Every 3 months the season cycle changes, and that also means Pokemon raising or dropping from a tier. At the moment 4.36% is the cut-off point at the third of every month, where the main changes happen. Usually there are 1-2 Pokemon, occasionally more, which change from each tier. However, this season will be different.
Issue
The introduction of 'Randoms' matchmaking has proven very popular within the community - however that has come with consequences, with UU/NU matchmaking being completely screwed over as many of the players find it very difficult to find games unless in certain timezones, with the main way to play being through official or community tournaments.
I believe there has been similar statistics on another thread, but just to indicate as evidence:
At the end of Season 5 where Randoms was introduced in the last month
Season 6 when Randoms was fully embedded into the game
I have used Rotom-Heat as an example as this has been the most frequently used Pokemon in UU at the end of Season 5 and throughout Season 6 - NU would be similar to these examples so I will avoid posting these sceenshots.
Basically the total number of games have dropped significantly during the last three months, with the numbers at their lowest this month (again I appreciate it's too early to judge) - this leads onto my next point.
Month 3
Based on the current system, it is easier for players to spam certain Pokemon for it to raise or drop into a certain tier. An example was Lucario at the end of Season 4, where players managed to use it in enough games to keep it in OU, before inevitably dropping and becoming banned from UU.
This one is really difficult to predict as it's only been 8 days and lots can change, however looking at early statistics Mantine has incredibly high usage when it has hardly been considered in the UU meta, whilst Aggron (considered as untiered and has barely been used by experienced players in UU), has a higher usage than Lanturn and Gligar, both very effective walls which have been around in the tier for a long time until recently.
The main point is that due to the lack of NU/UU games and the 4.36% staying how it is, this season will see the most changes happen. It also enables players to use Pokemon which are usually completely unviable to rise into UU, or even OU (e.g. Aerodactyl constantly bouncing between OU and UU)
Proposal
Calculate the usage % over the course of three months to obtain a general average - this reduces the chance of players spamming Pokemon in the final month in an attempt to abuse the system
Slightly increase the usage % at the end of the third month (e.g. From 4.36% to 5%, or if that's too drastic between 4.6-4.8%) and review the situation after a few seasons
Take into account tournament usage % for these Pokemon, as the majority of experienced PvP players participate in official tournaments, rather than having the time to spam matchmaking games. This will give you a more clearer indication of what the PvP community uses in each tier.
To emphasise, I'm happy with the introduction of 'Randoms', as it's proven very popular, but the UU/NU meta needs revival and more stabilisation than before - not only increasing the incentives to increase the number of players for these tiers, but also making sure that the lack of games is not taken advantage of with the introduction and spamming of completely unviable Pokemon.
Question
Imperial
Background
Every 3 months the season cycle changes, and that also means Pokemon raising or dropping from a tier. At the moment 4.36% is the cut-off point at the third of every month, where the main changes happen. Usually there are 1-2 Pokemon, occasionally more, which change from each tier. However, this season will be different.
Issue
The introduction of 'Randoms' matchmaking has proven very popular within the community - however that has come with consequences, with UU/NU matchmaking being completely screwed over as many of the players find it very difficult to find games unless in certain timezones, with the main way to play being through official or community tournaments.
I believe there has been similar statistics on another thread, but just to indicate as evidence:
At the end of Season 5 where Randoms was introduced in the last month
Season 6 when Randoms was fully embedded into the game
I have used Rotom-Heat as an example as this has been the most frequently used Pokemon in UU at the end of Season 5 and throughout Season 6 - NU would be similar to these examples so I will avoid posting these sceenshots.
Basically the total number of games have dropped significantly during the last three months, with the numbers at their lowest this month (again I appreciate it's too early to judge) - this leads onto my next point.
Month 3
Based on the current system, it is easier for players to spam certain Pokemon for it to raise or drop into a certain tier. An example was Lucario at the end of Season 4, where players managed to use it in enough games to keep it in OU, before inevitably dropping and becoming banned from UU.
This one is really difficult to predict as it's only been 8 days and lots can change, however looking at early statistics Mantine has incredibly high usage when it has hardly been considered in the UU meta, whilst Aggron (considered as untiered and has barely been used by experienced players in UU), has a higher usage than Lanturn and Gligar, both very effective walls which have been around in the tier for a long time until recently.
The main point is that due to the lack of NU/UU games and the 4.36% staying how it is, this season will see the most changes happen. It also enables players to use Pokemon which are usually completely unviable to rise into UU, or even OU (e.g. Aerodactyl constantly bouncing between OU and UU)
Proposal
To emphasise, I'm happy with the introduction of 'Randoms', as it's proven very popular, but the UU/NU meta needs revival and more stabilisation than before - not only increasing the incentives to increase the number of players for these tiers, but also making sure that the lack of games is not taken advantage of with the introduction and spamming of completely unviable Pokemon.
Edited by ImperialLink to comment
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