Little off topic but what do you guys think of allowing Electric to use more than one Rotom form? (a sorta bypass to species clause)
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Ladder Monotype [Read post #393 for Tiering Updates]
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I actually talked about this with DoW a few days ago, but the meta is actually pretty good right now tbh, and it would only help Electric--all the other types it could apply to (such as Flying and Ground) would be too OP with this clause, and it is too much just to boost one type when the meta is pretty balanced already.
I intended to just implemented it to Electric in a way to help with resistances. I'm aware that some types will remain suboptimal despite the latest bans but at least something could be done in this case (if ppl agree)
It'd be a good influence for electric, however changing something as constant in smogon as species clause (one of the few things that remains constant between RBY and ORAS, LC and Ubers, and everything inbetween) would require a very strong reason. At the very least, this won't be looked at until after the bans, but I wouldn't say it's something people are likely to support.
I'm agree with Articuno about Rotoms.
It should be great for Electric but 5 rotoms in a team looks incredible.
Ok so:
1. M-Zard X, after one Dragon Dance: Bug, Grass, Ghost, Electric (T-Wave prankster? Please, Heal Bell is current for flying, just try again), Ice.
2. Support of: Togekiss (Heal Bell i mean). Natural Strenght of M-Zard X, i've seriously to show some calculs?
3. Core? Heal Bell, i've already told about it, Rock and Ground move are tanked by Skarmory, Gliscor,...
M-Zard X resists to Electric, neutral to Ice who are main weaknesses of flying.
If with this, he isn't at least suspect, all we can say here is totally useless.
It should be great for Electric but 5 rotoms in a team looks incredible.
Ok so:
1. M-Zard X, after one Dragon Dance: Bug, Grass, Ghost, Electric (T-Wave prankster? Please, Heal Bell is current for flying, just try again), Ice.
2. Support of: Togekiss (Heal Bell i mean). Natural Strenght of M-Zard X, i've seriously to show some calculs?
3. Core? Heal Bell, i've already told about it, Rock and Ground move are tanked by Skarmory, Gliscor,...
M-Zard X resists to Electric, neutral to Ice who are main weaknesses of flying.
If with this, he isn't at least suspect, all we can say here is totally useless.
Zard X also gets some nice offensive support; for example Lando-i breaks pretty much any wall that troubles Zard X, though it's not switching in on azu... but then skarm completely destroys azu. But then, here's where we see the problem: Zard X on fire is a strong mon, but I'm not sure many people would argue it's broken. Rather, the problem is caused by the support, as opposed to the primary sweeper itself. Hence why one of the best support pokes on flying, Zapdos, went rather than anything else.
I don't say he has to be banned for Fire type, i should say it, but just for Flying!
For Fire he can givre neutral resistance to water without sun and Fire type has already M-Zard X 's weaknesses.
My point wasn't that it would have to be banned for both. My point was that in itself it's not broken, and the fact it's not broken on fire shows this. Rather, the support it recieves is the thing that's broken, hence the zapdos ban which was a step toward helping the meta.
In itself it isn't broken? Really? Ok, so, arguments and describe me for each type, a M-Zard X counter.
Just prove me i'm wrong (it's possible, i don't know) and every type can counter M-Zard X.
(Ps: Focus sash aren't a viable proof).
THIS. I think the Monotype metagame has a playerbase bigger than the rest of the other metas in "Other Metagames" not to mention PU, FU, NU and even LC. If we had our own subforum, you could have dedicated threads for each type plus discussions about the meta and stuff. What do we need to do to make this happen?
Just want to bring up a point here about the whole Mega Charizard X argument and why we should bring up new arguments rather than restating the old ones if we want to ban it.
