Resource SV CAP Viability Rankings

[spoo]

Even though Necturna got nerfed it could still sketch Poltergeist despite not learning it naturally through TM. That would patch up its main issue of no good Ghost STAB

Rage Fist is infinitely better than Poltergeist. After getting hit a single time, its BP is already almost equivalent, and it can scale far far higher. This allows Necturna to act as a wall, breaker, and wincon all at once. Rage Fist also can't miss, or fail whenever the opponent loses its item, or quickly run out of PP, and it doesn't depend on Attack or Speed investment. The two moves are not remotely equivalent or even comparable.

Necturna could compensate for losing Rage Fist by using other moves or other sets –– but what is it actually doing, right now, in the metagame? We don't know yet, because it's barely been a week since the nerf was implemented. If you're going to post in this thread, please try to support those opinions with evidence, even if it's just anecdotal evidence. Or at the very least, explain the reasoning behind your opinion, instead of just stating it in one or two sentences and not backing it up.

I already had to delete a one-liner since my last post two hours ago. You don't need to post an essay, or even a full paragraph, but it should take more than 10 seconds to think of and type out.

 

[SunMYSER]

to B+

Hoopa-Unbound @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magician
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 40 Def / 84 SpA / 92 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Knock Off
- Psychic Noise
- Drain Punch
- Gunk Shot/Thunderbolt

I've been liking Hoopa recently. It's a fairly decent role compression of Chugg answer+special wall+knock spreader that is pretty difficult for balance/fat to switch in on. Psychic Noise lets it bully a lot of mons that rely on their recovery. Drain Punch gets a surprising amount of use against steel types that try to switch into gunk/noise.

The last move is up to preference. Gunk+Tera Poison lets Hoopa become a solid late-game hemo and rev answer and generally lets it deal with fairies more easily, while Thunderbolt lets it further bully corv/skar and bulky waters like alomomola and Snael, who otherwise are a bit annoying.

 

[spoo]

PRE (sort of) CAPCL VR UPDATE! We have a new addition to the VR team, welcome Spammernoob! Fragments decided to set this one out as well.

Newly Ranked
Araquanid UR → B-
Iron Hands UR → C
Kitsunoh UR → S-
Necturna UR → B+
Ninetales UR → C
Pyroak UR → C
Shox UR → B-
Weezing-Galar UR → C

Rises
Gliscor A+ → S-
Cresceidon A → A+
Kyurem A → A+
Ogerpon-Wellspring A → A+
Iron Moth A- → A
Zamazenta A- → A
Alomomola B+ → A-
Revenankh B+ → A-
Hydrapple B- → B
Ursaluna B- → B
Cawmodore C → B-
Fidgit C → B-
Ninetales-Alola C → B-
Pecharunt C → B-

Drops
Dragapult S- → A+
Chuggalong A+ → A
Gholdengo A+ → A
Hemogoblin A+ → A
Deoxys-Speed A → A-
Landorus-Therian A → A-
Malaconda A → A-
Ting-Lu A → A-
Walking Wake A → A-
Dragonite A- → B+
Krilowatt A- → B+
Snaelstrom A- → B+
Hawlucha B+ → B
Heatran B+ → B
Rillaboom B+ → B
Rotom-Wash B+ → B
Skarmory B+ → B
Weavile B+ → B
Skeledirge B+ → B-
Enamorus B → B-
Hatterene B → B-
Manaphy B → B-
Ribombee B → B-
Serperior B → C
Clodsire B- → C
Dondozo B- → C
Sinistcha B- → C
Tomohawk B- → C
Toxapex B- → C
Greninja C → UR
Okidogi C → UR
Plasmanta C → UR
Reuniclus C → UR
Slowking C → UR
Torkoal C → UR
Tyranitar C → UR

 

[Fragments]

PRE (sort of) CAPCL VR UPDATE! We have a new addition to the VR team, welcome Spammernoob! Fragments decided to set this one out as well.

NO HE DIDNT

 

[Steam Buns]

Hello, it's time for some VR nominations

New
-> A- | Why did this get unranked? there has potentially never been a pokemon with a stronger offensive profile.
(post buff) -> S- | Say hello to your soon to be most hated mon in the meta
-> C
-> C
-> C
-> C
-> C
-> C

Rises
-> S | Please OU this is thing is so broken, I had to use skill swap clefable for christs sake
-> A | Only the tip of the iceberg has been touched for this mon, so bulky so strong can't be stopped with status its the perfect answer to a ghost riddled meta.
-> B+
(pre buff) -> A-
-> B+ | Mon is locked to bdrum but there is actually a lot of room to customize every other aspect, with a combination of traits as strong as cawm has you can't write it off until every option is exhausted
-> A+ | It's genuinely the perfect glue mon
-> B+
-> B
-> S-
-> A
-> A
-> B
-> B-
-> B- | those who know

Drops
-> A | why use arghonaut when arghonaut exists yknow?
-> A-
-> B | I have never been able to make this mon work but maybe its a skill issue
-> B-
-> C
-> C
-> C

 

[Suppletangerine]

Sorry if I’m missing it but what is the Shox buff?

 

[Spammernoob]

Sorry if I’m missing it but what is the Shox buff?

