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With the conclusion of OGPL II the SS Council is releasing the post OGPL II as promised. We encourage as many people to submit. This is the time for your voice to be heard!
With the conclusion of OGPL comes the development of the DPP metagame.
We've seen certain mons being prominently used and I'd like to address my issues in regarding some of them.
Clefable has gotten a lot better compared to the previous iteration of OGPL because of the ban of Jirachi. It commonly runs a specially defensive stall set or a physically defensive counter set with the occasional use of the offensive life orb variant because of it's magic guard ability making it immune to life orb recoil which would be detrimental in when in low hp forcing a tie. I fear that keeping Clefable in the tier would not be healthy for the tier. As someone who built for the tier, Clefable is a pain to build against. I found myself needing specific sets just to have a shot at it because it's so versatile that even choice banded fighting types lost to the Chople counter set. The specially defensive set was no slouch either as it could viably beat mons that it normally would not with the help of paralysis and stalling turns with soft boiled. The life orb offensive variant, though niche, still was usable in certain scenarios. All these sets and the fact that Clefable cannot be fully paralyzed this generation makes it rather an unhealthy mon in the meta.
Cresselia is a bulky psychic type cut and dry. It beats what you expect it beats and loses to some mons. Cress was not much of a standout this tour but it was mostly because of Clefable and Tyranitar being everywhere though we'll get to Tyranitar later. It was not showcased enough but Cress could beat most mons of the tier though it comes with the opportunity cost of not being able to do everything which makes it susceptible to being set guessed. It often ran a specs set, or a calm mind set. Both have their pros and cons but both can do their part.
Since Jirachi's ban, Tyranitar's prominence has been shown but not because of it being broken but rather because it was a versatile glue on the team. Tyranitar beating Cress, Raikou, and Zapdos, 3 prominent mons, makes it that good but at the same time it does not feel broken. There are multiple ways around it that I feel are still in the healthy range of the metagame.
I asked around and some have mentioned that mail might be a problem and I can see why. Mail in DPP, unlike in the succeeding generations, is not revealed on preview. This limits counterplay and has rendered trick strategies to be unviable. Is it overbearing? I feel like with certain mons it is but in general no.
Thoughts on what should be done
In my opinion, Clefable needs to be considered for a ban. I feel like it has a negative impact on the metagame with the it's incredibly versatile sets. It has rendered some strategies useless. This is one of the rare instances that a stall pokemon is too strong for the metagame. If Clefable banned, do I think Cress becomes too strong? The answer is likely no. A clef ban would lead the way for certain tactics like subseed to be better. Other stall mons might have a chance since there is no mon that just destroys every single one of them with encore. As for Tyranitar, I just felt like giving it a shout out but in reality I feel like it is a health part of the metagame. If for some reason Clefable is not at all banned, I feel like another option is to take a look at mail but that is in a very unlikely scenario.
Clefable has gotten a lot better compared to the previous iteration of OGPL because of the ban of Jirachi. It commonly runs a specially defensive stall set or a physically defensive counter set with the occasional use of the offensive life orb variant because of it's magic guard ability making it immune to life orb recoil which would be detrimental in when in low hp forcing a tie. I fear that keeping Clefable in the tier would not be healthy for the tier. As someone who built for the tier, Clefable is a pain to build against. I found myself needing specific sets just to have a shot at it because it's so versatile that even choice banded fighting types lost to the Chople counter set. The specially defensive set was no slouch either as it could viably beat mons that it normally would not with the help of paralysis and stalling turns with soft boiled. The life orb offensive variant, though niche, still was usable in certain scenarios. All these sets and the fact that Clefable cannot be fully paralyzed this generation makes it rather an unhealthy mon in the meta.
