SS RU VR Update
Wooo, more VR updates!! Please note that these votes were done prior to Necrozma getting banned. As such, the VR will reflect the RU meta prior to the Nec ban. This could potentially make the VR outdated (but not redundant). In any case, another vote will be held at a later point once we see how the metagame develops.
Wooo, more VR updates!! Please note that these votes were done prior to Necrozma getting banned. As such, the VR will reflect the RU meta prior to the Nec ban. This could potentially make the VR outdated (but not redundant). In any case, another vote will be held at a later point once we see how the metagame develops.
Obstagoon A -> A+: Goon is arguably the best breaker in the tier. It 2hkos the entire tier, with the exception of Weezing-G and Chople Coba. Furthermore, both Weezing-G and Cobalion despise getting tricked a Flame Orb, as this severely limits their longevity, and, in Cobalion’s case, also cuts its attack in half, thereby suffocating its offensive abilities.
Registeel: A -> A+: Regi fills a plethora of valuable roles for any given team with great consistency. It provides a lot of defensive utility, with its bulk allowing it to blanket check the majority of the special attackers in the tier. Perhaps most importantly, Regi is one of the best Togekiss answers. To add to this, it is also a decent rocker than can punish fatter mons with Toxic.
Rhyperior UR -> A: Rhyp provides rocks, Togekiss answer, electric immunity, and several resistances all in one mon. It also packs a punch offensively, while it can Toxic (or Megahorn in the case of Celebi and Reuniclus) the few mons that can switch into its strong EdgeQuake coverage. Finally, thanks to its sheer bulk and strength, Rhyp is able to trade vs almost any given mon.
Starmie A- -> A: Solid spinner that also functions as a pivot with Teleport and status absorber with Natural Cure.
Celebi A- -> A: A breaker that is capable of dealing with mons like Cune and CM Reun is very valuable. It is also a great status absorber. All in all a great glue mon.
Suicune B+ -> A-: Seen a surge in usage and tour success as of late, as exemplified by the many times Punny’s Cune + Queen team has been brought in recent tour games. More generally,
Tornadus B+ -> A-: Flying type that sets itself apart from the others thanks to its superior breaking abilities. Great at making progress, while providing the team with a fast pivot that is either immune to Poltergeist (if Acrobatics) or to hazards (if boots).
Darmanitan B+ -> A-: Darm is one of the best scarfers at the moment. Preys on teams with Flygon or Noivern as the fire resist. Seismitoad and Rhyperior hurt it a bit. If not for the recent drops, it would have been ranked even higher.
Seimistoad UR -> B+: Lots of role compression in one mon. Water and electric immunity, fire resist, rock resist. Defensive sets can make progress with knock off, scald, or toxic, while offensive sets can make use of power whip for fat waters. Finally, Seismitoad is a decent rain abuser.
Weezing-G B -> B+: The only good switchin to Obstagoon in the tier. This alone is more than enough to warrant a rise. It also comes with the added benefit of dealing with Heracross, while being able to make some progress with Wisp and Corrosive Gas or removing hazards with Defog.
Guzzlord B -> B+: Guzzlord has seen a surge in usage lately. It functions as a decent blanket check to several special attackers, namely Chandelure, Celebi, and various electric types. Moreover, Knock turns it into a mon that can always make progress in one way or another.
Jellicent B -> B+: Jelli usage has also increased dramatically over the past few months. Much like with Guzzlord, this is not a fad. In addition to checking great mons like Cobalion, Lucario, Suicune, and Darmanitan, Jelli also feasts on the more passive balance teams which are in vogue atm.
Vaporeon B- -> B: Vaporeon has seen both a surge in usage and success in tour play lately. Its main perk is being a fat wish mon that supports Obstagoon – something which Umbreon struggles to do. In addition to this, it still beats most mons that you would need a fat water to beat. In short, Vap provides role compression and functions great in tandem with arguably the best breaker in the tier.
Klefki B- -> B: Chips Goon, sets spikes, and has priority status moves that can be helpful in a pinch.