+18 SpA, +6 Def, +10 SpD, -18 Atk

Also got a movepool update for 2.0, most notable move I think is Earth Power (though I haven't looked closely).

 

[spoo]

Post-CAPCL VR update! sorry for the delay, Fragments didn't vote for two whole weeks, then I was out of town for a week, then I forgot for a couple more days, and now we're here. Let's all say goodbye to D2TheW who stepped down from the VR team after a long few years. fragments still never voted btw

Rises

• Gliscor A+ → S
• Cresceidon A+ → S-
• Garganacl A → A+
• Moltres A- → A
• Ting-Lu A- → A
• Zamazenta A- → A
• Clefable B+ → A-
• Dragonite B+ → A-
• Hydrapple B → B+
• Araquanid B- → B
• Hatterene B- → B
• Ninetales-Alola B- → B
• Ogerpon B- → B
• Tinkaton B- → B
• Tornadus-Therian B- → B
• Pecharunt B- → B+
• Shox B- → B+
• Blissey C → B-
• Dondozo C → B-
• Iron Hands C → B-
• Keldeo C → B-
• Weezing-Galar C → B-
• Corviknight C → B
• Latios C → B

Drops

• Kitsunoh S- -> A
• Chuggalong A → A-
• Iron Moth A → A-
• Kingambit A → A-
• Mollux A → A-
• Venomicon A → B+
• Deoxys-Speed A- → B+
• Malaconda A- → B+
• Primarina A- → B+
• Raging Bolt A- → B+
• Walking Wake A- → B+
• Necturna B+ → B
• Hawlucha B → B-
• Heatran B → B-
• Rillaboom B → B-
• Rotom-Wash B → B-
• Stratagem B → B-
• Venomicon-Epilogue B → B-
• Iron Boulder B- → C
• Ribombee B- → C
• Venusaur B- → C
• Volcanion B- → C
• Iron Treads B- → UR
• Slowking C → UR
• Torkoal C → UR

 

[Fragments]

Post-CAPCL VR update! sorry for the delay, Fragments didn't vote for two whole weeks, then I was out of town for a week, then I forgot for a couple more days, and now we're here. Let's all say goodbye to D2TheW who stepped down from the VR team after a long few years. fragments still never voted btw

Rises

• Gliscor A+ → S
• Cresceidon A+ → S-
• Garganacl A → A+
• Moltres A- → A
• Ting-Lu A- → A
• Zamazenta A- → A
• Clefable B+ → A-
• Dragonite B+ → A-
• Hydrapple B → B+
• Araquanid B- → B
• Hatterene B- → B
• Ninetales-Alola B- → B
• Ogerpon B- → B
• Tinkaton B- → B
• Tornadus-Therian B- → B
• Pecharunt B- → B+
• Shox B- → B+
• Blissey C → B-
• Dondozo C → B-
• Iron Hands C → B-
• Keldeo C → B-
• Weezing-Galar C → B-
• Corviknight C → B
• Latios C → B

Drops

• Chuggalong A → A-
• Iron Moth A → A-
• Kingambit A → A-
• Mollux A → A-
• Venomicon A → B+
• Deoxys-Speed A- → B+
• Malaconda A- → B+
• Primarina A- → B+
• Raging Bolt A- → B+
• Walking Wake A- → B+
• Necturna B+ → B
• Hawlucha B → B-
• Heatran B → B-
• Rillaboom B → B-
• Rotom-Wash B → B-
• Stratagem B → B-
• Venomicon-Epilogue B → B-
• Iron Boulder B- → C
• Ribombee B- → C
• Venusaur B- → C
• Volcanion B- → C
• Iron Treads B- → UR
• Slowking C → UR
• Torkoal C → UR

AHHH I FORGOR AGAIN

 

[spoo]

Here's our big VR update now that CAPPL is over and the post-Ramnarok meta has settled a bit. Thanks to One Last Kiss, Mada, Baddy, and Da Pizza Man for voting this time!

Newly Ranked

• Chromera UR → C
• Cyclohm UR → B-
• Jumbao UR → C
• Kerfluffle UR → C
• Lokix UR → B-
• Ramnarok UR → B+
• Scizor UR → C
• Tyranitar UR → B-

Rises

• Ting-Lu A → A+
• Zamazenta A → A+
• Mollux A- → A
• Revenankh A- → A
• Deoxys-Speed B+ → A-
• Pecharunt B+ → A-
• Snaelstrom B+ → A-
• Caribolt B → B+
• Corviknight B → B+
• Latios B → B+
• Tornadus-Therian B → A
• Rillaboom B- → B
• Stratagem B- → B+
• Weezing-Galar B- → B+
• Clodsire C → B-
• Garchomp C → B-
• Glimmora C → B-
• Toxapex C → B-

Drops

• Cresceidon S- → A+
• Equilibra A+ → A
• Kitsunoh A → A-
• Chuggalong A- → B+
• Landorus-Therian A- → B+
• Samurott-Hisui A- → B+
• Cinderace B+ → B
• Iron Valiant B+ → B
• Krilowatt B+ → B
• Malaconda B+ → B
• Miasmaw B+ → B
• Primarina B+ → B
• Raging Bolt B+ → B
• Shox B+ → B
• Walking Wake B+ → B
• Araquanid B → B-
• Iron Crown B → B-
• Meowscarada B → B-
• Necturna B → B-
• Ogerpon B → B-
• Tinkaton B → B-
• Barraskewda B- → C
• Cawmodore B- → C
• Colossoil B- → C
• Enamorus B- → C
• Fidgit B- → C
• Hawlucha B- → C
• Hoopa-Unbound B → C
• Iron Hands B- → C
• Keldeo B- → C
• Latias B- → C
• Manaphy B- → C
• Pelipper B- → C
• Excadrill C → UR

 

[Dead by Daylight]

ok, but did Fragments vote?

