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

Doing an in-game trade only run of UM and I'm pretty disappointed in Barboach. It's been slightly overleveled due to bonus Exp gain but despite that its performance up through Guzma 1 has been lacking. Should go down from B to C.

I'm using the trade, Babo. You can catch Barboach earlier in Paniola Town but Babo wasn't going to do anything against Araquanid anyway. Haven't used tutors but looking at the list there's not much it looks like it can use. Also no Refresh or Roto Loto.

Barboach can deal decent damage but its health and speed are not great, so there's a number of situations 1v1 where both Barboach and its opponent 2HKO, but Barboach loses because it's slower. Bulldoze in Konikoni kinda helps but by that point you're closing in on Whiscash and then Earthquake.

Fire trial, the trial where you'd most want a Water/Ground Pokémon, isn't great for it. If you run Barboach as your lead, it's liable to damage from the Marowak and Magmar fights, and if that happens, the Totem finishes it with Brick Break before it pulls off an attack. If you bring it in against the Totem after turn 1, it's risking getting downed by Salazzle + Marowak before it can act. Either way, even if it lives, Z-Water Pulse only does around 60%. Magnitude may be stronger but it's not like you can reset easily if it rolls low. It can contribute if you put some levels on it but it can't anchor your team.

Olivia 1 is better for it in that it can beat Lycanroc 1v1 if it either revenge kills or Shift switches in (Anorith does around half with Bug Bite). Either two Bulldozes or Z-Aqua Tail will do it, but again, if it takes two hits it's done, and it will get hit once before it moves. It's possible to have Whiscash for this by doing more optional fights, which could beat both Anorith and Lycanroc, but that's two levels over Lycanroc. (Mine evolved following this fight.)

Its best battle is probably Togedemaru, which it can solo relatively comfortably as Whiscash, though I should note mine picked up Earthquake after beating the preceding Electabuzz. Earthquake 3HKOs Togedemaru, but if you're running Bulldoze or Magnitude this is probably a 4 or 5 hit affair. At least Whiscash has the bulk to shrug off Bounces and Steel Wings from Togedemaru and Skarmory, but it may need a few Potions. The play here might be to keep Mud Bomb around as the fourth move, since even though it's weaker and off a worse base stat it bypasses the Def boost and multitarget penalty.

Guzma 1 wasn't great because this is around when evolved enemies start using good STABs, which counteracts Whiscash's extra bulk. Mine couldn't revenge kill Masquerain (came in without getting Intimidated) because Rock Tomb did about half and the speed drop wasn't enough, so it went down in two hits of Bug Buzz. Considering that there's more Guzmas after this one and Vikavolt has Energy Ball, these seem like a bad time.

Maybe it picks up later but considering that it has its best moves and it's done all its best boss fights other than Hapu and Olivia 2 I'm not optimistic. None of the upcoming trials have Grass moves so it can probably get at least a hit in, but it just doesn't have the stats even evolved to win a majority of neutral matchups 1v1. If I wasn't doing this specific run I would drop it after Togedemaru, but it’s not like Noinoi or Arbo can shoulder the burden.
 

Ryota Mitarai

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Barboach to C sounds reasonable, though I'd like for the run be completed first just in case it does pick up for you. Molayne should also be relatively good matchup (though Reflect might be annoying), since it can take care of most of his Pokemon there with ease

I assume you are also gonna use the traded Phantump? If yes, I'd be happy to know what you would think of it as well. Phantump is a bit weird in that it can provide tons of ways to support your teammates (Curse, Leech Seed, Forest's Curse) or even beat some opponents with Destiny Bond. Outside of those, it typically prays on type advantage to win major fights.

Looking forward to your other results
 
lol I just realized I forgot the Eviolite. I guess Barboach is slightly better against Olivia 1 but I stand by it not being that good generally.
Barboach to C sounds reasonable, though I'd like for the run be completed first just in case it does pick up for you. Molayne should also be relatively good matchup (though Reflect might be annoying), since it can take care of most of his Pokemon there with ease

I assume you are also gonna use the traded Phantump? If yes, I'd be happy to know what you would think of it as well. Phantump is a bit weird in that it can provide tons of ways to support your teammates (Curse, Leech Seed, Forest's Curse) or even beat some opponents with Destiny Bond. Outside of those, it typically prays on type advantage to win major fights.

Looking forward to your other results
I didn't mention Molayne because he wasn't on your earlier list of relevant fights but I'll throw Babo at him and see what quakes.

Is there a certain moveset I should be running on Tumptump that you want me to test? He has Shadow Claw/Leech Seed/Curse/Will-O-Wisp. My thinking was I'd drop Leech Seed for Forest's Curse, Curse for Destiny Bond, and then Forest's Curse for Wood Hammer followed by Horn Leech.
 

Ryota Mitarai

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Is there a certain moveset I should be running on Tumptump that you want me to test? He has Shadow Claw/Leech Seed/Curse/Will-O-Wisp. My thinking was I'd drop Leech Seed for Forest's Curse, Curse for Destiny Bond, and then Forest's Curse for Wood Hammer followed by Horn Leech.
up until the E4, you want to have Curse and Destiny Bond for sure and Horn Leech when you get it. When you reach the E4, you want a set of Growth, Horn Leech, and Shadow Claw (Shadow Claw is a TM btw). I cannot think of a 4th move that could help, so up to you. Resort to the relearner, if needed.

e: try Sunny Day through TMs as your fourth move to combine with Growth.
e2: put this in quotes by mistake, should've been here

I didn't mention Molayne because he wasn't on your earlier list of relevant fights but I'll throw Babo at him and see what quakes.
A Pokemon that is efficient provides faster and easier solutions to major fights, which include Totem Pokemon, Kahunas, Guzma, Ultra Necrozma, the Elite Four, and the final fight against Hau
(it's fine, though, reading is hard, I know this from experience)
 
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Trevenant is hilarious. At Lv. 35 it ate a Shadow Claw from Mimikyu with 3 HP and Cursed, so I won without busting the Disguise.

Against Guzmas 2 and 3 his Golisopod will always Sucker Punch against Trevenant because it's super effective, so Tumptump cast Forest's Curse then switched out to Cha to OHKO with 4x Acrobatics. Against Guzma 3 Destiny Bond was invaluable because even Noivern loses to Vikavolt 1v1.

To give a sense of how how Whiscash performs in neutral matchups, it can't beat Gladion 2's Golbat at the same level 1v1 because both Rock Slide and Acrobatics 3HKO but Golbat is faster. Against Guzma 3 Pinsir at 48 (+3 levels) Mystic Water Aqua Tail barely 2HKOs, if it can't secure 2HKO then it's beaten by a faster 3HKO.

