Fiend
someguy
We were a bit slow to update the vr, mostly due to Porygon being banned and seeing how the metagame shifts afterward (wasn’t much actually). I was also busy which is why this is coming out now instead of Monday. This being acknowledged, we have some changes to make. Overall we aim to make the VR more stringent, and for now we are ignoring D rank. I will handle that soonish. Onto the changes:
Pawniard -> A+
With Fletchling largely irrelevant, Vullaby running multiple sets that specifically beat Pawniard, and a new fairy which Pawniard cannot switch into, Pawnaird’s defensive abilities are revolved around beating Shellder and hail setters. But even these frequently pack something to hit Pawniard and make it only a check. Without a defensive presence beyond its strong Sucker Punch, Pawniard is hard pressed to get onto the field. That being said, when it does come on the field, Pawniard is just as devastating as before. Frankly absurd power when using LO, great flexibility as a revenge killer, and being a natural hole puncher keeps Pawniard extremely viable still, though not to the same extent as the S ranks. Further, the ability to maul its check and potentially OHKO them with a Z move has extreme potential and makes it especially potent.
Cutiefly -> S
Originally we were hesitant to put Cutiefly in the S rank as its stats are almost amusingly poor. Yet, Baton Passing Quiver Dances is great, especially with so many good special attackers about. Passing Speed plus bulk is good enough even some physical attackers like Timburr make great recipients. Cutiefly has also risen to be the dominating metagame force in tandem with Diglett and Vullaby, which makes it obviously S rank in the council minds.
Foongus -> A
Foongus has a lot of upsides between Regenerator, Spore, good resists, and hazing ability. Foongus is able to beat a lot of the top sweepers right now, but it has one pretty extreme flaw: being Gothita bait. And being a defensive Pokemon, this is rather detrimental especially considering that Foongus is thrown in against Volt Switch and U-turn users so frequently it is bound to be trapped.
Scraggy -> A
While Scraggy is good and all, it’s not THAT good. It only hits 22 Speed at +1 leaving it prone to being picked off by scarfers, and offensively HJK and Knock Off don’t hit too hard. There is not a definitive reason why Scraggy is not A+ material, though. This move comes chiefly from the fact that Scraggy better compares to Gastly, Snivy, Carvanha, and Ponyta than it does with Abra, Magnemite, and Gothita. This move is also fueled by the general master plan to make the VR more stringent as the meta progresses.
Chinchou -> A-
Chinchou has far less of a defensive niche this generation, as nothing amazing is walled by it besides Magnemite. As a Scarfer, Chinchou gives Cutiefly free turns, but Porygon is no longer a massive pain for it which somewhat offsets this. Additionally, Chinchou can revenge kill a variety of very threatening sweepers rather well and its coverage can be murderous with proper prediction. This drop is again fueled by the master plan of making the vr more stringent, plus the fact Chinchou has a middling at best defensive niche.
Cottonee -> A-
Again echoing the wish to make vr more stringent, but Cottonee is rather “meh” at beating the best metagame trends right now. Sun teams hardly care about it, Vullaby laughs at it, other bird do a lot to it anyway, Water-spam is so far somewhat lackluster, and the defensive threats of the tier REALLY beat Cottonee with the exceptions of Berry Juice Magnemite and Munchlax. Moreover, the metagame is generally outpacing Cottonee, further reducing its longevity.
Spritzee -> B+
This is a fairly straightforward move: Gothita really makes Spritzee a liability, but on the other hand it is strong when Gothita is not on the opposing team. Spritzee is also usually overlooked for some over new Fighting-resists such as Mareanie since its main niche over them is Wish Passing which comes with the side effect of passivity.
Tirtouga -> B+
Water spam has largely lost its popularity. Moreover, Tirtouga doesn’t really beat the common Flying-types any more and its sweeping abilities are as questionable as ever. With all of its sets being a little bit worse it better fits alongside the rest of B+.
Mareanie -> A-
Cutiefly really makes Mareanie shine, and Mareanie has most of the plusses Foongus does minus Spore. Instead it has Toxic Spikes and two pretty good STABs which prevent it from being nearly as passive as Foongus. Mareanie does have a slightly worse typing than Foongus though, and is consequently also weak to Diglett. Being weak to trappers is pretty bad for a defensive Pokemon, leaving Mareanie right where it belongs at A-.
Archen -> B
All Archen really has going for it right now is that it is a one time switch in to Vullaby and can prevent Dwebble from getting up hazards. Archen is also a decent Defogger, but its lack of longevity and inability to beat the other birds is a pretty big downside. Plus being weak to Waters and Electrics is pretty bad in the current metagame and with its SR weakness being forced out is pretty damaging.
Larvesta -> B
Larvesta does beat Cutiefly but not its BP sets. Cutie is the pivoting bug of choice for most anyway, and while this does not leave Larvesta niche-less, it does struggle to really find solid ground to stand on. Larvesta also suffers from Stone Edge Mienfoo seeing a massive uptick in usage, and Acrobatic Mienfoo also seeing sky high usage is a further detriment. Hazard stack is also godly in the current metagame, which makes supporting Larvesta very costly.
Munchlax -> A
Cutiefly and Sun make Munchlax great by itself. Munchlax is the most reliable counter to both, and the role compression it provides is more or less holding the meta together. Munchlax is generally solid with its stats and ability to handle Abra and Gastly, but with so many Fighting types around Munchlax is not perfect. Munchlax also gets worn down pretty easily seeing as everything it wants to beat is strong which forces either Rests or Recycles which can become awkward to manage when pressure is applied. Munchlax is overall on the same level as Scraggy making it very easily on the upper end of a mildly stringent mid A.
