Resource SV UU DLC 2 Viability Rankings- Update at Post #180

[Monky25]

After some time since our last update, we are back yet again with our final update for this era of the metagame as tier shifts are just right around the corner. Reasoning for the various rises and drops that took place are down below. This time I will try to have shorter reasoning but if any explanation feels like it needs more elaboration feel free to ask in the viability discussion channel in the UU discord. We hope you enjoy this update!

Rises
from A- to A: Utility beast and just brings insanely useful role compression for so many offense and BO builds prevalent in the metagame. Rocks, Thunder Wave, pivoting, and being a physical wall are all great combined, and the offensive check to so many foes like Lokix, Ogerpon-Cornerstone, Excadrill, and Ursaluna is really nice to have in just one slot. It’s pretty easily a top 10 Pokémon right now and gets really high usage to where A rank is more than justified
from A- to A: No clanger means Superpower or Spiky Shield is more easier to run thus making Cornerpon a more versatile and deadly sweeper able to subvert checks like Cobalion/Lokix. HO has been very prominent in WCOP which Cornerpon is very potent on and it’s gotten a good amount of usage to make the rise to A deserved
from B+ to A-: The Okidogi hype has fully taken off as it really has become a full fledged metagame staple. Okidogi is insanely difficult to swap into with Toxic Chain ruining the most common defensive cores in the metagame and with very useful set versatility of Bulk Up, Substitute + Bulk Up, Choice Band, and Choice Scarf, Okidogi is not only very difficult to tell on preview with the right building but also can be tailored to fit your team’s needs. The raw bulk and defensive utility is what sets Okidogi apart, being very useful into many foes like Lokix, Scizor, Cornerpon, Grasspon, and Cobalion while even handling super scary offensive threats like Greninja and Belly Drum Azumarill now. Any team weak to Okidogi is not a good team, and the mini Iron Hands finally breaks into the A ranks to show just how potent it is in the UU metagame.
from B+ to A-: Anyone who’s been playing the tier at all lately knows how deadly Ursaluna is. Balance is absolutely terrified to take it on with its nuclear Flame Orb set while Bulk Up remains one of the best wincons in the tier. It’s been used on a lot of diverse styles and always puts in insane work each game to where it’s clearly one of the best Pokemon in the tier and breaks into the A ranks. I believe the team held off on A rather than A- with it still being a developing presence and we didn’t want to overshoot Ursaluna’s placement on the VR
from B to B+: Continues to rise into meta staple status as more and more people use pivot and NP sets, both of which excel in this more offensive metagame as deadly progress makers able to just overwhelm the metagame with only a select few coverage moves. With the decline of Zapdos, this more offensive variant has certainly become a lot more preferential as of late
from B to B+: SD Zarude has continued to see a lot of experimentation as a ferocious SD wincon, really having no true switch-ins apart from Cobalion which can be circumvented rather easily with Tera. Jungle Healing lets it be a rather good status absorber and being an offensive Grass-type that beats Zapdos and Tornadus-T while being bulky enough to checks Excadrill is very good to have in the metagame.
from B- to B+: Top 2 choice scarfer right now with insanely high usage in UULT playoffs and WCOP, Hoopa breaks into the meta staple rank with its Choice Scarf set being an insanely valuable asset to offensive teams with its nuclear Dark-type moves and great special bulk.
Comfey from B- to B: Continues to be a prevalent wincon on HO builds in the tier right now with Triage Draining Kiss and a right timed Tera proving to be deadly for so many builds still
from B- to B: Enamorus-T has broken out lately as a really solid offensive option thanks to naturally countering Hydrapple, amazing coverage, and the ability to just overwhelm foes like Slowking and AV Torn with its deadly Moonblast. Slow Speed and being awkward to build around holds it back but it’s still a good option to use right now
from B- to B: HO is doing better so Mimikyu naturally rises thanks to its important role on Mew entry hazard stack builds as a spinblocker that provides essential defensive support between its typing, Disguise, and Red Card ultimately backed by a great STAB combo.
from B- to B: As a whole Pecharunt has been more useful lately with its status spreading capabilities and more builds using its strengths being optimized as UULT went on. It messes with the Regenerator mons well and finds itself on a good bit of diverse styles that gives it a bump back up the VR
from B- to B: Having stayed B- due to a tiebreak last vote, Volcanion finally manages to rise back into B as a powerful wallbreaker with limited switch-ins that can take advantage of Slowking really well as well as the fact that AV Torn can be overworked often as well. It’s naturally bulky enough to eat most neutral hits and it’s a pretty useful offensive check to some foes like Scizor and Azumarill
from C to B-: Being less vulnerable to Knock Off while having Toxic and the ability to function a slow pivot has allowed Bellibolt to get some usage as of late as a useful alternative to Zapdos that also happens to counter it on certain teams. Beyond this, it even runs into matchups where it’s better than Zapdos such as Rhyperior dropping to Muddy Water and having a neutrality to Ice Beam from Greninja. Still pretty mid but a lot better than the stuff in C
from C to B-: Terrain is still kinda mid but it’s not that bad to be stuck in C as compared to being in B- with Hawlucha
from C to B-: HO is great and this is arguably the best lead to use thanks to dual hazards and extremely customizable utility moves
from UR to C: Has been getting use for the better portion of a month now by a good amount of the players as as an alternative to Ursaluna and Mamoswine, packing a nuclear Poltergeist to take advantage of the lack of Ghost-resists in tandem with its very dangerous STAB Earthquake. The ability to spinblock as well as wall Cobalion sets itself apart defensively to warrant a placement on the VR
from UR to C: Gets some usage here and there on offensive builds as a DD sweeper with access to BoltBeam coverage as well as a naturally useful check to foes like Zapdos and Tornadus-T, fine enough to be ranked at C
and from UR to C: Something something offensive Ice-types under weather good, has gotten some usage in Open with semi snow Slowking cores and performed to decent enough success to be ranked
from UR to C: While its therian counterpart is generally better, the greater Speed tier on Nasty Plot sets on HO in particular does make a notable enough difference against to warrant a rank on the VR, as getting the jump on many foes like Latios and the Ogerpons can be key in bringing success to certain HO builds in the tier right now
from UR to C: What Double Dance Crown does to a tier

