Adding onto this, I'd say the entire Dark Type worked better after Gen 4's Physical/Special Split. (Kind of ironic to say a much needed type that was introduced to stop Psychic from being overpowered and Fighting from being underpowered was introduced in the wrong generation) Most Dark types had better Physical Attack than Special Attack and, even weirder, Dark Attacks were Special even though literally every Dark Attack from before Gen 4 was changed to Physical. That probably happened because Ghost and Dark are almost identical offensively and Ghost was already Physical because the only Ghost Attack in Gen 1 (other than Night Shade which dealt fixed damage) was Lick. They should've made Dark Physical and changed Ghost to Special instead.Crawdunt. Huge attack, learns Swords Dance and the most powerful physical attacks of both its STABs by level up, was introduced the gen before the physical/special split when both its STABs were always special.
Physical attack on Dark wasn't that heavily favoured in gen 2. There's only one more physical-focused gen 2 Dark than special-focused. Houndoom is special-focused, Murkrow is equal, and Umbreon only has 5 better attack. What really messed up the balance was every single gen 3 Dark type having higher physical attack.Adding onto this, I'd say the entire Dark Type worked better after Gen 4's Physical/Special Split. (Kind of ironic to say a much needed type that was introduced to stop Psychic from being overpowered and Fighting from being underpowered was introduced in the wrong generation) Most Dark types had better Physical Attack than Special Attack and, even weirder, Dark Attacks were Special even though literally every Dark Attack from before Gen 4 was changed to Physical. That probably happened because Ghost and Dark are almost identical offensively and Ghost was already Physical because the only Ghost Attack in Gen 1 (other than Night Shade which dealt fixed damage) was Lick. They should've made Dark Physical and changed Ghost to Special instead.
Poor Sidney tbh. All the Pokemon he uses in RSE besides Mightyena have super high attacking stats allocated in a way that feel like a reluctant concession to the lack of a physical/special split.Crawdunt. Huge attack, learns Swords Dance and the most powerful physical attacks of both its STABs by level up, was introduced the gen before the physical/special split when both its STABs were always special.
I think you might be slightly overestimating Surging Strikes and Wicked Blow. Given both Storm Throw and Frost Breath got buffed when critical hits lost power it's probably safe to assume that in gen 5 Surging Strikes and Wicked blow would be weaker, probably 18 and 60 base power. They'd still be banned though.As we all know, gen 5 OU is characterized by a few trademark features that make it so memorable by this point; some of them being permanent rain, the rise of fighting types and being the last gen where critical hits do 2x damage. With all these factors in mind, there's fewer mons that would feel right at home in said environment than Urshifu, in both of its forms. The scariest aspect that immediately comes to mind is the fact that both forms' signatures moves would deal 2x damage on their guraranteed critical hits, making switching into these moves a nightmare. The fact that steel types would resist wicked blow is irrelevant when fighting stab snaps them all in half anyway. Speaking of wicked blow resists, the lack of fairy types means there's just that much fewer switchins to the already-stronger wicked blow, AND urshifu single strike no longer has to fear a major 4x weakness, and no longer has to dedicate niche coverage moves just to 2hko them on switchin. While this may not be as relevant for the rapid strike form, what IS more relevant to it is the permanent rain allowing its primary stab to oftentimes be even stronger than that of its counterpart.
So yeah it's safe to say that neither urshifu form would be allowed in gen 5 ou for even a second LOL; they'd most likely be extremely solid mons even in ubers due to how much both of them have going for it.
I... kind of agree with this? It's weird, really. On paper, there are so many Dark-Type physical attackers compared to special ones across both Johto and Hoenn. We've got Umbreon, Murkrow, Sneasel, Tyranitar, Mightyena, Shiftry, Absol, Sharpedo, Cacturne, Crawdaunt, heck even Sableye if you're really feeling gutsy. Out of that list, I can see only Murkrow, Tyranitar, Shiftry, Sharpedo, and Cacturne even consider running a special set (Umbreon usually goes defensive). I think what they were saying is that if Dark moves were physical prior to Gen 4, this wouldn't have been nearly as big of an issue.Physical attack on Dark wasn't that heavily favoured in gen 2. There's only one more physical-focused gen 2 Dark than special-focused. Houndoom is special-focused, Murkrow is equal, and Umbreon only has 5 better attack. What really messed up the balance was every single gen 3 Dark type having higher physical attack.
I definitely agree with the choices you did list (especially Rotom if we decide to give it the form changes), but I just wanted to take a moment to point out that not every Ghost-Type would appreciate GSC mechanics equally. Take Mimikyu for example- it would lose its Fairy typing and its Disguise ability. The special-attacking Chandelure is another one that would kill to have Shadow Ball be a special move in this generation to fight against the other Ghosts that actually are good here. Also, while we're on the subject of Ghost/Fire Pokémon, funny you should mention Marowak, because the Alolan Form would also be another good upgrade over an existing Gen 2 OU mon.Almost every ghost would have been way better if it got introduced during Snorlax's reign of Gen 2. Examples:</p><p>Drifblim: walls every Snorlax unless they start using Shadow Ball (Thunder won't be doing enough if Drifblim uses Rest).
