I’m gonna try to limit this to what current trends or newfound niches makes these mons so good in the current meta compared to earlier, or why they are worse at this point compared to earlier metas. No reason to repeat everything people actually know about the mons, they’re already ranked for those reasons lol
Rise
Timburr to S rank
I’ll just pull a quick disclaimer: I do not believe Timburr to be as good as Vullaby is. However, I think it’s a notch above everything else in A+, and should hence be in S. Divide S into S+ and S- again or just stick to 2/3 S mons.
The reason for Timburr dropping as far down as A was quite simple. It was not anywhere near as splashable in the meta at the time as Mienfoo was, which was quite true. However, their roles have changed now. Timburr is now more splashable than Mienfoo due to quite a few different changes, but mostly because of the inflation of special attackers since then. Gastly and Abra have both obviously been good for ages, but they didn’t see the usage like they’ve done this LCPL, which has almost doubled for Abra compared to last year and we’re not even done with Semifinals as I’m writing this. Gastly usage hasn’t gone up as much, but it’s still at the point where it’s visible how splashable it is and them together are compared to 1 year ago when the Timburr drop happened. Another huge change is Magnemite. While 1 year ago Magnemite actually did see more usage than it has so far this LCPL, we had other big and easy ways to deal with it, the most obvious and notable one was the rise of Trapinch, which had already started (See
Fender vs OP for a fun set with PonyPinch on 1 side). The ban of Trapinch obviously leaves Magnemite as an easier mon to slap on a team as your abra/gastly check again, so having a pokemon like Timburr that close to nullifies Magnemite when in (1 round of Stealth rocks and Mach Punch OHKOs from the most common Iron Fist set) benefits Abra/Gastly cores even more than Mienfoo’s U-turn ever did in the sense that 1. Abra/Gastly are both fairly easy to get in despite their frailty nonetheless, especially with Vullaby as a better turner and 2 the offensive pressure from Timburr just benefits them so much against mons like Magnemite. Additionally Staryu is also rising to higher ranks, the evio set having noteworthy troubles 1v1ing Timburr unless scald burn vs non-guts. Small shoutout to GroundZ Onix, Carvanha and Bunnelby and their presence actually threatening Mienfoo but not Timburr as much.
Timburr also has access to coverage moves to kill all the 3 major fighting counters in LC, and loses little to nothing by switching from Ice Punch to Tpunch to even Poison Jab, all 3 being viable options in the current metagame (Granted Ice Punch being the easiest to run due to its ability to somewhat threaten Mudbray and general freeze chance vs mons like Spritzee leaving it an actual viable last resort in otherwise unfavourable situations). Mienfoo will always struggle with Mareanie and Spritzee, and while it has z moves to get around them, that requires it to sacrifice all bulk and use otherwise unviable z moves just to kill 1 mon. Foongus is easier, with Z Bounce being more viable in the sense that it can take on other fighting types better as well, and SubAcro rising in usage somewhat, but is still not as simple as knock into ice punch to kill as it is for Timburr. Guts is also worth mentioning as well as Mach Punch as two reasons why Timburr is better than Mienfoo, but little has changed in how they’re useful so I’m not touching those.
However, what I think differentiates Timburr the most from Mienfoo compared to past metagames is the fact that Wingull is not a thing anymore. No longer is staying in and clicking Drain Punch or Knock Off on whatever the fuck comes in a bad idea, as you will either get rid of something’s eviolite, do little damage with little healing to something without any real offensive pressure, or do a significant damage to something with immense pressure. Wingull just meant you got a little chip on something with immense pressure and that’s it. No wingull means U-turn chip into potential offensive pressure just isn’t gonna be as vital. By all means it’s still good, and one of the reasons Mienfoo should still be A+, but just exerting that offensive pressure immediately instead of having to rely on a different pokemon to do so.
