Pokémon Strategies & Movesets Rules

It has been over two years since the rules were created, and honestly, it became a hurricane aftermath. (Disorganization, confusion, even former staff posts) Now, the Pokémon Strategies & Movesets Rules are getting a fresh dose of organization and even some new rules, along with some extra clarification. Failure to obey these may result in infractions, you are expected to know these rules. If you do not understand something, don't hesitate to contact either Dark_Azelf, Anti, or myself.

Ground Rules

→ Follow all PokéCommunity Rules
Remember the Community Rules still apply, so please read and follow them. They're located → here.

→ Do NOT rate without proper knowledge
It's quite self-explanatory, yet unfortunately the rule is broken consistently. Failure to provide useful and helpful advice isn't helping anyone. If you're inexperienced and don't know how things work, you shouldn't lead the member down the wrong path. We understand you're trying to help, but you're not, so please... don't rate someone's team if you don't know what you're talking about. It's just like giving directions, if you don't know the way, don't give them directions that would get them lost. Consistent improper knowledge rates WILL lead to a red card.

→ When you make suggestions, back them up with REASON
Why should their Scizor run Superpower over Brick Break? Why should their Lucario be replaced with Machamp? You cannot assume the members you give rates to automatically know what you're suggesting. So when you propose a change, tell the member why, explain. If you yourself don't know, what are you doing rating teams? Show some understanding.

→ Be DETAILED with your suggestions
Obscure comments such as "You've got a major Gyarados weakness!" Well tell the sport why, and how might he go about changing said weakness? Explain your statements, inexperienced battlers won't know how to remedy the weakness. Tell them about that threat and what they should do to take care of it.

→ You MUST include description and general summary
In the past, we let Rate My Teams without any description slide, no longer is that the case. After every party member, tell us why it's in the team, how it works & contributes... just general summary. It's your team, you should know why you picked it and how it usually works.

→ "Ew, Heatran? You're not being original!"
These comments are complete and unwanted SPAM. So what if he's using an Overused Pocket Monster? You can't disapprove of a team member because they're common. So please, keep it to yourself and try to actually be helpful. We really don't care how much you hate Gengar, Blissey, etc.

→ This forum is NOT for number rates
"Hey man, this is a super special awesome team 10/10!!!" ...No. When you rate teams, you're providing solutions, suggestions, and general critique to improve the member's lineup. If you want to spam numbers, you're in the wrong place.

→ Teams must consist of SIX Pokémon
No more, no less. If not, post in the Request an Individual Moveset / Incomplete Team Help Thread. Look, if you can think and post of five Pocket Monsters, you can add a sixth. If you have a couple of opinions for the last slot, explain such in your RMT. Or use the Request a Team Thread to narrow down those Pokémon.

→ This is a COMPETITIVE Pokémon forum
No in-game teams, period. Anything works, even six Plusle could work in-game, thus it's moot to post it here. Competitive only, if it's in-game, we will reject it.

→ Read the ENTIRE thread
(This includes replies) Simple, right? It should be. If you're not taking the time to read what the author wrote or what has been posted, you shouldn't be rating. You don't want to miss a point the author wrote, or duplicate what has been said. Pretty self-explanatory here people.

Other Requirements & Suggestions

→ Keep it in mind while rating...
As said earlier, your "job" is to help improve, point out flaws, and generally lead the member on a path to success. A general guideline when attempting to rate one's team is easy to follow. Keep it in mind while rating...

• Can you see any potential threats?
• How would you change the team to make it less vulnerable to the threats in question?
• Does the team seem disjointed or lacking a central focus or strategy?
• How would you change the team to make it more unified or to make it better execute its central focus or strategy?
• Is there a Pokémon that is almost completely outclassed by another that should be replaced?
• What impact does your change have? Does it open up new weaknesses?
• Review the changes you have made to the team and summarize the rationale behind these changes.
• And also noticing general problems like terrible EV spreads and fixing them.

