M&M Mix and Mega Resources

Fardin

Tournament Banned
Coballion for B+
Its one of those mons that has been neglected it VR, and is extremely low for what its capable of.
It's a very fast mon with amazing bulk that can 1v1 a lot of mons. It has access to taunt which fucks up a lot of walls including arc and stall in general. It can run many stones such as diancite, pinsirite and metagrossite. It also has rocks so bop. Also forgot to mention SD, and due to its incredible bulk it can set up quite easily l. Can't be bothered to look for replays because I think everyone knows it doesn't belong at C

E. Also chazm, I don't agree with some of ur noms, mainly mage, ghost ceus, marsh, kartana, and lele



Zoroark nom coming up soon
 
Coballion for B+
Its one of those mons that has been neglected it VR, and is extremely low for what its capable of.
It's a very fast mon with amazing bulk that can 1v1 a lot of mons. It has access to taunt which fucks up a lot of walls including arc and stall in general. It can run many stones such as diancite, pinsirite and metagrossite. It also has rocks so bop. Also forgot to mention SD, and due to its incredible bulk it can set up quite easily l. Can't be bothered to look for replays because I think everyone knows it doesn't belong at C

E. Also chazm, I don't agree with some of ur noms, mainly mage, ghost ceus, marsh, kartana, and lele



Zoroark nom coming up soon
Kartana I agree with keeping A. Was an overexaggeration by me, and I definitely think that its offense killing abilities are not as good as I mentioned in the post I made above.

However; I cannot understand why, in any way or form, you would disagree with Ghostceus rising. You might think I'm specifically talking about Ghostium Z, but I already mentioned how bad it was in the post above. The thing with Ghostceus being so good rn is that it's tough for offense to deal with without a Ghost resist - and very few proper resists to it exist, those being Ho-oh, Blissey, and refresh EKiller. It is also the reason most Arceus are now pressured to run status - most teams do not have a proper answer to it and its role compression in checking important threats like Zygarde, Kartana and Terrakion make it the best Arceus to have rn.

However - relevance aside - you nominate Cobalion for a higher rank, and I agree with you, it should definitely rise, but not as far as B+. I'm going to make a few following nominations which personally blow the Pinsirite set out of the water as mon in comparison to these. However, I am not doubting the other two sets either - infact I'd give you the go ahead if only Naganadel went from the metagame, as Diancite Cobalion is actually very frustrating to fight.

Arceus-Flying: Unranked to C+

Flyceus is surprisingly good in this metagame - whilst it may be filled to the brim with Steel-types at the moment, most of them have adapted in a way that has ignored Flyceus, and that gives the CM Refresh set some breathing room. You'd think that letting in Magearna would be a death trap, but OTR + CM Magearna does not actually have a way to hit Arceus-Flying, and this gives it some breathing room to break balances. Necro-DM is also problematic, especially defensive Swords Dance variants, but Arceus-Flying finds it quite easy to chip any variant that does not have recovery. The rest of the steels it can use as setup bait, and it can even check a few, such as Kartana, finding itself to be a rather nice replacement for Zapdos.

What makes Flyceus so nice in the current metagame as to be ranked is that the Arceus slot is not as pressured anymore. More alternatives to previously used Arceus formes have emerged such as Gliscor and Hippowdon against Arceus-Ground, and Aggronite Mew is able to become a substitute to Arceus-Fairy, being able to check -ate variants of Zygarde very well. This makes the opportunity cost for running Arceus-Flying less of a burden, and therefore from that, I would like to see it nominated to C+, potentially B-.

Bit tired to make the next nomination, will probably continue this post tomorrow
 
Hey, while you are all talking about viability rankings, I would like to put my two cents in and say: Update it because some mons have part of their viability due to Pidgeotite. And I'm pretty sure we all know that it's banned. So could someone update that and remove Pidgeotite mons from the viability ranking? I hope this doesn't count as a one-liner...
 

OM

It's a starstruck world
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Yo

Nominating Lucario for C rank

Although outclassed by a few other extreme-speeders (cough zygarde cough) and Tapu Lele forcing it to be a cleaner really; Lucario has the one niche of Swords Dance, Espeed and being the fastest abuser of Extreme Speed in the metagame. It then uses that to be your standard extreme speeder.

tagging xavgb because he has more experience using it
 

xavgb

:xavgb:
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World Defender
Nominating Mamoswine to somewhere in C rank. I've brought this up a lot and no one is sure why it isn't on there, so hopefully i shouldn't have to explain this nom too much.

Basically, ice/ground coverage is awesome in this meta, and ice priority takes out the threats that people use as speed control on bulkier builds, such as naganadel and shaymin. It has very few reliable answers and cannot be recover stalled by the likes of blissey because of icicle crash's 30 percent chance to flinch, and can toxic supportceus, making it very hard to keep healthy enough to deal with eq from mamo. It is a powerful wallbreaker with a unique niche in this metagame, and it simply has to be put on the VR for this reason.

As for lucario, access to sd and being one of the only e-speeders that likes setting up on blissey give it enough of a niche to be ranked in my opinion.
For example, lucario is the only e-speeder that KOes lunala and zapdos after rocks with one turn of set up.

+2 252+ Atk Lucario Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 312-368 (81.2 - 95.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Aerilate Lucario Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lunala: 400-472 (96.3 - 113.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
 
