Resource SS CAP Viability Rankings (Pre-DLC 2)

[pokemon111111]

Hi there,

May I request a feature for these viability rankings please - for those CAP pokemon which are ranked C and lower (more specifically, UR), could we have a brief and short explanation of why they fail to be viable please? Of course you can infer why official Pokemon struggle from looking at the regular metagames like OU and UU, but it's hard to know why some CAPs just aren't viable, and one or two lines about each of these would be really useful and interesting to have.

Thanks!

 

[Orig Stall Guy]

Hi there,

May I request a feature for these viability rankings please - for those CAP pokemon which are ranked C and lower (more specifically, UR), could we have a brief and short explanation of why they fail to be viable please? Of course you can infer why official Pokemon struggle from looking at the regular metagames like OU and UU, but it's hard to know why some CAPs just aren't viable, and one or two lines about each of these would be really useful and interesting to have.

Thanks!

Sounds like a good idea. Im not on the VR council nor am I an experienced or high level CAP player, but Im more than happy to give my opinion on why certain CAP's are considered to be UR.



So this CAP was originally designed to be a perfect partner with . The problem is that Togekiss has changed quite a bit since Gen 4 (like being fairy/flying) and Voodoom itself is pretty meh. Limited coverage and mediocre offensive stats.



Decrease in fairy types since Arena Trap ban and ground types moves popularity hurts its def viability. The biggest problem is that since GF decided to axe mega, Mega-Cruci is illegal (which killed it). No-mega plus the nerfs it received last gen (no head smash and low kick) makes Cruci pretty mediocre. As an offensive SR setter, there are way better options. If its mega was legal, it would likely be pretty strong.


Poor defensive typing, doesn't have enough move slots, bad physical bulk, and as a Drought User, exists.


Again ground type popularity (especially ) gives it a bad time and water type offensive pressure is quite low due to the popularity of Pex and which makes Storm Drain not the best ability. Also, it gets easily trapped and killed by (because it doesn't learn volt switch for some reason).


This one is a really interesting and funny case. According to the unweighted March 2020 CAP usage stats, Snael is the most popular Pokemon in CAP format with a 30.559% usage rate. And it has great support options and Poison Heal. Unfortunately, its SR weak and lacks reliable recovery outside of poison heal forcing it to rely on Spike Shied a lot causing it to be super passive. Water/Bug is also a pretty poor defensive typing.

 

[Atha]

Hi ! The metagame has evolved quite a bit since the last VR update, so i might as well share my thoughts on all that.

I think 3 pokémon in the A+ rank are clearly above the rest : Tomohawk, Toxapex and Equilibra (although I'm less sure about this one), and I think the difference is worth putting them in different tiers.

Tomohawk has been only rising for like 2 months. Now it's definetly the best physical wall in the metagame along with Toxapex, as it checks an enormous range of threats such as Terrakion, physical Aegislash, Colossoil, Excadrill, Conkeldurr, etc. Thanks to Intimidate it helps a ton at dealing with the very problematic Zeraora by switching around and forcing annoying 50/50s while still playing safe, as you won't get ohkoed anyway. It's one of the very few good rockers in the tier too, making it almost as automatic as Clefable on balance builds. We've seen a fair rise of Toxic usage, and I believe it's mostly because of Tomohawk being almost impossible to muscle through on the physical side. It also has a very decent SpDef, meaning that you usually won't ohko it.

And Toxapex completes the most insane core in the metagame, being Toxapex + Clefable + Tomohawk. This mon can just switch in and out all day without problem while knocking off / putting up tspikes / toxicing / scald burning everything. It just navigates freely in the balance matchup while being a great asset in the offense matchup thanks to haze and its huge bulk. The aforementionned core is soooo good, I've never seen a defensive core being so ahead of the other stuff. Every switch feels just free thanks to Intimidate, Regenerator and Magic Guard.

Equilibra goes really well with this core. It adds all the immunities you need as well as hazard control, as well as the ability to muscle through the opponent's team with a very minimal offensive core, as well as just another mon that pretty much can live any hit. Equilibra is hard to not put in a balance team, and there are only 2 good Equilibra checks in Body Press Corviknight and Rotom-Heat.


To make that appear in the VR there are multiple options. One of them would be to put all of these in S, but Clefable is still probably somewhat ahead (although not as much as some weeks ago). Maybe we could put these in S and create the S+ tier for Clefable. The last solution is putting the rest of the A+ tier in A. I'm not convinced by this solution either, as the A+ mons are still substantially better than the A mons.
So if it was my choice, I'd put Tomohawk, Toxapex and Equilibra in S and create a S+ tier for Clefable.

