Tier Shift Viability Rankings (Complete Revamp)

[insanelegend]

Hello and welcome to the Tier Shift Viability thread. In case you are unaware of the purpose of these threads, they are made to show which pokemon are effective and are useful on most every team, and those who are terrible gimmicks at best. While many players are familar with standard tiers such as OU and know what works and what doesn't, Tier Shift is a bit different. While some pokemon would normally be easily outclassed, they benefit from an increase to their stats which makes them a lot more viable. It can be hard for many players to tell whether to use tried and true top tier OU, or go with something that is an NU threat. Please help me to make this a helpful and accurate guide on what to use or ignore.
We will try to rank as many pokemon as possible, from S to D ranks. Assisting me in this are
Knight of Cydonia
Kingslayer2779
Peef Rimgar


S Rank: This hallowed rank is reserved for those few pokemon who are incredible in the current Tier Shift metagame. They wall or sweep vast portion of the meta. Support pokemon in this tier give very few free turns. These pokemon can either pull off many roles effectively or are amazing in just one role. These pokemon are also used at low risk while being able to reap high rewards. They may have flaws but these are remedied by their other traits. They require very little support.

S Rank

Wobbuffett

A Rank: This rank is reserved for those pokemon who are amazing in the current Tier Shift metagame. They have great offensive, defensive, and support potential. While they have more severe flaws, these are still overshadowed by their good points. They require little support.

A+ Rank

Alomomola

Altaria-Mega

Amoongus

Cresselia

Hippowdon

Metagross-Mega

Sawk

Sharpedo-Mega

A Rank

Aromatisse

Azumarill

Cobalion

Gothitelle

Heracross-Mega

Houndoom-Mega

Kyurem

Latias

Latias-Mega

Lopunny-Mega

Manaphy

Quagsire

Politoed

Scizor-Mega

Virizion

A- Rank

Charizard-Mega-Y

Chesnaught

Doublade

Gallade-Mega

Gyarados

Ferrothorn

Haxorus

Heatran

Hydreigon

Kabutops

Keldeo

Landorus-Incarnate

Mew

Meloetta

Ninetails

Pangoro

Pinsir-Mega

Reuniclus

Sableye-Mega

Slowking

Swampert-Mega

Suicune

Tornadus-Therian


B Rank: This rank is reserved for those pokemon who are very good in the current Tier Shift metagame. They are threatening, but they have more flaws that affect their preformance. While they are still good, they require more team support to be effective.

B+ Rank

Audino-Mega

Bisharp

Blastoise-Mega

Bouffalant

Cinccino

Dragonite

Durant

Escavalier

Glalie-Mega

Hitmonlee

Jirachi

Krookodile

Latios

Ludicolo

Omastar

Rhydon

Scolipede

Scyther

Starmie

Talonflame

Tangrowth

Thundurus-Therian

Tyrantrum

Venusaur-Mega

B Rank

Aerodactyl-Mega

Chansey

Charizard-Mega-X

Cofagrigus

Dragalge

Feraligatr

Gardevoir-Mega

Gilgar

Gyarados-Mega

Magneton

Pidgeot-Mega

Rhyperior

Rotom-Heat

Rotom-Mow

Rotom-Wash

Skarmory

Tyranitar

Typhlosion

Victini

Volcarona

Weezing

B- Rank

Alakazam-Mega

Azelf

Beedrill-Mega

Clefable

Crawdaunt

Diggersby

Empoloen

Granbull

Gliscor

Gurdurr

Goodra

Landorus-Therian

Mismagius

Raikou

Sceptile-Mega

Terrakion

C Rank: This rank is for pokemon who have notable niches in the Tier Shift Metagame, but are usually outclassed by another more common pokemon. These pokemon also need a large amount of support to be able to preform their roles effectively.

C+ Rank

Alakazam

Ampharos-Mega

Ditto

Garbodor

Golbat

Malamar

Serperior

Shedinja

Sigilyph

Slurpuff

Staraptor

Thundurus-Incarnate

Weavile

Victreebel

C Rank

Absol-Mega

Abomasnow-Mega

Arcanine

Archeops

Breloom

Klefki

Medicham-Mega

Porygon2

C- Rank

Darmanitan

Garchomp

Gengar

Hawlucha

Mamoswine

Moltres

Steelix-Mega

Togekiss

Whimsicott

D Rank: This rank is reserved for pokemon who are simply terrible or mediocre, but are barely good enough to warrant a place on some teams. These pokemon do not have any special niches, or are capable of doing one specific task but fail when attempting others.

