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

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Guys, I'm a newbie in Pokemon Showdown. I just want to know how to use your team that was built in
Teambuilder. I'm not really sure if this reply can be posted in the forums, but I really want to battle at the
Pokemon Showcase with my team. So if you have any idea, please reply.



- kentot1216
 

Katy

Banned deucer.
Guys, I'm a newbie in Pokemon Showdown. I just want to know how to use your team that was built in
Teambuilder. I'm not really sure if this reply can be posted in the forums, but I really want to battle at the
Pokemon Showcase with my team. So if you have any idea, please reply.
- kentot1216

Hello Kentot, for teamrates and team showcases the best place to go for is the RMT subforum here, which can be found here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/rate-my-team.52/
if you have any questions about sample teams, etc you can ask those questions here: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/simple-questions-simple-answers-thread.3656259/ for any other question i would recommend writing the particular person a pm to ask about the purpose of their teams. :)
 
to B- or B

C+ is way too low for it imo. It's another Great Balance Breaker in the current meta and Zapdos losing usage heavily benefits it, Sure Urshifu-R gives it competition in this role but I think being able to check Rillaboom and a slightly higher Speed tier that outspeeds it and Hydreigon alongside a STAB Brave Bird that destroys walls that otherwise give the Sea Bear trouble like Tangrowth are enough to justify its use in the meta.

If you're all saying Urshifu-R should rise because of Metagame trends and shifts, So should this thing.

Other Noms I agree with:

to S: Agree

This is basically Spectrier's revenge on the tier for getting banned. Enough said.

to A: Agree

to A-: Agree

to B+: Agree

to B+: Agree

to B+: Agree
 

shadowpea

everyone is lonely sometimes
is a Tiering Contributor
Nominating :terrakion: from C+ to B/B+

This thing is such an effective breaker right now. Its STABs are so difficult to switch into by themselves and with a coverage move or two its nearly impossible to deal with defensively (neither Shuckle or Shedinja will save you). The SD set at +2 2HKOes the entire meta while the Banded set puts immediate pressure on the opposing team, though it needs a bit of prediction. I've made an extensive post about it here so I won't repeat myself any more. Suffice it to say that it has incredible power to wreck defensive teams while still packing enough speed and bulk to tackle more offensive builds. Also, FuturePort make this thing an absolute monster.

Noms I agree/disagree with
:urshifu-rapid-strike: to B Agree (I feel that B+ might be a bit of a stretch tho)
:dragapult: to A+/S Strongly Agree (S honestly seems like a better spot for me due to the insane versatility and splashability this thing has)
:rillaboom: to A+ Strongly Agree
:weavile: to B+ Agree
:slowking-galar: to B+ Disagree
:blaziken: to C+/C Agree (probably C)
:kingdra: to C Strongly Agree
:tapu-koko: to A+ Disagree
:corviknight: to A+ Agree
:tapu-fini: to B+ Strongly Agree
:hydreigon: to B+ Strongly Disagree
:regieleki: to (somewhere much lower) Strongly Agree (C/C- seems right)
:tapu-lele: to A Strongly Agree
:zeraora: to A Agree (A+ is probably a stretch for me)
:tangrowth: to A- Agree
:volcarona: to B+/A- Agree
:landorus-therian: to A+ Strongly Disagree
:dragonite: to A- Agree
 
A<S-
1616780824718.png

Dragapult is incredibly fucking good rn. The combination of Specs, WOW, and DD makes it nearly impeccable. With the recent bans with Ursh, Spec, Cind, and Ace, it's definitely safe the say this thing is a lot better and is free of supression. I also want to mention how it's too abilities, in Infiltrator and Clear Body are also just so helpful. Being able to violate sub/screens in a sort of HO based meta or avoiding webs/intimidate can come in hand a lot. Overall this mon just get's better and better more and more. I consider to be the one of the best pokemon in OU if not simply the best. Pult is just really good rn, and as a breaker/sweeper/pivot, it can just do all of those roles really capably.

1616780842703.png

B<A
Right now, this meta needs Weavile imo. With some of the top 5 threats including Pult, Rilla, Torn, Tran, Lando/Chomp, Weavile is very handy at taking these on. Now in terms of this mon's abilities as a breaker, it's probably 9/10. Weavile is a very strong and fast breaker with two very important stabs. Knock Off in this meta is important as we see the trend of Ghost and Psychics srising following after the recent bans, and in general is a great way to annoy bulkier mons and choiced mons. And Ice is a very anti-meta typing that gives it great strong offensive move. When using weavile or even going against it, it even seems to almost always at least pick up 2 kills just with the adequate coverage to touch most with stabs + Low Kick. Not to mention giving it a move to pressure Ferrothorn, and OHKO Tran is incredible. Future Sight with Weavile becomes scary as it pressures Pex and Fini to an extent. and overall teams are starting to find a hard time checking it due to this. All in All Weavile is way too underranked imo, and I think this thing is on a wave of exploiting teams, and creating viable cores, as well as being able to pressure most of the Top 5 threats in the metagame.

1616780874059.png

A-<A+
Three words: Thing is insane. I just wanna say that it has no counters reliably. Aegislash, Corviknight, and Slowking sure but that's quite about it. One has no recovery and one has to force max spdef pretty much all the time. Bulkier cores are feared of taking a Terrain boosted hit. Not to mention it is able to reverse terrains with Rillaboom and take that on as well. In general Tapu Lele is very threatening and forces many switches to try to pivot in to one of it's moves. If the opponent get's it wrong either a huge boost in momentum or a mon gone. Simple. Specs Lele is very strong breaker and throughout the flow of the metagame trends more and more as a strong breaker capable of ruining bulky cores, and forcing lot's of switches. Lele is insane.
 