Dewpider -> B-
This was nominated a few times, and honestly is appears to be influenced by the new toy phenomenon. But Dewpider does match up well against the tier’s trappers and hits hard with a somewhat cool typing. Middling speed and a weakness to rock is damaging though, but it is about as good as most of B- even with these issues.
Pawniard -> A+
With Fletchling largely irrelevant, Vullaby running multiple sets that specifically beat Pawniard, and a new fairy which Pawniard cannot switch into, Pawnaird’s defensive abilities are revolved around beating Shellder and hail setters. But even these frequently pack something to hit Pawniard and make it only a check. Without a defensive presence beyond its strong Sucker Punch, Pawniard is hard pressed to get onto the field. That being said, when it does come on the field, Pawniard is just as devastating as before. Frankly absurd power when using LO, great flexibility as a revenge killer, and being a natural hole puncher keeps Pawniard extremely viable still, though not to the same extent as the S ranks. Further, the ability to maul its check and potentially OHKO them with a Z move has extreme potential and makes it especially potent.
Cutiefly -> S
Originally we were hesitant to put Cutiefly in the S rank as its stats are almost amusingly poor. Yet, Baton Passing Quiver Dances is great, especially with so many good special attackers about. Passing Speed plus bulk is good enough even some physical attackers like Timburr make great recipients. Cutiefly has also risen to be the dominating metagame force in tandem with Diglett and Vullaby, which makes it obviously S rank in the council minds.
Foongus -> A
Foongus has a lot of upsides between Regenerator, Spore, good resists, and hazing ability. Foongus is able to beat a lot of the top sweepers right now, but it has one pretty extreme flaw: being Gothita bait. And being a defensive Pokemon, this is rather detrimental especially considering that Foongus is thrown in against Volt Switch and U-turn users so frequently it is bound to be trapped.
Scraggy -> A
While Scraggy is good and all, it’s not THAT good. It only hits 22 Speed at +1 leaving it prone to being picked off by scarfers, and offensively HJK and Knock Off don’t hit too hard. There is not a definitive reason why Scraggy is not A+ material, though. This move comes chiefly from the fact that Scraggy better compares to Gastly, Snivy, Carvanha, and Ponyta than it does with Abra, Magnemite, and Gothita. This move is also fueled by the general master plan to make the VR more stringent as the meta progresses.
Chinchou -> A-
Chinchou has far less of a defensive niche this generation, as nothing amazing is walled by it besides Magnemite. As a Scarfer, Chinchou gives Cutiefly free turns, but Porygon is no longer a massive pain for it which somewhat offsets this. Additionally, Chinchou can revenge kill a variety of very threatening sweepers rather well and its coverage can be murderous with proper prediction. This drop is again fueled by the master plan of making the vr more stringent, plus the fact Chinchou has a middling at best defensive niche.
Cottonee -> A-
Again echoing the wish to make vr more stringent, but Cottonee is rather “meh” at beating the best metagame trends right now. Sun teams hardly care about it, Vullaby laughs at it, other bird do a lot to it anyway, Water-spam is so far somewhat lackluster, and the defensive threats of the tier REALLY beat Cottonee with the exceptions of Berry Juice Magnemite and Munchlax. Moreover, the metagame is generally outpacing Cottonee, further reducing its longevity.
Spritzee -> B+
This is a fairly straightforward move: Gothita really makes Spritzee a liability, but on the other hand it is strong when Gothita is not on the opposing team. Spritzee is also usually overlooked for some over new Fighting-resists such as Mareanie since its main niche over them is Wish Passing which comes with the side effect of passivity.
Tirtouga -> B+
Water spam has largely lost its popularity. Moreover, Tirtouga doesn’t really beat the common Flying-types any more and its sweeping abilities are as questionable as ever. With all of its sets being a little bit worse it better fits alongside the rest of B+.
Mareanie -> A-
Cutiefly really makes Mareanie shine, and Mareanie has most of the plusses Foongus does minus Spore. Instead it has Toxic Spikes and two pretty good STABs which prevent it from being nearly as passive as Foongus. Mareanie does have a slightly worse typing than Foongus though, and is consequently also weak to Diglett. Being weak to trappers is pretty bad for a defensive Pokemon, leaving Mareanie right where it belongs at A-.
Archen -> B
All Archen really has going for it right now is that it is a one time switch in to Vullaby and can prevent Dwebble from getting up hazards. Archen is also a decent Defogger, but its lack of longevity and inability to beat the other birds is a pretty big downside. Plus being weak to Waters and Electrics is pretty bad in the current metagame and with its SR weakness being forced out is pretty damaging.
Larvesta -> B
Larvesta does beat Cutiefly but not its BP sets. Cutie is the pivoting bug of choice for most anyway, and while this does not leave Larvesta niche-less, it does struggle to really find solid ground to stand on. Larvesta also suffers from Stone Edge Mienfoo seeing a massive uptick in usage, and Acrobatic Mienfoo also seeing sky high usage is a further detriment. Hazard stack is also godly in the current metagame, which makes supporting Larvesta very costly.
Munchlax -> A
Cutiefly and Sun make Munchlax great by itself. Munchlax is the most reliable counter to both, and the role compression it provides is more or less holding the meta together. Munchlax is generally solid with its stats and ability to handle Abra and Gastly, but with so many Fighting types around Munchlax is not perfect. Munchlax also gets worn down pretty easily seeing as everything it wants to beat is strong which forces either Rests or Recycles which can become awkward to manage when pressure is applied. Munchlax is overall on the same level as Scraggy making it very easily on the upper end of a mildly stringent mid A.
Dewpider -> B-
This was nominated a few times, and honestly is appears to be influenced by the new toy phenomenon. But Dewpider does match up well against the tier’s trappers and hits hard with a somewhat cool typing. Middling speed and a weakness to rock is damaging though, but it is about as good as most of B- even with these issues.
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