6th Gen Pokemon of the Week

[Richard and Blaziken]

Hey guys! Sorry about the delay, but Mawile's issue is now up!

The fact that it coincides with Mawilite's suspect test is pure coincidence, as I had planned this issue for last Sunday before the test had been announced, but now is a great time to discuss Mawile, and Mawilite. How do you feel about it? Should Mega Mawile be banned?

In my opinion, the answer is yes. It's not the most pressing issue in the metagame at the moment, but it really has nothing that can switch into both movesets, and the highest immediate Attack in the game with access to Swords Dance and Sucker Punch is just too powerful for the metagame.

Discuss!

[the bread dragon]

mawile isnt too hard to deal with imo if you spam eq ^ ^;

[Richard and Blaziken]

It's not about that, you have to switch something into it, and you really can't do that without being 1-2HKO'd by any given move on any set. Impish Landorus-Therian is nearly 2HKO'd and has no recovery, so it takes like 2 of these to wear it down to not even being a counter anymore. Heatran is met by a swift Focus Punch KO. Skarmory is 2HKO'd by Fire Fang or Focus Punch. What are you switching into Mega Mawile to beat it when it comes in on a Pokemon that can't do anything to it? Are you leaving that Pokemon in and allowing it to SD or Sub?

[Spriter]

I was tempted to say not much likes switching into Nidoking.

I really have not had problems with Mawile in the past, I don't see why it should be banned. Maybe I just conveniently packed 4-5 checks to it on one time, but I really haven't had many problems with it.

[SaRo|Rapidash]

Mawile can't be switched into, except for things like defensive Chandelure, no. But I don't think it's necessarily ban worthy because of many things;

-> The amount of people who say they haven't had any trouble with it is absurd. Whilst personal experiences aren't usually considered, when it's this many it clearly isn't unhealthy.

-> It can't switch in itself, very little struggles to not OHKO Mawile or cripple it in some other way.

-> While many things are 2HKOd, Mawile's low speed means it has to fully rely on forcing switches to deal damage.

-> It has a lot of checks, which generally make it manageable.

Whilst none of those are massive reasons for it not to be banned, together they show that it's not that bad. Just because little can switch in doesn't make it inherently overpowered, much like Spriters example of Nidoking which is nowhere near overpowered but is still very difficult to switch into.

Mawile struggles a fair bit at dealing with Hyper Offense, which doesn't have an Earthquake fair away at any time, too.

I don't think this ban is clear cut either way, but I would be in favour of keeping it for now, as it's clearly not the biggest problem and maybe the removal of the bigger problems would better highlight whether it is ban worthy or not. In other words, smogon screwed up the order as usual.

Edit: Also, nice work on the article, it's good as usual ^^

[Captain Jigglypuff]

Blaziken and Mega Blaziken can switch in easily to attack Mawile without even trying. I've done it before and a Flamethrower will usually take it out in one hit.

[Sappy]

Blaziken and Mega Blaziken can switch in easily to attack Mawile without even trying. I've done it before and a Flamethrower will usually take it out in one hit.

Blaziken is uber bro. chill

[Richard and Blaziken]

252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Blaziken: 334-394 (110.9 - 130.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Mega Mawile Focus Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Blaziken: 371-437 (123.2 - 145.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Yeah, no, that isn't gonna work. Nevermind the fact that Blaziken is banned, Blaziken absolutely cannot switch into two of the most common attacks Mawile uses.

Mawile can't be switched into, except for things like defensive Chandelure, no. But I don't think it's necessarily ban worthy because of many things;

-> The amount of people who say they haven't had any trouble with it is absurd. Whilst personal experiences aren't usually considered, when it's this many it clearly isn't unhealthy.

This isn't true or even an argument. Check the Smogon thread, tons of people have trouble with Mawile, especially stall/defensive teams, which Mawile runs through easily.

-> It can't switch in itself, very little struggles to not OHKO Mawile or cripple it in some other way.

It comes in on defensive Pokemon and Subs or SDs on the switch.

-> While many things are 2HKOd, Mawile's low speed means it has to fully rely on forcing switches to deal damage.

