Ever thought that Roar was getting common because of Glalie?I played about 300 games of AG this weekend, and I have some recommendations. Others feel free to dispute.
A- to B- or less
Roar.
A- to B-
With the amount of Xerneas and Diancie-Mega in the meta atm, why would anyone run an Arceus-Dark. Great for mewtwo, which is becoming less and less common. Even though these Mewtwo often carry fighting-type moves. I actually believe it would be more viable to run an Arceus-Bug than this.
B+ to C-
Most common situation: Set up rocks and then die.
Next most common: Taunt and then die.
I probably need to continue to make a decent argument. Why in Arceus's name would you waste a pokemon on just setting up rocks. Groudon can do such a thing. In fact, Pineco with Berry Juice would be a better option.
B to Unranked (or D)
Why would anyone use this? "Let's set up a sandstorm!", well I'm sorry to tell you kiddo but two of the top three pokemon in the meta don't care. When like much more than half the teams in the meta carry a rayquaza of some sort, it'd be stupid to run a weather team (most of the time). Then let's introduce one of the most common moves in the meta to this argument, EQ. Can someone actually provide a decent argument to back this up other than removing the majority of the enemy team in order to keep this alive for longer than a turn.
B to A-?
This might be a bit controversial, but I feel like we've established how helpful Ditto is in the last few days. It is the pinnacle of many high ladder AG teams. If you want arguments, look up the page.
C to B+/B
Arceus-Steel is a great support mon on many top teams. Its typing allows it to come in on a Xerneas (on a hard-switch) and decimate it's life with an Iron Head. On top of that, its typing allows it to come in on Rayquaza to absorb a hit, if say the Rayquaza was statused or LO set.
C to B/B-
When I mentioned this pokemon a few weeks ago, I had intended for the pokemon to gain a rank and wasn't completely focused on a rank for it. The more I use it however, the more I begin to see how well it can perform. Everything about it is great. Its ability, its attack stat, its movepool, e.t.c. I have a few replays to further my argument.
- http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/anythinggoes-237655301 - Early Stone Edge Sweep
- http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/anythinggoes-239478982 - Sharp Rocks
- http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/anythinggoes-239725064 - Pass Me The Ironing Board
- http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/anythinggoes-240392399 - Useful Double Kick
- http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/anythinggoes-240472284 - Stone Edge High Crit-Ratio Hands Me The Game
- http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/anythinggoes-240474334 - Another High Crit-Ratio Hands The Game
C to (something just move it up a tad maybe)
thelinearcurve, the current first place of the Anything Goes ladder has showcased how good this thing can be. It absorbs Xerneas's two most common moves (Moonblast and Focus Blast) and deals out decent attacks. This one I'm not completely sure about as its primary objective is just to counter one pokemon in the meta.
C- to D
Why would anyone use an Arceus-Psychic. "Beats Fighting and Poison you scrub!" Tell me what Poison and Fighting pokemon you encounter often. "MMX" And that's hit neutrally! "There are two Terrakion users in the meta" Ok, I'm going to stop there, hopefully you see my point. Having conversations with yourself is fun! Arceus-Psychic is not fun..
C- to Unranked
Do I need an argument, I'm pretty sure others have provided enough. I will for the sake of being fair to this volcano camel thingy. The only time this would be viable is when they have a full team of Klefki, and even then they'll often put HP water on one of them. If you want to keep Numel ranked (+appropriately ranked), make a new rank called G (because it's not even worthy of E and F). I've played 1400 games of AG, and only ever seen one Numel. That should tell you something.
I might make another post later, as it's getting late and I'm getting bored.
Arceus-Bug is still beaten by almost every Mega Diancie (DIAMOND STORM) and can't do a lot of damage to Xerneas due to Fairy resisting Bug, which i think can actually beat Arceus-Bug by wearing it down with Moonblast or setting up on it if it lacks Toxic. While not as common, Ho-Oh destroys CM Bugceus too, and also wastes a moveslot (Stone Edge) on SD Bugceus. Bugceus is beaten by almost every S-A threat too. The aforementioned Fairies, Primal Groudon, E-Killer can 2HKO it after SD and also due to ExtremeSpeed's priority, can beat it, Darkrai outspeeds and sleeps (that's the case for every arceus except normal), Ray so obviously kills Bugceus too (can't hit it SE and CM sets with Ice Beam are unviable), all support Arceus make Bugceus useless through Will-O. Klefki also obviously beats it with a little luck, like every other physical attacker.
