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As its lover has to abandon it for the greater good, Iron Moth's heart shattered to pieces. The National Dex UU Council has decided to suspect test Zapdos-Galar.
Suspect Reasoning:
To the surprise of many or not, Gapdos is our next target as another presence that has been in this tier for a good while and got much more threatening to the point where people have started to question its healthiness for the meta. It's been a really solid scarfer for the majority of it's lifespan, which only got better once the Teal Mask DLC rolled around and gave it Knock Off, keeping a solid amount of stuff in check and having good power for a scarfer.
As time went on and more bans occurred, the meta has turned notably slower and the banning of Iron Hands opened up a lot of Fighting type wallbreakers to show up - this led to Choice Band Gapdos becoming notably more prominent as both stabs by themselves were able to hit the majority of the meta for great damage while the few ones that didn't mind it as much by being good pivots or resists such as Slowbro, Aegislash or Hippowdon heavily disliked taking Knock Offs and U-turns over the course of a game. It's been so much of a threat that people have been running Rocky Helmet Clefable as an attempt to slow it's murdering spree, limiting it to one kill in exchange for their passive recovery on a really important defensive piece despite Rocky Helmet not being particularly useful outside of Gapdos, barely having any notable punishes on Zeraora, Mienshao and Iron Boulder, two pokemon that can Knock it (And one of them has Regenerator) while the other one barely cares about the chip damage and either threatens to 2HKO it with its most spammable move or just nukes it with Z-Crystals anyway.
Choice Scarf sets have also gotten somewhat more threatening as the pool of things it's able to threaten expanded and it's stabs are still threatening into much of the defensive options roaming around as Knock Off allowed it to make progress for both itself and its teammates while still dealing with major threats like Greninja, Iron Boulder, Alakazam and more. Bulk Up sets on the other hand are more exclusive to Hyper Offense but take the same approach of abusing slower squads, the difference being that the squads that rely on constant pivoting from Clefable, Rotom-Wash or Skarmory are now finding themselves very likely to either lose the game or spend too many resources dealing with Gapdos that they're unable to keep up after.
Even with all the good trades it has there's definitely some important downsides that are worth considering. It may be extremely threatening but 100 Speed isn't winning any awards, being unable to have both the speed to outrun faster mons (like Iron Moth, M-Latias, Alakazam, Greninja, Iron Boulder, Zeraora or Mienshao) and the power to muscle through defense, so it has to sacrifice one matchup or the other which is especially notable due to how awkward Speed Control can be without it. Even then, it'll still miss out on some notable ones like Booster Energy Iron Moth, Scarf Enamorus, Sand Rush Excadrill or Booster Energy Iron Boulder. Even in the right matchups for the set, it's not like you can just click your buttons and run away with the game, Gapdos really needs to get the moves right in order to get good value out of the opportunities it gets or else you're either not making relevant progress or you'll find yourself being heavily punished for playing too recklessly. That same recklessness can get you out of commission really quickly due to Brave Bird's recoil and the contact punishers lurking around such as Rocky Helmet Clefable, Skarmory, Hippowdon, Slowbro and natural checks that can be found in both types of Offense like Aegislash, Rotom-Wash, Azumarill and the previously mentioned Booster Speed Iron Moth, Booster Speed Iron Boulder or Enamorus. It can fall flat if not played well but it's generally a consistent performer at its lowest to a massive headache that can get out of hand with ease at its highest, making it one of the best offensive threats in the tier with how well it can just adapt to any matchup.
Suspect Test Information
You have to reach a COIL of 3000 in order to get reqs. For reference, the B-value for this suspect will be 4.
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[*]
You must use a fresh account that begins with the given prefix for this suspect test. That prefix is NDUU9ZAP. For example, I could sign up and qualify with the name NDUU9ZAP lupla.
You may not impersonate or mock another user with your account name. If there is any slight hesitation, you're probably better off picking a different name. We reserve the right to null your voting requisites if you are found impersonating or mocking another user with your account name. Moderator discretion will be applied.
