Resource USUM AG Viability Rankings

This seems complicated af, but I like the concept.
How do u mean its complicated? Can you explain a little bit more into that? Just because the way I see it just making it the way ubers is with ranking everything by viability and not alphabetical to simply put it. And it seems simple in that sense.
 
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Geysers

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How do u mean its complicated? Can you explain a little bit more into that? Just because the way I see it just making it the way ubers is with ranking everything by viability and not alphabetical to simply put it. And it seems simple in that sense.
When I say complicated, I mean that it will make nominations just that much more complicated. It will mean that people are nomming, say, arceus grass to b-, between, say, mon A, and mon B. It will also drastically increase the number of nominations as pokemon are moved around within ranks. Not saying that this is a bad thing, but it will, I expect, make it a bit harder to stay on top of the nominations. This is a logical move, but will mean that the council will have to do a lot more, and will make the individual positions be very contested.
 

Geysers

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Hey we did a lil bit of a votey thingy u can see the votes here.
Code:
Clefable C to D
Giratina B to B+
Arceus-Grass C to B-
Excadrill B- to B
Deoxys-Speed B to B-
There were a lot of much bigger changes to the way the A subranks are composed but we didn't really conclusively agree on any of them, it would've helped to have everyone around but for now we stayed split on things like dropping Yveltal or raising Xerneas. Hopefully posting the full slate like we did helps give some feedback on whether a nom is worth continued discussion, Yveltal in particular is the big thing it'd be worth seeing more opinions on.
Alright, time to write something about Yveltal. My apologies for the double post. I do not believe that yveltal should be dropped. The scarf set alone justifies this (and is the only yveltal set I have experience with). It absolutely pulverizes things like deo a, band ray, ultra necrozma, dusk mane, and primal groudon, if it manages to get a foul play or dpulse off. If you can predict a switchin of something like fairyceus or celesteela, you can utilize uturn to pivot to something like ray or pogre or pdon to break through, or force a switch. If you can use yveltal’s momentum sustaining uturn correctly, you can rock polish pdon to +2, and destroy some stuff, or force a switch with ray and ddance. If they do not switch, you can break straight through them or force a switch to something that will still take heavy damage frm your attack. Yveltal can also deal a decent amount of damage to xern with owing before it geomances, allowing ray/marsh to kill it with shadow sneak. Yveltal walls marsh quite thoroughly, due to its combination of owing and foul play, either of which will either ohko or severely weaken the marshadow. If supportceuses are removed by something like gothitelle, scarf Yveltal can sweep entire teams, or at least take out several mons. I am not saying that Yveltal is without its weaknesses, because fairyceus walls it very effectively, but if you can uturn off of fairyceus with yveltal, you can bring in something such as goth or pogre, etc. to break through or trash the enemy fairyceus. Thank you for reading this mess. I hope you get the idea. (Note: I got 5 hours of sleep last night and am really tired.. I may have made some points two or three times, and there may be a lot of grammatical errors, etc. Please do not judge me on this)

Edit: I thought I would drop a picture of yveltal here, cuz he/she/it just looks so COOL

Edit 2: more yveltal stuff: It is a great cleanup mon, as shown by this battle, in which I played very badly, but still managed to win because yveltal.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-817003774
 
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Kate

Metamodernity
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Alright, time to write something about Yveltal. My apologies for the double post. I do not believe that yveltal should be dropped. The scarf set alone justifies this (and is the only yveltal set I have experience with). It absolutely pulverizes things like deo a, band ray, ultra necrozma, dusk mane, and primal groudon, if it manages to get a foul play or dpulse off. If you can predict a switchin of something like fairyceus or celesteela, you can utilize uturn to pivot to something like ray or pogre or pdon to break through, or force a switch. If you can use yveltal’s momentum sustaining uturn correctly, you can rock polish pdon to +2, and destroy some stuff, or force a switch with ray and ddance. If they do not switch, you can break straight through them or force a switch to something that will still take heavy damage frm your attack. Yveltal can also deal a decent amount of damage to xern with owing before it geomances, allowing ray/marsh to kill it with shadow sneak. Yveltal walls marsh quite thoroughly, due to its combination of owing and foul play, either of which will either ohko or severely weaken the marshadow. If supportceuses are removed by something like gothitelle, scarf Yveltal can sweep entire teams, or at least take out several mons. I am not saying that Yveltal is without its weaknesses, because fairyceus walls it very effectively, but if you can uturn off of fairyceus with yveltal, you can bring in something such as goth or pogre, etc. to break through or trash the enemy fairyceus. Thank you for reading this mess. I hope you get the idea. (Note: I got 5 hours of sleep last night and am really tired.. I may have made some points two or three times, and there may be a lot of grammatical errors, etc. Please do not judge me on this)

Edit: I thought I would drop a picture of yveltal here, cuz he/she/it just looks so COOL

Edit 2: more yveltal stuff: It is a great cleanup mon, as shown by this battle, in which I played very badly, but still managed to win because yveltal.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-817003774
Ok, so some points here are not exactly correct. First off, it is very hard to assume that yveltal can just U-turn for momentum all the time. Rocks severely hinder its ability to continually switch out. Another thing: scarf yveltal does NOT wall marsh. LO cc does around 70 to it, and after rocks, sneak kills. Any marshadow can break through a yveltal with enough predicts. Another thing is just how many goddamn fairceus' there are. Relying on gothitelle to beat them is extremely inconsistent. Not to mention CB espeed does this: 252 Atk Choice Band Mega Rayquaza Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Yveltal: 175-206 (44.5 - 52.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock this means that mray is easily able to revenge kill. Zygod can also come in and glare yve, making it rather useless. It is simply very easy to scout, and very easy to switch into. Talking about one set as a reason for why yve shouldn't drop isn't a very solid ground to stand on. There are other sets, which is why I agree that yve should stay where it is.
 

MZ

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Hey, I have a proposal.

