Pokémon Abilities That Were NERFED

[@MattBudYT]

Join the BudZone discord! discord.com/invite/tedUUu3fu3

[@ShayTheValiant]

Gale Wings should be changed to work at 50% HP or above.

[@onetallpheeesh]

@@ShayTheValiant crazy how no one is trashing on your comment but when I said Gale Wings shouldn't have been nerfed in the grand scheme of things power creep related in the 3 following generations, I was assaulted by VGC Trolls calling me names and commenting EVERY 4 MINUTES to tell me off.

[@kailesperance1922]

Maybe it should work at 33% HP or above.

[@ShayTheValiant]

@@kailesperance1922 Why at 33%? Wouldn't just be easier to do it at 50%, or even at 25%?

[@MJ-oi6ul]

@@onetallpheeesh maybe back then talonflame was everywhere but now it is not played so people finally miss it? Lol

[@onetallpheeesh]

@@MJ-oi6ul I think it was overkill to nerf it into the ground since it is simply a route one bird and there are way bigger threats now that make Gen 6 Talonflame look like RU. In the grand scheme of things, it didn't need to be nerfed that hard, or at the very least, it doesn't need to be nerfed that hard anymore.

[@saiyanfreak]

Another reason why Regidrago’s ability did not get nerfed is because there is counter play with Misty Terrain. Although almost never used, it decreases the power of Dragon attacks by 50%. Meanwhile, Electric Terrain boosts the power of Regieleki’s moves by a further 30%, and this is a far more common terrain than Misty Terrain is.

[@MattBudYT]

@@saiyanfreak yeah but what about mud sport counterplay?

[@kitsuaria]

​@@MattBudYT Mud Sport was removed in Sword & Shield...

[@Naru_cissu]

​@@kitsuaria its like gamefreak were asking for regieleki's OPness, smh

[@christiancinnabars1402]

I'd welcome even more asymmetrical nerfs/buffs in the franchise simply due to the fact that not every Pokemon can be equals even if their numbers match in a certain way. Regidraco is a lot less effective than Regieleki, since high Speed is a lot more impactful than high HP with low Defenses. So the nerf to Regieleki and not to Regidraco is warranted. Mantine getting the +20 base HP buff and not Skarmory makes sense, because being a physically defensive Steel/Flying has historically been shown to be a lot more valuable than being a specially defensive Water/Flying. And even the mentioned Misty Terrain remaining unnerfed while every other terrain was hit in effectiveness by ~15% makes sense due to how little Misty Terrain was used even with Misty Surge becoming a thing in Gen 7. With a lot of other balance changes being made due to needing to keep a pattern, like _all 4_ of the Ruin quartet being nerfed in the day one S/V patch, I can't help but feel like some things are nerfed unfairly. For the rest of the quartet, I can see why they were nerfed. But did Wo-Chien really need the cut to its offenses?

[@GravityIsFalling]

Tapu fini is a very common Mon in VGC

[@jameshonaker585]

One thing to note about Protean/Libero: it won't proc if your type exactly matches the move being used. This means that Cinderace using a Fire-type move will not trigger Libero...but Meowscarada or Greninja using a Dark-type move WOULD trigger Protean.

[@casualscrollron3923]

So it won't work on a pokemon's primary type?

[@jameshonaker585]

@@casualscrollron3923 Not quite. It doesn't trigger on a single-typed Pokémon using their STAB;, but it will trigger on dual-types using either of theirs.

[@lasercraft32]

imo the Gale Wings nerf was unnecessary. I don't recall Talonflame EVER being that strong, even with Gale Wings (especially since there are a lot of abilities and effects that directly counter priority moves now). Gale Wings gave Talonflame some actual leverage, but now its just niche and mediocre.

[@Grand-Master_Owl]

My man forgot Battle bond, Gen 9 destroyed the mechanic, instead of giving Greninja a powerful form, the move only gives +1 to attack, sp.attack, and speed when knocking out an opponent, to further rub salt in the wound, this ability only activates once per battle, just like the two legendary wolves. Greninja fell to UU for the first time because its two amazing abilities got nerfed in Gen 9, what a shame 😔

[@MattBudYT]

@@Grand-Master_Owl I had it on my list and COMPLETELY skipped over it😭😭😭

[@FroststormFrenzy]

I wouldn't even consider that a nerf, it's a complete rework. Everything else on the list is basically the same but weaker in function. Battle Bond is more like it got removed, and a brand new ability was added in its place

[@nerddwarf]

​​@FroststormFrenzy I agree because a +1 Atk,Sp.Atk, and Speed Greninja is both faster and hits harder than Ash-Greninja, but loses its boosts on switch-out

[@Grand-Master_Owl]

@FroststormFrenzy I understand what you mean, but let's be honest, an ability that works once per battle is a criminal insult, you basically have no ability if you are force to switch out, and given that Greninja is rather frail, it happens rather often, unless you are REALLY committing for a sweep. I also want to mention that both past and future Paradox Pokémon have the same problem, but at least they can activate their abilities multiple times when certain field conditions are present (or use booster energy for a one time use)

[@voltingmaster5458]

Fun Fact: Female and Shiny Greninja were competitively unviable due to Battle Bond Greninja being both Shiny and Gender Locked, meaning if you were using either a Female or Shiny Greninja, you no longer had the element of surprise.

