Iride
formerly Arishem
Following the recent tiering chances and the now formal introduction of the Teal Mask DLC, the council has been closely monitoring the new drops that have managed to make their way down here. As of this announcement, we’ve arrived at a veritable consensus after some extensive discussion amongst ourselves, and decided to vote on the two most outstanding Pokemon that made it to the top of our watchlist since – those being Kartana and Ursaluna.
Given the volatile state of the tier as a result of the ongoing developments made prevalent by NDPL, we decided to conduct a vote with more multifaceted prompts to choose from, most notably adding the option to retest said Pokemon after banning them to ensure their absence from tournaments. The results were as follows:
Kartana | Ursaluna | |
Arishem | Ban (Retest) | Do Not Ban |
sanguine | Ban | Suspect |
Runo | Do Not Ban | Do Not Ban |
Niadev | Ban (Retest) | Do Not Ban |
Pubo | Ban (Retest) | Do Not Ban |
TBIC106 | Ban (Retest) | Suspect (2) |
Meminger21 | Ban (Retest) | Suspect (2) |
Outcome | Suspect (Banned from NDPL) | No Action |
With 5/7 votes required for a specific outcome to be chosen. We’ve decided to suspect test Kartana while keeping it banned from NDPL for the time-being. Ursaluna also notably received a few suspect votes, and will be expected to join the rest of the Pokemon documented on our current watchlist, so stay tuned for that.
Suspect Reasoning:
Kartana’s presence in UU marks a historically outstanding example of power creep in the generation seemingly stacked with only one example above another. Wielding an utterly immense Attack stat eclipsing even several Uber-ranked Pokemon before it, a superb speed tier only below the cutting edge of base 110, and a palatable defensive prowess with great defensive typing and solid physical bulk. Kartana has immediately made itself an instant hit among the offensive threats now centered around dealing with it, and holds a notable strain that translates to more than the offensive potential it possesses to topple over the list of answers available against it in the metagame.
Cinderace: How did you know about that? It’s none of your business.
Tornadus: You made it my business when you agreed to let me help you.
I knew someone like you, someone who attained the power of boosting items. He was my friend.
It warped his usage stats to the point where I didn’t even recognize him anymore…
Cinderace: And who was this guy? How come I never heard of him, or the use of boosting items?
Is there anything you can tell me about him?
Tornadus: Yeah, I had to hurl a *Bleakwind Storm* at his blades.
Tornadus: You made it my business when you agreed to let me help you.
I knew someone like you, someone who attained the power of boosting items. He was my friend.
It warped his usage stats to the point where I didn’t even recognize him anymore…
Cinderace: And who was this guy? How come I never heard of him, or the use of boosting items?
Is there anything you can tell me about him?
Tornadus: Yeah, I had to hurl a *Bleakwind Storm* at his blades.
Choice Band, with Kartana’s natural power already presenting an iota of what its main role aims to accomplish in most games, skyrockets Kartana’s wallbreaking potential to virtually unmatched levels, 2HKOing naturally bulky Pokemon such as specially defensive Celesteela, while also expanding Kartana’s reach in regards to forcing KOes on Pokemon it otherwise wouldn’t, such as against Iron Treads and Clefable. Complimented by remarkable coverage moves in the form of Sacred Sword for Steels such as Scizor and Bisharp, Knock Off for item removal and the ability to hit Ghosts in Aegislash and Skeledirge, or even Aerial Ace in the last slot to destroy a major would-be stop in Buzzwole without the need for Future Sight support. Should this set manage to find its way in, it can become very difficult to stop from grabbing an automatic KO without the presence of specific defensive strategies, such as scouting with Protect or Regenerator walls, or select checks such as Skarmory, Z-Scizor, and Mandibuzz, and can often lead to irredeemable progress being made in the long-run.
Choice Scarf sets trade said boost in power for the ability to outrun the entire boosted metagame, being only outsped by opposing scarfers such as the Lati-twins and Excadrill under sand. In conjunction with Kartana’s Attack stat accentuated further by its ability to snowball via Beast Boost, this set can easily end games on the spot altogether, especially against teams provided it can get into a situation where the weakened opposition lacks safe resistances to any singular move or ability to avoid the KO threshold altogether. To top things off, Scarf Kartana also manages to fit a crucial utility move in Defog to clear hazards for its team in a pinch, or simply threatens to cripple a huge portion of an enemy team with Knock Off before attempting to make its way in for a sweep.
Tornadus: It’s Week 1, and there’s a breeze.
Tapu Lele: *uses Future Sight*
They’re coming, tournament players. Armed.
Kartana: You know, when we first tried to board the tournament scene together back in Generation 7, it was as strangers.
But now it’s as brothers.
Tornadus: See you in the Gen 9 National Dex UU Kickoff Tournament.
Tapu Lele: *uses Future Sight*
They’re coming, tournament players. Armed.
Kartana: You know, when we first tried to board the tournament scene together back in Generation 7, it was as strangers.
But now it’s as brothers.
Tornadus: See you in the Gen 9 National Dex UU Kickoff Tournament.
