Project Personal OU Viability Rankings

[Milo]

approved by ironwater

Continuing off from last generation, The Personal OU Viability Rankings is here! The concept is very simple: post your own VR. Explanations for certain rankings are not necessary but ofcourse welcome!

See my own Personal VR below for an example!

 

[Milo]

S Rank:
(Pokemon I feel are very splashable on any team and are versatile in the sets they can run)

S Rank

Gholdengo

S- Rank

Chien-Pao
Great Tusk

A Rank:

A+ Rank
(Pokemon I feel help shape the metagame and make it what it is, whilst having some weaknesses to them to keep them balanced)

Dondozo
Dragapult
Dragonite
Espathra
Garganacl
Iron Valiant
Kingambit
Roaring Moon
Ting-Lu

A Rank

Amoonguss
Cinderace
Corviknight
Glimmora
Grimmsnarl
Rotom-Wash
Skeledirge

A- Rank

Breloom
Clodsire
Garchomp
Hatterene
Iron Moth
Iron Treads
Quaquaval
Scizor
Volcarona

B Rank:
(The Pokemon I feel hold a certain niche in the metagame and require specific teambuilding to allow them to actually be good, or generally have one role in the metagame)

B+ Rank

Barraskewda
Baxcalibur
Iron Hands
Meowscarada
Slowking
Torkoal
Toxapex

B Rank

Blissey
Ditto
Orthworm
Pawmot
Pelipper
Tyranitar

B- Rank

Azumarill
Floatzel
Iron Jugulis
Masquerain
Slither Wing
Tauros-Paldea-Fire

C Rank:
(the garbage mons that hold some form of value individually pulling off some form of niche viability)

C+ Rank

Gyarados
Hawlucha
Hippowdon
Iron Thorns
Pincurchin
Scovillain

C Rank

Arcanine
Brute Bonnet
Ceruledge
Chansey
Charizard
Cloyster
Gallade
Gastrodon
Hydreigon
Lokix
Magnezone
Maushold
Mimikyu
Polteageist
Scream Tail
Slowbro
Sylveon
Talonflame

D Rank:
(the garbage mons)

D Rank

Avalugg
Alomomola
Cetitan
Gengar
Haxorus
Indeedee
Kilowattrel
Klefki
Quagsire
Rabsca
Rotom-Heat
Salamence
Sandy Shocks
Umbreon

 

[Venduria]

Oh boy, this'll be fun. Bolded my new additions that I think will eventually make the VR. If I have time later I'll do write ups for the new additions to justify them, because I think some might view it as... well, just strange without explanation. I've explained the new mons that were included at the bottom. Poor Hariyama doesn't get to be on the list after Chi Yu went to fish heaven.

S Rank:
(Pokemon I feel are very splashable on any team and are versatile in the sets they can run)

S Rank
Gholdengo
Great Tusk

S- Rank
Chien-Pao
Dragapult
Iron Valiant

A Rank:
(Pokemon I feel help shape the metagame and make it what it is, whilst having some weaknesses to them to keep them balanced)

A+ Rank
Cinderace
Dondozo
Dragonite
Espathra
Garganacl
Kingambit
Roaring Moon
Ting-Lu

A Rank
Amoonguss
Clodsire
Corviknight
Iron Moth
Rotom-Wash
Skeledirge
Volcarona

A- Rank
Breloom
Garchomp
Glimmora
Grimmsnarl
Hatterene
Iron Hands
Iron Treads
Meowscarada
Scizor
Toxapex

B Rank:
(The Pokemon I feel hold a certain niche in the metagame and require specific teambuilding to allow them to actually be good, or generally have one role in the metagame)

B+ Rank
Azumarill
Baxcalibur
Pawmot
Pelipper
Quaquaval
Slowking
Tauros-Paldea-Fire
Torkoal

B Rank
Barraskewda
Ditto
Floatzel
Orthworm
Sandy Shocks

B- Rank
Ceruledge
Gastrodon
Hydreigon
Golduck
Slither Wing
Talonflame
Toedscruel

C Rank:
(the garbage mons that hold some form of value individually pulling off some form of niche viability)

C+ Rank
Alomomola
Blissey
Gyarados
Hawlucha
Hippowdon
Iron Thorns
Iron Jugulis
Masquerain
Pincurchin
Polteageist
Scovillain
Scream Tail
Tyranitar
Vaporeon

C Rank
Arcanine
Avalugg
Charizard
Cloyster
Dragalge
Gallade
Grafaiai
Indeedee
Lokix
Magnezone
Mimikyu
Rotom-Heat
Slowbro
Sylveon
Tauros-Paldea-Water
Tinkaton

D Rank:
(the garbage mons)

D Rank
Brute Bonnet
Cetitan
Chansey
Gengar
Haxorus
Kilowattrel
Klefki
Maushold
Quagsire
Rabsca
Salamence
Umbreon

