Resource National Dex Viability Rankings v2


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Viability Rankings

Welcome to the second edition of the National Dex Viability Rankings! In this thread, we as a community, overlooked by a unique council, will attempt to rank every viable Pokemon in various ranks. Please be encouraged to post your thoughts on the viability of Pokemon in this thread!

Ranks

Pokemon will be ranked in descending order; there is no divide in viability inbetween ranks. There is no differentiation in offensive and defensive Pokemon. Toxapex may be A+ for its defensive utility, while Hydreigon may be A+ for its capabilities as a wallbreaker.

VR Council

The VR Council is made up of respected and active users in National Dex. They will have the final say on where Pokemon get ranked. Here is the current VR Council:

S Rank

S

:heatran: Heatran
:landorus-therian: Landorus T
:weavile: Weavile

S-
:lopunny-mega: Lopunny-Mega

A Rank

A+

:clefable: Clefable
:ferrothorn: Ferrothorn
:gliscor: Gliscor
:kartana: Kartana
:toxapex: Toxapex
:latias-mega: Latias-Mega

A
:tapu-fini: Tapu Fini
:magnezone: Magnezone
:mawile-mega: Mawile-Mega
:garchomp: Garchomp
:kyurem: Kyurem
:scizor-mega: Scizor-Mega
:serperior: Serperior
:tapu-koko: Tapu Koko
:tapu-lele: Tapu Lele
:greninja: Greninja
:medicham-mega: Medicham-Mega
:rotom-wash: Rotom-W
:zapdos: Zapdos

A-
:diancie-mega: Diancie-Mega
:greninja-ash: Greninja-Ash
:melmetal: Melmetal
:slowbro: Slowbro
:victini: Victini
:volcarona: Volcarona

B Rank

B+

:tyranitar-mega: Tyranitar-Mega
:corviknight: Corviknight
:gastrodon: Gastrodon
:hawlucha: Hawlucha
:kommo-o: Kommo-o
:latios-mega: Latios-Mega
:manaphy: Manaphy
:pelipper: Pelipper
:reuniclus: Reuniclus
:skarmory: Skarmory
:swampert-mega: Swampert-Mega
:tangrowth: Tangrowth
:tyranitar: Tyranitar
:mew: Mew
:urshifu-rapid-strike: Urshifu-RS
:buzzwole: Buzzwole
:charizard-mega-y: Charizard-Mega-Y

B
:blissey: Blissey
:garchomp-mega: Garchomp-Mega
:chansey: Chansey
:hydreigon: Hydreigon
:ditto: Ditto
:gyarados-mega: Gyarados-Mega
:jirachi: Jirachi
:sableye-mega: Sableye-Mega
:slowking-galar: Slowking-Galar
:deoxys-defense: Deoxys-D
:charizard-mega-x: Charizard-Mega-X
:moltres: Moltres
:moltres-galar: Moltres-Galar

B-
:rillaboom: Rillaboom
:tapu-bulu: Tapu Bulu
:bisharp: Bisharp
:excadrill: Excadrill
:gyarados: Gyarados
:heracross-mega: Heracross-Mega
:zapdos-galar: Zapdos-Galar
:hippowdon: Hippowdon

C Rank

C

:aerodactyl-mega: Aerodactyl-Mega
:Altaria-mega: Altaria-Mega
:amoonguss:Amoonguss
:zeraora:Zeraora
:alomomola: Alomomola
:ninetales-alola: Ninetales-Alola
:arctozolt: Arctozolt
:blacephalon: Blacephalon
:blaziken: Blaziken
:gallade-mega: Gallade-Mega
:gengar: Gengar
:grimmsnarl: Grimmsnarl
:hoopa-unbound: Hoopa-U
:keldeo: Keldeo
:nihilego: Nihilego
:seismitoad: Seismitoad
:shedinja: Shedinja
:shuckle: Shuckle
:slowking: Slowking
:thundurus-therian: Thundurus-T
:torkoal: Torkoal
:venusaur: Venusaur
:Volcanion: Volcanion

Guidelines

There are some guidelines to keep in mind before posting here. We want to foster intelligent discussion, not unfounded arguments. Please keep these things in mind:
  • Posts like "I think X Pokemon should be in Y Rank" will be deleted; make sure to back your opinion with facts and an actual analysis of the metagame.
  • Adding onto the above, I would simply like to point out that, while usage stats may be used to support your argument, they should not be the basis of your argument. Saying something along the lines of "X Pokemon is not used often, so it should drop" or "X Pokemon is used very often, but it isn't ranked very high, it should rise" are not valid arguments.
  • You shouldn't merely state the obvious things either. We know that Galarian Darmanitan has access to a very strong STAB Icicle Crash combined with good coverage options. We are far more interested in knowing what meta trends may favor Galarian Darmanitan.
  • Replays are mandatory to support a nomination if a Pokemon is Unranked.
  • This is not the place for personal attacks. Not everyone agrees on the viability of Pokemon, and that is no reason to attack them. Any posts that do attack users will be swiftly deleted and met with an infraction.
  • This is not the thread to talk about suspect tests. One liners also have no place here. Both will be deleted and may be met with an infraction on repeated offense.
 
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What's up everyone, we have decided to revamp the entire National Dex VR. Although the timing may seem odd considering changes that may happen within the tier soon, the previous iteration of the thread was rather outdated and we simply don't want that. Here is the entire slate:

Code:
Rises:
Tornadus-T → S
Mega Lopunny → S-
Urshifu → S-
Clefable → A+
Gliscor → A+
Kyurem → A+
Mega Scizor → A+
Alomomola → A
Chansey → A
Magearna → A
Zapdos → A
Mega Mawile → A-
Mega Slowbro → A-
Ditto → B+
Gastrodon → B+
Mega Medicham → B+
Rillaboom → B+
Mega Sableye → B+
Alakazam → B
Mega Altaria → B
Dracovish → B
Hoopa-U → B
Mandibuzz → B
Skarmory → B-
Quagsire → C

Drops:

Galarian Darmanitan → S-
Toxapex → A+
Ferrothorn → A
Heatran → A
Tangrowth → A
Tapu Fini → A
Aegislash → A-
Magnezone → A-
Rotom-H → A-
Slowbro → A-
Mega Tyranitar → A-
Mega Latios → B+
Mega Charizard X → B
Serperior → B
Tapu Lele → B
Tyranitar → B
Mega Venusaur → B
Gyarados → C
Hawlucha → C
Seismitoad → C
Mega Aggron → UR
Mega Diancie → UR
Ribombee → UR
Tapu Koko → UR
Volcanion → UR
Here are reasonings for some of the more notable changes:


Urshifu ranked at S-

Urshifu's presence certainly hasn't gone unnoticed since it got released. Urshifu is one of the most potent wallbreakers right now, with only very few defensive checks. The impact it has on teambuilding is huge; almost every bulkier team is forced into running Clefable, which isn't a great check either considering it only takes one right Poison Jab to overwhelm it. Its access to U-turn also makes it much harder to keep Urshifu in check, as it can oftentimes force switches and simply pivot out against the vast majority of checks, which can be really useful in positioning Pokemon such as Mega Metagross. However, Urshifu still has a host of offensive checks and can struggle a little to switch into play, but its sheer dominance in the builder and potential as a wallbreaker easily land it a spot in S-.

:clefable:
Clefable rise to A+

Due to Urshifu's introduction in the metagame, many teams have been forced to find defensive answers to it. Clefable is one of a very small selection of Pokemon which can fulfill this role and provides an excellent amount of utility and versatility to boot. Many bulkier teams currently love Clefable's ability to compress an Urshifu and Mega Lopunny answer with important utility such as Stealth Rock, Paralysis with Thunder Wave, or its ability to act as a cleric with Wish and Heal Bell support. These sorts of teams can also make great use of Calm Mind Clefable's ability to act as a late game win condition whilst maintaining its defensive roles. The rise of Stall following the DLC meta's introduction also has bolstered Clefable, as Unaware sets, specifically those using Calm Mind, provide such teams with answers to various stall-breakers such as Reuniclus and Gliscor. It is also extremely useful for dealing with other potent threats in the current metagame, such as Nasty Plot Hydreigon and Dragon Dance Dragapult

:gliscor:
Gliscor rise to A+

Gliscor is one of the most potent winconditions in National Dex. It's really good at punishing the passive balance teams that are running around right now. Gliscor fits onto those kinds of teams very well too, as it is capable of checking Heatran as well as taking advantage of Toxapex. Considering how well Gliscor fits into the current metagame, we believe that a rise to A+ is deserved.

:scizor-mega:
Mega Scizor rise to A+

Mega Scizor has enjoyed a pretty steady rise in usage since the start of the Ladder Tournament. It is an excellent option in the current metagame, capable of handling many threatening, prominent Pokemon like Mega Metagross, Kyurem, and Mega Mawile. The increasing value of this utility will be met with a rise to A+.

:toxapex:
Toxapex drop to A+

Although it rose to S- in only the previous VR update, Toxapex is now being dropped back down to A+. It is obviously still an excellent Pokemon, but between the rise of Taunt Tornadus-T and other Pokemon such as Gliscor and Kyurem, Toxapex is easier to exploit than before.