Don't even mention Support Bug Arceus as well. Bad typing and STAB is made worse by the common stuff in this tier. Every other common support forme is a better choice except the ones I'll mention later.
Put Numel in D-rank. From what I've seen in other metas, that's the joke or really niche rank. Numel just deserves that and no further. Usage=/=Viability anyway, but you're right.
This is the Uber Viability Ranking's D rank:
D Rank
Reserved for Pokemon that serve no viable purpose in the Ubers metagame, but are bound here by tiering restrictions. D Rank Pokemon are typically outclassed in many if not all areas, and should not be considered for use on any serious team.
Arceus-Poison... I don't know a lot about how to use that, but I can provide calcs. Lets' say Arceus-Poison is switching in on Geomancy.
+2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Arceus-Poison: 195-231 (44 - 52.1%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO
84 SpA Toxic Plate Arceus-Poison Judgment vs. +2 104 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas: 168-198 (40 - 47.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Note: Using the CM Arceus-Poison in my calc.
Well, Arceus-Poison forces Geoxern out, but if Xerneas stays in, Arceus-Poison will take heavy damage. Offensive variants are more easily dealt with, but it's not like they can't do a lot of damage to it.
By your same logic, AMOONGUSS should rise too. AV Amoonguss (Yes it's in the analysis) can survive any attack from Geoxern (+2 252+ SpA Xerneas Hidden Power Fire vs. 248 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Amoonguss: 160-190 (37.1 - 44%) -- guaranteed 3HKO) and reset it's boosts with Clear Smog. Should be at least at C- or C+.
Terra rise is OK too, but Stone Edge's crit ratio is really just to make up for bad accuracy. You'll miss more often than crit. Besides, I still think that's just hax. Mega Diancie is better than it outside of not taking up a Mega slot too.
On Steelceus: You actually mention Focus Blast as a common coverage option on Xerneas, but yet you say that Arceus-Steel can pick off Xerneas. Non-Geomancy, sure, but what about Geoxern? Speed boost from Geomancy remember? Finally, more often than not, support Arceus more often than not runs Judgment, not Iron Head. It's stronger towards foes that don't have Sp.Def boosts, and also means Steelceus won't be crippled by burns.
Calcs:
4 Atk Iron Plate Arceus-Steel Iron Head vs. 104 HP / 32 Def Xerneas: 246-290 (58.7 - 69.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
4 SpA Iron Plate Arceus-Steel Judgment vs. +2 104 HP / 0 SpD Xerneas: 156-186 (37.2 - 44.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
Check Xerneas? Sure it can.... Only SD variants have a small chance of OHKOing Xern without setup. Offensive variants with Focus Blast or Close Combat do somewhere around 50%. Geomancy beats it even one-on-one if it doesn't miss Focus Blast.
Deo-S to B- at the most. That drop is way too drastic. Besides, C- is the rank that contains "not joke Pokemon but still bad".
I feel like you don't really understand what T-tar is for too. Despite the nerf to weather, T-tar still functions because it's a good Pokemon in the first place and doesn't really need Sandstorm. It serves as a check to Ho-oh, Lati@s, and Dark and Flying types. It's not meant to be a offensive Pokemon or something you build your team around, it's a check to things that trouble your team or whatever. Plus, it pairs nicely with Sand Rush Excadrill, who can actually GET PAST P-don or deal heavy damage to Primal Kyogre. (if both do not run a speed-increasing nature and max speed, which isn't that common)
Edit: Zangooser, admittedly 1/2 of Poisonceus run Poison Jab just for Xerneas, but I assume they can't OHKO like Steelceus earlier unless they tailor their EV spreads to do so.
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