Nerf because otherwise, "You're using Stall? Lol I win gg get gud."
I respect that because a lot of arguments for keeping BP like it is are really just more intelligent, complicated versions of "lol get gud". BP is a bit OP of a strategy at this point in the metagame and a lot of teams have trouble facing it. Stall is also very potent at this point in the metagame, and the fact that BP beats stall most of the time is a huge factor. Is this balancing or damaging? Many of the top ranked players use stall teams and are very successful despite the rise of BP. Stall has in fact risen incredibly from it's niche usage last generation to being one of the best play styles this gen.
I fail to see how Mega Gardevoir runs through BP when Mr. Mime can switch into it rather easily. Scizor definitely isn't beating Baton Pass after Iron Defense boosts, and Vaporeon can Roar it out if it tries to set up alongside it. Aegislash can't break Vaporeon, and I really don't see how Heatran is a threat. Pinsir can be a threat to teams without Zapdos; I'll give you that. Prankster Thundurus can be an issue, especially with Taunt, but it can be played around. Breloom will probably end up losing to Scolipede, or at least letting it Iron Defense on it since Breloom needs to Rock Tomb to break the Substitute. Talonflame can be a threat at first, but again, after Iron Defense / Acid Armor boosts it basically becomes deadweight against Baton Pass. And keep in mind, there's always Smeargle who can, at the very least, force a switch from the threatening "BP-beating" Pokemon's side (you can always Ingrain or Substitute on a predicted switch, so it can usually work out, as the opposition will usually be forced to switch due to the fear of their BP answer being crippled by a devastating Spore). Now, it may seem like having all of these threats on one team would add up and the damages each one can do to Baton Pass would ultimately overwhelm the archtype, but the because of the boosting nature of the team, having these threats on the same team truly will not improve one's chances as much since many of them, such as Talonflame, can become neutered after a few boosts. This is what makes Baton Pass truly devastating. It simply has a large advantage against a wide variety of team archtypes and, unlike other teams, can win against them ridiculously easily. Sure, there are threats to the team, and sure, there are random niche counters, but ultimately the team archtype just has too many good matchups which it can win easily, and demands a nerf of some sort (best option is limiting to 4 or 3 Baton Passers on a team, in my opinion).
The fact is, when the opposing player has at the max two of these "counters", it leads to lots of pressure on the BP player. When several of these are combined, such as a roar heatran, a gyro ball/leech seed ferrothorn, a prankster thunderus, or a talonflame, it leads to a lot of pressure on the BP player and can easily overwhelm them before they get the desired boosts. Say the opponent has both a Talonflame and a Twave Nasty plot thundurus. You don't lead with Scoli bc you'll get Brave birded or T'waved. Thundy can then set up on Scoli. Leading with Smeargle results in a switch to sleep fodder and no gain on the BP side. Leading with Vaporeon might help against Talonflame, but if the opponent leads with Thundy then you're screwed. Having Zapdos on the team can alleviate this problem somewhat, but your still left with the problem of say, Taunt/stone edge Terrakion. Many teams are carrying taunt users that can easily overwhelm Espeon before too many boost are acquired. No one of these pokemon will single handedly run through Baton Pass, just like no one pokemon can single handedly run through any other play style. If there were such a pokemon, it would probably be deemed OP and banished to Ubers.
While I'm not against a nerf on the limit of BP users, or even a Stored Power + BP nerf, I believe that sufficient measures are also being taken that are also useful against other playstyles. I played several people on the mid-upper ladder who used multiple powerful taunt users, such as Terrakion and Thundurus, and they replied that they were also very helpful against stall. Is this evolution or centralization? These changes are apparently useful against one of the other top playstyles: Stall. I wouldn't be surprised if a large number of people also get annoyed at facing the same stall teams over and over, or are annoyed to have a match drag out over many many turns of hardly anything happening. While I respect Stall and find it very thought provoking to face, the measures used against BP are some of the same things that can be used to prevail over this dominant archetype. Btw HO Rain Teams are a very favorable matchup against BP, and this playstyle has also been rising in popularity lately. They create immense pressure on the BP player from the very beginning and can often overwhelm them. Teams that have a powerful Special Attacker, Physical attacker, taunt/roar user, and/or mixed attacker can do well against BP most of the time. I think the fact that Denisss has been so great is that he is a really good player who knows the metagame. Most other Baton Pass players aren't so good and can be easily beaten.
I do belive that the fact that carrying one or two counters to shut down BP pretty much results in a win, while BP shutting down ppl w/o counters from the beggning is a bit uncompetitive. A lot of the times its a simple win or lose from the beginning, and there's not much either player can do about it. This is why I would not be against a limit of BP'ers on a team, or a Stored Power + Baton Pass nerf, because most of the time it results in a simple win/lose scenario that cannot be avoided. However I also believe that the strategies people are taking against Baton Pass are overall healthy and beneficial for this turbulent metagame.
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