As it stands, people's arguments have been that it:
That Pokemon is, of course, Mega Altaria, which:
Or you know there's always Mega Gyarados, which can be even better than the other 2 in some matchups.
tl;dr Banning Mega Charizard X would be illogical due to the fact that Mega Altaria does the same things in being a Dragon Dancer that is an instant win condition against certain types and also having a potent defensive set along with a fantastic Dragon typing. There is also Mega Gyarados as another viable mega alternative. Mega Charizard X is also not utterly broken in itself. Banning one and not the other accomplishes nothing and an experienced Flying user will see little difference when using either Pokemon.
Also, may I just point out that Altaria is S ranked in OU as the premier dragon dance user right now while Charizard X is A+?
If I were to think about banning this Pokemon I would need to see more discussion about how banning it would positively impact the metagame rather than doing nothing to it or being a detriment it.
EDIT: Alexis Breeze Yes that is one big thing Charizard has going for it, but Altaria has many things over Charizard too, with being a better Dragon Dancer, having Heal bell, being overall bulkier, being an instant win condition vs Flying's weaknesses, running a viable Special set, etc. How does Charizard help more in matchups when Altaria destroys Dark and Fighting, two huge threats for Flying? When ran with Gyarados or perhaps Articuno it can easily mitigate the Ice threat, especially now that the biggest user of it (Greninja) is now banned. also nice smogon account,,,,,,
also
As it stands, people's arguments have been that it:
- Breaks Flying's core with Dragon typing.
- Demolishes some teams with Dragon Dance (Bug, Ghost, Electric, Grass,Ice)
- Can be run bulky and be unkillable for some types (Same as above types, mostly)
- Has Flying's support
- Is useful in every matchup
That Pokemon is, of course, Mega Altaria, which:
- Breaks Flying's core with Dragon typing.
- Demolishes some teams with Dragon Dance (Dark, Electric, Dragon, Water, Fighting)
- Can be run bulky and be unkillable for some types (Same types as above, mostly, but tacking on Fire and Grass)
- Has Flying's support
- Is useful in every matchup
Or you know there's always Mega Gyarados, which can be even better than the other 2 in some matchups.
tl;dr Banning Mega Charizard X would be illogical due to the fact that Mega Altaria does the same things in being a Dragon Dancer that is an instant win condition against certain types and also having a potent defensive set along with a fantastic Dragon typing. There is also Mega Gyarados as another viable mega alternative. Mega Charizard X is also not utterly broken in itself. Banning one and not the other accomplishes nothing and an experienced Flying user will see little difference when using either Pokemon.
Also, may I just point out that Altaria is S ranked in OU as the premier dragon dance user right now while Charizard X is A+?
If I were to think about banning this Pokemon I would need to see more discussion about how banning it would positively impact the metagame rather than doing nothing to it or being a detriment it.
EDIT: Alexis Breeze Yes that is one big thing Charizard has going for it, but Altaria has many things over Charizard too, with being a better Dragon Dancer, having Heal bell, being overall bulkier, being an instant win condition vs Flying's weaknesses, running a viable Special set, etc. How does Charizard help more in matchups when Altaria destroys Dark and Fighting, two huge threats for Flying? When ran with Gyarados or perhaps Articuno it can easily mitigate the Ice threat, especially now that the biggest user of it (Greninja) is now banned. also nice smogon account,,,,,,
also
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just to point out some key differences:
- CharX is neutral to Ice and Fairy, the former being extremely helpful for Flying especially now that Zapdos is gone.
- CharX is immune to burns, sometimes either a last effort check or a way to stall pokes out (Mew for example).
Now, if we talk OU I'd agree that Loltaria > CharX (specifically comparing dancer sets). But if you think of Monoflying I'd say CharX brings more to the table in terms of resistances and matchup help than M-Altaria.
- CharX is neutral to Ice and Fairy, the former being extremely helpful for Flying especially now that Zapdos is gone.
- CharX is immune to burns, sometimes either a last effort check or a way to stall pokes out (Mew for example).
Now, if we talk OU I'd agree that Loltaria > CharX (specifically comparing dancer sets). But if you think of Monoflying I'd say CharX brings more to the table in terms of resistances and matchup help than M-Altaria.
