We voted to quickban Iron Leaves. This may come as a surprise, but don't worry, it'll be getting retested in the near future - we just have more pressing matters. The short end of this is that Swords Dance with Booster Energy, when backed up by Tera, is just absurdly difficult to find consistent stops to; Salamence can't reliably check it, it blasts through Unaware, and it outspeeds basically everything save for Scarf Pawmot and Booster Jugulis. It's really difficult to revenge kill with priority when using Tera Fire since only Lycanroc-Dusk hits it hard, and its amazing bulk alongside ridiculous power and Speed just sets it over the edge; we do think Iron Leaves has the potential to be fine, but in the interest of tier stability, we're going to put it on the backburner for now. So, Marty or Kris, if you could implement this ban at your nearest convenience, that would be super appreciated. Thank you!
Now, onto Scizor.
Scizor had a quiet introduction to this generation. When it dropped to UU, lots of us thought it'd kinda suck because it lost both Roost and Knock Off, integral pieces of the SDBPBPBPBP endgame. Fortunately, Scizor was not left out to dry. It gained Close Combat - a nice upgrade over Superpower - which is a great midground move for it, and it also gained Trailblaze, a fantastic Grass-type 50 BP coverage move that boosts its Speed; it's also boosted by Technician, so it actually does pretty great damage to stuff like Quagsire, Quaquaval and Paldean Aqua Tauros. But the real buff for Scizor was Tera.
Scizor is absurdly good at abusing Tera. When you think about it, it makes sense; Scizor is pretty bulky and also extremely lethal if given a free turn, so you pretty much have to deal with it hard and fast, and this usually results in either a) a super strong neutral move or, more likely, b) a Fire-type coverage move. Tera usually doesn't help all that much with the first one there, but when you can turn into a type that takes Fire moves easily, you end up with a really skewed matchup spread. Stuff like Talonflame can switch into Scizor expecting to win the 1v1 and end up becoming setup fodder! It helps that the most common Tera Type, Fire, also makes Scizor immune to burn. Scizor is not just beholden to Tera Fire, though; we've seen Tera Steel on Choice Band sets to really send Bullet Punch to astronomical levels of power, performing crazy feats like OHKOing Slither Wing and Iron Jugulis after only Stealth Rock chip. Tera Normal is also seen on some Swords Dance sets, which lets Scizor completely flip the script on a lot of Bullet Punch resists by blasting them with a STAB Quick Attack that sends Sandy Shocks back to the Jurassic period.
Scizor isn't without flaw; it's not particularly durable since it lost Roost, and some hard stops do exist. Notably it struggles really hard with Paldean Blaze Tauros and can have trouble with Tera Steel Salamence, but there is definitely a lack of splashable counterplay. It's not even enough to be a faster Bullet Punch resist anymore, since Trailblaze means that Pokemon like Pawmot, Quaquaval and Lucario can't just tank a hit and KO it back the way they would be able to otherwise. Scizor can also struggle to fit all the moves it wants; the standard set of Swords Dance, Bullet Punch, Close Combat and Trailblaze does occasionally find itself wanting U-turn or Quick Attack, but in general it hits pretty much everything with that coverage.
Scizor has mostly been a fixture of tournament play, where it has performed some silly endgames that we think are unhealthy for the tier. We'd like to put it up for public vote, so here's your chance to have your say! Post your thoughts below! However, keep in mind that - as is standard for the forum - one-liners and posts lacking substance are subject to deletion and, in extreme cases, may lead to infractions.
Oh, we also voted on Quaquaval and Pelipper. Neither reached the voting threshold required for a ban, as you can see above.
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The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 78 with at least 50 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 78 GXE, down to a minimum of 30 games at a GXE of 82. As always, needing more than 50 games to 78 GXE is fine.
GXE | minimum games |
78 | 50 |
78.2 | 49 |
78.4 | 48 |
78.6 | 47 |
78.8 | 46 |
79 | 45 |
79.2 | 44 |
79.4 | 43 |
79.6 | 42 |
79.8 | 41 |
80 | 40 |
80.2 | 39 |
80.4 | 38 |
80.6 | 37 |
80.8 | 36 |
81 | 35 |
81.2 | 34 |
81.4 | 33 |
81.6 | 32 |
81.8 | 31 |
82 | 30 |
The test will operate as always. There will be no suspect ladder. Instead, the standard UU ladder will remain open. Those who wish to participate in this suspect test will instead use a fresh, suspect-specific alt. All games must be played on the Pokemon Showdown! UU ladder on a fresh alt with the following format: "UU2VK (Nick)." For example, I might register the alt UU2VK Lily to ladder with. You must meet the listed format in order to qualify.
Participants will have until Sunday, April 23rd at 7:00 PM GMT -4 to meet voting requirements and post in the Alt Identification Thread. PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR CONFIRMED SUSPECT RESULTS HERE - there is a dedicated thread for identifying your suspect results. Happy laddering!