OU SM OU Viability Rankings

[Skypenguin]

Now that I'm out of SPL, I thought I'd share my thoughts based on my season and laddering over the past 2 years.

S RANK

S rank

Magearna
Landorus-Therian
Toxapex

S- Rank

Gliscor - To riff off z0mog, Gliscor is the best win con in the game but can be annoyingly exploitable and doesn't offer the same versatility or defensive capabilities as Lando.

A RANK

A+ rank

Heatran - Heatran took a hard hit — not just with Gliscor usage skyrocketing, but also because its amazing defenisve typing and ability can be misleading. For example, Volcarona invalidates Heatran while Magearna and Lele can break it pretty easily. However, when you have a team that's weak to Tran you're really reminded of how annoying spdef Tran is, especially if it hasn't revealed lefties yet.

Kartana - I never understood why people wanted Kart banned. I think it punishes aimless play harder than most mons and that it commands respect in the early game to determine its set, but I've never particularly struggled against it. I actually think Kart is an amazing defensive presence that helps keep the tier together, but I digress.

Mega Latias - The Lando-T of megas, with endless viable sets. Adding Latias to your team solves so many defensive issues that are otherwise nigh impossible to cover with one mon, with it notably being literally the only splashable counter to SD Gliscor.

Mega Charizard X - This mon was on my final team 3 times in SPL. Unlike Latias, it only has one good set (Blitz + Claw + EQ), but it's insanely hard to answer. Zard-X is especially good vs people who like to play small ball with ground-types like Gastrodon or Gliscor, which are bigger than ever. You can even drop DD for Roost to just keep punching holes through the opposing team all game.

Mega Mawile
Rotom-Wash
Ferrothorn
Greninja / Ash-Greninja - Protean is a lot more solid imo. When was the last time you saw an Ash Gren build that didn't forgo packing answers to some relevant threat? Ash is still a beast and Dark Pulse makes me cry, but it's just so hard to fit on a team when it offers nothing defensively and doesn't have a broken speed tier. Often you're just clicking Spikes, which Protean Gren does better.
Mega Alakazam
Chansey - The win rate says it all. Both its status moves exert a ton of pressure, making Chansey an unstoppable rock setter in certain matchups. It is passive and prone to being teched though, and please stop using it as a water/fire/dark resist...

A rank

Kommo-o
Serperior - Great on HO, broken with subseed, not great with Z
Mega Medicham
Magnezone
Mega Tyranitar - Pursuit is great and MTar is fatter than Skarm while having insane coverage + power, but I came to the conclusion a while back that it's impossible to build a team with TTar that doesn't lose to something off preview.
Manaphy - The oft-changing move choices of Mana and its checks are a clear indicator of how oppressive this thing is vs fat. You'll see Thunder and Punishment coming from defensive teams while Manaphy techs anything from Psychic, Ice Beam, Toxic, Eball, to even Sball.
Weavile
Mega Lopunny - I tried hard to use it, but Lop teams are always just so weak to stall. Free 6-0 vs Mew/Diancie HO with PUP though

Clefable - This mon is insanely hard to lure with viable sets, which led me to use a mon I normally wouldn't in Excadrill the week I was expecting to run into Clef given my past weaknesses to it. 3 attack orb (Moonblast >>> Ice Beam) is great, the mon can set rocks well, and CM sets are scary. I put Clef here though because it can be surprisingly frail or passive depending on your set.

Tornadus-Therian - Torn's great and all, but it's outclassed in most of its roles from checking Medi/Kart/Bulu to exerting offensive pressure. Taunt can be an interesting option vs do-nothing teams, but relies too much on Hurricane hitting to set up outplays and on the one-time Z nuke for my taste.
Tapu Koko

A- rank

Volcarona - This mon invalidates SR Heatran and PsySpam, and the right set can always win. Sub Swarm is crazy
Victini
Tapu Lele - Similar to Ash Gren in that it's often hard to fit outside of "spam" teams
Tapu Bulu
Tapu Fini - RIP
Garchomp - RIP (Still amazing with Z Dragon but hard to fit)
Kyurem-Black
Pelipper - Rain is both unviable and broken at the same time; the most successful matchup fish of the generation
Mega Swampert - A wise man once said rain is broken because of its secondary effects
Mega Latios - Crazy 4MSS and dead weight into Chansey/the right steel or psychic for your coverage
Excadrill

B RANK

B+ rank

Hawlucha
Slowbro - An amazingly versatile mon with great defensive value in current OU that can use Z moves really well on bulkier teams. I go more into detail in the SPL XIII sm discussion thread.
Skarmory - We saw lots of Skarm this SPL, but it's really not splashable at all and doesn't fulfill the role of a typical steel, which limits it. P.S. Skarmory is not a water resist.
Gastrodon
Mega Charizard Y - I have no clue why people don't like Zard-Y — it's a no-nonsense offense killer and sun support for teammates like Heatran and Kart makes up for any problems with rocks.
Reuniclus
Zapdos
Mega Scizor - You really need a good reason to put this mon on any team. SD sets cleave through xtra-style HOs, but you could also just run a fire type that's not as passive or walled by Pex. Pursuit is ok, but only does ~45% to a switching Latias, and Defog sets are stuck trying to constantly heal hazard damage. Furthermore, you barely answer the mons you'd expect to check like Lele, Magearna, and Kartana.
Ditto

B rank

Mega Diancie
Mew -Nearly always sets/denies rocks and paralyzes something as an HO lead. One annoying interaction is not being able to stop Mew with Diancie since you get paralyzed by Synchronize after bouncing back a Twave
Hydreigon - Very underrated mon that often wins off matchup. Unfortunately if your team relies on Hydra for things like breaking Chansey and Pex, running into Clefable requires some really creative playing
Celesteela - Another sad mon that often does nothing; even worse, it's a defensive steel/flying mon that loses to Gliscor.
Jirachi
Mega Sableye
Kyurem - Low key 6-0d most teams this season
Keldeo - Pex is no answer to Sub CM or Z Hydro + Taunt, and even Protect + Toxic with slight bulk is solid
Suicune
Tangrowth - edit: I keep seeing people ask for help with teams in 2022 when they've got AV Tang... first step is to delete the mon. Helmet = B, AV = unranked

B- rank

Mega Pinsir
Mega Slowbro
Mega Gallade
Thundurus-Therian
Mega Heracross
Gyarados
Salamence - Sub DD Mence is one of the scariest sets to face when using a bulkier team
Mega Venusaur
Mega Aggron

C RANK

C+ Rank

Porygon Z - Nasty Plot + Z Hyper Beam + Tri Attack + Agility/Coverage for ghosts — enjoy the free wins and OHKOing Chansey
Cresselia - It's not just a Lunar Dancer for cheese teams; defensive sets are cool into Medicham and Lele
Mega Garchomp
Bisharp
Mega Gyarados
Blacephalon - I've tried to make this mon work so many times, but it just doesn't do its job well enough no matter the set or team. I straight up replaced specs Blace with a suicide Vic on an HO team and immediately went from 50% to 95% winrate
Kingdra

C rank

Crawdaunt - Chansey is not a water resist
Krookodile
Amoonguss
Hippowdon - Hippo loses to everything it wants to beat :(
Tyranitar
Mamoswine
Hoopa-Unbound - There's usually a better choice than Hoopa if you're interested in breaking stall
Breloom - Show me a fat team and show me its switchin to offensive Breloom

C- rank

Mega Aerodactyl - Shreds modern HO and technically walls Gliscor, but has 4mss and issues managing its health. You also have to forgo its amazing speed tier and run adamant for a lot of its relevant OHKOs and 2HKOs
Ribombee
Gengar
Seismitoad
Azumarill
Araquanid
Terrakion
Bronzong - Unique typing and a couple nice movesets - super passive and weak to pursuit too though
Tauros :)

 

[DIYUSI]

Not a good player and all, but this how I perceive SM OU atm. There's some stuff I wanted to add but they will prolly fall even lower than C- rank.
N.B: The order of pokemon inside the rank is descending: the first one in the rank is the better.

 

[sunbhie]

anyone know the usum ou discord link?

 

[Maktyum]

anyone know the usum ou discord link?

You can find it in here (it is called sm): https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/smogon-discord-server-directory.3652546/

 

[Clem]

Stealing the idea and format from McMeghan, it's time for the much needed SM VR update!

If you wish to submit a VR, you have to send me a PM on Discord (preferably, @ Clem#3471) or Smogon. If you meet the following criterais, I will send you a Google Form that you will fill.

Here's the list of criteria for the VR submission, you must meet at least one of them to be part of the VR update:

• Played at least 5 games in one of the 2 most recent SPLs (SPL XIII and/or SPL XIV)
• Made playoffs of one of the 3 most recent Smogon Tours (Smogon Tour 32, Smogon Tour 33 and/or Smogon Tour 34)
• Made playoffs of the 2022 SM OU Championship
• Made top 8 of either the last Seasonal, or last Championship (NOT the current one, ie SM OU Summer Seasonal #3 and/or SM OU Global Championships 2022)

Of course, feel free to post your own VR on the forums, regardless of you meeting the criteria. Do not hesitate to elaborate on your rankings, especially the most unpopular ones! Keep it civil in this thread and keep in mind that rankings very much depend on a player's prefered playstyle.

Here's the link if you wanna make a good looking VR

 

[Skypenguin]

S RANK

S rank

Magearna - The only mon you will never regret putting on your team, regardless of its set

S- Rank

Landorus-Therian - Most versatile mon and less exploitable defensively than gliscor
Toxapex - Scary to load in the builder because of the flaws in teams it ends up on, but still a pex
Gliscor - Best wincon in the game, but tougher to create a cohesive defensive core with so it doesn't work on offence

A RANK

A+ rank

Mega Latias <3
Mega Charizard X - Prior to this SPL season, I had it in S right under magearna... Still nearly unstoppable but it can be prepped against
Kartana
Volcarona - Bumped volc up to A+ since it's so hard to account for all the popular sets
Chansey
Mega Mawile - only this low because the teams it fits on don't suit the modern metagame since volc and friends are so scary
Mega Medicham
Tapu Koko - I can't in good conscience put this at the top of A+ like I had planned before SPL, but it's very flexible in terms of movesets and just plain hard to switch into, regardless of how difficult it can be to put on a team
Heatran - very underrated, still incredibly annoying to break through and timid z sets as well as taunt work
Greninja / Ash-Greninja
Ferrothorn - more exploitable these days due to HO

A rank

Mega Alakazam - impossible to run outside of psyspam or funky stall teams
Rotom-Wash
Hawlucha - still as broken as ever, also very good with koko into bad HO
Kommo-o
Mega Diancie - not just due to its HO lead set; protect is annoying to play around and people downplay its ability to block hazards
Serperior
Manaphy - rain kind of sucks these days but mana is still oppressive
Clefable
Tornadus-Therian
Weavile

A- rank

Mega Swampert - flinch, freeze, crit
Victini
Tapu Lele
Excadrill - sand is very solid, even with smooth rock hippo, and spinning is valuable with taunts being thrown around everywhere
Mega Tyranitar
Magnezone
Kyurem-Black - everything in this A- tier can be broken in the right circumstances, but are all hard to fit on a team (except maybe the solid victini). Kyub is probably the epitome of this idea, with its memorable usage being limited to a few select teams

B RANK

B+ rank

Mega Lopunny - so baddd. It's honestly surprising whenever I have good results with lop, since it's just not strong enough
Garchomp - this mon does not exist unfortunately
Tapu Bulu - this mon gets way too much hate — a good bulu team abuses terrain better than the opponent. SD sets are annoying whether spdef or Z, band is scary to switch into, and scarf is usable despite what people say
Tapu Fini - also doesn't get enough respect (admittedly from me as well). It'll do its job extremely well and its terrain can be a great tool both offensively and defensively, but it doesn't blow anyone out of the water
Mega Scizor - a mon that's had a bit of a resurgence, it's just surprisingly solid overall
Skarmory
Slowbro
Mega Charizard Y
Mega Latios - I never got the hype; latios is pretty weak. If you can afford a set that's not walled by steels, it's an interesting pick however

B rank

Pelipper - I'll put peli here since rain as a whole is in a bad place, regardless of how unstoppable mana and pert can be
Zapdos - doesn't quite do its job but static zapdos' coverage will never be easy to play around
Reuniclus
Gastrodon - there is honestly a huge drop off between B+ and B
Ditto - technically good but its teams all suck
Hydreigon - don't use defog. (specs is suprisingly okay as well)
Kyurem
Celesteela
Mega Slowbro
Jirachi

B- rank

Mega Garchomp - ranked for its special sets — 4 attacks with hp ice and eq is ideal
Gyarados
Suicune
Keldeo
Thundurus-Therian
Hippowdon
Cresselia - my first crazy pick. Cress is an amazing pokemon defensively, switching into medi and lele and soft checking half the tier. I don't even run lunar dance on it; CM is a nice option that can flat out win against offense and pressure some stalls with a bit of spatk investment, and protect + a status of choice is also fine — not to mention how it carries trick room.
Moltres - my second crazy pick. Moltres is here solely for its offensive Z Hurricane + defog set. A lot of teams simply are not equipped to a strong fire type with legitimately powerful flying coverage. Pressure works great, especially against passive rockers like clef and gliscor, and even against chansey given heal bell support. What's not to like about a mon that can take +2 sucker from mawile and ohko gliscor/swampert?
Hoopa-Unbound - I hated on this mon last time I posted a VR but it's honestly solid if played well
Mega Pinsir
Mew

C RANK

C+ Rank

Mega Sableye
Mega Gyarados - use taunt/sub (ideally taunt). You're already fishing to an extent by using mgyara, so instead of trying to guess which 3 coverage moves will give you the best results, just trust in this mon's strengths and go for stall breaking
Mega Heracross
Blacephalon
Crawdaunt
Salamence - use sub
Tangrowth - I stopped feeling pressured by past rankings; tangrowth is a garbage pokemon and is 100% worse than everything ranked above it
Kingdra - actually not too bad on rain, and it becomes very hard to lose to HO when using kingdra

C rank

Dragonite
Gengar - specs hex can go in
Mega Aggron
Mega Venusaur
Breloom
Seismitoad
Krookodile - moxie honestly fits scarf krook's profile better than intimidate if you can afford it (you usually can)
Volcanion - niche anti-meta pick
Amoonguss
Tyranitar
Bisharp

C- rank

Mega Sharpedo - you honestly don't even need a speed boost. It's insanely strong, with crunch 2hkoing celes. If you're fine against clef this mon eats, and can even be run with 4 attacks
Azumarill - drum is sometimes broken. Sap sipper is also technically usable
Mega Gallade
Mimikyu
Alolan Muk
Porygon Z - z hyper beam, ghost conversion + pex/chansey trapper
Alomomola
Bronzong
Ribombee
Araquanid
Alolan Golem
Mega Camerupt
Mamoswine

 

[Maktyum]

So here is my VR. Hope more people will post theirs as well! (edited in October 2023)

S RANK

S and S- rank

S rank

Landorus-Therian-This mon never fails me, its versatility is everything both movepool wise than role wise. Yache berry is underrated, Z is still sooooo good.
Magearna-Again, its movepool is incredible, letting it answer all the needs of a team. Classic Assault vest does its job, cm+pain split is a pain to deal with, and it has a wide variety of sets between all the Z moves possible, items or support moves like twave.

S- rank

Toxapex
Gliscor-Limited to teams designed for longer games as a stall breaker and one of the most powerful win conditions of the tier. It is both the best piece of those kinds of teams and their main weakness. It can be abused, this is why its usage decreased a little lately.

A RANK

A+ rank

Kartana-The king of A+. Kartana's power is undeniable. Best choice item mon of the tier. It is always threatening and makes progress. It is funny because even in this fire spam metagame, kartana is still relevant and effective.
Chansey-I now feel like Chansey is vital on every non-offense team, it is a special sponge that can answer a huge part of the tier AND Volcarona. Virtually neutralizing almost all special attackers is powerful.
Mega Latias-Best mega of the tier by far, its typing and bulk answer so many problems for a team.
Volcarona aka Bullshit mon. can't see it anymore
Greninja
Ash-Greninja
Tapu Koko-Just one of the best offensive pivots and has never been a dead weight for me. Terrain and speed is an obvious deadly combo coupled with the longevity of roost. Specs is still crazy strong, and the versatility in Z moves is impressive.
Mega Medicham-I love how this mon can just win vs anything with only one correct anticipation. Medi+koko with Thunderpunch is really threatening, breaking past common switch-ins like reuniclus and slowbro.
Heatran
Ferrothorn
Mega Charizard X-It is on paper unstoppable, but the recoil of flare blitz forces it to make compromises in game and in the builder. You want roost for longevity, but the speed and power of dragon dance while having the almost perfect flare, dclaw and eq. Even with this 4MSS, Charizard X is incredible.

