Metagame np: SS DOU Stage 2: Out of My League - Melmetal Banned | Magearna Banned

[MajorBowman]

You were out of my league
Got my heartbeat racing
If I die, don't wake me
'Cause you are more than just a dream​

It's time for the second suspect of Generation 8, where we'll be taking a look at everyone's favorite nut, Melmetal. Just from looking at its stat spread alone, you can tell that Melmetal was set up to succeed. Boasting sky high HP, Attack, and Defense, Melmetal can stand up to nearly everything in the tier and threaten considerable damage with its wide array of attacks. Double Iron Bash is also a pretty ridiculous attack in and of itself, sporting an effective base power of 120 (before the Iron Fist boost) with 100% accuracy and a 51% chance to flinch its target. For reference, Iron Fist-boosted Double Iron Bash is able to OHKO common Pokemon that aren't known to be particularly frail, such as Dragapult and Venusaur, with minimal investment in Attack. Melmetal's low base speed often makes Double Iron Bash's flinch chance irrelevant, but absurdly fast Melmetal sets that take advantage of Tailwind have started popping up, making this attack even more scary. Melmetal's next lowest stat is Special Defense at 65, but even this is very effectively patched up by the use of Assault Vest, by far the most item used on Melmetal.

While it may seem somewhat one dimensional, Melmetal can accomplish much more than one might expect over the course of a battle. The same Melmetal set, Assault Vest with Double Iron Bash and your choice of three coverage moves, will almost always make a significant impact on any game in which it is found due to Melmetal's almost effortless combination of power, bulk, and coverage that very few Pokemon can claim. For example, you can accomplish all of the following with the same EV spread: OHKO Dragapult with Double Iron Bash, outspeed base 100s in Tailwind, survive an Overheat from Ninetales in the sun, and survive a High Horsepower from Adamant Life Orb Excadrill. Especially when combined with Heal Pulse or Pollen Puff support from a partner like Mew, Melmetal becomes an immovable object that seemingly unstoppable forces can't break. There are multiple other practical uses for Melmetal as well, such as on Trick Room teams or with an Acid Armor + Body Press set, but this example illustrates just how impactful Melmetal can be in a variety of situations.

Despite its multitude of strengths, Melmetal does not come without weaknesses. As mentioned, its Special Defense and Speed are both pretty abysmal, especially regarding the latter given the current trend of Trick Room teams falling by the wayside. Its mono-Steel typing, while providing some useful resistances, also leaves it weak to some very common types in DOU, notably Fire and Ground. However, these weaknesses have yet to meaningfully hold Melmetal back. We have reached a point in DOU where teambuilding has shifted from "should I use Melmetal on this team" to "give me a reason not to use Melmetal on this team," which is why we have chosen to put it on the chopping block.

Important: The laddering period will last for a total of nine days.

Laddering Period
Start: Friday, May 29th 8:00 PM EDT (GMT-4)
End: Sunday, June 7th 8:00 PM EDT (GMT-4)​

All games must be played on the Pokemon Showdown! Doubles OU ladder on a fresh alt with a name of the form "DOUM5 [name]." For example, I might register DOUM5 Bowman to ladder with.

To qualify to vote, you must achieve a minimum GXE of 80 with at least 50 games played. In addition, you may subtract 1 game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 80 GXE, down to a minimum of 30 games at a GXE of 84. As always, needing more than 50 games to reach 80 GXE is fine.

minimum games needed

GXE	minimum games
80	50
80.2	49
80.4	48
80.6	47
80.8	46
81	45
81.2	44
81.4	43
81.6	42
81.8	41
82	40
82.2	39
82.4	38
82.6	37
82.8	36
83	35
83.2	34
83.4	33
83.6	32
83.8	31
84	30

Melmetal will be legal during this suspect.

 

[Berks]

great song, it'll be a fun ladder!

