might as well post more noms, except most of these won’t be as positive as the last ones.
A -> A-
i talked about it earlier but pex is far too passive and faces competition from other bulky waters like bro and fini who can actually pose a threat and support their team in a meaningful way. while at first i didn’t believe that pex should actually drop because of this, with the trend of more offensive teams in the current meta, that means that pex struggles to keep up. this should definitely be a consideration for A-.
A- -> B+
the truth hurts. corviknight is outclassed as a defogger, is incredibly limited in what it can actually check, and is rather passive compared to other defoggers. it’s outdone as a bulky steel by ferrothorn and melmetal, and as a defogger by zapdos and torn-t. while it’s by no means a bad pokemon, it’s definitely one that faces strict competition from other pokemon. i talked about this in my most recent (and now deleted) post on this thread, but corv cannot effectively wall the pokemon it’s supposed to check after it’s been chipped, forcing it to immediately roost on the switch, limiting its effectiveness as a physical wall.
with that being said, this will not stop me from slotting corv onto nearly every team i make, and it shouldn’t stop you either.
A- -> B+
ngl mag is definitely a mon who does not appreciate the removal of hidden power. being unable to guarantee the OHKO on ferrothorn with HP fire is definitely not good, and being forced to slot body press on its specs set to beat it isn’t giving any points in its favor either.
- 4 Def Magnezone Body Press vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ferrothorn: 104-124 (29.5 - 35.2%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
now of course, it still has the body press set, but imo it’s far too passive and i‘ve found it to be deadweight as soon as it removes the bulky steels on the opposing team. definitely should move this down to B+.
B -> C+
everything i said about corv also applies to this mf’s defensive sets. not to mention that there’s barely anything for scizor to reliably threaten, in a metagame where steel STAB is so easy to stop. a 4x weakness to fire leaving it vulnerable to heatran and the multitude of fire coverage running amok in the tier definitely does not help either. overall, scizor has had a huge fall from grace from its former OU glory, and it’s placement should reflect that.
C -> C-
is primarina powerful as fuck? yes. does that make her worth slotting onto a team over other waters? no. overall, primarina is incredibly niche and is hopelessly outclassed. being slow af while not actually being bulky enough to reliably take strong hits isn’t exactly helping either. she still hits like a freight train with her specs set, but is generally not worth a slot on a team over other water and fairy types.
C- -> UR
what the fuck does quagsire do in the current metagame? i said it about pex, i said it about primarina, and i’ll say it again about quagsire: there are numerous different water types to choose from in the tier, and all of them are far more viable. all in all, quagsire has no niche in the current metagame. it is incredibly passive, only fits on 1 team style, cannot threaten anything at all, and is easily overwhelmed by weavile, garchomp, buzzwole, urshifu-r, melmetal, and many others. literally ever physical breaker barring scizor can all 2HKO quag on the switch after stealth rock. and as i mentioned before, quag only fits on one type of playstyle: stall. so being an already weak, inconsistent pokemon that cannot reliably wall anything and only fits on a team style that kinda sucks as of rn should definitely not be ranked.
B -> B+
yeah, these last few noms are just mons that i forgot to talk about in my other post for reasons i do not know why. with that being said, let’s get right into why i think hydreigon is an underrated powerhouse in OU.
the thing is about hydrei is that you never know what coverage it’s running from team preview. now obviously, dark pulse is a given, and it can be assumed that it has roost for some longevity, but aside from that, there’s no telling as to what this monster has in store for whoever switches into its brutally powerful attacks. it has draco meteor as a secondary STAB option to annihilate damn near anything after a boost, earth power to slam specially defensive heatran thinking it could take draco meteor, flash cannon to dent the fairies who would threaten it with their STAB, fire blast to eviscerate ferrothorn and corviknight switch-ins, u-turn to pivot out of special walls such as blissey, superpower (with some attack investment) to threaten the aforementioned special walls, or even surf/hydro pump to OHKO lando before it can get off rocks to gain an immediate advantage early game. this thing is so versatile in deadly in what it can effectively run. now, unfortunately, its speed tier leaves a lot to be desired, being outsped by garchomp, dragapult, tapu koko, and weavile, all of which outspeed and threaten it immediately, and while its ability and typing provides valuable resists/immunities to fire, water, electric, ghost and ground, its multitude of weakness to equally common attacking types in ice, fighting, and a 4x weakness to fairy definitely hold it back from being even better. make no mistake however, as with the right team support, hydrei can become a fierce offensive threat and is definitely worthy of B+.
C+ -> B
access to a slow flip turn and stealth rock allows swampert to be an effective support mon with the ability to bring in teammates safely. swampert has a great defensive typing, solid bulk, and tons of utility moves. this helps swampert find itself a niche among its fellow bulky waters as a stealth rock setter. having a good matchup against most SR setters is definitely a nice thing to have, allowing it to scare off the heatran or landorus looking to set up stealth rocks early game and set its own entry hazards as they switch. it’s not a great pokemon, but it’s definitely an effective one.
C+ -> B-
tangrowth has tons of resists and fantastic physical bulk, which helps it stave off the offensive powerhouses the tier has to offer, such as urshifu-r, garchomp, zeraora, and kartana. and it’s not exactly passive either, with its 100/110 offenses, it can pose an offensive threat while still providing invaluable defensive utility for its teammates. unfortunately, the one thing truly holding tang back is its typing, which is both a blessing and a curse. resisting water, electric and ground is amazing for a defensive mon, but weaknesses to fire, flying, and ice is never a good thing. while its special defense leaves a lot to be desired, an assault vest set can circumvent its biggest weakness and bolster its bulk even further. overall, while not as effective as the tier’s other bulky grass type in ferrothorn, tangrowth has a solid niche in the current meta and it embraces it fully.