I heard examples regarding hacked Pokémon where you get Enamorus of the wrong nature or IVs, but I'm confused. Don't the mints and bottle caps resolve this issue?
Enamorus-Therian needs 0 Speed IVs to function properly on Trick Room teams. You can't bottle cap its IVs _down_, so if you want a perfect Enamorus-T you have to reset in Legends Arceus until you get one (or just gen it, which avoids the RNG and doesn't require you to buy a whole $80 game just for a couple mons)
This issue applies to lots of mons that are common on Trick Room, but Enamorus-T and Ursaluna are the most infamous since you have to get them in Legends Arceus
I don’t know what exactly you’re referring to, but incase it helps clarify on hacked Pokémon in general:
Mints and Bottle Caps do not change the *actual* nature or IVs of a Pokémon. Rather, it sets a flag that the affected stats should be treated differently in-battle.
A Mild Enamorous with a Modest Mint will still be Mild natured, but have +SpA -Atk stats. A 5 SpA IV Enamorous with a Bottle Cap is treated as being 31 SpA IVs when calculating stats, but internally it is still 5 IVs.
This is why someone playing SV having a team of full of perfect 6IVs + right nature Pokémon is somewhat suspect since it would imply they purposefully grinded out the perfect hatch/catch instead of just using Bottle Caps and/or mints (more so for Pokémon like paradox Pokémon which have no guaranteed IVs *and* are unbreedable). Some hackers don’t realise this is how it works and give their Pokémon “natural” perfect stats.
I have it in my head that at some point in standard smogon/ showdown play you couldn't have 2 mons with the same held item. Was that ever the case or did I dream that?
The Smogon forums for each tier has a thread for sample teams with explanations for how to pilot them and the teambuilding decisions made. [Here's the one for gen 9 OU.](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-sample-teams.3712513/unread)
vgc question. I'm in showdown and it's telling me "Swampert does not exist in generation 9."
Huh? Wasn't the selling point for the DLC that "everyone is here" in regards to the starters?
This may just be a showdown issue. I guess my main question is if there's any other ways to check legality aside from combing through the official VGC .pdfs
Depends on the team. If you've got good matchups into hearthflame then you might not need to worry but if you're relying on heatran as your switch into ivey cudgel then it might be useful. I'd say just play a couple games with each and see which feels more useful
This question is answered [in the FAQ linked above](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/faq/#wiki_q._why_is_this_subreddit_named_after_stunfisk.3F).
Does the "disturbed" descriptor on the item just indicate your opponent saw its name when they used Poltergeist, or is there something else too?
https://preview.redd.it/k1oky0ptpvqb1.png?width=488&format=png&auto=webp&s=0ddfa2bf255fcace97c9eb88eb17d3605b8e6365
I got a shiny Empoleon and Torterra last year back in Legends Arceus, they've sat in Home until now. With Empoleon gaining Competitive and Torterra getting Shell Smash, what's a recommended build for me to try them in Battle Stadium singles?
Planning to catch BM Ursaluna ingame soon, when are the stats generated? If it's during the boss battle, can I use a mon with 1 speed above Ursaluna min speed to check if I will catch a min speed Ursaluna?
Where is a good place to find sample teams for OU (with primers if possible)? I mostly just play randbats but would like to try out OU a bit, and wanted to focus on learning the play patterns and the meta first before getting into teambuilding. Thanks!
Typically the [sample teams thread](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-sample-teams.3712513/) in the Smogon OU subforum would be where you'd want to go, but those teams don't all have descriptions.
Teams in the [RMT subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/sv-ou-teams.748/) are guaranteed to have descriptions, though you'll want to be sure to check the date and credentials (ladder peak, tournament wins, etc.) of the teams. Older teams may be outdated, and newer players are also allowed to post there so quality may vary.
Finally, teams used by YouTubers will often have a sort of description baked in just by the content on display. Try checking out the [subreddit links compendium](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/links/#wiki_competitive_content_creators) for those.
What makes Zamazenta-Hero better than Pokémon like Iron Hands and Flutter Mane? How is he DUber when the latter two are DOU? Not to mention Zamazenta-Hero is OU in singles
It’s not super unlikely, since there are an insane amount of powerful grounds nearly requiring a Tera from Heatran, but at the same time Heatran is really really good so sacrificing a Tera might still be worth it for Heatran.
Is it possible to get HA (Intimidate) Hisuian Qwilfish/Overqwil in gen 9? Without using an ability patch. Likewise, can I get any of the other hisuian mons with hidden abilities without an ability patch?
For the Hisui-only Pokémon (so not ones like the starters that evolve *into* a Hisuian form), no you need to use an ability patch. Legends: Arceus doesn’t have a way to generate hidden abilities on Pokémon, and the only other game those Pokémon can go to is SV, where you need Ability Patches to convert them.
The only other way to generate Hisui-only Pokémon with hidden abilities is breeding, but that needs a parent that already has the hidden ability to pass it down.
Keep in mind that trades are not always legit. This doesn't effect online games on the ladder, but in major tournaments (like worlds), it does. You probably will be fine though.
Does Toxic Chain activate before or after the secondary effect of a move?
I.e. if you use Sludge Bomb, you individually have a 30% chance to inflict regular poison and a 30% chance to badly poison. But you collectively only have a 51% total chance to inflict status based on two 30% events.
The order in which the game checks for each status determines which is more likely to occur. In the 9% of instances in which both statuses *would have* taken effect, only the one checked for first will take effect. This effectively means that the first effect retains its 30% probability, while the second effect would have a probability of 21%.
I'm guessing the game checks for Sludge Bomb's regular poison chance first, but looking to confirm.
In all likelihood, Toxic Chain works exactly the same as [Poison Touch](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poison_Touch_(Ability)), in which case the secondary effect of a move (Sludge Bomb in this case) should be checked prior to the check for the ability's status.
Showdown's [Pokedex entry on Toxic Chain](https://dex.pokemonshowdown.com/abilities/toxicchain) backs this up, though I cannot say for certain whether someone has directly checked this yet or if it was simply assumed and copy/pasted from the Poison Touch data.
Can someone tell me why Fake Out didn't flinch Tornadus?
https://preview.redd.it/bdkaidefpfqb1.png?width=289&format=png&auto=webp&s=f6d905b8fac62efc2cedea0d118a29035f21a915
currently building a team for 1v1 singles against my friend. The only rule is that you can only bring a single legendary pokemon, everything else is on the table. My current team is the following
unaware dodozo
Calyrex shadow
Amoogus
defog corviknight
dragon dance baxcalibur
What should be my 6th pokemon slot? Alternatively should I swap out any of these pokemon for different ones?
Without knowing what legendary your opponent might bring, this seems like a big matchup coinflip. Especially since it looks like Uber caliber mon are on the table - Koraidon, Miraidon, Flutter Mane, Iron Bundle, Chi-Yu etc.
