Resource SS Monotype Viability Rankings [Crown Tundra]

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There's a few more mono rock mons I want to talk about that I can't make into a multi paragraph rant so I'm gonna list them all in one post because yes.

Diancie D -> C

:ss/diancie:


It's still not good but it forms a perfectly fine trick room core with Stakataka and nothing about it really screams D tier garbage other than it's quad weakness to steel. If you get lucky with Diamond storm, that also gives you pretty good body press damage and enough bulk to withstand a super effective physical attack to activate weakness policy. Trick room still isn't great and Aegislash just hard walls it so it's never getting any higher than low C mid C tier.

Carracosta UR -> D

:ss/carracosta:

I'm following up on Woofrie's nomination for Carracosta. At first, I said it would fit right in C tier, probably because I had a concussion or something. There's nearly zero justification to use this over Barbaracle or Omastar. Literally any team with a fast pokemon (aka almost every team that isn't hard stall) can beat the shit out of Carracosta. It's main niche over Barbaracle and Omastar is it's weakness policy + sturdy set combined with aqua jet but idk if you're gonna waste an entire team slot to land a single +4 aqua jet. Aqua jet alone doesn't make up for it's abysmal speed. Getting outsped by several non scarfers even at double the speed is just too much of a drawback for a shell smash sweeper. But once again, it still has a niche that isn't worthless so it deserves a spot on the rankings.

Aerodactyl C -> D C (Sorry I've been way too harsh on Aerodactyl. It's actually completely fine.)

:ss/aerodactyl:


Having a ground immunity isn't really saying much when you have like zero bulk and 71.5% of it's users use it as a suicide lead anyways. Shuckle is basically the superior lead in almost every way. It's not unranked because the dragon dance set can outspeed almost every scarfer so ig you could say that it's still a niche which is enough to stay ranked. That's not a compliment tho, it still sucks.
Aerodactyl's ground immunity and good speed makes it an ok sweeper. Not great, but nowhere near D tier garbage.

Crustle D -> UR

:ss/crustle:

Ok I fucking love Crustle so I hate to admit this, but Crustle really doesn't have much going for it. It's a shell smash sweeper that can abuse sturdy like Carracosta, but it's coverage isn't good and it has a worse attack stat too. While it's speed isn't as bad as Carracosta, it still can't outspeed dragapult, zeraora and everything else faster than it. It doesn't even have a priority move to at least try to make up for it's low speed. Crustle is kinda just a worse Carracosta and there's no reason to use it over literally every other ranked shell smash user in mono rock.

Cradily D -> Idk lol I just want an excuse to rant about Cradily
Past me is dumb and this section is inaccurate


:ss/cradily:

Cradily is just barely hanging on to D tier by the skin of it's non-existent teeth. I've wanted to nominate it for UR for a while now since it's supposed niche is actually kinda useless but now, I feel like it has the slightest iota of worth that lets it just barely stay ranked. Unranked or not, I feel like this is something I should talk about for a moment.
Cradily is most commonly used as a storm drain abuser. Rock is weak to water? Just have Cradily cover that weakness. Plain and simple. It's natural bulk isn't terrible either, and it can cripple non poison/steel types with toxic.
First of all, let's establish that Cradily's niche isn't really a niche at all. The idea is that storm drain stops offensive water types from murdering your team, but it takes like 5 seconds to realize that you still lose to water types even with Cradily. Barraskewda, Crawdaunt, Keldeo and Urshifu all murder it with fighting coverage, Azumarill outspeeds and murders it with play rough (it's not like you're switching in on a belly drum anyways) and Cloyster can murder Cradily with icicle spear even without a shell smash. Ok it beats Volcanion, but when 2 really common mono water mons beat the shit out of Cradily along with basically every other mono rock pokemon, that doesn't really matter. You almost always lose to mono water, Cradily or not.
As for bulky water types (that are used in types other than mono water because that matchup is kinda one sided no matter what), Cradily can't touch Tapu Fini (Scarf fini uses trick and calm mind fini walls it), there's zero chance in hell you're breaking toxapex (or any poison type tbh). You do beat Rotom wash although you'd probably get poisoned or paralyzed. And admittedly, you do still beat Gastrodon and Slowbro. Those are the only water types it beats. You're never gonna waste a whole team slot to deal with 3 specific pokemon. Against everything else it doesn't do much better. Literally it's only resists other than water are normal and electric. This makes Cradily unable to switch in to most wallbreakers and it's completely unusable in a lot of matchups. It's like playing russian roulette but there's 5 bullets and 1 empty chamber. On top of that, mono rock is a pretty offensive type. Playing defensively with mono rock doesn't ever go well. You can still add passive mons like Shuckle and Coalossal, but you're still ultimately playing offensively. Cradily is kinda hard to fit in a team because you don't want to be too passive with mono rock. You have to either apply constant offensive pressure, or help your teammates in applying pressure which Cradily just can't accomplish.
Even though you're never gonna win the matchup against mono water, coverage against water types is still important. This is the reason I nominated Nihilego for S tier and why it's my pick for the best mono rock mon. Thunderbolt and grass knot coverage is your primary way of beating water types. You can also snowball with meteor beam and beast boost, somewhat improving your matchup against flying. Not to mention it's deceptively high special bulk even without sand. Additionally, you can run grass knot on Barbaracle if you really want to better deal with water types (Although earthquake tends to be the better 3rd move option), you can also run thunder punch on Tyranitar or Rhyperior. It's not much, but that's all mono rock can afford without wasting a team slot on something fundamentally less viable.
It would be so easy to just talk shit about this thing and nominate it for UR but it just barely stays in D tier for one simple reason, and it's not the thing people typically consider when looking at Cradily. It's Cradily's electric resist. Yes, you have Rhyperior as an electric immunity, but electric teams always have coverage against ground types. Cradily is the one rock type that isn't weak to specs Tapu Koko, Rotom Wash or Raikou. It's still shit against Zeraora and Magnezone and what I said about mono rock having to be offensive still applies here, but with good plays, Cradily is actually decent at something that only Cradily can accomplish. This is the sole reason I'm not nominating it for UR.
Future me speaking. Cradily actually is worth nominating for UR. It's electric resist alone can't carry it out of unranked garbage and you can't ignore it's fundamental issue of being too passive and not doing much to justify it's passiveness. Refer to my other post for more Cradily slander.

