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The council has decided to quickban Iron Crown and suspect Mega Tyranitar!
Let’s start with the Crown: Iron Crown has been a controversial threat for the past few months since it dropped from OU. While at first it seemed that Iron Crown would provide great utility for the tier with its Assault Vest set checking staple special attackers like Hydrapple and Mega Venusaur, the “Demon Crown” set was soon discovered and became a key part of many Hyper Offense structures. With Iron Defense, Calm Mind, and Stored Power, Iron Crown becomes a sweeper capable of fortifying itself against revenge-killing attempts from Mienshao and even Excadrill and clearing through teams with a boosted Stored Power. Focus Blast provides the necessary coverage for Dark-types, and Booster Energy lets Iron Crown outspeed everything it needs to. Often paired with Rillaboom to provide recovery and protection from Earthquake, and Iron Crown could often be impossible to stop for most offensive teams without very specific measures.
There are many Pokemon that can take hits from Iron Crown. The Slowtwins, Latias, Hydrapple, Hippowdon, Victini, Aegislash, and Celesteela all can take 1 or 2 hits from Iron Crown. The issue comes with actually dispatching it; with Iron Defense, Iron Crown can take 2-3 hits from Victini and Hippowdon, with Aegislash being forced to use its Z-Move and take 1 hit in Blade form to KO Iron Crown. Meanwhile, Calm Mind lets Iron Crown sit on the Slowtwins, Latias, and Hydrapple for multiple turns, grabbing the boosts it needs to sweep through the rest of the opposing team. The main two checks were Aegislash and Celesteela, with Aegislash needing a Z-Move and high health to beat Iron Crown, and Celesteela needing an extra turn or help from a teammate to completely chip down Iron Crown with Leech Seed and Flamethrower.
This issue is compounded further by Hyper Offense structures. Most Hyper Offense structures utilise Grassy Terrain, which gives Iron Crown extended longevity. Additionally, Hyper Offense teammates like Moltres-Galar, Iron Moth, and RIllaboom appreciate shared checks Celesteela and Aegislash being chipped or take these two as opportunities to threaten their own sweeps. The Council has decided to take action on Iron Crown, as it is the most difficult Hyper Offense threat to handle, whereas other options have more defined counterplay. The rise of options like Goodra-Hisui and supoptimal moveslot choices like Whirlwind Hippowdon have done little to stymie Iron Crown's power.
Other factors, such as the return of Mega Tyranitar reducing Aegislash usage and the sweeper set being Iron Crown’s only real set (which provides little to the metagame) were also reasons we decided to Quickban Iron Crown.
Speaking of Mega Tyranitar… the king has returned. While Mega Tyranitar was no doubt controversial during its last reign over UU, it rose to OU before any action was taken against it. Now having dropped into a much more tame UU, Mega Tyranitar absolutely towers over every other option in the tier. With massive power and bulk backing its spectacular movepool, Mega Tyranitar is reminiscent of Primal Groudon in that it is the optimal option for any role you may need on a team. It is the best Stealth Rock setter, a phenomenal wallbreaker, a trapper and check for problematic threats like Iron Moth, Blacephalon, and Moltres-Galar, and it can even be a sweeper. Lets get into what makes these traits so dangerous.
Mega Tyranitar’s “support” sets are very overcentralizing. With the amount it brings to teams, primarily Sand, Stealth Rock, and Pursuit, Mega Tyranitar fulfills multiple roles that most teams desperately need and cannot fill without leaving holes elsewhere. This can be seen through the past metagame, which was dominated by Sand teams with Mega Tyranitar, Excadrill, and 4 other teammates, as these structures were the most, and arguably only, reliable teams in the tier. With many past threats to Sand gone, like Mega Gallade and Hawlucha, Mega Tyranitar as a centralizing threat seems more dangerous than ever.
Mega Tyranitar’s offensive sets are also incredibly scary. A 4 Attack set with a tech like Low Kick or Superpower for other Mega Tyranitar can function as an incredibly reliable wallbreaker and trapper, with nearly nothing in the tier able to handle the combination of Knock Off and repeated Stone Edge’s. However, the scarier set is Dragon Dance; alongside Grassy Terrain, Mega Tyranitar can easily set up 1 or 2 Dragon Dances, and can tear clean through many opposing teams. Counterplay for offensive teams often consists of exactly Buzzwole or Choice Scarf Mienshao and Keldeo, the latter of which fails after a second Dragon Dance.
