The Return Of Do Not Use (DNU) - Where We've Been And What To Look Forward To!
https://discord.com/invite/Qc2arzRQzw
Hello once again, Stunfiskers, and Happy 2024!
I’m one of the mods of the Do Not Use tier. For those who don’t know, since August 2022, we have been a National Dex tier that has served as a home for the weakest Pokemon ever created. The original legality list was all Pokemon at 249 BST and below, along with a few famously weak Pokemon in Luvdisc, Slakoth, and Unown. Since then, we’ve suspected in new Pokemon to help grow the tier. We’ve had a lot of rich history in our time, including a lot of tournaments, several suspects, and exploring a bunch of alternative DNU tiers: lower tiers, past generations, and different OMs (Doubles, Godly Gift, etc.).
Today’s post, however, isn’t focused on what we’ve done in the past, but what the future holds, one that will radically shift Do Not Use and help break in a new metagame.
#**How We Got Here: Dark Days Of The DLC Metas**
So to give a preface before discussing the changes ahead, it's good to give some context as to why they were needed. While the DNU metagame had been incredibly stable for most of Generation 9, tensions had been rising in the leadup to the Teal Mask about whether or not we needed a suspect test, and if so, what. Swinub, Cleffa, Luvdisc, Dreepy, Thunder Wave–while most people agreed something needed to give, no one could agree what. Looming above this decision was the fact that the metagame was fairly centralized. Losing one of our top tiers could very easily lead to a cascade of bans, which our small tier couldn’t afford. Then, before any action was taken, Teal Mask dropped.
Just as with the main tiers, the Teal Mask DLC brought a notable shift to DNU regarding new moveset options; unfortunately, it was to the wrong Pokemon. Swinub got Trailblaze, Cleffa obtained Calm Mind, and Luvdisc got Flip Turn. You see a troubling trend? The problematic threats got even stronger. This led to even higher concerns, and it became apparent that we would have to ban some things to save the metagame. Due to a busy period for most staff members, we decided to wait until Indigo Disk dropped with the hope that there would be further shakeups that could help stabilize things, but unfortunately nothing particularly major was added to rectify the concerns we had. So what were we to do in such a spot?
#**What? DNU is Evolving! - The Advent of DNU 2.0**
Our next decision was not one we came to lightly, and it had been deliberated for a while by the council and tier leaders, but ultimately we decided that if DNU were to continue, we would have to expand our scope a bit. Continuing as normal would leave most, if not all, of the high tier Pokemon banned. After debates on how exactly to handle it, we decided that the best solution would be to do a reset. Hence, the following decision was made:
**Do Not Use will reset, using a BST cap of 280.**
After deciding to explore a reset, we circled two numbers that should be explored: 280 and 300. After testing both, we decided that 280 would be the best compromise between the mission of the tier and also offering a healthy and diverse metagame. The expanded metagame gives new options that older DNU didn’t have, and expanding the type variety and role variety. Before, the only legal Fire type was the mediocre Charcadet–now, Litwick and Slugma give two options to run a Fire type. Before, the only Ghost type was the controversial Dreepy. Now, we have multiple ghosts that can be run viably. We also have our first legal Steel type in Diglett-Alola (with potential to suspect in things like Beldum down the line). Hazard removal is no longer forced to run Rolycoly or Zubat (or a DNUU mon), having a lot of possible Rapid Spinners and Defoggers (though it can still be tricky to afford the turn). Weather has also shown up, with Wingull and Arrowkuda serving as a strong offensive Rain core. Sun has also seen some play.
After a week-long trial period among the members of the tier, we’ve banned the broken threats, leaving the metagame in a great state while still having a lot of room to grow. There’s a lot of metagame to be developed! A few new faces you’ll see in this new DNU 2.0:
*Jigglypuff* picks up where Cleffa and Togepi left off in legacy DNU, by serving as a bulky wishpassing Fairy-type. It compresses some amazing utility options in Teleport, Knock Off, and Stealth Rocks, while also having access to setup. It’s an amazing Pokemon that can work on most teams.
*Nacli* is another important defensive backbone. It’s bulky with access to reliable recovery, and is also status-immune. However, it’s passive and its bulk on the uninvested side leaves some to be desired.
*Taillow* is a button-clicker’s dream, with access to both Guts Facade and Specs Scrappy Boomburst sets breaking walls left and right.
And here’s a few Pokemon banned from the beta:
*Flittle* served as a mini-Espathra, with its Calm Mind Stored Power sets destroying the tier on Day 1. It was banned quickly, as it had very little counterplay, along with…
*Smeargle,* who, despite being the favorite Pokemon of one of our clerics, proved too diverse a Pokemon to be healthy. Technician Population Bomb was a very easy wincon to achieve when backed by Shell Smash, Victory Dance, Power Trip, Spore, etc.
*Zigzagoon-Hoenn* did the same things that led to its ban in legacy DNU, though at least it wasn’t the first ban this time around? Belly Drum Extreme Speed is always a hard sell in balance, and though it had a bit more counterplay here, it ended up being too overwhelming both in the builder and in game.
The metagame is fresh and exciting, and there is a lot of room to push its development as we try to figure out what’s good and how to beat the things we find. We will be running a tournament later in the month once the metagame has been given time to develop. We hope you enjoy our tier!
As always, feel free to ask questions in the Discord or in the comments. Link to server is below:
https://discord.com/invite/Qc2arzRQzw