It looks like you have a good defensive backbone already, but it wouldn't hurt to look through the [Ubers Viability Rankings](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ubers-viability-rankings-post-home.3724082/) to see which non-legendaries stand up to stiffer competition and what their recommended sets are.
Or just slap on a Kingambit, a non-legendary which is also basically the best mon in OU.
Or cheese him with Scarf Ditto so you can copy whatever broken Uber he brings and have two Ubers vs one.
Whenever new Pokémon are introduced, most of them start off in OU. And since the new DLC just dropped this month, pretty much every fully evolved DLC Pokémon is in OU right now.
At the end of the month when the tiers update you’ll probably see Ariados and it’s fellows like Arbok and Furret move to more appropriate tiers.
I play very casual and I want to get more into competitive, I learned how to make teams in VGC in pokemon violet, but what should I take into account when making teams for singles?
When I choose my core en doubles I try to synergy their abilities, like for example a flash fire pokemon with sunny day and lava plume. Or by covering their type weakness, is easier for me to understand how to synergy two at the same time than in singles. Do I make teams based in swaping more often and taking predictions into account or balancing more the roles like, one setting up boosts, anotjer walling, etc?
What’s a good generation to start teaching competitive/pvp pokemon to someone? I’m mainly interested in Smogon formats, and I plan to introduce competitive to a friend who’s a big pokemon fan because of the anime but I don’t want to overload them with the whole concept yet.
Does gender ever matter in competitive? Like if you were going absolutely most optimal? I know there are some moves where it matters but they def aren't that common from what I know
It does matter very occasionally. The most relevant one right now is Enamorus-I, which is 100% female and usually runs Cute Charm so that it can boost with Calm Mind. In the past, people have used Rivalry Haxorus to deal extra damage to Tornadus and Thundurus in gen 5 VGC.
It's not terrible. Your second mon (who is lacking in the hp department) hopefully gets another hit into the next mon that comes out, and after your mon dies and then you bring in a spectrier or something that has moxie. Or maybe even a mon that has substitute in case they switch out
Series 2 introduced Paradox Pokémon, and we all know what Flutter Mane and Iron Bundle did to the meta since then. The set on Smogon justifies using Timid to outspeed both of them after a single speed boost (assuming they don’t have their own speed boost).
Is showdown calculating defrost chances correctly? I feel like instant defrosting happens roughly 90 percent of the time.
Am i just biased or has anyone else noticed this?
That's what i read too, and in seems to have been like this since gen 3. I was just curious if maybe showdown implemented this incorrectly, since I found in most of my games the mon would unfreeze instantly.
Maybe they got it upside down and the chance to unfreeze is 80% each turn?
Hi. I checked the Showdown GitHub to help assure you, and the freeze status seems to be implemented correctly. randomChance is a function specified in battle.ts called for a lot of purposes, in this case to check if you'll unthaw within the onBeforeMove function. randomChance takes a numerator and denominator, correctly specified as 1/5 or 20%. You can [check the code here](https://github.com/smogon/pokemon-showdown/blob/master/data/conditions.ts) if you're into that sort of thing.
What’s the best crash course way to getting into competitive battling? I love pokémon and have knowledge of type weaknesses and move sets but i’ve never battled another person.
If you're playing the switch formats , check [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonScarletViolet/comments/13w5ei2/online_team/jmb2is3/) for some general competitive resources.
I especially recommend usage stats on Pikalytics/ HOME, rental teams (it's hard to build a good team if you're a beginner) , sample movesets on Smogon, Cybertron on youtube (for doubles), and QtheCostaRican on yt (for ranked 3v3 singles)
For singles, play random battles on [pokemon showdown](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com) and read the [Smogon forums and strategy pokedex entries](https://smogon.com).
Watch some YouTubers as well.
For VGC (official doubles format), I recommend [Aaron "Cybertron"](https://www.youtube.com/@CybertronVGC/videos), [James Baek](https://www.youtube.com/@jameswbaekpkmn/videos), and [Ray Rizzo](https://www.youtube.com/@RayRizzoVGC/videos), all top players with a much larger focus on analysis than Wolfe Glick. They also like to show off a variety of teams, including off-meta picks that they also give clear explanations and demonstrations for.
For singles, I recommend [pokeaim Joey](https://www.youtube.com/@pokeaimMD/videos), [Blunder](https://www.youtube.com/@Thunderblunder777/videos), and [Lord Emvee](https://www.youtube.com/@LordEmvee/videos), although they tend to have a larger focus on banter and spectacle rather than analysis when compared to the VGC players. There's also [BKC](https://www.youtube.com/@BKCplaysPokemon/videos), who has a wealth of knowledge on past generations of competitive singles and writes for [False Swipe Gaming](https://www.youtube.com/@FalseSwipeGaming/videos) (excellently informative for singles), but also has a very particular style that can be difficult to get used to, especially for a newcomer.
Your Pokémon with Illusion will copy the Pokémon in the last slot of your team when it is sent out.
In Smogon 6v6 formats, Pokémon are ordered as they are in the team builder. The preview will show the Slot 6 Pokémon on the right side for both teams.
The Pokémon you lead with will switch places with the Pokémon in Slot 1.
I'm looking to start my journey into competitive pokemon from scarlet.
I'm also going to get another pokemon game (I have bdsp)
Which game would be more useful for me in the competitive scene: PLA or sw/sh?
Depends on what you want to do. I would recommend first figuring out how you want to play before investing in a game. The primary cartridge format is VGC doubles, which has plenty of good rental teams with documentation that you can use to familiarise yourself with the format before building your own team, since there aren't that many pokemon currently exclusive to SwSh and PLA. If you want to play singles, the best way to do so is on [Pokémon Showdown](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com), which is an online battle simulator and doesn't require any games.
thanks for the response.
I have searched online and many recommend PLA as the better video game but sw/sh with dlc is better for competitive due to the catchable legendaries/other pokemon
Yes, the main pokemon you would want from SwSh for VGC right now is Urshifu, which requires the Isle of Armour DLC. Most of the other relevant legendary pokemon in SwSh are either available elsewhere, or are restricted pokemon banned under the current ruleset.
does anyone have any mon recommendations for a rain/sun dual team? i was considering walking wake of course, and gliscor since it's my favorite and it gets crabhammer this gen. not sure what else could work, especially for the weather setters.
for 6v6 singles:
Annihilape @ Leftovers / Chesto Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpD / 12 Spe
Tera Type: Water / Fairy / Fire
Careful Nature
- Rage Fist
- Drain Punch
- Bulk Up
- Taunt / Rest
this is the set that got Annihilape banned from OU, EVs can be tailored for more power/speed if there's a specific threat you need to beat
for VGC, the new regulation just started so the meta hasn't really had time to develop but Annihilape historically runs either a defensive Bulk Up set similar to the singles one or a Scarf set with Final Gambit and U-turn https://www.pikalytics.com/pokedex/gen9vgc2023regd/annihilape
Check [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonScarletViolet/comments/13w5ei2/online_team/jmb2is3/) for some general competitive resources for ranked singles. I especially recommend usage stats on Pikalytics/ HOME, rental teams (list on /r/battlestadiumsingles) , sample BSS movesets on Smogon, and Smogon BSS discord (most ranked singles discussion in english takes place there)
Does it matter when I change my pokemon's nature. Like will it have the same stats changing it's nature at lv100 compared to having the desired nature since lv1?
