MAMP
MAMP!
ok here's my vr with some brief thoughts on some mons. here's the criteria by which i've ranked the mons, i think that's important to clarify so this is a bit less arbitrary:
S RANK — The big guys. These mons are hugely versatile, fit onto any kind of team, and do things in every matchup without requiring support. Every viable team should have at least a couple of these unless you're in some weird archetype. These are mons where it feels like you need a good reason to justify NOT running them: they're the best at what they do.
Xerneas
Regigigas
Crowned Shield Zamazenta
Imposter Chansey/Blissey
Eternatus
A RANK — These mons are really good, but compared to the S rank mons are less versatile, less splashable, or have some notable flaw that can be exploited or mandates some team support. Pokemon in this rank still typically get to do powerful stuff in every matchup, and it's hard to go wrong chucking one of these guys on your team.
+
Groudon
Palkia
Ho-oh
-
Altered Forme Giratina
Black Kyurem
B RANK — B rank Pokemon are good, but have notable flaws can be abused and might limit the kinds of structures they fit onto. They can struggle to perform in some matchups, might have only a couple of viable sets, require some team support, and may be somewhat outclassed by higher ranked Pokemon.
+
Celesteela
Dialga
Lunala
Magearna
Rayquaza
Spectrier
Yveltal
Complete Zygarde
-
Blacephalon
Origin Forme Giratina
Kartana
Kyogre
Tapu Fini
Hero of Many Battles Zacian
Zekrom
C RANK — Pokemon in C rank are viable, but more niche picks. They have serious flaws. The role they perform can be pretty specific and most teams would prefer a higher ranked Pokemon. These Pokemon might be inconsistent at doing their job, and are often reliant on getting a good matchup.
Ice Rider Calyrex
Cresselia
Dragapult
Ferrothorn
Lugia
Melmetal
Mewtwo
Registeel
Reshiram
Solgaleo
Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta
D RANK — These mons can do stuff, but they're very difficult to justify running over higher ranked mons. They're outclassed, inconsistent, perform a narrow role, and require heavy team support. Mons that I would very rarely bring to a serious match.
Zen Mode Darmanitan
Dusclops
Garchomp
Golisopod
Heatran
White Kyurem
Therian Forme Landorus
Marshadow
Dusk Mane Necrozma
Pheromosa
Pikachu
Regieleki
Snorlax
Suicune
Therian Forme Thundurus
Type:Null
Umbreon
Victini
Zeraora
- versatility: how many different sets does the pokemon have? how many viable options does it have within those sets? how many different roles can this pokemon perform?
- effectiveness: how good is this pokemon at what it does? for a wallbreaker, how easily does it get on the field? how many things does it force out? how hard is it to switch into? for a wall, how relevant are the pokemon that it walls? how easy is it to get past with coverage? how easy is it to chip down? is it passive? etc.
- reliability: how reliably does this pokemon perform its role? does it require luck or having a favourable matchup?
- splashability/support requirement: how easy is this pokemon to fit onto a team? how many different team archetypes does this pokemon fit onto? how reliant is it on support from teammates? can it support a wide range of different teammates, or just a handful? how important is the role that this pokemon performs, and how many teams actually care about it?
S RANK — The big guys. These mons are hugely versatile, fit onto any kind of team, and do things in every matchup without requiring support. Every viable team should have at least a couple of these unless you're in some weird archetype. These are mons where it feels like you need a good reason to justify NOT running them: they're the best at what they do.
Xerneas
Regigigas
Crowned Shield Zamazenta
Imposter Chansey/Blissey
Eternatus
agreeing with sevag and lydia that these 5 are a clear cut above the rest of the meta atm, and i think that's best communicated by having them all in the same rank. i don't think either xern or gigas are that far above the other 3. i think some people have been down on eternatus lately, and i do think it's the weakest of the big 5, but it still fits on every team and does cool stuff every game, i can't justify ranking it lower. regen spikes sets in particular are very nasty
A RANK — These mons are really good, but compared to the S rank mons are less versatile, less splashable, or have some notable flaw that can be exploited or mandates some team support. Pokemon in this rank still typically get to do powerful stuff in every matchup, and it's hard to go wrong chucking one of these guys on your team.
+
Groudon
Palkia
Ho-oh
-
Altered Forme Giratina
Black Kyurem
groudon has felt so good to me lately, defensive sets especially. prankster, ice scales, and regen are all really effective etern checks that are super obnoxious to switch into, cool mon.
sevag is ranking palk quite low but i think its such a nasty breaker that offers meaningful defensive utility and is difficult to abuse. fini is real bad vs gigas + xern + etern teams and palk can get progress on it anyway with shift gear or spikes or whatever.
sevag is ranking palk quite low but i think its such a nasty breaker that offers meaningful defensive utility and is difficult to abuse. fini is real bad vs gigas + xern + etern teams and palk can get progress on it anyway with shift gear or spikes or whatever.
B RANK — B rank Pokemon are good, but have notable flaws can be abused and might limit the kinds of structures they fit onto. They can struggle to perform in some matchups, might have only a couple of viable sets, require some team support, and may be somewhat outclassed by higher ranked Pokemon.
+
Celesteela
Dialga
Lunala
Magearna
Rayquaza
Spectrier
Yveltal
Complete Zygarde
-
Blacephalon
Origin Forme Giratina
Kartana
Kyogre
Tapu Fini
Hero of Many Battles Zacian
Zekrom
almost had dialga in a-, which seems to be a very hot take from what other people are saying. regenvest is the best dialga set, very efficient etern counter/imposter nuzzler/zama nuzzler/slow pivot that can soft check gigas and some other random guys. doom desire is very powerful with almost any physical breaker, especially groudon. regen dialga can come in constantly on giratina and passive steels and make progress every time. magic bounce is also great, pretty good at stopping regi xern etern teams from spiking all over you. offensive sets like doom desire + plot are ok too. i think this is the strongest mon in b rank.
lunala is inflexible and sucks against wicked blow or spikes gigas and often gets bricked by defensive groudon. don't think it's a rank material anymore.
zekrom is kinda overrated lately, it's still a slow, ground-weak dragon-type and gets forced out easily.
lunala is inflexible and sucks against wicked blow or spikes gigas and often gets bricked by defensive groudon. don't think it's a rank material anymore.
zekrom is kinda overrated lately, it's still a slow, ground-weak dragon-type and gets forced out easily.
C RANK — Pokemon in C rank are viable, but more niche picks. They have serious flaws. The role they perform can be pretty specific and most teams would prefer a higher ranked Pokemon. These Pokemon might be inconsistent at doing their job, and are often reliant on getting a good matchup.
Ice Rider Calyrex
Cresselia
Dragapult
Ferrothorn
Lugia
Melmetal
Mewtwo
Registeel
Reshiram
Solgaleo
Hero of Many Battles Zamazenta
mewtwo might be the most underexplored mon in the whole tier, its b+ in an alternate universe.
D RANK — These mons can do stuff, but they're very difficult to justify running over higher ranked mons. They're outclassed, inconsistent, perform a narrow role, and require heavy team support. Mons that I would very rarely bring to a serious match.
Zen Mode Darmanitan
Dusclops
Garchomp
Golisopod
Heatran
White Kyurem
Therian Forme Landorus
Marshadow
Dusk Mane Necrozma
Pheromosa
Pikachu
Regieleki
Snorlax
Suicune
Therian Forme Thundurus
Type:Null
Umbreon
Victini
Zeraora
i either love or utterly detest every mon in this rank