History GameBreaker / Pokemon

* Playing either game on a Platform/GameBoyColor is a minor game-breaker in that dark areas like caves suddenly becomes trivial to traverse. Likewise, hidden routes will suddenly become visible. This is largely due to how the Game Boy Color handles monochrome games made for it's predecessor and certain oversights in the choosing of the colors for it's 10 predefined palettes for those games did not account for games that relies on the monochrome screen to hide the hidden paths and/or mask the route.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonUranium'' introduces the Nuclear type and a corresponding new Eevee evolution, Nucleon, which is capable of sweeping almost any team. First, Nuclear is super-effective against every type except Nuclear and Steel -- which means that it's quadruple effective against all dual-typed Pokémon, as most Pokémon in the game are. Then, Nucleon has the Atomizate ability, which converts all Normal-typed moves to Nuclear type -- granting it the Same Type Attack Bonus -- ''and'' directly boosting them. That allows it to use a Nuclear-typed Hyper Voice, which has a high base attack power (even before stacking in all of its other bonuses) and hits all enemies. And since Nucleon only needs that one move, it can use a Choice Scarf to boost its speed (which was already quite high), ensuring that it will get the first -- and likely final -- hit on almost any opponent.

* Last Respects is an ''insane'' move. For every fainted Pokémon you have, the power of Last Respects goes up by 50, up to a maximum of ''300 base power,'' and this isn't even taking STAB into account! On top of that, Houndstone, the premier user of the move, also has Sand Rush as an Ability, doubling its Speed in a sandstorm, ensuring it's going to sweep up the enemy team if it's the last Pokémon standing. A very common strategy with Houndstone is to bring five Pokémon to act as a suicide squad, with at least one Sandstorm setter, and then bring out Houndstone to destroy the enemy team. That strategy was so powerful, Houndstone received instant bans from competitive play. Upon Pokémon HOME's release, Basculegion, a new user of the move who had slightly better Attack [[note]]For the male, the female has a slightly lower Attack than Houndstone[[/note]] and Speed and a similar ability in Swift Swim was potentially able to do the same thing. As such, Last Respects was banned. [[note]]Due to Smogon policies, Houndstone was banned due to being the only user of Last Respects, but now that it was determined the move was the issue, Houndstone got unbanned.[[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has the cover legendary, Xerneas. Its signature move, Geomancy, essentially gives two Quiver Dance boosts[[note]]sharply increases its Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed[[/note]] after the end of the turn after which Xerneas used it, which can be easily patched with Power Herb to make the boost from Geomancy occur in one turn. Combined with [[LightningBruiser its all-rounded stats]], being Fairy-type (a fantastic typing in Ubers, both defensively and offensively), and having the Fairy Aura ability to boost its Fairy-type attacks, it's pretty difficult to stop Xerneas from tearing teams apart outside from a few reliable checks and counters. While Choice Specs and Life Orb Xerneas users are less potentially devastating, they are ultimately just as much of a threat due to their non-binary gameplan.

* Adaman and Leafeon can spam. And no, I don't mean metaphorically. He has Clutch Critical, which makes every (and I do mean, ''every'') attack a critical hit except if the opponents have a specific barrier that prevents them, and Critical Freebie 9, which applies Free Move Next if the previous attack is a critical hit. Then he also has Time Flows over Hisui, which makes the weather sunny at the start of the battle and every time the unit uses a Synchro Move, and it powers up the attacks when such condition is present. His Razor-Sharp Razor Leaf lowers the targets' Defense by 1 (2 if the weather is sunny) and the Grass Type Rebuff, and the attack can be unlocked by literally doing ''anything'' with him (the attack itself is limited to two uses but are you even complaining?). Then there's his Trainer move No Time Like the Present!, which tops the Attack, raises the Defense by 4 and lowers the sync move countdown by one when it's sunny. And finally he has Synthesis for good measure. They don't simply break the game, they pulverize it.

* Though Psychic is the most famously effective type, Normal is generally agreed to be either very close or outright better. Normal's effectiveness may not look like much: it has no offensive strengths, and is resisted or walled by Rock and Ghost and weak defensively to Fighting. However, in practice, Fighting is one of the worst types in the game, with its only somewhat usable move being Submission (which is mediocre and inaccurate), and most Normal-types have wide movepools in a generation where this isn't common, meaning they can easily handle Rock and Ghost-types (for instance, everything that resists Normal is weak to Ground, so a Normal-type move and Earthquake grants perfect neutral-at-worst coverage). Normal also has access to Body Slam (decent accuracy and power and a one-in-three shot to paralyze the opponent), Hyper Beam (the hardest-hitting move in the game that doesn't KO the user, and which doesn't need to recharge if it KOs the opponent), and Slash (which crits over 99% of the time if the user has any kind of Speed). The result is that in competitive circles, Normal is ''even more'' dominant than Psychic, due in part to Psychics often having mediocre physical bulk, with Snorlax, Tauros, and Chansey seeing effectively universal use, and Pokémon like Rhydon being held in high regard in large part because they resist Normal. With the addition of Steel in the following generation to provide it with another offensive weakness and the significant expansion of Fighting and Ghost, Normal would soon fall out of relevance.

* The trainer card Pokémon Catcher. It let you switch the opponent's active Pokémon with one of their benched Pokémon, allowing for easy KOs on weak support Pokémon. The card Junk Arm (which allows you to reuse a trainer card) made it even worse, as it allowed for eight uses of Pokémon Catcher per game. This got so bad that it became one of the few cards to ever get nerfed (it now requires a coin flip to work).

* Pokémon Showdown has it's own take on Metronome battling, where it is a 2v2 format with Hackmons-esque limitations with even stuff like the Pokéstar Studios opponents being allowed in the format. Because the format is highly luck based, there aren't that many bans, which proves how overcentralizing the things listed here are.

** Most Pokémon banned from the format fall into one of the two blanket bans of no Pokémon with a BST over 625 or having the steel type (due to their defensive viability being overpowered) the sole exception to this is Pokéstar Spirit, which has the same statspread as [[MasterOfAll Mew]] and is also one of only 2 Pokémon with the Ghost/Dark typing. With only a single weakness that Metronome is unlikely to select and generally being better than the already good Mega Sableye[[note]]Keep in mind this format allows Megas to run other items making it even better than it already is in standard competitive[[/note]] Pokéstar Spirit was banned before even the blanket ban on Steel Types was introduced.