As the leader of the DPP 1v1 metagame, I can definitely attest how Clefable looks more unhealthy the longer it stays in the metagame, especially with Magic Guard preventing any form of passive damage and even full paralysis (latter only applies to Gen 4), which means SubSeed strategies, getting Toxic'd, and getting any shred of full paralysis doesn't matter. While Fighting-types and Taunt shenanigans are the most notable strategies in dealing with Clefable, the former isn't really a safe pick due to the presence of Chople Counter sets that have been gaining traction since the inception of Multigen in 1v1PL VI. There are other Pokemon who are capable of dealing with Clefable that aren't Fighting-types, notably Slaking and Ursaring, but the latter being prone to Encore on turn 1 makes it an uphill battle to climb.
As one of the proponents to at least suspect Cresseliaover the past two years, I'm also being dead set into suspecting Cresselia alongside Clefable, but stravench's post still made my reservations to it (which contradicts what Lumii has mentioned to me since the beginning of OGPL); Lumii told me that it takes great heights to deal with Cresselia such as using some niche mons like Jolteon, only to find out it takes greater heights to deal with Clefable than with Cresselia. I think just the presence of Cresselia would be more than enough for the metagame to adapt to it than adding Clefable to the mix, which would be more painful to build in this era.
Before we proceed with whatever metagame updates I'd be doing for DPP, I would like to thank the other following people not mentioned here that helped shape the DPP 1v1 metagame in OGPL II which provided us a lot more insights upon seeing you guys battle: dreepy, Rei, Nuxl, and Slip (with autumn and SuperMemeBroz to some extent as well). Looking forward to seeing you guys participate in DPP 1v1-related projects that we could potentially cook in the near future, so stay tuned!
As the second 1v1 Old Gens Premier League draws to a close, I am now bringing updates to the state of the DPP 1v1 metagame. (apologies for the double post btw)
I. THE COUNCIL SHAKE-UP
I would like to thank Jabiru, Inkreativ, and 187 Fan for their past contributions to the metagame; however, due to their general inactivity, this pains me to put them in the inactive council list, which removes them the ability to partake in future suspect voting processes, including the upcoming suspect test that will be mentioned later in this post. On the flipside, I am happy to inform everyone that Elo Bandit, Nuxl, and former council member Jamez are now officially appointed as new metagame council members!
II. MOONLIGHT SONATA: A CLEFABLE SUSPECT TEST NOW LIVE
The Clefable suspect test is now live! The three aforementioned, most recent DPP 1v1 posts by Nuxl, stravench, and myself have now attested how hard Clefable is to build against given their set variety having a different set of counters. This has caught the attention of some of our DPP 1v1 playerbase, especially those who played in the second 1v1 Old Gens Premier League this year, and I believe this is the right time to take urgent tiering action against this Pokemon.
Voting will end on Sunday, the 14th of April, 10:00 PM GMT -4, and voting will take place through a Smogon Forums Conversation with these qualified voters which will be posted real shortly.
III. A NEW HUB
DPP 1v1 now has a Discord Server! Given this is a Smogon-sanctioned server, all rules apply. That said, feel free to help us contribute to the development of the DPP 1v1 metagame! See you all there!
Clefable @ Chople Berry Apicot Berry Mail Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Encore
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
Max Special Defense vs Thunderbolt and Aura Sphere users. Chople is optimal if your opponent has a Fighting-type move. Apicot Berry is best against specs tbolt/thunder spam. Mail blocks Trick, while Leftovers is always a good option for general bulk. Min speed optional.
There are other viable sets for Clefable, but I'm choosing to focus primarily on the Seismic Toss stall sets.
Is Clefable broken in the sense that it’s too overpowered?