Aerodactyl: C -> C+: Aero provides something as rare as an offensive Togekiss answer that is not an electric type. DD Aero is a usable wincon that outspeeds everything after a boost, whereas Roost lets Aero function as a switchin to mons like Toge, Noivern, Crobat, and Torn with even greater consistency. Sash lead HO generally sucks but Aero can also do this about as well as any other mon.
Bewear: C+ -> B-: Solid breaker that also provides neat defensive utility in being a Goon switchin and ghost immune. Its ability also allows it to trade vs any given physical attacker.
Heliolisk UR -> B-: Electric type that 2hkos all the ground types in the tier and outspeeds important mons like Obstagoon and Flygon. It also punishes mono attacking Suicune and Vaporeon, while still being a good check to Ice Beam Cune.
Sableye: UR -> C: Beats Obstagoon and Reun. It can also make progress by spreading status and removing items, while preventing the opponent from using recovery moves with Taunt.
Porygon-Z: C- -> C: This mon is just better than all the C- ranks. Both Specs and Scarf are viable sets. Granted, it still faces competition from other choice mons that mostly outdo it, so for now it will remain relatively low on the VR.
Ferroseed C- -> C: Just like PZ, this mon is also just better than the C- ranks. As opposed to the other C- ranks, Ferro has actually seen recent success in tour usage, both in SCL and the recent invitational tournament.
Registeel: A -> A+: Regi fills a plethora of valuable roles for any given team with great consistency. It provides a lot of defensive utility, with its bulk allowing it to blanket check the majority of the special attackers in the tier. Perhaps most importantly, Regi is one of the best Togekiss answers. To add to this, it is also a decent rocker than can punish fatter mons with Toxic.
Rhyperior UR -> A: Rhyp provides rocks, Togekiss answer, electric immunity, and several resistances all in one mon. It also packs a punch offensively, while it can Toxic (or Megahorn in the case of Celebi and Reuniclus) the few mons that can switch into its strong EdgeQuake coverage. Finally, thanks to its sheer bulk and strength, Rhyp is able to trade vs almost any given mon.
Starmie A- -> A: Solid spinner that also functions as a pivot with Teleport and status absorber with Natural Cure.
Celebi A- -> A: A breaker that is capable of dealing with mons like Cune and CM Reun is very valuable. It is also a great status absorber. All in all a great glue mon.
Suicune B+ -> A-: Seen a surge in usage and tour success as of late, as exemplified by the many times Punny’s Cune + Queen team has been brought in recent tour games. More generally,
Tornadus B+ -> A-: Flying type that sets itself apart from the others thanks to its superior breaking abilities. Great at making progress, while providing the team with a fast pivot that is either immune to Poltergeist (if Acrobatics) or to hazards (if boots).
Darmanitan B+ -> A-: Darm is one of the best scarfers at the moment. Preys on teams with Flygon or Noivern as the fire resist. Seismitoad and Rhyperior hurt it a bit. If not for the recent drops, it would have been ranked even higher.
Seimistoad UR -> B+: Lots of role compression in one mon. Water and electric immunity, fire resist, rock resist. Defensive sets can make progress with knock off, scald, or toxic, while offensive sets can make use of power whip for fat waters. Finally, Seismitoad is a decent rain abuser.
Weezing-G B -> B+: The only good switchin to Obstagoon in the tier. This alone is more than enough to warrant a rise. It also comes with the added benefit of dealing with Heracross, while being able to make some progress with Wisp and Corrosive Gas or removing hazards with Defog.
Guzzlord B -> B+: Guzzlord has seen a surge in usage lately. It functions as a decent blanket check to several special attackers, namely Chandelure, Celebi, and various electric types. Moreover, Knock turns it into a mon that can always make progress in one way or another.
Jellicent B -> B+: Jelli usage has also increased dramatically over the past few months. Much like with Guzzlord, this is not a fad. In addition to checking great mons like Cobalion, Lucario, Suicune, and Darmanitan, Jelli also feasts on the more passive balance teams which are in vogue atm.
