Cheers Doug :)
For my role, I have gotten a longish reason as to why to implement the formula that I typed up tonight. Posting here to:
a) Receive the green light for when to post this
AND
b) Receive suggestions on how to improve it
Argument for the Formula
I have thought about this idea for a great deal now and I’ve come to the conclusion I’m a strong advocate for it. It enriches our metagame both through minimizing luck and increasing the variety present. For example, with the new hax formula, stall is a much more viable style of play. I have had massive troubles in the past where I have thoroughly outplayed my opponent only to have been done in by a lucky critical hit. Conversely, I’ve been outplayed by people running a stall team thoroughly only for my MixMence’s Draco Meteor to critical hit his Skarmory and faint it, undeservedly opening his team up to a sweep for another member even though his team is structurally more sounds then mine. I am sick of a metagame that is so centered around revenge killing and “checks” rather then the good old fashion way of being an “100 percent counter” to something, and this formula would encourage more solid team structure as well as promote the use of a relatively rare playstyle.
Similarly, bulky stat-uppers that use moves such as Bulk Up and Calm Mind aren’t used in lieu of their more offensive cousins in Tail Glow, Swords Dance, Dragon Dance and Nasty Plot. Moves like Calm Mind and Bulk Up are much better to sweep with (except for possibly Dragon Dance, due to the extra speed.) due to padding your defenses as well as your offenses. Stuff like Calm Mind Jirachi, Celebi and Suicune as well as Bulk Up Machamp and Gallade are personal favourites of mine, as they are very hard to OHKO as it is, and with even + 1 or + 2 in a stat, it becomes nigh impossible. However, because of rubbish like an Infernape’s Grass Knot Critical Hit my + 6 Suicune when all he has left is a Heatran and Scizor happening, I have been deterred from them. This new hax formula will give this stagnant metagame much needed diversity in terms of a whole new set of stat uppers becoming competitively viable as well as the almost dead art of stall.
This and the fact that it takes the rating of the players in question involved to help determine the winner means that the guys who are better players will always win their matches.
For all those opposing the implementation of the formula, isn’t minimizing luck to give the more skilled players the best chance of winning what Smogon has been striving to do all these years? We don’t play pokemon competitively to hope to get a lucky crit, we play so that we can beat our opponents through the skill of our tactics. Just something to think about for everyone.