Saw that there was not one so I decided that we should have one... credit to the GSC OU VR thread and thread on Smogon for most of the template BW2 OU Viability Rankings Welcome to the BW2 OU Viability Ranking! In case you're not familiar with the concept, we place Pokémon in certain ranks here, based on their impact on the tier as well as their general viability in the tier. This is an excellent help while teambuilding and it serves as a general outline of the tier. If you feel that a Pokémon is misplaced, feel free to make a post about it, after all that's what this thread is for. There's a couple of rules, though. First and foremost, make sure your arguments are clear. You may use usage statistics in your argument, but make sure your reasoning isn't entirely based on those. As always, be civil and don't get personal, otherwise you'll risk getting infracted. Pokémon are sorted into the respective categories based on how well they perform their roles. Pokemon are also ranked within their respective tiers. S Rank is reserved for Pokemon who are extremely threatening and impact the metagame in a major way. These Pokémon can either fulfill a variety of roles or are superlative in performing one task on a team. Garchomp Keldeo Tyranitar A Rank Pokémon generally perform very well in the tier, but have some minor flaws that prevent them from fulfilling their roles consistently. Although threatening, they usually require a bit more team support than S-Rank Pokémon. A+ Jirachi Alakazam Landorus-Therian Breloom Latios Venusaur Ferrothorn Skarmory A Starmie Politoed Scizor Reuniclus Heatran Volcarona Hydreigon Kyurem-Black A- Terrakion Jellicent Gliscor Latias Dragonite Gyarados Mamoswine Thundurus-Therian Tornadus Rotom-Wash B Rank Pokémon usually have some sort of major flaw that prevents them from being a more common presence in the tier. However, they still are able to perform their roles very well with proper team support. B+ Gastrodon Tentacruel Amoonguss Mew Hippowdon Gengar Celebi Espeon Slowking Magnezone Gothitelle B Kyurem Lucario Ninetales Toxicroak Salamence Abomasnow Sableye Forretress Moltres Sharpedo Gorebyss Victini Kingdra B- Mienshao Weavile Froslass Metagross Dugtrio Chansey Feraligatr Quagsire Slowbro Roserade Smeargle Virizion Conkeldurr C Rank: C Rank Pokémon have notable niches in the metagame, but usually require significant support. These Pokémon face competition for their roles from the higher ranked Pokémon, but can still find use. Xatu Cobalion Azelf Jolteon Haxorus Heracross Infernape Cresselia Espeon Chandelure Wobbuffet Darmanitan Empoleon Shaymin Cloyster Nidoqueen D Rank Pokémon either have an extremely small niche in the tier, or are generally outclassed by higher-ranked Pokémon in a majority of circumstances. Blissey Raikou Staraptor Vaporeon Donphan Nidoking Bisharp Togekiss Cofagrigus Ditto Garbodor Jynx Kabutops Porygon2 Scrafty Bronzong
I rarely post in these types of threads, but a lot of stuff here is just silly. This is far from a full post, I'm just pointing out some of the stuff that looks really misplaced. First thing I noticed was Breloom being a rank too high. I think BW Loom is really cool, but it's definitely not a rank better than dudes such as Hydreigon, Heatran and Reuniclus. Terrakion and Rotom-W are a rank too low as well, definitely on par with the A ranks, and they're both much much better Pokemon than Thundurus-T and Mamoswine who probably should be a rank lower. At B+ I notice Mew and Amoonguss standing out in particular. Both are fantastic mons and A- at worst, even if Mew's hurt in a Ninetales meta. Hippowdon, Excadrill and maybe even Gengar should also move up. Espeon in B+ is outright stupid, Xatu is better for the hazard blocking role for sun squads, due to at least having reasonable counterplay against Lando-T. B looks alright, though I'd put Ninetales higher, as well as maybe Toxicroak which is really underrated if played well. Gorebyss should probably move down, never seen it do anything relevant (edit: I suppose Sogekings SmashPass team from SPL5). Sun is definitely a whole lot better than hail with Chlorophyll alive. Dugtrio and Chansey in B- is also blatantly wrong. Dugtrio is amazing for sun, and rain as well, while Chansey is a must on rain-stalls, and they're both miles better than some of the other things on the list. Anything below this is mostly irrelevant, but Xatu should be higher. Really cool Pokemon in a sun meta, miles better than Espeon anyway. There's also a ton of nitpicking that could be done to clean up the subranks, as well as the eternal discussion of Latios, Landorus-T, Alakazam and Jirachi being S, etc.
