Resource SS OU Viability Estimates

[Slowpoke Fan]

SS OU Viability Estimates

​

Similar to the Demo Teams thread, this thread aggregates viability rankings from active participants of the metagame to give newcomers a better sense of what is viable in the tier. This thread will be updated whenever I receive VR changes from players who have given their input or new submissions from players who feel that they are qualified to voice their opinion, so feel free to contact me via PMs on Smogon if you want to contribute to this project . As usual, many thanks to the players who were kind enough to guide me in this project - this would not exist without you.

S Rank
1.

Dragapult
2.

Weavile

S- Rank
3.

Heatran
4.

Landorus-Therian (+1)
5.

Melmetal (-1)
6.

Tornadus-Therian
7.

Clefable

A+ Rank
8.

Zapdos
9.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike (+1)
10.

Tapu Lele (-1)
11.

Garchomp (+1)
12.

Ferrothorn (-1)
13.

Slowking-Galar

A Rank
14.

Kartana
15.

Slowbro (+1)
16.

Rillaboom (+1)
17.

Tapu Koko (-2)
18.

Toxapex
19.

Corviknight

A- Rank
20.

Tyranitar (+1)
21.

Dragonite (-1, down from A)
22.

Rotom-Wash (+1)
23.

Tapu Fini (+1)
24.

Blaziken (-2)
25.

Excadrill (+3)
26.

Blacephalon (+1)
27.

Volcanion (-2)
28.

Buzzwole (-2)
29.

Volcarona (+1)
30.

Gastrodon (-1)

B+ Rank
31.

Slowking (+2)
32.

Hippowdon (-1)
33.

Magnezone (+6)
34.

Zeraora (+6)
35.

Arctozolt (-1)
36.

Ninetales-Alola (+5)
37.

Victini
38.

Pelipper (-6)
39.

Blissey (-1)
40.

Moltres-Galar (+2)
41.

Skarmory (-6)
42.

Mew (+1)
43.

Barraskewda (-7)

B Rank
44.

Aegislash
45.

Scizor (+3)
46.

Nihilego (-1)
47.

Nidoking (-1)
48.

Hawlucha (-1)
49.

Hydreigon (+1)
50.

Zapdos-Galar (+1)
51.

Reuniclus (-2)
52.

Crawdaunt (+1)

B- Rank
53.

Celesteela (+2)
54.

Tapu Bulu (-2, down from B)
55.

Suicune (-1)
56.

Mandibuzz (+6)
57.

Bisharp (+6)
58. Tangrowth
59. Seismitoad (-2)
60. Cloyster (-4)
61. Amoonguss (+7, up from C+)
62. Jirachi (-1)
63. Kingdra (+4)
64. Kommo-o (-4)

C+ Rank
65.

Keldeo (-6, down from B-)
66.

Thundurus-Therian (-1, down from B-)
67.

Dracozolt (-3, down from B-)
68.

Necrozma (+6)
69.

Mamoswine (-3, down from B-)
70.

Venusaur (+1)
71.

Torkoal (+2)
72.

Swampert (-3)
73.

Moltres (-3)
74.

Cresselia (+7)
75.

Polteageist
76.

Regieleki (+3)
77.

Gengar (-5)
78.

Quagsire (-2)
79.

Azumarill (+6)
80.

Hatterene (+3)
81.

Primarina (-4)
82.

Latios (+4)
83.

Ditto (-1)

C Rank
84.

Rotom-Heat (-6, down from C+)
85.

Terrakion (-5, down from C+)
86.

Latias (+1, down from C+)
87.

Toxtricity (+1, down from C+)
88.

Shedinja (-4, down from C+)
89.

Marowak-Alola (+2)
90.

Porygon2
91.

Conkeldurr (added from Unranked)
92.

Zarude (+3)
93.

Alakazam (+1)
94.

Togekiss (-5)
95.

Avalugg (-3)
96.

Shiftry (-3)
97.

Haxorus (added from Unranked)
98.

Shuckle (added from Unranked)
99.

Darmanitan (added from Unranked)
100.

Cobalion (added from Unranked)
101.