So I was talking to bdov the other day, discussing the noms she posted earlier. In particular, we were discussing the prospect of Xerneas to A+, and I thought of something that would be pretty helpful and would help with a lot of other issues the VR council is having. Anyway, the proposal is to use the ranking system within the subranks themselves instead of having the Pokemon ordered alphabetically. What I mean is to make it like the Ubers VR thread, which seems to work quite well because it gives a clear indication of which Pokemon is better than another even if they are the same rank. Ubers is a very similar metagame to AG (furthermore, Ubers is an official metagame, it their VR generally updates more frequently) and thus I believe this proposal makes a lot of sense.
Now mostly what I was discussing with bdov was whether Xerneas should go to A+. I didn't agree with it raising to A+, because I didn't believe it was on par with Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM, but I thought it was better than the rest of A (at the very least, Yveltal, Arceus-Ground, and arguably Marshadow and Ultra Necrozma). This made me think of the ranking system, in which Xerneas would be at the top of A, not good enough for A+ but eclipsing most of A. Just for fun, my ideal A rank would be Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, Ultra Necrozma, Marshadow, Ho-Oh, Arceus-Ground, Yveltal. This way, nothing actually moves subranks, but readers can see which Pokemon is better than another. The VR doesn't update enough to where I believe this would be effective (OU rejected the idea because the meta adapts way too much where it would troublesome to keep changing the positions of Pokemon within subranks).
This also solves the issue of the Yveltal to A-. Personally, I think Yveltal is threatening enough to stay out of A-, but it's still worse than all of A, so it can sit at the bottom of A.
I know that this will be quite troublesome to start up, but after that, I think it will be fine because most Pokemon are not going to move all that drastically. There are only 51 Pokemon (if i counted right) in the VR excluding D rank (which I don't think is important enough to rank within). That's not very much to rank, and a lot of the Pokemon will be pretty easy to sort through if they're in small ranks.
The reason I want this to happen is because too often the VR council has split 50/50 decisions on things (just use the above slate as an example, they went 50/50 on 4/16 noms, which is a quarter of the noms. People being split on whether a Pokemon should be one subrank or another shows that said Pokemon is probably teetering on the edge of the two subranks, and a good solution to this is to make that Pokemon either the bottom or top of a respective rank to show that they are close to another rank without actually being that rank. Because right now, readers looking at the VR might look at A rank and say "oh, Ultra Necrozma and Yveltal are of the same viability", which (at least in my opinion) isn't true. Other discrepancies in other ranks (imo) include:
- Lunala and Arceus-Poison being much better than Celesteela/Arceus-Rock
- Chansey, Excadrill, and Lugia being much better than Arceus-Ghost and Gothitelle (goth is a bit hard to rank because it's so weird)
- Arceus-Grass and base Kyogre being much better than Shuckle, Deo-A, Deo-S, and MMX
and more.
While some of these can be solved by moving Pokemon up or down a rank, these Pokemon currently reside within the same rank and thus are given the same weighting by most readers, especially if they aren't caught up with the meta or experienced.

In conclusion, I think the positives of a ranking system within subranks instead of an alphabetical system will outweigh the negatives of such a system.

tldr: rank stuff within subranks instead of alphabetically, solves issues with council voting, solves issues with pokemon of the same rank being better than others, solves issues of mons teetering on the edge of dropping/rising

Thanks for reading!
no.

The differences between Pokemon within their subranks have been exaggerated, this is not solving something that's /that/ big of a deal because these pokemon are legitimately close enough in viability for the distinction to be mostly irrelevant. Besides, AG tends to be in the state where the subrank ordering would be constantly changing based on the daily opinions of council. Speaking of council, it's not in a position to be able to effectively rank these mons. This would be a huge strain on leadership to hash out something like this, especially in a meta with AG's activity, it takes a lot more than is implied by the 51 Pokemon comment. It's worked for PU or Ubers or whatever because they've managed to have a much consistently higher level of activity with more clearly defined opinions and separations. I would not feel comfortable reliably stating to all that Ultra Necrozma is definitively more or less "viable" than Xerneas, nor would it be possible to keep updating that relationship every time it changes in a timely manner.
If you feel the difference is so great, just nom them for different ranks. Council doesn't feel that the even split on Pokemon or the fact that some people disagree with Lunala being in the same rank as Arceus-Rock is actually an issue. A more minutely accurate ranking system isn't inherently better.

edit: stop liking my post, it literally just says we're not going to do a cool thing because it's hard
 
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MZ

And now for something completely different
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Instead of a feature you do want, here's something nobody asked for: a BP rank! We figured it's just weird and inconsistent how mons only viable on BP are still technically viable and we rank some of them like Espeon, but then not others because they're less relevant to the playstyle, and it just gets all confused. They don't really work in D rank because they're viable for different reasons than anything else. So BP rank is for all Pokemon only viable on Baton Pass teams and nothing else. Everything there should be fairly self explanatory except maybe Krookodile, we put it there because 99% of its contributions are for Evopass, suicide lead is in that realm of technically usable and works and has a tiny niche but not really worth keeping on there separate from BP rank.
Question: What about mons viable on both BP and non-BP teams?
Answer: They get ranked normally and BP is considered in their placement. See: Smeargle, Scolipede, Gliscor
Question: What about previously ranked BP only mons?
Answer: Things like Eevee will just get moved down into BP rank.
Question: Is it like a rank below D?
Answer: No. It's just separate. Don't take its physical placement as an indication of how good BP or the Pokemon in the rank are.
Question: Can we nominate things to BP rank?
Answer: Yes, but it's not like other nominations. Things don't go from D to BP or anything and you don't need to have a full process for it. Just name a mon and council will decide if it's actually worthwhile on BP or not. This does not include things that can technically sweep with BP but aren't actually worth it, like Magikarp can win in a perfect scenario but isn't relevant (or, as a more relevant example, Mega Heracross as a smashpass recipient).

If I forgot anything really obvious in the initial list that's clearly a BP staple, just shoot me a PM please because leaving it out was more likely just forgetfulness. Also the list might still get updated for the next couple of days, I wanted to get this out there but we haven't quite hit up all the BP enthusiasts yet and there are a few borderline cases the council wanted to consult on.
 
