And we're back! My apologies for the delay abound, but as promised, here are some reasonings for most of the changes in this update:
RISES:
Clefable’s general utility and unique defensive qualities have become nothing short of outstanding, from its ability to fit on all off offense to stall, and vast movepool extending to Rocks, Wish, Unaware, Calm Mind, or something else, very few Pokemon right now can hope to match its prowess right now, including its ability to help stave off the likes of increasingly common threats such as Latios, Meowscarada, and Iron Hands, marking it as among the most important and splashable presences while we have it around.
Debate between either Tera or Mega Latias aside, what’s also similar is the comparatively strong sentiment that very few Pokemon are shown to be capable of reliably pressuring both forms of Calm Mind, often being able to outright end games on the spot through the overwhelming power of boosted Stored Powers, or just via the standard combination of 2 Attacks with Psyshock and coverage for Darks. For the amount of care required to handle either variant right now, both have each been moved up a rank.
Substitute + Leftovers sets take full advantage of common staples like Tapu Fini, Gastrodon, and numerous Grounds, while Serperior’s broken combination of a fast, universally effective Glare and huge snowball potential with Contary Leaf Storm continues to go a long way in making it the best form of itself. It also takes full advantage of Aegislash’s dominance as the premier Steel-type (As Stance Change can easily leave it vulnerable to mindgames and being picked off behind your own Sub), and emphasis on more aggressive builds filled to the brim with slower wallbreakers which appreciate said support options, allowing it to rise to A to reflect its increased dominance in the tier.
The newly discovered option of Rest has become a huge asset in allowing Ting-Lu to fit on more balanced and defensive teams - Being able to shut out threats like SubToxic Aegislash and Galarian Slowking entirely without having to rely on Tera or support from its teammates, even taking a stray +2 Tera Blast Fighting from Polteageist on stall builds, while continuing to be as valuable as ever on more offensive teams for its reliability at laying offensive pressure via either Stealth Rock or Spikes, to say nothing of its combination of absurd bulk and phasing capabilites to boot. The aforementioned degree of expansion in flexibility currently cements it as one of the best defensive Pokemon all-around.
A dynamic duo of defense compounded by their increased reliability at locking down opposing teams through sheer residual damage. Skarmory’s access to Spikes and Ground/Toxic immunities both give it a much-needed leg up against opposing setters and removers of the same game, outlasting them with utmost ease as most of them remain grounded, all while being an important check to various physical threats like Excadrill, Mega Tyranitar, and Gyarados too.
Celesteela itself has also stood out more in relation to the directions taken by most offensive structures; thriving both against and outside it with Defensive and Meteor Beam sets respectively. The Leech Seed + Protect combo, sometimes accompanied by increasingly popular options like Toxic to handle Regenerator spam in particular, is near-riskless to click when dealing with most switches, especially with powerful offensive tools like STAB Heavy Slam and Flamethrower in the back to punish any overconfident setup attempts, while retaining its ability to hold off Latios, SubToxic Aegislash, and Enamorus.
Serviceable defensive qualities in conjunction with their expanding offensive potential has resulted in Hydreigon and Iron Hands rising to B+. Hydreigon has since expanded its repository to include Choice Scarf, which is similar to Specs, in that it effectively breaks past neutral targets with its expansive coverage and simultaneous ability to act as a pivot, while retaining a crucial Pursuit resistance in comparison to the Lati-twins. It has also made use of more offensive sets featuring several variations of Nasty Plot to break teams open with precision and longevity via Roost, on top of utility variants boasting access to both Defog and Stealth Rock, a rarity to possess in either role.
Iron Hands packs monstrous bulk that is critical to the backbone of more offensive teams, easily taking any one-such hit in a pinch while being no slouch offensively, as Swords Dance and Choice Band variants pack impeccable coverage to easily break a majority of walls in return, and its flexibility in EV Spreads, item, and Tera type of choice when running the former also goes hand-in-hand with this rather solidly.
