Stealth Rock Discussion

[Nonary Game]

I see Stealth Rock as a necessary evil.

Is it broken? No. It is over-centralizing? Debatable, but arguably less so than Gen4. Stealth rock has a slew of benefits:

~Stops sash abuse. Generation III was pretty bad about this IIRC. Anything with a Focus Sash could revenge everything simply by virtue of the fact that Stealth Rock didn't exist at that point. Granted, spikers could be used, but only against non-Flying types. Ditto now can do this simply by virtue of Eccentric unless that ability hasn't been released.

~Keeps dangerous Flying-types in check, or those in particular with a Rock weakness. Consider Salamence for instance. It takes a quarter of damage upon swapping in. I used one towards the end of Gen4, and with a Rapid Spinner, it was arguably the most dangerous thing in the game. Rocks won't stop it from swapping in, but it'll limit it's offensive options. Same applies to Gyarados.

~ Limits switching for your opponent. This one is needed. Granted it works perfectly in reverse, but it helps to stop constant switching. I think most of us have had battles that lasted easily in excess of 150 turns simply because of switching. Stealth Rock helps to stop this.

Now for a negative:

~ The 50% damage principle. Yeah, you know what I'm referring to. Yanmega, Moltres, etc. A lot of viable pokes were hampered specifically by SR, and was probably the sole reason for a drop in their usage. Yanmega was excellent offensively, and had two great abilities in Tinted Lens and Speed Boost. Moltres was excellent at stalling by virtue of it's defenses, Pressure, and the ability to threaten something while playing defensively. Volcarona is a major offensive threat, with what is probably the best boosting move in the game. Those three are the only two that were badly hampered by it. The rest are outright terrible no matter what. Yes, Charizard sucks. Yes, Ninjask sucks.

Yeah, the negative sucks, but the positives greatly outweight the negatives.

 

[TLK]

I see Stealth Rock as a necessary evil.

Is it broken? No. It is over-centralizing? Debatable, but arguably less so than Gen4. Stealth rock has a slew of benefits:

~Stops sash abuse. Generation III was pretty bad about this IIRC. Anything with a Focus Sash could revenge everything simply by virtue of the fact that Stealth Rock didn't exist at that point. Granted, spikers could be used, but only against non-Flying types. Ditto now can do this simply by virtue of Eccentric unless that ability hasn't been released.

~Keeps dangerous Flying-types in check, or those in particular with a Rock weakness. Consider Salamence for instance. It takes a quarter of damage upon swapping in. I used one towards the end of Gen4, and with a Rapid Spinner, it was arguably the most dangerous thing in the game. Rocks won't stop it from swapping in, but it'll limit it's offensive options. Same applies to Gyarados.

~ Limits switching for your opponent. This one is needed. Granted it works perfectly in reverse, but it helps to stop constant switching. I think most of us have had battles that lasted easily in excess of 150 turns simply because of switching. Stealth Rock helps to stop this.

Now for a negative:

~ The 50% damage principle. Yeah, you know what I'm referring to. Yanmega, Moltres, etc. A lot of viable pokes were hampered specifically by SR, and was probably the sole reason for a drop in their usage. Yanmega was excellent offensively, and had two great abilities in Tinted Lens and Speed Boost. Moltres was excellent at stalling by virtue of it's defenses, Pressure, and the ability to threaten something while playing defensively. Volcarona is a major offensive threat, with what is probably the best boosting move in the game. Those three are the only two that were badly hampered by it. The rest are outright terrible no matter what. Yes, Charizard sucks. Yes, Ninjask sucks.

Yeah, the negative sucks, but the positives greatly outweight the negatives.

Focus Sash didn't exist in Gen 3.

 

[Nonary Game]

Focus Sash didn't exist in Gen 3.

Derp. I forgot about that, forgot it was Focus Band. Still, you can agree that if SR wasn't around, Focus Sash would be ridiculous seeing how both were introduced at the same time. For instance, it wouldn't matter if your Gyarados got six DD's under it's belt if something could come in and just Thunderbolt it without fear of getting KOed outright.

 

[alphatron]

And if you say "BAWWW DAT MEANS I HAVE TO RUN A SPINNER SPECIFICALLY TO GET RID OF SR'ZZ" well, the opponent has to specifically run a pokemon to set up the rocks in the first place so it cancels out.

