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Moves are only banned if they're widely OP or very uncompetitive, like V-create, Shell Smash, or Electrify. Bulu alone was problematic, Grassy Glide doesn't break everything that uses it.
Well yeah but that's kind of a shallow view, bulu used it well because is also set grassy terrain via its ability. The issue is both grassy surge users are banned so the move itself might as well be restricted to mons that naturally use it. Bulu was only broken because it got access to that specific move which got rid of it's innate slowness. From a competitive standpoint what mon is going to pick grassy glide over quite literally any other physical grass move now that grassy surge itself is banned? The mons that run grassy glide run it when they have an auto terrain setter. Lele and Koko are also very common and do they own massive damage and set up for other mons like mind blown kazam and chip their resists hard and in the case of psychic terrain, even prevents priority revenge.
Bulu wasn't broken, Bulu+Grassy Glide was broken and practically the only mon running it as a sketched move that didn't get it naturally. This is basically like the sheer force scenario inheritance. In general there are very phew grass type physical attackers which makes a low sample size. Why not just prevent the tapu's from using their respective terrain based moves altogether?
Cinderace's access to Libero give it STAB on the Sketched move that it chooses, allowing it to completely destroy common switch-ins. For example, Bolt Strike chunks Slowbro and Toxapex very hard and Icicle Crash/Surging Strikes takes out Landorus with ease. Cinderace's great speed tier also makes it a menace to various offensive threats, and on top of that, it even has access to a STAB Extreme Speed that can let it handle faster frail threats like Alakazam and Regieleki.
The issue with Cinderace wasn't Libero or one specific sketched move- it's because all these come together with Cinderace's speed and attack to make an unstoppable mon. When an ability is banned, it's because a suboptimal mon is used just to take advantage of that broken element. Libero isn't banworthy at the same level as something like Arena Trap or Moody, because nobody runs Raboot or Scorbunny to exploit Libero. If Arena Trap wasn't banned, and just the biggest abuser (Dugtrio) was, people would still run Diglett or Trapinch for the ability.
For moves, something needs to be on the level of Extreme Speed earlier in the metagame:
Extreme Speed does what it has always done. Go fast, and encourage the use of the absolute most powerful Pokémon to do it, regardless of other stats.
The most notable abuser of this move has been Diggersby, but it is clear to the council that the issue is with the move and not with the Pokémon. There are other abusers, which you can generally find by sorting Normal types by their Attack stat.
We were hesitant about banning this at first, as in a hyper-offensive metagame like Sketchmons has been the first couple days revenge killing is vital. However with the ban of Clangorous Soul we feel that the meta can thrive without Extreme Speed, and that it is more of a danger than a benefit.
Now, take this logic and apply it to Bulu's defining traits. Do people run Grookey or Thwacky to abuse Grassy Surge? No. Is Grassy Glide so broken that it is run over stronger physical grass moves or other coverage options? No, and it's not like you can sort grass types by attack to find a million busted abusers. So, why should either of those appear on the banlist next to Arena Trap and Extreme Speed? They shouldn't, because that breaks precedent set through previous tiering policy and ends up banning things that aren't broken on their own. Bulu gets to be banned because the combination, specifically on Bulu, makes Bulu almost impossible to switch into.
The only alternative to outright banning Bulu would be a complex ban, which would specifically ban Bulu from sketching glide. This is where the messy banlist comes in. Imagine how much more difficult it would be to build in a tier that banned a bunch of very specific combinations. (Hint: not fun) I'm not going to dive deeper into the idea complex bans, but the point is they suck and can be frustrating in the teambuilder. Besides, it's not like Bulu being removed completely destroys the metagame; it restricted teambuilding so its removal actually opens everything up.
