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Resource SV UU DLC 2 Viability Rankings- Update at Post #281
- Thread starter Monky25
- Start date
Fair enough. But there are plenty of examples. There’s Hydreigon who’s been a UU staple since Gen 6, now power crept by the new Dragons and the two big Fairies (also Lokix eats this alive). Infernape, Krook, and Feraligatr are now outclassed and irrelevent to UU. Also the fact that Staraptor went from UUBL 4 generations only to not even be strong enough to cut it in NU. Power creep has been crazy this gen.
Powercreep or not the reality is that we have a lot more Pokemon these days than we used to. Tiers can only hold 40 or so Pokemon and we have about 500 of those, albeit not all in the game. Yes Pokemon have gotten stronger over time but also our tiers havent gotten bigger, OU can hold only so many Garchomps so some of them will fall and cause a domino effect for lower tiers.
Yes this generation has powercreep and is pretty special all things considered but also I think the whole powercreep talk is an uproductive distraction. I think its a lot better to accept it and think about UU as how it is rather than "how it should be".
We will be getting new Pokemon in the future still, that was never going to change and UU would eventually start looking like OU of older generations.
Tornadus-T is metagame king again with Zapdos around the corner, nature is healing...
Yeah you can not try and rewrite history. It has had a history of success in UU. BW, early XY (replaced by Mega in ORAS), SM/USUM and various periods of SS.
Anyways I'm curious. What made Zarude rise?
Pretty sure they were referring to gen 9 when it comes to pert, where yeah it never was particularly good
as for zarude, it’s been seeing some usage as a scarfer that provides a ground resist while packing knock and u turn, which makes it a nice speed control option for teams that want more workarounds for excadrill.
The DLC added 2 generations worth of Pokemon into the game.
If you added 2 generations worth of Pokemon to any generation, it would drastically change the meta game.
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A bit surprised tinkaton didn't rise. I felt that it was extremely good game after game with its great defensive profile while not being passive and great support move pool while also having good set verity between baloon and lefties..
I interpreted them as talking about kleavor not swampert, could be wrong. Kleavor was never that good, it only stayed in uu so long cuz ladder loved it.
The UU tier has always seemed to me to be the niche closest to the standard competitive model but with the greatest possibility of adapting the game to your tastes, and considering that they would not normally be used for a specific role and without altering your winrate. The game has changed and pokemon that previously bordered on the uber line now drop in productivity, but the viability of adapting a team to your tastes remains, and it does not feel like there are only four pokemon breaking the meta as usually happens in OU.
Changing the subject, isn't Hisuian Arcanine very high up, or does it just seem that way to me? No one doubts his potential as a Wallbreacker/Revenge Killer, but it seems to me that his moveset tends to be very predictable, almost dependent on the choice items, and that he suffers a lot against mon that surpass him in speed.
Actually there's a little more depth to Arcanine-H with heavy duty boots. It just outspeeds almost all the steel types in the tier, even excadrill, naturally so it's pretty easy to bluff a choice flare blitz into a resist before slamming the switch in with head smash, which i believe nothing can resist both. And being able to freely use Extreme Speed at a moments notice can be the difference of winning and losing if you keep it healthy long enough, like catching a low health lokix, azumaril, greninja, or halucha off guard. Also even without choice band, terra normal E-speed does crazy damage to those previously mentioned.
Of course this set has plenty of flaws, it doesn't hit neutral targets as hard as you want, and even on a good match up your sometimes relying on rock-head's frustrating accuracy, but that's nothing new for Pokemon.
The only real moveset changes I would make to the HD set would be to drop morning sun for coverage because there is almost never a moment I want to spend a turn healing on a really frail mon on anything that's not a predicted switch.
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Not to be that guy but rock and fire isn’t an unresistible combo. Rhyperior, Kommo-o, Keldeo, Quaq, and every water ground resist both.
I also want to add stealth rock as a good 4th move on boots sets. It frees up other mons’ movesets, like Tink being able to run twave and encore, and Drill being able to run sd. There are very few situations where you’d be clicking a coverage move anyways cuz stab head smash is so strong.
I will say, in terms of things that resist rock/fire, thats it. besides terrakion, you named all the viable mons that resist the combo. That's 7 mons on the viability rankings that can actually switch-in to arc(maybe add hippowdon to that since it can take harc's hits with investment, but you get the point, there's not many switch-ins)
Also to add to the list of good 4th moves, I'll suggest will-o-wisp. harcanine is one of the few mons in the tier with it, and it allows it to cripple mons on switch-in
7 mons on the VR that resist it’s stabs isn’t actually that low. For comparison only 4 ranked mons resist Azu’s stabs, and only 2 resist Mamo’s.