Nobody is running a pokemon for the sole purpose of setting up stealth rock. The most popular SR user is Tyranitar (when usage statistics come out, I bet you he'll be higher on smogon than he is on PO) and he does several things aside from that. Likewise, rapid spinners such as Starmie can serve purposes aside from using a base 20 power attack.

To the person who said that SR nets sweepers only 1 or 2 more kos, go do the calculations for speed boost blaziken versus several popular walls such as hippowdon. No one would consider him broken since he'd suddenly become unable to kill pretty much everything he wants to, including friggin jellicient of all things.

 

[PK Gaming]

I would have to say that Regice might have had more use, while it might have stiff competition with Blissey, it has its merits. At the least it could of been a bigger UU player, and not suck in the depths of NU

I mentioned standard. Even with a neutrality to Stealth Rock, Ice is a horrible typing defensively, maybe it could break into UU in gen IV, but not OU.

Regice was OU in gen 3.

Although really it's beside the point, the game would be worse for losing hazards

Because being OU gen 3 = being OU in gen 4. Use some common sense, each metagame is completely different.

this is such a lie...first of all you can't know what they would be 'cause you don't have practical experience with them.and also i don't think that a charizard which only loses 12,5% of its health when switching in wouldn,t be uu or even ou...he has very good stats(very fast with nice special attack,not very fragile)and very good typing(except that freaking sr weakness)...my guess is that it would have been a solid uu if it wasn't for sr... same goes for articuno...sure he has an awful typing but with these defences it doesn't matter so much(regirock,tyranitar and many more).he also has roost and a nice speed stat to abuse it...my guess is uu for this guys also without sr. i think that the problem with sr is that the damage done to pokes weak to it is far greater than it should be...12,5% to every poke hit neutral by it is fine.but 25% and 50% to 2x and 4x weak pokes is unacceptable... it would be so much better if the damage dealt was 18,5% and 25% to 2x and 4x weak respectively...and finally the damage to resistors would be 6,25 to 2x resistant pokes and 1% to 4x resistant pokes(this way sr would be increasing by 6,25 in every level except for 4x resistors which receive 1% instead of 0% so that they can't switch in for free). imagine how much less restricting sr would be this way...sure you still wouldn't be switching in and out all the time with sr weak pokes,but you could actually use them a little if you coudn't keep sr off the field...

Man, your post is utter gibberish. Like I thought you would berate me for saying that those pokemon wouldn't cut in standard, even without their SR weakness, but instead you start talking about their viability in UU if they lacked a SR weakbess. Not once did I say that any of those Stealth Rock-weak pokemon couldn't be UU with a neutrality to Stealth Rock.

This thread is pointless. Bitching about Stealth Rock won't change a damn thing. If you hate it so much, get voting requirements and nominate the damn move.

 

[JSND]

anyone forget that one of the controversial poke in UU not named yanmega is 4x SR weak ?
Not to mention it is suspect tested to be BL(but not getting enough vote though)

Yeah even 4x SR weak can succeed had it not sucks

 

[alexwolf]

Man, your post is utter gibberish. Like I thought you would berate me for saying that those pokemon wouldn't cut in standard, even without their SR weakness, but instead you start talking about their viability in UU if they lacked a SR weakbess. Not once did I say that any of those Stealth Rock-weak pokemon couldn't be UU with a neutrality to Stealth Rock.

This thread is pointless. Bitching about Stealth Rock won't change a damn thing. If you hate it so much, get voting requirements and nominate the damn move.

i mentioned some pokes that could go to uu without sr but i also told you about pokes which couldn't cut it in ou cause of sr...and there is a lot of them...half of the bl is there 'cause of sr...not alone sr but it is a huge detrimental factor!you can see in every analysis how much of a liability their sr weakness is...
and finally no we aren't bitching we are just making some points so if you don't like it don't be a part of this convesation...
again i am not against sr as a whole 'cause a kind of entry hazard that hits levitators and fliers is of course needed but it would be so much better if it wasn't so overcentralizing and cruel to a whole bunch of pokes...
if sr dealt only 18,5% to fliers it would still be a nice option to limit his switch ins but not as much as only allowing them to come in for 4 times(5 times in many cases).
again how much better sr would be if it only dealt 25% to 4x weak pokes?
it would make a whole lot bunch of pokes viable again instead of forcing them to have a rapid spinner in the team just because they have a specific typing...
and again it would still keep top threats in check like volcarona but it would just make them a little bit better...it is ok with me to make one pokemon a little more good fro the sake of giving to other 4 pokes the chance to be used more often...