Vaporeon B- -> B: Vaporeon has seen both a surge in usage and success in tour play lately. Its main perk is being a fat wish mon that supports Obstagoon – something which Umbreon struggles to do. In addition to this, it still beats most mons that you would need a fat water to beat. In short, Vap provides role compression and functions great in tandem with arguably the best breaker in the tier.
Klefki B- -> B: Chips Goon, sets spikes, and has priority status moves that can be helpful in a pinch.
Aerodactyl: C -> C+: Aero provides something as rare as an offensive Togekiss answer that is not an electric type. DD Aero is a usable wincon that outspeeds everything after a boost, whereas Roost lets Aero function as a switchin to mons like Toge, Noivern, Crobat, and Torn with even greater consistency. Sash lead HO generally sucks but Aero can also do this about as well as any other mon.
Bewear: C+ -> B-: Solid breaker that also provides neat defensive utility in being a Goon switchin and ghost immune. Its ability also allows it to trade vs any given physical attacker.
Heliolisk UR -> B-: Electric type that 2hkos all the ground types in the tier and outspeeds important mons like Obstagoon and Flygon. It also punishes mono attacking Suicune and Vaporeon, while still being a good check to Ice Beam Cune.
Sableye: UR -> C: Beats Obstagoon and Reun. It can also make progress by spreading status and removing items, while preventing the opponent from using recovery moves with Taunt.
Porygon-Z: C- -> C: This mon is just better than all the C- ranks. Both Specs and Scarf are viable sets. Granted, it still faces competition from other choice mons that mostly outdo it, so for now it will remain relatively low on the VR.
Ferroseed C- -> C: Just like PZ, this mon is also just better than the C- ranks. As opposed to the other C- ranks, Ferro has actually seen recent success in tour usage, both in SCL and the recent invitational tournament.
Reuniclus: S -> A+: The playerbase adapted to Reun since the time when it was almost banned. The rise of Celebi hurts CM Focus Blast Reun, while using shadow ball means that dark types like Obstagoon, Incineroar, and Guzzlord get in for free vs it. Giving free turns to Goon is particularly dangerous. To add to this, Golisopod often uses Leech Life now, while Milotics tend to pack Haze. As such, CM does not perform quite as well as it did a short while ago. Finally, the rise in Umbreon, Jellicent, Guzzlord, and Obstagoon usage hurts AV Reun a bit, as the former three deal with AV well while the latter punishes its very presence. Still, this was a tight vote, and with Necrozma getting banned, it does lose some competition from a fellow psychic type.
Nidoqueen A+ -> A: Not quite on the same level as Goon, Reun, Regi, or Coba. It was previously ranked a bit too highly.
Volcanion A+ -> A: Same as Nidoqueen.
Chandelure A- -> B+: The surge in Obstagoon and Guzzlord usage hurts it a lot.
Steelix A-> B+: The recent additions of Rhyperior and Seismitoad directly impact its viability for the worse. Not only do they compete with it as a rocker - they also make it much harder for Lix to make any form of progress (granted, it may indeed Toxic them).
Stakataka A- -> B+: Same reason as Steelix.
Raikou A- -> B+: Struggles to break grounds like Flygon, Gastrodon, and Seismitoad. Other elecs, particularly Xurkitree, are better than it at making progress. In addition, it rcently gained yet another competitor in Heliolisk.
Roserade A-> B+: competition from spikes and grass types. Celebi. Steel types.
Rotom-Mow B+ -> B: Mowtom is not quite on the same level as Roserade, Raikou, or Xurk. The sad part with Mowtom is that it is an electric type which cannot function as a flying resist, which in turn forces you to run different flying resists
Golurk B+ -> B: Faces a lot of competition from other physical breakers that tend to be easier to fit. Obstagooon and Flygon being so good is particularly problematic for it, as fitting either of those two is generally much easier. The prevalence of Goon also makes Polter much harder to spam.
Entei B+ -> B: One of the best sun abusers. However, while sun is indeed usable, it is not in a great place. Other sets such as Vintei and ProTox are usable but not too great. All in all, we felt that it was just ranked a bit too highly.
