sparktrain,
Exclaimer, and I have been taking a look at the current rankings and have compiled a list of what we think should be changed. Note that this aren't the official changes yet, as we'd like to see what other people think of these nominations.
Also, we've decided to consolidate the C ranks into a single rank due to both the high level of subjectivity when it comes to ranking these mons of a lower caliber, as well as the relative lack of people that have used said mons successfully in the CAP metagame, or even at all. A/B ranks are easier to split up since they generally consist of commonly used and impactful threats in the metagame, whereas C rank mons tend to require much more highly specialized support and are generally much less used, and assigning a subrank to said mons becomes really arbitrary and subjective.
Colossoil S -> A+
Despite Colossoil's massive usage, we no longer believe that our narwhal is the metagame shaping force it was in the past. Simply put, people are using other Ground-types in the metagame and Colossoil is facing the most competition its ever had for a teamslot this gen. On top of that, Colossoil has become one of the meta's most prepared for threats people have started to take advantage of its weaknesses. namely its lack of recovery and middling speed. As a result of this, Colossoil isn't single handily deciding games anymore and is more in line with other A+ Pokemon.
Aurumoth A+ -> S
Aurumoth has consistently proved to be one of the most deadly, unpredictable sweepers in the entire metagame. Between the three best boosting moves in the game in Dragon Dance, Quiver Dance, and Tail Glow, and sets like All Out Attacker, it's nearly impossible to prepare for this Pokemon unless you're packing a Talonflame. Aurumoth has counterplay for all of its answers, can sweep entire teams with very little support, and provides support for its team with its offensive prowess and the ability to lure Pokemon by simply existing on your team, even if it's a No Guard set. With these reasons, we're finally nominating Aurumoth to S.
Altaria (Mega) A+ -> A
Altaria is a very good Dragon Dance sweeper, with its unique typing and extremely strong physical STAB, but it's finding difficulty in sweeping these days with its flagship set, with bulky offense gaining traction and priority being more and more prevalent. Tomohawk are carrying Nature Power more now, which can revenge kill Altaria pretty easily, and Crucibelle as a new addition to stop Altaria before it starts, are just two examples of new trends working against Altaria. While still a Pokemon to be feared, Altaria simply is not at the levels of Pokemon like Colossoil and Keldeo.
Crucibelle (Mega) to A+
Mega Crucibelle is an amazing offensive pivot in the meta because it threats such a wide swath of Pokemon with its Head Smash alone, deterring even Tomohawk from wanting to come in on it. For those Pokemon that can comfortably take it, however, Crucibelle has a lot of counterplay options, from Wood Hammer smashing Colossoil, to Low Kick against Steel types. U-turn lets Crucibelle escape basically anything it wants with its high Speed stat, while scouting for things like Illusion. To top off everything, it has Magic Guard to just avoid hazards altogether, which lets it perform better in a U-turn core than anything in the metagame, except maybe Syclant.
Kyurem-B A+ -> A
Kyurem-B is still a good offensive Pokemon, it's just that the offensive nature of the meta has hurt its best set, LO. LO sets are too slow to take advantage of its massive mixed nature against offensive teams so Kyurem-B is forced to use Scarf to not be dead weight in those matchups, but Scarf turns it from a great wallbreaker into a mediocre one at best. It suffers from a choose one sort of attitude in what it can do for a team and it can no longer be counted on to just rip through everything anymore as opposed to the balance brimmed metagame in which it thrived. Also note the popularity of Crucibelle, Mega Metagross, and other Kyurem-B checks that put a lot of pressure on it.
Mollux A+ -> A
Aside from the addition of an additional check in the Crucibelle forms, the inclusion of more Ground-types in along with the already prevalent Colossoil severly limits what Mollux can do. As a Scarfer its very limited to what it can revenge kill due to its low base speed and cannot be relied on to keep Aurumoth in check. We've found that Mollux is comparable to Heatran, Talonflame, and Volkraken, which are also equally diverse offensive Fire-types that currently reside in A.
Talonflame A+ -> A
Whilst Talonflame is still the number one revenge killer in the metagame, the increased popularity of Landorus-T, Garchomp, and the introduction of the Crucibelle forms have put a severe damper on its sweeping abilities. Its still a diverse and powerful mon, but it cannot be relied upon to sweep as reliably anymore.
Gliscor A -> A-
Gliscor faces a lot of competition from other bulky Ground-types, particularly Landorus-T, which offer more in terms of gaining momentum with Intimidate and U-turn or greater utility in what they can check. Sword Dance sets aren't as effective at setting up on Tomohawk anymore due to the popularity of Hurricane sets.
