Recently, the rule against discussing evasion was removed. I thought I'd see a thread about it within a couple of days, but as far as I know, none have appeared. So I guess I'll start. Edit: I realize that Phalanx just made a thread about this, but it didn't go as in-depth as this one will. And I had already typed up half of the thread when he posted his own. >.> He totally stole my thunder. :P I'll leave the topic of Acupressure in Phalanx' thread, though.
There seemed to be some interest in testing Evasion in the speculation phase of DP. Some leftovers from that interest are still present today (or at least evidence that it isn't a closed issue), both in the allowance allowing this discussion, and in how the "Battle Me" thread in the wifi board still allows Evasion (and OHKO) moves to be used if you just ask for a "standard" battle without specifying the rules. You don't have to specify with rules like species clause, or sleep clause, but for some reason, you still have to with DT/OHKO. Of course, no one uses either of those moves (despite the stereotypical idiocy of the wifi board, myself included), so there isn't much of a point or an issue with that, but it still displays the dormant interest. I've considered using a team that takes advantage of DT on wifi for a while now, just to help test this, and even to prey on the lazy people who don't specify that they want a battle with no DT/OHKO (because no one does).
So, why are evasion moves banned? What do they even do? The newly added Smogon Movedex states that DT "boosts evasion one stage". For detailed information, please see this post. I love X-Act an his big brain. :) Basically, look at your opponent's chance of hitting you as a fraction of 3/3. If you raise your evasion, you increase the denominator, and your opponent has only a 3/4 chance of hitting you, and if you raise it again, a 3/5 chance, etcetera. So you get less reward the more you use it. The reason it is banned (as far as I know) is because it increases "luck"'s role in the game, and therefore decreases skill's role in the game. It's not like it's availability of move is limited, either; just about every single Pokemon can learn this move, and most can utilize it well. From frail sweepers who could benefit from getting some hax to save them, to tanks who can use it to become invincible, just about everything can use DT.
On a slightly off-topic note, Brightpowder also increases your evasion (though I don't know if it's 25% or 20%), but is currently allowed in standard play. The reason, as far as I know, is that for some reason, banning items just isn't done. Policy creators' discussion of this topic can be seen in this thread. With the possible unbanning of Latios and Latias, this rule may have to be changed, however. I can see why people don't like the idea of banning items... if we ban Soul Dew on Lati@s, then that opens up doors for banning Yache Berry on Garchomp, Leftovers on Blissey, and all of a sudden, we have a whole bunch of "this item is cheap on this Pokemon" threads, way too many options to handle, a rift between us and "the rest of the competitive Pokemon world", and a whole bunch of people that are sick of constant changes. While banning things like items and even moves on certain Pokemon may be necessary to create the "best" metagame (whatever you think that includes), that would both limit the level of creativity involved in the game, and be realistically impossible to test. Still, banning a small list of items outright shouldn't be a problem. Abilities like Sand Veil and Snow Cloak may be more problematic, but Brightpowder, and as an extension, all other "hax items" is easier to ban. I support an item ban, but I only wanted to touch on this, not be the focus of this thread, so I'll get back on topic.
I don't think that evasion will ever be unbanned, simply because of the reason it is currently banned, but it might be interesting to predict what a DT-inclusive metagame may involve, or what DT might change in the current metagame. Right away, Gravity (which, I believe, reduced evasion) may see some action, and possibly even stranger moves like Foresight and Odor Sleuth might increase in popularity. Since the effects of evasion are popular, Baton Passers, and Baton Pass chains would get used far more than they currently are. Despite being less available, Haze might become more popular than Roar or Whirlwind, since it's unaffected by evasion, and would much more easily deal with the Baton Pass teams that use Ingrain, anyway. If that happened, BP teams might stop having to use Smeargle, as well, though at the same time, his frail defenses would mean less when Ninjask passes him +6 evasion.
I've heard that everything should be tested, and that could apply to evasion. However, testing every single option, and furthermore, every single option combined with every single other option, would be utterly impossible. So is DT even worth testing? Besides the fact that what we have on paper wouldn't really change in practice (how DT lets luck play a greater role in battling), I don't believe that testing DT would result in much. In some strange etiquette, people might just ignore it, as some people have done with Deoxys-S, and, more prominently, Wobbuffett. Accurate testing, where everyone plays to win using any method at any cost, would not happen.
So, what do you think would change if Double-Team was introduced? What do you think about Brightpowder, or an item ban? What are your opinions on unbanning, or leaving Double-Team? Is there something more that you could add to why it's banned currently? I'd especially like to hear the opinions of anyone who wanted to test DT in the opening phase of DP.
