jirachi

[CENTER][IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/sprites/black-white/jirachi.png[/IMG][/CENTER]
My thoughts on the Jirachi suspect test:

I am so on the fence about this thing. It's cute, it's splashable, and it works well on basically every single of my teams. I think there are very little teams that don't appreciate its typing, or its utility with Follow Me and Icy Wind.

[hide][B]Why should it be banned:
- The stats and typing is very powerful, making it one of the best redirectors in tier.[/B]
100 across the board is indeed very powerful, and its typing is great as it resists many common attacking types (Fairy, Flying, Grass, Ice, Normal, Psychic, Rock).
[B]
- This Pokemon is very dominant in competitive gameplay due to its splashability and utility.[/B]
Jirachi was used 29 times in the SPL. As of week 9, Jirachi had a 62.96% win rate, which is the highest win rate out of any Pokemon used over than 10 times, bar Azumarill. It happens to be that Azumarill is one of Jirachi's best partners.

Take a look at any other splashable Pokemon in the tier, Landorus-Therian sits at 53.06%, Kangaskhan sits at 55.17%, Thundurus at 51.72%. Basically most common Pokemon sits around a ~50-55% win rate, which is balanced, especially considering the fact that most of these Pokemon have faced each other more than once. Now Jirachi flies way above that 50% win rate, all in to the 62%. This proves that even on high level games, Jirachi is dominating in win rate.

Before I'm going to make a point about "lower level" games, I'd like to wait for the Seasonals and DPL usage stats. It should be noted that Jirachi has always had a positive win rate in Seasonals, even when it was less popular.

- It offers too much safety with partners such as Mega Kangaskhan and Azumarill. They are getting easy set up while Jirachi often times just clicks Follow Me.

- Not only does it have Follow Me utility, it also has utility in Icy Wind and Thunder Wave, which also allows its partner to be on top of the game by being faster.

[B]Why shouldn't it be banned:[/B]
- [B]Despite great defensive typing and utility, there are plenty of checks to Jirachi which can shut it out of the game.[/B]
If you look at the weaknesses it has, it is also weak to some other common attacking types. Dark, Fire, Ghost, and Ground can all check Jirachi quite easily, and if you take a look at the Viability rankings, there should be plenty Pokemon that can check this. Aegislash, Mega Charizard Y, Heatran, Landorus-Therian, Azumarill, Gengar, Hydreigon, and Keldeo all check this Pokemon quite easily. And that's only in rank 1 and 1.5.

[B]- It has very little offensive presence as its only moves are Iron Head, which only threatens fairies, and Icy Wind, which only threatens things that are extremely weak to it.[/B]
I think I don't really have to explain this one. It has just [I]okay [/I]offensive stats, and its movepool isn't amazing. Basically every Fire-, Water-, and Steel-type can come in to these attacks.
[/hide]

Okay, after listing the [I]general [/I]arguments, I think its time to get to the discussion point and to talk whether Jirachi should or should not be banned.
[B]
- Is it fun to play with or against Jirachi?[/B]
Personally, I enjoy playing with Jirachi. I enjoy its splashability and possibility to just add some safety to my team. It's one of the very few defensive Pokemon that I just tend to add on my team, due to the lack of weaknesses it has. Clicking Follow Me and using a set up move with your partner is often times very nice, but the fact that its so safe makes it fun to play with. Not only that, but its versatility is quite fun as well. Every now and then I like using Choice Scarf or Trick Room, which are not as 'broken' as Follow Me Jirachi is.

Fun to play against Jirachi? Hell no. I hate Jirachi + Azumarill combinations, as a +6 Azumarill is difficult to check, and Jirachi seems to Azumarill's unpenetrative armor. The best way to handle an Azumarill is just to peg it back, but Jirachi has so much safety behind it that it's frustrating to play against. Not only Azumarill is frustrating to play against, Mega Kangaskhan is also a partner that is annoying. Get +2 with Power-Up Punch and cautiously play the rest of the game out while you use Follow Me on Jirachi. Jirachi can also utilize Safety Goggles or Sitrus Berry. Safety Goggles makes sure that Amoonguss can't stand in the way of Bunnies, while Sitrus Berry makes it even tougher to take down. And if that's not all, offensively it can threaten my fairies with straight up using Iron Head, or having a 60% flinch chance, which is awful to play against. And you can't even get a free switch-in if it uses Icy Wind, because that means it gets free speed control which allows it to be on top of the game.

However, what makes Jirachi so "broken" and frustrating to play against is not just its Follow Me niche, it's the fact that it enables so much safety for Pokemon such as Azumarill and Mega Kangaskhan. The problem is also not that it's uncheckable (most things in tier 1, 1.5 and 2 are actually supposed to be able to check it), but the problem is that it just enables powerful combos. Look at Mega Salamence. You could argue that Mega Salamence was broken standalone, but Jirachi definitely pushed it over the borderline.

I, however, don't feel like Jirachi is broken at all. I only feel like this Pokemon is difficult to check when it has a set up partner next to it. It has so many checks, but what makes it so frustrating...

What if the problem is Azumarill itself rather than Jirachi? Jirachi does really well at enabling it, and granting it safety, but Amoonguss does the same. We have seen it so many times, whether its Seasonals or SPL, Bunnies will always return. What makes Amoonguss + Azumarill different from Jirachi + Azumarill? Is it the typing difference, the speed difference? The fact that Grass-types ignore Rage Powder? I'd like to see this as a point of discussion, because I think Jirachi is definitely not broken standalone.

Okay, I may perhaps be hammering a little too much on Azumarill. But I'm just wondering what the other arguments are for everyone. Is Jirachi uncompetitive? Is Azumarill or Mega Kangaskhan + Jirachi uncompetitive?

[B]Conclusion / tl;dr: Is being frustrating to play against a valid enough reason to ban something? Is it truly uncompetitive? Isn't the problem Azumarill rather than Jirachi?[/B]