Whats your biggest weakness as a player?

I've reached 1800 on the Random Battle Showdown ladder. I'm wondering why I can't get this success on any of their real tiers. There's some sort of weakness I have, but I've yet to figure it out.

What do you consider your own biggest weakness as a player?

I don't know all the Pokémon's abilities, moves and setups by heart. This just makes things harder for me because I often don't know what the opposite player is planning and I don't know what I can expect. With Pokémon I'm more familiar with I'm usually fine, so it's just a lack of knowledge.

I lack competitive drive.
This results in me not knowing the "meta" game, movesets of pokémon I don't use and so on.
I also like to use pokémon I like, rather than pokémon that are good, which makes for a very unbalanced team in a limiting game like pokémon.

Team building, not knowing the competitive scene and not knowing where to learn about the competitive scene

I usually predict things right
but im always too scared to make big plays
and most of my team are really weak to stall teams

I can be too passive and reactionary when I play, but I'm usually only like that when I'm out of practice.

YugoTheFusionBanana said:

Team building, not knowing the competitive scene and not knowing where to learn about the competitive scene

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We have a lot of resources here if that helps any. :) There's a lot you can do to learn about the competitive scene. Check the moveset and overall usage stats as well as viability rankings for what's popular or viable. Review teams on Smogon's RMT section (or here) that have peaked on the ladder or seem to be successful. Watch replays of major PC or Smogon tournaments for team building ideas and to see how people play. A lot of it comes down to practice.

I choke and panic a lot, especially when people are watching me. That or I'm too carelessly with my core Pokemon and let them die too quickly.

I get too attached to my Pokémon, and I struggle with replacing them for better ones.

I'm fascinated by the theoretical side of competitive battling. I like to ponder over team composition, team synergy, strategy, etc forever and ever. It's frustrating, but at the same time fun.

However I have no motivation to play, whatsoever. Even when I manage to build a team, I usually just go "I can test this later" and never actually do it.

ZeoStar said:

I've reached 1800 on the Random Battle Showdown ladder. I'm wondering why I can't get this success on any of their real tiers. There's some sort of weakness I have, but I've yet to figure it out.

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Your weakness is that you don't know how to play against good players. Play more on the actual ladders and you'll get better.

noa said:

I choke and panic a lot, especially when people are watching me. That or I'm too carelessly with my core Pokemon and let them die too quickly.

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Consider getting a coach. He can help you getting over your panic, can give you tips when you really need them and after a battle can help you analyze the match in order to figure out what you should do and what to avoid the next time. Also, play more: it helps you feel more secure with what you do.

Marth said:

I'm fascinated by the theoretical side of competitive battling. I like to ponder over team composition, team synergy, strategy, etc forever and ever. It's frustrating, but at the same time fun.

However I have no motivation to play, whatsoever. Even when I manage to build a team, I usually just go "I can test this later" and never actually do it.

Your weakness is that you don't know how to play against good players. Play more on the actual ladders and you'll get better.

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The ladder has given me more problems than anything. It's matched me against multiple top players, including a #1 ranked player. Going against players so far ahead in skill hurts more than it helps when all I'm trying to do is learn.

I'm not improving by playing the low ladder either, as soon as I get past the unorthodox teams and get my chance against a real team, I'm pushed back down. It almost feels like a rigged system.

In fact, when I decided to give competitive a try for the first time, one of my first matches was against a #1 player using a stall team. It was dragged into nearly 100 turns and nothing beneficial comes from that.

I find systems that allow random match making to be better, and I've had great success on those. However I still like Showdown a lot, because I can experiment with anything and everything.

ZeoStar said:

The ladder has given me more problems than anything. It's matched me against multiple top players, including a #1 ranked player. Going against players so far ahead in skill hurts more than it helps when all I'm trying to do is learn.

I'm not improving by playing the low ladder either, as soon as I get past the unorthodox teams and get my chance against a real team, I'm pushed back down. It almost feels like a rigged system.

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You can always ask one of us for practice matches or just to talk - that's one way of learning. Personally I watched some PokéTubers to learn the fastest, but everyone learns differently.

As for ranking, don't worry about it too much. Player ranks raise and drop all the time - once you reach a certain level of consistency your chances of beating the "rank 1" player is as high as his chances of beating you. The ladder isn't even a good measurement of skill, as there are styles/teams that work better on the ladder.

I just love my pokemon and don't want to lose it -_-

ZeoStar said:

I've reached 1800 on the Random Battle Showdown ladder. I'm wondering why I can't get this success on any of their real tiers. There's some sort of weakness I have, but I've yet to figure it out.

What do you consider your own biggest weakness as a player?

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If you don't have a problem in random but you do in other metas, maybe team building is a big problem? That's the biggest difference there, so it'd make sense to look at that if you want to do better elsewhere.

Honestly, my biggest problem is consistency. I get distracted by other interests and things so my competitive battling comes in phases. By the time I'm actually getting half decent I fall off and stop for a while and then when I come back the meta has changed or something and I'm rusty and I have to learn all over again.

motivation. Recently I just haven't felt the desire to play competitive mons. I really want to get back into it but I can't say I am enjoying the USUM meta too much. Perhaps that will change soon...

I mostly play with Mons I like, mostly humble looking ones, no goofy marshmallows nor demigod killingmachine monsters
So my teams end up with a wierd balance or unoptimized picks
Can't be helped tho, I'm not enjoying the game if I don't

gimmepie said:

If you don't have a problem in random but you do in other metas, maybe team building is a big problem? That's the biggest difference there, so it'd make sense to look at that if you want to do better elsewhere.

Honestly, my biggest problem is consistency. I get distracted by other interests and things so my competitive battling comes in phases. By the time I'm actually getting half decent I fall off and stop for a while and then when I come back the meta has changed or something and I'm rusty and I have to learn all over again.

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I've improved a lot since I created this topic. I found out my problem, and I was building teams where I would just throw things together, instead of properly building around something.

I'm still not a great player by any means, but before I could barely win at all, even on the very bottom of the ladder. This time I was able to make top 300 on the UU suspect test with over 70% GXE.

Right now I've been playing around with a Mega Pidgeot team I created, and I've been having lots of fun using it

(This is a replay of it if your interest in seeing) https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7uususpecttest-699214094

Freaking Fairy types always beating my team -_-
I don't have a problem with Fairy types but how can they beat Dragon types? Just Think about it a little fairy beating a huge fire breathing dragon.

I have a hard time using common sets, I understand why they are common but I like playing weird and unconventional sets

I use a Monotype Steel Team which has done well in some competitive battles, monthly competitions, and the Battle Tree, utilizing my favorite Pokemon. Probopass, Klefki, Bronzong, Ferrothorn, Forretress and Mega-Steelix; I also sub in Magnezone for sheer power and Aegislash for some great physical wearing-down. I've also gotten over my pride, somewhat, on not using Legendaries, but mostly to give Celesteela a go.

As a result, Fire, Fighting and Ground attacks are the bane of my existence, lol, but I have plenty of tactics on dealing with those shortcomings, since I've compiled my weaknesses and adjusted my team to deal with them accordingly.

Personally, my weakness is likely being stubborn about not using pokemon because they're super high ranked on Smogon uber tiers or whatever; I fine-trim my EVs and IVs, natures and such to optimize their combat potential, but I usually stick to the things I like in order to be successful. Gaming should be about having fun, right? Also, I usually think Legendaries are cheap and too frequent online for easy wins, so I usually don't use them.

I think Celesteela is cool though, in terms of design, appearance, and playstyle. That's as far as I may go though!