Resource VGC 2018 Viability Rankings



Araquanid: Not sure where to put this honestly. Excellent at using it's Water Stab but more intimidates, electric moves, rock moves, and more flexible TR attackers hurt it.
I'd say either throw it in C+/C. The only time you would want to run it would be for TR, which it's actually good on. But that's about it. Let's not forget it's movepool is extremely limited, so the best thing you can do with it is run band and spam liquidation. I mean, that's good, but you still run into other waters, bulky grass, and slower mons on the opposite side of the TR field. Like you mentioned, it's physical, which isn't doing it any favors until they band reveal glass which won't be happening, ever. Not nearly as good as it was last season, (which wasn't even that good to begin with).
 
z-trick room avoids taunt and having a steel typing is neato burrito in the realm of being a TR setter that doesn't fear megagross

blessing and a curse though because you still fear aegis but also zard, so i'd say C+ is pretty apt for zong
 
z-trick room avoids taunt and having a steel typing is neato burrito in the realm of being a TR setter that doesn't fear megagross

blessing and a curse though because you still fear aegis but also zard, so i'd say C+ is pretty apt for zong
Cresselia doesn't really fear MegaGross either. Yeah Iron Head can do quite a bit, but it's not it can't take it.
 

B- ->C+

Worse than it used to be and Ninetales is better than it because it doesnt require TR. MegaObama wastes mega slot (and it is just worse than most megas) and gets oneshotted, while sash is pretty weak. And requires TR to even remotely function.


Won't touch it as I don't know how it performs. Could drop though, but it has special bulk and it hits hard.


B- -> C+ or even C

SP nerf was significant because it no longer can click Scarf Lando to death, not to mention the Scarf Lando is not even as common as in 2015 (it was basically everywhere...). It's also too fragile to run Z-stone because it loses sash and it loses power outside from the Z move if it sacrifices LO. And there are just many more better darks to use to kill Cresselia. Shadow of it's former itself.


B- -> C+ or even C

Somewhat pointless other than the typing, and if you run Steel-type you want it to be offensive to be able to kill Fairies. Steel's weaknesses can stack up rather easily if you have more than one of them.


B- -> C+

The problem is that huge chunks of teams already consists from fairies, so using redirector with sole fairy-typing doesn't seem worthwhile. There also are more steels and poisons than ever which can delete it, not to mention the shit offensive pressure. Twave is kinda ehh now so it lost another support option.


B- -> C+

Same as above that trades all remaining offensive capabilities for a cool ability.


Can't judge it properly, but the fairy-heavy meta has probably hurted it a bit. Then again, already lower than it was in 2015.


Like said it has good matchup against many major megas and it is a very potent supporter. Should stay in B-.


B- -> C+

Not that much reason to use it over Ttar.

EDIT:

Imo Kommo-O should be brought for discussion next; it's still in top 15 of usage stats in PGL, and I don't think that it's solely because of new-toy syndrome because that would likely have wore off already...

It's hard to rank though because it's ability to destroy things kinda depends on matchup.
 
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Hi! This is my first post on a VR-type thread, so sorry if I make some mistakes... I'm not going to talk about Pokémon that I haven't used yet, or I'll try to avoid talking about them, unless it is something quite obvious.

Stay in B-

I have been using Araquanid this past few days, and I have to say that it is a fantastic Pokémon. In my opinion, it should be B, bur I think that is beacause I like it, not because it has merits. Here in Spain it won a VGC18 tournament a couple days ago, as Araquanid is used too much in this region, but it still is really good. It has access to Wide Guard, so it is a great Landorus-T check (it cannot just switch into a Rock Slide, but it is a great EQ switch-in). Also, thanks to its great Special Defense and ability, Araquanid is a really good Charizard-Y check, as it can "easily" eat a hit and do some damage with Liquidation. It can also switch in into Tapu Fini, Cresselia or Heatran, and cripple them with a Liquidation or a Toxic. You can also run Bug Bite to have a good match up aganinst Snorlax, as it cannot Recycle after having its berry eaten by other Pokémon. Also, Araquanid is a great rain counter if Politoed is the rain setter (use Pelipper, it's better), and can handle rain sweepers as Swampert-M, Ludicolo or Kingdra

But Araquanid has some flaws, it has a poor physical defense, and it has to spam Wide Guard against Pokémon like Tyranitar, so it can't hit them in return. Tapu Koko and Zapdos are really popular these days, so you have to be really careful while using this Pokémon. For these and other things, I don't think it should be rise, but neither should drop imo.

