To address the current sleep controversy:
To be honest I will never understand the ban sleep side of things. When expected, sleep is easy to manage; Breloom and Amoonguss are prime examples of this because you can expect Spore most of the time. You can plan your pre-game accordingly, and it is unlikely you will be punished by another set. Darkrai however, the main culprit of this discussion, isn't quite as telegraphed. Nasty Plot and Choice Scarf are its most common sets, but Hypnosis and Focus Sash have gained enough notoriety for controversy. Additionally, Bad Dreams Hypnosis in conjunction with Amoonguss and Red Card has been cited as uncompetitive matchup fishing. While I agree with the sentiment surrounding Darkrai, I disagree with the idea that sleep as a whole is banworthy. We cannot set aside the obvious fact that Darkrai is not balanced in any healthy variation of SV OU, it is only here as a matter of circumstance. While the metgame has been relatively stagnant, that is not an indicator that it is healthy. To name some of the most controversial: Darkrai, Deoxys-Speed, Gouging Fire, Kyurem, Roaring Moon, Serperior, and Volcarona only exist in OU to compliment one another and perpetuate the current circumstance. Within no isolated situation would any one of these be considered balanced, but because so many threats are loose in OU we have the illusion of a stable metagame.
Additionally, alternatives being discussed such as Hypnosis Iron Valiant are nothing but cheese. While Iron Valiant has a great number of sets, its Hypnosis sets only work in a select number of situations which are only occasionally rewarding if Hypnosis lands. Otherwise, all is loss.
If you step back and take a wider look at the picture of OU it is fairly obvious to see that Darkrai is the main cause of the sleep controversy. If you are tired of Darkrai sleep cheese you don't ban sleep, you ban Darkrai; If someone plays Beethoven you do not blame Beethoven, you blame the player. This is simple.
To be honest I will never understand the ban sleep side of things. When expected, sleep is easy to manage; Breloom and Amoonguss are prime examples of this because you can expect Spore most of the time. You can plan your pre-game accordingly, and it is unlikely you will be punished by another set. Darkrai however, the main culprit of this discussion, isn't quite as telegraphed. Nasty Plot and Choice Scarf are its most common sets, but Hypnosis and Focus Sash have gained enough notoriety for controversy. Additionally, Bad Dreams Hypnosis in conjunction with Amoonguss and Red Card has been cited as uncompetitive matchup fishing. While I agree with the sentiment surrounding Darkrai, I disagree with the idea that sleep as a whole is banworthy. We cannot set aside the obvious fact that Darkrai is not balanced in any healthy variation of SV OU, it is only here as a matter of circumstance. While the metgame has been relatively stagnant, that is not an indicator that it is healthy. To name some of the most controversial: Darkrai, Deoxys-Speed, Gouging Fire, Kyurem, Roaring Moon, Serperior, and Volcarona only exist in OU to compliment one another and perpetuate the current circumstance. Within no isolated situation would any one of these be considered balanced, but because so many threats are loose in OU we have the illusion of a stable metagame.
Additionally, alternatives being discussed such as Hypnosis Iron Valiant are nothing but cheese. While Iron Valiant has a great number of sets, its Hypnosis sets only work in a select number of situations which are only occasionally rewarding if Hypnosis lands. Otherwise, all is loss.
If you step back and take a wider look at the picture of OU it is fairly obvious to see that Darkrai is the main cause of the sleep controversy. If you are tired of Darkrai sleep cheese you don't ban sleep, you ban Darkrai; If someone plays Beethoven you do not blame Beethoven, you blame the player. This is simple.