AAA Almost Any Ability Old Gens Hub

[Isaiah]

Art by Bummer

Almost Any Ability is a metagame in which Pokemon can use almost any ability to replace their regular ability slot. This is aimed at giving resources and information for previous generations of Almost Any Ability, as well as a place to discuss these metagames.​

 

[Isaiah]

SS AAA
​

Important Mechanical Changes:

• Most recovery moves have 16 PP instead of 8 PP.
• Hail exists instead of Snow, deals 1/16 damage to non-Ice-types, and doesn't boost the Defense of Ice-types by 1.5x.
• Dauntless Shield triggers on every switch instead of once per battle.
• Grassy Glide has 70 Base Power.
• Probably more stuff idk

How to play:
You can play SS AAA on PS! with the following code:
/challenge [user], gen8anythinggoes @@@ Standard OMs, Ability Clause = 2, !Obtainable Abilities, Sleep Moves Clause, -Archeops, -Blacephalon, -Buzzwole, -Calyrex-Ice, -Calyrex-Shadow, -Dialga, -Dracovish, -Dragapult, -Dragonite, -Eternatus, -Genesect, -Gengar, -Giratina, -Giratina-Origin, -Groudon, -Ho-Oh, -Kartana, -Keldeo, -Kyogre, -Kyurem, -Kyurem-Black, -Kyurem-White, -Lugia, -Lunala, -Magearna, -Marshadow, -Melmetal, -Mewtwo, -Naganadel, -Necrozma-Dawn-Wings, -Necrozma-Dusk-Mane, -Noivern, -Palkia, -Pheromosa, -Rayquaza, -Regigigas, -Reshiram, -Shedinja, -Solgaleo, -Spectrier, -Urshifu, -Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, -Victini, -Weavile, -Xerneas, -Yveltal, -Zacian, -Zacian-Crowned, -Zamazenta-Base, -Zekrom, -Zeraora, -Zygarde-Base, -Arena Trap, -Comatose, -Contrary, -Fluffy, -Fur Coat, -Gorilla Tactics, -Huge Power, -Ice Scales, -Illusion, -Imposter, -Innards Out, -Intrepid Sword, -Libero, -Magic Bounce, -Magnet Pull, -Moody, -Neutralizing Gas, -Parental Bond, -Poison Heal, -Protean, -Pure Power, -Shadow Tag, -Simple, -Stakeout, -Speed Boost, -Unburden, -Water Bubble, -Wonder Guard, -King's Rock, -Baton Pass, -Electrify

Banlist

AAA's ruleset is similar to OU's; however, Pokemon and Abilities shall be banned independently of OU.

Items: King's Rock

Pokemon

Archeops
Buzzwole
Blacephalon
Calyrex-Ice
Calyrex-Shadow
Dialga
Dracovish
Dragapult
Dragonite
Eternatus
Genesect
Gengar
Giratina
Giratina-Origin
Groudon
Ho-Oh
Kartana
Keldeo
Kyogre
Kyurem
Kyurem-Black
Kyurem-White
Lugia
Lunala
Magearna
Marshadow
Melmetal
Mewtwo
Naganadel
Necrozma-Dawn-Wings
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane
Noivern
Palkia
Pheromosa
Rayquaza
Regigigas
Reshiram
Shedinja
Solgaleo
Spectrier
Urshifu-Single-Strike
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike
Victini
Weavile
Xerneas
Yveltal
Zacian
Zacian-Crowned
Zamazenta
Zekrom
Zeraora
Zygarde

Abilities

Arena Trap
Comatose
Contrary
Electrify
Fluffy
Fur Coat
Gorilla Tactics
Huge Power
Ice Scales
Illusion
Imposter
Innards Out
Intrepid Sword
Libero
Magic Bounce
Magnet Pull
Moody
Neutralizing Gas
Parental Bond
Poison Heal
Protean
Pure Power
Shadow Tag
Simple
Stakeout
Speed Boost
Unburden
Water Bubble
Wonder Guard

Clauses

• Species Clause: A player cannot have two Pokemon with the same National Pokédex number on a team.
• 2 Ability Clause: A player cannot have more than two Pokemon with the same Ability on a team.
• OHKO Clause: A Pokemon may not have the moves Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, or Sheer Cold in its moveset.
• Evasion Clause: A Pokemon may not have either Double Team or Minimize in its moveset.
• Sleep Moves Clause: Bans all moves that induce sleep, such as Hypnosis. (also bans Yawn)
• Endless Battle Clause: Players cannot intentionally prevent an opponent from being able to end the game without forfeiting.

Viability Rankings

AAA Pokemon Viability Rankings
[last updated October 14th, 2022]
​

Click on the link of each Pokemon's name to see sample sets.

S Rank:
Mew (Dauntless Shield, Regenerator, Unaware, Magic Guard)

A Rank:
A+
Ferrothorn (Regenerator, Flash Fire, Bulletproof)
Heatran (Desolate Land, Mold Breaker, Bulletproof, Regenerator, Magic Guard)
Tapu Koko (Magic Guard, Pixilate, Primordial Sea, Levitate, Refrigerate)

A
Barraskewda (Primordial Sea, Magic Guard)
Blissey (Regenerator, Unaware, Magic Guard)
Corviknight (Intimidate, Wandering Spirit, Volt Absorb, Flash Fire, Primordial Sea, Regenerator, Unaware, Drizzle, Drought)
Garchomp (Regenerator, Skill Link, Magic Guard)
Jirachi (Regenerator, Magic Guard)
Mandibuzz (Unaware, Dauntless Shield, Flash Fire, Volt Absorb)
Talonflame (Magic Guard)
Tapu Fini (Regenerator)
Terrakion (Adaptability, Sniper, Download, Tough Claws)
Zapdos (Primordial Sea)
Zapdos-Galar (Tough Claws, Magic Guard, Regenerator, Tinted Lens)
Zarude (Grassy Surge, Tough Claws, Adaptability)

A-
Azelf (Psychic Surge)
Chansey (Unaware, Regenerator, Sticky Hold, Magic Guard)
Cinderace (Desolate Land, Tinted Lens, Magic Guard, Sheer Force)
Kommo-o (Regenerator, Dauntless Shield, Galvanize, Triage)
Landorus-Therian (Regenerator, Water Absorb, Flash Fire, Wandering Spirit, Aerilate)
Skarmory (Dauntless Shield, Wandering Spirit, Delta Stream, Mold Breaker, Flash Fire, Intimidate, Volt Absorb, Water Absorb)
Swampert (Regenerator)
Tapu Lele (Sheer Force, Triage, Tinted Lens)
Toxapex (Prankster, Volt Absorb, Regenerator)
Zygarde-10% (Adaptability, Power Construct)

