Anything Goes Viability Ranking

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Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Approved by Eevee General
Here we go (Listed Alphabetically)


Thanks to imas234 for the banner

Anything Goes Viability Rankings:

AG Viability Rankings Council:
Funbot28
Zangooser
Gunner Rohan
Joshz
thelinearcurve

S-Rank:
Reserved for Pokemon that are the pinnacle of the AG metagame. These Pokemon are able to perform a variety of roles very effectively, or can just do one extremely well. Their use has low risk involved and high reward exerted. Pokemon in this rank have very few flaws that are patched up by numerous positive traits. These Pokemon define the metagame.

Arceus-Normal
Groudon-Primal
Klefki
Rayquaza-Mega
Xerneas

A-Rank:
Reserved for Pokemon with impressive offensive or defensive capability. These Pokemon are typically the first to be considered to fulfill certain roles and have very little opportunity cost. They require little support to function and may have significant utility.

A+

Arceus-Ground
Darkrai
Diancie-Mega
Ho-Oh
Kyogre-Primal
Lugia

A

Arceus-Fairy
Arceus-Ghost
Mewtwo-Mega Y
Sableye-Mega
Yveltal

A-

Arceus-Rock
Arceus-Steel
Ditto
Gengar-Mega
Giratina-Origin
Latias
Latios
Smeargle

B-Rank:
Reserved for Pokemon with large offensive or defensive capability. They are designed to serve specific roles for a team and may offer valuable utility. They often need certain amounts of support and/or suffer to a degree from opportunity cost.

B+

Arceus-Water
Blaziken & Blaziken-Mega
Clefable
Deoxys-Attack
Ferrothorn
Genesect
Mewtwo & Mewtwo-Mega X
Scolipede
Shaymin-Sky

B

Aegislash
Dialga
Espeon
Gliscor
Greninja
Groudon
Heatran
Kangaskan-Mega
Landorus-Therian
Salamence-Mega

B-

Arceus-Dark
Excadrill
Garchomp
Giratina-Altered
Glalie & Glalie-Mega
Jirachi
Kyreum-White
Sableye
Scizor-Mega
Terrakion
Thundurus
Xatu
Zekrom

C-Rank:
Reserved for Pokemon with viable offensive or defensive capability. They have certain niches or utility that allow them to perform in specific roles. Reliant on fairly large amounts of team support to function and minimize their inherent flaws. They may also suffer significantly from opportunity cost to the point of being mostly outclassed.

C+

Aerodactyl-Mega
Arceus-Grass
Arceus-Poison
Articuno
Blissey
Whimsicott
Metagross-Mega
Quagsire
Skarmory
Wobbuffet

C

Arceus-Electric
Deoxys-Speed
Drifblim
Forretress
Kyogre
Liepard
Lucario-Mega
Palkia
Slowbro-Mega
Tyranitar

C-

Arceus-Dragon
Arceus-Fighting
Arceus-Flying
Arceus-Ice
Chansey
Hippowdon
Mawile-Mega
Rayquaza
Octillery
Tentacruel

D-Rank:
Reserved for Pokemon with very little offensive or defensive capability. Barely viable, they are very rarely real considerations for specific roles. Reliant on almost the full team for support while still affected by some of their flaws. They may even suffer from massive amounts of opportunity cost to the point of being outright outclassed.

Arceus-Bug
Arceus-Fire
Arceus-Psychic
Deoxys-Defense
Reshiram

Do Not Use Rank:
Reserved for Pokemon who hold no niche in the current metagame. These Pokemon should never be considered on any serious Anything Goes team, due to them either being remotely outclassed or competitively unviable. If you feel like using these Pokemon, please reconsider.

Bibarel
Shedinja

Numel
Murkrow
Sturdy Mons


What do you think?

Edit: Pokemon bolded have already had an analysis written on them.
 
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Forgive my ignorance, but what is Articuno's niche in Anything Goes? Also, I don't think Deoxys-N will ever have a niche over it's respective forms.
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Forgive my ignorance, but what is Articuno's niche in Anything Goes? Also, I don't think Deoxys-N will ever have a niche over it's respective forms.
I have heard that he is a viable user of Sheer Cold, will probably remove him though. Deo N niche is having better bulk then Deo A, while also having better attacking stats then Deo S

Edit: Ok then never mind :)
 
