Breaking Down the NDUU Bans: 2024
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Art by uppa.
Intro
Since its introduction in Generation 8, National Dex UU has been known as a tier famous for its large number of quick bans and suspect tests, and the current generation is nothing different from that! NatDex UU has reached a total of 35 bans after the most recent suspect subject: Galarian Zapdos. However, after some metagame changes and especially the end of monthly tier shifts, NDUU is a much more stable metagame compared to previous months, with most controversial threats being either banned or rising to NDOU (even if a few ones might still be here 
). Now, let's discuss what were the broken threats from this year and how they impacted the National Dex UnderUsed metagame!
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The Scarlet and Violet DLC buffed Meowscarada with a vital piece of coverage: Triple Axel. The Choice Scarf set was a solid revenge killer, able to threaten the scariest sweepers at the time, like Dragon Dance Mega Tyranitar, and outspeed pretty much every single relevant Choice Scarf user, while Heavy-Duty Boots sets with Spikes were commonly seen on entry hazard-stack teams. But the set that truly made Meowscarada a banworthy threat was the Choice Band set, right after the second DLC dropped. Choice Band sets shared some similarities with the previously banned Weavile; Meowscarada's great Speed meant it could forgo Choice Scarf, outspeeding all notable threats naturally, like Cinderace, Latios, and Iron Moth. Knock Off removing Rocky Helmet from Skarmory means Meowscarada could spam Triple Axel without any punishment. With Triple Axel, it could now easily 2HKO most of its previous checks after a little chip damage, including defensive behemoths like Skarmory and Mega Venusaur. Counterplay was limited to physically defensive Toxapex, meaning it could no longer properly deal with Iron Moth and only fitted on balance and stall teams. For bulky offense teams, defensive Buzzwole and Buginium Z Scizor could check Meowscarada, but both struggled a lot against other top-tier threats like Iron Moth, Latios, Cinderace, and Thundurus-T. For these reasons, Meowscarada was quickbanned from NatDex UU at the start of January.
- Ceruledge @ Air Balloon / Focus Sash / Ghostium Z
- Ability: Weak Armor
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Swords Dance
- - Poltergeist
- - Bitter Blade
- - Close Combat / Shadow Sneak
Even after receiving Poltergeist with the first DLC dropping, Ceruledge flew under the radar for a good time until the playerbase realized how unreliable and restrictive the counterplay for it was. Ceruledge suddenly became a staple on offensive teams, able to punish physical attacks from Pokémon like Iron Hands to proc a Weak Armor boost and outrun popular revenge killers like Cinderace. Against balance and bulky offensive teams, Swords Dance and Bitter Blade allowed it to dish out heavy damage against common defensive cores filled with Celesteela, Clefable, and Mega Venusaur while healing itself against attacks that couldn't KO it right away, such as Mega Venusaur's Earth Power and Iron Hands's Thunder Punch. Poltergeist complemented Ceruledge's wallbreaking potential by taking out the few Fire-resistant Pokémon in the tier, like Slowbro, Gastrodon, and Tapu Fini. Close Combat was used to get past the ever-present Mega Tyranitar and Ting-Lu, but Shadow Sneak was a good option to get the jump against opposing priority users like Shadow Sneak Aegislash or to finish off weakened Sand Rush Excadrill, one of the few revenge killers capable of outspeeding +2 Ceruledge. Ceruledge's choice of item also made it difficult to play around; Focus Sash was always seen on hyper offense squads, with lead Excadrill to keep entry hazards off and prevent Mega Tyranitar from setting up sand, while Air Balloon allowed it to soft check Pokémon reliant on Earthquake to beat it, like Hippowdon and Excadrill, and use this opportunity to set up. Ceruledge was so oppressive at that point that the playerbase decided to run itemless Water-types like Slowbro, Toxapex, and Gastrodon to somewhat check it, but they quickly fell to Ghostium Z variants. Overall, Ceruledge proved to be an unhealthy presence in the metagame and was quickbanned from NatDex UU at the end of January.
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Cinderace was one of the best pivots available since the early months of the metagame, able to consistently force progress and switches against defensive and offensive Pokémon thanks to its coverage, U-turn, and Heavy-Duty Boots to avoid entry hazard damage. Even with Libero activating only once per switch in, Cinderace was still able to threaten most of the metagame; Gunk Shot targeted Clefable and Tapu Fini; High Jump Kick allowed it to prevent Mega Tyranitar from switching in and Pursuit trapping it; Sucker Punch was useful to revenge kill Speed Booster Energy Iron Moth and Choice Scarf users like Latios. Zen Headbutt was a niche option to specifically hit Toxapex and was its best way to pressure Mega Venusaur in one-on-one situations. Once Toxapex, Slowbro, and Hippowdon started to run Rocky Helmet to wear down Cinderace, which is something that also made them more vulnerable to other Pokémon like Iron Moth, the striker adapted with Swords Dance sets; +2 Breakneck Blitz easily KOed physically defensive Toxapex, Slowbro, and even Hippowdon with minor prior damage. Only Skeledirge was able to check both sets, but it only fit on bulky playstyles and was easily threatened by Cinderace's partners that were brought in thanks to U-turn, like Mega Tyranitar. Heavy-Duty Boots Cinderace's ability to restrict teambuilding, ability to always outlast its checks without being worn down, and lack of consistent long-term checks made the playerbase demand a suspect test, and Cinderace was banned in February as a result.
