After a lot of experience in the Anything Goes tier, I felt like it's time to do a big change, and in my opinion, the Viability Rankings look a bit messed up. Just a heads up, I'll be nominating
30 changes in total. I will explain shortly why a specific nomination should happen for each Pokémon. Most of these will be rises, but there will also be quite a few drops as well. Don't forget this is mainly my opinion, and based on my experiences only. Feel free to disagree, and comment about it. If you agree with the majority, a like would be appreciated to show you support most of these. Anyway, time to cut the intro and lets get right into it!
Nominating
Groudon-Primal A+ → A
Groudon-Primal isn't the threat it used to be. It's easily worn down by common stuff in the meta, Rayquaza-Mega, Arceus, Arceus-Ghost, Yveltal, to name a few. Its lack of reliable recovery, and not having access to Leftovers doesn't help it either. Nowadays, people are too prepared for it. People have a Giratina or Bulky Arceus form on bulkier teams, and offensive ones simply doesn't care about it most of the time, it takes damage every time it comes in after all. I'd say its best set at the moment is Swords Dance, with either Stealth Rock, Rock Polish, or whatever suits your needs. The pokémon in general is good, but in my eyes, not good enough for A+.
Nominating
Arceus A → A+
I can't believe this is ranked A at this very moment. The amount of viable sets this can run is near endless. It can function as nearly any role. Nearly every check gets easily countered by a viable set Arceus can run. I've been toying around with Substitute Arceus, and that set alone lures random shit like Celesteela, and Giratina, and turns them into setup bait. I believe that at this very moment Arceus is just ranked for its generic and predictable Life Orb set, which isn't bad by any means, but I believe A is too low for something that has at least 10 viable sets that can cover literally every counter listed on the compendium.
Nominating
Zygarde-Complete A → A+
So this nomination has been a very active discussion subject lately. Zygarde-Complete has what it needs to be anything you wish it needs to do. Need an offense breaker? Zygarde! Need a physical wall? Zygarde! This can go on forever really. Zygarde in general is a nuisance and every team requires checks to it, because you don't want to straight up lose to it any time you see one. It has amazing status moves in Glare and Toxic, it can phaze, it can even tank a Choice Band Outrage from Rayquaza-Mega if it has to! Requiring it to go into Complete first isn't hard at all, in contrary of many people their beliefs. If anything, it deserves A+.
Nominating
Arceus-Dark B+ → A-
Arceus-Dark is an underrated pokémon. I think Arceus-Dark may be one of the best late game sweepers. Yes, it does have checks, but if you remove them before you reveal your Arceus-Dark, it's easier than you think. It can run 2 sets, support and Calm Mind. This gives it a bit of diversity already. The Calm Mind set should be used with either Refresh or Iron Defense. The former lets you beat stall and balance, and the latter lets you beat offense. I think it deserves A- because it really fits well in the meta at the moment, and it lacks counters that are common enough to reduce its usability.
Nominating
Lunala B+ → A-
Lunala is the second pokémon I hope to get in A-. Lunala is very versatile. Its sets require scouting in order to retaliate properly. It has a nice Ability in Shadow Shield, that lets it take hits like they're nothing. This essentially means any set can revenge kill Rayquaza-Mega, even when its at +1 and holding a Life Orb. Its Choice Scarf set is really annoying for offense. Immunity to Extreme Speed is huge. It's Choice Specs set can break any stall lacking a Muk-Alola, and it can really punch holes in any other type of team. Lunala can also run a defensive set, or a hot Calm Mind set, both of which are really annoying.
Nominating
Magearna B+ → B-
Magearna is overrated as fuck. I believe it gets fully outclassed by Arceus-Poison when it comes to checking Xerneas and Yveltal reliably. Magearna is used because its new, and people want to explore new things. Unlike Arceus-Poison, it lacks recovery besides Pain Split and has a ton of stuff that can switch in on it without worrying one bit. It does check certain things that Arceus-Poison doesn't, like Deoxys-Attack and Arceus-Dark, which is why B- fits.
Nominating
Celesteela B → A-
Celesteela is the most annoying pokémon introduced in generation 7. It can force so many switches and rack up damage with ease. It has a beautiful Type combination, allowing it to check many pokémon including Rayquaza-Mega, Arceus and Arceus-Ground. It does have flaws in lacking reliable recovery and Leech Seed having a shitty amount of PP, but that shouldn't stop it from becoming A-. Stall doesn't really mind it, but the more common offense teams hate it. If a team however has a hard counter, like Ferrothorn, it can be pretty deadweight, but so does stuff like Arceus when theres a Quagsire or a Pyukumuku, right?
