AAA Viability Rankings #∞

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xJownage

Even pendulums swing both ways
Let's not forget that Knock Off is a very viable option on Snorlax that cripples Doublade, does heavy damage to Aegislash, and annoys Skarm, especially Shed Shell variants if you pair Snorlax with a Magnet Puller like Zapdos or Heatran.
 

MZ

And now for something completely different
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Snaq knows I haven't played as much aaa as I'd like to but I don't see snorlax as an S rank threat. The other two S ranks can pull off multiple effective sets, snorlax basically has one relevant one. For it to be S, that one set would have to be really incredible, but it has never felt as outwardly threatening to me. Either it runs crunch or it has to play around ghosts a lot, it's slower than just about everything beside ferrothorn without priority to make it up and can be somewhat vulnerable to offensive teams giving it issues setting up. I think the difference is that skarm never feels useless, lax doesn't exactly feel useless but sometimes you wish it wasn't slow, was a bit bulkier, or had any useful resists, or even just a different set that was effective.

Edit: has anybody used non PH to any great effect? The best I could get was a scrappy cb set that was decent but not great
 
Snaq knows I haven't played as much aaa as I'd like to but I don't see snorlax as an S rank threat. The other two S ranks can pull off multiple effective sets, snorlax basically has one relevant one. For it to be S, that one set would have to be really incredible, but it has never felt as outwardly threatening to me. Either it runs crunch or it has to play around ghosts a lot, it's slower than just about everything beside ferrothorn without priority to make it up and can be somewhat vulnerable to offensive teams giving it issues setting up. I think the difference is that skarm never feels useless, lax doesn't exactly feel useless but sometimes you wish it wasn't slow, was a bit bulkier, or had any useful resists, or even just a different set that was effective.

Edit: has anybody used non PH to any great effect? The best I could get was a scrappy cb set that was decent but not great
I used max defense av with regenerator to decent effect, you don't get worn out by hazard which is pretty nice. And you can switch on some stuff you wouldn't normally, like a draco from latios and pursuit it.
The most relevant ghost in AAA are gengar and chandelure, both die to eq.
I used belly drum 3 attacks on a ph set, you can often bop doublade or skar when they come in afterwards.

Thought I do agree with megazard for the most part.
 
I feel like Tyranitar should move upto somewhere in A, it's extremely good at what it does. It's a probably the best Pursuit trapper in the meta atm with Scarf revengekilling things like Gengar/Latios reliably in offensive teams as well as checking loads of threats thanks to its amazing STAB moves boosted by Adaptability. With band it becomes near impossible to switch into and provides a ton of support vs bulkier, slower teams with Pursuit.
 

MZ

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No opinion on illusion really but Skymin is rather disgusting. Yes, all I can give to this discussion is one-liners. On another note, I think Mega-Manectric could get some discussion for A-. I'm not entirely solid on this, but it's just so nice as an offensive bird check. Outspeeding everything outside of Deo-S and scarfers (megazam is pretty rare tbh) while resisting flying and having a neutrality to both Fairy and Ice (plus Intimidate to weaken the hit) makes it an incredibly valuable asset for offense. Most of its counters can be volted out of so I've never really felt like it was held back by weakness, ironically Water-types are its best counters with Volt Absorb, but (maybe this is just me) I've been seeing more AV regen manaphy than motor drive TG and PH cune over Volt Absorb. Not a huge opportunity cost either, it's in the top 5 megas and doesn't overlap with other too much so it's not really stealing the slot too bad. On the other hand, it's got a really shallow movepool with other options mostly being which hidden power type to run, and it doesn't really have the best pre-mega abilities (magnet pull and intimidate and illusion are nice but meh). Then I stared at my screen for 5 minutes and realized I had no way to end this nom so yeah give thoughts or w/e
 

