Resource SS OU DLC2 Viability Ranking Thread [SEE: Page 105, Post 2618]

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:Tapu Lele: A- to A
With the removal of Mag and Ace and the decline of Melmetal this thing became a complete nuke. Steel types like Heatran can't switch into it thanks to focus blast, and the only sorts of recovery it has is through Leftovers so it's easy to chip into focus Blast range, so it's best checks are the uncommon slowking and Corviknight with lots of spdef investment. Not to mention it's amazing ability in Psychic Surge boosting its psychic stabs to extreme levels of power making anything that isn't a resist a 2HKO or even a one shot. With its decent base 95 speed it can get the jump on many common pokémon like Nidoking, Rillaboom and non Scarf Landorus-Therian and blow them away with its powerful Stabs. Overall with its good move pool, solid speed tier, great ability and the removal of Ace and Mag (Ace could outspeed and KO with gs and Mag could tank its stabs.) It can freely cause havoc on the ou tier and destroy any unprepared teams if played correctly.

:Excadrill: A- to B+
With Corviknight and Skarmory on the rise and old counters like Slowbro and Landorus-Therian Stil being prominent in the meta. Excadrill really has a hard time breaking through teams. Not to mention Rillaboom is a great check to it, always KO'ing it with a Cb Grassy Glide. Excadrill just has to many good counters and it generally struggles with many common pokémon. Putting it in the same tier as Dracozolt is about right.

:Buzzwole: To C+ or C
Idk why you would ever use this shit. Yes it can check Rillaboom, Excadrill and Landorus-Therian but there are mons that do its job better and bring more support to the table.

:Aegislash: B to A-
One of the biggest Winners of the Ace and Mag ban. It lost one of its best counters and lost competition as a SpA Steel type. Specs hits everything extremely hard except for Blissey and Mandibuzz. Blissey can't switch into cc and Mandibuzz doesn't like getting Toxic by Aegislashes teammates. Not to mention that Mandibuzz has been falling off in terms of usage. It can also check other dangerous mons like Latios without Mystical Fire and Switch into both of Kyurems stab moves.

:Nidoqueen: B- to C
Worst Nidoking. It can hard wall Koko I guess but that's about it. Nidoking is better in most matchups.

:Togekiss: C+ to C-
Outclassed as a defensive fairy by Clefable and Fini. Faces competition from Tornadus-Therian as well. Overall Mediocre.

:Kommo-o:B to C+
As a stealth rocker it's outclassed by Landorus-Therian and Garchomp. It has Belly Drum and Clangorous Soul so you could run it on screens I guess but even then it's outclassed by the already mentioned Garchomp and Dragonite.

:Hatterene: B- to C
Pretty meh Bulk, Slow and offensively outclassed by Lele. It has a role on TR teams as a suicide lead so it's not UR, but overall it's pretty underwhelming. Doesn't help that TR is extremely niche.

:Incineroar: C- to UR
Forced to run Boots so it has no recovery. Outclassed by Landorus-Therian as an Intimidatedor. There's no reason to ever use Incineroar.
 
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1) nidoqueen has very good defensively utility and can check mons such as zapdos, koko, zeraora, clef, and can setup rocks. Nidoqueen can afford to drop timid for modest since its bulkier and can survive hits that nidoking usually cant such as being able to switch into zapdos heat wave, or koko's dazzling gleam better, and with a modest nature it actually hits harder than nidoking. Of course being slower is a huge downside but that is why its B-.

2) Kommo-o replicates its same defensive role from gen 7 OU, as a defensive rocker, but what do you say? outclassed by chomp and landorus-t. Kommo-o unlike those two has a very good defensive typing that allows it to switch into fire, grass, dark, water which allows it to check pokemon such as rillaboom, heatran, tyranitar, non-hurricane zapdos, and can take advantage of offensive Pokémon using toxic. Sure, its not as dominant as lando-t and garchomp but its not utterly outclassed to be dropped an ENTIRE RANK.

