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

[LudwigFrog]

This is a non I have been considering for quite a while now.

S -> S-
OR
S- -> S
While I still do think Landorus is an amazing pokemon currently, I don't feel it's a big cut above the other mons in S- to justify itself being a tier higher. With trends in Rillaboom fats, Landorus finds itself to have more competition as the team's SpDef Ground Type, from the likes of Hippowdon and Garchomp. Landorus not only has it's Earthquake weakened, but it can't make use of the terrain, so it won't gain increased survivability. Another archetype with an uptick in usage is Sand. Excadrill or even Hippowdon have been the main ground type of choice on these teams. Landorus also can get overwhelmed by Choice Banded moves from Excadrill when running a SpDef set. Landorus if it wants to be a hard wall to Excadrill must invest in physical defense, which would leave it vulnerable to other threats like Dragapult, Zapdos, Heatran and Blacephalon. Lastly, Landorus is extremely vulnerable to Knock Off, and losing its leftovers prevents it from being able to check Tapu Koko or Zeraora late game. Other ground types like Hippowdon and Garchomp can make up for this, by having Grassy Terrain recovery on Rillaboom teams, or in Hippowdon's case, instant recovery. Now while all these points may make it sound like I'm saying Landorus is bad, that is not the case. Landorus is still the most splashable out of any of these and provides Defog and U-Turn, which let's it support it's teammates even further. The flying typing also makes it even more annoying for the opposing Ground Types, as well as having a U-Turn resistance. There is much more good I can say about Landorus, but it's pretty self explanatory. I still think Landorus-Therian is incredible in this metagame, but I don't see it being a full tier above the 4 in S-

 

[LorisMasta17]

I'm not sure how

This is a non I have been considering for quite a while now.

S -> S-
OR
S- -> S
While I still do think Landorus is an amazing pokemon currently, I don't feel it's a big cut above the other mons in S- to justify itself being a tier higher. With trends in Rillaboom fats, Landorus finds itself to have more competition as the team's SpDef Ground Type, from the likes of Hippowdon and Garchomp. Landorus not only has it's Earthquake weakened, but it can't make use of the terrain, so it won't gain increased survivability. Another archetype with an uptick in usage is Sand. Excadrill or even Hippowdon have been the main ground type of choice on these teams. Landorus also can get overwhelmed by Choice Banded moves from Excadrill when running a SpDef set. Landorus if it wants to be a hard wall to Excadrill must invest in physical defense, which would leave it vulnerable to other threats like Dragapult, Zapdos, Heatran and Blacephalon. Lastly, Landorus is extremely vulnerable to Knock Off, and losing its leftovers prevents it from being able to check Tapu Koko or Zeraora late game. Other ground types like Hippowdon and Garchomp can make up for this, by having Grassy Terrain recovery on Rillaboom teams, or in Hippowdon's case, instant recovery. Now while all these points may make it sound like I'm saying Landorus is bad, that is not the case. Landorus is still the most splashable out of any of these and provides Defog and U-Turn, which let's it support it's teammates even further. The flying typing also makes it even more annoying for the opposing Ground Types, as well as having a U-Turn resistance. There is much more good I can say about Landorus, but it's pretty self explanatory. I still think Landorus-Therian is incredible in this metagame, but I don't see it being a full tier above the 4 in S-

I haven't been playing a ton of OU recently but I don't think this is a very good reason for a drop. I feel all this is saying really is just that a couple prominent team styles are commonly using other ground types, and the most splashable mon in the tier finding some competition that might work better on some builds so it might be a bit less splashable, although it would still work fine on a Rillaboom team as well especially if you want a faster pace version of the style with Lando's pivoting. Saying it's vulnerable to Knock and can be worn down also isn't really anything new, and doesn't take away from the fact that it is still an invaluable glue and pivot on faster paced teams where it isn't necessarily required to survive a whole game.
I would like to clarify I am definitely not saying there are other things that couldn't go to S (you could very well make a case for Weavile, Melmetal, and Heatran I think) but for a drop I don't think this is very strong reasoning

 

[Finchinator]

With Melmetal remaining SS OU, we can begin efforts towards establishing our final VR for SS’s time as a main generation. We will have one more ultimate slate in the near future.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread through posts, VR Council, and anything else. It has been a privilege being in charge of this project all generation. I look forward to doing it all over again with SV around the corner.

