Resource SS CAP Viability Rankings

Rabia

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GP & NU Leader
some potential options to keep an eye on going forward:

:equilibra::astrolotl:
Both Equilibra and Astrolotl have been historically dominant in CAP but find themselves at low points. The former suffers mostly from the metagame picking up in pace, which makes the builds you'd typically see it on less efficient. Yet, I still can't bring myself to believe Equilibra can't reinsert itself into the metagame rather seamlessly because... it's Equilibra. It can still stat check an awful lot, it brings a lot to the table defensively, and its Doom Desire is appreciated by an awful lot. Similarly, I think Astrolotl could see some innovation this CAP PL as a result of its deep movepool. I wouldn't be surprised if some new set picked up steam and breathed life back into it. Additionally, it still offers Spikes support and is quite durable because of Regenerator, which are both Eternally useful traits.

:magnezone:
Offense teams based around Magnezone trapping Steel-types are quite good right now. I'm honestly surprised Magnezone didn't rise this last update, but expect to see a hefty amount of it going forward. Expect common teammates like Dragonite, Scizor, Kerfluffle, and Jumbao to benefit as well.

:weavile::slowking::toxapex:
Weavile's rapid ascent has harmed the overall viability of the once-dominant Slowking balance teams. Through aggressive play, Weavile is capable of severely negating the efficacy of such teams. Furthermore, its incredible Speed tier and access to priority make Swords Dance sets some of the most devastating late-game cleaners available. Weavile is a big reason for Toxapex's return to a good spot in the metagame.
 
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D2TheW

Amadán
Hello lads and lassies and those that lie betwixt. 2am D2 here tryna get Hax ranked. Don't delete this, I swear on Mienshao's 100% wr that this isn't a shitpost. I have a set and calcs and replays and all the good shit, it'll just be written with 2 braincells and a disregard for proper grammar. Capeesh? Grand.

:Haxorus: Haxorus: Ur -> C

Tiny Dancer (Haxorus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Mold Breaker
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Close Combat
- Poison Jab
- Dragon Dance
This shit is a godsend for ho teams, especially screens making a super potent pairing with Garchomp. The two dragons can double up on steel birbs and hazehawks while Mold Breaker lets Hax break Arghonaut which its cousin cannot.
Jolly:
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Arghonaut: 312-368 (75.3 - 88.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Adamant:
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Mold Breaker Haxorus Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Arghonaut: 343-406 (82.8 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Notably, the chip from chomps rough skin on a circle throw or knock + rocks can be enough to put the pirate into rage for a slaughtering. Jolly gives you a better scarf jumb mu but ada makes argh mu easier so pick whichever suits your team better. Adamant also let's you do nasty things to clef, tho with spdef clef on the rise that's less important.
Jolly:
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Mold Breaker Haxorus Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 328-387 (83.2 - 98.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Ada:
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Mold Breaker Haxorus Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 359-424 (91.1 - 107.6%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
Other advantages over chomp include a much better Rilla mu and not folding to any remotely strong Ice Shard without some significant chip or defence drops first, by which point it may be too late for your oppo. Also goes for cb rapidshifu aqua jet. These are all compounded by Chomp being forced to drop defenses to boost speed.
Rilla:
252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp in Grassy Terrain: 247-292 (69.1 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp in Grassy Terrain: 372-438 (104.2 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Haxorus in Grassy Terrain: 130-153 (44.3 - 52.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

Weav:
252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Haxorus: 204-242 (69.6 - 82.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 388-460 (108.6 - 128.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Syclant:
252 Atk Choice Band Syclant Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Haxorus: 200-236 (68.2 - 80.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Syclant Ice Shard vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 376-448 (105.3 - 125.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Shifu:
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Haxorus: 54-63 (18.4 - 21.5%) -- possible 5HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 153-181 (42.8 - 50.7%) -- 2% chance to 2HKO
As you can likely infer, this makes Haxorus an absolute monster under screens.

Now obviously it's not all good news. Unlike it's cousin, Haxorus is confined solely to ho teams and tbh, mostly screens ho at that (tho that's the best ho rn anyway so who cares). It obviously has huge competition from Chomp though I contend that that's not a huge deal because of how well they work together. Haxorus also has a significantly harder time setting up compared to Chomp but screens do alleviate that to some degree. It's clearly a very flawed mon but it can also be a one turn wincon when supported properly and is basically only countered by steel birbs, both of which are ZoneProne. I do genuinely believe it's worthy of C rank, along with similar ho only mons like Azumarill, Auru and Blaziken. SD Scale Shot is also a thing I've seen people use btw but I haven't tested it so I'm just gonna pay it some lip service and leave it at that.

Replays!
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1346137433
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1357062378-mebcqjlw51sfikzv1cb6n8uiwyt7labpw

Moltres-Galar also deserves to be ranked but that's a post for another day
D2 out
 

dex

Hard as Vince Carter’s knee cartilage is
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Heyo, here's a nomination that I think is overdue.

:arghonaut: B+ -> A-: As we have seen, physical sweepers such as Garchomp and Weavile have become extremely commonplace. Arghonaut's ability to shut down most if not all of the common physical sweepers in the tier has become quite vital to many balance / bulky offense's efforts to outlast the onslaught of physical attacks thrown at teams. Furthermore, Argho provides teams with critical utility, such as Spikes, Toxic, and Knock Off, alongside phazing, making it an incredibly difficult mon to break through if a team does not have a dedicated counter. Its access to Knock Off in particular makes it quite troublesome, as most of its checks such as Tornadus and Zapdos hate having their item removed. While its inability to fight Clefable can be hard to play around at times, it has the bulk to phaze CM sets.

TLDR: mon good
 
After almost 5 weeks of CAPPL, it's time for another VR update!

Code:
Rises:

Heatran A+ → S-
Zeraora A+ → S-
Landorus-Therian A → A+
Tornadus-Therian A → A+
Weavile A → A+
Scizor A- → A
Tapu Koko A- → A
Arghonaut B+ → A
Buzzwole B → B+
Hippowdon UR → B-
Magnezone B → B+
Blacephalon B- → B
Mew B- → B
Tapu Bulu B- → B
Kommo-o UR → B-
Arctozolt UR → C
Haxorus UR → C
Moltres UR → C
Naviathan UR → C
Ninetails-Alola UR → C

Drops:

Slowking S- → A+
Garchomp S- → A
Kyurem A+ → A
Volcarona A → A-
Krilowatt A- → B+
Rillaboom A- → B+
Tomohawk A- → B+
Aegislash B+ → B
Bisharp B+ → B
Cawmodore B+ → B
Colossoil B+ → B
Hydreigon B+→ B
Kerfluffle B+ → B
Mandibuzz B+ → B
Syclant  B+ → B
Excadrill B → B-
Nidiking  B → B-
Barraskweda B-→ C
Necturna B- → C
Pelipper B- → C
Tangrowth  B- → C
Cyclohm C → UR
Latios C → UR
 

dex

Hard as Vince Carter’s knee cartilage is
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Thought I'd give my reactions to some of the tier changes:

:Heatran:: The more the metagame progresses, the more it seems that it is quite easy to mitigate Heatran's trapping ability. As such, I don't necessarily agree with the rise to S- for the mon, though I do understand it. It provides valuable role compression, but it's not tier defining, which is what I consider S- to be.

