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Arcanine-Hisui has been quickbanned by a 5-1 vote of the 35 Pokes Tiering Council and re-rolled to Fezandipiti!!!
In a 5-1 vote, the natdex 35 tiering council, which is currently comprised of 3 new members compared to last month for reasons that will be explained forthwith in my next post, voted to quickban Arcanine-Hisui :arcanine-hisui:!! Harcanine very quickly arose as the top pokemon in the metagame once we began playing it, and people were identifying it as a problem pokemon before a single game was ever played. The combination of STAB Rock Head Head Smash and Flare Blitz is unresisted in the current metagame, with the best/only switchins being thick fat Miltank or occa berry Orthworm.
"Essentially, most teams will want harc, there is such a huge advantage to using the pokemon and I would bet is the #1 used mon by a fair margin. In large part because there are only 2 pokemon in the tier Orthoworm and Metagross I believe that can resist head smash. The move is so powerful and arcanine is already very very fast. Scarf Harc outspeeds most scarfers and imo is the best set but even regular boots or lo also really tear apart teams.
If this were the sole factor we could feasibly have a meta where everyone has to build around this very strong very oppressive mon, and we can argue about whether that is competitive or fair or balanced and whatnot.
However for me what I think takes away from the enjoyability of it, and makes it a bit less competitive is the combination of it being so oppressive while also requiring a lot more luck than the average pokemon.
If there are 3 head smashes in a game there is almost a 50% chance one will miss, if there are 4 it is more likely than not. In this specific metagame where Harc with head smash is so prevelent we are getting these 3-4+ head smash games consistently. With the metagame as it is, it is extremely likely somebody will be missing a head smash at some point, and there is no way to predict it.
If flare blitz were a better move, and believe me it is good, then there could be a stronger arguement to not click head smash so much. However in most scenarios head smash is just the better play, so long as it hits. This meta is filled with rock, fire, and water types meaning flare blitz is just not nearly as spammable as head smash. This specific meta is setup in such a way that luck will always have a larger impact.
This luck is much easier to handle early meta, so many people are trying different techs and strategies but by the time the tour comes around and the margins get thinner, those head smash misses are going to matter much. I also would not be surprised if Harc has like 80%+ usage but thats not the main reason I would want it banned
Obviously these stats will be slightly skewed in my preference but that is crazy usage -- 93.75% across like 23 games.
Additionally, "Arcanine-Hisui is simply far too overcentralizing in the builder. Just about every viable team right now is forced to run mutliple defensive and offensive checks for Arcanine-Hisui, and even still the dog can force progress with Head Smash almost every time it comes in. Even dedicated checks like fast physdef Miltank aren't a surefire answer, with Life Orb Arcanine-Hisui rolling to KO with the combo of Close Combat + Extremespeed, and Choice Scarf Arcanine-Hisui 2HKOing with Head Smash and Close Combat. Since there are no true defensive answers to Arcanine-Hisui, the meta is forced to go strictly towards Offense, with Balance being largely unviable, let alone slower team structures. Additionally, VoltTurn cores are extremely strong in this meta and it can be easy to strangle your opponent since they can never switch into any mon that risks dying to Arcanine, since letting you pivot into it and position it safely can be fatal. While I think Arcanine-Hisui is not quite as dominant as many make it out to be, the pressure it exerts on the builder is completely preventing a diverse and healthy metagame from developing."
Unsurprisingly, I was once again in the minority on this quickban vote. With 26 years' experience, I've grown accustomed to it I understood why most players felt that Harc was nigh on impossible to wall defensively long-term, but I wasn't quite convinced that that this resulted in an unhealthy metagame dynamic, that the pressure on the builder was really as great as it appeared, or that Harcanine was the root cause of the problem with the metagame. In the interest of time, I will expand on my thoughts more in a follow-up post where I will also provide an update on changes to the tiering council over the past 2 months!
tagging dhelmise to please implement banning Arcanine-Hisui and replacing it with Fezandipiti both in the teambuilder and our spotlight ladder tysm goat
Hi hello, we realized there was a mistake in the original list and that Grafaiai actually shouldn't have been allowed in the meta per the 2 month cooldown rule. Trapinch :Trapinch: is our Graf replacement and apologies for any inconvenience!!
