[I ask you to either read the whole piece, or read none if it, and post with arguements whether this is a good idea or not]
Introduction
In this thread I will opt for some huge changes in the current OU tier list, and the whole metagame if you wish. Before we start, I will explain my definition of a tier list: 'a list which include Pokemon that form a balanced metagame'. This is not nearly the case in today's metagame. And I'm here to change that.
A short while ago, I heard some rumors that Darkrai, Manaphy, Latios, Latias and Mew together could be moved to OU. They would 'cancel out' eachother's Uberness, so to speak. This all, to make the metagame more 'diverse'. This is indeed a good arguement. However, these changes would make the metagame everything but 'diverse'. The pool of usable Pokemon decreases if you add more very dominant ones. I dare say that for every Uber coming from 'above', five OUs will drop out from 'below'.
I looked at this the another way around, and got a great idea. What if we make some current very dominant Pokemon Uber? Now thát would make the metagame more diverse!
Changes
Therefore, I propose to make the following Pokemon Uber:
Garchomp is one of the first Pokemon that come to mind if asked what Pokemon dominate the metagame. Its usage this month was extremely high; +-10000000 points above the rest. The biggest difference ever achieved.
This is only logical however, as there are no real Garchomp counters. Cresselia may be your best bet, but she doesn't survive two Choice Banded Outrages. Bulky Waters such as Vaporeon, Suicune, Slowbro or Swampert all die to Swords Dance Yache Berry set, and can't take Choice Banded hits either. Skarmory and Hippowdon can stop Garchomp sometimes, but the first one can't survive Fire Blast or boosted Fire Fangs, while the latter must look out for Draco Meteor and Yache Berry.
The conclusion is: to have a chance at countering the most common Garchomp sets, you'll need a physical wall with an Ice move, paired with a bulky Steel Pokemon. This way you can force him into (Swords Dance) Outrage and revenge kill him with your Steel type. Garchomp is often combined with Magnezone though, so watch out for that. The only real ChainChomp counter is Cresselia, although she'll get worn out quickly, and the surprise Draco Meteor will have probably killed your physical wall. Finally, there is always the fear of Sand Veil. 80% chance you'll miss one Ice attack, effectively giving Garchomp another free turn, and often spelling your demise.
The second Pokemon that deserves Uber status in my opinion. Its already great base stats get even more boosted by his Rock typing combined with his Sand Stream ability (which also activates Sand Veil).
Again, there aren't alot of Pokemon that can counter Tyranitar well. The Choice Band set hits with such immense power that the likes of Swampert, Gliscor, Suicune, Forretress and Skarmory get 2HKOd by his STAB Attacks. Hippowdon and Machamp can wall the Choice Band set quite well, but the the hippo has to look out for other sets including Boah, and Machamp takes around 45% from an Earthquake. Dark weak Pokemon like Starmie or Cresselia can't even switch out safely, as they risk getting hit with a fatal Pursuit. This thing's movepool is so huge that it will often surprise you. Fire Blast decimates steel types, for instance, and a Dragon Dance set with Taunt is known to tear through teams.
One or two bulky grounds and as few Dark weaks as possible is the thing to do here. An Impish Rest / Sleep Talk Machamp is the only real counter, and there's really not so much besides that. You can only hope to outpredict the Choice Band set, but often you will have to bring sacrifices in order to scare him away.
Salamence is definately one of the pokes you don't want to encounter. You'll have absolutely no chance of countering him before you know its set. When you find out, you'll maybe have payed for it already. Blissey, for instance, is the only real SpecsMence counter (Empoleon and Heatran may get nailed with Hidden Power [Ground]). The same Blissey wil get devastated by Choice Band Salamence and the popular Dragon Dance Salamence. Sturdy physical walls like Hippowdon and a couple of Bulky Waters do great against those physical sets, but will all be OHKOd by a Draco Meteor. MixMence or ToyMence combines the two tactics, with Draco Meteor and Brick Break on the same set. Cresselia is the closest you'll get to countering this monster, but even she will get worn out by Choice Draco Meteors or Dragon Rushes/Claws.
I can't stress this enough, you'll have to find out what set Salamence runs before even trying to counter it. The safest switch in would be Blissey, who'll take 80% at max from a Choice Banded Brick Break or Dragon Rush. From there, make the right switches and be sure to outpredict the Choiced versions. A bulky steel like Bronzong can really help you if you can keep it out of the way of Flamethrower / Fire Blast.
Edit: Metagross and Cresselia are left to be OU. Good and not so good comments persuaded me. Remember I'm only testing as well, and Metagross and Cresselia seemed much less centralizing then the first three.
Conclusion
Now that these five Pokemon are gone, the metagame will be A LOT more balanced. It will be alot easier to defend yourself against most threats left remaining, and more time and creativity will be spend in the offensive department; thinking up offensive combinations of more than one Pokemon that the opponent can't withstand. Many Pokemon deemed BL or low OU will go up in usage, and I can imagine building a team around a unexpected UU Pokemon will be a lot more viable as well.
This will make the game more fun in my opinion, and we will encounter more thought out original teams rather than just Garchomp / Tyranitar ones.
I've put much work in this, and it isn't meant as a joke. I am positive that this will have great positive influence on the metagame. I will be hosting a tournament with above Pokemon NOT accesible, and see how it turns out. I appreciate your comments, as long as they're good ones.
