Thank you to those who filled out the survey. Full results are in the Discord server, but I'll share the highlights here along with an update of how I think the metagame is shaping up.
Survey Results
The tiering survey, for anyone who didn't fill it out, had three parts--a general section devoted to the metagame at large, and then two sections to suspect tests
out and suspect tests
in. The council had had some suspect candidates (on both sides) in mind already but wanted to give the community at large an opportunity to chime in, and luckily, for the most part, we were on the mark.
The tier is in a fairly good place, but there is room for improvement. On average, the metagame was given a 7.6/10 for enjoyability, and a 6.6/10 for competitiveness and balance. While not poor ratings per se, this does show that there are things we can improve. The open ended-answers expressed frustrations with two main things, which I will share in their own sections below, those being Diglett-Alola and the hazard game.
In terms of suspect outs, the the only candidate which scored low enough to probably be left off the next survey is Bidoof. The others all had at least a third of the votes over a 3, which is enough to be worried about. The two who scored the highest were
![:diglett-alola:](/forums/media/minisprites/diglett-alola.png.m.1706070908)
Diglett-Alola and
![:shedinja:](/forums/media/minisprites/shedinja.png.m.1706070908)
Shedinja. Diglett has its own section below so I'll save this, but I'll talk about Shedinja a little here.
It is a very strong Pokemon, forcing a lot of Pokemon out if they don't carry the specific move they need to hit it. It creates a lot of frustrating matchups because of this, as a well-played Shed is very hard to punish long-term. In addition, it gets strong anti-offense abilities, in the Swords Dance Sucker Punch combination that got Nidoran-M banned and is part of the Diglett complaints. The difference is it has access to a base 90 attack. With that said, it's not impossible to beat, as, being Shedinja, it can get pursuit trapped and otherwise forced out a lot due to its 1 HP. Mons can also just slot Toxic into their moveset to guarantee the kill, even if they risk getting Poltergeist'd to do so. Personally, I voted a 4 on the survey for Shedinja, and was not alone in doing so. I would love to suspect this down the line but its not a top priority.
Is Diglett-Alola broken, or just really good?
Diglett-Alola had a weird spread on the survey, pulling in multiple 5 responses but also some 1 responses. Some people believe it's a healthy metagame prescence due to its unique defensive typing. Yes, Diglett has actual defensive utility, because the Alolan form's Steel typing is the only Steel-type in the format. In addition, unlike some of our previous bans and ban candidates, Diglett-Alola does have consistent switch-ins. Both
![:wooper:](/forums/media/minisprites/wooper.png.m.1706070908)
Wooper and
![:gossifleur:](/forums/media/minisprites/gossifleur.png.m.1706070908)
Gossifleur can switch in on whatever Diglett-Alola wants to do, along with some more niche things. Its speed tier and access to Sucker Punch also leaves it an important revenge killer, especially into Taillow.
With that said, a large contingency of the playerbase thinks that Diglett has too much offensive pressure to stay legal. Ground/Steel is a famously good typing, and its no exception here, hitting almost the entire metagame for neutral damage. There are two sets that have been mentioned as problematic. The first is the now-infamous SD SP set. Dual STABs to break through defensive cores, and Sucker Punch threatens to take out offensive Pokemon. Common counterpoints include that Diglett's base 55 attack, while good, isn't
that good. +2 Sucker Punch doesn't KO some of Diglett's most prominent revenge killers, most notably Luvdisc, and overall isn't that strong. To this argument, good teambuilding should have a mon that either can live Diglett's STABs or survive a Sucker Punch and revenge kill.
The other dangerous set is Choice Band. I'm personally less experienced both playing with and against this set, but it features many of the same problems, lacking overall switch-ins. In addition, it has an easier time breaking through checks because of it, as the main counter to SD is Wooper. Choice Band can't break through Wooper immediately, but it needs only a smidgen of chip in order to pull it off. With a single layer of Spikes, Diglett breaks through long-term. This set is more prone to being revenge killed, yes, but it still can use Diglett's fantastic base 90 speed tier, and only needs to be paired with things that check Luvdisc and Scarf
![:wattrel:](/forums/media/minisprites/wattrel.png.m.1706070908)
Wattrel.
One final thing that adds to Diglett's prescence in the tier is the hazard game, which is outlined in more detail below. Because of the ubiquity of Eviolite in this tier, defensive Pokemon tend to not run Heavy-Duty Boots. This means that hazards really allow Diglett to force its way through. Band Diglett is likely to 2HKO Wooper with both a Spike and Rocks up, which is not particularly hard to do. Gossifleur really hates taking Spikes damage as well. Every defensive Pokemon, except for
![:budew:](/forums/media/minisprites/budew.png.m.1706070908)
Budew, who is almost always defensive on the special side anyways, is weak to Toxic Spikes. This makes hazard stack teams using Diglett, both band and Swords Dance, very strong and arguably the best archetype in the tier right now.
Do I think it's banworthy? I voted a 5 on the survey, because I think there absolutely needs to be a suspect test, and if I were to vote today I would vote to ban. I think some of the arguments for the Diglett ban also work against it, specifically on the hazards side vs. Band sets--every time you force it out, whatever switches in takes extra chip which punishes the Diglett for swapping out. Overall though, I struggle to see Diglett's long-term future in the tier due how warping it is in the builder. I know there is an argument that Diglett serves as a nice bit of glue to help pull teams together, and can check offensive Pokemon such as
![:bramblin:](/forums/media/minisprites/bramblin.png.m.1706070908)
Bramblin and Shedinja, but I think its prescence in the tier is overall more negative than possible.
