Competitive Battling Chat

I actually laddered my first ever Wifi UU match just earlier today and it was against a dude ranked in the top 50 0_o. The variation was something like +91, -2 or something riduculous. Since I had no idea how UU works, I decided to throw in some of my favorite Pokemon. The team ended up have 3 Sucker Punch users with 5/6 of them having LO. Needless to say... through a combination of luck, skill, and whim I managed to secure victory! SubRhyperior curbstomped everything after his Bronzong died. I kinda feel bad for him though ;_;

So yeah, UU's suprisingly a fun metagame (not better than Ubers though ;D). I'll be playing it more often after I learn the ropes first.

This part doesn't really have anything to do with UU, but I've seen A LOT more double dragons + Magnezone offensive cores lately (thanks PK...). And Haxorus is getting some use and I've been on the recieving end of CB Rivalry Outrage before... ouch. Not that they're common or anything, just they're around.

^BRONZONG IS UU????????!!!!!!???

And lol, flamehaze, I should totally play you in ubers. It's so fun. I suck at it though, and I want a good team-mate for Groudon other than Ho-Oh. (maybe reshiram but idk)

That was me on the Beta server. They have a more active Ubers ladder than Smogon's which is why I'm there more now.

Giratina-O is a good partner for Groudon, since it beats Forretress and can priority Shadow Sneak to kill Deoxys-A and Mewtwo that threaten Groudon. It's also a pretty ok switch in to non-Specs Kyogre. Palkia is generally an awesome partner too. Groudon + Scarfkia beats every single Rayquaza there is. It can also abuse Rain in case Kyogre shows up and can be your primary switch to sponge Specs Water Spout.

Oh, I was already using Giratina. Not Giratina-O though, but since I got rid of Forretress and Spikes with Tentacruel I guess I could use Giratina-O. I guess I'll try Scarf Palkia, but I already have Ho-Oh as a scarfer. Maybe replace Zekrom with Scarf Palkia and use standard Ho-Oh? idk i thought scarf Ho-Oh was pretty dumb anyway because of stealth rock despite rapid spin. :(

Twilight Sky said:

Guys, I'm sorry if I annoy some people with this, but Thundurus really is starting to be a pain.

Throughout all the battles that I've had with people utilizing Thundurus, I guess it's not so bad if you set up on a previous Pokemon and then attack thundurus for a possible OHKO or something. Like, for example, with me utilizing a Scizor, I believe a +2 or a +4 Bullet Punch(I can't really remember) is enough to at least 2HKO Thundurus? It's not really that bulky, assuming nobody puts Def or that many HP EVs on it, so.. .___.;

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Well, I don't really see many Thundurus to be honest but I usually let scarfers deal with them. Chomp is banned, but Terrakion and Landorus are both good scarf users. Without Taunt, Thundurus can have problems against walls like Blissey and Porygon 2 but if you don't have Focus Blast then it has a problem against TTar. Also, I'm pretty sure Latias can take a Hidden Power Ice in the face easily and deal damage with STAB Dragon Pulse. Excadrill can also OHKO with Rock Slide after SR. idk i have no knowledge with Thundurus. :(

another thing to watch out for is a drizzle team with thundurus using thunder because thunder has 100% accuracy in the rain and it deals a lot more damage than t-bolt.
and with tornadus the most common things I've seen are tailwind users, sub stallers and the flying gem and acrobatics combo

Twilight Sky said:

I suppose, but Rain Dance teams are primarily used in the UU tier right? I've never really faced one as far as the OU tier is concerned. The OU tier is more or less concerned with centralizing teams around Thundurus or possibly Tyranitar, along with Blissey here and there, along with Jellicent and Ferrothorn, I suppose.

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i forgot about tiers. im kinda new to the competitive battling scene so i don't really know what belongs in what tier.

Twilight Sky said:

Oh! That's not a problem then. ^^; There's a list on smogon that shows what belongs on what tier here, which should also give you a better idea on what Pokemon to use whenever you're building a team and whatnot. When it comes to weather teams however, I believe most of them are primarily utilized in the UU tier, at least as far as Rain and Sun are concerned? Sandstorm teams are mostly OU, if I'm correct, due to Tyranitar being in charge of that.

In case you didn't know though: UU is underused. The Pokemon utilized in this tier aren't bad whatsoever, they're just...used less than the those than are OU(OverUsed). It really depends on which tier you really want to play in though. I heard Staraptor is quite the big threat in UU, while in OU, people would have to deal with T-Tar, Thundurus and friends.

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ok thanks for the link =) i will definitely check out smogon so that i can be more informed on competitive battling.