:Landorus-Therian:: Now this one I can get behind. Lando has been criminally underrated by CAP. Its SpD set is truly disgusting, and the variability it provides is almost always appreciated.

:Arghonaut:: Argho is the captain now. I think Arghonaut has a case for being the best CAP in the current meta, which is sort of crazy given when I joined CAP it was dominated by the terrible trio that was Equilibra, Tomohawk, and Astrolotl. I won't repeat my nom post, but I think the mon is just amazing at what it does, and often feels like a necessary pick on balance teams. Glad to see it moved up.

:Moltres:: Why is the chicken back? Point me to the Moltres user please.

:Naviathan:: I strangely agree with this? Navi is a giant matchup fish (yeah that's a pun). Essentially it wins the moment it gets one boost or it just does nothing.

:Arctozolt:: I beat hail. My demon has been conquered. This needs to stop.

:Volcarona:: I don't agree with this drop at all. I assume that this is a thing because of the Heatran rise and the rise in Urshifu's usage, but Volca is a truly terrifying sweeper. Its checks are pretty easily worn down, and it shouldn't be below A.

:Krilowatt:: I honestly could see a case for this mon being even lower. It feels like it just doesn't do a whole lot, and the fact that you have to play so carefully with it to preserve its Life Orb means that it can't often take advantage of its massive HP stat.
 

Rabia

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator
GP & NU Leader
Moltres's niche is basically just Substitute sets that exploit the rise of Pokemon like non-Whirlwind Hippowdon, Heatran, and Scizor. Although Dragapult's prominence is annoying, it still will require a fair bit of support to safely get in because of how much damage it'd otherwise take from Hurricane. It's a pretty niche option on very specific builds, but I think it's fine to rank as evidenced by Jordy's week 1 game.
 

Lasen

smiling through it all
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributor
Another month of changes, another shot the community gives me to explain to them why things rose or dropped. I'll try to be thorough but do feel free to ask further questions in the CAP Discord, forum DMs or even this here thread! Gonna focus mostly about the top dogs and the head-scratchers, but I am gonna at least go over things once. Without further ado, let's go!


:dragapult:

Remains the sole S rank; while the metagame has mostly adapted to it, it being able to be splashed onto almost any team save for hard stall keeps it at the tippy top. Choice Scarf Pokemon are very rare nowadays, so Dragapult having unprecedented Speed even for an OU pseudo-legendary leaves revenge killing it hard. I don't expect this to stay true for too long, as teams are starting to be overprepped for it, but for now, he's the king of the jungle.


Rises

:Weavile: A → A+

Lagging ever so slightly behind OU's trends, Weavile has invaded all houses of CAP residents and terrorized its inhabitants. The Swords Dance set has been able to pressure teams HEAVILY, beating down common defensive Pokemon like Corviknight, Mew, Tornadus-T, Zapdos and Landorus-T. Triple Axel is the turning point of the set, even being able to OHKO Corviknight after a bit of chip and/or Stealth Rock. Weavile also gives more offensive teams a consistent way to deal with Dragapult, as it can pressure it with Ice Shard and revenge killing it becomes tough once you realise Rillaboom is much slower and also susceptible to being Ice Sharded. Nothing this Pokemon does is fair, and the Adamant nature some opt to run is just the cherry on top. Very likely to rise to the S ranks soon.

:heatran: A+ → S-
Heatran has actually not been the #1 Steel its usage in CAPPL suggests, however, it's spot in the meta is undeniable. It provides unparalleled role compression, from setting Stealth Rock, denying FuturePort with Taunt, beating down stall through trapping and Toxic and even answering the problematic Steel-types that crop up with it access to Heavy Slam. Not only that, but being able to act as a Dragapult check if the need arises and having a spot in the metagame as an offensive mon make up for the pressure it puts on itself by virtue of just how easy it is to fit on any given team. The posterchild of S-.

:zeraora: A+ → S-
Another byproduct of Dragapult's reign. The only Pokemon that can naturally outspeed Dragapult and threaten it with Knock Off, Zeraora offers great offensive utility with access to pivoting, Knock Off and Toxic. Thanks to its item clause usually being HDB, it can't even be punished by hazards anymore as it can pivot in and out of the field and threaten anything that isn't a Ground-type. Some players have attempted to check it with bulky Jumbao spreads or even Scarfbao, so I don't know how it's gonna continue faring in the future. For now, furries yiff and we're in hell.

:tapu-Koko: A- → A
Similar to Zeraora, Tapu Koko is another scary Electric-type that mandates a Ground-type in every team. Unlike Zeraora, however, this Pokemon can also take opposing pivoters on quite well and doesn't rely on its item too much, making it a decent Knock Off absorber. Thanks to Roost, it can shrug off the chip U-turn from Corviknight and Tornadus-T while always threatening them out. It can also slowly but surely chip Galarking through hazard support and U-turn, while also being able to overwhelm Ground-types like Landorus-T and Colossoil. Definitely my personal favorite Electric-type.

:landorus-Therian: A → A+
Remember how I just said Zeraora is a nuisance? Well, Lando-T says "no" to pretty much anything it wishes to do. Honestly, the only thing this Pokemon cannot do is have reliable recovery. With the rise of Electric-types, Specially Defensive Landorus-T Saves The Day! The utility it provides hasn't changed, it's just changed to a more mixed defenses pivot. Great role compression mon, its definitely worth the rise.

:tornadus-Therian: A → A+
The resurgence of the big bird. Offensive sets can still pop off if you don't run into a strong Electric-type, but what's drawn our attention is its pivoting set. Taunt and Toxic are both moves people have been experimenting with, helping to keep slow walls like Hippowdown and Landorus-T honest by shutting down their utility. Taunt in particular is fantastic alongside Spikes balances, stopping prospective defoggers that aren't too scared of Torn-T (see: Landorus-T, Mandibuzz) from removing hazards.

