Firstly, I just thought id post this here because ive noticed a few more people playing GSC recently again on netbattle. Goodness knows why this is lol, i mean i can see why because it is a fun metagame, but at the same time its strange because its a pretty old metagame.
The GSC metagame one of the least popular metagames due to its stallish nature and thus not really many people are interested in it any more so not many people know much about it or have just retired from it.
I used to play it regularly back in late 2003 early 2004 and i was "ok" then i quit pokemon for advance and then came back for DPPT in ~June 2007. Now however i have been on netbattle recently and started to play GSC again.
Anyways this is just a little background about the GSC metagame and to hopefully get people interested.
GSC is a stall metagame, no one is going to hide that. Its also based on "who can outstall who?" mostly so its very possible to get 500 turn snoozers lol, but its still fun. Offensive teams are seen in contrast and can be successful by using lures and predictions (often predicting when their Heal Beller will come in and using that as a turn to set up), but really though stall totally dominates. Aggressive stall is the most dangerous play style where they actually attack you back and pose a threat.
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Anyways an example of a GSC lure is using a Seismic Toss Heracross to force Skarmory to rest and then sweeping with a Belly Drum Snorlax then simply spamming Return/EQ and resting when required and then heal belling off the rest this is called "turbo drumming". Though its really alot harder in practise. Slapping Fire Blast/Thunder on a random physical attacker works to lure skarm, but not as well as it once did since Skarm is going to predict those a mile away. Mean Look + Perish song can be frustrating too for stall (Thunder Misdreavus most specifically) but they often have PHazers for this.
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Another common stall breaking strategy is "last poke sweeps" when you save your stat upper until last so they cant phaze you and dominate (especially Acid Armour/Growth/Surf/Rest Vaporeon and cursers), though this isnt really reliable unless they dont have Perish Song/Haze and what not, which they very often do. "JoltWak" is pretty effective at wearing down walls because Jolteon can hit the most common PHazers for SE damage I.E Skarmory and Suicune. Of course there are wall breakers, guys like DruidCruel and MixBuzz. Sadly the combo of Rest Raikou and Rest Suicune pretty much walls every mix sweeper in existence.
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Also when team building ask yourself "How do i beat cursers/stat uppers?" (Cursers, BPers and Growth Eons mainly) So you are gonna want a (P)Hazer or a Growl (read:curse only)pokemon to outstall them. Perish Song also works well for last pokes. You should heavily consider one of those for your team.
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Phazers are also even more of an asset thanks to Mean Look + Perish Song being common.
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Oh and Snorlax alters the metagame. I cannot put into words how much this pokemon shapes the metagame around it. Curse, Belly Drum, Fire Blast, Selfdestruct, Lovely Kiss(!) are all available to this guy and if you cant deal with it you will auto lose. You should also be able to handle BlissSkarm obv. =P
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Status is still there (Thunderwave, Toxic and Sleep) so id advise you pack a Heal Beller and/or a Rest Talker/s to deal with it because it can be annoying. Miltank and Blissey are the pokes who use Heal Bell due to Celebi being uber.
Borat on things you should account for said:
Perish trapping (special attention to Thundermissy)
All forms of non-drum Snorlax (there's no guaranteed answer to Drumlax)
Mixsweepers
Joltwak
Tentacruel
Charizard
Cursegon2 and curse anything tbh
Spikers (deadly with a ghost type)
Growtheons
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Belly Drum + Fire Blast Clefable should also be handled with extreme care.
There are some move mechanic/ metagame differences you should take note of;
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Rest can be selected by Sleep Talk and heal you whilst you are sleeping, it still only takes you 2 turns to wake up though. Hence why rest talk is like on EVERYTHING lol.
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The faster phazer fails. So say you have a Curse Tyranitar who Cursed as you switched in you Skarm and then next turn you both Roar. Tar will force Skarmory out. =P
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Spikes only can be stacked once and does 12.5% damage. No Skarm does not get Spikes this gen. Cloyster is the most common Spiker followed by Forretress and then Qwilfish.
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Celebi is Uber. This depends on where you are battling, but for the most part yeah it is uber. Really this thing is such a damn pain as in it NEVER dies.
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Sleep Moves are banned when used in conjunction Mean Look + Perish Song. Sorry guys, cheap combo is cheap and is banned for good reason haha.
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Hidden Power on Legendaries is banned in tourneys. Even when not in tourneys this is looked down upon as its pretty much impossible to get the appropriate HP's in the carts so yeah.
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Crazy move you are not used to. Did you know the Nido's get Lovely Kiss or that Golem could Rapid Spin ?
