NU Suspect Coverage: Stage 5

Introduction

After the results of the Steelixite/Heliolisk suspect test, the NU metagame was looking to settle into a more balanced state. The metagame seemed infinitely less centralized and much more fun to play, until Game Freak decided to throw another wrench into the hearts of the NU playerbase. On February 27th, Sheer Force Feraligatr and Flash Fire Typhlosion were introduced only 4 days before the Steelixite / Heliolisk Suspect Test ended. Feraligatr was immediately suspected and subsequently quickbanned by the NU council due to its incredible damage output, Sheer Force-boosted movepool, and lack of true counters due to its ability to run both physical and special sets. Flash Fire Typhlosion, on the other hand, was considered by many to be a balancing factor because it allowed Typhlosion to come in on opposing Typhlosion's Eruptions and check itself. A couple weeks after the Feraligatr ban, the NU community began to call for another suspect, this time on Cameruptite and Typhlosion. Both of the potential suspects were considered to be incredibly centralizing and each put too much pressure on teambuilding. After waiting a couple of days, the NU council decided to pull the trigger and officially suspect test both Cameruptite and Typhlosion.

Suspects

Cameruptite

Previously, Cameruptite had already been suspected at the same time as Mega Glalie and Pangoro, yet it had not been banned due to an 8 Do Not Ban / 1 Ban vote. However, this time around there was little to no downside in using Mega Camerupt due to it being one of only two Mega Evolutions in the tier. After Steelixite was banned, the NU community began to see how destructive Mega Camerupt could be with its incredible base attacking stats, great offensive ability, and extremely useful Fire / Ground typing. While Fire / Ground may not seem like a great typing at first glance due to its 4x weakness to Water, it provides Mega Camerupt with incredibly useful resistances to Poison, Fire, Steel, and Fairy, which allowed Mega Camerupt to switch in safely on common Pokémon such as Weezing, Garbodor, Klinklang, Mawile, and even Typhlosion (provided that Camerupt was a specially defensive variant). It also sports 70 / 100 / 105 bulk, which lets it take hits from most defensive Pokémon and even some offensive Pokémon. However, Cameruptite wasn't being suspected for Mega Camerupt's bulk or typing, it was being suspected due to Mega Camerupt's lack of true counters and nuke-like attacking stats. Even supposed counters and checks like Mantine and Hariyama were wary to switch in due to Mega Camerupt's access to common coverage and support moves such as Rock Slide, Hidden Power Electric, and Will-O-Wisp. Even with all these positives, Cameruptite was not a sure ban in the eyes of all the voters. Do Not Ban supporters said that it was difficult to bring Mega Camerupt in before it could Mega Evolve due to its mediocre 70 / 70 / 75 bulk. They also argued that Mega Camerupt was worn down fairly easily due to its vulnerability to entry hazards and its lack of any form of recovery outside of Rest and Sleep Talk. These supporters also argued that Camerupt was not a difficult Pokémon to check due to its abysmal Speed that lets it be easily revenge killed by practically every Water-type in the tier. However, due to Mega Camerupt's lack of switch-ins, good typing, solid bulk, and utility movepool, Cameruptite was banned from NU with an 84% supermajority.

Typhlosion

Typhlosion has been a controversial figure in NU since the middle of the XY NU metagame when people began to realize how hard it hit with Choice Specs Eruption. Although Typhlosion remained controversial after the shift into ORAS, the council felt that there were still enough checks and ways to handle it to where it wasn't bad enough to be suspected. However, as the metagame began to settle down after the Stage 4 suspect testing, the NU playerbase began to realize how much pressure on teambuilding Typhlosion put. The power of Choice Specs Eruption limited its switch-ins to either Flash Fire users or only the bulkiest of Pokémon that resist Fire; anything else (resisted or not) was cleanly 2HKOed. Typhlosion also boasted a great ability in Blaze that let it clean late-game with Blaze-boosted Fire Blasts (which were actually stronger than a full-health Choice Specs Eruption). With the release of its hidden ability, many Do Not Ban supporters rejoiced due to the fact that Typhlosion could no longer spam its Fire-type moves with impunity, as it had to be careful of opposing Typhlosion switching in for free. It wasn't long, however, before the NU community responded with the discovery of a Charcoal + Will-O-Wisp set that allowed Typhlosion to bait in and beat a lot of its checks such as Hariyama (with Will-O-Wisp) and itself (Earthquake). With the Charcoal + Wisp set becoming more popular, the Ban opinion on Typhlosion began to increase among the NU community; however, those not in favour of the ban argued that Typhlosion was prone to being worn down and that its insane power level relied on it being at 100% health. They also said that the power of its Blaze-boosted Fire Blasts were rendered moot due to the omnipresence of Flash Fire Typhlosion. At the time of voting, both sides had valid points and the vote seemed to be heading towards a stalemate. However, in the 11th hour, those in favour of the Ban side ended up garnering more support and Typhlosion was considered to be too centralizing in the NU metagame and was banned from NU with a 53.4% simple majority.

Metagame Analysis

The metagame, while much less centralized than the Mega Steelix metagame, was still incredibly centralized around using and stopping Fire-types. Most balanced teams carried multiple checks to Fire-types in order to not be overwhelmed by the extreme wallbreaking power of both of the suspects. Some of the more common checks were Mantine, Hariyama, and Prinplup while some more niche Pokémon such as Grumpig and Munchlax were deemed more viable due to their high Special Defense and Thick Fat ability. On more offensive teams, Pokémon such as Archeops and Samurott saw increased usage due to their ability to easily revenge kill both suspects with Aqua Tail and Aqua Jet respectively. Spikes-stacking and offensive entry hazard teams in general also gained a bump in usage due to the fact that these teams both benefited from and hindered the suspects. Both suspects were easily worn down by all forms of entry hazards, and almost all of the Fire-type switch-ins in the tier were easily worn down by Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Lilligant also deserved a special mention, as it was a Pokémon that synergized incredibly well both offensively and defensively with both of the potential suspects. It also appreciated Spikes support, as most of its checks were worn down as well.

Conclusion

With the banning of both of the suspects, NU finally has some breathing room with respects to potentially broken Pokémon. Nothing in the metagame stands out as being remotely unhealthy for the tier and much of the centralization in teambuilding has disappeared. There are still some incredibly strong threats such as Lilligant and Klinklang that every team must prepare for, but nobody is calling for a suspect test just yet. Any potential suspects will be from tier shifts or potential retesting. A Typhlosion re-test is also not out of the question due to its incredibly close vote. It's an exciting time to be a part of the NU tier and everyone should make sure to visit the NeverUsed subforum and the NeverUsed room on PS! to get involved in the exciting future of the tier!

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