Resource SS UU Crown Tundra Viability Ranking Thread

[Estarossa]

Hattrene is not switching into any of the rockers, and it cant consistently keep them off as one bad read is game over as most rockers can threaten it for up to 50+%. Skarmory is a spiker that gets shut down by hattrene but who are its most common partners.... lets see....

| Chansey 42.749% |
| Slowking 34.702% |
| Quagsire 22.024% |
| Mienshao 16.014% |
| Excadrill 14.874% |


These pokemon can absolutely wreck hattrene and abuse it as you can easily double switch to these pokemon as the switch is obvious. CM sets have a hard time to get going with slowking teleport into smth like LO mienshao, excadrill, nihilego, nidoking, conkeldurr are all pokemon that just wreck it, and its not strong to start off without a few boosts. The new set seems to be HW three attacks... which is we will see how it is it does not seem like a B+ pokemon, it seems as viable as entei and is the definition of a B pokemon which is can be good and has its flaws, or needs more support than the A tiers which it qualifies for

What you are missing in this scenario is that you don't run Hatterene to deal with Rockers. One of it's most common pairings is to run it as support to Exacdrill which is pretty decent at keeping Stealth Rock off but can't keep Spikes off at all. That's practically part of Hatt's role, alongside being a decent check to some stuff like Fighters + Hyd.

I think you oversell the matchup versus stuff like Conk for CM In particular here,

+1 0 SpA Hatterene Draining Kiss vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Conkeldurr: 300-354 (85.4 - 100.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Facade (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 244+ Def Hatterene: 198-234 (62.2 - 73.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

The draining kiss here would literally heal you more than conk damaged you in this scenario too (70.7 - 82.7% recovered). This is obviously pretty similar for the Shao example where all it could do is potentially Pjab poison you while you heal off all damage + more since that only does like 50-60%.

Calm Mind sets in general aren't quite as invalid as you make out imo, while they will fail into matchups like Wish Jirachi or fat teleporter + nidoking, they are perfectly capable of breaking examples like Conk/Shao that you listed and healing off all damage, while checks like Excadrill and Scarf Jirachi get very easily worn down by hazards + helmets over a longer game, and aegislash will usually lose the 1v1, though how much chip it needs first does depends on its spread in question.

Personally I think you are really underselling Hatterene here with your original post,

I still believe it has a niche in B/B-, it is way harder to stop once it gets going due to magic bounce, and abuses skarmory like no tomorrow. BUt even that is still not worth the slot.....

It's pretty clearly got a defined niche that makes it very worth a slot on certain teams: handle skarmory for spin exca teams that don't deal with the free spikes that exca gives too well. Other additions like the 3 attacks + healing wish set only further add to its value by making it an actual offensive presence when not facing slowking or chansey, backing off its solid SpA while making it a fantastic offensive support to teammates.

Whether or not it deserves to stay in its rank is another matter but you have frequently misssold Hatt's niche or its matchups in these two posts imo.

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

B- -> C+

Geez, when was the last time you saw this thing see any serious usage at all. Conk is now the premier guts breaker, and even tho it had stab facade and knock off it really struggles with lack of recovery, many exploitable weaknesses, and not the best bulk which is even worse by flame orb. Skarm, hydreigon, and the new rising weezing-g are all threats that shut down obstagoon or revenge kill it. Especially with hazards it has limited opportunities to switch in and actually force progress, aegislash start running flash cannon or close combat which hinders obstagoons ability to break. In practice conk is such a better guts breaker as it has recovery in drain punch, has good physical bulk, and can be threatening in every game or at least force 1v1 trades thanks to mach punch.

 

[pokemonisfun]

Adding better replays for Juno and others who weren't convinced by original replays for Tauros and Regidrago - point taken, the 1st and 3rd Tauros replays were somewhat suspect but I do think the Regidrago replays are fine.

to B- rank

Set:

suck my maws (Regidrago) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dragon's Maw
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Dragon Energy
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Explosion

Pros and Cons of Regidrago
Pros: Extremely strong for a Scarfer, significantly higher damage output compared to Specs Keldeo Hydro Pump with 150 BP Dragon Energy, extremely good speed tier with Choice Scarf, beating out fast threats like Zygarde/Starmie/Noivern

Cons: Fairy types own it and despite being OK defensive typing, it really can't switch into much for fear of weakening Dragon Energy, cannot revenge most speed boosters easily

Replays of Regidrago

Some match ups you will get lucky and they won't bring a Fairy at all, much easier to do now post Kommo-o:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1460565934-xy0tc1qg1l2tyyoi5qrm0f9rv5qxzgrpw

Notice how Regidrago immediately can get a revenge kill and tie up the score on turn 23. And on turn 30, Regidrago gets a crucial KO on Nihilego, KOing a Nihilego at 75% with a special move is hard.