NYPC Events said:
*Starters Week*
Bulbasaur-Ancientpower
Charmander-Crunch
Squirtle-Zap Cannon
Chikorita-Petal Dance
Cyndaquil-Double-Edge
Totodile-Submission
*Christmas Week*
Delibird-Pay Day
Celebi
*Spring Into Spring*
Psyduck-Petal Dance
Chikorita-Petal Dance
Pichu-Petal Dance
Cleffa-Petal Dance
Igglybuff-Petal Dance
Smoochum-Petal Dance
*Babies Week*
Pichu-Sing
Cleffa-Swift
Igglybuff-Mimic
Smoochum-Metronome
Elekid-Pursuit
Magby-Faint Attack
*Valentine's Day*
NidoranF-Lovely Kiss
NidoranF-Sweet Kiss
NidoranM-Lovely Kiss
NidoranM-Sweet Kiss
Bellsprout-Lovely Kiss
Bellsprout-Sweet Kiss
*Summer Festival 1 (Tropical Giveaway)*
Poliwag-Growth
Horsea-Haze
Goldeen-Swords Dance
Magikarp-Reversal
Marill-Dizzy Punch
Wooper-Belly Drum
*Summer Festival 2 (Tropical Giveaway)*
Psyduck-Tri Attack
Tentacool-Confuse Ray
Lapras-Bite
Chinchou-Light Screen
Remoraid-Mist
Mantine-Gust
*Swarm Week*
Marill-Hydro Pump
Yanma-Steel Wing
Dunsparce-Horn Drill
Snubull-Lovely Kiss
Qwilfish-Double-Edge
Remoraid-Amnesia
*Pokémon Mini Week*
Chikorita-Petal Dance
Wooper-Belly Drum
Smoochum-Metronome
*Safari Week*
NidoranF-Moonlight
NidoranM-Morning Sun
Chansey-Sweet Scent
Kanghaskhan-Faint Attack
Tauros-Quick Attack
Dratini-Hydro Pump
*Sky Week*
Spearow-Sonic Boom
Farfetch'd-Fury Cutter
Doduo-Low Kick
Natu-Safeguard
Murkrow-Beat Up
Skarmory-Fury Cutter
*Power Plant Week*
Magnemite-Agility
Voltorb-Agility
Pichu-Dizzy Punch
Elekid-Dizzy Punch
*Halloween*
Pichu-Scary Face
Cleffa-Scary Face
Igglybuff-Scary Face
Marill-Scary Face
Wooper-Scary Face
*Silver Cave*
Ponyta-Low Kick
Doduo-Low Kick
Tangela-Synthesis
Misdraveus-Hypnosis
Larvitar-Rage
*Union Cave*
Onix-Sharpen
Krabby-Metal Claw
Goldeen-Swords Dance
Staryu-Twister
Lapras-Future Sight
*Psychic Type*
Abra-Foresight
Drowzee-Amnesia
Exeggcute-Sweet Scent
Mr.Mime-Mind Reader
Lapras-Future Sight
Natu-Safeguard
*Rock Tunnel*
Zubat-Flail
Machop-Thrash
Geodude-Rapid Spin
Onix-Sharpen
Cubone-Fury Attack
Kangaskhan-Faint Attack
*Ice Type*
Seel-Flail
Lapras-Future Sight
Swinub-Whirlwind
Delibird-Spikes
*Noctournal Week*
Staryu-Twister
Hoothoot-Night Shade
Murkrow-Beat Up
Misdreavus-Hypnosis
Sneasel-Moonlight
*Grass Type*
Oddish-Leech Seed
Paras-Synthesis
Tangela-Synthesis
Hoppip-Agility
Sunkern-Splash
*Normal Type*
Lickitung-Double Slap
Snorlax-Splash
Sentret-Dizzy Punch
Aipom-Mimic
Stantler-Safeguard
Miltank-Mega Kick
*Mt. Mortar*
Machop-False Swipe
Goldeen-Swords Dance
Magikarp-Bubble
Marill-Dizzy Punch
Tyrogue-Rage
*Dark Cave*
Geodude-Rapid Spin
Wobbuffet-Mimic
Dunsparce-Fury Attack
Teddiursa-Sweet Scent
Phanpy-Absorb
*Valentine's Day*
Poliwag-Lovely Kiss
Poliwag-Sweet Kiss
Bellsprout-Lovely Kiss
Bellsprout-Sweet Kiss
Snorlax-Lovely Kiss
Snorlax-Sweek Kiss
*Rare Pokémon*
Eevee-Growth
Porygon-Barrier
Omanyte-Rock Throw
Kabuto-Rock Throw
Aerodactyl-Rock Throw
Snorlax-Sweet Kiss
Sudowoodo-Substitute
*Bug Type*
Scyther-Sonic Boom
Pinsir-Rock Throw
Ledyba-Barrier
Spinarak-Growth
Yanma-Sweet Kiss
Pineco-Substitute
Heracross-Seismic Toss
References and Guides.
https://www.smogon.com/gs/pokemon/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22533
https://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51778 <--is a little swearing, nothing too much though. Both are a good resource either way for Team Building.
Remember Balanced teams without a goal or strategy fail (in any gen)!
Both these are good guides though.
Anyways i hope after reading this you "might" consider giving this gen a go, honestly its really fun and is my fav generations because it takes skill to actually win matches here.
Thoughts/experiences of competitive GSC ? Have/Would you try it ? Did you enjoy it and what did/do you think of it? Discuss ^_^
Oh btw guys, link to netbattle is in my sig which is where you can play it, not many play it but im always up for it so if you slip me a vm ill gladly battle you.
EDIT : Im also up for questions, im not that good but ill prolly be able to help you out with stuff or answer your questions. Sets, strategies, team building you name it ill try to help you lol
