Mega Gallade

Mega Heracross

Mega Gardevoir / Mega Altaria

Mega Manectric

Mega Latias

Jirachi

Dark-types

Steel-types

Alright, so I've played a lot of games on the suspect ladder—more than I probably will for any other suspect, so I feel like after ages of procrastination and not reading this thread much when I started this post ages ago, I can give an informed opinion on the suspected Pokemon, most new Pokemon, and the metagame as a whole; if there's some repeated stuff, it just proves my point of not reading. If I cheesed you somehow while playing, my bad, but if you were an ass, sucks to be you. Anyway, let's have a look at the suspects first.This was the first thing I tested, and I'm thoroughly convinced it's as broken as we initially thought. You see it on team preview and you're like "huh, what do I do against that? I can't switch these Pokemon in because it gets 2HKOed by Zen Headbutt or Close Combat, and even if I get a chance at getting a hit off afterwards, it's pretty bulky." Of course, you can definitely check it, but the amount of pressure it exerts on teams when it comes out is absurd between its great power, good STAB moves + Knock Off, and access to Swords Dance. It doesn't help that it's also pretty fast, up to Speed tying with Latias. As far as checking it defensive goes, Swords Dance basically invalidates almost every would-be check, since Quagsire has a good chance to get 2HKOed by neutral Close Combat after Stealth Rock. I tried running stall myself, and fully defensive Mega Altaria did a decent job at checking it, but the logic still applies. No way I'm not voting ban on this one.While boasting higher power, which usually puts it at a better matchup against hard stall teams, Mega Heracross and Gallade play out pretty similar in terms of how you can deal with it. However, what sets Mega Heracross apart is its noticeably lower Speed, which allows a greater number of Pokemon to be able to revenge kill it. At this point in time, I was really sitting on the fence, with one foot leaning towards unban. I played a bit more with Mega Heracross, and then also messed around with a Trick Room team with it by Hikari after getting fucked by it, being capable of screwing up both offensive and defensive teams; I don't think it's as broken as Mega Gallade, but I doubt I'm going to want to keep it in the tier now. Playing with Hikari's team basically gave me more insight because even outside Trick Room, the Mega Heracross on that team was never deadweight. The max HP still granted it a lot of utility, so I don't think the Speed is a big enough factor to hold it back from being relatively busted considering what else it's capable of. Probably going to try out some bulkier sets on non-Trick Room teams.Next up, the other Megas that were dropped into the tierI'm grouping these two together because while they aren't really the same, they do share a fair amount of things that are similar in terms of usage and team support. I'll point out the distinctions for sure though. Both those Pokemon suffer from the fact that a bunch of threats in the tier naturally check them, even though they do have ways of getting around them. They're probably the main Pokemon that are propagating the use of dual Steel-type frameworks on teams right now since the sets and switch-ins needed differ depending on what those two run, granted stuff like Scizor and Jirachi are gonna be amazing regardless. Something that I've noticed while running Altaria or Gardevoir as my Fairy-type is that they tend to make me weaker to Dark-types, mainly Weavile and Hydreigon. For Mega Gardevoir, think in terms of it being decently bulky specially, but never invested to actually take hits, while Altaria being weak to Weavile anyway, and it has to Mega Evolve early to take on Hydreigon. I'll talk more about this later on. That's pretty much it as far as the few similarities go.Now for Mega Gardevoir specifically, it's probably the most broken Pokemon right now outside of the two suspects and the widely debated Jirachi. It hits hard and unlike other Fairy-types in the tier, it has actual Speed at base 100. Though 3/4 of its moves are fairly predictable, it really doesn't matter that much for Gardevoir when the only real variation it needs is in its last move. You've got Taunt or Calm Mind to help with the stall matchup, Will-o-Wisp to cripple stuff like Scizor and Jirachi, and coverage like Hidden Power Fire and Shadow Ball if you prefer just getting a good hit off on a usual check. I've even seen (and used) Protect on some sets to scout and lure stuff like Scarfed Jirachi paired with something along the lines of Pursuit Scizor. Point is, what it can fit tends to be all it needs. What's keeping it from being broken right now for me is the prevalence of the aforementioned Steel-types, which naturally check it, along with stuff like Nihilego still working fine with checking it in a pinch, although nothing really beats Jirachi in this aspect.For Mega Altaria, it doesn't hit super hard right off the bat, and it's not that fast, but