Glastrier (added from Unranked)

Unranked

Raikou

Blastoise

Omastar

Ninetales

Note: This list is not meant to be an all-encompassing evaluation of Pokémon in the tier - you are highly encouraged to add Pokémon to the batch available in Glimmer's tier ranker if you would like to add a submission.

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

Archive

Spring 2024

SS OU Viability Estimates

Art by Merlusa​

Similar to the Demo Teams thread, this thread aggregates viability rankings from active participants of the metagame to give newcomers a better sense of what is viable in the tier. This thread will be updated whenever I receive VR changes from players who have given their input or new submissions from players who feel that they are qualified to voice their opinion, so feel free to contact me via PMs on Smogon if you want to contribute to this project . As usual, many thanks to the players who were kind enough to guide me in this project - this would not exist without you.

S Rank
1.

Dragapult
2.

Weavile

S- Rank
3.

Heatran
4.

Melmetal
5.

Landorus-Therian
6.

Tornadus-Therian
7.

Clefable

A+ Rank
8.

Zapdos
9.

Tapu Lele
10.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike
11.

Ferrothorn
12.

Garchomp
13.

Slowking-Galar

A Rank
14.

Kartana
15.

Tapu Koko
16.

Slowbro
17.

Rillaboom
18.

Toxapex
19.

Corviknight
20.

Dragonite

A- Rank
21.

Tyranitar
22.

Blaziken
23.

Rotom-Wash
24.

Tapu Fini (!)
25.

Volcanion
26.

Buzzwole
27.

Blacephalon
28.

Excadrill
29.

Gastrodon
30.

Volcarona

B+ Rank
31.

Hippowdon (!)
32.

Pelipper
33.

Slowking (!)
34.

Arctozolt (!)
35.

Skarmory
36.

Barraskewda (!)
37.

Victini (!)
38.

Blissey (!)
39.

Magnezone
40.

Zeraora (!)
41.

Ninetales-Alola (!)
42.

Moltres-Galar
43.

Mew

B Rank
44.

Aegislash
45.

Nihilego
46.

Nidoking
47.

Hawlucha
48.

Scizor
49.

Reuniclus (!)
50.

Hydreigon
51.

Zapdos-Galar
52.

Tapu Bulu
53.

Crawdaunt

B- Rank
54.

Suicune (!)
55.

Celesteela (!)
56.

Cloyster
57.

Seismitoad (!)
58.

Tangrowth
59.

Keldeo (!)
60.

Kommo-o (!)
61.

Jirachi (!)
62.

Mandibuzz (!)
63.

Bisharp
64.

Dracozolt
65.

Thundurus-Therian (!)
66.

Mamoswine (!)
67.

Kingdra (!)

C+ Rank
68.

Amoonguss
69.

Swampert
70.

Moltres (!)
71.

Venusaur
72.

Gengar
73.

Torkoal
74.

Necrozma
75.

Polteageist
76.

Quagsire (!)
77.

Primarina (!)
78.

Rotom-Heat (!)
79.

Regieleki
80.

Terrakion (!)
81.

Cresselia
82.

Ditto
83.

Hatterene
84.

Shedinja
85.

Azumarill
86/87.

Latios/Latias (!)
88.

Toxtricity (!)

C Rank
89.

Togekiss
90.

Porygon2
91.

Marowak-Alola
92.

Avalugg
93.

Shiftry
94.

Alakazam
95.

Zarude

Unranked

Raikou

Conkeldurr

Haxorus

Darmanitan

Shuckle

Cobalion

Blastoise

Omastar

Glastrier

Ninetales

Notes:
1. (!) signifies that there was an unusual level of standard deviation - users can interpret this as the Pokémon in question easily being ranked higher or lower according to different playstyles/preferences. This was not extended to the final two tiers as it is usually very difficult to differentiate between Pokémon of low viability, so high variance in submissions there is to be expected.

2. This list is not meant to be an all-encompassing evaluation of Pokémon in the tier - you are highly encouraged to add Pokémon to the batch available in Glimmer's tier ranker if you would like to add a submission.

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

The viability estimates have been updated! Feel free to post your thoughts here

This was my updated personal VR:

 

[Ox the Fox]

Posting my personal VR, S --> A is ranked for the most part, below that I kinda just threw mons where I thought they should go. I think the VR posted above is pretty solid for the most part, but I have some thoughts on some of my more notable placements.

