Resource SV CAP Viability Rankings

[spoo]

art by Swiffix!​

Welcome to the official SV CAP Viability Rankings! 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 CAP and what rank they should fall under. The general idea of the topic is to rank each Pokemon under "rankings" that go in descending order. Please keep in mind that the viability rankings are only for reference, they should not be treated as a fact or anything more. Also keep in mind that this thread will be heavily moderated, so please stay on topic and keep the discussion on relevant Pokemon.

Given that the SV metagame is still on its early stages, the VR will be used a simplified system until the next update, which puts Pokemon into the usual A/B/C, but doesn't include the S rank or +/- subranks.

These users make up the viability council and have the final say on what gets moved in the ranking list. It is also their responsibility to gather community input and to make sure discussion remains on topic.

Lasen
SHSP
spoo
D2TheW
Joeshh
Darek
pannu

Some general rules we expect everyone to follow are:

• Posts are to follow CAP and Smogon rules; you should all know what is and is not acceptable.
• Be respectful to other users. That means no ad hominem arguments or anything else attacking character.
• Back up all your arguments with evidence where possible, calculations and relevant replays do wonders for supporting nominations.
• Speaking of nominations, we'll be holding all posts that make nominations for unranked Pokemon to a higher standard than other posts. This means high level and relevant replays with solid reasoning. Anything less will be ignored by the ranking team and may be deleted.
• Similarly, any post advocating a change of two ranks or more for an already ranked Pokemon will also be held to a higher standard. We expect high level and relevant replays along with solid reasoning, and anything less may be subject to deletion.
• Lastly, keep your reasoning to the CAP Metagame. A Pokemon's performance in OU or any other official tier is irrelevant and posts using that as reasoning will be moderated.

Below you will find an explanation of each ranking:

rankings

S Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who shape and define the CAP metagame and are a clear-cut above the rest. 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.

A Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are fantastic in the CAP metagame, and can sweep, support, or wall significant portions of the metagame. These Pokemon require less support than most others to be used effectively and have few flaws that can easily be overlooked when compared to their positive traits.

B Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that are good in the CAP metagame. These Pokemon have more notable flaws than those above them that affect how they function in the metagame. Their positive traits still outshine their negatives, but they require a bit more team support to bring out their full potential. Their niches are often smaller than those that are in A and S rank, which leads them to face some competition for a teamslot.

C Rank: Reserved for Pokemon that have notable niches in the CAP metagame, but have just as many notable flaws that prevent them from being effective. Pokemon in the C tier often require significant support to be effective. Pokemon from this rank tend to face a lot of competition with the more commonly used Pokemon.

SV CAP Viability Rankings

(In alphabetical order)

S Ranks:

S Rank:
Hemogoblin

S- Rank:
Dragapult
Gliscor

A Ranks:

A+ Rank:
Equilibra
Kingambit
Kyurem
Roaring Moon
Venomicon

A Rank:
Arghonaut
Cresceidon
Deoxys-Speed
Gholdengo
Gouging Fire
Great Tusk
Malaconda
Ogerpon-Wellspring
Skarmory
Slowking-Galar
Volcarona
Walking Wake

A- Rank:
Clefable
Heatran
Iron Moth
Iron Valiant
Krilowatt
Miasmaw
Primarina
Rillaboom
Ting-Lu

B Ranks:

B+ Rank:
Caribolt
Cinderace
Dragonite
Garganacl
Hawlucha
Iron Boulder
Landorus-Therian
Meowscarada
Mollux
Raging Bolt
Samurott-Hisui
Serperior
Skeledirge
Snaelstrom
Stratagem
Tornadus-Therian
Weavile
Zamazenta

B Rank:
Alomomola
Barraskewda
Clodsire
Darkrai
Dondozo
Enamorus
Hatterene
Latias
Manaphy
Ninetales-Alola
Ogerpon-Cornerstone
Pecharunt
Pelipper
Plasmanta
Rotom-Wash
Toxapex
Venomicon-Epilogue
Zapdos

