Announcement np: SV OU Suspect Process, Round 1 - Oops!...I Did It Again

[Glitchwood High]

I have to disagree with this. Unbanning things and risking having to re-ban them every time the meta changes Just To Make Sure™ is a lot of work when it’s something like Tera that you’d have to suspect test each time. We didn’t unban Blaziken to “see how it felt” when Baton Pass got banned, for example (even though I personally believe that base form Blaziken without Baton Pass was never broken and it was kind of unfair to keep it Ubers for so long after Baton Pass went).

While you're right that it's a lot of work, it's not unprecedented work. UU did a fairly similar thing with quite a few Pokemon (Jirachi and especially Aegislash) due to rather frequent meta changes. If a banned Pokemon has a decent chance of being healthy after a metagame shift, then they should get re-tested and they usually will.

 

[alephgalactus]

While you're right that it's a lot of work, it's not unprecedented work. UU did a fairly similar thing with quite a few Pokemon (Jirachi and especially Aegislash) due to rather frequent meta changes. If a banned Pokemon has a decent chance of being healthy after a metagame shift, then they should get re-tested and they usually will.

Because a Pokémon that’s still overtly broken is easier and less controversial to just quickban than an entire generational mechanic. Last gen, the Council let Genesect and Naganadel into OU when Crown Tundra dropped and then came to their senses and QB’d them back into Ubers within a week when they realized what a terrible decision that was. I doubt that’ll happen with Tera—we’ll have to slog through another suspect with more mud-slinging, whining, and the least-informed arguments you can imagine from every side, only to possibly have to re-retest it every time a DLC drops and go through the same process.

 

[swampmist1142]

Because a Pokémon that’s still overtly broken is easier and less controversial to just quickban than an entire generational mechanic. Last gen, the Council let Genesect and Naganadel into OU when Crown Tundra dropped and then came to their senses and QB’d them back into Ubers within a week when they realized what a terrible decision that was. I doubt that’ll happen with Tera—we’ll have to slog through another suspect with more mud-slinging, whining, and the least-informed arguments you can imagine from every side, only to possibly have to re-retest it every time a DLC drops and go through the same process.

Frankly, this just seems like a good argument for "we are suspecting tera too soon" to me? If we expect it to be that volatile, we should wait for more information and a more stable meta to try and ban it.

 

[Dece1t]

Frankly, this just seems like a good argument for "we are suspecting tera too soon" to me? If we expect it to be that volatile, we should wait for more information and a more stable meta to try and ban it.

We shouldn’t be waiting for DLC though. If there’s staggering issues with the metagame now, it should be addressed now. If the DLC brings some balancing factors, then we should readdress it then. That’s how SwSh was largely handled, and I don’t see the issue with it.

 

[Finchinator]

We are suspecting what we view most prominently problematic. We will then vote on any clearly proceeding issues internally if needed. If not, we will suspect more borderline matters in the aftermath of this all.

If circumstances dictate re-opening any discussion on the verdicts of the past, we are happy to re-test anything appropriate. This is the general tiering logic we have seen applied over the years and it tends to work here as well.

 

[658Greninja]

I’m currently in the process of getting reqs to vote. Originally I was in the thought of Tera being too much due to the unpredictability, and that the solution is to have Team Preview for Tera Types. After several games, my opinion has shifted more harshly. We know Roaring Moon is gonna Tera Flying. We know Dnite is gonna Tera Normal. We know Espathra is gonna Tera Fighting or Fairy. However nothing changes the simple fact that they can Tera at any given time, and that it swings mus in unnatural ways.

Take for example Tusks vs Gambit. Naturally, Tusks would force Gambit out. However the mu flips once it goes Tera Flying. Now your supposed check becomes setup bait. How bout Azu being sent out to check Volc only for it to be met with a Tera Grass Giga Drain soon after. It creates a problem where you not only need to bring a check to these mons, but also take into account that they could Tera. It restrains teambuilding further and even if you can predict it, you aren’t able to stop them from unleashing carnage. It creates unnecessary prediction games or failsafes bad plays cause they had Tera to reverse a mu.

While Team Preview helps, it still doesn’t take away the unpredictability element. I had several games where the matchup was snatched out of my hands because of Tera and vice versa. Knowing what they will Tera into helps, but it becomes useless in situations like last mon vs last mon. The use of Defensive Tera on offensive threats is very similar to Dynamaxing, but instead of gaining double HP, you become a different type.

