Things I think should rise:
Meloetta -> S - Meloetta needs no introduction when it comes to NU right now. Clearly, it is one of the most dynamic offensive presences in the metagame and it is one of the top Pokemon. Currently, it resides in the A+ rank and I feel like even this is selling it a bit short. Although I have not been seeing too many different variations of Meloetta, I do think it runs Choice Specs and Calm Mind sets with incredible effectiveness. I believe that there is an argument that Meloetta could have been S from the start of the generation, but the more the metagame has developed with the slight shifts in the tier's Pokemon and trends becoming more and more evident with time passing (i.e those Slowbro + Steelix bulky-offense teams, which feel like they make up 2/3 the metagame), Meloetta's place in the metagame is cemented. This place is one of a strong breaker and potential win condition, tearing apart the norm when it comes to balanced cores and finding itself taking a Pokemon down a fair amount of the time it enters the game. While there is counterplay in the metagame, I am not arguing that it is banworthy -- that's for another time. There are plenty of Scarf Pokemon that can revenge kill it, for example. Not to mention that there, of course, is the presence of Pursuit, which makes the life-span of non-Colbur Meloetta fairly short in almost all cases. With this said, I still find that there are not many direct, defensive counters. Slowking can check the Choice Specs variant if it remains at full and is EVd well enough, but it can find itself falling short against Calm Mind variants. On the contrary, defensive cores and offensive pressure can generally manage a Choiced Meloetta far easier than one that can switch-up moves or even set up a Substitute, if it is Sub CM, but there is not too much universal counterplay and I feel like that is the sign of a Pokemon that, to an extent, has a metagame defining offensive presence. Now, you might not necessarily see Meloetta as often as you do Pokemon like the aforementioned Steelix and Slowbro, but it is not too far off and the impact it has in-game is one that should not be overlooked. Ultimately, I feel like Meloetta's offensive presence is enough to put it into S with everything taken into consideration.
Slowbro -> A+ - I mean, I have always felt like Slowbro was a bit of a misfit because it does not really feel like a Neverused Pokemon to me when you take into consideration the defensive presence it has and the ability Regenerator being so damn good. At this point, I feel as if Slowbro is almost too good to pass up on a lot of teams. This does not necessarily make it S rank as there is a bunch of counterplay to it and it has plenty of cons as a Pokemon, especially with the metagame being likely to adapt to it being so common in the immediate future, but for the time being I see it being A, alongside Slowking, a misplacement. Slowbro has not only found its way onto many more teams than Slowking, as shown
here, but it also has a higher win percentage so far in NUPL (yea, it has only been one week, but I have a strong feeling this trend will continue, even if it is not to the same extent that it currently is). In addition to this, I feel like Slowbro fits in the sub-tier that the offensive grasses reside as they are some of the best offensive pivots, hard-hitters, or win conditions whereas Slowbro is easily the best defensive sponge that does not kill momentum in the tier. The A rank has many very good, consistently used Pokemon, but Slowbro certainly stands out to me as the best of the bunch and moving it up seems like the best line-of-action.
Steelix -> A+* - First off, I am a bit split on what to do here. I think that Steelix is clearly the most common and best Stealth Rock Ground type in the tier given how things are shaping up, but this does not necessarily mean it has to be A+ rank. However, I do think it should be a sub-rank ahead of Rhydon and they both are A right now. Generally, both are great Pokemon in the tier and there still is appeal to use both, but the defensive presence of Steelix and the fact that it fits onto so many teams right now whereas Rhydon finds itself losing badly to pretty much every Pokemon in A+ and S and not providing as much to teams makes Steelix being a sub-rank higher very clear, in my eyes. Steelix being A+ might be a bit of a stretch seeing as it is very common, but it is not necessarily as good as Pokemon that currently reside in A+ and I do not know how much we truly value the different aspects of a Pokemon (usage, effectiveness, niche, movesets, etc...it all adds up, but I'm just not confident that I would place Steelix in A+ or not, so I'll leave that up to others). Ultimately, I am fine either way and I will elaborate more when I discuss Rhydon below, but I think there does need to be some separation.
Scrafty -> A- - Actually was pretty surprised to see Scrafty in B+ and I think that it is a really cool Pokemon right now. Sadly, it has multiple clear shortcomings -- lack of off-the-bat strength and being slow as shit. With that said, it still has insane natural bulk and the tools to be a well-rounded win condition with the help of Moxie, Z-Moves, and its respectable movepool. I do not think Scrafty is necessarily the best, nor most consistent, win condition in the tier. However, when compared to other Pokemon in the B+ rank, such as Swords Dance Absol and Samurott, I think it is clearly a step above those. If you were to go a step further and compare Scrafty to the Pokemon in A- rank, I think it fits in quite well. I personally find it to be a bit better than fellow fighting type Toxicroak, but both are kind of different and I think they both belong roughly in A-. Another point is that many "standard" builds right now simply discount adding a true counter to Scrafty and rely on revenge killing, playing around, or consistently pressuring this and honestly, this is something I find to not be passable seeing as it is so naturally bulky and unforgiving with Moxie. Moreover, given where Scrafty stands in relation to other things and how it performs in the context of the tier, I think that it can easily rise to A- and would fit there much better than B+.
