Ladder ORAS Monotype Discussion

[1 True Lycan]

Just gonna paste what i posted on the previous thread with a few edits:

Zard X: I feel most strongly about this pokemon because I feel it's power and unpredictability has been overlooked. This pokemon destroys types such as steel, electric and ice. It is more of a threat to ice than most other fire types since it has access to dragon dance. When I say it destroys steel, I mean it DESTROYS steel. If it is running flare blitz, eq, wisp, roost, the only check is balloon heatran (or sac a mon and bring in a scarfer, which is hardly fair). Heatran is a very important pokemon vs flying and keeping its balloon intact for the whole game is almost impossible.
If zard is using 3 attacks roost, then steel has no switchin (Zard dragon claws on the heatran switchin then kills with eq). It its DD 3 attacks, then the only revenge killer is sucker punch Bisharp (or lucario but both need zard to be weakened. Scarf Durant works too if you can hit a rock slide.). You have to sac a pokemon or 2 just to find out what set it is, and even then countering it is difficult since the flying user can just switch out (lets not forget flying has access to landorus-i and tornadus-t as well).

Here are 2 replays of Void Orion and I fighting Pk-kaiser's flying team. We are both considered to be pretty good with steel, and lets just say the match doesn't end well for either of us. Neither of us knew his sets beforehand.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-28304 Orion vs Kaiser
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-33991 Lycan vs Kaiser

I did defeat Crystal Inferno who was using the same team as Kaiser, but that's only because she played poorly and didn't bring charizard out until the end. Here's the replay for anyone who is interested. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-33840

Lastly I would like to point out that forcing steel users to use air balloon heatran is an obvious case of centralization.
Also 252+ Atk Tough Claws Mega Charizard X Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 270-320 (83.8 - 99.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock do you really think this is a counter.

People have spoken about electric and ghost enough so I'm not going to into that.

 

[thesecondbest]

That being said we should probably discuss Altaria :P

 

[Dece1t]

I never said godlike plays and they aren't. They're very intense and offensive plays, but if played right can feel great. It's just simply keeping the pressure on.
"Elec can't do half to chari" Ok what the actual f- I'm calm now. Uh, Ampharos kills it, done , dead, gone. Evire is a prominent poke so don't try to say that like it's nothing either >_>. Mainly Ampharos though, you know? zeus looking thing? Yeah that. It one shots chari-x.

Um I did keep BulkyChar in mind and it doesn't beat Cofagrigus it's actually laughable. Toxic+will O wisp and ur chari can get mummy ^_^. As for heal bell um, that's where plays come to mind and ghost can double switch to kill toge to prevent heal bell or better yet just spam toxic? Once again ya just gotta think.

Ok so if heatran does 60 to ur bulkyzard what are you gonna do? No matter what you do you lose to heatran.

"Bug can't touch it" Nice rebuttal :I

I'm gonna correct you on a couple points. Grass is dead meat to char x in most cases, mostly ddance variants. Ferro does not help against char x since yes 4x weak to fire, and people prefer to run Leftovers, as it's more efficient recovery with leech seed and protect. Sure there's eq venusaur, but, without some attack investment, Gl 2ko ing it. It can pretty much boost against you like nothing. As for shiftry, yea, LO can 2ko, but most people prefer running other opitions, it doesn't see a lot of usage. That and, it does get ohko'D by it. So, no, grass makes his job very easy.

Electric, ampharos? Yea no, idk why the fuck you brought him up. Amphy is extremely slow, and sticky web support isn't benefitting much for electric. There is heal bell support from togekiss if you suicide your thundy to twave it. Nothing can efficiently check it, but rotom w can stall for a time being, but it can boost against you. Gg electric.

Ghost, handles it a tiny bit better as the team's can be stally/bulky. But, against stuff like sableye and Wow jellicent (idk why people run that, but it has usage), dragon dance dance party. Gl finding a chance for aegislash to boost, bc there's skarmory, landos, ect. Yea, I think I can conclude almost auto loss for ghost.

Rors, balancing the metagame so that ALL types have a chance is the goal. Things like char x skews that flying has the 2nd highest amount of pokes, you have options. As for playstyles, tbh you sound like a crazy horse (puns). But, tbh that's nonesense.

EDIT: Ice
Lately I've gotten be be very aquainted with the type, and I've enjoyed using it. Char X is 1 of the top threats, as everything is weak to it. From personally experiece, my go-to is Walrein to hopefully take a hit, smack with Surf/Ice Move, and hope it kills me so I can revenge kill with someone with ice shard. If its up past 2-3 boosts already, then your basically pryaing it has flare blitz so you can wear it down with recoil. Not quite the hell you have with steel and fighting, but by many means up there as well.

 

[Alexis Breeze]

Ice has limited options depending on who does CharX set up on. Full HP Avalugg can retaliate with EQ or Avalanche plus Rocky Helmet damage, personally I don't like scarf KyuB but that's an option too. Eviolite Piloswine can be helpful although I don't like him that much either.

 

[BibarelThump]

Cloyster can take a hit and smash, assuming no rocks and sash is intact. Rock Blast might kill if icicle spear doesn't

 

[ArVaDa-]

As uncommon as stunfisk may be, rock support from him is really awesome against flying since common defoggers really don't like to take it on. If rocks get up and ampharos can pull of an agility, you pretty much win since zapdos is gone.

As for steel, shuca berry aggron is pretty good at handling charx. It can survive a +2 charx given any common move and ohko with head smash, if it gets wisped it is a 2hko. Although it is an odd poke, it does help alot vs fire, i run an autotomize variant and head quake ohkos pretty much everything.

All in all those are restricting counters to live by. Then again, when fire quake ruins steel, and when dragon naturally pounds electric, it does seem like checks should be ideal to even play the game at all, versus just accepting losses to those types, then asking for bans when they appear on other types. I dunno if charx is banworthy, but I don't think that all arguments to ban him should be accepting losses to types you usually lose to is ok, but when flying does it, it is just unacceptable.

 

[Alexis Breeze]

I've said it before, CharX getting suspected (if that ever happens) it's not about "omg it sweeps mah team! BAN" philosophy but more on the great defensive synergy it provides to Flying type, a type that doesn't necessarily lack variety in terms of teambuilding. If people want to be dumb and just try to compare it to MAltaria in terms of sweeping, that's their problem.