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This may seem like a stupid nom but I am going to nominate Normal Rayquaza from unranked to D rank

If you want to run a mega other than mray then normal rayqaza can still be a viable option
That is all I really have to say
 
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in the hills

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All right.

Ferrothorn: A- -» A

Ferro is a beautful special or physical wall that completely walls support arceus forms unless they run fire blast. It also can also be a solid switchin to celesteela, due to its immunity to leach seed. Virtually the only things in the meta that threten ferro are vcreate on mray, mgar with taunt, pdon, and supportceus (but only if it runs fblast). Ferro also doubles as a secondary hazard setter, and can be used against low health ekiller/mray if you can predict espeed and switch into ferro, its ability iron barbs will take down the mon attacking it, while it takes minimal damage. Ferro is also an effective wall to pogre, using its amazaing defense typing to sponge its hits while inflicting damage with leech seed and power whip. This thing is also a decent wall to sd groundceus. While being fairly passive, ferro is capable of inflicting heavy damage with power whip, and severely reducing groundceus’s lifespan.
Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Power Whip/Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes/Stealth Rock (depends on your needs)
- Protect

+2 252 Atk Arceus-Ground Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Ferrothorn: 243-286 (69.2 - 81.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery and Leech Seed recovery
Admittedly, Ferro takes a lot of damage from this, but it can protect next turn, recover even more health, then switch to a flying type to absorb the hit, then back to ferro to take the stone edge/espeed and recover even more health.
252+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Origin Pulse vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn in Heavy Rain: 123-144 (35 - 41%) -- 23.2% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery and Leech Seed recovery
See? Virtually no damage!
252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Extreme Speed vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Ferrothorn: 62-74 (17.6 - 21%) -- possibly the worst move ever
Can easily sponge espeed on the switchin! Plus it deals damage to ray with iron barbs.
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Extreme Speed vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Ferrothorn: 72-85 (20.5 - 24.2%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
Again, virtually no damage.
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Ferrothorn: 181-213 (51.5 - 60.6%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Very little damage
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Waterfall vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Ferrothorn: 72-85 (20.5 - 24.2%) -- possibly the worst move ever
Pdon synergizes great with this boi.
0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Arceus-Ground: 210-248 (55.1 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leech Seed damage
Impressive damage to groundceus with power whip.
0 Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 32 HP / 124 Def Kyogre-Primal: 236-278 (67.6 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Check out that damage!
0 SpA Pixie Plate Arceus-Fairy Judgment vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 49-58 (13.9 - 16.5%) -- possible 9HKO after Leftovers recovery
Yep, this thing walls fairyceus rly well.

It does, admittedly, struggle a bit with things like Goth, but overall, ferro is a great wall on balance and should definitely be moved up.
Your post doesn’t explain any reasoning as to why Ferrothorn should rise, all you’ve done is explain what Ferrothorn is, which everyone knows. In fact it seems that you missed a few things while talking about Ferrothorn, such as the rise of CM Water Spout Kyogre-Primal, which turns your calcs into this:
+1 200+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn in Heavy Rain: 244-288 (69.3 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers and Leech Seed Recovery
Ferrothorn is a good Pokemon of course, but there is no evidence pointing towards it being any better in the current metagame and is not due for a rise.
 

Geysers

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Your post doesn’t explain any reasoning as to why Ferrothorn should rise, all you’ve done is explain what Ferrothorn is, which everyone knows. In fact it seems that you missed a few things while talking about Ferrothorn, such as the rise of CM Water Spout Kyogre-Primal, which turns your calcs into this:
+1 200+ SpA Kyogre-Primal Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn in Heavy Rain: 244-288 (69.3 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers and Leech Seed Recovery
Ferrothorn is a good Pokemon of course, but there is no evidence pointing towards it being any better in the current metagame and is not due for a rise.
Good point. You neglected the power reduction inwater spout from leach seed, idk if that would make a dkfference, but still.
 
This may seem like a stupid nom but I am going to nominate Normal Rayquaza from unranked to D rank

If you want to run a mega other than mray then normal rayqaza can still be a viable option
That is all I really have to say
I support this, normal rayquaza definitely has a niche within the meta. and by niche I mean everyone thinks their pdon's are safe.

The set:

Rayquaza @ Choice Specs
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Overheat
- Thunder

nice coverage, surprise factor helps it snipe KO's it really shouldnt be getting.

Pdons and more getting sniped:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-816169480

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-820666607

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-826313009

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-826310170

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-826300099

Calcs

252+ SpA Choice Specs Rayquaza Surf vs. 252 HP / 200 SpD Groudon-Primal: 636-752 (157.4 - 186.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Rayquaza Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 144 SpD Groudon-Primal: 364-429 (106.7 - 125.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO


Basically specs ray is surprisingly strong and lots of people leave pdon in against it for some reason. I think that's enough to justify D rank.
 

Chloe

is a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
NUPL Champion
I support this, normal rayquaza definitely has a niche within the meta. and by niche I mean everyone thinks their pdon's are safe.

The set:

Rayquaza @ Choice Specs
Ability: Air Lock
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Overheat
- Thunder

nice coverage, surprise factor helps it snipe KO's it really shouldnt be getting.

Pdons and more getting sniped:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-816169480

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-820666607

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-826313009

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-826310170

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-826300099

Calcs

252+ SpA Choice Specs Rayquaza Surf vs. 252 HP / 200 SpD Groudon-Primal: 636-752 (157.4 - 186.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Rayquaza Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 144 SpD Groudon-Primal: 364-429 (106.7 - 125.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO


Basically specs ray is surprisingly strong and lots of people leave pdon in against it for some reason. I think that's enough to justify D rank.
While I have no opinion on whether or not to rank regular Rayquaza or not, I believe your reasoning for doing so is really quite arbitrary and not at all fair. Your opponents choose to keep their Primal Groudon in on a Rayquaza, due to having a lack of consistent switch-ins, and Rayquaza would achieve a similar function in regards to PDon regardless of whether it was mega or not. Use this as your argument! If you wanted to seriously support this, you'd be obligated to mention these lack of consistent switch ins, how its main checks are easily removed via trapping and how powerful its Draco Meteor STAB is. Misinformed opponents is never a sufficient reason to rank anything.
 