Abra to S(-) rank
If we’re not dividing ranks then maybe not, but I still think this is a very good and very influential mon at this point. It’s come to the point where Eviolite / Spdef Scarf Diglett is used more than Z, and Beat Up is more mandatory on Diglett than Rock Slide ever was, and Abra still has ways around that. As far as I can see there are 5 viable good sets for Abra, and while Sash is the obvious best broken set with all the tools it needs to deal with more or less every counter, Eviolite, Life Orb and even Choice Scarf and Modest Z (Fairy mainly) are all great options that still doesn’t limit Abra too much. Earlier metas there has really only been 2 common sets, being sash and Life Orb, and they didn’t really have many optional moves as compared to now, where Energy Ball, even Shadow Ball and Magic Room are viable options again. Hell even Charge beam has a good niche in not breaking vullaby bjuice, getting spatk boost, and killing afterwards. It’s just so much more splashable in the current meta than it has been in ages (Compare current LCPL usage to LCPL 7 and you’ll see i’m not the only one thinking so). Speedcreep makes it so most people at least attempt to have at least one 19 speeder on their team, and Abra goes so well with many of the top mons like Staryu, Ponyta and especially Gastly, breaking down eachothers counters, and while that was true for earlier metas, the lack of Grimers in the current meta as well as the other 19/18 Speeders (note Gastly and Staryu especially here) being more relevant than they were a year ago in gull meta, that makes Abra easy to slap on as the second man of a powerful offensive core that can easily fit on standard BO builds be it Foon/Timmy(foo)/Onix/Vullaby or Spritzee/Ferro/Timmy(foo)/Vullaby. Abra is also easy to slap on such teams that has the last slot filled for other purposes and have it act as both a failsafe for scarfers (Pawniard and Magnemite being more notable again, as well as Snivy and Mienfoo getting some use), as well as a late game cleaner or Wallbreaker all in one depending on what’s needed to beat the opposing team. While this has always been true, with the current meta just benefitting Gastly, Z Onix and people still running less specially bulky Mienfoos and Timburrs than before with the 25/15 and 24/15 spreads seeing good usage, Abra does good at pressuring these better for BO builds.
Furthermore, the rise of more versatile HO builds makes it a good mon to fall back on when needed in case of a faster sweeper arriving. Previous metas hasn’t been very kind to these kind of builds, either having been dismantled by broken Wingull or just Trapinch builds just flat out breaking them to pieces (Granted that meta too benefitted Abra immensely but the VR has never been updated to reflect these 2 metas bar very early versions from late lcpl 7). Abra can also run more versatile sets again on these freely, with either Evio to bait out Digletts for other mons that it easily traps, Z Dgleam to get rid of a Fighting Type or Vullaby early on, Scarf for speed control or just plain Life Orb to rack up kills.
tl;dr Higher versatility in sets, BO builds being relatively stacked with the same mons limited to only 2 “offensive” slots and Abra filling plenty of important roles in 1, HO slots appreciating the failsafe or bait depending on what’s needed, frailer & slower sets seeing more usage allowing Abra to OHKO more easily and hence exerting a higher pressure than before and lack of usage for big old counters like GrimerA and Munchlax allowing the Counter slot to be swapped around a bit more.
Onix to A+ rank
A fairly obvious one, Onix is now just simply the most splashable rocker in the game, checking birds, outspeeding the biggest one of them and having elec immunity to force 5050s with Magnemite which is big again. Main reason it dropped down was Trapinch as far as I’m aware (No reason were given but we all lowkey just agreed on Pinch), which is now gone so. A big bonus for it this meta is that shit like Ground Z and Curse are actual legit, viable options for Onix. Also Stone Edge Adamant Onix is better than Jolly Rock Blast. Come the fuck at me
Spritzee to A+ rank
It’s the premier Fighting counter now actually being able to take on every single Fighting type in the tier, and its rank should reflect as much. Vullaby being the best mon in the tier now also helps its repertoire as well as Abra usage skyrocketing, + NP 3 attacks and NP TR is lowkey better than ever since everything is just slightly less bulky than in past BO metas leaving more room for it to sweep. It just really doesn’t have any rivals in what it does, and it does its job well. Can also blanket check lowkey anything but like Mudbray and Gastly.