Haha, interesting.
all falls down has raised an excellent point. Zard X is indeed a problem, and once it's out of the equation, Altaria will also become a problem, but just for different types. With the qualities mentioned, it's not hard to see that both Pokemon have a "broken" quality to them.
How about we... Ban BOTH instead! :D! I mean, it's obvious that Zard X is a problem. With the reasons stated, M-Altaria would become a problem, too. It doesn't seem like it's in any way -much- worse than Zard X. It's not like we're gonna go on a ban-fest after taking out M-Taria because of it being equally broken as Zard X, so there wouldn't be too much a problem with banning, right?
... Except you said it would have adverse effects on Flying. Would endangering 9 types, just from those you listed, be worth it to keep those adverse effects away from Flying? Also, what are those adverse effects in detail?
all falls down has raised an excellent point. Zard X is indeed a problem, and once it's out of the equation, Altaria will also become a problem, but just for different types. With the qualities mentioned, it's not hard to see that both Pokemon have a "broken" quality to them.
How about we... Ban BOTH instead! :D! I mean, it's obvious that Zard X is a problem. With the reasons stated, M-Altaria would become a problem, too. It doesn't seem like it's in any way -much- worse than Zard X. It's not like we're gonna go on a ban-fest after taking out M-Taria because of it being equally broken as Zard X, so there wouldn't be too much a problem with banning, right?
... Except you said it would have adverse effects on Flying. Would endangering 9 types, just from those you listed, be worth it to keep those adverse effects away from Flying? Also, what are those adverse effects in detail?
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Altaria isn't even powerfull in Monotype as M-Zard X can be.
"(Dark, Electric, Dragon, Water, Fighting)" are type rekt:
Dark have the possibility to counter M-Altaria one time, Mega Pikachu can confirm it.
Electric have opportunity to para with Prankster or Scarf/Spec Sturdy Magnezone (in the case of he get Earthquake instead Heal Bell).
Dragon have Altaria too, Kyurem Scarf, Haxorus Poinson Jab...
Water? Really? Water? I don't have to give some proof here, you've many counter to M-Altaria in water.
Fighting, i use Cobalion max def and hp: Result: Cobalion can T-Wave Altaria and Iron Head to death. It works and it works well, this is THE counter for fighting.
And like it was been said, Altaria-M doesn't have a neutral resistance to Ice, M-Zard X, yes.
There is the difference (for Flying).
"(Dark, Electric, Dragon, Water, Fighting)" are type rekt:
Dark have the possibility to counter M-Altaria one time, Mega Pikachu can confirm it.
Electric have opportunity to para with Prankster or Scarf/Spec Sturdy Magnezone (in the case of he get Earthquake instead Heal Bell).
Dragon have Altaria too, Kyurem Scarf, Haxorus Poinson Jab...
Water? Really? Water? I don't have to give some proof here, you've many counter to M-Altaria in water.
Fighting, i use Cobalion max def and hp: Result: Cobalion can T-Wave Altaria and Iron Head to death. It works and it works well, this is THE counter for fighting.
And like it was been said, Altaria-M doesn't have a neutral resistance to Ice, M-Zard X, yes.
There is the difference (for Flying).
I would just like to raise a point about Mega Altaria as a threat to certain types. In particular, I'll be talking about fire. Mega Altaria carries the role of a bulky dragon dancer with access to Roost and a defensive movepool in Heal Bell and Cotton Guard.
As for its ability to wall fire exists in the fact that fire has very little, if not anything, to hit it for super effective damage. With its typing of Dragon/Fairy, its only weaknesses are Steel, Poison, Ice, and Fairy. The only mon that has a STAB which will hit it for supereffective damage: Heatran. Other options exist in running HP Ice in mons such as Rotom-Heat, which is viable but with this max damage of 42%, Mega Altaria can easily roost off this damage and dragon dance even more.