* Archaludon, the evolution of Duraludon, has proven itself to be a tricky bugger to face off against in Singles. Though reliant on rain, it's easily one of the best Pokémon that can abuse it, thanks to its amazing [[SecretArt signature move]], [[ShockAndAwe Electro Shot]][[labelnote:*]]A 130 base power, Electric-type special move that [[ChargedAttack charges on the first turn]] ''and'' [[StatusBuff boosts Sp. Atk by +1]], then fires on the second; under rain, the charge turn is skipped[[/labelnote]]. This move powers up its already great 125 Sp. Atk. ''and'' skips its charge turn in rain, making it very deadly. As for the Ground-types that could stomach it, Archaludon also has great special STAB options in Flash Cannon and Draco Meteor. Defensively, its Steel/Dragon typing is superb, and complementing it is a good base 90 HP and an outstanding 130 Defense stat, the latter of which is [[CastFromHitPoints boosted one stage each time it's hit]] thanks to its Ability, [[StatusBuff Stamina]]. Its access to Body Press is icing on the cake, allowing it to contest any special walls or Steel-types sent to combat it. While it has a mediocre base 65 Sp. Def., Archaludon commonly carries an Assault Vest as its held item to fix that, and its downside isn't much of a detriment seeing how Archaludon's not much of a support/defense Pokémon. The big Terastal button only worsens the deal, usually opting for Tera Fairy as a strong defensive type that changes its Fighting and Ground weaknesses into a resistance/neutrality. And sending Ground-types to defeat it will just lead to it switching out to one of its Rain-boosted Water-type teammates, making it a lose/lose situation. All of this makes it so that Archaludon's one of the biggest pains to deal with when team-building, with any counters usually forced to Tera in order to switch in easily and neutralize it. Granted, outside of Rain teams, Archaludon is more manageable, but the fact that minimal counterplay for the bridge dragon exists in comparison to the ease of letting it set up led to it being suspect tested and then banned over strong but more manageable related threats like [[GlassCannon Barraskewda]] or Rain itself.

* Terapagos was initially deemed as legal in OU, but it didn't remain for very long. Its Tera Shell ability allows it to resist any damaging move it takes at full health[[note]]Unlike Multiscale and Sturdy, this includes every hit from multi-strike moves as well[[/note]], giving it what is effectively a free turn (or multiple if Terapagos manages to heal to full again) to set up or do anything it wants if its opponent isn't packing a PowerNullifier like Mold Breaker ''and'' an attack powerful enough to one-shot it through its high bulk. Upon transforming into its Stellar Form by Terastallizing, its stats increase further (notably its HP is increased from 95 to a whopping ''160'') to give it a staggering BST of 700, it swaps Tera Shell for Teraform Zero that wipes all weather and terrain once per battle, and it gains its own special version of the Stellar type which gives it a 20% power bonus (100% for Normal-type moves) to ''all moves, permanently'', which combined with its broad coverage and access to Calm Mind let it wreak havoc with virtually anything. This is on top of all forms of Terapagos having Tera Starstorm, a 120-power STAB attack with no drawbacks that, if Terapagos is in its Stellar form, hits all types for neutral damage due to becoming a Stellar-type attack, on top of hitting all targets in Double Battles and any Terastallized foe for super-effective damage. Its only real let-downs are it taking up the Terastallization slot if one wants to use its full power and its average 85 base Speed; the former is of little downside considering how much havoc Stellar Form Terapagos can wreak, while the speed issue can easily be sorted with Rock Polish or Rapid Spin, the latter of which also gives it utility for clearing hazards. It wasn't surprising that it got banned from OU shortly after it was introduced, beating out Regieleki's ban (the exact timing as to how quickly it was banned is up for debate, with values ranging from twenty-seven to as low as '''''twenty-three''''' hours) and therefore giving it the current record for the fastest ban in any OU tier's history. Many question why the thing was even legal in OU in the first place given that it was basically a [[PurposefullyOverpowered Box Legendary]].

* Though Psychic is the most famously effective type, Normal is generally agreed to be either very close or outright better. Normal's effectiveness may not look like much: it has no offensive strengths, and is resisted or walled by Rock and Ghost and weak defensively to Fighting. However, in practice, Fighting is one of the worst types in the game, with its only somewhat usable move being Submission (which is mediocre and inaccurate), and most Normal-types have wide movepools in a generation where this isn't common, meaning they can easily handle Rock and Ghost-types (for instance, everything that resists Normal is weak to Ground, so a Normal-type move and Earthquake grants perfect neutral-at-worst coverage). Normal also has access to Body Slam (decent accuracy and power and a one-in-three shot to paralyze the opponent), Hyper Beam (the hardest-hitting move in the game that doesn't kill the user, and which doesn't need to recharge if it kills the opponent), and Slash (which crits over 99% of the time if the user has any kind of Speed). The result is that in competitive circles, Normal is ''even more'' dominant than Psychic, due in part to Psychics often having mediocre physical bulk, with Snorlax, Tauros, and Chansey seeing effectively universal use, and Pokémon like Rhydon being held in high regard in large part because they resist Normal. With the addition of Steel in the following generation to provide it with another offensive weakness and the significant expansion of Fighting and Ghost, Normal would soon fall out of relevance.

* While Chansey was a notable StoneWall in Generation 1 due to its ridiculous HP and respectable Special Defense, its evolution Blissey takes it a step further by giving it a decent Special Attack, ''even more'' Special Defense, and a very good move pool from [=TMs=]. Since AI trainers almost never switch out their Pokémon, if you switch a Blissey into a Pokémon that doesn't have any physical or guaranteed kill moves (Perish Song, Toxic, and OHKO moves), ''it will never die''; even if its Special Attack isn't spectacular, Blissey will still tank all their Flamethrowers and Thunderbolts while dishing out neutral or super effective damage in return, especially with moves like Charge Beam (which can increase the user's Special Attack) or Psychic or Shadow Ball (which can decrease the target's Special Defense). If its health starts getting low, it can use Softboiled or Rest/Sleep Talk to return half or all of its massive HP pool. It's so good both in-game and competitively that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbqAsM85AzQ some challenge runners ban it]] because it's such an AIBreaker.

* Fuecoco, the Fire type starter, is undoubtedly the best of the Paldean starters, a bit uncommon for the MightyGlacier of the trio. Evolving into the Fire-Ghost type Skeledirge, it has a type advantage over a whopping '''5''' of the 8 gyms in Paldea. But more importantly, Skeledirge's SecretArt Torch Song is an 80 base power Fire-type move that gives Skeledirge +1 Special Attack every single time it's used. After getting access to the Throat Spray (which can be purchased and doesn't get used up), Skeledirge can hold it and get a ''+2'' Special Attack buff after using Torch Song for the first time, letting it wreak havoc with other hard-hitting Special moves like Shadow Ball, Hyper Voice, Flamethrower, and Earth Power. The only thing preventing Skeledirge from easily sweeping the rest of the game is its poor Speed, but that can alternatively be fixed with the Choice Scarf, which becomes available for purchase at Delibird Presents after only the fourth gym and turns it into a veritable LightningBruiser - [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer being locked to Torch Song will hardly be an issue]] [[GatheringSteam after it gains enough Special Attack buffs to barrel through even Fire-resists like wet cardboard]] while comfortably tanking the few priority moves that come its way. Alternatively, Flame Charge avoids Choice Scarf locking in and is craftable after defeating Mela, just the second Team Star boss.

* The trainer card Pokémon Catcher. It let you switch the opponent's active Pokémon with one of their benched Pokémon, allowing for easy kills on weak support Pokémon. The card Junk Arm (which allows you to reuse a trainer card) made it even worse, as it allowed for eight uses of Pokémon Catcher per game. This got so bad that it became one of the few cards to ever get nerfed (it now requires a coin flip to work).

