Approved by DTC
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if every offensive move did the same amount of damage? What about Attack, Defense, and their special counterparts being completely irrelevant stats?
Well, wonder no more! In the Fixed Damage Metagame, the damage a move deals does not depend on your offensive stats, the opponent's defensive stats, or the min-max roll, but rather on typing, and in some cases, ability and held item.
In the Fixed Damage Metagame, damage dealt by attacks work much in the same way as Stealth Rock damage, only doubled in power. Assuming it is unboosted, a neutral attack will remove 25% of the opponent's health. x4, x2, x0.5 and x0.25 effective attacks will remove 100, 50, 12.5 and 6.25% of the opponent's health respectively.
But that's not all. Anything (be it an item, an ability, or STAB) which boosts the power of a move will affect the move accordingly. However, anything increasing or decreasing the offensive stats of the attacker or defensive stats of the defender will not apply. (This may be changed for boosting moves such as Swords Dance if stall becomes too prominent and hard to overcome) For instance, Life Orb will work the way it does in standard play, but Choice Band will not boost your attack. On the other hand, Choice Scarf will boost your speed; it is therefore the only choice item worth carrying.
List of moves, abilities and items which have no effect in this metagame:
In fact, Speed is the only stat worth investing in, since damage works in percentages and not actual numbers, unlike for traditional fixed damage moves which use absolute values. Besides the odd HP EV to avoid a 2HKO, it is reasonable to assume that the only EVs invested will be in Speed, and that said Pokemon will have a Speed increasing nature.
Status mainly stays the same. Toxic still racks up damage (expect to see much usage of that move), Sleep temporarily neuters a Pokemon and Paralysis cuts speed down to a quarter (actually, this might be the most prominent status since it completely neuters the only stat that matters). The only one which changes at all is Burn, which does not cut the opponent's Attack any longer (well, it technically does, but that doesn't matter, since offensive stats aren't taken into account.)
Since all moves deal just as much damage, it's always better to go for relatively weaker moves with more utility. Low Sweep carriers have no reason to use Close Combat, and Confusion will be used over Psychic, since a special defense decrease boils down to nothing, while confusion is quite good. What's more, you don't have to worry about whether the move you're choosing is physical or special, because, 99% of the time, it just does not matter.
What's more, there is absolutely no reason not to run an attacking move on a Pokemon. Chansey's Body Slam does just as much damage as Snorlax's, after all.
Also, Ubers will be allowed for the time being.
Also Pokemon will have to be level 100.
All that said, here are a few moves and abilities which may be broken or otherwise good:
Additionally, here are a few broken/viable Pokemon which I think may represent the kind of metagame this is:
Banlist:
Nerflist:
Potential banlist:
Here's a list of Pokemon who outclass their evolutions in one way or another:
A few ideas to balance out the metagame :
(Please note that only things on the banlist/nerflist have actually been banned or nerfed. The rest is merely speculation)
Please tell me if you find any more!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if every offensive move did the same amount of damage? What about Attack, Defense, and their special counterparts being completely irrelevant stats?
Well, wonder no more! In the Fixed Damage Metagame, the damage a move deals does not depend on your offensive stats, the opponent's defensive stats, or the min-max roll, but rather on typing, and in some cases, ability and held item.
In the Fixed Damage Metagame, damage dealt by attacks work much in the same way as Stealth Rock damage, only doubled in power. Assuming it is unboosted, a neutral attack will remove 25% of the opponent's health. x4, x2, x0.5 and x0.25 effective attacks will remove 100, 50, 12.5 and 6.25% of the opponent's health respectively.
But that's not all. Anything (be it an item, an ability, or STAB) which boosts the power of a move will affect the move accordingly. However, anything increasing or decreasing the offensive stats of the attacker or defensive stats of the defender will not apply. (This may be changed for boosting moves such as Swords Dance if stall becomes too prominent and hard to overcome) For instance, Life Orb will work the way it does in standard play, but Choice Band will not boost your attack. On the other hand, Choice Scarf will boost your speed; it is therefore the only choice item worth carrying.
