Tera in my eyes should be restricted if any action is going to take place. I personally think tera should be outright banned however a restriction at the moment makes far more sense for the time being as it allows people to test and evaluate the meta to see if it COULD possibly be kept around, as well as potentially reveal the impact of tera more clearly.
Firstly, it is disingenuious to claim that No ban is the only way forward just looking at the survey. Not accounting all the skewing and all that; I won't be adding much to that conversation, but the majority of people do believe action should be taken on tera in some capacity. The point has been made that you shouldn't group restrictions with no ban, but I would say that if it were no ban vs ban, and after enough is said and done with the new mechanic, most people would vote a ban. This is as the meta as it stands is inherently pretty centralising and has too many broken pokemon powered up by tera, and most people voting restrict see that. People also who would vote ban could also jump ship to restriction, like myself, who just wants to determine if we can keep it in any form. There are certain many many people who have done this to analyse the effect of a restriction, as opposed to believing tera is okay but then voting restriction... So, if anything, lumping Ban + Restriction isn't an out there claim to make as it brings up a good point and an effect of adding an in-between option.
The main restrictions I see floating around are: Stab Tera ban, Non stab tera ban, tera preview and only allowing 1 pokemon to tera.
- Stab tera ban won't fix the core part of the issue; being that offensive pokemon can completely negate their usual counter-play and get rid of any pokemon that would stop a sweep. Espathra, Annihilape, Roaring Moon, Dragonite and potentially Dragapult potentially down the line are still going to do what they do. The only pokemon I see currently being impacted is Chi-Yu and Chien-Pao, the former being busted regardless in my eyes. The point is, this wouldn't solve many issues regarding tera at all and will only highlight how important non-stab tera shakes up the meta game, for the worse.
- Non-Stab tera ban is the only way forward I see truly working besides an outright ban. It stops the core part of the problem, enabling pokemon to obtain free coverage on whatever they so please, and combats pokemon that otherwise probably aren't broken such as Annihilape, Dnite, Espathra, and plenty of other pokemon I mentioned already and some I haven't.
- Tera typing at preview won't change the fact that multiple pokemon are still broken. Sure, it will get rid of the mind games of constantly worrying about "what if they tera dark and then kill my pokemon completely randomly", but I'd argue that it is still there in some form: when the opponents tera type is a major factor. Besides, showing the tera type of pokemon I listed under my last point aren't going to magically stop them from being broken at all. Sure, it is somewhat limiting, but most people expect, let's say, tera flying on Roaring Moon which wont stop it from wreaking havoc.
- The last option follows the same reasoning as the prior point. Only now, the benefit about using tera preview is gone, being that it limits 'random' super-plays that completely change the outcome of the game using unpredictable teraing that loses a vital pokemon on your team. It does get rid of the fact that different pokemon can tera and you have to play around saving counters to all of them, which is a valid point, however this is partly due to the fact that so many pokemon still would be broken with tera such as Espathra. This is also likely a partial fix that doesn't resolve many issues already stated with tera as a mechanic.
All other options I don't see working unless there is a merging of 2 restrictions. If one is suggested that is well able to stop/limit pokemon like Annihilape going from an alright OU pokemon to being likely broken (debatable, just an example) without being too complex then feel free to suggest one.
One last point is the option of creating an alternate ladder. I don't see this happening as it would not only divide the community but would also require additional moderating and counselling, as well as forums which just sounds like a nightmare.
However an OM I could see being created instead which wouldn't be as dividing and would make it much smaller and easier to manage.
If things come to it and the community cannot decide on an option, maybe this has to be looked at, but for now if we can come to an agreement by getting an idea on the meta-game post restriction or ban, then that is the far better option.
All things considered, I conclude that an initially a ban to Non-Stab tera would allow us to get more of an understanding of if tera itself is the problem and we should ban it entirely or not. If at that point tera is still overpowering it can get the boot.
Firstly, it is disingenuious to claim that No ban is the only way forward just looking at the survey. Not accounting all the skewing and all that; I won't be adding much to that conversation, but the majority of people do believe action should be taken on tera in some capacity. The point has been made that you shouldn't group restrictions with no ban, but I would say that if it were no ban vs ban, and after enough is said and done with the new mechanic, most people would vote a ban. This is as the meta as it stands is inherently pretty centralising and has too many broken pokemon powered up by tera, and most people voting restrict see that. People also who would vote ban could also jump ship to restriction, like myself, who just wants to determine if we can keep it in any form. There are certain many many people who have done this to analyse the effect of a restriction, as opposed to believing tera is okay but then voting restriction... So, if anything, lumping Ban + Restriction isn't an out there claim to make as it brings up a good point and an effect of adding an in-between option.
The main restrictions I see floating around are: Stab Tera ban, Non stab tera ban, tera preview and only allowing 1 pokemon to tera.
- Stab tera ban won't fix the core part of the issue; being that offensive pokemon can completely negate their usual counter-play and get rid of any pokemon that would stop a sweep. Espathra, Annihilape, Roaring Moon, Dragonite and potentially Dragapult potentially down the line are still going to do what they do. The only pokemon I see currently being impacted is Chi-Yu and Chien-Pao, the former being busted regardless in my eyes. The point is, this wouldn't solve many issues regarding tera at all and will only highlight how important non-stab tera shakes up the meta game, for the worse.
- Non-Stab tera ban is the only way forward I see truly working besides an outright ban. It stops the core part of the problem, enabling pokemon to obtain free coverage on whatever they so please, and combats pokemon that otherwise probably aren't broken such as Annihilape, Dnite, Espathra, and plenty of other pokemon I mentioned already and some I haven't.
- Tera typing at preview won't change the fact that multiple pokemon are still broken. Sure, it will get rid of the mind games of constantly worrying about "what if they tera dark and then kill my pokemon completely randomly", but I'd argue that it is still there in some form: when the opponents tera type is a major factor. Besides, showing the tera type of pokemon I listed under my last point aren't going to magically stop them from being broken at all. Sure, it is somewhat limiting, but most people expect, let's say, tera flying on Roaring Moon which wont stop it from wreaking havoc.
- The last option follows the same reasoning as the prior point. Only now, the benefit about using tera preview is gone, being that it limits 'random' super-plays that completely change the outcome of the game using unpredictable teraing that loses a vital pokemon on your team. It does get rid of the fact that different pokemon can tera and you have to play around saving counters to all of them, which is a valid point, however this is partly due to the fact that so many pokemon still would be broken with tera such as Espathra. This is also likely a partial fix that doesn't resolve many issues already stated with tera as a mechanic.
All other options I don't see working unless there is a merging of 2 restrictions. If one is suggested that is well able to stop/limit pokemon like Annihilape going from an alright OU pokemon to being likely broken (debatable, just an example) without being too complex then feel free to suggest one.
One last point is the option of creating an alternate ladder. I don't see this happening as it would not only divide the community but would also require additional moderating and counselling, as well as forums which just sounds like a nightmare.
However an OM I could see being created instead which wouldn't be as dividing and would make it much smaller and easier to manage.
If things come to it and the community cannot decide on an option, maybe this has to be looked at, but for now if we can come to an agreement by getting an idea on the meta-game post restriction or ban, then that is the far better option.
All things considered, I conclude that an initially a ban to Non-Stab tera would allow us to get more of an understanding of if tera itself is the problem and we should ban it entirely or not. If at that point tera is still overpowering it can get the boot.