:zapdos:
Zapdos rise to A

Zapdos has become a staple of bulkier teams in the post DLC metagame due to its ability to check many top tier threats such as Kartana, Mega Scizor, and most importantly, Tornadus-T, which has become one of the most splashable and threatening Pokemon in the tier due its incredible utility and lack of reliable Flying resists with recovery. Zapdos happens to have all of these things, as well as a fantastic ability in Pressure, which allows it to fit very nicely into the more stall-orientated metagame as Pressure allows teams to PP stall moves such as Defog and Stealth Rock much more quickly. All of these factors combined mean that Zapdos has become a fairly prominent option in National Dex, especially on stall, hence this rise.

:mawile-mega:
Mega Mawile rise to A-

With stall's rise to prominence in the post DLC metagame, it is only natural that strong stallbreakers also rise to match it. Mawile is notoriously one of the best stallbreakers available and greatly appreciates current metagame trends, such as Clefable's rise and overall increased passivity of teams allowing it to get in freely much more often to break open holes in defensive cores.

:slowbro:
Slowbro drop to A-

Slowbro has really fallen off in the post DLC metagame due to it being easily abused by two of the most prominent breakers in the metagame - Ash Greninja and Urshifu. On top of this its role as one of the best checks available to Galarian Darmanitan has been superseded on a lot of teams by Alomomola, which provides more utility to the bulkier teams in the form of Wish, as well as a better check to Mega Metagross. The bulkier teams in the metagame often do not benefit too much from Slowbro's Teleport support and so it struggles to find a place on such teams, however, it does still have a place on teams which appreciate its ability to maintain momentum, something which its competitors in the bulky Water-type role cannot provide.

:rillaboom:
Rillaboom ranked at B+

Since the release of Grassy Surge on Rillaboom, it has been making great waves in National Dex. Unlike other Grass-types, Rillaboom is not really bothered by Tornadus-T; Tornadus-T is not bulky enough to take a boosted Grassy Slide after Stealth Rock. Combine that with the fact that Rillaboom can use many prominent Pokemon such as Clefable, Alomomola, and Hippowdon, while overwhelming many of the currently popular cores, and you can see why it earns itself a spot in B+.

:altaria-mega:
Mega Altaria ranked at B

Much like Clefable, Mega Altaria has found success in the wake of Urshifu's introduction into the metagame. This rather drastic rise stems from Mega Altaria's ability to check two of the most prominent Pokemon in the post DLC metagame - those being Urshifu and Ash Greninja. Mega Altaria is a niche but very viable option on bulkier builds, where it can offer utility options such as Defog and Heal Bell as well as its aforementioned defensive utility. Dragon Dance variants have also seen some experimentation as they can easily punish a choice locked Urshifu, however, due to the prominence of Mega Metagross and Mega Scizor it remains a niche pick.
 
I agree with the list except say 2 mons' rankings in this iteration of the VR, the two mons being Urshifu being ranked S-, and Kyurem being ranked A+.

Urshifu (Single Strike) - S
Starting with Single Strike Urshifu, or Blackbear. I feel that the mon needs no introduction, as it has taken the post DLC metagame by storm. Its most powerful and most popular set, being Banded Blackbear, to me simply provides an immense amount of breaking power. With a massive 130 base Attack stat accompanied by a very powerful signature move in Wicked Blow, a stab Dark type move with 80BP that always crits packaged with an excellent secondary stab move in CC, Urshifu alone is capable of breaking through the majority of the meta's fat mons.
For example;
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Hippowdon on a critical hit: 190-225 (45.2 - 53.5%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tangrowth on a critical hit: 183-216 (45.2 - 53.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro on a critical hit: 398-470 (101.2 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
You might be thinking, why not just use a bulky fairy? Fairies resist both Dark and Fighting? Well, this bear gets an excellent coverage option in Poison Jab, which executes said Fairies with ease.
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 230-272 (58.3 - 69%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Poison Jab vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Altaria-Mega: 178-210 (50.2 - 59.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Poison Jab vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 172-204 (50.1 - 59.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
One good prediction and you've just lost to Urshifu.
And while 97 base speed is not the highest, it's no excuse to call the mon not broken. The point is, it's EXTREMELY hard to switch into, and hence deserves the S tier ranking.

Kyurem - S-
I'm well aware that this might be kind of wild, but I personally lean towards Kyurem deserving S-. With the DLC, Mega Lopunny received U-Turn. Now why is this relevant to Kyurem? Kyurem is currently an excellent partner to Mega Lopunny, and for some of the reasons I say Kyurem should be S-.

Mega Lopunny is commonly checked by physically defensive Waters, Flyings, and other physdef invested mons. With Mega Lopunny receiving U-Turn, it can now freely U-Turn out on the switch-in of its checks, and go to Kyurem. With a Choice Specs, Kyurem's Freeze-Dry tears through bulky Waters, Ice Beams stray birds, and does excellent neutral damage otherwise.
Some relevant calcs are;
252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Freeze-Dry vs. 248 HP / 8 SpD Slowbro: 408-482 (103.8 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Zapdos: 482-570 (125.8 - 148.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 SpA Choice Specs Kyurem Freeze-Dry vs. 252 HP / 156+ SpD Toxapex: 206-246 (67.7 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Black Sludge recovery
And Steel types aren't particularly safe either, with Earth Power hitting most of them, with few exceptions like Ferrothorn, which are dealt with by Mega Lopunny.

Overall, I'm somewhat on the fence with Kyurem, but I believe it's a very powerful mon nonetheless.

Edit: Adding onto why I believe Urshifu deserves S;
Urshifu has been very overbearing on teambuilding since release, and coupled with other major threats such as M-Meta, has over-centralised teams around them. The Balance archetype particularly struggles with Urshifu being a major player in the format, as trying to pack a counter for the big offensive threats in the meta is nigh-impossible, and quite often results in a team having to lose to a certain mon on match-up. This is directly reflected upon by how the metagame and its playstyles transformed very rapidly after the release of Urshifu, with the only realistically viable playstyles looking to be Hyper Offense, or Stall. The fact that a single mon can influence the metagame to this extent and warp teams around it should serve as enough reason for Urshifu to go to S.
 
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So with the rise of Urshifu, I'd like to discuss a partner that I feel like complements its banded set quite well in crushing the few checks it does have.

Hoopa-Unbound @ Choice Specs
Ability: Magician
EVs: 20 HP / 252 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt/Trick/Whatever you'd like

This set takes advantage of the fact all of Urshifu's checks are physically defensive. Many of the mons that can easily chip the bear down to priority range from passive damage like Rocky Helmet absolutely hate taking a Specs Psychic. Psychic is the move you'll be clicking most of the time, as since Hoopa has such great mixed attacking stats, there is a very real threat of it running the Choice Banded set. Surprising a physically defensive Toxapex/Tangrowth with an OHKO can absolutely ruin a teams defensive backbone. Unaware Clefable(a common switchin to Physical Hoopa) is also put on the backfoot, having an over 50% chance to get OHKOd outright after Stealth Rock. Dark Pulse OHKOs Slowbro(obviously Wicked Blow does too), and other psychics, shutting down trick room attempts from Cresselia. Focus Blast OHKOes Ferrothorn, who otherwise could take two Wicked Blows and chip Urshifu for a massive 66% HP just from Iron Barbs and Helmet. The last move is really up to you. Thunderbolt is a very nifty tech that OHKOs Alo even without rocks, and also clips Mandibuzz, OHKOing it after rocks if its lost its Boots to a Knock. This also stops Greninja from coming in for free after one of its teammates goes down.

The listed EVs maximize Hoopas massive Special Attack. A Modest nature is preferred because even with maximum speed investment, Hoopa is quite slow in today's metagame of Ash-Greninja and Dragapult. The speed allows you to outspeed both SD Gliscor and Defog Tapu Fini, blasting them with a Psychic. Due to Hoopa's naturally high special bulk and lack of a 4x Fairy Weakness, it can actually go toe to toe with mons like Clefable and Fini, a feat that the bear would never dream of. Urshifu complements this by having great natural physical bulk, allowing it to actually survive the various U-Turns in the metagame. This core takes advantage of the fact that in the current metagame, there are far too many threats for a team to prepare for. A team thats has strong walls that can chip Urshifu down will more than likely lose at least 2 mons to Hoopa.
 
