mushamu
God jihyo
VR update this time around, shoutouts to Harpp for helping me write it up and feel free to PM a member of the VR council as per usual if you have any questions.
Discussion points:
Alolan Ninetales (Fairy)
Cobalion (Fighting)
Salazzle (Fire)
Arcanine (Fire)
Runerigus (Ghost)
Diggersby (Normal)
Obstagoon (Normal)
Claydol (Psychic)
Meowstic (Psychic)
Solrock (Rock)
Dark
A -> B
Dragon
A -> B
D -> C
Fairy
C -> B
Fighting
D -> C
Fire
C -> B
Flying
C -> B
Ground
A -> B
B -> C
Ice
B -> A
A -> B
C -> B
Normal
B -> A
C -> B
D -> UR
Psychic
C -> D
UR -> C
Steel
UR -> D
Dragon
Fairy
Fighting
Fire
Flying
Ground
Ice
Normal
Psychic
Steel
Dark
Drapion's niche is its potential to do good against Fairy-type Pokemon when using a Choice Scarf set, apart from this it also has Toxic Spikes support however it does not feel at home with other A rank users since they do a greater job than being confined to a particular matchup like Fairy making Drapion matchup dependent and drop to B.
Dragon
With Clangorous soul becoming a non damaging move and Kommo-o losing its HP upon using it, Special sets are falling behind as it becomes harder to set it up. Its Lead Stealth Rock set being a more viable niche for now, makes it fall to B rank as Pokemon like Duraludon and Hydreigon have more uses taking care of matchups like Fairy, Ice, Steel, and Ghost.
Haxorus's priority in First Impression is valuable for Dragon-type teams as it helps beat threatening Pokemon like Cloyster after Shell Smash, Choice Scarf Gardevoir, Alolan Raichu, and Barraskewda, and is a good physical wallbreaker otherwise. It's definitely better than Kyurem and Dracozolt which are very niche Pokemon at the moment.
Fairy
Alolan Ninetales brings the coveted Aurora Veil support with it which is greatly appreciated by Fairy-type teams as the damage reduction helps setup sweeprs like Togekiss, Mimikyu, and Hatterene. Apart from this, Alolan Ninetales can also hold off weather teams like Ground, Fire, and Water, allowing Fairy-type teams to stand a better chance against these weather abusing types. All these points make it more usable than Primarina and hence Alolan Ninetales should move to B rank.
Fighting
Gallade does a decent job of breaking Poison-type teams while not being too restricted to just that as it can help in beating Pokemon like Alolan Raichu with Shadow Sneak and its Knock Off utility which is good against Psychic-types. With all these traits in mind, we felt like it finds itself a better home in C rather than being ranked next to other more niche Pokemon in D.
Fire
Specially Defensive Incineroar acts as a good defensive pivot taking on Pokemon like Choice Scarf Dragapult, Indeedee, and Gardevoir. Apart from this its ability Intimidate is useful to deter physical attackers like Kyurem-B and Obstagoon. With its bulk + utility and pivoting, we felt like Incineroar fit better with the B ranked Pokemon rather than more niche options like Chandelure and Ninetales.
Flying
When using a Choice Scarf set, Noivern not only ensures that Flying-type teams do not lose to DD Kyurem-B which is otherwise a huge threat but it also threatens the entire Dragon-type team since it has support of Pokemon like Corviknight and Mantine to pivot into. Infiltrator makes it extremely reliable at beating Kyurem-B as it can ignore its Substitute and screens support from either type.
Ground
Gastrodon with its access to a reliable recovery move makes it a more sturdier choice than Seismitoad to provide Water-type immunity to the team. Seismitoad is prone to getting worn out since its lack of a proper way of recovery moreover Gastrodon is able to use Toxic now which makes its defensive set more potent, making Seismitoad drop to B.
Dugtrio's trapping has shown to be rather inconsistent as a result of it being over reliant on Focus Sash. It's a fairly niche Pokemon, so it drops a rank.
Ice
Weavile is an amazing option on Ice teams right now as a Choice Scarf user. Its speed tier is extremely useful in checking huge threats to Ice teams such as Choice Scarf Jirachi, Choice Scarf Gengar, Choice Scarf Charizard, and Cloyster after a Shell Smash.
Despite still being good, Cloyster is rather harder to fit on Ice teams than the other A ranked Pokemon, so it drops a rank.
Piloswine's bulk combined with Thick Fat is really nice for setting Stealth Rock and switching into Pokemon, which puts it a rank above Froslass and Galarian Mr. Mime which are rather niche options on hyper offense.
Normal
We were thinking of raising more Pokemon up to A on Normal instead of just having Indeedee-M as the only Pokemon. Snorlax was a pretty obvious choice as a bulky setup sweeper thats able to fit on pretty much any Normal team, and is especially nice for switching into special attacks like Dragapult's Draco Meteor and status as Normal doesn't have a defensive backbone.
Being an offensive check to Keldeo is amazing especially when it outspeeds and threatens the rest of the Water team pretty well. Other than that, it's also good in other matchups such as Ground, Dark, Steel and Flying thanks to its coverage. Since we're planning on rising more Pokemon to A on Normal, we decided to shift Heliolisk to B.
Unfeazent is basically just a slightly weaker Braviary without Close Combat.
Psychic
Galarian Mr. Mime is hard to fit on Psychic teams because of Jirachi already being a great Choice Scarf user with the same speed tier and Magic Bounce users keeping hazards away just fine. It falls short when compared to Orbeetle which can find itself a place on more offensive teams thanks to Sticky Web, so it drops to D.
Xatu is a decent screens setter thanks to Magic Bounce preventing hazards from being set and Defog from removing screens. Teleport is also nice for bringing in setup sweepers safely, so it goes to C.
Steel
Copperajah is usable with Trick Room. Although it's not anything too fancy, being D ranked shows it has a niche that goes hand in hand with Bronzong which is also ranked for Trick Room teams as a setter.
Dragon
Fairy
Fighting
Fire
Flying
Ground
Ice
Normal
Psychic
Steel
Discussion points:
Alolan Ninetales (Fairy)
Cobalion (Fighting)
Salazzle (Fire)
Arcanine (Fire)
Runerigus (Ghost)
Diggersby (Normal)
Obstagoon (Normal)
Claydol (Psychic)
Meowstic (Psychic)
Solrock (Rock)