B- Rank:
Ceruledge
Colossoil
Corviknight
Glimmora
Iron Treads
Keldeo
Latios
Moltres
Necrozma
Tomohawk
Ursaluna
Venusaur

C Ranks:

C Rank:
Astrolotl
Blaziken
Blissey
Cawmodore
Comfey
Cresselia
Crucibelle
Excadrill
Fidgit
Garchomp
Greninja
Hoopa-Unbound
Hydrapple
Indeedee
Iron Crown
Reuniclus
Ribombee
Slowking
Torkoal
Tyranitar
Volcanion

 

[spoo]

Reserved

 

[Da Pizza Man]

: C --> UR

Everybody knows why this mon sucks, and I'm not really sure how it got ranked to begin with.

 

[Lasen]

something to note is we actively decided NOT to include an S-rank. Main reason is that we feel that this initial Viability Ranking is something between a full-on list and a Viability List, so we didn't want to jump the gun and name something(s) as above the rest of the viable Pokemon.
Anyways, expect a Jugulis game from me in the next 2 rounds of Kickoff.

 

[Concept Everything]

Just posting all the fully evolved unranked CAPs for people unfamiliar with the tier, don’t mind me.
Aurumoth
Cawmodore
Colossoil
Crucibelle
Cyclohm
Kerfluffle
Malaconda
Necturna
Pajantom
Plasmanta
Smokomodo
Syclant
Volkraken
Voodoom

Strikethroughs mean the CAP was at one point unranked, but no longer is.

 

[Yu_IOTJ]

also Idk if this is a hot take, but
: B --> A
I’d say it’s just about as effective as the other unaware mons. It’s super fat, and sets up real easy.

 

[spoo]

: B --> A
I’d say it’s just about as effective as the other unaware mons. It’s super fat, and sets up real easy.

to give context on this, I'd personally put it around b+/b if we had subranks right now because other competition from stuff like arghonaut just holds it back so much. dozo can be hard to justify using when it's forced to rely on rest for recovery and has lackluster attacking options, compared to argh which has all of reliable recovery, spikes, item disruption, and phazing. another big point of differentiation is that dozo is forced to run max defense to check neutral attackers like chien pao and kingambit, ultimately ending up really exploitable on the special side (part of why its setup sets aren't so threatening), but argh's extra resistances and overall good bulk let it be flexible in its EV spread and answer certain mons like chi yu and gholdengo way better. the flipside of this is that dondozo's lack of fairy/psychic/flying weaknesses and far superior physical bulk let it answer a couple things better in turn, but in general the tradeoff isn't usually worth it

 

[spoo]

First update since CAPCL! We now have subtiers, very cool. It goes without saying that a lot has changed, so instead of dividing the update into rises + drops as usual, I'll be grouping things by their initial A/B/C placements. Also, D2TheW and Rabia decided to vote on this slate after playing a bit more of the tier, or in Rabia's case, one game of the tier. Welcome back!

A Rank

• Arghonaut -> S
• Equilibra -> S
• Chien-Pao -> S-
• Garganacl -> S-
• Dragapult -> A+
• Great Tusk -> A+
• Iron Valiant -> A+
• Jumbao -> A+
• Venomicon -> A+
• Gholdengo -> A
• Rotom-Wash -> A
• Skeledirge -> A
• Venomicon-Epilogue -> A
• Astrolotl -> A-
• Cinderace -> A-
• Corviknight -> A-
• Dragonite -> A-
• Espathra -> A-
• Garchomp -> A-
• Hatterene -> A-
• Iron Hands -> A-
• Roaring Moon -> A-
• Ting-Lu -> A-