from UR to C+
Mega Mewtwo y has the niche over other psychic types of not being walled by steel types, it has an incredibly large movepool so that the set can be changed to the team needs, u can try sub calm mind with 204 HP to setup on blissey, CM recover to setup on heartswapless magearna, toxicless blissey and most special attackers, calm mind 3(the third is Ice Beam) Attacks to hit more things, Recover 3 Attacks so being rkilled by zyg is more difficult, especially if pinsirite, it also has some other nice moves like taunt, WoW, Disable, screens, Focus Blast, stone edge, Thunder wave etc. which can be used to cripple some targets...
It also has good bulk for an offensive mon and a really nice speed tier capable of outspeeding lucarionite keldeo, lucarionite terrakion, metagrossite mimikyu, absolite lele, sceptilite manaphy and everything below.
Calm mind 3 Attacks, Recover 3 Attacks and Calm mind Recover are the one which I used more. I toyed a bit with mmy in a team which should have been memey but still had some success
+1 252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psystrike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sablenite Blissey: 327-385 (45.7 - 53.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psystrike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Sablenite Blissey: 327-385 (45.7 - 53.9%) -- 46.9% chance to 2HKO
(you need minimal chip to 2hko usually u-turn of zapdos can achieve this while bringing something to threaten blissey and pressure it so it can't recover)
252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sablenite Magearna: 164-194 (45 - 53.2%) -- 35.5% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sablenite Magearna: 164-194 (45 - 53.2%) -- 89.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Sablenite Magearna: 246-290 (67.5 - 79.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(even if the calc doesn't seem Amazing, if at +0 magearna has Always volt switched vs me which put it in range of another fire blast after rocks, also mmy 1v1 vs sablenite magearna most of the times because it can't spam pain split mindlessly)
252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Cameruptite Magearna: 238-280 (65.3 - 76.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Cameruptite Magearna: 352-416 (96.7 - 114.2%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Sheer Force Magearna Shadow Ball vs. 8 HP / 0 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 260-308 (73.2 - 86.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Sheer Force Magearna Shadow Ball vs. +1 8 HP / 0 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 174-206 (49 - 58%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(If Calm Mind recover it can use cameruptite magearna as setup fodder)
252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 166-196 (41.7 - 49.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Prism Armor Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 247-292 (62 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Necrozma-Dusk-Mane Sunsteel Strike vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 214-253 (60.6 - 71.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(Probably one of the best mmy checks but it can't come in on the calm mind as mmy outspeeds and 2HKOes at +1)
252 SpA Adaptability Keldeo Hydro Pump vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 156-184 (44.1 - 52.1%) -- 14.1% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psystrike vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Keldeo: 416-492 (128.7 - 152.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(if Needed Calm Mind Recover mmy can use keldeo as setup fodder as it outspeeds it, all other variants can kill it right away or setup a calm mind and then kill it, depends on the situation)
252+ Atk Altarianite Pixilate Zygarde Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 244-288 (69.1 - 81.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Ice Beam vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 418-492 (116.7 - 137.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(with recover it can usually keep itself apart from range while w/o it u just need to be careful to not chip it much or just press calm mind on a mon u threaten as zygarde's espeed doesn't kill even after rocks, it obviusly beats all other Zygarde sets)
252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psystrike vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Groudon-Primal: 147-174 (36.4 - 43.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
+1 252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Psystrike vs. 248 HP / 8 Def Groudon-Primal: 220-259 (54.5 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 Atk Groudon-Primal Precipice Blades vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 289-342 (81.8 - 96.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(mmy Always live a precipice blades from defensive groudon primal and its lack of recover mean it can be easy to cripple also if u calm mind on the switch u Always 2HKO besides if it is some bad set like full def..)
252 SpA Mewtwo-Mega-Y Fire Blast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Pinsirite Metagross: 300-354 (99.6 - 117.6%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Aerilate Metagross Return vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mewtwo-Mega-Y: 319-376 (90.3 - 106.5%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
(if u don't miss u should win the 1v1 most of the times).

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7mixandmega-712409524 vs Jeran for MnM open finals should have won this thanks to mmy outspeeding all opposing mons while using that toxicless blissey as setup fodder but for some reason I had only 3 Attacks on that -- also ye ultra necrozma also won that but he dropped spdef so it couldn't break blissey,
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7mixandmega-703130991vs Imox for r3 of mnm open, mmy presured really much the opposing team as he didn't have a solid switch to it and mmy was able to damage magearna early game so it wasn't a check anymore
Even If I used mmy a lot I didn't save much replays, gonna edit this later when I get them
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7mixandmega-713996359 Ladder, mmy could easily setup on kyuw thanks to cm recover and abusing the opponent's psy terrein it couldn't be easily rkilled so it could create some holes on the opponent's team (probably mmy could do more but I wanted to go at +6 because yes.)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7mixandmega-713335286 Ladder, even if my opponent wasn't really good mmy was able to use lele as setup fodder and thanks to its psychic terrein not being rkilled by golisopod aqua jet
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7mixandmega-706611053 me sweeping with samurott vs stresh fart, oops wrong replay
 
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in the hills

spreading confusion
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Massive post incoming
Agree with what OM Room and stresh said, Lucario is the only Pokemon with access to SD Espeed that can mega, and Lucario fills this unique roll very well

Agree with stresh, Mamoswine can apply a lot of pressure on bulkier teams, 2hkoing supportceus forms and having near perfect coverage. It is a very nice revenge killer with Ice Shard and is a nice SR user that pressure Sablenite and Defog users.

Chazm pretty much summed up my thoughts on it, but Flyceus is a really nice Calm Mind user in this meta that appreciates the lack of electric types in the tier. Magearna and Dusk Mane really hurt it, but it is still a solid option

Dragceus has found a niche in this meta because it’s typing is decent at checking mons like Victini, Golisopod, Kartana and Pdon while not being complete dead weight against other teams. Magearna and Altarianite is a HUGE problem for it and Dusk Mane pretty much switches in for free and can set up kind of easily despite Dragceus having Will O Wisp. However, Dragceus does fill a small niche in the meta and should be ranked

Staraptor is something that I’ve seen a lot lately, and for a good reason. With perfect coverage and good offenses, it can be hard for a lot of teams to deal with. Being weak to -ate speed is a problem, but it makes up for that with it’s offenses

Agreeing with the post above, MMY fills a very unique niche in the meta being one of the few Psychics that doesnt lose to steels and can set up on Blissey

Darkrai hasn’t really lived up to what I had hoped, but it is a good nasty plot user and despite Magearna being a threat, it can plow through a lot of teams

Skymin is probably one of the best new things in this meta, it’s a very threatening revenge killer and sweeper. It’s Growth Red Orb set is really hard to beat and Diancite can really abuse pre mega flinches to break past its checks

With Shaymin in the tier now I don’t see any use for it in the meta

SD Rayquaza on Webs is practically unwallable. It’s a great breaker even without webs but webs really take it to the next level

Pinsirite Metagross can apply a ton of pressure to teams on webs and prevent most defoggers from removing hazards

Ferro is a lot better than I expected when I saw that it was ranked. It hits surprisingly hard so Sablenite users don’t come in as easily as I had previously thought

In this new meta, ZygC finds itself in a great place with it’s RestCoil sets. It can set up on a lot of teams that have Ho-Oh or Victini, and is tanky enough to set up on Supportceus that don’t have ice beam or SE Judgement

Manaphy fell a lot during the Zap Cannon meta, but now it finds itself in a good position since it can afford to run Cameruptite sets that can Sub on Blissey and set up

Gliscor has gained a lot of traction recently because of its ability to check Pdon and Victini while being able to Defog/SR and being a nice pivot. Like Chazm said it helps free up Arceus formes on your team too

Mew has gotten soooo much better in this metagame, where two completely different sets have emerged that are very good. Aggronite Mew is a nice -ate check that can fill a lot of different roles for your team: Defog, SR, pivot or even a Cleric. Sablenite Mew on the other hand has emerged as a Nasty Plot user that can set up on a lot of the metagame and pressures a lot of common walls like Sab Mag and Blissey

Ho-Oh is really the frontrunner Pokemon in this meta. It’s Band set is so threatening right now and defensive sets are better than ever and even it’s Curse set has made some waves lately. There are very few downsides to using Ho-Oh as Defog is easy to come by for a lot of teams, and Ho-Oh can even serve as your defogger because it comes in on most SR users

Waterceus is one of the better supportceus sets in this meta, though some sets that forego ice beam struggle more with checking Zygarde, though you can make up for it easily with the rest of your team. Overall however it provides a check to specific threats that most supportceus can’t give

due to pidge ban

Pidge ban hurt xurk the most probably but it still has a few sets that can be threatening. Latiasite sets up on a lot of defensive mons such as Mew Zapdos Groundceus Gliscor and defensive Dusk Mane, but it’s speed tier is really bad. Absolite on the other hand gives xurk a decent speed tier and still gives xurk some of the offensive pressure it used to have

Pidge ban really hurts it, to me it’s borderline unviable but idk where it ends up really

Chazm has said this like a million times but I guess I’ll say it again, Ghostceus is one of the best supportceus, really only behind Fairyceus. Checking Terrak Kart Dusk Mane and just about ever -ate speeder better than just about every supportceus is something that you just can’t ignore