D+ Rank

Electivire

Mandibuzz

Tornadus-Incarnate

Sylveon

D Rank

Aggron-Mega

Jolteon

Manectric-Mega

Primeape

D- Rank

Diancie

Donphan

Linoone

Smeargle

Bidoof Rank: Reserved for pokemon like Bidoof who are not good enough to warrant a place on any serious team. Please do not use them except as gimmicks as they are terrible.

Please post intelligently and help put all the pokemon in the ranks they belong in. Thanks and this is now open for business. Also, thank you everyone who has contributed an analysis

 

[insanelegend]

This is what your analysis posts should include.
Name: for obvious reasons
Abomasnow-Mega
Sprite: (not needed but helpful)

Basic Info: (Tier Shifted Base Stats, Abilities, etc)
Typing: Ice / Grass -> Ice / Grass
Abilities: Snow Warning / Soundproof -> Snow Warning
Base Stats: 100 / 142 / 115 / 142 / 115 / 40
What it Does: (pokemon x's role in the metagame)
Mega-Abomasnow is one of the best wall breakers in Tier Shift. Its amazing 142 Attack and Special Attack give it great mixed attacking prowess, while Snow Warning negates Leftovers and helps it stall out many pokemon lacking Leftovers, including Rocky Helmet Alomomola. Its typing is also fantastic, letting it take care of many common walls and cores. Some of these walls include Amoongus, Alomomola, Hippowdon, Avalugg, and Gligar. While pokemon like Heatran and Scizor might counter it, they should think twice about switching into Earthquake and Hidden Power Fire. Many pokemon like the above two can't switch in, as its movepool is great and includes Bizzard, Wood Hammer, Giga Drain, Ice Punch, Earthquake, Focus Miss Blast, and Hidden Power Fire. It even gets some nice priority in Ice Shard! Its bulk is good, but with 7 weaknesses (the most of any pokemon) and its only recovery being Giga Drain, it can't take too many hits before it dies. Its meager 40 speed also holds it back as it is outsped by pretty much everything and is easily revenged. It works good against Balance or Stall, but is usually dead weight when it faces Hyper Offense.
Why this Rank: (why does pokemon x deserve x rank)
Abomasnow fit into B Rank as a powerful wallbreaker that is easily revenge killed. While it has a lot of mixed attacking power, its speed is terrible and it has too many common weaknesses. It is also dead weight against most HO teams and a weakness to Stealth Rock give it a spot in the lower rankings. It would not even merit B-Rank except for two reasons. The first is it's niche as a Trick Room sweeper. While normally outsped by 95% of pokemon used, if under Trick Room it is the one who revenge kills and sweeps. Trick Room is not a very dominant playstyle, however. Its real niche lies in countering the more popular rain teams. It resists Water-Type attacks as well as Thunder. I can also beat Ludicolo and Kingdra 1v1.

This is what you should include. This is for telling the roles of certain pokemon in the TS Metagame. You can leave out the why this rank if you want, but please make sure you have enough experience with the pokemon in question to write a brief analysis of them. I reserve the right to change grammar on your analysis if it is unreadable and will only use quality work. Thanks

 

[skies]

Kicking off this nomination with Gligar to B+. Gligar's really bulky, has a great typing, and it also has Defog, Stealth Rock, Roost, U-turn, Knock Off, and Earthquake to support its team. Its typing leaves it with a great resistance to Fighting-type moves along with an immunity to Ground-type moves. I'd go as far as to say it's like a physical Chansey in Tier Shift, and is bulkier than a few OU walls:
252+ Atk Life Orb Cacturne Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 227-269 (32.2 - 38.2%) -- 96.6% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Cacturne Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 138-164 (35 - 41.6%) -- 74.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (changed type to Normal / Fairy)
252+ Atk Life Orb Cacturne Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mega Venusaur: 109-129 (29.9 - 35.4%) -- 20.8% chance to 3HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Cacturne Seed Bomb vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Gligar: 75-90 (21.1 - 25.4%) -- 0.1% chance to 4HKO
It' just very extremely bulky and can sponge many physical hits and is deserving of B+.

