There will not be another suspect test on Terastallization in OU or a first suspect test on it in any of the other official metagames. This post will outline in why we have decided this and the history of this topic. I am providing transparency up-front as this is not something I take lightly. This thread will remain locked and pinned throughout the generation for those wishing to consult it. Please note that this does not impact Tera Blast, which is still on the table if it ever garners sufficient support.
During late January, I approached a staff tiering discussion chat with SV tier leaders, tiering administrators, and site ownership on the topic of Terastallization in SV OU. I did this after discussing it in the SV OU council chat, where numerous council members expressed feelings that it was too late in the generation to consider acting on Terastallization. I felt that we should either allow for a Policy Review discussion on future tiering of Terastallization or withdraw the topic from future considerating rather than staying in limbo. Clear communication with our playerbase is paramount towards the success of Smogon tiering after all.
When provided these options, it was unanimously determined by tier leaders, tiering administrators, and site ownership that Terastallization should not be outright banned or fundamentally changed in SV OU or any of these other official metagames! If you have any questions as to what this specifically means, feel free to PM me, but this would mean that on top of there not being an outright ban, options like Terastallization being displayed at Team Preview are also off the table.
For some context: Prior to this point, Terastallization remained fully legal in OU after a close vote in late 2022, which was our first suspect test of generation nine. It was never anywhere close to an outright ban, but initially there was support for Terastallization being revealed at Team Preview, which faded in popularity to a great extent after people became more familiar with the mechanic. Moreover, outright banning Terastallization never had substantial enough support; it was at a mere 25% support among qualified players in 2024 and even the most optimistic estimates would leave it well short of the necessary 60% for a ban in our flagship metagame. Other metagames included have also never been close to the point where an outright ban on Terastallization has occurred; a Policy Review thread on the mechanic in RU popped up in the middle of 2024, but nothing ever formally came of it.
Speaking as OUTL: I was personally motivated to have a second suspect of Terastallization during mid-late 2023 and included it on multiple tiering surveys as well as allowed for another Policy Review thread on the topic, even being open to supporting a ban for some time earlier on. However, it became clear that community support in terms of data gathered and thread consensus was insufficient. Personally, this was definitely a point of "adapt or die" for me and I grew far more accustom to Terastallization throughout the first half of 2023, embracing it as part of our metagame that anyone can admit does incorporate some skill expression. I think that many other players experienced this, too, as we see from available data. Unfortunately, it is impossible to make everyone happy as many strong players across our metagame have conflicting opinions, but we would rather be transparent and honest with you all than end up in an even more awkward position down the line where people feel they were led on about any tiering action.
We are now over two years into the generation, a year removed from the most recent mid-generation release, and in the last full year of generation nine. Competitive Pokemon will never be perfect and people throughout the community remain passionate about our metagames, often growing skeptical of it publicly in hopes of inspiring change. Despite this, many signs point to both SPL caliber players and those qualified via tournaments and ladder participation seeing the metagame as better than most prior editions of SV OU. Progress is still on the horizon and I am confident we will have more suspects, but Terastallization will not be one of them.
Relevant posts:
- Terastallization Policy Review discussion, #1
- Terastallization Tiering Survey data, #1
- SV OU Terastallization suspect test
- SV OU Terastallization suspect voting
- Terastallization Tiering Survey data, #2
- Terastallization Policy Review discussion, #2
- Terastallization Tiering Survey data, #3
- Terastallization Policy Review discussion, SV RU