 

[Ezrael]

I am really glad that this suspect is happening, and will be voting Ban on melmetal. It's hard to properly express how strong Melmetal is, because not even calcs do it justice. However, I will do my best.
AV Melmetal is the best mon I have ever used in terms of pure damage trades in 7 years of playing competitive pokemon. Melmetal beats every single pokemon in terms of raw damage output. My favorite example of this is that AV melmetal beats scarf Charizard in the sun.

Hide

252+ SpA Solar Power Charizard Heat Wave vs. 16 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Melmetal in Sun: 350-414 (84.3 - 99.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
116+ Atk Iron Fist Melmetal Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard: 260-306 (87.5 - 103%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Solar Power damage

Melmetal also beats Dragapult, is comfortable trading with Incineroar, and every other pokemon on the VR. There's never a matchup where Melmetal feels useless and most of the time it feels like one of the most important pokemon on my team. Water types don't wall Melmetal because it has Iron Fist boosted Thunder Punch. Nothing can beat Melmetal at full HP, so you often have to sacrifice a mon to chip it, and then hope to outspeed it and KO (assuming your opponent doesn't get TR up).

The way the metagame is now has me feeling a unique way about Melmetal. I, as a rule, use Melmetal on every team. If I have a team that doesn't have Melmetal on it, I simply add Melmetal to the team and it gets better, no matter what the team was previously. That is a quality that bothers me less in the context of more supportive pokemon like Incineroar. Melmetal, however, is not a support mon--it is a damage dealing tank. This mon is broken and has to go.

 

[Commander Beta]

Well, it'd be sad to Kiss Melmetal goodbye, since Hard tr is my bread and butter, but let's be real, he's gotta go, I have recently tried to build teams which aren't Hard tr, and it's depressing how many team styles get immidiately obliterated by him except for sun, whose popularity is partly due to it's Ability to trash him. Not even Sand is that good against it due it's absurd HP and Defense, that if you are Lucky enough for it not to be carrying wp.

As much as it pains me to say it I think he's gotta go.

P. S.: btw, when will Contribution and corrections start working again?

 

[Kenpwnchi]

My man Melly. I figured it'd come to this. As much as I don't find Melmetal a threat, as the rest of the DOU community has expressed, it is simple too big of a threat to keep around. So far, in DPL 6 (based on overall usage and the top 10 mons), Melmetal is #1 in usage, #2 when it comes to mirror wins, and #1 when it comes to mirrorless wins. If the statistics don't convince you, go and watch the DPL 6 matches. Every match I've watched, Melmetal drops at least 1 or 2 mons before being dropped. It's HP and DEF is terrifying and AV allows Melmetal to become the ultimate tank while also having enough power to rip through its opponents with Iron Fist and Double Iron Bash or another move that can be boosted. Melmetal doesn't need TR to be good (despite having mediocre speed). Personally, I feel like Incineroar is only Tier 1 because it's needed to counter Melmetal (which it hardly does). Melmetal works well with Weakness Policy, to make it more powerful offensively, or Leftovers, to slowly regain its help, and I'm sure, if explored properly, it can work with other items. Did I mention that Melmetal makes Focus Sash useless? Anyways, I'll be voting to ban Melmetal if I make the cut.

 

[KaoriLivesInMyHeart]

I mean, Melmetal is such as good pokemon maybe he could stay in dou if there were a more diverse meta with pokes more powered than right now. A pokemon that can literally fit in any team and that can destroy any team, it's not healthy. It has a lot of option, going in a hard trick room, check sand teams, because, god, he can stall a tyranitar and a excadrill full hp, and take one or the two of them before take him out or even check trickroom in a tailwind team, it can fill in every single team and do it even better than the core poke of that team. The huge problem is when the team is oriented to it, like the core with dragon-fairy-steel, and you pair him with incineroar, you just have to play with the tempo and one by one with the fake out and intimidate you can take out main threats, some water types can stall it, like milotic, but only a few hits.
It's true that it has some clear weakness, like the incineroar that with intimidate and fake out you can have a chance with him, or getting him burn, but with av you need to sacrifice atleast 1 poke to kill him.
In my opinion, i'd like to ban it, but no at the same time. It's very fun, and kinda unfair sometimes to use it, but if a pokemon is defining how to make my teams, i'm sorry, but it should be banned.

