: A+ -> S
Drifloon has been nominated for S several times, and originally I felt this was simply because it was a new metagame trend and people were overhyping the pokemon--it’s only happened 14 times before! However, Drifloon has proved to be an immense pain with its extremely consistent Acrobatics / Will-o-wisp / Substitute / Recycle set. Drifloon has an arguably worse set with Calm Mind and Hex over Substitute and Acrobatics, though this can sometimes 6-0 outright, and manages to support the team even when it cannot sweep. Drifloon has the ability to make pretty much every sweeper better; burned Pawniard’s Sucker Punch is not an issue for Omanyte, the burn damage helps lower it in range of Fletchling--who can actually SD on burned Pawniard providing it has Roost--and Shellder, while Snivy has an easier time doing its thing if Pawniard is whittled and weakened from burn and Vullaby can 1v1 providing Pawniard doesn’t flinch 4 times. A burned Porygon helps literally everything but that burnt Porygon, while a burnt Archen and Magnemite can help both Fletchling and Pawniard break through them. A burnt Chinchou will lose to Ponyta, and is prone to losing to Fletchling as well. A burnt Vullaby is better for everyone, while a burnt Omanyte is far easier to revenge kill via priority. This isn’t even all of what Drifloon is able to support, while still being able to clean a majority of the tier and 1v1ing like 80% of the metagame. Drifloon makes a lot of already good things better, while also being really good by itself.
: A- -> A
This nomination has come up once or twice in the last year, never really being disagreed with but instead just not mentioned or discussed. Carvanha has been quite the a menace since the Misdreavus meta; it can hit hard from either side of the spectrum, though the physical set is more consistent if not solely because it cannot miss either STAB. Additionally, Zen Headbutt makes Carvanha a pain to switch into unless you’ve kept a Porygon/Snubbull/Ferroseed/Spritzee/Cottonee healthy. This is, however, unlikely due to the purpose of these pokemon; the extreme splashability of Fighting-types makes the fairies of that list much easier to bust through. Offense has a tendency to struggle against Carvanha, making it pretty easy to just toss onto a team of 5 solid pokemon. All Carvanha really needs is Knock Off support and Stealth Rocks (look at Zeril’s team from 2 years ago, it’s still semi solid because of how deadly the strategy is), and adding any further extent of weakening the opponent (burns, Toxic Spikes, regular Spikes) just means Carvanha is less likely to be forced out. SD pass into Carvanha is also a decently popular strategy, and only Abra, full health Timburr, Ferroseed, Cottonee, and Croagunk really prevent the strategy from working. Additionally, Carvanha can be a crucial member to a Water-spam core; Carvanha in tandem with Corphish or Tirtouga more or less counterteams balance teams without a Porygon + 2 things that can handle the Water-types.
: A- -> A
While I agree with the nomination, I feel that the ideas stated with it are shallow. Shellder has awesome synergy with pretty much anything that’s annoying in the tier; Abra can and will Knock Off Porygon and sometimes Slowpoke for you while also weakening Honedge. Fletchling weakens every Steel-type, and provides enough priority for irksome things like Abra, Gastly, Scarf Mienfoo, etc to make up for Shellder being relatively useless until it sets up. Pawniard Knocks Off Timburr, Croagunk, sets up SR, and generally softens the fat teams Shellder mildly dislikes. Mienfoo, specifically Poison Jab or Acrobatics, can lure Snubbull, Cottonee, Spritzee, deal with Pawniard, force Magnemite to pivot, and pivot in trappers. Cottonee can lure in Magnemite, Porygon, and Pawniard and kill them or cripple them. Cottonee can also be used to provide free turns for Shellder and lure in a lot of generally problematic pokemon for the team. Diglett is obviously good with Shellder. Snivy is okay with Shellder since they both struggle versus the same things and therefore these pokemon get greatly weakened. Download Porygon works similarly here.
: B+ -> A-
I liked Tirtouga a lot pretty much as soon as it got Zen Headbuut as this allowed me to lure Fighters and more reliably KO Foongus. Stone Edge sucks, but that’s okay as Zen / Stone Edge / Waterfall hits everything you care about. Scarf Pokemon royally ruin Tirt though, especially Aqua Jet-less sets, making it lackluster frequently. But on teams with several win conditions, Tirtouga is brilliant due to not relying on getting 2 smashes under its belt or otherwise beating common scarfers as other wincons handle this frequently.
