So looking at the in progress Viability Rankings, I'm liking most of the placements regarding the Ubers mons, in fact most placements over all seem pretty justifiable. The only slight issue to me atm is that it's currently very thin (due to being new ofc), where I'd expect it to be a rather inflated VR, given that there are many viable mons from all tiers.
I've had decent success on the ladder (I think I peaked 9th) infrequently running the same team throughout the month, with 2 Ubers and 4 lower tier mons. Of which though none of the lower tier mons are currently on the VR, so I figure I may as well do a bit of a showcase to see if a few of them are worthy of being listed.
This first one however is certainly worthy of being listed, as it has received a lot of mention already and is undoubtably the most reliable and consistent pokemon on my team.
Solrock: 110/135/125/95/105/110
Solrock is awesome in this meta, being a fantastic physical wall capable of checking or countering a plethora of top tier threats. To give you an idea: Primal Groudon, Chatot, Ho-oh, Mega Salamence, Ursaring, Arceus, Mewtwo, Arceus-Ground, Flareon, Marowak, Zangoose, etc, are all either checked or countered by Solrock. Its combination of typing and bulk makes it naturally brilliant at taking on the meta. Plus it has all the tools it needs move pool wise to pull it all together. Will-O-Wisp is extremely crippling to Physical attackers, Stealth Rock provides fantastic team support, Morning Sun provides rather reliable recovery, and STAB Rock Slide from 135 Atk is just enough offensive presence to take out those weak to it. Definitely worthy of a ranking. I'd push for B as the absolute minimum, but I wouldn't mind seeing it as high as A-, as to my experience it has been one of the best physical walls out there. But seriously this needs to be on the VR somewhere.
For these next couple, I am honestly the only person I've ever seen using any of them, so whether or not they are worthy of being listed at all is far more open to debate.
Skuntank: 133/123/97/101/91/114
Skuntank is possibly the strangest of the mons on my team because I run a kinda a weird utility set that is different to standards, so I'll dump that here now.
Skuntank @ Assault Vest
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 232 Atk / 132 SpD / 144 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
- Fire Blast
The spread isn't as special as it looks, having just been copied form the utility set on the calculator (I should probably change it tbh), but it has served me well so far so I've kept it constant. Basically the set has just been designed to be a reliable Pursuit trapper, which it has done perfectly, while also compressing a few other roles. Thanks to it's newfound Special bulk backed by Assault Vest, as well as its typing and resulting lack of weaknesses, Skuntank is extremely reliable in trapping a multitude of Pursuit weak pokemon such as: SD Arceus-Ghost, Deoxys-S, Mewtwo, Mega Gengar, Swoobat, Latios, Rotom, Deoxys-A, Espeon, Hoopa-C, Beheeyum, Kadabra, Haunter, etc. Sucker Punch is extremely useful for strong priority in revenge killing, Poison Jab is a nice STAB for bopping Fairies and has a high poison chance which can often be pretty clutch. Fire Blast is hardly used at all, but is helpful for catching certain mons off guard like Ferrothorn, it can be replaced with other situational options like Explosion or Crunch. Aftermath can also be surprisingly useful at times. So overall it's just a really useful offensive utility mon that can blanket check a lot of weaker or frailer special attackers. Could probably fit in amongst the mons in B-.
Magmar: 105/135/97/140/125/133
Seen a few Magmortar running around, but Magmar is where it's at. And not as a special attacker, as a Belly Drum cleaner. 133 speed is usually enough, but when it's not, Mach Punch is usually strong enough at +6 to kill the faster threats, it also hurts the Rock types that Fire Punch can't. Rounding out the set with Dual Chop gives near perfect neutral coverage, though Thunder Punch is also a decent option to kill bulky waters with less prior damage. Admittedly it relies on a lot of low base power moves, so it can struggle to take out a lot of mons without a bit of prior damage, but SR+1 layer of Spikes is often enough to roll through entire teams. Plus it's really easy to find set up opportunities with that nice special bulk. Also being a Fire type you don't have to worry about being burned, and Vital Spirit prevents sleep too (Rip Darkrai). This has been a extremely reliable win con for my team ever since Quagsire got a huge nerf. I honestly have no clue where I'd rank it, but I want people to know it exists.