List of moves, abilities and items which have no effect in this metagame:
All moves which boost Attack, Special Attack, Defense and/or Special Defense
Choice Band
Choice Specs
Eviolite
Assault Vest
Weakness Policy
Absorb Bulb
Apicot Berry
Ganlon Berry
Liechi Berry
Petaya Berry
Thick Club
Light Ball
Pure Power
Huge Power
Hustle
Guts
Anger Point
Defeatist
Download
Flare Boost
Intimidate
Justified
Marvel Scale
Moxie
Choice Band
Choice Specs
Eviolite
Assault Vest
Weakness Policy
Absorb Bulb
Apicot Berry
Ganlon Berry
Liechi Berry
Petaya Berry
Thick Club
Light Ball
Pure Power
Huge Power
Hustle
Guts
Anger Point
Defeatist
Download
Flare Boost
Intimidate
Justified
Marvel Scale
Moxie
Status mainly stays the same. Toxic still racks up damage (expect to see much usage of that move), Sleep temporarily neuters a Pokemon and Paralysis cuts speed down to a quarter (actually, this might be the most prominent status since it completely neuters the only stat that matters). The only one which changes at all is Burn, which does not cut the opponent's Attack any longer (well, it technically does, but that doesn't matter, since offensive stats aren't taken into account.)
Since all moves deal just as much damage, it's always better to go for relatively weaker moves with more utility. Low Sweep carriers have no reason to use Close Combat, and Confusion will be used over Psychic, since a special defense decrease boils down to nothing, while confusion is quite good. What's more, you don't have to worry about whether the move you're choosing is physical or special, because, 99% of the time, it just does not matter.
What's more, there is absolutely no reason not to run an attacking move on a Pokemon. Chansey's Body Slam does just as much damage as Snorlax's, after all.
Also, Ubers will be allowed for the time being.
Also Pokemon will have to be level 100.
All that said, here are a few moves and abilities which may be broken or otherwise good:
Any priority move : Priority is supposed to be weak for obvious reasons. But it being just as powerful as any other move is obviously wrong. Priority moves in general will probably either be nerfed do deal half damage or flat-out banned.
Multi-hit moves : This is pretty obvious. Cloyster can OHKO everything which doesn't resist the Ice-Rock combo, without even having to Shell Smash. These will either get banned or nerfed to deal a fifth of the damage they should. Triple Kick is paticularly broken, since without STAB, it deals a total of 150% damage, enabling a 2HKO on anything that doesn't quad or fully resist it.
Rapid Spin : Rapid Spin actually does damage, so it's pretty overpowered. However, it's the only option to remove hazards on your side while keeping them on the opponent's. Might want to force it to deal 1 HP of damage or something.
Storm Throw/Frost Breath : These are more in the grey area of whether or not they're broken, since they have very poor distribution. Still,a move which auto-crits and has great type coverage is still very potent.
Technician : Much like Storm Throw / Frost Breath, Technician allows you to 3HKO with neutral damage. Unlike StormBreath, it also has good distribution, allows you to have great coverage, as well as a chance to crit. Probably broken, but not entirely certain.
Regenerator : This ability is already great in standard, bu here, it's phenomenal. If the opponent has no super-effective coverage against a Regenerator Pokemon, it can just switch in and switch out, barely taking any damage. After Leftovers recovery, a neutral STAB hit will deal just over 30%, which can easily be recovered by Regenerator. Life Orb takes that damage to 42.5%, which means that, after switching out, the Regenerator Pokemon takes very slightly less damage (0.5%, precisely) than the Life Orb wielder takes from recoil. Of course, that doesn't factor in Stealth Rocks, but with a potent defogger or Spinner, a regenerator core should not have much trouble stalling away.
