Other XY OU Viability Ranking Thread (B- and C+ Pokemon discussion)

[ensurdagen]

The reason I brought up Gardevoir is because I think it actually has more of a place in the metagame than MegaVoir does, primarily its Scarf set. With a Scarf, Gardevoir can now outspeed both Thundurus, both Tornadus, Garchomp, Mega-Pinsir, the musketeers, Lati@s, Gengar, Mega-Lucario (Bullet Punch ends you, but Vacuum Wave variants are swiftly revenged), Alakazam, Noivern, and Greninja with just a Modest nature, to hit them all with a Moonblast (or a Psychic / Ghost move in Gengar's case). As you can see, that's a lot of threats it can cover with just one attack, and it can make use of Trace to alter certain matchups (Heatran anyone?) Of course, its pathetic Defense does still get in the way, what with priority being everywhere, so I'd probably just put Gardevoir in B- Rank.

Mega-Gardevoir is a strong pokemon, and reasonably fast. There's no reason to discount it entirely for the scarf set, the difference in power makes them fill entirely different roles. Its power (and a far better STAB and typing than mega Alakazam) speaks for itself. Hyper Voice from Gardevoirite Gardevoir will hit anything but heatran for reasonable damage, with a whopping 175 power from a 165 SpAtk pokemon that bypasses substitutes. STAB Psyshock is icing on the cake, making calm mind boosts worth it against many special walls. I believe Mega-Gardevoir belongs in B- because it is slow for such a frail pokemon, but has very strong attacking options without the drawbacks that most moves of similar power have.

 

[Richitt]

So you are saying Garde is worse off than clerics that do have reliable recovery? Because they do exist: Clefable, Blissey and Togekiss come to mind. When you say Garde has a support movepool that has everything, the only ones I could think of that don't involve Gardevoir KOing itself are Will-O-Wisp, Encore and Heal Bell (granted, the combination of Will-O + Heal Bell is unique), the others include Memento, Healing Wish, and Destiny Bond. These are interesting moves to say the least and could see use on MegaVoir, but these moves aren't exactly unique and can be used by other (faster) Pokemon such as Lati@s and Gengar, while even Scarf Gardevoir can use these moves well anyway.

When i said nearly every support move, i basically meant screens, WoW, twave, encore, heal bell, Wish, and of course those self-ko moves. (There are obviously others, but those were the ones that i was basically referring to).

 

[Kairyu_Gen1]

Honestly, I think Zygarde's a little better than B-. It can sweep anything but the list of special attackers that outspeed it, and are willing to take boosted extreme speeds (yeah, that's a decent list, but total domination of most physical attackers isn't to be overlooked). I'm nominating it for B rank (though right now, I'd be happy with it being listed at all). It fits the description of B rank nicely:

cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche. A

properly fills the niche late game sweeper and physically defensive threat

 

[November Blue]

I've just realized that Florges doesn't learn Shadow Ball or Psyshock. Wow...

Anyway, I had been using Florges for a while as a cleric (this was before Pokebank), and I was unimpressed by the lack of punch behind its Moonblasts. I tried giving it a more offensive EV Spread:

Florges @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SAtk / 96 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast

The spread is arbitrary. I didn't want to go below 394 Special Defense, so I settled for 404, and put the rest in Special Attack, which I thought would give it some much-needed power. With this spread, Florges has a Special Attack stat of 300.

160 SpA Florges Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 46.7 - 55.2%

4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 49.2 - 58%

There's really no contest when it comes to offensive prowess.

Taking hits:

0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Florges: 39.4 - 46.6%

0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 37.3 - 44.1%



252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Florges: 43.6 - 51.6%

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Florges: 39.4 - 46.6%

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sylveon: 40.6 - 48.2%


Sylveon has better bulk, more power, bigger wishes, cuter looks, and Hyper Voice goes through subs. It also has better coverage options for an offensive set, and a better movepool. Here are some relevant moves that Florges doesn't learn:

Shadow Ball
Psychock
Reflect
Draining Kiss
Baton Pass
Baby-Doll Eyes

Florges' only advantages in singles are slightly better special bulk (by less than 3% though), and higher Speed. Sylveon is base 60, Florges is 75. Pokemon that fall between these Speeds are Breloom, Tyranitar, Scizor, Skarmory, and Malamar. Important? You decide.