:Scizor: A- → A
Problems with Slowking? Don't like Weavile sending you to the shadow realm? Kyurem is cold to touch? Scizor helps with all of your problems. The mon provides a ton of utility in every playstyle and can even be a win condition with Swords Dance. It does have a few problems like all contact physical mons do, but it's very easy to add to a team and cover a lot of your problems.

:Arghonaut: B+ → A
With Weavile and Moistshifu rising and set-up sweepers seeing more play, Arghonaut comes in to save the day. Honestly, the only thing this Pokemon is lacking is Flip Turn to become S rank. Hazard support, phazing, great ability, passable Speed tier allowing it remove a few of its fellow bulkies; the Pokemon is a physical version of Heatran. While the many Electric-types do hurt it a lot, they also help it in a sense, as they keep the previously impossible for Arghonaut to deal with flyers in checks. Glad to see this Pokemon finally able to climb through the ranks.

:Buzzwole: B → B+
Buzzwole is just THAT GUY™. A defensive Pokemon that can invalidate defensive backbones is always welcome and the physical bulk that this Pokemon has is nothing short of amazing. Another answer to Weavile, Zeraora, and the now rising Tapu Bulu, Buzzwole can help mitigate a ton of problems that arise in building now that the name of the game has become "check xy threat" instead of about typing. Toxic and Roost make it a complete nuisance and removing it becomes incredibly tough if you don't have Exactly a Tapu Fini or Lele, Heatran or a Flying-type. That seems like a long list on paper, but with its base 139 Attack and physical coverage that even makes some Ubers shudder, none of them get a free switch-in.

:Magnezone: B → B+
Trapping isn't competitive and Corviknight and Skarmory check a lot of your Pokemon so might as well just win in builder, right? Oh, you also wanna beat Equilibra, a Ground-type? Don't worry, Smokozone it up. I'm personally never happy to see Magnezone rise as I find trapping to be very matchup fish-y and uncompetitive, but I understand what the risk reward situation it provides is. If Steel-type usage drops, so will this.

:Blacephalon: B- → B
Another OU trend, Blacephalon has negative defensive utility besides being... a U-turn resist, I suppose? But the funny clown also has base 151 SpA which allows it to even 2HKO Blissey with a Choice Specs Mind Blown. Good hazard removers are easy to come by in the metagame so keeping it relatively healthy with double Defog cores isn't even that hard, whereas switching into this Pokemon is absolutely asinine. Very little defensive counterplay limited to 50/50s and its absolutely abhorrent bulk, a Blacephalon on preview is nigh impossible to switch into.

:Mew: B- → B
Another Pokemon that I spoke about last metagame evolution and little has changed about it. I personally want to see someone bring it in HO as its a potent and forgotten hazard lead. The defensive sets are still really tough to crack and with Mew picking up Taunt, it keeps a lot of its checks at bay.

:Tapu-bulu: B- → B
Comparisons to Rillaboom are very obviously gonna come, but they don't work the exact same way. While Rillaboom is more of an offensive threat, giving you pivoting and revenge killing with Grassy Glide, Bulu has its own merits. For one, it has Stone Edge to be able to nail the Zapdos and Tornadus-T of the world and for two, it gets both Synthesis and Horn Leech, keeping it even healthier when it attempts to slowly win with Bulk Up sets. It's pretty solid if your team isn't in need of the fakespeed.


From the depths of Unranked Hell

:Kommo-o: UR → B-

Kommo-o is a Pokemon I personally wasn't sure how it works but it's actually a pretty decent threat and wall alike. With bulletproof, it's actually a Shadow Ball immune Pokemon, making it quite potent at catching Dragapult who don't know about it and Blacephalon alike. Not only that, but it's also a decent Stealth Rock setter, being able to phaze removers out with Dragon Tail, working as a worse Garchomp.

:Hippowdon: UR → B-
I've been advocating for this Pokemon for a while and it's finally ranked again, huzzah! A super sturdy Ground-type that has reliable recovery, Hippowdown can even take an occasional Future Sight now that it's become more of a mixed wall. While it's a big momentum sink, it also completely eats up the opponent's momentum, so it very slightly balances itself out. Kinder Happy Hippo needs some strong support considering how many breakers can come in for free on it, but it's definitely a good fit for teams that need a bulkier Ground than Landorus-T.

:Arctozolt:and:ninetales-alola: UR → C
"Why is Arctozolt ranked again?"
Fringe weather abuser, I made him and I broke him. Have fun.
Alolatales on the other hand is a decent double screens lead that can further enhance HO by setting up screens in 1 turn and then using the rest of your turn to set a Hypnosis or Encore the opponent into a bad move.

:Haxorus: UR → C
Another Pokemon straight up from the depths of Hyper Offense hell, Haxorus can invalidate some of the better anti-HO mons in Astrolotl and Arghonaut thanks to its good Attack stat and Mold Breaker. With Scale Shot, you can opt for Swords Dance and then go to town if you get enough hits. Now, is it reliable? No, but it's on the fringe of decency.

:Moltres: UR → C
See Rabia's post above.

:Naviathan: UR → C
Matchup fish Pokemon that basically tests you on the builder; do you have a bulky Electric, Ferrothorn or Arghonaut? Perfect, you're perfectly safe. You do not? Get ready to struggle while this Pokemon can even Slack off itself back to a healthy amount. Its actual viability depends on what set its running and how easily you can get a DD set up, as it otherwise does less than nothing.


Drops

:Slowking: S- → A+

Still one of, if not the best special Walls. Future Sight support is still insane, RegenBoots is still really and a bulky water will always be tough to beat. HOWEVER! Dark-types, more pivoting, Electric-types and anti-FS mons in Corviknight are making Slowking have a bad time at the moment. It's still very good to splash on, but at this point, it's no longer copy pasted into every build.

:Garchomp: S- → A
The man himself faces a tough time, having to deal with MORE strong revenge killers in Weavile and Moistshifu, Buzzwole and Arghonaut blanket checking it (Life Orb mixed isn't a set Copium) and in general, not getting as many free set up opportunities. It can still invalidate a lot of teams, but it can't simply win on the spot like it used to.

:Kyurem: A+ → A
Very difficult to put on a team at the moment, the Steel-types in the tier are also not ones that Kyurem can easily beat; Glowking also has a very OK time versus it, albeit the Choice Specs set is still impossible to switch into. Metagame also got just ever so slightly faster so its revenge killers are creeping right around its Speed tier, if not just above it. Weavile also deals its job of "Ice-type with no switches" a bit better, but don't be fooled: you can still use both to great success!

