Ladder ORAS Monotype Discussion

[scpinion]

The March usage stats are up on the Monotype Website. I'm sorry it took me so long to get around to this. This was the last thing on my list of things to do so I'd be caught up from the LoA.

Pokemon usage stats and sprite gallery: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/sprite-gallery.html
Type Matchup Table and Imbalanced Matchups: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/matchup-tables.html
Metagame Trends/Type Analyses/Lead Information: http://monotypeps.weebly.com/type-analyses.html

As always, make sure to let me know if you need any help understanding something, or if you find any bugs!

 

[scpinion]

The Monotype stats section is moving off the room's Weebly. This transition makes it 1000000x easier for me to maintain the stats on a month to month basis, and allows you to view the stats for all metagames/weightings.

The matchup table and metagame trends sections haven't been ported over yet, but I will do it ASAP. As such, that data isn't available for April yet.

You may view the new stats section here: http://monotypeps.tk/smogon-usage-stats/#monotype-1630

Water saw a massive jump in usage and knocked Psychic from the top spot in the 1630 stats! It is also pretty interesting to look at how things change with the weighting. In particular, some of the lower-tier types see a massive jump in the 1760 stats. I'm guessing that comes from the LTLC. What are your thoughts on the April usage stats?

 

[6ti]

I think water's jump is based mostly on the prevalence of volcanion, and although it isn't anywhere close to broken imo, its still a huge threat that people will have to learn to play around.

 

[Fírnen]

I think water's jump is based mostly on the prevalence of volcanion, and although it isn't anywhere close to broken imo, its still a huge threat that people will have to learn to play around.

No, it isn't. Look the Volcanion usage, it isn't above 30%. (Only its usage in Fire type is enough to influence type usage (~60-70%).
I think water type had just a good period.

 

[Trichotomy]

I think water's jump is based mostly on the prevalence of volcanion, and although it isn't anywhere close to broken imo, its still a huge threat that people will have to learn to play around.

probably not

No, it isn't. Look the Volcanion usage, it isn't above 30%. (Only its usage in Fire type is enough to influence type usage (~60-70%).
I think water type had just a good period.

yep, water is a very good balanced type. it has a good mu with a lot of the types in the meta rn so its inevitable that it sees a rise in usage

 

[Ridley]

I think water's jump is based mostly on the prevalence of volcanion, and although it isn't anywhere close to broken imo, its still a huge threat that people will have to learn to play around.

I agree with the fact that the release of volcanion did indeed have a factor in the rise of usage of water, but it was not mostly based on it. Water is just a really good type right now with above average match ups with the majority of the types in the metagame.

 

[6ti]

(sorry about the uninformed post, i was in a rush and wanted to start a discussion but I should've actually clicked the link lol) Something else I saw that surprised me is that Fighting is at #2 at 1630, but for the past 2 months it hasn't even been top 3 in usage.

 

[scpinion]

I think we're seeing a a bunch of Water in response to the rise of Psychic. Mega-Gyara and Mega Shark have an excellent matchup vs. Psy (among the best of any mega-evo's) and a pretty good matchup vs. Flying. When I think about building to c-team Psy, while still making sure my team is generally viable, a standard water build is among the first things to come to mind.

The usage stats for those two m-evo's on water teams over the last couple months seem to show this. Once people realized Hoopa-U wasn't getting banned, they adapted by using teams/mega-evo's that fare well vs. Psychic

For the 1760 stats:
M-Gyara: 27 -> 29 -> 34.9
M-Shark: 24 -> 22.6 -> 32

Overall, it is nice to see the top end of the metagame adapt (once again) to a type that was dominating the meta for a given period of time.