B Rank

• Krilowatt -> A+
• Iron Moth -> A-
• Tomohawk -> A-
• Glimmora -> B+
• Iron Treads -> B+
• Kingambit -> B+
• Meowscarada -> B+
• Toxapex -> B+
• Volcarona -> B+
• Amoonguss -> B
• Ceruledge -> B
• Chromera -> B
• Clodsire -> B
• Grimmsnarl -> B
• Pawmot -> B
• Pelipper -> B
• Quaquaval -> B
• Scizor -> B
• Dondozo -> B-
• Pajantom -> B-
• Slither Wing -> B-
• Slowking -> B-
• Stratagem -> B-
• Torkoal -> B-
• Azumarill -> C
• Breloom -> C
• Cawmodore -> C
• Fidgit -> C
• Orthworm -> C
• Pyroak -> C
• Hawlucha -> UR
• Tyranitar -> UR

C Rank

• Caribolt -> B+
• Gastrodon -> B
• Floatzel -> B-
• Saharaja -> B-
• Snaelstrom -> B-
• Alomomola -> C
• Barraskewda -> C
• Blissey -> C
• Colossoil -> C
• Magnezone -> C
• Maushold -> C
• Mollux -> C
• Naviathan -> C
• Polteageist -> C
• Scovillain -> C
• Talonflame -> C
• Tauros-Paldea-Fire -> C
• Baxcalibur -> UR
• Chansey -> UR
• Cloyster -> UR
• Cyclohm -> UR
• Ditto -> UR
• Gallade -> UR
• Gyarados -> UR
• Hippowdon -> UR
• Hydreigon -> UR
• Iron Jugulis -> UR
• Kitsunoh -> UR
• Miasmaw -> UR
• Revenankh -> UR
• Scream Tail -> UR
• Slowbro -> UR
• Syclant -> UR

We also had two mons rise from unranked. Cinderace cheated a bit, but good job Smoko!

• Cinderace UR -> A-
• Smokomodo UR -> B-

 

[spoo]

Hey everyone! It hasn't been all that long since our last update, and the timing of this one is a little weird given how recent Chien Pao and Espathra's bans were, but it was a priority to get out a quick update before CAPCL playoffs begin on Monday. snake_rattler also came back to vote for this slate, hooray!

Newly Ranked

• Armarouge UR -> C
• Crucibelle UR -> C
• Greninja UR -> A-
• Indeedee UR -> C
• Kitsunoh UR -> B-
• Miasmaw UR -> C
• Plasmanta UR -> B
• Revenankh UR -> A
• Sandy Shocks UR -> B

Rises

• Venomicon A+ -> S-
• Hatterene A- -> A
• Iron Moth A- -> A
• Caribolt B+ -> A-
• Volcarona B+ -> A-
• Ceruledge B -> B+
• Dondozo B- -> B
• Smokomodo B- -> B
• Snaelstrom B- -> A
• Stratagem B- -> B
• Breloom C -> B-
• Orthworm C -> B-

Drops

• Equilibra S -> S-
• Venomicon-Epilogue A -> A-
• Astrolotl A- -> B+
• Iron Hands A- -> B+
• Iron Treads B+ -> B
• Gastrodon B -> B-
• Pawmot B -> B-
• Pelipper B -> B-
• Quaquaval B -> B-
• Pajantom B- -> C
• Slither Wing B- -> UR
• Torkoal B- -> C
• Alomomola C -> UR
• Colossoil C -> UR
• Scovillain C -> UR
• Talonflame C -> UR
• Tauros-Paldea-Fire C -> UR

 

[Garrett]

>Rev at A

GET THAT BOY IN S RANK RIGHT NOW YOUNG MAN!!!!!

I will get to adding detail later, but Plasmanta/Smokomodo for B+, Indeedee for B-, Crucibelle for B are my buff noms

 

[dex]

>Rev at A

GET THAT BOY IN S RANK RIGHT NOW YOUNG MAN!!!!!