New mon explanations:
Golduck
Rain team's best and really only special sweeper, NP+3 moves is very difficult to wall after your checks are softened up. Very underplayed but given the right conditions, it will punch holes through teams. Only viable on rain teams but this doesn't stop Barraskewda and Floatzel from being highly regarded.
Toedscruel
Great resists and the only mon to be able to status Gholdengo and Garganacl, some of the most important mons in the tier. Great coverage and utility. Rapid Spin and Knock Off with hazards is great role compression, can run Spore or Toxic for status, and Earth Power is the only STAB really needed on most sets to threaten key mons. A ton of flexibility and roles it can fill, honestly a relatively unexplored option in the metagame.
Vaporeon
I'll continue to link this until Vaporeon gets ranked.
Avalugg
One of the better defensive Tera mons, enormous defense with Recover+Rapid Spin is pretty valuable, and Curse/Iron Defense+Body Press sets can win games if positioned correctly. Oh by the way this thing gets Sturdy+Mirror Coat if you really want to lure mons like Gholdengo. Ice Body+Leftovers with Slowking Chilly Reception on Balance or Stall is super underrated.
Dragalge
Nominated here. I love the AV set to blanket check most special attackers, but Specs against Balance and Bulky Offense just wins games. Lots of Tera possibilities, and Poison coverage to threaten the Fairy types wanting to switch into Draco Meteor makes this mon difficult to switch into. Adaptability working with Tera is surprisingly powerful, even without Specs.
Grafaiai
A very unpredictable mon with a lot of utility options. People have explored the Prankster Parting Shot pivot set, but the Poison Touch set I posted here is really difficult to handle for many teams. Taunt/Encore is great to cover set up and stall, and Black Sludge Switcheroo can cripple walls. A bit on the frail side but still a ton of options to explore.
Tauros-Paldea-Water
When you want a water mon to check Chien Pao and you don't want to play Azumarill or Quaquaval. RestTalk is probably its best set, but mixed bulk AV is pretty effective with Wish support. Don't sleep on its offensive sets either, Bulk Up+3 moves can catch unprepared teams off guard and sweep, you just have to choose between Wild Charge and Earthquake for what you want to hit. Not anywhere near as good as its Fire counterpart, but still a ton of fun.
Tinkaton
Great typing and an excellent support movepool. Gigaton Hammer is a great exclusive, and you have Stealth Rocks, Knock Off, Encore, and Thunder Wave to choose from to round out the arsenal. People have tried the SD set but I think its pretty mid. Pretty poor offensive stats is disappointing but it has arguably the best dual typing in the game and good enough bulk and movepool to make it work. Also a great Chien Pao emergency button if you need it. One of the few Mold Breaker mons that can status Gholdengo and Garganacl, and if you really want to run SD, you can actually break through Unaware defensive cores while being immune to Toxic.

 

[Vert]

S+

Reasoning

tusk is s+ imo cuz it fits on every team that's not cheese. and yes that's even if you have another ground like chomp, clod, or ting-lu. tusk is way too good to the point i think ur doin urself a disservice by not running it

dengo s+ no surprise. broken ability, broken typing, np sets are restricting af. the best garg answer in the game since its one of the few cloak users that ur also not using to absorb knock

S

Reasoning

pao is cheap and the best attacker rn

A+

Reasoning

skeledirge is the best unaware mon in the tier cuz it actually fucks shit up. the sub set is ayevon's most fiyah invention: torch song x shadow ball goes nuts. typing is great pre- and post-tera. can even run lefties reliably

pult is the goat of modern gens

meta has been adapting fast to garg. i woulda had it in S if i made this 2 weeks ago

espathra is the definition of dishonest. i love it but even i know it's gotta eventually go. dirge being fiyah af is keeping it balanced (for now)

i have been spamming rotom-w since sv's release. wisp, volt, hydro, goated at keeping momentum for more offensive archetypes and forcing chip cycles for teammates to capitalize on it like in my brotha njnp's spl game. that was a TOUGH win

no mon is scarier than kingambit in the clutch. one of the best tera-users too-- flying, dark, fire, fairy,...