Facade : Status is pretty important in this metagame, so anything which can absorb status and 2HKO the majority of the metagame is appreciated. This move can easily be used without a Status Orb, just in case you encounter status, which you probably will.
Tinted Lens : Basically always dealing neutral damage with attacks would take the prediction out of the game. Its kind of a no-risk approach.
Acrobatics : Flying Gem hasn't been introduced yet, so in order to use this, you'll need to forgo an item, but being able to 2HKO anything which doesn't resist Flying without even needing Stab is well worth.
Payback : Once again, this is able to 2HKO anything that doesn't resist it without STAB. The only drawback is that you need to attack last. Otherwise, it's pretty amazing.
Infestation : Able to trap and deal a lot of damage AND deal recoil damage. Self-explanatory, really.
Beat Up : One of the many overpowered Dark-type moves. Weavile is a particularly good user with its high Speed.
Recover : Being able to stall out anything that can't hit you super effectively is an absolute godsend for a lot of Pokemon. This move probably won't be banned, but it will be pretty centralizing.
U-Turn/Volt Switch : These moves have what is arguably the best utility in the game, so it won't be a surprise to see them do particularly well in this metagame. However, they're still relatively powerful in the standard metagame, so if that one can deal with them, so can this one.
Confuse Ray : When a Pokemon hits itself in confusion, it essentially his itself with a base 40 BP move which does neutral damage. Which deals as much recoil damage in this metagame as Struggle. Not broken, just substantially more annoying. (Speaking of Struggle, it deals as much damage to the opponent now as it does to you. Considering both that and thefact that everything will carry moves like Powder Snow and Absorb, PP stall is completely dead).
Hidden Power : Some may argue that this move is broken, but I believe it provides a great free opportunity to have whichever coverage type you wish. It's more or less a joker card every Pokemon has. It does completely demolish the notion of "counter" though, not that much will be countering much in this metagame.
Accuracy lowering moves : Aside from Speed, the only other stats you can affect in this meta are Accuracy and Evasion. Mud-slap in particular stands out, with incredible distribution, good offensive typing, and a 100% chance to lower accuracy.
Perfect accuracy moves/abilities : Seriously. Expect to see LOTS of Mud-Slap in this meta. Moves like Swift and Shock Wave will see plenty of use solely to counter it. Keen Eye and No Guard users are also effective.
Metal Burst : with damage now standardized the risk of getting OHKO'd is significantly reduced, Metal Burst can be a very effective attack on slower mons
Speed affecting moves/abilities : with Speed being such an important stat in this meta, the ability to manipulate it will be in high regard. Speed lowering moves like Low Sweep and Electroweb will see lots of use, while Flame Charge is easily the best Fire-type move in the meta. Abilities like Speed Boost and Swift Swim are also very valuable.
Snowball moves : Fury Cutter, Rollout, and Ice Ball will hopefully get their power cut in half, but even with that are very powerful. With their damage doubling every hit, their progression on only neutral hits (without STAB, even) would be 12.5% - 25% - 50% - 100% - 200%.
Draining moves : Previously held in check by relatively low BP, this is no longer an issue. Of particular note is Draining Kiss with its 75% drain
Brick Break : Screens stand to be very powerful in this meta. Brick Break stands as a high distribution answer to that.
Dragon Tail / Circle Throw : Another case of previously good moves held back by low BP (Although you do have to attack last)
Nuzzle : And the Pikachu clones shall inherit the earth. Seriously. 100% accurate Paralyze (again with the Speed control!), now with power and Pikachu & co. no longer held back by poor stats.
Pursuit : Dark is pretty much the best offensive type in the metagame, due to theamont of utility Dark moves have. Pursuit used to suffer from a lack of power, but not anymore!
Sticky Web : How about lowering every single opposing Pokemon's only important stat? That sounds nice!
Multi-hit moves : This is pretty obvious. Cloyster can OHKO everything which doesn't resist the Ice-Rock combo, without even having to Shell Smash. These will either get banned or nerfed to deal a fifth of the damage they should. Triple Kick is paticularly broken, since without STAB, it deals a total of 150% damage, enabling a 2HKO on anything that doesn't quad or fully resist it.
