Aerodactyl should be freed from GSC UUBL to provide a healthier, more diverse, and overall more positive GSC UU metagame. GSC UU is among the less active old gen low tiers and has been in steady decline in recent years. While it has been active in tiering decisions with its more recent modifications to Baton Pass, this has done little to fix the tier’s core issues, as seen by the large outcry as of late that suggest many are unhappy with the state it’s currently in.
There are several reasons for this dissatisfaction. One of the biggest is teambuilding. UU lacks significant blanket checks to the tier’s most threatening Pokemon, forcing similar structures in the builder. Teams must have a Piloswine, Nidoqueen, Mr. Mime, Scyther, and Granbull check, yet few of their checks overlap. Haunter, for example, covers some Granbull sets but does little for the rest. The same goes for Gyarados, which "counters" Piloswine and can help with Scyther, but often has no recovery (Rest sets are rare) and can crumble to a Thunder from the other premier threats like Nidoqueen or Mr. Mime. This, along with having to fit your own offense on your team, leads to building the same few styles of balance like Hypno/Water/Ground/Haunter/Qwil or Lanturn/Pilo/Qwil/Blastoise with little variance. As a result, the tier has assumed the identity of being extremely slow paced, dominated by RestTalk chance, 100+ turn battles, and hax fishing (Gyarados is likely to be frozen if it switches into Pilo's Ice Beam multiple times for example). Simply put, many players, including the tier's most devoted members, no longer enjoy it due to these issues, nor do many people enjoy watching it, and it's clear something has to be done before the player base continues to dwindle.
With the recent ban of AgilityPass, it’s clear that GSC UU is willing to make changes to the tier in order to make a more healthy metagame. This change has been most welcome, and there are many other changes that could be made if we are willing to go there. One such change is re-examining UUBLs. GSC has a significant number of UUBL Pokemon as a result of old Smogon and pre-Smogon tiering history. The reasons as to why many of these Pokemon were moved to UUBL is unknown and lost to history, and the few that are known were done so long ago that the meta they existed in hardly reflects what we have today. While many would be extremely strong and likely broken in the current UU metagame, there are also some that would have little influence on the tier. Several of these Pokemon could provide answers to near-uncheckable threats or new avenues for offense, helping to resolve the aforementioned problems. GSC UU shifting to more standard tiering practice regarding BLs has the potential to greatly improve the tier. However, this PR thread isn’t dedicated to shaking GSC UU up just for the sake of change and grabbing the attention of new and retired players alike (although it is an added benefit), but rather to actually fix the tier’s glaring current issues. As such, I’m advocating not for the drop of inoffensive UUBL Pokemon to UU, but targeted ones that are likely to improve metagame health. This is not to say that I’m against looking into reconsidering GSC UUBL as a whole, but this is a PR thread for another time, would require much more bureaucracy, and doesn’t necessarily get to the core issue of the tier with the urgency it deserves.
The most discussed and generally supported UUBL Pokemon to drop for these purposes is Aerodactyl. Two of the tier's most preeminent offensive threats in Scyther, and to a lesser extent Granbull, have a rather restricting force in the builder, and there have actually been several discussions for grounds of the former's banning from the tier (mostly on discord but is illustrated well by this video). But Scyther and Granbull also provide the tier with the ability to make significant progress quickly during battles, and it's possible that banning one of these could actually further slow down the already slow-paced metagame. While there are clearly some that feel Scyther should be looked at, there are many more who do not feel it to be ban-worthy. As such, looking to ban offensive powerhouses rather than unban another option is very unlikely to gain much traction and could, in fact, have the opposite effect of what we are intending to achieve with creating a more positive metagame.
Therefore, in an effort to improve the tier, discussion on how to appropriately address these Pokemon in the builder has been raging, and instead of a Scyther ban, I and many others propose Aerodactyl as a dropped Pokemon, for several reasons. Aerodactyl is a great check for Scyther and to a lesser extent Granbull with its typing, yet it does not make these Pokemon irrelevant. Instead, it adds an extra layer of precaution in the builder if you want to use these offensive Pokemon, adding a much-needed layer of risk and reward. It may even encourage uncharted territory like Steel Wing Scyther and HP Rock Dodrio, which would even further diversify offense and the risks of running these Pokemon to choose their checks instead of having a free pass to always run HP Ground, making users think twice. These traits are a massive relief for building, and would likely free more archetypes. Most importantly, however, Aerodactyl possesses these abilities without being overbearing, sporting extremely common weaknesses, low defensive stats, and a lack of strong STAB options to bolster its attacks. It would likely be a weak offensive presence, and is a major victim of four moveslot syndrome, wanting to run the likes of RestTalk, Curse, HP Rock, EQ, Whirlwind, Fire Blast, Reflect, and even Pursuit to cover all of its bases.