A rank

Mega Alakazam-Its ability grants him a nice versatility vs a lot of match-ups. Four attacks is a nice Swiss army knife and CM sets are scary. Because of its frailness, the metagame is very hostile to it; however psyspam is still threatening if you are not prepared.
Mega Diancie-Moonblast coming from 160 special attack and 110 in speed is cool and with its coverage options and ability, it can become an early-game demon. I also like endeavor outside of the lead set, you can catch chansey with it+diamond storm (need some attack invests)
Clefable-Well magic guard T_T. Clefable is incredibly hard to dispose of and is always annoying to face with paralysis and coverage. Always be prepared for it.
Mega Mawile-Starting to like it, it really provides immediate power with modulable sets and coverage. The only hick is that fire types are running rampant right now.
Hawlucha-A team that loses to it on preview is a bad team. Easiest mon to set up
Kommo-o-This mon can just check sooo much, with many options. Offensive sets can do the job but will never win on the spot since fairies are common.
Serperior-I find this mon to be crazy good on paper. However, it is hard to fit on balance and has one of the biggest 4MSS since you want the annoying effect of leech seed, broken glare but also coverage for steels. For a sub set I find that leech seed is crazy, the choice comes more to glare or coverage. If sub less, glare+knock off+hp fire is really good.
Tornadus-Does check a lot but not particularly well. Taunt+knock is why I put it so high (and it is still a consistent defog).
Tapu Lele-Still insane, it can just win so easily it is crazy (see the empo game from this SPL, the lele tutorial). Just really hard to fit in a team that don't rely on spamming.
Rotom Wash
Victini-Underrated, scarf+final gambit is great. Also a nice option for HO teams. don't use z celebrate it is not that good. Band is ok but needs a lot of support.

A- rank

Manaphy-The real demon of rain
Tapu Fini-I agree that misty terrain is underrated, acting as a great support for set-up sweepers. But when I'm using it I'm always scared of facing t-spike toxapex, forcing me to use another defog user which is sad. Tapu-fini is an easy mon to incorporate into a team thanks to its bulk and typing.
Mega Tyranitar-It is a weird case. Its bulk is everything you can dream of. However, its typing is horrendous defensively leading to "unperfect" teams (can't answer everything that is meta right now). Just look at the list of the mons above it, almost all of them can hit it super effectively which puts great pressure on the defensive core. Once you accept that, you can see how good pursuit and sand are as win conditions. Play Crunch on it.
Slowbro-future sight <3
Weavile-While its offensive presence is incredible, its frailness and typing don't help the team it fits on defensively. But it is extremely efficient at what it was thought for, spamming knock-off and pursuit. I like the arrival of beat up as well, even if it only fits precise archetypes.
Magnezone
Excadrill-Sand is coming back and I'm all for it. Excadrill is threatening offensively while adding a ton of utility to a sand team.
Mega lopunny-PUP into lead mew is funny. otherwise yeah, most teams nowadays don't fold to it or it needs too many supports to function.
Garchomp
Mega Scizor-fire spam is hard for the armored bug, but you then remember how bulky it can be while still demonstrating a good offensive presence with its priority. Fast scizor is cool vs magnezone or some heatran and I generally prefer physically defensive mega scizor, since tapu lele still wins vs a spedef variant.
Kyurem Black-even if Z move is the only viable set, it always makes a kill which is sufficient to be better than a B rank Pokemon
Mega Slowbro
Pelipper/ Mega Swampert

B RANK

B+ rank

Seismitoad-While being a counter to those teams relying on rotom wash or Koko to pivot, it has a great utility niche in the meta with stealth rocks, knock-off, scald...and being a great status absorber with refresh or rest. It can switch into heatran as well and create some 50/50 against battle-bound greninja which I like.
Mega Charizard Y-insane power but if only it was faster than medicham. Being blocked by toxapex, chansey or dragons is not a problem with teammates.
Mega Latios-4MMS is sad. Its typing and ability are still great assets in a team.
Skarmory
Celesteela-The hate on Celesteela is impressive. It still functions well and continues to be a pain to face. the magnezone usage decreasing is cool for it. While it is true that it loose 1vs1 against Gliscor, it never was celesteela role to win vs it; Celesteela is shutting down an immediate sweep of Gliscor and helps splashable answers to win vs the bat (like latias). Cele-pex is really efficient, especially on sand.
Tapu Bulu-underwhelming. Can't do a lot in the current metagame but choice band is still a pain to switch into.
Reuniclus
Zapdos-Static never works for me, otherwise it would be ranked higher. the rock weakness always puts it in the corner, leaving it unable to do its job consistently, especially when static is not working.
Keldeo
Ditto

B rank

Mew
Gastrodon
Jirachi
Mega Sableye
Hydreigon-It is really good on Sun teams as a defog user. Otherwise, Z belch is a cool option and its coverage is enjoyable.
Suicune-cheeeseee
Kyurem
Cresselia-How can a mon be so fat? A nice medi/lele check.
Tyranitar-nobody uses it anymore but its bulk is still there and it is still a functional pursuit user. Choice band is nuclear while AV is quite solid.

B- rank

Mega Garchomp
Mega Pinsir
Dragonite-Multiscale is useful on HO, it should be used more imo
Gyarados-moxie clan, useful typing and crazy snowball effect
Salamence-like a mix between dragonite and Gyarados with 100 in speed. a nice pick
Thundurus-Therian
Mega Venusaur
Mega Gallade
Mega Aggron
Hippowdon

C RANK

C+ rank

Kingdra
Volcanion-An interesting mon with helpful bulk and ability, allowing it to trade vs a wide range of the tier. Steam eruption is also threatening with the burn probability.
Mega Gyarados-a niche pick for hyper offense but still an incredible bulk and ability.
Crawdaunt
Bisharp
Thundurus-priority t-wave is always something and bulky variants can see some results as my friends showed me.
Mega Heracross-incredible power and ability but being slower than heatran is sad.
Mega Camerupt
Blacephalon
Hoopa Unbound
Tangrowth

C rank

Krookodile
Nidoking
Amoonguss
Breloom
Mega Altaria-don't use dragon dance. It is only viable as a cleric and defensive Pokemon.
Moltres
Venusaur
Torkoal-has a small niche as an alternative to Charizard Y with great physical bulk, status options and spin.
Alomomola
Ribombee-The best sticky web user outclassing shuckle and araquanid. HO lacking serperior are just not good into sticky, which is enough to attest its niche
Mismagius-walls facade Gliscor and is an anti fat pick with sub+nasty plot.
Uxie
Marowak Alola-Trick room is really cool and Marowak hits like truck. I hope we will see some TR teams in the future, it is relatively unexplored but in the HO world that we live in, maybe there is a chance.
Gengar
Zeraora

C- rank

Araquanid
Diggersby
Mimikyu-too weak but disguise is still annoying, especially when you miss your attacks.
Bronzong
Mega Sharpedo-a niche cleaner, just too frail to do something consistently.
Mega Aerodactyl-cool into HO, and it is true that it needs adamant
Muk Alola
Cofagrigus
Azumarill
Golem Alola
Porygon Z-always fails but Z conversion (electric) in electric terrain is quite funny into no chansey
Mega Ampharos-the bulk is nice, but the calcs are sad (it can't OHKO latias T_T)
Terrakion
Mega Banette-destiny bond is a nice HO stopper, otherwise it is bad.
Espeon-saw some people playing it on like bird spam with Volcarona. so C-
Mamoswine
Cloyster
Alolan Ninetales

 

[YubelVT]

my newest unhinged and blatantly incorrect take is that tornadus-t isn't good and that people have gaslit themselves into thinking he's good because defog + regenerator

 

[Proftreez]

my newest unhinged and blatantly incorrect take is that tornadus-t isn't good and that people have gaslit themselves into thinking he's good because defog + regenerator

you run mono ho with mono thundt

 

[YubelVT]

you run mono ho with mono thundt

wtf does mono mean in this context

and besides, I'd rate torn t higher if it had moves that connected

 

[YubelVT]

Mega Alakazam - impossible to run outside of psyspam or funky stall teams

Something I want to add to mega zam is that a 4 attacking moveset with energy ball over recover is a funky anti-rain tech if your team struggles with that matchup. You either force out the mega swampert (which is good obviously) or you trace swift swim and have a decent chance of winning instantly.

 

[Goodbye & Thanks]

wtf does mono mean in this context

and besides, I'd rate torn t higher if it had moves that connected

I don't want to speak for Proftreez, but I believe that they were implying that since you seem to mainly/only run an HO team with Thundurus-T, you may have a skewed perspective on how good Torn-T is, because that's a rough matchup for Torn to run into.

To throw my perspective in there, I think that Torn-T is clearly still great. Torn offers a good amount of role compression on BO teams and is easy to slot into teams while building. Being a U-turn pivot with Knock and Defog, while also being a crucial check to things like Kart and Mega Medi (it's not like Band/SD Kart or Medi should be staying in on Torn hoping that Cane misses or something) is great value. On top of that, Torn gives you a Ground resist and is one of the best Rocky Helmet users, due to Regenerator and its pivoting ability. Sure, Hurricane accuracy is annoying (although you do get the benefit of not having to worry about that in/against Rain) but Torn doesn't really need to rely on it to make progress. Torn is truly a glue mon for many teams, so you don't need to be banking on Hurricane hitting too often as a crucial part of your gameplan. Missing a Cane often isn't the end of the world anyway because pivoting out and healing through Regenerator can be pretty forgiving. Besides, if you are running an offensive Torn, it's likely you're Z mon, which obviously mitigates the accuracy concerns.

 

[Ezra Koenig Worshipper]

I know it’s just a minor convenience but is there any way we could get the mon’s names to link to their USM smogon page? I also know that giving editing permissions to a random user isn’t at all a good idea but for what it’s worth I’d be willing to do it myself

 

[Silhouettes]

My thoughts on the tier currently. Granted, my perspective is going to be heavily skewed because 1. I peaked at 1524 and hover around mid-high 1400’s, which I’d like to think is decent but certainly not great and 2. I’ve only played on ladder thus far, so my tier list is going to be affected by latter trends. Obviously I am far from a top player and my views have plenty of bias, but I didn’t figure there was any harm in sharing.

S Tier

Mag- Doesn’t need explaining. Best mon in the tier. Every set (save AV) is incredibly powerful and capable of single-handedly dismantling teams. The one saving grace of seeing Mag damn near every game on the ladder has been that the most popular set is AV, which isn’t particularly great.

Pex- Again, a mon that requires no explanation. Its only real problem is that it can kinda get 4MSS from picking between Toxic, Scald, Haze, Recover, Knock Off, T spikes, Baneful Bunker, etc. Regardless, those first 4 moves give you a consistent check to the majority of the offensive threats in the tier.

Gliscor- I’ve grown to hate this thing so much. Toxic Heal+Reliable recovery should never have been a thing. It’s an incredible rocks setter. It’s an incredible defogger. It’s an incredible bulky SD sweeper. Immune to getting ohko’d unless you really fuck up its EVs. Toxic lets it outlast pretty much every pokemon in the tier, be they offensive or defensive. Protect on this thing makes you feel like you’ve been toxic poisoned irl

A+ Tier

Latias-M- would be #2-3 in the tier if not for opportunity cost of being a mega. Utility is definitely good, but CM is what gets it this high. It’s incredible bulk lets it switch in all game, and then it just sweeps with the disgusting damage of stored power. If you can fit heal bell/aromatherapy on your team, this thing becomes borderline unstoppable.

Lando-T- It’s great at role compression, but other mons can do a lot of its roles better. Intimidate is the main reason it’s this high- it allows the defensive set to check pretty much every physical attacker in the tier while still having a strong EQ and rocks, and it allows scarf to be even safer when RKing mons that outspeed/have prio. Offensive Stealth Rock is worse Garchomp, don’t use it.

Clef- Just a very solid utility mon. Toxic/twave shuts down pretty much anything that poses a threat to it, CM is a really nice way to threaten mons that don’t win or lose against unboosted clef, it has a shit ton of coverage, and reliable recovery. Only issues are 4MSS, and the fact that unaware relies on Wish+Protect. Don’t use unaware.


Greninja-Ash- As long as you have one of its checks around, it’s a dead slot. The instant you don’t, you lose. Only this low because its checks are all very viable and common mons, but most teams only pack one and once it transforms, it can just wear down its checks until it can brute force its way through your entire team.


A Tier

Heatran- SpDef shrugs off every attack not named EQ. Magma Storm would be broken asf if it hit the opponent, but it’s bulky enough to afford the occasional miss. Great SR mon. Uses Z moves well but once you pop the z move, it's too slow to be a good offensive mon. SpA is ridiculous enough that it's kinda worth it.

Kart- Band pretty much auto wins vs teams that can't outspeed it. Scarf is very solid wallbreaker/sweeper, and utility is suprisingly useful considering its poor bulk. SD feels like overkill, you're dropping things left and right anyways so you'd rather the immediate power of band or the better speed of scarf.

Ferro- great hazard setter, punishes rapid spin, beats most defoggers, power whip and gyro ball do surprising damage, leech seed beats pretty much everything that can't 2hko.

Koko- Fast as hell and does damage. Specs is obviously the best set but physical electrium z is far from bad, ohkoing chansey is pretty fucking cool.

Manaphy- Tail Glow is downright oppressive. It's almost like a better protean gren in the sense that you pretty much get to pick your counters with your coverage options. in rain this thing WILL kill anything that doesn't kill it beforehand.

Chansey- "It's Super Effective! Chansey lost 12% of it's health"
Pex if it was invincible specially, mediocre physically, and had a worse movepool.

Torn-T- Z-move>rocky helmet, the nuke is much more valuable than the bulk (it doesn’t take hits super well anyways). best defogger in the tier, has regenerator, fast, good damage. Not a ton to say. You know why Torn-T is good.

Rotom-W- WoW lets this thing beat every physical attacker in the tier. Electric/Water is one of the best typings in the game, and it’s even more broken with levitate.

A- Tier
Skarm- Very very good, but it just has no way to make progress against mons it can't status. Obv setting up spikes is very threatening but SM hazard removal is a bitch, and too many good mons threaten it for me to put it any higher.

Tapu Lele- if it had that garchomp speed tier it would be A+/S, deadly pokemon but its just a touch too slow to be top tier. Scarf doesn't hit quite hard enough to tear apart teams the way specs does, and psychic/fairy is a pretty poor offensive typing which allows a lot of faster mons to kill specs. CM has same issue but even worse since it has to set up. Still, it hits so damn hard I can't put it any lower than this.

Victini- obv Z-celebrate stored power is a great sweeper (very fast, surprisingly bulky, hits like a bomb) but CB is underrated, resists take 40% minimum from V-create. bolt strike kills nearly everything that v-create doesn't. the unpredictability of guessing between band or z-celebrate is terrifying. scarf is useful for deleting a specific mon w/ final gambit but otherwise sucks.

Mawile-M- DISGUSTING damage. highest attack stat of all time when factoring in huge power. sucker punch hits hard enough to overlook speed issues and swords dance turns the damage calulator into a cookie clicker simulator. Surprisingly solid defensively despite low hp due to good defensive stats+one of the best defensive typings in the game.

Reuniclus- unless you taunt it, it has a genuinely horrifying number of winning matchups. if you see this thing in TR it's over. hits like an 18 wheeler and is confirmed to have survived several nuclear bombs.

Zard X- only this low because the choice between dragon claw and roost is just so impossible. SR weakness+flare blitz recoil wears this thing down fast as hell, it absoultely needs roost to function, but it loses to one too many common defensive mons without dragon claw simply because of their typing. still, good speed tier and flare blitz will 2hko most resists at +1.

Volc- matchup moth likes having gems on crack. bulky qd wins the game once you eliminate any physical attacker on the opponents team that can outdamage roost.

Ditto- this tier has more setup sweepers than james bond has STDs.

Tapu Bulu- actually pretty terrifying. band lowkey sucks against any team that has a good wood hammer switchin. SD would put this thing a tier or 2 higher if it weren't for Torn-T. Bulk Up would be really good if grass/fairy was good defensively.

Garchomp- might be the best sr setter in the tier. you have to guess whether its dragonium z or rockium z and guessing wrong will lose you games. plenty of other good sets but offensive sr stands out as the best. tank is solid but unless you really like phazing, just use lando. chain chomp is underrated.

Alakazam-M- CM is terrifying if you let it set up, but recover+3 attacks isn't too hard to deal with. running any slightly bulky psychic resist with a decently strong physical attack means you can take one attack and ohko in return. still, punches massive holes against teams that don't have a healthy check. also helps that it's the fastest relevant mon in the entire tier (unless you play at 1100, at which point you may have to deal with ninjask from people who either aren’t playing to win or are under the age of 12)

Lopunny-M- physical alakazam. big damage, fast asf, but lacks boosting options and thus will inevitably encounter something it can't kill, and it will die when that happens. also sucks that all of its moves make contact, zapdos is this thing's worst nightmare

B+ Tier
Pelipper and Swampert-M- ranked together because both are useless without the other. I’ve found rain to be very good, and thus these two rank highly. the only consistent gameplan I've found against rain is to kill pelipper as fast as humanly possible and then switch between fini and lando against swampert until rain disappears.

Protean Greninja- this thing would be so good if its moves hit the opponent. It's too weak to rely on accurate moves, and I've seen a very large number of games (both using and against gren) that were lost to a missed hydro pump or gunk shot. Massively, massively rng reliant but when it works, it fucking WORKS. Picking who to switch into this thing has a tendency to end in a dead mon.

Amoongus- Spore+Regenerator. Usable stats. Take a fucking guess.

