Resource USUM AG Viability Rankings

While I do agree that Xerneas is underrated rn, I never seen a Xern beat poisonceus at reasonable health unless some para full para or crit Psychic bs. Tho Arceus Poison is threatend nowadays by DualDance Dusk-Mane if no will o wisp but even if, staying in could be risky due to CM Ultra or a plain Photon Geyser from SD Ultra, I still think its close to Magearna level at checking Xerneas. Regarding (specially defensive) Dusk-Mane as a check its is still a mayor problem to Xern especially with Solgalium-Z it can drop Xern or prevent Goth from trapping. I think the biggest reason Xern is good rn is bc since Dusk Mane noone really expects much Xerneas anymore so teams that dont carry a SpDef dusk mane often times are not really prepared for it.
Like I said in my post, Z-geo and Psyshock/Psychic Geo beat Poisonceus.
0 Atk Arceus-Poison Acid Downpour (160 BP) vs. +1 248 HP / 252+ Def Xerneas: 180-212 (39.5 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Arceus-Poison Poison Jab vs. +1 248 HP / 252+ Def Xerneas: 90-108 (19.7 - 23.7%) -- possible 5HKO
It actually cant break through, unless you have Perish Song or Roar before they Ingrain, but most Poisonceus have Rocks.
 
Like I said in my post, Z-geo and Psyshock/Psychic Geo beat Poisonceus.
0 Atk Arceus-Poison Acid Downpour (160 BP) vs. +1 248 HP / 252+ Def Xerneas: 180-212 (39.5 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 Atk Arceus-Poison Poison Jab vs. +1 248 HP / 252+ Def Xerneas: 90-108 (19.7 - 23.7%) -- possible 5HKO
It actually cant break through, unless you have Perish Song or Roar before they Ingrain, but most Poisonceus have Rocks.
Well vs ZGeo you are kinda stuck but with 30% poison chance you can force them to rest and maybe do sth from there also Idk how they would get the 3 turn z-geo > normal geo > ingrain set up vs a Poisonceus. But I can agree on ZGeo being not as easy to deal with.
+3 0 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 56+ SpD Arceus-Poison: 158-186 (35.6 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

But I still dont see how Psychic coverage xern beats a Poisonceus cause without the defense raise and investment it drops
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Psychic vs. 248 HP / 56+ SpD Arceus-Poison: 322-380 (72.6 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 160 Def Arceus-Poison: 288-340 (65 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Arceus-Poison: 328-386 (74 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
-
32 Atk Arceus-Poison Acid Downpour (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 432-510 (94.7 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
which is a guranteed kill after rocks or minor chip and noone really runs max hp on xern without zgeo these anyway. 8 def is enough to live psyshock after rocks tho I prefer the set above.
0 Atk Arceus-Poison Acid Downpour (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 422-498 (92.5 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO still 100% after rocks.
 
Well vs ZGeo you are kinda stuck but with 30% poison chance you can force them to rest and maybe do sth from there also Idk how they would get the 3 turn z-geo > normal geo > ingrain set up vs a Poisonceus. But I can agree on ZGeo being not as easy to deal with.
+3 0 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 56+ SpD Arceus-Poison: 158-186 (35.6 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

But I still dont see how Psychic coverage xern beats a Poisonceus cause without the defense raise and investment it drops
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Psychic vs. 248 HP / 56+ SpD Arceus-Poison: 322-380 (72.6 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 160 Def Arceus-Poison: 288-340 (65 - 76.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Psyshock vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Arceus-Poison: 328-386 (74 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
-
32 Atk Arceus-Poison Acid Downpour (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 432-510 (94.7 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
which is a guranteed kill after rocks or minor chip and noone really runs max hp on xern without zgeo these anyway. 8 def is enough to live psyshock after rocks tho I prefer the set above.
0 Atk Arceus-Poison Acid Downpour (160 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Xerneas: 422-498 (92.5 - 109.2%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO still 100% after rocks.
This kinda means you're forced to recover every time you come in on Moonblast or a Psychic Type move, because if you click anything else it can come in later, Geomancy up and beat Arceus-Poison. Z-geo is 2 turns and can easily be achieved by not clicking Z-Geo when Arceus-Poison is in, but rather when it is not in. The other flaw Arceus-Poison has over Dusk-Mane and Magearna is that it gets trapped by a bunch of trappers, Gothitelle, Gengar and Dugtrio, and I personally believe running a trapper is the way to go when using Xerneas.
 

MZ

And now for something completely different
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Yveltal A+ to A
Xerneas A- to A
Deoxys-Attack B to B-
Tapu Lele C to D
Arceus-Ghost B+ to B
Lunala B- to B
Lugia B+ to B
Kyogre C to B-
Gothitelle B to B+
Arceus-Ice D to Unranked
Mega Scizor D to Unranked
Clefable C to D
Skarmory B+ to A-
Solrock D to Unranked- this was brought up in council and we went 50/50 so if anyone feels strongly, feel free to post
Yveltal and Xerneas both trend towards the mean, GeoXern is in a bit of a renaissance while Yveltal isn't quite as easy to slap on as a breaker anymore, it feels like all of its sets are solid but no longer exceptional. Deo and Lele both drop because PsychicSpam has mostly fallen off the map, it's still viable which is why Lele is staying ranked but this is nowhere near as good anymore. Ghostceus continues to be that thing that people don't really know what to do with, while Lunala has seen a huge bump with Tailwind CM sets and could probably see some consideration for B+. Lugia and Kyogre were both brought up in the thread as basically being marginally worse/better than everything else in their respective subranks, Lugia in particular has just kinda fallen off. Gothitelle is my own nomination, while it's not as consistent as the rest of B+ it still has a wide meta impact and carries playstyles and that is hard to ignore. Finally, Mega Scizor and Arceus-Ice can kinda perform on certain teams and in certain situations, but were considered overall too niche to be worth keeping ranked, they're far from consistent presences even when weighed against things like Pyuku. Admittedly D rank has become a bit arbitrary recently, but I don't think anybody will really be missing these. On the rejected side, Clef's kinda hard to define but remains a solid pick for stall or fat Arceus-heavy teams and Skarmory is just not at the A rank level yet, it's still only the 4th or 5th best Steel-type which gives it a lot of competition issues. Good stuff here guys, looking forward to seeing what changes over OMPL.
 
Ok, I really liked all of the changes made to the VR beside Yveltal but maybe I just like it too much. It just still seems like it can handle the meta so well it should be A+ but I won't try and push this anymore unless other people start to agree more so with me and think this birb needs to go back to A+. Anyway, the onto the main thing I wanted to talk about. Quaqsire from C rank to D rank. Quaqsire is a mon that I can remember seeing on 1 team in all of AG Lance's sample team from who knows how long ago. It only seemed decent on that team at best. But nowadays it seems just a lot worse. To be fair it is 1 of the only 2 main haze users the other being Zygarde. Zygarde just outclasses it many different ways such as having arrows instead of eq better stats overall and complete form ability. The only niches that Quaqsire has over Zygarde is being water type having water absorb so it can check Kyogre but there are other better Kyogre checks like Ferrothorn or Pdon. Also Quaqsire has unaware but this also has gotten worse with things like sunsteel strike and moongeist beam to just bypass this. Overall Quaqsire just does not have much niche to really stay C and only barely D rank because of haze and unaware and even then it's not that great. Now onto another mon I wanted down ranked Alola muk from D rank to Unranked. Alola muk niche is meant to be a spd tank along with being a pursuit user. But its issues are that its outclassed by every other spd tank and pursuit user including ttar,marsh as pursuit users and if u want a spd tank just use blissey or chansey (if u don't care about shedshell). Also ttar it self with sandstorm has better spd. And most of the mons I listed have better overall stats then muk. So all its good for is trying to poison and u have like every other mon with toxic to do that. So it's just a meme at this point that I don't even see on low ladder.
 