While Mega Tyranitar is extremely centralizing, this does result in most teams packing checks for it. Whether it is Hyper Offensive teams utilizing Colbur Berry Aegislash or Offensive Scizor, bulky offense teams leaning on Buzzwole or Mienshao, or Balance teams using Skarmory and Hippowdon, counterplay does exist for the behemoth. However, with entry hazard support, which it often provides itself, many of these checks quickly fall into 2HKO or OHKO range. For these reasons, the council has decided to suspect test Mega Tyranitar.
Suspect Test Information
The instructions to participate in this test are as follows:
Create a new account OR use an existing one with no National Dex UU games played (resetting W/L does not count for this - the account you use must never have played National Dex UU before the test, ever.) You do not have to follow any specific naming rule but your suspect account must have never played a game in National Dex UU before this suspect test went up or you will not receive valid requirements.
At any point on your new account, use the command /linksmogon on Pokemon Showdown! You will receive instructions on what to do once you run this command.
After you linked your account, if you play one game with the alt, you have to play at least one game in order to verify and then do /rank in order to see the "Suspect Test elligible" message
[*]If this field says "No" then you have either not set up the account correctly or need to use a different/new account. You do not need to complete your entire reqs for this field to say "Yes"
After you believe that you have achieved reqs, double check that you're listed as a voter here! If you aren't listed as a voter despite having valid reqs, please contact Danbear02, Niadev, or any staff member.
If you have any questions about this new process, feel free to PM me or post here!
Laddering with an account that impersonates, mocks, or insults another Smogon user or breaks Pokemon Showdown! rules may be disqualified from voting and infracted.
We will be using the regular National Dex UU ladder for this suspect test, and Mega Tyranitar will remain legal throughout the entire suspect test.
Any form of voting manipulation will result in swift and severe punishment. You are more than welcome to state your argument to as many people as you so please, but do not use any kind of underhanded tactics to get a result you desire. Bribery, blackmail, or any other type of tactic used to sway votes will be handled and sanctioned.
Do not attempt to cheat the ladder. We will know if you did not actually achieve voting requisites, so don't do it. Harsh sanctions will be applied.
The requirement to vote in this suspect test is a COIL value of 2900 with a B-Value of 3.
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[*]
The suspect test will last until August 2nd 11:59 PM GMT -8.
For those of you wondering about the Suspect Tours, due to limited interest and player quantity, we will not be continuing with these Tours.
Back once again to start off the discussion after completing reqs. Used this the whole way, went undefeated first attempt. Didn't make the structure, stole it from someone in a room tour then added my own techs. Ignore the NDOU games I was messing around with Glaceon for fun.
Now, let's address the Godzilla in the room.
Returning to the tier after so long, Mega Tyranitar showed and immediately took back its top spot in the meta, giving Mega Aerodactyl a pat on the head while sending it to relative obscurity. It has two primary sets in Dragon Dance and Offensive Stealth Rocks, but the lesser used 4a Wallbreaker is still a threat in its own right and incredibly effective at beating opposing Mega Tyranitar. I will add these sets below.
Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- Superpower
Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge / Superpower
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
Tyranitar-Mega @ Tyranitarite
Ability: Sand Stream
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Superpower / Earthquake
As with Hawlucha, these are the sets I will be running analysis around. We'll start with defensive answers, then progress onto offensive answers, trying to find every single possible check, counter or mild annoyance that can be posed to this behemoth. I also am obligated to mention Excadrill now as well, as almost no team using either its Offensive Stealth Rocks or Wallbreaker sets would ever leave Sand Rush Excadrill behind. While it itself is not the subject of this post, Excadrill's influence cannot be ignored when discussing Mega Tyranitar and its counterplay.
Counters
The obvious first choice, Buzzwole is a tier main stay and has been a solid defensive and offensive presence since Beta. While offensive sets do find themselves 2HKOed after sand chip by adamant Stone Edge, its knock off resistance and ability to outspeed both MTtar and many of the other members of the tier that try to speed creep the 241 benchmark it sets allow Buzzwole to effectively switch into MTtar and force it out, while getting significant progress into the opposing team itself. It pulls double duty in this role as well, as it also completely walls Excadrill at the same time. However, Buzzwole is not without its own issues. Offensive sets are incredibly powerful when utilised properly, but whenever it switches into Stone Edge it is forced to recover rather than attack, particularly if it has already taken a Knock Off and has to come in under Stealth Rocks. This isn't an issue into Dragon Dance sets, but does leave it vulnerable to being worn down over time if the Buzzwole player is unable to close out a game quickly enough.