As for other changes :

from A+ to A
Terrakion suffers a lot from the Tomohawk trend. Not much else to say, its best check is rising so it logically drops once again.

from A to A+
No pokemon can check both Life Orb Zeraora and Bulk Up Zeraora, and both sets are viable. This mon provides your team with very good speed control and surprisingly threatening breaking potential. It's pretty annoying to both play and face because it often creates 50/50s with Tomohawk and ground types.

from A to A-
Syclant sees no use, and for good reasons : Tomohawk + Toxapex completely invalidate it. Nothing to add, logical drop.

from A- to A
Sun sees some use and some success. A Jumbao raise looks pretty natural. Also it checks most Zeraora sets even with an offensive spread, which is a good asset (probably the most reliable Zeraora answer currently).

from B+ to A- (or even A)
Pajantom is a reliable breaker right now, securing kills sometimes and just giving you the momentum every time it uses Spirit Shackle. If you manage to get up rocks and poison Tomohawk it become a huge threat, especially in such a slow meta. People now figured how good it is.

 

[Jordy]

Hey everyone, a few quick things to note. We're going to update the VR every 3 weeks; this will allow us to keep the resource as up to date as possible. We've also decided to follow in OU's foot steps and made a division in the S ranks to reflect the current state of the metagame more accurately. Anyways, here's the update!

Rises:
Clefable S → S+
Equilibra A+ → S-
Tomohawk A+ → S-
Toxapex A+ → S-
Pajantom B+ → A-
Gengar B → B+
Pelipper C → B-
Incineroar UR → B-

Drops:
Terrakion A+ → A
Mandibuzz A → A-
Mollux A → A-
Syclant A → A-
Colossoil A- → B+
Jirachi A- → B+
Mamoswine B+ → B
Necturna B+ → B
Tyranitar B → B-
Torkoal B- → C

| 2 | Tomohawk | 48 | 45.28% | 58.33% |
| 3 | Equilibra | 44 | 41.51% | 52.27% |
| 5 | Toxapex | 24 | 22.64% | 54.17% |

Equilibra, Tomohawk, and Toxapex have proven to be some of the most defining Pokemon in the current metagame. All three of these Pokemon are very splashable and have shown consistency, as you can tell by the above statistics, so we believe they're due for a rise. However, while better than other Pokemon in A+, they're not quite at the level of Clefable, so we've created S- just for them.


With Tomohawk only gaining more traction, now's not the best time to be Terrakion.


Mandibuzz has become increasingly exploitable in the CAP metagame due to its tendency to let in Pokemon like Clefable, Toxapex, and Kyurem without much repercussion, which have only become more prevalent.


Unfortunately, Syclant's not quite as potent in a metagame dominated by Toxapex as it was previously.


Gengar preys on some of the very common defensive cores like Clefable, Equilibra, and Toxapex, so we believe a small rise to B+ is deserved.

 

[Pipotchi]

Hi ! The metagame has evolved quite a bit since the last VR update, so i might as well share my thoughts on all that.

I think 3 pokémon in the A+ rank are clearly above the rest : Tomohawk, Toxapex and Equilibra (although I'm less sure about this one), and I think the difference is worth putting them in different tiers.

Tomohawk has been only rising for like 2 months. Now it's definetly the best physical wall in the metagame along with Toxapex, as it checks an enormous range of threats such as Terrakion, physical Aegislash, Colossoil, Excadrill, Conkeldurr, etc. Thanks to Intimidate it helps a ton at dealing with the very problematic Zeraora by switching around and forcing annoying 50/50s while still playing safe, as you won't get ohkoed anyway. It's one of the very few good rockers in the tier too, making it almost as automatic as Clefable on balance builds. We've seen a fair rise of Toxic usage, and I believe it's mostly because of Tomohawk being almost impossible to muscle through on the physical side. It also has a very decent SpDef, meaning that you usually won't ohko it.

And Toxapex completes the most insane core in the metagame, being Toxapex + Clefable + Tomohawk. This mon can just switch in and out all day without problem while knocking off / putting up tspikes / toxicing / scald burning everything. It just navigates freely in the balance matchup while being a great asset in the offense matchup thanks to haze and its huge bulk. The aforementionned core is soooo good, I've never seen a defensive core being so ahead of the other stuff. Every switch feels just free thanks to Intimidate, Regenerator and Magic Guard.

Equilibra goes really well with this core. It adds all the immunities you need as well as hazard control, as well as the ability to muscle through the opponent's team with a very minimal offensive core, as well as just another mon that pretty much can live any hit. Equilibra is hard to not put in a balance team, and there are only 2 good Equilibra checks in Body Press Corviknight and Rotom-Heat.


To make that appear in the VR there are multiple options. One of them would be to put all of these in S, but Clefable is still probably somewhat ahead (although not as much as some weeks ago). Maybe we could put these in S and create the S+ tier for Clefable. The last solution is putting the rest of the A+ tier in A. I'm not convinced by this solution either, as the A+ mons are still substantially better than the A mons.
So if it was my choice, I'd put Tomohawk, Toxapex and Equilibra in S and create a S+ tier for Clefable.

