By Wildcatdad17
Over the course of the past several months we have had complex metas with many bans, air drops, and restrictions. For the month of April with all the changes that happened in the Might and Mastery update, we wanted to create an approachable meta for both new players and veterans alike. So we started with a traditional type-based meta. Our initial design, however, was too similar to our former meta, Rainstorm Cup, which leveraged Water, Dark, and Flying types. So our question was how we could retain some of those types, but do a healthy pivot?
Allowed Types
We wanted to retain Dark and Water typing because several Might and Mastery move updates impacted those typings. With these base typings in mind, we set out to add a couple more types to allow for more neutral play as well as some fun core breakers. Dragon was the next to be added as there is zero interaction in the three types … but anytime Dragons exist they can over dominate a meta, so we needed a hard to check to them. Since Ice is neutral against Dark and Water, but hard checks Dragon, we decided it was the best solution to check the dragons but not cause massive RPS.
Banned Types
As always once we pick our allowed types we want to try and avoid polarizing matchup so we look at what types overall could lead to these issues. The first type identified was Fairy as it walls the Dragon and Dark Type Pokemon. Additionally, if we want ice to be usable we need to try and lessen the super effective Pokemon into Ice as it is a frail typing in general so Rock was added to the ban list. Finally, we noticed that Electric could also cause some polarizing meta matchups with the Water>Dragon>Electric coring so we removed those types as well.
Banned Pokemon
As with all late-season metas, it is important to consider the use and overuse of Pokemon in all formats of battling, including Devon, Play!, and GBL. After considering usage statistics, we decided that meta staples like Gastrodon, Feraligatr, Malamar, Mandibuzz, Pangoro, Quagsire, Toxapex, and Umbreon had to go immediately. The next question was as to whether there were charged moves, core combination picks, or core breakers that could become problematic. in considering this, we noticed that counter users seemed out of place with Dark types taking center-stage, so Obstagoon, Poliwrath, and Scrafty picked up a ban accordingly. Galarian Moltres, while somewhat overused, still has the availability issue and we want trainers to be able to not feel like they are entrapped by bad luck, so we choose to remove it as well. After these changes, one over used – and recently updated – Pokemon proved to be a final issue. With psywave and water aria, Lapras was just far too dominant, and simulations had it 5 points higher than the its closest Pokemon competitor. Although we appreciated the update to a much loved and generation 1 Pokemon, it had to go as well.
We hope everyone enjoys Stygian Cup. Let’s submit those rank requests and good luck, have fun!
Wildcatdad17,
Devon Corporation Meta Team