SM SM UU Viability Rankings

[Adaam]

Credits to HotFuzzBall for the timeless banner :)​

Welcome to the Ruins of Alph version of the SM UU Viability Ranks!

Here, our goal is to sort every Pokemon with viability in UU into rankings that can distinguish them all based upon their specific value in the tier. The community and the Viability Ranking's council will work together to refine the rankings from time to time to make sure they are as accurate as possible. Being an oldgen, updates will happen infrequently, but we will work to keep ranks up to date for any developments that occur.

The S tier contains a select few metagame-defining Pokemon, the best of the best, and the A tiers reflect on the Pokemon which are extremely effective but flawed in some aspects. The B tier is slightly more expansive, with the B+ tier representing Pokemon that are fairly common and threatening but don't quite make the cut for A-, while the B- tier represents Pokemon which fill minor, but relevant, niches. Below the B tier, the generic C tier displays the rest of the Pokemon that are usable in UU, but don't have a niche that is appreciated by most UU teams.

All Pokemon are also ordered within each subrank, so the top Pokemon in A+ is considered "better" than the Pokemon below it. As we go into lower subranks, the differences become more and more negligible, so feel free to comment your opinion below on any of the rankings. Without further adieu, let's get to the rank!

S Rank

Scizor

A+ Rank

Latias

Aerodactyl-Mega

Empoleon
Hydreigon

Amoonguss
Cobalion

Primarina

A Rank

Hippowdon

Manectric-Mega

Blissey

Sharpedo-Mega

Terrakion

Krookodile

Rotom-H

Infernape

Aggron-Mega

Togekiss

Altaria-Mega

A- Rank

Steelix-Mega

Mimikyu

Mew

Mamoswine

Rhyperior

Nidoqueen

Bisharp

Tentacruel

B+ Rank

Klefki

Slowbro-Mega

Swampert

Starmie

Froslass

Volcanion

Doublade

Gligar

Nidoking

Slowbro

B Rank

Chesnaught

Celebi

Alomomola

Seismitoad

Suicune

Zeraora

Jellicent

Gengar

Roserade

Moltres

Magneton

Houndoom-Mega

Absol-Mega

Blastoise-Mega

B- Rank

Crawdaunt

Mienshao

Pidgeot-Mega

Reuniclus

Necrozma

Bewear

Feraligatr

Kyurem

Lucario

Nihilego

Milotic

C+ Rank

Florges

Beedrill-Mega

Rotom-C

Sylveon

Azelf

Aurorus

Diancie

Chandelure

Muk-Alola

C Rank

Bronzong

Araquanid

Salazzle

Venomoth

Crobat

Sceptile-Mega

Pyukumuku

Heracross

Talonflame

C- Rank

Tsareena

Toxicroak

Tornadus

Snorlax

Articuno

Mantine

Haxorus

 

[Adaam]

>> SPREADSHEET <<​

Big thanks to Pak, TDK, ramolost, pokemonisfun, robjr, Pearl, and Amukamara for helping with this project. We delimited subranks every time there was a >= 2.0 jump in mean rank for a reasonably large group. For example, we did not separate Volcanion and Houndoom since B would only have 2 Pokemon. Once we got to the C ranks, the disparity grew smaller, so the threshold was lowered. The UR cutoff ended up being Stakataka since everything at and below it is literally never used, but you could make a case to nuke pretty much anything in C-.

Oh, and since a lot of shit mons were left off a lot of rankers' lists, I assigned them all the same numeric rank and call it a day. That rank would be the median of the unranked mons (so if you left off mons 81-100, they’d all be given 90). This didn't really change much in the end besides shifting a couple shitmons from C- to UR and vice versa.