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InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
Heatran should be ranked somewhere, as it can absorb Fire moves, and resists Dragon/Flying, the main moves used by MegaRay. It does get bopped by EQ, but walls variants of MegaRay with Sub, DD, V-Create, Outrage/Dragon Claw, Dragon Ascent, and Extremespeed taking up the 4 moveslots, sets Rocks, and phases it. It's a pretty good bulky status spreader/Phazer/rocks setter, but is brought down a bit by lack of recovery (great with Wish support). It is also weak to Ground/Water (aka the primals), but I think it should still be ranked, B/B- seems like a pretty good place for it.
Also, while Smeargle is great with access to every move+Moody, I'm not sure it is S- material. It does get Spore/Dark Void, Minimize, and Baton Pass to go along with Moody (Acupressure for ultimate boosting, or Protect for stalling for Moody boosts among other options), but it is rather frail, so it needs Focus Sash, and if you hit it before it sets up (or Dark Void misses, or you get lucky and hit it through evasion boosts) it can be dealt with. Especially as lots of stuff carries Sleep Talk to deal with Darkrai, it can often be killed before it can do much. Nonetheless, it can still get Lucky with boosts and pass some great stat boosts to a teammate (e.g. Defense to Chansey, Attack/Speed to MegaRay, along with evasion boosts) so it does deserve a high ranking, just not S imo. Probably good in A+, as the last sentence of A Rank summarizes it perfectly: it may have significant utility.
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Heatran should be ranked somewhere, as it can absorb Fire moves, and resists Dragon/Flying, the main moves used by MegaRay. It does get bopped by EQ, but walls variants of MegaRay with Sub, DD, V-Create, Outrage/Dragon Claw, Dragon Ascent, and Extremespeed taking up the 4 moveslots, sets Rocks, and phases it. It's a pretty good bulky status spreader/Phazer/rocks setter, but is brought down a bit by lack of recovery (great with Wish support). It is also weak to Ground/Water (aka the primals), but I think it should still be ranked, B/B- seems like a pretty good place for it.
Also, while Smeargle is great with access to every move+Moody, I'm not sure it is S- material. It does get Spore/Dark Void, Minimize, and Baton Pass to go along with Moody (Acupressure for ultimate boosting, or Protect for stalling for Moody boosts among other options), but it is rather frail, so it needs Focus Sash, and if you hit it before it sets up (or Dark Void misses, or you get lucky and hit it through evasion boosts) it can be dealt with. Especially as lots of stuff carries Sleep Talk to deal with Darkrai, it can often be killed before it can do much. Nonetheless, it can still get Lucky with boosts and pass some great stat boosts to a teammate (e.g. Defense to Chansey, Attack/Speed to MegaRay, along with evasion boosts) so it does deserve a high ranking, just not S imo. Probably good in A+, as the last sentence of A Rank summarizes it perfectly: it may have significant utility.
Agreed, but don't think Chansey deserves ranking due to the threat Mega Gengar can impose on it
 
Deo N niche is having better bulk then Deo A, while also having better attacking stats then Deo S
Deoxys-Normal isn't going to be living any more hits in such a power-creeped metagame than Deoxys-Attack is, meanwhile, 30 extra base stats in both Attacking Stats makes a big difference. I can't speak for the rank of Deo-A, but I am positive that Deo-N shouldn't be ranked.
 

Da Pizza Man

Pizza Time
is a Pre-Contributor
Klefki S --> S+

Klefki and Mega Rayquaza are the metagame, simple as that, and it is really not appropriate for Klefki to be ranked with Xerneas, Primal Groudon, and Arceus. Swagplay Klefki is so god damn versatile that it can take out a lot of pokemon who threaten it, such as Mega Diancie with Flash Cannon/Iron Head, Mega Sableye with Play Rough, and Numel with Hidden Power Water. Let's also not forget that this thing is an absolute bitch to deal with, your opponent pretty much always has the upper hand when using Klefki, and it is just as good as Mega Rayquaza in this metagame, if not better imo
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Deoxys-Normal isn't going to be living any more hits in such a power-creeped metagame than Deoxys-Attack is, meanwhile, 30 extra base stats in both Attacking Stats makes a big difference. I can't speak for the rank of Deo-A, but I am positive that Deo-N shouldn't be ranked.
People say it has a nice Dual Screen Support set. I will look into it
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Klefki S --> S+

Klefki and Mega Rayquaza are the metagame, simple as that, and it is really not appropriate for Klefki to be ranked with Xerneas, Primal Groudon, and Arceus. Swagplay Klefki is so god damn versatile that it can take out a lot of pokemon who threaten it, such as Mega Diancie with Flash Cannon/Iron Head, Mega Sableye with Play Rough, and Numel with Hidden Power Water. Let's also not forget that this thing is an absolute bitch to deal with, your opponent pretty much always has the upper hand when using Klefki, and it is just as good as Mega Rayquaza in this metagame, if not better imo
While I do admit that Swaplays omnipresence dominates AG, people are starting to prepare for it and Klefki cannot deal with all these "counters" all at once
 

Lord Wallace

Hentai Connoiseur
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Why is Garchomp not ranked?
It's an all in one check to Klefki, P-Don, Palkia, Aegislash, Jirachi, Heatran, Ho-oh, Blaziken, plus it can OHKO Rayquaza with Outrage before it gets a chance to Mega Evolve and actually threatens Giratina-O (both things Lando-T can't do), has that crisp 102 Speed tier, AND it sets up hazards. B Rank is probably good for it alongside Lando-T. Rough Skin plus Helmet is also pretty nice for E-Killer, Kanga, and other physical threats.
 

InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
Agreed, but don't think Chansey deserves ranking due to the threat Mega Gengar can impose on it
Tbh, most people use MegaRay lmao, and Chansey is bulky enough to be good on stall teams, but you will need a Mega Gengar counter to give it the support it needs. B-/C+ Rank is great for it as it brings large defensive capabilities to the table, but requires team support to deal with threats, such as Mega Gengar or powerful physical Pokemon, and can wall a lot of stuff once MegaGar is gone (and it can switch safely to a physical wall partner).
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Why is Garchomp not ranked?
It's an all in one check to Klefki, P-Don, Palkia, Aegislash, Jirachi, Heatran, Ho-oh, Blaziken, plus it can OHKO Rayquaza with Outrage before it gets a chance to Mega Evolve and actually threatens Giratina-O (both things Lando-T can't do), has that crisp 102 Speed tier, AND it sets up hazards. B Rank is probably good for it alongside Lando-T.
The list is still in development, so some mons may not be included. I feel Garchomp is more B- material though, due to the Latis presence in the metagame
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
Tbh, most people use MegaRay lmao, and Chansey is bulky enough to be good on stall teams, but you will need a Mega Gengar counter to give it the support it needs. B-/C+ Rank is great for it as it brings large defensive capabilities to the table, but requires team support to deal with threats, such as Mega Gengar or powerful physical Pokemon, and can wall a lot of stuff once MegaGar is gone (and it can switch safely to a physical wall partner).
I guess it makes sense
 
