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Is playing OU the easy way out?

Ho-Oh

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A few minutes ago a couple of us were discussing how they think that OU is easier than other tiers. The reasons they mentioned were that the Pokemon were already good, that the Pokemon are so common in that tier, that the "good" teams are already defined to an extent, where not really that many new strategies can be created without conforming to the norm, and that the "good" Pokemon will always be used simply because they're good and not much can change.

What's your views? Do you feel that OU Pokemon make battling too easy, and that at this point new strategies are harder to develop? Do you think that the lower tiers are easier because they are used less and there are more likely to be undiscovered strategies or potential? Do you think that even though you're good at OU you're not necessarily a great battler unless you can master the lower "harder" tiers? These are all questions to base your responses on, so feel free to discuss!
 

Zelda

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I do believe all of the things mentioned are true. With lower tiers, I think it would require more thinking to come up with strategies to make a Pokémon better at what it mains in. With OU tier Pokémon, a lot of what they are made up of (stats, movepool, etc) are easy given and require less thinking really. It's like a comparison between a rocking chair and a recliner as I mentioned with Yoshikkko. You can fix up a rocking chair if you want it to meet your satisfaction, whereas the recliner is already made easy for you. If you're into strategic thinking and want to actually have something to be pretty proud of, I think lower tiers allow more of that.

Though I can see it the other way around, why work harder than you have to? OU is "advanced" and therefore used more, so why not get into it? More people play around it, so it makes more sense to join in too. This is like a bandwagon except it can't be stopped from happening. It's simply "better" in terms of just going all out there with battling. The Pokémon in this tier are simply better. Lower tier Pokémon can only be made as good as they can within the tiers they are set in, which are all lower than OU. But it's all in the trainer that decides how well they can do in any tier, even if you mix it up a bit and add in some lower Pokémon into OU. There's so many ways to view this, that I can't argue with any opinion on this.

Nevertheless, LOWER TIERS FTW > I find it way more enjoyable because there's more to be proud of when you work up something from scratch rather than go the lazy way out.
 
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Yoshikko

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I agree with what Kaori said and what was said in the OP, apart from prediction which is just a general skill needed, I think that OU requires way less strategic thinking than UU (or any low tiers really), because they OU is overused, and so are the strategies. They're already fixed for you because so many people use them. Standard movesets, standard techniques and tactics, etc. Also I think that UU tiers have way more room for creativity and own input, which also improves you to use any Pokémon in a good way, while yeah with OU, there's really only 1 or 2 ways to use them most of the time.
 

Dark Azelf

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To be honest id say OU is HARDER than any other of the tiers. Ubers, UU etc are far more balanced than OU. I mean OU has ridiculous offensive and defensive threats and covering them ALL with a team is no easy task with so many different variations of stuff and things that have very niche counters. At least in UU things dont hit as hard or can wall you as badly or are just pretty one dimensional plus there is no weather to bother about. In Ubers you have defensive and offensive behemoths like Rayquaza and Lugia which balance each other out. Id actually say OU is HARDER than any of the other tiers.
 
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.Gamer

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OU isn't necessarily easier, it's that it's the most played metagame and you're going to see many of the same threats over and over again, so it becomes easier to see them coming. It's just like if you were to play UU or Ubers or NU or RU or BL2 or whatever other tiers have come into existence, you would think after a while of getting really good at it, "man, this tier is easy, I know all the threats I'm facing." Eventually, Pokemon boils down to knowing common threats and being prepared for the big ones, also good educated guessing (often referred to as prediction). OU isn't any easier than the other tiers, it's just the most played and most seen tier.

Also, that being said, Little Cup is pretty easy once you get the hang of it, pretty much just tons of offense. It's also cute!
 

Pokemon Game Fan

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I agree with Dark Azelf, it seems that OU is actually harder. That's just IMO, but I mean, there are so many different Pokemon with different movesets and different EVs and etc. In Uber, it's mostly the same, few, very powerful Pokemon and in UU, the Pokemon don't exactly learn the greatest moves. I don't any tier should be discriminated against, in my team I use 5 OU Pokemon and generally alternate between my 1 UU and another OU, why is it so wrong to use OU Pokemon that I like? Tiers are there for a reason aren't they? Then again, I think any Pokemon can beat any and tiers are just there to separate, it all comes down to who's better prepared and who has the better strategy IMO.
 

MegaKuriboh

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It just depends on which tier you're best at and how your team is developed against the metagame.

Edit: Oh, and you have to know the metagame yourself, what Pokes are most threatning and what moves the usually carry.
 

Yoshikko

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To be honest id say OU is HARDER than any other of the tiers. Ubers, UU etc are far more balanced than OU. I mean OU has ridiculous offensive and defensive threats and covering them ALL with a team is no easy task with so many different variations of stuff and things that have very niche counters. At least in UU things dont hit as hard or can wall you as badly or are just pretty one dimensional plus there is no weather to bother about. In Ubers you have defensive and offensive behemoths like Rayquaza and Lugia which balance each other out. Id actually say OU is HARDER than any of the other tiers.
I do agree with this but for the sake of the thread I'm only gonna consider actually using Pokémon instead of having to face/counter them, cause in that case I do agree.
 

SebbieSawrr

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I believe that no tier is "easier" or "harder" because each tier has different weaknesses and threats. Even though OU seems to be most played its because people are use to playing in that mindset. UU and under need a lot more stalling and support and OU is straight forward. Overall I think its just setting aside power levels etc rather that difficulty.
 

Musica

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Each tier has their own advantages and disadvantages. I say OU is just as hard as any tier. Battling is also in the playing style, not just tiers.
 

Ho-Oh

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I believe that no tier is "easier" or "harder" because each tier has different weaknesses and threats. Even though OU seems to be most played its because people are use to playing in that mindset. UU and under need a lot more stalling and support and OU is straight forward. Overall I think its just setting aside power levels etc rather that difficulty.

OU still uses a lot of stalling though, especially with rain being so prevalent, which is primarily based upon stall - as is hail, which can only be used in OU/Ubers. A lot of people just go for the popular ones which seem to be Uber or OU w/o knowing the tiers and go "straight forward" (aka HO) because they don't know any better, and with a few adjustments to make their team make more sense they just play that tier that way from then on. :x People are more likely to start off with OU than UU etc so as a result by the time they do play the other tiers they know of a lot of other playstyles other than HO.
 
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