- No question at all this is the best mon to me. It's the main thing stopping ghosts, lele, and SD chomp from running completely rampant and is able to win pretty much every matchup by smartly chipping any would-be answers. Nothing except for pex really enjoys switching into it and pex obviously has so many ways to be abused.

- I genuinely have no clue how this mon ended up ranking first. Specs is the only really good set, other sets like hex pivot and sub are great into some matchups but struggle a lot vs teams you can't spread status vs. It also doesn't really do that much defensively - sure you can check waters like shifu with it, but it can only do this once for the most part. You would love to spam s ball a lot of endgames, but oftentimes there will be a weavile that just sets up in your face and wins the game endgame. It's a great mon for sure but in no universe is it the best mon.

- Great mon, but a bit overrated. Tends to be overly reliant on hitting focus blast and has the same issue as Dragapult where locking into psychic can lead to weav doing too much damage.

- Not a huge fan of Dragonite, tends to be very do-nothing in most matchups and becomes so much worse when it gets knocked. DD sets rarely sweep and bulkier sets mostly just click roost.

I hate playing this mon LOL. Feels like every matchup where you don't have slowking or blissey (bar superpower) just turns into a guessing game of trying to predict which coverage they're going to click. Oftentimes just turns into sacking your most useless mon every time it comes in. Luckily it doesn't do anything defensively so it's hard to build with and gets low usage.

- I don't think I've ever brought this mon in a tour game. Relies too much on hurricane hitting and also sucks into so many matchups (sand, koko, etc.)

Bit underrated in my eyes. Feels like a slightly worse version of Weavile a lot of the time and is especially dangerous with hazard stack.

Another underrated mon - big fan of pairing it with rocky helmet mons to weaken lando as they u-turn. Difficult to build with though, I've tried so many versions of zolt sands recently and always find myself weak to something.

Big thanks to Slowpoke Fan for doing this!

 

[Runo]

The viability estimates have been updated! Feel free to post your thoughts here

How do updates work? Who participated in this one and do the older personal VRs still factor in any?

 

[igiveuponaname]

honestly i didn't really notice any changes between the previous vr and the new one at first and deadass thought nothing changed at all. i was curious on what changes there were so i compared the two side by side and took note of any placement changes. doing so was boring as shit but i got all the changes noted down and figured it was worth sharing here, ill post the current vr with the changes noted alongside it in a spolier tab below so it doesnt just take up the whole post.

VR with placement change notes

S Rank
1.

Dragapult
2.

Weavile

S- Rank
3.

Heatran
4.

Landorus-Therian (+1)
5.

Melmetal (-1)
6.

Tornadus-Therian
7.

Clefable

A+ Rank
8.

Zapdos
9.

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike (+1)
10.

Tapu Lele (-1)
11.

Garchomp (+1)
12.

Ferrothorn (-1)
13.

Slowking-Galar

A Rank
14.

Kartana
15.

Slowbro (+1)
16.

Rillaboom (+1)
17.

Tapu Koko (-2)
18.

Toxapex
19.

Corviknight

A- Rank
20.

Tyranitar (+1)
21.

Dragonite (-1, down from A)
22.

Rotom-Wash (+1)
23.

Tapu Fini (+1)
24.

Blaziken (-2)
25.

Excadrill (+3)
26.

Blacephalon (+1)
27.

Volcanion (-2)
28.

Buzzwole (-2)
29.

Volcarona (+1)
30.

Gastrodon (-1)

B+ Rank
31.

Slowking (+2)
32.

Hippowdon (-1)
33.

Magnezone (+6)
34.

Zeraora (+6)
35.

Arctozolt (-1)
36.

Ninetales-Alola (+5)
37.

Victini
38.

Pelipper (-6)
39.

Blissey (-1)
40.

Moltres-Galar (+2)
41.

Skarmory (-6)
42.

Mew (+1)
43.

Barraskewda (-7)

B Rank
44.

Aegislash
45.

Scizor (+3)
46.

Nihilego (-1)
47.

Nidoking (-1)
48.