 

[bestoise97]

nominating Sawk for A- rank. With a 90/140/90/45/90/100 stat spread after the boost, it is clear why Sawk is a powerhouse.
Its close combat is one of the most powerful attacks in the game, and with a choice band set it functions as a superb wallbreaker.
252+ Atk Choice Band Sawk Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 205-243 (49.5 - 58.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery.
252+ Atk Choice Band Sawk Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 189-223 (44.5 - 52.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Sawk Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 262-310 (47.2 - 55.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

What really sets sawk apart is its vast array of coverage options such as knock off ice punch
252+ Atk Choice Band Sawk Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sigilyph: 274-324 (72.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Sawk Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Gligar: 248-296 (70 - 83.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Sawk also functions as an incredible safety net with Sturdy, and runs an effective life orb set with Mold breaker.

 

[Olaph Olaffsson]

Has this been approved?

Nominating Ditto for B rank. It is an excellent way to keep set-up sweepers and glass cannons in check, even in standard OU, where it is ranked C+. There, it has 48 base HP. Here, it has 63, which is an extra 10% actual HP with 248 EVs. It is a brilliant revenge killer with a scarf. Unfortunately, it is useless against stall.

 

[insanelegend]

unfixable I agree that Gligar should be around that area. It has great defenses when coupled with Eviolite and actually sits at a nice speed for a wall. Access to Knock Off, Stealth Rocks, and Defog give it a nice place it the meta. X4 Weakness to Ice is holding it back, but Roost can help it against slower mons with Ice Punch or Ice Beam. Gligar also needs support to heal status which it hates.

bestoise97 I haven't tested Sawk out yet, but I will so I can rank it. Testing would be better if their was more than 2 matches (if that) on the Tier Shift ladder. I like the way the calcs look, but it is easily revenged once Sturdy is broken and Choiced variant have to watch out for Ghost-Types when using Close Combat. Also, has to make risk the burn to win 1v1 vs Alomomola and Suicune, and Alomomola can switch out and come back in due to Regenerator. I will put it at A- because it has decent Speed and very good Attack, a great ability in Sturdy, and good coverage.

FearRattata Ditto is an interesting case. It is usually only good against HO teams and boosting attackers, but its presence discourages boosting and it can function as a good revenge killer at times. It is however, dead-weight against stall and some balanced teams. I will put it at C+ for now, since stall is pretty good in Tier Shift.

To everyone: the first round of rankings will be posted shortly. Please post your opinions so they can be recognized. I will post a lot more later when I have the time

 

[bestoise97]

nominating Cresselia for B+ rank

Pros: Cresselia tanks unboosted hits like an absolute boss. with superb 130/130/140 defensive stats it takes a lot to break down this wall. 95 base speed allows it to heal out speed many threats and heal to prevent some 2HKOs, set up screens, and use lunar dance.
Some examples of its monstrous bulk:

Hide

252+ SpA Mega Alakazam Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Cresselia: 140-166 (30.1 - 35.7%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Cresselia: 182-216 (39.2 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery(long banned but still)
252 SpA Life Orb Hydreigon Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Cresselia: 195-229 (42 - 49.3%) -- 18.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
On the physical side:(note Changed from calm to bold)
252 Atk Choice Band Cinccino Tail Slap (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 165-195 (35.5 - 42%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Rhyperior Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 120-142 (25.8 - 30.6%) -- 99.1% chance to 4HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 242-289 (52.1 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Life Orb Weavile Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Cresselia: 164-195 (35.3 - 42%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

Cons: 80/85 attacking stats are bad, especially when not invested. This forces it to run toxic to have any damage output and allows many key Pokemon in the tier opportunities to set up such as durant, scizor, crocune. Sub + calm mind alleviates this problem slightly, but requires quite a few turns of set up.
With the prevalence of rain in this meta, moonlight is also very unreliable means of recovery.

 

[insanelegend]

Never really thought about reserving pokemon for this kind of thread. I guess it could work, but their should be rules. First off: I reserve the right to rank anything, even if is reserved. Secondly, you have 48 hours to complete your reservation. That should be plenty of time to put down a well written explanation of why pokemon x should be in x rank. Lastly, reservations should only happen when you plan to write a quality analysis of the pokemon's role in Tier Shift. It doesnt have to be too long, but it must be quality. Please only reserve 2 pokemon at a time as well, if you feel the need to reserve a pokemon for whatever reason. All that said, feel free to either reserve pokemon for a good piece about how effective they are in the current meta, or simply post your thoughts quickly so they may be assessed and changes can be made.

 

[megacrazyhand]

First off I nominate Shedinja for D rank. It gets the boost of not dying immediately to hazards and other forms of secondary weather but most teams carry multiple mons with types its weak to and its still pretty frail. That said, if your opponent eliminates any way you have to hit it the battle becomes painfully slow as you instantly lose.