I'm not procrastinating on this anymore, I just have to say it before gen 8 ends.

Cradily (Rock) D -> UR

:ss/cradily:View attachment 459879:ss/cradily:
Art poorly drawn by me using ms paint

I don't really feel like writing an intro for Cradily. It's pretty good in mono grass but complete trash in mono rock for reasons you probably already know. And before we move into gen 9, I'm here to put the final nail in the coffin so (hopefully) no one will consider it on their mono rock team again.

View attachment 459881
Unless you're a based Cursedily enjoyer, Cradily is a passive spdef wall that can set up stealth rock and toxic. While in mono grass, it sees use for it's fire and flying resists, it has a tiny bit of usage in mono rock due to it's ground resist combined with storm drain. From what I can tell, people who use Cradily on mono rock just go "ooooo type immunity me likey" when they see storm drain and slap it on without really thinking.

View attachment 459880
There are many reasons why this water immune pokemon sucks in a monotype weak to water. First of all, mono rock is strictly a hyper offensive type. Every mon in mono rock has to either apply a ton of offensive pressure, or help set up said mons so they can deal enough damage. Besides setting up rocks (which shuckle and coalossal already accomplish), all it does is giga drain with it's uninvested 81 spatk and use toxic on a few mons, which is hard to properly take advantage of in mono rock because of how fast most mono rock matches are. A passive mono rock team is like trying to run poison hyper offense. Cradily is dead weight in most matchups because if the opponent abuses Cradily's passiveness and regains momentum, your rock team is dead. The 2nd more noticeable reason is that Cradily doesn’t even do it’s job. It’s supposed to be a switch in to offensive water and ground types, but it can't even switch into most of them.
Can switch in consistently
:volcanion::tapu-fini:(:choice-scarf:):barbaracle: :rhyperior:
Can switch in but either can't do anything back or can only switch in if not chipped
:garchomp::nidoking::tapu-fini:(calm mind):azumarill:
Can't switch in
:barraskewda::urshifu-rapid-strike::cloyster::crawdaunt::excadrill::mamoswine::krookodile::kingdra::keldeo:
Something tells me dedicating a full team slot to stop 3 offensive threats isn't exactly worth it. Especially since Cradily loses to over half the mons it's supposed to beat. And don't even get me started on it's ability to break bulky waters. Sure, it does it's job against Rotom and Gastrodon but it's still completely walled by Toxapex and are you really gonna use up an entire team slot to deal with a few bulky waters when the types that run said mons have counters that Cradily can't lay a finger on? I could kinda excuse this if Cradily was able to wear down it's counters over time but it really can't. For example, Coalossal is a good option for bulky steels because every steel type gets worn down over time by it's fire + ground coverage. Combine that with will o wisp and support from rock's wallbreakers and you have a viable option for steels like Celesteela, Scizor and Ferrothorn. Cradily just can't do that to water or ground types. Monotype has so many ways of beating it both offensively and defensively that it hurts.

I originally held back on wanting to unrank Cradily because I thought providing an electric resist that doesn't die to Koko's grass knot or Rotom Wash was valuable enough but electric has good enough counterplay for Cradily regardless + it doesn't fix the fundamental issue of Cradily killing rock's offensive pressure. And it's not like you'd prefer Cradily over anything else for the neutral matchups. I failed to mention this before but it's only resists/immunities are normal, electric and water. Everything other type deals either neutral or double damage to it which just doesn't cut it for a defensive mon.

View attachment 460018
Mono rock, while not the worst monotype, is still kinda bad. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. And running a bad mon is more punishing in worse monotypes than it is with better ones because worse monotypes aren't able to support said mons as well. The sheer opportunity cost of using Cradily over any other rock type on the viability rankings can't be understated. It's ability to set up hazards and toxic is outclassed by Shuckle, it's ability to deal with water types is outclassed by Nihilego and it's ability to deal with ground is outclassed by Barbaracle, Omastar or even Aerodactyl. Cradily's usefulness in rock's neutral matchups range from "wow you poisoned 1 mon good job" to actively dragging the team down by ruining momentum and acting as set up fodder for your opponent's wincons. Overall, there's no reason to use Cradily in mono rock outside of monothreat. Cradily only puts up a fight once in a blue moon and it's dead weight everywhere else, which is more than enough of a reason to unrank this wretched hentai flower. If you really want to use Cradily in mono rock, at least have the courtesy to run a meme set.
Cradily is still really bad tho don't use it lol

S Tier
:nihilego:^ :tyranitar: :terrakion:
S- Tier
:shuckle:
A+ Tier
:barbaracle: :rhyperior:
B+ Tier
:coalossal:^
B Tier

:omastar:
C+ Tier
:stakataka:
C Tier
:lycanroc-dusk: :aerodactyl: :diancie:^
D Tier

:carracosta:^
D- Tier

:lycanroc: :cradily:
UR
:crustle:V
 
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Archeops UR -> D (Rock)

For reference, I've hit 1500 before only playing rock, it's my favorite type, don't ask me why, I have no idea. I think that trick room rock is the most consistent way to climb, and so this is taking that sort of team into account. Archeops is not a good pokemon, but what it does do well is suicide lead for trick room teams. Trick room doesn't want the webs that Shuckle offers, but setting up stealth rocks is still valuable, and nothing fits the hyper offense nature of rock better than Archeops. Run Focus Sash, Taunt, Rocks, Head Smash and Endeavor. You're faster than a lot of leads, so you can Taunt stuff that can't hit hard, and endeavor stuff that can. It's not fantastic, but it was a pretty important part of me hitting top 100, so it deserves better than unranked imo
 