Gastly to A+ rank
Gastly was moved down on the note of not being as splashable as the rest of the A+, but still being significantly good in that meta. While SubHex was the standard at the time it dropped, LO is back to being the standard at this point, and we are more aware than ever of all the techs it can run. It’s actually the most versatile breaker we can run in the current meta despite only ever running 1 item (Granted SubHex and Z are all viable options as well, just not as good as all the LO techs), with 9 strong coverage options that are all valuable in the current metagame, and that’s without pushing it with moves like Dazzling Gleam, Thunder, Icy Wind, Giga Drain and Knock Off, all moves which are perfectly viable for more niche teams. The lack of Grimers this meta just pushes it slightly up imo, a mon which still saw some tour usage in LCPL 7 despite both Pinch and Diglett being present (17 cases of Grimer being used in LCPL 7 contra LCPL 8 where it was used an astonishing 3 times, a number unlikely to go up by much during finals). Vull exists, Vull is good, and Vull more often than not loses to Tbolt (or just straight up Thunder the fucker if you don’t have rocks up). With the amount of tailoring one can pull on Gastly, I’d hence argue that it’s the most splashable wallbreaker in the current meta aside from Abra (Or preferably along with Abra), and still being slightly better because fewer counters are present (And they’re easier to get around for Gastly than Grimer / Munchlax was).
Snivy to A rank
I’ll make this one brief. Ground types are big, Water types are back and big, and Foongus is easier to deal with than ever since Vullaby is on every team either way and Timburr should be so fitting on a Snivy to handle Ground/Water makes as much sense as slapping on a Spritzee to handle Fighting types. A small bonus is that techs like Mirror coat also exists making Foongus an unreliable counter, and Scarf Snivy / Z Snivy are slightly worse than Evio but still good. Oh yeah and it doesnt die to Mudbray or Z EQ Onix so actually works as a solid ground check in tourgames.
Magnemite to A rank
Possibly further up at a later point but for now: No more Trapinch, is an ok AbraGast check, very splashable and even SturdyJuice is kinda good again. I don’t feel like this is one I’ll need to put too much effort into.
Mudbray to A rank
Mudbray is the only rocker that can fuck Magnemite up big time, which is very nice in this current Mag-is-good meta. Outside of that it’s just a nice, more offensive alternative to Onix for people who wants a bit more pressure, as STAB EQ, Heavy Slam and Fighting / Rock coverage depending on what the team needs coming off of a base 100 attack stat is difficult to properly switch in on. Furthermore, Counter seeing more usage on Mudbrays to have a better out vs Fighting types and the like late-game and its bulk allowing it to softcheck many of the prominent pokemon this current metagame and not being immediately fucked by any coverage that Vullaby can have and 2hkoing all the prominent grass/water types on switch-in after rocks means it’ll never really be dead weight after getting up rocks.
Staryu to A rank
Honestly feel like I don’t need to argue for this one, since we all basically know now how incredibly stupid it was to drop this to B+ when it did lol. I’ll speak about this as if it was A+, which it most definitely was during Trapinch meta (Welcome the fuck after), so yeah. Basically Eviolite 3 attacks is still good and Eviolite 2 attack (Aka generally Hydro or Scald + Psychic, in rare cases Tbolt if very water weak) is slightly better now, especially on teams where Vullaby would want to run 4 attacks instead of defog and just the general ok tankiness + speed and ok power of Staryu is great for the current meta (Even 1 attack scald Twave bulky staryu is pretty decent), but Life Orb is kinda worse atm though since Diglett is more prominent now with Trapinch gone and that traps LO Staryu after 1 sac or if you’re good enough to get it in on a Tbolt. So ye drop it from A+ to A.
Doduo to A- rank
Very simple. it was dropped for 2 reasons: Onix cucked its best sets, and Wingull did its job better. Wingull is gone, and Hp Grass is on the 2 best Doduo sets atm. Magnemite is back and big but basically any scarfer would get a free kill on it nonetheless, so if anything Magnemite being back is just better for it since it means people are more likely to run Onix rather than Tirtouga, which can actually
live 2 hp grass and kill with stone edge.
Corphish to B+ or A- rank
Corphish niche is the same as always, but its priority especially along with Crabhammer is slightly metagame in a BO meta with a slightly higher emphasis on frailer faster mons (See Abra/Gastly, Onix often running Z and Ponyta being big again). It can also to an extent pressure Mareanie and Spritzee a bit, both of which are better Fighting checks than Foongus (Which hasn’t seen a too notable decrease in usage compared to last year LCPL, but Spritzee and Mareanie have both seen a more notable increase in usage which again benefits Corp some. Blahblah usage doesn’t mean viability and I am fully aware of that, but usage of mons it does well or bad against does in fact increase (or decrease) viability. Mareanie/Spritzee/Abra/Gastly/ponyta up means more mons to pressure, Foongus down means less mons to threaten it in return. Magnemite is also just a soft check in the sense that while it pressures it, after 1 SD Ajet kills so there’s that.