Secondly, I'd like to nominate Tauros for A rank. Along with 125 speed it also gets its attack boosted to an amazing base 115 with sheer force and life orb. It also has more acceptable bulk sporting 110 def and 85 SpDef. Along with this comes amazing coverage which makes it among one of the best upgraded normal users in the tier, being able to carry Rock Climb, Rock Slide and the rare special attack for the option of a surprise set. That said, I don't know how to get tier shift calcs so I would appreciate if some one could tell me so I could bring some up :D.

 

[nightsitter]

First off I nominate Shedinja for D rank. It gets the boost of not dying immediately to hazards and other forms of secondary weather but most teams carry multiple mons with types its weak to and its still pretty frail. That said, if your opponent eliminates any way you have to hit it the battle becomes painfully slow as you instantly lose.

Secondly, I'd like to nominate Tauros for A rank. Along with 125 speed it also gets its attack boosted to an amazing base 115 with sheer force and life orb. It also has more acceptable bulk sporting 110 def and 85 SpDef. Along with this comes amazing coverage which makes it among one of the best upgraded normal users in the tier, being able to carry Rock Climb, Rock Slide and the rare special attack for the option of a surprise set. That said, I don't know how to get tier shift calcs so I would appreciate if some one could tell me so I could bring some up :D.

Just go to http://pokemonshowdown.com/damagecalc/, find Tauros, and then change the stats in the little boxes

 

[xJownage]

thundurus is mispelled in the OP lol.

Rampardos for B- rank.
The sheer power of head smash is amazing, and choice scarf users just tend to make things explode. It can even go mixed with sheer force and its decent movepool, as ice beam provides it great means of beating hippowdon, one of the premier physical walls in tier shift (alomomola is a semi-cleric and semi-physical wall, and usually is just a bulky regen with those making it a defensive pivot). Unfortunately, head smash will kill yourself pretty quickly, as its suicidal. it also needs good prediction, since it must run scarf to mitigate its still pretty bad speed. Overall, rampardos is a really powerful pokemon that should not be underestimated, but its inability to switch in, lack of bulk even after the boosts, and mitigating prediction reliant choice locking moves along with the suicidal head smash limit its potential to its utter power only.

I second tauros for A rank as well explained above.

Hydreigon for A- rank.
This thing is a beast to try to switch in to. Its expansive, deep movepool, great bulk and very good base 130 special attack make this thing a great wallbreaker nothing wants to switch in to. Choice specs draco meteor's hurt like hell. The main issue with hydreigon is choice specs locking, along with its inability to beat fairy types and the draco meteor special attack drop. Its great movepool and amazing coverage is its selling point, along with its trolly base 103 speed tier outspeeding the likes of garchomp and landorus by 1 and 2 points a peice. Hydreigon also has decent base 110 attack to use a mixed set, along with its ever present gigantic movepool, and can utilize a mixed set with iron tail to beat fairies and u-turn for momentum. Overall, hydreigon is an amazing pokemon in the tier that is extremely hard to switch into and is very hard to take down without fairy types.

Diggersby for A rank.
Well, people will shun me for this, but I don't care. Diggersby's main selling points are its massive attack stat, which reaches a whopping 486 attack unboosted after huge power. This thing can rip through stall like a hot knife through butter; with a life orb swords dance set, at +2 it can reach an astonishing 1264 attack, enough to possibly OHKO even the bulkiest of pokes in the tier:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 364-430 (84.6 - 100%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Huge Power Diggersby Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 452-534 (81.5 - 96.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
The unfortunate part of this mon is its lack of bulk and its tendency to not be all that useful against offense. While life orb +2 quick attack hits very hard, it struggles to ohko many of the bulky attackers, mostly all of them being able to ohko back. Either way, Diggersby is an amazing threat to stall teams that is almost needed for offense, and can really make common walls explode in the face of its monstrous attacks.
Diggersby is probably the most underrated pokemon in the entire tier, I see very little of it yet it is a really powerful threat.

Kyurem-N For B rank
Normal Kyurem is the best mixed attacker in the tier; its great stabs, good movepool and great mixed attacking stats at 140/140 make it a fearsome threat. Its 130/100/100 mixed defenses are great to tank attacks from other bulky mons and hit them hard back with one of its mixed attacks. Its main things holding it back are the weakness to stealth rock, and the fact that it has a pretty bad ice/dragon typing as a defensive mon. That being said, tier shift is a more stallish metagame atm, and pokes mostly arent going for coveragefest. This means that a Substitute set with either 3 attacks or two attacks and roost is very effective against stallish teams. Meanwhile, it can also run a nice mixed scarf set to beat offensive teams better. Either way, Kyurem is a good pokemon in the tier shift tier that should not be overlooked.

