As requested by our glorious leader and top 1 draft player
Hacker , I would like to post and have a real discussion about the inclusion of Natdex in this tournament. This format has obviously been very divisive since its inception and has its pros and cons, which cannot be argued. That being said, I think a lot of the arguments against this format are just disingenuous and in bad faith. I get the hesitation to try new things this community has however, there is really no better place than the proposed DWL format to potentially give Natdex a try.
Why Include Natdex?
1. Popularity: This is one of the weaker arguments for inclusion, but it is nonetheless a real argument. Natdex draft is or at least was, the most played format in draft per the PS stats that were previously released. We have consistently had Natdex outpace type B tournaments and even surpass 500 sign-ups for its tour here. I know that the perception is that Natdex is just played "casually" so it does not matter that it is popular, but I just think that's a very dismissive counter to a strong quantitative argument. The recent DDD Natdex seasonal hosted by
Ryan&Ditto reached 128 competitors with NO prize. That is unheard of in the current draft landscape for an off-site event and shows a clear demand for 8 mon Natdex.
2. Breath of fresh air: It has been said time and time again that people are burnt out on SV. Natdex is a format we have not run in a Smogdraft team tour that has become genuinely competitive and in demand. DWL is meant to give spotlight to non-SV metas from my understanding, and also not be quite as strict as DCL. Natdex is a tier where the board looks wildly different to other tiers, the options are expanded, drafting is heavily rewarded, you have even more options to outprep your opponent, etc. Just like any competitive format, the better player will usually win and will have the tools to win. This should be an exciting opportunity to play a tier that moulds a lot of the good components of gens 7-8-9 together to create a very unique format that is not less competitive in any substantive way.
3. Ease of access: This is going to be a tier every player can play, assist with, and will not be hard to fill in the auction. I believe this tier has similar qualities to USUM, SS, and SV and anybody who mains one of those tiers can approach and succeed in ND. The pace of the game feels very similar to USUM, the lack of gimmicks such as Z or Tera creates a feeling resembling SS without a big swing mechanic, and the power level, of course, mirrors SV. This is a tier where it is very simple to figure out what everything does. flex in, and the better side will win. If people like the way SV is but also feel tired of SV this is a really easy alternative to play in.
4. Innovation: This tier is by far the easiest to draft well in and in my recent experience, the most fun to draft. You have way more options than any CG and you can make so many things work. Megas are fun to work with, especially with moveset additions. Tera is not oppressive, opening options up far more; you will never hear complaints such as "all the steels and grounds are gone" or "there are only 3 good spinners in this tier". it is a skill, like any to draft in ND, and if you just look at a sample board, you will immediately see that there's a ton of fun you can pull off. I will include some sample ND team tour teams below to give a better idea:
These are all incredibly fun looking to me, and you can see some of the new innovative options right away. Don't need to worry about speed on the Val team anymore when you can have DD Mega Aero with DWB and all its tools now. While not remotely oppressive due to lack of Val and Tera, you can pair Koko with Quark Drive guys and so on to make some really fun HO teams. Drafting this is genuinely more fun than any other tier, and if you see it in a sweaty team tour, you'll find that the unlimited options make it really fun and heavily rewarded as a skill.
5. Recently revamped board: ND has undergone a major change to the point where I believe it is finally ready for this step. I have said in the past that although I would like it, it may not fit or be ready for DCL. With recent tiering changes (I adjusted over 400 mons in value), the board is finally reflective of real value and far more refined. This was often a big complaint with Natdex, and now I think it is fair to pick from any position and easy for everyone to build a cohesive team. Before DWL the board can be updated based on numerous tours, both our Smogdraft individual and offsite team and individual events. A concerted effort has been made to get really competitive 8 mon ND events running, and we have struck a good balance that can be used.
Debunking Common Fallacies:
1. "Quark Drive Koko and Yard Proto are just broken": These arguments are either based off ignorance, lack of experience, or even bad faith for the latter. Koko and Quark spam has not ever even cracked the top 16 of our Smogon individual in back to back years as far as I can see and there is a reason for it. Koko is a r1, Val is still a top 2 pick. With no Tera, Iron Moth and company are considerably worse. although this is an easy structure to draft, it has not been piloted well. You have to play a very heavy HO style and it is very top heavy for the most part in drafting. If Koko was a broken enabler, I would have banned it, instead, it gets drafted mid-late r1 and is not even max points. In a recent set of team tours and individual events the Koko winrate was like 30-40% I believe so this argument just does not hold. The Yard + proto argument is worse to the point I would call it bad faith. As an experienced player, DWL candidates should know that Yard or MTtar are breakers/sweepers and not weather setters. The synergy is decent with something like Tusk because its a nice spinner for Yard but you cannot actually run a sun mode like that, we have known this for like 8 years or something lol. Protosynthesis does not change that. I think people who make these arguments haven't touched 8 mon ND so it is fair to guess these structures would be broken however, if you look at any numbers, that is not the case.
2. "Everyone just gets a broken draft.": My response to this is just to get a broken draft yourself. The games themselves feel more balanced as there is not offensive swing mechanic such as Tera or Z, just Megas. The overall mon quality is higher in this tier however everyone has access to the same tools. It is not like evryone will have 10/10 drafts and it will not be fun, drafting is a skill and you still will find value and synergy across this board if you want to succeed. I have seen plenty of horrible ND drafts just as I have seen plenty of good ones, SV has a higher power level than SS but we don't say that everyone just gets a broken SV draft, the two factors just do not connect in that way. If anything it is just a bit easier and IMO more fun to draft in ND which I view as an asset to its case..
3. "The ruleset is inconsistent": I can tell you the exact ruleset we will impose because it has been the same for every Smogdraft ND tour and the major offsite tours as well for literally 2 years.
- Z moves are banned
- Tera is banned
- Hidden Power is banned
Those are 3 incredibly easy rules to remember and the Natdex builder will validate your team otherwise. There is no more banning random moves like pursuit or cut moves altogether and the rules have been very streamlined. Any league can run wacky rules but they have also done that for every gen of draft ever. Just because people used to have stall clause in their mickey mouse SS league or have to turn 1 Mega in ORAS does not mean we call the rules of those inconsistent. Only the majority matters.
4. "Nobody real plays Natdex": If we include Natdex in a real team tour I guarantee people will play it. This is just not the case however, the Natdex I semis was Gorex, Hiker, Me and the quarters also included Sage and 64 squares; so 3/4 of the semis competitors played that DCL and 5/8 for quarters. The most recent DITTO ND team tour had 25 dcl/dpl alum in it showing a clear willingness to try it out. The recent DDD seasonal has gotten many as well with Ryan and Lax being 2 of the people to top cut in the first group. I think as we try to make ND more legitimate people are treating it as such and this is a situation where you should not knock it until you try it.
In conclusion, I think ND has a lot of momentum rn and there is no reason to stop it. Why don't you want to play a tier that is balanced, that you can use crazy shit like Knock, Pursuit, Rock Polish Kingambit? This can be the most innovative tier of the tour and has a high level of accessibility. I cannot definitively say it is 100% ready, but it should not just be dismissed as unserious like it has been in the past.
SV Standard
SV Low Tier
SV VGC
SV National Dex
SS, 
USUM, 
ORAS, 
BW, 
DPP