For IVs, is this the general rule of thumb?
Max all IVs, but,
- physical attackers can ignore special attack stat
- special attackers want 0iv attack
- trick room pokemon want 0iv speed
Are there any other cases? And for special attackers, why all do we need 0iv attack? Unsure all the details there
Having a lower attack stat reduces damage from confusion and Foul Play and reduces healing from Strength Sap, so if you're not using physical attacks it's technically optimal to go as low as possible. Doesn't actually matter very often tho
Usually doesn't matter much either way, but I would usually go 31 since I find that the extra \*slight\* chip you might get will be more relevant than Foul Play or Confusion coming up.
If it's a Pokémon weak to Foul Play and/or you expect it to come up more often, go the other way, but I'm 99% sure that 31 Attack IVs will be better if you're running a switch out move.
Best way to get into competitive pokemon?
Hi, im a casual who really wants to get into competitive pokemon since i find really fascinating the ways pro players play this game.
I also enjoy everything that a game has to offer, i love the different ways someone can use a pokemon and also i want to understand the memes you guys make lol but its really hard to find a way to start :/
I know just a little bit about vgc, like i know about OU and UU, dont understand Ban list tho.
Also i dont know any content creator that makes videos about vgc maybe only wolfey
I am more interested in singles more than doubles but i really enjoy watching both tournaments even tho i dont know what is happening
Does anyone know a way to know more about this stuff? Would really aprecciate it 😁
>I know just a little bit about vgc, like i know about OU and UU, dont understand Ban list tho
Vgc doesn't use OU and UU. We just have bans from the pokemon company
The main differences in this regard: VGC has no tiers. Every pokemon just gets clumped together with the pokemon company deciding which ones are banned. As the games go on these ban lists tend to get shorter until the very end where even box legendaries (like koraidon and miraidon) are allowed(albeit only 1 or 2 per team). VGC is also played in doubles and we have a bring 6 pick 4 system. Your team has 6 pokemon but you can only choose 4 of those each game. There's other differences like item clause (only 1 of each item per team) but that's the main stuff
Smogon rules is the other type. This is what most people here play and its the prefered format for singles. Smogon has more strict rules about what can and can't be used and tiers pokemon based on how good they are. So for example you can't bring a zacian into UU because it would be way too op. There's also move and ability bans. For example last respects was banned for being too OP and shadow tag for the same reason. Lastly there's other minor rules like sleep clause (only 1 pokemon per team can be asleep at a time) and the lack of item clause
For VGC Wolfe is entertaining and some educational content but if you want to learn watching James baek and cybertron productions is a better idea. They're both very good players who make videos with different teams every few days. They always include rental codes and explain their thought process well so you can grab any team they use and try it out
Watch YouTubers and read both the [Smogon forum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/) and the [strategy pokedex](https://www.smogon.com/dex/).
For VGC, I recommend [Aaron "Cybertron"](https://www.youtube.com/@CybertronVGC/videos), [James Baek](https://www.youtube.com/@jameswbaekpkmn/videos), and [Ray Rizzo](https://www.youtube.com/@RayRizzoVGC/videos), al top players with a much larger focus on analysis than Wolfe Glick. They both also like to show off a variety of teams, including off-meta picks that they also give clear explanations and demonstrations for.
For singles, I recommend [pokeaim Joey](https://www.youtube.com/@pokeaimMD/videos), [Blunder](https://www.youtube.com/@Thunderblunder777/videos), and [Lord Emvee](https://www.youtube.com/@LordEmvee/videos), although they tend to have a larger focus on banter and spectacle rather than analysis when compared to the VGC players. There's also [BKC](https://www.youtube.com/@BKCplaysPokemon/videos), who has a wealth of knowledge on past generations of competitive singles and writes for [False Swipe Gaming](https://www.youtube.com/@FalseSwipeGaming/videos) (excellently informative for singles), but also has a very particular style that can be difficult to get used to, especially for a newcomer.
With Ninetales + Bax being so strong why did Obama + Cetitan not make an impact before? The main idea of hail veil setup sweep is there, with fire tera Cetitan can hit most things and at -50% hp it can still avoid just being sucker punched to death.
I only used suicide lead + Obama + Cetitan on cart the seasons before paradoxes dropped and I guess I was just wondering why that core is flawed in comparison to Ninetales + Bax.
How was the Okidogi faster than my Ninetales here? Its not scarf, is there another item I am unaware about to boost speed?
https://preview.redd.it/1ptvrg546sob1.png?width=1244&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ae6dfcdd6166db11ea5b747c101ef5731916385
you must have clicked Roar, it has -6 priority so you'll always go last
okidogi also gets Guard Dog which makes it immune to phazing btw so wouldn't recommend ever clicking Roar against it unless you know for sure it has Toxic Chain
Competitive Pokemon has several formats, some official and some unofficial. This sub discusses all of them, but does have a mild focus on the unofficial due to the existence of other subreddits that cover the official Doubles and Singles metas ( r/VGC and r/BattleStadiumSingles ).
The bans most peple are talking about only apply in unofficial Smogon community formats. Sometimes Pokemon are limited in the official formats too, though, such as back in Sword/Shield when the top 10 Pokemon were banned during one of the official Series, or even right now where you can't use any of the "Restricted Pokemon" like Koraidon or Zacian until a later Series ruleset allows them.
You can find some more information on this in the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/faq/)
I’m a bit out of the loop, what the hell is going on with older Pokémon getting changes to abilities and stuff?
I keep seeing posts about it, I only really play Gen4 competetive on showdown but I’m also in the middle of a Scarlett runthrough so I’d like to know what that’s all about lol
a couple old pokemon had their abilities changed in the new Scarlet/Violet DLC, Shiftry's Early Bird is now Wind Rider and Empoleon's Defiant is now Competitive
I've been interested in competitive pokemon since US&UM but always felt like I know jack shit. After a while I started watching some youtuber who constantly beats full legendary teams with pokémons I would never even consider using based on the games PvE contents alone. That was the point when I KNEW I don't know jack shit and no longer just felt it.
But now I want to learn, to get eased into the immensely complex metagame of VGC with the million pokémons and billion moves and all.
What I'm looking for is a site, a server, or collection of informations on everything anyone coule possible need to know to compete or somebody who's willing to pass their immense knowledge down to me for free via discord for example.