Also when rating, it's more about pointing out threats than type weakness. "Wow, 3 of your Pokémon are weak to fire so watch out!" even when your other three Pokémon are like Vaporeon, Heatran, and Swampert (resist fire). This is not good, and should not be done. Basically what you're doing is stating the obvious, which is not helping. So name threats, not individual types. Now, if the entire team is weak to fire, of course you can mention it, but otherwise work around the Pokémon, not type. This is rate my TEAM, not rate the reply! It's okay to point out a flaw in another rate if it leads to bettering the overall team. If two raters are just bickering about a rate you're not helping anything. If it's a rate without proper knowledge, report it and move on! It's not that hard guys & gals.

→ Teams are REQUIRED to list EVs, Items, Natures, Ability (if it has more than one) and the obvious four moves
This is a moderated forum, meaning, threads must be approved by S&M staff before it shows up. As the rule says, you're required to have these in your thread for every Pokémon. If not, there's no chance you'll get it through.

→ Titles
More of a suggestion than a requirement. You should at least tell the metagame it's in (OU, UU, Little Cup, Uber, etc) and what generation. Is it Platinum? Diamond & Pearl? It's generally recommended you give that information in titles.

→ Recommended Format
To keep threads organized and neat, follow this format. (Obviously, we'll accept other formats if they're clean and just keep things together) If your thread is in a terrible format, don't expect an approval stamp.
---
Pokémon @ Item
Trait (If required)
Nature
EVs
- Move 1
- Move 2
- Move 3
- Move 4
---

→ Use the STICKIES to your ADVANTAGE
I can't stress this enough, use our stuck threads. There are so many times... member runs into this forum, clicks new thread without reading anything, and submits a team they made thinking at breakfast. Spammed and sloppy, something I couldn't even call a "team." We have important threads stuck for a reason, use them! Unsure about a moveset, need help selecting more party members, or maybe just need assistance on a simple EV spread? Go to the Request an Individual Moveset / Incomplete Team Help Thread! Want to ask a question? Simple Q&A Thread. They're there to help you, use them!

→ Use proper grammar and spelling
If you can't spell things correctly, it makes threads very confusing. This rule should be obvious, but since we reject so many "i r uyr cuonter" threads, had to be said. Improper grammar won't help your chances of getting your thread approved.

→ Formatting Issues
If you use a distracting or ugly format, but your thread otherwise meets our standards, we reserve the right to edit our your formatting. Remember, simplicity is key.

→ Learn to take criticism.
Really this isn't that hard to do. When you post a team or moveset you must have an open mind and if there are problems, people WILL point these out, so prepare for it. Simply saying "No, your suggestions to my team are awful" or thinking that your team is the best and cannot be possibly made better is the wrong way to go about things. Even if you don't particularly like a suggestion, still acknowledge them and take them into account. However since it is your RMT you don't have to implement them, but please learn to take criticism or really... don't bother posting. Simple as that, you're wasting raters & the staff's time by being ultimately stubborn, and why in the world are you posting an RMT if you think it's perfect? Obviously there are exceptions to this, for example if the suggestions are blatantly horrid, aka "PU7 HYP3R BEAM ON UR BLISSEY ITZ AWSUM" you can then state your disgruntlement about this.

→ Stick to a maximum of two active RMT threads
Simple enough, to avoid people clogging up the pages with numerous threads, keep it to two (preferably one, but if you have a second one you just have to post, go ahead). If you post a new one and you already have two active RMTs up, expect the older of the two to be locked.

→ "AH! WHERE IS MY THREAD!?" | Have some PATIENCE
Again, to prevent an onslaught of SPAM & terrible non-rule-reading threads from being posted, we have an approval system. (Moderator must approve before it shows up) Listen sport, stop freaking out. If 24 hours pass and your thread hasn't been approved, then most likely it was rejected. Don't come crying to us... why? All you need to follow to get a thread approved is in this thread! If you still can't find out what's wrong, you're more than free to contact me and then pinpoint your mistake(s).

→ Simplicity is key
No annoying CSS in your thread. Keep it simple and readable.


...And that's all folks, remember you can contact S&M staff if you need anything. :D Thanks everyone!

