Suspect Reasoning:
Iron Moth has been a rather controversial Pokemon, even with the long-standing history it has had thus far. From a tier full of ups and downs attached to both itself and others, to its outstanding reputation as sibling to Big
™, it has nevertheless managed to preserve and remain one of the most reliable and threatening presences in the tier to date, and has even seen a strong resurgence against the prevalence of hyper offense teamstyles lately, to say nothing of the dynamics used to handle it having shifted overtime to a more questionable perspective as such, thus marking the overall outline of reasons for this suspect test down below.Currently, Iron Moth reins as one of the top sweepers and wallbreakers in the tier; it packs all the power you can ask for, as evident from the implications of its base 140 Special Attack, often bolstered further by Fiery Dance or secondary boosts, to a remarkable offensive movepool. A perfectly capable Speed tier of 110 often complements these aspects too, usually being finalized with pairings of Agility or even the occasional Speed boost from Booster Energy to exercise its impact on the majority of games it features in, the former of which is also capable of outspeeding every relevant Choice Scarfer or Speed-boosting threat after setup. It even packs significant special defense to top things off, allowing it to survive the occasional Water-type encounter or Choice Scarfers attacking it from that end under more conditional circumstances.
In terms of moveset, Iron Moth’s most common variations always opt for the signature combination of Fiery Dance and Sludge Wave, rounded out by coverage options in Energy Ball to nail common Waters and Grounds such as Hippowdon and Rotom-W, weakening these targets far more effectively than its other options, Psychic to win opposing Iron Moth mirrors in a pinch, or even Dazzling Gleam to KO the occasional Dragons like Latios or Hydreigon that would otherwise survive an unboosted attack, with it and the former covering simultaneously for its arch-nemesis Tyranitar. These sets will usually feature some form of Booster Energy to raise with Special Attack or Speed with the appropriate EV investment and upon switchin, making it potentially far more dangerous when confronted in the traditional sense. As discussed previously, more utility-focused sets remain very viable as well, making use of Heavy-Duty Boots to not get worn down by Stealth Rock and Spikes, and even generating momentum with U-turn or being able to set Toxic Spikes of its own to fill the necessary requirements of the more defensive approach it thus occupies, being a very unique and multi-dimensional check to many Fairy and Steel-types on teams in need of the offensive firepower it holds.
However, not all carnations within roses remain positive for Iron Moth’s tenure in the tier. While it is true that Iron Moth has more than enough power to make the occasion beyond just a dice roll in its favor, tactics against it have been multifaceted to the extent teams can often respond to it one way or another without the need to adapt answers extensively. This generally ranges from common defensive staples, most importantly Ting-Lu, Tyranitar formes, and Mega Latias, to generally bulky Pokemon such as Swords Dance Iron Hands, and even Pokemon that can commonly exploit its 4x Ground weakness to remove it in a pinch, such as Mega Venusaur, Celesteela and Assault Vest Tangrowth, many of which we see stacked on the same these compositions in some form. Speed Booster variants, while more consistent in tandem with the general flow of most offensive teams, are especially crippled by their reliance on Fiery Dance boosts to break through most full-health targets, thus reserving it for more of a late-game role, whereas Agility sets can sometimes be deterred from setting up altogether.
Iron Moth’s tendencies to struggle against these structures in practice may also be reinforced by its other weaknesses and frailty on the physical side, and weakness to entry hazards outside of Heavy-Duty Boots, making revenge killing or pressuring it far easier to do as a whole with faster Pokemon such as Alakazam, Choice Scarf Galarian Zapdos, and Zeraora, should the respective boosts from Booster Energy remain obsolete. The recent Light Clay ban, while not entirely tied to Iron Moth’s capabilities as an offensive sweeper, also significantly restricts the flexibility in playing around many of these combined situations to begin with, limiting the ability of Agility variants to trade with the aforementioned key targets to achieve necessary sweeping conditions. Added to this, more individually successful checks with sufficient bulk and resistances have also been seeing substantial use in concordance to shifts influenced handily by Iron Moth as well, but have each proven very viable outside of handling it regardless - including the likes of Slowking and Mega Aerodactyl, to Nihilego and Ceruledge on more offensive teams, which can all easily finish off a boosted Iron Moth if kept healthy.
Suspect Test Information
- Reading this is mandatory to participate in the suspect test. The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 79 with at least 40 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 79 GXE, down to a minimum of 20 games at a GXE of 83. Also, needing more than 40 games to reach 79 GXE will suffice.
| GXE | minimum games |
| 79 | 40 |
| 79.2 | 39 |
| 79.4 | 38 |
| 79.6 | 37 |
| 79.8 | 36 |
| 80 | 35 |
| 80.2 | 34 |
| 80.4 | 33 |
| 80.6 | 32 |
| 80.8 | 31 |
| 81 | 30 |
| 81.2 | 29 |
| 81.4 | 28 |
| 81.6 | 27 |
| 81.8 | 26 |
| 82 | 25 |
| 82.2 | 24 |
| 82.4 | 23 |
| 82.6 | 22 |
| 82.8 | 21 |
| 83 | 20 |
- You must use a fresh account that begins with the given prefix for this suspect test. That prefix is NDUU9IMTH. For example, I could signup and qualify with the name NDUU9IMTH Arishem.
- You may not impersonate or mock another user with your account name. If there is any slight hesitation, you're probably better off picking a different name. We reserve the right to null your voting requisites if you are found impersonating or mocking another user with your account name. Moderator discretion will be applied.
- If you are found trying to manipulate voting requisites in any way, you will be met with a harsh infraction. Manipulating voting requisites ranges from faking your screenshot to asking another user to forfeit.
- The Pokemon that's being suspect tested, Iron Moth, will be allowed on the National Dex UU ladder for the next two weeks so that we can properly assess its position in the metagame.