For these reasons, I suggest that Florges be removed from the list completely, and never used when Sylveon is available.

... poor Florges. I kinda like it, but I like Sylveon better. :P

 

[TheTraininator]

Nominating Alakazam (regular) and Klefki for B+ rank

The category for B rank is thus:

"Reserved for Pokemon who cannot sweep through or wall significant portions of the metagame, but can properly fulfill a given offensive/defensive niche."

And despite the fact that neither Alakazam base bot Klefki sweep or wall most of the meta, they almost always prove invaluable in whatever battle they are in. Because regular Alakazam can hold a Focus Sash, it is almost guaranteed to be able to revenge kill something effectively every match, and Klefki's Prankster allows it to kind of become a mini Deoxys-S in that it is almost guaranteed to get up Dual Screens or Spikes... and as much as we want to ignore it, let's not forget that horrible SwagPlay set... *shudders*

...Anyways, I don't know why it's currently a B- considering that unlike Galvantula, it can provide usefulness throughout the entire match, and pull off a variety of sets to support the team and annoy the opponent.

Nominating Mega Banette for B rank.

Mega Banette is your one get-out-of-jail-free card for the match: no matter what the opponent has set up or has done, priority Destiny Bond helps you with your screw up. If the opponent then chooses not to attack, it can then go for the slow Shadow Force to play mind games with the opponent, and together with Sucker Punch and priority Taunt, it can chain KOs. Although priority Destiny Bond may be its claim to fain, it also has a lot of other moves to make a decent support set, notably Will-O-Wisp, Trick, Torment, Disable, and Thunder Wave. In short, though it doesn't sweep or wall a significant potion of the metagame, it can use the tools at its disposal to remain a consistently annoying and powerful presence.

I just realized that Mega Blastoise is nowhere on this list yet, despite it being mentioned a few times. To me, I think it is quite the literal definition of a B ranked Pokemon, maybe B+. Though it doesn't sweep or wall the majority of the tier, it has an extremely solid niche of being possibly the best offensive spinner in the OU tier, bar Excadrill, due to its quite solid 79/120/115 bulk, powerful 135 Special Attack coming off of a Pokemon that almost always runs Modest, and a wide array of Mega-Launcher boosted high power moves to make up for its lack of held item, most notably Dark Pulse which reliably beats almost all Spinblockers, bar the rare Spiritomb and Specially Defensive Sableye. I really think this thing speaks for itself, and requires no further explanation as to why it holds a solid niche.

Sorry to be that asshole, but I've decided to bump my posts, if nobody minds, because I feel they still warrant some discussion as to the tiering of some of these Pokemon.

 

[Josh Morales]

I've just realized that Florges doesn't learn Shadow Ball or Psyshock. Wow...

Anyway, I had been using Florges for a while as a cleric (this was before Pokebank), and I was unimpressed by the lack of punch behind its Moonblasts. I tried giving it a more offensive EV Spread:

Florges @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SAtk / 96 SDef
Calm Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
- Moonblast

The spread is arbitrary. I didn't want to go below 394 Special Defense, so I settled for 404, and put the rest in Special Attack, which I thought would give it some much-needed power. With this spread, Florges has a Special Attack stat of 300.

160 SpA Florges Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 46.7 - 55.2%

4 SpA Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Gliscor: 49.2 - 58%

There's really no contest when it comes to offensive prowess.

Taking hits:

0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Florges: 39.4 - 46.6%

0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Sylveon: 37.3 - 44.1%



252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 96+ SpD Florges: 43.6 - 51.6%

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Florges: 39.4 - 46.6%

252 SpA Choice Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sylveon: 40.6 - 48.2%


Sylveon has better bulk, more power, bigger wishes, cuter looks, and Hyper Voice goes through subs. It also has better coverage options for an offensive set, and a better movepool. Here are some relevant moves that Florges doesn't learn:

Shadow Ball
Psychock
Reflect
Draining Kiss
Baton Pass
Baby-Doll Eyes

Florges' only advantages in singles are slightly better special bulk (by less than 3% though), and higher Speed. Sylveon is base 60, Florges is 75.

