Hey everyone, the OU tiering council has decided to retest Melmetal.
Melmetal was initially quickbanned within two days of being released under the condition that it would be retested once the metagame settled down a bit. After a month and a half of post-home adjustments, including a recent Arena Trap ban, the OU tiering council believes now is the best time to give Melmetal a retest. Please note that a retest does not make it an official addition to the OU tier, but rather it allows for Melmetal to have the opportunity to be voted down from Ubers to OU. In order to have an accurate vote, we will be retesting Melmetal on the OU ladder over the next two weeks, much like any other suspect.
Melmetal had a large impact on the metagame over the couple of days in which it was allowed, but this may not be fully indicative of Melmetal's viability due to it just being released and everyone wanting to try it out immediately. A proper retest will give players who achieve voting requisites a chance to fully examine Melmetal's place in the metagame; they will be able to determine if Melmetal is banworthy or not with this information.
As for some background, Melmetal is a very strong and physically sturdy Pokemon. It is able to deal out large amounts of damage with its signature move, Double Iron Bash, which also has a high chance of flinching. While Melmetal is slow, investing in Speed could allow it to outrun most walls and paralysis support is also a possibility. Faster or not, the mono-Steel typing allows for Melmetal to resist a plethora of common attacks, which pairs quite nicely with high base 135 HP. All of these positive characteristics pair quite nicely with a slew of coverage moves such as Superpower, Earthquake, and Thunder Punch. Offensively, Melmetal is capable of dealing out massive damage output to a vast majority of Pokemon it will encounter in the SS OU metagame.
On the defensive end of the spectrum, Melmetal is quite capable as well; it can run a less directly threatening set that highlights its defensive prowess featuring Acid Armor and Body Press, fully abusing base 143 defense. This combination allows for it to be less prediction reliant and function as a win condition on balanced structures. It is true that this variant of Melmetal is less capable of breaking through common walls and pivots off-the-bat, which can be taken advantage of with timely pivoting to special attackers such as Rotom-Heat and Specs Aegislash. Not much is able to withstand a continuous assault from Melmetal though, even if it is defensively oriented. With the current metagame being full of various methods of recovery such as Wish, perhaps there could be enough longevity to keep Melmetal in check, but players must be wary of the many options Melmetal users can choose between, especially considering that Melmetal is not a particularly forgiving Pokemon with base 143 attack.
This retest will be used to determine if Melmetal should stay banned in the SS OU metagame or if it should be allowed once more. This thread should be used to focus on Melmetal's place in the suspect metagame and nothing else. There should be no discussion of alternative suspects or discussion opposing this retest. Normal suspect rules and procedure, which is outlined below, applies to this retest as well.
- To achieve voting requisites, you must reach a minimum GXE of 82 with a minimum of 40 games played on the Pokemon Showdown! OverUsed (OU) ladder
- You must signup with a newly registered account on Pokemon Showdown! that begins with the appropriate prefix for the suspect test. For this suspect test, the prefix will be OUTJ. For example, I might signup with the ladder account OUTJ FINCH.
- Laddering with an account that impersonates, mocks, or insults another Smogon user or breaks Pokemon Showdown! rules may be disqualified from voting and infracted. Moderator discretion will be applied here. If there is any doubt or hesitance when making the alt, just pick another name. There are infinite possibilities and we have had trouble for this repeatedly. If you wish to participate in the suspect, you should be able to exhibit decent enough judgement here. We will not be lenient.
- We will be using the regular OU ladder for this suspect test. We will not be creating a new Suspect Ladder. At the beginning of every battle, there will be an announcement denoting the ongoing suspect with a link to this thread.
- The aspect being tested, Melmetal, will be allowed on the ladder.
- Any form of voting manipulation will result in swift and severe punishment. You are more than welcome to state your argument to as many people as you so please, but do not use any kind of underhanded tactics to get a result you desire. Bribery, blackmail, or any other type of tactic used to sway votes will be handled and sanctioned.
- Do not attempt to cheat the ladder. We will know if you did not actually achieve voting requisites, so don't do it. Harsh sanctions will be applied.
- Unlike previous tests, we will be posting the voting identification thread immediately after this thread. Your voting requisites will be confirmed by a Council member or OU moderator, to which we will edit in confirmation. Please avoid getting more games before getting confirmed.
- The suspect test will go on for two weeks, lasting until April 19th at 11:59 pm (GMT-4), and then we will put up the voting thread in the Blind Voting subforum.
- No unhelpful one liners nor uninformed posts;
- No discussion on other potential suspects;
- No discussion on the suspect process -- this includes retesting Melmetal vs other potential suspects;
- You are required to make respectful posts;
- You are required to read this thread before posting.
- Failure to follow these simple guidelines will result in your post being deleted and infracted without any prior warning.
- Please also take a moment to read over some suggestions from the OU Council and the OU Moderation team for posting in this thread; adhering these will help out our time moderating the thread and present your arguments better and more educated.
- Do not argue because it's your favorite Pokemon. This should he common sense, but please don't do this, because we will delete posts like this.
- You do not need a boatload of experience to have an informed opinion, but please try to minimize the theorymon aspect and use your experiences watching and playing. Playing some on the ladder before posting is plenty if you're concerned about this.
- Do not flame, belittle, or be disrespectful to users in this thread. While not everyone will read this post in its entirety nor will everyone have informed opinion, please be sure not to be disrespectful. If there's an issue, bring it up to a moderater.
- Do not use the argument of broken checking broken. Should your argument rest on your opinion that banning the Pokemon or mechanic being tested in this suspect test will make a Pokemon or mechanic broken, overpowered, and/or uncompetitive; don't. If something needs to be banned because of the result this suspect, then so be it.
- This thread is not to voice complaints about the suspect process or decisions of the council. While we are more than open to hearing complaints that may arise, this isn't the place for it. I suggest you message the OU Council, PM our Tier Leader, Finchinator, or make a post in Senior Staff requests, should you have a badge.
Keep in mind that our suspect tests are decided by the community; anyone who achieves voting requisites is allowed to vote. The outcome is up to you. Happy posting and laddering!
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The rivalry of these two was the story of the week after HOME dropped. Dragon Dance KB running through the tier and Melmetal being slapped onto teams in an attempt to halt it.
The other ban that has happened since then, Arena Trap, has also benefited Melmetal.
