Competitive Pokémon

gimmepie, Dec 8: Is Mudsdale really that common though? I don't do in-game competitive so I'm only familiar with how things go on Smogon. Gyarados can OHKO Mudsdale with Waterfall I'm fairly sure, so Stamina shouldn't matter unless it's already got 2-3 boosts off -...

gimmepie, Dec 8: Would you mind reformatting the team with the standard layout of Pokemon @item Ability: EVs: Nature Here - move 1 -move 2 - move 3

gimmepie, Dec 7: Moody is so heavily luck-based that it becomes completely noncompetitive. I can't see it staying legal in Smogon tiers.

gimmepie, Dec 6: Just to add a little bit more to what lilmudkip said, you should put a bit more time into research too. Learn the meta you'll be playing in. If you're going to do well in competitive you need to know the meta you'll be playing in - learn the...

Lil MuDkiP849, Dec 3: Is this for online? Having the ev spreads and whatever unique abilities would help. Ferrothorn wants Gyro Ball especially with fairies like Grimmsnarl everywhere. The sole observation I have is this team struggles with defensive Corviknight,...

Nah, Dec 2: yeah that's what I meant, sorry if I wasn't clear

There was a lot of initial hype and discussion around Galarian Weezing and its Neutralising Gas Ability. How much of that excitement was justified? This article explores Galarian Weezing's competitive potential.
gimmepie, Nov 28: This is fair, and mostly covered in the article. I still think it's not the best ability for Weezing though. Cause you know, EQ.

Ace Trainer Slash, Nov 25: I've seen one person use an Amped Forme Toxtricity, with a Shift Gear set, which I've also tried myself (and prefer, I find it quite interesting to use). I'd say it would go like this for a Shift Gear moveset: - Shift Gear - Poison Jab/Gunk Shot...

Ventussama, Nov 22: Hey guys I needed help with creating a team around Typhlosion, as it is my favorite Pokemon for Pokemon Ultramoon. Any suggestions would be awesome! 1. Typhlosion Flashfire ability Timid nature 252 Spa/252Speed/4SpD Flamethrower Hidden...

TheeWizard, Nov 22: Hi, I learned a lot about competitive pokemon/ pokemon PVP through Smogon. It's really good for learning what the best moves are to teach a pokemon, and what evs and natures are best for them. Or you can use Pokemon Showdown its really fun, you...

This article introduces the currently known Entry Hazards, explaining why they have such a prominent place in competitive metagames and how you can counteract them.
5qwerty, Nov 14: Wait I thought those were for screens only?

Zeiro, Nov 3: Curse, Substitute, Protect and Play Rough/Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw with Leftovers is pretty gimicky. Use Curse then Sub/Protect to stall their HP loss, with leftovers restoring the HP you lose from Curse/Protect. Then go in for the kill when their...

gimmepie, Nov 2: I would advise against using both Mimikyu and Sylveon on the same team. Although Mimikyu is primarily a physical and Sylveon is special, they share the same weaknesses and can both struggle with some of the same Pokemon. Maybe if it was a mono...

Kurapika, Oct 31: Gengar Generally, people switch away their Pokémon after you put it to sleep. Mega Gengar's ability prevents that so that's an interesting play with Hypnosis, the low accuracy tho is a gamble game... Toxic is of no use for Gengar imo, except in a...

Yoshikko, Oct 29: Warms my heart to see people here that I spent years building friendships with online around one thing we all shared! Being part of the battling community (from PO on for me) felt like such a privilege, like I was part of a special club. I guess...

NevDev, Oct 28: Just to kind of finish this discussion up, thank you both for your opinions. I think what I'm going to do is make a team the way I've said I would and gimmepie recommended and try it out in PU. I might also experiment with Psych Up or snatch a...

gimmepie, Oct 27: Fun concepts, I like them. That being said, I'm not sure they "counter" Stealth Rock in the sense of making less of a problem, more it changes the flavour of the problem and adds a little versatility. The ice one in particular, has much the same...

Ace Trainer Slash, Oct 23: Very true on that part. My suggestion for healing moves would be Wish, it seems to be the only healing move it gets (that's actually quite good). It can be used instead of Agility if you need to heal for the next turn, and are confident you can...

bobandbill, Oct 17: We have an event running in the SwSh forum section at the moment, looking for ideas on a Galarian form/evolutions for existing Pokemon! We've started with Shroomish and Breloom. Right now we're looking for more input on: Art! We have existing...

Levea, Oct 15: For starters if the serperior leaves the playing board and gren does not exist or have water shuriken, scraf lando goes crazy ( assuming you play conservatively and not let it die to kangaskan ice punch or something ). Also on the fun side mega...

Cid, Oct 7: It is. Thank you! Hope to participate in Gen 4 as well. Thanks for organizing!

Dark Azelf, Sep 29: Thunderbolt, Psychic and Giga Drain offer little to poor additional coverage so have little justification warranting a place on any set imo. Sludge Wave, Focus Blast and Substitute, Taunt or Destiny Bond @ Black Sludge, Fightinium Z or Life Orb are...

