Going through the rest of the nominations.
Bold are my nominations,
Italic are nominations I heavily backed up. I might also add some others that were either previously mentioned in this thread, briefly mentioned on IRC or just some things that were forgotten by others.
C+
I'm actually a bit unsure about this one, but the spot for a Water-type is pretty crowded, with Slowking, Alomomola, Sharpedo and Clawitzer to an extend get the spot for the most part, depending on whether you need a Special Wall (or, in real words, a Moltres counter), a Physical Wall, a Late Game cleaner or a Wallbreaker. However, I think that Gastrodon, unlike fellow outclassed Pokemon Sceptile, has some reasons that justify its use, including its Ground-type, Recover, and mild base Special Attack. All in all, I think both C+ or B- would fit it well, with
C+ being probably better, as Seismitoad brings Stealth Rock to the table besides its typing, and Gastrodon doesn't really offer much as far as utility goes (that is, unless you use the sick Block + Yawn + Memento + Rindo Berry)
C+
Choice Band Gallade is not bad at all at breaking teams apart, and even Bulk Up and Swords Dance can find place in some teams. All in all, I think its versatility is enough to give it a rank in
B-, but the fact the metagame in general is not the kindest to it (Doublade and Gligar make you go around in circles about coverage, offense makes you want to have Shadow Sneak, you get the point by now, it has a
huge 4MSS) means that Gallade going higher than B- is a no-no, especially with the existence of other really good Fighting-types, such as Cobalion, Virizion, Hitmonlee, Gurdurr and even Sawk. And speaking of Sawk...
B-
Not going too in-depth with this one, but Choice Band Sawk really pressure a lot of common RU teams, nuking Gligar with Ice Punch, Doublade with Knock Off, and Aromatisse with Poison Jab, as well as having a ridiculously strong Close Combat and a mild amount of opportunities to be brought in. I'd say it's probably as worthy of
B- as Gallade, if not even more.
A-
Quoting myself right here:
Pearl. said:
Fine, this one is not bad per say, and I could indeed see it in A rank, except for this one thing. It's. so. damn. unreliable. I know this shouldn't be a reason to rank something, and Moltres is sitting at A+ when its main STAB moves have 70% and 80% accuracy respectively. However, Moltres has way more good things going out for it, including a decent defensive typing, good synergy with Pursuit trappers, more sustain, is not so one dimentional and so on. Durant is squishy, forced to set up, would like to run like 3 coverage moves on the forth slot and I just had this game where my opponent's Durant missed two moves in a row, so I'm probably being biased towards this one.
All of these points are still true, except for the obviously outdated stuff, but I also think it's not on par as a metagame-defining threat compared to everything else in A Rank, and should be moved down as a consequence. Durant is by no means a bad Pokemon, and
A- is not a bad rank either, but in the end, it has really underwhelming bulk, which means it can't really afford to miss and depends on setting up in a decent amount of situations. Those problems make it unworthy of being A Rank, in my opinion.
C+
Besides being ridiculously cute, it's also a really interesting Pokemon. However, it's sort of one dimensional, with the biggest change in its sets being either Choice Band over Life Orb and Knock Off as a coverage move. It really struggles against Doublade without the later too, which is an undesired trait on a Physical Sweeper. All in all though, I think that it's a fine
B- Pokemon, since it's an excellent lure against Rock typed Pokemon, which are basically at a viability peak due to Moltres' presence. It also gives offense a run for its money, although that's already a playstyle in decay. There's also the fact that Rough Skin (Druddigon,
BULKY WATER SHARPEDO) and Rocky Helmet (Alomomola and Amoonguss sometimes, as well as more defensively oriented variants of Druddigon) massively destroy it. I'm actually pretty unsure about it in the end.
C+
Another unfortunate victim of excessive competition. However, I actually think that this one has some hidden potential in its offensive sets, which range from Choice Specs, Swords Dance, Life Orb (Special or Mixed), as well as Assault Vest. In general, my opinion is that the biggest trait Tangrowth has going for it is the surprise factor and the sheer amount of sets it can run, even in a less friendly metagame. It's also a victim of the ladder scrubs running defensive sets on it, thus leaving a bad impression of the Pokemon. It's probably deserving of
B-, but I guess it could use some testing in general.