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Here are some of my thoughts

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to A+/S strongly Agree (super versatile and splashable, so good at dealing with offense teams)
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to A+ strongly Agree (amazing breaker with sd and band, also helps gives mons some recovery)
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to A+ strongly Agree (I mainly say this because its super predictable and a lot of teams can deal with landorus-therian at times, also super easy to chip, prob the most easiest mon to chip, speed tier isnt that great imo, and struggles to get up rocks vs mons like corv, still good but not S imo)
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: to A agree (this mon is a amazing pivot/wallbreaker and its super good at its job, can use toxic/knock off to cripple grounds and has so much success in spl, this def deserves a raise imo)
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: to A+ not sure (not sure abt this i think tapu koko is the best tapu imo, but i dont think its as good as rillaboom, still awesome but im just unsure abt this)
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to S strongly disagree (like i said w my last post, its inconsistent a lot and has to deal w the amount of fast electric types rising up and weavile)
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to A- agree (defensive set is just good imo checks a lot of threats and is a counter to heatran (if ur running heal bell) dd is also a good sweeper on ho)
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: to A strongly agree (idk why this is in A- this mon is sooooo good at wallbreaking shit, legit its so terrifying to face, one of OUs best wallbreakers by far)
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to A+ strongly agree (corv walls legit half of ou mons, its typing and access to pressure,uturn makes it soo good at being a defensive mon and avoids passiveness, give this mon a raise its so fucking good)
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to A- or maybe A strongly agree (you cannot tell me that this is B+, this should prob be A imo, its so good at walling mons like rillaboom,kart,crawdaunt,urshifurapid,barra,swampert,chomp,landot, although it hates toxic, this mon is super good at what it does, has access to knock+stunspore+sleeppowder, also can make use of av. This mon is so good, please give it a raise)
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to A- agree (good cleaner/wallbreaker super scary with dark+ice stab, has a lot of success in spl, def deserves a raise imo)
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to B+ strongly disagree (ok who tf thought this was a great idea, absolutely not)
 

shadowpea

everyone is lonely sometimes
is a Tiering Contributor
A<S-
View attachment 326348
A-<A+
Three words: Thing is insane. I just wanna say that it has no counters reliably. Aegislash, Corviknight, and Slowking sure but that's quite about it. One has no recovery and one has to force max spdef pretty much all the time. Bulkier cores are feared of taking a Terrain boosted hit. Not to mention it is able to reverse terrains with Rillaboom and take that on as well. In general Tapu Lele is very threatening and forces many switches to try to pivot in to one of it's moves. If the opponent get's it wrong either a huge boost in momentum or a mon gone. Simple. Specs Lele is very strong breaker and throughout the flow of the metagame trends more and more as a strong breaker capable of ruining bulky cores, and forcing lot's of switches. Lele is insane.
Agreed. I want to add that if you really want to break past Corvi or Slowking Tbolt is an option to utterly destroy them. Usually its not worth it due to the amount of coverage Focus Miss offers (not to mention you're hard walled by Ferrothorn) but Tbolt can still be ran to break two of Lele's three best counters (and they'll never see it coming so there's a really good chance that you'll actually get the kill). And like you said Aegi is a huge chip magnet.

I agree with your other noms too.
 
:volcarona: Volcarona at B is actually a crime btw. This has nothing to do with Cinderace leaving or not I definitely think this mon is deserving of B+ or even A-. Sure, it doesn't have HP ground to get past Heatran or Z-Bug to plow through special walls, but Volcarona now has HDB which gives it insane longevity allowing it to potenitally set up more than once to gradually weaken the enemy team. At the end of the day Volcarona is Volcarona it will always be one of the best Pokemon at matchup fishing any team that doesn't have a solid counter like Heatran/Blissey/Dragonite and even those could be lured/weakened for Volcarona to sweep.

:tornadus-therian: Tornadus-T is definitely deserving of S rank, I've always thought so. He's so versatile and is literally impossible to wear down due to Regen + HDB. Knock Off is insanely good right now and Torn-t does it best.

Personally I've been running

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Focus Blast
- Heat Wave

Don't get me wrong, this is a huge reduction in damage output, but it's a reduction in potential damage. We all know how Hurricane misses like 50% of the time. On the other hand, from my experience Air Slash misses like once per game max, and it still does an insane amount of damage for a 75 BP move.

+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 250-295 (70 - 82.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 262-310 (68.5 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 274-324 (86.4 - 102.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 237-280 (60.1 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Most of these woulda been OHKOs or at least 90% with Hurricane, but the decrease in damage is something I'll take for the consistency of Air Slash. I'd rather know for sure that I'm going to do ~75% to Garchomp then know that 75% of the time I OHKO Garchomp. Also, another set I've been using is:

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Heat Wave / Focus Blast

This is kind of doing two things at one time, I will do this a lot of time when I actually don't want Knock Off on a defensive Torn-T set, usually because I'm running a strong Knock Off user like Bisharp or Weavile who really need the extra BP. Of course, since this set really needs damage I use Hurricane > Air Slash, so it still hits hard, 75% of the time. Of course, having no U-turn/momentum on Pivot set kinda sucks, but I think the set has merit in being Jack-of-All-Trades but Master-of-None kind of thing.


Also, if people are still conflicted on some mons like Dragapult/Torn-T or even Garchomp being S, I think having an S- rank would be a good idea as some people might have already alluded to. Garchomp / Dragapult / Torn-T are definitely 100% on a different league than most of the A+
 
:volcarona: Volcarona at B is actually a crime btw. This has nothing to do with Cinderace leaving or not I definitely think this mon is deserving of B+ or even A-. Sure, it doesn't have HP ground to get past Heatran or Z-Bug to plow through special walls, but Volcarona now has HDB which gives it insane longevity allowing it to potenitally set up more than once to gradually weaken the enemy team. At the end of the day Volcarona is Volcarona it will always be one of the best Pokemon at matchup fishing any team that doesn't have a solid counter like Heatran/Blissey/Dragonite and even those could be lured/weakened for Volcarona to sweep.

:tornadus-therian: Tornadus-T is definitely deserving of S rank, I've always thought so. He's so versatile and is literally impossible to wear down due to Regen + HDB. Knock Off is insanely good right now and Torn-t does it best.

Personally I've been running

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Air Slash
- Focus Blast
- Heat Wave

Don't get me wrong, this is a huge reduction in damage output, but it's a reduction in potential damage. We all know how Hurricane misses like 50% of the time. On the other hand, from my experience Air Slash misses like once per game max, and it still does an insane amount of damage for a 75 BP move.