A

Reasoning

chainchomp being meta again is mad funny to me. very hard to switch-into and one of the best spikers rn

clodsire, dondozo, and corv are all dope but a bit too exploitable for my tastes to put in the A+ upper echelon

i personally don't get the glimmora slander as of late. the ability is broken and y'all need to experiment with the other sets. energy ball, power gem, sludge wave, dazzling gleam, memento... like this shit has hella options outside of that spikes/earthpower/mortalspin/sr set. SCARF GLIMMORA IS ALSO SLEPT ON

A-

Reasoning

ting-lu will never be bad but the fact its best option for tusk is ruination is tough. it's also very prone to being tech'd

cind losing to dondozo, garg, and 40% usage tusk is dumb and it has heavy 4mss. its underexplored tho so maybe im hating fasho fasho

strong and fast stab knock is solid. meow is valid

pex is ass but def. not unviable. beating pao is an amazing niche. beats cind too i guess and the broken ostrich w/ tera-psychic

B+

Reasoning

controversial (?) but orthworm is rly fucking good. this paired with grimmsnarl enable a lot of broken strategies. this might be the only type of cheese that is consistent which is crazyyy
shed tail is broken fr fr

B

Reasoning

bloated tier. everything here is decent but not exactly consistent and a bit too volatile for me to put any higher. baxc, cereludge, iron hands, and azu i swear either feel broken or straight up useless based on the mu. no in between

bulldoze loom is good but ice shard being pao's most common priority of choice rn is tough

iron treads is dogshit. only good on certain HO's

B-

Reasoning

alomomola is dope on stall, i know Highv0ltag3 likes it a lot

jugulis, skewda, floatzel, pelipper, basically all the rain pussies land here no surprise. rain is a cool mu fish, not exactly consistent tho cuz it gets dicked on by dozo, rotom, and especially dnite

sun is underexplored post chi-yu ban
banded slither wing in sun has no switch-ins. slither wing's defensive sets are dope too, s/o my brotha Storm Zone for putting me on the wave

even tho it doesn't have much longevity tauros is still the best chien-pao answer in the game. being salt cure food and sub fodder for dirge is what holds it back

C+

Reasoning

u'd be surprised how consistently abomasnow can get up the veil. snow support is also a nice bonus for pao & ice body baxc

pincurchin is objectively shit but the support it provides is godly. like yes im using this shitty urchin but who the fuck cares when my iron valiant is coming in at +1 speed EVERY TIME & there's no item lock??? naw that's insane, ppl sleep. the other quark drive mons abuse it pretty good too. e-terrain is also the only archetype of HO that doesn't lose to dondozo since e-terrain stops rest. u know something is fiyah when u finally convince clean , the biggest hater of shit mons, that a 435bst mon is valid

psychic terrain is also dope because it blocks priority. indeedee itself enables some very dangerous pokemon like armarouge (spl game || high ladder game), polteageist, and ESPECIALLY espathra. psychic seed espathra in terrain is the only ostrich set that can force its way past skeledirge

note: terrain strats feel WAY LESS fishy compared to 7 & 8 cuz there's no tapus or rillaboom screwing you over. ice spinner pao is a nuiscance but not the end of the world. good players should be running icicle crash anyways

loaded dice brute bonnet with a set of tera-blast fire, bullet seed, sucker punch / crunch, and spore is really good on sun. i'm deadass, give it a shot. you'll be surprised, it'll usually get a spore kill and some strong hits off every game

trapping corv and gambit is pretty big. zone is valid.

specs scovillain is the best set

golduck has a unique offensive profile as a rain abuser. s/o Finchinator for putting the world onto it, this thing is mad fun to use

C / C-

Reasoning

this tier is pretty much all shitters that shouldn't be used in serious, high level play.

i personally dont think webs r viable
tyranitar is also straight garbage, i fail to see what this does

sorry Mimikyu Stardust ik u have a lokix fetish

 

[LudwigFrog]

Cinderace goes in the A Rank

 

[1LDK]

Oh boy, welcome to my vr, its gonna be more personal and stuff, and its gonna get updated with time and more mons coming, and it has some controversial opinions some of them memes, some of them only theory. The nominations itself are not organized between themselves due to laziness, if there's something I forgot or any doubts you have, just tell me and ill edit the post, I hope you like it

EDIT 1: made on February 21
EDIT 2: made on March 19
EDIT 3: made on April 23

S Rank:
(Pokemon I feel are very splashable on any team and are versatile in the sets they can run)

Great Tusk
Gargancl
Kingambit

A Rank:

A+ Rank
(Pokemon I feel help shape the metagame and make it what it is, whilst having some weaknesses to them to keep them balanced)

Gholdengo
Dragapult
Dragonite
Iron Valiant

A Rank

Meowscarada
and (They are cute together, look at their happyness)
Cinderace
Roaring Moon
Ting Lu
Garchomp
Skeledirge
Rotom Wash
Torkoal
Walking Wake
Volcarona
Greninja
Baxcalibur

A- Rank

Dondozo
Glimmora
A M O N G U S
Iron Moth
Hatterene
Slowking

B Rank:
(The Pokemon I feel hold a certain niche in the metagame and require specific teambuilding to allow them to actually be good, or generally have one role in the metagame)

B+ Rank

Iron Hands
Hydreigon
Azumarill
Breloom
Scizor
Pelipper
Floatzel
Toxapex

B Rank

Blissey
Ditto
Hippowdon
Slither Wing
Talonflame
Zoroark Hisui
Ceruledge
Brute Bonnet


