VGC14 Tierlist? - A first try

Hey everybody!

Tiers have always been a huge thing in pokémon single battle, as with such a great amount of pokémon, people wanted to create rules that allowed to play the worse pokémon on a competitive level as well! Just lately, tiers have also somewhat found their way into the VGC community, but since the rules are official and cannot be changed mid-season, it is more for fun, than for actually trying to change the rules. (Even though some people seem to have the urge to get Dark Void banned.) However, the last time, people discussed about tiers, it turned in a crazy discussion about whether US top players should write blogs or not. Since Wolfey and I, despite not being from the US myself, have started with this blog and restored our samurai honour, we can now safely continue with the discussion.

Massi and I have also tried to make a list, mainly to help ourselves to see what is important to counter and what are pokémon one has to be prepared for. I feel like sharing this list with you, as it is clearly possible to improve it and I'd like to hear what you think about it!

Without further ado, here is what we came up with. I will explain every single pokémon in detail below.

S-Tier

Kangaskhan, Mawile

A+ Tier

Garchomp, Tyranitar, Salamence, Rotom-W, Charizard

AB-Tier

Gardevoir, Aegislash, Talonflame, Venusaur, Rotom-H, Ferrothorn, Amoonguss

B-Tier

Gyarados, Manectric, Politoed, Kingdra, Meowstic, Gengar, Smeargle, Bisharp

C-Tier

Scrafty, Mamoswine, Scizor, Chandelure, Rhyperior, Abomasnow, Mienshao, Greninja, Gothitelle, Azumarill, Lucario, Aerodactyl, Trevenant, Gourgeist, Noivern

D-Tier

Aromatisse, Klefki, Goodra, Liepard, Krookodile, Blastoise, Reuniclus, Conkeldurr, Hariyama, Malamar, Staraptor, Zapdos, Ludicolo, Slowbro, Slowking, Florges

E-Tier

Everything else

Wolfey-Tier

Mr.Mime, Vaporeon, Exeggutor, Chimecho

S-Tier

While Kangaskhan was not really all that good in the past generations, she could wait until now and finally there is her time to shine! It fits perfectly that the idea of Mega Kangaskhan was revealed live at worlds, as I am sure that she will definitely see some usage in Washington D.C. in August. The unique ability allows to go for a great variety of plays, Power-Up Punch, Fake Out, Double Edge, Sucker Punch, Hammer Arm, Return, but also Ice Beam and Fire Blast have seen usage. Its bulky is naturally very high already and Kangaskhan is not easily one-hit at all. In fact only Specs Draco Meteor or Overheat, as well as STAB fighting moves are able to KO it in one hit. There is no pokémon that is even comparable to Kangaskhan and it has definitely to be ranked in the S-Tier.
Counters and Checks: Intimidate, Will-o-Wisp, Rocky Helmet, Ghosts. Mawile, Aegislash, Rotom-W, Trevenant, Gourgeist, WoW Gengar, Ferrothorn, WoW Chandelure

It's quite funny that whenever Wolfey was looking for a creative Intimidate user back in VGC2013, I would always try to make Mawile use, but it was just too bad. All of a sudden, with a brand new type and the new Mega Evolution as well, Mawile has turned from "NU to OU". Intimidate is still great, but Huge Power is even better. The magnificent typing makes it immune to poison moves and its only weaknesses are ground and fire. Ray Rizzo has taught us that a bulky version is perfectly viable and I think it is safe to say that Mawile is the second best Mega in VGC. However, it is not as easily to say it is above everything else. I think in the end, we ranked it in S-Tier, because it also has such high utility. It is able to nullify any dragon move, has many resistances it can switch in on, while being able to dish out so much damage. Its only downfall is its bad speed and mediocre HP + SDef. We still think it is above the likes of Garchomp, Salamence, Tyranitar and so on as a pokémon itself, but we'd understand if you are of a different opinion! If you are, please let us know in the comments :)

Counters and Checks: Intimidate, Will-o-Wisp, Steels. Aegislash, Rotom-H, Trevenant, Gourgeist, WoW Gengar, Ferrothorn, Chandelure.

A+ Tier

Being the most used pokémon at the moment, it was of course just a question of time when Garchomp would come on this list. While it is probably not as good as Kangaskhan and Mawile, it might be seen as one of the best non-Megas. It has great bulk as well as decent speed and great attacking stat. Dragonclaw + Earthquake allow to hit so much neutral, while Rock Slide is generally chosen as another spread move, to deal with Charizard, Talonflame, Rotom-H and others. Garchomp fits on any team and when you are used to using it, it can be hard to build teams without it! 

