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Announcement NatDex RU Community Surveys

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With NDPL entering playoffs stage we have decided to run a survey along with it so that people can give feedback on this metagame. Here is the link to this: https://www.smogon.com/forums/form/national-dex-ru-survey-october-2024.105/select

The following users are being pinged because they are considered a qualified voter:

Don Bork Big Chungus irl BigDaddyAddy Adriyun Razorgliscor seth Dead by Daylight Velcroc Lizzie A plague doc BloodAce Estragos Fluore Kinzo Micaiah sasha Thiago Nunes Danbear02 Dlanyer feen Leni db Runo

Top 8 in NDRU Seasonal:
Don Bork
Big Chungus irl
BigDaddyAddy
Adriyun
Razorgliscor
seth
Dead by Daylight
Velcroc

At least 2 Wins in NDPL/FL:
PL:
Micaiah
sasha
Thiago Nunes
Danbear02
Dlanyer
feen

FL:
A plague doc
BloodAce
Estragos
Fluore
Lizzie

At least 4 games played in NDPL/NDFL
PL:
Micaiah
sasha
Thiago Nunes
Danbear02
Dlanyer
feen
Leni

FL:
A plague doc
BloodAce
Estragos
Fluore
Lizzie
Kinzo

NatDex RU Council Member:
Velcroc
Runo
db
Kinzo
Adriyun
seth

If you belive you are a qualfied voter but your name isn't included then you can PM me.

This survey is open to everyone, regardless if they are apart of the qualified playerbase or not.

Deadline is probably going to be next Sunday (27th Oct 11:59pm -4)
 
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Sorry for the delay regarding the survey, I could not figure out how to make charts for some of the questions and I still can't so lets just get into it:

Have you made it to Round 6 of NatDex RU Summer Seasonal, have at least 2 wins in NDPL/NDFL, or are an NatDex RU council member? Select all that apply.
Of the 21 users who responded to our survey, 16 (76%) users were considered qualified users.

How competitive/skill expressive do you think the tier is on a scale of 1-10?
The average score for the competitiveness of the metagame was rated an 8, with the qualified playerbase rating it slightly higher at an 8.125. Although there are still some issues that need to be addressed, most of the playerbase is satisfied that they can play this tier knowing that it has achieved a nice balanced state.

How much do you enjoy playing this tier on a scale of 1-10?
Most people also consider this tier fun to play as well, with the average score being 8.3 and the qualified score being an 8.56. This is certainly a step up from the feelings in the Pecharunt or Enamorus metagames where they ruled with terror, the top threats as of recent are rather mellow compared to them and as a result, teambuilding is a lot more diverse and we're pretty free to experiment with a lot of the threats in the tier without any one threat being too overwhelming*.

How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Basculegion-F (on a scale of 1-5)?
Basculegion-F received a 2.3 in the general side and a lower score in the qualified side of 2.25, which is not really high enough to facilitate tiering action yet. That being said its still a very dangerous wallbreaker and was very threatening during NDPL with sets like Choice Specs. An eye will be kept on it for the time being.

How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Latias (on a scale of 1-5)?
Latias got a contentious 3.1 on the survey from both the qualified and general survey takers. The variance of its Calm Mind sets makes it a bit annoying to easily deal with in the builder with checks like Slowking or Tinkaton being rendered non-issues with Latias's Z-moves (Electrium and Firium Z). Other sets such as Choice Specs and Life Orb are incredibly dangerous to try to switch into and not easy to guess on preview either. That being said stacking checks for Latias is not hard at all with both Slowking and Tinkaton commonly being seen on the same structures for example and offensive Latias checks such as Scarf Krookodile and Slither Wing being really common. A 3.1 on the survey allows it to be slated however.

How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Slither Wing (on a scale of 1-5)?
Slither Wing also received a 3.1 on the survey from both the qualified and general survey takers. Buzzwole Jr. is a insanely dangerous wallbreaker in the tier as its STAB combination is very annoying to check with Wild Charge for coverage, making it a threat is very few hard counters in the tier. This is mitigated a bit by the fact that the soft counterplay that does exist (such as Togekiss and Crobat) can switch into its main STABs easily as Wild Charge on Choice Band sets is a risky prediction. Other soft checks such as Basculegion-F and Amoonguss also punish it really well for clicking anything other than U-Turn, while the common Gligar stonewalls it. Again a 3.1 on the survey allows it to be slated however.

