SM UU Viability Ranking Thread Mk. II

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B+ -> A-/A

I feel like, even though this nom was stressed a while ago, that the metagame has only gotten kinder to Infernape as of late. This is a mon that benefits from both the Conk ban and Mega Swampert's exit from the tier, as it receives less competition overall as a Fighting type as well as loses a very solid offensive check to it. Its speed tier is very, very coveted at the moment, being able to reliably don a Choice Scarf to kill Pokemon such as Terrakion and Krookodile and dent mons like Latias and Mega Aero. Infernape is also the most versatile Fighting type in the tier, being able to threaten traditional Fighting checks such as Togekiss (Gunk Shot) and Gliscor, as well as Fire type checks such as Primarina, Volcanion, and Mega Blastoise. It also, as an added touch, is the only viable Fighting type with priority, giving it the ability to finish off mons like weakened MAero and others. Overall, Infernape's versatility, ability to threaten fire and fighting checks, and consistent matchup against offense and balance make it worthy of A- rank.
 
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UR ---> C+

Linoone is a Pokemon that forever has been looked over by its mediocre stats, but it has received a massive buff with the Super Sitrus Berries (Figy/Iapapa/etc) paired with a great ability in Gluttony where it can set up a belly drum as long as it isn't KO'd that turn. Linoone also gets some respectable bulk (Especially under Aveil) when fully invested in HP, since it doesn't need the speed since it will just be using Espeed most of the time. It also has great coverage as every normal type does, having Seed Bomb for hitting the bulky waters and Ground types, and Shadow Claw to hit the ghosts and Bulky Psychic types and just to perfect the coverage. Linoone is a perfect example of a great late game cleaner. Once its checks/counters are worn down enough, it can set up, and sweep through opponents team with ease, as few moves outprioritze Extreme Speed.

+6 252+ Atk Linoone Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latias: 417-492 (138.5 - 163.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Seed Bomb vs. 40 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 422-498 (87.7 - 103.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Blastoise-Mega: 436-514 (120.4 - 141.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 691-814 (96.7 - 114%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 88+ Def Celebi: 372-438 (92 - 108.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Empoleon: 282-332 (75.8 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Extreme Speed vs. 244 HP / 12 Def Gliscor: 312-367 (88.6 - 104.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 80+ Def Hippowdon: 374-442 (89 - 105.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Shadow Claw vs. 236 HP / 0 Def Metagross: 356-420 (98.8 - 116.6%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Extreme Speed vs. 248 HP / 236 Def Tentacruel: 400-472 (110.1 - 130%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+6 252+ Atk Linoone Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Suicune: 346-408 (85.6 - 100.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO


 

Rabia

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GP & NU Leader

B- to B

I believe this guy was nominated for a rise awhile back, but I would like to give my two cents as to why it should rise. Ninetales-Alola has access to Aurora Veil, which we all know is one of the best utility moves in the entire game currently. Doubling the defenses of Pokemon such as Hawlucha and Xurkitree allows them to set up with much more ease than normal, and proceed to decimate teams. The effects Aurora Veil has had on this tier are clear, with Xurkitree being a constant talk for suspect (not necessarily because of Veil, but clearly this move contributes further to the viability of sets such as Psychium Z), Hawlucha rising to UU (and having absurd viability - on a side note, move the bird god to B+ min), and more. Ninetales-A has more than just Aurora Veil though; Encore provides great utility, and Ninetales-A also has a very solid speed tier with base 109 speed. Being able to compress Aurora Veil and Hail setup into one Pokemon is great as well.

That's not to say that Ninetales-A comes without flaw though; it is still outsped by many of the massive threats in the tier such as M-Aerodactyl, Weavile, and more, has a pretty mediocre defensive typing (doesn't help that it is 4x weak to Scizor's Bullet Punch), and isn't the best offensively. But, with how dominant Aurora Veil is currently, and the access to further utility + more than passable speed, I believe that Ninetales-A is deserving of at the very least a rise from B- to B.
 
