New Ban and New Clause

by **Derpinator** Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:37 pm

Kangaskhanite has been banned

The much anticipated ban of Mega Kangaskhan has finally come around, with the OU Council finally deciding to quickban Kangaskhanite just as the quickbanned Gengarite. Here are the reasons they listed in the announcement for Kangaskhanite's ban:

Mega Kangaskhan has too much raw power.
- Physical walls such as Hippowdon and Skarmory are either OHKOed or 2HKOed after Mega Kangaskhan uses Power-Up Punch twice, giving her a +2 Attack.
- With Parental Bond, Mega Kangaskhan essentially has a base Attack stat of 213, making her so that only Pokemon like Cofagrigus, Sableye and Gourgeist can take hits from her.

Mega Kangaskhan limits team-building.

Mega Kangaskhan forces players to include dedicated and relatively obscure Pokemon to avoid getting swept by Mega Kangaskhan.
Rocky Helmet users and Rough Skin Pokemon can essentially be traded in to force Mega Kangaskhan to kill itself with passive damage.

Mega Kangaskhan is nearly impossible to revenge kill.

Common revenge killers like Lati@s, Sash Alakazam and even Genesect cannot take +2 Sucker Punches from Mega Kangaskhan.
Mega Kangaskhan's 105/100/100 defenses give her useful bulk even when uninvested.
Strong and fast Fighting-types like Terrakion and Mega Lucario tend to be the only real way to revenge kill Mega Kangaskhan.

Smogon doesn't want Kangaskhan to have her baby!!!
List of everything Mega Kangaskhan had going against her:

Spoiler:

Endless Battle Clause

Something not quite as expected but still understandable was the introduction of the Endless Battle Clause.

Any moveset on any pokemon that is capable of intentionally causing an endless battle is banned from competitive play.

It may be difficult to imagine a moveset like this if you haven't played against one or with one before, but they most definitely exist. A common example is Leppa Berry + Recycle/Harvest + recovery. Leppa Berry restores 10 PP to a move that has ran out of PP. Recycle is a move that restores a consumed item while Harvest is an ability that has a 50% chance to restore a consumed berry at the end of a turn unless the prevailing weather is Sun, in which case it will always restore the consumed berry at the end of the turn. Combined with recovery, you can essentially create an immortal Pokemon as long as you are recovering more HP than you are losing. To prevent your opponent from killing themselves by Struggling, you can use Heal Pulse to heal your opponent's Pokemon until they forfeit. For those of you who still don't believe it, hereis an example of how it is done.
This clause will be implemented in the same way as the Swift Swim + Drizzle ban, combinations of moves and items that create these endless stall sets will be banned. As of now, the use of Leppa Berry, Recycle and Heal Pulse on the same set has been banned. If any other set is found that violates this clause, be sure to bring it to someone's attention, most probably Hugendugen, who is the PS Leader, so that they can deal with that set as well.

UPDATE: Leppa Berry + Recycle + Fling and Leppa Berry + Recycle + Pain Split had been banned by the Endless Battle Clause.

by **TheSurgeXS** Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:14 pm

The endless clause is kinda weird, but minus that.

These are the reasons I do not play smogon rules. Random Match ends up being more enjoyable known that I am not facing the same damn teams all the time.

by **Derpinator** Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:32 pm

Heard that a million times lol.
If you actually go and look at the statistics, it is pretty dang obvious that the banlists promote variety instead of killing it as people who try to talk smack about Smogon always say. I'd repeat the examples to you but it is getting insanely repetitive now, so, if you really care, go look at Genesect, Excadrill, Mega Kangaskhan and Mega Gengar's stats for the time they were OU and you will see how they killed variety instead. A personal experience would be better but, if that isn't an option, the numbers should suffice.

by **Z-man** Thu Dec 19, 2013 11:50 pm

Finally... I've been waiting for this ban x___x

by **Derpinator** Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:01 am

I was too, although I was expecting Suspect Testing instead of a quickban but the end result would have been the same in my opinion.

by **Z-man** Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:06 am

Yeah I mean either way I can't really see the rest of OU being on par withMega Kanga... It's true it's way too good, but luckily it's gone now, let us rejoice! :thewave:

by **Derpinator** Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:35 am

Next up is Genesect I hope, it only really has Talonflame and Aegislash to worry about, although those are pretty common.

by **Z-man** Fri Dec 20, 2013 6:32 am

I haven't played much 6th Gen but I would think special Genesect would handle Aegislash... doesn't it? @.@

by **Derpinator** Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:55 pm

Not in Shield form.
+1 252 SpA Genesect Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 194-230 (59.8 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

by **Z-man** Fri Dec 20, 2013 1:23 pm

A 2hko isn't bad... Is shadow claw / ball + sneak a 2hko on genesect?

by **Derpinator** Fri Dec 20, 2013 1:31 pm

0- SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Genesect: 115-136 (40.6 - 48%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
0+ Atk Aegislash-Blade Shadow Sneak vs. 0 HP / 0- Def Genesect: 79-94 (27.9 - 33.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

Gets real close. Depending on how much damage Flamethrower deals the first time around, you could stall with King's Shield, get Lefties recovery and go for the 3HKO.

by **Derpinator** Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:52 am

UPDATE: Leppa Berry + Recycle + Fling and Leppa Berry + Recycle + Pain Split had been banned by the Endless Battle Clause.

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