B+
I'm actually like: What the fuck is this nomination doing here? It's a Defog user that loses to the most common Stealth Rock setters (it's even easier to wear down than Gligar actually, due to its weakness to the hazard), including Rhyperior, Cobalion and Omastar, and it's also massive set up bait for Doublade. As an alternative, you can use the "Stallbreaker" set that gets walked all over by Slowking and Aromatisse, and doesn't even have enough Speed to Taunt some key Pokemon without Speed investment, such as Drapion. And speaking of Drapion: It has 75/70/75 bulk once you Knock Off its Eviolite, which is going to happen a lot, as it's an usual answer to Hitmonlee. So in the end, I'd say that it should actually be moved down to
B-, also because its niche as a Yanmega check is longtime gone by now too.
B-
Don't know if this is enough to stress out how much I'd like this to happen, but I think that it's one of those Pokemon that really loses a lot of reputation thanks to people on the ladder running non optimal builds on it. To begin with: It's the only defensive Rapid Spin user in the tier, and Foresight actually means it's a decent lure to Doublade, with a 0 Attack EVs Close Combat 3HOKing, and while this doesn't seem good at all, it's actually pretty decent for a Pokemon that apparently can't do anything against the aforementioned Doublade. It also has Intimidate, making it a soft check to a decent amount of Physical attackers, such as Rhyperior (also stopping it from laying down Stealth Rock), Cobalion, Durant and probably some more. 110 Special Defense isn't too shabby either, and it can actually cripple common switch ins through Toxic (which, by the way, should
always be the 4th move on Hitmontop, since Sucker Punch and Stone Edge are piss weak. Rest doesn't look bad on paper, but it's usually better to offset the lack of recovery through Wish support). This one seems like a
B- Pokemon to me actually, but I'll probably not get too much support regarding it.
B+
I think this is one of the most supported nominations by now, wondering why it's yet to happen. With that in mind, I'll just quote one of my older posts again:
Pearl. said:
Qwilfish faces a lot of competition from Omastar, Accelgor, Kricketune and Utility Cobalion for the lead slot, but it has a lot of things going for it at the moment, including the second fastest Taunt, Toxic Spikes, Explosion and Scald. The later might seem a ridiculous option on a Pokemon whose Attack is higher than Special Attack, but it allows Qwilfish to win against Rhyperior, fish (pun not intended) for a burn on things like Cobalion and Doublade, scare Gligar away without having to use Explosion and some other things probably. Its defensive set, while inferior to what it was in the past, still puts some Pokemon in check, including Swords Dance Cobalion and Hitmonlee while reliably setting up (Toxic) Spikes throughout the game.
The amount of tools it has when compared to the other competitors for the lead slot actually put Qwilfish on par with them, and even if it didn't, there's also the defensive set. Easily a
B+ in my opinion.
B+
In my opinion, Registeel just isn't in its glory days anymore. Of course it's not bad by any means, but its offensive presence leaves a bit to be desired (it's complete set up bait for Doublade, unless you're real and use Zap Cannon), it loses to Gligar as a Stealth Rock setter, is susceptible to Dugtrio trapping and some of the main Pokemon it's supposed to set, such as Exploud and Meloetta, can play around it with the proper coverage or set.
B+
B
Emboar needs to be cleaned off B+ Rank. It's not really a bad Pokemon, but it sort of falls short as a wallbreaker in comparison to Exploud and Clawitzer, and doesn't have the utility off Omastar, Accelgor or even Combusken to make up for it. I don't think that B+ Rank is where it should be, unless someone can make me change my opinion about it.
B it is until then, though.
Alright. So, since I'm tired by now and there's a lot I want to talk about the last two Pokemon left, (
Exploud and
Clawitzer) I'll leave it for my next post.