While I have no opinion on whether or not to rank regular Rayquaza or not, I believe your reasoning for doing so is really quite arbitrary and not at all fair. Your opponents choose to keep their Primal Groudon in on a Rayquaza, due to having a lack of consistent switch-ins, and Rayquaza would achieve a similar function in regards to PDon regardless of whether it was mega or not. Use this as your argument! If you wanted to seriously support this, you'd be obligated to mention these lack of consistent switch ins, how its main checks are easily removed via trapping and how powerful its Draco Meteor STAB is. Misinformed opponents is never a sufficient reason to rank anything.
I'll provide for you a link to grammarly, as you have several grammatical errors that grind my gears (for example, the double negative in the first sentence, the pronoun-object disagreement in the second-to-last sentence). https://www.grammarly.com/?q=brand&...MI_5G1trfD3gIVB57ACh2lAQOwEAAYASAAEgJbLPD_BwE
Much love,
TTTG
<3
 
I'll provide for you a link to grammarly, as you have several grammatical errors that grind my gears (for example, the double negative in the first sentence, the pronoun-object disagreement in the second-to-last sentence). https://www.grammarly.com/?q=brand&...MI_5G1trfD3gIVB57ACh2lAQOwEAAYASAAEgJbLPD_BwE
Much love,
TTTG
<3
That is a you problem and this has nothing to do with the topic. Please do not post anything here that is not related or relevant to what this thread is about.
 
That is a you problem and this has nothing to do with the topic. Please do not post anything here that is not related or relevant to what this thread is about.
My gosh you people can’t take a joke. You realize your reactions fuel the fire. If you were smart you wouldn’t do anything about it. Clearly y’all are a little slow
 

MAHOH

is a Former Smogon Metagame Tournament Circuit Championis a Former Other Tournament Circuit Champion
UPL Champion
Mega-Slowbro Unranked to D/C
The set:
248 hp / 252+ def / 8 spa Item: Slowbronite Ability: Shell Armor
-Slack Off
-Ice Beam
-Toxic / Psyshock / Scald
-Foul Play / Iron Defense

Bro is physically bulkier than Giratina so that says something. M-Bro is a great physical wall that pairs fantastically with Ttar in order to check all variations of Necro (Mgar kinda traps Bro too so yea). Mega-Slowbro is one of the few mons that's able to encompass big offensive threats such as Ekiller, Phys U-Necro/DM, Zygarde, MMX, MMY, Band Ho-Oh, and pretty often Mega-Rayquaza

Here are some calcs

252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 168-199 (42.7 - 50.6%)
+2 252+ Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Searing Sunraze Smash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 193-228 (49.1 - 58%)
+2 252 Atk Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 184-217 (46.8 - 55.2%)
+2 252 Atk Neuroforce Necrozma-Ultra X-Scissor vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 248-292 (63.1 - 74.3%)
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Arceus Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 192-229 (48.8 - 58.2%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 153-180 (38.9 - 45.8%)
8 SpA Slowbro-Mega Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar-Mega: 264-312 (101.1 - 119.5%)
252 SpA Gengar-Mega Hex (65 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro-Mega: 314-372 (79.8 - 94.6%)
252 SpA Gengar-Mega Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro-Mega: 386-456 (98.2 - 116%)

I've seen M-Bro work nicely in ubers, no reason it can't in AG. Takes up a Mega slot but... Mray/Mgar aren't necessary on every team. It also isn't hard to compensate for offense on a M-Bro team when there are mons like U-Necro, Z Marshadow, Band Ho-Oh, and Zygarde
 

DoW

formally Death on Wings
Mega-Slowbro Unranked to D/C
The set:
248 hp / 252+ def / 8 spa Item: Slowbronite Ability: Shell Armor
-Slack Off
-Ice Beam
-Toxic / Psyshock / Scald
-Foul Play / Iron Defense

Bro is physically bulkier than Giratina so that says something. M-Bro is a great physical wall that pairs fantastically with Ttar in order to check all variations of Necro (Mgar kinda traps Bro too so yea). Mega-Slowbro is one of the few mons that's able to encompass big offensive threats such as Ekiller, Phys U-Necro/DM, Zygarde, MMX, MMY, Band Ho-Oh, and pretty often Mega-Rayquaza

Here are some calcs

252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 168-199 (42.7 - 50.6%)
+2 252+ Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Searing Sunraze Smash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 193-228 (49.1 - 58%)
+2 252 Atk Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 184-217 (46.8 - 55.2%)
+2 252 Atk Neuroforce Necrozma-Ultra X-Scissor vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 248-292 (63.1 - 74.3%)
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Arceus Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 192-229 (48.8 - 58.2%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 153-180 (38.9 - 45.8%)
8 SpA Slowbro-Mega Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar-Mega: 264-312 (101.1 - 119.5%)
252 SpA Gengar-Mega Hex (65 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro-Mega: 314-372 (79.8 - 94.6%)
252 SpA Gengar-Mega Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro-Mega: 386-456 (98.2 - 116%)

I've seen M-Bro work nicely in ubers, no reason it can't in AG. Takes up a Mega slot but... Mray/Mgar aren't necessary on every team. It also isn't hard to compensate for offense on a M-Bro team when there are mons like U-Necro, Z Marshadow, Band Ho-Oh, and Zygarde
I can say that I've tried using m-slowbro (albeit last gen), and I can say for certain that it's worthy of D-rank (or possibly C-). It's capable of taking hits from mega ray, as well as plenty of other physical attackers, better than Pokémon like arceus-water, while providing a typing that can occasionally make the Pokémon worthwhile.

