Hello everyone, the OU tiering council has decided to test Roaring Moon!
Roaring Moon has been a controversial Pokemon all generation, having a stint on the initial tiering radars while also being controversial during the peak of the Shed Tail era. With this in mind, Roaring Moon also had some low points, even briefly falling out of OU and being seen as more of an inconsistent sweeping option during the middle of this year. However, the release of DLC2 granted it STAB Knock Off and a more welcoming role on offense. In response to its recent surge and potential lack of counterplay, the SV OU's qualified playerbase gave it a 3.7 out of 5 on the recent survey, which is well above that of any other Pokemon in the metagame. While there was some internal support to vote on a potential quickban, we felt it did not match the standard set by prior quickbans, falling more in-line with other suspects. In addition, other suspects were discussed and are very likely to be entertained in the near future, but given the convincing margin Roaring Moon had over them from our qualified playerbase, we felt it was best to honor what our players felt was best.
Roaring Moon is one of the most threatening Pokemon in OU; it has all of the strength, speed, and coverage needed to be a destructive offensive force. In terms of strength, 139 base attack is nothing to laugh at. Couple this with the high likelihood that Booster Energy will increase its attacking stat further upon initial entry and you get one of the hardest hitting options the metagame has to offer. If you want to go a step further, Dragon Dance is a staple on Roaring Moon outside of Sun while Sun teams oftentimes opt to utilize a Choice Band on it, making it as if Roaring Moon had an attack boost regardless. Needless to say, damage output is not a factor that holds back Roaring Moon, but rather lands it in suspect discussions to begin with.
In terms of speed, it boasts 119 base speed, which is superb, but not unbeatable. Without a boost in speed due to Dragon Dance or Protosynthesis, revenge killing Roaring Moon is attainable with common Pokemon like Dragapult, Booster Energy Iron Valiant, Zamazenta-Hero, and specific Choice Scarf or priority users. However, we cannot overlook the two aforementioned conditions of Dragon Dance and Protosynthesis as the former is the focus of many Roaring Moon variants while the latter comes into play often on Sun teams or when players opt for a speed boosting Booster Energy variant, which is much less common than attack boosting. With a boost to its speed, Roaring Moon practically outruns the entire format and revenge killing is relegated to priroity, which can admiteddly be effective into it depending upon the specific situation.
In terms of movepool and coverage, Roaring Moon is always running Knock Off and Acrobatics on Dragon Dance variants. Acrobatics may seem bizarre from afar, but when you pair it with Booster Energy and potentially even Tera Flying, you get one of the strongest possible attacks. Moving forward, Roaring Moon can opt to bolster its coverage further to dispatch of Kingambit, healthier Heatran, or less common Pokemon like Empoleon and Tyranitar with Brick Break or Earthquake as well. However, this last moveslot -- alongside Dragon Dance, Knock Off, and Acrobatics -- is commonly Roost, which bolsters longevity and provides extra opportunities, or Taunt, which can spell trouble for bulkier foes like Gliscor, Toxapex, Corviknight, and Ting Lu. The coverage between two moves is good while opting for a third attack makes it near perfect while the other options improve other match-ups across the board, giving Roaring Moon a great deal of potential. On choiced sets, Roaring Moon oftentimes opts to run Outrage, Knock Off, U-turn, and one of Iron Head, Earthquake, or Brick Break as well depending upon the specific team.
As we lay out Roaring Moon's offensive profile, you may realize that very few things wish to withstand its offensive assault; you would be correct in coming to that assumption as there are few, if any, true counters to Roaring Moon. This is a major selling-point for a potential ban as it puts all of the aforementioned characteristics together to put a major strain on teambuilding through forcing specific schemes to assure it is checked if they remain healthy while putting a similar strain on gameplay as preserving resources to withstand it can be challenging, especially when it is paired with other strong and synergetic offensive options like Kingambit. This lack of defined defensive counterplay is quite worrisome and a large reason for why Roaring Moon has drawn the ire of many players and put itself in the middle of tiering discussions.