Terrak is another threat at the moment that is really good with its Taunt SD set being able to break most of the tier. Normally I wouldn’t agree with this nom but this set changed my mind, terrak is stronger than the rest of A-, aside from Tini but to my next point

Victini has proved to be one of the most threatening Pokemon in the tier. It’s Red Orb set alone forced teams to run a lot of new sets just to check it, and even then it doesn’t take much for it to blow past most of those checks

Zapdos hasn’t been very good for a long time, it’s easily pressured by stealth rock and is a shaky check at best to mons like Kartana, Dusk Mane, and Victini. It’s Venusaurite set is an okay check to Ho-Oh, but is easily toxiced by both Band and bulky Ho-Oh sets and can’t break bulkier ho-oh sets

Dusk Mane is an incredibly splashable, incredibly threatening pokemon in this tier that can plow through teams provide a slow sweeper that can set up on most of the tier. There’s little to no downside to using dusk mane even if you already have a psychic or a steel on your team

With the rise of other bulky grounds that can check victini like hippo gliscor and even zygarde-c, groundceus has found itself in a weird position. A lot of the time when teambuilding it’s clear that it would be better to just use a different ground or a different supportceus. The rise of ho-oh also hurts it because if it doesn’t have stone edge or toxic it can barely even touch ho-oh and then if it does have those moves it opens up a lot more weaknesses
 
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VR Update 24/03/2018:

New Additions:
Shaymin-Sky: UR -> A-
Arceus-Flying: UR -> B
Darkrai: UR -> C+
Mamoswine: UR -> C+
Arceus-Dragon: UR -> C
Lucario: UR -> C
Mewtwo: UR -> C

Movements:

Upward:
Naganadel: A -> A+
Terrakion: A- -> A
Victini: A- -> A
Golisopod: B+ -> A-
Landorus-Therian: B+ -> A-
Ho-oh: B -> A-
Necrozma-Ultra: B -> A-
Shuckle: B -> B+
Manaphy: B- -> B
Metagross: B- -> B
Zygarde-Complete: C+ -> B
Ferrothorn: C- -> C


Downward:
Zapdos: A -> B+
Keldeo: A- -> B+
Toxapex: A- -> B+
Tapu Lele: A- -> B
Hippowdon: B+ -> B
Genesect: B+ -> B-
Tapu Koko: B+ -> B-
Xurkitree: B+ -> B-
Giratina: B -> B-
Blacephalon: B- -> C


Removals:
Thundurus: B -> UR
Cloyster: C+ -> UR
Mantine: C+ -> UR
Cresselia: C -> UR
Kyogre: C -> UR
Marshadow: C -> UR
Venusaur: C -> UR

Stone Additions:
Magearna (Manectite, Blue Orb, Pinsirite)
Mew (Aggronite, Slowbronite)
Manaphy (Cameruptite)
Hoopa-Unbound (Aerodactylite)
 
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why is cress unranked when sablenite can do this?
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7mixandmega-704589047
Cress is unranked because any steel with competent defenses is easily able to take it out. It suffers from extreme competition with Blissey and Mew for the item slot - Blissey is far better defensively and Mew is far better offensively. And unlike Cresselia, both have other roles they can fulfill - Mew specifically being able to take out opposing Steels and Blissey being able to pass large Wishes to its teammates. Cresselia is incredibly matchup specific where it exceeds, and so is not worth a teamslot.
 

ZeroPlasmaFist

Banned deucer.
Cress is unranked because any steel with competent defenses is easily able to take it out. It suffers from extreme competition with Blissey and Mew for the item slot - Blissey is far better defensively and Mew is far better offensively. And unlike Cresselia, both have other roles they can fulfill - Mew specifically being able to take out opposing Steels and Blissey being able to pass large Wishes to its teammates. Cresselia is incredibly matchup specific where it exceeds, and so is not worth a teamslot.
it has other pokemon better with sablenite, sure, but that doesn't change its usefulness. and u can just psyshock away after a lot of calm minds, or u can toxic. it can run red orb as well, running a similar role as red orb venusaur, but with better defenses
 
it has other pokemon better with sablenite, sure, but that doesn't change its usefulness. and u can just psyshock away after a lot of calm minds, or u can toxic. it can run red orb as well, running a similar role as red orb venusaur, but with better defenses
Seems that no one is willing to give a fuck about such a ridiculous and utterly incorrect statement, so it's up to me, the self-proclaimed worst player of Mix and Mega, to tell you why Cresselia is bad, outclassed by everything else, and beaten by everything else.

I would like to mention, Magearna is the strongest, most used and undisputed best check to Cresselia. You mentioned that you could do a lot of Calm Minds and Psyshock away. While Dark types are rare, only being Weavile, Yveltal and Arceus-Dark, they still exist. What's worse, all Steel types with a considerable amount of Defense (like Necrozma Dusk Mane, Aggronite Mew and Buzzwole) wall Psyshock variants, while Psychic variants are walled by Magearna, Blissey and the like. Red Orb Cresselia is unviable because it does not get a Fire type move other than Hidden Power Fire, and even then, it gets walled by Blue Orb users like Golisopod, which can take it down easily with Leech Life, or set up and take it down with strong unresisted Water STAB. What's more, there are far better Red Orb users out there, including, but not limited to, Groudon-Primal, Shaymin-Sky, Togekiss, Naganadel. They hit much harder than Cresselia, and actually have a valid method of setting up while being able to take a hit; Nasty Plot for Togekiss and Naganadel, Swords Dance/Rock Polish for Groudon-Primal, and Growth for Shaymin-Sky. The reintroduction of Shaymin-Sky into the tier also renders Venusaur utterly obsolete; it gets everything Red Orb Venusaur does, (other than a good and reliable Fire type move) and can even use Seed Flare to lower the Spdef of resists to hit harder otherwise. In that sense, Cresselia does not have a similar role to Venusaur, and while it has better defenses, it does not hit as hard and does not have a more efficient method of setting up. To sum up, Dark types, existence of actually good Red Orb users, Blue Orb, bulkier Sablenite users, means that Cresselia is not viable and therefore its unranking is justified.

Firstly, it is bad at being a defensive Pokemon. Psychic is one of, if not the worst, defensive typings yet. It provides no resistances against any atespeed, and as a result is vulnerable to -ate users setting up right in front of its face. There being other, and better, Sablenite users does in fact impact its usefulness, because "usefulness" is defined as how the Pokemon does in the metagame with a specific niche, which it does not possess. Healing Wish is bad, because you basically sack a Pokemon just to heal another, while running Wish on Blissey or the occasional Jirachi, can lengthen the longevity of your other Pokemon while, if played right, sustain the current Wish passer's life in order to pass more Wishes or do other things later on in the game. Toxic does nothing to help it in match ups against Sablenite users and Steel types, and just means that a moveslot is essentially wasted.

Offensively it doesn't do much better either, with reasons I have already mentioned above. As an offensive Trick Room user, it is outclassed by Cameruptite Magearna and Stakataka; As a Calm Mind user, it is, once again, outclassed by Cameruptite Magearna. You may have noticed I bring up Magearna a lot, and that is because Magearna is just that good. It is so versatile in all of its formes while also being able to wall a lot of things regardless. In general, it's just bad as both a wall and an attacker.

