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Resource SM OU Viability Ranking Thread

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if Dug gets higher in the ranks, more people will use air balloon which is my point. Then you are pretty much forced to attack heatran or magnezone, and tapu-koko still doesnt care about being trapped since it has u-turn. And magnezone can run hidden power ice, since it can easily take out landorus t also.
What matters is how good it is right now, not how good it will be if people start using counters because of it. The point is to evaluate a Pokémon's effectiveness in the current metagame rather than the metagame with potential differences and changes - this is the exact reason saying "Pokémon B will be broken if we ban Pokémon A" is not a valid argument against banning Pokémon A.
If Dugtrio is moved up to A and people start running things specifically to counter Dugtrio which decreases it's viability, then it will be moved back down to A-. Not now.
I'm not even sure how you can say with such certainty without a crystal ball that a significant number of people will start running such a terrible item on their Pokémon because Dugtrio now has 'A' instead of 'A-' attached to it in a thread not every player pays attention to.
 
Yea, the ranking system is not a fixed thing folks. Stuff that's not S-tier almost always drops down and comes back up several times over the course of a gen, because threats are adapted to and thus become less popular (and drop in rank due to the adaptation of the meta), then the threat becomes more used again because it's being less prepared for and thus rises in rank.

That's why we have ranking updates and the like-it's a snapshot of the meta, not an absolute be-all-end-all "THIS IS EXACTLY HOW GOOD THIS POKEMON IS" deal.
 
It can trap a lot of things, but it all depends if people start using air balloon magnezone with hidden power ice.
Why would you ever run hp ice magnezone? and Air Balloon is a subpar option on Mag anyways bc it's borken pretty easily and works very situationally, AV provides better Role Compression and Specs makes it a strong Wallbreaker. And if Dug starts forcing people to run Balloon (which most likely won't happen cause running Balloon over Lefties on Tran isn't as reliable) then that just shows the relevance of Dug in this meta. I definitely agree with Dug rising to A
 
Why would you ever run hp ice magnezone? and Air Balloon is a subpar option on Mag anyways bc it's borken pretty easily and works very situationally, AV provides better Role Compression and Specs makes it a strong Wallbreaker. And if Dug starts forcing people to run Balloon (which most likely won't happen cause running Balloon over Lefties on Tran isn't as reliable) then that just shows the relevance of Dug in this meta. I definitely agree with Dug rising to A
I kind of just explained why you run hp ice on it, cause it also can be a threat to landorus t, and can be a threat to thundurus t which has
volt absorb. Of course you are not running HP ice only to counter dug.
 
I kind of just explained why you run hp ice on it, cause it also can be a threat to landorus t, and can be a threat to thundurus t which has
volt absorb. Of course you are not running HP ice only to counter dug.
The whole point of using mag is to trap Steels, without hp fire you can't trap Ferro and Scizor so basically you're using a mag that can't support the mon it's supposed to bc it tries to hit Lando which takes a ton from Flash Cannon anyways and outspeeds and EQs you unless you run max speed which really hurts your bulk and now you can't check Lele and Koko which makes Role Compression even harder. Thundurus-t on the other hand isn't too relevant with less than 1% usage in OU
Edit: Well I guess FLash Cannon isn't enough for Dug, fair point 252+ SpA Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dugtrio: 192-226 (92.3 - 108.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
 
The whole point of using mag is to trap Steels, without hp fire you can't trap Ferro and Scizor so basically you're using a mag that can't support the mon it's supposed to bc it tries to hit Lando which takes a ton from Flash Cannon anyways and outspeeds and EQs you unless you run max speed which really hurts your bulk and now you can't check Lele and Koko which makes Role Compression even harder. Thundurus-t on the other hand isn't too relevant with less than 1% usage in OU
Edit: Well I guess FLash Cannon isn't enough for Dug, fair point 252+ SpA Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dugtrio: 192-226 (92.3 - 108.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

Your original point (pre-edit) is what's important. Magnezone without hp-fire is useless.

edit: removed mention of scarf cause i forgot we're talking about air balloon magnezone.

There is no logical discussion to be had about "modest air balloon hp-ice magnezone the dugtrio counter." And don't forget about sash.
 
Anyone suggesting HP Ice on Magnezone is forgetting that this thing's entire niche rests on being able to trap and eliminate Steel Types, and HP Ice's targets are typically weakness mons like Landorus-T (Thundurus-T hasn't moved up yet or seen major usage yet, debating how much I'd weigh that), which outspeed and murder Magnezone. If Magnezone is coming in on anything besides a Steel to trap, it's either a desperation play or a move where Magnezone doesn't need HP to win.