Rises

A > A+

A- > A

A- > A

B > B+

B- > B

B- > B

C+ > B-

C+ > B-

UR > C-

Reasoning

• Amoonguss emerged to be the tier's best gluemon. It's typing, bulk, ability, and access to Spore makes it always put in work in every matchup. It counters DD Altaria, checks Krookodile, Mega Sharpedo, Scizor, Primarina, Mimikyu, and many more, and it pivots into just about every neutral hit. The floaty special Dragons bother it, and it finds it lacks enough bulk to handle stuff like LO Scizor and Mega Aerodactyl, but Amoonguss will always be a dominant force in a game.
• Rotom-H is a surprisingly annoying mon to switch into. Toxic + Fire/Electric coverage covers just about everything besides Mega Altaria and Blissey. But they don't block Volt Switch, and Blissey hilariously takes a ton of damage from Pain Split. Quadruply resisting Bullet Punch is also a massive boon for any team, so a rise is warranted.
• Empoleon unironically solos the majority of the tier, and is just learning Roost away from being an unkillable demon. It's a fantastic Defogger (and rocker!), always makes progress with Scald + Knock Off + Toxic. and soft/hard checks the tier's top 2 Pokemon. Emp also benefits from the fall of Refresh Altaria using it as fodder.
• HO is one of the most dominant playstyles, so Froslass's rise reflects that. While it doesn't do much besides lay Spikes, it enables the playstyle so well that B did not accurately reflect how strong it was.
• AV Mienshao pivots into a ton of neutral special hits and regains momentum immediately with Knock Off + U-Turn. Hydreigon in particular turns into a liability against it, and it is a sturdy switch-in for a bunch of annoying stuff like Rotom-H (watch out for Z-Overheat!), Empoleon, and Tentacruel.
• Necrozma has amazing versatility and coverage to be a a threat to any team lacking Latias. Even then, it's a Pursuit away from wrecking havoc. Prism Armor is also a crazy ability on a Pokemon that hits this hard, as it turns certain would-be checks like Krookodile into fodder.
• Rotom-C rises alongside Empoleon as a decent check against it. Like it's fiery counterpart, it's damn hard to stop from regaining some momentum, but it sadly cannot revenge kill a Scizor. It smashes Water-types though, so that niche alone warrants a rise.
• Hurricane is damn hard to switch into. Hurricanes that don't miss? Even harder. Pidgeot rises as it's invaluable speed tier + powerful STAB makes it a big threat to teams lacking Empoleon, Nihilego, or Blissey. It can overwhelm Aero and Rotom-H quite easily with Rocks up, and finds many turns to fire an attack against things like Hippowdon, Krookodile, Infernape, Terrakion, and Amoonguss.
• Aurorus gets ranked on the basis of Veil HO. It's the best Hail setter since it also sets Rocks and is not a mega.

Drops

S- > A+

A > A-

A > A-

A > A-

A > A-

A-> B+

A- > B+

A- > B+

A- > B+

A- > B+

A- > B

B+ > B

B+ > B

B+ > B

A- > B

B+ > B

B+ > B

B+ > B

B+ > B-

B > B-

B+ > B-

B > B-

B > B-

B > C+

B- > C+

B- > C+

B > C+

B > C+

B- > C+

B > C

B > C

B- > C

C+ > C

C+ > C

B- > C

B- > C

C > C-

B- > C-

C > C-

B- > C-

C+ > C-

C > C-

Unranked:

Stakataka

Zygarde-10%

Abomasnow-Mega

Linoone

Cresselia

Palossand

Metagross

Xatu

Barbaracle

Silvally-Steel

Registeel

Umbreon

Decidueye

Ferroseed

Porygon2

Reasoning

There are a LOT of drops in an effort to clean up rank inflation that plagued us last gen. Most of these are just dropping overrated mons that should have been dropped years ago (I have no clue how Heracross was ever B-), but I will touch on some of the higher ranked ones.

