USUM BH E and F Ranks

This pastebin was made on 3/20/2019. The last suspect was implementing Sleep Clause, and the D rank as of the time of this pastebin is as follows: Ampharos-Mega, Ash Greninja, Charizard-Mega-Y, Darmanitan-Zen, Deoxys-Attack, Diancie, Groudon, Heracross-Mega, Marowak-Alola, Metagross-Mega, Regirock, Stakataka, Tapu Fini, and Venusaur-Mega, so in case some of those get unranked in the future, that's why they're not on here.

RANKING COUNCIL IS CORRUPT

E Rank - These Pokemon are generally considered to be at least somewhat outclassed by their higher-ranked peers, but on some teams they can deserve a slot by virtue of their unique characteristics.

Aggron-Mega (Teravolt, Regenerator, Fur Coat) - basically steelix without the ground typing. most notable use was in the wack teravolt set (https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/creative-and-underrated-sets.3592203/post-7986262) but if your team dislikes steelix's water weakness or ice neutrality then mega aggron is definitely a good alternative. something like registeel can often outclass it tho, mega aggron relies on its superior attack stat and physical bulk to remain viable.

Banette-Mega (Tough Claws) - physical breaker with some niches over marowak-a. notably cb spectral thief hits about 20% harder than from wak, and its a bit faster too. this mon is overall pretty effective at breaking teams because all the ghost resists die to close combat or sunsteel, and a lot of teams don't have a ghost resist at all.

Bastiodon/Probopass (Levitate) - niche ate checks that can run either slow uturn or anchor defog stuff. water weakness vs ogre is pretty terrible but these mons can handle stuff like diancie, even mg, surprisingly well throughout a match.

Blacephalon (Turboblaze, Adaptability) - can run a lot of the same sets as gar but has that ferocious v create to back it up, breaking stuff like steels unboosted and fc chansey that gar can't hope to beat without secret sword. that being said blace actually dies to imposter vcreate after smash which is very problematic, run it on aurora veil or something.

Buzzwole (Fur Coat, Poison Heal) - niche physical wall that covers most purely physical attackers with the exception of kart/photon mmx/pdon/blaziken. stuff like ttar, gyara, regi/slaking, tc mmx, and others get walled pretty effectively. stab on uturn and low kick is nice to have as well to get offensive presence vs steels and in general. utterly fails to check a good portion of the meta however.

Doublade (Flash Fire, Prankster) - its aegi except with 1.5x the defense and a lot less spdef. it cant switch into boomburst at all so its obviously very team specific, but it can handle stuff like kart and mmx a lot better than aegi would, also takes a lot less from spectral which is great.

Dusclops (Soundproof, Magic Bounce) - very slow ghost without gira's weaknesses to ice/fairy/dragon. easy to chip, vulnerable to knock, and very passive, but can still see use on some teams.

Gardevoir-Mega (Poison Heal, Pixilate, Adaptability, Tinted Lens) - both ph and pixilate are very good sets (pix runs specs with psystrike to bypass ogre). has 0 physical bulk which is pretty wack but special bulk is surprisingly decent for stuff like ogre revdance. its kinda slow tho and matches up poorly vs stuff like gar and some mmx sets.

Giratina-Origin (Magic Bounce, Comatose) - alternative to gira a that has a bit less bulk but like 40% more power factoring in griseous orb. struggles vs audino and imposter but does very well vs guys like ogre and mray with stabs.

Guzzlord (Prankster, Regenerator) - dark type that acts as a pretty good role compressor. prank counters gar, beats lots of setup, and can kinda check pdon. regen uses guzzlord's good bulk, nice set of resists, and sub 50 speed to pivot out while annoying stuff with knock and core and still beating normalize gar with revdance.

Jellicent (Poison Heal, Magic Bounce, Fur Coat) - ghost that beats almost all poison heal users (regi/xern/ogre/mmx) while not being knock weak like dusclops. suffers from being above 50 speed tier but can still annoy stuff like registeel with scald burns etc.

Lucario-Mega (Tough Claws, Unburden, Sheer Force, Dazzling) - mon that outspeeds diancie and modest rays while also having a good stab combo, hits itself se which is good in the imposter matchup. speed tier is somewhat lacking tho and its frail so it can die to faster stuff very easily.

Lunala/Necrozma-Dawn-Wings (Adaptability) - niche wallbreaker that brings adapt moongeist + psystrike to the table, letting it bypass a surprisingly high amount of mons. however, it's forced to predict often and stuff. dawn wings needs to run timid in order to not get outsped by fast gira and die, while lunala at least has the leeway to run modest. can also be pursuited which is actually awful. other sets like setup are potentially good as well but i havent tried em out.

