LIST OF STANDARD RULES
Evasion Clause
Probably the most important rule in competitive play. This rule states that no player is allowed to use the moves Double Team and Minimize. Any other mean of raising evasion is legal, like Brightpowder, the Sand Veil Ability, or Acupressure. Using Double Team or Minimize due to Metronome is not a violation, but Assist is
OHKO Clause
Almost as important as Evasion Clause, under this rule no player is allowed to use a OHKO (One Hit Knockout) move: Guillotine, Horn Drill, Fissure or Sheer Cold. Again, using these moves through Metronome doesn't break the rules, but Assist does
Sleep Clause
Yet another very important rule, no player is allowed to put a Pokémon to sleep if a Pokémon in the opposing team is already sleeping. Pokémon sleeping due to Rest don't count. Since this rule can lead to various discussions, I'll try to list them all here
-A Pokémon falls asleep due to the Ability Effect Spore while another Pokémon on the same team is already sleeping: This doesn't break the rule, as the player with an Effect Spore Pokémon had no effect on the second sleep; however, if a player puts a Pokémon to sleep AFTER Effect Spore took affect, then he/she has broken the rule
-A Pokémon puts two Pokémon to sleep due to an opponent's Encore/Choice Item: If the sleeper was allowed to switch out, then the sleeper's player has broken the rule; if the sleeper was trapped by any means, the trapper's player has broken the rule
-In a double battle, two Pokémon are put to sleep by the move Dark Void: If no other Pokémon had previously been put to sleep, then the rule isn't broken
Species Clause
Very simple, no player can have on the same team two Pokémon of the same species (Pokédex number)
Soul Dew Clause
Since Latias is allowed in OU only without the Item Soul Dew, a new rule has been made: No Pokémon can hold Soul Dew. If Latias will be banned from OU even without Soul Dew, feel free to ignore this rule
TIERS
Uber Tier
The Pokémon here are banned from standard play because of their stats/Ability/movepool. This tier is not supposed to be balanced
The Following Pokemon are Banned from Standard OU Battles
THIS LIST IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
- Arceus
- Darkrai
- Deoxys (all forms)
- Dialga
- Garchomp
- Giratina
- Giratina-O
- Groudon
- Ho-oh
- Kyogre
- Latios (both with and without soul dew)
- Lugia
- Manaphy
- Mew
- Mewtwo
- Palkia
- Rayquaza
- Shaymin-S
- Wobbuffet
- Wynaut
OU Tier
Stands for OverUsed and is what people refer to when using the term standard play
BL Tier
Stands for BorderLine and is the banlist (not supposed to be balanced) of Pokémon too strong to be used in the UU tier (see below)
UU
Stands for UnderUsed and is what people can play if they don't want to try OU
NU
Stands for NeverUsed and contains the weakest Pokémon that people don't use even in UU
In every tier you can only use Pokémon from that tier or lower
NON STANDARD RULES THAT ARE SOMETIMES USED
The following rules aren't included as standard. However, they are quite popular among many users and make for a different style of play. If they are stated alongside the standard rules, remember to abide by them.
Item Clause
By far the most common non-standard rule, item clause states that each Pokemon on the team must be holding a different item from one another. So no double leftovers or focus sash. Items that do the same thing but aren't the same, such as leftovers and black sludge, are allowed.
No "Hax" Items
The following items are banned:
- Brightpowder
- Quick Claw
- Focus Band
- King's Rock
Self-KO Clause
This mostly only applies to tournaments. It's used to break ties. If both players are down to their last Pokemon and one uses a move that kills itself, such as Explosion, Self-Destruct, Destiny Bond, or Memento, the trainer who used that move is considered the loser in the match.
Freeze Clause
Only used in a controlled environment such as Pokemon Battle Revolution or Shoddy Battle. Only one Pokemon may be frozen at the same time as another. Once one unfreezes, that Pokemon or another may be frozen.
