Everyone hates hax! Well, perhaps not everyone, but I do think full paralysis is really only interesting to one battler at a time.
So, I think at least many would agree that hax/luck in a competitive metagame is undesirable and unfortunate. But, what can you do without simply creating a different game that just isn’t Pokemon? I don’t pretend to know. However, I’ve been thinking about how one would completely remove hax from Pokemon, and this is what I’ve come up with. I’m sharing it here in the hopes that people will read it and comment and suggest improvements and perhaps we can all have an interesting theoretical discussion! And who knows, maybe one day a brave/bored soul will figure out a way to implement it in Pokemon Showdown :)
Critical Hits
I think these might be the most hated form of hax. Crits as a mechanic are still present. They still do double damage and ignore unfavourable stat modifications etc. However, regular moves no longer have an innate 6.25% chance to crit. Moves will 100% crit chance, like Frost Breath, retain that. But there aren't many of those. So, moves with a “high critical hit chance” will now always crit, but have had their base damage reduced to compensate. For example, Thunderbolt will never crit, and Leaf Blade will always crit but it’s base damage has been reduced from 90 to 50. (Its average damage before, with a base power of 90 and a 12.5% chance to crit, was 101.25. Its effective power now is very close to that: 100.)
Status Conditions
Burn, Poison, and Toxic Poison remain unchanged. Paralysis now only reduces speed by ¾ (no more chance for full paralysis) becoming just a severe pesistant speed decrease. Sleep now always lasts 2 turns (the average). Frozen is removed from the game since no moves reliably cause it anyway. Confusion now always lasts three turns and its effect is different: the confused Pokemon will always both successfully attack and hurt itself in confusion. Since it can be removed on switch out, maybe four turns would be more appropriate. Flinch is removed (except from Fake Out). Infatuation now makes Pokemon do half damage to Pokemon they are infatuated with instead of failing 50% of the time.
Move Accuracy
It goes without saying that moves, abilities, or items that effect accuracy or evasion are banned. Further, all moves with an accuracy of 90% or higher are boosted to 100%. This is because, I think, when deciding to give Pokemon these moves, or to use them in battle, their accuracy is usually disregarded. (Missing with Toxic feels like unfair bad luck rather than the unfortunate result of a choice). Moves with an 85% accuracy or lower typically create a choice (E.g. Should I use Fire Blast or Flamethrower?), so all of these other moves have been removed from the game, except the special cases listed at the end, forcing the “hax-free” choice to be used.
Random damage
Rather than multiplying the final damage of an attack by a random number between 0.85 and 1.00, damage should simply always be multiplied by 0.925. Now Move X used by Pokemon Y on Pokemon Z on turn 1 will do the same damage on turn 2 and 3 etc.
Other Changes
Supersonic, Sweet Kiss, Glare, and Will-O-Wisp now have 100% accuracy. Thunder and Blizzard now have 100% accuracy but will fail if it is not raining or hailing respectively. Zap Cannon and Inferno have 100% accuracy but 60 and 50 power respectively. Sacred Fire has a 100% chance to burn but 50 power.
With the new status mechanics, it might be reasonable and interesting to make Static or Cute Charm always work on contact rather than removing them completely.
Final Notes
There are many abilities that have either become meaningless (e.g. Serene Grace, Super Luck) or clearly don’t belong in the “hax-free” metagame (e.g. Tangled Feet) and I haven't written out a full list but I think their removal speaks for itself.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out how to fix is the situation when both battling pokemon have the same speed stat. Maybe the lighter or smaller pokemon goes first? Suggestions appreciated! Perhaps everyone could deal with this last remnant of hax. I think I've covered everything else, and this would theoretically be a luck-free game! But if I've missed something, please post it!
PS: Yes, this is my first post :) I hope people think it's a good one!
So, I think at least many would agree that hax/luck in a competitive metagame is undesirable and unfortunate. But, what can you do without simply creating a different game that just isn’t Pokemon? I don’t pretend to know. However, I’ve been thinking about how one would completely remove hax from Pokemon, and this is what I’ve come up with. I’m sharing it here in the hopes that people will read it and comment and suggest improvements and perhaps we can all have an interesting theoretical discussion! And who knows, maybe one day a brave/bored soul will figure out a way to implement it in Pokemon Showdown :)
Haxfreemons!
Critical Hits
I think these might be the most hated form of hax. Crits as a mechanic are still present. They still do double damage and ignore unfavourable stat modifications etc. However, regular moves no longer have an innate 6.25% chance to crit. Moves will 100% crit chance, like Frost Breath, retain that. But there aren't many of those. So, moves with a “high critical hit chance” will now always crit, but have had their base damage reduced to compensate. For example, Thunderbolt will never crit, and Leaf Blade will always crit but it’s base damage has been reduced from 90 to 50. (Its average damage before, with a base power of 90 and a 12.5% chance to crit, was 101.25. Its effective power now is very close to that: 100.)
Secondary Effects
Moves with secondary effects that have a non-100% chance of occuring (e.g. Thunderbolt paralyzing) have had their secondary effects removed.
Status Conditions
Burn, Poison, and Toxic Poison remain unchanged. Paralysis now only reduces speed by ¾ (no more chance for full paralysis) becoming just a severe pesistant speed decrease. Sleep now always lasts 2 turns (the average). Frozen is removed from the game since no moves reliably cause it anyway. Confusion now always lasts three turns and its effect is different: the confused Pokemon will always both successfully attack and hurt itself in confusion. Since it can be removed on switch out, maybe four turns would be more appropriate. Flinch is removed (except from Fake Out). Infatuation now makes Pokemon do half damage to Pokemon they are infatuated with instead of failing 50% of the time.
Move Accuracy
It goes without saying that moves, abilities, or items that effect accuracy or evasion are banned. Further, all moves with an accuracy of 90% or higher are boosted to 100%. This is because, I think, when deciding to give Pokemon these moves, or to use them in battle, their accuracy is usually disregarded. (Missing with Toxic feels like unfair bad luck rather than the unfortunate result of a choice). Moves with an 85% accuracy or lower typically create a choice (E.g. Should I use Fire Blast or Flamethrower?), so all of these other moves have been removed from the game, except the special cases listed at the end, forcing the “hax-free” choice to be used.
Random damage
Rather than multiplying the final damage of an attack by a random number between 0.85 and 1.00, damage should simply always be multiplied by 0.925. Now Move X used by Pokemon Y on Pokemon Z on turn 1 will do the same damage on turn 2 and 3 etc.
Other Changes
Supersonic, Sweet Kiss, Glare, and Will-O-Wisp now have 100% accuracy. Thunder and Blizzard now have 100% accuracy but will fail if it is not raining or hailing respectively. Zap Cannon and Inferno have 100% accuracy but 60 and 50 power respectively. Sacred Fire has a 100% chance to burn but 50 power.
With the new status mechanics, it might be reasonable and interesting to make Static or Cute Charm always work on contact rather than removing them completely.
Final Notes
There are many abilities that have either become meaningless (e.g. Serene Grace, Super Luck) or clearly don’t belong in the “hax-free” metagame (e.g. Tangled Feet) and I haven't written out a full list but I think their removal speaks for itself.
The only thing I couldn’t figure out how to fix is the situation when both battling pokemon have the same speed stat. Maybe the lighter or smaller pokemon goes first? Suggestions appreciated! Perhaps everyone could deal with this last remnant of hax. I think I've covered everything else, and this would theoretically be a luck-free game! But if I've missed something, please post it!
PS: Yes, this is my first post :) I hope people think it's a good one!