Currently at Seafolk Village, both Trevenant and Barboach feel like C material. They're both inconsistent against random trainers with some application against bosses, Barboach's shining moment being Togedemaru and Trevenant being decent against most bosses for general support. Destiny Bond seems important, Curse and Forest's Curse less so. There's an argument for packing Will-o-Wisp, it just depends on what the team needs help with most.
 
Litten= May the odds be ever in your favor. Yeah, no. For a while it was good, but we're in the mid-game now. They managed to beat the Fire Trial using some Work Ups and Bites so that's cool.

Grubbin= While Grubbin did evolve he did not get much use. Even in the water trial, Charjabug is just too frail and their Special Attack is low.

Mime Jr.= They actually managed to beat the Water Trial with Charge Beam and some heals. And they are my new sweeper. Charge Beam, Psybeam, Brickbreak, there's something for everyone.

Psyduck= Like with Grubbin they are just too frail for the Trial and the Kahuna.

Steenee= By the time you get it, its only use is Olivia's Lycanroc. Yup. One pokemon. You do resist Lileep's moves, but that's it.

Stufful= Like Steenee, its only use is Olivia. The worst part is that you get it right before the Kahuna. But it does super-effective damage to everyone but Anorith, who you resist every attack on, apart from a non-stab Metal Claw. Its placement is horrible, but at least it does its job. It's like a cannon, made of rock. It isn't the fastest thing in the world, but it shoots hard and can hold on decently well.
 

Ryota Mitarai

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Really small nitpick, but you don't get Stufful before Olivia, but Lurantis, so it should have no problems catching up until Olivia. The rest of your summaries are fair (though you may have gotten Psyduck slightly later, you can get to Sandy Cave as soon as you reach the beach iirc, but it's not a big deal). I remember my Charjabug beating Araquanid by 3HKOing with Acrobatics and healing once, but yeah, could be better there.

as an update to my run, I stopped at Araquanid last night and planning to progress more today, here are quick thoughts on the tests/retests:

Pikipek - still awesome since I last used it. Needed to heal it to beat the Normal Totem, but it shouldn't be necessary against Raticate, which will be 2HKOed instantly. Hala sweep was incredibly easy and Araquanid was just Z-Pluck then Pluck to KO.

Wingull - still pretty good, slightly worse than I remembered, as Hala matchup is slightly trickier, but Wingull gets better once you get Air Cutter at level 22, which was pivotal for its Araquanid matchup

Grimer - the more I use it, the more I struggle to see the support to A-tier. Couldn't beat the Normal Totem (only way to do it is reach level 15 for Acid Spray, but I couldn't), struggles against Hala, and your only way of beating Araquanid is if you get lucky with Minimize. If performance continues like this, I may turn a bit tyrannical and just establish it in B-tier due to how bad my experience is with that thing.

Vivillon - swept Hala easily and beat Araquanid. Beyond Lurantis, I think it will reach the phase that convinced me of no higher than C-tier, as it will be stuck with Gust for a long time.

Beedrill - haven't had much opportunity to use it, but yeah, it's a Beedrill, so not sure if I am gonna learn too much. I may just drop it after Lurantis if it can't win there and use something else, particularly Combusken, since I kind of feel A may be too high atm.

Larvesta not yet obtained (and won't be for a while lol)
 
Babo versus Hapu, Lv. 58, holding Waterium Z:

Golurk - Whiscash outspeeds, Aqua Tail 2HKOs, Z-Aqua Tail OHKOs. Enemy Earthquake could 2HKO back but may set up Stealth Rock instead of attacking
Flygon - Whiscash is outsped, enemy Earth Power 3HKOs while Aqua Tail barely misses 2HKO. Z-Aqua Tail barely misses OHKO. Loses without Z-move
Gastrodon - Whiscash outspeeds, Earthquake and Muddy Water both just miss 2HKO, but Muddy Water may drop accuracy
Mudsdale - Whiscash outspeeds, Stamina means you 3HKO. can OHKO with Z-Aqua Tail but it's a range. Enemy Earthquake can 2HKO but needs to get lucky on a range, Z-Earthquake misses OHKO

Optimal contribution is to double Aqua Tail on Golurk, then use Z-Aqua Tail on Mudsdale. Mudsdale is her first switch into Whiscash, so this works on Set. If you didn't get hit you can try to fight Gastrodon as well

Didn't test Tumptump as much but at 57 he loses to Golurk's Shadow Punch (faster) and Mudsdale's Payback, while beating Gastrodon and Flygon with Horn Leech. Z-STAB OHKOs Golurk but you still eat a nasty hit, Z-Horn Leech misses the OHKO on Mudsdale but Trevenant is faster so it wins
 

Ryota Mitarai

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here are the results of my run:

Pikipek
I tested this mostly to refresh my memory on its performance. It's still as great as I remember it to be, beating various amount of Totems (Verdant Cavern, Araquanid, Lurantis, Kommo-o, and Ribombee) while sweeping Hala and being good for most Guzma matchups (though it may not always sweep). Its biggest downfall is that the E4 performance is disappointing compared to its prior performance. It is also worth mentioning that Beak Blast is very useful for Togedemaru and Mimikyu (spam it on the latter to get through Lum Berry), so Toucannon can be useful even if it doesn't always win. If no one tests this, I may just establish it in A-tier, as it's pretty striaghtforward and I feel like A-tier is perfect for it.

Wingull
Feeling like this may end up in A-tier, unless someone has a different opinion. Wingull is slightly worse as a Flying-type, compared to Pikipek, for Totems, as it simply lacks the power to OHKO them. Nevertheless, it beats Araquanid if it has Air Cutter, Lurantis, and is one of the best Pokemon for Marowak. What it wins against Pikipek, though, is the E4 performance, where Pelipper just outright wins over Pikipek. There, it can always claim at least three KOs, but it will generally get four of them. This result was not made by comparing it to Pikipek, for the record, as even without that, I am still fine with A-tier, though S-tier is likely out of question for this seagull. I'd appreciate a second test on this, but I am fine with just leaving it in A-tier based on my tests.

Grimer
a two-year gap simply wasn't enough to change my opinion on Grimer. It very much had the same issues it had last time I used it, which was that it had little-to-no good matchups till it evolved into Muk. Even then, it wasn't all that powerful as a Muk either, though it was somewhat useful. It could leave Mimikyu in red, beat Nanu's Sableye and Persian, beat Ultra Necrozma with two Roto Boosts and healing (then Z-Crunch), then OHKO Ribombee. At the E4, it can be used to claim a few KOs, but it will be worn down pretty quickly there. What I am gonna do, which may not necessarily be popular, is establish Grimer in B. There is already some consensus that Grimer is worse than it appears and any second in which it's not established is a second in which I am more likely to drop it to something even lower. But I cannot simply say this is A-tier, because it lacks the usefulness against boss fights to reach that level of viability.

