SV UU DLC 1 Viability Rankings

[Kin+ak (✧∇✧)]

Weezing-Galar does check a lot of stuff but its lack of recovery prevents it to check those threats in the long run. Meowscarada can just remove its Leftovers / Rocky Helmet, making it even more passive than it is already.

Tes but that's a very specific case And Even if it loses its item it can Still successfully win against many mons. Pain split, While not that reliable, Is Still a form of recovery especially against defesnive mins that Switch in to take the damages. And wishsupport Is possible with gweezing not being weak to sr And Even capable of removing tspikes. While sure it Is not that fun to lose its item, All pokemon except maybe dipplin While played sticky hold lose their item on meow's koff And While it Never has the same effect, At leadt it always wins duel And can be played with wishsupport.

 

[Szark]

Tes but that's a very specific case And Even if it loses its item it can Still successfully win against many mons. Pain split, While not that reliable, Is Still a form of recovery especially against defesnive mins that Switch in to take the damages. And wishsupport Is possible with gweezing not being weak to sr And Even capable of removing tspikes. While sure it Is not that fun to lose its item, All pokemon except maybe dipplin While played sticky hold lose their item on meow's koff And While it Never has the same effect, At leadt it always wins duel And can be played with wishsupport.

A specific case? There are so many mons in UU with access to Knock Off that it would be a waste of time to list them all but out of the top tiers Tornadus, Weavile, Iron Treads, Meowscarada and Okidogi are all very common and like to run it so it's not uncommon at all for it to lose the item.

Wish support is very rare in the tier since best Wish passer is Sylveon. Lack of Alo really hurts the viability of the strategy.

Toxic spikes are also very rare as the distribution is pretty narrow and there are common Poison types that just absorb them like Amoongus and Okidogi. Geezing could also technically absorb them but I dont think it's other abilities are viable over Levitate.

The difference between Geezing losing it's item and other Mons losing it's items is pretty big. Tornadus doesn't care about losing as much because it still has RegenTurn in the end, Dogi doesn't like losing Leftovers but at least it still has Drain Punch. Geezing losing item makes it a lot less reliable at doing its job.

 

[Mossy Sandwich]

I'll give my thoughts on some noms I disagree with so far as well as make a few of my own.

Bellibolt Keep B+: A few people are supporting of this thing rising to A- and I get it, but I think it has a few really bad flaws that make it very awkward to use, those being passivity and a weakness to chip, especially from hazards. First off, passivity. Bellibolt isn't bad at pressuring mons and getting momentum with Volt Switch and Toxic, but the big issue comes against setup sweeper. Its damage output is very underwhelming as it relies on Volt Switch (a move that prevents it from staying in) and Muddy Water (a move it lacks STAB on) to deal damage. Both of those struggle to 1HKO even targets that are weak to it. If you're trying to counter a NP Torn, it can legitimately just stay in, hit you for 50%, come back later and finish you off. Toxic is also just really not sufficient to hold setup wallbreakers back. If you're staring down an Iron Hands, it can still just SD and trade one for two or three because Toxic is just not fast enough to take it out before it gets out of hands. Bellibolt teams are playing slow enough that 1v1s against breakers like Hands or Hydrei are pretty much inevitable if your opponent looks for them and risk breaking your defensive core easily. These issues get much, much worse if you have to face Steel or Poison type setup mons like Scizor, Okidogi or Tera'd Sinistcha. As for its weakness to chip, the big issue that stands out here is that Bellibolt is neutral to so much that you can't really take hits from 50% since you won't resist them. Whatever wallbreaker you're trying to deal with, dropping below 80% with Rocks up is probably leaving you in a pretty scary position against stuff like Weavile, Quaquaval and even Gapdos. In theory, Bellibolt can punish U-Turn, but in practice, I feel like that leaves you very open to wallbreakers getting through it if it takes them with hazards up. AV Torn doesn't mind getting Static'd that much and the opponent can decide to play the long game, just getting Bellibolt into range of their wallbreakers. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Bellibolt leaves itself very open to trades and I find it doesn't make for very sturdy cores as a result if your opponent is willing to make some sacrifices for the sake of progress. I consider cores using Rotom-Wash can actually adapt to its lack of longevity better and actually use its ability to spread more instantly threatening status and deal better damage overall more efficiently. I'd rather see Washtom drop to B+ than see Bellibolt rise though if I'm being honest.

