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

[LoDart210]

Umm Frail huh

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252 Def Krookodile: 201-237 (51 - 60.1%) -- 88.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 248 HP / 244 Def Landorus-T: 187-222 (49 - 58.2%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

It's bulk is similar to Landorus-T. I have no clue how you can call it frail.

I think it's because I was thinking of one the other common sets with 252/252 in HP and speed, to take advantage of its fast taunt and knock off to dismantle defensive opponents.

krookadile can't stand out otherwise, as if its in a defensive ground type, then it comes in far behind hippowdon, gliscor, and landorus with nothing to separate it except that speedy support set... Which gets wrecked.

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Krookodile: 264-312 (67 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

That's a lot to take and for what...knock off?

 

[Molk]

I'd like to nominate Malamar for C+ or maybe B- rank. Although it's base stats aren't too good, Contrary Superpower works really well, and it has dual STABS in Night Slash and Psycho Cut. Topsy Turvy also works really well, providing that Malamar can survive the first hit it can cripple an opponent's sweeper, forcing a switch. I've used this tactic before to destroy Baton Pass teams, which is psychological murder when your opponent realises that all the setting up they did is now worse than useless.

Trick Room is also an option for it, as is running an Assault Vest with Rock Slide for Bug types.

So, despite having a 4x weakness to U-Turn and low speed, I still think it should have a place in OU, for the reasons outlined above.

To be honest i strongly disagree with Malamar getting a spot on the list again, especially when its significantly higher than it was back when it was actually on the list (the highest it ever went when it was actually on the list was D rank.... then it got completely removed). Contrary Superpower and Topsy Turvy are all well and good, but i really feel like Malamar's flaws are just too crippling to make an impact. None of its stats really stand out much, especially without a Superpower boost, with no base stat being over 100, it doesn't really hit exceptionally hard until it's boosted a lot, it's not fast enough to move first most of the time, and although it's not outright frail, its usually not bulky enough to take repeated hits. The latter is further compounded by Malamar's typing, which grants it no resistances at all outside of an immunity to Psychic-types, and gives it a weakness to Fairy-type moves from important things things like Clefable, Azumarill, and Mega Mawile, as well as an absolutely crippling 4x weakness to one of the most common moves in the game, U-turn. Considering Malamar really needs multiple Superpower boosts to get going, if even that, the complete lack of resistances, 4x weakness to one of the most common/safe to use moves in the game, and unexceptional bulk is a huge setback for the squid. As for Contrary letting Malamar benefit from things like Intimidate, Defog, and King's Shield, i'd much rather use Bisharp and its defiant ability to punish users of these moves and abilities, who's much more of an immediate threat and simply a better Pokemon overall with that powerful STAB Sucker Punch, Knock Off, and all.

I'm sorry, i just can't see it being worth using :/.

#squidhaters

 

[Mew]

Staraptor from B- to B+ : Staraptor just has too much power to be any lower than B-, I would even argue for it to be A-, but being in an awkward Speed tier of 100, which is just below average these days doesn't help it. It is predictable in that it can only run effective offensive sets, be it with a Choice Scarf, Choice Band or a SubRoost set, but it is's very powerful no matter what. While it does have solid counters in Aegislash and Skarmory, as well as an abundance of checks, 1 mispredict puts you at a Pokemon down. A scarf set can is especially effective for taking down threats like Thundurus, Lati's and Rotom-W, which in way support the rest of the team. This is also very effective in the 'Double-Flying combo' hype.

Dugtrio from C+ to B-/B : It has the ability to pick off certain key grounded threats in the metagame, which can clear the way for ther threats to do as they please. This ability alone should make it at least worthy of a spot in the B- ranking.

Jellicent from B- to C/C+ : Jellicent hasn't received a lot of positive boosts, not directly nor indirectly. In fact, all the changes have made certain pokemon it usually beats strong enough to now beat it. Of course, it's typing is still good enough for it to wall certain threats. This niche allows it to function in OU, but with a lot of support.