Limiting Tera to one mon doesn’t fix the issue of who they are gonna Tera with. Probably the worst solution besides not taking action.

Reducing Tera types to only STAB moves is ironically the better one out of the other two restrictions, but Tera also gives everything Adaptability boosts. Corv and Dondozo go from being 3HKOd to 2HKOd after rocks and Tera Dark. Previously your Ghold could comfortably switch into Valiant Moonblast, but not after it Teras. 3HKOs become 2HKOs. What differentiates Tera from Z-Moves is that Z-Moves are a one-time nuke that requires an item. Tera gives you a Z-Move that you can use multiple times. Even with that, you still have the bs that defensive tera provides like Chi-Yu avoiding a ko from Valiant Moonblast cause it Tera’d into a pure Fire-type.

We could also just restrict Tera and ban the mons that are broken with it, but alot of mons rn feel ridiculous with it. Not just Ape, Chi-Yu, Moon, or Dnite. Stuff like Pao, Pult, Garg, Ghold, Valiant, etc. Even stuff like Tera Water Hatt is ridiculous cause it swings the mu against Ghold, Scizor, and more. Especially with how few strong physical grass types are in the tier, with the only one being frail as shit. The best counter-play is to Trick a Scarf which if they switch out, good luck.

Regardless if you think Tera is fun, it shouldn’t be prioritized over a healthy metagame. Especially with the subjectivity of the former. Saying the meta will be just Gen 8 2.0 is inaccurate. Several mons had their movesets buffed or nerfed, which includes the removal of Scald, and nerfs to movesets on some previous OU staples like the Slowtwins. Recovery moves are now 8 pp. Sun is the dominant weather now. Spikes distribution is crazy. This generation introduced a ton of meta defining staples. Even more will come with the release of Home which includes Hisuian Pokemon.

The metagame rn feels close to unplayable imo. Most teams are just Glimm/Ghold hazard stacking teams, a handful of broken threats are left unchecked, and Tera only enhances these problems even further. While I agree defensive tera on things like Dirge is healthy and a good part of Tera, but the enormous problems it causes outweighs the pros. Hence why I will be voting Ban once I get my reqs.

 

[Mishra]

We are suspecting what we view most prominently problematic. We will then vote on any clearly proceeding issues internally if needed. If not, we will suspect more borderline matters in the aftermath of this all.

If circumstances dictate re-opening any discussion on the verdicts of the past, we are happy to re-test anything appropriate. This is the general tiering logic we have seen applied over the years and it tends to work here as well.

I am not going to get recs because as much as I enjoy pokemon, I just don't understand how to get better past like 1400.

But from what I have seen in my games, and watching higher tier games, tera is not the biggest issue plaguing games that I have seen. Gholdengo and/or hazard stacking, shed tail, Chi-Yu, and Ape are far bigger issues even in games where they never terra (and yes, I get the mindgames are something people do not like, even considering).

I hope terra doesn't get banned. I don't have the stamina to go through the details of why I think its overall a good change, but there seems to be a lot more plaguing the meta game and determining wins, more often than the mind game of whether X terra, and to what.

 

[Pinlup is the best]

Shedinja isn't even in the game and would still just die to hazards, status, weather, Mold Breaker, etc. If Chi Yu is going to be banned anyway, why is that a point against Tera? Sure, Mega Lucario was powerful with adaptability, but other adaptability Pokémon like Porygon-Z, Dragalge, etc were far less broken and Mega Luke was banned for its versatility, speed, and Movepool on top of its power. Overall, this entire post is just a non sequitur.

The point isn't about adaptability I'm just using that because that's basically what terra stab is no one cares about the pokemon who posses adaptability I use mega lurico and it's stats as a example of what other offensive monsters like iron vialolent and chin Po can use terra adaptability and sur people can play around it with predictions and all that stuff but for the people who just joined the competitive scene it's not that simple when it came to megas you just banned the broken megas but when it comes to terra everything can become a broken mega and that's what makes it such a toxic thing to have in the current meta game.

