Other XY OU Viability Ranking Thread (B- and C+ Pokemon discussion)

[Swamp Link]

Umbreon mainly competes with 3-4 other pokemon for roles: Mandibuzz, Blissey/Chansey, and Sylveon. With regards to Mandibuzz, while Mandibuzz has a neutrality to fighting and bug, it also has a weakness to stealth rock. Umbreon has more overall bulk than Mandibuzz, and instead of Defog and Taunt, Umbreon has Wish and Heal Bell to offer to the team. With regards to pink blobs, Umbreon has Foul Play to be able to actually put offensive pressure on the opponent and deal with Aegislash. With regards to Sylveon, Umbreon has much better physical bulk that allows it to stay in a lot more threats without the same level of difficulty.
While it's not for every team, stall will prefer Blissey/Chansey or Sylveon for their better support or typing, and offense will prefer Mandibuzz for its Defog and Taunt and ability to deal with Bug and Fighting types more easily, Umbreon does excel on balanced teams. I disagree with people who say Umbreon is A-tier, it should not be the first choice for a team, but it does work remarkably well on the right kind of team.
If you look at the analysis for Umbreon, then hopefully you will see that it does have a strong niche and is quite useful.
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/umbreon.3496595/

 

[Swamp Link]

It should certainly not be above Sylveon, which not only lacks Umbreon's awful Fighting and Bug weaknesses, but resists those two types, so Sylveon doesn't get forced out by Mega Lucario or Genesect nearly as often as Umbreon does.

I see your point, but Mega Lucario and Genesect may not be the best examples considering both of them will smite Sylveon with Steel STAB.

 

[alphatron]

Steel losing its weakness to dark actually helped Umbreon out quite a bit. Genesect can't even switch in because it risks being ohko'd by foul play after stealth rocks. And scizor is 2hko'd (don't know about mega scizor). Umbreon still learns taunt, so you avoid letting Pokemon like forretress turn you into setup fodder. You can't just toxic him and forget about him, because he carries heal bell and you'll just be poisoning your own non poison/steel type Pokemon.

It's extremely easy to team up Umbreon with something that deals with fighting types as well. And he has enough hp to make wish matter most of the time. You can compare him to mandibuzz, but mandibuzz isn't a cleric. As a defensive Pokemon, Umbreon has some issues that prevent it from being optimal. And an immunity to psychic isn't all that asked for. I wouldn't call Umbreon an A tier OU Pokemon. But to say he can't be used in OU at all is pretty laughable.

 

[114]

I realize that. The QC team changed their mind since I posted that. Anyway, Umbreon is still nowhere near A- rank. It certainly can't wall significant portions of the metagame. It can't even wall most of the metagame. It should certainly not be above Sylveon, which not only lacks Umbreon's awful Fighting and Bug weaknesses, but resists those two types, so Sylveon doesn't get forced out by Mega Lucario or Genesect nearly as often as Umbreon does. Because it's worse than Sylveon, which is B rank, in just about every way, I think Umbreon deserves no higher than a C+ rank.

Ehhh what people take sylveon seriously? I thought it was a shitty poke. I gotta look into it more.

The beautiful thing about fighting and bug is that they are predominantly physical type moves. Umbreon's dark typing is actually pretty (very) good against special attackers. Umbreon was never meant to handle close combat's or boosted u turns (although I love to tank greninja's pitiful attempts to uturn), and that's why it's so good in cores. Pair it with a physically defensive pokemon. Umbreon walls a huge portion of all specially defensive attackers, and with wish support can pivot beautifully given enough player skill. One example I've done many times is wish support to talonflame when the opponent tries to set up volcarona against my umbreon. Another easy one is LO aegislash, which gets a free switch in and full health and switches into every bug/fighting pokemon. Srsly teams can be BUILT upon umbreon. I still hold by A- or at the very lowest B+, it should be comparable to mandibuzz and not significantly worse. I still think it's better but I'll concede they have distinctly different niches.