B- to C+/C

There is no actual reason for using Clefable over Clefairy or Amoonguss, none. Clefairy's ability is superior to its evolution one. Friend Guard is one of the best abilities in VGC imo, as you can just Follow Me without risking any double target moves, as they are going to do little damage. Clefairy's speed tier is better than Clefable's one; being that slow is a great advantage as it has Encore and After You, being a really good TR counter; while Clefable is not slow nor fast enough for abusing Icy Wind or Tailwind. If you are using Clefable, you do that because of its support ability, not for its damage output, so it's not an actual reason for saying Clefable is better than Clefairy.

If you still think Clefable is better than Clefairy because it can run a recovery item, just use Amoonguss, as it has Regenerator and can have a 50% berry. Amoonguss can even support more your team because it has access to Spore, so you can use Protect with your set-up Pokémon and sleep something with Amoonguss (you have to keep in mind that Tapu Fini and Tapu Koko are really popular nowadays, as well as Charizard-Y). Also, Amoonguss has access to Clear Smog, so you don't have to think about Unaware just for opposing set-up sweepers (also, those set-up sweepers are really rare, as I can only think about Terrakion, Tapu Fini and Azumarill, while Amoonguss having a good match-up against two of them).

I haven't really use Clefable as I don't see an actual reason for using it, so maybe it's a little bit cocky from my part to criticize it, but having used Amoonguss and Clefairy has told me that Clefable is not a Pokémon worth using, so imo it should drop.

B- to unrank this shit C/C-

Please, can someone tell me a reason for using Gigalith? No, you can't, because there are none. I will be shot for this: if you want it as a Sand Stream user, use Tyranitar. If you want this as a TR sweeper, use Stakataka. I have finished, it is really simple.

Another nomination I want to make is this one:

A+ to A, or even A-

I loved Kangaskhan in VGC15, it was probably the best Pokémon after Landorus-T, or even better than Landorus-T. You could run ir fast, slow, bulky, with Low Kick or Power-Up Punch, with Protect, with Ice Punch or even with Fire Punch for Ferrothorn. But the best part came in VGC16, you could lead Kangaskhan Smeargle or Kangaskhan Talonflame against those Groudon, Xerneas, Rayquaza and Kyogre and even 4-0 them without having to switch any Pokémon, just using PuP and sweeping them with redirection or Tailwind. It was a really good support Pokémon, being a really good partner with Xerneas or Groudon, as they could set up with Geomancy or SD, and sweeping the opposing team. And furthermore, it made a really good pair with Cresselia and Bronzong, as you coul run whatever Kangaskhan, fast or slow, and just sweep with the speed control that those Pokémon gave to Kangaskhan.

But oh boi, gen 7 has come, and Kangaskhan has recieved tons of nerfs. Its ability is now wack, not to mention it doesn't have PuP, and Sucker Punch recieved a huge nerf. Nowadays, the only viable Kangaskhan set is the bulky one, and without Sucker Punch, as it is really bad. You have to run Fake Out, a normal stab, and two coverage moves or one coverage move and Protect. Don't get me wrong, Kangaskhan is still an OK Pokémon, it has access to Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Sucker Punch, Low Kick, Drain Punch... But its damage output is heavily overwhelmed by Charizard-Y, Salamence-M or Metagross-M ones. It is a slow Pokémon, not because its base stat is bad, but it's because if you want to run a fast Kangaskhan set, you should use Lopunny-M instead as Jamie Boyt said once.