However, not all is lost even with a fairy:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1460571340-o0e62pyvb7is77n8kxullnqqt2x2vy0pw

That replay shows how Choice Band Crawdaunt is a nice partner for Regidrago since Jolly Crawdaunt can lure and destroy most Fairy types (luckily, Timid Primarina is rare these days as is Jolly Azumarill which Crawdaunt outspeeds anyways)

Another game with a fairy:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1460579461-hcxua42bzyn182675kn5rowy1tljs23pw

So Regidrago isn't great here but it still got a KO as it surprised a presumably Volt Switching Rotom and so Regidrago got it for surprise KO.

Tl; dr: Regidrago is a decent pick in the meta because it's very fast and extraordinarily strong, the Fairy problem can be addressed by teammates. and the main issue with it is that you have to go to lengths to keep it healthy for Dragon Energy.

Adding more replays for more evidence:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1461457146

This is a replay vs a typical HO team with a Fairy, so it's pretty obviously not an atypically good MU for Regidrago. Nevertheless, Regidrago puts in good work on turn 12 and 19. Turn 12, it takes advantage of it's well known weakness to Fairies by double switching to Amoonguss, an annoying mon for HO to switch in on. On turn 19, it is able to prevent Azumarill from getting a sweep by Exploding on it, by predicting the Belly Drum (if the "obvious" move of switching Amoonguss happened, it would have been toasted by a +6 Azumarill).

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1447630383-e3989abw25kpczpzchzci4mz50up1zkpw

ladder game vs 1588 - so clearly Tauros did some cleaning work at the end. Body Slam was nice and spammable after his Normal resist was weakened and the only threat was Flame Body Moltres which did not occur. Tauros' decent bulk also came into play, as it easily survive Zygarde's Thousand Arrows unlike something like Mienshao or Thundurus which would mightily struggle to take it. Overall, a clean sweep by Tauros

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1447646593-5fnbxxswskd71uwtz58c3eapjfaum4jpw

ladder game vs 1467 - again, Tauros does it's cleaning work here, no longer needing to predict again after the Normal resist is eliminated. As Aqua Ring already noted, Skarmory isn't much of an impediment anyways as Fire Blast will maul it but Tauros' good speed tier here lets it sweep the heck out of the opponent - something like Thundy-T wouldn't be able to sweep (and was thus sacrificed) because of Nihilego outspeeding.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1447656134-o734pr041g96osh071krxtw5hzkupcepw

ladder game vs 1649 - Tauros this time shows its not always a late game sweeper and can badly pressure teams with multiple normal resists. Excadrill is just a non factor as Close Combat can OHKO and Tauros outspeeds unless Sand/Rapid Spin while Nihilego and Skarm get mauled by normal Tauros moves. Not even Tangrowth wants to switch in as non AV sets will get 2HKO by Fire Blast and AV sets. So my opponent is obviously quite Celesteela and Bulu weak but that said, Tauros does snag an important KO by killing Excadrill and poses a threat for the whole game as Nihilego cannot revenge kill it.

I support Tauros to C+.

Here's another Tauros replay for UUSD tryouts in Kommo-o meta:

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1448334468-0ang82qhkftuo530uu264siwlznbfnvpw

Tauros compliments my solid defensive core of Celesteela + Diancie because it is able to cleanly sweep some threats like Rotom-W that threaten my core at the end of the game. Notice how Tauros can be placed on teams that still outlast normally hard counters like opposing Celesteela.

 

[Gimmicky]

Just a quick, short nom that I'd like to make!



A -> A+

A lot of things are going well for Salamence, with a large majority of metagame trends being in its favour. Salamence is an extremely good pick in the metagame and synergises well with a lot of the other top Pokemon, like Primarina and Excadrill. It's one of our best remaining Dragon's left, and its base 100 Speed tier is much more helpful now, being able to outspeed non-Choice Scarf variants of Hydreigon and revenge kill them with Draco Meteor. Its versatility, between Defensive, Special and Dragon Dance sets is also a large factor for its ability as a Pokemon and with a colourful movepool it can change up what moves it runs to suit a teams needs. The prominence of Mienshao, Zarude and Excadrill, as well as other physical attackers like Conkeldurr, have made Defensive Salamence extremely valuable, while also enjoying the lowered usage of previous threats like Rotom-W and Nihilego. Special sets have little switch-ins, with even Slowking and Mandibuzz getting 2HKO'd by Hurricane -> Draco Meteor. Both Offensive and Defensive Dragon Dance sets are also threatening, with Offensive DD being extremely hard to stop and Defensive sets, while far less common, maintaining its defensive utility while also being a powerful Pokemon to deal with. Salamence's solid typing, splashability and diversity is huge for it and I personally think warrants a rise to A+