:Alakazam:
B -> B+ (and I’m being extremely modest here. A if I was honest)
B ranking for Alakazam is WAY too low for this thing.
With many teams currently being Semi-Stall, as to combat Pokemon like Urshifu, Mega Matagross, Ash Greninja, and Darmanitan-Galar, Alakazam can take a huge advantage by praying on these teams after it got Nasty Plot.
Among everything in the metagame, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can 100% wall it. If there exists something that can wall 1 set, it won’t wall a slight variation in that same set.
Psyshock (or Expanding Force) for Chansey, SpD Unaware Clefable, and SpD Unaware Pyukumuku, Psychic for everything neutrally hit, Focus Blast/Dazzling Gleam/HP Fire for Dark types and Steel types, and Shadow Ball for bulky Psychic types.
The only consistent counter to this monster is Alolan-Muk, which can be chipped and isn’t very good to begin with, and revenge killing, something that isn’t so easy when it has 120 Speed.
There exists common Pokemon like Greninja, Mega Lopunny, and Dragapult who can outspeed Alakazam, but none of them have any safe ways of switching in.
There exists priority, including Sucker Punch.
But what if the Alakazam has a Tapu Lele teammate for general priority and Alakazam can always use Substitute, which not only screws over wrongly predicted Sucker Punches, but also can stop most of those revenge killers (baring Ash Greninja and Dragapult) if played well enough.
It’s frail, but with moves like Teleport and U-turn letting such frail Pokemon in for free, you will only every really care about Alakazam’s frailty against faster Pokemon and priority.
The only other thing is that Alakazam is prone to Pursuit trapping, which only Weavile, Muk-A, and Scarfers will ever get to use.
It’s Amazing against Stall.
It’s Amazing against Semi-Stall.
It cleaves through Balance.
It’s has ways around its weaknesses.
It only needs a little bit of support for something that has a massive reward.
It wins you games.
The only reason why I say it’s B+ is to be modest, something Alakazam isn’t (ironically), and even for A, Alakazam still has faults. Faults that only need a little band-aid, but faults none of the less.

:Urshifu: (Single-Strike)
S- -> A+ (Also pretty modest and I wish there was a rank between A and A+)
Honestly a bit overrated.
Everyone seems to be rating Urshifu based on its Wallbreaking capabilities, and sure it is one of the best Wallbreakers in National Dex OU, but there is more to being top tier than just breaking balance, and relying on Choice Band to become a no safe switch-in Pokemon.
My biggest problem with Urshifu is it’s sub-100 Speed.
Urshifu isn’t too far behind in the 100 Base mark, but tons on relevant Pokemon will be outspeeding this thing and revenge killing it. Even worse when you have adamant and use Band over Scarf.

The next biggest problem is it’s poor defensive typing and poor bulk (even on the physical side when uninvested).
Urshifu isn’t as frail as paper, but it can find a hard time switching in.
Every other S/S- rank Pokemon can 2HKO Urshifu minimum with standard coverage moves, which is fine since tons of Pokemon are also 2HKO’d by them as well. What’s a shame is that many walls can 2HKO Urshifu, burn it, both in many cases, Knock Off the 1 thing that makes Urshifu the No-Safe-Switchins(tm) threat it is.
I know just a few moments ago I said that you can just use Teleport and U-turn for Alakazam, but Urshifu is more on-demand for catching walls thanks to its poor speed, but also that Choice Band can lock it into a move that’s resisted by an oncoming wall. Not to even mention the stat drops from Close Combat.
Lastly, it‘s low PP in Close Combat and Wicked Blow don’t do it any favors against Semi-Stall.
Sure, being such a hard to switch-in Pokemon is a pretty good attribute, but it can only do this so many times. You have 16 PP between Close Combat and Wicked Blow, Urshifu’s main means of dealing damage. Against Balance teams, this is good as balance teams will typically have 1 core of 2-3 defensive Pokemon.
On Semi-Stall, nearly every Pokemon is defensive with the occasional Weavile, and those Defensive Pokemon can switch between each other for days, healing non-regenerators in between Urshifu being on the field and healing the regenerators between switching.
But to not have this be just trashing Boldest Bear, I will say Urshifu is what Pangoro and Terrakion wish they could be.
Unseen Fist is an amazing ability to bypass scouting attempts.
It can more Unga Bunga past cores than Terrakion and Darmanitan-G can thanks to Wicked Blow being neutral to walls like Toxapex and Hippowdon.
It’s hit neutrally by Meteor Mash, something Terrakion isn’t happy about either (and why Urshifu is so ahead of Terrakion too).
U-turn is better than Parting Shot for an offensive Pokemon like Urshifu.
And it plays a part in making Semi-stall a popular pick in the tier.
But still, very overrated and I think people will agree once the new toy syndrome wears off and puts it respectfully in the ‘A’s.

:Reuniclus:
A- -> B
Despite my trashing of Urshifu just now, you can’t deny it’s popularity and influence now.
And Honestly, Reuniclus gets wrecked a lot by top tiers, namely Urshifu and Ash-Greninja.
 
Hey all I'm here with the post bans VR update and as you can see, there are a whole load of changes. You can find a list of all of them here:
Code:
Rises:
Clefable A+ to S
Heatran A to S
Gliscor A+ to S-
Hydreigon A+ to S-
Ferrothorn A to A+
Magearna A to A+
Zapdos A to A+
Kartana A- to A+
Landorus-T A- to A+
Mawile-Mega A- to A+
Aegislash A- to A
Tyranitar-Mega A- to A
Latias-Mega B+ to A
Corviknight B+ to A-
Medicham-Mega B+ to A-
Tapu Lele B+ to A-
Charizard-Mega X B to B+
Serperior B to B+
Tyranitar B to B+
Venusaur-Mega B to B+
Weavile B to B+
Amoonguss B- to B
Jirachi B- to B
Gyarados C to B-
Blissey UR to B+
Pinsir-Mega UR to B-
Aggron-Mega UR to C
Marowak-Alola UR to C

Drops:
Lopunny-Mega S- to A+
Hippowdon A to A-
Tapu Fini A to A-
Alomomola A to B
Chansey A to B
Rotom-Heat A- to B+
Slowbro-Mega A- to B+
Manaphy A- to B
Pelipper A- to B
Swampert-Mega A- to B
Ditto B+ to B
Rillaboom B+ to B
Rotom-Wash B+ to B
Sableye-Mega B+ to B
Victini B+ to B
Hoopa-U B to C
Altaria-Mega B to UR
Gallade-Mega B- to C
Hawlucha C to UR
Quagsire C to UR
The link to where we voted can be found here, where you can see what each individual VR team member voted!

As you can see the amount of changes is extremely extensive so I wont be covering everything here, instead, I will just give a small few lines on some of the most important changes.

:heatran: to S
With Tornadus-T gone, Heatran has become an incredibly potent hazard setter as it now consistently beats pretty much all removal options in the metagame and is much less prone to being knock'd off and losing its consistent recovery in Leftovers. On top of this, Pokemon such as Clefable, Magearna, and Tapu Lele have become increasingly potent in a metagame without Mega Metagross and Heatran provides teams with a very reliable check to these Pokemon.

:clefable: to S
Metagross leaving the metagame has taken away the easiest and most consistent way to punish Clefable. It is an incredibly versatile Pokemon able to act as a win condition with Calm Mind sets and provide near unmatched utility options, such as Knock off, Thunder Wave, Wish, and Stealth Rock on other sets. It is also one of the sturdiest checks to prominent Pokemon such as Mega Lopunny and Mega Medicham.

:gliscor: to S-
In a metagame where Heatran is one of the most prominent Pokemon, it makes sense that its most reliable check also rises. Unlike other Heatran checks, such as Garchomp and Mega Tyranitar, Gliscor has reliable recovery and cannot be worn down by Toxic nor is it threatened by Lava Plume burns (provided its Toxic Orb has activated of course). On top of being the premier check to Heatran, Gliscor also offers teams a way to take advantage of Toxapex which is extremely valuable.

:zapdos: to A+
As mentioned earlier the metagame lost its most splashable hazard removal option and Zapdos has risen to take its place. While Zapdos actually loses to most Stealth Rock setters, its ability to Pressure stall the PP of Stealth Rock is invaluable to bulkier teams. On top of this, Zapdos provides teams with a check to very common Pokemon which have also seen a huge rise in usage since the bans, such as Kartana and Mega Scizor.

:blissey: to B+
Blissey has become an extremely prominent Pokemon in National Dex despite Stall teams falling off significantly. This is mainly due to the fact that Blissey actually finds its home on bulky offenses primarily. While it is one of the best defensive answers to Hydreigon available, it can also make use of Teleport to safely bring in faster threats such as Mega Medicham, Cinderace, and Dragapult to easily take advantage of it with no drawback. Being such as reliable enabler for strong wallbreakers while also being able to be absorb status, spread paralysis with Thunder Wave for slower wallbreakers (such as Mega Mawile), and being such a good pivot into so many threats in the metagame without being worn down by hazards adds up to Blissey rising very quickly through the ranks!
 
I guessss I'll post my thoughts

Clefable A+ to S. Wow totally unpredictable rise. Seriously this thing is just so good. Customizable, good wincon, and checks some threats like hydreigon, mega Lop and can force mega Latios out.

Heatran to S. 4x fairy resist, psychic resist, immune to fire, 4x steel and grass and bug resist. Not really hard to see how other Pokémon have made this so much stronger. Z Bloom Doom doesn't really have any checks in long term and it's a rocker that beats almost every defogger other than gliscor and niche picks like SpD mantine who crippled by toxic.

