Dynamax Update Post
Hey guys, so after letting the metagame of 1v1 sit for a while, Dynamax has seem to have proven itself to be a potentially hazardous game mechanic. This was predicted before the release of Sword and Shield, but it would not have been right to remove a Generation-defining game mechanic essentially pre-launch before it had the chance to be experienced within the community and the chance for a metagame to develop around it, and to see if it truly would negatively affect 1v1.
However, time has been allotted, and several things are abundantly clear concerning the effect Dynamax has in a competitive sense.
For one, Dynamaxing as a strategy is always going to inherently force 50/50s. A winning strategy in a 1v1 Dynamax metagame is to attempt to stall out Dynamax turns through the use of Substitute, which almost every Pokemon can learn, and will inevitably lead to 50/50s concerning whether or not to use Substitute on an opposing Dynamax, or to use an attack to break a Substitute, and you have almost no reason not to when coverage options and setup moves are almost entirely useless, considering Dynamax gives you access to 100-150 base power moves with guaranteed secondary effects like weather and terrain. Depending on the bulk of the Pokemon in a matchup, this will involve anywhere from one or more 50/50s in almost every matchup, which severely takes away from the ability to play the game in competitive sense and actually turns the metagame into the RPS that everyone thinks we are, instead of the teambuilding- and lead predicting- metagame we focus on.
Another part of Dynamaxing that is problematic is the creative drain in setbuilding brought on by Dynamaxing. A Pokemon that cannot use Dynamaxing effectively cannot win in this metagame, and while dynamaxing is often touted as a great equalizer, in actuality only makes the already good Pokemon factorially better than the mediocre ones who could stand to benefit. Why bother changing your team around when you can run the same 3 busted Pokemon who can all use dynamax better than everyone else, and can even win in the team ditto if they pull off a 50/50, which all the other teams will be relying on anyway? And unlike how banning a Pokemon could be done in previous gens to remove specific strategies that only they could utilize, Dynamaxing will allow the next best Pokemon with a similar niche to utilize the exact same, not similar but worse, strategies as the banned Pokemon, because the Dynamax moves will remain the same.
These combination of factors, alongside numerous other reasons, have led the council to action. However, before a decision is made, we would like the community to speak up on how the process should be done. Would people prefer a potential Quickban of Dynamax, because the community at large thinks this issue is far too obviously unfit for 1v1 and does not even require further thought, or would the community prefer a Suspect Test of Dynamax, which would be more democratic in the process and the usual way 1v1 prefers to do things, but could take longer, would be harder to narrow down the exact reqs needed (due to the still-developing ladder), and could potentially lead to dynamax staying if the 60% supermajority isn't made?
Right now, we are looking for community feedback on what everyone would be most comfortable for. This isn't a voting process - our decision will be based on the clear and concise arguments for or against a quickban, or for or against a suspect test, or against either option. We don't want one liners, if you can't be bothered to actually vocalize why you have certain values or opinions, then they must not be important enough for you. Please make your opinions known, we will be keeping track.
Hey guys, so after letting the metagame of 1v1 sit for a while, Dynamax has seem to have proven itself to be a potentially hazardous game mechanic. This was predicted before the release of Sword and Shield, but it would not have been right to remove a Generation-defining game mechanic essentially pre-launch before it had the chance to be experienced within the community and the chance for a metagame to develop around it, and to see if it truly would negatively affect 1v1.
However, time has been allotted, and several things are abundantly clear concerning the effect Dynamax has in a competitive sense.
For one, Dynamaxing as a strategy is always going to inherently force 50/50s. A winning strategy in a 1v1 Dynamax metagame is to attempt to stall out Dynamax turns through the use of Substitute, which almost every Pokemon can learn, and will inevitably lead to 50/50s concerning whether or not to use Substitute on an opposing Dynamax, or to use an attack to break a Substitute, and you have almost no reason not to when coverage options and setup moves are almost entirely useless, considering Dynamax gives you access to 100-150 base power moves with guaranteed secondary effects like weather and terrain. Depending on the bulk of the Pokemon in a matchup, this will involve anywhere from one or more 50/50s in almost every matchup, which severely takes away from the ability to play the game in competitive sense and actually turns the metagame into the RPS that everyone thinks we are, instead of the teambuilding- and lead predicting- metagame we focus on.
Another part of Dynamaxing that is problematic is the creative drain in setbuilding brought on by Dynamaxing. A Pokemon that cannot use Dynamaxing effectively cannot win in this metagame, and while dynamaxing is often touted as a great equalizer, in actuality only makes the already good Pokemon factorially better than the mediocre ones who could stand to benefit. Why bother changing your team around when you can run the same 3 busted Pokemon who can all use dynamax better than everyone else, and can even win in the team ditto if they pull off a 50/50, which all the other teams will be relying on anyway? And unlike how banning a Pokemon could be done in previous gens to remove specific strategies that only they could utilize, Dynamaxing will allow the next best Pokemon with a similar niche to utilize the exact same, not similar but worse, strategies as the banned Pokemon, because the Dynamax moves will remain the same.
These combination of factors, alongside numerous other reasons, have led the council to action. However, before a decision is made, we would like the community to speak up on how the process should be done. Would people prefer a potential Quickban of Dynamax, because the community at large thinks this issue is far too obviously unfit for 1v1 and does not even require further thought, or would the community prefer a Suspect Test of Dynamax, which would be more democratic in the process and the usual way 1v1 prefers to do things, but could take longer, would be harder to narrow down the exact reqs needed (due to the still-developing ladder), and could potentially lead to dynamax staying if the 60% supermajority isn't made?
Right now, we are looking for community feedback on what everyone would be most comfortable for. This isn't a voting process - our decision will be based on the clear and concise arguments for or against a quickban, or for or against a suspect test, or against either option. We don't want one liners, if you can't be bothered to actually vocalize why you have certain values or opinions, then they must not be important enough for you. Please make your opinions known, we will be keeping track.
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), a 6v6 format, has already banned Dynamax independently. 1v1 has major differences from 6v6, so we have to decide on a Dynamax ban by ourselves.