Back to the Heatran point; if it happens to be running flash cannon on a regular specially defensive build, even on a choice scarf set, it is a guaranteed 2 hit KO (all calcs included at the bottom). Although Heatran can serve as a decent check to Mega Altaria, who has access to earthquake, after an air balloon is popped, Heatran can no longer serve to force Mega Altaria out if it is not running max speed. The only viable way, I have found, for Heatran to force Mega Altaria out is by running a max speed choice scarf build. Aside from this, fire has no other reliable options in killing Mega Altaria other than status stall in Will-o-wisp or Toxic.
Although options exist in Infernape running Gunk Shot to attempt to kill Mega Altaria, with an 80% accuracy and the unlikeliness of a fire monotype running this, this also fails to reliably kill a Mega Altaria.
I am not advocating for or against the banning of this mon, but if Charizard X leaves the metagame, Mega Altarias will become more prominent, leaving fire hopelessly swept many times over.
tl;dr Because of its typing and lack of stab on fire to reliably kill it, Mega Altaria pretty much completely walls fire monotypes.
Calcs:
252 SpA Rotom-H Hidden Power Ice vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 110-130 (35.8 - 42.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Charizard Hidden Power Ice vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 112-132 (36.4 - 42.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Heatran Flash Cannon vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 206-246 (67.1 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Heatran Flash Cannon vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 254-300 (82.7 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Infernape Gunk Shot vs. 64 HP / 0 Def Altaria: 206-244 (67.1 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
As for its ability to wall fire exists in the fact that fire has very little, if not anything, to hit it for super effective damage. With its typing of Dragon/Fairy, its only weaknesses are Steel, Poison, Ice, and Fairy. The only mon that has a STAB which will hit it for supereffective damage: Heatran. Other options exist in running HP Ice in mons such as Rotom-Heat, which is viable but with this max damage of 42%, Mega Altaria can easily roost off this damage and dragon dance even more.
Back to the Heatran point; if it happens to be running flash cannon on a regular specially defensive build, even on a choice scarf set, it is a guaranteed 2 hit KO (all calcs included at the bottom). Although Heatran can serve as a decent check to Mega Altaria, who has access to earthquake, after an air balloon is popped, Heatran can no longer serve to force Mega Altaria out if it is not running max speed. The only viable way, I have found, for Heatran to force Mega Altaria out is by running a max speed choice scarf build. Aside from this, fire has no other reliable options in killing Mega Altaria other than status stall in Will-o-wisp or Toxic.
Although options exist in Infernape running Gunk Shot to attempt to kill Mega Altaria, with an 80% accuracy and the unlikeliness of a fire monotype running this, this also fails to reliably kill a Mega Altaria.
I am not advocating for or against the banning of this mon, but if Charizard X leaves the metagame, Mega Altarias will become more prominent, leaving fire hopelessly swept many times over.
tl;dr Because of its typing and lack of stab on fire to reliably kill it, Mega Altaria pretty much completely walls fire monotypes.
Calcs:
252 SpA Rotom-H Hidden Power Ice vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 110-130 (35.8 - 42.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252 SpA Charizard Hidden Power Ice vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 112-132 (36.4 - 42.9%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0 SpA Heatran Flash Cannon vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 206-246 (67.1 - 80.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Heatran Flash Cannon vs. 64 HP / 0 SpD Altaria: 254-300 (82.7 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Infernape Gunk Shot vs. 64 HP / 0 Def Altaria: 206-244 (67.1 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
So, uh, are we ever going to update the Viability Rankings and Good Cores?
The Good Cores thread is still having cores posted in them, including my own. Viability rankings have had new megas added, but I'm unsure if there have been any set modifications since ORAS.
I mean updating in the sense that we need to remove the banned Pokémon.
Now this post is in ignorance to the previous posts as I feel all relevant discussion has been do everything a day that at this point that I would just harm the input previously given.
BOY DOES NORMAL LOVE THE NEW BANS !!!!!!!!
onto the real post.
