In usual fashion, here I am to make a VR post right after the update. This post contains a nomination that's been building up over the last few days, and I think I'm ready to discuss it now.
to S-
That's right, I firmly believe Salamence should rise to S-. Salamence has been one of the integral pieces of the meta since the very beginning. It has consistently kept its A+ ranking throughout all the meta shifts, and its no secrets why. The sheer splashability and usefulness of Salamence is quite insane. Salamence has been by far the best defogger we've had, being able to take on common entry hazard setters like Krookodile, cobalion, and Nidoqueen. Even now mence has been able to be reliable against rhyperior as of late by chipping it continuously with Draco Meteor over Hurricane on some sets. 3 attacks salamence is a menace, with nothing really wanting to switch into it in general multiple times. Furthermore, Dragon Dance Salamence is still a potent threat right now, taking advantage of the fall of celesteela to power through teams. Though, the rise of duskroc and aegislash does hurt it a bit. Mence even fits on stall builds as a reliable defogger and check to Pokemon like buzzwole and zarude. This leads me to another point: mence checks a LOT of the meta just with its typing and intimidate, not needing to invest in bulk. Going down the VR, this is just some stuff mence can threaten: keldeo, krookodile, amoonguss, tangrowth, zarude, kommo-o, buzzwole, gyarados, nidoking, mienshao, and Barraskewda. Now, you may ask why all this information matters to mence rising to S-. Well, what does it mean to be S rank? The ranking description states: S Rank describes Pokemon that provide dominant or multifaceted presences within the metagame. Whether it's through offensive, defensive, or supportive roles, S-ranked Pokemon perform at a top level of consistency, provide excellent utility and/or versatility, and prove key in shaping the metagame's trends and patterns. I believe Salamence fits this definition. It is incredibly consistent and provides great utility to any team it is on. Its versatility is near unmatched, only being rivaled by S rank Aegislash. Salamence can fit on any team archetype, ranging from HO to BO to Balance to Stall to Webs to Rain. Salamence has played and likely will continue to play an integral role in this metagame moving forward, and I believe it is time for Salamence to rise into the S ranks where it belongs. It doesn't have the immediate threat level nor danger of Aegislash or Keldeo, so sitting in a subrank below them along with Thundurus is more appropriate. Hope this post gave some insight as to why Salamence should be S-, and feel free to hit me up if you want me to go more in depth!
Also lets do some discussion points b/c why not :)
- hard disagree with a primarina drop. While prim has seen better days, Prim should stay A+ on the account of its RestTalk set. Specs is great and all but its not the main reason I'm using prim anymore. RestTalk provides amazing glue to so many teams, checking dangerous threats like Keldeo and Salamence while also psuedo-checking Lycanroc-D and Rhyperior. Primarina's ability to act as a Water-type resistance, Dragon immunity, fighting resist, and status absorber makes it very good in my eyes and would keep it in A+ based on this.
- though I do not disagree as much with a Prim drop I also don't believe rhyp should drop. While what was described in the discussion point is true, rhyps ability to trade with so many threats like Salamence, Lycanroc, thundurus, and aegislash still makes it dangerous. Its offensive presence combined with its defensive utility is still very potent and I would not drop it at all.
-This really comes down to this when discussing a rise: is scarf Jirachi good enough to be A? Defensive/rocker sets face a lot of competition from aegi and nihilego, so scarf is where Jirachi shines best. And yes, I do say Scarf Jirachi is good enough to be A. Annoying flinch haxes aside, Jirachi is great at being able to revenge kill a large majority of the metagame. Lycanroc, Azelf, Nihilego all drop to iron Head, and U-turn gets Jirachi out of poor matchups against Aegislash and Buzzwole, Healing wish is amazing utility, and its last slot is dangerously unpredictable, possibly being ice punch, thunder punch, or trick. Jirachi is a potent revenge killer in the meta rn and I support a rise to A rank based on this.
- as the person who first brought up the B+ rise I still think Azelf is potent enough between its pivot and nasty plot sets to set itself apart from the B rank and move up to B+.