TTar-M- if rock had usable stab this thing would be A/A-. Incredibly bulky setup sweeper with disgusting attack but all of its moves have very low BP and stone edge is just atrocious (why did anyone at GF think base 100bp on a mid typing had to be balanced by causing you to lose ⅕ games?)

Celesteela- autotomize sweeper is pretty bad, sub/protect leech borders on immortal. Really good defensive typing, good defensive stats, solid coverage. Not a ton to say.

Kyu-B- can and will ohko resists with icium-z. Fusion bolt hits hard as hell and is good coverage. Ironically, you don’t usually see dragon stab on this thing because it needs ice beam, earth power, fusion bolt, and freeze shock for z move. You could try dropping freeze shock for outrage/dragon claw and running a different item but I don’t know how well that would go.

Medicham-M- Lopunny-M if it was slightly less frail, slower, and wayyyy stronger. Doesn’t appreciate lando-t being more common than oxygen (I know it has ice punch but unless you predict the lando switch in, HJK does nothing).

B Tier

Slowbro(-M)- It’s weird ranking these 2. Base slowbro is better due to regenerator, but it appreciates being able to skyrocket its defence at any moment and there isn’t a ton of opportunity cost to running slowbronite. Regardless, very solid defensive presence with good utility. CM Mega slowbro can be terrifying.

Serp- Bigger matchup fish than matchup moth. Terrible coverage, has to pick what it’s hardwalled by, and can really only glare/leech seed against bad matchups. Still, it’s fast and contrary leaf storm is broken.

Exca- broken in sand, meh otherwise. Usable lead but I feel like it’s definitely the weakest link in the team I used to rank up because the lead set (aka the only non-sand set) just isn’t particularly great, but it has a niche as the only sr setter with rapid spin.

Sableye-M- very very very annoying, but its bulk is only good compared to most defensive mons which means it can simply be overwhelmed by strong attackers. Still, magic bounce+WoW+recover is about as good as you think it is.

Hippowdon- Really bulky, has reliable recovery, has yawn, sets rocks. Is really passive outside of yawn but it’s bulky enough that not much can threaten it. Better at keeping sand up than ttar.

TTar- pursuit, sand, and god tier stat distribution carry its god awful typing and god awful stab.

Azumarill- very strong, but cb isn’t too bad to switch into and belly drum requires a lot of its checks to be put into +6 aqua jet range.

Tapu Fini- this thing would be A- if it had reliable recovery. Really good defogger with decent damage and good coverage with its stabs, and switches into damn near every special attacker in the tier.

B- Tier

Zapdos- too passive for my liking, doesn’t do enough damage without significant SpA investment and Tbolt/Roost/Toxic/HP Ice or Heat Wave is good but gets hard walled by heatran (and a few others depending on the coverage move it picks) which is a big deal. Do not try to run defog on this thing, it doesn’t have enough moves as is.

Zard Y- extremely powerful but its coverage is very easy to switch into. 4x rocks weakness makes it really hard to justify over the numerous better megas in the tier.

Diancie-M- magic bounce is really good, but it isn’t strong enough to make up for its terrible defensive typing. Still does a lot of damage and can keep rocks off.

Kommo-O- clangorous soulblaze is kinda just worse z-celebrate victini, and belly drum is very hard to facilitate but wins the game once it sets up.

Gyarados- Kind of a matchup fish, but can still punch a lot of holes midgame against teams it can’t sweep. Needs moxie to sweep which leaves it wanting for power before it gets +3 or so

Gyarados-M- I mean it’s a good setup sweeper with sub but you’d rather just use a better mega or a better ddancer.

Scizor-M- loses to a lot of the tier, pretty much just ends up being worse kartana (swords dance or utility) but without the option of choice sets. Still very strong and bulky so it’s here.

Magnezone- sub z move is terrifying, scarf is ok but there really aren’t enough steel types worth trapping. EQ is everywhere tho which is really bad on a mon this slow. Has to use HP fire so no HP ice, which means losing to most ground types in the tier

Mew- decent utility but it doesn’t accomplish much outside of WoW and defog. Bad defensive typing

C+ Tier

Cresselia- bad defensive typing doesn’t matter when you have the greatest defensive stats of all time. The best setter/support on TR teams but TR is a very niche style so it ends up here

Marowak-A- the swampert to cress’ pelipper. Outspeeds and ohkos pretty much the entire tier under TR but has very little use outside of TR.

Bisharp- not bulky enough to handle the onslaught of fire, fighting, and ground attacks flying around the tier, not strong enough to threaten without setting up. Defiant+Sucker Punch make this thing capable of putting in work but things have to go really well for you.

C Tier

Hawlucha- this thing is so bad lmao. Double speed doesn’t mean shit when you threaten no damage, it really struggles to pick up kills at +2 and lando-t is everywhere so it's usually at +1. Don’t.

Blacephalon- needs specs because it dies if the opponent survives, needs scarf to outspeed all of the mons who outspeed and ohko, needs to be able to switch moves in order to not get hard walled. Sub Z move borders on usable but it severely outclassed by the many other substitute z wall breakers/sweepers. Tears apart teams without a check but completely useless when any of its extremely common checks show up.

Ninetales-A- aurora veil is broken. This mon is good at setting up aurora veil and immediately dying. Maybe useful over a normal screens lead on HO?

Pinsir-M- there’s so many better sweepers and so many better megas. Can clean up teams but it’s so so outclassed.

D Tier


Keldeo- severely outclassed by a million better cm/scarf/specs mons. Water/Fighting is a really bad stab combo in this tier and leaves it with many weaknesses, which combined with its poor bulk leave it doing little damage and being easily killed in return. Considering that Altaria-M and Latias are the 2 best mons in UU and can easily shrug off its attacks and ohko in return, I genuinely think it’s worth testing there.

Tangrowth- AV sucks. Rocky helmet means you have a mon with terrible defensive typing and no special bulk just so that it can wall some physical attackers. Have yet to encounter a match in which it accomplishes anything.


There are a number of viable mons I didn’t rank, and that is simply because I have little to no experience using them or fighting them. Feel free to let me know what parts of this you disagree with- I’m probably one of the least knowledgeable and experienced players in this forum so I’d love to discuss.

Edit: this isn’t enough change for me to make a new tier list but I overrated Latias-M, I’d probably bump it down to mid-A. Obviously still very very good but CM is nowhere near as invincible as I thought it was. Status is a bitch.

 

[YubelVT]

My thoughts on the tier currently. Granted, my perspective is going to be heavily skewed because 1. I peaked at 1524 and hover around mid-high 1400’s, which I’d like to think is decent but certainly not great and 2. I’ve only played on ladder thus far, so my tier list is going to be affected by latter trends. Obviously I am far from a top player and my views have plenty of bias, but I didn’t figure there was any harm in sharing.

S Tier

Mag- Doesn’t need explaining. Best mon in the tier. Every set (save AV) is incredibly powerful and capable of single-handedly dismantling teams. The one saving grace of seeing Mag damn near every game on the ladder has been that the most popular set is AV, which isn’t particularly great.

Pex- Again, a mon that requires no explanation. Its only real problem is that it can kinda get 4MSS from picking between Toxic, Scald, Haze, Recover, Knock Off, T spikes, Baneful Bunker, etc. Regardless, those first 4 moves give you a consistent check to the majority of the offensive threats in the tier.

Gliscor- I’ve grown to hate this thing so much. Toxic Heal+Reliable recovery should never have been a thing. It’s an incredible rocks setter. It’s an incredible defogger. It’s an incredible bulky SD sweeper. Immune to getting ohko’d unless you really fuck up its EVs. Toxic lets it outlast pretty much every pokemon in the tier, be they offensive or defensive. Protect on this thing makes you feel like you’ve been toxic poisoned irl

A+ Tier

Latias-M- would be #2-3 in the tier if not for opportunity cost of being a mega. Utility is definitely good, but CM is what gets it this high. It’s incredible bulk lets it switch in all game, and then it just sweeps with the disgusting damage of stored power. If you can fit heal bell/aromatherapy on your team, this thing becomes borderline unstoppable.

Lando-T- It’s great at role compression, but other mons can do a lot of its roles better. Intimidate is the main reason it’s this high- it allows the defensive set to check pretty much every physical attacker in the tier while still having a strong EQ and rocks, and it allows scarf to be even safer when RKing mons that outspeed/have prio. Offensive Stealth Rock is worse Garchomp, don’t use it.

Clef- Just a very solid utility mon. Toxic/twave shuts down pretty much anything that poses a threat to it, CM is a really nice way to threaten mons that don’t win or lose against unboosted clef, it has a shit ton of coverage, and reliable recovery. Only issues are 4MSS, and the fact that unaware relies on Wish+Protect. Don’t use unaware.


Greninja-Ash- As long as you have one of its checks around, it’s a dead slot. The instant you don’t, you lose. Only this low because its checks are all very viable and common mons, but most teams only pack one and once it transforms, it can just wear down its checks until it can brute force its way through your entire team.


A Tier

Heatran- SpDef shrugs off every attack not named EQ. Magma Storm would be broken asf if it hit the opponent, but it’s bulky enough to afford the occasional miss. Great SR mon. Uses Z moves well but once you pop the z move, it's too slow to be a good offensive mon. SpA is ridiculous enough that it's kinda worth it.

Kart- Band pretty much auto wins vs teams that can't outspeed it. Scarf is very solid wallbreaker/sweeper, and utility is suprisingly useful considering its poor bulk. SD feels like overkill, you're dropping things left and right anyways so you'd rather the immediate power of band or the better speed of scarf.

Ferro- great hazard setter, punishes rapid spin, beats most defoggers, power whip and gyro ball do surprising damage, leech seed beats pretty much everything that can't 2hko.

Koko- Fast as hell and does damage. Specs is obviously the best set but physical electrium z is far from bad, ohkoing chansey is pretty fucking cool.

Manaphy- Tail Glow is downright oppressive. It's almost like a better protean gren in the sense that you pretty much get to pick your counters with your coverage options. in rain this thing WILL kill anything that doesn't kill it beforehand.

Chansey- "It's Super Effective! Chansey lost 12% of it's health"
Pex if it was invincible specially, mediocre physically, and had a worse movepool.

Torn-T- Z-move>rocky helmet, the nuke is much more valuable than the bulk (it doesn’t take hits super well anyways). best defogger in the tier, has regenerator, fast, good damage. Not a ton to say. You know why Torn-T is good.

Rotom-W- WoW lets this thing beat every physical attacker in the tier. Electric/Water is one of the best typings in the game, and it’s even more broken with levitate.

A- Tier
Skarm- Very very good, but it just has no way to make progress against mons it can't status. Obv setting up spikes is very threatening but SM hazard removal is a bitch, and too many good mons threaten it for me to put it any higher.

Tapu Lele- if it had that garchomp speed tier it would be A+/S, deadly pokemon but its just a touch too slow to be top tier. Scarf doesn't hit quite hard enough to tear apart teams the way specs does, and psychic/fairy is a pretty poor offensive typing which allows a lot of faster mons to kill specs. CM has same issue but even worse since it has to set up. Still, it hits so damn hard I can't put it any lower than this.

Victini- obv Z-celebrate stored power is a great sweeper (very fast, surprisingly bulky, hits like a bomb) but CB is underrated, resists take 40% minimum from V-create. bolt strike kills nearly everything that v-create doesn't. the unpredictability of guessing between band or z-celebrate is terrifying. scarf is useful for deleting a specific mon w/ final gambit but otherwise sucks.

mawile-m- DISGUSTING damage. highest attack stat of all time when factoring in huge power. sucker punch hits hard enough to overlook speed issues and swords dance turns the damage calulator into a cookie clicker simulator. Surprisingly solid defensively despite low hp due to good defensive stats+one of the best defensive typings in the game.

reuniclus- unless you taunt it, it has a genuinely horrifying number of winning matchups. if you see this thing in TR it's over. hits like an 18 wheeler and is confirmed to have survived several nuclear bombs.

zard x- only this low because the choice between dragon claw and roost is just so impossible. SR weakness+flare blitz recoil wears this thing down fast as hell, it absoultely needs roost to function, but it loses to one too many common defensive mons without dragon claw simply because of their typing. still, good speed tier and flare blitz will 2hko most resists at +1.

volc- matchup moth likes having gems on crack. bulky qd wins the game once you eliminate any physical attacker on the opponents team that can outdamage roost.

ditto- this tier has more setup sweepers than james bond has STDs.

tapu bulu- actually pretty terrifying. band lowkey sucks against any team that has a good wood hammer switchin. SD would put this thing a tier or 2 higher if it weren't for Torn-T. Bulk Up would be really good if grass/fairy was good defensively.

garchomp- might be the best sr setter in the tier. you have to guess whether its dragonium z or rockium z and guessing wrong will lose you games. plenty of other good sets but offensive sr stands out as the best. tank is solid but unless you really like phazing, just use lando. chain chomp is underrated.

alakazam-m- CM is terrifying if you let it set up, but recover+3 attacks isn't too hard to deal with. running any slightly bulky psychic resist with a decently strong physical attack means you can take one attack and ohko in return. still, punches massive holes against teams that don't have a healthy check. also helps that it's the fastest relevant mon in the entire tier (unless you play at 1100, at which point you may have to deal with ninjask from people who either aren’t playing to win or are under the age of 12)

lopunny-m- physical alakazam. big damage, fast asf, but lacks boosting options and thus will inevitably encounter something it can't kill, and it will die when that happens. also sucks that all of its moves make contact, zapdos is this thing's worst nightmare

B+ Tier
Pelipper and Swampert-M- ranked together because both are useless without the other. I’ve found rain to be very good, and thus these two rank highly. the only consistent gameplan I've found against rain is to kill pelipper as fast as humanly possible and then switch between fini and lando against swampert until rain disappears.

Protean Greninja- this thing would be so good if its moves hit the opponent. It's too weak to rely on accurate moves, and I've seen a very large number of games (both using and against gren) that were lost to a missed hydro pump or gunk shot. Massively, massively rng reliant but when it works, it fucking WORKS. Picking who to switch into this thing has a tendency to end in a dead mon.

Amoongus- Spore+Regenerator. Usable stats. Take a fucking guess.

TTar-M- if rock had usable stab this thing would be A/A-. Incredibly bulky setup sweeper with disgusting attack but all of its moves have very low BP and stone edge is just atrocious (why did anyone at GF think base 100bp on a mid typing had to be balanced by causing you to lose ⅕ games?)

Celesteela- autotomize sweeper is pretty bad, sub/protect leech borders on immortal. Really good defensive typing, good defensive stats, solid coverage. Not a ton to say.

Kyu-B- can and will ohko resists with icium-z. Fusion bolt hits hard as hell and is good coverage. Ironically, you don’t usually see dragon stab on this thing because it needs ice beam, earth power, fusion bolt, and freeze shock for z move. You could try dropping freeze shock for outrage/dragon claw and running a different item but I don’t know how well that would go.

Medicham-M- Lopunny-M if it was slightly less frail, slower, and wayyyy stronger. Doesn’t appreciate lando-t being more common than oxygen (I know it has ice punch but unless you predict the lando switch in, HJK does nothing).

B Tier

Slowbro(-M)- It’s weird ranking these 2. Base slowbro is better due to regenerator, but it appreciates being able to skyrocket its defence at any moment and there isn’t a ton of opportunity cost to running slowbronite. Regardless, very solid defensive presence with good utility. CM Mega slowbro can be terrifying.

Serp- Bigger matchup fish than matchup moth. Terrible coverage, has to pick what it’s hardwalled by, and can really only glare/leech seed against bad matchups. Still, it’s fast and contrary leaf storm is broken.

Exca- broken in sand, meh otherwise. Usable lead but I feel like it’s definitely the weakest link in the team I used to rank up because the lead set (aka the only non-sand set) just isn’t particularly great, but it has a niche as the only sr setter with rapid spin.

Sableye-M- very very very annoying, but its bulk is only good compared to most defensive mons which means it can simply be overwhelmed by strong attackers. Still, magic bounce+WoW+recover is about as good as you think it is.

Hippowdon- Really bulky, has reliable recovery, has yawn, sets rocks. Is really passive outside of yawn but it’s bulky enough that not much can threaten it. Better at keeping sand up than ttar.

TTar- pursuit, sand, and god tier stat distribution carry its god awful typing and god awful stab.

Azumarill- very strong, but cb isn’t too bad to switch into and belly drum requires a lot of its checks to be put into +6 aqua jet range.

Tapu Fini- this thing would be A- if it had reliable recovery. Really good defogger with decent damage and good coverage with its stabs, and switches into damn near every special attacker in the tier.

B- Tier

Zapdos- too passive for my liking, doesn’t do enough damage without significant SpA investment and Tbolt/Roost/Toxic/HP Ice or Heat Wave is good but gets hard walled by heatran (and a few others depending on the coverage move it picks) which is a big deal. Do not try to run defog on this thing, it doesn’t have enough moves as is.

Zard Y- extremely powerful but its coverage is very easy to switch into. 4x rocks weakness makes it really hard to justify over the numerous better megas in the tier.

Diancie-M- magic bounce is really good, but it isn’t strong enough to make up for its terrible defensive typing. Still does a lot of damage and can keep rocks off.

