USM CAP Metagame Viability Rankings

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
Approved by cbrevan



Art by BlueberryBlanket
OP taken from the SM CAP VR, which was in turn based off of OU's VR thread

Welcome to the official USM CAP Viability Rankings. In this thread, we as a community will rank every single usable Pokemon into ranks. In this thread, you're encouraged to post your thoughts and opinions on the various Pokemon that are usable in CAP and what rank they should fall under. The general idea of the topic is to rank each Pokemon under "rankings" that go in descending order. Please keep in mind that the viability rankings are only for reference, they should not be treated as a fact anything more. Keep in mind that this thread will be heavily moderated, so please stay on topic and keep discussion on relevant Pokemon.

These users make up the viability council and have the final say on what gets moved in the ranking list. It is also their responsibility to gather community input and to make sure discussion remains on topic.

SHSP
snake_rattler
Jho
Jordy
Mx
Rat With Wings
xavgb


Some general rules we expect everyone to follow are:
  • Posts are to follow CAP and Smogon rules; you should all know what is and is not acceptable.
  • Be respectful to other users. That means no ad hominem arguments or anything else attacking character.
  • Back up all your arguments with evidence where possible, calculations and relevant replays do wonders for supporting nominations.
  • Speaking of nominations, we'll be holding all posts that make nominations for unranked Pokemon to a higher standard than other posts. This means high level and relevant replays with solid reasoning. Anything less will be ignored by the ranking team and may be deleted.
  • Similarly, any post advocating a change of two ranks or more for an already ranked Pokemon will also be held to a higher standard. We expect high level and relevant replays along with solid reasoning, and anything less may be subject to deletion.
  • Lastly, keep your reasoning to the CAP Metagame. A Pokemon's performance in OU or any other official tier is irrelevant and posts using that as reasoning will be moderated.
Reference base for CAPmon imgs (credit to Quanyails):






S Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who shape and define the CAP metagame and are a clear-cut above the rest. These Pokemon are typically very powerful offensive threats that are difficult to prepare for or are phenomenal support and defensive threats that provide significant utility or defensive potential, respectively. Also the home of Pokemon who can easily perform multiple roles effectively, increasing their versatility and unpredictability. If the Pokemon in this rank have any flaws, those flaws are thoroughly mitigated by their substantial strengths.

S Rank

Magearna

S- Rank

Aurumoth
Heatran
Tornadus-T

A Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are fantastic in the CAP metagame, and can sweep, support, or wall significant portions of the metagame. These Pokemon require less support than most others to be used effectively and have few flaws that can easily be overlooked when compared to their positive traits.

A+ Rank

Alakazam (Mega)
Arghonaut
Ferrothorn
Garchomp
Necturna

A Rank

Ash Greninja
Celesteela
Fidgit
Greninja
Kartana
Kitsunoh
Krilowatt
Landorus-T
Mawile (Mega)
Pajantom
Rotom-W
Tangrowth
Tapu Koko
Tapu Lele
Tyranitar (Mega)
Volkraken

A- Rank

Caribolt
Colossoil
Diancie (Mega)
Excadrill
Hawlucha
Jumbao
Latios (Mega)
Magnezone
Medicham (Mega)
Syclant
Toxapex
Tyranitar
Volcarona
Weavile

B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are good in the CAP metagame. These Pokemon have more notable flaws than those above them that affect how they function in the metagame. Their positive traits still outshine their negatives, but they require a bit more team support to bring out their full potential. Their niches are often smaller than those that are in A and S rank, which leads them to face some competition for a teamslot.

B+ Rank

Chansey
Crucibelle (Mega)
Cyclohm
Gliscor
Hoopa-U
Kyurem-B
Latias (Mega)
Naviathan
Pelipper
Reuniclus
Sableye (Mega)
Slowking
Smokomodo
Swampert (Mega)
Tapu Bulu
Zapdos

B Rank

Amoonguss
Charizard (Mega-X)
Clefable
Gyarados
Jirachi
Pinsir (Mega)
Scizor (Mega)
Serperior
Suicune
Tapu Fini
Tomohawk
Victini

B- Rank

Cawmodore
Charizard (Mega-Y)
Garchomp (Mega)
Gastrodon
Lopunny (Mega)
Mamoswine
Manaphy
Moltres

C Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that have notable niches in the CAP metagame, but have just as many notable flaws that prevent them from being effective. Pokemon in the C tier often require significant support to be effective. Pokemon from this rank tend to face a lot of competition with the more commonly used Pokemon.

C Rank

Aggron (Mega)
Camerupt (Mega)
Crawdaunt
Ditto
Heracross (Mega)
Hippowdon
Hydreigon
Kerfluffle
Kommo-o
Mew
Mollux
Pyroak
Slowbro
Slowbro (Mega)
Stratagem
Venusaur (Mega)

D Rank: Reserved for CAP Pokemon that are considered unviable in the current CAP metagame, but an argument can be made for their viability.

Malaconda
Revenankh
Snaelstrom

Blacklisted: These Pokemon are unviable and not up for discussion.

Crucibelle
Plasmanta
Pluffle
Voodoom
 
Last edited by a moderator:

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
Hi everyone, sorry that it took so long for this thread to go up. The VR team has reviewed the SM VR and has made the following changes:

Changes:
Charizard (Mega-Y) A+ -> A
Greninja A+ -> A
Cyclohm A -> A-
Fidgit A -> A-
Cawmodore A- -> B+
Garchomp A -> B+
Tangrowth A -> A-
Crucibelle A- -> B+
Marowak-A A- -> B+
Mew A- -> B+
Stratagem A- -> B+
Tapu Fini A- -> B
Gallade B+ -> B
Manectric-Mega B -> B-
Heracross-Mega B -> B-
Muk-A B- -> C
Nihilego B- -> UR
Slowbro B- -> UR
Beedrill Mega -> UR
Buzzwole -> UR
Dragalge D -> UR
Empoleon D -> UR
Raichu-A D -> UR
Cofagrigus D -> UR
Smeargle D -> UR

Tapu Bulu A- -> A
Magnezone B+ -> A-
Scizor (Mega) B+ -> A-
Latios B+ -> A-
Tyranitar B+ -> A-
Zapdos B+ -> A-
Weavile B -> B+
Krilowatt B -> B+
Gastrodon B- -> B
Gyarados-Mega B- -> B
Kartana B- -> A-

Blacephalon UR -> A
Pajantom UR -> A-
Stakataka UR -> B

Please PM one of the VR team members if you would like reasoning for each change. For now, we have the following discussion points:

Tomo from S to A+: While Tomohawk is a still a strong force in the metagame, it is no longer as restrictive as in previous metagames. It's been a slow decline, but a decline nonethless. With Z moves and stronger wallbreakers forcing it to run other moves and items, such as Substitute and Coba Berry, it can no longer provide the immense utility that it brought teams beforehand due to the constraint in its moveslots. The VR team has discussed this change in length, but we wanted to open such a large nomination to the community.

Charizard Mega X from B to B+: The VR team separates Mega Charizard X from Pajantom as a wallbreaker due to its access to a potent Fire-type STAB and recovery in Roost. Additionally, fewer Pokemon are competing for a the Mega slot.

Feel free to bring up other nominations but make sure to read the rules in the OP. Make sure to provide quality reasoning and good replays.
 

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
Two additions to the VR!

Hawlucha UR -> A-
Hawlucha shines as a set up sweeper that's able to set up easier than Cawmodore. It's easy to partner it with Tapu Koko, Tapu Bulu, and Tapu Lele to activate Unburden with a terrain seed, and it forces many switches to get up its Swords Dance. In an offense-heavy metagame, where a one-time set-up will do the job, it's a great sweeper. However, it's held back its ability to set up only once, the need to set up a Swords Dance, and having to time switching into a terrain. It's something you definitely need to keep in the back of your mind, but smart plays can stop it before it begins to set up.


Diancie-Mega -> A-
This addition is pretty late, so I'll be going over long-term and short-term details. Diancie isn't the most splashable Mega due to its frailty and how common Assault Vest users like Magearna and Tapu Bulu as well as Celesteela are, but its ability to hit most of the CAP Metagame for neutral or super effective damage with Moonblast alone makes it impressive. For more recent trends, it checks Pajantom and non-Scarf Kartana, two rising Pokemon as of late. For now, A- rank should be sufficient for an initial ranking.

Keep in mind that neither of these are set in stone - reasoning for a rise or drop is appreciated!
 
Alright, let's get this stated

Tomohawk from S to A+: I strongly disagree with this. While I think it's true that Tomo has been less effective lately, it has also shown to be able to adapt to the meta, and it's still able to fit into most teams easily, as it's able to check almost any physical threats and it's weakness in the special side can be easily patched by a teammate, like AV Magearna or Ferrothorn. Is true that Coba Berry variants miss the chip damage provided by Rocky Helmet, however they provide a reliable counter to Z-Fly users that could OHKO regular Tomo, allowing it to beat them 1v1, while still providing invaluable support for the team with Rapid Spin/Stealth Rock. This doesn't even account of how metagame-defining Prankster Haze is, as it allows Tomohawk to fully stop most set-up sweepers, severely dropping the viablility of a lot of them (Z-Celebrate Victini, DD Mega-Tyranitar, Mega-Gyarados and Mega-Charizard-X, SD Mega-Scizor and Bisharp, etc.). Finally Offensive sets are also still very effective stallbreakers as its Flying STAB hits a lot of walls like Arghonaut, Pyroak and opposite Tomohawk for super-effective damage while most resists don't like being hit by Aura Sphere or Heat Wave.

Charizard Mega X from B to B+: I agree with this, Fire-type STAB, reliable recovery and a not being hit Super-effectively by Fairy types is more than enough to distinguish itself from Pajantom, and it's an overall solid pick for a Mega.

I'd also like to propose quite a few more changes:

Rises:

Arghonaut from A to A+: Arghonaut is everywhere, its specially defensive set allows it to check the likes of Ash-Greninja, Volkraken, Syclant and Stratagem easily, while setting up Spikes and being able to cripple a lot of its checks with Knock Off. More physically defensive sets are more uncommon, but are able to stop mons like Naviathan, A-Marowak, M-Crucibelle and M-Charizard-X much more easily, and Unaware allows you to shrugs off any boosts they may have. Argho's coverage cannot be underestimated either, as it's able to use moves like Earthquake, Circle Throw or even Gunk Shot to fit its team needs. All this makes me think that Arghonaut deserves a spot in the A+ rank.

Pyroak from A- to A/A+: Another defensive CAP behemoth, Pyroak is able to run both physically and specially defensive sets, serving as a blanket check to all sort of threats: Tapu Koko, Scarf Tapu Lele, Magearna, Krilowatt, Colossoil, M-Scizor, most Kyurem-Black, all are walled by the appropiate set. It can provide its team with Stealth Rock or even Aromatherapy if needed, while keeping itself healthy with Synthesis. Its weakness to SR, and its inability to check all threats with the same set (Physical sets lose against strong neutral special attacks and vice-versa) make me hesitate to nominate it to A+, but I think Pyroak is more than good enough to deserve a raise to A, at least.

M-Latios from UR to A-: You guys kind of forgot about both Mega Latis completely. M-Latios is a great bulky mixed attacker in this meta. It's able to come into passive mons like Tomohawk and Pyroak and shrug off their attacks with Recover, while firing powerful STAB moves, its higher Attack stat differentiate it from its non-Mega counterpart, allowing Earthquake to deal heavy damage against foes like Heatran, Magearna, Mollux, Volkraken and more. It can also serve as a great offensive check to Volkraken and M-Charizard-Y, mons that can be very threatening for certain teams

M-Latias from UR to B+: The other one, not as good as her brother. Colossoil it's probably her biggest problem, as it can trap her with Pursuit, and doesn't take much damage from her most common moves, which turns her into dead weight against certain match up. However, it's still a incredible late game sweeper, and just like M-Latios, can serve as a good check for Volkraken and M-Charizard-Y.