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I want to nominate vivillon to B rank, I don't have much to say, but it should rise for the same reason it rised to B-, its super threatening once you put something to sleep and start setting up, it's almost impossible to stop it for certain teams, and teams that carry answers to it can be worked around, sure in theory a lot of things stop it but it's not that hard to prepare a sweep scenario:
-phaze: every phazer can be but to sleep easily because of the negative priority, both p-groundon and skarmory can be worn down by switching in QD/SP, since both are 2KOed by +2hurricane, Lugia and giratina are harder to handle, by Lugia just drop in viability and girarina is more common on stall;
-sleep talkers users: most of them heavily rely on luck to hit, and again they can be worn down by boosted hurricanes;
-mulitple priority: this is can be worked around by using sleep powder when the first priority usar breakes the sub, then sub again and procede to kill the first priority user while keeping the sub;
Haze and CM setters: ok this is very hard to handle and you will need help from teammates, at least haze is not that common;
The list of mons vivillon can start to set up is huge, when using help from SW it gets even bigger, bulky p-don, bulky DM, ho-oh, bulky arceus(SW), ogre, goth, chansey and sneargle(it Also works decent as an answer to BP teams), while SR sucks and the amount of things that can make vivillon's life worse, the threat it poses is so huge that it doesn't seem to fit in B- alongside the Mons in there.
 

Tyranitar B > B+

Tyranitar @ Shuca Berry / Chople Berry / Lum Berry / Leftovers / Choice Band (Ig)
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def I EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Impish Nature / Careful
- Foul Play
- Pursuit
- Rest
- Roar / Stealth Rocks / Toxic / Rock Tomb / Dragon Tail / Taunt / ...

Even though TTar is threatend by a lot of common mons like Kyogre, Pdon, Necrozma-Dusk-Mane that carry Sunsteel Strike, Marshadow, Zygarde, Arceus Ground Fairy & Steel and Xerneas it also does a great job vs major threats like Mega Gengar, Mega Rayquaza, Yveltal, Ho-Oh, Special-Necrozma (all forms), Mewtwo (Y & regular without fighting coverage), Gothitelle and if carrying Roar Arceus Dark and Vivillion. It is also able to potentially deal with other Mons under the right circumstances (mostly when lacking fighting coverage) like EKiller, Lunala, Deoxys-A and Arceus Ghost. I know being weak to 9 common mons doesnt sound very convincing but when you look at the mons it can check or even counter one should see why it is great. Especially considering the fact that mons like Gengar "cant" just switch out vs it. One might argue Arceus Dark could do similar things but why would for example Gengar stay in on you? Being able to check a couple of the most common and biggest threats (2/3 S Rank Mons) with the newest addition of CM Ultra Necrozma makes it a great mon Imo and should be considered for a higher rank. Would love to hear other ppls opinions on this. TTar itself is not new so I am not going into detail on everything but I think in the current meta it can do a great job if you have appropriate answers to the things that threaten it.

It also seems to be a nice pair with CM Ultra Necrozma as it can deal with most threats to it (Gengar, Mewtwo, Ygod and Ho-Oh + phasing out Arceus Dark) so CM Geyser D-Pulse Heat Wave can pull through.

Regarding Alolan-Muk I think it should stay where it is even though TTar is the go-to Pursuit trapper (because of above mentioned reasons) it is still usuable, being only weak to ground, cause Mega Gengar has nothing to do against it (Hypno or Will o Wisp). It also helps to spread status(Poison Touch), getting rid of items (Knock Off) or stat boosts (Clear Smog). Marshadow is only able to pursuit trap cause of the fear of Sneak but would be killed by a Shadow Ball if the Gengar user knows the Marsh set, is maybe saccing Gar or simply pulls the trigger on the 50:50, because of the way you brought it in.
 
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I want to nominate some mons, these include, Komala, Doublade,and Lycanroc-Dusk. Here are the reasons, Komala: this mon is a great start to a battle, with Sleep Talk/Last Resort, it takes down any non Steel,ice,and rock type pokemon in 1-3 hits, 1-2 with Choice band. Komala is a awesome pokemon that i feel should be in at least B-. Doublade: If you give this mon eviolite and have Protect,Swords Dance,Sacred Sword, and Shadow sneak, this mon tanks a fire type move with 1/2-1/5 hitpoints, then, you spam either sacred sword, or shadow sneak,however, this strat falls onits face in frond of Arceus Dark, and Mega Gengar. So Doublade should be at least in C-. Lycanroc-dusk: Lycanroc can easily take down Cloyster with SD/Accelerock, due to STAB+SD. if you pull it off, Lycan rock can also take down P-Groudon, M-Gengar, and other really annoying mons. If you put SD, accelerock, Stone Edge/other, and Drill run, you can pretty much take down annoying mons as long as they dont OHKO you, which can be avoided with Focus Sash. Lycanroc-Dusk should be in D-C-.
 
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beside my vivillon nom, I would like to make some more nominations:
arceus-water A- to B+, even that it can resist fire punches and set perish song against dusk mane, it doesn't seem as good as the others A- mons, celesteela and ferro can counter a lot of mons, arceus-dark can destroy stall/bulkier teams if magearna is gone, p-ogre is fucking scary with both physycal and special sets, being quite hard to use a switch in bar ferro, and e-killer can late game sweep really well even being less good nowdays;

gothitelle B+ to A-, this is ridiculous, can remove every bulky mon bar magearna, ttar and d-tail users, this means that using this+ any kind of sweeper is a easy win against balance teams, lately I've been using this and scarf ray and the results are amazing, other mons like xern and dusk mane can sweep way easier choosing the coverage you want to beat what you want and let goth trap what you can't beat.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-770252306
goth manage to trap 2 pokemon and could beat a-fairy too;
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-770254873
she avoid p-ogre from being stalled by a-fairy+skarm toxic duo

ttar and magearna B to B+, ok I just said why goth is op, so I think that this duo should rise because of how they can deal with huge problems for stall teams, magerna can volt switch out of traps and beat any kind of dark arceus and xern(this is helpfull for any playstyle), while giving hell bell support witch is nice because toxic is everywhere and some bulky mons like zygarde, groundon and ttar rely on rest as recovery. ttar on the other hand have the ability to trap trappers wich is fundamental for stall teams, not mutch things to say, it can set rocks and kill ray using shuca berry.

