Okay, so this is just getting ridiculous. There is roughly a 95% chance that in any given 1337 battle that at least one player has a Tyranitar, and a 60% chance that both players have one. I'm going to be forthcoming and say we should open the discussion to the possibility of banning Tyranitar, regardless of whether or not this has been discussed in the pass. As it stands, practically every single 1337 match is in sand.
The nice thing about banning Tyranitar is that this does not destroy sand teams, as there are TWO fully evolved Pokemon with Sand stream, with Hippowdon more than capable of carrying its weight on a team (which is pretty heavy, I mean it is a hippo).
Alternatively, we could look into banning Excadrill, although I think this takes a little too much wind from sandstorm's sails. I think Tyranitar is a good way of ever so slightly clipping the Wings of sand teams.
I would appreciate it if this was given 7 days or so before being locked, so that we can give more time for the community to voice an opinion, even if that opinion is unanimous throughout the week. You guys are absolutely brilliant at your jobs, but I'd really like to hear a ton of opinions on the matter (even if they all concur!).
TL;DR A large majority of top players enroll Tyranitar as a pillar of their teams. Would replacing this Cornerstone Pokemon with Hippowdon serve to make the 1337 more diverse, while not completely crippling sand as a valid playstyle?
Edit: The reason I did not post this in the General Metagame Discussion is that I believe that as a community this issue needs its own independent discussion. This is a really big deal guys, we are the least diverse tier (outside of LC, of course. That tier is whack) in upper-level play. We have the highest 1337 per-tier percentages of any (non-LC) tier, with 5 of the top ten highest percent used pokemon out of all tiers being Dream World (does that make sense? basically we have the highest 1337 percentage numbers, and 5 of the top ten percentages are DW).
So yeah guys, this is a big deal and deserves its own thread.
Second Edit: I added a poll, guys! Polls are fun! :D
The nice thing about banning Tyranitar is that this does not destroy sand teams, as there are TWO fully evolved Pokemon with Sand stream, with Hippowdon more than capable of carrying its weight on a team (which is pretty heavy, I mean it is a hippo).
Alternatively, we could look into banning Excadrill, although I think this takes a little too much wind from sandstorm's sails. I think Tyranitar is a good way of ever so slightly clipping the Wings of sand teams.
I would appreciate it if this was given 7 days or so before being locked, so that we can give more time for the community to voice an opinion, even if that opinion is unanimous throughout the week. You guys are absolutely brilliant at your jobs, but I'd really like to hear a ton of opinions on the matter (even if they all concur!).
TL;DR A large majority of top players enroll Tyranitar as a pillar of their teams. Would replacing this Cornerstone Pokemon with Hippowdon serve to make the 1337 more diverse, while not completely crippling sand as a valid playstyle?
Edit: The reason I did not post this in the General Metagame Discussion is that I believe that as a community this issue needs its own independent discussion. This is a really big deal guys, we are the least diverse tier (outside of LC, of course. That tier is whack) in upper-level play. We have the highest 1337 per-tier percentages of any (non-LC) tier, with 5 of the top ten highest percent used pokemon out of all tiers being Dream World (does that make sense? basically we have the highest 1337 percentage numbers, and 5 of the top ten percentages are DW).
So yeah guys, this is a big deal and deserves its own thread.
Second Edit: I added a poll, guys! Polls are fun! :D