You all thought flying with zap was amazing asf (it was. tbh more community involvement should be there hoping no shit like this happens but if it does at least a poll? not for deciding but ) man is there this ungodly element of pure unbroken stall still there in the meta??
Yes there is. Recently after several experiments and failures I have dawned apon the stalls normal combination which literally is nigh unbreakable!.
Pokemons included:
Porygon2
Chansey
Mega Audino
Milktank/Staraptor
Meloetta
Blissey/Ditto
Those mons abve have amazing defensive abilities and they don't give 2 shits about your offense like it is nigh impossible to break that core of eviolite+audino without bishArp. And that's where milktank comes in because it can run a fighting move ton ruin bisharp and easily tank any attacks heck with minimal speed and jolly it can out speed it
Also to propose a possible solution to the whole suspect test thingy, I have an idea
seeing as smogon is a competitive website and there are MANY competitive players outside of the monotype competes, why not take on external help for controversial descions?
The needed steps would be as follows:
Nani Man and other RO's decide apon which tier council to review the suspected pokemon
The RO's write up a summary of the current metagame trends etc and how said pokemon affect it or what they do better that makes them OTT.
This summary is posted on the forums/website for all to see and give (valid) inputs that might have been missed
Then after amending and editing the review, let other tier council give whether it should be banned or not with reasoning.
All this while allow the community to discuss potential ban suspects as well ensuring that there are communtiy participants as well and to ensure that there is integrity in the suspect.
A poll can be started
Make sure that the council chosen is kept confidential to prevent influencing by other users
In the end if the descions are still inconclusive, a suspect test should be held
ALSO MAKE MONOTYPE GET A SUB FORUM GOSHDARNIT WE ARE POPULAR ASF WE HAD A FUCKING MONOPL PLUS NANI CAN TAN EM UNTIL WE GET IT #MOSTSUCCESSFULOM
BOY DOES NORMAL LOVE THE NEW BANS !!!!!!!!
onto the real post.
You all thought flying with zap was amazing asf (it was. tbh more community involvement should be there hoping no shit like this happens but if it does at least a poll? not for deciding but ) man is there this ungodly element of pure unbroken stall still there in the meta??
Yes there is. Recently after several experiments and failures I have dawned apon the stalls normal combination which literally is nigh unbreakable!.
Pokemons included:
Porygon2
Chansey
Mega Audino
Milktank/Staraptor
Meloetta
Blissey/Ditto
Those mons abve have amazing defensive abilities and they don't give 2 shits about your offense like it is nigh impossible to break that core of eviolite+audino without bishArp. And that's where milktank comes in because it can run a fighting move ton ruin bisharp and easily tank any attacks heck with minimal speed and jolly it can out speed it
Also to propose a possible solution to the whole suspect test thingy, I have an idea
seeing as smogon is a competitive website and there are MANY competitive players outside of the monotype competes, why not take on external help for controversial descions?
The needed steps would be as follows:
Nani Man and other RO's decide apon which tier council to review the suspected pokemon
The RO's write up a summary of the current metagame trends etc and how said pokemon affect it or what they do better that makes them OTT.
This summary is posted on the forums/website for all to see and give (valid) inputs that might have been missed
Then after amending and editing the review, let other tier council give whether it should be banned or not with reasoning.
All this while allow the community to discuss potential ban suspects as well ensuring that there are communtiy participants as well and to ensure that there is integrity in the suspect.
A poll can be started
Make sure that the council chosen is kept confidential to prevent influencing by other users
In the end if the descions are still inconclusive, a suspect test should be held
ALSO MAKE MONOTYPE GET A SUB FORUM GOSHDARNIT WE ARE POPULAR ASF WE HAD A FUCKING MONOPL PLUS NANI CAN TAN EM UNTIL WE GET IT #MOSTSUCCESSFULOM
Honestly, that normal team isn't exactly new. It's not exactly unbeatable, either. Firstly, ditto is a must, because otherwise setup sweepers will destroy you. Secondly, Staraptor is a must, otherwise stealth rock is up for good, and a good opponent will simply wear your team down with chip damage until you're in KO range if you can't defog. And gods forbid anyone bring toxic spikes if you don't bring defog.
