this is a really interesting point on both weather and sr and am curious if anyone has any takes on this
Yeah, I'm there. Not really keen on touching the Cyclone-Anti part of the current conversation lol so I'll comment on this -
Yeah, I know that they can't change game mechanics, but it was still annoying as hell, especially because it seemed to me like so few people wanted to do anything about it at the time.
The Gen V meta was terrible. I didn't participate much in that, aside from NU. If we're going back gens, I'd rather play Gen IV or older.
This is where the "Smogon knows best" mindset falls apart. A lot of proponents to their cause like to throw around phrases like "broken" and "centralization", and "spamming", but those are curiously only applied to things that the majority of their community doesn't like. We all know and have confirmed in this very thread weather in Gen 5 was 'broken' since it lasted permanently, could be set instantly by ability, gave crazy boosts to things and dominated entire tiers. Like Anti / Zekrom said, some massive majority of all teams in OU in fifth gen, were weather teams. And nobody cared. At least not enough to do anything about it. And no; 'doing something' is not the same as 'doing a little bit to sate a few complaining people, but not doing enough to change the fact that it was the overwhelming majority of all teams in OU". For the past 3 gens now, Stealth Rocks, has been an undeniably deciding factor, in probably even more teams than weather. If you run teams with stealth rocks weaknesses, and no ways of dealing with it, your team will unabashedly be shot down by any smogon critic as a failure, due to stealth rocks effectiveness against it. And yet, no action has been, or is being taken, to change this.
Why? Because Smogon doesn't
actually care if something is 'broken' or 'centralizing' gameplay, they care if the simple majority of their community doesn't like it. There's an argument here about counters to what gets banned, and how easily it can be dealt with. But when you compare the amount of moves, that ignore evasion boosts, hit for double damage on evasive targets, and the abilities that ignore evasion, and on and on about evasion - and compare THAT to how many ways you have to deal with stealth rock? It's a stark and harrowing contrast. Smogon LIKES rocks; but they don't LIKE evasion. Despite how many means there are to dealing with both. (Don't get me wrong I don't like evasion either; but this argument stands.)
This applies directly to their mega bans too; most of those banned megas share a lot of common common weaknesses. Lucario, Kangaskhan, Mawile, NONE of them like a simple burn. Kangaskhan usually can't even hit ghosts with Power-Up Punch, Sucker Punch, Return and Fake out! (yes, I know sucker punch, but since that's its only option, and it relies on you attacking, in singles you can literally just sit there and use will o wisp repeatedly and it can't touch you.) Lucario, and Mawile, BOTH weak to ground, and fire. Very common offensive attack types.
Smogon just doesn't' want to change, they want their meta played their way on their terms. And unfortunately, what that all is, is being decided by the same people, over and over again.
By the waaaay - totally open to another topic haha. Just continuing this tangent because I have a lot to say on it. I DO - have a nice thing to say about them though - the names they give their suspect test threads for things, are kinda awesome lol. I cracked up when I saw the Mega Kangaskan suspect test thread name...
"Momma said knock you out or Hit me Baby One More Time"
{D:} That is my favorite thing I have ever seen from them.