Why Ditto Is Useless In Generation 9

[@kalosianporygon]

I did NOT expect that interaction between Stellar-type and Transform/Imposter. It's a rare case of GF having insight and using it for evil.

[@blip_exists]

Its so random and so dumb, I quite dislike the interaction

[@pketr5]

@kalosianporygon I suspect that there was a bug they could not fix. It was so oddly specific.

[@Luna-Lux]

The word you're looking for is hindsight NOT insight

[@Windowmeiker]

@@Luna-Lux No, no it is not. Hindsight is understanding something only after it has happened.

[@Luna-Lux]

@@Windowmeiker pokemon SV have already been released

[@greattitan371]

Ditto is historically one of the best pokemon at the start of a meta when everything is unexplored and falls off hard later when the meta is discovered. It peaked #3 in usage very early in the gen.

[@blip_exists]

Yep, but oftentimes even after the meta falls into place, it still remains a usable, if bad, pick. Right now, its fairly unusable, doesn't even have an analysis for OU.

[@Aquilenne]

Not just when it's unexplored, but more importantly before things get banned. Ditto tends to be best as a hyper-offense counter, and Smogon historically bans hyper-offense pokemon whenever it's strong.

[@blip_exists]

@@Aquilenne Hyper offense is arguably the strongest playstyle right now if I'm not mistaken?

[@Aquilenne]

​@@blip_exists It could be though I would be surprised with so many powerful bulky attackers around, you'd know more about current gen since I stopped playing current gen after I found the Goldengho enabled hazard stacking metagame that was around at the time incredibly unfun. This generation is a bit weird for Ditto because of generational gimmicks that break how it works, but when you look back at for example, last generation, Ditto's popularity was huge at the start when you had extremely strong attackers like Galarian Darmanitan and Dracovish for it to copy, and fell off when they got banned, because due to keeping its original HP (and the need to hold a choice scarf to reliably do its job of beating setup attacks) Ditto's design doesn't work as well when it copies a bulky pokemon (unless it's a straight PP stall situation where you can sometimes refresh your PP by switching around).

[@regalstar]

The way I see it Ditto is like the opposite of a mine canary bird; it thrives only in a meta that is toxic enough that your best bet at beating something is to throw itself back at them, so if it's having great usage something is *very* wrong with the meta and needs to be addressed.

[@kyethememer9836]

Ditto's animated moving 2d sprite is so mesmerizing to look at.

[@TheReZisTLust]

Meanwhile 3d ditto holding a balloon

[@togakhan1274]

Actually another thing to mention is that Ditto is STILL incredible in Ubers and AG. Paradox mons and Ogers are very, very rare and Terapagos is not exactly popular there either. So Ditto usually gets to Imposter with no issues and as for Tera Types, it has the option to Tera Ghost and Fairy which are universally effective against EKiller and Korai and Mirai resp.

[@blip_exists]

Yeah, in Ubers a lot of the problems Ditto faces aren't apparent, as well as it being a higher power format that Ditto tends to thrive in!

[@nickvang7]

Who the hell is EKiller

[@Seblak]

​@@nickvang7 Extreme speed killer, such as Arceus or Dragonite

[@gaminggranny1541]

I blame that iconic "Gen 9 Power Creep™" Can't wait for them to evolve ditto to fix that if they reintroduce Paradoxes to Gen 10

[@blip_exists]

I mean, power creep tends to favour ditto, see it being good in Ubers in many generations.

[@cortster12]

Ditto evolves into mew at level 101.

[@EmersonDjabi]

@@gaminggranny1541 fr like thanks to The Gen 9 Pc i only play ZU tier.

[@anishkulkarni5901]

Ditto in vgc has niches again mainly during the restricted formats (because copying the opponents restricted legendary gives you two whole restricted). Also, because of the general structure of vgc, ditto always pops up in a few tournaments and likely will keep showing up during these restricted formats

[@tacosunbirth]

The use of Hollow Knight music is appreciated haha

[@blip_exists]

Hollow Knight music is so good, spices everything up so much

[@Dragonmist19X]

Given what happened to the Tapus and what seems to happen to generational gimmick mons in general, stuff like terra and the paradox mons will most likely not stick around giving the little dude it's chance to shine in the next gen. Sometimes a gen just really favors you poorly (hi Ttar).

