Sorry for the wait on this, but with the combination of holidays and various distractions and disruptions this took a while, but I can happily say that moving forward, Sableye will be banned from SS 1v1. Sableye's unique skillset of Prankster combined with status moves like Disable, Encore, Substitute, Protect, Recover, Night Shade, and Trick allowing Sableye to effectively shut down a majority of Pokemon in the metagame. The only ones that are immune from its clutches are Dark-types, as their type holds immunity towards Prankster users, and very specific Pokemon with abilities tailor made to counteract the status move, such as Aromatisse, Hatterene, and Tsareena. This severely limits teambuilding and puts immense strain on Team Preview, as most Pokemon auto-lose to Sableye. Encore + Disable has been a strategy long utilized by gimmicky Pokemon such as Alakazam in previous generations; however, what separates Sableye from the previous users of gens past are twofold: access to priority and the reverse power creep. Priority should be self explanatory: strategies that boost Speed, primarily common Choice Scarf abusers and Speed control techs like Rock Tomb, are rendered completely useless. With the decrease in overall power, there are also no longer viable strategies for Pokemon that can brute force their way through Sableye with multiple moves, as Z-Moves and Mega Evolutions no longer exist in Sword and Shield. These in addition to the lack of Mail as a way of protecting from Trick allow Sableye to guarantee a Trick in almost any non-Dark-type matchup.
Have fun!
The Immortal
Have fun!
The Immortal