The main competition is blissey, which has natural cure instead of synchronize, healbell+wish support, and better special bulk on top of a similar typing that is weak to fighting. Umbreon has foul play instead, and has a nifty (though clunky) ability to switch into WoW from Rotom W and heal bell itself. Honestly the decision comes down to who fits in better with your defensive/offensive core. I personally think foul play is too good to pass.

 

[KingJumby]

Umbreon mainly competes with 3-4 other pokemon for roles: Mandibuzz, Blissey/Chansey, and Sylveon. With regards to Mandibuzz, while Mandibuzz has a neutrality to fighting and bug, it also has a weakness to stealth rock. Umbreon has more overall bulk than Mandibuzz, and instead of Defog and Taunt, Umbreon has Wish and Heal Bell to offer to the team. With regards to pink blobs, Umbreon has Foul Play to be able to actually put offensive pressure on the opponent and deal with Aegislash. With regards to Sylveon, Umbreon has much better physical bulk that allows it to stay in a lot more threats without the same level of difficulty.
While it's not for every team, stall will prefer Blissey/Chansey or Sylveon for their better support or typing, and offense will prefer Mandibuzz for its Defog and Taunt and ability to deal with Bug and Fighting types more easily, Umbreon does excel on balanced teams. I disagree with people who say Umbreon is A-tier, it should not be the first choice for a team, but it does work remarkably well on the right kind of team.
If you look at the analysis for Umbreon, then hopefully you will see that it does have a strong niche and is quite useful.
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/umbreon.3496595/

This exactly. I made a post like waaaaay back on i think something like page 13 arguing umbreon's point. While it may not beat out mandibuzz, the pink blobs, and sylveon in every situation, it does offer a pretty good niche in that it is a cleric that can check physical attackers, a niche that not many pokemon can do (most clerics are special walls and cant deal with physical mons) I argued for B tier on my previous post but i can very easily see it being C+ or so as its u-turn weakness can be quite annoying at times (although the momentum you can gain by predicting switches and using baton pass can be very helpful.) I think i mentioned on another post also that it synergizes with togekiss fairly well as togekiss 4x resists both of its weaknesses so... thats something that could be taken into account. Although actually now that i think about it, the two most common bug and fighting users, lucario and genesect, are part steel so togekiss doesn't have the greatest of times there but... eh. Aegislash also gets speciall mention as a teammate both having an immunity and a 4x resistance to both umbreon's weaknessess.

 

[kefkakrazy]

Ehhh what people take sylveon seriously? I thought it was a shitty poke. I gotta look into it more.

Fairy typing is pretty fantastic both offensively and defensively, and Sylveon has great special attack and defense. I have one on my cartridge that I use as a dual screener, with Moonblast to dissuade Taunters, but it also has access to Wish and Draining Kiss for recovery.

It's too slow to be a sweeper, but it's not that much less specially tanky than Goodra, if you don't account for Goodra's resistances (which you should, of course). On the other hand, it has recovery that Goodra doesn't, Moonblast hits harder than anything Goodra has to offer except Draco Meteor, and Moonblast can be safely spammed with zero downside.

 

[114]

Fairy typing is pretty fantastic both offensively and defensively, and Sylveon has great special attack and defense. I have one on my cartridge that I use as a dual screener, with Moonblast to dissuade Taunters, but it also has access to Wish and Draining Kiss for recovery.

It's too slow to be a sweeper, but it's not that much less specially tanky than Goodra, if you don't account for Goodra's resistances (which you should, of course). On the other hand, it has recovery that Goodra doesn't, Moonblast hits harder than anything Goodra has to offer except Draco Meteor, and Moonblast can be safely spammed with zero downside.

Can we use pixilate hyper voice yet? That's an interesting option. I still think umbreon is a higher tier'd poke but sylveon is definitely interesting. I just think foul play is an incredible move. 95BP!!

