The top 5 imo right now is
Weav/Tran/Lando/Clef/Torn or Koko
What does everyone think is top 5 or top 10?
all placements are ordered from top to bottom:
landorus-t is extremely splashable on nearly every team and is incredibly versatile in what he can do. physically defensive sr setter, choice scarf revenge killer, swords dance wallbreaker, lando can do it all. really, it just depends on
what his team needs him to be. you can never really go wrong with lando, hence why he’s indisputably the best mon in the tier.
ever needed a pokemon that exerts tons of offensive pressure while still maintaining a defensive profile? enter heatran, whose magma storm + taunt + toxic combo is so dangerous that not a single pokemon (aside from the opponent’s very own heatran) can safely switch in without being crippled. tran has an excellent defensive typing littered with 4x resists, and a handy ability that turns a would-be neutrality into an immunity. definitely among the best in the metagame, would probably be
the best if it had reliable recovery
boasting two incredibly spammable STABs in dark and ice, as well as high attack and speed, and you have a potent wallbreaker/revenge killer with tons of potent options. anything that would come in on triple axel would not want to take a knock off, and vice versa. only mon that can deal with weavile is tapu fini, and even then weavile can slot in poison jab on choice band sets to swiftly dispatch it (albeit not reliably so, as that would be far too prediction reliant). weavile exists to come in, fuck shit up, switch out and come back in later for round two. it’s especially dangerous when paired with future sight from the slow twins, allowing it to break past its defensive checks. honestly weavile is downright terrifying to face off against, and a top tier offensive threat in the metagame.
great defensive typing, access to all sorts of utility moves and the ability to wall most of the tier make ferrothorn a worthy top 5 contender. it’s a defensive mon that isn’t too passive when you combine its high BP moves in power whip, gyro ball and/or body press, and can support its team with entry hazards and leech seed. a severe weakness to fire definitely holds it back, but it still manages to find success in the tier.
phenomenal defensive typing in pure fairy as well as two great abilities and a wide movepool allow clefable to fill lots of roles for her team. she can set entry hazards, remove items with knock off, cripple opposing pokemon with status, heal her own team’s status, wall set-up sweepers with unaware, set-up with calm mind, and many more. she is extremely splashable on many teams and can do anything her team wants her to do, much like lando. although unfortunately, clef’s inability to dent the bulky steels that litter the tier holds her back from being a true top tier threat, but she definitely is a consideration for most teams.
to put it bluntly, dragapult is a real bitch and a half to deal with. having access to STAB draco meteor
and shadow ball is simply ridiculous. both moves are incredibly spammable on their own, but when combined, it becomes nearly impossible to safely switch into pult without eating a ton of damage. not to mention a speed tier of 142 makes it the second fastest non-scarf pokemon in the tier, second only to the uncommon regieleki. its other sets, such as sub-dd, t-wave + hex, aren‘t nearly as potent as the standard fast specs set, but they‘re still deadly in their own right and fit on quite a lot of teams. its access to u-turn makes it harder to deal with, as it can pivot out of danger and bring in a teammate who’s better equipped at handling its checks and counters. not to mention that its wide movepool allows it to pick from an array of coverage moves it can spam alongside its STABs.
yet another fast, offensive mon with spammable STABs, tapu koko isn’t as strong as weavile or as versatile as dragapult, but it’s still pretty damn effective as an offensive mon. thunderbolt and dazzling gleam are incredibly easy to spam, especially since pokemon in the tier who resist both are hard to come across. if you switch lando-t or garchomp in expecting thunderbolt, you will be hit hard with a dazzling gleam on the switch, and if you switch corviknight or melmetal to take a dazzling gleam, you will be slammed by thunderbolt. and the only ones that do resist koko‘s STABs are either uncommon or aren’t very good defensively, leaving blissey and ferrothorn as the only pokemon who can reliably sponge hits from it, and, like pult, tapu koko can simply pivot out into a teammate who
can reliably handle them, like hawlucha. now sure, its specs set isn’t as immediately powerful as lele’s, but with its lower power, it more than makes up for it with better secondary STAB in electric and better speed tier.