Kommo-O- clangorous soulblaze is kinda just worse z-celebrate victini, and belly drum is very hard to facilitate but wins the game once it sets up.

Gyarados- Kind of a matchup fish, but can still punch a lot of holes midgame against teams it can’t sweep. Needs moxie to sweep which leaves it wanting for power before it gets +3 or so

Gyarados-M- I mean it’s a good setup sweeper with sub but you’d rather just use a better mega or a better ddancer.

Scizor-M- loses to a lot of the tier, pretty much just ends up being worse kartana (swords dance or utility) but without the option of choice sets. Still very strong and bulky so it’s here.

Magnezone- sub z move is terrifying, scarf is ok but there really aren’t enough steel types worth trapping. EQ is everywhere tho which is really bad on a mon this slow. Has to choose between HP ice or fire and both are sorely missed when not in use.

Mew- decent utility but it doesn’t accomplish much outside of WoW and defog. Bad defensive typing

C+ Tier

Cresselia- bad defensive typing doesn’t matter when you have the greatest defensive stats of all time. The best setter/support on TR teams but TR is a very niche style so it ends up here

Marowak-A- the swampert to cress’ pelipper. Outspeeds and ohkos pretty much the entire tier under TR but has very little use outside of TR.

Bisharp- not bulky enough to handle the onslaught of fire, fighting, and ground attacks flying around the tier, not strong enough to threaten without setting up. Defiant+Sucker Punch make this thing capable of putting in work but things have to go really well for you.

C Tier

Hawlucha- this thing is so bad lmao. Double speed doesn’t mean shit when you threaten no damage, it really struggles to pick up kills at +2 and lando-t is everywhere so it's usually at +1. Don’t.

Blacephalon- needs specs to do enough damage to not get ohkod by anything that survives, needs scarf to outspeed all of the mons who outspeed and ohko, needs to be able to switch moves in order to not get hard walled. Tears apart teams without a check but completely useless when any of its extremely common checks show up.

Ninetales-A- aurora veil is broken. This mon is good at setting up aurora veil and immediately dying. Maybe useful over a normal screens lead on HO?

Pinsir-M- there’s so many better sweepers and so many better megas. Can clean up teams but it’s so so outclassed.

D Tier


Keldeo- god awful calm mind user. god awful specs user. god awful scarf user. Just because it’s fast and strong doesn’t mean its good. tbh considering that Altaria-M and Latias are the 2 best mons in UU, I might even argue its worth testing there.

Tangrowth- AV sucks. Rocky helmet means you have a mon with terrible defensive typing and no special bulk just so that it can wall some physical attackers. Have yet to encounter a match in which it accomplishes anything.


There are a number of viable mons I didn’t rank, and that is simply because I have little to no experience using them or fighting them. Feel free to let me know what parts of this you disagree with- I’m probably one of the least knowledgeable and experienced players in this forum so I’d love to discuss.

personally I'd put mega gyarados at the bottom of B-. In my experience, you miss water stab but you need sub to actually get to a game winning position and the sample set just isn't fast enough to not die to scarf kart

 

[Silhouettes]

personally I'd put mega gyarados at the bottom of B-. In my experience, you miss water stab but you need sub to actually get to a game winning position and the sample set just isn't fast enough to not die to scarf kart

I put Gyarados-M in B- and specifically mentioned its sub set. The sample set also ditches waterfall for substitute and runs max speed so I’m not really sure what you’re talking about.

 

[Yxzwilliam]

My thoughts on the tier currently. Granted, my perspective is going to be heavily skewed because 1. I peaked at 1524 and hover around mid-high 1400’s, which I’d like to think is decent but certainly not great and 2. I’ve only played on ladder thus far, so my tier list is going to be affected by latter trends. Obviously I am far from a top player and my views have plenty of bias, but I didn’t figure there was any harm in sharing.

S Tier

Mag- Doesn’t need explaining. Best mon in the tier. Every set (save AV) is incredibly powerful and capable of single-handedly dismantling teams. The one saving grace of seeing Mag damn near every game on the ladder has been that the most popular set is AV, which isn’t particularly great.

Pex- Again, a mon that requires no explanation. Its only real problem is that it can kinda get 4MSS from picking between Toxic, Scald, Haze, Recover, Knock Off, T spikes, Baneful Bunker, etc. Regardless, those first 4 moves give you a consistent check to the majority of the offensive threats in the tier.

Gliscor- I’ve grown to hate this thing so much. Toxic Heal+Reliable recovery should never have been a thing. It’s an incredible rocks setter. It’s an incredible defogger. It’s an incredible bulky SD sweeper. Immune to getting ohko’d unless you really fuck up its EVs. Toxic lets it outlast pretty much every pokemon in the tier, be they offensive or defensive. Protect on this thing makes you feel like you’ve been toxic poisoned irl

A+ Tier

Latias-M- would be #2-3 in the tier if not for opportunity cost of being a mega. Utility is definitely good, but CM is what gets it this high. It’s incredible bulk lets it switch in all game, and then it just sweeps with the disgusting damage of stored power. If you can fit heal bell/aromatherapy on your team, this thing becomes borderline unstoppable.

Lando-T- It’s great at role compression, but other mons can do a lot of its roles better. Intimidate is the main reason it’s this high- it allows the defensive set to check pretty much every physical attacker in the tier while still having a strong EQ and rocks, and it allows scarf to be even safer when RKing mons that outspeed/have prio. Offensive Stealth Rock is worse Garchomp, don’t use it.

Clef- Just a very solid utility mon. Toxic/twave shuts down pretty much anything that poses a threat to it, CM is a really nice way to threaten mons that don’t win or lose against unboosted clef, it has a shit ton of coverage, and reliable recovery. Only issues are 4MSS, and the fact that unaware relies on Wish+Protect. Don’t use unaware.


Greninja-Ash- As long as you have one of its checks around, it’s a dead slot. The instant you don’t, you lose. Only this low because its checks are all very viable and common mons, but most teams only pack one and once it transforms, it can just wear down its checks until it can brute force its way through your entire team.


A Tier

Heatran- SpDef shrugs off every attack not named EQ. Magma Storm would be broken asf if it hit the opponent, but it’s bulky enough to afford the occasional miss. Great SR mon. Uses Z moves well but once you pop the z move, it's too slow to be a good offensive mon. SpA is ridiculous enough that it's kinda worth it.

Kart- Band pretty much auto wins vs teams that can't outspeed it. Scarf is very solid wallbreaker/sweeper, and utility is suprisingly useful considering its poor bulk. SD feels like overkill, you're dropping things left and right anyways so you'd rather the immediate power of band or the better speed of scarf.

Ferro- great hazard setter, punishes rapid spin, beats most defoggers, power whip and gyro ball do surprising damage, leech seed beats pretty much everything that can't 2hko.

Koko- Fast as hell and does damage. Specs is obviously the best set but physical electrium z is far from bad, ohkoing chansey is pretty fucking cool.

Manaphy- Tail Glow is downright oppressive. It's almost like a better protean gren in the sense that you pretty much get to pick your counters with your coverage options. in rain this thing WILL kill anything that doesn't kill it beforehand.

Chansey- "It's Super Effective! Chansey lost 12% of it's health"
Pex if it was invincible specially, mediocre physically, and had a worse movepool.

Torn-T- Z-move>rocky helmet, the nuke is much more valuable than the bulk (it doesn’t take hits super well anyways). best defogger in the tier, has regenerator, fast, good damage. Not a ton to say. You know why Torn-T is good.

Rotom-W- WoW lets this thing beat every physical attacker in the tier. Electric/Water is one of the best typings in the game, and it’s even more broken with levitate.

A- Tier
Skarm- Very very good, but it just has no way to make progress against mons it can't status. Obv setting up spikes is very threatening but SM hazard removal is a bitch, and too many good mons threaten it for me to put it any higher.

Tapu Lele- if it had that garchomp speed tier it would be A+/S, deadly pokemon but its just a touch too slow to be top tier. Scarf doesn't hit quite hard enough to tear apart teams the way specs does, and psychic/fairy is a pretty poor offensive typing which allows a lot of faster mons to kill specs. CM has same issue but even worse since it has to set up. Still, it hits so damn hard I can't put it any lower than this.

Victini- obv Z-celebrate stored power is a great sweeper (very fast, surprisingly bulky, hits like a bomb) but CB is underrated, resists take 40% minimum from V-create. bolt strike kills nearly everything that v-create doesn't. the unpredictability of guessing between band or z-celebrate is terrifying. scarf is useful for deleting a specific mon w/ final gambit but otherwise sucks.

Mawile-M- DISGUSTING damage. highest attack stat of all time when factoring in huge power. sucker punch hits hard enough to overlook speed issues and swords dance turns the damage calulator into a cookie clicker simulator. Surprisingly solid defensively despite low hp due to good defensive stats+one of the best defensive typings in the game.

Reuniclus- unless you taunt it, it has a genuinely horrifying number of winning matchups. if you see this thing in TR it's over. hits like an 18 wheeler and is confirmed to have survived several nuclear bombs.

Zard X- only this low because the choice between dragon claw and roost is just so impossible. SR weakness+flare blitz recoil wears this thing down fast as hell, it absoultely needs roost to function, but it loses to one too many common defensive mons without dragon claw simply because of their typing. still, good speed tier and flare blitz will 2hko most resists at +1.

Volc- matchup moth likes having gems on crack. bulky qd wins the game once you eliminate any physical attacker on the opponents team that can outdamage roost.

Ditto- this tier has more setup sweepers than james bond has STDs.

Tapu Bulu- actually pretty terrifying. band lowkey sucks against any team that has a good wood hammer switchin. SD would put this thing a tier or 2 higher if it weren't for Torn-T. Bulk Up would be really good if grass/fairy was good defensively.

Garchomp- might be the best sr setter in the tier. you have to guess whether its dragonium z or rockium z and guessing wrong will lose you games. plenty of other good sets but offensive sr stands out as the best. tank is solid but unless you really like phazing, just use lando. chain chomp is underrated.

Alakazam-M- CM is terrifying if you let it set up, but recover+3 attacks isn't too hard to deal with. running any slightly bulky psychic resist with a decently strong physical attack means you can take one attack and ohko in return. still, punches massive holes against teams that don't have a healthy check. also helps that it's the fastest relevant mon in the entire tier (unless you play at 1100, at which point you may have to deal with ninjask from people who either aren’t playing to win or are under the age of 12)

Lopunny-M- physical alakazam. big damage, fast asf, but lacks boosting options and thus will inevitably encounter something it can't kill, and it will die when that happens. also sucks that all of its moves make contact, zapdos is this thing's worst nightmare

B+ Tier
Pelipper and Swampert-M- ranked together because both are useless without the other. I’ve found rain to be very good, and thus these two rank highly. the only consistent gameplan I've found against rain is to kill pelipper as fast as humanly possible and then switch between fini and lando against swampert until rain disappears.

Protean Greninja- this thing would be so good if its moves hit the opponent. It's too weak to rely on accurate moves, and I've seen a very large number of games (both using and against gren) that were lost to a missed hydro pump or gunk shot. Massively, massively rng reliant but when it works, it fucking WORKS. Picking who to switch into this thing has a tendency to end in a dead mon.

Amoongus- Spore+Regenerator. Usable stats. Take a fucking guess.

TTar-M- if rock had usable stab this thing would be A/A-. Incredibly bulky setup sweeper with disgusting attack but all of its moves have very low BP and stone edge is just atrocious (why did anyone at GF think base 100bp on a mid typing had to be balanced by causing you to lose ⅕ games?)

Celesteela- autotomize sweeper is pretty bad, sub/protect leech borders on immortal. Really good defensive typing, good defensive stats, solid coverage. Not a ton to say.

Kyu-B- can and will ohko resists with icium-z. Fusion bolt hits hard as hell and is good coverage. Ironically, you don’t usually see dragon stab on this thing because it needs ice beam, earth power, fusion bolt, and freeze shock for z move. You could try dropping freeze shock for outrage/dragon claw and running a different item but I don’t know how well that would go.

Medicham-M- Lopunny-M if it was slightly less frail, slower, and wayyyy stronger. Doesn’t appreciate lando-t being more common than oxygen (I know it has ice punch but unless you predict the lando switch in, HJK does nothing).

B Tier

Slowbro(-M)- It’s weird ranking these 2. Base slowbro is better due to regenerator, but it appreciates being able to skyrocket its defence at any moment and there isn’t a ton of opportunity cost to running slowbronite. Regardless, very solid defensive presence with good utility. CM Mega slowbro can be terrifying.

Serp- Bigger matchup fish than matchup moth. Terrible coverage, has to pick what it’s hardwalled by, and can really only glare/leech seed against bad matchups. Still, it’s fast and contrary leaf storm is broken.

Exca- broken in sand, meh otherwise. Usable lead but I feel like it’s definitely the weakest link in the team I used to rank up because the lead set (aka the only non-sand set) just isn’t particularly great, but it has a niche as the only sr setter with rapid spin.

Sableye-M- very very very annoying, but its bulk is only good compared to most defensive mons which means it can simply be overwhelmed by strong attackers. Still, magic bounce+WoW+recover is about as good as you think it is.

Hippowdon- Really bulky, has reliable recovery, has yawn, sets rocks. Is really passive outside of yawn but it’s bulky enough that not much can threaten it. Better at keeping sand up than ttar.

TTar- pursuit, sand, and god tier stat distribution carry its god awful typing and god awful stab.

Azumarill- very strong, but cb isn’t too bad to switch into and belly drum requires a lot of its checks to be put into +6 aqua jet range.

Tapu Fini- this thing would be A- if it had reliable recovery. Really good defogger with decent damage and good coverage with its stabs, and switches into damn near every special attacker in the tier.

B- Tier

Zapdos- too passive for my liking, doesn’t do enough damage without significant SpA investment and Tbolt/Roost/Toxic/HP Ice or Heat Wave is good but gets hard walled by heatran (and a few others depending on the coverage move it picks) which is a big deal. Do not try to run defog on this thing, it doesn’t have enough moves as is.

Zard Y- extremely powerful but its coverage is very easy to switch into. 4x rocks weakness makes it really hard to justify over the numerous better megas in the tier.

Diancie-M- magic bounce is really good, but it isn’t strong enough to make up for its terrible defensive typing. Still does a lot of damage and can keep rocks off.

Kommo-O- clangorous soulblaze is kinda just worse z-celebrate victini, and belly drum is very hard to facilitate but wins the game once it sets up.

Gyarados- Kind of a matchup fish, but can still punch a lot of holes midgame against teams it can’t sweep. Needs moxie to sweep which leaves it wanting for power before it gets +3 or so

Gyarados-M- I mean it’s a good setup sweeper with sub but you’d rather just use a better mega or a better ddancer.

Scizor-M- loses to a lot of the tier, pretty much just ends up being worse kartana (swords dance or utility) but without the option of choice sets. Still very strong and bulky so it’s here.

Magnezone- sub z move is terrifying, scarf is ok but there really aren’t enough steel types worth trapping. EQ is everywhere tho which is really bad on a mon this slow. Has to use HP fire so no HP ice, which means losing to most ground types in the tier

Mew- decent utility but it doesn’t accomplish much outside of WoW and defog. Bad defensive typing

C+ Tier

Cresselia- bad defensive typing doesn’t matter when you have the greatest defensive stats of all time. The best setter/support on TR teams but TR is a very niche style so it ends up here

Marowak-A- the swampert to cress’ pelipper. Outspeeds and ohkos pretty much the entire tier under TR but has very little use outside of TR.

Bisharp- not bulky enough to handle the onslaught of fire, fighting, and ground attacks flying around the tier, not strong enough to threaten without setting up. Defiant+Sucker Punch make this thing capable of putting in work but things have to go really well for you.

C Tier

Hawlucha- this thing is so bad lmao. Double speed doesn’t mean shit when you threaten no damage, it really struggles to pick up kills at +2 and lando-t is everywhere so it's usually at +1. Don’t.

Blacephalon- needs specs because it dies if the opponent survives, needs scarf to outspeed all of the mons who outspeed and ohko, needs to be able to switch moves in order to not get hard walled. Sub Z move borders on usable but it severely outclassed by the many other substitute z wall breakers/sweepers. Tears apart teams without a check but completely useless when any of its extremely common checks show up.

Ninetales-A- aurora veil is broken. This mon is good at setting up aurora veil and immediately dying. Maybe useful over a normal screens lead on HO?

Pinsir-M- there’s so many better sweepers and so many better megas. Can clean up teams but it’s so so outclassed.

D Tier


Keldeo- severely outclassed by a million better cm/scarf/specs mons. Water/Fighting is a really bad stab combo in this tier and leaves it with many weaknesses, which combined with its poor bulk leave it doing little damage and being easily killed in return. Considering that Altaria-M and Latias are the 2 best mons in UU and can easily shrug off its attacks and ohko in return, I genuinely think it’s worth testing there.

Tangrowth- AV sucks. Rocky helmet means you have a mon with terrible defensive typing and no special bulk just so that it can wall some physical attackers. Have yet to encounter a match in which it accomplishes anything.