Grim

The Ghost
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Bunch of nominations:

to mid / high B

Defensive Swampert with Poison Heal is actually really good, taking on a lot of common threats such as Entei (almost all relevant Fire-types actually), Doublade, and like all Electric-types such as Raikou which has gotten a lot more popular lately. Shaymin is annoying for it but it doesnt like switching in nor does it prevent it from getting up rocks, and you can use Protect to scout its moves anyway.

to low A

For some reason a lot of people tend to be unprepared for fast and strong Electric-types, and Raikou is the best one in the tier. It does tons of jobs well ranging from Magnet Pull trapper to Primordial Sea pivot while outspeeding the majority of the tier and gaining momentum. A rise to A- may seem big but I believe Raikou is better than all B+ Pokemon and most A- Pokemon as well.

to mid C

I recently tried this thing because in theory its dual stabs with Adaptability should be very threatening against common balance teams and it actually worked exactly as anticipated vs Motherlove in the open so I'm just going to drop this here. The set I'm using is SubWisp but things like Choice Scarf are good too.

to mid C

Same story as Rotom-F. Chandelure is a pretty cool balance breaker with stuff like SubCM, Specs, Scarf, Taunt + Wisp, etc and offers some unique resistances with its typing, especially coupled with abilities such as Desolate Land. Overall overshadowed in most areas but is the better fit for some teams.

to low B

Mega Lopunny is actually a pretty cool Pokemon because its one one of the few things on offense that can beat Shaymin without having to resort to choice-locked priority and overall does a great job at checking Doublade and offensively supporting the team with Fake Out chip damage and stuff like Healing Wish (personal favorite), Encore, and Quick Attack (often defeats Gale Wings users combined with Fake Out and hazards). Protect and priority are annoying for it though and keeps it from a higher rank.

to S

Shaymin is kind of ridiculous in how it restricts teambuilding with its lack of good switchins and insane Speed to go with it. People are even calling for a suspect and I can definitely see where they're coming from, as even with multiple checks / soft counters such as Zapdos, Skarmory, and AV Regen Escavalier, its insanely hard to deal with and has a 40% chance to still Seed Flare its way through them. Not going to expand on this too much because I think its long overdue.

to mid B

Speaking of Escavalier, its AV Regenerator set is actually quite good and is one of the few semi reliable checks to Shaymin as well as other things such as Latios, Gengar, Raikou, and Mega Diancie. Just a good pivot and Pursuit trapper which I noticed wasn't ranked yet.
 

shiloh

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Tiering Lead
Hi this thread was really useful as I was building for AAA Open so I'll post some noms of my own oo

**A -> A+

Zapdos is honestly one of the best pokemon in the tier at the moment. Being the best check to such a huge portion to the metagame (birds, steels, waters) and its rank should really reflect that. Its pretty much the best defensive pivot in the tier, with great abilities like Unaware / Delta Stream in order to switch in on such a large portion of the metagame and get off a defog along w/ Volt Switch in order to pivot out of bad match ups or in order to gain the switch advantage thats so key.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-322708521
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-314058513

**A -> A+

On the offensive side of things, Lucario is one of the best Extremespeed users in the tier (if not the best), and once combined w/ SD + Great Coverage not much can really beat it once it sets up. Refridgerate is my ability of choice most of the time, but Tough Claws is actually really threatening if you manage to kill all the faster ghost types (gengar mainly)

**B+ -> A-

Garchomp is actually a really cool pokemon w/ access to great Abilities such as Adaptability / Magic Bounce. As an offensive rock setter, not much can take an Adapatability boosted Outrage basically guaranteeing it rocks up, and with a Sash + SD it can even threaten common magic bouncers. The other set I had a lot of fun using was SD + Magic Bounce as it prevents Chomp from getting Phazed out + stopped by status or Taunt. Its actually a reallty threatening sweeper that can just plow through unprepared teams.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-327024158
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-327030384
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-322704694