 

[alephgalactus]

Fuck it, I quit, l’m done trying to get reqs for this bullshit meta, I keep winning like 8 or 9 games in a row on fresh accounts before dropping one to RNG bullshit like this or Scope Lens Iron Jugulis or Brightpowder Klawf or some other stupid shit no one should ever have to play against, much less lose to. I refuse to continue this abusive relationship with this stupid fucking ladder. I’ve been getting fucked like this since day 1 and I can’t take it anymore. I guess the only thing I can do is pray for the suspect test to go the way I want, but I doubt there’s any sort of benevolent God up there willing to answer me because whoever’s in charge seems perfectly happy feeding me shit like this. Why am I even fucking investing myself in what happens to this broken bullshit mechanic anyway? It’s not like I’m suddenly going to start playing OU immediately once Tera is gone, the meta’s still a mess because the Council in its infinite fucking wisdom decided to let Chi-Yu and Gholdengo and Shed Tail and Revival Blessing run around for so long. So screw it, do whatever you want with the meta, I’ll stick to OMs where bans actually happen in a timely fashion and maybe come back to OU if it ever gets to be something resembling balanced.

 

[thunderbug]

on an actual note to contribute I’m still voting ban #1 but fairly positive rest of order will be tera preview, 1 user, Stab only.

If it stays around at least preview makes defensive tera a reasonable option unlike mono stab and 1 user who overly benefit offensive play which is extremely strong as is (with or without tera). 1 user is a massive commitment for bulkier teams to work around outside of like garg and dirge and mono stab just uh doesn’t help defense

hopefully murder fish is next

 

[Finchinator]

Why am I even fucking investing myself in what happens to this broken bullshit mechanic anyway? It’s not like I’m suddenly going to start playing OU immediately once Tera is gone, the meta’s still a mess because the Council in its infinite fucking wisdom decided to let Chi-Yu and Gholdengo and Shed Tail and Revival Blessing run around for so long.

I'm glad someone understands that I have infinite fucking wisdom.

but also maybe take some time to cool down because your post is incoherent and generally unfit.

 

[alephgalactus]

I'm glad someone understands that I have infinite fucking wisdom.

but also maybe take some time to cool down because your post is incoherent and generally unfit.

Sorry for the vent, just had to let it out. Definitely taking a break from OU until this all blows over.

 

[1LDK]

Ill be real with you all, i just completly gave up the idea that im getting reqs, i have acepted the fact that im so incompetent i wont ever get to 1500 in my life, so now im chilling at the nirvana right now, you wont belive how terapeutical is to go to NatDex AG and destroy people with Tera Ghost Choice Spects Astral Barage from

speaking on tera, one thing you have to consider is the long term disruption by home and the DLC´s gamefreak is putting, and how long before the next tera suspect test, if this test gets a no, and Home just destroys the meta again, the council wont do an inmideate test due to the meta disruption, same with the first dlc, so this suspect test is gonna be the result for a loooooooong looooooooooooong time, so I hope this desicion is one that your truly comfy with

 

[Flash67]

This is far from a democratic/community process. At the time of my post, 5 of the top 10 players on the ladder leader board, including the highest ranked player, are under 80% GXE. And below top 20, most are under 80%.

If you like tera and get the recs, vote no action. Fight the tyranny. Much easier to ban or nerf later if necessary, while very unlikely to unban or remove a nerf later. Also consider whether enough time has passed for the meta game to truly establish if tera is broken.

Of the action items, only 1 tera per team (and it is revealed because it is the first pokemon of the party if I read that choice correctly) and stab only tera takes PS further away from being a simulator of the games. I wouldn't rank those highly, but maybe PS not actually being a simulator helps keep Nintendo from shutting down the illegal website.

 

[Finchinator]

This is far from a democratic/community process. At the time of my post, 5 of the top 10 players on the ladder leader board, including the highest ranked player, are under 80% GXE. And below top 20, most are under 80%.

GXE is not a stat like ELO at all — it’s a predictive rate stat rather than a cumulative stat — and your implication of an absolute correlation is a common misconception.

We have 189 people who have posted for reqs already, which is on pace for the most voters of any OU suspect in the history of Smogon and already more than most suspects last generation despite it being less than a third of the way in. If you look through the reqs, almost everyone getting them is in the high 1500s to low 1700s, not close to having a top 10-20 rank. Your point is just not really meaningful and reqs have always been vastly different than trying to peak the ladder.

Fight the tyranny.

yea sorry I am a tyrant for running a community survey and suspect, MB!!!

 

[Taka]

Just got reqs. Here are some of my thoughts fresh off of laddering.

