Current Slate:
up to S Rank: I was really on the fence with this one, but with Christo's post
I'm definitely agreeing with it moving up. Krookodile is definitely S Rank potential, with two really good sets its role compression in some teams as a Pursuit trapper, wallbreaker and Stealth Rock setter is invaluable for some offense squads. Its Choice Band set is not walled at all by Hydreigon like people are saying, due to Superpower, what also invalidates the argument that says that Shuca Berry Empoleon can stop Krookodile. Knock Off is probably the best move in the game actually and Krookodile abuses of it very well, since Pokémon like Sylveon, Conkeldurr, Hydreigon and [insert Pokémon that resists Dark here] can't switch safely in Knock Off due to how they can't abuse of they items. One good example is Sylveon, that is being very vulnerable to any physical or special attacker with its Leftovers removed. I don't think that I need to talk about how Earthquake is ridiculously good. The Stealth Rock set is really good right now too since it can run Taunt to worn down common physical walls like Sylveon and Cresselia or Pursuit, to defeat Chandelure and other frail Pokémon on the switch, not to mention that Rocky Helmet is really good to absorb some physical attacks like Wing Attacks from Mega Aerodactyl or Knock Offs from opposing Krookodile or even Conkeldurr.
up to A-: I was going to agree, but I changed my opinion after reading Panther's post about it. It really struggles against fat teams, and bulky waters like Suicune and Swampert(-Mega) can use it as a setup bait and spread burns without many efforts, I'm not saying that they must rely on Scald to defeat it since its Specially Defensive set is always going to take 3 or 4 hits from them. Its weakness to Fire-types sucks too, what is kind of a really bad thing actually even if its best teammates are Water-types. Imo what maintains Forretress in the B+ rank in the Viability Ranking is the ability of spinning hazards while using Volt Switch to avoid common threats like Entei and Hydreigon, and this is probably one of the only niches that it has over Tentacruel aside of defeating Cleric Sylveon and Celebi in the same Pokémon slot. Thus,
Forretress must stay in B+ since the A- rank doesn't really reflects what is in the metagame actually.
up to B+: I'm really agreeing with this nomination. I saw a lot of Open battles with Gligar (specially Killintime battles), and it provides a lot of role compression, just like Empoleon does. Saying that it's not good due to how it's reliant on Eviolite is not wrong, but it isn't a good argument too. Entei is reliant in Choice Band to wallbreak effectively, and it is a S Rank right now. This may not be the best argument, but they are very similar things. Gligar is very effective as a Stealth Rock setter and as a Defogger, not to mention that it is an exceptional check to Fighting-types and even Ground-types, acting as a pivot to strong attackers and/or wallbreakers, such as Celebi, Mega Aerodactyl and Crawdaunt. It has reliable recovery too, what's huge for a hazard setter/remover because they must have longevity. So yeah, I think that
a rise to B+ is needed.
up to B: Before Zapdos' rise, Dugtrio was just not good, but right now the metagame has a lot of trends that are favorable to Dugtrio, like Tentacruel's spike in usage, Celebi forcing Pokémon like Entei and Metagross being more used and a lot of other things. This is really good to some offensive archetypes, specially if you are using slow U-Turn/Volt Switch support from Pokémon like Uxie, Gligar, Mandibuzz and Forretress. If you wanna use bulkier archetypes with Dugtrio, Xatu + Shedinja squads are really funny to use, specially when you are using BP Shedinja, what allows the team to have less problems with Entei and Tentacruel. If you wanna have a shorter explanation:
Trapping is broken rise Duggy to B. Also I'm tagging
PinkDragonTamer here because Dugtrio can't trap Chandelure and Doublade because they are Ghost-types, and Ghost-types can't be trapped by Shadow Tag and Arena Trap (what's unfortunate), and Dugtrio runs Sludge Wave too, so it traps Whimsicott too!
I have no opinion on Mega Banette because I never used it. But if it's being added, C- is the biggest rank that it could reach imo.
Other Nominations:
up to A: I'm definitely disagreeing with this one. Infernape may be good on paper: 105 Attack/Special Attack, 108 Speed and a wide movepool, but it's good only in specific archetypes; the more offensively orientated ones. As a Nasty Plot user, its only advantage over Celebi is having Fire STAB and more speed, but Celebi has a better defensive typing, better bulk and more coverage options than only Grass Knot (that is needed to OHKO some Water-types after one boost). In my opinion what maintains Infernape in the A- Rank is its Choice Band and Choice Scarf set, that are really good right now due to how they abuse of Infernape's Speed and its fast U-Turn, but it isn't enough to push it to the A Rank. It just isn't at the same level of Pokémon like Tentacruel, Cresselia and Mamoswine. It should
stay A-.
My Nominations:
up to A: I was thinking to do this nomination a long time ago, but I completely forgot to do it. Swampert is really, really good right now and it's on the most of my teams actually. It's a solid Stealth Rock setter that's able to check most of the spinners and defoggers due to strong STAB moves and Scald. So spinners and defoggers such as Tentacruel, Forretress, Empoleon and Gligar are easily defeated by Swampert. It's probably the most easily fitted Entei answer on offense teams, being able to check it and a plethora of offensive menaces just like Mega Aerodactyl, Cobalion and Gyarados. It's incredibly useful due to how it fulfills roles with ease. Access to Stealth Rock, a great physical bulk and really good STAB moves are pushing Swampert to a higher ranking, and I think that it is enough to an
A Rank.