AnimaticLunatic
I COULD BE BANNED!
To Jaajgko
While I apreciate the effort, tournament stats are also not best way to determine how good something is in the meta as a whole. Winrate in itself is a tricky mistress since these kind of things happen all the time in pokemon and in WcoP. Popularity of few pokemon can make other suffer as result. But I always felt like these viability rankings are meant more for lather then tournament setting (they still help imensly in building your team and getting handle on the meta). Now I have not followed the WcoP so I can not comment on trends, but I do not feel that week one of of tournament with new meta is a good way to judge a pokemon.
This is where I will try to justify myself. Rillaboom has many natural checks in the tire, and it is walled by a lot of things, but as you said it has only 2 constant walls in two flying metal birds. All other walls such as grasses can be overwhelmed by sword dance acrobatics set or couple of you turns. Tangrowth especially is prone to u turn chip and it has to watch out for knock off so that it would not lose rocky helmet. Mandibuzz walls it. yes, but a toxic from any of your teammates (Excadrill as prime example) put in a timer that also gets shorter if it gets its boots knocked off. It is one of few reliable revenge killers to Alakazam and it basically makes rain an auto lose situation for your opponent.
But these are not thing that make it great. What makes it great in my eyes how, while yes grass is not a good typing offensively in OU, it still breaks to many walls that wall other pokemon such as Urshifu and Cindarace. PDf clefable, SPd mandibuzz, Toxapex, Slowbro and Hippowdon are all walls that it either forces out or that can not safely switch in to it. It is one of few pokemon that can come on Zeraora and Exadril and threaten them offensively. So it makes pretty good cores with a lot of top tire offensive pokemon (especially Cindarace).And with how many people realised that Woodhamer is still good as secondery grass stab, it can still damage and threaten to kill a lot of its checks after some chip. And passive healing from grassy terrain is valuable to grounded pokemon, not only to Grassy seed users.
I feel like it is a more of A mon then B- myself, but I am biased since I have been very vocal on how this pokemon is basically a choice band Scizor of old (gen 4 to be more precise).
Edit: Flinch basically said everything I wanted to say. Dammit.
While I apreciate the effort, tournament stats are also not best way to determine how good something is in the meta as a whole. Winrate in itself is a tricky mistress since these kind of things happen all the time in pokemon and in WcoP. Popularity of few pokemon can make other suffer as result. But I always felt like these viability rankings are meant more for lather then tournament setting (they still help imensly in building your team and getting handle on the meta). Now I have not followed the WcoP so I can not comment on trends, but I do not feel that week one of of tournament with new meta is a good way to judge a pokemon.
This is where I will try to justify myself. Rillaboom has many natural checks in the tire, and it is walled by a lot of things, but as you said it has only 2 constant walls in two flying metal birds. All other walls such as grasses can be overwhelmed by sword dance acrobatics set or couple of you turns. Tangrowth especially is prone to u turn chip and it has to watch out for knock off so that it would not lose rocky helmet. Mandibuzz walls it. yes, but a toxic from any of your teammates (Excadrill as prime example) put in a timer that also gets shorter if it gets its boots knocked off. It is one of few reliable revenge killers to Alakazam and it basically makes rain an auto lose situation for your opponent.
But these are not thing that make it great. What makes it great in my eyes how, while yes grass is not a good typing offensively in OU, it still breaks to many walls that wall other pokemon such as Urshifu and Cindarace. PDf clefable, SPd mandibuzz, Toxapex, Slowbro and Hippowdon are all walls that it either forces out or that can not safely switch in to it. It is one of few pokemon that can come on Zeraora and Exadril and threaten them offensively. So it makes pretty good cores with a lot of top tire offensive pokemon (especially Cindarace).And with how many people realised that Woodhamer is still good as secondery grass stab, it can still damage and threaten to kill a lot of its checks after some chip. And passive healing from grassy terrain is valuable to grounded pokemon, not only to Grassy seed users.
