Pokemon Scarlet and Violet: Why is Houndstone banned from competitive play?

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, like all the mainline entries before them, feature a flourishing competitive scene. This means that the community has divided the game's roster of creatures into tiers based on their PvP feasibility. As has been the norm, there exists a tier called Uber which consists of Pokemon that are considered too strong to be allowed in the competitive multiplayer matches.

While the list generally consists of legendary Pokemon, more standard ones have also joined the fray in recent years. One such example is Houndstone, one of the new critters seen only in the Paldea region. It's barely been a month since the games were released, so players may be wondering why Houndstone has already been banned from competitive play.

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Houndstone's signature attacks is too OP to be used in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet's competitive matches

First, let's take a look at Houndstone in Scarlet and Violet:

Overview:

• Type: Ghost
• Ability: Sand Rush (Doubles the user's Speed stat in a sandstorm)
• Ability (Hidden): Fluffy (Doubles damage taken from Fire-type attacks but reduces damage from physical moves)

Stats:

• HP: 72
• Attack: 101
• Defense: 100
• Special Attack: 50
• Special Defense: 97
• Speed: 68
• Total: 488

Houndstone has a pretty poor Sp. Attack and disappointing Speed but looks good in all other aspects. It evolves from Greavard at level 30 during nighttime. It also boasts a signature move called Lost Respects. The move has a meager base power of 50, which would not be problematic if not for the gimmick that comes along with it. For every fainted Pokemon in the player's party, the power of the move is raised by another 50.

Since there can be a maximum of six Pokemon in a team, this means that Houndstone will be able to use a move with 300 power if it is the last Pokemon standing. However, since Pokemon in the game can be revived after they've already fainted, having them faint again during the same battle will further increase the move's power.

As such, there could theoretically be no ceiling for the move if the player chooses to keep reviving their critters (only to have them get knocked out again). However, the game imposes a base power cap of 5050 for the move (after the player's Pokemon faint 100 times in one battle).

To make matters even bleaker, if the player sets up Sandstorm and calls in their Houndstone with the Sand Rush ability during the weather, the ability will double its stat from 68 to 136 - which is quite faster than most monsters out there. That means Last Respects will go first unless the opponent can outspeed the user. This makes Houndstone a massive threat on the battlefield, so it makes sense as to why it has been banned from the competitive scene.

Houndstone is also the only monster that can learn this move, which is why it would be impossible to replicate this setup on another creature. Other banned critters in the game include Paradox creatures Slither Wings (based on Volcarona) and the region's legendaries like Chein-Pao and Koraidon.

Scarlet and Violet launched on November 18, 2022 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.