Hippowdon's presence on balance was already all but mandatory, as its premier Stealth Rocks setter and one of its best physical walls. Its versatility in being able to run specially defensive sets also allows it to throw a spanner in the works against otherwise powerful balance breaking strategies, such as the onslaught of pivot Iron Moth and Nasty Plot Hydrapple. Mega Tyranitar's return to the tier simply adds another to the list of otherwise backbreaking match ups that it almost single handedly forestalls. Physically defensive sets are able to completely shrug off both Knock Off and Stone Edge, while threatening back with Earthquake or Toxic. As it's not even forced to recover in the process, Hippowdon is also incredibly capable of setting Stealth Rocks in return, allowing it to force progress easily against Mega Tyranitar if it clicks an attacking move. Similarly to Buzzwole, it is also capable of walling most variants of Excadrill, though notably it is completely unable to touch the Air Balloon variants that have started becoming more popular recently. While a more robust answer than Buzzwole, Hippowdon does still suffer much of the same issues with longevity. In extended games, the loss of its leftovers when switching into Knock Off can leave it vulnerable to hazard stack teams, particularly with Tyranitar forcing it in repeatedly over the course of a game. It can also find itself as an entry point for the Grass-type Wallbreakers that are so common on Sand Offence teams, something only exacerbated by it not being able to reprise its usual role of eating a hit and returning a Toxic for fear of losing your Mega Tyranitar counter.
While it may be surprising to find a Psychic type on this list, the reason for Slowbro's inclusion is simple. Any Mega Tyranitar attempting to force it to switch with Knock Off may end up finding themselves on the receiving end of the Colbur berry Body Press sets that have started showing up since Mega Tyranitar's arrival in the tier, which is capable of 1v1ing the tier king from full health. The issue here should be obvious, however. You need to be at full health, otherwise Tyranitar eats the first Body Press then kills you next turn (Side note, who on Earth thought giving Mega Tyranitar base 150 defense was a good idea?). At that point, as well as if your Colbur berry gets burned elsewhere, you are more likely to find yourself teleporting out for momentum which, while still useful, is a far cry from the lure potential you would otherwise have and relies on your offensive Mega Tyranitar check still being alive.
Day 200 of Quagsire saving stall from yet another insane rock type sweeper. It does win through a toxic stall or scald burn, but loses leftovers or boots in the process, making it easier for the opponent to wear Quagsire down then win with another set up sweeper. And, as said, stall exclusive. I know there has been experimentation with it on fat as well, but it's far from a reliable choice on those structures.
Tangrowth is an incredible answer to Mega Tyranitar and Excadrill cores, being able to run Sleep Powder, Stun Powder and Knock Off for utility with Giga Drain and Earthquake providing enough offensive pressure to prevent them just muscling past. However, Tangrowth has significant 4MSS, wanting to fit all of Giga Drain + Earthquake + Sludge Bomb + Knock Off + Sleep Powder/Stun Spore. This usually means it is forced to leave something unanswered, resulting in flawed match ups almost always being present in Tangrowth centric teams. This also requires you to be using the physically defensive variant, as Assault Vest sets just get bulldozed by Knock Off and Pursuit, which leaves you vulnerable to the vast majority of the special attacking side of the metagame like Iron Moth and Aegislash.
Mega Venusaur gets incredibly risky, and I hesitate to call it a counter rather than simply a check, but strictly speaking it is capable of switching into and forcing MTtar out with Giga Drain, while recovering some HP from whatever switches in. However, it is forced to run Giga Drain to do so, which means it can't run the much more useful Knock Off that it would otherwise love to run. But that isn't even the main issue with this. The biggest problem Mega Venusaur faces is Mega Tyranitar's sandstorm, which limits the recovery that Synthesis is able to provide. This, along with Stealth Rocks and the monstrous amount of damage Stone Edge deals, is what makes the Mega Venusaur vs Mega Tyranitar match up so fraut for the Mega Venusaur player. In theory, it is winning, but actually pilotting it with any accuracy is incredibly difficult, and one wrong turn can often spell disaster.