B Rank
B+
Dhelmise (Grassy Surge, Tinted Lens, Adaptability)
Inteleon (Primordial Sea)
Latios (Adaptability, Tinted Lens, Magic Guard, Dragon's Maw)
Moltres (Magic Guard, Desolate Land)

B
Chandelure (Sheer Force, Desolate Land, Magic Guard)
Latias (Regenerator, Magic Guard)
Moltres-Galar (Primordial Sea)
Nidoqueen (Regenerator, Dry Skin)
Salamence (Aerilate, Magic Guard)
Suicune (Regenerator)
Tapu Bulu (Triage)
Togekiss (Triage)
Volcanion (Magic Guard, Desolate Land, Primordial Sea, Swift Swim)
Volcarona (Desolate Land, Magic Guard, Sheer Force)

B-
Doublade (Regenerator)
Entei (Desolate Land, Magic Guard, Refrigerate, Galvanize, Pixilate)
Hippowdon (Dauntless Shield, Wandering Spirit, Intimidate, Water Absorb)
Hydreigon (Dragon's Maw, Quick Feet, Galvanize, Mega Launcher)
Nihilego (Regenerator)
Primarina (Primordial Sea, Triage)
Slowbro (Dauntless Shield, Regenerator)
Slowking-Galar (Dauntless Shield, Lightning Rod)

C Rank
C+
Bisharp (Adaptability)
Lucario (Magic Guard, Tough Claws, Adaptability, Sheer Force, Refrigerate, Galvanize)
Mamoswine (Adaptability, Water Absorb, Sheer Force)
Runerigus (Regenerator, Prankster)
Silvally-Dragon (Regenerator)
Vaporeon (Regenerator, Corrosion)
Xurkitree (Surge Surfer, Electric Surge, Magic Guard)

C
Alakazam (Psychic Surge, No Guard, Tinted Lens)
Blastoise (Regenerator)
Cobalion (Regenerator, Magic Guard)
Conkeldurr (Triage, Tinted Lens, Tough Claws)
Darmanitan-Galar (Zen Mode, Magic Guard)
Diancie (Regenerator, Triage)
Golisopod (Tinted Lens, Regenerator, Triage)
Heliolisk (Lightning Rod)
Heracross (Tinted Lens)
Marowak-Alola (Adaptability, Magic Guard)
Milotic (Regenerator, Dauntless Shield, Prankster, Corrosion)
Palossand (Water Absorb, Dauntless Shield)
Pikachu (Galvanize)
Polteageist (Queenly Majesty)
Porygon2 (Dauntless Shield, Regenerator, Sticky Hold)
Raikou (Electric Surge)
Regieleki (Refrigerate, Electric Surge)
Scizor (Flash Fire, Regenerator)
Thundurus (Magic Guard)
Toxtricity (Refrigerate)
Zamazenta-Crowned (Dauntless Shield)
Stakataka (Steelworker, Tinted Lens, Levitate, Regenerator)

Sample Teams

AAA Sample Teams
[Last updated October 28, 2022]
Submissions: Closed

RegenScarf Latias Balance by astralydia

Corrosion Tran Fat by Isaiah

Azelf + Gapdos Bulky Offense by US South

Specs Azelf Balance by The Number Man

BIG ZYG Fat by beauts

Gapdos + Pivots Offense by DeepFriedMagikarp

Chandelure + Zarude Bulky Offense by US South

Band Zarude + SFLO Lele Bulky Offense by Shandeur

Mew + Goltres Screens HO by Grim_Blazer
​

Resources

Gen 8 AAA Discussion Thread
AAA Resources Megathread

 

[Isaiah]

USUM AAA
​

Important Mechanical Changes:

• Full Pokedex and move list are usable. This includes moves like Core Enforcer, Pursuit, Return/Frustration, and many others.
• Z-Crystals and Mega Stones can be used, allowing for the use of Z-Moves and manual Mega Evolution.
• Rapid Spin is 20 BP and does not increase Speed.
• Grassy, Electric, and Psychic Terrain boost is 1.5x instead of 1.3x.
• Defog no longer removes Terrains.
• Figy Berry and its equivalents restore HP by 50% instead of 33%.
• Inner Focus, Oblivious, Scrappy, Rattled, and Own Tempo no longer have immunity to Intimidate
• Disguise does no damage to Mimikyu after activation.

Click here for a comprehensive list of changes.

How to play:
You can play USUM AAA on PS! with the following code:
/chall [user], gen7ou @@@ Ability Clause = 2, !Obtainable Abilities, AAA Restricted Abilities, *Comatose, *Contrary, *Fluffy, *Fur Coat, *Huge Power, *Illusion, *Innards Out, *Parental Bond, *Protean, *Pure Power, *Simple, *Stakeout, *Speed Boost, *Water Bubble, *Wonder Guard, -Archeops, -Dragonite, -Hoopa-Unbound, -Kartana, -Keldeo, -Kyurem-Black, -Terrakion, -Regigigas, -Shedinja, -Slaking, -Zygarde-Base, -Victini, -Weavile, +Genesect, +Landorus, +Metagross-Mega, +Metagrossite, +Naganadel, +Zygarde-10%

Banlist

Banlist:
Things that are banned from Gen 7 OverUsed in addition to:

Abilities:
Comatose
Contrary
Fluffy
Fur Coat
Huge Power
Illusion
Imposter
Innards Out
Parental Bond
Protean
Pure Power
Simple
Stakeout
Speed Boost
Water Bubble
Wonder Guard

Pokémon:
Archeops
Dragonite
Hoopa-Unbound
Kartana
Keldeo
Kyurem-Black
Terrakion
Regigigas
Shedinja
Slaking
Zygarde
Victini
Weavile

Clauses:
OU Clauses, Ability Clause-teams are limited to 2 of the same ability, this includes "variants" such as Teravolt and Turboblaze.