:Volcarona: A → A-
Match-up moth was simply put too high too soon and flew too close to itself. The rise in Heatran also hurts it, as its best move to hit it with is Psychic.

:Krilowatt: A- → B+
"A Knocked Off Krilowatt is a dead Krilowatt" Son Jho - The art of Choke.
Nothing WANTS to take a hit from Kril, until something does and then it becomes another puny shrimp. Not only that, but an Electric and Flying resist that doesn't take Knock Off? In this day and age? Localized entirely in our metagame? No thanks! Good on paper, underwhelming in the field.

:Rillaboom: A- → B+
Ooga booga monke hates every metagame development besides Arghonaut's rise. Its pivoting gets punished, it doesn't revenge the best Pokemon as easily and in general kind of... hurts from the metagame's evolution. Not only that, but Bulu is the new cool kid in school and while he's not as cool as the Rilla, Donkey Kong is looking kind of Lanky atm.

:Tomohawk: A- → B+
Every time this Pokemon gets brought up, I swear it turns worse. Physical attackers that break it? Check. Everything it used to invalidate gets invalidated by better Pokemon? Check. Hazehawk worse as physical attackers have that bit of oomph needed to break it if it's this set? Check. Not ORAS so no Reflect? C-c-c-combo! Honestly, Tomohawk feels like a "too many cooks in the kitchen" kind of Pokemon, where it's not truly bad but every time the metagame progresses, it just gets worse by association. Still has cool coverage, though!

:Aegislash: B+ → B
The spooky sword, while capable of breaking through most walls, simply doesn't cut it at the moment. It's very hard to justify on any team, with its SubTect set being quite easy to abuse by a lot of walls and Dragapult being able to go through its Substitute with Infiltrator. Another Ghost-type that isn't named Dragapult suffering because of it.

:Bisharp: B+ → B
While still a cool offensive mon and an anti-defog staple, Bisharp competes for its slot too heavily with Weavile while getting checked by the same, if not more Pokemon. Steel coverage is definitely good with the current array of Fairy-types, but its Speed isn't doing it any favors.

:Cawmodore: B+ → B
More anti-HO tools like Arghonaut and more Heat Wave on Zapdos and Tornadus-T means that mafiozo birb doesn't just go through unprepared teams quite as often as it used to. Make no mistake, however, as it's still gonna sweep on the ladder because newer players don't know what Volt Absorb is.

:Colossoil: B+ → B
Ground-type that doesn't beat the 2 premier Electrics and is too fast to abuse Zapdos Roosting, while also a Dark-type that takes a lot from the best Ghost-type. Good for role compression and Rapid Spinner that kills spinblockers is still a fantastic niche, but it's a bit difficult to fit on teams nowadays.

:Hydreigon: B+→ B
As good as Hydreigon is at breaking down walls, it still suffers from "I have never killed a Clefable and I never will" let alone other Fairies that potentially are neutral to Flash Cannon. Its still quite scary to see on preview, but it's very rarely that a player would rather have it over Dragapult. As such, it's fallen off even more... not to mention how yummy Weavile finds it.

:Kerfluffle: B+ → B
Toxapex is running special defense investement for Pult? Kerfluffle never stood a chance.

:Mandibuzz: B+ → B
If your Dark-type loses after being Knocked Off to the things it's supposed to check, maybe you need a better Dark-type. Mandibuzz doesn't beat common Stealth Rock setters as they are either Clefable and Heatran and can thus 2HKO it or the Ground-types that Toxic it and watch it slowly die.

:Syclant: B+ → B
Another Pokemon competing with Weavile, Syclant differentiates itself by virtue of having a solid way to break both Toxapex and Heatran in Earthquake and of course being able to pivot. Bug coverage is, unfortunately, not that sought after, even if a STAB U-turn is gonna hurt anyone coming in.

:Excadrill: B → B-
With sand answers being better than ever, Excadrill struggles to find a spot in the current landscape. It's not the best Ground-type out there, losing to Zeraora and its utility being covered by other Pokemon much, much better. Its Earthquakes are always fearsome, but the anti-ground Pokemon running around don't mind coming in multiple times. Almost no Rotom usage also hurts 'driller, as it can't abuse its Mold Breaker.

:Nidoking: B → B-
Another Pokemon whose better on paper than in battle. Nidoking is ridiculously easy to revenge, as almost all special walls have something to deal with it and the two bulkiest targets, Slowking and Blissey, don't mind coming in multiple times and using it as set up for their utility moves.

:Pelipper: :Barraskewda: B-→ C
Kartana seeing some play, bulky grasses having a decent spot and mixed defenses Toxapex existing make rain a relic of the past; with Tornadus-T on the rise, too, giving it safe Hurricanes is never a good way to fish for match-ups. While the playstyle can still beat a lot of offensive teams, bulkier builds don't really struggle to put it in a chokehold.

:Necturna: B- → C
Another Pokemon that hates Heatran while Heatran is rising! Necturna has transformed into a special attacker in Sword and Shield, and it struggles to deal with the birds and the Trans. HO often drops this nowadays in favor of Moltres-G, a Pokemon that also gives you a much needed Ghost resist.

:Tangrowth: B- → C
I lied about bulky Grass-types, Tangrowth sucks. Everything it can do, Buzzwole just does better. Its awful Special Defense means that it struggles to even take on Zeraora's Volt Switch, while Tapu Koko's Thunderbolt 3HKOs it with ease. Just overclassed by other physical walls while also hating Weavile. Still can deal with Moistshifu, though.

:Cyclohm: C → UR
If the meta is trending towards Electric-types, it also means the counterplay for them is better. Thus, a defensive Electric offers too little. Goodbye to the nimbus of Zeus, I'll personally miss it.

:Latios: C → UR
1441603523625.png

this but Latios sucks rn a bit too hard, use any other Dragon or Psychic type. Hell, use Latias, it can Healing Wish your threats back to full.




NEW! CAPS ELIGIBLE TO BE BUFFED!


After this Viability Ranking update, the following Pokemon are able to receive a buff if the metagame council so decides:

:revenankh: :malaconda: :caribolt: :pyroak: :fidgit: :snaelstrom: :smokomodo: :mollux: :kitsunoh: :plasmanta:

 

dex

Hard as Vince Carter’s knee cartilage is
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Might as well get my noms in early!