Anyways, can we discuss darmanitan? I think it deserves a QC mention. It 2HKOs Rotom-W and outspeeds so it beats the switch in. I often lead with it and it wrecks everything that even resists. It 2HKOs Hippo's who try and switch in.

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 216 Def Rotom-W: 148-175 (48.6 - 57.5%) -- 55.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 247-292 (58.8 - 69.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Not to mention it gets killer coverage in EQ, Rock slide, and U turn. Superpower too but I think it's inferior to EQ. This set bluffs like a beast and I mean it when there's no counter. The best that can switch in is slowbro, who totally takes a meatstick up its bum by u turn. Consider:

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 129-152 (32.7 - 38.5%) -- 5.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Darmanitan U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 156-185 (39.5 - 46.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

That racks up around 70%, plus game momentum. Still slowbro lives cause regen and darm takes recoil in LO and FB.

Honestly everyteam I've faced is unprepared for this monster. And people still think you're scarf/band so I've taken out dozens of heatrans who think I'm locked. Even if the lucky player protects, they realize they still have nothing safe to switch into.... everything dies.

 

[TheMohZone]

Can we use pixilate hyper voice yet? That's an interesting option. I still think umbreon is a higher tier'd poke but sylveon is definitely interesting. I just think foul play is an incredible move. 95BP!!

Anyways, can we discuss darmanitan? I think it deserves a QC mention. It 2HKOs Rotom-W and outspeeds so it beats the switch in. I often lead with it and it wrecks everything that even resists. It 2HKOs Hippo's who try and switch in.

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 216 Def Rotom-W: 148-175 (48.6 - 57.5%) -- 55.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 247-292 (58.8 - 69.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Not to mention it gets killer coverage in EQ, Rock slide, and U turn. Superpower too but I think it's inferior to EQ. This set bluffs like a beast and I mean it when there's no counter. The best that can switch in is slowbro, who totally takes a meatstick up its bum by u turn. Consider:

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 129-152 (32.7 - 38.5%) -- 5.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Life Orb Darmanitan U-turn vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 156-185 (39.5 - 46.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

That racks up around 70%, plus game momentum. Still slowbro lives cause regen and darm takes recoil in LO and FB.

Honestly everyteam I've faced is unprepared for this monster. And people still think you're scarf/band so I've taken out dozens of heatrans who think I'm locked. Even if the lucky player protects, they realize they still have nothing safe to switch into.... everything dies.

Yes Sylveon has access to Pixelate Hyper Voice. which is a better move for a special tank than Foul Play. Alot of Special Attackers run 0 attk IVS so Foul Play does nothing. Umbreon has literally nothing over Sylveon that I can see except that it resists ghosts. sure its a decent Mixed tank but its destroyed by most common Physical moves due to its typing. so its best bet is running a special cleric which it sucks at in comparison to Sylveon. if your running the Physical set, Mandibuzz does its walling functions better, resisting two of darks SE hits with its secondary typing and more reliable recovery than Moonlight and wish. it just boils down to Umbreon can do stuff but others can do it better.

Darmanitan is similar. its a good wallbreaker but better wall breakers exist such as Aegislash. and Aegislash has the bulk to back it up.

 

[vonK]

Yes Sylveon has access to Pixelate Hyper Voice. which is a better move for a special tank than Foul Play. Alot of Special Attackers run 0 attk IVS so Foul Play does nothing. Umbreon has literally nothing over Sylveon that I can see except that it resists ghosts. sure its a decent Mixed tank but its destroyed by most common Physical moves due to its typing. so its best bet is running a special cleric which it sucks at in comparison to Sylveon. if your running the Physical set, Mandibuzz does its walling functions better, resisting two of darks SE hits with its secondary typing and more reliable recovery than Moonlight and wish. it just boils down to Umbreon can do stuff but others can do it better.

