Been playing this a lot in Camomons and ohhhhhh boy is it better than I expected~
Be still my beating heart
Been playing this a lot in Camomons and ohhhhhh boy is it better than I expected~
Why do you say zygard is not broken and why do you say dragonite is?
While on the topic, might as well chime in. Just a heads up, this is mainly discussing the DDance + Espeed sweep sets as I admittedly have no experience with other sets it may very well run.
Although I have no strong feelings towards or against it, I get why DNite should be banned. It's freakishly resilient, crazy strong, and has a very easy time setting up and sweeping teams even during early game. After setting up one or two Dragon Dances, it will freely steamroll teams with its massive strength. This may be standard, but unlike other sweepers and wallbreakers that exist, Dragonite is exceptionally difficult to fight back against. Extreme Speed is a fantastic priority move that invalidates most faster or other priority-driven checks that try to halt the sweep. Furthermore, its acceptable bulk alongside Multiscale, which can be continuously reset with Roost, makes revenge killing a fully set up Dragonite an unforgiving task because it will almost certainly survive being OHKOed by anything while at full health, even without investment. Having used it myself, I have no questions in why it would be banned and completely understand its decision to go.
Of course, Dragonite has its faults too. It is perfectly possible to stop DNite's sweep with the right type combination as hard as it may seem (Steel/Flying for Ground/Normal, Rock for Fire/Normal, Water/Steel for Water/Normal, etc). Multiscale is incredibly annoying, but once it's broken via residual damage or hazards, it's possible to kill Dragonite with revenge killing as it can't maintain max Hp forever. Finally, DNite is very easy to pull a sweep off, but it isn't an auto-win button; you still need to find a good opening to set up Dragon Dance and to be sure that there's absolutely nothing that can stop your momentum.
Now, I'm not saying Dragonite is fair and balanced by any means. All I am saying is it's not so broken that very few if not nothing can stop its rampage. But with all being said, it is the face of the meta and can still shut down games on its own while being very difficult for most teams to fight against with its one-sided nature. Seeing Dragonite getting banned would make perfect sense to me even though I hold no bias towards it.
Zygarde, on the other hand, really shouldn't come back for two reasons:
tl;dr: I don't care what happens to Dragonite and won't argue against its ban, but there is no real reason to manually add back Zygarde and I will take this to my grave if I have to.
- Thousand Arrows. Yeah, Dragonite is stronger, has Roost, and has a usable ability that bolsters it further, but Thousand Arrows itself is enough to warrant using Zygarde over DNite any day. The fact that Thousand Arrows makes Zygarde's STAB coverage nearly unresisted means it's arguably harder to deal with than Dragonite despite the power difference. Even with all of the advantages DNite has over it, Zygarde is much less fair to fend off against because while DNite can be stonewalled at some times with the right set of types and immunities (Steel/Flying, Ghost + Levitate, etc), Thousand Arrows' ability to bypass this immunity makes stopping the sweep even harder than before. Yeah you can prep for Zygarde, but while Dragonite is harder to physically take down, it's much harder to stop Zygarde from snowballing just because of one signature move.
- Implemented rules. Specifically unbanning Zygarde would make it the ONLY Ubers Pokemon that gets special treatment and allowed in the OU-based tier when others aren't. Adding back Zygarde would make sense if this were like AAA and other Ubers were brought down due to the meta's power creep, but this isn't the case, so making an exception would go against the main ruleset of the meta. Making a singular exception to the rules is unfair and should not be done unless there is a very good reason to do so, and there really isn't at the moment.
As far as this idea of implemented rules, I wouldn't call it "special treatment", just because Zygarde is the only Ubers Pokemon that isn't blatantly broken in this tier. Just because it would be the only Uber unban for the tier doesn't mean it shouldn't be done-all OU-based OMs are at their own discretion on what they can ban/unban, so if there's only one Pokemon that should be unbanned that's perfectly fine.
- Implemented rules. Specifically unbanning Zygarde would make it the ONLY Ubers Pokemon that gets special treatment and allowed in the OU-based tier when others aren't. Adding back Zygarde would make sense if this were like AAA and other Ubers were brought down due to the meta's power creep, but this isn't the case, so making an exception would go against the main ruleset of the meta. Making a singular exception to the rules is unfair and should not be done unless there is a very good reason to do so, and there really isn't at the moment.