Some other noms I agree with:

-> A+

-> A+

-> A+

-> A

-> A

-> A-

-> A-

-> B+

​

 

[kino]

Ive been laddering a lot lately (also assiduously watched snake games), mainly with volt turn BO and got some fresh takes to share

• to A+
I think this might be one of the top three mons in the tier. It brings an ungodly amount of role compression, can run a couple of different sets (im very big on band rude) and pressures a lot some of our tier staples in ThundurusT, Primarina and Aegislash. It's a huge bully for volt turn offenses that have to try greedy plays like Focus Blasting w/ Thundurus or risking ties early with Mienshao. It has its way around its defensive checks and has defensive utility to top it off. Just a fantastic all around pick that always feels worth.

• > lower
I didnt mind exca being S rank during the previous slate but idt it belongs there anymore. While it's a fantastic HO lead it's pretty easy to play around that set (it'll still do its work but you can limit it) and I find SD sets to be much scarier on paper than in practice. Spin+Tox utility is great at what it does, and punishes some building choices extremely well but idt that's enough to keep it S. It's neither something I consider bringing more than any other hazard controller nor something that particularly threatens me when building. It's still a p solid option and our only above mediocre spinner, so I'd be fine with A+, could see it in A too.

• > stay or A-
Im not hot on Skarmory at all. Spikes has most of the time an atrocious matchup against those Thundurus Volt Turn BOs roaming free, and Skarm itself often results in momentum loss whenever it comes in against this type of playstyle. While it keeps some extremely scary stuff in check well (mence gyara exca zarude mostly), it often has a lot to handle in one game and I rarely see it do so properly. It's not tough to wear it down and to make it absorb knocks, making it much easier to deal with.
I value Celesteela over it for this kind of reason, teela being a potential bully to volt turn teams that often lack a mon that can outright overpower it & prevent it from scouting&chipping. Spikes and Roost longevity are still great assets, but I feel the former is rather limited to a dedicated playstyle, and idt said playstyle is doing great.

• > A (or stay?)
This is good, it's really tough to switch into and BD can straight up win some matchups (the kind that have Tang/Among has their grass and no potential revenge killer that resists AJ). Av brings some utility and CB clicks and claims at least once. This being said i do think A+ is a tad bit high, its defensive utility mostly relies on matchup fishing and it's laughably easy to chip. I think A suits it better, but maybe i'm understating AV/CB's utility.

Onto shorter stuff
• I like RN and idt it should drop, I think both AV and CM have a lot of merit and should be seriously considered.
• is much better than I expected and is a glue in this meta it should at least be A-.
• In terms of Dragons I think has a huge edge over , the speed tier is one thing but I just feel Mence has much more useful tools to play the part of a offensive/tank dragon. On the other hand hydreigon's felt like mediocre matchup fish whenever I used it and I would've been better off using Mence or Zarude. I could see it being A-
• this is cracked af and should be A+, every single thing it can run has a niche and it's really easy to get cheesed. Aside from that Scarf and support sets are still extremely consistent.
• same as the above. Old sets still great & can experiment a lot of diff things
• this has been putting in some work outside of tr for me, I think pif also built something with it that looked gas, I think it's a bit underappreciated.
• dont raise keldeo please it sucks (actually its probably better than before with the speedtier being more useful and a thund rk is good to have but its super fishy)

 

[Celebiii]

​

Hi all, today I'm here to talk to you about Durant, and why it should be ranked on the VR (in my view, in B or B- tier). Durant has some incredible qualities not easily replicated by other Pokemon that make it worthy of putting on teams, so let's take a look at it, shall we?