3) Gonna nominate Victini higher to B+, it has 100 all around stats, a good typing that lets it switch into moves such as moonblast, psychic, fighting, fire and grass. It lets it soft check and force out rillaboom, heatran, corviknight, ferrothorn, and many other Pokémon since they dont want to risk the 20% burn from blue flare, scorching sands hits many common fire resist Pokémon such as heatran, toxapex and tyranitar while also having a very high burn chance in 30%, Grass coverage in Grass knot/energy ball allow it to pressure fini, slowbro, pert who would want to switch into victini. U turn allows it to pivot out of bad matchups such as nidoking, landorus-t, or use it to predict a switch to gain momentum. Boots allows it to constantly come in freely while it has its boots to increase its longevity
 
1) nidoqueen has very good defensively utility and can check mons such as zapdos, koko, zeraora, clef, and can setup rocks. Nidoqueen can afford to drop timid for modest since its bulkier and can survive hits that nidoking usually cant such as being able to switch into zapdos heat wave, or koko's dazzling gleam better, and with a modest nature it actually hits harder than nidoking. Of course being slower is a huge downside but that is why its B-.

2) Kommo-o replicates its same defensive role from gen 7 OU, as a defensive rocker, but what do you say? outclassed by chomp and landorus-t. Kommo-o unlike those two has a very good defensive typing that allows it to switch into fire, grass, dark, water which allows it to check pokemon such as rillaboom, heatran, tyranitar, non-hurricane zapdos, and can take advantage of offensive Pokémon using toxic. Sure, its not as dominant as lando-t and garchomp but its not utterly outclassed to be dropped an ENTIRE RANK.

3) Gonna nominate Victini higher to B+, it has 100 all around stats, a good typing that lets it switch into moves such as moonblast, psychic, fighting, fire and grass. It lets it soft check and force out rillaboom, heatran, corviknight, ferrothorn, and many other Pokémon since they dont want to risk the 20% burn from blue flare, scorching sands hits many common fire resist Pokémon such as heatran, toxapex and tyranitar while also having a very high burn chance in 30%, Grass coverage in Grass knot/energy ball allow it to pressure fini, slowbro, pert who would want to switch into victini. U turn allows it to pivot out of bad matchups such as nidoking, landorus-t, or use it to predict a switch to gain momentum. Boots allows it to constantly come in freely while it has its boots to increase its longevity
Sorry for all the replies on the vr but I wanna talk about a few things.

I think I was a little too harsh on Nidoqueen earlier. It has a role, but I think it’s too minuscule for the B ranks.

As for Kommo-o. The other fire types in the tier like Volc and Victini hit Kommo ridiculously hard with Psychic or Zen Headbutt. The water resistance and the ability to check Kart and Rilla is nice rn. However Lando and Chomp already check Tran, and Ttar. Hurricane is ran much more on Zapdos then Heat Wave. Heat Wave was ran to deal with Drill, Mag, and Ferro. It also was a safer way to OHKO Kart. However Zapdos has been dropping Heat Wave more often since Drill isn’t doing too well in the meta, and Mag is gone. Heat Wave is still an option so there is that.

I didn’t reply as means to ridicule your opinion, I just wanted to get some stuff out of the way.
 
Kommo-o has the same problems in gen 7, it worked it out because it can use its phys def to come in on threats and having a resistance to slide and hammer is very nice, pretty much checks rilla since it forces it out with press. Also forces out a lot of threats with toxic
 

MrAldo

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I feel like the cinderace and mag meta made running rillaboom since it forced certain mons that Rillaboom could take advantage of, and right now there are more grasses resists that are viable like kyurem among others that really like magearna and cinderace gone, I do believe we are gassing up Rillaboom a little bit too much. I love it like anyone but right now with a big rise with Kyurem and other steel like scizor and aegislash gaining even more relevancy rising it up think it is a mistake. Shall remain on A in the meantime until metagame keeps developing.

Kyurem is a monster. Easy A to be honest. And real talk, I like melmetal. A drop to B+ feels harsh but understandable. ProTox sets are like still pretty great and think it could benefit from some trends besides the corviknight spam, but we shall see.
 
1. Nidoking has the same defensive utility against Zeraora, Koko, and Clef. Nidoking doesn't need Timid and can easily drop it for modest. I just don't really see a reason to ever use queen over king. King is just better in most matchups. Yes having more bulk is nice in some matchups but King is just more consistent



2. The Fire types of ou (Volc and Vic) both threaten Kommo-o with Psychic and Zen Headbutt respectively. Most of the ou water types have coverage for Kommo-o like Barraskewda's psychic fangs, Tapu fini's Moonblast and Pelipper's Hurricane all hit Kommo-o extremely hard and the water types that don't have coverage can threaten it with Toxic (Swampert and Pex). Kommo-o can check Ttar but losses to the other Dark type in the tier Hydreigon and some mandibuzz variants run toxic so it can put it on a timer. Also Landorus-Therian and Garchomp beat Heatran and Ttar. Zapdos often runs Hurricane over heat wave since mag is banned and excadrill has been dropping of in usage. Heat wave is still good but just less seen. Also defensive Chomp and most defensive Lando sets run toxic as well. The only notable thing that Kommo-o does over Landorus-Therian and Garchomp is checking Rillaboom and Kartana which is nice but most of the time Lando and Chomp are better. Also Landorus-Therian can keep up momentum with U-turn so that's something to note.
 
