I just dropped a regional. Regulation E might be one of the worst pokemon formats I have ever played. Maybe even worse than dark void smeargle.
To understand why this conclusion is correct, I can take you back to a time before the open team sheet. Back in the day, because of the lack of open team sheets, players could potentially run into funky looking teams that would never see the light of day in a best of 3 format, and these formats were still filled with teams that were samey. However, regulation E contrasts these formats because the double edged sword of open team sheets has caused trouble in allowing certain strategies to blossom. There's also the problem that this format may as well be an abbreviation for Regulation Extended D since many of the teams are just regulation D teams with maybe a small amount of spice. Even teams that are not meta can be chalked up to usually 5/6 of the pokemon being regulation D. This has made the format feel like it has dragged on too long.
Going back to the problem of open team sheets, it is important to note that the lack of open team sheets back in the day did not just slightly enable cheese, but also allowed players to run smart techs on their seemingly standard pokemon. Now that everyone knows your whole team, the incentive to use these techs vanishes, and techs that are really good just become mainstream. While that seems like it would create a format where players are constantly innovating, it actually doesn't. Instead what happens is that the format is solved faster, meaning that bland teams fill the format faster.
I will say that I am incredibly mentally strained right now. I do not feel like I am quite as cut out for these tournaments anymore.
