Just an issue I would like to address.
Can we use 'usage statistics' to determine what is broken? - No.
Can use 'usage statistic' to interoperate why something is popular? - Yes.
While I haven't been checking in on the discussion, I have one thing to post that basically says "Thundurus stays OU" and it is this:
Code:
+ ---- + --------------- + ------ + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Usage | Percent |
+ ---- + --------------- + ------ + ------- +
| 1 | Scizor | 59655 | 23.334% |
| 2 | Tyranitar | 57563 | 22.515% |
| 3 | Rotom-W | 56906 | 22.258% |
| 4 | Ferrothorn | 49546 | 19.380% |
| 5 | Dragonite | 48845 | 19.105% |
| 6 | Gliscor | 47337 | 18.516% |
| 7 | Politoed | 43860 | 17.156% |
| 8 | Heatran | 41843 | 16.367% |
| 9 | Excadrill | 38156 | 14.925% |
| 10 | Jirachi | 37558 | 14.691% |
| 11 | Latios | 34889 | 13.647% |
| 12 | Skarmory | 33419 | 13.072% |
[B] | 13 | Thundurus | 28956 | 11.326% | [/B]
| 14 | Reuniclus | 27176 | 10.630% |
| 15 | Haxorus | 24132 | 9.439% |
Nothing looks like it really needs a ban here. The top three are all roughly equal in usage.
That's the thing about chart trends, it isn't self explanatory, you need to analyse and evaluate the data in order to accumulate the most useful information.
However in saying that, a statistical chart can only help you to a certain extent. - Just because Thundurus is 13th in usage, does not necessarily mean that it is not broken. Likewise, even if Scizor was largely dominating in usage, it wouldn't necessarily mean that it is broken - although, it would highlight an imbalance within the currant Metagame.
Code:
[U]DEC 2009[/U] STANDARD USAGE
Battles: 410278
+------+------------+--------+---------+
| Rank | Name | Usage | Percent |
+------+------------+--------+---------+
| 1 | Scizor | 251913 | 30.70 |
| 2 | Salamence | 175224 | 21.35 |
| - | Rotom-A | 174451 | 21.26 |
| 3 | Tyranitar | 171305 | 20.88 |
| 4 | Latias | 169077 | 20.61 |
| 5 | Heatran | 159534 | 19.44 |
| 6 | Gyarados | 156275 | 19.05 |
Contrary to the common belief that the Pokemon highest in usage is most likely to be border-line broken, this in reality is not always the case. The DEC 2009 statistics clearly show that Scizor was largely dominant in usage, but WHY was it so popular. Sure it is a great Pokemon in general, but to find the real reason as to why it was number one in usage we just need to look at the other top competitors. Just below Scizor at ranks 2, 3 and 4, are Salamence Tyranitar and Latias. Three Pokemon which Scizor effectively checks. Could this be contriubating towards Scizors popularity?
Code:
[U]JULY 2010[/U] STANDARD USAGE
Battles: 485880
+------+------------+--------+---------+
| Rank | Name | Usage | Percent |
+------+------------+--------+---------+
| 1 | Heatran | 240358 | 24.73 |
| 2 | Scizor | 225575 | 23.21 |
| 3 | Gyarados | 187358 | 19.28 |
Six months later, Salamence was classified as broken and thus was banished from the OU Metagame. Although Scizor still remained popular, we did see a noticeable drop in its usage. This was due to the fact that Scizor was no longer a 'much needed' component of a players team; the main deadly powerful and common threat which it effectively checked, Salamence, no longer existed. On the other hand, Heatran and Gyarados rose in usage due to the still evident popularity of Scizor.
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Thus as you can see, overall a Pokemon/Strategy will become popular because it is A. Effective or B. Effective at stopping a common opposing Pokemon/Strategy.
Side Note: Although just because something is popular, doesn't necessarily mean that it is broken however, we are a competitive community and therefore it stands to reason that people will strive to win, thus will use the best tactics within reason whilst they are still legal.
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OCT 2011 Statistics
STRATEGY - (weather)
Looking at today's statistics we see Politoed, a Pokemon that would still remain in NU if it were not for it's ability - Drizzle, at rank number 7 (in OU). Based on this, it is clearly evident how dominant Rain is in today's Metagame.
We also see Tyranitar at rank number 2, with Excadrill lagging behind at rank number 9 and with no other Pokemon largely benefiting from SS high on the charts (such as Landorus or Terrakion), it is safe to assume that the mole would be the main abuser on SS teams. If SS teams were dominant over Rain teams in usage then why is the main abuser lagging 8% behind the weather starter, (not to mention the other abusers that are way behind). Is it because Tyranitar's main purpose isn't to provide support to it's weather counterparts, but rather to play a vital role in checking Drizzle?
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Conclusion
On the whole, it does not matter IF something is popular, but rather the reason as to WHY something became popular in the first place.
Yes a data chart will immediately identify the most popular Pokemon based on usage statistics but it cannot tell us what is and is not broken through that information alone.
- Are Scizor/Tyranitar nearing border-line broken because they are number one/two in usage? No.
- Is Excadrill clearly not broken because it is number nine in usage? No.
We as competitive players must use all the information given to us (through battling, analysing, arguing and evaluating statistical information) in order to make an accurate assumption on whether or not something is broken. When voting on the Pokemon Suspects I think it will be important for us to keep in mind the reason as to why that Pokemon became popular in the first place, rather than by judging it based upon it's formal place on the ladder alone.
