it feels that there are several folks across the board, myself included, that view the metagame presently as undesirable. as soulwind noted, there is an incongruence between offensive and defensive strategies. we are forced into balanced structures to be consistent -- god knows i've tried to make offense work and have mostly failed.
and with balanced structures, the more i reflect on the metagame, the more i have come to admit that excadrill is one of the most problematic elements. we have finally learned how to reliably use it. the free life orb boost with a solid typing, rapid spin, and gargantuan attack allows it to shift its ev's into bulk. skarmory teams abhor facing swords dance. rotom + ferrothorn teams are farmed when playing against substitute. he is one of the the most threatening attackers in tandem with spikes, which hardly makes it a panacea against them. while i used to subscribe to this logic, we NEED another spinner, the more i realize that it's flawed. fakes smashed spl this year excellently, largely in part to excadrill being busted and him piloting well.
i have shifted positions since my last post because i have come to understand the position of other folks: latios does open a massive can of worms and potential unbans. and excadrill is arguably just as threatening, but has a less treacherous future in my opinion.
yes, i recognize this position is flawed and doesn't align with tiering policy perfectly. but old gen tiering needs to be somewhat pragmatic which i am seeking to work with.
i really think that banning excadrill and approaching the metagame after will be the best future for this tier wholeheartedly. i have always been an excadrill truther and one of the biggest proponents of using it. we may lose a spinner, but we are able to breathe more with our defensive lynchpins. landorus no longer needs max speed, hp, and defense at the same time. hippowdon isn't threatened to be ohko'd after spikes using a mixed spread. rain is forced into less thundurus heavy structures just to deal with excadrill. starmie can possibly use more items than air balloon. politoed can be more expansive in its sets and items.
we can breathe. we can breathe. let's breathe. and then move forward from there.
and with balanced structures, the more i reflect on the metagame, the more i have come to admit that excadrill is one of the most problematic elements. we have finally learned how to reliably use it. the free life orb boost with a solid typing, rapid spin, and gargantuan attack allows it to shift its ev's into bulk. skarmory teams abhor facing swords dance. rotom + ferrothorn teams are farmed when playing against substitute. he is one of the the most threatening attackers in tandem with spikes, which hardly makes it a panacea against them. while i used to subscribe to this logic, we NEED another spinner, the more i realize that it's flawed. fakes smashed spl this year excellently, largely in part to excadrill being busted and him piloting well.
i have shifted positions since my last post because i have come to understand the position of other folks: latios does open a massive can of worms and potential unbans. and excadrill is arguably just as threatening, but has a less treacherous future in my opinion.
yes, i recognize this position is flawed and doesn't align with tiering policy perfectly. but old gen tiering needs to be somewhat pragmatic which i am seeking to work with.
i really think that banning excadrill and approaching the metagame after will be the best future for this tier wholeheartedly. i have always been an excadrill truther and one of the biggest proponents of using it. we may lose a spinner, but we are able to breathe more with our defensive lynchpins. landorus no longer needs max speed, hp, and defense at the same time. hippowdon isn't threatened to be ohko'd after spikes using a mixed spread. rain is forced into less thundurus heavy structures just to deal with excadrill. starmie can possibly use more items than air balloon. politoed can be more expansive in its sets and items.
we can breathe. we can breathe. let's breathe. and then move forward from there.