Move Best Moves in the OU Metagame

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

Ok guys I have decided to make a list on criteria for ranking:

Distribution(what gets it)
Common Users(what uses it often)
Viability of common users(are the common users viable)
How it affects the game(how much does it turn the tables in your favor)

if there are more fee free to tel me

 

[final cheddar]

What about brave bird? Talonflame and brave bird created bird spam offense. Teams lacking rotom-w or heatran can get completely screwed over by brave bird spam. It shouldn't go too high on the list because like kings shield with aegislash it's only got one poke to spam it effectively besides maybe staraptor.

 

[StairFall]

What about brave bird? Talonflame and brave bird created bird spam offense. Teams lacking rotom-w or heatran can get completely screwed over by brave bird spam. It shouldn't go too high on the list because like kings shield with aegislash it's only got one poke to spam it effectively besides maybe staraptor.

Brave Bird's use is really just a reflection of how underrated flying is as an attacking type. Specs Tornadus ripped teams apart last gen with hurricane and was usually defeated by faster pokemon (usually scarfers) rather than any pokemon that could actually hope to survive it for instance. There simply aren't a significant amount of rock or electric types in OU and most defensive steel types are neutral to flying because of their secondary types.

It's really not Brave Bird itself that's good, but Flying as an attacking type especially with the new gale wings ability. And considering that there's only one pokemon, talonflame, that has gale wings? It's really more one perfect storm of abusable attributes.

Should still be on the list simply because if your sweeper can't take one it can't be a sweeper at all however.

 

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

Hmm I see it as an A+ move at best because thats where the main user is

thoughts?

 

[Rotosect]

Ok guys I have decided to make a list on criteria for ranking:

Distribution(what gets it)
Common Users(what uses it often)
Viability of common users(are the common users viable)
How it affects the game(how much does it turn the tables in your favor)

if there are more fee free to tel me

I think this is good enough.
Moves like Knock Off and Stealth Rock are extremely dangerous not only because of their effect, but also because they were given to many powerful pokemon.
Contrast other powerful moves such as Sacred Fire and Parting Shot that are hurt by their poor distribution.

I would use these rankings:
S rank: metagame-defining moves. Expect every competent team to carry them (example: Stealth Rock, Knock Off)
A rank: powerful moves with good distribution and viable users, they almost always serve you well (example: Ice Beam, Mach Punch)
B rank: useful moves that aren't as widespread as A rank ones because their users are less numerous or less viable (example: Sticky Web)
C rank: moves that can be helpful to every team but are not very reliable and usually not worth the trouble (example: Haze, Toxic Spikes)
D rank: niche moves that are found in specific teams and require support in order to be used to their full potential (example: Trick Room, Hurricane)
E rank: gimmicky moves, but not 100% useless (example: Acupressure, Magic Room)
Unranked: uncompetitive moves (Example: Hyper Beam, Blast Burn, etc.)

 

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

Ok, developing B ranks now

EDIT:
Broken Rank:
Baton Pass
S rank:
Knock Off
Stealth Rock
Defog(may be A+)
King's Shield(may be A+ or A, its only user is the best in the OU meta tho)
A+ rank:
Dragon Dance
Scald
Rapid Spin
Earthquake
Shadow Ball
Thunder Wave
A rank:
Will-O-Wisp
Substitute
Taunt
Volt Switch/U-Turn
Most priority moves
A- rank:
Healing Wish
Spikes
Spore
-------------------------------------
B+ rank:
Sticky Web
Hyper Voice
Counter
Toxic
Heal Bell
Wish
B rank:
Focus Blast
Stone Edge
Moonblast
B- rank:
Sacred Fire
Encore
Infestation
---------------------------

 

[final cheddar]

Stone edge would be a B or B+ move imo. It's got good distribution and is part of the edgequake combo. It's got a high crit rate and 100 bp but has a shaky 80% accuracy.

