>>56669995>>56670045Open team sheet is not a balancing decision fyi
it's something they realized they'd have to do in gen 9 after it was already released.
Competitive/VGC is really just an afterthought to the actual game's development cycle
The official battle stadium in-game matchmaking does not have open team sheets. Only in-person VGC events do.
As for item clause, the implications are completely different in gen 2-4 vs 5-7 vs 8-9. In the early gens there literally weren't enough good items.
In the later gens there were enough good items but some items clearly weren't designed with item clause in mind like in gen 5 gems or in gen 7 all those 50% health pinch berries (Aguav/Figy/Iapapa/Mago/Wiki)
But Gen 8-9 is the first time people have ever complained about the lack of item clause in Smogon, and this is due to a sole item, HDB.
For the record I would support item clause in gen 9 but not in any other gen. This is bcuz I think item clause would improve the BALANCE of gen 9 but not any other gen.
VGC's item clause is merely pure tradition, like smogon's sleep clause, but if they did away with sleep clause in gen 9 I do think they should also be open to re-examining item clause.
