Hey UU, we’ve got yet another suspect test in the DLC 2 metagame, featuring the Pokemon on everyone’s mind, Garchomp! After our tiering survey, justified via community feedback in our open mic thread, Garchomp received a 3.4 result, and that plus council support ultimately gave justification for a suspect test. For transparency, Latios got a result of 2.9, which is not only lower than Garchomp by a good margin, but it also doesn’t even qualify for tiering action alone. It will still be monitored of course, but just wanted to put that out there. Enough about Latios though, let’s talk about Garchomp! It’s no secret what Garchomp does, after all you’re running into it 50% of games on the ladder and nearing 70% of games on tours. It’s a phenomenal Pokemon, covering many building holes like a reliable hazard setter to support its team, being a Ground-type with Spikes at that, a punish to U-turn spam from Scizor and Lokix, and just an overall valuable defensive check to deadly threats like Zapdos, Iron Moth, and Iron Crown. However, as much good it provides to the metagame, there’s also very controversial elements that leave many community members requesting tiering action on the Pokemon.
Garchomp has two main sets that both give it grounds to be suspect tested. The lesser of the two, at least in the eyes of the UU council, is the tank set, often compressing dual hazards to provide key support to threats like Zapdos and Greninja while overwhelming common defensive Pokémon like Tinkaton, Metagross, and Toxapex. Its raw bulk and defensive profile often means it will be getting up multiple entry hazards in a game which can be difficult to handle in-game due to its support enabling the already dangerous offensive threats in the tier. This issue is further amplified when we’ve got a scarce source of hazard removal; only Excadrill and Mandibuzz are really common options to be used because everything else is just kinda bad, resulting in a greater emphasis on Heavy-Duty Boots teams which isn’t perfect with many threats like Tornadus-T, Azumarill, Tinkaton, and Lokix all carrying Knock Off. Garchomp also beats Excadrill unless very chipped, while Mandibuzz doesn’t like running Defog over U-turn or Toxic. While there are other hazard setters available in the metagame, none compare to Garchomp’s supportive capabilities at all, so entry hazard dynamics definitely change should Garchomp leave.
Meanwhile, the Swords Dance set has been discussed as equally problematic if not even more by ban advocates. Great bulk and an amazing offensive combo of Scale Shot to boost speed + EdgeQuake coverage means Garchomp is a dangerous sweeper that doesn’t have much stopping it from sweeping. Mandibuzz is the main check used in the tier, but it is also dedicated to stopping Garchomp entirely and even if chipped from a teammate can potentially lose. Other options like Rotom-Wash, Skeledirge, Hippowdon, and Slowking can stop it, but the first two have to Tera, Hippowdon gets 1v1d unless Scale Shot drop, and all Slowking can do is pray for Scald burns or pivot out into an offensive check. Speaking of offensive checks, we’ve got a good bit, which is why Swords Dance has fallen under the radar until now. Choice Scarfers like Mienshao, Terrakion, and Keldeo, priority from Lokix, Greninja, Azumarill, Scizor, Hisuian Arcanine, and Mamoswine, and miscellaneous revenge killing attempts like Embody Aspect Ogerpon and Booster Moth all do stop Garchomp. However, Garchomp often subverts a lot of these with Tera Steel as well as a high natural bulk, meaning you still have to carefully play around Garchomp and wear it down before being able to take it out. There are defensive checks like Bronzong, Galarian Weezing, and Wo-Chien that exist as well as usage of Air Balloon Fairy-types like Azumarill and Tinkaton, but the former 3 are super niche and resorting to niche mons to checking a dangerous threat is indicative of strained building, while Garchomp can also just wait in the back for a teammate to pop the Air Balloon. This is argued to produce an unhealthy dynamic on the tier, where apart from a select few options, it’s difficult to feel safe against Garchomp and teams end up forced into very similar cores.
However, Garchomp is not without flaws, it’s super controversial to be suspect tested after all. For starters, Garchomp is tasked with checking several threats on the team, so it’s not an immortal threat, meaning it doesn’t get too many chances to set hazards as it seems on paper. This also ties to Swords Dance sets, for using Garchomp’s natural defensive utility on teams against threats like Zapdos or Scizor means it’s now easier to be revenge killed. While it can Tera out of certain situations to avoid being revenge killed by priority, it still has to commit tera which can be awkward at times, not to mention a reactive Tera of your own can stop it. Also, certain elements like the Tank set being centralizing can arguably be considered invalid due to just the nature of the Gen with boots spam looking to a prevailing strategy. We’re seeing a rise of Pokemon like Enamorus and Mamoswine that match up well into Garchomp as well as moveset adaptations like Icy Wind Tornadus and Ice Beam Deoxys-Speed. Lastly, an aspect of Garchomp that everyone on council recognizes is that metagames aren’t tiered in a vacuum, with the goal ultimately to be to improve the tier, so there is a reasonable discussion to be had over whether Garchomp leaving the tier is more beneficial than it staying with how much it provides utility wise to the tier.
Ultimately, Garchomp is a very nuanced threat and one of the most contested Pokemon we’ve had this generation, especially in the DLC 2 metagame so far. Is Garchomp too overbearing for the tier, or is there reasonable counterplay that affirms this Pokémon to be balanced? The UU council has decided that it’s best to let the community decide, so here is the suspect!
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The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 78 with at least 50 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 78 GXE, down to a minimum of 30 games at a GXE of 82. As always, needing more than 50 games to 78 GXE is fine.
GXE | minimum games |
78 | 50 |
78.2 | 49 |
78.4 | 48 |
78.6 | 47 |
78.8 | 46 |
79 | 45 |
79.2 | 44 |
79.4 | 43 |
79.6 | 42 |
79.8 | 41 |
80 | 40 |
80.2 | 39 |
80.4 | 38 |
80.6 | 37 |
80.8 | 36 |
81 | 35 |
81.2 | 34 |
81.4 | 33 |
81.6 | 32 |
81.8 | 31 |
82 | 30 |
Participants will have until Sunday, March 24th at 7:00 PM GMT -4 to meet voting requirements and post in the Alt Identification Thread. PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR CONFIRMED SUSPECT RESULTS HERE - there is a dedicated thread for identifying your suspect results. Happy laddering!
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