Smogon sanctions its own singles metagame but as is well known, it's not the only one out there. I propose "Battle Spot" singles analyses for Pokemon banned under Smogon's official rules but not under other common singles rulesets, most notably Nintendo rulesets.
Why is this necessary? - Personally I've tried to look up analyses as a guide for a couple of Pokemon, like special Landorus-I or pivot Tornadus-T in 5th gen, but there aren't listed on the on-site analysis since sets that were good in standard may be unviable in ubers. The ubers analyses don't present an accurate assessment of how the Pokemon should be used in a singles environment that exists outside of Smogon's tiering. And I would consider myself an experienced player who knows that these sets are tailored for something different than what I'm looking for, not everyone may know what sets were viable before they were exiled to Kyogre's and Arceus' kingdom (now Xerneas' and Mewtwo's?). I call this "Battle Spot" because it's the biggest singles metagame that fits this criteria though ideally, the analyses would just be for general use outside of Smogon's singles meta.
I understand if people don't want to retroactively go back to previous gens to do this sort of thing, but what spurred me to post this is the skeleton for Mega Lucario in ubers, which omits its special set. This is completely understandable in ubers where its STABs are commonly resisted, its coverage moves too weak, and overall you would probably prefer to run other glass cannons. However, that doesn't mean that its special set is bad overall. In fact, it contributed heavily to its versatility in standard OU, preferred by many to the physical set because you couldn't shut it down by burning it. It's these kinds of omissions that make me feel that the ubers-tailored analyses don't paint the full picture of a Pokemon.
Why should we devote time/energy/resources to non-Smogon metagames?/Who cares? - Note that I feel what I'm suggesting is relatively small in scope. The main Pokemon this generation this applies to are Blaziken, Mega Gengar, Mega Kanga, and Mega Luke; several of these probably had complete or nearly complete analyses written before their bans iirc. Genesect isn't allowed in Nintendo metas so I don't see it as a priority.
That being said, there is a precedent in VGC analyses as far as putting analyses for non-Smogon sanctioned metas on the site. I'm not asking to cater to a super-exclusive underground meta made by players of questionable skill, but the analyses are used by many people as a reference guide even though they may not play by our tiers. If anything, they can be used as a reference on the Pokemon's page as to why that specific Pokemon is banned under Smogon's rules (i.e. "this is what people ran and this is why this Pokemon is broken"). At the same time, there is not the complete omission of what effective sets a Pokemon can run that are not tailored for metagames that aren't applicable to everyone. I myself primarily play Nintendo rules on the cartridge and not on the simulator so this would be a useful resource for players like me.
What Pokemon do you propose fall under this? - Sticking to Nintendo's banlist is safest and would avoid arbitrary decisions. Hypothetically, say something like Caterpie is banned; it's allowed in Nintendo metas and thus would be eligible for a "Battle Spot" analysis. But should Celebi or Phione be banned, they would be ineligible to receive Battle Spot analyses as these aren't allowed in Battle Spot singles. If something with an existing OU analysis gets banned from OU, recycling its OU analysis for "Battle Spot" would be acceptable.
Lastly, if someone at C&C is cool with my proposal, I would not mind helping out with whatever is needed (my only reservation about writing analyses is not being a top tier player lol). Thanks for reading this despite the tl;dr nature.
Why is this necessary? - Personally I've tried to look up analyses as a guide for a couple of Pokemon, like special Landorus-I or pivot Tornadus-T in 5th gen, but there aren't listed on the on-site analysis since sets that were good in standard may be unviable in ubers. The ubers analyses don't present an accurate assessment of how the Pokemon should be used in a singles environment that exists outside of Smogon's tiering. And I would consider myself an experienced player who knows that these sets are tailored for something different than what I'm looking for, not everyone may know what sets were viable before they were exiled to Kyogre's and Arceus' kingdom (now Xerneas' and Mewtwo's?). I call this "Battle Spot" because it's the biggest singles metagame that fits this criteria though ideally, the analyses would just be for general use outside of Smogon's singles meta.
I understand if people don't want to retroactively go back to previous gens to do this sort of thing, but what spurred me to post this is the skeleton for Mega Lucario in ubers, which omits its special set. This is completely understandable in ubers where its STABs are commonly resisted, its coverage moves too weak, and overall you would probably prefer to run other glass cannons. However, that doesn't mean that its special set is bad overall. In fact, it contributed heavily to its versatility in standard OU, preferred by many to the physical set because you couldn't shut it down by burning it. It's these kinds of omissions that make me feel that the ubers-tailored analyses don't paint the full picture of a Pokemon.
Why should we devote time/energy/resources to non-Smogon metagames?/Who cares? - Note that I feel what I'm suggesting is relatively small in scope. The main Pokemon this generation this applies to are Blaziken, Mega Gengar, Mega Kanga, and Mega Luke; several of these probably had complete or nearly complete analyses written before their bans iirc. Genesect isn't allowed in Nintendo metas so I don't see it as a priority.
That being said, there is a precedent in VGC analyses as far as putting analyses for non-Smogon sanctioned metas on the site. I'm not asking to cater to a super-exclusive underground meta made by players of questionable skill, but the analyses are used by many people as a reference guide even though they may not play by our tiers. If anything, they can be used as a reference on the Pokemon's page as to why that specific Pokemon is banned under Smogon's rules (i.e. "this is what people ran and this is why this Pokemon is broken"). At the same time, there is not the complete omission of what effective sets a Pokemon can run that are not tailored for metagames that aren't applicable to everyone. I myself primarily play Nintendo rules on the cartridge and not on the simulator so this would be a useful resource for players like me.
What Pokemon do you propose fall under this? - Sticking to Nintendo's banlist is safest and would avoid arbitrary decisions. Hypothetically, say something like Caterpie is banned; it's allowed in Nintendo metas and thus would be eligible for a "Battle Spot" analysis. But should Celebi or Phione be banned, they would be ineligible to receive Battle Spot analyses as these aren't allowed in Battle Spot singles. If something with an existing OU analysis gets banned from OU, recycling its OU analysis for "Battle Spot" would be acceptable.
Lastly, if someone at C&C is cool with my proposal, I would not mind helping out with whatever is needed (my only reservation about writing analyses is not being a top tier player lol). Thanks for reading this despite the tl;dr nature.