As the maker of this team and a person who reached #1 on the Anything Goes ladder with a win-loss record of 63-1, let me give some opinions:



Mega Rayquaza in this metagame is extremely overrated, due to the prevalence of Prankster Thunder Wave mostly used by Klefki (which can stop its attempted sweep), Lugia which is very common on the higher end of the Anything Goes ladder, as well as the very common teams featuring multiple Arceus-Normal with Extreme Speed (which can revenge-kill Mega Rayquaza very easily, as not even a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from Mega Rayquaza can threaten the incredible bulk of Arceus much), especially when considering the fact that Mega Rayquaza's main attack, Dragon Ascent, lowers its Defense by one stage with each use, making it extra susceptible to being revenge-killed by Extreme Speed. The fact that Mega Rayquaza is slower than Arceus prior to using Dragon Dance, and can be burned by a support Arceus's Will-O-Wisp does it no favor either.

Another thing to note is that Mega Rayquaza's Extreme Speed is significantly weaker than Arceus-Normal's, to the point where it cannot even KO Darkrai in two hits unless it holds Life Orb. And in a metagame where Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave as well as Darkrai's Dark Void are omnipresent, with Sleep Clause not even existing to boot, it becomes very hard to justify not giving Mega Rayquaza a Lum Berry. Yet when it is holding Lum Berry, its power is very underwhelming and it is very hard to justify using this Pokémon over Arceus-Normal altogether, since Arceus-Normal has a stronger Extreme Speed which most importantly can actually KO the very common Darkrai in two hits, has far superior bulk (allowing it to take a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from an opposing Arceus-Normal, or survive a +2 Extreme Speed from a Lum Berry Arceus after Stealth Rock damage, unlike Mega Rayquaza), a much better defensive typing, a lack of Stealth Rock weakness, and not taking up the team's Mega Evolution.

Mega Rayquaza, with its Dragon Ascent, does undeniably hit harder than Arceus-Normal, but really, as hyped up as Mega Rayquaza may be, at the end of the day, it is just a one-dimensional set-up sweeper that doesn't really contribute much to a team's defensive synergy. Its only purpose is to serve as a frightening sweeper, which doesn't even always get the chance to set up in the first place, and even if it does set up it can still be very easily stopped by Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave, the Extreme Speed of one or two Arceus-Normal, or Lugia if Stealth Rock is not on its user's side of the field (and it is very easy to remove with Defog in this metagame). There is no way one can call Mega Rayquaza an S+ Rank Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame based on its sweeping/wall-breaking powers alone, due to the sheer number of qualities a good team in this metagame actually demands, combined with the fact that a team can only have six Pokémon. Anything Goes is already an incredibly huge metagame where it isn't even close to possible to cover every combination of relevant threats with one team. It is a metagame where one needs to be able to deal with a myriad of different offensive threats in the metagame while at the same time making sure that one's team is not so passive to the point where Darkrai and Moody Pokémon can easily walk all over it. Achieving the aforementioned balance is pretty much the ideal for building an excellent Anything Goes team, meaning that as incredible as Mega Rayquaza may be offensively, a top-level team in this metagame simply cannot afford to consist of five Pokémon which work well together synergetically, with one one-dimensional offensive threat attached to it. In a top-level Anything Goes team, as in a team that can actually win consistently in this metagame, all six Pokémon in this team needs to contribute something important to it, really, in terms of checking/countering opposing threats. Being a very frightening offensive threat alone just isn't enough - it can win some, or even many battles, but it will not grant one consistent success in this metagame.

The best offensive threats in the Anything Goes metagame (and I'd personally argue most metagames actually) are not the Pokémon which are the hardest to stop or switch into (and it is even debatable in the first place whether or not Mega Rayquaza would be the best offensive threat in Anything Goes given that definition), but rather, the Pokémon which are threatening offensively while at the same time providing something else that is good for the team by checking/countering common threats in the metagame. For example, Lum Berry Arceus-Normal is an offensive threat that also contributes greatly to an Anything Goes team by being able to beat the extremely common Darkrai and Klefki, and revenge-kill weakened Pokémon with its very strong Extreme Speed at the same time. Additionally, one can even put the universally useful Stealth Rock on an Arceus-Normal, if one cannot fit this move anywhere else in a team. Another example of a good offensive threat in Anything Goes is Choice Scarf Kyogre, as in addition to the destructive power it provides, it also outruns and can revenge-kill many threats, including Darkrai once again. Primal Groudon is also good as it can take a hit from Xerneas before retaliating hard, leaving the Fairy-type Pokémon weakened enough to be revenge-killed by the Extreme Speed of a Pokémon such as Arceus-Normal.



Lugia I feel is too low, as it counters many extremely common threats in the metagame including Arceus-Normal, Mega Rayquaza, Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, while its only real relevant weakness in this metagame is Darkrai, a Pokémon which any team should be extremely prepared for anyway, such as by having Mega Diancie or multiple Lum Berry Arceus. Additionally, I find that for some reasons, Taunt is far, far less common in the Anything Goes metagame compared to Übers, even on Pokémon that would normally carry Taunt in the Übers metagame such as Mewtwo, Yveltal and Deoxys Formes (and Mega Gengar itself is not used as much in this metagame as it has more competition from other Mega Evolutions), making Lugia actually better in Anything Goes than in Übers in my opinion, as the lack of Taunt users being used by people enables it to easily get away with utilizing movesets that are complete Taunt bait yet extremely effective aside from that, such as Roost/Thunder Wave/Toxic/Whirlwind and Roost/Substitute/Toxic/Whirlwind.



