And we're back! Today, I have a pretty big slate with a lot of changes, so I hope you guys are excited to see what is in store and ready to chime in with more thoughts in the following days so that we can keep the ball rolling in the near future. Slate Magearna has been seen as one of the better Pokemon in the tier for years now, topping threat lists and being one of the most potent win conditions in recent memory. On top of this, it also has had a consistent utility and defensive presence, checking a plethora of common, otherwise problematic special threats with a common Assault Vest set and occasionally even neutralizing opposing set-up with the Heart Swap variant. All of this is great, but what is it that puts Magearna over the top now, making it S rank as opposed to A+? The answer predominantly lies within the recent results of the Shift Gear variant, proving to turn around or clean up a number of relevant tournament games in recent weeks while also taking the ladder by storm, becoming even more of a staple on hyper-offense and an increasingly reliable pick on bulky-offense and even balance with the Shift Gear sets. Finally, one last thing to note is that Magearna's versatility is still somehow increasing despite it already being unmatched in that department. In recent months, the Calm Mind + Pain Split variant has been popping up more and more, perhaps putting it over the top.Tapu Fini's Defog utility simply has grown more useful with the decline of specific Grass types and increase in Heatran and Ash Greninja. It is by no means a metagame staple like it once was during SM, but it is back to seeing somewhat regular usage, which is enough to warrant a rise to B+.andJirachi has been popping up a lot more ever since Smogon Tour playoffs, even surging after the Zygarde ban. It has a nice defensive presence and it can also run a niche Choice Scarf set. Amoonguss, similarly, saw an increase in usage and effectiveness after Zygarde got banned. This is largely due to the decrease in need for Grass types that check Thousand Arrows.Kyurem from C to B-: The Substitute + Roost variant of Kyurem has proven to be ridiculously threatening to balance teams, oftentimes provoking awkward defensive sequences and making progress whenever a specific defensive presence it can take advantage of comes in. Kyurem is one of the most annoying Pokemon to face currently and it is seeing an increase in usage because of this. Overall, Kyurem is seeing a double rise here because of the fact that we probably overlooked it last time and it has played a significant role in a lot of relevant games.Mega, and: Here we have three up-and-coming offensive presences in the metagame. While none are spectacular or too common quite yet, they are beginning to appear sporadically, hence the slight bump. It is also worth noting that Kommo-O has a niche as a utility Stealth Rock setter, too.---: While Tapu Bulu is still a potent threat, its overall utility has dropped more and more as time elapsed. Seeing as it was already a fringe A+/A Pokemon to begin with, this slight drop should be no real surprise. Tapu Bulu's classic Specially Defensive variants have been falling off a lot as of late and while the offensive sets, especially Choice Band, have steadily picked up, it is not enough to make up for the one-time staple status that it had attained. Perhaps one day soon Tapu Bulu will find itself back in A+, but for now it will fit in among the other A rankers.: Mega Diancie really has never caught on and there are hardly any common teams or tournament games displaying it currently. While it has a niche as an offensive, anti-Defogger Stealth Rock setter and it has nice utility, the fact of the matter is that it is at an all-time-low in terms of appeal, hence the drop.and,from B+ to B: All three of these Pokemon are potentially threatening offensive presences who simply do not see much usage anymore. Hawlucha was once a top-tier win condition, but now is merely an option to use on HO. Hoopa-Unbound has seen some days where it was a respectable balance breaker, but now it's rarely even considered. Mega Pinsir has fallen completely off the map, not appearing in really any games in tournaments, let alone on the higher portion of the ladder by more serious players. All things considered, these three all have potential, but are not the most practical options right now and the playerbase has shown that with their decisions.: The fish has no real utility outside of some fringe-viable stalls right now. It is hardly ever used on balanced teams and so long as this continues to be the case, it will continue to drop., and: None of these Pokemon are remotely appealing currently. Gengar has seen much better days, but now nobody uses it due to how common faster threats or common checks are. Mimikyu is absolute garbage who only has the slightest of niches due to a unique ability, but even having a free second life in most games does not save it from being complete shit. Latias has a niche solely because it has a fast Healing Wish it can abuse with a Choice Scarf; otherwise, it might as well be unranked. Overall, they all are pretty bad and rarely fit on to solid teams, so the drops should be unsurprising.and: Webs sucks.: It barely even has a niche as neither it, nor Latias, should be used really ever, but at least Latias can give teams some support with healing wish. There are far too many top tier threats that completely blank Latios in this generation, sadly. While it may have some niche with situational lure variants thanks to its movepool, they are oftentimes better-off being used by other, more consistent options.Avalugg from C to C-, Ninetales-Alola from C to C-, Alakazam from C to C-, Mega-Aerodactyl from C- to UR, and Shuckle from C- to UR: All of these Pokemon are so bad and sporadically considered, let alone actually used, that they do not even get their own mini-sprite next to their names in the description. They also do not get individual attention in the description, so this is a wrap.