Dead by Daylight

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Archeops UR -> D (Rock)

For reference, I've hit 1500 before only playing rock, it's my favorite type, don't ask me why, I have no idea. I think that trick room rock is the most consistent way to climb, and so this is taking that sort of team into account. Archeops is not a good pokemon, but what it does do well is suicide lead for trick room teams. Trick room doesn't want the webs that Shuckle offers, but setting up stealth rocks is still valuable, and nothing fits the hyper offense nature of rock better than Archeops. Run Focus Sash, Taunt, Rocks, Head Smash and Endeavor. You're faster than a lot of leads, so you can Taunt stuff that can't hit hard, and endeavor stuff that can. It's not fantastic, but it was a pretty important part of me hitting top 100, so it deserves better than unranked imo
I feel that Trick Room is a very inconsistent playstyle as a whole. If it works though, more power to you!

I agree with :archeops: to D. While it may be hampered by Defeatist and its bad bulk, it has one big advantage over Aerodactyl as a suicide lead: Endeavor. Endeavor lets it cripple opposing Pokémon, and Archeops' mediocre bulk means that it will, more likely than not, be brought down to its Focus Sash.


Now, this shouldn't (and probably won't) result in Archeops going above D-rank, as it has far too many issues that Aerodactyl might not have. Some glaring issues include its Speed tier, which is quite high but means that it gets outsped by prominent Pokémon such as Weavile and Cinderace, alongside common Scarfers such as Heracross or Dracozolt, all of which Aerodactyl outspeeds. Additionally, Archeops becomes basically useless when Defeatist activates, with only 70 base Attack.
 

Aqua Jet

Stardew
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:Life Orb: :SS/Blastoise: :Life Orb:
Water
UR -> B/C
Blastoise @ Life Orb
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Water Spout
- Hyper Beam
- Ice Beam


First seen in World Cup, Blastoise in Rain has very few defensive answers after it has used Shell Smash. Even against teams with a Water immunity (Mantine on Flying and Water, as well as Volcanion on Fire and Water) Blastoise is guaranteed to at least take one opponent down with it using Hyper Beam. If the Blastoise user predicts correctly and is able to Hyper Beam Mantine or Volcanion, Blastoise's teammates are able to freely spam Water-type moves against the opponent's team with little drawback. The fact that it can either 6-0 or rip huge holes in some of the sample teams like this, this, and this proves to me that Blastoise deserves to be ranked.
 
View attachment 290857 Zapdos : A=>S (Electric)
Support mons like Zapdos are essential to face steel cores and other bulky cores. Let's not forget that pre-dlc, if you didn't run emolga/air balloon mold breaker earthquake runs through electric. It is a superior steel answer than magnezone imo as long as aegislash is in the meta. With the introduction of HDB, this bird is even more of a pain to break and I believe should be a staple on Electric.

View attachment 290856 Zapdos-Galar : B=>A (Fighting)
This is a better Hawlucha imo and one that can be choiced. With pivot options in u turn, very good STAB in brave bird that can clean in many scenarios. It has very good coverage in Steel Wing, Blaze Kick and Stomping Tantrum to boot. I think this is an elite scarfer and revenge killer on Fighting which can allow Terrakion to run setup sets. It is also immune to Intimidate/defog which is a bonus.

View attachment 290855 Runerigus (Ghost) D=>C (Ghost)
With the introduction of Spectrier, I believe that Hex sweepers are much more of a serious threat than ever before. Ghost already benefits from being immune to rapid spin and I believe Runerigus can make defog a requirement on certain types. I do not think it can compete with Corsola-Galar as a wall, but as a utility option, it can possibly cover the omission of Blacephalon (in tandem with Spectrier). However, I might be exaggerating the merit of this combo. With the return of almost every good flying type and HDB being so common these days, T spikes have very much lost their allure. But I still think it can be used as a niche strat to dominate certain matchups.

I tried to not go over what other people said, and I think there are many more VR changes to be discussed especially in top-types like Water, Steel and Psychic but I wish to see where the chips fall at the end of all the quick ban rounds.
A little bit late of a reply, but Hex users rn are limited to only Spectrier. Tell me otherwise
 

roxie

https://www.youtube.com/@noxiousroxie
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Bug
Golisopod C -> B. Spikes are good play the type. Taunt is nice for weezing celes and exit is good for activating guts hera. great urshifu check also.
Vikavolt C -> B. Nice for electric / Flying / Water / Ground. Webless works fine and its a hard hitting Galvantula that can roost and spread toxic on thundy+dnite. This can move up.
Scolipede (misc). #1 mon that comes up when beating cm fini. Scizor exists for fairy but what happens when u face a lele fairy and facing off screens+helmet koko+psy terrain is a lot.

Dark
Incineroar / Sharpedo -> D. These can be reranked as they help with Ice. Bisharp exists but he lacks speed and Incineroar has the better niche here. Sharpedo can probably do some stuff but overall balance dark autoloses to ice and having either on the vr is nice for a niche for ice.

