Hello everyone, I got my start with competitive pokemon when SV came out. Though I consider myself a relatively "casual competitive" player, starting with SV I care a lot about this tier and has seen it progress over the past year. I don't make posts often or as much as I used to mostly due to my on/off activity with the tier and IRL priorities, but recently I've had the chance to play more getting Archaludon suspect reqs and playing a bit on high ladder as well. Because of my inactivity and above average but still meh playing ability, I don't post often nor do I consider what I have to say something other people should seriously consider or take in mind.
That being said, I wanted to make this post to ensure that the metagame at the very least has a good direction in the future whether I'm apart of that future or not, I believe it's important to ensure that when it's all said and done and gen 10 comes out, SV has its place as an enjoyable, old gen, if not for all but for some. As such, I believe it's important that with such a volatile metagame, we consistently suspect and are open-minded to suspects such as Tera Blast (which this post is mostly about), and mons suspected in the past if we find them becoming overwhelming when/if the metagame settles (Kingambit, Gliscor, Kyurem).
I don't think that an Uber drop is necessary yet as some have suggested. TPP is absolutely right however, introducing a necessary evil back into the tier such as Chien-Pao to keep some offence in check (eg. Roaring Moon) while also threatening balance is something we should look at down the line if the tier is still incredibly unbalanced. That said, the tier is polarizing as is. Archaludon being suspected and banned is a major step in the right direction, but considering how chaotic and difficult it is in the builder in SV currently, I think we should focus on creating a balanced metagame without worrying about Ubers or what was banned in the past.
As such, I believe it's important we constantly suspect. I'm all for letting the metagame settle for a week after a ban, and perhaps let a week of SPL past. But past that and a tiering survey, I don't think we should be waiting at all to suspect. I also think in SV we've seen an anti-ban approach from a lot of good players spreading, and I think this is due to the immense power creep and tera, the idea of broken becomes really blurry. Dragon Dance Tera Flying Tyranitar is a real set that has been used on a team that was brought to SPL. It can take advantage of multiple major threats with TTars solid natural bulk and Tera Blast Flying luring in Great Tusk and Zamazenta. The point in saying this is that this set can beat multiple mons we've invited the idea of suspecting, which I think can wrongfully lead us down the road of thinking certain mons aren't broken. I think, even regardless, an anti-ban approach right now is wrong despite it mostly being in good faith I believe. There are people who take large issue with the metagame in its current state, including myself, and other players way better than me. I think this should be alarming to people and why we should consistently suspect, and continue to spark discussion on the best way to proceed with this complicated tier.
Tiering on Tera hasn't been ruled out but many council members including Finch and njnp have both addressed it as more or less, an afterthought right now, at least the mechanic itself. I however think that
Tera Blast is the single most pressing issue in the tier right now. The three mons I've heard most as suspect canidates right now are Volcarona, Roaring Moon, and Gouging Fire. I personally believe out of these mons, the order in which I find them most to be an issue are in the order I listed them. But I do not support a suspect on Volcarona like I do on Roaring Moon and Gouging Fire, I believe
banning Volcarona, or any mon that can viably abuse Tera Blast over just banning Tera Blast would be a severe tiering mistake.
Iron Valiant is just a mon I feel like at this point, we've accepted as a part of the tier, only being on the radar once in early SV. But in my opinion, it's one of the single most oppressive offensive threats in the metagame and guessing the set is just a nightmare. A 4x resist to Kingambit sucker punch helps it to become one of the better offensive answers to Kingambit despite not switching in, and as such it's extremely difficult to fit answers for Iron Valiant. Guessing the set of Iron Valiant also becomes tough because your switch-ins change drastically. An SD Knock Off CC set cannot switch in Gholdengo or Glowking, whereas otherwise it is oftentimes one of your best switch ins. Fairy Fighting is also a great stab combination on my favourite set of Valiants, Moonblast CC Knock Off Taunt/Encore. I'm not suggesting to suspect Iron Valiant (though a year down the line, when the meta settles and it's still oppressive, I say go for it). I find Volcarona to be by far the most consistent answer to Iron Valiant on offensive teams, as currently offensive teams can't really run a Poison, and the Steel tends to be Kingambit which is still weak to Valiant. You're left with Gholdengo and Volcarona as solid checks to Iron Valiant when in the builder not accounting for tera. Priority (not sucker punch) is another solid answer to Iron Valiant and can usually force a tera or a KO, but in terms of actual switch-ins for offence it becomes difficult. Volcarona provides inherit value to the builder when we consider its defensive presence and the amount it can check.
I do believe Volcarona would be a great mon without Tera Blast, but not nearly as oppressive. Toxapex, Glowking, Heatran, Gouging Fire, and Skeledirge could all become real checks. It would still add the same defensive merit to the tier, but without having to guess if it's that disgustingly good Tera Blast Dragon set (
this replay from SPL should tell you all you need to know), Tera Blast Ground, Tera Blast Water, and so on. Volcarona would be still a viable offensive threat but keeps the same defensive merit it already has which in my opinion holds the fairies (Valiant & Enamorus in check) at least somewhat in check.
Volcarona isn't the only abuser of Tera Blast (otherwise we should just ban Volcarona by tiering policy, right?). Ever thought what Tyranitar would look like with a STAB flying move? Well, now you can find out! I mentioned Tyranitar earlier not because it's good, but I have seen it win a lot of games at a high level by setting up on Zamazenta or Great Tusk and being easily able to 2HKO them. If you set up enough, afterwards your only answer left would be a Dondozo or a Corviknight in some cases. Despite personal thoughts on tera, I think Tera Blast is a bad mechanic that is basically makes it impossible in the builder. Some other examples include "what if Kyurem had fire type coverage!" or "what if every stored power user could have a fighting stab!" If we're having a serious conversation about Stored Power like what was suggested above, we should be talking about Tera Blast just as much. It's a nightmare in the builder and extremely difficult to account for which makes it worthy of a ban. Tera Blast adds absolutely nothing to the tier other than buffing already oppressive sweepers like Volcarona.
I have a lot more thoughts about Tera Blast, but I think it's inherently uncompetitive and unenjoyable and believe it adds nothing to the tier other than making building harder, and believe it should be banned. But I can't be bothered to write much more.
tldr; suspect consistently and often for awhile because it's clear a lot of the community is not happy with the state of the tier. do not suspect volcarona if you are going to, suspect tera blast. unbanning ubers as a "necessary evil" can be looked into in the future but not before suspecting other stuff like tera blast, roaring moon, gouging fire, and raging bolt as well.