Chandelure: BL



My history with Candle is complicated, because when it was first tested I was confident that the fact that it practically forced you to run Snorlax on most non-HO teams wasn't bad, simply because Lax was that great. However, I started to see how much of a handicap that was, especially considering Snorlax isn't even a perfect counter due to burns/Trick screwing it over depending on the set. Chandelure basically has a great defensive typing for an offensive mon, since while it's weak to SR it can still act as a good check to stuff, while having amazing offensive presence in its 427 SpA and not terrible Speed stat of 259 w/o Scarf, meaning it has enough tools to wreck most slower things with its Sub sets (and it can still cripple defensive mons with Trick from its Choiced sets). It basically puts an enormous strain both in teambuilding and in the games, since being granted a free switch can allow it to wreak havoc to balance. While it can be taken care of due to its Pursuit weakness, there's basically only three good Pursuiters—five if you count Krook and Doomer, both of which aren't that good—and only Lax can actually switch in to not force a trade. It might not be the most broken thing ever, but it's certainly an unhealthy presence.



Snow Warning: BL



Basically, if we had enough time to actually test stuff I'd probably choose to ban only Aboma (which never got a proper suspect test) instead of the ability, since we'd already tested the ability with Snover and it was voted UU—then we'd see if Hail was broken still or not. However, since this is a necro test it's understandable that we'd prefer to make a clean ban on auto Hail. The reason for this basically stems from team matchup. While it wasn't as clear before SPL, seeing most matchups being reduced to Hail stall against Hail stall ct, or Hail stall ct against its own ct, with the odd Blizzspam being thrown in, really showed how carcinogenic auto weather was for the tier. It might not have been as terrible as it was before the Snow Cloak ban in OU, but it certainly limited the competitiveness due to how retarded Stallrein was, and how strong some offensive mons got with the ability to use Blizzard on their movesets (or Weather Ball in Raikou's case). LO Rotom-F was particularly deadly, but there was also Nidoqueen, Sharpedo, Empoleon... Altogether some strong offensive mons that became even stronger and could fit in Hail without much issue. Aboma alone was pretty good too, with Leech Seed sets being especially useful to wear down threats compounded with Hail and Blizzard to deter Grass-types from switching in, or its SD set being a strong wallbreaker with Wood Hammer and Ice Shard as solid STAB options. Obviously it wouldn't be broken without Snow Warning, but the point of it was that it had many more alternatives and better longevity than Snover, meaning that you wouldn't be super crippled by placing it on a team, even if you weren't building around it—hence not being as limited in strategies as Snover—and could, on the other hand, support those offensive mons by allowing them to run Blizzard/Weather Ball without drawbacks, while also taking advantage of that chip damage.



So yea, good riddance UU.