Re: PRO Viability Rankings (PVP) v0.95.7
<t>Wall of text incoming (based on my experiences on Yellow, currently rated around 450, only started like two weeks go tho)<br/>
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Talonflame and Garchomp S?<br/>
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Don't get me wrong, both are great Pokemon, but they hardly define the metagame. Talonflame gets murdered by the best and ubiquitous move in the game - Stealth Rock, has issues with killing itself, as well as providing no defensive utility whatsoever to its team. Sure, priority 130BP + STAB is nifty, but when you often switch in at 50%, then take 20% more in recoil on your first turn on the field, it doesn't exactly seem like an S-Rank mon, because it is simply so restricted in terms of switchins.<br/>
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Garchomp is a more interesting case, but I also feel that it should drop - I'll bullet my list here...<br/>
1) PRO speed tiers are very different from ORAS OU. Most Pokemon fall around three ranges: 50-60 (Scizor, Magnezone, Tyranitar, Azumarill etc); 70-80 (Defensive Gliscor, Defensive Arcanine, Defensive Tentacruel, Togekiss, Gyarados, Gothitelle etc); and 110+ (Gengar, Starmie, Weavile, Crobat and friends). Now why does this matter?<br/>
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In OU, Garchomp's speed tier of 102 is amazing, because it just outruns the very common base 100s that run rampant in the environment. In essence, what makes Garchomp uniquely suited to checking many threats in OU is removed in this metagame - simply because those those threats do not exist.<br/>
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2) Lack of access to Choice Scarf and Life Orb for offensive sets, and over-reliance on Swords Dance to do meaningful damage. Fast Taunters shut him down entirely, especially if he lacks Stone Edge.<br/>
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3) Poor matchups against other Pokemon in S/A+/A. Crippling weaknesses to Ice and Fairy as well as struggles against bulky Water-type Pokemon hinder Garchomp severely.<br/>
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Other than that, I'd bump Excadrill to S in its place.<br/>
This is a much more versatile Pokemon than all of the other S-Ranks - it can run a defensive set with Mold Breaker, becoming one of the most reliable Stealth Rockers and/or Spinners in the game, and it can also become one of the deadliest sweepers in the game with Swords Dance and Sand Rush. Its typing gives it weaknesses to only Fire, Fighting, and Water, and a vast array of resistances that it can use for free switch-ins throughout the game.<br/>
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Tentacruel also deserves a bump, IMO. I may be biased because I'm running one currently, but its ridiculous special bulk and access to Rapid Spin certainly puts it over Lapras in my eyes, possessing a much better typing, and far more utility options.<br/>
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Sample set: <br/>
Tentacruel @ Black Sludge<br/>
Nature: Bold<br/>
252 HP 252 Def 4 SpD<br/>
-Scald (Self-explanatory)<br/>
-Acid Spray (Before you laugh, this move forces a lot of switches by sharply dropping the opponent's special defense, and allows Tentacruel to deal massive damage with Scald if the opponent does not do so. It also essentially prevents slow setup users without priority from setting up entirely, provided you have a strong special attacker such as Gengar or Magnezone in the back, as at -2 most foes are easily OHKO'd. Is still powerful enough to prevent Azumarill from belly drumming.<br/>
-Rapid Spin (Hazard removal)<br/>
-Ice Beam (Keeps you from being setup bait for Lum Dragonite / Lum Salamence, an issue for many other bulky waters)<br/>
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With this set, Tentacruel can tank hits while simultaneously maintaining a decent, if not great offensive presence. Its main weakness is its lack of reliable recovery outside of Black Sludge, however, it is certainly a good spinner in its own right and presents a greater challenge for most teams to deal with than other bulky waters such as Slowbro.<br/>
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Random stuff that I feel like is too high but I don't have time to write a long analysis for<br/>
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Hydreigon (azumarill appreciates your setup bait, hates fairies, doesn't really pack enough of a punch)<br/>
Snorlax (*something* used taunt. snorlax became dead weight.)<br/>
Galvantula (Rapid spin and Defog)<br/>
Milotic (it gets haze over other bulky waters? worse than Vaporeon imo, unless Azumarill is dumb enough to drum in front of Milotic...)<br/>
Sableye (why is a trollmon in A-)<br/>
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Duskinoir (wat)<br/>
Ambipom (weak and frail as hell)<br/>
Eelektross (jack of all trades, master of none - too slow, frail, and weak to be considered mid-tier imo)<br/>
Abomasnow (we aren't in SuMo yet, hail still sucks)<br/>
Avalugg (horrible defensive typing, and about as bad specially speaking as Rhyperior...)<br/>
Cofagrigus (this thing's niche over Jellicent is what exactly?)<br/>
Florges (worse Sylveon)<br/>
Steelix (another case of a joke special defense stat... at least Rhyperior has a decent offensive typing)<br/>
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Stuff that really needs to rise<br/>
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Kabutops (If Kingdra is A-, why isn't Kabutops? It's just as essential for Rain Offense)<br/>
Vaporeon (Why the hell is this beneath Milotic, it gets better support options such as Wish, and has approximately the same amount of bulk)<br/>
Crobat (Probably the biggest travesty here. Its 130 base speed allows it to revenge literally anything without priority, and can tear through stall with Taunt + Super Fang + Roost, which also makes it extremely hard to switch into. Also has deceptively high bulk, and can switch in on stuff like Gengar's Shadow Ball to RK with Stealth Rock and a little bit of chip damage.</t>