 

[Local Dog]

Yoooo that's a landslide if I've ever seen one. I expected it to go no ban but this quickly and this clear of a result surprised me

So I don't think I am good enough or experienced enough yet to make any nominations, however I would like to question the place of mons in C and C-. For example, I tried out Latios a bit and the guy just doesn't have what it takes to stand in the same tier as Momoswine and especially Keldeo. Slow enough to get killed by faster top threats like Weavile or Pult (who have super effective stab on Latios) and not strong enough with a Scarf to kill slower threats like Melm. Typing doesn't do much and I couldn't find a niche for it frankly

So yeah

 

[Ciocalatta]

With the final VRs for SS there’s definitely a nom that I need to make

: : C+ -> B
C+-> B

Looking at the rest of C+, these guys just simply don’t match. I can’t remember the last time rotom-H or thundy did anything in an OU game, but with the prominence of sand with dracozolt as a seen member, this mon gets pretty regular usage with success. Lando already gets a lot of pressure put on it in covering for exca, but Zolt is another layer of pressure that lets exca truly shine. It definitely is on the same playing field as scizor and cloyster, who have their place but haven’t seen as consistent success as Zolt

gar is a reasonable one to be considered low due to the competition it faces from the other ghosts, especially blac, however I think it’s this competition with blac in particular that puts it in the B tier. It’s unique traits from the other ghosts in Focus blast and NP are exceptionally important in its ability to not only break certain stall teams, especially considering it has trick just like blac, but also allows it do deal far better with sand, a team style blac can struggle with. Another notable feature is it’s slightly higher speed, which may be 3 points but gives it a jump on mot only blac but kart as well, letting it beat both with a scarf and the rare timid kart. I’m not going to say it’s better, as it’s not, but it’s unique qualities and advantage against the other ghosts deserves it a B rank spot among nidoking and aegislash

 

[LudwigFrog]

I'm not sure how

I haven't been playing a ton of OU recently but I don't think this is a very good reason for a drop. I feel all this is saying really is just that a couple prominent team styles are commonly using other ground types, and the most splashable mon in the tier finding some competition that might work better on some builds so it might be a bit less splashable, although it would still work fine on a Rillaboom team as well especially if you want a faster pace version of the style with Lando's pivoting. Saying it's vulnerable to Knock and can be worn down also isn't really anything new, and doesn't take away from the fact that it is still an invaluable glue and pivot on faster paced teams where it isn't necessarily required to survive a whole game.
I would like to clarify I am definitely not saying there are other things that couldn't go to S (you could very well make a case for Weavile, Melmetal, and Heatran I think) but for a drop I don't think this is very strong reasoning

I didn't say that Landorus isn't great. I just feel that it's not as good as it previously was. My main point is that it is not a step above the 4 in S-. Yes Knock Off isn't anything new, but as I mentioned, I have been thinking this for quite a while. Knock Off is also at its peak now, with pretty much every Mon running it, and with every team having atleast 2 Knock Users. Other Ground types like Hippowdon and Gastrodon can still heal up without forcing leftovers, which can give Landorus a bit more trouble fitting on bulkier and bulky offense teams.

 

[I'm Tapu Bulu]

I nominate myself from B- to B rank. I find that overall I have better survivability in the current meta than Rillaboom, as I take less damage from U-turn and laugh at dragon-type moves thanks to my Fairy typing.

I'm able to take advantage of Urshifu-R's proeminence, because I resist both of his stab moves, and U-turn kinda hurts but I'm able to heal myself with Horn Leech. Also, I feel like Dragapult and Garchomp are better than ever, despite having always been staples, so I can take advantage of Draco Meteor Pult and heavily damage anything that comes in, or even set up a free Swords Dance. I resist both of Garchomp's STABs, and can also cripple its Earthquake.