[@blip_exists]

I find it quite likely that Terastilization doesn't stick around, but I'm more or less certain the Tapu's will return eventually, and as such, the Paradox Pokemon would return if removed. I think best case scenario is that the abilities are changed

[@RocketPropelledMexican]

@@blip_exists It's possible booster energy might not return in next game, which would also nerf a lot of the paradox mons in HO

[@bluekirby_64]

Ultra Beasts were in gen 8 with the DLC, the Paradoxes may come back in gen 10.

[@broidkanymore-zc4lt]

paradox mons would prolly stay but booster energy wont

[@blip_exists]

@@RocketPropelledMexican Yeah, that would definetly help ditto out a lot

[@MarcAntoineHamelin]

Ditto will always be the king of breeding.

[@Coolguy2F47]

Or queen!

[@BlazeElHeraldodelaTormenta]

​@@Coolguy2F47 Or whatever,Ditto is literally hermaphrodite lol

[@demi-femme4821]

Game Freak just decided to repeatedly kick Ditto in the balls this generation.

[@blip_exists]

Poor ditto 😔

[@timmyreobed5043]

Ditto to me is the Pokemon equivalent of Yu-Gi-Oh's Cannon Soldier- something that can really only find viability if there's something else horribly wrong with the meta.

[@blip_exists]

I mean, yah, you're kind of right

[@tangerinepaint3643]

I remember hearing Ditto being compared to canaries in a mine

[@Dawg347]

Can we please take a moment to appreciate the paradox Pokémon sprites, they look amazing!

[@vexingvexillologist7554]

I click on the video, curious, and the question is answered efficiently, comprehensively, and entertainingly in under seven minutes. Very well done

[@kalosianporygon]

Somehow this is more shocking than Smeargle being useless now.

[@AztecCroc]

Why is it useless now?

[@DrawciaGleam02]

@@AztecCroc Asking that too!

[@willzx.24]

this guys gonna make it, this was actually so entertaning i cant lie

[@meta4knight]

For real this is on par with moxie boost and false swipe

[@sagacious03]

Maybe in the future, they'll buff Metal Powder &/or Quick Powder. Imagine if they worked when Ditto was still transformed, for example. Anyway, decent analysis video! Thanks for uploading!

[@blip_exists]

They actually used to work that way, back in generation 2 if I remember!

[@wafflebroz]

Thumbs up and a comment: Asking for feedback to improve is something I don’t see. Well done!

[@implying8903]

I've seen one ditto in regulation g that outdpeeds by using room service on a trick room team

[@blip_exists]

Thats a crazy stat lol

[@Magikarpador]

i did that on showdown once and i had to be the one to submit a bug report cause they got the interaction wrong cause apparently no one had ever tested it before

[@Nameless_mixes]

Tera will definitely be gone in Gen 10. But Imm sure Booster Energy will still be around. And thanks for mentioning VGC! I was going to say how Regulation I will probably allow 2 restricted mons as we head into Worlds 2025. Idk how Imposter will be affected by Koraidon and Miraidon’s abilities. But with so many powerful mons in the format (Weather trio, Galar heroes, Calyrex, etc.), there’s a lot of potential for Ditto to be relevant in that meta. It might also benefit from Tera-Grass against moves like Water Spout, Precipice Blades, and Electro Drift.

[@pketr5]

Why!? Why prevent transform when using stellar tera? There are only 5 Pokémon that would even want to use stellar tera in the first place. 1 is forced to use it (Terapagos), Chien-pao uses it sometimes, and of the contrary users, only Serperior is remotely good. Why have less that can do it? There's a bug, isn't it. It's totally a bug, and they don't have the time to fix it. Probably stellar ditto vs. terapagos. They probably don't have a model of Terastal Form Terapagos (the 2nd form) with Stellar Tera since its supposed to transform to its Stellar form, or the game breaks when that happens.

[@blip_exists]

That would....not suprise me

[@MacZephyrZ]

I mean, it could be that GF was worried about Stellar being overpowered and under tuned it too harshly. That'd explain why its such a bad tera to begin with.

[@robertlupa8273]

I mean, they could just make it not work _specifically_ against Terapagos, not against _every single Pokemon_ if Ditto is Stellar type.

[@SUPABROS]

Enamorus is a pretty good contrary user

[@elladunham9232]

Ditto is such a weird Pokémon, it’s ranked ZU, but is actually really solid in Ubers in past generations.

