Ok guys, so i was discussing stuff with
LightCore and i decided to re-check the viability rankings yet again, and for what we came as conclusion, I would like to nominate
Azumarill to at least A, ideally A+. Ok, let's back up this with its current shine at literally every Fall Regional. Azumarill wasn't only a really common Pokemon in these teams, but also, it has been really consistent since the very existence of Japan Sand, back in June / July season. Azumarill's best set by far right now is the Belly Drum set, and Azumarill has a really strong priority move capable of OHKOing bulky Mega Charizard Y under sun, even after 1 Intimidate from Landorus-T after the Belly Drum. Play Rough is a strong Fairy-type move, but besides nuking, it doesn't really hit much of the metagame bar Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence and Fighting-types such as Scrafty. Knock Off, the other Azumarill filler option, allows you to hit the most common Azumarill switch-in, Amoonguss, for neutral damage and OHKO it after a Belly Drum. You also hit everything else pretty hard; Pokemon like Rotom-W won't appreciate the Knock Off either.
But all these are based on the fact that Azumarill does get a Belly Drum off, but to be quite honest, getting it off with Azumarill's most common partners isn't that difficult. In fact, is rather easy. Let's take a look at Season 12 of Battle Spot to see what were Azumarill's most common partners:
1. Kangaskhan: The Fake Out support Kangaskhan offers plus the offensive pressure it exerts puts inmediate pressure on both of the Pokemon the opponent has, meaning that he either has to get rid of that Kangaskhan and let a +6 Azumarill stick around a little bit longer OR he has to deal with Azumarill which isn't really a Pokemon you usually can OHKO and leave Kangaskhan intact.
2. Landorus-T: It's Landorus-T. Can't say much about this one but Electric inmunity + Intimidate does help the blue rabbit to set up.
3. Amoonguss: Azumarill + Amoonguss isn't something people isn't aware of rn. Amoonguss exerts Spore pressure while it provides redirection so Azumarill gets its Belly Drum with more safety. Plus it kinda annoys non-Safety Goggles Thundurus (if you ask if that exist, i'll legit kill you. Like, Shoma used it...).
4. Thundurus: Don't have logic reasoning for this one but this REALLY solid argument: Blame CHALK
5. Salamence: The second best Mega Evolution (it seems like it, may be a bit of room for debate) is a good pairing for Azu because it has Intimidate pre-mega and Fairy + Steel + Dragon cores are always nice. They share some kind of issue with bulky waters but that's pretty much it.
Well, so that's for Azu, which is a Pokemon that's marking the metagame atm and can't be left in the same ranking that Pokemon like Hydreigon and Arcanine: while they are good Pokemon, they don't define the metagame like Azumarill is doing right now.
Ok, some other nominations would be:
Cresselia:
A+ -> A. Cresselia is an amazing Pokemon as it is right now, but its lack of offensive pressure plus the lack of a really relevant supportive option makes Cresselia not THAT good. Cresselia as support Pokemon isn't able to provide such a crucial support like the other 2 supportive Pokemon in A+, Thundurus and Aegislash, do. Cresselia has also been replaced by other Pokemon in CHALK, and most of them are also in A rank: Sylveon, Clefable and Milotic have a relatively similar role to Cresselia in some teams, explaining why a lot of CHALK teams have replaced the the former queen of VGC for these 3.
Hariyama:
B -> B-. Dude, poor Hariyama is in a tough spot as it is right now. Being a pretty one dimentional Pokemon, Hariyama's only niche over the other 2 giant Fighting-types in the VGC metagame (these would be Conkeldurr and Scrafty) is Close Combat, and the defense drop doesn't truly let this really bulky Pokemon to do some of the assigned roles that it is given. Hariyama is often beated by Kangaskhan after chip damage, Intimidate from Landorus-T holds it back, Assault Vest being one of the few options Hariyama has to succeed in the metagame, and this tool is easily nullified by its own Close Combat, relies on Trick Room to work properly (like, literally. Have you ever seen a Hariyama outside of Trick Room? Like, at least Ludicolo can be used on some teams as an anti-rain tool) and some of the metagame Pokemon such as Sylveon, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Salamence leaves it more threatened than in the last time. Hariyama has lost its shine, and i've been laddering entire weeks without seeing one.
For now, that's it. I'm getting myself involved with Volcarona because this thing is way too common right now and i'm considering the possibility of raising it.