Gliscor to S-. Absolutely fantastic pokemon. Incredibly versatile. It's a fogger that can beat tran. However most notable is the swords dance set. So many things are good about this set. It's immune to status so it's sweep can't get stopped short. It uses common mons like Toxapex and Heatran as setup fodder (even if it doesn't appreciate being chunked by Magma Storm)

Hydreigon to S-. Lot of wallbreakers recently huh. What's not to like? Fantastic SpA and Nasty plot. Decent speed. Great bulk it has no excuse for having. On top of this scarf is good speed control. Hydrek easily comes in on various mons like reu, non Meteor dragapult, Alolan marowak and takes advantage of non toxic heatran.


Ferrothorn to A+. Not really hard to see why. Fantastic synergy with heatran(one if the best mons rn). And Spikes is a great asset due to most common defoggers like zapdos hate getting knocked off.

Magearna A to A+. Mage does what it always does ig except it has trick and stored power.
Zapdos A to A+. One of the few good fogger left. Great typing,great kart and scizor check and can carry various coverage like HP ice to stop gliscor in it's tracks.

Kartana A- to A+. "What if we made worse mega rayquaza that can't run Meteor but it becomes harder and harder to wall every time it claims a kill and can use a Z move"


Landorus-T A- to A+. The former role compression king is back. Whatever you need he has it. Scarf might have fallen off a bit but all it's other options are great.


Mawile-Mega A- to A+. This thing leaves no survivors. It's great typing and coverage make it harder to wall and when you give it SD it pretty much only has offensive counterplay and no defensive answers.

Aegislash A- to A. So he went to ubers. Now he's back and actually not horribly broken.
Great wallbreakers but the nerfs hit a little too close to home. But what can I say. Another SD wallbreaker.

Tyranitar-Mega A- to A. Sand overall is better so it makes sense the best sand setter rises. With rain less viable and water shuriken not existing it becomes more and more difficult to face.

Latias-Mega B+ to A. Great support mon and can run a solid Stored Mind set. It's also for some reason dumby bulky.

Corviknight B+ to A-. Eh I'm not so sure. Good typing and bulk sure but losing to the most common rockers sucks. I guess it does check some prominent breakers like Kartana, Lele but eh.


Medicham-Mega B+ to A-. As the meta favours more powerful wallbreakers, the huge power megas rise simultaneously.


Tapu Lele B+ to A-. Some of the best counterplay options have gone so makes sense.

Charizard-Mega X B to B+. Umm OK? Not. Much to say.
Serperior B to B+. Glare is great utility and can cripple gliscor if poison Orb hasn't activated. But being hard stopped by heatran is really bad.

Tyranitar B to B+. Same as mega t tar. Also I forgot to add but dark types are looking a lot better since they pursuit trap prominent psychic types like mega lati@s and Lele.
Venusaur-Mega B to B+. Not much to say.

Weavile B to B+. Pursuit trapper. Next.


Amoonguss B- to B. Great Scarf kartana answer and nothing really likes switching into spore.

Jirachi B- to B. Tremble before the flinch master.

Gyarados C to B-. Wallbreakers. Next.
Blissey UR to B+. Now finally an interesting topic. For so many generations chansey has outclassed it. Until. The boots. It's a fantastic pivot and teleport is great. I will wet myself if in the next dlc they give this a new pivot move compatible with wish.

Pinsir-Mega UR to B-. Strong breaker and mew is looking better and better.

Aggron-Mega UR to C. Decent kart check. But so very inferior to other options mostly.

Marowak-Alola UR to C. Slow strong breaker.

Lopunny-Mega S- to A+. OK this one baffles me. It definitely is still incredibly potent and paired with Kyurem it's just so damn strong.
Hippowdon A to A-. Makes sense. As tyranitar rises hippo is less valued as a sand setter due to it being unable to pursuit trap psychic types as effectively.
Tapu Fini A to A-. This just kinda fell off after the bans. It could decently check Darm and gren and torn and urshifu to an extent. But they aren't here anymore sooo
Alomomola A to B. Same as above.
Chansey A to B. Blissey's presence is annoying for it's defensive pivot role but stall in general took a hit since too many strong wallbreakers like kart and mawile running around.
Rotom-Heat A- to B+. Not sure about this one.
Slowbro-Mega A- to B+. Umm? OK?
Manaphy A- to B. Rain took a big hit since 2 of its biggest players got banned. Personally I think rain will be fine since I've been experimenting with thundurus I rain.
Pelipper A- to B. Rain
Swampert-Mega A- to B. Rain
Ditto B+ to B. What?? No! This thing is just the biggest F*** you to setup sweepers and boosted breakers. If anything it got even better with more wallbreakers.
Rillaboom B+ to B. Well rain took a hit and part of why it was so good was for good rain MU.
Rotom-Wash B+ to B. Same as heatom
Sableye-Mega B+ to B. Stall.
Victini B+ to B. Less need for speed control means it's less needed.
Hoopa-U B to C. No more stall teams so *shrugs*
Altaria-Mega B to UR. Urshifu got banned and this checked it so....
Gallade-Mega B- to C. I'm not sure why this dropped it was fine where it is. It's a strong breaker. Admittedly it has competition but I thought it's fine before.
Hawlucha C to UR. Tapu/rilla lucha isn't too good atm.
Quagsire C to UR. Why would you use this?
 
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Changes I would put
:kyurem: to S-
Seriously though why is it ranked so low sub sets make it so that you limit its counters to spdef clef(which is used primarily for this thing),mega scizor and bulkarona.It can force switches easily and it can get a free kill very easily and making it not get a free kill is extremely difficult.

:toxapex: to A
Don't get me wrong this thing is still very good but the problem with this is that the meta is adapting around it. Heatran and gliscor(once toxic activates) are on a lot of teams and they completely shut it down and set up either rocks or sd. it also doesn't like the hazard meta,the fact that zapdos being the best fogger is really bad for it and hazards making its recovery much worse.Another thing that made pex so good is that you HAD to have something to break this or else you'll be completely screwed but with how much easier pex is to handle its not as broken as it once was.

:tapu-fini: to b-
why is it so high having defog is okay but it doesn't stop the fact that this thing gets worn down too easily and can't threaten much thats relevent and with ashgren and gdarm being banned completely screws it over

:volcarona: to A+/A
Being bad to heatran is bad and may be one of the reasons I Toxapex as worse but volcorona can wait to wear it down instead plus offensive volcorona can just kill heatran straight up with hp ground. Another thing that makes it so good is that it can sweep multiple times with its fantastic bulk being the best answer to kyurem.The hazard meta makes it so much more harder to deal with as with hdb allows it to ignore sr and spikes. I may be overselling it thats why I see it beeing A but for me A+ is a much better ranking for it.
 
:tapu-fini: to b-
why is it so high having defog is okay but it doesn't stop the fact that this thing gets worn down too easily and can't threaten much thats relevent and with ashgren and gdarm being banned completely screws it over
I wouldn’t say that ash gren and gdarm being banned screws fini over. It couldn’t really do anything to gdarm as 252 Atk Gorilla Tactics Darmanitan-Galar Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 151-178 (44 - 51.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery that definitely shows this thing isn’t a darm counter. Ash gren may have made it lose something to wall but it losing 3 things that could break it in gdarm, urshifu, and mmeta definitely also helped it. Also it being able to wall volc, (as long as it doesn’t have giga drain but with tran being so common that’s not a big issue) Weavile, non t punch zard, and some kommo-o is good. It may be debatable for it to drop but definitely not as low as B-. Also I may have missed something’s that it can wall
 
I wouldn’t say that ash gren and gdarm being banned screws fini over. It couldn’t really do anything to gdarm as 252 Atk Gorilla Tactics Darmanitan-Galar Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 151-178 (44 - 51.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery that definitely shows this thing isn’t a darm counter. Ash gren may have made it lose something to wall but it losing 3 things that could break it in gdarm, urshifu, and mmeta definitely also helped it. Also it being able to wall volc, (as long as it doesn’t have giga drain but with tran being so common that’s not a big issue) Weavile, non t punch zard, and some kommo-o is good. It may be debatable for it to drop but definitely not as low as B-. Also I may have missed something’s that it can wall
Yeah looking at it now fini really shouldn't be worse or equal to all of the b tier mons but I still think it is too high, its comparable to rotom-wash as a bulky water that can defog but washtom has status ,recovery ,a pivoting move and ground immunity while fini has knock off taunt a status immunity and the ability to go full stall breaker so I still think it's not high b+ but it can be low b+ while still being higher then mega bro
 

Guard

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The metagame has stabilized a fair bit so I wanted to make some nominations about Pokémon I feel were initially judged a little incorrectly / whose viability has changed a little.

