Competitive Pokémon almost banned this game changing mechanic

Imagine playing a Pokémon match and the opponent changes type out of nowhere. Players can spend entire matches saving their Fighting-type to kill Kingambit, and then all of the sudden it becomes Fairy-type. Competitive Pokémon players have been dealing with annoying instances like this for the past couple of months, and yet, they voted to keep the mechanic.

Terastallization remains legal in Competitive Pokémon's closest suspect test ever

Smogon, the website in charge of competitive Pokémon, recently held a suspect test for Terastallization. A suspect test consists of a period of time where trainers compete on the ladder to earn a certain win rate. Any trainer with the requisite win rate is allowed to then vote on the matter, since they have proven they have enough knowledge of the meta to have a relevant opinion.

After the testing period, trainers can vote either action or no action. 60% of the votes need to be for action before Smogon can actually do anything. The vote for this past suspect test: 59.25%

This means that there is a good chance this will have been the most controversial mechanic ever introduced in Pokémon. It most certainly leads to a lot of interesting strategies, but when those strategies can be pulled off without the opponent having any idea, it can lead to many a rage quit.

While many players are gritting their teeth in anger that Terastallization is still legal, there is a strong part of the community that is happy the mechanic is still available. It is too often that the core mechanic of a Generation needs to get nerfed in some way (like Dynamax in Generation VIII). With legal Terastallization, matches can be close to what Game Freak intended when they made Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.

Related: All Smogon format tier changes in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet – OU, UU, and more

For those who are hurt after this news, it's important to remember that the question of Terastallization hasn't been answered for ever. It survived this suspect test, but there might be another when Pokemon Home is made avaialable and a larger pool of Pokémon can use the mechanic.

While the mechanic may be legal, certain Pokémon that abuse the mechanic can still be banned. Some examples would be Annihilape changing type after several Bulk Ups or Espathra turning into Terra Fire or Fighting to hit Steel-types. At the end of the day, Pokefans will probably be debating over Terrastalization for a long time to come.

Want more Pokémon Scarlet & Violet guides? Check out All Fairy Type Pokémon Weaknesses and Counters in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet here at Pro Game Guides.