Curious about what we're currently doing about bots? Check out the latest updates from staff in this thread.
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
The natdex 35 Pokes tiering council is unique in that it is, by design, semi-regularly rotating its roster and as a result we’re always on the lookout for players who are interested in joining! And now that a bunch of new people have joined the community, we figured it’s about time to make an interest list form! This is not an application, nor the one and only way to join the council — it’s simply a clear easy way for you to tell us you’re interested!
As was announced on this discord a while back and fully manifested a few short days ago, ThyUnitPossessCopium has decided to temporarily step down from her position as co-tier leader in order to take a break and free up her time so that she can focus on mirroring the success in real life that she's had in this sphere of competitive pokemon. She’s one of the nicest, funniest, and cool people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in the competitive pokemon, and I’m extremely lucky to have been able able to call her my co-tier leader and more importantly my friend!! I absolutely couldn’t and wouldn’t ever have imagined wanting to do this without her by my side, but I cannot help but be overwhelmed with pride and vindication in light of her decision to step back and focus on the more important responsibilities in life that simultaneously bless and plague us all. The best tier leader is one who takes proper care of herself so that she is able to tend to her tier and one who knows what the right thing to do is when those two principles happen to be at odds. I could never thank Essence enough for just simply being her amazing self,so and I will cherish every day she and I spent leading 35 Pokes together for how special she made it. I sincerely hope that Essence elects to return to co-tier leadership someday not too far in the future, and fully intended to keep her seat open waiting for that day to arrive. I do not know, exactly, how I will continue in the interim as I was never able to imagine a world in which I did this without her, but I have not even a shadow of a doubt that I will do so because Essence left me with the greatest parting gift she could ever offer: her support.
mmtaccos YOU ARE THE GOAT
Its been very fun making the graphics for a year and a half, but it was time for me to focus on other things. I'm glad we were able to turn the same design structure I've been trying to turn into 35 Pokes Branding into a generator for all to use!
OceanicGamer is being promoted to the new council co-leader role!!
I'm very late in making this announcement, so for those who were wondering why Ocean's been taking on a larger role in the tier lately this is why!! Before Essence stepped back to take a break, she and I agreed to create this new role to assist with running the tiering council and other council-related things wile she's away. OceanicGamer is one of the most dedicated and hardworking people to ever join 35, and his time to be in the spotlight is long past overdue! Congratulations Ocean!!
Is currently being suspect tested after a community poll indicated that the vast majority of the playerbase wanted the pokemon to be looked at. The results were strong enough to convince the council to vote unanimously, with one abstention, to approve the suspect test! Heracross is by far the strongest breaker in the metagame and is one of the most difficult pokemon to account for in the builder in a way that doesn’t leave you weaker to other meta threats, particularly Florges. The suspect test is concluding in less than 24 hours, and so far despite overwhelming support for the test, Heracross has yet to receive a single ban vote. Time, and not much of it, will tell what fate ultimately awaits Heracross in our third anniversary meta
:sv/crawdaunt: CRAWDAUNT HAS BEEN QUICKBANNED IN a 5-2 VOTE It was clear from the very beginning Crawdaunt would be very stupid in this meta. Adaptability Crawdaunt is a devastating wallbreaker no matter what set it was running. The only decent physical walls that weren't weak to its STABs was Mandibuzz, and maybe Dachsbun. But even then, it was no match for Crawdaunt, who would two-shot with Choice Band, or wait until they are chipped in order to rip off a Dragon Dance and destroy them. This was made worse in Rain, which removed the requirement to try to grab chip damage. Despite gripes that Crawdaunt would check other brokens in the meta, it was determined that Crawdaunt was too overcentralizing in the meta, and as such it has been promptly banned, with more bans being looked at the table currently.
:sv/crawdaunt: CRAWDAUNT HAS BEEN QUICKBANNED IN a 5-2 VOTE It was clear from the very beginning Crawdaunt would be very stupid in this meta. Adaptability Crawdaunt is a devastating wallbreaker no matter what set it was running. The only decent physical walls that weren't weak to its STABs was Mandibuzz, and maybe Dachsbun. But even then, it was no match for Crawdaunt, who would two-shot with Choice Band, or wait until they are chipped in order to rip off a Dragon Dance and destroy them. This was made worse in Rain, which removed the requirement to try to grab chip damage. Despite gripes that Crawdaunt would check other brokens in the meta, it was determined that Crawdaunt was too overcentralizing in the meta, and as such it has been promptly banned, with more bans being looked at the table currently.