I've already given my opinion on why Dragonite needs to be removed from this tier ASAP, but I thought I'd give my 2 cents on Zygarde.
I think it's unfair to say Thousand Arrows makes Zygarde broken, given that A) Camomons makes TArrows resists WIDELY accessible B) Zygarde's 100 Attack stat allows it to be tanked very well by unresisted Pokemon, such as Buzzwole, and C) Zygarde honestly doesn't have the best coverage, which makes prepping for it much more one dimensional than other Pokemon. Zygarde overall is a strong threat, but there's no quality about it to me that screams broken.
As far as this idea of implemented rules, I wouldn't call it "special treatment", just because Zygarde is the only Ubers Pokemon that isn't blatantly broken in this tier. Just because it would be the only Uber unban for the tier doesn't mean it shouldn't be done-all OU-based OMs are at their own discretion on what they can ban/unban, so if there's only one Pokemon that should be unbanned that's perfectly fine.
While I don't agree with this as a reasoning to necessarily unban Zygarde (it should be unbanned because it isn't broken, not because it offensively checks somewhat oppresive threats), it is an accurate depiction of the metagame since Zygarde's ban. Cresselia while already annoying pre-Zygarde ban, is incredibly difficult to kill for most teams, and Mega Latias is still standing strong. With that, I was in the process of making a VR nomination when you posted this so,Exciting news! On that note, I want to speak on something I feel hasn't been touched on much in the Zyg discussion regarding it staying banned or becoming unbanned and the impact this actually has on the meta. I've played quite a few games after Zyg was removed and I actually think its absence has quite a negative impact on Camomons.
The biggest reason I say this is because of how oppressive Levitating Poison types have now become without a powerful Ground type to exploit their Poison typing and immediately threaten them out. There is no other Pokemon that can replace Zyg in this role besides Mold Breaker Grounds like Earthquake Mega Gyarados or Haxorus and such. Cresselia and Mega Latias were already incredibly threatening before Zyg was gone and now that we've lost one of the best countermeasures to avoid letting them set up all over you and just cleaning it's very difficult to pressure these mons or revenge them due to their incredible bulk, immunity to toxic, and resistances.
In the event that Zyg remains unbanned, I think we'll be seeing a lot more Mold Breaker Ground types so that there's some kind of countermeasure to these bulky Levitating Poisons but i'm not sure that even this will be enough at times considering Mega Gyarados isn't very fast prior to setup, is prone to getting worn down and Haxorus doesn't contribute as much to a team as Zyg could since it lacks E-Speed, Zyg's bulk and lacks some of Zyg's coverage options such as Crunch. If Zyg stays absent I think it will be hard to justify keeping Mega Latias and maybe even Cresselia around.
Speaking of keeping things around, can we please get Dragonite out asap? This Pokemon is disgusting and its incredible power, diversity, and devastating combination of ability and coverage makes it the most broken mon an OM like Camo could possibly hope for. No matter what kind of counterplay you try to pack for this thing there is always a set that just wins and that's a terrifying prospect. I would elaborate a bit on this but.. I feel like Jordan has already said enough. This thing really needs to go.
Dragonite, the Camo behemoth. over 1/3 stronger than Zygarde, which makes it that much more important to prep for the common sets. The common sets that could absolutely decimates teams that don't have the right Phys Def mons are: Normal/Fire (CB or Dragon Dance with Weakness Policy), Normal/Water (CB), Normal/Ground (CB or DD). There aren't very many Pokemon in Camo that can handle these 3 sets at the moment, and easily the best mon for the job is Water/Grass Mega Slowbro, which is a great pokemon. The issue with Dragonite is, what happens if someone switches it up? Who needs espeed when everyone preps for espeed? Steel/Flying Dragonite with DD and Z-Fly absolutely tears through dedicated walls like that Slowbro, and with it's amazing Stats, typing, and Multiscale, it sets up on a lot of other stuff as well. Shit, I just thought of a set that I guarantee would be good. Dragon/Fire typing with Fire punch, Outrage, DD, Roost, and Dragnoium. This set, which again, I just thought up, is neutral to scalds, but can't be burned, DDs up on Heatran, which on paper walls both stabs, and basically most phys def mons at the moment, and blasts them all away. You see the issue? New sets all the time that have meta-defining implications is something completely unique to Dragonite. If everyone starts adapting to these sets, another one will come along, and so on.