Mega Diancie should also be higher, due to the way it can singlehandedly counter Darkrai and Klefki.



Arceus-Fairy deserves to be higher due to the combination of its access to Defog and Will-O-Wisp, its ability to outrun and KO a Mega Rayquaza that hasn't used Dragon Dance yet in one hit, as well as its ability to counter Yveltal, as the physically-defensive variant of this Pokémon with Foul Play is very useful and not uncommon in Anything Goes, due to the prevalence of Extreme Killer Arceus. Additionally, I think all Arceus Formes in Anything Goes are inherently better than they are in Übers, since the lack of Species Clause removes their opportunity cost.



Klefki I feel is overrated. You can look at two sides of this Pokémon: 1. The offensive side, which attempts to sweep teams with SwagPlay, and 2. The defensive side, which makes use of its Prankster Thunder Wave to check opposing sweepers. SwagKey as a sweeper isn't really that good in Anything Goes since the metagame has practically adapted to it with Pokémon like Lum Berry Earthquake Arceus and Mega Diancie, while Klefki as an emergency check to threats with Prankster Thunder Wave faces massive competition from Lugia, which is far bulkier especially with Multiscale, can cancel stat boosts with Whirlwind, restore health with Roost, and actually counter Extreme Killer Arceus (90% of which in the Anything Goes metagame hold Lum Berry, making Klefki even less useful against it), all in exchange for requiring Stealth Rock being off its field to check some threats like Mega Rayquaza, as well as the lack of Prankster. If Anything Goes was a metagame in which Taunt was more prevalent, I would easily be able to see Klefki being as high as it is and Lugia being as low as it is, but the reality is that that is not the case. Additionally, I'd also like to point out that as long as a team can keep entry hazards off their field and contains at least two Pokémon that does not mind taking Foul Play (along with having reliable recovery, or maybe even just Leftovers), which is pretty much any stall team, not even a team of six SwagKeys can overcome it. This is true not only in Anything Goes, but also in every previous metagame in which Swagger was allowed, including XY Ubers and XY OU.



Latias and Latios are way too high. I cannot see what it is that makes them anything close to special in the Anything Goes metagame.



Liepard and Thundurus-I are too high. Extreme Speed destroys them too easily, and this is a metagame where multiple Extreme Speed Arceus-Normal in a team is the norm.


Anyway, I feel that the best Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame are, in no particular order: Arceus-Normal, Lugia, Darkrai, and maybe Glalie.
 
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Funbot28

Banned deucer.
As the maker of this team and a person who reached #1 on the Anything Goes ladder with a win-loss record of 63-1, let me give some opinions:



Mega Rayquaza in this metagame is extremely overrated, due to the prevalence of Prankster Thunder Wave mostly used by Klefki (which can stop its attempted sweep), Lugia which is very common on the higher end of the Anything Goes ladder, as well as the very common teams featuring multiple Arceus-Normal with Extreme Speed (which can revenge-kill Mega Rayquaza very easily, as not even a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from Mega Rayquaza can threaten the incredible bulk of Arceus much), especially when considering the fact that Mega Rayquaza's main attack, Dragon Ascent, lowers its Defense by one stage with each use, making it extra susceptible to being revenge-killed by Extreme Speed. The fact that Mega Rayquaza is slower than Arceus prior to using Dragon Dance, and can be burned by a support Arceus's Will-O-Wisp does it no favor either.

Another thing to note is that Mega Rayquaza's Extreme Speed is significantly weaker than Arceus-Normal's, to the point where it cannot even KO Darkrai in two hits unless it holds Life Orb. And in a metagame where Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave as well as Darkrai's Dark Void are omnipresent, with Sleep Clause not even existing to boot, it becomes very hard to justify not giving Mega Rayquaza a Lum Berry. Yet when it is holding Lum Berry, its power is very underwhelming and it is very hard to justify using this Pokémon over Arceus-Normal altogether, since Arceus-Normal has a stronger Extreme Speed which most importantly can actually KO the very common Darkrai in two hits, has far superior bulk (allowing it to take a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from an opposing Arceus-Normal, or survive a +2 Extreme Speed from a Lum Berry Arceus after Stealth Rock damage, unlike Mega Rayquaza), a much better defensive typing, a lack of Stealth Rock weakness, and not taking up the team's Mega Evolution.

Mega Rayquaza, with its Dragon Ascent, does undeniably hit harder than Arceus-Normal, but really, as hyped up as Mega Rayquaza may be, at the end of the day, it is just a one-dimensional set-up sweeper that doesn't really contribute much to a team's defensive synergy. Its only purpose is to serve as a frightening sweeper, which doesn't even always get the chance to set up in the first place, and even if it does set up it can still be very easily stopped by Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave, the Extreme Speed of one or two Arceus-Normal, or Lugia if Stealth Rock is not on its user's side of the field (and it is very easy to remove with Defog in this metagame). There is no way one can call Mega Rayquaza an S+ Rank Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame based on its sweeping/wall-breaking powers alone, due to the sheer number of qualities a good team in this metagame actually demands, combined with the fact that a team can only have six Pokémon. Anything Goes is already an incredibly huge metagame where it isn't even close to possible to cover every combination of relevant threats with one team. It is a metagame where one needs to be able to deal with a myriad of different offensive threats in the metagame while at the same time making sure that one's team is not so passive to the point where Darkrai and Moody Pokémon can easily walk all over it. Achieving the aforementioned balance is pretty much the ideal for building an excellent Anything Goes team, meaning that as incredible as Mega Rayquaza may be offensively, a top-level team in this metagame simply cannot afford to consist of five Pokémon which work well together synergetically, with one one-dimensional offensive threat attached to it. In a top-level Anything Goes team, as in a team that can actually win consistently in this metagame, all six Pokémon in this team needs to contribute something important to it, really, in terms of checking/countering opposing threats. Being a very frightening offensive threat alone just isn't enough - it can win some, or even many battles, but it will not grant one consistent success in this metagame.