Tyranitar, lando-I garchomp gyarados kabutops and sometimes mamoswine use it.

It's high risk high reward. If it hits it's target it will go down and sometimes critical it to death. If it's misses you are probably screwed

 

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

I guess you could say Stone Edge is a hit-or-miss move

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-*gets shot*

 

[Ajwf]

Can we NOT rank moves? Talk about completely and irreversibly biased. Just let's have a discussion on the moves themselves and why they're so damn good.

 

[SoulRed12]

This is a huge task. This is just a partial (and disorganized, stream-of-consciousness type) list of viable moves that would probably have to be ranked: Sucker Punch, Scald, Brave Bird, Flare Blitz, Mach Punch, Spore, Earthquake, Drain Punch, Close Combat, Moonblast, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Surf, Hydro Pump, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Knock Off, Dragon Pulse, Draco Meteor, Dragon Claw, Outrage, Play Rough, Aqua Jet, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, Defog, Iron Head, Flash Cannon, Lava Plume, Earth Power, Toxic, Thunder Wave, Will-o-Wisp, Sleep Powder, Taunt, Low Kick, Air Slash, Hurricane, Focus Blast, Roost, Recover, Calm Mind, Bulk Up, Swords Dance, Sticky Web, Seismic Toss, Heal Bell, Aromatherapy, Ice Shard, Icicle Crash, Icicle Spear, Rock Blast, Rock Polish, Grass Knot, Energy Ball, Giga Drain, Leaf Blade, Leaf Storm, Overheat, Psycho Boost, Quiver Dance, Dragon Dance, Shell Smash, Bug Buzz, all the usable hidden power types, Psychic, Psyshock, Baton Pass, Light Screen, Reflect, Volt Switch, U-Turn, Bullet Punch, Pursuit, X-Scissor, Extreme Speed, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Shadow Sneak, Poison Jab, Hyper Voice, Acrobatics, Haze, Stone Edge, Sacred Sword, Leech Seed, Return/Frustration, Dynamicpunch, Trick Room, Shadow Claw, Destiny Bond, Pain Split, Ice Fang, Flame Charge, Solar Beam, Roar, Whirlwind, Dragon Tail, High Jump Kick, Zen Headbutt, Psycho Cut, Foul Play, Slack Off, Hammer Arm, Meteor Mash, Rest, Sleep Talk, Night Slash, Aura Sphere...

Also, a lot of the reason certain moves are good is because they're used with other moves. For example, putting one coverage move on one pokemon can make a different coverage move better on another pokemon.

Are you really willing to rank ALL of those moves (plus all the ones I didn't list) based on all the ways they can interact with both other moves, other pokemon, and other moves on other pokemon?

 

[I AM THE JAMAICAN BOBSLED TEAM]

eep, this will have to be a team effort

 

[final cheddar]

Hidden power types should probably be split by type. Fire and ice are really good coverage moves that can change a game with their surprise factor. Others like grass and electric are a lot less common

 

[SoulRed12]

Smog Frog Perhaps it would be a good idea to take your ranking thing to a separate thread, since you're not the OP for this one and a viability ranking type thing doesn't seem to have been the original intention of this thread's OP.

 

[StairFall]

Attacking moves would naturally be easier to categorize, as we can first rank the types themselves in terms of offensive capabilities.

 

[TheInsanity]

I think even Brave Bird deserve a spot. In this gen users like Talonflame with a priority Brave Bird, and Reckless Staraptor with a boosted Brave Bird give origin (and thanks to pinsir) to the Bird Spam. With 120 base power (and always with STAB) is one of the most powerful moves in the game, most powerful flying move and one of the two usable move with recoil useful in this gen, with Flare Blitz. Just think about who run Brave Bird in OU, last gen. Only Skarmory. Today this move created a new playstyle, because is resisted only by electric, steel and rock typing.

 

[Arcanine is Regal]

Yeah I didnt sign up for this lol, It is a cool idea, but maybe it should go in another thread.