 

[Woodchuck]

i mentioned some pokes that could go to uu without sr but i also told you about pokes which couldn't cut it in ou cause of sr...and there is a lot of them...half of the bl is there 'cause of sr...not alone sr but it is a huge detrimental factor!you can see in every analysis how much of a liability their sr weakness is...
and finally no we aren't bitching we are just making some points so if you don't like it don't be a part of this convesation...
again i am not against sr as a whole 'cause a kind of entry hazard that hits levitators and fliers is of course needed but it would be so much better if it wasn't so overcentralizing and cruel to a whole bunch of pokes...
if sr dealt only 18,5% to fliers it would still be a nice option to limit his switch ins but not as much as only allowing them to come in for 4 times(5 times in many cases).
again how much better sr would be if it only dealt 25% to 4x weak pokes?
it would make a whole lot bunch of pokes viable again instead of forcing them to have a rapid spinner in the team just because they have a specific typing...
and again it would still keep top threats in check like volcarona but it would just make them a little bit better...it is ok with me to make one pokemon a little more good fro the sake of giving to other 4 pokes the chance to be used more often...

EDIT: What firefox deleting my post.
okay, first:
- lrn2use grammar. Capitalize words - it makes it easier to read.
Also, don't complain about SR's mechanics, as we can't change them. Wondering about it being 18.5% is useless.

Stealth rock is arguably beneficial for the metagame as it can keep top threats in check, make a whole new group of pokemon (the leads) viable, and especially make stall viable in the first place by letting it hit fliers.
Also there are a myriad of ways to keep SR off the field.

 

[Dragon Rider]

To all those arguing against SR because it causes so much harm to 4 types after only "one turn of setup": you do know that the flipside is, it only takes "one turn of setup" to get rid of them? Or better yet, run Magic Coat and get your own SR! Or better yet, run Espeon or Xatu and eliminate those nasty pebbles that give your Charizard boo boos without any effort!

And if you say "BAWWW DAT MEANS I HAVE TO RUN A SPINNER SPECIFICALLY TO GET RID OF SR'ZZ" well, the opponent has to specifically run a pokemon to set up the rocks in the first place so it cancels out.

I've got a lot of issues with this post and also your attitude about some very valid complaints about SR as a whole.

We'll start with the one turn of set up and how easy it is to stop them from getting on the field.First a little history, I have played with various teams including all 4 of the weather teams.I know when I'm playing my Sun or Hail teams I need to keep SR off the field much more than say a Rain or Sand team just because of the type difference.I know about Taunt,Magic Coat,Magic Bounce, and Rapid Spin from my experience with these teams.

Taunt and Magic Coat work if they are on the field at the same time the SR user is out.I'll give you that.If try to switch them in however, they get their Rocks.Do you know how many Pokemon are walled be Ferrothorn?Heatran?Tyranitar?All force you out and get to set up the Rocks on your team.Also, you take a risk by Taunting.Lets say you Taunt that Metagross to stop it from setting up Rocks just to get hit in the face by a Meteor Mash?You stopped Rocks by letting your guy take a big hit.Is that a good counter in your book?

Next is Magic Bounce.It covers the problem that Taunt and Magic Coat has in that it will stop the switch Rocks strategy.However,while a nice ability, its restricted to 2 Pokemon.So your solution to a move as widespread as Stealth Rock is 1 of 2 Pokemon?That would never fly in the case of a Pokemon so why is it acceptable for a move?

The final "argument" in this category is Rapid Spin.A base 20 Normal move.The damage is absolutley pathetic so anything gets a free switch off of it and threaten the guy that just spun.Plus that's asuming they don't just block it with a ghost.Furthermore,have you seen the spinners?While some like Donphan,Starmie, or Hitmontop are useful for spinning and other things, 5 out of the 18 spinners are weak to SR in the first place!On the flip side, 7 do resist the rocks but you still give up momentum to clear the field of a hazard.I doubt that the damage from Rapid Spin even equals one turn of resisted SR damage so if you continue to trade your 1 move for their 1 move you lose.

In case your wondering,the spinners are:

Hide

Blastoise
Starmie
Forretress
Donphan
Hitmonchan
Hitmonlee
Hitmontop
Claydol
Sandslash
Tentacruel
Cloyster
Kabutops
Delibird
Armaldo
Torkoal
Excadrill
Cryogonal
Spinda

I'm going to go the next step and say how it is complete crap that this 20 power move with a limited distribution is supposed to counter SR but everyone seems to agree something like Aerial Ace doesn't stop a move like Double Team from being broken.Base 60 moves that are of various types and that are capable of STAB boosts,Technician boosts, and possibley even super effective boosts are not acceptable counters to Double Team while Rapid Spin is acceptable to Stealth Rock?

