A lot of us over at GameFAQs are on the fence about this: some of us want our old sweeper brought back to OU, some of us want him to stay where he is with the other high and mighty legends too broken for any lower tier. But I have one thing to ask (I apologize in advance if it's been brought up before): if y'all were to ban SV Garchomp, wouldn't that be the start of a slippery slope? Pretty soon, you'd see people demanding Blaze-iken in the lower tiers, then non-Prankster Thundurus, then non-Sand Rush Excadrill, and people would even possibly demanding you dig into the lower tiers for things like non-DW Alakazam, non-DW Dragonite, etc., and they'd call foul and roar unfair if y'all said no way jose. (Surprising as it may be, there would still be people demanding 'Nite and 'Zam in the lower tiers with their lackluster abilities; there's always 1 or 2 vocal minority groups that will.) What I'm wondering is what your response to that would be. Would you be willing to go through hundreds of pokemon to do this, would you just leave it at Garchomp despite the cries of it being unfair, or would you just bring 'Chomp in his entirety back to OU, sending it back to Ubers if enough people demand or, or what?
lol monferno stop making gamefaqs look worse than it already does.
Garchomp would be a lot more reasonable in OU without Sand Veil (still a top pokemon though). It has destructive power similar to that of Terrakion. It trades the speed of Terrakion for much better durability.
Sand Veil is what made it Uber - it made a top-tier killing machine straight up broken. It is the straw that broke the camel's back, if you will.
Smogon should just start banning certain Abilities on certain Pokemon. Before everyone starts spamming “complex bans”, allow me to explain.
Smogon’s objective is to create a balanced and rich metagame, that is, a metagame with as many viable options as possible and no overcentralization. Smogon does this by imposing restrictions on what can and cannot be used (this is how we end up with ban lists and clauses). Since Smogon is a fan-made entity run by an entire community, there are various laws in place to make sure the governance of the metagame stays as objective and systematic as possible. Smogon’s rule against complex banning is one such law. Its sole purpose is to establish consistency of ruleset by preventing the establishment of any precedence of arbitrary and unmethodical judgment regarding what can and cannot be banned.
However, in the face of the continuous addition of Abilities to Pokemon, this policy on complex banning has become archaic and, as such, has come into conflict with one of Smogon’s main tenets – banning of as few things as possible. Because of Smogon’s current policy on complex banning, Pokemon that are obviously not broken, such as Speed Boost Blaziken, Defiance Thunderus, and Mould Breaker Excadrill, are unable to be used. Additionally, there is the issue of the topic – banning Sand Veil under the Evasion Clause. It is arguable that certain Pokemon with the Ability, Sand Veil, are not broken with Sand Veil. However, this ban could go into effect under the pretense of minimizing luck in the metagame. This is a whole ‘nother can of worms though (and it's hard to argue that things like Sand Veil Cacturne and Sandslash should be banned).
I think the line needs to be redrawn regarding complex bans. Two Pokemon with the same Pokedex number and different Abilities have the potential to be two vastly different units with respect to competitive capabilities (as we can see with Blaziken, Breloom, Chandelure, Excadrill, Serperior, and many others).
I propose the following guideline as a way to ban Abilities while avoiding any potential messy precedents set by implementing what is currently considered complex banning:
Any inborn, defining, and permanent trait of a Pokemon can be banned. This will allow Abilities to be banned on specific Pokemon.
- “Inborn” refers to any aspect of the trait that a Pokemon is born with. Pokemon are hatched with Abilities. The inborn aspect prevents the banning of things such as select moves, EV spreads, and/or items on any given Pokemon (e.g., specific combinations, such as Heatran and Balloon, Blissey and 252 HP EVs, or Salamence and Outrage, cannot be banned)
- “Defining” refers to any aspect of the trait that defines a Pokemon species. Abilities help define species due to the fact that the Ability a Pokemon can have depends on its species. The defining aspect prevents the banning of things such as specific Natures, EV spreads, and/or IVs on any given Pokemon (e.g., specific combinations, such as Tornadus and Timid, Latios and 252 S.Atk EVs, or Tornadus and a Speed IV of 31, cannot be banned)
- “Permanent” refers to any aspect of the trait which cannot be altered. The Abilities of Pokemon cannot be altered.
When the letter of the law comes to odds with the spirit of the law, that law is no longer completely suitable or effective.