Cresselia for A- Rank
This thing. This. fucking. thing. The only thing holding it back is mono-psychic. thats it. There is literally not a much better mon for being able to tank unboosted attacks, and provide great team support. Mons lacking super effective coverage often become hard walled due to its amazing bulk. 130/130/140 bulk is where it shines, with access to dual screens, reliable recovery, and lunar dance, as well as a plethora of great moves such as thunder wave allow it to provide amazing team support while walling so many threats. I hate its guts because it stops every sweeper except for diggersby and whenever you want to try to make it explode you just face a lunar dance to something else that can all of the sudden sweep your team. Maybe thats why I am not nominating it for an even higher rank. Cresselia is a monster in tier shift, and is one of the most underrated support mons around.

I need to test durant some more. Its decent and I think it belongs in mid or low B but I am not sure yet.

 

[MegaGallade]

Was this approved?

 

[insanelegend]

Approved by Eevee General

 

[bestoise97]

Not sure if I can post this here but I am HD97 and hockeydavid97 on showdown and will gladly help anyone test a pokemon, Just shoot me challenge, i am normally in the other metas room

 

[a__man]

Nominating Typhlosion for B-/C+ Rank
Abilities: Blaze
Base Stats: 93 / 99 / 93 / 124 / 100 / 115

Typhlosion is one of the best wall-breakers in the entire tier. Its boosted speed gives it enough of a reason to use Choice Specs (and scarf is a great cleaner too), and combine that with 124 SpA and STAB Eruption makes it extremely dangerous. It rips through stall, and even Chansey can't wall it reliably. In sun it's just more dangerous than ever and can use Solarbeam to rip through bulky waters. Its defenses are reasonable enough to live through 2 Scalds from Alomomola, and Earthquake from Hippowdon, etc.

252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 140+ SpD Mega Charizard X: 169-199 (47 - 55.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 242-286 (34.3 - 40.6%) -- 50% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Sun: 340-402 (48.2 - 57.1%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO

It has free room after Eruption/Fire Blast/Focus Blast, so it can run a Hidden Power (Grass for Gastrodon and Politoed, Ground/Rock for Chandelure). However, it requires lots of support. Removing Stealth Rock, taking out its counters (most of which can be pursuit-trapped, so this isn't a massive problem), and making sure it stays at high health (Fire Blast is good but not ridiculous) with wish.

 

[bestoise97]

a_aman i feel like you are neglecting Blaze
252 SpA Choice Specs Blaze Typhlosion Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 250-295 (35.5 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 228-268 (32.3 - 38%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

Blaze Fireblast >full health eruption.

 

[xJownage]

also, for now lets not worry about reserving stuff. Since we need to get all the pokes ranked to begin with, I think until we have an initial viability ranking we need to not worry about using detailed analyses to rank these pokes. This isin't a threatlist either, although it would be nice to implement a threatlist into the bottom of the OP to conserve fourm space and blah blah blah. Its nice having good explanations near the viability rankings.

 

[a__man]

a_aman i feel like you are neglecting Blaze
252 SpA Choice Specs Blaze Typhlosion Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 250-295 (35.5 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Typhlosion Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 228-268 (32.3 - 38%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

Blaze Fireblast >full health eruption.

Blaze is definitely nice but it's a bit too risky. Typhlosion only resists Bullet Punch and is weak to Aqua Jet, and combine that with SR that you should never try to activate it (and only take advantage when it does). I wish it had gotten flash fire.

 

[insanelegend]

Alright, lets respond to everything. Yes, reservations aren't necessary, but I don't see any problems with them so they will continue. If they become a problem, they will be removed.

megacrazyhand Shedinja is a huge threat, and can be every annoying to deal with if left unchecked. This thing hard walls a lot of sweepers and makes their set-up pointless. It is great for combating threats that set-up but don't have the coverage to hit it. It also can living switching into hazards and random Toxics, taking away its main weakness. It can also set up Substitutes to block swich-in's attacks. Have not tested Tauros so will not rank it for now.

bestoise97 I tried out CB Sawk and loved it. It does like 75% to Starmie with its Close Combat. Sturdy is also a nice ability if you really need a revenge kill.

