
In accordance with the last survey and slate results, the council has decided to suspect test Roaring Moon for a second time.
Roaring Moon has long since garnered major community support, initially being quickbanned shortly after the generation which was viewed as unjust by many, as mechanics such as Booster Energy were incorrectly implemented and the tier was in an extremely chaotic state. Later on in the generation, Roaring Moon received its first suspect test, resulting in a Do Not Unban verdict. Having said this, the banning of Terastalization has had a profound impact on the tier, and we believe there is a chance that it will be manageable this time around.
During its legality, Roaring Moon was a frequent user of Terastalization, most commonly pairing Tera Flying with Arobatics, which would be at full power after consuming Booster Energy. This combination allowed it to easily break through otherwise solid answers such as Great Tusk, Zamazenta, Gliscor, Landorus-T, and Toxapex, by taking advantage of the Flying coverage or simply its ludicrous power. Other Tera types included Ground, Fairy and Dark, all of which targeted different answers and gave Roaring Moon much diversity. Additionaly, it could use moves such as Taunt to break Dondozo, while also effectively walling the most common Landorus-T variants when paired with Tera Flying, or Roost for general longevity against bulkier teams. Groundium Z + Earthquake could also be used to beat Toxapex without the need to Terastalize, while Dragonium Z + Outrage allowed Roaring Moon to nuke Pokemon such as Great Tusk and Zapdos.
Alternatively, it could effectively wield Choice Band when paired with Mega Charizard Y or Torkoal to activate its Protosynthesis, and either double down for a second Attack boost or use slightly less Attack investment and opt for a Speed boost to effectively wield a Choice Scarf alongside its Choice Band, turning Roaring Moon into a vicious wallbreaker, bolstered by Knock Off's excelent secondary effect.
Despite this, the main reason it was ultimately not unbanned is the setup sweeper set, which was very much reliant on Terastalization to break past most of the tier, either through the sheer power of Tera Flying + Acrobatics or through more specific coverage Tera types. As with all other setup sweepers Terastalization also afforded it many more chances to set up, notably, it could use Tera Flying for free setup infront of Landorus-T and Gliscor, Tera Fairy for Raging Bolt and Tera Ghost for Zamazenta. With the ban of Terastalization, Roaring Moon's strongest attack becomes Knock Off, which is far more manageable in a tier dominated by the likes of Zamazenta and Great Tusk, with Landorus-T being another major stopgap thanks to Intimidate and Roaring Moon's subpar physical bulk. Other common answers include Pokemon such as Terapagos, Mega Scizor, Melmetal, and Urshifu-R. Furthermore, Mega Charizard Y sun teams are extremely linear, and dont have much room for a wallbreaker with no further utility such as Roaring Moon, and most of the previously mentioned answers to Dragon Dance variants can reasonably answer Choice Band variants.
The instructions to participate in this test are as follows:
- Create a new account OR use an existing one with no SV National Dex OU games played (resetting W/L does not count for this - the account you use must never have played National Dex OU before the test, full stop.) You do not have to follow any specific naming convention, but your suspect account must have never played a game in National Dex OU before this suspect test went up or you will not receive valid requirements.
- At any point on your new account, use the command /linksmogon on Pokemon Showdown! You will receive instructions on what to do once you run this command.
- If you want to double check your account eligibility after following these instructions; play at least 1 game on the account, then run the /rank command on that account. You should see a field on the far right that reads "Suspect Test Eligible?"
-
- If this field says "No" then you have either not set up the account correctly or need to use a different/new account. You do not need to complete your entire reqs for this field to say "Yes"
- After you believe that you have achieved reqs, double check that you're listed as a voter here! If you aren't listed as a voter despite having valid reqs, please contact Kyo, sealoo, or a member of staff.
- If you have any questions about this new process, feel free to PM me or post here!
- Laddering with an account that impersonates, mocks, or insults another Smogon user or breaks Pokemon Showdown! rules may be disqualified from voting and infracted.
- We will be using the regular National Dex ladder for this suspect test, and Roaring Moon will remain legal throughout the entire suspect test.
- Any form of voting manipulation will result in swift and severe punishment. You are more than welcome to state your argument to as many people as you so please, but do not use any kind of underhanded tactics to get a result you desire. Bribery, blackmail, or any other type of tactic used to sway votes will be handled and sanctioned.
- Do not attempt to cheat the ladder. We will know if you did not actually achieve voting requisites, so don't do it. Harsh sanctions will be applied.
- The requirement to vote in this suspect test is a COIL value of 2950. The suspect test will go on for roughly two weeks, lasting until February 9th at 11:00pm GMT -5, and then the voting thread will become available on Smogon, where you will be tagged with a link.
- No unhelpful one liners nor uninformed posts;
- No discussion on other potential suspects;
- You are required to make respectful posts;
- Failure to follow these simple guidelines will result in your post being deleted and infracted without any prior warning.
- Please also take a moment to read over some suggestions from the National Dex Council and the National Dex Moderation team for posting in this thread; adhering these will help out our time moderating the thread and present your arguments better and more educated.
- You do not need a boatload of experience to have an informed opinion, but please try to minimize the hypotheticals and use your experiences watching and playing. Playing some on the ladder before posting is plenty if you're concerned about this.
- Do not flame, belittle, or be disrespectful to users in this thread. While not everyone will read this post in its entirety nor will everyone have informed opinion, please be sure not to be disrespectful. If there's an issue, bring it up to a moderator.
- Do not use the argument of broken checking broken. Should your argument rest on your opinion that banning the Pokémon or mechanic being tested in this suspect test will make a Pokémon or mechanic broken, overpowered, and/or uncompetitive; don't. If something needs to be banned because of the result of this suspect, then so be it. "I told you so" arguments on their own also contribute little to the discussion without supporting evidence and are rather unwelcomed.
- This is not the place to complain about the suspect process. Please PM Kyo or sealoo if you have any questions regarding this, and any broader questions about this test.