• Altaria-Mega had a meteoric rise when DD sets took off, but now, it finds sweeps difficult due to the ever present Scizor and Amoonguss. Hydreigon more commonly uses lure sets with either Z-Poison or Z-Steel, and it needs multiple boosts to outspeed the most common forms of speed control in Scarf Krookodile and Mega Aerodactyl. However, mixed sets, Defog sets, and defensive sets are still very good, and DD can still surprise teams without Scizor, so Altaria remains in A+.
• Mega Slowbro is both a threat to sweep many teams and checks half the meta. The problem? The other half contains Scizor, Latias, and Hydreigon. It also falls flat in the HO matchup, and takes up a mega slot making it hard to fit on many teams.
• Mimikyu is like Froslass in the sense that it is incredible for HO but really difficult to fit anywhere else. Some BOs can afford to run it, but being unable to check Hydreigon is a detriment, and it lack the firepower to break through Amoonguss + Scizor cores on it's own. Disguise is crazy good, but Mimikyu is simply not good enough to be A.
• NP Celebi struggles hard against the big 2, and that's never a good sign. Throw Hydreigon into the mix, and having to deal with Pursuit and being outsped by Terrakion, and you have a breaker that's A-. It's great against stall, but in less extreme MUs it usually is not as strong.
• Infernape is weird. It's a Fire-type not weak to rocks, that's good right? But it has no bulk and needs to be really healthy to live +2 Bullet Punches. NP sets struggle with Mega Altaria, Starmie, and Primarina, while Mixed LO sets end up doing too much damage to itself in the process of breaking. Nonetheless, Fire + Poison + Fighting coverage is crazy good, so A- fits it.
• Bisharp is an awkward mon since it's a physically offensive Steel-type, but it isn't Scizor. You have to build specifically around it, which is often hard to justify when you can quite literally replace it with SD Knock Scizor and do the same things (minus Sucker Punch access). AV Sets however maintain the unique niche of being the best Latias trapped, and CB sets can punch big holes in unprepared teams.
• Alomomola takes a slight hit with Quagsire's ban, and outside of stall, it is difficult to mask it's flaws. It's very passive flaws. It relies too much on Scald to dissuade setup, and it doesn't really wall much on its own besides Mega Sharpedo.
• Gengar dropped two subranks which can be explained in three words: Bullet Punch + Pursuit. It's unwallable sure, but you have to play perfectly to not die to the incoming Krook or Aero after claiming a kill. Speed tying Latias is also annoying for an offensive Ghost-type with no bulk.
• The rankers agreed Mega Aggron is superior to Mega Steelix and should be reflected in a subrank drop. Mega Steelix has the edge in the Latias matchup, but Filter is not worth dropping more often than not. Mega Steelix's niche is usually relegated to being an offensive tank rather than a defensive one, but in this meta, tanking hits is slightly preferred.
• Mamoswine is hard to fit over more desired Ground-types like Krookodile or Hippowdon. Rotom-H's prominence is also frustrating for it, and of course, it's weak to Bullet Punch. There are also a lot of faster breakers that just don't care for Ice Shard (Infernape, Z-Cobalion, Terrakion, Mega Sharpedo, and even the Dragons can revenge Mamoswine in a pinch).
• Doublade is either amazing or useless. It hard walls Terrakions, checks Latias and Altaria, and can even counter Scizor! But what if Scizor has Knock Off? Or Latias is Z-Electric? Or Altaria has Fire Blast? Doublade also suffers from mashing-into-Amoonguss syndrome, and is simply too weak to make immediate progress without a boost. That said, with Quag's ban, it's a hilarious stallbreaker since Pyuk cannot touch it.
• Mew has a seemingly endless movepool and nice all-around stats. However, offensive sets face stiff competition from Celebi and Latias, and it really doesn't have that many useful utility moves. Knock Off isn't an assured progress maker this gen, and stallbreaker sets fall flat against Regenerator spam. Nobody has yet to find a splashable Mew set, and until then, B more accurately reflects its usability.

 

[Indigo Plateau]

After 3.5 years, we have a new VR update! Thank you to pdt, Adaam, vivalospride, kumiko, Santu, and robjr for their help ranking this. I unfortunately do not have time to explain the reasoning behind all the shifts but it would make sense that there would be changes with SM being one of the more popular UU old gens after such a long time. Everyone's submissions were weighed and the average ranks were calculated to divide mons into their appropriate subranks. Including a visual below and updating the OP soon to reflect this:

Some fun facts:

pdt was the only player to rank Mega Aggron and Mew in the Top 10 and rank Cobalion outside the Top 10.

Adaam was the only player to rank Rhyperior outside the Top 30 and ranked Crawdaunt ~20 spots higher than other players.

vivalospride was the only player to rank Mimikyu in the Top 10 and rank Nidoking in the Top 30.

IP was the only player to not rank Scizor as #1, rank Hydreigon outside the Top 10, and unranked the most Pokemon.

kumiko was the only player to rank Amoonguss outside the Top 10, rank Blissey in the Top 5, and rank Moltres in the Top 30.

Santu was the only player to rank Mega Steelix outside the Top 20 and ranked Infernape and Seismitoad ~20+ spots lower than other players.

robjr was the only player to rank Infernape inside the Top 10 and ranked Suicune ~30+ spots lower than other players.

Bisharp had the lowest deviation in its ranking among the players outside the Top 5 with Nidoqueen as a very close second, while Alomomola and Mienshao saw the biggest deviations with half the pool differing in their rankings by ~35+ spots.