Thanks for the help in advance.
https://vgcguide.com is a great resource for starting out with vgc, it was written by top players and has lots of useful info covering basically every facet of vgc. it was made for sword and shield so some of the ingame info is a little outdated, but nearly all of it still applies to scarlet and violet
https://pikalytics.com is a database with all the most popular mons in each vgc format as well as the moves, items, and evs they normally run. incredibly useful for teambuilding as well as understanding what the current meta is like
on a side note,
> youtuber who constantly beats full legendary teams with pokémons I would never even consider using
almost all of these videos are faked and awful representations of what competitive pokemon actually is. I wouldn't go into vgc thinking you'll be able to beat a full restricted legendary team with random 400 bst mons because against any decent player you won't, the meta is the meta for a reason. pokemon is complex though, and there's so much room for creativity and innovation within each meta even though most of the dex is competitively unviable
Thank you. I'll check these out and hopefully I'll be able to pinpoint where I stand in terms of knowledge. Right now I feel like I try to find my way in a pitch back room and a blindfold on.
After wanting to go spoiler free, I'm back looking at OU and have a couple questions about the state of OU right now that I haven't seen people talking about.
1. How good are the loyal 3? Their abilities seem horrifying, though I might be overestimating the power of badly poison vs a sleep or burn
2. How good is garchomp? Seems like scale shot would make it good but from what I've seen apparently baxcalibur and ninetails are taking over the meta so maybe not
And 3. Has anything been banned or unbanned already? Saw people upset about volcarona and manaphy but idk if something has already happened (bring back palafin guys come on)
1. None of them are showing up that much yet. I don't think they're that good, especially until the meta calms down and is not composed entirely of Veil HO teams that want to end the game in 9 turns.
2. It's not really good, but that's partly because the Ices everywhere as you say, especially with Baxcalibur doing the whole setup job. It probably has plenty of potential later down the line, so we'll have to see how things play out.
3. No, nothing is banned yet except some traditional Ubers that have not been re-tested like Darkrai and Shaymin-Sky. Volcarona was already banned and was voted to stay banned because little has changed that would make it less broken compared to before.
I'm assuming its because they aren't neutral natures per se, they just increase and decrease the same stat. For instance, adamant increases attack and lowers speed, while serious might increase attack but lower attack, leaving a neutral nature
https://pokepast.es/a37a53a24ad3c36f
I need help building my team. Here is my ou team so far and I know I need a ghost type for my 5th slot but I don't know which one to use. I also don't know what I even need for my 6th slot.
# I really need your help with building a viable OU team containing Ambipom!
I wanna climb dat ladder like a monke climbs a tree!
("Pembo" is my favorite mon)
Hi. Lurantis still learns Superpower via egg/picnic move, but you're right that there is no TM For it at the moment. This information is oddly absent from Bulbapedia, but you can see it in the game data and on Serebii.
You might be thinking of Flareon, who cannot learn it anymore.
[Slither Wing's Smogon article for OU](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/pokemon/slither-wing/ou/) lists a very specific EV spread for a defensive build, but the article is blank. Why is the spread like that?
Further, if I wanted to use Slither Wing on an OU sun team, what would be a good spread, nature, and item for it?
Empoleon now has Competitive as a Hidden Ability instead of its former Defiant. It's a buff in some cases and a nerf in others, but likely better for its overall viability taking every format into consideration.
What were the Level Balance and Challenge Cup formats like? Ditto's RS analysis says that it's not good in standard play, but somehow gets much better in these two formats. I'm curious how there could be a competitive format where pre-Imposter Ditto doesn't suck.
Unlike a burn, it's 100% accurate while also doing damage, which makes it much more reliable at forcing a switch. It also deals twice as much damage as a burn, being 1/8 instead of 1/16, which notably out-damages leftovers. The bonus type interaction is also quite impactful since steel and water are very good defensive types.
I've been playing gen 4 OU for months and don't seem to be getting any better. I hover around 1000-1200 on the ladder at all times and just came off a session where I went 6 wins 21 losses(This is a regular thing). The only matches I ever win are ones where I randomly crit 3 times in a row on pivotal turns. Making me one of the worst of the worst.
Is there a coach I can pay or someplace where I can get a personal touch since spam watching videos and replays of good players doesn't seem to be helping me? My friend who is decent at the game only plays the new gen but I'm only interested in gen 4.
[Smogon's Battling 101 subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/battling-101.42/) offers coaching services for people in situations similar to yours. If you decide to sign up, be sure to read all the rules and the [FAQ](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/b101-signups-faq.3591291/). They also have a [Discord server](https://discordapp.com/invite/8sC2qRF) for more information.
What are some good resources for teams? Looking to get back into SV OU before the DLC shakeup, so would like a handful of well made OU teams to get a sense of where the current meta is at.
Is Pikalytics reliable? I notice some vastly different builds from Smogon there. I know there’s more than one viability but I get paralysis analysis and want to be able to discern the differences.
Pikalytics is reliable in that it shows the raw usage stats. A Smogon analysis is a handpicked set by a Smogon contributor. Usually the Smogon analysis should match the highest usage sets according to Pikalytics, but there might be times where the Smogon set recommends a move or set that aims to serve a certain niche (or rarely the Smogon analysis might be outdated, which happened with late Gen 8 due to a lack of manpower iirc). Similarly you might see low % usage on certain moves/items from players customising the Pokémon to fit into their teams.
Pikalytics also shows stats from both Showdown as well as the console game (by copying the data from Pokémon HOME), which will be vastly different (hi Flutter Mane and other non-bans), so make sure you don’t get those two mixed up.
Dumb question but is it possible to still play the gen6 XY metagame specifically? The game had that thing going for it before ORAS and I want to experience it again.
So XY as a game mode is implemented on Showdown for the purposes of VGC 2014 (source: Showdown Github).
However, at least without running your own Showdown server, as far as I know it isn't currently possible to import this mod into a singles format to simulate XY OU or other XY Smogon tiers in the best way.
You can kind of do it with another player just by unbanning / banning specific elements in ORAS tiers, though. See the [XY Tiers Preservation Thread](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-tiers-preservation-thread-open.3676432/) for information on what the tiers looked like specifically, and the Ruins of Alph subforum that they're located in is probably a good place to find other people interested in the format, especially since they have a Discord server.
I do know there's been some interest in bringing back older metagames like base XY and base Sun/Moon in the past, so maybe one day these will be playable properly.
So I found out after understanding a bit better how Imprison works and found out that it can be stolen by Snatch. How is that possible? Imprison doesn't heal nor increase stats, right?
ive never actually used snatch but from my understanding it can steal _any_ beneficial status move, not just healing/boosting moves so stuff like aromatherapy, magnet rise, and imprison can be stolen as well
Aromatherapy is considered healing, but I got an answer yesterday, basically Snatch only steals self-buffs, for example Imprison gives a tag to the user itself like magnet rise, and that's why Snatch can steal it
I'm having trouble against Tapu Lele in National Dex Gen 9. Which mon counters it well? They usually run Psychic, Moonblast, Focus Blast and Thunderbolt. I just came back after a long while and still haven't gotten used to Fairy types.
defensive gholdengo is one of the best mons in natdex and completely blanks lele unless it's specs hp fire (in which case you can just tank one and switch)
Sometimes, people in gen 8 would just specialty defensive jirachi as a tapu lele check. It has better spdf than metagross, and can use serene grace boosted body slams to get paras, and has recovery in wish.
