I'm going to make one big U-turn and argue for Wobbuffet in
Ubers. Sorry Anti =D
Well at first I thought Wobbuffet deserved to be in OU, since it was clearly not used and didn't centralise anything. But after reading a few posts in the Policy Review, namely Earthworm's posts (can't remember more since Smogon is down) I was convinced that Wobbuffet should stay in Uber.
The statistics cannot be relied on to gauge Wobbuffet's tier position, as it can't overcentralise anything as many players are not willing to take drastic measures to defeat Wobbuffet, and are not going to slap U-turn/Baton Pass/Shed Shell on every pokemon. Thus I feel that these statistics cannot correctly analyse Wobbuffet and it should be taken as an exception.
The difference between Wobbuffet and other trappers is that, barring stat differences and typing, is that Wobbuffet effectively restricts the opponent's choice of moves from Five (Attack/Attack/Attack/Attack/Switch) to one with Encore (Attack) while the other pokemon only reduce it to four (Attack/Attack/Attack/Attack). This allows Wobbuffet to use its two reflecting moves - Counter and Mirror Coat to great effect, and allows Wobbuffet to PP stall most pokemon with IPL's JollyWobbuffet strategy, or it can allow Wobbuffet to Tickle a pokemon to -6 and send in an opposing trapperpsuedotrapper, or allow Wobbuffet to create setups.
The main issue is that Wobbuffet restricting the opponent's choice of moves, and by the above two JollyWobb tactics
effectively eliminate almost every slow wall in the game, i.e. any wall that cannot outrun it, Bronzong and Blissey prime examples.
IPL's JollyWobb strategy involves sending Wobbuffet into a wall, then Encoring whatever move it does or Safeguarding to protect against status, then use Safeguard to stall said opponent out of PP, until it is forced to use an attacking move which results in death via Counter/Mirror Coat, or simply forcing the opposing pokemon to use Struggle.
TickleWobb strategy involves the same thing, but basically after Encoring the user then Tickles or Counter/Mirror Coats, depending on the situation. Main differences from this strategy to the previous one include:
- The first using significantly more PP than the second
- The second lacking Safeguard which protects against status
- The second requiring a trapper/psuedotrapper to function
In both cases since Wobbuffet is faster it would be able to refresh Encore as and when it likes.
The strength of these strategies is further compounded by the fact that Wobbuffet can come in at any time and poses an immediate threat to any wall regardless, there exists a move named Wish which heals Wobbuffet's health, and two others named Aromatherapy and Heal Bell which heals status.
Wobbuffet cannot be countered. Period.
Almost any wall it comes in on instantly falls/gets made setup fodder with any of the strategies.
Therefore I find it neccessary to ban Wobbuffet to Ubers - it cannot be analysed by using pure statistics and theorymon.
Note: Somewhat minor, but Trace pokemon no longer counter Wobbuffet due to the changing of Arena Trap. Instead Wobbuffet can escape and no longer be forced into setup fodder by Gardevoir/Porygon2/ other Trace pokemon that I forgot.
The only 100% check (NOT counter) against Wobbuffet would be a Toxic Dugtrio which eliminates Wobbuffet without fear of being PP stalled and Encored.
I think the same thing applies to Garchomp, so far all that the theorymon does is making us run round in circles in my opinion.
