Resource SM OU Viability Ranking Thread

[Avant Heim]

Magearna to A+

The deal with this nomination(and why i agree with it) it's the fact that Lele will be the most spammed mon in this tier. Lele lost one of it's biggest offensive checks,in the form of Mega Metagross,which is Huge,because Lele can now switch without fearing a Meteor Mash in the face

One of the mons that handle Lele the best now is magearna(especially the Assault Vest one),since it resists Lele's double stab,HP Fire is a 4HKO and Z-Focus Blast is a 3HKO

Mega Metagross's ban also gives the fairy type new opportunities,and since Megearna can handle most of the "important" fairies(The Tapus,Clefable,Mimikyu and other mons like that),it's viability as a fairy killer will go up

The only 2 sad points about Magearna are it bad speed tier,at base 65,meaning that it will be hit before it hits and it's lack of recovery,meaning that hazards will slowly decrease it's hp,making it easy to revenge kill

calcs

252+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 248 HP / 16+ SpD Tapu Fini: 168-198 (48.9 - 57.7%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 248 HP / 16+ SpD Tapu Fini: 168-198 (48.9 - 57.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Magearna Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 302-356 (107.4 - 126.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 244-288 (86.8 - 102.4%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko: 297-349 (105.6 - 124.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Magearna Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Koko: 183-216 (65.1 - 76.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Magnet Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Magearna in Electric Terrain: 127-150 (34.9 - 41.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Magearna Flash Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Lele: 254-302 (90.3 - 107.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
52+ SpA Magearna Fleur Cannon vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Lele: 207-244 (73.6 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Magearna in Psychic Terrain: 65-77 (17.9 - 21.2%) -- possible 5HKO
252 SpA Tapu Lele Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Magearna: 78-94 (21.4 - 25.8%) -- 2% chance to 4HKO
252+ SpA Tapu Lele Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Assault Vest Magearna: 56-67 (15.4 - 18.4%) -- possible 6HKO

 

[volx757]

Bisharp to A-

This mon is like mawile, actually good. Lol, what a time to say that, but truth must be told that's a fact. First of all, mawile hevily relies on both knock off/sucker punch and even with this ridiculous power both of them are weaker than bisharp's. Bisharp also has other things going for it:
-Dark typing which forces scarf lele to switch moves
-Ability to break havoc into weebs teams (unlike mawile)
-Pursuit option
-Ability (fini stays in to defoog, moonblast and gives ridiculus boost)
-Higher speed even with Adamant/glasses set.
-LANDO-T, WHAT IS THAT?

Although zaptos is still common this mon doesn't beat Bisharp 100%. Another thing is some weird set around ladder like sub dugtio (honestly, if dugtrio suspect test would be today, I'm pretty sure it would end up being banned), I still think that this mon is really good and more reliable that mawile.

Idk about bish, but a couple things here 1. Mawille relies heavily on sucker, true, but it doesn't rely on knock to kill shit (spam play rough). And bisharp's sucker is like 0.1% stronger than maw's. 2. steel/fairy is a better defensive typing than steel/dark. While mmaw can't switch into specs psychic in psychic terrain, bish can't even revenge kill let alone switch in if it used hp fire, focus miss, or moonblast.
Mmaw also beats bish 1v1. My point is I think that this isn't a very good comparison.

 

[Toshiro46]

Mawile is a breaker, Bisharp is a sweeper. Dark and Fairy STAB are pretty different too in terms of what they hit. Still having a mon that actually likes facing the most common physical attacker check in the tier is a pretty big deal.

Also Mag doesn't really defensively deal with Mimikyu: +2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 207-243 (57 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO.

 

[Rennyjesus]

Mawile is a breaker, Bisharp is a sweeper. Dark and Fairy STAB are pretty different too in terms of what they hit. Still having a mon that actually likes facing the most common physical attacker check in the tier is a pretty big deal.

Also Mag doesn't really defensively deal with Mimikyu: +2 252 Atk Life Orb Mimikyu Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 207-243 (57 - 66.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO.

I would add about the Mag vs Mimik situation:
+2 252 Atk Mimikyu Never-Ending Nightmare (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Magearna: 315-372 (86.7 - 102.4%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

And almost 100% chance with a layer of spikes instead of rocks... so...