 

[Wanka]

Im not sure how much ltlc had an affect on grass's usage, but im actually really happy to see it that high on the 1760 stats. The balance grass core of venu/ferro/cradily and even gourgeist sometimes has proven to be surprisingly effective. It's really good at being able to stack hazards and wear teams down with seeds. To support the core, whimsicott is a fantastic mon on any grass team due to its typing and utility it provides. Brelloom acts as a nice sweeper stopper and the wild card slot on grass teams can consist of some really cool mons that have respective niches. Rotom mow is a very good scarfer to be able to have some speed control and pivot around between the grass core. Shiftry can run a really cool mixed set or a swords dance set to help vs some offensive builds and psy teams. Having access to defog can help as well since the grass core is prone to hazard stack itself. Celebi is also an extremely versatile mon that can run a multitude of offensive sets to get by certain mons that give grass teams a hard time.

Pretty cool to see it that high overall.

Good stuff.

 

[Dece1t]

Juleo and Crimson both ravaged the ladder for LTLC. Both of them did excellent. That's probably why grass is so high lol.

 

[scpinion]

There is no doubt Fairy is a great tour type. I don't think we see it in the ladder stats because it can struggle with all those ppl in the 14-1600 range with a copy of AFD's HO Steel or a Bug team with (Mega-)Scizor. Just based on the merits of those generic teams, they're typically high enough for you to catch them when you search from a top 100 alt and winning that Scizor vs. Fairy matchup is tough.

Just some thoughts. I actually decided to ladder a bit over the last 2 weeks to prepare for the seasonal, which means I have something to contribute to this discussion this time. Woo!

 

[Calucha]

Catching up on reading this thread and seeing Ghost's recent stats for April. I feel like the discussion on a possible Skarmory banning to allow Ghost to use Aegis was derailed and would like to start it up again. I will most likely make a bigger post with more detail later on in the week explaining why I believe a Skarmory banning might be beneficial, but I would definitely like to see people from the other side on why they believe this to be a bad idea post about it. I have already read the ones posted on this thread and I will address them too, but please feel free to restate or add anything else. In fact I implore you lol XD

 

[feen]

Catching up on reading this thread and seeing Ghost's recent stats for April. I feel like the discussion on a possible Skarmory banning to allow Ghost to use Aegis was derailed and would like to start it up again. I will most likely make a bigger post with more detail later on in the week explaining why I believe a Skarmory banning might be beneficial, but I would definitely like to see people from the other side on why they believe this to be a bad idea post about it. I have already read the ones posted on this thread and I will address them too, but please feel free to restate or add anything else. In fact I implore you lol XD

No. Your idea does not do anything good in the meta at all. Banning Skarmory is a ridiculous excuse of making your shit type less shittier. If anything, you're destroying Steel and Flying types best physical wall in the process. I don't see any reason why would anyone support Aegislash over Skarmory unless they want to lose over 40% of their games using a shit type that will still be pretty shit. A banning / unbanning isn't made on a certain "usage", I suggest you check the tiering policy before suggesting such idiotic ideas.

 

[Cresselia92]

No. Your idea does not do anything good in the meta at all. Banning Skarmory is a ridiculous excuse of making your shit type less shittier. If anything, you're destroying Steel and Flying types best physical wall in the process. I don't see any reason why would anyone support Aegislash over Skarmory unless they want to lose over 40% of their games using a shit type that will still be pretty shit. A banning / unbanning isn't made on a certain "usage", I suggest you check the tiering policy before suggesting such idiotic ideas.

So, in other words, it's perfectly fine to render a previously passable type almost completely unusuable just because it's already a mediocre type, while God forbid if something is banned from two of the most powerful and versatile types?

Now, I'm not asking to try to have all types equally balanced and viable, because that task is virtually impossible to accomplish without banning at least half of the current Pokémon, but I don't think we should ignore the less used types just because they are "junk".