** In Expanded, Zoroark is by far the most dominant Pokémon of the format due to having more support. Sky Field, from the Roaring Skies expansion, allows it to hit for 180 with Riotous Beating. Choice Band boosts this to 210, enough to kill most meta Pokémon in the game. This is nothing compared to Exeggcute, however. Its ability, Propagation, allows it to come back to your hand at any time, but an interaction between the rules on public and private zones made the "once per turn" part irrelevant. With Exeggcute, discard costs became completely optional. Having just one Exeggcute in the discard pile means that Trade becomes Bill. The Zoroark/Exeggcute archetype is also the reason why Hex Maniac is banned, allowing you to circumvent Sudowoodo, hit full damage, and have all Exeggcutes as discard fodder.

* The unquestioned king of the GSC games is Snorlax, who is considered even better than the PurposelyOverpowered Mewtwo, Ho-Oh, and Lugia. Snorlax benefits greatly from the PaddedSumoGameplay of this Gen, as its titanic HP and very high Special Defense makes it ridiculously resilient, while the very powerful physical attacks of later Gens aren't as prominent here to smash through Snorlax's lower physical defense. Then Snorlax's low Defense can be patched up through Curse, which also raises its Attack as the cost of lowering its Speed, which it doesn't care about when it's slower than everything to begin with and when Speed is at its least important in this Gen. After some Curses, Snorlax is practically unkillable while it can now slaughter your entire party in one or two hits. But what really pushes Snorlax to game-breaking territory is its ridiculous versatility; instead of Curse it can run Belly Drum to maximize its Attack at the cost of half its HP, while it can then instantly Rest to get that HP back while having the power to instantly smite anything, or it can run a bunch of the vast variety of coverage move it learns to hit everything very hard while still being very hard to kill itself, or it can run Lovely Kiss to give it sleep utility, or it can run Toxic and with its stats be the best staller in the game, etc etc. While no single Snorlax set can beat absolutely everything, Snorlax has the means to beat everything in the game, and about every competitive PVP team will have a Snorlax, as not using him would put one at a massive disadvantage.

* Marshadow. An utter monster from the onset, it packs arguably the best offensive STAB in the game (hitting seven types super-effectively and able to score neutral on literally anything else, something that was unheard of in STAB combos), a very high 125 Speed, having Technician as its ability to boost the power of Shadow Sneak and Hidden Power, a fantastic coverage thanks to the aforementioned Hidden Power boost and deceptively high bulk of 90/80/80. What really put it into this territory, though, is its SecretArt Spectral Thief, a powerful STAB move that ''steals all stat boosts and ignores Substitutes''. Using this, setting up against and revenge killing Marshadow becomes nigh-on impossible, since any attempt to do so would result in Marshadow using Spectral Thief to steal such set-up from anything bar Normal-types (which it can easily take down with a Fighting move), rendering the time spent less than worthless and making it even more impossible to kill. What's more, any Pokémon that ''could'' wall it would be instantly KO'ed by its extremely powerful Z-Move. People were begging for it to be banished to Ubers the moment it was revealed, and, sure enough, it was sent there a mere ''two days'' after it was officially released.

* Dracovish became one of the most infamous Pokémon in Gen VIII with its lethal combination of Fishious Rend and Strong Jaw that proved to be a devastating addition to the metagame. Fishious Rend is a Water-type 85 base power move that doubles in power when the user moves first, including when the target switches in. Because Fishious Rend is a biting move, Dracovish's Strong Jaw ability further boosts its power by 50%. It's most powerful with either Choice Band as a wallbreaker, or a Choice Scarf as a revenge killer. With a Choice Band, it can kill even the bulkiest of walls in 2 hits. A Choice Scarf allows it to outspeed everything in OU save for Dragapult and Zeraora, and the lack of power from giving up the Choice Band can be made up for by setting rain. This combination was so powerful that it essentially [[CharacterSelectForcing forced you to run a 'mon with Water Absorb or Storm Drain]] (which meant that almost every single OU team ran Seismitoad or Gastrodon just to wall it), or use a dedicated physical wall (and, if it's running a Choice Band set and your wall isn't Water-immune, even ''that'' is getting [=2HKOed=]; to put it into perspective, even Ferrothorn and Toxapex have to worry about this thing, and they both resist Fishious Rend ''and'' have sky-high Defense), to avoid getting destroyed by Fishious Rend. To demonstrate how overcentralizing Dracovish was in OU, it got banned from its suspect test with over 90% vote.

* Shadow Rider Calyrex was already strong in Ubers in Gen 8, but the addition of Terastallization, as well as the loss of Yveltal and Ho-Oh [[note]]Prior to the ''Indigo Disk'' for Ho-Oh[[/note]] made it become one of the few Pokémon to be banned from Ubers in Gen 9. Not only did it keep its fast 150 base speed, but also kept its 165 base special attack, and its ability allowed it to become more menacing every time it got a kill, so sacking other Pokémon to safely switch in a check wasn't an answer. It gained access to Tera Blast Fighting or Fairy to deal with Dark types instead of the mediocre Draining Kiss or Pollen Puff, and Psyshock could be used to deal with special walls such as Blissey/Chansey and Clodsire, making options very limited. Even Ting-Lu, one of the bulkiest Pokémon ever, got 2HKO'd by Tera Blast Fighting, as did Arceus-Dark. This meant it had no effective counters and became one of the few mons to be in Anything Goes for a standard metagame, alongside Mega Rayquaza, both forms of Zacian in Gen 8 and Arceus in Gen 4.

** Shadow Rider Calyrex was quickbanned to Anything Goes in National Dex due to getting access to Tera Fairy, typically with Tera Blast to get through Dark types such as Yveltal, Chien-Pao and Kingambit, leading it to still have all of its insane power, speed and ability to get stronger everytime its get a kill, while losing all its counters that just barely kept in the Ubers tier.[[note]]When it was introduced in Scarlet/Violet through HOME, Shadow Rider Calyrex was banned to Anything Goes ''there'', too, for the exact same reasons (except in that meta, [[FromBadToWorse there was no Yveltal to try to stop it.]])[[/note]]

* One of many several spin-offs off of the main Competitive metagame on Pokémon Showdown is Pure Hackmons, which allows everything that's allowed in the game, as long as you can use [=PkHex=] to obtain it, such as having all Pokémon having all moves, all potential abilities and having all [=EVs=] maxed out in everything. While this metagame has potential for all sorts of obviously broken stuff, there is one thing that tops over the rest: [[PurposefullyOverpowered Eternamax Eternatus]], the most overpowered Pokémon in ''any'' competitive format. Its stats are not just far higher than anything else in the game, [[https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pure-hackmons.3656851/page-8#post-9035816 but so high that if you invest a positive nature into either one of its defense stats and put 240 [=EVs=] into it, the stat will overflow and become 0]], which means that the Pokémon would only take [[NighInvulnerable 1 damage per hit no matter what]], unless you get a CriticalHit which does 2. [[DamageSpongeBoss It also has 255 base HP, so its HP stat can reach a maximum of 714]] and keep in mind that the other defensive stat is also going to be so high as to make Eternamax Eternatus the bulkiest thing in history. The metagame revolves around this monster and what can possibly kill it. Any competent player would run at least two Eternamax Eternatus forms, one for special defense and the other for physical defense, giving Eternamax Eternatus [[BrokeTheRatingScale a usage rate of over 200%.]] Just to put icing on the cake, people then gave it Neutralizing Gas to turn off opposing abilities, making most strategies unusable and forcing people to rely on 30% accurate OHKO moves to take out Eternamax. This ended up causing the ''Sword'' and ''Shield'' Pure Hackmons metagame to collapse and people to abandon it. It was eventually brought back in July 2022 after popular demand and also because the ''Brilliant Diamond'' and ''Shining Pearl'' version didn't work out, but it's still considered an uncompetitive novelty.