In comparison it isn't too low, but 7 is still a low number. Azu has issues with its speed outside of aqua jet, meaning more things resist it in practice but Mamo is sometimes more threatening
Also to add onto the fourth move for Harcanine, wild charge. This is really good in this rain meta and can help with bulky water types in general.
Wild charge is probably the best coverage option, but it doesn’t help with Rhyp or Kommo at all which are it’s 2 best counters.
I prefer psyfangs as an option, as it hits most of the resists for SE while also bringing additional screen breaking utility
I'm really liking Cobalion as a physical tank on balanced teams.
The Iron Defense + Body Press combo is enough for Cobalion to do a lot of damage without investing EVs in Atk and almost regardless of whether or not it is super effective. His speed allows him to outrun threats that would otherwise get him into trouble, such as Arcanine-Hisuian or Excadrill, while also being able to take them out.
There is nothing mandatory in the next two slots, so you are free to add moves as needed to your team. Volt Switch allows you to maintain the momentum of the battle, breaking focus sash in the process (you can even invest EVs in a special attack if you want to heavily damage a calculated enemy), while Taunt will help prevent the enemy's support pokemon from fulfilling their role, as well as avoid boosting in HO roles.
You can put Rocky Helmet on him if you're interested, although Leftovers' gradual health increase is always better in the long run, since Cobalion doesn't have any other way to regain health.
Currently I like to use him with Slowking as a partner, although I suppose there may be another special wall with which he can better cover his weaknesses.
It seems to me that it fulfills its function better than Metagross currently, for example, which is why I nominate it for A-
It was literally updated 2 weels ago.
I believe that was just due to a ban but a full overhaul hasn't happened since March
I'd say that's a full overhaul.With the end of the UUPL regular season in addition to it being more than 2 weeks since the drops happened, the VR team felt now was an appropriate time to update the VR. We voted on every Pokemon on the VR, with all the changes that occurred being down below. Due to the amount of changes made in this update, the VR thread will be open for a 48 hour period to ask questions about any changes that did or did not take place during this update. Please refrain from repeating questions as well as making any other nominations during this period. After this period is up, the thread will be open for the community to make nominations. Also, ThatOneApple was added to the VR team. Be sure to say your congratulations!
New Additions / Rises
Drops
(New Drop) to A-
(New Drop) to A-
from A+ to S-
from A+ to S-
from A to A+
from A to A+
from B+ to A+
from B+ to A-
from B+ to A-
from B to B+
from B- to B
from C+ to B+
from C+ to B-
from C+ to B-
from C to B
from C to B-
from UR to C
from UR to C
from S- to A+
from A to A-
from A to A-
from A- to B+
from A- to B+
from A- to B+
from B+ to B
from B to B-
from B to B-
from B to B-
from B to B-
from B to C+
from B to C+
from B- to C+
from B- to C+
from B- to C+
from B- to C+
from B- to C+
from B- to C+
from C+ to C
from C+ to C
from C+ to C
from C+ to C
:Kilowattrel
and
all from C to UR
Oh ok. Problem is on the VR list it says "Last edited by a moderator on February 1"
I also noticed that, so its alright. It might be something to do with how mods edit it.
With about a month passing since our last update in addition to the end of UUPL, ban of Pelipper, and start of UULT, the VR team felt there was a need to alter the VR to reflect the current meta, hence this update. Reasoning for all the rises and drops are down below. Also, vivalospride has stepped down from the VR team. Thank you for your contributions! In more positive news though, spell was added to the VR team. Congratulations! Now, onto the update!