Also wanted to add that the replay you posted was not anything that justifies a Cresselia ranking; the opponent used a bad team (evident from the canon Megas used, as well as the inappropriate stone choice on Blissey), and you can practically win against it with just about anything, regardless of viability.

No tl;dr because I want you to read this thoroughly before making another incomprehensible statement about why Cresselia should be ranked.
 
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1523398240649.png
(Ampharosite) C+ -> B- or B
Cobalion does a similar job to jirachi, but it is better at being a lead than it. However it is less versitile with lack of wish as well has having worse special bulk.

Cobalion @ Ampharosite
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 HP/ 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid/Jolly Nature
- Stealth rock
- Taunt/Iron Head
- Toxic/Iron Head
- Volt switch

The set above makes Cobalion a fantastic lead able to shut down most users of sablenite with taunt and setting rocks and/or poisoning them instead. The set above outclasses Jirachi's similar set because of Cobalion's ability to use taunt as well as its better speed tier. Cobalion also has an easier time swithching in on dark and ghost attacks prior to mega evolving as well as having a better physical bulk. However cobalion loses out on some versatility such as being able to pass wishes.
 

Sectonia

But I set fire to the rain
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Firstly, I’ll like to preface this vr post by mentioning that A), this is my first one, and B), I know Naganadel was just banned, but I’ve already experienced two weeks without Naganadel, and I think I can reasonably make these nominations.
From B to A-
To start with, Buzzwole creates part of the infamous BuzzBliss core that has been going around for a while now, and it shows how well this core works. Buzzwole is an excellent blanket check to physical attackers, and the few physical attackers that successfully forces it out gets walled by Blue Orb Magearna and a Dragon-type. Aggronite Buzzwole is truly a force to be reckoned with, never really budging until it’s critted or faced with a physical attacker that successfully forces it out. These are just a few reasons I think Buzzwole deserves a rise from B to A-.

Generic Buzzwole:
Buzzwole @ Aggronite
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Lunge
- Earthquake/Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Roost
Description: This is your generic Buzzwole spread, just walling the physical threats to hell and back.
The next spread doesn’t wall these physical threats as well, but trades that ability to be able to 1v1 Metagrossite Kartana easily.
Kartana Killer:
Buzzwole @ Aggronite
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Atk / 144 Def
Impish Nature
- Lunge
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Roost
Description: The Attack EVs allows Buzzwole to always 2hko Metagrossite Kartana at +0. This one also helps give Buzzwole a little extra offensive presence, not that it really needs it, but it helps if you have issues versus Kartana.

From UR to B- (At the very least)
Salamence-Mega is a good as hell pokemon that I, and a few other users, have been using on BuzzBliss teams that also has a pivot Magearna on it. With a good pre-mega ability in Intimidate, Salamence-Mega checks the few real threats to the three pokemon core, and can serve as a functional defogger. I’ve not used it as much as I should have in recent times, so I’ll let others explain their thoughts on Salamence-Mega if they also agree with this ranking.
 

ZeroPlasmaFist

Banned deucer.
Firstly, I’ll like to preface this vr post by mentioning that A), this is my first one, and B), I know Naganadel was just banned, but I’ve already experienced two weeks without Naganadel, and I think I can reasonably make these nominations.
From B to A-
To start with, Buzzwole creates part of the infamous BuzzBliss core that has been going around for a while now, and it shows how well this core works. Buzzwole is an excellent blanket check to physical attackers, and the few physical attackers that successfully forces it out gets walled by Blue Orb Magearna and a Dragon-type. Aggronite Buzzwole is truly a force to be reckoned with, never really budging until it’s critted or faced with a physical attacker that successfully forces it out. These are just a few reasons I think Buzzwole deserves a rise from B to A-.

Generic Buzzwole:
Buzzwole @ Aggronite
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Lunge
- Earthquake/Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Roost
Description: This is your generic Buzzwole spread, just walling the physical threats to hell and back.
The next spread doesn’t wall these physical threats as well, but trades that ability to be able to 1v1 Metagrossite Kartana easily.
Kartana Killer:
Buzzwole @ Aggronite
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Atk / 144 Def
Impish Nature
- Lunge
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Roost
Description: The Attack EVs allows Buzzwole to always 2hko Metagrossite Kartana at +0. This one also helps give Buzzwole a little extra offensive presence, not that it really needs it, but it helps if you have issues versus Kartana.

From UR to B- (At the very least)
Salamence-Mega is a good as hell pokemon that I, and a few other users, have been using on BuzzBliss teams that also has a pivot Magearna on it. With a good pre-mega ability in Intimidate, Salamence-Mega checks the few real threats to the three pokemon core, and can serve as a functional defogger. I’ve not used it as much as I should have in recent times, so I’ll let others explain their thoughts on Salamence-Mega if they also agree with this ranking.
Did you know i was going to post something about Mega Salamence, because i was in the middle of writing it but then you came along with that post? Anyway, it definitely deserves B-, but probably B or B+ would be more accurate. It's a very reliable defogger, as well as a pretty good stall breaker. Here's the generic set.
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Defog
- Double-Edge
- Roost
- Dragon Dance
I didn't know what to do in dragon dance's spot, so i just went for set up.

252+ Atk Aerilate Salamence-Mega Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 508-598 (71.1 - 83.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
There you go. Blissey can't switch in to this, and not much can. I agree with your buzzwole resonings as well. So there's another opinion.
 

From C- to B-/C+
Rockceus was really unexplored but it recently became a thing for its ability to check ho-oh, victini and pins mag while still being a good stealth rocker/defogger

From A- to A
Entei has proven to be a really good mon which has really risen in usage lately, 50% Burn chance lets it cripple some checks and not many offensive teams like to deal with this especially thanks to espeed which can also let it be an Emergency check to alt/luc zyg, it pressures usual ate checks like aggro mew and aggro buzzwole and also has some other more niche moves which can be really helpful like stomping tantrum for blue orb mag and fires, stone edge for ho-oh and fires or howl to wallbreak/sweep

From A to A-
I'm not really sure about this but victini isn't really as scary as before with rising mons like Rockceus, Salamence-Mega and other which can come in and pivot away like blue orb mag, venu gliscor also blue orb gliscor completely shuts it down so bad mon.
It also faces competition with other fire types like entei which is rising a lot in popularity, Ho-oh which is also quite popular rn and pdon which is still really good.
Anyway victini is still a really good wallbreaker, it probably is a bit worse but I'm not sure if that's Worth that subrank

I support both msala and buzzwole rise.

Also I was forgetting the most important nom

From S+ to S++
Broken and should be banned
 
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Mageic Master

Banned deucer.
Azelf to B rank. It can hit extremely hard after a nasty plot, being able to 1v1 blissey with substitute. It has been being used for quite a while now, especially with gmfc ;). It's been used even in the sample teams without even a mention. I have nothing more to say, apart from, it's also a pretty good non-blue orb mage counter.
 
