And I don't think I'm alone in this thinking. During SPL, the playerbase made an intentional effort of pushing the boundaries, and we saw a smattering of different playstyles. Smurf.'s age old hyper offensive team became prevalent with slight updates, and this brought forth a wave of metagame responses. In the past year, too, we have seen players continually optimize their resources. Substitute/Protect/Rapid Spin Tentacruel, for example, made use of the Pokemon's ability to thrive in the Rain ditto. Breloom sets have been repeatedly optimized, with Grass Gem and 3 Attack Toxic Orb being realized. Following the suit of ORAS, Imprison Landorus has poked its head; Cloyster has been a factor; Volcarona still remains dominant as ever.
While I usually anticipate a revival in a tier I love, the more I play it, much to my chagrin, the more I realize the very feeble balance the tier possess. The fulcrum of the metagame is situated atop a bevy of incredibly overpowered strategies. Tentacruel in Rain; Excadrill in sand; Magic Guard with support; LATIOS; Keldeo; Thundurus; the list goes on and on. If you've followed BW's history at all, you would recognize it was a first for lots of things—the first tier with such high power strategies, the first tier with team preview, the first tier with permanent Rain and Sun, the first tier that really diverted from 'traditional' Pokemon.
This has been reiterated before, but I'll say it again: this tier has been handled like dogshit. And I'm also partially to blame! When the tier was a current gen, we had bad tier leaders that left current BWrs to inherit a tier that is so chalked. We have never had a cogent response to any element of brokenness. Instead, we have created a loose patchwork of bans that have created a vaguely familiar and "balanced" metagame, but more and more I play it, the more and more I realize that it's bad! This tier is bad! It's not good! And it's not fun!
You don't have to take my word for it: lots of the BW community has expressed upset as of late with regards to the volatility and the oppressiveness of threats that make building and consistency seem impossible. In many cases, especially for rain matchups, it feels like you have to negotiate your resources with guesswork. Your Tentacruel having Substitute or Toxic can win or lose the game, for example, depending on if you hit the right matchup with it. And I believe this is emblematic of how the tier is set up: you are really on edge against all the threats that the smallest decisions in the builder matter so much, to the point of it being not fun!
This thread is meant to act as a hub of people discussing their views on the current BW metagame. How do we move forward? Is there a way forward? Do we accept what we have? Do we wait for more 'development'? Do we try to make amends?
While I usually anticipate a revival in a tier I love, the more I play it, much to my chagrin, the more I realize the very feeble balance the tier possess. The fulcrum of the metagame is situated atop a bevy of incredibly overpowered strategies. Tentacruel in Rain; Excadrill in sand; Magic Guard with support; LATIOS; Keldeo; Thundurus; the list goes on and on. If you've followed BW's history at all, you would recognize it was a first for lots of things—the first tier with such high power strategies, the first tier with team preview, the first tier with permanent Rain and Sun, the first tier that really diverted from 'traditional' Pokemon.
This has been reiterated before, but I'll say it again: this tier has been handled like dogshit. And I'm also partially to blame! When the tier was a current gen, we had bad tier leaders that left current BWrs to inherit a tier that is so chalked. We have never had a cogent response to any element of brokenness. Instead, we have created a loose patchwork of bans that have created a vaguely familiar and "balanced" metagame, but more and more I play it, the more and more I realize that it's bad! This tier is bad! It's not good! And it's not fun!
You don't have to take my word for it: lots of the BW community has expressed upset as of late with regards to the volatility and the oppressiveness of threats that make building and consistency seem impossible. In many cases, especially for rain matchups, it feels like you have to negotiate your resources with guesswork. Your Tentacruel having Substitute or Toxic can win or lose the game, for example, depending on if you hit the right matchup with it. And I believe this is emblematic of how the tier is set up: you are really on edge against all the threats that the smallest decisions in the builder matter so much, to the point of it being not fun!
This thread is meant to act as a hub of people discussing their views on the current BW metagame. How do we move forward? Is there a way forward? Do we accept what we have? Do we wait for more 'development'? Do we try to make amends?
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