1) nidoking takes ~15% more damage than nidoqueen, making it worse at checking those pokemon, while it does hit a bit harder nidoqueen can use the bulk to switch in and not be be brought in via aggressive switch ins. Nidoqueen is worse yes, but it does fufil a use as a tankier nidoking that can be played more defensively


252 Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Nidoking: 168-198 (55.4 - 65.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Excadrill Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Nidoqueen: 153-180 (47.6 - 56%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Nidoqueen: 283-335 (88.1 - 104.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Nidoking: 315-372 (103.9 - 122.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

2) kommo-o often carries flamethrower allowing it to pressure corv, ferro, an ohko on kart, and body press is a very strong stab coming 125 base defense. Also volc even with psychic has to watch out for toxic, since it cripples it heavily. While kommo-o is tankier on the special side and can afford to stay in on volc

252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Kommo-o: 186-220 (52.5 - 62.1%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Victini Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Kommo-o: 146-174 (41.2 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

While a non banded Zen doesn't even 2hko which means it isnt exactly crumbling to them. I am not nominating this to be A, I am defending it from going down even further, its not that bad as you think
 
2) kommo-o often carries flamethrower allowing it to pressure corv, ferro, an ohko on kart, and body press is a very strong stab coming 125 base defense. Also volc even with psychic has to watch out for toxic, since it cripples it heavily. While kommo-o is tankier on the special side and can afford to stay in on volc

252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Kommo-o: 186-220 (52.5 - 62.1%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Victini Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 148+ Def Kommo-o: 146-174 (41.2 - 49.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

While a non banded Zen doesn't even 2hko which means it isnt exactly crumbling to them. I am not nominating this to be A, I am defending it from going down even further, its not that bad as you think
Just wanna say a few things.

1: When talking about taking hits or calcs, rocks should almost always be part of the equation. Ofc rocks won’t be up all the time but 9/10 x mon is gonna take at least minimal chip throughout a game. So the calcs for Volc’s unboosted Psychic turn into this.

252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Kommo-o: 186-220 (52.5 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Yes Kommo can take a Psychic from an unboosted Volc, but if Volc is Quiver Dancing as you switch into your Kommo. This happens...

+1 252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 252 HP / 40 SpD Kommo-o: 280-330 (79 - 93.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes

I would also like to point out that Bulkarona tends to run Safeguard for Blissey, Pult, and Twave Clef. Which has a domino effect in shutting down Kommo-o.

Corv is running more SpD to deal with the influx of NP Torn, Kyurem, Lele, non-Flamethrower Hydrei, and Specs Pult so Flamethrower barely does much to it.

0 SpA Kommo-o Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Corviknight: 104-124 (26 - 31%) -- 4.6% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

Even with this spread, Flamethrower still isn’t doing much.

0 SpA Kommo-o Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 88 SpD Corviknight: 136-160 (34 - 40%) -- 29.5% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Victini should never be running Zen Headbutt on non-Banded sets.

252 Atk Choice Band Victini Zen Headbutt vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Kommo-o: 204-242 (57.6 - 68.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Kommo-o: 114-135 (32.2 - 38.1%) -- 40.5% chance to 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

It also can only really switch into V-create like once or twice before dying.

I still acknowledge Kommo-o has a niche in the metagame. Checking Kart and Rilla while getting up rocks is nice, but it has alot of apparent weaknesses like longevity, being weak to common attacking types like fairy, flying, dragon, and faces competition with other rockers. I think B is overselling Kommo-O way too much given how it’s ranked with the likes of Gastrodon and Volcarona ironically.
 