As for other changes :

from A+ to A
Terrakion suffers a lot from the Tomohawk trend. Not much else to say, its best check is rising so it logically drops once again.

from A to A+
No pokemon can check both Life Orb Zeraora and Bulk Up Zeraora, and both sets are viable. This mon provides your team with very good speed control and surprisingly threatening breaking potential. It's pretty annoying to both play and face because it often creates 50/50s with Tomohawk and ground types.

from A to A-
Syclant sees no use, and for good reasons : Tomohawk + Toxapex completely invalidate it. Nothing to add, logical drop.

from A- to A
Sun sees some use and some success. A Jumbao raise looks pretty natural. Also it checks most Zeraora sets even with an offensive spread, which is a good asset (probably the most reliable Zeraora answer currently).

from B+ to A- (or even A)
Pajantom is a reliable breaker right now, securing kills sometimes and just giving you the momentum every time it uses Spirit Shackle. If you manage to get up rocks and poison Tomohawk it become a huge threat, especially in such a slow meta. People now figured how good it is.

I agree with basically everything here. Especially the Pajantom push, I would go to A over A- also.

To prevent it from being a one-liner, Ill say the Syclant drop is the one Im the least convinced about, I think its still a very strong pokemon in the current metagame, still a strong spiker and wallbreaker. I think people should experiment with more sets than just band, because for instance Nasty Plot eats up the aforementioned Tomo/Pex core with ease that band struggles with, and Im rarely seeing Arghonaut atm.

 

[Jordy]

It's been 3 weeks and we're here with another update! It's really just a small update to make sure the VR is as up-to-date as possible while the CAP metagame moves into a new stage.

Ranking Update

Rises:
Ferrothorn A- → A
Chandelure B → B+
Krilowatt C → B-
Primarina C → B-
Salazzle C → B-

Drops:
Terrakion A → A-
Zeraora A → A-
Conkeldurr A- → B+
Mollux A- → B+
Cinderace C → UR
Crawdaunt C → UR
Sigilyph C → UR

I don't think any of these need an explanation, but if you'd like any feel free to PM me here or on Discord. You can also use the thread to discuss everything, ofcourse.

 

[G-Luke]

I would like to argue for the rankings of Volkraken to move to B and Darmanitan to move to at least B, if not B+.

Sun Offense is an interesting playstyle that preys upon the typical Balance cores that run rampant in the meta and breaks them with their overwhelming Fire STAB Attacks. Notably, all of these Pokemon are solid switchins to the WishPort Clefable set that usually holds said balance teams together, making them a sort of anti metagame tech. Jumbao, a A- ranked Pokemon, has seen most of its use from Sun support, and unlike in standard, Jumbao's fantastic bulk, neutrality to Sr freeing up Heat Rock and extending how much ti mes it can set sun, access to support moves like Wish and Healing Wish and it not being passive by the slightest makes its Sun support be superior to the likes of Torkoal and Ninetales. And with this sun, comes the breakers and sweepers.

Volkraken sets itself apart from most Fire types with its access to strong Water STAB, which allows it to most notably be able to nuke a sly Tyranitar switch in, an otherwise safe bet for Pokemon like Chandelure. Sun boosted Analytic Choice Specs Overheat is one of the strongest attacks in the game, and unless you are packing a Fire type immunity (not very common in the absence of Heatran), teams will be losing a pokemon to regain momentum. Volkraken also benefits from the side effects of Dracovish running the tier, as all of the notable Fire resists outside of Mollux (which loses thanks to Dry Skin) are physically based, making them subpar switchins at best. However, Volkraken's viability stems from Sun, as without it, it cannot gain the boost it needs to be able to break past classic Fire resists such as Water and Fire types. For this reason, I chose to nominate it for B rank, a rank below the overall more splashable Chandelure who has also been gaining traction not only as a sun breaker but a fantastic check to top tier threats like Equilibra and Clefable in general.

Darmanitan is on the other side of the spectrum, being Sun's most notorious physical wallbreaker, with Choice Band being able to 2HKO even the mighty Toxapex with Flare Blitz under the sun. Balance teams simply have zero switchins to this Pokemon with sun up. Even with these merits, and support Jumbao can give, Stealth Rock is still a big issue, as Darmanitan cannot give up Choice Band for Heavy Duty Boots, lest it miss out on important benchmarks. Not to mention recoil, which can leave Darmanitan at low health or worse, even if Jumbao can attempt to maintain it with Wish or Healing Wish. For these reasons i suggest Darmanitan rises to B rank, though i honestly could even see B+.

These Pokemon are rather niche, but the viability of Sun and how much it exploits common metagame trends are enough to give these Pokemon a bump in viability. For that reason as well, I'd nom Venusaur from B- to B, as its signature playstyle is more prominent and it serves as good speed control for Sun.

Some replays showcasing Sun in action
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1119120257
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1119662455
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1121260091
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1119610580

 

[Jho]

Yo just a quick update since we got the starter HAs released this week.
UR -> A
Libero Cinderace has proven incredibly difficult to check reliably and is an incredibly good pick in the current meta. We're keeping an eye on it in case it needs to rise but its being tentatively placed in A for now.