Nominating
Deoxys-Speed B- → B
Deoxys-Speed is a simple lead, which works really well on offensive teams. The amount of support it can give is pretty huge. B- is too low for it in my opinion, because it's simply put way better than that. It nearly always guarantees 1 layer of hazards is up at the beginning of the game. Its dual screens set is underrated too. I haven't seen many teams using the particular set, but it really does a great job.
Nominating
Smeargle C+ → B
Smeargle is really versatile. It can run a Sticky Web lead set, a Baton Pass lead set, and it can work in long Baton Pass chains too. Moody is one of the selling points of Smeargle, and even though it is unreliable, it is pretty nice to mess with. It's huge arsenal of support moves helps in most lead sets. You never know what to expect, from Whirlwind to Encore to even Metal Burst if they feel like it.
Nominating
Arceus-Poison C+ → B-
I've tried this baby out a lot recently, and it's really much more than C+ it's Toxic immunity along with checking Xerneas and Yveltal, and having a wide amount of support moves it can run makes it stand out. I think this fully outclasses Magearna if I'm honest. You can't get worn down as easy. Xerneas. doesn't fear setting up as much when you haven't revealed this thing yet. Groudon-Primal and Ho-Oh can't come in on Arceus-Poison as well as it can on Magearna, and as I mentioned earlier in the Magearna nomination, this has reliable recovery. Overall, I put this at around the same level as Magearna, because they still have things that sets them apart individually.
Nominating
Scizor-Mega C+ → C-
Scizor-Mega being ranked C+ is an exaggeration. It's nowhere near as high as that. Looking at other pokémon in the same rank, I'd rather run something like Jirachi, to not waste my Mega slot. Scizor-Mega is subpar overall and even though it has a great typing, it simply doesn't cut it as much in the meta. It looks better on paper than in practice in my opinion.
Nominating
Excadrill C → B-
Excadrill is still so underrated as lead, Rapid Spin, Stealth Rock, Mold Breaker and speed control in Bulldoze and/or Rock Tomb. It beats most common leads including Groudon-Primal, Deoxys-Speed, Smeargle without Spore, etc. It does struggle against Ghost types, but they can be crippled nontheless with Toxic, or by lowering its Speed. I think Excadrill should be as high as B- because it guarantees Stealth Rock being up even more than against Deoxys-Speed. It has flaws against Taunt which prevents it from being better than Deoxys-Speed as a lead against Offense. There's also a Sand Rush set which is suprisingly good to either lure in or weather changers, or to sweep after they have been removed.
Nominating
Zekrom C → C+
Zekrom is a really devastating stallbreaker with its Substitute Hone Claws set, being able to set up on stuff like Ferrothorn, Arceus-Water, Celesteela, you name it. It also works well against both offense and balance if Sticky Web is up and it has access to a pretty good Choice Scarf set which can take souls. I'd say C is way too low, when looking at what Zekrom can do, and it honestly deserves more.
Nominating
Quagsire C → C+
Quagsire is really underused and I don't really know why. It has a good matchup against nearly anything offense can use on a team, Z-move Zygarde, Arceus, Arceus-ghost, Arceus-Steel to name a couple. It can spread Toxic and burns with Scald around a team with ease. Then we should not forget to mention it being able to use Counter against hard hitting stuff. Unlike Pyukumuku, this isn't compltely deadweight against Taunt users. It also has a great support movepool with stuff like Encore, and Haze.
Nominating
Breloom C- → C
I can't stress enough on how good Breloom is. Nearly every team goes unprepared for it, and it has a wide variety of move choices for its last two slots. the support it needs depends on its moveset and playstyle you use it on. I believe Breloom should be used a lot more, because I am the only user of it at the moment. I believe C might still be too low for this pokémon, but you gotta raise it with baby steps.
Nominating
Landorus-Therian C- → C
I've used Landorus-Therian a whole lot lately, and Explosion used with Stealth Rock is really good, it prevents Defog and Rapid Spin, assuming you're faster. Intimidate also helps checking stuff like Arceus and Groudon-Primal. It has access to speed control in Rock Tomb. Another set it can use is Choice Scarf, and that set is pretty good too. It outspeeds a good deal of pokémon and has access to U-turn. I think C- is too low for it and it should be raised.