Azelf to B rank. It can hit extremely hard after a nasty plot, being able to 1v1 blissey with substitute. It has been being used for quite a while now, especially with gmfc ;). It's been used even in the sample teams without even a mention. I have nothing more to say, apart from, it's also a pretty good non-blue orb mage counter.
Few nitpicks with this one. Whilst I do agree Azelf deserves exactly B rank, it is not reflected through this nomination.
First off, Azelf already 1v1s Blissey without Substitute - after a Nasty Plot, it can 2HKO Blissey, meaning it has to be wishtect to actually have a chance of defeating Blissey one-on-one. Both, however, are poor answers to eachother. You also mention the fact that it is a 'mage counter' despite only being an NSI - it can only revenge kill, which against offensive variants, is usually circumvented via TR or via Shift Gear. It isn't a particularly good switchin to defensive variants either - pretty much all will be able to Volt Switch out of it and let it take SR damage and consequently, go to their check.

However, it cannot be stated that Red Orb Azelf is bad in any way - infact, it's probably one of the stronger breakers out there right now, being rather unpredictable with how it is played. Substitute helps it avoid the need for prediction and avoids Toxic from the likes of Toxapex, but imo, Stealth Rock is probably best used on Azelf as it can set up on many different answers like Blue Orb Magearna, POgre, and Golisopod, as well as causing some 50/50s with the likes of Zygarde. Dazzling Gleam is a more useful HO tactic, however I do believe the other two are superior due to how little targets are hit (the only noteworthy ones being Zygarde, Salamence and Arceus-Dragon).

The things it offers in the current metagame are rather scarce, however. The metagame has evolved to cope with the Fire-heavy strategies, and as such, Pokemon such as Venusaurite Gliscor can near enough shut down Azelf reliably, even the ability to set Stealth Rock. It is also rather easily revenge killed by the likes of, well, pretty much anything faster than it. It beats -atespeed reliant teams, but in no way is it exactly a reliable matchup, especially against the majority of faster Pokemon that can appear on such teams.
 
VR Update 20/05/2018:
Changes:

Compress C rank: Agreed – this was due to the mons in subranks of C being subjectively influenced and the metagame not being deeply explored enough to warrant any sort of reason to keep the lower Cs.

Magearna: A+ -> S: Disagree – after being talked about for about a week, we ultimately decided that Magearna did not have the capabilities of being S rank. Most of this problem comes from Magearna being offensively checked too well and not being strong enough versus defensive builds. The main arguments from it are also based on versatility, which was decided that it was not a big enough factor due to the lack of luring capabilities that Magearna could effectively employ without skipping a good part of the metagame as checks

Terrakion: A -> S: A+ – This one was talked about for a much shorter time but was ultimately rejected due to lack of utility. A debate from this was also stemmed to Magearna as we felt they were fairly close in ranking, but ultimately did not succeed.

Blissey: A+ -> A: Agree – This went through due to a lack of capabilities versus offensive teams, and the fact that its momentum is often exploited by certain setup users like Magearna and Mew.

Mew: A- -> A: Agree – Mew has shown itself to be one of the best mons for bulky offense and balance teams in the form of Sablenite + Nasty Plot sets. These sets are similar to Magearna in forms of role compression but do a lot better vs teams reliant on bouncable moves. It’s also a key check to the likes of Terrakion and Zygarde, two very potent wallbreakers in the current metagame.

Buzzwole: B -> A: Agree – Buzzwole has shown itself time and time again to be a near impenetrable wall, being the hardest counter to Zygarde out there, a strong Terrakion check, et cetera. Being the best physical wall in the current metagame is a strong feat to behold.

Kartana: A -> A-: Disagree – Kartana has been having hard times breaking recently due to the rise of a bunch of offensive checks and counters, however, it was decided that Kartana was potent enough to stay in A due to its ability to pressure those checks and clean lategame.

Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: A -> B+: A- - Necrozma-Dusk-Mane has been falling off considerably because of the dominance of Fires and Buzzwole in the metagame. This makes it very easy to offensively check, and for most balance and stall teams completely countered. Previous judgments were wrong about it being a good offense breaker, as it barely gets the time to set up Rock Polish due to the likes of Entei threatening it with a burn.

Toxapex: B+ -> A-: Agreed – Toxapex has seen a rising niche with Lunala coming up as a strong wallbreaker that most offensive teams cannot handle. It is also the best Toxic Spikes setter in the metagame, a hazard which unlike most is difficult to deal with due to a lack of viable Poison types in the metagame. It is one of the most anti-metagame Pokemon out there at the moment, and its ranking has risen to reflect that.

Lunala: B -> A-: A- - Lunala has risen in part due to its Substitute + Calm Mind set, being one of the few sets to restrict Blissey’s moveset, alongside Magearna. It has very few switchins on offensive teams, and exploits the hazard metagame with Shadow Shield, due to the difficulties that arise when setting hazards.

Metagross: B -> B+: Agreed

Metagross rose because of its ability to act as a strong secondary lead on HO, and provide the ability to check the likes of Tapu Lele on such teams. It is a strong Stealth Rock setter, again due to the drop in usage of Zapdos.

Tapu Lele: B -> B+: Agreed – Lele was risen again mainly due to Naganadel dying. It has also grown afflicted with a good role on certain teams due to its ability to wear down key threats, a significant one being Magearna.

Arceus-Ground: A- -> B: B – Arceus-Ground has fallen massively in part due to it failing as a proper Fire resist, and being an unreliable defogger. Z-Earthquake sets have arisen to have a better matchup versus Magearna, but these sacrifice a lot of utility that Earth Plate has going for it. Calm Mind has recently risen but this also suffers from a lack of role compression.

Weavile: B+ -> B: Agreed – Weavile dropped due to it being an extremely underwhelming revenge killer. Its pursuit role is very niche due to the lack of Psychics it can reliably trap and the lack of Ghosts in the metagame. As well as this, Weavile suffers heavily on the teams it used to be good in due to letting the likes of Magearna in, a Pokemon that has borderline no counters, especially on offensive teams.

Xerneas: B+ -> B: Disagreed – Xerneas was considered for a drop but ultimately denied due to it working in the same fashion that Tapu Lele can in wearing down the Steels that it would usually be plagued fighting against.

Kyogre-Primal: B- -> B: Agreed – Kyogre-Primal rose mainly due to the decreased usage of other Red Orb users and the introduction of Entei, which has morphed current Fire resists to be particularly vulnerable to it.

Raikou: B- -> B: Agreed – Raikou has become better in recent times due to an increase in Pex usage and general userbase knowledge becoming better on how to set hazards. It also exploits the same things Pogre exploits by using the current Fire resists and Volt Switching on them.

Cobalion: C+ -> B: Agreed – most of this nomination was in due part to the dwindling usage of Zapdos – a lot of Cobalion’s utility has also been uncovered, and I admit, we have underrated this mon for a good while.

Azelf: UR -> ranked: B – Azelf was ranked due to fulfilling a niche that Naganadel had previously appreciated. It’s somewhat diverse with how much it breaks as well – it can set SR on the likes of Blue Orb steels, use Substitute to make setup easier, or add another coverage move, such as Thunderbolt.

Salamence: UR -> B: B – Salamence was ranked due to it being a strong role compressor for the likes of bulky offense. It is able to defog on most Groudon-Primal variants, take on the likes of Golisopod, and more importantly make the Sticky Web matchup much easier.