xJownage I almost spelled it Thuderous. Thanks for pointing that out though. I understand we don't need the nominations but I feel like they can be used to make a good point, so they stay. Hydreigon deserves that A- rank as they great coverage and Superpower to beat Chansey make it deserving of that rank, as well as a decent speed. Ramapardos will get C+ as their are many other threats who don't have to rely on Head Smash and don't have that bad a speed tier. Completely agree with Cressilia, as it is such a tank and I love the Calm Mind set. I will give Kyurem-N B rank for now, and will probably move it up later as the mixed attacking prowess is amazing. Diggersby will be A-, as it needs more testing but the power is there.

a__man I love Typhlosion, especially scarfed. The scarfed Eruption is fast and hits hard while specs Eruption decimates everything that doesn't resist and isn't a pink blob. It has trouble beating Chansey 1v1, but lure it in to knock its item off should weaken it enough for Typlosion to plow right through. I recomend Knock Off Alakazam as a lure to get Chansey's Eviolite off. I give it a solid B

I have a few replays to talk about the viability of some mons. Heres the first one, where I made a few stupid plays. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/tiershift-150689930
Sawk: Took out one pokemon that had type advantage but wasn't able to keep Sturdy due to Spikes. Deserves A- Rank (speed is kind of lacking)
Gligar: Had good special bulk uninvested but couldn't hold Hydreigon off. Needed to Defog but died to soon. Deserves B+ Rank
Sigilyph: Didn't get to set up and I needed a dedicated special wall for this match. Was kind of useless this match. Deserves B Rank (not for this match)
Zangoose: You tried so hard. Turns out your base speed is one lower than Chatot. You could have used Quick Attack to weaken Chatot but I didn't tell you too. My fault. Deserves A- Rank IMO
Suicune: You did a good job, you tried hard to get me the win. I should have used Scald after the first Calm Mind. You are still bulky. Deserves A-
Shedinja: You are currently at the B- Rank. Their is a reason for this. In this battle you defeated the threatening Gyarados, took half or Accelgor's HP, and then died so I might have a chance against Chatot. Its not wht you always do, its what you stop. Many pokemon can't set up reliably as Sheddy can just come in and force them out. Physical attackers also hate switching into Will-o-Wisp as they are crippled. Shedinja was more useful in my next match however.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/tiershift-150552820 This was a match I had against w0rd and I apoligize for Crocune hax.
Avalugg: You weakened Shuckle, spun away its hazards, and took 50% from a +4 Haxorus Dragon Claw while responding with a KO. Deserves A- Rank easily despite crappy typing.
Suicune: You were so good this match. You beat Bisharp, even though there was hax. This allowed Cress to beat everything else once Haxorus was gone. Deserves A- Rank for that bulk
Mega-Absol: You finished off Shuckle, serverly hurt Manaphy, and allowed me to kill Bisharp. Deserves B Rank for nice offense, speed, and ability but terrible bulk.
Cressilia: You cleaned up the last two pokemon (or would have it w0rd hadn't accepted defeat). Definitely deserving of A- Rank
Ciccino: You finished off Manaphy, and could have helped finish Landorus and Mega-Gardevior. Didn't really do much, but you should still get around B Rank.
Shedinja: You were the star. Don't say Shedinja didn't do anything. Sure, it only looked like it took the health of one pokemon. But look a little closer. It made setting up irrelevant for Manaphy, Landorus (very sure it didn't have a move to hit little Sheddy with) and Mega-Gardevior (pretty sure the last slot was Focus Blast). You completely walled half his team and made them unthreatening and simply something to deal with when I wanted. Correct me if I am wrong about Landorus and Mega-Gardevior's movesets w0rd.

 

[a__man]

Shedinja is one of those pokemon you need to play really carefully to get past. Just make sure to give it 0 HP investment for an odd number (even 252 HP doesn't help it with too many hits). Substitute is necessary, but the others are based on preference.

Wisp cripples a lot of the pokemon that switch in on it. Sucker Punch is a little better Shadow Sneak for more power... and they hit around the same pokemon, though Shadow Sneak decreases need for prediction. X-Scissor runs into the Dark types that try to attack you. Confuse Ray and Toxic harass. SD (or agility+bp I guess) guarantees ripping through one of your opponents Shed checks.

And I've never used it before but Trick-Scarf might be useful since the opponent is going to switch to the Shed check ASAP... but now you've crippled it by limiting its moves and it needs to be very careful to damage Shed. And I think Lefties > Shell Bell since you're switching, subbing and wishing a lot. I think it should go a little higher to around B+/A- since it provides a lot of support, walls quite a few pokemon and has pretty good offense.


