As per our recent vote, Victini will be the first suspect test of SV National Dex UU.
Suspect Reasoning:
Victini has been one of the most diverse and powerful Pokemon in the tier for a while now. Its fantastic offensive typing, solid natural bulk, good base speed, and variable moveset options have made it an elite offensive threat with very few safe options against it, often being few and far between when it comes to breaking through the few checks through entirely different options and/or with the smallest forms of residual damage being taken into account. The tier was initially able to stand ground against these traits due to the significantly higher power level of the initial offensive metagame, but has only since paved the way for Victini’s options to push forward with extreme prejudice as tiering shifts continue to take its effect, resulting in the loss of most of these threats in the process.
Z-Celebrate has been the most consistently used offensive variant for a while now, demanding excessive attention through its increased defenses, immensely powerful STAB moves after a boost, and aftermentioned speed tier. Checking this set in a vacuum can be extremely difficult due to the lack of reliable offensive revenge killers against it, with only Choice Scarf Keldeo and weather abusers being able to do this from full, and only without taking the likelihood of screens into account, allowing it to dish out even damage before going down. By extension, said increased hit-taking abilities also translate over to common defensive answers against it, with the likes of Chople Berry Tyranitar and Assault Vest Galarian Slowking being unable to deal significant damage back, and also being easily worn down into KO range by entry hazards. The freedom Victini has to wear down most Pokemon through its STABs alone on top of this, additionally allows it to opt for extra coverage moves to get past other resists to its main attacking moves, like Energy Ball over Focus Blast to obliterate the likes of Slowking and Clear Smog Gastrodon.
Choice Band sets have also seen somewhat of a resurgence, namely due to the increased usage of Sun with the recent returns of both Torkoal as a reliable setter and Venusaur as a potent offensive cleaner, but also because of the sheer offensive synergy it has with Z-Celebrate against its most common switchins. The raw strength of STAB V-Create on these sets are often further supplemented by Tera Fire, thus giving it the ability to nigh-effortlessly plow through even resisted Pokemon such as Tyranitar and Mega Latias on the switch, while also removing its weakness to Banded Tyranitar and Weavile’s Pursuit, preventing them from being able to get the trap off reliably after a Speed drop. The given threat of Z-Celebrate may already be difficult enough on most occasions already, but when paired with Choice Band’s ability to immediately force these would-be switch-ins on the backfoot for attempting to come in and not give away completely free opportunities to it, consistently dealing with and preventing it from accomplishing its job in this regard, remains the real challenge.
Victini does have a fair share of issues however, with the one-and-done nature of its Z-Celebrate sets in practice, a lack of reliability on getting super-effective hits can prove to be problematic when trying to break through certain Pokemon such as Latios and Galarian Moltres from full, while defensive answers such as Ting-Lu, Blissey, and Slowking are realistically able to take any hit at high health and respond accordingly with status or phazing moves in a pinch. Choice Band sets are also limited by their lack of defensive utility, being more vulnerable to Stealth Rock over the course of trying to attack through repeated turns and also being unable to directly switchin into much outside of pivoting support or an aggressive double, meaning faster teams can sometimes play around it through sheer offensive pressure, and limit it to one KO at maximum. Moreover, a well-timed Tera from certain Pokemon such as Defensive Kommo-o and Iron Treads may be used to scout an attempt from either variant, blanking it temporarily, and giving teams a much-needed second chance against handling it whenever possible.
Suspect Test Information
- Reading this is mandatory to participate in the suspect test. The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 79 with at least 40 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 79 GXE, down to a minimum of 20 games at a GXE of 83. Also, needing more than 40 games to reach 79 GXE will suffice.
GXE minimum games 79 40 79.2 39 79.4 38 79.6 37 79.8 36 80 35 80.2 34 80.4 33 80.6 32 80.8 31 81 30 81.2 29 81.4 28 81.6 27 81.8 26 82 25 82.2 24 82.4 23 82.6 22 82.8 21 83 20
- You must use a fresh account that begins with the given prefix for this suspect test. That prefix is NDUUVIC9. For example, I could signup and qualify with the name NDUUVIC9 Niadev.
- You may not impersonate or mock another user with your account name. If there is any slight hesitation, you're probably better off picking a different name. We reserve the right to null your voting requisites if you are found impersonating or mocking another user with your account name. Moderator discretion will be applied.
- If you are found trying to manipulate voting requisites in any way, you will be met with a harsh infraction. Manipulating voting requisites ranges from faking your screenshot to asking another user to forfeit.
- The Pokemon that's being suspect tested, Victini, will be allowed on the National Dex UU ladder for the next two weeks so that we can properly assess its position in the metagame.
- This suspect test will go on for two weeks. It will last until February the 28th at 11:59 PM GMT-4.
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