Scatterbug
Once you get past Lurantis, this becomes very bad until you get QD and reach Guzma #3. In the later portions of the games, it can sweep Guzma #3, OHKO Kommo-o and Ribombee (and maybe sweep Hapu? Didn't try it, as I wanted to breeze through the game faster) and potentially sweep Hau if your starter is Litten. Sweep happens by living a TBolt with Sash, QDing once, healing to avoid QA KO, then putting it to sleep, then QDing gin, then using appropriate move. However, all of Vivillon's attempts to sweep in the late- and end-game are reliant on Hurricane not missing (remember, still 91%), so gonna keep this in C-tier AND timer it.

Beedrill
Dropped this after Lurantis, as it failed to 2HKO with Silverpowder Twineedle. It very likely would have sucked against Ribombee too. All in all, very much F-tier, not even type advantage saves the bee.

Combusken
I am leaning towards dropping it to B, but I'd like someone else to give it a try. Basically, it can win a lot of fights, but has to perform specific set up to win them. Matchups that I won with it include Lurantis, Olivia, Togedemaru, Molayne (not a sweep), Ribombee, and Nanu. Guzma is, interestingly, not a great matchup, as it dies to Razor Shell and Masquerain. All in all, I may drop this in the future, but I'd like for a second test just to be on the safer side, for now, it's not moving anywhere, though.

Larvesta
yeah, keeping this in F-tier. While it can sweep Molayne and Hau very easily, 1% + babying it to level 59 + Slow growth rate + it being very bad means you are investing way too much into a Pokemon that has like two good matchups only and is bad even on the field


tl;dr
Pikipek and Wingull still feel like A-tier, may timer them in the future if no one ever bothers using those
Combusken may drop to B, a second test to make sure would be great
Grimer is being established in B, it has no chance of A
Beedrill and Larvesta are staying in trash tier

not sure when I will start a next run, as there aren't a lot of things left to retest. I generally aim to retest when I feel like the Pokemon may have been mistiered. With that said, I may tackle Lillipup and Passimian (I am removing this from the slate till I retest it, may bring it back). I can maybe tackle Bulbasaur, Grubbin, Rattata, and some other things too, but I'd like first for the people using them to finish their runs.

I will edit this if I decide on a next team.

e: will most likely use Spearow / Lillipup / Dewpider / Passimian / Dragalge. Don't feel like using anything else atm, may change my mind. Dragalge is a confirmation, rest is retest
 
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Lv. 61/62 Babo E4 performances:

Molayne

Klefki: Miss OHKO barely, becomes 3HKO if it Reflects turn 1

Metagross: you outspeed but with Reflect it's a 3HKO. Zen Headbutt 3HKOs. Z-Earthquake misses OHKO but it may be a range

Dugtrio: outspeeds and 3HKOs with Earthquake, but your Earthquake OHKOs. Using Aqua Tail to save PP means getting speed dropped

Magnezone: outsped but is always a 2HKO due to Sturdy, Tri Attack is just under 3HKO. Don't Earthquake first, or he wastes PP by healing

Bisharp: 2HKO'd by Earthquake, Night Slash just misses 3HKO

X Attack versus Klefki cancels out Reflect, letting Whiscash sweep Molayne completely and saving Earthquake PP. Klefki can't touch Whiscash at all so this has zero risk, worth mentioning for writeup. Efficient in that one or two battle items here saves you a heal or two later. Otherwise you should have something else fight Metagross

Olivia

Armaldo: outsped, 3HKO from X-Scissor, Aqua Tail 2HKOs (but may put in Full Restore range)

Cradily: Ice Beam does under half, Z-Ice Beam does like 60%. Then you get Energy Balled

Gigalith: Bulldoze doesn't do much but will cut your speed. Earthquake just misses a 2HKO so it'll get healed, but it's at least weak enough that you can heal while fighting it

Lycanroc: outspeeds but Rock Climb isn't too bad, 2HKO

Probopass: Sturdy forces a 2HKO and then an enemy heal, so open with Aqua Tail. Earth Power isn't too bad and you outspeed it

Not as good as Molayne's matchup but aside from the fossils it's pretty decent

Overall takes on the IGT squad:

Hawlucha is S+. Top 5 in-game mon series-wide
Noibat is D. Noivern is a great user of Choice Specs with a high speed stat and a wide movepool, but that doesn't make up for spending the first 75% of the game benchwarming.
Barboach is C. Does very well against Togedemaru and Molayne and decent against Olivia and Hapu, but is middling everywhere else and struggles more than it ought to in the Fire trial.
Ekans/Arbok is C. Has trouble beating things 1v1, but provides good support for most Totem battles. Unfortunately does not have physical STAB until the end of the game.
Trevenant is C. As with Ekans, it's so-so in 1v1 fights, but has an array of status moves to help the rest of the team take down troublesome bosses.
Shellos/Gastrodon is E. Very slow and does not learn any good Ground-type moves, limiting its ability to contribute significantly to endgame fights.

The only two that miss out on anything by being traded in-game are Ekans and Trevenant. Arbo misses its chance to battle Hala and Marowak, as well as to learn Crunch, which would otherwise be its strongest move for much of the rest of the game. Tumptump misses its chance to battle a few bosses, as well as its ability to use Growth until endgame. The bonus Exp. is probably still worthwhile, especially since these Pokémon won't fight many regular Trainers and rely on Exp. Share to keep up.

That's all for this run, I'll probably try to fight the post-game with this crew. Let me know if you have any questions about anything here.
 
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Ryota Mitarai

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Thank you for your results! Barboach will drop to C and Phantump will be established in C-tier

for your Ekans comment, it's generally better to just get a normal one. The normal one is useful for all fights until you get the traded one. While the traded does have experience, the early Ekans will have accumulated enough Exp. that it can reasonably be left alone and not affect its performance significantly. With that said, also establishing Ekans to C, rather than waiting on the timer.

with that said, I am opening a slate due to the fact I think we have enough nominations. Here's how it looks right now:

Zubat A -> B
Totem Salazzle merge with Salandit (drop to B)
Greninja E -> D
Barboach B - > C
Stufful B -> A (no establishment)
Lillipup B -> C

Wimpod establish to C
Axew establish to C
Kangaskhan establish to C
Alolan Grimer establish to B
Phantump establish to C
Ekans establish to C
Passimian establish to B


slate isn't exactly big, but it's got enough changes to work with. Results will be applied this Saturday. For Stufful, it won't be established in A-tier yet, I want to see FBL's results with it.

In addition, I can add other nominations that I agree with if you make them before deadline. And even if you don't, don't worry, this won't be the last slate.

I will see if I can finish my new run before then to add something there, particularly Passimian

e: see post below for changes
 
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Ryota Mitarai

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double post but I managed to complete my run.