However that's not enough IMO to prevent Mag rise!

 

[Seth_]

Idk about bish, but a couple things here 1. Mawille relies heavily on sucker, true, but it doesn't rely on knock to kill shit (spam play rough). And bisharp's sucker is like 0.1% stronger than maw's. 2. steel/fairy is a better defensive typing than steel/dark. While mmaw can't switch into specs psychic in psychic terrain, bish can't even revenge kill let alone switch in if it used hp fire, focus miss, or moonblast.
Mmaw also beats bish 1v1. My point is I think that this isn't a very good comparison.

Dude, thing that makes mawile diffrent doesn't really improve what it does. And in terms how these mons play, they are very similar. Both are quite frail, and rely hevili on predictions. People runs knock off on mawile to reduce 50/50 bullshit but it it still solid part of this mon. They both have similar checks and counterplays. They are similar in every possible way.

However bishrarp has many things that actually improve its performance. I listed them before.

It is surprising that mawille is actually worse sucker punch sweeper than bisharp because it was exacty otherwise in ORAS. However since meta has changed mawile isn't even that good in wallbreaking. There are much better mons that take care of bulky teams and bisharp is better sucker punch sweeper (mainly because defensive lando doesn't even do anything to it and that's everywhere).

 

[MSC Knightmare]

Not necessarily nominating anything for anywhere, but I'm wondering. Maybe it works differently for recently released Megas, maybe it doesn't, but by virtue of it being OU, don't you guys have to rank Mega Steelix? I've been wondering what you guys think of its viability, since I've been laddering with it lately. What do you guys think of our resident Mega Iron Snake?

 

[Toshiro46]

Not necessarily nominating anything for anywhere, but I'm wondering. Maybe it works differently for recently released Megas, maybe it doesn't, but by virtue of it being OU, don't you guys have to rank Mega Steelix? I've been wondering what you guys think of its viability, since I've been laddering with it lately. What do you guys think of our resident Mega Iron Snake?

Taken from the OP: "Pokemon that are OU simply by usage do not guarantee them a spot in the rankings". Pls read.

Steelix is pretty trash. Weaknesses to Water, Fire, Fighting, and Ground really hurt. Almost every mon in OU either has a STAB of those or commonly carries a coverage move of one of them. That really undercuts its bulk.

Edit: Quick question why does it look like Lando-T is wearing a push up bra in the banner

 

[Tentacruelladeville]

supporting Zygarde to S

Honestly just because the sub coil set is IMO probably the single most frightening, annoying and destructive set in the tier. It's insanely good defensive stats and its ability to force switches means that it can easily set up, spam thousand arrows, and win games on its own. Only Tangrowth (and like, Hippowdon) can really live through multiple boosted thousand arrows and most Zygardes run toxic, which totally invalidates both. Unless you have a revenge killer with an ice type attack, it can be very hard to stop, and even then Zygarde is stupidly bulky and can survive weak ice attacks, or it needs just the bare minimum of team support.

It can also run choice band for brainless power, a great dragon dance set, solid and annoying defensive sets, and generally do anything you want it to.

IMO in terms of versatility/being just scary, it deserves to be ranked on the same level as Greninja and Landorus

 

[6ft Torbjorn]

Well since I have nothing else to do, might as well make a nom':

Heatran: A -> A+

Now hold on, torches and pitchforks down... I am aware that Duggy is a thing, which is why I'm not advocating for it to be S tier... then again, people are seconding Zygarde for S rn and I think that makes more sense post-Gren meta. But I digress.

Now, the main reason I think Heatran should rise is the example it's set for not just the current OU meta, but basically the entire game in Magma Storm Z-trapping (namely, Grassium Z). Not only is this an extremely powerful lure (pretty much invalidating one of the main ways of switching into this thing), but represents what others can do with Z-trapping as well. Hell, I even think Tran could rise for some of the unexplored options it has (Protect being one example, to go with Magma Storm)... but that's a discussion for elsewhere. Fire/Steel, alongside Flash Fire, forces a crap load of switches - and MStorm punishes that VERY easily.