Rises
:Tornadus-T: to S: Tornadus-T is back to the sheer dominance it had in the DLC 1 metagame, albeit with a new Ground/Steel spinner sharing the S rank. Assault Vest and Boots Torn continue to be phenomenal progress making machines with an insane difficulty to punish as it Knocks, U-turns, and Bleakwinds across the match. Its defensive profile cannot be understated, providing so much into the likes of Latios, Hydrapple, Greninja, Kommo-o, Cobalion, and the Ogerpons, and there’s never a game where it’s useless. Even Nasty Plot has popped up as a potent wincon as of late. It’s insanely splashable and deserves the S rank as the pinnacle of what the rank should be
to A: Even with the ban of Rain, Greninja has proven to be a formidable standalone Pokemon on HO and offense builds with its insane Speed and excellent coverage, being one of the scariest cleaners in the tier these days. The adoption of Protect/Upper Hand in its moveset for Lokix, its biggest revenge killer, helps a lot in making it that much more difficult to answer, and with flexible coverage in Sludge Wave or Ice Beam, it can be difficult to know whether your check to Greninja ends up dropping to the correct coverage move. As a whole, Greninja excels at pressuring and taking out top threats like Excadrill and Zapdos as well as Regenerator walls like Slowking and Hydrapple which all lends to the rise to A tier
to A: Tyranitar rebounds after dropping in the prior update with most of the VR team believing it’s better than what A- indicates. Sand continues to be one of the best playstyles of the tier and Tyranitar is the most prominent setter, with it + Excadrill being an insanely difficult to answer offensive combo. Also, the sheer power of its Choice Band set against common Regenerator Balance is an amazingly good trait, tearing apart these slower builds with its nuclear STAB combo and excellent coverage options for Cobalion and Hydrapple.
to A-: SV UU’s current rising star, it seems we can’t escape from Cobalion’s dominance as a generational UU powerhouse. Its defensive profile continues to be very good, being able to mess with key threats such as Scizor, Lokix, Grasspon, and Ogerpon-Cornerstone while being a valuable offensive check to hard to wall Pokémon Excadrill, Tyranitar, Mamoswine, and Azumarill. Utility options like Stealth Rock, Volt Switch, Taunt, and Thunder Wave further work to complement the teams Cobalion finds itself on, and right now has just continued to rise in usage and viability to where it’s a high A- Pokemon even and likely seems to break into UU by usage in the near future
to A-: Mamoswine breaks into the A ranks as one of the most reliable and deadly wallbreakers in the tier with its insanely good STAB combo and ability to pair with common pivots to good success. There’s so many Flying, Ground, and Dragon-types in the metagame that drop Ice-type STAB, with attempts at midgrounds like Cobalion falling to Earthquake. Slowking is often resorted to check Mamoswine on these teams, but with how prone it is to being overwhelmed, not to mention Slowking can get Knocked by Mamoswine + entry hazards, there are many instances of Mamoswine being able to just wipe out Slowking and go in vs enemy defensive structures, ultimately justifying a rise into A-
to A-: Rhyperior has been a trending alternative of Excadrill as a Ground-type on teams due to the amazing ability to counter the dominant Flying-types in Zapdos and Tornadus-T. It does very well into common removal options as a Stealth Rock setter, and the adoption of Megahorn into its movepool lets it be an insanely hard hitting threat that punishes switch-ins like Slowking and Hydrapple. Rhyperior synergizes well with the most common Pokemon and ultimately has proven to be a consistent enough bulky rocks setter to rise into the A ranks
to B+: With sand continuing to be one of the best playstyles, Hippowdon also rises up as an alternative to Tyranitar on more defensive oriented sand teams with its useful ability to check threatening Pokémon like Cobalion, Tyranitar, Kommo-o, and opposing Excadrill. Since these defensive teams are rising in usage, Hippowdon rises as such to represent them
to B+: Sandy Shocks has been seeing some additional usage as an alternative Ground-type thanks to its ability to fit the rare Spikes and act as an offensive pivot who checks Zapdos and is difficult to Volt Block itself. A slower metagame makes Tera Blast sets easier to utilize which in turn allows it to easily take out annoying Dragon-types like Hydrapple and Kommo-o and become an unwallable pivot.
to B+: Okidogi has been trending lately with its defensive and offensive profile being really good into the metagame at large. As a Fighting-type, being able to punish standard Fighting resists with Toxic Chain is a massive benefit over other options, and its defensive profile is quite good lately against foes like Cobalion, Lokix, Ogerpon-Cornerstone, and Kommo-o. Bulk Up sets, while a bit Tera reliant, can be very hard to stop when it gets going, while Choice Scarf sets have been seeing a lot more usage due to its raw power and matching up nicely against sweeper Kommo-o sets. Good Pokémon that should hopefully get more usage with its potency in the metagame being discovered more
to B+: Insert Pokemon who owns Regen balance part 3, this time as a bulky trademon that is extremely difficult to wall. Both Flame Orb and Bulk Up sets are dangerous, potent, and reliable to where they can go 1 for 1.5 at minimum against basically any team style thanks to Ursaluna’s raw stats and excellent coverage. Great Pokemon that rises to meta staple status in B+
to B: Quaquaval has seen some more prominence as an underrated sweeper on HO builds thanks to a unique ability to snowball very quickly with Moxie and Aqua Step. A simple Tera Electric can give Quaquaval the chance it needs to setup and wallbreak, resulting in many instances of early game sweeps by the Pokémon with only Hydrapple really being a reliable enough stop to it thanks to Tera Blast Electric for bulky Water-types. It’s got nice defensive utility into Tyranitar and Scizor as well.
