Tera is a complicated mechanic that seriously changes the foundations of Pokémon competition due to the changing of typing mid-battle. Depending on your view, it may be broken due to throwing numerous variables at you, unbalancing the balanced through increased potency of STABs, or introducing new defensive, offensive, or a combination of both into the equation. Examples include pushing the power of Pokémon even further by Terastalizing into a type they have coverage for or to power up their own STAB, further bolstering the offensive prowess of Pokémon in a tier rife with high-powered moves such as Roaring Moon Tera-ing into Fire to bust through defensive powerhouses like Iron Treads with Fire Blast, Palafin Tera-ing into Normal to make Boomburst hit just that much harder, or Sylveon Tera-ing into Fairy type to have a more potent priority move, reality is that it is difficult to balance around this, and this only addresses one aspect of Tera, where another aspect is it can be defensive, swapping the effectiveness of a matchup on its head, turning a counter into prey. It also can be perceived that bans that have happened such as Iron Valiant and Kyurem may be seen as unnecessary if they weren't able to Tera out of their typing to surprise their normal checks.
Yet, depending on your views, these problems are actually instances where skill comes into play, learning when to Tera in battle to gain the greatest effect or avoid a nasty scenario. Do you Tera immediately to cover for a glaring weakness in your team or do you save it for that perfect moment to uno reverso a scenario? The unquestionable utility of changing types mid-battle is great to many as letting defensive and offensive Pokémon have a chance in scenarios where they'd normally be forced out or Ko'd such as a Toxapex Tera-ing into a neutrality or resist to mortal spin or scald a Landorus-therian, Corviknight Tera-ing to Dragon to cover for it's weakness to Fire and Electric, this application is immensely deep and adds a layer to team building beyond previous generations.
Regardless which side you sit on, Tera is without a doubt a central mechanic that needs an answer once more. Are you for it or against it?
Requirements:
Requirements can be achieved by getting minimum 75 GXE in 25 games on the Category Swap ladder. In order to participate in the suspect, you must create a fresh alt (creation date no earlier than 7/12/2024) with the prefix CSTERA at the start of the name. When you have obtained the reqs, make sure to post proof of your alt's record (generally a screenshot) in this thread, and if you wish to do so, you can also share your thoughts on the test here.
Voting:
Once the suspect period is over, everyone who has obtained reqs will be tagged. The post will then outline a process of blind voting, which will be clarified once the time arrives. For now, follow the above "Requirements" subheading to ensure that you have posted your reqs correctly. You must post on this thread in order to be tagged in the voting thread, however you do not need to include your vote on this thread.
A super-majority of 60% ban votes is required for Terastalization to be banned.
TL;DR
-Terastalization will be allowed on ladder
- The minimum GXE requirement is 75 and the minimum game count is 25
- You must ladder on a newly-created alt using the prefix CSTERA
- You must post your reqs in this thread, though the voting process will happen in a separate thread. You are not required to state your vote in this thread.
- The suspect test will conclude at 7/21/2024 at 11:59 PM GMT-5
- A ban vote of 60% is required to ban Terastalization in Category Swap.