In my experience, its biggest weaknesses in comparison to something like a support arceus forme are its inability to switch in on Pokémon before it has had a chance to mega evolve, and its lack of support moves like stealth rock or defog.
 
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Geysers

not round
is a Community Contributoris a Team Rater Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Mega-Slowbro Unranked to D/C
The set:
248 hp / 252+ def / 8 spa Item: Slowbronite Ability: Shell Armor
-Slack Off
-Ice Beam
-Toxic / Psyshock / Scald
-Foul Play / Iron Defense

Bro is physically bulkier than Giratina so that says something. M-Bro is a great physical wall that pairs fantastically with Ttar in order to check all variations of Necro (Mgar kinda traps Bro too so yea). Mega-Slowbro is one of the few mons that's able to encompass big offensive threats such as Ekiller, Phys U-Necro/DM, Zygarde, MMX, MMY, Band Ho-Oh, and pretty often Mega-Rayquaza

Here are some calcs

252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 168-199 (42.7 - 50.6%)
+2 252+ Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Searing Sunraze Smash vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 193-228 (49.1 - 58%)
+2 252 Atk Necrozma-Ultra Light That Burns the Sky vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 184-217 (46.8 - 55.2%)
+2 252 Atk Neuroforce Necrozma-Ultra X-Scissor vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 248-292 (63.1 - 74.3%)
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Arceus Shadow Claw vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 192-229 (48.8 - 58.2%)
252+ Atk Choice Band Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 153-180 (38.9 - 45.8%)
8 SpA Slowbro-Mega Psyshock vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gengar-Mega: 264-312 (101.1 - 119.5%)
252 SpA Gengar-Mega Hex (65 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro-Mega: 314-372 (79.8 - 94.6%)
252 SpA Gengar-Mega Shadow Ball vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro-Mega: 386-456 (98.2 - 116%)

I've seen M-Bro work nicely in ubers, no reason it can't in AG. Takes up a Mega slot but... Mray/Mgar aren't necessary on every team. It also isn't hard to compensate for offense on a M-Bro team when there are mons like U-Necro, Z Marshadow, Band Ho-Oh, and Zygarde
I honestly support this. Mega Slowbro seems like a very solid physical wall. I have tested it occasionally, and the ability shell armor is amazing with iron defense sets. It’s not that great, but it definitely has the physical bulk for D or C-.
 
As this thread is kind of dead atm, I wanted to make a few noms of my own:

Lunala: B+ -> A-

I personally really like this Pokemon and I think it has a lot of potential in the current meta right now. I think it deserves a raise as ghost typing is amazing right now, combined with the fact it has a 100BP Ghost STAB and a 200BP Ghost Z move really makes it a threat in the current meta. But added to this not only can it run offensive sets, such as Z and also specs which produces some really solid damage output, it can also run a defensive set very effectively due to utility moves such as roost, defog toxic and WoW. Personally think it's much more effective than the Pokemon in B+ rank, and weaknesses such as rocks and it's extra psychic typing leaving it 4X weak to dark and ghost are the only things holding it back from being further up on the VR.

Necrozma Ultra: A -> A+

It must be said that Ultra Necrozma has gone through a complete resurgence in the ag meta. At the start of USM it really was the hype and didn't quite live up to its initial expectations, with Dusk Mane becoming far more popular and the form of choice. However, thanks to users such as Hunter and Thimo I think Ultra Necrozma was finally more explored and I have also come to the realisation that this Pokemon is capable of so much. Its speed tier, its coverage, its movepool and boasting base 160 Attack all make it a huge threat in the ag meta that must be prepared for, however, it is extremely difficult to cover all of its sets. Usually, the best way to deal with this Pokemon is through revenge killers such as scarf Xern and Mega Gengar, which shows how tough it is to cover defensively, and due to this, I believe it has finally matched Dusk Mane and deserves a raise on the VR.

And finally, I wouldn't have bothered to make these noms without adding some controversy....

Zygarde-Complete: S- -> S

I think the meta, and the community, are finally ready for this inevitability, of Zygarde finally reaching where it was destined to be, on par with the myth, the legend itself, Mega Rayquaza. At this point, you must all think I've lost it, and you're probably right, but just hear me out on this one. It cannot be understated how much of a beast this thing is; its stats in complete form are incomparable to anything else. I remember a main issue people have with this Pokemon is that it is difficult to get it into complete form; this is completely false. For offensive sets, it can easily use substitute to get itself into complete form. For defensive sets, base Zygarde form just about has enough bulk to survive the hits it needs to, enabling it to also reach complete form. Lack of 'reliable recovery' has also been a common complaint about Zygarde. While this is technically true, I think Zygarde is an exception and a special case. Zygarde is so Godamn fat that it can afford to rest, let the opponent set up for 2 turns, and still be fine to start phasing with dtail or setting up with coil just because of how much bulk it has. Sleep talk, while I would not recommend it, is also an option to help with the sleep turns. To reach S rank, this must mean it is better than Mega Gengar and on par with Mega Rayquaza. Here is a list of reasons why I think this is the case:

1. Roles - Mega Rayquaza and Mega Gengar really only play one role; an offensive one, Mega Rayquaza smashing everything in its path, Mega Gengar picking off targets with utility trapping. Zygarde, on the other hand, can play both an offensive and defensive role. As a matter of fact, Zygarde is a better stall breaker than Mega Rayquaza and Mega Gengar ever will be, through the use of Dragon Tail or Toxic paired with Sub and Dragon Dance.

2. Status - Zygarde is able to spread status with ease, based on what it forces in and because it has what I would consider one of the most broke moves in the game, Glare. Toxic on Zygarde is also viable to cripple support Arceus formes, giving other Pokemon an easier time at breaking teams.

3. Sets - Zygarde has a larger variety of sets than Mega Gengar and Mega Rayquaza do. These sets could include: Sub dtail, Sub Glare, Sub Toxic, Glare Coil, Coil Dtail, Thousand Waves Dragon Dance, Haze Glare, Haze Dragon Tail, Dragon Dance Outrage and of course, Sub Double Team. I'm sure there are plenty more I missed out, but these are just some of the ones that I could think off of the top of my head. This is a far greater plethora of sets that are available to Zygarde than to both Mega Ray and Mega Gengar, which are limited by the fact that its roles are also limited.