We're also keeping an eye on Rillaboom, but it hasnt had enough use that we've seen for us to consider ranking it just yet, although we agreed that it does have potential so we could see it ranked soon. Inteleon on the other hand is a lost cause

 

[Orig Stall Guy]

Libero Cinderace has proven incredibly difficult to check reliably and is an incredibly good pick in the current meta. We're keeping an eye on it in case it needs to rise but its being tentatively placed in A for now.

Oh dear god, Libero Cinder is finally legal? Time to start abusing it.

 

[Voltage]

Boost Snorlax to at least B+ if not A- for the love of god. It's such a great pick to check any and all Sun teams and I guarantee that keeping Snorlax healthy to eventually set with Curse is an absolutely amazing win condition in this metagame. I've been using CurseLax on Sun and against sunce for the past week and a half now and I have won so many games just by playing smart with my team around Snorlax and then literally making it near impossible for my opponent to win without crits/hax.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1132173287 - Snorlax dismantling Balance
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1132178874 - Snorlax is kept healthy nutil late game and opp has to rely on a Draco Crit to win.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1131670580 - After two physical threats are taken care of, Snorlax just wins
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1131673333 - Against a non-standard team, but Snorlax still puts in a lot of work.

I have had other tour matches I wasn't able to save, but there were some replays where after Something like Kommo-o was knocked out, the opposing team had NOTHING to prepare for Snorlax. Snorlax is also pretty good against any status spam due to the fact that it can jsut rest away burns for example. IT's seriously such a good mon and t's so easy to set up to like +3 and then just click Body Slam / Heat Crash / Earthquake.

Currently Snorlax is only at B-, among things like Venusaur which requires Sun to be good, and below things in B like Aurumoth, Ditto and Kerfluffle, all of which are pretty terrible picks in today's meta. I would advocate that Snorlax can at least by grouped into the other "Sun threats" in B+, if not being in A- just because of its ability to blanket check essentially every sun threat but Smokomodo and sometimes Astrolotl.

Also some cool calcs:
252 SpA Tomohawk Aura Sphere vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Snorlax: 164-194 (31.2 - 37%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Tomohawk Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Snorlax: 242-288 (46.1 - 54.9%) -- 10.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[Orig Stall Guy]

Havent had a ton of matches to try out things like DLC since coming out off hiatus, but there is 1 Pokemon I support.

to A-

In my opinion, Libero Cinder is like Gen 8 awnser to protean Greninja but is also comp to CB . Here is the set I have been using.

Cinderace @ Choice Band
Ability: Libero
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Sucker Punch

Due to having same atk stat as Syclant, Cinder has superior Fighting type move, same U-turn, Priority, and a go to Spammable move in Pyro Ball.
Syclant having 2 more speed is quite negligible but ice Shard can be better priority than sucker punch and Mountaineer is amazing. Add this set to the already existing Court Change set and this bunny has been looking to be quite strong. To bad Tomo walls it.

Also, since Clef is banned (something I highly disagree with but whatever), it shouldn't be on rankings anymore.

Edit: I just saw Cinder is in A. Then this post is redundant.

 

[theotherguytm]

Thought I'd start some discussion here.
With Clefable gone, which of our current S- ranks, if any, are worthy of S, and which are only A+ now?
Without an S+ rank, there isn't really a need for an S-, unless there is a Pokemon that doesn't fit in "new S" or A+.
Which DLC drops have made the most impact? In particular, where should Urshifu go?
In OU, Urshifu's best check is reckoned to be Phys Def Clef, so in a Clef-less metagame, how impactful is it? Magearna, Volcarona and Tangrowth are other Pokemon that have shifted the OU landscape somewhat.
What about our own "DLC" in Astrolotl? How is it performing now that "new toy syndrome" has had a chance to wear off?
Thoughts?

 

[snake]

Let's try not to post one-liners in this thread. Anyways,


These Pokemon in S- Rank still occupy very strong niches in the metagame, even after the DLC.

Equilibra really doesn't like Clefable's departure. Although Clefable can respond to Equilibra with Flamethrower, Fire Blast, or Knock Off, Equilibra was generally a good switch in to it. It was Clefable's best partner too because of how easy it was to pass Wish to Equilibra. Nevertheless, the Equilibra is still strong because with Bulletproof, it basically walls Magearna and Alakazam. Eequilibra still does the same thing as it did pre-DLC with Doom Desire, its strong Earth Power, Rapid Spin, and a really flexible fourth moveslot. In a pinch, it can even tank one of Astrolotl's unboosted Fire-type STAB moves and retaliate with Earth Power, or simply hit it on the switch in.

Clefable's ban allows Tomohawk to spam Hurricane much more freely for good chip damage on most Pokemon in the metagame. Furthermore, Tomohawk is an actual Urshifu counter and can punish it with continuous Rocky Helmet damage. Though, with Magearna and Bulletproof Equilibra in the metagame, it's probably better off running Heat Wave than Aura Sphere.