Edit History: Edits regarding Phanax' thread, certain quotes, Sand Attack, and Brightpowder.
There seemed to be some interest in testing Evasion in the speculation phase of DP. Some leftovers from that interest are still present today (or at least evidence that it isn't a closed issue), both in the allowance allowing this discussion, and in how the "Battle Me" thread in the wifi board still allows Evasion (and OHKO) moves to be used if you just ask for a "standard" battle without specifying the rules. You don't have to specify with rules like species clause, or sleep clause, but for some reason, you still have to with DT/OHKO. Of course, no one uses either of those moves (despite the stereotypical idiocy of the wifi board, myself included), so there isn't much of a point or an issue with that, but it still displays the dormant interest. I've considered using a team that takes advantage of DT on wifi for a while now, just to help test this, and even to prey on the lazy people who don't specify that they want a battle with no DT/OHKO (because no one does).
So, why are evasion moves banned? What do they even do? The newly added Smogon Movedex states that DT "boosts evasion one stage". For detailed information, please see this post. I love X-Act an his big brain. :) Basically, look at your opponent's chance of hitting you as a fraction of 3/3. If you raise your evasion, you increase the denominator, and your opponent has only a 3/4 chance of hitting you, and if you raise it again, a 3/5 chance, etcetera. So you get less reward the more you use it. The reason it is banned (as far as I know) is because it increases "luck"'s role in the game, and therefore decreases skill's role in the game. It's not like it's availability of move is limited, either; just about every single Pokemon can learn this move, and most can utilize it well. From frail sweepers who could benefit from getting some hax to save them, to tanks who can use it to become invincible, just about everything can use DT.
On a slightly off-topic note, Brightpowder also increases your evasion (though I don't know if it's 25% or 20%), but is currently allowed in standard play. The reason, as far as I know, is that for some reason, banning items just isn't done. Policy creators' discussion of this topic can be seen in this thread. With the possible unbanning of Latios and Latias, this rule may have to be changed, however. I can see why people don't like the idea of banning items... if we ban Soul Dew on Lati@s, then that opens up doors for banning Yache Berry on Garchomp, Leftovers on Blissey, and all of a sudden, we have a whole bunch of "this item is cheap on this Pokemon" threads, way too many options to handle, a rift between us and "the rest of the competitive Pokemon world", and a whole bunch of people that are sick of constant changes. While banning things like items and even moves on certain Pokemon may be necessary to create the "best" metagame (whatever you think that includes), that would both limit the level of creativity involved in the game, and be realistically impossible to test. Still, banning a small list of items outright shouldn't be a problem. Abilities like Sand Veil and Snow Cloak may be more problematic, but Brightpowder, and as an extension, all other "hax items" is easier to ban. I support an item ban, but I only wanted to touch on this, not be the focus of this thread, so I'll get back on topic.
I don't think that evasion will ever be unbanned, simply because of the reason it is currently banned, but it might be interesting to predict what a DT-inclusive metagame may involve, or what DT might change in the current metagame. Right away, Gravity (which, I believe, reduced evasion) may see some action, and possibly even stranger moves like Foresight and Odor Sleuth might increase in popularity. Since the effects of evasion are popular, Baton Passers, and Baton Pass chains would get used far more than they currently are. Despite being less available, Haze might become more popular than Roar or Whirlwind, since it's unaffected by evasion, and would much more easily deal with the Baton Pass teams that use Ingrain, anyway. If that happened, BP teams might stop having to use Smeargle, as well, though at the same time, his frail defenses would mean less when Ninjask passes him +6 evasion.
I've heard that everything should be tested, and that could apply to evasion. However, testing every single option, and furthermore, every single option combined with every single other option, would be utterly impossible. So is DT even worth testing? Besides the fact that what we have on paper wouldn't really change in practice (how DT lets luck play a greater role in battling), I don't believe that testing DT would result in much. In some strange etiquette, people might just ignore it, as some people have done with Deoxys-S, and, more prominently, Wobbuffett. Accurate testing, where everyone plays to win using any method at any cost, would not happen.
So, what do you think would change if Double-Team was introduced? What do you think about Brightpowder, or an item ban? What are your opinions on unbanning, or leaving Double-Team? Is there something more that you could add to why it's banned currently? I'd especially like to hear the opinions of anyone who wanted to test DT in the opening phase of DP.
Edit History: Edits regarding Phanax' thread, certain quotes, Sand Attack, and Brightpowder.