:Slowking: -> A

:Slowking-Galar: -> A

As we saw in CAPPL, players have begun to show a strong preference for Slowking-Galar over base Slowking, simply because the former counters Jumbao while the latter does not. It seems that Slowking-G just has a much better time into the tier's special attackers than Slowking, making it a better pick a lot of the time. One additional note in its favor is its capability of running expansive coverage, making it somewhat hard to switch in on, like Ice Beam for Dragapult, Earthquake for Heatran, and Flamethrower for Melmetal/Ferrothorn. Additionally, Slowking-G's ability to somewhat check Kyurem and its ability to stay in on Zeraora in late-game scenarios is quite valuable, and I'd say that more than makes up for Slowking being the Teleporter.

:Voodoom: -> C

Voodoom has a rough time of it, even after its buff. Weavile is generally the better offensive dark, and Kyurem/Dragapult both outshine it as a special breaker. However, I think Voodoom does have some use, as it has some nice synergy with Melmetal, and (can't believe I'm saying this), one could make a viable team with Voodoom on it. Is Weavile almost always better? Yeah, probably, but Voodoom is a C-tier mon and should be ranked.
 

Rabia

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator
GP & NU Leader
if the bar for ranking is that someone can make a viable team with the Pokemon, then good lord Lasen and I will have a field day LOL

Voodoom is still absolutely awful even with the buffs, partly because of competition but also because of wallbreaking struggles. You still have to make a whole bunch of proper reads with it to bypass Fairy-types, and a lot of special walls can trade hits with it successfully because it's just not that threatening. It requires far too much support to get going and is too hard to justify using to rank it.
 

spoo

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CAP Co-Leader
:slowking: A+ -> A/A-
this mon really needs to drop even further. here and here are a couple good posts in the ou vr thread talking about slowking, the logic carries over essentially 1:1 to cap. there's a massive amount of competition from other bulky waters/gking in cap atm and its usage has fallen off incredibly hard (18th in cappl lol). the mon is not that good anymore, please use gking or fini or just any other bulky water instead

:tapu-fini: A- -> A/A+
what scaldburns said is 100% true, the mon has absurd role compression and a variety of sets (cm + taunt, scarf + trick + cm/natures madness/knock/whirlpool, whirlpool+taunt etc) that are all incredible and easy to tailor to basically any team, scarf sets are also a cawm check 85% of the time which is super cool

:slowking-galar: A- -> A
in no world should this mon be lower than kanto slowking, it's just as good (if not better) and makes far more sense being in the same tier as its competition/alternatives such as pex and fini/king

:arctozolt::ninetales-alola: C -> B or B+
hail eats a lot of common defensive structures atm (lando/gking/corv/bulky water) and in general is just very hard to put the lid on if you can't keep rocks up or if you don't have one of a select few bulky steels on your team. it probably hasnt seen its peak in cap yet but it's a surprisingly strong archetype just because of how bs arctozolt is and having like fast sleep+veil on a setter. hail good

:revenankh: UR -> B-/B
i've been spamming rev on the ladder (which tbf still isn't the best metric, but ladder tour makes it a bit more acceptable) and the mon is absurd, specially bulky sets can legit just tank so much bullshit and set up while more offensive LO sets can outright power through some of its checks. i had to stop using certain teams early in cycle 1 because they would legit get 6-0d on preview by rev despite being otherwise solid. the mon is good and everyone should try it out


this last one is less of a specific nom and more of a general comment on the S ranks - i think dragapult has gotten noticeably worse over cappl as people figured out easier ways to contain it and i don't know if you can easily say that it's definitively the best mon anymore. even teams without an explicit ghost resist can generally cover pult just by stacking fat mons like fini/tran/spdf lando, and frailer dark types like weav are still competent in a pinch especially if you have something like galarking to scout first. conversely other stuff like tran/lando/zera has continued to get better - imho lando is probably the "best" mon in the format right now (and i use that term loosely) just because of how insanely easy it is to throw on any team (45% usage in pl), and despite lando not really being a "threat" per se it's still just so flexible and reliable in any given match that it's hard not to see it in S- at the very least. ideally i feel that S- should be abolished and S should just be lando/tran/dragapult, there might be other ways to arrange the S ranks but as it stands right now something about having pult be the sole S ranked mon doesn't sit right with me
 

Rabia

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator
GP & NU Leader
post cappl thoughts

:landorus-therian: Landorus-T is definitely worth S rank, but I'm unsure yet if I'd consolidate S into one rank. I think there's a heavy case to be made that Dragapult---and Landorus-T---are a bit above the other Pokemon there. Regardless, Landorus-T is just super easy to justify on literally any team because of all it does defensively and supportively. It checks a fuck ton of the top-tier Pokemon and is generally great at supporting teams w/ pivoting, Knock Off, and some other niche stuff like Imprison to enable other items on Pokemon like Weavile and Zeraora.

:weavile: Fuck it, Weavile to S-. Does CAP have literally the hardest counter ever created to it? Yeah, and it still doesn't matter. Arghonaut + physically defensive Scizor are really the only common Pokemon that stop Weavile. Shit like Corviknight and Toxapex get OHKOed by Adamant +2 Life Orb Weavile, which also wins you the mental game on the spot. Soft answering Dragapult is also pretty valuable I've found even if it means you're taking like 40% from Shadow Ball.

:slowking-galar::slowking: Big agree that these two are essentially flipped in ranking nowadays, although I think I'd keep Galarian Slowking in mid-A as opposed to high-A. Providing teams with some room to maneuver around the big breakers in Kyurem and Dragapult is pretty helpful, and I like the potential of some less seen sets/moves like Nasty Plot, Calm Mind, Whirlpool, and Ice Beam. Conversely, Slowking is a lot worse now because of the rise of Weavile + Dragapult + a lot of special breakers that it can't consistently soft check. The meta has turned a bit more offensive, which favors Galarian Slowking and harms Slowking's slower pace of play.

:zapdos: Why is this still mid-A? Because it checks Cawmodore? l2p please LOL it's very mid at every job it tries to do. I only use it over Landorus-T/Corviknight/Zeraora/Tapu Koko if I really need to compress Flying-type check + hazard removal into one slot.

:equilibra::skarmory: Equilibra is awful. It's super hard to fit on teams and fits really poorly in this metagame because it fails hard against offense. Skarmory is just overrated and has been for awhile imo; the drop in usage of Rillaboom and Garchomp both hurt it a good bit, and I favor Arghonaut as a standalone Spiker/Pokemon that shuts down setup physical attackers more.