Spearow
My thoughts about it haven't changed much. It's pretty much a worse Pikipek; it performs ok against most opponents that it hits super effectively, but it definitely lacks power. It has a hard time sweeping Hala (it beats everything but Crabrawler), cannot beat Kommo-o, and can beat Ribombee only if it goes for QD turn one. However, Fearow can potentially beat Marowak; you Z-Mirror Move or Z-Work Up, then outspeed and 2HKO it with Assurance. This requires it to go for Detect turn one, though.

All in all, it's probs a solid B-tier Pokemon, but someone may think otherwise. If no one ever feels like using it, I may just leave it in B-tier.

Lillipup
Dropping this to C-tier
. My experience with it was much worse; +1 Z-Last Resort could not OHKO Lurantis and Araquanid and Lurantis was a shaky win at best. It could OHKO Mimikyu with +1 Z-Iron Head as long as Banette was out of the picture. It tended to be meh elsewhere, including Totem Ribombee, where you are unlikely to win either. Med Slow + Intimidate is nice, but I definitely did not feel it was as good as I remember it to be.

Dewpider
No change in opinion. Good for Hapu, Ribombee, Marowak (most important matchup), and has some use against Olivia. It can beat Ultra Necrozma with Focus Sash Mirror Coat. Its E4 performance isn't the best due to how slow it is and its typing not being helpful there either, though I can't say it's a deadweight there. I think B is perfect for it, so may randomly establish in the future if no one challenges this rank

Passimian
Establishing in B-tier
. Natural Bulk Up + Close Combat was greatly useful and Passimian had a good amount of great matchups. Those include Olivia (both fights), Molayne, Nanu (with healing), and Togedemaru. As an added bonus, it was good for the second Guzma fight as well. Slow experience group hurts it, but I think I'd rather have this in B than C.

Dragalge
Yeah, keeping this in F-tier. While it can beat Ribombee, it relies on favorable rolls and AI behavior to win. This is cause it doesn't have a guaranteed 2HKO on Ribombee with Acid Downpour and Sludge Bomb, not to mention that the whole strategy falls apart if Blissey heals with Heal Pulse. Poor Dragalge.


I will update my last post with Passimian and Lillipup and apply the results tomorrow unless they are challenged.

Unfortunately, I am not sure if I can run with anything at this point. I have a good idea of almost everything's performance at this point. There are a bunch of stuff that I'd run with that is currently being run with by other people, but I'd like for those people first to finish their runs first to see if there's a consensus or not on their current ranks. Currently, the only thing I can do is wait for more nominations to come and to address other people's posts. Hopefully, we can reach a consensus on most of the current tiers so the list can transition to write-ups soon enough.

Speaking of progress, I decided to do a little math with regards to how done the list is. Assuming that nothing rises from D or below to C or higher, I estimated that around 62-64% of the ranks are already established. This means that more than half of the list is already done. This is great, in my opinion, as it shows that the list has progressed greatly in spite of how tedious the games can be to run. I hope we can continue confirming the tiers so we can get closer to completing this project. I am planning to, at some point in the future, to announce a "final countdown" to conclude the list, but I want to tackle the shakier cases first before I do that.

e: removed a tier change that I am considering from the post, as I didn't want to post it now, but did it accidentally.

IMPORTANT EDIT: I forgot to apply the results yesterday. Anyways, it hasn't affected anyone, so not a big deal, I hope. Anyways, results are in, waiting for more nominations.
 
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Ryota Mitarai

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ok so this has been dead for almost a month, for which I apologize. As I've stated, there was hardly anything I could run at that point and wanted to let other people provide some nominations to work with.

Anyways, I am making this post to see if I can revive the project and push it a bit towards its end. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I am not expecting for everything to be evaluated thoroughly, since this game is pretty hard to run. So what I am going to do is look for opinion on some high priority stuff. Once those are covered, I will give some time for any last nominations that someone may want to make before moving this to write-ups, unless there's an increase in interest for evaluating other things, in which case I can extend the project's lifespan. Obviously, this can seem a bit as prematurely ending the project and chances are that there will be "errors" (granted, almost every rank is subjective, so what is an error can be different for everyone), but the fact is that we don't really have the manpower to thoroughly evaluate everything (which is also why I dealt extensively with D-tier and below, so that other people can have less work and concentrate on the higher tiers instead).

Anyways, here are the Pokemon that I really want more opinions on:

Grubbin A -> B?
Abra (Trade) A -> B?
Alolan Vulpix C -> D? OR Alolan Sandshrew D -> C?
(personally, I think both would be better off in D, but I don't mind a tier difference if it's justified)
Alolan Graveler (Trade) C -> D?
Oricorio A -> S?
Wishiwashi A -> S?
Beldum or Honedge B -> C
(preference for Beldum to be tested, since I still think the catch rate + not having any good matchups before Metagross are worrysome. Honedge is there cause if it drops to C, then so does Beldum)
Magikarp S -> A? (this has never received discussion. From what I recall, it's all-around great and can beat almost every opponent as Gyarados)
Litten A -> B?
Rowlet B -> C

as I said, if those all receive some opinions and we can reach a consensus on them, I will start preparing the list to go to write-ups (helps that I have experience with most of the list, so almost everything has been used at least once).

I don't mind if you use less than 5-6 Pokemon. If you have to, use 2-4 instead if it helps you stay productive. The above are only 10 Pokemon, so this hopefully shouldn't burn anyone out. Of course, if you want to provide an opinion on something else not on the list, feel more than free to

I will probably try out Bulbasaur, Makuhita, Rattata, Murkrow, and Cubone at some point, but I'd like to see first what happens from here on. I may also make some rank changes from past runs, but this won't happen right now.

e: added Litten and Rowlet too, I may run with Litten myself
 
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ok so this has been dead for almost a month, for which I apologize. As I've stated, there was hardly anything I could run at that point and wanted to let other people provide some nominations to work with.

Anyways, I am making this post to see if I can revive the project and push it a bit towards its end. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I am not expecting for everything to be evaluated thoroughly, since this game is pretty hard to run. So what I am going to do is look for opinion on some high priority stuff. Once those are covered, I will give some time for any last nominations that someone may want to make before moving this to write-ups, unless there's an increase in interest for evaluating other things, in which case I can extend the project's lifespan. Obviously, this can seem a bit as prematurely ending the project and chances are that there will be "errors" (granted, almost every rank is subjective, so what is an error can be different for everyone), but the fact is that we don't really have the manpower to thoroughly evaluate everything (which is also why I dealt extensively with D-tier and below, so that other people can have less work and concentrate on the higher tiers instead).

