Resource RU Viability Ranking Thread: Abomasnow and Slowking Discussion

[Molk]

Art Made by Bummer​

Welcome to the official RU Viability Rankings topic. In this thread, we as a community will rank every single usable Pokemon into ranks. In this thread, you're encouraged to post your thoughts and opinions on the various Pokemon that are usable in RU and what rank they should fall under. The general idea of the topic is to rank each RU Pokemon under "rankings" that go in descending order.

Note, atomicllamas and Spirit also run this thread. Also, galbia, the Italian, helped quite a bit in putting the initial list together

Welcome to the official RU Viability Rankings topic. In this thread, we as a community will rank every single usable Pokemon into ranks. In this thread, you're encouraged to post your thoughts and opinions on the various Pokemon that are usable in RU and what rank they should fall under. The general idea of the topic is to rank each RU pokemon under "rankings" that go in descending order.

S RANK:
The best of the best. Reserved for Pokemon who shape and define the RU metagame and are a clear-cut above the rest of the tier. These Pokemon are typically very powerful offensive threats that are difficult to prepare for or are phenomenal support and defensive threats that provide significant utility or defensive potential, respectively. Also the home of Pokemon who can easily perform multiple roles effectively, increasing their versatility and unpredictability. If the Pokemon in this rank have any flaws, those flaws are thoroughly mitigated by their substantial strengths.

Abomasnow (Mega)

Slowking

Steelix (Mega)

Tyrantrum

A RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who can sweep or wall significant portions of the metagame and can perform well against most play styles, but require some support or have some flaws that prevents them from doing this consistently. Supporting Pokemon in this rank may give opponents free turns or cannot create free turns easily themselves, but can still do their job most of the time. Pokemon in this rank are also known to define the play styles they fit on or are easy to add on any given team, while being able to carry their weight nearly every match.

A+ Rank

Alomomola

Durant

Emboar

Fletchinder

Flygon

Glalie (Mega)

Meloetta

Sigilyph

Tangrowth

Virizion

A Rank

Aromatisse

Camerupt (mega)

Drapion

Escavalier

Hitmonlee

Houndoom

Qwilfish

Rhyperior

Rotom-Mow

Samurott

Scrafty

Seismitoad

Sneasel

B RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. Support Pokemon in this category have flaws that prevent them from doing their job, are setup bait for dangerous sweepers, or often give too many free turns. Pokemon who are partially outperformed or struggle with taking on the Pokemon in the A or S Rank, but are otherwise dangerous in their own right and aren't difficult to fit on teams, may also fall into this category.

B+ Rank

Bronzong

Delphox

Druddigon

Dugtrio

Exploud

Gallade

Gurdurr

Jellicent

Jolteon

Mesprit

Poliwrath

Quagsire

Sawk

Smeargle

Spiritomb

Togetic

Uxie

B Rank

Abomasnow

Accelgor

Amoonguss

Audino (mega)

Audino

Braviary

Clawitzer

Eelektross

Gourgeist XL

Granbull

Hitmontop

Jynx

Kabutops

Malamar

Pelipper

Piloswine

Roselia

Rotom

Shiftry

Torterra

Vivillon

Xatu

C RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who can be effective in the right setting, but either have crippling flaws that prevent them from consistently executing their strategy or are completely eclipsed by a Pokemon in the above ranks. Pokemon in this rank typically require more extensive support, struggle performing against the Pokemon ranked above, and are difficult to fit on teams.

C+ Rank

Archeops

Banette (mega)

Cofagrigus

Ferroseed

Gastrodon

Golbat

Gourgeist-Small

Lanturn

Magneton

Musharna

Omastar

Registeel

Rotom-F

Rotom-S

Skuntank

Steelix

Weezing

Zangoose

C Rank

Aurorus

Articuno

Barbaracle

Chatot

Cradily

Ditto

Exeggutor

Garbodor

Hariyama

Kecleon

Klinklang

Liepard

Ludicolo

Mismagius

Sandslash

Scyther

Swellow

Tauros

Trevenant

Victreebel

Vileplume

D RANK:
Reserved for Pokemon who have a small niche in the current metagame, but have very noticeable flaws that make them more trouble than they're worth the majority of the time. The Pokemon in this rank are either extremely difficult to fit onto a team or have too many flaws that prevent them from excelling without a lot of support.

