NU Suspect Analysis: Stage 4

Introduction

With the dawn of ORAS, the NU tier experienced a shake up, the likes of which we've never seen before. Nine new Megas were released into the tier alongside the new ORAS tutors, which turned the relatively stable XY NU metagame into a free-for-all. With the release of the December usage stats, most of the incredibly broken Megas (Lopunny, Altaria, Beedrill, Sceptile, as well as the new Adaptability Draglage) rose via usage to the higher tiers. Slurpuff, which gained access to Drain Punch, was banned soon after. With the departure of the obviously broken 'mons, players began to realize that both Mega Glalie and Pangoro were also broken; they were just previously being outshined by the other Megas. After some deliberation, both M-Glalie and Pangoro were banned and the ORAS NU meta began to settle down. With all of the other Megas gone, the only ones that remained were Mega Audino, Mega Camerupt, and Mega Steelix. Slowly but surely, the NU playerbase began to realize how centralizing Mega Steelix was to the tier. Many called for a suspect, but the council decided to wait until the February tier shifts to see if the tier would shift in a way that would make Mega Steelix less centralizing. When the tier shifts came, it brought 5 new 'mons to play with. Among them were Heliolisk, Virizion, and Mawile. After a couple weeks of playtesting, it was obvious that Heliolisk should be added to the Suspect List alongside Mega Steelix, which brings us to the first public suspect test in the 6th Generation of NU.

Suspects

Steelixite

The first of the two suspects in Stage 4 was Steelixite. At the beginning of ORAS, Mega Steelix hardly stood out compared to the much flashier, more broken Megas that were introduced. Most players dismissed it as a new version of Steelix that had traded off the ability to run Leftovers for more attacking power. However, as the metagame settled and the opportunity cost to run Steelix lowered, people began to realize the centralizing force that Mega Steelix had on the NU metagame. Its great base 125 Attack, incredible 75/230/95 defensive stats and incredible Steel/Ground typing made it a threat to both defensive and offensive teams alike. Almost all offensive Normal-, Flying-, and Steel-types in the tier such as Klinklang, Kangaskhan, Scyther were deemed unviable due to the fact that they could not break through Mega Steelix. Another thing that made Mega Steelix as good as it was was the fact that a standard moveset consisted of Stealth Rock / Heavy Slam / Earthquake / Filler. This means that based on its 4th moveslot, Mega Steelix could pick and choose what beat it and what didn't. Traditional counters such as Mantine and Pelipper would lose to Thunder Fang, Torterra could be poisoned by Toxic and worn down throughout the match, and it could even run Rest to stay healthy and not care about anything that defensive teams might throw its way. With the February tier shifts, the anti-ban arguments grew louder, as Claydol, Virizion, and Quagsire could all beat Mega Steelix 1-on-1, as well as the fact that Heliolisk became the Electric-type of choice that Mega Steelix could not safely switch in to. Many anti-ban arguments focused on the fact that Mega Steelix wasn't inherently broken, and that through the tier shifts the metagame had adapted to the point where Mega Steelix could be handled by most teams without having to run multiple counters. Despite the increasing number of anti-ban opinions, the general sentiment of the NU community was that Mega Steelix was too good offensively and defensively and that it warped the metagame around itself. After the test ended and the votes were tallied up, Steelixite was banned from NU with an 84.5% supermajority.

Heliolisk

When one first looks at Heliolisk, it's hard to see why it was even considered ban worthy in the first place. From a distance it looks like your standard Electric-type attacker equivalent to that of Jolteon or Manectric, and while it certainly has good stats, it doesn't have the raw power, incredible typing, or immense bulk that, say, a Mega Steelix does. However, when one digs deeper they find that what makes Heliolisk truly broken lies in its incredible movepool and blistering base Speed, which lets it bypass any potential counters it might have while also being able to gain free momentum with a practically unblockable Volt Switch. With the release of ORAS, Heliolisk gained an incredible buff in STAB Hyper Voice, which hits just as hard as Thunderbolt while providing excellent coverage alongside its Electric STAB moves. Combine this with hard-hitting coverage moves such as Surf, Grass Knot and Focus Blast, a Life Orb or Choice Specs, and a Special Attack stat equivalent to that of Typhlosion and you have yourself a Pokémon comparable to Greninja and Genesect in OU. Heliolisk also has an incredible ability in Dry Skin that lets it switch into bulky Water-types such as Mantine and Prinplup without any worry at all. Once Heliolisk got a free switch-in, it could act as a wallbreaker and a pivot at the same time by using its incredible Normal-type STAB and coverage moves to break through any offensive 'mons or Ground-types, or use Volt Switch to gain momentum if it got matched up against something it couldn't really touch such as Gourgeist. Heliolisk also has an incredible base 109 Speed that allows it to outpace some of the fastest mons in the tier such as Scyther and Typhlosion, which made it incredibly difficult to revenge kill. Priority abusers such as Kangaskhan and Kecleon, both of which could normally revenge Heliolisk with priority, were also nowhere to be found in the meta due to the omnipresent Mega Steelix. All in all, Heliolisk's lack of true counters combined with its incredible movepool and base Speed made it too much for the NU tier to handle and was banned with a 90% supermajority.

Metagame Analysis

With both of the suspects heavily centralizing the metagame, balance became the most effective playstyle and the playstyle of choice for most players. In fact, most balance teams in that metagame contained the same 5 mons (Mega Steelix, Heliolisk, Mantine/Xatu, Typhlosion, and Hariyama) as outlined in a Sample Team by hollywood. This team framework allowed even the greenest players to perform well on the ladder due to the effectiveness of the build and the massive amount of threats in the meta that it could beat. Offensive teams were practically non-existent due to the omnipresence of Heliolisk, which was often faster than most 'mons on offensive teams, and Steelix, which could handle all the 'mons that could outpace and check Heliolisk. Stall was also incredibly difficult to build with due to the fact that Steelix could run a RestTalk Curse set that practically 6-0ed stall from the lead slot. Stall also had lots of difficulty with how Heliolisk could wallbreak and pivot at the same time. However, certain 'mons also benefited greatly from the presence of Mega Steelix and Heliolisk in the meta. Both Mantine and Gourgeist were considered to be incredible Pokémon at the time due to the amount of top tier 'mons that they beat. Mantine was considered the sturdiest check to Mega Steelix due to the fact it took almost nothing from Steelix's STAB moves while usually having a free moveslot to run Protect to scout for any possible Thunder Fangs. It also checked the onslaught of offensive Fire-types such as Typhlosion and Mega Camerupt. Gourgeist was extremely popular because it could use its incredible mixed bulk and access to reliable recovery to check both Heliolisk and Mega Steelix very effectively, as well as hard counter other offensive threats such as Virizion.

Conclusion

With the banning of both Mega Steelix and Heliolisk, the metagame has finally settled down into a state of balance. Unlike the Mega Steelix/Heliolisk era, almost every playstyle is viable and many different 'mons and team structures are being used. While there are some cries for more suspect testing on Typhlosion and Mega Camerupt, the NU community is much less certain of a verdict than we were about Mega Steelix and Heliolisk. Make sure to come by the NeverUsed subforum or the NeverUsed room on PS! to get involved in the tier and have a chance to have your say on the exciting future of the NU tier!

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