Next, it's worth mentioning that the team simply can't beat strong fighting STABs if they're predicted correctly. Mega Medi's HJK 2HKOs even 252/252+ Mega Audino, while the only counter to Keldeo is AV melo which can easily be worn down unless the normal player is particularly good with wishpassing. Meanwhile, any setup sweepers that ditto can't revenge kill such as CroCune, or those that manage to get up a sub, straight-up win. Also, a single poke with toxic can win if played well, due to heal bell only being 8pp, and Taunt completely shuts down the stall as a whole (especially if paired with stealth rock). It may be somewhat difficult to beat if you're only used to offense teams that low-ladder is filled with, however if you know what you're doing and have a properly-built team it's easy enough to beat.
Please god no. Other tiers have their own personal bs going on (*cough* UU *cough*). I don't want monotype to be judge by people that have 0 clue of what goes on here. A suspect ladder is better although one might question how informative it is if people are allowed to use all 18 types when testing out 1 single poke (pressumably on one mono team). Then you might have a large variance, I think it would be preferable to test out certain matchups only while suspecting, like say people were complaining about Zapdos, so have a suspect were Zapdos is banned and only allow certain types pertinent to that ban ie Ice, Water, etc and so on. You might disagree with this but seriously don't ask other "council" to decide on monotype. Keep it clean.
But sure, give us a mono subforum please. You know we want one bad
I feel like you guys need to read this, me and many fire users are concerned abou how low is fire in this meta :/ http://pastebin.com/xs37Yam2
So uhm, think about it! ñ3ñ
So uhm, think about it! ñ3ñ
You raise a good point here about there being 18 different types to work with. The thing is, once you exclude certain types from the suspect test, the whole meta changes as teams that were originally build and played to deal with certain threats (as one would normally play) would no longer have to deal with the types which were excluded, hence giving a skewed understanding of how the meta has changed without the mon. Also, if players wanted to test how well mono flying faired in a suspect test, more people would be using mono flying, hence increasing the double-matchup flying v flying, and again skewing the results.
I would be interested to see if we could get statistics from the normal meta (for example before zapdos was banned) and see the win/lose stats for how flying teams faired against other types for (1) with zapdos and (2) without zapdos, and test to see if there was a significant difference in the win/lose ratio. I understand that usage doesn't indicate brokenness but perhaps the win/loss ratio could still provide insight into how unbalanced the matchup is with or without a certain mon.
Alright after playing on the new ladder after the crisp bans I'm here to say what I think of the new metagame!
One thing is for sure: Ground is insanely good now, with one of its only fears in Greninja getting banned, and also one of Flying's only switch ins to Landorus in Zapdos being banned, it really may be a contender for the best type in the game right now, if it wasn't already.
Its matchups are fantastic as shown by the monotype stats page, and it has a neutral or better matchup against literally every single type except for Water, and considering this was before the bans were in place I'm sure the Water matchup has been much better now. This leaves it with the best matchups out of any type in the game, with the only thing rivalling it being Flying.
Ground's previously rough matchup Dark will struggle greatly to beat it; with so much defensive pressure on Mandibuzz (which happens to be the Defogger and weak to Stealth Rocks) now from Excadrill, Landorus, and Mamoswine, Ground can easily break Dark's core and without something to revenge kill these threats like Greninja, it's downhill for Dark from there. Sure they can use Crawdaunt, but even it struggles to OHKO these threats and with its piss poor defenses it will need to OHKO if it wants to have a chance to stay in the game.
Flying, like I've said before, completely bends over to Landorus now and users of it may be forced to run things like Gliscor and Assault Vest Tornadus in the future to keep up. Toxic Zapdos was also a solid way to get rid of Gastrodon, which can also be a problem if lacking hard hitters. I'm also predicting more users of Mega Charizard Y as this Pokemon puts in a lot of work against Ground teams.