Ogerpon Keep B+: Only one nom to drop, but I've seen a few people hate on this comparing it to Meowscarada notably and I just gotta clear its name and explain. First of all, you have to be ready to invest your tera into it most games and that's a big investment. However, if you do, you end up with a wallbreaker with a crazy speed tier of 525 without any restriction and a damage output comparable to Rillaboom's. Ogerpon can get through regular Grass resists like Torn-T easily and access to Zen Headbutt makes Poison-types much less reliable answers to it. Swords Dance can end games extremely efficiently once its counters are gone because of just how fast and strong it is. I don't think comparing it to Meowscarada is very fair though and you probably shouldn't use Ogerpon primarily for its utility pivot value rather than its raw speed and damage output. Not that its utility can't be good, Encore especially can generate an insane amount of advantage. Ogerpon also has weirdly good bulk for its power which allows you to stay out of range of Weavile Ice Shard and Scizor Bullet Punch to an extent or to survive SE hits from AV Torn or Amoonguss if you want to trade. Anyway, its Tera reliance and somewhat lacking consistency probably keeps it out of A tiers, but I think it fits B+ and dropping it further wouldn't do it justice.

Alright now unto the noms

Weavile A+ --> S-: Not quite on the same level as Treads or Torn due to those being glues, but Weavile is simply a monster. Not only is it the fastest mon in the meta unboosted, already impressive for a wallbreaker, but its typing lets it act as excellent speed control, hitting both Torn-T and Meowscarada super-effectively and packing Ice Shard to hit common Scarfers like Hydreigon or Gapdos. This alone is already pretty crazy, but it's also one of the scariest wallbreakers on top of that. +2 Tera Dark Knock Off is ridiculous, one shotting relatively bulky neutral targets like Iron Treads and Rotom-Wash and even forcing mons like Quaquaval to be careful with their health. Seriously, Weavile can drop most offensive mons easily at +2 and it does that while being a speed-control option. It's very good at wearing down its Fighting type checks thanks to Knock Off's item removal and its superior longevity thanks to Boots. In general, these traits just make Weavile an incredible mid-game attacker and late-game wallbreaker/sweeper. This difficulty keeping it in check in the long run can often force certain Ice or Dark weak mons to Tera to get rid of the threat early, for example with Steel Tornadus or Hydreigon. This forced Tera can be very nice for Weavile's teammates and can even put you in extremely advantageous positions if you can call it out (You can probably afford to try to bait it out and switch since Weavile teams tend to play a bit on the slower side). This mon has shown itself to be a top tier offensive threat for multiple reasons in tournament play so far and the amount it adds to the teams it's on makes me think a rise is justified.

Quaquaval A- --> A: Quaval's current ranking does not accurately reflect how threatening of a wincon it is currently. It snowballs incredibly hard between Swords Dance, Moxie, Aqua Step and its wide movepool; you cannot afford to give it any breathing room or the game will likely end on the spot. Water/Fighting has a few decent defensive switch-ins in the current meta, but with great Flying and Dark coverage, most of these seem like fake answers, potentially requiring Tera or a resist berry. The only issue of note for me is that its setup opportunities are somewhat limited. Regardless, Quaquaval should be considered one of the main threats to keep in mind when building a team and A rank is more fitting of that. If that's not enough for you, then I'd also like to mention its great defensive utility. While it doesn't deal with much, Weavile and Arcanine-H can be some of the most difficult pokemon to switch into in the metagame and Quaval can provide you with a reliable switch-in to both which can be incredibly valuable.

Thundurus-Incarnate C+ --> B-/B: Nasty Plot sets are very good at breaking down standard balance cores that lack Speed besides Tornadus-T and Iron Treads. Its main niche over its Therian forme is that Thundy-I can outspeed Iron Treads. Its damage output is a bit lower, but it's good enough for what it wants to do, landing 1HKOs with Thunderbolt on common offensive Water-types unboosted, most slower offensive mons such as Scizor or Arcanine-Hisui at +2 and one-shotting Iron Treads and Amoonguss at +2 with Grass Knot and Psychic respectively. Basically, Thundurus-I is quite good at breaking down certain balance cores and can perform better than other pokemon C+ in my opinion.

Also got some drop noms

Meowscarada A+ --> A: Alright this one might not be well received, but I still want this to be acknowledged. Meowscarada feels like it's lacking something on every set and it feels too easily walled to be A+ rank. Boots and Scarf offer very nice flexibility overall, but have a very hard time actually forcing switches to set Spikes or Pivot properly. Torn-T and Iron Treads are the most common pokemon in the metagame and they can take Meowscarada's hits while also generating a lot of advantage if it Spikes or U-Turns as they stay in. There are also a lot of neutral targets that require chip before dropping into its range, a lot of Fighting-types that force you out and even something like Sinistcha can just stay in despite being weak to Knock Off. When you do properly force something out, the progress you make tends to be limited due to having to deal with really good switchins like Amoonguss, Okidogi, Iron Hands or Gweezing who can take your hits with ease. Sure you can get up Spikes, but I don't feel it comes in nearly often enough to be able to apply reliable pressure with those. Band is the opposite, it does a ton of damage, but when you run into some of the counters listed above, it feels really rough trying to properly wallbreak with it. At the end of the day, it's still Meowscarada, great speed control, good spiker, forces answers to it on teams, but I haven't felt it gets the value an A+ tier mon should get.

Scizor A --> A-: This feels really out of place, A- feels a bit high for me even. The main thing that has stood out about Scizor this whole gen is its relation to its health: any hits it takes will stick and it needs to manage it properly in order to setup an endgame sweep. With such a fragile win condition, you'd expect very high rewards and good consistency, but that's not really the case. Scizor has to rely on Bullet Punch more than ever with the overall speed tiers being higher, but it also has to use BP in a meta where Electric types like Washtom, Sandy Shocks, Thundurus and even tera'd mons like Torn-T are very common. You also have to deal with bulky targets like Iron Hands and Skeledirge that will often take multiple hits to take out. On top of that, a majority of teams carry Iron Treads which outspeeds, takes Bullet Punch rather well and can even hit common Scizor Teras like Fire and Steel super-effectively. This mon just has to get through so much to get results and I feel like that makes it rather inconsistent.

 

[Nikebeamz]

I'll give my thoughts on some noms I disagree with so far as well as make a few of my own.

Bellibolt Keep B+: A few people are supporting of this thing rising to A- and I get it, but I think it has a few really bad flaws that make it very awkward to use, those being passivity and a weakness to chip, especially from hazards. First off, passivity. Bellibolt isn't bad at pressuring mons and getting momentum with Volt Switch and Toxic, but the big issue comes against setup sweeper. Its damage output is very underwhelming as it relies on Volt Switch (a move that prevents it from staying in) and Muddy Water (a move it lacks STAB on) to deal damage. Both of those struggle to 1HKO even targets that are weak to it. If you're trying to counter a NP Torn, it can legitimately just stay in, hit you for 50%, come back later and finish you off. Toxic is also just really not sufficient to hold setup wallbreakers back. If you're staring down an Iron Hands, it can still just SD and trade one for two or three because Toxic is just not fast enough to take it out before it gets out of hands. Bellibolt teams are playing slow enough that 1v1s against breakers like Hands or Hydrei are pretty much inevitable if your opponent looks for them and risk breaking your defensive core easily. These issues get much, much worse if you have to face Steel or Poison type setup mons like Scizor, Okidogi or Tera'd Sinistcha. As for its weakness to chip, the big issue that stands out here is that Bellibolt is neutral to so much that you can't really take hits from 50% since you won't resist them. Whatever wallbreaker you're trying to deal with, dropping below 80% with Rocks up is probably leaving you in a pretty scary position against stuff like Weavile, Quaquaval and even Gapdos. In theory, Bellibolt can punish U-Turn, but in practice, I feel like that leaves you very open to wallbreakers getting through it if it takes them with hazards up. AV Torn doesn't mind getting Static'd that much and the opponent can decide to play the long game, just getting Bellibolt into range of their wallbreakers. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Bellibolt leaves itself very open to trades and I find it doesn't make for very sturdy cores as a result if your opponent is willing to make some sacrifices for the sake of progress. I consider cores using Rotom-Wash can actually adapt to its lack of longevity better and actually use its ability to spread more instantly threatening status and deal better damage overall more efficiently. I'd rather see Washtom drop to B+ than see Bellibolt rise though if I'm being honest.