Thunder Pwoell

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CB and SD sets pairs nicely with popular threats like Pult and Slowbro. It provides teams with an excellent breaker that acts as a check to SD Lando, Hydreigon, Kyurem, Rilla, and other scary offensive threats while being able to sustain itself with SD + Synthesis.
serious question - kart is okoed by nearly all of it's answers, it is literally paper. do you people genuinely think that is has longevity? like seriously? when is the last time you clicked that move (synthesis) and it was actually meaningful. seems like unfounded hype. and for those wonderign I dont care how high it is, it has weak moves and a non boosting ability, it does not hit as hard you falling into. the I-cant-do-math trap.
 
why is kartana ranked A-? this mon is highkey GARABE. BASURA. TRASH. I do not understand why you weirdos try this shit every generation. In fact it's even worse now bc of the prevelance of mandi, so yall dont have that excuse anymore of saying that only I use it; which was a non excuse anyway. It lacks in power, easily is taken out and besides band is overall meh. so many answers for it; truly has no reason to be on that stage. I recommend b-/c+ for it

mew is also ranked FAR too low but ill get to that later. also mandibuzz Is ranked too high imo
.....lemme guess, you've been using Timid Kartana for the speed boost? Don't do that, the huge drop in power ain't worth it. If you really want the speed, use Scarf instead. It's way better despite not getting speed boosts.
 

Red Raven

I COULD BE BANNED!
serious question - kart is okoed by nearly all of it's answers, it is literally paper. do you people genuinely think that is has longevity? like seriously? when is the last time you clicked that move (synthesis) and it was actually meaningful. seems like unfounded hype. and for those wonderign I dont care how high it is, it has weak moves and a non boosting ability, it does not hit as hard you falling into. the I-cant-do-math trap.
For one thing, everything that answers Kartana is not switching in for free. They are gonna lose their items, even Landorus Therian. Zapdos switches in? It's gonna lose its boots and rocks will make it easier to deal with. Second, if your opponent has brought in a Kartana check, why are you keeping it in? Third, if you don't like synthesis, then there's always sacred sword or smart strike and if you're afraid of contact abilities like from Zapdos then you can simply use protective pads. And what exactly do you mean by a non boosting ability? It's literally just a fancy moxie
 
serious question - kart is okoed by nearly all of it's answers, it is literally paper. do you people genuinely think that is has longevity? like seriously? when is the last time you clicked that move (synthesis) and it was actually meaningful. seems like unfounded hype. and for those wonderign I dont care how high it is, it has weak moves and a non boosting ability, it does not hit as hard you falling into. the I-cant-do-math trap.
Kart has shitty Special Bulk, but it’s solid physical bulk for an offensive threat and defensive typing gives it more opportunities to come in and force progress. Not to mention it takes little from Stealth Rocks. Synthesis has only 8 pp, but it’s more than enough for an offensive threat to continue making progress while providing some defensive utility vs non-BP Ferro and check threats that Balance teams often have trouble with. The most common answers (counters) to Kart in question are Zapdos, Torn, Mandi, Corv, Skarm, Tang, Amoonguss, and Volc. Zapdos, Torn, and Mandi hate losing their boots as they are forced to eat rocks which hurts their ability to remove them and it makes it easier to pressure them with Kart’s teammates. Corv needs BP in order to hit Kart hard enough and even that isn’t enough to OHKO it, then Kart can get another SD if it stays. Plus its

+4 252 Atk Life Orb Kartana Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 395-465 (98.7 - 116.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

168+ Def Corviknight Body Press vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Kartana: 124-146 (47.8 - 56.3%) -- 80.9% chance to 2HKO

Skarm can easily scare out Kart, but it’s trapped by a common partner of Kart in Magnezone. The latter two are not counters.

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Kartana Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Amoonguss: 348-411 (80.7 - 95.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock


+2 252 Atk Life Orb Kartana Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Volcarona: 495-584 (132.7 - 156.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

This leaves you with Tang which whom can be dealt with through FS support.

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Kartana Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 218-257 (53.9 - 63.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

0 SpA Slowbro Future Sight vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tangrowth: 222-262 (54.9 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

It can switch out, but then you are put in a situation where you have to sack something. Idk, Leaf Blade and Knock Off on a 181 Atk mon sounds p strong to me.
 
serious question - kart is okoed by nearly all of it's answers, it is literally paper. do you people genuinely think that is has longevity? like seriously? when is the last time you clicked that move (synthesis) and it was actually meaningful. seems like unfounded hype. and for those wonderign I dont care how high it is, it has weak moves and a non boosting ability, it does not hit as hard you falling into. the I-cant-do-math trap.
I mean it's special def side is the funniest thing since hyper beam snorlax but it's defense stat is no pushover. I'm pretty sure this is probably just a troll post but 135 power leaf blade, 105 power smart strike, knock off removing items, and then the option to run a boosting move or fighting coverage. All of that coming from 181 attack is no push-over plus a great ability to boost stats. Yeah no it is certainly deserving of it's spot.
 