: B+ -> A-
I would like to add that a lot of Croagunk’s downfalls are more easily patched up with the rise of Drifloon, as Drifloon happens to weaken most of what Croagunk is added to cover. A burnt Pawniard or Mienfoo or Archen is far easier for Croagunk to manage, and helps prevent Croagunk being forced to check the latter two while the 3rd is no longer a solid switch in. Ponyta has also seen more usage in this meta, and importantly helps augment Croagunk’s tendency to be worn down as it covers similar threats while covering each other's weaknesses. It's a combination of smashers and Water-spam and Drifloon all rising that have helped what works well with Croagunk rise again.
Just to address what Levi said about Cottonee, I don’t think Cottonee’s utility warrants it to reside in A- again. More of the things that Cottonee dislikes are relevant, and Grass-types are already used chiefly to check 3 pokemon. Yet Cottonee is also a fairy, and can therefore result in teams struggling with Scarf Pawniard or Magnemite unless you double down on what Cottonee can do i.e. checking Waters while not being inherently weak to Fighting-types. It’s support utility is really good, yes, but you still tend to beware priority users with Smashers even if they set up on a -2 pokemon. It’s probably the best mon or second best pokemon in B+ though.
: B+ -> B
It’s strong, but still rather weak, and its coverage lends to it being played around with some ease. It can be a threat, yes, but overall all of its sets have critical flaws in either giving free turns to pretty much every worthwhile wincon or being so slow, half of the teams out there always outpace it.
[super]: B+ -> B
It really isn’t super helpful unless you need a Ghost that has Ghost-type priority. I could even see it dropping further.
A- -> B+
Life Orb Vulpix sucks, as Overheat is the move of choice even versus most resists. It’s prone to being trapped and largely inferior to Houndour. Scarf Vulpix is not worth considering I find, and sun is mostly on the decline. I do see Drifloon sun being rather menacing, though this has to do with Drifloon being really good and less to do with Vulpix and Bellsprout being great.
B+ -> B
Bellsprout has like 2 counters on the average team now, and relies on a very trappable Vulpix to be able to do anything. I’ve thought it’s needed to move down for ages but everyone has disagreed simply because it’s still really good on paper.
B+ -> B
Sadly, Houndour is no longer splashable or incredibly hard for balance and offense alike to deal with, nor is it able to clean teams. It is, however, still a pain when it is used; it has 2 good sets in Life Orb and Scarf, and it has utility in harassing the Ghosts of the tier and Abra. Houndour is also really annoying when given support for opposing priority users, though Houndour is still really hard to slot onto a team now as it adds very little to the team compared to similar wallbreakers such as Gastly, Aipom, Carvanha, and other friends.
: B+ -> B-
Ziggy is really odd, since new users and ladder heros spam it for easy wins, yet it is countered by 2 of the 3 best mons in the meta while plenty can prevent Ziggy from setting up. It does set up on a lot too, but this is fine for B- since Ziggy lives and dies in matchup.
: C -> B-
The smash set sucks and loses to most teams. It does crush stall, however, which is rather irrelevant. The Sub set is really good but only versus slower pokemon, limiting its splashability. Corphish and Carvanha give it decent competition as a semi frail wall breaking Water-type too, further reducing Clamperl’s usage. But it exerts so much pressure when given 1 free turn that Clamperl is always something to beware.
Ziggy and Clamperl are somewhat similar, yes, though they are also very different. They're very powerful and only sometimes effective, but Clamperl doesn't only rely on setting up like Ziggy does and this makes it slightly more--but still not really--splashable. Yet they should be ranked the same as Ziggy is a far more viable sweeper while Clamperl has several teams that it can fit onto and be consistent (ffs I'm not counting setup spam as a real team).
: B -> B+
Aipom’s speed makes it stand out from the other 47 wallbreakers in the tier, and its sheer strength and flexibility differentiates it from the other normals of the tier. Knock Off + Fury Swipes 2HKOes the meta, Rocks and Steels withholding. Brick Break and Seed Bomb help force opponents to either have the correct counter to Aipom, otherwise outplay greatly, or lose a pokemon. Even if they have Onix or Tirtouga and Aipom is Brick Break, after these take a Knock Off Aipom can usually beat them on the second switch in with prediction. Aipom has utility in Fake Out and the ability to check Mienfoo, Gastly, and Drilbur giving it an edge over other quick wallbreakers such as Gastly who don’t quite support the team and cannot reliably kill these from a decent health. Moreover, Aipom can also open up holes for Shellder and Fletchling while benefiting from Diglett. Aipom can rather easily be utilized simply due to offensive synergy, despite being only a pure normal type.