As for Dugtrio, even ignoring the fallacy of "this might pick up if Dugtrio gets better, so Dugtrio shouldn't move up", there's a reason people aren't running Air Balloon now: it's a sub-optimal option for them even with that factor (this likely holds true for Shed Shell as well). One of the major reasons Heatran is valuable is because its bulk and typing allow it to sponge hits and do things like retaliate or set rocks. Air Balloon is a terrible item since it means you can't switch Heatran into anything lest it get popped for Duggy, and Shed Shell retains the issue of cutting out the power/recovery of the item slot. Hoopa-U, which would otherwise murder stall, doesn't run Shed Shell very often for Duggy because losing its item makes it lose so much effectiveness breaking everything else that the Shed Shell isn't worth it over just using some other means or play to deal with Dugtrio. This is why Dugtrio is a massive force for the opponent, because the trapping threat either cripples the mon in building (loss of item slot to escape) or in practice (caution about bringing it in since Duggy can and will revenge if not just enter on other plays).

Honestly, I don't approve of what Dugtrio is, but that's irrelevant to the fact that its metagame influence is undeniable, and I can support a rise to A
 
If I used Magnezone I wouldnt run HP Fire, mostly cause most used steel types are heatran, celesteela, mega-metagross, and Skarmory, I really havent see any Ferrothorn users in the past weeks. . Ok so out of those mega-metagross and Ferrothorn might get hit by HP fire. Heatran doesnt care about it, im also not going to use hp fire when im just going to thunderbolt celesteela or on Skarmory. Most people are using celesteela more than Ferrothorn, even still i wouldnt be worried about Ferrothorn, since you can just run a fire type like mega char x or run Pheromosa and just high jump kick it. And use HP ice on ground types.
 
let's just get to the point: take this L

i'm over here drinking some nice juicy kool-aid watching my niggaz play pokemon and i see this. i don't know what kind of ladder range you play on but hp fire is completely necessary on magnezone since it actually lets you beat ferrothorn and scizor. i'd rather have hp fire than a shitty hp ice that accomplishes nothing considering max speed specs can be used for 2hkoing defensive landot on the switch / offensive ones take about 80 from it.

what does dugtrio's viability have to do with air balloon heatran / magnezone which are both uncommon and bad in this metagame? also, hidden power ice hits 120 base power which is the same as stab flash cannon fyi

dugtrio is defining af and needs to rise my g. also, flyinium z gyarados breaks a lot of builds so it should rise as well. good as mence imo. considering thundurus-t is a discussion topic, i would like to see it rise. it's pretty much on the level of its incarnate form.

also, this is the 2nd L i handed today. 2 Ls is a W so yay for me
 
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If I used Magnezone I wouldnt run HP Fire, mostly cause most used steel types are heatran, celesteela, mega-metagross, and Skarmory, I really havent see any Ferrothorn users in the past weeks. . Ok so out of those mega-metagross and Ferrothorn might get hit by HP fire. Heatran doesnt care about it, im also not going to use hp fire when im just going to thunderbolt celesteela or on Skarmory. Most people are using celesteela more than Ferrothorn, even still i wouldnt be worried about Ferrothorn, since you can just run a fire type like mega char x or run Pheromosa and just high jump kick it. And use HP ice on ground types.
January usage stats have Ferro higher than Cele, even in low ladder Ferro just barely edges it out so that's just flat out wrong. And "you can run a Fire type" misses the whole purpose of Zone which is trapping, something MZard and Phero can't do. Heatran doesn't care about HP Ice either so not sure how that's supposed to help your point. Zone should only be getting added to your team to kill Steels, if you're trying to lure/check Ground types use something else.
 
It can trap a lot of things, but it all depends if people start using air balloon magnezone with hidden power ice. Heatran users also use air balloon, so its not a guaranteed trap.
As a person who seriously wrote the Magnezone analysis (I get it, it needs to be updated) and as a person who actually uses Magnezone and Heatran I have two questions:

1) Why use Hidden Power Ice with Flash Cannon has the exact same damage output as Hidden Power Ice against Dugtrio?
2) Why are you using Hidden Power Ice Magnezone?