 

[Anttya]

Got reqs, here are some (more) replays showing how OP Alt is

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255979405 - Vs Flying, Not even a Skarmory can stop Mono Attacking Mega Alt. Even with Iron Head
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255944136 - Vs Psychic, Shows how bulky Altaria is, and how status can't stop it
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255058415 - Vs Electric, Shows how it's safe to switch Alt in to pretty much every Electric attacker. Even if it's using HP Ice.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255017829 - Vs Dragon, Shows how if you misplay once it's gg

I thought I saved more replays but apparently I didn't.

Nothing more to be said, Ban Alt

 

[Fírnen]

Got reqs, here are some (more) replays showing how OP Alt is

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255979405 - Vs Flying, Not even a Skarmory can stop Mono Attacking Mega Alt. Even with Iron Head
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255944136 - Vs Psychic, Shows how bulky Altaria is, and how status can't stop it
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255058415 - Vs Electric, Shows how it's safe to switch Alt in to pretty much every Electric attacker. Even if it's using HP Ice.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255017829 - Vs Dragon, Shows how if you misplay once it's gg

I thought I saved more replays but apparently I didn't.

Nothing more to be said, Ban Alt

It shows M-Altaria has to be banned from Flying, not for Dragon here.

 

[Swagata]

It shows M-Altaria has to be banned from Flying, not for Dragon here.

Yes Flying does provide with good team support and some might argue that Dragon does not provide MAlt with good support like flying does but the replays clearly show that the Defensive Dragon Dance set is self sufficient and needs very little team support to bring the home the game.

 

[ed wins]

Yay! Finally the discussion is on Malaria again!

So many of you have given Pro's/Con's to the ban or not ban option for both types, so I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm just going to let y'all know what I feel about the bans and why I feel that way.

Mega-Altaria: Ban on Flying

As we all know, the Flying type is infamous for its versatility. Flying has more than enough tools to help Malaria sweep unprepared teams. First of all, Gliscor can provide rocks for Altaria, while also crippling walls and choiced users with Taunt and Knock Off, which gives Altaria an easier time setting up, sweeping, or breaking through walls with minimal boosts. Skarmory can provide Spikes and Defog. However, it's important to note that Skarmory isn't only the best psychical or mixed wall of the type, but that Skarmory also carries a Steel typing, which sponges Altaria's Fairy, Poison, AND Steel weaknesses, while still being neutral to Rock and Ice, which is beneficial to the type as a whole. Togekiss can also spread and heal status, while also being a great special wall in general and another Defog option. The same can be said for Articuno. Gyarados can spread burns and paralysis while absorbing any possible Ice Beams.

On the offensive side of the field, Altaria is gifted with great wall breakers, revenge killers, and VoltTurn pivots. Thundurus-T/I, Landorus-T/I, and Tornadus-T can easily pivot around threats, allowing Altaria to find the best opportunity to set up. Thundurus-I, Landorus-T/I, and Dragonite can wall break for Altaria, allowing Altaria to shred to walls with minimal boosts(Thundurus can run a mixed or NP set, Landorus-T can run a Banded/SD set, and Dragonite can run a Banded or special/mixed lure set). Scarfed Landorus or Banded Dragonite can also function as revenge killers. There is so many options with Flying that you simple can't go wrong.

It is also important to note that Flying can support every single type of playstyle. Do you want to run a Tailwind Altaria with maximum coverage in Double-Edge, Earthquake, and Fire Blast JUST to flip the bird to Steel, Dragon, Grass, Fairy, Rock, Bug, and Dark monos? Well, lucky for you, Flying can support hyper offensive playstyles beautifully! Would you like to run a mono attacking, bulky Altaria with Heal Bell/Refresh or Sleep Talk-Facade? Guess what? Flying excels at balance! Would you like to run a simple offensive Dragon Dance set? Say no more, as Flying supports bulky offense! Would you like to run a stall Malaria with Perish Song and utility? No problem! Flying does stall well.

The problem with Malaria on Flying is that it gets so many forms of support and can cover every single one of its weaknesses while having the ability to run a very specific set to defeat types that you may struggle with.

Mega-Altaria: Do not ban on Dragon

As we have seen in the past, mono Dragon, by nature, is very hyper offensive in style. While a "balanced" approach can be taken, Dragon still fails to properly cover its weaknesses and often times shares the same common threat between team members. How is this significant? Hyper offense is a playstyle known to reward the user by making good plays (double switches, appropriate move on the forced switch, etc). However, every double switch carries a risk, and, in an atmosphere where the whole type shares a common threat, forcing a switch by faking a Scarf may end up costing you the game if your opponent read your intentions. Furthermore, when the type itself is faced with the same common threat, Altaria can often times struggle to find time to set up, if any time is given. Threats such as Weavile, Mamoswine, Genesect, Mew, Slowbro, Gardevoir, Medicham, Nidoking etc have to be handled in a counter play fashion, which often times leaves the Dragon user at a disadvantage.

Even though Dragon has a plethora of wall breakers and Tailwind setters, Altaria itself is not broken within the type, as many of its teammates share weaknesses and lack proper recovery, which makes the window for support very small. With the exception of a few matchups, such as Dark, Altaria will do no more to the type it is facing than Dragon does to the type itself. For example, Altaria can plow through Electric teams with "X" set, but Dragon teams already destroy the type, so the presence or lack of Altaria will not be a determinant factor.

 

[Fírnen]

Yes Flying does provide with good team support and some might argue that Dragon does not provide MAlt with good support like flying does but the replays clearly show that the Defensive Dragon Dance set is self sufficient and needs very little team support to bring the home the game.

In these replays, Anttya switched a lot too with M-Altaria to find the instant to set up and say GG.
With this set, you can't always stay and say you're enough bulky, it isn't the case in my opinion.

 

[Isza]

Well, suspect tests are almost over and I haven't really dropped an opinion on Mega Altaria, so here goes:

With all due respect, I can't see why anyone would want this in our Metagame. With 75/110/105 Bulk, and great typing, this thing sweeps Over 5 types in the entire Tier, without any sort of skill what so ever or effort. Before I say anymore, let me bring up the Points on why Altaria is Broken and why it sweeps so Many types.