:sv/crawdaunt: CRAWDAUNT HAS BEEN QUICKBANNED IN a 5-2 VOTE It was clear from the very beginning Crawdaunt would be very stupid in this meta. Adaptability Crawdaunt is a devastating wallbreaker no matter what set it was running. The only decent physical walls that weren't weak to its STABs was Mandibuzz, and maybe Dachsbun. But even then, it was no match for Crawdaunt, who would two-shot with Choice Band, or wait until they are chipped in order to rip off a Dragon Dance and destroy them. This was made worse in Rain, which removed the requirement to try to grab chip damage. Despite gripes that Crawdaunt would check other brokens in the meta, it was determined that Crawdaunt was too overcentralizing in the meta, and as such it has been promptly banned, with more bans being looked at the table currently.
I also have some news to share:
We will be moving the location of Generations Showdown to somewhere in the US (undecided at the moment) very soon, and as such, certain players might find their pings greatly improved; and there may or may not be about one day of downtime as this happens.
As always, we are looking for dev friends. If you want to try collaborating on a draft and 35 pokes focused showdown server, please do reach out!
Arcanine-Hisui has been quickbanned by a 5-1 vote of the 35 Pokes Tiering Council and re-rolled to Fezandipiti!!!
In a 5-1 vote, the natdex 35 tiering council, which is currently comprised of 3 new members compared to last month for reasons that will be explained forthwith in my next post, voted to quickban Arcanine-Hisui :arcanine-hisui:!! Harcanine very quickly arose as the top pokemon in the metagame once we began playing it, and people were identifying it as a problem pokemon before a single game was ever played. The combination of STAB Rock Head Head Smash and Flare Blitz is unresisted in the current metagame, with the best/only switchins being thick fat Miltank or occa berry Orthworm.
"Essentially, most teams will want harc, there is such a huge advantage to using the pokemon and I would bet is the #1 used mon by a fair margin. In large part because there are only 2 pokemon in the tier Orthoworm and Metagross I believe that can resist head smash. The move is so powerful and arcanine is already very very fast. Scarf Harc outspeeds most scarfers and imo is the best set but even regular boots or lo also really tear apart teams.
If this were the sole factor we could feasibly have a meta where everyone has to build around this very strong very oppressive mon, and we can argue about whether that is competitive or fair or balanced and whatnot.
However for me what I think takes away from the enjoyability of it, and makes it a bit less competitive is the combination of it being so oppressive while also requiring a lot more luck than the average pokemon.
If there are 3 head smashes in a game there is almost a 50% chance one will miss, if there are 4 it is more likely than not. In this specific metagame where Harc with head smash is so prevelent we are getting these 3-4+ head smash games consistently. With the metagame as it is, it is extremely likely somebody will be missing a head smash at some point, and there is no way to predict it.
If flare blitz were a better move, and believe me it is good, then there could be a stronger arguement to not click head smash so much. However in most scenarios head smash is just the better play, so long as it hits. This meta is filled with rock, fire, and water types meaning flare blitz is just not nearly as spammable as head smash. This specific meta is setup in such a way that luck will always have a larger impact.
This luck is much easier to handle early meta, so many people are trying different techs and strategies but by the time the tour comes around and the margins get thinner, those head smash misses are going to matter much. I also would not be surprised if Harc has like 80%+ usage but thats not the main reason I would want it banned
Obviously these stats will be slightly skewed in my preference but that is crazy usage -- 93.75% across like 23 games.
Additionally, "Arcanine-Hisui is simply far too overcentralizing in the builder. Just about every viable team right now is forced to run mutliple defensive and offensive checks for Arcanine-Hisui, and even still the dog can force progress with Head Smash almost every time it comes in. Even dedicated checks like fast physdef Miltank aren't a surefire answer, with Life Orb Arcanine-Hisui rolling to KO with the combo of Close Combat + Extremespeed, and Choice Scarf Arcanine-Hisui 2HKOing with Head Smash and Close Combat. Since there are no true defensive answers to Arcanine-Hisui, the meta is forced to go strictly towards Offense, with Balance being largely unviable, let alone slower team structures. Additionally, VoltTurn cores are extremely strong in this meta and it can be easy to strangle your opponent since they can never switch into any mon that risks dying to Arcanine, since letting you pivot into it and position it safely can be fatal. While I think Arcanine-Hisui is not quite as dominant as many make it out to be, the pressure it exerts on the builder is completely preventing a diverse and healthy metagame from developing."
Unsurprisingly, I was once again in the minority on this quickban vote. With 26 years' experience, I've grown accustomed to it I understood why most players felt that Harc was nigh on impossible to wall defensively long-term, but I wasn't quite convinced that that this resulted in an unhealthy metagame dynamic, that the pressure on the builder was really as great as it appeared, or that Harcanine was the root cause of the problem with the metagame. In the interest of time, I will expand on my thoughts more in a follow-up post where I will also provide an update on changes to the tiering council over the past 2 months!
tagging dhelmise to please implement banning Arcanine-Hisui and replacing it with Fezandipiti both in the teambuilder and our spotlight ladder tysm goat
Circuit/Invitational
Monthly Tournament
Retro Tournament
Premier League
Trios