*** Ash & Pikachu have the endurance of a cockroach by having multiple stacks of plot armor, er, Endure effects and can dish out absurd amounts of damage, most notably with B Thunderbolt.

* White Kyurem is a monster when allowed to attack. A base Special Attack of '''170''' means that depending on the set, Kyurem-W can obliterate virtually anything with the right move. Between Draco Meteor and Ice Beam, Kyurem-W can take down many defensive threats, like, say, Lugia, Dialga, and Kyogre. It learns Fusion Flare, giving it some much-needed coverage against Steels, making its life easier in case it encounters the likes of Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress, and Bisharp. It gets better; give Kyurem-W a Choice Specs (boosted Special Attack in exchange for being locked into 1 move), and most defensive threats fall to a single attack. Its only setback is its unfortunate secondary typing, making it vulnerable to all entry hazards, as well as Fighting and Steel-type moves, and its relatively awkward speed. Still, however, it's a massive threat, more so than its counterpart Black Kyurem, who has a movepool it can't easily abuse as well as its white counterpart.

* Black Kyurem was once considered the weakest of the box legendary Pokémon; although it had a massive 700 BST and a whopping ''170'' base Attack, it also had an "only" decent 95 base Speed, and a lackluster move pool that ensured it couldn't use its Attack to its fullest. In particular, the only Physical Ice move it could learn was Freeze Shock, which had a great 140 base power, but took two turns to charge up and had only 90 accuracy, meaning it could miss. The result of these weaknesses? Kyurem-Black was bad enough to be tested out of Ubers into OU, and while it did certainly see play there, it still wasn't game breaking. Gen VIII, however, gave Kyurem-Black the ability to learn Icicle Spear and Dragon Dance. Icicle Spear is a 25 base power move that can hit 2-5 times, but most importantly is a ''physical'' Ice type move, finally giving Kyurem-Black a decent Ice type move that can use its massive attack. Dragon Dance allows Kyurem to improve its mediocre speed and further buff its already monstrous attack. These two moves fixed basically every problem Kyurem-Black had, allowing it to be a terrifying sweeper especially when combined with Dynamaxing. It was quickly banned in National Dex OU, and when it was released after Pokémon Home, it was later banned in normal OU due to the same problems, even with Dynamaxing being banned.

* Shadow Rider Calyrex possesses a crazy Special Attack stat of 165 and base 150 Speed, which allows it to be one of the very few Pokémon that can outspeed the now banned Zacian-Crowned, and its signature move Astral Barrage has 120 base power with no drawbacks while not getting revenge killed by much other than Scarf Kyogre, [[FastestThingAlive Regieleki]], Pheromosa with Throat Chop, and either Dark or Ghost types with strong priority moves such as Yveltal and Marshadow, but many teams gave Calyrex support with Psychic Terrain coming from either Tapu Lele or Indeedee, so priority wouldn't work. Its coverage is also fairly good with Leaf Storm, Expanding Force which can be combined with Psychic Terrain[[note]]When Psychic Terrain is up, Expanding Force becomes a 156 base power move that is STAB coming off of a 165 special attack making it stronger than Rampardos’s Head Smash in power[[/note]] to absolutely nuke any non-Dark type opponent, Psyshock which hits Pokémon on the physical side allowing it to deal more damage to mons like Chansey or Blissey (who would otherwise check it), Draining Kiss to hit Dark Types, and Nasty Plot to increase its Special Attack even further. When it takes out a Pokémon, it gets a special attacking version of Moxie, allowing it to potentially sweep teams with little effort while also having Unnerve on top of that. It can also hold an item like most legendaries, meaning it doesn't have the same flaw that Zacian-Crowned and the Primal forms have. Its main weakness is that it's [[GlassCannon rather frail on the physical side]] and has a horrible defensive typing in Psychic/Ghost making it 4x weak to Ghost and Dark, which are common offensive types in Ubers. Its general ability to sweep teams with little effort has made it a huge threat in the first month of Ubers after the DLC drop, having the [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome overall highest usage stats of any Pokémon in Ubers]] as well as discussion on potentially suspect testing the mon to Anything Goes due to the meta only revolving around this Pokémon and its main counter Yveltal (who can effortlessly OHKO it with a boosted Sucker Punch) and the occasional Marshadow (who can also OHKO it with a boosted Shadow Sneak). However, it never did get banned into Anything Goes in Gen 8 after Dynamax and both forms of Zacian was banned, as Dynamax helped it improve its bulk to live Dark-type attacks and become an even more threatening sweeper, and Zacian was an excellent teammate that supported Calyrex very well, as Calyrex helped beat out Necrozma Dusk Mane, which was one of Zacian's few good checks, while Zacian helped beat out Calyrex's best counter in Yveltal. It is still one of the best Pokémon in Ubers alongside Yveltal, and though it initially was much more balanced as it was beaten by Yveltal, later sets such as [=SubSeed=] and Taunt+Disable were discovered that could potentially turn the tables on Yveltal, which forced many Yveltal to run specially defensive EV spreads instead of something more useful, or even suboptimal moves like Snarl, to avoid getting destroyed and then swept by Calyrex. This led to Calyrex getting suspect tested and nearly banned to Anything Goes, although the playerbase ultimately let it stay in Ubers.

* Zamazenta-Crowned was initially allowed in OU following the release of HOME, being seen as unworthy to be in Ubers. This, however, turned out to be a ''big'' mistake, as just like Kyurem-Black in Generation VIII, Zamazenta-Crowned received one crucial new move that pushed it over the edge: Body Press, a move practically tailor-made for it. With that move, Zamazenta-Crowned now had a STAB move that ran off of its immense 140 base Defense, and combined with its great defensive typing of Fighting/Steel, and the potential for further boosting through the already existing Iron Defense (and even Dauntless Shield, nerfed though it may be), allowing it to hit stupefying levels of power and bulk, allowing it to actively destroy generally physically bulky, Fighting-resistant Pokémon like Landorus-Therian with Body Press while not even being 3HKO'd by Lando's Earthquake in return. Compounding this difficulty in checking it is the fact that Zamazenta-Crowned was also tied for being the third-fastest Pokémon in OU (the only faster Pokémon being Zamazenta's own Hero form and Dragapult), eventually leading to Zamazenta-Crowned being sent back to Ubers alongside Chien-Pao, just four days after Magearna got the axe.

* Calyrex-Shadow was already strong in Ubers in Gen 8, but the addition of Terastallization, as well as the loss of Yveltal and Ho-Oh [[note]]Prior to the ''Indigo Disk'' for Ho-Oh[[/note]] made it become one of the few Pokémon to be banned from Ubers in Gen 9. Not only did it keep its fast 150 base speed, but also kept its 165 base special attack, and its ability allowed it to become more menacing every time it got a kill, so sacking other Pokémon to safely switch in a check wasn't an answer. It gained access to Tera Blast Fighting or Fairy to deal with Dark types instead of the mediocre Draining Kiss or Pollen Puff, and Psyshock could be used to deal with special walls such as Blissey/Chansey and Clodsire, making options very limited. Even Ting-Lu, one of the bulkiest Pokémon ever, got 2HKO'd by Tera Blast Fighting, as did Arceus-Dark. This meant it had no effective counters and became one of the few mons to be in Anything Goes for a standard metagame, alongside Mega Rayquaza, both forms of Zacian in Gen 8 and Arceus in Gen 4.

