A Look Back at Ponyta
| « Previous Article | Next Article » |
Art by h_n_g_m_n.
Introduction
Ponyta is one of Little Cup's most recognizable Pokémon in recent memory; however, Ponyta was once the tier's favorite dark horse instead. Various iterations of Little Cup saw peaks and dips of Ponyta's viability, often hinging entirely on its ability to take advantage of the common trend of the day. Ponyta was innately viable by virtue of its naturally high stats, though there was little else appealing about it. Hitting 19 Speed was often enough for Ponyta to seem interesting, though this alone was not enough for to become a metagame staple. The metagame was almost always hostile to Ponyta, which often lacked options to be more than a one-trick pony. With an incredible counter in Munchlax dominating DPP and the sandy environment of BW restricting Ponyta's merits, it would take until XY for Ponyta to begin to shine.
DPP
|
|
|
|
Ponyta was frequently overlooked in the heyday of DP due to its limited movepool and general issues overcoming the ubiquitous Munchlax. Other popular Pokémon such as Chinchou and Houndour were also problematic for Ponyta, creating a generally unfavorable metagame. Before the introduction of Heart Gold and Soul Silver and the following ban of Misdreavus, Ponyta was limited to being a revenge killer with Choice Scarf. However, with so many common checks to Ponyta, its distinct niche as a fast and powerful Choice Scarfer able to take out Misdreavus was not especially appealing. When HGSS did come out, some Pokémon were given nice additions to their movepool, such as Misdreavus gaining access to Nasty Plot and consequently being banned. Ponyta did not enjoy any new additions to its movepool, and with the loss of its main target for revenge killing in Misdreavus, there was even less of a reason to use it. In recent tournaments, Ponyta found a new niche with Hypnosis and Substitute helping mitigate its common checks and started to gain usage as a result. Unfortunately, Hypnosis has since been banned, again making Ponyta an unfavorable choice, as it must rely on the weak Double Kick to muscle past its own checks.
BW
- Ponyta @ Eviolite
- Level: 5
- Ability: Flame Body
- EVs: 156 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Sunny Day / Will-O-Wisp
- - Morning Sun
- - Wild Charge
- - Flare Blitz
After the fast-paced generation without Eviolite, the item's addition turned the tier on its head. With newfound bulk added to the tier, Ponyta was easier to check than ever. Moreover, Ponyta was hindered by the constant weather war that was the hallmark of the generation. Unable to get much mileage out of Morning Sun due to the prevalence of hail and sand, Ponyta was relegated to a fairly limited role in the tier. Defensive sets focused on spreading burns amongst the opposing team were unviable thanks to Flame Body being unreleased, and much of Ponyta's use centered on effectively getting up Sunny Day in order to disrupt weather teams and get full use out of its recovery. Black and White 2 unfortunately only widened the gap between the tier's top Pokémon and Ponyta, as again, Ponyta did not gain many tools from the new games. However, access to its hidden ability was a nice start for Ponyta, with Flame Body helping it no longer get walled by Trace Porygon while allowing it to passively spread burns on contact moves.
XY
- Ponyta @ Eviolite
- Ability: Flame Body
- Level: 5
- EVs: 76 Atk / 156 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Flame Charge
- - Flare Blitz
- - Morning Sun
- - Will-O-Wisp
At various points of the generation, Ponyta had immense viability. Weather was worse overall, and the most common archetype in sun only aided Ponyta. The buff to Knock Off shifted the tier to primarily focus on removing Eviolites, which when used against Ponyta often meant risking a burn thanks to Flame Body. Ponyta became the tier's top offensive check to Fighting-types and Pawniard, a niche only it filled. Additionally, the presence of Fairy-types gave Ponyta even more defensive utility. However, as the generation continued, Diglett began to pick up steam. At 20 Speed, Diglett was able to outspeed and trap Ponyta with little recourse. Consequently Ponyta's viability began to flame out as Diglett became more and more prevalent. This greatly hindered Ponyta's ability to check Mienfoo, which could simply U-turn out and bring in Diglett, and worked to otherwise limit Ponyta's longevity. This metagame shift resulted in Ponyta being dependent on Flame Charge in order to escape the full danger of Diglett. Though Ponyta was sometimes overlooked due to Diglett's presence, it remained one of the most viable Pokémon in the tier.
SM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The early metagame trends saw Ponyta's decline in popularity continue, as new additions to the tier such as Mudbray and Mareanie were great counters to it. Speed Pass teams with Baton Pass Torchic often made it even harder to consider Ponyta, as it provided little utility against these archetypes. However, Sun and Moon did bring good news for Ponyta in the form of Z-Moves. As a quick and powerful Pokémon, these additions helped make up for Ponyta's restricted movepool. Bloom Doom gave Ponyta a foothold in the early development of the tier, as it removed the ever-common Onix and Mudbray, though still the problem of Diglett persisted. This left Ponyta rather unpopular until Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon finally gave it a useful addition to its movepool with High Horsepower. With some new coverage, coupled with a slow metagame shift towards using Trapinch instead of Diglett as a trapper, Ponyta began to fire on all cylinders. Trapinch itself was much worse at trapping Ponyta but in return was excellent for trapping Diglett and Onix. As the metagame shifted away from previously common Ponyta checks, Ponyta suddenly became a difficult Pokémon to stop. Sadly, this golden period of viability is now over, as Trapinch has been banned, and the metagame is appearing to focus back on Diglett as the top trapper.
| « Previous Article | Next Article » |