Name: hazard control
General Description: a Pokémon that is able to not only prevent the setup of entry hazards, but is also able to remove them reliably throughout the match
Justification: positive effect on the metagame — right now entry hazards are staples on every competitive team, and they are often easy to keep up either through offensive pressure or spin locking.
Questions To Be Answered: how will we make it so that this mon isn't over centralizing?
How do we make this mon fit well into the OU metagame?
How do we justify the usage of this mon over another rapid spinner?
How do we ensure that this mon is able to reliably perform its role consistently in the majority of matchups?
Do we focus on its offensive or defensive capabilities in regard to how it functions?
Explanation: many people have complained about hazards being over centralizing in every generation since their inception (bar like GSC), so having a mon that is able to remove them without fear from common ways of preventing removal (such as spinblocking or defiant) would benefit the metagame greatly, at least in my opinion. Ideally this mon would be immune to spikes and neutral or resistant to stealth Rock, such as a levitating mon.
Right now, OU lacks reliable ways of removing hazards. While we do have good spinners in Excadrill and Starmie, and defoggers such as lati@s and Zapdos, they all suffer from problems that affect how well they are able to remove hazards. Excadrill suffers from a poor speed tier outside of sand, and it loses to common stealth rock and spikes setters such as Lando t, Hippowdon, bulky chomp, Skarmory, and Ferrothorn, depending on if its LO or not. Starmie has a good speed tier, but offensive variants die very quickly, and defensive variants give free turns to powerful special attackers or mons that don't care about scald, and it straight up loses to mega Sab.
Many OU defoggers, such as Mandibuzz and Zapdos, suffer from a stealth rock weakness. Skarmory doesn't, but it would much rather dedicate a moveslot to a move such as spikes or whirlwind so it can perform well in other roles. The most used defoggers, the Lati twins, have the fewest flaws in my eyes, but they are still susceptible to Bisharp, and they can be pursuit trapped, which can either limit them to one Defog, or prevent it entirely. OU would definitely benefit from a hazard remover that is capable of the following:
- Defeating or forcing out common hazard setters
- Have workarounds to common answers to hazard removal
- Still perform some sort of role when it is not removing hazards, whether the role be offensive or defensive.
There are many ways to approach this, and this leaves a lot of room for creativity while still focusing on a clear-cut goal.