If you are found trying to manipulate voting requisites in any way, you will be met with a harsh infraction. Manipulating voting requisites ranges from faking your screenshot to asking another user to forfeit.
The Pokemon that's being suspect tested, Zapdos-Galar, will be allowed on the National Dex UU ladder for the next two weeks so that we can properly assess its position in the metagame.
The suspect test will last until August 25th 11:59 PM GMT -3. Tagging dhelmise and Marty to implement this on ladder whenever possible! Thanks a lot!
For those who aren't familiar with the COIL system, here's a post that explains how the system works, as a quick way to know how it works:
This is from the SV NU Gallade Suspect Test
The formula tells you exactly how many games you need at any given GXE value to reach 2800 COIL and reaching reqs.
I recommend to just keep playing like normal, it's basically the same as before but with more ways to qualify (and if anyone has some questions or needs to confirm verification just DM me here or in Discord)
I dont plan to get reqs since im not too attached to this outcome but I do wanna voice my thoughts on Gapdos in some capacity, mainly that it is a net positivefor the tier through splashable speed control in a meta absolutely strapped for it along with spectacular, yet also limited wallbreaking with the more controversial CB set.
The choiced nature of gapdos pretty much always puts counterplay in the opposing user’s hands and that dynamic has never left me blaming Gapdos being broken if it cleans up or claims a kill with CB, rather myself positioning poorly/getting turns wrong.
not the end of the world if it gets banned, but imo gapdos is better for the tier than it is worse
This is maybe the most conflicted I am on a suspect than I have ever been before. All the previous suspects were cut and dry: Hands was too fat, Thundy-T too ruthless at breaking defensive cores, Cinderace too nimble, Meowscarada being Weavile 2.0, etc. But Gapdos is maybe one of the most complex inclusions in the tier to date. I'm making this post both so I can determine which way I personally am going to vote, but also so those of you who are unsure or haven't played the tier can weigh both sides. Lets start with the pros.
Pros
Gapdos is THE best Choice Scarfer and speed control option in the tier. At a solid 328 speed without Scarf, it outruns nearly everything with it. With its fantastic natural power, Gapdos is able to threaten every single offensive option that it can outspeed. While not always threatening outright OHKOs on neutral targets like Zeraora, its fantastic Fighting/Flying STAB combo + Knock Off and U-turn are able to threaten a majority of the offensive metagame, like Greninja, Alakazam, Aegislash, and Victini. Even on targets it hits super-effectively, however, Gapdos doesn't always threaten to OHKO them. Sturdier targets like Aegislash, Victini, and Iron Boulder are able to stomach 1 hit from Gapdos at high health, though this is because they are being hit with non-STAB moves. Iron Moth notably has a 25% chance to survive a Brave Bird from full. Gapdos is still able to handle these mons by either U-turning and coming back in later or having teammates or hazards wear them down.
All these traits make Gapdos one of the most splashable mons in the tier. Nearly every team barring HO and Stall love this guy, as it provides an easy way to offensively handle a lot of the scary threats in the tier. With defensive teambuilding so centralized around Rotom-W, Ting-Lu, Celesteela, Clefable, and the Grass-types (MVenu, Hydrapple, Amoonguss) it's nice to have an offensive option that can let you experiment a little more on both offensive and defensive sides of the spectrum. It is important to note though, that some of this centralization may be due to Gapdos itself. I'm unsure if these defensive mons are the best simply because of the huge number of threats that need to be handled, or because they are the only ones that can handle the meta while also not crumpling to Gapdos, and I don't think it is possible to know what the defensive landscape looks like with Gapdos gone as a relevant form of offensive counterplay but also as a threat that needs to be checked.