Psychic: Now, I understand Flying and Dragon(Both with Altaria as a choice of mega) Loses to Psychic, 59.0% for dragon, and 50.8% for flying. But when it really comes down to it Getting Gardevoir in a good spot, or having a defensive steel Pokemon to check Altaria, is the only way it will be beatable. Sure Slowbro can Twave and cripple it, but Altaria can heal bell and it's basically set up bait, unless you want to switch to Gardevoir or another Pokemon that can check it and hope for a Para. I have laddered alot in ORAS, and I have come to see the only way i can beat Altaria on psychic, is by getting Mega Gardevoir in a Good spot, or by walling it with my Jirachi set, which is a hard Counter to Mono attacking Altaria. i have some replays, of me playing some really good players on the ladder, such as Anttya and Arkenciel, and the results had all been the same: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255993284 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255985910 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253848404 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253855627
In each replay even though I came out the winner, the Only ensured way i was beating Altaria was to force it out with my Jirachi set:
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Iron Head
which is a hard counter to Mono attacking Mega Altaria. But I'm forced to run this on my team to avoid losing to it. Having to run certain Pokemon on certain types just for a Pokemon results in major meta shifts like these, and I believe this is unhealthy.
Dragon: This really isn't too complicated, but ill explain anyways. basically all it takes is 1 misplay, as in you Just need to get Altaria in on the right spot, Such as on a Locked Latios, or a Tank Chomp set and it's basically GG. Once again, more replays to support my point and for you all to see for yourself: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-68030 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255017829
Fighting: What can I really say? Since fighting is a Hyper offensive type, I would have to say in all honesty, that it has less trouble with mega Altaria then the other types. But Cobalion is the only thing that can really stop it, With Thunderwave, Taunt, and Iron head.
Water: With Greninja Banned, there is really no Hard check to Mono attacking Altaria once again. It sets u on every Common water type, besides Azumarill who can 1HKO it with Play Rough, or Empoleon who can Phaze it out with roar.
Fire: The way I see it. It's Like fire v mega Lati twins: It's 1 sided until you have a certain pokemon(Volcarona). Fire only has Heatran for Bulky Altaria, and even if it's not bulky, it can 1hko that with Earthquake.
DARK: No set up is even needed. You can just click return and eat up hits from anything not named Weavile, which Dark teams are forced to run if they don't want to auto lose to Altaria. Once again this supports what I'm explaining about metagame shifts, being forced to run a certain Mon for the soul purpose of not autolosing to something you won't ever be able to beat otherwise.
Flying: 1 vs 6 Altaria can sweep flying, due to Skarmory being unable to Whirlwind it out and Phaze it. Even with iron head it doesn't stand a Chance, as shown here http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255979405

Electric: Not really that hard either. Just set up on anything not named Magnazone, and call it a snack wrap :]


Another thing I wanted to bring up, was Arkenciel's post

Yeah! I know what I'm looking forward to! July's Monotype stats! scpinion woop! woop!

So I looked over Dragon's "win rates" and it had stupidly high numbers for both Electric and Fire, 78.0% and 79.0% respectively, and had clearly favored match ups for Grass and Poison. However, all of these types would have a rough time against Dragons even without Altaria (Kyurem would be the suspect for 3 of those and helps against Fire, but don't ban that). You could say that this isn't a reason to NOT BAN Altaria, and true, but I'm just starting off by saying that these favorable match-ups for Dragon is NOT Altaria's fault alone.

With that out of the way, I'd now like to point out the lack of a positive match up against Fighting and Dark in my previous statement. I've briefly skimmed past the months and their numbers are usually between 55%-60% in Dragon's favor. You can see it favor Dragon there a little, but the keyword here is a little. With how IMPOSSIBLE people make the match-up out to be, I'd have expected the numbers to be very skewed, much more than just barely "a good match-up".

Two other relevant match ups I can think of are Altaria vs Psychic and Normal. Well, Psychic apparently wins 65% of the time against Dragons (the range for Psychic winning is 60-73% in the subsequent months). They can thank Mew, Gardevoir as either Scarf or Mega, Slowbro's TWave, and any of the part-Steel Psychic Pokemon. I don't really think Psychic is in trouble if it's prepared and players not being prepared shouldn't be a reason to ban Mega Altaria. Normal has an okay match-up with Dragon. It wins 51-60% of the time against Dragon. With walls like Porygon and Chansey, it's pretty difficult to break with the lack of Knock Off. Add Ditto on top of that and Mega Audino if you want to 6-0 Dragons. ):

These last two paragraphs -^ could just be disregarded if you don't believe the numbers to accurately portray Altaria's brokenness, and that's fine, but surely they're not entirely meaningless and I hope I could have at least staved off some animosity you hold (if any) towards Altaria's stay for Dragon.

I've neglected discussion of Flying and I'll get to that now, but I have no experience using Altaria on Flying and little experience fighting against one. That last part is actually something I want to draw your attention to, "little experience fighting against one." Recently, Altaria-mega has only had 12%-9% usage on Flying, and uhh, not too sure how this became a huge concern, but fair enough. It can create a problematic core on Flying.

Altaria is problematic and I acknowledge that. Everyone can agree that it's a great sweeper and is clearly a threat, but I don't think that's enough to call for a ban. I sort of only discussed win and usage rates in this, but I'd be glad to try and carry on the discussion from a different angle. cri I hope I'm not alone and receive back up.

Once again, not to be rude, But i find it very weird that In this specific forum topic, you support Altaria staying in the metagame, but among various players such as myself and other's you say you get why it should be banned or agree with us why it's broken? It's just me maybe but that sounds like you have 2 arguments, and that your only sharing 1 cause you might want it to stay, seeing as you use Dragon alot in tournaments, and on Ladder. Once again no disrespect, I just feel there is a hint of bias in your argument.

Final verdict from me: Ban Altaria from BOTH types, we have had enough with this cotton bird!

 

[Keta]

Well, suspect tests are almost over and I haven't really dropped an opinion on Mega Altaria, so here goes:

With all due respect, I can't see why anyone would want this in our Metagame. With 75/110/105 Bulk, and great typing, this thing sweeps Over 5 types in the entire Tier, without any sort of skill what so ever or effort. Before I say anymore, let me bring up the Points on why Altaria is Broken and why it sweeps so Many types.