Regarding how Flying and Steel would do without Skarmory, I'm going to respond in this way: they would need to adapt. Just like types like Fire and Fairy were forced to adapt when Talonflame and Mega Mawile left the metagame, so should Flying and Steel do if Skarmory were to leave. Instead of using Skarmory to blanket check things like Ice and Rock for Flying and Ground for Steel, they could use things like Mega Charizard Y / Mega Gyarados to check Ice and Gliscor / Landorus to check Rock for the former, and things like Bronzong and Magnet Rise to check Ground for the latter. If low types are forced to use niche Pokémon and options just to check specific Pokémon and cover specific weaknesses, then I don't see why more varied and powerful types can't follow suit and simply standarize previously "niche" choices, which would just become less niche and allow a bit more of diversity on this metagame.

Personally, I'm completely neutral toward this theoretical "Skarmory ban", but using double standards just to preserve higher types to the detriment of lower types doesn't sound as a very good argument.

 

[feen]

So, in other words, it's perfectly fine to render a previously passable type almost completely unusuable just because it's already a mediocre type, while God forbid if something is banned from two of the most powerful and versatile types?

Now, I'm not asking to try to have all types equally balanced and viable, because that task is virtually impossible to accomplish without banning at least half of the current Pokémon, but I don't think we should ignore the less used types just because they are "junk".

Regarding how Flying and Steel would do without Skarmory, I'm going to respond in this way: they would need to adapt. Just like types like Fire and Fairy were forced to adapt when Talonflame and Mega Mawile left the metagame, so should Flying and Steel do if Skarmory were to leave. Instead of using Skarmory to blanket check things like Ice and Rock for Flying and Ground for Steel, they could use things like Mega Charizard Y / Mega Gyarados to check Ice and Gliscor / Landorus to check Rock for the former, and things like Bronzong and Magnet Rise to check Ground for the latter. If low types are forced to use niche Pokémon and options just to check specific Pokémon and cover specific weaknesses, then I don't see why more varied and powerful types can't follow suit and simply standarize previously "niche" choices, which would just become less niche and allow a bit more of diversity on this metagame.

Personally, I'm completely neutral toward this theoretical "Skarmory ban", but using double standards just to preserve higher types to the detriment of lower types doesn't sound as a very good argument.

?

Do you really not understand how silly you sound? Are you really comparing Skarmory to Talonflame and Mega Mawile? I wasn't gonna bother reply to you because you clearly don't know what you're talking about but let me educate you dude. Ghost was perfectly fine before Aegislash was there. If anything, Aegislash made Ghost worse, but putting in less skill (If you don't know the time when this was then just stop arguing ignorantly). You don't know what you're talking about when you suggested the alternative to Skarmory on Flying because they don't fulfill the role Skarmory does on Flying. Also sure, I also love using random mons without reliable recovery so that the mons that I counter can wear me down.

If low types are forced to use niche Pokémon and options just to check specific Pokémon and cover specific weaknesses, then I don't see why more varied and powerful types can't follow suit and simply standarize previously "niche" choices, which would just become less niche and allow a bit more of diversity on this metagame.

I really don't know why you're saying this, a good type is good because of the privilege it gets, they define the Monotype metagame. I don't see a reason why you would just downright ban a Pokemon even though the banning won't benefit the tier in any way. Don't say having Ghost better will be any good because they'd just be easier to use but still be less used because it's a shitty type in general lmao. I really you should ask yourself what "unhealthy" means, and then think if the metagame is unhealthy or not. If no, then just stop posting because you're trying to ruin the meta. If yes then I don't know what's wrong with you.

 

[Wanka]

You guys really gotta stop with the banning skarm shit, its the most illogical ideaology that has come across this thread. There is absolutely nothing good that would come of it and the only thing that it would do is completely unbalance a meta that we worked so hard to get balanced. There is absolutely no justification to the arguments where some of you think playing fool to the least used type is a good idea because you feel bad for ghost as a whole. A big part of mono's teiring philosophy is based on the notion that if potentially hindering a lower tier type brings on a balancing of the metagame, then that type is going to have to suffer to benefit the greater of the tier. That is exactly what happened with ghost and it has worked out fine and the meta is as balanced as its ever been.

Banning skarmory is the absolute dumbest idea that has been brought up in this thread. You guys really have to stop with the discussion about it, its never going to happen.