Hawlucha (-1)
49.

Hydreigon (+1)
50.

Zapdos-Galar (+1)
51.

Reuniclus (-2)
52.

Crawdaunt (+1)

B- Rank
53.

Celesteela (+2)
54.

Tapu Bulu (-2, down from B)
55.

Suicune (-1)
56.

Mandibuzz (+6)
57.

Bisharp (+6)
58.

Tangrowth
59.

Seismitoad (-2)
60.

Cloyster (-4)
61.

Amoonguss (+7, up from C+)
62.

Jirachi (-1)
63.

Kingdra (+4)
64.

Kommo-o (-4)

C+ Rank
65.

Keldeo (-6, down from B-)
66.

Thundurus-Therian (-1, down from B-)
67.

Dracozolt (-3, down from B-)
68.

Necrozma (+6)
69.

Mamoswine (-3, down from B-)
70.

Venusaur (+1)
71.

Torkoal (+2)
72.

Swampert (-3)
73.

Moltres (-3)
74.

Cresselia (+7)
75.

Polteageist
76.

Regieleki (+3)
77.

Gengar (-5)
78.

Quagsire (-2)
79.

Azumarill (+6)
80.

Hatterene (+3)
81.

Primarina (-4)
82.

Latios (+4)
83.

Ditto (-1)

C Rank
84.

Rotom-Heat (-6, down from C+)
85.

Terrakion (-5, down from C+)
86.

Latias (+1, down from C+)
87.

Toxtricity (+1, down from C+)
88.

Shedinja (-4, down from C+)
89.

Marowak-Alola (+2)
90.

Porygon2
91.

Conkeldurr (added from Unranked)
92.

Zarude (+3)
93.

Alakazam (+1)
94.

Togekiss (-5)
95.

Avalugg (-3)
96.

Shiftry (-3)
97.

Haxorus (added from Unranked)
98.

Shuckle (added from Unranked)
99.

Darmanitan (added from Unranked)
100.

Cobalion (added from Unranked)
101.

Glastrier (added from Unranked)

Unranked

Raikou

Blastoise

Omastar

Ninetales

 

[Slowpoke Fan]

How do updates work? Who participated in this one and do the older personal VRs still factor in any?

Updates happen when I get enough (typically from prodding tour players) new personal VRs that materially change the rankings - the new ones have come from top players like Ox and Finch if you're worried about their reliability. The older personal VRs are still there, the idea is that more personal VRs from good players/builders will average out personal biases and give us a good idea of what is viable in the tier

If you're interested in contributing to the project, feel free to send in your personal VRs!

 

[Empo]

everything b- or below is kinda random, didn't put too much thought into that

 

[yone]

 

[ant4456]

I don't feel strongly on a lot of the Pokemon but my Top 5 is probably:

1. Landorus-T

2. Heatran

3. Clefable

4. Dragapult

5. Melmetal

Lando is an auto-include on anything less fat than a very longevity focused Balance or Stall, you know what it does, The Master of Utility- generates tons progress for BO/HO any time it switches in, great stopgap against threats, even uninvested EQ can dissuade opposing Pokemon from setting up in its face (let alone U-Turn into anything else). Outside of the fact that I feel it can struggle with longevity, which isn't a problem for 99% of the teams it finds itself on, it truly is a pretty perfect Pokemon for the format.

Heatran is IMO one of the best breakers in the tier while giving a lot of defensive value, I'd argue Gastrodon is one of the only good splashable defensive checks that doesn't have to run Shed Shell. If you don't have a Gastrodon you just forfeit half your HP to Fire Spin + Magma itself, -> Protect. It adds more 50/50s to a Tapu Lele, a good middleground check to a lot of answers, decent variety in sets. This Pokemon will be a stopgap like Lando-T for tons of the tier, it can't last forever but the amount of progress it gets from correct switches can be crazy at times. Great all-arounder that will break a lot of fat mons, stop a lot of strong mons, and just all-around put in work in every single game.

