hey guys, balto here. a lot of this forum has been super banhappy, so i wanted to bring a bit of an inverse arguement to the table. most of you probably don't know a whole lot about this topic unless you've been playing since b/w, so i'll break it down.
blaziken is a mon that never really had a shot in monotype. in gen 5, monotype followed the overused banlist, so naturally when blazekin was banned in overused, it was banned in mono as well. now, from my completely honest opinion, blazekin was not overpowered in the bw monotype metagame. however, that opinion is completely void and offers no actual insight to how blaziken would do in the current metagame, since we're about 3 years past that metagame.
so since we do have this huge periodical difference, let's analyze blazekin for a second. (the critical stats are highlighted)
hp:80
atk:
120
def:70
sptk:
110
spdf:70
spd:
80
ability:
speed boost
typing:
fire/fighting
these stats basically reflect how well blaziken could play a mixed/physical/special speedboost user. this stands out especially on fire, because it's such a slow type. but would infernape be broken on fire?the easy answer, is no. the evidence lies with a mon that practically mirrors blazekin's offensive stats.
good ole infernape falls just short of blazekin's offensive stats, with a
104 in both special attack as well as regular attack. the difference between the two's stats, as well as infernape's current performance on fire, leads me to believe blaziken would provide a significant boost in speed, yet
not an overpowered addition to fire.
honestly, i don't think it's necessary to write a whole lot about kin on fighting, it's not a very unique mon among fighting types other than speed boost. the only significant benefit to running blaziken would be a speed boost fire stab mon vs bug, which would be quite helpful. however, overall blaziken's speed, attack, and spatk tier are NOT unique among the other fighting types.
after quick thoughts, i have no doubt that blaziken wouldn't be overpowered in a monotype metagame.
note:bp wasn't covered due to the new baton pass clause(the reason i decided to write this up in the first place.)
the discussion doesn't end here though. there is one more aspect of blaziken that we didn't cover.
let's take a look at it's stats, shall we?(too lazy to type out)
once again, mega blaziken's offensive stats point towards a perfect speed boost user. i was curious how a long-time fire user would think about mega blaziken, so i asked my boy
InsanityZenith his thoughts. here are a few logs of him explaining how mega blaziken would play out on fire.
iZenith: theres only
1 base 108 speed and
4 viable base 100 speed
iZenith
:so
speed boost would help there
iZenith
:also for the speed thing, no priority other than mach/vacuum on ape, speed boost would help
fire's speed tier is lackluster compared to other types. that, in particular, is the main reason fire struggles in the metagame. drought is completely worthless if you're unable to match opposing speed tier.
iZenith
:the speed would help with beating the keldeo/terrakion offensive core that just breaks fire if one of them is scarf
this one's pretty self explanatory. mega blaziken gives fire a
chance against major threats, like keldeo and terrakion, and other fast threatening mons in general.
iZenith
:no knock off on all of fire... having one would be nice
this one's also really self explanatory, blaziken/mega blaziken just opens up so many roles on fire.
now here's what makes me think that fire WOULDN'T be overpowered if mega blaziken was allowed. the simple reason is, it has to trade charizard y in order to use it. without it's primary sun mega,
ninetales has a chance to shine. the great thing about mega blaziken on fire is that it would provide a
new style to fire. post zard x ban, char y is literally the only viable mega on fire, and this same style of fire has been played since the beginning of XY.
when we take a look at fighting, this is where the unbiased side of me get's a bit concerned. mega blazikens offensive tier still isn't overpowered, as it falls under the likes of mega medicham. however, i can see a bit of potential issue with the speed tier. at the same time, mega blaziken can be walled just like the rest of fighting. here's a few calcs for support.
252+ Atk Mega Blaziken Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Slowbro: 186-220 (47.2 - 55.8%) -- 22.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
(ignore the 2kho, calc can't figure out that knock off makes bro lose it's item.)
252+ Atk Mega Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 181-214 (44.8 - 52.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Mega Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Gliscor: 156-184 (44 - 51.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Poison Heal
these are just to name a few, there ARE common checks to blaziken.
one last quick comparison to mega blaziken
scarf darmanitan would be nearly identical to blaziken in terms of role. following this, there's a reason why darm isn't a staple, or to be honest, super common on fire.
recoil damage. blaziken would not get any type of recovery, and this means at most, it could get 2-3 picks before dropping to recoil alone.
overall, i think it's time to call for a suspect on blaziken. in my personal opinion, regular blaziken is nowhere near broken, but there are good arguments for keeping out mega. please drop your opinions(and maybe even a like) on this counter-intuitive idea of NOT banning something on the forums.