Ogerpon Keep B+: Only one nom to drop, but I've seen a few people hate on this comparing it to Meowscarada notably and I just gotta clear its name and explain. First of all, you have to be ready to invest your tera into it most games and that's a big investment. However, if you do, you end up with a wallbreaker with a crazy speed tier of 525 without any restriction and a damage output comparable to Rillaboom's. Ogerpon can get through regular Grass resists like Torn-T easily and access to Zen Headbutt makes Poison-types much less reliable answers to it. Swords Dance can end games extremely efficiently once its counters are gone because of just how fast and strong it is. I don't think comparing it to Meowscarada is very fair though and you probably shouldn't use Ogerpon primarily for its utility pivot value rather than its raw speed and damage output. Not that its utility can't be good, Encore especially can generate an insane amount of advantage. Ogerpon also has weirdly good bulk for its power which allows you to stay out of range of Weavile Ice Shard and Scizor Bullet Punch to an extent or to survive SE hits from AV Torn or Amoonguss if you want to trade. Anyway, its Tera reliance and somewhat lacking consistency probably keeps it out of A tiers, but I think it fits B+ and dropping it further wouldn't do it justice.

Alright now unto the noms

Weavile A+ --> S-: Not quite on the same level as Treads or Torn due to those being glues, but Weavile is simply a monster. Not only is it the fastest mon in the meta unboosted, already impressive for a wallbreaker, but its typing lets it act as excellent speed control, hitting both Torn-T and Meowscarada super-effectively and packing Ice Shard to hit common Scarfers like Hydreigon or Gapdos. This alone is already pretty crazy, but it's also one of the scariest wallbreakers on top of that. +2 Tera Dark Knock Off is ridiculous, one shotting relatively bulky neutral targets like Iron Treads and Rotom-Wash and even forcing mons like Quaquaval to be careful with their health. Seriously, Weavile can drop most offensive mons easily at +2 and it does that while being a speed-control option. It's very good at wearing down its Fighting type checks thanks to Knock Off's item removal and its superior longevity thanks to Boots. In general, these traits just make Weavile an incredible mid-game attacker and late-game wallbreaker/sweeper. This difficulty keeping it in check in the long run can often force certain Ice or Dark weak mons to Tera to get rid of the threat early, for example with Steel Tornadus or Hydreigon. This forced Tera can be very nice for Weavile's teammates and can even put you in extremely advantageous positions if you can call it out (You can probably afford to try to bait it out and switch since Weavile teams tend to play a bit on the slower side). This mon has shown itself to be a top tier offensive threat for multiple reasons in tournament play so far and the amount it adds to the teams it's on makes me think a rise is justified.

Quaquaval A- --> A: Quaval's current ranking does not accurately reflect how threatening of a wincon it is currently. It snowballs incredibly hard between Swords Dance, Moxie, Aqua Step and its wide movepool; you cannot afford to give it any breathing room or the game will likely end on the spot. Water/Fighting has a few decent defensive switch-ins in the current meta, but with great Flying and Dark coverage, most of these seem like fake answers, potentially requiring Tera or a resist berry. The only issue of note for me is that its setup opportunities are somewhat limited. Regardless, Quaquaval should be considered one of the main threats to keep in mind when building a team and A rank is more fitting of that. If that's not enough for you, then I'd also like to mention its great defensive utility. While it doesn't deal with much, Weavile and Arcanine-H can be some of the most difficult pokemon to switch into in the metagame and Quaval can provide you with a reliable switch-in to both which can be incredibly valuable.

Thundurus-Incarnate C+ --> B-/B: Nasty Plot sets are very good at breaking down standard balance cores that lack Speed besides Tornadus-T and Iron Treads. Its main niche over its Therian forme is that Thundy-I can outspeed Iron Treads. Its damage output is a bit lower, but it's good enough for what it wants to do, landing 1HKOs with Thunderbolt on common offensive Water-types unboosted, most slower offensive mons such as Scizor or Arcanine-Hisui at +2 and one-shotting Iron Treads and Amoonguss at +2 with Grass Knot and Psychic respectively. Basically, Thundurus-I is quite good at breaking down certain balance cores and can perform better than other pokemon C+ in my opinion.