Are there any other mons that you find problematic in this meta?
2 Qualified users mentioned Okidogi as problematic in the metagame
1 Qualified user mentioned Lucario as problematic in the metagame
1 Qualified user mentioned Runo as problematic in the metagame

How do you feel about unbanning/re-testing the following:

Deoxys-D

1730433099021.png

A majority of users believe that Deoxys-Defense should be unbanned at certain point, with half of its supporters advocating for it to be unbanned immediately. To Council, the Deoxys-Defense ban was considered a relic of the Tera metagame in addition to massive changes to the metagame that render Deoxys-Defensive more manageable in the current day. Some sort of action will probably happen to Deoxys-Defense after more contentious issues get sorted out first.

Iron Leaves
1730433331745.png

A plurality of users are supportive of an Iron Leaves unban, but there is also a lot of hesitation regarding the mon since a lot of the theories about it being a balanced threat is merely theory, with claims that its SD sets would still be really frustrating to deal with in the current metagame still being a valid opinion to carry. No action will be done for right now until we can solidify our opinions on Iron Leaves and other issues get sorted out.

Jirachi
1730433586649.png

A large majority of users think that Jirachi shouldn't be unbanned so no action will be taken on it for the foreseeable future. Z-Celebrate sets are what got it banned initially and overall despite having very "strong" checks such as Mega Aggron and PhysDef Slowking, it can still manage to cheese out a win with flinch hax. It's still uncompetitive by nature.

Porygon-Z
1730433742971.png

An even higher majority of users belive that Porygon-Z shouldn't be unbanned. Blissey and a multitude of Choice Scarf users exist in the tier, but its Z-Conversion sets are still way to dangerous to functionally handle consistently even without the benefit from Dual Screens. No action will be taken on it for the forseeable future.

How do you feel about unbanning/re-testing the following if they drop to RUBL:

Bisharp
1730506017679.png

Should Bisharp fall back down to RU, a majority of users expressed that Bisharp should be unbanned, with more than half of those users believing it should be unbanned immediately. Post-Tera there was always a call for Bisharp to return to the fold but unfortunately it rose to UU before we got the chance to do anything quickly. Still, there are concerns that Bisharp will just warp the hazards metagame around its presence and make the already shaky hazard removers worse. That being said, if it drops then we will probably have some form of tiering action or "suspect" on it.

Keldeo
1730506061924.png

A large plurality of users believe that Keldeo shouldn't be unbanned, most likely since the only real checks in the tier to it would be Latias and Slowking presumably as everything else can be dealt with by Keldeo (Air Slash for Grass Types for example). Although there is a large amount of people who are unsure about Keldeo so we will probably re-discuss this at a much later time.
Sableye-Mega
1730506073813.png

A vast majority of users are against unbanning Mega Sableye due to the unhealthy hazards dynamics it adds to tier and it being a major boon to stall teams. Most of our fairy types bar Primarina neglect to run Fairy Type moves as well so it would result in a threat that is very hard to check and can pressure nearly all of the common hazard setters bar Tinkaton. We won't be considering this mon for an unban anytime soon.

How helpful have our resources been in helping you learn the metagame?
Most users generally thought that the resources we provided were helpful when learning the meta, although there were major concerns about the resources being too outdated to be of any value. Fortunately for that crowd we are working as fast as we can to rectify that issue.