**B- -> B

Blastoise is actually one of the most reliable spinners in the tier as with poison heal it can reliably switch in multiple times and get off a spin in order to remove hazards for its teammates. It also has a lot of cool utility moves like Foresight to spin on Ghosts and Roar to phaze out Sweepers / Rack up Hazard damage, its honestly my favorite spinner in the tier.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-327024158

Thats really all I can think of rn, I'll post more in the future if i do manage to play some games
 

Level 51

the orchestra plays the prettiest themes
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**A -> A+

On the offensive side of things, Lucario is one of the best Extremespeed users in the tier (if not the best), and once combined w/ SD + Great Coverage not much can really beat it once it sets up. Refridgerate is my ability of choice most of the time, but Tough Claws is actually really threatening if you manage to kill all the faster ghost types (gengar mainly)
Seconding this, as someone new to the tier I ran a team with Lucario / Suicune wincons and the former worked out really really well. It's surprising how few teams have more than 1/2 stops to Lucario, and paired with Healing Wish Skymin / Jirachi this thing can come in to chip an erstwhile check enough that it can sweep a team later on in the game. I was actually pretty surprised at how much damage output this thing had even before an SD (and especially after). Definitely A+ imo~
 
Bunch of nominations:

to mid / high B

Defensive Swampert with Poison Heal is actually really good, taking on a lot of common threats such as Entei (almost all relevant Fire-types actually), Doublade, and like all Electric-types such as Raikou which has gotten a lot more popular lately. Shaymin is annoying for it but it doesnt like switching in nor does it prevent it from getting up rocks, and you can use Protect to scout its moves anyway.

to low A

For some reason a lot of people tend to be unprepared for fast and strong Electric-types, and Raikou is the best one in the tier. It does tons of jobs well ranging from Magnet Pull trapper to Primordial Sea pivot while outspeeding the majority of the tier and gaining momentum. A rise to A- may seem big but I believe Raikou is better than all B+ Pokemon and most A- Pokemon as well.

to mid C

I recently tried this thing because in theory its dual stabs with Adaptability should be very threatening against common balance teams and it actually worked exactly as anticipated vs Motherlove in the open so I'm just going to drop this here. The set I'm using is SubWisp but things like Choice Scarf are good too.

to mid C

Same story as Rotom-F. Chandelure is a pretty cool balance breaker with stuff like SubCM, Specs, Scarf, Taunt + Wisp, etc and offers some unique resistances with its typing, especially coupled with abilities such as Desolate Land. Overall overshadowed in most areas but is the better fit for some teams.

to low B

Mega Lopunny is actually a pretty cool Pokemon because its one one of the few things on offense that can beat Shaymin without having to resort to choice-locked priority and overall does a great job at checking Doublade and offensively supporting the team with Fake Out chip damage and stuff like Healing Wish (personal favorite), Encore, and Quick Attack (often defeats Gale Wings users combined with Fake Out and hazards). Protect and priority are annoying for it though and keeps it from a higher rank.

to S

Shaymin is kind of ridiculous in how it restricts teambuilding with its lack of good switchins and insane Speed to go with it. People are even calling for a suspect and I can definitely see where they're coming from, as even with multiple checks / soft counters such as Zapdos, Skarmory, and AV Regen Escavalier, its insanely hard to deal with and has a 40% chance to still Seed Flare its way through them. Not going to expand on this too much because I think its long overdue.

to mid B

Speaking of Escavalier, its AV Regenerator set is actually quite good and is one of the few semi reliable checks to Shaymin as well as other things such as Latios, Gengar, Raikou, and Mega Diancie. Just a good pivot and Pursuit trapper which I noticed wasn't ranked yet.
Hi this thread was really useful as I was building for AAA Open so I'll post some noms of my own oo