** While Shedinja in most Pokémon games is a relatively weak Pokémon, in National Dex Gen IX it was sent to Anything Goes due to the combination of Terastallization and Wonder Guard. It had a variety of different Tera types that had very little counterplay, particularly Tera Ground or Tera Fairy when combined with Heavy Duty Boots[[note]]Tera Electric with Air Balloon wasn't considered very good and was shut down by much more Pokémon including Zygarde-Complete[[/note]]. Heavy Duty Boots makes it immune to Stealth Rock, Spikes and Toxic Spikes, and with a Shed Tail from Cyclizar, it could be immune to Sandstorm damage or status like Poison/Burn. With the variety of sets, it was very hard to prepare for, with the only true reliable answer being a Mold Breaker Pokémon like Zekrom, Kyurem-B and Kyurem-W or something that had moves that ignored abilities such as Sunsteel Strike or Photon Geyser, but all forms of Necrozma, and Solgaleo and Lunala are all weak to Shedinja's Ghost type STAB. Fighting Shedinja was sometimes an instant forfeit just on Team Preview if you didn't pack the correct answer, and combined with Revival Blessing + Prankster Liepard[[note]]Also called Revive Cats[[/note]], it lead to the death of National Dex Anything Goes as a ladder.

** Miraidon, the main Legendary and Game Mascot of ''Violet'', got sent to Anything Goes in the National Dex format. This is because of its insane power, where its ability increases its special attack by 1.33x once it comes in, and sets up Electric Terrain. This effectively means it comes in with one of the highest overall special attack stats in the game[[note]]Chi-Yu with Beads of Ruin is stronger, but only slightly[[/note]], and has strong moves such as Draco Meteor, Electro Drift, which also gets powered up in Terrain and is incredibly spammable due to not having a drawback, Overheat and a pivot move in Volt Switch and like any Pokémon, it can Terastallize to make its STAB Electric/Dragon attacks even more powerful or go Tera Fire to live a Play Rough from Zacian-Crowned and shred through it with Overheat. It's also very fast at 135 base speed, and possesses a good offensive and defensive typing in Dragon/Electric and has [[LightningBruiser overall strong defenses]]. It has potential to 2HKO or OHKO almost every Pokémon in Ubers with a Choice Specs, including very bulky walls like Blissey, meaning Miraidon manages to surpass even Mega Rayquaza, Zacian (which got nerfed in Gen 9) or Calyrex Shadow's damage output. However, what made it uniquely broken in National Dex however was that it had access to Calm Mind + Dragonium Z to take out checks for the Choice Specs set such as Arceus-Ground, allowing it to have a way to seemingly deal with anything that could threaten it depending on what set it was running, with some very good players claiming that it may be the best Pokémon since RBY Mewtwo.

* While Dugtrio always had a reputation thanks to Arena Trap, Gen VII applied a number of buffs that turned it into an utter monster. Between a significant buff to its Attack, the addition of Z-Moves, and the decreased usage of priority, Dugtrio transformed into a monster that could KO any staller it laid eyes on and, thanks to its high speed and good attack, still function on a team after fulfilling its purpose. While it was hurt somewhat by its terrible bulk that ensured it would faint in one hit unless it holds a Focus Sash, it still became one of the most despised in OU, and Arena Trap was eventually banned.

* One of many several spin-offs off of the main Competitive metagame on Pokémon Showdown is Pure Hackmons, which allows everything that's allowed in the game, as long as you can use [=PkHex=] to obtain it, such as having all Pokémon having all moves, all potential abilities and having all [=EVs=] maxed out in everything. While this metagame has potential for all sorts of obviously broken stuff, there is one thing that tops over the rest: [[PurposefullyOverpowered Eternamax Eternatus]], the most overpowered Pokémon in ''any'' competitive format. Its stats are not just far higher than anything else in the game, [[https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/pure-hackmons.3656851/page-8#post-9035816 but so high that if you invest a positive nature into either one of its defense stats and put 240 [=EVs=] into it, the stat will overflow and become 0, which means that the Pokémon would only take [[NighInvulnerable 1 damage per hit no matter what]], unless you get a CriticalHit which does 2.]] [[DamageSpongeBoss It also has 255 base HP, so its HP stat can reach a maximum of 714]] and keep in mind that the other defensive stat is also going to be so high as to make Eternamax Eternatus the bulkiest thing in history. The metagame revolves around this monster and what can possibly kill it. Any competent player would run at least two Eternamax Eternatus forms, one for special defense and the other for physical defense, giving Eternamax Eternatus [[BrokeTheRatingScale a usage rate of over 200%.]] Just to put icing on the cake, people then gave it Neutralizing Gas to turn off opposing abilities, making most strategies unusable and forcing people to rely on 30% accurate OHKO moves to take out Eternamax. This ended up causing the ''Sword'' and ''Shield'' Pure Hackmons metagame to collapse and people to abandon it. It was eventually brought back in July 2022 after popular demand and also because the ''Brilliant Diamond'' and ''Shining Pearl'' version didn't work out, but it's still considered an uncompetitive novelty.

* Terapagos was initially deemed as legal in OU, but it didn't remain for very long. Its Tera Shell ability allows it to resist any damaging move it takes at full health[[note]]Unlike Multiscale, this includes multi-hit moves as well[[/note]], giving it what is effectively a free turn (or multiple if Terapagos manages to heal to full again) to set up or do anything it wants if its opponent isn't packing a PowerNullifier like Mold Breaker ''and'' an attack powerful enough to one-shot it through its high bulk. Upon transforming into its Stellar Form by Terastallizing, its stats increase further (notably its HP is increased from 95 to a whopping ''160'') to give it a staggering BST of 700, it swaps Tera Shell for Teraform Zero that wipes all weather and terrain once per battle, and it gains its own special version of the Stellar type which gives it a 20% power bonus (100% for Normal-type moves) to ''all moves, permanently'', which combined with its broad coverage and access to Calm Mind let it wreak havoc with virtually anything. This is on top of all forms of Terapagos having Tera Starstorm, a 120-power STAB attack with no drawbacks that, if Terapagos is in its Stellar form, hits all types for neutral damage due to becoming a Stellar-type attack, on top of hitting all targets in Double Battles and any Terastallized foe for super-effective damage. Its only real let-downs are it taking up the Terastallization slot if one wants to use its full power and its average 85 base Speed; the former is of little downside considering how much havoc Stellar Form Terapagos can wreak, while the speed issue can easily be sorted with Rock Polish or Rapid Spin, the latter of which also gives it utility for clearing hazards. It wasn't surprising that it got banned from OU shortly after it was introduced, beating out Regieleki's ban (the exact timing as to how quickly it was banned is up for debate, with values ranging from twenty-seven to as low as '''''twenty-three''''' hours) and therefore giving it the current record for the fastest ban in any OU tier's history. Many question why the thing was even legal in OU in the first place given that it was basically a [[PurposefullyOverpowered Box Legendary]].