D_A and I have noticed recently that the quality of S&M has been declining recently. There have been a lot of problems popping up, so I'm going to explain how we intend to fix them.

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The biggest problem is the rapidly declining quality of RMTs, especially the RMT threads of our senior members. This is simply unacceptable, as anybody who has been here long enough to know how things work should be the least of our worries, but that isn't the case. A lot of the teams we get from not-so-new players are just downright bad; S&M might be for team help, but giving team raters hardly anything to work with isn't fair. The worst part about this is that people who post these bad teams put about as much effort into the RMT as they did the actual team. That brings me to the related problem about bad RMT posts, especially when it comes to explanations. A lot of the time we get things like "ScarfTran for Scizor" or "Draco Meteor gives Latias a powerful STAB attack"...no really? It's okay if you include this stuff if you want to, but it has to be accompanied by something with a little more substance. The "Why *insert Pokemon*?" sections on some Smogon RMTs would be a good idea to include. The lack of thought put into teams really shows up in the RMT itself when it's posted, as the strategy is usually faulty and the threat list would be a massacre, which is probably why bad teams never have them. Also, one thing that really bothers me is when people theorymon their teams and post them when it's clear they haven't been tested. Being good against things on paper is way different than being good against them when you actually play the game, and I really wish people would take that into account. Sometimes teams are good both on paper and in practice, but it's obvious when that isn't the case.

Another problem is that when raters point out weaknesses (often weaknesses that the OP should have figured about before he/she posted the team, might I add), the OP will often just ask for their thread to be closed without even trying to improve or take the suggestions that the raters offer. Again, this is unacceptable. Any good rate has a lot of time and effort put into it, so it's really unfair to team raters if you just give up on your team. Likewise, these random lock requests sort of defeat the purpose of S&M since it is supposed to be a forum where you build a team and we help work out problems, and then you fix them to make your team better. If you don't try to make your team better, raters giving advice becomes useless since nothing will come of it anyway.

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To fix these problems, D_A and I have decided to clamp down and announce some new policies. However, we will be holding new members and our senior members to a different standard when approving threads: new members don't know how things work around here and generally lack the same understanding of Pokemon as our senior members, so it would be unfair to hold them to a high standard when they're still getting used to things. Which standard (the new member standard vs. the senior member standard) a member is held to is entirely up to D_A and me. Please not that this only applies to RMT thread approvals. For both new and senior members there are some basic things your RMT MUST include, or it will not be approved, no exceptions.

New Members

- Your team must be competitively viable, even if it's not good. That means that the movesets you are using on your Pokemon aren't horrific and they're EVed at least fairly well. We're actually willing to be pretty lenient as long as an honest attempt at a competitive team is made and it's clear that you have read the stickies.

- Your RMT must include basic explanations. Please try to include why you used each specific Pokemon for your team and what role it plays. Since strategy is tough to grasp for new players, it is not a requirement, though it would be nice to include if you actually have a solid strategy or think you have one.

- Your RMT does not have to include any kind of art or pictures (though it is a nice touch and makes your team much more attractive to raters), but the layout/format has to readable. If everything is unorganized to the point where it's nearly impossible to follow your thoughts, we will have no choice but to delete your thread.

Senior Members

- Your RMT must have explanations beyond your typical "ScarfTran for Scizor" (though you can include those too if you really want to), which should include why each Pokemon on your team is included. That doesn't mean you say "I put my Jirachi here for a good special sweeper", as that is really just "Jirachi for special sweeping" in disguise. Instead you should say something like "Jirachi for a reliable special sweeper that resists Outrage and can revenge kill Mamoswine since I'm weak to Salamence, Flygon, and Mamo, and it opens the door for a NP Azelf sweep". That is much more insightful and makes your comments more than something that could have been copied and pasted from another RMT with the same Pokemon. If your explanations aren't up to par, we won't approve your thread. Period. Your explanations don't even have to be long, but they do have to be at least somewhat insightful.