Also got some drop noms

Meowscarada A+ --> A: Alright this one might not be well received, but I still want this to be acknowledged. Meowscarada feels like it's lacking something on every set and it feels too easily walled to be A+ rank. Boots and Scarf offer very nice flexibility overall, but have a very hard time actually forcing switches to set Spikes or Pivot properly. Torn-T and Iron Treads are the most common pokemon in the metagame and they can take Meowscarada's hits while also generating a lot of advantage if it Spikes or U-Turns as they stay in. There are also a lot of neutral targets that require chip before dropping into its range, a lot of Fighting-types that force you out and even something like Sinistcha can just stay in despite being weak to Knock Off. When you do properly force something out, the progress you make tends to be limited due to having to deal with really good switchins like Amoonguss, Okidogi, Iron Hands or Gweezing who can take your hits with ease. Sure you can get up Spikes, but I don't feel it comes in nearly often enough to be able to apply reliable pressure with those. Band is the opposite, it does a ton of damage, but when you run into some of the counters listed above, it feels really rough trying to properly wallbreak with it. At the end of the day, it's still Meowscarada, great speed control, good spiker, forces answers to it on teams, but I haven't felt it gets the value an A+ tier mon should get.

Scizor A --> A-: This feels really out of place, A- feels a bit high for me even. The main thing that has stood out about Scizor this whole gen is its relation to its health: any hits it takes will stick and it needs to manage it properly in order to setup an endgame sweep. With such a fragile win condition, you'd expect very high rewards and good consistency, but that's not really the case. Scizor has to rely on Bullet Punch more than ever with the overall speed tiers being higher, but it also has to use BP in a meta where Electric types like Washtom, Sandy Shocks, Thundurus and even tera'd mons like Torn-T are very common. You also have to deal with bulky targets like Iron Hands and Skeledirge that will often take multiple hits to take out. On top of that, a majority of teams carry Iron Treads which outspeeds, takes Bullet Punch rather well and can even hit common Scizor Teras like Fire and Steel super-effectively. This mon just has to get through so much to get results and I feel like that makes it rather inconsistent.

I agree with ogerpon being B+ she is very terra reliant but once you get an SD up and terra its get ready to learn Chinese time like TyCarter taught me. Scizor also fell off so I agree that it being in A is wild

 

[someone94828]

why is :basculegion-male: unranked but b-? basculegion has slightly higher attack and takes less recoil from wave crash because of higher hp

 

[Moutemoute]

why is :basculegion-male: unranked but b-? basculegion has slightly higher attack and takes less recoil from wave crash because of higher hp

Because Floatzel has a way better speed tier which means it's tougher to revenge kill by Choice Scarf users.

 

[Ataki]

Although I am still very new to UU this gen, I am enjoying the tier so far and want to slowly contribute more to the upcoming discussion as the post-DLC metagame evolves. I agree with a lot of what has been said, so here goes:

Rises

Weavile A+ -> S-
The ability Pressure summarizes this mon well: Weavile is simply insane. When you see this on the opposing team, you instantly have to plan ahead and manage your teams health pool very closely, lest they eventually drop to a Tera Dark Knock Off, get flinched down by Icicle Crash, or get picked off by Ice Shard. The standard Boots SD set is a very threatening mid-late game sweeper, but Choice Band and Life Orb sets are relatively unexplored hole punchers that are even better at forcing defensive Teras just to manage. The rise in bulky Fighting types as soft checks reinforce Weavile's status as a top threat. Although it has no defensive utility (unlike the current top-of-the-top tiers), it only needs pivot support (which is easy to come by) to terrorize opponents consistently.

Okidogi A -> A+
Okidogi has three different sets, all potent progress-makers in slightly different ways, with variation in their coverage/utility (Bulk Up potentially being Sub/Taunt/Knock/Psy Fangs in the filler slot and Choiced variants choosing between Knock/Psy Fangs/Ice Punch as coverage options), bringing a ton of value for any team style. Even aside from being a headache to switch into or stop from sweeping, its defensive utility and great matchup (factoring Tera) into all of the top tiers (S/A+) allow it a spot on any team, and for this reason it deserves A+ in my eyes.