Sand has long been a defining playstyle in Sketchmons. Thanks to the incredible utility and longevity of Shore Up Tyranitar and Pivoting/Knock Off Hippowdon, Sand can be up consistently throughout a match, which provides ample opportunity for a Sand Rush abuser to wreak havoc. Previously, Excadrill was banned due to its overwhelming power and speed under Sand, and a wide range of viable sketched moves made it nigh-impossible to counter. In its absence, Sand Rush Dracozolt has risen in popularity, as access to a speedy Bolt Beak along with excellent coverage options in Triple Axel and Pyro Ball (or even utility in Swords Dance or U-Turn) allows it to smash through teams much like Excadrill did previously. Rather than banning another terrifying Sand Rush abuser, the council has identified Sand Rush as the core issue behind the chokehold Excadrill and Dracozolt had on the metagames, and as such, Sand Rush will be banned. Additionally, as the primary factor in its ban is now gone, Excadrill has been unbanned from Sketchmons.
Some balanced team: Whimsicott Haze, Scizor Beat Up, Toxapex Parting Shot, Tapu-Koko Volt Tackle, Tyranitar Shore Up, Landorus-Therian Roost Edit: Alternatively Scizor can run Surging Strike instead of Beat Up as well as Sword Dance instead of U-Turn. Tapu Koko can run Bolt Strike instead of Volt Tackle. Tyranitar can run Heavy-Duty Boots. Whimsicott might rather want Encore instead of U-Turn or run Encore + Recover instead of Haze + Leech Seed + Protect which opens up a slot for Aromatherapy helping out Beat Up a lot. Also Moonblast could be useful to break Substitute. Landorus-Therian can run Smack Down or Knock Off instead of U-Turn. Edit: Alternative version https://pokepast.es/05a49bcd7904f169 Edit: Scizor can be swapped for Alakazam or Melmetal since Beat Up is quite unreliable. https://pokepast.es/0a1dabfa776bde45
Melmetal @ Assault Vest
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Double Iron Bash
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
im the besss skek player in the universe and im feeling like sharing the secrets to having a 100-0 mu vs everyone:
get got (Landorus-Therian) @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Banded Dragon ascent is the third strongest attack in the meta after banded melm's Dib (cringe mon +slow) and haxorus's outrage (bad mon), and ada bando in general can 2hko everything with a neutral stab move. With this in mind and how lando's stabs complement each other you are often one or two reads away from just being in a position where lando gets a ko each time it gets in. Like this thing 2hkos max defense hippo with Dacent this mon is really dumb and the main way of opening holes in the opponent's team. Knock is there bc it comes useful vs grimmsnarl bc you cant okho with reflect up :((( and what not and uturn is to chip (read: deal 30%) when something you cant ohko and dont want to trade with is in front of you and to bait 3 of the 5 mons that can take both of lando's stabs into the clutches of the funny mon below.
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Rotom-Heat: 120-141 (39.6 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Blissey: 634-747 (88.7 - 104.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 186-220 (61.1 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 312-368 (102.6 - 121%) -- guaranteed OHKO Even though it might look like the best thing to do in the place of the pex player is to switch out, many players will rather just trust the fact that scarf lando, the strongest common set, cant ohko and try to pivot out, so i recommend to just eq them if you find yourself in front of one. if they switch out use that to your advantage later and press dacent to erase their eq switchin later
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 225-265 (53.5 - 63%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
-1 252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian: 180-213 (47.1 - 55.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery This isnt even the most common defensive lando set. for some reason Wallandos often run less defense than that, so you can just secure a 2hko with ease.
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Landorus-Therian: 270-318 (70.6 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 196-232 (49.7 - 58.8%) -- 99.6% chance to 2HKO
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Melmetal: 426-504 (89.8 - 106.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO things like this are why i hate melm
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 248+ Def Ferrothorn: 208-246 (59 - 69.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 364-430 (101.9 - 120.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO The only setup sweepers that can take a banded stab and not die are Dnite (thanks multiscale) and Thundy t (not by a lot) so if you see it fit or are feeling bold you can just stay in on a mon thats clearly looking to setup after you ko'd something and click dacent again to get another ko. Keep in mind that if you guess wrong lando is probably dead. Payoff is huge tho
252+ Atk Choice Band Landorus-Therian Dragon Ascent vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-Therian: 234-276 (78.2 - 92.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
There are 5 mons that can take both of bando's stabs to some extent. One are the rotom forms (bad + takes 40 from dacent), other is zapdos (not as bad but not very good overall) and the other three are the steel birds. You get the idea :). for better or for worse the steel birds arent the most common mons so mag often is a bit more than fodder/ tornt switchin that loses to SE coverage / koko switchin that takes 35 from rvoltage so its ev spread is to make the most of this fodder role, just having enough speed to outspeed min speed skarmory. Searing shot helps it trap other steels as well which comes in handy because even though lando can take care of them by itself, removing a flying resist is huge in helping lando go into one-button spam mode + my anti offense core are 2 psychics, on top of being reliable and threatening burns on mons trying to switch into it.