Darmanitan is similar. its a good wallbreaker but better wall breakers exist such as Aegislash. and Aegislash has the bulk to back it up.

Synchronize, Moonlight, greater physical defense, Umbreon has several advantages over Sylveon, really the only thing Syveon does better is its typing, which admittedly counts for something, but its complete inability to stand against most physical attackers leaves a lot wanting.
Foul play at least gives umbreon kind of a niche, as far as special tanks go Blissey/Chansey pretty much outclass Sylveon in every way, at least Umbreon has something of a niche. Sylveon really isn't that good a pokemon, I don't understand the hype.

 

[RotomPoison]

Yes Sylveon has access to Pixelate Hyper Voice. which is a better move for a special tank than Foul Play. Alot of Special Attackers run 0 attk IVS so Foul Play does nothing. Umbreon has literally nothing over Sylveon that I can see except that it resists ghosts. sure its a decent Mixed tank but its destroyed by most common Physical moves due to its typing. so its best bet is running a special cleric which it sucks at in comparison to Sylveon. if your running the Physical set, Mandibuzz does its walling functions better, resisting two of darks SE hits with its secondary typing and more reliable recovery than Moonlight and wish. it just boils down to Umbreon can do stuff but others can do it better.

Darmanitan is similar. its a good wallbreaker but better wall breakers exist such as Aegislash. and Aegislash has the bulk to back it up.

0 Atk Umbreon Foul Play vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Blade: 410-486 (126.5 - 150%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Ok then.

 

[Josh Morales]

0 Atk Umbreon Foul Play vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Blade: 410-486 (126.5 - 150%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Ok then.

Aegislash would attack second because you run 0 Speed IVs on Aegislash and Quiet. There's no point in calcing against an Aegislash-Blade because that's unrealistic.

 

[Swamp Link]

Yes Sylveon has access to Pixelate Hyper Voice. which is a better move for a special tank than Foul Play. Alot of Special Attackers run 0 attk IVS so Foul Play does nothing. Umbreon has literally nothing over Sylveon that I can see except that it resists ghosts. sure its a decent Mixed tank but its destroyed by most common Physical moves due to its typing. so its best bet is running a special cleric which it sucks at in comparison to Sylveon. if your running the Physical set, Mandibuzz does its walling functions better, resisting two of darks SE hits with its secondary typing and more reliable recovery than Moonlight and wish. it just boils down to Umbreon can do stuff but others can do it better.

Umbreon takes non-STAB U-turns quite easily, and either one of them will be forced out by Genesect or Scizor. And even with 0 IV's, Foul Play will do very solid damage to many special attackers, even those that aren't weak to Foul Play and have reasonable bulk.
0- Atk Umbreon Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Charizard-Y: 118-139 (39.7 - 46.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0- Atk Umbreon Foul Play vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus: 139-165 (46.3 - 55%) -- 62.5% chance to 2HKO
A lot of special attackers (Gengar, Alakazam, Lati@s, Celebi, Starmie) are weak to Foul Play. And Foul Play threatens the Genesect or Scizor switch-in much more than Hyper Voice.

 

[114]

Yes Sylveon has access to Pixelate Hyper Voice. which is a better move for a special tank than Foul Play. Alot of Special Attackers run 0 attk IVS so Foul Play does nothing. Umbreon has literally nothing over Sylveon that I can see except that it resists ghosts. sure its a decent Mixed tank but its destroyed by most common Physical moves due to its typing. so its best bet is running a special cleric which it sucks at in comparison to Sylveon. if your running the Physical set, Mandibuzz does its walling functions better, resisting two of darks SE hits with its secondary typing and more reliable recovery than Moonlight and wish. it just boils down to Umbreon can do stuff but others can do it better.

Darmanitan is similar. its a good wallbreaker but better wall breakers exist such as Aegislash. and Aegislash has the bulk to back it up.