Arceus-Flying: B -> B-: Agreed – Arceus-Flying was mainly good in Naganadel’s metagame due to the decrease in general PDon usage as well as a decrease in certain Steel usage thanks to it. Now that Naganadel has gone, and people are finally prepping for it, Arceus-Flying is no longer as dominant as it was, mainly in part to new Magearna sets popping up and finding niches on other types of teams.

Arceus-Water: B -> B-: Agreed – Arceus-Water dropped due to being a generally poor Fire resist and having severe matchup problems versus the likes of Groudon-Primal, which it should check but often doesn’t as SD sets simply beat it outright.

Arceus-Rock: C- -> B-: Agreed – Arceus-Rock became much better in recent times due to the rising of Entei and a bunch of other Pinsirite steels (Metagross, Magearna, Cobalion), being a healthy answer to effectively all of them.

Hippowdon: B -> B-: Agreed – Like Arceus-Water, Hippowdon has lost viability due to being a poor Fire-resist, particularly being likely to be burned.

Archeops: Unranked -> C: Agreed – Archeops was ranked in part due to a Head Smash + Endeavor set which could effectively revenge kill and then bring something down to a low range if needed with Endeavor on the switch.

Gastrodon: Unranked -> C: Agreed – Gastrodon was ranked due to being a strong Fire resist, taking Ho-oh and Entei on.
 
Making a list of nominations here for the next slate - I came here for an important one:

Dugtrio (Lopunnite): Unranked -> C/B-

Dugtrio has a rather interesting niche for balance and bulky offense teams where it can trap some of the most frightening wallbreakers in the metagame. It is particularly useful for weak matchups vs the likes of Terrakion and most offensive Red Orb users, like Victini and Azelf. Whilst it struggles to trap the likes of Primal Groudon and Magearna (particularly the OTR + CM set), it is still very useful when these mons are chipped respectively.

Out of the current metagame, it can trap these mons reliably:
S rank



Groudon-Primal (Red Orb) - Depends on defensive investment.


Zygarde (Lucarionite, Altarianite, Pinsirite) - Can't realistically trap.

A rank

A+:


Magearna (Cameruptite, Sablenite, Blue Orb) - Cam doesn't die until at 90% - beware of OTR + CM, as one wrong move may put you in the dust. Also be wary of Pinsirite flying overhead. Defensive variants need Fleur Cannon stalled out, but any other variant works fine


Terrakion (Lucarionite, Diancite) - Guaranteed to eliminate Lucarionite.

A:


Blissey (Sablenite) - Guaranteed to eliminate.


Buzzwole (Aggronite) - Cannot eliminate reliably.


Entei (Altarianite, Pinsirite) - Cannot eliminate period.


Mew (Sablenite, Aggronite) - Aggronite is extremely difficult to trap - EQ doesn't always do half damage, and U-turn is a very possible move if you're attempting to Substitute stall out to get into Reversal range...


Kartana (Metagrossite) - Guaranteed RK if Dugtrio is chipped into 100 BP Reversal (or more)


Victini (Red Orb) - Near enough a guaranteed trap.

A-:


Arceus-Fairy (Pixie Plate) - Can't really trap this one.


Arceus-Ghost (Spooky Plate)


Gliscor (Venusaurite)


Golisopod (Blue Orb) - No.


Ho-oh (Life Orb, Leftovers, Choice Band)


Landorus-Therian (Salamencite, Altarianite)


Lunala (Lunalium Z, Choice Specs)


Necrozma-Dusk-Mane (Solganium Z) - DM is nearly KO'd by 200 BP Reversal.


Necrozma-Ultra (Ultranecronium Z) - Chipped at 59% or lower, Ultra is reliably removed.


Shaymin-Sky (Diancite, Red Orb)


Toxapex (Gyaradosite, Latiasite) - One of the more important traps. Needs to bring up a Substitute vs Gyaradosite and mega to KO, however

B rank

B+:


Keldeo (Lucarionite, Diancite) - KO at 55%.


Metagross (Pinsirite)


Shuckle (Gyaradosite, Ampharosite) - Lets hazards up but can force its own SR up and a Substitute


Skarmory (Blue Orb, Venusaurite)


Tapu Lele (Diancite, Lucarionite) - This one is a particularly important removal for stall-based teams. 72.5% gives a guaranteed KO.


Volcarona (Red Orb, Cameruptite) - Not really something that can be trapped, however +1 Cameruptite is lured by Stone Edge Dugtrio, and 70.4% Red Orb is KO'd on a double


Xerneas (Power Herb, Choice Scarf, Fairium Z) - Xern isn't something that will go down easily, nor is it trappable at +2.


Zapdos (Sablenite, Venusaurite, Manectite)

B:


Arceus-Ground (Earth Plate, Groundium Z) - 252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Arceus-Ground: 265-313 (59.6 - 70.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Trap at your own risk.


Azelf (Red Orb) - Guaranteed trap (even unmega!)


Cobalion (Pinsirite, Diancite)


Kyogre-Primal (Blue Orb) - Depends on EVs (again). Reversal can OHKO 252/0


Manaphy (Absolite, Cameruptite) - Reversal OHKOs, EQ does 56 min


Raikou (Red Orb) - Guaranteed trap!


Salamence (Salamencite)


Weavile (Glalitite, Lucarionite) - Priority prevents from being trapped


Zygarde-Complete (Leftovers, Groundium Z) - Usually too bulky to be reliably trapped.

B-:


Arceus-Dragon (Draco Plate) - Alike to Groundceus...


Arceus-Flying (Sky Plate)


Arceus-Water (Splash Plate) - Ceus calc.


Arceus-Rock (Stone Plate) - OHKO'd by Reversal. Usually reliably trapped on a double.


Darkrai (Diancite, Blastoisinite) - Blastrai is OHKO'd by Reversal. Deals ~56 min.


Ditto (Choice Scarf)


Excadrill (Lucarionite, Pinsirite) - Reliable OHKO, but not in non-mega form


Genesect (Altarianite, Pinsirite) - Revenged by priority.


Giratina (Leftovers)


Giratina-Origin (Griseous Orb)


Hippowdon (Venusaurite, Sablenite) - Very difficult to trap.


Jirachi (Ampharosite) - OHKO'd by Reversal, EQ requires some chip (~20%)


Rayquaza (Life Orb)


Tapu Koko (Diancite, Lucarionite) - Neither variant is trapped due to Speed.

C rank



Arceus (Normalium Z) - Priority revenges.


Archeops (Diancite)


Celebi (Blue Orb)


Gastrodon (Manectite, Sablenite) - Reversal KOs at 70%.


Mamoswine (Lucarionite) - Ice Shard revenges.


Stakataka (Heracronite) - TR prevents trap, usually

So, from that list, one of the S ranks is trappable, and the two A+ ranks are trappable. All three of which are rather competent stallbreakers and, whilst Magearna and Groudon-Primal are harder to trap, the likes of their removal is much more significant for teams that cannot often afford Magearna counterplay on balance teams.