Rapid Spin : Rapid Spin actually does damage, so it's pretty overpowered. However, it's the only option to remove hazards on your side while keeping them on the opponent's. Might want to force it to deal 1 HP of damage or something.
Storm Throw/Frost Breath : These are more in the grey area of whether or not they're broken, since they have very poor distribution. Still,a move which auto-crits and has great type coverage is still very potent.
Technician : Much like Storm Throw / Frost Breath, Technician allows you to 3HKO with neutral damage. Unlike StormBreath, it also has good distribution, allows you to have great coverage, as well as a chance to crit. Probably broken, but not entirely certain.
Regenerator : This ability is already great in standard, bu here, it's phenomenal. If the opponent has no super-effective coverage against a Regenerator Pokemon, it can just switch in and switch out, barely taking any damage. After Leftovers recovery, a neutral STAB hit will deal just over 30%, which can easily be recovered by Regenerator. Life Orb takes that damage to 42.5%, which means that, after switching out, the Regenerator Pokemon takes very slightly less damage (0.5%, precisely) than the Life Orb wielder takes from recoil. Of course, that doesn't factor in Stealth Rocks, but with a potent defogger or Spinner, a regenerator core should not have much trouble stalling away.
Facade : Status is pretty important in this metagame, so anything which can absorb status and 2HKO the majority of the metagame is appreciated. This move can easily be used without a Status Orb, just in case you encounter status, which you probably will.
Tinted Lens : Basically always dealing neutral damage with attacks would take the prediction out of the game. Its kind of a no-risk approach.
Acrobatics : Flying Gem hasn't been introduced yet, so in order to use this, you'll need to forgo an item, but being able to 2HKO anything which doesn't resist Flying without even needing Stab is well worth.
Payback : Once again, this is able to 2HKO anything that doesn't resist it without STAB. The only drawback is that you need to attack last. Otherwise, it's pretty amazing.
Infestation : Able to trap and deal a lot of damage AND deal recoil damage. Self-explanatory, really.
Beat Up : One of the many overpowered Dark-type moves. Weavile is a particularly good user with its high Speed.
Recover : Being able to stall out anything that can't hit you super effectively is an absolute godsend for a lot of Pokemon. This move probably won't be banned, but it will be pretty centralizing.
U-Turn/Volt Switch : These moves have what is arguably the best utility in the game, so it won't be a surprise to see them do particularly well in this metagame. However, they're still relatively powerful in the standard metagame, so if that one can deal with them, so can this one.
Confuse Ray : When a Pokemon hits itself in confusion, it essentially his itself with a base 40 BP move which does neutral damage. Which deals as much recoil damage in this metagame as Struggle. Not broken, just substantially more annoying. (Speaking of Struggle, it deals as much damage to the opponent now as it does to you. Considering both that and thefact that everything will carry moves like Powder Snow and Absorb, PP stall is completely dead).
Hidden Power : Some may argue that this move is broken, but I believe it provides a great free opportunity to have whichever coverage type you wish. It's more or less a joker card every Pokemon has. It does completely demolish the notion of "counter" though, not that much will be countering much in this metagame.
Accuracy lowering moves : Aside from Speed, the only other stats you can affect in this meta are Accuracy and Evasion. Mud-slap in particular stands out, with incredible distribution, good offensive typing, and a 100% chance to lower accuracy.
Perfect accuracy moves/abilities : Seriously. Expect to see LOTS of Mud-Slap in this meta. Moves like Swift and Shock Wave will see plenty of use solely to counter it. Keen Eye and No Guard users are also effective.