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B+ -> A-

I feel like, even though this nom was stressed a while ago, that the metagame has only gotten kinder to Infernape as of late. This is a mon that benefits from both the Conk ban and Mega Swampert's exit from the tier, as it receives less competition overall as a Fighting type as well as loses a very solid offensive check to it. Its speed tier is very, very coveted at the moment, being able to reliably don a Choice Scarf to kill Pokemon such as Terrakion and Krookodile and dent mons like Latias and Mega Aero. Infernape is also the most versatile Fighting type in the tier, being able to threaten traditional Fighting checks such as Togekiss (Gunk Shot) and Gliscor, as well as Fire type checks such as Primarina, Volcanion, and Mega Blastoise. It also, as an added touch, is the only viable Fighting type with priority, giving it the ability to finish off mons like weakened MAero and others. Overall, Infernape's versatility, ability to threaten fire and fighting checks, and consistent matchup against offense and balance make it worthy of A- rank.
I'd rather see this in A rank tbh. You've already said most of what I want to say, but bottom line is, the metagame has been far too kind to it, and it's now by far one of the best answers to Scizor, Cobalion and Weavile. At the moment, it's almost the only relevant Fire type in the tier. Its answers are extremely limited, Togekiss hates Gunk Shot, Primarina hates Thunder Punch, and almost everything else not named Latias or Gliscor is threatened by its STABs. As you said, it's super versatile, from running All-Out Physical Attacker, Swords Dance, All-Out Special Attacker, Nasty Plot, Choice Scarf, and Choice Band. And Fighting priority is also excellent. This is why I think it's indeed a level above Celebi and Swampert.
 

roman

Banned deucer.
from b+ to a-

i'm a huge fan of this mon. at a glance this mon doesn't seem all that big with a plethora of bulky waters ruling the tier but i think that with the departure of m swamp and conk i could definitely see mons such as weavile seeing a huge rise in usage which only makes nape better. i also feel as though nasty plot is an extremely unexplored set with an insane amount of potential. the set ive been running (np / gk / vw / fblast) is very good at cleaning up weakened teams and imo doesn't really have that hard of a time setting up due to being able to setup on common mons such scizor (who is on like every other team), -2 mons such as hydrei, choiced mons such as knock/pursuit krook etc and go to town. it hasn't been mentioned much but this set can bluff scarf extremely easily (becuase of how common it is) and force mons such as coba and krookodile out for free np. also lack of ghosts and good fighting resists in the tier (see conk) in general make vacuum wave extremely good priority and it also packs coverage for resists (gk for prim fire blast for celebi etc). of course scarf is already very solid as well at checking metagame threats such as xurkitree weavile beedrill etc. which also provides utility in uturn. from my experience all u gotta do is pack something for latias and you'll see this mon do work. here are some replays of nasty plot since we already know what scarf does: r3 of open // 5/6 kills
(adding more lol)
 
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A up to A+

A+ is looking extremely vacant right now, especially now that Mega Swampert is gone. Xurkitree basically has no hard counters outside of Blissey, which makes Xurkitree + Cobalion cores superb because Cobalion breaks through Xurkitree's one hard counter. Seriously, nothing else in S through A- switches in on Xurkitree at all except for Latias and Celebi which are beaten by Tail Glow sets if Xurkitree is paired with webs. Speaking of webs, Tail Glow Xurkitree is an absolute nightmare on them since it solves Xurkitree's weakness to offense while being stupidly powerful as ever. And Beast Boost continues to add on to Xurkitree's power. Being an Electric type that beats Swampert is also neat. I also see no problem with running a Scarf set to outspeed Mega Pidgeot right off the bat.


A up to A+

Again, A+ has basically no Pokemon and Weavile is a clear cut above most of the rest of A. The Conkeldurr ban did Weavile justice, as did the departure of Mega Swampert. It's basically a faster Krookodile in a way. It completely smashes Latias into oblivion and outspeeds practically everything (and threatening Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Beedrill with Ice Shard, as both of them are weak to Rocks) in the metagame. Almost all of its counters are crippled by Knock Off, therefore hindering their roles, bar Cobalion and Terrakion if they're packing Z-Moves. It can also be really effective on Spikes, especially since Weavile beats all of the tier's relevant offensive hazard removal. Its good matchup against offense and to an extent stall is enough to push it out of A IMO.


C+ up to B/B+

I've been using this a bit lately and the playstyle of webs is much higher than C+. Webs is what turns Tail Glow Xurkitree into an absolute monster. Shuckle is EXTREMELY bulky, if you mix its defensive stats it has 125 HP/125 Defenses. Shuckle can take almost any attack. It will almost always be able to set up Sticky Web and Stealth Rock, just as long as the opponent doesn't lead off with a Taunter/Specs Primarina. Encore is great for granting free switches. Tail Glow Manaphy makes Shuckle even better, now that there's another Sticky Web abuser in the tier.
I think Mamoswine is also entitled to a rise to A because Buzzwole left a long time ago since its initial placement in A- and Conkeldurr was banned. Also, Mega-Swampert's departure from UU not only means it doesn't have to face it for competition for an offensive ground type anymore, it also means rain teams have lost their best Pokemon in UU, which is great for mamoswine, seeing as it struggles a lot against bulky and offensive waters. Now that Mega-Aerodactyl is the best Mega now, Mamoswine completely decimates it with icicicle crash and ice shard. It has very few switch ins atm and you need to watch out for this thing.
 

