My plan is to post my thoughts on the metagame on a regular basis, focusing on the big topics being discussed at any given time. I will also try to share any council information I can when appropriate, but we will be doing a lot more of this in council minutes as we organize to use that more regularly.
To start things off, a few people above have brought up the NUBL Pokemon as potential additions to the metagame; I do not view this as the best idea until we have a better idea about the upcoming shifts, but I do think it is still worth discussing, be it for now or the future.
is a very strong sweeper with Shell Smash and more than enough attack/speed/coverage. I firmly believe that it would be too much for the metagame as you would have to go well out of your way to contain it if not using one of a very small pool of Pokemon. It is too fast to be revenge killed by non-extreme options or very specificforms of priority, which eliminates offensive counterplay, and defensive counterplay is scattered, too. I have no personal interest in a retest here.
is a Pokemon that got banned via suspect a few months back and I do not see much that has changed since then. I do not believe it was overwhelmingly broken, but I also think the logic from back then would prevail right now. The shifts and their impact on metagame trends could change this dynamic and speaking too soon is not in our best interest, but in this current metagame state, I think this would be taking a step backwards before forward. Think it's best we employ the waiting game here and move on for now.
was a weirder case, but do not see too much that has changed. I honestly would not mind looking into it eventually and never saw it as overly problematic, but at the same time we have a lot of people who were very outspoken against it. Because of that, I feel it is best to let it sit for now, but if there is any support to look into it among posters, I would not mind bringing it up after the shifts. That is a pretty big if though as I think people will find other, more pressing matters.
all have no place in NU for the time being due to their offensive presence. Entei is even pretty well-rounded, but the point is that I am not confident in the tier's counterplay against any of the three now. I do not see much of a point reevaluating them in the coming weeks either. Would be more of a distant prospect than anything else.
These Pokemon benefitted from Light Clay, but really only warrant one set-up turn due to priority and Unburden, making it so that the extra turns may not even matter all that much. Belly Drum HO was never a super competitive dynamic for an already centralized tier that had limited defensive options to cover these exploits. I feel it is best we do not explore these two anytime soon.
One of the small handful of Pokemon I would be willing to discuss a lot moving forward. I am not sold on this, but I do believe Indeedee would not be the absolute worst addition. At worst, it would be broken enough to stay banned without totally ruining the metagame. At best, it gives us another offensive option to play with in a tier that would appreciate this. There is not a strong possibility I can see where Indeedee ruins the tier outright, making things outright unplayable. However, there is a realistic possibility where it forces specific defensive structures and is an overall limiting presence I admit. I am not sure if Indeedee would be overbearing or if it would warp any archetypes though. It could absolutely be fine given the amount of Steel and even Dark type options we have. Indeedee is a pretty limited Pokemon and there is not a ton going for it besides sheer strength and speed. I do not think we should retest it now or even right after the shifts because either situation would lead to a volatile fallout and skewed retest, but if there is ever a lull and we have addressed more pressing matters, I would at least entertain discussion. I can say it surfaced in discussions I have seen on discord recently, but the support and timeliness is just not there right now.
Probably the one I am most willing to entertain. Pangoro was a very strong option that had unmatched breaking potential, but due to being slower and frailer, I always felt that Pangoro was manageable and even provided a presence I welcomed in the metagame. Of course, I get why it was banned and even supported having the suspect process tackle Pangoro ultimately. I was never pro-ban side though and if we have a good time for a retest, this Pokemon would top my personal list. I am not sure how people would perceive it, especially given that the ban was semi-recent, but I think people claiming that Pangoro was oppressive or overly limiting in a more proactive metagame are overselling it. I do not think there is any true "need" to retest this (or anything else) now or in the immediate future, but it makes for a good talking point until we find the right time and place.
I have no real comment here. This metagame is pretty foreign to me as we have confounding variables such as Drizzle and I found this stretch particularly unenjoyable as a player. Perhaps Tornadus as an isolated variable is worth testing due to the lack of prior opportunity that was not skewed by other factors. However, I do not really love the prospect right now and I feel like it would have to get some support to be considered due to how oppressive it can be with the combination of speed, power, and STAB+coverage combination that it brings to the table. The main drawback is the accuracy, which is admittedly huge, but this alone is not enough of a selling point for me right now.
I never got around to trying too much either, but it seems like it would require very one of a very limited pool of Pokemon to keep in check and I find it best to avoid imposing those type of restrictions on our metagame.
I do not see either of these being healthy for the tier now honestly. Both have sets that really invalidate a lot of our current approaches and force novel teambuilding conventions that are more restricted than we find ideal. Sigilyph in particular was insanely hard to stop once it got going while Porygon-Z is an overpowered nuke in the context of NU.
I
do not think we should retest anything right now and I feel that our first priority should be seeing what the tier shifts next week have for us and then reacting to that impact in the best way possible for the metagame. However, these points are worth keeping in your head and maybe shedding some thought on for whenever we hit a lull in action.