Anyways, here are the Pokemon that I really want more opinions on:

Grubbin A -> B?
Abra (Trade) A -> B?
Alolan Vulpix C -> D? OR Alolan Sandshrew D -> C?
(personally, I think both would be better off in D, but I don't mind a tier difference if it's justified)
Alolan Graveler (Trade) C -> D?
Oricorio A -> S
Wishiwashi A -> S
Beldum or Honedge B -> C
(preference for Beldum to be tested, since I still think the catch rate + not having any good matchups before Metagross are worrysome. Honedge is there cause if it drops to C, then so does Beldum)
Magikarp S -> A? (this has never received discussion. From what I recall, it's all-around great and can beat almost every opponent as Gyarados)
Litten A -> B?
Rowlet B -> C

as I said, if those all receive some opinions and we can reach a consensus on them, I will start preparing the list to go to write-ups (helps that I have experience with most of the list, so almost everything has been used at least once).

I don't mind if you use less than 5-6 Pokemon. If you have to, use 2-4 instead if it helps you stay productive. The above are only 10 Pokemon, so this hopefully shouldn't burn anyone out. Of course, if you want to provide an opinion on something else not on the list, feel more than free to

I will probably try out Bulbasaur, Makuhita, Rattata, Murkrow, and Cubone at some point, but I'd like to see first what happens from here on. I may also make some rank changes from past runs, but this won't happen right now.

e: added Litten and Rowlet too, I may run with Litten myself
Grubbin A -> B?

Been a while since I have used this thing. From what I remember Grubbin is...kinda bad until Charjabug, then becomes okay as Vikavolt. I'm fine with ranking it B as off the top of my head it doesn't have a whole lot of matchups.

Grubbin A -> B?
Tough one. On the one hand, Alakazam is very powerful. On the other hand, it can't be denied how much Bug coverage this game has. I think B is pretty appropriate.

Alolan Vulpix C -> D? OR Alolan Sandshrew D -> C? (personally, I think both would be better off in D, but I don't mind a tier difference if it's justified)

D works for both. I've heard reports of Vulpix getting outsped and nuked by Kommo-o. I've used Sandshrew in the past and I remember the Steel type helping it but it not being super standout.

Alolan Graveler (Trade) C -> D?
Have no opinion on this thing. C sounds okay.

Oricorio A -> S
Wishiwashi A -> S

Also have no opinion on these two. I'd say if one has to be S it'd be Wishiwashi. I might run with these guys soon.

Beldum or Honedge B -> C
Both should stay in C in my opinion. Honedge suffers from an exceptionally lackluster start and while Aegislash is nice for endgame, I never really thought it was a standout mon. Beldum is an easy C: slow growth rate, pain to catch. Metagross is fantastic but just so much stuff on paper alone make me hesitate to call it efficient.

Magikarp S -> A?
Also need to run with this. For now...A I guess.

Litten A -> B?
Been ages since I have used it but I dunno, never really saw the standout mon everyone else did, so B for now. Might run with this too.

Rowlet B -> C
C for sure! This mon is just kinda there the whole game until Sinister Arrow Raid, and the other two starters are clearly better.
 
ok so this has been dead for almost a month, for which I apologize. As I've stated, there was hardly anything I could run at that point and wanted to let other people provide some nominations to work with.

Anyways, I am making this post to see if I can revive the project and push it a bit towards its end. As I've mentioned in a previous post, I am not expecting for everything to be evaluated thoroughly, since this game is pretty hard to run. So what I am going to do is look for opinion on some high priority stuff. Once those are covered, I will give some time for any last nominations that someone may want to make before moving this to write-ups, unless there's an increase in interest for evaluating other things, in which case I can extend the project's lifespan. Obviously, this can seem a bit as prematurely ending the project and chances are that there will be "errors" (granted, almost every rank is subjective, so what is an error can be different for everyone), but the fact is that we don't really have the manpower to thoroughly evaluate everything (which is also why I dealt extensively with D-tier and below, so that other people can have less work and concentrate on the higher tiers instead).

Anyways, here are the Pokemon that I really want more opinions on:

Grubbin A -> B?
Abra (Trade) A -> B?
Alolan Vulpix C -> D? OR Alolan Sandshrew D -> C?
(personally, I think both would be better off in D, but I don't mind a tier difference if it's justified)
Alolan Graveler (Trade) C -> D?
Oricorio A -> S?
Wishiwashi A -> S?
Beldum or Honedge B -> C
(preference for Beldum to be tested, since I still think the catch rate + not having any good matchups before Metagross are worrysome. Honedge is there cause if it drops to C, then so does Beldum)
Magikarp S -> A? (this has never received discussion. From what I recall, it's all-around great and can beat almost every opponent as Gyarados)
Litten A -> B?
Rowlet B -> C

as I said, if those all receive some opinions and we can reach a consensus on them, I will start preparing the list to go to write-ups (helps that I have experience with most of the list, so almost everything has been used at least once).

I don't mind if you use less than 5-6 Pokemon. If you have to, use 2-4 instead if it helps you stay productive. The above are only 10 Pokemon, so this hopefully shouldn't burn anyone out. Of course, if you want to provide an opinion on something else not on the list, feel more than free to

I will probably try out Bulbasaur, Makuhita, Rattata, Murkrow, and Cubone at some point, but I'd like to see first what happens from here on. I may also make some rank changes from past runs, but this won't happen right now.

e: added Litten and Rowlet too, I may run with Litten myself
I'll try to contribute a little more regarding the few Pokémon you listed here that I have used. Note that my playthroughs were done 3-4 years ago so I'm purely basing this on memory, hope that's okay.

Abra (Trade) A -> B?

From what I remember when I used it, it was good but not that amazing. Alakazam is frail and it felt like it had many common weaknesses. I think it should be B.

Oricorio A -> S?

This was also great but not perfect. Definitely not S in my eyes, I think it belongs in A.

Litten A -> B?

Another really good one, it was one of the better members of my UM team for sure. Should definitely be A.