Drops
from S- to A+: People just realized that Zapdos can’t wall the enemy team and wallbreak at the same time, leaving it stretched thin while being taken advantage of and overwhelmed in this offensive tier by many rising foes like Ursaluna, Okidogi, and Thundurus-T. Even though it’s gotten amazing usage still, the in-game performing is lacking to where it doesn’t deserve its own rank of S-
from A to A-: Sand isn’t as good anymore with the noticeable weaknesses the archetype has to a lot of threats like Ursaluna, Okidogi, Enamorus-T, and many more becoming a lot more apparent throughout recent tournaments with the nature of type stacking that the archetype falls victim to. More bulky variants of sand have been used to adapt to these issues which in turn utilize Hippowdon over Tyranitar, ultimately contributing to a drop in viability
from A- to B+: Not too appealing as a whole with a somewhat weak Extreme Speed, unreliable Head Smash, and just generally lacking that oomph seen in other breakers right now. Still hasn’t gotten usage all too much and it’s clear that even post Kommo-o A- is an overranking
from A- to B+: Ursaluna generally has ruled the offensive Ground-type role for some time, leaving Mamoswine with some heavy competition and a fall in usage. Its Ice-type STAB was very nice in a more Hydrapple dominated metagame but with the shift to Tera Fairy on Apple plus the aforementioned Ursaluna rise, Mamoswine’s still good offensive combo and priority access can’t save it from a drop to B+
from A- to B+: Since Zapdos is less good, the hard counter to Zapdos also falls in viability. It's been trailing a bit in usage with players realizing that we can beat Zapdos without needing Rhyperior, meaning while still a solid B+ Pokémon, Rhyperior isn’t up to caliber to be in the A ranks.
from A- to B+: I’m not too exactly sure why this ended up dropping but Tinkaton does have a tendency to get worn down quickly admittedly and in a time where Excadrill averages nearly 50% in tournaments, it can be really tough to justify Tinkaton to where many don’t see it on the level of what an A- Pokémon should be
from B+ to B: Very Overdue drop, it's just been really lacking in usage and doesn’t offer enough to justify B+ and no longer part of the tier
from B+ to B: Washer as a whole feels a lot less effective to warrant B+. It gets dropped by powerful breakers like Latios, Greninja, and Hydrapple, loses to Mold Breaker Excadrill outright, has no real way to punish Torn without Twave which in turn means no Wisp, and generally struggles to be justified over other Electric- and Water-types like Zapdos and Slowking to be considered super meta right now
from B to B-: We all knew this was coming
from B- to C: I do not know what I would use this for compared to Cornerpon or Tyranitar or even Hisuian Arcanine except maybe a suicide lead but yeah this Mon is bad
from C to UR: Barely anyone has relevantly used this to where it’s just yet another fringe offensive option sitting in RU or NU wherever that largely works off of theory in UU
from C to UR: The usage stats don’t lie, there’s just very little reason to consistently justify Slowbro over Slowking and while it’ll always have a place technically, the inability to cross that usage barrier means it can’t end up with a rank any longer

 

[mrsuslawl]

from UR to C: Has been getting use for the better portion of a month now by a good amount of the players as as an alternative to Ursaluna and Mamoswine, packing a nuclear Poltergeist to take advantage of the lack of Ghost-resists in tandem with its very dangerous STAB Earthquake. The ability to spinblock as well as wall Cobalion sets itself apart defensively to warrant a placement on the VR

GOATlurk is real gamers

 

[mintwinter]

from A- to B+: I’m not too exactly sure why this ended up dropping but Tinkaton does have a tendency to get worn down quickly admittedly and in a time where Excadrill averages nearly 50% in tournaments, it can be really tough to justify Tinkaton to where many don’t see it on the level of what an A- Pokémon should be

As much as i love tinkaton i have to agree with the drop. Coba can do a lot of the same things while not giving drill the freest switch ever. tink can deal with latios at least

edit: i also love how a fucking middle stage starter shares a rank with hydreigon

 

[Susmaster77]

ive said it before and ill say it again. dragon dance tera ground/steel salamence is a mence to society.

 

[Freya]

Cobalion feels so good to use into the meta threats, volt switch and rocks plus a great typing.

 

[mrsuslawl]

As much as i love tinkaton i have to agree with the drop. Coba can do a lot of the same things while not giving drill the freest switch ever. tink can deal with latios at least

honestly, tink is pretty alright at dealing with latios and apple, sucks that it does negative damage into the tier's ground types

 

[MC Squared]

Every single A- Ground-type dropped because Ursaluna outdoes them all lol

 

[LazilyAmbitious]

from C to B-: Terrain is still kinda mid but it’s not that bad to be stuck in C as compared to being in B- with Hawlucha

Please don't let your opinions cloud your judgement about my favorite, non-stress inducing, reliable and respectable strategy kthx

 

[Catcus]

its been a bit since the tier shifts happened, so I wanted to throw out a few noms

- A-/B+
This mon was kinda overhyped. It has plenty of checks and its not too hard to play around. However, that doesn't mean it's bad. its still decently threatening with a nice speed tier and can cripple checks with glare. It can snowball quickly late game and use sub to punish passive mons. It's a great Tera user who can abuse multiple teras. It's not that hard to beat, but its good.