For these reasons, I suggest that Florges be removed from the list completely, and never used when Sylveon is available.

... poor Florges. I kinda like it, but I like Sylveon better. :P

Gonna have to agree. There's just no reason to use Florges when you gain more than you lose by using Slyveon instead of it.

 

[Ulevo]

Sylveon has better bulk, more power, bigger wishes, cuter looks, and Hyper Voice goes through subs.

Whoa now. Let's not say anything crazy and think about this rationally.

Anyway, where do people feel Assault Vest Conkeldurr fits on this list? I feel like its sheer durability and versatility could land it easily in A Tier. It has access to priority, Knock Off, has sustain, tanks hits well, hits hard, has stat boosts, can act as a status sponge... I feel like the only reason its not seen everywhere is its basically Talonflame food.

 

[Punchshroom]

I've just realized that Florges doesn't learn Shadow Ball or Psyshock. Wow...

Actually Florges does have Psychic (while Sylveon has Psyshock), but for several reasons already discussed Florges should not be in the same Rank as Sylveon, or even in the Rankings at all. That's like using Meowstic-F when Meowstic-M is available.

 

[Molk]

Whoa now. Let's not say anything crazy and think about this rationally.

Anyway, where do people feel Assault Vest Conkeldurr fits on this list? I feel like its sheer durability and versatility could land it easily in A Tier. It has access to priority, Knock Off, has sustain, tanks hits well, hits hard, has stat boosts, can act as a status sponge... I feel like the only reason its not seen everywhere is its basically Talonflame food.

Conkeldurr is actually already in A rank, mostly thanks in part to the Assault Vest set that you mentioned! As its honestly quite a monster at the moment and one of the, if not the best Assault User in the game thanks to the strong Knock Off, Guts, and decent Recovery in Drain Punch to help it not get worn down as quickly as other Pokemon that might use the item, such as Goodra.

Also 100% agreeing that Florges should be removed entirely from the list or at least moved down, as i mentioned in earlier posts in the past few pages there really isn't any reason to use the thing over Sylveon, its less physically bulky, has a smaller wish (this is big), a weaker STAB, and a smaller relevant movepool, and while it does have a slight amount of Special Bulk over Sylveon, that bulk rarely, if ever seems to matter to me, and for the most part anything Florges can take, Sylveon can too.

 

[Crystalzee]

Meowstic-M over Meowstic-F? Elaborate, please.

 

[Toxzn]

Talonflame S rank again please. While it does have sure fire checks and counters, the issue is the huge stress it puts on team building forcing all teams to run Rotom-W/Heatran/Tyranitar. You don't run one of these or other niche more unviable stuff you are completely destroyed. Really think Talon puts too much restrictions on team building and therefore should be S rank.

 

[Punchshroom]

Meowstic-M over Meowstic-F? Elaborate, please.

The male has Prankster while the female doesn't. Since both are laughably outclassed as Psychic-type sweepers, only the male can sustain a niche with its prioritized support movepool, while the female is left in the dust due to having nothing over its counterpart or any other Psychic.

Same with Florges really, only with Fairies.

 

[KztxL7]

Talonflame S rank again please. While it does have sure fire checks and counters, the issue is the huge stress it puts on team building forcing all teams to run Rotom-W/Heatran/Tyranitar. You don't run one of these or other niche more unviable stuff you are completely destroyed. Really think Talon puts too much restrictions on team building and therefore should be S rank.

Considering none of those three threats are put onto a Team solely for Talonflame that it hardly a reason to move Talonflame up to S Rank.

Talonflame is a good pokemon but it has a myriad of problems that just outright keep it from being S-Rank.