+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 250-295 (70 - 82.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Landorus-Therian: 262-310 (68.5 - 81.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 274-324 (86.4 - 102.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Clefable: 237-280 (60.1 - 71%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Most of these woulda been OHKOs or at least 90% with Hurricane, but the decrease in damage is something I'll take for the consistency of Air Slash. I'd rather know for sure that I'm going to do ~75% to Garchomp then know that 75% of the time I OHKO Garchomp. Also, another set I've been using is:

Tornadus-Therian (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Heat Wave / Focus Blast

This is kind of doing two things at one time, I will do this a lot of time when I actually don't want Knock Off on a defensive Torn-T set, usually because I'm running a strong Knock Off user like Bisharp or Weavile who really need the extra BP. Of course, since this set really needs damage I use Hurricane > Air Slash, so it still hits hard, 75% of the time. Of course, having no U-turn/momentum on Pivot set kinda sucks, but I think the set has merit in being Jack-of-All-Trades but Master-of-None kind of thing.


Also, if people are still conflicted on some mons like Dragapult/Torn-T or even Garchomp being S, I think having an S- rank would be a good idea as some people might have already alluded to. Garchomp / Dragapult / Torn-T are definitely 100% on a different league than most of the A+
You are better off running hurricane because it has more damage output over time once accuracy is taken into account.

Average bp for hurricane = 110×0.7 = 0.77
Average bp for air slash = 75×0.95 = 0.7125
 
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TailGlowVM

Now 100% more demonic
:mantine: C- to UR: What niche does this have over the many, many other defensive Water-types available? It's a Heatran check that gets hit by Toxic and worn down by Magma Storm, it walls Volcarona but that can be done by Heatran and Dragonite, it hard-walls Urshifu-R but so do Slowbro and Toxapex, Tornadus-T just Knocks it, and Dragapult uses it as a free opportunity to U-turn into something dangerous. It also lacks the unique utility of other options like FuturePort or Toxic Spikes, instead only having Defog which far better Pokemon like Zapdos, Tornadus-T, Corviknight and Mandibuzz can use.
 
I think you answered your own question there - it has a niche in simultaneously countering Urshifu, Volcarona, and checks Heatran (who wears most of their counters down w Magma/Toxic). Mantine isn't great, but she holds a niche and has no harm being ranked imo.

Other noms i agree with

Rillaboom -> A+
Weavile -> at least B+
Regieleki -> C
 
You are better off running hurricane because it has more damage output over time once accuracy is taken into account.

Average bp for hurricane = 110×0.7 = 0.77
Average bp for air slash = 75×0.95 = 0.7125
The corrected damage output isn't the whole story. As an extreme example, a move with 8000 base power but a 1% chance of hitting would be the better move according to your calculation, but in practice would be terrible. I agree that Hurricane is almost always better here, especially because you have to factor in the confusion chance, but reliability is extremely important.

Edit: HydreigonTheChild I think we're saying pretty much the same thing, which is that there is an element to the usability of a move that can't be captured in its average damage over time. Just as reliability is important, so is securing crucial KOs. I'm just saying it's not as black and white as Niftyyyy was painting it.
 
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Then that is plain common sense, that is the most unreliable thing i heard, and the closest to an ohko move I have heard. That example is straight up terrible, hurricane is not inconsistent asf, 70% acc is bad, but its not terrible to what you are exaggerating it. Yes hurricane is better, but you are taking into account that the extra power and the confusion chance comes with a drawback of 70% acc. Air slash is much weaker and can't pick up crucial KO's such as

+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Hurricane vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 366-432 (102.5 - 121%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 250-295 (70 - 82.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 235-277 (77.3 - 91.1%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 SpA Tornadus-Therian Air Slash vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Toxapex: 160-190 (52.6 - 62.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

As you can see the numbers are very huge, its just better to go hurricane and risk the chance, instead of never taking it and regretting it later
 
:slurpuff: UR to C-

I'd like to talk about this little precious meringue cookie, because in my opinion it serves as my favorite sticky webs setter in the current meta.
Previously I wouldn't of even thought of using Slurpuff with Magearna and Cinderace running rampant, it would just end up as an easy switch to set-up on Mag, but with them gone this thing has been finding a way on so many of my hyper offense teams.


I'm gonna post some pros and cons of using this vs Ribombee and Shuckle which are currently the well used Webs setters.

:Ribombee:
Pros:
- Great base speed, can creep a lot of the current meta, including things it threatens like the Lati twins and Garchomp.
- Status in the form of Stun Spore, despite being less reliable than T-Wave, can still come in handy.
- Shield Dust makes it so burns off unlikely hits from fire moves that can ruin the focus sash just don't happen.

Cons:
- Does absolutely nothing to Ferrothorn. Ribombee has to either set up webs and let Ferro do what it wants, or swap to a threat and get set up on anyway.
-Bug typing is not a great type altogether as it covers neither of Fairy's weaknesses, but also adds a stealth rock weakness costing you 25% of your health if you ever decide to swap back in.

:Shuckle:
Pros:
- Bulkiest of the three, can squish a few hits and set up it's hazards.
- Stealth Rock + Sticky Webs means it allows teammates to put on massive pressure later in the match.

Cons:
- 0 Offense pressure whatsoever. Shuckle could easily be used to setup on with opposing pokemon, and Shuckle can at most toxic, god pray that set-up mon doesn't have substitute.
- No pivoting capabilities means Shuckle is usually a suicide lead, and has to get killed by the opponent to get in something safely.
- Literally the slowest pokemon in the game tied with Pyukumuku and Munchlax.

:Slurpuff:
Pros:
- FLAMETHROWER. Access to flamethrower on a webs setter is a god send. No more worrying about Ferrothorn as Slurpuff 2HKO's max Sp. D Ferro. (Slurpuff is actually the only webs setter with a fire move period!)
- Unburden lets Focus Sash serve a double purpose, letting Slurpuff set up it's webs, then use that unburden speed to outspeed everything but +0 Regieleki, however if Regieleki were to come in after Webs are set up, Slurpuff actually still outspeeds!
- Endeavor lets Slurpuff make one final attempt at disabling an opposing pokemon, bringing them down to 1 HP after Focus Sash pops, and unless you bring someone with a priority move, Slurpuff is getting that move off.