- B-/C
Araquanid is the better webs setter, but Ribom has some nice traits outside of webs. It has great speed, a decent typing, some fun moves like stun spore and unfortunate but mostly usable Spatk. It's not the best, but has its uses.

- D
Unless we rank sun as a whole, Torkoal shouldn't really be ranked. It hasn't really improved sun and is mostly on par with ninetales as a setter.

A- > A
This mon has not slowed down after the shifts at all. Bulk-up is still a scary bulky sweeper while Flame Orb continues to be one of if not the scariest wallbreaker in the tier. Its still dominating in tournaments and is easily a top 10 mon rn

A- > A
This mon loved the Tier shifts. Losing a psychic type sweeper in exchange for a grass type it beats is great for it. It's also just continued to preform well. AV is more of a legit set, bulk-up sets are doing fine, and overall it's continued to be a consistent mon overall

B+ > A-
people have started to view it more as a bulky offensive mon instead of a wall and its been doing better because of that. it also destroys serp. It still has some splashability problems, but even then its been seeing more usage.

B- > C
Losing Crown is pretty big hit for Psychic Terrain. It's still usable but its harder to justify

C > UR
A couple C mons that I don't think should be ranked. Ditto is barely ever used and there's better revenge-killers. Cinccino is super frail and weak and hard loses to Cobalion. Scream Tail hasn't been used in months and is only really good for latios, and that has a lot of better counters. Magnezone is slow and can't reliably trap a lot of the steels in the tier. Thwackey was only ranked because of crown, and now that its gone grassy terrain is just not worth using.

 

[Monky25]

from New to B+: Truthfully this Mon has performed better than what I expected but I still find B+ the highest it can go. Serperior offers a pretty great Speed tier and very useful supportive capabilities in broken Glare, not to mention there are games where it can run away with taking advantage of foes like Hydrapple and Cobalion, but I think there’s still too many common checks on almost every team to really rank it much higher. Tornadus-T, Scizor, Lokix, Zapdos, Okidogi, Mandibuzz, Skeledirge, Sinistcha, Zarude, Enamorus-T, and Hoopa-Unbound are all notable metagame presences that really tie Serperior down one way or another and keep it from immensely snowballing with Leaf Storm. It’s kinda bulky but not enough to really be used beyond swapping into unboosted Excadrill once or twice and there’s been a good bit of games where I just click Glare, Leaf Storm once or twice, and just end up sacking Serperior. There’s still room for it to be explored between Tera types, EV spreads, and utility options like Synthesis but it’s week 1 showing + personal testing hasn’t particularly made me confident ranking Serperior higher than B+ for now

from New to C: This is like, usable? Insane Speed and offensive Fairy-type can’t be bad truly with Choice Specs being alright to use. It’s pretty poor still and probably falls to RU next shift but I think it’s good enough to still be C

from New to D: Sun is pretty terrible and this Pokémon dropping did nothing to really change that

from A to A+: Greninja is probably the best it’s ever been and is pretty easily the second most scary Pokemon in the entire tier, really abusing the offensive metagame Ursaluna forces with its high Speed and insane coverage making it very difficult to answer. A lot of the defensive outs used for it largely struggle to fit on offense, meaning that only a select pool of Pokemon really can stop it on the archetype and thus allows Greninja to get great value pretty much every game while enabling other teammates to finish the game off or vice versa. Its flaws are pretty easily subverted these days and right now its splashability and dominance means it should probably rise into A+ to highlight its peak.

from A- to A/A+: This Pokemon is broken please ban this if we want a playable tier going forward

from A+ to A: I feel this Mon has really fallen off as of late. The heavy shift towards an offensive metagame has really hindered the ability of Nasty Plot sets to get going without being scared out and in general feels more necessary to commit Tera than ever before. Zapdos has made a good comeback, Okidogi, Scizor, and Greninja are at their peaks, and other mons like Ursaluna and Thundurus-T continue to get great usage to just overwhelm it. By nature of it being a Mon slower than Ursaluna the teams it excelled on like BO and balance are a lot more flawed and it doesn’t really provide any support capabilities to find itself on more offensive teams. I think A is a more accurate placement for sure

from B+ to A-: Super uncontroversial rise but Choice Scarf Hoopa-U is absolutely phenomenal right now. With offense at its peak, Hoopa outright shreds a lot of common teams who really don’t have much of an out beyond hoping it doesn’t click the right coverage move into Cobalion and packs an insanely useful defensive profile as a switch-in to Greninja, Latios, and even Zapdos which is really hard to come across on offense. By far one of the best speed control methods in the tier and definitely should rise into the A ranks to reflect the threat level right now

from B- to B: Ursaluna is broken. Still offers a useful enough defensive profile into some foes like Excadrill and Azumarill and likes the drop off in Hydrapple to thus find itself back on more teams as of late

and from C to UR: I do not think anyone has actually relevantly used rain since the Pelipper ban nor thinks it’s actually good

from C to UR: I think that when we were updating onsite sample sets for C&C moderation, the fact nobody could actually confidently say what this thing runs probably means it should not be ranked.

from C to UR: We knew Crown was rising so idk why we even bothered ranking it

To double as an announcement we will be conducting a VR update by the end of this coming weekend so please get your nominations in for any changes you want to see. We get there’s an Ursaluna test but we figured we’d prefer to use this chance to get the new drops onto the VR rather than hold off on them for weeks on end and we can just adjust in a future update changes sparked by Ursaluna’s presence should it be banned.

