Thoughts after playing the most games during AAA ssnl:
Rises
From B+ to A-
Can't believe this is B+ lol. Htrode is one of the best speed control in the metagame and surprisingly good as a breaker whenever people don't run Hoodra which is not so bad anw cuz you can always pivot in to enter some really strong breaker. That's one of the strenght of Htrode: fit into many offensive core and especially volt-turn based ones. Chloroblast MGLO does some great damages and scares Ground from trying to absorb Vswich. Really flexible mon unlike Scarf Hadron Rotom-Wash which had to pick correctly.
/ From B+ to A-
Fluffy and WBB are both good as SR setter pivot. Those set are also extremely scary as breaker with Sub and BU. Other stuff like WA or RegenVest aren't bad. Sludge Bomb is a cool tool to spread poison and give it more utility. I don't see it below things like Meow or Kingambit ngl.
From B+ to A-
Just an amazing mon tbh. One of the best breaker while providing some defensive utility. Yeah it's slow (hopefully I'd say) but it's still amazing. MGLO is ofc the best and most consistent but Psea Body Press or defensive Regen are interesting as well.
From B to B+
Idk how many time I'll have to make this nom? Rotom-Wash isn't some B trash like Azelf or Greninja bruh. Scarf Hadron, defensive Regen, hot techs like Fluffy or Gsurge are all good and really interesting in what they bring. Threatening Water STAB to make it a great pivot, WoW utility, scouting with Protect, etc. Just a great mon that can work extremely well with many things (get that WoW up on Hoodra and starts setuping with Enam/Stail or stuff like that).
From B to B+
Yooo this thing is lowkey broken lol. So many times I just look at preview and see EnamT can just autowin. And you know what? Often it happens. This mon is really scary. Double dance can become out of control quickly while Mystical Fire takes care of Fluffy Zapdos and Sludge Bomb makes EnamT winning against Unaware Stail. Other variant are interesting although more MU reliant and less good overall like Lighting Rod, MGLO mixed, SFLO, etc. Def a thing you must take into account while building. This hideous thing also provides some really nice defensive utility ngl (double resists Fighting and Bug, immu Drag and Ground and resists Dark and Grass are all good).
From C to B
Wtf happened to Tinkaton? I mean, yeah we got Hoodra which is incredible as defensive Steel but... did we forget why we were playing Tink? It was part for the defensive utility but also because it provides such really nice tools with Knock, SR and TW with an anti-Fairy nuke. Regen might be harder to run with the competition but stuff like WBB, EE or Gsurge are good enough. Ah and because Chien-Pao is broken people started running Intimidate lol.
From C to B
Nani? Moltres is definitely not C rank lmao. The combination of healing, WoW and U-Turn are really good providing it a great defensive utility. Dland is ofc the one we immediatly think about being a really good check to Volcanion or Quaqua but stuff like Intimidate/Fluffy is interesting as well. Shouldn't be so many ranks below Skeledirge lol. MGLO and mixed ones especially might be good.
From C to B-
Feels it has a lot of potential ngl. WA, EE, Regen, Gsurge, Triage, Stamina, Tdebris, etc might all work as setup or utility hazards setter.
From C to B-
Such scary things doesn't fit in C lol. Protean is cool and can become out of control extremely fast with the right coverage. Fishy for sure but actually see uses and worked.
From C to B-
Atha reminded me it exists and it's, in fact, still very interesting and scary.
from UR to B
ojr can you explain why you're goated
Drops
from A+ to A
Yeah people know I'm a Scream Tail hater, this mon is sometimes dumb (do we really still lose to CM Unaware Scream Tail nowadays?) but most of the time it's just a pink ball taking hits, wasting or killing momentum to try wishing something. I'll be interested in looking AAA ssnl stats but I don't think we saw many Scream Tail and this trend looks set to continue in AAAPL. Because Scream Tail is a momentum sponge you can only afford to play it in bulkier teams while the metagame actually favors BO/balanced with a lot of momentum from my knowledge.
Don't get me wrong, ofc Stail is still good especially with the rise (or come back?) of new sets like TW Unaware/Pixi or CM Pixi but is clearly overestimated in the current metagame. It's a relic from the era we tried to cover everything defensively but metagame changed with the use of more offensive counterplay and new breakers going through Stail.
From A to A-
This mon was really good pre-home and part of the big3 (or big4 if Stail included) but just dropped with home release. The reign of Garchomp under the meta, new Regenvesters, Psea Zapdos, WBB Treads and Lando, etc made it fall as a breaker. Other things such as Stail and Inteleon drops (Hoodra is the main reason) removed part of its utility in the metagame. Again a good mon that we should not scrap but not anymore A-rank to me. Cuz Iron Moth dropped it's perhaps interesting to try Tspikes again cuz we have less absorber now. People should try Fire Blast or Overheat over Fiery Dance to outdamage Regenvesters cuz Fiery Dance does not. Fiery Dance is good
if you get the boost and
if you stay next turn. Otherwise Fire Blast, Overheat and even Flamethrower are better.
From A to A-
Dog is both shit and broken at the same time. Can somehow autowin games or does pretty much nothing otherwise. Not something really healthy. I don't think such inconsistent thing should be A ranked. Looks more of an A- MU fish or HO wincon/utility to me.
From B to B-
Not saying I can't see them B but where are the uses? I never played one or I don't remember it lol.
While I saw many Rotom-Wash or EnamT but apparently they are B as well kek.
From B- to lower
Those garbages are B-?
Changes I'm not sure about:
Should maybe drop? This mon feels dumb sometimes but most of the time it does nothing. The rise of Intimi Quaqua, Fluffy Lando and Zap is prob worth finally dropping it.
Same shit. Both dumb and both shit at the same time. Insane mon on paper but in practise it has a lot of trouble entering the field and getting its breaker role done. Dislike stuff like WBB Lando, Psea Zap a lot. Might be interesting to try Gsurge to allow it to take an EQ cuz that's what is holding it most of the time I think.
RegenVest dissapeared but Strong Jaw Band is really good and might be worth rising it. Put a tremendous pressure on Intimi Corv. Stone Edge allows to delete Fluffy Zapdos and Thunder Fang makes the skewer Corv Quaqua. EQ is always a good option too.
I find some other things weird but don't want to waste my time for stuff we don't care much about anw. I hope VRs will be updated to fix the home meta before DLC drops so it can reflect what the meta was. I also hope VRs will continue to be made by players that actually play the tier competitively to share an objective picture to the community.
I'll follow this post by a team dump in the main thread before stopping AAA.