Despite me being weaker than my brothers, know that I, Tapu Bulu, can still shine. And I think the meta trends favour me a little, so I should go B rank.

 

[Hyper-Go-ons]

What are the differences between Rillaboom and Tapu Bulu?

 

[shadowpea]

What are the differences between Rillaboom and Tapu Bulu?

bulu: part fairy, gets better coverage (cc (rilla only has drain punch/superpower), zen headbutt, megahorn, stone edge), better longetivity (synthesis, leech seed, horn leech)

rillaboom: grassy glide, knock off, uturn

rilla's better utility options and priority makes it more splashable but bulu is still a decent attacker that can stay on the field longer basically

 

[Stone Bold]

bulu: part fairy, gets better coverage (cc (rilla only has drain punch/superpower), zen headbutt, megahorn, stone edge), better longetivity (synthesis, leech seed, horn leech)

One small correction, Rillaboom does in fact learn Leech Seed, it's not something that many people are likely to use or even to consider, but it is still there. But to continue, with what you've said Rillaboom has more speed, whereas Tapu Bulu has marginally better physical bulk as well as straight up better special bulk. Also, Rillaboom has Acrobatics which can help against Buzzwole and such, whereas Bulu doesn't.

 

[Hyper-Go-ons]

bulu: part fairy

And of course, Tapu Bulu has a dreadful x4 Poison Weakness. this a example of Galarian Slowking Sludge Bomb.

Rillaboom has 56.3% chance to be OHKOed by Sludge Bomb. (However, Sludge Wave has 87.5% chance to OHKO Rillaboom)
(93.2 - 109.6%)

Tapu Bulu is just simply OHKOed by it (guaranteed OHKO)

Here's a funny calc of Tapu Bulu being OHKOed by Clear Smog:

252 SpA Nihilego Clear Smog vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 336-400 (119.5 - 142.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

A UU mon can have issues y'know.

 

[Moyashi]

One small correction, Rillaboom does in fact learn Leech Seed, it's not something that many people are likely to use or even to consider, but it is still there. But to continue, with what you've said Rillaboom has more speed, whereas Tapu Bulu has marginally better physical bulk as well as straight up better special bulk. Also, Rillaboom has Acrobatics which can help against Buzzwole and such, whereas Bulu doesn't.

Main reason Rilla wouldn't use leech seed is it cuts into its moveslots too much. There isn't any practical way to fit it on a set. As far as Acrobatics goes, that kinda also has the same issue though it has tiny value on lure sets for Buzzwole but that just makes AcroRilla kinda match up fishy.

And of course, Tapu Bulu has a dreadful x4 Poison Weakness. this a example of Galarian Slowking Sludge Bomb.

You asked what Bulu has over Boom, which people replied. And now you are making random statements that don't really contribute more to the discussion (no offense). Everyone knows x4 poison is a weakness it has.

 

[Dusk Mage Necrozma]

And of course, Tapu Bulu has a dreadful x4 Poison Weakness. this a example of Galarian Slowking Sludge Bomb.

Rillaboom has 56.3% chance to be OHKOed by Sludge Bomb. (However, Sludge Wave has 87.5% chance to OHKO Rillaboom)
(93.2 - 109.6%)

Tapu Bulu is just simply OHKOed by it (guaranteed OHKO)

Here's a funny calc of Tapu Bulu being OHKOed by Clear Smog:

252 SpA Nihilego Clear Smog vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 336-400 (119.5 - 142.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

A UU mon can have issues y'know.

Yeah Hyper-Go-ons the main point here is that Pokemon is not just about OHKOs, and spamming calcs that this Pokemon can OHKO this Pokemon with some coverage move at so and so number of boosts or can avoid an OHKO with screens or whatever does not contribute much to discussion.