 

[Misaka Mikoto]

Regarding how Flying and Steel would do without Skarmory, I'm going to respond in this way: they would need to adapt. Just like types like Fire and Fairy were forced to adapt when Talonflame and Mega Mawile left the metagame, so should Flying and Steel do if Skarmory were to leave. Instead of using Skarmory to blanket check things like Ice and Rock for Flying and Ground for Steel, they could use things like Mega Charizard Y / Mega Gyarados to check Ice and Gliscor / Landorus to check Rock for the former, and things like Bronzong and Magnet Rise to check Ground for the latter. If low types are forced to use niche Pokémon and options just to check specific Pokémon and cover specific weaknesses, then I don't see why more varied and powerful types can't follow suit and simply standarize previously "niche" choices, which would just become less niche and allow a bit more of diversity on this metagame.

I'm going to reply saying, "Ghost need to adapt to the Aegislash ban."

Regardless, banning a Pokemon that isn't overpowering/broken for the sake of unbanning Aegislash to support one type alone isn't doing a thing. Besides, Ghost will still be in the bottom only to be back where it is in being above Poison, Ice, Electric, and Rock and sometimes Grass. Nothing is truly going to change or make a big difference with its usage. Learn to cope with the ban and deal with it please. This Aegislash stuff has been an issue with the complaining for 2 months now as the decision regarding its banning is set in stone.

On Steel-types, you're losing a viable hazard setter and phazer with Stealth Rock/Spikes and Whirlwind. Also, Steel's main Ground immunity. Not to mention a Pokemon with access to Roost to stall out the opponent. Why would you even want to use Bronzong? That thing is so bad and the only things it can do is set up Stealth Rock and use Trick Room. Other than that I don't see any use for it and many people would agree as well. It's bad along with Magnet Rise because nobody ever uses it on Steel and it's so gimmicky. As for Flying, you're making them resort to being offensive and less balanced. Same thing with Steel.

Ghost is fine and they're doing good. You're not forced to used the type.

Monotype will never in any way resort to doing something like this and this is a very incorrect way of approaching this situation. This isn't a solution and it's going to create more problems.

I don't think you'd understand how "Pokemon bans" work in Monotype.

Please stop discussing this ridiculous topic because it won't get you anywhere with it.

Thank you.

 

[Cresselia92]

There is no need to use such aggressive tone to express your opinion on the matter. I was merely questioning the logic behind the arguments used to justify Skarmory's place in the metagame, that's all.

I'm fully aware of the fact that Skarmory per se isn't broken, and I know well that Pokémon shouldn't just be banned or unbanned only to support lower types, as Kyurem-W and Shaymin-S can prove. However, the real crux is if the metagame as a whole is balanced as is, or if something needs to be done before the arrival of the new generation.

 

[Misaka Mikoto]

However, the real crux is if the metagame is balanced as a whole as is, or if something needs to be done before the arrival of the new generation.

Then lets leave this topic buried under.

Only thing to look forward to is Sun/Moon in 6 months. All we can do is hope for better Pokemon and or changes GameFreak will make on any of the 18 types.

 

[Dece1t]

?

Do you really not understand how silly you sound? Are you really comparing Skarmory to Talonflame and Mega Mawile? I wasn't gonna bother reply to you because you clearly don't know what you're talking about but let me educate you dude. Ghost was perfectly fine before Aegislash was there. If anything, Aegislash made Ghost worse, but putting in less skill (If you don't know the time when this was then just stop arguing ignorantly). You don't know what you're talking about when you suggested the alternative to Skarmory on Flying because they don't fulfill the role Skarmory does on Flying. Also sure, I also love using random mons without reliable recovery so that the mons that I counter can wear me down.



I really don't know why you're saying this, a good type is good because of the privilege it gets, they define the Monotype metagame. I don't see a reason why you would just downright ban a Pokemon even though the banning won't benefit the tier in any way. Don't say having Ghost better will be any good because they'd just be easier to use but still be less used because it's a shitty type in general lmao. I really you should ask yourself what "unhealthy" means, and then think if the metagame is unhealthy or not. If no, then just stop posting because you're trying to ruin the meta. If yes then I don't know what's wrong with you.