 

[Spammernoob]

ok, but did Fragments vote?

Surprisingly, yes.

 

[Lightniong]

B -> B+ / A- : I have no clue why it dropped a rank, but I think it's a crazy useful glue mon capable of addingcrazy utility for a team if not a little passive at times. Being a slow pivot is always a help especially for more frail Pokemon like Weavile and them, but it's also a great Knock Off absorber due to sticky hold, even though it can't switch into that much to absorb Knock Off, it can threaten Ground-types like Lando and Glisc with Ice Beam, glare is a broken-ass move that easily makes any pokemon hesitant about coming in to check it, plus it soft-checks almost every special attacker in the tier. This mon really deserves it's flowers as the sheer bundle of utility that it deserves.

B -> B+ : I think witht the edition of Ramarok sun's gotten better, Ramnarok kinda forces mons like Garganacl, Moltres, and other Fire-resistant types, all of which are just Wake/Bolt fodder, plus ram's also a good new edition to sun teams due to the defensive utility of soft-checking hemo + being a threatening sweeper in it's own right, + I think it's very customizable with it's last slot, you could run ram, ceru, rev, hemo, and moth, i woudn't call it underexplored, but i do wanna see people experimenting with it more per se.

B -> B+ : Same reasons as sun, plus is a really good knock off user on balance teams that can fit it

C -> B- : Hazard lead sets are pretty useful, better than most things in C tier anyway.

S -> A+ : I feel like this has gotten the "great mon fall off" effect where every team has prepped for it so much that it kinda can't do the thing that made it so good in the first place, don't get me wrong, SD sets are still a menace to society, and spikes/sr sets do bring a lot to the table defensively, it's just that most teams have prepared for that, and now it just has a harder time doing those things, so much that i don't think it warrants being anything special compared to the other things we have roaming around.

anyway exited for wcap, exited to see what all the eventual sv mainers coming to cap bring in with their perspective, and who knows, maybe i'll actually do writeups if time allows

 

[Cheryl.]

Some noms.

C -> B/B+: Wrote about Chromera a lot in my metagame discussion post so I won't dwell on it too much here, but C is definitely underrating this mon for how good it is at breaking slower teams while possessing self-sustainability and a better Speed tier than some breakers ranked higher than it currently like Ursaluna. It does require some babying with its reliance on Tera and meh offense matchup, but if Ursa can get B rank while needing all that and more, Chromera is surely up there with it. Personally, I'd rank it higher at B+ cause its shown to have some level of versatility with the builds you can use it on and it still puts in consistent work if its tour winrate is anything to go by.

B -> A-: Hatterene does the same thing it does in OU and I don't see much in CAP that explicitly makes it worse outside of Equilibra existing for non-Mystical Fire sets. Even then, it sees consistent usage on offenses because Magic Bounce utility is just too good and... yeah that's pretty much it. Just think its underranked for a mon that's not much worse than it is in regular OU.

A -> A+: RUN MORE OFFENSIVE GREAT TUSK. It will change your life. For real, though, Great Tusk is just that guy and I feel its due for a small bump for how consistent it is at hazard removing and threatening a variety of the defensive cores used in CAP. Defensive Tusk sets aren't bad still, but the pressure that a set like dual STABs + Ice Spinner can put onto most cores that lack something like a Snaelstrom can be ludicrous especially if you go Booster Attack. Between that and the number of coverage lures it can viably run (Rock move for Moltres and Zapdos, Supercell for Snael) Tusk is always going to get progress done beyond just spinning if you use it right.

B- -> C: I didn't bring Epilogue in Seasonal, but goddammit I tried to build with it and I don't see how its ranked above C at all. On paper you've got the shiest Tinted Lens STABs and a typing that resists the most dangerous priority in the tier (Hemo and Revenankh moves) and that's amazing. But in practice, being forced to take Rocks chip nullifies a lot of the utility this guy has for offense and moreso reduces the chances of it ever getting a successful switchin to use Coil. Ofc you can alleviate this with hazard control but doing all that for a mid Speed breaker with frankly garbo bulk is never going to be worth it for me when there's so many better and more threatening sweepers to run in CAP. Keep it ranked for the occasional god matchup into fat, but other than that this mon SUCKS. Chuggalong also completely mogged this thing's potential niche on HO by being immune to priority, ngl.

Shorter ones now.

A -> A+: Broken and defines the tier. Lowkey could put it in S for that reason but at least A+.

B+ -> A-: Mogs the recent trend-up of mons like Tornadus-Therian and has always been good into a lot of relevant phys mons like Revenankh, Great Tusk, Zama, etc. Can be annoying for Equilibra to deal with if you run Heat Wave as well. The gap between this and Molt shouldn't be so wide.