B- Rank

Grimmsnarl
Armarouge
Polteageist
Indeedee
Indeedee F
Scream Tail
Sylveon
Gastrodon
Lokix
Iron Leaves

C Rank:
(the more specific mons that hold some form of value individually pulling off some form of niche viability)

C+ Rank

Masquerain
Pincurchin
Sandy Shocks
Barraskewda
Iron Thorns
Tauros-Paldea-Fire
Tauros-Paldea-Water

C Rank

Staraptor
Haxorus
Decidueye
Hawlucha
Scovillain
Alomomola
Arcanine
Avalugg
Chansey
Charizard
Cloyster
Gallade
Magnezone
Mimikyu
Slowbro
Maushold
Rotom-Heat
Kilowattrel
Gengar

D Rank:
(Extremly specific mons that are limited to only something)

D Rank

Toxicroak
Klefki
Rabsca
Salamence
Umbreon
Corviknight

 

[VTMagno]

objectively correct takes. if u disagree thats just a skill issue on ur part tbh. also didnt rank c ranks bc i didnt feel like it

 

[CaptainDaimyo]

Oh boy this is gonna be fun

S Rank:
(Pokemon I feel are very splashable on any team and are versatile in the sets they can run)

S Rank

Gholdengo
Chien-Pao
Great Tusk

A Rank:

A+ Rank
(Pokemon I feel help shape the metagame and make it what it is, whilst having some weaknesses to them to keep them balanced)

Dondozo
Dragapult
Dragonite
Garganacl
Greninja
Iron Valiant
Kingambit
Roaring Moon
Rotom-Wash

A Rank

Cinderace
Corviknight
Espathra
Glimmora
Grimmsnarl
Skeledirge
Ting-Lu
Volcarona

A- Rank

Amoonguss
Breloom
Garchomp
Hatterene
Iron Moth
Quaquaval
Scizor
Toxapex

B Rank:
(The Pokemon I feel hold a certain niche in the metagame and require specific teambuilding to allow them to actually be good, or generally have one role in the metagame)

B+ Rank

Barraskewda
Clodsire
Iron Hands
Iron Treads
Meowscarada
Slither Wing
Slowking
Torkoal

B Rank

Blissey
Baxcalibur
Ditto
Orthworm
Pawmot
Pelipper
Tyranitar

B- Rank

Azumarill
Floatzel
Iron Jugulis
Masquerain
Tauros-Paldea-Fire

C Rank:
(the garbage mons that hold some form of value individually pulling off some form of niche viability)

C+ Rank

Gyarados
Hawlucha
Hippowdon
Iron Thorns
Pincurchin
Scovillain

C Rank

Arcanine
Brute Bonnet
Ceruledge
Chansey
Charizard
Cloyster
Gallade
Gastrodon
Hydreigon
Lokix
Magnezone
Maushold
Mimikyu
Polteageist
Scream Tail
Slowbro
Sylveon
Talonflame

D Rank:
(the garbage mons)

D Rank

Avalugg
Alomomola
Cetitan
Gengar
Haxorus
Indeedee
Kilowattrel
Klefki
Quagsire
Rabsca
Rotom-Heat
Salamence
Sandy Shocks
Umbreon

 

[InvisibleWater]

Might as well...

(Unordered within ranks. Differences from standard VR are in bold)

S:
Gholdengo
Great Tusk

S-:
Garganacl

A+:
Dragapult
Dragonite
Greninja
Iron Valiant
Kingambit
Walking Wake

A:
Cinderace
Hatterene
Roaring Moon
Rotom-Wash
Skeledirge
Ting-Lu
Volcarona

A-:
Amoonguss
Clodsire
Corviknight
Dondozo
Garchomp
Glimmora
Meowscarada

B+:
Baxcalibur
Breloom
Iron Moth
Iron Hands
Slowking
Zoroark-Hisui

B:
Azumarill
Ceruledge
Grimmsnarl
Iron Treads
Torkoal
Toxapex

B-:
Hydreigon
Orthworm
Pawmot
Pelipper
Quaquaval
Scizor
Slither Wing
Tauros-Paldea-Fire

C+:
Charizard
Floatzel
Golduck
Hawlucha
Sandy Shocks
Slowbro
Sylveon
Tauros-Paldea-Water

C:
Barraskewda
Gallade
Gastrodon
Gyarados
Hippowdon
Staraptor
Toedscruel
Tyranitar

C-:
Alomomola
Blissey
Flamigo
Indeedee
Kilowattrel
Magnezone
Masquerain
Polteageist
Quagsire
Rotom-Heat
Scovillain

D:
Armarouge
Bellibolt
Chansey
Ditto
Lokix
Pincurchin
Scream Tail
Talonflame
Umbreon
Vaporeon