Cresselia - Win (encore)
Tyranitar - Lose (taunt)
Zapdos - Win* (apicot vs metal sound)
Infernape - Lose (focus blast encore)
Raikou - Win* (apicot vs rest)
Celebi - Win* (encore)
Dragonite - Win* (twave encore vs superpower)
Metagross - Win* (counter vs substitute)
Aerodactyl - Lose* (taunt)
Hariyama - Lose* (chople counter vs guts cc)
Heatran - Lose* (taunt)
Kingdra - Win* (twave encore vs critfish)
Rhyperior - Lose* (fast charm vs ada band)
Suicune - Lose* (pressure rest)
Arcanine - Win (twave encore)
Bronzong - Win (twave encore)
Empoleon - Win (twave encore)
Gyarados - Lose* (taunt)
Heracross - Lose* (physdef chople counter vs cc)
Registeel - Win* (twave encore stoss vs rest protect)
Rotom-Appliance- Lose (ghost)
Scizor - Lose* (chople counter vs superpower)
Slaking - Lose* (chople counter vs rest)
Swampert - Win* (encore toss soft vs critfish)
Venusaur - Win* (twave encore toss vs overgrow)
Azelf - Win* (apicot twave toss vs nonspecs taunt)
Gallade - Lose* (chople counter vs cc)
Hippowdon - Lose* (counter toss encore vs rock tomb rest)
Sceptile - Win* (encore toss vs overgrow)
Staraptor - Win* (chople counter vs cc)
Tangrowth - Win (twave encore toss)
Weavile - Lose (taunt)
Alakazam - Lose (synchronize, taunt, recovery)
Ambipom - Lose (taunt, sub)
Armaldo - Lose* (twave toss vs rock blast)
Breloom - Lose* (chople counter vs superpower)
Entei - Lose (pressure rest)
Gastrodon - Win* (toss soft encore vs critfish)
Medicham - Lose* (chople counter vs hjk)
Moltres - Win* (apicot twave encore vs pressure rest)
Umbreon - Lose (taunt)
*Lots of these matchups are set-dependent, but still biased in one Pokemon’s favor. If you want to discuss a matchup, please send me a message on Discord and I’ll update the post rather than cluttering the thread, thank you!
Clefable reliable wins: 4/41
Clefable set-dependant wins: 14/41
Clefable set-dependant losses: 14/41
Clefable reliable losses: 9/41
Total Winrate: 18/41
On paper, Clefable does not threaten a majority of the VR, especially when counterplay from both sides is considered.
Looking at just the top 14 Pokemon (A- and above)
Clefable does not overwhelm the majority of the top VR, though it scores higher targeting the top rated Pokemon than the more generalized metagame. Clefable’s only reliable win in the top ranks is Cresselia, every other winning matchup is set-dependent. Clefable does not meet the standard of a broken (overpowered) Pokemon by these metrics. Let’s take a look at how it performed in OGPLII.
Clefable is being suspect tested largely because it’s popular (#1 is usage) and wins games when picked (61.54%). This is indicative of both the metagame and the players at this point in time (OGPLII). There was a large Clefable usage wave and players struggled to defeat it in battle over the course of the tour.
It’s worth noting that Clefable’s winrate (not just when picked) landed at 48.78%, below that critical 50% average breakpoint. It’s hard to justify a Pokemon as being overpowered in the metagame when its overall winrate is negative.
Is Clefable uncompetitive in the sense that it reduces the impact of player decisions, through RNG or other means?
Clefable has three aspects that introduce a sometimes uncomfortable level of RNG to the game.
First, Thunder Wave quarters an opponent’s speed stat and prevents it from moving 25% of the time. Primarily, Clefable cares about the speed drop aspect to secure a safe Encore turn 2, but the 25% full para chance is infuriating in some matchups.
Then, Encore lasts 4-8 turns. Players just have to hope for the min or max. This is not satisfying gameplay, because the bulk of player choices stop mattering after Encore lands and both players just start praying. It’s worth noting that builders lack a significant element of counterplay here, because Mental Herb only blocks Attract in gen 4.
Finally, using stall tactics in a high-crit gen is asking for rolls and crits. Clefable is used as a Stall Pokemon here with its only real offensive options being Seismic Toss or occasionally bolt/beam. This Pokemon fundamentally has to rely on spamming the move Soft-Boiled and not getting crit over the course of a match. Opponents with crit rate boosts achieve an uncomfortable, but slightly winning matchup against Clefable. Once again, skill expression is tossed to the wayside in favor of odds, this time critical hits.
Overall, Clefable introduces some RNG into the system, but nothing to the level of Serene Grace flinches or sleep. It’s actually fairly reflective of the generation’s crit-based matchup odds. With its normal sets, Clefable does not quite meet the standard of an uncompetitive Pokemon.