I will get to adding detail later, but Plasmanta/Smokomodo for B+, Indeedee for B-, Crucibelle for B are my buff noms

The main reason Revenankh is not ranked higher is that it plays just a little slow in the current meta. Its notable weaknesses to Iron Valiant and Tera Fairy Garganacl also hold it back. Furthermore, it often commands your tera slot, as without tera, Revenankh has no shot at breaking Tera Skeledirge. While Revenankh is still a very tricky sweeper to play around, it is nowhere near as self sufficient as it would like to be.

 

[Brown4Sides]

If you don't mind me asking why did Pawmot drop to B- and Talonflame drop to unranked?

Also is Plasmanta supposed to be B or B-? The VR says it's B-, but the update post says it rose to B.

 

[dex]

If you don't mind me asking why did Pawmot drop to B- and Talonflame drop to unranked?

Pawmot has dropped due to the faster pace of the metagame not allowing it to exact that much value from Revival Blessing. It also has just become easier to play around as people have become more experienced with it.

Talonflame saw niche usage at the beginning of the generation as a faster Defogger that can check Great Tusk; however, as CAP continues to differentiate itself from OU, we have come to realize that CAP just has better removal and means to deal with Great Tusk. Think Tomohawk.

 

[Concept Everything]

Where tf is Syclant

Syclant is currently in the “unranked” category. If you don’t see a Pokémon in the initial thread then they’re unranked.

Edit:
I updated my post with the current unranked CAPs for ease of access.

 

[faithviolet]

: C --> B-

Loaded Dice allows Miasmaw to use Scale Shot as reliable damage, and the dual setup of Swords Dance / Scale Shot makes it a set-up sweeper able to use its attack boosts against the many good Unaware walls available in the tier. Scale Shot+Earthquake cover so much together, and the fourth slot is unpredictable, with any of Leech Life, Megahorn, Wild Charge, Poison Jab, or Close Combat being viable options. Its typing sucks, but Terastallization is legal, and gets set-up sweepers like Miasmaw free turns in which to Swords Dance.

 

[spoo]

: C --> B-

Loaded Dice allows Miasmaw to use Scale Shot as reliable damage, and the dual setup of Swords Dance / Scale Shot makes it a set-up sweeper able to use its attack boosts against the many good Unaware walls available in the tier. Scale Shot+Earthquake cover so much together, and the fourth slot is unpredictable, with any of Leech Life, Megahorn, Wild Charge, Poison Jab, or Close Combat being viable options. Its typing sucks, but Terastallization is legal, and gets set-up sweepers like Miasmaw free turns in which to Swords Dance.

Totally agree with this, Miasmaw is a legit option on HO teams for blowing past Argh/Dirge which can be a lot of trouble otherwise. Both Shed Tail and Screens support are really good for giving it setup opportunities and you can even experiment with stuff like Tera Fire + Tera Blast in the last slot to dunk on Fairies and Steels at once. We'll be doing a VR update after CAPCL ends so I'll suggest a few more nominations:

S- -> A+
Obviously an incredible mon still but overall much more exploitable these days. Lot of stuff is running random Substitute/Covert Cloak to turn Garg into setup fodder which really hurts its overall viability. Curse or ID setup sets are probably Garg's "best" options, but usually if you're using Garg it's because you need a good rocker so it can't really fit the moves it actually wants to run

B- -> B/B+
Shed Tail is insane right now, take a look through the NFT replays from CAPCL and you will probably agree with me

B -> B+
Very strong option on HO for dealing with Venomicon, revenge killing stuff, etc, can run a few different sets between CM/Beam/Rocks (I think CM is often best but they all have uses), Tera Fire makes you damn near unwallable and prevents things like Bao from revenging you

B- -> B
Think people sleep on rain just because sun is the easier weather to run a lot of the time, but with how good HO is, the strat definitely has a niche. Strong matchup into BO/balance teams lacking Jumbao as well