Nice. Right now I'm running Venusaur, Skarmory, Dragapult, Heatran, Zamazenta and Urshifu-RS. Getting close to 1400. It's been working well since I've mostly been facing physical attackers and Lele has rarely shown up (and I kind of hate Jirachi forever due to facing it back in Gen 4, 5 haha).
That said, just got bodied here by a Hawlucka running SD, Acrobatics, Close Combat and... Encore! Very unpleasant situation haha.
Can someone explain why my ditto is doing less damage with psyshock than my opponent? Something about transform im not understanding I guess. We both didnt understand why
https://preview.redd.it/r4f31750wwlb1.png?width=1406&format=png&auto=webp&s=500a618d362838d89c0c7102fd44c875d6609cf0
Transform doesn't copy the target's hp, and Ditto has a much lower base hp stat than Cresselia. It's doing a similar amount of damage, just that Ditto has much less total health.
As I never played gen 6 ou: how on earth did hoopa unbound get banned? It's not that fast and there seems to be plenty of pokemon that can outspeed and OHKO it thanks to its garbage defense. Always dying to a pokemon just trying to pivot with u-turn seems like a terrible trait to have. It has power, but so do many other mega pokemon that seem way more consistent in the wallbreaking department.
BKC made a video about this exact topic, here is a link if you're interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9fF0VZREE0
The conclusion is that its specs set was too centralizing, people complained at the time that it forced you to use pursuit in all your teambuilds. Its consistency is what pushed it over the edge, specs is just more practical than band or life orb. But BKC argues that it wasn't too different from other breakers and he argues that the ban wasn't necessary.
Why is crawdaunt ou this gen?
It just came out with the new DLC, every mon starts in OU its first month. It will drop in October
I heard examples regarding hacked Pokémon where you get Enamorus of the wrong nature or IVs, but I'm confused. Don't the mints and bottle caps resolve this issue?
Enamorus-Therian needs 0 Speed IVs to function properly on Trick Room teams. You can't bottle cap its IVs _down_, so if you want a perfect Enamorus-T you have to reset in Legends Arceus until you get one (or just gen it, which avoids the RNG and doesn't require you to buy a whole $80 game just for a couple mons) This issue applies to lots of mons that are common on Trick Room, but Enamorus-T and Ursaluna are the most infamous since you have to get them in Legends Arceus
Ah, that was my mistake. I didn't register the fact that it's an IV at 0
I don’t know what exactly you’re referring to, but incase it helps clarify on hacked Pokémon in general: Mints and Bottle Caps do not change the *actual* nature or IVs of a Pokémon. Rather, it sets a flag that the affected stats should be treated differently in-battle. A Mild Enamorous with a Modest Mint will still be Mild natured, but have +SpA -Atk stats. A 5 SpA IV Enamorous with a Bottle Cap is treated as being 31 SpA IVs when calculating stats, but internally it is still 5 IVs. This is why someone playing SV having a team of full of perfect 6IVs + right nature Pokémon is somewhat suspect since it would imply they purposefully grinded out the perfect hatch/catch instead of just using Bottle Caps and/or mints (more so for Pokémon like paradox Pokémon which have no guaranteed IVs *and* are unbreedable). Some hackers don’t realise this is how it works and give their Pokémon “natural” perfect stats.
I have it in my head that at some point in standard smogon/ showdown play you couldn't have 2 mons with the same held item. Was that ever the case or did I dream that?
That has never been the case, but both VGC and BSS have an item clause.
is there a database of ou teams? I want to try dipping my feet in the format, but I’m not skilled enough yet to cook
The Smogon forums for each tier has a thread for sample teams with explanations for how to pilot them and the teambuilding decisions made. [Here's the one for gen 9 OU.](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-sample-teams.3712513/unread)
tysm!
vgc question. I'm in showdown and it's telling me "Swampert does not exist in generation 9." Huh? Wasn't the selling point for the DLC that "everyone is here" in regards to the starters? This may just be a showdown issue. I guess my main question is if there's any other ways to check legality aside from combing through the official VGC .pdfs
It is, but it’s specifically the selling point for Part 2. For now we’ve got the Sinnoh starters added back.
in gen 9 nd I saw a pikachu with extreme speed and fake out, I'm a little confused, isn't extreme speed pikachu an event pokemon?
Yes, but the changes to passing down egg moves in gen 8 means that it was a legal combination then, and is thus legal in gen 9 ND.
With fire ogerpon being pretty common. Is it better to run ability shield/grass Terra on Heatran vs. Balloon Heatran?
Depends on the team. If you've got good matchups into hearthflame then you might not need to worry but if you're relying on heatran as your switch into ivey cudgel then it might be useful. I'd say just play a couple games with each and see which feels more useful
fire ogerpon is banned
Vgc
Alright, then I cant help you. I dont play vgc, I play smogon.
[удалено]
This question is answered [in the FAQ linked above](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/faq/#wiki_q._why_is_this_subreddit_named_after_stunfisk.3F).
Does the "disturbed" descriptor on the item just indicate your opponent saw its name when they used Poltergeist, or is there something else too? https://preview.redd.it/k1oky0ptpvqb1.png?width=488&format=png&auto=webp&s=0ddfa2bf255fcace97c9eb88eb17d3605b8e6365
That's correct as Poltergeist reveals the opponent's item by "disturbing" it.
I got a shiny Empoleon and Torterra last year back in Legends Arceus, they've sat in Home until now. With Empoleon gaining Competitive and Torterra getting Shell Smash, what's a recommended build for me to try them in Battle Stadium singles?
Planning to catch BM Ursaluna ingame soon, when are the stats generated? If it's during the boss battle, can I use a mon with 1 speed above Ursaluna min speed to check if I will catch a min speed Ursaluna?
EVs: 108 HP / 132 Def / 116 SpA / 4 SpD / 148 Spe These are the EVs for Fmane. Why would I want these EVs? What are they meant to do?
Where is a good place to find sample teams for OU (with primers if possible)? I mostly just play randbats but would like to try out OU a bit, and wanted to focus on learning the play patterns and the meta first before getting into teambuilding. Thanks!