Vileplume B -> B-: Weezin-G mostly fills the role of a defensive poison better. Vileplume is 2hkod my mons like Obstagoon and Heracross, which Weezing-G deals with just fine. To add to this, using Vileplume often means foregoing the opportunity to use mons like Crobat, Nidoqueen, Roserade, and Celebi, all of which are usually more valuable mons.
Toxtricity B- -> C+: Competes with a lot of other electrics. Its main drawback is the speed tier. whereas other electrics can check Togekiss reliably, Toxtricity struggles to do so because it is slower. The relatively low speed also means it gets fewer chances to break. Finally, the recent addition of Rhyperior makes its best moves less spamable.
Talonflame B- -> C+: Talonflame is mostly outdone by other flying types like Crobat, Noivern, and Togekiss. The rise of Diancie and Rhyp makes it even worse. Granted, it can still function as a defensive pivot that spreads status, while also walling mons like non-Stone Edge Cobalion and Mimikyu.
Porygon2: B- -> C+: P2’s main niche is as a fat blanket check to special attackers that can grab momentum with Teleport. Unfortunately for P2, many of the special attackers have pivot moves and are paired with breakers that can take advantage of it. In addition, P2 is rather prone to getting weakened by both status and hazards. The rise of other Teleport mons that do not have this issue, Starmie and Xatu (but most importantly Starmie), makes it even less tempting to use.
Cresselia B- -> C+: CM sets are usually done better by Reuniclus, while Scarf sets are typically done better by Gardevoir or even Indeedee. It has a slight niche as a super fat psychic with lunar dance support, but it is mostly hard to fit and justify using.
Indeedee B- -> C+: Speaking of Indeedee, Gardevoir does mostly fill the role of specs or scarf psychic type better. Furthermore, the rise of Obstagoon really hurts it, as it outspeeds non-scarf sets and makes expanding force spam, one of Indeedee’s main perks, much worse.
Kingdra B- -> C+: Kingdra arguably remains the best rain abuser. The addition of Seismitoad does mean that it faces some more competition, however. Additionally, rain, much like sun, is in a bit worse spot now than it used to be, whereas Critdra is almost never seen.
Ribombee: B- -> C: Webs is just bad. QD really struggles to beat sturdy steel types – which any team should be packing. Specs is its best set, as it cripples all its switchins with Trick. Additionally, it also punishes lazy builders that do not use proper steel types. However, Bee does not provide much defensive utility and it is weak to SR.
Torkoal C+ -> C: Sun is slightly worse than it used to be.
Charizard C+ -> C: Same reason as Torkoal.
Shiftry C+ -> C: Same reason as Zard and Torkoal.
Ditto C+ -> C: Struggles a bit vs the very play style it is supposed to beat – hyper offense. MimiShark teams are particularly challenging for it to deal with. It is still great to have for mons like Shark, Cloyster, Barbaracle, DD Flygon, etc, but it is not quite as good as it was a little while ago. The drop in viability of Cloyster and Barbaracle in particular and HO also makes it a bit less valuable than it used to be.
Kabutops C+ -> C: Politoed ought to be ranked a bit higher than individual abusers. While Politoed rain can be used without Kabutops, Kabutops does not perform well without Politoed. Therefore, it will be dropped by one sub-rank.
Ludicolo C+ -> C: Same reason as Kabutops.
Barbaracle C+ -> C: Super rare mon that is hard to fit. It only really fits on HO, a playstyle which is slightly worse than it used to be. Additionally, other sweepers are often better, even when you do opt for HO.
Slurpuff C+ -> C: Same reason as Barbaracle.
Sylveon: C -> C-: Mostly outdone by Vaporeon or Umbreon as a wishpasser. Totally outclassed by Gardevoir as a breaker. Because of this you rarely ever see it. Still usable on the few teams that would rather have its defensive typing than that of Umbreon or Vaporeon.
