Why is Mega Blaziken used so much?

Question

Blaziken Pokedex Page for reference: https://pokemondb.net/pokedex/blaziken

Speed Boost is a fantastic ability, but it only had 100 base Spe, so it would take a while to charge up. Sure it had an Astronomical 160 base Atk., but it would get outside by Choice Scarf users. And with 80 bulk all around, it isn't the hardest to kill, so why was it in Ubers? (Or more accurately OUBL)

Comments

Think of it not as a pokémon of Ubers, but a pokémon banned from OU. It barely had any usage in Ubers.

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100 Spe is not at all bad, and with speed boost outspeeds just about everything after exactly 1 turn, and literally *everything* in 2. Also keep in mind how good an offensive typing Fire/Fighting is.

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It just seems like it could die before it gets going

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Reminder that with Speed Boost, Protect is both a priority defense move as well as an offensive stat increase.  All the better their Pokemon can't handle Blaziken, and pivots to something else instead -- potentially a free attack for you on top of the free speed increase.

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Oh yeah.... But protect takes up a move slot that could be used otherwise. (Please note that I am a big Mega Blaziken fan, I am not arguing against Blaziken because I hate him)

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Not a full answer, but https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-ou-ban-of-blaziken-and-deoxys-n.3492497/

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Thanks!

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We recently suspected Mega Blaziken in Gen 8 National Dex and it was found to be a MASSIVE improvement over regular Blaziken. 100 speed let it outspeed a lot of common scarfers like Landorus-Therian,  Tapu Lele and Tapu Fini. And the slightly higher bulk allowed it to live many priority moves from full. https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/national-dex-suspect-test-15-harder-better-faster-stronger.3699700/
I think you were asking about gen 6 and 7 though, so this is just in case you wanted to know about it in gen 8.

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That's neat, but you were correct, I was asking about Gen 6-7 when Megas were in their prime.

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I know, I just wanted to talk about it.

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I wish someone would just answer the question

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I'll try answering it since no one else has.

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Thanks! You're awesome

Answer 1

In XY, the base form of Blaziken was quickbanned from OU for the following reasons:

1. It was too easy to get to +1 speed by using Protect.
2. It was fairly easy to get a Swords Dance opportunity in XY. It could set up Swords Dance on common Pokemon like Tyranitar, Scizor, Ferrothorn and Aegislash that it scared out. After a single Protect, it could scare out Pokemon like Greninja and Gengar that it outsped at +1 and set up Swords Dance.
3. Screens support could make this even easier to pull off.
4. With a +1 in speed and +2 in attack, it was nearly impossible to stop it from sweeping most of the metagame. It had 120 base power stabs and great offensive typing.
5. While it could be revenge killed by Talonflame and Azumarill, you'd usually have to sack a Pokemon to bring them in.
6. This led to teambuilding being very restricted, and Blaziken was deemed overcentralizing.

Its ban led to the Mega Form being unusable in OU.

Source 1
Source 2

In ORAS Ubers, Blaziken struggled to find a niche: its damage output often didn't cut it and it was hard to fit on teams. The base form is in C+, meaning it was a viable niche pick. The mega form is in D rank, meaning it was mostly unviable.
In SM Ubers, the Mega form was a viable niche pick in C+, while the base form was D-rank.
You can find more details in my source.

Comments

How did you get your information from your source?

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I read the source and understood what they said.

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Thanks! You have been so helpful in answering my questions!

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Neither of your sources said anything about why Blaziken was broken in OU. Where did you get that information?

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Wait a moment,  I pasted the wrong link.

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Posted the correct link now.