"How viable would decoupling physical and special stats be given the recent battle UI changes?"

#PokemonGO: Hello TSR! I've been thinking a lot lately about the possibility of decoupling physical and special stats and utilizing Pokemon's strengths and weakness like they did in the original games. This has been a topic brought up many times, but I feel it is important as ever given the increased releases of powerful gen III legendaries and changes to the battle user interface. Benefits of the physical and special split:Meta Diversity: Instead of having one clear pick for best DPS by type, there is a possibility for three: Physical, Special, and Mixed. Mixed attackers have the ability to be solid generalists when attacking gyms and are flexible enough to adapt to a wide array of incoming threats. There's even more specialized matchups if you take tankiness into account (High SpA/High Def vs. High SpA/High SpD).Ability to Exploit Weaknesses of Overpowered Pokemon: Looking at you, Blissey. The way the current base stat calculation works is unfairly penalizing mixed attackers/defenders since their strategy as a whole is stripped from the game. It makes sense to be able to exploit Blissey's poor physical defense or (eventually, to a lesser extent due to 4x weakness) Rhyperior's special defense in order to keep these strong Pokemon from getting out of control. It would be a good idea to rebalance HP as well, adding a flat amount to everyone's HP stat, but that is another discussion.Reduce the Need to Nerf Pokemon: Although most legendaries are still very potent in terms of stat distribution and total base stat points, splitting physical and special stats usually allows for other same-type Pokemon to shine. For example, Kyogre's base special attack is 150, which is super powerful, but its physical attack is a comparatively underwhelming 100 (for comparison, Feraligatr's is 105). Pokemon Go's base stat calculation weights the better stat by 7/8 and the lower stat by 1/8, so Kyogre's base PoGo ATK is absurdly high regardless of its subpar physical attack. Splitting physical and special attributes allows legendaries to be less centralizing, allowing for other Pokemon to compete and mitigating the need to nerf them in the long run.Given the recent update to the Battle UI (button for charge attack), there might be room to add another button for a different charge attack, adding to the complexity of gameplay (i.e. having both a physical and special charge attack for mixed attackers, or having a one-bar and multi-bar move for energy efficiency). This might need to be paired with larger quick and charge movepools to widen the strategic selection and provide different means to battle with. Lots to balance here for Niantic, but I would love to see it.While the weather update added a good amount of strategy in regards to who is the strongest to use during certain weather, splitting physical and special stats/moves would further cut down on the strategy of building teams of 6x of one Pokemon type and calling it quits. Anything that adds complexity to the current simple game/battle mechanics is a win in my eyes.What do you guys think? Is this something that makes sense given the recent changes? Is this a worthwhile venture for the long-term health of the game?Thanks for reading and reflecting!TL;DR: Splitting physical and special attributes may be a worthwhile venture given the recent UI changes and upcoming releases of many legendaries. It would increase diversity, enable more strategy around strengths and weaknesses, and reduce the need to nerf legendaries. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2BQ8Sjl