I disagree that Ghost was better without Aegislash, but, opinions are opinions I suppose.

Seriously though, those of you who are new to this thread, I highly urge you to read the OP before making a post as ridiculous as banning Skarmory. The 1st time it was brought up, I'll be completely honest, it was a few of us joking. I agree Ghost seriously got nerfed using Aegi, but that's not the way to go about it by any means.

As an additional comment, seriously can we lay off the personal attacks? This is a discussion thread, let's keep it civil.

 

[scpinion]

I don't support a Skarmory ban, but I do support discussing this type of stuff when it comes up.

If these things are as non-sensical as people are claiming it shouldn't be hard to write a well-reasoned post that doesn't just call someone "dumb", "stupid", "idiotic", etc. People can like that post if they agree with it and we can move on.

A couple people responded with good points above. In some senses I'm just collating those in to one post here.

Before I do that, I want to get at some of the things that have been brought up so far concerning the tiering philosophy:

We don't tier with any particular type in mind.
We don't tier to "keep the good types good".
We don't tier to make all types equal.

We tier so that the metagame is balanced, isn't excessively reliant on team matchup (obviously there are limitations on this given the nature of Monotype), and has enough diversity for us to enjoy playing it.


A central element of the tiering philosophy is "Does it add to or subtract from the metagame?".

When thinking about "swapping" the Aegislash ban for a Skarmory ban, I think we're losing far more than we gain. This centers around 3 things:

1. Adding Aegislash to Ghost teams still leaves it among the lower tier types
No one is going to argue that Ghost is not better with Aegislash. I'm also not going to claim to be an expert on building/playing Ghost. However, through the entire ORAS metagame we never really saw Ghost have widespread success with Aegislash. There were particular players that excelled with it, but it has always been among the lower tier types and not particularly impactful on the overall metagame. (just my opinion, not a statement of fact)

2. Removing Skarmory from Flying doesn't ruin the type, but does require everyone to significantly change their approach
Obviously Skarmory is important to Flying, but I don't think it will completely ruin the type if it was removed. There are just far too many good Flying types for that to happen. Lando-T can certainly fill the role of Rock-neutrality, SR setter, and defensive "wall". It doesn't have the staying power of Skarmory, but it is a much better replacement than Bronzong on Steel teams. If anything, I think it might increase the diversity of Flying teams (a good thing). It could also allow us to consider unbanning CharX or Mega-Alt, which is very interesting in my opinion.

3. Adding Aegislash while removing Skarmory decimates Steel teams.
On Steel, Skarmory is the all important immunity that many Monotype teams need to be successful. Importantly, it is one of the only Steel types that has significant staying power throughout a match. Both Misaka and Arifeen pointed out that shifting this role over to Bronzong leaves the balanced Steel teams very weak. Also, removing Skarmory cripples the offensive builds that are very common right now by removing their primary hazard setter. This alone isn't necessarily a bad thing, but adding Aegislash has to bring something that fills the void and makes the overall metagame better.

Adding Aegislash to a Skarmory-less Steel team doesn't do much... The immunity core doesn't exist. Those balanced Steel teams that we often cite as being too powerful with Aegislash aren't an option. You get a more potent Fighting immunity for balanced builds. Offensive builds get a better version of SD Doublade. Both playstyles are overly weak to Ground attacks. Aegislash also comes with the annoying 50/50s from King's Shield, which I don't think anyone truly enjoys or finds healthy.

Overall, what did we accomplish?
We slightly improved Ghost, which we know has minimal impact on the overall meta. We nerfed Flying and forced Flying trainers to explore new builds that don't feature Skarmory. Finally, we killed off an entire playstyle (Balanced Steel) and made the offensive Steel teams worse.