And I don't think it's just me, Kangaskhan's usage has dropped a lot, as the only team that can afford having Kangaskhan is pure chalk, and even in those type of builds, you can run Metagross or Charizard-Y. Rain teams usually use Swampert-M, Mawile-M or even Salamence-M (maybe a few of those run Kangaskhan, but it is not a staple). Sun teams run Salamence-M or Metagross-M. Sun teams, obviously, use Charizard. Perish Trap teams, or even just aggressive ones use Gengar-M as a staple. TR teams use Mawile-M, and even hard TR teams use Camerupt-M. So... if you want to use something that it is not Chalk, you are probably not using Mega Kangaskhan.

That's my reasoning for dropping Kangaskhan's viability, it is still a little bit spashable, but normally there are better mega evolutions for a specific team, or at leasy it's what I think...
 

Jibaku

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Clefable's access to Unaware still sets it strongly apart from Clear Smog Amoonguss as Amoonguss is OHKOed by +6 Return/Knock Off from Snorlax/Azumarill, respectively. Neither of those boosters are uncommon.
 
Clefable's access to Unaware still sets it strongly apart from Clear Smog Amoonguss as Amoonguss is OHKOed by +6 Return/Knock Off from Snorlax/Azumarill, respectively. Neither of those boosters are uncommon.
But what do you earn by using Clefable? It literally cannot do anything against those Pokémon as it doesn’t learn Haze or something like that. Instead, Amoonguss can use Clear Smog on Azumarill (it never runs Knock Off, it isn’t a set with Belly Drum) and also on Snorlax, as the common Snorlax set is the Curse one. I still see no reason for using Clefable, even if it has Unaware, which is pretty much “useless” in this meta.
 

Pyritie

TAMAGO
is an Artist
But what do you earn by using Clefable? It literally cannot do anything against those Pokémon as it doesn’t learn Haze or something like that. Instead, Amoonguss can use Clear Smog on Azumarill (it never runs Knock Off, it isn’t a set with Belly Drum) and also on Snorlax, as the common Snorlax set is the Curse one. I still see no reason for using Clefable, even if it has Unaware, which is pretty much “useless” in this meta.
You use it to redirect snorlax's attacks while your partner deals with snorlax itself.

Knock off on azumarill isn't that rare either. Pikalytics says it's at ~21%.

If you want something with unaware that can also deal with snorlax, you might as well be looking at garbage like Quagsire, since it can learn haze. But you shouldn't, because quagsire is bad.
 

Jibaku

Who let marco in here????
is a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
Having your redirection eat up a couple of "+6" attacks is huge, especially against Snorlax who can really stick around for a while after Drumming.

Also if we're arguing statistics I'm pulling this off the smogon 1760 stats page

Snorlax:
| Belly Drum 57.807% |
| Curse 39.981% |

From Battle Spot:
#3 Belly Drum 53.815368196371395%
#5 Curse 33.19103521878335%

Knock Off Drum Azu will likely see a surge in usage after its performance in two recent tours (NY MSS 2nd place, Zelda's Sydney Challenge 1st place). It currently has 21% usage on PS and 35% on battle spot.
 
Oh, sorry for the misinformation, I thought standard Azumarill would run Aqua Jet, Play Rough, BD and Protect. I also thought Curse Snorlax was more popular, or at least I have seen tons of teams with it, like the Sun with Kartana one.

But again, I don’t see any advantages for using Clefable over Amoonguss. Amoonguss has better Azumarill matchup than Clefable, and also has better TR matchup, and can use Spore against Snorlax.

If you don’t want to have a weakness against Charizard and Salamence you can run Clefairy, which also has a slow Encore and After You to improve the TR matchup.

