PRO Viability Tier List [Updated on December 27, 2018]

[Dakivid]

• Azumarill: A+ or A
  
• Gengar: A or A-
  
• Mew: A or A-
  
• Kabutops: A- or B+
  
• Diggersby: B+ or A-
  
• Espeon: B- or C+
  
• Xatu: B- or C+
  

Azumarill: A+, scary to switch in, Amoonguss is the only switch in that actually can do something against the Liquidation/Jet/Superpower/Play Rough set, can always run Knock Off or Ice Punch against it though, Belly Drum can be scary if mons Like Rotom-Wash are weakened, or basically anything thats faster and that resists Jet. imo it can run way too many things (maybe even Z-Bdrum soon:tm:, way too strong to be only in A.

 

Gengar: A, same situation as Azu. If you lack a Pursuit trapper, its almost as good as it was back then. There is not a single ground type thats on every team, and usually that ground type was and is able to touch Gengar with something else than EQ (pls don't come with the Levitate arugment, ty.) It's exremely powerful with Life Orb and hazards support, ferro cant really switch into it, especially when you run focus miss. most of the teams dont have a switch in to the Shadow Ball/Sludge Wave/Focus Blast core, can always predit the switch in if you see a ttar, can always taunt a clefable/blissey/chansey to prevent being paraed or w/e, Destiny Bond is a nice nieche move that can even beat Bisharp 1v1.

 

Mew: A-, only viable set is the stallbreaking set, that gets completly walled by heatran that is on most common stall teams (idk why lol), too bad in the current meta imo.

 

Kabutops: B+, only physical rain abuser, but imo you dont even need a physical rain abuser, i would rather have something fast that doesnt get worn down that easily, because you NEED Life Orb to actually do damage.

 

Diggersby: A-, completly underrated mon. Choice Band on it has no switch ins, has the option to run Fire Punch to hurt Skarm and Ferro on the switch in, Eq is a pretty much spamable move, especially when rotom wash is their only Ground immunity (just Frustration predict him and it's gone), Gengar cant really switch into it the way ti was able to before, Quick Attack is always nice to help against azumarills, latios and what not.

 

Espeon: C+, completly trash with TP, Gyro from Ferro or other rocks setter can punish it easily upon switch in, way to frail to actually do stuff

 

Xatu: B-, semi bulky, has access to reliable recovery with 16 uses, can set up, kinda walls ferro, is hard to revenge kill if you lack a weavile or something faster, cant get worn down by toxic or crippled by twave, not the worst mon, used to be better, though

[Theakalli]

• 
  
  • Azumarill: A+ or A? This might be a controversial question, especially with the rise of Dark-types/Pursuit users. Azumarill is as good as ever. However, I talked to people about discussion points and some of them thought Azumarill may or may not be worthy of being A+. The standard Choice Band set gets walled by the likes of Amoonguss, unless Azumarill is carrying the extremely rare Ice Punch and catches it on the switch. The Belly Drum set gets easily revenge killed by the common Rotom-Wash, unless Azumarill is Jolly. Personally, I think Azumarill deserves its A+ rank, but I can see why some people would question that.
    
  • Gengar: A or A-? Gengar's loss of Levitate was already taken into account by its drop from to A+ to A. However, now, with the rise in usage of Pursuit trappers and Greninja, Gengar's spot in A is worth discussing. People have been running Focus Sash Gengar to survive a hit from the likes of Weavile and surprise it with Focus Blast. This set's main drawback is the lack of power provided by Life Orb, which is still Gengar's preferred item. Usually, what ends up happening is Gengar will get a kill, then get Pursuit trapped and die, whether it switches or not, because it is extremely frail. In other cases, a Choice Scarf Tyranitar can even switch in on a Shadow Ball or a Sludge Wave and proceed to eliminate Gengar without losing any Pokémon in the process. Destiny Bond is a nice addition to Gengar's arsenal. It allows it to handle Bisharp better. If you're against one, you can simply click Destiny Bond on the Sucker Punch or the Knock Off. Either you trade 1 for 1 or you end up gaining a free Focus Blast. Personally, I would leave Gengar in A for now, as it can still beat a lot of the meta, fits on many teams, and can handle stall decently well.
    
  • Mew: A or A-? Mew's main asset is its unpredictability, because of how versatile it is. It can run defensive sets and offensive ones. The rise in usage of Dark-types and Pursuit users is the main reason Mew's spot in A is being questioned. Mew can pretty much singlehandedly dismantle stall. Its main sets are the physically defensive one and the specially defensive one. The physically defensive set is the one that took a harder hit from the meta changes, because of the prominence of the likes of Weavile and Greninja. It can still survive a powerful Dark-type attack and proceed to burn its foe. The specially defensive set can be used to handle Hydreigon, Nidoking, mixed Dragonite (which has very few answers), and can decently tank a Dark Pulse from Greninja. Personally, I don't know whether Mew should drop or not.
    