(rip sprite)

Urshifu is very strong, especially when paired with Future Sight Slowking, which can circumvent Tomohawk's efforts to switch into it. In my opinion, it's either S or A+. Obviously it's very strong, but with omnipresent and splashable Tomohawk in the meta, it does require some support (Knock Off and/or Future Sight). Teams that forego Tomohawk are usually offensive enough to play around Urshifu to prevent it from getting too many KOs.

(rip sprite #2)

I think Astrolotl has a solid place in the metagame. With more Regenerator users in the metagame, it can form powerful cores that aren't unbreakable, but really solidify bulky offensive teams as a solid playstyle, which was sorely missed in the pre-DLC, WishPort Clefable-dominated metagame. I've found that it's really easy to customize Astrolotl's set with Fire Lash and three of Knock Off, Dragon Claw, Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, Spikes, and Toxic. It's a really neat pick in the metagame.

 

[Atha]

Hi, I played quite a bit in the post-DLC and clef ban metagame, and even if it's still somewhat unexplored, we can already draw some clear general trends from it. I know that there will be no update before CAPPL starts, but it already gives some direction.


Equilibra and Tomohawk are two major forces in the current metagame. Even if Tomohawk is a bit better, they both have their place in S.

New stuff:

(rip sprite)
Urshifu is extremely powerful. In combination with Future Sight Slowking/bro or simply a means of poisoning Tomohawk and Mandibuzz, it is one of the major threats of the tier. A+ or S.


I'm very surprised how little I've seen of Magearna as it wreaks havoc in OU. It remains a gigantic threat. A+, maybe S.


Horrible to deal with, access to Heavy-Duty Boots doesn't help. Somewhere in A, maybe S.

(rip sprite #2)
Astrolotl is a solid choice : very good spiker, many options, and can put a lot of pressure on the opposing team. However, it faces competition from other Fire types like Cinderace, Rotom-Heat and Smokomodo (which are all viable somehow). Somewhere in A.


Life Orb Nasty Plot Alakazam is a major threat. Faster than the majority of the meta (which hasn't gained much speed so far), capable of ohkoing almost everything at +2. Somewhere in A.


Chansey invalidates all special attackers, lays down the rocks, and has the all-important Heal Bell. Somewhere in A.


Slowbrothers have become perfect pivots with access to Teleport. They form the most spammable core of the game with Urshifu. Regenerator allows them to come and go freely. Somewhere in A.


Marowak-alola is very strong right now. It can 2hko Tomohawk AFTER INTIMIDATE. Trick Room makes it even more popular. Somewhere in A.


As soon as a physical threat is able to beat Tomohawk it's panic. That's the case with Azumarill... very versatile (defensive and offensive sets are all playable), very threatening. Somewhere towards A.


I haven't seen much of Tangrowth. While it's a decent wall, it may lack utility, and faces competition from Ferrothorn and Jumbao. Low A / B


I haven't seen it much. It's still a decent wall that has access to broken Spore. Somewhere towards B.


Magnezone doesn't have a lot of targets to trap right now. The Specs Analytic set is borderline better than Magnet pull. Somewhere in B.


Totally walled by Tomohawk, a little weaker than in OU. Somewhere in B.


The meta is not good for Scizor. Somewhere in B.


Kingdra's a decent asset for rain... It is not necessarily necessary, however. Low B.


Drops:


Toxapex remains very strong but is losing a bit of popularity as the metagame becomes more diverse and the wall options become numerous.


Corviknight is facing a lot of competition from Tomohawk and Mandibuzz right now. It remains correct, but has trouble keeping up with the general increase in the wallbreakers'power.


When there's a chansey in front of it, Kyurem will have a hard time doing anything. It remains decent though, and the ppstall sets have a lot of potential after Clef's departure.


I don't know why it's still in A, but it's definitely lost a lot of popularity in the last few months.

Rises :


Mandibuzz has had an impressive surge in popularity, as it is the only wall capable of tanking Urshifu + Future Sight, while being an appreciable Ghost resist. We also note that there are quite few hazards removers at the moment, and being one of them is a great asset. It also provides Knock Off support and pivoting with U-Turn.


Stratagem is taking advantage of its speed and divine coverage to do a lot of damage at the moment. It can come rather quietly on very used pokémon like Tomohawk or Astrolotl. Not sure that it stays very long, because I think that the meta will gain in speed (in scarfers) in the next weeks, but it is nevertheless very used.


Trick Room is one of the best archetypes right now, so Fidgit is coming out of the shadows. :snek:

 

[Gleeboop]

Why is Corviknight as high as it is? The problem with running any Corviknight is teams will usually take some measure against Cawmodore. While that's fine for stuff like Cyclohm aiming to wall Cawmodore , other counters include fast fire types, primarily cinderace, which it really doesn't appreciate because its even slower than cawm. Additionally, it gets beaten by Zeraora, Set-up Volcarona, Mollux, Astrolotl, Krilowatt, and Rotom-Heat. Its outclassed by Mandibuzz in defoging, and there are several rapid spin users, such as Colossoil, Equilibra, and Tomohawk, which outclass it as a hazard remover. Even if it could theoretically switch out in those matchups, it's not gonna do too much in a game if it has to switch out on so much or die immediately. It's all around an inferior Mandibuzz minus its attack. Are those good arguments?