4. Item - This of course only applies to Mega Gengar, as Mega Rayquaza can also hold an item. Mega Gengar is restricted by the fact that it has to hold a mega stone, which again further impedes what this Pokemon is capable of doing as its damage output can sometimes be very disappointing, particularly if the opponent is not statused and Mega Gengar is running hex. Zygarde, on the other hand, can improve its defensive capabilities hugely by running leftovers, or for more offensive sets increase its longevity. In addition to this, Z and metronome are other options I have seen ran on Zygarde to great effectiveness, adding to what this Pokemon can achieve.

5. Reliability - Zygarde rarely never puts in work. In most given matchups Zygarde is capable of achieving something based on how much it is able to cover and how effective it can be. For example, defensive Zygarde is very effective against HO and balance, and even against stall it can be nice to go into if you need a toxic switch in, as with rest stall cannot really touch it but just stall it out. Offensive Zygarde is very effective against Stall and balance, slightly less effective against HO due to the fact it lacks the bulk needed to take hits from set up sweepers, however, it can still be a nuisance with dragon tail and late game some HO builds might struggle to a Zygarde at +1 speed and attack. On the other hand, I do not believe Mega Rayquaza and Mega Gengar, in particular, are able to do this to the same extent. Mega Gengar struggles in any given match up against pursuit users such as Muk, Tyran and Marshadow, with the last two, in particular, becoming more and more common. In addition to this, Mega Gengar can sometimes find it difficult to be able to trap things reliable hampering its effectiveness. In addition to this HO builds generally like playing against Gengar and definitely Webs, as speed is its biggest strength this is hampered by webs or by the opponent using set up moves e.g dd m ray or geo xern. Mega Rayquaza is more based on the set which you run and the team it's playing; generally, however, a good stall will always have an answer to Mega Rayquaza, meaning Mega Rayquaza is not effective in any matchup it plays. In addition to this, if Mega Rayquaza is not running scarf it may find it difficult to make an impact on the game against HO builds, depending on the team.

6. Longevity - Mega Gengar in particular and to some extent Mega Rayquaza are glass cannons; Zygarde is so much more than that. Zygarde is able to play the offensive role that Mega Gengar and Mega Rayquaza do but with extra bulk that enables it to sustain itself and, with substitute, avoids it from being harmed from status which Mega Rayquaza cannot do. It truly is a unique sweeper; there truly is no other Pokemon that can do what offensive Zygarde does. Mega Salamence or Ultra Necrozma can be a budget Mega Rayquaza, hitting things hard and sharing similar typing. Gothitelle shares some of the things Mega Gengar is able to trap, meaning both Mega Rayquaza and Mega Gengar do not share that same originality which Zygarde possesses. Don't get me wrong Mega Gengar and Mega Rayquaza are unique, as Mega Salamence is nowhere near on the same level as Mega Rayquaza, but I just don't think it is to the same degree. Zygarde also, of course, has access to recovery in the form of rest, whereas Mega Rayquaza and Mega Gengar do not, unless you're running resto chesto Mega Rayquaza (cough cough arushi) then..... well g_g

7. Ability - Most importantly, its ability, Power Construct, allows it to not lose to sash endeavour Marshadow... making it much better than shadow tag and delta stream, of course.


I understand some of these points are linked, and you could say one leads to the other which makes the points less valid, but I also think that it's important to iron out all the points anyway to support the main point, helping the thrust of the argument.

Most people understand what this Pokemon does, is an amazing physical blanket and bulkier teams can struggle to DD Zyg etc etc but I've tried to illustrate why Zygarde is as good as Mega Rayquaza and better than Mega Gengar, I think I could have done it better but I hope I have got the main points across and you've got the general idea.

Some of these replays are mine and some are hunter's, apologies if you had already seen some of them or if hunter has used them in previous points, I just generally don't save replays and I knew hunter's replays were the obvious place to go when looking for effective Zygarde replays lol.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-836752247
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-836755458
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-794208960 (had to throw in a replay with zyg fucking w smash pass)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-830597428 (zyg def put in work here, taking out ttar allowing yveltal to sweep)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-769915784
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-724259346
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7ubers-723287283 (ubers, but similar principal}
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-720652485 (this replays mors shows how well Zygarde is able to knit teams together and keep it strong; Zygarde basically stopped either player from losing and would have been a long and prolonged battle)


+2 252 Atk Arceus-Ground Tectonic Rage (180 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 349-412 (83 - 98%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Groudon-Primal Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 346-408 (82.3 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 339-399 (80.7 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Arceus Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 222-263 (52.8 - 62.6%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Ho-Oh Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde-Complete: 204-240 (32 - 37.7%) -- 0.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
0 SpA Arceus-Ground Ice Beam vs. 0 HP / 48 SpD Zygarde: 300-356 (84 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zygarde-Complete: 130-154 (22.6 - 26.8%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 SpA Iron Plate Arceus-Steel Judgment vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 387-456 (92.1 - 108.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery
4 Atk Zygarde Dragon Tail vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Zygarde-Complete: 110-132 (19.1 - 23%) -- possible 6HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 252 Atk Marshadow Soul-Stealing 7-Star Strike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 292-345 (69.5 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 261-307 (62.1 - 73%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Arceus-Ghost Never-Ending Nightmare (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zygarde: 369-435 (87.8 - 103.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Leftovers recovery


I also understand this nom is very ironic; due to the fact that Zygarde's effectiveness is highlighted by how well it pairs with Mega Gengar, which I am attempting to say is not as good as Zygarde. I am half joking when I make this nom and I by no means expect this to go through at all, but I thought it would be fun to just pose the question and see what other people think. I do really love using this Pokemon, and I personally could see it at the top of the VR one day. If there's anything that you think I've missed, please say so and make your thoughts known in the thread!