wow. just wow. bisharp and scrafty should be much much higher because A:bisharp is in ou tier and its gen five so no fairy's to destroy scrafty also, nidoking is an amazing mon because of its versatility as a special sweeper or a physical sweeper and it has an amazing movepool with average speed and defenses and yet it is in one of the lowest rankings. and it pairs well in a rain team with surf and a water absorb lapras and some other mons need to be higher like gastrodon with storm drain, conkelldurr with any of its abilities,and haxorus should be higher as a counter to gengar and rotom because of mold breaker, AND WTF IS GARBADOR SO HIGH!
- Venusaur being in A+ when Ninetales is in B doesn't make sense. The former relies upon the latter to be viable. Given that sun is fully allowed in PO BW OU still, Ninetales and Venusaur should both, probably, be in A-. I can see an argument for A being formulated, but I don't think it's a very strong argument. - Breloom should be moved down a rank, as w3k said. It's a very good pokemon, but it's nowhere near as defining to the state of the metagame or generally relevant on a consistent basis as the other pokemon ranked that high. - Espeon is one of the worst pokemon in the tier and it should be in the depths of C rank. - Gastrdon, Amoonguss, and Mew should all be in A-. Gengar doesn't see much use seeing as it's hard to build with, but it possesses a unique, hard-to-counter offensive presence while the latter two, Amoonguss and Mew, are two of the better defensive pokemon - Amoonguss providing sleep and lots of defensive presence and Mew providing general bulk and the best stallbreaking support set in the tier, probably. - Excadrill isn't allowed in PO BW OU and should be removed from the rankings. - Ferrothorn and Skarmory should probably drop to A simply because they're both very good and they both provide significant defensive presence + spikes, but neither is as common, nor prominent as the core of A+ pokemon that I and many other BWers consider to be the top tier pokemon, a cut above all of the A rankers - this core doesn't include either of these two. - Given that Sun is still fully viable in PO BW OU, Cresselia should move one rank up to B-, Donphan should move one rank up to C (not saying it's good, but it does at least have a niche there), and Dugtrio should move one rank up to B (one could even argue that it should be in B+, but I'll let others decide that as I'm fine regardless and, when in doubt, you tend to lean towards the side of only raising one rank at a time instead of multiple). - Chansey could go B simply because Rain stall is not a totally forgotten style and it finds its way onto a majority of those teams as a pretty damn important member with obvious defensive presence that's unparalleled. --- Post updated --- - Venusaur being in A+ when Ninetales is in B doesn't make sense. The former relies upon the latter to be viable. Given that sun is fully allowed in PO BW OU still, Ninetales and Venusaur should both, probably, be in A-. I can see an argument for A being formulated, but I don't think it's a very strong argument. - Breloom should be moved down a rank, as w3k said. It's a very good pokemon, but it's nowhere near as defining to the state of the metagame or generally relevant on a consistent basis as the other pokemon ranked that high. - Espeon is one of the worst pokemon in the tier and it should be in the depths of C rank. - Gastrdon, Amoonguss, and Mew should all be in A-. Gengar doesn't see much use seeing as it's hard to build with, but it possesses a unique, hard-to-counter offensive presence while the latter two, Amoonguss and Mew, are two of the better defensive pokemon - Amoonguss providing sleep and lots of defensive presence and Mew providing general bulk and the best stallbreaking support set in the tier, probably. - Excadrill isn't allowed in PO BW OU and should be removed from the rankings. - Ferrothorn and Skarmory should probably drop to A simply because they're both very good and they both provide significant defensive presence + spikes, but neither is as common, nor prominent as the core of A+ pokemon that I and many other BWers consider to be the top tier pokemon, a cut above all of the A rankers - this core doesn't include either of these two. - Given that Sun is still fully viable in PO BW OU, Cresselia should move one rank up to B-, Donphan should move one rank up to C (not saying it's good, but it does at least have a niche there), and Dugtrio should move one rank up to B (one could even argue that it should be in B+, but I'll let others decide that as I'm fine regardless and, when in doubt, you tend to lean towards the side of only raising one rank at a time instead of multiple). - Chansey could go B simply because Rain stall is not a totally forgotten style and it finds its way onto a majority of those teams as a pretty damn important member with obvious defensive presence that's unparalleled.