I have seen many headass posts but lets address this one specifically since it offers some evidence actually in favor of my argument.
First, 'Is this bursting with variety? Is Skarm/Pex/Fat ground/Fast knock really better than zap/Tinglu/glowking/zama on both sides?'
judging from the oupl game u linked, 10 unique mons out of 12 is not 'bursting with variety' to u? look at scl finals and tb games, do u see a single game without zama pult gambit ground on either side i mean please i implore u to find one such game to show the past meta brimming with diversity that you are dying to return to trad for.
Next. 'But I think the most important part is the increase in offensive powercreep in balance's speed control options. Weavile and Meowscarada getting Triple Axel make them 2x better as progress makers via knock off and general speed control. To me, this is the main reason why balance is strong right now, and in conjunction with all the factors in the OP by njnp, you are looking at a very narrow set of consistent options and a very wide array of MU fishing'
ok so you are telling me that more options to hit annoying mons of the past like zap lu scor meow, options like knock to force progress vs sit and do nothing stall forcing it to adopt new strategies, and more mons such as kyurem to put pressure on fat teams whereas the booster mons bolster the prowess of ho, the meta is actually LESS diverse? so you trad boys parade around the idea that all the new shit is broken, and the new shit is so diverse and flexible they boost basically any team theyre on, yet only one style aka balance is viable? so which is it, the new mons are only broken and usable on balance or do they offer diverse boosts to different strategies in this meta?
If we want to look at individual mons, I agree we can wait for survey results and weighted usage stats to gauge the brokeness of mons like gouging fire, who alongside meow are my best hitters of DLC 2, undeniably. However, every mon has flaws and counterplay. I have used every DLC 2 mon and built teams around them, testing on high ladder w fiends like vert who occupy the top spot longer than aubrey graham. I dont think anything is immediately over the top like ursaluna where coverage is perfect and u get a mix of longevity and immediate power, somewhat of a perfect mon. similar mons like gouging fire, bolt, kyurem and company exist, but they each have flaws. Instead of banning them, I think introducing more borderlines such as bax back into the meta can create another situation of offensively checkign threats. For example, cry all uwant about ground volc, but u get a kill with it and now i send out bax with shard in the back, u have already exhausted tera so i have the upper hand. Similarly, use your gouging fire but my lando/tusk/dozo/primarina will still come in and blow ur nose off. There is counterplay to everything, stop crying about fishing and randomness, notice how all the top players consistently perform with little randomness or variation involved, no matter the meta changes. Over the last week or so I have used/given teams to people at the top of the ladder ranging from cheese ho to stall, even rage built some stall ct to snipe some pussies. They all work. Please player base have some respect for yourself and accept that no matter the tiering actions taken, the top players arent better cuz 'mu fish', and that losing to the 'broken mons' everyone has access to isnt the real reason your spl campaign has fallen short for the 5th season in a row. Just let the real players play w unmitigated options as long as they are fair and balanced, until proven otherwise.
Lastly, if you are still having the conversation about banning THE core mechanic and its extension (tera blast), please help yourself to the nintendo switch and hit that custom wifi battle playa, we here to play some real mons
No personal shots at anyone: this is not disparagement, this is a conversation.
Thank you for tuning in.
I agree with most of this post and to expand a lil bit on the variety of the meta the 2 mons that are repeated are OU GOATED Skarm that has been OU since it's introduction minus one black mark against its record and a bulky water with a busted ability, both of these mons should be expected to be quite common.
HOWEVER, calls to unban bax is beyond silly imo, that guy is so broken it's not even funny and the only thing that has changed between the last time it was in the tier and now is that people cannot just mindlessly lead ATales veil up and sweep as DeoS will just taunt the ATales, instead people will lead HRott kill the DeoS/force it out go to ATales set up veil and sweep. Having a mon in the tier that can set up in a variety of ways with an effective uninvested bulk of 371 495 312 is never going to not be broken, most defensive mons would kill to have those stats, let alone have those stats and be as potent as Bax is offensively.