tornadus-t is the best defogger in the tier imo, and, like a lot of the pokemon we discussed so far, is very versatile in how he can succeed. of course, you have the standard fast bulky pivot set, but you also can utilize tornadus as a mixed attacker, assault vest user, rain sweeper, nasty plot wallbreaker, and many more. torn’s speed tier and access to regenerator only serve to make him even more effective as a pivot, as he can u-turn out into a teammate and regain lost health in the process. while corviknight gives him some competition as a defogger, it‘s slower and much more passive, making it more of a liability on faster-paced teams, unlike tornadus.
garchomp has always been a fierce wallbreaker, given its great offensive stats, solid speed tier and great STAB combo. however, gen 8 had given garchomp a phenomenal STAB move in scale shot, giving it not only a decent multi-hit move, but one that boosts its speed every time it hits. with this, garchomp can outspeed nearly the entire unboosted metagame (again, except for regieleki) and it becomes even harder to keep up with. while priority can definitely ruin chomp’s fun, by the time it’s finally taken down, the opposing team has most likely been worn down a lot, allowing its powerful teammates to clean up after it has broken down the opponent’s team for them. now, again, it usually requires a speed boost from scale shot to get going, and it gets worn down quickly with life orb recoil, but despite these flaws, garchomp is a threat that can demolish entire teams if given an opportunity to set up
remember what I said about heatran providing defensive utility while still exerting offensive pressure? yeah, the same thing can also be said for slowbro. future sight + teleport is fucking nuts, man, it allows its teammates to come in for absolutely free and dish out tons of damage, and when combined with future sight, allows them to overwhelm would-be checks such as toxapex. slowbro‘s (and to a lesser extent, slowking) ability to help its teammates break past their counters and proceed to punch some serious holes through the opponent’s team is simply ludicrous. this would definitely be higher if it wasn’t for slowbro being weak to TONS of common moves in the tier, such as u-turn, knock off, thunderbolt, and more. regardless, slowbro is a threat to be reckoned with and teams should always be wary of its offensive presence.
will make an edit that goes into more detail with this when I get back home
edit: it’s finally finished! let me know your thoughts and if you disagree with any of the things i said!
is a fantastic Pokemon with a potent offensive presence, but it is not S-. We just rose it to A+ and even that was not unanimous. The best Kyurem sets are very support reliant, oftentimes requiring reliable hazard control and some assistance when it comes to finding openings against ideal opposing Pokemon. Yes, Kyurem is strong and has stupidly good natural bulk, but S- is a territory for Pokemon that approach staple status in the metagame on certain archetypes, define the tier to an extent, and find their way into the conversation to be integrated on to many, many teams. Kyurem is not that at all. Kyurem is a strong Pokemon that is a pain in the ass to handle when you go down your teambuilding checklist, which is a testament to a great offensive presence and good set mix. But despite this, there are many limitations to it, causing it to only work on a handful of structures, and it is nowhere near as viable as the top 3-5 Pokemon in the tier because of this.
/
/
> 
> 
> 
11th best mon, zapdos is insane as an offensive presence and has a great defensive niche. it could honestly be top 10 over chomp or clef, but i just find those mons to be even better offensively and defensively 
bulky waters part 1, toxapex is still a defining defensive presence. however, most teams are naturally ready to overload and prevent toxapex from existing. while this isn’t inherently a flaw, the fact that so much stuff can beat pex is definitely one. it still walls important mons (WEAVILE), but overall idt it warrants top 10
bulky waters part 2, slowbro is a staple on bulky offense, and has been seeing great usage as a blanket physical check. however, the weakness to knock off sucks so hard, which hinders it pretty greatly from consistently operating.
bulky waters part 3, fini is a very good utility pick right now. however, it has some competition with other bulky-waters and fairies in terms of being a fat utility mon, which brings it down a bit. still, trapping sets are quite great and more utility oriented stuff is also good
- Specs set is threatening but DD sets are equally threatening and it can be hard to tell what you're facing.
I'd put on the final 2 spots so I'll just drop em in 1 group