Gapdos is also not eternal. Rocky Helmet on Skarmory and Clefable dissuade it from clicking U-turn, instead forcing it to Knock Off, something that can be exploited if played well. This leads to another point; Gapdos is hard to win with. You don't bring it in and just click buttons willy nilly; Gapdos must be positioned well into a defensive or offensive mon threatened by it (which admittedly, isn't hard given its power), and the right move must be clicked lest you give up a lot of momentum. CC into an Aegislash and now you are facing a forced switch against the most annoying offensive threat. BB into Rotom-W and you chip it, but now you get Volt Switched on or get your Ting-Lu burned. Knock into Scizor or Hydrapple and now they get a Swords Dance or Nasty Plot. U-turn into Clefable and you've taken 16% and potentially Rocks chip for 7% on Clefable. This is not to say that it is hard to get multiple turns right with Gapdos. Many players play predictably against Gapdos, allowing you to Knock Off the Clefable and spam U-turn and Brave Bird, or CC freely on a team with Aegislash as the only Fighting resist, or just spam U-turn because pivot moves are broken. But keep in mind that given poor hazard control options, Gapdos is being chipped almost every time it comes in.
Speaking of coming in, Gapdos' defensive profile is fairly nice. A Ground immunity allows Gapdos free entry against the Ground types forced onto every team due to one six-winged Devil (looking at you ). A Dark resist allows Gapdos to pivot in once on Greninja or Hydreigon Dark Pulse. Fighting resistance allows it to come in on opposing Gapdos CC. Its weaknesses and neutralities are exploitable too, being neutral to Aqua Jet, Bullet Punch, and Shadow Sneak and weak to Moonblast.
Cons Now there are a lot of Pros to Gapdos. Its fast, consistent, checks a lot offensively without seeming broken, has a good but exploitable typing, and is seemingly locked into Choice Scarf. But that's not the entire story. Lets talk about some of the problematic aspects of Gapdos, and why its being suspected in the first place.
The first thing that comes to mind is Choice Band sets. Choice Band Gapdos sheds all the utility and revenge killing benefit of the Choice Scarf set and trades it for raw breaking power. If the proper moves are clicked, there is NOTHING in the tier that isn't 2HKOd by CB Gapdos. Most of the tier is OHKOd by Gapdos due to its great coverage and natural power. Not that its necessary, but I'll provide some calcs below to exemplify Gapdos' power.
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 250-295 (63.4 - 74.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Skarmory: 162-192 (48.5 - 57.4%) -- 94.1% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 230-272 (70.9 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 230-272 (88.1 - 104.2%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 204+ Def Rotom-Wash: 204-241 (67.1 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 204+ Def Rotom-Wash: 102-120 (33.6 - 39.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (no lefties)
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Celesteela: 277-327 (69.5 - 82.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Ting-Lu: 470-554 (91.4 - 107.7%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Brave Bird vs. 248 HP / 164+ Def Venusaur-Mega: 380-450 (104.6 - 123.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Hippowdon: 184-217 (43.8 - 51.6%) -- 10.2% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Choice Band Zapdos-Galar Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Hippowdon: 238-282 (56.6 - 67.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
I could provide more but those are adequate enough to show the power of Choice Band Gapdos. The entire defensive metagame folds to CC, BB, and Knock Off. There is no need to show these calcs against offensive options; it seems obvious that everything is OHKOd by CB Gapdos, with even resists like Iron Moth being easily 2HKOd by CC.
This is scary, yes. Gapdos seems to have no defensive counterplay, with the only way to deal with it seemingly being to "Get Good" and always predict perfectly what your opponent is going to click. And even then, Rotom-W and Celesteela can be worn down by Brave Bird dangerously quickly. But the worst part is that not only can CB Gapdos just click the right button and remove one of your key defensive pieces, but it can click a move just as annoying: U-turn.
U-turn is, simply put, one of the best moves in Mons history. Looking back, 3/4 most recent mons that were banned had pivot moves: Thundy-T had Volt Switch, Ace and Meowscarada had U-turn. Even Iron Moth, which we tested recently, has U-turn. And goodness gracious does it make defensive counterplay to these behemoths ANNOYING AS HELL. For goodness sakes, we're running Helmet Clef just so teams can chip down Gapdos enough, and relying on Brave Bird recoil to kill Gapdos before it kills you. And why is U-turn so annoying? Not only can it bring in ANY answer to whatever you just switched in to stop Gapdos, it can also bring in Gapdos' best friend.