In a meta where at any moment your one check to something can get robbed, having an emergency blank check to almost everything comes in pretty handy. Zam has some nice synergy with lele too, lele giving psy terrain to zam which helps it preserve the sash and power up its psychic stab and zam being able to take care of steels by itself that might trouble lele. The set's unremarkable otherwise since its pretty standard, you have a choice of stab between eforce and psyshock, each having its own pros and cons.
Who needs to expand your lousy force when you can just chip everything into psychic range? I fucking love pivoting moves and having the fastest mon in the game with immunity to prio and a pivoting move is pretty sick as you can just press it on almost everything and helps bring in Bando to make holes in the opponent's team. You can get volt blocked, but every mon that might try to switch in does not apreciate the psychic to the face so, on top of the surprise factor, you can press volt switch fairly safely. I think in general sketching non stab moves on lele is pretty underappreciated and has a lot of potencial and here we can see some of it.
for me? (Blissey) (F) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Teleport
- Soft-Boiled
- Stealth Rock
- Spectral Thief
Something i love more than pivoting moves are walls that deal 0 dmg but stop you from dealing dmg to them and here's a prime example of that. sthief is a crime and helps bliss pester mons that might try to setup on the switch, stopping any funny business from dangerous mons such as mag behind screens, volc, and if you are very bold (like me) physical mons too like koom o behind a sub and dnite. doing 0 dmg to things is very annoying and in MUs such as Thundy t you can feel the cons but its that, not having rocks in the team, or losing to mag behind screens so i picked my poison and here we are.
Bro is a cool mon to use bc it has regen + tport naturally so your skek move can be whatever you like :). I chose rapid spin bc every team needs hazard control, especially in a meta where any random mon can throw webs at you and make you lose instantly. twave brings mon into under lando speed tier and stops setup in generald, scald is scald and Tport is your recovery move :)
Since im da bess player in the universe my opinions are absolute truths. here i have some:
Coverage lele is really good. although I didnt get to use it the best team to ever hit the ladder, i did play with it on teams before it. Since lele is already strong with Psysurge psychic and its high special attack it just needs a few coverage moves to just 2hko everything it wants. Blue flare is the stronger stab to take, but earth power + tbolt hits everything but ferro , on top being more reliable. This set in particular has longevity issues because of Lo, but the potencial is there.
Mag pull broke. While most mons can just do zone's job themselves, letting zone do so goes a long way in freeing moveslots, on top of trapping being kinda uncompetitive and whatnot
Hello, I just reached the TOP 1 in the ladder (Sketchmons), and I wanted to share the equipment I use.
Tenshi Hinanai (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Toxic
- Shore Up
Lando T is the pivot of the team, and he is special defensive to resist an Ice Beam from a Tapu Koko NO SPECS.
Iku Nagae (Magnezone) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Searing Shot
- Volt Switch
Magnezone with a fire attack, just like the old days, only instead of HPFire, Searing Shot can burn his rivals, so even if I don't get to kill him (Like Melmetal AV), I will have a chance to burn him.
It is scarf because it works for certain fast steel pokemon such as Heatran, in addition to making it a threat against other Magnezone that are not scarf.
Medicine (Toxapex) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Flip Turn
- Knock Off
- Haze
- Recover
The best pivot in STABMONS.