 

[pulsar512b]

also rillaboom's still not appreciating those attacks/wouldn't take them, and also if you really wanted to point out flaws of the fairy type things like it taking more from kartana's smart strike or ferrothorn's gyro ball are infinitely more relevant than gking sludge bomb (never staying in + has good chance to ko) and nihilego clear smog (..why are you running clear smog nihilego?)

 

[I'm Tapu Bulu]

And of course, Tapu Bulu has a dreadful x4 Poison Weakness. this a example of Galarian Slowking Sludge Bomb.

Rillaboom has 56.3% chance to be OHKOed by Sludge Bomb. (However, Sludge Wave has 87.5% chance to OHKO Rillaboom)
(93.2 - 109.6%)

Tapu Bulu is just simply OHKOed by it (guaranteed OHKO)

Here's a funny calc of Tapu Bulu being OHKOed by Clear Smog:

252 SpA Nihilego Clear Smog vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 336-400 (119.5 - 142.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

A UU mon can have issues y'know.

Yes I easily die to poison attacks but the point is for the player to scout these moves in the early game.
I get defeated by Ice Punch as well, which is much more common on Urshifu-R, especially if it happens to use Protective Pads.

I never stay in against Galar King. It's obvious, he is a poison type, I don't have room to run Darkest Lariat specifically for him and I can't OHKO him at +2. Nihilego is the kind of pokemon that would rather be kept at 100% and saved for late-game because it's usually a Meteor Beam set that tries to clean up.

The point is, now dropping the act, that Bulu has five teammates. The jist of it is that Nihilego itself has a bunch of problems, mainly its speed stat and awful physical defense, which prevent it from properly cleaning up most OU teams even at +2. You don't swords dance with Bulu when your opponent has Nihilego waiting.

 

[FENDINI]

I nominate myself from B- to B rank. I find that overall I have better survivability in the current meta than Rillaboom, as I take less damage from U-turn and laugh at dragon-type moves thanks to my Fairy typing.

I'm able to take advantage of Urshifu-R's proeminence, because I resist both of his stab moves, and U-turn kinda hurts but I'm able to heal myself with Horn Leech. Also, I feel like Dragapult and Garchomp are better than ever, despite having always been staples, so I can take advantage of Draco Meteor Pult and heavily damage anything that comes in, or even set up a free Swords Dance. I resist both of Garchomp's STABs, and can also cripple its Earthquake.

Despite me being weaker than my brothers, know that I, Tapu Bulu, can still shine. And I think the meta trends favour me a little, so I should go B rank.

ok firstly the tapu bulu roleplay is crazy LOL
anyways i've only used a couple of bulu teams throughout the gen and it's a fun mon but i've really been liking rillaboom bulky offenses lately, i'm curious to hear what teams you think bulu fits on / is good on where you wouldn't just want to use rilla instead, even on grass spam teams with like kart i'd assume rilla would still be better since you can kill buzzwole with acro rilla to help out kart, it can abuse dragapult being locked into draco but flame and even shadow ball still do a ton and you cant immediately threaten it back like you can with rilla knock into glide, i'm assuming chomp also muscles through it with +2 fang but idk the calcs and it can stone wall aqua tail chomps

aside from resisting shifu's dual stabs cuz of its fairy typing and having rock coverage it just seems like a worse rillaboom but i'm curious to know what you think

 

[Moyashi]

i'm curious to hear what teams you think bulu fits on / is good on where you wouldn't just want to use rilla instead, even on grass spam teams with like kart i'd assume rilla would still be better since you can kill buzzwole with acro rilla to help out kart, it can abuse dragapult being locked into draco but flame and even shadow ball still do a ton and you cant immediately threaten it back like you can with rilla knock into glide, i'm assuming chomp also muscles through it with +2 fang but idk the calcs and it can stone wall aqua tail chomps

I'll toss in my two cents since I made a Bulu nom a few pages back. But the roles Bulu and Rilla fill are very different (talking about both using bulky spreads which are the optimal ones imo). Rilla's knock makes it pretty decent at forcing progress early game, removing some items and getting some chip. It also uses glide for some speed control and has late game potential with SD. The extra bulk means it doesn't fold to so many things like the old offensive sets did. And can pivot into some neutral hits okay.