Crustle

Hippopotas

Lilligant

Mantine

Stoutland

BLACKLISTED aka E RANK:
The worst of the worst. Bad pkmn (RU Pokemon by usage that are bad will be listed here. Everything not listed also falls in here). Unviable Pokemon that have been repeatedly brought up in this thread, whether they're RU by usage or not, will also be listed here. Discussion on these Pokemon often tends to derail the thread, and therefore discussion on them is not allowed.

Ambipom

Cinccino

Typhlosion

NEW PKMN RANK:
Pokemon that are new to the RU tier and haven't been around long enough to be correctly listed go here, discussion on where to put these Pokemon should only happen after they've been in the metagame for at least one week.

***Something to note:

There are only two sub-ranks now as opposed to three in order to reduce the subjectivity of the VR thread and to have the discussions focus more so on a Pokemon's effectiveness in the metagame and how it may have changed and take less focus off of ranking semantics. If this change doesn't improve the quality of the thread or make things more organized, then the three sub-rank system will be brought back.

In addition to the above, the Pokemon in the plus ranks (+) fit the definition of whichever rank they're currently in, but fit more so with the Pokemon in the rank above and are generally more dangerous/effective than the ones ranked directly below. In contrast, the Pokemon that are given a simple vanilla rank (A, B, C, etc) are Pokemon that also fit the definition of the current rank they're in, but coincide more with the Pokemon in the rank below or are a cut below the Pokemon in the plus (+) ranks.

 

[Holiday]

move mega audino to A-

Thing has bulk out the ass, can take on a LOT of threats between Crodino sets and 2 attack sets. Passes really big wishes, but also maintains an offensive presence vs. frailer teams or vs teams that let you set up.

Cobalion should be in S+ bc it's literally the Lord of RU right now.

 

[DKFirelord]

Gallade should move up to B+ It's acces to Knock Off and SD make it as equally as viable as Medicham as it has the ability to actually OHKO Spirtomb unlike Medicham.

+4 252 Atk Life Orb Gallade Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Spiritomb: 273-322 (89.8 - 105.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[aVocado]

Gallade should move up to B+ It's acces to Knock Off and SD make it as equally as viable as Medicham as it has the ability to actually OHKO Spirtomb unlike Medicham.
+4 252 Atk Life Orb Gallade Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Spiritomb: 273-322 (89.8 - 105.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

Yes because Gallade will magically get to +4 as soon as it's sent out

 

[tehy]

Gallade should move up to B+ It's acces to Knock Off and SD make it as equally as viable as Medicham as it has the ability to actually OHKO Spirtomb unlike Medicham.
+4 252 Atk Life Orb Gallade Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Spiritomb: 273-322 (89.8 - 105.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

I have to say that I haven't seen any Gallade teams on ladder at all, which has made it difficult to gauge how good it actually is (my team is pretty good against it as well, which means that I can't gauge it in that sense either).

with that said, how is that Gallade getting up 2 swords dances? if it's carrying a Lum Berry, then

+4 252 Atk Gallade Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Spiritomb: 210-248 (69 - 81.5%)

note that also

+2 252 Atk Gallade Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Spiritomb: 141-166 (46.3 - 54.6%)

+2 252 Atk Gallade Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Spiritomb: 95-112 (31.2 - 36.8%)

max rolls adds up to it surviving another max roll after being burned too, and Foul Play = GG. Oh yeah, and infiltrator > sub, though i bet you knew that already.

and ninja'd by arikado ; i would like to see some examples of gallade in action if anyone has them; maybe we need to get the word out to RU players about its legality (is it implemented on ladder yet?)

 

[Natural Talent]

Swellow -> B-
Has an amazing speed tier and great ability. Guts boosted facade dents most of the tier, barring resist obviously. Scares things like noivern and scrafty. Really good non overall and it deserves a rank.

Scrafty -> S
What's really stopping it from being S? With the right item it can sweep teams.

Roseli berry can beat togetic after it has its eviolite knocked from a prior switch or can just catch an iron head flinch :].

Chople helps it not get revenged by choice scarfed emboar or allows it to set up on other fighting types barring hitmonlee.