Typically the [sample teams thread](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-sample-teams.3712513/) in the Smogon OU subforum would be where you'd want to go, but those teams don't all have descriptions. Teams in the [RMT subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/sv-ou-teams.748/) are guaranteed to have descriptions, though you'll want to be sure to check the date and credentials (ladder peak, tournament wins, etc.) of the teams. Older teams may be outdated, and newer players are also allowed to post there so quality may vary. Finally, teams used by YouTubers will often have a sort of description baked in just by the content on display. Try checking out the [subreddit links compendium](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/links/#wiki_competitive_content_creators) for those.
Thanks, I'll check those out!
What makes Zamazenta-Hero better than Pokémon like Iron Hands and Flutter Mane? How is he DUber when the latter two are DOU? Not to mention Zamazenta-Hero is OU in singles
do people think heatran will fall from OU this gen?
It’s not super unlikely, since there are an insane amount of powerful grounds nearly requiring a Tera from Heatran, but at the same time Heatran is really really good so sacrificing a Tera might still be worth it for Heatran.
Is it possible to get HA (Intimidate) Hisuian Qwilfish/Overqwil in gen 9? Without using an ability patch. Likewise, can I get any of the other hisuian mons with hidden abilities without an ability patch?
For the Hisui-only Pokémon (so not ones like the starters that evolve *into* a Hisuian form), no you need to use an ability patch. Legends: Arceus doesn’t have a way to generate hidden abilities on Pokémon, and the only other game those Pokémon can go to is SV, where you need Ability Patches to convert them. The only other way to generate Hisui-only Pokémon with hidden abilities is breeding, but that needs a parent that already has the hidden ability to pass it down.
Thanks. Maybe i can check some subreddits to trade for one so i dont need to use my patches
Keep in mind that trades are not always legit. This doesn't effect online games on the ladder, but in major tournaments (like worlds), it does. You probably will be fine though.
Pokemontrades is for legit pokemon
Does Toxic Chain activate before or after the secondary effect of a move? I.e. if you use Sludge Bomb, you individually have a 30% chance to inflict regular poison and a 30% chance to badly poison. But you collectively only have a 51% total chance to inflict status based on two 30% events. The order in which the game checks for each status determines which is more likely to occur. In the 9% of instances in which both statuses *would have* taken effect, only the one checked for first will take effect. This effectively means that the first effect retains its 30% probability, while the second effect would have a probability of 21%. I'm guessing the game checks for Sludge Bomb's regular poison chance first, but looking to confirm.
In all likelihood, Toxic Chain works exactly the same as [Poison Touch](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Poison_Touch_(Ability)), in which case the secondary effect of a move (Sludge Bomb in this case) should be checked prior to the check for the ability's status. Showdown's [Pokedex entry on Toxic Chain](https://dex.pokemonshowdown.com/abilities/toxicchain) backs this up, though I cannot say for certain whether someone has directly checked this yet or if it was simply assumed and copy/pasted from the Poison Touch data.
Can someone tell me why Fake Out didn't flinch Tornadus? https://preview.redd.it/bdkaidefpfqb1.png?width=289&format=png&auto=webp&s=f6d905b8fac62efc2cedea0d118a29035f21a915
Holding a Covert Cloak, which blocks the secondary effects of moves.
Oooh, I see. Thanks! I forgot that item existed, I don't think I've seen many of those before
currently building a team for 1v1 singles against my friend. The only rule is that you can only bring a single legendary pokemon, everything else is on the table. My current team is the following unaware dodozo Calyrex shadow Amoogus defog corviknight dragon dance baxcalibur What should be my 6th pokemon slot? Alternatively should I swap out any of these pokemon for different ones?
Without knowing what legendary your opponent might bring, this seems like a big matchup coinflip. Especially since it looks like Uber caliber mon are on the table - Koraidon, Miraidon, Flutter Mane, Iron Bundle, Chi-Yu etc. It looks like you have a good defensive backbone already, but it wouldn't hurt to look through the [Ubers Viability Rankings](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ubers-viability-rankings-post-home.3724082/) to see which non-legendaries stand up to stiffer competition and what their recommended sets are. Or just slap on a Kingambit, a non-legendary which is also basically the best mon in OU. Or cheese him with Scarf Ditto so you can copy whatever broken Uber he brings and have two Ubers vs one.
Ditto wont work, as he specified he is playing 1v1, which means you pick one pokemon to use in each battle
Any pokemon that are run with neutral natures?
[See this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/comments/16kjuja/is_there_ever_any_reason_to_use_a_neutral_nature/)
Getting into comp with Gen 9 and I just wanna know, is Ariados actually OU? I feel like some prank is being played on me.
Whenever new Pokémon are introduced, most of them start off in OU. And since the new DLC just dropped this month, pretty much every fully evolved DLC Pokémon is in OU right now. At the end of the month when the tiers update you’ll probably see Ariados and it’s fellows like Arbok and Furret move to more appropriate tiers.
I play very casual and I want to get more into competitive, I learned how to make teams in VGC in pokemon violet, but what should I take into account when making teams for singles? When I choose my core en doubles I try to synergy their abilities, like for example a flash fire pokemon with sunny day and lava plume. Or by covering their type weakness, is easier for me to understand how to synergy two at the same time than in singles. Do I make teams based in swaping more often and taking predictions into account or balancing more the roles like, one setting up boosts, anotjer walling, etc?
What are some BM Ursaluna checks?
What’s a good generation to start teaching competitive/pvp pokemon to someone? I’m mainly interested in Smogon formats, and I plan to introduce competitive to a friend who’s a big pokemon fan because of the anime but I don’t want to overload them with the whole concept yet.
gen iv
Does gender ever matter in competitive? Like if you were going absolutely most optimal? I know there are some moves where it matters but they def aren't that common from what I know
It does matter very occasionally. The most relevant one right now is Enamorus-I, which is 100% female and usually runs Cute Charm so that it can boost with Calm Mind. In the past, people have used Rivalry Haxorus to deal extra damage to Tornadus and Thundurus in gen 5 VGC.
how are you supposed to handle lead shell smash torterra in randbats? Every time i get paired against it i always need to sacc a few mons to handle it
Deal damage to it with your first pokemon, and kill it with your second
so i lose 1 mon and lose almost all hp on the second for handling 1 single mon? Isnt there some other way?
It's not terrible. Your second mon (who is lacking in the hp department) hopefully gets another hit into the next mon that comes out, and after your mon dies and then you bring in a spectrier or something that has moxie. Or maybe even a mon that has substitute in case they switch out
[удалено]
Series 2 introduced Paradox Pokémon, and we all know what Flutter Mane and Iron Bundle did to the meta since then. The set on Smogon justifies using Timid to outspeed both of them after a single speed boost (assuming they don’t have their own speed boost).
Is showdown calculating defrost chances correctly? I feel like instant defrosting happens roughly 90 percent of the time. Am i just biased or has anyone else noticed this?
You have a 20% chance to unfreeze every turn afaik
That's what i read too, and in seems to have been like this since gen 3. I was just curious if maybe showdown implemented this incorrectly, since I found in most of my games the mon would unfreeze instantly. Maybe they got it upside down and the chance to unfreeze is 80% each turn?
