Should Terastallization be suspect tested in Doubles OU?
Terastallization is perhaps one of more mixed mechanic Game Freak has ever introduced, at least among the competitive side; casual players seem to generally enjoy it, especially when compared to Dynamax. Personally, I think Terastallization is great addition to the game since it adds variety as well as serving as a toolkit to patch some issues the team has by giving crucial resistance or immunity.
However, a vocal part believes that Terastallization is broken since players has to play the mindgame on when they will terastallize and should be looked upon. For that, it's best to compare to the previous mechanic, Dynamax and inspect if it falls into same pitfall.Also for me to thrash on Dynamax yet again
Did Terastallization force specific counterplays?
During Dynamax's reign, in addition to sleep moves, Yawn saw a rise of usage since Dynamax cannot counteract it by switching out as it will immediately wears off. Similarly, stat-lowering stats such as Eerie Impulse and Fake Tears were used to combat Dynamax. However, Dynamax itself comes with too much advantages or being outright immune to several effects such as Encore. Naturally, these moves' usage has dropped significantly in Gen 9.
By contrast, the only immunity that Terastallization itself comes with is type-changing effects such as Soak and Magic Powder, which were very niche to begin with. From what I seen, Terastallization didn't result in several moves to be noticeably worse or normally niche moves to be used. Spore and Fake Out still sees high usage despite Terastallization potentially being able to deny it.
Did Terastallization break a Pokemon?
To be honest, this is the part that I disagree with the pro-ban side the most, at least in the context of Doubles OU. Unlike in OU where Regieleki gets banned for abusing Ice Tera Blast, there's always other factors to be considered for Pokemon that got banned in Doubles OU.
Let's be real here, it's way too optimized for Rage Fist with 110/80/90 bulk that makes most Pokemon envy of. Even with Terastallization out of the picture, Annihilape would still benefited from screens to discourage foes from hitting it or have its ally using Beat Up to boost Rage Fist's power. Pokemon such as Flutter Mane can now reliable beat it, but it's not impossible for players to position it to a favorable spot. Still broken without Terastallization
You could argue of being a case of it as Tera-Steel blocks Clear Smog and Toxic, but +2 on all stats without having to spending a turn is still ridiculous. Beside, Dondozo does run Rest so Toxic won't be a complete roadblock to them. Still broken without Terastallization
This is definitely the closest example of Terastallization breaking it as Urshifu can Tera-Water to abuse Surging Strikes or Tera-Grass to avoid Amoonguss without needing Safety Goggles. Even then, Urshifu greatly benefited from the metagame shift of no Tapu Fini and RIllaboom losing Grassy Glide. This is also the Pokemon that can bypass Protect thanks to Unseen Fist and Surging Strike always crit, meaning that it doesn't have to worry about Intimidate or defense boosts, and did receive a suspect test last gen, even if Urshifu didn't receive enough votes to be banned. Still broken without Terastallization
Even without Terastallization, Ursaluna still mauls everything like no tomorrow with its high-powered moves with Guts-boosted Facade and Headlong Rush. I argue that without Terastallization, Ursaluna would have been banned earlier. For instances, Cresselia can Tera-Ghost to avoid Facade as well or Diancie can Tera-Grass and resist its Ground-type attacks.
Meanwhile, Dynamax was banned in Doubles OU before any Pokemon were hit by the banhammer for abusing Dynamax, though Beat Up was banned because of a Dynamaxed Terrakion
being much difficult to counteract with its immunity to flinching from Fake Out, and Weakness Policy was close to being banned instead of Dynamax. I speculated that if Dynamax stayed, G-Max Charizard
would definitely be the first to go, then several Max Airstream abusers such as Cinderace
or Landorus
would get the boot as well.
With all of that being said, I can definitely acknowledge the power of Terastallization as evidence by Dragonite
and Diancie
being fantastic recipient of it, while I won't object the idea of a Terastallization suspect test, I don't expect any actions will be taken on it for now.
Terastallization is perhaps one of more mixed mechanic Game Freak has ever introduced, at least among the competitive side; casual players seem to generally enjoy it, especially when compared to Dynamax. Personally, I think Terastallization is great addition to the game since it adds variety as well as serving as a toolkit to patch some issues the team has by giving crucial resistance or immunity.
However, a vocal part believes that Terastallization is broken since players has to play the mindgame on when they will terastallize and should be looked upon. For that, it's best to compare to the previous mechanic, Dynamax and inspect if it falls into same pitfall.
Did Terastallization force specific counterplays?
During Dynamax's reign, in addition to sleep moves, Yawn saw a rise of usage since Dynamax cannot counteract it by switching out as it will immediately wears off. Similarly, stat-lowering stats such as Eerie Impulse and Fake Tears were used to combat Dynamax. However, Dynamax itself comes with too much advantages or being outright immune to several effects such as Encore. Naturally, these moves' usage has dropped significantly in Gen 9.
By contrast, the only immunity that Terastallization itself comes with is type-changing effects such as Soak and Magic Powder, which were very niche to begin with. From what I seen, Terastallization didn't result in several moves to be noticeably worse or normally niche moves to be used. Spore and Fake Out still sees high usage despite Terastallization potentially being able to deny it.
Did Terastallization break a Pokemon?
To be honest, this is the part that I disagree with the pro-ban side the most, at least in the context of Doubles OU. Unlike in OU where Regieleki gets banned for abusing Ice Tera Blast, there's always other factors to be considered for Pokemon that got banned in Doubles OU.





Meanwhile, Dynamax was banned in Doubles OU before any Pokemon were hit by the banhammer for abusing Dynamax, though Beat Up was banned because of a Dynamaxed Terrakion




With all of that being said, I can definitely acknowledge the power of Terastallization as evidence by Dragonite