B -> B+/A-: Agree with everything Lightniong said above. Shox is great.

C -> B-: Does similar things as it does in OU but you also get to be a soft Hemogoblin check for HO which is dope. Moth is also more relevant here than in OU which helps bring this up as a good option for your Screens builds. Feels a fair bit of a step above the ultra niche stuff in C except for like, Latias/Tomohawk/maybe Colossoil. Maybe rise those too.

UR -> C: Also mentioned these two in the meta thread but yeah please rank them, they're viable enough. Could argue Navia a little higher cause it does have a pretty legit role on offense as a Hemo check and status absorber but C's a good start.

UR -> C: You've got to really justify why you bring a Treads over Equilibra but there really are some builds where the higher speed tier and unique tools like Ice coverage for Gliscors/DNites or Knock Off being Knock Off can really work out. Use it as a faster kinda sorta more offensive Equilibra that spreads Knock and I swear it's worth C rank.

If you're worried about A+ getting too bloated with my noms, idk all those mons are goats. Maybe consider dropping Ting-Lu? Probably don't.

 

[CapitanPabloskii]

I'd like to throw my hat into the ring here.
B -> B+/A-
It's very fat, fitting on every archetype except HO through it's sheer utility, but fits on bulky spikestack best and it checks a few key special threats like Dragapult, Chuggalong and Ramnarok which are hard to check defensively. It fits on spikestack nearly as great as Arghonaut in my opinion, with it having knock off, ice beam + volt switch for common knock absorbers and can absorb knock off itself with sticky hold if the team is lacking that. With glare and knock off it can put pressure on switches, especially on Equilibra switch ins which are super common.

C -> B-
I feel like it's often being used wrong, it really doesn't fit on the bulkier structures it's usually used on and offense teams love the strain it takes off with prankster + haze for many setup menaces along with checking Ogerpon-Wellspring. With it's good fighting/flying stab it can mismatch for any occasion, it never feels passive and it always hits hard with its 115 spA.

B- -> B+
With it's new usage spike, Tyranitar has come to my attention as a mon that can enter on many of the annoying special threats in the tier and punch a hole in the opposing team every time it's on the field with Choice Band.
It synergises well with Equilibra and the combination of Doom Desire, sand chip and Protect on Equilibra is genuinely disgusting.
Tyranitar can also be a very good check into Kitsunoh, Pyroak, Snaelstrom and many of the bulky flying types we have running around along with rising star Heatran which cap lacks defensive answers to.

A+ -> A-/B+
This might be a little short-sighted of me, but losing Encore made Cresceidon much easier to deal with and took our check to both of the bulk up priority mons. I loved using Cresceidon as this sort of stall-breaker and setup punisher on offense teams that relied on it heavily or else the team would fall apart. I haven't played with Cresceidon alot but it just feels super clunky and out of place to use now.

 

[spoo]

New post-WCAP slate will be up soon, here are some changes I will be voting for:

A -> A+
Probably the best wincon in the tier right now, tho I think the insane showing it had during WCAP will be hard to replicate in the future. A lot of folks just weren't fully prepping for the mon bc a) we had many players new to the tier, b) it was still a relatively new trend. The calls for S- or S rank seem a bit reactionary to me. People seem to realize now that rev is nuts and are preparing for it accordingly.

S -> A+
The meta's taken a more offensive turn lately, which has decreased both the commonality and effectiveness of SD Glisc, since its main niche is on fat/balance teams as a wincon that excels versus other fat/balance teams. When bulkier teams are good, Gliscor is good, but consistent fat feels pretty limited right now. Other trending wincons like SD snael, which is direct competition, and revenankh, which is an amazing check, are poor for Gliscor as well. Non-setup utility Glisc is still good but nothing special. Mon just isn't at the same heights it used to be at.

A+ -> A
This one's been a long time coming; pult faces more competition across all of its use cases, and the main playstyles where you used to see the mon - bootsspam fat and libra balance - have taken heavy downturns, in the former's case, or are just running other fastmons instead like Zama in the latter's case. Specs is cool and should probably see more use.

A -> A+
I think folks are starting to branch out from its main set more, thank god. Tera poison, BU-less spikes, and CB are all strong. Tera ground blast is still a good option. LO Boom sets are showing up a bit on HO. The standard tera fairy BU moonlight set is probably the best / most consistent, but has a handful of hard counters that kneecap its ability to make progress as long as they're in play.

A -> A+
Such a unique and powerful combination of traits for this meta, I don't think any other mon offers role compression quite like this guy. Physdef sets do a pretty good job at checking some of the scariest mons in the tier right now - hemo, woger, zama, rev & ghosts in general. SD gliscor, probably mollux's biggest opp, is trending downards. Can set rocks or spin depending on what you need. Good status absorber. Has great stab options that prevent it from being too passive / setup bait. Obviously not impossible or even particularly hard to take advantage of, but I think its strengths outweigh its weaknesses by far; it is such an honest mon that provides consistent value to any team it ends up on. Top 10-15 mon imo.

B+ -> A-
Defensive poisons occupy such a premier space atm - lots of what I said for mollux also applies here. The suite of mons that gweez checks is incredible, and it has fantastic synergy with Libra on double removal builds. Especially important because of how impotent Libra is as a remover versus any kitsunoh comp. Decent flexibility between options with Sludge + Wisp, Steam + Toxic, or double status. Toxic sets are best imo purely because of rev.