 

[mrsuslawl]

KELDEO : B -> B+

Lately, not a lot of people have been running Slowking, whether it's because of the Crown rise or anything else, but I feel like with Slowking less used, Keldeo can really shine. Tera Water Specs Surf 2HKO's AV Torn (no tera needed if rocks are up) , while Icy Wind surprises checks like Latios, Hydrapple, or Sinistcha. Secret Sword is also really good for playing against dedicated SpDef walls, especially on bulkier teams. Lastly, Vacuum Wave is able to revenge kill vs offense teams, which is nice considering both the multitude of viable steel types and the rise of offense styles. It's really just weak to water types like Azumarill and Toxapex, which can be overwhelmed by Keldeo's teammates. Toxapex is basically a hard counter since all of Keldeo's attacks do under 33%. It's also kind of prediction reliant, so I would just nom it to B+ at the most.

 

[Magcargo]

To double as an announcement we will be conducting a VR update by the end of this coming weekend so please get your nominations in for any changes you want to see. We get there’s an Ursaluna test but we figured we’d prefer to use this chance to get the new drops onto the VR rather than hold off on them for weeks on end and we can just adjust in a future update changes sparked by Ursaluna’s presence should it be banned.

Not really confident in this nom since I've been struggling using them, but given that there is some outcry on Ursaluna, I'm thinking & should rise somewhere in the B-Ranks. I'll admit, these mons and the teams they are used on are pretty exploitable, but Dual Screens support is arguably the best support an Ursaluna user can ask for, right next to Healing Wish. Makes it a lot easier for it to get the ball rolling to setup Bulk Ups + deny revenge killing attempts.

, I think, should also rise seeing how easily Calm Mind sets can get out of hand and how well it breaks through the standard UU cores like . I've been running Ice Beam over Draco Meteor + a bulky spread, and its been very nice against these bulky cores + Lokix due to being more difficult to revenge kill with Tera Electric + Ice Beam dealing reliable damage to opposing Ursaluna, Latios, Hydrapple, etc. without lowering your stats (which can feel like a momentum sink on screens where every turn is important).

 

[Rabia]

sry still learning tier some even tho I've been playing somewhat consistently for a couple months now

I genuinely do not think this is S rank material. My biggest issue when using it has been that AV, while great glue, does not appreciate how bad hazards control is in the format. It's not like Excadrill is a bad partner, so you can definitely partner Tornadus-T with support, but beyond that pairing I've consistently felt like Tornadus-T gets overwhelmed the second Stealth Rock gets set. You're often tasked with switching into some pretty obscene wallbreakers (Greninja, Latios, Hydrapple still) that sufficiently pressure it through Assault Vest's bulk boost, and increasingly there's been options like Ursaluna, Thundurus-T, Tera Electric Okidogi, Rhyperior (even if it's less common nowadays), Tera Electric or Steel Enamorus-T, Zapdos again, and many more that present real issues for Tornadus-T when it comes to ceding free turns. Obviously wouldn't drop it below A+ because it still fits on a great amount of teams and can be supported well enough, but I've not felt it really mandates S rank personally.

 

[HydreigonTheChild]

id drop to A+

Why? Sure it isnt smth that got much worse but to be S rank? Alongside torn-t who had to shift to boots cuz AV just isnt cutting it? well it feels many teams are just free to drop it often times

W1 of UUBD:
| 1 | Excadrill | 10 | 41.67% | 30.00% |
W2 of UUBD:
| 9 | Excadrill | 5 | 20.83% | 20.00% |

That is rough... often times its MU's are just not that good anymore with with many things giving it crap like static zapdos, serperior coming in, sinistcha being more popular, phys def slowking, phys def hydrapple and just in general more options which give it a lot more trouble. People have also been running thundy-t as a electric immunity (+ ursaluna ive seen) as even excadrill just isnt good at preventing zapdos from using volt switch. Not to say it is a bad mon cuz it isnt... its good but idt S rank should exist anymore due to the meta just being harsher towards it and it not being the stellar pick that it used to be.

-> B-

Takes a dump on most slowking teams, teams that have smth like hydrapple who doesnt want to eat an ice beam and gets tail glowed on instead, a greninja who is locked into surf, rhyperior who wants to do nothing against such a mon. Tail glow manaphy can just nuke balance teams with its good speed, bulk, and just in general abilities to get setup.

-> C

Bisharp in this cobalion, okidogi, phys def zap, hydrapple infested meta? its going to suck more often thank you think. Send in your free cobalion in today

-> Use luna anyways, kommo-o got banned

-> was used on iron crown screens but iron crown rose up... why use it?