Coba helps it not get revenged by noivern and fletchinder (252+ Atk Fletchinder Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Scrafty: 240-284 (88.5 - 104.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO)

It gets sick abilities too

with shed skin giving you a chance to beat spiritomb , jellicent and alomomola

Moxie giving it more power too sweep with after it gets a kill

Intimidate letting it set up easier on some physical attackers

 

[Holiday]

Swellow -> B-
Has an amazing speed tier and great ability. Guts boosted facade dents most of the tier, barringOHKO)ist obviously. Scares things like noivern and scrafty. Really good non overall and it deserves a rank.

Scrafty -> S
What's really stopping it from being S? With the right item it can sweep teams.

Roseli berry can beat togetic after it has its eviolite knocked from a prior switch or can just catch an iron head flinch :].

Chople helps it not get revenged by choice scarfed emboar or allows it to set up on other fighting types barring hitmonlee.

Coba helps it not get revenged by noivern and fletchinder (252+ Atk Fletchinder Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Scrafty: 240-284 (88.5 - 104.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO)

It gets sick abilities too

with shed skin giving you a chance to beat spiritomb , jellicent and alomomola

Moxie giving it more power too sweep with after it gets a kill

Intimidate letting it set up easier on some physical attackers

Cant say much for Swellow but Scrafty deserves S. It picks what it wants to do to beat half the tier with item and ability customization. It's ridiculous what this lizard can do

 

[Alfalfa]

Swellow -> B-
Has an amazing speed tier and great ability. Guts boosted facade dents most of the tier, barringOHKO)ist obviously. Scares things like noivern and scrafty. Really good non overall and it deserves a rank.

Scrafty -> S
What's really stopping it from being S? With the right item it can sweep teams.

Roseli berry can beat togetic after it has its eviolite knocked from a prior switch or can just catch an iron head flinch :].

Chople helps it not get revenged by choice scarfed emboar or allows it to set up on other fighting types barring hitmonlee.

Coba helps it not get revenged by noivern and fletchinder (252+ Atk Fletchinder Acrobatics (110 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Scrafty: 240-284 (88.5 - 104.7%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO)

It gets sick abilities too

with shed skin giving you a chance to beat spiritomb , jellicent and alomomola

Moxie giving it more power too sweep with after it gets a kill

Intimidate letting it set up easier on some physical attackers

I think it is the issue that we have not had enough time to see how the metagame adapts to it. While it certainly fits into the metagame quite well, I think we should give a little more time watching Scrafty work in the metagame, for I am not convinced that it can overcome enough of its flaws to be put among S Rank. While you say it can use berries to beat certain revenge killers, given the way Scrafty is molding into the metagame, a player that is worried about Scrafty is more than likely going to carry more than one offensive Scrafty check to deal with it. Scrafty reminds me a lot of Mega Gallade in OU when everybody was hyping about it when it turned out to be mediocre at best (think about SubWisp and Bulk Up sets that nobody used after months). In a similar vein, I would like to refrain from bringing Scrafty up to S Rank until it is proven that its effectiveness is due to the current state of the metagame, and not the fact that the metagame has not had much time to adapt to it.

 

[Natural Talent]

I think it is the issue that we have not had enough time to see how the metagame adapts to it. While it certainly fits into the metagame quite well, I think we should give a little more time watching Scrafty work in the metagame, for I am not convinced that it can overcome enough of its flaws to be put among S Rank. While you say it can use berries to beat certain revenge killers, given the way Scrafty is molding into the metagame, a player that is worried about Scrafty is more than likely going to carry more than one offensive Scrafty check to deal with it. Scrafty reminds me a lot of Mega Gallade in OU when everybody was hyping about it when it turned out to be mediocre at best (think about SubWisp and Bulk Up sets that nobody used after months). In a similar vein, I would like to refrain from bringing Scrafty up to S Rank until it is proven that its effectiveness is due to the current state of the metagame, and not the fact that the metagame has not had much time to adapt to it.

It's already been proven... It's got great bulk and great ability, I think I've tested it enough to know. Unlike M- Gallade it can boost its speed , why are you comparing OU to RU? They are completely different tiers with a different meta build. You haven't even given a good reason to why not. It's a viability ranking on the tier as it is now , if for some reason the tier does adapt to it it's viability may be dropped from S.

 

[Alfalfa]

It's already been proven... It's got great bulk and great ability, I think I've tested it enough to know. Unlike M- Gallade it can boost its speed , why are you comparing OU to RU? They are completely different tiers with a different meta build. You haven't even given a good reason to why not. It's a viability ranking on the tier as it is now , if for some reason the tier does adapt to it it's viability may be dropped from S.

