Art Made by Bummer
Welcome to the official RU Viability Rankings topic. In this thread, we as a community will rank every single usable Pokemon into ranks. In this thread, you're encouraged to post your thoughts and opinions on the various Pokemon that are usable in RU and what rank they should fall under. The general idea of the topic is to rank each RU Pokemon under "rankings" that go in descending order.
Note, atomicllamas and Spirit also run this thread. Also, galbia, the Italian, helped quite a bit in putting the initial list together
Welcome to the official RU Viability Rankings topic. In this thread, we as a community will rank every single usable Pokemon into ranks. In this thread, you're encouraged to post your thoughts and opinions on the various Pokemon that are usable in RU and what rank they should fall under. The general idea of the topic is to rank each RU pokemon under "rankings" that go in descending order.
S RANK:
The best of the best. Reserved for Pokemon who shape and define the RU metagame and are a clear-cut above the rest of the tier. These Pokemon are typically very powerful offensive threats that are difficult to prepare for or are phenomenal support and defensive threats that provide significant utility or defensive potential, respectively. Also the home of Pokemon who can easily perform multiple roles effectively, increasing their versatility and unpredictability. If the Pokemon in this rank have any flaws, those flaws are thoroughly mitigated by their substantial strengths.
A RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who can sweep or wall significant portions of the metagame and can perform well against most play styles, but require some support or have some flaws that prevents them from doing this consistently. Supporting Pokemon in this rank may give opponents free turns or cannot create free turns easily themselves, but can still do their job most of the time. Pokemon in this rank are also known to define the play styles they fit on or are easy to add on any given team, while being able to carry their weight nearly every match.
A+ Rank
A Rank
B RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. Support Pokemon in this category have flaws that prevent them from doing their job, are setup bait for dangerous sweepers, or often give too many free turns. Pokemon who are partially outperformed or struggle with taking on the Pokemon in the A or S Rank, but are otherwise dangerous in their own right and aren't difficult to fit on teams, may also fall into this category.
B+ Rank
B Rank
C RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who can be effective in the right setting, but either have crippling flaws that prevent them from consistently executing their strategy or are completely eclipsed by a Pokemon in the above ranks. Pokemon in this rank typically require more extensive support, struggle performing against the Pokemon ranked above, and are difficult to fit on teams.
C+ Rank
C Rank
D RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who have a small niche in the current metagame, but have very noticeable flaws that make them more trouble than they're worth the majority of the time. The Pokemon in this rank are either extremely difficult to fit onto a team or have too many flaws that prevent them from excelling without a lot of support.
BLACKLISTED aka E RANK:
The worst of the worst. Bad pkmn (RU Pokemon by usage that are bad will be listed here. Everything not listed also falls in here). Unviable Pokemon that have been repeatedly brought up in this thread, whether they're RU by usage or not, will also be listed here. Discussion on these Pokemon often tends to derail the thread, and therefore discussion on them is not allowed.
NEW PKMN RANK:
Pokemon that are new to the RU tier and haven't been around long enough to be correctly listed go here, discussion on where to put these Pokemon should only happen after they've been in the metagame for at least one week.
***Something to note:
There are only two sub-ranks now as opposed to three in order to reduce the subjectivity of the VR thread and to have the discussions focus more so on a Pokemon's effectiveness in the metagame and how it may have changed and take less focus off of ranking semantics. If this change doesn't improve the quality of the thread or make things more organized, then the three sub-rank system will be brought back.
In addition to the above, the Pokemon in the plus ranks (+) fit the definition of whichever rank they're currently in, but fit more so with the Pokemon in the rank above and are generally more dangerous/effective than the ones ranked directly below. In contrast, the Pokemon that are given a simple vanilla rank (A, B, C, etc) are Pokemon that also fit the definition of the current rank they're in, but coincide more with the Pokemon in the rank below or are a cut below the Pokemon in the plus (+) ranks.
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