Bulu on the other hand trades the utility and speed control of knock for more threatening coverage that makes it able to immediately threaten some pokemon that Rilla can't. I talked about it in my nom post, but Sub3A Bulu can use the switches it forces to sub up and become quite annoying to defensively answer, since common grass checks Zapdos and TornadusT are threatened by stone edge (while they have to break its sun to threaten it). If the sub is maintained it generally is able to force chip on things decently. The extra defensive utility from fairy secondary typing is noteworthy, as it is a fighting resistance, dark resistance, uturn neutrality, and dragon immunity giving entry against draco locked Dragapult and giving more switch in chances. Basically compressing wallbreaking and defense in one slot is quite nice. (Switching into UrshifuR, Zeraora, Tapu Koko, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Tapu Fini, Hippowdon clicking slack off or rocks, even scarf Tapu Lele and Rillaboom).

When it comes to grass spam teams, both are viable but personally i like Bulu as it adds to the defensive integrity more. Buzzwole is a bad match up for both (AcroBoom I don't like as it costs either drain punch or knock off which hurts Boom elsewhere). The 1v1 Pult match up isn't great for either since specs draco clobberd Rilla and flamethrower burns Bulu so its fair both.

Basically this is what I think: Rilla has team utility in knock off and glide as well as late game potential, while Bulu is more immediately threatening and has better defensive utility, but isn't as good against offense.

 

[pulsar512b]

ok firstly the tapu bulu roleplay is crazy LOL
anyways i've only used a couple of bulu teams throughout the gen and it's a fun mon but i've really been liking rillaboom bulky offenses lately, i'm curious to hear what teams you think bulu fits on / is good on where you wouldn't just want to use rilla instead, even on grass spam teams with like kart i'd assume rilla would still be better since you can kill buzzwole with acro rilla to help out kart, it can abuse dragapult being locked into draco but flame and even shadow ball still do a ton and you cant immediately threaten it back like you can with rilla knock into glide, i'm assuming chomp also muscles through it with +2 fang but idk the calcs and it can stone wall aqua tail chomps

aside from resisting shifu's dual stabs cuz of its fairy typing and having rock coverage it just seems like a worse rillaboom but i'm curious to know what you think

two main pluses: 1) being bulkier/having more recovery options and 2) wood hammer on eg banded sets or if you are running it more offensively. acro rilla's kinda meh and obvious imo. you cant switch into chomp but if you are in a 1v1 vs fang chomp +2 fang doesn't ohko you so 2 horn leeches is enough.

having cc instead of superpower is also neat, letting it keep going. also rock coverage is cool. horn leech gives tons of recovery

(also the tapu bulu rp is funny and i like it :))

 

[Dece1t]

For the love of all things good, please stop with the cringey Tapu-Bulu roleplay ‍

 

[FENDINI]

I'll toss in my two cents since I made a Bulu nom a few pages back. But the roles Bulu and Rilla fill are very different (talking about both using bulky spreads which are the optimal ones imo). Rilla's knock makes it pretty decent at forcing progress early game, removing some items and getting some chip. It also uses glide for some speed control and has late game potential with SD. The extra bulk means it doesn't fold to so many things like the old offensive sets did. And can pivot into some neutral hits okay.

Bulu on the other hand trades the utility and speed control of knock for more threatening coverage that makes it able to immediately threaten some pokemon that Rilla can't. I talked about it in my nom post, but Sub3A Bulu can use the switches it forces to sub up and become quite annoying to defensively answer, since common grass checks Zapdos and TornadusT are threatened by stone edge (while they have to break its sun to threaten it). If the sub is maintained it generally is able to force chip on things decently. The extra defensive utility from fairy secondary typing is noteworthy, as it is a fighting resistance, dark resistance, uturn neutrality, and dragon immunity giving entry against draco locked Dragapult and giving more switch in chances. Basically compressing wallbreaking and defense in one slot is quite nice. (Switching into UrshifuR, Zeraora, Tapu Koko, Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Tapu Fini, Hippowdon clicking slack off or rocks, even scarf Tapu Lele and Rillaboom).