Yo aegislash is not as good at wallbreaking than darmanitan. Tons of shit counter aegislash, even LO variants. LO iron head or shadow ball won't dent prepared stall teams. Unless you run truly mixed (252atk/252spatk with iron head, sacred, shadow) and lose out on priority, aegi wil be a liability against a good player with a good core.

It doesn't have the right moveset, and is significantly slower. It beats frail pokemon, like more HO shifted teams. Not stall teams. On the other hand, darmanitan fucks stall teams. Big difference, very very very different pokemon. Darmanitan makes way for other pokemon to sweep.

 

[Josh Morales]

Yo aegislash is not as good at wallbreaking than darmanitan. Tons of shit counter aegislash,even LO variants.

lol

people who actually have a lot of experience and who are actually intelligible about competitive battling really need to talk more. I don't like how this thread has been going the last few pages or so.

 

[RotomPoison]

Aegislash would attack second because you run 0 Speed IVs on Aegislash and Quiet. There's no point in calcing against an Aegislash-Blade because that's unrealistic.

Just saying Foul Play obviously has a point. Also, it is very realistic, as many people will try using Sacred Sword expecting it to kill, then die to a Foul Play.

Yo aegislash is not as good at wallbreaking than darmanitan. Tons of shit counter aegislash,even LO variants. You think LO iron head or shadow ball will destroy stall teams? Nah...

It doesn't have the right moveset, and is significantly slower. It beats frail pokemon, like more HO shifted teams. On the other hand, darmanitan fucks stall teams. Big difference, very very very different pokemon. Darmanitan makes way for other pokemon to sweep.

Lol who uses Aegislash to "destroy stall" when Aegislash is a wallbreaker, and not the best sweeper out there.

Darmranitan has power, but no way to boost. Darmanitan has Speed, but not enough. Darmanitan has bulk, oh wait, no it doesn't. (not enough to justify a possible defensive set, since it has no recovery, bad defensive typing, SR weakness, and nothing like Kings Shield which Aegislash has. They are different Pokemon with differennt uses, don't compare them like that.)

 

[rachet67]

Maybe we should shift the conversation to pokes that were OU last gen, but haven't been ranked yet, such as Jirachi or Celebi. It's really derailing the thread talking about pokes that are not usually useful or common (I definitely think that Darmranitan deserves a rank, but its not really as significant of a force compared to other unranked pokemon). Really no reason to argue if Umbreon is C- or not viable at all, as it has such a marginal use and presence anyway.

 

[114]

Just saying Foul Play obviously has a point. Also, it is very realistic, as many people will try using Sacred Sword expecting it to kill, then die to a Foul Play.



Lol who uses Aegislash to "destroy stall" when Aegislash is a wallbreaker, and not the best sweeper out there.

Darmranitan has power, but no way to boost. Darmanitan has Speed, but not enough. Darmanitan has bulk, oh wait, no it doesn't. (not enough to justify a possible defensive set, since it has no recovery, bad defensive typing, SR weakness, and nothing like Kings Shield which Aegislash has. They are different Pokemon with differennt uses, don't compare them like that.)

Is there a difference between wallbreaking and stallbreaking? What I meant to say is that any team with a good defensive core will be pretty prepared for LO aegi. Not darmanitan.

Darmanitan is hard to play but I'm saying with mild team support and a good player, it is very good. It is no doubt worse than aegi tier wise (never my intention to argue that). I just think it deserves an analysis.

Maybe we should shift the conversation to pokes that were OU last gen, but haven't been ranked yet, such as Jirachi or Celebi. It's really derailing the thread talking about pokes that are not usually useful or common (I definitely think that Darmranitan deserves a rank, but its not really as significant of a force compared to other unranked pokemon). Really no reason to argue if Umbreon is C- or not viable at all, as it has such a marginal use and presence anyway.