Arguably a long-overdue one to date, Sandy Shocks occupies a nice blend of offensive traits with some hugely valuable utility, brought out at large following Gliscor’s departure. With either Booster Energy or Choice Scarf sets accentuated by Terastalization, Sandy Shocks can easily outspeed and put the lights out against a significant portion of offensive threats, while also obliterating any Gastrodon or Hippowdon in the back using Tera Blast Grass, or blasting its way through unsuspecting targets like Serperior, Meowscarada, and Hydreigon via Tera Blast Ice. Couple this with Sandy Shocks being one of the few reliable offensive hazard setters alongside the prevalence of rising Pursuit users for the few special blobs of the tier able to stuff it, and you have a threat that is more than more capable of making its way up the tiering chain right now.
Skeledirge’s access to Unaware and Will-O-Wisp makes it phenomenal at reversing offensive momentum, while being able to blank a ton of threats on the way in, ranging from common Fighting-types, to its ability to completely counter Cinderace and Iron Moth. While still very much limited by the prevalence of Tapu Fini and Misty Surge, on top of facing against numerous Darks that can switch into and threaten it out, like Tyranitar Hydreigon, said issues have also become fairly surmountable given how much emphasis they get in other area - The former being tasked with numerous roles that can lead it to being easily worn down, and lures such as +Speed Aegislash becoming more prevalent for the latter. In addition, Skeledirge’s defensive prowess is also easily taken to a whole new level while Terastalization is still around, now being able to extend its reach to beating Pokemon such as Aegislash, Gyarados, and Meowscarada, while completely negating its Pursuit weakness. It has proven itself to be a thoroughly worthwhile, albeit underexplored presence in the metagame.
A quick roundoff for several Pokemon which have since managed to carve out some extra value, to the extent that the teams which they fit on can see them as more appreciative to have. Alakazam finds its way onto more offensive and bulkier builds via its impressive speed tier and Magic Guard post-Weavile ban, with Nasty Plot + Recover in particular standing out as one of the few offensive switch-ins to Tapu Fini lacking Knock Off, a wall that is otherwise near impossible to switch into for Sand teams, all while pairing with Tyranitar for easy pickings against opposing Psychics and Ghosts. Ceruledge is a niche setup sweeper that separates itself from Aegislash via its STAB combo and Speed tier via Weak Armor, and also occasionally operates as a niche defensive wincon via Bulk Up + Taunt, albeit one that requires some really creative playing against common Waters and Darks. Dracozolt is otherwise inferior to Excadrill as an offensive Sand abuser, but some teams have managed to pair these two together towards decent success, as they can very easily capitalize on each others’ checks while giving flexibility to more slots in the pivoting and walling departments. Lastly, Salamence’s traits as one of the few remaining Defoggers in the tier, while retaining its ability to check threats like Cinderace and Scizor with Intimidate gives it some depth to work with, even being able to sparingly utilize Wish to support bulkier staples when paired with Excadrill itself.
DROPS:
Victini has largely fallen out in favor following the Drought ban, as Choice Banded V-Creates no longer hold onto the same threat potential they once had against resists, while Z-Celebrate has generally become far easier to adapt to defensively, with both of Ting-Lu and Blobs continuing to persist, and offensive threats that can either outspeed or take one hit from it being much more. In addiiton to being very high maintenance, Choice Band Victini also suffers from being more lacking defensively on other styles - many of which cannot hope to replicate the same offensive pace that Sun teams had, leaving it more exploitable to being forced out via stat drops and its weaknesses to common offensive types, including Dark. This newfound inconsistency can also be reflected by comparing Victini to more reliable wallbreakers as a whole, such as Meowscarada and Enamorus, which both possess better Speed tiers and resist Pursuit. There could still be a point of exploration that allows Victini to find a way back to prominence, but the days of people calling out for it suffice to remain in the past for the time-being.
Blissey’s value as a special blob falls off slightly as most special attackers have generally shifted to those that can setup on or break through it naturally, most notably Psyshock Latios, Close Combat on Mixed Aegislash, Ghost sweepers, as well as its susceptibility to Taunt and Trick from Pokemon like Tapu Fini – which its overall passivity, vulnerability to an increased pool of physical threats, and difficulty in accompanying said moveslots does it no favors to fix either. Although Terastalizating into specific types can help to ameliorate these issues by quite a bit, the full requirements to do so in this role make it more niche than before.