Hidden Power Fire is necessary to trap Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn. Running Hidden Power Ice fails the entire point of trapping and killing Steel-types. Furthermore, "Balloon Heatran" is pretty mediocre. Nevermind that if a Heatran is scared of being trapped by Dugtrio it should just run Shed Shell to ease the headache. Air Balloon is okay but like Shed Shell it's pretty niche.

You only use Air Balloon on Magnet Rise Magnezone, which is okay, but it still loses really bad to Hammer Arm Mega Metagross. Air Balloon is necessary to set up Magnet Rise.

Finally - I'm not ever sure what your point is about Greninja and Pheromosa. We get it - they're powerful Pokemon that can OHKO threats. Please tell us something we don't know about them. Their ranks aren't moving anytime soon and they're solid threats in OU - but how about we talk about relevant Pokemon like Dugtrio rising up? Rotom-Wash? Thundurus-T? Gastrodon?
 
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Dugtrio-> A : Strongly Agree
Dugtrio has always been a great pokemon in SM OU. The fact that it can trap so many threats, and fit in multiple playstyles warrant the rise.
Dugtrio on stall:Dugtrio is almost a mandate on stall. Trapping threats such as Hoopa-U, Kyurem-B, Choice specs/Mind Plate/Psychium Z/ Fightinium Z Tapu lele, heatran, Tyranitar, Kyurem-B, preventing magearna from getting infinite momentum, terrakion, and severely weaken pokemon such as charizard-mega-x. Stall is doing well in such a metagame because of Dugtrio. Trapping these many stallbreakers/ pokemon that utterly destroy/annoy stall.
Dugtrio on bulky offense:There are many cores with dugtrio, intending to trap chansey/magearna/severely weaken metagross-mega. This can be used with pokemon such as Tapu lele, Volcarona, Tapu Koko, Ash-greninja etc. These do not appreciately all of these Pokemon gone, but they appreciate a majority of them gone.
Dugtrio on Offense:This is extremely similar to the point of it on bulky offense, just that lots of those pokemon have less usage in offense. Additional pokemon such as scarfed pheromosa have more popularity on Offense. There is also a scarfed dugtrio that becomes more popular on offense to trap threats like tapu koko, A +1 Volcarona along with the threats that it usually removes besides chansey.
Dugtrio on Hyper Offense:We rarely see this, but scarf dugtrio can fulfill a small niche. Additionally, sashed dugtrio can help pokemon like Tapu Lele and pheromosa.
Miscelleaneous trapped threats:Excadrill, Bisharp, Toxapex, Magnezone
 
As a person who seriously wrote the Magnezone analysis (I get it, it needs to be updated) and as a person who actually uses Magnezone and Heatran I have two questions:

1) Why use Hidden Power Ice with Flash Cannon has the exact same damage output as Hidden Power Ice against Dugtrio?
2) Why are you using Hidden Power Ice Magnezone?

Hidden Power Fire is necessary to trap Mega Scizor and Ferrothorn. Running Hidden Power Ice fails the entire point of trapping and killing Steel-types. Furthermore, "Balloon Heatran" is pretty mediocre. Nevermind that if a Heatran is scared of being trapped by Dugtrio it should just run Shed Shell to ease the headache. Air Balloon is okay but like Shed Shell it's pretty niche.

You only use Air Balloon on Magnet Rise Magnezone, which is okay, but it still loses really bad to Hammer Arm Mega Metagross. Air Balloon is necessary to set up Magnet Rise.

Finally - I'm not ever sure what your point is about Greninja and Pheromosa. We get it - they're powerful Pokemon that can OHKO threats. Please tell us something we don't know about them. Their ranks aren't moving anytime soon and they're solid threats in OU - but how about we talk about relevant Pokemon like Dugtrio rising up? Rotom-Wash? Thundurus-T? Gastrodon?
I thought I already explained why I would use hidden power ice besides dugtrio, cause it takes out landorus t, and thundurus t also. I only brought up Pheromosa to high jump kick ferrothorn, but I also brought up char-x to counter it also. HP ice does damage to dragon types like garchomp trying to counter, or Zygarde. I think both HP fire and HP ice are both have there place, I rather pick HP ice.
 