True. Celebi and jirachi haven't been making a splash lately. I think they'll rise in usage gradually since they are really good pokes but right now they're quiet. Haven't used them much. What niche do they have this gen?

 

[ThePinkReaper]

Putting these back up for nomination

I would like to discuss what rank Mega Ampharos would be. I think
Mega Ampharos is a B.
"B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. Support Pokemon in this category have flaws that prevent them from doing their job or are setup bait for dangerous sweepers. Pokemon who are partially outperformed by a Pokemon in A or S Rank, but are otherwise very dangerous, may also fall into this category."

Mega Ampharos sports great bulk, a good typing, immune to paralysis, doesn't mind burns, a titanic special attack stat and can effectively perform many offensive niches; although it is not particularly amazing at any one of its viable offensive niches, it does perform well at all of its options. It can be a bulky offensive pivot with 3 attacks+Heal Bell or Volt Switch, a RestTalk bully attacker, or a bulky late game sweeper with 3 attacks+Agility. All of its alternative sets are partially out classed by pokemon of the A or S rank but the fact that it can run so many different sets makes it very versatile and unpredictable and the 3 attacks+Heal Bell set is very unique and useful.




I also had a discussion on Mega Houndoom like 7ish pages back we and settled for a B- rank. I just want to see if you guys agree and have objections or additional comments.

I want to second this and add to it. Sub+3 Attacks Mega Ampharos should definitely be considered as well. I used Bulky Pivot for a long time and it worked extremely well but I feel Sub worked in it's favor even more. Most of Ampharos' solid counters counter it by just being faster than it and being able to hit it really hard. But most of those pokemon cant take a hit from 165 SpAtk STAB Tbolt/Dragon Pulse. The ability to scare out stuff like Rotom-W/Talonflame and set up a free sub is incredible. The ability to OHKO Dragonite through Multiscale is also kind of great. Mega Amphy is very viable in OU, it outright beats some of the most common pokemon in OU(It's slower than Aegislash and doesnt get OHKO'd by any of it's moves lol)

More so to the point though, mega amphy has a lot of different viable niches which makes it dangerous. What counters one set doesnt necessarily counter others, and adding more viable sets just makes it more threatening. It should definitely be considered OU material.

 

[rachet67]

True. Celebi and jirachi haven't been making a splash lately. I think they'll rise in usage gradually since they are really good pokes but right now they're quiet. Haven't used them much. What niche do they have this gen?

Earlier, on page 6, I argued that Celebi should be B/B- rank. Don't want to repost same argument as I'm not sure that's allowed.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-ou-viability-ranking-thread.3495992/page-6

Not really sure about Jirachi, as I haven't actually used it this gen, and haven't seen it either. Its parhax set hasn't changed much, though it got hit hard by now being weak to ghost and dark. For this same reason I would think that its calm mind set is no longer as viable.

 

[RufflesPro]

Nominating Darmanitan for B-

Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. Support Pokemon in this category have flaws that prevent them from doing their job or are setup bait for dangerous sweepers. Pokemon who are partially outperformed by a Pokemon in A or S Rank, but are otherwise very dangerous, may also fall into this category.

First lets begin with the typing of Darmanitan; Fire, Fire isn't the best type last gen, thnx to Stealth Rock Weakness and Rain being way too dominant; however, this gen, Fire got a few notable buffs: A) Having a better Sun Summoner (Mega Charizard Y), B) A viable new resistance; Fairy, and C) Rain being waaaay less dominant. Also another Niche is that Steel- Type are more common this gen, thus being the need of Fire type more. Also we can look at Darminatan's moves' catogery: Physical, Special base pokes we generally better last gen, but this gen? They are equal if not inferior to Physical attacks, as new special walls have been introduced (Sylveon, Goodra, Draglage, & Florges) while most of the common special moves have also been nerfed.