This finally leads us to arguably Kartana’s flagship set, cited by the community as the most threatening as a whole. Swords Dance allows Kartana to perfectly punish the aforementioned scouting attempts to setup and threaten nearly the entire tier at +2, and can opt for different boosting options to target its few checks on top of this. Z-Giga Impact can be tech’d to break past Buzzwole and defensive Grasses such as Amoonguss, while also threatening faster Fire-type pivots such as Cinderace attempting to switch in, whereas Fightinium Z can threaten to overwhelm Skarmory at +2 after chip. Beyond this, Life Orb and Protective Pads make for perfectly capable options, and the former occasionally sees use with a Speed-boosting variant over Attack, owing to its ability to break past most speed control options while retaining most of its offensive capabilities against defense. Kartana’s STAB combo with such a set additionally presents the natural advantage of bypassing common Unaware Pokemon on defensive teams, with the exception of Skeledirge itself.
However, counterplay to Kartana in spite of the sets above, while certainty more than situational and concerning enough to have warranted the following course of action, will also be the key factor as to determining whether it is truly banworthy or not. To start, even if it's true that most of, if not all of these Pokemon can act as a singular answer to Kartana in the long-run, the current state of the metagame is often such that many of them will already see use in tandem with each other, which also allows teams to have more varied ways in minimizing the progress Kartana can make as a whole. Faster threats such as Fire-type pivots in Iron Moth and Cinderace, the Lati-twins, common Choice Scarfers such as Hydreigon and Galarian Zapdos, and even specific setup sweepers in Galarian Moltres, Ceruledge, Victini, and Serperior that can punish choice-locked Kartana, all pack the necessary bulk and resistances to stomach at least a few hits in the short-term and force it out accordingly. This is supplemented by the added prevalence of Pokemon which Kartana can struggle to dance around in a vacuum, such as Iron Hands and King’s Shield from Aegislash, or against potential moves used to cripple it from Pokemon that it would otherwise force out in almost every given scenario, such as Flamethrower or Thunder Wave physically defensive Clefable and Galarian Slowking.
Tornadus: The National Dex OU ladder, the tiering council, all this was you. They worked for you.
Kartana: Well, I have my allies, just as you have yours. Excadrill, for example. I suppose you’re wondering why he hasn’t taken his Rapid Spin yet. Don’t worry, he’s still alive, for now.
Tornadus: What do you want?
Kartana: 10* months ago I made you a promise - Do you remember?
Well, I’m here to fulfil it.
Kartana: Well, I have my allies, just as you have yours. Excadrill, for example. I suppose you’re wondering why he hasn’t taken his Rapid Spin yet. Don’t worry, he’s still alive, for now.
Tornadus: What do you want?
Kartana: 10* months ago I made you a promise - Do you remember?
Well, I’m here to fulfil it.
The limitation of opportunities Kartana can gauge against teams are also reinforced by the options to deal with Kartana from a defensive standpoint. Most notably, Skarmory acts as a near-perfect answer to all sets barring Z-Sacred Sword, and can easily set up Spikes or threaten it sufficiently with Body Press in return. Buzzwole is similar in this regard, although it risks falling over to Aerial Ace or Future Sight support. Mega Latias remains a superb defensive presence and setup sweeper that uses its bulk to accumulate setup opportunities - against Kartana being no exception, as it also has the crucial advantage of outspeeding and OHKOing back with Aura Sphere, and only really fears the 2HKO from Choice Scarf Knock Off or Normalium Z after some chip damage. Unaware Skeledirge, while vulnerable to being picked off by Knock Off and entry hazards after losing boots, is very concrete in its own right and can negate Swords Dance boosts of any kind should Kartana not have Pursuit support. Lastly, the recent prevalence of Wish Alomomola and Regenerator-based cores can allow teams to account for Kartana’s moveset and respond accordingly, especially as Scald burns from the former and moves such as HP Fire from the Grasses can dissuade Kartana from attempting to trade with them. Other, more niche and situational answers in defensive Celesteela, Intimidate Salamence, and Mandibuzz also exist down the line, but are more difficult to justify for such a role owing to their greater flaws with longevity and traits related to the current metagame. Overall, we believe that Kartana is more than deserving of a suspect test at this time.
Suspect Test Information
- Reading this is mandatory to participate in the suspect test. The voting requirements are a minimum GXE of 79 with at least 40 games played. In addition, you may play 1 less game for every 0.2 GXE you have above 79 GXE, down to a minimum of 20 games at a GXE of 83. Also, needing more than 40 games to reach 79 GXE will suffice.
GXE | minimum games |
79 | 40 |
79.2 | 39 |
79.4 | 38 |
79.6 | 37 |
79.8 | 36 |
80 | 35 |
80.2 | 34 |
80.4 | 33 |
80.6 | 32 |
80.8 | 31 |
81 | 30 |
81.2 | 29 |
81.4 | 28 |
81.6 | 27 |
81.8 | 26 |
82 | 25 |
82.2 | 24 |
82.4 | 23 |
82.6 | 22 |
82.8 | 21 |
83 | 20 |
- You must use a fresh account that begins with the given prefix for this suspect test. That prefix is NDUU9KART. For example, I could signup and qualify with the name NDUU9KART Arishem.
- You may not impersonate or mock another user with your account name. If there is any slight hesitation, you're probably better off picking a different name. We reserve the right to null your voting requisites if you are found impersonating or mocking another user with your account name. Moderator discretion will be applied.
- If you are found trying to manipulate voting requisites in any way, you will be met with a harsh infraction. Manipulating voting requisites ranges from faking your screenshot to asking another user to forfeit.
- The Pokemon that's being suspect tested, Kartana, will be allowed on the National Dex UU ladder for the next two weeks so that we can properly assess its position in the metagame.
- This suspect test will go on for two weeks. It will last until October the 22nd at 11:59 PM GMT-4.