Edit: Sorry if I have ofended any of you, I have been acting in a little bit disrespectful way, I will try to behave a little bit better ^^'
 
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Pyritie

TAMAGO
is an Artist
Rankings update
(Mega) Abomasnow: B- to C+
Araquanid: Stay
Bisharp: B- to C
Bronzong: B- to C+
Clefable: Stay
Clefairy: Stay
Conkeldurr: B- to C+
Drifblim: Stay
Gigalith: B- to C+

Let's talk about the next B- batch
Gothitelle
Hawlucha
Mega Manectric
Marowak-A
Mimikyu
Nihilego
Ninetales-A
Pheromosa

Right off the bat I'm sure that gothitelle, hawlucha, and mega manectric are due for a rise, as they've proven to be more popular and reliable than other B- mons.
 

Celestavian

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Yeah those three definitely deserve to be higher.

I also think Nihilego should move down to C+. Almost all of its main niches from VGC17 have basically been stolen from it by the new Pokemon in VGC18. Naganadel is almost always a better Sash, Scarf, LO, or Z-move attacker, with Nihilego's Acid Spray and better bulk being the only separating factors, and can also support better with Tailwind. Mega Gardevoir is generally better as a fast TR setter, since it's reasonably bulky and hits way harder. That said, not taking up a Mega slot is a sizable advantage for Nihilego. The omnipresence of Landorus makes it constantly in danger, and it hates Rain and Sand cores. IMO it simply does not have the power to take advantage of its bulk in this new metagame.
 
Yeah those three definitely deserve to be higher.

I also think Nihilego should move down to C+. Almost all of its main niches from VGC17 have basically been stolen from it by the new Pokemon in VGC18. Naganadel is almost always a better Sash, Scarf, LO, or Z-move attacker, with Nihilego's Acid Spray and better bulk being the only separating factors, and can also support better with Tailwind. Mega Gardevoir is generally better as a fast TR setter, since it's reasonably bulky and hits way harder. That said, not taking up a Mega slot is a sizable advantage for Nihilego. The omnipresence of Landorus makes it constantly in danger, and it hates Rain and Sand cores. IMO it simply does not have the power to take advantage of its bulk in this new metagame.
Nihilego occupies a unique niche that can check Charizard and Guardian Deities in one slot, something Naganadel and Gardevoir can’t do consistently. As a result, it fits much better on more balanced teams, since its less frail and less likely to be blown apart by resisted hits. It does well against Sun archetypes, and while Naganadel may resist certain types of those archetypes, it does poorly thanks to it bulk. While it’s STABs less spamable in type coverage, they don’t force it out, not to mention should you ko an opposing Pokémon, your will most likely increase, allows Nihilego to pose even a bigger threat to the team. I’d keep in B- at least, but I think would B be better.

As for the others, Gothitelle, B or even B+. It does its job well, and has so many viable support options, like Heal Pulse, Helping Hand, and even Ally Switch, and has been getting a lot of use on the ladder.

Manectric has been very popular as well, thanks to its ability and Volt Switch. It can threaten a lot metagame, thanks to coverage between Electric, Ice, and Fire. It fits well on Goth teams because to its ability to trap the intimidated mons.

Hawlucha is a one-trick pony. It has a lot of utility moves, namely Tailwind, Encore, And even sunny day. Acrobatics and Low Kick threatens a lot of common Pokémon namely Ludicolo, Kangaskhan and Heatran. The biggest problems are that it is not very flexible, not to mention that it’s compouned by Intimidate. I could see B-rank, but I’m fine with B-.
 
They Raking Update makes sense to me. Still dont see where is played Gigalith but idk.

Gothi and Manectric are 2 mons that are going up 100%. Manectric has 2 amazing abilities and a unique movepool with electric and fire. Gothi is a TR setter, support, trapper, etc. Just a beast. But I dont see Hawlucha going up, has cool tricks but can easily be countered by intimidate resets. I hope to see a team using Ninetales-A(or even Ninetales-K) that gets to top cut. Hail has been the weaker climate in VGC18 and had been a dominant in VGC17. For the rest of the B- I think they are fine where they are.
 

Pyritie

TAMAGO
is an Artist
Make Fairy resist Dragon instead of being immune to it and remove Bug resist. Would be better than nothing. Lele for example would gain a weakness to Bug, which would make that type a bit more relevant offensively.