[@roycks12]

11:12 The knock scared me

[@samuelforsyth8934]

me TF TOO OMG

[@IngasPingas14]

i was drifting off to sleep when it happened omfg

[@mrmangbro6842]

I was at work opening the store and that scared the hell outta me

[@nebulagod]

Bro I didn't hear it when I watched it but went back because of the comments and it sent chills through my body

[@pugdad2555]

There is more than one instance where it knocks! Scared the fuck outta me

[@aldolibreri791]

Crown Zamazenta was a really good in VGC just recently. Even with the nerf, it skyrocketed to top 5 use at one point due to it getting body press. So it was a Mon that was fast, bulky, and strong that was effectively immune to intimidate due to body press. So Gen 9 VGC was actually very good for it.

[@unaffectedbycardeffects9152]

​@@onetallpheeeshunless they make a new item that gives you unaware

[@onetallpheeesh]

@@unaffectedbycardeffects9152 I hate you

[@king_of_rats_Monfernep]

Put Mewtwo, Ho-Oh or someone from Uber to OU, cuz it's awful in Uber: 🚫🚫🚫🚫🚫🚫🚫😡 Zamazenta with cursed ability and more broken stats: ✔️🤫🗿

[@AZV0108]

​@@king_of_rats_Monfernep Zamazenta-C was quickly banned from OU after wrecking havoc in the meta, and Zamazenta-H is up to be suspected in the future, but needless to say it's basically a glue Pokémon that keeps at bay most of the threats of the meta.

[@travisowens8905]

the only one i think you “missed” are the terrain setting abilities in that the power boost was lowered on the respective terrain. very similar to weather ability. also hex still does extra damage on any status including paralysis, i guess lost in the sauce. nice video

[@MattBudYT]

@@travisowens8905 the terrain nerfs for sure could have been included! For the hex tidbit I meant that clef having immunity to toxic spikes would mean that teams that use hex/venoshock and t spikes combo wouldn’t be able to get clef

[@tomsimpkins1211]

11:10 curse you for that. Had me wigging out in my house.

[@rockowlgamer631]

One thing they could do to buff Gale Wings is to let it have it's original ability back but on the condition that it can only get priority on Flying attacking moves. While Brave Bird goes first, Roost will be neutral priority or if necessary to balance out the now much stronger attacking moves, make status flying moves in this case Roost and Tailwind, have a -1 priority. Probably a terrible rework but let me know if it's ok.

[@Silverstar114]

Now can we please nerf Incin's ability to keep getting buffed?

[@onetallpheeesh]

@@unaffectedbycardeffects9152 "now can we please nerf incin's ability" are the first 7 words in the comment I replied to. Please learn how to read before you try to get all tough guy big attitude small penis with me for no reason

[@kailesperance1922]

Game Freak only gave Incin one nerf: It couldn’t learn Knock Off in Gen 8 but got it back the next generation

[@thod-thod]

They should remove helping hand and u-turn from it

[@kailesperance1922]

@@thod-thod Because for some reason, Game Freak though it’d be a good idea to give it Partibg Shot

[@axolofa]

Moody is an insane ability to not be signature to a specific pokemon. It feels like something that should only be reserved for a gimmicky mythical

[@fawfulfan]

It's so completely broken that before it was banned in competitive play, people were bringing Bidoof to Ubers, letting it boost up with Moody+Protect spam, and just taking out legendaries with it.

[@GravityIsFalling]

The reason mega ray wasn’t nerfed is because it was among 4 broken mons (primals and deer) so they’d have to nerf all 4 and god know GF ain’t doing all that Zacian tho was only 1 broken Mon

[@kailesperance1922]

Zacian: I see no god up here… other than ME!!! Urshifu, Regieleki, and Calyrex: Allow us to introduce ourselves.

[@washish0312]

thought someone knockd on my window @11:11

[@anemo_fandango]

Thank you for the jumpscare warning, very nearly got me

[@botcero2]

Had me tweaking out bruh😭😭😭

[@ozzyashton1746]

Intimidate didn’t get nerfed, other abilities got buffed to nerf it. That’s how you should really nerf something op, buff things around to counter it.