One final thing,this whole "Buwah your noobie Charizard got hurt by mean pebbles" comment is a very childish way of ignoring a problem.This thread http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79413 clearly shows that 15 Pokemon are hurt 50% by Stealth Rock while a further 87 are hurt for 25%.Combined thats 102 Pokemon who's potential is restricted by this move.It also shows only 55 resist Stealth Rock while another 4 double resist.That means only 59 Pokemon (plus the 4 Magic Guard users) are not hurt as bad by Stealth Rock as other Pokemon.

The only valid reason anyone has given in favor of SR being good is denyiny free switches to Levitators and Flying types.I ask though, how many would be easier to counter without Rocks?Alot of Pokemon rely on SR to take out would be counters.This could allow certain Pokes to survive the attacks and launch a counter.I am only specualting as I haven't played in a 4th or 5th Gen meta without SR, but it seems like some Pokes could become easier to handle without the Rocks.

There.All done with my long winded rant.

 

[Woodchuck]

Aerial Ace doesn't counter Double Team because its primary intent is to cause damage, and it doesn't remove the Evasion boosts. Rapid Spin removes not only Stealth Rock, but Leech Seed, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and the rather inconsequential trapping moves.

And again, without Stealth Rock, stall would be a lot less viable.

also woo 100th post

 

[Dragon Rider]

Aerial Ace doesn't counter Double Team because its primary intent is to cause damage, and it doesn't remove the Evasion boosts. Rapid Spin removes not only Stealth Rock, but Leech Seed, Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and the rather inconsequential trapping moves.

And again, without Stealth Rock, stall would be a lot less viable.

also woo 100th post

Aerial Ace might not get rid of the boosts, but Clear Smog does and it has 50 power compared to the 20 of Rapid Spin.Clear Smog also gets rid of all boosts so its not worthless outside of that example.However, I don't want this turning into an evasion debate so I'll drop it from this thread and maybe go post in that thread about Sand Veil/Snow Cloak instead.

Also, I know Rapid Spin also gets rid of Toxic/Spikes and Leech Seed but I find those to be balanced moves in comparison with SR.The fact it gets rid of them to is more a bonus rather than a reason to use it.It is a pont for Spin though so I'll give you that.

I'm not sure on the stall thing.More Pokemon can surive an extra hit without the pressure of SR.Some pokemon like Zapdos will wall even better if it doesn't lose a quarter health everytime it has to retreat.So stall would be Less Damage+More Survivability=?I really don't know how it would turn out.

BTW,congrats on 100

 

[Camara]

Let's get the Stealth Icicles and Stealth Fists and let's watch the metagame crumble into a sweeper party.

No one ever complained of Spikes, because they feel balanced, even if the unreliable Rapid Spin is one of the few things capable of counter it. People can just switch out of Leech Seed.

Taking 25% of a pokémon health because of 1 turn is a severe blow. A pokémon like this can't switch in to check things because 25% + attack can put it near death. If Stealth Rock worked like Spikes (say, for example, that only pokémon weak to it are affected), no one would have this discussion.

Like I said, why is evasion that much worse than SR? At +1 evasion you can still hit things, unless you are using Hydro Pumps or something like that but in that case you know the risks you are taking. At +2 things look nastier, but having 2 DD on someone is also nasty. Haze is learned by the same number of pokémon as Rapid Spin, and Psych Up (learned by everyone and their mothers) can prepare your own sweep. Is it luck? Yes, but what criitical hits that kill your counter are? At least evasion is seek luck, like someone running a Scope Lens Super Luck Night Slash Honchkrow knows he'll see criticals.

If luck can't enter, why not removing flinches, parafusion, critical hits? Because they exist, and we would be playing other game than Pokémon if we removed everything. Yes, non Sleep Clause is broken. I'm not saying Stealth Rock should be removed, it is part of the game, but it is also a fact that it is a big factor in tiers, and fortunately is more rare this generation, although we are cursed and anyone is free to use Gen IV pokémon with it, probably in the generations to come.

