The Species Clause states that you can not have more than one Pokemon with the same National Dex number on a team. This worked fine until Gen 7 introduced Regional Forms, which share a Nat. Dex number with their other form(s).
The justification behind the Species Clause in general is a sound one. Having multiple of the same Pokemon on a team is an uncompetitve strategy, regardless of how good or bad that Pokemon is in general. However, it becomes significantly less sound when you apply it to Regional Forms.
I consulted the Help room on Showdown on this issue, and the only justification I got was that Regional Forms are still the same Pokemon. But this is a really dumb argument, because it's just plainly untrue. Regional Forms are completely different Pokemon. There isn't a single Regional Form that has the same typing or movepool as their other forms, and with the exception of Zigzagoon, Linoone, and Darumaka, they don't have the same set of Abilities either. All Regional Forms could be given a different design and one would be justified in calling it a different Pokemon.
I really don't see any reason to have the Species Clause apply to Regional Forms. Please inform me if you can think of another reason, but the purpose of Clauses and Mods are to make the competitive metagame, well, competitive, while making as few changes as possible. Having this restriction in does absolutely nothing to make a metagame more competitive, so I think it should be removed.
The justification behind the Species Clause in general is a sound one. Having multiple of the same Pokemon on a team is an uncompetitve strategy, regardless of how good or bad that Pokemon is in general. However, it becomes significantly less sound when you apply it to Regional Forms.
I consulted the Help room on Showdown on this issue, and the only justification I got was that Regional Forms are still the same Pokemon. But this is a really dumb argument, because it's just plainly untrue. Regional Forms are completely different Pokemon. There isn't a single Regional Form that has the same typing or movepool as their other forms, and with the exception of Zigzagoon, Linoone, and Darumaka, they don't have the same set of Abilities either. All Regional Forms could be given a different design and one would be justified in calling it a different Pokemon.
I really don't see any reason to have the Species Clause apply to Regional Forms. Please inform me if you can think of another reason, but the purpose of Clauses and Mods are to make the competitive metagame, well, competitive, while making as few changes as possible. Having this restriction in does absolutely nothing to make a metagame more competitive, so I think it should be removed.