I mention this here purely because countering Mega Tyranitar is the sole niche that Quaquaval has. It is otherwise incredibly unimpressive into the wider meta, providing exactly hazard removal and Knock Off support in front of Mega Tyranitar and very little else. Offensive sets flounder into anything with a remotely sturdy water resist, and is prediction reliant into near everything else anyway.
Checks
Some might be surprised to find this here rather than in counters, but Washtom is simply too frail to be able to actually switch into Mega Tyranitar. Knock Off is a clean 2HKO after sand chip, Stone Edge is a clean 2HKO, and running the Pain Split necessary to maintain your HP in the face of Mega Tyranitar's onslaught requires dropping the Defog you would need to clear its hazards. However, Mega Tyranitar can't stay on the field in front of Washtom on account of Wisp completely neutering its offensive potential, and Hydro Pump doing a respectable amount of damage.
Well, if Thunder Wave wasn't necessary before, it is now. While a fantastic Knock Off absorber, Clefable is completely unable to switch into Stone Edge. Moonblast also only does about 35% damage, so it doesn't even threaten back without running Thunder Wave to prevent Mega Tyranitar from outspeeding other key defensive pieces, such as Celesteela, Skarmory and Slowbro. That said, Thunder Wave is probably already Clefable's most reliable set, it just requires finding a different Stealth Rocks setter. As such, this isn't a huge hardship, it just limits Clefable's otherwise stellar viable movepool. It should be noted as well that Excadrill is perpetually able to come in on Clefable with minimal risk, blocking Thunder Wave entirely and potentially allowing Mega Tyranitar back in on the double while Clefable is forced out.
Sand chip is the bane of stall's existence. Mega Sableye is capable of holding out against Mega Tyranitar for an incredibly long time if played accurately, but getting every play right every time is just not humanly possible. Eventually, Mega Sableye will just run out of Recover pp from switching in on too many Knock Offs, taking a random Stone Edge, or simply having to sit in on too many turns of sand racking up 6% again. It got so bad last time around that we started dropping Mega Sableye from stall compositions and instead preferred to make structures that were more resistant to Hazard and Knock Off pressure.
Well, well, well, if it isn't a core that's also the answer to itself. Utility excadrill sure as hell doesn't switch into Knock Off, but bringing it in on either Stealth Rocks or Stone Edge will net you a positive interaction, since Mega Tyranitar's health is exponentially more valuable than Excadrill's. This means that it almost has to switch out, allowing Excadrill to Rapid Spin freely and make away like a bandit from the sequence. We'll get to Sand Rush Excadrill later, which of course handily dispatches this for MTtar's benefit.
This isn't higher purely because taking a Knock Off is incredibly detrimental to Garg's longevity, and it's only a little chip away from Stone Edge finding a 2HKO. Similarly, it also can't retaliate outside of Salt Cure and Protect, which only barely squeaks past the 1v1 and loses switching in. That said, Garg is incredibly underexplored at the moment, so it's entirely possible that I am underestimating this match up on account of simply not seeing enough of the interaction. And while it hates taking a Salt Cure, Excadrill is incredibly capable of beating even IronPress variants of Garganacl 1v1.
As far as I am aware, this is all of the available defensive counterplay. While a relatively impressive list, it should be noted that most team styles only have one or two viable answers that don't force you to play guessing games, which usually mandates running both a hard counter and a soft check to prevent being overwhelmed in the long term. Take, for example, Buzzwole + Rotom Wash structures, or Hippowdon + Clefable structures. We will now move on to the Offensive counterplay, which we fortunately have this time around, unlike with Hawlucha.
Offensive Counterplay
Well, well, well, if it isn't an already overused joke. Sand Rush Excadrill is by far the most splashable offensive answer to Mega Tyranitar primarily because of Mega Tyranitar itself. This duo provides almost a full team's worth of value compact into a concise core, with Mega Tyranitar functioning as Wallbreaker, Specially Defensive Wall, Stealth Rocks setter and Pursuit Trapper, and Excadrill functioning as Hazard Removal, Electric Immunity, Toxic Immunity and Win Condition. All that's needed is a ground immunity, which Excadrill itself can take on the role of using an Air Balloon, and a special attacking Wallbreaker or Win Condition, and you effectively have a complete, well rounded team that is incredibly effective at beating most offensive strategies. This then allows you to dedicate the rest of your team to breaking through balance and stall, which is a point we will revisit later, while creating a huge amount of centralisation.