When it comes to grass spam teams, both are viable but personally i like Bulu as it adds to the defensive integrity more. Buzzwole is a bad match up for both (AcroBoom I don't like as it costs either drain punch or knock off which hurts Boom elsewhere). The 1v1 Pult match up isn't great for either since specs draco clobberd Rilla and flamethrower burns Bulu so its fair both.

Basically this is what I think: Rilla has team utility in knock off and glide as well as late game potential, while Bulu is more immediately threatening and has better defensive utility, but isn't as good against offense.

well said, sub bulu sounds very fun can definitely catch some ppl off guard trying to cheese w toxic / knocking lefties / scald fishing and ofc hitting the birds barring corv with edge is very nice and corv can't break sub without BB / rare iron head anyways, unfortunately it doesn't really get to abuse it's dark resistance barring choice locks since literally every dark except craw has a SE dual stab but at the same time having a safe craw switch in is extremely hard to find and nice to have i totally forgot abt that

i only mention acro rilla on grass spam specifically bc i've seen it teched on before, it makes rilla worse but it's mainly just to support kartana by removing buzzwole so it doesn't have to run ace and giving terrain, although you can also say that bulu gives terrain too and can remove torn for kart which is also really great for it

 

[Hyper-Go-ons]

Yes I easily die to poison attacks but the point is for the player to scout these moves in the early game.
I get defeated by Ice Punch as well, which is much more common on Urshifu-R, especially if it happens to use Protective Pads.

I never stay in against Galar King. It's obvious, he is a poison type, I don't have room to run Darkest Lariat specifically for him and I can't OHKO him at +2. Nihilego is the kind of pokemon that would rather be kept at 100% and saved for late-game because it's usually a Meteor Beam set that tries to clean up.

The point is, now dropping the act, that Bulu has five teammates. The jist of it is that Nihilego itself has a bunch of problems, mainly its speed stat and awful physical defense, which prevent it from properly cleaning up most OU teams even at +2. You don't swords dance with Bulu when your opponent has Nihilego waiting.

Tapu Bulu gets 2HKOd by Choice Band Ice Punch, Switching into an Ice Punch is a bad idea. But an Poison Jab will OHKO Tapu Bulu for sure.

Perhaps you were talking about that defensive Slowbro? that thing is OHKOed by a single +2 Horn Leech. You can just simply OHKO Galarian Slowking with a +2 High Horsepower or Darkest Lariat. Choice Band Tapu Bulu Can't OHKO Galar Slowking with Darkest Lariat but High Horsepower has 62.5% chance to OHKO it.

And yes, Nihilego can't switch safely into a Choice Band Bulu because a Horn Leech or Wood Hammer will OHKO it. Useless if Nihilego has a Focus Sash, it can just annihilate Tapu Bulu with its Poison Moves.

 

[Moyashi]

Anyways, with Gen8 drawing to a close real soon, some (probably) last noms from me.

S- -> S
Feels like as good a time as any, especially given their excellence rn. Heatran is a hugely important presence both offensively and defensively at this moment, being an invaluable glue mon for a lot of teams that has incredible utility. Checking large swaths of the metagame and being so tough to switch into itself. Its arguably the best steel type in the tier and undoubtedly a top 3 pokemon at worst. And that's without getting into air balloon sets.

Weavile and Dragapult meanwhile remain arguably the biggest considerations in the builder on their respective spectrums, despite the meta adapting. Pult is the reason every team needs a ghost "check" and Weavile is arguably why so many defensive pokemon run rocky helmet, just to keep it from spamming triple axel all game. Pult has set diversity to give it many options between specs and DD, and even using uncommon sets to catch foes. Ehile Weavile isn't as varied, what it does have are all highly threatening. HDB negating hazard presdure, CB being brutal as a breaker, and SD+LO being nigh unwallable if set up (LO sets are quite popular at high ladder). Both are restrictive, highly influential pokemon and much above the rest of the tier.