blissey B- to B, I don't remember if this was discussed already, but why chansey and blissey don't share the same rank? lower bulk for shed shell seems a fair trade, specially because the bulk diference isn't that big on the special side, and you need to have some good physycal walls on your stall teams, so ins't hard to cover that problem, but loosing your special wall to a trapper is a really big problem for stall teams.
252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Heavy Rain: 195-229 (30.4 - 35.7%) -- 36.6% chance to 3HKO
252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey in Heavy Rain: 220-261 (30.8 - 36.5%) -- 63.8% chance to 3HKO
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 294-348 (45.8 - 54.2%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 338-398 (47.3 - 55.7%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO (both need confide to win)
252+ SpA Groudon-Primal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Harsh Sunshine: 229-271 (35.7 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Groudon-Primal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey in Harsh Sunshine: 262-310 (36.6 - 43.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 135-159 (21 - 24.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 153-180 (21.4 - 25.2%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO
+1 252 SpA Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 301-355 (46.9 - 55.3%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 345-406 (48.3 - 56.8%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO


arcues flying/dragon/grass-> lower, uh, sorry but I don't think neither of them deserve their ranks, I know it's a little bit opinion based, but eletric seems better than they, i've seen some arceus-flying lately, but they never manage do do something relevant, maybe bait supportceus to help ray, but there is better forms of doing this.

lele-> C, I know it just droped but I try psychc spam and had good sucess with it don't think it is as niche as breloom and muk-a.


nagandel->higher, not sure about this nom, but it seems stronger than the rest(bar espeon,but it needs a hole team) with screens/memento/goth help it can set up and start to sweep, can KO/2KO almost everything with starndat set.

krookodile,mew->D, I think it make sense to rank them alongside eevee, even if eevee can be used on full baton pass chains, the old popular team still decent(only need something for marsh).
 
krookodile,mew->D, I think it make sense to rank them alongside eevee, even if eevee can be used on full baton pass chains, the old popular team still decent(only need something for marsh).
I just want it noted on the thread before Krook nom is discussed in council that Krookodile has utility besides being a receiver for BP. It is one of the few rocks leads in the meta right now that viably beat Smeargle and has access to Intimidate and rock tomb with a decent speed tier. The dark typing is a nice way to jump past any possible psycho boosts from Deo S or gimmicky prankster leads, and access to taunt is huge. It functions very reliably as a sui-lead rocker or even handy late game intimidates if necessary, and that is something I and maybe the other council members will consider while discussing these noms. A push for Krookodile does NOT validate random BP chain noms in the future.
 
Nomming
Gliscor Unranked to D

One of the best Defog users in the tier. Able to cover every used hazard setter except Eruption Groudon-Primal, Lead Groundceus, Deoxys-A and -S, and Taunt Smeargle. Versatile with moves, can run a lot besides Defog and Roost. Toxic, Earthquake, Guillotine, U-turn, and Taunt are popular options. Status immunity is what makes it good. It can take on Toxic + Stealth Rock pokemon, like Groudon, Excadrill and Arceus-Fairy. General Anti-Stall pokemon if you can deal with Sableye. It has a niche on BP teams as Double Team passer, and the only thing on BP that has the ability to deal with Kyogre.

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpD / 8 Spe
Careful / Calm Nature
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost
- Earthquake / Guillotine

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Protect
- Baton Pass
- Double Team

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-730676068 - This game had Taunt over Guillotine, because it was one of the first times I used it. Guillotine would've made the matchup better and is generally better

Pheromosa Unranked to D
Very nice late game sweeper and one of the few things that outspeed the base 130 Speedtier. It's quite versatile but has some common checks, U-turn is a nice option to lure these checks in to trap or gain advantage of. It has a strong STAB move in HJK and Focus Blast for special sets. The thing that makes Pheromosa scary is Beast Boost. It can easily snowball all over you if the team is weakened enough. Pheromosa does have a flaw in being weak to priority, most notably Shadow Sneak and Extreme Speed. Pheromosa does live 1 Sucker Punch from Yveltal. I believe it should be D because of the versatility in coverage moves, and its unpredictability, and its ability to go mixed. I'd say best sets would be Fightium Z or Life Orb, with Iron Plate as Acreus-Fairy lure possibility.

Pheromosa @ Fightinium Z / Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- U-turn
- High Jump Kick
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick / Drill Run

Pheromosa @ Life Orb / Fightium Z / Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash / Modest Nature
- U-turn / Hidden Power Rock / Quiver Dance
- Focus Blast
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz

Pheromosa @ Iron Plate
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Me First
- Ice Beam
- Focus Blast
- Bug Buzz

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-766778548 - Me First lure securing the game for Zygarde

I'm sorry I can't provide more replays, as I never save any. You'd have to take my word for it or try these out yourself which I do suggest.
 
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I just want it noted on the thread before Krook nom is discussed in council that Krookodile has utility besides being a receiver for BP. It is one of the few rocks leads in the meta right now that viably beat Smeargle and has access to Intimidate and rock tomb with a decent speed tier. The dark typing is a nice way to jump past any possible psycho boosts from Deo S or gimmicky prankster leads, and access to taunt is huge. It functions very reliably as a sui-lead rocker or even handy late game intimidates if necessary, and that is something I and maybe the other council members will consider while discussing these noms. A push for Krookodile does NOT validate random BP chain noms in the future.
Can I get the set you'd run on Krook? Trying to build HO, and I'd love to see the set you had in mind.
 

DoW

formally Death on Wings
Is AG an official meta? Don't more people play this than Ubers?
In June, there were 331591 games of 1v1 played on PS!. In the same month, there were 111253 games of RU played.

Popularity is only a small factor in whether something is an official meta. As it stands, AG isn't really a tier - it's just a way to get people not to complain "but I want to use mega rayquaza" - from Smogon's initial perspective, at least. As so many people play it competitively, it has been somewhat absorbed into OMs without really being an Other Meta. But whether it's more popular than Ubers or not, a number of factors - including the fact that it fundamentally does not attempt to be a competitive meta - mean that it is unlikely to ever be considered an Official Meta by Smogon.
 

Fardin

Tournament Banned
In June, there were 331591 games of 1v1 played on PS!. In the same month, there were 111253 games of RU played.

Popularity is only a small factor in whether something is an official meta. As it stands, AG isn't really a tier - it's just a way to get people not to complain "but I want to use mega rayquaza" - from Smogon's initial perspective, at least. As so many people play it competitively, it has been somewhat absorbed into OMs without really being an Other Meta. But whether it's more popular than Ubers or not, a number of factors - including the fact that it fundamentally does not attempt to be a competitive meta - mean that it is unlikely to ever be considered an Official Meta by Smogon.
Divide the 1v1 plays by 6
 
Firstly, I'd like to discuss this -
In June, there were 331591 games of 1v1 played on PS!. In the same month, there were 111253 games of RU played.