:Thundurus-T: to B: A threat that keeps on rising, Thundurus-T is yet another option that is growing in prominence due to its ability to offensively take on the most common threats in the metagame, eating Zapdos + Excadrill builds alive and threatening the regenerator users of the metagame. It can tap into coverage options like Sludge Bomb, Weather Ball, Psychic, and Focus Blast for enough flexibility and versatility to be a dangerous pivot that can take out typical checks like Hydrapple and Latios with not much difficulty. It even offers enough defensive utility against Tornadus-T and certain Kommo-o variants on the short term to help the team out. Nasty Plot also messes with balance if you haven’t seen like 5 mons rise due to their ability to do that already.
:Enamorus-T: to B-: Enamorus-T dropped too harshly in the last update, for it still has a pretty useful niche of an offensive Fairy-type that happens to counter the very common Hydrapple with access to useful coverage and tools like Calm Mind and Healing Wish. The sheer power of its Moonblast, especially when backed by Pixie Plate, is extremely difficult to swap into without a bulky Steel and general special walls like Slowking and AV Torn get dropped rather easily. Enamorus-T also enjoys the most common Steel-types being Excadrill and Cobalion, both of which are not reliable at tanking its hits at all. It’s a bit awkward to build around but B- is more appropriate than C+ as a general ranking
to B-: Choice Scarf is pretty decent now thanks to a slower tier, allowing it to shred both offense and balance builds with its dangerous Dark-type STAB attacks in a Knock Off + Hyperspace Fury combo, not to mention how Hoopa can tap into useful coverage options rather easily as well in addition to more utility based moves like Trick and Destiny Bond. It’s natural special bulk lets it take on Iron Crown, Greninja, and Latios to a serviceable enough extent, and with the amount of usage Hoopa has gotten a rise to B- is more than justified
to B-: Comfey has shown to be an absolute demon this UULT, with Calm Mind + Tera Blast Ground sets being an absurdly consistent wincon on HO builds that dumpsters threats like Lokix and Greninja while being able to set up against and take out common Pokemon like Zapdos and Tornadus-T. Even the common Excadrill isn’t too troublesome, as Comfey can be at high health and can take it out with Tera Blast, often meaning there’s not much in the way of a Draining Kiss clean up. A Tera reliance and the inability to sometimes boost against bulky threats that aren’t bothered by Draining Kiss limit Comfey’s ability to be ranked any higher, but it’s still a fairly recent development and there is a very real world where it continues rising through the ranks
to C+: Salamence has been seeing a bit more usage as a pretty solid Excadrill check thanks to Intimidate as well as others like Lokix and Scizor. While Special attacking sets are not as deadly offensively as Latios, it's still strong and maintains a useful enough defensive profile while liking developments such as Slowking investing mostly in physical defense. As a Dragon Dance sweeper, Salamence has seen a bit more usage thanks to Roost + it’s ability to not be as bothered by Tornadus and Zapdos compared to Kommo-o
to C: Has seen some usage in UULT and is on a sample team as a useful lead in UU thanks to possessing numerous useful factors like dual entry hazard access, passable enough natural bulk, Taunt, and the key Will-o-Wisp to cripple Pokemon like Excadrill, Lokix, and Tyranitar, hindering their threat level and giving its teammates the ability to set up more easily, which all come together to warrant a spot for Mew on the VR
to C: Even with Pelipper gone, rain isn’t completely unviable, so Politoed is now reranked to represent a more niche rain
Drops
to A: It’s good, but not as good as Lokix, Slowking, and Hydrapple to warrant being in the same rank as them. The standard sets in Tera Electric Calm Mind and Offensive Choice Specs/Soul Dew aren’t really A+ level, with the former suffering from a Tera reliance as well as an awful matchup against the S tier Excadrill, while the latter still runs into prediction reliance and is pretty easily offensively checked in the metagame right now to deny it A+.