C -> B-
Roak has seen a decent amount of success in CAPCL from the pannus and I think it's an extremely strong option on Shed Tail HO too, the Raj vs Elfuseon game is a good example of how it can abuse common meta staples like Jumbao and Libra to run through teams. Argh and Dirge are a bit annoying for it but you can usually tech for one of these with Tera Grass/Ground, in addition to Tera Fairy/Fire being strong options for other matchups

A+ -> S-
Not completely sure about this nomination tbh but I thought I'd throw it out there and see what people think. Arguably the best win condition in the meta right now between all 27 different sets it can run. It feels hard to forgo this mon on HO because you can just specialize it so hard for exactly what your team needs to beat, and it's obviously incredible on a lot of BO/standard offenses as a late-game cleaner or to force an early lead. Literally the only downsides to this mon is that it doesn't have special coverage for Libra and the Speed boost is single-use, otherwise it kinda feels like a cheat code

 

[Lasen]

take a look through the NFT

Less shitposty but I 100% disagree with the rain nomination; the amount of god-awful matchups you load into with rain makes it nigh impossible for it to be consistent; between the Protect users in Garganacl/Ting-Lu, random Substitutes (if I see Lefties Sub Skeledirge again...) including Shed Tail users, the kinda sorta sleeper agent named Plasmanta, and most importantly, ANY form of Jumbao and/or Krilowatt, you're not just fighting an up-hill battle, it's a whole war.

Personally advocating for Jumbao to S- rank seeing just how influential it is. Iron Moth is only in the A ranks because of Jumbao, Tera Blast sets annihilate every common defensive wall not named exactly Venomicon or Skeledirge, ontop of its god-sent typing when it comes to resistances, being self-reliant thanks to Synthesis or providing support with Healing Wish, this Pokemon is, in my opion, more influential and better than Equilibra.

 

[Brambane]

I would in general put Great Tusk over Equilibra. While Libra is the most consistent spinner and obviously handles Gholdengo and Dragapult better, Great Tusk is lot more flexible. Most importantly, Great Tusk can tech into beating a lot of mons and has Protosynthesis synergy with Jumbao. For example, Great Tusk in the sun can just straight up OHKO Venomicon-P with Head Smash, a mon that it typically baits in anyways. Libra doesn't have that degree of flexibility. The main issue Great Tusk had was overlapping weaknesses with Arghonaut, but honestly Arghonaut is low-key not an S rank mon right now lol.

With Chien-Pao gone, we are seeing a lot of builds that focus heavily around Venomicon-P, Iron Valiant, Jumbao and Krilowatt. Arghonaut does not match-up particularly well into any of these Pokemon, but some other trends do not favor it as well. It is basically a dead slot vs PsySpam unless you commit Tera, HO options like Caribolt, Pyroak, Miasmaw, and Roaring Moon can all force heavy damage on it if not KO it outright. Rev has a decent shot of beating it 1v1 now, and it takes a ton from Iron Moth's Overheat in the sun or its coverage moves otherwise. Arghonaut atm seems a bit eclipsed by Skeledirge, who is crucially a good Jumabo switch-in (its pretty much the only reasonable one that can switch into every Jumbao set) and better into Iron Valiant. Unless you a really hurting for Spikes or worried about stacking Fire or Ghost mons, I think most blance builds in the current meta are stronger with Skeledirge over Arghonaut.

Agreeing that Jumbao is S-rank minimum, admittedly it always has been but so long as Walking Wake is in the tier this mon is basically S+. Sun is so good. Venomicon is probably S rank for me, super customizable and can be a legit wincon even with NP with how good it trades and forces switches. Iron Valiant is probably S- rank alongside Jumbao, and Revenankh is definitely A+, although we will see if Zoroark's splash is big enough to tame down the mummy.

Also Colossoil is legitmately good despite its awkward defensive typing, Headlong Rush and Facade are nigh impossible to switch into without like Corviknight and it can end games after a Rapid Spin. 100% better than Smokomodo, who is certainly the worst starter right now.