Metal Burst : with damage now standardized the risk of getting OHKO'd is significantly reduced, Metal Burst can be a very effective attack on slower mons
Speed affecting moves/abilities : with Speed being such an important stat in this meta, the ability to manipulate it will be in high regard. Speed lowering moves like Low Sweep and Electroweb will see lots of use, while Flame Charge is easily the best Fire-type move in the meta. Abilities like Speed Boost and Swift Swim are also very valuable.
Snowball moves : Fury Cutter, Rollout, and Ice Ball will hopefully get their power cut in half, but even with that are very powerful. With their damage doubling every hit, their progression on only neutral hits (without STAB, even) would be 12.5% - 25% - 50% - 100% - 200%.
Draining moves : Previously held in check by relatively low BP, this is no longer an issue. Of particular note is Draining Kiss with its 75% drain
Brick Break : Screens stand to be very powerful in this meta. Brick Break stands as a high distribution answer to that.
Dragon Tail / Circle Throw : Another case of previously good moves held back by low BP (Although you do have to attack last)
Nuzzle : And the Pikachu clones shall inherit the earth. Seriously. 100% accurate Paralyze (again with the Speed control!), now with power and Pikachu & co. no longer held back by poor stats.
Pursuit : Dark is pretty much the best offensive type in the metagame, due to theamont of utility Dark moves have. Pursuit used to suffer from a lack of power, but not anymore!
Sticky Web : How about lowering every single opposing Pokemon's only important stat? That sounds nice!
Mega-Kangaskhan : Although not quite as powerful as in standard, Mega-Kangaskhan is still pretty great. It basically has the equivalent of Technician, with an added bonus of being able to break subs. It doesn't have the best super effective coverage, PuP has no purpose other than coverage (which it's still pretty great at), and Kangaskhanite stops it from carrying a Life Orb. Still, although perhaps not quite broken, Mega-Kangaskhan is a force to be reckoned with.
(I'm still not sure if the second hit will be at half damage. It might not be. It really all depends on the way it's programmed. The fact that Seismic Toss deals 200 damage seems to suggest that it won't be. In which case, MKhan is incredibly broken in this metagame, perhaps even more so than in standard. Still able to 2HKO everything with neutral damage...)
Chansey/Blissey : Everybody's (least) favorite pink blobs are just as good in this metagame than in Standard, and perhaps even more. Sure, they're no longer able to tank special hits like crazy, but their greatest flaw (being setup fodder) is circumvented, firstly by the fact that their admittedly quite good coverage moves actually deal damage, and secondly, by the fact that setting up doesn't even exist. Their typing stops being a flaw and actually becomes an asset, giving them only one weakness, and therefore only one type they can be 2HKO'd by. They are so good, in fact, they they are pretty much the most convincing argument for implementing stat boosting. The choice betwen Chansey and Blissey boils down to whether or not you're planning to give Wish to your blob. If so, go for Blissey and max HP EVs. Otherwise, go for Chansey, since draining move will not only give you more health, but give the enemy less health when he uses them.
Nidoking : Nidoking's only flaws were his lack of speed and lack of power. Now, with the latter out of the window, Nidoking becomes one of the best wallbreakers in the tier. Its incredible coverage enables it to 2HKO a very wide variety of Pokemon, and makes it very unpredictable. If it weren't for its lack of speed, I'd be prone to call it broken.
Infernape : Electric, Flying, Fighting and Ground insures the greatest super-effective coverage you could have with 4 moves, and Infernape is the fastest Pokemon who has acess to all four types and stab on at least one. It also gets an Iron Fist boost on his Electric and Fighting moves.
Greninja: STAB, speed, and priority are all invaluable for sweepers in the Fixed Damage metagame. Greninja manages to be great at all three. Not only does it have a wide range of priority (Shadow Sneak, Quick Attack, Water Shuriken ), but also Protean which gives it STAB on each and every one of these moves. What's more, Protean makes hitting it much harder, since you have to guess which priority move will hit you.
