Type advantage or STAB?

Started by rom hunter July 7th, 2014 9:26 AM
  • 1610 views
  • 12 replies
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STAB or Non-STAB with greater type advantage?

rom hunter

tongue-tied

Male
Tropics
Seen July 24th, 2014
Posted July 13th, 2014
73 posts
9.2 Years
What kind of moves do you prefer for you Pokemon? Do you go for moveset comprising moves of different types to gain type advantage over opponent's Pokemon? Or do you stick to the moves that match your Pokemon's type for same type attack bonus (STAB)?

For just four moves making choice is difficult. It is possible to have moveset that contains the STAB moves along with non-STAB moves to cover a variety of types. Still there are many Pokemon out there who have very little choice when it comes to moves other than those of their own types. Under these circumstances one is forced to think which ones to really go for. It then becomes question of priority - STAB or non-STAB with greater type advantage. Now what is your priority?

moon

they/them
Seen 12 Hours Ago
Posted 2 Days Ago
37,443 posts
15.5 Years
Since I mostly (well, only lol) play in-game and not competitively, I mostly have a pattern for how I put moves on my pokémon. I don't really give pokémon special roles to fill in a team; in-game opponents are easy enough to beat with high levels and being cleverer than the AI. So I always give them a STAB move but often also a Normal type move or one or two differently typed moves. And then one or two status moves of some nifty kind.

So yeah, in general I prioritize STAB moves and choose pokémon on my team from their typing rather than from their stats.
paired with Ivysaur
Seen January 1st, 2023
Posted March 23rd, 2022
3,316 posts
9.2 Years
I play in game so I'm not big strategist when setting up moves. I like to make sure they have a good stab move, if they're dual typed then a stab for each. Once they have their stab(s) I either try to give them moves that are super effective against types they're weak to or a status move if it seems appropriate.

Mega Venusaur

Muncher

Male
England
Seen April 7th, 2015
Posted July 15th, 2014
110 posts
8.8 Years
I prefer to use type advantage moves and Pokémon so that a victory is pretty much a certain thing. I use STAB moves on occasion but not too much as I don't want to risk something going wrong (for example, Accuracy problems) so I usually use moves which would have an advantage against the enemy.

Brendino

The Ruins of Alph
Seen 10 Hours Ago
Posted April 6th, 2023
8,567 posts
13.4 Years
I almost always go with the same strategy on my Pokemon- one powerful STAB move, plus at least two attacks of varying types for good type coverage. I guess if I had to vote between the two though, I'd lean more towards type coverage, as I don't see any point in having more than one move of the same type on a Pokemon, unless they produce varying effects (ex: Scald can burn, Water Pulse can confuse, etc.).

Hikamaru

Age 30
Female
Australia
Seen January 24th, 2019
Posted September 4th, 2018
50,214 posts
12.2 Years
I do both when I can, but I lean more towards super-effective moves because it can really help give you an edge when it's needed. I also tend to have my Pokemon learn at least one STAB move, or two in the case of a dual-typed Pokemon.
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Starry Windy

Everything will be Daijoubu.

Male
Liberty Garden
Seen April 28th, 2020
Posted April 28th, 2020
9,307 posts
10.4 Years
Even though I can do both, usually I prioritize on type advantages because this makes my Pokémon much more stronger.
Age 31
Male
Seen January 1st, 2016
Posted March 27th, 2015
270 posts
9 Years
I sort of took this question to mean do you try and predict switches and go for the super effective move on the incoming pokemon or play it safer with a stronger stab move, and I tend to lean towards the latter. I prefer to play it safe until I'm in a losing position and I have to start making plays to get back into the game.

For example, if I have a Donphan in, I'll usually go for the safe Earthquake than anticipate my opponent bringing in a flying type and go for a Stone Edge.

Polar Spectrum

I'm still here; watching. Waiting.

Non-binary
[Birthplace banned for centralizing childhood]
Seen May 29th, 2017
Posted March 21st, 2017
1,663 posts
8.9 Years
It depends heavily, *heavily* - on the base power of the moves in question, and the type of that STAB. If I have a mon' that can get a 120 base power stab without incredibly harsh downsides, I'm going for that. That's base 180 if they don't resist it :J If it's a great attack type, then even better. If it's steel, and we're talking Iron Tail... ehhh, maybe throw some coverage on it. :P It always depends, allllways depends. Typically though, I like to have STABS first and foremost; because that makes your pokemon essentially able to do what it can do best. No pokemon that doesn't get stab on a move, can really match up to something that can. (barring absurdly higher offensive stats; ie a Rampardos making better use of return than Furret.)
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Male
Seen August 20th, 2017
Posted April 21st, 2016
81 posts
9.3 Years
Since the question was whether i prioritize STAB or coverage moves i had to go with STAB. This is because a pokemon who can't utilize STAB is a failure as a pokemon, speaking mostly from gen 3 experience where most pokemon couldn't take advantage of stab moves.
When i make a gen 3 team i look at their attack strength, design and stab capability.
That is, i don't pick pokemon who don't have access to or cannot utilize STAB like kingler even if i like the design or if its strong. The only exception to this rule are absol whose design was too cool for me to not use it and swampert for being the best starter in RSE (also it attack stat lets it use atleast one of its STABs).

In later generations though it wasn't a problem at all, but i always gave my pokemon's STAB moves priority over any other moves/TMs
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Pepperton

Male
Texas
Seen February 1st, 2023
Posted February 3rd, 2021
3,397 posts
9.5 Years
STAB is extremely valuable, so I voted for that. Every time I play Pokemon, casually or competitively, I try and give my Pokemon a move that utilizes their STAB. However, it's also important to try and cover as many weaknesses as possible, and that's why other moves are important. It's pretty tight, but STAB barely wins in my case.

Captain Gizmo

Monkey King

Age 29
Male
Canada
Seen 1 Week Ago
Posted 2 Weeks Ago
4,842 posts
10.6 Years
I prefer STAB attacks but it also depends on the attack. If a super effective attack got more power than my STAB move, then I'll go for that. But in mist cases I prefer STAB attacks.
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