Fairy
Azumarill -> B
Tapu Fini -> A
Hatterene -> B

Fighting
Keldeo -> B Urshifu and Keldeo perform equivalent roles varying on the team
Virizion -> C
Pangoro -> C
Scrafty -> D

Flying
Galarian Zapdos -> B
Dragonite -> A
Gyarados -> C

Ghost
Palossand -> C
Galarian Corsola -> C
Dhelmise -> C
Jellicent -> D

Normal
Snorlax -> B
Ditto -> B

Steel
Magneton -> Somewhere

Quick rankings cba with long descs rn
 

FatFighter2

zacian waifu :flushed:
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I am shocked and appalled to have recently learned that jynx is unranked for psychic like wtf, its the goat and specs smashes ground flying water. Personally I would rank jynx above zam (ugly) on psy. for proof check out mpl vii w6 me vs jonfilch where I get lucky and load it into rain

jynx UR --> C or D
 

Dead by Daylight

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I am shocked and appalled to have recently learned that jynx is unranked for psychic like wtf, its the goat and specs smashes ground flying water. Personally I would rank jynx above zam (ugly) on psy. for proof check out mpl vii w6 me vs jonfilch where I get lucky and load it into rain

jynx UR --> C or D
Me when Wide Lens Lovely Kiss Nasty Plot Jynx wins
 

Dead by Daylight

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Bug
Golisopod C -> B. Spikes are good play the type. Taunt is nice for weezing celes and exit is good for activating guts hera. great urshifu check also.
Vikavolt C -> B. Nice for electric / Flying / Water / Ground. Webless works fine and its a hard hitting Galvantula that can roost and spread toxic on thundy+dnite. This can move up.
Scolipede (misc). #1 mon that comes up when beating cm fini. Scizor exists for fairy but what happens when u face a lele fairy and facing off screens+helmet koko+psy terrain is a lot.

Dark
Incineroar / Sharpedo -> D. These can be reranked as they help with Ice. Bisharp exists but he lacks speed and Incineroar has the better niche here. Sharpedo can probably do some stuff but overall balance dark autoloses to ice and having either on the vr is nice for a niche for ice.

Fairy
Azumarill -> B
Tapu Fini -> A
Hatterene -> B

Fighting
Keldeo -> B Urshifu and Keldeo perform equivalent roles varying on the team
Virizion -> C
Pangoro -> C
Scrafty -> D

Flying
Galarian Zapdos -> B
Dragonite -> A
Gyarados -> C

Ghost
Palossand -> C
Galarian Corsola -> C
Dhelmise -> C
Jellicent -> D

Normal
Snorlax -> B
Ditto -> B

Steel
Magneton -> Somewhere

Quick rankings cba with long descs rn
Question: why Magneton? I get that it can hold Eviolite, but it exerts way too little offensive pressure imo.
 

Neko

When you live for love, how precious life can be
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Question: why Magneton? I get that it can hold Eviolite, but it exerts way too little offensive pressure imo.
Magneton provides a speedtier when using a choice scarf, notably outspeeding non Scarf Cindy and Torn-T (Scarf Magnezone can't, it caps at 360). Magneton has a little less power though, but you compress a CP Mew check [Toxic] + semi-fast mon in one.

Scarf Magneton also lets you run SD Exca AND SpDef Heatran, which is a good thing btw (its usually one or the other, as Steel has to have a Scarfer).
 
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I've noticed Salamence is placed on D rank for Flying am i'm just wondering what does Mence bring to a type like Flying.



  • As a Dragon Dance sweeper is absolutely outclassed by Dragonite, which has Multiscale and better coverage.
  • As an Intimidate user, Landorus-T has better bulk, access to Stealth Rock, and more importantly, provides an Electric immunity.
  • As a Choice Scarf user is outclassed by Noivern.

It surprises me to see it in the same rank as Skarmory or Noivern, which feel like much more usable than Mence.
 

Dead by Daylight

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I've noticed Salamence is placed on D rank for Flying am i'm just wondering what does Mence bring to a type like Flying.



  • As a Dragon Dance sweeper is absolutely outclassed by Dragonite, which has Multiscale and better coverage.
  • As an Intimidate user, Landorus-T has better bulk, access to Stealth Rock, and more importantly, provides an Electric immunity.
  • As a Choice Scarf user is outclassed by Noivern.

It surprises me to see it in the same rank as Skarmory or Noivern, which feel like much more usable than Mence.
Probably for DD + Moxie? It should theoretically be able to snowball, but yeah, it should be UR.
 
I've noticed Salamence is placed on D rank for Flying am i'm just wondering what does Mence bring to a type like Flying.



  • As a Dragon Dance sweeper is absolutely outclassed by Dragonite, which has Multiscale and better coverage.
  • As an Intimidate user, Landorus-T has better bulk, access to Stealth Rock, and more importantly, provides an Electric immunity.
  • As a Choice Scarf user is outclassed by Noivern.

It surprises me to see it in the same rank as Skarmory or Noivern, which feel like much more usable than Mence.
Salamence is for sure niche but it's the best candidate for a mixed steel killer set with Fire Blast and Earthquake (like Garchomp does in dragon/ground) + additionnal coverage (Stone Edge/DM ?). In this way it threatens types like Steel, Poison, Elec and Dragon a lot. Intimidate is an amazing ability there is no reason to limit it to landorus who is anyway mandatory in flying.
You can also use bulkier sets with hdb and roost that compress the defensive role and the steel killer role, but they will lack dmgs for some MUs.
 
I've noticed Salamence is placed on D rank for Flying am i'm just wondering what does Mence bring to a type like Flying.



  • As a Dragon Dance sweeper is absolutely outclassed by Dragonite, which has Multiscale and better coverage.
  • As an Intimidate user, Landorus-T has better bulk, access to Stealth Rock, and more importantly, provides an Electric immunity.
  • As a Choice Scarf user is outclassed by Noivern.

It surprises me to see it in the same rank as Skarmory or Noivern, which feel like much more usable than Mence.
Over the weekend during my weekly flying team buildings I've decided to re try using Mence. Surprisingly the scarf set has gotten me results, with proper play I was able to get some steam roll wins with it. I also seen a person use a bulky roost set as well, but I haven't experimented with that set to much. It might not be the best mon, but it show to have some potential viability.
 

Azick

Love Sosa
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VR has been outdated for sometime so gonna run through the types to give my suggestions to fix it up a bit before new gen drops. Just gonna look at S-B and C for rises as I'm just looking to clean up the more important stuff.