it gets points for the different sets it can utilise especially with its great defensive typing and bulk. Because it doesn't have the outright power that Gardevoir has (granted it's by no means weak), it requires a lot more support to make it work. Unsurprisingly, the most common sets are Dragon Dance variants. The Refresh mono-attacking variant basically makes it absolutely necessary to have Steel-types removed or severely weakened, but it's able to set up against a very large part of the tier, particularly status inducers like Rotom-Wash (it doesn't get 2HKOed by Mega Aerodactyl's Stone Edge too for example). That said, the issue with having to account for every Steel-type so much is that you tend to end up having to not cover one of the million other threats....unless you use Magneton. Magneton is something that's becoming really popular on Mega Altaria teams and for good reason, and it's almost a necessity if you're running mono-attacking. It has the ability (quite literally even) to compress a lot of the things Altaria needs to be gone into one team slot. Pretty much a general team structure for DD Altaria right now is Mega Altaria / Magneton / Pursuit trapper / 2x Other ways to switch into or fuck over Steel-types / pivot of choice like (Eject Button) Amoonguss or Rotom-Wash. With DD Earthquake, you do get a little more breathing room, but honestly, Magneton is just good to have; otherwise, you'd really want to still have some sort of Scizor lure along with general options for chipping at other Steel-types. Admittedly, I was one of the people that really thought Altaria would be broken, possibly due to flashbacks from early ORAS, but now, overall I don't think Altaria is all that broken. The fact that it has to run a certain general team structure to make it work (at least for DD) and even then it's not 100% seals it for me. You will get matchups where Altaria doesn't get to do much at all, and at that point, your team can sorta just fall apart. I'll acknowledge that if you manage to do your thing and get Altaria going, it's really hard to stop, but that doesn't scream ban worthy or anything. I'm halfway able to get on board for people that think it's centralising, though, although as of now I still think there's unexplored potential especially on the ladder such as DD Fire Blast, DD Cotton Guard, special sets as a whole, and defensive ones (I'd slap it on a stall team in a heartbeat if it got Defog lol), so we'll see.When this thing first dropped, I was very excited because I loved using it all the way back from XY UU beta. Then after looking at the other Pokemon in the tier, I thought it'd be shit. As it turns out, it's not some god tier threat, but it's definitely pretty good. It's not the absolute fastest Pokemon out there, but its Speed is sufficient, and Intimidate is honestly really nice, especially on VoltTurn teams that Mega Manectric tends to find itself on, solidifying itself in the pivoting game. The fact that it has really good synergy with both Scizor and Jirachi helps too. What I've noticed that's helping my usage of Mega Manectric, though, is that for some reason, a lot of people have stopped running proper Electric-type answers, i.e. no Ground-types. I'm guessing it's mainly due to the prevalence of Rotom-Wash right now, so when building, they simply slap on a Dragon-type like Hydreigon and call it a day. Obviously, this just makes it super easy for Mega Manectric teams to exploit.This was the second new Pokemon I built around, and man, I've been tweaking and messing around with so many possible variations, spreads, and moves, it's ridiculous. A common set that's been getting used seems to be Calm Mind, Stored Power, Surf, and Roost. With just max HP, it's able to take on so many Pokemon by sheer bulk. I've also tried other stuff on CM sets like BoltBeam and Psyshock + Hidden Power Fighting, and everything has been impressive in its own right, even though it's clear some are suboptimal. I get the feeling we'll lose it to OU next month, but as long as it's in the tier, it's very good, and there's still a ton of untapped potential in this Pokemon, similar to Mega Altaria, so definitely mess around with it when you get the chance. Don't underestimate this thing and just think it's another Latias. The bulk changes a lot.Next upThis is the most fiercely talked about topic so far, so I'm sure most of the things in my mind would've already been said (mainly by hogg). Okay, let's get this out of the way: Scarf Jirachi is super overrated. Like hogg said, if you're losing to Scarf Jirachi so easily, fix your team first. As far as SpDef Jirachi goes, it does fit on some teams because it does well against threats like Mega Gardevoir, which I mentioned above being borderline broken even with Jirachi. I just don't want to see more teams with that set where they utilise it to try to check things it should never try to check, such as Mega Latias...Anyway, I'm not going to really elaborate on the RNG aspect of Jirachi because everyone knows what that's about, and whether you think