:sm/hydreigon:
S- to S
There is not a single reason for Hydreigon to be placed lower than Clefable and Heatran. With the relatively bulky state of the metagame, where so much progress can be made singlehandedly by Knock Off, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and general chip damage over time, Hydreigon really shines as a wallbreaker that is deterred by none of those and takes a lot of advantage out of the fact that Speed control is less common. It heavily enjoys the relative passivity of such a bulky metagame, in which it gets many opportunities to Roost off chip damage and wallbreak to its heart's content. Its wallbreaking capabilities in general are nothing short of terrifying, with there being no good checks at all to Nasty Plot Groundium Z other than specially defensive Clefable, Blissey, Chansey, and Mandibuzz. Many teams, however, are resorting to physically defensive Clefable plus some sort of Speed control to limit Hydreigon, which simply does not cut it in the grand scheme of things, as many Pokémon Hydreigon takes advantage of, such as Heatran, Zapdos, Gliscor, standard Ferrothorn, and non-Toxic Toxapex, are faring well and are very common. Beyond its offensive capabilities, Hydreigon also offers a check to some very dangerous threats currently, Heatran and Swords Dance Gliscor being prime examples. The fact that the metagame is so welcoming to resilient wallbreakers in general, paired with Hydreigon's shortage of checks unlike Gliscor, puts the former one step above the latter in terms of viability. Of course, this would leave Gliscor as the only S- resident, and one may wonder if S- is worth it at all at that point. For now, I still think the gap between Gliscor and A+ is large enough to warrant it, since Gliscor is just that much more consistently threatening in slower-paced metagames than threats that lack resiliency such as Garchomp and Mega Mawile, but that is a discussion for another time.

:sm/magearna:
A+ to A
I was willing to give Magearna the benefit of the doubt, but, as an offensive breaker, it just hasn't proven to be as threatening as Mega Mawile, Garchomp, Normalium Z Kartana, and Rockium Z Landorus-T. Agility sets are strapped for slots and items in general, with Fleur Cannon / Flash Cannon / Calm Mind / Metronome being mandatory due to Clefable's dominance, Focus Blast being near-mandatory due to Heatran and Ferrothorn, Thunderbolt being near-mandatory due to Toxapex, Ice Beam / Fairium Z / Steelium Z being optimal because of Gliscor, and even Hidden Power Fire being appealing since Mega Scizor is so common. Furthermore, Calm Mind + Pain Split variants are pretty limited because of Heatran's prominence, and Heart Swap + Pain Split and Assault Vest variants do not deserve A+ status either. I think Choice Specs and Stored Power variants should be explored more, since they are more than capable of pushing Magearna's bounderies even further, but until then, I don't think Magearna is an A+ Pokémon.

:sm/excadrill:
A- to A
In a metagame where hazard removal and Speed control is hard to come by, Excadrill happens to have it all, giving it a great amount of purpose other than wallbreaking / cleaning. Swords Dance + Rapid spin variants with Leftovers are one of the few hazard removal options that can consistently keep Stealth Rock away from Clefable, which in itself is a strong niche in a metagame where Calm Mind Clefable can keep Stealth Rock up against just about every other remover bar Iron Head Corviknight. On the other hand, Normalium Z variants are capable of luring and removing the omnipresent Zapdos, as well as weakened Tangrowth and Slowbro, which are often the built-in Excadrill checks in most teams. This allows it to either clean up itself, or enable common teammates such as Gliscor and Cinderace. Sand is definitely one of the most consistent playstyles right now, and Excadrill should share a rank with Mega Tyranitar to reflect that.

:sm/slowbro:
A- to A
Slowbro has no business being this low. It is one of the best checks to a plethora of dangerous threats such as Gliscor, Mega Lopunny, Garchomp, and Cinderace, and offers plenty of support on top of that in the form of Teleport, and even Thunder Wave or Future Sight if desired. Heavy-Duty Boots allows it to serve as an even more effective pivot than it already was, forming strong and durable slow-pivot cores with Pokémon such as Zapdos and Blissey, which are very hard to take advantage of and form the base of many teams.

:sm/magnezone:
A- to A
In a metagame where the likes of Ferrothorn, Kartana, Mega Scizor, Mega Mawile, and Corviknight are at their heights, it is not hard to see why Magnezone's niche is very valuable right now. Magnezone is a priceless partner for many Pokémon currently, due to the infestation in Steel-types in general. This includes, but isn't limited to, Gliscor, Clefable, Dragonium Z Garchomp, Mega Mawile, and Mega Scizor. Its ability to trap Ferrothorn is particularly important for teams that cannot keep up with it otherwise, such as Defog Tapu Fini builds.

:sm/blissey:
B+ to A-
Blissey has proven to be quite the staple in countless variations of slow-pivot balances, alongside teammates such as Slowbro and Volt Switch Zapdos. It is perhaps the most solid check to Hydreigon on the whole, which is very notable for a Pokemon that can also keep up momentum so well. Beyond that, it also checks a myriad of other dangerous threats for these teams as well, important ones being Heatran, Volcarona, Magearna, and Mega Lati@s, and provides great support in Thunder Wave for teammates such as Mega Mawile, Garchomp, Hydreigon, and Mega Medicham to capitalize on.

:sm/tyranitar:
B+ to A-
As mentioned earlier, Sand balances are very potent currently, and Tyranitar is a fine enabler of the playstyle if you wish to use a Mega Evolution other than Mega Tyranitar. It is also a formidable wallbreaker itself, 2HKO'ing pretty much the entire metagame with Choice Band-boosted STABs, a feat Mega Tyranitar cannot achieve. This niche is particularly important in a relatively bulky metagame such as this one, where it gets abundant amounts of opportunities to switch in against Pokémon like Zapdos, Mega Latias, and Heatran, and make great amounts of progress from there. Its ability to Pursuit trap so much of the metagame is also a great boon for it, with Heatran and Psychic-types being more prominent than ever, and Dragapult continuing to be a major nuisance to just about every playstyle.

:sm/victini:
B to B+
In a metagame filled to the brim with Psychic-, Steel-, and Fairy-types, Choice Scarf Victini stands out as a form of Speed control that can soft-check them all and force them out, and it can do so for a surprisingly long amount of time with Wish support from Clefable. It doesn't just stop there though, since Victini is also one of a select few Choice Scarf users that can actually force progress in this bulky metagame with Trick and Final Gambit, giving it actual purpose against teams that do not fear Victini otherwise.

:sm/gyarados:
B- to C
Zapdos reigns supreme as one of the best defensive options and the Z-slot in hyper offense knows a lot of better abusers, the most important one being Dragapult. This makes Gyarados hard to fit and a matchup fish at best.

:sm/marowak-alola:
C to UR
Alolan Marowak has no tangible niche. It is outclassed both as a wallbreaker and an entry hazard setter due to its abysmal Speed and overt reliance on its item, meaning it cannot even take proper advantage of Clefable, Ferrothorn, and Tangrowth due to the threat of Knock Off, not to mention the fact that it is the biggest Hydreigon bait out there.

There were a few other nominations I wanted to make, such as Tapu Fini and Hippowdon to A, Cinderace and Dragapult to A+, and Mimikyu to UR, but I'm not as sure about those so I'll leave it at this.
 
Hallo everyone! Before we move on with suspect testing any Pokemon, which you can find more about here, the VR council has gone ahead and put together another update to the viability rankings. All votes can be found on this spreadsheet.

Code:
Rises:
Gliscor from S- to S
Cinderace from A to A+
Corviknight from A- to A
Hippowdon from A- to A
Mega Medicham from A- to A
Slowbro from A- to A
Blissey from B+ to A-
Mega Slowbro from B+ to A-
Tyranitar from B+ to A-
Weavile from B+ to A-
Rotom-W from B to B+
Mega Gallade from C to B
Tapu Koko from UR to C

Drops:
Hydreigon from S- to A+
Magearna from A+ to A
Aegislash from A to A-
Gastrodon from B+ to B
Serperior from B+ to B
Alakazam from B to B-
Kommo-o from B to B-
Blacephalon from B- to C
Alolan Marowak from C to UR
Mimikyu from C to UR
Alolan Muk from C to UR
I won't be going over these changes as none are super significant and I believe most should be relatively intuitive anyways. I'm also feeling a little bit lazy.

With that all said and done, happy posting and make sure to stay hydrated!
 
Rillaboom:

B -> B+ Rillaboom is an excellent mon, with the addition of grassy glide (a 91 bp stab prio move) patches up rillabooms decent speed and gives it an incredibly spammable move. grassy terrain also allows it to be paired with heatran which patches up one of trans biggest weaknesses in earthquake and gives it the ability to heal 12% every turn, however zapdos and corviknight wall it which is why i believe that it shouldnt be ranked higher.
 
:ss/latias-mega: to A+. While it is plagued by the omnipresence and power of mega mawile and various other trappers, it is a great heatran and gliscor check as well as being a potent wincon with cm recover sets wielding Bolt Beam coverage. It also is a nice defogger that has a decent match up versus non dragonoum Z garchomp, heatran and Ferrothorn.
 