I feel like it is a more of A mon then B- myself, but I am biased since I have been very vocal on how this pokemon is basically a choice band Scizor of old (gen 4 to be more precise).
Edit: Flinch basically said everything I wanted to say. Dammit.
Last edited:
from A to A+: Volcarona proved itself a great option in the current metagame due to its ability to defeat potential checks and counters with a varied assortment of Quiver Dance variants. This understated versatility allows for it to get around normal stops to it; for example, Safeguard helps with Blissey and Psychic helps with Toxapex. This allows for Volcarona to be a menace to opposing teams as a special win condition. 
from A- to A+: Corviknight is a staple on common stall teams, it is able to wall top options offensively like Excadrill and Rillaboom, and Presusre is a super practical ability. This allows for it to take back the title of top Defog user in the metagame. Previously, Mandibuzz was seen as more common and perhaps practical on balance builds due to how well it did against Wicked Blow Urshifu and Cinderace -- not being weak to Pyro Ball, but now the tier being freed up a bit plays into the 
from A- to A: Rillaboom is a great option on hyper offensive teams due to having strong priority, being able to deter opposing offensive archetpyes such as Rain, and also giving Grassy Terrain support that helps for options like Hawlucha. On top of this, it is a great soft-check to many things on balance teams and can function as a breaker with Choice Band or a sweeper with Swords Dance. All things considered, Rillaboom is now one of the metagame's best offensive options. 
from B+ to A: Kyurem, much like Corviknight, greatly appreciates the ability Pressure. It has recently been running a mixed SubRoost set that has been a cornerstone of some stall teams. It is able to waste lots of PP and force progress like nothing else. In addition, the Choice Specs set is slowly picking back up in usage, which is another reason for it moving up a whole two subranks. Finally, phenomenal natural bulk paired with Heavy Duty Boots goes a long way for the metagame's favorite Ice type. 
from B+ to A-: Skarmory is finally picking up as a lot of teams are electing to forgo focusing on hazard removal and instead place an emphasis on setting up their own entry hazards; Skarmory does a great job setting Spikes up and is also able to wall a similar assortment of Pokemon to the aforementioned Corviknight (Excadrill, Rillaboom, and Bisharp to name a few). 
from B to B+: Magnezone is finally breaking out into the metagame. Much like everyone's favorite YouTuber Finchinator predicted, Magnezone picked up in usage upon the recent bans. Specs Analytic is a potent special attacker, but Magnet Pull sets are also seen as very practical options due to Skarmory and Corviknight surging in usage. It pairs well with many Pokemon that struggle against those Steel types. 
from B to B+: Togekiss is another strong special attacker; the Nasty Plot variants do well against bulkier teams whereas Choice Scarf can put a dent in offensive teams. Overall, Togekiss is an annoying Pokemon to face, but besides from flinching antics, it is still a practical option due to its Fairy typing helping against Urshifu and the various sets it runs doing well against common structures. 
from B- to B+: Crawdaunt is surging as a physically offensive breaker in the metagame. The Life Orb 3 attacks Swords Dance variant takes advantage fully of the dual STAB combination that Crawdaunt has as well as Adaptability and priority Aqua Jet. It is oftentimes able to at least force a kill, potentially getting multiple against more passive teams. 
from B- to B: Aegislash is seeing more usage as a breaker with Choice Specs and Spell Tag oftentimes running Shadow Ball and Close Combat to help make it a mixed breaker against common bulky cores; Aegislash faces lots of competition from other Steel types, but it has a nice place offensively right now. 
from B- to B+: Ditto is used on stall teams to revenge kill certain offensive Pokemon and give infinite PP on repeat against opposing stall. It has surged in usage and viability over the course of OLT due to this. 
from B- to B+: Scizor is a great anti-offense option and practical check to Rillaboom and Kyurem for more offensive builds. It goes a long way with Swords Dance and Life Orb powering up an already boosted Technician STAB Bullet Punch and Knock Off. This allows for Scizor to be a sweeper with some utility as well. It does face stiff competition with other Steel types such as the aforementioned Aegislash and the Flying/Steel duo, but on the right offensive build it can be a satisfactory option. 
