Resource RU Viability Ranking

[Kyuzeth]

the power creep is real... Jellicent went from high OU to mid RU...

Also goodra's pre-evolution is Sligoo, not Sliggo.

You're still in the wrong. It's Sliggoo.

 

[pipasonze]

I see Sceptile is in A-rank, but I haven't anyone talk much about it. What are its best sets and what makes it A-rank?

 

[SuperWumbology]

OK, I hope I don't sound like a complete idiot since I'm getting to know RU a bit more, but here I go:

Why are Shiftry and Skuntank ranked so low? I can kinda see that Shiftry is frail and can give free turns to sweepers like Cobalion, Yanmega and Virizion on a good amount of occasions, but it's pretty much imo the best offensive Defogger the tier has (considering the only 2 Defoggers that are ranked higher are Gligar and......Togetic). Shiftry can do a very good job at breaking down a lot of bulky RU threats like Slowking, Rhyperior, Reuniclus and Cresselia (2HKO with Knock Off but still pretty good). It is kinda hard to stop it from Defogging since it can just easily Knock Off or just use Leaf Storm to just kill something, and Braviary, one of the go-to answers to Defogging can't switch in 100% safely. Also Sucker Punch is cool. Shiftry in turn can synergize well with things that have trouble breaking past these bulky threats like Moltres (No HP Grass variants), giving it more splashability. Imo, I think Shiftry should be more around B/B+ Rank, but that's kinda ambitious coming from someone who's only played the tier for 1 1/2 weeks. I'm not sure what to say about Skuntank tho, since I haven't seen or had enough experience using it myself, but it too could use a bit of love considering it also has priority and some cool stuff like Pursuit and Taunt, maybe B-/B Rank since it can also deal with most of the Psychic-types in the tier, and Sucker Punch + Aftermath makes it not helpless against Braviary.

Also, could someone explain to me why Braviary is B Rank when it is basically the best Defiant user in the tier? Forgive me if I sound ignorant, but I'm still in the Bisharp mindest from OU.

 

[Lolazo]

Why Rotom-Cut and Rotom-N are so low, Rotom-Cut can check all water types and rhyperior and also burn their counters like druddigon or escape with volt switch, and with its STABs and wow can cover a good portion of pokemons, and grass/electric in the tier is a good typing, and Rotom-N is a excellent pokemon, somewhat outclassed by mismagius but he has a better typing in electric/ghost that give resistances to steel (important with cobalion and esca) flying and electric, he had a decent speed tier and sub split and bulky wow are nice sets, sadly de bulky set is too weak and the sub split loses on pokemons like rhyperior and esca (luckily pursuit isn't common) but isn't a C- rank pokemon .-.
i nominate Rotom-C for A- rank and Rotom-N for B- rank

 

[Mew2]

Durant should be at least solid A rank, good attack with a great base speed and a good defense. Steel/Bug is a great typing both offensive and defensive and with a good boosting move in hone claws I don't get why this monster is so low, seriously we bannded it from RU last gen and now it is ranked at B?

 

[DGpegasus]

What makes Froslass S? She has one very succesful set but that's about it. Because she's so predictable I think she isn't as good as many people think.

 

[Peef Rimgar]

What makes Froslass S? She has one very succesful set but that's about it. Because she's so predictable I think she isn't as good as many people think.

If you're as good at what you do as Froslass is you can be as predictable as you fucking want.

 

[Expulso]

itt: expulso nitpicks a a lot
I apologize for any grammar / spelling errors, I'm on my phone rn.

Emboar: A- --> A
Emboar is a very excellent Polemon in the current meta. With sky-high Attack, great Special Attack and HP, as well as Sucker Punch or Flame Charge to patch up its middling speed, Emboar is a massive threat. It can run Scarf, LO, Mixed, Band, Flame Charge or even AV sets fairly well. In addition, it also has a very deep movepool containing gems like Sucker Punch, Earthquake, and Wild Charge, making it a very unpredictable threat that deserves A!