C -> B-/B
I voted this mon for B last slate about 6 months ago. At the time, I think you could've even made the case for B+, but I wanted to be conservative since it was still a pretty new development. This was before the rev explosion, though, and it feels like more of a B-/B mon than a B/B+ mon now. Offense also being more common hurts it a bit.

 

[shnowshner]

hi i meant to post this earlier but life got really hectic after my mom had knee surgery. these are all vibes based im just decent at the game and can only build teams under supervision

s- but it deserves s tbh
really good breaker, sweeper, revenge killer, all while being stupid fat. fantastic tera abuser and the rare good cloak user which really helps allievate pressure from a lot of annoying-ass moves. it can be hard to deviate from bulk up moonlight stabs at times but like do u need to? picking between claw and polt is usually enough and thats based solely on how much you expect to click knock or are weak to booster/chugg. people def have this on their radar more but i feel like the revenlution is just beginning.

s-
tbh i don't think cap changes enough to make ting lu not the best pokemon ever made. great on balance, great on offense, tons of set variety, high capacity for chipping and disrupting teams, and checks a lot of really scary threats at once.

a+
look people prep for this pretty hard but it's for a good reason. hemo can get out of control very fast and it has a great deal of set variety since all u need is espeed to be problematic. between coverage options, recovery, spikes, trick, explosion, tera blast, it's really tricky to maneuver around. not as splashable as rev who just has a fantastic defensive profile and can heal before anything else moves but still really strong.

a or even a-
it feels easier to punish argh than ever and the typing just isn't as good defensively as it once was. still annoying to face since spikes + knock can be good at spreading damage around but so much of the meta is capable of bullying it really hard, feels like it needs tera to function sometimes and a lot of teams seem built to force this tera and reroute their winpath after.

a
no encore means cresceidon is like the one guy here that's sorta inarguably worse. still a wicked good mon obviously but the amount of pressure it can apply has decreased dramatically and it's complete sub food should you play your cards right.

a
i mean he's good but a+???? u can tell the vr is a bit dated lmfao

a
the defensive profile is honestly quite good here but salt cure isn't nearly as reliable in cloak rev meta and we've still yet to invent a cap that makes clefable irrelevant. garg also doesn't appreciate sun being much stronger thanks to mala.

a+
mollux stonks are truly up. it's such a good glue mon with clear smog + lava plume, i think physdef sets are quite strong rn and the capacity to evolve its sets further is there. do not load eruption.

b+
broken ghost guy #2. hits like a damn freight train and you really need to be smart about what set it might run. flash fire gives it a number of free ins and makes bitter just horrifying, whereas weak armor can end the game on the spot. held back by being vulnerable to all the other ghosts (unless ur me and run tera normal) and being more tailored towards offense.

a-
dropped a rank for being the blindest son of a bitch on the planet. fuckj you tornatus hit your damn moves.

a
versatile as they get. fantastic dedicated lead, speed tier makes it incredible as an attacker, so many possible moves it can run.

b+
even with our increased options trying to remove hazards is often way more taxing than simply denying they ever go up at all, and hatt really appreciates the lower treads usage in cap.

b+
sun is still super good, sometimes a bit feast or famine but it has a swathe of threats it can abuse and malaconda itself can be a huge pain to play around and dispose of, it's not just setting sun and leaving. rank b+ too, if u run sun ho and don't bring wake ur actively throwing imo

b-
nav is good! please place it somewhere. i put b- since it's the wastebasket ranking for mons that u can actually win with.

b-
see above. serp is evil, i really value it right now. love yellow magic.

b
this demon is way to low. i feel like it hasn't had amazing showings lately but that's honestly because a lot of people don't understand u just tera normal it vs any team slower than yours and instantly win. the bad mu vs offense keeps it from the upper ranks and being rev food is a slight problem you literally need to build the whole team around. it's basically the most disgusting wallbreaker in the metagame but it also needs the most babysitting to reach that point, which is really the only thing keeping it balanced. the difference between chrom with and without tera is comical. i hesitate to rank it b+ since it's so good into bulkier revless structures that it's not even worth trying to check it so like why prep if that's your load, just outplay lmfao.

keep b
shox is the perfect mon for people who just actively disrespect their opponents. it has every annoying move ever made and the good matchups it has can feel completely unplayable on the other side. would 100% be in the a-ranks if you could choose to stay in with volt switch. the biggest issue is that once its spread knock and para and whatnot it sorta has to hope its team can win from there. i don't think it's as good as stuff in b+ but it's very legitimate on paraspam structures.

b
b+
who?

last but not least

b-
we should trust the judgement of our reigning circuit champ. spikes/encore/lash/dtail is very legit utility and the speed tier + regen is a great asset for the teams that can fit this. definitely experimental but baddy hasn't lost an important game with it yet which i think qualifies astrolotl as being more than capable.
i mean look at this shit
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9cap-897384
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9cap-898771
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9cap-901203
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9cap-2537670158-d20qf18hccpd3xoangaubtsscjtculqpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9cap-910057
tentatively putting it in b-, although he's the only one using it i think the point has been made.