it's a huge deal or not is up to you. Now, let's talk Z-Happy Hour. To put it simply, I do think this set is stupid, and the main dealbreaker for me here is its natural and added bulk. Even if you cast aside the possible RNG, which I acknowledge is a factor so don't go for my head here, the fact that its defenses are 100/100/100 and at +1, making it bulky enough to take most hits that I want to dish out against it, is a major pain to deal with, especially when you compile it with the possible coverage it can run. The increased Speed and offensive power do again support the whole cheesing through your supposed check argument but keep in mind that it also makes it so you have less chances to even get off a hit in the first place, flinch or not. I have lost to this set, but I never got majorly haxed.Calm Mind Jirachi is something that I've seen scarcely, but it's a really cool set that I recommend trying out for however long this Pokemon sticks around. The coverage you can run varies, but most tend to go along the lines of Psyshock, Hidden Power Fire, and either Energy Ball or Thunder (with Electrium Z). While not outright the most broken set per se, it does play a part in my overall opinion on Jirachi in terms of its overall versatility. This set is able to set up against a lot of initial switch-ins to Jirachi and/or punish them for it. The issue with it is that it can't properly check what you usually slap a Steel-type on the team in this metagame to do, such as checking Mega Gardevoir and Altaria, but it's not that huge of a problem when so many teams now have two Steel-types.As far as banning it goes, on one hand, you've got the unhealthy and borderline broken Pokemon, but then you've got the huge threats that Jirachi keeps in line. Normally, the idea of broken checks broken and a Pokemon being a necessary evil is something I'd never want to be introduced into tiering discussions, but considering the state of the meta at this point in time, I can see where this stance comes from in not wanting it to implode lol. That said, if Jirachi ends up getting banned or whatever, the next obvious step is to immediately suspect Mega Gardevoir. I'm leaning more towards the latter way of thinking, but I frankly wouldn't mind whichever way we approach this.Just some general, non-new meta Pokemon stuff to comment on:Offensive Dark-types are really fucking good right now, with Weavile and Hydreigon being the biggest offenders. I'm sure Weavile being a huge threat is no surprise considering people were already asking for a public suspect on it a while ago before the tier shifts. The most common Fairy-types right now tend to be Mega Gardevoir and Mega Altaria, so that's nice since both don't appreciate taking on Weavile at all. As for Hydreigon, the aforementioned Fairy-types also work in favour, with Mega Altaria having to Mega Evolve early to avoid being weak as hell to the three-headed dragon. Mega Gardevoir does have great Special Defense, but Dark Pulse is still going to do a good chunk. Specs Hydreigon, in particular, seems to work exceedingly well right now. Bulky Scizor going down in favour of offensive sets and Jirachi being a staple Steel-type also really help these Dark-types (aside from Scarf Rachi). I still do see some Primarina and Sylveon here and there, but their popularity has dropped down so much. Overall, I really think that as far as older Pokemon goes, Weavile is the one most worth looking at in terms of a potential suspect or ban.Well, Pokemon like Scizor, Jirachi, Cobalion, Empoleon, Klefki, Magneton are just all nice to have right now. There isn't much to really highlight that I haven't already touched on when talking about other Pokemon. Dual Stee-type frameworks are super common, especially Scizor + Jirachi or Cobalion replacing one of them. While Mega Aerodactyl is still, in my opinion, the best Mega in the tier, Scizor is probably the best Pokemon in the tier right now, period. Cobalion has always been good, and that hasn't changed. In this meta full of threats, I like that Cobalion is bulky enough to usually take a hit and fast enough to dish out strong ones back with a Z-Move or set up Stealth Rock or Swords Dance. I hardly ever sweep with it now, but taking a hit and severely weakening an opposing Pokemon does wonders for my main wincon. I'm really surprised at the lack of Empoleon in this meta because it's still solid as well. I used to only run specially defensive on Defog sets, since they were better at dealing with Veil teams, but I'm a fan of Shuca / Chopple Flash Cannon offensive Defog at the moment. Make use of it more thanks.Overall, I'm still trying to really grasp things properly since this meta revolves a lot around figuring out what Pokemon you can compromise in each matchup to determine your initial switch-ins, etc, especially when playing against Jirachi or Mega Altaria with their variety of sets, so regardless of what gets banned and what stays, I'm curious to see how this changes. This turned outlonger than I expected, and I officially need a better hobby.