Bug:
Araquanid: B-->A
Ribombee: B-->C
Armaldo: C-->B

Dark:
Weavile: A-->S
Goltres: A-->B

Dragon:
Kommo-O: C-->B
Duraladon: C-->B

Electric
Regieleki: B-->A
Dracozolt: B-->C
Rotom Grass: B-->C
Raichu: A-->B(Not so adamant abt this one, just don't think it fits in same tier as mag/rotom-w, might be weird to move eleki up and this down so eh)

Fairy:
Fini: B-->A

Fight: I have no idea

Fire:
Victini: A-->B
Moltres: C-->B
Rotom-Heat: C-->B

Fly:
Dragonite: B-->A
Skarmory: C-->B
Thundy-Base: B-->C
Mantine: B-->C
Thundy-T: A-->S
Goltres: Potentially S-->A, a great mon but many teams don't utilize it anymore

Ghost:
Blacepheon: B-->A

Grass:
Zarude: A-S(Bulk Zarude carries the type imo)
Maybe Cradily to A

Ground:
Steelix: B-->C
Nidoking: A-->S

Ice:
Arctozolt: B-->A
Darmanitan-G: B-->A

Normal seems fine, don't play it much

Poi is perfect

Psychic:
Latios: A-->B

Rock: I have no idea x2

Steel:
Exca: S-->A(Don't think it's 100% necessary, fits better in A than with tran imo)

Water:
Urshifu: A-->S
Swampert: S-->A(Gastro/Seis provide other options, not super necessary)
Toxapex: A-->S

I think most of this is explanatory so I didn't expand on it but feel free to disagree, I'm happy to go into further depth if needed
 
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Dead by Daylight

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Electric
Regieleki: B-->A
Dracozolt: B-->C
Rotom Grass: B-->C
Raichu: A-->B(Not so adamant abt this one, just don't think it fits in same tier as mag/rotom-w, might be weird to move eleki up and this down so eh)
I mean, AloRai under terrain (what team doesn't use Electric Terrain?) is basically faster Regieleki with more coverage. Keep it in A. Regieleki's complete lack of coverage seems like a good reason to keep it in B, but I've used a Choice Specs set and if the opponent doesn't have a Ground-type, the game is over. I'd say raise it. Rotom-Mow is a key contributor in the Ground matchup, as Rotom-Wash can get swallowed up by Gastrodon. If there's like a B-, I'd say put it there. If not, keep it in B. Dracozolt...yeah, move it down.
 
Let's give some thoughts about the current VR for Bug:

Golisopod C --> B


The combination of Taunt+Spikes is an amazing asset for Bug teams, which rely on its offensive pressure to success. Golisopod prevents mons like Ferrothorn or Corsola-Galar from using Stealth Rock and status moves, as well as avoiding Leech Seed or Defog from Celesteela and Weezing, respectively. I don't think Golisopod belongs to the same rank as mons like Durant, Centiskorch or Shuckle, which provide much less value than Golisopod to Bug teams. Although Emergency Exit might play against yourself, it's not a bad ability at all, since it can allow other members of the team to come in for free. This is specially important for setup mons like Heracross or Volcarona. It also has access to another utility move like Knock Off, which is never a bad choice.

Ribombee B --> C


This thing seems too niche to me. Quiver Dance sets do not hit hard enough, and you have better options to deal with Dragon, Fighting and Dark in pillar mons like Scizor, Heracross, Buzzwole or Volcarona. As a Sticky Web setter it has a niche as it learns Skill Swap, which can help versus Hatterene, but that's about it. Being in the same rank as Araquanid doesn't look realistic.

Vikavolt C --> B


Vikavolt is probably one of the best chances Bug has to deal with Flying with the combination of Thunderbolt/Toxic/Roost. Galvantula is another important mon to deal with Flying, but you do not get many chances of exploiting Toxic in mons like Landorus-T and Thundurus-T due to the frail nature of Bug teams, which do not have the bulk needed for that in most occasions. Galvantula deserves a higher rank than Vikavolt for its higher Speed, but a difference of 2 rank levels between both seems too much. Vikavolt also helps a lot versus Water and Ground because of its access to Energy Ball and its high Special Attack stat.

Araquanid B --> A


Water Bubble is just too valuable for Bug teams and Araquanid has also access to Sticky Web. It's true it is a one dimensional mon that does not have enough power to hit with a move different than Liquidation, but it can 1v1 mons like Volcanion and sponge special moves with relative ease. I somewhat understand being ranked B because i think it's not as important for Bug as mons like Buzzwole or Heracross, but having the same rank as Ribombee is weird. Nevertheless, i would be fine if it remains B if Ribombee is ranked lower.

Scolipede C --> B


Scizor falls short when trying to beat Fairy and Psychic due to the presence of Tapu Lele and Heavy Duty Boots Victini. Bug has a hard time versus Psychic in case it does not run Choice Scarf Heracross, and the combination of Megahorn+Speed Boost can help a lot with that. Scolipede can also help in matchups like Fire, Dark or Bug. The Speed Boost+Sword Dance combo helps cleaning in late game. Scolipede also helps versus Calm Mind Tapu Fini, which is not a small thing.

Orbeetle D --> Unranked


There is absolutely no reason to run this thing even if you are looking for a niche pokemon. Screens are not something viable for Bug, which need to carefully choose all its slots to cover as most matchups as possible.

Frosmoth D --> Unranked


Frosmoth can only help you win versus Ground but wasting one slot for a single matchup, which can already be dealth with the pressure of Volcarona, Scizor or Guts Heracross, seems like nonsense. It could be of some help versus Water and Flying, but Toxapex, Celesteela and Corviknight, completely wall it. It also lacks the proper Speed to be an option to consider when building your team.
 
I'm not procrastinating on this anymore, I just have to say it before gen 8 ends.