There are a number of viable mons I didn’t rank, and that is simply because I have little to no experience using them or fighting them. Feel free to let me know what parts of this you disagree with- I’m probably one of the least knowledgeable and experienced players in this forum so I’d love to discuss.View attachment 562419 Edit: this isn’t enough change for me to make a new tier list but I overrated Latias-M, I’d probably bump it down to mid-A. Obviously still very very good but CM is nowhere near as invincible as I thought it was. Status is a bitch.

i feel this is respectable

 

[Skypenguin]

Yo, I wanted to share my thoughts in the form of another post-spl VR post. I feel like we're seeing the meta change a lot, and also think I'm finally understanding this tier more


S RANK

S rank

Magearna

S- Rank

Landorus-Therian
Toxapex - I still feel the same way about pex - very powerful yet kinda difficult to fit. I definitely am not convinced by a lot of old glis pex teams, but I found some new ways to load the mon, esp with seismitoad in spl. Tspikes are such a great tool that it feels like a waste to drop them sometimes, even when other moves fit better

A RANK

A+ rank

Kartana
Mega Charizard X - last year I said it could be prepped against - I take that back. I even used physically defensive SD thanks to Winstonred, which is a very cool set
Heatran - I didn't use this mon a single time, but a lot of my teams toward the end were particularly weak to tran and I was reminded how dangerous it can be
Gliscor - Probably still one of the scariest mons and very meta-defining, but it might be even more exploitable than I previously thought. This SPL, I found myself faced with 9 players out to counterteam my Latias spamming tendencies, and it's extremely hard to have a solid matchup into extreme playstyles like HO, psyspam, and rain while using Gliscor. The only one I used this year didn't have facade or roost lmao, it was Ahsan's old eq/rocks/defog/taunt set on an offensive team. It does still work on fat obviously, but I ended up using seismitoad even more than gliscor just because it's easier to take on mons like koko and rotom without dedicating additional team slots (toad is frail but it's not like glis is checking stuff like lando can anyway)
Mega Latias - This mon got used what, 7 times all SPL? I brought 4 Latias and 1 Latios just by myself last season... It's still a great no-BS mon with incredible role compression, being able to handle gliscor, but it can struggle against hard stall and when it's explicitly prepped for. Personally, I avoided using it because I expected to face a bunch of dark types, and Cress can somewhat fill a similar role while being fatter.
Kyurem-Black - a big reason why a lot of fat teams struggle. I remember a couple years ago I was trying to find replays of kyub teams in officials, and there really weren't that many. Now, people have realized how strong a mon it is, that you can use extremely fat and slow sets on offense as a non-passive defensive backbone with 700bst, and in general are able to fit it on teams more easily. You can even use wacky sets; disregarding all the spdef and physdef kyubs, stuff like sub endeavor @ metronome which I adapted from the ladder is usable
Chansey
Tapu Koko
Greninja / Ash-Greninja
Ferrothorn

A rank

Cresselia - I've hyped up cress before, but it's legitimately become a mon that lands on half the bulky teams I build nowadays. It's just sooooooooo fat! I'm a big fan of psychic types in general, and cress is medicham/specs lele's final boss. CM lets you take on pretty much every opposing CMer from magearna to koko to reuni if you manage pp correctly — no other medicham answer is able to overcome their passivity like this (and even counter gliscor!). CM is by far the best set, but I also like spatk invested fsight as well as established sets like TR lunar.
Tornadus-Therian
Tapu Lele - this mon can actually fit on a couple teams, and when it does it's super strong
Volcarona - meh, still kinda busted but no one loses to volc these days by virtue of always being prepared for it
Mega Diancie
Mega Medicham - only dropping it here because cress is so good, medi can be unfair
Weavile
Serperior
Kommo-o
Excadrill

A- rank

Mega Alakazam - yeah this mon sucks
Mega Mawile - I should've listened to Tricking, this mon is troll
Clefable
Rotom-Wash - I've never built many teams with rotom, and I haven't used it much recently. You can get punished for not running any rotom, but there's a bunch of other strong stuff you could be using instead - idk. always annoying to play against tho
Victini
Hawlucha
Manaphy
Mega Swampert
Mega Tyranitar - really good, but haven't seen it on a good team
Tapu Fini - pretty cool tbh, I like gorgie's modest wiki cm defog set

B RANK

B+ rank

Mega Scizor
Mega Lopunny - I actually like this mon a bit, unlike most people. It's not as weak as it seems (though it is undeniably not strong enough on its own), and it can run cool 4th moves like secret power for para+sleep, and the surprisingly viable copycat
Garchomp
Magnezone
Skarmory
Slowbro
Mega Charizard Y
Mega Latios
Tapu Bulu

B rank

Seismitoad - I was never actually a toad believer, but it's honestly hard not to use on balance as of late. Refresh is pretty epic and it has some great role compression with rocks
Pelipper - magearna rain isn't bad tbh
Dragonite - sub z owns, physdef lefties dd bossnite is good but hard to fit
Ditto
Hydreigon
Kyurem - similarly to kyub, super fat sets also work on this guy. Dtail is another cool option with tspikes
Mega Slowbro
Mega Garchomp - cool mon. 4 attack on sand is still great, but I also like SR/eq/dtail/fireblast, as well as SD aqua tail
Gastrodon
Celesteela

B- rank

Hoopa-Unbound
Mega Gyarados - always scary for unprepared bulky teams
Zapdos
Mega Heracross - Gorgie has taught us that hera is impossible to wall without a ton of 50/50s; amazing breaker on TR and even without
Reuniclus - mid alert (cress is better)
Thundurus-Therian
Mega Pinsir
Mega Sableye
Hippowdon
Jirachi
Keldeo
Volcanion - lots of options here, even boom

C RANK

C+ Rank

Gyarados
Suicune
Tyranitar
Blacephalon
Crawdaunt
Moltres - not as good as I thought
Mega Aggron - this mon is definitely underexplored - I think with lots of support it can be the centerpiece of a super strong team. The team I used in week 9 vs welliou is kind of the idea - dtail + fsight/tspike as a way to make progress against counters, and hp + status recovery
Alolan Marowak - another demonic TR threat
Necrozma - it's basically mew that trades defog and other utility for power. I like Necrozma as a unique tank of a rocker; it's able to counter medicham and lucha, stay in vs rotom/zapdos to click moves, and even fit z over rocky helmet

C rank

Mew
Tangrowth
Gengar
Mega Venusaur
Breloom
Krookodile
Mega Aerodactyl
Amoonguss
Bisharp
Kingdra

C- rank

Mega Altaria
Pyukumuku - y'all ain't ready...
Shedinja
Mega Sharpedo
Azumarill
Salamence
Mega Gallade
Mimikyu
Alolan Muk
Porygon Z
Mega Camerupt

 

[YubelVT]

Thundurus Therian to the top of B-. I don't really have a VR reason for this (though it does have a [marginally] better defensive profile than zapdos and beats Charizard Y), I just want to call him the King of B Minus. If this gets deleted that's fair enough honestly

 

[DIYUSI]

Hi, I was bored so time to make another annual new VR lol

S

Magearna

S-

Landorus-Therian

Toxapex

A+

Kartana : The best defogger of the tier for me. While SD and Band are still powerful, Scarf only truly fit HO nowadays.

Gliscor : SD is broken, utility a bit underwhelming. Taunt Gliscor is underrated and roost-less Gliscor is very cool on the right squads.

Heatran

Greninja : Ash-greninja is less dominant obviously but prot gren still rules as one of the most annoying spiker in the tier (esp LO sets on HO)

Latias-Mega : The issue with Latias Balance playstyle nowadays is how you have to duplicate every of its resistances.

Ferrothorn : RH is totally fine on it. Invested atk is something to explore I think.

Chansey : I'm not sold on this pink blob since I do believe it usually lead to some structural issue. Still one of the biggest milestone in balance nowadays.

Kyurem-Black

Serperior : I never use it myself, but it's obvious that this poke is broken. Glare-less set is painful to face. The main issue with it for me is the low pp of Leaf Storm.

A

Charizard-Mega-X : I dont know how to use it but it's obvious that Zardx is, like Chansey, a very important milestone in SM OU history. I still put it this low since I'm not a believer of fat set on balance (but I highly respect Zardx + Bulu core tho).

Alakazam-Mega : Broken but painful to fit on any squad nowadays. Still a stellar threat on Psy-spam HO.

Tapu Koko : I really dont like it because it feels a tad weak sometimes. However, huge amont of viable sets, so will always force respect in the builder.

Mawile-Mega : The meta is too hostile to it unfort but I still appreciate it on certain squads (bengay offense, fairy-spam and maw bulu BO mainly)

Clefable : LO CM is scary. Seismic Toss + Cosmic Power set is also very scary. Trick is kinda mid unfort.

Tornadus-Therian : Only good on balance and only with bulky z-pivot defog set.

Weavile : SD bulky set is decent to lure Scizor and Toxapex. Beat Up Weavile (alongside dark flinch spam from gren) is usually the reason of why I think any team should run a dark-resist.

Kommo-o : Spedef set are mid/decent, z-clanging scales is never bad but I put it that highly because all the variant with either DD or SD are very scary to face in preview.

Volcarona : Unfunny to face but every playstyle have a way to not lose it on preview nowadays.

Medicham-Mega : Still broken af but I wish it could fit more playstyle apart HO/offense

Excadrill : SD sand sets are always very good. Bulky utility is also very cool (sitrus berry is underrated on that set). Scarf is alright on the right teams.

A-

Diancie-Mega

Tyranitar-Mega

Hawlucha

Victini

Tapu Fini

Rotom-Wash

Manaphy : Put it higher than pelipper because could work on HO.

Swampert-Mega : Put it higher than pelipper since it could work on some semi-stall.

Tapu Lele : Lot of broken sets with it. AV feels nice on some HO, Taunt is painful to face.

B+

Pelipper : Rain slot

Cresselia : Convenient tool to open the steel slot. On top of CM, TR or FS sets, I also respect Eject Button, Sitrus berry and Rocky Helmet variant. Main issue I have with it is how I usually end up being pretty weak to Mawile-Mega or Heatran.

Scizor-Mega : Best ice-resist of the tier but the meta is, as usual, hostile to it. The less you expect Scizor doing shit in the builder, the better ur Scizor squad will be.

Charizard-Mega- Y : Very few good squads with it but, when it works, Zardy can carry matchs by himself. Even against Toxapex, Chansey or Latias-Mega, you can often pp stall them.

Lopuny-Mega : I dont like it nowadays but I still respect PuP + Encore set (and some niche options such as Copycat or Healing Wish).

Tapu Bulu : I genuinely dont know how to build with it but, as much as it's a pain to use it in the builder, Tapu Bulu has so many crazy combination that it's always worth to consider it.

Magnezone : Special attacker + Zone sucks imo. Defensive trapping for kart, maw and steel spiker is broken on balance.

Skarmory : I still believe in SD z-BB set.

Garchomp : Super fat set with SD Dclaw to lure tias is very funny. Scarf rocks is pretty fine imo.

Slowbro : Ebelt is funny on it.

B

Seismitoad

Ditto : Same as Tapu Bulu, I genuinely never know where to use it, but Ditto is worth the effort.

Gastrodon : Counter and Mirror Coat is cool on it. It has the bulk to eat more things than Toad.

Reuniclus : Kinda in a weird spot since Cress is starting to be quite popular. Knock off is cool but pretty hard to fit. Double Dance is fishy but still very hilarious.

Volcanion : I really like this fellas. AV set with explosion is quite good on offense, same as sub offensive. Roar + Protect with lot of bulk is still one of my favorite. Explosion Normal Gem is niche but fine.

Garchomp-Mega : I didn't expected it to be such an unfair dtail user to face. Rest with a cleric is strong as well.

Kyurem : another unfair dtail user. While the combination with t-spikes is obvious, I think dtail fat kyurem + tapu fini is another crazy core.

Celesteela : I dislike the pokemon but I have to respect its crazy niche on sand.

Hydreigon

B-

Dragonite : fuck bossnite stall and fuck sub nite HO

Heracross-Mega: Broken af with Cress (both on TR and on regular offense)

Slowbro-Mega

Zapdos : sadge pokemon. Ebelt is decent but I rarely find a squad where Zapdos feels truly good. HP ground + defog is okay-ish I think.

Pinsir-Mega : bird-spam is niche but strong, I do believe bulky set with wish support on balance/semi-stall can legit be crazy.

Thundurus-Therian : RH pivot is such a nice pal on HO. AV with Knock Off is maybe viable.

Keldeo : Never manage to build one good squad with it, but it's worth the effort.

Jirachi : Physdef variant alongside Bulu is kinda dirty.

Sableye-Mega : Making good stall nowadays is insanely hard. Funny foul play user.

Gyarados-Mega : Double Screens HO is a noob trap with it imo.

C+

Hippowdon : spedef variant is good. I like z-ice and z-ground with it also.

Hoopa-Unbound : Scarf is decent, AV Knock off is cool, I dont like anymore NP TR. Not sure if PuP Z-Dark is viable.

Gyrados : Z-Bounce DD is scary in Rain. Band Twave is maybe alright.

Tyranitar : AV is good, Scarf Foul Play even more but Band is unviable.

Suicune : Outside of Crocune, I do believe physdef Roar is somewhat alright

Blacephalon : Mind Blown on Specs is viable, Scarf Will-o-Wisp is very niche but usable.

Crawdaunt

Altaria-Mega : DD sets are either cheesy or very mid, the best set is cleric support. Fake dark-resist unfort.

Tangrowth : AV is bad, RH is already better. I still like Z-Nature Power alongside Tapu Koko.

Amoonguss : Spore is not even the best option on it; imo, AV is the best set.

Mew

C

Bisharp : Lefto bulky SD is funny, Band Pursuit is underwhelming.

Scizor : Better Band Pursuit user but, overall, hard to fit on a team.

Moltres : Z-hurricane with bulk is a good Mawile-Mega check. Kinda mid outside of that.

Salamence : Sub Z-fly eq DD set is broken.

Aerodactyl-Mega

Marowak-Alola

Venusaur-Mega : I think the infamous Growth Synthesis set can be crazy with enough support.

Aggron-Mega

Shedinja

Necrozma : Chesto Rest SP set is dumb.

C-

Azumarill : Z-BD is kinda broken sometimes.

Golisopod : Only for HO, compress nicely a Swampert-Mega check, Spikes and Speed Control.

Alomomola : AV mirror coat is funny.

Stakataka : funny TR abuser.

Gallade-Mega : Bulky SD Drain Punch could work. Bulky Encore is kinda legit.

Camerupt-Mega

Sharpedo-Mega

Ninetales-Alola : Scarf Encore is legit on HO.

Krookodile : Funny Scarf Pursuit user on semi-stall.

Muk-Alola

Buzzwole

+ Torkoal + Venusaur : Sun is broken

 

[Maktyum]

For the past few months, my motivation for the tier has been falling apart, and honestly, I need a break from Pokémon for a few reasons. Leaving a "last" (hopefully not) VR is always fun, so here it is

S RANK

S+ rank

Magearna - SMOU would just be an unbalanced nightmare without it and I can't believe we saw polls with insane amounts of votes to ban it...I only agree that it is the best pokemon in the tier for obvious reasons: typing, movepool, possible sets...magearna can do everything for you. It fits on everything and is good doing everything. CM sets are just consistency incarnated, support with heart swap or twave are also great. I think AV is not as great as it was because it is loosing a much needed pain split for longevity but well still functionnal because it is magearna. Scarf also saw some usage recently.

S rank

Landorus-Therian - I honestly did not used it a lot lately (and got punished for it). It has a lot of competition mainly in the balance departement but well it is a staple with also a lot of possible uses and sets. It just feels boring sometimes. Z still the goat.
Toxapex - I will continue to use Scald and Regenerator, especially if they are needed for the balance of the tier. People forget that a tier is not just about spamming offensive threats for fun; balance is crucial. Honestly, I prefer a tier that might seem boring visually (though it's not, despite what some old players who have used the same teams since 2019 and enjoy Gen 5-the most unbalanced tier imo-might say) but maintains a real method to keep everything from falling apart. In other tiers, it's Magic Guard or pursuit, and we must remember that in some cases, it's even about changing types to avoid getting destroyed by countless threats (it's so volatile that it's almost ridiculous, even though it's exciting to watch). So stop the hate vs toxapex when the tier would be impossible to balance without it.
Gliscor - Limited to teams designed for longer games, people are now much more prepared to face it. Sometimes they even opt for fast Adamant Ice Fang Gliscor to counter other Gliscors. Despite this, it remains one of the best win conditions. As Diyusi mentioned, Taunt is great on it as a form of pressure, especially if it’s not running Swords Dance.