I don't see how anyone can interpret this as improving the metagame.

 

[Seo.]

in my opinion, skarmory doesn't deserve a ban in the smallest bit. Like scp said, it doesnt completely ruin Flying that much yet does affect steel a bit, but it does in the extent where people would have to look at their teams in a different way. I dont agree with a skarmory ban at all, this meta so far is pretty good the way its going tbh, just cant wait to see what gen 7 has to offer for monotype

 

[Zane0144]

Why are you all stating banning Skarm on steel and making people rethink their teams as a bad thing? Whats so bad about making Steel users think a bit more than usual? Steel still has ground resists: Bronzong, Ferrothorn, Aegislash doesn't resist but is bulky enough to live EQs and get WP boosts. Registeel is a pretty bulky mon in its own right, as well as those two bulky steel megas Steelix and Aggron. Steel loses its defogger, but i see more rapid spin on steel anyway. Plus steel doesn't care about hazards other than triple spikes anyway. (Webs just boosts Bisharp).

The only mon that threatens levitate with mold breaker is Excadrill, which steel can also run. So, it shouldn't be too difficult for good players to keep Bronzong alive for spinning, setting, screening, and trick rooming with a balloon or two. Defensive steel is still decent. You got that nice Fire, fighting, semi ground, and even electric/twave immunity core. You just can't bank off of two mons to do most of the heavy lifting anymore. You are also free to make use of the mass of other viable Steel pokemon that are underused like Empoleon, Cobalion, Aggron, Durant, and Lucario. Or make use of trick room builds.

Idk be creative! I'm not an expert on anything besides bug. So I won't pretend my arguments above are any good. But I feel this really hasn't been discussed to its fullest. What about more discussion of skarm replacements for steel? I highly doubt it would be dead just from losing skarm.

And no this isn't about "balancing the types" and never was. This is merely a alternative suggestion to breaking Steel's OP immunity core with less collateral damage to ghost. And a bit of more damage to two types who can take a hit and bounce back much easier. Two types whose metagame is so stale its a joke.

 

[Acast]

Why are you all stating banning Skarm on steel and making people rethink their teams as a bad thing? Whats so bad about making Steel users think a bit more than usual? Steel still has ground resists: Bronzong, Ferrothorn, Aegislash doesn't resist but is bulky enough to live EQs and get WP boosts. Registeel is a pretty bulky mon in its own right, as well as those two bulky steel megas Steelix and Aggron. Steel loses its defogger, but i see more rapid spin on steel anyway. Plus steel doesn't care about hazards other than triple spikes anyway. (Webs just boosts Bisharp).

The only mon that threatens levitate with mold breaker is Excadrill, which steel can also run. So, it shouldn't be too difficult for good players to keep Bronzong alive for spinning, setting, screening, and trick rooming with a balloon or two. Defensive steel is still decent. You got that nice Fire, fighting, semi ground, and even electric/twave immunity core. You just can't bank off of two mons to do most of the heavy lifting anymore. You are also free to make use of the mass of other viable Steel pokemon that are underused like Empoleon, Cobalion, Aggron, Durant, and Lucario. Or make use of trick room builds.

Idk be creative! I'm not an expert on anything besides bug. So I won't pretend my arguments above are any good. But I feel this really hasn't been discussed to its fullest. What about more discussion of skarm replacements for steel? I highly doubt it would be dead just from losing skarm.

And no this isn't about "balancing the types" and never was. This is merely a alternative suggestion to breaking Steel's OP immunity core with less collateral damage to ghost. And a bit of more damage to two types who can take a hit and bounce back much easier. Two types whose metagame is so stale its a joke.

Every kind of Ghost team suffered an unfortunate nerf when Aegislash was banned, but this was necessary collateral damage. Skarmory is not the issue and it never has been. Scpinion summed up my opinion very nicely:

Overall, what did we accomplish [by banning Skarmory and unbanning Aegislash]?
We slightly improved Ghost, which we know has minimal impact on the overall meta. We nerfed Flying and forced Flying trainers to explore new builds that don't feature Skarmory. Finally, we killed off an entire playstyle (Balanced Steel) and made the offensive Steel teams worse.