Popularity is only a small factor in whether something is an official meta. As it stands, AG isn't really a tier - it's just a way to get people not to complain "but I want to use mega rayquaza" - from Smogon's initial perspective, at least. As so many people play it competitively, it has been somewhat absorbed into OMs without really being an Other Meta. But whether it's more popular than Ubers or not, a number of factors - including the fact that it fundamentally does not attempt to be a competitive meta - mean that it is unlikely to ever be considered an Official Meta by Smogon.
I think determining what is and what isn't a 'competitive' meta starts off as being highly subjective on its own, and it just takes a horrible turn into being a biased opinion rather than a fact when you say 'AG does not attempt to be a competitive meta'. We wouldn't have an active VR, regular smogon tournaments, a growing playerbase and increasing room activity if the meta wasn't attempting to evolve. We wouldn't be the only meta to have 2x slots in OMPL if AG wasn't considered to be a competitive meta. We don't live in the gen 6 world anymore where Swagkey/Rai spam was cool - there is significant thought going behind even the most gimmicky strategies like sleep and baton pass. A major amount of Ubers mains have been joining AG tours and several of them have been actively participating in chat. You wouldn't imagine a scenario like this to be a reality a year ago, and that speaks volumes of how much the meta has grown past its previously presumed gimmicky notoriety. Several people have disagreements over what is uncompetitive and what it isn't, and that is for one simple reason - it is always supposed to be open to subjectivity and opinions. However, blanket statements like 'AG never attempts to be competitive' is just a downright misinterpretation of what the meta is and what the community is trying to make it be.

Just my two cents.


Some post OMPL noms (more than I thought I'd be doing).

Vivillon B- to B+/B - (Hard suggestion for B+) OMPL has been a sheer display of the potency and reliability of Vivillon when it comes to guaranteeing sweeps, and I dare say, it has been doing so better than darkrai ever did in gen 6. Besides having speed control in the form of quiver dance and legitimately tormenting the present meta with it's sleep sub simplicity, Vivillon's amazing accuracy and secondary confusion benefits are heavily underrated. Even niche checks like roar rest Tyranitar, Perish Song Arceus and Magearna have proven to not be 100% reliable checks, as the potential of Vivi to cripple and eliminate has been evident in the following replays -

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-779490941
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-776129264 vs perish arc
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-775725937
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-779740730 vs roar Tyranitar
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-769839835 vs psych up pyuku (no sweep, but assisted majorly to the win)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-782871121
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-701801948 vs magearna

It obviously is a lot harder to randomly splash on teams as opposed to gen 6 darkrai, which explains why it is currently being limited to the B ranks, but the overpowering consistency that it provides mixed with success on multiple offense builds warrants a sub-rank jump for this mon - I'd go as far as to say two jumps.

Celesteela A- to B+ - It bothers me so much that in a hazard based, setup sweeping meta, this mon is as high as A- while a much more versatile option in Skarmory remains B+. In terms of its own merits, while Celesteela brings a lot to the table in terms of blanket checking and consistency for BO teams, it is one of the easiest mons out there to prepare for, and given the popularity of Substitute sweepers, it is often a straight up liability for a team. While it theoretically soft-checks Rayquaza-Mega, Arceus, Arceus-Ground and several Calm Mind Arceus forms, almost all of them have viable options to deal with Celesteela, and actually set up on it, largely crippling Celesteela's presumed utility (V-Create Mega Ray, Substitute Arceus/Arceus-Ground, fire coverage CM Arceus). Add to it the fact that Skarmory offers similar defensive utility, and while it is easier to break down specially, it more than makes up for it in terms of hazard controlling, phazing and recovery. I can see very few viable scenarios where I would prefer Celesteela on a team over Skarmory, which is explained by its modest usage in recent times and even lesser instances of it winning games. While I don't call for a direct co-relation between usage and viability, I think it definitely stands to be a corroborative factor for the same.

Skarmory B+ to A- - Speaking of which, besides its general advantages over Celesteela, Skarmory has proven to be one of the easiest mons to splash into teams lately - proving to be a central figure in stall, semi-stall, balance and BO, while blanket checking an insane layer of mons. Moreover, any mon that is walled by Skarmory also happens to be major bait for spikes setup, which provides amazing utility to any team. As a side set, Skarmory is also an incredibly efficient defogger, and can also run niche sets like Iron Defense and Counter. The general versatility of Skarmory + ability to be splashed onto a variety of builds is a major win for me, and I think it is definitely due a jump.

Necrozma-Ultra A to A+ - A gamechanging aspect of USM has been the incredible dynamics between Dusk-Mane and Ultra - with both having been giving beautifully complementing defensive typings and insane bulk, coupled by the fact that the sudden jump of speed tier + major change in offensive ability/checklists for the two forms. Stallbuilding has been incredibly affected due to this, as very few mons (if any) can claim to viably check all variations of Dusk-Mane/Ultra, and since it's a wild guess on preview as to which one you're facing, I believe this to be the most anti-stall strategy in the present metagame. Dusk-Mane on its own does not provide that kind of flexibility, and on the contrary, can be rather easy to check for stall due to the abundance of wisp/phazing and its modest speed tier. However, Ultra has access to both specially and physically offensive sets, not to mention the incredibly hard to tank mixed sets, coupled with one of the best speed tiers in the meta and often underrated bulk. It stands as one of the best anti-supportceus mons, and threatens to singlehandedly break common cores due to its unpredictability. Swords Dance sets have access to Photon/Outrage/EQ/Stone Edge/Substitute/Sunsteel Strike/Knock Off/Brick Break/X-Scissor, which by itself, is incredibly hard to counter, while these sets can also realistically run heat wave to be a mixed breaker. On the other hand, CM Ultra has the potential to set up on almost everything that checks the SD forms (not counting scarf) and is an incredibly hard mon to go against. I think Ultra has proven its versatility enough to warrant it being on the same rank as DM, and the VR is deserved a third A+ mon.


Lunala B to B+ -

2- Lunala - B- to B
Along with being one of the most potent balance/stall breakers in the game with Z moongeist-psyshock variants, Lunala now has the benefit of running defog and consistently walling one of the scariest offensive combination in the game; the DM-Ultra phenomenon. It acts as a brilliant blanket check for balance along with the utility of having a decent speed tier, and unlike Lugia, is a very threatening offensive presence at the same time. Access to will-o-wisp and reliable recovery only corroborates its viability as a reliable wall. It also gets the option of toxic stalling for teams that have soft-checks for DM packed, as it already outspeeds and 2hko's while tanking +2 Z hits vs DM. Besides hard walling DM, Lunala has the liberty of functioning much like Lugia does, while having access to a far superior offensive presence and tanking hits from a majority of the meta.

+2 252+ Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Searing Sunraze Smash vs. 144 HP / 164 Def Shadow Shield Lunala: 382-450 (84.7 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 SpA Lunala Moongeist Beam vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 198-234 (59.1 - 69.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

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252 Atk Life Orb Marshadow Spectral Thief vs. 144 HP / 164 Def Shadow Shield Lunala: 346-408 (76.7 - 90.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 144 HP / 0 SpD Shadow Shield Lunala in Heavy Rain: 179-211 (39.6 - 46.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ SpA Groudon-Primal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 144 HP / 0 SpD Shadow Shield Lunala in Harsh Sunshine: 212-249 (47 - 55.2%) -- 72.7% chance to 2HKO


Note - all of the defensive calcs besides DM are guaranteed to keep you in Shadow Shield range while toxic stalling.