Psychic: Now, I understand Flying and Dragon(Both with Altaria as a choice of mega) Loses to Psychic, 59.0% for dragon, and 50.8% for flying. But when it really comes down to it Getting Gardevoir in a good spot, or having a defensive steel Pokemon to check Altaria, is the only way it will be beatable. Sure Slowbro can Twave and cripple it, but Altaria can heal bell and it's basically set up bait, unless you want to switch to Gardevoir or another Pokemon that can check it and hope for a Para. I have laddered alot in ORAS, and I have come to see the only way i can beat Altaria on psychic, is by getting Mega Gardevoir in a Good spot, or by walling it with my Jirachi set, which is a hard Counter to Mono attacking Altaria. i have some replays, of me playing some really good players on the ladder, such as Anttya and Arkenciel, and the results had all been the same: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255993284 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255985910 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253848404 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253855627
In each replay even though I came out the winner, the Only ensured way i was beating Altaria was to force it out with my Jirachi set:
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Iron Head
which is a hard counter to Mono attacking Mega Altaria. But I'm forced to run this on my team to avoid losing to it. Having to run certain Pokemon on certain types just for a Pokemon results in major meta shifts like these, and I believe this is unhealthy.
Dragon: This really isn't too complicated, but ill explain anyways. basically all it takes is 1 misplay, as in you Just need to get Altaria in on the right spot, Such as on a Locked Latios, or a Tank Chomp set and it's basically GG. Once again, more replays to support my point and for you all to see for yourself: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-68030 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255017829
Fighting: What can I really say? Since fighting is a Hyper offensive type, I would have to say in all honesty, that it has less trouble with mega Altaria then the other types. But Cobalion is the only thing that can really stop it, With Thunderwave, Taunt, and Iron head.
Water: With Greninja Banned, there is really no Hard check to Mono attacking Altaria once again. It sets u on every Common water type, besides Azumarill who can 1HKO it with Play Rough, or Empoleon who can Phaze it out with roar.
Fire: The way I see it. It's Like fire v mega Lati twins: It's 1 sided until you have a certain pokemon(Volcarona). Fire only has Heatran for Bulky Altaria, and even if it's not bulky, it can 1hko that with Earthquake.
DARK: No set up is even needed. You can just click return and eat up hits from anything not named Weavile, which Dark teams are forced to run if they don't want to auto lose to Altaria. Once again this supports what I'm explaining about metagame shifts, being forced to run a certain Mon for the soul purpose of not autolosing to something you won't ever be able to beat otherwise.
Flying: 1 vs 6 Altaria can sweep flying, due to Skarmory being unable to Whirlwind it out and Phaze it. Even with iron head it doesn't stand a Chance, as shown here http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255979405

Electric: Not really that hard either. Just set up on anything not named Magnazone, and call it a snack wrap :]


Another thing I wanted to bring up, was Arkenciel's post


Once again, not to be rude, But i find it very weird that In this specific forum topic, you support Altaria staying in the metagame, but among various players such as myself and other's you say you get why it should be banned or agree with us why it's broken? It's just me maybe but that sounds like you have 2 arguments, and that your only sharing 1 cause you might want it to stay, seeing as you use Dragon alot in tournaments, and on Ladder. Once again no disrespect, I just feel there is a hint of bias in your argument.

Final verdict from me: Ban Altaria from BOTH types, we have had enough with this cotton bird!

s-sir you're trying way to hard in a sub tier ^_^

 

[Ronman5]

I find altaria good, but not great unlike the other people... sorry but my personal opinion.... but my bug team can rek altaria easily... first most dragon teams include Altaria which is weak to SR's if you catch it right.... once SR is up its down 25% of its hp on dragon.... flying is harder due to the OBVIOUS Wall that can block steel moves,,, (Cough Skarm cough) also it isnt too much of a threat vs. steel, THE MOST COMMON TYPE, fairy, poison (ish) bug, electric (magnezone scarf or ballon = counter not even mentioning thunderous norm) water with empoleon/tentacruel, and many others, its not a threat to be banned from Dragon dragon relies on it souly, flying can do with out it, its more of a annoyance with more tanks that can deflect its own attacks, along with getting rid of flying type of course...

Zard X though shoudnt, as it is a powerhouse in its own, there are counters to it that are obvious, like the before mentioned ballon heatran, another counter can be shit like Excadrill +hippowdon, and others...

 

[Dece1t]

Well, suspect tests are almost over and I haven't really dropped an opinion on Mega Altaria, so here goes:

With all due respect, I can't see why anyone would want this in our Metagame. With 75/110/105 Bulk, and great typing, this thing sweeps Over 5 types in the entire Tier, without any sort of skill what so ever or effort. Before I say anymore, let me bring up the Points on why Altaria is Broken and why it sweeps so Many types.

Psychic: Now, I understand Flying and Dragon(Both with Altaria as a choice of mega) Loses to Psychic, 59.0% for dragon, and 50.8% for flying. But when it really comes down to it Getting Gardevoir in a good spot, or having a defensive steel Pokemon to check Altaria, is the only way it will be beatable. Sure Slowbro can Twave and cripple it, but Altaria can heal bell and it's basically set up bait, unless you want to switch to Gardevoir or another Pokemon that can check it and hope for a Para. I have laddered alot in ORAS, and I have come to see the only way i can beat Altaria on psychic, is by getting Mega Gardevoir in a Good spot, or by walling it with my Jirachi set, which is a hard Counter to Mono attacking Altaria. i have some replays, of me playing some really good players on the ladder, such as Anttya and Arkenciel, and the results had all been the same: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255993284 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255985910 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253848404 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253855627
In each replay even though I came out the winner, the Only ensured way i was beating Altaria was to force it out with my Jirachi set:
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Iron Head
which is a hard counter to Mono attacking Mega Altaria. But I'm forced to run this on my team to avoid losing to it. Having to run certain Pokemon on certain types just for a Pokemon results in major meta shifts like these, and I believe this is unhealthy.
Dragon: This really isn't too complicated, but ill explain anyways. basically all it takes is 1 misplay, as in you Just need to get Altaria in on the right spot, Such as on a Locked Latios, or a Tank Chomp set and it's basically GG. Once again, more replays to support my point and for you all to see for yourself: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-68030 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255017829
Fighting: What can I really say? Since fighting is a Hyper offensive type, I would have to say in all honesty, that it has less trouble with mega Altaria then the other types. But Cobalion is the only thing that can really stop it, With Thunderwave, Taunt, and Iron head.
Water: With Greninja Banned, there is really no Hard check to Mono attacking Altaria once again. It sets u on every Common water type, besides Azumarill who can 1HKO it with Play Rough, or Empoleon who can Phaze it out with roar.
Fire: The way I see it. It's Like fire v mega Lati twins: It's 1 sided until you have a certain pokemon(Volcarona). Fire only has Heatran for Bulky Altaria, and even if it's not bulky, it can 1hko that with Earthquake.
DARK: No set up is even needed. You can just click return and eat up hits from anything not named Weavile, which Dark teams are forced to run if they don't want to auto lose to Altaria. Once again this supports what I'm explaining about metagame shifts, being forced to run a certain Mon for the soul purpose of not autolosing to something you won't ever be able to beat otherwise.
Flying: 1 vs 6 Altaria can sweep flying, due to Skarmory being unable to Whirlwind it out and Phaze it. Even with iron head it doesn't stand a Chance, as shown here http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255979405

Electric: Not really that hard either. Just set up on anything not named Magnazone, and call it a snack wrap :]


Another thing I wanted to bring up, was Arkenciel's post


Once again, not to be rude, But i find it very weird that In this specific forum topic, you support Altaria staying in the metagame, but among various players such as myself and other's you say you get why it should be banned or agree with us why it's broken? It's just me maybe but that sounds like you have 2 arguments, and that your only sharing 1 cause you might want it to stay, seeing as you use Dragon alot in tournaments, and on Ladder. Once again no disrespect, I just feel there is a hint of bias in your argument.

