I have to disagree with the notion that Diancie is less consistent then other rockers such as Steelix and Rhydon. Diancie has always been consistent at what it does, checking Incineroar reliably and setting up Stealth Rocks vs Xatu which holds merit to the general BO builds. It has its own perks over Steelix and Rhydon, mainly being passive recovery, defensive Fairy-typing and the ability to take on certain special attackers such as Choice-locked Heliolisk and Vivillon. No meta trends have particularly impacted Diancie enough for it to drop a subrank fwiw.-> A
I don't think Diancie is as consistent as it has been in the past. If you look at it in context with the rest of A rank, it is really the least / second least viable there. While Stealth Rock is always a valuable utility move, paired with Diancie's high bulk, other Stealth Rock users like Steelix and Rhydon fit on more teams and are just overall more consistent. Speaking of Steelix, it's increased usage is a detriment to non-Earth Power Diancie, meaning you lose out on Heal Bell if you're going to run it, which can make things tough. In terms of being an offensive Fairy-type, Comfey is certainly better, having recovery + priority moves which are pretty strong only after a couple of Calm Mind boosts. In summary, Diancie has just been getting outclassed in what it does, but it certainly still holds great viability in this meta, and can work on several different teams and archetypes if placed in the right way.
plume has made its presence felt on several bulky offense builds that appreciate plume being a solid Fairy and Fighting-resist that keeps threats such as Heliolisk, Passimian, and Comfey, etc. in check. Access to various utility options such as Moonlight/Strength Sap for sustain and Growth to punish slower teams and even shit like Z-Sludge Bomb to OHKO Xatu outright and kill Incineroar after rocks makes plume fairly customizable with its sets. Bulky offense is forced to keep something like Incineroar or Vanilluxe alive to kill it, which are prone to rocks and don't appreciate coming in on repeated sludge bombs. plume is easily a level above the rest of A-/A ranks imo and it's ranking should reflect that.
Xatu pretty much defines what is a viable rocker and what isn't. More passive rockers such as Steelix/Seis/Torterra etc. can be hindered right from the team preview, while more aggressive rockers such as Diancie and Rhydon are forced to play mindgames against Xatu. Aside from choking the hazard meta, a myriad of other utilities such as bouncing Toxic from Slowbro, being a Passimian check in a pinch and providing teams with slow U-Turns puts Xatu a subrank above the rest of A+.
Choice Specs Magmortar made its debut appearance in Snake and remains consistent in nuking balance relying on something like Incineroar or AV Slowbro as their Fire-resist. Various other sets such as Z-Focus Blast and AV have their own merits they present to builds, the former being able to chip away at its own checks without Choice-locking itself, and the latter a special sponge for things like Vanilluxe and Comfey. To keep it short, Magmortar dismantles standard Steelix/ Slowbro/ Incineroar/ Xatu /Passimian/ filler builds that the meta tends to revolve around.
I'd like to spark discussion on this, but generally I feel that Sneasel has become less consistent as the meta gets used to its presence. Things like Incineroar, Diancie, and Passimian are more prevalent than ever, and more Slowbro's are reverting to Colbur which further hampers Sneasel. Trapping Xatu and AV Slowbro is a cute perk for bulky offense, kinda iffy about this one but would confer to dropping it a subrank.
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