 

[Stratos]

Melmetal is just too strong. He isn't luck based like Gengar ties; he doesn't remove skill like Jirachi; he doesn't demand too much respect when on the field like XY MegaMence.

If there's anything degenerate about Melmetal, it would be 51% DIB flinches making everything have to outspeed him or become unviable. But really his only sin is being a DOU mon in a DUU metagame. He wins just about literally any 1v1 in the meta. He will end the game having done somewhere from around 150% to 400% to the opposing team, but never less than 150% (barring like, muddy water crit acc drop into thunderpunch miss on pelipper). If you aren't using Melmetal you are actually throwing, and the viability ranking is basically sorted by how much each mon helps against Melmetal.

Is this banworthy on its own? Singles oldgens have had similar power level Pokemon in RBY big three / GSC Snorlax. Melmetal makes 6-0s impossible, but he doesn't make the game unplayable. Still, I'll probably vote ban. I'd love to have him back when we get our legendaries back though.

 

[Red Pill PUA]

This “council“ is the worst i have ever seen. This should have been quick banned like the rest.

with that said these new req rules are legit good job guys

this mon is broken af and I’m voting ban. It’s a shame we had to wait for your stupid tour to be over to get here. Stop prioritizing tour players. It’s shameful. Ladder should not have to suffer for your bromance games. With your *** tours.

im voting ban. and I’ll be whipping up ban votes just like the ban dynamax ban. Get this cheap shit out of here.

double Iron bash is the most op move of all time. I’m in favor of keeping Melmetal but banning that move, but since that is not an option I’m voting ban melmetal.
Ruined the whole meta and it does not matter what dlc mons come out shit will still be op. Shameful mon used by shameful players. You use melmetel and you win anytime with it that’s a **** a fake win. that’s your crutch card so say good bye.

 

[talkingtree]

The suspect period has started! All games must be played on the Pokemon Showdown! Doubles OU ladder on a fresh alt with a name of the form "DOUM5 (name)." For example, I might register the name "DOUM5 tree" to use during this suspect test.

In addition, please note the change in laddering reqs:

To qualify to vote, you must achieve a minimum GXE of 80 with at least 50 games played. In addition, you may subtract 1 game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 80 GXE, down to a minimum of 30 games at a GXE of 84. As always, needing more than 50 games to reach 80 GXE is fine.

A table with the corresponding values is in the OP of this thread.

 

[megacrazyhand]

Not sure if I'll be laddering for reqs, but I do want to take a moment to say that if I do so and make reqs I would be voting for ban. The power level of Melmetal overall is just too strong for the tier. It is, bar none, the best steel type in DOU and mauls anything that doesn't resist it with Double Iron Bash. Its move pool is just wide enough to cover the rest of the metagame. In all of it's time in the tier, the tier has not adjusted with a way to kill it. Partnered with Gothitelle (the other most broken mon in the tier) it can gain free turns and speed advantage under Trick Room.

Looking at the VR rankings, it shreds through pretty much everything in Tier 1 and Tier 2. Almost all of the Pokemon "you can't go wrong by using" are destroyed by Melmetal. This makes Melmetal especially terrifying among T1 mons. Melmetal almost certainly deserves to be banned.

 

[GRAND EMPRESS]

I definitely see Melmetal as a very potent mon, but I haven’t ever really needed to edit my teams around it or at all really and have never had too much trouble dealing with it just for existing. Every time I’ve lost to it, which was maybe about 3-4 times in its entire existence, I never felt like I lost just because the mon was just THAT DAMN STUPID like the case with Gmax Zard, Gmax Hatterene, Mega Mence, SM Deoxys-A, Mega Metagross, USUM Z-Kommo-o, or SM Mega Kang. Most of which we just had to suck it up and deal with. I felt genuinely outplayed, as any player should. I don’t find myself thinking “that was fucking bullshit” everytime I fight against Melmetal like with the aforementioned examples above