 

[Brigtel]

Finally getting around to making a VR post, I think I have a lot of experience to back it up now

RISES:
The most important ones

A+ -> S- This guy is so good and useful I feel like putting it on every team. Having a blanket check to most offensive physical pokemon that brings exceptional speed control and can also be a breaker or a win condition is extremely valuable. It just fits on so many teams and always provides something. Life Orb tera electric wild charge is one of my favorites, various types of body press are also fun, and with roar they even help deal with the terrible Revenankh.

A -> S- Yeah he's still him. Current rank was an underestimation anyway, but I think when people realize this mon isn't just a late game sweeper and start using all of its options (notably bulk investment and moonlight, but even BU-less sets) it becomes clear that this mon is completely meta-defining. The way it makes your team so much less vulnerable to certain offensive theats is incredibly valuable, and it has a good bit of defensive utility with moonlight. You just don't need Hemo to be a sweeper. Though, with the new tera options people have been trying like tera poison, it is still a terrifying sweeper. I'll suggest some modifications to the current analysis.

B- -> A- Heatran is extremely underrated. I started noticing it when I was making early WCAP teams, and really tested it out in championships, and it works exactly as imagined. It sets up rocks that very few spinners want to come in on, it works as a check to threats like Ramnarok and Hemo, but importantly also to many utility mons on more balanced teams, like mollux and Kitsunoh, against which Heatran really shines. It spreads burn pretty easily with lava plume or will o wisp (covert cloak argh hates this), or both sometimes! Magma Storm can also ruin mons like Garg and Snael, its never easy to switch into, and the threat of tera forces your opponent to always think twice. Considering how good Hemogoblin is, having such a solid check to it is invaluable on any team. This mon also works great on Sun with Solar Beam but that's more niche. The only reason I am not giving it A or A+ is because people seem to be underprepared right now which has probably clouded my judgement a bit.

The rest

C -> B This mon is good and very threatening, I agree with what's been said in the discord. I don't its super crazy either.
A- -> A Snael is extremely threatening with its SD and toxic sets, many people just can't figure out how to deal with it and honestly it is a little much at times. It stuggles into rocks and faster paced teams but those are not the best teams imo. People have also been exploring the utility sets more, which are quite good, and which have also made the SD sets actually more threatening due to the difficulty of needing to deal with both types of Snael. Could see an argument for A+ but I'm not that confident right now.
A -> A+ Rev is extremely hard to deal with right now, to the point I would even call for it to be nerfed. Between covert cloak and all the different teras like tera fire and the possibility of facing Offensive tera ghost poltergeist, it is very hard to build a team that does not risk being exploded by some Revenankh sets. But it is still imo quite inconsistent, shadow claw is horrible damage and very undesirable into many matchups. Poltergeist is enormously threatening but incompatible with possibly the best move in the game, knock off (when combined with rocks). This often leaves Rev in a bit of an awkward spot to fit on teams. I think what has enabled Rev so much has been, in part, that its defensive utility has actually become much more valuable with faster paced games and the rise of threats like Ramnarok or Chromera that are otherwise very hard to switch into.
B- -> B Its good! But hard to fit. Provides defensive utility similar to ting lu with a few twists, as well as being able to knock off which makes it much harder to switch into. Play leftovers on it sometimes
B -> B+ Why not? Its a good knocker, its threatening to a lot of popular mons. I've liked playing it.
C -> B Its a fine mon I think it has proven its potential. Maybe B is a bit high when rev is so popular.
UR -> B- Not the best mon around but it deserves a ranking, its a very threatening sweeper.
UR -> C Fine, you can get a rank if you like but you still suck.

Drops:
A+ -> A- Yeah, get out of here!
S -> S- This guy is definitely not the lone S tier, still good obviously but I'm hesitating to even put it in A+. This guy just doesn't dominate unprepared teams like it used to, and faster paced games hurt it.
A+ -> A Cresc is still good but mons that annoy it are rising and it doesn't provide that much in terms of progress making. It is also less necessary than before.
A+ -> A Still a good mon but definitely not A+ worthy, it is not that easy to switch in and not the scariest threat.
B -> B- Its not bad but it doesn't do a lot. Even mons it is supposed to check require specific moves and it gets worn down very fast checking them.

The lower ranked mons I'll think more about, but feel mostly fine where they are.
Fraudwatch:
Not a strong enough opinion to call for a rank drop but these might be frauds

 

[Steam Buns]

Only a tourist in current gen meta so I can't really give an opinion on a majority of mons but I have thoughts on a number of the things I worked with during wcap

- In agreement with many others that it sits at the top right now, its kindof just gliscor with a new coat of paint

- yeah it surpisingly feels very good again I'd even argue that b- possibly is too low

- I don't know where I would rank it but this is the most broken thing in the tier right now and should be nerfed asap, yes hyperbole is my schtick but I'm also correct. It's shortcoming are real but over stated and bulky teams without rev against a well played chromera is unwinnable 99% of the time

- belongs somewhere in the A's, show me a safe switchin to knock glare ice beam I dare you