I made the comparison to Mega Gallade because everybody was hyping about how versatile Mega Gallade was back in early ORAS, just like how people are hyping about Scrafty's versatility once it dropped to RU. Once the metagame settled, it was apparent that Mega Gallade was actually quite mediocre. Likewise, I am concerned that this will turn out the case with Scrafty. You are really overselling Scrafty's capabilities, for it is still very easy to revenge kill due to its mediocre speed even at +1, and it really cannot pressure teams very well until they are weakened due to its lack of starting power. Your only arguments have been stated everything we know about Scrafty (its abilities, and a general consensus on what is viable on it), but you do not connect its capabilities to actual battles through analysis or stating how well it fares against the current state of the metagame. You say that with the right item it can sweep teams, but you could say that about any Pokemon, and Scrafty will still be weakened enough from using a resist berry for a faster Pokemon to pick it off.

 

[Natural Talent]

I made the comparison to Mega Gallade because everybody was hyping about how versatile Mega Gallade was back in early ORAS, just like how people are hyping about Scrafty's versatility once it dropped to RU. Once the metagame settled, it was apparent that Mega Gallade was actually quite mediocre. Likewise, I am concerned that this will turn out the case with Scrafty. You are really overselling Scrafty's capabilities, for it is still very easy to revenge kill due to its mediocre speed even at +1, and it really cannot pressure teams very well until they are weakened due to its lack of starting power. Your only arguments have been stated everything we know about Scrafty (its abilities, and a general consensus on what is viable on it), but you do not connect its capabilities to actual battles through analysis or stating how well it fares against the current state of the metagame. You say that with the right item it can sweep teams, but you could say that about any Pokemon, and Scrafty will still be weakened enough from using a resist berry for a faster Pokemon to pick it off.

You do realize the point of the resist berry is to set up on things or get another DD on a revenge killer.

And you can't say with the right item you can sweep a team with any Pokemon.

You are really underselling scrafty tbh

It's capabilities is that it sets up using his item, ability, and bulk.

I'm trying to point out to you that the viability rankings Is based upon the current state of the tier not future state. So basically your counter argument is you theorymonning how the tier will be.

You aren't really stating anything but what I had been saying and just shutting it down without giving a reason.

If you're gonna give a counter argument please use examples of why you think it's not deserving of S rank

 

[phantom]

Scrafty isn't limited to just boosting sets though. The Choice Band set is pretty legit and requires 0 support in order to be effective. On top of being a great hard-hitter, it also functions as an excellent check to a variety of Pokemon such as Tyrantrum, Reuniclus, etc. That said, I'm not opposed to Scrafty moving up to S rank, but with Noivern being everywhere and Fairy-types being kinda required on most teams theses days, the whole "pick and choose argument" is quite null when on any given team, there will be at least one other Pokemon that can put a stop to its sweep baring hax. I think A+ is more appropriate for the time being. The Choice Band set might be the thing that actually pushes it to S tbh.

 

[Alfalfa]

Spirit already summed the point nicely, but let me clarify some things:

And you can't say with the right item you can sweep a team with any Pokemon.

I was referring to any viable set-up sweeper in the RU tier, not something like Focus Sash + Power-Up Punch Ambipom that is literal garbage.

It's capabilities is that it sets up using his item, ability, and bulk.

I didn't ask for capabilities, for I already knew what they were. I asked for you to connect these capabilities to high-level matches and metagame trends.

 

[Lord Death Man]

Scrafty is the single scariest mon I can face on the ladder, because I have no idea what's going to happen until it's too late; it has next to no consistent checks because it could be running a boosting item (Fletch being the most reliable and it still loses to Coba berry and can lose to bulky DD if it has rocks on it's side of the field.) The DD set alone is insanely versatile, but the Band set is a real monster and BU is pretty bad but can catch some teams by surprise and get kills from that.

Scrafty is an absolutely monster and totally deserves S. Nothing else creates free turns AND utilitizes them so well. What *doesn't* give Scrafty a free turn, other than maaaybe Fletch (which can still give free turns to Band)?

EDIT: Could I possibly get reasoning for why Viriz is A-? It seems bad to me.

 

[Funbot28]

Why is Mega Steelix A+ now?

 

[Natural Talent]

Why is Mega Steelix A+ now?