If you're able to drop Buzzwole, Mienshao is the single hardest punish to Mega Tyranitar in the tier. Forgetting Close Combat, both Knock Off and U-turn allow Mienshao to dish out incredible damage, force progress and, in the case of U-turn, potentially trap the opponent in a sequence of switches that eventually forces them to sacrifice an important piece. It even manages to switch in on Stone Edge semi-reliably due to its Regenerator ability, though it is risky to do so on account of Mienshao's reliance on its Life Orb for necessary damage output.
Probably the second most splashable of Mega Tyranitar's offensive answers, Rillaboom has been creating waves in the tier in a similar, if less intrusive, manner similar to Mega Tyranitar itself. Grassy Terrain support on an incredibly potent physical attacker with strong priority and pivoting access allows Rillaboom to enable huge swathes of the tier that would otherwise be mediocre at best. One such beneficiary is Mega Tyranitar itself, which greatly appreciates the extra longevity that Grassy Terrain provides on account of its inability to hold leftovers and ground weakness. For those counting, that's another point of centralisation. That said, Rillaboom has its own issues with breaking in the tier. While it feasts on the offensive teams that Mega Tyranitar encourages, balance and stall structures have a much easier time holding off its pressure due to staple team members like Skarmory, Buzzwole and Celesteela.
Theoretically a defensive answer to Stealth Rocks variants, Bisharp has to be incredibly careful around Wallbreaker and Dragon Dance variants due to Superpower folding it so far in half that it might as well be origami. However, into the most popular variant of Stealth Rocks, Bisharp is a fierce wallbreaker that gives Hyper Offence and Bulky Offence some necessary stability into structures. While at +2 it even manages to snipe off Excadrill with Sucker Punch, though it does have to play the Sucker Punch Minigame to do so. However, switching in on attacks from Mega Tyranitar will eventually leave Bisharp worn down to the point where it can no longer risk setting up, and it itself can fall victim to the Colbur Slowbro sets designed primarily to beat Mega Tyranitar, leaving it an awkward position when it only beats one Mega Tyranitar variant and doesn't even threaten Dragon Dance due to it running a Timid nature.
Keldeo is theoretically an excellent answer to Mega Tyranitar, but finds its usage rate low through sheer competition for oth the Fighting and Water slots on most teams. Using Keldeo locks you out of Buzzwole as an offensive fighting, and gives you severe long term weaknesses to Grass type attackers when attempting to pair it with either Slowbro or Rotom-Wash.
Ursaluna is a similar case to Keldeo, where its slot as a Ground type attacker is usually overtaken by Excadrill, which, while significantly weaker, provides so much more utility to any team it is on. It also competes with Mega Tyranitar itself as a Wallbreaker, with most teams only realistically needing one or the other.
Harcanine is an incredibly effective choice for pressuring Mega Tyranitar, but comes with two main weaknesses. The first is to Stealth Rocks, and the second comes in competing directly with Mega Tyranitar for a team slot while providing significantly less utility.
Not included in this list are a fair few mons that Mega Tyranitar doesn't like to switch into, or otherwise can threaten it if weakened. The main example of this is Aegislash with Close Combat, but other such cases like Hydrapple or Serperior are also worth mentioning in this category.
While it's unlikely that this list is completely comprehensive, mainly due to me writing this particular line at 1am blame any typos or poor logic on a brain that really should be asleep by now, it illustrates all the counterplay I could find that can actually handle Mega Tyranitar in some way. Some are more permanent than others, and I tried to be as fair as I could in my assessments, so feel free to draw whatever conclusions you would like from this data. I would like to discuss two of my own conclusions before I finish with this post.
The first of these points is the Offence centric dominance that Mega Tyranitar Sand Offence creates. While it's easy to dismiss this as simply the Mega Tyranitar + Excadrill core being most easily supported by Offence structures, I find that it runs deeper than that. Most of Mega Tyranitar's defensive and offensive answers are also primarily found on Offence, and many such pieces are incredibly good at supporting Mega Tyranitar itself. For example, while Slowbro can very easily be used on Balance teams, its talents as a pivot, Status spreader through Thunder Wave and Scald, and Future Sight provider are often best utilised on Offence. Rillaboom, life orb Mienshao and Buzzwole are all offensive Wallbreakers that don't function as well in the slower paced environment Balance creates. Rotom-Wash and utility Excadrill are virtually Offence exclusive, and Bisharp tends to be more at home on Hyper Offence than anywhere else. Very few of these tools are actually available to Balance comparatively, driving teambuilding heavily towards Offence as the easiest way of both handling and supporting Mega Tyranitar.