Hi hello, we realized there was a mistake in the original list and that Grafaiai actually shouldn't have been allowed in the meta per the 2 month cooldown rule. Trapinch :Trapinch: is our Graf replacement and apologies for any inconvenience!!
The side server used for 35 Pokes (generations) Has recently changed provider. Hence replays such as those from 35PL II, NDAMPL II, and the seasonal tournaments are not lost and can be accessed by simply replacing co.uk with co.za in the url.
Putting this here in case someone was wondering how to access those replays.
tagging dhelmise to please implement on PS! (ty you're the best) and OceanicGamermmtaccos (you two are goats too dwdw) to implement on Generations tytyyy
This should hardly be news to anybody who's been around the community lately, as her position as my co has been in effect for almost 2 months now. Despite the length of time I've had to grow accustomed to the idea, the fact that I am making this announcement at all still greatly surprises me. When ThyUnitPossessCopium stepped down from her tier leader position, she and I both knew that there wasn't a single person (that hadn't already resigned their tier leadership position) whom it would be right to appoint as the new co-tl. And so, I could not imagine a world in which anybody except for Essence soon co-led the tier alongside me. This is not a detriment to the wealth of knowledge, talent, passion, and dedication present within countless members of the community - in fact it is just the opposite - I could not fathom asking anything more of people, especially our best contributors, than we already were. Nobody available in the community possessed the X-factor which would allow them to take on the mantle of tier leadership without putting themselves on an untimely path to accelerated burnout. Nobody, that is, until Foofly. Foofly made a splash when she joined the community in January of this year and it was evident from the outset that she would go far. In the hidden compartment behind the false wall at the very back of my mind, I began to consider her as a potential future co-tl but dared not allow that semblance of a thought become anything further lest it turn into a hasty decision or cause the untimely extinguishing of Foofly's spark of passion for the tier. And almost as far in the back of my mind, I wanted a co-tl whom Essence would be 10,000e% in support of, even though she relinquished her own say in the matter. Somehow, though, that is exactly what came to pass -- Essence one day, unprompted, told me that I should make Foofly my co as soon as I could. Essence's recommendation was as monumental as it was unexpected and made me certain that Foofly was exactly who I didn't even know I was looking for, somebody who had the X-factor that I'd still yet to specifically identify. I spent a significant amount of time considering what exactly set Foofly apart, what made her so special that both Essence and I shared a gut feeling about her, so special that when it came time for it the tiering council and moderation team unanimously agreed to have her as our newest TL, so special that 35 Pokes is bound to reach new heights under her charm and care. Eventually, I found my answer: Foofly clairvoyantly sees 35 Pokes for what it can be, not just what it is. fooflybag , thank you so much for being the best of us, for being one of my best friends, and for dedicating your dedication, passion, talent, and knowledge to making the best tier possible for the community we both adore.
This should hardly be news to anybody who's been around the community lately, as her position as my co has been in effect for almost 2 months now. Despite the length of time I've had to grow accustomed to the idea, the fact that I am making this announcement at all still greatly surprises me. When ThyUnitPossessCopium stepped down from her tier leader position, she and I both knew that there wasn't a single person (that hadn't already resigned their tier leadership position) whom it would be right to appoint as the new co-tl. And so, I could not imagine a world in which anybody except for Essence soon co-led the tier alongside me. This is not a detriment to the wealth of knowledge, talent, passion, and dedication present within countless members of the community - in fact it is just the opposite - I could not fathom asking anything more of people, especially our best contributors, than we already were. Nobody available in the community possessed the X-factor which would allow them to take on the mantle of tier leadership without putting themselves on an untimely path to accelerated burnout. Nobody, that is, until Foofly. Foofly made a splash when she joined the community in January of this year and it was evident from the outset that she would go far. In the hidden compartment behind the false wall at the very back of my mind, I began to consider her as a potential future co-tl but dared not allow that semblance of a thought become anything further lest it turn into a hasty decision or cause the untimely extinguishing of Foofly's spark of passion for the tier. And almost as far in the back of my mind, I wanted a co-tl whom Essence would be 10,000e% in support of, even though she relinquished her own say in the matter. Somehow, though, that is exactly what came to pass -- Essence one day, unprompted, told me that I should make Foofly my co as soon as I could. Essence's recommendation was as monumental as it was unexpected and made me certain that Foofly was exactly who I didn't even know I was looking for, somebody who had the X-factor that I'd still yet to specifically identify. I spent a significant amount of time considering what exactly set Foofly apart, what made her so special that both Essence and I shared a gut feeling about her, so special that when it came time for it the tiering council and moderation team unanimously agreed to have her as our newest TL, so special that 35 Pokes is bound to reach new heights under her charm and care. Eventually, I found my answer: Foofly clairvoyantly sees 35 Pokes for what it can be, not just what it is. fooflybag , thank you so much for being the best of us, for being one of my best friends, and for dedicating your dedication, passion, talent, and knowledge to making the best tier possible for the community we both adore.
