Vigs are out of PUBD, meaning I'm making a personal VR post.
Ill cut to the chase and show off the vr for those who don't feel like reading my yapping.
Immediately I'm sure a few opinions stick out, so let's get to those.
S TIER
Rapidash
Initially I had this pokemon as low as 3 but, I think the way the tier revolves around it aswell as it's incredible consistency make it my #1. That being said i do think this pokemon is droppable, but you need a very good reason to do so.
Golduck
I'm sure we were all terrified of this pokemons amnesia sets, but as it turns out it's kinda hard to set those up in this environment. That doesn't stop golduck from being absolutely elite tho, as it's great stats and tier defining speed tier make a name for it. I think this pokemon is somewhat more naturally checked than rapidash but, harder to drop. These 2 are very close and either of these as #1 would make sense to me.
A TIER
Seaking
I may be glazing but, i think this is the best and most reliable win condition in the tier, this mon is relishing in way less staryu compared to previous metas, aswell as another big obstacle
often checking itself or otherwise being targeted early on. Not much new about it, runs mostly the same stuff.
Porygon
I don't think it's surprising that one of the tiers only true walls, and best para spreader ended up this high. Porygon is VERY good, it's psychics output very reliable damage and most teams need a plan for getting past this mon.
Abra
Commanding possibly the single most threatening attack in the tier, this pokemon hits HARD and it does so FAST
The one downside? It's incredibly frail physically and most things faster than it, back hyper beam partially for it.
That being said with a good pilot, pr behind a substitute. This pokemon can take over games easily.
Magmar
After living in the shadow of both
and
its now stepped out as, very possibly the best and most consistent lead in the meta. In the back it's still quite fast and powerful but, I think it's most notable for its lead stuff.
This is a huge glow up for it but it's usage will back me up.
Pidgeot
This was the A tier I was most unsure about putting up here, i think it's pretty solidly the worst mon in the A tier. However, this pokemon is very strong, although it takes effort to get maximum value since it has a few very bad matchups such as
and
although certain sets can annoy these mons, they typically do not check them unless predicting well.
B TIER
Graveler
Speak of the devil..ik this placement is gonna raise eyebrows but..Just hear me out. Resisting normal and fire right now is more important than ever. Being able to blank mons like
and
so easily is huge, this pokemon is also incredibly hard to switch in on and while an underexplored option, does still possess access to explosion. One of the scariest and most influential moves in rby.
Gastly
I'm not here to rant about this pokemon being broken this time. But I do wanna talk about what it has going for it and why I think it's a great choice on teams. First off, ghost typing is pretty damn useful here, as inorder to actually threaten it
has to run sky attack(wing attack does next to nothing to gastly) it's poison type is unsurprisingly a huge detriment and what keeps it out of the higher tiers tho, as powerful moves like
earthquake and
psychic threaten it greatly. It's tied for the fastest sleeper in the tier, albeit less accurate than venusaur it typically has more to offer in the mid-late game aswell as a significantly better leads matchup into magmar. I think gastly needs more exploring but this placement feels right for the only ghost below UU.
Nidoking
Nidoking being down here is often described as "funny" but its role in PU is no joke. Nidoking is imo the worse of PUs 2 main ground types, however this pokemon boasts impressive speed and great power. Making it somewhat difficult to reliably check. Unlike nidoqueen this pokemon isn't easily revenged by pokemon like gastly and staryu when chipped. I personally believe the best way to take advantage of nidokings talents is to run a sub 3 asks variant. But many sets work.
Staryu
A relic of the old metas top tier, staryu has stuck around in impressive fashion. Showing itself off as a consistent check to the tiers water types, aswell as another fast effective para spreader. This pokemon has more freedom to run blizzard these days meaning it's poor matchup into grass types can be completely flipped if significantly chipped.
