Resource SV PU Viability Rankings - Pre DLC 1 Edition

[LettuceLeaf07]

I have a couple of noms I wish to make, ordered from most sense to least sense:

B -> C
Dartrix's claim to fame was being the better of 2 hazard removal options by being less exploitable, having knock, and being a reasonable Basculin counter. Now Basculin is gone, Veluza isn't prevalent enough for Dartrix's grass typing to be helpful, we have enough ghosts to check the fighting type, there are 3 better and viable options for hazard removal, everything gets knock, and yeah. Not worth using unless you absolutely need your removal to counter something like Whiscash or Klawf, which Dartrix tends to be surprisingly good at doing despite wanting to avoid Ice Beam, knock, and rock moves.

New -> A+
Imo, this is the best hazard removal in the tier. Fighting is amazing, as it pressures rock, steel, and chansey types that used to run around relatively freely, while having bulk, recovery in drain punch, knock to pressure switch-ins, priority, bulk up, a status deterrent in Guts, and defog. As long as you are prepared for ghosts and other fighting resists, Gurdurr will always do something in a game.

New -> A-
I love using Komala, but I feel like it suffers too much from 4MSS to be ranked any higher. It wants knock, uturn, rapid spin, wish, and protect on defensive sets, and it has an insane movepool with stuff like EQ, SD, and sucker, but it can't run all the moves it wants to at once. I haven't tried offensive sets with SD that may be better than A-, but the fact that Komala needs to choose between Wishtect or one of knock/turn on defensive sets makes it A- to me.

New -> A+
Call me crazy, but Gligar is the most reliable hazard setter in the tier. It has 3 different hazards, is a ground type, can check Gurdurr with DWB, has knock + uturn, and is crazy bulky with eviolite. I think it has enough useful traits that it can be tailored to fit any team. I agree with Aurist that it feels like a support mon that needs support in some roles, but when you're using it early game to set hazards and soften up a Gurdurr, it doesn't need any help with that.

A+ -> A
I'm probably just salty because I have no idea how to use this mon, but I find that I want it to stick around and counter things with Surf and EP while it is also out first setting hazards. I'm probably wrong here, but I find that Whiscash just wants to do too much for a defensive mon without recovery. I never struggle against Whiscash when I face it too; it's easy to wear down. I just don't see it on the same tier as Haunter and Missy, but I could just suck and hate Whiscash for no reason.

And quick noms and agreeing with others (because I forget that part):
->B+ or A- (annoying)
B- -> B (probably not B-)
-> A- (I agree)
-> A- (kinda annoying to face despite losing to ghosts)
-> A+ (agreed)
-> A (agreed)

 

[Melt Gibson]

wanted to drop my takes on the NFEs and such


NEW > A+
One of the best new things we got, I'd even argue for top 5 in the tier. Extremely strong and consistent removal, offers a Fighting-type option that fits on almost any team, consistent Knock user, functions as a wincon, resists Rocks and can even benefit from TSpikes through Guts, STAB priority, a semblance of recovery with Drain Punch, and very solid bulk with Eviolite. The list of positive qualities this thing has just goes on and on and on, it even deals with the ghosts since none of them want to eat a Knock Off. Just massively solid in every regard you could want it to be.


NEW > A-
I've seen less of this, so I'm not able to advocate for it quite as much, but I think this is really good too! Access to all three hazards, good STABs, pivoting, Knock Off, heavy bulk, and the ability to really just be tailored to fit whatever the team needs are all super cool. Also haven't seen a lot of people mention how great Immunity is on a fat utility stick that has recently lost its recovery. I think it's a bit more reliant on Eviolite than its NFE cousins, though, and it can really be reliant on having solid support due to losing Roost and not having access to any sort of soft recovery in the same way that Gurdurr does. Also not grounded, so Thwackey can't really save it either. Also doesn't have amazing matchups into most removal, since Komala and Gurdurr can Knock Off on it and H-Avalugg can just outright kill it. Still a very cool mon that's remarkably consistent though, big fan.


NEW > A
Most reliable removal in the tier bar maybe Gurdurr, eats hits like a champ, does crazy numbers at times, beats up ghosts with Knock Off, and pivots around handily. Also, Comatose in a meta nearly barren of clerics is insanely useful. Has like a billion viable moves it can run and rarely in my experience does it feel hard to choose between them. Not a particularly massive fan of Wish, but I can see the use case on it. Good solid mon, not much else to day about it.


