My personal opinions on the VR thread and the state of the metagame.
Suicune: S to A+ Agree
Yeah, I kind of have to agree here. Suicune has been fluctuating between S and A+ for months, and it's plain to see why. Zapdos, Whimsicott, Mega Ampharos, Toxicroak, and a lot of Suicune's other checks, are more prevalent than ever, and continue to shape the metagame against Suicune, always stopping it from walling and sweeping like it once did. Speaking of sweeping, Suicune's famous Calm Mind set has kind of fallen out of favor to make room for better CM sweepers like Reuniclus and Florges. It's still a great 'mon, it fits on a huge number of teams, it checks so many threats that I have a hard time listing them, etc, but I do think a drop is impending.
Krookodile: A+ to A Agree
I probably use Krookodile on more than half of my teams, but I definitely think that it's getting harder to use. The metagame has recognized Krookodile's nature as a potent wallbreaker and adapted accordingly. Many different Pokemon, most notably Empoleon and Cobalion, run Shuca Berry very often now for the express purpose of stopping the attacks of Ground-types like Krookodile. As the metagame is flooded with powerful offensive Water-types like Crawdaunt and Gyarados, Grass-types like Whimsicott, Tangrowth, and Chesnaught are getting more and more popular, and it's getting harder to use Krookodile effectively imo. A is good enough.
Azelf: A to A- Agree
The lead metagame is kind of hard to keep up with, but its developments can be summed up in a single word: Sableye. Yeah, it can Taunt Azelf and basically invalidate the vast majority of its support sets. NP gets past it, but that's not really the set that I see on the vast majority of teams. Yeah, A- is probably good. Mega Beedrill and Whimsicott can mess it up too.
Mega Absol: B to B+ On the Fence
I'm going to assume that the reason why this was brought up is because of Sableye, whose status spam makes it easier for Mega Absol to switch in and set up. That makes sense, and Sableye is definitely on a huge number of teams these days, but I don't know if Mega Absol should really be bumped up a rank because of it. Sableye is definitely a fixture of balance, but more and more, other checks to Absol are also popping up. Cobalion, Chesnaught, Florges, Suicune, and other 'mons are decent checks to Absol, depending on the set. Its mediocre bulk, in my opinion, often offsets its good offensive stats and ability. It honestly could merit a bump, but there are still a number of things holding it back.
Suicune: S to A+ Agree
Yeah, I kind of have to agree here. Suicune has been fluctuating between S and A+ for months, and it's plain to see why. Zapdos, Whimsicott, Mega Ampharos, Toxicroak, and a lot of Suicune's other checks, are more prevalent than ever, and continue to shape the metagame against Suicune, always stopping it from walling and sweeping like it once did. Speaking of sweeping, Suicune's famous Calm Mind set has kind of fallen out of favor to make room for better CM sweepers like Reuniclus and Florges. It's still a great 'mon, it fits on a huge number of teams, it checks so many threats that I have a hard time listing them, etc, but I do think a drop is impending.
Krookodile: A+ to A Agree
I probably use Krookodile on more than half of my teams, but I definitely think that it's getting harder to use. The metagame has recognized Krookodile's nature as a potent wallbreaker and adapted accordingly. Many different Pokemon, most notably Empoleon and Cobalion, run Shuca Berry very often now for the express purpose of stopping the attacks of Ground-types like Krookodile. As the metagame is flooded with powerful offensive Water-types like Crawdaunt and Gyarados, Grass-types like Whimsicott, Tangrowth, and Chesnaught are getting more and more popular, and it's getting harder to use Krookodile effectively imo. A is good enough.
Azelf: A to A- Agree
The lead metagame is kind of hard to keep up with, but its developments can be summed up in a single word: Sableye. Yeah, it can Taunt Azelf and basically invalidate the vast majority of its support sets. NP gets past it, but that's not really the set that I see on the vast majority of teams. Yeah, A- is probably good. Mega Beedrill and Whimsicott can mess it up too.
Mega Absol: B to B+ On the Fence
I'm going to assume that the reason why this was brought up is because of Sableye, whose status spam makes it easier for Mega Absol to switch in and set up. That makes sense, and Sableye is definitely on a huge number of teams these days, but I don't know if Mega Absol should really be bumped up a rank because of it. Sableye is definitely a fixture of balance, but more and more, other checks to Absol are also popping up. Cobalion, Chesnaught, Florges, Suicune, and other 'mons are decent checks to Absol, depending on the set. Its mediocre bulk, in my opinion, often offsets its good offensive stats and ability. It honestly could merit a bump, but there are still a number of things holding it back.