Cradily (Rock) D -> UR

:ss/cradily:
Smol Clowndily.png
:ss/cradily:
Art poorly drawn by me using ms paint

I don't really feel like writing an intro for Cradily. It's pretty good in mono grass but complete trash in mono rock for reasons you probably already know. And before we move into gen 9, I'm here to put the final nail in the coffin so (hopefully) no one will consider it on their mono rock team again.

Cradily Overview.jpg

Unless you're a based Cursedily enjoyer, Cradily is a passive spdef wall that can set up stealth rock and toxic. While in mono grass, it sees use for it's fire and flying resists, it has a tiny bit of usage in mono rock due to it's ground resist combined with storm drain. From what I can tell, people who use Cradily on mono rock just go "ooooo type immunity me likey" when they see storm drain and slap it on without really thinking.

bUT CrAdAiLY bEaTtaS AWater1!!1!1.jpg

There are many reasons why this water immune pokemon sucks in a monotype weak to water. First of all, mono rock is strictly a hyper offensive type. Every mon in mono rock has to either apply a ton of offensive pressure, or help set up said mons so they can deal enough damage. Besides setting up rocks (which shuckle and coalossal already accomplish), all it does is giga drain with it's uninvested 81 spatk and use toxic on a few mons, which is hard to properly take advantage of in mono rock because of how fast most mono rock matches are. A passive mono rock team is like trying to run poison hyper offense. Cradily is dead weight in most matchups because if the opponent abuses Cradily's passiveness and regains momentum, your rock team is dead. The 2nd more noticeable reason is that Cradily doesn’t even do it’s job. It’s supposed to be a switch in to offensive water and ground types, but it can't even switch into most of them.
Can switch in consistently
:volcanion::tapu-fini:(:choice-scarf:):barbaracle: :rhyperior:
Can switch in but either can't do anything back or can only switch in if not chipped
:garchomp::nidoking::tapu-fini:(calm mind):azumarill:
Can't switch in
:barraskewda::urshifu-rapid-strike::cloyster::crawdaunt::excadrill::mamoswine::krookodile::kingdra::keldeo:
Something tells me dedicating a full team slot to stop 3 offensive threats isn't exactly worth it. Especially since Cradily loses to over half the mons it's supposed to beat. And don't even get me started on it's ability to break bulky waters. Sure, it does it's job against Rotom and Gastrodon but it's still completely walled by Toxapex and are you really gonna use up an entire team slot to deal with a few bulky waters when the types that run said mons have counters that Cradily can't lay a finger on? I could kinda excuse this if Cradily was able to wear down it's counters over time but it really can't. For example, Coalossal is a good option for bulky steels because every steel type gets worn down over time by it's fire + ground coverage. Combine that with will o wisp and support from rock's wallbreakers and you have a viable option for steels like Celesteela, Scizor and Ferrothorn. Cradily just can't do that to water or ground types. Monotype has so many ways of beating it both offensively and defensively that it hurts.

I originally held back on wanting to unrank Cradily because I thought providing an electric resist that doesn't die to Koko's grass knot or Rotom Wash was valuable enough but electric has good enough counterplay for Cradily regardless + it doesn't fix the fundamental issue of Cradily killing rock's offensive pressure. And it's not like you'd prefer Cradily over anything else for the neutral matchups. I failed to mention this before but it's only resists/immunities are normal, electric and water. Everything other type deals either neutral or double damage to it which just doesn't cut it for a defensive mon.

Hehe Cradily bad.jpg

Mono rock, while not the worst monotype, is still kinda bad. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. And running a bad mon is more punishing in worse monotypes than it is with better ones because worse monotypes aren't able to support said mons as well. The sheer opportunity cost of using Cradily over any other rock type on the viability rankings can't be understated. It's ability to set up hazards and toxic is outclassed by Shuckle, it's ability to deal with water types is outclassed by Nihilego and it's ability to deal with ground is outclassed by Barbaracle, Omastar or even Aerodactyl. Cradily's usefulness in rock's neutral matchups range from "wow you poisoned 1 mon good job" to actively dragging the team down by ruining momentum and acting as set up fodder for your opponent's wincons. Overall, there's no reason to use Cradily in mono rock outside of monothreat. Cradily only puts up a fight once in a blue moon and it's dead weight everywhere else, which is more than enough of a reason to unrank this wretched hentai flower. If you really want to use Cradily in mono rock, at least have the courtesy to run a meme set.
 
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Nihilego (Rock) A > S

The generation isn't over! There's still time to fix this mistake!!! Anyway, Nihilego is insanely important for rock, I'd say it's an auto-include on any serious team. Power Herb Meteor Beam is such a ridiculously powerful wallbreaking tool, and breaking through physical walls is vital for rock. It can threaten to sweep with speed boosts from Beast Boost as well. It has a surprising amount of special bulk as well, especially with sand, so there are actually plenty of opportunities to get it in. It's just a fantastic, and crucial mon for rock, not sure why it wasn't S tier already.
 
Nomination dump before end of year:

Psychic:

Hatterenee: A -> B: Simply unreliable as hazard control as it fails to bounce against any setter with a modicum of offensive presence; also doesn't do reliable work in the matchups you need it to (Heavy slam ttar eats this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner; some ferrothorn run iron head, etc). These qualities make it hard to teambuild around; for example, what's the point of running magic bounce for hazard control when you have to run defog or stick HDB on Victini anyways?

Mew: A-> B: Pure psychic typing ain't it; while potent offensively due to an absurd movepool and decent stats it doesn't actually offer any notable resistances to switch into moves that threaten the team, making it hard to justify over something in the A ranks that does offer defensive synergy.

Xatu: D->UR: just use Hat lol

Cress: C -> UR: Why am I using this over Latias?

Reuniculus: C-> D: Mono psychic typing and getting walled by every dark type make this hard to justify.

Orbeetle: D-> UR: Psychic doesn't make great use of sticky web.