 

[spoo]

Less shitposty but I 100% disagree with the rain nomination; the amount of god-awful matchups you load into with rain makes it nigh impossible for it to be consistent; between the Protect users in Garganacl/Ting-Lu, random Substitutes (if I see Lefties Sub Skeledirge again...) including Shed Tail users, the kinda sorta sleeper agent named Plasmanta, and most importantly, ANY form of Jumbao and/or Krilowatt, you're not just fighting an up-hill battle, it's a whole war.

Personally advocating for Jumbao to S- rank seeing just how influential it is. Iron Moth is only in the A ranks because of Jumbao, Tera Blast sets annihilate every common defensive wall not named exactly Venomicon or Skeledirge, ontop of its god-sent typing when it comes to resistances, being self-reliant thanks to Synthesis or providing support with Healing Wish, this Pokemon is, in my opion, more influential and better than Equilibra.

The issues you mention for rain are mostly true but I think they're being overstated. Many of the same points are true for sun as well, but that doesn't stop it from being a dominant archetype right now. Protect Garg/Ting/Libra are harder for sun to deal with than rain, as are certain substitute users like Skeledirge due to boosted Torch Song + walling sun's breakers, and a plethora of Pokemon such as Cinderace/Ceruledge/offensive Tusk/Dragons give the archetype a really hard time. Still, sun is a very consistent playstyle. I also disagree that Kril is a particularly hard matchup for rain, it's easy enough to tech for by making the team offensive enough to simply outpace it, or by fitting certain mons like Plasmanta/Clodsire that can usually answer it well. This rain team that Raj brought W1 and this one that the Baxcaliburs brought are good examples of what I mean. B rank still isn't even that good, I'm not claiming that it's a top-tier playstyle or something.

I have been low on Jumbao for a while now and have still yet to be convinced that it's anywhere near S-. It's a great breaker but is massively, massively dependent on both its item and Tera to make any kind of progress. Life Orb sets are the scariest to switch into but its speed tier is doing it absolutely no favors, pre-Tera it's hardly a threat at all, and between Life Orb + hazard damage post-Tera it can spend half its turns just healing. Scarf sets have much more team utility and are pretty good speed control, but it's not strong enough to break past common defensive Pokemon and locking into any of its moves is really exploitable in this HO dominated landscape. It also sucks when your typing means you're a great Argh and Tusk answer, both of which can turn you into fodder with Knock Off. Bao being a Tera hog (an incredibly linear and predictable one at that) is also a huge hindrance when the so much of Tera's strength as a mechanic comes from its flexibility and unpredictability. IMO the best thing about Jumbao is how it enables sun teams and Fire-type wallbreakers to be so threatening, but is that really worth S-? I don't think it is.

 

[Da Pizza Man]

UR -> A+

Walking Wake is broken. Weather-boosted Hydro Steam does an absolute shit load of damage to pretty much everything in the tier that doesn't resist it, and it has more than enough speed to outspeed most of the tier when boosted by Protosynthesis. On top of that, it gives Sun a very reliable answer to Skeledirge, which was one of the few mons that could handle both Jumbao and Iron Moth.

Not going to make noms for the other two new mons, because Iron Leaves is garbage and I haven't seen or used Hisuian Zoroark enough to have an idea of what to nom it for, so instead I'll nom some other stuff.

: S- -> A+

This is probably going to be fairly controversial, but while Equilibra is certainly very good in the metagame, I can't help but think that putting it in the S Ranks is just a tad bit too high for it. Compared to the other two mons in S- (Garganacel and Venomicon), Equilibra feels a lot less flexible and doesn't offer quite as much utility. On top of that, I agree with Brambane that there really isn't a whole lot of reason to rank it abovefrom Great Tusk, because in terms of viability, I feel that the two mons feel mostly about even right now.