Cid, Sep 24: Mega Gengar @ Gengarite - Shadow Ball - Sludge Bomb - Thunderbolt - Ice Beam Tyranitar @ Rockium Z - Rock Slide - Crunch - Earthquake

11wildy, Sep 24: This could be quite interesting, Id love to try this in multiple generations! May make some underused pokemon viable and some big threats unviable

Dark Azelf, Sep 18: Comments in bold.

Levea, Sep 15: From inspection Aside from the threats you stated ( fire and dragon ) this team gets shredded by ash-greninja dark pulse. I recommend swapping tangrowth for a tapu-bulu spdef set to offset this. I am also thinking that heatran would work in tandom...

gimmepie, Sep 12: I'm not sure this really fits what this section is about and honestly I'm not sure where I'd move it to otherwise. So for now I'm going to close this thread.

EvioGrace, Aug 31: Hi there! I'm a noob with no experience in competitive Pokémon and I started playing on showdown simulator three weeks ago. Don't judge me if I say something vert stupid (and neither for my bad English), please. I had this weird idea of a...

Sheep, Aug 29: I'm curious too, even though I'm not the best competitive battler. Galarian Weezing's ability seems absolutely nuts and could definitely change the entire metagame if abilities like Truant could be ignored. Perhaps what gimmepie said above is true...

Syndrome, Aug 24: And with that, the tournament has come to an end! Congratulations to Cid for coming out on top, and thanks to everyone who participated for making this tournament what it was.

Cid, Aug 20: hBBjcnADWDI D5aLWtndRSA Have you seen any matches from Worlds this year? Personally, I was really happy to see Umbreon and Togedemaru getting used in the championship matches. It reminded me of the Pachirisu year. What did you think of Worlds...

gimmepie, Aug 3: Okay, this is hilarious.

gimmepie, Jul 29: According to Smogon, the best Steel type in VGC currently is Kartana. Runners up include Stakataka, Heatran, Solgaleo, Bronzong and Ferrothorn. No idea how accurate that is but I can definitely see Bronzong being really good with an EQ immunity and...

gimmepie, Jul 29: Take what I say with a grain of salt because I play smogon not VGC, but here's my take. I certainly wouldn't call it a bad Pokemon as such, he's UU on Smogon and has a small niche in OU play. But in the VGC environment I don't think he's very...

Snowvyle, Jul 29: A lot of people tell me Mega Venusaur is a beast in the VGC, are they right?

pokemonster907, Jul 24: whats your strongest team from gen 1 without legendary or mew or mewtwo ...

gimmepie, Jul 23: I'll keep that in mind heh

NavyBlue, Jul 20: I'm really going to miss the megas that needed it (ie Beedrill, Mawile, Lopunny, Medicham, etc.) because they breathed new life into otherwise unusable (or non-viable) Pokemon. Like others have said, with a lot of heavy hitters likely not returning,...

Cid, Jul 11: Mantine @ Leftovers Ability: Water Absorb EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 SpD Calm Nature - Roost - Scald - Air Slash - Toxic

ClassyPolar, Jul 7: Manaphy @ Waterium Z Ability: Hydration EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Tail Glow - Rain Dance - Surf - Psychic Show me a pokemon holding the Tanga Berry

Castform, Jun 30: GP and I have something in the works. Stay tuned!

accountofjason, Jun 24: Hello, Thank you for taking the time to ready my post, all advise is greatly appreciated. So, me and my friends have set a challenge. We are all using Pokemon emerald, we the intention of having a competitive tournament between ourselves. The...

Syndrome, Jun 13: And that concludes this tournament! Congratulations to Gimmepie for winning, and the opposite of congratulations to Aurora for not even logging in after she signed up. Stay tuned for the next tournament, coming sometime soon.

Nah, Jun 11: To try to explain EVs: Building teams for both in-game play and competitive is often difficult given that each requires different things, so you'll likely need to create two separate teams. EV training in the games basically consists of...

gimmepie, May 25: Thankfully, Breloom is significantly less threatening than it used to thanks to a pretty good number of mon that can absorb spore and either stall it out or kill it. Tapu Bulu and Mega Venu in particular come to mind.

Levea, May 20: The problem with genesect is that it gets perfect coverage and the perfect typing to use it. First off, It has download which means it immediately gets +1 in an offensive stat ( preferably special attack ). compound that with 120s in both offensive...

Nah, May 18: So basically a core is a group of 2-3 Pokemon that work (well) together, and usually are the most important part of/do the most work on the team. Preparing for individual 'mons in the team building phase is one thing, but more important than that...

Ace Trainer Slash, May 14: I quite like Gen 3-5, they seem fun, especially when I started making teams, and complex movesets for important characters in my hack. I find Gen 7 pretty good too, since that's where I learnt to breed Pokemon, and learn how to make competitive...

Castform, May 2: I felt like the timing of the event was the biggest flaw tbh. It's exam season for the majority of people so activity definitely took a dent because of that.

TOKZK, Apr 29: This thread is for moments you would like to share for random/funny teams you have come across (any gen). I'll start off. I came across a full F.E.A.R. team in a gen 6 ou. You know, the usual culprits. Anyways, unluckily for him, my first pokemon...