to a popular demand. I am not dropping it to C-tier without additional logs, because Vikavolt is pretty good once you get it (I even managed to win against Mimikyu with it; get a boost with Charge Beam and throw in a Z-Zap Cannon). Bug STAB isn't a concern, since TBolt / Energy Ball handles most opponents for you.

Zorua is dropping to C-tier. As I stated in a previous post, it's got some great matchups, but you need to be very clever to actually get them and I'd say C-tier is fair, especially given the support it has currently

Stufful is being locked to A-tier due to huge support. I am wondering if Machamp could maybe rise to A-tier, since it has a somewhat similar performance iirc. Makuhita is being locked to A-tier as well for consistency (Hariyama has most of Bewear's great matchups and even more on top of this).

stuff

so I caught this just now, so apologies for lateness, but you don't have to test Hau, since you don't need to win most fights to advance through the story. The logs are appreciated, nevertheless, just keep in mind that as to not waste your time.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

I have updated the list with the changes

As a reminder, I am mostly looking for more thoughts on Rowlet, Honedge/Beldum, Golem, and Vulpix/Sandshrew. If we can get consensus on those, I will start packing the list for write-ups, unless people have a big interest in also testing other things. Obviously, I know that testing this game is tedious, I can tell from first-hand experience, that's why I am willing to move to write-ups. But I am willing to extend this if people are interested in working on this a bit more. Regardless, I am content with most of the ranks here, so it shouldn't be a huge issue to move forwards anyways.

 

[HydrogenHydreigon]

I feel like Vulpix should go down to D. It hasn't been that useful since I got it, even falling to Nanu, and I'm not seeing it being better down the line either (Kommo-O has Roseli Berry and Poison Jab and I don't think it'll be that useful against Ribombee). It could help against Acerola (as three of her team is weak to Ice), but Steel and Rock re just bad matchups overall and four out of five of Kahili's Pokemon pack SE coverage.

 

[Blite]

Hey I started a playthrough a week back and am nearing the end. I really like these tier lists and I think this is my first time participating in one!

I picked Litten, and did Pikipek/Magnemite, then boxed Litten due to wanting Totem Marowak...and GTS'd and bred a Popplio (no boosted XP). I have 2 free slots that I'm not convinced (yet) by anything to fill. I also didn't keep my affection levels at 2 for most of the early game(0/1).

So, with that awkward starter selection, I would still like to state my displeasure with Popplio. At the very least, it doesn't feel equivalent to the other Pokemon in its tier. It gets such a poor level-up move pool (by the time it was a Primarina it had almost the same moves as Popplio besides BubbleBeam/Sparkling Aria, and then Psychic TM), and it honestly didn't feel that useful to me mid-game. I will say that normally people probably overlevel their starters more than anything, where as mine was underlevled for the early-game, so take that into account. Obviously I'm not done yet, and Choice Specs is great (soon to be moved onto Magneton/zone when it evolves), but it didn't feel that great to use, at least during the midgame.

The others are great I suppose, though Magnemite being stuck with Charge Beam and Marowak with Flame Charge (unless you pay BP for Punch) is a bit disappointing. And Toucannon is great, but probably does fall off a small bit here and there (early evo and unchanging movepool, also takes a while to get moves that make use of Skill Link).

For my next playthrough (if I'm motivated enough), I'm mainly considering Metagross/Salamence/Arcanine as a base

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

sorry for late response, but forgot to post lul

for Popplio, I have talked about it in the past, but it's a bit more sophisticated to use, but it's capable of getting past quite a good amount of opponents. I'd have to check my logs for full summary, but basically, it makes a great use of Psych Up (with it, I have beaten Mimikyu, Kommo-o, and Ribombee) and is pretty good against other opponents like Nanu and Guzma. I understand the sentiments against it, as it's not an A-tier in the sense of spamming the A-button and winning, but rather it's something that can take on a lot of opponents with a little bit of planning

I could *maybe* drop it to B-tier if more people support this (last time we talked about it, there was an overwhelming amount of people supporting A-tier or higher), though

as for the rest, I'd say you are mostly spot on in terms of how they perform, though I see no reason not to give Marowak Fire Punch (BP is fairly easy to farm), curious to see what you think of the other Pokemon's current rankings.