Unbans:
Genesect, Landorus, Mega Metagross, Nagadadel

Viability Rankings

S-Rank:

Buzzwole (Triage, Tinted Lens, Intimidate, Flash Fire, Magic Bounce, Tough Claws)

Magearna (Regenerator, Adaptability, Sheer Force, Tinted Lens, Levitate, Flash Fire)

A-Rank:
A+

Landorus-T (Aerilate, Refrigerate, Regenerator, Adaptability, Flash Fire)

Noivern (Aerilate)

Tapu Fini (Poison Heal, Regenerator, Grassy Surge)

Tapu Koko (Pixilate, Galvanize, Primordial Sea)

A

Blacephalon (Magic Guard, Sheer Force)

Chansey (Unaware, Magic Bounce, Prankster, Regenerator)

Ferrothorn (Flash Fire, Primordial Sea, Magic Bounce)

Golisopod (Triage, Mold Breaker, Primordial Sea)

Heatran (Desolate Land, Levitate, Volt Absorb, Magnet Pull, Flash Fire, Chlorophyll)

Manaphy (Regenerator, Poison Heal, Motor Drive, Beast Boost, Primordial Sea, Unaware)

Mew (Unaware, Intimidate, Magic Bounce, Sheer Force, No Guard, Poison Heal)

Muk-Alolan (Regenerator, Adaptability)

Naganadel (Adaptability, Mold Breaker, Sheer Force, Unburden)

Nihilego (Water Absorb, Regenerator)

Volcarona (Magic Guard, Desolate Land, Mold Breaker, Queenly Majesty)

A-

Celesteela (Steelworker, Volt Absorb, Flash Fire, Regenerator, Aerilate)

Charizard-Mega-X (Defiant, Magnet Pull, Magic Bounce, Magic Guard, Drought -> Tough Claws)

Doublade (Regenerator, Flash Fire, Levitate)

Gengar (No Guard, Sheer Force, Normalize, Merciless)

Hippowdon (Intimidate, Magic Bounce,, Thick Fat)

Mamoswine (Adaptability, Technician)

Mandibuzz (Unaware, Thick Fat, Poison Heal, Magic Bounce, Delta Stream, Regenerator)

Medicham-Mega (Magnet Pull, Psychic Surge, Download -> Pure Power)

Skarmory (Intimidate, Unaware, Flash Fire, Volt Absorb)

Snorlax (Poison Heal)

Stakataka (Steelworker, Water Absorb, Levitate)

Talonflame (Magic Guard, Magic Bounce)

Tapu-Bulu (Pixilate, Tinted Lens, Poison Heal, Triage)

Thundurus (Magic Guard, Sheer Force, Aerilate, Refrigerate, Galvanize)

Volcanion (Tinted Lens, Adaptability, Swift Swim, Sheer Force)

Xurkitree (No Guard, Surge Surfer, Electric Surge, Sheer Force, Mold Breaker)

Zapdos (Intimidate, Unaware, Magic Bounce, Delta Stream)

B-Rank:
B+

Alakazam-Mega (Psychic Surge, Soul Heart -> Trace)

Bisharp (Adaptability, Tough Claws)

Garchomp (Adaptability, Mold Breaker)

Genesect (Sheer Force, Refrigerate, Tough Claws, Steelworker )

Gligar (Intimidate, Unaware, Thick Fat)

Gyarados-Mega (Volt Absorb, Magic Bounce -> Mold Breaker)

Kommo-o (Adaptability, Unburden, Mold Breaker, Sheer Force)

Latios (Tinted Lens, Dazzling, Adaptability, Psychic Surge)

Lucario (Tough Claws, Adaptability, Steelworker, Sheer Force, Refrigerate)

Mawile-Mega (Download, Levitate, Defiant -> Huge Power)

Metagross-Mega (Psychic Surge, Levitate, Download, Defiant -> Tough Claws)

Suicune (Poison Heal, Stamina, Unaware)

Toxapex (Volt Absorb, Prankster, Levitate)

Tyranitar (Adaptability, Regenerator, Bulletproof)

Zeraora (Refrigerate, Tough Claws, Electric Surge, Galvanize)

Zygarde-10% (Adaptability, Hustle)

B

Azelf (Mold Breaker)

Entei (Galvanize, Refrigerate, Mold Breaker, Magnet Pull)

Excadrill (Flash Fire, Water Absorb, Refrigerate, Aerilate, Adaptability, Magnet Pull)

Greninja (Protean)

Jirachi (Regenerator)

Landorus (Sheer Force, Aerilate)

Minior (Dazzling, Adaptability)

B-

Celebi (Triage, Unaware, Magic Bounce, Grassy Surge)

Chesnaught (Flash Fire,Triage, Poison Heal, Unburden, Tough Claws)

Gliscor (Intimidate, Thick Fat, Unaware)

Gyarados (Aerilate, Adaptability)

Hydreigon (Mega Launcher, Adaptability, Trace)

Marowak-Alolan (Magic Guard, Adaptability, Regenerator)

Necrozma (Poison Heal, Magic Bounce)

Shuckle (Mold Breaker)

Sneasel (Adaptability)

Uxie (Regenerator)

C-Rank:

Conkeldurr (Triage)

Diancie (Poison Heal, Regenerator)

Goodra (Regenerator)

Infernape (Magnet Pull, Tinted Lens, Adaptability)

Meloetta (Regenerator)

Pangoro (Triage, Tough Claws)

Rotom-W (Levitate, Swift Swim, Regenerator, Primordial Sea)

Smeargle (Mold Breaker, Prankster)

Swampert-Mega (Drizzle -> Swift Swim)

Thundurus-Therian (Sheer Force)

Turtonator (Regenerator)

Umbreon (Poison Heal, Magic Bounce, Regenerator)

Salazzle (Sheer Force)

Sample Teams

Talonflame Balance by Sabella
Pivot Balance by rozes
Gligar Balance by Sylveon.
Balance by Jrdn

Resources

Gen 7 AAA Discussion Thread
AAA Resources Megathread

 

[Isaiah]

ORAS AAA ​

Important Mechanical Changes:

• Burn deals 12.5% per turn, not 6.25%.
• Prankster affects Dark-types.
• Soul Dew boosts Special Attack and Special Defense of Latios and Latias by 1.5x.
• Dark Void's accuracy is 80%, and it is not restricted to Darkrai.
• -ate abilities grant a 1.3x power boost, not 1.2x.
• Gale Wings grants +1 priority to all Flying-type attacks regardless of the user's HP.
• Base critical hit rate is 1/16 instead of 1/24.
• Normalize no longer boosts the power of affected moves.
• Mega Evolution does not increase the Pokemon's Speed nor activate its Ability on the turn of Mega Evolving.
• Destiny Bond does not fail with multiple uses

Click here for a comprehensive list of changes.