Drops:

Ash-Greninja from A+ to A: Arghonaut is the biggest issue that prevents it from keeping its rank, but it's certainly not the only one, as Specially Defensive Pyroak and Mollux wall it completely, at least before transforming, and this only adds up to its usual counters carried over OU, as Toxapex, Tapu Bulu and Magearna still check it pretty reliably.

M-Charizard-Y from A+ to B+: The CAP meta might be pretty favorable to this mon when compared to OU, where it currently sits at C+ in the VR, thanks to the lower usage of Toxapex, instead favoring Arghonaut, which can be 2HKO by Solar Beam, while staples like Tomohawk and Pyroak let it switch-in practically for free. However, even then, this is nowhere near A+. 100 Base speed is average at best, and lets you be revenge killed by mons like Krilowatt, Tapu Koko, and many more. Also, despite its immense power a lot of teams pack resistances that are able to switch into it relatively easily, like Mega-Crucibelle, Mega-Lati@s or Volkraken. Overall, while not a bad choice for a Mega, its glory days are over.

Tangrowth from A- to B+: While not necessarily bad, in today's meta, Tapu Bulu usually fills the role of a Grass-Type AV user better, as it possesses better offensive presence, can keep itself healthy with its powerful Horn Leech and provides useful Grassy Terrain support for its team, while Tangrowth, despite Regenerator being such an amazing ability, it's much more passive, and can be easily used as set-up bait by threats like Aurumoth.

M-Gardevoir from B- to C: This mon is currently unranked in the OU VR, as it's completely outclassed by Tapu Lele, and despite the CAP meta being very generous to it because of the huge amount of mons vulnerable to its STABs, it still faces the same problem as in OU: Why would you use it over Lele? I don't think M-Gardevoir should drop to Unranked just yet, but even B- is a stretch for its currently viablility.

Tentacruel from C to Unranked: I can't see any reason to run Tentacruel ever, it's already unranked in OU, and CAP introduces Mollux, which can do pretty much the same things, and has reliable recovery, so it should be even less viable.

I wanted to talk about a few other mons, but it's already 5 AM here, so I should probably try to sleep.
 

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
M-Charizard-Y from A+ to B+: The CAP meta might be pretty favorable to this mon when compared to OU, where it currently sits at C+ in the VR, thanks to the lower usage of Toxapex, instead favoring Arghonaut, which can be 2HKO by Solar Beam, while staples like Tomohawk and Pyroak let it switch-in practically for free. However, even then, this is nowhere near A+. 100 Base speed is average at best, and lets you be revenge killed by mons like Krilowatt, Tapu Koko, and many more. Also, despite its immense power a lot of teams pack resistances that are able to switch into it relatively easily, like Mega-Crucibelle, Mega-Lati@s or Volkraken. Overall, while not a bad choice for a Mega, its glory days are over.
Just to address this, Charizard-Mega-Y was dropped down to A when I posted, but I forgot to change it on the actual list - not that it dropped down as far as you nominated, just that I forgot to fix this.
 
First of all I like this VR and good job. But I feel like Mega Aerodactyl Is not C
Mega Aerodactyl is one of the faster pokemon in the tier, Great atack stats, Can switch safelly into The high tier pokemon which is landorus-t, Great movepoll. Hone claws breaks a lot of things and make a lot of preassure to the opponent team.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-683950382 replay n1
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-678723108 replay n2
As you see Mega aerodactyl is a great late sweeper. I know have the 4 slot syndrome but have a ton of move that you can use to help the team for example your team lose to zygarde and landorus-t, Well put ice fan there. or eq if you are weak to electric types. Fire fang for steel types, etc
Here some calcs
252 Atk Tough Claws Aerodactyl-Mega Ice Fang vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Zygarde: 324-384 (90.5 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Landorus-Therian Fly vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aerodactyl-Mega: 100-118 (33.2 - 39.2%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO vs landorus mega aerodactyl can boost easly
+1 252 Atk Tough Claws Aerodactyl-Mega Aqua Tail vs. 252 HP / 216+ Def Landorus-Therian: 312-368 (81.6 - 96.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
 
Amoonguss B+ to C / UR:
Amoonguss is majorly outclassed by Tangrowth as a defensive Grass-Type, while it's biggest asset is not common, Spore shouldn't be a reason why it is so high, Amoonguss also can get rid of set up threats by using Clear Smog , but usually takes a chunk from them, not to mention that things like Arghonaut and Tomohawk do it better and that it does not affect steal types such as Naviathan and Cawmodore. Amoonguss is weak to half of the meta typing wise, and doesn't have the coverage that Tangrowth has to get rid of it's counters and checks. Amoonguss also is never used thus saying that it is hard to be placed on a team and that it isn't good enough to be succesful.
252 Atk Guts Naviathan Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 186-219 (43 - 50.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Guts Naviathan Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 262-310 (60.6 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252 Atk Crucibelle-Mega Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 268-316 (62 - 73.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+1 252 Atk Crucibelle-Mega Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 400-472 (92.5 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery

252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss in Psychic Terrain: 444-524 (102.7 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Aurumoth Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 335-398 (77.5 - 92.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Blacephalon Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss: 362-428 (83.7 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery


Crucibelle B+ to B / B-
Crucibelle is very limited as scarf, in the current meta it doesn't hit head on a lot of things thus making it a pivot that U-turns throughout the entier game but little damage it is able to do at the moment, it shouldn't be placed next to things such as Kyurem-B and Krilowatt imo. It is too easily predicted and doesn't hit hard enough to be a threat. It also isn't as good of a U-turner next to things like Tapu Koko who actually pressure the opposing team a lot. Crucibelle will also find itself trapped in it's Choice Scarf because of the amount of walls it has, and if crucibelle isn't played with Scarf it isn't even doing anything better than any other pokemon.
 
Last edited:

Drapionswing

Eating it up, YUMMY!
is a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Keldeo A- to B/B-

Keldeo was really amazing in Generation 6, however Generation 7 has brought a ton of pokemon and shifts that have hurt Keldeo very harshly. It proves to be a really good check to Ash-Greninja and Volcarona with it's scarf set, however with pokemon like Arghonaut, Toxapex, and Tapu Bulu being very common and very powerful water checks right now it's definitely struggling to break through fatter teams. Not only this but with traditional checks such as Mollux, Plasmanta and Tangrowth around Keldeo is often losing momentum for your team unless it's being used to revenge or check some pokemon. Not only this but competition as a water-type is very tense right now, with pokemon like Krillowatt, Volkraken and Ash-Greninja all having some way to circumvent the pokemon listed above through either coverage, or pivotting out to avoid losing momentum for your team.

Mega Swampert B to B+

With rain rising ever so drastically in usage, Mega Swamperts effectiveness as a cleaner and wallbreaker is showing to be ever so effective on rain. While it provides very good traits such as an electric immunity on rain, it also has great bulk power and an amazing ability in swift swim. Even without a Z move it can break through a lot of cap cores with much more ease than other pokemon in B rank. Not only this, but when paired with Kingdra on Rain it begins to break through pokemon for Kingdra to also break and the core of these two together is capable of pressuring water checks extremely hard. Not to mention with Specs Volkraken rising in usage on rain the team soon becomes a very handful to deal with when these nukes are all hitting you.

I'd like to also mention earlier nominations and the ones I agree with:

Crucibelle B+ to B / B- Agree

Ash-Greninja from A+ to A Agree


M-Charizard-Y from A+ to B+ Agree


Tangrowth from A- to B+ Agree


Tentacruel from C to Unranked Agree


Charizard Mega X from B to B+ Agree


M-Gardevoir from B- to C Agree
 

G-Luke

Sugar, Spice and One For All
is a Community Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Amoonguss B+ to C / UR:
Amoonguss is majorly outclassed by Tangrowth as a defensive Grass-Type, while it's biggest asset is not common, Spore shouldn't be a reason why it is so high, Amoonguss also can get rid of set up threats by using Clear Smog , but usually takes a chunk from them, not to mention that things like Arghonaut and Tomohawk do it better and that it does not affect steal types such as Naviathan and Cawmodore. Amoonguss is weak to half of the meta typing wise, and doesn't have the coverage that Tangrowth has to get rid of it's counters and checks. Amoonguss also is never used thus saying that it is hard to be placed on a team and that it isn't good enough to be succesful.
252 Atk Guts Naviathan Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 186-219 (43 - 50.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252 Atk Guts Naviathan Icicle Crash vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 262-310 (60.6 - 71.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery

252 Atk Crucibelle-Mega Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 268-316 (62 - 73.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
+1 252 Atk Crucibelle-Mega Head Smash vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 400-472 (92.5 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO after Black Sludge recovery

252 SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss in Psychic Terrain: 444-524 (102.7 - 121.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Aurumoth Psyshock vs. 252 HP / 184 Def Amoonguss: 335-398 (77.5 - 92.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
252+ SpA Blacephalon Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 72+ SpD Amoonguss: 362-428 (83.7 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
I'd like to disagree with this nom. I think Amoonguss's typing has slowly proved to be a more viable asset than Tangrowth's raw bulk, and Tangrowth has been falling off quite a bit since this nom has been subbed. Spore being as great as ever, in addition to checking Ash-Ninja, Kartana, Serperior, Tapu Bulu better.
 

LucarioOfLegends

Master Procraster
is a CAP Contributor
Victini from UR to C
While it absolutely does face competition from other Choice Fire types like the omnipotent Volkraken and it can easily be stopped by common priority moves like Sucker Punch and Water Shuriken, it has a very nice Speed tier for Choice Scarf usage, and can nail any incoming switches or stalwarts with STAB V-Create, while also having the ability to run Bolt Strike for Water types and U-turn for Pivoting out. All these traits also carry over to the monstrous Choice Band set as well, where ever the mighty Toxapex does not want to face it. Additionally its bulk is actually quite nice, and gives it multiple switch in opportunities against resisted hits, which have become all the more common with the introduction of Jumbao.
 
Last edited:

Drapionswing

Eating it up, YUMMY!
is a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Back again with some nominations!

A- to A Rank
Pajantom has really improved since it's release and as I've seen the player base familiarise itself with Pajantoms tactics it's become quite the threat. I think a big thing about Pajantom is it can keep prevent defensive teams from gaining momentum from switching allowing you to get a really strong advantage. It's typing lets it come in on very prevalent pokemon like Volkraken, and begin forcing decisions during a match. Offensively Dragonium Z is an amazing breaker capable of tearing apart fat teams while effectively utilisng taunt + trapping to take out even the bulkiest of threats, and Ghostium Z can even be used to pressure it's steel type checks even more such as Ferrothorn. But it gets even better, with full on spdef sets which trade power for longevity can become very hard for some teams to deal with, taking full advantage of prominent pokemon like Tomohawk, Pyroak, Arghonaut without Knock Off and more. All in all it's a really great pokemon, and the pressure this pokemon can exert in a game is unlike any pokemon in A-

A- to A Rank
This is easily the most underrated CAP right now. Shell Smash Ghostium Z is an amazing wallbreaker, capable of setting up on a variety of pokemon such as Tapu Koko, Landorus-T and Zygarde then become a very potent force. +2 Atk and Speed is very hard to deal with as Necturna can break through even the sturdiest of pokemon after a boost having only 1 true counter being Tomohawk. Substitute allows you to avoid status and Collossoils sucker punch, and with the speed boost switching into Phantom Force becomes harder as there's not much other pokemon can do. As well as this, I've very recently been testing a set which doesn't rely on a Z move so that I could fit Necturna onto teams easier. This set is Bulky Shift Gear Necturna which in essence cleans up games later on while being decently strong, fast and bulky.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-739795990
In this replay we see Necturna abusing Tapu Koko to set up a Shell Smash and sweep the game.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-751441164
Replay of bulky SG winning me the late game.

drop blace it's bad
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.