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however zapdos and corviknight wall it which is why i believe that it shouldnt be ranked higher.
Not exactly. They´re checks at best. You have to keep your Corviknight healthy or it will fall to a boosted Superpower. You need to have Brave Bird too otherwise you can't do much back and/or Iron Defense + Body Press. Zapdos hates Knock Off because it loses HDB and now has to take SR damage next time it comes in and be forced to recover giving your opponent a free turn to do whatever he wants. I honestly think Rillaboom is a little too good. If you thought Galewings Talonflame in gen 6 was good then this thing is even better. A well played Rillaboom crushes Sand and rain teams even if they have a Rillaboom counter it can easily be overwhelmed with repeated U-turn momentum or just straight brute force with SD and/or Z move. As a standalone Pokemon Rillaboom is A+ in my book but with the support it brings to it's teammates to Pokemon like Hawlucha and Heatran and free Leftovers recovery make it a S rank Pokemon to me.



I also agree with Victini rising but not because of it's Choice Scarf set. Under the sun and with Teleport support from Blissey/Slowbro this thing becomes fucking broken and has absolutely no counters. The closest thing to a counter is Heatran but it's 2HKOd by Brick Break. Slowbro and Toxapex get 2HKO'd under the sun. Even max max Alomomola has a good change to get 2HKO'd after SR even with Leftovers and a turn of Protect. Dracovish gets 2HKOd most of the time. Zard X while in theory 4x resist fire it gets 2HKO'd most of the time if it has no defense EVs. To put into perspective just how powerful Victini is under the sun here's a calc vs a Pokemon people often complain hits too hard Urshifu-S:

252+ Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Sun: 161-189 (52.9 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex on a critical hit: 157-186 (51.6 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Yup. A resisted V create hits harder than standard Urshifu's neutral Wicked Blow.

Given it needs an adamant nature and sun support I don't think this is very noteworthy.
If you´re like me and just want to spam V-create without the need to predict with Bolt strike then Adamant is the way to go. You definitely don't need Adamant but with Jolly you do miss some important 2HKO's on some bulky waters without SR up but even then you can Bolt Strike them on the switch. I prefer Adamant because I just find it to be more brainless consistent and you naturally bluff Jolly too. Victini is fine without sun as well just not as amazing because it´s more prediction reliant where you have to click the right move in order to not be walled. Special Z move sets are fine as well. Those are 3 viable sets including Scarf so I do think Victini deserves B+.
 
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Not exactly. They´re checks at best. You have to keep your Corviknight healthy or it will fall to a boosted Superpower. You need to have Brave Bird too otherwise you can't do much back and/or Iron Defense + Body Press. Zapdos hates Knock Off because it loses HDB and now has to take SR damage next time it comes in and be forced to recover giving your opponent a free turn to do whatever he wants. I honestly think Rillaboom is a little too good. If you thought Galewings Talonflame in gen 6 was good then this thing is even better. A well played Rillaboom crushes Sand and rain teams even if they have a Rillaboom counter it can easily be overwhelmed with repeated U-turn momentum or just straight brute force with SD and/or Z move. As a standalone Pokemon Rillaboom is A+ in my book but with the support it brings to it's teammates to Pokemon like Hawlucha and Heatran and free Leftovers recovery make it a S rank Pokemon to me.



I also agree with Victini rising but not because of it's Choice Scarf set. Under the sun and with Teleport support from Blissey/Slowbro this thing becomes fucking broken and has absolutely no counters. The closest thing to a counter is Heatran but it's 2HKOd by Brick Break. Slowbro and Toxapex get 2HKO'd under the sun. Even max max Alomomola has a good change to get 2HKO'd after SR even with Leftovers and a turn of Protect. Dracovish gets 2HKOd most of the time. Zard X while in theory 4x resist fire it gets 2HKO'd most of the time if it has no defense EVs. To put into perspective just how powerful Victini is under the sun here's a calc vs a Pokemon people often complain hits too hard Urshifu-S:

252+ Atk Choice Band Victini V-create vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Sun: 161-189 (52.9 - 62.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex on a critical hit: 157-186 (51.6 - 61.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Yup. A resisted V create hits harder than standard Urshifu's neutral Wicked Blow.
Given it needs an adamant nature and sun support I don't think this is very noteworthy.
 

Zneon

uh oh
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I know the suspect test is still ongoing but there are a few Pokemon that stick out to me that I want to nominate, so I will give those nominations before its over.

to A+


If you saw the rest of the slates, I would usually put Dragapult at A, but this time I've changed my mind. I feel Dragapult at this point in time is at the same level as the rest of the A+ Pokemon. It's an extremely threatening and splashable wincon that can pull its weight against a whole lot of teams, consistent offensive counterplay is incredibly limited, almost completely nonexistent if anything, as it is limited to Weavile's Ice Shard and arguably Mega Lopunny's Fake Out, but if Dragapult is behind a Substitute before they come in, they are no longer good answers. It doesn't even need to be limited to being just a wincon, due to its immense Speed tier it can function as amazing Speed control, being able to revenge kill stuff such as .of Substitute, which just forces 50/50s in which if Dragapult wins the 50/50 it can get a huge advantage, or Dragapult having Sucker Punch itself, which can simply just pick them off if they are chipped enough. Defensive counterplay exists but with enough chip they can lose to it. Overall I feel Dragapult is easily one of the most threatening Pokemon in the entire metagame and it is in line with the Pokemon in A+.

to B+

Sorry Aegislash fans, I love it too but I just don't think its that good of a Pokemon right now. It's outclassed by Mega Mawile, Kartana and to an extent Magearna as an offensive Steel-type and its typing is very awkward in this metagame because while its able to switch into Pokemon such as Mega Medicham and Tapu Lele not to mention Clefable incredibly well, it is threatened pretty hard by pretty prominent Pokemon such as Heatran, Hydreigon and Gliscor, these are some of the best Pokemon in the metagame and Aegislash has a hard time dealing with them all. Not to mention there's also Landorus-T, Garchomp and Dragapult running around. Because of this I find Aegislash to be significantly harder to use and harder to fit onto a team than the Pokemon in A-, while this Pokemon is pretty good and has a ton of potential, I feel these cons make it much less effective in the current metagame, as a result I feel this Pokemon is in the lines of the B+ Pokemon than A-.

to B+

However, I find Protean Greninja to be even worse. This Pokemon has truly terrible moveslot issues because it's not able to fit all the moves it wants to in order to threaten the entire metagame. It wants one of its STAB moves, but it wants Gunk Shot or HP Fire to not be walled by Tapu Fini or Ferrothorn, but then it wants Extrasenssory to not lose to Toxapex, but even then it wants Ice Beam to beat Zapdos and Hydreigon. Get the problem? No matter what moves you choose from, there is always going to be something that effectively walls you because it simply doesn't have enough moveslots to threaten all the Pokemon it wants to beat with, this is pretty heavy 4mss and because of this the Pokemon feels like it only does well depending on the matchup, which in my eyes makes Protean Greninja pretty inconsistent in my eyes and hard to fit onto teams because of this, as a result I feel it drop one subrank further.

to B+

I feel Rillaboom is a great Pokemon at the moment and I agree that it should rise. Even though Zapdos and Corviknight can be problematic this Pokemon is still pretty threatening. Grassy Glide is incredibly spammable and that paired with Knock Off and Superpower makes Rillaboom especially threatening, as anything that does resist Grassy Glide just gets hit incredibly hard by either Knock Off or Superpower at +2, hence why I said Corviknight and Zapdos while annoying to Rillaboom, do not make it any worse or stop it from rising. Not to mention how Grassy Glide is so powerful its able to beat Pokemon such as Clefable, Garchomp and Gliscor and revenge kill faster mons such as Mega Lopunny, this is even ignoring the fact Grassy Terrain's utility in healing Pokemon without recovery such as Heatran and Ferrothorn. I feel Rillaboom right now has a lot of advantages and because of this I feel this deserves to rise.

There are probably more stuff that I missed but these Pokemon are the ones that stick out to me the most.
 

Padstar34

formerly FlygonNo.1
is a Tiering Contributor
I feel Rillaboom is a great Pokemon at the moment and I agree that it should rise. Even though Zapdos and Corviknight can be problematic this Pokemon is still pretty threatening. Grassy Glide is incredibly spammable and that paired with Knock Off and Superpower makes Rillaboom especially threatening, as anything that does resist Grassy Glide just gets hit incredibly hard by either Knock Off or Superpower at +2, hence why I said Corviknight and Zapdos while annoying to Rillaboom, do not make it any worse or stop it from rising. Not to mention how Grassy Glide is so powerful its able to beat Pokemon such as Clefable, Garchomp and Gliscor and revenge kill faster mons such as Mega Lopunny, this is even ignoring the fact Grassy Terrain's utility in healing Pokemon without recovery such as Heatran and Ferrothorn. I feel Rillaboom right now has a lot of advantages and because of this I feel this deserves to rise.
Just want to point out, this is only including its Swords Dance set, which I know is better than it's band set, but regardless, Rillaband doesn't have to worry about Zapdos at all, as 2 band wood hammers bring it back to earth, whilst Corviknight gets U-turned onto and then gets trapped by popular ally Magnezone. The problem with Rillaband, however, is that it doesnt fit on Hyper Offence, which is the playstyle that fits Rillaboom best, which sucks.
 