Amoonguss: B --> A/A-
With Regenerator, a great typing, Spore, and HP Fire to whittle down Escavalier, Amoonguss is capable of beating most of the meta. It has excellent mixed bulk, walking most Water, Grass, Electric, Fighing and Fairy types comprehensively. It also serves as an excellent mixed pivot due to its bulk and useful resistances, and makes an excellent core with othe Rgenerator Pokemon like Slowking or Alomomola. Overall, Amoonguss is an excellent mixed pivot that should be A or A-; preferably A.

Whimsicott: B --> A-
With access to Prankster and useful moves like Encore, U-Turn, Stun Spore, Leech Seed and Knock Off, as well as a good set of STABs, Whimsicott is an excellent team supporter. It can out-
prioritize most things in the meta with its blazing 116 Speed, and then Paralyze, Encore or Leech
Seed them, forcing switches that you can U-turn on to gain momentum very easily. It is also helped immensely by the small amount of of good Fire-types currently in the tier. In addition, it can also set weather, making it a excellent supporter for Sun teams as well. I believe this all qualifies it for at least A- rank!

Exploud: B --> A-/B+
This Pokemon rose to RU on the merits of one thing and one thing alone; Specs STAB Boomburst. This absolutely annihilates teams that have no answer to it and its most reliable answer, AV Escavalier, is OHKOd by Fire Blast; Rhyperior falls to a Surf. Under Sticky Web, which can be set by Smeargle, Shuckle, or Leavanny, Exploud can absolutely rip apart most offensive teams, especially when partnered with another powerhouse like LO Hitmonlee. This is a very powerful Pokemon that, while prone to revenge killing, can wallbreak like no other; A- please.

Doublade: B- --> B+
Using its immense bulk and an Eviolite, Doublade can easily set up a Swords Dance (which is literally Doublade dancing lol) on the majority of the physical attackers in the tier. It can also wall many potent attackers and make them setup bait, such as Cobaliob, Virizion and Durant.

Spiritomb: C --> B
Spiritomb's unique typing grants it a sole weakness, to Fairy. It is one of the most effective Pursuit trappers in the tier, and can easily remove Pokemon like Slowking and Reuniclus from the match, letting Cobalion or Delphox sweep easier. It also has reasons to be used over Drapion; Will-o-Wisp, Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch prominent among them.

Please don't just laugh these arguments off; I am a voice in the RU room (wow so impressive run for president imo) and have seen / used these Pokemon enough to know they are greater than their positions indicate. Thank you!

 

[dingbat]

I think Whimsicott should move from B to A-. This thing has many options as a Prankster support 'mon -- it can choose between moves like Taunt, Leech Seed, Stun Spore, Encore, Tailwind, whatever it has, and Moonblast is also an option if it wants to pick off severely weakened targets. However, its biggest attribute is the move Memento-- although this move causes Whimsicott to faint, it can open up great opportunities for something like Barbaracle or whoever to set up, since the opponent's Attack AND Special Attack are both weakened by two stages. Not to mention, SmashPass is really amplified by Memento.

Ninja'd by Expulso tho :)

 

[skies]

Also, I know it's a rather drastic claim, but pleas move Delphox to S-Rank. Delphox's Specs Fire Blast really fucking hurts, and with STAB Psyshock and Grass Knot, it can beat a multitude of Pokemon. It also has Switcheroo to fuck up Defensive walls and the likes. It's a really powerful Pokemon who has very few counters and hits a very nice Speed tier, it has all the perfect essentials for being S-Rank in my opinion. Also, what makes Sceptile so amazing? I've never really had an issue with it, it's a B+ in my opinion, but why is it at A?

 

[DGpegasus]

Also, I know it's a rather drastic claim, but pleas move Delphox to S-Rank. Delphox's Specs Fire Blast really fucking hurts, and with STAB Psyshock and Grass Knot, it can beat a multitude of Pokemon. It also has Switcheroo to fuck up Defensive walls and the likes. It's a really powerful Pokemon who has very few counters and hits a very nice Speed tier, it has all the perfect essentials for being S-Rank in my opinion. Also, what makes Sceptile so amazing? I've never really had an issue with it, it's a B+ in my opinion, but why is it at A?