My proposal: to A or A-

 

[Mx]

Hello everyone, it's finally that time. First of all, I'd like to formally welcome Atha and -Voltage- to the VR Council. Now onto the long awaited first post-DLC CAP Viability Rankings update:

New VR

S Rank:

Astrolotl
Equilibra
Tomohawk

A Rank:

A+ Rank
Cinderace
Dragapult
Mandibuzz
Rotom-Heat
Slowking
Toxapex
Urshifu
Zeraora

A Rank
Blissey
Hydreigon
Jumbao
Magearna
Syclant
Volcarona

A- Rank
Alakazam
Amoonguss
Ferrothorn
Kyurem
Pajantom
Slowbro

B Rank:

B+ Rank
Arghonaut
Corviknight
Dracozolt
Excadrill
Hippowdon
Jirachi
:krillowatt: Krilowatt
Rillaboom
Rotom-Wash
Smokomodo
Stratagem
Terrakion
Togekiss
Urshifu-R
Venusaur

B Rank
Aegislash
Azumarill
Bisharp
Chandelure
Chansey
Colossoil
Fidgit
Gengar
Hawlucha
Kerfluffle
Kommo-o
Mamoswine
Marowak-Alola
Mew
Mollux
Pelipper
Reuniclus
Seismitoad
Tangrowth
Weavile

B- Rank
Aurumoth
Barraskewda
Cawmodore
Conkeldurr
Crucibelle
Cyclohm
Ditto
Gastrodon
Kingdra
Magnezone
Necrozma
Naviathan
Necturna
Porygon2
Primarina
Rhyperior
Salazzle
Skarmory
Snorlax
Torkoal

C Rank:
Caribolt
Cloyster
Crawdaunt
Darmanitan
Grimmsnarl
Gyarados
Hatterene
Heracross
Incineroar
Keldeo
Mantine
Obstagoon
Pyroak
Scizor
Talonflame
Tyranitar

Here's a brief explanation for some of the new placements:

The newest CAP addition has proven to be an incredibly splashable threat, capable of fitting into almost any kind of team thanks to its vast movepool, and has the ability to cripple most of its checks with Toxic and Knock Off. For these reasons, it has risen to the top of the metagame and earned a spot as a S-Rank.

Both of these mons have had a very important presence since the DLC dropped as bulky pivots with Teleport. Due to it handling threats like Tomohawk and Equilibra much more comfortably, Slowking is ranked higher, although Slowbro isn't too far behind.

Another powerful addition of the DLC, Urshifu has established itself as one of the most fearsome wallbreaker in the metagame. Even Tomohawk, which in theory completely walls it can be easily overwhelmed with the help of teammates like Astrolotl or Future Sight Slowking.

The blobs are back, and this time with a few new tricks. Teleport gives both of them a pivoting move to prevent losing too much momentum, and the addition of Heavy-Duty Boots makes Blissey much harder to wear down. Because of this new ability to ignore hazards, Blissey is ranked higher, as Chansey's extra bulk isn't as useful as hazard immunity.

While Magearna is a very solid pick, it's nowhere near as dominant as it is in regular OU, as threats like Astrolotl and especially Equilibra are not kind to it in the CAP metagame, so it only gets to A-Rank.

With more abusers like Marowak-Alola and Rillaboom in the meta, Trick Room is back and Fidgit stills serve as an excellent setter on that playstyle thanks to Persistent.

Another CAP that's back from being unranked, Crucibelle carves a niche for itself thanks to being a Scarfer that can revenge kill Volcarona at +1, while also being a decent pivot thanks to the combination of U-turn and Regenerator.

 

[christopher the gopher]

hello I have been using voodoom one of the previously created pokemon in pokemon showdown frequently but someone telled me off and called me stupid for using it becaus it is not viable, pls can you tell me which create a pokemon are not viable becaus I do not want to fall into trap of using bad pokemon? pls tell me which are not viable and why, much appreciated!!!!

have the nice day

 

[Gleeboop]

Hi cristopher, you aren't stupid for using any mon if it has a purpose on your team. Speaking of Voodoom, I think it deserves, at the very least, somewhere in C tier. It is a, at the very least, decent mon. It has the ability to tear apart Slowshifu cores, as it is faster than Urshifu, sets up over slowking and can damage it hard on top of that, has the ability to tear tomo apart with either thunderbolt or psychic, OHKOing tomo with a single nasty plot and prevent tomo switches if the voodoom user predicts correctly. Now sure, bulletproof libra stops it, but that's arguably the 3 most important members of the team out. It deserves at least a bit of recognition for that.