Typhlosion -> B- - Man, I feel like what was once one of NU's best Pokemon, so good that it got banned, has swiftly fallen from grace into the shadows of irrelevance. With that said, I think that it still puts up more of a fight than so many people give it credit for and it certainly is a viable option on many teams without going too far out of your way. I think that the Scarf variant is now complete shit, but the Specs set and perhaps Z sets (have not tested the latter) still hold a place in the tier and actually are quite underrated -- certainly better than some of the garbage that currently is C+. I have been using a lot of Specs Typhlosion lately and having things like Eruption almost 100% 2HKO Slowbro and so many teams either relying upon something that is short-lived, like AV Incineroar, or something that gets 2HKOd by STAB as counterplay lets it open up so many holes or potentially just claim a kill each time it comes in safely. I do not want to go on too long about a Pokemon that still is not anywhere near top tier, but I do think it is ranked too low currently and could afford to be moved up one.
Things I think should drop:
Emboar -> A - I do not think this thing ever should have been A+, to be quite honest, and I certainly do not think it should reside in this sub-tier right now. Maybe it is the fact that I spam Slowbro on almost every team, but I honestly find Emboar to be very underwhelming and not as potent as many thing it is. Sure, it can hit hard, has a nice movepool in conjunction with respectable dual STAB, and it has just enough speed to let it outrun most walls. However, that does not necessarily correlate to being a top-tier breaker and with Slowbro, Uxie, Garbodor, and various other things that discourage Emboar usage/Emboar being consistently effective being quite common and effective themselves, I think that Emboar is simply not A+ caliber. Sure, one can argue that with the offensive grasses running the tier, there is a lot of reason to use Emboar, but it is not like it can check much defensively to begin with and, again, I just do not see it as too great a metagame pick outside of that. Scarf Emboar might be passable, too, but I find it to still be a bit slow for my taste and not as strong as I would like a Pokemon like Emboar to be. Honestly, you need either Speed or Bulk to truly make power work on a consistent level if you wish to be a top tier threat in this metagame and I feel like Emboar lacks both of these a bit too much to pass for A+ right now given everything going against it.
Rhydon -> A-* - First off, I am a bit split on what to do here. I think that Steelix is clearly the most common and best Stealth Rock Ground type in the tier given how things are shaping up, but this does not necessarily mean it has to be A+ rank. However, I do think it should be a sub-rank ahead of Rhydon and they both are A right now. Generally, both are great Pokemon in the tier and there still is appeal to use both, but the defensive presence of Steelix and the fact that it fits onto so many teams right now whereas Rhydon finds itself losing badly to pretty much every Pokemon in A+ and S and not providing as much to teams makes Steelix being a sub-rank higher very clear, in my eyes. With that said, it is hard to say if Rhydon, itself, is deserving of a drop to A- considering it still has a very nice offensive presence as a Stealth Rock setter and if teams can afford to fit it, which is still very possible seeing as it is far from deadweight defensively, then they can abuse this. Ultimately, I am a bit more in favor of moving Steelix up, but I am a bit uncertain of both sides here and am more willing to let others give stronger stances until my own is more set-in-stone -- bottom line is that there should be some separation between the two.
Slowking -> A- - Slowking honestly is a good Pokemon in the tier and has a lot to offer, but it finds itself trailing behind Slowbro in usage, effectiveness, and general viability right now and I feel like this is hindering it quite a bit as a Pokemon overall. I think that on this merit, it deserves a drop. I really have only used Slowking 2-3 times whereas I have used Slowbro on dozens of teams makes me perhaps a bit ill-informed on this front, but even from a perspective of someone opposing/using both or just Slowking in general, this drops seems warranted on the front of it being a less convenient defensive presence in general (still, worthwhile on some teams, admittedly) and less appeal to use it, thus making it less viable.
Jellicent -> A- - Jellicent has been really underwhelming to me. I honestly thought it would be cool to have a Pokemon with a legitimate defensive presence paired with utility like Jellicent as opposed to the generic bulky water of the tier (such as Slowbro/Slowking), but it turns out that the utility itself does not really add too much to the overall appeal and does not make it very effective, especially with Special grasses all over the metagame. I just am not too big on Jellicent and find it to be no better than something like Slowking or maybe even Vaporeon, but certainly far less useful than Slowbro. Could be jumping the gun here, to be honest, but as of now I think a drop would be best.
Absol -> B - I have seen like one of these in a few hundred battles and it did absolutely nothing. I have not used it and will admit that, but it seems underwhelming in theory and so hard to fit onto teams when it does not stand out too much compared to other Darks or Physical attackers in general, so I do not see much of a reason to keep it decently-high ranked unless others have been witnessing something very different than what I have seen. Honestly, I could see it falling even more, but baby steps.
Sableye -> C+ or lower - I have seen at least a few Sableye, but it is actually garbage with Prankster's new mechanics and the fact that it is so naturally frail in a tier full of generally strong Pokemon when it comes to NU standards. I can see it being an option on some weird stalls, but even then I do not think it is anywhere near needed and I do not find any reason to really use it right now, so yea to hell with it.
* means one or the other (elaborated on this in the explanations themselves)
2999 n_n