The AdvANTages

Advantages

• Speed: A max Speed, +Speed nature Durant is very fast, being naturally outsped by very few things in the current metagame. Perhaps most importantly, it naturally outspeeds the two very prominent base 105 Speed Pokemon in the current metagame, Mienshao and Zarude. It also gets the jump on many other offensive threats already considered fast, including: Keldeo, Nihilego, and Thundurus-Therian.​
• Priority: Durant was blessed with access to an incredible Bug-type STAB move in Generation 8 in First Impression. This allows Durant to accomplish three important tasks: 1) Hitting things that outspeed it first, such as Azelf, Zygarde-10%, and Lycanroc-Dusk; 2) Hitting things that out-slow it under Trick Room, such as Crawdaunt and Hatterene; and 3) Preventing (or at the very least, doing some damage before being KO'd by) revenge KO attempts by slower Pokemon who also possess priority, including Mamoswine, Conkeldurr, Azumarill, Aegislash, and Diggersby.​
• Power: Durant hits hard. A Jolly max Attack Durant hits 317 Attack before boosts. With its Ability Hustle and the Life Orb it always carries, however, Durant effectively has 618 Attack. For comparison, the standard Guts-boosted Adamant Conkeldurr effectively has 624 Attack - just a bit more than Durant. Durant's power is such that even resisted hits heavily damage their targets. Some selected example calculations against the bulkiest variations (since we'll be generous here) of Pokemon high on the current Viability Rankings are included below:
  

  Calculations

  Specially Defensive Excadrill
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 227-268 (62.8 - 74.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Stomping Tantrum vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 426-502 (118 - 139%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Superpower vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Excadrill: 678-801 (187.8 - 221.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  
  Substitute + Toxic Aegislash
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 226-268 (69.7 - 82.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Stomping Tantrum vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 211-250 (65.1 - 77.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  
  Assault Vest Azumarill
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 0 HP / 84 Def Azumarill: 246-290 (72.1 - 85%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
  
  Rest + Sleep Talk Primarina
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Iron Head vs. 252 HP / 132 Def Primarina: 246-290 (67.5 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
  
  Physically Defensive Colbur Berry Slowking
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant First Impression vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Slowking: 468-554 (118.7 - 140.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Crunch vs. 252 HP / 240 Def Colbur Berry Slowking: 139-164 (35.2 - 41.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
  
  Nasty Plot Thundurus-Therian
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-Therian: 380-447 (127 - 149.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
  252 Atk Life Orb Hustle Durant Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-Therian: 201-238 (67.2 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
• Moveset: Durant has a wide array of coverage moves that it can pick and choose to target just about everything super effectively. Its moveset includes the nigh-mandatory STAB First Impression and Iron Head, as well as a bevy of coverage options, including: Crunch, Facade, Rock Slide, Stomping Tantrum, Stone Edge, Superpower, Thunder Fang, and X-Scissor. It can also choose to forego a coverage slot for Hone Claws to eliminate the accuracy drop of Hustle and improve its Attack even further, lessening the need to hit the opponent super effectively or even neutrally.​
• Typing: Durant has the fantastic Bug/Steel typing, made famous by its higher-tier counterparts in Scizor and Genesect, making it only weak to Fire-type attacks, and resistant to Normal, Bug, Steel, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, and Fairy, doubly resistant to Grass, and entirely immune to Poison. This typing also means its STABs hit a fair number of types super effectively: Rock, Grass, Psychic, Ice, Dark, and Fairy, with only Steel and Fire resisting both STABs (all other types take neutral damage).​
• Physical Bulk: While not incredible, Durant has respectable physical bulk thanks to its giant base 112 Defense stat. This is hampered by its very low base HP stat of 58, but Durant is usually able to stomach at least one physical hit before going down, and potentially more if it resists the attack.​

The DisadvANTages

Disadvantages

• Accuracy: This is the biggest issue with Durant, and leads to its inconsistency. Hustle, while increasing Durant's power greatly, also causes it to miss sometimes. This can cause it to lose out on crucial KOs and can even cost its user the game if they are unlucky. This issue can be mitigated by choosing to run Hone Claws, but this has two issues: 1) Durant must drop a coverage option to run it, and 2) Durant requires a turn to set this up, which it sometimes cannot afford given its only OK survivability. In the end, this is simply something the Durant user must accept and deal with most of the time.​
• Special Bulk: Durant's special bulk is atrocious, especially combined with its very low base HP of 58. It only has base 48 Special Defense, meaning it will drop to even weak special attacks.​
• Recoil + Residual Damage: Durant usually carries Life Orb in order to make best use of its speed and coverage options, but this cuts into its longevity quickly. Combined with its only mediocre survivability, this means that Durant will usually only be able to come onto the field once or twice in a given game, as it cannot afford to be switching into multiple hits while it wears itself down attacking. Durant is also vulnerable to both Stealth Rock (which it takes neutral damage from, unlike some other Steel-types) and Spikes, further shortening its window to do damage. Finally, almost all of Durant's common attacks (except for Stomping Tantrum, Rock Slide, and Stone Edge) make contact, meaning that it is very susceptible to Rocky Helmet chip damage.​
• Flying/Steel Types: Durant's only option to hit Skarmory and Celesteela super effectively is the weak Thunder Fang, which doesn't bother either of them too much thanks to their gigantic Defense stats. On the contrary, both of these Pokemon threaten Durant heavily in return, with Brave Bird, Body Press, and Whirlwind from Skarmory, and Flamethrower, Air Slash, Leech Seed + Protect stalling, and Meteor Beam from Celesteela.​
• 4 Moveslot Syndrome: While somewhat mitigated by its awesome power, Durant will always miss out on hitting some Pokemon super effectively, even with its great coverage options. It is up to the Durant user to compensate for this in teambuilding and in-battle.​