  • Kabutops: A- or B+? Rain isn't as present as it was when Drizzle was initially added to Pelipper's arsenal. It's still common enough to worry about when building teams. Don't get me wrong, though: Kabutops is still, by far, the best physical rain abuser. This won't change until Mega Swampert is added into the game. Kabutops can beat some rain measures, such as Mantine, while it can't really beat others, such as Gastrodon. Does it belong in the same tier as Kingdra, which is now ranked in A-? Personally, I don't think so. However, does it belong in B+, where Ludicolo is? That's really debatable.
    
  • Diggersby: B+ or A-? Dakivid suggested this one. Diggersby is a powerful wallbreaker that can hit hard with a Choice Band or a Life Orb and can even act as a decent revenge killer with a Choice Scarf (baiting the likes of Gengar). If a team lacks appropriate measures, it can be hard to put a stop to it. What really hurts Diggersby is its speed and the fact that it struggles to break past the likes of Skarmory.
    
  • Espeon: B- or C+? The highest ranked eeveelution on the viability list took a hard hit from the rise of the Dark-types. But is it enough to warrant a drop?
    
  • Xatu: B- or C+? Same situation as Espeon.
    

 

Azumarill A+

Gengar A-

Mew A-

Kabutops B+

Diggersby A- > Really strong stallbreaker,can literally destroy a stall on its own if you make the right predictions,and in a meta like this it's something to consider.Skarmory even gets 2HKO by a wild charge/fire punch if banded.It's really great and hard to switch into,deserves A- imo

Espeon > Weak,can't break,team preview hurt it too much.

Xatu > Same as Espeon.

[Expendable99]

Azumarill - A

Azu hits really hard with a band and is definitely not a bad mon. However, it is really really slow and struggles against faster offensive threats that it can't OHKO with its priority, which albeit is strong, is not strong enough to get ohkos other mons. Band still can be walled by mons like Amoon, which is increasingly common, and to some extent Skarm but that's honestly not too big of a problem. The B-drum set is predictable, and struggles to get one or more KO before it is KOed itself by a faster mon.

Gengar - A-

Loss of levitate is honestly not what should have initially caused Gengar to drop obviously levitate is better than cursed body but there are hardly any situations where levitate can come into play. However, Gengar's utility is greatly lowered now that there are a ton more dark types around such as Greninja, and an increase in Weavile usage, as well as the ability for them to pursuit trap it and completely remove it from the game. So yeah, now it should drop.

Mew - A-

Defog defensive is ok, but there are more reliable hazard removers. Pursuit really hurts it in its ability to come in and consistently remove hazards. Phys def is bad, most fighting types used have guts, specially defensive is alright. The stallbreaker set is outclassed use a better stallbreaker such as Togekiss or Gliscor.

Kabutops - B+, B is debatable

Honestly can't hit that hard without an SD boost, still can be walled by bulky waters after an SD boost and takes a lot of damage from rain boosted scalds, bad type synergy with Pelipper and Kingdra, honestly just use Kingdra as a solo sweeper and have a support mon instead

Diggersby - A-

Pretty much like Azu except with a worse typing but better attack and speed.

Espeon - B-

Team preview stops you from being able to bounce back hazards/status if your opponent is careful, magic bounce is still useful to have around as a deterrent, but bad bulk and 8 pp prevent it from being too useful defensively, while it's outclassed by other psychic types offensively who are faster and stronger or have an additional stab

Also gets destroyed by most hazard setters which is not good if you want to switch in.

Stall teams are likely to be prepared with pursuit trapping so there's not really that much utility it can bring.

Xatu - C+

Same reasons as above, phys bulk is only slightly better and gets 8 more pp but special bulk is worse, even slower than Espeon and does not have the same offensive presence, and ends up being dead weight against offense. However, it is able to hit Ferro with heat wave while Espeon really can't do anything to it.

Just don't use either they suck, but at least Espeon sucks a bit less with 130 spatk and 110 spd.

[Jorogumo]

I've taken into account all the previous comments:

• Azumarill: A+
  
• Gengar: A-
  
• Mew: A-
  
• Kabutops: B+
  
• Diggersby: A-
  
• Espeon: C+
  
• Xatu: C+
  

[Jorogumo]

• Added an Assault Vest set to Metagross.
  

Edited September 9, 2018 by Jorogumo

[Jorogumo]

• Moved Gyarados from A- to B+ (mostly due to the rise in usage of Ferrothorn and Rotom-Wash).
  

[Jorogumo]

• Added an Assault Vest set to Azumarill.
  
• Added a Passho Berry option to the Timid Volcarona set.
  

Edited September 9, 2018 by Jorogumo

[Jorogumo]

• Added Hidden Power Grass and Hidden Power Electric options to the Choice Specs Kingdra set.
  

[Jorogumo]

• Added Manaphy to A+.
  

[Qeight]

• .
  

Is this still being updated actively?