An example is Moltres, with good dual STABs, good stats, bulky, pressure + roost. Why would you use it when you know you can't switch in as you will be put near death with the attack + rocks? Well, it's life, pokémon with poor stats know they are crap anyway, so why would pokémon with rock weakness be different from them? I accept this naturally, but I also believe in a better world where stats can be changed and crap pokémon improved. I think I'll create a Team, Team Camara sounds good. Gen VI, I'll sweep with an uber Unown!

 

[Zebstrika]

I think people should count the amount of Stealth Rock damage in a battle, with a team built around pretending there was no Stealth Rock. You would probably take at least 100% of pokemon health, in one turn of setup. Nothing can reliably match the amount of damage SR would do to an unprepared team, in one turn. Sure, that's why we could prepare for it, but then it would be overcentralizing (with the amount of preparation we have). When it gets to the point that the counter to something uses moves to counter the counter to its job, not the pokemon itself, but its job, that makes it look a little overcentralizing.

 

[Mario With Lasers]

I think people should count the amount of Stealth Rock damage in a battle, with a team built around pretending there was no Stealth Rock. You would probably take at least 100% of pokemon health, in one turn of setup. Nothing can reliably match the amount of damage SR would do to an unprepared team, in one turn. Sure, that's why we could prepare for it, but then it would be overcentralizing (with the amount of preparation we have). When it gets to the point that the counter to something uses moves to counter the counter to its job, not the pokemon itself, but its job, that makes it look a little overcentralizing.

Make a team pretending there is no Earthquake, Hi Jump Kick, Outrage or Draco Meteor.

 

[Gneiss is nice]

Make a team pretending there is no Earthquake, Hi Jump Kick, Outrage or Draco Meteor.

Except Stealth Rock only has to be used once in order to rake up a ton of damage and is only countered by one move that's available to a small amount of Pokemon and is in turn countered by Ghost pokemon, while moves like Earthquake, Hi Jump Kick, Outrage, and Draco Meteor have to be used every time they do damage, and each one has a drawback (Earthquake doesn't deal damage to Flying or Levitating pokemon, Hi Jump Kick can miss and deal severe damage to the user, Outrage causes confusion to the user and Draco Meteor lowers Special Attack of the user).

That's not a valid comparison at all.

 

[Mario With Lasers]

In one turn, either of those moves may cause 100% damage to the opponent's team.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

I think people should count the amount of Stealth Rock damage in a battle, with a team built around pretending there was no Stealth Rock. You would probably take at least 100% of pokemon health, in one turn of setup. Nothing can reliably match the amount of damage SR would do to an unprepared team, in one turn. Sure, that's why we could prepare for it, but then it would be overcentralizing (with the amount of preparation we have). When it gets to the point that the counter to something uses moves to counter the counter to its job, not the pokemon itself, but its job, that makes it look a little overcentralizing.

This is a completely invaiable example due to team styles skewing the results. What if I took one of my Fourth Gen teams that switches very little and used it in 5th Gen? I'd get maybe 75% of Stealth Rock damage. What if I took a stall team and played another stall team? I could conceivably take 1000% of damage.

 

[Glen ^^]

And again, without Stealth Rock, stall would be a lot less viable.

also woo 100th post

Actually I think the opposite.

Without getting so harshly punished by switching, and having the option of running uncommon typing combinations that are awesome but forgoten thanks to SR, stall would be much easier.

Not that I'm pro for SR banning or anything.

 

[Dr. Damage]

I'm just happy SR isn't a TM anymore :p

 

[MythTrainerInfinity]

Hey guys, its been awhile, hasn't it?

For once I do not believe that SR is broken in Gen 5 (I still think its broken in Gen 4). Annoying, yes, but broken, no. I've done a bit of playing and these are my observations and opinions.

Espeon's new ability not only counters it, but sets it up on your opponent's side. My biggest qualm with SR in Gen 4 was it lacked any ideal counters.

Tyranitar still says "OMNOMNOM" to Espeon, but there are still more ways to deal with it.

Not to mention Magic Coat reflects it back too... Nice move with a 4 Speed priority.

Rotom-A loses its ability to be a viable spinblocker. However, we have Chandelure, but it still has its common weaknesses...

Excadrill gets Rapid Spin. You guys ever think about using it when your opponent hurriedly switches to something that can deal with the mole?

With all of these options and SR's removal as a TM there are ways around it and I just don't see it as broken in Gen 5.

I still would like to see if we still could pull off a test for it in Gen 4, but that's for another day.

 

[Gneiss is nice]

Hey guys, its been awhile, hasn't it?