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a good day.
 
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pichus

is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
OMPL Champion
some noms of my own :

Arceus Steel - B+ to A- or A
If there is any pokemon that can setup and 6-0 a team by itself other than Zygarde or Rayquaza, it is Steelceus. After the addition of Marshadow, this pokemon lost its popularity in the metagame and its A+ rank on the VR. However, this is really underrated right now since most people have stopped running proper checks for this. Ho-Oh getting more uncommon is a huge benefit for this and other common checks like scarf Rayquaza and Marshadow can never get a free switch in and can be easily played around with. This never got its raise in ranks in post marsh AG unlike Darkceus and few other pokemons and I feel that that its current rank does not reflect how good this is in USUM AG. Other than the Calm Mind set, this can also run Swords Dance + Substitute and Defensive Rocks. SD + Sub lures in Wisp Support Arceus like Waterceus and Poisonceus and Ho-Oh if running Stone Edge. Defensive Rocks can set up Stealth Rock vs Support arceus without worrying about getting statused.
sets:
Arceus-Steel @ Iron Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Judgment
- Recover
- Earth Power

Arceus-Steel @ Steelium Z
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge
- Substitute

Arceus-Steel @ Iron Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind / Perish Song
- Stealth Rock
- Recover
- Judgment


Arceus-Poison - B+ to A-
This has been nominated to higher ranks by other people already and I definitely agree with raising this. This is my go-to Xerneas check. I use this over defensive Dusk Mane because it is an amazing status spreader (Will-O-Wisp + Poison Jab) and gets Defog and Perish Song. It's able to check Marshadow and acts as a Support Arceus switch in and status absorber for the team. IMO, a Xerneas, Marshadow, Support Arceus check, status spreader and absorber all in 1 definitely deserves a place above B+.
set:
Arceus-Poison @ Poisonium Z
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Atk / 8 Def / 156 SpD / 92 Spe
Careful Nature
- Poison Jab
- Will-O-Wisp / Roar
- Recover
- Stealth Rock / Defog / Perish Song

I agree with Zenithial's Ultra Necrozma and Lunala noms, however, as much as I love using Zygarde, I dont think its as good as Mega Rayquaza in any way and I think S- is alright for it.

alright, now the nom everyone has been waiting for --->>


Unranked to D/C

mr magnezone ^_^ (Magnezone) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Charge Beam
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Double Team
(sorry if this set hurts your eyes :>)

Magenzone is the only pokemon that can reliably trap Ferrothorn, Defensive Dusk Mane and Celesteela and potentially sweep the rest of the team after it traps them. Charge Beam is a really cool move, allowing it to boost its Special Attack on 70% of the hits. HP Ice is for coverage, hitting resists like Zygarde, Rayquaza, Giratina and Ferrothorn. Substitute is to avoid Leech Seed from Celesteela and Ferrothorn. Double Team gives you a chance to dodge opposing attacks. With minimal predicts, you are able to trap the opponent's Steel type and allowing your Primal Kyogre or Xerneas to sweep the team. Max Def and HP tanks hits from Dusk Mane and Ferrothorn. It also takes 3 Scarf Dragon Ascents from Rayquaza and HP Ice does decent damage in return. HP Ice can also lure in Zygarde and do decent damage.
This set looks extremely dumb and luck reliant but it is to be noted that its main purpose is to remove the Ferrothorn or Dusk Mane to make way for its teammates Primal Kyogre or Xerneas to sweep the opponent's teams and not fish for misses with evasion boosts to sweep the opponent.

I think this is a very cool pokemon to use and should be ranked for it's niche of removing 2 most common special defensive walls.

Magnezone in action:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-829368779
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-818729130
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-818698591
(might add more replays later)
my squads with magnezone:
https://pokepast.es/f65ddadf1f75f0aa
https://pokepast.es/92d52f32f9e7b9bd
 

Sinnoh Sunlight

Banned deucer.
To respond to points made earlier:
Poisonceus is incredible. This pokemon is an extremely splashable pick that operates as an effective check to basically everything that can't hit it super effectively. Checking fairceus and xern are absolutely crucial, as they can pave the way for a mray sweep. Poisonceus also acts as an effective check to marshadow, due to most sets carrying wisp. This pokemon also checks mgar that isnt hex wisp or perish trapper, with its good special bulk that allows it to take any hit mgar can dish out. Spreading burn is always nice, however the one fear of using wisp, them switching in fairceus and you being unable to toxic them down, is gone thanks to pjab. It can also run whirlpool sets to just eliminate fairceus, defensive dusk mane, ferrothorn, and most passive pokemon. This pokemon is great, and I fully agree with it to A-.

Ultra Necrozma is broken in the current meta. The king of ladder was standard balance a few months ago, yet the introduction of Unecro's special set has basically single- handedly forced balance to diversify. I cannot say enough on how much this thing cleans balance lacking Yveltal, darkceus, or lunala. Against wisp arcs, it gets free CM's and sets up on a large amount of support mons. It destroys common checks to dusk mane such as poisonceus, giratina, zygarde, ferrothorn, and celesteela. This set, imo, is the real reason why it should go to A+. It's incredibly unpredictable, versatile, and insanely dangerous. If this pokemon had 131 speed, I'd say bring it to S-. The only pokemon it can't hit are dark types, which just require smart teambuilding and prior damage to get an unecro sweep.

If you noticed, the two previous pokemon are beaten by lunala. This pokemon is really solid rn. Shadow shield enables it to be able to live shadow sneaks, dragon ascents, and SE judgments. It has a nice special attack, and near perfect coverage. Not much to say, it checks major metagame threats well, and that should be enough for A-.

Steelceus should also rise. This thing OHKO's standard zygarde and mray at plus 2, whilst outspeeding them both. It has insane damage output, and nothing likes switching into this mon. Support to A-, A is a bit of a stretch since it gets rekt by ho-oh if its not edge, and if its physical, that brings a whole load of other problems.