Rufflet to B+ rank
While it’s not easy to fit onto builds with Vullaby and Doduo being as good as they are, the fact remains that Rufflet is incredibly threatening in the sense that its 2 most common sets are both very powerful and dealt with in a slightly different manner. Superpower coming off of Hustle is enough to deal with any would-be switch-ins to Brave Bird (If Ada, Onix drops to a Brave Bird after being hit by Superpower or vice versa, leaving Rufflet free to spam Brae Bird after Onix tanks 1 Super), and access to U-turn and above-mediocre bulk means it is an actual good scarfer (2nd best bird scarfer after Vullaby imo, 4th best scarfer overall after Mag and Pawn). Second set, Bulk Up, kinda has to be knocked to be dealt with due to its immense bulk and just how easy it is to set up on would-be checks like Onix. In fact, Rblast Onix is such a set up fodder that you can forego Superpower for Facade and not have to care about scald burns from shit like Mareanie. Also a small sidenote but the scarf set doesn’t even have to run Hustle, I personally prefer Keen Eye as you still have the Brave Bird power to oneshot Timburr Mienfoo Foongus and that like, while Superpower still packing a heavy punch due to coming off of an intense 83 base attack (18 or 19 atk depending on nature). Its bulk and (This time accurate) U-turn leaves it in a better spot than say Scarf Doduo still, a mon I feel is not viable with scarf.
Torchic to B rank
Ponyta is usually gonna be the better choice for most teams, but with Speed Boost offering it solid anti-trapping measures in contrast to being forced to Flame Charge to not be countertrapped, and still be an ok powerful mon with Fire Blast from LO or Z dealing a hefty amount to even vullaby and Fighting types, and the general meta being more Physically bulky bar Vullaby since most of the top mons at the moment are (or at least were) Physical attackers. I guess B- would be adequate as well since Ponyta is still better at most things, I’m not really set on it myself but it’s definitely mid B tiers for sure, be it high B-, B or low B+.
Archen to B- rank
Only birdcheck that doesn’t get fucked by Vullaby coverage, No Item Archen is an ok anti-meta poke with shit like Acro, EQ, Rocks, Aqua Tail, Knock and Heat Wave and even defog. Not a fantastic points by any means but it’s got a shoutout by BurntZebra and Jox used it in semis and it at least did something, which the rest of the team failed to do.
Chinchou to B- rank
Still not great, but Water types are big again and Magnemite is back and Chinchou still stands as the best Staryu and Magnemite Counter, as will as being a good Corphish check and depending on if you go Spdef or Physdef: Carvanha or Abra/Gast check. Still a meh birdcheck tho so don’t even consider that bar tanking the occational brave/Uturn on a prediction lol. It counts for some that Foongus is kinda worse tho
C somewhere
Just chiming in that I agree with what's been said bar the LO being better than Z statement.
Drops
Mienfoo to A+ rank
Mostly what’s been said with Timburr, it’s just not as splashable as it used to be. While it’s still splashable and people still use it, it’s not the same as it was a year ago when in LCPL it had the definitive highest usage with Timburr leagues below it, while now, while Timburr still fsr has less usage than it, they’re still in the early 100s both of them and there’s a good reason for Timburr catching up (as mentioned above). While 17 speed Evio, Scarf, Band and SubAcro (And various Z variants) are all still good sets, they’re just more team specific and less splashable than Timburr in the current meta and lacks the bulk and priority of Timburr. Slowturn sets on the other hand are just too easy to bait and deal with in numberous ways, and abused by shit that they’re even supposed to counter as seen through the rising usage of things like Ada Ground Z Onix and SD Pawniard. After a Knock Off especially, Slowfoos ability to force things out are simply non-existent, which is horrible for what is supposed to be one of the best knock absorbers in the tier. I’m sorry to all the foo fanboys out there, but the meta is, despite being mainly Bulky Offense, too fast paced for the acrocat.