 

[Hootie]

I think it's because I was thinking of one the other common sets with 252/252 in HP and speed, to take advantage of its fast taunt and knock off to dismantle defensive opponents.

krookadile can't stand out otherwise, as if its in a defensive ground type, then it comes in far behind hippowdon, gliscor, and landorus with nothing to separate it except that speedy support set... Which gets wrecked.

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Krookodile: 264-312 (67 - 79.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

That's a lot to take and for what...knock off?

Dark does have it's merits of resisting Dark and Ghost (which are being spammed to hell and back in the current meta) making its typing have an advantage over other bulky ground types. It's not the greatest bulky ground type out there, but C+ is perfectly fitting for it and it gets the job done well. I've used with intimidate bulky Gyarados to great success so I would try it out before demoting it one or two ranks. Plus it's bad idea to run max speed and HP. It outruns the majority of defensive mons anyways which would be your mains targets for taunt.

 

[LoDart210]

Dark does have it's merits of resisting Dark and Ghost (which are being spammed to hell and back in the current meta) making its typing have an advantage over other bulky ground types. It's not the greatest bulky ground type out there, but C+ is perfectly fitting for it and it gets the job done well. I've used with intimidate bulky Gyarados to great success so I would try it out before demoting it one or two ranks. Plus it's bad idea to run max speed and HP. It outruns the majority of defensive mons anyways which would be your mains targets for taunt.

Sounds good. I'm speaking from how I've seen it performed against me so I haven't had a chance to try it. I think C+ does it good (only because gliscor still resides in the B territory and it outclasses krookadile.)

 

[TinyNinja]

This is purely for debate. A lot of people like debating either for biased or unbiased reasons, of course this doesn't rank their tier and stuff like that. It generally does show their prevalence and reliability in the current meta, but you can still use C ranked mons effectively it just needs specific optimization and if it wasn't good at all it wouldn't even be ranked.

Blowing things out of proportion is what we do, this is mostly to help people understand how to use things, and if there are better options out there, and for that, it does really well. Whether someone is B or B+ is pretty obsolete, but you can usually tell how easy a Pokemon is to use by its rank

I see this list as a good guide for people who are new to XY OU, or new to competitve battling in general. I'm always interested in helping people new to the game, because Smogon is what got me into competive pokemon years ago! Obviously, does it matter in battle if a Pokemon is B- or C+ in this list? No. But hopefully this list can give newer players a good guideline about what works great, and what's not-so-great.

Unfortunately what usually happens is said new users see their favorite Pokemon listed and promptly post "HOW COME XXX IS SO LOW IT A+ FO SURE!"

You all have good points, (and I am a new user) and the guide is well-intended, but as with most internet debates, people are going crazy about it and when you put it into perspective it's kinda funny.

 

[X5Dragon]

These ranks seems to be fine to me for the most part, but I have a few suggestions:

Galvantula -> B+

Based on his niche which he does good if not the best really (Sticky Web), he should be B+ for his support capabilities and somewhat less for being a decent/meh lead (Compound Thunder is nice). The fact that we have Bisharp running around and levitate/flying mons sort of damps his specialty, but that's really a ranking of sticky web technically speaking.

Jellicent -> C

This guy got bombed harder than Breloom did this gen. His Spinblocking niche was impacted by the changes defog brought to the game, Dark and Ghosts moves/users were buffed, superb Physical attackers with Fire typing have been introduced and then Mega evolutions.

Kingdra -> B-

We have new special walls (bloody fairies) and the weather nerf going around here, but Dragon/Water is still one of the best offensive combos in game and the weather nerf did open up a rather unexpected door, he can now run Swift Swim and go spec'd if he wants or forgo Rain Dance for another move, and with Focus energy mechanic changes even Sniper is viable. C is way too low for what he brings and threat level he imposes once he has gone through proper set up.

 

[Sergeant Spooky]

Chesnaught ----- I'll be honest, I'm not sure if this guy should rise or not. There have been some good pro- arguments here, but I've been really disappointed when I've used Chesnaught.