Getting Up to Some ANTics (How to Use Durant)

How to Use Durant

• In my experience, Durant functions best on offensive teams. It does not work well when being worn down throughout a game - Durant would rather end games quickly or punch large holes in the opposing team with hard, fast strikes. Durant is thus best brought onto the field using pivoting moves such as U-Turn and Volt Switch from offensive pivoting teammates such as Zarude, Mienshao, and Thundurus-Therian (more on this guy later).
• After coming in, Durant should usually aim to stay in and do as much damage as possible before going down, rather than pivoting out after taking some damage. In this way, Durant is not made ineffective later in the game by coming in at low HP and being picked off by a priority attack or Choice Scarfed revenge killer. It also allows the offensive teammates that back up Durant safe entry onto the field after it goes down.
• Durant can either be used as a wallbreaker with its immense power or as a cleaner thanks to its priority and high Speed, according to its teammates and the matchup with the opposing team.
• Like all offensive Pokemon, Durant appreciates hazard support in order to make it hits sting more. In particular, Stealth Rock helps it damage the Flying/Steel types that bother it so much.

On the Shoulders of GiANTs (Best Partners for Durant)

Best Partners for Durant

Thundurus-Therian is Durant's best partner and most consistent way to take down the Flying/Steel types that bug (hehe) Durant so much, and aids in beating Water-types that Durant cannot OHKO. It slots easily onto the offensive teams Durant is most at home on, providing a terrifying boosting threat and/or pivot support, as well as a valuable Electric immunity. In return, Durant takes down special walls that can help stop a rampaging Thundurus-Therian.


Focus Sash Excadrill in particular provides extremely consistent lead hazard support for offensive teams, being able to both set Stealth Rocks up and keep them off Durant's team's field, as well as dishing out great damage and slowing down opposing leads to allow Durant or another offensive teammate to terrorize the opposing team unhindered.

Running RampANT (Replays)

Replays

Below is a collection of replays I obtained while laddering with Durant. Feel free to give them a look to see how Durant and its teammates operate.

1. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1466608049-iw027r6k03zs2lebwtngt048v1kbu6ypw
2. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1466600538-3v9tn57bld6q06hn4ztf6yyhlt93b3kpw
3. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1466595061-jtwhgc7i82lxgrjga29l6aiqe4vbsugpw
4. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1466591637-62ycn6kd9xz8nfc92v8dbjkitpq4njepw
5. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1466581710-82wl90k99eymz4rfrwunnau8j22ki2jpw
6. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1466660878-59jc7doewdoclp19uk5pyutdyujvg7qpw
7. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8uu-1466703725-d6mxc52t7t5byekyy5twtqx4di02wzipw

Durant's CovenANT (Sample Team)

Sample Team

This is the team I used to ladder with Durant before making this post - feel free to use it. It proved quite effective, and was good in most matchups. Enjoy!

https://pokepast.es/b5f6c72a78f36aea​

I think that just about covers everything I wanted to talk about related to Durant. I hope you enjoyed reading and found this helpful (or at least weren't too bothered by my rANT ). Get out there and let Durant show you what it can do!

