Okay, it's clear that the options presented in the poll are insufficient.
Here are possibilities I'm considering:
- Ban Leppa+Harvest, Leppa+Recycle, and Harvest+Entrainment
This is my preferred solution.
As far as I am currently aware, this is enough to stop any infinite Struggle strategy from being possible against the majority of teams (I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure this covers it) (and yes, Fool's Mate is still possible but no common team should fall for it).
This also has a side effect of stopping most other infinite loops, which is desirable and I doubt anyone will object.
This also has a side effect of stopping most infinite PP stalling strategies, which is more controversial and I can understand someone objecting to. I personally would like to see infinite PP stalling out of the game anyway; I like most stall but PP stall is just so slow and boring and not fun for either player... this is a good application of the "turns newcomers off the game."
The other option to keep infinite PP stalling in the game is to ban all methods of infinitely healing the opponent:
- Ban Heal Pulse, Pain Split, and Harvest+Entrainment
I don't think anyone thinks this is a good idea, though, because it bans Pain Split, which is used in much more legit strategies than infinite PP stall.
- Clause it: 16 Struggles in a row is now an automatic draw
This is probably the simplest solution.
It works, but I wanted to take the opportunity to ban infinite PP stall anyway. :|
The other problem is, of course, that this strategy will result in a draw, which isn't a very strong punishment. It prevents people from using the strategy to infinite-stall-troll, but it doesn't strongly discourage the strategy from being used, and it can still turn newcomers off.
Which leads to the alternative clause:
- Clause it: 16 Struggles in a row is now an automatic win
This is pretty funny, and in practice if you can Struggle 16 times without fainting, your opponent's not playing very well anyway: without your opponent's help, the main strategy here is Sun+Harvest+Sitrus, but to KO you before you can Struggle 16 times, your opponent only needs to deal 50% maxhp in 15 turns. Which, if they can't... they deserve to lose anyway.
By the way, in case it wasn't clear, things we aren't considering:
- Treat it like timerstalling, call a mod to force a tie
The timerstalling rule is already somewhat controversial, and in general mods are instructed to err on the side of "not guilty of timerstalling".
Calling a mod should not be a game mechanic, because very few players are aware that it's even a possibility. So this has a side effect of giving an advantage to players who know that calling a mod is an option. I don't want that specific kind of meta-knowledge to be relevant in a game.
Also, since most players don't know calling a mod is an option (and it's not like the staller's going to suggest it), it doesn't solve the main problem, anyway. And if you think it's a good idea, you might as well automate it by clausing it.