I also believe Heatran to be relatively splashable (thanks to 5 quadresists), and has enough set options to be unpredictable with, including:

• Z-Trap
• Scarf
• Bulky Lefties

And others. Throw in the essential goodies like SR and Taunt, and I think this thing has enough to deserve a general raise (especially with tier shifts and the (lets be honest here) inevitable upcoming bans).

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm regurgitating the bleeding obvious (that's the English GCSE exam system for you right there), but Heatran has just been something in the back of my mind that, in spite of the lack of discussion, I'd like to look into - and I think could do with a bit more exposure if nothing else.

Everyone else's thoughts?

EDIT: Oh yeah and it appreciates the MMeta ban. With it people are creaming their pants to high heaven looking for Lele awnsers, and Heatran is one to an extent.

 

[Asspull]

Zydog nom to move to C-/C. Even when it moved to C+ Its still concerning that it still is here when i dunno what it can even do anymore. Losing a niche in revenge killing metagross is already a big blow, but even so it provides no defensive utility, faces competition for the presence of using zygarde 50% instead, and has good 115 speed, but leaves it revenged by duggy, almost all relevant scarfers, and dies to priority after prior chip.
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja-Ash Water Shuriken (20 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zygarde-10%: 192-228 (77.1 - 91.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 0 Atk Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zygarde-10%: 144-169 (57.8 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Dugtrio Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zygarde-10%: 181-214 (72.6 - 85.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Lack of hazard removal and spike dominance can turn these into ohkos
Considering how many people are preparing for zygarde rn, all of them are in turn are ready for zygarde 10% who just becomes tangrowth bait instead.
edit* whoops forgot about that gar loses to dog

 

[matthewc20090]

the fact that mmeta's now gone makes its niche even less significant as before outspeeding mmeta was a reason to use zydog>50%. i not entirely sure if that warrants c or c- because i haven't used it much but i struggle to see a case where i would want to use zydog.

 

[NewfieDude]

the fact that mmeta's now gone makes its niche even less significant as before outspeeding mmeta was a reason to use zydog>50%. i not entirely sure if that warrants c or c- because i haven't used it much but i struggle to see a case where i would want to use zydog.

Am I the only one who thinks it should just he unranked already?

(Edit so no one liner)

I feel like 10% is kinda like Buzzwole in a sense, people thought it was a pretty good mon at the start of the generation but soon started to realize that it wasn't that good. And as Zygarde basically becomes the BW garchomp of gen 7 people are going to have things to kill Zygarde and will indirectly will have things to deal with 10%. It just isn't worth using as a revenge killer anymore if the things it wants to kill are faster then it and alot of shit slower then it can stop it cold.

Silly Arrow Snake > ZyBorks

 

[DeltaRott]

I'm supporting Zygarde to S. Thousand Arrows is, as mentioned before, such a spammable move, and although Zygarde's really only running two sets in the meta(three if you wanna count DD + Dragonium, which I suppose is gaining traction), if you're not prepped for either, you will inevitably lose to it in the long run. If you bop Tangy enough you can wipe out your only true hard stop with a Devastating Drake.

Zygarde actually has some very respectable bulk as well that allows it to switch into mons like Zard Y in a pinch. All in all, the "forgotten" legendary of Gen 6 has done nothing but shine this gen, and its current standing in the meta should be reflected by shifting it up to S rank.

 

[Reviloja753]

So today, I tried out DD Garde for the first time (I play HO), and I support Zygarde going up to S. It is a nice addition to almost any team, HO or no. Wanna play HO like me? DD ESpeed. Want to play more defensively while still being somewhat offensively? SubCoil Thousand Arrows. Want to go full defense? SubCoil ToxicStall. This thing is splashable like no other.

 

[Dussky]

I support Zygarde to S. Just going to start off with this mon is crazy good in gen 7. It can run multiple dangerous sets capable of sweeping various teams. And I'm going to say I agree with everything Reviloja said, Zygarde can fit on almost every team, which is the primary reason Zygarde should be S. As well with the ban, Banded Zygarde lost one of the best checks it had. Making Band Zygare more lethal than ever, Zygarde has the natural bulk to take hits with ease, as well dent your team with Arrows, and Outrage (as soon as all fairies are gone). Zygardes set versatility, as well that broken move it has, makes it an incredible mon in the current metagame. It may not seem like much but thats all I can think up atm.