**A -> A+

Zapdos is honestly one of the best pokemon in the tier at the moment. Being the best check to such a huge portion to the metagame (birds, steels, waters) and its rank should really reflect that. Its pretty much the best defensive pivot in the tier, with great abilities like Unaware / Delta Stream in order to switch in on such a large portion of the metagame and get off a defog along w/ Volt Switch in order to pivot out of bad match ups or in order to gain the switch advantage thats so key.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-322708521
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-314058513

**A -> A+

On the offensive side of things, Lucario is one of the best Extremespeed users in the tier (if not the best), and once combined w/ SD + Great Coverage not much can really beat it once it sets up. Refridgerate is my ability of choice most of the time, but Tough Claws is actually really threatening if you manage to kill all the faster ghost types (gengar mainly)

**B+ -> A-

Garchomp is actually a really cool pokemon w/ access to great Abilities such as Adaptability / Magic Bounce. As an offensive rock setter, not much can take an Adapatability boosted Outrage basically guaranteeing it rocks up, and with a Sash + SD it can even threaten common magic bouncers. The other set I had a lot of fun using was SD + Magic Bounce as it prevents Chomp from getting Phazed out + stopped by status or Taunt. Its actually a reallty threatening sweeper that can just plow through unprepared teams.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-327024158
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-327030384
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-322704694

**B- -> B

Blastoise is actually one of the most reliable spinners in the tier as with poison heal it can reliably switch in multiple times and get off a spin in order to remove hazards for its teammates. It also has a lot of cool utility moves like Foresight to spin on Ghosts and Roar to phaze out Sweepers / Rack up Hazard damage, its honestly my favorite spinner in the tier.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-327024158

Thats really all I can think of rn, I'll post more in the future if i do manage to play some games
Did these and two additional changes as well

Tyranitar - Somewhere in B -> Mid A
Meloetta - Somewhere in C -> Low A

Tyranitar's reasoning can be found here:
I feel like Tyranitar should move upto somewhere in A, it's extremely good at what it does. It's a probably the best Pursuit trapper in the meta atm with Scarf revengekilling things like Gengar/Latios reliably in offensive teams as well as checking loads of threats thanks to its amazing STAB moves boosted by Adaptability. With band it becomes near impossible to switch into and provides a ton of support vs bulkier, slower teams with Pursuit.
And Melo was raised to Goodra's level because they're very almost the same in the way they function. While Goodra has Dragon Tail and a lot of coverage moves in its arsenal to stop special sweepers, Meloetta has access to Knock Off and U-Turn, meaning it can function better in more offensively inclined teams. (Melo's coverage isn't too bad either)

[Also fixed some stuff like removing mentions of illusion, getting rid of some questionable abilities I noticed and removing skymin]

I'll try to update weekly with your suggestions so feel free to keep making noms!
 
...w...wait...imas is taking over for imas?

or can you literally replace users for others on their own posts ._.
You can!

Something to account for when ranking Zapdos is that it's Delta stream ability weakens its volt switch and hp ice, atleast versus other flying types. Not sure why it's rising right now, it lost the utility of checking Shaymin. Somewhat of a domino effect but we'll probably see a rise in water, ground, fightibg types ect. I don't even know, I'd like to see the metagame a month from now and put some new input into the Zapdos nomination/rise
 

Laxpras

One small yeet for man, one giant yeet for mankind
Here are some nominations, I think more should be changed but just starting the conversation here :)

Suicune to A+/S:
I would say its the best PH abuser, and I see no reason for Snorlax to be above it, especially with Skymin gone. Suicune is so important that people run storm drain sets pretty much exclusively for it, its as good of a mon as there is in AAA. Its physical bulk is insane, the only reason it shouldn't be S in my mind is because everyone prepares so heavily for it, which speaks to how good it is.

TTar to A+: Pursuit trapping is so good in this meta. Regenvest set can be great

Tentacruel to B+: Its typing is perfect to stop physical attackers and toxic spikes go great for defensive team.

Goodra to B: Without Skymin, this just isn't that good anymore. It can stop Gengar and Thundy, but so can plenty of other mons that can also pursuit trap.

