Announcement Champions OU Tiering Updates

[dhelmise]

Shed Tail, Moody, and evasion moves have been banned.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, all three have been terrorizing the ladder even before this meta was actually playable, so I'm keeping this post very brief.

We will be looking into some of other popular talking points (Mega Gengar, Mega Blastoise) later.

Also, wanted to note that we intentionally started this meta with minimal tiering because there was no in-game equivalent to use majority of these playstyles in, so we wanted people to play with them for a bit. Thanks for your patience.

 

[lax]

Mega Gengar & Bright Powder are now banned.

There is an out-playable element of Mega Gengar through anticipating its switch-ins or taking advantage of it with priority and Choice Scarf. Buuut, the constrictive gameplay will likely be too much for any competitive 6v6 metagame as it is simply too easy to get value from. Shadow Tag on an incredibly fast Pokemon with base 170 Special Attack along with strong utility moves is too much. Mega Gengar is able to do ridiculous amounts of damage and break apart bulkier cores through its existence alone.

Bright Powder: Nobody wants to lose to a random 10% chance and it is, of course, uncompetitive to win or lose this way. At this point in the game’s life, there are enough items with STAB-boosting (Black Glasses, Spell Tag, etc) or Berries (Lum, Resist Berries) to circumvent the tiny amount of choices we are given. Goodbye Bright Powder. :salute:

Mega Blastoise and more will be closely monitored! Expect more news soon.

 

[lax]

Prefacing this post to remind everybody that every ban that takes place will be reviewed and adjusted as more Pokemon and items release in Champions! (Probably not Bright Powder and those kinda things, lol.)

Mega Starmie, Mega Lucario, & Palafin are now banned.

As anticipated, Mega Starmie is an absolute menace. Huge Power, a very strong speed stat of 120, access to Flip Turn, Ice coverage, priority with Aqua Jet, & even Bulk-Up Sweeper sets... an extremely difficult combination to manage on average. This is one of the premier Pokemon to benefit from no Rocky Helmet in the tier, so I am very curious to see how Starmie in particular functions with new updates.

Mega Lucario kind of struggles to set up and sweep right now, but this doesn't prevent it from simply OHKO'ing many Pokemon. Adaptability is one of the strongest abilities an offensive Pokemon can get, and Lucario has very solid STAB options in Close Combat and Meteor Mash. Lucario also has fantastic coverage moves, including Ice Punch and Earthquake, that allow it to destroy supposed "counters" such as Aegislash. This Pokemon was a menace when it first released 10+ years ago and continues to dominate.

In a metagame surrounded by Mega Evolution, Palafin reigns supreme as one of the most difficult Pokemon to handle. Going from its base form to Hero gives it an extra 193 BST for a total of 650. The drawback of having to "waste" a turn setting it up does not even come close to outweighing the benefits of essentially having a double Mega Evolution. Boasting an incredible 160 base attack (higher than Zacian) along with a premier priority move in Jet Punch makes it difficult to switch in to for the majority of Pokemon. It is able to run offensive sets with Wave Crash and Flip Turn or prioritize coverage with a tankier Bulk Up set. As of now, Palafin is too constricting on the builder and too difficult to manage.

 

[lax]

Mega Blastoise is banned.

No further questions, your honor.

 

[aim]

Bright Powder is now banned to remain consistent with Evasion Clause. Quick Claw has been banned too.

 

[dhelmise]

Bright Powder is now banned to remain consistent with Evasion Clause. Quick Claw has been banned too.

This was meant to say Sand Veil/Snow Cloak, not Bright Powder again, sorry for the confusion everyone.

 

[swordisbored]

Mega Blaziken and Light Clay are now banned.

Mega Blaziken is an absurd Pokémon which ends up winning after Swords Dance + a turn of Speed Boost with incredible natural power which allows it to net KOs on Pokémon you would expect to be walls such as physically defensive Garchomp.