1. My stance on Tera is no longer Tera Preview + other options, or single Tera. Tera Ban is the most healthy option by far. While I very much appreciate the defensive utility Tera provides to mons like Dondozo, Skeledirge, and Ting-Lu, the amount of unpredictability is very difficult to deal with on offensive threats. Tera encourages much more passive gameplay, as you have to scout out every potential tera option. I'd find myself tending to just hit u-turn/volt switch everytime I'd approach something like a Roaring Moon rather than immediately attack it, just in case it would tera into something completely unexpected (quite a few tera fire roaring moon and tera dark brelooms on ladder). Its already hard to slot defensive options that cover the entire metagame without running balance/stall, but slotting these defensive options trying to cover potential tera types is incredibly difficult. Most of the time I'd end up trying to out offense a team before they could tera and catch me off guard, or just Chi-Yu nuking their tera option.

2. As soon as Tera goes, Chi-Yu has to go. Tera is the only realistic counterplay to Chi-Yu, bar mons like AV Azumarill and Quaquaval (both of which can't switch into Chi-Yu with tera and don't like taking hits regardless). Under sun, Specs Chi-Yu is impossible to switch into. Its not a slow mon by any means and the only real way of beating it is by sacking a mon to revenge it, or just hard switching one of the few checks to it like Roaring Moon(which needs SpDef investment to live a sun boosted Specs Chi-Yu). Chi-Yu is singlehandedly the most problematic mon outside of Tera and truly has no counterplay outside of garbage sets like AV Azumarill (walled by Torkoal and Scream Tail on most sun teams). A lot of the time games would come down to you and your opponent sacking something to your respective Chi-Yus and hoping you win a speed tie at the final Chi-Yu v Chi-Yu showdown. It really feels like a supercharged Tapu Lele.

3. Gholdengo is even more oppressive than I initially thought. The most common forms of removal are Great Tusk, Iron Treads, and Corviknight. These all cannot switch into Gholdengo, and Balloon renders Tusk incredibly useless. In most games, hazards stayed up the whole time regardless of what else went on. Gholdengo is just making an already incredibly offensive metagame more offensive. Granted, this is nowhere near as much of a problem as Chi-Yu or Terastallization so I wouldn't mind seeing this stay for some time. Speaking of removal though, Hatterene feels incredible, and puts in work with calm mind/nuzzle/draining kiss every single game, especially since Hatterene is one of the few ways to keep hazards off. It can't switch into Glimmora or Gholdengo though, but it pressures setters such as Tusk and Ting-Lu. Talonflame also feels alright thanks to its Gholdengo matchup, but is deadweight against Glimmora, and wants to run U-turn over Defog a lot of the time.

4. If I were to rate specific team structures, I would definitely rank it as Sun > Gholdengo Hazard Stack BO > Grimmsnarl/Cyclizar HO > Balance > Bulky Offense > Stall. That's not to say that Stall is necessarily awful, but it very much struggles with the most prominent wallbreakers, Chien Pao and Chi-Yu, and cannot hold up against Sun at all. In fact, Sun singlehandedly feels like it can beat any other playstyle, thanks to having Tusk + Roaring Moon + Chi-Yu along with their respective teras. Sun also has other great options like Sandy Shocks, Scream Tail, Gholdengo, Glimmora, Hatterene, Dragapult, Dragonite, etc. You can really slot any two mons after Tusk, RM, Chi-Yu, and Torkoal to make certain matchups better. It feels significantly better than any other playstyle and really abuses the most broken aspects of the tier to the fullest.



While I did feel like there was a skill level required to predict correctly with tera + keep momentum in a game, each match felt like a coinflip until both players use their tera. Every single play made seemed like it had to be a midground or you'd be punished for not expecting a specific tera. I actually had the most success running an offensive team with a ton of wallbreakers rather than setup sweepers, because that would let me dish out incredibly strong midground plays regardless of Tera. But with teams that were more defensive, it was a lot harder to switch around and make midground plays, since hazards would always take a toll on my core regardless of what I did.

Ultimately though, I think the OU council has done well with everything thats happened, and I think that the tier has a lot of potential, but Terastallization (and Chi-Yu) are too much for the tier.

 

[Flash67]

It is disingenuous to claim the suspect process is democratic if only three digits worth of players will get the reqs when at least four digits worth play and care about this.