Volcarona to A: I see no reason for this to be in B. This is as scary of a setup sweeper as there is, and it can also run powerful desolate land sets for immediate power, which also beats primsea users due to solarbeam.
 
Here are some nominations, I think more should be changed but just starting the conversation here :)
Suicune to A+/S: I would say its the best PH abuser, and I see no reason for Snorlax to be above it, especially with Skymin gone. Suicune is so important that people run storm drain sets pretty much exclusively for it, its as good of a mon as there is in AAA. Its physical bulk is insane, the only reason it shouldn't be S in my mind is because everyone prepares so heavily for it, which speaks to how good it is.

TTar to A+: Pursuit trapping is so good in this meta. Regenvest set can be great

Tentacruel to B+: Its typing is perfect to stop physical attackers and toxic spikes go great for defensive team.

Goodra to B: Without Skymin, this just isn't that good anymore. It can stop Gengar and Thundy, but so can plenty of other mons that can also pursuit trap.

Volcarona to A: I see no reason for this to be in B. This is as scary of a setup sweeper as there is, and it can also run powerful desolate land sets for immediate power, which also beats primsea users due to solarbeam.
Moving everything bar suicune to suggested ranks. Suicune is something that I agree with because it's a pokemon that everything must specifically prepare for in order to not lose to it. It's a big part of teambuilding to prepare for suicune and I definitely think something that defines the meta imo. BUT, I'd like some more input on this, so Kl4ng Lcass4919 motherlove
 
Hi, I'm proposing a couple things.

Doublade: S -> A+/A
Latios: A+ -> S
Suicune: A+ -> S

Doublade, well, it's not worse off than it was before, but upon speaking to multiple people about this I've come to the conclusion that it probably shouldn't have been S in the first place. Sure it's splashable, but only on offensive teams. It does a hell of a good job of checking fires/prio but it's easily whittled (regen isn't as splashable) + with honchkrow's rising popularity, its role as a gale wings check is hindered, honch also has a role to play in boosting zapdos' popularity, which also happens to check, if not counter doublade. Also, while it is a setup sweeper, it's often not able to actually setup and sweep teams very easily, it fears all of the tier's special attackers and unaware stops it cold in its tracks. Like xjownage said, most teams will pack a doublade check even without specifically putting in one (any special attacker is an offensive check, suicune, regen manaphy, popular gw check zapdos, etc)

Latios and Suicune are comparable to Skarm as they are, imo, the biggest threats in the meta right now. Suicune is a very reliable win condition vs any team without a dedicated counter and Latios is the meta's most feared special attacker due to it's high speed, high base powered STAB in Draco and Psyshock to take care of would be counters like Chansey (adapt) and Melo (tinted). Even with counters present, Suicune can act as a physical sponge and spread burns throughout your team with the best move in the game, not to mention any desoland counters are worn down quite easily with hazards up + suicune can roar them into taking more hazard damage. Latios is decent even with a counter present because of the pressure it puts on the opponent + the utility it can provide with either trick or defog.

So, what do you guys think? Are these changes something you agree with? If not, why not?

s/o to the great discussion in the om room a few days back for helping me list all these points, wouldn't be able to act like i know what i'm talking about without you!
 

xJownage

Even pendulums swing both ways
Hi, I'm proposing a couple things.