Primeape
I was this pokemons biggest hater when the shifts first dropped, however I've come around. I think primeape is obviously carried by its impressive speed tier though. Using its great speed and high attack to revenge frailer pokemon with swift blows, aswell as trading down vs many threats with seismic toss. This pokemon is generally very consistent and easy to build with. (Quite funny it's main sets loses to graveler tho)
Venusaur
Venusaur possess the fastest accurate sleep in the tier, naturally making it a good lead. But that's just it, Venusaur kinda struggles to do things after it gets it's sleep off since it's not too hard to switch into and it lacks stun spore which is a key option of most grass types in rby. I truly don't believe a good team with Venusaur in back works, but if your team can properly take advantage of its sleep, this pokemon can be devastating in the lead slot.
C TIER
Scyther
"Why is Scyther so low" "this list sucks"
Okay you gotta understand, Scyther is a potent late game cleaner/wincon yes. But this pokemon is very easy to account for/stop and i think alot of teams are just ready for it. However if you play loosely with your checks to this mon, don't be shocked when you get run over by it. Scyther is a threat and it's here to stay, but it's fairly matchup dependent in my opinion and something I just outright wouldn't bring vs some people.
Wigglytuff
I absolutely adore wigglytuff so I'm happy to say it's pretty confidently found it's footing in the tier, as a dual status pokemon with solid bulk and basically no weaknesses. Truly not much to say about this pokemon it's just, the definition of average.
Exeggcute
The pile of eggs is actually....not shit? Somehow this mon actually feels pretty okay decent, with good moves and an excellent typing it gets by checking a few things, and spamming status moves constantly.
Sandslash
I can't recall this popping up on a big stage yet in this meta, however it's the 3rd ground type with a role in PU, thing time focusing more on raw offensive pressure than checking specific things. Swords dance enables some pretty insane damage and earthquake only has 1 real resist in exeggcute, while pidgeot is immune it's threatened heavily by +2 rock slide. This mon needs more exploring but I'm confident in this spot.
Vileplume
"What if Venusaur traded it's reliable stab and slightly better speed for access to stun spore" asked a very limited group of people, but here is their answer, vileplume. Imo this pokemon suffers even more than venusaur from not resisting ground, but the utility of having a second status move after clicking sleep powder is very alluring. Idk if this mon will stay up here for me but as of now, it is.
Dragonair
I've been theory-crafting with this mon for weeks, I've gotta say it's extremely hard to build with. But the mon does have some very appealing attributes to it, the rare and very strong mono-dragon typing is huge. This pokemon is great at spreading paralysis and throwing out powerful coverage.
M
achamp
I see ZU in this pokemons future. Machamp isn't like, awful but it's pretty hard to justify right now, it's damage output is good but it's not going around ohkoing things, it's speed is bad and worst of all it's defensive typing Is pathetic. Abra is extremely common rn aswell so revenging this pokemon after it does get a kill is extremely easy.
D TIER
Kingler
I dare you to find one team comp that actually wants this pokemon right now.
There's tons of good, splashable water types in this tier so you aren't going to kingler for that. It's speed tier isn't inherently awful but it fails to hit any notable benchmarks. It's crab hammers are strong but easy to pivot around.
This pokemon just isn't equipped for this tier unfortunately.
Drowzee
Obviously this is still the porygon check it always was, aswell as being tough to come in on and spreading status well.
Not much to say as I haven't used it myself yet.
Nidoqueen
There isn't too much actually wrong with this pokemon. However it does underspeed golduck and staryu, whom tie with nidoking. If it wasn't clear nidoking is the source of all this pokemons problems now. It's completely outclassed but on its own merit, it's fine I guess.
Pinsir
This pokemon is bad.
Near impossible to fit unless you specifically go out of your way to do so.
Not excitingly fast or particularly threatening. I don't currently advise to use this, but it's not useless.
Slowpoke
Slowpoke shows itself off as a fairly bulky mon with twave and an impressive typing.
Its impossible to get amnesia going and I don't recommend trying, but on its own merits it functions as a bulky check to a few things.
Arbok
More theory than anything
Its decent speed and moves like wrap,glare,eq,etc. Pose a very real threat on paper. In practice it misses wrap and gets blown up instantly due to poor bulk.
The stuff in UR is mostly stuff that used to be ranked and isn't anymore or stuff I've talked about with others that idt has a real niche.
I think that's all I have to say right now
[confused ray]
