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big latias paragraph I think Latias has slightly more counterplay to Tyranitar than provided in BKC's explanation. Leftovers sets with Reflect can make it quite difficult to be trapped by Tyranitar's Pursuit, and Trick + Flame Orb is an extremely underused/underrated set that does a nice job in baiting Tyranitar early game. Tyranitar has to be careful about things like Expert Belt Grass Knot and needs to sacrifice a lot of its speed in order to tank two Draco Meteors from Latias, which may also be a factor in the increased usage of OTRZong + CBTar as a core (not that this wasn't used before obviously). While Latias fits into the mold of DPP well, it still actively shapes the metagame around it tremendously. Thunder Wave + Reflect sets, while quite bad versus certain stall builds, can both support very strong threats to stall like Specs Water-types, CBTar, Swampert, Breloom, Gengar, Metagross, etc. Obviously alone this kind of set will not make dents in stall but it's an incredible support set that's equipped to be difficult for Tyranitar to trap and also lasts a long time, taking advantage of its amazing simultaneous resistances in Water, Fire, Grass, Fighting, Electric, and even Psychic-type. On top of that, its versatility is only rivaled by that of Tyranitar, Jirachi, and Heatran. It can run so many different types of sets, and maybe I overrate it a bit, but I strongly feel that it's underrated by many solely because it's susceptible to Tyranitar. Latias' unique typing, hazard resistance, and higher SpA, despite being susceptible to Tyranitar does not make it a worse "Draco Bomber" than Dragonite (maybe that wasn't implied by BKC's post). Granted, once a Latias set is properly scouted, it becomes much easier to play against, but even Sleep Talk sets (Specs, Scarf, Expert Belt, even some bulky Sleep Talk variants), can function as unbelievable team glue and maximizes the strength of the other Pokemon while opening the doors for a tremendous number of team possibilities. Rain Dance sets also have extremely high potential for weather-clearing abilities. It was nice to see Philip7086 using it effectively in WCoP. I've been using Rain Dance on Scarf Latias as a fourth move to support stuff like SubCM Suicune, Raikou, Black Sludge Gengar, etc. Latias is an incredible support Pokemon that, while not altering the foundation of DPP's metagame, largely impacts it, and I'd say it deserves A+.

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This VR is fantastic, really appreciate the work you put into this. As seen by the recent updates in GSC and ADV viability rankings, nobody's VR is really going to look the exact same, so it'd be awesome to see some other DPPers chime in here. I'd just like to share some quick thoughts about the updated VR and some noticeable changes. I've observed some people speculating that the significant changes in the VR are due to the presence of Latias, but honestly Latias doesn't change a ton of it for the reasons BKC mentioned in his explanation. Anyway, here are some quite subjective thoughts, as a VR created only by one person is inevitably going to be subjective to an extent.I completely agree here, Jirachi and Tyranitar are by a clear mile the meta-defining Pokemon of DPP; they deserve their own tier for sure. Jirachi's typing, stats, and gargantuan movepool give it by far the most versatility in the tier. To me Jirachi is the #1 Pokemon in DPP OU, and Tyranitar a close second.Heatran, Starmie, Rotom, Infernape, and Breloom all definitely belong here. Ape and Loom are just as good as they were, like BKC said. I think Skarmory shouldn't be here, however. With the rise in popularity of Thunder Jirachi, more offensive Swamperts with Hydro Pump, Gliscor, and Magnezone, I feel that Skarmory, while it is an unbelievable Pokemon and by a very far mile the best Spikes user in the tier, is not on the same tier as tremendous breakers like Infernape and Breloom, nor does it have the utility of Pokemon like Rotom, Starmie, and Heatran. In practice Skarmory can be pressured very hard through aggressive play (and even physical perts + Gyarados), and while Spikes are incredible I don't feel that they are monumental enough to the DPP landscape to warrant Skarmory as an A+ mon, but hey maybe I'm crazy. I understand why it's in A+ but I think that's a bit overrated.Imo,(or lowest in A+)Also looking good, the rise in Clefable, Gliscor, Empoleon, and Bronzong here is definitely noticeable. Swampert leading the A rank is very fitting, as offensive sets have been fantastic and people are bringing back CursePert and some other cool sets. The "Tank" set is p terrible but at least can do very well vs certain offensive builds.Nidoqueen in A surprises me. Nidoqueen is great but has many flaws that I think should push it down to A- or even B+. Its lack of reliable healing, its susceptibility to burns, underwhelming attack stats, inability to fit more than 2 attacking moves, and only average defenses definitely hold it back. It gets chipped super easily. On top of that it often can be quite the momentum sink, allowing Pokemon like Skarmory and Roserade to set up hazards as well as sweepers like Calm Mind Suicune, DDGyara, sometimes even DDNite and Calm Mind Clefable. I don't need to go over its positive traits here, but in a metagame where Toxic Spikes are antimeta, more offensive Swamperts are running rampant, and Spikes themselves have improved, it's hard to see how Nidoqueen has improved as a Pokemon. Not to mention that the re-entry of Latias has promoted Spikes and Toxic Spikes resistant teams tremendously. I think Nidoqueen is incredible and has more versatility than people think, but I don't think it has stepped up a tier since the last VR.I think that Metagross might be A+ worthy, but I'm not entirely set on it. To me, Metagross is the best lead in the entire game. It also has counterplay to its common checks with less common sets like Trick + Iron Ball (underrated), unexplored Mixed sets, the justifiably more popular Choice Scarf set, etc. Its typing and high defense makes it very