Counters and Checks: Intimidate, Will-o-Wisp, Fairies, Steels, Ice moves. Gardevoir, Azumarill, Rotom-W, Gyarados, Mawile, Mamoswine.

Tyranitar has its great ability going for it, as well as sky-high base stats that are even further boosted by the sandstorm. Rock Slide STAB is a good thing to have at the moment and despite its great Atk stat, most Tyranitar are mixed these days due to the high amount of Intimidate pokémon. Because besides the physical spectrum, it has also access to moves like Fire Blast, Dark Pulse and Ice Beam! There is not really anything that can easily replace it on any team, while just having it allows to increase your match-up against bog rain and sun teams. 

Counters and Checks: Fighting moves. Scrafty, Mienshao
Physical sets: Garchomp, Ferrothorn, Intimidate, Will-o-Wisp

Salamence is used a lot more often than last year, but considering its great ability Intimidate and it's typing combined with a great movepool, that should not really be a surprise. With Latios gone, Salamence has successfully claimed the spot as best special dragon and it doesn't feel like stopping. Most of the time equipped with a Choice Scarf, it is able to check a lot of threats, while providing good synergy with pokémon like Mawile or Aegislash. 
Counters and Checks: Ice moves, Fairies. Gardevoir, Mawile, Azumarill, Mamoswine, Tyranitar, Gyarados

A lot of people have said Rotom-W was the best pokémon in VGC14 and it's quite hard to find arguments against that statement. While it is true, that Kangaskhan and Mawile are probably better, no other non-Mega can provide the utility, Rotom has. Will-O-Wisp, Light Screen and Thunderwave are just three of its options to support teams, while it's typing means it only has one weakness. Hydro Pump and Thunderbolt have great coverage and its excellent defenses allow to take several hits when combined with a Sitrus Berry. Rotom easily fits on any team and is so hard to KO that people have even used dedicated counters like Chesnaught in the past. 

Counters and Checks: Grass types. Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, Gourgeist, Trevenant, Facade Kangaskhan

Once again, we have a very discussable inclusion. While all of the aforementioned were easily chosen for this tier, it took us quite a while to place Charizard. While its Mega form is definitely able to put a lot of pressure on the opponent, it is so easy to KO it with Rock Slide. However, the recent rise of bulky Charizard makes us believe that we did not get to see it's true potential just yet. You have to prepare for this pokémon or you are just lost, as sun boosted Heat Wave can do a lot of damage to anything, even resistances. If you think this shouldn't be here, give us your reasons! 

Counters and Checks: Rock moves. Tyranitar, Garchomp, Salamence.

AB-Tier

The AB-Tier is just the edge between A and B. Why we didn't just name it B-Tier? Because it feels like the lines are pretty close and one could also say that some of the Pokémon here have the potential to get to A at some point. 

The new fairy typing alone was able to secure this pokémon a spot in a lot of teams. While its Mega is cool on paper, others are clearly superior and therefore, Gardevoir is almost always seen without it. It has a lot of options to support, like Trick Room, Will-O-Wisp, Safeguard, Screens and other stuff, while also access to the high base power moves Moonblast and Psychic. 
Counters and Checks: Steel types. Aegislash, Mawile, Scizor, Talonflame, Charizard-Y, Rotom-H, Ferrothorn, Bisharp

Aegislash is, similarly to Gardevoir, another pokémon that sees most of its use in Japan. When used correctly, it is able to shut down Kangaskhan as well as Mawile, in case they are using their most common sets respectively. However, it doesn't stop! It's unique ability and signature move King's Shield allow for some great play as it has - in theory - 150 base points in both attack stats and defense stats! The downfalls of King's Shield are of course exploitable and that's probably why we don't see it in the A-Tier. However, depending on how the metagame will change until Nats, I think that Aegislash might be a little bit underrated in the US and Europe at the moment. 

