Smogon, the most popular online Pokemon battling community, is having a tough time dealing with some of the incredibly powerful critters introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. After giving the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet meta over a week to develop, members of the voting council for Smogon's most popular tier of competitive play, OverUsed, have achieved the supermajority required to ban two more Pokemon from the tier entirely: Palafin and Iron Bundle.Though the initial days after a new Pokemon game releases are fun because of the natural chaos that ensues as players scramble to assemble competitive teams, it can also be a frustrating time for those who feel like certain Pokemon are simply too good at what they do. Smogon previously announced it would be banning Flutter Mane and Houndstone from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet OU and, while this has had an overall positive effect, it has also provided two particular Pokemon with the opportunity to devastate the tier in their absence.Palafin and Iron Bundle, the second of which is Delibird's future paradox form, are the latest monsters to find themselves banned. While many anticipated the ban of Palafin due to its completely broken ability, some still can't really wrap their heads around how Delibird went from the laughingstock of the competitive scene to a genuine monster practically overnight, easily being one of the strongest Pokemon Scarlet and Violet water types.
Though its base form is lackluster at best, Palafin's strength comes in its ability, Zero to Hero, which is easily one of the best signature abilities in all of Pokemon. Upon simply switching out and reentering battle, Palafin changes into its Hero Form - transforming into a monstrosity with a staggering 650 base stat total. To put this into perspective, pseudo-legendaries such as Metagross, Garchomp, and Tyranitar all possess a BST of 600. As if this wasn't enough, Palafin also gets access to strong moves such as bulk up, drain punch, jet punch, and taunt, which combine to exasperate Palafin's preexisting bulk and break through the sturdiest of walls and revenge killers.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Paradox Pokemon are very strong, and Iron Bundle is no exception. Replacing Delibird's flying typing with water and ramping up its stats, being even faster than the banned Flutter Mane, has made it almost unrecognizable. It is able to hit pretty much everything within the OverUsed tier for at least neutral damage while also possessing an insane speed tier and great physical bulk, letting it slow down the tempo of a battle before warping it through the use of utility moves such as flip turn and encore. Ultimately, it simply does too much too well.
Smogon's tiering council also voted on Cyclizar, Chien-Pao, Roaring Moon, Gholdengo, and Annihilape, but did not reach the supermajority required for a ban. Future votes are more than likely, with many expecting there to be a future vote on the Terastal mechanic introduced in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