 

[Monky25]

Hello UU enthusiasts, we’ve got our VR update for the post July shifts metagame! While the Ursaluna test is still ongoing, we felt that a possible ban would cause a shift in the metagame that would delay an update, and with already two weeks since tier shifts, we felt it was better to just run an update now to get the new drops onto the VR and then adjust for the aftermath of an Ursaluna ban should it happen accordingly. The rises and drops for this update are below with something new being announced as well

Rises
from New to A-: Been optimized a bit lately with the innovation of Synthesis + Tera Blast sets performing quite well to give it a starting place in A-. Its defensive utility into Excadrill and Hydrapple can be utilized much more freely now with Synthesis and if Serperior commits to using a Tera Type like Fire or Electric, a lot of teams just get run over from the Tera Blast + Leaf Storm combo. Even without Tera, it still offers value between Glare and consistent offensive pressure wearing down a good bit of Grass-resists throughout the game.
from New to C: Sticky Web sets are terrible but Choice Specs is pretty neat due to the high speed and potent Fairy-typing. Still needs a good amount of support but nothing impossible to deny it from getting ranked
from New to C: It's fine I guess. Still kinda new so I get not wanting to immediately toss it in D even though sun hasn’t really looked good. Over time we will see how sun develops into either a playstyle that is worth ranking or trash that falls into D and out of UU
from A to A+: Read my post above, I'm not rewriting the reasoning for a rise
from A- to A+: There’s a reason this Pokemon is being suspect tested. Just read the ban posts for why this Pokemon is so good and so oppressive
from A- to A: Undeniable meta staple and arguable top 10 Pokemon, continuing to provide insane offensive and defensive values in the builder between the near unpunishable Toxic Chain attacks on foes like Zapdos, Tornadus-T, and Slowking and essential defensive value into Lokix, Cornerpon, Cobalion, and Greninja. Great set versatility between Choice Scarf, Substitute 3 Attacks, Assault Vest, and Bulk Up, meaning it can be tailored to any team’s needs and will always perform
from B+ to A-: Anti-offense Pokémon with nuclear Dark-type STAB gets even better in a metagame dominated by offense. Good switch-in to Greninja, Latios, and Thundurus-T that fits on offense itself as well
from B+ to A-: Really likes the current offensive metagame and acts as both a potent pivot on the common Greninja + Ursaluna cores and a key answer to foes like Zapdos, Tornadus-T, and Scizor. Doesn’t really have much defensive outs beyond Latios and random specially defensive Pokémon so you can really use the constant offensive pressure it exerts to create openings and generate momentum for its team. from B to B+: It’s just kinda a good bit better than the stuff in B tier and gets usage on par with a good amount of B+ Pokémon with about 1-2 uses per week rather consistently.
from B to B+: Very good against Greninja + Ursaluna teams with the ability to snowball out of control thanks to Moxie Aqua Step rather quickly. Likes a lot of bulkier Pokemon that answered it being pushed out of the meta, meaning that not much can really stop a sweep beyond taking Quaquaval out before it gets going.
from B to B+: Has a lot more merit in a more offensive metagame as a short term blanket check to a lot of different stuff and offers good utility between status, a ground immunity, and pivoting support on teams that all work to bring it back up to the VR
from B- to B: The only HO is Mew HO and its consistency as a lead being able to usually get up rocks and at least one layer of spikes while packing various utility like Taunt, Wisp, and Misty Explosion, all the while having great natural bulk, lends to a nice rise
from B- to B: This is the closest thing to defensive counterplay for Ursaluna and unlike Hydrapple can EV to outspeed Jolly sets. Likes the aforementioned Hydrapple falling off and with Tera it can be a useful enough wincon while handling foes like Rhyperior, Azumarill, and Excadrill with its base typing. Strength Sap is also a nice tool as a whole
from UR to C: Great check to Serperior, Lokix, and even Greninja with the right EV spreads that likes Cobalion being the most common Steel-type, resulting in an ability to also spread poison with Toxic Chain fairly well. Being a defensive Fairy is always nice
from UR to C: Clicks shift gear and kills everything. Even with an Adamant nature, it outspeeds everything at +2 and in general hits hard, packs a good STAB combo + coverage, and offers valuable niches like a Lokix check + speed boosting sweeper on HO to find a spot on the VR