- All games must be played on the Pokemon Showdown Camomons ladder on a new alt account with the following format: "CDS (Nick)." For example, I might register the alt CDS jrdn to ladder with. You must meet the listed format in order to qualify.
Tbh I completely forgot that zygarde is in ubers, which i should know, since i am coding up and writing a fan game for pokemonWhile on the topic, might as well chime in. Just a heads up, this is mainly discussing the DDance + Espeed sweep sets as I admittedly have no experience with other sets it may very well run.
Although I have no strong feelings towards or against it, I get why DNite should be banned. It's freakishly resilient, crazy strong, and has a very easy time setting up and sweeping teams even during early game. After setting up one or two Dragon Dances, it will freely steamroll teams with its massive strength. This may be standard, but unlike other sweepers and wallbreakers that exist, Dragonite is exceptionally difficult to fight back against. Extreme Speed is a fantastic priority move that invalidates most faster or other priority-driven checks that try to halt the sweep. Furthermore, its acceptable bulk alongside Multiscale, which can be continuously reset with Roost, makes revenge killing a fully set up Dragonite an unforgiving task because it will almost certainly survive being OHKOed by anything while at full health, even without investment. Having used it myself, I have no questions in why it would be banned and completely understand its decision to go.
Of course, Dragonite has its faults too. It is perfectly possible to stop DNite's sweep with the right type combination as hard as it may seem (Steel/Flying for Ground/Normal, Rock for Fire/Normal, Water/Steel for Water/Normal, etc). Multiscale is incredibly annoying, but once it's broken via residual damage or hazards, it's possible to kill Dragonite with revenge killing as it can't maintain max Hp forever. Finally, DNite is very easy to pull a sweep off, but it isn't an auto-win button; you still need to find a good opening to set up Dragon Dance and to be sure that there's absolutely nothing that can stop your momentum.
Now, I'm not saying Dragonite is fair and balanced by any means. All I am saying is it's not so broken that very few if not nothing can stop its rampage. But with all being said, it is the face of the meta and can still shut down games on its own while being very difficult for most teams to fight against with its one-sided nature. Seeing Dragonite getting banned would make perfect sense to me even though I hold no bias towards it.
Zygarde, on the other hand, really shouldn't come back for two reasons:
- Thousand Arrows. Yeah, Dragonite is stronger, has Roost, and has a usable ability that bolsters it further, but Thousand Arrows itself is enough to warrant using Zygarde over DNite any day. The fact that Thousand Arrows makes Zygarde's STAB coverage nearly unresisted means it's arguably harder to deal with than Dragonite despite the power difference. Even with all of the advantages DNite has over it, Zygarde is much less fair to fend off against because while DNite can be stonewalled at some times with the right set of types and immunities (Steel/Flying, Ghost + Levitate, etc), Thousand Arrows' ability to bypass this immunity makes stopping the sweep even harder than before. Yeah you can prep for Zygarde, but while Dragonite is harder to physically take down, it's much harder to stop Zygarde from snowballing just because of one signature move.
- Implemented rules. Specifically unbanning Zygarde would make it the ONLY Ubers Pokemon that gets special treatment and allowed in the OU-based tier when others aren't. Adding back Zygarde would make sense if this were like AAA and other Ubers were brought down due to the meta's power creep, but this isn't the case, so making an exception would go against the main ruleset of the meta. Making a singular exception to the rules is unfair and should not be done unless there is a very good reason to do so, and there really isn't at the moment.
tl;dr: I don't care what happens to Dragonite and won't argue against its ban, but there is no real reason to manually add back Zygarde and I will take this to my grave if I have to.
Dragonite being better than Zygarde doesn't make Zygarde not broken. Considering you can drop Zygarde's Dragon-typing for something more useful offensively and defensively (like STAB Extreme Speed, this metagame's golden arrow), I don't see how Zygarde is healthy in Camomons either.
Frankly this was never the case which resulted in Zygardes ban, it was just an unfortunate consequence of its OU ban as it always has been for ou based oms. There were discussions of re suspecting it so that it could come back(even on this thread if you go a little back) but the primary focus being Dragonite for obvious reasons just shifted the whole point.Dragonite being better than Zygarde doesn't make Zygarde not broken. Considering you can drop Zygarde's Dragon-typing for something more useful offensively and defensively (like STAB Extreme Speed, this metagame's golden arrow), I don't see how Zygarde is healthy in Camomons either.