The best offensive threats in the Anything Goes metagame (and I'd personally argue most metagames actually) are not the Pokémon which are the hardest to stop or switch into (and it is even debatable in the first place whether or not Mega Rayquaza would be the best offensive threat in Anything Goes given that definition), but rather, the Pokémon which are threatening offensively while at the same time providing something else that is good for the team by checking/countering common threats in the metagame. For example, Lum Berry Arceus-Normal is an offensive threat that also contributes greatly to an Anything Goes team by being able to beat the extremely common Darkrai and Klefki, and revenge-kill weakened Pokémon with its very strong Extreme Speed at the same time. Additionally, one can even put the universally useful Stealth Rock on an Arceus-Normal, if one cannot fit this move anywhere else in a team. Another example of a good offensive threat in Anything Goes is Choice Scarf Kyogre, as in addition to the destructive power it provides, it also outruns and can revenge-kill many threats, including Darkrai once again. Primal Groudon is also good as it can take a hit from Xerneas before retaliating hard, leaving the Fairy-type Pokémon weakened enough to be revenge-killed by the Extreme Speed of a Pokémon such as Arceus-Normal.



Lugia I feel is too low, as it counters many extremely common threats in the metagame including Arceus-Normal, Mega Rayquaza, Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, while its only real relevant weakness in this metagame is Darkrai, a Pokémon which any team should be extremely prepared for anyway, such as by having Mega Diancie or multiple Lum Berry Arceus. Additionally, I find that for some reasons, Taunt is far, far less common in the Anything Goes metagame compared to Übers, even on Pokémon that would normally carry Taunt in the Übers metagame such as Mewtwo, Yveltal and Deoxys Formes (and Mega Gengar itself is not used as much in this metagame as it has more competition from other Mega Evolutions), making Lugia actually better in Anything Goes than in Übers in my opinion, as the lack of Taunt users being used by people enables it to easily get away with utilizing movesets that are complete Taunt bait yet extremely effective aside from that, such as Roost/Thunder Wave/Toxic/Whirlwind and Roost/Substitute/Toxic/Whirlwind.



Mega Diancie should also be higher, due to the way it can singlehandedly counter by Darkrai and Klefki.



Arceus-Fairy deserves to be higher due to the combination of its access to Defog and Will-O-Wisp, its ability to outrun and KO a Mega Rayquaza that hasn't used Dragon Dance yet in one hit, as well as its ability to counter Yveltal, as the physically-defensive variant of this Pokémon with Foul Play is very useful and not uncommon in Anything Goes, due to the prevalence of Extreme Killer Arceus. Additionally, I think all Arceus Formes in Anything Goes are inherently better than they are in Übers, since the lack of Species Clause removes their opportunity cost.



Klefki I feel is overrated. You can look at two sides of this Pokémon: 1. The offensive side, which attempts to sweep teams with SwagPlay, and 2. The defensive side, which makes use of its Prankster Thunder Wave to check opposing sweepers. SwagKey as a sweeper isn't really that good in Anything Goes since the metagame has practically adapted to it with Pokémon like Lum Berry Earthquake Arceus and Mega Diancie, while Klefki as an emergency check to threats with Prankster Thunder Wave faces massive competition from Lugia, which is far bulkier especially with Multiscale, can cancel stat boosts with Whirlwind, restore health with Roost, and actually counter Extreme Killer Arceus (90% of which in the Anything Goes metagame hold Lum Berry, making Klefki even less useful against it), all in exchange for requiring Stealth Rock being off its field to check some threats like Mega Rayquaza, as well as the lack of Prankster. If Anything Goes was a metagame in which Taunt was more prevalent, I would easily be able to see Klefki being as high as it is and Lugia being as low as it is, but the reality is that that is not the case. Additionally, I'd also like to point out that as long as a team can keep entry hazards off their field and contains at least two Pokémon that does not mind taking Foul Play (along with having reliable recovery, or maybe even just Leftovers), which is pretty much any stall team, not even a team of six SwagKeys can overcome it. This is true not only in Anything Goes, but also in every previous metagame in which Swagger was allowed, including XY Ubers and XY OU.



Latias and Latios are way too high. I cannot see what it is that makes them anything close to special in the Anything Goes metagame.



Liepard and Thundurus-I are too high. Extreme Speed destroys them too easily, and this is a metagame where multiple Extreme Speed Arceus-Normal in a team is the norm.


Anyway, I feel that the best Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame are, in no particular order: Arceus-Normal, Lugia, Darkrai, and maybe Glalie.
Wow, you really like this metagame...
 

InfernapeTropius11

get on my level
As the maker of this team and a person who reached #1 on the Anything Goes ladder with a win-loss record of 63-1, let me give some opinions:



Mega Rayquaza in this metagame is extremely overrated, due to the prevalence of Prankster Thunder Wave mostly used by Klefki (which can stop its attempted sweep), Lugia which is very common on the higher end of the Anything Goes ladder, as well as the very common teams featuring multiple Arceus-Normal with Extreme Speed (which can revenge-kill Mega Rayquaza very easily, as not even a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from Mega Rayquaza can threaten the incredible bulk of Arceus much), especially when considering the fact that Mega Rayquaza's main attack, Dragon Ascent, lowers its Defense by one stage with each use, making it extra susceptible to being revenge-killed by Extreme Speed. The fact that Mega Rayquaza is slower than Arceus prior to using Dragon Dance, and can be burned by a support Arceus's Will-O-Wisp does it no favor either.