While it is incredibly strong, let’s not act like we haven’t seen power like this before with the likes of Kang-Mega, Mence-Mega, and even Dragapult was pretty stupid early on. We dealt with those without much issue. I don’t see this being much different. Call me ignorant Ig

And as for team building, I can see where some may have issues, that I can. But tbh I never really saw it as any different as or put any more effort into it than I would prepping for other T1 threats. Does my team get blown out by Dragapult? Can I deal with the sand matchup? Can I handle rain? Can I not lose to sun? Can Incineroar just come in and cuck me for free? If Whimsicott sets TW, do I just lose? Can I dance in Trick Room? Do I have something that can hold off or effectively wear down Melmetal? This is just a general checklist I go through everytime I make basically any team. And I never feel like not having a Melmetal on a team makes my team feel like I’m purposefully cucking it. And I feel like (just like any other T1 mon) if I lose to it because my team just CAN’T fuck with it, that’s more my fault than Melmetal’s fault. I’ve yet to see Melmetal just run through teams for free not even once.

Lastly, I won’t bring up the far off Crown Tundra DLC and such since that’s not really a factor, But we’ve got the Isle of Armor DLC basically right around the corner. I’m sure we’re about to have some nice shakeups in the meta to some degree. I just think we should either wait a bit or if worst comes to worst, retest it after the DLC drops and see what happens

 

[Fran]

Melmetal needs to be gone from SS. The only reliable check to it seems to be Coil Milotic, everything else either loses the 1v1 or has to take a lot of damage to win the trade (thats also assuming speedcontrol on their end). No other pokemon comes even close to how good it is at the moment, so I see no reason why we should allow it.

 

[xzern]

The main thing I like about melmetal is that he invalidates some irritating pokemon which I would rather not humor past a singular double iron bash, namely galar darmanitan, grimmsnarl, miscellaneous ladder fairies, etc. Despite how much I like this one feature of melmetal, his stranglehold on the metagame is impossible to overlook. His presence in the tier allows for little breathing room both in practice and in teambuilding, making the meta feel especially stifling. Being held back by its troublesome speed allows for only limited counterplay because of his immense bulk and easy trades across the board, as pointed out by ezrael. read: Melmetal is simply too strong! I will want to ban him. I'm not saying anything new or groundbreaking here, unfortunately. I would, however, like to see melmetal reconsidered for dou when we have a more complete roster.

 

[GenOne]

I’m pretty washed up and haven’t been playing Pokémon very seriously in Gen 8, but even I can tell how much gravity Melmetal has on this meta. Like others have said above, Melmetal is basically something you want to include on every team, and something your team needs to be able to check reliably. This has certainly been my experience whenever I’ve played recently.

Honestly, I pretty much expected this would be the case from the moment Melmetal was released into the meta. Compared to most 600 BST mythicals, Melmetal has a really minmaxed stat spread that basically resembles a slow Mega Metagross.

Defensively, mono Steel typing grants Melmetal 11 resistances and only 3 weaknesses. This, paired with a supermassive HP and Def stat allows Melmetal to laugh at most physical attacks - most notably, I’ve seen Incineroars unable to 2hko Melmetal at +0 with Flare Blitz lol. Melmetals SpD stat isn’t as good, but still is respectable given the high HP. And most players have figured out that an Assault Vest and some liberal SpD EVs can make Melmetal just as hard to take down with special attacks - Ezrael’s calc where AV Melmetal lives a Scarf Zard Heat Wave in sun is a great example.

Offensively, Melmetal also has a sky high Atk stat, a signature STAB move that is 50% stronger than Iron Head, a further power boost from its Iron Fist ability, and a wide movepool that is difficult for any target to switch into (Steel / Ground / Electric is great on this meta, and I can see Ice being useful after DLC as well). So again, Melmetal is essentially a Mega Metagross with a 50% stronger STAB and equally good coverage lol. That’s a lot of power for a Pokémon in a meta where megas don’t even exist.