I thought I already explained why I would use hidden power ice besides dugtrio, cause it takes out landorus t, and thundurus t also. I only brought up Pheromosa to high jump kick ferrothorn, but I also brought up char-x to counter it also. HP ice does damage to dragon types like garchomp trying to counter, or Zygarde. I think both HP fire and HP ice are both have there place, I rather pick HP ice.
You're ignoring the fact that Magnezone's only niche in this metagame is as a Steel-type trapper. HP Ice simply isn't viable in OU since it means that Magnezone fails to trap Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, two very important targets. Even if we ignore that fact for a second, most of the targets for HP Ice which you listed aren't actually checked any better by Zone with HP Ice > HP Fire. As others already mentioned, Dugtrio takes the same amount of damage from HP Ice as it does from Flash Cannon, so it's useless there. Defensive Lando-T can live one HP Ice and OHKO with Earthquake, and Scarf just straight up outspeeds and beats Magnezone. There's also the point that overall, HP Ice is just a really bad move to be locked into and a smart opponent can easily abuse that to gain free turns.
 
I thought I already explained why I would use hidden power ice besides dugtrio, cause it takes out landorus t, and thundurus t also. I only brought up Pheromosa to high jump kick ferrothorn, but I also brought up char-x to counter it also. HP ice does damage to dragon types like garchomp trying to counter, or Zygarde. I think both HP fire and HP ice are both have there place, I rather pick HP ice.
The entire purpose of Magnezone is to trap and KO Steel types because your team has crucial members that want them eliminated ASAP. Magnezone isn't used alongside Zard-X like your example, he's used alongside Mega Metagross, who runs trains over teams if you get rid of Scizor (and Ferrothorn for EQ variants). HP Fire only has a few targets, but those are the few targets that Magnezone is explicitly included to deal with.

To give Magnezone a move that not only does not help against Steel types but actively inhibits its ability to break them by costing it HP Fire, you're squandering the one role that got it into OU viability in the first place. It's similar to early XY, where some people ran Dragon Pulse Zard-Y to beat the Latis, but the moveslot wasn't worth the loss of Recovery or more valuable coverage like Focus Blast. You identify things that HP Ice hits, but they're also mons that Magnezone has no business risking itself to hit if it hasn't picked off its Steel targets (ergo it should probably have HP Fire). Thundurus-T, the only mon that doesn't auto-beat Magnezone (assuming no Focus Blast) isn't common enough to justify the moveslot when Magnezone needs to hit those mons on the switch, and best case scenario is locked into a weak Base 60 move that is an open invitation for something like CM Tapu Fini to set up on it, or Ash-Greninja to come in and fire off a STAB (a free hit might even give it the chance to transform).

The only Pokemon you can remotely compare roles with Magnezone in the OU metagame right now is Dugtrio, because trapping is such an exclusive niche to offer to teams. HP Ice is counter productive to Magnezone's role because it is an objectively worse option against the things he is put on the team to deal with. This isn't like DD+Roost Zard-X where choosing between two moves outright changes what it beats, HP Ice Magnezone is at best a mediocre lure for mons that Magnezone is not only giving up way too much for a minuscule chance against, but that his role dictates should not be able to come into him on anything besides a revenge 95% of the time by definition of being a trapper.
 
I thought I already explained why I would use hidden power ice besides dugtrio, cause it takes out landorus t, and thundurus t also. I only brought up Pheromosa to high jump kick ferrothorn, but I also brought up char-x to counter it also. HP ice does damage to dragon types like garchomp trying to counter, or Zygarde. I think both HP fire and HP ice are both have there place, I rather pick HP ice.
I'm going to say this once and only once:

There is no reason to ever gimp your Magnezone from its primary focus (trapping Steel-types) to KO POkemon that either Specs Flash Cannon hits for a significant chunk or Pokemon Magnezone doesn't really have any business fighting against (especially Zygarde with Thousand Arrows). It's fine to have Pheromosa, but a Magnezone that can't even trap one of the Steel-types it is designed to trap (Ferrothorn) is a very shitty Magnezone. Magnezone is a crappy Thundurus-T check as +2 Focus Blast does a fuckton unless you have Chople Magnezone - which your set clearly does not.

Here look at the same set Vertex talked about:

Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hidden Power Fire
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt

252 SpA Choice Specs Magnezone Flash Cannon vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Landorus-T: 225-265 (58.9 - 69.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I mean cmon now even if it doesn't OHKO a Lando-T cannot switch into Specs Magnezone unless it knows for sure it is locked to Thunderbolt.

To prevent this post from being nothing more but me trying to tell someone how wrong they are about something, I will post to state my support for A Dugtrio. I've advocated that Dugtrio works nicely even on offensive teams and there are games that do showcase using this to their advantage to eliminate critical Pokemon such as Heatran.
 