​

 

[cheru]

Short but sweet nomination on 2 of my favorite Pokemon to use.

to a+/s-

Mienshao is absolutely fantastic right now. Its high Speed lets it check so many thing such as Excadrill, Jirachi, Hydreigon, and Nihilego. Knock Off is really good at punishing Close Combat switch-ins like Salamence and Moltres. U-turn is also good against Slowking, while gaining momentum for Mienshao’s teammates. The 4th move is also very flexible, since it can use one of Stone Edge, Blaze Kick or Poison Jab to great affect, hitting Salamence, Amoonguss, and Primarina. Regenerator is the real icing on the cake, making it quite difficult to wear down for a Pokemon with such frail defenses. Mienshao’s Stealth Rock-resistance can let it pivot and recover its HP back quite easily. This lets it run the items Life Orb and Choice Scarf beautifully. Life Orb makes it a pain to switch into, while also negating the recoil that makes the item so risky to use. Choice Scarf outspeeds faster Pokemon meant to check it like Cobalion, Azelf, and Starmie. It’s also great since if it locks into an undesirable move, Mienshao can simply switch out and gain its health back with Regenerator.

to a+

Dada has absolutely taken over in Snake, becoming the most used Pokemon during the tour. It ability to compress so much utility is bananas (badum tis). Its typing gives it some useful resistances to Ground, Water, Psychic, Ghost, and Dark, checking a wide variety of threats such as Excadrill, Aegislash, and Slowking. Zarude’s high Speed is also good against many other fast offensive threats like Thundurus-T and Nihilego, while speed-tying with Mienshao. Jungle Healing is a fantastic move, healing off pesky Scald burns and Toxic. U-turn is what makes Zarude what it is, being an absolute staple on the increasingly popular VoltTurn teams.

Others with some tidbits:

to a-; really good spinner with both scald and sludge bomb to punish nearly everything with status. knock too

to a+; offensive Swords Dance sets don’t have the same prowess that the utility set does, nor the wallbreaking capabilities due to Skarmory and Celesteela being very good.

to a+; sus (amoonguss walls all)

to a-/a; really solid pivot and glue

 

[Aether]

UR -> C+

Set

California Gurls (Salazzle) (F) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Corrosion
EVs: 16 HP / 252 SpA / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic
- Sludge Wave
- Flamethrower
- Overheat

What does it do?
Salazzle runs Toxic in order to have a way of crippling many of the Pokémon that would otherwise want to switch in on her, such as Slowking, Swampert, Tentacruel, and Nihilego. Sludge Wave is Slazzle's primary STAB move, threatening to OHKO many Pokémon such as Hatterene, Primarina, Tapu Bulu, as well as threatening to 2HKO Defensive Salamence. Flamethrower is Salazzle's Secondary STAB move that is also capable of threatining the many Steel-type Pokémon that are immune to Sludge Wave such as Excadrill, Skarmory, and Celesteela. Fire is quite frankly a ridiculously good offensive typing right now, with 5 out of the 10 most used Pokémon (Ignoring Kommo-o due to its ban) on Ladder (using the 1760 usage stats) carrying a weakness to it. Finally, Overheat is a powerful STAB move that allows Salazzle to deal large amounts of damage in a pinch, as well as allowing Salazzle to OHKO foes such as Thundurus-Therian, Assault Vest Mienshao, and Conkeldurr.

Why use it?
The primary reason to use Salzzle is its blistering Speed. At max Speed, Salazzle's base 117 Speed Stat allows it to outspeed the all-important 105 Speed tier, which hosts threats such as Mienshao and Zarude. In addition, Salazzle is able to outspeed the fastest Pokémon on the VR in Azelf and Zygarde-10%, as well as foes such as Thundurus-Therian. Another reason to use Salazzle is its insane power. Salazzle's base 111 Special Attack stat hits insanely hard after being multiplied by Choice Specs hits insanely hard, being able to OHKO Physically Defensive Primarina.

Calculations

Pokémon​	Calculation​	Notres​
​	252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Primarina: 368-434 (101 - 119.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO​	​
​	252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Mienshao: 286-337 (105.5 - 124.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO​	Due to my lack of knowledge about Assault Vest Mienshao, I simply put an Assault Vest on the standard Mienshao set. As a result, this calculation may not be entirely accurate.​
​	252 Atk Zarude Darkest Lariat vs. 16 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 199-235 (70.8 - 83.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Zarude: 410-486 (116.8 - 138.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO​	​
​	252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Thundurus-Therian: 340-402 (113.7 - 134.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO​	​
​	252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Hatterene: 408-480 (128.3 - 150.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO​	​
​	252+ Atk Life Orb Mamoswine Ice Shard vs. 16 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 70-83 (24.9 - 29.5%) -- 100% chance to 4HKO 252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Flamethrower vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Thick Fat Mamoswine: 300-354 (83.1 - 98%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock 252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Thick Fat Mamoswine: 428-506 (118.5 - 140.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO​	​
​	252+ Atk Guts Conkeldurr Mach Punch vs. 16 HP / 0 Def Salazzle: 86-102 (30.6 - 36.2%) -- 50.6% chance to 3HKO 252 SpA Choice Specs Salazzle Overheat vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Conkeldurr: 402-474 (114.5 - 135%) -- guaranteed OHKO​	​

What are its drawbacks?
Salazzle's most prominent drawback is its weakness to Stealth Rock. As a result of this weakness, Salazzle cannot easily enter the field and relies on teammates like Excadrill to remove hazards for it. Another drawback Salazzle faces are its inability to tank many attacks, as its frailty, as well as lack of longevity, prevents it from having any defensive utility.