: B+ -> A-/A

I'm not sure if I would prefer having Kingambit in A- or A (I'm leaning on the former), but regardless, having Kingambit in only B+ is a crime. While it's not as good as in OU, largely thanks to Arghonaut being pretty much everywhere, the sheer value it brings to Hyper Offense by being a sweeper that can reliably deal with Dragapult, and to a lesser extent Skeledrige, cannot be overstated, especially when it's backed up by a broken ass ability (Supreme Overlord) and a fairly solid offensive typing.

: B -> B+

I don't really have a whole lot to say here, I just think that it could use a small raise. Loaded Dice Bone Rush is a ridiculously strong attack that does a ton of damage to anything that doesn't resist it, and unlike a lot of other Ground-type wallbreakers, Smokomodo isn't stopped at all by Corviknight. The big thing that's preventing me from putting it in A- is that it really needs some sort of support to get past Venomicon and to a lesser extent Tomohawk, but apart from that it's an exceptional wallbreaker, and Bulk Up sets feel surprisingly really good on certain HO builds as well.

: C -> UR

There isn't any real reason as to why you should be using Torkoal as your Sun setter when Jumbao exists and not only does a way better job as a Sun setter, but provides actual utility outside of just setting Sun and synergizes way better with on mons on Sun teams.

: C -> UR

(Shitposting aside, this mon doesn't hold any niche whatsoever in the current metagame. It pretty much mandates you to dedicate your Tera Slot for it to make any sort of significant progress, and the fact that population bomb is a contact moves make it extremely exploitable by Rocky Helmet users such as Tomohawk and Corviknight. Any sort of progress it can make also goes to a screeching halt if your opponent has any sort of Ghost-type on their team. There is legitimately no reason to use this.)

Outside of that, seconding Jumbao to S- and Stratagem to B+ (Honestly, Stratagem could probably even go up to A-)

take a look through the NFT

Go away Logan Paul

 

[spoo]

Post-CAPCL update :] drops, drops, and more drops! As always, feel free to raise a question if you're curious about the rationale behind any of these.

Newly Ranked

• Baxcalibur UR -> B
• Colossoil UR -> B
• Hisuian Zoroark UR -> A-
• Iron Leaves UR -> C
• Walking Wake UR -> S-

Rises

• Venomicon S- -> S
• Revenankh A -> A+
• Roaring Moon A- -> A
• Kingambit B+ -> A-
• Stratagem B -> B+
• Floatzel B- -> B
• Orthworm B- -> B
• Pawmot B- -> B
• Pelipper B- -> B
• Armarouge C -> B-
• Indeedee C -> B-

Drops

• Arghonaut S -> S-
• Equilibra S- -> A+
• Hatterene A -> A-
• Snaelstrom A -> A-
• Corviknight A- -> B+
• Ting-Lu A- -> B+
• Tomohawk A- -> B
• Venomicon-Epilogue A- -> B+
• Astrolotl B+ -> B
• Ceruledge B+ -> B
• Glimmora B+ -> B
• Iron Hands B+ -> B
• Chromera B -> B-
• Grimmsnarl B -> B-
• Iron Treads B -> B-
• Sandy Shocks B -> B-
• Scizor B -> B-
• Saharaja B- -> C
• Slowking B- -> C
• Cawmodore C -> UR
• Magnezone C -> UR
• Maushold C -> UR
• Pajantom C -> UR
• Torkoal C -> UR

 

[skippergamez]

What is Colo’s niche, to mean seems outclassed by GT?

 

[Brown4Sides]

• Cawmodore C -> UR

This was totally deserved but I feel bad for bossaru

• Ceruledge B+ -> B

Why did Ceruledge drop? Considering how strong Jumbao is right now I thought it would've been better.

• Grimmsnarl B -> B-

Why did Grimmsnarl drop? I have always found Grimmsnarl's screens to be very helpful. It has Fairy STAB for Dark types that are immune to Parting Shot too.