B -> B+
Hippo is better than everything in B. Its newfound usage hasn't really slowed and for good reason. Reliable defensive mon, sandstorm chip is useful, good check to common threats from Zapdos to Koko to Glowking to Dragapult. And of course supporting sand teams. Its old issues still exist but its continued usage is worth a raise.

B- -> B
Underrated pokemon in the meta that is nicely poised to take advantage of the status and passive damage flying everywhere rn. It's a solid CM user that's surprisingly annoying to switch into between psyshock and thunder and can even win CM wars thanks to psyshock. Set up isn't easy and it isn't easy to fit but definitely works well. And better than everything in B-.

A -> A- and A- -> B+
Batch drop noms go. None of them except Volc are really bad per say but they don't feel like A rank atm. Ttar is threatening but still held back by its low speed and vulnerable typing, susceptible to chip as a result and has some competition with Hippo as a sand setter. Dragonite is good, but... Defensive sets just feel so vulnerable to pivot spam and status, and can feel kinda passive at times. And offensive sets don't work THAT consistently. Buzzwole is just a case of both sets have issues. Offensive sets can't check Weavile as well and you may have to relegate that duty elsewhere. Defensive sets are extra status and hazard prone and it just comes off as worse than Slowbro who can at least regen off the damage and pass future sights.

Volcarona just isn't consistent. Struggles to sweep with too many checks around, needs more support, and is just frustrating to use.

B -> B- andB- -> C+
Blissey is just a questionable pokemon to use when so many better special pivots exist. In particular, Glowking is excellent and while not quite as bulky, has plenty of ways to be used and is a much more versatile and effective pokemon. Bisharp meanwhile is just fringe. Fake steel type, outclassed as a dark type and outclassed as a defiant abuser.

Whew that is it from me.

 

[Tapeworm]

View attachment 461962 View attachment 461966View attachment 461967A -> A- and View attachment 461956A- -> B+
Batch drop noms go. None of them except Volc are really bad per say but they don't feel like A rank atm. Ttar is threatening but still held back by its low speed and vulnerable typing, susceptible to chip as a result and has some competition with Hippo as a sand setter. Dragonite is good, but... Defensive sets just feel so vulnerable to pivot spam and status, and can feel kinda passive at times. And offensive sets don't work THAT consistently. Buzzwole is just a case of both sets have issues. Offensive sets can't check Weavile as well and you may have to relegate that duty elsewhere. Defensive sets are extra status and hazard prone and it just comes off as worse than Slowbro who can at least regen off the damage and pass future sights.

Volcarona just isn't consistent. Struggles to sweep with too many checks around, needs more support, and is just frustrating to use.

Gonna disagree with this batch drop to an extent. T-Tar and Hippo are pretty hard to compare because they don't have much in the ways of similarities besides setting Sand but their roles and generally the kind of team structures they fit on and support are much more varied. Hippo is a bulky momentum sink that supports fatter more balanced teams and relies on its Sand support and status to build up DoT throughout longer games. T-Tar is an offensive powerhouse with minimal switch-ins and a great defensive stopgap vs things on more offensive teams that still holds the immediate threat of manhandling defensive cores and forcing damage on Excas checks to facilitate its sweep. It is more susceptible to chip for sure, but it tends to offer offensive support on teams that have the ability to 'win first' before that should become an issue. Neither Hippo nor T-Tar are exclusive to Sand teams and can offer support on teams outside of those structures as well. T-Tar being a great defensive stopgap vs Ghosts and Flying pivots while also having the offensive presence to not just take a hit and sit there makes it really nice to have on BO structures.