I would also like to note the fact, M-Medi should rise in VR. Been seeing this mon a LOT on the ladder recently ever since the Megagross ban. Medi is crazy strong, capable of tearing teams apart by clicking HJK, even if resisted. (I've seen HJK + coverage move take out Medichams common "switchins"). Let's see how Medi can do tho, definitely support a rise here. With Megagross gone, I have a feeling Medi just got a whole lot better.

 

[Nuked]

Manaphy should probably rise. I've been using the Z-Water set with Surf and it's really good. It really excels at breaking defensive cores, moreso than most Pokemon in the tier. Against stall teams, it finds setup really easy because of its typing and bulk, and if you get to +6 (easier than it sounds) the water Z-Move blows everything back. Against offensive teams, it can utilize its typing, bulk, and Z-Move to, with decent prediction, basically get a kill every game it's because nothing likes taking Hydro Vortex on common offensive teams. The introduction of Z-Moves this gen really helps it because it can break through fat walls like Chansey and Clefable that would otherwise wall it. Most people already know this, but the sheer power of a +3 Hydro Vortex breaks through walls really hard, OHKOing blanket specially defensive checks and Water-type checks like Celesteela, Zapdos, Bulu, Alolan Muk, etc and doing huge damage to non-resists and doing over half to a significant portion of the metagame. Its ability to perform well against both offensive and defensive teams means that it fits more in B+ rather than in B with niche mons like Kingdra, Pelliper, Weavile, etc.

 

[Reviloja753]

Alright, so this is a nomination that is pretty expected, so here it goes.

I think Mega Scizor should drop to A-/B+

This is pretty much just based on the main role it had was countering Mega Metagross. Since it is now banned, it no longer is extremely useful, especially next to major threats like Tapu Koko, Mega Mawile, Ferro or Toxapex. However, it still does have a niche as a somewhat offensive defogger which is currently just for itself. Because of this, I decided not to lower it too much.

 

[lydian]

I'd like to nominate Volcanion to B-

Volcanion is a powerful, yet overlooked Wallbreaker, its huge SpA stat along with Steam Eruption, one of the best moves (if not the best) in the game, allows it to punch massive holes on Bulkier builds such as Balance and Stall (lacking Gastrodon/Quagsire). Fire/Water coverage is definately not the best, but it is still above average. Volcanion can act as an awnser to big portion of the OU Metagame, Defensive Lando-T, Greninja, Ferrothorn, Heatran, Volcarona, Mega Mawile, Mega Scizor, Celesteela and others are checked (or at least soft-checked) by Volcanion, Volcanion also has the coverage to deal with its most common checks in Toxapex and Tapu Fini thanks to Earth Power and Sludge Bomb respectively. Finally, Water Absorb helps it when dealing with opposing Water-type and mititgates its Stealth Rock weakness.

Let's go over its cons now: Speed it quite mediocre tbh, leaving it outsped by Tapu Bulu, Mega Heracross, Kyurem-B, Zygarde and others, and the aforementioned Stealth Rock is another annoyance to Volcanion, also the weakness to common offensive typings in Electric and Ground are equally a problem to Volcanion, as Pokémon like Tapu Koko, Garchomp, Landorus-T and Zygarde are quite common in the OU Metagame, finally it struggles against Bulky Water-types. That being said though, it is clear to me that Volcanion's qualitites outweight its flaws. Volcarona, for example is also weak to Stealth Rocks, but that doesn't stop if from being extremely viable and fittable on teams, Ash-Greninja also struggles agains Bulky Water-types, yet it is on A-rank. I'm not asking for anything crazy, I just think that Volcanion is being underrated as an wallbreaker and its placement should reflect its utility for breaking down the opponents team.

EDIT: I actually mistyped, I don´t want Volcanion in B+, B- is my nomination instead

 

[HC]

I feel that Volcanion just struggles in the current meta; it functions best against balanced teams due to its raw power and average speed. This enables it to run through teams relying on mons like Venusaur, Skarm, scizor etc. However, this playstyle is probably the poorest in the tier right now. Stall completely stops it with Chansey unless it wants to start running All Out Pummeling Superpower... Meanwhile, BO/HO put too much pressure on Volcanion especially early/midgame, it's way too prediction reliant and this can kill the team's momentum immensely if unsuccessful. Teams with the cores of Lando-T/AV Tangrowth/Toxapex can really hinder Volcanions chances despite it looking great on paper. It's not a bad mon by any means and the reduction of the Latis in the meta helps it, but I don't think it's anywhere near as consistent as the other mons in A- right now.