to A-: Too slow and isn’t particularly solid as a defensive Water right now, which in turn has left it with limited usage outside of HO that isn’t enough to keep it A. A lot of the stuff it wants to check like Greninja and Kommo-o can target Azumarill with coverage as well. It’s still very potent offensively though and with rain gone could very well rebound in usage
to A-: Cornerpon got exposed a bit this UULT, being shown to be really outplayable and denied opportunities to boost and tear through defensive cores. While its coverage of choice is unpredictable it cannot cover everything it likes and has games where it can end up as rather useless. A lot has to go right for a sweep, and even though 4 attacks sets have started to see exploration, Cornerstone still suffers a drop to A-
to A-: Cobalion checks a lot of what Tinkaton wants to check to a better degree, resulting in a natural decline of Tinkaton. It can sometimes struggle to fit all the utility it wants and isn’t super reliable into Pokémon it sometimes wants to check like Lokix and Ogerpon-Cornerstone. Tinkaton still benefits though from the prominence of Greninja and Choice Specs Latios and has a strong niche in the tier nonetheless.
to C: No Pelipper means Rain is bad now and Barraskewda undergoes a massive tumble down the VR. Rain is still viable though, seen with the reranking of Politoed, and Barraskewda has potential for pivot sets outside of rain thanks to its insane Speed. Alas, this has yet to be proven, so Barraskewda will reside in C for the time being.
to B+: The meta is really unfavorable for Ogerpon right now with too many Grass resists being prevalent in the metagame for the Mon to really accomplish much offensively apart from being a KnockTurn bot. Its lack of bulk results in it not being able to take hits you sometimes want it to, and Grasspon’s niche of Tera Speed Boost Encore has been less valuable lately to warrant staying in the A ranks
to B+: Just lacks the splashability and usage really to stay in A- despite doing well against top stars like Hydrapple and Kommo-o. Too much of a Tera sink and a momentum sink while despising the common Knock Off and powerful breakers and sweepers who just don’t care about Unaware and can muscle past Skeledirge
to B: This has barely been used in a relevant manner in like 3 months. It's a miracle it stayed ranked so high for that long. Empoleon is unironically a bit better now with the return of Choice Specs Latios and Greninja being more prominent, but this arguably reflects that it would have dropped even lower than just one subrank
to B: Even though Calm Mind variants have been rising a little bit to take advantage of a couple traditional answers, Keldeo just runs into too many bad matchups like Tornadus-T, Zapdos, Slowking, Hydrapple, Latios, Azumarill, the Ogerpons, and Toxapex to really keep up such a high ranking in B+
to B-: Cobalion’s rise in usage badly hurts in addition to other continued threats like Kommo-o being prominent, and while a strong Sucker Punch is powerful, Bisharp also struggles to setup and hasn’t really gotten enough relevant usage to warrant a ranking in B
to B-: I do not think I have seen this Pokémon relevantly used since Week 1 of UUPL
to C+: Hydrapple runs the Grass-type dynamics in UU and unless your team is really weak to Azumarill there’s little reason to use Amoonguss over it
to C+: Gastrodon’s main reason for being up so high was its matchup against rain, but with it gone there’s very little reason to use Gastrodon over other options. Slowking endlessly comes in and pivots against it, while Gastrodon fails to reliably check Zapdos even due to its inability to harm it immediately compared to Rhyperior. It’s general lack of stats and passivity leave it overpowered by the strongest threats of the tier and just isn’t that great of a tool right now on teams that aren’t very fat
to C+: There are so many better Steel-types who accomplish a variety of better roles than Jirachi, and with Wish balance just still not really existing, Jirachi now falls into the C ranks on the VR
to C: Hasn’t seen any real usage for ages now and while it’s STAB combo is difficult to swap into, there’s an inability to justify Magnezone being ranked higher than C right now
to UR: Rain is very niche now so niche option on a niche archetype means no rank for Floatzel
to UR: Ever since getting ranked to begin with, Wo-Chien has yet to really receive much experimentation and usage. Like Amoonguss above, it also suffers from Hydrapple being a very dominant Pokemon and is too Tera reliant to really find a place onto many teams that Hydrapple wouldn’t be used anyway, hence its removal from the VR
Rises
