iLlama
Nothing personal, I protect my people
I agree with all the bans which have been done, and it really makes me really happy the council is doing this good this gen yaya.
Now from what I have played, and from what I heard of other players, possible new suspects could be:
Kartana: 181 attack unboosted, speed enough to outspeed the 4 musketeers and very nice defense (it can resist a banded EQ from excadrill iirc), it can solo sweep grounds, waters (unless SSipper Azumarill or Kingdra outspeed on rain), Rocks, Fairies, Fightings (unless dark/fighting mon or cobalion Psycho cut sweeps)... I personally use choice scarf on it alla Moxie Salamence gen4, and it works great on it
On the downside it have low base power attacking moves, and its spe defense is paper thin so it dies to resisted special attacks. Anyways illama explained Kartana far better than me so check it :3
Xurkitree: It have average stats all around except its special attack (173) and access to Tail Glow, also further boosted by electric terrain. I have used it like scarfer on monoelectric and it does fairly well with its ability, even if sometimes is still slow like scarfer compared to other ones. Can't comment on Tail Glow becos have never see it being used. A mon to watch out ya
Tapu Koko: It have great speed tier and nice mixed offenses, greatly support its team (mostly electric) with its ability and can sometimes force pass its counters (excadrill, chansey, cradily from the top of my head) with its z move Guardian of Alola.
On the other hand it greatly helps electric to be relevant again, and also helps them again dragons and breloom, not counting is the main reason alolan raichu is being used too. So im still not sure if the pros outclass the cons or the contrary.
Tapu Lele: It looks like an upgraded gardevoir, same typing and best stats overall. The mon itself isn't problematic, the issue is the support it bring with its ability to psychic teams (sucker punch, shadow sneak and other priorities disabled) so Hoopa-u and co. can sweep without the danger of priorities. (Not to talk how hard hoopa-u hits with psychic stab)
About the pros, it helps fairy mono again the steel matchup, like bullet punch is disabled, and a nice poison check (always replacing gardevoir)
Mega Metagross: This thing is a monster and everyone knows it lel. Great speed, attack and super bulk, mega gross helps both steel and psychic monos overall. Not spending too much words because everyone knows what it does ya.
Mega Slowbro: I don't have seen it used much except in a water stall with a Regenerator core (mega) Slowbro-Toxapex and it was painful to watch. Not many mons can stop it from settupin, and even in its normal form it is useful like physical wall. Not clue how it does on monopsychic, so if someone have experience with it, could be apreciated sharing it :3
Toxapex: This thing was the surprise of this gen hands down. Regenerator, 152/142 defenses, Poison typing to absorb toxic spikes, recover, a signature move which protects user and poison the opponent, and the best move in the game Scald, whats not to love in this mon. Like expected many types have problems breaking this mon, even if is offensive stats are weak. A mon to have an eye on.
Well thats all I guess, my personal opinion is:
- Kartana, Mega Metagross, Mega Slowbro: Bannable
- Xurkitree, Tapu koko, Tapu lele, Toxapex: Borderline (still not sure)
It helps council banned Terrain Extender, so we can see if it nerfs a bit the 2 tapus.
- I've mostly discussed what Kartana's appealing aspects are for Grass and Steel, but overall the Pokemon is a pretty iffy subject as of now, simply because it will find its biggest opportunity to shine once the metagame has begun to settle in for SuMo. Not saying that it is/isn't an extremely dangerous Pokemon in certain matchups, but the fact that it wasn't overtly banned really shows that it isn't a Pokemon that deserves to be outright banned, like many other issues brought up in the quick ban slate. The determining factor for Kartana, to me, is how well it will perform and out-perform other options on Steel, because realistically, it's a god-send for Grass teams to get out of their Bulky Balance funk that it was stuck in last generation.
- Xurkitree is a tough one for me to find anything that's really broken about it, because beyond Beast Boost + Choice Scarf being extremely annoying it has terrible coverage options, its bulk is ok with 83 HP and 71 in both defenses, and its speed tier is pretty awful, at only Base 83. Yes the daunting 173 SpA, Tail Glow and Beast Boost are a terrifying combo, but it's more or less a 1-trick-pony. It hits hard specially with extremely limited options, unlike a Pokemon such as Hoopa-U who has even greater SpA and is an effective mixed attacker, while also possessing an incredibly diverse movepool.
