National Dex Suspect Coverage: Espathra

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Introduction

The beginning of Generation 9 National Dex brought many overwhelming contenders to the scene, such as Chi-Yu, Melmetal, Regieleki, and the past metagame titan Magearna. This led to a lot of potentially problematic Pokemon being overshadowed, but since the banning of the aforementioned threats, the ones that were overlooked during their rampage in the metagame have risen to the top. Espathra in particular is arguably the biggest culprit. Espathra serves as a dangerous sweeper due to Calm Mind + Speed Boost, being capable of ripping through teams with ease with a supercharged Stored Power. It was not even frail either, meaning that revenge killing attempts from common Pokemon like Mega Lopunny, Mega Scizor, and Mega Medicham were easily blanked, which was even further exacerbated by Terastallization. Not only did Tera Water or Steel give Espathra defensive utility, Tera Fighting, Fairy, or Fire also gave it a stronger offensive presence on would-be checks like Heatran, Ting-Lu, and Kingambit. To add to that, support from the likes of Tapu Koko and Cyclizar pushed Espathra to even further heights. Once behind screens and a Substitute from Shed Tail and with its Electric Seed it equips activated, it turned into a brainless setup sweeper that could only be stopped by the likes of Whirlwind Ting-Lu, Tera Dark Clodsire, and Roar Heatran. During Espathra's speedy simple-minded spree, the community had a large outcry in the player survey taken in early February, having the highest rating out of all of the Pokemon on it. As a result, the council decided to suspect the extremely elusive emu.

Sets

• / Espathra @ Electric Seed / Leftovers
• Ability: Speed Boost
• Tera Type: Water / Fairy / Steel / Fighting / Fire
• EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 144 Spe
• Bold Nature
• - Stored Power
• - Dazzling Gleam / Tera Blast
• - Calm Mind
• - Roost / Substitute / Protect

Calm Mind + Stored Power is the most obnoxious and notorious set Espathra used. Since Espathra was commonly used with Tapu Koko, an Electric Seed was equipped to boost its Defense, which improved Espathra's physical bulk and increased the power of Stored Power just a tad bit more. It also allowed Espathra to avoid taking powered-up Knock Offs from the likes of Weavile and Kingambit, making it even harder to revenge kill while also giving it more avenues to freely set up. If one were to want longevity at the cost of less raw bulk, they could use Leftovers for consistent passive recovery alongside Substitute and Protect. Dazzling Gleam hits Dark-types, which would otherwise safely come into Espathra, such as Weavile and Mega Tyranitar. It could also chip bulkier ones like Kingambit and Ting-Lu, but the damage wasn't too notable. Otherwise, Tera Blast was a very, very good alternative, as Espathra could choose what Pokemon it wanted to eliminate to proceed with its sweep. Options like Tera Water allowed it to hit Mega Tyranitar and Kingambit much harder while also hitting Heatran and providing good defensive utility. However, Tera Steel was used to resist common priority such as Fake Out, Extreme Speed, and Bullet Punch from the likes of Mega Lopunny, Dragonite, and Scizor, while Tera Fighting and Fire were used for their offensive capabilities against Pokemon like Kingambit, Gholdengo, and Ferrothorn. Roost provided longevity to Espathra and kept consistency. Other options in Roost's slot included Substitute, which was used to avoid status from Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Tera Dark Clodsire, and Protect for a guaranteed Speed Boost, enabling Espathra to scout the opposition while also giving it a free boost to its Stored Power. The EVs were to outspeed Dragapult at +1, which would otherwise safely revenge kill Espathra, while maximizing its physical bulk.

• Espathra @ Choice Specs
• Ability: Speed Boost
• Tera Type: Psychic
• EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
• Timid Nature
• - Lumina Crash
• - Dazzling Gleam
• - U-turn
• - Trick

Choice Specs variants started to emerge due to Espathra's signature move, Lumina Crash, which harshly lowers the opponent's Special Defense, allowing it to punish and threaten its switch-ins like Heatran, Ferrothorn, and Gholdengo. Once Lumina Crash was combined with Choice Specs, Tera Psychic, and Speed Boost, it turned Espathra into an annoying cleaner late-game, despite not being as annoying and threatening as Stored Power. Dazzling Gleam hit foes like Mega Tyranitar and Weavile, while U-turn and Trick let it pivot on or cripple its checks, such as Heatran and Tera Dark Clodsire.

Sample Team

This hyper offense sample team made by Jho was used by the ladder community as a majority during their ladder runs, as it showcases Espathra and how the blasting bird ripped through teams. Tapu Koko and Cyclizar provided support for the rest of the team, while Dragapult, Mega Gyarados, and Annihilape could break through and weaken Espathra's checks, enabling it to perform a late-game sweep. Other hyper offense teams used Iron Valiant, as it took advantage of the Dark types that Espathra had a very hard time against.

Pro-Ban Arguments

Espathra was very, very hard to stop in its tracks, often requiring one to either sacrifice a defensive Tera user or to run a phazer such as Ting-Lu or Heatran, which were inconsistent anyway, as common Espathra teammates such as Iron Valiant and Mega Gyarados would comfortably deal with them. It was also very challenging to safely revenge kill it, as it was quite easy to get up a Speed Boost or two with Espathra's surprisingly good bulk. On top of that, the defensive and offensive capabilities of Espathra are taken to extreme lengths by Terastallization; it could use Tera Steel or Water for a better defensive profile, or Tera Fighting or Fairy for a more threatening offensive profile against its checks. The support that Espathra had in its arsenal was quite applicable, as Pokemon like Tapu Koko and Cyclizar allowed Espathra to safely accrue boosts and proceed to sweep the opponent. The former enabled Espathra with screens and Electric Terrain if possessing an Electric Seed, while the latter supported Espathra with Shed Tail. Both of the aforementioned enablers were usually run when using Espathra, so it was quite easy to get up what you need and start to clean up the opponent's team.

Anti-Ban Arguments

While Espathra was overbearing once its boosts were acquired, it was not very threatening when it didn't have any, giving its counterplay an easy time threatening it. Offensive counterplay like Kingambit, Mega Tyranitar, and Dragapult or defensive counterplay in Heatran, Ting-Lu, and Tera Dark Clodsire was quite prominent. It could also be easy to play around an Espathra that revealed its Tera type with a defensive Tera of your own. Espathra also lacked good coverage to deal with counterplay to it, only having Dazzling Gleam or Tera Blast to attempt to break through them if unboosted, and it was nearly mandatory for support to be run if Espathra is used. Otherwise, the accelerating avian would have a hard time standing its ground.

Outcome

The community as a whole decided that Espathra was an unhealthy presence in the tier due to its immense snowballing potential and very limited counterplay. As such, Espathra got banned with a supermajority vote of 49 to 12.

How will the ban of Espathra change the metagame? Well, we will no longer have to use inconsistent strategies to maintain a good matchup into the fast fowl, such as wasting a Tera or having to phaze it, and on top of that, hyper offense teamstyles have taken a big hit from the ban of Espathra, as they lost one of their biggest specially offensive threats. If you would like to see how the metagame has changed, you should tune into the National Dex Winter Seasonal and the National Dex Rigged Tour to see how it looks!

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