–––

On another note, nominating Mismagius for A/A-

It's basically a better version of Gengar. Lower SpA, but has higher Speed and much better bulk (75/75/120 vs. 60/60/75). It can run more sets as well, with access to Calm Mind / Nasty Plot, Will o' Wisp / T-Wave, Taunt, Destiny Bond / Memento, Magic Coat, Perish Song, Trick etc. Immunity to normal, fighting and ground is great. It has ridiculous amount of versatility and is a great sweeper, cleaner and stall-breaker.

 

[xJownage]

yes @ Mismagius. I feel A- is a bit better due to its weakness versus more offensively based teams, but it is still very good.

insanelegend What I was saying was that I feel like having a detailed analysis being written for nominations is unnecessary, and for nominations we should just say "[pokemon] for [rank]" and then explain our reasoning in a short paragraph, and why the pokemon is in the rank being nominated for.

Tornadus-T for C rank.
Tornadus is a great mon for bulky attacking, it doesn't have great bulk but regenerator in general with a great speed tier and good special attack allows it to tank attacks well. Alas, its not the best mon in the world. 84/85/95 defenses are decently bulky with regen, but they aren't good enough to really tank a lot of attacks. Meanwhile, 116 special attack isin't groundbreaking, and its reliance on investing in defenses to tank attacks means its not going anywhere too fast. It is a decent pokemon that can fill its niche against stallish and semi-stall teams, or just mons with weak attacks, but its reliance on hurricane, usually assault vest, and regenerator itself is holding it from a higher rank in my mind.

Mega Absol for B-/C+ rank
Mega Absol has its niche of being a very frail, powerful mixed attacker. Its massive movepool and good mixed attacking stats, along with a great ability in magic bounce, can allow it to be a very good frail attacker with oppurtunities to do lots of damage to teams that can't counter it. Its 155/120/120 attacking stats allow it to make great use of its massive movepool; it can run SD, Mixed SD, Physical based 4 attacks, special based 4 attacks, hell, it can even run perish song if thats your thing. This thing's main selling point is diversity, its massive movepool means it can run anything. Usable moves in its attacking movepool alone include: Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Knock Off, Sucker Punch, Iron Tail, Megahorn, Psycho Cut, Stone Edge, Shadow Ball, Play Rough, Superpower, Thunderbolt, the list goes on and on. Mega Absol doesn't gain a higher rank due to two big reasons. The first is the fact that it is still made of wet tissue paper, the thing has mixed 65/65/65 bulk. This thing is not even bulky enough to LC to be honest, Its got such an awful issue with frailty its not even funny. The second is its speed tier prior to mega evolving, its base 80 speed often means it must come in on slower threats, which may also be bulky enough to tank one of its hits and kill it easily through its paper thin defenses. Despite this, Mega Absol is a good niche pokemon that if it can safely get mega evolved is one hell of a threat.

Entei for B/B+ rank
People are gonna ask me why the hell I am doing this, which actually I don't care about. The reason this thing is good is sacred fire, and the flat out fear opponents have to have at switching into it. Band Entei can spam sacred fire like nobody else, with only flash fire users to wall it. Entei doesn't have ground moves to cover fire types, but it has stone edge for everything besides heatran, which is totally fine to begin with. Its base 120 attack stat is also nothing to laugh at with sacred fire, along with a 105 speed tier, slower teams can be ripped to shreds out of pure fear for sacred fire to begin with. Sacred Fire's burn rate will make nothing but fire types want to switch in, since even resists don't want to get burned, even if they don't get crippled. Meanwhile, Band also gets extremespeed, allowing it to clean weakened teams with strong priority. One of its issues is its stealth rock weakness, meaning it really wants hazard control, but that may be its only true flaw outside of no earthquake. Its nice 115/90/80 bulk is good as well, so it can have the time to cripple physical attackers quickly and efficiently.

 

[bestoise97]

Nominating Liligant for B- rank.
With 85/75/90/125/90/105 stats after the boost liligant doesn't appear too threatening; however, it has just the right move pool and abilities to be a force. Its mono grass typing and decent speed allows it set up quiver dances on many threats such as crocrune, alomomala, and cresselia, and with aromatherapy it can shrug of the statuses that they love to spread. Then it could proceed to do major damage with petal dance and then ignore the confusion with own tempo. It also has access to sleep powder to create more set up opportunities.
Calcs:

Hide

+2 252+ SpA Lilligant Petal Dance vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Cresselia: 237-280 (51 - 60.3%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Lilligant Petal Dance vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Alomomola: 678-798 (122.3 - 144%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lilligant: 221-263 (71 - 84.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Lilligant Petal Dance vs. +2 252 HP / 0 SpD Suicune: 180-212 (43.4 - 51.2%) -- 57.4% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+2 0 SpA Suicune Scald vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Lilligant: 85-101 (27.3 - 32.4%) -- 65.5% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

Liligant punishes frailer teams if it finds an opportunity to set up, but outside that it can often be dead weight on a team. Its poor typing and unimpressive defensive stats mean its quite frail. It has no powerful coverage moves, so is forced to run hp rock to hit flying, fire, and bug types.