C+ --> C-
Deci is just awful right now in the current meta. Terrible speed tier, easily pursuit trapped by Weavile and Krook and even Aero. It also needs a SD to do much to anything and it can easily be taken advantage of. Not to add on that there are better grass types in the tier such as M-Sceptile, MowTom, and Celebi. Losing M-Pert didn't help it neither since it's bad at it's only niche: Trapping. It's just bad at everything it does. Trapping, Defogging away hazards and even being a offensive threat.Overall Deci isn't a good mon and doesn't deserve to be C+
 

Moutemoute

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A → A+ / S

With Buzzwole gone and now Conkeldurr, Sharpedo-Mega is more threatening than ever. With just hazards support (Spikes & Sr) it can breaks through a lot of Pokemon. It's insane too deal with in mid game or late game and it takes advantage of Psychic Fangs to break the common Aurora Veil Offense. Tbh rn, Ice Fang over Waterfall is an amazing alterative cuz' it takes care of Hydreigon with Sr. Is typing is clearly not the best defensively but it resists UU priority (Aqua Jet, Bullet Punch, Ice Shar or event Sucker Punch). Clearly one the biggest threat in UU imo.
 

A → A+ / S

With Buzzwole gone and now Conkeldurr, Sharpedo-Mega is more threatening than ever. With just hazards support (Spikes & Sr) it can breaks through a lot of Pokemon. It's insane too deal with in mid game or late game and it takes advantage of Psychic Fangs to break the common Aurora Veil Offense. Tbh rn, Ice Fang over Waterfall is an amazing alterative cuz' it takes care of Hydreigon with Sr. Is typing is clearly not the best defensively but it resists UU priority (Aqua Jet, Bullet Punch, Ice Shar or event Sucker Punch). Clearly one the biggest threat in UU imo.
Agreed. Mega Sharpedo is putting in work on a lot of team and it eats up Aurora Veil teams that think they are safe from it's wrath. Ice Fang, Crunch, and Psychic Fang allows it to nearly unmatched in its wake. Plus now with Pert gone (mega), not much can really stop this monster.
 
Ahh, I forgot something.


B- -> B/B+

Crawdaunt is definitely a cut above everything else in B-. Similarly to Mega Shark, the meta has been kind to it due to Conk leaving taking away pretty much the #1 thing that could stop it from sweeping, and Pert leaving, while weakening rain, gives it less competition for a physical Water type. Its typing allows it to resist basically every single relevant priority such as Scizor's Bullet Punch and Weavile and Mamoswine's Ice Shards, with the only priority its susceptible to being from Infernape, which it outpaces after a DD and OHKOs. It also gets priority itself, being able to kill faster mons such as Mega Beedrill and Mega Aerodactyl with a bit of chip. There is little to stop Crawdaunt once it sets up. Out of all the mons in the S through A- rankings, only two resist both of its STABs, Primarina and Hydreigon, and if Crawdaunt is carrying Swords Dance Prima gets annihilated by Crabhammer and Hydra gets OHKOed as well after rocks. Crawdaunt has literally 0 switch ins, and when it comes in, something dies. It can easily kill a pivotal member of the opposing team or weaken it for another Pokemon to clean. Crawdaunt should rise to at least B or even B+ due to its matchup against top threats in the tier and lack of switch ins, basically, at all. lel


To A+ Rank/S Rank: Agree

Weavile is incredibly good, simple as that. Having a nice matchup against popular threats such as Krookodile, Latias, and Hydreigon, it can punch holes in opposing teams fairly easily. The switch ins it has are either threatened by Low Kick (Cobalion and Terrakion are both OHKOed) or even Poison Jab (Primarina), lowering the amount of switch ins it can reliably have. Its speed tier only helps it, letting it outspeed things like Mega Pidgeot and as said before, non-scarf Latias, making it a great offensive check to these threats. Priority is great on it, letting it handle aero somewhat reliably as well as being an emergency check to sweepers. Another thing, its also the best user of Pursuit in the tier, letting it trap latias as well as get chip to other mons it forces out, which is a plethora. While its frailty makes me lean toward A+ Rank, I wouldn't even be opposed to S just because of how much it does and how good of a matchup it has against a lot of things atm.
 
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Any reason as to why there hasn't been a VR update in so long? Like, even 'mons UU doesn't have anymore (Conk, MegaPert) are still on the VR. Are we going to get an update anytime soon? Have I missed something as to why we haven't had an update in so long?
 

pokemonisfun

Banned deucer.