Or perhaps make Ice resist Fairy?
And nerf Fairy.
I hope Fighting types can get to Top Cut too. Next generation should boost Fighting and Dragon types back.
hi guys, this isn't the place for theorymon
 
hi guys, this isn't the place for theorymon
Sorry :P

Gothitelle (accidently removed pic and too lazy to pic it up lol) B- -> B.

Pretty simple, Shadow Tag and it's tools have proven it to be fairly effective in this meta. It competes with Cress but shadow tag alone gives it a major niche.


B- -> B

Has a fairly good matchup against many other megas (Intimidates Kanga, deals a lot of damage to Zard and Gross, intimidates and threatens Mawile, etc etc), has good, unique coverage, can deter everything offensively with Intimidate and Snarl (and those which it cant, AKA Milotic and Bisharp, it threatens offensively), is fast (135 base speed is troll for Gengar and Tapu Koko). In general a flexible poke and annoying to deal with.




B- -> C+

Weather is spammed everywhere and now there are Megas that can overwhelm its weather with their weather. And even against non-mega setters it has issues because Ninetales is the fastest weather setter in the game. This makes Ninetales more wonky as lead than in 2017 against a big chunk of teams if it actually wants to use Aurora Veil, the best thing it has going for. One option is not leading with Ninetales, sure, but another problem is that because of shitty defensive typing and frailness, it is very hard for it to switch in.

Another thing it had was the speed - in 2017, Tapu Koko was more or less only common unboosted mon that was able to outspeed Ninetales. Now there also are way more mons available that are capable of outspeeding Ninetales, another thing that makes setting up AV harder than in 2017.

Other than that, it is extremely weak offensively; it has chance at failing to OHKOing AV Lando with Blizzard if it is enough bulky, and that is a STAB Blizzard against a 4x Ice weak mon! Not to mention that Blizzard relies on weather so it makes Ninetales rely on its weather quite hella alot, because Freeze-Dry is fucking weak unless it hits for 4x damage (it fails to 2HKO Fini with 0 SpDef investment even with help of Hail, so go figure...and now imagine this VS a tankier Fini with berry...its probably a 5HKO lol)

It suffers from 4MMS as well, has poor typing defensively, gets utterly walled by quite a big chunk of mons (as it doesn't generally have room for non-Ice type offensive moves, and even if it does it gets still walled by Steel and Fire types), etc etc.

Ninetales seems to have so many glaring flaws that it simply doesnt warrant a B rank for me. It is still a great mon in certain matchups, because Aurora Veil is a stupidly strong tool still, and a fast Blizzard spammer is nothing to laugh at, even if the damage is lackluster compared for something that spams Blizzard. It just has so many issues that it IMO doesnt deserve B-.

Kinda want to nominate Marowak for C+ as well but lack of experience made me against that decision for now.
 

Adamant Zoroark

catchy catchphrase
is a Contributor Alumnus
Sorry :P

Gothitelle (accidently removed pic and too lazy to pic it up lol) B- -> B.

Pretty simple, Shadow Tag and it's tools have proven it to be fairly effective in this meta. It competes with Cress but shadow tag alone gives it a major niche.


B- -> B

Has a fairly good matchup against many other megas (Intimidates Kanga, deals a lot of damage to Zard and Gross, intimidates and threatens Mawile, etc etc), has good, unique coverage, can deter everything offensively with Intimidate and Snarl (and those which it cant, AKA Milotic and Bisharp, it threatens offensively), is fast (135 base speed is troll for Gengar and Tapu Koko). In general a flexible poke and annoying to deal with.




B- -> C+

Weather is spammed everywhere and now there are Megas that can overwhelm its weather with their weather. And even against non-mega setters it has issues because Ninetales is the fastest weather setter in the game. This makes Ninetales more wonky as lead than in 2017 against a big chunk of teams if it actually wants to use Aurora Veil, the best thing it has going for. One option is not leading with Ninetales, sure, but another problem is that because of shitty defensive typing and frailness, it is very hard for it to switch in.