Another thing to note is that Mega Rayquaza's Extreme Speed is significantly weaker than Arceus-Normal's, to the point where it cannot even KO Darkrai in two hits unless it holds Life Orb. And in a metagame where Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave as well as Darkrai's Dark Void are omnipresent, with Sleep Clause not even existing to boot, it becomes very hard to justify not giving Mega Rayquaza a Lum Berry. Yet when it is holding Lum Berry, its power is very underwhelming and it is very hard to justify using this Pokémon over Arceus-Normal altogether, since Arceus-Normal has a stronger Extreme Speed which most importantly can actually KO the very common Darkrai in two hits, has far superior bulk (allowing it to take a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from an opposing Arceus-Normal, or survive a +2 Extreme Speed from a Lum Berry Arceus after Stealth Rock damage, unlike Mega Rayquaza), a much better defensive typing, a lack of Stealth Rock weakness, and not taking up the team's Mega Evolution.

Mega Rayquaza, with its Dragon Ascent, does undeniably hit harder than Arceus-Normal, but really, as hyped up as Mega Rayquaza may be, at the end of the day, it is just a one-dimensional set-up sweeper that doesn't really contribute much to a team's defensive synergy. Its only purpose is to serve as a frightening sweeper, which doesn't even always get the chance to set up in the first place, and even if it does set up it can still be very easily stopped by Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave, the Extreme Speed of one or two Arceus-Normal, or Lugia if Stealth Rock is not on its user's side of the field (and it is very easy to remove with Defog in this metagame). There is no way one can call Mega Rayquaza an S+ Rank Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame based on its sweeping/wall-breaking powers alone, due to the sheer number of qualities a good team in this metagame actually demands, combined with the fact that a team can only have six Pokémon. Anything Goes is already an incredibly huge metagame where it isn't even close to possible to cover every combination of relevant threats with one team. It is a metagame where one needs to be able to deal with a myriad of different offensive threats in the metagame while at the same time making sure that one's team is not so passive to the point where Darkrai and Moody Pokémon can easily walk all over it. Achieving the aforementioned balance is pretty much the ideal for building an excellent Anything Goes team, meaning that as incredible as Mega Rayquaza may be offensively, a top-level team in this metagame simply cannot afford to consist of five Pokémon which work well together synergetically, with one one-dimensional offensive threat attached to it. In a top-level Anything Goes team, as in a team that can actually win consistently in this metagame, all six Pokémon in this team needs to contribute something important to it, really, in terms of checking/countering opposing threats. Being a very frightening offensive threat alone just isn't enough - it can win some, or even many battles, but it will not grant one consistent success in this metagame.

The best offensive threats in the Anything Goes metagame (and I'd personally argue most metagames actually) are not the Pokémon which are the hardest to stop or switch into (and it is even debatable in the first place whether or not Mega Rayquaza would be the best offensive threat in Anything Goes given that definition), but rather, the Pokémon which are threatening offensively while at the same time providing something else that is good for the team by checking/countering common threats in the metagame. For example, Lum Berry Arceus-Normal is an offensive threat that also contributes greatly to an Anything Goes team by being able to beat the extremely common Darkrai and Klefki, and revenge-kill weakened Pokémon with its very strong Extreme Speed at the same time. Additionally, one can even put the universally useful Stealth Rock on an Arceus-Normal, if one cannot fit this move anywhere else in a team. Another example of a good offensive threat in Anything Goes is Choice Scarf Kyogre, as in addition to the destructive power it provides, it also outruns and can revenge-kill many threats, including Darkrai once again. Primal Groudon is also good as it can take a hit from Xerneas before retaliating hard, leaving the Fairy-type Pokémon weakened enough to be revenge-killed by the Extreme Speed of a Pokémon such as Arceus-Normal.



Lugia I feel is too low, as it counters many extremely common threats in the metagame including Arceus-Normal, Mega Rayquaza, Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, while its only real relevant weakness in this metagame is Darkrai, a Pokémon which any team should be extremely prepared for anyway, such as by having Mega Diancie or multiple Lum Berry Arceus. Additionally, I find that for some reasons, Taunt is far, far less common in the Anything Goes metagame compared to Übers, even on Pokémon that would normally carry Taunt in the Übers metagame such as Mewtwo, Yveltal and Deoxys Formes (and Mega Gengar itself is not used as much in this metagame as it has more competition from other Mega Evolutions), making Lugia actually better in Anything Goes than in Übers in my opinion, as the lack of Taunt users being used by people enables it to easily get away with utilizing movesets that are complete Taunt bait yet extremely effective aside from that, such as Roost/Thunder Wave/Toxic/Whirlwind and Roost/Substitute/Toxic/Whirlwind.



Mega Diancie should also be higher, due to the way it can singlehandedly counter Darkrai and Klefki.



Arceus-Fairy deserves to be higher due to the combination of its access to Defog and Will-O-Wisp, its ability to outrun and KO a Mega Rayquaza that hasn't used Dragon Dance yet in one hit, as well as its ability to counter Yveltal, as the physically-defensive variant of this Pokémon with Foul Play is very useful and not uncommon in Anything Goes, due to the prevalence of Extreme Killer Arceus. Additionally, I think all Arceus Formes in Anything Goes are inherently better than they are in Übers, since the lack of Species Clause removes their opportunity cost.