ENTERINGGGGGGGGGG.....
Ok I know this isn't an Iron Moth suspect so I won't go too in depth here, but these two are seriously a match made in Hell. Gapdos U-turns on what feels like the entire metagame, and Iron Moth LOVES it. Clefable and Skarmory are considered the two main checks for Gapdos, and WOOOO boy do they let Moth in for free. And guess who Moth brings in? Most often, its the Grounds, Ting-Lu and Hippowdon. Sometimes its Skeledirge, and Slowking, but they don't fare much better into Gapdos. Gapdos clicks U-turn on almost a forced switch, and we're right back to square one, but now you've been chipped closer to Fiery Dance or CC range after hazards. Of course Gapdos might be taking Rocks chip or Helmet chip, but if hazards are off and Helmets are Knocked, then you've entered the vortex. This is normal, vortexes with Scizor and Rotom-W exist too. But this is a special type of torture, because if your Ground type gets too chipped or you try to predict the Moth U-turn and get Sludge Waved, the game almost always will be over shortly. See the recent NDUU Summer SSNL Game between Elvira and TBIC for reference (and that was Scarf Gapdos)
Alright back on track. CB Gapdos is a menace with 3 moves and unmanagable with 4. Defensive counterplay is to pray you click right, and offensive counterplay involves 1 time resistances (Zera or Boulder on BB or Moth on CC), immunities, or sacs. But it wouldn't be fair to discuss CB Gapdos without discussing the pain in the ass that it is to build with.
Because Scarf Gapdos is the most splashable and easy to use speed control option, putting Choice Band on it means you aren't left with many other options for speed control. You have the Electrics, Zeraora and Rotom-W, as the most common option after Gapdos. While these guys often bring in the Grounds, you don't get to pivot into Gapdos, either having to double switch directly to Gapdos or come in on an Earthquake (not possible in Rotom's case). The Electrics do often bring in the Grasses though, which Gapdos loves. The other option is double Fighters, often using Mienshao or Keldeo as Scarf options, both of which would much rather prefer the power of Life Orb or Specs respectively (though both CAN pivot Gapdos in). Regardless, it is incredibly difficult to build with CB Gapdos considering you are giving up the primary speed control option in the tier for a powerful wallbreaker instead, with many of my teams just forgoing speed control entirely and running Fat or BO squads with nothing over Boulder's speed tier (or only MLati sometimes).
There's more I could discuss (Scarf Gapdos speed ties, CBs midish speed tier, Gapdos in the builder v. in game, etc.), but honestly I'm not sure it will help anyone come to a decision more easily. Scarf Gapdos is one of the most reliable and splashable mons in the tier; CB Gapdos is unwallable and unpredictable. There are other Gapdos sets too, but they are far too niche to warrant discussion and don't contribute enough to the Gapdos broken v. healthy discussion.
I urge everyone to play their suspect games with Gapdos in mind. Think of it as you choose or build teams, think of how your playstyle itself is affected, and think of it if you play against it or you don't. Would Gapdos being here help or harm the tier? Will it make it easier to build AND play, or harder? Are you biased because you love HO/Offense/BO/Fat/Stall (obviously everyone is gonna be biased, but how much are you letting that influence your decision)? Even after writing this post, I'm unsure about how I will vote in two weeks. Best of luck to all during reqs, and here's hoping the decision made will be for the benefit of the tier.
Hey everyone! Important announcement here, we decided to Modify the requirements for the suspect, we're still using COIL but we're just changing it to 3000 COIL with a B-value of 4. We were trying to improve getting reqs but the last requirements were too easy and after some discussion we changed them to this. The idea of COIL is that losing isn't as punishing, you're able to recover quicker and you won't need to reset as much as before.
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Runs that were made before this change won't lose their qualification.
Think I've got my thoughts together enough at this point, just need to actually grind out my suspect run, so I think I'll put some bits and pieces in here.
