I propose we nuke the Usually Useless rank. Seeing as techs and other niche Pokemon were mass-removed from VR, I think the meaning and significance of lower-ranked Pokemon has changed. I, the infamous Unmon advocate, no longer think 'Usually Useless' actually means 'Usually Useless', and that a lot of the Pokemon under 'Usually Useless' are either a) actually useless, b) severely underrated but still niche, or c) so weird and complex I'm not sure any ranking would really explain what they do for the metagame. Also including some other 'mons. I have probably tested all of them, but I've played against all of them at some point or another, so keep that in mind.
My proposed changes:
Rise to C-:
Gothitelle
Gourgeist
Silvally-Ice
I should not have to go so much in depth for this part, so I'll try not to, because I know no one will understand me if I don't break this down. There has ALWAYS (including last time it was discussed to be on the same rank as Meowstic-F) been a fundamental misunderstanding on WHEN you would use Gothitelle, and WHY you would use Gothitelle. Gothitelle is a potent Defog deterrent alternative to Grumpig, (it's also bulkier physically, although slower, which really does not matter if you're using either as a wall but I digress). The
ONLY time you should use it is on Spike-stack archetypes, as it is generally preferable to Grumpig on such archetypes. Gothitelle, having Competitive, naturally deters Defog, which is a boon to Spike-stack. As such, Gothitelle benefits from the chip damage Spikes/Toxic Spikes provide, because on Komalaless/Sandslashless/Avaluggless teams, Defog is essential, and we all know how Competitive forces switches by threatening to kill Silvallys. I don't stan it as much as I did before Komala, but Gothitelle certainly is head and shoulders above 90% of Usually Useless, and I'd argue a lot of C- (aiming low though). Gourgeist is basically a cheap, Z-Move alternative to Silvally-Ghost; it takes a turn to set-up, and is still walled by several physical walls, like Mawile, but it has such an underutilized and unexplored movepool (including Fire Blast) that has legitimately swept some of my teams. I'm not getting in-depth on Silvally-Ice, I've argued with Czim in ZUcord about it so if you want you can Ctrl+F that.
Drop off of VR:
Lumineon
Meowstic-F
Seviper
Togetic
Wartortle
Glalie
Sliggoo
Vullaby
Lumineon has always been touted as a Silvally-Water alternative when you are running an offensive Silvally. The problem with this is Lumineon has trouble checking things Silvally-Water would, such as Special Floatzel, Physical Floatzel, and *insert niche Floatzel set here* Floatzel. Meowstic-F's only real purpose in ZU is that Assist + Geomancy gimmick, having tested Scarf, CM, and Sub, I can safely say there's no reason why you would want to run it over Gothitelle on Spike-stack, and no reason why you would want to sacrifice Pawniard or Purugly to put it on Webs. Unlike Gothitelle, who has bulk to make up for her poor Speed, Meowstic-F flops mainly because it has average coverage and not enough hitting power. When would you generally run this over Dabra? Its Speed tier isn't even great anymore as we have things such as Floatzel in our tier that it's time to euthanize this cat. Seviper struggles because a) Ground-type coverage is common, b) there are better Switcheroo stallbreakers, or stallbreakers in general, c) there are better mixed wallbreakers such as Electivire, Floatzel, Toucannon, even Mawile, all of whom benefit from this meta and don't feel like a burden to build with, d) the player using it often has to pick between valuable moves such as Flamethrower, Giga Drain, Knock Off, Earthquake, and Glare, e) Sucker Punch is not as valuable anymore with Shiftry having access to it, and that being safer generally. My main qualm with keeping Togetic ranked is it is a Fairy-type WishPasser and why not use Lickilicky, as Aaron once said about Floette. It is exceptionally bad in this meta, particularly because of Electrics such as Electivire and having to deal with such pivots. Also Defog is not as valuable with Spinners having a fair share of viability in ZU ATM (the top 'mon is a Spinner). Unlike other viable Fairies like Floette, Togetic struggles because it checks nothing as a defensive 'mon really, and as such it is not worthy of being ranked. Wartortle is worse Prinplup, why is it still here? Glalie is bad because
0 SpA Glalie Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Silvally-Water: 132-156 (33.5 - 39.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Silvally-Water Surf vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Glalie: 126-148 (41.8 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
also Ghost-types such as Gourgeist-Super and Silvally-Ghost (this mainly) making its life a lot worse by negating its Explosion damage. Go use Smeargle if you insist on using Suicide Lead HO (please don't though, suicide leads are bad unless they are Sturdy). Sliggoo should be unranked primarily because defensive DD Altaria takes its niche and does it better, with more flexibility, and a Ground immunity. Vullaby has not been relevant for metas, and is somehow at C. Vullaby is worse than any of the Pokemon I have mentioned, and obviously Electivire/Mime (you can run calcs, it doesn't deal with Dazzling Gleam Mime)/Floatzel/Abomasnow.....I could go on. Its unique typing, previously touted as a reason to use it, is exactly what hinders it in real gameplay. It doesn't even need to be Knocked Off to get 2HKO'd by X common super-effective move, such as LO Floatzel Ice Beam. Who needs a defensive pivot when we have Komala?