UR -> A / A+
Jumbao is rlly good in the current meta due to the great amount of good sets it can run (mainly Wish support, Scarf, LO Drought Offensive, and even Specs on certain teams), making it quite a splashable threat that fits on the majority of teams ranging from full stall to even some HOs. It can check a bunch of common meta threats such as Collosoil, non Flynium Landorus-T, Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, non Iron Tail Zygarde, and even Heatran if it traces Flash Fire. Its typing + good movepool allows it to fill many roles on a team which turns it into quite a diverse threat in the current meta and a great addition overall leading to it's overall success. Maybe A+ is overstretching it due to its somewhat weak offensive coverage coupled with its crippling weakness to certain threats such as Mega Crucibelle, Plasmanta, and Celesteela, but I still cannot see it being any lower then A atm due to how well it meshes with certain teams (especially ones with Tran).

A -> B+ / B
Not sure why this mon is ranked so high especially considering how common stuff like SpD Arghonaut and Cyclohm are atm. Blacephalon really has a hard time finding a niche as a Fire-type wallbreaker when the meta has access to other great ones such as Volkraken, offensive Heatran and Volcorona just to name a few. Its poor coverage also means it can struggle to break through certain threats such as Tyranitar and Colossoil without them being heavily weakened first. Scarf sets especially can suck up a bunch of momentum when locked into the wrong move, usually providing the opposing team too much freedom to abuse the momentum Blac offers when it is forced to switch out. It can be deadly under the right circumstances, but definitely not enough to give it it's current ranking.

A -> B+
In a similar vein to Blacephalon, Mega Zard Y has also had a much harder time fitting itself into the current metagame due to the competition it faces from other Fire-type wallbreakers coupled with the introduction of Jumbao which means it is is not the prime Sun setter anymore. It also struggles to break through common pivots such as Toxapex and Cyclohm due to the lack of support from Dugtrio. Just not as great as a mega pick at the given moment even though it's still noteworthy as a wallbreaker.

A- -> B
Mega Sableye really has a hard time performing its role as a entry hazard blocker for defensive teams considering that the most common entry hazard setters atm (think Clefable, Pyroak, Heatran, and Greninja) can all break through it leaving it unable to perform its main task. Most stall teams nowadays tend to stray away from Mega Sab in the attempt of using more reliable means of hazard control such as certain Defog users and general more useful mons. The influx of Fire types due to Jumbao's introduction also means it cannot spam WoW as often as it could before, further making it harder to use.

Agree with the rises of Pajantom and Necturna as well, not to sure on Victini just yet
 

SHSP

is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top CAP Contributor
Moderator
couple of noms:
Tornadus-T up to A-/A
This thing has seen a burst of popularity thanks to the Z-Hurricane set and new access to defog. It's a dangerous pivot that smashes a lot of common threats hard with Skystrike and Hurricane, has a really solid speed tier which lets it abuse the hell out of U-Turn and forces a lot of switches to abuse free defogs. It does struggle with the prevalence of electrics like Krill and Koko, and Jumbao cutting Hurricane's accuracy in sun can be an issue, but it beats the majority of the common hazard setters in the meta and stands above most everything in B+.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-750320921 Here it is pivoting all over my team and thrashing me late- the fourth slot is interesting on Torn, with most using Knock for utility, but as seen here other options like Heat Wave can be solid as well.

Krill up to A-/A
Krill is way underrated in the current rankings. Everyone's favorite shrimp is one of the best offensive pivots in the meta, and forms fantastic cores with other popular pivots (shoutouts to CruciKrill). It's got insane coverage between BoltBeam and Earth Power, and hits like a truck thanks to almost always finding SE damage. It's got a fair bit of bulk as well, and Magic Guard is an insane ability, especially for a pivot, that gives it both offensive power and defensive longevity.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-739518921 Would be wrong to nom Krill up without a Drap replay Krill dismantles in this game, pivoting around anything that really threatens it, cleaning late and even bulking a Stone Edge at the end to win.

Also supporting Funbot and Drap's noms from earlier, they said it about as well as can be said.
 
Agree with the A placement for Jumbao, its a very good pokemon right now. Not only is it widely threatening and versatile in its offensive and defensive roles, its main checks (with the exception of Cruci) are very susceptible to getting worn down by hazards and Sun sets can improve your team without Jumbao itself even having to be active. What keeps Jumbao from A+ right now is a reliance on either weak coverage moves for a Trace set, or for Drought sets the heavy threat of being revenge killed thanks to its common boosted weaknesses to Fire and Poison that lead it to be easily ohko'd by non-STAB coverage- the defensive typing is relevant and good, but also easily teched for.

Now here are some Jumbao related nominations:

A+ -> A-

Not just because of Jumbao, but Arghonaut, Revenankh, even things like Malaconda and Pyroak are able to stop Greninja or even Ash Gren in its tracks. Its A+ in OU partly because there are almost no water types that are usable in the tier. Here there are some more options and even lower tier waters like Gastrodon have a rise in viability.

S -> A+
Landorus-T is a good pokemon in the CAP metagame, but it doesnt seem to fit the role of S tier to me. Its not the blanket check to physical pokemon that it is in OU. In particular being a setup opportunity/switchin for the ever-present Cawmodore, and weakness to things like Syclant and Naviathan. Jumbao is also another great Landorus check that can also prevent it from getting rocks by ohkoing it with Grassium. It has some overlap with Tomohawk which is honestly a lot better and does similar things that you would like from Landorus apart from scarf, like clearing hazards and acting as a catch-all blanket check. You can definitely use both but I usually dont find myself wanting the defensive Lando set very much at all. A lot of CAPs are special attackers that Lando has no business messing with, this metagame is a lot harder for it. That being said Im only suggesting a drop to A+ even though I think it could even drop further.

edit: that being said im pretty much opinionating this based on defensive landorus. offensive landorus still seems very good in the metagame, but hopefully there can at least be some conversation about it

A -> A+
This is probably the best mega in the tier right now(?), and has not much competition. Its checks are few and far between and it can be hard finding an answer on offensive teams. Almost every mon that checks it can be worn down also, with mons like Zygarde having no recovery and Kartana usually being used offensively- and its huge threat level allows it to be a strong Stealth Rock user also. Its just a fantastic package of amazing bulk, offensive presence, speed, and utility if you choose. It loves a metagame where Sun and/or Jumbaos might be common, since its one of the best answers to it and enjoys the loss of a water weakness as it makes it a switch-in to pokemon like scarf Kraken even if using Hydro Pump.

Those are just mons in the A+ and above area that I think could change. Any opinions on the above?
 
Last edited:
Hi. First, I agree with almost every suggestions made by everyone in this thread (I even think that Pajantom could go to A+, it just switch on so many thing and is relevant in almost every game in my experience), and I'm neutral with Lando's drop and Cruci-Mega's rise.
Now, for my own suggestions:

Rises:

-
A- -> A+ : I know I already made the same proposal in the last thread, but Heatran still sits in the same place when Arena Trap was allowed, which bugs me a little bit. The introduction of Arghonaut in CAP and the increased viability of Gastrodon doesn't mean that much except that you should use Z Solar-Beam, which certainly cost a moveslot but luring this ,too can be very rewarding in a lot of games. It comes easily on a bunch of common threads like most Defensive Tomohawk, Celesteela or Pyroak and its Magma Storm is almost always punishing for the incoming switch-in due to the residual damages and the inability to double-switch aiming to gain momentum. It also keeps important impact on the meta because it can serve as an offensive check to dangerous threats that would not carry something to kill it like Jumbao, Magearna, Tapu Lele, Aurumoth, Mawile and Volcarona.

-
B+ -> A- : I perfectly understand that Cawmodore's effectiveness is very match-up based and that the omnipresence of Hazehawk doesn't help its case, but I think it should stick somewhere in the A rankings due to the fact that you should always carry something for it when teambuilding, simply because playing around it can be very difficult if you don't have a dedicated answer. +6 Cawm just hits too damn hard. I think it's one of the reasons why Scarf Volk is as good as it is despite being slower than +1 Navi and Volcarona. Although it really dislikes losing health before setting up, its typing and abilities (yes Intimidate can prove to be really useful in some match-ups) grants it a bit of defensive utility against things like Lando-T, Koko and Plasmanta.

-
B+ -> A- / A : Kit is a very versatile Mon. Defensive Kit in particular is just incredibily good despite its defensive stats, mostly due to its stellar typing. With an appropriate spread and movepool (which means carrying WoW in most cases), you can check all of Offensive Hawk (unless it carries Heat Wave), Magearna, Tapu lele, Crucibelle-Mega, Jumbao, Cawmodore, Pinsir-Mega (without EQ), Kartana, Latios and Kerfluffle in one slot. Although being versatile means customable and often being affected by 4MSS, the same set can act as a very potent stallbreaker due to Shadow's Strike's secondary effect, an hazard cleaner if Defog is chosen, and U-Turn is still an option if you don't want to be Pursuit trapped too easily by Colo. I don't have much experience with Scarf and Offensive Kit but I guess they are pretty good as well due to its movepool and signature move.

-
B+ -> A- : Stratagem seems being slept on, but just like Cawmodore, I can ensure you that ignoring it when teambuilding is very dangerous due to how scary it is mid and late-game. I'm aware that Arghonaut and Tomohawk are everywhere, but the former takes too much damages from Energy Ball to be condisered as a reliable check whereas the latter can be lured and killed by Technician boosted HP Flying, and Zygarde is slaughtered by HP Ice. Once again again the 4MSS and the vulnerability to priorities are issues, but Stratagem is still a very capable sweeper that you need to take in account, much like Syclant.

-
B -> A- / A : You may hate me because I'm the one who keeps suggesting that Gastrodon should rise since ORAS, but seeing that things like Volkraken and Krilowatt are often carrying HP Grass instead of HP Elec and HP Fire, respectively for Toxapex and Ferro, proves that Gastrodon has a major impact on the meta. Yes Gastrodon is passive (but Toxic and Scald burn are still threats to watch out) and doesn't have Spike utility as wall as an handy typing typing to counter Syclant like Arghonaut (among other advantages), but in exchange you've got an even bigger list of Pokemon to check / counter, including Koko, Mag, Krilo, Volk, Manta,...

-
B -> A- / A : Just like Heatran it didn't move even after Arena Trap got banned. Why ? It's a Psychic-typing which switches on Defensive Tomohawk with ease and can put a dent on basically anything incoming. While it often doesn't last long against Offense, it has enough special bulk to withstand a hit from something like Specs Volk (not on a switch though) and kill it behind, so it's rarely a deadweight. The simple presence of a Pokemon with low offensive power like Pyroak on the opposite team makes Hoopa-U automatically threatening, and against some Stall it can mean free win.

-
B -> A- : Being afraid of Tomohawk doesn't mean being bad by any means, especially when it's a Mon which can RK almost any offensive Mon unless it resists Fighting-type, while healing itself at the same time. CB Rev is rarely ever useless, especially since it has access to Trick to ruin Tomohawk and Clefable. Bulk Up Rev is a bit like Cawmodore in the sense its pretty match-up based, but it generally gets more than one or two chance to sweep after setting up. It's typing also allows it to check things like Crucibelle and non HP Flying Stratagem.

-
B- -> B : Lopunny seems out of place in B- among the other Pokemon in it. This thing can be very threatening for offensive build and its HJK hits pretty hard. Tomohawk is a nuisance and in general it isn't extremely difficult to check defensively, but it's still something to watch ou for when making an Offense.

Drops :

-
A -> B+ : Bulu still sports a great defensive utility, howver I think that Jumbao's introduction hurts it quite a lot due to its to reliable recovery and being significantly less threatening offensively in my opinion. Bulu doesn't have the luxury of Play Rough and while its Wood hammer hits very hard under Grassy Terrain, Grass-type STAB alone is very easy to cover defensively and it struggles heavely to get past of bunch of Pokemon like Tomohawk, Cyclohm, Jumbao... It's not a very reliable Wallbreaker and its Speed makes it easy to revenge kill, although Grassy Terrain is still something that can be very benefic for a team.