* One of many several spin-offs off of the main Competitive metagame on Pokémon Showdown is Pure Hackmons, which allows everything that's allowed in the game, as long as you can use [=PkHex=] to obtain it, such as having all Pokémon having all moves, all potential abilities and having all [=EVs=] maxed out in everything. While this metagame has potential for all sorts of obviously broken stuff, there is one thing that tops over the rest: [[PurposefullyOverpowered Eternamax Eternatus]], the most overpowered Pokémon in ''any'' competitive format. Its stats are not just far higher than anything else in the game, but so high that if you invest a positive nature into either one of its defense stats and put 240 [=EVs=] into it, the stat will overflow and become 0, which means that the Pokémon would only take [[NighInvulnerable 1 damage per hit no matter what]], unless you get a CriticalHit which does 2. [[DamageSpongeBoss It also has 255 base HP, so its HP stat can reach a maximum of 714]] and keep in mind that the other defensive stat is also going to be so high as to make Eternamax Eternatus the bulkiest thing in history. The metagame revolves around this monster and what can possibly kill it. Any competent player would run at least two Eternamax Eternatus forms, one for special defense and the other for physical defense, giving Eternamax Eternatus [[BrokeTheRatingScale a usage rate of over 200%.]] Just to put icing on the cake, people then gave it Neutralizing Gas to turn off opposing abilities, making most strategies unusable and forcing people to rely on 30% accurate OHKO moves to take out Eternamax. This ended up causing the ''Sword'' and ''Shield'' Pure Hackmons metagame to collapse and people to abandon it. It was eventually brought back in July 2022 after popular demand and also because the ''Brilliant Diamond'' and ''Shining Pearl'' version didn't work out, but it's still considered an uncompetitive novelty.

* One of many several spin-offs off of the main Competitive metagame on Pokémon Showdown is Pure Hackmons, which allows everything that's allowed in the game, as long as you can use [=PkHex=] to obtain it, such as having all Pokémon having all moves, all potential abilities and having all [=EVs=] maxed out in everything. While this metagame has potential for all sorts of obviously broken stuff, there is one thing that tops over the rest: [[PurposefullyOverpowered Eternamax Eternatus]], the most overpowered Pokémon in ''any'' competitive format. Its stats are not just far higher than anything else in the game, but so high that if you invest a positive nature into either one of its defense stats and put 240 [=EVs=] into it, the stat will overflow and become 0, which means that the Pokémon would only take [[NighInvulnerable 1 damage per hit no matter what]], unless you get a CriticalHit which does 2. [[DamageSpongeBoss It also has 255 base HP, so its HP stat can reach a maximum of 714]], and keep in mind that the other defensive stat is also going to be so high as to make Eternamax the bulkiest thing in history. The metagame revolves around this monster and what can possibly kill it. Any competent player would run at least two Eternamax forms, one for special defense and the other for physical defense, giving Eternamax Eternatus [[BrokeTheRatingScale a usage rate of over 200%.]] Just to put icing on the cake, people then gave it Neutralizing Gas to turn off opposing abilities, making most strategies unusable and forcing people to rely on 30% accurate OHKO moves to take out Eternamax. This ended up causing the ''Sword'' and ''Shield'' Pure Hackmons metagame to collapse and people to abandon it. It was eventually brought back because the ''Brilliant Diamond'' and ''Shining Pearl'' version didn't work out, but it's still considered an uncompetitive novelty.

* Bloodmoon Ursaluna fine-tunes Ursaluna to a notch, and removing any noticeable issues the latter has. Turning from a [[DiscardAndDraw physically-bulky physical attacker to a physically-bulky special attacker]], it has Earth Power for STAB and [[ActionInitiative Vacuum Wave]] to offset its low speed. However, it ends up being much better than the original Ursaluna for various reasons. For one, it has a SecretArt in Blood Moon, a 140 BP Normal-Type special move which has the only drawback of not being able to be selected twice in a row. Additionally, its Mind's Eye ability allows Bloodmoon Ursaluna to hit Ghost-types with its Normal- & Fighting-type moves, meaning it will maul almost everything in sight with Blood Moon and land a KO on weakened Gholdengo or Dragapult with Vacuum Wave. Regular Ursaluna's main drawback was the fact that, while it could similiarly do heavy damage, it's on a timer due to Guts Facade combined with Flame Orb being its main source of damage, which would eventually KO it, since it had no reliable recovery. Bloodmoon Ursaluna solves this issue by having a reliable recovery in Moonlight. And to top it all off, it can further boost its already terrifying Special Attack as well as patching up its mediocre Special Defense. With these qualities combined, Bloodmoon Ursaluna ends up being too [[{{Pun}} unbearable]] for OU and was promptly banned from its suspect test with over 90% pro-ban votes.

* Terapagos was initially deemed as legal in OU, but it didn't remain for very long. Its Tera Shell ability allows it to resist any damaging move it takes at full health[[note]]Unlike Multiscale, this includes multi-hit moves as well[[/note]], giving it what is effectively a free turn (or multiple if Terapagos manages to heal to full again) to set up or do anything it wants if its opponent isn't packing a PowerNullifier like Mold Breaker ''and'' an attack powerful enough to one-shot it through its high bulk. Upon transforming into its Stellar Form by Terastallizing, its stats increase further (notably its HP is increased from 95 to a whopping ''160'') to give it a staggering BST of 700, it swaps Tera Shell for Teraform Zero that wipes all weather and terrain once per battle, and it gains its own special version of the Stellar type which gives it a 20% power bonus (100% for Normal-type moves) to ''all moves, permanently'', which combined with its broad coverage and access to Calm Mind let it wreak havoc with virtually anything. This is on top of all forms of Terapagos having Tera Starstorm, a 120-power STAB attack with no drawbacks that, if Terapagos is in its Stellar form, hits all types for neutral damage due to becoming a Stellar-type attack, on top of hitting all targets in Double Battles and any Terastallized foe for super-effective damage. Its only real let-downs are it taking up the Terastallization slot if one wants to use its full power and its average 85 base Speed; the former is little of a downside considering how much havoc a Stellar Form Terapagos can wreak, while the speed issue can easily be sorted with Rock Polish or Rapid Spin, the latter of which also gives it utility for clearing hazards. It wasn't surprising that it got banned from OU shortly after it was introduced, beating out Regieleki's ban by about an hour and therefore giving it the current record.

* [[ScaryScorpions Gliscor]] was an OU metagame staple[[note]]Aside from Generation VIII, where it's inaccessible[[/note]] with its [[JackOfAllStats balanced yet great stats]] and a great typing in Ground/Flying, making it a Pokémon that could slot into many teams well. Gen V improved it further with its Hidden Ability Poison Heal, giving it a passive healing option with Toxic Orb that blocked other statuses like Paralysis. However, Gen IX is where Gliscor goes out of hand. While losing some of its old reliable moves like Defog and [[HealThyself Roost]], Gliscor receives Spikes & Toxic Spikes, making it a crucial component to Gholdengo, which could negate any attempt to remove them (short of [[CharacterSelectForcing Cinderace's Court Change or Maushold's Tidy Up]]), they become easy ways to whittle down nearly anything. And Gliscor has Knock Off to remove held items, most notably Heavy-Duty Boots that prevent the holder from being affected by entry hazards. While Gholdengo enabled Gliscor's hazard-setting strategy, it's far from the only thing the flying scorpion can pull, with Swords Dance sets just being one common set. It's easy to see why a ban with a 2/3rds majority hit the scorpion for the first time in 17 years. The ''Indigo Dick'' DLC would see Gliscor being unbanned, however.