The second is the sheer amount of centralisation in Sand Offence teams. Two of your mons are already decided, with Mega Tyranitar and Excadrill, before you've even started building the team. You then need your own defensive answer to these two mons, which is usually either Buzzwole or Slowbro. This is followed by a Grass-type Wallbreaker, usually either Rillaboom or Serperior. Then a special attacking Wallbreaker or Win Condition is needed, usually either Iron Moth or Aegislash, and finally a free slot for your own personal expression. While this would be fine for a niche playstyle without much support, this applying to the most common team structure in the format makes games incredibly repetitive and near mirror matches common. It also brings me back to two points I made note of earlier; the centralisation present on Sand Offence, and the ability of Sand Offence to dedicate the remaining 50% of its team after the first three members purely to breaking Balance and Stall.
It will not have escaped your notice that many of these names have already come up during this explanation, with 4 out of 6 predetermined slots being both incredible support to Mega Tyranitar and either offensive or defensive answers, or Mega Tyranitar itself. This is a ridiculous amount of centralisation, as it creates a dynamic where the best method of answering Sand Offence structures is with your own Sand Offence. It's already been a running joke in games I have played to make note of the amount of Mega Tyranitar + Excadrill + Buzzwole teams I have seen whenever it comes up. And it comes up a lot.
Then there's the latter claim, which should be relatively self exemplary. Excadrill is, bar none, the fastest mon in the tier that doesn't have to spend a turn setting up while in sand. While this itself is not enough to create issue, its power allows it to very easily carve through the Hyper Offence structures that most other styles can very easily struggle into. Meanwhile, Hyper Offence itself has very few options to actually prevent Excadrill from simply sweeping the moment it hits the field. Air Balloon Aegislash and Autotomize Celesteela are the two main options, but most teams can only fit one. And once that one answer is gone, either through Aegislash's balloon being broken or Celesteela being forced out after using up its power herb, the rest of the team is often completely helpless to actually respond to Excadrill in any meaningful way, while not having the tools to stall out sand turns and limit its speed dominance. It's gotten so bad that I have legitimately started running a Timid nature on my Moltres-Galar sets purely because it just barely manages to squeak past Excadrill in sand after Agility, worsening its match up into literally the entire rest of the tier. With Iron Crown gone, Mega Tyranitar's dominance leaves Hyper Offence almost completely in the dust, the match up is so lopsided. This means that, as long as the rest of your team has a couple bits of priority and pivoting to provide utility, you can almost solely dedicate the remaining members of your team to beating the Balance and Stall match ups. This leads to monstrosities like the team I achieved reqs with, where you end up having to face down Z Aegislash, Choice Band Rillaboom and pivot Iron Moth all with Future Sight support available on top of Mega Tyranitar pursuit trapping. Nothing short of Goodra-Hisui has been able to withstand that in the games I've played, and even that just barely. Anecdotal though that might be, it should illustrate the point well enough. This also then points you towards just playing your own Sand Offence rather than trying to bend over backwards to somehow try and answer even some of the threats the team style can throw at you.
This all comes together to create an environment where the entire tier revolves around the Sand Offence match up. There is just simply nothing better you can be doing than running Mega Tyranitar + Excadrill Sand Offence due to how much compression that core provides, and Offence being both the best way to support and answer it. In fact, the Mega Tyranitar + Excadrill core has been used on literally every single team style available in some way, shape or form. On Hyper Offence, Excadrill is one of two viable hazard leads in the tier, while Mega Tyranitar is a ferocious Wallbreaker and Sweeper. Sand Offence is the dominant form of Bulky Offence. I have seen Mega Tyranitar + Excadrill Balance teams being considered and built, and multiple different iterations of Mega Tyranitar + Excadrill semi stall. The sheer centralisation involved here is simply ludicrous.
Needless to say, I will be voting Ban. This post ended up arguing for one side more than I would have liked, but everything is just so centralised at the moment that I don't think the tier will be able to breathe until Mega Tyranitar is gone, despite it having available counterplay. I hope the arguments and information provided here can help kickstart more discussion, and otherwise I wish you all a good rest of your day.