Hawlucha to A- or A

It's a giant jump so let me explain it:
  • Aurora Veil makes it much easier to set up and prevents all priority from KOing unless you're below 45%
  • High base power moves, SD, OK attack and STAB means you OHKO 95%+ of offensive mons after a boost and with SR
  • I think it's faster than everything after Unburden, certainly faster than any relevant scarfer
  • When this was brought up before, people mentioned how priority messes with it; Substitute already mitigated that but Aurora Veil really helps even more
  • Also it's pretty strong, not quite a wall breaker but very close and has sufficient bulk outside of Veil to tank several hits like a Heavy Slam from Steelix or Seismic Toss+Tentacruel Scald which means it can still break walls despite not having the usual Attack stat or boosting item
  • Again, Hawluchas only main flaw is that it's somewhat weak before set up which is hard to do with its modest bulk; Aurora Veil completely buffs it to top tier level threat
While I don't really disagree strongly or at all with most of the previous nominations, I think there have been some exaggerated points (for example, Mega Blastoise is a good Crawdaunt switch in as it outspeeds, OHKOs and can tank a Z Crabhammer). The replay of Infernape was interesting, but the team it swept was already badly weakened and it got a KO for nothing just because opponent played badly.

Overall I still agree with the nominations though.

I don't agree with Sharpedo Mega to S rank though and as somewhat skeptical of A+ rank. It's just a tad too weak against fatter builds, not being able to 2HKO Alomomola, Mandibuzz or Tangela. It's very similar to Hawlucha in my opinion actually, except it trades the ability to boost its attack for easier set up and more initial power. Also not as weak to common priority.

Also I have a soft spot for Decidueye and I think you guys are underestimating the power of trapping; it's an effective wall breaker for the most part so to demote it to the lowest viable ranking is in my humble opinion uncalled for.
 

ehT

:dog:
is a Contributor Alumnus
Changes:

: Added to New Pokemon Rank
: Unranked

B- → B:
Bulky Waters as a whole have gotten a lot better since the June shifts, and Alo is no exception. It more than makes up for its passivity with its ability to pivot into the absurd amount of things it does and either Wish up or try to get a teammate in safely, either through forcing the opponent out or an Eject Button. This allows it to fit on far more teams than its stats would imply, and puts it far ahead of most things in B-.

C- D:
Arcanine is not only outclassed, but outright fails at everything it sets out to do. Despite having useful resistances, it fails to check anything important besides the one Scizor that doesn't U-turn whilst there's an Arcanine in the back, and Abomasnow. Everything else it might want to check it will have to come in with Rocks down to "revenge" with Intimidate + Will-o-Wisp, which begs the question of whether that level of support is worth running Arcanine over something that can actually switch in to relevant threats, but it simply isn't.

B → B+:
Empoleon's typing has become a lot more helpful with the loss of Conkeldurr and Mega Swampert, as it can now much more readily check the likes of Togekiss, Pidgeot, and Primarina, as well as Defog, spread status, phaze, or Knock things Off without risking them coming in.

Unranked → C+:
Higher SpDef, instant recovery, and higher Speed all give Florges a noteworthy niche over Sylveon. Not much else to be said.

B- → A-:

The rise of Aurora Veil teams in the current meta have given people cause to recognize Hawlucha for the massive threat it is. Its Speed, amazing offensive typing, surprisingly good defensive typing, and the help of Veil support all make setting up Hawlucha far easier to set up than one might expect given its do-or-die nature. This allows it to punish a lot of staples on offense, such as Scarf Krookodile and Cobalion, and essentially putting offense on the backfoot from preview.

A+ → A:

Even with the departure of all of Krookodile's best offensive checks in Buzzwole, Conkeldurr, and Mega Swampert, Krookodile is far easier to punish than in previous metas. Despite still offering all the things that have made it a great Pokemon, it will either be punished for being Choice locked -- EQ / Knock / Edge / Pursuit / Superpower are all pretty easy to punish -- or be punished for not being fast enough by something that it, as a Ground/Dark type, would really like to check offensively, like Cobalion or Latias.

B- → B+:
A no-brainer. As Veil teams rise, so too should the centerpiece of them.

A- → B+

Competition from Xurkitree and Rotom-Mow put Raikou in an awkward spot. It still has, by virtue of its Speed tier, a unique edge versus offense that the latter two don't, but that niche is moot when you consider that some of the best partners for Electrics have a stellar matchup versus offence to begin with.

A → B+
The lack of defensive utility holds Terrakion back far more than expected. Its ridiculous power its offset so much by its weakness to priority and lack of useful resistances, meaning that it can really only come in with very precise prediction or against something like Blissey. And even then, Choice sets are forced to choose from one of 4 easily exploitable moves, and setup sets face the dilemma between setting up and attacking more than most wallbreakers due to its sheer fragility. It's for this reason that it rarely, if ever outright sweeps versus anything less bulky than hard stall, regardless of set.


