The main issue between the 3 is how barraskewda does what the other pokemon want to do better, while floatzel's access to wave crash makes it stronger short-term, the sheer amount of chip damage it takes means that at most it's going 1 for 1 with most water resists. Basculegion's got a better hp stat which makes it better at clicking wave crash, but since it's drastically slower than barra, it's forced into running jolly over adamant to hit important breakpoints, severely hindering its offensive capabilities. They're also much larger liabilities when rain is down, since they're so reliant on swift swim to be active to outspeed their threats, at the very least barra functions outside of rain, hitting a very good 371 in speed without jolly, beating a lot of notable threats like specs ival not in terrain and most ogerpon forms. It's also got the best coverage options for the job in close combat, which is much better than floatzel's crunch and basculegion's psychic fangs. The main issue for the physical swift swim breakers is ferrothorn which barraskewda can heavily dent with correct prediction. Toxapex is less of an issue for these teams with how phenomenal archaludon is at breaking pex balances wide open barring support from something like mtar.
252 Atk Choice Band Basculegion Wave Crash vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex in Rain: 137-162 (45.2 - 53.4%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Floatzel Wave Crash vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex in Rain: 144-169 (47.5 - 55.7%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Barraskewda Liquidation vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex in Rain: 114-135 (37.6 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
while barra does less damage, it's able to be a lot more versatile since it isn't taking constant chip from its main stab option, letting it come up multiple times, especially if hazards are up
252+ Atk Choice Band Floatzel Wave Crash vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex in Rain: 144-169 (47.5 - 55.7%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Barraskewda Liquidation vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Toxapex in Rain: 114-135 (37.6 - 44.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
while barra does less damage, it's able to be a lot more versatile since it isn't taking constant chip from its main stab option, letting it come up multiple times, especially if hazards are up
I'd argue that basculegion's ghost typing is more of a hinderance than a boon. Since last respects got banned (thank god) its only other option for a STAB is phantom force, which burns valuable rain turns and is only a measley 90 bp for your troubles. Mach punch isn't very common either, while fake out is a pretty common option on pokemon like Mlop and Mmedi, but Mlop's scrappy ability ignores it and mmedi is already beaten pretty hard by rain teams, especially ones with either zapdos or tornadus. Espeed's only abuser really is Dragonite, who all of these pokemon are already struggling with on preview, not to even count its usage falling off significantly lately for eq/spinner. The main issue with its ghost typing however, is sucker punch. It's possibly the 2nd most common priority move in the tier behind bullet punch, and being weak to it is a major reason as to why it's not ranked currently. Floatzel's bulk is also rather poor overall, while not as bad as Barraskewda's it's not great either. The main reason as to why most people use Barraskewda is because its bulk is comparable enough to the other best damaging options, but since it's got access to very important coverage in close combat, a better speed and attack stat on top of its utility outside of rain makes it the most common option for these teams. The tradeoffs of less short-term damage and slightly lower bulk have widely considered to have been worth the tradeoff for Barra's benefits, causing it to be ranked where it is right now.
also, minor aside but having competition doesn't lower a mon's place on the viability ranking, if it was like that then shifu and lele would both be lower on the ranking as they're both common scarfers rn
UR->C-
if someone could tell me how to insert the big moving gif that would be nice
to C+
Icicle Spear (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 40+ Def Ferrothorn
: 345-410 (98 - 116.4%) -- approx. 81.3% chance to OHKO
: 540-635 (133.3 - 156.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 282-332 (100.3 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 492-580 (143.8 - 169.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO Less Impressive, But at unboosted Iron crown cannot switch in on Icicle spear and live unboosted Horspeower
: 468-552 (121.2 - 143%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 255-300 (105.8 - 124.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO while not being a sample set, Most mixed Diancie do go for Hasty Nature, jus go for High hprsepower if unsure
: 388-458 (101.3 - 119.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO could've been worse
: 293-347 (100.6 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO boom thru the resist yipee
: 315-375 (112 - 133.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 285-335 (94.6 - 111.2%) -- approx. 56.3% chance to OHKO not like it does anything in return
: 375-440 (103.8 - 121.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 315-375 (99.3 - 118.2%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO
: 330-390 (107.4 - 127%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 213-252 (62 - 73.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO, Not like Bullet Punch is doing anything back anyways
: 312-368 (91.4 - 107.9%) -- 50% chance to OHKO, a mere +1 cooks it
: 460-544 (142.4 - 168.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 518-612 (97 - 114.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
: 434-512 (108.7 - 128.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
: 252-296 (50 - 58.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Tera Electric Glastrier
Draco Meteor vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Glastrier
Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Glastrier
Continental Crush (180 BP) vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Glastrier
Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Tera Electric Glastrier
B -> B-/C+
-> A+ / S
C- --> UR
-> UR