Now, the things you don't know. Dugtrio can particularly abuse these trends for support, particularly for the matchups of mons such as Lunala, CM Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Fairy, and even a few of the aforementioned trapped mons - Victini and Magearna particularly benefit from this sort of support, as they are now much more likely to break through the likes of stall with it. Toxapex is a rather nice partner, because the only good TSpikes removers are removed by the likes of Dugtrio. It is also able to act as a weak RKiller for the likes of stall, particularly for, as I said, Terrakion and Kartana, due to their generally high Speeds and the former's good matchup vs any sort of defensive build. The problems with Dugtrio generally come with the fact that the trapped target needs to be chipped before it can enter range, and Magearna and Groudon-Primal have methods of simply avoiding the trap (i.e Rock Polish, Trick Room). As such, due to the advantages that Dugtrio can give to a team in this metagame, I would like to see Dugtrio rise to at least C, preferably B-.

Giratina (Leftovers): B- -> B

Giratina is an amazing wincon for anything that warrants stalling out. It is particularly strong due to its ability to check the likes of Ho-oh and burn PP very quickly on Sacred Fire, making it an amazing partner particularly for Magearna, as the strong fire moves that plague the metagame can just be burned away by Pressure. Giratina is also an incredible utility mon, being able to phase the likes of Groudon-Primal and being one of the few counters to SD Taunt Terrakion. The choice between Roar and Dragon Tail is a difficult one - both are very good choices, none-the-less. Giratina is also a very good defogger, particularly being able to defog on any variant of PDon at least once.

Gliscor (Venusaurite): A- -> B+

Gliscor has been having problems in recent months. First off, the decline of Naganadel's usage no longer means its role is exclusive for the likes of bulky offense teams. Secondly, variants of Primal Groudon are now able to wear down Gliscor much quicker, particularly defensive Primal Groudon, as it can force Toxic on Gliscor for something like Magearna or Zygarde to take down, removing its near exclusive vs such a threat. And the main problem that has recently arisen is the rise of Entei, challenging its strong role compression as an all-purpose Fire check. Most teams now opt for two checks due to Entei as Gliscor is very easily pressured by the likes of it, particularly Sacred Fire burns - and this is very easily exploited by teammates such as Magearna which can use a burned Gliscor as setup fodder. Gliscor is also forcing out less without needing to recover, as the likes of new age Red Orb users like Azelf can bust through its poor Special Defense. There are also new mons on the rise, such as Pinsirite Cobalion / Magearna - both of these straight up use it as setup fodder without U-turn and therefore it cannot check the likes of Ho-oh properly without having its momentum ceased. As a defogger, Gliscor is still fairly solid however, being able to remove SR from the likes of the most relevant users such as Diancite Terrakion, Groudon-Primal, etc. U-turn also helps considerably with 50/50s in this sense.

Kyurem (Audinite): UR -> C

Kyurem has a strong defensive niche in the MnM metagame for being one of the best answers to a plethora of Fire-types. Unlike its competition, such as Arceus-Dragon, Kyurem has the added benefits of an additional Fairy typing, making it one of the best answers to a bunch of Fighting-types, like Terrakion and Keldeo. Earth Power as a slot additionally makes it much less weak to Magearna, and backed with a solid 150 base SpA, it can 2HKO a majority of threats in the metagame, such as offensive Groudon-Primal and commonly OHKO Lucarionite Zygarde with Ice Beam. It is also a very effective check to the Dual Primal core (Ogre/Don) as well as both orbs. One of the main faults of Kyurem is the 4MSS it has - it wants Toxic or Ice Beam, but it's difficult to decide between the two.

Here is the set I ran for a while:
Kyurem @ Audinite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Def / 216 Spe
Bold Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam / Toxic
- Roost

0 SpA Kyurem Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 144 SpD Groudon-Primal: 172-204 (50.4 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
0 SpA Kyurem Ice Beam vs. 188 HP / 0 SpD Zygarde: 384-456 (95 - 112.8%) -- 75% chance to OHKO


Mew (Sablenite, Aggronite, Manectite): A -> A+

Mew is the most solid pivot in MnM, tied with Magearna for its incredible utility and blanket checking to the plethora of physical attackers. I particularly enjoy using Manectite Mew, as it is able to wall even the strongest of physical attackers, checking the likes of SD PDon, Landorus-Therian, Terrakion, Zygarde and even Entei and Ho-oh depending on the moveset chosen. This makes it an exceptional role compressor as it is able to Defog on most of the prominent Stealth Rock setters in the metagame this way. I particularly like the combination of Psychic + Earth Power - this combination particularly answers SD PDon very well.

The few metagame changes that have made Mew even better since the loss of Naganadel mainly involve not having a strong offensive check to the likes of SablePlot Focus Blast + Ice Beam variants, which are able to check Zygarde and Landorus-Therian particularly well, something Focus Blast + Psychic cannot do.

(possibly move A+ into S?)
 
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Making a list of nominations here for the next slate - I came here for an important one:

Dugtrio (Lopunnite): Unranked -> C/B-

Dugtrio has a rather interesting niche for balance and bulky offense teams where it can trap some of the most frightening wallbreakers in the metagame. It is particularly useful for weak matchups vs the likes of Terrakion and most offensive Red Orb users, like Victini and Azelf. Whilst it struggles to trap the likes of Primal Groudon and Magearna (particularly the OTR + CM set), it is still very useful when these mons are chipped respectively.

Out of the current metagame, it can trap these mons reliably:
S rank



Groudon-Primal (Red Orb) - Depends on defensive investment.


Zygarde (Lucarionite, Altarianite, Pinsirite) - Can't realistically trap.

A rank

A+:


Magearna (Cameruptite, Sablenite, Blue Orb) - Cam doesn't die until at 90% - beware of OTR + CM, as one wrong move may put you in the dust. Also be wary of Pinsirite flying overhead. Defensive variants need Fleur Cannon stalled out, but any other variant works fine


Terrakion (Lucarionite, Diancite) - Guaranteed to eliminate Lucarionite.

A:


Blissey (Sablenite) - Guaranteed to eliminate.


Buzzwole (Aggronite) - Cannot eliminate reliably.


Entei (Altarianite, Pinsirite) - Cannot eliminate period.


Mew (Sablenite, Aggronite) - Aggronite is extremely difficult to trap - EQ doesn't always do half damage, and U-turn is a very possible move if you're attempting to Substitute stall out to get into Reversal range...


Kartana (Metagrossite) - Guaranteed RK if Dugtrio is chipped into 100 BP Reversal (or more)


Victini (Red Orb) - Near enough a guaranteed trap.

A-:


Arceus-Fairy (Pixie Plate) - Can't really trap this one.


Arceus-Ghost (Spooky Plate)


Gliscor (Venusaurite)


Golisopod (Blue Orb) - No.


Ho-oh (Life Orb, Leftovers, Choice Band)


Landorus-Therian (Salamencite, Altarianite)


Lunala (Lunalium Z, Choice Specs)


Necrozma-Dusk-Mane (Solganium Z) - DM is nearly KO'd by 200 BP Reversal.


Necrozma-Ultra (Ultranecronium Z) - Chipped at 59% or lower, Ultra is reliably removed.


Shaymin-Sky (Diancite, Red Orb)


Toxapex (Gyaradosite, Latiasite) - One of the more important traps. Needs to bring up a Substitute vs Gyaradosite and mega to KO, however

B rank

B+:


Keldeo (Lucarionite, Diancite) - KO at 55%.


