SV Monotype Suspect Coverage: Gouging Fire

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Introduction

Gouging Fire has been a controversial topic in SV Monotype ever since some pretty overbearing Pokemon and items were banned on Dec 17th, 2023, such as Blaziken, Kyurem-B, and Booster Energy. Booster Energy, in particular, was exploited by Gouging Fire due to Protosynthesis granting a customizable stat boost barring HP based on its EV spread. At the time, offensive Dragon Dance sets were utilized on both of its typings due to its promising base 115 Attack stat and natural access to powerful STAB moves such as Flare Blitz and Outrage. Alongside this was usually an offensive stat boost in either Attack or Speed based on Gouging Fire's EV spread due to the offensive nature of the tier. Following the Booster Energy ban was what would be considered a way more stabilized metagame from what originally was a chaotic hyper offensive metagame filled with Protosynthesis users like Acrobatics Roaring Moon.

Gouging Fire had a dynamic influence on the metagame due to its decent defensive stats of 105 HP / 121 Def / 93 SpD. The metagame adapted to commonly utilizing Gouging Fire as a bulky offensive setup sweeper thanks to Dragon Dance. Blessed with sustainability in Morning Sun providing this demon with longevity, making it naturally good against standard Pokémon like Iron Valiant, Ogerpon-W, and Iron Moth. These factors, alongside many others, cause Gouging Fire to be a net positive for Dragon teams, leading to our first-ever Gouging Fire suspect test on Feb 12th, 2024.

34 voters qualified for the first Gouging Fire suspect, requiring a 60% majority vote of 21 players in favor of the ban to remove Gouging Fire from the tier. 14 out of the 34 voters were in favor of not banning Gouging Fire, resulting in there not being enough voters that voted ban. Following the Gouging Fire suspect were a couple more suspect tests for Baxcalibur, Chien-Pao, Kingambit, and Ursaluna-B, all resulting in a ban, leading to our second Gouging Fire suspect after repeated concerns from the Monotype tiering council and community.

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Overview

Morning Sun normally was used on either physically or specially defensive-oriented sets. This made Gouging Fire a customizable tool in team preparation to either check threats like Gallade with its physically defensive set or Choice Specs Greninja with its specially defensive set. These defensive sets were prominently used on Dragon teams in conjunction with supporting defensive Pokemon. Gouging Fire, Archaludon, and Hisuian Goodra, in particular, were the perfect defensive core Dragon could wish for this generation. Latias is also an amazing option but was considered interchangeable with Latios. Archaludon provides Stealth Rock and spreads paralysis; Hisuian Goodra switches into special attacks and has utility in Knock Off;and Latias has a full kit of supporting options in Healing Wish, Thunder Wave, and Trick.

Offensive sets were an option prominently used on Fire teams. This often used Choice Band, a powerful Fire-type STAB move like Raging Fury or Flare Blitz, and eight turns of sun from Heat Rock Ninetales, making Gouging Fire the most profitable teammate from Drought. Ninetales found more usage with its utility options over Torkoal as a sun setter due to its support kit in Encore, Healing Wish, and Hypnosis directly supporting Gouging Fire. Court Change Cinderace made a great teammate due to Court Change punishing foes attempting to set entry hazards to wear down Gouging Fire.

One thing that makes Gouging Fire great is its Fire typing providing an immunity to Will-O-Wisp progress, which allows it to manipulate Pokemon like Galarian Weezing and Rotom-W notably. Furthermore, its Fire / Dragon combination overall offers both Fairy and Water neutralities, complementing its respective typings in Dragon and Fire. Historically, Gouging Fire is Monotype's most consistent Fire / Dragon type (we hate you, Turtonator), meaning it has a glaring Stealth Rock weakness that causes an attachment to Heavy-Duty Boots. In reality, this is a net positive, as this prevents entry hazard damage while intact, helping its sustainability.