Latias: B -> A: Latias is a good mon and tends to run Roost sets better than Latios due to better defensive stats; Roost sets allow psychic to make good use of Lati's resistances and immunities. In addition, Latias gets Healing wish for teams that need it.

Indeedee-M: D -> B: This mon is good. The normal typing doesn't just give you a playable mu vs ghost; it also helps a lot against dragon by checking dd pult, and also gives an edge in the psychic mirror because you can spam specs shadow ball and the opponent can't. In addition, Indeedee-M is also quite good against ground with the ability to nuke things with specs expanding force. Indeedee also makes Glowking a lot better, as it can scout for choiced shadow balls and pivot into indeedee.

Indeedee-F: UR -> C: This mon also has a normal typing, and has healing wish as well. It's a bit lower than the male form because the male's power is overall better, but access to healing wish allows indeedee-F to perform a better scarf set.

Poison:

Weezing-galar: A-> S: It's too easy to lose to threats like SD garchomp, np Hydre, specs kingdra, etc, without this mon

Ice:

Lugg: D-> C: Lugg is better than rotom-F lmao

Ground:

Hippo: B-> A: I don't understand why hippo is so low; Sand ground is still super popular and very good.

Krook: B-> C: Ground really doesn't have room for this.

Steelix: B->C: Ground doesn't have a easy time finding room for this, either.

Water:

Slowking: S->A: I don't understand why this is S; I don't view it as significantly better than any of the A ranks (all of which are elite picks in their own right). It's not like Slowking is *that* splashable eitiher; it comes with significant weaknesses (being weak to special ghost/dark moves; failing to check sub kyurem, FS's inability to make progress vs poison builds with Tect drapion without urshifu support) that must be taken into account while building.

Fighting:

Hitmontop -> D: This is the best spinner fighting has access to; as bad as it is it can be worth using if you're building some kind of sash spam team.

Steel:

Magneton: UR -> D: This has been covered before so I won't repeat the reasoning.

Rock:

Shuckle: S-> B: Hazards aren't as important this gen.

Coalossal: C-> B: One of the better steel checks rock has access to; having spikes and spin is a nice bonus.

Cradily: D->C: We all love cradily. Also not instantly losing to things like Scarf Urshifu and Banded Naut at preview is always nice. If you're good, run Specs to 2HKO Toxapex after a storm drain boost.

Nihilego: A -> S: Rock is short on good special attackers; as a result, this is mandatory and even absorbs tspikes as a bonus.
 
You have a couple takes that I disagree with, most of them are kinda whatever I don't have the energy for but I'll comment on 3 things I saw
Cradily: D->C: We all love cradily. Also not instantly losing to things like Scarf Urshifu and Banded Naut at preview is always nice. If you're good, run Specs to 2HKO Toxapex after a storm drain boost.
Like, I was having a pretty good day and all. The skies opened up, world peace seemed possible, I was looking at some posts I missed calling for the good happenings of how Cradily should go UR for rock...and then it all crumbled down. Like a cookie, that crumbles, when I saw your sickening post of putting Cradily --> C Rank.

Lemme say that Cradily in my head is a definite UR right now, and also thanks for at least bringing a new discussion to the table about it being viable for a lure set. Specs Cradily is definitely interesting, and most Cradily's that I've seen past couple months were specs or meteor beam or something aggressive like that. In general though, Rock is a super HO type and most of the viable rock teams I've seen don't use it. Lure sets in general I make teams for every now and then, there are a few mons that can do fun sets with it, and the game is about having fun after all. More often then not though, lure sets are both underwhelming in power and longevity. In your own circumstance for using it, it's to 2hko Toxapex. Something it does with giga drain on 0 special d toxapex at +1 for a 53-63% damage. Even in this situation though, if toxapex is necessary for the water team, they can just sack a different pokemon and revenge kill with Urshifu or barraskewda, all the while getting pex back to 70%. I may try it out to see how I like it, but I'm not convinced it's worth more than other D Tier mons. Even if Specs Cradily turns out to be helpful in a couple matchups, I see myself at most considering it D tier over it's true tier of UR.

You also said "Weezing-Galar A-> S: It's too easy to lose to threats like SD garchomp, np Hydre, specs kingdra, etc, without this mon"
Nah Weezing is in a good spot. It's fairy typing is helpful for dark/dragon mons, but it's so passive that it's straight setup fodder for anything not threatened by willo/fairy. A sub set or taunt set and there's not alot it can do. It takes the place as the ground immune on poison, but lacks reliable recovery outside of pain split, which is definitely not what you want on a type that plays the long game. It's reliance on levitate makes mold breaker excadrill more of an issue. Even in the example you gave, switching into Kingdra is risking getting surf out the window of death, and more often then not there is very little penalty for postponing your sweep and simply switching to a mon that Weezing can't do anything against. All the while it's not hard to wear down, even with just rocks, though burns/chips/weather all help too. It's a useful mon for the defog + levitate + will o utility that it provides, but there are alot of matchups where it's simply too passive to take part in.

Lastly "Reuniculus: C-> D: Mono psychic typing and getting walled by every dark type make this hard to justify."
Like nah Reuniclus is solid, and C rank is fit for it. Maybe a bit of a matchup fishing pokemon, but it always has been, and it's not super difficult to cover it's weaknesses. It's inability to do anything against Dark is a drawback, but this pokemon gets alot of usage in official tours for a reason. Any team without a dark mon instantly needs to play around it, and even when there's a dark pokemon present, they may need to risk teammates in order to keep a dark pokemon alive.

Don't feel like going into detail on the rest you said. I agree Nihi should be S and Indeedee's should be higher ranked, Mew staying A makes sense for me though it's not my favorite mon. Tons of potential there to cater it to your team, not to mention the classic utility and stallbreaker sets. Ground absolutely can fit Krook/Steelix on sandless, and I think Krook is fine in B though I'm open to discussion on lowering Steelix.

