Question: disregarding the opponent's defenses for a moment, how many ways are there for a special attacker to be crippled offensively? When I think physical, burn immediately comes to mind. And king's shield (and spiky shield)...but unless I'm having a massive brain-fart I can't think of any ways to reliably lower a special attackers stats. And again, there are multiple punishments for contact moves that special attacks simply do not have to worry about (I'm looking at you gooey; and your friend rocky helmet).
So, keeping that in mind (again, I'm assuming I'm not missing anything big here), are there generally less risks to attacking on the special side, and therefore more reason to have a given team more specially Inclined? Of course, you'd still need some physical attackers to handle special walls. I'm open to any comments/ideas (well of course I am, that's way I'm posting here XD)
Oh, assuming this point is actually valid, I realize the logic of "well, if everyone uses this to their advantage, then all teams would become more sp. defensively inclined, also." Heh...maybe I shall keep this a secret, then... MWAHAHAHA
While it is true that physical attackers are far easier crippled, there is more to the special vs. physical balance than just this.
Special attackers usually don't get crippled in there offensive capabilities or punished for attacking, but they generally don't get rewarded as much for attacking as physicals.
Most special moves pack less of a punch than their physical counterparts: BoltBeam only hits for 90 BP, HP, the ultimate coverage move, while very useful, only sits at 60 BP.
Physical 100 Accuracy moves generally hit a tad harder, Earthquake and Return come to mind.
Also there are no special counterparts to moves like Close Combat or Flare Blitz, which don't neuter your own offensive capabilities after one use.
Also While physical walls are quite sturdy, there is no physical counterpart for the likes of Blissey/Chansey, which will laugh off any special hits, even if they're SE.
Next up are stat boosts:
While Quiver Dance and Tailglow are extremely strong moves, their distribution is poor at best. Nasty Plot also isn't that common and there is no other SpA/Spe boosting move.
Physical Attackers meanwhile get Swords Dance, Dragon Dance and Belly Drum, which are generally more accessible.
Last but not least is priority: Bullet Punch, Sucker Punch, Aqua Jet etc. all physical, while there is only Infernape's and Lucario's Vacuum Wave on the special side.
Edit: Also Assault Vest is a thing (totally forgot about that one)