Those are my opinions on those three at least. On a different subject, I strongly disagree with D for Leafeon. I remember it being way better than that when I used it. But if other players feel that B is too high for it, then maybe we can find a middle ground and place it in C instead? I would be okay with that.
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
I used Leafeon a while ago and said I am fine with C-tier, the reason I never moved it out of D-tier is because I wanted to see if anyone else wants to make a case for C-tier. I will consider moving it, but will leave it up for discussion for a bit if anyone wants to pitch in more thoughts. With that said, B-tier is out of question, it has way too many bad matchups for B-tier

I will drop Alakazam to B in the next few days if it doesn't get some defense. I believe it's a good Pokemon, but yeah, it does have tons of cons here, compared to other games

I will let Drumstick provide logs for Litten and I may use it myself after this, though the somewhat weak beginning doesn't look too attractive

To add a bit more to my post, I may proceed with rank changes to the following of my own:

Feebas (Trade) C -> D
Slowpoke (Slowking) C -> D
Pancham D -> C
Ralts B -> C

reasonings:

Feebas - Feebas is quite rare (1% on normal fishing spots, 10% on bubbling spots) and you need to backtrack for the Prism Scale to evolve it before Marowak. Erratic growth rate makes it pretty hard to train early on too. On the other hand, though, it has quite a few good matchups, such as Olivia, Marowak, and most of the E4. This is the least likely to happen, but I will consider it

Slowpoke - Slowking requires an item hunt to get King's Rock, is fairly slow, and Psychic typing doesn't really help it. On the other hand, it does hit hard many opponents, I even managed to 1v1 Togedemaru with it (albeit unreliably). This is also somewhat consistent with Politoed, which is in D-tier for a very similar reason. Slow growth rate doesn't help either

Pancham - used this in one of the ten runs I did a while ago and felt it was on par with most C-tiers. It is actually a bit better than Scraggy, imo, and Scraggy is C-tier, so either I push Pancham to C or I push Scraggy to D and I'd rather have both in C-tier, honestly, since they are great, just come somewhat late (Scraggy comes after Mimikyu, so this one is "rather late")

Ralts - with Zam dropping, Ralts might as well drop too. It's terrible until it evolves into Gardevoir and has tons of bad matchups, but it can overwhelm some of them too, like Nanu, Kommo-o, and Ribombee

these ones aren't from the "mandatory" I listed; I am just sharing the Pokemon whose rank I may change. If you want to make a case for any of those, feel free to, otherwise, I may proceed with those

(also, I removed all "timers", since at this point I am not going to "regulate" the list and rank changes too much)
 
I think the thing with Leafeon hype is that is unfortunately borderline unusable in so many other games. In its debut it got Leaf Blade and Swords Dance in the 70s, BW2 it wasn’t available until the postgame, XY is well XY difficulty and now we get to this game.

When I used it, I really tried to like the thing but at the end of the day it’s still a Grass type and unless your name is Lilligant in Unova that’s basically doomed to C or worse unless you stand out from the pack.

It had a good start for Olivia 1 and some crazy Protect strats on Guzma, but outside of that Leafeon wasn’t that useful. C but no higher in my opinion and I don’t think D would be absolutely unreasonable either.

I started my run with Litten, Magikarp, Wishiwashi, and Oricorio today, but something tells me the A ranks will be a foregone conclusion.
 

Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
for reference on Leafeon, here are the matchups that made me feel like C is possible:

Lurantis - you SD here and then OHKO with Z-Last Resort. The only way to lose here, per experience, is if Kecleon Screeches you, but it seems to always go for Sunny Day turn one, so you should be safe

Olivia - possible sweep, albeit not guaranteed. You SD then spam Razor Leaf. Anorith 3HKOes with Bug Bite, but is slower. Lycanroc is faster and it comes down to whenever Bite flinches you or not

Mimikyu - +2 Z-Iron Tail OHKOes Mimikyu, but you need something else to break Disguise and kill Banette first

Nanu - can beat Sableye and Krokorok, but Krokorok is faster and Swaggers it, so it becomes a bit of a luck matchup

Olivia #2 - SD then OHKO Armaldo, Gigalith, and Lycanroc with Leaf Blade. 2HKO Probopass and heal to avoid a KO. Then OHKO Cradily with Z-Leaf Blade

the biggest complaint I have here is that all of them either require some support to actually happen or something can go wrong and ruin your victory. Every other matchup not mentioned is mostly mediocre and shouldn't count in favor of Leafeon, which is why I am a bit torn between C and D. At least Leafeon is better than most Grass-types, I can give it credit for that.

edit: one important thing to note is Baby-Doll Eyes, which can help against stuff like Togedemaru when you cannot do much else. Can't say this is an automatic tier raiser, though.

also, I forgot to include it in my previous post, but I may also drop Combusken to B-tier. It doesn't come super early and while it wins quite a lof of matchups, it often has to employ some weird strats like "Flame Charge, Work Up, use move1, then Work Up again, then move2", so B might be better, especially if Makuhita drops to B. Also, not gonna count this against them, but I find it funny that they are way slower than they look like, I have been outsped a few times by stuff that I'd think both should outspeed.
 
Quickly ran through island 1, some quick thoughts:

-Litten is honestly way better than I remembered it being! Fire Fang at only level 15 is insane and hits very hard, and Double Kick and Z-Work Up are early options that turn it into an utter bulldozer that is very fast and can even sweep Hala at +3 in Blaze, impressively.

-Not much to say on Oricorio because it's still a new member, but it's been kinda like you'd expect. Air Cutter at level 13 is very nice, Work Up and Roost via TMs give a capable early moveset and I'm going to give it Icy Wind in a bit for its last move. Seems pretty linear though I hesitate to say it will be as good as Mudbray and Hawlucha. Also you will hate Air Cutter's 5% miss rate, it happens startlingly common.

Also this game is pretty underrated, still very fun to play and it feels good to be running it again.
 
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Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
Abra (Trade) A -> B
Feebas (Trade) C -> D
Slowpoke (Slowking) C -> D
Pancham D -> C
Ralts B -> C
Combusken A -> B

I am applying all of those tomorrow, if you have any objections, post now. I will post justifications again, this time probably more fleshed out

Many people have raised issues with Alakazam, mainly that it's a frail Psychic-type in a region infested with super effective coverage. Alakazam is certainly the best Psychic-type, though, and probs the only one that doesn't have significnat amount of issues. It has a plethora of bad matchups, like all the Akala and Ula'Ula Totems. It generally excels in human fights, being good for all Kahunas. It can also sweep Hau, albeit with healing. All in all, Alakazam is going to B-tier due to a huge amount of bad matchups


Feebas is quite rare, being 1% with normal fishing and 10% wth fishing on bubbling spots. On top of this, you need to backtrack to Kala'e Bay to get the Prism Scale in order to have a Milotic for Totem Marowak, one of its most important matchups. To make things worse, it's in the Erratic growth rate, making it a pain to train early on. Milotic is fairly powerful, though, as its E4 performance was quite acceptable and its earlier matchups where alright. I just think this requires tons of investment to get and to raise it as a whole and a lot of Water-types are going to provide similar contributions without having to look and later backtrack for it.


Like Milotic, this requires some investment in order to fully evolve, as you need to hunt for King's Rock off wild Hawlucha. On top of this, it's fairly slow (duhhhh) and Psychic typing doesn't really help it beyond Hala (and even then, you don't have Thief at that point, so might as well skip the matchup). Early Slowking is fun, though, it crushes Marowak with no issues whatsoever. Like Milotic, it's hard to train due to Slow growth rate and most of its contributions aren't too far off the other Water-types' performance that don't require the investment to hunt it. It's also consistent with Politoed being D-tier for a very similar reason.