Elektross : Not having any weaknesses single-handedly makes this thing possibly the best wall in the metagame. Although type coverage leaved to be desired, it has great utility in the form of Dragon Tail and both Volt Switch and U-Turn. Definitely one of the premier pivots/phasers/stallers in the Fixed Damage Metagame.
Sableye : With its Priority Toxic and Recover, this thing stops offensive Pokemon dead in their tracks. Add to that the fact that it has only one weakness, and therefore is extremely hard to 2HKO, and that Taunt stops status from hitting it, and you have an abosuletely deadly staller.
Riolu : Riolu is to prediction-based offense what Sableye is to stall. Predict the opponent's switch correctly, and you can 2HKO it with a Prankster Copycat. Drain Punch enables it to get HP back, while Ice Punch and Feint give it perfect coverage.
Mega-Aerodactyl : Not only does this thing outspeed the entire unboosted metagame besides Deoxys formes and Ninjask. it also boasts great coverage with its elemental fangs, which are furthermore boosted by Tough Claws.
Cottonee : Hey, remember when SubSeed Whimsicott was actually used? Ah, the good old days...
Anyway, low HP is often a good thing in the Fixed Damage Metagame, and Cottonee is a perfect example of that. Just switch in on something that you know can't hit you neutrally (hard to find, given that nearly everything will carry some form of HP coverage), Leech Seed on the switch, then Sub down to your heart's content. It doesn't matter that Subs are really easy to break (all you need is neutral damage from a coverage move), because, chances are, you'll be getting back a LOT of HP every turn. Base 100 HPs will give it back nearly 20% of its HP every turn, and nearly 25% if the opponent runs 31 HP EVs, which your Cottonee obviously shouldn't. After leftovers and 2 turns, you'll end up with over 50% and possibly over 60% of your health back. Of course, Pokemon with lower health are preferred in this metagame, so don't expect to see many base 100 HP Pokes roaming around. Protect will may be preferred in many cases, though. A set consisting of Leech Seed, Sub/Protect, Stun Spore and Absorb (PP, remember?) can be hard for a lot of Pokemon to break through. Although this is technically a staller, it's more of an anti-stall mon, since many stallers (particularly Blissey, although watch out for Ice Beam/Flamethrower) are stopped by this thing. It may be what we need to insure an offensive playstyle.
(I'm still not sure if the second hit will be at half damage. It might not be. It really all depends on the way it's programmed. The fact that Seismic Toss deals 200 damage seems to suggest that it won't be. In which case, MKhan is incredibly broken in this metagame, perhaps even more so than in standard. Still able to 2HKO everything with neutral damage...)
Chansey/Blissey : Everybody's (least) favorite pink blobs are just as good in this metagame than in Standard, and perhaps even more. Sure, they're no longer able to tank special hits like crazy, but their greatest flaw (being setup fodder) is circumvented, firstly by the fact that their admittedly quite good coverage moves actually deal damage, and secondly, by the fact that setting up doesn't even exist. Their typing stops being a flaw and actually becomes an asset, giving them only one weakness, and therefore only one type they can be 2HKO'd by. They are so good, in fact, they they are pretty much the most convincing argument for implementing stat boosting. The choice betwen Chansey and Blissey boils down to whether or not you're planning to give Wish to your blob. If so, go for Blissey and max HP EVs. Otherwise, go for Chansey, since draining move will not only give you more health, but give the enemy less health when he uses them.
Nidoking : Nidoking's only flaws were his lack of speed and lack of power. Now, with the latter out of the window, Nidoking becomes one of the best wallbreakers in the tier. Its incredible coverage enables it to 2HKO a very wide variety of Pokemon, and makes it very unpredictable. If it weren't for its lack of speed, I'd be prone to call it broken.
Infernape : Electric, Flying, Fighting and Ground insures the greatest super-effective coverage you could have with 4 moves, and Infernape is the fastest Pokemon who has acess to all four types and stab on at least one. It also gets an Iron Fist boost on his Electric and Fighting moves.
