S
not much to say here. most defining mon of the metagame, amazing splashability and consistency. speed, set diversity, what more can you ask for
S-
second best mon in the tier. I talked about dropping this down to S- in my previous post, it just doesn’t feel as good as it used to especially with the rise of xatu, groundvally, guzz etc. still a great rocker and ID press can still roll certain teams
I believe this is the best scarfer in the tier, the sheer amount of role compression with Trick/Defog/Leaf Storm/Volt Switch. Nasty plot sets are crazy too, not much to say here
another mon that I believe is extremely splashable but at the same time is extremely consistent. a solid rocker that can pressure xatu is valuable in today’s metagame. Moreover having heal bell and a good set of resistances really make this a great cornerstone of a lot of defensive cores such as diancie + guzz + vapo. Set diversity is great DiamondPress has great breaking potential tbh and fast power gem moonblast can really mess up guzz which is valuable. Overall just hella solid and I believe 4th best mon
A+
this thing has been on the rise and its damn solid, can provide so much support for a team by denying rocks and just shutting down zong more or less, also has the added benefit of matching up great against plume which is on the rise. futureport, twave, cosmic power are all options that keep you guessing and can really support a team well.
this thing is SO solid I’m pleasantly surprised. as a wish passer and cleric it does an excellent job and its pixilate hyper voice is strong enough to not make it just passive, at the same time it offers so much defensive value by checking things like sirf, pass, starmie etc. on top of that specs sylv is an absolute monster and it’s been getting some decent usage/success in SCL. it just consistently wears down its own checks by spamming hyper voice so that you’re constantly making progress.
7th best mon, I think it’s best set is 3 attacks + rest/protect depending if you have cleric support. another mon that consistently makes progress with knock off, on top of that it offers so much defensive utility allowing it to panic check and trade with things like drap, stoise, starmie, exploud etc. dark types are hard to come by and guzz is definitely the best one in the tier.
this is where things get a bit clouded but I do believe drag is next best, adaptability draco and sludge bomb just make so much progress against teams, more over the ability to pivot out on steel types is what makes drag so dangerous, allowing in other mons that take advantage of steels. Cores like drag + sirf are so dangerous for that reason. last slot is really malleable on drag which is excellent, specs with focus blast can be amazing (I got my copper bopped by Xiri’s specs drag fblast in NU league and still feel it to this day) protect, scald, and toxic spikes are all great options as well
dont use this mon too much tbh but it’s just very consistent at what it’s supposed to do, set up rocks, force mind games with volt switchers, check pass, talon, drop, guzz, golurk. Best part is that it packs a pretty solid punch.
A
dont want to reiterate too much from previous posts but this thing is insanely bulky, strength sap, effect spore, growth, corrosive gas, sleep powder just offers so much utility and its typing is amazing
I may be overrating but this thing just offers so much support to the tier and teams in general, wish passing + heal bell support is extremely valuable and a solid set of resistances make this amazing although not as good as sylveon
I just feel like it suffers from a lot of competition with talonflame as the fast fire type on teams
just doesn’t feel as potent as it used to, but still amazing
rock polish, cb, offensive rocks, all solid not much to say here it’s good as usual
amazing beaker that doesn’t need team support but doesn’t have as much raw power as others
amazing breaker that needs more team support but has an insane amount of raw power, ranking it lower than goodra bc It needs more support and goodra’s speed is really nice
A-
Ground
second best scarfer imo sorry :D
Phantomistix regardless, insane momentum generator and constantly makes progress
honestly this thing is still absurd, it requires a lot of team support but its ability to just light up 70% of the tier w just specs boomburst is absurd, silk scarf is really cool as well. I think it's especially great when thinking about the fact that alot of the tier is focused on speed over bulk (groundvally's popularity, speed creep on guzz/diancie etc.)
this thing is dope as hell, specs is nuts with decent prediction and if you can rid of the opponent’s ground type with pressure from taxicroak, sirf, or pass volt just goes crazy. ebelt not bad either
B+
I think this pokemon is awesome but I feel like it’s lacking. im always wishing i had haze, hurricane, toxic, roost, scald, defog in one game so its hard for me to choose this mon over others
scarf and dd are solid as seen in SCL
seems so solid on paper but idk just havent been able to make it work in reality. no item defog roost uturn seems decent but obviously the main winners are the offensive sets
sub BU is hella dope, I think we saw an SCL game with sensei axew where it was able to get past a pretty bulky defensive core anchored by bronzong, obviously suffers competition from talon as the flying type but has enough of a niche to keep it in B+
B
dont want to reiterate too much from others but lax just kills too much momentum and much like lax in LC forces you to build bulky and play slow which I think is a pretty big setback rn
still think this is the superior spiker bc of its ability to fit on more teams, offers good resistances, punishes physical attackers and pain split is great as well in a tier with vapo and guzz
HO builds with this thing are solid as seen in SCL, a spike stacker that pressures xatu is dope
honestly a pretty solid rock setter that pressures xatu and has reliable recovery, not much else to say
B-
been talking about this mon with
Ninja recently, it feels like a really solid pick on balance as seen in SCL and ofc with it’s a staple presence on stall. being able to stop lazzle, drap, iron press zong, and croak just makes it a pretty solid pick in my eyes and I think it should rise by extension
dark types are few and far between and this thing eats bulky builds
shoutout
Catalisador for both drud and araquanid, his HO team was extremely solid and raised the viability of both of these mons in my eyes
Steel
eject pack is a solid rocker that keeps up momentum on offensive teams, seen it a couple times in SCL and on ladder and it's honestly not awful.
C+
I would put this mon at the top of C+ just bc it's speed tier is nuts and specs is pretty dope but inconsistent as well, just feels outclassed by starmie tbh
as long as rotom-mow is good this will be decent
Ghost
C