- thought it should drop to B+ last time and still support a drop
That's right, I firmly believe Salamence should rise to S-. Salamence has been one of the integral pieces of the meta since the very beginning. It has consistently kept its A+ ranking throughout all the meta shifts, and its no secrets why. The sheer splashability and usefulness of Salamence is quite insane. Salamence has been by far the best defogger we've had, being able to take on common entry hazard setters like Krookodile, cobalion, and Nidoqueen. Even now mence has been able to be reliable against rhyperior as of late by chipping it continuously with Draco Meteor over Hurricane on some sets. 3 attacks salamence is a menace, with nothing really wanting to switch into it in general multiple times. Furthermore, Dragon Dance Salamence is still a potent threat right now, taking advantage of the fall of celesteela to power through teams. Though, the rise of duskroc and aegislash does hurt it a bit. Mence even fits on stall builds as a reliable defogger and check to Pokemon like buzzwole and zarude. This leads me to another point: mence checks a LOT of the meta just with its typing and intimidate, not needing to invest in bulk. Going down the VR, this is just some stuff mence can threaten: keldeo, krookodile, amoonguss, tangrowth, zarude, kommo-o, buzzwole, gyarados, nidoking, mienshao, and Barraskewda. Now, you may ask why all this information matters to mence rising to S-. Well, what does it mean to be S rank? The ranking description states: S Rank describes Pokemon that provide dominant or multifaceted presences within the metagame. Whether it's through offensive, defensive, or supportive roles, S-ranked Pokemon perform at a top level of consistency, provide excellent utility and/or versatility, and prove key in shaping the metagame's trends and patterns. I believe Salamence fits this definition. It is incredibly consistent and provides great utility to any team it is on. Its versatility is near unmatched, only being rivaled by S rank Aegislash. Salamence can fit on any team archetype, ranging from HO to BO to Balance to Stall to Webs to Rain. Salamence has played and likely will continue to play an integral role in this metagame moving forward, and I believe it is time for Salamence to rise into the S ranks where it belongs. It doesn't have the immediate threat level nor danger of Aegislash or Keldeo, so sitting in a subrank below them along with Thundurus is more appropriate. Hope this post gave some insight as to why Salamence should be S-, and feel free to hit me up if you want me to go more in depth!
Also lets do some discussion points b/c why not :)
- Mimikyu is honestly worth a spot on the vr, after the departure of scizor this mon already gets a million times better and that alone could be the explanation, but this thing also has some very unique traits in its ability always letting it setup at least once and its very good speed tier outpacing staples like Krookodile, its typing lets it bypass the 2 most common physical walls (mence and buzz) and in webs this thing can be very scary 100% agree.
- Azelf is good 0_0, the highest natural speed tier with the exception of regibad means that it fits perfectly on webs as a sweeper I've seen this thing many times tear through teams, as in general it also has a lack of good splashable counters. even priority isn't an instant KO on it as it isn't that frail, the pivot set is also a very good disruptor with its knock off and U-turn. it is miles above the more niche things in B as it constantly performs good.
- Being a steel type is very valuable, especially since aegislash isn't the end all be all and it opens up some awkward weaknesses. that's where Jirachi comes in, while it faces some competition from other rockers it also matches up beautifuly against rhyp and nihilego even krookodile gets u-turn'd and flinched, meaning that it can gets rocks consitently. it also has many options for utility in wish tect and various coverage, however where it really shines is in its scarf set revitalizing mons with HW, flinching everything and pivoting, even without investment it has some really nice defensive utility checking some really scary threats,it is a very good and splahable mon.
- I was never a fan of A tier Rhyperior and I do feel like a drop is justified, being a bulky ground is very good and while it can trade with many things in the tier that doesn't sound very A tier from me, as a lot of the times it can only handle one of mence, lycandog or thundy meaning that you kind of always need a secondary check for them, not being self sufficient is what makes it for me. even if Nihilego takes like 40% from draco at leats it inmediatly threatens it back, while rhyp's speed tier makes it much more vulnerable thanks to its speed tier.
- I am not very adamant for a drop and if it stays in the A rank is also fine especially because the AV set is very good, but even that set isn't a very solid check against Keldeo or Primarina because it gets blasted by their water stab and its general low damage output unless hitting super effectively is honestly disappointing, meaning that if lacking Ice Beam mence can beat it one on one. CM sets have also taken a back foot as even if theoretically they can cripple everything with status glowbro is still relying on chance and it needs plenty support to pull of sweeps making some team compositions with it not very flexible imo.
- Honestly I don't see what has changed or in general much reason for it to drop, as the meta is actually very favorable towards the conk when top offensive threats include Lycandog and Zarude which conk hard checks even when being low thanks to priority. Even when comparing it against its main competition in buzz conk is still a valuable pick as primarina shifts more to its bulkier sets and keldeo is the specs user of choice, buzz can only run in fear against them as it doesnt even 2HKO primarina unless running poison jab and unlike conk it can't pick off a weakened keldeo or absolutely blast primarina with a nuclear Facade that KO's with minimal chip, also conk is much less prediction reliant thanks to the natural power of its coverage even if conk CC's a moltres it still does massive damage while buzzwole not only barely 2HKO's but it also has to fear a burn. Its the uncounterable mon for a reason and its immense power and priority are enough for it to stay in B, a two subrank difference between conk and buzz is honestly very fair.