A RANK

A+ rank

Kartana - If there is another Pokémon apart from the S-tiers that is influencing the tier's dynamics at this level, it is Kartana. This is evident from its 30% usage rate in SPL, making it the third most used Pokémon after Landorus and Magearna (with Tornadus-Therian's usage likely also linked to this). Choice sets are gradually being replaced by more flexible options like Defog support or bulky Swords Dance, but Scarf and Band sets remain effective. Its snowballing effect is simply unrivaled.
Heatran - Its usage wasn't that high in tournaments, but if there's another Pokémon apart from the S-tiers dictating the meta... well, Kartana has already been mentioned. More seriously, its capabilities seem a bit overlooked, but if you look closely at top-tier teams, they all search to layer
answers against it, proving how dangerous it is if you are not prepared. Roar is particularly effective if you're aiming for a specially defensive Heatran. Fast HP Ice sets are underexplored, and the use of Z-moves could make a comeback.
Chansey - I now feel like Chansey is vital on every non-offense team, it is a special sponge that can answer a huge part of the tier AND Volcarona. Virtually neutralizing almost all special attackers is powerful.
Tornadus-Therian - THE glue for balance. It is very easy to fit because it adds so much support in one slot while having a free Z slot for slower teams.
Mega Latias - Is Mega Latias still the best mega? I believe it still somewhat holds that title. Latias provides answers to many threats, but the meta is gradually becoming less favorable towards it. Additionally, it faces competition now from another special pink duck lol.
Mega Alakazam - Trace is incredibly powerful; leveraging your opponent's strengths is an amazing advantage. I have a lot of fun with it because it offers such diverse set options. Future Sight Alakazam is particularly cool since it forces many switch-ins (and also not explored that much). Having a Psychic-type that isn't vulnerable to Pursuit, unless faced with an unexpected Scarf Weavile, is quite good. Also I like Zam because it achieves something that lopunny can not, being a form of speed control and being a consistent win condition. 175 special attack spoon bearing stick figure is just sick.
Mega Charizard X - Charizard X is not worse than Latias. Whenever I play with Latias or Latios, I often find myself wishing it was a Charizard X instead. Additionally, the popularization of bulky Charizard X is quite amusing, as it's becoming similar to a cheap gouging fire in that regard. The sheer amount of work it does every single game is always impressive, still it is easy to make mistakes while playing it, being greedy with it is very easy.
Greninja
Ash-Greninja - ash will come back. Too many teams are forgetting a real water resist or dark answer, even in spl...
Tapu Koko - a huge versatility in sets and a pain to face but not easy to put in a cohesive six.
Ferrothorn

A rank

Kyurem Black - With its base stats you can cheat a lot in the builder and trade vs a lot of threats while having a possible nuke in your pocket.
Tapu Lele - It excels on passive structures by adding an element of pressure and can trade effectively against annoying anti-fat Pokémon. It's also strong in Hyper Offense, quickly breaking through the opposition. Psyspam remains the most consistent "spam" strategy to overwhelm opponents. Also since fire types are good, lele is having fun.
Clefable - Clef is always good at what it was designed...being annoying af. just the fact it has rocks, knock and twave on top of the most broken ability makes it a godly choice for balance/fat.
Serperior - Synthesis sets are just easier to fit into a team. With good speed, the broken move Glare, and a variety of viable sets, Serperior has it all.
Tapu Fini - Fini enables a lot of structures, it is easy to implement in a team as it can have a lot of roles while giving stability in the builder.
Mega Diancie - It excels at what it does, but it's a pain to fit into a team and forces significant structural compromises. Still spamming moonblast and storm is so unfair sometimes.
Mega Medicham - feels unfair vs a lot but also have few hard punishes. The most rewarding and easy to play pokemon tho.
Volcarona - After seeing what it does in oras, it is almost fine in sm. almost...I don't fear it anymore but cmon this mon is stupid and has way too many sets for his profile. it is even on stalls as a win condition...This pokemon only brings tension in the tiers it is in and for some reason people still let it free.
Kommo-o
Weavile - With its speed, Knock Off, and the potential for Ice-type flinches, it's a formidable threat. Don't underestimate it; by the time you manage to take it down, half your team might already be severely weakened.

A- rank

Manaphy - What are we waiting for? This Pokémon has no defensive counterplay and is only manageable through speed and super effective moves, leaving very few threats that scare it (Serperior, for instance, does not OHKO bulky variants). I believe we keep it only because it enables a playstyle that have been so successful for years now and seems like a part of the smou identity at first sight, manaphy playing a significant role in why rain teams are so consistent. If it were removed, rain teams would suffer greatly, becoming just a huge cheese strategy against offense. However, I don't mind losing rain for the sake of just not having such ridiculous pokemon in the tier. In A- because it needs rain to be that annoying. Also the argument that fat is too strong (and boring bouhouhou) and a delete button in manaphy is needed is just dumb...if this reasoning was ok why not unbanning naganadel...Anyway, I think banning it would bring smou in the peak of its balancing and it would allow so many new builds without breaking the idendity of the tier.
A big "no no" for Psyspam and Medicham. Recently, many consistent teams have been built around it, showcasing its potential beyond just a Lunar Dance user. If you're not prepared to face Calm Mind sets, it can be very difficult and, honestly, quite frustrating.
Mega Mawile - I believed in it, but this mega is just disappointing and only performs well against bulky opponents. The current meta is unfavorable for it, and to set up Swords Dance, you often sacrifice a lot of health or rely on luck to avoid status conditions. The use of Cresselia has made it somewhat more viable now, though.
Slowbro - good typing, stats, movepool and abilty. and a future sight user.
Victini - Vcreate is such a joke lol. Victini helps against a lot in the tier and is a good softcheck to lele or volcarona ect...It needs a little bit of support but nothing too difficult to do. Great pokemon with a lot of sets as well. Z celebrate is also a nice cheese sometimes.
Hawlucha - we are prepared but hawlucha is one of the simpliest win condition of the metagame, almost brain dead.
Rotom-Wash - It is not bad but hard to break from lando rotom mag type of teams and that is frustrating for me. It is annoying but against fat, it feels like a dead weight. nontheless it pairs really well with huge breaker like lele or victini so it is okay.
Garchomp - One of my favorite Pokémon for offense right now. Its speed tier, being faster than 328, is very good, and it supports a wide variety of sets and spreads. It fits well into many team archetypes such as hyper offense, psyspam, sand teams, BO, and more. I believe it has been somewhat overlooked recently, but it's definitely a good choice.
Excadrill

Mega Swampert

B RANK

B+ rank

Mega Tyranitar - even with those stats it needs so much support that I don't enjoy it. it will often fall into those teams filled with slow pokemon forced to recover on every turn and not making progress leaving a battle last for 300 turns when any other choices would have won at least 200 turns earlier...while on paper some skarm, glisc, reuni, toxa looks good with ttar, you stay so much on the defensive that you are dependant on your opponent to give you oppenings...idk maybe just not my style
Mega Scizor - great pokemon and cleaner. defog is ass. curse is cheese. fast variants are funny and it is weird how some teams forget to prepare for it. Still falls in very particular playstyles and compositions, and the meta is still hostile to it
Seismitoad
Magnezone - It can be very effective, but if your opponent doesn't have a Pokémon that is susceptible to being trapped, it can feel somewhat useless. But sometimes you get lucky when choosing a random team with a zone...trap is broken by nature so of course it is strong.
Mega Slowbro - Mega Slowbro is essentially just regular Slowbro with a mega stone as an item 80% of the time, but in the other 20%, it transforms into an absolute wall—a cracked physical tank capable of eating hits from almost anything during critical points in a game. Its already impressive movepool gives it excellent versatility, allowing it to 1v1 many threats like gliscor or even Charizard x, either by spreading status or with a Calm Mind setup backed by Special Attack investment. The Special Attack boost Mega Slowbro receives is particularly notable, making Calm Mind + Future Sight an incredibly fun and effective strategy to use (shoutout to Fortunate Sun). While I find Mega Slowbro superior to its regular form in many situations, it can be harder to fit on teams due to the competition from other powerful Mega Evolutions hence the position in B+.
Kyurem - ice spam will always be good. The only difficulty is to account for chansey+toxa, steels and hazards; which ask for a lot of support. Still a goated pokemon.
Mega Garchomp - This mega is so underexplored. It functions very differently than a regular garchomp and will then not fill the same role which is why people decided that it was a bad mega. You can use it to trade vs insane threats thanks to its bulk. Sand with it is very consistent but it fits on much more. It is also one of the only grounds that can OHKO a full HP magearna all the time after rocks (without being adamant).
Skarmory - spikes are broken, but skarm is meh. SD brave bird is a good lure but good luck to fit it in a team without regrating one second later that this is your Z for the team. Otherwise it is just very passive and only delays the victory of threats like gliscor.
Mega Charizard Y-Underrated. Players are now trying to build new structures with it and it really works well. good mon. Speed is what will hold it down forever, it leaves it exposed to too many threats while asking hazard support and good health management. It is a deadly special attacker nontheless and boy it feels good to have special attacker not fearing steels and it is pretty easy to lure chansey, toxa and dragons.
Mega Lopunny - Midpunny. not bad at what it is doing, but it is never great, it is just there. It lacks a little something and teammates can not make up for that something in a lot of cases. A pokemon that fast still needing a priority to put the opposing mon in range of the next attack also always seemed weird to me.

B rank

Tapu Bulu - Tapu bulu works best as a win condition and not a defensive support pokemon. But yeah grassy terrain is very hit or miss with opposing kart and giving health to other mons.
Zapdos - hard to justify in a team but it is annoying.
Pelipper
Mega Latios - This Pokémon can be frustrating. Its stats and power level are impressive (being able to consistently KO Gliscor is also enjoyable). Calm Mind looks strong, but you end up needing to cover a lot of different threats and checks leading to several headaches, and other sets often don't justify using Latios over other Pokémon. Overall, it's suboptimal but still effective in the right conditions.
Celesteela - only on sand
Reuniclus - how many builds I thought were fine until I faced this nightmare. Cress does it better in some cases but reuni does not fear weather as much and of course magic guard helps a lot.
Ditto
Gastrodon
Mega Sableye - Stall was always around the corner and its usage are going up even tho the most spammed sableye team is garbage.
Dragonite - BS mon with multiscale that pairs well with magic bounce. leftovers bulky is demonic

B- rank

Jirachi
Hydreigon - god movepool and typing. when it finds its place in a team it goes hard.
Mega Heracross - I initially thought this Pokémon was bad, but that Gorgie team made me reconsider. It pairs well with Fire types and Ghost types, such as Blacephalon or Alolan Marowak, and seems to be one of the best breakers under Misty Terrain. Just too slow, if it was 80 it would be enough I think and can it please hit rock blast for god sake.
Thundurus Therian - Very scary on Hyper Offense teams. I always think that Agility Thundurus is the scariest thing to face in an endgame. Defensive variants are also interesting and can be quite effective. Overall, it's a not a bad Pokémon.
Mega Pinsir - I need to find a good build with it because I think it has a lot of potential since it destroys half of the tier. However, the Pokémon has several problems: its typing and the fact that the other half of the tier can be very troublesome for it, from Magearna and Magnezone to Zapdos, Skarmory, Tapu Koko, and even Latias. It thrives on passive turns from the opponent, making it one of the most punishing Pokémon in the tier... if it doesn't get taken out first.
Keldeo - Annoying and I actually still think that people are forgetting how a good cm keldeo can be. Still competition from the rest of the tier just kills the pokemon.
Suicune - Same but for slower builds
Tyranitar - A good pokemon that can do a lot. berry is pretty good while scarf is always a safe bet. pursuit+sand is enough to see its potential
Mew
Mega Gyarados - very good for HO, taunt is quite funny actually. Earthquake is needed.

C RANK

C+ rank

Hippowdon - Sad pokemon, ttar is better to place sand imo and it is outclassed by a lot of ground types. Still annoying on fat.
Hoopa Unbound - a huge breaker but is it worth it? no. I almost never saw it win a game and if it was on the winning team, it is more likely that another breaker did the job (like tapu lele). simply another victim of the fierce competition in the tier.
Thundurus - Prankster is cool
Volcanion - Fun since a lot of sets are viable but all are underwhelming, either too specific or relying on the surprise effect. I don't believe in this pokemon right now and the window where sm was getting closer to oras is closing lately.
Necrozma - This Pokémon surprised me. It has a really good movepool and performed quite well on the ladder. I just need to see more of it to fully evaluate its potential.
Alolan Marowak - insane breaker that makes Trick Room relying teams viable.
Mega Aggron
Terrakion - pairs well with tapu fini + lati@s. Z with sword dance is very enjoyable and I think it should be used more in BO or maybe sand.
Amoonguss
Crawdaunt

C rank

Blacephalon
Salamence
Gyarados
Bisharp - nuclear knock off and sucker punch. It just feels too frail sometimes but still has an insane offensive presence.
Kingdra
Moltres - I saw a lot of attempts with this mon and each time they were never bad nor great. It has a good special attack and two decent abilities but it feels weak sometimes and I wished this pokemon was faster. sub sets are I think the way to go but yeah there are better options for a fire type or a ground immunity.
scizor
Mega Venusaur - It is very mu based. Sometimes you face teams that can't do much against it, folding to knock grass+poison coverage. But Venusaur is so weak into weather and very susceptible to hazards. I will maybe place it higher but I see it as one of the many"fish" of the tier.
Buzzwole - Insane defensive profile but the attrocious special defense makes it hard to put in any team. Still you can virtually check a lot of pokemon on the physical side from ground types, to grasses ect...even 1vs1 swampert if no flinch.
Tangrowth
Shedinja
Mega Aerodactyl
Mega Gallade - This Pokémon looks great on paper but performs poorly in practice. Close Combat leaves it vulnerable to being revenge killed, while Drain Punch, which seemed promising (considering its performance in ORAS), doesn't work as well in the current meta.
Golisopod - This Pokémon can set up Spikes and has some unique interactions that make it interesting.
Mega Altaria - don't use dragon dance. It is only viable as a cleric and defensive Pokemon.
Breloom
Gengar
Krookodile - a really desperate pursuit user and ground type. if you come to the conclusion that your team needed a krook it means you made a bad choice along the way.
Uxie
Alolan Ninetales - it is very unique and aurora veil is not that bad. Veil offense can work in sm as a fish.

C- rank

Mega camerupt
Mega Ampharos
Diggersby
Pyukumuku - actually not that bad
Araquanid
Mimikyu
Quagsire
Azelf
Mega Banette - it is sometimes annoying to face
Porygon Z - Z conversion lol.
Zeraora
Mega Sceptile - good user of terrains and good speed ig. Then use it and cry as you lose your points away.
Mismagius - at least it can say that it walls regular eq+façade gliscor.
Smeargle
Registeel
Metagross
Golem Alola
Magneton
Tornadus
Xatu
Mantine
Azumarill
Espeon
Avalugg
Bronzong
Cloyster
Cofagrigus
Ribombee
Muk Alola
Mega Sharpedo - destiny bond makes it viable.
Venusaur
Torkoal
Mamoswine
Alomomola
Scolipede
Nidoking

 

[CM Reuniclus]

Since everyone else is making a VR I will post mine.

S
Magearna - Not much to say; it is versatile, being able to sweep or act as a defensive piece in the short or long term. Undeniably the best individual pokemon in the tier currently tbh.

S-
Landorus-Therian - More limited on what teams it fits on compared to Magearna, but still versatile. Sub SD Rockium is fire even if its hard to fit.
Toxapex - I find myself dropping haze more and more cos there are so many utility moves you want to fit on this thing which sometimes means holes in the team it's on.

A+
Gliscor - Gliscor is not as good as it was a year ago. SD is overprepped for and using it leaves annoying holes in teams that make for some poor matchups into common archetypes. Utility is still good with u-turn but half the time you either want it to be SD for a wincon or there are better options for defog/rocks. Is an unfair pokemon if your team isn't ready for it though.
Heatran - I feel a lot of teams forget about this pokemon in the builder. Roar plume is good, z move (esp grassium) is good but hard to fit and magma taunt has its matchups. You should really try to avoid running a spdef set that loses to volc.
Tornadus-therian - Fightinium is underrated. Bulky flyinium is the best set. Unfortunately doesn't have enough slots for all it wants to fit.
Chansey - Picking the right status for your team goes a long way. The possibility of thunder wave prevents it from being a free switch in for a lot of mons while toxic puts things on a timer. Has other support options such as rocks, wish and heal bell so it is never completely useless.
Greninja - Never seen a game where it is useless. From prot grens insane potential coverage and z moves to ash grens dark pulse flinches and of course spikes, it can always do something.
kartana - I'm convinced standard SD Z only exists as a threat in the builder. SD synth is cool on bulkier teams that don't need it to fog.
Mega Charizard-X - SD can break through anything. DD feels like it is mostly limited to HO these days but it still shines there nonetheless. Pairs great with Cresselia.
Mega Latias - Still good. Reflect and Light Screen are cool utility moves that do work on it. I think CM boltbeam is the only CM set worth trying to run anymore.
Tapu Koko - I currently really like CM roost and taunt natures madness sets but pretty much every koko set is good. Its not actually that easy to fit on a team but it's great when you can. Scarf is far better than you think it is.
Ferrothorn - Custap explosion ferro is cool.

A
Serperior - If only you could fit all of synth, glare, taunt, leaf storm, hidden power and knock. Miracle seed/grassium are cool too.
Tapu lele - Don't run specs lol. Modest twisted spoon does more than enough anyway and means you can switch moves and fit a move like CM or taunt. Also taunt > CM on twisted spoon sets.
Kyurem-Black - Those are some silly stats.
Tapu Fini
Kommo-o - You have so many move options but I think spdef sets have gotten much worse and DD is better than kommonium-z imo.
Mega Diancie - Protect is stupid, hidden power is stupid and heal bell is stupidly funny.
Clefable - Look at that move pool...
Mega Medicham - If I see 'The opposing Cresselia was frozen solid!' one more time... Also if you are clicking fake out in the early game you are using it wrong.
Alakazam mega - If you can use trace to its fullest it's actually really good but it also doesnt fit on many teams, wants too many moves and needs focus blast to hit. I love encore though.