Declined nominations:

:
Specs and Life Orb are nigh impossible to handle defensively, but the teams that Hydreigon should shine most against, balance and bulky offence, don't have a hard time minimizing the damage it does with offensive countermeasures. Most notable among these is Primarina, which stops it cold, but a far from negligible number of offensive staples -- Beedrill, Cobalion, Weavile -- can gain either momentum or a kill off of teams that rely on Hydreigon as a breaker, making it risky to utilize. Scarf is still a top notch revenge killer, but it's more often than not highly pressured to click U-turn, lest a wall recover or one of the aforementioned offensive Dark checks come in and regain the momentum that Hydreigon, as a Scarf user, should be maintaining itself.

:
Nidoqueen's biggest selling point over Nidoking in the past was its bulk. But that advantage has become smaller and smaller as most of the things it wants to check with that bulk -- namely Fighting-types and Electric-types -- are now much stronger, and don't have much trouble breaking past offensive Nidoqueen, with minimal chip damage. Defensive sets, however, have a much better defined niche since they capitalize on its bulk the way offensive sets used to, while now acting as a very effective Scizor check for bulky teams.

:
Blastoise will always be scary, but being a Mega is a high price to pay when Primarina fills roughly the same role with a better typing whilst not costing a Mega. Spin support, higher Speed, higher bulk, and Dark / Fighting pseudo STAB mean you can be a bit less careful with Blastoise, though, as it can soft-check a lot more things from full health than Primarina can, while having a more direct support role, as well.

:
Refer to the blurb on Darm here. Everything I said about it there still applies. Darmanitan is blacklisted until further notice.

Discussion points:
None at the moment, though there will be as the new meta unfolds.

We've gotten something of a backlog on nominations at the moment due to the lull in thread updates, so don't fret if you don't see your nomination here. Thanks for your patience, everyone.
 
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pokemonisfun

Banned deucer.


I disagree very much with putting Arcanine in D rank, which is basically saying Arcanine has no viability or negligible viability in the tier.

It should still be ranked in the Cs because:
  • The blurb is more or less inaccurate when it says all it does is check Scizor and Abomasnow - first of all it's a total counter to those two, secondly it also beats Weavile, Beedrill, Sharpedo Mega, Hawlucha, Entei, physical Infernape, Darmanitan, among others
  • The blurb didn't even mention implications of it's top two benefits - Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp - which if you use it on stall like me greatly helps against things like last Pokémon Snorlax or a rampaging SD Cobalion
  • The blurb exaggerated when it said Arcanine needs a lot of support; all it needs is hazard control which a lot of Pokémon need and a lot of teams provide, including the stall teams Arcanine is best in
  • Seriously I get U-Turn is annoying...but saying Arcanine is a bad Scizor check because of it would mean we would have to like ban Scizor and Beedrill because their U-Turns are so strong and literally nothing can block the momentum except Shedinja...it's pretty obviously flawed or again exaggerated logic
  • Lastly, the first thought of the blurb is pretty inaccurate - Arcanine while not common, is certainly not outclassed by anything in the tier. No physical wall counters the threats Arcanine does while providing the same utility
  • Bonus, the most common weather that messes with Morning Sun is obviously Hail at this point; you can OHKO Ninetales before the Veil though so it's often too scared to switch in
 
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Deleted User 400951

Banned deucer.

C+ --> C-
Deci is just awful right now in the current meta. Terrible speed tier, easily pursuit trapped by Weavile and Krook and even Aero. It also needs a SD to do much to anything and it can easily be taken advantage of. Not to add on that there are better grass types in the tier such as M-Sceptile, MowTom, and Celebi. Losing M-Pert didn't help it neither since it's bad at it's only niche: Trapping. It's just bad at everything it does. Trapping, Defogging away hazards and even being a offensive threat.Overall Deci isn't a good mon and doesn't deserve to be C+
As I had nominated last page, I think even C- is too generous and it's time this got D rank. It's simply not strong enough to defeat stall anymore, which was its main niche. I get what Pokeisfun is saying, but I don't think that the trapping niche is worth it. This is because it's not gonna enough damage without a boost - in which case the stall mon gets a free status off if it doesn't waste its Z-move then and there. It's deadweight if it gets burned, which many of what it wants to trap - bulky waters, notably - can cause. That power issue is huge in a tier with Mega Aggron - who is a fine alternative to Mega Lix btw, as Pokeisfun explained in the meta discussion thread - Hippowdon (not even close to 2hko without a boost, while it can carry Toxic to severely cripple Decid or use Whirlwind), bulky Scizor, and Mega Lix. In addition, no matter what way Decidueye is used, it is complete and utter deadweight against offensive teams. Other than Sucker Punch, it cannot retaliate before it is outside and brutalized by just about anything on their team. The rise of dark types in particular such as Weavile, Mega Shark, Hydregion is just terrible for it, as are the millions of physical threats we have nowadays like Scizor, Mega Bee, and Mamo. Many of these can't be trapped because of U-Turn/Volt Switch, which reduces Decidueye's value against them even more. Offense is the style that defines the meta and to me, being this deadweight against them while still not putting in enough work against stall and balance doesn't warrant a rank to me.