Bulky Offensive Sets

Defensive Dragon Dance (Dragon)	Specially Defensive Dragon Dance (Dragon)
Gouging Fire @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Fire EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 Spe Jolly Nature - Morning Sun - Dragon Dance - Flare Blitz - Earthquake / Breaking Swipe	Gouging Fire @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Fire EVs: 252 HP / 156 SpD / 100 Spe Careful Nature - Flare Blitz - Dragon Dance - Morning Sun - Earthquake / Breaking Swipe

Gouging Fire makes a great bulky offensive setup sweeper for Dragon teams due to its sheer bulk allowing it to either opt for a defensive- or specially defensive-oriented. Physically defensive sets gave Dragon-types reassurance against threats like Iron Valiant, Gallade, and Assault Vest Iron Hands. Special defensive sets fended well against threats like Greninja, Enamorus, and Flutter Mane. Gouging Fire is notably walled by Air Balloon Heatran one-on-one; however, alongside team support like Dragapult, Walking Wake, and Hydreigon, defeating Heatran, and many of Gouging Fire's checks was a doable task from a team preparation perspective. Breaking Swipe was a more recent explored move checking physical attackers like Great Tusk and Dragonite. A Jolly nature with 116 Speed EVs allowed Gouging Fire to outspeed Flutter Mane after a Dragon Dance. This was just a general benchmark, as you could go with more bulk investment with 100 Speed EVs to outspeed Iron Valiant, granting Gouging Fire more bulk.

Gouging Fire synergized great with Archaludon and Hisuian Goodra by creating a triple Fairy- and Ice-neutral core. However, these three Pokemon alone presented an alarming Ground weakness, making the core prone to threats like Iron Treads and Gliscor. Defensive teammates such as Dragonite in particular and Levitate users Latias and Latios made great teammates to help with the aforementioned Ground-types. Furthermore, Dragon had access to quite a few offensive options such as Kyurem, Walking Wake, and Dragapult to offensively overwhelm these weaknesses as well. Gouging Fire made a great teammate no matter the composition and supported its teammates against several threats like Hatterene, Flutter Mane, and Greninja.

Teams

Offense-Oriented Sets

Gouging Fire @ Choice Band Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Fire EVs: 88 HP / 168 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Raging Fury / Flare Blitz - Outrage - Dragon Claw - Earthquake / Flare Blitz	Gouging Fire @ Haban Berry Ability: Protosynthesis Tera Type: Fire EVs: 88 HP / 168 Atk / 252 Spe Jolly Nature - Dragon Dance - Outrage - Flare Blitz - Morning Sun

Choice Band Gouging Fire is everything you're looking for in a pure glass cannon. Fire is the best type to exploit this set due to sun support supporting Protosynthesis and boosting the Fire-type STAB moves that it chooses to use. With 168 Attack investment, Protosynthesis also provides a Speed boost, allowing Gouging Fire to outspeed common threats to Fire teams like Life Orb Landorus and non-Choice Scarf Greninja. Choice Band Gouging Fire brute forces past its standard checks like Gliscor and Primarina due to its offensive presence. Raging Fury and Flare Blitz in sun obliterate through Gouging Fire's expected checks by doing between 66.4%-78.2% to a Bold Primarina set with 252 HP / 196 Def. Alongside Healing Wish Ninetales, Gouging Fire has access to a one-time recovery option, giving it another opportunity to wreak havoc if chipped. Healing Wish acting before entry hazard damage allows Fire teams to play hyper aggressively with a set like this, considering that Gouging Fire already 2HKOes Toxapex and OHKOes Gliscor in sun. Haban Berry was also an explored option due to the nature of Fire teams being weak to Dragon teams, adversely granting Gouging Fire in particular a saving grace. However, standardly, Choice Band Gouging Fire was the primary threat both in practice and in team preparation.