You don't need an analysis because everyone already knows about Toxapex Flip Turn/Teleport. Maybe I just mentioned that I called it Medicine after a Touhou character (As in all the other nicknames on my team LOL)
Renko Usami (Dragonite) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
Dragonite enters here to abuse teams that had a Corviknight / Skarmory / Celesteela to stop the Dragonite and Landorus T.
A Dragon Ascent from Dragonite hits very well.
Maribel Hearn (Bronzong) @ Shed Shell
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Atk / 80 Def / 168 SpD
Careful Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Toxic
- Recover
- Stealth Rock
The user who sets the rock traps and works as a Tapu Lele Expanding Force Counter. I put Shed Shell on it because Magnezone would kill me, and Lele gives me a lot of trouble.
He can also withstand an offensive Lando T attack, depending on the set.
Yuyuko sama (Snorlax) @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Facade/Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Soft-Boiled
Snorlax is the star of my team. Her normal type prevents her from falling victim to spectral thief teams. By having a reliable recovery move, the classic Snorlax Curse becomes more dangerous (in addition to being immune to the toxic)
Among the weaknesses of my team is the Spikes, with that you can destroy me.
I hope my team like you.
Mamoswine puts in enormous work as a lead against most teams, especially those which lead with Lando-T.
Amoongus is the switch in for Surging Strikes, threatens to spore enemies, and removes hazards with spin (very important with court change available). Minimum speed on Amoongus lets you underspeed Melmetal in Trick Room, which really eases that matchup.
Tyranitar is the most fun set as you can DD during their switch to Lando, Iron Defense to proc WP, and get incredible 6-0 sweeps. Earthquake is sufficient to force out or kill most Pex who want to haze you (and they have to be careful not to proc your WP). I didn't invent this cool set, but unfortunately I don't have a name to give credit.
The team struggles against Ditto, but frankly I'm not sure what you can do about that.
Bonus: As with almost all of my teams, this team contains no moves with sub 100 accuracy.
Magnet Pull has been a topic of discussion these past couple weeks due to its ability to magnify the strengths of physical breakers such as Landorus-Therian, Buzzwole, Melmetal, Garchomp, Excadrill, and others. With access to moves such as Blue Flare, Earth Power, and Focus Blast, Magnezone is able to trap Pokemon that would otherwise be able to check it, such as Heatran and Excadrill. These coverage options make Magnezone threatening as is as a Choice Specs user, but Magnet Pull's ability to remove common defensive Pokemon such as Corviknight and Skarmory makes it difficult to counter common breakers, specifically Ground-types such as Landorus-Therian. Due to Magnet Pull's ability to remove these defensive options completely and its overall uncompetitive nature, it has been banned by Sketchmons Council.
I imagined a Blastoise set that, despite lacking reliable means of healing, could be used for outright trapping, causing drowsiness (Yawn), and then defeating.
Blastoise @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent / Rain Dish
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
IVs: 0 Atk
Modest Nature
- Block
- Yawn
- Freeze-Dry
- Scald
With SwSh's Egg Move transference mechanics, Blastoise can now have both Block and Yawn as a valid combination. Block could be learned as a Gen 5 event egg move, with Yawn being transferred in the Daycare from another Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise (depending on the other Pokemon in the Daycare because this requires the same species).
The basic strat is to use Block on the first turn, then use Yawn. After the opponent goes to sleep, Freeze-Dry and Scald are those options you needed for unresisted coverage. The combination of Ice and Water is only resisted by Water-types, which Freeze-Dry can deal with.
If it has Rain Dish, it best fares on a rain team for double healing (Leftovers + Rain Dish). Even on rain teams, Torrent is actually useful: at low HP, it will boost the power of Scald.
What can counter this?
VoltTurn users: Using U-turn/Volt Switch/Flip Turn bypasses any means of trapping.
Chansey/Blissey: Even if you manage to burn it with Scald, this thing will stall you.
I am beginner to such analyses, so this one might be poor.
I’m wondering, does anyone else want Swoobat to be unbanned?