:ss/dracovish: to B+ (or A-)
This thins really appreciates the bulkier state of the meta game and teams forgoing speed control is huge for it. Band Rend can now actually work properly and it has no counters except mega slowbro and max investment alo if rocks are up (tang and non mega bro get 2hkod after rocks)
E: Now that Ash greninja has been unbanned ill mom it somewhere.

:ss/greninja-ash: to S. This thins is incredibly fast, hits like a truck, can spike on most switch ins and is incredibly splash able. It's definitely capable of exerting the same dominance as pokemon like clef able and heat ran if not more. I personally think it should have stayed in the shadow realm but that's a different discussion.

Speaking of which.....
:ss/swampert-mega: :ss/pelipper: :ss/manaphy: to B+. One of it's huge team players came back so it has bolstered in popularity quite a bit. It still detests tornadus being gone due to flying stab being really good for tangrowth and other stuff while also stopping scarf kartana spamming leaf blade. Manaphy does Manaphy things and swampert clicks buttons and greninja can give priority and whatnot
 
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:ss/krookodile: UR -> C

Krookodile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Pursuit
- Knock Off
- Crunch
- Earthquake

I think Krookodile has a really cool underrated niche as a choice scarf user. It combines the Intimidate and electric immunity of Landorus-T with the ability to Pursuit trap, but unfortunately it comes at a cost with no ground immunity and fighting weakness. You could also try to add Close Combat in one of those slots to hit Hydreigon but without Crunch you can find yourself falling victim to Mega Latias staying in. Also you can makes this Jolly but I didn't see any notable benchmarks for it.

I used Krookodile in 2 of the 3 games I played during the last Natdex Live Tour which I ended up winning. Here are the replays of the two.

Vs Aurodian
Vs SHSP

May as well go through some other Noms I would like to do.

:corviknight: A > A+ | Corviknight is my favorite defogger at the moment. While Zapdos is annoying, a lot of them right now are running Static in attempt to slow down offensive threats like Mega Lopunny and Kartana meaning that Corviknight will always be above the SR PP of Garchomp and Landorus-T. What I like about Corviknight is that it actually beats some Stealth Rock setters. With U-turn is able to bring in a revenge killer on a Sword Dancing Garchomp to force it out. It also denies Gliscor of its Rocks and Defogs and even completely stops cold its SD sets. Unfortunately Heatran beats its but a Body Press on the switch should dissuade it not to come in. And only a very niche crowd of Defoggers can actually beat Heatran anyway.

:charizard-mega-y: B- > B / B+ | Despite the stealth rock setters being insanely strong, If you get them off you be experiencing with one of the scariest pokemon to face. The bulkier spread is excellent at punishing Rillaboom and Kartana really hard. While the support it needs is a lot, its definitely worth it. I should note that if Toxapex doesn't run Toxic, it actually does nothing back to it while Zard Y can dance with Gliscor while it just flails around hopelessly.

:kyurem: A+ > A | I can't say this thing is a A+ rank anymore. Teams are now far more prepared for the SubRoost set with pokemon like Mega Scizor and specially defensive Clefable being common.

:mandibuzz: B > C | I really do not like this thing, It literally only Defogs except it can't because all SR setters beat it. Zapdos has the same issue but it at least has a pretty nice Defensive / Offensive presence to go along side it and it dissuades some of them with the threat of HP Ice on the switch.

As for some of Nominations that have been suggested already. I agree with dropping Aegislash, it just hasn't been able to hold on to its place since top pokemon like Gliscor wall the SubToxic set. I do think running CC > Sub is a option in the future but who knows. If I'll being 100% honest I would put Toxapex in S due to how amazing the defensive utility it brings to teams. Although thats probably a very radical opinion at the moment. Also calm your horses about Greninja it just got unbanned lol.
 
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Sputnik

Bono My Tires are Deceased
is a Contributor Alumnus
This meta has settled a little bit, and I feel that there are a few major things on the VR that could use adjusting/adding (coughAsh-Grencough), so I'll give my thoughts on those right now.

Additions/Rises

:ss/greninja-ash: A+

We're still slightly early into the Ash-Greninja return tour, but I believe that an A+ ranking is a very suitable rank for this beast. It has, unsurprisingly, resumed where it has left off, Spiking on switch ins and blowing everything in front of it away. It's not S-tier amazing, in my opinion; Toxapex's popularity poses problems, and Dark-resists such as Hydreigon, Clefable, and Tapu Fini are all excellent and prominent Pokemon. Then there's Blissey's return, which is not good news for Ash-Greninja either. All in all, transforming as Ash-Greninja is not a walk in the park at the moment However, the pressure exerted by this monster is undeniable. Spikes can wear down Toxapex, which is one of the most common answers, as well as Tapu Fini in the long term. Plus, the amount of offensive pressure that can be exerted by Ash-Gren's teammates can aid it in its transformation, after which its often just one Dark Pulse flinch away from cleaning up. Ash-Greninja is back, and its still a supreme threat.

:ss/toxapex: A+ ---> S

Toxapex has turned up as a key defensive player in this metagame. Acevish teams are currently on the rise, and Baneful Bunker Toxapex can cause issues for this offensive core, potentially poisoning both Cinderace and Dracovish/Knocking them, or something else, and crippling them for the rest of the match. Baneful Bunker Toxapex can also give some respite against Ash-Greninja, although choosing between Physical Defense and Special Defense EVs can be tough for this very reason. Realistically, however, it's not that difficult to fit a Dark-resist right now, so even Physically Defensive Toxapex can offer Ash-Greninja counterplay. The amount of progress it can make against teams right now is virtually unparalleled, and I would even argue that it has overtaken Gliscor for the #3 spot in the metagame at the moment. Toxapex is really good, and I believe that a rise to S is the right thing for it.

:ss/dragapult: A ---> A+

Dragapult is very, very good right now. We all know about the Dragon Dance Ghostium sets being awesome cleaners that have little in the way of long term counterplay outside of "Bait the Z-move or have a bulky Dark-type that can't be Hydreigon"; however, I would like to turn attention to the Electrium Z Will-o-Wisp Hex set. It's not as good as the DD set overall, but it has some unique tricks up its sleeve. The elephant in the room is its ability to lure in and dispose of Toxapex and Tapu Fini immediately, all while being a general nuisance with Will-o-Wisp and Hex, while U-turn makes it an ideal partner for many Pokemon in this pivot centric metagame. It needs chip to mash both Fini and Toxapex, but that isn't unreasonable to achieve, and even just chipping Tapu Fini hard can be more than enough for Ash-Greninja to wreak havoc. Elec Z also has the added bonus of nuking the odd Mandibuzz and burning any Tyranitar or Weavile being overzealous. Overall, Dragapult has added more depth to its game, and it was already a supreme threat with just Dragon Dance, so a rise would be welcome in my opinion.

:ss/dracovish: B ---> A-

I kinda miss the days where we all thought that this was a jokey matchup fish that just curb stomped unprepared ladder players and the Pex/Hippo balances that were running around everywhere for a few weeks pre-Mmeta bans. Those days are behind us; Dracovish is straight up good. Cinderace has provided it with an ideal offensive partner, and AceVish has become a forefront of the metagame. There are counters to both, of course, but it is hard to deny how potent Dracovish is. The rise in Bunker Toxapex, as well as resurgences from other, previously somewhat slighted defensive Water-types, most notably Mega Slowbro, is a testament to this. Many balance teams, especially those centering around Gliscor, just drop to Dracovish, and almost every defensive/balanced team needs an incredibly sturdy Water-resist that also has reliable recovery, lest they be eventually blown open by the Vish. It still has a lot of the same issues that have plagued it in the past, but ideal partners in Cinderace, as well as other pivots such as Clefable, Dragapult, and Landorus-T, have made Dracovish better than ever.

:ss/pelipper::ss/swampert-mega::ss/manaphy: B ---> B+

Not a whole lot to talk about here. Rain got one of its best buddies in Ash-Greninja back, and it was already a pretty solid playstyle. Rain can now stop messing around with weird, niche picks like Tapu Koko and Kingdra and really get back to where it was, as a great offensive playstyle in the metagame.

:ss/seismitoad: C ---> B-

While nowhere near as good/important as what's been mentioned above, Seismitoad definitely benefits from the current metagame environment. I'm finding sets utilizing Protect and Knock Off to be especially effective at the moment, as the threats of being Knocked+burns from Scald allow it to pull its weight in many matchups. Protect is very useful for scouting the intentions of Cinderace as well, and while its not a perfect answer, its a good option to have against it. Think a budget Toxapex, except this Toxapex has a full fledged Water-immunity, making life tough for Dracovish, and it can also set Stealth Rock, which is what really pushes it from kinda meh to an actually solid role compression tool. Not amazing or anything, but the compression that it offers is very useful for many teams right now.

Drops
:ss/kartana: A+ ---> A

Kartana has major problems in a metagame where Corviknight and Mega Scizor, and to a lesser extent Zapdos, are on many teams. Swords Dance sets are not hard for most teams to revenge kill, as threats like Cinderace, Ash-Greninja, Dragapult, and Mega Lopunny are on many teams, and oftentimes a team can have more than one of them, making it hard to clear the field for it to properly clean. It can also struggle to break, as established, some of the more common defensive Pokemon in the metagame. Sets that aren't Swords Dance, such as Scarf and Band, are both prediction reliant and not altogether effective either. Still a great Pokemon, but not as good as it was before.

