Status Conditions

[Miss Doronjo]

So everyone knows about status ailments, right? Those unfortunate side effects that some moves might inflict on your pokemon in conjunction with causing damage. Some even have moves dedicated solely to causing them (Thunder Wave, Will-O-Wisp, Toxic).

There are 5 major status ailments, and three minor ones.

Major:

Burn
Each turn, the Pokémon afflicted with the Burn loses 1/8th of it's Max HP
The Pokémon's Physical Attack Stat is cut by Half. This effect does not work on Pokémon with the Guts ability
The Pokémon's Special Attack Stat is doubled on Pokémon with the Heat Rampage ability

Paralysis
The Pokémon afflicted's Speed stat is reduced to 25% of it's Maximum. Pokémon with the Quick Feet ability are not affected
The Pokémon has a 25% chance of being unable to attack each turn

Sleep
The Pokémon cannot attack for 1 to 7 turns, the turn count is lowered with the Early Bird ability

Poison
The Pokémon loses 1/8th Max HP each turn
The Pokémon loses 1/16th Max HP for the first turn and then adds 1/16th to the amount to be lost so on 2nd turn 2/16th, 3rd 3/16th and so on until the Pokémon faints

Freeze
The Pokémon cannot use any attacks (apart from those that thaw it)



Minor:

Curse
The Pokémon afflicted loses 1/4 of it's Max HP each turn

Confusion
Confusion is another status effect that is common in use to hinder your opponent for 1 to 4 turns

Infatuation
The Pokémon afflicted cannot attack 50% of the time



What types of status aliments in competitive play do you find yourself using the most, and which do you find can be most useful? Is it team dependent, or tier dependent for you? How often do you rely on these status attacks to win battles? Do you normally use Minor or Major status ailments?

 

[ChocolateCrunch]

I usually rely on either Sleep or Paralyze while battling through the story, but when I'm battling competitively I usually use all of them, except burn - but sometimes I just get burn/freeze hax so ... :3

 

[Miss Doronjo]

I guess I find myself more comfortable with burns myself~ Sleeping is a close second, but I find burns more reliable, because setting up can be more comfortable against burned pokemon who have their attack cut~!

 

[Legobricks]

I would just like to say that there are many more than three volatile ailments.
The effects of Leech Seed and 'partially trapping' moves are good examples.

 

[Miss Doronjo]

I'll add them the OP soon, thanks~!

 

[roosterman]

i use evasive toxic a lot in official play. when using smogon, i'll usually use paralyz confusion and burn more. oh, and shouldn't floating either by air balloon or a levitating move be a status ailment too?

whoops, didn't notice that was a link.

 

[Hikamaru]

I tend to use status conditions a lot, and they can save my life in some cases.

I like using Toxic poison on foes that like to heal a lot, since the damage from Toxic increases every turn.

Paralysis is handy if I want to counter fast opponents more easily, so I can get a hit in. Burning also helps me a lot against physical attackers.

My faves to use would have to be burn, paralysis and poison (notably Toxic).

 

[voltianqueen]

I tend to use mostly paralysis and occasionally confusion these days, though in the past I was a huge fan of Toxic. I don't use paralysis moves all the time unless it's really going to benefit me soon, but it's nice when Thunder/bolt/Static activates. Sometimes I'll be able to score a burn or freeze, but that's just plain luck from Ice Beam or Flamethrower so I can't really depend on it, but it's reeeeally nice.

 

[Aslan]

Personally for me, I always have something on my team that can quickly pull off a Toxic. It's one of the handiest moves in competitive battling and can do wonders against walls and all sorts of Pokemon, the only time I particularly don't use it is around those with the Guts ability and those like Sigilyph, Toxic then is pretty useless.

Sleep and Burns come in as a close second, although I tend to try not use them because I'm one of those people who like ensuring my moves have the highest chances of hitting. Personally I don't like playing risky, so you'll rarely find me using Will-O-Wisp and Sleep Powder. :x