How To Play:
You can play ORAS AAA on PS! with the following code:
/chall [user], gen6ou@@@ Ability Clause = 2, !Obtainable Abilities, AAA Restricted Abilities, *Aerilate, *Arena Trap, *Contrary, *Fur Coat, *Huge Power, *Illusion, *Imposter, *Parental Bond, *Protean, *Pure Power, *Simple, *Speed Boost, *Wonder Guard, -Archeops, -Bisharp, -Chatot, -Keldeo, -Kyurem-black, -Mamoswine, -Regigigas, -Shedinja, -Slaking, -Smeargle, -Snorlax, -Suicune, -Terrakion, -Weavile, -Dynamic Punch, -Zap Cannon, +Aegislash, +Blaziken, +Deoxys-Defense, +Deoxys-Speed, +Genesect, +Greninja, +Landorus

Banlist

Banlist:
Things that are banned from Gen 6 OverUsed in addition to:

Abilities:
Arena Trap
Contrary
Fur Coat
Huge Power
Illusion
Imposter
Parental Bond
Protean
Pure Power
Simple
Speed Boost
Wonder Guard

Pokémon:
Archeops
Bisharp
Chatot
Dragonite
Keldeo
Kyurem-Black
Mamoswine
Regigigas
Shedinja
Slaking
Smeargle
Snorlax
Suicune
Terrakion
Weavile

Clauses:
OU Clauses
Ability Clause-teams are limited to 2 of the same ability, this includes "variants" such as Teravolt and Turboblaze.

Moves:
Dynamic Punch
Zap Cannon

Unbans:
Aegislash
Blaziken
Deoxys-Defense
Deoxys-Speed
Genesect
Greninja
Landorus-I

Viability Rankings

S Rank:

Skarmory - Gale Wings, Unaware, Intimidate, Flash Fire, Prankster

Tyranitar - Adaptability, Regenerator, Defiant

Manaphy - Poison Heal, Motor Drive, Regenerator, Sheer Force, Unaware, Volt Absorb

A Rank:
High A Rank

Braviary - Gale Wings, Poison Heal

Deoxys-S - Mold Breaker, Download, Sheer Force

Doublade - Regenerator, Flash Fire, Levitate

Entei - Refrigerate, Tinted Lens, Desolate Land

Heatran - Desolate Land, Chlorophyll, Magnet Pull, Levitate, Turboblaze

Honchkrow - Adaptability, Gale Wings

Latios - Adaptability, Tinted Lens

Lucario - Tough Claws, Refrigerate, Scrappy, Sheer Force, Adaptability

Mega Gyarados - Magic Bounce, Volt Absorb, Motor Drive -> Mold Breaker.

Thundurus - Sheer Force, Refrigerate, Magic Guard

Victini - Desolate Land, Tough Claws, Tinted Lens, No Guard, Sheer Force, Turboblaze

Volcanion - Tinted Lens, Adaptability, Motor Drive, Magnet Pull, Swift Swim

Zapdos - Intimidate, Unaware, Drizzle, Delta Stream, Magic Guard, Magic Bounce, Primordial Sea, No Guard

Mid A Rank

Alakazam - Sheer Force, Adaptability

Chansey - Magic Bounce, Unaware, Regenerator, Flash Fire

Diancie - Regenerator, Poison Heal

Genesect - Sheer Force, Refrigerate, Tough Claws, Regenerator

Gengar - Sheer Force, No Guard, Normalize

Heracross - Tough Claws

Kyurem - Adaptability, Refrigerate, Sheer Force, Tinted Lens

Mandibuzz - Poison Heal, Unaware, Volt Absorb, Delta Stream, Intimidate, Regenerator, Magic Guard

Mew - Unaware, No Guard, Prankster, Magic Bounce

Volcorona - Magic Guard, Desolate Land, Sheer Force

Low A Rank

Ferrothorn - Flash Fire, Primordial Sea, Regenerator, Prankster, Tough Claws, Bulletproof, Magic Bounce

Garchomp - Adaptability, Poison Heal, Magic Bounce

Greninja - Protean, Sheer Force

Hippowdon - Intimidate, Unaware, Poison Heal, Magic Bounce.

Jirachi - Regenerator, Tinted Lens, Sheer Force, Serene Grace

Krookodile - Bulletproof, Adaptability

Staraptor - Gale Wings, Tinted Lens, Guts

Zygarde - Poison Heal, Magic Bounce, Refrigerate

Meloetta - Regenerator

Mega Metagross - Defiant / Flash Fire -> Tough Claws

B Rank:
High B Rank

Azumarill - Poison Heal, Huge Power

Blastoise - Poison Heal

Goodra - Regenerator

Hydreigon - Mega Launcher, Sniper, Sheer Force, Tough Claws

Infernape - Magnet Pull, Sheer Force, Adaptability, Drought, Mold Breaker, Download

Landorus-T - Aerilate, Refrigerate, Regenerator, Adaptability, Mold Breaker, Flash Fire

Rotom-Wash - Swift Swim, Regenerator, Primordial Sea, Poison Heal, Magnet Pull

Swampert - Poison Heal, Regenerator, Sap Sipper

Tentacruel - Regenerator, Unaware

Vaporeon - Poison Heal

Mega Lopunny - Download -> Scrappy

Mega Swampert - Drizzle -> Swift Swim

Mega Tyranitar - Defiant, Magic Bounce, Prankster -> Sand Stream

Togekiss - Delta Stream, Magic Guard, Pixilate, Gale Wings

Mid B Rank

Azelf - Sheer Force, Download

Blaziken - Speed Boost, Tough Claws, Magic Guard

Breloom - Prankster, Technician

Chesnaught - Poison Heal, Tough Claws,Flash Fire, Unburden

Landorus-I - Sheer Force, Refrigerate

Mega Diancie - Download, Magic Bounce -> Magic Bounce

Deoxys-D - Mold Breaker, Prankster

Escavalier - Regenerator

Gliscor - Intimidate, Gale Wings, Unaware

Moltres - Magic Guard, Gale Wings, Primordial Sea, Desolate Land

Raikou - Teravolt, Adaptability, Magnet Pull, Regenerator

Sylveon - Regenerator, Poison Heal

Tyrantrum - Magic Guard, Tough Claws, Adaptability

Mega Charizard X - Drought, Magic Guard, Download, Magic Bounce, Multiscale -> Tough Claws

Low B Rank
Cresselia - Unaware, Poison Heal

Jellicent - Adaptability, Prankster, Poison Heal

Magnezone - Regenerator,Swift Swim,Primordial Sea

Pangoro - Tough Claws, Adaptability

Scizor - Flash Fire, Regenerator

Shuckle - Mold Breaker, Prankster

Sneasel - Refridgerate, Adaptability

Tornadus - Gale Wings, Sheer Force, No Guard, Drizzle / Primordial Sea, Tinted Lens

Zoroark - Illusion, Adaptability, Tough Claws, Sheer Force

Mega Slowbro - Volt Absorb, Intimidate, Unaware, Magic Bounce, Magnet Pull, Regenerator -> Shell Armor