:Tornadus-T: to S: Tornadus-T is back to the sheer dominance it had in the DLC 1 metagame, albeit with a new Ground/Steel spinner sharing the S rank. Assault Vest and Boots Torn continue to be phenomenal progress making machines with an insane difficulty to punish as it Knocks, U-turns, and Bleakwinds across the match. Its defensive profile cannot be understated, providing so much into the likes of Latios, Hydrapple, Greninja, Kommo-o, Cobalion, and the Ogerpons, and there’s never a game where it’s useless. Even Nasty Plot has popped up as a potent wincon as of late. It’s insanely splashable and deserves the S rank as the pinnacle of what the rank should be
to A: Even with the ban of Rain, Greninja has proven to be a formidable standalone Pokemon on HO and offense builds with its insane Speed and excellent coverage, being one of the scariest cleaners in the tier these days. The adoption of Protect/Upper Hand in its moveset for Lokix, its biggest revenge killer, helps a lot in making it that much more difficult to answer, and with flexible coverage in Sludge Wave or Ice Beam, it can be difficult to know whether your check to Greninja ends up dropping to the correct coverage move. As a whole, Greninja excels at pressuring and taking out top threats like Excadrill and Zapdos as well as Regenerator walls like Slowking and Hydrapple which all lends to the rise to A tier to A: Tyranitar rebounds after dropping in the prior update with most of the VR team believing it’s better than what A- indicates. Sand continues to be one of the best playstyles of the tier and Tyranitar is the most prominent setter, with it + Excadrill being an insanely difficult to answer offensive combo. Also, the sheer power of its Choice Band set against common Regenerator Balance is an amazingly good trait, tearing apart these slower builds with its nuclear STAB combo and excellent coverage options for Cobalion and Hydrapple. to A-: SV UU’s current rising star, it seems we can’t escape from Cobalion’s dominance as a generational UU powerhouse. Its defensive profile continues to be very good, being able to mess with key threats such as Scizor, Lokix, Grasspon, and Ogerpon-Cornerstone while being a valuable offensive check to hard to wall Pokémon Excadrill, Tyranitar, Mamoswine, and Azumarill. Utility options like Stealth Rock, Volt Switch, Taunt, and Thunder Wave further work to complement the teams Cobalion finds itself on, and right now has just continued to rise in usage and viability to where it’s a high A- Pokemon even and likely seems to break into UU by usage in the near future to A-: Mamoswine breaks into the A ranks as one of the most reliable and deadly wallbreakers in the tier with its insanely good STAB combo and ability to pair with common pivots to good success. There’s so many Flying, Ground, and Dragon-types in the metagame that drop Ice-type STAB, with attempts at midgrounds like Cobalion falling to Earthquake. Slowking is often resorted to check Mamoswine on these teams, but with how prone it is to being overwhelmed, not to mention Slowking can get Knocked by Mamoswine + entry hazards, there are many instances of Mamoswine being able to just wipe out Slowking and go in vs enemy defensive structures, ultimately justifying a rise into A- to A-: Rhyperior has been a trending alternative of Excadrill as a Ground-type on teams due to the amazing ability to counter the dominant Flying-types in Zapdos and Tornadus-T. It does very well into common removal options as a Stealth Rock setter, and the adoption of Megahorn into its movepool lets it be an insanely hard hitting threat that punishes switch-ins like Slowking and Hydrapple. Rhyperior synergizes well with the most common Pokemon and ultimately has proven to be a consistent enough bulky rocks setter to rise into the A ranks to B+: With sand continuing to be one of the best playstyles, Hippowdon also rises up as an alternative to Tyranitar on more defensive oriented sand teams with its useful ability to check threatening Pokémon like Cobalion, Tyranitar, Kommo-o, and opposing Excadrill. Since these defensive teams are rising in usage, Hippowdon rises as such to represent them to B+: Sandy Shocks has been seeing some additional usage as an alternative Ground-type thanks to its ability to fit the rare Spikes and act as an offensive pivot who checks Zapdos and is difficult to Volt Block itself. A slower metagame makes Tera Blast sets easier to utilize which in turn allows it to easily take out annoying Dragon-types like Hydrapple and Kommo-o and become an unwallable pivot. to B+: Okidogi has been trending lately with its defensive and offensive profile being really good into the metagame at large. As a Fighting-type, being able to punish standard Fighting resists with Toxic Chain is a massive benefit over other options, and its defensive profile is quite good lately against foes like Cobalion, Lokix, Ogerpon-Cornerstone, and Kommo-o. Bulk Up sets, while a bit Tera reliant, can be very hard to stop when it gets going, while Choice Scarf sets have been seeing a lot more usage due to its raw power and matching up nicely against sweeper Kommo-o sets. Good Pokémon that should hopefully get more