Greninja: STAB, speed, and priority are all invaluable for sweepers in the Fixed Damage metagame. Greninja manages to be great at all three. Not only does it have a wide range of priority (Shadow Sneak, Quick Attack, Water Shuriken ), but also Protean which gives it STAB on each and every one of these moves. What's more, Protean makes hitting it much harder, since you have to guess which priority move will hit you.
Elektross : Not having any weaknesses single-handedly makes this thing possibly the best wall in the metagame. Although type coverage leaved to be desired, it has great utility in the form of Dragon Tail and both Volt Switch and U-Turn. Definitely one of the premier pivots/phasers/stallers in the Fixed Damage Metagame.
Sableye : With its Priority Toxic and Recover, this thing stops offensive Pokemon dead in their tracks. Add to that the fact that it has only one weakness, and therefore is extremely hard to 2HKO, and that Taunt stops status from hitting it, and you have an abosuletely deadly staller.
Riolu : Riolu is to prediction-based offense what Sableye is to stall. Predict the opponent's switch correctly, and you can 2HKO it with a Prankster Copycat. Drain Punch enables it to get HP back, while Ice Punch and Feint give it perfect coverage.
Mega-Aerodactyl : Not only does this thing outspeed the entire unboosted metagame besides Deoxys formes and Ninjask. it also boasts great coverage with its elemental fangs, which are furthermore boosted by Tough Claws.
Cottonee : Hey, remember when SubSeed Whimsicott was actually used? Ah, the good old days...
Anyway, low HP is often a good thing in the Fixed Damage Metagame, and Cottonee is a perfect example of that. Just switch in on something that you know can't hit you neutrally (hard to find, given that nearly everything will carry some form of HP coverage), Leech Seed on the switch, then Sub down to your heart's content. It doesn't matter that Subs are really easy to break (all you need is neutral damage from a coverage move), because, chances are, you'll be getting back a LOT of HP every turn. Base 100 HPs will give it back nearly 20% of its HP every turn, and nearly 25% if the opponent runs 31 HP EVs, which your Cottonee obviously shouldn't. After leftovers and 2 turns, you'll end up with over 50% and possibly over 60% of your health back. Of course, Pokemon with lower health are preferred in this metagame, so don't expect to see many base 100 HP Pokes roaming around. Protect will may be preferred in many cases, though. A set consisting of Leech Seed, Sub/Protect, Stun Spore and Absorb (PP, remember?) can be hard for a lot of Pokemon to break through. Although this is technically a staller, it's more of an anti-stall mon, since many stallers (particularly Blissey, although watch out for Ice Beam/Flamethrower) are stopped by this thing. It may be what we need to insure an offensive playstyle.
Smeargle
Potential banlist:
Technician
Multi-hit moves
Priority moves
Rapid Spin
Storm Throw
Frost Breath
Multi-hit moves
Priority moves
Rapid Spin
Storm Throw
Frost Breath
Bulbusaur has lower HP than Venusaur, and therefore benefits more from Leech Seed and Giga Drain. (this goes for most Grass-types)
Charmeleon doesn't take 50% damage from Stealth Rock.
Vulpix uses Pain Split more efficently than Ninetales.
Abra gets more HP back from Drain Punch (the same goes for many Fighting-types).
Magneton is faster than Magnezone.
Shellder has a better defensive typing than Cloyster, but loses Spikes.
Onix is faster than Steelix and has Weak Armor, but has a far worse defensive typing
Chansey has lower HP than Blissey, therefore less susceptible to Drain Punch.
Staryu has a better defensive typing than Starmie, but loses STAB on Psyshock. It also has Analytic, which benefits from a speed decrease.
Eevee has Adaptability.
Remoraid has Moody (which will be probably allowed, since it only has an effect 3/7 of the time).
Porygon2 has Trace.
Tyrogue has Guts.
Surskit is faster and has a better typing than Masquerain, but loses Air Slash.
Nincada has a better typing than Ninjask and gets Compound Eyes, but loses Speed Boost.