C Rank:
High C Rank

Absol - Tough Claws, Adaptability

Aromatisse - Unaware,Poison Heal

Arcanine - Tough Claws, Refrigerate

Celebi - Unaware, Poison Heal

Crobat - Magic Guard

Excadrill - Adaptability, Flash Fire, Bulletproof, Refrigerate

Gastrodon - Thick Fat, Primordial Sea

Metagross - Regenerator

Porygon2 - Prankster

Rampardos - Magic Guard, Sand Rush, Tough Claws

Rhydon - Regenerator

Rhyperior - Adaptabiliity, Poison Heal

Shaymin - Tinted Lens, Poison Heal, Sheer Force

Shiftry - Adaptability

Starmie - Intimidate, No Guard, Primordial Sea, Sheer Force, Adaptability

Talonflame - Magic Guard

Mega Manectric - Magnet Pull / Intimidate -> Intimidate

Tornadus-T - Tinted Lens, Drizzle, Download, Sheer Force

Umbreon - Poison Heal

Virizion - Poison Heal

Mid C Rank

Chandelure - Desolate Land, Magic Guard, Adaptability, Sheer Force

Conkeldurr - Tough Claws

Darmanitan - Tough Claws, Unburden

Diggersby - Huge Power

Haxorus - Tough Claws, Tinted Lens

Omastar - Regenerator, Levitate, Swift Swim, Poison Heal

Rotom-Frost - Adaptability

Thundurus-T - Swift Swim, Sheer Force, No Guard

Mega Altaria - Magic Bounce / Multiscale / Intimidate -> Pixilate

Mega Blastoise - Drizzle / Magnet Pull / Lightning Rod-> Mega Launcher

Mega Gardevoir - Competitive, Download -> Pixilate

Mega Houndoom - Drought -> Solar Power.


Low C Rank

Crawdaunt - Adaptability, Swift Swim

Ditto - Imposter

Hoopa-C - Adaptability, Chlorophyll, Swift Swim, Tinted Lens

Klefki - Regenerator, Prankster

Sample Teams

Garchomp Balance by aesf
Deoxys-Speed Bulky Offense by xavgb
Refrigerate Zygarde Offense by aesf
Noivern Offense by aesf

Resources

Gen 6 AAA Discussion Thread
Gen 6 AAA Resource Thread

 

[Isaiah]

BW AAA ​

Important Mechanical Changes:.

• Fairy type does not exist.
• Steel resists Ghost and Dark.
• Terrains do not exist.
• Critical hit damage is 2x instead of 1.5x.
• Knock Off's base power is 20.
• Infiltrator and sound-based moves no longer go through Substitute.
• Weather summoned by Drought and similar abilities lasts indefinitely.
• The sleep counter resets if the sleeping Pokemon switches out.
• Defog does not remove hazards on the user's side.
• Some special moves like Draco Meteor, Hurricane, and Fire Blast have a slightly higher base power. Click here for a full list.
• Grass-types are no longer immune to powder moves.
• Electric Pokemon can be paralyzed.

Click here for the research thread. It's a bit less organized than more modern ones, so this RoA thread is also recommended.

How To Play:
You can play BW AAA on PS! with the following code:
/chall [user], gen5ou @@@ Ability Clause = 2, !Obtainable Abilities, AAA Restricted Abilities, -Arena Trap, -Contrary, -Huge Power, -Illusion, -Imposter, -No Guard, -Pure Power, -Simple, -Speed Boost, -Wonder Guard, -Archeops, -Bisharp, -Keldeo, -Kyurem-Black, -Mamoswine, -Regigigas, -Shedinja, -Slaking, -Snorlax, -Suicune, -Terrakion, +deoxys-defense, +deoxys-speed, +landorus-base

Banlist

Banlist:
Things that are banned from Gen 5 OverUsed in addition to:

Abilities:
Arena Trap
Contrary
Huge Power
Illusion
Imposter
No Guard
Pure Power
Simple
Speed Boost
Wonder Guard

Pokémon:
Archeops
Bisharp
Keldeo
Kyurem-Black
Mamoswine
Regigigas
Shedinja
Slaking
Snorlax
Suicune
Terrakion

Clauses:
OU Clauses
Ability Clause-teams are limited to 2 of the same ability, this includes "variants" such as Teravolt and Turboblaze.

Unbans:
Deoxys-Defense
Deoxys-Speed
Landorus-Incarnate

 

[Isaiah]

DPP AAA ​

Important Mechanical Changes:

• Team Preview does not exist.
• Magic Coat does not block hazards, Taunt, or Torment.
• The moves Explosion and Self-Destruct temporarily halves the opponent's Defense, effectively doubling their Base Power.
• Encore lasts for 3 to 7 turns.
• Sturdy does not have its Focus Sash effect and only works as an immunity to OHKO moves like Sheer Cold.
• Magic Guard makes a Pokemon unable to be fully paralyzed.
• Lightning Rod and Storm Drain don't grant immunities or raise Special Attack.
• Wish restores 50% of the recipient's HP, regardless of what the user's max HP is.
• All of Rotom's forms are Ghost/Electric-type.

Click here for more detailed information.

How To Play:
You can play DPP AAA on PS! with the following code:
/chall [user], gen4ou @@@ Ability Clause = 2, !Obtainable Abilities, -Arena Trap, -Chlorophyll, -Huge Power, -No Guard, -Poison Heal, -Pure Power, -Simple, -Speed Boost, -Swift Swim, -Wonder Guard, -Mamoswine, -Regigigas,-Slaking, +Deoxys-Defense, +Deoxys-Speed

Banlist

Banlist:
Things that are banned from Gen 4 OverUsed in addition to:

Abilities:
Arena Trap
Chlorophyll
Huge Power
No Guard
Poison Heal
Pure Power
Simple
Speed Boost
Swift Swim
Wonder Guard

Pokémon:
Mamoswine
Regigigas
Slaking

Clauses:
OU Clauses
Ability Clause-teams are limited to 2 of the same ability, this includes "variants" such as Teravolt and Turboblaze.

Unbans:
Deoxys-Defense
Deoxys-Speed

 

[Isaiah]

ADV AAA ​

Important Mechanical Changes:

• All Dark, Dragon, Electric, Fire, Grass, Ice, Psychic, and Water moves are special moves. All Bug, Fighting, Flying, Ghost, Ground, Normal, Poison, Rock, and Steel moves are physical moves.
• Sleep lasts for 1 to 6 turns. Sleep Talk will not always advance the sleep counter, as detailed here.
• When the faster Pokemon faints, the opposing Pokemon does not get to move.
• Taunt only lasts for 2 turns.
• Encore lasts for 2 to 6 turns.
• Counter and Mirror Coat treat Hidden Power as physical, regardless of type.
• When a Pokemon faints, it gets replaced before the next Pokemon moves. If all non-fainted Pokemon have already moved, then the fainted Pokemon gets replaced before the end of the turn.
• Thunder Wave does not activate Volt Absorb.
• Rough Skin damage is 1/16.
• Volt Absorb causes this Pokemon to be immune to damaging Electric-type moves and restores its health by 1/4 of its maximum HP, rounded down.
• Flash Fire still lets this Pokemon get hit by Fire-type moves if it is frozen, and Will-O-Wisp doesn't trigger this ability if this Pokemon is a Fire-type, has a major status condition, or is behind a substitute.

