Hi,
I've been playing some BW2 NU in NUPL recently and while playing these games, it hit me: why aren't sleep moves banned? The fact is that (to my knowledge) all usage-based tiers in BW bar UU and NU already did ban sleep moves, and for good reasons: BW sleep mechanics are just completely broken. Hitting a Sleep Powder is basically an OHKO due to the fact that the sleep timer resets every time you switch out, and given the fast-paced nature of the typical BW meta (NU included), this means you will practically never get to wake up. Not only does this take one of your mons out of the game, but said mon can even be used as setup fodder for another threat if you're not careful. The mechanic is blatantly overtuned and should not have a place in a competitive metagame. Moreover, OU and RU banning sleep moves gives us more than sufficient precedent to do it.
The only line of argument I really see against a sleep ban would be that the meta doesn't have viable sleep users, but this is obviously not true for NU (and admittedly I think sleep moves in BW are OHKO-move levels of stupid and broken regardless of the quality of its users). While there may not be A-rank threats with access to sleep moves, the current B-ranks count no less than 5 Grass-types that can viable run Sleep Powder to take something out, which is especially dangerous on breakers that can take out whatever resists their coverage and then spam STAB moves for free progress for the rest of the game. I am also enough of a boomer to remember that this tier used to have Jynx before it was banned at the end of the gen, largely due to its ability to take out one mon with a fast Lovely Kiss and another with its excellent power and coverage. Perhaps a sleep ban would give us reason to resuspect Jynx, though personally I'm ambivalent on that. Fact of the matter is, in any case, that BW NU has a sordid history with sleep mechanics just like the other BW tiers and a sordid present as well, especially as people realize that a powerful Grass-type breaker with a 75% accurate OHKO button isn't such a bad thing to have.
Therefore, I propose a ban on Spore, Hypnosis, Sleep Powder, Yawn, Dark Void, Sleep Powder, Grass Whistle, Lovely Kiss & Sing, with a removal of Sleep Clause as it is pointless to have when there are no broken sleep moves left. I reckon the end of NUPL would be a good moment to have a vote on this, though I do not oppose an earlier vote either as it wouldn't excessively shake up the meta.
I've been playing some BW2 NU in NUPL recently and while playing these games, it hit me: why aren't sleep moves banned? The fact is that (to my knowledge) all usage-based tiers in BW bar UU and NU already did ban sleep moves, and for good reasons: BW sleep mechanics are just completely broken. Hitting a Sleep Powder is basically an OHKO due to the fact that the sleep timer resets every time you switch out, and given the fast-paced nature of the typical BW meta (NU included), this means you will practically never get to wake up. Not only does this take one of your mons out of the game, but said mon can even be used as setup fodder for another threat if you're not careful. The mechanic is blatantly overtuned and should not have a place in a competitive metagame. Moreover, OU and RU banning sleep moves gives us more than sufficient precedent to do it.
The only line of argument I really see against a sleep ban would be that the meta doesn't have viable sleep users, but this is obviously not true for NU (and admittedly I think sleep moves in BW are OHKO-move levels of stupid and broken regardless of the quality of its users). While there may not be A-rank threats with access to sleep moves, the current B-ranks count no less than 5 Grass-types that can viable run Sleep Powder to take something out, which is especially dangerous on breakers that can take out whatever resists their coverage and then spam STAB moves for free progress for the rest of the game. I am also enough of a boomer to remember that this tier used to have Jynx before it was banned at the end of the gen, largely due to its ability to take out one mon with a fast Lovely Kiss and another with its excellent power and coverage. Perhaps a sleep ban would give us reason to resuspect Jynx, though personally I'm ambivalent on that. Fact of the matter is, in any case, that BW NU has a sordid history with sleep mechanics just like the other BW tiers and a sordid present as well, especially as people realize that a powerful Grass-type breaker with a 75% accurate OHKO button isn't such a bad thing to have.
Therefore, I propose a ban on Spore, Hypnosis, Sleep Powder, Yawn, Dark Void, Sleep Powder, Grass Whistle, Lovely Kiss & Sing, with a removal of Sleep Clause as it is pointless to have when there are no broken sleep moves left. I reckon the end of NUPL would be a good moment to have a vote on this, though I do not oppose an earlier vote either as it wouldn't excessively shake up the meta.