* ''Pokémon Inclement Emerald'' buffs the formerly-mediocre Goodra into a horrifying StoneWall. In exchange for losing a bit of special defense (which is still very solid), it's now Dragon/Water-type and gains additional defense — and, more importantly, access to Recover and '''Poison Heal'''. It was formerly held back by its lack of reliable recovery, but now it can heal at twice the rate Leftovers would give it, and use Recover if that isn't enough. Stick it with a Toxic Orb, and watch as Goodra effortlessly shrugs off special hits and Toxic stalls most foes.

* Calyrex-Shadow was already strong in Ubers in Gen 8, but the addition of Terastallization, as well as the loss of Yveltal and Ho-Oh made it become one of the few Pokémon to be banned from Ubers in Gen 9. Not only did it keep its fast 150 base speed, but also kept its 165 base special attack, and its ability allowed it to become more menacing every time it got a kill, so sacking other Pokémon to safely switch in a check wasn't an answer. It gained access to Tera Blast Fighting or Fairy to deal with Dark types instead of the mediocre Draining Kiss or Pollen Puff, and Psyshock could be used to deal with special walls such as Blissey/Chansey and Clodsire, making options very limited. Even Ting-Lu, one of the bulkiest Pokémon ever, got 2HKO'd by Tera Blast Fighting, as did Arceus-Dark. This meant it had no effective counters and became one of the few mons to be in Anything Goes for a standard metagame, alongside Mega Rayquaza, both forms of Zacian in Gen 8 and Arceus in Gen 4.

* [[ScaryScorpions Gliscor]] was an OU metagame staple[[note]]Aside from Generation VIII, where it's inaccessible[[/note]] with its [[JackOfAllStats balanced yet great stats]] and a great typing in Ground/Flying, making it a Pokémon that could slot into many teams well. Gen V improved it further with its Hidden Ability Poison Heal, giving it a passive healing option with Toxic Orb that blocked other statuses like Paralysis. However, Gen IX is where Gliscor goes out of hand. While losing some of its old reliable moves like Defog and [[HealThyself Roost]], Gliscor receives Spikes & Toxic Spikes, making it a crucial component to Gholdengo, which could negate any attempt to remove them (short of [[CharacterSelectForcing Cinderace's Court Change or Maushold's Tidy Up]]), they become easy ways to whittle down nearly anything. And Gliscor has Knock Off to remove held items, most notably Heavy-Duty Boots that prevent the holder from being affected by entry hazards. While Gholdengo enabled Gliscor's hazard-setting strategy, it's far from the only thing the flying scorpion can pull, with Swords Dance sets just being one common set. It's easy to see why a ban with a 2/3rds majority hit the scorpion for the first time in 17 years.'The ''Indigo Dick'' DLC would see Gliscor being unbanned, however.

* Volcarona has always been a particularly polarizing 'mon, deemed the 'Matchup Moth' for its ability to either completely break a match wide open or flounder around helplessly, and while it has received changes that assisted it greatly in the past few generations, (Fairy-types to prey upon in Gen 6, Z-Moves to nuke with for Gen 7 only, Heavy-Duty Boots to ignore Stealth Rocks in Gen 8), ''nothing'' could have prepared players for the terror of a Volcarona that can use Terastalization. One would think that the returning Heatran would be a solid answer, as it has been for the past three generations, but Terastalization ruins that, as Volcarona can run Tera Ground or Tera Water to obliterate Heatran where it stands, while also slaughtering the similarly difficult Unaware Skeledirge. It could run Substitute for Sucker Punch, or even run Tera Ghost to blank Extreme Speed Dragonite. The average Choice Scarfers can't even reliably revenge kill it because they get outsped after Volcarona gets a Quiver Dance (which is very easy considering how many Pokémon Volcarona threatens now) it can essentially handpick its counterplay, similarly to Magearna, and as a result, in a very controversial move (many saw Zamazenta-Hero as a more pressing concern), Volcarona was banned from OU alongside Urshifu Rapid Strike.

* [[ScaryScorpions Gliscor]] was an OU metagame staple[[note]]Aside from Generation VIII, where it's inaccessible[[/note]] with its [[JackOfAllStats balanced yet great stats]] and a great typing in Ground/Flying, making it a Pokémon that could slot into many teams well. Gen V improved it further with its Hidden Ability Poison Heal, giving it a passive healing option with Toxic Orb that blocked other statuses like Paralysis. However, Gen IX is where Gliscor goes out of hand. While losing some of its old reliable moves like Defog and [[HealThyself Roost]], Gliscor receives Spikes & Toxic Spikes, making it a crucial component to Gholdengo, which could negate any attempt to remove them (short of [[CharacterSelectForcing Cinderace's Court Change or Maushold's Tidy Up]]), they become easy ways to whittle down nearly anything. And Gliscor has Knock Off to remove held items, most notably Heavy-Duty Boots that prevent the holder from being affected by entry hazards. While Gholdengo enabled Gliscor's hazard-setting strategy, it's far from the only thing the flying scorpion can pull, with Swords Dance sets just being one common set. It's easy to see why a ban with a 2/3rds majority hit the scorpion for the first time in 17 years.

* Terapagos was initially deemed as legal in OU, but it didn't remain for very long. Its Tera Shell ability allows it to resist any damaging move it takes at full health[[note]]Unlike Multiscale, this includes multi-hit moves as well[[/note]], giving it what is effectively a free turn (or multiple if Terapagos manages to heal to full again) to set up or do anything it wants if its opponent isn't packing a PowerNullifier like Mold Breaker ''and'' an attack powerful enough to one-shot it through its high bulk. Upon transforming into its Stellar Form by Terastallizing, its stats increase further (notably its HP is increased from 90 to a whopping ''160'') to give it a staggering BST of 700, it swaps Tera Shell for Teraform Zero that wipes all weather and terrain once per battle, and it gains its own special version of the Stellar type which gives it a 20% power bonus (100% for Normal-type moves) to ''all moves, permanently'', which combined with its broad coverage and access to Calm Mind let it wreak havoc with virtually anything. This is on top of all forms of Terapagos having Tera Starstorm, a 120-power STAB attack with no drawbacks that, if Terapagos is in its Stellar form, hits all types for neutral damage due to becoming a Stellar-type attack, on top of hitting all targets in Double Battles and any Terastallized foe for super-effective damage. Its only real let-downs are it taking up the Terastallization slot if one wants to use its full power and its average 85 base Speed; the former is little of a downside considering how much havoc a Stellar Form Terapagos can wreak, while the speed issue can easily be sorted with Rock Polish or Rapid Spin, the latter of which also gives it utility for clearing hazards. It wasn't surprising that it got banned from OU shortly after it was introduced, beating out Regieleki's ban by about an hour and therefore giving it the current record.