On the other hand, Lunala provides for one of the scariest wallbreaking sets in the meta with CM Z variations, which is almost certain to threaten any stall not specifically prepared for it.

+1 252+ SpA Lunala Psyshock vs. 4 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 297-351 (46.2 - 54.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

252+ SpA Lunala Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 0+ SpD Tyranitar in Sand: 364-432 (90.3 - 107.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

+1 252+ SpA Lunala Focus Blast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Arceus-Dark: 384-452 (86.6 - 102%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

0 SpA Dread Plate Arceus-Dark Judgment vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Shadow Shield Lunala: 192-228 (46.2 - 54.9%) -- 57.8% chance to 2HKO

Special mentions - Z Hypno, Tailwind CM Lunala, Scarf Lunala, Specs Lunala
Refer to this post for calcs/theorymoning/merits. In all honesty, I'm open to second opinions on this one since I feel all mons currently ranked B+/B are interchangeable, as I see no one stand-out mon in either of these ranks. Since these two ranks are also dominated by mons that usually fit on stall/semi-stall or offense exclusively, I believe the fact that Lunala can function across playstyles gives it a certain edge over the others. Also I'd like to bring special focus to the CM Tailwind set - I believe I didn't discuss it in depth in my last nom, and I certainly think it is one of the hardest sets to face presently.


Gothitelle B+ to B - In terms of the pure meaning of the term 'viability', I think we have criminally overrated Gothitelle in the present meta. Most teams have grown to be Goth proof, and while it does affect overall teambuilding, I just don't see Gothitelle as being an 'easy to splash' mon. In fact, usage of Gothitelle is largely matchup cheese, and it significantly effects the overall functionality of the team that it is slapped on. While I respect the impact it has on the meta, I don't think it is significant enough to overlook its glaring liabilities vs offense and a wasted slot in a lot of matchups.

Scolipede D to C - Scolipede has played a pivotal role in most Baton-Pass teams in the past, and while that alone was not enough to argue a jump in viability for it, its recent success on offense as a tspikes speed/attack/defense passer definitely is. As a side set, Scolipede also offers the interesting Endeavor-tspikes utility, which is a niche lead for offensive teams. I think Scolipede has stood out as one of the truly viable mons in common BP chains, and there are too many factors contributing to its viability for it to remain D.

Arceus A- to A - The one mon that has been subject to fluctuation in VR almost every month now, Arceus currently is ranked alongside Arceus-Dark, Celesteela, Kyogre-Primal, Ferrothorn and Arceus-Water. I think the simple fact that Ekiller can run 10 different viable sets - with very few mons checking all of them combined, along with its incredible utility as an anti offense mon and potential to stop Mega-Rayquaza sweeps warrants this to be A rank. It also is one of the most reliable priority users in the metagame, and due to the recent usage of sets like Z-refresh, Facade killer, Substitute sweeper etc, it has become increasingly difficult to deal with this mon. I think there is just too much versatility here for Arceus to keep the company that it currently does at A-, and a jump is reasonable.
 
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DoW

formally Death on Wings
Sorry for the kinda off-topic post, but I feel the need to qualify what I said.

Divide the 1v1 plays by 6
I'm well aware why there are more 1v1 games. That's not the point - the point is that there are more 1v1 games, for whatever reason, and therefore the number of games isn't important. If you dislike that reasoning then replace 1v1 with randbats, my argument still holds.

Firstly, I'd like to discuss this -


I think determining what is and what isn't a 'competitive' meta starts off as being highly subjective on its own, and it just takes a horrible turn into being a biased opinion rather than a fact when you say 'AG does not attempt to be a competitive meta'. We wouldn't have an active VR, regular smogon tournaments, a growing playerbase and increasing room activity if the meta wasn't attempting to evolve. We wouldn't be the only meta to have 2x slots in OMPL if AG wasn't considered to be a competitive meta. We don't live in the gen 6 world anymore where Swagkey/Rai spam was cool - there is significant thought going behind even the most gimmicky strategies like sleep and baton pass. A major amount of Ubers mains have been joining AG tours and several of them have been actively participating in chat. You wouldn't imagine a scenario like this to be a reality a year ago, and that speaks volumes of how much the meta has grown past its previously presumed gimmicky notoriety. Several people have disagreements over what is uncompetitive and what it isn't, and that is for one simple reason - it is always supposed to be open to subjectivity and opinions. However, blanket statements like 'AG never attempts to be competitive' is just a downright misinterpretation of what the meta is and what the community is trying to make it be.

Just my two cents.
I certainly agree that AG is competitive (in its own way, at the very least, and I don't think it even needs that clarification for the statement to hold). But there are (and will always be) uncompetitive elements, however uncommon, such as BP and Swagplay - and just being uncommon and giving a <50% win chance doesn't mean they aren't uncompetitive - see the BW BP policy. But the purpose of Official Metas is to attempt to remove uncompetitive elements, such that the best player wins. AG is not like that.

To prevent this post being entirely worthless to the present discussion, I'd like to argue against Viv moving up.
Certainly it's annoying, much like darkrai, and unprepared for to some extent, but it's also extremely killable - just use something faster than it. Darkrai had a few advantages here - it wasn't weak to SR, meaning you could switch out knowing it would still be just as useful later on. While frail, it wasn't that frail - there's a big difference between support arc 2HKOing after rocks and OHKOing some of the time without rocks. But the biggest difference was Speed - being outsped by things like support arc are big when it comes to putting things to sleep, and while viv can boost, it is severely restricted in both things it can check and especially things it can counter. As such, it is pretty much restricted to purely being a sweeper, rather than a threat that can counter a pokemon and apply pressure throughout the game.

As such, I'd consider it to be approximately B- or C+ rank - it's certainly a huge threat that many teams don't prepare for, but it will always have a tough time vs offense and be possible to beat if played well against, due to these weaknesses that it has.

I'd like to show the following game as a display of how viv only really gets one chance, and can be beaten by a team that wasn't built with it in mind: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-782403970
 
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Marshadow A --> A-/B+
Marshadow is extremely underwhelming in the current meta. At this point it just doesnt quite fit on any particular playstyle. HO has harder hitting, bulkier mons, Balanced cant support marshadow enough to make it worthwhile, and stall is well.. obviously not a thing. every set it utilizes at this point is extremely niche and can easily be taken care of. Sash lacks power, and can easily be broken, Life Orb has the power, but cant break pretty much any arc form, not to mention other common balanced mons like pdon and zyg-c. Z is a one time use, can easily be scouted, and after basically renders it useless, toxic/sub/swagger is extremely niche and like mentioned lacks power and consistency, and scarf has one job that it cant utilize in any other mu. Like given recent usage stats as well, marsh is just not up to par with the rest of the meta and moving it down 2 ranks actually seems reasonable to me, although 1 is probably best for now. All and all just a disappointing mon in the current meta.