Also One think I'll say but Stunfisk-Galar on Ground should go D--> C at least. Mimicry as an ability is super useful in the fairy mus, it's an answer to Rillaboom and solid switchin to Tapu Lele as well. There are a few cases where I found it too passive, but when I made a ground team with it I honestly found it super useful and helpful to team comp.
 

twinkay

these bugs love all the sugar in my blood
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Here's the last VR slate of the generation:

Bug:
---
:crustle: Crustle D -> UNR
:golisopod: Golisopod C -> B
:orbeetle: Orbeetle D -> UNR
:shedinja: Shedinja UNR -> D
:shuckle: Shuckle C -> D
:vikavolt: Vikavolt C -> B

Dark:
---
:bisharp: Bisharp C -> B
:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl B -> A
:hydreigon: Hydreigon S -> A
:incineroar: Incineroar UNR -> D
:mandibuzz: Mandibuzz A -> B
:sableye: Sableye B -> C
:sharpedo: Sharpedo UNR -> D
:zarude: Zarude S -> A

Dragon:
---
:duraludon: Duraludon C -> B
:kommo-o: Kommo-O C -> B

Electric:
---
:galvantula: Galvantula C -> D
:raichu-alola: Raichu-Alola A -> B
:rotom-mow: Rotom-Mow B -> C
:thundurus-therian: Thundurus-T C -> B
:toxtricity: Toxtricity D -> C


Fairy:
---
:azumarill: Azumarill A -> B
:hatterene: Hatterene C -> B
:ninetales-alola: Ninetales-Alola C -> B
:tapu-fini: Tapu Fini B -> A
:tapu-koko: Tapu Koko A -> B

Fighting:
---
:buzzwole: Buzzwole A -> B
:cobalion: Cobalion A -> S
:keldeo: Keldeo D -> B
:pangoro: Pangoro UNR -> C
:scrafty: Scrafty C -> D
:urshifu-rapid-strike: Urshifu-R B -> A
:zapdos-galar: Zapdos-Galar B -> A

Fire:
---
:blacephalon: Blacephalon A -> B
:darmanitan: Darmanitan C -> D
:heatran: Heatran B -> A
:incineroar: Incineroar C -> B
:marowak-alola: Marowak-Alola C -> B
:moltres: Moltres C -> B
:rotom-heat: Rotom-Heat C -> B
:torkoal: Torkoal B -> C
:victini: Victini A -> B

Flying:
---
:archeops: Archeops UNR -> D
:celesteela: Celesteela S -> A
:dragonite: Dragonite B -> A
:gyarados: Gyarados D -> C
:moltres-galar: Moltres-Galar S -> A
:salamence: Salamence C -> UNR
:skarmory: Skarmory C -> B
:thundurus: Thundurus B -> C
:zapdos: Zapdos B -> A
:zapdos-galar: Zapdos-Galar A -> B

Ghost:
---
:aegislash: Aegislash A -> S
:blacephalon: Blacephalon B -> A
:corsola-galar: Corsola-Galar B -> C
:dhelmise: Dhelmise D -> B
:golurk: Golurk D -> C
:jellicent: Jellicent C -> D
:marowak-alola: Marowak-Alola C -> B
:palossand: Palossand B -> D
:polteageist: Polteageist D -> C
:sableye: Sableye D -> UNR

Grass:
---
:cradily: Cradily B -> A
:rotom-mow: Rotom-Mow B -> C
:tapu-bulu: Tapu Bulu B -> C
:virizion: Virizion C -> D
:whimsicott: Whimsicott B -> A
:zarude: Zarude A -> S

Ground:
---
:dugtrio: Dugtrio D -> UNR
:hippowdon: Hippowdon B -> A
:quagsire: Quagsire D -> UNR

Ice:
---
:arctozolt: Arctozolt B -> A
:avalugg: Avalugg D -> C
:darmanitan-galar: Darmanitan-Galar B -> A
:glastrier: Glastrier B -> C
:piloswine: Piloswine A -> B

Normal:
---
:blissey: Blissey C -> B
:braviary: Braviary B -> C
:diggersby: Diggersby C -> B
:ditto: Ditto A -> B
:drampa: Drampa UNR -> D
:snorlax: Snorlax C -> B

Poison:
---
:nidoking: Nidoking S -> A
:nihilego: Nihilego B -> A
:skuntank: Skuntank B -> A

Psychic:
---
:azelf: Azelf C -> D
:malamar: Malamar UNR -> C
:orbeetle: Orbeetle D -> UNR
:slowking-galar: Slowking-Galar A -> S
:starmie: Starmie D -> UNR
:tapu-lele: Tapu Lele A -> S
:victini: Victini S -> A

Rock:
---
:barbaracle: Barbaracle A -> B
:crustle: Crustle D -> UNR
:diancie: Diancie D -> C
:tyrantrum: Tyrantrum UNR -> D

Steel:
---
:aegislash: Aegislash A -> S
:celesteela: Celesteela A -> B
:corviknight: Corviknight B -> A
:durant: Durant C -> D
:magneton: Magneton UNR -> D
:magnezone: Magnezone C -> B
:scizor: Scizor B -> C

Water:
---
:barraskewda: Barraskewda A -> B
:kabutops: Kabutops D -> UNR
:lanturn: Lanturn D -> C
:lapras: Lapras UNR -> D
:omastar: Omastar D -> UNR
:swampert: Swampert S -> A
:starmie: Starmie D -> UNR
:suicune: Suicune D -> C
:tapu-fini: Tapu Fini B -> A
:toxapex: Toxapex A -> S
:urshifu-rapid-strike: Urshifu-R A -> S


No writeups because we're all lazy as hell but if you have a question feel free to ask in this thread or even better, the Monotype discord and I'll try to answer. Here's to a good SV!
 

maroon

free palestine
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RMT & Mono Leader
Going to go ahead and lock this thread since the generation is quickly coming to a close, see yall in Scarlet & Violet!
 
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