- I also am very against a Primarina drop with the same reasoning that Monky gave above, its RestTalk set is just fantastic as it can cover a great chunk of the meta by just existing, it relieves the pressure from mons like Zarude and Rhyperior from constantly having to switch into Aegislash and Salamence respectively. Its a great glue and status absorber that doesnt remain passive with its naturally high SpAtk stat. Also don't forget that specs and SubCM are still a very big threat to be accounted for.
from C to UR: Dragalge and Guzzlord haven’t received meaningful usage lately despite having theoretical niches, justifying an unranking given how costly the Dragon-type slot can often be. Slurpuff is an extremely predictable Pokemon that has fallen out of favor in comparison to another webs setter in Ribombee, which has more options and a better Speed tier that both improve its consistency.
A+ -> A
A+ to S-: I'm not going to go too much in depth about this because Monky25's reasoning was excellent, but I agree with this nomination 100%. Salamence has long been considered to be at the top of the A+ rank, and I think it's about time to acknowledge just how good it is and promote it to S-.
-> A-
I also agree with the general sentiment of Pelipper's rise. The standard support set is good but Choice Specs Pelipper is such a fantastic wallbreaker. Nothing feels better than KO-ing an Amoonguss with Hurricane, or just mindlessly spamming Weather Ball to almost 3HKO an Assault Vest Tangrowth as shown in 
- Articuno from Unranked to B rank because of this set
UR to C 
should drop It's insanely scary under rain but otherwise specs is reasonably easy to stomach. People are using stuff like Rest Talk Prim again, and dedicated rain counters are making their way into some teams (notably Mantine). While that reflects, to some extend, Keldeo's impact on the metagame, those are for the most part perfectly fine mons otherwise and I rarely feel forced to include them (unlike say, Aegislash or Thundurus answers). Sub CM is still scary on paper, abusing some passive answers like toxic Mantine, fat DM Mence and Tenta, but i've yet to see it working. S- or A+ both sound fine with me.
from S- to S: Thundurus has developed into arguably the most centralizing and pivotal Pokemon of the metagame. It is simply a phenomenal progress maker by virtue of its typing, Knock Off and U-turn access, and coverage and Speed that are both superb. It is incredibly consistent and forces metagame trends around its prowess, which justifies a bump up from S-.
from A to A+: In spite of its recent downward trend, Kommo-o has once again established itself as a top-notch Pokemon with many strong applications in the metagame. Swords Dance sets have really picked up and given it strong offensive importance, while its ability lends itself to making Kommo-o among the sturdiest and most splashable Ghost-type switch-ins the tier has to offer.
from A- to A: Previously a long-time candidate for a drop from A-, Celesteela has really been highlighting its defensive value recently. Convincingly pivoting in on Toxic Aegislash sets is fairly huge, though it also offers excellent additional utility with its coverage, the benefits of Leech Seed and Protect, and the ability to soft check many popular pokemon.
from B- to B: Another Pokemon that was likely dropped too harshly, Noivern is still quite the decent pick thanks to its absolutely excellent Speed tier and key access to U-turn, two distinct factors over Salamence. I would write more but Lily is a lot smarter than me so check her post out 
from C+ to B: Roserade has thrived in a post-Mew metagame, once again reclaiming a firm niche as a strong Spikes setter. The perks of its typing can feel quite nice with Primarina and Rotom-W both being strong picks, while it also can utilize Spikes/Sleep Powder to force progress in spite of the presence of various Steel-type checks.
from C+ to B-: At long last, Tapu Bulu is finally rising from C+. It has received sufficient exploration to prove that it truly has defensive merit in this metagame, functioning as a capable check to Pokemon like Keldeo, Kommo-o, and Barraskewda. Its usage has been quite notable and reflective of its niche, putting it above the more niche Pokemon in C+.
from C+ to B-: Volcanion can abuse its Water-immunity and immense damage output to take advantage of many rain structures, which are quite popular at the moment. Between receiving more general exploration and taking advantage of meta trends to grow more threatening, it certainly deserves to rise right now.
from UR to B-: Metagross has carved a pretty sturdy niche for itself in a post-Scizor metagame. It fills an important Steel-type slot on teams while offering many great traits, including a solid damage output, hazards, and the additional capacity to opt for a variety of effective, threatening sets.
from C to C+, 
from UR to C+: Although hail hasn’t taken the meta by storm in the same vein as OU, it still has a decent place in the tier thanks to Arctozolt being pretty incredible with Ninetales’s support. Its coverage and enhanced Speed are bonkers together, and with proper additional exploration it could come into its own even further in the tier.
from C to C+: While Regieleki still isn’t a game changing presence, it has seen some exploration that has yielded a clearer niche for it. Thunder Cage + SubTect sets can make for quite the devastating trapper under the correct supportive conditions, which has pretty steadily distinguished it from some of its main competitors.