Or just Sucker Punch, which forces a 50/50 of Sucker Punch or Focus Punch/Play Rough/Iron head.

-> It has a lot of checks, which generally make it manageable.

So does Blaziken.

Whilst none of those are massive reasons for it not to be banned, together they show that it's not that bad. Just because little can switch in doesn't make it inherently overpowered, much like Spriters example of Nidoking which is nowhere near overpowered but is still very difficult to switch into.

I strongly disagree.

Mawile struggles a fair bit at dealing with Hyper Offense, which doesn't have an Earthquake fair away at any time, too.

Heavy offense is built around fast, powerful, frail sweepers. Sucker Punch generally deals well with these Pokemon unless they resist it. Add Stealth Rock and MMaw deals very well with heavy offense, especially given partners like Lando-T or Rotom-W that deal with common EQers. Everything has type weaknesses, this isn't an argument for it not being broken or else Ho-Oh would be OU.

I don't think this ban is clear cut either way, but I would be in favour of keeping it for now, as it's clearly not the biggest problem and maybe the removal of the bigger problems would better highlight whether it is ban worthy or not. In other words, smogon screwed up the order as usual.

Edit: Also, nice work on the article, it's good as usual ^^

Thanks bud xD

[Richard and Blaziken]

Welcome to the segment we call "Richard should start writing these earlier so they're not 7 hours late in his timezone". I also like to refer to it as Medicham's issue is up!

How do you feel about Medicham and Mega Medicham? Do you struggle with Mega Medicham at all? Would you like to call me out about it not being OP? Let me know what you think below!

[kindtocrows]

I am so sorry about not getting Unearthed in this week. My schedule was messed up and I haven't gotten much sleep this week... Just, things got in the way, really... I'm sorry.

[Richard and Blaziken]

No worries, Dragoncat! You doing Unearthed isn't mandatory, and I appreciate the fact that you do it in the first place! You're more consistent than I am!

[Richard and Blaziken]

It's up on time! How strange! Scizor's issue is up!, and it's a big one! The amount of things Scizor can do is crazy, and I can definitely say I learned a lot about Scizor myself just by writing it!

Big thanks to Dragoncat for writing Unearthed this week, especially given her phobia of flying ants and bugs in general (?), it's much appreciated!

What do you think about Scizor? How has the metagame shifted to help or hurt it? Is it still a big offensive threat, or has it shifted to more of a defensive focus? Let me know below!

[Delicious_Scout]

Oh, yes! Finally its issue is up!

Now that Aegislash is gone (and, somewhat, Megwile), it has a golden chance of not being walled, especially with the Dark Buff. Knock Off just makes it a better supporter, and the old Trapping Set (either by using Life Orb Standard or Megazor) is still very viable, especially with those pesky Psychic types gaining popularity in OU.

Thankfully, with its increase in bulk, now it can take one HP Fire, which is a great bonus for such a useful Pokémon.

Do you not want to use Defog? Don't worry, because Starmie (not Donphan) makes an excellent partner, covering its weakness for fire, while offering good Special Attack (further increased by a possible Analytic boost) and, perhaps, a status absorption, couresty of Natural Cure (and recover, if using the defensive set). Not to say it has blazi(ke)n(g) speed, so that it is, overall, very useful.

Give it a try, you will not regret this overgrown semi-crab in your team.

[Richard and Blaziken]

Tyranitar's issue is up!

Oddly enough, after checking, it's been one year and one week since I wrote Tyranitar's 5th gen PotW issue. Would have been strange if I'd posted this last week, huh? In any case, what do you think about gen 2's pseudo-legendary? How do you feel about Tyranitar in the current metagame? Has the de-buff to weather hurt it, or is it glad to be rid of infinite rain? Let me know below!

As always, a big thanks to Dragoncat for her excellent work on Unearthed!

[Hahex and Oshawott]

Suprised by the lack of Assault Vest Tyranitar. With the sand boosting his special defence as well, Assault Vest makes him ridiculously tanky on the special side. Fill out your EVs in HP as well, and Tyranitar even takes physical moves OK. But it's probably one of the more prominent move sets to have developed in the last generation at least.