Introduction
In this thread I will opt for some huge changes in the current OU tier list, and the whole metagame if you wish. Before we start, I will explain my definition of a tier list: 'a list which include Pokemon that form a balanced metagame'. This is not nearly the case in today's metagame. And I'm here to change that.
A short while ago, I heard some rumors that Darkrai, Manaphy, Latios, Latias and Mew together could be moved to OU. They would 'cancel out' eachother's Uberness, so to speak. This all, to make the metagame more 'diverse'. This is indeed a good arguement. However, these changes would make the metagame everything but 'diverse'. The pool of usable Pokemon decreases if you add more very dominant ones. I dare say that for every Uber coming from 'above', five OUs will drop out from 'below'.
I looked at this the another way around, and got a great idea. What if we make some current very dominant Pokemon Uber? Now thát would make the metagame more diverse!
Changes
Therefore, I propose to make the following Pokemon Uber:
Garchomp is one of the first Pokemon that come to mind if asked what Pokemon dominate the metagame. Its usage this month was extremely high; +-10000000 points above the rest. The biggest difference ever achieved.
This is only logical however, as there are no real Garchomp counters. Cresselia may be your best bet, but she doesn't survive two Choice Banded Outrages. Bulky Waters such as Vaporeon, Suicune, Slowbro or Swampert all die to Swords Dance Yache Berry set, and can't take Choice Banded hits either. Skarmory and Hippowdon can stop Garchomp sometimes, but the first one can't survive Fire Blast or boosted Fire Fangs, while the latter must look out for Draco Meteor and Yache Berry.
The conclusion is: to have a chance at countering the most common Garchomp sets, you'll need a physical wall with an Ice move, paired with a bulky Steel Pokemon. This way you can force him into (Swords Dance) Outrage and revenge kill him with your Steel type. Garchomp is often combined with Magnezone though, so watch out for that. The only real ChainChomp counter is Cresselia, although she'll get worn out quickly, and the surprise Draco Meteor will have probably killed your physical wall. Finally, there is always the fear of Sand Veil. 80% chance you'll miss one Ice attack, effectively giving Garchomp another free turn, and often spelling your demise.
The second Pokemon that deserves Uber status in my opinion. Its already great base stats get even more boosted by his Rock typing combined with his Sand Stream ability (which also activates Sand Veil).
Again, there aren't alot of Pokemon that can counter Tyranitar well. The Choice Band set hits with such immense power that the likes of Swampert, Gliscor, Suicune, Forretress and Skarmory get 2HKOd by his STAB Attacks. Hippowdon and Machamp can wall the Choice Band set quite well, but the the hippo has to look out for other sets including Boah, and Machamp takes around 45% from an Earthquake. Dark weak Pokemon like Starmie or Cresselia can't even switch out safely, as they risk getting hit with a fatal Pursuit. This thing's movepool is so huge that it will often surprise you. Fire Blast decimates steel types, for instance, and a Dragon Dance set with Taunt is known to tear through teams.
One or two bulky grounds and as few Dark weaks as possible is the thing to do here. An Impish Rest / Sleep Talk Machamp is the only real counter, and there's really not so much besides that. You can only hope to outpredict the Choice Band set, but often you will have to bring sacrifices in order to scare him away.
Salamence is definately one of the pokes you don't want to encounter. You'll have absolutely no chance of countering him before you know its set. When you find out, you'll maybe have payed for it already. Blissey, for instance, is the only real SpecsMence counter (Empoleon and Heatran may get nailed with Hidden Power [Ground]). The same Blissey wil get devastated by Choice Band Salamence and the popular Dragon Dance Salamence. Sturdy physical walls like Hippowdon and a couple of Bulky Waters do great against those physical sets, but will all be OHKOd by a Draco Meteor. MixMence or ToyMence combines the two tactics, with Draco Meteor and Brick Break on the same set. Cresselia is the closest you'll get to countering this monster, but even she will get worn out by Choice Draco Meteors or Dragon Rushes/Claws.
I can't stress this enough, you'll have to find out what set Salamence runs before even trying to counter it. The safest switch in would be Blissey, who'll take 80% at max from a Choice Banded Brick Break or Dragon Rush. From there, make the right switches and be sure to outpredict the Choiced versions. A bulky steel like Bronzong can really help you if you can keep it out of the way of Flamethrower / Fire Blast.
Edit: Metagross and Cresselia are left to be OU. Good and not so good comments persuaded me. Remember I'm only testing as well, and Metagross and Cresselia seemed much less centralizing then the first three.
Conclusion
Now that these five Pokemon are gone, the metagame will be A LOT more balanced. It will be alot easier to defend yourself against most threats left remaining, and more time and creativity will be spend in the offensive department; thinking up offensive combinations of more than one Pokemon that the opponent can't withstand. Many Pokemon deemed BL or low OU will go up in usage, and I can imagine building a team around a unexpected UU Pokemon will be a lot more viable as well.
This will make the game more fun in my opinion, and we will encounter more thought out original teams rather than just Garchomp / Tyranitar ones.
I've put much work in this, and it isn't meant as a joke. I am positive that this will have great positive influence on the metagame. I will be hosting a tournament with above Pokemon NOT accesible, and see how it turns out. I appreciate your comments, as long as they're good ones.