Actually weird Pokemon that no one knows what to do with:
Lopunny
Shedinja
Slaking
I'm grouping these together because these are the three 'gimmick' Pokemon ranked, and I feel it would be unfair to advocate one to get unranked/stay ranked when they're all pretty gimmicky and force you to build teams around them. I'd like to mention that as the most infamous Lopunny player (yes I got non-Klutz Specs to get 14% of its set usage one time, thanks blalib), I enjoy using Lopunny. I have tried at least 5 different Lopunny sets in testing, and I'm still sure I could try at least 10 more. It's an incredibly fun, almost gimmick Pokemon, as it is so versatile and has so many things it can do. Yes I did try Z-Splash, it's meh because SD Sawsbuck, Komala, and Leafeon (actually reaches a higher Attack than Lopunny after a Swords Dance) all have comparable/better coverage or more accessible nuking that doesn't require a turn AND a Z-Move. My first experience using it was a triple status set that I saw back in the day, and while that's fun and all, the main, and only, reason to use Lopunny is Healing Wish. Healing Wish is a gamechanging move as we all know, it gives a worn-down sweeper a second chance to sweep by sacrificing the user. The problems start when you take into account that Lopunny has terrible defenses, and in my experience, will often be whittled down to where she either cannot switch in to get off the Healing Wish, or will just be outright killed. Unlike Chimecho, Lopunny has meh typing and either doesn't have an ability (when doing Switcheroo), or has an ability it seldomly uses (T-Wave is rare in our metagame). Unlike Mr. Meme, Lopunny does not have the hitting power and insane coverage for its primary attacking stat, nor is its STAB super essential (or beneficial) to its success. Switcheroo + Klutz also suffers from the poor defenses thing; as a support 'mon, Lopunny often feels throwaway because it can't tank a hit to save its life (literally). Taking all of this into consideration, the best set would have to be Limber + Band with Healing Wish, STAB, HJK, and a filler move (this can be really anything you'd like), as it is the only set without a comparable niche in the tier that feels okay to build with. Band allows Lopunny to hit harder, allowing it to have an impact on the game besides Healing Wish. It is the only set I have found that feels not wholly outclassed/deadweight. Generally, building with Lopunny often feels like building with a new playstyle, and I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing. Speaking of which, Shedinja is another 'mon infamous for creating a specific playstyle that can be generally viewed at as subpar/incredibly hard to make work. Knock Off, Dark-types, and Ghost-types have been on the rise since Shedinja was last remotely meta (rip Shedistall), so I'm going to skip this one and let you all form your own opinions on it. Slaking being C- in the first place shocks me. Slaking, as we all know, has Uber-like stats, but has to switch out the turn after it attacks. However, Ghosts (it only has a chance to 2HKO Gourgeist-Super on a Banded Shadow Claw. Yes, Fire Blast is a thing, but I'm speaking of the best set, and why LO when you're going to switch after you attack anyway) make its Normal-type STAB nukes less desirable, and as such, Slaking is worse off in this meta than it was previously.
So yeah those are my thoughts on the low-rank Pokemon, and why we should abolish them, feel free to discuss with me on here or on the ZU Discord.