Given everything I mentioned above, I don’t think Melmetal will be healthy in any Gen 8 meta, and it definitely feels overpowered in the current meta.

 

[Amaranth]

Ban, ban, ban, a million times ban. I find it mindblowing this wasn't quickbanned. Even when all the old stuff comes back I struggle to see how any steel type can challenge Melly, he might get more competition from like Gene and Kart because they're fast but I don't ever see Melly usage dropping below 50%. This shit would make megagross look like a DUU mon, lock him up and keep him there. I don't know how anyone can look at Jon's calcs and think this might be balanced in the future. I don't know how anyone can compare the damage of 0+ Melmetal vs 252 Mega Metagross, see how much the former outclasses the latter, think back to how good Mega Metagross was in the past, and still think that this mon might be balanced in the future. Melmetal is the most broken stat stick I've ever played with and I have to deal with RBY Snorlax on the regular. Maybe in 2 or 3 gens the power creep will catch up to this thing and I'll be down to talk again.

Don't look at BST 600 and think "this will be balanced when the other semilegends come back" - he has only 34 speed and 85 spatk, or in other words, 481 points of his BST are actively contributing to his bulk and damage output. Things like Kyogre and Groudon sit at 480 points of BST actively contributing to their bulk and damage output, others like Lunala sit at 470. And they don't even get stab moves as broken as DIB. The power on this things is absolutely unrivaled, sure the 34 speed does matter, but they've invented speed control so that can be worked around. The closest they've come to speed control for other stats is screens, which are a +50% boost to Tailwind's +100%. This mon hits like an uber and takes hits like an uber, don't know why it's not uber and don't know why people think it might be not uber in the future. This is not a DOU mon in a DUU format, it's a DUbers mon in a DUU format. Get rid of him.

 

[variationonatheme]

Melmetal is fun, but he's too strong for this format. I hadn't played much Gen 8 before the DMax ban and had a fairly meh team I put together for laughs with some of my old friends from Gen 7 DOU (and no new Gen 8 mons). I already had a steel type on it, but I read some people say you had to justify NOT putting Melly on your team, so I reluctantly slapped it on. It definitely made a huge difference, as I could bring it in to threaten just about anything--with AV, it can survive even direct fire hits and can nearly always contribute outside TR, and its speed is fantastic in TR.

I agree that the timing for this suspect stinks, with major changes about to happen (and some very recent changes that have not really been processed by the Meta), but this dude should have been quick banned when he showed up.

Seeing so many DOUM5 teams that look like carbon copies of each other--that can't be good. Hope with Melly gone and some new (to this Meta) mon back, things will get more interesting.

 

[Srobbied]

I want this thing gone forever. I am so happy that thing is being tested

 

[Stratos]

This “council“ is the worst i have ever seen. This should have been quick banned like the rest.

I find it mindblowing this wasn't quickbanned.

I agree that the timing for this suspect stinks, with major changes about to happen (and some very recent changes that have not really been processed by the Meta), but this dude should have been quick banned when he showed up.

I wasn't even on the council at the time melmetal was released but this take makes me want to scream. Have you nerds forgotten that Mel was released at the same time as Beat Up Terrakion and Gmax Charizard? We absolutely had significantly bigger fish to fry than Melmetal (and he might not even be broken in Max meta since he's terrible at maxing and maxing turns his trades unfavorable).

 

[Red Pill PUA]

I wasn't even on the council at the time melmetal was released but this take makes me want to scream. Have you nerds forgotten that Mel was released at the same time as Beat Up Terrakion and Gmax Charizard? We absolutely had significantly bigger fish to fry than Melmetal (and he might not even be broken in Max meta since he's terrible at maxing and maxing turns his trades unfavorable).

Have you guys ever thought about idk frying multiple fish at once? Ground breaking idea I know. It was released at the same time and yet you quick banned multiple mons and left this thing around. This thing is stronger than shadow, kyurum, and jirachi. It should have been apart of that quick ban no excuses.