[@dark3rthanshadows]

I'm a fan of Normal pokemons and Ditto is so cool and iconic with his ability

[@srfrancium9728]

Fun fact metal powder double dittos defenses even when transformed! In gen 2 only, I hate this stupid fucking series. Just making both powders work when transformed would make ditto so much better even without making its hp not 48.

[@srfrancium9728]

Erm also transform isn't erm actually a signature move🤓☝(gamers being pedantic about the worlds least important details)

[@Magikarpador]

getting double speed and free access to all.of its moves would be a bit much

[@tjentiji6022]

HOLD UP FORGET THE DITTO NONSENSE I HAD NO IDEA THAT IRON VALIANT WAS HOLDING A BLADE. I’VE NEVER SEEN THAT ANIMATION I THOUGHT THAT WAS ITS ARM THE WHOLE TIME.

[@robertlupa8273]

😂 Now THAT'S a revalation.

[@BioLex21]

I liked the video :) Much luck with future ones!

[@whateveryouwantmetobe.1489]

As a ditto, I am indeed useless. ;(

[@blip_exists]

Can't wait until you can return to ubers man 😔

[@CaptainKrby]

Great video, really impressed by the editing

[@yongjieshi5768]

The hollow knight music is very respectable.

[@vdd1001]

Ditto is like quagsire, it doesn't care about tiers, it can always come when you least expect it and wreck you, usually in Ubers, where there'll be a lot of legendary Pokemon

[@guimon78]

I feel the paradox pokemon will be reworked in gen X. If I had to guess, the speed boost will be brought down a bit.

[@Potataro454]

I really hope so. It's so arbitrary that speed gets a larger boost, and puts a lot of pressure on other scarf sets.

[@GeorgeDCowley]

@@Potataro454 Guess they must have expected it to be less impactful.

[@Arshield285]

Ditto is the canary of the mine, as said in another channel, when the meta is unhealthy overloaded with set-up sweepers, Ditto becomes mandatory, after bans are enforced and the meta stablish itself Ditto loses value. If it has a big usage rate it means the meta is either new or terribly balanced.

[@ReshyShira]

It's almost like power creep has unforeseen consequences.

[@theunderlord5034]

A coin flip to insta winning a game via revenge still sounds like a fairly solid option to me

[@spritemeister]

I wonder if there's a way to tell which side of the turn count is in your favor that match. Then you could throw out a sacrifice to stall for a turn if you need to hit odd/even.

[@Magikarpador]

it doesnt alternate its just random. same way you cant tell what's going to crit or when something will miss.

[@spritemeister]

@@Magikarpador huh. I was sure that it alternated each turn. I guess that shows how little I play competitively.

[@supermariomaker1734]

Apparently the Pokémon pros disagree cause I seen them use ditto and even get it to top 8 a lot of times despite it being in regulation g.

[@blip_exists]

Yep, Ditto is still decent in VGC, sorry for not making it a bit clearer this was mainly for singles!

[@supermariomaker1734]

@@blip_exists I don’t think it makes sense that people use it so much cause it relies too much on predictions which is why I would never use it in tournaments or best of 3 sets in general.

[@Magikarpador]

there should be an item that like grants a 1.2x speed boost and gives you the torment effect. i feel like a lot of pokemon but ditto especially could get use out of it

[@hollowredb7728]

This is why you bring 6 dittos with different Tera types

[@Hazel-xl8in]

i love when videos end with something “oh well, at least it’s good in VGC” as if that’s less impressive. i think being good in the official tournament format where you can have a world championship is pretty valuable, but that’s just me i guess

[@BananaR777]

Diito should be able to copy the states of the para including the ability buffs logically. Hopefully that gets fixed.

[@Iwannabeamafiaboss2001]

It’s now just a breeding Pokémon just like how it always been in gen 9

[@Blastosie_Offical]

Transform isn't Ditto's signature move though? Mew learns it

[@michaelmelchor195]

Tbh, signature moves aren't exclusive really, they're the iconic move of the mon. Think of glaciate, blue flare and bolt strike from the main trio of gen 5, all moves victini learned. Or water shuriken from Greninja, which accelgor also knows

[@blip_exists]

I guess its not then? I mean, Ditto was made around the move, and Mew is a bit of an odd case, so its 50/50 on whether it is or isn't

[@IgnacioSantander-cj1lh]

​@@michaelmelchor195Oh i think Volt Tackle technically counts as one too, it's Pikachus from gen 1 so in theory

[@Blastosie_Offical]

@IgnacioSantander-cj1lh Volt Tackle doesn't count, it's exclusive to one evo line. That still counts as a signature move. Also Volt Tackle is from gen 3.