usage with its potency in the metagame being discovered more to B+: Insert Pokemon who owns Regen balance part 3, this time as a bulky trademon that is extremely difficult to wall. Both Flame Orb and Bulk Up sets are dangerous, potent, and reliable to where they can go 1 for 1.5 at minimum against basically any team style thanks to Ursaluna’s raw stats and excellent coverage. Great Pokemon that rises to meta staple status in B+ to B: Quaquaval has seen some more prominence as an underrated sweeper on HO builds thanks to a unique ability to snowball very quickly with Moxie and Aqua Step. A simple Tera Electric can give Quaquaval the chance it needs to setup and wallbreak, resulting in many instances of early game sweeps by the Pokémon with only Hydrapple really being a reliable enough stop to it thanks to Tera Blast Electric for bulky Water-types. It’s got nice defensive utility into Tyranitar and Scizor as well.:Thundurus-T: to B: A threat that keeps on rising, Thundurus-T is yet another option that is growing in prominence due to its ability to offensively take on the most common threats in the metagame, eating Zapdos + Excadrill builds alive and threatening the regenerator users of the metagame. It can tap into coverage options like Sludge Bomb, Weather Ball, Psychic, and Focus Blast for enough flexibility and versatility to be a dangerous pivot that can take out typical checks like Hydrapple and Latios with not much difficulty. It even offers enough defensive utility against Tornadus-T and certain Kommo-o variants on the short term to help the team out. Nasty Plot also messes with balance if you haven’t seen like 5 mons rise due to their ability to do that already.
:Enamorus-T: to B-: Enamorus-T dropped too harshly in the last update, for it still has a pretty useful niche of an offensive Fairy-type that happens to counter the very common Hydrapple with access to useful coverage and tools like Calm Mind and Healing Wish. The sheer power of its Moonblast, especially when backed by Pixie Plate, is extremely difficult to swap into without a bulky Steel and general special walls like Slowking and AV Torn get dropped rather easily. Enamorus-T also enjoys the most common Steel-types being Excadrill and Cobalion, both of which are not reliable at tanking its hits at all. It’s a bit awkward to build around but B- is more appropriate than C+ as a general ranking
to B-: Choice Scarf is pretty decent now thanks to a slower tier, allowing it to shred both offense and balance builds with its dangerous Dark-type STAB attacks in a Knock Off + Hyperspace Fury combo, not to mention how Hoopa can tap into useful coverage options rather easily as well in addition to more utility based moves like Trick and Destiny Bond. It’s natural special bulk lets it take on Iron Crown, Greninja, and Latios to a serviceable enough extent, and with the amount of usage Hoopa has gotten a rise to B- is more than justified to B-: Comfey has shown to be an absolute demon this UULT, with Calm Mind + Tera Blast Ground sets being an absurdly consistent wincon on HO builds that dumpsters threats like Lokix and Greninja while being able to set up against and take out common Pokemon like Zapdos and Tornadus-T. Even the common Excadrill isn’t too troublesome, as Comfey can be at high health and can take it out with Tera Blast, often meaning there’s not much in the way of a Draining Kiss clean up. A Tera reliance and the inability to sometimes boost against bulky threats that aren’t bothered by Draining Kiss limit Comfey’s ability to be ranked any higher, but it’s still a fairly recent development and there is a very real world where it continues rising through the ranks to C+: Salamence has been seeing a bit more usage as a pretty solid Excadrill check thanks to Intimidate as well as others like Lokix and Scizor. While Special attacking sets are not as deadly offensively as Latios, it's still strong and maintains a useful enough defensive profile while liking developments such as Slowking investing mostly in physical defense. As a Dragon Dance sweeper, Salamence has seen a bit more usage thanks to Roost + it’s ability to not be as bothered by Tornadus and Zapdos compared to Kommo-o to C: Has seen some usage in UULT and is on a sample team as a useful lead in UU thanks to possessing numerous useful factors like dual entry hazard access, passable enough natural bulk, Taunt, and the key Will-o-Wisp to cripple Pokemon like Excadrill, Lokix, and Tyranitar, hindering their threat level and giving its teammates the ability to set up more easily, which all come together to warrant a spot for Mew on the VR to C: Even with Pelipper gone, rain isn’t completely unviable, so Politoed is now reranked to represent a more niche rainDrops