Naganadel D --> C-
although priority is a killer, naganadel is an amazing late game sweeper with not only great stabs, but a great speed tier. In most cases if you manage to get a nasty plot up with naganadel, unless your opponent has at least 2 priority users the game can be over in an instant. the best part about this mon is that it has a great coverage move in fire blast, which can deal with what normally walls its stabs (celesteela, ferrothorn) and a plus 2 can even ohko offensive dusk mane (spdef mane needs either z, eq, or chip to ohko it back) and in most cases the worst thing naga has to deal with is the 50/50 between ultra necro and dusk mane (but by team preview it is often easy to tell). Naga is already acknowledged in ubers as a great sweeper, but in ag it has the same potential, even having z-draco gives you at least 1 guaranteed never-miss move.
 
Sorry for the kinda off-topic post, but I feel the need to qualify what I said.


I'm well aware why there are more 1v1 games. That's not the point - the point is that there are more 1v1 games, for whatever reason, and therefore the number of games isn't important. If you dislike that reasoning then replace 1v1 with randbats, my argument still holds.



I certainly agree that AG is competitive (in its own way, at the very least, and I don't think it even needs that clarification for the statement to hold). But there are (and will always be) uncompetitive elements, however uncommon, such as BP and Swagplay - and just being uncommon and giving a <50% win chance doesn't mean they aren't uncompetitive - see the BW BP policy. But the purpose of Official Metas is to attempt to remove uncompetitive elements, such that the best player wins. AG is not like that.

To prevent this post being entirely worthless to the present discussion, I'd like to argue against Viv moving up.
Certainly it's annoying, much like darkrai, and unprepared for to some extent, but it's also extremely killable - just use something faster than it. Darkrai had a few advantages here - it wasn't weak to SR, meaning you could switch out knowing it would still be just as useful later on. While frail, it wasn't that frail - there's a big difference between support arc 2HKOing after rocks and OHKOing some of the time without rocks. But the biggest difference was Speed - being outsped by things like support arc are big when it comes to putting things to sleep, and while viv can boost, it is severely restricted in both things it can check and especially things it can counter. As such, it is pretty much restricted to purely being a sweeper, rather than a threat that can counter a pokemon and apply pressure throughout the game.

As such, I'd consider it to be approximately B- or C+ rank - it's certainly a huge threat that many teams don't prepare for, but it will always have a tough time vs offense and be possible to beat if played well against, due to these weaknesses that it has.

I'd like to show the following game as a display of how viv only really gets one chance, and can be beaten by a team that wasn't built with it in mind: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-782403970
You're presuming that you have the free move choice to switch in on Vivi with a faster mon, which isn't always the case. Vivi has the option of the comfort switch in, on the other hand, as several teams run mons slower than 304. Not to mention, tomb rocks leads/webs etc just give a free switchin to Vivi in a lot of scenarios. The speed argument doesn't apply half as much as it is made out to be here, as was evident throughout OMPL and several other games (check replays)
 
Ok i just noticed I did not see Slurpuff on the vr and It needs to be D rank at lest. Even if It only really has 1 set as a web setter.
Slurpuff (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unburden
Level: 97
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Atk / 0 Def / 0 SpD
- Magic Coat
- Sticky Web
- Dazzling Gleam
- Yawn/Endeavor
But with a set like this it allows it to use magic coat and even if it gets knocked to sash it should be faster then what hit it then place webs (because unburden is bae). It also can place webs even if there is a msab cuz of dazzling gleam (also nice for chip damage on dragons). Yawn is nice to force switch outs sometimes and endeavor is nice for even more damage. Pretty simple set I thought I would have more to say but once you start using it you will see how simple it is. Also, credit to Thimo for making this set.
 
Marshadow A --> A-/B+
Marshadow is extremely underwhelming in the current meta. At this point it just doesnt quite fit on any particular playstyle. HO has harder hitting, bulkier mons, Balanced cant support marshadow enough to make it worthwhile, and stall is well.. obviously not a thing. every set it utilizes at this point is extremely niche and can easily be taken care of. Sash lacks power, and can easily be broken, Life Orb has the power, but cant break pretty much any arc form, not to mention other common balanced mons like pdon and zyg-c. Z is a one time use, can easily be scouted, and after basically renders it useless, toxic/sub/swagger is extremely niche and like mentioned lacks power and consistency, and scarf has one job that it cant utilize in any other mu. Like given recent usage stats as well, marsh is just not up to par with the rest of the meta and moving it down 2 ranks actually seems reasonable to me, although 1 is probably best for now. All and all just a disappointing mon in the current meta.

Naganadel D --> C-
although priority is a killer, naganadel is an amazing late game sweeper with not only great stabs, but a great speed tier. In most cases if you manage to get a nasty plot up with naganadel, unless your opponent has at least 2 priority users the game can be over in an instant. the best part about this mon is that it has a great coverage move in fire blast, which can deal with what normally walls its stabs (celesteela, ferrothorn) and a plus 2 can even ohko offensive dusk mane (spdef mane needs either z, eq, or chip to ohko it back) and in most cases the worst thing naga has to deal with is the 50/50 between ultra necro and dusk mane (but by team preview it is often easy to tell). Naga is already acknowledged in ubers as a great sweeper, but in ag it has the same potential, even having z-draco gives you at least 1 guaranteed never-miss move.
I'm going to get criticism because everyone hates Marshadow and everyone loves bdov, but moving Marshadow down two ranks would honestly be ridiculous in my eyes. Marshadow fits fine on HO, it can provide as a spin blocker on a webs team and hit hard with bulk up and its Z move. I don't think Marshadow's Z move should be singled out for being predictable, I think in AG most Z moves just are predictable and can be scouted just as easily as Marshadow's. However even when scouting a Z move there will always be a risk involved, as if they bulk up again then well, what do you do then? I agree that after the Z moves has been used it hits a lot weaker, but if you can time the Z move well then it can still cause serious damage. Marshadow is also fine on any balance, I've heard people say a lot that it doesn't fit on balance but honestly Marshadow offers so much to balance. With utility moves such as pursuit and toxic, this can really give you the upper hand in a lot of match ups. Toxic isn't niche nor inconsistent, it really messes up with any bulky supportceus excluding Poisonceus, which is probably the most consistent Marsh check. (Even then, the rare sub bulk up set could break through most Poisonceus sets, excluding roar Poisonceus). I think balance really needs something that can help against offense, and Marshadow is one of the best anti-offense Pokemon out there. The nature of balance is breaking down your opponent with moves such as Stealth Rock and Toxic, which allows other Pokemon dominate due to this. A prime example of this would be Marshadow, as late game this can really break teams after their Pokemon have been worn down by toxic or Stealth Rock damage. Moves such as rock tomb and hp ice add further utility to Marshadow, as hp ice is able to hit Zygarde and rock tomb can hit Ho-oh. On a side note, rock tomb Marsh can also be used to help vivillon set up by lowering their opponents speed, which is obviously very helpful. I agree that Marshadow does not fit on stall, but that's only one play style where pretty much only bulky Pokemon are applicable. However even with this said Marshadow could function on a stall, be it not effectively but as a pursuit user and being great against set up Pokemon. Even choice scarf Marshadow can be reasonably helpful, making trapping Mega Genger easier, making the webs MU easier, being able to surprise and steal boosts such as Mega Rayquaza's Dragon Dance or Ultra Necrozma's Swords Dance, and even being able to help out against Deo Spam if webs can be removed. And yes, even sash Marshadow has a niche despite how bad it is, honestly being able to switch into also almost any Pokemon for free and just being able to endeavor is really annoying and it can pressure most ghost types that are immune to endeavor, barring Giratina. I just think the amount of sets and options this Pokemon has at its disposable is quite extraordinary, and as such I believe it should stay where it is at A Rank.