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Mew --> C / C+
To put it frankly, Mew sucks. As a stallbreaker it just gets outshone by Tapu Lele or any of the other 600000000 stallbreakers available to choose from nowadays (also stallbreakers that get completely shut down by Mega Sableye is hot ass), and the release of Mewnium Z simply wasn't enough to save it. As a cleaner you have better options than RP or double dance Mew, same goes when breaking down bulkier teams w/ NP or DD. As if the low overall standard of the teams in the teambuilding competition weren't indicative enough, I have tried to build with it on multiple occasions and every single time I've either dumped the team or replaced Mew with something better. It is hard to build with, and it doesn't particularly excel in its role. I'd say more than, but quite honestly I've put it as simply as I can. Just use better Pokemon.

Also I disagree with the Manaphy nom on the basis that the comparisons to Keldeo and Ash Greninja are asinine considering that Manaphy's stall matchup is infinitely than both of those Pokemon. Also it's a stallbreaker/balance breaker: not a wallbreaker. Waterium+Psychic Manaphy actually drops the current stall team (that Toxa+Chansey+Skarm+Clef+Sab+Dugtrio one) on its neck provided that it has something that pressures Chansey for it to use its Hydro Vortex vs. Clefable.
 
Holy fuck can this thread just be good for once? All I've been seeing these past few weeks is someone droppin an ignorant comment and then 4+ people proceed to just rehash the same counter arguments over and over and over again. Like, there's nothing wrong with correcting someone, but there is no need for everyone to chime in or just to use the opportunity to drop a shitpost full of passive aggressive memes. It just derails the entire thread. You see a bad post, you correct it, you move on. We all know the drill by now, or at least some of us should. Shit man I know I'm a dick but for real that post was awful.

Move on and have actual good discussion or I'm about to start blacklisting people from posting on here.
 
Moving on from a pointless discussion about HP ice magnezone.

Bronzong --> B-

If "role compression" was a Pokemon it would be named Bronzong. The list of top tier threats it check/counters is very impressive.

Landorus T: (S) the best mon in the tier.
Metagross: (S) the best mega in the tier.
Lele: (A+) you beat non specs Shadow Ball variants.
Garchomp: (A+) SD FF can beat you
Koko: (A+) the best pivot OU has ever had.
Magearna: (A) specs Shadow Ball isn't a set.
Jirachi: (A-) wish+protect can stall you.
Nihilego (the king): (A-) you beat all variants.
Latios: (B+) you beat all variants.
Excadrill: (B+) SD zIron Head is rough.
Kyub: (B+) earthpower doesn't 2HKO

The fact that it checks/counters 4/5 of the best mons in the tier and many others are top tier threats gives it many opportunities to use Stealth Rock. Also, when looking at the rest of the mons that is tiered higher than it: Breloom, Togekiss, Slowbro, MBro, Omastar and Starmie. I could argue that it should be HIGHER than all of these but I'll save that for another time.
It obviously has its downsides. Taken advantage by both Greninja forms. Doesn't stop Pheromosa from clicking Bug Buzz/Uturn. Only adds to the extreme lack of ghost resists. Loses to Heatran and Ferrothorn. Let's both zard forms get free kills/setup. Despite this it has been getting usage in SPL (might get usage stats but eh) and I think it warrants a rise.

-Edit-
A quote I stole from ESTEEMED user p2
"im likin' the newfound appreciation for bronzong, its a really solid glue for some teams that just need that catchall check for a bunch of threats things that celesteela or jirachi fail to check like lele, mgross, lando, while still providing rocks for teams, easing up role compression heavily."
 
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Harking back to an actual discussion point that was left unresolved last time (not at all blaming the VR council; only saying there's still room for debate), I agree that Thundurus-T deserves to rise on the list; B- is what I'd at least give it, though I wouldn't be opposed to outright putting it in B together with its Incarnate Forme. Whatever its placement is should reflect its viability compared to Incarnate; if Therian is equally viable, then they should share the same rank. If not, then Therian should be placed lower.

Thundurus-T isn't the most reliable Tapu Koko check, but Volt Absorb is a godsend as a way to suck up Koko's dreadfully strong Electric STABs and 145 Special Attack is pretty fucking huge, especially with NP and something as strong as Gigavolt Havoc; only Ground-types like switching in on that, and they risk taking a decently strong coverage move. There's also its versatility, being able to run NP, Agility or even Double Dance, reducing its predictability. While not amazingly optimal, 101 Speed is a troll tier to base 100s and decently fast for a wallbreaker all the same. It's not Mega Metagross, of course, but that's what its ranking should naturally reflect. Thundurus-T should rise to B- or B, depending on how it stacks up to Thundurus-I.
 
