The first update! 34 changes are going to be featured here all in all. Rather than sorting by drops and rises like I did in the last Series, I am going to be just grouping them generally by Restricted and Non-Restricted as they would appear on the VR. Apologies for the delay on this one, I have been extremely busy as of late.
Restricted (huge thanks to
Namuko Pro for major help with these):
A+ -> A
Zacian-C is still the most used restricted, but its win rate has significantly tapered off due to how prepared everyone is for it now. Notably, Landorus-T, Volcarona and Zapdos amongst many many others feature on a lot of teams specifically to be annoying to this Pokemon. With basically every other high rated Restricted being able to go toe-to-toe with Zacian-C, we felt it appropriate to drop down to A.
A -> A-
Similarly to Zacian-C, Xerneas' initial strength from the start of the meta has started to fade a bit. Even though it's the second highest used Restricted, Calyrex-S and Kyogre have far outperformed it in tournament play. Its matchup against most other Restricteds has proven to be neutral to negative, especially when we talk about Zacian-C, Calyrex-S and Kyogre. Stakataka is also a significant problem for Xerneas that finds its way onto a bunch of teams. The presence of Fake Out, Taunt, opposing speed control, Snarl and many many other options make Xerneas far less effective, and as such it feels right to drop it.
B- -> B
Eternatus has solidified itself as one of the stronger Restricted Pokemon in the metagame with a smattering of high placements in events. Power Herb + Meteor Beam has proven to be the stronger set, and Eternatus is notable because of how effectively it can wall many of the metagames top Pokemon; with Recover and the boost from Meteor Beam, it can practically 1v4 the common core of Incineroar, Rillaboom, Regieleki, and Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, and also walls other common Pokemon like Mienshao and Volcarona. This leaves many teams with very little options to break through this, so it definitely deserves to rise up.
C- -> B
Palkia is by far the biggest rise of any Restricted, and has shown significant strength since the first couple weeks in the format. It serves as a very effective anti-meta Restricted, with plus matchups into Kyogre and Zacian, but unlike most of the other Restricted Pokemon that target specific matchups Palkia teams are still readily equipped to deal with other top Restricted Pokemon like Calyrex-Shadow and Xerneas. It is also the Pokemon most fitting for Trick Room shells. The only things holding it back are the more recent Play Rough Zacian-C sets as well as the inaccuracy of Spacial Rend and Hydro Pump, but it is still more than worthy to be in B.
C+ -> B-
The last of the Restricted risers, Lunala offers an interesting mix of support and power that other Restricted Pokemon can’t usually provide. With access to both Wide Guard and Trick Room, Lunala can play a strong supportive role, but unlike other support-oriented Restricted Pokemon like Zamazenta the combination of Moongeist Beam and Power Herb Meteor Beam gives Lunala enough power to function as a strong Restricted choice. Obviously, Calyrex-S and the presence of Pokemon aiming to check Calyrex-S hold this back from going any higher than B-.
B -> C+
Ho-Oh’s harsh fall is attributed to both the fact that it wasn’t all that good to begin with, and recent meta developments that have severely worsened its position. Ho-Oh is used specifically to beat Zacian-C and Xerneas, but given that those two have fallen in strength, it's clear as to why this has dropped. Incineroar makes it fairly irrelevant, Kyogre absolutely wipes the floor with it, Urshifu-R is a problem, and it serves to be a free pivot for Regieleki. Does it have potential? Maybe. It's a good check for Grass- and Steel-types (other than Stakataka), but its negative matchups make it so hard to use effectively.
C+ -> C-
Calyrex-I’s high rating at the beginning of the format was partially based on the idea that a strong Trick Room team based around it would materialise. There have been a couple attempts, but none that we have been super impressed by. Its negative matchups into the big 4 Restricted Pokemon makes this just so difficult to use right now. The presence of Incineroar, and the Intimidate cycling that’s enabled by Fake Out, Parting Shot and the lack of Dynamax in Series 10 makes it much harder for Calyrex-I to stack attack boosts like it did in Series 8., and as such it has dropped all the way to C-.
C -> C-
Zygarde depends on being able to consistently set up with Coil or Dragon Dance before transforming to it’s Complete Forme, but with the amount of firepower and Intimidates in Series 10 it’s very rare that Zygarde can actually do this. Consequently, Zygarde hasn’t seen any notable success in the metagame, and unless someone can crack the code and figure out a unique build that can give Zygarde opportunity to set up it’s difficult to see it having much success.
C- -> D
For Reshiram to be good, you essentially need to be hitting Zacian in the majority of your matchups, since it has a negative or neutral matchup into basically every other restricted that sees meaningful play. Unless Zacian usage rebounds and exceeds its peak from earlier in the meta, Reshiram will be difficult to justify.
D -> UR
Necrozma-DW is just not that good. Use Calyrex-S or Lunala. Simple.
Non-Restricted:
A- -> A
Being a staple on basically every Kyogre team, Tornadus has proven to be exceptional in its use and proficiency in handling basically any Grass-type in the meta as well as a few unresisted hits. Prankster Tailwind is completely indispensable and Tornadus deserves to be in A.
B+ -> A-
Entei has more than proven itself at this point as a good check to Grass- and Steel-types with its good 115 Attack and immunity to Intimidate and Fake Out. Sacred Fire's burns come into play more often than not, and it can make a great alternative to Incineroar that can act as a more offensive Fire-type.
A- -> B+
Urshifu-S has a few crippling weaknesses with a 4x Fairy weakness, and further weaknesses to Flying and Fighting. It also directly competes with its brother forme for spots on most teams, and is often left out for the Water coverage the other brings. Still a decent choice, but not quite holding on to its A-tier ranking.
