To bring us all in the same page, we're essentially discussing if Blaziken is now tame enough for Monotype. With access to a wide offensive movepool and Swords Dance (among other things), most would agree that Blaziken with Speed Boost is too overpowered by itself, however more people are more lenient towards it on Fire, while it is heavily antagonized on Fighting.
We're no longer doing type bans and since Fighting is the main problem type, I figured it was the best place to start because if it's overpowered on Fighting, then it's definitely not going to be unbanned. To do just that, see if it's overpowered, I've gone ahead and collected replays against some types of what I believe are the most important match-ups for Fighting to see how much of an effect Blaziken would have on the tier
Before I go on with the replays though, let me share the set I've been using on Blaziken so you could see where I'm coming from.
BlazikenCiel (Blaziken) @ Life Orb
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
- Knock Off
- High Jump Kick
It's no doubt that +2 LO Blaziken is a powerhouse, but I personally don't think it needs Swords Dance because 1.) it's already plenty powerful, and 2.) set up opportunities are quite rare to come by with its less than stellar defensive typing and somewhat frail defenses. It would only be able to set up on complete utility mons, resisted moves locked by choice scarf, and the weakest of set up fodder. Flare Blitz, STAB fire move, 120 base power, should be self explanatory as an option. Protect lets Blaziken scout moves and stall a turn for Speed Boost to outpace a faster Pokemon while making it harder to revenge kill by means of outspeeding it. Knock Off for some coverage and utility, could be swapped for something else. High Jump Kick is another insanely powerful move, but since it is on a Fighting team, this can also be swapped for something else if needed.
Fighting w/ Blaziken vs. Flying Blaziken had no effect in this battle; won, but it wasn't even sent out.
Fighting w/ Blaziken vs. Ghost Blaziken dominates; overwhelms with pressure. The rest of the team cleans up after it eventually KO's itself -> recoil is literally the "counter" here.
Fighting w/ Blaziken vs. Dragon Blaziken doesn't help much; could do damage, but can't significantly change the battle.
Fighting w/ Blaziken vs. Psychic Blaziken helps a bit, but it's not too important in the match up.
SD Blaziken can easily take the game vs. Psychic if it finds the opportunity though.
Fighting w/ Blaziken vs. Water Blaziken doesn't make much of a difference here because of Gyarados.
Fighting w/ Blaziken vs. Bug Blaziken can hurt things, but will eventually lose to Mega Pinsir. Terrakion will always be the hero here.
In a few of these instances, Stone Edge, Thunder Punch, or Swords Dance could have really helped Blaziken shine, but it would have been nigh-useless in another match-up. Keep in mind that these replays are not representative of Blaziken's match-up against the entire type. There were other types I could have fought against, but I believe the outcome, win or loss, couldn't have been solely attributed to Blaziken anyway.
tl;dr Blaziken is powerful, but suffers from acute 4MSS, and it will naturally end up not contributing too much in another match up because of that.
Shoutout to
SaNeski (x2),
Argus2Spooky, and
Lord B33 for lending me some of their time to help me test. Thanks to the other guys who helped me test too, but I don't know your Smogon names.