A ban here means that in less than two months the signature feature of Gen 9 is gone. I think tera deserves longer than that. And right after the ban would take effect even more pokemon will be added via home in early 2023. Instead of banning more pokemon, the question might be should some already banned mons be tested back into OU.

 

[awyp]

It is disingenuous to claim the suspect process is democratic if only three digits worth of players will get the reqs when at least four digits worth play and care about this.

A ban here means that in less than two months the signature feature of Gen 9 is gone. I think tera deserves longer than that. And right after the ban would take effect even more pokemon will be added via home in early 2023. Instead of banning more pokemon, the question might be should some already banned mons be tested back into OU.

Stop the cap.

There is nothing disingenuous about it, the OU council has been very transparent there has been surveys, threads opened up on Policy Review to bring conversation about Tera as a mechanic. The Tera suspect vote as Finch said, is on record to be the most suspect votes in OU history. Smogon is very democratic in terms of how their handling Tera. If the people who met the requirements think its broken enough to be banned outright than that's a fair action, stop trying to stir conversation that has already been had on the thread, please bring facts not emotion.

 

[Nat]

I finished my reqs very early as I tend to enjoy doing and laddered/played the meta for a week or so afterwards. I spent this time on ladder anywhere from rank 1 at 2050 elo to tilting down to 1850 and calling it a day. For the most part though I played 100s of games in the 1970-2030 range so I feel at least compelled to try and make a post here for anyone who could find it useful. I am voting for action. Here is my order I'll be voting in as it stands:
1) 1 tera user per team
2) outright ban
3) reveal tera type at preview
4) stab-only

~

I will go over each option, starting with the least viable which I think stands no chance of winning so isn't worth talking about a lot. I think stab-only, for reasons already beaten to death, is unviable. I frankly think it's worse than no-action, and would see OU become a very ban-happy sink drain of mons.

Revealing tera types on preview I feel is pretty parroted without (some) necessarily understanding what it would bring to the table. Yes, we can claim it is similar to what gamefreak enacted for vgc but that really isn't a strong plus to me since when has that actually mattered in smogon tiering. I don't think the claims of "it reveals the types at preview, and thus eliminates the unbalanced nature of defensive-tera surprising you" holds as much merit as some think, either. There have been times I'm genuinely terrified to send in a chien-pao into a item-revealed garchomp, or similar easy-check situations, because there's a chance my opponent just becomes a steel type and nukes a member of my team that may be too vital to my overall position to recover from. So what do I do? Do i ice spinner/crash and pray they don't do this? Do I predict the random tera and click a fighting move? Do I settle for a more sub-optimal check in spirit of avoiding this silly 50/50? It just creates questions that shouldn't have to be fret over so constantly. This is especially annoying in endgames where it creates artificial 50/50s in otherwise won games. Every situation in the aforementioned is different, and some feel very slimy and stupid in terms of a healthy competitive experience. I don't think these problems go away just because you are privy to a teams tera typings at preview. For most competent players, you can generally surmise that your opponent has the option to tera into a specific array of defensive typing that handles its checks. Some of these are a hair more varied option-wise than others (think ting-lu), but nonetheless. In regards to rare offensive tera mons, this can also be true for most standard situations (think dragonite, for one). I genuinely believe if this option wins, we'll see another tera suspect in 4 months where it will be banned. This isn't an attempt to fear-monger, I just think based on what I know of smogon it is accurate. I'll be adding this into why I think 1-tera type per team is best in a bit.

I think outright ban is a step above revealing tera types at preview, since by definition it actually does something to address the issues at-hand rather than pretend to address them whereas I feel nothing relevant to competitive playability truly changes for the better. This is of course a very polarized option that has been deemed "nuclear" since it erases any trace of the generations main quirk. This will probably be the most (lone?) controversial statement in this post, but I think anyone who states "zzz boring it will be gen 8 again" is not really worth debating. As others have alluded to, movepools mechanics and mons more than make up enough of a difference. But, I don't want this to happen. Anyone who thinks it'd be gen 8 again also doesn't want this to happen. I just think it's better than the do-nothing options (no action, preview tera). I'd like to see tera stay if possible, it's the generations signature gimmick after all.