Cons:
- Does not have access to Moonblast, instead has to make due with Dazzling Gleam, which can still 2HKO the Latis and Garchomp, but missing out on possible Sp. A drops and a little extra damage kinda sucks.
- Only pivoting move is Misty Explosion, which can work to have more control over your switch than Shuckle, but it still means that Slurpuff has to die to get that switch.


Im leaving out a few cons such as Urshifu-R being able to go through Focus Sash with it's multi-hit move because Urshifu also bops shuckle, meaning only Ribombee benefits, but still takes over half from Aqua Jet or the fact that all three of them lose to Heatran instantly.

Here's the set I've been using as of late if anyone wants to give it a shot:


Slurpuff @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Endeavor
- Dazzling Gleam / Misty Explosion
- Flamethrower


Mild nature lowers it's defense allowing some things that couldn't pop it's sash before to be able to now.
Other moves I could see being semi-viable include: Magic Coat, Yawn, Toxic, Heal Bell, and Wish.

252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 212-252 (60.2 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latios: 200-236 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latias: 170-204 (56.4 - 67.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 248-294 (69.4 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragonite: 216-254 (66.8 - 78.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (If Multiscale is down)
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 272-324 (85.8 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Excadrill: 230-272 (63.7 - 75.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kartana: 768-908 (296.5 - 350.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 32 HP / 0 SpD Melmetal: 230-272 (54.8 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Banded)
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Weavile: 246-290 (87.5 - 103.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO


My point being that Slurpuff may not actually be the best overall, but I believe it at least deserves a mention on the list because of some of the things that can be pulled off.
 
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BT89

go on, take everything
is a Pre-Contributor
:slurpuff: UR to C-

I'd like to talk about this little precious meringue cookie, because in my opinion it serves as my favorite sticky webs setter in the current meta.
Previously I wouldn't of even thought of using Slurpuff with Magearna and Cinderace running rampant, it would just end up as an easy switch to set-up on Mag, but with them gone this thing has been finding a way on so many of my hyper offense teams.


I'm gonna post some pros and cons of using this vs Ribombee and Shuckle which are currently the well used Webs setters.

:Ribombee:
Pros:
- Great base speed, can creep a lot of the current meta, including things it threatens like the Lati twins and Garchomp.
- Status in the form of Stun Spore, despite being less reliable than T-Wave, can still come in handy.
- Shield Dust makes it so burns off unlikely hits from fire moves can ruin the focus sash.

Cons:
- Does absolutely nothing to Ferrothorn. Ribombee has to either set up webs and let Ferro do what it wants, or swap to a threat and get set up on anyway.
-Bug typing is not a great type altogether as it covers neither of Fairy's weaknesses, but also adds a stealth rock weakness costing you 25% of your health if you ever decide to swap back in.

:Shuckle:
Pros:
- Bulkiest of the three, can squish a few hits and set up it's hazards.
- Stealth Rock + Sticky Webs means it allows teammates to put on massive pressure later in the match.

Cons:
- 0 Offense pressure whatsoever. Shuckle could easily be used to setup on with opposing pokemon, and Shuckle can at most toxic, god pray that set-up mon doesn't have substitute.
- No pivoting capabilities means Shuckle is usually a suicide lead, and has to get killed by the opponent to get in something safely.
- Literally the slowest pokemon in the game tied with Pyukumuku and Munchlax.

:Slurpuff:
Pros:
- FLAMETHROWER. Access to flamethrower on a webs setter is a god send. No more worrying about Ferrothorn as Slurpuff 2HKO's max Sp. D Ferro. (Slurpuff is actually the only webs setter with a fire move period!)
- Unburden lets Focus Sash serve a double purpose, letting Slurpuff set up it's webs, then use that unburden speed to outspeed everything but +0 Regieleki, however if Regieleki were to come in after Webs are set up, Slurpuff actually still outspeeds!
- Endeavor lets Slurpuff make one final attempt at disabling an opposing pokemon, bringing them down to 1 HP after Focus Sash pops, and unless you bring someone with a priority move, Slurpuff is getting that move off.

Cons:
- Does not have access to Moonblast, instead has to make due with Dazzling Gleam, which can still 2HKO the Latis and Garchomp, but missing out on possible Sp. A drops and a little extra damage kinda sucks.
- Only pivoting move is Misty Explosion, which can work to have more control over your switch than Shuckle, but it still means that Slurpuff has to die to get that switch.


Im leaving out a few cons such as Urshifu-R being able to go through Focus Sash with it's multi-hit move because Urshifu kinda bops all 3 of them anyways, or the fact that all three of them lose to Heatran instantly.

Here's the set I've been using as of late if anyone wants to give it a shot:


Slurpuff @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Endeavor
- Dazzling Gleam / Misty Explosion
- Flamethrower


Mild nature lowers it's defense allowing some things that couldn't pop it's sash before to be able to now.
Other moves I could see being semi-viable include: Magic Coat, Yawn, Toxic, Heal Bell, and Wish.

252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 212-252 (60.2 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latios: 200-236 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latias: 170-204 (56.4 - 67.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 248-294 (69.4 - 82.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragonite: 216-254 (66.8 - 78.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (If Multiscale is down)
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Dragapult: 272-324 (85.8 - 102.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Excadrill: 230-272 (63.7 - 75.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kartana: 768-908 (296.5 - 350.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Slurpuff Flamethrower vs. 32 HP / 0 SpD Melmetal: 230-272 (54.8 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (Banded)
252+ SpA Slurpuff Dazzling Gleam vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Weavile: 246-290 (87.5 - 103.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

My point being that Slurpuff may not actually be the best overall, but I believe it at least deserves a mention on the list because of some of the things that can be pulled off.
I am pretty sure that if you want a UR nom, you have to have replays showing that the mon is capable of doing something. Interesting nom tho. Don’t have to delete the post, just add some replays, you should be good.
 
:victini: B -> B+

Disagree
. Victini just has not been explored yet. Even though I adore him, he has no defined niche yet, which leaves him in a weird state right now. If someone can manage to define a niche for Vic, I may support B+, but as of now, I really can’t.
I've been actually playing around with him this weekend and i maybe i've been unusually lucky but he's playing like an A tier at least. Super versatile.