A- -> B+
Thundurus has proven itself decent for a lot of balance teams, with its Prankster Eerie Impulse and Thunder Wave providing great utility for a lot of teams. But with the rise in usage of Indeedee-F, Tapu Lele and Tsareena, more and more teams have answers for the Prankster leading to its drop to B+.
B- -> B
Ditto is every Restricted Pokemon. That should explain a lot on this move.
C+ -> B
Suicune has a great arsenal of utility moves, and its Fake Out immunity twinned with good bulk gives it plenty of opportunities to use its moves. It has proven to be a fair force on a lot of teams that require the speed and damage control it can provide, and definitely deserves coming up.
B- -> B
Tapu Lele is a great Pokemon on Calyrex-S teams mostly, providing a really nice offensive alternative to Indeedee-F. We think that its prowess on such a centralising team means it should move up slightly.
B -> B-
Remember when we thought in No Max that this plus Urshifu-S would be busted? We were wrong. Trapping just hasn't been nearly as potent. Still good with good utility moves, but its just a step down from where it has been previously.
B -> B-
Venusaur is still a good Pokemon, but there's so much hate towards Grass-types in the form of Entei, Incineroar, Volcarona, Tornadus etc. Venusaur's fair reliance on the weather can make it somewhat watered down. Fast Sleep Powder, however, is still really valuable and Venusaur can still check Kyogre, Groudon and the likes.
C- -> B-
Rocky Helmet Zapdos has sharply changed a lot of our minds on how good this thing is. It provides a great defensive option with good longevity for slower balance teams, while also just being able to handle a bunch of the biggest threats in the meta. Resisting both Behemoth Blade and Close Combat, and chipping Urshifu-R for half if it is hit by a Surging Strikes is really good right now.
C -> C+
Araquanid is just a decent Pokemon. Water Bubble is really good for its offense, Wide Guard provides many teams that want it, especially Necrozma-DM and Calyrex-I, with methods to overcome some of the bigger restricted Pokemon they would otherwise struggle against.
B- -> C+
Celesteela just hasn't been as impressive as we would have liked. We believe there to be better offensive options, but its Leech Seed set still holds a good amount of usability in our eyes. Decent bulky Steel, but we'd need to see more for it to come back up from the C-tier.
C- -> C+
Moltres-G is a fair bit better than we thought it was initially. This thing is capable of taking a few boosts, and punishing with Fiery Wrath and just being a general nuisance with good damage output. Turns out Yveltal-lite is quite good, C+.
B -> C+
Just not as good as we first thought. Defiant may still end up getting even better with the recent rise of Gyarados (the vote was made before we decided on where to put Gyarados, hence its omission here.)
B -> C
This has just been underwhelming. There are significantly better options for Grass- and Steel-types, and its Speed tier isn't all that impressive. Good offensive output keeps it in C tier but it's definitely not of the calibre of the likes of Rillaboom, Tsareena or Stakataka, all of which share a type with it.
B -> C
Togekiss is alright, but it's just not doing much in the current meta. It's STAB Flying-type moves can still be interesting for some of the big Grasses as well as the likes of Urshifu-R, but it has kinda bad weaknesses in Steel, Electric and Rock. Just not the premier redirector it used to be, and dropped to C as such.
UR -> C-
Mandibuzz saw a bunch of usage in VGCPL and World Cup, so we know it has the prowess to be on this list. Lots of great utility with Tailwind, Taunt and Snarl prominently, and a really positive matchup into Calyrex-S make it a great pick. Often paired with Tapu Fini, this thing is capable of taking a Misty Seed boost and getting to perform its role so much more effectively.
C -> C-
Milotic just functions as a fairly decent bulky Water-type that can play long into the game with Recover. With a boost from a Seed, and punishing Intimidate with Competitive, it can turn into both a defensive and offensive monster in the right circumstances.
UR -> C-
Beast Boost on a Pokemon typically found on Tailwind teams, with a great offensive stat? Yeah, we're down for that. It got a Top 4, and was provably something decent for its matchups into a bunch of common Pokemon.
C -> C-
This thing doesn't really do much right now, but Lightning Rod, Fake Out, Eerie Impulse and Electroweb are all decent moves that could make this thing resurge at some point. C- feels apt for what its doing in the meta.
D -> C-
Tapu Koko is better than D-tier, simply put.
C -> C-
Not really seeing the most amount of play, but it has an interesting niche on Calyrex-S teams as an out to Urshifu-S while also disrupting every other ability.
C -> D
See Togekiss, but a lot more extreme. It just kinda sits there not doing much. To D tier with it.
UR -> D
As pointed out in this thread, it has a bunch of interesting stuff with a Fake Out immunity and Tailwind most importantly. We think it has some potential, but we'll need to see some more results for it to potentially stay on the list.
With the conclusion of VGCPL, we'll be voting on this again fairly soon (seriously it has been about 2 weeks since we voted on this set). There may be a couple of outdated points here by now, but this will be rectified in due course.
The one Pokemon I want to nom publicly is Charizard, probably for C+/C rank 
B+ -> A
B- -> D-
> A
> A-
> A
> A-
> C
> C
> C-
B- to B
UR to B-
UR to B-
UR to C+
from UR to C-
C to C-/D/UR The defensive typing of hitmontop is not nearly as valuable as Incineroar and it also doesn't pivot like Incineroar. Hitmontops main advantages come in its utility movepool and while Wide Guard and Feint are good moves its not really gamebreaking enough to justify it most of the time.