Mismagius: Better Misdreavus.
Froslass: Bulky (with Gen 2 Stats) Spiker that also prevents Spin and can kill Cloyster and Forretress with the right move.
Dhelmise: Unblockable spinner that kills other ghosts with Shadow Ball and also walls EQ Snorlax. Can even sweep with SD.
Gourgeist: Same, but trades Spin and SD for Boom, Fire Blast and being faster than Marowak.
Jellicent and Sableye: 32 Recover PP. A shame this move was nerfed in Gen 3.
Rotom: Walls EQ Less Snorlax AND Zapdos, which is the second best Mon.
Sceptile was definitely the poster child for fast special attackers for a while, but your post also reminded me of a second, much more recent starter Pokémon who would also be successful, in many of the ways Sceptile would. Enter Inteleon- a Water-Type glass cannon whose entire battle style is based on critical hits. The two share the impressive base 120 Speed stat, but Inteleon's Special Attack clocks in at a much higher 125. The great thing about that last part is that Special being one stat in Gen 1, in tandem with the old EV mechanics, would drastically help Inteleon's biggest flaw, that being its insane frailty for a fully evolved Water. And finally... Snipe Shot. My word, this move would be ridiculous in RBY multiplayer. Imagine Leaf Blade but with Water typing, slightly better base power (Leaf Blade would still have 75 BP in RBY), and the same busted critical hit mechanics as Sceptile. Also like Sceptile, Inteleon could make use of some other moves to check the few things in the RBY meta that could take multiple Snipe Shots well, the major ones being Ice Beam/Blizzard for Grass-Types and Substitute against Chansey, since its higher Special and resistances to Ice Beam and Thunderbolt make it much easier to play against any set not running Seismic Toss.Gen 1: Sceptile. Leaf Blade crits all the time, given that blistering 120 speed Sceptile's got and how critical hit mechanics in that generation function; in addition, it is 20 BP stronger than Razor Leaf and fully accurate. In Gen 1, the faster you are, the more likely you are to crit, and high-crit moves crit nearly all the time; even Venusaur with merely 80 Speed crits virtually all the time. Even if Sceptile is limited to a merely average 85 Special before the stat split, Leaf Blade becomes essentially a 140 BP move (before calculating STAB; after that, it becomes a 210 BP move) instead of a 70 BP move. That killer speed also outspeeds the likes of Gengar, Starmie, and Tauros, and ensures a speed tie with Alakazam and Dugtrio. Leaf Blade destroys Starmie, Golem, and Rhydon while hurting Tauros a lot and breaking through Amnesia users like Slowbro, while EQ and Rock Slide punish Gengar and Electrics like Jolteon and kinda make Zapdos, Dragonite, and Moltres pretty hesitant about switching in (especially if you account for a > 22.46% critical hit ratio). Only Exeggutor and Chansey probably wanna take the lizard on. Would very likely make it to OU in Gen 1 or at least be a very respectable choice.
I hadn’t even thought about Blacephalon. If I’m being honest, I pretty quickly dismissed most of the Ultra Beasts prior to Gen 3 mechanics and especially Gen 4’s changes. The thing with Marowak though, is that it doesn’t have to be “better” unlike most Pokémon in this thread. A player could ideally just choose which Marowak form fits their team better.^Alolan Marowak wouldn't be really good. Like, yes, it would force Snorlax to run EQ (which other ghosts already do), but it would need some weird move like Submission or Low Kick to actually damage Snorlax. It does threaten Skarmory more with STAB Fire moves, but unlike regular Wak, it wouldn't be able to fight vs electrics.
The one Fire-Ghost that would actually be good is Blacephalon, which is not surprising, considering it's a legendary Mon. Unlike Marowak and Chandelure, Blace hits hard from both sides and also learns Explosion, which before BW makes almost every Mon good.
Now I want thisGen 1 Quagsire would have been interesting. Natural Amnesia, combined with decent HP, fair physical bulk, and only one semi-uncommon weakness (Grass)? Immunity to Electric-type attacks? Great double STABs in EQ (to nuke Jolteon and Gengar and do fair damage to mons like Alakazam) and Surf (that can be amped further by Amnesia)? 90% accuracy Blizzard to cover D-Nites and Zapdos while they can do nothing to hit you super-effectively?
Wrap shenanigans can be bad ofc, but still, I see Quagsire doing fairly well.
Actually if anything, they reflect Gen 1s planned concept for the Golem/Machamp lines. The GF book in 1996 confirms it, with features also being swapped in design
There isn’t too much to say for this one, but I do think seeing this Unova pair as potential Gen 2 candidates could be a nice change of pace. The generation as a whole tried to give some more love to the Bug-Type across the board, but this was also the generation that started branching out more with trade evolutions. For Escavalier in particular, if the Game Boy Color couldn’t support the Karrablast & Shelmet trade thing, they could just make it another Metal Coat evolution like Onix and Scyther were, although that method seems to be restricted to Kanto Pokémon for the time being.
Are you talking about the pokedex book?Actually if anything, they reflect Gen 1s planned concept for the Golem/Machamp lines. The GF book in 1996 confirms it, with features also being swapped in design
It's nice GF remembered during Gen 5 dev