Hogg
grubbing in the ashes
Hey, since everyone is posting their past gen lower tier changes, it’s about time I get to post one too, right?
I’ve been a vocal opponent of BP in ADV UU for years. (Or, well, BP everywhere, but especially ADV UU.) I implemented what I’m pretty sure was the first unofficial BP ban in ADV UU the first time I hosted UUPL, and it has carried over into pretty much every unofficial tour since. And due to a miscommunication, it ended up getting banned on Showdown as well, and the overall experience was positive from pretty much everyone I spoke to, so it kind of just stuck.
Basically, BP is super toxic in UU, and most of the community has been playing without it for years as it is, so it would be nice to just go ahead and formally introduce a ban (or BP clause, if we wanted to consider inheriting OU’s clause rather than going with a full ban, though I prefer a full ban). Many of the most viable ‘mons in UU have access to BP and multiple boosting moves: Lunatone/Solrock (which also get Hypnosis, for the ultimate screw you special), Scyther and Hypno are all above-average picks as it is, and can become absolutely explosive with BP. Full chains are perfectly viable, as are more focused teams that rely on Scyther passing off +2 Attack and +1 Speed to a Rest Kanga and just winning with very minimal counterplay. And Mr.Mime is just as aggressively good at shutting down Roar/Perish Song as a way of dealing with BP in UU as it was in OU.
I love ADV UU with all its flaws and foibles, so I’m always a bit wary of messing around with it too much, but I’ve played a huge number of games both with and without BP and I can confidently say that it is a significantly better and fairer tier without BP. I’d like to see it officially banned so we aren’t in this weird limbo where it’s not technically banned but might as well be.
(Thanks Lilburr for the image)