Sorry for Double Posting, but I feel as though this post fits better seperately.
Sketchmons is a pretty cool Metagame. It’s different from STABmons because the restrictions of what movesets can be isn’t limited to Pokemon of a certain type or the type of their pre-evos and forms. Because of this theme, the meta is very offensive, which is by no means bad. And while we are suspecting Transform, I feel like there are still some prominent issues in the Meta.
No Retreat
Despite being 1 use while on the field, No Retreat still remains almost as problematic as ClangSoul. It is nearly universally agreed to be a problem here, and it takes little imagination as to why that is.
Now Omni-Boosts have existed since Gen 2 in the form of a 10% secondary chance on low BP and PP moves. In Gen 7, these boosts were then distributed to certain Z-moves, and besides Clanging Scales, these moves would typically be considered useless after the Omni-Boost and additionally required an item. Gen 8 then introduced No Retreat and ClangSoul, with the former being restricted to an otherwise generic fighting type with poor stats, while the latter was distributed to Kommo-o, which losts it’s signature move and can’t easily nullify the drawback with Recover clones.
What makes the Omni-Boosts before balanced was distribution and the mechanic of how they would boost a Pokemon. Ancient Power+clones had a very low chance of proc and were nearly useless otherwise. Z-HH, Z-Celebrate, Z-ToT, ect. all required a Z-crystal and an even less useful move than Ancient Power. Clanglorous Soulblaze was an Exclusive Z-move to Kommo-o, which was mediocre regularly and could be blocked by Fairy type. ClangSoul now eats 1/3rd of the user’s HP and is exclusive to a Pokemon with poor recovery and with pretty low offenses.
No Retreat normally is exclusive to a Pokemon Falinks, whose stats are extremely bad, additionally, prevents the Falinks without Shed Shell or some other specific condition. The vast majority of the time, you also can not use No Retreat more than Twice on the field (unless you are trapped by moves like Mean Look and Jaw Lock before you used No Retreat, so pretty much never).
Despite No Retreat’s flaws, No Retreat is still currently the most powerful set-up move in Sketchmons because it’s main drawback, being exclusive to a shitmon, is no longer a factor and it’s super restrictive on teambuilding, even with the downsides. Absolutely any offensive Pokemon can use this move effectively, which is bad since without the correct prep, your team loses. The only “reliable” ways to beat No Retreat is by Prankster/Disguise+Topsy Turvey/Destiny Bond/Haze/Spectral Thief, with Unaware Quagsire/Clefable, and Imposter.
Such extreme measures are also not guaranteed to work (besides Prankster Haze).
Dark types are immune to Prankster moves, so Topsy Turvey can be negated (and is borderline broken imo)
Destiny Bond can be played around with by using No Retreat again or another status move.
Spectral Thief does not hit Normal types (Not borderline broken, since it’s just a broken ass move entirely. Imagine physical Astral Barrage, which is already banned, but trades some BP for one of the best effects in the game and can bypass Sub for free).
Unaware can be ignored by Stored Power, Power Trip, Mold Breaker, or just hitting Quagsire or Clefable hard with Grass/Steel moves anyways.
And Imposter does not bypass Subs, nor does it gain the boosts Unburden will give when activated on the original Pokemon.
Anything else is dependent on the match-up. A strong priority could work against some frailer Pokemon, but not every Pokemon using No Retreat is going to fold over to a Tapu Bulu Grassy Glide or Talonflame Dragon Ascent instantly. Bulky Pokemon can tank a hit or 2 since it’s only +1 on offenses, but they can’t do much back anyways. Similar problems apply for fast threats as they rely on their coverage being able to hit hard enough past the boosted defenses. Those fast Pokemon also have to either be scarfed or really fast too since No Retreat boosts speed as well.
You can try intimidate, but that will only work against Physical Attackers without certain abilities.
Some Pokemon can also boost their stats even further, since being at full health with +1 Def/SpD and Spe can often let you Sword Dance or Nasty Plot easily.
While this Metagame may be offensive, there is no denying that near instant win buttons are not healthy, and neither is having to rely on excessive counterplay, which isn’t always reliable, to beat is not healthy.
Spectral Thief (and also Prankster+Topsy-Turvy)
Next up is Marshadow’s Signature moves and arguably the best Ghost move in the game. Surprisingly this move isn’t on people’s radar.
In my short rant earlier in this post, I briefly decribed Spectral Thief. It’s a no downside (well technically it has the same drawbacks as contact and ghost moves have), pretty strong with 90 BP, can Bypass Subs, but the kicker is it’s effect to steal the opposing Pokemon’s stats.
Being a 100% accurate 90 BP Ghost move would be already top tier enough. Providing Fighting types with a reliable perfect coverage, and physical Ghost types with a hard hitting reliable STAB is fantastic, even if Poltergeist exists (as it’s not 100% accurate and fails against itemless Pokemon). Even bypassing Sub in addition to those qualities would just be icing on the cake. What pushes Spectral Thief from excellent to broken af is its effect. To Steal a Pokemon’s stat boosts for free AND also hit the target after the boosts have been stolen.
This effect acts as a pratically better Unaware against a slower target.
Not only do you ignore their +6 Def and their +6 Atk or SpA, but you take those boosts for your own benefit on the same turn, which can include SpD and Spe as well.
This can easily lead to your team being instantly counterswept by the Spectral Thief user, where it is significantly better at doing so than Transform (as at least Spectral Thief doesn’t require you to go last and/or some thick cheeks Pokemon like Blissey or Clefable to use properly).
Spectral Thief may seem like it is neccesary for beating No Retreat, but that is just fighting Broken with Broken.
The nature of these 2 moves (and also Prankster+[sweeper stopper]) on the Metagame isn’t exacly healthy. All other set up moves have to suffer because not only is No Retreat broken itself, but it’s brokeness cause other brokeness like Spectral Thief to become neccessary and makes other set up options so much more restrictive.
Every time I’m looking at making a new team with a set up sweeper, I always have to come up with anti-Prankster and hope I can just OHKO the opposing Spectral Thief user. This also means that (besides something like Curselax), all bulky set up is virtually impossible in the tier without a ton of support you otherwise wouldn’t need.
There do exists Momentum flipping Pokemon in the main game, mainly Ditto with Imposter (sus), but at least those methods are rare, and even Imposter has pretty easy means to beat. Yeah, I know I said Normal and Dark types can beat Spectral Thief and Prankster in this post earlier, but I shouldn’t have to be using Obstagoon or Raticate-G for every time I want to set up without Momemtum being flipping or stopped entirely.
With that said, I think No Retreat and Spectral Thief deserve a ban, no question, and Prankster should be looked at after No Retreat is banned, since it’s at least more balanced than Spectral Thief.