- somewhere in the B's (maybe higher :0), this won't make sense until you try it but banded poltergeist and power whip is just a 50/50 delete button and the mon somehow makes really consistent progress would love to see some more people try it

probably only C or B- but this guy is super underexplored, I think loaded dice was a distraction and have had very surprising success with tera fire banded flame charge in sun, to steamroll a damaged team, and flare blitz and eq as nukes if you can't do that. Theres also potential value in its coverage combined with toxic which in gen 9 is incredibly unique

some other honourable mentions for pokemon that I've messed around with and could see rising but not yet ready to suggest anything concretely


will hopefully do a set and teamdump soon to give some more context to this post

 

[Spammernoob]

probably only C or B- but this guy is super underexplored, I think loaded dice was a distraction and have had very surprising success with tera fire banded flame charge in sun, to steamroll a damaged team, and flare blitz and eq as nukes if you can't do that. Theres also potential value in its coverage combined with toxic which in gen 9 is incredibly unique

Yes, during a past meta, spoo and I noticed STABs + Toxic + Morning Sun was very difficult to switch into. I think there's some promise there, though it is undercut by Smokomodo's nonexistent bulk.

I will give my thoughts on rest of VR after I vote, I haven't looked super closely at the VR in a while. I also feel very out of touch w/ CAP meta rn (tourist fr).

 

[Cheryl.]

Most of the noms I made in my last post still stand but I wanted to update some after WCAP.

C -> A-: Yeah I underestimated this guy heavy. It's "barely" more checkable than in regular OU but yeah switchins to LO Poltergeist really don't exist. Fits like a glove on HOs ranging from Screens to Sun and provides invaluable defensive utility into threats like Moth.

A- -> A: WCAP showed a turning point in Pech becoming a truly consistent defensive staple of CAP like how it's been trending upward in OU these past few months. There hasn't been much changes in its sets, it still runs pivot or NP and very effectively at that, but I think its spike in usage during WCAP shows players appreciating its physical blanket checking capabilities more than before and I think its worth a small rise for that.

UR -> B-: Just think it has enough of a legit niche on offense to warrant a higher starting rank than C. It has the usage to warrant as well.

A -> A+/S: Nigh impossible to reliably check this longterm and it can tech itself with a variety of options for its "counters" while providing amazing utility into offense with Triage. Also checks a random number of mons and keeps my goat Chromera from becoming broken. I think in the current meta I would make S rank this + Hemogoblin.

B+ -> A-: Until this mon gets nerfed again (which, by the way, PLEASE.) it should never leave the A ranks. Incredibly annoying to prep for and constricts the builder heavily which in turn makes a lot of teams weaker into its teammates on HO. Remove Stored Power

A- -> B: who is this chud man lmao. This mon feels super out of place in the A ranks as it basically never gets used anymore and for good reason. Its just less reliable of a breaker and definitely less reliable as a sweeper with the amount of Sucker Punch counterplay CAP has. Accepting that you're playing 5v6 into any Argh team unless you go Tera Blast (which then gets walled by like, random Hemos man this mon is dicks in CAP LOL) is just ass I'm afraid.

Sun (Malaconda + Wake, could also see a case for Bolt) should rise a rank, its proven that its pretty consistent in tours. B- and C ranks should get some thorough cleaning done, there are a number of mons that are either better/worse than those ranks currently. Heatran/Teal Ogerpon/TTar/maybe Glimmora for example could totally rise from B-, meanwhile in C if you want to clean out some of the rubbish I'd get rid of E-Book (which is B- currently but is complete shit)/Serperior/Lilligant-Hisui/Indeedee/Iron Boulder/Iron Hands, probably more.

 

[Turn Up]

First time trying to make a VR post myself, WCAP gave me a lot of exp and understanding and I feel pretty comfortable in my understanding and have the ability to back my opinions one way or another right now. Apologies if it's wordy is my first time making such a post

Rises
A - S/S- I've always thought Rev was pretty damn slept on and WCAP has just gone to show how absurd his strengths are. He was a mon I was very actively keeping in mind throughout all of my wcap prep, and still managed to end our run getting 6-0d by him, admittedly due to a pretty bad 1 turn blunder, but the fact it only took getting 1 turn wrong so early into the game is also pretty telling of how powerful a wincon he is. On top of this I think his utility is pretty unexplored. Shadow Claw sets can swap it out for Knock Off on hazard teams, he easily blocks and can comfortably sit on 2/3 of the primary spinners of the tier, and can para and even if not used commonly even burn like crazy.

A+ -> S/S- All the popular sets on this thing are a real pain in the current meta. A lot of what CAP has introduced, and as such phased out, has come to benefit zama a lot. Stacking ghost types is not a common strategy which has phased Pech and Pult out of meta a lot more in comparison to OU, and Ghold and Kitsunoh (after it's first time in) can't switch into a crunch even from IPress, and Rev isn't able to do anything to IPress roar. On top of this there is just no reliable switch in to it's all out attacker sets, and it's a guessing game any time it comes in that can very easily lead to early kills, or at the very least big progress.

A -> A+ Not much to add on from other posts above, just a powerful mon that was probably dropped a little too far initially.