A-
volcarona - I think this should never be the z user on HO/offense. I also think passho giga drain is interesting as an idea and roost is better than you think on offense.
weavile
Mega Mawile - Fell off pretty bad. Raw focus punch is pretty heat; sub focus meaning you are walled by clef is not so heat.
Manaphy - One of the worst parts of building in this tier. I used to think toxic was the best last move but i think that's changed with the rise of refresh/rest seismitoad. Now I lean more towards ice beam on fast manaphy.
victini - Has a fantastic typing for offense teams and some nice variety in set options. Bulky pivot sets are funny but not really good. Choiced sets need trick.
Rotom-Wash - Good pokemon but not really a good defogger. I like scarf trick but I don't particularly like any teams it can fit on. There are also too many seismitoads/gastrodons.
Cresselia - Eject button twave lunar dance on HO is still my favourite way to run it. CM beats most spam offense teams at preview, especially with tspikes. Future sight skill swap is also really cool.
garchomp - I'm a big believer in fat SD dragon claw to lure mega-latias, even if none of my teams with it have been very good.
Mega swampert - Should almost always be the rocks setter on rain teams, unless you are trying to use sub toxic which is a cool set.
Excadrill - SD Z on sand should always be adamant and honestly I think I prefer sub/rock slide/Z-giga over rapid spin. Without leftovers, it is not a very good form of hazard control but it does function if you can't fit anything else. SD mold breaker on HO is an interesting set that can go crazy against the right team and also provides an electric immunity and hazard control in one slot. Spdef is good but using it as a rocker on non-offense teams doesn't sit well with me.

B+
Slowbro - Another pokemon that isn't as good as it used to be but I still like it since it has a good movepool.
Mega Tyranitar - Weird on non-sand teams but can work.
Mega Scizor - I'm always disappointed when I use this pokemon but people seem to forget it is something that you need an answer for.
Mega Latios - I really like this pokemon but you usually want to be running hp fire and/or thunder so you don't have to put a magnezone on your team. I think there are better ways to remove its checks that don't leave massive holes in its teams.
Hawlucha - Teams don't lose to Hawlucha anymore cos there are usually multiple options to deal with it on teams, whether that is bulky checks, more offensive checks that can eat boosted hits and kill in return or just priority. It always feels like you are running the wrong last move but the variety in options meaning your opponent has to guess is nice.
Pelipper - There are still more options to be explored for rain imo; people are just clouded by the sample being relatively easy to pilot decently enough. You should also be running a flying resist and a proper dark resist on rain.
Mega Lopunny - Has some heat options in healing wish, copycat and even secret power but isn't very good as a mon.
Mega Charizard-Y
seismitoad - Used to be a hater because I didn't understand how to use this pokemon but now I love it. Not running refresh/rest always feels a bit bad but it still works on offense teams without it.
Skarmory
Magnezone - Fraudulent mon that always leaves its team with multiple glaring weaknesses. Luckily magnet pull is cheap enough to mean you can win before your opponent can if you trap their steel early enough.

B
Celesteela - Really good on sand, not so good on everything else.
Zapdos - Static is unfair. I always try to avoid running it as my fogger, partly because it doesn't do it particularly well but also so it can fit that amazing coverage. Ebelt is way better than you think and so is electrium.
Kyurem - Sub roost is often underwhelming when you use it but I still think it's good. Fat dtail and even something funky like hpfire or draco are usable.
Reuniclus - :(
Tapu Bulu - I think offensive sets are def the way to go; spdef just doesn't do enough. I like SD Z-wood hammer but hate trying to make a good team with it.
Mega Sableye - I'm starting to like foul play on it more and more.
Gastrodon
Ditto - I have trouble fitting it on teams.
Jirachi - Wish is always good imo and I think there are some cool options that could be tried. Scarf should be running trick > fire punch.
Dragonite - Sub DD Z is so good, DD lum with coverage is cool and I think dragonium should be used more.
Mega Gyarados

B-
Thundurus-Therian - Nice mon on HO but not actually that good at breaking fat with the existence of latis. I prefer support since its typing/ability are very helpful and has a decent utility movepool with taunt, fog, twave, knock, volt...
Keldeo - Huge fan of keldeo although teams aren't as weak to it as they used to be. Sub CM is always the safe bet but CM taunt Z hydro isn't awful on the right team either.
Mega Garchomp - It's strong and pretty bulky but I've not been too impressed by it personally.
Mega Heracross - You can't wall it, however the non-trick room teams it fits on are all not that good.
Hydreigon - Taunt can be a pain for fatter teams that lack clefable but is a little underwhelming otherwise.
Mega Slowbro - It is there if your slowbro team is missing a mega.
Mega Pinsir
Tyranitar - Don't use band. AV is depressing but def not unviable. Scarf is surprising.
Mega Aerodactyl - I will never stop believing in aero. It has interesting utility in the form of checking most notably SD Gliscor and Volcarona, but other pokemon as well, having great speed and decent attack and all the moves you realistically need. Offensive sets are able to run adamant or jolly (I prefer adamant) and the last move is open to things like roost, taunt, pursuit, hone claws, any other 4th attack. Taunt on offense is quite surprising, standard stall kinda folds to it if you hit your moves, it clicks buttons into most offense and it's faster than every HO lead, although you have to be careful with its HP over the game. Fat variants with aerial ace instead of edge give an interesting way to stop threats more effectively but you forfeit the ability to make progress. I'm less convinced about using the bulky set but its fun nonetheless.
Mew - Taunt ice beam stoss/knock is a cool progress maker into bulkier teams but faces competition for bulky psychic slot and doesn't quite have as much utility. I think offensive sets should be explored more on HO but they aren't anything groundbreaking.

C+
Necrozma - Bulky rocks is not bad, but again there is so much competition for bulky psychics. Offensive sets are funny on HO but not good unfortunately.
Hippowdon
Alolan Marowak - A pain to face on trick room. Is a cool concept as a bulky rocker outside of trick room.
Amoonguss
Hoopa-unbound
Crawdaunt
Gyarados - DD taunt on HO is good.
Suicune
Buzzwole - Fun mon even if its not great.
Bisharp - I enjoyed using scarf.
Salamence

C
Blacephalon
Mega Venusaur - Needs to run modest with some special attack and don't use leech seed.
Mega Altaria
Mega Aggron
Volcanion
Thundurus
Moltres
Terrakion
Scizor
Kingdra
Shedinja
Tangrowth
Breloom
Golisopod
Alolan Ninetails
Mantine - I will prove the haters wrong one day.
Cloyster
Mega Sharpedo
Azumarill - it has its matchups ig.

C-
Quagsire
Gengar
Krookodile
Mega Gallade
Porygon Z
Mega camerupt
Diggersby
Pyukumuku
Mimikyu
Muk Alola
Azelf
Zeraora
Mismagius
Metagross
Tornadus
Cofagrigus
Ribombee
Venusaur
Torkoal
Mamoswine
Alomomola
Scolipede
Nidoking

 

[zinnias]

Felt like posting a personal VR here because I like to write about SM OU, and I'd also like to raise awareness for 2024's new updated analyses, which I'll be linking if they have been updated this year.

S+
The most eye-catching part of my VR is probably going to be that I put Landorus-T over Mage. I'll save you from me explaining why Landorus-T is good in general (that's here) but I will explain why I rate it over Magearna. It may not have *as* much fluidity in what it can run. Very hard to have Magearna on that front, it literally can run av, physdef, SpD lefties, cm split, defensive z, shift gear, TR, etc etc. I argue that Landorus-T having both SR and Defog, acting as a blanket physical check (not worth comparing this aspect to mage, you want to run defensive lando and AV mage together anyw), having actually well rounded stats (including speed to use scarf with), having better immunities and better pivot move, makes it the overall goat. Completely not arguing against people who say that Mage is better, its too close to really definitively say. In terms of new metagame developments, it doesn't really like cress lol

An incredible mon that holds the tier together, fits on like literally every teamstyle barring like sand. My favourite set is heal bell pain split, super nice support for things like SD ZardX and Rest Seismitoad. Speaking of Seismitoad, its a bit of a hit to AV as it's a volt blocker that isnt immediately threatened by its common sets. This year I updated the overview and shift gear set and TPH wrote the Trick Room set, with some of the other parts of the analysis on my to-do list too.

Toxapex is THE SAVIOUR of the tier and SM would be cooked without the mons in S+. Volcarona being able to cheap Chansey with SubSwarm makes Haze more important. I generally prefer to run mixed bulk bc zardx is broken. Toxic Spikes are incredible into offense and pair well with Cresselia. Shed Shell Pex with Knock is really nice for Heatran and frees up teambuilding. Super hard to fit what you want onto a Pex, every team wants Toxic Spikes and Hazeless Pex is terrible against SubSwarm Volc, Toxicless is bad against ZardX (and volcarona really), and then Knock and Baneful are even harder to fit because of this. No wonder recoverless has been used on the ladder

S
Why is a Pokemon with 181 base attack and 109 speed balanced? Not even being sarcastic, I think Kartana is for the most part quite balanced. My favourite Kartana usage is Defog Synthesis alongside Zard Y, but Choice Scarf is incredibly consistent, CB is solid, and SD is completely broken. Funnily enough it's up there with the best defog users in the tier considering how rare it is for a defogger to switch into offensive lando and chomp and force them out

S-
I really like defensive Flyinium Z, makes it better against Knock Off and fixes the issue of consistent RK's against Medi and Kart, as well as just clutch neutral damage. I think Taunt is super strong and that Torn is the #2 Defogger in the tier

I think Serp is best on hyper offense currently, Taunt + Defog (this set got an analysis this year) is so good at shutting down SR to enable ZardX + Volcarona. Also, if your fat team's answer to Serperior is a Magearna, Leech sets are HORRIBLE to face. Glare can be dropped for HP Fire and then even Ferro isnt safe
A+
man. I don't agree with people who think it needs to be banned but having personally beaten Haze Pex and Chansey with its SubSwarm set (this set got one too) then I really can't blame them for thinking that way. Super great punish against PsySpam teams, which seem to be responding with the inclusion of Kommo-o, and has all sorts of different sets for different situations. Defensive Volc is REALLL

I'm sure we can all remember what we were doing at the time we found out that 244 HP on Gliscor wasn't actually optimal. No? Well, I remember getting a few pings about it and then rewriting the whole thing as any normal human being would do. Anyway, I call Gliscor the #1 Defogger in the tier, to answer the question you might've had when reading Torn. Swords Dance is really strong and, well, cannot be outlasted by anything really. There's Mega Lati's, Skarm, Mega Slowbro, CM Cress, so you can answer it in the short term. "Just win first" is the key phrase, else it's impossible not to concede SD Gliscor is too hard to deal with

The best Mega Pokemon in the tier. Swords Dance (added to analysis this year) is rising to stardom recently, very strong and only made even better by cleric and wish support. I still say DD Three Attacks is the best set, just so so hard to handle cleanly.

The second best Mega Pokemon in the tier. It's got an insane amount of resistances, great stats, and is probably the best Calm Mind user in the tier? Probably? Like, unless you get crit it can just clean offense teams up from a certain point. CM is also somewhat of a defensive tool, as it allows Thunder Mega Latias to take on Manaphy one-on-one, though that's still a shaky interaction ban that blue piece of shit

The amount of different special attackers this thing catches is basically role compression, on top of the actual role compression it does as well. Amazing partnership with Slowbro and a good rocker, and Skill Swap is something I really like

Very good Pokemon for offensive teams and also for balance teams, which is sort of copying a concept popularized in SS. Calm Mind Fairium is very strong against hyper offense and offense. I'm not a huge fan of choiced koko, but choice specs is undeniably strong and choice scarf is actually viable. Life Orb is really good for offense and is a hard hitting set that has less prediction-based counterplay. (CM Fairium was added and Shuca Pivot was changed to a more general and in-depth offensive pivot set)

I thought that Heatran was a bit mid to be honest but it's undeniably a very useful defensive presence against fairies and steels as well as other nasty shit like cm mega latias and cress and serp. The fire typing is actually very good and coveted within the tier imo and its the viable Fire-type that isn't rocks weak so it requires much less team support than the mega zards and volc, making it pretty unrivalled in its role. Offensive with Z didn't stop being a nuke but I see it less now. The rise of Seismitoad is a huge L for it

I actually personally do not like Mega Mawile, but its very hard to deny its wallbreaking capabilities and it is great on fairy spam with Trick Room Mage

I'm putting it above ash because ash is a bit one dimensional in comparison. Nobody is getting surprised by Z-Dig if you've revealed that you're protean btw, and if they do, they need to read the updated physical protean section and maybe the updated special protean while they're there too. In all seriousness, it is the better spiker and a more versatile option

Really strong offensive Pokemon that has quite a lot of utility too considering it has Magic Bounce, a Dragon immunity for Clangorous Soulblaze, and it can use its typing to beat Volcarona if its at a good amount of HP. Staying pre-mega is advantageous in a few situations, especially so in its (newly added) Substitute + Endeavor set which is the best lead you can ask for when using HO really.

I did kind of downplay it in the protean Greninja section, but its without a doubt a top tier attacker that does exactly the same thing as it always has done. It's just that good at it
A
The first BL on the list, 100% contributed to current gen teams being bad. This Pokemon is insanely good on offense and is a good balance RKer too. Beat Up is a super cool tech for dodging contact and pressuring knock absorbers more. In my opinion it's the best Pursuit trapper and got its overdue update here

Irritating, to sum it up in one word. Hard to deal with cleanly if your team is lacking a Fire and even worse if it's lacking a leech absorber

Amazing Pokemon and a great presence in the tier. I just like it in a wholesome way, it punishes mons that deserve to be punished. Running fast with offensive spread still works great, but my preference is super bulky spreads for trading damage and living hits it really really shouldn't. More on this here

BROKEN!!!! well, not really, but kind of. Choice Specs Psychic is certainly a button to click, but it also has super interesting use as a scarfer with aromatherapy on misc. offense. Calm Mind is super strong and Taunt is great too, touched upon more in the revamped 3 attacks. Assault Vest is super interesting for making unfair trades with shit like Ash-Gren, Koko, Mage

Rarely seen without ^ but even despite psyspam being so well known it continues to perform. Trace is just awesome and MZam is probably the perfect user of it. Completely unfair offensive stats and lots of utility options it can slot on like Knock and Taunt, useful to have for RKing and great cleaning potential. No, you don't need to worry about Assault Vest Tangrowth, and Life Orb Alakazam sucks, and soon the analysis will be updated to reflect this.

Exca has a really nice typing, would go crazy with a better SpD stat. Adamant Steelium Z on sand is so hard to wall and sand in general really hasn't gone anywhere, Exca is a nasty punish to the floaty psychics. I think that hyper offense lead drill is a clown set, like I could NOT be caught being brought down to my sash by defensive helmet lando, getting rocks set on me, and then not being able to spin them away because of helmet. Specially defensive is actually good and may see an analysis of its own one day

A-
If you like to make crazy offensive doubles there isn't many more mons that are more rewarding to run. I think its best usage is just on xtra and german's good version, with electric terrain support. However, we need to talk about cress...

Really nice on offense, misty terrain is such good support for Kyurem-B, Weav, MSciz, anything that hates scald idk lol. I've seen people who don't play SM be surprised that offensive CM is used, considering it doesn't yet have draining kiss, but its just super hard to kill cleanly and can actually pile on some good damage. Whirlpool + NM is good even when you don't cheap your targets, still a Fini at the end of the day. Has a very fresh revamp on its analysis

Hot new natural offense killer that can check most things in a vacuum with its unfair bulk. I think it pairs well with Mega Latias since it's always good to double Lati's resistances and they can both run CM, TSpikes make it unfair too. Still a great trick room setter but I'm not talking about fullroom at A- on my VR, I'm referring to semi-room. Future Sight, Tox/TWave, Lunar Dance, even Skill Swap and Protect are all move options that can be explored, and eject button Cress on HO is flames. Scarf = fake. (fresh analysis because it's my favourite Pokemon)

Incredible Pokemon both offensively and defensively. My Kommo-o of choice is a special-biased kommonium variant with taunt, it was so broken before it became more mainstream and more people figured it out. Dragon Dance with other Z-Moves (Groundium, Poisonium, Electrium, all covered here) is a great lure, and its not like DD gives it away either considering that DD Kommonium is still good asf

A lot of offense teams' game plan is "I hope it's X". Sun is IN rn, Synth Kart and Moonlight Cress. ABR sun is a great team and although ZardY needs some help to break through bulkier teamstyles, its an excellent Pokemon. You can also run really bulky spreads to help with MMaw and CB Kart, making use of its typing and knock absorbing

Timeless mon that seems to only get better as more things are tried with it. I'm not a believer in Life Orb, but utility/CM MG is very solid with lots of different support options like SR, Knock, Heal Bell, Thunder Wave. Of course, if you've ever played the SM ladder, you know that nobody uses any of that shit anymore. Much more trendy to slap a Una clef onto offense

I love Seismitoad so much. It's a lot more versatile than Gastrodon is and it completely sits on Pex with Refresh (my favourite set to run). So good against volt-turn and if rotom-w is your opponent's defogger you're in for a fun time. The first of many analyses this year and my debut analysis, so Seismitoad holds a special place to me

In current gen ORAS, Tyranitarite was thought to be a bit of a waste of a mega stone since Tyranitar was already a good standalone Pokemon stats-wise. Well, in SM that really isn't the case, I think that the mega evolution is very important for the power and this mon is the best way to make sand work

Another mon that, like MMaw, I personally don't like, but it holds some similar defensive traits to Mega Latias and when its counters aren't present (or it's packing coverage for them, like hp fire for MSciz) then it can be a big threat

For the most part, still really annoying to switch into and a great momentum tool. A very needed defensive presence against the cheap weather ground-types. I think scarf is cool and that Rotom-W isn't finished at all, it just has matchups where it's virtually useless.