First off, if you're reading this but haven't read Danbear's post in its entirety, go read that lol. I've never seen a better breakdown of a mon and its place in the meta. I'll be referring to it a coupletimes throughout this post, and expanding on some points that I think carry more weight, so it's needed context here.
The first and most spammable option to consider with Gapdos is Choice Scarf. This is the single best speed control option in the tier, boasting a speed tier that's unbeaten by anything unboosted while also outrunning +1 Excadrill, +2 Celesteela and niche threats like +1 Haxorus and managing a speed tie with Z-Celebrate Victini. However, preventing this from tipping over the edge of being broken, as Danbear rightly pointed out:
While not always threatening outright OHKOs on neutral targets like Zeraora, its fantastic Fighting/Flying STAB combo + Knock Off and U-turn are able to threaten a majority of the offensive metagame, like Greninja, Alakazam, Aegislash, and Victini. Even on targets it hits super-effectively, however, Gapdos doesn't always threaten to OHKO them.
The comparative lack of power inherent to the choice scarf sets means that Gapdos is barely ever threatening to break teams on its own. Even with help from common teammates like Iron Moth and CB Boulder, it often ends up being unable to threaten common cores too much until later in the game when key defensive pieces have chipped down. Its presence in the tier prevents some of the most potent Hyper Offence threats from ever getting out of hand, such as Alakazam and opposing bulk up Gapdos as well as the aforementioned autotomise Celesteela. Into Bulky Offence and Balance, it's also incredibly useful for dealing with opposing pivot Iron Moth sets, as well as for threatening out and generating momentum into the various grass types in the meta, like MVenu and Hydrapple, though in a pinch these mons can usually tank a hit and deal significant damage back, if not taking the KO after brave bird recoil. All of this is incredibly useful within the meta, and allows for more freedom in teambuilding when you're able to rely on it.
However, we then get to the other side of the coin. Where to even start with Choice Band. Probably with the calcs, for which I will once again refer you back to Danbear's post and the litany of obscene calcs provided there. The combination of Close Combat, Brave Bird and Knock Off are impossible to handle reliably without running Slowbro or Clefable on every team, and even then Slowbro gets destroyed by U-Turn spam, something that Clef doesn't appreciate either after its helmet gets knocked. Speaking of, Rocky Helmet being forced on Clef is incredibly detrimental to the mon into the rest of the meta, with a huge array of threats that it would much rather have leftovers for to gain added longevity and mitigate chip damage. And all of this in an attempt to not even beat Gapdos, instead this is just to do enough chip between Rocky Helmet and Brave Bird recoil that it can't spam the move into everything else. But even then, once Clef is down it can usually do enough damage that it will trade with something else afterwards as well, effectively meaning that Gapdos always goes at least 2 for 1 in any match against Balance or Stall if played well. This leads to teams where the method of handling Gapdos is less to handle it, and more to try and keep it out of the game for as long as possible so it can't do enough damage to break your core. Something that is incredibly difficult to do on account of a defensive typing laden with helpful resists and immunities, such as against Ground, Dark and Fighting (and more often than I'd like, Bug, thank you MBee ladder spam) and a more than serviceable base 100 speed. While 328 speed is relatively mediocre into the faster side of the meta, notably falling short of Iron Moth, Mega Latias, Alakazam and Iron Boulder, this would only be an issue if Choice Band Gapdos was relied upon to actually handle these threats. Instead, it is used to beat out defensive cores, many of which don't break more than 241 speed due to the inherently low speed tier of these walls. The only reason it doesn't run Adamant for that extra "screw you" to Fat and Stall is because base 100 is an incredibly useful speed tier to have for the slower side of the offensive meta. Outspeeding all of Excadrill, Hydreigon, Galarian Moltres, offensive Buzzwole, Magnezone, Bisharp, the list goes on, is all incredibly valuable for it as these all give it opportunities to throw off powerful attacks if you can bring it in safely.