Currently, this description of Aerodactyl in UU is all theory, with some practice of its application in test games. However, we’ve been granted an amazing opportunity to improve this tier in the form of the upcoming inaugural GSC Grand Slam, which, through community outcry and voting, has chosen to suspect Aerodactyl for the tournament in order to see how it may help GSC UU. While this tournament currently has no official tie to how GSC UU will be tiered or played in the future, it is a great chance to test how the meta may shape with an Aerodactyl drop and to test the validity of tiering action. It is understandable that changes like these to old gen metagames needs veritable testing and rigorous scrutiny, but this is a launching point that could be followed up in successive team, individual circuit, or suspect tournaments. Given that GSC UU is still played in high-stakes environments such as UUPL, UUSD, and GSCPL, it deserves the time and attention it requires to make it a more enjoyable experience.
It seems clear by recent voting in the GSC Grand Slam discussion thread that people are willing to give it a shot and see how it goes. There is at least majority support in this thread consisting of those active in the meta that testing Aerodactyl is worth our wild. Adding Aerodactyl is not likely to alter the fabric of the tier, but rather to reduce centralization while remaining a mid-tier Pokemon.
I suppose there is a small possibility that, after GSC Grand Slam, Aerodactyl actually surprises all of us and becomes a major powerhouse we were not expecting. After all, we are mainly theorycrafting here. This is very unlikely though, and if it shows even a modicum of improvement to the tier overall, then I think tiering action of some sort is necessary to address its potential unban. It's also possible that, if Aerodactyl is unbanned, it could pave the way for more changes to be made in the tier if necessary. That is, however, a subject that should be reserved for later, after we see what a GSC UU metagame with Aerodactyl looks like. It's quite possible no other changes are needed, and it's also possible that more changes are warranted in the form of unbanning other UUBLs or banning something like Baton Pass. Depending on community opinion, there are several routes forward for GSC UU, but at the moment it is of my opinion that we take this opportunity to focus on Aerodactyl first; it deserves a shot in the UU metagame and we as players deserve a shot to see it here if it can help benefit the tier.
I propose a list of qualified voters is gathered after GSC Grand Slam to determine the unbanning of Aerodactyl. The formalities of this are of course up to discussion and the discretion of tiering leaders, but I hope this moves forward in order to support the dedicated yet languishing GSC UU community.
There are several reasons for this dissatisfaction. One of the biggest is teambuilding. UU lacks significant blanket checks to the tier’s most threatening Pokemon, forcing similar structures in the builder. Teams must have a Piloswine, Nidoqueen, Mr. Mime, Scyther, and Granbull check, yet few of their checks overlap. Haunter, for example, covers some Granbull sets but does little for the rest. The same goes for Gyarados, which "counters" Piloswine and can help with Scyther, but often has no recovery (Rest sets are rare) and can crumble to a Thunder from the other premier threats like Nidoqueen or Mr. Mime. This, along with having to fit your own offense on your team, leads to building the same few styles of balance like Hypno/Water/Ground/Haunter/Qwil or Lanturn/Pilo/Qwil/Blastoise with little variance. As a result, the tier has assumed the identity of being extremely slow paced, dominated by RestTalk chance, 100+ turn battles, and hax fishing (Gyarados is likely to be frozen if it switches into Pilo's Ice Beam multiple times for example). Simply put, many players, including the tier's most devoted members, no longer enjoy it due to these issues, nor do many people enjoy watching it, and it's clear something has to be done before the player base continues to dwindle.
With the recent ban of AgilityPass, it’s clear that GSC UU is willing to make changes to the tier in order to make a more healthy metagame. This change has been most welcome, and there are many other changes that could be made if we are willing to go there. One such change is re-examining UUBLs. GSC has a significant number of UUBL Pokemon as a result of old Smogon and pre-Smogon tiering history. The reasons as to why many of these Pokemon were moved to UUBL is unknown and lost to history, and the few that are known were done so long ago that the meta they existed in hardly reflects what we have today. While many would be extremely strong and likely broken in the current UU metagame, there are also some that would have little influence on the tier. Several of these Pokemon could provide answers to near-uncheckable threats or new avenues for offense, helping to resolve the aforementioned problems. GSC UU shifting to more standard tiering practice regarding BLs has the potential to greatly improve the tier. However, this PR thread isn’t dedicated to shaking GSC UU up just for the sake of change and grabbing the attention of new and retired players alike (although it is an added benefit), but rather to actually fix the tier’s glaring current issues. As such, I’m advocating not for the drop of inoffensive UUBL Pokemon to UU, but targeted ones that are likely to improve metagame health. This is not to say that I’m against looking into reconsidering GSC UUBL as a whole, but this is a PR thread for another time, would require much more bureaucracy, and doesn’t necessarily get to the core issue of the tier with the urgency it deserves.