I don't see how anyone can interpret this as improving the metagame.

We're not concerned with individual types, which should be obvious considering the tiering philosophy we have adopted. We're concerned with the overall metagame and whether each decision makes a positive or negative change. It's fairly clear to me that banning Skarmory just so Ghost can play with Aegislash would be a negative change.

 

[Eien]

Why are you all stating banning Skarm on steel and making people rethink their teams as a bad thing? Whats so bad about making Steel users think a bit more than usual? Steel still has ground resists: Bronzong, Ferrothorn, Aegislash doesn't resist but is bulky enough to live EQs and get WP boosts. Registeel is a pretty bulky mon in its own right, as well as those two bulky steel megas Steelix and Aggron. Steel loses its defogger, but i see more rapid spin on steel anyway. Plus steel doesn't care about hazards other than triple spikes anyway. (Webs just boosts Bisharp).

The only mon that threatens levitate with mold breaker is Excadrill, which steel can also run. So, it shouldn't be too difficult for good players to keep Bronzong alive for spinning, setting, screening, and trick rooming with a balloon or two. Defensive steel is still decent. You got that nice Fire, fighting, semi ground, and even electric/twave immunity core. You just can't bank off of two mons to do most of the heavy lifting anymore. You are also free to make use of the mass of other viable Steel pokemon that are underused like Empoleon, Cobalion, Aggron, Durant, and Lucario. Or make use of trick room builds.

Idk be creative! I'm not an expert on anything besides bug. So I won't pretend my arguments above are any good. But I feel this really hasn't been discussed to its fullest. What about more discussion of skarm replacements for steel? I highly doubt it would be dead just from losing skarm.

And no this isn't about "balancing the types" and never was. This is merely a alternative suggestion to breaking Steel's OP immunity core with less collateral damage to ghost. And a bit of more damage to two types who can take a hit and bounce back much easier. Two types whose metagame is so stale its a joke.

You make it sound like banning Skarmory and unbanning Aegislash enables anything you said, while the truth is that all of those "new ideas" are possible. Simply because the popular HO Steel doesn't feature other Steel-types doesn't make them all unviable. Both Empoleon and Cobalion are definitely Pokemon I've seen be used by top Steel users. Banning Skarmory doesn't make these any more viable; in fact banning Skarmory makes most of the teams that feature Empoleon and Cobalion far less viable. The primary issue is that Doublade->Aegislash doesn't do nearly enough to counter the fact that Skarmory is now gone. Skarmory compressed countless roles into one teamslot, allowing Steel to be more versatile in the remaining slots. If you want versatile Steel teams, banning Skarmory is not the way to go.

By the way, I would note you said "keep Bronzong alive for spinning", Bronzong can't Rapid Spin. Further, Defensive Steel is not decent at all by any stretch of the imagination if Skarmory is banned. Bronzong cannot fill the hole Skarmory leaves because it has no reliable recovery. Further, your claim that only Excadrill threatens Levitate is also incorrect, as Kyurem-B can now Earth Power Steel teams with far more ease because Teravolt ignores Bronzong's Levitate. Ferrothorn also has no reliable recovery, making it a poor long term answer to Kyurem-B. The only real switch-in is Mega Scizor, which on more offensive builds does not pack recovery or bulk, making it also a poor long term answer to Kyurem-B. Defensive Mega Scizor of course cares very little for Earth Power.

Neither Flying nor Steel are overpowered types, nor is Skarmory specifically overpowered in any way, so it makes little sense to me . Both teams rely on its role compression, which allows them to more easily build teams. If your issue is that Flying and Steel are stale, banning Skarmory will probably temporarily force changes in teams before both are actually forced to converge to far more standardized builds than at present, which if you're considered about staleness would be the complete opposite of your desire outcome.