Counters and Checks: Taunt, Rotom-H, Charizard-Y, Chandelure, Pyroar, Bisharp

I think it's the first time that the generic bird you can catch right at the beginning of your pokémon adventure was able to make such a splash in competitive play. Once again, a unique ability in Galewings was able to get this pokémon above others. While it has decent speed, the other stats do not look that tempting, but when you look at its STAB moves, Brave Bird and Flareblitz, you'll see why this pokémon is so good. In addition, it also has Tailwind, Quick Guard, U-Turn, Will-O-Wisp, Taunt and so on. For some reason, Japanese players have been able to use it more successfully than I was, but Zach has shown that this is also possible in the US, so I expect this pokémon to rise a little bit. Maybe even Ray will admit that it's not that bad after he has been beaten by it!
Counters and Checks: Rock moves, Water types. Tyranitar, Garchomp, Salamence, Rotom-W, Rotom-H.

Venusaur is here both for it's underrated Mega and for its regular form. While both of them are generally used as bulky sweepers, they function a lot different, as regular Venusaur can make use of its high speed under sun, whereas Mega Venusaur has the Thick Fat ability reducing its weaknesses. Both are equally viable and I think that Mega Venusaur should be used more often.

Counters and Checks: Lum Berry, Fire moves, Steel types, Mawile, Aegislash, Rotom-H, Chandelure, Mawile, Charizard-Y

Just the typing and a single move is what sets Rotom-H apart from its washing brother. However, that is enough to let it be less used and a little bit worse. It also has the same things going to it, but also access to STAB Overheat and a resistance to fairy-type moves, which can be very useful. 
Counters and Checks: Rotom-W, Lum Berry Garchomp, Lum Tyranitar, Mega Gyarados

It was difficult to place those two, as they are generally not as good on their own. But when used in respective teams, both of them can be very challenging and hard to beat. Ferrothorn basically forces you to have at least one fire move in your team, while Amoonguss makes you want to have any form of sleep prevention, like Taunt or Lum Berry. With their respective moves, Leech Seed and Rage Powder, they can annoy any team and you have to be prepared for them! We can understand when people rate them totally different, though, but past tournament winner's teams have proven that there is a lot more than just annoying behind them.

Counters and Checks:Lum Berry, Taunt, Substitute, Heatwave, Rotom-H, Charizard-Y, Chandelure, Aegislash

B-Tier

Gyarados is mainly here for its regular form, but the Mega is also quite brutal when played well. Taunt and Thunderwave combined with Intimidate give nice support option, while Ice Fang and Waterfall also provide offensive power. Electric-type moves are obviously its downfall, but the Mega can get rid of the 4-times weakness.

Snarl + Intimidate can be a very nice combo to shut down attacking moves. Overheat + Volt Switch or Flamethrower + Thunderbolt, as well as Hidden Power Ice for Garchomp and Salamence are generally on the moveset though. The pokémon is pretty straight forward and easy to use, but taking it to the next level, is not as simple. 

So here it is. Despite the weather nerf and Politoed's move losses, this duo is still very good and usable. Especially against teams that do not expect to meet rain, it is basically an auto-win scenario. Kingdra can OHKO stuff like Garchomp, Salamence, Rotom-H and do a lot of damage to anything with rain boosted Muddy Water. Every team should include either Tyranitar, Ferrothorn, Amoonguss, Rotom-W, Venusaur, Abomasnow, Azumarill, Gourgeist, Trevenant or any other way to deal with rain!

While Prankster Thundurus dominated the VGC Metagames since it was around it 2011, Meowstic claimed its spot in this year's format. Just listing every single good move it has access to would take quite a while, but it can literally have anything, from Safeguard + Swagger, to Charm or Thunderwave. Quick Guard is a possibility to shut it down continuously, but it is very difficult to OHKO it, besides STAB Shadowball or Dark Pulse. 

Gengar also got a nice Mega, but we just recently learned, that it can also do work without it. Shadow Tag is of course one of the best abilities out there and STAB Shadowball + Sludge Bomb hit so much hard. I think Mega Gengar could do very good work as a basic sweeper, too, but that hasn't been used much so far. Disable and Will-O-Wisp are very destructive options when the opponent cannot switch, so watch out for that. It might be possible to put it in the AB-Tier as well, but Gengar generally relies on the other team members and is very frail, too.

Just being able to use Dark Void puts Smeargle already up far. But it also has access to Fake Out, Follow Me, Transform, King's Shield, Spiky Shield, Taunt, Wide Guard, Endeavor, Trick Room... While people hate to see it in preview, one might also just have a very good counter for it and more than just a Lum Berry here and then hope for DV misses. It's a pain to play against it and that's for a reason!