from UR to C: Scolipede actually isn’t terrible in a Scizorless meta, who knew? Although it still requires decent support, an excellent ability and convenient coverage have given it the opportunity to function as a decent cleaner that many teams aren’t as prepared for as they may think.
from A+ to A: Zarude began suffering a slight downfall just after it finally rose back into A+. The advent of rain has supplied the metagame with several popular Water-type threats that Zarude fails to reliably check. This has relegated Zarude to being force to U-turn to make progress more often while additionally requiring builders to be a bit more careful as they slot it in.
from A- to B+: Starmie has fallen off a bit as the necessity of hard-stopping Keldeo has decreased. It’s still plenty potent, but doesn’t have tools that offer it the same consistency or utility as the other Pokemon in A-.
from A- to B+: Thundurus-T suffers pretty massive opportunity cost with how strong its speedier counterpart currently is. Its power and ability can still prove their individual usefulness, but Thundurus-I’s fantastic utility and splashability are often quite hard to pass up these days.
from B to B-: Chandelure continues to experience a massive fall from grace as Aegislash simply outperforms it. The advent of rain and a bevy of popular Water-types has also really hurt the spammability of its most powerful attacks.
from B to B-: Gardevoir doesn’t really receive enough usage to keep a spot in B. On paper it has a nice niche with Trace in a rain-infested metagame, but it struggles to consistently perform in other matchups and can’t tap into the defensive utility of its Fairy- or Psychic-typings well at all.
from B to C: Raikou sees a massive drop on account of unfortunately offering almost zero useful tools in the metagame. At one point it seemed like a decent Zeraora sub-in, though its lack of Knock Off has proven pretty fatal to its ability to force meaningful progress. It clings onto a niche for now, but could very well be unranked in the near future.
from C+ to C: Haxorus is in a pretty rough spot as a setup Pokemon given the massive competition it faces from both SD Kommo-o and DD Salamence. Choice Band still supplies it with a niche, though its lacking defensive utility in most scenarios makes it really difficult to justify lately.
from C+ to C: There are many solid defensive Water-types right now, including Primarina, Mantine, the Water/Ground bunch, and even Jellicent. With so many competitors that offer their own unique traits, Milotic severely struggles to distinguish its spot in the metagame, warranting yet another drop.
from C+ to C: This thing has barely received any usage since its inception and suffers pretty extreme competition from other Flying-types in almost any context it’d appear in. The metagame would need to shift a lot to be favorable to Tornadus.
from B to B+: Gastrodon is a phenomenal Pokemon on balance and bulky offense structures right now, and IMO deserves to be ranked higher than Seismitoad. It is one of the sturdiest answers to Thundurus in the meta, and the fact that it has instant recovery means it gets many more chances to come in throughout a game and be useful. It is also amazing against rain and crucially can always take 2 Close Combats from Barraskewda, easing the burden of staving it off throughout a game against rain offense. Gastrodon's high special bulk and HP along with good defense allow it to be a good sponge to a variety of hits throughout a game. It also blocks Volt Switch momentum from the Rotom formes, and can counter Nihilego sets not running Grass Knot. Finally, it can also aid the effort in holding off Aegislash in a pinch.
from B to B+: Umbreon has seen a lot of usage lately as a very study answer to many physical threats in the meta and Aegislash. Foul Play and its giant bulk + recovery with Wish mean that physical attackers must always be wary of boosting up too early against it lest they get dropped prematurely by Foul Play while Umbreon is able to tank the hit and be useful later on in the match.
from UR to C+: Lily has made a believer out of me with this thing! Sneasel is incredibly scary to come in on with its Dark + Ice STAB and blazing fast speed tier, matching Azelf and Zygarde-10% to be outsped by very little in the metagame outside of Scarfers and weather boosters. Sneasel reliably threatens a ton of great Pokemon in the meta right now, including Aegislash, both Thundurus formes, Salamence, Amoonguss, Tangrowth, Kommo-o, Zarude, and Galarian Moltres, among others. It can also threaten others like Krookodile and Jirachi once you have determined they are not scarfed, or prevent these from coming in safely to check it. It can also threaten Fairies or Mamoswine with Poison Jab/Low Kick depending on your choice of coverage. On the other hand, Sneasel is incredibly frail, and can take very few non-resisted hits. Because of this, I recommend trying out Lum Berry on it, as it allows Sneasel to come in on weak Scalds and not fear/set up Swords Dance against Scald/Toxic/Thunder Wave from the opposing team. Sneasel is frail enough that keeping it at 100% HP using Heavy-Duty Boots against rocks vs 75% HP without Boots doesn't usually make much of a difference in its survivabilty. I have been using it on the following team and have had a lot of success with it, so feel free to try it out: 
