Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have enjoyed a great start to the competitive VGC (Video Game Championship Series) aspect of the game, but many competitive players opt for 6v6 singles over Nintendo's 4v4 doubles model. The majority of those singles players migrate to the online battle simulator Pokémon Showdown and its premiere format: Overused (OU.) Recently, the OU format has had three new Pokémon banned from competitive singles play.
Prior to the most recent series of bans, the platform sent Palafin, Iron Bundle, and the overpowered Ghost-type Pokémon Flutter Mane and Houndstone to join Miraidon and Koraidon in the forbidden Ubers tier. After recent tests and a large sample size of games, the Smogon council that determines the rules for Pokémon Showdown took away three more monsters from competitive play earlier than expected.
Which Three Scarlet & Violet Pokémon Were Banned
Annihilape, Chi-Yu, and Cyclizar were all banned from competitive singles in Pokémon Showdown. Interestingly, the three Pokémon were all banned for very different reasons. The three different roles that they had on teams were all too oppressive for the singles metagame, sadly, and it's probably for the best that OU players can't use them anymore. Still, fans of the three monsters - some of the best Pokémon in Scarlet and Violet - can still thankfully put them on teams in the Ubers tier.
Why Annihilape, Chi-Yu, & Cyclizar Were Banned In Pokémon Showdown
Primeape's ghostly evolution Annihilape was banned from Pokémon Showdown due to monstrous bulk paired with the most Rage Fist. A 50 base-power Ghost move doesn't sound like much, but the increase of 50 more power for every hit Annihilape receives sent the move over the edge. The Pokémon's access to the moves Drain Punch and Bulk Up allowed it to easily take enough hits to make Rage Fist far too powerful. It's a shame because Annihilape was a fun design that really stood up to the best of Pokémon generations before Scarlet and Violet.
Chi-Yu got banned in Pokémon Showdown for a simpler reason than Annihilape: it just did way too much damage. Nothing in the game walled Chi-Yu due to its coverage and a completely overpowered ability in Beads of Ruin. The lava goldfish was originally dismantled by Iron Bundle and Palafin, but those Pokémon being banned from singles the previous month left Chi-Yu to swim amok until the most recent series of bans.
However, Cyclizar was almost entirely banned from Pokémon Showdown for support and utility. Of the three bans, Cyclizar's ban is the most surprising, considering how easy Cyclizar is to find and catch in the actual games, but it has access to one of the best moves of all time: Shed Tail. Swapping out and creating a substitute could make it too easy for the Pokémon that was swapped in to sweep. Unlike fellow Shed Tail user Orthworm, Cyclizar didn't even feel the high HP cost of the move, thanks to its Regenerator ability. In fact, it was almost exclusively Shed Tail paired with Regenerator that made the innocent Cyclizar one of the strongest Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
Source: IGN/YouTube