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Latios is certainly the most controversial Pokémon in this list. Counterplay for Latios existed on paper; staples like Mega Tyranitar, Celesteela, Ting-Lu, and Aegislash could check it defensively, which is more than can be said for Meowscarada, Ceruledge, and especially Thundurus-T. Offensively speaking, options like Greninja, Choice Scarf Galarian Zapdos, and Sand Rush Excadrill were common revenge killers featured on popular playstyles. In practice, Latios's checks were not reliable at all; its choice of set, moves, and overall unpredictability on team preview meant it could beat these checks most of the time. Choosing offensive checks for it wasn't a huge issue, but they all struggled to switch in directly. With Aura Sphere, Latios could break past Mega Tyranitar and Ting-Lu, the two most flexible checks at the time; Mystical Fire allowed it to win long-term against Celesteela and Aegislash, since both lacked reliable recovery. The newly buffed Luster Purge was great to pressure Clefable and the aforementioned Steel-types even more, and with the second DLC giving it Flip Turn, Latios became much less prone to Pursuit trapping from Mega Tyranitar. Calm Mind + Z-Move sets were able to overwhelm defensive answers and took advantage of Latios's great matchups against Thundurus-T, Keldeo, and Rotom-W to set up. Even if Mega Latios was weaker, since it couldn't run a boosting item, the extra bulk provided was useful to capitalize on its defensive duties against Iron Hands and Thundurus-T, for example. With Latios having different sets to account for, making it difficult to deal with on team preview, it was banned after a suspect test at the end of March.
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Nasty Plot Thundurus-T was always kept in control thanks to a large number of faster threats and revenge killers available and the overall offensive-centered metagame at the time, with Meowscarada, Cinderace, Latios, and Iron Moth being staples on offensive archetypes and able to shut down Thundurus-T's attempts to set up and wallbreak. Once most of these Pokémon were banned, Thundurus-T became the most threatening wallbreaker in the tier, able to rip apart every single defensive core consisting of Ting-Lu, Celesteela, Mega Venusaur, and Rotom-W. Fightinium Z gave it a consistent nuke button against Ting-Lu, Mega Tyranitar, and Chansey, and coverage in Psychic and Sludge Wave meant it could blow away Electric-resistant Pokémon like Mega Venusaur and Iron Hands or dedicated counters like specially defensive Unaware Clefable. On the other hand, pivot Thundurus-T was featured on VoltTurn-centered teams, able to force progress with Knock Off against Clefable and Assault Vest Tangrowth and use its colorful coverage to pick off specific checks, like Hippowdon, Mega Venusaur, and Mega Tyranitar. With just a few defensive checks available for Nasty Plot sets in Mega Latias and Skeledirge and the ability to obliterate defensive cores with almost no effort, Thundurus-T was quickbanned from NatDex UU at the end of March.
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Iron Hands was always on the "watch list" of both the playerbase and council and finally received a suspect test after other more problematic Pokémon were banned. Swords Dance Iron Hands was featured on basically every offensive archetype, being able to break past its checks thanks to Swords Dance and using a large portion of the metagame, including staples like Mega Tyranitar, Ting-Lu, and Celesteela, as setup fodder. One of the most annoying factors was Iron Hands's ability to win the majority of one-on-one scenarios at full HP, especially against would-be checks like Clefable and Pokémon that struggled to outright OHKO it, like Mega Tyranitar, using these opportunities to trade with a powerful threat and heal itself. For the final slot, Iron Hands could choose from Ice Punch to beat Mega Latias and Hippowdon once boosted, Earthquake to better pressure Unaware Skeledirge, and Substitute to capitalize on forced switches and avoid status from Amoonguss and Aegislash. The Choice Band set was reliant on predictions, but it took advantage of its raw power and great coverage to easily blow away Swords Dance Iron Hands's answers; physically defensive Hippowdon and the rare Quagsire were able to deal with the latter, but both were destroyed by Choice Band Close Combat; Mega Latias resisted Iron Hands's STAB attacks but feared Ice Punch on the switch in. With the ability to trade and remain victorious against almost every single relevant threat at the time, including supposed checks, Iron Hands was banned at the end of April after a suspect test.
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Galarian Zapdos has been one of the premier speed control options in NDUU this year with its Choice Scarf set, but once its Choice Band variant started to rise in prominence and became one of the scariest wallbreakers in the tier after Iron Hands was banned, especially since its counterplay is way more restrictive compared to other sets, the council decided to suspect test it and see the playerbase's take on that regard. Unlike other Fighting-types like Mienshao, Galarian Zapdos had Brave Bird, which meant it could threaten standard Fighting-type switch-ins, such as Mega Venusaur, Amoonguss, and Buzzwole. Receiving Knock Off with the first DLC made it really difficult to play around defensively by removing one of the few ways to wear it down in Rocky Helmet and scaring out the most common answer in Aegislash. Even if the Choice Scarf set was the best speed control option available and Galarian Zapdos had longevity issues due to Brave Bird, Choice Band was too much for the tier, especially since its most common and only answer in Clefable was forced to run an overall worse item in Rocky Helmet just to somewhat check this variant. For these reasons, Galarian Zapdos was banned from NatDex UU at the end of August.
Conclusion
2024 was an intense year for NDUU regarding tiering actions, with 7 total bans so far, including Ubers threats from past generations, like Cinderace, and even newcomers from Paldea, such as Iron Hands and Meowscarada. With Galarian Zapdos now banned, the playerbase looks forward to the next tiering actions, which might include suspect tests for Greninja, Mega Venusaur, or a second one for Iron Moth. If you are interested to see what the tier looks like now, make sure to join our own Pokémon Showdown! Room to play daily tours and Discord for live discussion and battles. Thank you for your time!
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