Do you have any suggestions on improving the visibility of our resources? (Please type them in the "Other..." box)

Suggestions are as follows:
  • Split the resource megathread into individual threads
  • regular updates to resources should be a priority
  • Create sample teams (completed already)
  • Creating a good cores list
 
I decided it would be useful to conduct another survey as ND Blind Draft has concluded, our temp ladder has been removed, and RU Money Tour is in its later stages at this point. We'd appreciate any feedback from those who've had any experience in the tier. Here is the link to this: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbkpeyb039jBL4h_RHtD5N7B2iE8Agnj_wvYHerjDHIXYm2g/viewform

The following users are being pinged because they are considered a qualified voter:
691 about15gals Adriyun Big Chungus irl blinkboy Danbear02 db Dead by Daylight devin doso749 Feliburn FlamPoke Fluore Iride jawabarat JeoZ Jojen Kinzo Kjay500% LBN Micaiah mrfraud Rafadude Runo seth skimmythegod Thiago Nunes Velcroc yogo896

Made it to Round 5 of NatDex RU Money Tour:
doso749
yogo896
Adriyun
Micaiah
mrfraud
Velcroc
about15gals
Jojen
Iride
Thiago Nunes
Feliburn

3 or more wins in ND Blind Draft
jawabarat
Rafadude
691
Danbear02
JeoZ
Dead by Daylight
Fluore
Big Chungus irl
Micaiah
LBN
db
skimmythegod

At least 4 games played in ND Blind Draft
Micaiah
Runo
LBN
db
devin
skimmythegod
jawabarat
Rafadude
691
Danbear02
JeoZ
Dead by Daylight
Fluore
FlamPoke

NatDex RU Council Member:
Runo
Adriyun
Seth
Kinzo
db
Velcroc

Top 5 on NatDex RU Ladder - https://pokemonshowdown.com/ladder/gen9nationaldexru:
Kjay500%
Blinkboy
Big Chungus irl

2 other unidentified alts, dm me with proof if they belong to you

If you believe you are a qualified voter but your name isn't included then you can PM me.

This survey is open to everyone, regardless if they are apart of the qualified playerbase or not.

Link to the survey again - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbkpeyb039jBL4h_RHtD5N7B2iE8Agnj_wvYHerjDHIXYm2g/viewform


Deadline is probably going to be next Sunday (16th March 11:59pm -4)
 
On a scale of 1-10, 1 being worst & 10 being best.

How competitive/skill expressive do you think the tier is - 8.14
How much do you enjoy playing this tier - 8.50

On a scale of 1-5, 1 being unproblematic & 5 being problematic.

How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Aggron-Mega - 2.11
How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Okidogi - 2.89
How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Primarina - 2.29
How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Thundurus - 2.79
Are there any other mons that you find problematic in this meta?
:Slither Wing: x5
:Latias: x2
:Nidoking: x2
:Houndoom-Mega:
:Lokix:
:Ogerpon:
19 users took this survey this time, thank you for your input.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being worst & 10 being best.

How competitive/skill expressive do you think the tier is?
7.58 (-0.56)

How much do you enjoy playing this tier?
7.79 (-0.71)

Fairly significant drop in both aspects here. I can only really speculate as to causes, but overall this isn't unexpected given recent tier shakeups. Things have already slowed down on the NatDex Ladders significantly, so that should help bring some much needed stability (except one thing I will go over further down this post). End of the gen is coming up as well, so that should bring about rises being paused at some point. In the meantime all we can do is try to deal with issues as they pop up and with quick resolutions.

On a scale of 1-5, 1 being unproblematic & 5 being problematic.
Anything with a 3.0 or higher is up for slating as per usual.


:Basculegion-F: How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Basculegion-F?
2.26 (+0.01)
A year has passed since Basculegion-F made it on a survey, and very little has changed in terms of public perception. Score is largely the same, with it only getting a very minor 0.01 increase. Basculegion-F definitely has some powerful sets and some variety to it that makes it a little tricky, but nothing that has yet to be considered anything other than an annoyance. As usual, we will keep an eye on it.

:Primarina: How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Primarina?
2.47 (+0.18)
Also had some slight uptick since it's last inclusion on the survey, yet nothing actionable thus far. Primarina draws a lot of ire since it's just a very difficult threat to prepare for because of Choice Specs, similar to Basculegion-F. Although Blissey and Amoonguss dropping, and Empoleon being rediscovered give teams a lot of breathing room to work with on top of preexisting checks. Like Basculegion-F again; it's an annoyance but we will keep an eye on it.