- Your RMT is not required to have a threat list, but it must be clear that the majority of the threats in the metagame can be handled to at least some extent by your team. It's nearly impossible to counter or even be able to reliably beat every Pokemon in the metagame, but that isn't an excuse for your team to be weak to the entire top ten. Having some weaknesses is fine, but if your team is defensively so messy that it obviously won't stand a chance, we will not approve it no matter what, as it shouldn't be hard for you to make a team that isn't completely metagame weak.

- Your team must have synergy and strategy. Your Pokemon should work together at least somewhat. We're not expecting perfect teams, but they can't be 6 random Pokemon slapped together that don't support each other at all. 6 random Pokemon slapped together that work as a team is fine, of course. The idea here is to make sure your team actually is doing something itself and not just reacting to your opponent the whole battle; even stall teams aren't 100% reactionary since they set up entry hazards and actively work to wear down the opponent.

- Your RMT does not have to include any kind of art or pictures (though it is a nice touch and makes your team much more attractive to raters), but the layout/format has to readable. If everything is unorganized to the point where it's nearly impossible to follow your thoughts, we will have no choice but to delete your thread. Also, please don't go overboard with the CSS to the point where your thread is either over-the-top or just plain ugly, or we just won't approve your thread.

- Even though this isn't a requirement, we also ask that you don't just post a team for the sake of posting a team, since that usually leads to people just giving up on it and requesting a lock. If you post a team, please make sure you're actually serious about improving it and making it better. Requesting your thread to be locked is not against the rules, but we certainly will be less eager to approve your next RMT thread if your last three teams have been locked after a little criticism. Also, it should be noted that if you want to post a new team, you don't have to request your old team to be locked first.

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So there you go. If your post good RMTs already, these rules shouldn't really have any effect on you. Still, the flood of bad teams might as well be a noob invasion as far as being a pain for D_A and me is concerned, so we're going to make sure that your RMT doesn't suck. If things get better, we'll probably ease control a bit, but there isn't any reason why you shouldn't be following this stuff anyway, whether or not we required it.

Official Pokécommunity Shoddy Server Rules

For your reference, the shoddy server is located here.


Of course, we have a few rules, so I'll go ahead and outline them!

And yes, I know they look tl;dr, but they really don't take long so actually read them. ~_~

1. No trolling/being annoying. This is entirely subjective obviously, but a staff member's decision is final. Generally, if you find yourself being kicked repeatedly, that either means you're Pokedra or you need to stop trolling/annoying people. Warnings and helpful hints to look out for are people on the server suggesting that you should be kicked or disregarded as well as the sense that no one wants to be in contact with you. Yeah, that probably means you're being a troll/annoying person. Also, saying illogical things is a bad idea. If you want to suggest that Kyogre would balance out Tyranitar in the OU tier and thus would not be broken, you're probably going to be kicked and then banned if you don't stop. Likewise, respect each other. Having a discussion is one thing, but do not flame, troll or bait other users merely because they disagree with you, got a critical hit on you, etc.

2. Members in the past who have proven to the staff that they are not worth giving a chance to be on the server with be permanently banned. This includes Froslass, MobileTsk, Super Luigi, Boo, and a few others I can't remember but I may edit in if I do. Don't complain about these bans because they simply aren't going to be reversed.

3. No linking to porn/shock sites/other stupid things. Porn is an automatic permaban. It's not cool or funny, so there isn't any point in doing it. The other stuff is, as always, up to the staff.

4. No advertising. You can link to sites that people know about like YouTube and Smogon, but since upstart forums are my least favorite part of the internet, those who advertise their upstart poor excuse for a community will be banned. And yeah, I know a lot of the "S&M regulars" or whoever run or frequently visit a few of them. I don't care. No upstart forums.

5. No alternate account abuse. We prefer that you keep only one alternate account, and only two will be tolerated.

6. Only use English in the main chat. Yeah, a few words don't matter, but actually using another language to communicate will get you banned.