Now, let's look at his Ability: Sheer Force, A very good ability to Darminatan, combined with Life Orb and his amazing movepool, almost nothing stands in Darminatan's way, not even physical walls. Rock Slide, Flare Blitz & Fire Punch are 3 viable moves on Darminatan that benefit GREATLY from Sheer Force. Furthermore, Darmanitan has base 140 Attack, combined with above average 95 Speed, but it doesn't stop there, his respectable bulk 105/55/55 not only allow him to survive better hits, but also that HP lets him handle that Recoil quite nicely (Unless you Flare Blitzed a Blissey or something).

His downsides are that he is outclassed by Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Heatran, but those are the only 3 pokemons that outclass him as fire typing, and the former two only as fire type sweepers. He is also outspeed quite a lot, and while that is hugely solved by equipping a Choice Scarf, that makes him lack the power of Life Orb + Sheer Force. But he is still a powerhouse and a wallbreaker, the only reason this guy is not A is because it is slightly overpowered by Mega Charizard Y.

Now here are some calcs:

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Umbreon: 352-417 (89.3 - 105.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory: 439-523 (131.4 - 156.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth: 476-562 (117.8 - 139.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Aegislash-Shield: 416-491 (128.3 - 151.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 169-199 (52.1 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (OHKO after Stealth Rock)
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Thick Fat Mega Venusaur: 322-382 (88.4 - 104.9%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO (Guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock)

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Donphan: 329-387 (85.6 - 100.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO (Guaranteed OHKO after 2 layers of Spikes)
252+ Atk Life Orb Darmanitan U-turn vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latias: 252-299 (83.4 - 99%) -- 75% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 508-601 (72.1 - 85.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Deoxys-D: 253-300 (83.2 - 98.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

^ that is amazing, but for Deoxys-D & chansey: w/ 2 layers of Spikes + Stealth Rock it's a OHKO

252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 508-601 (72.1 - 85.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and 2 layers of Spikes
252+ Atk Life Orb Sheer Force Darmanitan Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Deoxys-D: 253-300 (83.2 - 98.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock and 2 layers of Spikes

And here you go, he just 1-2HKO the biggest walls of OU

 

[Swamp Link]

above average 95 Speed, but it doesn't stop there, his respectable bulk 105/55/55 not only allow him to survive better hits

lol what no
He is a nuke that's a bit slow for this offensive metagame, and he's frail as hell. Darmanitan isn't getting an analysis, if you think it's viable in OU, then don't argue that here first, do that over at C&C, if they approve it, then come here.

 

[Josh Morales]

his respectable bulk105/55/55 not only allow him to

This is not respectable bulk. It's actually a bit worse than Infernape's bulk, which sits at ~70/70/70. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but

Rock Slide, Flare Blitz & Fire Punch are 3 viable

Flare Blitz is unaffected by Sheer Force and there's no reason to use Fire Punch

combined with above average 95Speed, but it doesn't stop there

95 is not what I would call above average in such an offensive metagame. Darnanitan is just far too slow to consistently do his job as a nuke. I give Darmanitan a C for being completely eclipsed by pokemon of higher ranks and have very cripplimg flaws such as fraility and insufficient speed.

 

[TooMuchSugar]

Darmanitan was perfectly viable last gen, so I can definitely see it having enough of a niche to merit a spot in C somewhere eventually. However, I think that we should focus on more important stuff that hasn't been ranked yet, as ratchet67 has been saying. I could definitely see Celebi going to B or higher just because it completely shuts down Rotom-W. I haven't used or seen Jirachi yet, but I can't imagine that it's not good.

 

[6feetunder]

Flare Blitz is unaffected by Sheer Force and there's no reason to use Fire Punch

Flare Blitz IS affected by sheer force. It has a 10% chance to burn.

 

[SmashBrosBrawl]

Flare Blitz is unaffected by Sheer Force and there's no reason to use Fire Punch

Thats wrong, flare blitz has a 10% burn chance and therefore its affected by sheer force power boost.