My guess would be the loss of cress, doublade, and slowking. Which promotes the use of fighting types which really hurt steelix.

 

[Kableye]

I support if for S rank 100% for Scrafty. The versatility of Scrafty is what makes it so good, being able to run 3 different sets, and each of those sets having like 10 variations each, especially the Dragon Dance sets. It has 0 offensive counters, and every check is beaten by a specific set. I mean obviously you can't run all of these items, but this means offense needs to have at least 2 ways to beat Scrafty in mind. Defensively speaking yes it has Togetic and Aromatisse, although neither appreciate a Knock Off early game+a +1 Iron Head late game and Rocks. Wasting time to status it means you risk giving it a free DD thanks to Lum Berry or Shed Skin. I haven't even mentioned what Banded can do. Its abundance of sets is its major selling put for S rank.

Now that I've voiced my opinion on that I'd like to suggest another change, this time a drop. I feel that A+ is way to high for Alomomola. Don't get me wrong, Alomomola is a great wall, but that's about it. A wall. The fact that 2 S Rank mons are able to set up has driven me away from using it, Substitute Cobalion and Reuniclus are both huge problems for Alomomola. I understand that Alomomola is still really good at checking other pokemon in this meta, but I don't feel that the niche it fills is good enough for A+, A or even A- seems more fitting.

 

[Senpai D.M]

To A- Bronzong is the best rocker out of the steel type rockers that can take at least a hit and ensure rocks get up. It also doesnt lose to dugtrio or get trapped which is nice. It can pivot into Noivern a few times as well to scare it out if choiced into a move.

 

[Holiday]

Scrafty is the single scariest mon I can face on the ladder, because I have no idea what's going to happen until it's too late; it has next to no consistent checks because it could be running a boosting item (Fletch being the most reliable and it still loses to Coba berry and can lose to bulky DD if it has rocks on it's side of the field.) The DD set alone is insanely versatile, but the Band set is a real monster and BU is pretty bad but can catch some teams by surprise and get kills from that.

Scrafty is an absolutely monster and totally deserves S. Nothing else creates free turns AND utilitizes them so well. What *doesn't* give Scrafty a free turn, other than maaaybe Fletch (which can still give free turns to Band)?

EDIT: Could I possibly get reasoning for why Viriz is A-? It seems bad to me.

Virizion is A- due to the fact that between SD and SubCM it can take on a good chunk of things slower than it. The problem with it is that it has competition as a fighter from based Cobalion and Scrafty, plus with Noivern, Reuniclus, and Fletch present it really makes Virizion's life that much harder. Still a good sweeper though.

 

[Toljik]

I support if for S rank 100% for Scrafty. The versatility of Scrafty is what makes it so good, being able to run 3 different sets, and each of those sets having like 10 variations each, especially the Dragon Dance sets. It has 0 offensive counters, and every check is beaten by a specific set. I mean obviously you can't run all of these items, but this means offense needs to have at least 2 ways to beat Scrafty in mind. Defensively speaking yes it has Togetic and Aromatisse, although neither appreciate a Knock Off early game+a +1 Iron Head late game and Rocks. Wasting time to status it means you risk giving it a free DD thanks to Lum Berry or Shed Skin. I haven't even mentioned what Banded can do. Its abundance of sets is its major selling put for S rank.

Now that I've voiced my opinion on that I'd like to suggest another change, this time a drop. I feel that A+ is way to high for Alomomola. Don't get me wrong, Alomomola is a great wall, but that's about it. A wall. The fact that 2 S Rank mons are able to set up has driven me away from using it, Substitute Cobalion and Reuniclus are both huge problems for Alomomola. I understand that Alomomola is still really good at checking other pokemon in this meta, but I don't feel that the niche it fills is good enough for A+, A or even A- seems more fitting.

Scrafty has always looked like a fantastic Pokemon on paper, but that didn't stop it from being a shitmon in UU. It can beat Fairies only under specific circumstances (and it can't even touch Granbull), it absolutely needs HJK's power to sweep, and +1 base 58 Speed is too easy to take advantage of. Overall I think it should stay where it is.