Well I've not. Everything I expect it to do: wall Aegislash, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Gyarados, etc. it can consistently and effortlessly do.

He does well defensively against Aegis, Exca and many other threats, but what can it do in return? Leech Seed and then get forced out? Set up Spikes, only to have them easily Defogged away? It's stuck with mediocre power, common weaknesses, and 4MSS that makes it useless against just as many Pokemon as it walls. I think it should remain B-.

Excadrill it can just stomp with Hammer Arm, but yeah everything it can't touch it can either stall out with Leech Seed or set up Spikes. However, Leech Seed is an incredibly good move for a wall and Chesnaught is a great user of it. Even if it gets forced out, if it ends up seeding the switch in that's great. With Leech Seed+Spiky Shield Chesnaught can take away 3/8 of something's health before switching, and whatever it switches to will get healed from leech seed. Mandibuzz, for example, can't switch in to Adamant Banded Talonflame while Rocks are up, but if it gets healed by Leech Seed it can.

"Its Spikes are easy to defog away" is not a great argument. Anything's hazards can be easily defogged away, this doesn't prevent things like Deo-D from being pure cancer really good. There's nothing stopping Defog outside of Taunt and Defiant users. Chesnaught can easily find the time to set up one or two layers of spikes multiple times per match, anyway, the cost of losing your spikes isn't that high so long as something it walls is still on the other team.

It doesn't have 4MSS imo. My personal definition of 4MSS is when something is absolutely unable to adequately fill an important, defined role with only four moves. Mega Banette is a great example of this. Chesnaught, I don't think it is. A set of Seed/(Shield, Spikes)/(Synthesis, Spikes)/(Hammer Arm, Spikes) can cover just about everything. Roar, Toxic, Grass STAB, Taunt and so on would be really nice to have but they don't prevent him from doing a job.

I'm just trying to gauge where it should go based on what else is in B- right now, even though I know stuff will change. Jellicent can't wall anything notable besides Keldeo, and Goodra is just bad and a poor choice over Latias. Even if both of those drop, there's still Mega Aggron and I just feel Chesnaught can do its role as a physical tank better than he can, without taking up a mega slot.

 

[Tyrant laharl]

I dont know where everyone's getting the idea napes not getting an analysis. It's well above the ou cutoff and it's very viable so why wouldn't it?

 

[Roadagain]

Galvantula -> B+

Based on his niche which he does good if not the best really (Sticky Web), he should be B+ for his support capabilities and somewhat less for being a decent/meh lead (Compound Thunder is nice). The fact that we have Bisharp running around and levitate/flying mons sort of damps his specialty, but that's really a ranking of sticky web technically speaking.

While I agree with the points made here (Except for this part about the bad sides of sticky web relating to the ranking of sticky web instead. In OU, Galvantula has one job, setting Sticky Web. If Sticky Web sucks, it definitely shows in the viability of Galvantula), I think B+ might be overselling it a bit.

Galvantula is very much a one-trick pony as it stands, and, unfortunately, somewhat mediocre in terms of stats and typing. However, it's pretty much the only viable choice outside of Smeargle to capitalize on Sticky Web. Since Sticky Web is debatably the worst of the hazards (Due to flying/levitating pokemon being rampant, due to priority, due to the somewhat slower, bulkier metagame where speed isn't massively useful), I would daresay that in most cases, Smeargle would be wanting to be doing other things than setting up Sticky web.

Galvantula also has means to not be complete Taunt-bait due to Volt Switch, and it actually has means to go against all Magic Bouncers, be they viable or not. There aren't all that many Pokemon that can prevent Galvantula from getting Sticky Web in at least once, often twice if needed.

In cases where Sticky Web wouldn't be needed, it can also come out as a semi-decent check for Talonflame (if it lacks Band, or has taken damage beforehand), M-Charizard Y, M-Pinsir, to throw a few examples of relatively threatening Pokemon I've had relative success against.

