Thoughts on What to Ban:
- The combination of Sturdy + Shell Smash + Berry Juice
Ok, I know this is a complex ban, but, please, hear me out. After laddering, what I've taken from the experience is that this is one of the broken things in LC at the moment, in my eyes. I was thinking about ways to nerf this and maybe limiting it somehow, but you only need one to make it work, and that 'one' is usually Tirtouga. Sturdy + Berry Juice is a very strong combination on its own, but I think what really sets it over the edge is actually Shell Smash. Shell Smash allows for an instantaneous boost that is just insane, allowing Tirtouga to 2HKO practically everything in the tier. You may say
"well, entry hazards", but this just is not the case. You don't allow your spinner to die before sending out your Shell Smash Pokemon, and it doesn't even matter if they have a bad choice-locked matchup or if Cottonee is in play. And Cottonee + Tirtouga is insane, crippling something with Memento and Stun Spore, or Encore, and then going to Tirtouga is an easy way to setup and a hard way to stop. What exactly are the drawbacks to using this strategy? You get instant Speed and power, and you're at full health and guaranteed to live one more hit. Most can be stopped by Drilbur, yes, but it can't safely switch into any of these Pokemon. The thing is, Tirtouga can just Aqua Jet to mitigate priority, like Fletchling and Pawniard. Sure, it has its stops like Scarf Mienfoo and Timburr, but I find it very unhealthy for the metagame and would definitely like to see this get the boot.
Pawniard is broken in my opinion, Knock Off isn't, but Pawniard screams it much louder to me. Pawniaird pressures Defog users with its presence alone and its Knock Off is insanely strong. Pawniard's Scarf set is insane too, and I'm sure many of you are familiar with it. I won't call Pawniard over-centralizing, because I can't properly define the word and am not going to use it if I can't; so I won't be throwing that around crazily. Pawniard packs so much power and Speed (w/ Choice Scarf), and its ability makes it very hard to remove hazards, along with the fact that it can actually take advantage of Sticky Web, making it even more powerful. It has a fantastic typing too, so don't forget this. Thanks to its typing, it can hit Fairy-types very hard with Iron Head. It's just all-around way too strong for the LC metagame in my opinion and needs to go.
Don't get me wrong, Drought isn't completely overpowered in itself, it's its side effects that make me want to ban it. Drought is instantly summoned, and, although it got nerfed, is still powerful. Drought makes Vulpix very strong, and it also makes its number one partner very difficult to stop: Bellsprout. Bellsprout, the tiny little thing, is too strong in my opinion. NOT BELLSPROUT ITSELF, Drought's boosts to it (Chlorophyll, Weather Ball, Growth). Drought was banned entirely last generation, and I think it's time this is put back in place. Even though it is only five turns, it is still powerful, not as powerful as last generation, but certainly powerful. It allows Grass-types with Chlorophyll to freely spam Solar Beam and have boosted Speed, outspeeding some Choice Scarf users. They're hard to kill, and the Poison-type additions to any Chlorophyll sweepers means that really only Ice Shard can hassle them. It's certainly not unmanageable, and this is why it's lowest on my list, but I still think it needs the boot.
These are the three nominations I'm going to make, however, here my thoughts on other Pokemon that I also think are problems. Misdreavus is instantly the first thing that comes to mind, as it's strong, bulky, and really versatile. My main gripe with it is that there is always something that does well against it. Let me explain this part. If I run SubNP with Hidden Power Fighting as my coverage move, then bulky Scraggy can beat Misdreavus, if I run Thunderbolt then, again, bulky Scraggy can handle Misdreavus, so can Munchlax, Chinchou, etc. If I run Dazzling Gleam, then Scraggy isn't a concern, but Eviolite Pawniard sponges the hit and forces Midreavus out. However, it is insanely hard to check overall. It can run a variety of sets like Eviolite, bulky NP, SubNP, Choice Scarf, and the list goes on. It has coverage in all the right places, and to top it all off, its Speed is really high. I just don't feel Misdreavus is extremely broken at the moment, but moreso very strong. I really like it in the current metagame, and maybe that's just me, but I wouldn't mind seeing it banned. Mienfoo, now. Mienfoo is not broken in my eyes really. Sure, it's fast, versatile, and strong, but is it really restricting? It gets checked by a lot of shit like Foongus for example, and it can't run everything. Scarf sets can be played around and Life Orb sets can as well, but Eviolite sets are a bit tougher. My main issue with Mienfoo is that it can escape all of its counters with U-turn and just regain health to get back in and do stuff again. Finally, burd. Fletchling is really strong, yes, and Gale Wings Acrobatics pushes it over any other Flying-type. But after using it for awhile I realized how much stuff actually checked it, think Magnemite, Chinchou, Bronzor (which is still viable ;__;7). It also keeps things in line and well constructed teams usually do have answers to it. Sure it's really good, but I don't think it deserves to be banned. Suspected? Maybe, but not banned.