Metagross (Pinsirite)


Shuckle (Gyaradosite, Ampharosite) - Lets hazards up but can force its own SR up and a Substitute


Skarmory (Blue Orb, Venusaurite)


Tapu Lele (Diancite, Lucarionite) - This one is a particularly important removal for stall-based teams. 72.5% gives a guaranteed KO.


Volcarona (Red Orb, Cameruptite) - Not really something that can be trapped, however +1 Cameruptite is lured by Stone Edge Dugtrio, and 70.4% Red Orb is KO'd on a double


Xerneas (Power Herb, Choice Scarf, Fairium Z) - Xern isn't something that will go down easily, nor is it trappable at +2.


Zapdos (Sablenite, Venusaurite, Manectite)

B:


Arceus-Ground (Earth Plate, Groundium Z) - 252 Atk Dugtrio Reversal (200 BP) vs. 252 HP / 132+ Def Arceus-Ground: 265-313 (59.6 - 70.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO. Trap at your own risk.


Azelf (Red Orb) - Guaranteed trap (even unmega!)


Cobalion (Pinsirite, Diancite)


Kyogre-Primal (Blue Orb) - Depends on EVs (again). Reversal can OHKO 252/0


Manaphy (Absolite, Cameruptite) - Reversal OHKOs, EQ does 56 min


Raikou (Red Orb) - Guaranteed trap!


Salamence (Salamencite)


Weavile (Glalitite, Lucarionite) - Priority prevents from being trapped


Zygarde-Complete (Leftovers, Groundium Z) - Usually too bulky to be reliably trapped.

B-:


Arceus-Dragon (Draco Plate) - Alike to Groundceus...


Arceus-Flying (Sky Plate)


Arceus-Water (Splash Plate) - Ceus calc.


Arceus-Rock (Stone Plate) - OHKO'd by Reversal. Usually reliably trapped on a double.


Darkrai (Diancite, Blastoisinite) - Blastrai is OHKO'd by Reversal. Deals ~56 min.


Ditto (Choice Scarf)


Excadrill (Lucarionite, Pinsirite) - Reliable OHKO, but not in non-mega form


Genesect (Altarianite, Pinsirite) - Revenged by priority.


Giratina (Leftovers)


Giratina-Origin (Griseous Orb)


Hippowdon (Venusaurite, Sablenite) - Very difficult to trap.


Jirachi (Ampharosite) - OHKO'd by Reversal, EQ requires some chip (~20%)


Rayquaza (Life Orb)


Tapu Koko (Diancite, Lucarionite) - Neither variant is trapped due to Speed.

C rank



Arceus (Normalium Z) - Priority revenges.


Archeops (Diancite)


Celebi (Blue Orb)


Gastrodon (Manectite, Sablenite) - Reversal KOs at 70%.


Mamoswine (Lucarionite) - Ice Shard revenges.


Stakataka (Heracronite) - TR prevents trap, usually

So, from that list, one of the S ranks is trappable, and the two A+ ranks are trappable. All three of which are rather competent stallbreakers and, whilst Magearna and Groudon-Primal are harder to trap, the likes of their removal is much more significant for teams that cannot often afford Magearna counterplay on balance teams.

Now, the things you don't know. Dugtrio can particularly abuse these trends for support, particularly for the matchups of mons such as Lunala, CM Arceus-Ground, Arceus-Fairy, and even a few of the aforementioned trapped mons - Victini and Magearna particularly benefit from this sort of support, as they are now much more likely to break through the likes of stall with it. Toxapex is a rather nice partner, because the only good TSpikes removers are removed by the likes of Dugtrio. It is also able to act as a weak RKiller for the likes of stall, particularly for, as I said, Terrakion and Kartana, due to their generally high Speeds and the former's good matchup vs any sort of defensive build. The problems with Dugtrio generally come with the fact that the trapped target needs to be chipped before it can enter range, and Magearna and Groudon-Primal have methods of simply avoiding the trap (i.e Rock Polish, Trick Room). As such, due to the advantages that Dugtrio can give to a team in this metagame, I would like to see Dugtrio rise to at least C, preferably B-.

Giratina (Leftovers): B- -> B

Giratina is an amazing wincon for anything that warrants stalling out. It is particularly strong due to its ability to check the likes of Ho-oh and burn PP very quickly on Sacred Fire, making it an amazing partner particularly for Magearna, as the strong fire moves that plague the metagame can just be burned away by Pressure. Giratina is also an incredible utility mon, being able to phase the likes of Groudon-Primal and being one of the few counters to SD Taunt Terrakion. The choice between Roar and Dragon Tail is a difficult one - both are very good choices, none-the-less. Giratina is also a very good defogger, particularly being able to defog on any variant of PDon at least once.

Gliscor (Venusaurite): A- -> B+

Gliscor has been having problems in recent months. First off, the decline of Naganadel's usage no longer means its role is exclusive for the likes of bulky offense teams. Secondly, variants of Primal Groudon are now able to wear down Gliscor much quicker, particularly defensive Primal Groudon, as it can force Toxic on Gliscor for something like Magearna or Zygarde to take down, removing its near exclusive vs such a threat. And the main problem that has recently arisen is the rise of Entei, challenging its strong role compression as an all-purpose Fire check. Most teams now opt for two checks due to Entei as Gliscor is very easily pressured by the likes of it, particularly Sacred Fire burns - and this is very easily exploited by teammates such as Magearna which can use a burned Gliscor as setup fodder. Gliscor is also forcing out less without needing to recover, as the likes of new age Red Orb users like Azelf can bust through its poor Special Defense. There are also new mons on the rise, such as Pinsirite Cobalion / Magearna - both of these straight up use it as setup fodder without U-turn and therefore it cannot check the likes of Ho-oh properly without having its momentum ceased. As a defogger, Gliscor is still fairly solid however, being able to remove SR from the likes of the most relevant users such as Diancite Terrakion, Groudon-Primal, etc. U-turn also helps considerably with 50/50s in this sense.
Mew (Sablenite, Aggronite, Manectite): A -> A+

Mew is the most solid pivot in MnM, tied with Magearna for its incredible utility and blanket checking to the plethora of physical attackers. I particularly enjoy using Manectite Mew, as it is able to wall even the strongest of physical attackers, checking the likes of SD PDon, Landorus-Therian, Terrakion, Zygarde and even Entei and Ho-oh depending on the moveset chosen. This makes it an exceptional role compressor as it is able to Defog on most of the prominent Stealth Rock setters in the metagame this way. I particularly like the combination of Psychic + Earth Power - this combination particularly answers SD PDon very well.

The few metagame changes that have made Mew even better since the loss of Naganadel mainly involve not having a strong offensive check to the likes of SablePlot Focus Blast + Ice Beam variants, which are able to check Zygarde and Landorus-Therian particularly well, something Focus Blast + Psychic cannot do.



Entei (Altarianite): A -> A+
Agree with duggy being ranked, but not for loppunite. Run adamant ground z to kill pdon after rocks and magearna!
 
Agree with duggy being ranked, but not for loppunite. Run adamant ground z to kill pdon after rocks and magearna!
Lop is usually more useful, being able to remove blissey, having an incredibly powerful stab in reversal, better speed tier and still being able to trap pdon and (not pins) mag after some chips is really nice.
Groundium Z still has the niche of being able to trap and kill mag/pdon without chips but I don't think that's better than lop
 
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