[@MattBudYT]

@@ozzyashton1746 yup, that’s pretty much how I tried to put it. I agree, still a great ability, but buffing abilities that are lower tier usefulness was a great change. Plus so many people would comment why I didn’t include intimidate if I excluded it.

[@ozzyashton1746]

@@MattBudYT fair enough

[@kailesperance1922]

Here’s what happened: VGC players in Gen 7: Omg this stupid cat keeps intimidating my Pokémon! Game Freak: Don’t worry, we’ll make certain abilities immune to intimidate. Incineroar: Haha will-o-wisp hold this burn bozo VGC players in Gen 9: Aw shit, here we go again

[@KaysonVanOrman-ef4ku]

Just as long as the buffs go to things that need it. There is a long list of abilities and things that could use buffs so it’d better come from there

[@darianclark3980]

It's weird that Effect Spore is like the only ability that had multiple balance changes.

[@matthewbreen1951]

I still can't get past nerfing Zacian and Zamazenta, Protean and Libero, but keeping Intimidate intact.

[@Pishooter]

You forgot the terrain abilities, in gen 7 they would give a 50% power boost to the attacks, but it was nerfed in gen 8 to just 30%

[@Dukstless]

That's the nerf to the terrain itself, not the abilities.

[@kailesperance1922]

Except for Misty Terrain. It blocks status and nerfs Dragon-types.

[@BNidoking]

Wait no way you dont already have 20K. We'll get there for sure Buds

[@magnuspkmn]

Joins MattBud Discord server. Like a boss.😎

[@641mamaluigi]

8:23 also forgot one more thing turns wasn’t the only thing nerfed by weather summoning abilities, overworld weather makes these abilities fail in scarlet and violet and overworld weather cannot be overwritten (which is odd because in past games overworld weather could be overwritten but it would come back after your weather ends)

[@gloweye]

>Not covering INDIRECT nerfs >Covers Intimidate

[@isandrooo]

Gale wings should give priority to all non damaging flying type moves in addition to its full health effect. It would work as a slightly better flying type prankster

[@dustindurham6825]

Aerialate also got nerfed more than any other ability as there are no longer any pokemon that can have that ability. As soon as megas went away, so did the ability. They should really put it on some non-mega pokemon.

[@bivcbmtgstgtssscqcrddgtrsm2257]

I think Gale wings should trigger when above a specific percentage, anywhere from 80% to half; I don't know what the exact placement would be, but it's a good middle ground in my opinion.

[@641mamaluigi]

0:38 counter intimate spam, yeah it’s kinda necessary, every time I play though a Pokémon game I need something that counters it because it’s everywhere even in singles some battles have multiple intimate Pokémon. (Alola was intimidate spam hell)

[@darko-man8549]

Synchronise should go back to working against poison and electric types, and toxic spikes

[@JUANORQUIO]

That’s Interesting! Have an incredible weekend!

[@jazz4209]

Lets goooooo i got my food ready 🎉🎉 Just finished it. Great vid bro!

[@Hugo-yz1vb]

I would buff the Weathet abilities to laat either 10 or 15 turns

[@adamjsher04]

remind me, doesn't prankster also get countered by Psychic Terrain and Farigirafs Armor Tail?

[@Ribombastic]

Poor Sylveon, catching a stray because Mega Salamence was too busted with Aerilate, even after the nerf. That mon was just insane, Roaring Moon could never compare.

[@iceicicle3046]

Roaring moon has better stabs though still with access to acrobatics which you can tera into flying to get a stab boost on. Mega salamence is surprisingly bulky though as long as you aren't hitting it with super effective attacks like ice especially

[@NobodyDungeons]

Did anyone else hear a knocking sound in the video?

[@JCDragon2819]

If Regigigas's Slow Start ability were changed from lasting five turns per switch in to only five turns of it being on the field per battle, would this be a buff or a nerf?

[@goGothitaLOL]

Can’t believe you forgot to mention the item Clear Amulet for VGC when talking about Intimidate

[@MattBudYT]

@@goGothitaLOL wasn’t a nerf directly tied to intimidate like the others so not something totally needed.

[@kailesperance1922]

Incineroar when facing down Clear Amulet Pokémon: Haha Will-o-Wisp hold this burn bozo.

[@djdrizzy9139]

I like Meowscarada, and I was disappointed that they nerfed Protean when the grass starter finally gets it. Though I have hope that it will revert back next game, since it was likely nerfed to not overshadow Tera.

[@yourdemiseishere]

BTW para has been 50% but at some point made 33%, i think in alola.

[@MattBudYT]

@@yourdemiseishere you’re thinking of confusion. Unless you’re talking the speed drop then it changed from 75% reduction to 50%

[@yourdemiseishere]

@@MattBudYT Nah i just always thought it went with confusion, nvm then.