Klefki I feel is overrated. You can look at two sides of this Pokémon: 1. The offensive side, which attempts to sweep teams with SwagPlay, and 2. The defensive side, which makes use of its Prankster Thunder Wave to check opposing sweepers. SwagKey as a sweeper isn't really that good in Anything Goes since the metagame has practically adapted to it with Pokémon like Lum Berry Earthquake Arceus and Mega Diancie, while Klefki as an emergency check to threats with Prankster Thunder Wave faces massive competition from Lugia, which is far bulkier especially with Multiscale, can cancel stat boosts with Whirlwind, restore health with Roost, and actually counter Extreme Killer Arceus (90% of which in the Anything Goes metagame hold Lum Berry, making Klefki even less useful against it), all in exchange for requiring Stealth Rock being off its field to check some threats like Mega Rayquaza, as well as the lack of Prankster. If Anything Goes was a metagame in which Taunt was more prevalent, I would easily be able to see Klefki being as high as it is and Lugia being as low as it is, but the reality is that that is not the case. Additionally, I'd also like to point out that as long as a team can keep entry hazards off their field and contains at least two Pokémon that does not mind taking Foul Play (along with having reliable recovery, or maybe even just Leftovers), which is pretty much any stall team, not even a team of six SwagKeys can overcome it. This is true not only in Anything Goes, but also in every previous metagame in which Swagger was allowed, including XY Ubers and XY OU.



Latias and Latios are way too high. I cannot see what it is that makes them anything close to special in the Anything Goes metagame.



Liepard and Thundurus-I are too high. Extreme Speed destroys them too easily, and this is a metagame where multiple Extreme Speed Arceus-Normal in a team is the norm.


Anyway, I feel that the best Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame are, in no particular order: Arceus-Normal, Lugia, Darkrai, and maybe Glalie.
I agree with pretty much your whole post, just wanted to say that the niche of Lati@s is being able to hold Soul Dew and having access to a wide movepool, both offensive and supportive.
 

Funbot28

Banned deucer.
As the maker of this team and a person who reached #1 on the Anything Goes ladder with a win-loss record of 63-1, let me give some opinions:



Mega Rayquaza in this metagame is extremely overrated, due to the prevalence of Prankster Thunder Wave mostly used by Klefki (which can stop its attempted sweep), Lugia which is very common on the higher end of the Anything Goes ladder, as well as the very common teams featuring multiple Arceus-Normal with Extreme Speed (which can revenge-kill Mega Rayquaza very easily, as not even a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from Mega Rayquaza can threaten the incredible bulk of Arceus much), especially when considering the fact that Mega Rayquaza's main attack, Dragon Ascent, lowers its Defense by one stage with each use, making it extra susceptible to being revenge-killed by Extreme Speed. The fact that Mega Rayquaza is slower than Arceus prior to using Dragon Dance, and can be burned by a support Arceus's Will-O-Wisp does it no favor either.

Another thing to note is that Mega Rayquaza's Extreme Speed is significantly weaker than Arceus-Normal's, to the point where it cannot even KO Darkrai in two hits unless it holds Life Orb. And in a metagame where Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave as well as Darkrai's Dark Void are omnipresent, with Sleep Clause not even existing to boot, it becomes very hard to justify not giving Mega Rayquaza a Lum Berry. Yet when it is holding Lum Berry, its power is very underwhelming and it is very hard to justify using this Pokémon over Arceus-Normal altogether, since Arceus-Normal has a stronger Extreme Speed which most importantly can actually KO the very common Darkrai in two hits, has far superior bulk (allowing it to take a +2 Life Orb Extreme Speed from an opposing Arceus-Normal, or survive a +2 Extreme Speed from a Lum Berry Arceus after Stealth Rock damage, unlike Mega Rayquaza), a much better defensive typing, a lack of Stealth Rock weakness, and not taking up the team's Mega Evolution.

Mega Rayquaza, with its Dragon Ascent, does undeniably hit harder than Arceus-Normal, but really, as hyped up as Mega Rayquaza may be, at the end of the day, it is just a one-dimensional set-up sweeper that doesn't really contribute much to a team's defensive synergy. Its only purpose is to serve as a frightening sweeper, which doesn't even always get the chance to set up in the first place, and even if it does set up it can still be very easily stopped by Klefki's Prankster Thunder Wave, the Extreme Speed of one or two Arceus-Normal, or Lugia if Stealth Rock is not on its user's side of the field (and it is very easy to remove with Defog in this metagame). There is no way one can call Mega Rayquaza an S+ Rank Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame based on its sweeping/wall-breaking powers alone, due to the sheer number of qualities a good team in this metagame actually demands, combined with the fact that a team can only have six Pokémon. Anything Goes is already an incredibly huge metagame where it isn't even close to possible to cover every combination of relevant threats with one team. It is a metagame where one needs to be able to deal with a myriad of different offensive threats in the metagame while at the same time making sure that one's team is not so passive to the point where Darkrai and Moody Pokémon can easily walk all over it. Achieving the aforementioned balance is pretty much the ideal for building an excellent Anything Goes team, meaning that as incredible as Mega Rayquaza may be offensively, a top-level team in this metagame simply cannot afford to consist of five Pokémon which work well together synergetically, with one one-dimensional offensive threat attached to it. In a top-level Anything Goes team, as in a team that can actually win consistently in this metagame, all six Pokémon in this team needs to contribute something important to it, really, in terms of checking/countering opposing threats. Being a very frightening offensive threat alone just isn't enough - it can win some, or even many battles, but it will not grant one consistent success in this metagame.