Doublade C -> C-: No tour usage. Hard to fit. Mimikyu mostly does the job as a ghost type swords dancer better on offensive teams, whereas other steels perform the role of a defensive steel much better. While Doublade’s strength is that it can sort of do both at once, it really struggles to carve out a niche for itself in the present meta. The many fat waters only serve to inhibit its viability even further.
Froslass C -> C-: Froslass HO fell out of favour. While still usable, you almost never see it. Even MimiShark teams often opt for other spikers, such as Heracross, Roserade, and Golisopod.
Zoroark: C -> C-: Never sees any tour usage. Faces great competition from other dark type breakers, namely Obstagoon, Incineroar, and Pangoro. Extremely hard to justify using.
Nidoqueen A+ -> A: Not quite on the same level as Goon, Reun, Regi, or Coba. It was previously ranked a bit too highly.
Volcanion A+ -> A: Same as Nidoqueen.
Chandelure A- -> B+: The surge in Obstagoon and Guzzlord usage hurts it a lot.
Steelix A-> B+: The recent additions of Rhyperior and Seismitoad directly impact its viability for the worse. Not only do they compete with it as a rocker - they also make it much harder for Lix to make any form of progress (granted, it may indeed Toxic them).
Stakataka A- -> B+: Same reason as Steelix.
Raikou A- -> B+: Struggles to break grounds like Flygon, Gastrodon, and Seismitoad. Other elecs, particularly Xurkitree, are better than it at making progress. In addition, it rcently gained yet another competitor in Heliolisk.
Roserade A-> B+: competition from spikes and grass types. Celebi. Steel types.
Rotom-Mow B+ -> B: Mowtom is not quite on the same level as Roserade, Raikou, or Xurk. The sad part with Mowtom is that it is an electric type which cannot function as a flying resist, which in turn forces you to run different flying resists
Golurk B+ -> B: Faces a lot of competition from other physical breakers that tend to be easier to fit. Obstagooon and Flygon being so good is particularly problematic for it, as fitting either of those two is generally much easier. The prevalence of Goon also makes Polter much harder to spam.
Entei B+ -> B: One of the best sun abusers. However, while sun is indeed usable, it is not in a great place. Other sets such as Vintei and ProTox are usable but not too great. All in all, we felt that it was just ranked a bit too highly.
Vileplume B -> B-: Weezin-G mostly fills the role of a defensive poison better. Vileplume is 2hkod my mons like Obstagoon and Heracross, which Weezing-G deals with just fine. To add to this, using Vileplume often means foregoing the opportunity to use mons like Crobat, Nidoqueen, Roserade, and Celebi, all of which are usually more valuable mons.
Toxtricity B- -> C+: Competes with a lot of other electrics. Its main drawback is the speed tier. whereas other electrics can check Togekiss reliably, Toxtricity struggles to do so because it is slower. The relatively low speed also means it gets fewer chances to break. Finally, the recent addition of Rhyperior makes its best moves less spamable.
Talonflame B- -> C+: Talonflame is mostly outdone by other flying types like Crobat, Noivern, and Togekiss. The rise of Diancie and Rhyp makes it even worse. Granted, it can still function as a defensive pivot that spreads status, while also walling mons like non-Stone Edge Cobalion and Mimikyu.
Porygon2: B- -> C+: P2’s main niche is as a fat blanket check to special attackers that can grab momentum with Teleport. Unfortunately for P2, many of the special attackers have pivot moves and are paired with breakers that can take advantage of it. In addition, P2 is rather prone to getting weakened by both status and hazards. The rise of other Teleport mons that do not have this issue, Starmie and Xatu (but most importantly Starmie), makes it even less tempting to use.
Cresselia B- -> C+: CM sets are usually done better by Reuniclus, while Scarf sets are typically done better by Gardevoir or even Indeedee. It has a slight niche as a super fat psychic with lunar dance support, but it is mostly hard to fit and justify using.
Indeedee B- -> C+: Speaking of Indeedee, Gardevoir does mostly fill the role of specs or scarf psychic type better. Furthermore, the rise of Obstagoon really hurts it, as it outspeeds non-scarf sets and makes expanding force spam, one of Indeedee’s main perks, much worse.
