
&

(mega)
After much discussion in the ZA OU discord and playing the tier plenty more (finally broke 1300

)I must finally come out against Greninja...
And im not just after the mega, im after the frog itself.
This Pokemon is so unbelievably meta warping that the only reason why its still here was because Zygarde-50 was tearing the tier apart so that had to go first, but then (correct me if im wrong) we realised giving Mega Greninja Skill Link was way too strong, so we gave it technician, but that was also too strong, so now we opted for Protean. While some may argue it would be fine with Torrent or some throwaway ability like Illuminate, I disagree heavily, since Mega Greninja stat mogs so much of the tier that it ain't worth trying to preserve. I also dont think it brings much to the tier, other then an unwanted speed tier that causes leading against it to be terrible.
Let me start with Mega Greninja because that guy might get banned soon and i want to plead my case before any possible second thoughts. 142 base speed is already too high for such a low power tier like this. That puts it in the top 3 speediest mons in the tier. Who are the next 2 above? Mega Beedrill, who as we all know is Potential Mon himself, and Mega Aerodactyl, who drops to a Bullet Punch. We all know about how it speed ties Dragapult, but Dragapult has 120 attack and 100 sp.atk, while high, is outmuscled by Mega Greninja's 125 atack and 133 sp.atk. So by stats alone, we're dealing with what is essentially
Battle Bond Dragapult Mini-Ash Greninja. Doesn't seem that bad right? Not really, until you look at all of its checks...

Hoodra has been one of the best Greninja checks in the tier. It and Volcanion

probably are the reason(s) why Greninja hasnt been banned immediately, its massive Special Defense, Steel/Dragon typing and good offensive stats means that careless Greninja's do like 30% to it at most with a special attack and get smacked with a Draco Meteor. Problem sol- oh he has Low Kick, which ohko's max hp 4 def Hoodra...
192 Atk Protean Greninja-Mega Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Goodra-Hisui: 366-432 (100.5 - 118.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
So its best theoretical check gets smacked by Low Kick. And Clefable

? I havent really seen a Clefable do well into a Greninja yet, but Clefable often gets Gunk Shot anyway and steamrolled. Remember, you cannot outspeed this thing unless you have 1) boosted speed already 2) choice scarf'd on certain mons or 3) naturally speed tie it (itslef) or outpace it (

and

) Slowtwins, both Galar and Kanto? Well im not too sure what you're doing switching a Psychic type into a Dark type, unless you know they dont have Dark Pulse. But those guys get U-Turn'd on and checked by Greninja's teammates.
You could try to mash priority such as Scizor's Bullet Punch

or Dragonite's Extreme Speed

, but again, Greninja should have teammates. Also, Flame Body Talonflame

makes using (contact) priority unwise anyway, since one burn and its over for most physical attackers in the tier.
So we cant outspeed the guy, we cant wall it because it might have the set that beats your wall, and if it doesnt it just U-Turns out, and we cant out-offense the guy because that can be a risky gambit if your goal is to check/stop Mega Greninja given, say a teammate Talonflame switching in and burning you with Flame Body, or bulky Garchomp coming in, taking 13% or smth with Rough Skin, more with Rocky Helmet, and doing bulky Garchomp things.
Okay but lets say we do try to change its ability to Torrent. Mega Greninja can't OHKO Hoodra anymore with Low Kick, but this guy isn't exactly frail, so its entirely possible to run Swords Dance and...
+2 0 Atk Greninja-Mega Low Kick (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Goodra-Hisui: 416-490 (114.2 - 134.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
...now our best check gets OHKO'd again, but now its threatening to sweep us harder because its at +2. Does Torrent make Mega Greninja's life a lot harder? Yes, losing a coverage move and having to safely pick up a Swords Dance in the first place can be tricky, but given how fast it is, good luck actually stopping this if it does happen. And im only covering for if the Mega Greninja is physical since i believe that is rising in popularity right now. I imagine theres a few different sets you can run on Mega Greninja, with mixed likely being the second best.
For these reasons, I say get rid of Mega Greninja at the next possible oppurtunity. No beating around the bush with Torrent or Illuminate or some other ability.