Pancham's performance is mostly on-par with other C-tiers. It's good for Togedemaru, Nanu (with healing), Molayne, Olivia, Acerola, and Hapu. It's pretty much a slightly better Scraggy and that is C-tier, so unless I decide to drop Scraggy instead, I would rather push Pancham to C, as I think both are all-around good Pokemon that just come rather late.


Ralts starts out terribly and has nothing good going for it until level 30. However, you are also stuck with a Slow growth rate, so expect to invest quite a bit to evolve it. Gardevoir lso doesn't do much in most fights, though it is great for Nanu, Kommo-o, Ribombee, Hapu, Kahili, and Hau. All in all, requires some investment early on due to how terrible it is and doesn't do much until much later into the game.


Combusken's issues stem from the fact that it needs to resort to somewhat complex strategies to win. This includes things like "Work Up turn one, use move1, Work Up again, Flame Charge, use move2, then spam move3". In terms of matchups won, it has Lurantis, Olivia (both fights), Togedemaru, Nanu, Ribombee (potentially, if it goes for QD turn one), and Molayne. It also has the benefit of relatively early Medium Slow growth rate, so it's not too hard to train in the long run. The more I look at those logs, the more I am convinced it should be B-tier.


haven't decided on what to do with Leafeon yet. My plan is to do the run I am planning on doing (Rattata / Makuhita / Bulbasaur / Murkrow / Cubone / Bruxish) then compare it to whatever is in C-tier currently. I know that I said not to base tiers off other stuff's performance, but in this case, it's to see if it meets the standards that have been established for C-tier. If Leafeon rises to C, I may push Sylveon to B, though I may wanna retest this first. Some other things from C-tier, most notably Diglett, could maybe rise to B-tier too. Leafeon will most likely be compared to Flareon, but the comparisons won't necessarily lead to any decision.

I will post more about my run in the future once I am done with it.

e: applied changes, not making a new post
 
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Just beat Hau on Ula'ula, team update time.

1629858365586.png


Gyarados: I don't know guys, I just don't know. Between cleanly losing to Olivia unless you seriously baby this thing to 30 (Aqua Tail, which I forgot was 30 as like 70% of the other games have you get it at level 35) and kinda losing to Marowak (you beat it but die to Salazzle), in conjunction with Intimidate activating for every single mook encounter, I'm not a big fan of this thing. I can definitely see A but it feels like I'm always having to constantly focus on it thanks to the Slow growth rate. On top of that it needs Bounce to get off the ground and Z-Bounce eats up more time. It apparently sweeps Kommo-o later so that's cool but it just doesn't scream S to me. DD also seems kinda overrated with all the Sturdy stuff lategame. Also babying Magikarp is never fun, even if it is manageable. By all accounts, I think you're better off with:

1629858388799.png


Wishiwashi: In spite of having many of the same annoyances (Schooling animation + Z-moves), Schooling Wishiwashi has a few things going for it I think Gyarados does not. While both it and Gyarados generally 2HKO if not Z-moving, I feel Wishiwashi is...surprisingly more flexible! Fast growth rate, can be caught from levels 10-21 if you fish at a bubbling spot for a 25% chance (I got a level 18 one) meaning virtually no babying thanks to stupidly powerful Brine off 140 Special Attack, very self-sufficient movepool (with the only things it might want being the Bulldoze TM and later Endeavor via tutor).

It also hits harder than Gyarados at the cost of Speed (which really isn't that big a deal, as even Torracat gets outspeed by Olivia thanks to EVs), and can even pull off some niche tech if you know the game well. I snagged Leftovers from a Munchlax (literally 100% chance for Leftovers if you find one, albeit a 5% encounter rate) and combined it with Aqua Ring for Olivia, which enabled it to sweep her very consistently. Sure it still loses to Lurantis, but I consider that roughly equivalent to beating Olivia. Plus Leftovers or Waterium Z are both fine field items.

While the duo may have comparable major battle performances, I think Wishiwashi's bulky offense and Fast growth rate outshines Gyarados's contributions. Also I don't think I've gone into Solo Form even once, so Schooling doesn't really have a downside. If anything, the low HP makes healing via items much easier.

1629858408920.png


Torracat

Not much to say. While it definitely takes a hit on Akala in terms of viability, I feel it remains relevant enough to be A, especially with evolution coming up.

1629858464737.png

Oricorio
Pretty good, but I think it might be a little bit too frail for S. Olivia has been its only truly bad matchup though, so we'll wait and see how lategame goes. Feather Dance is nice tech.

If you couldn't tell, the fish have been the ones I've been scrutinizing for S more, though Oricorio does have some shades of it. None stack up to Hawlucha or Mudbray though.
 
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Ryota Mitarai

Shrektimus Prime
is a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributor
Magikarp was in my first test run of the games ever, so yeah, not surprised that I overrated it. I will most likely end up dropping it.

(also, you can also get Magikarp up to level 21 in bubbling spots. In fact, I think the chance is around 40%, so you're actually more likely to find a level 18 Magikarp than level 18 Wishiwashi)

Also, going to use this post to pose a question for everyone here: Should we tier the QR mons? It never came to my mind to actually ask people about this, for whatever reason, but anyways.

Why am I bringing this up? I was scrolling through the list and noticed that most QR mons never really ranked high. The only ones that are C-tier or above from memory are: Charmander, Marshtomp, Honedge, Bulbasaur, Monferno, Prinplup, and Kingdra. Everything else is just D-tier, below, or is Untiered. And this list is already long enough without them (I think I have 150-200 on this list if we discount them, I need to recount them) and you have to consider that they are obtainable only on specific days of the week. While we assume that the player is playing at the correct time, they are pretty unaccessible most of the time (though you can find QR codes on the Internet at least) and most of them don't really rank high. This is why I am asking if people want to actually tier those or they think it's more hassle than worth it.

My personal stance is indifferent but leaning towards removing them. I know that some people may have used them to contribute here and I don't want to disregard their contributions due to my lack of communication. However, if people don't mind them being removed, I may remove them and make the list shorter.

(note: Partner Cap Pikachu wouldn't be affected by this, as I am referring to the Island Scan ones. Pikachu is technically still part of the dex and you just need the QR code from Bulba's page to obtain it and that is not day-dependent. However, it is also D-tier, so I doubt someone will bat an eye if it were removed)

===

As for my run, I made it past Akala last time. Rattata has definitely been underperforming and is most likely dropping to C-tier. Murkrow has been okay, can't say what's gonna happen with it. Makuhita, I am torn between B and A atm, it has still been pretty good, though I couldn't evolve it for Araquanid this time and thus I lost against it. Cubone has been good, couldn't evolve it for Lurantis, but handily swept Olivia and caught up quickly to my team because STAB Bone Club / Bonemerang with Thick Club is just broken. Bulbasaur relied on sleep for the first fights, but it handily beat Araquanid for me and I managed to sweep Olivia with it. Bruxish not yet obtained. Will post more once I am done with my run.
 

