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It’s true that the shifts look a lot more severe than they actually are due to IoA novitiates having been put in OU to start, but I am curious how Tyranitar, Aegislash, etc. descended like they did. I feel like the common thread is (mostly) ground vulnerability. So either Scorching Sands is...
Palossand isn't actually impervious to water, though. Despite Water Compaction, it still gets eroded. (Hence why I'm thinking it probably wants to equip a Passho Berry.)
Right now, I’m curious why Ribombee is nowhere to be seen in the (preliminary) viability charts. Too frail now, or something else? (At least Araquanid, whom I prefer anyway for the resilience, got on there.) Mostly me wanting to get a sense of how many ways there currently are to start a Sticky...
First, let's see whether Ultra Beasts will be accepted for normal battles (read: are they classified as legendary/mythical? Although a cluster of eight IS a bit numerous for legendary status...). Then shall we talk.
Didn't think healing was intrinsically stall-type...
I feel a bit conflicted here. I'm not fond of the very concept of stall (despite liking Toxapex, at least in its Merciless incarnation), but neither do I like blinding-fast offense--I certainly have no use for Choice items of any sort. (I...
{looks at level-up movelist} {not that interested}
And to think I pre-downloaded Sun precisely because I thought I might want Passimian on my in-game team...Well, back to Primeape.
Well, GameFreak has stated, I believe, that they focus their efforts (balances included) on doubles. I suppose it's precisely because it's less stall-friendly than singles (and thus don't have the danger of dragging on and on when two stall teams face each other).
Given its singularly low speed, I'm thinking Electro Ball. Not sure what's both fast AND strong enough to punch through that special defense, though. Debuffs may be more reliable.
{blinks} Granted it's already pretty fast without the ability, but this still means that one Brave Bird breaks the Gale Wings boost.
How many leashes did GameFreak think were necessary?
Question is whether low base speed necessarily dooms a critter (exhibit A: Amoonguss). But as I alluded to before, I do wish speed wasn't a gatekeeper stat.
I personally find Toxapex interesting. Exceptionally slow, but Merciless looks like a nice ability. (Although with a physical attack score of 63, it's going to need it.) Baneful Bunker, Liquidation, Poison Jab, Recover?
Regarding the profusion of low-speed critters this generation, I'm wondering if GameFreak's reasoning is that they're trying to increase the diversity of stat allocations. Too much speed-heavy last generation, so they're trying to emphasize other stats to set the balance back for players who...