Regarding other noms:
Vivillon B- to B+/B: Agree - This Pokemon is some broken ass shit if you don't think this Pokemon should move up you either a) Haven't abused this shit or b) haven't been abused by this shit. All jokes aside though as much as I despise this Pokemon it definitely deserves to move up.
Celesteela A- to B: Agree
Skarmory B+ to A-: Agree
Necrozma Ultra A to A+: Disagree
Lunala B to B+: Agree
Gothitelle B+ to B: Agree
Scolipede D to C: Agree
Arceus A- to A: Agree
Naganadel D to C-: Agree
Slurpuff UR to D: Agree - I've seen quite a lot of people disagree with this but honestly I think a web setter than can beat Mega Sableye and not be stopped by taunt deserves a rank.
Shaymin - Sky UR to C: Disagree - C is definitely too far of a jump, and I think bdov nommed this for D already and it got rejected so I don't see any changes here, end of the day is a pretty weak mon and Z celebrate has not been enough to save it.
 
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Along with the above post I also wanted to make a few nominations of my own:

Arceus-Rock: B+ to B

I honestly think Arceus-Rock is a little lost in its place in the AG metagame right now. The new Pokemon Dusk Mane and Ultra Necrozma certainly have hampered the viability of Arceus-Rock, making Will-O-Wisp almost a certainty on this Pokemon, and then when they actually reveal Calm Mind Ultra Necrozma you find yourself wishing you had never used Arceus-Rock in the first place. This Pokemon simply fails to do what it's supposed to achieve; it's a very weak Mega Rayquaza check, losing to sets such as Dragon Dance Earthquake, Choice Banded sets with Earthquake or Outrage, the only set this Pokemon can beat is... Choice scarf, and even then any Max HP Max Defence Supportceus can be used instead to check Choice Scarf Mega Rayquaza. Even with that said toxic Mega Rayquaza can help pressure Arceus-Rock, however I understand that Refresh is a popular set on Arceus-Rock, most commonly at the expense of Will-O-Wisp, which means Dusk Mane will be able to pressure Arceus-Rock a ton. Ho-oh is another Pokemon Arceus-Rock is supposedly supposed to deal with. Again, Toxic from Ho-Oh pressures non Refresh Arceus-Rock, and Earthquake from Choice Banded Ho-Oh does an absolute ton, forcing it to switch out. It's quite clear that Arceus-Rock's major issue is being hit with coverage moves; down to the fact it is weak to an immense 5 types. These being Ground, Fighting, Grass, Water and of course Steel. Ground and Steel in particular are the glaring issues, leaving this Pokemon weak to Earthquake coverage and Dusk Mane's Sunsteel Strike or Arceus-Steel's Judgment. There are so many Pokemon that pressure Arceus-Rock out there that I think it's hard to defend why it is so high on the VR. Threats could include Primal Kyogre, Dusk Mane, Primal Groudon, Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Steel, Ferrothorn, Gothitelle, Marshadow.. that is a long list of dangerous Pokemon that can set up on Arceus-Rock and cause some real damage. Arceus-Rock is just really passive in this manner that so many things can come in on its Judgment and threaten it while in return I don't think it offers enough defensively. I think the point of the matter is that rock is just not a good type to use in AG. There are no other viable Rock types in AG, barring Solrock if you want to be really out there. I also feel that Arceus-Rock does not function to its best without pairing up with Celesteela or Skarmory. This of course covers Arceus-Rock's glaring ground weakenss and allows you to counter Mega Rayquaza reasonably well, besides having to try and predict Choice band Mega Rayquaza, which of course is all good fun. I think the fact that Arceus-Rock has to rely on other Pokemon to function, and the fact in my opinion Arceus-Rock is one of the least splashable Arceus-formes out there, hell I'd say even Arceus-Grass or Arceus-Dragon are way easier to slap on a team and they are C rank, discredits Arceus-Rock's viability. I just don't this Pokemon does what this Pokemon is supposed to do, therefore not doing enough for me to warrant a B+ Rank, hence I think a drop would be appropriate.

Calcs:
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 512-603 (115.3 - 135.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 394-464 (88.7 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 354-417 (79.7 - 93.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Ho-Oh Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Arceus-Rock: 306-362 (68.9 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Giratina: B to B+

I've been wanting to talk about this Pokemon for a little while now, because I think it needs more recognition in how good it is. This thing is an absolute beast on stall, and can also fit on some balances as well. Pressure is an outstanding ability for a defog Pokemon, meaning that Stealth Rock will not be able to out PP defog. Pressure is also very annoying for leech seed users such as Ferrothorn and Celesteela, as leech seed only has 16 PP and to see that be chopped in half honestly makes it almost useless, considering leech seed will only be chipping away 6% HP due to Leftovers. Other moves Giratina can utilize is roar and Will-O-Wisp, with WoW becoming an increasingly popular option, being able to hamper physical Dusk Mane/Ultra Nezrocma as well as annoy steel types such as Ferrothorn and Celesteela. I think WoW also just makes this Pokemon less passive, being able to stop Physical Set up Pokemon easier rather than having to Roar or Dtail them out. Dragon/Ghost typing is honestly fine right now, being able to resist Fire, Poison, Grass and Water notably, as well as Bug and Electric. Giratina is also unique in that by being a Ghost Type, it is a defogger that is not trapped by Gothitelle nor Mega Gengar, which is honestly huge and makes it much more reliable. While it does have common Weaknesses, honestly it's absolutely huge bulk can shrug off Supereffective attacks, with supereffective Judgment only doing around net 50 (After leftovers recovery), non Life Orb Spectral also doing less than 50, and Ice Beam from Primal Kyogre also doing less than 50 (calcs below). I think people's main issue with this Pokemon is lack of reliable recovery, right? But I honestly think Rest with a Heal Bell user works perfectly fine. On Stall Heal Bell is pretty much guaranteed, and because Giratina has such huge bulk it can still afford to spend 2 turns asleep. The benefits gained from using this Pokemon is clear. Giratina is able to defog off of the most used Stealth Rock user in the game, Primal Groudon. Support Primal Groudon sets can only 4HKO Giratina, meaning it can rest off status from Primal Groudon safely. Primal Groudon hates being toxiced, meaning it is susceptible to Giratina's toxic, and will sometimes switch after laying rocks in the risk of this happening. Pressure again also ensures that eventually Primal Groudon will run out of Stealth Rocks before Giratina runs out of Defogs, which is very handy. Other common rockers I would say is Dusk Mane and Arceus Formes. Will-O-Wisp hampers Dusk Mane, particularly if it is holding a Z crystal instead of Leftovers. Dusk Mane can also do very little back to Giratina, besides Toxic which Giratina can simply rest off. Popular Stealth Rock Arceus-Formes such as Rock and Poison Giratina can also deal with and hamper either Arceus-Forme with Toxic or WoW respectively. The only Arceus-Formes Giratina can't handle are Dark and Fairy. These Stealth Rock users are much rarer than Primal Groudon and Dusk Mane, and in addition can be covered by other Defog Pokemon such as Arceus-Poison and Ho-Oh, as I believe Giratina should never be the sole defogger, particularly if you need a strong Defog Core. I've talked a lot about the Defog aspect of Giratina, but there are also plenty of Pokemon this can actually check. These include Primal Groudon (as mentioned), non Choice Banded Ho-Oh, Ekiller (With Roar for Sub or WoW for other sets), Physical Primal Kyogre and... Mega Blaziken? I think this Pokemon is more of a nuisance for passive Pokemon and Stealth Rock users, but can occasionally check some hard hitting threats, which I think is really nice and as such I believe it should be moved up in the VR. I think Giratina really appreciates the decreased usage of Swords Dance Primal Groudon in AG, which means it cannot be pressured so much from Primal Groudon and makes it more efficient at switching into Primal Groudon.

