NERFS
Pokemon: Mega Gardevoir
Typing:
/
[No Change]
New Stats: 68 / 65 / 75 / 125 / 175 / 110 (618)
New Ability: Imsomnia
Added/Removed Moves: None
Justification: Gardevoir actually loses some of its power compared to its base form (no item) in exchange for a ludicrous amount of Special bulk and some Speed. Imsomnia has not much use except that Mega Garde becomes a hard counter to Jynx, but even then it has to be somewhat careful since most Spore-users are physical attackers... and while I put the leftover stats into Defence, 75 defence still sucks.
All-in-all, I wanted the role of Gardevoir and Mega-Gardevoir to be entirely different from each other, and I think that I succeeded.
Pokemon: Keldeo
Typing:
/
[No Change]
New Stats: 83 / 90 / 80 / 129 / 90 / 108 (580)
New Ability: Justified [No Change]
Added/Removed Moves: -Icy Wind, -Scald, -Aqua Jet
Justification: I disagree with TheReptile in that this nerf decides over the future of the other Musketeers. We can always make the four Musketeers entirely different from each other (let's not forget to mention Virizion needs less of a nerf than the other three).
I removed Scald because that is just a bullshit move, and Icy Wind to frustrate it even more on the Special Side, making the choice for a Hidden Power even harder. I removed Aqua Jet because I don't want it to revenge stuff it has no business to revenge, not to mention that I want Talonflame to remain a solid check to it and Aqua Jet would prevent that a bit too easily.
Its Special Attack is left untouched - NU is home to quite a few things that fully wall its STAB moves completely, and with Icy Wind removed it has to choose in what it is going to hit with Hidden Power. Mantine? Leavanny? Jellicent? Masquerain (assuming Water/Bug)? Gourgeist? Exeggutor? Slowbro? Tropius? Ofcourse there are Hidden Powers that hit several of those hard, but you will always be left open to some of these too.
Its Speed is also left untouched, for pretty much the same reason - there can and will be stuff that revenges it.
Pokemon: Talonflame
Typing:
/
[No Change]
New Stats: 88 / 81 / 69 / 84 / 71 / 136 (529)
New Ability: Flame Body /
Keen Eye /
Inner Focus (HA)
Added/Removed Moves: +Energy Ball
Justification: No Gale Wings - keeping it would screw with the tier way too much (up to the point that properly nerfing Talonflame would be impossible, and I'm glad Runbabyrun had the sense not to impose that challenge) The biggest change is that it can attack on both sides of the Spectrum now, and Energy Ball renders it stupidly annoying to switch into since most Rock-types no longer can. However, none of the Attack stats is that high, both being actually fairly low, so bulky mons that don't mind a Will-O-Wisp to the face can still wall it. Talonflame keeps the same role it had in OU - that of a very fast revenge killer, just without Priority Brave Bird.
BUFFS
Pokemon: Bastiodon
Typing:
/
[No Change]
New Stats: 87 / 52 / 168 / 138 / 94 / 30 (517)
New Ability: Sturdy /
Solid Rock (HA)
Added/Removed Moves: +Power Gem
Justification: Bastiodon never looked like a powerful physical attacker to me, so instead I made this walking fortress attacking from a range, shifting its 2nd-highest stat to Special Attack. Due to that, it has much less SpDef than before, but it gained enough HP to make difference in bulk on the special side much less notable. I gave it 87 HP because I was bored of seeing all the simple 60s and 70s and 80s in this thread and Bastiodon always had pretty random stats.
In between its STAB moves Flash Cannon and Power Gem, and coverage in the form of Thunderbolt, Ice Beam and Flamethrower, it can hit pretty damn hard, especially with maximum investment. It can tank numerous hits as well, but the lack of reliable recovery allows it to be whittled down eventually regardless.
The kept stat values were 168, 138 and 52, as well as 30.
Pokemon: Gigalith
Typing:
[No Change]
New Stats: 85 / 135 / 130 / 60 / 100 / 25 (535)
New Ability: Diamond Armor (makes it immune to Fire-type moves as well as Bulletproof), Sand Force (HA)
Added/Removed Moves: +Recover, +Play Rough, +Diamond Storm, -Explosion
Justification: No Solid Rock, which I originally wanted to give to Gigalith, but instead I decided to go with a souped up Bulletproof that also turns a resistance into a full immunity, giving it a very convenient Will-O-Wisp immunity in the process, making it a much better counter to Fletchinder and Talonflame than most other Rock-types. I left its stats mostly unchanged, but I added some Special Defence, which is needed as it loses out on Sturdy, which also takes Custap sets out of the equation.
Move-wise, it gains Recover, making it the one of the rare defensive Rock-types that can last throughout the match and keep checking Normal and Flying spam. Diamond Storm because it goes well with the name of its new ability. And last, Play Rough to prevent Gurdurr from setting up nilly-willy on it, but Gigalith has trouble to afford the moveslot for it (with Recover, Diamond Storm and Earthquake pretty much being a given) unless you have a different Stealth Rock setter. I originally wanted to give it Zen Headbutt instead of Play Rough, but when I glanced at its prevolutions, I found Play Rough the better fit.
Gigalith is now entirely different from Golem and the numerous other Rock-types that have found their home in NU, whether that is Solrock, Bastiodon or Cradily.
The last thing that I changed is the loss of Explosion; we have other Rock-types to say hello like a bomb, not to mention that Explosion does not really fit with the other changes anyway.
Pokemon: Luxray
Typing:
/
New Stats: 92 / 122 / 92 / 62 / 82 / 72 (522)
New Ability: Rivalry / Intimidate /
Strong Jaw (HA)
Added/Removed Moves: None
Justification: Much like those before me, I think Luxray is a fine candidate to gain the Dark-type alongside its Electric-typing. However, Luxray looks too honest to me at the same time to use a dirty trick, so I don't give it Sucker Punch. It instead gains Strong Jaw, to boost its coverage moves, like Ice Fang and Crunch, to respectable levels. It can also utilize Intimidate alongside a (rather weak) Volt Switch if it wants to, but its low speed is a bit of a bummer, though I made sure that it outspeeds Samurott given equal investment.