It's true that Sticky Web may not be the omni-present threat people originally hyped it for, but even in a bulkier, less speed-reliant metagame, certain teams love the ability to to restrict the moves the opponents can have.

As a last remark, I believe it's worth noting that Galvantula is closest to the guidelines associated with B-Rank. It is fairly reliable at getting it's number one task done, and there's no Pokemon that completely outclasses it at this niche.

As such, Galvantula for B-/B.

 

[Boltaway]

Umm Frail huh

-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Krookodile: 183-216 (46.5 - 54.9%) -- 10.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Dragonite Outrage vs. 248 HP / 244 Def Landorus-T: 187-222 (49 - 58.2%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

It's bulk is similar to Landorus-T. I have no clue how you can call it frail.

The problem there actually lies more in typing than actual stats. Ground/Dark is a great offensive typing, but it doesn't really do it any favors in terms of physical offense. It can resist Ghost type attacks, but most Ghost type attacks (i.e. Shadow Ball) are special. It can't handle fighting types or the ubiquitous U-turn like Lando, and it can't really handle Talonflames Brave Bird in clutch moments like Landorus-T can. And yeah, not much wants to switch into D-nites banded outrage, but a steel resist or fairy immunity is the better option in that situation anyway, unless you are death-foddering your Lando.

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

All right, I'm just going to go down the line. If what I say has already been discussed in a post I missed, my bad.

Galvantula -> C
Without SW, nobody would use it. It does have cool things, but not enough for use outside of SW. Now, Sticky Web itself is a very conditional support move. In some situations it's even a hindrance. Best case scenario is that you cripple a fast'n'frail team so much that none of them can outspeed and OHKO any of your mons, but any such team is expected to have reliable countermeasures. Worst case scenario you're up against stall or a flying heavy team that couldn't care less. I always laugh when my team with 4 pokes not effected by SW (and one that's already slower than pretty much any other OU mon) get this hazard because it simply wastes a turn

Staraptor -> B+
Great wall breaker, great core with Talonflame, great pokemon. B+ might be a little much, but B seems more than reasonable to me

Besides those, I think the rest should stay where they are. There's a bunch that I personally think are much more viable than their rank suggests, but that's just because I found the support they need to be easy to supply or their flaws overrated when I played them. Examples of these include Kingdra, Espeon, Crawdaunt, and Tangrowth, but I don't think they should change rankings. I'm pretty sure that any of the pokemon in this range should be very viable with the right support, it's just that it takes the right player and the right team to supply that, so I'm pinning pokes that I think should drop to me being the wrong person (I was very careful to have the right team), and I'll leave the rest to y'all

 

[Max Carvalho]

Man galvantula is as obvious lead. If you dont put him as a lead stealth rock stops it. Its only niche is sticky web and the ability to kill magic bouncers as roadagain said. Otherwise he is killed by fast/priority leads unless it has a focus sash which is the only set it can run with almost aways setting up sticky web. While it does have a very accurate thunder, it still lacks the power to do good damage on some targets. Drop galvantula to C+.

 

[AA-j]

Nominating Absol(Mega) for B/B+.It is the only magic bounce user that can pose an offensive threat to teams that often use hazards(stall may or may not be an exception depending on what set you run)and it has very strong priority.Another selling point for absol is that it sits in a great 115 speed tier,a major upgrade from its former 75,and with its priority and magic bounce,it has little to no trouble surviving the first turn.Its great speed tier outspeeds the following:Lati@s,Terrakion,Keldeo,the Zards,KyuB,Garchomp,Gengar,Espeon,Thundurus,Landorus,and Adamant Talonflame.It may be a little weak,but its fast and strong enough to eliminate offensive threats.

 

[Boltaway]

You forgot about the vital dark resist in which the majority are physical attacks. Plus those calcs were just put there to demonstrate the difference in their bulk. And what makes Landorus-T take brave birds any better than Krook?