 

[Ulevo]

Talonflame S rank again please. While it does have sure fire checks and counters, the issue is the huge stress it puts on team building forcing all teams to run Rotom-W/Heatran/Tyranitar. You don't run one of these or other niche more unviable stuff you are completely destroyed. Really think Talon puts too much restrictions on team building and therefore should be S rank.

I find this hard to accept given that Talonflame is a semi-suicidal threat in a lot of cases. You consistently have circumstances where Stealth Rock is up, both of its STAB moves are recoil, and if it has Life Orb that compounds that weakness even further. Not to mention that even though Talonflame gets priority Bravebird, there are other priority moves like Sucker Punch, Extreme Speed, Shadow Sneak, et cetera, that force Talonflame in to difficult situations because it means that in the situations where it needs to rely on Flare Blitz it can't do so without eating a priority move to start. Even priority moves that it resists like Scizor's Bullet Punch still deal a lot of damage that it can't always afford to take. +1 252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 160-189 (53.6 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. There are other round about ways of dealing with Talonflame as well, such as having it collide with a Rocky Helmet Ferrothorn, using faster Pokemon with Prankster, or simply being bulky while being neutral to its STAB. Talonflame is strong since Brave Bird and Flare Blitz have strong bases, but they're still coming off of a Pokemon with 81 base Attack.

I think saying it puts a restriction on team building is a bit of a stretch. Not only are there a lot of common things that people play anyway that deal with Talonflame, but there are enough options outside of the obvious that you can use to to try and out-play a Talonflame given the set it is using.

 

[November Blue]

Next, Rotom-Wash for S rank.

Rotom-W is one of the best Pokemon in the game right now. It's not perfect, but very close to being flawless, IMO.

As has been stated previously, it has next to no opportunity cost at all, fits onto almost any team, requires very little support, supports its teammates with uncommon STAB types (good Electric STAB is kinda rare in OU), boasts excellent defenses and resistances that allow it to stop many common threats without any specialization of its set, and

A bulky Water-type with Electric STAB, Levitate Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, and Trick is extremely odd (flavor-wise), and when you think about it, a combination of all of the best traits a bulky Water could have. WoW, Hydro Pump and Volt Switch is an extremely potent combination, and makes it very easy for Rotom to gain the upper hand. Volt Switch provides excellent momentum, and if you've ever accidentally made a team that's Rotom-weak, you'll know how hair-tearingly insurmountable this move can be. STAB Hydro Pump is excellent against nearly every mon that can block Volt Switch, and WoW is WoW. If given a free turn, Rotom almost always does something prouctive, and gives you some sort of advantage.

And Rotom will get those free turns. This thing's resistance list is insane, and can form an effective core with a lot of good mons. Its Volt Switching nature and pairing inclination mean that it works best with the help of other mons, but this in no way means that it requires support to function, which means that it does qualify for S rank in my eyes.

One standout thing is that, no matter which of its sets you choose to run, it'll always be able to do the same things. It's always a great Talonflame check. It's always a good VoltTurner. It's always a good check to bulky Ground types and (some) physical attackers. As a tank, it lacks reliable recovery. Anyone can tell you that this hardly matters. Rotom uses Pain Split excellently, and the RestoChesto set is a nightmare. The most common way to deal with Rotom-W is to wear it down. A single free Rest shouldn't be so effective, but it is. The fourth slot gives it a measure of unpredictability, and can make it even harder to deal with. TrickScarf can screw over your walls and offensive Pokemon alike, and, unlike some other Trickers, doesn't render Rotom deadweight after the item swap.

S Rank: Reserved for Pokemon who can sweep or wall significant portions of the metagame with little support, and Pokemon who can support other Pokemon with very little opportunity cost ("free turns"). 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. If there are suspects, they will come from this rank.

Rotom-W fits this to a T.


So what are Rotom-W's flaws?

When you think about it, there aren't any, really. You could say that it has a Grass weakness, or its Special Attack isn't as high as most special attackers, but every Pokemon has weaknesses, and Rotom-W isn't a sweeper. Its base Speed is bad for an offensive Pokemon, but good for a tank. With a Scarf and Modest nature, it outspeeds every relevant unboosted Poke in the tier, barring stuff like Mega Alakazam and Manectric.