Sample Team


Here's the team I've been using featuring Salazzle. Big thanks to pokemonisfun for looking over this and suggesting improvements!

Replays
Note: The first two are from before the December tier shift.

 

[Hilomilo]

Locking this for an update!

 

[Hilomilo]

Hey all! I have frankly been insanely busy this month, which has gotten in the way of being able to actually prepare a write-up for this update. With that said, I'm just going to present what changed in this last voting slate so it can get to y'all before the suspect result, though I will also be stealing from Finchinator's approach with the OU VR and allow a 2-day period for anyone to ask questions about the changes, which will get a response other from me or another member of our ranking team. Thank you for your patience and my apologies for the delay! Without further ado, here are our changes from this last slate:
Rises
A+ -> S
A+ -> S
A -> A+
A -> A+
A -> A+
A- -> A
A- -> A
B+ -> A-
B -> B+
B -> B+
B -> B+
B -> B+
UR -> C
UR -> C
(trick room) UR -> C

Drops
S -> A+
A+ -> A
A+ -> A
A -> A-
A -> A-
A -> A-
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B -> B-
B -> B-
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
C+ -> C
C -> D
C -> UR

This thread is now open again. Be kind and happy posting!

 

[Mystras]

Reasons for Keld rising? Haven’t seen it much within the past month or so, is it cause the speed tier becoming more appealing?

 

[StarFalcon555]

Why has Sneasel been unranked?

 

[scorbunnys]

Why has Aegislash rose and why has Slowking dropped? Great update otherwise
Also why have Metagross, Heracross and Sylveon dropped?

 

[Monky25]

Reasons for Keld rising? Haven’t seen it much within the past month or so, is it cause the speed tier becoming more appealing?

Yeah Keldeo's speed tier is certainly quite good in the current meta, outspeeding the likes of Thundurus, Mienshao, and Zarude, making it a bit more appealing. It also can be a very potent win condition with subCM sets being unexpected to deal with on many teams and appreciates the decline in Slowking, Azumarill, and Tapu Bulu. Other sets like toxic pivot have even come up as a method of crippling checks like Slowking and pivoting out. It's certainly not meta defining and still has its issues, but the VR team believed it was dropped too harshly and B+ is more indicative of its viability, prompting the rise.

Will be reposting previously asked questions while adding on new ones so I can answer them and still preserve a like ratio.

Why has Sneasel been unranked?

To be completely blunt Sneasel has quite literally seen 0 relevant usage throughout the 2 months. It's very tough to build around and doesn't stand out in the grand scheme of things. It's a fast frail breaker, which is cool, but not exactly special, with other UU threats like Mienshao, Zygarde-10%, Starmie, and Azelf all fulfilling this role and having more power and/or a pivoting ability. It simply just doesn't have the usage or viability to really justify a ranking anymore.

Why has Aegislash rose and why has Slowking dropped? Great update otherwise
Also why have Metagross, Heracross and Sylveon dropped?

Aegislash rose on the merit of its diverse amount of sets ranging from SubToxic to Mixed to Choice Specs to Swords Dance, all quite common and effective in the metagame. It has the ability to get past its checks based on this versatility, with answers like zarude having to watch out for moves like Close Combat. Ghost + Fighting is a very exceptional combo offensively as well, not to mention toxic crippling answers like Mandibuzz is valuable. Defensively, Aegislash has a unique set of resistances that can contribute to its team. All of these factors prompted the rise to S.

Slowking has lesser value of a bulky water-type lately. Letting in threats like Zarude and Hydreigon for free isn't great, and Primarina gives it big competition as a bulky water-type because of its better typing with a Dark and u-turn resistance. Slowking is still great, though the competition Primarina gives it and lesser need to use it leads Slowking to drop a subrank to A.