Give him boots and he's a super threatening pivot + v create and bolt strike give you high okho potential. Is fast enough to 2HKO tanks even after the first v create drops.

Scarf set is still an amazing revenge killer, it does what it needs to and a second V-create at non-scarf speed is a good tradeoff.

The really big one that i was just doing calcs on to double check is choice band. V-create has 20% more BP than Eruption, but :heatran: has 20% more (special) attack than :victini: has attack.

252+ SpA Choice Specs Heatran Eruption (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 403-475 (118.1 - 139.2%)

252+ Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mew: 403-475 (118.1 - 139.2%)

Yeah the breaking power of FULL HP specs eruption on a base 100 speed.

I'd be really curious to know what other people think. I can share a couple of sets i tried below.

Victini @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Toxic / Power-Up Punch / Future Sight

I'm going off of what i've been told that Future Sight uses the SpA of the mon that's switched in when it lands. I ran U-Turn + Doom Desire :jirachi: in the past and i really like the combo if you don't have a :slowbro: or :slowking: running it.
Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Trick / Zen Headbutt / Quick Attack
- U-turn

I'm not a huge fan of Zen Headbutt because i honestly can't think of a mon in the meta that will take more damage from Zen Headbutt than the first 2 moves. a neutral V-create will always do more than a 2X super effective Zen Headbutt
Victini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- Trick / Final Gambit
- U-turn
Victini @ Choice Specs
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Blue Flare / Searing Shot
- Psychic
- Energy Ball / Thunderbolt
- U-turn

Can go modest instead. No Focus Blast because its just an illusion of fighting coverage. Searing Shot if you don't wanna risk the small miss chance on your main stab, with Victory Star i wouldn't recommend. I like Energy Ball more because people expect fire electric moves from :Victini:
Of course you could swap out U-turn if you wanna go Trick or a fourth special move.

To better respond to @BreakthrU89 's comment. I think he has a viable spot in OU because of his versatility which is especially highlighted by the boots set, he works really well coming in repeatedly and that's easy to do with all the pivoting prevalent this gen. He can break as hard as the likes of :dracovish: while bringing in great team support through U-turn, Toxic, Future Sight, Trick, etc. and he's not a frail mon with base 100 stats. I think he fits in perfectly with the pace of this metagame.

Also I love his ability, it gives him that extra bit of consistency.

Open for any suggestions or improvements.
 

TailGlowVM

Now 100% more demonic
:regieleki: Strongly agree on B to UR.
This may be a controversial nomination - I originally thought it was when others proposed going this far, proposing C+ instead, but upon further reflection I believe it does nothing better than any other Pokemon in OU. This is a long nomination, but one I think is necessary if proposing such a big drop.

Firstly, I'm not going to pretend any offensive set is remotely viable, Finchinator stated a while ago that its ranking was solely for screens, and unlike literally any other Electric-type ranked, it has no coverage for the Ground-types or Zeraora that are on every serious team for non-Regieleki reasons. Even Rotom-H and Toxtricity are better at an offensive set than Regieleki. There's only one remotely viable option (with adjustments in EVs possible, but the point is the same):

Regieleki @ Light Clay
Ability: Transistor
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Explosion
- Rapid Spin

Even in this role, Regieleki is generally outclassed by Tapu Koko, which is slower but still has a great base 130 Speed, has a more consistent pivoting move in U-turn, and can more consistently keep screens up with access to Taunt, which also blocks the hazards Regieleki's Rapid Spin removes. I suppose you could run Volt Switch if you want to surprise Dragapult, but then you can't hit Ground-types, and missing out on Explosion makes Regieleki outclassed by Tapu Koko. As Regieleki is reliant on Explosion to keep screens up, it can only set one consistently against Defoggers, whereas Koko can set two with Taunt lasting more than one turn. Explosion is a poor pivoting move in a meta with a premier Ghost-type like Dragapult too. Dragapult can threaten Regieleki's team with a Specs-boosted attack or cripple something with status, and it's faster than everything unboosted except Regieleki and Zeraora, and has Infiltrator to bypass screens. It's pretty much the public enemy #1 of screens hyper offense, and Regieleki compounds the weakness to it. This leaves two plausible things Regieleki does better than Tapu Koko:

1. Not set Electric Terrain, allowing the use of a Rillaboom + Hawlucha core on the team. (Even this is debatable as a niche IMO, as you can use Hawlucha without Rillaboom by giving it an Electric Seed instead, and Electric Terrain benefits teammates with Electric moves, whereas Regieleki is stuck with a functionally useless ability.)
2. Be faster than Zeraora and Choice Scarf users improving its matchup against them (yes, there's Dragapult, but it hits Regieleki through Light Screen thanks to Infiltrator, and Regieleki can't damage it at all, making Koko the winner here as it has U-turn to pivot out of it and is immune to Dragapult's strongest STAB move)

Both of these niches are done better by the other two viable screens setters in OU. The debatable #1 is done better by Alolan Ninetales which also helps the Dragapult matchup, being able to viably run a STAB move, and can utilise Encore and Hypnosis to pivot out. This may be an awkward form of free pivoting, but it theoretically allows Alolan Ninetales to do so against any Pokemon, rather than be blocked completely by Dragapult or other niche Ghost-types like Blacephalon, Gengar and Aegislash, as well as Damp Swampert, and aids setup by teammates. The typical disadvantage of Aurora Veil versus regular dual screens is the hail chip damage, but since one would have to be using Rillaboom to secure this niche, they would have Grassy Terrain to heal this damage. For proof, Alolan Ninetales has had more success than Regieleki in SPL, making its placement in C+ with Regieleki in B completely inaccurate.

#2 is done better by Grimmsnarl, as it has Prankster to set up at least one screen against anything except priority moves, which is the main unique thing Regieleki has that Tapu Koko does not, and also does more than that - it does far better against the omnipresent Dragapult than Regieleki with its typing - in fact, it may be the best check to it in the game, (probably more reliable than Bisharp against Specs as Flamethrower is often run on it) - and has access to Taunt, which is more consistent than Explosion at keeping screens for the reasons mentioned above. It also gets Prankster Thunder Wave for additional utility as an emergency check to speed-boosting sweepers, differentiating it from Tapu Koko and Regieleki.