Geta92

formerly -GetaX-
I personally enjoy the inclusion of the QR mons very much as they are very easy to obtain with the 20 point codes that are easily searchable on the internet (would be a neat thing to include those in the 1st post by the way) as well as the fact than you can scan 5 codes, save and then change your clock to find the ones you want. So the whole restriction of the current day really isn't all that much of a restriction. That's less of a hassle than any Pokémon that requires trading to fully evolve and those have been included in all in-game tier lists up to date, even if only 1 or 2 trade evolutions are high tier. I could only personally see a reason to remove them if there was some sort of online interaction required, but since the feature is purely offline and going along nicely with the concept of a solo adventure I see no reason to separate them from the tier list.
 
Wanna make an update now that I'm done with Nanu / Ula'ula. This is going to be a long post, so buckle up. I wanna go into how huge an impact Slow growth rate actually is and how it’s a big burden for a Pokémon considered for S, namely, Gyarados. I'm putting this in a spoiler tag for people who just want to get to the viability summaries.

Now, while anything else besides Erratic / Fluctuating / Slow usually doesn’t actively hinder my enjoyment of the game, a Slow mon like Gyarados feels like it’s pulling the rest of my team down by making me use it more. Like, most of my party members have a good level or so over it at pretty much all times even when Gyarados is probably my most used party member, and this is less on account of it carrying my team and more on the fact you have to use a Slow mon ALL THE TIME to keep pace with an average team.

This only changed when it FINALLY got Dragon Dance at level 45, a level I had to Rare Candy to reach for Guzma 2 (I fought pretty much everyone save the Kantonian Gym mooks / Nugget Bridge remake) while probably actively using Gyarados for mooks, like...70% of the time, if not more? And even then, to restate, I was roughly one level under at pretty much all times.

Gyarados is only a bit ahead on my team in levels now thanks to having DD to sweep boss fights, and I'm imagining the rest of my team will catch back up during the Aether raid. I Rare Candied Gyarados once because it would highly impact both Guzma 2 / Nanu (both of which WERE sweeps, though). Playing normally though, I can't see the average player getting Dragon Dance before the Aether raid or maybe even Poni Island.

Either way, whatever way I think about it, I can't see Slow / Erratic / Fluctuating in this game as anything but a detriment when you're encouraged to use EXP Share and thus, the rest of your team levels up in the background. Assuming the rest of your team has good EXP growth rates (mine have Medium Slow for Litten, Medium Fast for Oricorio, and Fast for Wishiwashi) this means a Slow growth rate has to be used EVERYWHERE. It's preventing me from getting a proper perspective on my other team members in the field because for pretty much all of Akala and Ula'ula, I was using Gyarados most of the time, and that is a problem that is just hard to ignore, because using Gyarados more means more scrutinizing from me on its ranking due to using it so much.

Gyarados: Dragon Dance has changed my opinion on this thing thanks to sweeping Guzma 2 and Nanu (the latter with natural rain). HOWEVER, if you do NOT have DD...this thing probably flops for pretty much all of Ula'ula, save for helping with Guzma some. While it has swept a good few fights overall to have some hints of S...I'm sorry, I just can't put it in S in good conscience thanks to that Slow growth rate. It requires near-constant babying level-wise, and an S-tier should generally not drag the team down with their presence. I see it as comparable to Magnemite as an A tier - a shaky first half of the game with an occasional victory, then once it gets Aqua Tail and later DD it gets reliable, similar to acquiring Magnezone on Island 3.

Wishiwashi: It impressively sweeps Totem Togedemaru by setting up Rain Dance on Spiky Shield then OHKOing it with rain-boosted Z-Brine...but after that the game starts catching up with it. Its low HP stat shows cracks as things begin to evolve, whereas previously Wishiwashi was only receiving chip damage most of the time. Mediocre Guzma matchups don't really help either as it can't take repeated hits from his mons.

I think both Wishiwashi and Gyarados will be A tier for the reasons above, even if Gyarados completely dominates endgame. Wishiwashi exchanges Fast growth rate for less coverage and Speed, while Gyarados has Slow growth rate, a slightly worse defensive type (Rock weakness sucks) and outside of Bounce takes a bit to reach its full potential, where Wishiwashi comes barreling out of the gates with Z-Brine and doesn't need much aside from its amazingly paced natural movepool, where it gets upgrades at important benchmarks (whereas Gyarados can miss Aqua Tail for Olivia and Dragon Dance until Ula'ula ends).

Okay, you probably get my points on the fishes. Let's talk about the other two team members!

Incineroar: While it kinda lacks the watertight matchups an A-tier needs (never really being amazing post-Lurantis) I think having a strong first island compared to most other things makes up for it. I love the movepool variety on this thing at pretty much all times. Fire Fang / Double Kick / Bite upgrades to Fire Punch / Darkest Lariat as Incineroar, with a lot of great options for your other two moves like Flame Charge, Work Up, Leech Life, Low Sweep, Brick Break, Acrobatics, U-Turn, Bulldoze, Taunt, and even Bulk Up via TM / relearner sounds really interesting for the Elite Four. Honestly, you can argue B-tier for this thing, but given how hard the bosses in this game are, I can take some sympathy and say A-tier. It's definitely better than Rowlett for sure.

Oricorio: Not a fan of the crap Speed IV mine has, but otherwise this thing is...honestly amazing and I can kinda see S for it more than my other members! Ula'ula made me realize how deceptively diverse it is. Want a healing booster? Work Up + Roost has you covered. Want a solid debuffer? Feather Dance / Captivate cover it on both fronts, which is particularly notable for Totems. Amazing defensive type in Electric / Flying and Fire / Flying might have a Guzma 3 niche for Vikavolt. Air Cutter upgrades to Air Slash at 36 and Revelation Dance at 40 and you get both exactly when you need the extra firepower. Stuff like Agility / Baton Pass feels like the icing on the cake, though I probably won't be Baton Passing any.

Oricorio gets almost everything you could ever want at opportune times in its movepool, similar to how I already praised Wishiwashi. Flynium Z carries it to get the midgame moves just fine, and while it isn't amazing on the Ula'ula Totems, it debuffs both wonderfully with Feather Dance so other members can handle them easier. It's Cottonee done right as it has offensive capabilities while also being a capable supporter. Despite the matchups not being Hawlucha / Mudbray level, the sheer adaptability / versatility Oricorio brings to the table makes me lean toward S, though I can easily see arguments for A as well.

Thanks for reading! We'll see how endgame goes!
 

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