These are the official Viability Rankings for VGC Series 9. In this thread, we as a community will be ranking each and every usable pokemon into different tiers based on how viable we believe them to be. We encourage you to post your thoughts and opinions on on the various usable Pokemon in VGC and what tier you think they should belong in. Posts in this thread will be taken into consideration when deciding changes to the VR.
While Viability Rankings for Series 7 do exist in a previous metagame discussion thread, we are going to be introducing a restructure to how we will be doing the tiering this time around. Equally, we have all gained a bit more experience with VGC 2021 and have some differing thoughts to before thanks to this. We think it makes the most sense to start afresh with a new VR and a new place for discussion therein.
The general idea of this is to rank every usable Pokemon in VGC into different rankings that will go in descending order. Since we are evaluating the entirety of the metagame, we will not be splitting Pokemon based on their roles within teams - supportive and offensive Pokemon will be ranked based on their impact that they have on the meta and the teams they will be brought for. For example, a Pokemon like Incineroar will be ranked highly for its supportive presence and Kartana for its offensive presence. While these examples are definitely present in the current Viability Rankings, as the metagame progresses and evolves so do Pokemon's utility and viability, so the Council will approach this with an open mind as we move forward.
Finally, there will be a Council of experienced players who will discuss and vote on the ranking of each Pokemon. As the Series tend to be fairly short, we will be attempting to keep this up-to-date based on what's going on in the tournament scene and adapting our list based on both tournament results and ladder success as the metagame evolves. Keep in mind, your posts and insights are still very valuable to us and will be a factor in any changes that we make. This thread would be nothing without the community and all of your input, so if you feel you have a good grasp on the metagame and fully understand the forum rules, then don't be hesitant to post.
Your VR Council:
Netherious
Raineko
zeefable
Deishu
maovgc
Namuko Pro
z0mOG
VGC Series 9 Viability Rankings:
Tier 1:
Incineroar
Regieleki
Urshifu-R
Tier 2:
Coalossal
Dragapult
Grimmsnarl
Landorus-T
Porygon2
Rillaboom
Thundurus
Togekiss
Torkoal
Urshifu-S
Venusaur
Tier 3:
Amoonguss
Blastoise
Celesteela
Clefairy
Garchomp
Glastrier
Gothitelle
Indeedee-F
Kartana
Registeel
Spectrier
Tapu Fini
Whimsicott
Zapdos
Tier 4:
Charizard
Cinderace
Dusclops
Hatterene
Mamoswine
Metagross
Moltres-G
Regirock
Rotom-H
Stakataka
Weezing
Tier 5:
Bronzong
Dracovish
Entei
Ferrothorn
Gastrodon
Heatran
Kingdra
Marowak-A
Nihilego
Politoed
Porygon-Z
Raichu
Regidrago
Regigigas
Rhyperior
Rotom-W
Snorlax
Tapu Koko
Terrakion
Tyranitar
While Viability Rankings for Series 7 do exist in a previous metagame discussion thread, we are going to be introducing a restructure to how we will be doing the tiering this time around. Equally, we have all gained a bit more experience with VGC 2021 and have some differing thoughts to before thanks to this. We think it makes the most sense to start afresh with a new VR and a new place for discussion therein.
The general idea of this is to rank every usable Pokemon in VGC into different rankings that will go in descending order. Since we are evaluating the entirety of the metagame, we will not be splitting Pokemon based on their roles within teams - supportive and offensive Pokemon will be ranked based on their impact that they have on the meta and the teams they will be brought for. For example, a Pokemon like Incineroar will be ranked highly for its supportive presence and Kartana for its offensive presence. While these examples are definitely present in the current Viability Rankings, as the metagame progresses and evolves so do Pokemon's utility and viability, so the Council will approach this with an open mind as we move forward.
Finally, there will be a Council of experienced players who will discuss and vote on the ranking of each Pokemon. As the Series tend to be fairly short, we will be attempting to keep this up-to-date based on what's going on in the tournament scene and adapting our list based on both tournament results and ladder success as the metagame evolves. Keep in mind, your posts and insights are still very valuable to us and will be a factor in any changes that we make. This thread would be nothing without the community and all of your input, so if you feel you have a good grasp on the metagame and fully understand the forum rules, then don't be hesitant to post.
Your VR Council:
Netherious
Raineko
zeefable
Deishu
maovgc
Namuko Pro
z0mOG
VGC Series 9 Viability Rankings:
Tier 1:
Incineroar
Regieleki
Urshifu-R
Tier 2:
Coalossal
Dragapult
Grimmsnarl
Landorus-T
Porygon2
Rillaboom
Thundurus
Togekiss
Torkoal
Urshifu-S
Venusaur
Tier 3:
Amoonguss
Blastoise
Celesteela
Clefairy
Garchomp
Glastrier
Gothitelle
Indeedee-F
Kartana
Registeel
Spectrier
Tapu Fini
Whimsicott
Zapdos
Tier 4:
Charizard
Cinderace
Dusclops
Hatterene
Mamoswine
Metagross
Moltres-G
Regirock
Rotom-H
Stakataka
Weezing
Tier 5:
Bronzong
Dracovish
Entei
Ferrothorn
Gastrodon
Heatran
Kingdra
Marowak-A
Nihilego
Politoed
Porygon-Z
Raichu
Regidrago
Regigigas
Rhyperior
Rotom-W
Snorlax
Tapu Koko
Terrakion
Tyranitar
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