nice vs Tyranitar and easily one of the strongest Jirachi checks. It's extremely "splashable" and the Agility set has even improved because Latias supports it extremely well, similarly to how it supports Lucario.Lucario in A- also surprises me. Lucario is honestly one of the most difficult Pokemon to account for consistently in team builder. It has not that many options to stop it, and because of the ubiquity of Tyranitar, it will always get at least one chance in game. It doesn't even need to set up, it is just so difficult to switch into Lucario. Shuca Berry with Ice Punch, some of the special attacking sets, and especially Choice Scarf should be used a bit more. Latias and Lucario is an incredible offensive core, and as such Latias' re-entry into the metagame only strongly benefits Lucario. Fire Punch Jirachi is a great Luc check but it cannot switch in safely, which is why I think Luc deserves to be A rank.Imo,(or higher in A)I agree with the A- rank presented. Magnezone and Suicune certainly lead the A- tier, it's nice to see Blissey still remaining in A- (it's underrated rn for sure), and I'm fine with Roserade in A-, although some may feel it should be in B+ I think. The only thing that I think deserves to be in A- is Hippowdon, which is the best defensive check to Tyranitar in the entire metagame. Hippowdon's weird because I think it's a bit harder to fit onto teams nowadays with the extreme increase in Swampert's popularity, but it's still such an incredible defensive Pokemon for many other reasons. It's also probably one of the most cheese-proof Pokemon in the game, making it extremely hard for teams that would like the weather cleared to do so due to Hippo's longevity and that it really can't be trapped consistently/successfully often.Imo,Looks good. Shaymin and Celebi definitely belong in B+. I completely disagree with comments about Shaymin and Celebi becoming significantly worse solely because of Latias in the tier (which I probably had made in some of my dumber posts a few months back). Regarding Celebi, Toxic Spikes being anti-meta actually increases its consistency. Latias definitely does not replace Celebi in the teambuilder, as I think someone mentioned. Swampert and Breloom's high usage and Water-type's rise in offensive presence makes Celebi an incredibly nice user of Stealth Rock, forcing Starmie out completely. It's really nice on Bulky Offense and even has high potential on Semi-Stall builds. I'd like to see more people use it. Milotic is also incredible and definitely deserves its increased B+ rank, but has its flaws that prevent it from not quite reaching the A- range.Imo, I wouldn't change anything here, all Pokemon listed deserve to be in B+ (well except Hippo but I mentioned that already).Here is the tier of those eccentric Pokemon that have amazing traits but have some unfortunate stuff holding them back. I love Raikou in DPP OU but Sand just makes it so much more difficult for it to successfully do its job (hence why I think it's really nice when paired with Rain Dance Latias, been having a lot of fun experimenting with those kinds of builds). To me, the B rank feels like all the Pokemon that in theory are fucking awesome, but can't really fit onto too many teams, like I kind of mentioned before. The one thing I'd say is that, maybe I'm in the minority here, but I think Forretress is absolute garbage. It's incredibly matchup dependent, can't even really handle Tyranitar because it doesn't resist Rock, has a very hard time consistently getting its hazards up imo, and if it faces any sort of Rest Talk Rotom full stall build, a build that depends on Forretress to spin pretty much loses at matchup. It's extremely difficult to consistently trap Rest Talk Rotom. It can obviously be pulled off with immaculate play but ScarfTar is an awkward fit on a lot of builds nowadays and there are still a lot of 50/50 scenarios there. Payback doesn't do enough and Forretress can be exploited by so much of the metagame. I've seen decent Forry builds with Dugtrio and Blissey/Clef and I know its role compression is great but idk it can role compress sure but it's so inconsistent, most threats in the metagame can do significant damage and chip it, and its inability to heal properly without Protect means it optimally only really has room for one entry hazard anyway.Imo,I'm a fan of Aero and I think the LO set fits well with Magnezone, but I kind of agree tbh. Aero as a lead is an extremely awkward fit in builder imo, even though it's really good and does really nicely vs Azelf (unless Azelf U-Turns into something with priority. I really think lead aero should almost always be paired with mag as well). Snorlax is horrible. I can't see a reason to ever use Snorlax over Tyranitar, which it directly competes with. The Curse set sucks too, Miltank is legit a better Curse user than Snorlax and so is Tyranitar lol. It can boom but defensive Rotom is much more popular and also will commonly enter in on Snorlax. The boom set by virtue is its main niche but still could you ever justify using it over Tyranitar? Hard x, Snorlax is so bad it doesn't even deserve to be in B-. The rest I agree with for sure.Imo,(lol)There's not much to comment on about the C+ and C ranks except that maybe a few Pokemon deserve to be ranked and also I think Vaporeon is tremendously underrated. The Choice Specs set is really good, as Vaporeon is one of the strongest special attacking waters in the game and can really put a huge dent in many stall builds. Water Absorb is an amazing ability too, which allows it to get even more chances. The Wish+Tect set is probably not that bad, seeing as it can actually wall a pretty decent number of Pokemon, but it's way too passive and gets taken advantage of way too easily. But the Choice Specs set alone, which can use unique moves like Wish, Baton Pass, etc, is not possibly C- tier.. I'm very glad Mesprit was ranked, I think it's actually a pretty neat Pokemon.Ty for reading, I kinda wrote this quickly so if anyone wants any clarification lmk. I'm really happy we got a VR update and I'm looking forward to more discussion. Thanks again.