The aforementioned Alolan Ninetales and Grimmsnarl are C+ and C rank respectively. As I believe them to do Regieleki's niches better than it can while offering more to the table on top, I think it is reasonable to unrank Regieleki, or put it at C absolute maximum.
 
:regieleki: Strongly agree on B to UR.
This may be a controversial nomination - I originally thought it was when others proposed going this far, proposing C+ instead, but upon further reflection I believe it does nothing better than any other Pokemon in OU. This is a long nomination, but one I think is necessary if proposing such a big drop.

Firstly, I'm not going to pretend any offensive set is remotely viable, Finchinator stated a while ago that its ranking was solely for screens, and unlike literally any other Electric-type ranked, it has no coverage for the Ground-types or Zeraora that are on every serious team for non-Regieleki reasons. Even Rotom-H and Toxtricity are better at an offensive set than Regieleki. There's only one remotely viable option (with adjustments in EVs possible, but the point is the same):

Regieleki @ Light Clay
Ability: Transistor
EVs: 96 HP / 252 Atk / 160 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Explosion
- Rapid Spin

Even in this role, Regieleki is generally outclassed by Tapu Koko, which is slower but still has a great base 130 Speed, has a more consistent pivoting move in U-turn, and can more consistently keep screens up with access to Taunt, which also blocks the hazards Regieleki's Rapid Spin removes. I suppose you could run Volt Switch if you want to surprise Dragapult, but then you can't hit Ground-types, and missing out on Explosion makes Regieleki outclassed by Tapu Koko. As Regieleki is reliant on Explosion to keep screens up, it can only set one consistently against Defoggers, whereas Koko can set two with Taunt lasting more than one turn. Explosion is a poor pivoting move in a meta with a premier Ghost-type like Dragapult too. Dragapult can threaten Regieleki's team with a Specs-boosted attack or cripple something with status, and it's faster than everything unboosted except Regieleki and Zeraora, and has Infiltrator to bypass screens. It's pretty much the public enemy #1 of screens hyper offense, and Regieleki compounds the weakness to it. This leaves two plausible things Regieleki does better than Tapu Koko:

1. Not set Electric Terrain, allowing the use of a Rillaboom + Hawlucha core on the team. (Even this is debatable as a niche IMO, as you can use Hawlucha without Rillaboom by giving it an Electric Seed instead, and Electric Terrain benefits teammates with Electric moves, whereas Regieleki is stuck with a functionally useless ability.)
2. Be faster than Zeraora and Choice Scarf users improving its matchup against them (yes, there's Dragapult, but it hits Regieleki through Light Screen thanks to Infiltrator, and Regieleki can't damage it at all, making Koko the winner here as it has U-turn to pivot out of it and is immune to Dragapult's strongest STAB move)

Both of these niches are done better by the other two viable screens setters in OU. The debatable #1 is done better by Alolan Ninetales which also helps the Dragapult matchup, being able to viably run a STAB move, and can utilise Encore and Hypnosis to pivot out. This may be an awkward form of free pivoting, but it theoretically allows Alolan Ninetales to do so against any Pokemon, rather than be blocked completely by Dragapult or other niche Ghost-types like Blacephalon, Gengar and Aegislash, as well as Damp Swampert, and aids setup by teammates. The typical disadvantage of Aurora Veil versus regular dual screens is the hail chip damage, but since one would have to be using Rillaboom to secure this niche, they would have Grassy Terrain to heal this damage. For proof, Alolan Ninetales has had more success than Regieleki in SPL, making its placement in C+ with Regieleki in B completely inaccurate.

#2 is done better by Grimmsnarl, as it has Prankster to set up at least one screen against anything except priority moves, which is the main unique thing Regieleki has that Tapu Koko does not, and also does more than that - it does far better against the omnipresent Dragapult than Regieleki with its typing - in fact, it may be the best check to it in the game, (probably more reliable than Bisharp against Specs as Flamethrower is often run on it) - and has access to Taunt, which is more consistent than Explosion at keeping screens for the reasons mentioned above. It also gets Prankster Thunder Wave for additional utility as an emergency check to speed-boosting sweepers, differentiating it from Tapu Koko and Regieleki.

The aforementioned Alolan Ninetales and Grimmsnarl are C+ and C rank respectively. As I believe them to do Regieleki's niches better than it can while offering more to the table on top, I think it is reasonable to unrank Regieleki, or put it at C absolute maximum.
Agreed, if u are gonna bother using it, use ring target +specs, outside of that niche no worth using it. If unknown comes back=hidden power this thing will have a big chance to go Ubers but currently is mon that needs heavy support to do something, screeners we have a lot, life Orb phys, I guess u can use it but yea. Ground types are too good to not use it, Zeraora is rising. In conclusion it is fun to use for specialize teams or YT videos but is the type of mon that I would hardly consider for an important battle
 
:Zapdos_Galar: C+ -> B- (or higher) (aka Bisharp 2.0)

This mon is ridiculous, 125 Attack + 100 speed along with a really good combination of STABS, and Defiant. Zapdos-G punches large holes on anything that doesn't resist its STABS and/or out-speeds it, which means that bulky offensive teams could end up collapsing, the problem is that Hyper offensive teams makes Zapdos-G faint and turn into a stuffed turkey, and this over-sized turkey doesn't have roost for some reason. but still, Defog users have to be wary about Zapdos-g switching in and sweeping some stuff
 
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Katy

Banned deucer.
hello everybody, here are some last minute noms from me, before the vr update will come:

RISES:

:weavile: higher, really destructive with the choice band set and a hard knock off which is a no drawback move to click, sd versions can also be powerful and its speed tier pushes it to a naturally speed control pokemon, which can easily pressure slower builds.

:scizor: also higher, proven itself as a great check to countless other metagame staples such as tapu lele, kyurem, and the grassy duo rilla-kart, provides momentum with u-turn and with sd and bullet punch it offers great priority.

:melmetal: up 1 subrank again, a few weeks / months ago i was adamant about it not being a great tool, but melmetal even if its only a small surge but it surged back onto not too little teams, and i feel its ready for a rise again.