 

[insanelegend]

xJownage Yes, I understand what you are saying about nominations. I don't expect detailed analysises (no idea how to spell) unless you are really trying to prove someting. I am not doing them myself except for the example. Their may come a point though when we need to make them for a better understanding of the pokemon in question. I only have a few pokes ranked so far so you all don't really need to bother with making things complicated. A few sentences will suffice for now. On the nominations, I agree that Tornadus-Therian has a niche but outside of that is generally outclassed, so C seems fine for now. Mega-Absol is great offensively but is destroyed by anything faster due to a lack of any kind of defenses. To understand this, Shuckle 2HKOs with Bug Bite in Tier Shift. That is what makes its defenses a joke. I do think you should have elaborated more on Magic Bounce, as it is a fantastic ability, especially against certain leads (like Shuckle) and defensive pokemon that rely on Toxic. I will put it at B for now. Entei has good power and bulk and Sacred Fire is a great move that few pokemon like to switch into, while also having Extreme Speed for powerful priority cements it in the B+ Rank.
252+ Atk Shuckle Bug Bite vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Absol: 120-144 (42.7 - 51.2%) -- 3.5% chance to 2HKO

a__man I agree with you and xJownage about Mismagius. A- is a good rank for it, and good bulk coupled with great speed and an expansive movepool make it a threat. It can also be supportive with Will-o-Wisp, Heal Bell, Destiny Bond, and other options. It is still outsped however and it needs set-up before hitting walls hard so it gets A-. Lilligant will be C for now, because its decent stats and access to Quiver Dance and Healing Wish (which should be mentioned) are evened out by no good coverage outside of Hidden Power

Here is a battle I had against Adrian Marin while testing out some of the pokemon people nominated. I also saw Adrian using some less common picks. Watch to see how they did, then read what I thought of them.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/tiershift-150790853 Apologize for hax. Unfortunately, he had to leave before our battle was concluded. My favorite part was the end.
Adrian Marin BH lost due to inactivity.

Adrian Marin BH won the battle!

Gligar: Worked nicely as a physical wall, defog helped, did some damage to Mega-Aggron, nothing major. No rank change
Tauros: This is my first time trying it out. I wasn't amazed at what it did, barely damaging Mega-Aggron (but Meggron is one of the physically bulkiest pokemon in the game) and almost OHKOing specially defensive (I think) Amoongus
on a crit. Tested it in a few more battles and it did better. Still moving it down to A- though.
Mismagius: Hates Lickilicky. Mismagius got the oppurtunity to set-up, but then was Toxic stalled by Lickilicky. It would have ripped some holes if I had predicted, but didn't. What really annoys me is that I had Taunt and Lickilicky has Oblivious. A- Rank
Chansey: Did a great job keeping my team healthy and ready to fight. Walled things. Not much else to say, but moves down to B+ for weak offenses and weakness to Knock Off.
Cacturne: It did nothing. I mispredicted and lost it as first blood. Will put in B for now as it has functioned good in other battles.
Sawk: This battle's MVP. It KOed two, weaken Granbull severely, and could take out the rest of his team. Works great as a powerful wallbreaker. Stays A-

 

[insanelegend]

Also, I have a question I want people to think about. What is S Rank in Tier Shift? I haven't seen anything that is truly broken, but their must be some dominant forces in the metagame. Share your thoughts and opinions about what S Rank should include

 

[megacrazyhand]

I also think its about time we nominated politoed. With a new spread of 105/90/90/105/115/85 and the ability to support team mates like Kabutops, Omastar, Heliolisk and Kingdra I think we should nominate him to S rank for support capabilities, the fact that he can run a bulky set, a scarfed set or a specs set all effectively and is required to make Kabutops and Omastar reach their truly terrifying potential. Each time I made the top ten on ladder it was with rain offense (granted that was early on in the meta before I started playing around with random mons and let my rating crash) so I can safely say the capabilities Politoed provide in support could grant it S rank. That said, if not S rank, definitely A rank.