Pokémon Scarlet and Violet has been out for a few weeks now, and as in every new Pokémon game, there are monsters in the Paldea region that prove to be particularly strong. Four of the new companions are so strong that they have been banned for tournaments among players. Yet they appear very unassuming.
Which Pokémon are we talking about? In Scarlet and Violet, 4 Pokémon are already considered particularly strong, none of which are legendary, mythical, or starter Pokémon:
- Friedwuff – a ghost dog
- Delfinator – a dolphin that becomes a superhero
- Eisenbündel – a paradox form of Botogel, the Santa Claus bird
- Flatterhaar – a paradox form of Traunfugil
Friedwuff and Delfinator are also interesting for trainers who simply want to play the story and prepare for the gyms or league, as they and their pre-evolutions can still be caught before the league.
Ghost dog sends your Pokémon to the graveyard
Why is Friedwuff so strong? The great strength of the new ghost dog Friedwuff is its signature move “Last Honor.” It learns this as soon as its pre-evolution Gruff evolves at level 30 (at night).
“Last Honor” has a base power of 50, which at first seems not particularly impressive. However, with each Pokémon from your team that has already been defeated, an additional 50 power is added.
So if your 5 other Pokémon have already been eliminated, the power increases by 250 (5 x 50) and totals 300. This is double the power of Hyper Beam or Giga Impact.
Additionally, “Last Honor” is a STAB move for Friedwuff. This means that the power of “Last Honor” increases by another 50% from 300 to 450. This is extremely high.
For comparison: When a Water Pokémon uses Hydro Pump against a Fire Pokémon, the damage is 330, because the move is very effective and gets STAB (110 x 2 + 50%). Still, Friedwuff deals more damage if “Last Honor” has normal effectiveness.
A superhero with fins
Why is Delfinator so strong? Delfinator is actually an unassuming Pokémon, but through its ability “Super Switch,” it transforms from an ordinary dolphin into a superhero when switched out and back in during a battle. It changes from “everyday form” to “hero form” and receives a huge boost to its stats.
With the boost, the sum of its base stats (HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed) is higher than Dragoran and Knackrack, and nearly as high as the weather legendaries Groudon and Kyogre.
Additionally, moves like Jet Strike, Charge Strike, and Boost further utilize Delfinator’s strengths. Combined with a higher HP value and an item like “Leftovers,” this seemingly unremarkable dolphin is hard to stop.
Weaknesses, such as its susceptibility to Electric and Grass moves, can be mitigated by the new mechanic of Terastallization if Delfinator’s Tera type is, for example, Steel.
Incredible speed meets good special attack
Why is Flatterhaar so strong? Flatterhaar is essentially the paradox form of the ghost Pokémon Traunfugil and has a very strong special attack as well as an extremely high speed.
Flatterhaar’s highest value is additionally enhanced by the ability Paleosynthesis – if the highest value is the special attack, the boost is 30%. If it is the speed, it increases by 50%.
Moreover, its Ghost-Fairy type combination has very few weaknesses. Normal, Fighting, and Dragon moves have no effect, and Bug attacks deal only a quarter of the damage. Additionally, only Steel and Ghost attacks are very effective and deal double damage. Not a single type has quadruple effectiveness against Flatterhaar.
Flatterhaar also has strong STAB moves like Shadow Ball or Moonglow and could effectively hit Normal or Steel Pokémon with a Terastallization to the Fighting type and the move “Tera Eruption.”
A fast and strong version of Botogel
Why is Eisenbündel so strong? Eisenbündel is a paradox form of Botogel and has similar strengths to Flatterhaar: it is extremely fast with a high speed value and also has a strong special attack.
Using STAB moves like Hydro Pump and Freeze-Dry, it inflicts high damage against many Pokémon and has quickly become an alternative to Flatterhaar.
The Smogon University as an authority behind trainer battles
Who decides that they are “too strong”? Anyone who wants to compete in Pokémon online battles against other players and test their skills as trainers will sooner or later encounter the so-called “Smogon University.”
- The Smogon University is a website dedicated to competitive Pokémon gaming and is the best-known source for classifying various monsters into different tiers.
- The classification by Smogon is intended to reflect the strength of a pocket monster and serves as a basis in various tournaments or trainer battles to ensure fair matches.
- The strongest competitive tier of Smogon is OU (OverUsed). Here, Pokémon that are considered very strong are present, but are still not overpowered.
- The only tier that has even stronger Pokémon is Uber. However, this is more of a ban list with Pokémon that are too strong for OU.
- In Uber, Pokémon like Mewtwo, Rayquaza, and Endynalos are found. And now also Flatterhaar, Delfinator, Friedwuff, and Eisenbündel (via smogon.com)
If you are hosting a tournament as an organizer, you can use Smogon’s classifications as a basis and build your ruleset based on that. As an organizer, you have various options to utilize the classes.
The purpose of the classification and the corresponding tournament rules is to enable fair and balanced battles, as well as to provide variety in Pokémon selection.
In battles without such balancing, players with the strongest monsters – namely legendary Pokémon or ones like Flatterhaar – could face significantly weaker teams. This is usually quite unfair and diminishes the enjoyment of the participants.
