me when I see everyone submitting nerfs only even though it was specified that buffs can be submitted as well
WIP
Buff/Nerf Package
Stat Changes
-5 HP (90 -> 85)
-8 SpD (97 -> 89)
+6 Spe (55 -> 61)
New BST: 85/99/89/99/89/61 (BST: 522)
Movepool Changes
-Knock Off
-Boomburst
-Fiery Dance
-Fire Lash
-Spikes
-Taunt
What I really like about current Hemo is that its statline and movepool, in theory, really encapsulate the Bang Average concept by allowing us a wide range of sets. The keywords being
in theory. This package aims to fine-tune Hemo's moveset so that it can act as both a physical sweeper and a special pivot without one role overshadowing the other.
First off, the stats. -8 SpD is a very common change for good reason, so I won't discuss it further. -5 HP is also a fairly common change, made to allow physical and special attackers alike to have an easier time checking Hemo. The real controversy here is moving 6 of these removed stat points into Speed. This was done for two reasons:
1:
Pushing our Speed over 60, in combination with the removal of Boomburst, effectively kills Hemogoblin's niche on Trick Room teams while maintaining its ability to spam Extreme Speed. The one area of play where Hemo seems to be disliked is its Trick Room set due to the raw power of Pixilate Boomburst and having the perfect Speed tier to abuse it. At the same time, however, this Speed is what allows our Pixilate ESpeed to be as abusable as it is. 61 base Speed just barely breaks into that awkward area of "too fast for Trick Room, too slow for other playstyles" which should help special Hemo find a niche on balance, offense, and defense cores alike without completely trashing its main gimmick.
2:
This new Speed tier, with just a little bit of EV investment, barely allows Hemogoblin to outspeed Equilibra. IMO, the biggest drawback of pivot/special Hemo is that it can't make progress against the threats it wants to make progress against because it's just a tad too slow. Obviously, adding more Speed to try and outspeed all of these threats would kill the ESpeed set, but one main threat that can be outsped with a simple buff is Equilibra. Hemogoblin being able to threaten Equilibra with its STAB instead of the other way around is a great way for the special sets to force progress - would you rather have your Libra take a huge chunk from a Fire Blast or switch out and risk Hemo predicting you and using Volt Switch. I know this may seem potentially seem like too big a buff, but keep in mind that the cuts to HP and SpD make it much harder for Hemo to switch in safely on one of Libra's attacks. It creates mind games on both sides and balances out the interactions between the two.
As for moves, the big ones are the removals of Knock Off and Boomburst. Dex explained the reasons to remove Knock very well so I won't go in depth. I was VERY hesitant on removing Boomburst because abusing Pixilate ESpeed and Boomburst was what our stat spread was made for but in the end I came to the conclusion that it has to be removed, to allow for more set diversity and for balance, especially when taking the Speed buff into account. A lack of special Normal moves will also encourage use of Intimidate on Hemo, a much better outcome than outright removing it imo. The other four removed moves are just unneeded fluff.
Now for the things I kept. I toyed with the idea of removing Lava Plume for a long time, but this particular package appreciates having a reliable way to burn Libra, so it stays for now. As I wanted to maintain the idea of a pivot set, I kept Volt Switch, and Moonlight is also necessary for these sets if not physical. Finally, Intimidate stays because it's honestly just a massive fucking hassle to remove it. I ranted about this on Discord a bit and if I continued that rant this post would be longer than War and Peace, so let me just share Scizivire and quizel's thoughts on the matter because they sum it up very well.
Most CAPs don't use their secondary anyways (looking at you in particular, Miasmaw and Saharaja), and we'll have three abilities anyways. It's much less of a hassle to keep Intimidate as honorary flavor than to remove it and run
another poll for a new flavor ability.
And before you say that Intimidate doesn't fit Hemogoblin flavor-wise, if HITMONTOP can have Intimidate, Hemo most CERTAINLY can too. If Intimidate still proves to be useless by the time PPL2 rolls around I'll probably be more open to changing it, but stats and movepool should be the main focus for now IMO.
thanks for coming to my ted talk guys have a great day :3