Choice Band sets are the reason I believe Gapdos is unhealthy for the tier, on the whole. All the freedom that choice scarf sets provide is overwhelmingly restricted by the sheer difficulty of trying to build a consistent gameplan into choice band, with no exception. While this is mitigated somewhat by the difficulty of fitting Choice Band over Choice Scarf, the fact that is possible and not uncommon to see is more than enough for this to be a problem for every team. Not even HO is safe, as the Aegislash many of these teams use allows a singular opportunity for Gapdos to at least trade with something on the opposing team. All of this is to say I will, probably unsurprisingly, be voting Ban once I find enough time to properly get to the end of a run.
TBIC’s post made me think about one other aspect of Gapdos that may push me over the edge. While Scarf Gapdos isn’t typically breaking cores down by itself, once one member of the defensive fabric is worn down enough, that’s typically enough space for Gapdos to take and run away with the game. Scarf Gapdos has a miniscule change to 2HKO Clefable from full with Brave Bird, which means the minute Clef is at less than perfect health, if it switches hard into Brave Bird, it will be 2HKOd. If Gapdos ever removes this piece, or a Rotom or Celesteela standing in the way of Brave Bird, then all of a sudden Gapdos’s other STAB becomes WAY more spammable and can take over games. It often leads to sacrifices just so you can ensure Clefable/Rotom/Skarm etc. are healthy enough to ensure Gapdos doesn’t bowl you over.
Honestly, despite Gapdos being harder to build for then play against, I think it constrains the builder too much and is unnecessarily punishing to typical defensive counterplay. I will likely be voting Ban, but I still encourage everyone to consider the pros and cons for themselves
Got reqs, I'm not entirely convinced on either side yet. I did however, want to address my thoughts on the nature of the metagame surrounding it.
#1: The Meta around Gapdos
I find the metagame to be in a pretty comfortable spot against it outside few exceptions atm. 90% of non HO teams were already running some form of defensive build ranging from Regen + Steel - Defensive Ground + Clef/Fini builds - Hazard Stack featuring Helmet users such as Skarm + Psychic Spam throughout the gen, so it's not like most standard examples had to ever go out of their way to handle it defensively. This also extended towards other offensive threats said builds were used and adapted for as well - Greninja and Boulder weren't always around as breakers, nor were M-Aerodactyl and Zeraora always top-tier speed control options, even Mienshao - an example once dismissed pre Yokosuma() ban, is only seeing an upset of usage now and has proven quite threatening.
As sealoo described, the nature of playing around Gapdos is unique in that it is also determined much more by external counterplay at the opponent's hands; I believe this statement to be highly credible yet exemplified by several additional factors which teams can captalize on. Not only is Gapdos often chipped by clicking BB - it also needs to do this while trying to break resists through specific interactions limited by the circumstances involving taking rocks (Hippo, ting, exca), sand chip (hippo, ttar), and also simply by punishing it or simply scouting (clef, aegislash, slowtwins, skarm, m-lati, pecha) and switching into an appropriate resist. Precisely, I think the idea that teams can explore playing around via forms of residual damage in both direct and indirect examples ultimately makes for a valid rebuttal against the impact that Choiced Gapdos inflicts onto the builder as a whole.
Compared to other options, I have always found its instability to be the biggest downside to using it in most instances. So, what changed?
#2 How Gapdos has adapted to it
This leads me into the aspect that I currently find the most notable about Gapdos coming from the ban side, and perhaps the closest thing to push it over the edge at this time. Gapdos is capable of hitting the entire tier neutrally and effectively as a means of making progress at the expense of its STABs of choices. However, aspects combining its role as an offensive opener for its teammates alongside its potential to tear down on the most common forms of defensive counterplay present leads me to conclude the following as Gapdos's "best" set in the current meta.