Slowbro (Mega) A -> A-
Mega Bro suffers from need to setup and underwhelming speed and special defense in comparison to other Mega win conditions such as Mega Sableye, and status just makes it really hard to use. Toxic is a very popular move now, being used as filler for things like Garchomp and Mega Lopunny.
Syclant A -> A+
The godfather of CAP U-Turn, Syclant boasts excellent attacking stats on top of being one of the few viable offensive Ice types in the tier. Whilst some may compare Syclant to Stratagem, our other resident fast special CAP, Syclant has the one up with actual depth to its sets. Syclant has the ability to revenge kill, steal momentum, and even sweep, all in a single game due to its access to good coverage, Tail Glow, and U-turn. Syclant also has excellent matchups against most of the higher ranks with the ability to break through walls with Tail Glow or tank a hit with Focus Sash.
Tornadus-T A -> A+
Tornadus-T is a incredibly versatile threat that can be either an offensive monster or a bulky offensive pivot to equal success. Torn's ability to pivot out and wear down its checks and counters with Uturn + Regen and then swoop in for the kill later with Hurricane is amazing, and an excellent momentum grabber as well. AV has the ability to check toptier threats such as Cawmodore and Tomohawk and LO has the ability to blast through slower mons such as Clefable, Colossoil, and Garchomp. Its just good shit that compresses roles nicely.
Venusaur (Mega) A -> A-
Mega Venusaur can still check Diancie and whatnot, but a lot of the stuff it checks (Mega Altaria, Sylveon, and to a lesser extent Azumarill) have gotten worse, not to the increase of offensive Tomohawks and Tornadus-T in the meta.
Slowbro to A
Takes hits, statuses stuff, then switches out and comes back in later healthier than before. Its a reliable mon for balance and stall alike and can blanket check a large portion of physical attackers in the tier, notable Metagross. Slowbro is comparable to other balance/stall Pokemon such as Skarmory and Pyroak.
Volcanion to A
Volcanion is a powerful offensive Water/Fire type and is very similiar to Volkraken in viability due to the competition they have for a teamslot and their ability to break through similiar mons. Where Volcanion differs though is that it has better coverage in the form of Earth Power and a Water immunity that allows it more switch in oppurtunities, along with the most spammable move in the game in Steam Eruption.
Landorus-T A- -> A
This guy has been seeing increased usage and for good reason. People have finally realized how amazing Landorus-T is at compressing roles, from defensive pivot to Flying check to Stealth Rock setter, Landorus-T does it all. The fact that Landorus-T checks opposing grounds as well is a massive bonus, and offensive sets are able to easily abuse Landorus-T's massive 145 attack stat.
Latios A- -> A
Latios hits hard. People tend to avoid using Latios because it has a weakness to fairies, ices, and Colossoil, but really, nothing is safe from Latios' crazy powerful moves. Grass Knot has gained traction as an option for stuff like Colossoil and Hippowdon, forcing Hippowdon out of any situation it could have possibly hoped to win while also forcing Colossoil to think twice before hitting Pursuit and creating a risky position for the Colossoil user. Secondly, most fairies are bopped pretty hard by Psyshock, preventing them from switching in easily.
I needn't remind you guys what Draco Meteor does, I think you guys get it by now.
Rotom-W A- -> A
This is another case of amazing role compression in that Rotom-W is a Ground, Flying, and Water check all in one. Its a very splashable utility mon and is a great addition to any VoltTurn core. Its more utility is more similiar to the Pokemon in A than those in A-.
Sylveon A- -> B-
Specs is arguably the best and least outclassed set at the moment, which is already suffering in the current meta for various reasons; defensive's set's main niche lies in reliably checking Colossoil/Tomohawk in the same slot, which clef can't do, but there are generally more efficient and rewarding builds than ones that require slapping on cleric Sylveon to fix a gaping weakness to the two most common pokemon in the metagame.
Bisharp B+ -> A-
Yes Bisharp has problems with some popular mons, Tomohawk and Garchomp come to mind, but the sheer power of Bisharp puts it on par with most of the mons in A-. Swords Dance turns Bisharp into a destroyer of worlds and even without a boost LO Sucker Punch hits very hard. Matchup wise Bisharp takes on Aurumoth and Clefable with ease and is a reliable Jirachi Pursuit trapper. People are also turning to Landorus-t as their bulky ground more and more now, while Colossoil and Garchomp are both seeing a slight decline (not to mention Hippowdon is sorta dying off), which is only good news for Bisharp as Lando is a terrible Bisharp check.
Diggersby B+ -> B-
Sadly, Diggersby is not that good. Its slow and really frail, which is a major downside in an offensively inclined metagame. Yes it hits hard, but other stuff also hit hard and can setup more reliably (like landog). Diggerysy still suffers from its Tomohawk issues as well, and it can't rely on outspeeding Tomohawk anymore due to the increase of offensive sets.
