The suspect test votes have started coming in, and as a result, Stone Axe will remain unbanned. The suspect will stay up for a bit longer so everyone who hasn’t voted yet gets a chance, but it is no longer possible for banning Stone Axe to get a supermajority of votes.
With BH Open on the horizon and OMPL + other tours following, BH council would like to use this valuable time period to tier and address the concerns about the metagame quality since the post-HPL II tiering survey. As such, we've held a vote:
Due to the scope of the banned element, we then held votes on several elements on the banlist that directly connects to V-create:
Orichalcum Pulse is not on the list as it directly goes against the purpose of the ban.
As a result:
V-create has been a controversial element in SV BH for a while now. Its unrivaled base power has enabled offensive Pokemon in ways that no other move has. Outside of being the main force behind the controversial Blaziken-Mega (who dodged a ban by 1 suspect vote), V-create has since found its impact growing. Garchomp-Mega has always been the 2nd main abuser of the move, using it as an effective 3rd STAB that invalidates otherwise soft checks like Celesteela and Levitate Arceus-Steel while being just as strong as Ground STAB into neutrals. The pressure from the two physical nukes, with notably Garchomp abusing any Fur Coat Dragon-types like Eternatus that aim to check Blaziken, has limited physical defensive cores to either stack up on 2 Fur Coats, or use one of Fur Coat Arceus-Water or Ho-Oh, and the latter is not even safe as it immediately folds against Garchomp teching Jolly nature. Since the Blaziken suspect, we have also seen V-create being a key part of some rising offense structures, most notably Drought teams. While not necessarily problematic, their presence further adds to the Fur Coat fire-resistant meta. Overall, we deemed both the move to be too powerful (to the point where almost any physical attacker uses it) and its effect on the meta to be over-restrictive and unhealthy.
Groudon-Primal has never been freed in any BH tier since its ban in Gen 7, with no small part due to V-create. Without V-create though, we must give it a chance in the meta, as on paper its offensive power is only marginally stronger than Garchomp-Mega while not having the Dragon-STAB to delete Dragon-types. Its excellent defensive profile can also be a valuable asset to the tier.
Diancie-Mega is being given a second chance due to V-create being a notable part of its kit prior to its ban. V-create was the strongest coverage move against Steel-types since its Rock-STAB covered Fire-types. Its raw power also allowed it to do some truly disgusting benchmarks like 2HKOing Scales Arceus with Life Orb V-create into Extreme Speed. Without V-create, the power drop of the coverage prevents Diancie from outright OHKOing and 2HKOing soft checks, and also prevents the matchup problems of Fire/Ground immune into respective coverage.
Kartana similarly is given a second chance. Though V-create type-wise isn't its best coverage compared to the likes of Headlong Rush, its raw power was critical in annihilating soft switch-ins such as Registeel without needing a boosting ability, Celesteela, and crucially Imposter.
Both of these also gain a new check in the freed Groudon-Primal.
Understandably, these elements are borderline and so they will be monitored very closely, especially with BH Open coming up, and can be subjected to a reban. Players are strongly encouraged to experiment with them and post thoughts. By pushing these actions early, we also open up a suspect slot prior to OMPL, so any constructive discussion are welcome to help with tiering.
dhelmise
With BH Open on the horizon and OMPL + other tours following, BH council would like to use this valuable time period to tier and address the concerns about the metagame quality since the post-HPL II tiering survey. As such, we've held a vote:
Element | Chessking | QT | TTTech | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
V-create | Ban | Suspect | Ban | Ban |
Due to the scope of the banned element, we then held votes on several elements on the banlist that directly connects to V-create:
Element | Chessking | QT | TTTech | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Groudon-Primal | Unban | Unban | Unban | Unban |
Diancie-Mega | Unban | Do not unban | Unban | Unban |
Kartana | Unban | Unban | Do not unban | Unban |
Rayquaza-Mega | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban |
Regigigas | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban |
Slaking | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban |
Mewtwo-Mega-X | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban |
Deoxys-Attack | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban | Do not unban |
Orichalcum Pulse is not on the list as it directly goes against the purpose of the ban.
As a result:
V-create is banned and Groudon-Primal, Diancie-Mega, and Kartana are freed!
V-create has been a controversial element in SV BH for a while now. Its unrivaled base power has enabled offensive Pokemon in ways that no other move has. Outside of being the main force behind the controversial Blaziken-Mega (who dodged a ban by 1 suspect vote), V-create has since found its impact growing. Garchomp-Mega has always been the 2nd main abuser of the move, using it as an effective 3rd STAB that invalidates otherwise soft checks like Celesteela and Levitate Arceus-Steel while being just as strong as Ground STAB into neutrals. The pressure from the two physical nukes, with notably Garchomp abusing any Fur Coat Dragon-types like Eternatus that aim to check Blaziken, has limited physical defensive cores to either stack up on 2 Fur Coats, or use one of Fur Coat Arceus-Water or Ho-Oh, and the latter is not even safe as it immediately folds against Garchomp teching Jolly nature. Since the Blaziken suspect, we have also seen V-create being a key part of some rising offense structures, most notably Drought teams. While not necessarily problematic, their presence further adds to the Fur Coat fire-resistant meta. Overall, we deemed both the move to be too powerful (to the point where almost any physical attacker uses it) and its effect on the meta to be over-restrictive and unhealthy.
Groudon-Primal has never been freed in any BH tier since its ban in Gen 7, with no small part due to V-create. Without V-create though, we must give it a chance in the meta, as on paper its offensive power is only marginally stronger than Garchomp-Mega while not having the Dragon-STAB to delete Dragon-types. Its excellent defensive profile can also be a valuable asset to the tier.
Diancie-Mega is being given a second chance due to V-create being a notable part of its kit prior to its ban. V-create was the strongest coverage move against Steel-types since its Rock-STAB covered Fire-types. Its raw power also allowed it to do some truly disgusting benchmarks like 2HKOing Scales Arceus with Life Orb V-create into Extreme Speed. Without V-create, the power drop of the coverage prevents Diancie from outright OHKOing and 2HKOing soft checks, and also prevents the matchup problems of Fire/Ground immune into respective coverage.
Kartana similarly is given a second chance. Though V-create type-wise isn't its best coverage compared to the likes of Headlong Rush, its raw power was critical in annihilating soft switch-ins such as Registeel without needing a boosting ability, Celesteela, and crucially Imposter.
Both of these also gain a new check in the freed Groudon-Primal.
Understandably, these elements are borderline and so they will be monitored very closely, especially with BH Open coming up, and can be subjected to a reban. Players are strongly encouraged to experiment with them and post thoughts. By pushing these actions early, we also open up a suspect slot prior to OMPL, so any constructive discussion are welcome to help with tiering.
dhelmise