It was broken for sure when it could use Clangorous Soul, and No Retreat would still definitely have been broken on it. However, many of the sketch moves that it could effectively abuse are all banned. The only thing it can now run really is Cotton Guard, Agility/Rock Polish, and maybe Coil or Dragon Dance. None of these moves raise Special Attack and requires Swoobat to use a slot to use Calm Mind, which limits it’s options even more.
Also the best Screens user in Memento Regieleki, and also runner up with Memento Dragapult were banned too, so Swoobat has a pretty hard time setting up.
I agree this was nerfed after ban and not yet unbanned. It cannot now run Geomancy or Quiver Dance, as both were banned too. So a +1 to unban Swoobat.
Nasty Plot is still an option, but I think Swoobat still favors Calm Mind for having bad defensive stats and, without raising defenses, being much easier to be targeted by revenge killers.
So, one of the best Swoobat sets would be:
Swoobat @ Leftovers
Ability: Simple
EVs: 252 Spe / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
IVs: 0 Atk
Modest Nature
- Coil
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Heat Wave
It would be bad with Roost if it had both Coil and Calm Mind because then it would have to wall strong Dark-types, which Swoobat would have a hard time doing because of its low defensive stats. That's called the four moveslot syndrome.
Hello. In this vast metagame where offensive threats shine with newfound coverage, I believe I have found a broken playstyle: rain. With this hyper offensive playstyle, I was able to get to 1490 with a 100% W/L ratio, and was about to get #1 on the ladder, but I inted and lost 3 games in a row lol. Too lazy to ladder back to #1, I settled at 1471 with 82.3% GXE. Here's a team showcasing a playstyle that will most likely get banned in the next however many days:
Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Defog
- U-turn
- Steam Eruption
- Roost
Crawdaunt @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crabhammer
- Sucker Punch
- Aqua Jet
- Knock Off
Kingdra @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Water Spout
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Flip Turn
Tapu Koko @ Expert Belt
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot
Ferrothorn (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 208 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Body Press
- Spectral Thief
Even without a ground immunity, the team does well against Koko. Crawdaunt and Kingdra, the former sketching Sucker Punch and the latter Water Spout, do serious work against both offensive and defensive teams. Tapu Koko is possibly the most broken Pokemon in the metagame, having the option to blast grounds and grasses with Ice Beam or Sp.Def walls with Bolt Strike off of its superior attack stat. Dragonite is one of the best pokemon on any hyper offensive team, and certainly one of the best in Sketchmons with Dragon Ascent. Ferrothorn runs Spectral Thief to not waste momentum while being able to prevent the opponents from setting up, as well as straight up win games out of nowhere.
Loaded a Sketchmons game today and saw Tapu Bulu on the opposing side, went to the teambuilder and it validated Bulu with Glide. It seems to be that Bulu should be marked as banned, has there been an update to the banlist?
I don’t know how difficult it would be but any consideration of a doubles format for sketchmons? I wanted to play around with prankster trick or treat.
I don’t know how difficult it would be but any consideration of a doubles format for sketchmons? I wanted to play around with prankster trick or treat.
I don’t know how difficult it would be but any consideration of a doubles format for sketchmons? I wanted to play around with prankster trick or treat.
Yeah, like cuddly said, this is actually something we have in the OMM Room on Showdown. If you want to play, you can ask for a tour in the room. I have also attached the challenge code that you can use to challenge your friends.