The most discussed and generally supported UUBL Pokemon to drop for these purposes is Aerodactyl. Two of the tier's most preeminent offensive threats in Scyther, and to a lesser extent Granbull, have a rather restricting force in the builder, and there have actually been several discussions for grounds of the former's banning from the tier (mostly on discord but is illustrated well by this video). But Scyther and Granbull also provide the tier with the ability to make significant progress quickly during battles, and it's possible that banning one of these could actually further slow down the already slow-paced metagame. While there are clearly some that feel Scyther should be looked at, there are many more who do not feel it to be ban-worthy. As such, looking to ban offensive powerhouses rather than unban another option is very unlikely to gain much traction and could, in fact, have the opposite effect of what we are intending to achieve with creating a more positive metagame.
Therefore, in an effort to improve the tier, discussion on how to appropriately address these Pokemon in the builder has been raging, and instead of a Scyther ban, I and many others propose Aerodactyl as a dropped Pokemon, for several reasons. Aerodactyl is a great check for Scyther and to a lesser extent Granbull with its typing, yet it does not make these Pokemon irrelevant. Instead, it adds an extra layer of precaution in the builder if you want to use these offensive Pokemon, adding a much-needed layer of risk and reward. It may even encourage uncharted territory like Steel Wing Scyther and HP Rock Dodrio, which would even further diversify offense and the risks of running these Pokemon to choose their checks instead of having a free pass to always run HP Ground, making users think twice. These traits are a massive relief for building, and would likely free more archetypes. Most importantly, however, Aerodactyl possesses these abilities without being overbearing, sporting extremely common weaknesses, low defensive stats, and a lack of strong STAB options to bolster its attacks. It would likely be a weak offensive presence, and is a major victim of four moveslot syndrome, wanting to run the likes of RestTalk, Curse, HP Rock, EQ, Whirlwind, Fire Blast, Reflect, and even Pursuit to cover all of its bases.
Currently, this description of Aerodactyl in UU is all theory, with some practice of its application in test games. However, we’ve been granted an amazing opportunity to improve this tier in the form of the upcoming inaugural GSC Grand Slam, which, through community outcry and voting, has chosen to suspect Aerodactyl for the tournament in order to see how it may help GSC UU. While this tournament currently has no official tie to how GSC UU will be tiered or played in the future, it is a great chance to test how the meta may shape with an Aerodactyl drop and to test the validity of tiering action. It is understandable that changes like these to old gen metagames needs veritable testing and rigorous scrutiny, but this is a launching point that could be followed up in successive team, individual circuit, or suspect tournaments. Given that GSC UU is still played in high-stakes environments such as UUPL, UUSD, and GSCPL, it deserves the time and attention it requires to make it a more enjoyable experience.
It seems clear by recent voting in the GSC Grand Slam discussion thread that people are willing to give it a shot and see how it goes. There is at least majority support in this thread consisting of those active in the meta that testing Aerodactyl is worth our wild. Adding Aerodactyl is not likely to alter the fabric of the tier, but rather to reduce centralization while remaining a mid-tier Pokemon.
I suppose there is a small possibility that, after GSC Grand Slam, Aerodactyl actually surprises all of us and becomes a major powerhouse we were not expecting. After all, we are mainly theorycrafting here. This is very unlikely though, and if it shows even a modicum of improvement to the tier overall, then I think tiering action of some sort is necessary to address its potential unban. It's also possible that, if Aerodactyl is unbanned, it could pave the way for more changes to be made in the tier if necessary. That is, however, a subject that should be reserved for later, after we see what a GSC UU metagame with Aerodactyl looks like. It's quite possible no other changes are needed, and it's also possible that more changes are warranted in the form of unbanning other UUBLs or banning something like Baton Pass. Depending on community opinion, there are several routes forward for GSC UU, but at the moment it is of my opinion that we take this opportunity to focus on Aerodactyl first; it deserves a shot in the UU metagame and we as players deserve a shot to see it here if it can help benefit the tier.
I propose a list of qualified voters is gathered after GSC Grand Slam to determine the unbanning of Aerodactyl. The formalities of this are of course up to discussion and the discretion of tiering leaders, but I hope this moves forward in order to support the dedicated yet languishing GSC UU community.