Light Clay ended up being unsurprisingly centralising with all of the powerful boost sweepers along with the introduction of Gholdengo to stop any attempts to Defog them away.

 

[swordisbored]

Through the combination of multiple traits in combination with the small pool of Pokémon currently in Champions as of Regulation M-B, Gholdengo is now banned.

By virtue of Good as Gold Gholdengo took the playstyle of hazard stack to new heights typically in tandem with top tier hazard setters such as Garchomp and Hisuian Samurott to completely restrict defensive play by blocking all common means of removal. Beyond this, Gholdengo's dual STABs proved overwhelming in the tier and is able to spam Ghost-type attacks similarly to Aegislash and Ceruledge, who prove themselves to be top tiers, along with coverage such as Focus Blast and Dazzling Gleam allowing it to kill its otherwise would be checks in the aim of keeping hazards up for the entire game. For example, Shuca Berry in tandem with Focus Blast would allow Gholdengo to not only effectively spinblock but eliminate Excadrill.

With such a high special attack its offensive prowess can't be understated and was able to be taken to new heights with Nasty Plot and the high base power of Make It Rain which allowed Gholdengo to be an effective breaker but its sheer versatility also allowed it to act as a fantastic defensive glue with Recover and a potent revenge killer with Choice Scarf.

Gholdengo proved itself as a Pokémon that was not only versatile and powerful but one that restricted how teams were built in the tier, unhealthily leaning teams towards offense as to not be debilitated by hazards as much as possible due to the lack of Heavy-Duty-Boots.

 

[lax]

King's Rock is being banned from Champs OU - consistent with Champs UU.

This is a weird one because its an item with extremely low usage and success rate, but we've determined there to be enough viable items available that there is no competitive reason to keep it around. We'll also hopefully receive many more item changes following the update in under a month, so, as always, patience is appreciated for a tier that can only get better.

I'll also take this time to mention that council is keeping a close eye on Champs PL games and we can expect a metagame survey either in the middle of the tournament or afterwards.

 

[lax]

Hope you all had fun while it lasted because Mega Salamence is now banned in Champions OU. Mega Mence is historically one of, if not The, greatest Mega Pokemon to ever exist with its influence stretching to VGC formats featuring the Primals, Xerneas and also being an Ubers mainstay through its lifetime in Singles as well.

Amazing speed, bulk, and access to Dragon Dance has proven to be one of the deadliest combinations in Pokemon. With its absolute min-maxed Stats allowing it to break through supposed “counters” such as Corviknight, it’s an absolute beast. Double Edge and a Fire move (Flamethrower, Fire Blast) are all it needs to rip through the entire tier. If Mence never gets nerfed, it’ll be Ubers #4Life.

A council vote will take place in a day or two, so stay tuned for more tiering updates and potentially a suspect test!

 

[lax]

Council vote:

Mega Lucario Z - 6/7 Bans
Mega Raichu Y - 6/7 Suspect Test
Mega Alakazam - 6/7 Bans
Mega Golisopod - 5/7 No Bans, 1/7 Suspect Test
Sneasler - 5/7 Suspect Test, 1/7 Ban
Baxcalibur (including Mega) - 6/7 Ban
Samurott Hisui - 6/7 Suspect Test

As a result, Mega Lucario Z, Mega Alakazam, and Baxcalibur are now banned.

Mega Raichu Y was voted to be our next suspect test (4 Raichu, 2 Sneasler) and there will be a new vote in the near future.

Mega Lucario Z boasts an insane Special Attack and Speed combined with an ability that makes it extremely difficult to revenge KO. Mega Alakazam has always been a Pokemon with a lot of.. potential, but its access to Psychic Terrain Expanding Force pushes it over the edge. Mega Baxcalibur actually dodged a ban, but the base form is considered too oppressive with the wide variety of both offensive and defensive items it has access to.

Stay tuned for more updates