Lugia (???) - this mon has seen almost no serious use in this gen because despite its amazing stats it has a very awkward typing and competes with cress. personally, i think an offensive set with something like simple tg or something is best because lugia's great bulk and speed help it live atespeed and outspeed spectral users. the set still struggles vs imposter tho. defensive options ive seen discussed are like delta stream fc regenvest bounce and mg.

Meloetta (Magic Bounce, Comatose) - dark and bug weaknesses suck but this mon shuts down gar and ph xern, and spectral immunity works out really well for it. loses to most physical attackers though.

Muk-Alola (Regenerator, Unaware, Levitate) - defensive mon that can imposter-proof stuff like specs gar, some contrary users (scept, mmy), and similar things thanks to its decent special bulk and beneficial typing. can be potentially bypassed by stronger attackers thanks to its relatively low bulk and gets chipped down super easily if not regen though.

Nihilego (Levitate, Prankster, Sand Stream) - good ray switchin that can also handle gar at times thanks to a decently strong revdance, loses 1v1 to normalize if not sandstream tho. use it on ray weak teams or to imposter proof someone.

Palkia (Adaptability, Swift Swim) - unresisted stabs unless you count ogre screwing everything up, and you can even defeat him by going mixed. that being said palkia struggles with water not hitting much super effectively and being weak to core/knock. its a very diverse mon tho between plate, orb, and specs and i hope to see it used more.

Reshiram (Adaptability, Mold Breaker, Speed Boost, Chlorophyll) - actual good stabs, shares palkia's knock/core weaknesses but has great sets like mold breaker smash plate. this should honestly be ranked.

Scizor-Mega (Flash Fire, Fur Coat) - this mon despises ray but if you have that covered you can use him. that being said even with ff, it does poorly vs diancie because of its low special bulk. offensive sets are probably best because this mon has pretty nice attack and can imposter-proof with thousand waves while still checking diancie with ff, something kart cannot do.

Snorlax (Poison Heal) - poison heal user that can bypass core users thanks to its incredibly low speed. coil prevents it from outright dying to ph mmx, however its mediocre facade output can cause it to really struggle in the matchup. easy to chip too because it always gets outsped.

Tangrowth (Prankster) - prank user that can take on some physical spore users like ph regi, ph mmx, and ttar thanks to its typing. good bulk also means that it can shut down some surprisingly strong attackers with sap. dies to a lot of stuff though.

Toxapex (Magic Bounce, Levitate) - very slow mon that has some useful resistances like fairy, water, bug, and steel. bulk is somewhat lacking but this is overall one of the better defensive poisons, countering vcreate diancie is great.

Zeraora (Poison Heal) - ph disruptor that has a couple niches over phero and mmx. good bulk and typing means that it can withstand priority well, and it can live some attacks even if they wake up so you don't need a mon to go into after uturn like you would with phero. however, this mon really suffered from the sleep clause addition because it can't put everyone to sleep now, still viable but its role was diminished.

=====================================================================================================================================

F Rank - The Pokemon in this rank are almost always not worth using over Pokemon in the higher ranks; that being said, they are still usable to fill extremely specific niches if needed, and have genuine viability instead of just novelty value.

Abomasnow-Mega (Refrigerate, Regenerator) - mon with a plethora of weaknesses, but has a pretty nice offensive typing for stuff like gira + ogre and offers water + grass + ground resists while not being weak to ice. still fails vs almost every offensive threat in the meta however thanks to low bulk.

Aegislash-Blade (Adaptability, Mold Breaker, Dazzling) - gar alternative that offers stab sunsteel, meaning it can run adapt without fearing shed or fc chans. could potentially move to e but it hasn't received much use, and it has significant weaknesses including low bulk + annoyingly low speed, meaning that it can get hit by like gira spectral and be in imposter sunsteel range.

Alakazam-Mega (Sheer Force, Dazzling, Contrary, Mold Breaker) - mmy alternative that trades a bit of power, physical bulk, and mixed potential for a bit more speed. if your team is weak to a specific fast threat like scept, bee, or specific opposing mmy sets, zam is an option, but generally there are more pressing threats in building.

Altaria-Mega (Unaware, Poison Heal, Regenerator) - mon with very interesting typing that can take on stuff like reshiram, scept, ph mmx, palkia, and some others. however, its typing doesn't grant it an advantage over most of the top-tier attackers, it has pretty bad stats, and it has crippling weaknesses like steel and fairy. overall this mon has very limited use outside of imposter proofing your dragons.