It's still outsped by various fast threats that OHKO it afterwards. Locking yourself into only one move also isn't the best thing. I honestly think a scarf set is more potent. This way you can outspeed these threats I mentioned earlier and probably OHKO them.

 

[Peef Rimgar]

Also, I know it's a rather drastic claim, but pleas move Delphox to S-Rank. Delphox's Specs Fire Blast really fucking hurts, and with STAB Psyshock and Grass Knot, it can beat a multitude of Pokemon. It also has Switcheroo to fuck up Defensive walls and the likes. It's a really powerful Pokemon who has very few counters and hits a very nice Speed tier, it has all the perfect essentials for being S-Rank in my opinion. Also, what makes Sceptile so amazing? I've never really had an issue with it, it's a B+ in my opinion, but why is it at A?

The thing about delphox is that it's checks and counters are really common. Slowking and Alomomola are both quite common walls that Phoxxy can't touch. Plus, choice sets are damn near mandatory so it's very predictable.

And on Sceptile, 100% agree

 

[Honko]

The thing about delphox is that it's checks and counters are really common. Slowking and Alomomola are both quite common walls that Phoxxy can't touch. Plus, choice sets are damn near mandatory so it's very predictable.

Choice sets aren't mandatory, Delphox is also a very good Calm Mind user. Specs or CM sets destroy Alomomola with Grass Knot or Psychic, and Scarf sets can completely cripple it with Switcheroo. Slowking also loses to CM if it switches in as Delphox boosts, and it also hates being Switcheroo'd a Scarf. Delphox has a few flaws (being relatively easy to revenge kill if it's not Scarf, not strong enough to sweep if it is Scarf) but being walled by Water-types is not one of them.

Medicham should be on the rankings. I haven't used it but I'd guess it belongs somewhere around C+.

 

[atomicllamas]

Okay, couple things I feel need to be pointed out before this thread gets too far along.

1) The tier a Pokemon is in has no affect on how viable it is in RU, for example Alomomola last gen was a NU Pokemon, but depending on who you asked it was either S rank or High A rank. It was actually higher on our viability thread than on the NU viability thread. Posts such as, "This pokemon is in NU and does not belong in the ranks," will not be tolerated.

2) When DTC and the rest of us went through making the initial list, we decided to be very strict, in most threads D rank is like "absolute shit, do not use this rank," in this thread D rank is "this is viable, though frankly I am not sure why you are using it". Unlike many other viability ranking threads, we are trying to avoid the trend of being way to optimistic about where Pokemon fit in these ranks (in fact OU and UU are going back through their threads trying to deflate ranks right now).

3) Please try to avoid posting shitty one liners, and if you are going to respond to someone's post please address their propositions (no matter how ridiculous) with good reasoning.

Anyways now that I addressed that, I will speak about some of the noms (the ones that I don't think are due to rank inflation).

Delphox to S is not something I oppose, as it is frankly the hardest Pokemon in the tier to switch into unless you are Slowking. Unlike a previous poster mentioned, Delphox is not limited to a Choice Specs set, its Calm Mind set makes Slowking or SpD Alomomola pretty much mandatory on stall, and Alomomola is still likely to lose unless it has Waterfall or Mirror Coat instead of the otherwise much more useful Scald. I've found a Choice Scarf set to be quite useful as well, out speeding most opposing scarfers, and having access to Switcheroo which prevents it from being dead weight against stall (impressively good against stall for a choice scarf Pokemon).