[@tonled6960]

u forgot clear body, defiant, and contrary are good abilities against Intimidate

[@goGothitaLOL]

And Competitive, but they were not enough to stop people from suggesting direct nerfs prior to Gen 8

[@MattBudYT]

@@tonled6960 not tied to intimidate really though or I could mention sooo many things

[@Psychomaniac14]

with the -ate abilities you forgot Galvanize which is Electric -ate

[@MattBudYT]

@@Psychomaniac14 Galvanize was introduced in Generation 7. It has always been 20% so it was never nerfed.

[@Psychomaniac14]

@@MattBudYT unless my memory is wrong, in the video you said they were nerfed in generation 8

[@MattBudYT]

@@Psychomaniac14I said generation 7 in the video. They were just 30% for the one gen

[@attilaszanto2275]

Psycho Shift was introduced in gen 4, it didn't exist in gen 3.

[@Undermine5]

klutz got nerfed to prevent the use of a one use attack?

[@jerseys89finest]

can they fix my boi regigigas? give him curse or something. or make his ability last 3 turns idk. my boi down bad. slow start is trash

[@BDAShadow1]

Gale Wings could have been 50% health instead of 100%. Prankster failing against Dark types instead of just losing priority is pretty annoying.

[@MattBudYT]

I think 50% would have been good. Or even giving them priority when below 50% to make them sort of act like the starter abilities. But that would probably be even worse for Talonflame, especially in VGC.

[@swagfun9054]

Where did u get the gen 3 footage in the weather section? Is there a way to play 6v6 OU with others on the original game via emulator?

[@MattBudYT]

CrimZ youtube channel. I have a little footage title underneath it. It is an older video so I’m not sure if you can do that. All I know is showdown has 6v6 OU for gen 3

[@deathpigeon2]

That isn't a bug with Toxic hitting. Toxic always hits when used by a Poison type Pokémon, even during the semi-invulnerable turn of Fly, Dig, Dive, and Shadow Force.

[@MattBudYT]

@@deathpigeon2 toxic didn’t hit. That was the bug

[@unaffectedbycardeffects9152]

It shouldn't hit during semi-invulnerability turns. No move does that without specifying it (like surf hitting dive mons)

[@deathpigeon2]

@@unaffectedbycardeffects9152 Toxic used by a Poison type always hits no matter what.

[@unaffectedbycardeffects9152]

@@deathpigeon2 yes, but semi-invulnerability turns are different. Moves like aerial ace also always hit. But they are avoided by moves such as fly. Toxic was always supposed to work that way

[@deathpigeon2]

@@unaffectedbycardeffects9152 Aerial Ace isn't a move that hits no matter what, it's a move that skips accuracy checks. Toxic when used by a Poison type Pokémon simply hits the opponent no matter what. It is intended for it to hit during semi-invulnerable turns. Try it on a game cartridge some time.

[@Zoroark_Master]

Greninja Battle bound?

[@snobjorn1232]

The biggest nerf is still alive parents in pokemon

[@TwoBsTwoTs]

What does this mean

[@Boltofbrilliance122]

It can't be nerf if it was never changed

[@Slushea]

Wouldn't run away be banned since it boosts evasion, i'm not 100% sure but I know evasion boosting is sorta banned in VGC due to it being stupid

[@MattBudYT]

@@Slushea it would act like a shed shell. Not boosting evasion, just denying trapping, which is a trait ghost types naturally have.

[@Slushea]

​@@MattBudYT Ah alright, I don't know all the clauses minus knowing evasion spamming is banned

[@kailesperance1922]

Evasion isn’t very good in vgc due to things like Perish Song, Sacred Sword, and of course, Taunt.

[@KidHakeem]

What was that Tyranitar name 🤨 9:00

[@futureDreamer4]

Protean should have stayed the same but prevented the user from using the terra gimmick.

[@smokeyjoseph1790]

It doesent even matter cuz tera turns off the ability any way😂

[@iceicicle3046]

Love how meowscarda is better than gren now lol. Probably just because of knock off tho tbh

[@jacekmaraj1774]

w thumbnail submissive incineroar

[@smittz_]

oooohohoho the fringe gen 7 sweeper has broken the video game! its ABILITY! NO sash for you the mono-ice sweeper with the worse design and shallower movepool can get the old version :) as a treat :)

[@MattBudYT]

To be fair, Ice Face functions differently. Doesn’t block against special moves and restores in hail/snow.

[@smittz_]

@@MattBudYT oh true i actually didn't know it was phys-only

[@fawfulfan]

Protean has basically just turned into one free extra Terastallization without the power boost.

[@SquishyOfCinder]

Hopefully they nerf Good as Gold

[@woahwhat7321]

I’m early rahhh🗣️

[@BioLex21]

Hi

[@BucketBoysOfficial]

First ❤🎉

[@TheBlur182]

Your voice is overly monotonous