Click here for more detailed information.

How To Play:
You can play ADV AAA on PS! with the following code:
/chall [user], gen3ou @@@ Ability Clause = 2, !Obtainable Abilities, -Arena Trap, -Chlorophyll, -Huge Power, -Pure Power, -Speed Boost, -Swift Swim, -Wonder Guard, -Slaking, +Deoxys-Defense, +Deoxys-Speed

Banlist

Banlist:
Things that are banned from Gen 3 OverUsed in addition to:

Abilities:
Arena Trap
Chlorophyll
Huge Power
Pure Power
Speed Boost
Swift Swim
Wonder Guard

Pokémon:
Slaking

Clauses:
OU Clauses
Ability Clause-teams are limited to 2 of the same ability, this includes "variants" such as Teravolt and Turboblaze.

Unbans:
Deoxys-Defense
Deoxys-Speed

 

[longhiep341]

https://pokepast.es/15672586e801a9ce
Figured I should do this with AAAPL and Gen 8 OM tour. Note: there are tons of old teams and OMM teams (mostly TSAAA) and also some box/stuffs I theorymonned with. I will see if I can/will scavenge more teams that I used in later half of my AAA journey cause I had some very cool builds there. Also will try adding meta thoughts and stuffs even later if I have the will to do it while building 2-3 teams each week for each Seasonal tour (sorry but I have a self policy of never reusing teams that are publicly shown).

 

[UT]

ORAS AAA ​

Before AAAPL kicks off next week, I do have one proposal: in ORAS, either ban Noivern or overturn this tiering action entirely (so re-ban Aerilate and free Dragonite).

I am ordinarily against trying to re-tier old generations unless we have an active council or playerbase for them, which we do not here. However, this decision stands out as particularly egregious, as they freed a broken mon at the end of the generation that the council admitted was probably broken:

We are leaning toward banning Noivern as well, but we will at least give Noivern a chance.

The tiering action was announced on October 10th, and the last post in the ORAS AAA thread was October 11th; in all likelihood, Noivern was never really given a chance, and we are left with a metagame-warping threat free because of this last-minute action. This also removed non-Aerilate Dragonite, which received pushback even at the time.

I don't think it's worth the effort to try and re-tier other potential broken threats like Manaphy, Poison Heal, and Magnet Pull unless we do truly get an active playerbase + council, but this was a last-minute decision that we don't need to live with.

Edit to say: I think the "more correct" action is undo the tiering action entirely, which also brings back non-Aerilate Dragonite, like Touch Claws sets. So ironically I don't want to ban Noivern :sob:

 

[Isaiah]

Before AAAPL kicks off next week, I do have one proposal: in ORAS, either ban Noivern or overturn this tiering action entirely (so re-ban Aerilate and free Dragonite).

I am ordinarily against trying to re-tier old generations unless we have an active council or playerbase for them, which we do not here. However, this decision stands out as particularly egregious, as they freed a broken mon at the end of the generation that the council admitted was probably broken:
The tiering action was announced on October 10th, and the last post in the ORAS AAA thread was October 11th; in all likelihood, Noivern was never really given a chance, and we are left with a metagame-warping threat free because of this last-minute action. This also removed non-Aerilate Dragonite, which received pushback even at the time.

I don't think it's worth the effort to try and re-tier other potential broken threats like Manaphy, Poison Heal, and Magnet Pull unless we do truly get an active playerbase + council, but this was a last-minute decision that we don't need to live with.

Edit to say: I think the "more correct" action is undo the tiering action entirely, which also brings back non-Aerilate Dragonite, like Touch Claws sets. So ironically I don't want to ban Noivern :sob:

Decided to go ahead with this due to the unusual circumstances surrounding Noivern's (effective) unban in gen 6. This means that Aerilate is now banned and Dragonite is now unbanned in ORAS AAA. As for any other tiering action, I'll reiterate that unless something is a serious (i.e. needing drastic measures) problem during AAAPL itself, it's extremely unlikely that this happens due to the lack of active council/playerbase.

Where does Dragonite belong on the VR now?
Dunno, but I'm sure we'll get an idea of things once games happen :P just wing it

 

[Kinetic]

since mences are out might as well dump my SM builder (click on sprites for team)

W1 - vs shiloh

i knew i was probably going to get destroyed if i brought a standard team against shiloh in a tier i barely had any knowledge of, so i just decided to build offense and pray. tinted volcanion hits absurdly hard in rain - it has like 0 switchins other than chansey/blissey (AV manaphy takes over 50% lol). mew is the rain setter, with psychic for buzz since it kept cleaning in tests. mega swampert is still a good mon even in AAA - +1 hydro pump from download can OHKO stuff like max hp buzz and skarm in rain, which is kind of absurd. +2 Z aqua tail in rain from garchomp muscles past pretty much everything, even buzz and skarm. ngl i kinda forgot what the reason for golisopod was, just another mon that benefited from rain while also having priority. ferrothorn is just a panic switch with the ability to set spikes if needed (i didn't know what else to put in the last slot). ultimately won the game thanks to volc and garchomp putting in a lot of work.

W2 - vs db

i decided to build around magpull since that seemed cool. mew is the physical wall with skill swap for PH users. lando-t is the magpuller, trapping non levitate magearna, ferro, and tran. talonflame was originally a scarf victini which i thought was legal because i was building on ROM, but it turns out ROM is outdated, so i had to swap out victini for talonflame last minute. ferro is just a nice mon to beat the waters and set hazards. with the correct predictions, naganadel can kill just about anything, especially since it can run adapt since it doesn't have to worry about flash fire steels because of magpull lando-t. blissey is a switch-in to most special attackers and rock setter, although in hindsight regen ttar was probably better tbh. ended up losing the game because i wasn't aggresive enough with naganadel and didn't see the Z move from zeraora coming.

W3 - vs Andyboy

i decided to build around a mg duo as my breakers. i was initially testing sflo volcanion, but found that even with defog on zapdos and tapu fini it still got worn down too much, so it was changed back to mglo, which still hits hard. mew does the same thing it does as on the last time, walling physical mons while beating PH, while zapdos and tapu fini help make the team a little more volt-turny and help with other defensive mons and defogging. zera is a really scary mon imo, idk why it's only B+ on the vr but it could be a lot of different sets at preview and it's hard to tell which it i. i just opted for mglo since it still hits hard and can knock/volt switch on anything that hardwalls it. flash fire magearna acts as a decent switch-in to special mons, with pain split to keep it healthy since it doesn't have regenerator. in the game i loaded into hail FEAR and won.