: B -> B-
Stunky sucks, and it is really bad at being effective in the current meta since Drifloon 1v1s it and 18 speed Stunky is largely pointless; in general, it is weak as hell. Abra, Ferroseed, Spritzee, and Gastly aren’t common enough nor without other countermeasures to warrant it being ranked high at all.
: B -> B-
I have always liked Taillow, but it is so easy to weaken or revenge despite its speed. I prefer Doduo over it unless I want a special Normal-type, but that’s not really something desired, ever.
: B- -> C+
I mentioned things being overhyped before while really just being bad in general. This is one of those things that got overhyped when really beating Gastly (and then Missy), Bellsprout, and Drilbur is no longer so important, especially since as a Grass-type it has stiff competition and Bellsprout is far better handled now than 2 years ago.
: B- -> C+
I’ve literally nommed this twice; Licki is dropping. I’ll quote myself from earlier because nothing has really changed for it other than that it can annoy and pp stall Drifloon though it still doesn’t do so to any real benefit.
Licki actually has some really cool things it can do, in Counter and SD plus the standard stall-y sets. Tahu was playing around with Licki on full stall recently and ran a set with bloody thunder punch to fully cover Fletchling / Oma / Shellder for example. However, Counter is kinda awful versus Scarf Foo or even just HJK Mienfoo. SD acts are decent lure too, but this makes Licki fail to do anything besides lure or provide a single time check to sweepers. Curse can theoretically work amazingly, but the only plausible reasons to run this over Munchlax is you're playing Missy meta or running Dragon Tail (which is bad). It's all really niche though not inherently bad always, which is why I've been a proponent of it falling down to C+.
: C- -> C+
Rufflet is really annoying. It’s fantastic on Webs and OHKOes most of the average bird checks which is great when these are all -1 speed. Archen is an issue, as can be priority users, though Eviolite can be used instead of Life Orb at the cost of a few OHKOes. It’s not the best of pokemon, though it puts a ton of pressure on many builds even when webs are not used and is, of course, great with Drifloon and Diglett, naturally boosting its viability.
[Small]: B- -> C
As another overhyped pokemon from earlier this gen, Pumpkaboo-Small was loved as it can OHKO the fattest things in the tier with Bullet Seed, had priority for utility, Flame Charge to make revenge killing harder, and the ability to kill Grass-type resists with Rock Slide. However, Bullet Seed rarely gets the 5 hits it needs for the OHKOes you want, priority Acrobatics, Sucker Punch, Foongus, and a plethora of scarfers able to OHKO it help stop Pumpkaboo from being used. Even as a Grass-type, Pumpkaboo suffers from providing little defensive support and, as a Ghost, it’s too slow before a Flame Charge to really stand out. It’s a lot like Mankey, where it certainly has cases where it works and works well but needs a fair amount going for it to achieve this.
: C+ -> B-
Really nothing to add. It's strong and autowins versus teams that don't run Water-type priority or Scarf Mienfoo a lot of the time. Still not amazing but great in a bo3 environment imo.
: C+ -> C ; potentially C-
Inkay really sucks. It has a lot of potential to be good: STAB Knock Off, a powerful attack that also makes Inkay stronger, the ability to OHKO half of the common Dark resists, and beating Snubbull. Yet, the stats and pretty terrible defensive typing just makes this all fall apart.
: C+ -> C
It’s so prone to being whittled and burns are spammed a lot already. It is a little annoying to switch into simply because status sucks, yet a good number of teams have heal bell now and special attackers can always dispatch of it since it switches into Knock Off so much. It also doesn’t hit that hard, unless you really can’t risk some health on Chinchou or whatever.
: C -> C+
I’m not too sure if Kabuto should rise since so many Water-types are good right now. Kabuto does generally perform well though, but it’s hard to fit onto a team. There is very little demand for what Kabuto does, yet it is still an effective pokemon despite being largely outclassed.
: C -> C-
It blows. It doesn't do anything special either.
: D -> C+
I do think this is another pokemon being overhyped and generally loved for no reason other than it beats some common threats and some not so common things (BJ mag isn’t super common now for instance). Trapping Diglett is decent though, and differentiates it from Diglett enough that it should be ranked as more than awful. Any higher is actually dumb since Trapinch is entirely unproven in LCPL, never seen on the ladder (by me anyway!), and has only won when being ‘used’ by doing very little/nothing.
: Unranked --> C
Previous post mentioned my general thoughts, but I’m starting to really appreciate Psychic STAB since plenty of teams generally dislike the typing.