McCoolDude
Just a fat shark
So I've finally had enough opportunity to play in a dmax-less meta enough to speak on gdarm.
My initial thoughts were that gdarm would get a bit weaker after a dmax ban, and that was.. half right. Gdarm is weaker for people who play it incorrectly and need an "out" (choice locking into EQ and having corvi come out, only to dmax into max flare). However, dmax was also a strong defensive counterplay for darmanitan, and losing that means that well-played darmanitans are extremely difficult to pin down, and often just relatedly spread chip with u-turn until late game. With defog support (mandibuzz or corviknight typically), this makes for an extremely difficult to beat combination.
I think the net result was a buff to gdarm with dmax, as now there are two main strategies I've seen around it (and one somewhat memey strategy).
If we look at the ability in a vacuum, it is not broken. It's a straight worse version of huge power. If we look at the Mon in a vacuum, it is not broken. Zen mode is extremely easy to beat with any priority (don't let it set up a sub). It is only the combination of Galarian Darmanitan and Gorilla Tactics that is broken.
I think the simplest and most direct option for fixing the issue is to ban Darminitan to Ubers. Traditional tiering philosphy is to look at a mon with its best set (and tactics is undoubtedly the best set), outside of multiple abusers of a single thing. I don't believe a change to tiering philosophy should be made to save zen mode Darminitan.
As for Suspect vs Quickban, I'm always in favor of a vote. I know this takes longer and is annoying for people who believe (as I do) that a vote would undoubtedly result in a majority ban, I just believe the perception of an ban that was not voted on by the players is usually a negative one. That said, I rarely go for Reqs, so Quickban vs suspect doesn't super affect me.
My initial thoughts were that gdarm would get a bit weaker after a dmax ban, and that was.. half right. Gdarm is weaker for people who play it incorrectly and need an "out" (choice locking into EQ and having corvi come out, only to dmax into max flare). However, dmax was also a strong defensive counterplay for darmanitan, and losing that means that well-played darmanitans are extremely difficult to pin down, and often just relatedly spread chip with u-turn until late game. With defog support (mandibuzz or corviknight typically), this makes for an extremely difficult to beat combination.
I think the net result was a buff to gdarm with dmax, as now there are two main strategies I've seen around it (and one somewhat memey strategy).
- You build your team with no defensive answer to darm and something capable of outspeeding and OHKOing it, or something with priority. For many of my (and others) teams, this is Conkeldurr. Conk can use the revenge turn to take chip, a KO, or defog against the opposing team, since it isn't in real danger from gdarm's scarf set, and gdarm is at risk of OHKO by Mach punch. This means that every time darm comes in, it either u-turns or gets a kill.
- You build your team with one of the handful of gdarm defensive answers and spam hazards to force your opponent to keep clearing them instead of bringing in darm.
- You use eject button pex + dugtrio and hope you get the roll and you didn't get the prediction wrong.
If we look at the ability in a vacuum, it is not broken. It's a straight worse version of huge power. If we look at the Mon in a vacuum, it is not broken. Zen mode is extremely easy to beat with any priority (don't let it set up a sub). It is only the combination of Galarian Darmanitan and Gorilla Tactics that is broken.
I think the simplest and most direct option for fixing the issue is to ban Darminitan to Ubers. Traditional tiering philosphy is to look at a mon with its best set (and tactics is undoubtedly the best set), outside of multiple abusers of a single thing. I don't believe a change to tiering philosophy should be made to save zen mode Darminitan.
As for Suspect vs Quickban, I'm always in favor of a vote. I know this takes longer and is annoying for people who believe (as I do) that a vote would undoubtedly result in a majority ban, I just believe the perception of an ban that was not voted on by the players is usually a negative one. That said, I rarely go for Reqs, so Quickban vs suspect doesn't super affect me.