Pokemon players hate “stupid” nerf for Mythical Pokemon’s attack
The Pokemon CompanyPokemon players are debating the most nerfed move in the series, and one signature attack used by a Mythical Pokemon might have been hit the worst.
The original Pokemon games were extremely unbalanced, with Psychic-type being so powerful that Gen 2 had to create two new types just to even the odds.
As time went on, the developers of the Pokemon games tweaked certain attacks and abilities, either making them considerably stronger or majorly nerfing them, all in the name of a balanced competitive scene that stopped one strategy from overtaking all others.
Some moves got hit harder than others, making them effectively worthless compared to their previous iterations. One move stands out above the rest, mostly because it was stripped from another Pokemon’s arsenal.
The Pokemon CompanyPokemon players think Dark Void was unfairly nerfed
A thread on the Pokemon Reddit discusses the biggest buffs and nerfs across the generations. For many fans, Dark Void, the signature move of Darkrai, was hit the hardest. This is due to stat changes, as well as which Pokemon could use it.
“Dark Void had its accuracy cut and now fails when any Pokemon other than Darkrai attempts to use it,” one user wrote, while another said, “Dark Void got completely wrecked. First, it had an accuracy drop, then they made it so if any Pokemon except Darkrai attempted it, it would fail.”
When Dark Void was introduced in Gen 4, it hit both enemies with an 80% chance of inflicting Sleep. From Gen 7 onward, that chance was lowered to 50%, making it much less reliable, especially when there are moves with a much higher chance of inflicting sleep.
The biggest nerf was the fact that only Darkrai could use Dark Void after Gen 7. Darkrai was banned in most competitive formats, but Smeargle wasn’t, and as Smeargle can use Sketch, it used to be able to learn Dark Void.
From Gen 7 onward, Smeargle could no longer use Dark Void, resulting in two Pokemon being nerfed, as Dark Void was easily the best move in its arsenal.
The Dark Void nerf made sense, especially with Doubles being such a popular format, but fans are still upset that it got hit so hard. Darkrai is banned in a lot of competitive formats, and Smeargle needs powerful moves to make up for its low stats, so the move is seen as unnecessary by some.