 

[Ramses]

This really needs to be said because it's beginning to get a bit ridiculous with the sheer amount of nominations that follow this way of thinking.

Whenever you nominate a Pokemon to rise or even drop you need more sustenance when trying to build your case. Simply listing facts that are undeniable does not make your case for the rise or drop stronger. It doesn't do anything at all. Facts are facts. For example, you can't say Rotom-W deserves to be in A- and back up your reasoning with facts everyone knows such as it being bulky, checking Landorus-T, spreading burns, etc. Rotom-W has always done that, it isn't anything new at all. So it's not a good reason for it to rise.

A good argument for a rise would entail making note of the current metagame and how your nominated Pokemon is thriving in it. Has there been any change at all that makes it job a lot easier? Is it getting easier to fit into teams? Does it take advantage of common metagame trends? These are all samples of questions you should address whenever you nominate something to rise. Questions such as these gives your readers a clear view of why exactly the Pokemon should indeed rise.

To further my point, Mega Medicham is currently A- because most of the metagame has ways of dealing with it offensively without much of a hassle and the metagame has really shifted onto bulky Psychic-types such as Mew and Reuniclus, Ghost-types are still at large between Gengar, Alolan Marowak, Mimikyu, Mega Sableye, and rather recently Cofagrigus. Stall has also adapted to it pretty easily despite Thunder Punch + Electric Terrain. So Medicham isn't in a really good spot right now with the meta progressively becoming more against it. It still 2HKOes most of the meta though, Ice Punch still 2HKOes Landorus-T, and Thunder Punch still mauls Celesteela. So the listing of facts do not strengthen your case when the Pokemon in questions does those things anyway.

I'm not pointing any fingers though in a condescending or spiteful sense (please don't think I'm saying this out of a mean spirit), so please make it a habit to not rehash the Pokemon in question's analysis whenever you make a nomination and instead give us an overview of how good it's doing in the meta to give your nomination proper merit.

 

[pika pal]

Okay, this one might be a bit iffy, but I like him enough to put it out there if there's a shot.

Can a case be made for Gengar to A+? The rise of Bulky Psychics and other Ghost types for the mentioned Medicham give Gengar some notable targets to prey on, AV Tangrowth's rising popularity does him well for pressuring (LO Shadow Ball + Sludge Wave does 102% minimum) or for partnering with the increasingly popular Zygarde, and with everyone riding the Lele hype train, Gengar both enjoys the removal of priority as a teammate and snacks on Lele or potential Psychic spam in terms of cores. With Mega-Metagross gone, Gengar lost a thorn in his side (had to risk a speed-tie for an OHKO to the winner) on offensive teams, and bulky Scizor (among other checks) sound like they will decline from Metagross's departure, eliminating some balance/BO checks he had to play around. These all refer to improvements in his match ups against offense and balance. Stall remains strong, with Taunt and his 3 move coverage affording him important 2HKO's or otherwise wins (Skarmory, Toxapex, Chansey if desperate) while not being trapped by Dugtrio; I'm not proposing Gengar as a 6-0 stall monster, but he has the means to pressure most of the playstyle's staples. With how lucrative hazard stacking is thanks to a small number of viable removers, Gengar definitely enjoys Spike stacking as much as any mon does, putting mons in range and capitalizing on switches he forces/punishes thus with his coverage and power, and on top of spin-blocking, he threatens several of the better Defog options (Mew, Tapu Fini, Skarmory).

To summarize, the rise of certain mons for Mega Medicham as well as AV Tangrowth for Zygarde give Gengar new important targets to prey on for Balance/BO, his performance against offense and stall seem similarly decent as they did before, and he both benefits from and helps to protect hazards in a meta where they are proving quite potent. This is just looking at general traits or those pertaining to the LO Taunt + 3 Attacks set, I don't have much experience with the Choiced Sets or Ghostium-Z, though I hear good things about them.

