RE: Team PokéBeach - Join Now!
I think the situation behind Latias is a little more complex than people realise. After getting bored of all my physics assignments, I decided to look at some usage statistics involving Latias and her counters. I noticed an interesting pattern, so I've taken the data from the Smogon server (compiled on Smogon by DougJustDoug) and present it to you graphically.
The graph may be a little difficult to follow due to all the different colours being used, so I also included the raw data on top. The Latias data line is in the thicker red. I have usage percentages as opposed to usage numbers, because the amount of players using Shoddy Battle is not a constant figure and increases all the time, which would give us a weird looking graph.
So, here are my thoughts,
Latias has introduced an odd side effect to the game. While some of her counters have certainly risen in usage since her introduction (Tyranitar, Scizor, Jirachi), others have actually fallen by quite a large margin (Bronzong, Snorlax, Blissey). This is because her counters can counter her counters! Scizor easily beats Bronzong. Scizor, Metagross and Tyranitar are excellent counters to Blissey. Snorlax is severely hurt by Scizor, CB Tyranitar, Metagross, and Trick Jirachi. The process can be broken down to the following form:
1) Latias usage increases
2) Latias counters increase in usage
3) Snorlax, Blissey and Bronzong are now less viable due to their counters being more common
4) Snorlax, Blissey and Bronzong usage falls as a result
5) The gap in usage between some Latias's counters and others increases as a result
6) Metagame centralisation!
In other words, Latias has actually created a world where a lot of her answers are no longer as viable, leading to what some of you are describing as a stale and centralised metagame.
So if Latias remains in OU, what do we expect to see? You'll have noticed that Latias usage has dramatically risen since July, and she managed to climb roughly 4.5% in 3 months (which does not sound like a lot, but that really is huge). I think July was the point where everyone realised how good Latias really is. While I doubt she will ever overtake Scizor, there is a very high probability that Latias will overtake Gyarados and reach the #2 spot next month, leading to even more centralisation.
Of course, this data is not really specific enough to give us a true understanding of what is going on. Jirachi for example can both counter and be countered by Latias depending on the set it is running. Scizor is not a Latias counter at all if she runs HP Fire. This data is also taken from the entire spectrum of shoddy players, including the ones that do not play the game seriously (I doubt that Scizor usage is this low among the top ranking players). We must consider that there are other reasons why her counters have become so skewed in usage.
I am personally not sure what tier Latias should be in, because this seems to be a problem that revolves around how fun a metagame is with and without Latias. I have not played in a metagame with her banned for quite some time, so I cannot make the differentiation between the two. However, if I were to make the case about whether or not Latias is Uber based on power alone, I would say no- she has plenty of answers in theory, which is more than you can say for other Pokemon.