Bisharp is another pokémon that is a little bit underplayed in my opinion. With Manectric, Salamence, Mawile and Gyarados, a lot of players tend to count on Intimidate to shut down Mawile and Kangaskhan. Bisharp can make use of that through boosting its attack stat. It has access to STAB Iron Head, which is great against fairies and STAB Night Slash plus Sucker Punch, which are also pretty handy. We think that with how we have filled the B-Tier so far, Bisharp should also be here.

C-Tier

Scrafty, Mamoswine, Scizor, Chandelure, Rhyperior, Abomasnow, Mienshao, Greninja, Gothitelle, Azumarill, Lucario, Aerodactyl, Trevenant, Gourgeist

I'm going to make it short from now on, because it's probably not that interesting since most of you already know what each pokémon does, but I will still list common moves so this Tierlist can also function as an introduction to VGC14.

Scrafty: 4-times weak to fairy, but Intimidate + STAB Drain Punch to function as a check to Kangaskhan. It also has Ice Punch, Fake Out, Stone Edge and Crunch. Barely falling out of B-Tier due to low usage and the aforementioned fairy weak. 

Mamoswine: Great mon to beat Garchomp, Salamence, Tyranitar and others, but it also comes with a weakness to Water attacks and is therefore very situational. While it was on top in 2013, I am sure that it will see more usage eventually

Scizor: Also got a Mega but it is not as great. Bug Bite is gone, which hurts, apart from that, it's still very nice with Bullet Punch.

Chandelure: Decent against Gardevoir and Aegislash to some extent, but rather slow and weak to Earthquake and Muddy Water. Access to Infiltrator now!

Rhyperior: Rock Slide and Earthquake STAB is very nice. Good bulk, but lost Ice Punch (still has Ice Fang, though).

Abomasnow: Very good Mega for TR. STAB Blizzard, possibility to get hail up again, should be on every TR team in my opinion.

Mienshao: Rock Slide, High Jump Kick, Drain Punch, but also Fake Out, Wide Guard and Quick Guard. Very frail but has cool options!

Greninja: Very good when used correctly, Mat Block, Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, Dark Pulse. Has potential!

Gothitelle: Shadow Tag.

Azumarill: Fairy. Play Rough, Waterfall, Aqua Jet. Amoonguss + Azumarill indicate Bellydrum! I think that is too gimmicky, but it is a nice check to Garchomp, Salamence, Tyranitar.

Lucario: The Mega can be very good in the right hands. One of the only things that can OHKO Mega Kangaskhan! Adaptability is also a very good ability. Flash Cannon, Aurashpere, Vacuum Wave, Hidden Power Ice, Close Combat, Stone Edge, Final Gambit. Very interesting pokémon with a lot of different options!

Aerodactyl: Wide Guard, Tailwind, Sky Drop (!), Ice Fang, Rock Slide. Mega! Sky Drop is interesting, but it hasn't seen much usage, yet.

Trevenant & Gourgeist: Both are similar to Ferrothorn and Gourgeist, yet they go under the radar at the moment. I think both have potential, as Zach has already shown, but weaknesses to Ghost and Dark make me feel like there is still something missing. 

Noivern: Just being a dragon-type already helps a pokémon's viability, of course. However, everything Noivern has going for it over Salamence is its ridicolous speed, access to Tailwind and Boomburst. Especially teams that have non-Scarf Salamence and Garchomp might have trouble dealing with Noivern, but apart from that, its fire-power is rather low.

Hydreigon: While it was in several Worlds finals, after the introduction of the fairy type, it has joined the club of dragons with a 4-times weakness. Despite that, it can still be very good and is the perfect partner for Aegislash.

D-Tier

Aromatisse, Klefki, Goodra, Liepard, Krookodile, Blastoise, Reuniclus, Conkeldurr, Hariyama, Malamar, Staraptor, Zapdos, Torkoal, Aron, Clawitzer, Nidoking, Diggersby, Ludicolo, Slowbro, Slowking, Florges

E-Tier

Everything else

Wolfey-Tier

Mr.Mime, Vaporeon, Exeggutor

While creating a tierlist like that was a lot of fun, it does not really have a true function, because VGC14 B-Tier would be a very bad mode, I suppose. However, it clearly helps to get an overview over the metagame and to see what has potential and what is outclassed.

If we missed anything, feel free to make us aware of that, obviously! And if there is anything that you think is in the wrong tier, please give us your reasons why you think that Pokémon should be somewhere else!

-Markus (13Yoshi37)