W4 - vs The Number Man

this was the first time i actually tried to scout my opponent, and i saw that tnm brought a PH mon (usually a physical attacker) in every game. using this knowledge, i decided to use mummy skarmory, which could effectively shut down any physical PH mon, while still being good into a lot of other physical attackers. lightning rod magearna shuts down unsuspecting zeraora and tapu koko, while being able to setup on them. regen ttar is actually a pretty good special wall, beating noivern and blace. after mega evolving, it even has a 75% chance to live a +2 dragonium Z draco from adapt naganadel, and can OHKO back with earthquake. it only needs to be paired with a water resist, which is tapu bulu in this case. PH tapu bulu matches up well into non tail glow + ice beam PH manaphy, and tapu fini. it can be very annoying against teams without mbounce with leech seed and setting up with swords dance. gligar prevents the team from being beaten by some physical setup mons, and is also the defogger. i was at a loss for the last slot, so i decided to run talonflame, since it generally matched up well into tnm's teams. i ultimately won the match, with magearna taking a +1 Z plasma fists from tnm's zeraora (which cat still praises to this day lol).

W5 - vs Tranquility

i decided to bring mglo zera again since that mon is goated. magearna again walls special stuff decently well, with pain split to heal itself and heart swap for opposing setup magearna. hippowdon was a result of me thinking "how do i wall every zera set without bringing lightning rod magearna again" with the conclusion being just hope it's not tc grass knot, and if it is, just play around it. manaphy is basically impossible to switch-in to if you can get a tail glow off with waterium Z and primordial sea. surf has better Z rolls than scald, while energy ball hits AV manaphy without having to burn the Z move while HP ground hits desoland tran. water absorb ferro looks like a really cursed set, but then i realized it just trolls tapu fini and manaphy forever, especially opposing tail glow manaphy. tapu fini just helps hippowdon wall physical attackers while being the teams defogger. i won the game thanks to my opponent having a really bad matchup into zeraora and manaphy.

Semifinals - vs Redflix

i wasn't really sure what i wanted to build this week, so i just decided to say fuck it and just slightly edit the W4 team vs The Number Man. running bulk on tapu bulu meant it could beat pretty much every PH mon other than itself, which let me run intimidate on skarmory (who could also beat PH bulu). with intimidate skarmory, i didn't really feel like unaware gligar was necessary, so i decided to run PH fini instead of gligar, as it could set up and defog. i ran volcanion over talonflame as i just thought a magic guard mon would be nice to have and i wasn't sure what else to use. unfortunately i lost the game due to an ice beam freeze on magearna when it was setup and could have easily won the game, and then me misplaying afterwards, which caused our team to go 2-4 and be eliminated.

https://pokepast.es/58570aa3db05934f this paste has every team in my SM AAA folder, with some of them being untested or unoptimized, so their quality may vary.

i already shouted out everyone in the commencement thread but ty everyone, was a fun tour even with having to learn a new tier.

 

[PandaDoux]

Now that i'm done with AAAPL (hopefully SS is not in tiebreak if there's one) i'm gonna post my thoughts about SS AAA (and theses are the exact same as i had when it was current gen)

The tier is heavily MU reliant, some people have unwinnable MUs and i don't think it's due to prep entirely, i think there's too much threats in this tier, and i'm honestly just going to say the same thing i said when SS was current gen; ban offensive stuff like Tapu Lele, i think Tapu Lele 6-0ed like 3 times in the first 2 weeks and that's crazy, for some reasons people stopped using it later (i'm saying that but i never used it) Zygarde-Complete is completely stupid and broken even tho it did not show in the tournament since the only games with Zygarde-Complete got haxxed or were a Toxic set (why don't you just use yellow magic?), too much restrictions on the physical side with Terrakion + Zarude/Dhelmise + Zygarde-10%, i think the rest is not as broken as what i said above, yet idt everything else is healthy.

Also, unban Electrify it got banned last second even tho only Heliolisk and Boltund can use it with a niche and unviable strategy that only works on ladder and literally no one used this strategy in any tournament and it had never been brought into discussion about banning it on the OM Discord, not that it would make any difference in the tier, but to me it's completely wild to get Electrify banned (aka Heliolisk + Boltund's only niche strategy) but Zygarde-Complete gets to stay because nobody wants to build Vaporeon Wishpass to Zyg-C even tho that's completely broken

Summary:
Ban Tapu Lele
Ban Power Construct
Ban Adaptability or Terrakion + Zygarde-10% or at least one of them
Unban Electrify

 

[crow crumbs]

oras - https://pokepast.es/7bc415b21d0709ef

i was pretty happy with my prep during aaapl, week 3 ferro should have been regen though.

pvr + thoughts

S+:
Manaphy - Pheal mana is broken and any team without one is def suboptimal. Ice beam/av on mana are cool but i could never really justify them. Dropping eball means you always lose to opposing mana no matter how healthy you are, av means you dont have a pheal mana.

S:
Zapdos - pretty much a staple, it has like 8 viable abilities and its the best removal and ground/gale check and its can pivot. I only ever really considered bringing skarm over zap once.

A:
Ferrothorn - completely impotent for checking mana if not regen but it has a lot of desirable traits (i thought abt running guts a few times btw)
Garchomp
Heatran - borderline s, both mpull and desotran completely warp building and you can fit them on almost any team, the other fires are all really good though.
Latios
Lucario
Skarmory
Tyranitar
Victini
Zygarde

B:
Braviary
Chansey
Charizard-Mega X
Deoxys-S
Genesect
Gengar - idt anyone used this(?) lati seems better in a mana meta but aaa gengar is still aaa gengar
Medicham-Mega
Metagross-Mega X
Mew - I didn't really explore it much but mew has a lot of potential. that prankster ice beam/wisp/swap set in the samples always gave me seizures in test games
Swampert
Volcanion - hard to place, might be higher. obv tinted is really good into teams where mana/extreme weathers are used as blanket fire checks

C (would consider using tier):
Conkeldurr
Diancie-Mega
Goodra
Greninja
Honchkrow - definitely good just hard to fit, esp over tar
Jirachi
Kyurem
Landorus
Landorus-Therian
Lopunny-Mega
Meloetta
Mienshao - kind of gimmicky and ttar would have done a lot more work in the game i brought it but fast fighting+knock with an mpuller can dismantle some builds
Scizor
Raikou
Thundurus
Volcarona

mpull, pheal and probably mbounce should all be banned.