Does it have any glaring type weaknesses? No, Grass-type moves are fairly uncommon, and usually found on tanks or as weak coverage moves. Mold Breaker Earthquakes are a threat, but I'd hardly call that a flaw, considering that Excadrill is the only user, and it doesn't like Hydro Pump.

I'm struggling to come up with something here. Most Pokemon have at least one big flaw. Genesect is really good, but its standard sets are walled by Heatran. Mega Vensaur is really good, but it's Talonflame bait. Gengar is really good, but it's frail. Volcarona is really good, but it's weak to Stealth Rock.

Rotom-W is really good, but...

 

[November Blue]

+1 252+ Atk Choice Band Technician Scizor Bullet Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Talonflame: 160-189 (53.6 - 63.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO.

Hang on, where are you getting that +1 from?

In my experience, Talonflame can always Roost to protect itself from Bullet Punch, and Scizor needs to set up a Swords Dance to pose a threat to Talonflame, who can still do a bunch with Brave Bird:

252+ Atk Sky Plate Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Scizor: 141-166 (40.9 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Eh, not that powerful, but it does put Mega Sciz in a tight spot.

Argh, double post. Sorry guys.

 

[Punchshroom]

So what are Rotom-W's flaws?

When you think about it, there aren't any, really.

I'm struggling to come up with something here.

Um...how about no reliable recovery? That's a bit of a problem when you're relied upon to take on so many dangerous threats. #understatement

 

[Ewil]

I support Rotom-W for S-Rank

It's an incredible tank full of resistances and immunity (Ground and the new Paralysis), he's one of the premier Talonflame counters second only to Heatran i believe.
It has only one weakness in Grass and the fact that a lot of Genesect started to run Energy Ball for it (and the least common Ground/Water Types) is another reason on how this washing machine is so popular and so useful that someone has to run an uncommon move to kill it.
Probably it's not so original with his movepool, but it can run a lot of sets with the 6-7 useful move that it has (Will-O Wisp, Hydro Pump, Hidden Power, Volt Switch, Thunderbolt, Trick, Thunder, Thunder-Wave, Rest, Pain Split): Special Tank, Physical Tank, Mixed Tank, Specs, Scarf are all viable sets.
And Rotom-W benefits from this gen gaining a Will-O accuracy boost and an immunity to Paralysis.

For me this utilities are S-Rank

Edit: Rotom runs a very viable ChestoRest set for the recovery or you can simply run Pain Split if you don't want renunce to the passive recovery of Leftovers, the trio that it have to run is Will-O Wisp/Hydro Pump/Volt Switch, the fourth move is often a filler depending on your team needs, and this three moves are pretty self explanatory and gives Rotom-W the opportunity to be useful in every situation by status and possibly crippling an opponent, by hard hitting with a high STAB move with Hydro Pump and by gaining momentum and score damages with Volt Switch

 

[November Blue]

Um...how about no reliable recovery? That's a bit of a problem when you're relied upon to take on so many dangerous threats. #overstatement

I already covered that. Sure, Recover would be cool, but Pain Split and ChestoRest are more than enough. Ferrothorn and Heatran lack reliable recovery too. They're still pretty good at what they do.

In particular, ChestoRest heals status. When you have to rely on wearing Rotom down to beat it, Rest curing status is actually better than Recover.

 

[RotomPoison]

I already covered that. Sure, Recover would be cool, but Pain Split and ChestoRest are more than enough. Ferrothorn and Heatran lack reliable recovery too. They're still pretty good at what they do.

In particular, ChestoRest heals status. When you have to rely on wearing Rotom down to beat it, Rest curing status is actually better than Recover.

Sylveon can just use Aromatherapy on status and a 1 time recovery isn't amazing.

 

[Punchshroom]

I already covered that. Sure, Recover would be cool, but Pain Split and ChestoRest are more than enough. Ferrothorn and Heatran lack reliable recovery too. They're still pretty good at what they do.