 

[Brambane]

What is Colo’s niche, to mean seems outclassed by GT?

Wallbreaker primarily. Guts Facade/Headlong Rush/Knock Off is a really hard trio of moves to switch into, and it can end games with a Speed boost from Rapid Spin. Tera Normal not only obliterates pretty much everything neutral to Facade, it is a physical attacker that can 2HKO Book with a neutral hit, which is solid feat. It requires a lot more team support than Tusk does and is a less consistent spinner overall, so the utility role is much weaker on Colossoil. But that's the difference between an A+ mon and a B mon.

Why did Ceruledge drop? Considering how strong Jumbao is right now I thought it would've been better.

Why did Grimmsnarl drop? I have always found Grimmsnarl's screens to be very helpful. It has Fairy STAB for Dark types that are immune to Parting Shot too.

Ceruledge can switch into Jumbao but its utility defensively is being largely eclipsed by Skeledirge, who offers a better MU into non-sun offense and HO. Still a respectable sweeper, but its "bulky boosting wincon" set has pretty high competition between the aforementioned Skeledirge, Revenankh, Garganacl and Hatterene, all of which are top class mons.

If you use screens, you probably still use Grimm. Screens HO is just more outclassed by Worm HO at the moment, and fitting both is hard since HO is leaning more towards faster aggressive builds with suicide leads like Greninja over Screens.

 

[Zmaslan256]

Cyclohm: UR -> B-

Now just hear me out on this one

I am displaying my obvious favoritism here, but I simply can't accept that no one else thinks my boy has a place in the current metagame. This guy can do things, trust me. If you don't, then lets peruse through Cyclohm's positives.

Firstly, Cyclohm is a fantastic defensive pivot. It takes hits like stabs from Revenankh, both books, and Meowscarada, as well as more niche picks you might see on ladder like Caribolt, Naviathan, and other physical attackers. Standard sets run boots to more reliably switch in on these types of pokemon, but rocky helmet can be run to spread both chip damage and paralysis to things like Venomicon-E that already struggles with taking recoil damage. Cyclohm can also act as a team's blanket check to Cawmodore, taking any +6 move after a belly drum and threatening a KO with flamethrower of fire blast. Cyclohm is probably the best, most reliable switch in and counter to every notable Corviknight set in existence, threatening it out with discharge or volt switch to maintain pressure. Access to slack off makes Cyclohm a defensive pivot that isn't reliant on leftovers for recovery, allowing it consistently switch in on the pokemon its meant to check throughout a game. Cyclohm also loves switching in against defensive pokemon as well, such as Arghonaut, Saelstrom, Tomohawk, and Washtom, as many defensive pokemon are susceptible to the passive damage of rocky helmet or the paralysis spreading of static + discharge. While rare to see, Cyclohm can also be an effective offensive pivot as well, staying healthy with slack off and using its great bulk to gain opportunities to attack.

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it though, this guy can struggle. Ground types being everywhere in Tusk, Chomp, Equilibra, and Colossoil is awful for Cyclohm, especially since the majority of these mons are physical attackers that it can't reliably check. Special attackers like Jumbao, Stratagem, and Dragapult being meta right now is also not great as they highlight Cyclohm's mediocre special bulk. Miasmaw is a notable annoyance for being a physical setup sweeper that doesn't need to worry about static or rocky helmet when attacking. Status from mons like Clodsire, Toxic spikes, and will-o-wisp from Washtom and Skeledirge also give Cyclohm trouble, especially since it lost heal bell.

Overall, Cyclohm is a great defensive pivot that specializes in crippling offensive and defensive mons alike with status and chip damage, while being able to generate momentum for its team. Even if the metagame can be quite hostile to it, I still believe Cyclohm has a niche right now given that there is no longer competition for its role since Zapdos is (finally) gone.

Give my boy the recognition he deserves fr >:[