:Blissey: How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Blissey?
1.84
Blissey got a very low score on the survey and it would've been even lower if not for an outlier vote. Blissey is not really broken but a big concern around Blissey is essentially that it never wants to stay in RU and constantly rises to and drops from UU to cause metagame upheavals. A lot of non-Blissey meta teams do not match well into Blissey and a lot of teams (and frankly archetypes) rely on Blissey too much to make easy adaptations. This would be ok if its placement wasn't fluctuating so aggressively. But with the recent usage stats forecasting Blissey to be a guaranteed rise to UU again next year, it leaves many wondering if the tier would be better off without it for the time being. Although that's not really grounds to take action on it.

:Slowbro-Galar: How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Galarian Slowbro / Mega Slowbro?
3.00
Galarian Slowbro has been a controversy ever since it dropped in the middle of NDPL alongside Blissey. The two form an exceptionally sturdy core that a lot of people consider too strong compared to the rest of the metagame. Slowbro itself forces a lot of uncomfortable interactions with it as well. The sturdy Slowbro responses detest being burned with Scald or poisoned by Sludge Bomb, while a lot of more direct answers on the special side can't consistently stand up to it after a Calm Mind boost. Its Mega Evolution capabilities make checking it even harder, switch checks like Diggersby or Krookodile having the matchup flipped completely. It will be on the slate this time around. If we do vote to take action on it, it will go into a runoff vote on whether to target just Mega Slowbro or both.

:Oricorio-Pom-Pom: How do you find the following mon to be in NatDex RU: Oricorio-Pom-Pom?
3.21
Oricorio-Pom-Pom is another big controversy that has been rising in popularity ever since RUGL started. Hyper Offense teams (which were otherwise falling out of favor due to being cheesy) were given a lifeline with how easily it can disrupt defensive cores and how quickly it can snowball out of control. It's allowed free setup into so much with its typing and use of Taunt (or Substitute occasionally) that you are essentially forced to prep into it with a hard check like Hisuian Arcanine and Rhyperior or by using extremely techy options like Ice Punch Mega Aggron. Options like Mega Steelix or Dragon Tail users are not very sustainable and are more used for short term responses. It too will be on the slate.

:Altaria-Mega: If Mega Altaria were to be unbanned, how problematic would you predict it to be?
3.26
Not really going to discuss this really much. This score indicates that the notion of bringing Mega Altaria back into the metagame is still pretty controversial. Dragon Dance sets and Special Attacking sets still bring a lot of worry I imagine. I would've liked to see a significantly lower score than this before bringing it up for an unban slate so I'll put a pause on this issue for now.

Other Comments and responses:
  • A survey taker requested that the resources be updated.
    • I have updated the role compendium, a VR Update is in the works, and someone approached me for setting up a good cores resource. As for everything else, it will take time and motivation that I do not really have at the moment but I will try to organize stuff in preparation for the next tour.
  • Two survey takers mentioned taking a look at Polteageist.
    • I think this mon is really really stupid but its kept back by the amount of sucky matchups it can run into. Not opposed to the idea however and it's something I occasionally bring up to the council for their takes on the matter.
  • A survey taker mentioned taking a look at unbanning Jirachi.
    • Probably not happening unless we are collectively fine with Z-Happy Hour sets existing as an uncompetitive force.
  • A survey taker colorfully expressed their displeasure of the tier.
    • :(
  • A survey taker requested that I tell a certain individual not to crit them again.
    • I will NOT be doing that, this is the best you will get.
  • A survey taker mentioned taking a look at Togekiss.
    • Definitely an annoying bugger with Serene Grace but I think its defensive profile offsets any of the cheesy things it pulls off. Will take note of this however.
  • A survey taker mentioned taking a look at Iron Jugulis if Blissey were to leave the tier.
    • I brought this up to my council multiple times, definitely something we have been considering doing for a while but the timing was always weird.
  • A survey taker mentioned their concerns about the volitility of Hyper Offense
    • I think this worry goes down once we start to isolate core issues of what makes HO such a frustrating thing to account for. I share this concern though.
Lastly thank you to those who were interested for being on council, I just wanna make clear that this isn't a council overhaul and we are more looking to do some minor expanding of council as the Generation begins to slow down and the threats become more controversial as opposed to clear cut. There will probably be some announcement on the matter this month.
 
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