Kingdra B- -> C+: Kingdra arguably remains the best rain abuser. The addition of Seismitoad does mean that it faces some more competition, however. Additionally, rain, much like sun, is in a bit worse spot now than it used to be, whereas Critdra is almost never seen.
Ribombee: B- -> C: Webs is just bad. QD really struggles to beat sturdy steel types – which any team should be packing. Specs is its best set, as it cripples all its switchins with Trick. Additionally, it also punishes lazy builders that do not use proper steel types. However, Bee does not provide much defensive utility and it is weak to SR.
Torkoal C+ -> C: Sun is slightly worse than it used to be.
Charizard C+ -> C: Same reason as Torkoal.
Shiftry C+ -> C: Same reason as Zard and Torkoal.
Ditto C+ -> C: Struggles a bit vs the very play style it is supposed to beat – hyper offense. MimiShark teams are particularly challenging for it to deal with. It is still great to have for mons like Shark, Cloyster, Barbaracle, DD Flygon, etc, but it is not quite as good as it was a little while ago. The drop in viability of Cloyster and Barbaracle in particular and HO also makes it a bit less valuable than it used to be.
Kabutops C+ -> C: Politoed ought to be ranked a bit higher than individual abusers. While Politoed rain can be used without Kabutops, Kabutops does not perform well without Politoed. Therefore, it will be dropped by one sub-rank.
Ludicolo C+ -> C: Same reason as Kabutops.
Barbaracle C+ -> C: Super rare mon that is hard to fit. It only really fits on HO, a playstyle which is slightly worse than it used to be. Additionally, other sweepers are often better, even when you do opt for HO.
Slurpuff C+ -> C: Same reason as Barbaracle.
Sylveon: C -> C-: Mostly outdone by Vaporeon or Umbreon as a wishpasser. Totally outclassed by Gardevoir as a breaker. Because of this you rarely ever see it. Still usable on the few teams that would rather have its defensive typing than that of Umbreon or Vaporeon.
Doublade C -> C-: No tour usage. Hard to fit. Mimikyu mostly does the job as a ghost type swords dancer better on offensive teams, whereas other steels perform the role of a defensive steel much better. While Doublade’s strength is that it can sort of do both at once, it really struggles to carve out a niche for itself in the present meta. The many fat waters only serve to inhibit its viability even further.
Froslass C -> C-: Froslass HO fell out of favour. While still usable, you almost never see it. Even MimiShark teams often opt for other spikers, such as Heracross, Roserade, and Golisopod.
Zoroark: C -> C-: Never sees any tour usage. Faces great competition from other dark type breakers, namely Obstagoon, Incineroar, and Pangoro. Extremely hard to justify using.
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for B-
Goodra UR -> B-/B
-> A+
and 
being the new premier steel types, the former weak to Shadow Claw and the latter often not being able to hurt it without Toxic (many Registeel run SToss over Heavy Slam, at least from my experience), means that its a lot more difficult to stop. And while Incineroar is annoying, it is very easy to wear down over the course of a game due to its lack of a reliable recovery. 
-> B+/A-
or 
, this thing actually serves as a pseudo wallbreaker with how few things actually want to switch into it. Hell, even 
can get 2-shot with some chip. And, while A- might be a stretch, I think B+ would work fine.
-> C+ -> Higher (Maybe B-)
is gone from the tier, and that means the singular faster ESpeed resist (I know Aerodactyl exists, but c'mon, its Aero. The new steel types, Metagross and Registeel, don't either want very with it (Stealth Rock Metagross in particular hates it since it doesn't carry BPunch). 
-> B/B-
-> C (Agree)
-> S (Leaning to Agree, not sure)
-> A (Not sure)
and 
-> (Agree)
-> Higher (Hard agree)
-> B+ (Disagree)
-> (Not sure)
-> A- (Disagree)
-> B (Agree)
-> Lower imo
-> C+ (Agree)
198-234 (60.5 - 71.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after burn damage
237-280 (63.5 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
276-326 (70 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
UR to C 