Gouging Fire makes use of its Protosynthesis primarily on Fire teams alongside a sun setter in either Torkoal or Ninetales. Ninetales was considered a better support option for Gouging Fire over Torkoal due to Healing Wish and being a great dismantler by temporarily nullifying threats like Toxapex and opposing Gouging Fires with Encore to allow other teammates to come in. Cinderace plays a huge role with Court Change on these archetypes due to it being the most consistent entry hazard control "soft counter." It also has U-turn to pivot Gouging Fire in and Sucker Punch to revenge kill Dragapult, which is pretty annoying for Fire teams to deal with. Air Balloon Heatran was a very mediocre Gouging Fire check that didn't actually "check" Gouging Fire, but it could force certain sets out due to it simply having an Air Balloon intact. Ogerpon-H does great against Water- and Ground-type threats to Gouging Fire like Dondozo, Gastrodon, and Hippowdon.

Teams

Ban

Gouging Fire is a difficult Pokemon to check due to its bulk in conjunction with its defensive and offensive support, creating an overbearing force in the metagame. Gouging Fire is an oppressive force on Fire teams because it manipulates eight turns of the sun with an optional Speed boost thanks to Protosynthesis. Choice Band Gouging Fire manipulates Raging Fury in an unhealthy way by 2HKOing many of its defensive intended checks, making it overwhelming if you're against a Fire team. Heavy-Duty Boots, Morning Sun, and Healing Wish support from Ninetales or Latias allows Gouging Fire to play the long game, making it effective to customize and take advantage of Pokemon like Greninja and Choice Scarf Enamorus. Gouging Fire negatively influences the viability of many Pokémon and completely invalidates typings in team preparation. Furthermore, Gouging Fire acts as a great sponge for common Pokemon like Enamorus, Greninja, and Meowscarada, thus supporting its goal to set up.

Do Not Ban

Despite Choice Band Gouging Fire being a huge threat, Fire overall has been a questionable this generation, with Dragon dominating multiple eras of the tier. Fire has a few good matchups on paper like Dark, Flying, and Ghost; however, dominance of Dragon is reflected upon the MWP VI usage statistics, with Fire warping a disappointing 25% win rate, making it a fairly inconsistent load. This essentially means that defensive sets are the most consistent in the metagame due to the nature of the typing. Defensive sets cannot consistently opt for all Flare Blitz, Earthquake, and Breaking Swipe, causing Gouging Fire to be more threatening in theory than in practice. Gouging Fire is an oppressive presence that doesn't surpass the threshold of warranting a ban but rather healthily evolves the metagame. Despite the lack of options for certain lower-tier typings, the metagame has adapted to run options like Intimidate + Thunder Wave Gyarados and Swords Dance Iron Hands in response to Gouging Fire. The metagame is limited on resources to check Gouging Fire consistently on each of its typings, but these resources but are rather unexplored despite the tournament results presented.

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Team Tournament Statistics

Monotype Premier League X ~ Usage Statistics: (Dragon)

	SV	Dragon	57.9% W%	Winrate (15/26)	Total Games: 26	(10.83%) Dragon-Type Usage
	Pokemon	Total	Wins	Losses	W-%	Pokemon-Specific Usage
	Archaludon	24	14	10	58.33%	92.31%
	Dragapult	26	15	11	57.69%	100%
	Dragonite	2	2	0	100%	7.69%
	Garchomp	3	2	1	66.67%	11.54%
	Goodra-H	20	11	9	55%	76.92%
	Gouging Fire	21	11	10	52.38%	80.77%
	Hydrapple	1	0	1	0%	3.85%
	Hydreigon	9	6	3	66.67%	34.62%
	Kyurem	14	6	8	42.66%	54.85%
	Latias	12	7	5	58.33%	46.15%
	Latios	12	7	5	58.33%	46.13%
	Noivern	1	1	0	100%	3.85%
	Raging Bolt	4	2	2	50%	15.38%
	Roaring Moon	5	4	1	80%	19.23%
	Walking Wake	2	2	0	100%	7.69%

Monotype Winter Premier VI ~ Usage Statistics: (Dragon)

