So I'm actually kinda unsure. I used to think deo-a teams were the most broken shit and then i found they're kinda fun to play against. Maybe it's because I have good prediction and play stall but w/e.
An average z-spam match
Still undecided, but currently leaning towards no ban. I can see why CFZ moves are unhealthy, but yes they can be countered, and no you don't need to run shit like pin missile ninjask. Just up your stall game.
Here's what CFZ moves let you do
- Let you create one-time lures
- Force advantageous one-time 50-50s
- Completely prevent Poison Heal from going up on non-Electric Immune mons
- Act as a balance breaker
Here are the opportunity costs of running CFZ moves
- You have to use a moveslot for a 1 PP move
While that may not seem like much, it means that
- You have to give up reliable stab or a slot for coverage
- OR you have to run leppa berry with or without Harvest
- Imposters can use your CFZ move with impunity knowing that they can replenish PP by switching out and back in
Do the benefits outweigh the opportunity cost? For fast-paced teams, like Deo-A spam, the answer is obviously YES. However, for teams that rely on other Pokemon, it's a gray area, and you have to think "Is it worth it for my Mewtwo to be able to get past Yveltal if and only if I predict correctly?" For that reason, it's obviously Deo-A/Mewtwo Y/Pheromosa spam teams that are the problem, and CFZ-moves are actually perfectly healthy without using 6 of those mons. While there are some Z-moves that are obviously completely unbalanced (specifically Guardian of Alola), those can be banned separately. Since non-Deospam teams would rarely use several Pokemon with CFZ-moves, I'm proposing a compromise option:
Ban CFZ-moves on more than one Pokemon.