A- -> A Fantastic defensive profile atm and absurd utility. SD 2A seems to be the most popular set running around that, from what I have seen, but also imo probably the weakest. SD Water move/Toxic is an almost guaranteed progress maker whenever it's able to touch the field, only really falling short to Mollux & opposing Snael, who can only touch is back if it is a SD2A set. Utility sets however I think is where it's main strengths lie. Water move + Toxic even without boosting from SD is pretty tough to switch into, surprisingly a solid spinner despite it's rock weakness due to most ghost types not really being able to take it, or at least not wanting to stay in on a toxic, in a 1v1, and also can be pretty strong on balance/lighter offense teams wanting rocks but not full stack due to how absurdly well it's defensive profile ends up matching it into spinners. Also is a fantastic slow pivot mon, despite sharing the bulky water slow pivot niche with Alomomola, has a lower speed that can help in the Snael v Mola mu (and I'm sure others that aren't coming to mind currently), and isn't stuck using a water type pivot move into 2 top tier water absorbing mons. Could see Snael pretty easily being an A+ tier, I found it very difficult not to add it to basically any given team when I was building throughout WCAP, but I will give it some time, think it's in a really good spot and wouldn't be surprised if it's the next mon to blow up the way Rev did.

B -> A- I've been praising Shox since release but have never actually writter a VR post before so here it finally is. Insane fat guy who should be a cornerstone in basically any fat build ever. Maybe the single most reliable mon at hitting knock offs that'll actually do something to the opponent, and not just hit their knock absorber, with boltbeam shutting down the poison healing duo. Even just the threat of glare is enough to force switches out of a majority of the majority of attacking mons that get played, on top of a slow, meaty volt switch make shox a very annoying mon that will just slowly but surely whittle down an entire team in different ways.

B -> B+ Don't have a lot to say on this one because I was honestly just surprised to see it as low as it was. Is a staple to a majority of HO builds, and is especially almost a necessity on screen offense teams. I think AV has a lot of potential atm, I sadly couldn't find the right build to bring it out in WCAP but I realised how much potential it had in testing and is something I will try to show off in time. Not the best played game by opp by any means but example of hatt going demon mode cause I don't have too much to say/show for it right now, will hopefully have more solid reasonings next vr post. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9cap-895089

B- -> B+ It's weird to notice Heatran's strengths become so obvious after the Ramnarok launch, but I guess Rev stole a lot of Heatran's spotlight in my mind then, and I guess Hemo ditching tera blast ground has helped quite a bit. I believe he's pretty insane on offense structures right now, with magma storm being so difficult to switch in on, and earth power cleaning up half of the things that can actually switch in on it, leading him to being probably the most offensively threatening rocker in the tier. Defensive profile allows you to sit on Hemo, Mollux, Moth, and Ram which can otherwise normally roll an unsuspecting offense team. Definitely another one I'm gonna be experimenting with more and will report back on, but I feel a lot more confident in saying what I have than with Hatt

C -> B+ Crazy good mon on a handful of HO structures, and a really nice way to check Hemo while keeping consistent offensive pressure up. Could probably end up being quite a bit higher but I need to see more of it, it feels like it's only recently hit a big stride in popularity. I do personally really like it on sun, and think it hitting argh for the tera ghost polt 2hko on setup spam teams is kinda insane though

C -> B One of the scariest mons in the tier without a doubt, but requires so much support to really get going, and is also plagued by Rev being Rev, on top of being a tera hog. Could maybe see B+, but Rev and Zama run the tier a little too hard right now for him to be in the A's

UR -> B- I remember on last slate thinking it was crazy seeing Nav UR but I felt like too much of a noob to know if my gut was right, but most people seemed to agree. Crazy wallbreaking potential with guts wave crash, and I like how well it's defensive profile deals with Hemo & Cresc, who normally troubles offense so much, even if Cresc is not at all running around at all like it used to. Tera Normal is undoubtably the most popular route but I personally think tera ghost psyfangs is amazing to tech Rev/Argh/Zama and help the glass cannon squeeze in an extra few hits.

UR -> C Still working on figuring this one out but was a mon I was pleased with when building and testing with in wcap, choked pretty bad in practice but there is unearthed potential there for sure and C is pretty fitting for now.

Falls
S -> A+ Maybe it's more attributable to a lack of usage in recent, but I've only seen Gliscor dipping in recent times, and I think a smaller usage is more emblematic of that. SD Gliscor is foremost another victim of the rise of Rev, not being able to connect facades and only being able to hit weak knocks while taking Polt poorly, with tera only making it worse. Additionally a lot more offense running around is pressuring and breaking it down in ways that the previously slower meta was just falling short of. Still undoubtably very good, just not a super top dog at the current moment.

A- -> B+ He's a bit of a fraud sadly. STABs are poor offensively into CAP meta, and his ability as an emergency wincon if everything else goes wrong and you can manage to get the last turns right is stifled heavily by the rivalling prio spam of the tier. I think the best way to run him in current meta is as a tera fairy blaster, but that greatly limits the number of teams he can realistically be slotted on, to his detriment

B -> B- Tried to give Skarm a shot again recently and it was just falling so short in everything I tried to accomplish with it. Ipress gets completely outpaced by Zamazenta, Brave Bird, despite flying type being pretty powerful right now, hits like a wet noodle and there are just far better mons to put hazards up with, and can't even take resisted or otherwise weak neutral special hits without needing to instantly heal them off. Not quite relegated to the depths of C tier but does not at all hold up to it's contemperaries in B imo

Some other rises and drops I kinda agree with what other people are saying but also dont have a strong personal view/experience for
Rises
Drops