	SV	Dragon	66.67% W%	Winrate (28/42)	Total Games: 42	(16.54%) Dragon Usage
	Pokemon	Total	Wins	Losses	W-%	Pokemon-Specific Usage
	Archaludon	41	27	14	65.85%	97.62%
	Dragapult	40	26	14	65%	95.24%
	Dragonite	1	1	0	100%	2.38%
	Garchomp	8	5	3	62.50%	19.05%
	Goodra-H	35	25	10	71.43%	83.33%
	Gouging Fire	37	25	12	67.57%	88.10%
	Hydreigon	5	3	2	60%	11.90%
	Kommo-o	2	2	0	100%	4.76%
	Kyurem	11	8	3	72.73%	26.19%
	Latias	24	17	3	70.83%	57.14%
	Latios	31	21	10	67.74%	73.81%
	Raging Bolt	1	0	1	0%	2.38%
	Roaring Moon	13	7	6	53.85%	30.95%
	Walking Wake	3	1	2	33.33%	7.14%

The MWP Usage Statistics reflect the top three most-used Dragon-types on Dragon teams in SV Monotype. Archaludon has the highest usage at, a 65.85% win rate; Dragapult is the second most used, at a 65.85% win rate; and Gouging Fire lands in third place with an impressive 67.57% win rate. Dragon also had a 66.67% win rate in MWP out of the 18 available typings. Comparing the results from Monotype Premier League X (MPL X) to the most recent Monotype Winter Premier League VI (MWP VI), Dragon solidified a ~9% increase in win rate overall.

It is worth noting that Zamazenta was banned on Jan 11th, 2025, during the middle of week 6 of MWP VI, making week 7 to the finals of MWP VI a somewhat different metagame. This is notable due to Zamazenta being a nice countermeasure to a plethora of physical attackers, including Gouging Fire, because of its ability in Dauntless Shield granting a Defense boost in conjunction with IronPress, which turns it into a dangerous setup sweeper. ChestoRest notably gave Gouging Fire a second chance, and Fighting teams were left with Great Tusk primarily one-dimensionally checking Gouging Fire alongside either Iron Hands or Urshifu-R, both being prone to Breaking Swipe following Zamazenta's ban.

Overall, Gouging Fire was a consistent threat to several typings on both of its respective typings and is mostly the blame for some of the usage trends being a multitude of typings showing little-to-no usage during official team tournaments. Bug, Electric, Ice, and Grass notably showed no usage during the most recent Monotype Winter Premier League, and Gouging Fire is the blame for a lot of typings showing little-to-no usage in team tournaments. Although Gouging Fire dominated many of the aforementioned fringe typings, it also performed well against mainstream typings featured in the tournament like Flying, Poison, and Steel.

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Post-Gouging Fire & Closing Remarks

Dragon teams have quite a few options to fill in for Gouging Fire's departure. Hydreigon, Kommo-o, Walking Wake, and special Dragapult are all great options for Steel teams. Gouging Fire already had worked in conjunction with another teammate to help out with this matchup, but having an option like the aforementioned Pokémon is nearly a requirement. Dragon is still a great type overall, with its defensive titans like Archaludon, Dragonite, Hisuian Goodra, and Latias all being great options. Archaludon and Hisuian Goodra notably will be the central two Ice- and Fairy-neutral Pokemon instead of the trio. Overall, Dragon still has the tools to perform well on both the Monotype tournament and ladder scene with the plethora of options still available. Adversely, Fire teams took a huge hit with Gouging Fire's departure. The role wallbreaking is left for Pokemon like Ogerpon-H and Iron Moth to do.

Dragon overall has had a dominating performance this generation, with Gouging Fire being the only Pokemon this generation so far to receive two suspect tests. The second Gouging Fire resulted in 33 out of 52 verified users voting ban, which met the 60% required threshold for Gouging Fire to be banned from SV Monotype. SV Monotype overall will undergo a huge shift in unexplored sets and teams over the next few months, and I'm excited to see what's to come with the changes to the tier. Cheers to new beginnings!

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