However, it is not all black-and-white like the above paragraph paints it out to be. In the context of games, Roaring Moon still needs at least one free entry and turn to set-up. Entry is oftentimes only gained by fodder or outmaneuvering the foe as it is not used as often with pivots as it is with stationary Pokemon seen on hyper offense, who also attempt to break or sweep the opponent rather than pivot around. While Roaring Moon has great 101 HP and 105 special defense, 71 defense makes it very susceptible to physical attacks, which can limit set-up opportunities a great deal. Moreover, it is not entirely unbeatable once it sets up; it is reliant on Tera to maximize damage output with Acrobatics and remove some weaknesses defensively while it can be defeated by a timely opposing Tera on the defensive end, too. This is not all either as priority can threaten Roaring Moon no matter how boosted its speed may be. Extreme Speed from Dragonite, especially if it is boosted by Tera Normal, is a great tool against Roaring Moon while Sucker Punch from Gambit can make quick work of a chipped Tera Flying Roaring Moon, which we encounter frequently. Finally, options like Bullet Punch Scizor, Mach Punch Conkeldurr, and Ice Shard Mamoswine or Weavile may not see the most usage, but can be very valuable against Roaring Moon.
Overall, Roaring Moon has become one of the staples of our metagame on offensive teams and many people have seen it go from containable to unreasonable with the release of DLC and the continuation of our metagame. Lack of defensive counterplay is worrisome and one cannot understate the strain Roaring Moon has on both building and playing. However, consistent offensive pressure can keep it from sweeping while priority can revenge kill Roaring Moon if sequenced well, making it more playable than some imagine. Given this and everything above, we will continue to look at Roaring Moon throughout this abbreviated suspect and come to a conclusion on it at the end of next week!
- Reading this is mandatory for participating in the suspect test!!! The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 80 with at least 50 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 80 GXE, down to a minimum of 30 games at a GXE of 84. Also, needing more than 50 games to reach 80 GXE will suffice.
GXE | minimum games |
80 | 50 |
80.2 | 49 |
80.4 | 48 |
80.6 | 47 |
80.8 | 46 |
81 | 45 |
81.2 | 44 |
81.4 | 43 |
81.6 | 42 |
81.8 | 41 |
82 | 40 |
82.2 | 39 |
82.4 | 38 |
82.6 | 37 |
82.8 | 36 |
83 | 35 |
83.2 | 34 |
83.4 | 33 |
83.6 | 32 |
83.8 | 31 |
84 | 30 |
- You must signup with a newly registered account on Pokemon Showdown! that begins with the appropriate prefix for the suspect test. For this suspect test, the prefix will be OUFC. For example, I might signup with the ladder account OUFC Finch.
- Laddering with an account that impersonates, mocks, or insults another Smogon user or breaks Pokemon Showdown! rules may be disqualified from voting and infracted. Moderator discretion will be applied here. If there is any doubt or hesitance when making the alt, just pick another name. There are infinite possibilities and we have had trouble for this repeatedly. If you wish to participate in the suspect, you should be able to exhibit decent enough judgement here. We will not be lenient.
- We will be using the regular OU ladder for this suspect test. We will not be creating a new Suspect Ladder. At the beginning of every battle, there will be an announcement denoting the ongoing suspect with a link to this thread.
- The suspect being tested, Roaring Moon, will be allowed on the ladder.
- 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.
- Unlike previous tests, we will be posting the voting identification thread immediately after this thread. Your voting requisites will be confirmed by a Council member or OU moderator, to which we will edit in confirmation. Please avoid getting more games before getting confirmed.
- The suspect test will be lasting until October 27th at 11:59 pm (GMT-4), and then we will put up the voting thread in the Blind Voting subforum.
- THIS IS A SLIGHTLY SHORTER TEST THAN NORMAL AS WE ATTEMPT TO BALANCE THE METAGAME AFTER THE RELEASE OF DLC. PLEASE NOTE THIS WHEN PLANNING TO GET VOTING REQUIREMENTS!!!
- No unhelpful one liners nor uninformed posts;
- No discussion on other potential suspects;
- No discussion on the suspect process -- this includes testing Roaring Moon vs other potential suspects;
- You are required to make respectful posts;
- You are required to read this thread before posting.
- 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 OU Council and the OU 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.
- Do not argue because it's your favorite Pokemon. This should be common sense, but please don't do this, because we will delete posts like this.
- You do not need a boatload of experience to have an informed opinion, but please try to minimize the theorymon aspect 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 an 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 Pokemon or mechanic being tested in this suspect test will make a Pokemon or mechanic broken, overpowered, and/or uncompetitive; don't. If something needs to be banned because of the result this suspect, then so be it.
- This thread is not to voice complaints about the suspect process or decisions of the council. While we are more than open to hearing complaints that may arise, this isn't the place for it. I suggest you message the OU Council, PM our Tier Leaders, Finchinator and Ruft, or make a post in Senior Staff requests, should you have a badge.
Keep in mind that our suspect tests are decided by the community; anyone who rightfully achieves voting requisites is allowed to vote. The outcome is up to you.
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