Clefable is hard for me to rank because I feel like a lot of its different sets are straight up different Pokemon, and that's a bit of the magic, seeing Clefable on preview actually doesn't always tell you what its capabilities are, and it's one of the few defensive Pokemon in the tier that requires scouting. You don't know if it has Knock, Rocks, T-Wave, Trick, CM set, even Life Orb mage until you're letting it in and clicking moves, but that's also because the core traits of just its stats + Moonblast + Soft-Boiled is already such a good check to important threats. When Crown Tundra started, Clefable I felt struggled a bit from the influx of power, but clearly I was wrong back then. It still finds ways to clutch up games that I don't expect it to, Magic Guard can still make it feel unkillable (especially against Balance teams), and it's still going to fit a role on most teams you use.

Dragapult is one of the two broken I would consider "maybe broken" but not actually, it's definitely bullshit at times especially with its SpDef drops, but it's also IMO fine to check, be it hazards, priority, an opposing setup sweeper, or Pokemon that can just take a hit or two -> Kill it back. Its frailness in conjunction with hazards means that while it is 100% a kinda insane momentum and chip generator, which also happens to push itself towards endgame at the end as well, it still needs to be pivoted in by other Pokemon half the time, and I don't see many Dragapult endgames where it's not well setup. One of the most interesting parts of Special Dragapult to me is its fourth move, and I feel that can be surprisingly great at filling in whatever weakness your team has. Hydro Pump is an option of course, hitting Lando/Heatran better as they are both (at least at one point) common SpDef stopgaps, but Thunder is IMO a great counterteam option against Rain, and Flamethrower/Fire Blast are nice as well for Ferro. Overall Dragapult is another Pokemon that puts in work almost every game.

Melmetal is a Pokemon that I feel does so much work even when it's not actually doing anything. Melmetal is a trusty friend on your team that you can switch into on any offensive threat to say "Not today", and in that respect it's also Another Stopgap Check to a lot of threats, but it's also good at making progress itself of course. The reason I put it at the bottom of these 5 is because using a contact move twice in a row in SWSH is a bit tough. That isn't something unique to Melmetal, of course- Urshifu, Weavile, etc. but in the case of Weavile even resisted Triple Axel is doing unga bunga damage, Surging Strikes can make huge progress which makes up the risk... Melmetal kinda just can't click it on the defensive set because it's not worth it. That's where Toxic comes in, but I don't know, maybe I'm just not good at using Melmetal yet (when SWSH was CGOU I kinda stopped playing in 2022, where Melmetal became even more common- I've been using it more nowadays), but I feel like it's just more annoying to make progress with than the rest of these Pokemon. Lando-T can Knock Off things that resist it, Heatran's Magma Storm doesn't give a fuck about resistances, Clefable can run a bajillion moves to shit on you, Dragapult can U-Turn out or SpDef drop fish. Melmetal kinda just has to Toxic things it doesn't like, Earthquake Heatran if it tries to switch in, or generally just accept taking the damage from the attack + hazards and :salute: out.

 

[lolebruh]

This is my personal viability rankings

 

[Unstoppable1]

Victini is op, too many useless mons, maybe i missed something in the lower tiers (why two slowkings but no chansey)
Empo`s tier list looks very interesting, Tornadus in the same tier with Kartana/Zapdos and a few more things that i dont understand, but ok

 

[Smashburn]

NEW​	OLD​

UR -> B-
Shoutout to Slowpoke Fan for putting me onto this. Honestly I have been pretty impressed with the cheesemaster itself, the performance on hyper offense is impressive and it enables slower sweepers with the opportunity to setup and steal a game. Grimmsnarl has a favorable typing and ability compared to most screen setters. Dragapult is a struggle for hyper offense, so the additional legroom is really nice. Being able to deny opposing screens and hazards is also a huge plus. This team (https://pokepast.es/56d4569836107d51) I have been using is a decent example; while it lacks hazards, the offensive pressure Grimmsnarl puts on most leads is enough to maintain momentum. However, it does have a terrible lead matchup into Tornadus-Therian without Thunder Wave, but that can be tweaked. Most matchups are doable, with Grimmsnarl it is about overwhelming force.