Bagon has Sheer Force and only takes 12.5% damage from Stealth Rock.
Tynamo is faster than Elektross
Frogadier has a better defensive typing than Greninja
Trapinch: Gets Arena Trap (or Sheer Force) and doesn't get a x4 weakness to Ice. (Loses out on STAB Dragon-type, a lot of speed, and wider coverage).
Vigoroth: No Truant.
Murkrow: Gets Prankster and is already faster than Honchkrow.
Dragonair: Shed Skin allows it to absorb statuses (it loses out on 10 Base Spe and Multiscale, but the option is there).
Charmeleon doesn't take 50% damage from Stealth Rock.
Vulpix uses Pain Split more efficently than Ninetales.
Abra gets more HP back from Drain Punch (the same goes for many Fighting-types).
Magneton is faster than Magnezone.
Shellder has a better defensive typing than Cloyster, but loses Spikes.
Onix is faster than Steelix and has Weak Armor, but has a far worse defensive typing
Chansey has lower HP than Blissey, therefore less susceptible to Drain Punch.
Staryu has a better defensive typing than Starmie, but loses STAB on Psyshock. It also has Analytic, which benefits from a speed decrease.
Eevee has Adaptability.
Remoraid has Moody (which will be probably allowed, since it only has an effect 3/7 of the time).
Porygon2 has Trace.
Tyrogue has Guts.
Surskit is faster and has a better typing than Masquerain, but loses Air Slash.
Nincada has a better typing than Ninjask and gets Compound Eyes, but loses Speed Boost.
Bagon has Sheer Force and only takes 12.5% damage from Stealth Rock.
Tynamo is faster than Elektross
Frogadier has a better defensive typing than Greninja
Trapinch: Gets Arena Trap (or Sheer Force) and doesn't get a x4 weakness to Ice. (Loses out on STAB Dragon-type, a lot of speed, and wider coverage).
Vigoroth: No Truant.
Murkrow: Gets Prankster and is already faster than Honchkrow.
Dragonair: Shed Skin allows it to absorb statuses (it loses out on 10 Base Spe and Multiscale, but the option is there).
Halve the power of priority moves. I honestly see no reason not to do this.
Reduce multi-hit moves to a fifth of their power. One again, no reason not to.
Reverse Technician to only boost moves over 60 BP. I can't say I'm really a fan of this, mainly because it won't remove the inherent problem with Technician: being able to 2HKO the opponent with STAB without needing Life Orb. I would much rather ban the ability outright.
Nerfing HP to deal 75% of the normal damage. This makes sense. A super effective HP can 2HKO the opponent, but if it's nerfed to deal 75% damage, it falls short of a 2HKO even with Life Orb.
Nerfing conditional moves (moves which have their power doubled under certain circumstances) to deal 2/3 of the normal damage. Again, I like this. It nerfs them just enough not to be broken, but still enough to be usable.
Halfing the power of snowballing moves : Once again, makes sense, and still makes those moves usable.
Doubling the power of Explosion : Good idea, makes sense, etc...
Reduce multi-hit moves to a fifth of their power. One again, no reason not to.
Reverse Technician to only boost moves over 60 BP. I can't say I'm really a fan of this, mainly because it won't remove the inherent problem with Technician: being able to 2HKO the opponent with STAB without needing Life Orb. I would much rather ban the ability outright.
Nerfing HP to deal 75% of the normal damage. This makes sense. A super effective HP can 2HKO the opponent, but if it's nerfed to deal 75% damage, it falls short of a 2HKO even with Life Orb.
Nerfing conditional moves (moves which have their power doubled under certain circumstances) to deal 2/3 of the normal damage. Again, I like this. It nerfs them just enough not to be broken, but still enough to be usable.
Halfing the power of snowballing moves : Once again, makes sense, and still makes those moves usable.
Doubling the power of Explosion : Good idea, makes sense, etc...
Please tell me if you find any more!
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