:ss/excadrill: A- ---> B+

Sand Balance teams are in a really rough spot right now. It is unfortunately really tough for them to fit answers to all of Dracovish, Cinderace, especially Ash-Greninja, and even Dragapult gets threatening once Mega Tyranitar has taken enough chip. Excadrill is arguably the biggest casualty of this; while Pokemon such as Mega Tyranitar still fit on other teams, Excadrill struggles to achieve much outside of this role, as the Specially Defensive set doesn't actually check that much of note, and the lead sets are, as always, outclassed by Mew. In addition, one of its best checks, Corviknight, has risen to the occasion, and others like Gliscor and Tangrowth are common as well. Sand Balance isn't in a great spot right now, and Excadrill is arguably the biggest casualty.

:ss/mandibuzz: B ----> C

Mandibuzz struggles in this metagame. It doesn't actually check that much outside of Dragon Dance Dragapult, and it's threatened by the Electrium Z sets that are actually good right now. It also doesn't really do that much to Hydreigon unless it runs Toxic, and then you forego Defog or U-turn, which it generally doesn't want to do. It also loses to basically all of our Stealth Rock setters, as they either kill it, in the case of Garchomp, Mega Tyranitar, and Landorus-T, or cripple it, with Ferrothorn, Clefable, Hippowdon, and even Blissey/Chansey beating it in that regard. Mandibuzz just isn't good right now, and it's not worth putting on most teams at the moment in my opinion
 
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B+>A-

This mons natural bulk+typing definitely earns it an A tier spot. The ability to provide a sturdy check to top offensive threats such as Cinderace, Greninja, Dracovish and Rillaboom while not being passive due to its naturally high Sp Atk stat is invaluable. Venu also provides an excellent matchup against the ever dangerous rain teams, as the lack of Tornadus means that outside of Manaphy's Psychic, there's nothing on the team that can hit for super effective damage. Having 2 forms of passive recovery in Synthesis as well as Leech Seed as well as Giga Drain for an attack means that it has no problem staying healthy throughout a game and checking what it needs to. It also massively takes advantage of the ever popular Tapu Fini, meaning it makes a great partner to Greninja as well to ensure that its Spikes stay up so it can clean up late game. Although Toxapex can switch into it very easily, it gets worn down incredibly quickly between hazards and losing around 35-40% of its health per turn between Leech Seed and Giga Drain, meaning that Venu is one of the few defensive mons that can completely stop Pex from making progress against its more offensive teammates. This is invaluable in such a Toxapex-infested meta. It also is notable in being a utility mon that doesn't have 4MSS, as it really only needs its STABs+Leech Seed to do what it needs to. This allows the user to customize its 4th move depending on what the team needs. Knock Off removing Zapdos or Mandibuzz's Boots on the switch means that those two suddenly become much shakier checks late game to what they were tasked to wall; HP Fire pressures Ferrothorn and Mega Scizor, Earthquake forces Heatran out with a guaranteed 2HKO, and Synthesis provides it with even more recovery to ensure it sticks around in the late game.

C>B

This is another wallbreaker that greatly appreciates the metagame slowing down a great deal. Ash-Greninja being unbanned also was an Arceus-send, as walls needing to run heavier Sp Def investment to stop the transformation means that its Banded set can punch holes even more efficiently than before. In a metagame where Defoggers match up poorly against setters, being a physical attacker whose main move does not make contact as well as breaks through Protect means that it is much more resilient than its pitiful physical defense stat would lead you to believe. The rise of Baneful Bunker Toxapex in response to Dracovish is yet another reason that this is so important. Teams that tend to rely on Zapdos+Rocky Helmet Slowbro or Ferrothorn as a catch all check to physical attackers oftentimes just fold outright to the Banded set, as even Max Phys Def Ferro is 2HKO'd without prior chip by Banded Hyperspace Fury. Obviously Hyperspace Fury is not a good move to be constantly locked into due to the prominence of Mega Ttar, but it must be emphasized that Tar can never switch into Hoopa as Drain Punch will always OHKO it. It also is one of the few mons that is powerful enough to be able to always OHKO Clefable regardless of EV Spread..with just a coverage move no less(Gunk Shot). As it really only needs Hyperspace Fury, Drain Punch and Gunk Shot on its Banded set, the 4th move is pretty much up to the user. One can run ZHB for another brutally strong STAB attack that has the benefit of always OHKOing Max Def Toxapex after Rocks, Fire Punch to catch any Scizor thinking they can get a free U-Turn on Hoopa(Bullet Punch comes nowhere near close to OHKOing despite Hoopa's atrocious defense) or even Knock Off as a risk free attack. One can also run a Nasty Plot set that can come in on the many points on entry Hoopa has when playing against balance and semi stall teams..no one is going to keep their Blissey in on it, meaning that it can freely boost on the switch to Clefable. You can even afford to run Substitute on this set, as Hoopa really only needs Psychic+Z-Focus Blast to ruin its common special switch ins like Tapu Fini, Blissey or Sp Def Heatran. Due to its physical frailty its not the most splashable mon by any means, but the upside of blowing holes in all of Ash-Greninjas checks as well as providing some defensive utility through its impressive 80/130 special bulk warrant a rise in my opinion.

Drops:


A>A- or B+

Ash-Greninja's return spell bad news for the Hippo.While this still is a great check to physical attackers, its extreme passivity as well as its lacking special bulk means that it often invites in free Defogs from Zapdos, as well as free spikes from Ash-Gren as its forced out. It also invites in one of the most dangerous late game cleaners in DD Dragapult, which can get behind a substitute very easily and start setting up on it. Freely inviting in two of the most dangerous offensive mons in this meta is never a good thing, warranting a drop.
 
Hey everyone! Following Ash-Greninja's unban, we have once again decided to revote on the viability rankings. Here's the update! You can look at this spreadsheet to see all the votes.

Code:
Rises:
Cinderace from A+ to S
Toxapex from A+ to S
Corviknight from A to A+
Dragapult from A to A+
Slowbro from A to A+
Dracovish from B to A-
Gastrodon from B to B+
Manaphy from B to B+
Pelipper from B to B+
Rillaboom from B to B+
Mega Swampert from B to B+
Mega Charizard Y from B- to B
Mega Heracross from C to B-
Ash-Greninja from UR to A+

Drops:
Kartana from A+ to A
Aegislash from A- to B+
Mew from B+ to B
Mandibuzz from B to C
Gyarados from B- to C
Blacephalon from C to UR
:ss/cinderace:
Cinderace has finally risen to S! It has quickly been gaining more and more popularity as one of the best Pokemon in the metagame. Cinderace is incredibly potent right now; simple Heavy-Duty Boots sets have few checks, and the few that it does have can often be overwhelmed with Spikes support, or by its Bulk Up set. It is also one of the strongest options for Speed control right now, effectively limiting fast wallbreakers like Kartana.

:ss/toxapex:
To accompany Cinderace, Toxapex has also risen to S. Baneful Bunker Toxapex is one of the best answers to the currently very common Cinderace + Dracovish core. Beyond that, Toxapex is still just Toxapex; it's incredibly annoying to switch into and has loads of defensive utility, also checking the rising Calm Mind Clefable and various other miscellaneous Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y.

:ss/slowbro:
Slowbro itself is ofcourse a good check to Pokemon like Cinderace, Dracovish, and Gliscor, but that's what ultimately got it into the A tier. The reason for its new rise is the fact that it's the single best Future Sight user. Future Sight is a pretty key component of the current metagame, synergizing very well with many wallbreakers such as Cinderace, Ash-Greninja, Dracovish, and Mega Charizardy Y. When backed up by a Future Sight, these Pokemon can very easily overwhelm teams that are reliant on Pokemon like Toxapex.

:ss/dracovish:
Dracovish has legitimized its position in National Dex. It's went from a rather gimmicky wallbreaker to a genuinely threatening and consistent wallbreaker. Dracovish preys on the current state of the metagame; it is exceedingly bulky, and checks to it such as Ferrothorn and Toxapex are sometimes having to run Special Defense investment, which hampers their ability to effectively check Dracovish. Trends are massively favoring Dracovish right now and it's risen to A- as a result.

:ss/mandibuzz:
Mandibuzz is hardly viable..
On a more serious note, Mandibuzz has a cool niche on paper as a check to Dragapult and Hydreigon, while also functioning as a Defogger, but the harsh reality is that it does not accomplish much besides checking those 2 Pokemon; it is a consistently mediocre Defogger, being able to directly beat essentially 0 entry hazard setters. On top of being a mediocre Defogger, Mandibuzz struggles to keep momentum up too; it often has to spend turns using Roost to actually check Dragapult and Hydreigon long-term, which very freely invites in many punishing Pokemon like Clefable, Magearna, and Mega Mawile.
 

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