Also shoutout to Vileplume <3
Here are a few replays that hopefully showcase the potential of these mons decently. Unfortunately I seem to have only kept mostly low ladder replays, but eh.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-370511940
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368733484
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368729335
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368725890
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368722674
I've had decent success on the ladder (I think I peaked 9th) infrequently running the same team throughout the month, with 2 Ubers and 4 lower tier mons. Of which though none of the lower tier mons are currently on the VR, so I figure I may as well do a bit of a showcase to see if a few of them are worthy of being listed.
This first one however is certainly worthy of being listed, as it has received a lot of mention already and is undoubtably the most reliable and consistent pokemon on my team.
Solrock: 110/135/125/95/105/110
Solrock is awesome in this meta, being a fantastic physical wall capable of checking or countering a plethora of top tier threats. To give you an idea: Primal Groudon, Chatot, Ho-oh, Mega Salamence, Ursaring, Arceus, Mewtwo, Arceus-Ground, Flareon, Marowak, Zangoose, etc, are all either checked or countered by Solrock. Its combination of typing and bulk makes it naturally brilliant at taking on the meta. Plus it has all the tools it needs move pool wise to pull it all together. Will-O-Wisp is extremely crippling to Physical attackers, Stealth Rock provides fantastic team support, Morning Sun provides rather reliable recovery, and STAB Rock Slide from 135 Atk is just enough offensive presence to take out those weak to it. Definitely worthy of a ranking. I'd push for B as the absolute minimum, but I wouldn't mind seeing it as high as A-, as to my experience it has been one of the best physical walls out there. But seriously this needs to be on the VR somewhere.
For these next couple, I am honestly the only person I've ever seen using any of them, so whether or not they are worthy of being listed at all is far more open to debate.
Skuntank: 133/123/97/101/91/114
Skuntank is possibly the strangest of the mons on my team because I run a kinda a weird utility set that is different to standards, so I'll dump that here now.
Skuntank @ Assault Vest
Ability: Aftermath
EVs: 232 Atk / 132 SpD / 144 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Poison Jab
- Fire Blast
The spread isn't as special as it looks, having just been copied form the utility set on the calculator (I should probably change it tbh), but it has served me well so far so I've kept it constant. Basically the set has just been designed to be a reliable Pursuit trapper, which it has done perfectly, while also compressing a few other roles. Thanks to it's newfound Special bulk backed by Assault Vest, as well as its typing and resulting lack of weaknesses, Skuntank is extremely reliable in trapping a multitude of Pursuit weak pokemon such as: SD Arceus-Ghost, Deoxys-S, Mewtwo, Mega Gengar, Swoobat, Latios, Rotom, Deoxys-A, Espeon, Hoopa-C, Beheeyum, Kadabra, Haunter, etc. Sucker Punch is extremely useful for strong priority in revenge killing, Poison Jab is a nice STAB for bopping Fairies and has a high poison chance which can often be pretty clutch. Fire Blast is hardly used at all, but is helpful for catching certain mons off guard like Ferrothorn, it can be replaced with other situational options like Explosion or Crunch. Aftermath can also be surprisingly useful at times. So overall it's just a really useful offensive utility mon that can blanket check a lot of weaker or frailer special attackers. Could probably fit in amongst the mons in B-.
Magmar: 105/135/97/140/125/133
Seen a few Magmortar running around, but Magmar is where it's at. And not as a special attacker, as a Belly Drum cleaner. 133 speed is usually enough, but when it's not, Mach Punch is usually strong enough at +6 to kill the faster threats, it also hurts the Rock types that Fire Punch can't. Rounding out the set with Dual Chop gives near perfect neutral coverage, though Thunder Punch is also a decent option to kill bulky waters with less prior damage. Admittedly it relies on a lot of low base power moves, so it can struggle to take out a lot of mons without a bit of prior damage, but SR+1 layer of Spikes is often enough to roll through entire teams. Plus it's really easy to find set up opportunities with that nice special bulk. Also being a Fire type you don't have to worry about being burned, and Vital Spirit prevents sleep too (Rip Darkrai). This has been a extremely reliable win con for my team ever since Quagsire got a huge nerf. I honestly have no clue where I'd rank it, but I want people to know it exists.
Also shoutout to Vileplume <3
Here are a few replays that hopefully showcase the potential of these mons decently. Unfortunately I seem to have only kept mostly low ladder replays, but eh.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-370511940
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368733484
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368729335
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368725890
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/extremetiershift-368722674