 

[DouglasFalcon]

I also support Scrafty for S rank.
I disagree with the fact that he's only getting hype: as opposite to M-Gallade in OU, in fact, he's able to get past even its biggest checks by running a different set, while Mega Gallade couldn't and still can't; so the comparison is wrong.
While i agree that its low speed is a letdown on more aggressive Dragon Dance sets, one must also consider that Scrafty has good natural bulk+decent defensive typing that helps him (barely) surviving neutral hits from revengekillers. Sure it has x4 weakness to Fairy and x2 to Fighting (and to an extend, to Fletch's Acrobatics), but Scrafty can run coverage for everything above mentioned to smack unsuspecting would-be-counters (Iron Head/Zen Headbutt-Head Smash, respectively), allowing him to basically choose what to beat what to lose to. He forces to switch a lot of common threats, and this alongside with its aforementioned good bulk means that it has a very easy time to set up, as opposite to other pokémon like Tyrantrum which struggles a bit in finding free turns.
I believe its two biggest downsides are its mediocre power unboosted and low speed, but as I said this is mitigated by easily boosting/running band and being bulky enough to survive some hits.
Badass lizard for S-rank.

 

[Toljik]

I also support Scrafty for S rank.
I disagree with the fact that he's only getting hype: as opposite to M-Gallade in OU, in fact, he's able to get past even its biggest checks by running a different set, while Mega Gallade couldn't and still can't; so the comparison is wrong.
While i agree that its low speed is a letdown on more aggressive Dragon Dance sets, one must also consider that Scrafty has good natural bulk+decent defensive typing that helps him (barely) surviving neutral hits from revengekillers. Sure it has x4 weakness to Fairy and x2 to Fighting (and to an extend, to Fletch's Acrobatics), but Scrafty can run coverage for everything above mentioned to smack unsuspecting would-be-counters (Iron Head/Zen Headbutt-Head Smash, respectively), allowing him to basically choose what to beat what to lose to. He forces to switch a lot of common threats, and this alongside with its aforementioned good bulk means that it has a very easy time to set up, as opposite to other pokémon like Tyrantrum which struggles a bit in finding free turns.
I believe its two biggest downsides are its mediocre power unboosted and low speed, but as I said this is mitigated by easily boosting/running band and being bulky enough to survive some hits.
Badass lizard for S-rank.

I don't see the average team having just 1 Scrafty check, though. Fairy, Fighting, Flying and base 112+ Pokemon are common enough that you could have multiple Scrafty answers by accident.

 

[Kableye]

Scrafty has always looked like a fantastic Pokemon on paper, but that didn't stop it from being a shitmon in UU. It can beat Fairies only under specific circumstances (and it can't even touch Granbull), it absolutely needs HJK's power to sweep, and +1 base 58 Speed is too easy to take advantage of. Overall I think it should stay where it is.

I wouldn't say it nessarily can't touch Granbull. The Banded set breaks though Granbull pretty easily thanks to its lack of recovery.
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Scrafty Poison Jab vs. 248 HP / 232+ Def Granbull: 132-156 (34.4 - 40.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
That's essentially 2 switchins, stacked with Stealth rocks and the possible poison chance. I undersold the potential of the Banded set. And I wouldn't say needed HJK is really a flaw. Moltres needed Hurricane and Fire Blast in order to wall break and that didn't stop it from staying S rank for so long.

I don't see the average team having just 1 Scrafty check, though.

You don't find the fact that they need so many checks a testiment to Scrafty's impact?

 

[phantom]

You don't find the fact that they need so many checks a testiment to Scrafty's impact?

You're misunderstanding what he's saying. Whether or not his assertion is actually true, it basically boils down to: DD Scrafty isn't as impressive as people make it out to be because teams, notwithstanding Scrafty's influence, often carry more than one Scrafty check by default given that the Pokemon that check it, Fighting-types, Fairys, generally fast revenge-killers, are usually found in abundance on various teams.

What he's saying is that people often carry multiple Scrafty checks because the Pokemon that beat it are common, good, and used for their own merits and not specifically or even intentionally slotted on teams to beat Scrafty itself. Whether or not you agree is up to you, but this was the point he was trying to get across (I think).

 

[Captain Skywalker]

I haven't had all that much experience in RU as I just started playing the metagame with the May tier shifts. That being said, I think Scrafty is an absolute beast. It's so damn bulky and it has decent offenses to boot. This thing is utterly destroyed by fairies which may hold it back from being S rank but this thing is fucking awesome. The Bulk Up set is particularly useful because it capitalizes on Scrafty's defense while utilizing it's great offenses. Definitely a fun mon to use.