Is Clefable unhealthy in the sense that it makes matchups unclear?
4/18 of Clefable’s winning VR matchups are clear.
14/18 of Clefable’s winning VR matchups are unclear.
9/23 of Clefable’s losing VR matchups are clear.
14/23 of Clefable’s losing VR matchups are unclear.
Clear matchups: 13/41 (31.71%)
Unclear matchups: 28/41 (68.29%)
More than two thirds of Clefable’s VR matchups are unclear. It’s mostly going to come down to the moveset brought (anti-clefable vr-mon vs anti-vr-mon clefable) and the moves clicked in the first turns of battle. From a purely clicking standpoint, this might be manageable. Set reading and picking the right moves is part of the game. The nightmare comes when building teams. You can expect to run into Clefable (it’s no. 1 in usage) so are you going to plan to defeat it with one of a handful of good options OR force a set guess by combining Clefable checks on your team? The inverse of this problem occurs when building with Clefable. You’re only going to be able to beat certain sets of nearly every relevant Pokemon, forcing set guessing depending on chosen teammates.
This one is really close to the subjective line of “unhealthy.” Clefable can often switch up its turn 1 move choice to throw off potential checks. Building with the knowledge that you’re probably stuck having to outclick or get lucky vs Clefable if you don’t bring Taunt, PP stall, or Thunder Wave-immune Fighting-types just feels bad.
If Clefable is banned as a result of this suspect test, I hope that it’s made clear why. This Pokemon, while not overly powerful or choice-nullifying, has unhealthy aspects that require moveset and turn 1 move prediction, outside a handful of direct counters. Clefable muddies the waters of the majority of its matchups, forcing both player choice based 50-50s and RNG-based, near-coin flip odds instead of consistent wins in the metagame.
It’s ok that teams such as feraligatr ampharos azelf or infernape celebi yanmega or bronzong venusaur zapdos arent a viable three in dpp1v1
It’s good that you can lose because you failed to set read the clefable properly (and it’s imo very easy to do so by looking at its partners, it’s very projected what holes clefable needs to cover in a team so the “variability” does not seem to ring true in my head)
It’s not ok to assume clefable wins most of its matchups via hax, really clefable is generally going to be the one screwed over by things it should beat such as t1 paralysis from the top electrics. I cannot think of a poor on paper clefable matchup that goes down to a coinflip or has hax that spins a clefable loss into a win, since twave has its own errors. Even against physical fightings for twave spdef clef to win it needs to para you turn 1, and has to seismic toss you 3-4 times which means you should one/two shot by that point. If you got parad twice well ok gg I can think of another number that is (1/4)^2 hint hint the crit rate of dpp
If your checks to clefable require them doing something you expect (as opposed to another viable t1 move) it’s not a check to clefable, and you should try a bit harder in builder.
List of dubious checks that people assume are clef checks that you shouldn’t pretend are clef checks:
- Thunder on electrics (51/49 chances to hit after para! Lol)
- Sub/SD turn 1 with a physical pokemon (btw the spdef clefables out in the matchup is literally to encore you as if you are band it doesn’t matter)
- Trick (if you get encored t1 I think you lose)
Here are some actual checks that don’t int your team so go play around in builder with them:
The move Revenge is also a thing btw that I haven’t seen discussed shout-out Potatochan for this invention? which VR Pokémon such as hariyama/heracross/infernape/weavile/staraptor all learn and that 100%s clefable btw because you don’t kill urself on counter and if they ever seismic toss you they die and also p.s it means you should turbo own counter tar as well, which is another super annoying pokemon who if you fail to set read [and is even harder to do so] can turn a matchup loss into a win
Taunt is a very viable move because it also shuts down cm cress/registeel/literally every substaller ever [which are good mons!] alongside most clefable. Lots of good Pokémon learn it especially ones that don’t really need a fourth move
Other encore users also outplay if u know how the mechanics work standard clef which haven’t been explored in Azumarill, Poliwrath, and Gallade which have other niches such as sending tyranitar to the moon and having favorable type matchups.
