So basically if you're new to Reborn then you should know the tiers are a little different from the average server. For one, things like Swift Swim + Kingdra and Excadrill are still OU here, Shadow Tag is also. Anyway, Clear Skies is a tier where weather is banned completely. Weather is huge part of the current meta game and I know a LOT of people use it without much thought. The question is, why do people use weather? What makes your team better than the one without weather? There are actually many answers to this, I'll try and cover most of them.
So Mori, why do people use weather? The main response to this is, weather wins, the majority of battles between a weather team and a non-weather team, weather will come out on top. Why? Because having weather on your side gives the clear advantage from the off. The main fact that I'm sure most people who dislike weather and even smart people who use weather from time to time agree on, is that weather being summoned PERMANENTLY is absolutely ridiculous for the amount of extra advantages you gain from using it!
How? Think about Sand, it's taking 1/16 of your Pokemons health every turn unless they are Rock, Ground, Steel or have the ability Magic Guard, which most Sand users will have because they work so well with the team. Perfect for stalling isn't it? Your Pokemon will be taking damage every turn (same with hail) and their, let's say Gliscor will be sitting behind a sub. Slaps a toxic in your face and you miss the ice beam which otherwise would take out the sub and would, next turn, kill him. Sand Veil is one of the abilities which abuses weather, in my personal opinion, the most annoying out of all of them (same as the ability Snow Cloak in hail). Another thing to mention is the special defense boost Rock-types get in Sandstorm and this boost only applies to Pokemon that has Rock-type.Their Special Defense is increased by 50% while Sandstorm is active. As if they didn't have enough of an advantage already, right? While we are on the topic of Sand, Sand Rush the ability that doubles a Pokemons speed in a Sandstorm is a pretty scary thing to come across. While the most threatening Pokemon that learns Sand Rush is Excadrill which, as I mentioned, isn't banned here. There are a lot of things that counter Excadrill (mostly in the form of fighting priority) but that doesn't mean his massive attack coupled with the HUGE speed boost from Sand Rush won't sweep your team if your physical wall is dead and/or you have no remaining priority. Trust me, not many things can live a +2 STAB earthquake unless it's resisted, even when it is.. It's going to hurt you a lot.
Alright so Sand can be a little bit difficult to deal with, so what? What about Rain? Being the next form of weather that can be permanently summoned in this Gen in OU, it has different types of abilities but some with the same nature as in Sand. Swift Swim being the most discussed and I'm sure most hated ability out of them all, acts exactly the same as Sand Rush except for in rain, of course. Now unlike Sand Rush, where Excadrill was the only decent Pokemon given the ability (arguable, but for the most part true.) Swift Swim has,listing only final evolutions, Golduck, Poliwrath, Seaking, Omastar, Kabutops, Qwilfish, Mantine, Kingdra, Ludicolo, Armaldo, Huntail, Gorebyss, Relicanth, Floatzel, Luminion, Seismitoad, Carracosta and Beartic. With most of these Pokemon being able to abuse STAB water type moves in the rain. Which the rain ALSO boosts water-type moves by 50%! Not to mention decreasing the power of fire-type moves by 50% also. A clear advantage again, from the start of the match. Now out of all the abusers of rain, Kingdra is probably the most common and best at it's job. As I mentioned before, it's not banned here. With the ability of having a physical or special set and STAB water moves boosted by 50% because of rain. You can really see why it was banned, looking back at Excadrill, there are many clear counters. As for Kingdra? Not so much.. Being water/dragon-type it gives it only one weakness, being dragon. Taking in it's natural bulk with very respectable defenses it sure as hell can take a hit or two. But as it will naturally out speed everything and with the power it has, be it specs or Dragon Dancing, you won't get the chance. Rain Dish and Dry Skin are both abilities which are useful only in rain(aside from Dry Skin absorbing water moves), mainly for stalling as coupled with leftovers or recovery items you regain so much health. I hope I'm making my point stand out here?
What about Hail and Sun? Being the last two types of weather left, which can also be permanently summoned into battle from the start. I wouldn't say they are as threatening as Sand or Rain but they still give the advantage nonetheless. Sun probably being the more dominant of the two, has the ability Chlorophyll, exactly the same use as Sand Rush and Swift Swim except, naturally for sun. As the abusers of this ability are all grass types it doesn't have as much coverage or survivability. But the main threat would have to be Venusaur, having access to Growth boosting it's special attack and attack whilst having the speed boost is a fantastic sweeper and a right pain. Normally countered soundly by Heatran, resisting both it's stabs and normally Hidden Power - Fire. Except when it carries Earthquake, which I've found if running a physically defensive Heatran CAN sometimes live! But will normally KO and continue to sweep your team. Most of the other threats in the sun are very like Venusaur except not as great for sweeping. Like Sawsbuck who normally uses Life Orb and Double Edge it can die rather quick to recoil. Still the huge speed boost is very annoying and sometimes you can't do anything but watch your team get swept.. As for hail, I'd say it's a lot more about stalling. Giving the same nature as Sandstorm losing HP every turn unless you have the immunity Walrein can just substitute protect toxic stall you to a very frustrating death. Trust me, I've been there.. Snow Cloak, like Sand Veil boosts the evasion of said Pokemon in hail. So like Gliscor Froslass can set up and sub more than likely, because hax never goes well for most with evasion. You will miss the attack and they now have a free sub. Hurray.
Most of the current arguments for weather are "Weather actually takes skill and strategy to pull off!". Alright, tell me that without copy and pasting the same no.1 team from the Smogon ladder and win 9/10 of your matches with the single battle loss being to another weather team. I personally am sick of the Reborn ladder full of weather teams which are give a take a Pokemon, all the same. I think it's time for a Clear Skies tier so us non-weather abusers can battle without it being an instant loss. I've spoken to many different people on the server about their thoughts and opinions on weather, most of whom said they would prefer it to be banned to ubers where it belongs. It may sound rash, but without weather people would be able to be creative on the ladder without the only problem they come across being, "Oh no, I have to keep my Politoed alive so his Tyranitar can't come in and set up Sand so I lose!". Many new people coming into the Reborn server aren't happy with the tiers, it's happend quite a few times where someone will come into main chat and rant about how Excadrill isn't uber here. I think Reborn tiers being different are great and not going along with the others. But for those people who don't agree with Kingdra or Excadrill being OU, they won't need to worry about it if we had a Clear Skies tier, personally I'd spend most of time battling in there because of all the weather on the ladder, as mentioned. I know quite of number of people agree and would love the idea of a Clear Skies tier. If you're not prepared to get rid of weather completely, which would make many people happy, I know from speaking with them, please consider making it a tier for those of us who would enjoy it. I understand people will not agree with some of my points. And I'm all for reasoned arguments, so be my guest. Post below on your ideas and opinions and I'll get back to you. Thank you for your time and I hope I made my points clear. - Jim
Finally, some friends!