Final verdict from me: Ban Altaria from BOTH types, we have had enough with this cotton bird!

This is where I'm gonna have to disagree. I don't have a ton of time so I'll only talk about a few of your points.

Psychic, there's this thing called scarf hoopa u that speed ties with +1 mega altaria max speed, not to mention most are bulky. There's also mega garde, and Jirachi as you mentioned.

Fighting:The latis wreck.

Electric, char x for flying, used more, and provides ice neutrality, this thing tbh is worse for electric than altaria.

Fire: resists Altaria's famous stab attack.

Dark, got me there, but, weavile has been rising in usage as a fast physical sweeper.

Water, nearly all of the mons can learn ice attacks, and Empoleon can wall it. (Non heal bell w/o eq)

Tbh, I think your making too much of a big deal over mega alt. I can understand to an extent why to ban it on flying, but char x can out class it very slighty, hence why it's used so little. As for dragon, lot less support, and it does need to be more self sufficient. Tbh I think when it came out, it was a great addition to the meta, and actually promotes dragon to play more balanced if ot really wanted instead of full on offense. On its banned from Dragon, next viable mega is probs latias, which tbh I think is gonna be cancerous.

 

[scpinion]

The July usage stats are up on the Monotype Website.
We had nearly 200,000 (~197k) battles on the Monotype ladder in July! That is easily the most ever.
In other news, Bug is pulling away as the most used type.
What do you guys think about the latest release?

Pokemon usage stats and sprite gallery: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/sprite-gallery.html
Type Matchup Table and Imbalanced Matchups: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/matchup-tables.html
Metagame Trends/Type Analyses/Lead Information: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/type-analyses.html (may take longer to load than normal)

As always, make sure to let me know if you need any help understanding something, or if you find any bugs!

 

[Isza]

This is where I'm gonna have to disagree. I don't have a ton of time so I'll only talk about a few of your points.

Psychic, there's this thing called scarf hoopa u that speed ties with +1 mega altaria max speed, not to mention most are bulky. There's also mega garde, and Jirachi as you mentioned.

Fighting:The latis wreck.

Electric, char x for flying, used more, and provides ice neutrality, this thing tbh is worse for electric than altaria.

Fire: resists Altaria's famous stab attack.

Dark, got me there, but, weavile has been rising in usage as a fast physical sweeper.

Water, nearly all of the mons can learn ice attacks, and Empoleon can wall it. (Non heal bell w/o eq)

Tbh, I think your making too much of a big deal over mega alt. I can understand to an extent why to ban it on flying, but char x can out class it very slighty, hence why it's used so little. As for dragon, lot less support, and it does need to be more self sufficient. Tbh I think when it came out, it was a great addition to the meta, and actually promotes dragon to play more balanced if ot really wanted instead of full on offense. On its banned from Dragon, next viable mega is probs latias, which tbh I think is gonna be cancerous.

Negative. Non stab Ice moves are still set up bait for Altaria. As for fire, just because it's a "resist" does not mean it will be less effective overall. Pixalite makes the stab move's even stronger to the point where the damage output is a little too much to handle, and you also forget this thing gets; earthquake. Also the less support argument on Dragon is getting a bit old, Due to the fact that it doesn't even NEED that much support to sweep certain teams. It gets a ton of support on flying, but why is it used less then? As for Electric, Zard x can be para'd and revenged kill By Ampharos and i do admit it's a little better at dealing with electric, but I believe zard x and Altaria have the same sweeping potential against Electric overall.

 

[Josh]

This is where I'm gonna have to disagree. I don't have a ton of time so I'll only talk about a few of your points.

Psychic, there's this thing called scarf hoopa u that speed ties with +1 mega altaria max speed, not to mention most are bulky. There's also mega garde, and Jirachi as you mentioned.

Fighting:The latis wreck.

Electric, char x for flying, used more, and provides ice neutrality, this thing tbh is worse for electric than altaria.

Fire: resists Altaria's famous stab attack.

Dark, got me there, but, weavile has been rising in usage as a fast physical sweeper.

Water, nearly all of the mons can learn ice attacks, and Empoleon can wall it. (Non heal bell w/o eq)

Tbh, I think your making too much of a big deal over mega alt. I can understand to an extent why to ban it on flying, but char x can out class it very slighty, hence why it's used so little. As for dragon, lot less support, and it does need to be more self sufficient. Tbh I think when it came out, it was a great addition to the meta, and actually promotes dragon to play more balanced if ot really wanted instead of full on offense. On its banned from Dragon, next viable mega is probs latias, which tbh I think is gonna be cancerous.

There's this thing called cotton guard m-alt that walls hoopa-u after a boost, and there's this thing called switching out. However, psychic it's not impossible to beat m-alt you're right. It's managable.

The latis do NOT wreck fighting, if it's a good fighting team. They can put in work, but they are definitely killable. M-alt however, not the case. If it's cotton guard, there's literally nothing fighting can do. Otherwise, better hope you have a lot of sashes and can catch the set up!

Fire resists, but what exactly does it do back?

Dark, well I'm surprised you didn't mention hoopa-u again because it's dark's best check. Both again lose to cotton guard, and also dd.

Water, well I don't think there's a single good m-alt player that is lacking both eq and heal bell (or refresh), but besides that yeah empoleon can phaze it out.

Char x does not outclass it in any way, they cover completely different things. Although I'm not saying char x shouldn't also be banned, I just don't feel strongly about it. And again, dragon is perfectly viable without a mega, it's already a strong type.



I can't wait for this thing to be banned.

I find altaria good, but not great unlike the other people... sorry but my personal opinion.... but my bug team can rek altaria easily... first most dragon teams include Altaria which is weak to SR's if you catch it right.... once SR is up its down 25% of its hp on dragon.... flying is harder due to the OBVIOUS Wall that can block steel moves,,, (Cough Skarm cough) also it isnt too much of a threat vs. steel, THE MOST COMMON TYPE, fairy, poison (ish) bug, electric (magnezone scarf or ballon = counter not even mentioning thunderous norm) water with empoleon/tentacruel, and many others, its not a threat to be banned from Dragon dragon relies on it souly, flying can do with out it, its more of a annoyance with more tanks that can deflect its own attacks, along with getting rid of flying type of course...

