Power or Accuracy in competitive play?

[Miss Doronjo]

As the title suggests, in competitive play, do you prefer the the fast, furious, sheer base power of moves, also known as the power of moves, or do you prefer to be more technical, and rely on how much times a move can hit? Or in other words, the accuracy of a move?

For example, take Stone Edge and Rock Slide.

Stone Edge is more powerful than rock slide (100 base power), more likely to score more 2 Hit KOs and even OHKOs, but it has a shaky 80 percent accuracy. Rock Slide on the other hand, has a 90 percent accuracy, with a base power of 75, so you might choose it to be more reliable on being able to hit.

So, again, do you prefer power, or accuracy?

[Forever]

Accuracy, yeah. I tend to go w/ Rock Slide anyways (on Gurdurr & Sawk) since usually they're pretty strong physical attackers and the power drop doesn't matter as much as the miss would. I also tend to side with the lower variants of HPump, Fire Blast, etc. Focus Blast I try to avoid at all costs.

Sleep Powder and stuff though I'm not as opposed to and I'll actually use it since it's usually used on switches and it doesn't matter AS much if it misses. :3

[PlatinumDude]

I go for accuracy just to be safe, but I go for power when I really need it. I only use moves like Focus Blast only when there's no better alternative, for instance.

[Folly~]

I prefer accuracy for sure, but I definitely make compromises if at all possible. For instance, if I'm going to run Heat Wave on something like Heatmor, I'll give it the Wide Lens so that the move gets 99% accuracy. I don't like the idea of having extremely powerful attacks that miss all the time.

[TheFallenUmbreon]

Accuracy, of course. U never know when it come in handy especially when battling Pokemon with double team and all those other moves

[Karpman]

Rock Slide is absolute garbage and doesn't score the KOs Stone Edge does at all, plus it still has the chance to miss which is ******** really, so I go with Stone Edge there. I do, however, prefer accuracy when choosing between things like Flamethrower and Fire Blast, but if the power differential is greater than the accuracy differential like in the Stone Edge-Rock Slide case, then I go with the more powerful move.

[dragon456]

I tend to choose the one with more power even if it means risking accuracy, as long as the accuracy doesn't go below 80. So for instance, if given a choice between Fire Blast and Flamethrower I'd definitely go for the former unless the SpAtk is powerful enough (ex: Choice Specs Hydreigon). I'd also use Victini and teach it low accuracy moves due to its Victory Star ability :3

[SoulRed12]

I always choose more power except in certain cases. For example, thunderbolt over thunder of course, same for ice beam over blizzard. But with fire blast? Meh, 15% chance to miss isn't too bad. At most I'll lose one every 10 games or so because of it, but I'll win more games because of the extra power.

I usually just try to stay away from situations where I need to rely on Focus Blast, however. It seems more like 40% accuracy for me than 70% T___T But, that goes for when the move is used against me, too. The other day I won a match that I would have totally lost because the opponent used Gengar and missed with focus blast against my cloyster while I set up. (it was my only hope at that point, if he hadn't missed I'd have been swept)

[tj4bigred]

Normally, I'll take anything that's not below 80 accuracy. So I prefer Fire Blast ad Hydro Pump over Flamethrower and Surf, respectively. Like PlatinumDude said, the only time I'd take something with lower accuracy is when the options are limited, such as Focus Blast.

Of course, it's different for Status Moves though.

[cbd98]

I'm a mix, like a lot of people here. It usually depends on the Pokemon. If it's a glass cannon that could be taken out in one hit, I usually go accuracy over power. But if the Pokemon could survive two or three hits, I'm more likely to use moves with more power and less accuracy. On the topic of status moves, I'm conflicted. I love to stop a sweep with a Will-o-Wisp or break down an annoying wall with Toxic, but I never know when I'll miss and ruin it all. In a perfect world all moves would hit and you wouldn't have to roll the dice, but whatever, misses happen.

[Mac]

It really matters, but since I play doubles, I go with Rock Slide over Stone Edge because it hits both Pokemon and can also make them flinch, which is nice and handy. Flamethrower/Fire Blast... I go with Flamethrower generally, but quite honestly I don't use either move that often xD For Water moves though, I tend to go with Hydro Pump if I only need coverage of one mon... but Surf when paired up with Gastrodon is disgusting. lol... I don't know, it really matters on the situation :\

[Musica]

I hate hax so Accuracy over Power. I always go for something more reliable.

[DispenserJustice]

I typically choose Power over accuracy, but I'm running something like Nidoking then I try to be a bit more sparing. Blizzard/Fire Blast/Earth Power/Thunder would be horribly rage-inducing.

I always choose Focus Blast on Alakazam over Aura Sphere, though.

[CalciferFireDmn]

Absolutely accuracy there is nothing more annoying than losing because you missed.

[Dr. Fuji]

generally it's just math multiply power by percent acc and see which is more likely to do more damage in the long run exceptions for pokemon that need the more powerful move to beat specific threats and pokemon that have enough power that the extra acc is preferred.

[Drakow]

I go for power because the system will never let any of my attacks miss anyway.

OK fine, I go for power because I prefer high risk high reward.

[krazzikk]

I like to have a pretty good balance of accuracy and power moves for different situations. I think I prefer power over speed, but if the move has pretty decent power with good speed, then I would use that.