And he was pretty good at maxing. He could max electric to stop sleep, could raise attack with max fighting, defensive boost from steel/ground. So yeah it was broke during max meta but not as broke as zard.

This myth that melmetal was a bad dynamax mon needs to stop. If you took out the opponent’s zard and than max melmetal it was not being stopped. It would keep all the boost than OHKO everything with dib.

 

[Amaranth]

I don't exactly agree that it's better than Jirachi and Marshadow (especially in a dmax meta) but I just don't understand how anyone can look at the stats on this thing + DIB and think yeah this is balanced. I stand by my statement, Melmetal is the strongest stat stick I've ever played with and regardless of whether we were frying other fishes or not I think he shouldn't have been allowed into OU when everything about him other than the speed stat screams Uber. I'm not like upset at the council or anything, I'm moreso just surprised at how far apart my evaluation of this mon is compared to other people's - that's what I found 'mindblowing', perhaps my original post could have been worded a little more carefully

 

[SingleThunder]

Have you guys ever thought about idk frying multiple fish at once? Ground breaking idea I know. It was released at the same time and yet you quick banned multiple mons and left this thing around. This thing is stronger than shadow, kyurum, and jirachi. It should have been apart of that quick ban no excuses.

And he was pretty good at maxing. He could max electric to stop sleep, could raise attack with max fighting, defensive boost from steel/ground. So yeah it was broke during max meta but not as broke as zard.

This myth that melmetal was a bad dynamax mon needs to stop. If you took out the opponent’s zard and than max melmetal it was not being stopped. It would keep all the boost than OHKO everything with dib.

https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...in-beat-up-banned.3656244/page-7#post-8364676
Isn't this you?

 

[MetalGro$$]

First time I've probably ever touched Doubles in my life, shoutout brazilian snake and quarantine

Melmetal seems incredibly broken. It shrugs off hits like it's nothing due to a fantastic bulk + typing while firing off very powerful hits every turn. I have never built a team in this tier ever, but every time I got into a battle where my opponent didn't have Melmetal in preview I was relieved.
I participated in the OU suspect of Melmetal, where its raw power and bulk made it almost impossible to not get at least one kill / heavy chip on multiple mons. In Doubles, it's a lot worse: the opponent is forced to focus on Melmetal, letting its partner roam free and get its own thing going. Speed control is also a way bigger thing in this tier, so you get to abuse DIH bash's broken side effect of a 51% chance to flinch.

In conclusion: Unless your opponent has taken gigantic countermeasures in the builder you're getting off a ton of damage while directing all the focus on one Pokemon on your side of the field. Pretty much the definition of unhealthy.

 

[FreshGyro]

Melmetal is a great mon no doubt, but i never felt like it would be too tough to play around as long as i kept their trick roomers in check. Sleep, intimidate, powerful special attackers with fire blast/earth power and redirection all made him pretty manageable imo. Im still leaning towards ban because of how great he is in the current metagame but i think it was a good decision to not quickban it and i would very much like a re-test at a later date when the dlc(:s) have dropped.

 

[GRAND EMPRESS]

Honestly with some of the mons I see coming back and the ludicrously stupid looking Urshifu on the horizon, and still standing by my statement of its not really THAT hard to prep for, I think it (and possibly KyuB) could and should be deserving of a retest down the road post-. It looks like its fate now is pretty much a wrap based on the comments here

But like I said From My exp, seeing Melmetal on the opposing team doesn’t just immediately fill me with dread. Nor do I feel like not using it puts me at any type of forced disadvantage.

People say its hard as shit to trade with. Okay, I mean after an Intimidate its not really just blowing through absolutely everything. Plus, we’ve got mons like Dracovish (I know not as bad, but still) and Darmanitan-G who if not respected and given proper speed control can literally just delete one of your mons every single turn for free. And before Melmetal, we had Corviknight doing similar things but with access to recovery and immunity to stat debuffs. Both of which are hard stopped by essentially the same Pokemon from my exp.