:tapu koko: :tapu lele: :kyurem: all of them should rise as their special attack is monstros, especially in the case of the former two. tapu kokos heavy-duty pivot set is functional to great success both on ladder and tournament games, tapu lele and kyurem on the other hand are pokemon which arent easy to switch into, both with their respective dual stabs and coverage are devestating and with the choice specs set they clearly are devestating to a lot of teams. in tapu leles case calm mind sets even are functioning and in kyurems case sub+roost or dragon dance also led to success.

:volcarona: dangerous moth is back in business and once again terrorizes with its quiver dance set, is currently seen on offensive builds in which it had plenty of success with teammates like weavile, rillaboom, garchomp, kartana, and scizor.

:dragapult: rise to a+, that is definitely a no brainer,. this pokemon has the utiliuty and versatility to be in a bvetter league and i feel a+ relfects it better, as to how great this pokemon really is; speed control, hard hitter with specs, hex sets are supergood, and even sub + dragon dance sets have find their way on this pokemon with a lot of success.

:kartana: :bisharp: :dragonite: i put these also together in one batch. they are ready for a rise too, they see a lot of usage in tour games and have solid success in there, kartana with the SD and CB set is a monster on its level with not many consistent switch-ins, bisharp has been popping up in usage again and found its way onto some teams in which it had success, also priority sucker punch hurts and it is a great defog deterent. dragonite is pretty self explanatory, its usage and success speaks a lot and the heavy-duty dragon dance set found its way, and it even lets the bell chim with its niche heal bell set, which can be helpful too for teammates which dislike getting statused.

DROPS:

:latios: didnt see that in ages in tour games, is on at least only a few amount of teams and it didnt do anything remotetly on these teams, i would drop it to b rank as i feel b+ is way too high for it.

:regieleki: i think b oversells the qualities of this pokemons only niche, which is screens and even that i feel it gets outclassed by tapu koko its electric buddy and even ninetales alola has more use in terms of ho screens as it can disrupt weather from opposing teams (especially rain teams), alola ninetales doesnt have to fear ground-types as much as regieleki does due to freeze-dry which hits landot, garchomp, and swampert for super effective damage. hypnosis and encore are a great utility option, and even grimmsnarl has a better chance to get screens up in the ground invested metagame with its ability in prankster. i dont see why regieleki is better than ninetales-alola and grimmsnarl. so i would drop it to c.

:blaziken: our favorite KFC chicken sadly doesnt see better times, with so many pokemon in usage which are trending against it, toxapex, tapu fini, slowtwins, dragapult, it just doesnt see any breathing room and even landorus-t and garchomp can make blazikens life difficult. it also suffers the 4mss alongside getting worn down heavily by life orb and recoil-damage, which are evry detrimental for it.

:kingdra: i feel there are better rain-choices out there and with special attackers such as tornadus-t and zapdos on rain it finds its niche taken away. it didnt end up being on many rain teams if not to say on none. i feel b- oversells the niche it has on rain teams as they have found better special breakers in the forme of tornadus-t and zapdos as they provide much needed longevity as well with regenerator and roost, respectively.

NOMS I DISAGREE WITH:

:landorus-therian: hard disagree on a drop of it
:victini: b+ diagree
:slowking-galar: drop to b+ disagree

NOMS I AGREE WITH:
:zeraora: rise, agree
:urshifu: rise yes
:corviknight: agree


that is all what i have to say for now, thanks for reading and have a great day everyone!
 
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Victini for B+
494.png


Victini is a amazing mon in the ou meta, i think its better than nidoking,mandi,swampert,fini mainly bc of how versatile this thing is, its free to run anything it wants bc of its amazing movepool/defensive typing, with pursuit gone, it doesnt care abt getting trapped, with heavy duty boots it can ignore hazards, which was its biggest issue in the past gens. Hdb, mixed, banded, specs, so many fucking sets victini can run to destroy the meta. Victini is just so good at what it does. It has no effective counter also. The meta is super nice to it, since its so free to run anything it wants. Also, the ability is really nice since it makes vcreate/boltstrike/zen acc better. Also, has uturn, taunt, trick, etc.

CHECKS
:heatran: since heatran has no recovery, it can get worn down pretty easily by victini if its running scorching sands or brick break or just dont like taking bolt strike in general.
:garchomp: same thing w heatran, has no recovery and can die to glaciate or just not like tanking a wisp in general or taking vcreates.
:hippowdon: doesnt like taking toxic, energy balls, glaciates
:swampert: energy ball kills this shit, gets worn down pretty easily
:toxapex: 2hitkoed by bolt strike, psychic moves
:landorus-therian: doesnt like taking repeated vcreates, glaciate

While victini does have its issues like 4 move syndrome or its speed tier, the positives def outweigh the cons: its amazing movepool and its so versatile, imo i think its worthy of being a B+ mon.

Victini is super underrated and i hope someday it can be in OU, hopefully people use this amazing mon :heart:
 

Finchinator

-OUTL
is a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis the defending OU Circuit Championis a Two-Time Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
OU Leader
Rises

:Toxapex: Toxapex to S

Fuck it, Toxapex time. It was a cold November evening in 2016; millions of adolescents around the globe lined up at their local Game Stops...with no intent to spite the stock market. Quite on the contrary, each and every one of these sweaty teenagers was preparing to gear up for intensive Toxapex simulations by purchasing the hit new game that quickly became the talk of the town, poisoning gaming culture for years to come. The long awaited release of Pokemon Sun and Moon brought lots of very strong Pokemon, new intriguing strategies, and even Z-moves. Hype for all of these and more was through the roof! However, none of these even began to live up to the hype of our hero, the protagonist of modern OU and Pokemon Showdown!

Of course, it is Toxapex -- also known as Toxaflex, Godpex, King Pex, The Unkillable One, Pick Your Poison, Mega Skrelp, and Qwilfish's Hot Stepbrother -- which has been one of the best Pokemon allowed in OU since the early days of generation seven. With innumerable possible strategies ranging from tactical Regenerator loop switching to relentless Regenerator loop switching, it should be no shock that Toxapex has had such an impact on the competitive landscape, including raising the rates of childhood degeneracy by a whopping 33.3%. Even when you are able to seemingly pin down Toxapex with your offensive assault over countless turns of pressure, which is a rarity as is, Toxapex will end up near full health while your entire party will be burnt or poisoned before you know. And before you go ahead and write Toxapex off as just another pretty face with a strong ability that makes it challenging to kill like fellow Regenerator users Slowbro, Slowking, and Tangrowth, Toxapex is so much more than this! Ladder players may convince you Toxapex is just a stall demon or status spreader who will ruin your fun, but this is not true.