Drops
from A+ to A: I’m also not repeating the reasoning in my above post
from A- to B+: While always potent, Azumarill drops due to a very poor showing as of late, getting just one use across the 24 games (and 48 possible teams) of UUBD so far which is just unacceptable for something in the A ranks. It’s hard to fit on teams as a whole with how slow it is and generally a lot of teams just lack the tools to make up for Azumarill being a momentum sink at times. The return of Zapdos is also not the best as well as most Greninja these days carrying Sludge Wave on Choice Specs
from A- to B+: Sand has taken a massive tumble despite what one might would think in an offensive metagame, as the archetype is overly reliant on Excadrill to really do anything and a lot of common Pokemon like Greninja, Ursaluna, Serperior, and Okidogi punch massive holes in the archetype. In general, sand requires usage of slow Pokemon like Toxapex, Hydrapple, and Slowking to patch up a lot of bad matchups, but with these Pokemon giving free turns to a super deadly Ursaluna, the archetype is just stretched thin and not that consistent to where Tyranitar falls out of the A ranks. As a standalone breaker, Tyranitar is also overshadowed by Ursaluna
from B+ to B: Basically the same reasons as above. Hippowdon is generally the worse setter than Tyranitar and if Tyranitar falls, so should Hippowdon to be a subrank below it
from B+ to B: Hisuian Arcanine continues to fall off with its lack of actual builder consideration by so many individuals, often being seen as weak at times especially with physically defensive Slowking still being meta and just not offering much to teams as a whole with Extreme Speed being weaker than one might think. Even when Hisuian Arcanine theoretically looks good against opposing teams, it just gets out-predicted and run over before it can do much. Rhyperior and Quaquaval both being more prominent also sucks
from B+ to B: Very hard to justify over Ursaluna
from B+ to B: The Metagame has been a bit hostile towards Grasspon with so many rising metagame presences like Okidogi, Zapdos, Cobalion, and Scizor giving it troubles as of late. Zarude has pretty clearly made itself the superior option between the ability to shrug off Zapdos’s Static and Slowking’s Scald, utilize STAB Knock Off, and just is a more consistent wincon with Swords Dance. Even Choice Scarf Zarude is better due to a) being able to hard into Dark-type moves from Greninja and Hoopa and force them out and b) not having to burn Tera to revenge kill these threats. Serperior also gives it competition as a Grass-type on teams
from B to B-: Just does not have much actual justification to use as of late beyond being a U-turn bot. Okidogi, Hoopa-Unbound, Zarude, and Latios all have asserted themselves as much better Choice Scarf users due to better offensive output and/or actual defensive utility and a lot of VR members are asking themselves when was the last time they could seriously justify Mienshao on a team
from B to B-: Truthfully I think barely anyone has actually given this legitimate consideration over either Thundurus-T or Zapdos or even Rotom-Wash on the vast majority of teams out there
from B- to C: HO is a little bit weaker as a whole and the arrival of Serperior is a massive hindrance to the Sticky Webs archetype
from B- to C: Cobalion is the most used Pokemon in UUBD. Hates bulky attackers like Ursaluna and Okidogi. Largely ends up trading into unfavorable sequences. HO is worse than before
from B- to C: No Iron Crown means Psychic Terrain is weaker than before and the archetype generally has to really hope Hawlucha/Polteageist go in on preview or it's an uphill struggle from there
from B- to C: ^
from C to D: Between the Stealth Rock weakness, inability to deny setup efforts and opposing entry hazards with Prankster taunt, and the vulnerability to leads, especially Tornadus-T with its fast Knock Off, Alolan Ninetales’s ability to get up both screens in one turn in Veil is just not enough to justify over Grimmsnarl, whose access to Prankster and base typing lets it overcome these issues, for an archetype that’s already quite flawed. Since it is still UU by usage, it will be in D tier rather than UR
and from C to UR: Nobody has used rain since the Pelipper ban nor thinks it’s actually even decent to begin with
from C to UR: This Mon will somehow find its way back onto the VR in three months just watch
from C to UR: Idk why this didn’t get removed last time but HO is a bit worse without Iron Crown and each slot really has to count to amplify the archetype. Cobalion is as good as always and other prevalent Pokemon like Rhyperior and Zapdos don’t do it any favors either
from C to UR: I think we finally accepted that Ditto’s theoretical niche will always fall flat judging by the fact it gets used like twice a year at best, meaning we just can’t keep it ranked on the VR any longer
from C to UR: Most of the VR team would rather use literally anything else over this
from C to UR: It turns out the Steel-type trapper is not that great when the most common two Steel-types outspeed and KO you. Doesn’t really enable anything either with Latios packing Flip Turn to get momentum on its checks, Enamorus having natural coverage in Earth Power, and Comfey wanting to use Tera anyway to a point where you’d just use an actual Pokemon over Magnezone
from C to UR: If you thought Stall was bad already I’d hate to tell you what it’s like in a metagame with A+ Ursaluna
from C to UR: I also do not know why this didn’t get removed last time
from C to UR: One day this will KO a Scizor with +2 Upper Hand
from C to UR: Let’s be so fr we all saw this coming. Funny meme though for sure

Additionally, we will be incorporating a new method of making nominations going forward. There have been concerns about a lot of “repeat nominations,” where numerous changes for Pokémon on the VR are repeatedly nominated across multiple slates with not much really changing in terms of their viability, resulting in a bloated slate and concerns from many VR members. As such, we will be adopting something new: In nominations going forward, if a Pokémon has been voted on in the prior update, there must be clear reasoning given as to what has changed since the update to warrant being voted on again. This shouldn’t be too much trouble as it only makes one’s nominations stronger and should hopefully clean up the slate in the process. Below are the Pokémon who we also voted on this slate but failed to change placements for reference down the line. For now though, that’s our update, and we are looking forward to seeing future developments take place!

Unchanged Placements

 

[Mossy Sandwich]

UR --> C
With the Ursaluna ban, other Ground-types get the opportunity to shine, and I stumbled on Gligar which I believe can actually work to a decent effect on bulky offense teams. Now, let's get it out of the way, its lack of recovery, weakness to Water, reliance on its item and underwhelming SpDef are all very notable weaknesses that hold it back and limit what it can do, but the other aspects of the mon are quite valuable. Okidogi and Excadrill can be two of the most difficult mons to fully keep in check as it always feels like they have some way of just breaking through most teams in the right condition. Gligar's Ground/Flying typing and superb physical bulk allows it to hold them off quite effectiely in the short term. Immunity even prevents it from getting poisoned by Okidogi. It can also check stuff like Cobalion, Sandy Shocks or Arcanine-H albeit not as well.

If it were only for its defensive utility though, Gligar would probably not be worth it. What makes it click for me beyond that is its amazing movepool. Toxic, especially paired with STAB Earthquake, is quite difficult to switch into and Knock Off can cripple foes just as well. It can also use Spikes which are rare, but powerful and can keep up momentum with U-Turn. This leads to Gligar generating a ton of advantage on its entry points through hitting a status, removing an item, getting hazards up or letting a teammate in. Gligar is a specific and somewhat flawed mon, but one that can solve some important issues in teambuilding, all the while getting some great progress done everytime it hits the field

 

[ASKOV]

UR --> C
With the Ursaluna ban, other Ground-types get the opportunity to shine, and I stumbled on Gligar which I believe can actually work to a decent effect on bulky offense teams. Now, let's get it out of the way, its lack of recovery, weakness to Water, reliance on its item and underwhelming SpDef are all very notable weaknesses that hold it back and limit what it can do, but the other aspects of the mon are quite valuable. Okidogi and Excadrill can be two of the most difficult mons to fully keep in check as it always feels like they have some way of just breaking through most teams in the right condition. Gligar's Ground/Flying typing and superb physical bulk allows it to hold them off quite effectiely in the short term. Immunity even prevents it from getting poisoned by Okidogi. It can also check stuff like Cobalion, Sandy Shocks or Arcanine-H albeit not as well.