Iron Hands A -> A+
Iron Hands is more straightforward than the loyal goon above in that it will generally run SD with variation in its item choice (Lum, Booster, Leftovers) and Tera type (Ghost, Flying, Fairy, Fire, etc.). Its great bulk, meaty attack stat, and solid defensive and offensive typing into the metagame mean it finds a lot of opportunities to take KOs and/or potentially trade with the opponent's win condition. More niche sets such as AV and CB also have their uses on Bulky Offense and Balance team styles to patch defensive holes and break to facilitate a teammate, respectively.

Bellibolt B+ -> A-
Bellibolt can feel like a fake check at times with hazards up (considering it's a Knock magnet), but it is without a doubt one of (if not the) best contact punishers available with its combination of Static, reliable recovery, and Rock neutrality (sorry Moltres). Top speed seems to be a major key to securing endgame situations (think Torn-T, Weavile, +1 Treads, Meow, Scarf Gapdos, etc.), and having the chance to disable your opponent's win condition and/or enable your own via Bellibolt's Static is a valuable enough niche currently to recognize with a rise. Also, Bellibolt's mere existence in the back of a team can have a significant effect on how the opponent plays and positions their threats, which is a trait few defensive mons in the tier possess. Toxic and Volt Switch are bonuses for the friend-shaped wall, further limiting the opponent and reclaiming momentum for the team.

Iron Leaves B+ -> A-
Iron Leaves provides value as a devastatingly versatile physical sweeper with potent boosting options (Booster Energy Atk/Spe, Swords Dance, Trailblaze, Agility), multiple viable Tera types (Fire, Fighting, Electric, Psychic), and solid STABs/coverage. Leaves' greatest strength in my opinion is that as a sweeper, it takes some the best aspects of Ogerpon and amplifies them (instant speed boost, better abuse of Tera to disrupt checks and revenge killers, Grass/Psychic/Fighting coverage, better raw bulk and attack). With proper positioning and smart Tera usage, it can be a consistent endgame cleaner similar to Quaquaval, or it can simply abuse its unique combination of speed, bulk, power, and instant boosting to enable a teammate.

Iron Jugulis B- -> B
Iron Jugulis is an interesting case. It lacks the boosting option that Hydreigon has in Nasty Plot, but it has a similar defensive profile allowing it to threaten staples in the upper tiers, and a nice speed tier allowing it to switch in and immediately pressure Iron Treads. Jugulis also brings some nice utility options that Hydreigon lacks (Knock Off and Taunt). I have seen the Booster Energy set get the most attention for its ability to wear down and annoy walls, but I believe Choice Specs (and potentially Scarf) sets add to Jugulis' place in the metagame due to its near peerless combination of defensive utility and power as a special attacker at a significant speed benchmark (above Treads). I will share a couple of replays from this Specs Jugulis team that I have been using:

• In this game, Specs Jugulis entered aggressively on Moltres to force progress (with a little help from lady luck).
• In this game, Specs Jugulis used its speed to grab an early KO and put valuable chip damage on Treads.

Slowbro C+ -> B-
While it isn't allowed to join in any Regen Pivot games, Slowbro can be effective as a long-term contact punisher with Rocky Helmet and hard stop to most of the dangerous physical sweepers with any or all of Big Scald, Tera usage (usually Fighting, but Poison and Fairy work as well), Iron Defense + Body Press, and Foul Play. Slowbro is also helped by the rise of Okidogi and Iron Hands, as it can soft check them by swallowing coverage moves aimed at teammates and limiting their opportunities to Drain Punch for healing.

Gardevoir C -> C+
Gardevoir takes advantage of current trends to be as effective as it is right now. The most effective set is Choice Scarf, which provides value as a revenge killer, late-game cleaner, offensive Rain check, blanket soft check to setup sweepers with Trick or Destiny Bond, wallbreaker/stallbreaker with Trick and strong STABs, or support for a second onslaught from a potent attacker with Healing Wish. The rise in usage of Okidogi, Iron Hands, and Tera Poison Sinistcha certainly help its case as well, as it threatens all of them with the appropriate STAB move. Being an offensive Psychic that can hit Darks is a great trait in the current metagame.

Drops

Meowscarada A+ -> A
In my opinion, the standard sets for Meowscarada just don't get enough done in the current state of the metagame. There may be some hidden gems that capitalize on its good traits, but I agree with Mossy Sandwich that the top tiers and bulky Fighting types lose little from staying in to deal with it. The pivot set is a cool progress maker with Knock + Spikes, Scarf may be a decent cleaner and potent speed control, and Band has good damage output, but Meow as a whole fails to have as much of an impact on a game-to-game basis as the other top tiers.