THE BIG THREE
Some people rank these three differently than I do and that is fine, but to me these are the big three. Offensive setup sweepers that occasionally get forgotten and suddenly make a resurgence when everyone remembers what they can do. Volcarona has some nasty set variety that makes it difficult to check between its offensive sets, bulky sets, and wide movepool. Blaziken is a great offensive staple with a linear gameplan, but it is so potent in the right matchup that it does not matter whether you expect it or not. Dragonite is my favorite, it can be shaky in a bad matchup but there is so much room for it to suddenly steal a game. Generation nine has been disappointing, but it also showed me the kind of variety Dragonite can have. I have experimented with Life Orb and Red Card, or Scale Shot and Breaking Swipe for example. Pure cheese is bliss.

B -> B-
I tried to convince myself last time that Zeraora was worth it, but it is really bad. I would much rather use Tapu Koko, who is better in almost every way possible. I place it on-par with Thundurus-therian, who in my opinion is more consistent than Zeraora.

 

[IPF]

Cool to see some other guys making their lists so made one as well. Meta has for sure settled so a lot of the cheesier picks have fallen out of favour, and of course this is one of the most top heavy gens ever, but there's still a lot of room for creativity and some cool picks/sets that can take advantage of current team picking teambuilding trends

 

[MAX UND MAX]

 

[ojr]

these are not ordered within tiers btw

yap

S: clef is broken as utilty, weav has broken speed tier and can beat through its checks v easily, tran has great utility and can beat through its checks. thats why these are S tier.
S-: lando is always good, lele is like weavile but stronger but ur slower. melm is broken but it doesnt have a set that is consistent in every game. rillas grassy terrain is way too important in this tier and glide is just a nice safety net. pult does funny sball thing but it needs more time than lele. shifu fsight is the most reliable way to play.
A+: zap misses hurricane too much to be higher than this rank. gking is consistent as fuck. chomp is just rly good but not broken enough to be s. rotom is great utility but is suffering from tankchomp and aromaclef being common these days. ferro is here bc spikes are amazing and almost nobody else sets them. a well played cm koko just dunks on so many teams. kartana is not S bc of staticbody. torn is a bit overrated but it gets the job done so cant hate too hard.
A: slowbro is just reliable but doesnt have much broken element to it so its just A. gastro has slowly but surely become a metagame staple and would definitely be ou if it was still current gen. volcarona can always beat ur team with the right set so its broken but a little fishing. volcanion is in a non rotom matchup an S- mon. pex is not that great but it does what it does like nobody else does, also tspikes makes it stand out a lot. fini i rly like cuz its terrain helps kind of like aroma and last mon fini in endgame often just wins on its own. buzzwole is a reliable guy if u use him with fsight otherwise meh. blaceph has no bad matchups but needs skill. corv is ok ig.
A-: hail/veil is just rly annoying to play vs and has proven to be very consistent, cant ignore it. gmolt is kinda like blaceph but a little less good. koko does not hold it back btw Ox the Fox. dnite is a little bit fishing but a lot of teams lose to it so its kinda like volcarona lite but with better utilty, also is hindered greatly by clef. skarm gets em up but doesnt fit on a whole lot of teams. ttar is nice but please stop using the defensive sets just use cb. the chicken is underutilized and is a secret broken but it kills itself unfortunately. victini is reliable but isnt that special either. exca suffers from a lot of top mons but exca sand is never truly bad. reuni skill-checks a lot of teams so it punishes you from cheating in the builder. nidoking is like lele lite but actually has some checks and it cant run scarf. peli is just ou essential, specs is forever underrated.

this is where OU ends the rest is just BL material or worse. everything below A- just matchup fishes increasingly harder or has other blatant flaws.

 

[dex]

yes.

 

[Pheo]

 

[Leavers]

Ordered from S - A+

 

[Smashburn]

My opinions about viability have changed fairly substantially since my last viability estimates rankings, so I think this is due for an update. Do note, nothing here is in any specific order unless otherwise specified.

S: , ,
What can I say? Birds fly, frogs ribbit, and creatures made of metal beyond human comprehension do whatever they do. I think these three hold a very special place in SS OU. Tornadus-therian never dies; Heatran has too many sets; Melmetal is difficult to kill.

S-: , , , ,
I don’t feel I have to explain any of these- other than Garchomp. Garchomp doesn’t and won’t dethrone Landorus, but its performance in the last year was more than enough to consider it on-par with the rest of S-.