/challenge [Gen 8] Doubles OU @@@Sketchmons Move Legality,*Acupressure,*Astral Barrage,*Belly Drum,*Bolt Beak,*Clangorous Soul,*Decorate,*Diamond Storm,*Double Iron Bash,*Electrify,*Extreme Speed,*Fishious Rend,*Follow Me,*Geomancy,*Glacial Lance,*Lovely Kiss,*Octolock,*Quiver Dance,*Secret Sword,*Shell Smash,*Shift Gear,*Sleep Powder,*Spore,*Thousand Arrows,*V-create,*Wicked Blow,-King's Rock
It has recently been brought to my attention that Sketch does not have Sleep Moves Clause. Especially since there is the potential for No Guard sleep, I humbly request that you consider adopting Sleep Moves Clause. (Also, mods are bad)
Thank you for your time, and I leave you with this fun lead to use in the meantime:
Lycanroc-Midnight @ Focus Sash
Ability: No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hypnosis
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Stone Edge
Effective immediately, Sketchmons will be implementing Sleep Moves Clause
Hi everyone, Eggs here on the behalf of the Sketchmons council! Like many other formats, we are becoming WOKE and CANCELLING Sleep moving away from the old Sleep Clause Mod for a few reasons. Some of these are metagame-specific, but some of the justifications for this decision are entirely mechanical and ideological in nature. With the Sleep Moves Clause implementation comes a few other changes: namely, the removal of Sleep Clause Mod and the unrestricting of Lovely Kiss, Sleep Powder, and Spore. With all that out of the way, here's a fleshed-out justification of Sleep Moves Clause, and outside of the first point these arguments are valid in a majority of tiering scenarios.
1. Sleep was already kinda banned in Sketchmons.
Spore has always been restricted in Sketchmons (for obvious reasons), and Sleep Powder and Lovely Kiss were restricted alongside it at the beginning. The three most reliable methods of inflicting sleep have been limited to their native learners for the entirety of the metagame's history, and Sleep has seen little usage as a Sketched move as a result. At the moment, the only Sleep inducers worth mentioning are Venusaur and Amoonguss, one of which struggles to fit Sleep Powder in its moveset, and the other only sees usage because it can learn Spore. Seeing either of these Pokemon put something to sleep is rather rare, which raises an important question: Is this functionally different than effectively just banning sleep? And in practice, the answer is no. Sleep is effectively a non-factor in the majority of Sketchmons games, and leading into my second point, in the games where it does show up, it really showcases why we shouldn't keep it around.
2. Sleep is uncompetitive and not worth preserving.
This is a dead horse but I take great pleasure in beating it anyway. Sleep has always been a questionable (if not outright awful) mechanic, and removing it from our competitive game is almost always going to be a net positive. When a Pokemon is put to sleep, it is effectively useless unless it is carrying Sleep Talk (which is unreliable, takes up a moveslot, and is also heavily RNG dependent) or has a teammate with Heal Bell (often difficult to fit onto teams). With a single move, your opponent has effectively removed your Pokemon from the match, severely limiting how your team responds to whatever threats your opponent has. Sure, you could spend somewhere between 1 and 3 turns staying in until the Pokemon wakes up, but the difference between 1, 2, and 3 turns of sleep is immense and can often determine the outcome of a match. No other status move (remove freeze too btw) has this much of a chokehold on gameplay, especially one as negative as this.
3. Why the hell do we have Sleep Clause Mod anyway?
This is especially ironic coming from an OM Mashups dweeb, but how did we get away with a gameplay mod like this? Sleep Clause Mod as a solution to sleep abuse is a very odd solution, and one that (as UT said a while ago) would be dismissed outright if it was suggested today. Instead of implementing any ruleset changes, our predecessors just added a single, very specific gameplay mod that activates if a player tries to put a second Pokemon to sleep, effectively making the game enforce a gentlemen's agreement. This is somewhat analogous to modifying the game so that Paralysis can no longer fully paralyze Pokemon, i.e. balancing a mechanic by modding it instead of banning it, which is somewhat obviously not the right decision. While Sleep Moves Clause exists, there is no justifiable reason to keep using Sleep Clause Mod to nerf Sleep. If Sleep is broken, just ban it!
Thanks for listening to "Eggs gets mad at a mechanic that has existed longer than they have". Have a great day!
Clearing up a few things since there appears to be some banlist confusion:
No Retreat is restricted, not banned. This was a wording issue with the last post: we had quickbanned No Retreat, but only as a sketchable move - thus meaning that Falinks is currently unable to use its signature.
Swoobat is unbanned. The main reason Swoobat was banned was down to using omniboost moves / Quiver Dance, and since all three of these are banned, it's safe to assume that Swoobat is a healthy presence in Sketchmons again.