In particular, ChestoRest heals status. When you have to rely on wearing Rotom down to beat it, Rest curing status is actually better than Recover.

Yeah, but they're not S.

The lack of reliable recovery is easily the biggest thing holding Rotom-W back, otherwise it'd soar by a mile. ChestoRest lacks passive recovery, so it would only be resistant to residual damage for a while, though I admit Rotom-W is a surprisingly good user of Rest. In any case I'd rather Volt Switch to a cleric and take over from there (some people still pack clerics for their Rest Rotom-Ws just because :/ ), plus it would not let Toxic damage build up. Pain Split can also act as much disruption as it does healing, but it can only be relied upon so much as a healing method. In a similiar vein, having Pain Split as its only recovery is the biggest reason why Misdreavus isn't S in BW NU, so having recovery matters a lot in terms of ranking, which is why Mega-Venusaur is sitting pretty in S. Trevenant's better recovery is how it can even stack up to Gourgeist right now.

That said, Rotom-W is still very fantastic at its job(s). I'd like to see it in A+ at worst, but would not object too much if it ends up in S.

 

[Ulevo]

Hang on, where are you getting that +1 from?

In my experience, Talonflame can always Roost to protect itself from Bullet Punch, and Scizor needs to set up a Swords Dance to pose a threat to Talonflame, who can still do a bunch with Brave Bird:

252+ Atk Sky Plate Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Scizor: 141-166 (40.9 - 48.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

Eh, not that powerful, but it does put Mega Sciz in a tight spot.

Argh, double post. Sorry guys.

Was a mistake in my calc, so disregard my point about Bullet Punch. That being said, it still takes 35.9 - 42.2% from Bullet Punch. While it will never kill Talonflame (unless it doesn't have Roost, which is possible) it still shows how fragile it is.

 

[Punchshroom]

Was a mistake in my calc, so disregard my point about Bullet Punch. That being said, it still takes 35.9 - 42.2% from Bullet Punch. While it will never kill Talonflame (unless it doesn't have Roost, which is possible) it still shows how fragile it is.

Offensive talons are indeed very fragile, but the Bulk Up set has shown me time and time again how much punishment it can take. If it takes a mere 37% from a Gengar's Shadow Ball, it would eat up most resists (like Sylveon, Mega-Scizor and Mega-Mawile) for breakfast with Bulk Up and Roost. If you don't have a Water, Rock, or Electric move (watch out for Roost!), this Talonflame can be very hard to take down.

 

[Ewil]

Yeah, but they're not S.

The lack of reliable recovery is easily the biggest thing holding Rotom-W back, otherwise it'd soar by a mile. ChestoRest lacks passive recovery, so it would only be resistant to residual damage for a while, though I admit Rotom-W is a surprisingly good user of Rest. In any case I'd rather Volt Switch to a cleric and take over from there (some people still pack clerics for their Rest Rotom-Ws just because :/ ), plus it would not let Toxic damage build up. Pain Split can also act as much disruption as it does healing, but it can only be relied upon so much as a healing method. In a similiar vein, having Pain Split as its only recovery is the biggest reason why Misdreavus isn't S in BW NU, so having recovery matters a lot in terms of ranking, which is why Mega-Venusaur is sitting pretty in S.

That said, Rotom-W is still very fantastic at its job(s). I'd like to see it in A+ at worst, but would not object too much if it ends up in S.

In the case of the ChestoRest set, the lack of passive recovery is mitigated by the full heal and the status heal, that's pretty unique since it's one of the best users of this strategy. Pain Split has to be used in the right moment, i'm with you when you saying that is not a reliable recovery, but in a lot of situations, Rotom-W accomplishes his duties even without a recovery

 

[Slayerblade]

I think the only thing holding Rotom-W from S rank is that fact that you don't really have to go out of your to prepare for it, the way you do against the already S ranked pokemon. With stuff like Mega luc, Aeigislash..etc you have to run dedicated counters/checks or you're team is in for a bad time.