:hydreigon: This being mid-B is a crime against humanity. Hydreigon is a fantastic breaker and soft answer to Dragapult and Heatran. The only Fairy-type that sees consistent usage and handles it well is Tapu Fini; all the other ones are trivially overwhelmed by +2 Flash Cannon.

:miasmaw: Unviable, get it off the VR. Its niche is no longer as necessary as it was in previous metagames, and as a wallbreaker there's not much reason to use it over the other Dragon-types.

:crucibelle: Weirdly slept on, provides a lot between Trick + U-turn and soft checking Tornadus-T and some other dangermons.

:arctozolt::ninetales-alola: :)
 

D2TheW

Amadán
please have one good meta take...
I invented hail and I pushed for Tomohawk to be sent to the gulag for a while, silence anime pfp
Shut up and kiss already smdh

Just so this post has actual substance rank Rev and Mollux and for fuck sake give Kartana a raise from B-. Zap and especially Tomo are both falling dramatically in usage and this shit can break damn near everything else with a bit of support. It deserves B+ at the very minimum jfc. I'll do a more substantial post at some point soon (probably) (maybe) (who knows)
 

D2TheW

Amadán
I'll do a more substantial post at some point soon (probably) (maybe) (who knows)
I am doing the more substantial post. And by substantial I mean rambling and unstructured, buckle up folks.

:toxapex: Toxapex: A -> A+
Pex is amazing rn, it does a dozen or so things for every team it's on and does them all so well. Helmet is the best set imo but it has other tricks up it's sleeve like light screen payapa and the spite trapper set.

:Kartana: Kartana: B- -> B+
Tomo is dead, long live Kartana. Band, scarf and sd life orb sets are all quite good rn, sd in particular standing out as a physical booster that absolutely shits on argh. Pult and Torn revenge killing you is admittedly a pain in the arse and it's negative defensive utility is a flaw but if you tell me that this mon is equal in viability to kommo-o, miasmaw and fucking excadrill than I'm gonna call you a liar.

:Revenankh:Rev: UR -> B-/B
Do it you cowards.

:Moltres-Galar:Moltres-Galar: UR -> B-/B
Why is this not ranked? Double dance Goltres is an immense threat on screens ho, tearing through pretty much anything that isn't ttar or Blissey. It's ability to check/set up on pult is a huge boon for ho teams which are almost always pult weak by default. Hurricane is an awful move but eh, what can you do.

:cyclohm: Cyclohm: UR -> C
Really useful on fat teams and slightly chunkier balance squads, checks a bunch of annoying shit like Ursh RS, Kart, Zera, Zor and Cawm and is incredibly annoying for uturn spammers with static and potentially helmet. Its 4th moveslot is pretty flexible too with Heal Bell, Ice Beam and Draco all being good options depending on the team. A dragon that Weavile doesn't threaten out without huge risk to itself is also quite nice.

:mollux:Mollux: UR -> C
Heatran and Toxapex's snail shaped lovechild has a good typing for the meta rn and role compresses like it's going out of style. It's list of useful moves is longer than my right arm and only slighter shorter than my left. Three attacks recover or stabs + twave are my personal favourite sets but heal bell is also great and it can run hazards/hazard control if you're really fucking desperate ig. Tran and Glowking cuck it but neither appreciate a twave and spdef lando fucking hates plume burns and sludge poisons. Yeah it's outclassed in a lot of cases by pex but outclassed by pex =/= unviable. Fantastic pult partner too.

:Cawmodore:Cawm: B -> B+
Matchup bird is more likely to get better mus since Zap is dropping in usage. Cawm got quite a few sweeps in cappl, including in the final series as people have been skimping on their cawm coverage. A lot of people just use argh as a splashable cawm answer which in practice can be pretty good for cawm as argh is usually tasked with handling several mons on ho and can end up too unhealthy to answer the bird. Cawm can also beat argh as last mon once circle throw is no longer an option.

:mew: Mew B -> B+
Utility sets and cosmic power sets are both really solid and complement each other pretty well, this lad deserves a small rise.

:Necrozma: Necrozma UR-> C
CM and DD sets are both good I swear on my nan, SHSP can attest to the power of musk

I agree with a lot of what others have said, raise fini and Glowking and drop Slowking. Don't drop skarm though, very useful mon. Also please unrank Cruci that fucker has never done anything but trick a scarf and been used as a sack later. Even if you ignore everything else about this post, raise Kart or I will find you and I will tie your shoelaces together.
 

Lasen

smiling through it all
is a Site Content Manageris an official Team Rateris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributor
I am doing the more substantial post. And by substantial I mean rambling and unstructured, buckle up folks.

:toxapex: Toxapex: A -> A+
Pex is amazing rn, it does a dozen or so things for every team it's on and does them all so well. Helmet is the best set imo but it has other tricks up it's sleeve like light screen payapa and the spite trapper set.

:Kartana: Kartana: B- -> B+
Tomo is dead, long live Kartana. Band, scarf and sd life orb sets are all quite good rn, sd in particular standing out as a physical booster that absolutely shits on argh. Pult and Torn revenge killing you is admittedly a pain in the arse and it's negative defensive utility is a flaw but if you tell me that this mon is equal in viability to kommo-o, miasmaw and fucking excadrill than I'm gonna call you a liar.

:Revenankh:Rev: UR -> B-/B
Do it you cowards.

:Moltres-Galar:Moltres-Galar: UR -> B-/B
Why is this not ranked? Double dance Goltres is an immense threat on screens ho, tearing through pretty much anything that isn't ttar or Blissey. It's ability to check/set up on pult is a huge boon for ho teams which are almost always pult weak by default. Hurricane is an awful move but eh, what can you do.

:cyclohm: Cyclohm: UR -> C
Really useful on fat teams and slightly chunkier balance squads, checks a bunch of annoying shit like Ursh RS, Kart, Zera, Zor and Cawm and is incredibly annoying for uturn spammers with static and potentially helmet. Its 4th moveslot is pretty flexible too with Heal Bell, Ice Beam and Draco all being good options depending on the team. A dragon that Weavile doesn't threaten out without huge risk to itself is also quite nice.

:mollux:Mollux: UR -> C
Heatran and Toxapex's snail shaped lovechild has a good typing for the meta rn and role compresses like it's going out of style. It's list of useful moves is longer than my right arm and only slighter shorter than my left. Three attacks recover or stabs + twave are my personal favourite sets but heal bell is also great and it can run hazards/hazard control if you're really fucking desperate ig. Tran and Glowking cuck it but neither appreciate a twave and spdef lando fucking hates plume burns and sludge poisons. Yeah it's outclassed in a lot of cases by pex but outclassed by pex =/= unviable. Fantastic pult partner too.