I would be interested in moves that give whole teams viability, some have already been mentioned like Brave bird or sticky web. Are there any other moves like trick room, that give birth to a whole new archetype of team?

 

[final cheddar]

I think even Brave Bird deserve a spot. In this gen users like Talonflame with a priority Brave Bird, and Reckless Staraptor with a boosted Brave Bird give origin (and thanks to pinsir) to the Bird Spam. With 120 base power (and always with STAB) is one of the most powerful moves in the game, most powerful flying move and one of the two usable move with recoil useful in this gen, with Flare Blitz. Just think about who run Brave Bird in OU, last gen. Only Skarmory. Today this move created a new playstyle, because is resisted only by electric, steel and rock typing.

Thank you for putting into words what I was too retarded to myself

 

[StairFall]

Yeah I didnt sign up for this lol, It is a cool idea, but maybe it should go in another thread.

I would be interested in moves that give whole teams viability, some have already been mentioned like Brave bird or sticky web. Are there any other moves like trick room, that give birth to a whole new archetype of team?

Arguably rain dance since after the weather nerf any more existing rain teams are going to opt for pokemon that can set it up and immediately abuse it like Kingdra rather than Toed.

 

[Habib]

Can we go another step further and focus on what moves are good for singles, as well as for doubles - since they are so different and I feel like most things on these threads don't mention doubles.

 

[TheInsanity]

Thank you for putting into words what I was too retarded to myself

Lol sorry but i didnd't read your post.

Starfall: u forget to say that this gen we have defog to remove stealth rock, so is more easy playing flying mons. Also threats like Megasaur, Mega Pinsir, Keldeo are all weak to flying type; probably even without Gale Wings this typing, and BB in general was good in this gen. Also, your words can be used for describre king shield too.

 

[KlefkiHolder]

Can we go another step further and focus on what moves are good for singles, as well as for doubles - since they are so different and I feel like most things on these threads don't mention doubles.

This forum is for OU singles. If there a demand for this for doubles I'm sure someone will do it there too.

 

[Sun King]

oh cool, ill make a list if you decide to use it (only S-A ranks so far)
Broken Rank:
Baton Pass
S rank:
Knock Off
Stealth Rock
Defog(may be A+)
King's Shield(may be A+ or A, its only user is the best in the OU meta tho)
A+ rank:
Dragon Dance
Scald
Rapid Spin
Earthquake
Shadow Ball
Thunder Wave
A rank:
Will-O-Wisp
Substitute
Taunt
Volt Switch/U-Turn
A- rank:
Healing Wish
Spikes
Spore


Feel free to edit MegaScizor

I'm surprised Dragon Dance made it, but not Shell Smash. Shell Smash is definitely a better boosting move.

 

[Aragorn the King]

I'm surprised Dragon Dance made it, but not Shell Smash. Shell Smash is definitely a better boosting move.

That's true, but I think we're combining a how good a move is with its applications. Dragon Dance is a great move with great distribution, while Shell Smash is a better move with dreadful distribution. There are four dragon dancers in in the A and S ranks, while there are zero Shell Smashers above C-. It's a good move, but it's pretty poor in practice; nothing in OU can take advantage of it.

 

[Sun King]

That's true, but I think we're combining a how good a move is with its applications. Dragon Dance is a great move with great distribution, while Shell Smash is a better move with dreadful distribution. There are four dragon dancers in in the A and S ranks, while there are zero Shell Smashers above C-. It's a good move, but it's pretty poor in practice; nothing in OU can take advantage of it.

That's not entirely true. SmashPass is a viable strategy if you build around it.

 

[Aragorn the King]

That's not entirely true. SmashPass is a viable strategy if you build around it.

Yes, but Smeargle is C and Gorebyss is C-. It is viable, but it's entirely what you said; you have to build extensively around it. Gyarados, Tyranitar, Charizard, and Dragonite don't need that much support for when they Dragon Dance.