I'll update later with more noms.

ALRIGHT MORE NOMS LET'S GO:

Infernape to A-
This thing I'm nominating based off of the scarf and LO sets. It does have plenty of versatility in its SD, NP, CB, and even Specs sets, but it's these two sets that stand out to me. Scarf right now is super good. Between its dual STABs, U-Turn and extensive coverage, this revenges almost everything. Most notably, it stops Hawlucha from ever setting up thanks to Stone Edge. Z-Hypnosis Xurkitree is also outsped and defeated pretty easily. Mega Bee, Hydregion - all of these are revenged. It no longer has to run Grass Knot for Mega Pert, making it even more versatile. I think that rn Nape is the best scarfer in the tier alongside Hydregion and since Scarfers are actually pretty decent now this deserves a rise. Also, Lo is super heat right now. It pairs well with AV, increasing its bulk while taking out threats to AV teams with its wide coverage. It also has STAB Mach Punch / Vacuum Wave for revenging. Definitely a rise, and much better rn than Raikou, Nido, Absol, and Suicune while on the level of Lucha, Hydrei and Togekiss.

I'm absolutely fine with Nape not going to A- because of its many flaws but I would like to see it rise.

Xurkitree to A+
Now now, hear me out. I understand that vs offense it's not very good. However, I think that this is easily on the level of Cobalion. The reason is that it's very versatile and Z-Hypnosis is underrated right now. It has Specs - which will murder anything slower than it, guaranteed - Scarf - a somewhat fast and powerful mon, imo its worst set - and the Z Hyp. While Mega Aero can revenge this, it can easily be taken care of by Scizor, Weavile AND STEALTH ROCK. Seriously, with pivot, SR and priority support - things that are on just about every single offensive team right now - Xurk straight up wins games. Z-Electric Terrain is also good as while it doesn't dispatch of an opponent, it negates the need for Tail Glow. AV is godly for this thing because it negates the need for Hypnosis. Krook falling off is also a huge boon, and Mega Swampert leaving is likely the single greatest thing to happen to this mon. Overall, I think that Xurkitree is ahead of its A rank brethren because of its capacity to sweep and wall break and it's been reacting well to metagame trends.

Weavile to A+
I've nominated this several times, and plenty of others have for its dual STAB, extreme utility, and revenge killing capabilities. AV makes this a lot better too. Conk and Mega Swamp leaving are super helpful for it. Rise.

In addition, I think that the lower ranks could use some cleaning. C rank in particular is stuffed to the brim with tons of mons that don't belong.

Cofagrigus to C+
This thing is super heat right now. OTR is a great set that capitalizes on a lack of sturdy ghost resists. As a late-game cleaner, it's very good. Most Dark types are very frail or have common weaknesses, meaning that they can be dispatched of mid-game. After that, be prepared to just die.

Flygon to UR
It's time. This thing has not been good for a long while now. It's very underwhelming in terms of power and it's revenged easily by Weavile. The Z sets have an inherent opportunity cost in them. I'd sooner use CM Latias, SD Scizor, Z-Hyp Xurk or just about any other sweeper over this.

Bruxish to UR
Why is this ranked again? It's terrible. The speed is just too bad, and Aqua Jet doesn't adequately prevent it from getting revenged unless it runs Dazzling, in which case it's too weak.

EDITS:

RE: Decidueye
So long as Decidueye is in UU, it can't really be unranked. Lowest it can go is D Rank and that's for things that are completely unviable. And honestly, it can be a pain in the ass to switch into, even if it doesn't do much. I think C- is fine for it right now, all things considered. It's got a few, very small niches, and it's outclassed by most, but not all.
OK yeah edited that lol. I think that it's not a pain to switch into if it doesn't set up, which is imo too hard for it to do. Ghost/Grass typing is just one of the worst typings to have in this metagame defensively, with weaknesses to Dark, Ice, and Flying. These offensive types are seen just about everywhere, on almost every team. Pursuit is the big one here, as that's on just about every serious stall team right now. It also has terrible physical bulk, which isn't helpful in a meta filled with powerful physical mons. As I had pointed out, defensive mons can handle it rather well because they can status it and ruin its sweep. This means that it can't do much vs defensive teams. Let's take two stall teams Pokeisfun posted in the SQSA thread:
http://pokepast.es/60ae62965191f149
This team has two pursuit users that honestly give Decidueye hell. It can be poisoned or burned, too. This is in addition to Doublade not letting it switch in. While it can pick up a kill or so, doing so has to capitalize off of poor play. Assuming both players are of equal skill, it's not gonna happen. It could get off a trap and kill on Alomomola but half-decent play makes this difficult to do. Deicdueye is thus not very good vs this team.
http://pokepast.es/e404c1b2c8edffc8
This teams walls Decidueye to hell and back with Mega Lix and Mandibuzz. It gets statused and Pursuit trapped. It's better than last team but still not a good situation for Decidueye here.
So if Decidueye is deadweight vs offense, the style that truly defines the meta, while also not being very good against stall, then why is it not in D rank?
 