My team vetoed Mismagius but it has a similar ability to nullify the clefable matchup like Rotom except it’s base 105 so it can actually do other shit like punish base 100s. There’s a Honchkrow set that should 100% all clefable and cress while also packing other useful moves to cover some A- ranks, maybe I’ll show you in TTT. If rotom is this high up on the VR because of its matchup into the top mons these mons basically do the same thing while having actual niches elsewhere. Various Porygon2 and Gengar should blast clefable to the moon. I have hitmontop as B+ on my pvr for a reason.
Etc etc these things I haven’t seen a ton of or much at all, like literally the only example I can point out is slip’s taunt tran w3 but I fear everyone else just wants to run bad pokemon like dragonite or choice band aerodactyl or entei or something lol and that’s why I’m the only one omega giga positive in this tier last tour!
I keep reading that clef 2-1s most teams but I feel like there’s more people can do in builder to make it less like that? Double taunt teams or more than 1 slot dedicated to be anti clef are very viable. Despite it being giga annoying its not actually terrible to punish. And its partners project what its set is gonna be lol.
Don’t get me wrong clefable isn’t a bad ban. Definitely makes the tier less boring as it giga simplifies the tier.
But I fear people are just kinda like hoping their 1 clef check is enough without actually thinking about roundabout ways to deal with the pokemon lol and we will prob run into the same issue with cress when it eventually goes up. I would encourage you to look in builder and do ur best for any such ban!
DPP 1v1 BREAKING NEWS: CLEFABLE IS NOW OFFICIALLY BANNED!
Well, that was quick. 13 out of the 14 qualified voters have already casted their votes; regardless of what the last voter would decide, we have reached the conclusion that Clefable is banned in DPP 1v1 moving forward.
I would like to share my thoughts on the current SS meta, its shortcomings, and how to improve.
First, I think it is important to note that I only have real experience in SS. I do not have a good standard to compare the meta to. Instead, I will look at it in a vacuum.
Second, here is roughly my personal tier list:
Some underrated mons are Heatran, Volcarona, Kyurem, Ninetales-Kanto, Suicune, Chansey, and Aegislash. Some overrated mons are Togekiss, Zeraora, and Zarude.
SS struggles in its extreme lack of centralization. While an overcentralizing presence is generally considered a good thing, years of aggressive bans during one of 1v1s most active times definitely contributed to a tier which personally feels extremely unsatisfying to build and play.
Very few matchups between top tiers are set. For example, take Cresselia vs Primarina. Generally, CM Stored Power Cresselia should win bar crits. However, Icy Wind + Encore Prim is an option to tech for Cresselia. Then, Lefties CM Cresselia arises to tech for that Prim. Even now, it is very much possible to beat Lefties CM Cresselia with Prim - ie Toxic + Icy Wind + Encore (stupid but very much fittable).
This issue is not limited to this matchup only. Looking at Prim, it has access to sets like Wacan (beats a decent chunk of Zeraora, and Regieleki), AV (removes 50/50s from matchups like Porygon-Z, helps vs Spectrier), and Kebia (for Protect LO Naganadel, the tech for Prim), as well as normal sets like Sitrus, Custap, and Specs.
This is not a post claiming Primarina is broken. Almost every good mon has this issue. Scroll through the setcomp and see 6-7 vastly different sets for most of the top mons (the Cresselia sets are outdated and there should also be Helmet and Leftovers). Each has vastly different matchups between the top tiers.
This problem will continue to grow. Over the past year or so, there have been countless innovations, especially to Cresselia, which I think are pushing the tier over the edge. Each mon is growing in unpredictability and uncounterability as people continue to push the meta forward.
I would like to argue that the most effective way to "fix" SS 1v1 is to FREE ZYGARDE-COMPLETE. I don't think banning Zygarde-50% is necessary - just free Power Construct entirely.
This may seem counterintuitive. Zygarde-Complete, to some extent, has many of the same issues as other top pokemon. It too has matchups which vary heavily based on set. It difficult to setguess on preview. Instead, I'd argue that by freeing Zygarde-Complete, the meta will shift towards rewarding consistent Zygarde-Complete answers. Unlike current top pokemon, Zygarde has a pretty diverse set of consistent answers. Obviously ice-types match up well, but so does ID Fini, Spectrier, Haxorus, ID Urshifu-R, Ferrothorn etc. Unlike other mons banned during the tail-end of SS, fitting a consistent Zygarde-Complete answer or two soft checks is not a big demand. Compare to Genesect (needed a fire), Necrozma (needed a dark), Jirachi (needed gmolt / shifu), etc. Zygarde-Complete can pretty comfortably be answered by otherwise good pokemon.
By freeing Power Construct, other top pokemon like Tapu Fini, Porygon-Z, and Spectrier now have a "mon to target" in Zygarde-C, and they have much less room for obnoxious cheese.
I believe that freeing Zygarde-Complete would benefit the long-term health of the metagame, and would like to see a tournament or a suspect slot next PL to investigate it further, and would like to open discussion for other SS players' takes on Zygarde.
I love SS, and would hate to see it die to stagnation.
I'm going to preface this post by saying that everything here is directed at the argument presented and not the character of the poster. As somebody who played through the entirety of zygarde meta the idea of freeing zygarde-complete is a hilariously underbaked solution to a subjective problem that arguably does not exist. Let's go through this point by point.
SS struggles in its extreme lack of centralization. While an overcentralizing presence is generally considered a good thing, years of aggressive bans during one of 1v1s most active times definitely contributed to a tier which personally feels extremely unsatisfying to build and play.
An overcentralizing presence is considered a good thing to who? This is absolutely an issue of person to person perception of what constitutes a healthy metagame. SS 1v1 went through many, many eras of overcentralization surrounding different mons, from genesect to lax to zygarde to necrozma. The general consensus of every one of those metas was that building was extremely linear and and clicking was uninteractive. You start building with the broken mon, add one of the broken mon's 2-3 hard counters, and then do whatever you want in the 3rd slot, usually a counter to the broken mon's counter. The 3rd slot was usually the easiest to fill because of how far down the vr you were forced to search to find something that consistently beat every one of the 5-9 sets of the current broken. Heatran, sawk, and a-tales are mid at best, molt-g and urshifu are ok->good but not always consistent, krook was awful. Even if you weren't running the broken of the month you were forced to run one of these or accept that you could outright lose on preview. The linearity of building then leads to boring clicking. Do I click the broken guy or the one that beats the broken guy? You could try and fit a lure on your team but you have to accept the chance that you accidentally lured the wrong set (remember payapa nihilego vs eq necrozma?). Mons that can do this are not presences that make a tier enjoyable.
Very few matchups between top tiers are set. For example, take Cresselia vs Primarina. Generally, CM Stored Power Cresselia should win bar crits. However, Icy Wind + Encore Prim is an option to tech for Cresselia. Then, Lefties CM Cresselia arises to tech for that Prim. Even now, it is very much possible to beat Lefties CM Cresselia with Prim - ie Toxic + Icy Wind + Encore (stupid but very much fittable).
Are you actually dropping a stab move on prim to beat cress instead of just running a dark type? Nobody is going to accept a team that loses prim v. heatran or prim v. haxorus because you decided you didn't need moonblast or hydro.
This problem will continue to grow. Over the past year or so, there have been countless innovations, especially to Cresselia, which I think are pushing the tier over the edge. Each mon is growing in unpredictability and uncounterability as people continue to push the meta forward.
Then it can just be suspected. That's how tiering works. We didn't free victini when genesect was too much, we didn't free genesect when zygarde was too much, and we didn't free zygarde when necrozma was too much.
I would like to argue that the most effective way to "fix" SS 1v1 is to FREE ZYGARDE-COMPLETE. I don't think banning Zygarde-50% is necessary - just free Power Construct entirely.
This may seem counterintuitive. Zygarde-Complete, to some extent, has many of the same issues as other top pokemon. It too has matchups which vary heavily based on set. It difficult to setguess on preview. Instead, I'd argue that by freeing Zygarde-Complete, the meta will shift towards rewarding consistent Zygarde-Complete answers. Unlike current top pokemon, Zygarde has a pretty diverse set of consistent answers. Obviously ice-types match up well, but so does ID Fini, Spectrier, Haxorus, ID Urshifu-R, Ferrothorn etc. Unlike other mons banned during the tail-end of SS, fitting a consistent Zygarde-Complete answer or two soft checks is not a big demand. Compare to Genesect (needed a fire), Necrozma (needed a dark), Jirachi (needed gmolt / shifu), etc. Zygarde-Complete can pretty comfortably be answered by otherwise good pokemon.
Does it? ID fini is 50/50s from turn 1 vs subtox, and specs loses 90% of the time to spdef wp (yes it's technically rolls but wildly in zygarde's favor). Wisp spectrier is more turn 1 50/50s vs lum dd, unless it's disable>taunt, then it just loses. Ferro loses to coil rest zygarde (body press+leech aren't close to enough to break through complete form, ferro struggles first). Haxorus and Darm-g are about the only hard counters to zygarde (I am not counting scarf or custap reversal as real sets). And as for ID ursh-rapid, it wins until subtox zygarde starts running mental herb, which will win until ursh-rapid starts running lum over sitrus, sacrificing mus where it needs the healing until we end up at
Zygarde-complete is not going to help the issue of top tier tech wars. It's going to exacerbate the problem immensely. When you give a mon an ability that both doubles its already impressive bulk AND heals it for 50% mid-battle alongside a movepool with two boosting moves, debuffs, as much coverage as it needs on top of near-perfect neutral coverage in only two moves, you give it the ability to infinitely tech until its hard counters don't resemble viable sets at all (like icy wind encore toxic prim). This is not healthy for a tier and is the issue you perceive to already exist, but an order of magnitude more oppressive. Zyg is cresselia but 10 times worse in terms of set ambiguity, versatility, and broad stroke general winning matchups.
I believe that freeing Zygarde-Complete would benefit the long-term health of the metagame, and would like to see a tournament or a suspect slot next PL to investigate it further, and would like to open discussion for other SS players' takes on Zygarde.
As someone who plans on playing SS in the upcoming PL, please no. Zygarde had its tournament to shine where it warped every team into bringing multiple checks, hoping to stumble into a correct setread because it's nearly impossible to cover in one slot unless you want to run 1 of 3 counters. This is not an acceptable strain to place on teambuilding nor does it make for interesting or competitive in-game play. SS is good where it is, there is no need to reintroduce something that the community has already decided has no place in the tier.
Seasonal ORAS review ft. Blaziken + Darkrai's potential return to the tier! Make sure to mention anything you'd like the council to know, if you'd like to aid in decision making.
Make sure to fill this form out by 11:59 PM, 28th April 2024 EST; after which responses will be closed to the public!
Once again, I would like to announce that the DPP 1v1 now has a Discord Server! As mentioned earlier, given this is a Smogon-sanctioned server, all rules apply. There will be a new project coming from this Discord server soon, so come by there and join us as we're working on improving on our existing resources!
Thank you to DEG and Close for all the contributions they have given to SS as they leave the council. Additionally, we would like to welcome crow crumbsluser and crucify to the council. Results of the survey will be coming shortly so stay tuned.
Clefable has gotten a lot better compared to the previous iteration of OGPL because of the ban of Jirachi. It commonly runs a specially defensive stall set or a physically defensive counter set with the occasional use of the offensive life orb variant because of it's magic guard ability making it immune to life orb recoil which would be detrimental in when in low hp forcing a tie. I fear that keeping Clefable in the tier would not be healthy for the tier. As someone who built for the tier, Clefable is a pain to build against. I found myself needing specific sets just to have a shot at it because it's so versatile that even choice banded fighting types lost to the Chople counter set. The specially defensive set was no slouch either as it could viably beat mons that it normally would not with the help of paralysis and stalling turns with soft boiled. The life orb offensive variant, though niche, still was usable in certain scenarios. All these sets and the fact that Clefable cannot be fully paralyzed this generation makes it rather an unhealthy mon in the meta.
Cresselia is a bulky psychic type cut and dry. It beats what you expect it beats and loses to some mons. Cress was not much of a standout this tour but it was mostly because of Clefable and Tyranitar being everywhere though we'll get to Tyranitar later. It was not showcased enough but Cress could beat most mons of the tier though it comes with the opportunity cost of not being able to do everything which makes it susceptible to being set guessed. It often ran a specs set, or a calm mind set. Both have their pros and cons but both can do their part. 
Since Jirachi's ban, Tyranitar's prominence has been shown but not because of it being broken but rather because it was a versatile glue on the team. Tyranitar beating Cress, Raikou, and Zapdos, 3 prominent mons, makes it that good but at the same time it does not feel broken. There are multiple ways around it that I feel are still in the healthy range of the metagame.
I asked around and some have mentioned that mail might be a problem and I can see why. Mail in DPP, unlike in the succeeding generations, is not revealed on preview. This limits counterplay and has rendered trick strategies to be unviable. Is it overbearing? I feel like with certain mons it is but in general no. 
Zapdos
Celebi (from A)
Infernape
Metagross (from A)
Raikou
Aerodactyl (from A-)
Dragonite
Rhyperior (from A-)
Suicune (from A-)
Heatran
Heracross (from B+)
Kingdra
Azelf (from B)
Bronzong
Empoleon
Gyarados
Hariyama (from A-)
Moltres (from B-)
Registeel
Rotom-Appliance
Slaking
Swampert
Venusaur
Weavile (from B)
Alakazam (from B-)
Armaldo (from B-)
Entei (from B-)
Gallade
Gastrodon (from B-)
Hippowdon
Sceptile
Scizor (from B+)
Ambipom
Arcanine (from B+)
Azumarill (from C+)
Blissey (from C+)
Breloom
Mamoswine (from C)
Medicham
Staraptor (from B)
Tangrowth (from B)
Umbreon
Flygon (from C)
Gengar (from C)
Jolteon (from C)
Magmortar (from C)
Poliwrath (from C)
Porygon2 (from C-)
Slowbro (from C)
Ursaring (from C)
Cradily (from C-)
Feraligatr
Regice (from C-)
Roserade (from C+)
Abomasnow
Ampharos (from C)
Camerupt
Dusknoir
Lanturn
Regirock
Skarmory (new entry)
Spiritomb
Walrein
Yanmega
Articuno (from C-)
Blaziken
Electivire (from C+)
Houndoom
Lucario
Torterra (from C-)
Gliscor (from D)
Magnezone (from D)
A+ -> S-
A+ -> S-
A+ -> S-
A- -> S-
B -> A+ - should probably be A but IDC
A- -> A
B+ -> A-
B+ -> A-
B -> A-
B -> A-
B- -> A-
B -> B+
B- -> B+
C+ -> B+
C -> B+
B- -> B
B- -> B
B- -> B
C+ -> B
C+ -> B
C+ -> B
C -> B
C- -> B
C+ -> B-
C+ -> B-
C -> B-
C -> B-
C- -> B-
C -> C+
C -> C+
C- -> C+
C- -> C+
C- -> C
C- -> C
C- -> C
C- -> C
D -> C
UR -> C
UR -> C
D -> C-
D -> C-
D -> C-
UR -> C-
UR -> C-
UR -> C-
UR -> C-
UR -> C-
UR -> C-
UR -> D
UR -> D
UR -> D
UR -> D
UR -> D
UR -> D
UR -> D
S- -> A+
S- -> A+
A+ -> A
A -> A-
B+ -> B
B+ -> B
B -> C+
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
B- -> C+
B- -> C
B- -> C
C+ -> C
B- -> C-
C+ -> C-
C -> C-
C -> C-