NEW > C
OK, hear me out! I've spoken a bit already on why The Foo (trademark pending) is a solid pick, but I wanted to post here too. Regen cores are cool, has a solid matchup into the spinners, etc etc. Good pivot with Knock Off as well that can force a lot of awkward situations and hit decently hard. I think it's super valuable at pressuring the opponent and keeping hazards up, or at the very least, not letting them remove for free, and is enough of an option that a low VR placement seems okay.


B > A-
Big jump, I know, but goddamn is this thing solid. AcidPress sets are a nightmare for a lot of teams, especially considering the fact that our wealth of Ground-types are all physical. Toxic is super duper solid in a metagame where Heal Bell is limited to one mon that can't be slotted on every team, and Sticky Hold will only continue to get better and better as we get more Knock Off users. Loves Thwackey so much, Grassy Terrain cutting into Earthquake damage is super solid for it and the passive recovery is also great. Grounded Poison to get rid of TSpikes is also pretty swag, as is acting as somewhat of a Gurdurr check. An opportunist that is capitalizing on meta trends very well and extremely annoying to face in almost every regard.

and now some noms where i dont have nearly as much to write


B+ > A-
Scale Shot did a LOT for lil dude, SD sets are just so good at terrorizing balance teams.


A- > A
Knock did a lot for him, filling in that last slot is super good and having a way to fuck with the increasing number of Eviolite users is even better. Also, No Guard is still swag and Scarf sets don't have as much to worry about now that we have removal.

 

[UberSkitty]

ok time for some quick UberSkitty nfe noms, gonna avoid repetition aka leave out the most relevant mons

New mons:
-> A
Great role compression, notably voltblocking, SR, and priority. Both a defensive and offensive threat with its near-unrested STAB combo and with Thick Fat has that rare resistance to Rotom-Frost.
-> B / B-
An overlooked wall and Defogger, also has a relatively great movepool between Knock Off, U-turn, Toxic, Whirlwind, and even still gets Roost.
-> C
Another overlooked wall, at least until we get Probopass back. But for now Nosepass is actually solid, with the Eviolite boost+Volt Switch giving it a niche over other Rock-type Body Press users. Magnet Pull is also cool but I've yet to see it come into play.

Nosepass Set

Nosepass @ Eviolite
Ability: Magnet Pull
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Body Press
- Volt Switch
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

-> C
Same as ever, usable bulky Ghost that's mostly outclassed by the others. Tho Focus Punch is a fun Komala lure, would recommend.

Funny Dusclops Sets

Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Focus Punch
- Poltergeist
- Pain Split / Shadow Sneak

Dusclops @ Eviolite
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Mean Look
- Rest
- Spite
- Haze

Old mons:
C -> A- / B+
One of the biggest benefiters of regaining Knock Off, can clean games if it gets up an SD. Leaning towards B+ soley cuz of Gurdurr.
C -> B / B-
Flip Turn makes it no longer a momentum drain. Knock Off being everywhere means you can't as easily just slap HDB on everything and call it hazard control, making Rapid Spin that much more valuable. Obviously not as great as Komala, but it's nice to have as an option. Also less Misdreavus around than before is nice.
B- -> B
Even with Grassy Glide's nerf, Thwackey still benefits from it. It's also the only of the terrain setters that can pivot without KOing itself. Tho Leafeon existing sucks for it.
UR -> C
Another Scale Shot Sweeper, ala Gabite. No secondary STAB and lower Speed sucks for it, but trades for higher Attack and Mold Breaker to ignore stuff like Alolan Persian's Fur Coat.

Fraxure Set

Fraxure @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Scale Shot
- Tera Blast
- Aqua Tail

UR -> C
ik ik, technically not an nfe, but still Alolan Raichu being here gives it, or more specifically gives Electric Surge, a notable niche. Also fun fact it's one of the few mons that got Scald in the DLC.