This effectively keeps every positive attribute owed from previous breaker iterations, all while expanding the reach of Pokemon Gapdos can break down over the course of a game. Lefties crucially provides Gapdos with a means of longevity, allowing it to offset recoil, rocks and other forms of chip damage teams often rely on stacking together. Also worth noting are the defense drops from Thunderous Kick, which I find to best utilize another key advantage of this set - the ability to switch moves, this makes it extremely easy for Gapdos to guarantee progress in matchups vs common sponges such as Clef, Scizor, and Slowbro (outheals regen at -1), since these answers can't no longer afford to risk staying in on the subsequent attack as easily as they used to, not even being able to recover stall it 1v1 as a way of racking up recoil anymore, it also makes a Knock Off extremely easy to land on the likes of other defensive pivots commonly paired with them, such as Rotom-W and Celesteela relying on Leftovers or Skeledirge relying on Boots. I find this to be the most worrying to face as a result; major sources of pressure against it just got minimized on the spot, and thus I'd have to rely on outspeeding it.
Again, both sides as already explained seem valid. I'll finish this discussion off here by saying that regardless of where the outcome follows, I do believe that the tier is continuing to adapt and explored in different areas, very much including the individual components of Gapdos and its place in the meta itself. Regardless of what I think however, I do appreciate the fact that we're having this suspect test as it's overall been quite intuitive.
Not going to get reqs at this rate so figured I'd share my thoughts on this before voting starts. Other posts covered most of the points I was going to make, so I'll leave the short version (EDIT: Or not lmao).
The long and short of it is that this thing is really not healthy. Scarf is fine (though it can run away with games an abnormal but ultimately fine number of times for a scarfer), but Band isn't. Band 2HKOs basically the entire tier with the right not even particularly difficult prediction due to how spammable both of its STABs are even on their own. BO being heavily pressured into running Clefable (no, Slowbro is not a good check) so that band doesn't pulverise it or force it to be constantly on the offensive is picture perfect unhealthiness, even if Clefable is an otherwise good mon. Sure, it's far from bad on BO, but it isn't exactly PDon or Gen 2 Snorlax - BO would still often much rather run something else, as I find Clefable often opens holes for other offensive threats like Iron Moth and Mega Venu to have more legroom, especially problematic when those two tend to harass BO a lot. However, BO still has it easy compared to how bad balance has it despite finding it far easier to fit Clefable, given just how many more opportunities Gapdos gets vs those teams vs slow, bulky Pokemon like Celesteela, bulky grasses, etc. as BO has an easier time keeping Gapdos from coming in with offensive pressure.
It being choice locked is rarely that big an issue for it since even resists are getting chunked by it if your name isn't Skarmory, and they usually get obliterated by the other STAB anyways so it's a risky guessing game skewed heavily in the gapdos' favour that it can just opt to skip anyways by U-turning and chipping that resist for next time it comes in, and, in a worst case, give its team momentum. This leaves the CB Gapdos user at a significant advantage as the opp has to play aggressive to keep Gapdos coming in, even with Clefable, aggressiveness that is usually exploitable or leaves them in a worse position vs the rest of the team. If a tier's only counterplay to a mon is run one mon, play significantly better than you would have to in order to get around a mon, or have to get a lot of predictions right or lose a mon, that's a pretty big flashing neon sign it's a problem.
That's not even mentioning that Clefable has to be Rocky Helmet, an item that is otherwise frankly bad on it compared to the vastly superior Leftovers and (to a lesser extent) Life Orb, otherwise Gapdos just U-turns on it for days for near free, and it can just Knock it anyways to remove Helmet from the equation, so you're crippling your Clefable just to temporarily inconvenience it, worsening your effectiveness into the rest of the meta.
Whatever healthiness Choice Scarf offers to the meta is blown away by the constraining effect of Choice Band on the tier, not that one set's healthiness should have any impact on whether or not a broken or unhealthy element is removed (outside of extreme outliers like Gen 2 Snorlax), and I strongly implore people to vote ban. Our speed control situation is not even close to bad enough to justify keeping this thing - while our other speed control mons are not the greatest, they do their job of RKing things adequately enough in most cases.
). A Dark resist allows Gapdos to pivot in once on Greninja or Hydreigon Dark Pulse. Fighting resistance allows it to come in on opposing Gapdos CC. Its weaknesses and neutralities are exploitable too, being neutral to Aqua Jet, Bullet Punch, and Shadow Sneak and weak to Moonblast.
) ban, is only seeing an upset of usage now and has proven quite threatening. 