Slowking A -> A-
Regen slow pivots will never go out of style, but Slowking feels really bad to use right now unless you burn Tera on it, in my opinion. It is able to barely stave off both top tiers long-term, which is nice, but there are approximately a billion ways to take advantage of its telegraphed switch-in and pivot-out-of-everything gig. Substitute users in general are very bad news for it, turning its Scalds (or god forbid direct status attempts) into setup opportunities. It may as well be playing every game without Boots, as it is near guaranteed to take a Knock Off, limiting its ability to stay healthy and be a momentum factory.

 

[termi]

Because Floatzel has a way better speed tier which means it's tougher to revenge kill by Choice Scarf users.

whenever i used basculegion-m on rain i used cb adaptability for raw damage output to improve the matchup vs fatter teams, since nothing that isnt immune can hope to switch into cb wave crash under rain. also gives you access to speed control that isnt dependent on rain being up in the form of adaptability aqua jet. idk how good it would perform in the current meta (i ran this in the chom kommo-o meta) but if basc deserves a ranking it should be based on its merits as an adaptability wallbreaker rather than as a swift swim user

 

[Bruxish supremacy]

whenever i used basculegion-m on rain i used cb adaptability for raw damage output to improve the matchup vs fatter teams, since nothing that isnt immune can hope to switch into cb wave crash under rain. also gives you access to speed control that isnt dependent on rain being up in the form of adaptability aqua jet. idk how good it would perform in the current meta (i ran this in the chom kommo-o meta) but if basc deserves a ranking it should be based on its merits as an adaptability wallbreaker rather than as a swift swim user

CB adaptability is very mid into offense though?sure aqua jet is nice but why am I not using female basuclegion?

 

[Taka]

as it is the end of my uusd season, i'm going to make a few short noms / thoughts:

A+ to S-: Mirroring Mossy Sandwich's sentiments, I don't think there is a much better progress maker on BO / balance teams than Weavile. Outside of the obvious traits of its strong stabs, speed and Knock, its not very reliant on Tera, it can consistently remove Leftovers from the fighters making it easier to take them down (and those guys are insanely good atm) since they are usually the biggest things in an endgame on BO.

A- to A: Also mirroring these sentiments from earlier, Quaquaval's stupid coverage and customizability in bulk/attack/item/Tera make it very hard to check when a lot of teams simply rely on Slowking or Amoonguss + Torn-T to cover it, which doesnt work against all variants (Knock / Brave Bird coverage, Taunt, Tera Steel/Electric), and also being a temporary switch-in to Weavile is always great.

B+ to A-: Completely HO-relegated mon but it fits in so well with standard Scizor + Hands HO cores and has seen a lot of success both in UUSD / SCL recently. People know what it does, but its still doing it well and its great in a Skeledirge meta paired with a Fairy killer like Scizor.

B- to B: As an alternative to Moltres-Galar on HO, although it can't just win games, Taunt/Knock + 3A booster sets are still very potent and being faster than Treads lets it force immediate progress on cores w mons like Treads / Amoon / Torn / Slowking / Bellibolt, even after booster has worn off. Also you can Knock Torn's AV off which is always nice for special attacking teammates.

A- to B+: Fraud mon, I think without Alomomola it truly struggles, and in a Weavile meta it is much harder for Weezing to play the long game. It doesnt have the longevity to win longer games, it doesn't have the immediate ability to wall things thanks to no real recovery or wishers, and offense teams have already adapted to Tera Fairy Dirge which also messes with Weezing. Another thing is that it doesnt have the sheer bulk to take on one of the most prominent HO darks right now, Moltres-Galar. Also Treads is S rank and competes as a form of removal.

 

[Magcargo]

I'm not really sold on Weavile moving to S-Rank. Mon is frail as shit, and in a Tera metagame, that is a death sentence vs the many mons its trying to snipe like Mence, Hydreigon, etc. since they will be KOing it back. I don't think Meowscarada suffers from this issue to the same degree, as it at least has U-Turn to play around potential Tera mindgames.

