jcbc
lechonk is so cute
Hey hey hey, here to make a post this time not as the tier leader but as a player. I'm going to reply to bandit (get a name change actu it feels weird jajaja) and then i will drop my personal 2 cents on the state of the tier with some of my own nominations.
When i think of tier 2 pokemon i think of pokemon that have success with pretty much no help at all which already makes spritzee not fit the definition. Spritzee better or worse at it (obviusly is the best at it) only works in trick rooms teams as a setter for the most of it. And then another point that i tend to use when i think of tier 2 pokemons is how much checks/counters it has and how many pokemons it checks/counter and the answer tbf is rather low. Spritzee is very tanky yes but the resistances it has won't stop it from getting hard chipped everytime it tries to set TR. Another thing i don't agree with is the part where you say spritzee is the only fairy type of the tier when we literally have Cottonee around, which yes, have a very different role and doesn't hit as hard from the lack of moonblast, but Cottonee offers as much if not more utility than Spritzee does and does it for a larger range of team archetypes yet i wouldn't say Cottonee is tier 2 worth it. Now not everything i have to say are negative things, ofc spritzee rn is phenomenal and is a key for the successful team-scheme "Trick Room" so i would totally support a raise but only to Tier 3.
Ok and with this out of the way, let me drop my own nominations.
Abra to t2 - I must say before anything that i may be biased here because i was, am and will be an abra stan. But i feel like people is just lurking over the Trick Room hype train when Abra is so good overall, everytime i see an Abra on the field it puts in a lot of work. Having that high SpA with an amazing speed is just so hard to deal with, specially when u can't flinch it and your only bet for revengekilling it is winning the speed tie with Ponyta, having Tailwind up or having an Scarf pokemon. I would also like to call out the Life Orb Inner Focus set which allows abra to break through teams even faster (i will give credits for this one to @risii even if i had thought of it in the past but she was the first one to show it so props on you).
Porygon to t2 - Now this may sound weird, why Porygon to tier 2? You just said Spritzee wouldn't make it to tier 2. Okey let me explain myself, to me Porygon was always on the edge of tier 2, this pokemon is super versatile. It has so many sets and so many ways to either give utility or breaking power to teams. What ended up pushing it for me is how good Trick Room is as a strategy rn and Porygon is just so happy about this as both an abuser and a setter because this means more reasons to use it.
Skrelp to t4 - Okey soo, after a 5 months iatus on the unranked lands Skrelp came back and seems like its been trainint because it came back strong. Of course the Trick Room raise is what's pushing it but i can't do but to agree with everyone that Skrelp deserves to be ranked for both its bulk and damage output. I personally would say tier 4 by now because i feel like it's one step above in all terms than tier 5 pokemons.
Solosis to t5 - I know for a fact that i'm not the only one that has been toying with solosis, but boy this little blob is a menace. You let it free to do as it please and it will bring you nothing but hell. The bulk it has makes it survive almost any attack even if it's a super effective one. While the SpA it has allows it to deal huge damage to teams. And the speed it has could be a problem, but trick room is literally one of the best team styles rn; solosis is on its sauce with the current state of the metagame.
Cubchoo to t5 - We were thinking about the wrong hail sweeper all this time. Cubchoo has the actual SpA to spam Blizzard which is amazingand still carry some physical moves specially superpower which allows it to ohko one of the biggest threads to hail teams on Pawniard. Additionally it can carry Surf on certain teams to also hit Ponyta for a big chunk.
Gastly to t3 - I think Gastly is still a top threat that you need to have into account when building but it's sooo frail for it to do any progress on its own. The damage output is of course amazing but when you have to kill everytime in order to not die is a bit shaky of a condition to be considered tier 2.
Sandshrew-Alola to UR - Yeah you readed what i said about Cubchoo? Well so this pokemon here can't do it. Additionally the x4 weakness makes itjust so vulnerable to a lot more things which makes it not worth using in my opinion.
So this would be it for now, thanks for reading my opinion and of course feel free to give your own one or reply to mine if you think i'm wrong with anything, i'm always down to debate. I probably wont be adding any new nominations myself but i will try to reply to anyone that replies to me or that gives any new nomination.
I will commence saying that we may have gone a bit far on dropping spritzee to tier 4 (god voltix is gonna laugh at me so hard when he reads this) but previous to the tour, trick room was close to none seen. Now what have changed? Nothing to be honest, this is just the meta developing which i love to see happening. But is spritzee deserving of being tier 2? Well i personally don't think so.tier 4 -> 2. Spritzee is the most reliable trick room setter, one of the best TR attackers, and the only relevant fairy type in the tier all wrapped up in one.
Its ability means it can’t be taunted or encored (unless neutralizing gas is present), and its 78/60/65 bulk allows Spritzee to always get off at least one trick room.