:Cawmodore:Cawm: B -> B+
Matchup bird is more likely to get better mus since Zap is dropping in usage. Cawm got quite a few sweeps in cappl, including in the final series as people have been skimping on their cawm coverage. A lot of people just use argh as a splashable cawm answer which in practice can be pretty good for cawm as argh is usually tasked with handling several mons on ho and can end up too unhealthy to answer the bird. Cawm can also beat argh as last mon once circle throw is no longer an option.

:mew: Mew B -> B+
Utility sets and cosmic power sets are both really solid and complement each other pretty well, this lad deserves a small rise.

:Necrozma: Necrozma UR-> C
CM and DD sets are both good I swear on my nan, SHSP can attest to the power of musk

I agree with a lot of what others have said, raise fini and Glowking and drop Slowking. Don't drop skarm though, very useful mon. Also please unrank Cruci that fucker has never done anything but trick a scarf and been used as a sack later. Even if you ignore everything else about this post, raise Kart or I will find you and I will tie your shoelaces together.
Imma tell you that you manifested 3-4 of these, drop soon enough


also seek God for asking us to rank Elon Musk.
 

ILSB

formerly IloveScaldBurns
:blaziken: to B-/B Everyone knows how this fire birb works, clicks sd on something and kill some mons. Blaziken cant kill entire teams bc LO + Blitz recoil but +2 CC does already a ton of damage to every wall on the tier. But that not the main job of Blaziken. Blaziken works as a mid game breaker with Watershifu, working as a great double fighting core who can overwhelm common checks like Fini or Pex. Also wtf why Chrom is B- when he cant sweep a single teams with ant decent phys mon
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 216-255 (71 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Toxapex: 231-273 (75.9 - 89.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock +2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini: 276-325 (80.2 - 94.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock +2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Arghonaut: 179-212 (43.2 - 51.2%) -- 5.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 200 Def Garchomp: 411-485 (97.8 - 115.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 425-500 (111.2 - 130.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Toxtricity: to ranked somewhere between c or b- Underrated threat on a metagame with tons of electric weak mons and ground types without recovery nor normal resist, stills breaks tons of teams lacking a glowking or equi and even can sweep with Shift Gear.
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 311-367 (81.4 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 112+ SpD Landorus-Therian: 248-292 (64.9 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 296-348 (82.9 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Snarl vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 257-304 (81 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Clefable: 230-272 (58.3 - 69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Overdrive vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Heatran: 172-203 (44.5 - 52.5%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

:toxtricity:
Toxtricity @ Life Orb
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Overdrive
- Shift Gear
- Snarl

:Blaziken:

Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch
 
:blaziken: to B-/B Everyone knows how this fire birb works, clicks sd on something and kill some mons. Blaziken cant kill entire teams bc LO + Blitz recoil but +2 CC does already a ton of damage to every wall on the tier. But that not the main job of Blaziken. Blaziken works as a mid game breaker with Watershifu, working as a great double fighting core who can overwhelm common checks like Fini or Pex. Also wtf why Chrom is B- when he cant sweep a single teams with ant decent phys mon
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 216-255 (71 - 83.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Toxapex: 231-273 (75.9 - 89.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock +2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini: 276-325 (80.2 - 94.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock +2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Arghonaut: 179-212 (43.2 - 51.2%) -- 5.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 200 Def Garchomp: 411-485 (97.8 - 115.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 425-500 (111.2 - 130.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Toxtricity: to ranked somewhere between c or b- Underrated threat on a metagame with tons of electric weak mons and ground types without recovery nor normal resist, stills breaks tons of teams lacking a glowking or equi and even can sweep with Shift Gear.
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 311-367 (81.4 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 112+ SpD Landorus-Therian: 248-292 (64.9 - 76.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 296-348 (82.9 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Snarl vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 257-304 (81 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Boomburst vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Clefable: 230-272 (58.3 - 69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Life Orb Punk Rock Toxtricity Overdrive vs. 252 HP / 128+ SpD Heatran: 172-203 (44.5 - 52.5%) -- 76.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

:toxtricity:
Toxtricity @ Life Orb
Ability: Punk Rock
EVs: 36 HP / 252 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Overdrive
- Shift Gear
- Snarl

:Blaziken:

Blaziken @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch
With my experience in other metas in mind, I v much disagree with fire chicken. Scarf fini outspeeds +1 and threatens it out. Pex hazes and a Regenerator mon with reliable recovery being at low health at the cost of neutralizing a mon is not a huge deal. Once chipped (very easy) you die to anything that can live a hit (a decent amount of good mons) and you kill and weaken yourself over a few turns so the ones that don’t beat you straight up overwhelm you. What I’d say to be the biggest problem is that once you’re in and at +2 you have one chance to sweep and if you blow that you’re dead or crippled. There’s practically 0 merit to using this, and that includes the game plan you outlined (which can be accomplished by other, less volatile mons, although admittedly not fighting-types). This thing deserves C rank at most for its role on HO. (Also small nitpick, but make the blaze +1 as opposed to +2 on the calc vs lando.)

(calcs to come maybe who knows)

Toxtricity is a mon I have literally seen only once or twice on OU+ND ladder, let alone CAP, so I can’t speak to its viability

Agree more or less with p much everything D2’s nommed as well.
 

Rabia

is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Battle Simulator Moderator
GP & NU Leader
so w/ the S rank rn I am on the train of pult and lando in S and tran and weav in S-, with zera dropping to A+

Landorus-T is the best utility Pokemon in the tier and has so much flexibility that you can justify it on almost any team. U-turn, Knock Off, Defog, Stealth Rock, and Imprison even all find their ways onto teams and enable a lot of dangerous fucks like Greedvile and Blacephalon. This is in addition to it soft checking shit like Heatran and Dragapult and making the lives of Zeraora and Tapu Koko less fulfilling. I'm unsure which of Landorus-T and Dragapult I find to be THE best Pokemon in the meta, but they're both pretty clearly above the rest.

Weavile has continued to surge lately, and even with CAP having a hard counter to it in Arghonaut (which should also rise), it hasn't proven effective at preventing Weavile from dominating. It's an incredible revenge killer, wallbreaker, late-game cleaner, and situational Dragapult switch-in to boot, and look man the fact you can OHKO Toxapex at +2 is criminal LOL. Like, Weavile being broken is one of the biggest reasons I'm a huge Scizor advocate because it's the single Pokemon splashable enough to contend with the demon.

