Miridy
♩_♩
Shadow Tag: Ban
Before this Suspect Test I wanted Shadow Tag to stay here, but after some matches, I have come to the conclusion that it needs to go.
Of course, Uber's philosophy is that Ubers is the competitive metagame with the least amount of bans, actually it doesn't have banned pokemon, and the remaining bans are the "standard" during Pokemon's history and Moody and Endless Battle Clause.
Now, endless battle clause was simply stupid and uncompetitive to the bone, much more than shadow tag, though it should be added that it had less chances to be effective compared to shadow tag.
Moody, just like the OHKO clause is simply put, pure luck, something that players cannot control, and this is something that should be important here.
Of course, shadow tag is by no means luck based, but what it does is take all the player's control in a match.
Switching has always been an important factor on a game, if not the most important, shadow tag however makes you as mindless as an in-game AI, you cannot switch, you just wait until Gengar kills a member of your team, one who can be crucial in the battle, or that Gothitelle charms/Double Team you and then set ups calm mind, without you capable of doing everything.
It doesn't matter how much good you are, shadow tag cannot be stopped, using an entire team with Shed Shell is something foolish, and should not be considered seriously by any competitive battlers, that's why, the metagame adapts to certain threats, but shadow tag will always remain, it doesn't matter the level of centralization.
And that, is a problem.
Uncompetitive to me means "something that no matter your level of experience you cannot fight it".
Luck things obviously fit this description, but while Shadow Tag isn't luck reliant it's still the same.
For argument sake, let's say that you have Defensive Groudon with Leftovers, earthquake, sr, roar stone edge/fire punch, while your opponent has mega gengar (mega evolved already), the set is the taunt destiny bond.
Now, exactly, what is THE RIGHT choice that differentiate an experienced player from a new one?
You have three options here, use stone edge, in order to weaken Gengar, use roar in order to free yourself from shadow tag, use eq in order to kill him.
Well then, the first option just stalls the thing, actually it's even worse, because if your opponent used taunt and it's still alive he can destiny bond you later, if you use Roar the opponent MIGHT taunt you and the kill you with Destiny Bond, if you use Earthquake the opponent MIGHT kill you with Destiny Bond.
See a pattern? Both the options have a positive and negative outcome, the problem though, is that both choices (for you, and your opponent) are fair play, you pray that you get the "right" move, but in truth there is no "right move" to make here, it just gives someone the illusion to be a great player, while it was just lucky to guess right, guess because both options were fair play, or in other words a coinflip.
THIS situation is toxic to the competitiveness of a Metagame.
While Gengar might seem the major offender of Shadow Tag, Gothitelle, though rare (usage does not equal viability, anyways) still requires a mention:
Gothitelle has a very acceptable bulk, with Shadow tag she can trap many defensive pokemons you can usually find in stall or balanced teams, and then start setting up calm mind, while still able to use charm oi, even worse, Double Team, withouth too much troubles, once again, because you cannot switch out.
At this point, attacking her is even worse than a coinflip, and while almost any pokemon can use Double Team, Gothitelle can trap an easy target and set up without too much problems, heal bell and rest also helps her against status, majority of non-offensive teams are doomed from the get- go.
Ok, I'll finish things here since I believe I'm starting to annoy the Council lol, the Shadow Tag ban here in Uber sets an unprecedented situation, that much is true, but Uber started in RBY as just a Banlist, however things changed, they evolve just like Pokemons for lack of a better word, Uber is no more "just a ban list" it is a Tier, with a competent playerbase, the tier itself should be enjoyable and competitive (as in, fighting the UNcompetitive, not the vague "broken" concept) to the players.
Before this Suspect Test I wanted Shadow Tag to stay here, but after some matches, I have come to the conclusion that it needs to go.
Of course, Uber's philosophy is that Ubers is the competitive metagame with the least amount of bans, actually it doesn't have banned pokemon, and the remaining bans are the "standard" during Pokemon's history and Moody and Endless Battle Clause.
Now, endless battle clause was simply stupid and uncompetitive to the bone, much more than shadow tag, though it should be added that it had less chances to be effective compared to shadow tag.
Moody, just like the OHKO clause is simply put, pure luck, something that players cannot control, and this is something that should be important here.
Of course, shadow tag is by no means luck based, but what it does is take all the player's control in a match.
Switching has always been an important factor on a game, if not the most important, shadow tag however makes you as mindless as an in-game AI, you cannot switch, you just wait until Gengar kills a member of your team, one who can be crucial in the battle, or that Gothitelle charms/Double Team you and then set ups calm mind, without you capable of doing everything.
It doesn't matter how much good you are, shadow tag cannot be stopped, using an entire team with Shed Shell is something foolish, and should not be considered seriously by any competitive battlers, that's why, the metagame adapts to certain threats, but shadow tag will always remain, it doesn't matter the level of centralization.
And that, is a problem.
Uncompetitive to me means "something that no matter your level of experience you cannot fight it".
Luck things obviously fit this description, but while Shadow Tag isn't luck reliant it's still the same.
For argument sake, let's say that you have Defensive Groudon with Leftovers, earthquake, sr, roar stone edge/fire punch, while your opponent has mega gengar (mega evolved already), the set is the taunt destiny bond.
Now, exactly, what is THE RIGHT choice that differentiate an experienced player from a new one?
You have three options here, use stone edge, in order to weaken Gengar, use roar in order to free yourself from shadow tag, use eq in order to kill him.
Well then, the first option just stalls the thing, actually it's even worse, because if your opponent used taunt and it's still alive he can destiny bond you later, if you use Roar the opponent MIGHT taunt you and the kill you with Destiny Bond, if you use Earthquake the opponent MIGHT kill you with Destiny Bond.
See a pattern? Both the options have a positive and negative outcome, the problem though, is that both choices (for you, and your opponent) are fair play, you pray that you get the "right" move, but in truth there is no "right move" to make here, it just gives someone the illusion to be a great player, while it was just lucky to guess right, guess because both options were fair play, or in other words a coinflip.
THIS situation is toxic to the competitiveness of a Metagame.
While Gengar might seem the major offender of Shadow Tag, Gothitelle, though rare (usage does not equal viability, anyways) still requires a mention:
Gothitelle has a very acceptable bulk, with Shadow tag she can trap many defensive pokemons you can usually find in stall or balanced teams, and then start setting up calm mind, while still able to use charm oi, even worse, Double Team, withouth too much troubles, once again, because you cannot switch out.
At this point, attacking her is even worse than a coinflip, and while almost any pokemon can use Double Team, Gothitelle can trap an easy target and set up without too much problems, heal bell and rest also helps her against status, majority of non-offensive teams are doomed from the get- go.
Ok, I'll finish things here since I believe I'm starting to annoy the Council lol, the Shadow Tag ban here in Uber sets an unprecedented situation, that much is true, but Uber started in RBY as just a Banlist, however things changed, they evolve just like Pokemons for lack of a better word, Uber is no more "just a ban list" it is a Tier, with a competent playerbase, the tier itself should be enjoyable and competitive (as in, fighting the UNcompetitive, not the vague "broken" concept) to the players.