I will 100% agree that Melmetal demands more respect than the aforementioned threats, maybe barring Vish in certain circumstances, but I don’t feel like it just forces you to run a shitload of counters or put 100% of your focus onto it to not just auto-lose.

With that I’m still firmly sticking to a no-ban vote despite the odds here

 

[Nails]

People say its hard as shit to trade with. Okay, I mean after an Intimidate its not really just blowing through absolutely everything. Plus, we’ve got mons like Dracovish (I know not as bad, but still) and Darmanitan-G who if not respected and given proper speed control can literally just drink one of your mons every single turn for free. And before Melmetal, we had Corviknight doing similar things but with access to recovery and immunity to stat debuffs. Both of which are hard stopped by essentially the same Pokemon from my exp.

Comparing Melmetal to Pokemon like Dracovish, Darmanitan and Corviknight is like comparing apples to oranges, in that Melmetal is good, and those mons are bad. The pokemon you have listed are prominent singles threats, because they can beat mons 1v1. The thing about melmetal is that it beats the entire format 1v2. In particular, Melmetal is bulky. There are mons that should counter it with typing, e.g., Incineroar, Excadrill, Dragapult (fire blast), Blastoise, Gastrodon, and others.

However, Melmetal beats each of these pokemon in practice. Incineroar has to put a ton of work in to combat Melmetal, as incin is supposed to switch into it every time Melmetal is in. The Melmetal player can call this switch in and chip incin each time with High Horsepower, or even just DIB. In return, the Melmetal player can switch their own incin in, and take nothing from flare blitz. Melmetal also tanks a life orb High Horsepower from Excadrill if it needs to and does enough damage back to render Excadrill almost useless for the fight. Melmetal takes ~ 40% from LO fire blast and OHKOS pult back. Melmetal's steel attacks can be redirected by Blastoise, but Melmetal 2shots it through sitrus with any chip with thunder punch. Gastrodon gets flinched and dies because it is bad, and can't even 2hko Melmetal with Earth Power.

In contrast, Dracovish gets outsped and ohkoed by Pult, can't protect, isn't bulky, loses hard to Blastoise, gets eviscerated by opposing Tailwind/TR and other speed control. Similarly, Darmanitan is bad because it does not do enough damage and can get killed quite easily. Corviknight does no damage and is forced to set up. It does not matter that Corviknight cannot be intimidated if corv isn't doing anything with that attack stat anyways, except setting up.
Melmetal is immediately active whenever it enters the field and is never threatened with an OHKO, while it trades favorably with every check.

ludicrously stupid looking Urshifu on the horizon,

If Urshifu is broken, it will be banned.

But like I said From My exp, seeing Melmetal on the opposing team doesn’t just immediately fill me with dread.

It does not fill me with dread because every team has melmetal and I generally enjoy dou.

Nor do I feel like not using it puts me at any type of forced disadvantage.

You are wrong.

I will 100% agree that Melmetal demands more respect than the aforementioned threats, maybe barring Vish in certain circumstances, but I don’t feel like it just forces you to run a shitload of counters or put 100% of your focus onto it to not just auto-lose.

If you take a look at the VR, pretty much every pokemon's viability is centered around their melmetal matchup. While I recognize that I could run kyurem, I do not, because it loses to melmetal. Everyone who does use kyurem loses, because it loses to melmetal. I make sure that most, if not all, of my mons have something they can do against melmetal--be it fake out, a specs fire move, a boosted fighting move, and so on.

While I do not run any hard counters to melmetal, that is because I can't, unless I run monofire. (note, Charizard heat wave in sun still does not ohko melmetal). I choose every pokemon on my teams keeping in mind melmetal's existence, and melmetal weak teams get dismantled.

as a fun example: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8doublesou-1120030700
Melmetal took a Max spatk Togekiss heat wave, an incin overheat, a -1 high horsepower, and took at least 2 kills. Spurrific's opponent forfeit the entire set after this game, in part because melmetal destroyed him so completely.