Sleep Trapping
"sleep trap is gay lol ban plz"
"sleep trap is gay lol ban plz"
Preface
Sleep Trapping has never been a problem before, so why now? Some of you may not be aware that sleep mechanics have been incorrect for a good while now, only lasting up to 5 turns instead of The Current State of Related GSC Bans
As it stands, there is a SleepPerishTrap ban, which bans any combination of: a Sleep inducing status move + Perish Song + Mean Look or Spider Web. As most of us are aware, the SleepPerishTrap ban was created primarily to prevent Misdreavus from being able to score free KOs with near impunity. Misdreavus could run a set consisting of Mean Look / Perish Song / Hypnosis / Protect and would only require an average sleep roll to guarantee a KO even on a phazer. Pokemon without Roar or Whirlwind were guaranteed gone unless Misdreavus had very poor luck with Hypnosis or they had very lucky crits and/or Sleep Talk rolls. Needless to say, such a ban had to be implemented.
Sleep Clause is another modification to the rule set, which I believe most of us are aware exists to prevent one from simply putting the entire team to sleep and mandating multiple rest talking Pokemon. Again this is necessary for GSC as we know it today. Some believe that it need not necessarily be a modification of mechanics and take a more purist approach, but this clause is in general universally agreed upon.
SleepTrap Ban Proposal
A SleepTrap ban would ban any combination of: a Sleep inducing status move + Mean Look or Spider Web. Some communities have implemented such a ban in the past such as PO, whereas other communities such as PP have considered such a ban, declining it in favor of deferring to Smogon's GSC OU. Jame$ G has brought up that partial trapping moves may circumvent the intentions of current bans. I have not included partial trapping moves in this ban since they are not currently included in the SleepPerishTrap ban as it exists currently, although now would probably be the best time to modify this should the player base see fit. I'll leave this up to discussion.My personal thoughts on sleep trapping are that it is broken. The primary purpose of sleep clause is to allow one to fodder a Pokemon off to sleep and safely bring in another who can deal with the opposing sleep user while not asleep. Sleep trap abuser circumvent this entirely with effectiveness not dissimilar to sleep perish trapping.
Examples of Sleep Trap Abusers:
Smeargle @ MiracleBerry / Leftovers
- Spider Web
- Spore
- Baton Pass
- Agility / Substitute / Protect
In my opinion one of the more brutal examples of sleep trapping. More experienced GSC vets will see this coming, especially in a lead position. Lead Smeargle should always carry MiracleBerry. There are a few possible scenarios one could be faced with. An exploding lead such as Exeggutor or Cloyster stops this cold... kind of. As it turns out, longer sleeps allow Smeargle to forgo Agility if it so chooses and run moves such as Substitute and Protect to block Explosion, making entire games potentially decided by turn 1 coin flips. Not to mention requiring a turn 1 explosion is a horrid gambit to begin with as no one could possibly know their team. A Roar lead puts a temporary stop to this, but can't actually do damage to Smeargle lest it get trapped, which gives Smeargle numerous opportunities to set up throughout the game. Phazers switching in to Smeargle will be trapped, slept, and then Baton Passed to something which can OHKO, e.g. Raikou sees Marowak or Drumlax, Skarmory sees Jolteon or a different Electric, etc. Spikes are difficult if not impossible to set up as Smeargle outspeeds both Spikers and puts the opponent in a situation similar to the Exploding lead, assuming their Spiker has explosion at all which it may very well not. This means Smeargle is likely to stay healthy for most of the game, at least until it tries to trap an opponent. Any non-Roar, non-Explosion leads such as Snorlax are immediately trapped, slept, and then passed into an appropriate counter. Nidoking would first see an Agility, and then a Spore in order to assure that Smeargle can pass +2, although admittedly you will not get a trap off. Jynx and Sleep Talk Snorlax stop this entirely.Smeargle @ MiracleBerry / Leftovers
- Spider Web
- Spore
- Baton Pass
- Agility / Substitute / Protect
Some of you may have noticed that I only focused on lead Smeargle baton passing to offensive threats, but I think defensive teams are far more dangerous, especially with non-lead, Leftovers Smeargle. Generally such a team might look like Smeargle / Starmie / Blissey / Misdreavus / Snorlax / Skarmory or Umbreon. The strategy is fairly simple, keep Spikes off and keep Smeargle in good health with Leftovers and conservative play to allow multiple chances at sleep trapping. Blissey and Snorlax handle both trapped Electrics, the latter of the two can Curse up or Belly Drum. Charm Baton Pass Umbreon and Perish Trap Misdreavus handle any and all Curselaxen. Skarmory can serve as a back up check to say Drumlax, however that can simply be put to sleep by Smeargle anyway. Throwing out Explosions to prevent trapping is obviously highly dangerous with Misdreavus constantly lurking in the background, and if they do happen to lead Smeargle you have no way of knowing it's there. This team is downright nasty to face and isn't even stopped by Sleep Talk Snorlax nor Jynx.
Misdreavus @ Leftovers
- Mean Look
- Hypnosis
- Curse
- Pain Split
Jynx (F) @ Leftovers
- Mean Look
- Lovely Kiss
- Ice Beam
- Nightmare
Hopefully we can settle this before SPL 9 starts. I know a number of experienced GSCers who would very much like to see this banned, and I know I that I personally would not enjoy facing this given how much it turns GSC into a one-player game at times. Ideally I'd have tour matches to back this up, but given how recent the change to sleep is and how much this turns games into shitshows I'm hopeful that we'll be able to resolve this first.
*1-6 is the correct number of sleep turns according to Crystal_. Can't tell what Zarel did exactly.
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