 

[Ropalme1914]

I agree with Gengar to A+. Everything that is changing from now looks like it's benefiting him like pika pal said. He covered most things that should make him rise IMO, so I don't have much to say, but I would like to add that he also has a good matchup against Baton Pass due to the fact that he has basically at least neutral coverage against everything, and Tricking a choice specs against a Baton Pass use can really hurts, and that Taunt, along to being a nice check to this kind of team in itself, is especially good on Gengar because Espeon, the most common Magic Bouncer on this kind of thing, cannot come on Shadow Ball.

 

[Wob]

Anyhow, I agree with Gengar to A+. The banning of Pokemon like Pheromosa and Mega Metagross means that it's now more free to run sets other than Choice Scarf, as it no longer needs to use the item to outpace/avoid the speedtie with those mons. I've been using Choice Specs a lot more recently and specs Shadow Ball is super spammable just because the number of common Ghost resists in the tier is still so low. Stuff like LO Taunt + 3 attacks is also still really good and efficient and breaking down more defensive builds.

 

[I like donkeys]

This really needs to be said because it's beginning to get a bit ridiculous with the sheer amount of nominations that follow this way of thinking.

Whenever you nominate a Pokemon to rise or even drop you need more sustenance when trying to build your case. Simply listing facts that are undeniable does not make your case for the rise or drop stronger. It doesn't do anything at all. Facts are facts. For example, you can't say Rotom-W deserves to be in A- and back up your reasoning with facts everyone knows such as it being bulky, checking Landorus-T, spreading burns, etc. Rotom-W has always done that, it isn't anything new at all. So it's not a good reason for it to rise.

A good argument for a rise would entail making note of the current metagame and how your nominated Pokemon is thriving in it. Has there been any change at all that makes it job a lot easier? Is it getting easier to fit into teams? Does it take advantage of common metagame trends? These are all samples of questions you should address whenever you nominate something to rise. Questions such as these gives your readers a clear view of why exactly the Pokemon should indeed rise.

To further my point, Mega Medicham is currently A- because most of the metagame has ways of dealing with it offensively without much of a hassle and the metagame has really shifted onto bulky Psychic-types such as Mew and Reuniclus, Ghost-types are still at large between Gengar, Alolan Marowak, Mimikyu, Mega Sableye, and rather recently Cofagrigus. Stall has also adapted to it pretty easily despite Thunder Punch + Electric Terrain. So Medicham isn't in a really good spot right now with the meta progressively becoming more against it. It still 2HKOes most of the meta though, Ice Punch still 2HKOes Landorus-T, and Thunder Punch still mauls Celesteela. So the listing of facts do not strengthen your case when the Pokemon in questions does those things anyway.

I'm not pointing any fingers though in a condescending or spiteful sense (please don't think I'm saying this out of a mean spirit), so please make it a habit to not rehash the Pokemon in question's analysis whenever you make a nomination and instead give us an overview of how good it's doing in the meta to give your nomination proper merit.

I mean that's not necessarily true. You could argue a Pokemon has simply been missranked, so even if nothing has changed for the Pokemon or the metagame surrounding it you can feel the Pokemon has more (or less) of an impact on the metagame than it's current ranking would suggest, right? This argument is probably irrelevant for the higher ranked mons, but surely for more niche mons the likelyhood of it being missranked is much higher

 

[Egior.]

i'd support a+ gengar, especially regarding choice specs set. It's really hard to switch into, as there are not many ghost resistors in the tier, and one of them being greninja, which takes 50% with a naive nature. Even dedicated special pivots, such as celesteela or magearna shoul be aware to be almost full life, taking 65ish from 2 shadow ball (celesteela takes 76, but we have to keep in mind leftovers+protect). Furthermore, is really fast for this metagame: with things such as lopunny and manectric not released yet, the only 2 mons with an higher base speed than 110 are greninja and koko, and both of them can only come in to revengekill, meaning that gengar can threaten also offensive teams and not only bulky builds. He also gets benefit from metagross ban, as tapu lele will shine even more than he already does. With tapu lele shining, gengar will have more often psychic terrain support, being immune to prios like scizor's bullet punch or mawile's sucker punch. So yeah, i'd say that gengar will be a predominant force in this metagame and i agree with the a+ nomination