Mega Sableye isn’t looking particularly strong right now with the defensive king Clefable continuing to be prevalent and the nerf to Recover PP also hurting its ability to block most hazard setters long-term, with many of them (Ting-Lu, Mega Tyranitar, Scald Gastrodon .etc) being able to easily chip it down on switch-ins through its lack of passive recovery and low speed, making its niche much more situational in practice.
Tyranitar struggles to keep up with its Mega Counterpart in most areas, and the advantages it would have over it aren’t exactly relevant enough to justify keeping it up here, including its lack of Terastalization value in comparison to the plethora of defensive staples better equipped to take advantage of it overall, such as Celesteela, Skeledirge, Buzzwole, and Tangrowth on sand teams which prefer longevity, while Mega Tyranitar’s superior offenses, critical speed tier, and bulk tends to outweigh the sparse nature of the Mega Slot on teams. Choice Band still remains solid as a pure wallbreaker, but does not bring the consistency and splashability needed to stay A- on its own.
Blacephalon drops as a result of severe competition with other Ghost and Fire-type wallbreakers and inability to reliability get around the omni-present Tyranitar at all, to say nothing of the increased prevalence of Ting-Lu on Stall and Screens Grimmsnarl on HO. It seriously struggles to make consistent progress against the most common teamstyles in this metagame.
Tiering shifts have mostly relegated Ditto to matchup specificity at best, and it does not like any of the changes brought into the metagame at all – Between the removal of Drought and Drizzle, HO wholly preferring to utilize Screens with Grimmsnarl, and bulky offense shifting to a greater emphasis on momentum and hazard spam, its overall inconsistency as a revenge killer in the most desired matchups lead it to drop two ranks.
Similar to Ditto, Ninetales-Alola dislikes having to contend with Prankster Grimmsnarl on HO as the screen setter of choice, and Hail is not nearly rewarding enough to where it can stay anywhere out of niche territory, especially with both Slowking formes now also serving the role of optional setters with far greater defensive utility than Ninetales-Alola as a whole.
Seismitoad barely clings onto a niche post-Drizzle, but its higher speed tier for crippling Pokemon such as Substitute Aegislash and Scizor, as well as its access to Knock Off can ensure that its ability to make progress isn’t entirely moot for even the most common requirements in teambuilding, essentially serving as a more fast-paced version of Gastrodon in exchange for reliable recovery. Not a particularly important niche due to its specificity and competition with other Grounds though.
Me when D Ran- (it was not my idea...)
With their respective bans also impacting the following Pokemon, none of them can feasibly hold onto any semblance of a niche anymore. Kingdra isn’t fast nor strong enough to offer anything over other Dragons. Floatzel and Barraskewda aren't justifiable over other offensive waters, particularly those with superior defensive utility in this meta. Venusaur is vastly outclassed by its Mega Form defensively. Slither Wing, while a tougher one in my eyes, lacks enough relevance among its standout traits to see use over other Fightings - STAB First Impression in particular struggles against most offensive sweepers like Gyarados, especially now that it can no longer be reliably boosted by Sun. Orthworm lacks any utility that isn't offered more reliably by other Steels such as Skamory and Iron Treads.
ADDITIONS:
Choice Band Hisuian Arcanine has seen quite the merit offensively but remains very lacking defensively. Base 95 Speed being comparatively tame in conjunction with its difficulty in fitting onto teams due to the excessive support required to get it in essentially renders it a glass cannon against most offensive matchups. Though a rather contentious start means we can expect to see more of it in the future.
Enamorus has found a place as a solid contender for one of the biggest threats of the generation, and overtime, we have continued to see set explorations that have made it more threatening than ever against the common strategies being used against it, from using Substitute + Calm Mind with various defensive Tera types to setup on Pokemon like pivot Galarian Slowking and Blissey, to Choice Scarf's shockingly vivid matchup charts against bulky offense teams unable to reliably switch into it, especially now that one of their best offensive pivots, is no longer around. That said, the combination of Regenerator Cores like with Assault Vest Tangrowth and other special walls able to pivot around it that have risen this shift, its Stealth Rock weakness, and less-than-perfect Speed tier outside of Scarf sets merely keeps it out of A+.