Proposal: UR to C

 

[G-Luke]

Hi cristopher, you aren't stupid for using any mon if it has a purpose on your team. Speaking of Voodoom, I think it deserves, at the very least, somewhere in C tier. It is a, at the very least, decent mon. It has the ability to tear apart Slowshifu cores, as it is faster than Urshifu, sets up over slowking and can damage it hard on top of that, has the ability to tear tomo apart with either thunderbolt or psychic, OHKOing tomo with a single nasty plot and prevent tomo switches if the voodoom user predicts correctly. Now sure, bulletproof libra stops it, but that's arguably the 3 most important members of the team out. It deserves at least a bit of recognition for that.

Proposal: UR to C

Usually, when a person nominates a Pokémon that is unranked, you need to provide substantial replay evidence to back up your claims. This is because while its quite easy to claim things on paper, its a whole different matter to prove it in high level play.

 

[Gleeboop]

Ok then,
How many replays and what do you define as "high play"?

 

[snake]

hello I have been using voodoom one of the previously created pokemon in pokemon showdown frequently but someone telled me off and called me stupid for using it becaus it is not viable, pls can you tell me which create a pokemon are not viable becaus I do not want to fall into trap of using bad pokemon? pls tell me which are not viable and why, much appreciated!!!!

have the nice day

If a CAP Pokemon doesn't appear on this Viability Rankings, it generally has at least one major flaw holding it back. All the Pokemon on the rankings have some defined niche in the metagame.

Voodoom's damage output is highly reliant on Focus Blast, which is walled by the extremely common Bulletproof Equilibra and has bad accuracy, and Nasty Plot, which Voodoom often doesn't have time to set up. Urshifu has the same STAB combination as Voodoom, U-turn, and much higher unboosted power in general. Meanwhile, Hydreigon also has Nasty Plot and doesn't have to set up to deal appreciable damage.

Of course, you're allowed to use whatever CAP Pokemon you want to, but some have succumbed to power creep, as Pokemon spanning the generations often do. If you want to try to find a viable set with an unranked Pokemon, I'd recommend trying only one on a team. It'd be like trying to bring a UU or sometimes an RU Pokemon to an OU match, so you want to do that, be careful!

 

[Pipotchi]

I think its time to drop Rotom-Heat out of A+ also. Astro is a hard wall, and on almost every team. Its unbothered by toxic and it can run heal bell for para. Blissey and Chansey both cover it (and are on a high percentage of teams). And new mons have appeared to act as reliable Equilibra walls, like Slowking and aforementioned blobs, as well as competition as a fire type from Astro and Cinder too. Still think its an A tier mon but doesnt compare to the rest of A+

 

[Rabia]

not a CAP god at all---trying to get into it more because of CAPPL and for fun reasons---so take this post with a grain of salt

B ranks feel very bloated right now with a lot of not great Pokemon being overranked as hell. gonna start with CAPs because this is CAP but will also address normal Pokemon afterwards

drops
Yeah I said B ranks were bloated, but Pajantom is just really underwhelming. It really struggles to make headway in a lot of games because it's not particularly strong and gets stopped pretty reliably by common walls like Mandibuzz, Toxapex, Equilibra, and Tomohawk, while it's also just often outdone by Hydreigon and Dragapult due to set versatility and them being better at bypassing their checks. Pajantom is functional enough, but it's very clearly outclassed by everything else in A- and probably belongs in B+ with other Pokemon like Venusaur and Urshifu-R that require specific catering to to be effective. Pajantom -> B+

I always am asking myself what either of these are really supposed to do. They're pretty hard to justify on teams because neither is all that potent at wallbreaking, and they don't offer all that much utility, so they can end up feeling pretty lacking in many matchups. It's nice that they're Stealth Rock users that pressure Equilibra, but that's about it honestly. I don't think either of them are consistent enough to be B+. Stratagem -> B, Smokomodo -> B-

The only reason I could see to use this would be if I wanted Knock Off support or to use some weird Rebound set to check Astrolotl. It's otherwise wholly outclassed by Urshifu-S. I could see this in C at this point because it feels really bad. Colossoil -> B-/C

Relics of Generation 7 that haven't really been able to get good footing at all as a result of nerfs. I can never really convince myself to use either of these because the amount of support required to get actual mileage out of them is... tough. They're usable yeah, but I'd rather see them dropped into C. Aurumoth -> C, Necturna -> C

This thing gives me conflicted opinions. I think it has more potential than the previous two CAP I mentioned, but it struggles with 4MSS hard and needs multiple boosts to not be arbitrarily revenge killed. You could probably justify a drop to C, but I think keeping it B- isn't outside of the realm of reasonable. Naviathan -> C or remain B-

Awful, please never use. Their niches are not worthwhile. Caribolt hates Astrolotl and Amoonguss being really good, and Pyroak... yikes. Caribolt -> UR, Pyroak -> UR

Corviknight is dreadful and really lacks a defined place with Equilibra being as good as it is. Dracozolt being B+ is just mind boggling as hell; you literally never get to click Bolt Beak with it. Rillaboom hates Tomohawk and Astrolotl being on every other team. Corviknight and Rillaboom probably only need to drop a single subrank, but Dracozolt is B- rank maximum. Corviknight -> B, Dracozolt -> C, Rillaboom -> B