-
A- -> B : The CAP Metagame has always been hostile to Tar due to the existence or Arghonaut, Tomohawk and especially Colossoil, which gets Knock Off and Sucker Punch as well as many other tool, the addition of Jumbao doesn't help either. Every CAPmon that fears Pursuit likely carries a SE Move against Tar, which doesn't have a strong priority to create 50/50. Despite Jumbao's arrival, TSS is pretty hard to pull off in the meta which is pretty hostile to Excadrill as well.

I have some other thoughts, but I'm less sure and I'm tired of writing now.
 

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
Hi everyone, the VR team has an update for the Viability Rankings! We intend to update this thread much more frequently, so your contributions to this thread are valuable to us. Please give feedback on the changes we've made, comment on the discussion points found at the end of this post, and feel free to make your own nominations! One change we've made is getting rid of D-rank. D-rank has always been filled with nearly unviable Pokemon that really don't matter too much on the VR. As such, we deemed D-rank mostly useless, so C rank will now be the lowest on the Viability Rankings. Also, C rank was filled with many Pokemon still left over from the Gen 6 VR, so we purged those as well. The Viability Ranking might look smaller, but it should be of higher quality. Without further ado, here is a rather large list of changes, with reasoning in the hide tags!

Drops

Celesteela A+ to A
Blacephalon A to UR
Mawile (Mega) A to A-
Tapu Bulu A to A-
Volcarona A to A-
Diancie (Mega) A- to B+
Keldeo A- to B-
Latios A- to UR
Naviathan A- to B+
Rotom-W A- to B-
Sableye (Mega) A- to B+
Skarmory A- to B
Tangrowth A- to B
Tyranitar A- to B+
Amoonguss B+ to B
Crucibelle B+ to B
Garchomp B+ to B
Gengar B+ to B
Jirachi B+ to B
Mew B+ to B
Mollux B+ to B
Excadrill B to B-
Gallade (Mega) B to B-
Gyarados (Mega) B to B-
Kingdra B to B-
Mimikyu B to B-
Stakataka B to C
Serperior B to B-
Terrakion B to UR
Bisharp B- to UR
Gardevoir (Mega) B- to C
Heracross (Mega) B- to C
Latias B- to UR
Malaconda B- to C
Manectric (Mega) B- to UR
Mantine B- to C
Reuniclus B- to C
Sharpedo (Mega)B- to UR
Slowbro (Mega) B- to C
Thundurus B- to UR
Togekiss B- to UR
Azelf C to UR
Breloom C to UR
Diggersby C to UR
Dragonite C to UR
Garchomp (Mega) C to UR
Kabutops C to UR
Kyurem C to UR
Nidoking C to UR
Omastar C to UR
Pidgeot (Mega) C to UR
Porygon-Z C to UR
Scizor C to UR
Scolipede C to UR
Starmie C to UR
Tentacruel C to UR
Volcanion C to UR
Blissey D to UR
Feraligatr D to UR
Mandibuzz D to UR
Porygon2 D to UR
Primarina D to UR
Talonflame D to UR


Rises

Crucibelle (Mega) A to A+
Ferrothorn A to A+
Clefable A- to A
Heatran A- to A+
Hawlucha A- to A
Kartana A- to A
Necturna A- to A
Pajantom A- to A
Krilowatt B+ to A
Tornadus-T B+ to A
Gastrodon B to A-
Swampert (Mega) B to B+
Revenankh B to B+
Gliscor C to B-
Jumbao UR to A+
Latios (Mega) UR to A
Latias (Mega) UR to B+
Slowking UR to B+
Victini UR to B-
Aggron (Mega) UR to C
Uxie UR to C
Celesteela: While still a good wall, it's just not what it used to be. Its value stemmed mostly from checking Landorus-T's Flyinium Z sets, but since those have seen a decline, so has Celesteela. Krilowatt, who has recently seen more usage, is immune to Leech Seed and takes little from Heavy Slam and Flamethrower, also pressures it. Still, Celesteela is a good Tapu Lele check and can wear down switch-ins with its Leech Seed + Protect combination and good typing.

Blacephalon: It wasn't the Fire-type Choice Scarf user we were looking for. The ubiquity of Pursuit Colossoil and Tyranitar leaves Blacephalon hard to use, given that it can't realistically threaten these Pokemon. With Arghonaut and Toxapex acting as a full counters, and Gastrodon able to switch into non-Hidden Power Grass sets, Blacephalon has a hard time justifying its place on a team, compared to Heatran or Volkraken.

Mega Mawile: Although excellent on Trick Room teams, it fails to stand out when on standard team archetypes due to its slow speed. It has wide coverage that allows it to take on many bulky Pokemon, so it isn't dropping far, but it's a drop nonetheless.

Tapu Bulu: If it isn't obvious, Jumbao has given Tapu Bulu serious competition for a teamslot. Not only does Jumbao have a viable Fairy-type STAB move, it has a better speed tier and access to Wish. However, Tapu Bulu can still run a Swords Dance set, set Grassy Terrain for its teammates, and use Stone Edge for bulky Fire-types like Pyroak, which Jumbao would normally struggle with.

Volcarona: In the current metagame, Aurumoth's Psychic-type STAB allows Aurumoth to beat Tomohawk, Arghonaut, and Toxapex much easier than Volcarona. With the rise of Heatran and Mega Latios as well, Volcarona struggles with coverage, wanting Fire Blast, Hidden Power Ground, Z-Psychic, and Bug Buzz, but that doesn't account for Quiver Dance. Aurumoth can run a Psychic-type STAB, Focus Blast, and Blizzard to beat these threats instead, without worrying about missing out on a primary STAB option. Volcarona, due to its coverage problems and competition with Aurumoth, is dropping to A-.

Diancie-Mega: Although its coverage can dominate the metagame, Mega Diancie suffers from a few problems. Mega Crucibelle's influence in the metagame is having a signficant toll, not only because Mega Crucibelle outspeeds and KOs with a STAB move, but also competition for its Mega Stone, as Mega Crucibelle serves as a powerful Rock-type that also sports U-turn and an immunity to passive damage. Mega Diancie struggles deal with the omnipresence of Greninja and common Choice Scarf users as well, and if it makes a bad prediction, its frailty will usually result in an OHKO or a 2HKO. B+ fits because it requires some support to be very powerful, but it suffers from some issues.

Keldeo: 3 subranks might seem like a really far drop, but Keldeo just isn't what it used to be. Bulky Water-types like Arghonaut, Toxapex, and Gastrodon have risen to deal with Choice Specs and Scarf Volkraken, which inadvertently has damaged Keldeo's viability, as now it requires different types of Hidden Power to circumvent them. However, the problems do not end there, as Pajantom, Mega Latios, and Jumbao resist its STAB combination as well, further exacerbating its reliance on weak coverage moves like Hidden Power and Icy Wind. Scarf Kartana outspeeding every Keldeo variant does not help as well. Despite its role as a good offensive check to untransformed Greninja and Syclant, its weak coverage options, poor STAB coverage, and lack of recovery have really tanked its viability.

Latios: Mega Latios has risen to prominence mostly because competition for Mega Stones has somewhat decreased, as well as a hefty increase in Attack for Earthquake. There's more on Mega Latios in the Rises reasoning, but it basically means that any Latios set that's not Choice Scarf is basically outclassed. The problem is that Choice Scarf Latios is rather easy to take advantage of, is walled by Steel-types, and isn't reliable as a Defogger.

Naviathan: Ferrothorn's presence in the metagame hasn't helped the boat. While Dragon Dance + Guts is threatening, it struggles against most Steel-types and gets worn down pretty fast with burn damage. It's a capable sweeper, but it requires support to use fully and effectively, though under Aurora Veil it's pretty terrifying. Additionally, Calm Mind sets have been harder to use due to the rise of sturdy Water-type resists or immunities like Arghonaut and Gastrodon.

Rotom-W: Despite its access to Defog, the arrival of Jumbao and Pajantom did not do it any favors. Additionally, Zygarde opts for Substitute more, meaning that it can avoid Will-O-Wisp, and then Thousand Arrows beats it. Mega Crucibelle, Volkraken, and other heavy wallbreakers just overload it with damage, and the one Pokemon it should check well, Landorus-T, runs U-turn on almost every one of its sets and Flyinium Z less as well. Anything it wants to achieve offensively is basically outclassed by Krilowatt, which sports high speed to outspeed most Ground-types and KO them with Ice Beam, which hits more of them for super effective damage than Hydro Pump. It's a niche pick, but the role it fulfills is so small compared to other Pokemon that it falls into B-.

Sableye-Mega: With stall on a decline, Mega Sableye has a much smaller niche. It's the best Magic Bounce Pokemon in the metagame, but its low speed limits what it can achieve. Strong special attackers like Volkraken, Jumbao, and Heatran have to watch for Knock Off, but can take advantage of its turns using Will-O-Wisp, Recover, or Foul Play.

Skarmory: Although it has access to rare Spikes, Greninja and Ferrothorn are generally better setters, and it struggles against certain Zygarde sets unless it runs Whirlwind. It invites strong special attackers like Krilowatt, Heatran, and Volkraken in with its passivity, leaving it hard pressed to switch out. It's not unviable, but it's nowhere near top tier, especially given Celesteela's presence.

Tangrowth: While its access to Regenerator, Knock Off, and Earthquake can set it apart from Jumbao, it generally suffers from poor offensive presence. There's also the fact that can't crack open Arghonaut even with Giga Drain, and Tomohawk forces it out completely. Compared to Ferrothorn, who sports hazard control, and Jumbao, who sports reliable recovery, better offensive capability, and Wish, it needs to fill a specific shortcoming for a given team. Nevertheless, it can reliably remove items with Knock Off due to its longevity, scare off Heatran switch-ins with Earthquake, check Assault Vest Colossoil, and surprise switch-ins with a Sleep Powder from its physically defensive set, so it has a niche, just one that fits B+ better.

Tyranitar: While it can hit hard with Choice Band sets, Jumbao removing Sun with Drought sets and hitting hard with Moonblast otherwise really hurts Tyranitar's effectiveness. Even more unsettling for Tyranitar is Pajantom's ability to nuke it with Devastating Drake or Tectonic Rage before it can even move, while Colossoil threatens Pajantom with the potential Sucker Punch. Overall, it's still a good Pursuit trapper, but it suffers from a few problems with recent metagame trends.

Amoonguss: Like Tangrowth, Amoonguss faces problems when trying to compete with Jumbao for a teamslot. Amoonguss can check Fairy-types better, but realistically Jumbao checks everything else that Amoonguss checks but much better. It's still niche, but it fits more in B than B+.

Crucibelle: While Choice Scarf sets can handily check boosted Aurumoth and Volcarona sets, Trick a Choice Scarf to an unsuspecting Tomohawk, and pivot with U-turn, it suffers greatly from a lack of power. Head Smash hits for respectable damage due to its high base power, but Regenerator is best used to recover health from hazards and damage from resisted hits, not Head Smash recoil. It's niche as a Choice Scarfer is just really small.

Garchomp: How the mighty have fallen. General competition with Zygarde, who has higher bulk, Thousand Arrows, Extreme Speed, and Dragon Dance, and Pajantom, who also outspeeds the Base 100 Speed tier and packs Outrage and Earthquake as well, leaves Garchomp hard to use. Access to Stealth Rock sets it apart, but there are better options for Stealth Rock, including Tomohawk, Landorus-T, and Mega Crucibelle. It's still a niche pick, particularly for its Swords Dance + Stealth Rock + Z Crystal set, but it's not as viable as it once was.

Gengar: Although its STAB combination is pretty great, the influx of Mega Crucibelle has been a problem for Gengar, as it cannot fit Will-O-Wisp in addition to Focus Blast and Taunt. Additionally, Choice Specs can be easy to take advantage of, despite its power, Z-move eats the important team Z Crystal, and Life Orb doesn't help its frailty.