 

[MZ]

I used Gengar, Normalize is legit and pulls a niche over Latios. AAAPL was fun, but I do think Manaphy needs to go before the next iteration. Never would've thought that before this tournament, especially not how ORAS ended vs the changes made to it, but I think it gets pushed over the top. It should be an easy ban too, I really don't think Manaphy is checking anything that'll become broken or keeping any particular playstyle viable or constrained, it works on every style and there are things that can replace it while being less stupid due to having a worse speed tier or lack of Tail Glow vs CM or whatever it is. Unlike a lot of other broken things in AAA like idk, SS Noivern, I think Manaphy being around still lets ORAS be fun and different and enjoyable, it's not like we have to get it out now or the meta is just awful, but if this is a gen played once or twice a year for specific tours then I don't see a huge downside to nuking it unless enough people really think it ought to stick around.

Also I strongly agree with heavily editing SS and at minimum getting rid of Lele

 

[PociekMociek]

i also wanted to make a big ORAS AAA post
heres the entire prep - https://pokepast.es/442c6df94ab600c2
sadly got insanely outprepped in finals and couldnt finish the 6-0
general metagame thoughts that are gonna resonate throughout the vr below:
manaphy is incredibly broken, you will basically run 2 very hard checks and hope that it doesnt run weird moves like HP Ground/Fire to break past heatran/ferro or knock for chansey
magpull is fucking broken but it keeps a lot of powerful mons in check, basically forces you to play a 5.5 v 5, which is weird coming from gen8/9 aaa
gale wings gud
i generally like the meta, it suprisingly feels very explosive and hard to solidly build for, i think it's also pretty match-up'y and creative because of the sheer amount of viable mons and the relative inexperience of most players
buuut if i managed to go 5-1 then it must reward the better player
now for the personal vr, obviously it's incredibly biased as there's no ladder (free the retro om ladder)

VR

S+ Tier
Manaphy
Already explained everything above, poison heal makes it incredibly hard to chip down, CM and TG completely change the momentum the opponent has to answer it, unironically one of the better answer is your own EBall Manaphy.
Motor Drive, SF etc just dont seem worth while because you can just run TG PHeal and have a SFLO mana or CM PHeal + Screens and just heal past the elecs.

S Tier
Heatran
It has two main sets, MagPull and DesoLand, Scarf MagPull is an insane thorn in almost every team's side as it's able to revenge nearly every steel, key word revenge but at least it exerts enough offensive presence to play 5v5 either way, DesoLand is just a great Mana check and theres no real fire answer either
Zapdos
Mr. Almost Any Ability himself, it can run MBounce, Psea (kinda fake imho), Unaware, Intim, Thick Fat, MG? etc. and it's amazing at most of these roles, with Noivern gone it's actually a working flying resist that checks, pivots on and chunks a large amount of mons.
Skarmory
Best Gale Winger and just run GW, bulky sets are fraudsters, GW has a plethora of fun tools to pick and choose it's matchups as well and even though it gets magpulled all the same as Intim / FF / MBounce sets at least it offers breaking potential

A+ Tier
Very honest worker in a pretty dishonest tier, sets up hazards, short term checks stuff, becomes annoying
Mr. Almost Any Ability's second coming, he also has an enormous amount of sets but while Zapdos gave very necessary defensive utility, chomp generally floats in the direction of offensive utility, Regen/PHeal SD SR will keep up rocks; Regen ChainChomp breaks once mana is heavily chipped.
This is one of these mons that MagPull keeps in check, Ice/Fighting is nearly unwallable and +2 LO CC just kills mana but it's slow speed and steel typing make it balanced
There is no team strong against Victini, there're only teams that are able to dance around it to a point where it doesn't claim enough kills, it's also incredibly hard to use well which is why it had a low usage rate in AAAPL, i think its borderline broken though lol

A tier
Gale Wings good, no steel typing + Superpower means it actually wins the magpull match up, it trades Skarm's defensive utility for a stronger +0 brave bird which comes up trust me
/ - checks mana, hits hard, is a fire resist, probably a pretty underutilized mon that's significantly better after Vern's passing
- it's a chansey, it beats every special guy thats not named manaphy, to beat pp stall it you have to run WAB/Unaware tbolt?/MG CM just sounds awful
- the best HO lead, with mold breaker it consistantly sets up all matters of hazards, mbounce screens is amazing, SFLO hits suprisingly hard thanks to it's colorful movepool

B tier
- Probably the best single manaphy check that additionally wins games if it gets one QD up, probably best on MBounce Deo-S Screens.
- Lucario just runs CC Espeed SD and beats everything, this guy has to shuffle coil/dd, outrage, protect, sub, an item slot just to be on a similar level
- This pokemon is in a harsh enviroment - it wants to be a breaker in a tier where PHeal mana eats Thunder punches for breakfast and it cannot be a cleaner as magpullers will clean it back, doesn't have as much defensive utility as you hope which probably implies download is it's best ability as +1 pushes its power into 2hko territory meanwhile winning the rare 1v1 with tran thanks to ff or chomp/zyg thanks to levi by staying in baby form is not great
- Eviolite P2 makes it incredibly bulky, with ice beam and foul play it's able to outdamage a lot of key mons especially if you add unaware into the mix
- Extremely colorful movepool makes it an amazing utility poke, skill swap is great for phealer, it has reliable recovery, pivoting, trick, willo, it's just hard to fit a slot for it as it's not immediatily clear what it beats.
- Inconsistant mon with power issues with scarf / speed issues with band but if it gets going it gets going, cb crunch/edge is way too strong and if there's a pursuit there's a way.
- Bulky water guy that has to fight with mana on a team slot but it has roar, srs and usable ground moves which makes it have a niche outside of mana
- MagPuller that exacerbates the 5-5 mentality, it doesn't matter that you're playing 5-5 if you won with DD
- 353 speed is in the upper eschelons of speed in this tier, MGLO is probably pretty good seeing as it's main weakpoint is getting chipped but that extra power is very hard to pass up (i've even considered running modest)
- I think we're just using raikou wrong and that it has a higher skill ceiling than just using it as a makeshift manaphy abuser, it may be a slash with thundy? not sure


C tier

- gale wings guy that has a niche but no sd / bulk up / curse makes the brave bird button not as appealing
- not enough knock off running around to make eviolite a weak point, the reason it's so low is that it just gets very awkward in some 1v1s because eq/toxic does a solid 0% most of the time

- ive tried it once then decided to use better magpullers, yeah.
- it's the best fairy type, but that niche is not important sooo..........
- go read the zygarde statement and just triple it, i think gene is very bad

viable guys i dont have as much experience with, most probably end up somewhere around b
, , , , , , , , ,

probably not very viable guys
almost everything below b- rank in official vr