Doublade: S -> A+/A
Latios: A+ -> S
Suicune: A+ -> S

Doublade, well, it's not worse off than it was before, but upon speaking to multiple people about this I've come to the conclusion that it probably shouldn't have been S in the first place. Sure it's splashable, but only on offensive teams. It does a hell of a good job of checking fires/prio but it's easily whittled (regen isn't as splashable) + with honchkrow's rising popularity, its role as a gale wings check is hindered, honch also has a role to play in boosting zapdos' popularity, which also happens to check, if not counter doublade. Also, while it is a setup sweeper, it's often not able to actually setup and sweep teams very easily, it fears all of the tier's special attackers and unaware stops it cold in its tracks. Like xjownage said, most teams will pack a doublade check even without specifically putting in one (any special attacker is an offensive check, suicune, regen manaphy, popular gw check zapdos, etc)

Latios and Suicune are comparable to Skarm as they are, imo, the biggest threats in the meta right now. Suicune is a very reliable win condition vs any team without a dedicated counter and Latios is the meta's most feared special attacker due to it's high speed, high base powered STAB in Draco and Psyshock to take care of would be counters like Chansey (adapt) and Melo (tinted). Even with counters present, Suicune can act as a physical sponge and spread burns throughout your team with the best move in the game, not to mention any desoland counters are worn down quite easily with hazards up + suicune can roar them into taking more hazard damage. Latios is decent even with a counter present because of the pressure it puts on the opponent + the utility it can provide with either trick or defog.

So, what do you guys think? Are these changes something you agree with? If not, why not?

s/o to the great discussion in the om room a few days back for helping me list all these points, wouldn't be able to act like i know what i'm talking about without you!
Doublade should probably drop to A for now, but tosay it was never S-rank is just exaggeration - it's been S-rank for over 9 months and was nearly the best mon in the metagame for quite some time (outside of Skarmory). Not too sure about Latios or Cune tbh, I've used Latios extensively but I'm not sure what qualities make it an S-rank threat. Suicune is irrelevant to me since I run magma storm taunt desotran on half of my teams.
 
Doublade should probably drop to A for now, but tosay it was never S-rank is just exaggeration - it's been S-rank for over 9 months and was nearly the best mon in the metagame for quite some time (outside of Skarmory). Not too sure about Latios or Cune tbh, I've used Latios extensively but I'm not sure what qualities make it an S-rank threat. Suicune is irrelevant to me since I run magma storm taunt desotran on half of my teams.
Ez 2hko by hp ground cune at +1.


I'll write some other shit later too.
 

Laxpras

One small yeet for man, one giant yeet for mankind
I support all of the proposed changes

Doublade: I don't see the draw really. Flash fire is a great general check to any physical threat, but, it gets worn down really easily, and has a hard time doing the damage it needs to without a boost. On the other hand, regenerator lets it get recovery, but then its not as good because a fire type will tear through it. Really, it needs 2 abilities for it to be S, which obviously isn't happening. Although, the unpredictability can sometimes be useful (Levitate). And like Imas said, teams just have checks without thinking about it, especially Suicune which absolutely makes doublade useless.

Latios: Imas said enough. It tears through teams. The only things going against it are atespeed, which isn't a good argument so meh, and its vulnerable to pursuit trapping. That said, its still S rank.

Suicune: I already proposed this, since its by far the best PH abuser imo. Wincon, defensive switchin, sweep preventer with roar, burn spreader, it does it all.
 

Laxpras

One small yeet for man, one giant yeet for mankind
Sorry for taking over thread but oh well:

Manaphy A --> S

Good ole manaphy, it has everying you should want to be at the top of the tier. Its tail glow set is as scary as it gets, and it has a variety of abilities to use with it; motor drive makes thundy just help you sweep, primordial sea stops entei/victini and powers up scald, and I've been using a poison heal set that's been really good. In addition, regenvest manaphy is amazing. With access to knock off, scald, and u-turn, it is a perfect utility set that has the bulk and typing to switch in to more than you think it can.

Alakazam unranked --> A

Its unranked because no one has tried it, not because its bad. Its very comparable to sheer force Gengar, but it is much faster and actually hits a bit harder. The speed is really important as it outspeeds and OHKOs scarf pursuit tyranitar, which Gengar doesnt. It OHKOs things like thundurus and offensive manaphy, and it 2hkos suicune. These traits make it better than Gengar, but I think it should be below gengar because it is predictability going to be sheer force every time, and doesn't have the normalize/no guard possibilities that Gengar has. More importantly, it doesn't have Gengar's great typing. When i brought Zam up in chat, the only argument against it was it doesn't hit hard enough. I think these people don't realize just how strong Zam is, due to this power and speed it can absolutely tear through offensive teams.
 