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B+ -> A-/A

I feel like, even though this nom was stressed a while ago, that the metagame has only gotten kinder to Infernape as of late. This is a mon that benefits from both the Conk ban and Mega Swampert's exit from the tier, as it receives less competition overall as a Fighting type as well as loses a very solid offensive check to it. Its speed tier is very, very coveted at the moment, being able to reliably don a Choice Scarf to kill Pokemon such as Terrakion and Krookodile and dent mons like Latias and Mega Aero. Infernape is also the most versatile Fighting type in the tier, being able to threaten traditional Fighting checks such as Togekiss (Gunk Shot) and Gliscor, as well as Fire type checks such as Primarina, Volcanion, and Mega Blastoise. It also, as an added touch, is the only viable Fighting type with priority, giving it the ability to finish off mons like weakened MAero and others. Overall, Infernape's versatility, ability to threaten fire and fighting checks, and consistent matchup against offense and balance make it worthy of A- rank.
I agree! I see Infernape everywhere even in OU!
 

Adaam

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I can't believe mamoswine hasn't risen yet. it no longer has to deal with Megapert, Conkeldurr, or Buzzwole.
Mamoswine is fine where it is. Yes, it lost three checks but these aren't what holds Mamoswine back. Mega Swampert wasn't that much of a problem anyway since it cannot switch in and also takes ~90% minimum from Freeze Dry with 80 EVs invested. It offers next to no defensive utility outside of an Electric immunity which doesn't mean much considering its outsped by all relevant Electrics and promptly OHKOd (assuming Raikou is Ghostium-Z and used CM on the switch). Unlike Weavile which also suffers from its poor defenses, Mamoswine is overly reliant on Ice Shard to threaten offensive Pokémon since they all outspeed it which opens the door for more counterplay. For example, you can switch into something like Scizor on a predicted Ice Shard. No doubt it's extremely difficult to switch into and has arguably no defensive counters, but these bans/rises aren't enough for Mamo to go up in viability.
 

ehT

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We've gotten something of a backlog on nominations at the moment due to the lull in thread updates, so don't fret if you don't see your nomination here. Thanks for your patience, everyone.
We're getting the thread up to date with more obvious changes before moving on to smaller ones. Everything should be up to speed following the next update, as we didn't want to change too much all at once immediately after a tier shift.
 
So after playing around with it a little, I'd like to nominate Mega Camerupt to B-.

Camel has a good niche in being an extremely powerful wallbreaker who can get up rocks and eat a few hits. It's also very good with trick room support, since it's otherwise so slow.

Fire blast, eruption and earth power all hit super hard, but camel has very little in the way of coverage. It gets ancient power for flying types like mantine, but has only HP ice for the ever prevalent latias (and hydreigon to a lesser extent). Also, because of a 4x water weakness and weakness to the common EQ, it finds itself either losing to many of the defensive mons it would like to weaken, or getting severely weakened in the process. It can put in work on trick room teams that can support it by getting rid of the things that eliminate the threats I've mentioned, but I wouldn't call it a trick room staple like crawdaunt. It can also work on balance, but again, it needs support to get rid of common threats, or it loses momentum for the team.
 
As I had nominated last page, I think even C- is too generous and it's time this got unranked. It's simply not strong enough to defeat stall anymore, which was its main niche. I get what Pokeisfun is saying, but I don't think that the trapping niche is worth it. This is because it's not gonna enough damage without a boost - in which case the stall mon gets a free status off if it doesn't waste its Z-move then and there. It's deadweight if it gets burned, which many of what it wants to trap - bulky waters, notably - can cause. That power issue is huge in a tier with Mega Aggron - who is a fine alternative to Mega Lix btw, as Pokeisfun explained in the meta discussion thread - Hippowdon (not even close to 2hko without a boost, while it can carry Toxic to severely cripple Decid or use Whirlwind), bulky Scizor, and Mega Lix. In addition, no matter what way Decidueye is used, it is complete and utter deadweight against offensive teams. Other than Sucker Punch, it cannot retaliate before it is outside and brutalized by just about anything on their team. The rise of dark types in particular such as Weavile, Mega Shark, Hydregion is just terrible for it, as are the millions of physical threats we have nowadays like Scizor, Mega Bee, and Mamo. Many of these can't be trapped because of U-Turn/Volt Switch, which reduces Decidueye's value against them even more. Offense is the style that defines the meta and to me, being this deadweight against them while still not putting in enough work against stall and balance doesn't warrant a rank to me.