Jirachi: Even though it's a really sturdy Fairy-type check, it really struggles due to wanting 5 moves very badly: Wish and Protect for recovery, Iron Head for Fairy-types and flinch hax, U-turn to pivot (particularly against an incoming Colossoil), and Stealth Rock for general utility. Without one of these, Jirachi is mostly dead weight on a team, as it either gets worn down too fast or doesn't have the utility it wants.

Mew: Despite its access to Defog, its inability to deal with Colossoil makes it usually not worth running. Additionally, it can be rather easy to abuse its one-move coverage in Ice Beam or Psychic with any Steel-type, particularly Heatran. It's still servicable, but it's hard to fit onto teams.

Mollux: Recent metagame trends have not favored Mollux. Heatran, Mollux's biggest counter, has surged in usage, almost always running Earth Power or even Groundium Z to chip it down. While Mollux's STAB combination of Lava Plume and Sludge Bomb would otherwise be passable, Heatran's immunity to both of these forces Mollux to either run Hidden Power Ground or switch out. Additionally, the increase of Substitute Zygarde, Mega Crucibelle, and Pajantom means that Mollux gives up more free turns, especially when it fails to burn Zygarde or Mega Crucibelle. Toxapex, who sports similar resistances and higher bulk and a fantastic ability in Regenerator, and Gastrodon, with a similar Water-type immunity and a resistance to Stealth Rock, generally outclass it. Its weakness to Stealth Rock really shows as it slowly becomes more pressured by Specs Ash Greninja's Dark Pulse and flinch hax, as starting from 75% minimum compromises its ability to check it.

Gallade-Mega: Gallade-Mega suffers from being outclassed by three fronts: Mega Crucibelle can run U-turn to pivot, as well as dish out huge damage with its high powered STAB moves, and use Coil to set up, Mega Medicham simply hits harder without having to set up, and Mega Latios hits the same speed tier while using reliable recovery and Levitate. Swords Dance and Knock Off are the only things that really separate Mega Gallade apart, and while it can be a capable sweeper, the opportunity cost is generally too high, unless Mega Gallade is needed to be a specific sweeper for a specific team.

Gyarados-Mega: Using Mega Gyarados is worse than using Flyinium Z Gyarados in almost every respect. Despite the stat increase, STAB on Crunch, and Mold Breaker, it's not worth giving up the inability to break past Tomohawk, Pyroak, Jumbao, and Arghonaut, a handy immunity to Ground-type moves, and Moxie. A downtrend in Rotom-W and Mollux means Mold Breaker Earthquake and Waterfall aren't as useful. STAB Crunch can be useful for new rising stars like Mega Latios, but it's generally not worth running such an inconsistent sweeper.

Kingdra: Although it can still be a good rain sweeper, Volkraken and Greninja-Ash usually pull of the rain sweeping role a lot more sucessfully, while Mega Swampert and Hawlucha can pick up the slack with speed control. However, Swift Swim does make it devastatingly fast, so it's not completely outclassed, just more niche.

Mimikyu: Disguise can disrupt an offensive team's strategy and momentum, but it's mostly useless outside of that. It lacks power before setting up with Swords Dance, isn't particularly great at setting Trick Room and having other utility, and isn't the bulkiest Pokemon. Other Ghost-type sweepers like Revenankh and Necturna are generally better picks, making Minikyu's niche ever smaller.

Stakataka: While it might seem like a good Trick Room abuser, it's generally outclassed by Mawile. Defensive stops like Arghonaut and Tomohawk prevent it from reaching its full potential. It can still mutilate an unprepared offensive team when running an OTR set outside of Trick Room, but otherwise, it's not the best pick.

Serperior: Utility, speed, and Contrary Leaf Storm are useful, but Mega Crucibelle's recent surge doesn't help it. It's too reliant on Normalium Z offensively to sweep teams, and Leaf Storm sometimes doesn't cut it when it comes to mono-attacking utility sets. SubSeed, probably its best set, doesn't like Heatran walling it barring slow Leech Seed stall, most common scarfers beat it just by outspeeding, and slow VoltTurn like Mega Scizor make it difficult to set up Leech Seed.

Terrakion: Despite its good STAB combination, the rise of Mega Crucibelle, Mega Latios, Kartana, and Choice Scarf Landorus-T to prominence has left Terrakion rather difficult to use. Its inability to break Tomohawk even with Rockium Z and relatively poor bulk leave it hard to sweep and hard to switch in, and it faces a lot of competition from Mega Crucibelle as an offensive Rock-type. Priority users like Revenankh and Greninja-Ash leave Choice Scarf sets hard to use as well.

Bisharp: Outclassed by Colossoil in many ways, Bisharp doesn't do well in the metagame. Many defensive stops like Tomohawk, Arghonaut, Jumbao, Pyroak, Cyclohm, and Mega Scizor end up forcing it out more than not, and it's a terrible Fairy-type check despite being a Steel-type. Sucker Punch resists are common due to Colossoil's grip on the metagame, meaning Jumbao, Greninja, and Hawlucha check it offensively.

Gardevoir-Mega: Tapu Lele hopelessly outclasses it offensively, but it does have some utility options like Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Taunt, and Healing Wish that it can use. Additionally, its Pixilate Hyper Voice can foil a Substitute Zygarde's setup opportunity.

Heracross-Mega: Although outclassed by Pinsir-Mega in this role, it's one of the sturdier Colossoil checks and can break apart Arghonaut with a Skill Link Bullet Seed, without having to manage a huge weakness to Stealth Rock.

Latias: Although Choice Scarf Healing Wish is usable, it's worn down fast over time, doesn't hit especially hard, and is hard pressed as a Defogger to do its job and revenge kill with STAB moves at the same time, being even weaker than Latios.

Malaconda: Despite its access to Drought, it's now outclassed by Jumbao almost completely, even as its status as a Greninja-Ash check. That said, it can use Rapid Spin, preserve momentum with U-turn, and can be pretty annoying with Harvest.

Manectric-Mega: Although it has superior speed to Tapu Koko, it's rather one-dimensional. Even though it can pressure Grass-types with Overheat, most can see through this and double into an Overheat resist, meaning Manectric is at -2. Add in continual damage from hazards, average-at-best bulk, a rise in Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Krilowatt, Pajantom, and Mega Latios, and Mega Manectric becomes unable to do its job consistently.

Mantine: Being a very consistent Volkraken check with access to Defog sets it gives it a small niche for some balance teams, but outside of that, it's rather outclassed by other bulky Water-types.

Reuniclus: Although weak to Colossoil, it can set up in the face of many CAP walls and break past Arghonaut and Toxapex when unboosted. It's a niche pick, but it's a capable Calm Mind sweeper that's immune to status.

Sharpedo-Mega: While once a decent cleaner for Trick Room teams, Mega Sharpedo struggles to differentiate itself from other sweepers who have better bulk and more set up opportunities with better set up moves. It is unable to cover the metagame with 3 offensive moves, needing all of Crunch, Psychic Fangs, Earthquake, and Waterfall.

Slowbro-Mega: Once capable of sweeping with Calm Mind, the viability of Toxapex means it cannot set up reliably and gets whittled down by Toxic. Although it could run a 3 attacks set with Slack Off, Assault Vest Slowking usually pulls this off better, as it's able to better check Volkraken and Tomohawk. However, its titanic physical bulk allows it to check physical threats more easily, especially offensive Dragon Dance Zygarde.

Thundurus: Although Prankster Thunder Wave is a good form of speed control, its lack of recovery, weakness to Stealth Rock, and reliance on Life Orb puts it in direct competition with Krilowatt, which has only a little less Speed than Thundurus. It does have a good speed tier, but Thundurus-I can usually pull off Nasty Plot better with a double dance set.

Togekiss: A painfully awful Ground-type check, it loses to top Pokemon in the metagame, including Mega Crucibelle, Krilowatt, Pajantom, Flame Orb Facade Colossoil, Iron Tail Zygarde, and Tapu Koko. With most teams running a dedicated Flying-type resist for Tomohawk, Tornadus-T, and Hawlucha, Togekiss is really hard pressed to do much, relying solely on hax to get the job done.

Azelf: While Stealth Rock + Explosion is a good combination, Landorus-T pulls this off much better, as Swords Dance Explosion can actually dent hazard removers. Outside of this, Azelf really doesn't do much.

Breloom: The ubiquity of Tapu Koko's Electric Terrain makes Spore hard to use, and it's relative frailty shows when its typing suggests that it could switch into Colossoil and Zygarde, bringing almost no defensive utility to a team. Prominent Pokemon resist its STAB combination, like Jumbao, Tomohawk, Mega Latios, and Pajantom, and while they might mind a Rock Tomb, Breloom misses out on Swords Dance or Spore.

Diggersby: It might hit super hard, but it's rather slow and frail. Since it doesn't have many set-up opportunities, Choice Band would be its main set. There's almost no reason not to use Zygarde, Landorus-T, or Colossoil over this.

Dragonite: Salamence and Gyarados can pull off a Dragon Dance + Flyinium Z set better, due to their ability to snowball with Moxie, Gyarados's better typing and access to Taunt, and Salamence's superior speed. While Fire Punch, Earthquake, Extreme Speed are useful, Zygarde's Thousand Arrows compresses Fire Punch and Earthquake into one STAB move, and Zygarde also has Extreme Speed. Add onto the fact that Outrage is really awkward to use, and Dragonite is horridly outclassed at doing almost anything it would want to attempt.

Garchomp-Mega: Similar to Dragonite, Zygarde's Thousand Arrows makes its Earthquake + Fire-type coverage not as special. Its speed tier leaves it outsped by Jumbao and Tapu Lele, and picking Mega Garchomp means not picking Mega Latios, which has a much better Speed tier, can beat Tomohawk, Heatran, and Landorus-T, and has access to Roost and Defog. Colossoil also gives it competition as a Ground-type, sporting Rapid Spin, Sucker Punch, Knock Off, and Pursuit utility.

Kabutops: This really just has been here for too long. This was ranked when Mega Swampert was unavailable, and Mega Swampert really just does everything Kabutops wants to do as a Rain sweeper better. Rapid Spin Tomohawk or Defog Pelipper get the hazard removal done, while also acting as rain setters.

Kyurem: Ranked in Gen 6 for its ability to Pressure stall with Substitute + Roost, Kyurem has really fallen from grace. Although Ice + Ground-type coverage combined with Substitute, Roost, and Pressure sounds rather ideal, it's weakened rather quickly due to its weakness to Stealth Rock and reliance on Substitute.

Nidoking: Yes, it wallbreaks and has great coverage. However, it's main problem is speed, which is why Greninja and Krilowatt mostly outclass it. It's terrible as an Electric-type check, taking too much damage from Tapu Koko's Hidden Power Ice, Krilowatt's Ice Beam, and Magnezone's Flash Cannon.

Omastar: Although it can fit onto rain teams with Shell Smash + Waterium Z to overload Ferrothorn, other rain abusers like Ash-Greninja and Volkraken fit better onto Rain, and Volkraken, Choice Specs Pelipper, and Tomohawk can pressure opposing Ferrothorn anyway.

Pidgeot-Mega: The one saving grace that this Pokemon had over Tornadus-T, despite its lower speed and bulk, was its access to Defog. However, now that Tornadus-T has access to Defog, there's basically no reason to use Pidgeot-Mega.

Porygon-Z: Z-Conversion can turn Porygon-Z into a pretty powerful sweeper, but its susceptibility to faster Choice Scarf users after it sets up makes it hard to use. There's also pretty steep opportunity cost to not running a Z-move nuke on another Pokemon, or even other sweepers like Ghostium Z Necturna.

Scizor: Although Choice Band can still hit hard, Mega Scizor has begun to use Toxic sets to deal with the defensive threats in the metagame like Pyroak, Arghonaut, Tomohawk, Cyclohm, Zapdos, and Landorus-T. The same would translate over to Scizor, but Toxic doesn't mesh well with its offensive Band set, the best set it can run.