As I'm writing this post, 5 of the top 10 on the Monotype ladder right now are Ground users, there is no doubt that this number will get even higher. It's hard to tell if Ground necessarily deserves any banning right now, but I can definitely see something along the lines of a Smooth Rock ban in the future if this trend persists.
As for other types, Water remains a very strong Monotype and is not necessarily devastated by the Greninja ban. Keldeo still exists, demolishing half the types in the game; Manaphy exists, able to tear apart so many of the more bulkier Monotypes. It did however see a big decrease in speed now, and if not running Keldeo one can end up making a team that is very slow without even knowing it, which is very dangerous against types like Fighting and Dragon. Water also received a boost in the Zapdos ban, but the Greninja trade-off pretty much made the change neutral.
I've also seen an increase in Bug, Fighting, and Fairy monotypes, which all benefit from the bans; Bug having one less wall to deal with vs Flying, Fighting becoming much more anti-meta in being able to defeat the top types, and Fairy becoming viable again without Metagross. Metagross also did amazing against Fighting and Bug as well.
Overall, these changes seem mostly positive with my only concern being an over-centralization around Ground monotypes.
One thing is for sure: Ground is insanely good now, with one of its only fears in Greninja getting banned, and also one of Flying's only switch ins to Landorus in Zapdos being banned, it really may be a contender for the best type in the game right now, if it wasn't already.
Its matchups are fantastic as shown by the monotype stats page, and it has a neutral or better matchup against literally every single type except for Water, and considering this was before the bans were in place I'm sure the Water matchup has been much better now. This leaves it with the best matchups out of any type in the game, with the only thing rivalling it being Flying.
Ground's previously rough matchup Dark will struggle greatly to beat it; with so much defensive pressure on Mandibuzz (which happens to be the Defogger and weak to Stealth Rocks) now from Excadrill, Landorus, and Mamoswine, Ground can easily break Dark's core and without something to revenge kill these threats like Greninja, it's downhill for Dark from there. Sure they can use Crawdaunt, but even it struggles to OHKO these threats and with its piss poor defenses it will need to OHKO if it wants to have a chance to stay in the game.
Flying, like I've said before, completely bends over to Landorus now and users of it may be forced to run things like Gliscor and Assault Vest Tornadus in the future to keep up. Toxic Zapdos was also a solid way to get rid of Gastrodon, which can also be a problem if lacking hard hitters. I'm also predicting more users of Mega Charizard Y as this Pokemon puts in a lot of work against Ground teams.
As I'm writing this post, 5 of the top 10 on the Monotype ladder right now are Ground users, there is no doubt that this number will get even higher. It's hard to tell if Ground necessarily deserves any banning right now, but I can definitely see something along the lines of a Smooth Rock ban in the future if this trend persists.
As for other types, Water remains a very strong Monotype and is not necessarily devastated by the Greninja ban. Keldeo still exists, demolishing half the types in the game; Manaphy exists, able to tear apart so many of the more bulkier Monotypes. It did however see a big decrease in speed now, and if not running Keldeo one can end up making a team that is very slow without even knowing it, which is very dangerous against types like Fighting and Dragon. Water also received a boost in the Zapdos ban, but the Greninja trade-off pretty much made the change neutral.
I've also seen an increase in Bug, Fighting, and Fairy monotypes, which all benefit from the bans; Bug having one less wall to deal with vs Flying, Fighting becoming much more anti-meta in being able to defeat the top types, and Fairy becoming viable again without Metagross. Metagross also did amazing against Fighting and Bug as well.
Overall, these changes seem mostly positive with my only concern being an over-centralization around Ground monotypes.
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Sadly one of the types that has a positive matchup against Ground is Ice. Ground has to pretty much get sand up and hope Iron Head flinches on Avalugg, otherwise it loses something once Kyurem-B steps in. Also once Gastro is gone, Weavile or Mamo have a field day
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