I disagree with:
Zygod to S. No. This thing is not on par with mray. Yes, it is better(clearly) than mgar, but it still cannot approach the sheer coverage of mray. First off, attacking sets lack power when first setting up. Defensive sets are often too passive and can be broken through. Fairceus easily checks all variants of zygod, however fairceus cannot switchin to LO dragon ascents from mray. There's a clear separation between mgar and zygod, but unless we're making a S+, zygod should stay where it is.

Neutral on:
Magnezone. Not sure how to feel about it, that is one of the most cancer sets I've ever seen. This set is basically relying on there being a ferro, dusk mane, or cele, or otherwise its completely useless. If it were to make it, I'd say put it in D.


Closing thoughts:
Lots of good nominations, unfortunately I was going to do an unecro nom today, but oh well. Hope what I said above is considered when voting. Cya guys :)
 
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I am going to nominate deoxys-attack from b- to b+

Deoxys-Attack is a very strong offensive mon only held back by it's lack of a defense stat, If your opponent is not prepared deoxys can end up getting multiple kills per game and with the help of psychic terrain, deoxys can become nearly impossible to stop outside scarf users and other deo attack

Psyspam Sweeper (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Psychic
- Ice Beam

Life orb attacker (Deoxys-Attack) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Mild Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick
- Extreme Speed

Focus sash attacker (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Low Kick
- Extreme Speed
- Ice Beam

Specs attacker (Deoxys-Attack) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psycho Boost
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast

Physical deoxys (Deoxys-Attack) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Low Kick
- Meteor Mash
- Extreme Speed
- Zen Headbutt

Lead Deoxys (Deoxys-Attack) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 8 Atk / 248 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Low Kick
- Psycho Boost
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
 

DoW

formally Death on Wings
I would like to nominate regirock from unranked to D

Regirock has an ability to switch in to mega rayquaza and set up stealth rocks, and even depending on the mray set for regirock to switch out.

Here are some calcs if you aren't conviced that it works

252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Regirock: 77-91 (21.1 - 25%) -- possible 5HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Regirock: 174-205 (47.8 - 56.3%) -- 28.1% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (This one is significant because it means mray can't kill regirock before setting up rocks if you predict correctly)
252+ Atk Choice Band Rayquaza-Mega Waterfall vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Regirock: 158-188 (43.4 - 51.6%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

Here is the regirock set I use
Regirock @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Ice Punch
- Rock Tomb
0 Atk Regirock Ice Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rayquaza-Mega in Strong Winds: 110-130 (31.3 - 37%) -- 73.5% chance to 3HKO

Let me get this straight: regirock neither checks nor counters mray. Vs lorb, eq will 2hit, and ice punch doesn't come anywhere near an Ohko after rocks and -1 Def. Even scarf will happily beat it 1v1 just by clicking eq. Its sole use is in getting rocks up Vs mray, which rockceus can also do. Am I misunderstanding?
 
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Nihilego -> D/C-

ok basically, this does much more than one would expect. the spread I came up with e.g. lives a Life Orb Ho_oh Brave Bird after Rocks, is mathematically favored against every GeoXern variant (I think +2 into +0 Focus blast is a roll/ Thunder shouldnt kill in 2 cause its weaker, and glhf hitting 2 in a row in the first place, and I guess HP ground is a thing but lol.). It can also check Life Orb Ray lacking EQ and the only thing it worries about from Yveltal is LO Sucker/ Specs Dark Pulse (which isnt even a 2 hit from full if I'm not mistaken). I have already wasted way too much time laddering with this and unfortunately the only replay I actively thought of saving was vs some 2000 dude using lance stall, which I did win w my team oo. I'll be collecting more as I go along, but I wanna encourage some experimenting.
Next issue that appears is that it gives every steel a free ass turn, which means you have to pair it with Ho-Oh or Celesteela or such, or run Foul Play as the 4th move for Dusk Mane, which I havent tested yet personally.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7anythinggoes-830561005
I'll edit in more eventually

(also support the Ultra Necro and Mega Slowbro noms, not decided on the Steel/PoisonCeus ones but definetly leaning towards supporting rising SteelCeus)
 



Serperior to D

Serperior @ Leftovers
Ability: Contrary
EVs: 160 HP / 96 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Leaf Storm
- Glare
- Substitute
- Leech Seed

Anyone who's played against my dumb team knows what a nuisance this thing can be. Contrary Leaf Storms are amazing, despite its low SpA, and it gets around its low defensive stats with SubSeed + Glare, which can absolutely wreck enemy teams considering that you can spam subs and barely lose any health after Leftovers + Leech Seed. Ferrothorn is annoying to deal with but Serperior can paralyze it and let teammates deal with it (particularly helping Hex mGar) and it's not like anything gets a free switch-in considering that they have to take a Glare (and defensive Pokemon can't threaten it.) It's actually one of the best checks to Zygarde if you can get around the Glare, as it resists TA and SubSeed allows it to not take any damage at all due to Zygarde-C's enormous HP stat. It even can use Zygarde as setup fodder.

Replays and some more analysis can be found in my RMT.
 

Sinnoh Sunlight

Banned deucer.
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Mega Mewtwo X B- --> B

I personally think that this is an incredibly slept on pokemon. It's easily able to bluff special sets and then pick up 2HKO's on Dusk Mane and Yveltal, and OHKO steelceus and darkceus. All of these are common switchins to Mewtwo. Running Sub allows it to turn passive mons into set up bait. Alternatively, you can run Iron Tail to OHKO Xern and do a huge chunk to Fairceus. It gets hard walled by msab but so do a lot of mons. Because of the mind games you can play, low kick can punch through teams with ease. It's also a reliable check to Celesteela and Ferrothorn, along with Sub sets beating defensive Zygod. Not to mention that all of the standard wisp arcs, barring fairceus, get run up by it. Its Decent bulk allows it to take an uninvested Judgment from full, a hex from mgar, and a LO shadow sneak. This is a really solid mon and I don't think B- is where it belongs.
 

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