Scolipede: After the Baton Pass ban, Scolipede's only set was Waterium-Z + Swords Dance, but the set was never really that spectacular, particularly when trying to find a free turn to get its first speed boost. It's easy to pressure out with Ferrothorn, Tomohawk, Arghonaut, and other defensive Pokemon. Choice Scarf Greninja also stops it with Rock Slide.

Starmie: It's not that great of a spinner, with Greninja, Ash-Greninja, Sucker Punch Colossoil, Jumbao, Pajantom, and other offensive threats pressuring it from every angle. It can't run all of the coverage it wants to with Rapid Spin, and if it's not running Rapid Spin, it's directly outclassed.

Tentacruel: While it's bulkier than Starmie, it's a pretty bad Volkraken check and struggles to separate itself from Toxapex other than Rapid Spin, which is hard with a metagame with Colossoil and Zygarde. If it decides to run speed, it's not bulky enough, and vice versa.

Volcanion: Although it might super resist Volkraken's STAB moves, it doesn't have much to do offensively or defensively, especially when Volkraken could be run instead. Low speed leaves it outsped by Pajantom, Mega Latios, Colossoil, and other threats that can take it down with super effective coverage and bulk.

Blissey: Unless Blissey stall makes a resurgence, Chansey pretty much outclasses it.

Feraligator: This mon is outclassed by Naviathan, Gyarados, and other Dragon Dancers. Superpower lets it beat Ferrothorn easier, but it generally doesn't even have room to run that.

Mandibuzz: Dark / Flying isn't the best typing in the metagame, and it's basically outclassed by Tomohawk.

Porygon 2: Once a bulky Trick Room setter, it's not that great anymore with middling power.

Primarina: It can function as a Trick Room sweeper, but Crawdaunt pulls off the Water-type Trick Room niche much more effectively, and Jumbao, Slowking, and Mega Camerupt are better special attackers for Trick Room.

Talonflame: Although its Z-move can be hard to stomach, it's frail and doesn't hit hard before a Swords Dance boost.
Crucibelle-Mega: Despite a trend towards Choice Scarf Landorus-T, Mega Crucibelle is quickly becoming one of the best Megas to use. Jumbao’s introduction really helped Mega Crucibelle, as it's able to partner with either Jumbao’s more offensive Drought sets or defensive Wish sets, as well as effectively check Jumbao offensively. It’s versatility to pivot with U-turn, sweep with Coil, or set Stealth Rock makes each set very unpredictable. Though Crucibelle can struggle with faster Pokemon and Kartana, it’s a Pokemon that must be accounted for in trambuilding, allowing it to sit in A+.

Ferrothorn: As the best defensive Spikes setter available, Ferrothorn fits on balance, bulky offense, and even certain hyper offense teams very well, pressuring the opponent’s switches. Compressing a Ash-Greninja, Pajantom, and general Fairy-type check into one Pokemon really compresses roles as well. With a customizable moveset and EV spread, Ferrothorn will sit comfortably in A+.

Clefable: Although Jumbao has superior stats and extra resistances, access to Stealth Rock, Calm Mind, Ice Beam, and Thunder Wave, as well as Magic Guard and Unaware definitely differentiate it from the newest CAP. The VR team definitely wants to raise it, so it’s in A now, but read more about Clefable at the end of the post in the discussion posts.

Heatran: As one of the best Steel-types in the metagame, with a balance of offensive and defensive potential, it finds its way on anywhere from balanced to offensive teams. Its resistances, Fire-type immunity, and access to Stealth Rock give it a solid place in the metagame. BuluTran is known for its type synergy, and it's no different for Jumbao + Heatran. Even though it doesn't set Grassy Terrain, Jumbao can set Drought or Wish pass for Heatran and give it a different sort of support. Easily, this Pokemon fits in A+.

Hawlucha: Even though it has one chance to sweep, it's unparalleled as a sweeper or cleaner. Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele, and Tapu Bulu are still very viable as teammates, and many CAP walls are weak to Flying-type attacks. Though Haze Tomohawk can shut down Hawlucha in its tracks, Acrobatics can outdamage Tomohawk's Roost if Rocky Helmet has been knocked off. Roost can take advantage of Landorus-T, and Stone Edge can nail Zapdos. Hawlucha can even set up against Mega Crucibelle with the defense boost from Grassy Seed or Electric Seed.

Kartana: Kartana might have to face some sturdy physical walls like Pyroak, Cyclohm, and Tomohawk in CAP, but its Scarf set is really great at acting as speed control and a secondary sweeper. Psycho Cut with Tapu Lele support is underrated, as Psychium Z + Psycho Cut can break through these physical walls more easily. The Choice Band set is also underrated. Nonetheless, it's a prominent physical threat that's more relevant, due to its ability to take on Mega Crucibelle easily.

Necturna: Necturna's Shell Smash set has really caught on recently, as it can steamroll through most of the metagame if it gets a setup opportunity. Only Prankster Tomohawk, priority users, Choice Scarf Greninja, Unburden-boosted Hawlucha, extremely careful use of multiple bulky Pokemon, and rare Substitute users can reliably halt a Necturna sweep, especially with Ghostium Z. It's still vulnerable while it sets up, but it's one of the best sweepers in the metagame.

Pajantom: While Magma Storm Heatran is a very capable trapper, Pajantom's 100% accurate Spirit Shackle is more reliable trapping option, luring in Steel-types and giving Magnezone a free trapping opportunity. This core pressures defensive teams immensely, especially with Pajantom's powerful Z-moves. The specially defensive set, a.k.a. the Rat With Wings Special, has caught on, successfully trapping most everything other than Steel-types, which, again, is where Magnezone can come in and remove them. It's no slouch against offensive teams, as its Devastating Drake or Choice Band-boosted moves can overwhelm many switch-ins. Definitely a raise for Pajantom, even if it needs some Toxic support from its teammates to reach 100% potential.

Krilowatt: When Mega Crucibelle increases in viability, Krilowatt usually comes with it. As one of the best VoltTurn cores, Krilowatt's titanic bulk allows it to tank hits and cripple the opponent with Discharge paralysis. Volt Switch and Ice Beam are staples, allowing it to pick off almost any Ground-type trying to block a Volt Switch. Krilowatt's last moveslot is pretty flexible, either for Earth Power for a stronger hit on Heatran, Hidden Power Grass to lure Gastrodon, or Hidden Power Fire for Ferrothorn. Despite its low Special Attack, it's definitely deserving to rise out of the B ranks, especially as an offensive check for Volkraken.

Tornadus-T: Defog changed everything for this Pokemon. Suddenly it brings fundamental team support in hazard removal, rather than just pivoting, removing items, and abusing its high speed and coverage to act as a decent attacker. With Defog, it can switch into Stealth Rock, remove them, and pivot out and recover with Regenerator. Sticky Web teams have such a hard time dealing with this Pokemon. Flyinium Z sets are great, especially with Jumbao's sun, and Rocky Helmet sets are gaining more usage as well.

Gastrodon: Compressing a Tapu Koko check, Heatran check, Volkraken check, Mega Crucibelle check, and Ash-Greninja check into one Pokemon is useful for balance teams. Spreading status is so easy with Gastrodon, and Storm Drain makes Volkraken and Ash-Greninja scared to lock into a Water-type move. It's hard to take down with reliable healing in Recover, and with good Grass-type checks like Pyroak in the metagame, it's easy to cover its weaknesses.

Swampert-Mega: Despite Jumbao's introduction to the metagame, Rain teams are still going strong. Mega Swampert, alongside Pelipper, is the face of those teams, as any rain team without it is basically running at a disadvantage. For this reason, Mega Swampert is being ranked alongside Pelipper.

Revenankh: Although it may lack some initial firepower, Triage Drain Punch makes Revenankh scary. Though reliant on a slow boosting move, a decent Attack stat, and low base power moves, Revenankh's ability to check Mega Crucibelle, Syclant, and Ash-Greninja, while still acting as a sweeper is really great. Choice Band is less of a meme, as Trick can cripple switch-ins like Tomohawk and Clefable and not be totally useless after that, still sporting a powerful priority move.

Gliscor: Gliscor is definitely a Pokemon we want to see more discussion on. Defog has given it a new niche, but its Taunt + Toxic set is highly underrated. As an underexplored mon, we wanted to get it out of C rank, so it's B- for now, but it could definitely go higher.

Jumbao: This Pokemon is so versatile just by typing alone. Being a Grass-type that doesn't lose momentum to Tomohawk is possibly one of the biggest shifts the CAP metagame has had. It makes checking Colossoil and Greninja-Ash with one teamslot less of a liability. Not only this, but Drought sets make Fire-type nukes even more powerful, and Jumbao is still bulky with its offenses maximized. Its Choice Scarf set is great, with Healing Wish support to keep offensive momentum. However, its Trace Wish passing set allows it to tackle Heatran, support its teammates, and keep itself healthy. It's a huge metagame presence, and its splashability lets it fit into the upper A ranks.

Mega Latios: Massive attacking stats coupled with massive bulk, with recovery, coverage, Levitate, and Defog to boot make this Mega a versatile threat. It's able to switch into and force out Tomohawk and Heatran in one teamslot with Psychic and Earthquake, with a last coverage either as Ice Beam for general coverage, Draco Meteor to nuke, or Hidden Power Fire for Ferrothorn. Despite is vulnerability to Colossoil, Latios-Mega fits well into A.

Mega Latias: Although Calm Mind sets generally struggle due to Tomohawk's Haze and Colossoil's Dark typing, it's higher bulk compared to Mega Latios can making it attractive for certain bulkier teams. B+ seemed like a good place to start, and it can move from there.

Slowking: Assault Vest Slowking is one of the best sturdy Volkraken checks we have while still maintaining offensive pressure with wide coverage and Dragon Tail to phaze. It's very effective as a secondary Trick Room setter on dedicated teams, pressuring the opposing team with Future Sight and using Psychium Z to bypass Future Sight's delay. Also, it's one of the the most reliable checks for Life Orb Tomohawk.

Victini: Choiced sets are decent, and Jumbao's Drought is really great support for it. It's a niche pick that fits a rank below Mega Charizard X, which has Ground-type coverage for Heatran.

Aggron-Mega: Since C rank is for really niche Pokemon, Mega Aggron is probably one of the sturdiest Mega Crucibelle switch-ins available, taking 33% from a max roll, investing barely any investment in just HP. It can tank some surprising hits, outstall Wish Jumbao with Toxic and Heavy Slam. Clefable and Jumbao's Wish support is key to its success, and its access to Stealth Rock means Clefable can run another move. Since it's free to invest almost fully in special defense, it can tank some surprising attacks like Choice Scarf Volkraken's Fire Blast, Choice Specs Tapu Koko's Thunderbolt, and Heatran's Magma Storm.

Uxie: As Cresselia is ranked for Trick Room, the VR team wants to rank Uxie here too. It almost guarantees Trick Room and Stealth Rock, and Memento allows another teammate to get in safely and force a switch the next turn.


Discussion points:

Landorus-T from S to A+
I expect this to be controversial, but it's simply not controlling the metagame, which is what S-rank is for. Tomohawk's defensive presence and Prankster Haze, despite metagame shifts, are what warp the metagame into what it is now. While Landorus-T is a very splashable and viable Pokemon, capable of performing many roles, it's been trending away from set-up Z-move sets towards Choice Scarf and defensive sets, which aren't as threatening as its Z-move sets. Coba Berry Tomohawk has also not helped its Flyinium Z, forcing it to run Knock Off or have a teammate remove the berry. For these reasons, the VR team is considering to drop it to A+, where you still have to keep it in mind while teambuilding, but it's not causing metagame trends.


Volkraken from A+ to S
Although Volkraken relies heavily on Choice Scarf and Choice Specs and has very little variation outside of that, as well as a weakness to Stealth Rock, it's stupidly powerful STAB moves and access to U-turn make Specs a terrifying wallbreaker and Scarf really difficult for offensive teams to handle. The VR team has considered this a couple of times, but we wanted to open it up to discussion.