Sorry for taking over thread but oh well:
Manaphy A --> S

Good ole manaphy, it has everying you should want to be at the top of the tier. Its tail glow set is as scary as it gets, and it has a variety of abilities to use with it; motor drive makes thundy just help you sweep, primordial sea stops entei/victini and powers up scald, and I've been using a poison heal set that's been really good. In addition, regenvest manaphy is amazing. With access to knock off, scald, and u-turn, it is a perfect utility set that has the bulk and typing to switch in to more than you think it can.

Alakazam unranked --> A

Its unranked because no one has tried it, not because its bad. Its very comparable to sheer force Gengar, but it is much faster and actually hits a bit harder. The speed is really important as it outspeeds and OHKOs scarf pursuit tyranitar, which Gengar doesnt. It OHKOs things like thundurus and offensive manaphy, and it 2hkos suicune. These traits make it better than Gengar, but I think it should be below gengar because it is predictability going to be sheer force every time, and doesn't have the normalize/no guard possibilities that Gengar has. More importantly, it doesn't have Gengar's great typing. When i brought Zam up in chat, the only argument against it was it doesn't hit hard enough. I think these people don't realize just how strong Zam is, due to this power and speed it can absolutely tear through offensive teams.
Manaphy is great, threatening sweeper/amazing pivot, it's one of the things that are always in my threats checklist because it's very easy to get swept by a manphy if you don't have a decent answer to it. It should definitely be A+, but I'd like a bit more backing from the community before making shifts to S.

A seems ok for Zam.
 
Screen Shot 2016-06-17 at 13.55.47.png


This is the current A+ in AAA, it's pretty damn big. With the change in Overused viability ranking policy, the one we apply to AAA, I think we should clean up AAAs VR a bit. Here's my own proposed rankings, for S rank first, then A when I get time!

S rank

381.png
Latios
248.png
Tyranitar
227.png
Skarmory
245.png
Suicune


So here's the deal, these four pokemon are in my opinion the most defining pokemon in all the playstyles. Regardless of your playstyle, all of these pokemon are viable, bar Latios. But the others can fit on Stall, Balance or Offence with their various sets. They provide excellent defensive and offensive utility, lets go down the list as of why they're so good

All of these pokemon have multiple sets, but there's one ability for each that truly define them

Tyranitar has two main sets currently, being Choice scarf and Choice band. Both of them run Adaptability, and both of them threaten their own respective playstyles. However, it's not merely it's power that's so important, it's the utility of Pursuit. In combination with Latios, Tyranitar becomes an excellent core. The few, few counters to Adaptability Calm mind Latios are completely abolished by Tyranitar, after a Draco they're forced to recover - which becomes difficult because Tyranitar easily switches in an eats up whatever attack they choose to throw at him, whilst forcing the 50/50 in Tyranitars favor each time. If you don't believe me, try it for yourself, there's roughly three pokemon that can handle Adaptability Calm mind and Pursuit - Scizor, Escaviliar and Klefki. That's not a lot... Alone Tyranitar decreases the viability of almost all psychic/ghost types in AAA

Latios has a bit more variation in its sets, but the two main ones are Calm mind Adaptability and Calm mind Tinted lens, Calm mind Adaptability is by far the best one. Though Tinted lens has it's uses Adaptability lets it more easily bypass Unaware, mainly Chansey, Diancie, Suicune and Zapdos - though Tinted lens isn't bad against those either. It's counters are far and few, and it's raw power means it's not hard to muscle through neutral walls, like Umbreon, Cresselia ect. Which taken an insane amount of damage from Draco meteor. But it's got things going for its as well, it's a nice check to Zapdos, Suicune and Victini among somethings, but it's true match up is versus slower pokemon unable to do enough damage to it before it sets up