Zeraora is still great, but I find it a cut below these other four. The big reason is naturally the huge usage rate of Ground-types, Landorus-T in specific but also others like Hippowdon and Garchomp, and Jumbao. Zeraora has ways to mitigate these matchups some, with Toxic and Blaze Kick both crippling these foes very well. I think the bigger knock against it, though, is other revenge killers popping up. With Weavile, Scizor, Choice Scarf Jumbao, and Urshifu-R all seeing high use, Zeraora's Speed tier isn't as necessary anymore to cover for fast threats like say, Dragapult, and I think this is a really big knock to its overall viability. Add on Tapu Koko continues to florish in a meta where Equilibra is damn near absent, and I think we're at a point where Zeraora is pretty clearly not worth keeping in the S ranks. It's still great don't get me wrong, but it does not define this meta like it used to.
 

Steam Buns

:rosetriumph:
is a Pre-Contributor
So most of the changes I've been asking for on the vr seem pretty likely to happen but there's one mon that nobody seems to agree with me on still.

:krilowatt: B+ -> A/A-
No I havent lost my mind and yes, I know that a knocked krill is a dead krill, but I also think this little kritter is obscenely underrated.
Here's the set I've been using:
Krilowatt @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 24 Def / 252 SpA / 232 Spe
Naive Nature
- Flip Turn
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Whirlpool/Toxic
(the extra 24 speed evs would be useless and conveniently just dodge an ohko from defensive lando when added to defense)

Krills greatest asset is and always has been fast boltbeam, being able to outspeed and hit supereffectively most of the metagame means nothing wants to switch into krill and few want to stay in on it, then there's magic guard, being immune to chip is amazing, the fact that krill can take any non lethal hit while still being able to do its job indefinitely is terrific. Of course this doesn't change the fact that many of the pokemon it should check, can cripple it just by clicking knock off, however this weakness is somewhat overstated and can be partially circumvented by using slow pivots and whirlpool(which I will get into in a sec).

Something I see hardly discussed is how fantastic a buff, flip turn has turned out to be, having essentially freed up an extra moveslot by compressing volt switch and water coverage into a single move. Kril can now deal hug chunks of hp to mons like heatran, libra, hippo and colo without having to cop the eq/ep afterwards while also being able to chip checks like blissey and gking much harder. With this extra moveslot one of two things should be used:

Toxic, which I don't need to explain. Or Whirlpool, which may seem really odd but I actually prefer.
Whirlpool serves a few purposes, it started as was a way to guarantee a KO vs pex, preventing it from staying in and knocking then switching out, a knocked kril can wear down even a max spdef pex with tbolt and the 1/8 chip from whirlpool. While this definitely works fine it's pretty much eclipsed by the next benefit. Whatever your opponent chooses to do vs whirlpool is a commitment, this means no mind games, no double switches and no regen, their answer has to be able to 1v1 kril while losing 1/8 hp every turn, and even when it can do this, hazards + whirlpool + flip turn damage really adds up. I've trapped so many av glowking I hardly consider it a check anymore.

don't drop krill to B u silly billys
 
Now that CAPPL has finished, it's time for another update!

Code:
Rises:

Landorus-Therian A+ → S-
Weavile A+ → S-
Slowking-Galar A- → A+
Buzzwole B+ → A-
Blacephalon B → B+
Tapu Bulu B → B+
Victini B → B+
Arctozolt C→ B+
Ninetails-Alola C → B+
Kartana B- → B
Kommo-o B- → B
Revenankh UR → B
Moltres-Galar UR → B-

Drops:

Zeraora S- → A+
Slowking A+→ A-
Zapdos A → A-
Volcarona A- → B+
Equilibra A- → B
Blissey B+ → B
Ferrothorn B+ → B
Kerfluffle B → B-
Mandibuzz B → B-
Chromera B- → C
Dracozolt B- → C
Miasmaw B-→ C
Nidoking B- → C
Azumarril  C → UR
Crawdaunt C → UR
Suicune C → UR
And now here's some brief reasoning for some of the most notable changes:

:Landorus-Therian: A+ → S-: Unsurprisingly, Lando continues to rise thanks to its amazing versatility that makes it easily fit into practically any team and allows it to check pretty much whatever you need.

:Weavile: A+ → S-: Another mon still on the rise, Weavile has become one of the most fearsome breakers in the meta, having a great matchup against common mons like Dragapult and Landorus-T. Only a few reliable answers like Arghonaut exist, while others like Tapu Fini need to be careful to avoid being worn out, which means that many teams have to carefully play around it to avoid being blown away it.

:Arctozolt:/:Ninetales-Alola: C → B+: While not as common as in OU, Hail has still proven to be a very powerful and consistent playstyle in CAP, strong enough to catapult its main setter and abuser all the way up to B+.

:Revenankh:/:Moltres-Galar: UR → B/B-: These two have seen enough usage that the VR council has agreed that they deserve a place in the Rankings. Moltres-Galar is a very potent sweeper that can be really hard to KO while also providing an solid Ghost resist on HO teams. Revenankh on the other hand has benefited immensely from Tomohawk falling in usage and can be a devastating win condition once its checks are sufficiently weakened.

:Zeraora: S → A+: While Zeraora is still one of the most ubiquitous mons in the meta, it's effectiveness has slightly diminished with checks like Landorus-T and Jumbao becoming more prevalent and Tapu Koko being a very solid alternative as a fast Electric-type.

:Slowking: A+ → A-: As the metagame continues to develop, it has become more and more hostile to Slowking, with threats like Weavile and Scizor easily taking advantage of it, mons that it once checked like Tomohawk and Equilibra becoming uncommon, and other bulky Water-types like Arghonaut and Toxapex gaining more traction in response to all these changes, so Slowking is now much less effective than it used to be.
 

dex

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This nom might seem a bit odd, but I think it reflects recent metagame shifts.

:Ferrothorn: -> B+

Ferro died on an Astrolotl shaped hill earlier in the metagame, but I now think the mon is actually quite good. It's biggest asset is that it is an excellent Weavile check. It can also situationally switch into a lot of the tiers breakers effectively due to Leech Seed, namely Dragapult, Arctozolt, Jumbao, and Tapu Lele. Matching up well into Tapu Fini is another big point in its favor. It's also quite a good user of Knock Off, as it often baits in Tornadus-T and Zapdos. I think the mon is somewhat slept on, though it is outclassed as a spiker.
 

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