Mix and Mega council has decided to suspect Gholdengo!
Gholdengo has a lot going for it as a pokemon. Ghost/Steel is an incredibly potent typing, and it backs that up with great stats and a solid movepool. Unusually for mega evolving pokemon, it also brings an incredibly potent premega ability and makes heavy use of it, increasing its role compression immensely. Gholdengo has always been a good pokemon straight from the beginning of the generation, with a very powerful diancite cleaner and breaker set as well as a bulky boosting Latiasite set, but as the generation has continued it has kept getting better and better. Dragapult and Palafin, the two biggest revenge killers for Diancite Gholdengo, have been restricted from holding stones and had terastalization banned, respectively. Furthermore, the ongoing transformation of the metagame has been unkind to a some of Gholdengo's soft checks like Chi Yu and Volcarona. Finally, there has been a rise in the use of Substitute on Diancite Gholdengo sets, which allow it to not only bypass but actively punish soft-checking methods like pivoting to a revenge killer with Corviknight. Taken together, you end up with a very splashable pokemon that can prevent defog from removing hazards and choose between incredible defensive utility and revenge killing without giving up being a breaker.
However, that's not to say that Gholdengo is flawless. Diancite Gholdengo is fast, but not by the standards of speed control; there are no shortage of pokemon like Barraskewda and Iron Valiant that easily outrun it regardless and OHKO it. Many teams make use of Rapid Spin from pokemon like Great Tusk and Quaquaval, which allows them to clear hazards regardless of whether or not Gholdengo has mega evolved, and just attempting to make use of this ability int he first place means greatly limiting Gholdengo's threat level by not mega evolving. There do exist reliable and viable defensive checks, like Red Orb Roaring Moon, Iron Moth, and Ampharosite Blissey. Furthermore, both of Gholdengo's stabs have common resistances, meaning in many cases it needs to predict in order to stop the opponent from simply switching in an answer and forcing it out.
Taken together, are Gholdengo's sets too much for the Mix and Mega metagame? Or do its flaws hold it back enough to permit it to stay around and provide a unique tool for players to make use of?
Requirements:
Requirements can be achieved by getting 78 GXE with 25 games, down to 74 GXE with 45 games on the Mix and Mega ladder. In order to participate in the suspect, you must create a fresh alt (creation date no earlier than 7 May 2023) with the prefix MNMGJ at the start of the name. When you have obtained the reqs, make sure to post proof of your alt's record (generally a screenshot) in this thread, and if you wish to do so, you can also share your thoughts on the test here.
Voting:
Once the suspect period is over, everyone who has obtained reqs will be tagged. The post will then outline a process of blind voting, which will be clarified once the time arrives. For now, follow the above "Requirements" subheading to ensure that you have posted your reqs correctly. You must post on this thread in order to be tagged in the voting thread, however you do not need to include your vote on this thread.
A super-majority of 60% ban votes is required to restrict Gholdengo from Mega Evolving in Mix and Mega.
TL;DR:
- Gholdengo is permitted to Mega Evolve on the suspect Ladder
- The GXE requirement is 78 and the minimum game count is 25, down to a minimum of 74 after 45 games
- You must ladder on a newly-created alt using the prefix MNMGJ
- You must post your reqs in this thread, though the voting process will happen in a separate thread. You are not required to state your vote in this thread.
- The suspect test will conclude at 11:59pm GMT -4 (EDT) on Sunday, May 21st.
- A ban vote of 60% is required to restrict Gholdengo in Mix and Mega.
Last edited: