Indigo Plateau
UU Leader
Okay, going to try and throw out a nomination of my own:
Mega Sableye should drop to B+
Since there was a ranking update very recently, let's start by analyzing the ranks that Sableye shares with other pokemon, and why it shouldn't reside in A-, but rather in B+.
In A-, we have plenty of pokemon who give valuable team support and will likely not be dead weight in most matchups. Chansey is still a fantastic wall being able to cover a ton of metagame threats such as Greninja, Magearna, Latios, Diancie, Kingdra, Volc, and so on. Chansey also fits on offense builds, and although it's a bit of a momentum killer, these offense builds appreciate having a mon like Chansey to fall back on due to the power creep present in SM. Both Lopunny and Medicham are incredible offensive pokemon - Medicham is extremely hard to switch into, especially with things like Mew falling off a bit, and can singlehandedly dent teams and provide sweeping opportunities to other mons on the team. Lopunny has picked itself up from the dirt and, like Gary described, is effective against a lot of builds due to the combination of its high speed and unresisted stabs. A lot of mons that use to annoy it, like Thapex and Mew, aren't surefire answers anymore, and it can run PuP + Encore against fatter teams. Pelipper is invaluable to rain teams, which like Vertex proved during OLT, are still a menace with builds like HO more popular than before. Even defensive teams usually can't deal with the combination of Swampert + Kingdra and Koko + Hawlucha in the back, and often a defensive backbone of Tangrowth + Toxapex or something of the sort is needed to handle these teams. Scizor and Venusaur have cemented themselves as sturdy, defensive pokemon who can beat teams outright on their own and provide a ton of utility in the form of SD + U-Turn, Leech Seed/Sleep Powder, and so on.
Although B+ could use a little bit of cleaning up imo, Mega Sableye's role is better fitted here than in A-. It does not provide the same utility that all these other mons in A- provide. In B+, we have mons that can still be a nuisance given the right matchup: Mega Tyranitar has fallen off quite a bit and is not as good as regular TTar, but given the right scenario, it can still find the right time to setup due to its above average natural bulk and good coverage. Hoopa-U is a potent wallbreaker that is not quite as good as other wallbreakers residing in higher ranks such as Kyurem-B, BandTar, Medicham, and so on - the same applies to other pokemon here in Zard-Y and Heracross. Mega Latias provides indefinite team support as an answer to a huge amount of the meta with sets like CM SP, 3 atks + Roost, Reflect Type, and Defog, but it struggles to tank hits from a lot of pokemon due to its typing, such as TT Koko, Lele, Kyurem-B (it often can't do much back), and Scizor if not running HP Fire. I could keep going, but I think the point has been made by now. B+ is better fitted for Sableye, who wants to provide the utility of mons in A-, but falls short.
Now what makes it fall short? The fact that it can't check as many things as it could in ORAS due to the amount of threats present that can take advantage of it. Let's start off with some basic examples: Last gen, Excadrill was usually used as a sand sweeper, and Sableye could usually afford to tank a hit and WoW back. In SM, Excadrill has stapled itself on the face of almost every HO builds because it can simply click Rocks + Toxic against everything, including Sableye. Lando-T, bar rare sets like DD, was usually Defensive/Scarf (I don't remember if DD gained more traction towards the end of ORAS, but I don't think so) last gen, and now it can easily take advantage of Sableye if running Sub SD, and Sableye can't switch in vs offensive sets without getting annihilated. There's several other mons that beat Sableye which are self-explanatory: Lele, which is a nuisance to any fat build that is usually paired with Sableye; Mawile, which holds the same feat as Lele; Magearna, which is arguably one of (if not the) most versatile pokemon in the tier which can take advantage of the nothing that Sableye can do to it; Clefable, which once again can easily get up rocks vs Sableye and potentially start CM'ing for free; Mega Diancie, which Sableye can't touch (again); Zard-X and Heatran, both which have seen more usage ever since Duggy got the boot; things like BandTar, Zyg, and Hoopa-U can all beat Sableye with a bit of chip damage; Tapu Koko, which is able to blow it back with an appropriately timed Z Move; Tapu Bulu, which can take advantage of Sableye with Sub; and so on.
Simply put, the number of pokemon that threaten Mega Sableye this gen are much higher, and its bulk often makes it fall short of wanting to be the wall that it wants to be.
Lastly, stall took a sizable hit with the ban of Duggy, since it can't handle most of the stallbreakers present in the tier now. Mega Sableye really shouldn't be used outside of stall teams or fatter teams like ABR's (I believe) Sableye+Tox+Celesteela etc team. This hit obviously makes stall a less powerful choice than before in the current metagame, and if the viability of the primary playstyle that Mega Sableye is seen on took a hit, so should Sableye. Not to mention that it's not even the most valuable member here - Chansey deals with all special attackers, Clef provides a stop against setup sweepers, Skarm is the physical wall, and Toxapex is there to set up TSpikes for passive damage and because Thapex. Mega Sableye's role of being a soft hazard bouncer isn't good when it can't even switch in to most hazard setters (bar Greninja in most scenarios, surprisingly). Even before Duggy got the boot, Ciele stall was much better than SPL stall, and this build didn't even star Sableye, proving that stall teams can forgo it if necessary. It really just fails to hold its own weight and depends on the other stall members too much. SM has been unkind to Sableye, and recent meta shifts like Duggy banning and more pokemon rising (Heatran, Zard-X, Lele, etc) that can threaten Sableye means that it should drop.