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I mean it's special def side is the funniest thing since hyper beam snorlax but it's defense stat is no pushover. I'm pretty sure this is probably just a troll post but 145 power leaf blade, 105 power smart strike, knock off removing items, and then the option to run a boosting move or fighting coverage. All of that coming from 181 attack is no push-over plus a great ability to boost stats. Yeah no it is certainly deserving of it's spot.
It's 135 not 145, just wanted to point that out
 

Finchinator

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While Thunder Pwoell has a lot of unique opinions and I have immense respect for him as a player, I simply disagree when it comes to Kartana.

Life Orb Swords Dance Kartana alone warrants placement in the A- (or even A) rank. It is a strong breaker that is very rarely rendered deadweight. While Pokemon like Zapdos, Corviknight, Mandibuzz, and Skarmory have potential to check it, they are not able to withstand a consistent assault from a well played Kartana. Losing Heavy Duty Boots to an early Knock Off can lead to each of the SR weak Pokemon failing to keep it contained later on in the game whereas Corviknight and Skarmory struggle to withstandard a +4 Kartana while being unable to OHKO it.

I do not think Kartana is an uncheckable world-beater who deserves to be ranked much higher, but it is absolutely fine as is. Choice Scarf and Choice Band are viable, too, but less effective at certain times, making them slightly worse than the set I alluded to above.
 
I know this is kind of random with everyone talking about the big pokemon like Kartana, Tornadus-T, and Rillaboom, but I think there's quite an underrated mon running around that is a great role compression mon that brings various utility.

:xy/rotom-heat:
Rotom-Heat @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
- Overheat / Defog
- Will-O-Wisp / Thunder Wave / Nasty Plot

Just like in every meta, once the broken stuff get banned, utility and pivot mons become naturally better. While that is inevitable with Tornadus-T and Clefable, Rotom-H shows itself to be quite a pleasant surprise right now. With the way the metagame is shifting at the moment, it looks like this pokemon can put quite a lot of work. It's a great Rillaboom / Kartana check, while also checking Tornadus-T and Tapu Koko (two of the greatest most annoying pivots atm) pretty comfortably even without SpD investment. It's great typing makes it immune to both Will-o-Wisp and Thunder Wave, which means with enough SpD investment and Pain Split it can check Hex Dragapult sets pretty decently, or at least act as a pivot for it. Levitate, alongside its typing, also allows it to wall SubRoost Kyurem, which is a godsend right now. I am very aware that Kyurem can just Pressure stall Overheat PP with Substitute, but Rotom-H allows a slow pivot to bring in a safe mon that can take care of Kyurem, something like Clefable or Melmetal that didn't want to come in on a Ice Beam or an Earth Power respectively. Speaking of Melmetal, this thing is a great check to it!

Now, Rotom-Heat doesn't really counter much, it's just a really good blanket check to a bunch of Pokemon (sounds familiar :blobthinking:). Yes, an early well timed Knock Off from Kartana, Tornadus-T, or Rillaboom with constant Stealth Rock support will undoubtedly overwhelm Rotom-h in the long run. What I'm trying to say is that Rotom-H isn't this great wall that checks half the metagame, it's just a really good pivot that can take care of a good amount of top tier threats and put them in their track temporarily. It's really great on strong offense.

With all this role compression, Rotom-H needs Pain Split since it is its only reliable recovery, as it can't even run leftovers. I believe this is absolutely mandatory unless your running a Trick Choice Scarf set or something. You need Pain Split 9/10 times IMO. With this in mind, you must have realized that this Pokemon suffers from 4MSS quite badly, which is why I have even opted for defog over Overheat on some occasions or teams. The reason is Rotom-H is SO good at spreading status right now, as for some reason most people don't expect it. They always be expecting dual stab pain split defog / np. I mean this is really obvious but just like Rotom-W in previous generations, Volt Switch will invite ground types that would hate a burn. Meanwhile, fast offensive threats like Dragapult or burn-immune Pokemon like Heatran, Volcarona or Clefable don't appreciate a T-wave.