Zard X though shoudnt, as it is a powerhouse in its own, there are counters to it that are obvious, like the before mentioned ballon heatran, another counter can be shit like Excadrill +hippowdon, and others...

Congrats, you 'rek' m-alt with your bug team, a type that noone has said m-alt destroys. Once. Because it doesn't. There's this thing called defog lati hazard control, and you're using SR as an argument but you're bug so your entire team is weak (perhaps neutral at best) to rocks, they're a lot worse for you. It isn't a huge threat against steel, fairy, and poison, you're right. Electric is obliterated by m-alt, magnezone is a CHECK if anything, and a bad one at that. I went over water earlier and more experienced players have as well. Dragon does not do anything close to 'rely on it solely' either, wut.

 

[Acast]

I find altaria good, but not great unlike the other people... sorry but my personal opinion.... but my bug team can rek altaria easily... first most dragon teams include Altaria which is weak to SR's if you catch it right.... once SR is up its down 25% of its hp on dragon.... flying is harder due to the OBVIOUS Wall that can block steel moves,,, (Cough Skarm cough) also it isnt too much of a threat vs. steel, THE MOST COMMON TYPE, fairy, poison (ish) bug, electric (magnezone scarf or ballon = counter not even mentioning thunderous norm) water with empoleon/tentacruel, and many others, its not a threat to be banned from Dragon dragon relies on it souly, flying can do with out it, its more of a annoyance with more tanks that can deflect its own attacks, along with getting rid of flying type of course...

Zard X though shoudnt, as it is a powerhouse in its own, there are counters to it that are obvious, like the before mentioned ballon heatran, another counter can be shit like Excadrill +hippowdon, and others...

I'm not entirely sure, but I think you're saying Steel is the most common type, which is just false through and through. Steel is only the 6th most common type as of the July statistics. Bug is by far the most common at #1 and it's probably going to continue to go up. But that's the least of my worries when it comes to your post.

You can't say Altaria is weak to SR because oftentimes people will lead with it so they can mega evolve right away, negating the rock weakness for the rest of the match. Also, Magnezone is most definitely NOT a counter. It's a check at best, but only if it has Sturdy in tact and Altaria hasn't set up yet. If the Altaria has Earthquake and Magnezone doesn't get in before it sets up, gg for all of Electric. Specs Sturdy can revenge kill, but that's all you can hope for. And Altaria can always switch out. Thundurus isn't even a check, so don't bring that up. Thunder Wave will do nothing since every viable Altaria set I've seen carries Heal Bell or Refresh (or at least has a teammate with Heal Bell), and Thundurus can't do much damage to it anyway. Empoleon and Tentacruel stop being checks the moment Altaria sets up.

+1 0 Atk Mega Altaria Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Empoleon: 260-308 (70 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+1 0 Atk Mega Altaria Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tentacruel: 220-260 (60.4 - 71.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
^That's with no attack EVs at all.

4 SpA Empoleon Ice Beam vs. 248 HP / 96 SpD Mega Altaria: 124-148 (35.1 - 41.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Tentacruel Sludge Bomb vs. 248 HP / 96 SpD Mega Altaria: 140-168 (39.6 - 47.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Tentacruel Sludge Wave vs. 248 HP / 96 SpD Mega Altaria: 150-176 (42.4 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
^Assuming no freeze/poison hax, Altaria has plenty of room to roost that off and keep sweeping. I'm using Anttya's Altaria set for these calcs. Also keep in mind that most Empoleon don't have Ice Beam and the vast majority of Tentacruel don't carry Sludge Bomb or Sludge Wave.

"my bug team can rek altaria easily" Ok, great for your team. Steel can do the same thing, and that's good for it too. But what about the other types that don't beat it easily? Just because one type can beat a pokemon, doesn't mean the other types have it so easy.



On to a more general response directed at everyone:

I use Steel on the ladder a lot and up until recently I've been on the fence about banning Altaria. So I decided I would be a bit of a masochist and I used a Dark team against the hax queen's Mega Altaria team (aka Anttya or Nubttya). What I found was that this thing made me question every single move I made. When I use Steel, Keldeo and Infernape are some of my biggest fears and I have to play carefully to beat them, but battling a Mega Altaria with Dark can't even compare to that. One wrong move lets it set up and it's over from there. Before you watch the replay, keep in mind that I built my Dark team to have multiple ways of dealing with Mega Alt and I literally knew Anttya's entire team before the battle even started, down to the EV spreads.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-256309818

If you don't want to watch the replay, basically I haxed the hax queen a bit and ended up winning because Crawdaunt is a destroyer of worlds. Also Anttya choked a little with Mandibuzz's Taunt at the end. If I hadn't gotten what little hax I did and if Anttya hadn't choked, she would have had the battle from the beginning.

Now of course I can imagine this replay will backfire on me and some people will say "stfu, you beat her anyway. Altaria is bad, nub". Yes, Anttya is a nub, but even if it's possible to beat Mega Alt with a Dark team, the fluffbird tips the scales WAY too far in favor of Flying and Dragon. It's just not healthy for our metagame.

 

[Fírnen]

Well, suspect tests are almost over and I haven't really dropped an opinion on Mega Altaria, so here goes:

With all due respect, I can't see why anyone would want this in our Metagame. With 75/110/105 Bulk, and great typing, this thing sweeps Over 5 types in the entire Tier, without any sort of skill what so ever or effort. Before I say anymore, let me bring up the Points on why Altaria is Broken and why it sweeps so Many types.