Which brings me to my favorite option that I would like to see win but don't have a ton of hope for (yet!). 1 Tera type per team, designated in the first slot, feels like the happiest bridge between people who want to preserve tera mechanically, and people who feel tera leads to an unbalanced metagame. For the people who lean more pro-ban, imo it reduces an acceptable amount of the malarkey you'd run into via current tera standards. You can gameplan more traditionally, akin to the most previous generations, and the rewards from doing so competently are less diminished or randomized. For the people who are less pro-ban, it preserves the mechanic in at least some form. You still can let your creativity flourish and shine through. I genuinely believe if I know your volcarona is capable of tera, there's still a mountain of mystique to this. The number of possibilities of course would change with any given mon as the designated tera slot. If I see your floatzel is in the tera slot, I know it is probably clicking a water move even harder, or tera blast to hit water resists. This isn't as varied as some other mons would be capability wise, but the tradeoff is the raw strength of said slot being the tera slot. I think it definitely heightens a longstanding philosophy of "building around a core piece" in teambuilding. It still leaves windows open for pro-preserve folks, while pro-ban people don't feel alienated into playing an OM. I think if this option won, you wouldn't have to worry about tera suspects in the future. It'd be a mechanic preserved through the generation.

~

I do not have much else to say about no-action. I do unbiasedly think action will win, but who knows. The vast majority of players I spend time talking to that have been around smogon a while seem to favor action. Of what I've seen on smogon, people who are relatively uninvolved in smogon but have gotten reqs have been a mixed field. The majority to me seem pro-action, again who knows. The more interesting debate to me is what kind of action we will see.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

It is disingenuous to claim the suspect process is democratic if only three digits worth of players will get the reqs when at least four digits worth play and care about this.

A ban here means that in less than two months the signature feature of Gen 9 is gone. I think tera deserves longer than that. And right after the ban would take effect even more pokemon will be added via home in early 2023. Instead of banning more pokemon, the question might be should some already banned mons be tested back into OU.

Skilled players' opinions matter more than unskilled players in a competitive meta. I would think you would agree that a casual player who plays OU ladder infrequently isn't well equipped to comment on meta development. Whereas better players who plays OU regualrly and participates in tournaments are more capable.

If Tera does get banned, you can still play it in Natdex AG on Showdown, or the official formats like BSS and VGC. Just because some people in the comments are against Tera doesn't mean it's guaranteed to get banned. Regardless of the result, it's still a fair and democratic process for a competitive metagame.

 

[kosecant]

Skilled players' opinions matter more than unskilled players in a competitive meta. I would think you would agree that a casual player who plays OU ladder infrequently isn't well equipped to comment on meta development. Whereas better players who plays OU regualrly and participates in tournaments are more capable.

If Tera does get banned, you can still play it in Natdex AG on Showdown, or the official formats like BSS and VGC. Just because some people in the comments are against Tera doesn't mean it's guaranteed to get banned. Regardless of the result, it's still a fair and democratic process for a competitive metagame.

I’m all for arguments against tera, but saying we should just go play AG or vgc shouldn’t be one of them. My ideal solution if it were to be banned from OU would be an OM with Tera instead, which Finch said may be an option.

finch edit: that’s not what I said exactly (moreso that other formats such as OMs may have the mechanic allowed in some capacity) and doesn’t actually have much to do with the suspect on-hand either

 

[Pimenthe]

Hi,
I just made an account here especially to answer this thread.
I'm not that familiar with the forums so I don't understand how to vote.

But I want to stress that Tera isn't a problem so to say. It's actually more interesting to my mind in teambuilding than the dynamaxes.
Basically it's THE interesting thing of this generation.

So now, you have something interesting and a lot of broken pokemons with broken abilities. I'm still laughing when I use Chi-Yu and it just OHKOs anything, or when I simply see the ridiculous stats of basically every new pokemon in the metagame.
THIS can, HAS to be regulated.

I openly vote for a no-regulation of the tera. Indeed, it's the interesting part of the game, and you can also forecast it in your teambuilding.
It's not that hard to think "oh, this flying pokemon might become ground on my electric attack". And it might it even more interesting in countering the anticipated teras, by having uncommon ones.

To sum up : it's super interesting AS IT IS, trying to control it would just make the metagame dull.
Take care of the broken mons instead...

 

[Haffling]

1) Outright ban
2) 1 tera user per team
3) stab-only
4) reveal tera type at preview

I've been open about my hate for Terastallization since day 1, and as plenty of far more articulate people, than I have said, tera ain't it.