Twilight Sky said:

Also, remember one thing: Nobody's really that good when they first start off. I know, it has definitely happened to me. Being the one that constantly loses matches and whatnot, it really does help me reflect on what things my team is missing, what I'm doing wrong, and stuff like that. Remember that in this metagame(and pretty much competitive battling in general), prediction is a huge thing, it can really make or break a match for you.

Believe me, it's happened to me a lot of times. ><;

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I've done some battles without tiers before but I've never done a battle with designated tiers. i guess with tiers you really have to think about what pokemon you use because you cant just use whatever you like.

so i thought this would be an interesting topic: what do you think is the biggest change from 4th gen OU to 5th gen? i assume it could be anything, to an extent. seeing as one could say all of the 5th gen pokemon or dream world abilities, you may only reply with one pokemon/ability/item/etc (or weather) that you think changed the metagame the most.

Definitely weather. It's caused a lot of issues when it comes to tiering and banning threats. I guess Dream World in general, since that's what started it. Other things from Dream World that I feel are notable (besides Ninetales and Toed) are Mirror Bounce Espeon, Multi Scale Dragonite, and Sheer Force Nidoking (although he's less noticeable). I personally really like it, because it keeps us away from the "spam dragons/steels" that Gen 4 became with Platinum, which was honestly the most boring thing to play.

Alternative said:

Doesn't Whimisicott stop both those threats with Prankster Sleep Powder/whatever move against them?

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Magic Bounce Espeon is a staple on SmashPass teams as it stops 90% of PHazing along with Sub Gorebyss, this includes Whimsicott (who doesnt get Sleep Powder btw :P). Haze and Perish Song are the only things that stop you getting swept and you know its bullcrap when even Offensive teams have to use them. :/ Scarfers also wont work as the most common smash receivers outrun them easily.

Im actually going to nominate Smeargle, Gorebyss and Huntail OR Espeon next round because smashpassing is unable to be banned (even though it received a MASS amount of nominations) as its "too complex" so those pokes are gonna have to go to prevent this bs lol.

@ Garchomp/Blaziken alt abilities in OU: Cant do it as its a massive double standard if we let chomp back and not Blaze and too complex. Which is silly imo. If it improves the game, why not do it, even if it is "2 complex" ?

Speaking of "too complex" arguments, anyone else think this only applies when you have an exceedingly small brain ? "ONOES, BLAZE BLAZIKEN IS ALLOWED BUT SPEED BOOST ISNT ?!?!?! MY BRAIN CANNOT FATHOM THIS AAAAA" lol ~~

I suppose, but Rain Dance teams are primarily used in the UU tier right? I've never really faced one as far as the OU tier is concerned.

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Noooo, in OU Rain Teams are pretty much the most common thing you'll face along with SS/Sun and SmashPassing (at least higher up the ladder).

Anywho, Thundurus counters; Unaware Quagsire, Swampert, SP.Def Blissey, P2 (Eviolite and Priority Traced T-Wave ftw), Sp.Def Jirachi and electrics (Vire, Eelektross and Raikou etc) seem to be the best things that check it. Anything faster such as Scarfers work wonders. As always the amazing Mamoswine proves to be an awesome switch into it.

The biggest change; imo is the fall of Heavy Stall. Its literally impossible to do now after it dominating for 3 gens. Whilst stall still exists in some forms (semi stall, elf stall etc) your classic Skarm, Bliss, Hippow stuff is extremely hard to do now.

Twilight Sky said:

To bring up a seperate topic..

Don't you hate it when you play a few challenge cups here and there and your opponent just so happens to have a flipping Genesect?

I hate that thing so hard. >>

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Coming from someone who used to ladder on Mysidia, this thing is a behemoth, regardless of tier. The Download boosted U-Turns or Special Attacks destroy pretty much everything, Blissey included [see U-Turn]. The only way to effectively beat it is to 2HKO with a powerful earthquake or outspeed it and hit it with a Fire Attack, which Scarf Infernape is probably the only thing capable of doing that. The fact that Scarf Infernape was even brought up implies it's certainly broken and I'd like to see it promptly banned upon release.

Yeah id like to see Genesect banned. Heatran and Chansey are the only thing that really walls it well tbh. :/ Though i doubt Heatran is going to want to take Douse Drive Techno Blasts or even Download T-Bolts. ~~

Keldeo is another Pokemon who I'd like to see banned. 2 of the 4 types that hit it for super effective damage [Electric, Psychic] are primarily comprised of special moves, which can easily be absorbed after a few Calm Minds. Secret Sword makes Blissey and Chansey susceptible to its attacks, so the list of Pokemon that wall it is narrowed down to Cresselia and maybe a few others that I'm forgetting, as I type this.