When I was looking at the updated VR, I was incredibly happy to see the changes that were made. I pretty much agree with all of them, except for one that really stood out to me:
Weezing-Galar.
C- --> C/C+
Weezing-Galar is one of the weirdest mons that we got in this generation. Neutralizing Gas, a unique Poison/Fairy typing, and a bunch of really strange techs as a whole that really make this thing stand out as a defensive mon and a generally interesting pick for hazard management. Though, given how much Weezing has started to outline its unique traits as of recent, I believe it being C- is greatly underselling the niche that it has as a hazard setter and a defensive Pokemon for Balance squads as merit of three, unique details and one notable observation.
1: Neutralizing Gas
This is easily the biggest reason I believe it is worthy of a rise. Unlike in UU where an Earthquake immunity is a lot more valuable, in OU, Neutralizing Gas's positive traits really shine all the more. In a metagame where Magic Guard Clefable, Guts wallbreakers, and Levitating Pokemon are prevalent, Neutralizing Gas allows for Weezing to
hard counter the former two and spread effective status thanks to Neutralizing Gas's ability to actively whittle down Wish Clefable with Toxic and punish potential switchins with its amazing utility moves/STABs. Conkeldurr's best option against Weezing is simply to remove its main form recovery with Knock Off; otherwise, it's a sitting duck as Weezing can either remove hazards, set hazards of its own, deal damage, or provide general support for its team. On top of this, the ability to spread Toxic Spikes with Neutralizing Gas allows for it to actively punish many Pokemon on the switch-in unless they are a Poison, Steel, or Flying type, with the added benefits that come from Neutralizing Gas's utility. This gives Weezing-Galar a giant niche as a hazard setter right out the gate, as it is able to legitimately whittle down and defensively check some powerful Pokemon that normally cannot be whittled down through Status or be easily walled respectively.
2: Unearthly Movepool
This is another really huge contention in Weezing's favor and further outlines its niche. Thanks to it having the ability to not only spread Poison, but remove hazards, clear statuses for its party, threaten Steel types with Fire coverage, threaten burns, take a target down with it using Destiny Bond, clear stat boosts, and incapacitate defensive mons with Taunt, Weezing is given grounds to be extremely unpredictable and malleable to its team's needs. The ability to smack Corviknight and Ferrothorn on the switch-in or Taunt Defoggers is the thing that stands out most to me, and allows for it to not only be a hugely flexible utility Pokemon, but also consistently perform as a Hazard setter without being needlessly passive. Will-O-Wisp is also huge for it, allowing for it to punish Bisharp switchins and cocky Zeraora/Terrakion/Vish users.
3: Unique, relevant typing
Weezing-Galar's typing of Poison/Fairy is fairly promising on paper. While not fantastic, it boasts a Dark resistance, a quad Fighting resistance, a Fairy resistance, and a Dragon immunity. However, what's the unique aspect of this? The biggest point is the fact that it is an active
Fairy check. This is huge, namely because of Clefable's prevalence and its ability to actually threaten it with Status. Not only is having a Fairy type in this meta fantastic to handle Dark and Dragon spam, but having a Poison type as well is incredible because of the fact it can actively threaten Fairy types (namely Clefable) with the idea of Poison STAB, and can switch in on Fairy types to greater consistency. It also is useful that Toxic cannot miss its targets on sets that prefer direct Toxic spreading.
4: Synergy with Wishport Clefable
As Finch and many others have already greatly described, Wishport Clefable is an absolute boon for the metagame. Being able to heal up any Pokemon for absolutely free is a godsend for Pokemon that can't reliably recover, and Weezing-Galar is no exception. It already is fantastic at soaking hits and dealing effective punishment, however, Wishport Clefable's utility allows for it to stay healthy while actively spreading hazards, which is unspeakably huge for it as a defensive Pokemon lacking reliable recovery. Additionally, it soft checking Zeraora and countering Conkeldurr is a huge benefit for Clefable. This being said, Clefable is one of the biggest reasons why Weezing-Galar's viability is mostly exclusive to Balance. It greatly appreciates Wish support, but its utility is mostly only of use for Balance squads.
The biggest reason why this isn't a huge contention and more of a side-note, though, is because of the fact that Weezing-Galar stacks on Fairy weaknesses; namely, Steel. However, recent metagame trends greatly compliment Weezing regardless.
Overall, Weezing-Galar has an incredibly unique, effective niche that is relevant to a lot of the current metagame as a Hazard clearer, hazard setter, and defensive Pokemon. Though, I recognize that it is dismantled pretty easily by special breakers, and it is greatly outclassed as a Fairy type, but C- undersells the consistency of its niche. I feel that it isn't something that is nearly the level of niche as other C- mons, and it deserves a spot or two higher.
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Another Pokemon that's been hitting the scene as of late that I believe deserves a rise as well is
Salazzle.
B --> B+/A-
This thing is a super blessed Pokemon. Being able to freely poison Steel types and Poison types, while simultaneously threatening to offensively dismantle most Balance/defensive cores is absolutely huge for it. Not only does it have a godlike offensive typing in Poison/Fire that breaks apart Balance for breakfast, but being able to freely Toxic its defensive checks/Pokemon that otherwise can't be poisoned is so huge in a metagame where the best defensive Pokemon can't even be naturally poisoned to begin with. Its typing is relevant, Corrosion is one of the best and most potent abilities in the game (especially right now), its speed tier is extremely good, HDB give it more staying power, and it pries apart Balance like no tomorrow with its merciless dual STABs. It was already described in greater detail earlier, but this thing definitely deserves a rise, especially since it's been proven to work, and
damn does it work.
Other noms I agree with but don't really need to elaborate on
: A --> A+
: A --> A-