Nominating
Gothitelle D → C+
Gothitelle is crazily good. It traps stuff which on its own is pretty big, but it can also support setup of hard to setup pokémon. It usually is kinda useless against offense, but against Balance and Stall, this thing is stupidly good, like gamechanging good. Getting rid of certain stuff really blows for a lot of teams. If you have an Arceus-Dark, and you manage to remove every Fairy Type, which Gothitelle can do much, much better than Gengar-Mega, you basically win. I believe it might even flow through to B-, but we should stick to C+ first.
Nominating
Arceus-Grass D → C
Arceus-Grass is another pokémon I have used a lot lately. I believe it is one of the best Stealth Rock setters. It can do heavy damage to most support Arceus forms. It can run quite some different sets, from suicide lead to a specially bulky wall to a Calm Mind sweeper. It completely shuts down pokémon reliant on Leech Seed, most notably Ferrothorn and Celesteela. It does come with flaws, like being weak to Rayquaza-Mega and Gengar-Mega, but since Arceus-Grass pairs really well with Lunala, it shouldn't be a problem.
Nominating
Shuckle D → C
Shuckle is a pretty good lead. Works really well on offense with it's support moves, and crazy bulk. It almost always gets up at least 1 layer of hazards, because of Mental Herb combined with Sturdy. Encore really shits on many pokémon and can lock into setup and other support moves. Shuckle is pretty straightforward and that's pretty much it.
Nominating
Kartana D → C-
I have used Kartana for a while, and I can't say I'm disappointed. Even though it requires Sticky Web support against offense, this fits perfectly on such a team. With one Attack boost from Beast Boost, you can tear entire teams apart. Against stall you would need Darkium Z to break Giratina, Skarmory or Ho-Oh at +2. I prefer the Grassium Z, and the Life Orb sets over it though, because they're better against offense. All in all, Kartana can be called a glass cannon and D would be too low for it in my opinion.
Nominating
Mewtwo-Mega-X Unranked → B
Mewtwo-Mega-X is one of the newly released megas. I have used it quite a bit and I feel like it should be put at B. It has a wide variety of moves it can run, and they're hard to pick, but nearly any combination works for this pokémon. Low Kick one shots a huge portion of the meta and two shots another huge portion. It can run coverage for nearly everything, Ice Punch, Stone Edge, Earthquake. It's ability lets it check Choice Scarf Jirachi pretty nicely, which is a nice feature.
Nominating
Mewtwo-Mega-Y Unranked → B-
Mewtwo-Mega-Y is another one of the newly released megas. I feel like this particular mega form of Mewtwo gets outclassed in many ways by its regular counterpart. Its main reason to use it would be if you have no mega whatsoever, or if you need to outspeed stuff. Its Ability has uses. It lets it check Smeargle, counter Breloom and utterly destroy evopass.
Nominating
Reshiram Unranked → C-
Reshiram isn't all too bad as people make it seem. It has nice wallbreaking capabilities, and with the introduction of Z-Crystals, it can defeat most of the pokémon that were hard counters to it in the previous generation. I believe Reshiram is underused but I feel like C- is a nice start for it.
Nominating
Barbaracle Unranked → D
Barbaracle! The pokémon that can nearly one shot the entire meta after a Shell Smash. It is frail, and is hard to setup. Though, just like Reshiram, Z-Crystals are to thank for this nomination. Rockium Z allows Barbaracle to one shot particular pokémon that would otherwise wall Barbaracle. The support it requires can range from Wobbuffet to Gothitelle to dual screens to Psychic Terrain. Just one of these can make a sweep way easier. Barbaracles checks are somewhat uncommon and I believe it can go past D eventually.
Nominating
Scizor Unranked → D
Scizor has proven itself to be D rank worthy to me. Its Choice Band set hits hard, and access to U-turn stops some things like Ho-Oh to become free switchins. It knocks out Xerneas after chip damage, and can one shot Arceus with Superpower. It also is a pretty good Pursuit trapper. I believe Scizor is the only viable pokémon to be able to one shot Gengar-Mega with Pursuit, even if Gengar-Mega doesn't switch. Bullet Punch is a nice priority move that can knock out a -1 Rayquaza-Mega after Stealth Rock damage. So it has to be ranked at least D in my opinion.
Nominating
Arceus-Fire Unranked → D
Nominating
Arceus-Electric Unranked → D
Nominating
Arceus-Ice Unranked → D
Nominating
Arceus-Flying Unranked → D
I'm grouping these 4 together, because they should be ranked for similar reasons. They have potential in the meta, and aren't fully outclassed by some other Arceus type. I've used some of these and they work, so I wouldn't see why not. The reason Arceus-Psychic and Arceus-Bug aren't in here is because they're utter shit and shouldn't even be considered.