Another thing it had was the speed - in 2017, Tapu Koko was more or less only common unboosted mon that was able to outspeed Ninetales. Now there also are way more mons available that are capable of outspeeding Ninetales, another thing that makes setting up AV harder than in 2017.

Other than that, it is extremely weak offensively; it has chance at failing to OHKOing AV Lando with Blizzard if it is enough bulky, and that is a STAB Blizzard against a 4x Ice weak mon! Not to mention that Blizzard relies on weather so it makes Ninetales rely on its weather quite hella alot, because Freeze-Dry is fucking weak unless it hits for 4x damage (it fails to 2HKO Fini with 0 SpDef investment even with help of Hail, so go figure...and now imagine this VS a tankier Fini with berry...its probably a 5HKO lol)

It suffers from 4MMS as well, has poor typing defensively, gets utterly walled by quite a big chunk of mons (as it doesn't generally have room for non-Ice type offensive moves, and even if it does it gets still walled by Steel and Fire types), etc etc.

Ninetales seems to have so many glaring flaws that it simply doesnt warrant a B rank for me. It is still a great mon in certain matchups, because Aurora Veil is a stupidly strong tool still, and a fast Blizzard spammer is nothing to laugh at, even if the damage is lackluster compared for something that spams Blizzard. It just has so many issues that it IMO doesnt deserve B-.

Kinda want to nominate Marowak for C+ as well but lack of experience made me against that decision for now.
I’m not about to sit here and say that Ninetales-A hasn’t fallen from grace, because it absolutely has (Mega Charizard Y alone is enough to demonstrate that). Even so, I still have serious reservations about putting it in the same rank as (Mega) Abomasnow. Aurora Veil on its own gives Ninetales-A a bigger niche than Abomasnow (and can fit on more teams as a result), and the rankings should reflect that. If Ninetales-A drops, (Mega) Abomasnow has to drop too in my honest opinion.
 
For my own nominations:

B -> B+ or A-
To be honest, Incineroar is much better than all pokemon in B and some of them in B+ in this metagame. It's one of the few pokemon that can switch into Lele/Metagross, Aegislash and Mega Charizard Y with a fake out support in one pokemon. It's one of the best fire-type available in the format and it's quite splashable in the teambuild.

1516876198843.png

A+ -> A
I've been using that for a while, it has an awkward speed bracket because it's neither fast or slow for Trick Room or Tailwind team. Stomping Tantrum Mega Metagross, High Horsepower Snorlax, Low kick Incineroar, rain team and many you can name them that can threat to OHKO Heatran. Incineroar, Volcarona and Mega Charizard Y are a better choice for fire-type pokemon in this metagame. It's not a great choice for either Steel-type or Fire-type pokemon in this metagame.

I have some pokemon to move up or down but I am not confident with them yet.
 

Pyritie

TAMAGO
is an Artist
For my own nominations:

B -> B+ or A-
To be honest, Incineroar is much better than all pokemon in B and some of them in B+ in this metagame. It's one of the few pokemon that can switch into Lele/Metagross, Aegislash and Mega Charizard Y with a fake out support in one pokemon. It's one of the best fire-type available in the format and it's quite splashable in the teambuild.

View attachment 99122
A+ -> A
I've been using that for a while, it has an awkward speed bracket because it's neither fast or slow for Trick Room or Tailwind team. Stomping Tantrum Mega Metagross, High Horsepower Snorlax, Low kick Incineroar, rain team and many you can name them that can threat to OHKO Heatran. Incineroar, Volcarona and Mega Charizard Y are a better choice for fire-type pokemon in this metagame. It's not a great choice for either Steel-type or Fire-type pokemon in this metagame.

I have some pokemon to move up or down but I am not confident with them yet.
Hi, thanks for the nominations but we're just focusing on a subset of B- pokemon at the moment. We still haven't finished going through the whole (outdated) ranks yet -- once that's done then we'll start accepting other noms.
 
In my opinion, we should delete the whole C Rank and start focusing on the standard things. Then, we can start making nominations about Pokémon that have been deleted, but after we have finished A and B.

