06-11-17
Porygon2,
Noivern,
Moltres,
Drought,
Ribombee, and
Kingdra have been banned from the NU tier through council voting.
Porygon2: Thanks to its amazing bulk, Porygon2 is able to switch into the majority of the metagame and is very difficult to take down throughout the course of a game. Porygon2's biggest weaknesses are Fighting-types, Knock Off, and Toxic. While NU definitely has no shortage of these 3 things, all of them are easily handled by Porygon2's teammates and severely limit the options opponents have to deal with it. Porygon2 also has the ability to function as a great support Pokemon for Trick Room teams and can reliably set Trick Room more than once in a match. Porygon2's combination of bulk, support options, and ease of being supported lead to it being an unhealthy presence in the NU metagame.
Noivern: Noivern's great base speed, offensive typing and movepool have made it too strong for NU in the eyes of the council. Its mediocre special attack is mitigated through its high base powered STABs alongside its near unresisted coverage, and its great 123 base speed make it almost impossible to check for offensive teams. Noivern also has the ability to run a potent Taunt + Roost set that allows it to shut down most of the defensive walls that would normally wall it. Because of all of these factors, Noivern will be banned from SM NU.
Moltres: Due to a combination of spectacular power, virtually unresisted coverage, and great defensive attributes, the NU Council has deemed Moltres too much for the tier. Moltres' fantastic base 125 Special Attack, coupled with respectable speed and potent dual STABs (Hurricane and Fire Blast / Flamethrower) allow it to run a variety of sets to get through would-be counters, including but not limited to Grassium-Z Solarbeam, SubToxic, Scarf, and Life Orb + Roost. Although Moltres is heavily pressured by Stealth Rock, the most common setters (Necrozma / Seismitoad / Rhydon / Steelix) are extremely threatened by it, moreover Moltres shares good synergy with common hazard removers such as Hitmontop and Hitmonlee. Overall, all of these factors have resulted in Moltres being banned from the NeverUsed tier.
Drought: One thing the council had agreed upon prior to banning Drought was that auto-sun in some way was problematic in the tier. The ability to not have to use a move and automatically gain 8 turns of weather thats easily abused with top tier sweepers like Victreebell, Exeggutor, and Shiftry among others as well as powering up fire type attacks from Pokemon like Charizard. When we came to this conclusion, we had the dilemma of either banning the most common Drought user in the tier, Ninetales, or banning the ability itself. In the end a few council members did in fact ladder with Vulpix in place of Ninetales and we came to the same conclusion that it was in fact the ability Drought that was unhealthy and not the users themselves which led us to voting and banning Drought from the tier.
Ribombee: Ribombee's combination of blazing Speed, above-average power, and potent offensive typing have made it too much for the NU tier. Base 124 Speed places Ribombee above nearly every relevant threat in NU, while Choice Specs-boosted Moonblast is extremely dangerous in a tier with few sturdy Fairy resists, making it easy for it to punch massive dents into opposing teams and threaten sweeps with minimal support. Ribombee can also opt to run Quiver Dance with Psychium Z, allowing it to break through several of the only good checks to the Choice Specs set. As a result of these factors, Ribombee will be banned from NU.
Kingdra: Because of its great stats, typing, and move pool, Kingdra has been deemed banworthy from the NU tier. Kingdra is the most unpredictable pokemon in the tier as it can run both physical and special sets with equal viability, and it is also incredibly strong through the use of its high powered STAB moves. Kingdra also has a fantastic defensive and offensive typing as well as very good bulk for an offensive pokemon which allows it to set up on a large portion of the NU tier. As a result of all these factors, the council has banned Kingdra from SM NU.