If it were only for its defensive utility though, Gligar would probably not be worth it. What makes it click for me beyond that is its amazing movepool. Toxic, especially paired with STAB Earthquake, is quite difficult to switch into and Knock Off can cripple foes just as well. It can also use Spikes which are rare, but powerful and can keep up momentum with U-Turn. This leads to Gligar generating a ton of advantage on its entry points through hitting a status, removing an item, getting hazards up or letting a teammate in. Gligar is a specific and somewhat flawed mon, but one that can solve some important issues in teambuilding, all the while getting some great progress done everytime it hits the field

pretty much agree with all that has been said about gligar upsides and i support ranking it as well, it's worth mentioning that it is also a fineish check to thund-t which usually has gknot as the best move to hit gligar and with a little bit of spdef investment you avoid the 3HKO from gknot.

gligar surely isn't an amazing pokemon even with all those positive traits because of its lack of recovery moves + relying a ton on eviolite to be able to check things, but i view it as a decent tool for more fast paced teams that need this 1 or 2 times solid switch into stuff like okidogi while still providing some offensive value for the team via crippling something with knock/toxic, get rocks/spikes up or just keep up momentum with uturn, which i feel is the part where most people either don't get when we argue for gligar's usefulness or just overlook it

 

[Colin]

Milotic: C to B tier

Milotic is niche, but it offers a few advantages compared to other bulky Water types and Grass types. To start with, it has great mixed bulk, can pivot with Flip Turn, has reliable recovery, and has an offensive presence with Scald and optionally Ice Beam for the last move slot. This does not make it better than Slowking, who has these traits in addition to Thunder-Wave and Regenerator. Slowking however, is also burdened by its Psychic typing which gives it weaknesses to the incredibly common dark type threats such as Lokix, Greninja, and Hoopa-unbound. Milotic cannot effectively switch in to any of these threats with the possible exception of Greninja depending on your spread and if Greninja can click Dark Pulse safely, but it is also not fodder to these threats either, which tends to happen to Slowking a lot. Other water types, such as Rotom-Wash, are either frailer, or cannot fight Excadrill at all. Grass Types which might be used to compress a water resist and an Excadrill counter are typically also more vulnerable to opposing pivots such as Tornadus-therian and Lokix. Milotic is useful because its pure water typing + bulk allow it to be an effective pivot while not gaining weaknesses to common metagame threats that other water type pivots have.

Milotic can be very flawed; its lack of regenerator and reliable status can leave it passive as it is forced to heal and cannot instantly cripple an opposing offensive threat or defensive switch in. It also likes to fit Leftovers, making it more dependent on hazard removal than most other Pokemon.

Milotic has also been seen in Tournaments multiple times; here are some Milotic teams in action

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9uu-783652 - in this specific game, Slowking would be better than Milotic, but Milotic still proves effective at handling Mamoswine and forcing it to tera to be able to break it. Milotic is optimal on this team because it is softer vs Greninja and Psychic spam is very hard to pilot against other common dark type offensive threats.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9uu-783076 - With only 1 dark resist, Slowking would not be acceptable here and Milotic instead gives the team more breathing room vs dark type threats. Haze Milotic was also critical for surviving against the Hyper Offense team, and Slowking would not have saved Seraphz.

There have been other Milotic uses in UU Blind Draft, but idk which replays they are and so I won't dig for them.

 

[spell]

second this; milotic performs just about as well as slowking and toxapex nowadays imo with a ton of good features and it generally stitches together offense very well. its on like 65% of my teams for this reason and, to help further emphasize how good it can be, just look at my game vs drew where milotic acts as a response to torn//quaquaval//metagross//rhyperior and greninja. basically the entire team and it even landed a burn on serperior which lowered its threat potential a smidge. the main appeal of milotic has always been, to me at least, having all of: 1) reliable greninja answer; 2) mostly reliable okidogi response and 3) better physically biased bulky water into the things that (this goes both for unterad and terad) slowking used to want to handle like metagross, excadrill, quaquaval, lokix and, with proper investment, even hoopa-unbound all in one slot without the need to tera while staving tornadus and gren. very important role compression on offense/bo for sure. now, its not an immovable wall and its certainly not the sturdiest thing in the world to lokix and hoopa in particular but on offensive structures having something that can switchin once or twice while facilitating the offense is quite good. overload is real but not many mons can do all of this with close to as much efficiency as milotic can.

 

[Tree69420]

nomming avalugg to C tier,
its a part of the most viable stall team as of current meta, walls guys such as mamo and heavy slam meta and can leverage its bulk to spin effectively
replays (s/o askov): https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9uu-781166?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9uu-779159

 

[Mossy Sandwich]

A- --> A
Scizor has felt much easier to slot on teams recently and more efficient due to some shifts in meta trends. The two most notable changes for it are Serperior joining the tier and Zapdos getting a little bit less common. Scizor is one of the best Serp counters in the tier and slotting it on your team makes you generally very safe against it, especially since it cares less about paralysis than something like Tornadus might. The impact of Zapdos being rarer is very obvious, Scizor's SD sets run into fewer obstacles and can break or sweep more easily, though even if you run into Zapdos, Scizor partners very well with offensive Electric-types that can deal with it, such as Thundurus-Therian who also happens to deal with Zapdos relatively well. Furthermore, Scizor is among the most reliable priority users in the tier, especially when it comes to dealing with teams that try to deal with Lokix using Spiky Shield Ogerpon-C or Comfey. As a whole, I think the meta has evolved in such a way that it's a bit more hospitable to Scizor and it's the kind of mon to take those little advantages far.