Edit:

From C- to at least B-
It has seen a little bit of usage, and it has won more CPs even than Rotom-W (lul). It resits every single attack from Charizard-Y, and also deals with Tapu Koko, Zapdos and Tapu Bulu. It can break though anything with help from its teammates (Tapu Bulu makes Landorus's Earthquakes weaker, and it can deal with Landorus and Tapu Fini), as it is maybe the best Dragon Dance user in the format (if I don't forget anyone).

The fact that Charizard X and Charizard Y have different counters, and that Charizard Y is really popular, makes Charizard X even stronger. For example, being against opposing Tapu Koko is really helpful, it is usually a Charizard Y's check, but you can get a free Dragon Dance from that, as it will normally use Thunderbolt or something like that.

From B- to B+
I strongly believe that Gothitelle is the best Trick Room user right now. We all know what it does, and it does it in a great way. The fact that Gothitelle has Shadow Tag is what makes it a really good Pokémon. It can trap anything (besides Ghost-type Pokémon), while its teammates can Intimidate/Snarl, and then you may procede to bring your heavy hitter or set-up sweeper (normally Mega Mawile or Tapu Fini) and set up trick room for the first one, or help with Heal Pulse for the first and the second. It also has access to Recycle, so it has a reliable recovery option: that makes it even stronger.

I don't think that we should compare Gothitelle with Cresselia, as they have really different roles. Cresselia is usually more offensive than Gothitelle. Cresselia usually threatens opposing Landorus and Mega Salamence with Ice Beam or Icy Wind. It has a more reliable speed control in Icy Wind, as you don't need to be slower than the opposing Pokémon, but just outspeed them at -1. It is also used with Skill Swap and weather-control moves, so it is a different type of Pokémon. Gothitelle helps more its ally Pokémon: it can support them with Helping Hand, Heal Pulse... While Cresselia, after having used Trick Room, is just a duck (maybe it can use Helping Hand, but no longer traps Pokémon, so Intimidates will hurt).


I don't know what to think towards Nihilego. It can be your best Pokémon or your worst one, it just depends on the match-up. Looking at VGC Stats rankings, you can see Landorus-T, which kills you in one (but you may have a Focus Sash and threaten it with Hidden Power Ice). After that, you have Tapu Fini, Tapu Koko, Zapdos and Charizard Y; Nihilego will kill those for days. But then you have Mega Metagross, Aegislash, and generally speaking any Steel-type Pokémon, and Nihilego can't touch them. Maybe you can understand what I am trying to say, Nihilego is a match-up depending Pokémon, but a really good Pokémon indeed. It might not be B+ or even B, as it has tons of threats, but it is also a threat to most part of the most used Pokémon. It definetely should not drop, but maybe it should stay in B-.
 
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No one has talked about Mimikyu or Hawlucha yet, so I'll take it upon myself to address them:

Mimikyu- Stay where it is
Walmart brand pikachu is intresting, to the least. Access to guaranteed TR (as long as it doesn't get double targeted) with mental herb, immune to fake out, can hold a z move if you're desperate (either LSF or a ghost move) for some damage, free swords dance if you need it, and shadow sneak. Fairy typing has been proven ever popular, and it's helped since I haven't been seeing nearly as many celesteela as 2018 (thanks landerous). Overall: Super gimmicky. Can be an intresting alternative to a cress pick, a more offensive pick. Access to taunt is nice as well, and can be sort of like an anti-cress, kinda sorta. Maybe consider it.

Hawlucha-B- ---> B
Nacho Libre has seen a lot more play in singles as of recent, and i'd absolutely love to see it get some play in doubles. The Unburden+Seed combo has proven fantastic in OU, giving hawlucha a little bit of bulk to set up and mind boggling speed. Some reasons it might not have already seen play would be to tapu fini, which it can't one shot before boosts, and it can't even after boosts. The ever present landorus also provides issues, as well as bulky TR setters. paiting with Tapu koko might help, however.
 

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