Well, I will be honest in that I have yet to see anyone use physically defensive Krookodile in this meta (I saw specially defensive, which is worse, but I digess). The problem is that standard Landorus-T and standard Krookodile are only similar in typing and ability, and nothing else. Krookodile doesn't even run Intimidate all the time, as Moxie makes him a good late game sweeper. But either way, standard Landorus-T does take physical hits better than Krookodile. I think most people would agree that Landorus-T doesn't need a lot of speed, except in cases where you need to speed creep.

Actually, I looked this up, so I admit my ignorance. Impish/Adamant HP/Def spreads make up ~43% of Krookodiles (in the 1760 stats).
For Landorus-T, most people run Jolly 252HP/252Def, which is not my thing, but whatever.

What I said about Talonflame was under the assumption that most Krookodiles wouldn't be defensive. And about 30 to 40% of them still are offensive sets.

Furthermore, I don't think a dark resist is very good on a Pokemon with intimidate when the primary dark-type Pokemon in the tier gets a net +1 attack buff from it. Weakness to fairy is also unfortunate, although all the fairies in the tier (perhaps except Togekiss, who only checks) can take him on fairly easily. Also 180+ Bisharp outspeeds uninvested Krookodile (I'd rather run Adamant, but Jolly still exists) and 2HKO's it, so not a very sharp counter, more of a decent check. Also, depending on the HP investment of said Bisharp, Krookodile can fail on OHKOing Bisharp with Earthquake.

As for other matchups, like with Mandibuzz, I'm not really sure what Krookodile can do back to it -- so Mandibuzz can easily stall it out. It does make a good DD Tyranitar counter though, something I hadn't thought of before, although like most physical walls, it falls to Tyranitars with Ice Beam (12%, so probably not a huge deal).

== Calcs ==
+1 252 Atk Life Orb Bisharp Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Krookodile: 207-243 (52.5 - 61.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
0 Atk Krookodile Earthquake vs. 32 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 248-294 (88.8 - 105.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Krookodile Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 248-294 (91.5 - 108.4%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Krookodile Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 248-294 (74.2 - 88%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Krookodile Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mandibuzz: 114-136 (26.8 - 32%) -- 43.8% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery4
88+ SpA Tyranitar Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Krookodile: 200-236 (50.7 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

 

[Ash Borer]

Krook typically runs EQ - Knock Off - Stealth Rock - Taunt / Toxic. Mandibuzz doesnt much care for taunt, nor toxic. Krook has a pretty decent match up against mandi, they stalemate at worst, and if Krook forgoes stealth rock taunt / toxic beats mandi one on one at best.

I believe the main niche for Krook's dark typing was that it has a STAB EQ to show AEgislash who is boss, while resisting its shadow ball. Krook is basically just lando-t with a bit different typing, Taunt, a weaker EQ, a stronger Knock Off, and no u-turn. Considering how successful Lando-T is, and krook is a similar but not as good pokemon I feel as if it should keep its rank

 

[procrastinat]

Lucario should move up to B/B+, I do realize that SD Lucario is generally outclassed by other SD sweepers, but it can do things that the others only wish they could, making it excellent in a sweeping core.

Mega-Pinsir and Lucario can greatly support each other as sweepers. while Pinsir struggles to get past Skarmory, Talonflame, Rotom-W and some others, Lucario simply smashes them with either Close Combat, Which, at +2, does ~85% to Skarm, and Ko's any Rotom-W, or extremespeed which at +2 priority, goes before Tal's Brave Bird and also does ~90% To the flaming featherball at +2. Pinsir, at +2, can destroy lucario's counters, including slowbro, gliscor, landorus-therian (assuming it switches before you evolve and you have Hyper Cutter.), and gengar.

If you pair Lucario with Talonflame, Only Tal really benefits. However, lucario smashes the rock types that can threaten Tal's sweep, as well as having more power in it's Close Combat for breaking physical walls.

Lucario deserves more recognition than B-, as it is much more dangerous than than that ranking would lead anyone to believe.