The best offensive threats in the Anything Goes metagame (and I'd personally argue most metagames actually) are not the Pokémon which are the hardest to stop or switch into (and it is even debatable in the first place whether or not Mega Rayquaza would be the best offensive threat in Anything Goes given that definition), but rather, the Pokémon which are threatening offensively while at the same time providing something else that is good for the team by checking/countering common threats in the metagame. For example, Lum Berry Arceus-Normal is an offensive threat that also contributes greatly to an Anything Goes team by being able to beat the extremely common Darkrai and Klefki, and revenge-kill weakened Pokémon with its very strong Extreme Speed at the same time. Additionally, one can even put the universally useful Stealth Rock on an Arceus-Normal, if one cannot fit this move anywhere else in a team. Another example of a good offensive threat in Anything Goes is Choice Scarf Kyogre, as in addition to the destructive power it provides, it also outruns and can revenge-kill many threats, including Darkrai once again. Primal Groudon is also good as it can take a hit from Xerneas before retaliating hard, leaving the Fairy-type Pokémon weakened enough to be revenge-killed by the Extreme Speed of a Pokémon such as Arceus-Normal.



Lugia I feel is too low, as it counters many extremely common threats in the metagame including Arceus-Normal, Mega Rayquaza, Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, while its only real relevant weakness in this metagame is Darkrai, a Pokémon which any team should be extremely prepared for anyway, such as by having Mega Diancie or multiple Lum Berry Arceus. Additionally, I find that for some reasons, Taunt is far, far less common in the Anything Goes metagame compared to Übers, even on Pokémon that would normally carry Taunt in the Übers metagame such as Mewtwo, Yveltal and Deoxys Formes (and Mega Gengar itself is not used as much in this metagame as it has more competition from other Mega Evolutions), making Lugia actually better in Anything Goes than in Übers in my opinion, as the lack of Taunt users being used by people enables it to easily get away with utilizing movesets that are complete Taunt bait yet extremely effective aside from that, such as Roost/Thunder Wave/Toxic/Whirlwind and Roost/Substitute/Toxic/Whirlwind.



Mega Diancie should also be higher, due to the way it can singlehandedly counter Darkrai and Klefki.



Arceus-Fairy deserves to be higher due to the combination of its access to Defog and Will-O-Wisp, its ability to outrun and KO a Mega Rayquaza that hasn't used Dragon Dance yet in one hit, as well as its ability to counter Yveltal, as the physically-defensive variant of this Pokémon with Foul Play is very useful and not uncommon in Anything Goes, due to the prevalence of Extreme Killer Arceus. Additionally, I think all Arceus Formes in Anything Goes are inherently better than they are in Übers, since the lack of Species Clause removes their opportunity cost.



Klefki I feel is overrated. You can look at two sides of this Pokémon: 1. The offensive side, which attempts to sweep teams with SwagPlay, and 2. The defensive side, which makes use of its Prankster Thunder Wave to check opposing sweepers. SwagKey as a sweeper isn't really that good in Anything Goes since the metagame has practically adapted to it with Pokémon like Lum Berry Earthquake Arceus and Mega Diancie, while Klefki as an emergency check to threats with Prankster Thunder Wave faces massive competition from Lugia, which is far bulkier especially with Multiscale, can cancel stat boosts with Whirlwind, restore health with Roost, and actually counter Extreme Killer Arceus (90% of which in the Anything Goes metagame hold Lum Berry, making Klefki even less useful against it), all in exchange for requiring Stealth Rock being off its field to check some threats like Mega Rayquaza, as well as the lack of Prankster. If Anything Goes was a metagame in which Taunt was more prevalent, I would easily be able to see Klefki being as high as it is and Lugia being as low as it is, but the reality is that that is not the case. Additionally, I'd also like to point out that as long as a team can keep entry hazards off their field and contains at least two Pokémon that does not mind taking Foul Play (along with having reliable recovery, or maybe even just Leftovers), which is pretty much any stall team, not even a team of six SwagKeys can overcome it. This is true not only in Anything Goes, but also in every previous metagame in which Swagger was allowed, including XY Ubers and XY OU.



Latias and Latios are way too high. I cannot see what it is that makes them anything close to special in the Anything Goes metagame.



Liepard and Thundurus-I are too high. Extreme Speed destroys them too easily, and this is a metagame where multiple Extreme Speed Arceus-Normal in a team is the norm.

Anyway, I feel that the best Pokémon in the Anything Goes metagame are, in no particular order: Arceus-Normal, Lugia, Darkrai, and maybe Glalie.
I agree that Mega-Ray may not be the perfect mon, but I feel uncomfortable placing it along with Xerneas, P-Don and others like that

I understand the whole Arceus argument, but I personally feel that Mega-Ray has an easier way setting up due to the fact that it can hold Lum, and has other powerful moves such as DA besides non-stab Espeed.

252+ Atk Life Orb Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lugia: 214-253 (51.4 - 60.8%) -- 92.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Arceus Extreme Speed vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Lugia: 211-250 (50.7 - 60%) -- 84.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

I feel Klefki is too overcentralizing to be placed under S. Literally every team has to be prepared for it to not get sweeped. He does truly define the metagame. I could see S- though

The Latis are excellent wallbreakers with Soul Dew, and can provide team support with Defog and Healing Wish

Agree with everything else
 

Death Phenomeno

I'm polite so just for clarity, when I'm cross I
is a Contributor Alumnus
Just nitpicking here, but both Latias-Mega and Latios-Mega are currently listed with the same icon; that of Latias.

The correct icon for Latios-Mega would be this one.
 
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