Psychic: Now, I understand Flying and Dragon(Both with Altaria as a choice of mega) Loses to Psychic, 59.0% for dragon, and 50.8% for flying. But when it really comes down to it Getting Gardevoir in a good spot, or having a defensive steel Pokemon to check Altaria, is the only way it will be beatable. Sure Slowbro can Twave and cripple it, but Altaria can heal bell and it's basically set up bait, unless you want to switch to Gardevoir or another Pokemon that can check it and hope for a Para. I have laddered alot in ORAS, and I have come to see the only way i can beat Altaria on psychic, is by getting Mega Gardevoir in a Good spot, or by walling it with my Jirachi set, which is a hard Counter to Mono attacking Altaria. i have some replays, of me playing some really good players on the ladder, such as Anttya and Arkenciel, and the results had all been the same: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255993284 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255985910 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253848404 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-253855627
In each replay even though I came out the winner, the Only ensured way i was beating Altaria was to force it out with my Jirachi set:
Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Careful Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Toxic
- Iron Head
which is a hard counter to Mono attacking Mega Altaria. But I'm forced to run this on my team to avoid losing to it. Having to run certain Pokemon on certain types just for a Pokemon results in major meta shifts like these, and I believe this is unhealthy.
Dragon: This really isn't too complicated, but ill explain anyways. basically all it takes is 1 misplay, as in you Just need to get Altaria in on the right spot, Such as on a Locked Latios, or a Tank Chomp set and it's basically GG. Once again, more replays to support my point and for you all to see for yourself: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-68030 http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255017829
Fighting: What can I really say? Since fighting is a Hyper offensive type, I would have to say in all honesty, that it has less trouble with mega Altaria then the other types. But Cobalion is the only thing that can really stop it, With Thunderwave, Taunt, and Iron head.
Water: With Greninja Banned, there is really no Hard check to Mono attacking Altaria once again. It sets u on every Common water type, besides Azumarill who can 1HKO it with Play Rough, or Empoleon who can Phaze it out with roar.
Fire: The way I see it. It's Like fire v mega Lati twins: It's 1 sided until you have a certain pokemon(Volcarona). Fire only has Heatran for Bulky Altaria, and even if it's not bulky, it can 1hko that with Earthquake.
DARK: No set up is even needed. You can just click return and eat up hits from anything not named Weavile, which Dark teams are forced to run if they don't want to auto lose to Altaria. Once again this supports what I'm explaining about metagame shifts, being forced to run a certain Mon for the soul purpose of not autolosing to something you won't ever be able to beat otherwise.
Flying: 1 vs 6 Altaria can sweep flying, due to Skarmory being unable to Whirlwind it out and Phaze it. Even with iron head it doesn't stand a Chance, as shown here http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255979405

Electric: Not really that hard either. Just set up on anything not named Magnazone, and call it a snack wrap :]


Another thing I wanted to bring up, was Arkenciel's post


Once again, not to be rude, But i find it very weird that In this specific forum topic, you support Altaria staying in the metagame, but among various players such as myself and other's you say you get why it should be banned or agree with us why it's broken? It's just me maybe but that sounds like you have 2 arguments, and that your only sharing 1 cause you might want it to stay, seeing as you use Dragon alot in tournaments, and on Ladder. Once again no disrespect, I just feel there is a hint of bias in your argument.

Final verdict from me: Ban Altaria from BOTH types, we have had enough with this cotton bird!

Hey Kaiser,

Can u give your reasoning about ban from Dragon ?
Can u give us too some replays for M-Altaria in Dragon type?
Cause all replays you shared showed, in my opinion, M-Altaria was broken in Flying Type and not on Dragon team in addition Jirachi is one of the best counter for M-Altaria.



And can u give your reasoning about ban from Dragon?

Negative. Non stab Ice moves are still set up bait for Altaria. As for fire, just because it's a "resist" does not mean it will be less effective overall. Pixalite makes the stab move's even stronger to the point where the damage output is a little too much to handle, and you also forget this thing gets; earthquake. Also the less support argument on Dragon is getting a bit old, Due to the fact that it doesn't even NEED that much support to sweep certain teams. It gets a ton of support on flying, but why is it used less then? As for Electric, Zard x can be para'd and revenged kill By Ampharos and i do admit it's a little better at dealing with electric, but I believe zard x and Altaria have the same sweeping potential against Electric overall.

If u play M-Altaria on Dragon team, Fire and Electric still lose mostly.
M-Latias is worse than M-Altaria for these type, so it doesn't matter a lot....
We see better this month than the precedent:

For Water, Dragon can handle without M-Altaria, here a replay against Barida: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/eos-monotype-49748
But water can beat dragon, even if there is M-Altaria, here another replay against wt Sae : http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-255016256
But like you, I want seee M-Altaria banned but only for flying however.

 

[Acast]

The July usage stats are up on the Monotype Website.
We had nearly 200,000 (~197k) battles on the Monotype ladder in July! That is easily the most ever.
In other news, Bug is pulling away as the most used type.
What do you guys think about the latest release?

Pokemon usage stats and sprite gallery: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/sprite-gallery.html
Type Matchup Table and Imbalanced Matchups: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/matchup-tables.html
Metagame Trends/Type Analyses/Lead Information: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/type-analyses.html (may take longer to load than normal)

As always, make sure to let me know if you need any help understanding something, or if you find any bugs!

Sorry for the kinda/sorta double post.

I'm gonna do an overall analysis of the type usage this month and include a few of my theories as to why things changed the way they did.

June July

​

Bug, the most common type for both months, jumped more than a full percentage point. This is unsurprising to me considering Hoopa-U was just released and Bug is the perfect counter to it and its types.
Just looking at the order of the types, it looks like Flying actually dropped in usage (2nd to 3rd) and Electric (17th to 15th) and Grass (15th to 14th) actually rose in usage, but when we take a look at the percentages, we find that the opposite is true. FEWER people are using Electric and Grass, even though the types are ranked higher. MORE people are using Flying even though it's ranked lower than before.

What does this mean in terms of the overall trend of the metagame? It means the common types are getting more common and the rare types are getting more rare.

How we should deal with this information isn't obvious. Personally, I think this is worrisome. It means that we are becoming more centralized around a select few types and we have less diversity. Considering the nature of our metagame, diversity is what we should pride ourselves on and it keeps the game interesting. How fun would it be if you run into a Bug team every third battle on the ladder? That's where this trend is taking us. I understand if others think this really isn't an issue, but I would disagree.
Unfortunately, even if we do all agree that it's a problem, there's not much we can do other than continue to suspect and ban the pokemon that are just too good or the ones that cause auto-win situations. If we continue to do that, I think this trend may eventually reverse itself. Type usage will never be equal and there's nothing wrong with that, but we don't want our metagame centered around 3 types.

More specific things I'm noticing that I can explain:

• Psychic shot up a full 2 percentage points. I expected a jump because of Hoopa-U, but I never thought it would be that big of a rise in usage.
• Ground had a big drop. RIP Smooth Rock
• Dark jumped up a bit (Yay Hoopa-U)

Specific things I'm noticing that I can't explain:

• Poison's usage plummeted. It looks like it just drove off of a cliff halfway through the month. I can't imagine why this happened, but Septicus said something about it being his fault because he stopped laddering. So all you poison lovers can start hating on him I guess.
• Steel rose somewhat in usage. I use the type a lot and I just started laddering again recently but that shouldn't explain its jump. Maybe the Mega Altaria suspect is to blame? I don't know.
• Fire dropped quite a bit.
• Fairy rose quite a bit.
• Fighting continues to be very popular. I didn't understand it before, and I don't understand it now. It has some great pokemon at its disposal (Mega Gallade, Keldeo, Terrakion), but it can't do much outside of hyper offense except for a few teams that focus more on bulky offense. Maybe this is just an indicator that our current metagame is very offensively oriented. That's the only explanation I can think of.