Yeah, to be honest, I don't think that any ban in SM would be very beneficial. The way I see it, there's not a huge problem to fix, the tier is in a good place. However, I would not miss Manaphy AT ALL. Rain is only healthy as a punish to offensive structures and it starts to take the piss with this baby-faced team-restricting fuck

I think SD U-turn is great and fits well onto Fini offense structures. An often overlooked defensive presence for Ice-types, Fairy-types, Grass-types. It's a unique Pursuit trapper and the worst fogger of all time

B+
Awesome defensive Pokemon that can run so many things viably, with the amount of unique move slashes on its new analysis only really rivalled by the upcoming defensive Landorus-T update. I love its synergy with Chansey, and my preferred way to run it is with Toxic

Ferrothorn ass mon (though it is great against Hawlucha, so deserves to be knighted really). It's solid within its matchups and can even overperform with Static hax, 100% the best U-turn punisher in the tier

SD Dragonium is still super good and I'm more of a rocks Garchomp person than sub Garchomp. In my personal opinion tank chomp doesn't have a lot going for it so I prefer to stay offensive

Notoriously hard to fit but it'll improve your matchup against every teamstyle, some more than others, and carries out the role of a revenge killer pretty perfectly. It has a blind spot against calm mind boosters but that's something that can be patched out with team support

Not much to say about it other than a pretty honest offensive mon that has a nice typing for switching into things if it needs to

I did seem a little pissed off at rain in the Manaphy section but Mega Swampert is fine, tbh. It's tspike weak and has offensive and defensive checks, I just wish that it was using Liquidation and not Waterflinch :( I updated and partially rewrote its analysis entry to modernise it

The reason I'm putting it below pert is because dry pert does exist, but I'm not very impressed with it so I don't think the gap is substantial. It doesn't spend that much time on the field to be honest, it does not want the smoke

A great cleaner that demands careful play from the opponent the entire match, though it's not too restricting to prepare for

Me personally, I'm just the type of person to stick to SubRoost Leftovers and PP stalling stuff, however there's some nice experimentation with Dragon Tail and LO which allows it to turn the tables on typical checks somewhat

B

A crucial defensive presence within the tier and great at pestering offense with leech + tect though sucks against any team that has the longevity to stall its leeches

This mon is insane but I don't think I can rate full stall any higher than B, like I'm sorry but the tier is incredibly hostile to it

I think it's a good offensive check to speed boosters and zam when it runs double prio, though there's obviously a laundry list of defensive checks at this point. Though, with some of these checks, it can turn the tables on them with its PuP + Encore set (more here, written by Rae)

This mon can be a TASK to remove when your breaker is Kyu-B or Lele, even annoying to Medi with protect. It just sits there in the back and invalidates a number of attackers, though it is notably passive barring para-fishing

It's solid enough, but playing under grassy terrain is like walking around on a slip and slide

Quite the legitimate mon on balance-stall teams because of its good defensive typing and levitate, decent stats and movepool, and it can hit back
It's not a direct downgrade from non-mega garchomp. I'd say that mega garchomp and non-mega garchomp are like two different mons

It's really useful to have the option for burst defense to just live a crucial attack, and the boost to special attack is great for gliscor. Slowbronite is not to be mistaken as just an item option to slap onto a regular slowbro

Huge jump up from Mega Gyarados because Flyinium is really that key to its performance. Taunt is very good on it and shuts down Skarm

B-

Absurdly threatening breaker, I have no idea why it doesn't see more use

Perhaps this is a little high for what is essentially just a dedicated HO lead, but it's definitely good at doing that (as written about here) and there's some cool experimentation with taunt utility sets

If tiering wasn't frozen then I believe this thing has been OU usage a fair amount of times. Super threatening hyper offense Pokemon that even makes use of Sub, which seems counterintuitive because of multiscale but its actually good. Fits really well on the bossnite stall

Do not sleep on this thing, it's unbelievably good at giving you ugly wins, absorbs tspikes, and I don't think it would be a stretch to call it the best user of its poison typing (in that it makes use of it to beat fairies and grasses, I am not suggesting for one second its comparable to pex)

Some people are much bigger fans of this mon than others, but I think its ability and typing make it quite solid. It sees non-wallbreaker use on HO, which has been covered here

Not something I personally use or like but its a great wallbreaker to put onto semi-room

Even though CM Reuniclus is the goat, I prefer Calm Mind Cresselia to Calm Mind Reuniclus. It's a little bit out of the spotlight at the moment but its still really strong and still has plenty of good matchups

Personally, I actually really like the Pokemon and think it rewards aggressive play really nicely. I'd only prescribe Choice Band but I've also cooked with Custap to make use of Magician

A good cleric that helps against the broken Fire-types, and received an analysis this year

Really nice volt blocker that checks Psychic and Ice Beam Manaphy (super threatening to balance/fat). Since it doesn't have a lot of utility options, it faces stiff competition...

Tyranitar is suffering down here because... I just can't think of a non-mega set that's actually very good? Choice Band is old news, AV is a joke, and the newly added Choice Scarf set isn't anything too special. However, B- is pretty solid and it's still a serious pick

C+
I don't think it's good on sand teams but it's a good ground-type on fat teams

I'm a huge fan of no nonsense physical breakers and it has the often overplayed quality of RKing volcarona

I highly rate this Pokemon, specifically Lightning Rod for using Mage and Koko for entry even better than Camel can. And of course, its an iconic TR threat

Definitely the best in the tier at wish passing and its quite easy to use

It's good at doing the dirty work but sometimes it feels a bit lost after using Spore

Great defensive presence

I actually think this mon straight up stinks into non stall/fat

I wanted to avoid putting this mon over too many honest pokemon, but I do think it's the best stall style. The only OU Shedinja analysis throughout the generations is here

Defensive holes is an understatement. I do not consider Magnezone while teambuilding

It's another age checker like the mon below but it's actually pretty well rated amongst the community and it can still put in work for sure

I use this mon's name as an age checker, as in if I see an analysis that mentions tangrowth in it, I know it's old. It fell off, but it still does what you'd expect from it

For sure the least mid offensive ghost-type, and is actually quite a good late-game cleaner. Great power with specs too but I don't believe in CM
I suppose I would describe it as a more offensive take on Dragonite, and I think Dragonite is pretty cool. Sub + DD + FlyZ + Quake and I'm not entirely sure about anything else
C

I think if you actually want to pursuit trap mega zam (which you don't really need to do) then this thing's your best option. Everyone you ask about this thing will agree it's mid, although it has a 2024 analysis that outlines what it does do

It undoubtedly has quite a bit of merit within the tier, I'm just not sure entirely what to do with it. Good defensive typing and Speed and a great Taunt user, but I couldn't tell you what sorts of teams it's meant to fit on

Tbh it's quite good on rain if you want to stack the matchup against offense even more

I like its unique typing, which is good for volcarona, but any hopes of using it as an offensive threat are short lived. Instead it's just a nice option for trading damage on offense (analysis revamp here) that also has some merit with lefties protect

A nice defensive Psychic that compresses rocks and hits back decently hard, very little to say otherwise

The highest of the "illegitimate ladder HO". This shitty clam makes me understand why newer gens wanted to ban the King's Rock. Other options like Explosion and TSpikes are cool

Nice hyper offense option that brings spore and priority to the team and a good Ash Gren RKer. Analysis revamp here

I actually do like Moltres, but only on balance and not stall

Not sure I believe in dedicated sun teams that much, but growth giga drain sludge bomb hp fire can put in work.

It's just not a very good standalone mon but if you're going for a heat rock sun setter it's your best bet

Just another niche hyper offense option that you're likely to see on the sort of teams that contain the two mons below. It's a notably good cleaner but can't really fit SD Protect

Veil is cheese

Not consistent enough to be a genuinely good Pokemon but it can catch teams off-guard very well

Fishes against rain and volc very well, but does so little and its a horrible defogger

It has prankster thunder wave and a bit of defensive use against Lucha and Kart if you keep rocks off, little to say about it

Let's just put it down here in the misc electric type section

You would have to really argue as to why you would use your mega slot for Koko with fire-type coverage, but I don't think it's bad at all

A cool unaware user that does what Quag can do with an even better rain matchup and some nasty tricks like block spite and soak toxic.

On paper it's strong and it has the utility of absorbing TSpikes

It's good at fitting the role of a defensive steel but there is probably a better option for your team that isn't as deathly passive

It's like a lightning rod Alolan Marowak that gets walled easier, though it undoubtedly has a lot of fans within the playerbase. It got an analysis this year courtesy of Stories

C-
Only just misses out on the coveted "third best offensive Water / Dark type in SM OU" trophy. Ok but actually, it's very strong stat wise and strong jaw fits it, and Speed Boost pre-mega allows it to pull off some one-time hawlucha type shit. So yeah, good cleaner

You can use scarf Krookodile as a pursuit trapper on bulky teams, with Foul Play giving it more revenge killing targets so that it isn't just a zam pursuit trapper. Really not my cup of tea and has the worst defensive utility I think I've ever seen from a ground-type

Too frail for my liking but there's no doubt it can put the hurt on unsuspecting fats with SD. I ran SD Taunt Bish on the ladder a few times, faced a stall and taunted the Skarm, and they ungraciously accepted defeat to my ridiculous cteaming

I don't like it, but hard to deny how effective it is when it finds its matchup

I think it could work, a magic bounce user that sits on ferro chans and doesn't use up a mega slot is cool

Having lightning rod as its ability looks like some funny overkill but it is a nice Rotom punish and its pretty strong and fast

Only ever used on that infernape starmie guy on the ladder's team but it has good offensive stats, coverage and adaptability, so obviously not horrible

Last seen on a stall team built in the summer of '83

See above

Heard some good things about CB

A warm reminder of how things used to be in the good old days. Its tier is deceiving, it just got sniped to save UU. It has a volt immunity at least

Using "Ribombee" as a figurehead for webs teams because I suppose its the best standalone mon that sets webs too. Also has skill swap to get around magic bounce. Anyway, webs is completely cooked

A cool niche wallbreaking option, don't exactly have anything bad to say about it other than Kartana outspeeds it by a single point

There's not a lot to say about this mon other than that it has a similar profile to Bronzong in regards to Kyurem-B and Psychic-types but trades off the Ground immunity for a much better offensive presence

I'm pretty sure it has been a legit OU Pokemon in SM a long time ago, I might be wrong. Might be a cool HO lead and it certainly has the STAB combination to mess up unprepared teams (you should never prepare for mamoswine or think about it really, it just lands itself in nice matchups sometimes)

clown emoji

You can cook with it on HO, great priority move, access to Spikes, and an honestly pretty nice defensive profile for likeee MPert Excadrill

It actually has some really good stuff going for it, hardcountering Medi

A strong wallbreaker amongst a tier of stronger wallbreakers

special wallbreaker walled by chansey 65739252 is calling... Accept / Decline

It switches into heatran and threatens it out. Weird fog user for stall teams

UR
Has it ever been, like, real?

It does have some cool things going for it but come on dude

I imagine it's probably a little bit fun to use if not restricting it to being a webs lead, very cool ability

An insult to rabbits and the OU tier.

 

[WilhelmTheOkay]

Ranking Changes from Jan 2023 to Oct 2024

S Rank
1. +2 Magearna

S- Rank
2. =0 Landorus-Therian - (was S Rank)
3. -2 Toxapex - (was S Rank)

A+ Rank
4. +1 Kartana
5. +48 Mega Charizard X - (was B Rank)
6. -2 Heatran - (was S Rank)
7. =0 Gliscor
8. =0 Mega Latias
9. +21 Kyurem Black - (was A- Rank)
10. +24 Chansey - (was A- Rank)
11. +15 Tapu Koko - (was A Rank)
12. -6 Tornadus-Therian
13. +6 Serperior - (was A Rank)
14. +8 Greninja - (was A Rank)
15. -3 Ferrothorn
16. -6 Ash Greninja

A Rank
17. +15 Volcarona - (was A- Rank)
18. NEW Cresselia
19. +2 Tapu Lele
20. +28 Mega Diancie - (was B Rank)
21. +2 Mega Medicham
22. +23 Weavile - (was B+ Rank)
23. +8 Kommo-o - (was A- Rank)
24. +4 Excadrill

A- Rank
25. -16 Mega Alakazam - (was A+ Rank)
26. -15 Mega Mawile - (was A+ Rank)
27. -11 Clefable - (was A Rank)
28. -11 Rotom-Wash - (was A Rank)
29. +21 Hawlucha - (was B Rank)
30. +8 Manaphy
31. +6 Mega Swampert
32. -5 Mega Tyranitar - (was A Rank)
33. -19 Tapu Fini - (was A Rank)
34. -5 Victini

B+ Rank
35. -22 Mega Scizor - (was A Rank)
36. +10 Slowbro - (was B Rank)
37. -19 Mega Lopunny - (was A Rank)
38. +17 Mega Charizard Y - (was B- Rank)
39. -24 Garchomp - (was A Rank)
40. +38 Seismitoad - (was C Rank)
41. +8 Skarmory - (was B Rank)
42. -17 Mega Latios - (was A Rank)
43. -4 Tapu Bulu - (was A- Rank)

B Rank
44. -8 Pelipper - (was A- Rank)
45. NEW Dragonite
46. -13 Ditto - (was A- Rank)
47. +16 Hydreigon - (was B- Rank)
48. +32 Mega Slowbro - (was C- Rank)
49. +3 Kyurem
50. -10 Zapdos - (was B+ Rank)
51. -9 Gastrodon - (was B+ Rank)
52. +24 Mega Garchomp - (was C Rank)
53. -33 Celesteela - (was A Rank)

B- Rank
54. +4 Hoopa Unbound
55. +11 Mega Gyarados - (was C+ Rank)
56. +3 Mega Heracross
57. -22 Reuniclus - (was A- Rank)
58. -1 Thundurus-Therian
59. +24 Mega Pinsir - (was C- Rank)
60. -9 Mega Sableye - (was B Rank)
61. -7 Hippowdon - (was B Rank)
62. -19 Jirachi - (was B+ Rank)
63. -39 Magnezone - (was A Rank)
64. +22 Keldeo - (was C- Rank)
65. NEW Volcanion

C+ Rank
66. -6 Gyarados - (was B- Rank)
67. -23 Tyranitar - (was B+ Rank)
68. =0 Blacephalon
69. +12 Crawdaunt - (was C- Rank)
70. NEW Moltres
71. -10 Mega Aggron - (was B- Rank)
72. NEW Alolan Marowak
73. NEW Alomomola
74. NEW Necrozma

C Rank
75. -8 Mew - (was C+ Rank)
76. -12 Mega Venusaur - (was B- Rank)
77. NEW Breloom
78. -31 Amoonguss - (was B Rank)
79. -38 Tangrowth - (was B+ Rank)
80. -9 Gengar
81. NEW Mega Aerodactyl
82. =0 Krookodile - (was C- Rank)
83. -18 Bisharp - (was C+ Rank)
84. -15 Kingdra - (was C+ Rank)
85. NEW Mega Manectric

C- Rank
86. NEW Mega Altaria
87. NEW Buzzwole
88. NEW Pyukumuku
89. NEW Mantine
90. NEW Salamence
91. NEW Bronzong
92. -7 Alolan Ninetales
93. -9 Azumarill
94. -17 Suicune - (was C Rank)
95. -39 Mega Gallade - (was B- Rank)
96. NEW Porygon Z
97. NEW Mega Camerupt

 

[Charmflash]

With SPL coming up I wanted to do a before - after list to see how my opinion changes. No descriptions for now because I caught myself yapping about too many trade secrets

S RANK

1.
2.
3.
4.

A RANK

A+ rank
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

A rank
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.Female
16.
17.

A- rank
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

B RANK

B+ rank
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.

B rank
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.Male
44.
45.

B- rank
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.

B-2 Rank
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.

The B-2 rank exists because I think there is a significant drop-off in mon quality after, but the distinctions Ive made in the upper ranks were also necessary. I am not saying the mons in C, or even some other unranked mons cannot be used, I did so myself multiple times. I just want to emphasize the strength of the mons up until this point.

C RANK

Not ordered between ranks

C+ rank










C rank












C- Rank
















Ground