 

[Catcus]

A- -> A
Demonic threat thats shown up a lot in tournament. Scarf outspeeds most of the meta and Rips through non-resists with dark stab. It can destroy unprepared teams and demands alot of consideration in builder. It does have trouble into priority and its not perfect, but the power it brings and its threat level make it super potent

A+ -> A
Ursa leaving hurts it as it heavily abused the offensive meta the bear forced. Okidogi and hoopa doing great doesn't help it either. Its still good and can work well, but it isn't as crazy dominate as it was before.

A -> A-
Hydrapple's made somewhat of a comeback since Ursa left, but even then A rank feels a little too high. Its still had lower usage than the other A tiers and doesn't like dogi doing really good

A- -> B+
Still Good, but it doesn't Like Dogi and Scizor being good and hasn't gotten that much use in tournament for an A- mon.

B -> B+
Its gotten some pretty good usage in tournament lately. It still does normal pecha stuff, but now it can take advantage of it's good okidogi match-up

B+ -> B
Azu is weird. It has a lot of nice traits and seems like it could be great, but in practice it's a little awkward to fit on most teams and has major speed issues. Banded Azu's been kinda mid for at least a month now since its slow, hazard weak and has a lot of competition as a breaker. Belly drum is a bit better but is mostly limited to HO, where it has a decent amount of competition as a water and fairy type. Overall, it just doesn't really like a meta staple at this point.

B+ -> B
Kinda the same reasons as Azu. Its Slow and hard to fit on teams. Apple getting worse also hurts it since it one of the best match-ups for it. Dogi being great hurts it even more.

B+ ->B
Spikes is nice but besides that, it kinda just feels like a worse thundy-T? They're both Electric immune Special Attacking Electric types with 101 speed, but thundurus is stronger and has a better type. It has use cases since spikes is a good move, but most of the time you'd rather use thundy.

B -> B-
No Ursaluna.

B -> B-
Has seen nearly no usage recently and doesn't feel nearly as potent as the rest of B rank


B- -> C
Even compared to the other B- mons these guys aren't used. Other mons have really outclassed them as speed control on top of their own issues. Mienshao has little to no defensive utility and is almost completely ruined by zapdos, and I have a whole other post on why raikou is mid.


C -> B-
B- feels a little empty and i feel like gligar is a bit better than the rest of C. It's great for Dogi, Drill, and thundy-t and can generally contribute a lot to a match. It has obvious issues but can still function really well

UR -> C/B-
Stall isn't the best, but it's not unviable and its shown up occasionally in tournament. These two are staples for the style and are on most stall teams. Cyclizar can spin while knocking off and pivoting, and chansey does what chansey does.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9uu-784010
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9uu-781166?
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9uu-779159

C -> UR
idk why this is still ranked, I legit haven't seen it since January lmao. It's stabs are mid, it's coverage is awkward and can't everything it needs to, its tera reliant, and it has an obviously terrible lokix match-up. I can't see a real reason to actually use it at all.

 

[mrsuslawl]

A- -> B+
Still Good, but it doesn't Like Dogi and Scizor being good and hasn't gotten that much use in tournament for an A- mon.

hard agree, especially with metagame developments like Scizor comeback and dogi serp just feels more gamble-reliant than ever tbh. It's way too inconsistent for A- and I haven't seen too many tour games with it.

 

[Twilight]

I more or less agree with a majority of the noms from cactus so I won't bother repeating any.

C -> B-
I think Fezan has a good enough niche setting itself apart from most of the junk in C. Great defensive typing + bulk make it an effective check to Serperior, Okidogi, and Greninja. Pivot sets can spread poison just like Dogi with Toxic Chain. I think the meta is fairly positive for it to shine.

B -> B-
Keldeo will always be a threat to certain builds by nature of its offensive typing but it just struggles so much with competing against Greninja as an offensive Water-type. It can't break Slowking and struggles a lot more with AV Torn-T in comparison to Greninja. Thundurus-T has seen a spike in usage which also hurts this Pokemon further.

B+ -> B
I nommed it down last time and I'm nomming it down again. Mandibuzz is just an okay Pokemon to me. It is the only viable Defog user, which is great and all but it kind of blows that it loses to so many setters anyway. Cobalion is the biggest one that you simply can't punish but you also have Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Tink, Sandy, etc. The presence of Okidogi also makes its life miserable. Checking Hoopa-U is nice but I don't think it performs its other roles well enough to retain B+.

C -> UR
The snow stuff is pretty meme. I can see Cetitan as a standalone with Slowking but AlolaSlash isn't it. Jirachi does not see play and there is very little reason to run it as your Steel-type. Has too many issues with Zapdos, Cobalion, Excadrill, etc.

 

[ThatOneApple]

C -> B-
This thing has a really neat set of traits. Its probably the best Rockpon answer one could ask for while still sponging scary attacks like Hoopa's Hyperspace Fury. Its also great at fending off Excadrill while also carrying spikes, making it very easy to keep spikes up in a longer game. Its definitely held back by its weakness to the Flying-types, Hydrapple, and Okidogi, but its also very useful for both its own spikes and a teammates stealth rock that it can draw these foes in and remove their boots/lefties. Chesnaught is specific to fatter hazard stacking styles but I believe its good enough to separate itself from the C rank slop