some noms of my own
RISES:
A+ -> S-
dragapult continues to do dragapult things, especially now that chien-pao has been banned. it's not easy to deal with due to its crazy high speed, STAB combination and movepool, all of which combine to give it a huge variety of sets, all of which are difficult to switch into for a lot of the metagame. for instance, clodsire switching into dragapult expecting a draco meteor gets plowed by dragon darts from choice band sets or set up on by sub + DD sets. kingambit looking to take either one of its STABs can get will-o-wisp'd on the switch and crippled for the remainder of the game. great tusk switching in expecting choice band gets obliterated by choice specs. the current meta just has a difficult time dealing with it and its many sets, especially since its biggest check has left the tier. so as a result, i think dragapult should return to its old placement of
S-
A -> A+
another beneficiary of the chien-pao ban, roaring moon really appreciates its biggest counter and competition leaving the tier since it allows it to fulfill its role with less opportunity cost. CB sets are crazy strong, with tera dark crunch being able to 2HKO dondozo after stealth rock and DD sets are some of the scariest sweepers in the tier. in addition to this, its speed tier means it gets the jump on tons of offensive threats like iron valiant, garchomp and volcarona, and speed ties with cinderace, allowing it to threaten them with a KO. not only that but its bulk and typing means it has a lot of opportunities to come in and start wallbreaking or setting up, thanks to its many common resistances. it can even use this to its advantages by running a dedicated lure set with jaw lock, DD and roost to trap and remove certain pokemon 1v1
it, however, does have quite a few common weaknesses to go along with its resistances, and its speed tier, while great, means it has to tera or switch out against the likes of dragapult and greninja (if running ice beam). still a great pokemon overall though, and a huge winner from the recent bans. because of this, i think it is worth moving up to
A+
A -> A+
skeledirge is far and away the best of the unaware trio with who it can check and how it differentiates itself in its role from the other two. for
starters, being able to function as a strong defensive backbone for a team while maintaining offensive pressure with torch song is invaluable for a wall, since it allows them to fulfill their purpose
and break serious holes into the opponent's team at the same time, which is something clodsire and dondozo (who we'll get to soon) cannot find themselves doing. this makes it far and away the best volcarona check pre-tera (and is still really reliable as one post-tera), being able to beat most variants used to beat other unaware mons like clodsire. ignoring individual matchups, skeledirge's more well-rounded bulk and access to will-o-wisp means it's also capable of blanking both sides of the attacking spectrum, both physical and special, which is another advantage it has over its competitors. and its variety in tera types means it can pick and choose who it wants to wall at a whim, depending on what you want it to wall. need to resist dark to beat roaring moon? tera fairy. your team's struggling against rotom-W? tera dragon. need to tera to check kingambit but don't want to lose the tera 50/50? just run tera water and beat it anyway. skeledirge is just so good in what it does for a team and has so many options for what it can wall, especially now that chien-pao is banned. definitely a pokemon worthy of
A+
DROPS:
A -> A-
honestly, dondozo just feels way too easy to take advantage of. since whenever it hits the field and takes a strong attack on the switch, it has to immediately rest back up to full so it can come back in again later, which opens up a lot of opportunities for the opponent. it having to use rest to stay healthy really cuts into its reliability as a wall, since it means it's easy for teammates to get an opportunity to start breaking major holes through dondozo's team. if it isn't at full HP then it risks getting blown past by the pokemon it's supposed to check, like dragonite and roaring moon, and has to use rest immediately, putting it in a bad position. if dondozo had recover then i could see it staying at A rank, but because it doesn't, i think it should drop to
A-.
A -> A-
of the 3 main sources of hazard control in this metagame, hatterene is the one with the worst matchup into gholdengo, which says a lot considering how poorly i handle it myself. gholdengo matchup problems aside, it's prone to getting worn down too hard to the point where it can't heal back up with draining kiss thanks to its low HP, which is really bad for it considering how reliant it is on the move to stay healthy and check and/or sweep opposing pokemon, making its longevity a problem at times. not only does it fear strong neutral hits, its reliance on boosting to be a threat means it also really hates going up against the 3 unaware walls, especially skeledirge due to it resisting draining kiss and not caring about psyshock, all while threatening it with ghost STAB. and it's not just skeledirge it loses to, since garganacl also beats it with salt cure all while staying healthy with recover, cinderace chunks it for a ton with gunk shot, kingambit beats it, dragapult also beats it, dragonite and iron valiant pick it off after it's been weakened, hell, even great tusk can beat hatterene with the insurgence of the new bulk up set with tera fire. it's just a pokemon that loses to so much of the meta right now
and before you bring it up, i do think the eject button set with nuzzle and healing wish is better than the calm mind set, but its complete lack of longevity and immediate power makes it quite passive into a lot of pokemon, meaning it usually can't do anything other than switch out or pass a healing wish. overall, i think hatterene's worth dropping to
A-
B+ -> B/B-
why use this over great tusk? what does this pokemon do that great tusk can't? iron treads is weaker, frailer, has an inferior movepool and its one sole advantage over great tusk in speed isn't even that good since it doesn't even outspeed anything great tusk doesn't aside from pawmot, who dents it with mach punch and garchomp, who doesn't care about anything iron treads has (barring the rare ice spinner) and forces it out with the threat of earthquake. it's just not worth using over tusk, and as a result, i think it should drop to
B or
B-
OTHER NOMS I AGREE WITH:
A+ -> S-
A -> A+/S-
A- -> A/A+
UR -> A
B+ -> A-
B -> B+/A-/A
B- -> B/B+
A -> A- :(
A -> B+