Sceptile to A-/B+ once again not something I oppose, but I guess I don't see any of the B+ Pokemon being better than Sceptile, and unlike last gen where Accelgor and Aerodactyl were good (mostly Aero) and common, its speed tier is unmatched by all pokemon S-B- rank barring Dugtrio, who, lets be real, is still losing to Sceptile. There is definitely something to be said for having a Pokemon that is fast without the need for a Choice Scarf. Also the HP nerf didn't really hurt Sceptile that bad since it was, and still is aiming for 4x effective Pokemon such as Moltres (HP Rock) or Escavalier (HP fire). This can either stay where it is or move to A- because while I still think it is a good Pokemon it has become a lot easier to deal with than it was last gen.

Whimsicott to A- seen a lot of requests for this, and I am not really understanding why it deserves to jump up this high. If someone wants to let me know what set they are running, that would be cool. I mean I guess I would only ever use like Encore|Taunt / U turn / Stun Spore / STAB and I don't see that being any more than a properly fulfilled defensive niche (B rank), Sub Seed sets just lose to every grass-type in the tier, so I'm not a fan of them. For now I'd Leave Whimsicott in B.

I'd also be fine with Amoonguss going up to B+, as Spore + Poison STAB means that something is going to sleep unless the opponent has an Escavalier (to bad those are everywhere). I don't think Vivillon should move up, it is really hard to set up against offensive teams, Escavalier poops on it and that is on every bulky offense team, and it doesn't really hit hard enough to break stall. Not to mention it absolutely needs Defog support to function, and is also partially out performed by Venomoth (fits the B rank definition). Smeargle moving down to B+ is fine with me as well, as it is outclassed by Shuckle as a Sticky Web setter, and the only thing it really has over Froslass in terms of usefulness is Spore / Dark Void.

Also added Medicham to C+, nice catch Honko B)

 

[Durant]

Seconding Spiritomb for B
While Spiritomb might not have a huge movepool it is quite a versitile Pokemon. It's Calm Mind set is crazy good and it can often set up with it's whopping 3 immunity's and lack of weaknesses. It can be a wall with Will-O-Wisp and various other wally moves like Toxic and Pain Split. However if you don't want a wall he can also be an effective Pursuit trapper with it's Ghost / Dark typing. Sucker Punch is also really useful if you predict right.

Also nominating Klinklang for B-
Klinklang his signature move's Shift Gear and Gear Grind are crazy good moves and are about the only reason to use Klinklang. Klinklang also can wreck teams once it's checks / counters are gone like Cobalion and Bronzong are gone. A Shift Gear is also easy to set up as it's Steel typing gives it some great resistances. Klinklang usually finds itslef setting up against common Pokemon like Aromatisse, Golbat and Cresselia because they just can't really touch it unless Cresselia carries Thunder Wave. It needs some support but it is definitely a good Pokemon and way better than stuff like Sliggggrroooo.

Further Kabutops for A-
Before I say why kabutops should be higher yes I talk about him way too much. Anyway with Froslass being such a common and good Pokemon something needs to remove it's hazards. That is where Kabutops comes in as it is a great Rapid Spinner and can beat next to every spinblocker aside from Gourgeist and Doublade. Yes Defog made it slightly less important but keeping up your own hazards for threats like Moltres and Yanmega is extremely important and with Defog you can't always use it because those are on the other side of the team. Speaking about hazard weak Pokemon they have great synergy with Kabutops. Fire, Bug and Flying types that are weak to stealth rocks can easily defeat Kabutops bane of existance, Grass types.

Lastly Omastar for B-
Omastar his fame is one thing, Shell Smash. After a Shell Smash Omastar basically won you the game because of it's fantastic base 125 special attack stat. However getting of the Shell Smash and removing all possible priority users / Choice Scarf users can be quite troublesome. However with the right support it is a great Pokemon and can sweep teams almost by himself.