A- --> B+
Mega Sableye should drop to B+
Since there was a ranking update very recently, let's start by analyzing the ranks that Sableye shares with other pokemon, and why it shouldn't reside in A-, but rather in B+.
In A-, we have plenty of pokemon who give valuable team support and will likely not be dead weight in most matchups. Chansey is still a fantastic wall being able to cover a ton of metagame threats such as Greninja, Magearna, Latios, Diancie, Kingdra, Volc, and so on. Chansey also fits on offense builds, and although it's a bit of a momentum killer, these offense builds appreciate having a mon like Chansey to fall back on due to the power creep present in SM. Both Lopunny and Medicham are incredible offensive pokemon - Medicham is extremely hard to switch into, especially with things like Mew falling off a bit, and can singlehandedly dent teams and provide sweeping opportunities to other mons on the team. Lopunny has picked itself up from the dirt and, like Gary described, is effective against a lot of builds due to the combination of its high speed and unresisted stabs. A lot of mons that use to annoy it, like Thapex and Mew, aren't surefire answers anymore, and it can run PuP + Encore against fatter teams. Pelipper is invaluable to rain teams, which like Vertex proved during OLT, are still a menace with builds like HO more popular than before. Even defensive teams usually can't deal with the combination of Swampert + Kingdra and Koko + Hawlucha in the back, and often a defensive backbone of Tangrowth + Toxapex or something of the sort is needed to handle these teams. Scizor and Venusaur have cemented themselves as sturdy, defensive pokemon who can beat teams outright on their own and provide a ton of utility in the form of SD + U-Turn, Leech Seed/Sleep Powder, and so on.
Although B+ could use a little bit of cleaning up imo, Mega Sableye's role is better fitted here than in A-. It does not provide the same utility that all these other mons in A- provide. In B+, we have mons that can still be a nuisance given the right matchup: Mega Tyranitar has fallen off quite a bit and is not as good as regular TTar, but given the right scenario, it can still find the right time to setup due to its above average natural bulk and good coverage. Hoopa-U is a potent wallbreaker that is not quite as good as other wallbreakers residing in higher ranks such as Kyurem-B, BandTar, Medicham, and so on - the same applies to other pokemon here in Zard-Y and Heracross. Mega Latias provides indefinite team support as an answer to a huge amount of the meta with sets like CM SP, 3 atks + Roost, Reflect Type, and Defog, but it struggles to tank hits from a lot of pokemon due to its typing, such as TT Koko, Lele, Kyurem-B (it often can't do much back), and Scizor if not running HP Fire. I could keep going, but I think the point has been made by now. B+ is better fitted for Sableye, who wants to provide the utility of mons in A-, but falls short.
Now what makes it fall short? The fact that it can't check as many things as it could in ORAS due to the amount of threats present that can take advantage of it. Let's start off with some basic examples: Last gen, Excadrill was usually used as a sand sweeper, and Sableye could usually afford to tank a hit and WoW back. In SM, Excadrill has stapled itself on the face of almost every HO builds because it can simply click Rocks + Toxic against everything, including Sableye. Lando-T, bar rare sets like DD, was usually Defensive/Scarf (I don't remember if DD gained more traction towards the end of ORAS, but I don't think so) last gen, and now it can easily take advantage of Sableye if running Sub SD, and Sableye can't switch in vs offensive sets without getting annihilated. There's several other mons that beat Sableye which are self-explanatory: Lele, which is a nuisance to any fat build that is usually paired with Sableye; Mawile, which holds the same feat as Lele; Magearna, which is arguably one of (if not the) most versatile pokemon in the tier which can take advantage of the nothing that Sableye can do to it; Clefable, which once again can easily get up rocks vs Sableye and potentially start CM'ing for free; Mega Diancie, which Sableye can't touch (again); Zard-X and Heatran, both which have seen more usage ever since Duggy got the boot; things like BandTar, Zyg, and Hoopa-U can all beat Sableye with a bit of chip damage; Tapu Koko, which is able to blow it back with an appropriately timed Z Move; Tapu Bulu, which can take advantage of Sableye with Sub; and so on.
Simply put, the number of pokemon that threaten Mega Sableye this gen are much higher, and its bulk often makes it fall short of wanting to be the wall that it wants to be.
Lastly, stall took a sizable hit with the ban of Duggy, since it can't handle most of the stallbreakers present in the tier now. Mega Sableye really shouldn't be used outside of stall teams or fatter teams like ABR's (I believe) Sableye+Tox+Celesteela etc team. This hit obviously makes stall a less powerful choice than before in the current metagame, and if the viability of the primary playstyle that Mega Sableye is seen on took a hit, so should Sableye. Not to mention that it's not even the most valuable member here - Chansey deals with all special attackers, Clef provides a stop against setup sweepers, Skarm is the physical wall, and Toxapex is there to set up TSpikes for passive damage and because Thapex. Mega Sableye's role of being a soft hazard bouncer isn't good when it can't even switch in to most hazard setters (bar Greninja in most scenarios, surprisingly). Even before Duggy got the boot, Ciele stall was much better than SPL stall, and this build didn't even star Sableye, proving that stall teams can forgo it if necessary. It really just fails to hold its own weight and depends on the other stall members too much. SM has been unkind to Sableye, and recent meta shifts like Duggy banning and more pokemon rising (Heatran, Zard-X, Lele, etc) that can threaten Sableye means that it should drop.
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