 

[GroovyGator]

Supporting Staraptor for B+. This thing is just ridiculously, ridiculously powerful. Only thing stopping it from A- IMO is having two common counters in Skarmory and Aegislash (not that it hinders it that much, cause it has u-turn to get away from bad matchups, but the fact that it can't break Skarmory does count a few points against it). It is able, however, to outright OHKO a lot of the metagame. Its scarf set still hits hard and is very fast, while Band is just stupid (especially with Adamant nature, but you do miss out on outspeeding certain threats such as Kyurem-B and the rare max speed Jolly Excadrill). Not to mention it pairs very well with Talonflame, one of the most used OU mons, and is a very good option if you want to use Double Bird but can't use your mega slot on Pinsir. So I think it should be B+, but B would make sense too.

 

[New World Order]

I don't know why my posts a week back about Chesnaught got deleted but whatever. As someone that's been pumping it for a while in this thread now, Chesnaught IMO should be at least B, if not B+. From my experience, between Ferrothorn and Chesnaught, the former is better on paper, but the latter is better in practice simply because it's so reliable at what it does. He just makes so many top tier threats fall flat on their faces it's not even funny. Aegislash can't even touch it most of the time. Mega Ttar gets shut down hard. Excadrill gets dominated. Bisharp is basically useless against it. Others like Lando-T, Garchomp, Gyarados, and Conkeldurr do not like fighting this guy either. He can even take on Pokes like Azumarill and Keldeo if you predict properly. Unlike Ferro, Chesnaught has usable offence with 107 base attack, Hammer Arm, EdgeQuake, and Wood Hammer (which I find to be highly underrated on it btw). It can fend for itself with Synthesis, Leech Seed, and Spiky Shield, and it has some very useful support options like Spikes, Roar, and Taunt. Sure it has a bit of 4 moveslot syndrome going on, but whoever you tailor your set to beat, Chesnaught will do it's job.

Another Pokemon that's criminally underrated is Quagsire, I'd move him up to B-/C+ for sure, having it in the same tier as the likes of Rhyperior and Infernape is just insulting for our resident derpfish. There is currently only one Pokemon in the tier that can shut down boosting sweepers than Quagsire and that is Clefable, but the difference between them is that Quaggy's typing allows it to take on mons that it's fairy brethren cowers in fear of, see: Bisharp, Scizor. Having access to a more reliable recovery option (unless Clefable magically picks up Softboiled) doesn't hurt either. While a number of top tier threats have sets that let them get around Quagsire, such as Will-o-Wisp Zard X, if you see that SD or DD go up, Quagsire at least can give you a fighting chance. DD Zard X, Mega Ttar, Mega Scizor, Mega Gyarados, SD Aegislash, Thundurus, Lando-T, Dragonite, Excadrill, and Terrakion are some of the many top tier threats that this thing frustrates to no end.

alexwolf EDIT: Your posts were deleted because it wasn't the time to discuss about B- Pokemon.

 

[deepbluejeer]

(unless Clefable magically picks up Softboiled)

Just a nitpick, but Clefable does learn Soft-boiled from Gen III; it's just incompatible with Heal Bell and Aromatherapy so it has to run Moonlight/Wish to circumvent that. I find Clefable to be more reliable since it has a lot more offensive presence and doesn't get 2HKO'd by Kyu-B, but otherwise I agree with what you posted.

 

[TinyNinja]

Man galvantula is as obvious lead. If you dont put him as a lead stealth rock stops it. Its only niche is sticky web and the ability to kill magic bouncers as roadagain said. Otherwise he is killed by fast/priority leads unless it has a focus sash which is the only set it can run with almost aways setting up sticky web. While it does have a very accurate thunder, it still lacks the power to do good damage on some targets. Drop galvantula to C+.

hmmm... Galvantula can do a lot better than you give it credit, when I see pokes like bisharp I just start attacking and do more damage than you are giving credit to, it OHKO's stuff like greninja and hot wings due to focus sash, It destroys other hazard leads such as ferrothorn/forretress due to HP fire, I use this thing and find that it's crazy speed and special attack are good, give it more credit.