 

[skies]

Further Kabutops for A-
Before I say why kabutops should be higher yes I talk about him way too much. Anyway with Froslass being such a common and good Pokemon something needs to remove it's hazards. That is where Kabutops comes in as it is a great Rapid Spinner and can beat next to every spinblocker aside from Gourgeist and Doublade. Yes Defog made it slightly less important but keeping up your own hazards for threats like Moltres and Yanmega is extremely important and with Defog you can't always use it because those are on the other side of the team. Speaking about hazard weak Pokemon they have great synergy with Kabutops. Fire, Bug and Flying types that are weak to stealth rocks can easily defeat Kabutops bane of existance, Grass types.

I love Swords Dance Kabutops, it OHKOes Gourgeist w/ 252 / 252+ with Stone Edge and a layer of Spikes, while it 2HKOes Doublade without any previours damage. And most Grass-types can't handle Stone Edge, they don't resist it :p! But I certainly agree, Kabutops is very powerful and one of the, if not the best, Rapid Spinners in RU.

 

[Durant]

I love Swords Dance Kabutops, it OHKOes Gourgeist w/ 252 / 252+ with Stone Edge and a layer of Spikes, while it 2HKOes Doublade without any previours damage. And most Grass-types can't handle Stone Edge, they don't resist it :p! But I certainly agree, Kabutops is very powerful and one of the, if not the best, Rapid Spinners in RU.

Yeah forgot to mention Kabutops can also be quite versitile with Swords Dance sets and a few less useful but more fun sets like Choice Band.

 

[Peef Rimgar]

Thinking about it, why exactly is Sliggoo ranked? It doesn't seem too noteworthy, unless I'm just missing something

 

[skies]

I actually meant after Stealth Rock and one layer of Spikes, in which case:
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Kabutops Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gourgeist-Super: 266-316 (71.1 - 84.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and 1 layer of Spikes
And it's usually Life Orb / Lum Berry, but this shows what Life Orb SD Kabutops can truly do. Honestly, after reading your input I'm persuaded to move it justu p to B+, because looking at A- now it doesn't fit in with Emboar and Virizion, but it is also not better than Aromatisse and Dugtrio. I think it's more suited for B+ and eventually who knows, it may just see another rise!

 

[atomicllamas]

WOAH. This is one messed up viability ranking. First of all Reuniclus and Chatot are S rank. Reuniclus ALWAYS sets up Trick Room (best to set up on walls), has perfect coverage, and is unaffected by the common status moves. Typing does not even matter when you are the bulkiest, fastest, and strongest, pokemon on the field. Trick Room may last only 5 turns but in those 5 turns, Reuniclus massacres a team that can only hope to stall and predict right with Skuntank. As for Chatot, wow. Chatter plus Boomburst plus Substitute plus Nast Plot is NO JOKE. Chatter and Substitute make Chatot untouchable and deal with faster pokemon regardless while Boombust and Nasty Plot is destruction all around. Yes, I know, confusion is dirty but it's incredible. Just use these two and you will find they deserve S rank. Also, why is Venomoth THAT high. When I used it, I couldn't Quiver Dance if my life depended on it! And it's not even RU! Venomoth for C+ rank.

I am going to address this post since no one really has. Chatot is in no way, shape, or form an S rank Pokemon, while it has the strongest Boomburst in the tier, there isn't much of a pokemon backing that up. Chatot is extremely frail, frail enough that pretty much any priority is going to pick it off after Stealth Rock. It is also unable to switch into any Pokemon in the tier barring Gligar, meaning that it provides literally 0 synergy for your team. It has no way of getting around Rhyperior barring Rhyperior hitting it self like 5 times in a row in confusion and missing a Rock Blast. I love Chatot, and I love using it, but honestly it is nothing more than a gimmick that can sometimes pull off a late game sweep.

Venomoth in C+ because it is NU is horrible logic (Chatot is NU as well!). Venomoth is more than capable of setting up a quiver dance on one of the many Pokemon in RU it scares out with either a SE Bug Buzz, or Sleep Powder, it can then use Sleep Powder to incapacitate a foe and get off a free Baton Pass to a special sweeper, which at +1/+1/+1 will be extremely hard to stop. Venomoth also has access to 2 great abilities, one of which allows it to simply blow past Pokemon it shouldn't with Bug Buzz (Tinted Lens), and one makes it way harder to deal with defensively, causing Thunderwave, Taunt, and phasing moves to be extremely unreliable (Wonder Skin). Venomoth is undoubtedly meta game defining and S rank worthy.