Calcs:
0 Atk Groudon-Primal Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 144-169 (28.5 - 33.5%) -- 96% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0- SpA Kyogre-Primal Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Giratina: 160-190 (31.7 - 37.6%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Marshadow Spectral Thief vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 188-224 (37.3 - 44.4%) -- 100% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Pixie Plate Arceus-Fairy Judgment vs. 252 HP / 52 SpD Giratina: 248-294 (49.2 - 58.3%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Life Orb Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 140-165 (27.7 - 32.7%) -- 76.1% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 108-127 (21.4 - 25.1%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Arceus Shadow Claw vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 208-246 (41.2 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Giratina: 352-417 (69.8 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-762863025 OMPL vs Pigeons, I get this game was haxy but I think Giratina really put in some work this game, keeping rocks off early and then using roar to help chip his Pokemon.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-748662419 Giratina pretty much saved me in this game tbh as I was able to get the Will-O-Wisp off onto Mega Rayquaza, showing its immense bulk as it was able to withstand a Dragon Ascent at +1.

Excadrill: B- to B

I'm not going to go into much detail on this one, I think it's reasonably obvious what this Pokemon does. However, I think this Pokemon deserves more credit due to the fact how well it pairs up with Vivillon. It's no secret that Vivillon loves Pokemon that have their speed decreased, and as such Excadrill is the perfect lead that can both decrease the opposing Pokemon's speed and lay Stealth Rock. This obviously allows Vivillon to use sleep powder and then set up sub and quiver dance and then proceed to say gg. I simply think that if Vivillon moves up in the VR, then Excadrill should as well.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-779490941 HunterStorm with an excellently played 11 turn game in OMPL
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-769909987 HunterStorm thinking about sweeping with viv but had to make do with sending Mag to sleep and then winning from there
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-782871121 HunterStorm again sets up rocks with exca and then finally got his chance to sweep with Viv
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-752118813 Arushiii actually sweeping HunterStorm this time with the exca viv combo
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-776129264 And yes I did not forget myself falling victim to this tactic

I get in the last few replays exca didn't set up viv straight away, but rocks were maintained which really does pressure the opponent and of course leads to the Viv sweep. These replays also supporting viv to S+ plus btw as well as supporting exca.
 
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Since I made a nom to rise goth, I would like to disagree with her dropping, idk anymore if she should rise, but I don't think she should drop because of the reasonings I used to nom her to rise.
Also in this post I have some opinions about some new mons like arceus rock to B.
beside my vivillon nom, I would like to make some more nominations:
arceus-water A- to B+, even that it can resist fire punches and set perish song against dusk mane, it doesn't seem as good as the others A- mons, celesteela and ferro can counter a lot of mons, arceus-dark can destroy stall/bulkier teams if magearna is gone, p-ogre is fucking scary with both physycal and special sets, being quite hard to use a switch in bar ferro, and e-killer can late game sweep really well even being less good nowdays;

gothitelle B+ to A-, this is ridiculous, can remove every bulky mon bar magearna, ttar and d-tail users, this means that using this+ any kind of sweeper is a easy win against balance teams, lately I've been using this and scarf ray and the results are amazing, other mons like xern and dusk mane can sweep way easier choosing the coverage you want to beat what you want and let goth trap what you can't beat.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-770252306
goth manage to trap 2 pokemon and could beat a-fairy too;
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-770254873
she avoid p-ogre from being stalled by a-fairy+skarm toxic duo

ttar and magearna B to B+, ok I just said why goth is op, so I think that this duo should rise because of how they can deal with huge problems for stall teams, magerna can volt switch out of traps and beat any kind of dark arceus and xern(this is helpfull for any playstyle), while giving hell bell support witch is nice because toxic is everywhere and some bulky mons like zygarde, groundon and ttar rely on rest as recovery. ttar on the other hand have the ability to trap trappers wich is fundamental for stall teams, not mutch things to say, it can set rocks and kill ray using shuca berry.

blissey B- to B, I don't remember if this was discussed already, but why chansey and blissey don't share the same rank? lower bulk for shed shell seems a fair trade, specially because the bulk diference isn't that big on the special side, and you need to have some good physycal walls on your stall teams, so ins't hard to cover that problem, but loosing your special wall to a trapper is a really big problem for stall teams.
252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Heavy Rain: 195-229 (30.4 - 35.7%) -- 36.6% chance to 3HKO
252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey in Heavy Rain: 220-261 (30.8 - 36.5%) -- 63.8% chance to 3HKO
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Focus Blast vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 294-348 (45.8 - 54.2%) -- 53.1% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 338-398 (47.3 - 55.7%) -- 78.5% chance to 2HKO (both need confide to win)
252+ SpA Groudon-Primal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Harsh Sunshine: 229-271 (35.7 - 42.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ SpA Groudon-Primal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey in Harsh Sunshine: 262-310 (36.6 - 43.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 135-159 (21 - 24.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Dark Aura Yveltal Dark Pulse vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 153-180 (21.4 - 25.2%) -- 0% chance to 4HKO
+1 252 SpA Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 0 HP / 252 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 301-355 (46.9 - 55.3%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey: 345-406 (48.3 - 56.8%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO


arcues flying/dragon/grass-> lower, uh, sorry but I don't think neither of them deserve their ranks, I know it's a little bit opinion based, but eletric seems better than they, i've seen some arceus-flying lately, but they never manage do do something relevant, maybe bait supportceus to help ray, but there is better forms of doing this.

lele-> C, I know it just droped but I try psychc spam and had good sucess with it don't think it is as niche as breloom and muk-a.


nagandel->higher, not sure about this nom, but it seems stronger than the rest(bar espeon,but it needs a hole team) with screens/memento/goth help it can set up and start to sweep, can KO/2KO almost everything with starndat set.

krookodile,mew->D, I think it make sense to rank them alongside eevee, even if eevee can be used on full baton pass chains, the old popular team still decent(only need something for marsh
 

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