I'll touch on some things I despise about Terastallization. (note that I don't like any option other than an Outright ban of Terastallization)

Flipping checks/counters on their heads:
as many have pointed out checks aren't checks anymore, how is anyone supposed to account for all these possibilities in the builder, not to mention that tera types will constantly change in order to gain an advantage on “commonly used” tera types.

The 50/50:
the endless 50/50s, this mechanic gives me headaches not only do I need to get the timing and typing right I might need to tera myself in order to do anything.

No cost or downside:
whilst I'm no fan of z moves you had to give something up in order to use them, as for Terastallization no such cost can be found, some consider losing defensive utility when you tera a downside others say “but if I tera on the wrong turn/with the wrong mon I lose” I don't see how these are downsides, after all, you always have the option to not tera.

I really just needed to get my disdain for Terastallization out there, also if am able to get reqs any scrub can.

 

[kosecant]

I’m all for arguments against tera, but saying we should just go play AG or vgc shouldn’t be one of them. My ideal solution if it were to be banned from OU would be an OM with Tera instead, which Finch said may be an option.

finch edit: that’s not what I said exactly (moreso that other formats such as OMs may have the mechanic allowed in some capacity) and doesn’t actually have much to do with the suspect on-hand either

My bad finch, I think I kinda misread what you said on twitter. Thanks for the clarification!

as to not make a one liner, I’ve really been enjoying the team building aspect of terastallization, as I find it very satisfying to patch up holes in my team’s defense just by changing a type instead of having to use a whole different Pokémon and potentially change the Composition of the team. I personally feel this helps with the skill expression in the tier.
If I manage to get recs, I’ll be voting
1. No ban
2. Tera preview
3. Dedicated tera user
4. Ban Tera blast
5. Same type tera
6. Full ban

 

[Levant Mir Celestia]

I feel like that a considerable amount of Pokemon that can abuse Tera to the point of being broken are both few and far between for now and could just be banned themselves instead of the whole mechanic.

I do not agree with this - it feels like you're supporting having the mons take the fall to save Terastalization. Now, mons can be overbearing even without Tera, like Flutter Mane and Neo Delibird were (and Chi-Yu and Chien-Pao are), but still. This reeks of incurring a LOT of collateral damage to save a mechanic that prolly is in fact broken and needs to go. Because honestly, I think having to ban all the mons that Tera breaks is fruitless; you'd likely have to ban a crapload of mons all because Tera exists... at which point it's blatantly obvious that Tera is unhealthy as all get out and needs to get chopped.

It is disingenuous to claim the suspect process is democratic if only three digits worth of players will get the reqs when at least four digits worth play and care about this.

A ban here means that in less than two months the signature feature of Gen 9 is gone. I think tera deserves longer than that. And right after the ban would take effect even more pokemon will be added via home in early 2023. Instead of banning more pokemon, the question might be should some already banned mons be tested back into OU.

Honestly, I disagree; Dynamax was the signature feature of Gen 8, and we all know how THAT turned out. Terastalization, while not as busted as Dynamax was, is still crazy enough that it just might be for the best to hit it with the banhammer. The fact that literally any mon can just get Adaptability by Terastalizing into their own type is just too much for me to abide.

Basically it's THE interesting thing of this generation.

You could say the same of Dynamax in Gen 8. That didn't earn it a free pass from the banhammer.

Indeed, it's the interesting part of the game, and you can also forecast it in your teambuilding.
It's not that hard to think "oh, this flying pokemon might become ground on my electric attack". And it might it even more interesting in countering the anticipated teras, by having uncommon ones.

To sum up : it's super interesting AS IT IS, trying to control it would just make the metagame dull.
Take care of the broken mons instead...

And that's the problem - Terastalization makes games way too swingy. The fact that I can suddenly be put at a disadvantage when I was in a situation when I should have forced my opponent's mon out is unacceptable. Like having Great Tusk out vs a Kingambit, for example. Normally, that's an easy switch for the Kingambit, but with Tera, it becomes a mess as to what the Great Tusk user oughta do. Do I use Close Combat knowing they can just Tera Flying, Fairy, or Ghost and resist or even null it, at which point what should have been a check is now setup fodder??

Sure, there are some mons that are broken and need to get banned (even without Terastalize), but I don't see how that will help when Terastalize is a major factor in that. Especially when Tera's existance might make some otherwise okay mons into bannable ones.