Votes required to pass: 4/6Last weekend, the National Dex OU Council announced our most recent edition of On The Radar featuring a selection of Pokémon up for potential tiering action in the near future. These were selected for consideration either due to changes implemented by the most recent DLC release or due to a perceived increase in their viability as a result of Gholdengo's recent ban from the tier which had widespread impacts on the metagame. With voting now wrapped up and community feedback taken into consideration, National Dex will receive the following tiering actions effective immediately:
BaxcaliburReceiving 5 of 6 total ban votes and 1 recommendation for suspect testing, Baxcalibur will receive a quickban from National Dex. Although flying under the radar for some time within the early stages of the metagame, Baxcalibur came to be respected as an immensely powerful setup sweeper with its base 145 attack, access to dragon dance and swords dance, and broad coverage afforded by the combination of ice stab + earthquake. Additionally, Baxcalibur's immunity to burns and 1.5x defense buff when under hail made it a prime candidate for Aurora Veil builds or screens offense in general. It could viably run multiple defensive Tera types such as poison, steel, or fairy to complement its well-above average bulk or offensive Tera types such as ground or dragon to blow past would-be counters. While these attributes are more than enough to demand respect, Baxcalibur also received access to scale shot in the most recent DLC which created a potent loaded dice build with icicle spear and swords dance. Outside of select unaware mons, counterplay to Baxcalibur has become shaky if not downright unreliable, and it is more than capable of cleaning entire teams after even a single boost.
Ursaluna-BloodmoonLikewise receiving 5 of 6 total ban votes and 1 recommendation for suspect testing, Ursaluna-Bloodmoon will receive a quickban from National Dex. Ursaluna-Bloodmoon was introduced in the most recent DLC and wasted no time establishing itself as a staple of both hyper offense and bulky offense teams. Boasting a 140 base power signature move and near perfect coverage alongside earth power and the new mind's eye ability, few Pokémon could stand to take more than one hit from this offensive behemoth. Bloodmoon is also no slouch defensively with 113 base HP, 120 base defense, and access to calm mind which could patch up its weaker special defense while skyrocketing its offensive capabilities. On hyper offense, an electric seed and screens support from Tapu Koko allowed Ursaluna-Bloodmoon to shrug off even super effective hits with ease. Despite using only Tera poison on the vast majority of builds, this Pokémon has proven itself a nearly unstoppable force no matter how predictable it may be and is clearly not fit for the current state of National Dex.
SneaslerWith 4 votes recommending suspect testing, 1 vote in favor of a quickban, and 1 vote for no action, Sneasler will be slated for an upcoming suspect test. Sneasler is an established top-tier threat within the National Dex metagame and a direct benefactor of Gholdengo's most recent ban. With its most common defensive counterplay now removed from the tier, Sneasler is certainly worth keeping under close watch. However, the National Dex OU Council did not reach consensus to justify quick action at this point and will instead leave the final decision up to the suspect testing process. There is currently no date scheduled for this test to occur as we may choose to allow more time for the metagame to settle following the aforementioned bans, but this will be our next course of action.
Iron Valiant and Tapu-LeleNeither Iron Valiant nor Tapu-Lele received significant support for tiering action and as such no action will be taken on either at this time.
***
Feel free to discuss any of these decisions in the National Dex OU metagame discussion thread. Tagging Kris to implement