waow thank you for all the kind words Typhon. I love 35 Pokes I'm very happy to be a part of making this tier the great community that I have come to love this year. I've only been here since January and I know a lot of dedicated people who've been around longer but I plan to be around for longer to come, and I look forward to 35's continued growth and what the community has to offer. 35 Pokes isn't just a metagame to me at this point, but a beloved community of which I am a member who has found many friends who I hope to cherish moving forwards. Thank you 35 Pokes I love y'all. It's a pleasure working with you Ember Celica
tagging dhelmise to please implement on PS! (ty you're the best) and OceanicGamermmtaccos (you two are goats too dwdw) to implement on Generations tytyyy
The Council has voted 6-1 in favor of Suspect Testing Heracross!!
The Heracross suspect is taking place on our official discord server, and players are eligible to vote if/once they have 10 games or 5 wins recorded in the November 2026 metagame!
Heracross has almost always been a controversial pokemon because the guts trailblaze set can sometimes outspeed and ko entire metagames and moxie sets can quickly spiral out of control after just one KO. Its base 125 attack and 85 speed enough to make it one of the faster trailblaze users and strongeste attackers in a given metagame, and its 80/75/95 bulk makes it bulky enough to consistently set up.
Heracross must be positioned very carefully in order to set up a trailblaze, which some people believe makes Heracross less of a problem in the metagame, but that I believe is one of the ways it actually puts a lot of pressure on the teambuilder. On the defensive side you either need to get a predict wrong or very carefully play around the possibility of a Heracross sweep until you are certain it's no longer a possibility. Only then
The abundant priority in the metagame does provide a check on Heracross, but moreso puts a limit on the amount of things that are able to offensively check Heracross itself. For example, Absol sucker punch checks Alakazam more than it check Heracross. This is a large part of why choice scarf Bruxish is the most popular and arguably most consistent offensive check to Heracross, as opposed to choice scarf Dodrio or even choice scarf Alakazam. Bruxish in turn creates its own pressure on the teambuilder because a consistent team has to have a way to deal with both the dazzling set and the strong jaw set, but that is a discussion better fit for a later time possibly after the community's long-awaited pest control visit concludes...
Heracross has no true defensive answers. It can OHKO or 2HKO anything in the tier. This is enough to make a suspect test reasonable. That said, the meta is fast-paced enough for every team to have offensive answers to Heracross. Mons like Scarf Bruxish, Scarf Dodrio, Scarf Mismagius, Swift Swim anything are great into Heracross and would be good even if the bug wasn't around. This meta also has an abundance of priority in many Aqua Jet users, Quick Attack Zangoose and Dodrio, Sucker Punch Absol, Bullet Punch Machamp. All of these options make revenge-killing Heracross really not that difficult, even after a Trailblaze.
not to mention, for Heracross to set up a Trailblaze, it needs to either:
1. Have really good positioning
2. Get a predict right
or else it will get punished by Illumise Encore or a big attack from something else. Heracross needs to get a lot of predictions correct for it to actually run away with a game (and even then you can force it out with speed control). As of rn, Heracross is fine and doesn't need to go
It even faces competition for the Guts slot because the other two Guts users in the tier have priority that Hera doesn't have.