[@IgnacioSantander-cj1lh]

@@Blastosie_Offical ooooh, well i saw it on a Smith stream lol, sorry

[@r1r420]

Who the hell hired that body type for outside work, idk what the hell kinda job he would be a beneifit to outdoors

[@25usd94]

Everyone loves ditto

[@siddhartacrowley8759]

Yeah...every other Pokémon in the Day Care

[@GeorgeDCowley]

What happens if you Transform then Stelasterize?

[@blip_exists]

You remain transfromed, until you switch out, and then switch back in, in which case you will no longer be able to transform.

[@videakias3000]

ditto is somewhat okay in ubers.

[@blip_exists]

Yeah, I would presume do to Ditto thriving in more chaotic metas, and becaus there are much less paradox pokemon (Iron Bundle is the highest at only 5% usage 1760 elo+)

[@screechingtoad2683]

They could buff it by giving it an evolution. Then it could hold eviolite and it's evolution could have more hp?

[@boring6324]

NEW BLIP UPLOAD LETS GOOOOO

[@barbershopbible]

I always run Red Card with Tera Fairy. Gets pretty nasty.

[@blip_exists]

That is a crazy set lol

[@kyleessick7894]

Make choice scarf provide a 1.51x boost

[@diegotimon4570]

I think I didn't understand that stellar tera thing Can someone explain it with other words?

[@blip_exists]

If Ditto terastilizes into the Stellar type, and then tries to transform into the opponent with either transform into the opponent, either throught the move transform or the ability imposter, it will fail, and Ditto will not transform.

[@diegotimon4570]

@@blip_exists what if Ditto transforms first and then terastalizes into stellar?

[@bigj5401]

Also ditto can it transform in front of Gholdengo because of good as gold

[@blazie42069]

its only useful in fundamentally unbalanced and fundamentally super high power formats as that is all imposter is good for it is simultaneously op and underpowered all at once

[@blip_exists]

You're correct, but it would still remaind a very niche option for many formats even after the format settled down. Not the case with gen 9.

[@Time_looper]

why are you using caterpie lead in rby 10u its like the only lead with nothing in its favor of the 6 alowed pokemon

[@blip_exists]

I like to use it to scout out my opponents sets, always forget which moves Weedle runs

[@rentlee1606]

I mean saying ditto is bad cuz of specific match ups with less than 10% of the dex and terra battles is kinda meh. Unless your relying on ditto in your team (which is on you why are you doing that), ditto is just as he always has been.

[@blip_exists]

I mean, theres a fair amount of Paradox Pokemon in Overused, with the most used Booster Energy Speed Pokemon (Iron Valiant) being used on about a fifth of all teams from 1695 elo on. These pokemon are also some of the best set up sweepers in OU, which is the exact kind of Pokemon ditto is intended to counter. In other tiers this is probably less of a problem, but its still not helping ditto much.

[@RabblesTheBinx]

Transform technically isn't a signature move. Remember, to be a signature move, no other unrelated Pokémon can have it, but Mew learns Transform naturally at Level 10.

[@lunafoxfire3806]

Tell that ti zekrom kyurem and reshiram getting stolen by victiny they still signature like water shuriken is technically still greninja signature

[@tacticabbage]

I like hazards.

[@Jelly_shy_guy_man]

10/10

[@DUshyanthRavinduHettiarachchi]

not it's signiture since mew

[@DittoTheCopy]

Hey we're not useless 😢

[@broidkanymore-zc4lt]

seems gud in ubers then

[@lampkami3348]

Solid

[@TrulyAtrocious]

Ditto has never been good

[@blip_exists]

Its been fairly good, especially at the start of metagames.

[@geonunes10]

There is hope for ditto in gen 10. Generation gimmick battle mechanics tend to be limited to the generation they were introduced and so does gimmick pokemon. You can't mega evolve, use z moves or dynamax in gen 9. Also, ultra beast are only available in gen 7. And before you angry type the argument of megas were available in gen 7. They were only available in ultra sun and moon (and let's go), which points to making them available in that generation wasn't part of the pokemon company's original plan for it and adapted to how well received the mechanic was. So, unless there is a massive uproar of people saying terrastalization is the best thing ever, which there isn't, the pokemon company will shelf that mechanic for good after gen 9