Aegislash suffers hard from Bulletproof Equilibra simply existing, Mandibuzz being top tier, and Urshifu-S being allowed. Alolan Marowak has set its own trend of being overhyped at the beginning of each generation and very quickly being recognized as not very good. I'd probably drop Aegislash to B- and Alolan Marowak to C. The latter really depends on how you feel about Trick Room, which is admittedly quite reliable. Aegislash -> B-, Alolan Marowak -> C

Barraskewda doesn't really feel like it ever gets used even on rain. Magnezone is an awful trapper because the only common Steel-type isn't even trapped by it. The former can probably stay ranked at C; the latter I struggle to justify ranking at all, but a drop to C at least would be ideal I feel. Barraskewda -> C, Magnezone -> C

Darmanitan is a great example of a Pokemon that can be used but probably shouldn't be. It's fine on sun, but it's really hard to rationalize it over other more reliable options. Maybe there's some secret tech for Keldeo, but Toxapex, Slowking, and Jumbao say otherwise. Tyranitar is unviable. None of these are really worth ranking. Darmanitan -> UR, Keldeo -> UR, Tyranitar -> UR

there is one mon that probably could do with a raise

rise
This is the only CAP that I feel is undervalued. The necessity to run a near hard counter on every build to stop this speaks about how much of a strain it has on teambuilding, and reliably stopping this after it sets up is a daunting task because of how fucking fast it is combined with it having Volt Absorb for some unknown reason. Hyper offense is also a very valid archetype. I'd probably move this up at least to B+. Cawmodore -> B+

that's about it. CAP has been fun to get into, hopefully it stays that way bop :]

 

[Pokemon guy]

Awful, please never use. Their niches are not worthwhile. Caribolt hates Astrolotl and Amoonguss being really good, and Pyroak... yikes. Caribolt -> UR, Pyroak -> UR

Caribolt is a lot better then people give it credit for
With a Choice Band and Knock off it can remove Astrolotl and Rotom-Heats HDB with wears them down fast
And Galvanize Double-Edge can hit very hard
252 Atk Choice Band Galvanize Caribolt Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Astrolotl: 195-229 (54.6 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Galvanize Caribolt Double-Edge vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 144-170 (47.5 - 56.1%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO

Amoonguss also tends to run Sp.def for jumbo and krilowatt
252 Atk Choice Band Galvanize Caribolt Double-Edge vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Amoonguss: 202-238 (46.8 - 55.2%) -- 70.3% chance to 2HKO

Paring it with Rotom-Heat can wear down Astrolotl even faster with toxic
It can also be paired with Urshifu who can lure in Tomo and U-turn on it for Caribolt to take advantage of

and for Equilibra
252 Atk Choice Band Caribolt Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Equilibra: 262-310 (64.2 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

This is why I think Caribolt should not be UR
Thank you for Listening to my ted talk

 

[Pipotchi]

Caribolt is a lot better then people give it credit for
With a Choice Band and Knock off it can remove Astrolotl and Rotom-Heats HDB with wears them down fast
And Galvanize Double-Edge can hit very hard
252 Atk Choice Band Galvanize Caribolt Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Astrolotl: 195-229 (54.6 - 64.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Galvanize Caribolt Double-Edge vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Heat: 144-170 (47.5 - 56.1%) -- 82.4% chance to 2HKO

Amoonguss also tends to run Sp.def for jumbo and krilowatt
252 Atk Choice Band Galvanize Caribolt Double-Edge vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Amoonguss: 202-238 (46.8 - 55.2%) -- 70.3% chance to 2HKO

Paring it with Rotom-Heat can wear down Astrolotl even faster with toxic
It can also be paired with Urshifu who can lure in Tomo and U-turn on it for Caribolt to take advantage of

and for Equilibra
252 Atk Choice Band Caribolt Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Equilibra: 262-310 (64.2 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

This is why I think Caribolt should not be UR
Thank you for Listening to my ted talk

252 Atk Choice Band Caribolt Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Astrolotl: 176-208 (49.2 - 58.2%)
252 Atk Choice Band Caribolt Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Astrolotl: 119-140 (33.3 - 39.2%

This is just never going to realistically beat Astro though before it kills itself, not to mention a lot of Astros are running bulk AND you have to run choice band caribolt which isnt what Caribolt excels at. Double-edge is dealing 25% Caribolts max hp as recoil, plus the 12% from rocks and whatever you took trying to switch in, it doesnt feel worth it for 55% which drops to 20% when Astro switches out. I dont think Caribolt is the worst slot ever, and Astro did get nerfed recently so its probably the wrong time to update the VR but as of right now Caribolt is imo in a horrible position with Astro being the most common mon in the metagame. Plus Zeraora is kinda doing everything Caribolt wants to do while actually having options against Grass and Dragon types.