Should Mega Blaziken be Banned?

[Lord Reshiram]

Now we all know that Blaziken and it's mega are banned, but should it be banned if it doesn't use baton pass.

Blaziken
Held Item:Blazikenite
EV's HP4/ATK254/SPD254
Ability: Speed Boost
Blaze Kick
Earthquake
Power-up Punch
Rock Slide

Is that a set that should be banned?
It is alot OP, but Garchomp takes it down when it isn't Mega-Evolved.
It can't take a hit. If people exploited that weakness more, they would be able to take it down with a high defence pokemon.

 

[sharkshocker]

Blaziken (and Mega Blaziken) are Uber not just because of Speed Boost+Baton Pass. It also has other options:
- Power-Up Punch, as you mentioned
- Protect, which guarantees a free Speed Boost and scouts the opponent
- Swords Dance, which can be used when Blaziken forces a switch, giving it +2 Attack and +1 Speed.

There are indeed ways to counter Blaziken but most of them rely on Blaziken not getting a free turn to set up/get a free Speed Boost. Unless Garchomp was already in battle when Blaziken is out, a +2 Blaziken will usually outspeed and OHKO. You also can't rule out that your opponent can simply switch Blaziken out until it's clear to sweep.

And while there are Pokemon in OU that use the same strategy (Scolipede comes to mind) Blaziken is bolstered by its Fire/Fighting STAB which is resisted by only a handful of Pokemon in OU. Running some numbers even m-Venusaur, one of the premier walls this generation, is OHKO'd by a +2 Flare Blitz. (The only OU Pokemon I found that can handle it head-on is Azumarill, who OHKOs with an unboosted Waterfall, and Quagsire, who can shrug off its attacks) - shoutout to @Alexey for introducing me to Quagsire

We can delve into this from another angle: what changes would bring Blaziken (or M-Blaziken) down to OU?

Of course taking out Speed Boost is the knee-jerk response, but would it be able to hold up in the current meta? What do you guys think?

This is mostly theorymoning so feel free to voice your ideas but keep the discussion respectful

 

[TerraTF]

We can delve into this from another angle: what changes would bring Blaziken (or M-Blaziken) down to OU?

Of course taking out Speed Boost is the knee-jerk response, but would it be able to hold up in the current meta? What do you guys think?

This is mostly theorymoning so feel free to voice your ideas but keep the discussion respectful

Not at all. Getting rid of Speed Boost will toss Blaziken back to where it came from prior to the beginning of Gen 5. Now replace Speed Boost with something like Tough Claws will likely be the only way for Blaziken to stay BL and above.

 

[TheRealJDawgz]

Coming from someone who plays ubers and uses MBlaziken, Baton Pass isn't what makes Blaziken so good. Like sharkshocker said, it's main draw is it's delicious 160 Attack stat coupled with speed boost and 2 incredibly powerful stabs. If you aren't prepared for it with priority or walls like Giratina or Ho-oh, you're gonna find yourself steamrolled as all your pokes get picked off from this late game sweeper. Baton Pass is really only used as utility without its mega, and even then, it still suffers from 4MSS and is generally easy to phase out with a switching move.

Pulling it down to OU where it haves plenty of more opportunities to set up and sweep and the ability to OHKO most of the meta wouldn't be reasonable at all, regardless of Baton Pass. Off the top of my head, DNite, Talonflame, and Azumarill are some of the only good counters to Blaze, and even then they'll still take some damage switching in due to its high attacking power.

In Gen 5 it didn't have access to Speed Boost + Baton Pass and it was still banned to ubers. The only way it will get unbanned is if Speed Boost gets banned altogether, which will not happen IMO, Smogon for the most part bans abilities that rely on luck (Moody, Sand Veil). If you're looking for a good Baton Passer, Scolipede will be the best BPasser in OU, with access to Iron Defense and Swords Dance.