Other Notes:
- There's prob some mons that could go UR, like , , and , tho idk if they've had success in recent tours or something and I have no strong opinions overall.
- I could see and in C, but Sand and Snow are prob not common/relevant enough to justify ranking.
- I've messed with a handful of other nfe mons like ,, and , tho have yet to reach a final verdict so they can just stay UR. For now. >:)

 

[Shaneghoul]

Some quick noms of my own before our last shift. Agree with a lot of what's already been said and I just want to hit on some mons that haven't been mentioned to get them on the slate ;)

A -> S
Skunk never seems to die, every time it starts falling off something new about it brings it back to the forefront. I firmly believe Skunk is the dominant presence in the tier right know as it fits on every style of build and spams knock off all game long. It still has its usual range of incredible utility options, but now it has a real offensive package with Knock Off + Gunk that is oh so hard to switch into. Easy S for me

A -> A+ / S
Nothing has fundamentally changed about Zard, I just think it's gone slightly undervalued for a while. There's no pokemon in the tier that can answer to all its sets, as Chansey and Sliggoo lose to physical while pretty much everything else in the tier drops to special. Our lack of real defensive waters is a real issue and Zard takes such strong advantage of that by raining down hurricanes on everything, threatening to 2hko nearly the entire tier. Flying typing makes it easier to bring in than Pyroar and its great set versatility puts it a step above it in my eyes.

New -> B
Poor cacturne hasn't been mentioned yet, showing how mediocre it has been to start.Knock off is a cool add but Skunk being everywhere along with the decline of Klawf and Cash has put Cacturne in an awkward spot. It's not an awful mon and spikes are nice, while Leaf Storm does great damage even to skunk, but the tier just has better Dark types availalble for most purposes

B+ -> A
Flip turn is a huge add for this as it all of a sudden is one of the best scarfers in the tier. The tier has been lacking in Water types for a while and I think Golduck fits in nicely as a water that can be slapped onto teams while providing offensive value. The sudden death of Gogoat is also a bit contributer to this though nom though

B+ -> A- / A
This thing has been doing some nasty stuff on terrain and is one of the hardest mons to stop when it gets going. Not a whole lot to say outside of that, the grassy seed sets are just really good

A+ -> A
Improved knock distribution hurt this hard as it has far fewer free entries. Swalot is the main one which it used to abuse that it now loses to. Just harder to fit now.

A - > B+
I have now idea when this snuck it's way into A but let's fix that. Yes it's scary but it's super hard to fit, doesn't get easy entries and we have better means of taking physical attacks post shifts (gurdurr). Just not up to the cut of A

B- to B
This ones for you Aurist, gets a bit better now with the tier having no real ice resists and hazard removal being a real thing now

 

[Aurist]

VR Update 27th September 2023
The VR council have voted on the latest slate of nominations.

The VR had been fairly outdated due to big new drops and overall shifts in the meta. We wanted to get in an update before the new drops from both DLC1 and Home completely overhaul the tier at the start of October, so that we can record the state of the tier roughly as it was. This was a fairly quick and dirty VR vote, meaning we didn't provide reasonings to the votes this time due to its transitional nature.

Thank you to everyone who provided nominations and feedback, this turned out to be a surprisingly sizeable slate for an "end of era" VR, which meant the VR got updated to a fairly detailed level which is cool.

You can find the individual votes on this sheet. Here are the results:

new
Gurdurr NEW > A+
Gligar NEW > A
Piloswine NEW > A
Komala NEW > A-
Raichu-Alola NEW > A-
Avalugg-Hisui NEW > B+
Cacturne NEW > B+
Clefairy NEW > B
Veluza NEW > B
Hakamo-o NEW > C
Monferno NEW > C
Vullaby NEW > C
Dusclops NEW > UR
Mienfoo NEW > UR
Nosepass NEW > UR

rises
Charizard A > A+
Pyroar A > A+
Skuntank A > A+
Leafeon B > A
Swalot B > A
Dachsbun B+ > A-
Gabite B+ > A-
Golduck B+ > A-
Wyrdeer B+ > A-
Sneasel C > B+
Thwackey B- > B+
Glaceon B- > B
Quaxwell C > B-
Fraxure UR > C
Pincurchin UR > C

drops
Misdreavus A+ > A
Crabominable A > A-
Gogoat S- > A-
Klawf S > A-
Carbink A > B+
Lycanroc-Midnight A- > B+
Tinkatuff A- > B+
Raichu A- > B
Dartrix B > C
Lumineon B- > C
Banette C > UR
Dragonair C > UR
Quilladin B- > UR
Vespiquen C > UR

gum edit: the changes have now been reflected on the op!

 

[rien]

locking the thread due to the impending tier shift (home wave+dlc1 quickdrops), see y'all again after the meta stabilizes!