Volcarona A+ --> A
Volcarona is a pokemon that's still very good in the current meta. however, due to the koko+hawlucha core getting more used, ash gren still being used a lot, heatran still walling it and being one of the best mons in general, and scarf greninja catching use again, volcs life is getting hard. its still good tho.
Yeah, lets not go through this again.Volcarona always goes through this cycle, yes it has to be a little selective with its coverage but it’s an easy adjustment to make as the meta shifts. Guarantee as Heatran/Pex continue to become people’s main Volc counters and they stop doubling up other checks, HP Ground/Psychic will start to get more popular again and the cycle will repeat. Mantine and Chansey, its most reliable counters regardless of set, have been used consistently since fairly early SuMo and have never stopped Volc from being highly viable. SR is obviously not new either and there’s more Defogger than ever before, giving you more options when building around Volc.
I don’t see a point in dropping it now during a transition phase when, frankly, by the time the ratings get updated it will have probably shifted back to the most appropriate set for the meta and will pop back up in viability. Let’s stop chasing the cycle and just leave it where it belongs.
EDIT: To clarify and give substance to this post, I might as well point out the fact that most of these problems aren't old, and most of them are in fact have existed for a long time with the exception being maybe Scarf Gren rising in usage, but it has been deemed that those offensive answers weren't enough to hold the bug down and discussion on this has already been brought up. Volc has ways to deal with all the problems you just listed, except KokoLucha, and scarfers outspeeding it to get the kill have never been new. Volcarona seems to go through this stage of looking bad during a transitional phrase, and immediately bounces up in viability once someone makes an innovation or adjustment to the set which makes it then good. And for those out there who are confused by that, here is a basic summary of the Volcarona cycle ( which I find ironic because its a moth, which is close to a butterfly) so that we don't have to go through this again
1. We start off our cycle where Volcarona seems to be exceptionally good, where it takes down the majority of the tier with one simple Quiver Dance, and never has to worry about a thing. It takes the meta by storm, winning many matches among the higher echelon of Ou, and already the viability rankings get fired up nominating this thing up constantly until the next rankings update arrive.
2. People start getting paranoid about the bug and what havoc it could unleash on their teams, and as such, they start over preparing for it on their teams, fearing the worse. They sometimes even pack in two answers to the bug, and it always will be on the mind of every team builder as they attempt to hold back the monstrous Volcarona from beating them in tournament games where it matters most
3. The influx of these new counters to the Volcarona set hold it back from dominating every game its in, and as such, it starts to drop a tad bit in viability as the result of its new found counters. The game plan against the bug has been found out, and it starts to make less ( though still very high) impact on matches
4. As a result of these new counter infesting every single team, Volcarona loses usage and many in the viability rankings start asking for it to drop, saying that these new meta trends prevent the bug from doing its best, and as such, it looks less and less like a meta-defining mon
5. Suddenly, due to Volcarona's wide decrease in usage, people start preparing less and less for it, believing that Volcarona isn't as good anymore, and as such, they can easily get away for under-preparing for it, and start packing less and less counters to it, because of the relative absence of the moth from big games and tournaments
6. Suddenly, somewhere, somehow, some person whether it be a SPL player or a highly regarded player of Ou invents or revitalizes a set to take on the set of counters to Volcarona that the old variant couldn't take on. And then they use it in games, and predictably, Volcarona makes a very big impact, startling players into quickly milking the new set for all its worth, until people start actually preparing for it. If you don't beleive me about this idea, then just remember that Charti Volcarona came from meta trends, that subswarm used to be terrifying early USUM after the Nagandel ban until it faded into the back of peoples minds, that psychium came from an innovation to deal with pex after the Dugtrio ban
7. We end off our cycle where Volcarona seems to be exceptionally good, where it takes down the majority of the tier with one simple Quiver Dance, and never has to worry about a thing. It takes the meta by storm, winning many matches among the higher echelon of Ou, and already the viability rankings get fired up nominating this thing up constantly until the next rankings update arrive.
2. People start getting paranoid about the bug and what havoc it could unleash on their teams, and as such, they start over preparing for it on their teams, fearing the worse. They sometimes even pack in two answers to the bug, and it always will be on the mind of every team builder as they attempt to hold back the monstrous Volcarona from beating them in tournament games where it matters most
3. The influx of these new counters to the Volcarona set hold it back from dominating every game its in, and as such, it starts to drop a tad bit in viability as the result of its new found counters. The game plan against the bug has been found out, and it starts to make less ( though still very high) impact on matches
4. As a result of these new counter infesting every single team, Volcarona loses usage and many in the viability rankings start asking for it to drop, saying that these new meta trends prevent the bug from doing its best, and as such, it looks less and less like a meta-defining mon
5. Suddenly, due to Volcarona's wide decrease in usage, people start preparing less and less for it, believing that Volcarona isn't as good anymore, and as such, they can easily get away for under-preparing for it, and start packing less and less counters to it, because of the relative absence of the moth from big games and tournaments
6. Suddenly, somewhere, somehow, some person whether it be a SPL player or a highly regarded player of Ou invents or revitalizes a set to take on the set of counters to Volcarona that the old variant couldn't take on. And then they use it in games, and predictably, Volcarona makes a very big impact, startling players into quickly milking the new set for all its worth, until people start actually preparing for it. If you don't beleive me about this idea, then just remember that Charti Volcarona came from meta trends, that subswarm used to be terrifying early USUM after the Nagandel ban until it faded into the back of peoples minds, that psychium came from an innovation to deal with pex after the Dugtrio ban
7. We end off our cycle where Volcarona seems to be exceptionally good, where it takes down the majority of the tier with one simple Quiver Dance, and never has to worry about a thing. It takes the meta by storm, winning many matches among the higher echelon of Ou, and already the viability rankings get fired up nominating this thing up constantly until the next rankings update arrive.
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