This seems a little... Broken?
Geomancy is effectively two quiver dances, but requires a charging turn. With power herb, it's just two quiver dances. Volcarona managed to be OU despite a 4x stealth rock weakness because of quiver dance, so Xerneas (who would presumably be uber without it) will surely be able to abuse this?
I don't know, what's everyone else's thoughts on this?
(As a guide for those without a Xerneas, his best stats seem to be Atk and SpA, and he has decent speed and defenses)
Does only Xerneas have access to it? If so, you need not worry, because Xerneas will be banned anyway
Xerneas ad smeargle, but smeargle won't do much outside of baton passing it (Which'll still be bad enough...)
But still, even in Übers this seems to be a little too powerful, factoring in an immunity to Dragon, which is a very common type. Fairy aura to boost STAB even more, and I would imagine he has access to earth power (don't know yet, just seems like the type of move he'd have) which covers poison, steel and fire. (Mainly Dialga, as Ho-oh will be immune)
It has estimated stats of 126 / 131 / 95 / 131 / 98 / 99, bulkier than Kyurem with a better typing. I'd say that's Uber material regardless.
I've used a Geomancy / Substitute / Moon Blast / HP Ground set with Life Orb as a test on custom battle, and it's worked out alright. Geomancy / Moon Blast / coverage / coverage with Power Herb will be the best way to abuse Xerneas and Geomancy. Think, it can double its' Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed in a single turn...without any drawbacks other than no boosting item.
But tl;dr, it's gonna be shaking up Ubers, not OU. Do remember that King's Shield Aegislash will be one of the best counters to it, so that'll help against Xerneas (150 base SDef, with the ability to hit with a STAB, super-effective Iron Head coming off of 150 base Attack screams great check/counter).
too powerful for ubers? are things going to be banned from ubers now? oh dear lord
No, nothing is ever going to be banned from Ubers. Xerneas was over-hyped anyway, it's not as broken as everyone thought.
It's pretty bad. People completely new to competitive can pull off 6-0 sweeps with ease with it. Moonblast is ~170 BP with STAB and Fairy Aura, and it's coverage options are endless.
-> Moonblast
-> Thunder(bolt)
-> Flash Cannon
-> Focus Blast
-> Aurora Beam
-> Grass Knot
-> Psyshock/Psychic
And if you're prepared to go mixed:
-> Outrage
-> Night Slash
-> Megahorn
-> Rock Slide
-> Close Combat (Although already covered by FB)
-> Horn Leech (Although covered by GK)
That's 11 Types, 7 Special. 252/4 Aegislash is 2HKO'd by +2 modest Xerneas 68% of the time* with moonblast, and in return has a 6.3% chance to OHKO with Iron Head at 252+ against 4/0 Xerneas. Not the most reliable of counters.
*After leftovers - if Aegislash isn't holding them it's much higher chance
Ubers is less of a tier and more of a ban zone afaik, it isn't meant to be balanced. They just throw all the things too powerful for OU in it and some people choose to make a metagame out of it. Nothing gets banned from ubers.
Quote from: RocketMember002 on December 26, 2013, 22:03
Nothing gets banned from ubers.
Iirc moody got banned from Übers, but that's slightly different I guess as it was implemented via a clause.
I don't think it's going to be a big deal. Many things dominate that. Anything with Roar/Whirlwind will send it out and screw it up. Something quick enough can mess it up with Knock Off (even if it doesn't do a lot of damage to it, the fact that now it has a free turn to attack/switch to a better counter is nice). Also, the fact that it foregoes any other item screws it up. It doesn't take much to screw it up. The fact that if it has to leave battle it's pretty much relegated to a cleaner role cannot be good for it.
Also, most Aegislash that I encountered also have Shadow Sneak. Iron Head followed up by a Shadow Sneak will KO standard Xerneases. Steel Arceus also laughs at any version not carrying Focus Blast/Close Combat. And Poison Arceus (hey, it happens) also doesn't mind anything but Psychic.
It's overhyped by those that don't understand how important items are and how easy it is to threaten something to leave. I'm certain those that are unprepared will get wrecked, but if it does become super pertinent, then it will more easily be countered in the future.
On the other hand Baton Passing Smeargle with it and a Power Herb is usable. But I still believe Shell Smash will be more usable since it's more flexible than Geomancy.
The biggest problem for Xerneas is that people started preparing for it. Choice Band Scizor punches a giant hole into it (85-101%, possible OHKO, 81% chance to OHKO with Stealth Rock up), and if you can cripple it on the turn it uses Goemancy (Thunder Wave, Whirlwind, Roar, Toxic), it's really not that bad. But the worst part is that it's not even that strong by Uber standards. Base 131 Sp. Attack sounds amazing... until you remember that things like Mega Mewtwo, Kyurem-White, Reshiram, and Palkia are all stronger and have an item slot to use (with the exception of Mega Mewtwo).
Geomancy limits it to three slots, which are occupied by Moon Blast, Focus Blast, and Grass Knot/Thunderbolt usually, from what I've seen. Aegislash is another Pokemon that easily scares it away, as a specially defensive Aegislash is 3HKO'd by a +2 Thunderbolt, while a Careful Aegislash with 4 Attack EVs will always KO Xerneas with an Iron Head followed by a Shadow Sneak.
Put simply, Geomancy Xerneas is not broken. It's actually not even that great if you prepare for it at all, which isn't hard to do. I find Specs Xerneas to be more scary because switching something in on an expected Geomancy and being hit with a boosted attack can wear down traditional counters pretty quickly.