Thundurus T should be B. Its about on par with the wallbreaking and sweeping abilities of kartana, gyarados and porygon z. Probably a little better than Porygon and Kartana, but its probably not B+.
 
Thundy T is fine where it is at. It has zero room to set up on offensive teams. Rn the meta is very offensive. Even thundy I has a hard time setting up too. Overall they seem nice on paper but In practice they are not consistent.
 
I figured I would make amends to being part of the reason the VR became what it did. For that, I sincerely apologize and would like to re-assert that I take threads like this seriously and will ignore bad posts from here on out.

So let's talk about Bronzong. Bronzong was a Pokemon that kind of got shelved a bit and was thrown in C+. Understandably, it was a good start for a Pokemon that didn't exist in the VR until now. I think, however, Bronzong should move to B-. Bronzong is pretty handy in the meta because it's a good check to a lot of answers. In no particular order:

- It handles almost every Landorus-T that lacks Knock Off. Double Dance and Supersonic Skystrike cannot take off while Bronzong exists. Defensive sets can't even scratch Bronzong outside of U-turn.
- Tapu Lele does admittedly pose a threat if it is Choice Specs or runs moves such as Shadow Ball or Hidden Power Fire; however, Choice sets are incredibly easy for Bronzong to exploit and Hidden Power Fire won't quite KO it. It's a strong check to Lele since it resists both STABs and can at least stomach one Hidden Power Fire. It's also nice because Bronzong can technically scout out for Lele if it is Choiced or a different variation.
- Mega Metagross have gotten smarter, but they really struggle to bypass Bronzong without wearing it out a lot. Bronzong is still a reliable switch-in to Mega Metagross barring Power-up Punch variants or repeated slugging from Hammer Arm or Pursuit. Even then this gives Bronzong's teammates information on what it potentially has and what coverage moves are being sacrificed.
- A very scary threat, Supersonic Skystrike Salamence, is also stopped cold by this thing. It would have to pack something absurd like Fire Blast to bypass Bronzong - which likely won't happen since it compromises Salamence's durability for setting up. It also means being walled by Heatran.
- Fairly splashable on balanced teams or bulkier teams while being immune to Dugtrio.

I don't think it's quite B material at the moment because the meta has not necessarily shifted as heavily in Bronzong's favor IMO; however, I feel this Pokemon is really nice to have on balanced teams and has some great synergy with a lot of balanced-oriented Pokemon. I do understand that it is kind of in a weird spot since ABR mentioned rising Nidoking and others have voiced to raise Gastrodon, but I think I want to help raise Bronzong because it's a C-ranked Pokemon that's not too shabby and has some great utility.
 
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Why is M-Gyrados B-? It is very spammable on offense, second only to M-Metagross. It has a huge attack stat plus mold breaker, allowing it to break sturdy mons, and even taunt M-Sableye and Mamoswine. Speaking of taunt, it has a variety of options. Though it always runs DD plus stab, its last move slot can be earthquake/ice fang/taunt/substitute. EQ and ice fan give it more coverage, great for opposing offense. Taunt and substitute help against stall, the latter also helping Gyrados set up.

After 2 DDs, it out speeds everything bar +2 Kingdra/Excadrill and +1 Pheromosa. This, in combination with it's +2 attack (around 800, depending on investment), allows it to crush all forms of playstyles.

Although it does suffer from 4MSS, you often only need 4 moves depending on the rest of your team. Regardless of what it runs, it is great against the other top offensive megas. It OHKOs Zam, who fails to OHKO Gyrados (unless modest, and/or has traced protean or other offensive ability). It also does not care about Metagross' stab moves, DDing in its face.

Finally, its major typing change gives it unpredictability. Do I use Pheromosa HJK, expecting it to mega evolve? Or HP Electric? The only reliable way is strong electric stab, like Koko or Xurcitre.

EDIT: I'm not sure what the rankings stand for (fit on any team, good with most match ups, niche, etc.), but I believe M-Gyrados is on the same level as M-Alakazam, and I argue that M-Gyrados should move to A-.
 
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Imo, regular Gyarados is just way more splashable thanks to SSSS, and is surprisingly good in this meta. Gyarados doesn't need as much support from its teammates than its Mega form, meaning you don't have to really build around it, leaving your Mega slot free.
 
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