to A: It’s good, but not as good as Lokix, Slowking, and Hydrapple to warrant being in the same rank as them. The standard sets in Tera Electric Calm Mind and Offensive Choice Specs/Soul Dew aren’t really A+ level, with the former suffering from a Tera reliance as well as an awful matchup against the S tier Excadrill, while the latter still runs into prediction reliance and is pretty easily offensively checked in the metagame right now to deny it A+. to A-: Too slow and isn’t particularly solid as a defensive Water right now, which in turn has left it with limited usage outside of HO that isn’t enough to keep it A. A lot of the stuff it wants to check like Greninja and Kommo-o can target Azumarill with coverage as well. It’s still very potent offensively though and with rain gone could very well rebound in usage to A-: Cornerpon got exposed a bit this UULT, being shown to be really outplayable and denied opportunities to boost and tear through defensive cores. While its coverage of choice is unpredictable it cannot cover everything it likes and has games where it can end up as rather useless. A lot has to go right for a sweep, and even though 4 attacks sets have started to see exploration, Cornerstone still suffers a drop to A- to A-: Cobalion checks a lot of what Tinkaton wants to check to a better degree, resulting in a natural decline of Tinkaton. It can sometimes struggle to fit all the utility it wants and isn’t super reliable into Pokémon it sometimes wants to check like Lokix and Ogerpon-Cornerstone. Tinkaton still benefits though from the prominence of Greninja and Choice Specs Latios and has a strong niche in the tier nonetheless. to C: No Pelipper means Rain is bad now and Barraskewda undergoes a massive tumble down the VR. Rain is still viable though, seen with the reranking of Politoed, and Barraskewda has potential for pivot sets outside of rain thanks to its insane Speed. Alas, this has yet to be proven, so Barraskewda will reside in C for the time being. to B+: The meta is really unfavorable for Ogerpon right now with too many Grass resists being prevalent in the metagame for the Mon to really accomplish much offensively apart from being a KnockTurn bot. Its lack of bulk results in it not being able to take hits you sometimes want it to, and Grasspon’s niche of Tera Speed Boost Encore has been less valuable lately to warrant staying in the A ranks to B+: Just lacks the splashability and usage really to stay in A- despite doing well against top stars like Hydrapple and Kommo-o. Too much of a Tera sink and a momentum sink while despising the common Knock Off and powerful breakers and sweepers who just don’t care about Unaware and can muscle past Skeledirge to B: This has barely been used in a relevant manner in like 3 months. It's a miracle it stayed ranked so high for that long. Empoleon is unironically a bit better now with the return of Choice Specs Latios and Greninja being more prominent, but this arguably reflects that it would have dropped even lower than just one subrank to B: Even though Calm Mind variants have been rising a little bit to take advantage of a couple traditional answers, Keldeo just runs into too many bad matchups like Tornadus-T, Zapdos, Slowking, Hydrapple, Latios, Azumarill, the Ogerpons, and Toxapex to really keep up such a high ranking in B+ to B-: Cobalion’s rise in usage badly hurts in addition to other continued threats like Kommo-o being prominent, and while a strong Sucker Punch is powerful, Bisharp also struggles to setup and hasn’t really gotten enough relevant usage to warrant a ranking in B to B-: I do not think I have seen this Pokémon relevantly used since Week 1 of UUPL to C+: Hydrapple runs the Grass-type dynamics in UU and unless your team is really weak to Azumarill there’s little reason to use Amoonguss over it to C+: Gastrodon’s main reason for being up so high was its matchup against rain, but with it gone there’s very little reason to use Gastrodon over other options. Slowking endlessly comes in and pivots against it, while Gastrodon fails to reliably check Zapdos even due to its inability to harm it immediately compared to Rhyperior. It’s general lack of stats and passivity leave it overpowered by the strongest threats of the tier and just isn’t that great of a tool right now on teams that aren’t very fat to C+: There are so many better Steel-types who accomplish a variety of better roles than Jirachi, and with Wish balance just still not really existing, Jirachi now falls into the C ranks on the VR to C: Hasn’t seen any real usage for ages now and while it’s STAB combo is difficult to swap into, there’s an inability to justify Magnezone being ranked higher than C right now to UR: Rain is very niche now so niche option on a niche archetype means no rank for Floatzel to UR: Ever since getting ranked to begin with, Wo-Chien has yet to really receive much experimentation and usage. Like Amoonguss above, it also suffers from Hydrapple being a very dominant Pokemon and is too Tera reliant to really find a place onto many teams that Hydrapple wouldn’t be used anyway, hence its removal from the VR