 

[Mossy Sandwich]

whenever i used basculegion-m on rain i used cb adaptability for raw damage output to improve the matchup vs fatter teams, since nothing that isnt immune can hope to switch into cb wave crash under rain. also gives you access to speed control that isnt dependent on rain being up in the form of adaptability aqua jet. idk how good it would perform in the current meta (i ran this in the chom kommo-o meta) but if basc deserves a ranking it should be based on its merits as an adaptability wallbreaker rather than as a swift swim user

Big issue with this for me is that it's pretty overkill and doesn't quite fit what rain wants to do. Most of our Water resists aren't really hard-counters to Rain anymore, mons like Slowking and Amoonguss have somewhat low defenses and Rotom-Wash has low HP meaning taking them out is not that hard, Floatzel has decent chances to 2HKO them. Generally, the counterplay is to accept taking a few losses to the Water breakers and pressuring the rest of the team, especially Pelipper. However, if the opponent realizes you're running Adaptability, you're mostly at a disadvantage since the usual benefit of Swift Swim wallbreakers is negating offensive counterplay and 255 Speed is much slower than most of the meta. In fact, they might even get a big hit in accidentally while trying to sac their Treads or something. The entire benefit of the set is also lost when running into an actual Water immunity. Running multiple Water-type breakers may work, but your teamslots are tight and similar counterplay and weaknesses might make it awkward to break; most rain squad are pretty varied type-wise to avoid this issue usually. Basically, you probably don't need that much breaking power and running a more flexible rain breaker tends to be the best option.

I'm not really sold on Weavile moving to S-Rank. Mon is frail as shit, and in a Tera metagame, that is a death sentence vs the many mons its trying to snipe like Mence, Hydreigon, etc. since they will be KOing it back. I don't think Meowscarada suffers from this issue to the same degree, as it at least has U-Turn to play around potential Tera mindgames.

Playing around Tera can be a bit difficult, but as the Weavile user, it's something you can expect to force your opponent to use, so it can be in your favor, I do understand why it might seem a bit difficult to do consistently though. What I actually wanna address is the bulk because it's rather interesting. Thanks to Boots, it's pretty realistic for it to stay at 100% until it takes its first hit and, well it can take hits at full. Its special bulk especially is rather impressive, it's guaranteed to live a Draco Meteor from Scarf Hydreigon and Torn-T needs Focus Blast to take it out as even Heat Wave is not enough. Its physical bulk is a bit tougher, though it can still take some of the weaker hits. However, one synergy you might not have even accounted for is with Slowking since not only does it get Weavile on the field safely, but Snow gives it a Defense boost which can be extremely valuable when it comes to setting up. Since Slowking is a common enough mon, Weavile can generally take advantage of Snow even if you can't set it yourself, so it can take some pretty strong hits like Scizor Bullet Punch which is pretty crazy for a mon that fast and dangerous. Obviously, you still gotta be careful with Weavile due to its many weaknesses and its inability to take more than one hit, but if you can use it well, it can make some pretty crazy stuff happen.

 

[xGreydientz]

from UR to C+
While being not quite strong enough to be considered a tier staple, Toxicroak has a genuine niche in the current state of UU. Similar to its Gen 5 niche, it finds itself being an effective rain abuser and check. While being weak to the STAB Hurricanes and Barraskewda Psychic Fangs can be hard to play around, and being weak to both Tier Kings Iron Treads and Torn-T, it being able to safely switch in on Choice Locked Barraskewdas and Floatzels, Quaquavals, and Meowscaradas gives it several opportunities to rip holes through teams. Additionally, it is able to outspeed and be an offensive check to Mamoswine, Azumarill, and Ursaluna. In Rain, it can run an essentially no drawback Life Orb, as Rain healing being negated by the rain. While other Water immune Pokemon exist, they are for the most part slow, passive, and can stack Types on a team (Water and Ground). While it definetly has some downsides, it can be a useable Pokemon in the right hands. If GOLDUCK has a niche in UU, Toxicroak should too.

 

[Estarossa]

Posting a quick PSA on potential VR updates w.r.t recent UU shifts on behalf of VR team.

Unfortunately, recent changes to the metagame such as the rise of Skeledirge and ban of Iron Hands has impacted the shape of the tier to enough of an extent to where the VR team does not feel comfortable that a vote would be an accurate representation of the UU tier anymore. This means we won't be doing anymore updates to the VR until the tier has settled for DLC2.