November Blue
A universe where hot chips don't exist :(
I'm just thinking out loud here. It might get a bit disjointed, so bear with me.
Has anyone noticed how the majority of players seem to be obsessed with offensive Pokemon, and kinda brush off defensive or support options because they're obscure?
Maybe people just like to stick to what they know is good, but this is the perfect time for experimentation; half of the OU tier is unavailable, and we have a slew of new Pokemon and moves to play around with. So many possibilities, but when I get on the ladder, all I see is the same cookiecutter teams with a handful of the same Pokemon. Everybody is using Greninja, but when was the last time you saw a Diggersby, a Mega Banette, or even a Noivern?
We're obsessed with fast, powerful Pokemon, and defensive Steel-types. Look at Greninja, Aegislash, and Mega Kangaskhan. They're everywhere because they're powerful, popular and easy to use. On the other hand, Rotom-H, Mandibuzz, and Mega Banette are seen as often as a blue moon.
Are people just unwilling to branch out and try new things, or does the metagame now "require" certain Pokemon? The time is ripe for experimentation and trying new things, but people just aren't doing it.
Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Gliscor, Tyranitar, and Trevenant are the current set of defensive Pokes. You'd be lucky to see anyone using anything else. Mandibuzz? Nope. Gourgeist? Haven't seen a single one.
Megas aren't really seeing enough use either. Aside from Kanga, I've seen Charizard, Scizor, Tyranitar, maybe a few Venusaur... Nobody uses Lucario, and even Scizor and Tyranitar are rare. Why hasn't anybody tried Mega Alakazam? Its explosive offensive stats and Trace ability are just bursting with undiscovered potential. Or (again) Mega Banette. Ghost typing, base 165 Attack with Shadow Sneak, Prankster WoW, Taunt, and Destiny Bond... With good prediction, Mega Banette is probably a better Kanga check than Sableye. Dark-typing is really good right now. Mega Absol gets Magic Bounce and base 150 / 115 / 115 offenses. Tasty Sucker Punch, WoW, ect. This thing should be everywhere.
Or how about Slowbro? It has great typing, phenomenal defenses, good offensive presence, spreads burns, is impossible to wear down because of Regenerator... It's a hard stop to so many physical attackers that it's not funny. Where are all the Slowbros?
What's going to happen once we hit PokeBank? Are we all going to rush back to our missing half of OU? Why use Rotom-H when we have Heatran? Why bother with Mega Lucario when you have Thundurus and Genesect?
The offensive bias that I'm alluding to is our tendency to flock to all of the powerful offensive Pokemon, but gloss over the defensive and support ones. Regardless of whether Kangaskhan should be banned or not, I bet there's a great check out there that nobody's discovered yet. I suggested Mega Banette. Give it a go.
People seem reluctant to give new "defensive" Pokes a go. Mandibuzz is great right now, but everyone ignores it ("But Mandibuzz was NU last gen! It doesn't have a cool new move or ability! You know something's wrong when I have to use Mandibuzz to check something."). Sure, these things happen eventually, but it takes one of the higher-ups to eventually try it and spread the word before people will follow along with what's popular.
So what do you think? Am I crazy? Are the new Gen VI Pokes outclassed by the old favorites? Is the metagame still developing? Do you think that the samey-ness is justified, or should we be seeing more variety?
Maybe we could do something here. Set up some sort of weekly/monthly discussion thread for new stuff. "The Weekly Showcase" or something to that effect.
Whew, I think that's everything I wanted to cover. It's all random-thought-ey, but hopefully all y'all get what I'm saying.
Has anyone noticed how the majority of players seem to be obsessed with offensive Pokemon, and kinda brush off defensive or support options because they're obscure?
Maybe people just like to stick to what they know is good, but this is the perfect time for experimentation; half of the OU tier is unavailable, and we have a slew of new Pokemon and moves to play around with. So many possibilities, but when I get on the ladder, all I see is the same cookiecutter teams with a handful of the same Pokemon. Everybody is using Greninja, but when was the last time you saw a Diggersby, a Mega Banette, or even a Noivern?
We're obsessed with fast, powerful Pokemon, and defensive Steel-types. Look at Greninja, Aegislash, and Mega Kangaskhan. They're everywhere because they're powerful, popular and easy to use. On the other hand, Rotom-H, Mandibuzz, and Mega Banette are seen as often as a blue moon.
Are people just unwilling to branch out and try new things, or does the metagame now "require" certain Pokemon? The time is ripe for experimentation and trying new things, but people just aren't doing it.
Ferrothorn, Skarmory, Gliscor, Tyranitar, and Trevenant are the current set of defensive Pokes. You'd be lucky to see anyone using anything else. Mandibuzz? Nope. Gourgeist? Haven't seen a single one.
Megas aren't really seeing enough use either. Aside from Kanga, I've seen Charizard, Scizor, Tyranitar, maybe a few Venusaur... Nobody uses Lucario, and even Scizor and Tyranitar are rare. Why hasn't anybody tried Mega Alakazam? Its explosive offensive stats and Trace ability are just bursting with undiscovered potential. Or (again) Mega Banette. Ghost typing, base 165 Attack with Shadow Sneak, Prankster WoW, Taunt, and Destiny Bond... With good prediction, Mega Banette is probably a better Kanga check than Sableye. Dark-typing is really good right now. Mega Absol gets Magic Bounce and base 150 / 115 / 115 offenses. Tasty Sucker Punch, WoW, ect. This thing should be everywhere.
Or how about Slowbro? It has great typing, phenomenal defenses, good offensive presence, spreads burns, is impossible to wear down because of Regenerator... It's a hard stop to so many physical attackers that it's not funny. Where are all the Slowbros?
What's going to happen once we hit PokeBank? Are we all going to rush back to our missing half of OU? Why use Rotom-H when we have Heatran? Why bother with Mega Lucario when you have Thundurus and Genesect?
The offensive bias that I'm alluding to is our tendency to flock to all of the powerful offensive Pokemon, but gloss over the defensive and support ones. Regardless of whether Kangaskhan should be banned or not, I bet there's a great check out there that nobody's discovered yet. I suggested Mega Banette. Give it a go.
People seem reluctant to give new "defensive" Pokes a go. Mandibuzz is great right now, but everyone ignores it ("But Mandibuzz was NU last gen! It doesn't have a cool new move or ability! You know something's wrong when I have to use Mandibuzz to check something."). Sure, these things happen eventually, but it takes one of the higher-ups to eventually try it and spread the word before people will follow along with what's popular.
So what do you think? Am I crazy? Are the new Gen VI Pokes outclassed by the old favorites? Is the metagame still developing? Do you think that the samey-ness is justified, or should we be seeing more variety?
Maybe we could do something here. Set up some sort of weekly/monthly discussion thread for new stuff. "The Weekly Showcase" or something to that effect.
Whew, I think that's everything I wanted to cover. It's all random-thought-ey, but hopefully all y'all get what I'm saying.