from B- to B: Hatterene's Calm Mind 3 attacks set featuring Draining Kiss for recovery has been doing well in the metagame, making progress via hazard setting challenging for bulkier teams and also posing as an efficient win condition that annoys many balance builds.
from B- to B: Hawlucha is a great win condition on hyper offensive teams when paired alongside Grassy Terrain Rillaboom. It is able to use Grassy Seed to activate unburden and boost Acrobatics damage; it has a nice choice of fourth moves to help it generate openings to sweep with Substitute doing particularly well against common defensive options like Toxapex, status inducing Grass types, and Toxic Hippowdon. 
from C+ to B: Meteor Beam + Power Herb Necrozma is a legitimate offensive threat, luring in things like Mandibuzz in particular, and can either pose as a win condition with Rock Polish or a Stealth Rock setter in the earlier game. With strong Psychic STAB and coverage like Heat Wave, this makes Necormza an underrated offensive option on the special end. 
from C+ to B: Toxtricity with Drain Punch and Shift Gear is able to prevent normal counterplay such as Blissey and Excadrill from safely defeating it. While Toxtricity is still frail and does not do much defensively besides checking Clefable and Toxapex, it still can do a lot to bulkier teams offensively and potentially clean up opposing offensive with timely Shift Gear. 
from C+ to B-: Weezing-Galar is a nice utility option with a disruptive ability and the defensive presence that it brings to the table can help tie teams together, especially if they struggle against Rillaboom and Urshifu. 
from UR to C: Dracozolt's mixed set is quite hard to switch in to. It was used a couple of times later in WCOP and recently on the OLT ladder. While it does not have much defensive use, it is able to dish out damage and when paired with Teleport, it is able to get in safely enough to justify use of it, so we decided to rank it. 
from A+ to A: Mandibuzz started off as a premier Defog option, but recently fell off a bit due to Pokemon like Clefable surging as Stealth Rock setters and an abundance of Toxic users like Skarmory and Hippowdon setting up hazards as well. In addition, Corviknight has quickly surged to the top of the metagame, leaving Mandibuzz as a secondary Defog option. It still does well against Rillaboom and Excadrill while resisting the Ghost type, but this is not enough for it to remain A+.
from A to A-: Slowbro is a fine pivot that has great physical bulk, but it struggles with a plethora of common attackers such as Urshifu, Rillaboom, Magnezone, and Aegislash, who are all improving in the current metagame. Slowbro has been a fringe pick on balance teams over the course of OLT and likely will surge up again once the metagame grows more stable, but for now it is overwhelmed. 
from A to A-: Rotom-Heat is still a solid option, but with a lot of overwhelming competition offensively and less Pokemon it can wall given the recent ban of Magearna and even Cinderace, it is harder to fit on to teams justifiably, especially with the metagame shifting away from balance being spammed so much as Rotom-Heat fits best on those teams. 
from B to B-: Chansey is simply seen as a less practical option when compared to Blissey, which can use Heavy Duty Boots and can abuse Teleport with more momentum because of this. Also, with Trick and Knock being so disruptive, it is hard to justify using Chansey as much regardless. 
from B to C+: Marowak-Alola simply needs to do too much to justify using it. It lacks to bulk and speed. It also struggles to pick between two abilities. Ultimately, not many people like it as an option outside of fringe styles such as Trick Room teams anymore unfortunately. However, there is still some viability on those archetypes. 
from B- to C+: Rotom-Wash simply does not have as much of a place in the tier as it once did. No sets stand out as common and while it can check a decent pool of Pokemon, it faces stiff competition among Rotom-Heat, fellow Water types, and a plethora of solid pivots and walls ranked higher than it. 
from C to C-: Snorlax probably is not worth using when every stall team has Haze Toxapex and every offensive team can easily overwhelm it, so it has fallen another subrank unfortunately. 
, 
reduce the uselfuness of Rain as a playstile
(Water/Fight one) from C+ to B