A+: , , , , , , ,
Again, these are self-explanatory.

A: , , , , , , ,
I really want to emphasize Volcarona, Tapu Fini, Corviknight, and Dragonite here. I was very impressed by the performance of SubSwarm Volcarona as of late, especially with Hatterene, which I will cover later. Tapu Fini is a rather solved 'Mon, but invested CM LO + Hydro Pump caught my eye on several hyper-offenses. I am not a fan of Corviknight personally, but NBM solely convinced me that it has a serious place on successful teams even if it is just a passive bot. Dragonite- and I want to emphasize this- is LOW in A-tier. I like Dragonite's defensive and offensive profile into offense teams, but into everything else it's just so mediocre. Contact effects this, Rocky Helmet that, Weavile, Garchomp, Rotom-Wash, Corviknight, Ferrothorn, Scarf Lele, Air Balloon Heatran, Buzzwole, etc. the list is so exhaustively against Dragonite's favor.

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Okay, so, three figures I want to focus on: Hippowdon, Zeraora, and sand. Firstly, Hippowdon has had a generational run in tour recently, and I personally have been enjoying it more on sand teams with Excadrill than Tyranitar. Secondly, my opinion on Zeraora has substantially changed. Its performance has been rather positive, and for me personally, variations of Bulk Up such as LO + Play Rough have made it a better endgame choice into Garchomp and Buzzwole. Lastly, Tyranitar. Tyranitar, by contrast to Hippowdon, has been having an awful run. I haven't seen much much if any offensive sand, and where I have seen Tyranitar it's been Braziltar rather than Bandtar. We all know how terrible that set is. I actually would have dropped Tyranitar lower if it weren't for Choice Band and its association to Excadrill on sand as an archetype, so it narrowly dodged B+.

B+: , , , , , , ,
Nothing much to say about these, fairly standard takes.

B: , , , , , , , ,
My apologies Hatterene, I was unfamiliar with your game. Seriously, the amount of times Hatterene appeared in tours recently astonishes me. Magic Bounce HO as an archetype in SS OU feels very different from USUM, but the threats really haven't changed (i.e. SubSwarm Volcarona, LO Weavile, etc.). My opinion about Suicune was also changed as of late, having seen its performance in tours. Turns out clicking Substitute, Protect, and Scald doesn't get old.

B-: , , , , , , ,
Choice Specs Hydreigon is a menace, I mean that sincerely. As for Mandibuzz, that one balance team featuring it has done numbers sheerly because Mandibuzz does nothing all game but click Roost and have a good defensive profile. Sound familiar? Now you might be asking, why is Latios ranked so far from Latias? The same reason Hydreigon is ranked in B-, Choice Specs. Latios also has a better speed profile which is great into Banded or SD Kartana. Draco coming off of Latios chunks steel-types, while its coverage moves typically threaten 1HKO or 2HKO on other targets.

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I don't have much to say about C+ other than the seemingly VERY low rankings of 'Mons I previously ranked higher, or would have ranked higher. Those include Keldeo, Primarina, Cresselia, Nihilego, Mamoswone, and Seismitoad- basically almost all of C+. Keldeo and Primarina are grouped pretty closely, they're both water-type special-attackers that do well on paper but perform under par. Primarina specifically, since it has the same defensive profile as Tapu Fini, but with one major drawback: low physical defense. Primarina wants to invest in its naturally higher special-attack stat, but with uninvested defense and without Leftovers, it can't actually check things like Urshifu and Weavile. Cresselia gained some traction recently in tours, accompanied by Suicune, but I'm not convinced just yet, no more than I am Reuniclus. Nihilego and Mamoswine fall into the category of "I can either snowball an entire team or get stonewalled and there is no in-between," so I'm less keen on them than I used to be. Finally, Seismitoad. Rain simply isn't that good anymore, I see it in tours, I see it in casual matches, I build rain, and I have to say that I'm just not impressed with its performance. That said, I'm really not impressed with Seismitoad either. You need really dedicated rain to use it, and honestly, a frail Zapdos check is not a good Zapdos check. Causes more problems than it fixes in the builder more often than not, aside from role compression on Melmetal rain.