On contrary, Toxapex is a master of anything and everything competitive Pokemon. You will be scolding your opponent's into submission in no time if you add this metagame staple to your team. As the explanations for the drops below will show you, Toxapex has a wide array of possible sets that lets it function in just about every capacity one could recognize in competitive Pokemon. Wall? Yep, high base defenses. Breaker? It will make you shatter your screen out of anger, so you're breaking through the opposition with ease. Sweeper? Going to need a broom to clean up the remains of your opponent by the time you're done with them. Pivot? **Engages Regenerator loop** Lead? Get them Toxic Spikes up. You name it, Toxapex can do it comfortably and we will show how much of a metagame defining presence is by outlining the impact it has on drops below.

Ladder players may tell you that Toxapex is evil, Toxapex users have no regard for humanity, Toxapex was a mistake, or a number of other insults directed at the true god of Pokemon, but do not let their slander fool you this April. The reality of the situation is that Toxapex's unmatched strength reigns supreme in the OU metagame, triumphing over ill prepared opposition and nay-sayers due to the sheer skill Toxapex brings out in the many users of it. The folks who are not yet enlightened enough to fathom Toxapex's unmatched viabilty in the OU metagame may very well protest this placement, but we can say without a doubt that this is the only appropriate response to the current metagame state.

So without further ado, we are raising Toxapex to S rank effective immediately.


Drops

Previously people have cited lack of evidence as a reason to disagree with VR changes, so let's get right to it and provide direct, indisputable evidence for each of the following drops! I suppose there is nobody better to play but Gilbert Gottfried himself, the Toxapex visionary.

:Landorus-Therian: Landorus-T to B:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313005573-w7xv3dbjbnr6ck2g4z5l7r409oyzc48pw

As we see here, Landorus-Therian is both incapable of breaking Toxapex and incapable of tanking hits from it, making it a middling option in a metagame defined by Toxapex.

:Clefable: Clefable to UR:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313006209-uncyanp9tl8ffktc7kx27rwy44gpeokpw

Not only did Clefable lose to our almighty lord, Toxapex, but it did so while not doing a single damage despite going first. This is a clear sign of unviability if you ask me, so we are sliding it all the way down to UR as a result of its massive shortcomings.

:Ferrothorn: Ferrothorn to B+:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313007268-7lynqd4fi0z6tc7p1j05htengengijqpw

Ferrothorn had a chance if not for Toxapex's masterful strategizing, but given the unmatched intellect of Toxapex, it was able to outlast its inferior opponent. B+for effort, but this is all.

:Garchomp: Garchomp to B:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313008507-7wd8wcwidx47d612xbbguywxpk9ep8epw

Much like Landorus-Therian, Garchomp was no match offensively or defensively for our lord and savior Toxapex, supereme ruler of OU.

:Heatran: Heatran to C:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313009088-5l74md934os5dyhog31feefktz6s2r3pw

Heatran thought he had it all, but nope -- got cocky and absolutely owned by Toxapex the offensive behemoth.

:Tornadus-Therian: Tornadus-Therian to B+:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313009907-q79bm5log5kn5id4igmijij5zwudfa8pw

Tornadus-Therian got embarrassed so hard by Toxapex here that we let it stay in B+ out of sheer pity.

:Corviknight: Corviknight to C+:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313012407-kx15lmv4p26oztb0k2hanyfo3zgrhkxpw

Same ol' stuff here, clearly Toxapex's line of terror continues against Corviknight's line of pathetic failures here. Nothing out of the ordinary to see at all.

:Dragapult: Dragapult to B:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313013014-s821fpxelh0tdjrvhbymabj1qkfdx2fpw

Dragapult thought it could set up in Toxapex's face, but Toxapex got sufficient payback in the end.

:Hydreigon: Hydreigon to C+:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313014012-ixyrs2sr3o51ph82xyizo9a14haj3i8pw

Another Dragon type trying to set-up on Toxapex. They never learn...

:Kyurem: Kyurem to B+:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313015419-ai7xfad7ppyd2w9ensrwaslfja61dbgpw

Super Effective STAB off of 130 special attack being a roll to 4HKO says more than enough about Toxapex. Pops to Kyurem for keeping it close, so it can stick in B+.

:Rillaboom: Rillaboom to B-:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313016199-okxp54m79kl2b5viz2e0afr1fi8sbqhpw

Toxapex just OHKOing threats left and right while not being 2HKOd by Grassy Terrain Wood Hammer, crazy how strong Toxapex is and weak all the competition is...

:Slowbro: Slowbro to UR:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313017849-sgnvy7mpa8rdjmdt45xw924hp2ws397pw

One could say Toxapex showed no mercy to the poor Slowbro, who stood no chance offensively or defensively against the ever-so-prepared foe. Given how pathetic Slowbro was in this one, we're going to ship it to the shadow realm alongside Clefable.

:Slowking: Slowking to UR:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313019089-zdt1ipl0rhoxkancs55wuhsrdhhtwh5pw

Somehow Slowking was even worse than Slowbro, not getting off a single attack and getting OHKOd...crazy how much Toxapex shuts down the entire metagame.

:Tapu Koko: Tapu Koko to B:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313019926-1rw0j3vxmwoaktxp7c7g4g42ss2hgzfpw

Electric Terrain and STAB boosts are not enough to do the trick for Tapu Koko, but one Gunk Shot is more than enough for Toxapex to send the opposition far, far away.

:Zapdos: Zapdos to C+:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8ou-1313021142-6joqw4anpfaqau6xvz7560d7oety27lpw

And one last reminder how strong, durable, and strategic Toxapex is, it effortlessly muscles past Zapdos with Toxic while withstanding a consistent assault of super effective attacks.

In conclusion,

 
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