Carbink (Poison Heal, Sand Stream) - base diancie, except with 50 atk/spa instead of 100. useful for strength sap imposter proofing but nothing else, and you generally don't want to miss out on moonblast or even core enforcer.

Charizard-Mega-X (Tough Claws, Speed Boost, Poison Heal, Drought) - zard x has potential because physical dragon/fire is very nice. not that bulky and dragon hammer as your stab is kinda lame, but it still has decent physdef to take on espeed.

Chesnaught/Virizion (Flash Fire, Fur Coat, Poison Heal) - could see these working under the same reasoning as buzzwole, but they lack physical bulk and the ff set is honestly not worth using with pdon gone. that being said fc chesnaught might be the best ph regi counter in the game.

Cobalion (Magic Bounce) - it's fast so it can imposter proof some kangas, it counters ph regi/mmx, and it has a neat dark resist that other steels lack besides gear. that being said the fighting secondary typing is terrible vs stuff like diancie ray mmy.

Cradily (Magic Bounce, Poison Heal) - interesting mon, it beats regi and xern but loses to ph mmx. sub 50 uturn is great but this mon isn't that bulky and doesn't have that many resistances (bug weakness sucks too) so it's overall very limited.

Deoxys (Dazzling, ???) - basically a cross between mega zam and deoxys a. can live a hit and also has a usable attack stat. has lower special attack than both though which kinda sucks.

Deoxys-Speed (Mold Breaker, Simple, Dazzling, Chlorophyll/Sand Rush/Swift Swim/Slush Rush) - predictable mold breaker lead that can also run other lure sets. chlorophyll and the gang have a niche on weather teams because deoxys outspeeds everything up to simple smash base 100s (and some faster stuff if they don't run +spe) so he can hit them with heart swap and pass to a teammate. im all for workarounds to bad spam teams but this set is incredibly niche even on weather for several reasons.

Empoleon (Magic Bounce) - relatively frail mon that can take on stuff like ph regi and check diancie. water resistance is nice too for defensive ogres. can't switch into anything that well though because of bad stats.

Entei (Regenerator) - best pure fire type in the game. hooh is mostly better but this can still be used to imposter proof something like bolt strike + vcreate diancie if you can't add an ff steel. losing to ground coverage is a big drawback though.

Florges (Regenerator, Magic Bounce) - slow mon that can be used to imposter proof special attackers with good coverage that can't hit it super effectively. bounce can actually take on ph xern to some extent which is pretty cool, unfortunately its pretty easy to wear down even with regen backing it up (maybe i just need a better team with it). honestly the best part about this mon is being able to pick a flower color.

Forretress (Magic Bounce, Flash Fire) - scizor that can slow uturn. flash fire can be used on this but i would advise against it because unless you're going with volt switch, it just invites imposter in, unlike with bounce where you can at least run a fire move mon to threaten. this guy beats both ph regi and ph mmx and it can slow uturn which is pretty nice overall.

Golisopod (Regenerator, Volt Absorb, Fur Coat, Primordial Sea) - mon with cool typing that can resist otherwise unresisted coverage like ice/fighting/ground. its stats aren't half bad too although the stealth rock weakness can be pretty brutal. if you have secure hazard protection it's a good choice for imposter proofing specific stuff like tech mmx although it competes with slowbro.

Gourgeist-Super (Flash Fire, Fur Coat, Magic Bounce) - grass with a beneficial endeavor and facade immunity, can work on some chomp builds but spectral is doing a lot even with that nice physical defense.

Gyarados (Fur Coat, Volt Absorb, Simple) - can run defensive sets to imposter proof specific stuff like tc mmx and put in work later on with gyaradosite, or offensive setup as another option although its predictable and generally outclassed in that role. overall a surprisingly versatile mon.

Heatran (Levitate, Pixilate, Flash Fire, Prankster) - imposter proofer and counter to some ray/diancie/xern sets. good spa means it can get away with a boosting set as well which is kinda nice. flaws are pretty much the same as most stuff in this rank, low stats and a few annoying weaknesses like water mean that it can get pressured easily by some common stuff.

Lapras (Snow Warning, Poison Heal) - best hail setter in the meta, only usable on hail teams and pretty much outclassed by ogre otherwise. good bulk but weak to rocks, typing isn't that bad otherwise though surprisingly.

Latias-Mega (Regenerator) - very niche imposter proofer for extremely specific attackers. not that passive but weak to like everything.

Magnezone (Levitate) - 4x flying resist means it can imposter proof ground coverage rays almost perfectly. also has good matchup vs pblades diancie and earth power xern which is nice, but it dies to fire and stuff like ogre revdance does a ton.

