Approved by dice.
One of the more traditional complex bans of the Pokemon history, alongside Baton Pass clauses, is the permanent weather introducer + a respective speed boosting ability in the same team. However, with the 2018 ban of Sand Rush, we are locked into a bizarre situation with Swift Swim and Chlorophyll being complex banned while Sand Rush is a traditional ban. Why not simplify this by just banning Swift Swim and Chlorophyll all together, and nuke this complex ban?
The purpose of this thread isn't just to argue for simplification of the current ruleset by banning out right Swift Swim and Chlorophyll, but also to lift one of the bans by retesting Chlorophyll + a permanent sun setter. Chlorophyll's re-introduction is at a glance less threatening in the current meta due to the complete ban of two of its greatest enablers (Sleep and trapping abilities like Arena Trap). Its re-introduction also from a theory-mon perspective, would enable a play style and re-emphasizes BW OU's identity as a weather tier while giving more options to players in the teambuilder. This will open new structures and breathe life to a style of play that has been absent from competitive play. Chlorophyll's addition would disrupt the sand / rain hegemony and add diversity to the tier. Though this may mean “more threats”, it also means more viable options to explore to beat beating these threats; only time will tell if it breaks the tier or not. Truly, we may not know what the meta will shape up to be, but an extended ladder set up will help shape opinions and give a thorough look into the potential direction the meta will head with Chlorophyll re-introduced. We should approach this test with caution and conduct it in a two-step method, similar to how sleep was handled in December 2019.
The looming question over the re-introduction of sun offense in BW OU is if more diversity is a good thing. Will the update of a playstyle cause immense restrictions to other playstyles insofar that you have to run very specific Pokemon in order to not forgo getting run over by a Chlorophyll's sun structure? Will Chlorophyll restrict the flexibility of players to innovate with current team archetypes such as sand and rain? Would a change to the rule-set for Chlorophyl have the power to be viable, but not so strong that players feel it is uncompetitive? We can and have spoken about how it will change the meta, but we are confined to only theorizing on the potential effects. But that's what’s nice about a suspect; you don't have to have the answers when proposing a change, but a given long enough suspect period will answer them. Giving players more options and tools to innovate is always better as long as a new addition doesn’t restrict pre-existing styles / archetypes / playstyles in a greater and negative capacity. If sun offense can be played without it there being a severe restricting other styles options, then there is no reason to not change the rule-set.
One of the more traditional complex bans of the Pokemon history, alongside Baton Pass clauses, is the permanent weather introducer + a respective speed boosting ability in the same team. However, with the 2018 ban of Sand Rush, we are locked into a bizarre situation with Swift Swim and Chlorophyll being complex banned while Sand Rush is a traditional ban. Why not simplify this by just banning Swift Swim and Chlorophyll all together, and nuke this complex ban?
The purpose of this thread isn't just to argue for simplification of the current ruleset by banning out right Swift Swim and Chlorophyll, but also to lift one of the bans by retesting Chlorophyll + a permanent sun setter. Chlorophyll's re-introduction is at a glance less threatening in the current meta due to the complete ban of two of its greatest enablers (Sleep and trapping abilities like Arena Trap). Its re-introduction also from a theory-mon perspective, would enable a play style and re-emphasizes BW OU's identity as a weather tier while giving more options to players in the teambuilder. This will open new structures and breathe life to a style of play that has been absent from competitive play. Chlorophyll's addition would disrupt the sand / rain hegemony and add diversity to the tier. Though this may mean “more threats”, it also means more viable options to explore to beat beating these threats; only time will tell if it breaks the tier or not. Truly, we may not know what the meta will shape up to be, but an extended ladder set up will help shape opinions and give a thorough look into the potential direction the meta will head with Chlorophyll re-introduced. We should approach this test with caution and conduct it in a two-step method, similar to how sleep was handled in December 2019.
The looming question over the re-introduction of sun offense in BW OU is if more diversity is a good thing. Will the update of a playstyle cause immense restrictions to other playstyles insofar that you have to run very specific Pokemon in order to not forgo getting run over by a Chlorophyll's sun structure? Will Chlorophyll restrict the flexibility of players to innovate with current team archetypes such as sand and rain? Would a change to the rule-set for Chlorophyl have the power to be viable, but not so strong that players feel it is uncompetitive? We can and have spoken about how it will change the meta, but we are confined to only theorizing on the potential effects. But that's what’s nice about a suspect; you don't have to have the answers when proposing a change, but a given long enough suspect period will answer them. Giving players more options and tools to innovate is always better as long as a new addition doesn’t restrict pre-existing styles / archetypes / playstyles in a greater and negative capacity. If sun offense can be played without it there being a severe restricting other styles options, then there is no reason to not change the rule-set.