Suicune I'll let some quotes from the thread prove my point instead, as I agree with them

"I would say its the best PH abuser, and I see no reason for Snorlax to be above it, especially with Skymin gone. Suicune is so important that people run storm drain sets pretty much exclusively for it, its as good of a mon as there is in AAA. Its physical bulk is insane, the only reason it shouldn't be S in my mind is because everyone prepares so heavily for it, which speaks to how good it is." - LaxLapras

"Latios and Suicune are comparable to Skarm as they are, imo, the biggest threats in the meta right now. Suicune is a very reliable win condition vs any team without a dedicated counter and Latios is the meta's most feared special attacker due to it's high speed, high base powered STAB in Draco and Psyshock to take care of would be counters like Chansey (adapt) and Melo (tinted). Even with counters present, Suicune can act as a physical sponge and spread burns throughout your team with the best move in the game, not to mention any desoland counters are worn down quite easily with hazards up + suicune can roar them into taking more hazard damage. Latios is decent even with a counter present because of the pressure it puts on the opponent + the utility it can provide with either trick or defog." - imas about Suicune and Latios

Skarmory hasn't sunk in viability at all, it's still one of the best counters to Birdspam, it's the best Gale wings user by far. It's also something that's never not threatening. Regardless of my playstyle I know Skarmory is going to be either an absolute pain to take down, or it's going to be a constant threat in the background. It provides hazard control in Defog, Spikes and Stealth rock, an offensive Sweeper in Gale wings, a check to offensive fire threats in Flash fire, Magic bouncer lets it beat most Hazard setters one on one, bar lead Deoxys or defensive support in Unaware/Intimidate checking tons of physical threats.

Doublade doublade is something I always wondered why was S rank, of course I know why, it just falls short regardless of what set I choose. it's either to weak, or it lacks recovery to check anything consistently. It's reliance on Eviolite is also a pain, and Pursuit is more common now than ever Sneasel and Tyranitar both being massive threats.
 
I'd like to nominate Milotic to be put into B-Rank.

Before you laugh at this and push it aside as a fool's request, hear me out. Milotic doesn't have the overwhelming bulk of Suicune or Slowbro, nor does it have the raw force of Gyarados, but it has an incredibly unique utility movepool and great defensive stats that almost no other Pokemon share, which gives it a shockingly powerful niche compared to other Water types.

The set I use is something like this:


Stallbreaker
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Haze
- Toxic/Ice Beam

Because of Milotic's naturally good bulk, it can abuse its epic arsenal of utility moves with almost no danger. What sets Milotic apart from others is its combination of Haze and reliable one-turn recovery, a trait that only it, Golbat/Crobat, Cryogonal, Honchkrow, Altaria, Xatu, Masqerain, and Dragonite possess. Scald is Milotic's most reliable attack that keeps STAB and can burn physical attackers. Prankster is what allows the set to work; it ensures that Haze will reset all of the opponent's boosts before they land a hit on you and Recover lets you outstall anything that can't reach a 2HKO normally. The last slot is entirely up to preference. Toxic allows you to win against most stall wars. However, Ice Beam is a great coverage move that applies more pressure on the opponent and deals more damage to common threats like Latios, Zapdos, many Gale Wings abusers, and Thundurus. The EVs let Milotic tank a variety of attacks from both sides of the spectrum, giving it optimal defenses and more longevity.


As niche as the set is, it can prove fatal against a ton of common threats. Furthermore, as mentioned before, no other Water type can do this. Vaporeon and Suicune need Wish and Rest for recovery respectively and can rarely ever run Prankster. While Unaware or Roar/Whirlwind mitigate the requirement of Haze, they aren't nearly as reliable as a priority reset button.
 
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