7. Engaging conversations in the main chat should not be interrupted. In other words, if there is a conversation in progress that isn't trivial and/or unfunny, don't change the topic. You can always join in, but don't disrupt the natural flow of the conversation. However, if you have a simple question like how to EV your Infernape, you can interrupt. Also, if a tutoring session is going on, do not post in the main chat unless you are in the tutoring program.

8. No Magikarp jokes. Similar memes and annoyances (such as [this one is for you, Chaostorm] Bidoof jokes) will be promptly suppressed and will not be tolerated.

9. No whining about hax. The only time that's allowed is when your opponent claims to have done something due to skill rather than luck when that wasn't the case. As always, a staff member's judgment on the matter will be final.

10. We have a strange sense of humor so expect to be teased a little from time to time especially if you do something silly. Really don't take to heart though, it is the internet. We all tease each other and its all in good spirit and we don't mean anything by it, if we mean it will we state it. Sometimes we kick people in a joking matter. If you complain about being kicked, it will only get you kicked more.

11. Respect the decisions of the moderating staff. Do not talk back after being warned, kicked or banned. Do not question the actions of the staff. If a staff member tells you to do something or not do something, it is highly advised you adhere to it. Do not disrespect the staff themselves.

12. If you are new the standard assumed rules to be turned on are: Evasion Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Sleep Clause, Soul Dew Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause, and Timed Battle. Those are also the rules turned on whilst battling on the ladder too. Most of these rules are used to keep the game in balance. While it is recommended that you use Timed Battle, it is not really necessary when a staff member is around since people who stall will just be kicked or more realistically given a short ban. Tiers can be found here. Explanations about clauses can be found here.

13. Generally, the rules are to use common sense and not make yourself look like an idiot. It's not that hard to follow the rules of this server, unless maybe you're one of the people I mentioned in the second rule.

14. Talking about silly upstart war games is prohibited on the server, its extremely irritating and annoying for people who dont want to listen i.e Luke and Dark Azelf. Save it for the PM's on the server or forum VM's/PM's.

15. Heil me.


Love Your Friendly Neighborhood Staff,

Britney, Azelf, & Anti

Battle Log Rules

This new sub forum is replacing the thread found here: Click That thread was an experiment to see how you all responded to battle logs. Overall, I would say it was a success. However, it had its flaws. It was very unorganized. Posts were often ignored and some posts lacked the quality that is expected of a battle log. A few months ago, it was suggested by the member BeachBoy we create a Battle Logs forum. I found the idea interesting and after mulling over it for a few months, I pressed for the new sub forum to be created. Of course, with every forum, there are rules to be followed:

1) Follow the rules found in these threads:

• PokeCommunity Rules
• Strategies & Movesets Rules

2) Please edit out all of the following from your logs:

• Leftovers Recovery
• Poison Damage
• Burn Damage
• Leech Seed Damage
• Hail Damage
• Sandstorm Damage
• Fire Spin / Wrap / etc Damage

3) Edit out any dialogue that may occur between your opponent and yourself. This includes anything that may distract the reader from the battle itself.

4) If your log looks unorganized, messy, and lacks proper grammar, don't expect it to be approved.

5) I strongly encourage you to be creative with your logs. I personally would rather read a story of sorts based on your battle than a rehashing of the battle itself. For example:

Announcer #1: Here we go! Ashnard's Charizard has taken to the skies. What's this!? It's unleashed a massive Fire Blast, which has engulfed the opponent's Victreebel! What an unexpected turn of events.

I would rather see something like that instead of this:

girlygirl000's Charizard uses Fire Blast.
Critical Hit!
bugaboo's Victreebel received 233% damage.
bugaboo's Victreebel fainted.

I felt bored just writing that.
I'll still approve those sort of logs, but don't expect me to read it.

6) The point of Battle Logs is to receive critiques from other players on your battling style. This way others can see the mistakes you or opponent may have made. This way, it's a learning experience for everyone. Also, it's great to show off miraculous sweeps, amazing comebacks, and crushing defeats.


More rules may be added at a later point when needed. Suggestions for rules? Feel free to PM any of the following staff.

Dark_Azelf
BeachBoy
Anti