Fidgit B+ -> A-
Fidgit has a niche through TR and tailwind, yeah, but the thing is that those are just one half of it; the other half is that Fidgit controls the hazard game about as well as Sableye and Colossoil because it has access to every relevant hazard in the game, in addition to the ability to spin away all of them as well. It's resistant to rocks, absorbs t-spikes, has recovery (Granted it's Wish, but still), u-turn, easy spike stacking abilities against teams without rebound colo, and its bulk is nice for making all of these happen.
Starmie B+ -> A- heyyyyyyyy yaaaaaaa
Starmie is one of the best offensive spinners in the metagame, the only real competition comes from Colossoil and Tomohawk, and Starmie is able to check a different group of Pokemon, notably faster attackers such as Mega Diancie.
Weavile B+ -> A-
Great speed and offensive stats on top of a great offensive typing in CAP. Its an offensive ice type with access to Pursuit to remove annoying mons such as Jirachi. Also threats Tornadus-T well and love Landorus-T and Garchomp becoming popular.
Crucibelle to B+
Amazing pivot, hazard stacker, mold breaker is cool, regenerator is cooler, and it hits hard still. The bulky regen set fills a neat niche on stall thanks to unique typing + support options + longevity + a pivot move in u-turn, which is super neato for preserving momentum, something stall tends to struggle with maintaining.
Breloom B -> B+
Spore is godly, Technician Bullet Seed even more so. Its an interesting case where it matches up poorly against the top threats but can threaten them reliably through Spore. End of the matter is that nothing bar grass types really want to switch in on Breloom, and Breloom is able to punish slower teams with powerful stabs and offense w/ mach punch. Versatile and reliable enough for b+
Heracross (Mega) B -> B+
Increase of stall teams mean Heracross has more things to crack open like a walnut. Swords Dance causes Heracross to hit like a fucking nuke and not many walls can take more than two attacks from it. Throw in great bulk and you got a premier wallbreaker. Also has a nice matchup against a lot of teams because its bulk lets it survive hits from hyper offense, while it can punch holes in slower balance and bulky offense.
Naviathan B -> B+
Another benefactor from the increase of stall, Naviathan is a wonderful option for balance/offense that need a reliable stallbreaker. Also checks stuff like Talonflame well.
Terrakion B -> B+
Exclaimer says banded set is really good at breaking stall cores, which is good in this meta.
Scizor to B
Good on teams already using a mega, decent u-turn and fairy check. Sword dance sets are important in steels spam cores for weakening Cyclohm.
Gyarados to B
Faces competition from gatr and its mega, but ability to set up and threaten some variants of Tomohawk is great, bulkier sets are decent too.
Alakazam to B
Fasthard hitting psychic, threatens Tomohawk, Crucibelle, Keldeo, and a lot of other fast stuff. Its held back by colo/prio in general but can work on offense none the less.
Blastoise (Mega) B- -> C
Slow, no recovery, there's a dozen more effective megas that are easier to fit on a team.
Conkeldurr B- -> C
Loses to every S rank mon and is too slow to achieve much as an offensive mon, not to mention Tomohawk and Tornadus-T just blow it out of the water.
Malaconda C- -> B-
Malaconda this thing isn't as bad as people say it is. iIve convinced a few people of this already, for real though this thing eats up special hits from the likes of Manaphy really well, eats up unboosted Clefable Moonblast, has a really neat movepool w/ knock off/spin/glare to mess w/ opponent and support the team. It's the most reliable lati trapper out of all the pursuit users since it doesn't fall to specific coverage moves (unless lati starts running hp bug lol) and doesn't require a scarf. Gains momentum w/ U-turn. now i don't think it's as good as pyroak for example, but i think it's similar to pyroak in that people loved to hate it and say it's terrible until someone figured out wow, it's not shit and actually does stuff if used properly. Mala is not an A rank mon, but it's at the very least B- imo, and is better than 99% of the garbage throughout the C ranks.
Blissey D
Its 100% worse than Chansey why are you using this. Lefties don't make much a difference if its taking 50% more damage from physical attackers, and seeing as residual lefties recovery is one of its main selling points over chansey, sand not being too common at all severely limits scenarios where it's actually useful over Chansey. being able to run shed shell is also a moot point now with the shadow tag ban.
Sableye D
Why would you ever use this when there are better stallbreakers, better ghosts, better everything. Not to mention its mega exists which just puts the base to shame.
Hoopa to D
Dies to Darks and Ghosts but it can Nasty Plot up on stallteams and blow some holes there.