Rotom-H has further benefits as well. It dual resists U-turn and Volt Switch which are great right now, while Levitate makes it a great pivot to Garchomp or Landorus-T, especially if they were defensive. It's also versatile in its EV spread. It can run almost max speed to outspeed Adamant Rillaboom, or just enough to outspeed neutral nature Heatran at 254. You can run physically defense to check Rillaboom, Melmetal or Kartana better , or run a SpD set to last longer vs. Tapu Koko, Tornadus-T, Dragapult, and Heatran.

It's only real comparison is Moltres, which I think Rotom-H stands on top of right now. It lacks Roost, but at the very least it only takes 25% from rocks post Knock Off, which is extremely common and great right now. It provides momentum support in Volt Switch which Moltres can't always afford with U-turn, and it can spread status better than hoping scorching sands or flame body burns. It's also way more versatile. I do know that Moltres is overdue for a drop, so for now I'd just nominate Rotom-H C+ -> B-
 

Red Raven

I COULD BE BANNED!
After playing for a while, I think that :Hippowdon: should drop to B+. It's not that good as a sand setter anymore as it does not contribute much to a sand team's defenses. The best thing it can do is toxic an opposing Garchomp before dying to the second swords danced earthquake. It's also a horrible grass food for both Kartana and Rillaboom. The loss of Cinderace has really hurt our hippo friend as it lost one of the biggest advantages it has over Tyranitar. Sure, it has slack off but it doesn't really do anything other than random whirlwinds or toxics while Tyranitar has the ability to counter that menace known as Volcarona
 
After playing for a while, I think that :Hippowdon: should drop to B+. It's not that good as a sand setter anymore as it does not contribute much to a sand team's defenses. The best thing it can do is toxic an opposing Garchomp before dying to the second swords danced earthquake. It's also a horrible grass food for both Kartana and Rillaboom. The loss of Cinderace has really hurt our hippo friend as it lost one of the biggest advantages it has over Tyranitar. Sure, it has slack off but it doesn't really do anything other than random whirlwinds or toxics while Tyranitar has the ability to counter that menace known as Volcarona
I disagree with Hippowdon dropping to B+. You are only giving value to PDef Hippowdon, which clearly can be overwhelmed by Garchomp, but that is the same reason why sand teams are packing Tangrowth, PDef Corviknight or Skarmory to counter it or you can run Whirlwind on Hippowdon and the Garchomp wont be boosting on your face again.
Hippowdon raised also because of the good qualities of its SpDef set, which counters Heatran, Koko, can eat hits from specs Dragapult and still retain PDef to at least check some threats.
In my opinion, if both sand setters are Kartana and Rillaboom bait, I prefer at least the one who has reliable recovery to stick around a bit more, you can cover that weaknesses with another partners.

Edit: SpDef Hippo can Whirlwind Volcarona to prevent its setup.
 
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Slowking-Galar A- -> A/A+

This mon is SO good. I wasn't sold on it at first but the more I used it the more I liked it. AV can tank any special hit like its nothing and on top it adds on really nice offensive pressure, unlike Blissey.

I have also found a really interesting way to use this mon. As a trapper. With Future Sight plus its great coverage options it can simply come in on a Pex for example, Future Sight, and then use a coverage move to cover a switch like Ferrothorn. Sure you get knocked by pex but taking one of the opponents potential stops to a sweeper is a great trade, in my opinion.
Very interested in this set. What EVs are you running with it? Nature?
 
Very interested in this set. What EVs are you running with it? Nature?
Slowking-Galar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 12 HP / 244 SpA / 252 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Future Sight
- Sludge Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Focus Blast

Still working on EVs, but I really like Focus Blast to catch Heatrans and random Dark types. Future Sight+Flamethrower picks up a KO on a Ferro+Pex Defensive core. Overall very solid, and in a way works like a trapper.
 

G-Luke

Sugar, Spice and One For All
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why is kartana ranked A-? this mon is highkey GARABE. BASURA. TRASH. I do not understand why you weirdos try this shit every generation. In fact it's even worse now bc of the prevelance of mandi, so yall dont have that excuse anymore of saying that only I use it; which was a non excuse anyway. It lacks in power, easily is taken out and besides band is overall meh. so many answers for it; truly has no reason to be on that stage. I recommend b-/c+ for it

mew is also ranked FAR too low but ill get to that later. also mandibuzz Is ranked too high imo
Brain hurt reading this.

Can I genuinely ask what traits does this Pokémon lack and or what trends exist in OU right now that demands the C+ viability ranking?
 
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