For once I do not believe that SR is broken in Gen 5 (I still think its broken in Gen 4). Annoying, yes, but broken, no. I've done a bit of playing and these are my observations and opinions.

Espeon's new ability not only counters it, but sets it up on your opponent's side. My biggest qualm with SR in Gen 4 was it lacked any ideal counters.

Tyranitar still says "OMNOMNOM" to Espeon, but there are still more ways to deal with it.

Not to mention Magic Coat reflects it back too... Nice move with a 4 Speed priority.

Rotom-A loses its ability to be a viable spinblocker. However, we have Chandelure, but it still has its common weaknesses...

Excadrill gets Rapid Spin. You guys ever think about using it when your opponent hurriedly switches to something that can deal with the mole?

With all of these options and SR's removal as a TM there are ways around it and I just don't see it as broken in Gen 5.

I still would like to see if we still could pull off a test for it in Gen 4, but that's for another day.

That's still a relatively small number of counters compared to the ease of getting it on the field.

You can't expect a Xatu or Espeon in every team, of course. I don't know the distribution of Magic Coat, so I won't say whether that's feasible or not.

Personally, I just think that when it feels like you can't have a decent team without a Hazard Setter, Rapid Spinner, Spin Blocker, and Taunt/Magic Coat User, then the move is overcentralizing, especially with the very limited distribution of Rapid Spin. Having 4 specific roles made solely to counter/utilize one move is a bit excessive, in my opinion.

Maybe it's broken, maybe it's not. I don't know. I think a test in a Stealth Rock-less meta game wouldn't hurt, at the very least, since we can't say just how overcentralizing it is without testing. We've had it as a part of the game for a long time and people have just learned to deal with it, so it probably won't ever get banned, but I think there's no harm in testing it just to see.

 

[Mario With Lasers]

Yes, there's harm. "Hey maybe the metagame is better without X, let's check it out". We have enough problems trying to pinpoint what is and isn't broken in the current metagame, imagine trying to ban what's not broken only to "improve" it...

Of course, tournaments are perfectly possible, and even a separate ladder if you get a big enough playerbase and enough interest. But this is not going to happen in Standard.

 

[FrostFire]

That's still a relatively small number of counters compared to the ease of getting it on the field.

You can't expect a Xatu or Espeon in every team, of course. I don't know the distribution of Magic Coat, so I won't say whether that's feasible or not.

Personally, I just think that when it feels like you can't have a decent team without a Hazard Setter, Rapid Spinner, Spin Blocker, and Taunt/Magic Coat User, then the move is overcentralizing, especially with the very limited distribution of Rapid Spin. Having 4 specific roles made solely to counter/utilize one move is a bit excessive, in my opinion.

Maybe it's broken, maybe it's not. I don't know. I think a test in a Stealth Rock-less meta game wouldn't hurt, at the very least, since we can't say just how overcentralizing it is without testing. We've had it as a part of the game for a long time and people have just learned to deal with it, so it probably won't ever get banned, but I think there's no harm in testing it just to see.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I can see how Stealth Rock can be an important part of the metagame (helping to get damage on key threats), but at the same time, it just seems so broken. I mean, it's a one-turn move that can deal incredible damage in the long-run, has no drawbacks, and few counters (and what does counter it isn't very good - Rapid Spin sucks big time, Espeon/ Xatu aren't that great outside of their abilities, and as for Magic Coat - eh, I can't remember what can learn it, but it isn't a wonderful move).
So yeah, I would be all for testing Stealth Rock - there's no harm in it.

EDIT: @Mario With Lasers: gah, I need to read more carefully - Good point, but that assumes that Stealth Rock isn't broken. It would, essentially, be "removing X" to get a better metagame, but if it's broken, then one would say that Stealth Rock has an adverse effect on the metagame, and that it would be more desirable to remove in it's entirety, despite the difficulties.

 

[Zebstrika]

Remember how Magneton was OU in Gen 3 mainly to eliminate Skarmory? Why wasn't Skarmory banned for bringing crappy stuff into the metagame then?

 

[FrostFire]

Remember how Magneton was OU in Gen 3 mainly to eliminate Skarmory? Why wasn't Skarmory banned for bringing crappy stuff into the metagame then?

Well (and you can take this with a grain of salt, since I've never played in a competitive Gen 3 OU battle) Skarmory wasn't deemed broken. If it was, it would have been banished to Ubers. Which, of course, is what we're trying to determine with SR - whether it's broken or not.