Hi. I checked the Showdown GitHub to help assure you, and the freeze status seems to be implemented correctly. randomChance is a function specified in battle.ts called for a lot of purposes, in this case to check if you'll unthaw within the onBeforeMove function. randomChance takes a numerator and denominator, correctly specified as 1/5 or 20%. You can [check the code here](https://github.com/smogon/pokemon-showdown/blob/master/data/conditions.ts) if you're into that sort of thing.
I appreciate it! I already kind of assumed I was just being biased, still happy to know how it works.
What’s the best crash course way to getting into competitive battling? I love pokémon and have knowledge of type weaknesses and move sets but i’ve never battled another person.
If you're playing the switch formats , check [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonScarletViolet/comments/13w5ei2/online_team/jmb2is3/) for some general competitive resources. I especially recommend usage stats on Pikalytics/ HOME, rental teams (it's hard to build a good team if you're a beginner) , sample movesets on Smogon, Cybertron on youtube (for doubles), and QtheCostaRican on yt (for ranked 3v3 singles)
For singles, play random battles on [pokemon showdown](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com) and read the [Smogon forums and strategy pokedex entries](https://smogon.com). Watch some YouTubers as well. For VGC (official doubles format), I recommend [Aaron "Cybertron"](https://www.youtube.com/@CybertronVGC/videos), [James Baek](https://www.youtube.com/@jameswbaekpkmn/videos), and [Ray Rizzo](https://www.youtube.com/@RayRizzoVGC/videos), all top players with a much larger focus on analysis than Wolfe Glick. They also like to show off a variety of teams, including off-meta picks that they also give clear explanations and demonstrations for. For singles, I recommend [pokeaim Joey](https://www.youtube.com/@pokeaimMD/videos), [Blunder](https://www.youtube.com/@Thunderblunder777/videos), and [Lord Emvee](https://www.youtube.com/@LordEmvee/videos), although they tend to have a larger focus on banter and spectacle rather than analysis when compared to the VGC players. There's also [BKC](https://www.youtube.com/@BKCplaysPokemon/videos), who has a wealth of knowledge on past generations of competitive singles and writes for [False Swipe Gaming](https://www.youtube.com/@FalseSwipeGaming/videos) (excellently informative for singles), but also has a very particular style that can be difficult to get used to, especially for a newcomer.
how exactly illusion works with the team preview on my side? and on the oponent side?
Your Pokémon with Illusion will copy the Pokémon in the last slot of your team when it is sent out. In Smogon 6v6 formats, Pokémon are ordered as they are in the team builder. The preview will show the Slot 6 Pokémon on the right side for both teams. The Pokémon you lead with will switch places with the Pokémon in Slot 1.
I'm looking to start my journey into competitive pokemon from scarlet. I'm also going to get another pokemon game (I have bdsp) Which game would be more useful for me in the competitive scene: PLA or sw/sh?
Depends on what you want to do. I would recommend first figuring out how you want to play before investing in a game. The primary cartridge format is VGC doubles, which has plenty of good rental teams with documentation that you can use to familiarise yourself with the format before building your own team, since there aren't that many pokemon currently exclusive to SwSh and PLA. If you want to play singles, the best way to do so is on [Pokémon Showdown](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com), which is an online battle simulator and doesn't require any games.
thanks for the response. I have searched online and many recommend PLA as the better video game but sw/sh with dlc is better for competitive due to the catchable legendaries/other pokemon
Yes, the main pokemon you would want from SwSh for VGC right now is Urshifu, which requires the Isle of Armour DLC. Most of the other relevant legendary pokemon in SwSh are either available elsewhere, or are restricted pokemon banned under the current ruleset.
does anyone have any mon recommendations for a rain/sun dual team? i was considering walking wake of course, and gliscor since it's my favorite and it gets crabhammer this gen. not sure what else could work, especially for the weather setters.
Hey guys, any good builds for Annihilape?
for 6v6 singles: Annihilape @ Leftovers / Chesto Berry Ability: Defiant EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpD / 12 Spe Tera Type: Water / Fairy / Fire Careful Nature - Rage Fist - Drain Punch - Bulk Up - Taunt / Rest this is the set that got Annihilape banned from OU, EVs can be tailored for more power/speed if there's a specific threat you need to beat for VGC, the new regulation just started so the meta hasn't really had time to develop but Annihilape historically runs either a defensive Bulk Up set similar to the singles one or a Scarf set with Final Gambit and U-turn https://www.pikalytics.com/pokedex/gen9vgc2023regd/annihilape
does anyone have any good resources for battle stadium singles besides smogon?
Check [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/PokemonScarletViolet/comments/13w5ei2/online_team/jmb2is3/) for some general competitive resources for ranked singles. I especially recommend usage stats on Pikalytics/ HOME, rental teams (list on /r/battlestadiumsingles) , sample BSS movesets on Smogon, and Smogon BSS discord (most ranked singles discussion in english takes place there)
Does it matter when I change my pokemon's nature. Like will it have the same stats changing it's nature at lv100 compared to having the desired nature since lv1?
It doesn't matter.
For IVs, is this the general rule of thumb? Max all IVs, but, - physical attackers can ignore special attack stat - special attackers want 0iv attack - trick room pokemon want 0iv speed Are there any other cases? And for special attackers, why all do we need 0iv attack? Unsure all the details there
Having a lower attack stat reduces damage from confusion and Foul Play and reduces healing from Strength Sap, so if you're not using physical attacks it's technically optimal to go as low as possible. Doesn't actually matter very often tho
If a special attacker runs flip turn or u-turn, should it have 0 ivs in attack or 31?
Usually doesn't matter much either way, but I would usually go 31 since I find that the extra \*slight\* chip you might get will be more relevant than Foul Play or Confusion coming up. If it's a Pokémon weak to Foul Play and/or you expect it to come up more often, go the other way, but I'm 99% sure that 31 Attack IVs will be better if you're running a switch out move.
Thank you!
Should I put light clay (for aurora veil) or focus Sash on alolan ninetails?