- I'm not really sure why people think that Tapu Koko is even remotely broken. Just because it makes a type that was once very limited in viability into a top tier type with the combination of other Pokemon doesn't mean that it's something that should be considered for banning or suspecting. If anything, this is an excellent Pokemon to have in Gen 7 because it makes the meta much more diverse, compared to the previous generation. Now, regarding Tapu Koko itself, there is not anything that makes it seem as though it should be considered as ban-worthy. It has a nice stat spread and an excellent speed tier, in fact, a speed that helps both types that it belongs to immensely. Looking at what Tapu Koko can do on its own, it has a nice movepool that can help out both types that it belongs to, but beyond that, it's nothing to gawk at. Overall, from what I see, it's simply an incredibly solid Pokemon and a great option for both of its types to be able to utilize.
- Tapu Lele is another very difficult Pokemon to discuss until the metagame evolves. As of now, it is basically an upgrade from Gardevoir with a great movepool and an ability that's simply better overall. It has mechanics that could become troubling thanks to Psychic Terrain, but until that issue becomes noticeably broken, there is no reason to suspect/ban this Pokemon. Once the metagame has been functioning for a decent amount of time, I can see this Pokemon receiving a suspect test, but beyond that we should probably wait until Monotype at least gets its ladder set up and we can see how the meta develops on a wide-scale. Realistically, until this Pokemon limits the performance of types facing Psychic and boosts the potential of an already top tier type, this Pokemon should stay within the meta.
- Mega Metagross really hasn't been mentioned enough in order for it to be tested/banned mostly because people generally know that it's an extremely good/dangerous Pokemon within Monotype, so they aren't spelling it out for everyone. From a performance point of view, Mega Metagross brings incredible strength to two top tier types and allows them to simply dominate advantaged and neutral matchups thanks to its insane attack stats, movepool and ability. Its bulk in general is ridiculously good as well, and as in Gen 6, there isn't much change in how it performs in Monotype, let alone in how many types can struggle in handling it. It also recevied an incredible buff thanks to how Gen 7 treats Mega Evolutions, however, I would say this Pokemon would be a great first suspect test for the Monotype community to test out and decide on as it will really show what people need to look for in a Pokemon to understand whether it can be considered broken or not.
- Mega Slowbro is a tough one for me. I haven't seen it enough in this generation to really know if each type can handle it in teambuilds, but from what I can see, it is another Pokemon that could work well as a suspect test, or even another quick-ban. Obviously Stallbreakers will simply beat most Mega Slowbro spreads, however this option could make team-builds like Stall Water much too difficult to handle. This definitely requires some in-depth type-for-type testing to really understand, however.
- Toxapex doesn't deserve a suspect/ban, first and foremost. This Pokemon is nothing less than a bulky wall that you should technically have to build for, so if you lost to it stalling your team out, that's just your problem. It depends on taking hits and statusing the opposing Pokemon. That's pretty much the extent of what it can do. Sure it can be annoying to deal with because it's a very good defensive Pokemon, but as of now, it's just a great option for both Water and Poison and should be prepped for accordingly.
- I agree with everything the council decided upon and I'm interested to see how people will adapt to these changes after the first week of Gen 7. With that said, I would like to touch on a seemingly uncertain topic: Blaziken
- I've been testing Blaziken quite a bit for both Fighting and Fire, and from what I've seen, it completely eliminates any chance for losing in advantaged matchups and makes a lot of neutral matchups highly favored for whatever type Blaziken is on. For example, if Blaziken's team has hazards, i.e. Stealth Rocks up, in an advantaged matchup, the Blaziken team realistically cannot lose. The combination of speed boost with either a mixed set or fully physical set just dominate these matchups and leave no opportunity for reasonable checks and counters. Disregarding highly specific team compositions and unreasonable set-ups, Rock, Ice, Grass, Steel and Bug have no answers for Blaziken beyond extreme defensively oriented sets specifically designed to shut it down. Types like Normal or Dark have soft-checks, but realistically, they can't formally handle this threat. That in combination with its capabilities as a Baton Pass Pokemon as well is simply too overwhelming for Monotype to handle, and thus, I think it deserves the ban.
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