Buzzwole is also less so a hard answer to things like Weav, WaterFu, and the offensive Grasses on its own but more of a secondary stopgap which takes pressure off of your primary defensive answer to these things and also offering good offensive support with longevity. I don't think the fact that it's not ideally equipped to handle these things alone unless it's running its ass defensive set, which is a total momentum sink with minimal utility, is strictly the best reason to drop it since any team relying on single defensive hard-walls to premier threats will really be under pressure against an opposing team with effective pressure to break those defences over time regardless and force you to play very passively and predictably in the process. I don't think Zwole's potential as a supportive compression option should be underestimated, especially considering just how many massive threats it offers this support against given that it's so capable of taking some pressure off of defensive structures while applying offensive pressure also.

Volc's biggest issue imo is 4mss, but it still has the superpower of almost always having a set that can sweep a team. Ofc it needs support, but its checks tend to be very predictable and easy to prepare for and a well-built Volc team is unlikely to not be scary unless you are heavily overprepared, in which case there's a likelihood that you've got holes elsewhere. I will admit that its matchup reliance can be really rough though so I'm not really disputing a drop, but to call it outright 'bad' I think is discrediting it more than it deserves as it is something that will always need active preparation.

D-Nite does suffer from consistency issues I will agree. It does offer a supportive defensive option similar to Zwole while also being an effective wincon with the right support when run offensive, and it does pack good utility options on some teams when run defensively, but its reliance on Multiscale to perform its defensive duties and set up make it easy to disrupt with the massive array of options out there; Heal Bell on defensive sets can limit this to a degree but can be cracked with enough offensive pressure, PP stall, and abuse of its passivity. I agree on a drop with this one.

 

[I'm Tapu Bulu]

ok firstly the tapu bulu roleplay is crazy LOL
anyways i've only used a couple of bulu teams throughout the gen and it's a fun mon but i've really been liking rillaboom bulky offenses lately, i'm curious to hear what teams you think bulu fits on / is good on where you wouldn't just want to use rilla instead, even on grass spam teams with like kart i'd assume rilla would still be better since you can kill buzzwole with acro rilla to help out kart, it can abuse dragapult being locked into draco but flame and even shadow ball still do a ton and you cant immediately threaten it back like you can with rilla knock into glide, i'm assuming chomp also muscles through it with +2 fang but idk the calcs and it can stone wall aqua tail chomps

aside from resisting shifu's dual stabs cuz of its fairy typing and having rock coverage it just seems like a worse rillaboom but i'm curious to know what you think

Bulu is much more effective at breaking enemy cores because of its superior coverage.

You got Stone Edge against Zapdos and Volcarona, and outspeeding some Zapdos variants in particular is very nice, giving it one of its main advantages over Rillaboom. Close Combat allows you to stay in after you kill a steel-type. Sure, on a standard Swords Dance set you might have to compromise between Wood Hammer and Horn Leech, especially if you hold a Life Orb... but otherwise, as a wallbreaker, I feel like Bulu is a better compressor. Bulu is also better if you want to invest EVs into defense - with Synthesis and a Fairy sub-typing.

Rillaboom on the other hand allows for revenge killing potential and has access to U-turn, so you might want to employ him if you're vulnerable to offense.

 

[Hyper-Go-ons]

Hippo is better than everything in B. Its newfound usage hasn't really slowed and for good reason. Reliable defensive mon, sandstorm chip is useful, good check to common threats from Zapdos to Koko to Glowking to Dragapult. And of course supporting sand teams. Its old issues still exist but its continued usage is worth a raise.

I feel that Hippo's 112 Base Attack could be used as an Offensive Stealth Rock or a Tank. it has moves like Ice Fang to deal with Lando, Fire Fang for Ferrothorn, Stone Edge for Zapdos and Volcarona or even Superpower for T-Tar.

I quite know the sand can be used to break sashes, Excadrill and Dracozolt are good teammates to Hippowdon, also other Rock types appreciate Sandstorm support, Nihilego in Sandstorm is like an Special Sponge, it can be 2HKOd by Heatran's Earth Power.