How to prepare for a threat

[zidiane]

I'm new to this competitive battling thing, and I know the basics about tiers and stuff, but I'm having trouble preparing for stuff. The exmple I'm going to use here is Shell Smash Cloyster. I keep getting wrecked by it. So, this means I need to prepare and have adequate preventive measures. But the problem is, it seems like when I try to prepare for one thing, I lose something else I was preparing for. I'm pretty sure this is just noob problems that get easier to deal with as time goes on, but how do you prepare for different threats? What do you do when you have to choose to deal with one problem instead of another one?

 

[Nah]

It's impossible to deal with everything. If you could, then you'd be undefeatable, and therefore anyone could be undefeatable, and things would be less fun. So the best you can do is minimize the number of things that threaten your team.

Some Pokemon that can deal with Shell Smash Cloyster are: Jellicent, Vaporeon, and Ferrothorn. Conkeldurr is also capable of checking it if the Cloyster isn't using a White Herb or Focus Sash.

Also, perhaps it would help if you post your team here for us so we can critique it?

 

[champagnepapi]

A good start would be to go to smogon and read the "checks and counters" sections of the analyses in their strategydex. The section has detailed info on what Pokemon can stop the Pokemon in question. This can be helpful for both using a Pokemon offensively, and defending against a certain Pokemon. The best method, though, is to have some foresight in your battles. If you see a really threatening Pokemon like Cloyster, try to avoid getting into situations that would let it set up easily if the rest of your team can't take it on after a Shell Smash. For example, don't use a Pokemon that can't hurt Cloyster to kill something on your opponent's team if your team is really weak to Cloyster in its current state. Just make it air tight for Cloyster to set up, because it's dead weight when it can't.

Additionally, if you are in a situation where Cloyster threatens a KO and you want to switch, weigh the consequences of staying in and possibly losing the Pokemon that you have vs. Cloyster, to the consequences of Cloyster setting up a Shell Smash. Yes, this is a prediction and therefore a guess but there are cases when staying in on Cloyster is the better choice. You wouldn't want to lose the match entirely because you switched out a Salamence that can OHKO Cloyster but does nothing against the rest of the opponent's team out of it and having Cloyster set up SS. Even if you predict wrong, you can force Cloyster out and buy time to set up a Pokemon of your own and hopefully sweep [note that this mitigates Cloyster since you're on the offensive and he has to respond to you, hell, he might even fodder Cloyster]. Also, priority moves like Bullet Punch and Mach Punch really help against Shell Smashers.

 

[zygardian harbinger]

You could start by balancing your team out. What use is there in having a mono-type team? You have to keep type matchups in mind. Also, you need to balance out the physical attackers between the special attackers. A good team must have good balance.

For example, you know that Shell Smash will increase Attack and Special Attack, but that creates a weakness in its Defence and Special Defence. That's when you need to hit it hard. Its Special Defence is generally weak, so hit it hard there. A good Thunderbolt might take it out easily.

 

[Ooka]

It's always best to use things that counter more than one Pokemon that causes problems. For example, if the team has a problem with Cloyster, and Rhyperior is used to counter Talonflame, consider a physically defensive Rotom-W in place of the Rhyperior to counter/check both. Just an example, so I don't suggest that specifically, but hopefully it makes sense.

As has been said, everything can't be countered so it's always best to just check/counter the biggest threats the team has. Then, in team preview, look for the things that the team isn't prepared for specifically and make sure to focus on taking those threats out early by luring/trapping/predicting/etc.