as for any future runs, I think only Beldum could get a test. Bagon is a bit unnecessary to test unless you want to make a case for E-tier and I think there are more important things to test than Growlithe. However, *any* test is valuable, so do not worry if you want to try out those as well

I may also drop Vulpix to D-tier following a previous post. I'd like for this to revive a bit so I can do some other changes alongside it

 

[HydrogenHydreigon]

I haven't been playing much recently, but I will say that before Metagross, Metang is a pain to train up due to its lackluster stats, and you'll have to train it a lot unfortunately due to its Slow Exp. Group. I haven't battled any of the Poni Totems yet, but will edit this post about Metagross's performances there when I do. If it doesn't do too well i'll advocate for a drop, otherwise it can stay B (it does have STAB Z-Moves for the Totems and Magnet Rise for Hapu so it might have a chance at staying).

Edit: Beats Kommo-O, but chip causes it to lose to the ally. Still gonna count this as a point in its favor.
Edit: OHKOs Ribombee

 

[Blite]

Psych Up does sound interesting, generally I don't really even consider moves like that (usually it's just hitting SE or sometimes setting up and then hitting STAB) so I guess that is fair. I completed my playthrough, and while part of it is due to the 4 mon team, Primarina certainly felt more useful towards the end (once it gets coverage moves I guess). I mean ultimately it depends on (how a mon fits into) the team. BP is easy to farm, but I guess I didn't check the learnset and just expected something in between Flame Wheel and Flare Blitz lol.

 

[HydrogenHydreigon]

It's been ages, but I think I'll advocate for a drop for Metagross. Was playing and found out Hapu leads with Golurk, which is... yeah. And even if it gets past Golurk (which is actually possible), Mudsdale still blocks it with Stamina and good physical bulk. I haven't got to the E4 yet, but it's matchups don't seem the best there either, so I feel it fits the description for C better.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

I will most likely drop Vulpix and Beldum one tier below over the weekend if no one objects to that. Per memories years ago, Metagross's only significant advantage at the E4 is against Olivia, though you could probably dent Kahili significantly (especially if running Agility to outspeed some of the more problematic Pokemon like Oricoro). Realistically, I think Metagross's biggest issue is simply getting one; not only do you have to deal with a catch rate of 3 (which you can improve with Roto Catches, though I cannot think of anything else that requires this "assistance"), but Beldum/Metang won't be doing much till they evolve and that's gonna be a while due to Slow growth experience

Since Beldum is dropping, I am also gonna drop Honedge with it. It's a better Beldum (for most parts), though you similarly have a Pokemon that isn't gonna do much until the end-game

We are now only left with dealing with Rowlet / Golem and we could theoritically move to write-ups, unless people are interested in testing for this list more, in which case I would be happy to extend the testing deadline. I may do a run myself with Rowlet and some other stuff I want to look over one last time (and thus fry my laptop for one last time), but we will see.

 

[DrumstickGaming]

Re: Meh-tagross

From my memories AGES ago I think in SM, maybe USUM, yeah Beldum is simply not a B tier Pokémon. It’s on the third island which really is pretty darn late even with all the training opportunities, and Beldum is also a pain to catch. Even when you get it, you still got to raise it 15+ levels to Metagross, and while Eviolite Metang is okay it’s really not great because STABs rarely hit SE and Metang has only modest stats. Sure Metagross is a beast for Ultra Necrozma and Ribombee but it’s only advantage at the League is like…Olivia? I mean sure, Metagross is Metagross, but really it’s just a beatstick with good stats that make it seem better than another Pokémon with consistent type advantages. In reality, you put in all that investment for like 2-3 bosses and that’s really it. You can Magnet Rise for Hapu but I doubt you’re actually killing much.

Honedge is a little better as far as Steel types go but I remember it being consistently iffy until Aegislash which wrecks everything, but waiting an entire island and maybe even the Aether stuff to evolve depending on version (UM gets it after you are done with Nanu I think) really isn’t a good look.

 

[Ryota Mitarai]

Beldum, Honedge, and Vulpix have all dropped by one tier

In addition, I have cleaned up the list a bit with regards to what needs testing; I have removed some Pokemon where I think they fit perfectly in the tier they are in, so that people can have an easier time choosing something to test if they choose to do so

as I said, I may do a run with Rowlet and some other things myself, but I'd like first to see if anyone else wants to test it.