The council has decided to quickban Iron Crown and suspect Mega Tyranitar!
Let’s start with the Crown: Iron Crown has been a controversial threat for the past few months since it dropped from OU. While at first it seemed that Iron Crown would provide great utility for the tier with its Assault Vest set checking staple special attackers like Hydrapple and Mega Venusaur, the “Demon Crown” set was soon discovered and became a key part of many Hyper Offense structures. With Iron Defense, Calm Mind, and Stored Power, Iron Crown becomes a sweeper capable of fortifying itself against revenge-killing attempts from Mienshao and even Excadrill and clearing through teams with a boosted Stored Power. Focus Blast provides the necessary coverage for Dark-types, and Booster Energy lets Iron Crown outspeed everything it needs to. Often paired with Rillaboom to provide recovery and protection from Earthquake, and Iron Crown could often be impossible to stop for most offensive teams without very specific measures.
There are many Pokemon that can take hits from Iron Crown. The Slowtwins, Latias, Hydrapple, Hippowdon, Victini, Aegislash, and Celesteela all can take 1 or 2 hits from Iron Crown. The issue comes with actually dispatching it; with Iron Defense, Iron Crown can take 2-3 hits from Victini and Hippowdon, with Aegislash being forced to use its Z-Move and take 1 hit in Blade form to KO Iron Crown. Meanwhile, Calm Mind lets Iron Crown sit on the Slowtwins, Latias, and Hydrapple for multiple turns, grabbing the boosts it needs to sweep through the rest of the opposing team. The main two checks were Aegislash and Celesteela, with Aegislash needing a Z-Move and high health to beat Iron Crown, and Celesteela needing an extra turn or help from a teammate to completely chip down Iron Crown with Leech Seed and Flamethrower.
This issue is compounded further by Hyper Offense structures. Most Hyper Offense structures utilise Grassy Terrain, which gives Iron Crown extended longevity. Additionally, Hyper Offense teammates like Moltres-Galar, Iron Moth, and RIllaboom appreciate shared checks Celesteela and Aegislash being chipped or take these two as opportunities to threaten their own sweeps. The Council has decided to take action on Iron Crown, as it is the most difficult Hyper Offense threat to handle, whereas other options have more defined counterplay. The rise of options like Goodra-Hisui and supoptimal moveslot choices like Whirlwind Hippowdon have done little to stymie Iron Crown's power.
Other factors, such as the return of Mega Tyranitar reducing Aegislash usage and the sweeper set being Iron Crown’s only real set (which provides little to the metagame) were also reasons we decided to Quickban Iron Crown.
Speaking of Mega Tyranitar… the king has returned. While Mega Tyranitar was no doubt controversial during its last reign over UU, it rose to OU before any action was taken against it. Now having dropped into a much more tame UU, Mega Tyranitar absolutely towers over every other option in the tier. With massive power and bulk backing its spectacular movepool, Mega Tyranitar is reminiscent of Primal Groudon in that it is the optimal option for any role you may need on a team. It is the best Stealth Rock setter, a phenomenal wallbreaker, a trapper and check for problematic threats like Iron Moth, Blacephalon, and Moltres-Galar, and it can even be a sweeper. Lets get into what makes these traits so dangerous.
Mega Tyranitar’s “support” sets are very overcentralizing. With the amount it brings to teams, primarily Sand, Stealth Rock, and Pursuit, Mega Tyranitar fulfills multiple roles that most teams desperately need and cannot fill without leaving holes elsewhere. This can be seen through the past metagame, which was dominated by Sand teams with Mega Tyranitar, Excadrill, and 4 other teammates, as these structures were the most, and arguably only, reliable teams in the tier. With many past threats to Sand gone, like Mega Gallade and Hawlucha, Mega Tyranitar as a centralizing threat seems more dangerous than ever.
Mega Tyranitar’s offensive sets are also incredibly scary. A 4 Attack set with a tech like Low Kick or Superpower for other Mega Tyranitar can function as an incredibly reliable wallbreaker and trapper, with nearly nothing in the tier able to handle the combination of Knock Off and repeated Stone Edge’s. However, the scarier set is Dragon Dance; alongside Grassy Terrain, Mega Tyranitar can easily set up 1 or 2 Dragon Dances, and can tear clean through many opposing teams. Counterplay for offensive teams often consists of exactly Buzzwole or Choice Scarf Mienshao and Keldeo, the latter of which fails after a second Dragon Dance.
While Mega Tyranitar is extremely centralizing, this does result in most teams packing checks for it. Whether it is Hyper Offensive teams utilizing Colbur Berry Aegislash or Offensive Scizor, bulky offense teams leaning on Buzzwole or Mienshao, or Balance teams using Skarmory and Hippowdon, counterplay does exist for the behemoth. However, with entry hazard support, which it often provides itself, many of these checks quickly fall into 2HKO or OHKO range. For these reasons, the council has decided to suspect test Mega Tyranitar.
The instructions to participate in this test are as follows:
- Create a new account OR use an existing one with no National Dex UU games played (resetting W/L does not count for this - the account you use must never have played National Dex UU before the test, ever.) You do not have to follow any specific naming rule but your suspect account must have never played a game in National Dex UU 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.
- After you linked your account, if you play one game with the alt, you have to play at least one game in order to verify and then do /rank in order to see the "Suspect Test elligible" message
- View attachment 686604
[*]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" - 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 UU ladder for this suspect test, and Mega Tyranitar 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 2900 with a B-Value of 3.
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The suspect test will last until August 2nd 11:59 PM GMT -8.