Metagross is dogshit and shouldn't be ranked at all imo but it dropped since there really isn't a reason to use it in the metagame anymore. There are many Steel-types in the tier like Aegislash, Jirachi, Celesteela, Skarmory, and Excadrill that all give it severe competition on teams by virtue of their massive bulk and/or greater utility. Even as a Steel-type rocker it faces competition from Jirachi, Excadrill, and Cobalion, and its decent offensive presence still doesn't justify much over Excadrill, who sports Rapid Spin and a great Ground-typing in addition to being a hard hitting Steel-type with Stealth Rock. It hasn't been used in months, I wouldn't be surprised to see Metagross get UR next update since it can't justify itself in this metagame.

Heracross hasn't really been seen since its initial period where it was hyped up as a faster Conkeldurr. The metagame got faster, making conk weaker than before, and heracross hasn't exactly reaped the benefits of its speed with faster threats like Moltres, Salamence, and Thundurus-T being excellent and common. Its lack of bulk, longevity, and priority compared to conk makes heracross quite a niche pick at this point, having limited uses over a declining and stronger Conkeldurr.

Sylveon faces immense competition from Primarina as a Fairy-type due to not letting in Steels for free and having an additional Water-typing. As a wish passer Umbreon outclasses it due to checking relevant threats Sylveon can't like Gyarados, Excadrill, Mamoswine, and more. Still, Sylveon's fairy typing + ability to better check Thundurus-T and Zarude compared to Primarina gives it some niche on teams that need the role compression, keeping it ranked at the very least.

 

[Ouroboro]

Is there anyplace you can see the current viability rankings, instead of just the rises and drops? I'm new to Smogon/Pokemon Showdown so I have no idea where to find those.

 

[cheru]

Is there anyplace you can see the current viability rankings, instead of just the rises and drops? I'm new to Smogon/Pokemon Showdown so I have no idea where to find those.

Current rankings are always in the op

 

[Ouroboro]

Current rankings are always in the op

Sorry for being a bother, but where is that? Thanks for even replying in the first place though!

 

[Ouroboro]

Current rankings are always in the op

Oh wait, I'm an idiot, the OP is just the original post of the thread, isn't it. Sorry again for bothering you.

 

[I am New]

Why did Sun not rose in the VR?but darmanitan only rose?why?

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

Why did Sun not rose in the VR?but darmanitan only rose?why?

Darmanitan is part of sun teams... so it rose to where they currently are to show that darm is a part of sun

 

[Y1THEKING]

Why didn't Golisopod and G-Weezing rise? With more dark types in the tier I would think Golisopod would benefit from this and rise to at least B-. And G-Weezing to rise to B+ because of how well it stops fighting types like Mienshao and Conk as well as providing defog, can Taunt setup and possibly burn physical attackers that think they can switch in freely

 

[I am New]

Darmanitan is part of sun teams... so it rose to where they currently are to show that darm is a part of sun

So why did Sun not rose?also darm is not "integral" it faces competition from Entei

 

[Lily]

Why did Sun not rose in the VR?but darmanitan only rose?why?

We voted on this a while ago but didn't get to update it till now due to parts of the team being busy. Sun hadn't really popped up at the time the way it has now, so it kept its conservative ranking. We may re-adjust it soon to reflect its growing place in the meta.

Why didn't Golisopod and G-Weezing rise? With more dark types in the tier I would think Golisopod would benefit from this and rise to at least B-. And G-Weezing to rise to B+ because of how well it stops fighting types like Mienshao and Conk as well as providing defog, can Taunt setup and possibly burn physical attackers that think they can switch in freely

They don't really see any use. Golisopod struggles to do much because FI is really easy to switch into and it's severely crippled by Knock Off from the Fighting types it handles defensively. It has good utility with strong prio + zygarde answer + spikes + knock but it's really hard to fit on teams and is often dead weight. Galarian Weezing on the other hand is effectively useless against everything in the tier except Conk and Shao, so if your team is exceptionally weak to those it's something to consider but it's not great otherwise and shouldn't really be rising into the higher ranks right now.

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

-> B+

Pokemon that gave free switchins to mienshao was honestly not a very good thing as you had to pretty much have a hard counter otherwise those free switchins get abused very easily by shao. Umbreon gave a ton of these from wishing a lot, using protect to scout threats or choiced mons or going for foul play which bounced off mienshao. With it gone I can see umbreon being a much better pokemon as nothing can replicate the breaking power and threat on teambuilding of mienshao. Umbreon has its fair share of bad traits but it can switch in on more of the meta and threaten them without being worried of mienshao switching in for free

 

[Mystras]

Something I forgot to mention but just now remembered, why didn't Azelf rise? It's also been seen as an offensive pivot more recently in UUSD and it's been putting in some good results.