I do find it funny how people talk about how losing knock, toxic ect was this massive nerf to stall as if it isn't a two way street which allows stall to keep its boots/lefties more easily and has less things it can face that can put its mons on a timer.
There is no contradiction here. Knock Off is a good move you can throw out a lot on defensive Pokemon that removes options to break your walls (Choice items, Life Orb, etc.) or an opposing team's HDB or Leftovers.
Having your HDB or Lefties Knocked wasn't the end of the world when a little something called "Defog" existed, and one slot on offense couldn't stop both Rapid Spin and Defog at the same time. And it would be incorrect to act as if Knock Off isn't in the meta- it is, just on Pokemon like Great Tusk and Iron Valiant.
While you can have these on say, Balance and Bulky Offense, for Valiant it's somewhat risky to throw out most of the time (making it not a consistent option), and defensive Great Tusk using it only for Gholdengo to live, and Recover all day long. Joy. Those same Tusks make it much harder to rely on HDB, which when your strategy requires switching for 50+ turns, is a lot more devastating than BO and HO, which tend more to stay in, fuck about, and find out rather than being light on their feet.
Fact being, Knock Off distribution tends more to help offensive teams right now than defensive. On the end of Toxic, it's always been a two-way street, but a lot of the Pokemon that defensive teams are crafted around walling out can rarely find random slots to fill with Toxic. We also had things like Magic Guard Pokemon which meant that your utility would matter more against Offense, and theirs meant less.
I want to talk about Stall/Balance in general for a second.
Stall/Balance are often regarded as easy by those who don't play it, but really, they both have the most risks.
By playing slower teams with less attacks being thrown out on average, you are more likely to get haxxed. More attacks being thrown against you, less clashes in which you move first; Toxic is even a 90% accurate move and I have seen amany games lost to a Toxic miss, and I've played amany alike. You're also using a much smaller pool of Pokemon than offense.
The majority of Pokemon are geared towards offense in some way, and that means that any meta with defensive teams is also an arm race to keep up your walling ability against an ever-increasing cast of threats.
By playing more turns, you are required to keep your awares for longer, and often have to play reactively. You have to play around the opponent with predictions much more than offense, which can often click a setup move and threaten to break if X Pokemon loses Y% HP, and win the game.
It brings a different skillset, it's not just slower and "it takes more turns!" (such a ladder only mindset). Offense vs Offense games are slugfests where you identify your pieces and throw them out in the right order to win because you have the +1 at the end, or the Pokemon in the position that the opponent just can't deal with. Defensive teams in play force better players and better teams as they have to figure out how that works when they can't just click Swords Dance and get a free kill. It's genuinely a different type of match than "taking more turns for the same end result".
I find the lack of an appreciation for defensive teams to be a major red flag for not seeing competitive Pokemon as a game about figuring out your opponent, and more about just knowing your win condition. I like Balance because dismantling my opponent is satisfying, rather than just blasting through it all because my Enamorus clicked Calm Mind once and I crippled the Gholdengo "gg"
And if you don't, that's fine; but I'm increasingly sad as I play more of this tier that my playstyle is basically dead. There is no risk reward to playing Balance or Stall because there is no reward.
This is a long post but TLDR: I'm sad and I want you to be sad too :(
What can be done to fix defense in this meta? Time for a possibly unpopular opinion: I feel Gholdengo needs a suspect test. Not because on paper it has too much offensive pressure or speed, movepool, typing; because while it is generally solid, it's the ability I take issue with.
This is something that was brought up early into the generation, but as things settled became less popular, until now, where it's just not talked about. But I seriously want to at least have it on people's minds that we have a good Pokemon in the tier with an ability that simply shuts down a good amount of moves, including those which serve to open up playstyles.
Something something Tera; While getting rid of Tera could potentially open up Balance/Stall more, I don't see it ever taking stage without DLC, and with Gholdengo. We simply have no Defogger or Rapid Spinner that can take hits from Gholdengo, Defog, and live to tell the tale.
It's genuinely absurd how easy it is to get and keep hazards on the board right now. Samurott-Hisui + Gholdengo on any new offensive team is free, and even things like Hatterene cannot save you.
uhhh
rant over ig lol
so he doesn't have luck. Pray Glowbro (Ban Quick Claw pls)
