I figured since the issue came up in the Showdown bugfix thread, I'd get a show of hands for the different options.
So, what's your opinion on which of these sets of rules should be used?
These are the proposals I've seen around the community; if you see one I haven't noticed, point it out.
Please don't vote if you haven't ever played GSC.
1) No ban.
- Allows HypnoMissy and all other SleepTrappers regardless of set. Was standard in early GSC. Rationale is to ban as few things as possible.
2) HypnoMissy only.
- Ban is Misdreavus with Mean Look+Hypnosis+Perish Song. Rationale for this ban is that HypnoMissy is the hardest SleepTrapper to counter, as no unboosted attack in the entire game can OHKO it (strong STAB or Marowak Rock Slides OHKO Jynx, strong STAB Earthquakes OHKO Gengar, and Marowak Earthquakes or STAB Fighting moves OHKO Smeargle).
3) SleepPerishTrap only. (current Smogon policy)
- Ban is (sleep move)+(permanent trapping move)+Perish Song. Bans HypnoMissy, Gengar with the same set, Jynx with Mean Look/Lovely Kiss/Perish Song, and Smeargle with Spider Web/Spore/Perish Song.
4) SleepPerishTrap, SleepTrapPass and SleepTrap + Nightmare.
- Ban is (sleep move)+(permanent trapping move)+(Perish Song, Baton Pass or Nightmare). The extra things actually banned by this compared to "SleepPerishTrap only" are Spider Web+Spore+(Baton Pass/Nightmare) Smeargle and Jynx/Gengar/Misdreavus with Mean Look + sleep move + Nightmare. The rationale for this is that SleepTrap by itself has a (relatively) safe counter in the form of a Sleep Talking Pokemon that counters the SleepTrapper - Baton Pass allows you to counter that counter, while Perish Song and Nightmare are capable of killing any trapped sleeping opponent.
5) SleepTrap. (current Pokemon Online policy)
- Ban is (sleep move)+(permanent trapping move). Bans all variations of ML/LK Jynx, ML/Hypnosis Gengar and Misdreavus, and ML/Spore Smeargle. Rationale is that SleepTrap inherently defeats the spirit of Sleep Clause.
6) HaxTrap.
- Ban is (trapping move)+(move that can waste turns), where the latter includes Attract, Disable+Protect, and any moves capable of causing sleep, freeze, confusion or paralysis. The rationale for this ban is that such "hax" moves prevent 100% reliable counters because phazing or attacking could be prevented. The most common "HaxTrappers", when they're allowed, are Mean Look+Perish Song+(Confuse Ray/Attract) Misdreavus and Mean Look+Baton Pass+(Confuse Ray/Attract) Umbreon, but as Attract is a universal TM, any Pokemon with access to a trapping move can potentially HaxTrap.
7) All trapping moves.
- Ban is on all trapping moves. Simple, but overkill. I wouldn't note this, but a tournament claiming to be "ordinary GSC" has been run recently under this rule.
EDITS: Couple of grammar fixes. Nothing substantive.
So, what's your opinion on which of these sets of rules should be used?
These are the proposals I've seen around the community; if you see one I haven't noticed, point it out.
Please don't vote if you haven't ever played GSC.
1) No ban.
- Allows HypnoMissy and all other SleepTrappers regardless of set. Was standard in early GSC. Rationale is to ban as few things as possible.
2) HypnoMissy only.
- Ban is Misdreavus with Mean Look+Hypnosis+Perish Song. Rationale for this ban is that HypnoMissy is the hardest SleepTrapper to counter, as no unboosted attack in the entire game can OHKO it (strong STAB or Marowak Rock Slides OHKO Jynx, strong STAB Earthquakes OHKO Gengar, and Marowak Earthquakes or STAB Fighting moves OHKO Smeargle).
3) SleepPerishTrap only. (current Smogon policy)
- Ban is (sleep move)+(permanent trapping move)+Perish Song. Bans HypnoMissy, Gengar with the same set, Jynx with Mean Look/Lovely Kiss/Perish Song, and Smeargle with Spider Web/Spore/Perish Song.
4) SleepPerishTrap, SleepTrapPass and SleepTrap + Nightmare.
- Ban is (sleep move)+(permanent trapping move)+(Perish Song, Baton Pass or Nightmare). The extra things actually banned by this compared to "SleepPerishTrap only" are Spider Web+Spore+(Baton Pass/Nightmare) Smeargle and Jynx/Gengar/Misdreavus with Mean Look + sleep move + Nightmare. The rationale for this is that SleepTrap by itself has a (relatively) safe counter in the form of a Sleep Talking Pokemon that counters the SleepTrapper - Baton Pass allows you to counter that counter, while Perish Song and Nightmare are capable of killing any trapped sleeping opponent.
5) SleepTrap. (current Pokemon Online policy)
- Ban is (sleep move)+(permanent trapping move). Bans all variations of ML/LK Jynx, ML/Hypnosis Gengar and Misdreavus, and ML/Spore Smeargle. Rationale is that SleepTrap inherently defeats the spirit of Sleep Clause.
6) HaxTrap.
- Ban is (trapping move)+(move that can waste turns), where the latter includes Attract, Disable+Protect, and any moves capable of causing sleep, freeze, confusion or paralysis. The rationale for this ban is that such "hax" moves prevent 100% reliable counters because phazing or attacking could be prevented. The most common "HaxTrappers", when they're allowed, are Mean Look+Perish Song+(Confuse Ray/Attract) Misdreavus and Mean Look+Baton Pass+(Confuse Ray/Attract) Umbreon, but as Attract is a universal TM, any Pokemon with access to a trapping move can potentially HaxTrap.
7) All trapping moves.
- Ban is on all trapping moves. Simple, but overkill. I wouldn't note this, but a tournament claiming to be "ordinary GSC" has been run recently under this rule.
EDITS: Couple of grammar fixes. Nothing substantive.
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