Access to fast sleep options alongside its immense power after Hustle + Victory Dance make Hisuian Lilligant a solid, albeit underrated sweeper. Though its frailty means it can only find its place on very specific momentum-setting hyper-offense teams, while its ability to nuke said targets in Aegislash with Z-Moves remains very dependent on prediction circumstances too inconsistent to justify anything higher.
Quagsire has risen quite a bit to take Gliscor’s place as Stall’s premier Ground-type alongside Ting-Lu. Similarly, access to hazards this generation can allow it to more actively contribute to the team after punishing switches, to which Unaware can also help out a lot against common physical attackers like Blaziken and Iron Hands that staples like Blissey and Mega Sableye are vulnerable to being forced out by. Nevertheless, its lack of resistances in this role, high-maintenance nature, and severe competition with other Grounds outside of Stall currently limits its ability to fit on anything beyond this.
Wo-Chien is a niche defensive presence in a sheep’s clothing formed by the myriad of Grasses surrounding the tier, but can function reasonably as a disruptive presence against various defensive cores via its access to Leech Seed + Protect + Knock Off, while retaining decent matchups into various neutral targets like Excadrill and Aegislash, but is still very reliant on Tera to gain any semblance of sticking power against most offensive threats, on top of being easily exploitable, thus leaving it out of consistency for the most part.
Hisuian Zoroark has seen some great offensive potential since it first dropped down, with all of Nasty Plot, Choice Specs, and Expert Belt sets being effective complements to its Illusion ability on more offensive teams, especially when toying with setup moves or coverage to bluff other teammates (eg: Grass Knot and Flamethrower for Grounds and Buzzwole, benefiting SD Iron Hands), which it can then threaten to KO and help open up the way to sweep. Unfortunately, its frailty and vulnerability to hazards with this strategy, on top of its lack of initial power when forcing out neutral targets outside of Choice items or Z-Moves limits its consistency to B+ as of now.
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And that concludes the slate. Furthermore, you may also go back to posting nominations. Stay tuned for more.
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Beedrill-Mega
Cyclizar
Houndstone
Torkoal
Zoroark-Hisui
Aegislash
Weavile
Cinderace
Excadrill
Iron Moth
Kyurem
Latios
Slowking-Galar
Tapu Fini
Tyranitar-Mega
Victini
Baxcalibur
Clefable
Dondozo
Gyarados
Gyarados-Mega
Latias-Mega
Pinsir-Mega
Slowbro
Blaziken
Blissey
Buzzwole
Gastrodon
Grimmsnarl
Iron Treads
Latias
Sableye-Mega
Serperior
Ting-Lu
Tyranitar
Blacephalon
Celesteela
Ditto
Hawlucha
Meowscarada
Moltres-Galar
Ninetales-Alola
Scizor
Skarmory
Slowking
Thundurus
Thundurus-Therian
Zapdos-Galar
Altaria-Mega
Amoonguss
Barraskewda
Chansey
Floatzel
Gallade-Mega
Heracross-Mega
Hippowdon
Hydreigon
Iron Hands
Jirachi
Keldeo
Magnezone
Mew
Moltres
Pawmot
Politoed
Polteageist
Tangrowth
Volcanion
Aerodactyl-Mega
Aggron-Mega
Gengar
Nihilego
Skeledirge
Tapu Bulu
Venusaur-Mega
Alakazam
Alomomola
Arctozolt
Gardevoir-Mega
Iron Leaves
Kingdra
Ninetales
Orthworm
Salamence
Sandy Shocks
Seismitoad
Terrakion
Venusaur
Bisharp
Ceruledge
Dracozolt
Iron Jugulis
Ribombee
Sharpedo-Mega
Slither Wing
Suicune
Swampert
Zeraora
Zygarde-10%
New -> A+
New -> B-
New -> B
New -> C
from New -> C
from New -> C
from UR -> C+
from UR -> C
