Once again sorry for not keeping this thread very alive. It's been ~5 months since the last update... Props to slurmz for pushing me into reviving it. I'll try to not take as much time in the future.
Here is a summary of the changes, based on the posts in this thread and my own take on the tier:
S-rank
A-Rank
- Snorlax went down a few ranks (1st to 5th), thus leaving Zapdos as the top ranked Pokemon in A.
- Salamence rose quite a bit, from 8th to 4th.
- Jirachi and Heracross switched spots.
Salamence's rise has been advocated by a few players, like M Dragon, and I can totally get behind this rise. Spikes immune, strong hitter and revenger killer as a Bander, threatening set-upper and mixed attacker (which gained a lot of traction in the ADV Cup), Salamence has it all.
While Snorlax still does its job, I feel like the Pokemons higher in the rank either define more ADV (Skarmory, Metagross) or are more consistent and flexible to use (Zapdos, Salamence). It is very comparable to Metagross in today's metagame as a bulky sweeper with a boom option, but I feel like Metagross' set of resistance is a lot more valuable than Snorlax's SpDef bulk.
B-Rank
- Gyarados is now above Milotic and Regice.
- Ludicolo is now above Vaporeon.
Slight changes. Gyarados just eats some teams alive and fits very well in the tier's offense as a sweeper that can take on Swampert pretty well. Milotic and Regice both have flaws that turn people away most of the time.
Ludicolo's support and offensive sets both see usage nowadays thanks to its unique traits, unlike Vaporeon which is usually turned down as the team's bulky water (most player will rather go for Pert or Cune, or even Milotic).
C-Rank
- Charizard rose right above Slaking. The other Fire/Flying Pokemon of the tier, Moltres, saw a similar rise and is now behind Lunatone.
- Rhydon and Solrock dropped down to D.
I rose Charizard and Moltres for their abilities to brutalize bulky builds revolving around Skarmory/Swampert/Tyranitar/Gengar. Stabbed Fire attacks with Grass coverages are extremely hard to stop for these teams, especially if they don't carry Blissey (which can obviously be played around). They both have great tools to disrupt their checks (Focus Punch Zard and WoW Moltres) and to top it off, their typing gives them a defensive utility as safe MixGross and Celebi checks.
Solrock niche is way too small to stay in C Rank. Rhydon is often more of a bother than it's worth. It's horribly slow, has an awful set of weaknesses (Ground/Water/Ice/Grass) and is usually worse than Tyranitar.
D-Rank
- Jynx, Alakazam and Blaziken all moved up in the rank.
Alakazam sheer speed and power makes it somewhat useful vs offensive teams, think of it like Starmie. It also speedties with Dugtrio! Jynx got moved up because M Dragon said so and Blaziken moved up thanks to popular demand, altho I still don't see why you would use it D:
And that's it! I had a hard time ranking the A tier so I feel like some discussion could be held over it.
Should Suicune move down to A+? Should Celebi follow suit?
Should Skarm move above Metagross?
Should Metagross instead move ahead of Zapdos?
Should Raikou drop to B?
Those are the questions that I had a hard time answering when I edited the rankings. I think all of these have good reasons behind them. Especially Raikou's drop, I don't think its potential LGS ability makes it as consistent and reliable as the other A-ranked Pokemons, especially when it struggles so much versus a lot of common Pokemons (Dug, Aero, Bliss, Gon/Pert combo and Snorlax/Ttar/Cele to a lesser degree).