Foongus to A rank
Here comes the one I expect most people will disagree with, but I think Foongus is trash in the current meta as a Fighting check. The main reason it became S in the first place was because during LCPL 7 everyone and their mom ran Foongus and hence Foongus Synthesis wars became the defining phenomenon of LC. I agree with it being S back then, but there are 3 main changes since then that makes me pretty certain it’s not A+ worthy anymore. While it as a Water check in a meta where Water types are finally good again is certainly top tier (Granted Staryu can still be annoying for it) and Spore is still a good move, it just doesn’t cut it as a Fighting Counter anymore. The main big change I’d argue is Vullaby being the most used pokemon now, something we all saw coming. However, Overcoat Bjuice / Scarf is seeing close to as much usage as just general Weak Armor, and it’s not just for Foongus that this is the case. Overcoat has that nifty ability to not lose Defense when hit by physical moves, which is especially good for facing off pokemon like Onix, a mon people still run Rock Blast on for whatever reason. While it would take a whole 4 hits from Onix to break Bjuice and kill WA Vullaby, it in fact has no chance of killing Overcoat Bjuice Vullaby, leaving Vullaby able to Knock into Hp Grass with no risk of dying, and at worst survive with just about 50% health if taking 5 hits which is unlikely. Small interractions like this makes Overcoat a very good option, and hence Foongus slightly worse. The second one is that the premier Fighting type now is as I mentioned before; Timburr. Even if one disagrees with that statement, one can’t ignore the fact that it has seen a tremendous raise in usage, and considering that Foongus actually can’t reliably check or counter Timburr unlike it could with Evio Foo, it just doesn’t cut it. Furthermore,SubAcro Foo getting more usage and other niche Foo sets on Fight spam and pokemon like Doduo seeing more usage again, Foongus is just in a worse place than ever. Hell even shit like Onix can threaten it now with Z EQ being so common, and Mudbray being used so often that can 2hko after rocks just makes its life tough as a Fight/Ground check, leaving it little to no room to come in freely anymore contrary to past metas. Still, once given a free switch it’s usually still somewhat potent, and having a 100% Accuracy sleep move with regen is probably still worthy of A Rank.
Pawniard to A rank
As a rocker it’s not really that great anymore, as it can’t really properly act as a birdcheck with Vull often opting for Hp Fight coverage which after a knock kills while Pawniard has a 3hko at best unless running z move, and Doduo coming back to the meta to outspeed and Jump Kick. Also the only Foos worth running atm are 16+ speed and Timburr oneshots with priority so yk. Still a solid mon especially with Scarf as an Abra/Gast/grass check and just lopening up teams with a strong knock and its other strong traits but in the current meta those only add up to an A rank viability imo since it lost that birdcheck status.
Tirtouga to B+ rank
I mean, it’s not bad and the Shell Smash set is still great imo but like… There’s rarely any reason to ever use it over Onix anymore, especially since Vull often carries techs for its counters now so while it takes 2 hp grass, it’s still a 1 time switch-in and then it dies to double Hp grass whereas Onix naturally outspeeds to ohko with Stone Edge (Which should be used over Rock Blast current meta imo but ig that just me) and Tirt just invites Magnemite so much where as Onix makes it a shakier option so you won’t be decimated by Volt Switch. Onix’s ground Typing and Speed just makes it so much more reliable for dealing with other switch-ins as well though, many being threatened to be KOd by EQ into Z which is not an uncommon set at the moment and definitely a good one for tour settings. Ajet is nice and all for not being trapped and revenging Onix and general Knock Off support is good but it’s not really where it was in the Trapinch meta.
Croagunk to B- rank
reply in a jerk discord
Take it with a grain of salt tho I just never really liked the mon and feel it’s not as good as the other current B mons (And the ones I want dropped down there). Psychic coverage mons in reference were Staryu and Carv from the top of my head, but Tirt too runs ZHB and it was mainly referencing Offensive waters since Croagunk can actually 1v1 the second most used if Nasty Plot, being Mareanie.
Grimer-Alola to B rank
This feels weird to say, but while I really like Grimer in the current meta despite it never being used, it’s also just a niche for specific teams and a niche that Vullaby has an easier time filling while also doing more than just that (Ie checking Abra/Gastly/Snivy and to an extent ig Staryu). More susceptible to trap and struggles a lot with other metatrends like Mudbray/Onix/Pawniard/Timburr, many of which are on most teams so yk.