* Regieleki was already powerful in Gen VIII thanks to its high speed and Transistor ability boosting its electric moves, but was held back by its lack of coverage beyond Normal and Rock type moves leaving it hopelessly outmatched against any decent Ground Type. Then came HOME's release in Gen IX and Regieleki was made transferable in ''Scarlet/Violet'', allowing it to Terastalize and learn Tera Blast, which it could then use to become an Ice Type and wreak havoc on anything that once would've given it pause. With the combination of Transistor-boosted Thunderbolt and Terastalization-boosted Ice Tera Blast (essentially a stronger version of the [=BoltBeam=] coverage) boosted by either Choice Specs or Life Orb it was impossible to safely switch into it and even beating it one-on-one was hard to pull off due to it having the highest speed stat of all Pokémon at base 200 (often letting it outspeed fast sweepers ''using a Choice Scarf'' with only its base speed), making even revenge killing nigh-impossible. Even attempts to circumvent its coverage could be stopped dead in its tracks if Regieleki used Substitute, giving itself protection and a chance to set up against a would-be check or scout out entire teams allowing it and its teammates to have an overwhelming advantage against any team. It was quickly banned barely a day after the release of HOME to the surprise of no one, earning the dubious honor of the fastest quickban in any OU tier's history at the time, beating out Marshadow's previous record of 2 days in Gen VII's OU. As of now, the only Pokémon to beat its record is Terapagos (see below) who is essentially a [[PurposefullyOverpowered Box Legendary]].

* Terapagos was initially deemed as legal in OU, but it didn't remain for very long. Its Tera Shell ability allows it to resist any damaging move it takes at full health, even resisting all hits from a multi-hit move unlike Multiscale, giving it what is effectively a free turn (or multiple if Terapagos manages to heal to full again) to set up or do anything it wants if its opponent isn't packing a PowerNullifier like Mold Breaker ''and'' an attack powerful enough to one-shot it through its decently high bulk. Upon transforming into its Stellar Form by Terastallizing, its stats increase further (notably its health which increases from 90 to a whopping ''160'') to give it a staggering BST of 700, it swaps Tera Shell for Teraform Zero that wipes all weather and terrain to ruin the days of any Pokémon that rely on it, and it gains its own special version of the Stellar type which gives it a 20% power bonus (100% for Normal-type moves) to ''all moves, permanently'', which combined with its broad coverage and access to Calm Mind let it wreak havoc with virtually anything. This is on top of all forms of Terapagos having Tera Starstorm, a 120-power STAB attack with no drawbacks that, if Terapagos is in its Stellar form, hits ''[[ArmorPiercingAttack all types for neutral damage]]'' due to becoming a Stellar attack, on top of hitting all targets in Double Battles and hitting Terastallized foes for supereffective damage. Its only real let-downs are it taking up the Terastallization slot if one wants to use its full power as well as its mediocre 85 base Speed; the former is little of a downside considering how much havoc a Stellar Form Terapagos can wreak, while the speed issue can easily be sorted with Rock Polish or Rapid Spin, the latter of which also gives it utility for clearing hazards. It wasn't surprising that it got banned from OU shortly after it was introduced, beating out Regieleki's ban by about an hour and therefore giving it the current record. Many question why the thing was even legal in OU in the first place given that it was basically a [[PurposefullyOverpowered Box Legendary]].

* Regieleki was already powerful in Gen VIII thanks to its high speed and Transistor ability boosting its electric moves, but was held back by its lack of coverage beyond Normal and Rock type moves leaving it hopelessly outmatched against any decent Ground Type, then came HOME's release in Gen IX and Regieleki was made transferable in ''Scarlet/Violet'' allowing it to Terastalize and learn Tera Blast, which it used to become an Ice Type and wreak havoc on anything that once would've given it pause. With the combination of Transistor-boosted Thunderbolt and Terastalization-boosted Ice Tera Blast (essentially a stronger version of the [=BoltBeam=] coverage) boosted by either Choice Specs or Life Orb it was impossible to safely switch into it and even beating it one-on-one was hard to pull off due to it having the highest speed stat of all Pokémon at 504, making even revenge killing nigh-impossible. Even attempts to circumvent its coverage could be stopped dead in its tracks if Regieleki used Substitute, giving itself protection and a chance to set up against a would-be check or scout out entire teams allowing it and its teammates to have an overwhelming advantage against any team. It was quickly banned barely a day after the release of HOME to the surprise of no one, earning the dubious honor of the fastest quickban in any OU tier's history at the time, beating out Marshadow's previous record of 2 days in Gen VII's OU. As of now, the only Pokémon to beat its record is Terapagos (see below) who is essentially a [[PurposefullyOverpowered Box Legendary]].

* Terapagos was initially deemed as legal in OU, but it didn't remain for very long. Its Tera Shell ability allows it to resist any damaging move it takes at full health, even resisting all hits from a multi-hit move unlike Multiscale, giving it what is effectively a free turn (or multiple if Terapagos manages to heal to full again) to set up or do anything it wants if its opponent isn't packing a PowerNullifier like Mold Breaker ''and'' an attack powerful enough to one-shot it through its decently high bulk. Upon transforming into its Stellar Form by Terastallizing, its stats increase further (notably its health which increases from 90 to a whopping ''160'') to give it a staggering BST of 700, it swaps Tera Shell for Teraform Zero to let it wipe all weather and terrain, and it gains its own special version of the Stellar type which gives it a 20% power bonus (100% for Normal-type moves) to ''all moves, permanently'', which combined with its broad coverage and access to Calm Mind let it wreak havoc with virtually anything. This is on top of all forms of Terapagos having Tera Starstorm, a 120-power STAB attack with no drawbacks that, if Terapagos is in its Stellar form, hits ''[[ArmorPiercingAttack all types for neutral damage]]'' due to becoming a Stellar attack, on top of hitting all targets in Double Battles and hitting Terastallized foes for supereffective damage. Its only real let-downs are it taking up the Terastallization slot if one wants to use its full power as well as its mediocre 85 base Speed; the former is little of a downside considering how much havoc a Stellar Form Terapagos can wreak, while the speed issue can easily be sorted with Rock Polish or Rapid Spin, the latter of which also gives it utility for clearing hazards. It wasn't surprising that it got banned from OU shortly after it was introduced, beating out Regieleki's ban by about an hour and therefore giving it the current record. Many question why the thing was even legal in OU in the first place given that it was basically a [[PurposefullyOverpowered Box Legendary]].

** Already a powerhouse in OU, Kingambit is considered so absurd in National Dex that it was banned due to gaining two of Bisharp's old moves: Knock Off and Pursuit. It ended up being the best user of those two moves by far, as its humongous bulk allowed it to easily trap the strong Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Latios, Gholdengo, and Dragapult, and its Knock Off also did significant damage to some of its counters and made progress no matter what by removing the opponent's held item. Just like in regular OU, it often caused several 50/50s because of how it was the best at Terastallization with the wide variety of Tera types it could use alongside having STAB Sucker Punch to play mindgames with, while also solving Kingambit's low speed stat. Furthermore, Kingambit has [[ComebackMechanic its Supreme Overlord ability]], boosting the power of all its moves based on the number of its fainted allies, which complements well with Kingambit's excellent 135 attack. If sent out last, Kingambit could very well solo weakened teams on its own without much support due to the combination of Supreme Overlord and Swords Dance, causing a very unhealthy metagame where one mistake could cause a Kingambit to checkmate.