Greninja-Ash from A+ to A
Greninja from A to A+
The VR team wanted to open up to discussion whether these should stay as is, both be A+ rank, A rank, or switch places. Although Greninja-Ash sports sheer power, Jumbao, as well as bulky Water-types like Toxapex and Gastrodon, are really difficult to take down and sometimes it can't get the transformation off. On the other hand, Greninja can run basically 4 moves of its choosing and destroy any defensive backbone it wants to, if it runs the right coverage.


Jumbao from A+ to A
Clefable from A to A+
Similar to the Greninja formes, the VR team would like to open up discussion about their placement. They are rather similar, as both are bulky Fairy-types with access to Wish. Jumbao has higher stats, extra resistances, Trace, the capacity to run Life Orb, Z Crystal, or Choice Scarf sets, and the status as the only Grass-type that beats Tomohawk, while Clefable has Magic Guard, Unaware, Stealth Rock, Calm Mind, Ice Beam, and Thunder Wave, making them tackle different portions of the metagame in different ways. The VR team wants to know if they're both A+, if they're both A, if they should stay where they are as of this update, or if they should switch places.


Gliscor from B- to B+ or higher
As mentioned earlier in the rises reasoning, the VR team would like to open up to discussion about Gliscor. Toxic is a strong move in the current metagame, and with Gliscor's naturally high speed, access to Taunt and Roost, STAB Earthquake, and Poison Heal, it should be a good fit in the metagame. Again, its current place at B- was to get it out of C-rank, and it can definitely go higher than that.
 
Snorlax posting something thats not a flame to his opponent after he plays like shit ??? YO THATS CRAZY
Cus it is crazy we about to get into some very important VR posts so yall best pay attention you hear?

Necturna A -->S
Now I know as well as everyone else that the cap metagame can be kinda lacking in support from our upper staff at times, especially when it comes to playing. So you may ask, why all the way to S when its been quite dormant at A. Well thanks to some lordly innovation from Drapionswing and a shift away from tomohawk in favor of landorus, shell smash has been able to completely dominate the metagame. It is able to shell smash up fairly safely on a large amount of the metagame, and it uses its dual stabs to hit most of the metagame for chunks of damage as well. It uses substitute to avoid pesky toxics or thunder waves from mons that do live to safely knock them out as well. Just gonna link some replays right here full of Necturna destruction! I would like point out all these replays took place in about a 2 week span.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-767522983 : Necturna leads off and makes a guy retire
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-767520554 : Despite missing a move offler is able to take out 5 of his pokemon
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-768869494 : Late game necturna dismantles one of its primary "checks" in toxapex after rat sacks a mon to get it in
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-772175419 : Reach crushes me with necturna from lead matchup

I would like to draw special attention to these two replays and I will explain why.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-771224190 : This replay shows the absolute best way to deal with necturna. Tomohawk is the premiere check, and at the time of writing this, it is the only real check I have seen. On turn 29, againa pulls some Australian set out of his ass and z hazes the necturna so that he can heal to full and neuter it completely as offler uses his z move. But something is very important about this particular replay, despite the haze tomohawk still takes 57% of his z move, if againa had a regular haze set with say, lefties, as opposed to the Australian set, he would have lost his tomohawk and his krill. That two for one trade is still very impactful.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-771231936 : This replay from the same set shows how tomohawk isnt ACTUALLY that reliable. Offler was able to just switch over to a z psychium set, primarily innovated by reachzero, to kill the tomohawk from full. This slight change to work over necturna's single counter (single counter that I have found) is able to give offler the win.

While I was writing this my good friend SHSP brought up a very good point, what about unaware clefable? As we all know clefable has this ability to be able to be thrown onto just about any team and get rocks up, heal, and just be all around annoying to deal with. At first I thought to myself, "well that probably is another check and I should add it." BUT ALAS!!!

252+ Atk Necturna Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 178-211 (45.1 - 53.5%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Necturna Never-Ending Nightmare (175 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 261-307 (66.2 - 77.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

This is not a check for one simple reason, Tomohawk Syndrome. Now I know you are asking, what kind of dumb thing has he come up with now, and what does that mean. You'd be right it is a dumb term that I use. It basically means that its slapped onto teams to check so many things, that it essentially checks none of them. Tomohawk has a tendency to be the end all be all for physical attackers; however, when you go through your prep for a tournament you realize, "aye if he brings tomohawk ill just widdle him to like 80% with a physical attacker," because he is going to switch it in, "and it is no longer a check." Clefable, to me, has this same syndrome, especially unaware clefable. Keeping clef at full is going to be near impossible for most players, due to it having to check things like zygarde, switch in and take rocks damage and switch out, ect. This puts it in prime contention for "thats not a check." It just has too many things going on for the average team, not a counter team, to deal with necturna + friends.

I would also like to make a quick note about shift gear necturna. Essentially, it does the same thing as shell smash necturna while being less volatile. It is able to click wisps and be all around annoying to its revenge killers, as well as being a bit bulkier with the right spread. This set, however, has not seen tour play as it is locked up in the Drap's innovation vault. While I have tested it several times, and I know generally what it does, I do not think there is truly enough data to truly pinpoint how meta breaking it is compared to shell smash.

Edit: might as well keep a running tab of necturna single handedly smashing teams

Offler vs rat g1 of cap 24 playtest: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-773189454
I will also post about Volkraken later in this same post but aye gotta get them first thoughts out.
 
Last edited:

LucarioOfLegends

Master Procraster
is a CAP Contributor
Wow guys, you really knocked it out of the park on this VR Update. So much bulk cleaning, and a lot of changes that I agree with (Mega Cruci, Jumbao, Krilowatt) made this an incredible update. Don't get me wrong, there is personal stuff I agree with (RIP Rotom-Wash), but this is overall outstanding. Take a long deserved rest. But I do want to get my thoughts out about some of the discussion points brought up. I'm not the most amazing CAP Player, but I still think that I can bring my input to it.

Drop

I pretty much agree with the point in total, not much otherwise. Flyinium Z was some of the scariest things I've ever seen come out of a Lando-T in my life and once you set it up, few things could halt its mighty sweep, so keeping in mind a Fly Z Lando was practically mandatory for most teams. However, recent metagame trends and the Defog Tutor introduced in USUM have caused it to turn to a much more utility focused role, running Defensive and Choice Scarf variants much more commonly than Z set. You can still run SD Fly Z Lando to decent success, but the metagame has absolutely adapted to its presence with Coba Tomohawk, Volkraken, Ash-Greninja, and plently of other mons that can reliably stop a sweep or do it better like Steelium DD Zygarde. Tornadus-T's rise has also harmed the viability of offensive Landorus-T, since it also wants to run a Flyinium Z a lot of the time, and can generally get more mileage out of the Z-Crystal since it can still use Hurricane afterwards, while Landorus is stuck with Fly to use as its Z-nuke, which can certainly be played around in a lot of cases as a normal move. All this culminates to a Landorus-T that is still an incredibly mon, easily A+, but is notably less centralizing and scary than in the SM days of CAP. Don't get me wrong, it is still an outstanding mon with its typing, Intimidate, decently fast speed tier, strong attack and great movepool. There is a reason why its one of the three big Ground-types of CAP. But it is not the mon it used to be, as the meta has shifted against its terror and it itself has adapted to the change by becoming much more utility in focus at points. The drop to A+ is very well deserved.

Rise

Holy Hawluchas this thing is amazing. While it certainly has drawbacks, like its unfortunate susceptibility to Stealth Rock and its over-reliance on Choice items to get things done, making it predictable and easy to exploit, that's just about where the negatives end for it. Analytic STAB from both sets are straight up terrifying to face in most situations, and it can be game ending if you are not prepared for it consistently. Specs in particular can break through almost anything, and in the respective STAB weather you better start praying to your god. Just through those two STAB moves Volkraken hits so much of the metagame supereffectively, with only Water-types, Dragon-types, and Mollux (may have forgotten some) being able to consistently resist it. 95 Speed is also a really great Speed tier to be at for a Choice Scarf and even Choice Specs, as it can outspeed a lot of common Pokemon like Colossoil, Necturna, Tomohawk, and Landorus-T. If you want to run a Choice Scarf at all, you have to face serious competition with Volkraken for that role and if you are below that speed tier, you will struggle greatly competing with it, especially specially. Its coverage is also surprisingly solid, with Hidden Power Grass being able to get the jump on some particularly hard checks like Gastrodon and Mega Swampert, while HP Ground can hit Plasmanta or Crucibelle to the point of near knockout, if not so. I always end up bringing a Volkraken counter at some point, be it Arghonaut or Krilowatt or even RWW Pajantom, and if I don't have one on me, I see it as a priority to put it on. That is a testament to how outstanding of a Pokemon and how centralizing of a force Volkraken really is. S rank is an easy slot for it.

Probaby will do more later, but this is what I want to do for now.
 
Here are my thoughts on the nominations:

Landorus-T to A+: Disagree. I think that, while he faces serious competition from Tomohawk, and I agree that Tomo is probably the better of the two, Lando-T still manages to distinguish himself thanks to its ability to pivot with U-Turn, a powerful Ground STAB and a great ability in Intimidate. Having a ground-typing is also huge for the whole team, as it makes Electric types hesitate a lot to use Volt Switch, which would otherwise grab momentum for free. It also has a much better match-up than Tomo against a myriad of threats, such as M-Crucibelle, M-Mawile, Heatran, Non-Ice Punch Pajantom and SubCoil Zygarde (if carrying HP Ice). Lack of recovery might be its main problem when compared with Tomo, but offensive team don't mind that so much and appreciate its ability to keep momentum, while bulkier teams can patch that up by using Wish support from the likes of Clefable or Jumbao. Defensive Flynium-Z is also a great option, as it allows you to deal with Non-Coba Berry Tomohawk (and can take care of even that if using Knock Off), Pyroak and Arghonaut, while still keeping most of the utility of standard defensive variants. Finally, offensive sets should not be taken lightly either, Rock Polish can make for a devastating late game sweeper, while there are almost no good switch in to Gravity+Flynium-Z. Overall, I think that Landorus-Therian is miles ahead from anything on the A+ rank, and should remain as a S-Rank.

Volkraken to S: Heavily disagree. I think that currently in the meta, there is a lot of counterplay against Volkraken. Specs sets might hit like a truck, particularly if accompanied by weather support, but without a Scarf, you are left in the overpopulated 95 speed tier, and can be outright dead weight against offensive teams. M-Lati@s are rising in usage, and both of them can take any attack that Scarf sets throws at them. Bulky waters such as Gastrodon, Arghonaut and Toxapex are also extremely common in fatter teams, and out of the three, only Gastrodon can be taken advantage of with HP Grass. Specially Defensive Pajantom is also anther common check, as it can tank anything move from Volk. Even on teams that don't have any of these, Volkraken is still very Prediction reliant, as its best sets are Choice-locked, and most teams pack cores such as Jumbao+Heatran than can take care of Volkraken with the right prediction. All in all I don't think that Volkraken deserves a raise, and in fact, I wouldn't mind it being dropped to A. Sure it is one of the best scarfers in the meta, and a great check to Caw, but it is not as effective as the other mons in S rank.

Greninja-Ash from A+ to A / Greninja from A to A+: Agree. This has a long time coming, because Protean has been better than Battle Bond for a good while. Ash-Greninja can be very dangerous, but it is rather one dimensional, and Bulky waters like Arghonaut and Toxapex can usually handle it without too much difficulty. Protean on the other hand, is much more unpredictable, as between Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Grass Knot, HP Fire, Extrasensory and Gunk Shot, there are almost no reliable defensive answers against it. Sure, you have to choose only 4 moves, but you should always be able to cover whatever your team needs.

Gliscor to B+ or higher: Agree. I must admit, I haven't messed around with Gliscor a lot, so I'm not completely sure about this, but from what I've seen, it is a very underrated mon, capable of dismantling bulkier teams, and has a great match up against some of the best mons in the tier, such as Tomohawk, Toxapex, Heatran and Zygarde.

