the following voting slate was posed to the entire council, which led to our discussion and voting on the following changes:
(just answer with keep/remove for the first and then the appropriate rank for the remainder -- if you have any questions, lmk)
Keep S- or remove S-:
Rises (initially the lower rank of the two, besides Heatran, which is currently S- -- i.e: Tornadus-Therian is currently A, but being nominated to go A+ and we are voting on if it stays or goes up)
Heatran S, S-, or A+:
Clefable S- or A+:
Tornadus-Therian A+ or A)
Latios-Mega A or A-:
Alakazam-Mega A- or B+:
Reuniclus A- or B+:
Tangrowth A- or B+:
Heracross-Mega B or B-:
Manaphy B- or C+:
Pyukumuku C- or UR:
Drops (initially the higher rank of the two -- i.e: Greninja-Ash is currently A+, but being nominated to go A and we are voting on if it stays or goes down)
Kartana S- or A+ (default A+ if remove S-):
Greninja-Ash A+ or A:
Volcarona A or A-:
Hoopa-Unbound A- or B+:
Zapdos A- or B+:
Rotom-Wash B+ or B:
Venusaur-Mega B+ or B:
Keldeo B+ or B:
Garchomp B or B-:
Garchomp-Mega C or C-:
Staraptor C- or UR:
Sharpedo-Mega C- or UR:
(just answer with keep/remove for the first and then the appropriate rank for the remainder -- if you have any questions, lmk)
Keep S- or remove S-:
Rises (initially the lower rank of the two, besides Heatran, which is currently S- -- i.e: Tornadus-Therian is currently A, but being nominated to go A+ and we are voting on if it stays or goes up)
Heatran S, S-, or A+:
Clefable S- or A+:
Tornadus-Therian A+ or A)
Latios-Mega A or A-:
Alakazam-Mega A- or B+:
Reuniclus A- or B+:
Tangrowth A- or B+:
Heracross-Mega B or B-:
Manaphy B- or C+:
Pyukumuku C- or UR:
Drops (initially the higher rank of the two -- i.e: Greninja-Ash is currently A+, but being nominated to go A and we are voting on if it stays or goes down)
Kartana S- or A+ (default A+ if remove S-):
Greninja-Ash A+ or A:
Volcarona A or A-:
Hoopa-Unbound A- or B+:
Zapdos A- or B+:
Rotom-Wash B+ or B:
Venusaur-Mega B+ or B:
Keldeo B+ or B:
Garchomp B or B-:
Garchomp-Mega C or C-:
Staraptor C- or UR:
Sharpedo-Mega C- or UR:
Overall changes:
S- is removed
Heatran from S- to S
Kartana from S- to A+
We decided that the state of the metagame no longer mandates this middleground sub-rank and we removed it to have a more accurate depiction of the viability of top tier threats. Heatran will now be S alongside Landorus-Therian as it is a top tier threat and one of the best utility Pokemon in the game. Kartana will drop down to A+ as it has seen less usage from some sets and is not as easy to throw onto teams in the modern day. However, it is still phenomenal in the metagame, as shown by it still residing in the A+ sub-rank. We will also have Clefable to S as a discussion point as many people feel that it may be worth rising, even with S- out of the equation (it would likely reside in S- if it existed).
Tornadus-T from A to A+
Greninja A to A+ (not initially on slate, but discussed)
Latios-Mega from A- to A
Alakazam-Mega from B+ to A-
Tangrowth from B+ to A-
Heracross-Mega from B- to B
Manaphy from C+ to B-
Pyukumuku from UR to C-
- Tornadus-Therian has taken the metagame by storm as a top-notch Defog using Regenerator pivot with mixed attacking capabilities. Overall, standard structures have quickly taken advantage of and integrated it, making Tornadus-Therian a top-tier Pokemon and worthy of the A+ ranking. While there is a fine-line between A and A+ and we were not unanimous in this decision, we do feel the fact that both Z-Fly and Rocky Helmet have been seeing great usage and even cutting into Scarf Landorus-Therian usage is enough of a testament to at least justify this side of the argument, being for A+.
- Greninja's Protean variants have been ridiculously threatening and increasing in popularity, to levels on par with the Ash variant. Both are among the most common and consistent offensive threats and belong in the A+ sub-rank.
- Latios-Mega has rose from zero to hero and this is just a continuation of that. Amazing defensive utility combined with a unique, hard-to-counter offensive presence adds up to an A rank mega.
- Tangrowth has shot back up as a great check to Waters, Kartana, Tapu Koko, and Zygarde, fitting onto many balance and bulky-offensive teams.
- Heracross-Mega threatens the entire metagame and does not require a ton of support while having bulk to soft check things like Zygarde, thus making it bump up a little.
- With the increase in the popularity of Screens HO, more people have noticed Manaphy and even applied it on to some balance and bulky-offensive teams, making a top threat of past generations -- even an Uber of generation 5 -- find itself back in the realm of relevance, even if it is somewhere in the depths of the outskirts, merely in B-.
- Pyukumuku is a viable Unaware Pokemon on stall and it is ranked to reflect this.
Magearna from A+ to A (not initially on slate, but discussed)
Volcarona from A to A-
Hoopa-Unbound from A- to B+
Zapdos from A- to B+
Rotom-Wash from B+ to B
Venusaur-Mega from B+ to B
Keldeo from B+ to B
Garchomp from B to B-
Garchomp-Mega from C to C-
Staraptor from C- to UR
Sharpedo-Mega from C- to UR
- Magearna has become much less common and threatening over the past few months. The SG CM Z-Fleur TBolt set still sees some use and AV is seen sporadically as well, but aside from that there is not much to be said. The versatile sweeping monster of the past has died down and AV does not fit onto as many teams due to the slower pace of the metagame, thus making a long-time S/A+ Pokemon in Magearna drop into the depths of A rank for the time being.
- Hoopa-Unbound trended up for a while, but now it is back on the low and there really is not too much of it to be seen. Perhaps the need to lock into a move combined with poor speed and fragile nature overall just makes it too much to consider using consistently.
- Zapdos has seen a slight fall from grace -- my post and Gmars's post a few pages back elaborate with more detail.
- Rotom-Wash never caught on in SM, but it is finding a way to become even less relevant over time despite hardly being relevant to begin with, which is impressive.
- Venusaur-Mega is always going to be solid overall, but there is not a ton of reason to use it and it does not fit onto a ton of teams, so a slight drop fits.
- Keldeo sucks and it is reaching Blacephalon levels of bad.
- Garchomp is just never really used anymore as the RH set never caught on this generation and sporadic Z sets simply are not enough to merit maintaining or rising it when it is as mediocre overall as it happens to be.
- Garchomp-Mega never was particularly relevant competitively, but here it is especially falling off as it is slower and not many teams want to bother supporting it and building around it, which is essentially what it takes.
- Sharpedo-Mega is literally not even a used Pokemon.
Discussion points:
- Clefable from A+ to S
- Latios-Mega from A to A+
- Alakazam-Mega from A- to A
- Gastrodon from B+ to B
Last edited by a moderator: