Following the results of the metagame survey conducted recently, the council has decided to suspect test Zacian in the Mix and Mega Metagame.
Reasoning:
Zacian has long been a potent offensive threat in the Mix and Mega metagame. A solid 138 base speed, when combined with its 130 Base Attack state, potent movepool, and access to Intrepid Sword, allowed it to function as an effective offensive Pokemon. However, things have not held static for Zacian. Zacian has seen a surge in usage recently thanks to its Choice Band set, which makes use of its sky-high Attack stat to pressure many metagame staples such as Zygarde, Dragonite, and Blissey. Common coverage options such as Crunch, Wild Charge, and Close Combat complement STAB Play Rough very well, allowing Zacian to break through many of the metagame's physical blanket checks, such as Lunala, Slowbro, Corviknight, and Ho-Oh. Zacian's Speed tier also places it above a large portion of the metagame's offensive threats, allowing it to outspeed the likes of Eternatus, Metagrossite Solgaleo, and Salamencite Landorus-T, while its bulk allows it to live hits from other potential revenge killers such as -ate Extreme Speed users.
Zacian, however, is not without its answers. While the current metagame is very unfavorable to pokemon like Morning Sun Arcanine and Physdef Banettite Toxapex that served as its answers in the past, some other answers such as Manectite Magearna have retained most of their viability, and it does also have some new answers like Manectite Solgaleo and Aggronite Slowking-Galar that can act as counters. Additionally, thanks to Choice Band locking it into one move, it often has to win 50-50s when it comes in in order to break past counters, which can leave it struggling to break teams with multiple potential switch-ins. However, making such a strategy work places a lot of pressure at the teambuilder without any guarantee of success in the match itself, and even when you do successfully switch into Zacian it can still deal significant damage with a resisted hit, usually forcing the foe to recover in order to remain capable of checking Zacian and allowing it to gain momentum for its team. Other physically bulky mons that are not weak to any of Zacian's coverage options can also survive 2 hits from Zacian, such as Manectite Zapdos and Sablenite Hippowdon. However, since these pokemon struggle to retaliate against Zacian, they can be prone to various methods of pressuring from the Zacian user, such as crit-fishing, Stealth Rock support, and they also risk being overloaded by other physical threats that they may need to switch into. Additionally, these pokemon can be exploited by Swords Dance variants of Zacian, though SD Zacian is generally less common and less efficient than Choice Band variants.
Given the limitations of this counterplay and the sheer potency of its offensive presence, the Mix and Mega council has deemed Zacian worthy of examination, but leave the decision up to the community. Is Zacian too much for the Mix and Mega metagame? Let us hear your thoughts
Requirements:
Reqs can be achieved by getting 82 GXE with 30 or more games on the Mix and Mega ladder. In order to participate in the suspect, you must create a fresh alt (creation date no earlier than 15th April 2021) with the prefix MNMZAC at the start of the name. When you have obtained reqs, make sure to post proof of your alt's record (generally a screenshot) in this thread, and if you wish to do so, you can also share your thoughts on the test here.
The deadline for this suspect will be just over two weeks from now, concluding on April 29th at 11:59 PM GMT +1 (6:59 PM EST).
Voting:
Once the suspect period is over, everyone who has obtained reqs will be tagged by Ransei. They will then outline a process of blind voting, which will be clarified once the time arrives. For now, follow the above "Requirements" subheading to ensure that you have posted your reqs correctly. You must post on this thread in order to be tagged in the voting thread, however you do not need to include your vote on this thread.
A super-majority of 60% ban votes is required for Zacian to be banned from the metagame.
TL;DR:
- Zacian is allowed on the ladder during the suspect test
- The GXE requirement is 82 and the minimum game count is 30.
- You must ladder on a newly-created alt using the prefix MNMZAC
- You must post your reqs in this thread, though the voting process will happen in a separate thread. You are not required to state your vote in this thread.
- The suspect test will conclude at 11:59pm GMT +1 (6:59pm EST) on Thursday April 29th.
- A ban vote of 60% is required to remove Zacian from the metagame.
Tagging Kris to set up the suspect alert for ladder games.