As an attacker, spritzee’s decent 63 spa combined with good coverage in moonblast & psychic lets it do big damage to a lot of the top threats. While steels do wall it, the best two Pokémon in the tier (mienfoo and ponyta) can easily remove these obstacles. Spritzee is really the only fairy attacker in a meta where two of the three Pokémon in tier 1 are fairy-weak.
When i think of tier 2 pokemon i think of pokemon that have success with pretty much no help at all which already makes spritzee not fit the definition. Spritzee better or worse at it (obviusly is the best at it) only works in trick rooms teams as a setter for the most of it. And then another point that i tend to use when i think of tier 2 pokemons is how much checks/counters it has and how many pokemons it checks/counter and the answer tbf is rather low. Spritzee is very tanky yes but the resistances it has won't stop it from getting hard chipped everytime it tries to set TR. Another thing i don't agree with is the part where you say spritzee is the only fairy type of the tier when we literally have Cottonee around, which yes, have a very different role and doesn't hit as hard from the lack of moonblast, but Cottonee offers as much if not more utility than Spritzee does and does it for a larger range of team archetypes yet i wouldn't say Cottonee is tier 2 worth it. Now not everything i have to say are negative things, ofc spritzee rn is phenomenal and is a key for the successful team-scheme "Trick Room" so i would totally support a raise but only to Tier 3.
Well i feel pretty much the same way as i do with Spritzee here, the only difference would be that i was already a Mudbray to tier 3 voucher previously to the tour. Bray is PHENOMENAL the bulk, coverage and offensive stats are just that good. But same as Spritzee i think Tier 2 is to much for it.Tier 4 -> 2. Mudbray’s combination of high overall base stats, good movepool, and great offensive typing in ground makes it one of the most threatening Pokémon in the meta. It has two useful abilities, one aiding its offensive presence making sure it can never be intimated or flinched by fake out (inner focus) and the other increasing its physical bulk in a meta where most attackers are physical (stamina). It’s also at a convenient speed tier where it can function both on TR teams, or can outspeed the meta in tailwind.
Ok and with this out of the way, let me drop my own nominations.
RISES
Abra to t2 - I must say before anything that i may be biased here because i was, am and will be an abra stan. But i feel like people is just lurking over the Trick Room hype train when Abra is so good overall, everytime i see an Abra on the field it puts in a lot of work. Having that high SpA with an amazing speed is just so hard to deal with, specially when u can't flinch it and your only bet for revengekilling it is winning the speed tie with Ponyta, having Tailwind up or having an Scarf pokemon. I would also like to call out the Life Orb Inner Focus set which allows abra to break through teams even faster (i will give credits for this one to @risii even if i had thought of it in the past but she was the first one to show it so props on you).
Porygon to t2 - Now this may sound weird, why Porygon to tier 2? You just said Spritzee wouldn't make it to tier 2. Okey let me explain myself, to me Porygon was always on the edge of tier 2, this pokemon is super versatile. It has so many sets and so many ways to either give utility or breaking power to teams. What ended up pushing it for me is how good Trick Room is as a strategy rn and Porygon is just so happy about this as both an abuser and a setter because this means more reasons to use it.
Skrelp to t4 - Okey soo, after a 5 months iatus on the unranked lands Skrelp came back and seems like its been trainint because it came back strong. Of course the Trick Room raise is what's pushing it but i can't do but to agree with everyone that Skrelp deserves to be ranked for both its bulk and damage output. I personally would say tier 4 by now because i feel like it's one step above in all terms than tier 5 pokemons.
Solosis to t5 - I know for a fact that i'm not the only one that has been toying with solosis, but boy this little blob is a menace. You let it free to do as it please and it will bring you nothing but hell. The bulk it has makes it survive almost any attack even if it's a super effective one. While the SpA it has allows it to deal huge damage to teams. And the speed it has could be a problem, but trick room is literally one of the best team styles rn; solosis is on its sauce with the current state of the metagame.
Cubchoo to t5 - We were thinking about the wrong hail sweeper all this time. Cubchoo has the actual SpA to spam Blizzard which is amazingand still carry some physical moves specially superpower which allows it to ohko one of the biggest threads to hail teams on Pawniard. Additionally it can carry Surf on certain teams to also hit Ponyta for a big chunk.
DROPS
Gastly to t3 - I think Gastly is still a top threat that you need to have into account when building but it's sooo frail for it to do any progress on its own. The damage output is of course amazing but when you have to kill everytime in order to not die is a bit shaky of a condition to be considered tier 2.
Sandshrew-Alola to UR - Yeah you readed what i said about Cubchoo? Well so this pokemon here can't do it. Additionally the x4 weakness makes itjust so vulnerable to a lot more things which makes it not worth using in my opinion.
So this would be it for now, thanks for reading my opinion and of course feel free to give your own one or reply to mine if you think i'm wrong with anything, i'm always down to debate. I probably wont be adding any new nominations myself but i will try to reply to anyone that replies to me or that gives any new nomination.