Entry Hazards

Started by Dragon January 11th, 2015 12:16 PM
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Dragon

lover of milotics

Age 30
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Posted October 24th, 2022
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Entry Hazards are Pokemon techniques that damage Pokemon when they switch into battle. There are three types of entry hazards, each hitting certain types of Pokemon and each having a specific maximum number of layers. These are Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes.

Stealth Rock is pretty useful for teams, for residual damange and is the best defense against teams running Focus Sash (not that Focus Sash is used for anything besides a lead). Stealth Rock will do damage based on how weak a Pokemon is to Rock-type attacks.

4x Resistance: 3.125% (1/32) Damage
2x Resistance: 6.25% (1/16) Damage
1x Neutrality: 12.5% (1/8) Damage
2x Weakness: 25% (1/4) Damage
4x Weakness: 50% (1/2) Damage
Spikes are set up in three layers, and damage all Pokemon that can be hurt by ground type moves, which is to say all Pokemon that aren't Flying-type or have the abilities Levitate or Magic Guard. Depending on how many layers of Spikes get set up, they will do different amounts of damage to opponents switching in.

1 layer: 12.5% (1/8) Damage
2 layers: 18.75% (3/16) Damage
3 layers: 25% (1/4) Damage
Toxic Spikes are a slightly different form of entry hazard that induce a certain status ailment depending on how many layers are set up.

1 layers: Poison (steady 1/8th damage per turn)
2 layers: Bad Poison (1/16 * # of turns in play)
Now, here comes the discussion: What do you personally think of Entry Hazards? What sort of Entry Hazards do you normally use for your competitive, or in-game strategy? How do these entry hazards help your personal favourite strategy in battle?



"Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess...
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Nah

Age 30
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Seen 11 Hours Ago
Posted 19 Hours Ago
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Oh entry hazards, how I have this love-hate relationship with you (like I think most of the people in this section know).

Most competitive players will tell you that hazards are vital to success in battle. So most teams run a hazard or two, and going without is usually a bad idea. So if everyone is running Stealth Rock, then you need to prepare for that by packing a Rapid Spinner or Defogger on your team. And there's the problem. It seems like every Pokemon and their mother can use at least one of the 3 entry hazard moves (Stealth Rock has a fantastic distribution), but there's a rather poor distribution of Rapid Spin and Defog. Rapid Spin can only be learned by ~25 Pokemon, including NFEs. Defog has a somewhat better distribution, but it's hampered by the fact that most Pokemon that can use Defog are SR weak (Mandibuzz, for example) and/or may want to run a different move in its place (like Skarmory). Not to mention that Rapid Spin can be blocked by Ghost types and Defog gets rid of hazards on your opponent's side of the field too. So while fitting a hazards setter on your team is easy because of the great distribution of the moves, it's more difficult to fit a hazard remover on your team that works well with the rest of the team.

Then there's the issue of the damage they do. It's rather absurd that some Pokemon can lose half their HP just for switching in simply because they weren't blessed with a Stealth Rock resistant typing. Losing 50% or even 25% of your HP is pretty crippling in a meta filled with plenty of powerful pokes. If you look at the OU tier, there are only nine Pokemon in there that are Stealth Rock weak, and those one are only there because they are pretty good muk despite that (the Mega Zards just being great, Talonflame's ridiculous priority birdspam, Black Kyurem's wall-breaking power, etc). Heatran's there mainly because it's part Steel and has Flash Fire, Salamence because of leftover usage from before MegaMence was banned. Some pokes would probably see more usage if SR didn't prohibit them from switching in.

But while I have issues with entry hazards, I do use them myself and do not want them eliminated from play. Hazards are neccessary for keeping things like Focus Sash/Sturdy Pokemon as well as stuff like MegaZard or Talonflame from getting out of hand, and is vital to most stall teams. What I would like is for one or both of these things to happen:
-Stealth Rock and Spikes does less damage
-better distribution of Rapid Spin/Defog
Which is unfortunately stuff that only Game Freak can do....and let's be real, Game Freak ain't gonna do that.
Nah ンン
“No, I... I have to be strong. Everyone expects me to."