The State of the Hazard Game
I don't think the hazard game in the tier is in a bad spot, per se, but it certainly is in a
frustrating spot. Two people writ in Bramblin as they Pokemon they'd want to remove despite it only earning just over a two in the numerical question. Is Bramblin broken? No, I don't think so, but it can be incredibly frustrating both in the builder and in-game. So many of the off-meta choices being used right now are being done specifically to mess with Bramblin (see how Itemless is Budew's most common item, and one of
![:litwick:](/forums/media/minisprites/litwick.png.m.1706070908)
Litwick's as well). Ghost/Grass is a great STAB combo and is backed up by 120 and 110 base power moves, along with a base 65 attack. It gets no setup moves, so you're rarely going to get 6-0'd by Bramblin. With that said, it's infamous for killing offensive mons that on paper should beat it such as an itemless Bramblin--Power Whip has a chance to kill after a layer of hazards and Shadow Sneak is a guaranteed kill! Its typing is fantastic into the majority of defensive Pokemon in the tier. The metagame has attempted to adapt to it, to some success (see Itemless Budew), but a lot of the Bramblin answers are pressured by Spikes. Offensively revenging it is difficult as it's a fast Spinner, so after the Rapid Spin, it may be fastest than your revenge killer, and we've been over how it is incredibly threatening to offensive mons. Right now, there's just very little reason to run any other hazard removal, when Bramblin just does it so much better. If you watch tournament games, count how many times a Bramblin goes for an obvious Rapid Spin, but the opponent can't spinblock because if Bramblin clicks Poltergeist the spinblocker is dead. There's been some developments, such as Rolycoly having multiple wins in the tour, but the metagame revolves around Bramblin and how other mons play into Bramblin offense teams.
So, if Bramblin isn't ban-worthy (and I don't currently believe it to be--it's probably #3 on my suspect out list, but I think I would currently vote DNB), the solution to make the hazard metagame more varied. Add a new hazard removal that competes with Bramblin for usage! There are three major contenders, those being
![:ducklett:](/forums/media/minisprites/ducklett.png.m.1706070908)
Ducklett,
![:steenee:](/forums/media/minisprites/steenee.png.m.1706070908)
Steenee, and
![:swablu:](/forums/media/minisprites/swablu.png.m.1706070908)
Swablu.
Ducklett has a unique typing in Water/Flying, along with fairly balanced stats. It has useful bulk without being impenetrable, while also having useful offenses that prevent it from being passive. Water/Flying is well known to be a solid defensive typing, with some real downsides but a lot of upsides. Electric types being rare in DNU are also benefit it, with only Wattrel and the rare
![:tadbulb:](/forums/media/minisprites/tadbulb.png.m.1706070908)
Tadbulb being relevant (sorry to the one
![:shinx:](/forums/media/minisprites/shinx.png.m.1706070908)
Shinx fan in the server). This typing is one of the biggest reasons for its inclusion on the slate, helping into Pokemon such as Diglett and Luvdisc. Its detractors worry about its offensive prescence, and questioning if Ducklett will ever actually be used for Defogging.
Steenee is another Grass-type Rapid Spinner, serving as a bit of a midground between the two prominent ones in the tier. It's significantly less passive than Goss, but it's a lot less frail than Bramblin is. It also has access to good coverage options, getting both Knock Off (incredibly useful in this tier) and Triple Axel. It's a spinner that beats Bramblin consistently, which is a good option to have in our current metagame. Common complaints with Steenee include that it will cut into the viability of two viable Pokemon, serving as a bit of power creep to the tier, along with its access to the two moves listed above. On paper, its scary offensively.
Swablu is the final hazard removal option that was on this slate. Swablu is a more traditional defensive option--fairly passive with strong bulk, hosting an impressive 45/60/75. For context, Gossifleur has 40/60/60,
![:nacli:](/forums/media/minisprites/nacli.png.m.1706070908)
Nacli has 55/75/35, and
![:jigglypuff:](/forums/media/minisprites/jigglypuff.png.m.1706070908)
Jigglypuff has 115/20/25. It's right up there with the bulkiest-on-paper mons in the tier, with access to reliable recovery and a pseudo-status immunity in Natural Cure. It also has a unique defensive option in Cotton Guard to shore up its weaker defensive stat. The main arguments against it are pretty clear--it's just too bulky. It can take too many hits. It also gets a decent Normal/Flying STAB combination and Toxic access, so it's not as passive as some say.
Overall, between these three, I personally want to try Ducklett first, but discussions are ongoing, and it's likely that all three will be tested at some point.
New Challengers Approach?!
As part of the survey, each of our potential new additions had the option to vote on how the user felt about them in the tier. One of the options was "Do not test, will be too weak (quickunban instead)". Following the results of the survey, three Pokemon got votes to quick-unban in this manner. After discussions with the council, we have decided to vote on the three mons, along with a fourth that had been previously discussed to quick-unban but was mistakenly left off the survey, to free. Voting is ongoing and results will be released tomorrow (or likely today when you read this). Any unbans would
not be added to the Kickoff tour but
will be allowed in Solomod Premier League, as there will be time to adjust to them before the start of the tournament.
Voting needs 3 of the 5 council members to vote to free them. The Pokemon slated to be voted on are as follows:
![:beldum:](/forums/media/minisprites/beldum.png.m.1706070908)
Beldum
![:capsakid:](/forums/media/minisprites/capsakid.png.m.1706070908)
Capsakid
![:snorunt:](/forums/media/minisprites/snorunt.png.m.1706070908)
Snorunt
![:steenee:](/forums/media/minisprites/steenee.png.m.1706070908)
Steenee
Thanks for reading. I need to go to bed. Expect voting results to be released tomorrow and the first suspect of the new 280 metagame will be announced later this week!