Survey results are a bit later than usual, but they are here at last! This time, we tried adding a bit more of a range to the scores for opinions on certain Pokemon, as we felt that it was sometimes difficult to express more subtle differences between Pokemon, as often one would put two Pokemon as a 3 but one was notably more problematic than the other, but there was no way to express this without putting a score you didn't agree with.
Only 11 people responded to the survey, which might be due to a lack of promotion outside of the Discord on our end. We will try to promote the survey more next time around. Fortunately, even when removing outliers that might skew the scores (through the use of the IQR method), they are mostly the same, save for two, which we will address in their sections.
Without further ado, here are the results:
"On a scale of 1-10, how much do you enjoy the current metagame?"
Average: 7.45/10
This is almost exactly the same score as the last survey, albeit higher by .02, a bit concerning as this means the meta hasn't really improved since last survey. However, the meta is still fairly enjoyable, which is a good sign.
"On a scale of 1-10, how balanced/competitive do you find this metagame to be?"
Average: 7/10
Also the exact same score as last survey, and still just as concerning as before. Clearly, we need to do some more work to get the meta into a better state.
"What are your thoughts on Aegislash?"
Average: 6.9
nice/10
Aegislash has been contentious as a metagame presence for some time, placing highly last survey, and considerably above others on the survey in scores, save for Hawlucha, scoring a full 2 points higher than the next lowest surveyed Pokemon. Aegislash will likely have some form of action taken on it in the future. When excluding outliers, its score goes up to 7.4, being the only instance of notable change when doing so other than Rillaboom, but this doesn't change its place on the scoreboard of problematicness, still placing below Hawlucha.
"What are your thoughts on Aerodactyl-Mega?"
Average: 4.27/10
Mega Aerodactyl has quickly surged to prominence as a top meta threat, second only to Aegislash, for its litany of useful traits, notably including blistering speed and high attack, which can often allow it to clean later on in games with just its 3 Attacks + Roost set. However, it does not seem that this combination of traits has made it particularly problematic in the eyes of the playerbase, scoring the second lowest, ahead of only Rillaboom. However, its score is just high enough that we will keep an eye on it.
"What are your thoughts on Hawlucha?"
Average: 7.73/10
The clear most problematic Pokemon in the community's eyes right now, Hawlucha had far and away the on average highest scores. While it is not impossible to deal with, the answers we do have often either have to run a specific set to not lose to a specific 4th move option Hawlucha has available to it or be partnered with another Pokemon that can check Hawlucha, often a priority user like Aegislash or Scizor to finish it off, which can at times be a strain on the teambuilder.
"What are your thoughts on Hydrapple?"
Average: 4.81/10
It seems that playerbase sentiment regarding Hydrapple has softened, albeit not completely, going from placing above Aegislash just barely to being considerably below Aegislash. This might be attributable to a more recent shift towards an offensive metagame, giving Hydrapple less opportunities to break gaping holes in teams. It still had the third highest score of all of the Pokemon listed in the survey, however, and its score is still somewhat high. We will keep an eye on Hydrapple for the time being.
"What are your thoughts on Iron Crown?"
Average: 4.36/10
Newcomer Iron Crown seems to be on the lower end of problematicness according to respondents, but having a high enough score that we will keep an eye on it. Booster Speed sets can be somewhat matchup fishy at times, but we have enough checks to it that it's only really a fish at the minute.
"What are your thoughts on Rillaboom?"
Average: 3.64/10
It is very clear that the playerbase at large does not consider Rillaboom to be particularly problematic. In fact, the average is actually considerably skewed by two votes - removing outliers, you get an average of 2.5, even more indicative of its non problematic nature. Hopefully for the next survey, we will have more respondents so that there is less such skewing in the future. Clearly, the plethora of steel types and defensive pieces that can answer it, offensive Pokemon that can take a Grassy Glide and revenge kill, and its general difficulty getting in make this a manageable presence.
"In what order would you prefer to see action taken on threats you see as broken/unhealthy for the tier? [Take Action on First]"
As reflected in its score in its own question, Hawlucha unsurprisingly took the spot of Pokemon most respondents wanted action on first, but Aegislash was not far behind. Almost every vote here was for one of those two.
"In what order would you prefer to see action taken on threats you see as broken/unhealthy for the tier? [Take Action on Second]"

Those who voted for one of Hawlucha or Aegislash as first for action almost all chose the other of the two here, but Aegislash and Hawlucha surprisingly tied for this spot.
"In what order would you prefer to see action taken on threats you see as broken/unhealthy for the tier? [Take Action on Third]"

Hydrapple took the spot for third, showing that, while opinions on it have mellowed considerably from last survey, it is not out of the woods just yet. We will watch to see how Hydrapple in the metagame develops.
"In what order would you prefer to see action taken on threats you see as broken/unhealthy for the tier? [Wait to Take Action on]"

Iron Crown appears to be a Pokemon that people aren't quite sure of yet, and would rather wait on. This is understandable, as its Booster Speed sets can be somewhat matchup fishy at times, but is otherwise manageable.
"In what order would you prefer to see action taken on threats you see as broken/unhealthy for the tier? [Do not Take Action on]"

It is clear that at large, neither Rillaboom nor Mega Aerodactyl are seen as deserving action at the minute, as both received a majority of Do Not Take Action votes, and had relatively low scores in their own questions.
"What time would you like to see Room Tours in the National Dex UU Showdown room occur? Answers are in UTC (+0)."
Votes seem to indicate that people most want room tours in the general range of 4PM-9PM UTC, with a good amount of support for 2PM UTC too. Interestingly, this is mostly in the range of when room tours currently happen already, so we may need to investigate other reasons as to why there is low participation in room tours.
"Any additional thoughts regarding the state of the metagame, potential unbans, or potential suspect targets?"
Dondozo was the only retest of those currently in UUBL mentioned here. This makes sense given its support last survey, but only one person suggested it, perhaps indicating a waning interest in suspect testing Dondozo.
There was one person who suggested a Kartana retest should it drop back down from OU, but mentioned a concern that, with Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain support, it might be still too strong.
One person stated a considerable interest in suspect testing Rillaboom, but, unfortunately for them, it is highly unlikely that Rillaboom will be seeing any action taken on it any time soon.
Conclusion:
The meta's enjoyment/health does not appear to have improved or declined, which is both good and bad - good that it hasn't gotten worse, but bad that it hasn't improved at all despite suspect testing and subsequently banning Mega Gallade. We will likely be looking into taking some form of tiering action on Hawlucha and/or Aegislash some time in the near future to remedy this, due to their considerable support in this survey. As for the others, we will be keeping an eye on them, save from Rillabom who will not be considered for tiering action anytime in the near future. This survey has taught us some lessons about making sure surveys are advertised more beyond the Discord and forums, which we will be taking to heart in the future.
As always, any questions, or if you want to discuss the metagame or the survey results, feel free to do so in the
Metagame Discussion Thread or the
Discord!