With the World Cup of Pokemon bringing along many metagame shakeups, we've got a fairly big update.
Rises
from A+ to S-
Melmetal has become a very prominent threat recently. It's very moldable to a team's needs, as it's able to run a variety of sets, but Toxic variants are especially potent and tough to deal with.
from A to A+
Choice Scarf makes for a strong cleaner and can also set up a breaker with Future Sight, while Choice Specs and Calm Mind can be a nightmare for more defensive teams to deal with.
from A to A+
Taunt to stop "checks" like Buzzwole, Dragonite, Clefable, Zapdos, and Corviknight from healing up and Toxapex from using Toxic, with Protective Pads to avoid Rocky Helmet, Iron Barbs, and Rough Skin damage as well as Static and Flame Body, makes Urshifu both punishing and hard to punish. It pairs well with the aforementioned Future Sight Tapu Lele, as it makes Close Combat nigh impossible to switch into and they can cover eachother's checks remarkably well.
from A to A+
As it has both great offensive and defensive capabilities, offensive and defensive sets both work well. Offensively, Thunderbolt/Volt Switch + Hurricane is tough to switch into, especially if you add Weather Ball in rain in the mix, and defensively, it's a good (and, thanks to Static, annoying) check to the likes of Kartana, Rillaboom, Tornadus-T, Zapdos-Galar, non-Stone Edge Hawlucha, and even Urshifu and Buzzwole in a pinch.
from A- to A
Rotom-Wash is a great pivot, and makes for a nice check to threats like Melmetal, Excadrill, and Volcanion. It's quite customizable, with Pain Split, alongside a Spikes immunity, giving it great longevity, all of Will-O-Wisp, Toxic, and Thunder Wave being viable status options (though Will-O-Wisp is usually the best choice to cripple the likes of Melmetal), and Defog allowing it to keep rocks off against both Heatran and Landorus-T. Nasty Plot is also an option that's very threatening to various teams.
from B+ to A-
The slug checks a ton of common threats, including, but not limited to, Heatran, Tapu Koko, Zapdos, Dragapult, Rotom-W, Volcanion, Nidoking, non-Giga Drain Volcarona, and non-Freeze-Dry Arctozolt. Storm Drain gives it a great matchup against the surging rain archetype.
from B+ to A-
from B- to B
from C+ to B-
Rain is doing very well at the moment in the form of Pelipper + Barraskewda + Ferrothorn + Zapdos + Seismitoad + Volcanion/Crawdaunt/etc. Both rain-boosted Liquidation and Flip Turn, with Close Combat for Ferrothorn, from Barraskewda are tough to deal with, Seismitoad is a nice cleaner with great coverage and a good typing, and Crawdaunt patches up rain's matchup against defensive teams.
from B+ to A-
Sand is also doing well. Tyranitar is very hard to switch into if it's holding a Choice Band and it has a decent defensive profile to boot, being able to check Heatran, Slowking-Galar, Blacephalon, and Volcarona in a pinch, while also shutting down hail. Excadrill can be a threat for various teams, as it outspeeds almost the entire metagame in sand and common Pokemon like Clefable, Tapu Koko, and non-Heat Wave Zapdos can be setup fodder.
from B to B+
We've seen a rise in fatter Swords Dance Rillaboom sets with Leftovers. It has solid bulk, useful priority, can Knock Off some key targets, and Grassy Terrain provides great support for teammates like Heatran and Melmetal, by giving them passive recovery and weakening Earthquake.
from B- to B
Many teams drop bulky Waters like Toxapex, Slowbro, and Tapu Fini in favor of Rotom-W or Gastrodon, making Blaziken a big threat. We've been seeing more Air Balloon, which allows it to set up on even Ground-types, alongside the usual setup targets like Weavile.
from B- to B
Since Nature's Madness and Dazzling Gleam are very punishing for both Landorus-T and Garchomp, Hippowdon is one of the few Ground-types alongside Gastrodon that can reliably check this increasingly common Tapu Koko set.
from UR to C-
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-634305
from UR to C-
Niche rocker on HO with Stealth Rock + Taunt + Steel Beam, while it's also able to function as a solid Weavile check.
Drops
from A+ to A
from A to A-
While still very solid Pokemon, we've been seeing less teams opt for Slowbro and Tapu Fini as their bulky Water of choice, in favor of more Rotom-W, Gastrodon, and Urshifu/Volcanion/Dragonite + Ferrothorn. Slowbro is quite vulnerable to status (like Toxic from the likes of Melmetal), weak to pivoting + Spikes (provided no HDB), has only one slot as a main attacking move outside of FuturePort which makes it limiting, and needs SpDef investment if it wants to check Choice Specs Volcanion, while Tapu Fini isn't really a Volcanion check at all and also suffers from an increase in Melmetal and Zapdos usage.
from A to A-
Volcarona has trouble getting past common Pokemon like Heatran, Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Gastrodon, while matchup up poorly against both rain and sand.
from A to A-
Zeraora is still a good Pokemon with great cleaning potential, but it's lacking when it comes to immediate power, making it sometimes hard to justify running.
from A- to B+
Using Magnezone is often a big opportunity cost, as outside of trapping key targets like Ferrothorn, Corviknight, and Melmetal (with the latter usually running Earthquake, making that a difficult task), it's poor both offensively and defensively.
from A- to B+
With a slight dip in Landorus-T usage in favor of other Ground-types like Garchomp, Gastrodon, Excadrill, and Hippowdon, the resident Landorus punisher takes a hit. Additionally, it's poor into Zapdos, which is increasingly common.
from B+ to B
Its Cosmic Power set is a far cry from where it used to be, though it's still viable, alongside its other setup, entry hazard setting, and utility sets.
from B+ to B
Decent HO option, but quite poor into the increasingly common Tyranitar and Tapu Koko.
from B+ to B
With a poor defensive profile outside of checking Tapu Koko, it can be tough to get value out of Nidoking in matchups against checks like Gastrodon, Slowking, and Assault Vest Tornadus-T. While it can be very threatening against various BOs, it still requires the user to make the right plays, making it rather hit-or-miss.
from B+ to B
Less Landorus-T as the pick for a Ground-type and more SpDef Garchomp, Gastrodon, Excadrill, and Hippowdon makes it tougher to get value out of Nihilego.
from B- to C+
Still a threat on rain, but Zapdos is the more consistent option, alongside Seismitoad for the Electric immunity.
from C+ to C
Ice + Ground is good, but not into the increasingly common Rotom-W.
from C to C-
from C to C-
These two are only usable on stall and uncommon even on stall.
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
from C to C-
As time goes on, the reasons to use these Pokemon become less and less apparent.
from C to UR
Grimmsnarl is largely outclassed, as Ninetales-Alola is a much better dual screen setter, which makes Grimmsnarl niche to the point it's not worth ranking anymore.
As I've already explained every change to varying extents (and Finch is on vacation), I'd like to refer questions and discussions regarding these changes to the SQSA and metagame discussion threads, respectively. You can read up in this thread for additional reasoning behind the noms that went through, and you can also check out the
WCoP replays as an additional resource.
Nominations are open.
Also, have a nice summer (or winter) everyone.
A -> A+
B+ -> A-
B- -> B
C- -> C
C- -> C
C- -> C
C- -> C
C- -> C
C- -> C
A -> A-
A -> A-
A- -> B+
A- -> B+
B+ -> B
B -> B-
B -> B- (C+)
C -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
EDIT: why is my arctozolt so tiny