 

[Azelea]

Hey Kaiser,

Can u give your reasoning about ban from Dragon ?
Can u give us too some replays for M-Altaria in Dragon type?
Cause all replays you shared showed, in my opinion, M-Altaria was broken in Flying Type and not on Dragon team in addition Jirachi is one of the best counter for M-Altaria.



And can u give your reasoning about ban from Dragon?




If u play M-Altaria on Dragon team, Fire and Electric still lose mostly.
M-Latias is worse than M-Altaria for these type, so it doesn't matter a lot....
We see better this month than the precedent:

But like you, I want seee M-Altaria banned but only for flying however.

I think Mega P!ka posted some good replays how mega alt is broken on dragon. I think I've seen many other good replays showing how broken it is on dragon but i really didn't have the nerves to go and search :s

Alright, so I did a bit of laddering with a Dragon mono starring Mega Alt, and I want to share some replays with yall, showcasing what it's capable of. (not posting dark or fighting replays cause the outcome is obvious)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-251098451
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-251379126
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-251097680
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-251101636
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-251135332
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-251164891
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-194533963
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/monotype-251313361

Conclusion: This thing has an amazing natural bulk which lets it setup rather easily against a lot of stuff, refresh/heal bell to get rid of unwanted status, and after a few boosts, even resisted frustration does a hell lot of damage (see replay 4 (its not even max attack)). Apart from being close to auto win against types like fighting and dark, it does amazingly well in a lot more matchups (electric, water, normal, psychic) due to its ablitiy to be able to setup on anything that cannot do more than 50% damage to it, and go on to sweep you.
In my opinion this thing needs to go.

With that being said i don't really get the argument how its not broken on dragon, I've seen people say that "it doesn't get the support that it needs on dragon"
How much support does it really need to sweep teams?

We all have seen the replays of it going solo through teams. And on dragon it can get some nice Screen support from Latios. It also get healing wish which is a nice support move for Altaria. I understand how you are saying that Fire and Electric loose to dragon and will keep loosing to dragon and banning mega alt won't help thatbut what about the other types that Mega Alt loves to sweep on, like Dark, Fighting etc. I think Dragon can offer enough support that makes mega alt broken. n_n
There are lot of ways how to abuse Mega Altaria on dragon that we haven't even thought of:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/infinite-monotype-25492

 

[Neimenko]

How we should deal with this information isn't obvious. Personally, I think this is worrisome. It means that we are becoming more centralized around a select few types and we have less diversity. Considering the nature of our metagame, diversity is what we should pride ourselves on and it keeps the game interesting. How fun would it be if you run into a Bug team every third battle on the ladder? That's where this trend is taking us. I understand if others think this really isn't an issue, but I would disagree.
Unfortunately, even if we do all agree that it's a problem, there's not much we can do other than continue to suspect and ban the pokemon that are just too good or the ones that cause auto-win situations. If we continue to do that, I think this trend may eventually reverse itself. Type usage will never be equal and there's nothing wrong with that, but we don't want our metagame centered around 3 types.

This worries me too. I don't enjoy playing monotype as much as I used to do, it just became extremly boring because for some reason I keep encountering 5-6 types. Bug definitely needs a nerf imo. I can see hoopa-u getting banned from psychic in future, but psychic might eventually drop after new toy hype stops, but I just don't want this trend to continue.

 

[Kammi]

The July usage stats are up on the Monotype Website.
We had nearly 200,000 (~197k) battles on the Monotype ladder in July! That is easily the most ever.
In other news, Bug is pulling away as the most used type.
What do you guys think about the latest release?

Pokemon usage stats and sprite gallery: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/sprite-gallery.html
Type Matchup Table and Imbalanced Matchups: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/matchup-tables.html
Metagame Trends/Type Analyses/Lead Information: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/type-analyses.html (may take longer to load than normal)

As always, make sure to let me know if you need any help understanding something, or if you find any bugs!

I'm gonna go ahead and build on what Acast said in his great analysis, mostly elaborating on Hoopa and Bug and what this implies for our metagame continuing forward.

Considering that Hoopa Unbound was only released halfway through the month, it has really shown a large amount of usage; this could be partially due to people wanting to test it out (most of the usage on Psychic is probably contributed to this) but its over 45% usage on Dark is really something interesting. Meanwhile, Dark has risen above 6% usage for the first time since Greninja was banned! Yay, Dark users finally have a decent special/mixed powerful attacker to replace their beloved Uber frog. I expect to see Hoopa-Unbound continue to rise in usage on Dark, although I am not an expert on the type, as it seems to balance out most teams well.

For Psychic, it seems like Hoopa-Unbound is just another plaything. The type doesn't really *need* it in the same way that Dark needs it. Sure, it has a nice niche, and definitely helps with the Steel matchup (see: PK-Kaiser's steelbreaker Hoopa set), but honestly Psychic would be just fine without it, as it was before. I could see this getting suspected or banned in the future, for sure.

Meanwhile Bug now has an upper hand over most of the metagame, continuing to rise in usage with the Hoopa release and the increase of Psychic and Dark usage as well. Ground and Fire, both previously bad matchups for Bug, have both dropped in usage. Fire is Bug's only bad matchup according to the stats, while Ghost, Flying, and Steel are all neutrally-bad. If a Mega Charizard X suspect is due after Altaria, then Bug's matchup with Flying will improve to probably be around 45% or 50%. This is quickly becoming a type that can rule the metagame. With all of this considered and if trends keep going the way they have been, Bug looks like it will be up for a nerf very soon, and I think we all know what will be or should be on the chopping block: Genesect has been sitting in the corner of the discussion thread for nearly 3 months now. I think it would be interesting to see how Bug handles the current meta without Genesect- I can't imagine that Bug would be nerfed into oblivion just by banning this one pokemon, and other types may get a chance to breathe without this terrifying sweeper sitting on 10% of all Monotype teams.

Tagging scpinion to request that bans and other benchmarks (Greninja ban, Hoopa release, M-Altaria suspect) be included on the type usage graph on the Monotype website, to help illustrate how nerfs and buffs affect certain types over time.