I would also like to object some of the drops, as they are too harsh in my opinion:

Latios: While its Mega is undoubtedly superior, I think Latios is still viable in certain cases, like for example if you are already using your Mega slot for something else. Choiced sets might not anything special, but Trick gives them the ability to lure threats that you otherwise wouldn't be able to beat, like Chansey, Celesteela or Jumbao. Unlike its Mega form, Latios is also capable of using Z-Moves, Draconium-Z allows to to 2HKO AV Colossoil on the switch, on the switch after just a bit of prior damage, (and this is with the old spread, which is bulkier than most variants used today). All this might not make Latios great, but I think that it still deserve a place in C+.

Terrakion: Despite the fact that the CAP metagame is quite unfriendly against the Cavern Pokemon, particularly because of Tomohawk's dominance, I think that this mon still has a small niche as a Scarfer, in a similar way to Non-mega Crucibelle. I find its ability to break past Steel types such as Ferrothorn, Heatran and Naviathan to be really helpful for teams that struggle against these threats, and I think this is enough to warrant a niche placement somewhere in C.

Blacephalon: I think that Blacephalon might have a bad reputation for being undeserving of a placement in the OU tier, but that doesn't mean that it is outright non-viable. Even there, Blace still sits at C+, and that is a tier where Tyranitar runs rampant. Here, Colossoil might still be a huge threat, but, it is still takes 33% minimum from Fire Blast, so it is much easier to wear down, while Pex takes a ton of damage from Psyshock. Out of these 3 mons, this is probably the one that I care the least, and I can see Blace dropping to UR later down the road, but the decision to completely remove it from the VR now seems rather premature.

All in all, great job with the update!
 
Last edited:

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
oh hi thanks for checking in every suggestion i make is still utter garbageee~

Gliscor B- -> A-
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7cap-773170844

I know in this replay I kinda just. Threw all my mons with ice moves away without thinking. But still. Gliscor is A- in OU last I checked, and I'd say its just as good here.
Read the VR OP. "Lastly, keep your reasoning to the CAP Metagame. A Pokemon's performance in OU or any other official tier is irrelevant and posts using that as reasoning will be moderated."

Also, a replay doesn't speak on its own; tell us why Gliscor was good in it.
 
While I will agree with the post above, I do think Gliscor should absolutely rise to at least B+. Gliscor is really so good right now. It demolishes bulkier teams with the TauntToxic set, as Poison Heal lets it very reliably maintain bulk along with Roost. This allows Gliscor to ToxicStall Pokémon like Tomohawk and gives Gliscor room to handle Pokémon who aren’t OHKOd by Earthquake, such as Toxapex and Magearna. Heatran also being on the rise is very useful for Gliscor, and being a Pokémon that can handle Heatran and Tomohawk at the same time is extremely useful, for balance teams especially. It also can check MCruci if it Earthquakes while it comes in or if MCruci is of the Coil variety. Even if it isn’t a sturdy check to MCruci, it usually is able to at least put enough of a dent in it that something can come in and revenge kill. Without counterplay for it on the foe’s team (as in an Ice-type move), Gliscor can put a dent into the opponent’s team rather quickly. Heck, on the replay above, Gliscor isn’t even OHKOd by AV Gear’s Ice Beam! This is slightly anecdotal, but a Gliscor team I’ve been running has been doing me wonders on the ladder (I know it’s not saying a lot, but I’ve never been higher in the ladder so leave me alone). Gliscor is really just an extremely useful Pokémon and deserves to rise.
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Wanna talk some discussion points:

-> A+
Yeh I am inclined for a drop, Lando-T's usage has been on the decline recently and its not too hard to see why considering some of its most prominent checks such as Tomohawk, Jumbao and Mega Latias being as prominent as ever. It also faces stiff competition with Mega Crucibelle as an offensive Stealth Rock setter (an option which is gaining more usage as of late) and generally struggles to perform its roles properly whether its a Choice Scarf user, defensive SR setter or an SD Z-Move wallbreaker. It just has a harder time doing what it used to do especially when Gliscor is becoming more popular.

Stay A+
While certain teams still struggle to check Volkraken reliably, certain checks have started to become more prevalent and splashable such as Mega Lati@s, Argonaught, and the Jumbao + Heatran core. Its still probably the best Choice Scarf user in the tier and can be a devastating Specs user as well, but locking itself into one of its STAB moves is more detrimental in the current metagame as compared to before.


-> A
-> A+

Yeh I definitely believe that Protean Greninja has taken the spotlight as the better frog in the current metagame due to how well it can break through common balance cores depending on the coverage it chooses to run. Sets such as Ice Beam / HP Fire / Low Kick / Extrasensory for example can easily run through most bulky offensive teams as they struggle to find a reliable switchin. Ash Greninja on the otherhand dislikes the rise of its checks such as SpD Argonaught, Jumbao, and Tapu Bulu, meaning it cant mindlessly spam its STAB moves as it could before and makes it harder for it to get its form transformation off. The only advantage it has right now is its ability to bluff Protean sets which is an testament to the comparison of their current rankings.


Stay A+
-> A+

While I do agree on a Clefable raise, mainly due to how many potent move sets it can run and the fact that it can reliably set up and keep SR against most entry hazard removers. However, I believe Jumbao still faires in the A+ rankings alongside Clef even though they perform the same role as bulky Fairy Wish users as Jumbao as the edge in checking more threats with its typing, can hit extremely hard even without investment, and has the option to potentially beat its checks via its great coverage through its offensive sets. The lack in utility options such as Thunder Wave, Knock Off, and Calm Mind is unfortunate for it when making the comparison, but I feel both mons can still share the same rank in the current metagame as they each have their own advantages over each other and is more of a team specific issue when comparing their viability.


-> A-
Gliscor is one of the best stallbreakers right now with its SD set, being able to setup on the likes of Toxapex, Ferrothorn, Fidgit, and Pyroark and proceed to sweep teams with its EQ + Ice Fang coverage. It also is one of the better option for defensive teams as an entry hazard setter or remover and can also break through opposing defensive cores through Toxic + Taunt. The only issue it has is the inability to break through certain checks such as Argonaught, defensive Tomohawk, and Jumbao alongside the competition it has with Landorus-T, but I still feel it has risen over the past couple of months to warrant a rise.

Now onto my own nom:

-> S
Mega Crucibelle has resurged as potentially the best mega evolution option currently mainly thanks to its devastating STAB combination that can dent the majority of teams that lack solid checks such as Zygarde, Argonaught, and Jirachi (note how it can break through some of these checks via coverage such as Low Kick and Wood Hammer). It also has quite a few sets it can run mainly being all out attacking, Stealth Rock, and Coil which all can perform their roles extremely well depending on the structure of the team its on. Speaking of team structure, VolTurn balance / offense is one of the best archetypes in the current metagame and Mega Belle is one of the flagship mons on it alongside Krillowatt. I believe teams should prioritize Mega Crucibelle as a threat primarily when building which is why I believe a rise to S is warranted at the current time.

Edit:
-> A+
I definitely feel that Pajantom's trapping abilities are becoming more and more useful as the metagame progresses to a more balanced orientated playstyle. Its ability to come in against so many threats thanks to its great bulk + typing and then proceed to trap and KO them through the use of Z-Moves and its STABs. Paj pairs well with so many common wallbreakers atm, most notably being threats such as Ash Greninja, Necturna, and Mega Crucibelle. The recent discovery of the Rat SpD stall set also further enhances Paj's trapping capabilities, as it lets it act as a reliable check to scary threats such as Volkraken, Tapu Bulu, and Heatran. I feel Pajantom's ability to both act as a great wallbreaker / trapper alongside providing great defensive utility thanks to its great natural defensive bulk permits it to rise to A+ imo.

-> A-
As Mega Alakazam continues to rise in the regular OU metagame, I also feel its gotten better in the CAP meta as well. This is mainly thanks to its great Speed tier which enables it to check major threats such as Mega Crucibelle, Syclant, Tapu Koko, and Stratagem. Trace also provides great utility, letting Mega Zam comfortably check annoying mons like Heatran and Mega Latios. While the prevalence of certain checks such as AssVest Magearna and Colossoil does annoy it, I still find Mega Zam to be one of the better mega options at the current meta and a small rise should reflect that.

-> B-
While it isn't one of the best sweepers around, I still find Voodoom to have some niche which makes it a step ahead of the rest of the C-Rank. Its Nasty Plot set enables it to act as a decent wallbreaker which can set up on a decent amount of threats due to its ok defensive typing and good bulk (alongside its ability which punishes threats such as Tapu Koko and Krillowatt). The main thing that holds it back is its lacking Speed and the presence of Fairies of course, but I still believe it can rise a tad bit for its capability as a niche setup sweeper.
 
Last edited:

SHSP

is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top CAP Contributor
Moderator
discussion points:
Lando-T: Stay S
Even though we don't see much in terms of Z-Move offensive sets nowadays, Lando is still an incredibly centralizing and good mon in the meta. Scarf isn't a bad option in any point as EQ still hits like a truck, U-Turn maintains momentum, and Rocks or Defog's role compression helps free up building. I tend to agree a lot with mxmts on the last few pages, in terms of how it's still just as threatening as ever.

Kraken: Stay A+
Specs Kraken has seen a huge jump in usage over the last bit of metagame development, and we've all seen the calcs of absurd Rain/Sun damage on switchins, but I can't help but feel that it's somewhat overhyped. Like previously said, 95 is not a great speed tier for Specs, and leaves it vulnerable to a lot. The rise of the Lati twins, bulky Paj, and some waters has hurt it, especially the weaker hitting Scarf set. It's still very, very good, but I hesitate when considering it as good as Tomo or Lando-T who both have more diversity to their options and have lesser negatives.

Reg Greninja: Up to A+
Goddamn I love this thing. With the introduction of Jumbao, and the metagame changes that came with it, Protean Gren has been given a huge boost. Scarf sets are stupidly fast and still hit rather hard, oftentimes catching opponents offguard or forcing them to scout heavily. The recent spikes in Z-Move Gren between Z-Hydro and Z-Low Kick (and, if your name is Offler, Z-Dig) give it even more versatility, tailored to the individual team that it's on. It's incredibly hard to scout against, but it can struggle into bulkier teams as it lacks some of the firepower of it's Ash counterpart.
Note on Ash- I don't know if it needs to move at all. It still is super effective against a number of teams, and the success of regular Gren contributes to it's success as well.

Jumbao: Stay A+
Clef: Up to A+

Gonna talk about these two at once. Clef is incredible right now, one of the best rockers in the tier with a host of other options to boot. It easily deserves A+, in my eyes, as it's flexible, easy to fit onto teams and successful in a number of different matchups. Jumbao is also very solid: I've seen a rise in it's options consistently since it's introduction. The bulkier set is very strong, still hitting hard while recovering and being able to assist teammates. I've also seen an uptick in it's Scarf set, and think Jumbao as a whole is still somewhat unexplored. Clef existing doesn't make Jumbao any worse, and I agree with Funbot's post above.

Gliscor: Up to B+
Gliscor is definitely better than B- right now, but it still faces stiff competition. It has a lot of options, between fast Taunt, Toxic, being able to stallbreak with SD, and hazard control, but it still has the same weaknesses as it always has. It struggles compared to Lando and Tomo, some of the most common and solid mons in the meta, and an offensive stallbreaker set with SD has a number of roadblocks in common, bulkier mons: Argh, Tomo, and the rise of Grasses in Nect, Jumb and even Bulu and Tang are examples of this point. I don't have a ton of experience with the Toxic/Taunt set, but it seems more effective, although still retaining issues in comparison to other options. It's still a very strong mon that can dismantle a lot of teams with a number of different options, despite its negatives, and deserves a rise from B-.

Don't really have enough experience to speak on Necturna as of right now, this might be edited when I do.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top