I just don't see how you can argue that it's any worse than the other status moves out there. At least you have a chance of screwing over the person using Swagger. If someone faster uses Thunder Wave on you, you're crippled for the rest of the fight in more ways than one unless you switch a billion times to use Heal Bell (if you even HAVE Heal Bell).There really weren't "intelligent decisions" to make. If the opponent outsped you and landed Swagger, you were either forced to try the 50/50 or switch out and potentially get Swaggered again. Pokemon like Kingdra could Swagger their typical counters and possibly be able to break past them purely on chance.
I'm not usually taking a gamble when I use it. I use it on a Pokemon that can actually take the boosted (sometimes even boosted, super effective moves) and slap them with STAB Foul Play right after. Either way, if using Swagger to boost Foul Play's damage and completely ruin hyperoffensive Pokemon makes me a stupid player, so be it. I just like having these options.foul play has use beyond swagplay. thunder wave has use beyond swagplay. swagger's only use is in swagplay, because the only reason you'd want to explicitly raise your opponent's attack exponentially is to completely ensure you can keep them from attacking you, and to capitalize on their high attack. otherwise, you're relying on the worst kind of luck; the kind that isn't in your favor.
of course, this discussion is meaningless, because as you've said, AG exists now, and if you haven't noticed the merry band of klefki terrorizing the land, swagplay works quite well still
People were saying the same things when Swagplay was actually up for discussion, about it being used only for Swagplay. But that's nonsense. Other strategies were brought up back then, like Swagsire. I've also personally used Swagger to punish Baton Passers (they often seem to forget that Confusion passes as well). You and whoever made the decision to ban it simply decided to sweep all of that under the rug. Also, I've only done a few fights in AG so far, but I only found one Klefki and it wasn't even Prankster Swagplaying. AG has been very unpredictable so far, but it has been very fun because of that.