 

[Punchshroom]

hmmm... Galvantula can do a lot better than you give it credit, when I see pokes like bisharp I just start attacking and do more damage than you are giving credit to, it OHKO's stuff like greninja and hot wings due to focus sash, It destroys other hazard leads such as ferrothorn/forretress due to HP fire, I use this thing and find that it's crazy speed and special attack are good, give it more credit.

The problem with Galvantula is that not only does its bulk and typing prevent it from sticking around to lay Sticky Web while outlasting the hazard clearers, but its Special Attack does not do its decent offensive movepool justice. Remember Noivern, that Pokemon with a shitton of powerful attacks but is forgotten due to its lackluster offenses? Yeah, Galvantula can fight, but it cannot OHKO a lot of threats and has a hard time not getting OHKOed in return; Sticky Web is Galvantula's only reason for having any business in OU, and even then it was booted back down to UU simply because even with Sticky Web, Galvy wasn't really worth using.

 

[Salemance]

In an effort to change topics, id like to nominate Rotom-H to B rank.

At the moment he resides in B-, which I believe is a slight disservice. With the ability so absorb two different status, around eight useful resistances, an immunity from one of the most common coverage moves in game alongside great STABs, I believe he has the capabilities to be B.

He runs the majority of the same sets as Rotom-W, with two weaknesses instead of one. He himself can chafing a large number of threats and can have semi reliable recovery in PainSplit yet he does come with a few sad flaws, mainly he lacks a reliable Fire STAB to abuse as Overheat will almost ensure him switching out, yet Volt Switch mitigates that somewhat. He also suffers from two very common weaknesses in Rock and Water, with the former being a given on stuff with Earthquake in most cases.

Even through that though, I believe he should be moved up to B ranking at least.

 

[Young Gun]

Entei for B+ at the least. Now that Entei has been gifted with Sacred Fire, he's a pretty big threat in the metagame. The only mons that want to switch into a banded Sacred Fire are fire types, and Entei can beat them all with the appropriate move. Everything else risks getting burned. And pretty much any non-fire type that doesn't mind switching into a fire type move, hates the burn even more than most mons: Azumarill, Tyranitar, Lando-T etc., they all can't stand burns. Along with that, the burns also force a lot of switches which allows Entei to spread even more damage with Sacred Fire. With as physically-based a metagame that OU is right now, Entei provides great team support with spreading burn and wallbreaking with the CB set. It also has very good priority in Extreme speed to clean up late game if needed. Of course, Entei doesn't come without some downsides. It's forced to run an Adamant nature, which keeps it from hitting that base 100 speed mark. It also has a Sr weakness, but that isn't as big of a deal due to the defog buff. Entei at times relies a little bit too much on the burning capability of SF as well, which also has a low PP which can be bothersome at times.

So basically, Entei deserves B+ because of the great team support it provides, its wallbreaking capabilities, the fact that it forces a ton of switches and that nothing wants to switch into it and it can beat any fire type that attempts to counter it with the appropriate move.

 

[Æthereal Reaper]

Okay guys, let's talk Mega Absol. Absol has been by far my favorite Pokemon since Gen 3, and has remained since because he is just so cool. In this edition, I saw he got a shiny new Mega Evolution, thrusting him into the realm of OU Viability. Absol always had a fantastic attack stat, but his defenses and speed were far too low for him to really capitalize on this in competitive play. In my opinion, not only did the Mega evolution fix one of his largest crippling flaws, it makes him one of the better leads in the game. Thanks to his ability to learn moves like Snatch, Protect, Sucker Punch, Baton Pass, and even Fire Blast, he has a wide array of moves to deal with the most popular openers. This is before you even start to consider how amazing Bounce is on a leading anti-lead. The only problem you can ever run into with him is a good player, that sends out his sweeper first, and decides to skip setup, and just beat the crap out of you.