I'll update later with more noms.

ALRIGHT MORE NOMS LET'S GO:

Infernape to A-
This thing I'm nominating based off of the scarf and LO sets. It does have plenty of versatility in its SD, NP, CB, and even Specs sets, but it's these two sets that stand out to me. Scarf right now is super good. Between its dual STABs, U-Turn and extensive coverage, this revenges almost everything. Most notably, it stops Hawlucha from ever setting up thanks to Stone Edge. Z-Hypnosis Xurkitree is also outsped and defeated pretty easily. Mega Bee, Hydregion - all of these are revenged. It no longer has to run Grass Knot for Mega Pert, making it even more versatile. I think that rn Nape is the best scarfer in the tier alongside Hydregion and since Scarfers are actually pretty decent now this deserves a rise. Also, Lo is super heat right now. It pairs well with AV, increasing its bulk while taking out threats to AV teams with its wide coverage. It also has STAB Mach Punch / Vacuum Wave for revenging. Definitely a rise, and much better rn than Raikou, Nido, Absol, and Suicune while on the level of Lucha, Hydrei and Togekiss.

I'm absolutely fine with Nape not going to A- because of its many flaws but I would like to see it rise.

Xurkitree to A+
Now now, hear me out. I understand that vs offense it's not very good. However, I think that this is easily on the level of Cobalion. The reason is that it's very versatile and Z-Hypnosis is underrated right now. It has Specs - which will murder anything slower than it, guaranteed - Scarf - a somewhat fast and powerful mon, imo its worst set - and the Z Hyp. While Mega Aero can revenge this, it can easily be taken care of by Scizor, Weavile AND STEALTH ROCK. Seriously, with pivot, SR and priority support - things that are on just about every single offensive team right now - Xurk straight up wins games. Z-Electric Terrain is also good as while it doesn't dispatch of an opponent, it negates the need for Tail Glow. AV is godly for this thing because it negates the need for Hypnosis. Krook falling off is also a huge boon, and Mega Swampert leaving is likely the single greatest thing to happen to this mon. Overall, I think that Xurkitree is ahead of its A rank brethren because of its capacity to sweep and wall break and it's been reacting well to metagame trends.

Weavile to A+
I've nominated this several times, and plenty of others have for its dual STAB, extreme utility, and revenge killing capabilities. AV makes this a lot better too. Conk and Mega Swamp leaving are super helpful for it. Rise.

In addition, I think that the lower ranks could use some cleaning. C rank in particular is stuffed to the brim with tons of mons that don't belong.

Cofagrigus to C+
This thing is super heat right now. OTR is a great set that capitalizes on a lack of sturdy ghost resists. As a late-game cleaner, it's very good. Most Dark types are very frail or have common weaknesses, meaning that they can be dispatched of mid-game. After that, be prepared to just die.

Flygon to UR
It's time. This thing has not been good for a long while now. It's very underwhelming in terms of power and it's revenged easily by Weavile. The Z sets have an inherent opportunity cost in them. I'd sooner use CM Latias, SD Scizor, Z-Hyp Xurk or just about any other sweeper over this.

Bruxish to UR
Why is this ranked again? It's terrible. The speed is just too bad, and Aqua Jet doesn't adequately prevent it from getting revenged unless it runs Dazzling, in which case it's too weak.
RE: Decidueye
So long as Decidueye is in UU, it can't really be unranked. Lowest it can go is D Rank and that's for things that are completely unviable. And honestly, it can be a pain in the ass to switch into, even if it doesn't do much. I think C- is fine for it right now, all things considered. It's got a few, very small niches, and it's outclassed by most, but not all.
 
RE: Decidueye
So long as Decidueye is in UU, it can't really be unranked. Lowest it can go is D Rank and that's for things that are completely unviable. And honestly, it can be a pain in the ass to switch into, even if it doesn't do much. I think C- is fine for it right now, all things considered. It's got a few, very small niches, and it's outclassed by most, but not all.
considering clefable is gone, it could actually put in some work against stall teams, as the only other unaware user is quag. its still weak to status (unless the main set is like rest talk?? but that seems bad)

edit:
i think a set with something like

Decidueye @ Leftovers
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 248 HP / 176 Atk / 84 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Spirit Shackle

enough speed for min speed togekiss (obvs creep until ur satisfied), and then either invest in adamant or whatever bulk can let u set up on whatever threats. considering most stall mons cant actually do damage rowlett Sr. can afford to just burn rest turns and be somewhat immune to status now
 
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