Manectric-Mega (Electric Surge, Galvanize, Sheer Force, Poison Heal) - fast electric, somewhat outclassed by zeraora and too weak to be a good wallbreaker but has a decent middle ground. relatively untested in this meta so it could be better than i thought.

Mawile (Download, Simple) - download 3 attacks shore up mmaw is pretty decent, breaks walls but also has good defensive utility thanks to its typing + stats. not enough bulk to take on actual attackers though, gets ohkod by most vcreates, but with a good defensive core to maneuver it this mon can do surprisingly well.

Mew (Intimidate, Magic Bounce, Emergency Exit) - mewnium z sets up terrain for hyper offense while attacking. a niche mon even in the context of psychic terrain because you have no extender, but can get you an early lead which is always nice for offense.

Naganadel (Neuroforce, Adaptability, Mold Breaker, Dazzling) - mediocre breaker overall, has a cool typing to imposter proof while hitting fairies super effectively though which is kinda cool, can somewhat prey on slower teams if ur able to poison ogre or something.

Pidgeot-Mega (Triage) - triage user that cant get hit by spectral. significantly weaker than mega ray but this niche is pretty nice especially considering good matchup vs prank haze. could see this moving to e if it turns out that triage isnt actually bad.

Raikou (Regenerator) - defensive electric that can hope to switch into specs ray. unfortunately electric doesn't really resist anything so it doesn't really do anything else, but its speed tier + spa means you can catch diancie with timid flash cannon kinda.

Rampardos (Tough Claws) - head smash spammer that doesnt literally die when it kills something unlike tc diancie. cc also does comparatively more damage to imposter. loses to most offensive mons but you can kinda meme on mray with accelerock.

Rhydon (Sand Stream, Fur Coat) - zyg but with a bad typing. use it to imposter proof physical dragon/fairy types if your team values sand, but knock is a pretty big issue for this mon so make sure you have something for that.

Rotom-Heat (Soundproof) - soundproof beats all non ground move diancie/mray in one slot and can lure with anchor + z ice beam, and takes less from espeed than most soundproofers. loses to everything else except zyg if you catch him with the z move.

Sableye (Prankster, Mold Breaker) - compresses roles. gives the team utility in the form of emergency prank or shed trapper before mega evolving to gain actual stats and magic bounce. some of the moves you’d use on this like haze or pursuit are kinda bad after mega evolving though.

Shuckle (Poison Heal, Sand Stream, Mold Breaker) - provides almost no resistances but is incredibly slow and somewhat bulky. you need a very solid imposter proofer for this though unless its on stall.

Sylveon (Regenerator) - middle ground between florges and xern. almost never worth using over one of those two especially because you can't change the flower color.

Tapu Bulu (Flash Fire) - imposter proofer for stuff like reshiram or mega blaziken or something. there are usually better options like aegi but bulu resists fighting and spore which is kinda useful at times.

Tapu Koko (Galvanize, Pixilate) - koko's niche is its access to guardian of alola in combination with decent speed, usable power, and good stab coverage. its good on more offensive teams that need a key mon gone, which koko can sometimes do with goa into espeed/boomburst/explosion/alternate stab.

Tapu Lele (Fur Coat) - bulky mon with a useful double fighting resist and the ability to shrug off spectral or anchor shot. its special attack is also pretty nice so a qd + recover set might be viable as a late game sweeper that beats espeed.

Type: Null (Unaware, Prankster, Primordial Sea, Regenerator) - slower, more passive, slightly bulkier arceus. would be good if defensive arceus was good but it really isn't, especially without a spore immunity.

Umbreon (Regenerator, Unaware, Poison Heal) - a defensive dark type without some of the debilitating weaknesses of other defensive dark types like mgyara. that being said, it also misses out on the resistances they offer, and it's insanely passive; it might lose to normalize gar even with dark type revdance. does ok vs sf mmy though.

Victini (Fur Coat) - faster darm z that doesn't require as much maintenance to be kept alive. it does have less bulk though assuming things go your way.

Volcanion (Levitate, Fur Coat, Regenerator) - mon with cool typing that's overall let down by low spdef, so it takes a lot from boomburst, and rock weakness which hinders its diancie matchup even more. that being said, its attacking stats are decent so it can at least pose a threat.

Volcarona (Regenerator, Fur Coat) - diancie resist that doesn't die to pblades. rock weakness and low physical bulk are bad news, but this mon honestly worked out pretty well on the ph ray team. most attacks do manageable damage especially if you can burn them with lava plume.

Zapdos (Prankster) - decently bulky mon that can take on mixed and triage ray pretty well if you run topsy. specs ray 2hkos though so it's not any higher than f rank. all non prank sets really struggle against moongeist triage rays so don't run them.