@ people who responded to this post, please try to be more helpful in the future.

 

[Expulso]

lots of words
Whimsicott to A- seen a lot of requests for this, and I am not really understanding why it deserves to jump up this high. If someone wants to let me know what set they are running, that would be cool. I mean I guess I would only ever use like Encore|Taunt / U turn / Stun Spore / STAB and I don't see that being any more than a properly fulfilled defensive niche (B rank), Sub Seed sets just lose to every grass-type in the tier, so I'm not a fan of them. For now I'd Leave Whimsicott in B.

I'd also be fine with Amoonguss going up to B+, as Spore + Poison STAB means that something is going to sleep unless the opponent has an Escavalier (to bad those are everywhere).
words

The thing about Whimsicott is that it can gain you so much momentum; Encore + U-Turn is great, and Prankster Stun Spore makes this like the Thundurus of RU in a way.

(ps it should really be partnered with a Fire-type to beat Amoonguss and Escavalier)

 

[EonX]

Ok, because I'm a lazy bum and don't feel like reading through 2 pages worth of shit, I'm just going to note a few things that I think need to be moved up / down:

Durant: This thing is really good. Like, it has everything needed to break every physical wall bar Gligar. The only problem it has is 4MSS that prevents it from beating every wall with a single set. That said, it can run Lum HC really well still and Choice Band is a nuke on the front end (unless you Hustle too much and miss) At the very least, I think it needs to move up to A- as I do acknowledge that it has an annoying case of 4MSS and Escavalier is a thing. But even so, it's pretty damn good and has an amazing Speed tier.

Heliolisk: With Raikou gone, there's no reason this should be anywhere in B rank. It has a good Speed tier (base 109 is just in front of Cobalion / Virizion and it is faster than Delphox) and a unique (but awesome) movepool for an Electric-type that includes Surf and Grass Knot, allowing it to trash every Ground-type in the tier with the exception of Dugtrio, who outspeeds it. It's great on VoltTurn teams, it has an immunity to Water (fuck your Scalds >.>) and it works really well on Rain teams (very underrated playstyle atm) I think this should warrant it a spot in A-/A rank. Sucks that it's so frail on the physical side, but nothing's perfect.

Meowstic-Male: Um, it's the best thing at what it does. It will almost always succeed in getting Screens up thanks to Prankster and decent bulk. Even Escavalier isn't OHKOing through Reflect and that's about the strongest unboosted super effective STAB move Meowstic-M has to try to take. It also has access to Thunder Wave to cripple any sweeper trying to setup in front of it or a teammate, so I really don't think it's anywhere near C+ on the same level as Ambipom... Imo, it belongs somewhere in B+/A- as it's really restricted to a single set and only really sees use on HO teams, but it is the best at getting Dual Screens up and should almost always be used if HO teams want such support.

There's a ton more, but I'll lay off for now to gather my thoughts.

 

[Peef Rimgar]

Ok, because I'm a lazy bum and don't feel like reading through 2 pages worth of shit, I'm just going to note a few things that I think need to be moved up / down:

Durant: This thing is really good. Like, it has everything needed to break every physical wall bar Gligar. The only problem it has is 4MSS that prevents it from beating every wall with a single set. That said, it can run Lum HC really well still and Choice Band is a nuke on the front end (unless you Hustle too much and miss) At the very least, I think it needs to move up to A- as I do acknowledge that it has an annoying case of 4MSS and Escavalier is a thing. But even so, it's pretty damn good and has an amazing Speed tier.

Durant also has serious issues with the swords, and Scarfed fire types are on just about every other team, limiting Durant's sweeping by a mile. I'd say B+ is plenty good enough for it, just due to common weaknesses