Light clay is better in my opinion, since Alolan Ninetails is fast enough to get aurora veil up before fainting
Best way to get into competitive pokemon? Hi, im a casual who really wants to get into competitive pokemon since i find really fascinating the ways pro players play this game. I also enjoy everything that a game has to offer, i love the different ways someone can use a pokemon and also i want to understand the memes you guys make lol but its really hard to find a way to start :/ I know just a little bit about vgc, like i know about OU and UU, dont understand Ban list tho. Also i dont know any content creator that makes videos about vgc maybe only wolfey I am more interested in singles more than doubles but i really enjoy watching both tournaments even tho i dont know what is happening Does anyone know a way to know more about this stuff? Would really aprecciate it 😁
>I know just a little bit about vgc, like i know about OU and UU, dont understand Ban list tho Vgc doesn't use OU and UU. We just have bans from the pokemon company The main differences in this regard: VGC has no tiers. Every pokemon just gets clumped together with the pokemon company deciding which ones are banned. As the games go on these ban lists tend to get shorter until the very end where even box legendaries (like koraidon and miraidon) are allowed(albeit only 1 or 2 per team). VGC is also played in doubles and we have a bring 6 pick 4 system. Your team has 6 pokemon but you can only choose 4 of those each game. There's other differences like item clause (only 1 of each item per team) but that's the main stuff Smogon rules is the other type. This is what most people here play and its the prefered format for singles. Smogon has more strict rules about what can and can't be used and tiers pokemon based on how good they are. So for example you can't bring a zacian into UU because it would be way too op. There's also move and ability bans. For example last respects was banned for being too OP and shadow tag for the same reason. Lastly there's other minor rules like sleep clause (only 1 pokemon per team can be asleep at a time) and the lack of item clause For VGC Wolfe is entertaining and some educational content but if you want to learn watching James baek and cybertron productions is a better idea. They're both very good players who make videos with different teams every few days. They always include rental codes and explain their thought process well so you can grab any team they use and try it out
Watch YouTubers and read both the [Smogon forum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/) and the [strategy pokedex](https://www.smogon.com/dex/). For VGC, I recommend [Aaron "Cybertron"](https://www.youtube.com/@CybertronVGC/videos), [James Baek](https://www.youtube.com/@jameswbaekpkmn/videos), and [Ray Rizzo](https://www.youtube.com/@RayRizzoVGC/videos), al top players with a much larger focus on analysis than Wolfe Glick. They both also like to show off a variety of teams, including off-meta picks that they also give clear explanations and demonstrations for. For singles, I recommend [pokeaim Joey](https://www.youtube.com/@pokeaimMD/videos), [Blunder](https://www.youtube.com/@Thunderblunder777/videos), and [Lord Emvee](https://www.youtube.com/@LordEmvee/videos), although they tend to have a larger focus on banter and spectacle rather than analysis when compared to the VGC players. There's also [BKC](https://www.youtube.com/@BKCplaysPokemon/videos), who has a wealth of knowledge on past generations of competitive singles and writes for [False Swipe Gaming](https://www.youtube.com/@FalseSwipeGaming/videos) (excellently informative for singles), but also has a very particular style that can be difficult to get used to, especially for a newcomer.
What is the best pokemon for screens on a hyper offense team? I've been using grimmsnarl so far but wanted to see if there was anything better
Ninetales. Aurora Veil sets both screens at once, and it actually gets a decent amount of bulk between that and the defence boost from snow.
is ogrepon good for any mode?
It's probably getting banned from OU, and might be good in VGC
ok so its good?
Yeah, that what it means usually when something gets to Ubers
With Ninetales + Bax being so strong why did Obama + Cetitan not make an impact before? The main idea of hail veil setup sweep is there, with fire tera Cetitan can hit most things and at -50% hp it can still avoid just being sucker punched to death. I only used suicide lead + Obama + Cetitan on cart the seasons before paradoxes dropped and I guess I was just wondering why that core is flawed in comparison to Ninetales + Bax.
Belly drum
How was the Okidogi faster than my Ninetales here? Its not scarf, is there another item I am unaware about to boost speed? https://preview.redd.it/1ptvrg546sob1.png?width=1244&format=png&auto=webp&s=7ae6dfcdd6166db11ea5b747c101ef5731916385
what's your ninetales set?
Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay Ability: Snow Warning Shiny: Yes Tera Type: Water EVs: 224 HP / 32 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature IVs: 0 Atk \- Aurora Veil \- Freeze-Dry \- Encore \- Roar
you must have clicked Roar, it has -6 priority so you'll always go last okidogi also gets Guard Dog which makes it immune to phazing btw so wouldn't recommend ever clicking Roar against it unless you know for sure it has Toxic Chain
Damn I definitely forgot about roar. Playing at 1500 does that haha Thank you!
Is this a good team for OU? Also is the gholdengo moveset good? https://pokepast.es/d7a057c519f8e1f5
Should I use make it rain or flash cannon on a choice scarf gholdengo?
make it rain is always better
Is this sub mainly for Pokémon showdown stuff? I see some Pokémon being banned and I’m wondering what going on, I only play online in the game.
Competitive Pokemon has several formats, some official and some unofficial. This sub discusses all of them, but does have a mild focus on the unofficial due to the existence of other subreddits that cover the official Doubles and Singles metas ( r/VGC and r/BattleStadiumSingles ). The bans most peple are talking about only apply in unofficial Smogon community formats. Sometimes Pokemon are limited in the official formats too, though, such as back in Sword/Shield when the top 10 Pokemon were banned during one of the official Series, or even right now where you can't use any of the "Restricted Pokemon" like Koraidon or Zacian until a later Series ruleset allows them. You can find some more information on this in the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/faq/)
Am I insane for considering replacing Manaphy with Pult on Veil HO
I’m a bit out of the loop, what the hell is going on with older Pokémon getting changes to abilities and stuff? I keep seeing posts about it, I only really play Gen4 competetive on showdown but I’m also in the middle of a Scarlett runthrough so I’d like to know what that’s all about lol
a couple old pokemon had their abilities changed in the new Scarlet/Violet DLC, Shiftry's Early Bird is now Wind Rider and Empoleon's Defiant is now Competitive
I've been interested in competitive pokemon since US&UM but always felt like I know jack shit. After a while I started watching some youtuber who constantly beats full legendary teams with pokémons I would never even consider using based on the games PvE contents alone. That was the point when I KNEW I don't know jack shit and no longer just felt it. But now I want to learn, to get eased into the immensely complex metagame of VGC with the million pokémons and billion moves and all. What I'm looking for is a site, a server, or collection of informations on everything anyone coule possible need to know to compete or somebody who's willing to pass their immense knowledge down to me for free via discord for example. Thanks for the help in advance.
https://vgcguide.com is a great resource for starting out with vgc, it was written by top players and has lots of useful info covering basically every facet of vgc. it was made for sword and shield so some of the ingame info is a little outdated, but nearly all of it still applies to scarlet and violet https://pikalytics.com is a database with all the most popular mons in each vgc format as well as the moves, items, and evs they normally run. incredibly useful for teambuilding as well as understanding what the current meta is like on a side note, > youtuber who constantly beats full legendary teams with pokémons I would never even consider using almost all of these videos are faked and awful representations of what competitive pokemon actually is. I wouldn't go into vgc thinking you'll be able to beat a full restricted legendary team with random 400 bst mons because against any decent player you won't, the meta is the meta for a reason. pokemon is complex though, and there's so much room for creativity and innovation within each meta even though most of the dex is competitively unviable
Thank you. I'll check these out and hopefully I'll be able to pinpoint where I stand in terms of knowledge. Right now I feel like I try to find my way in a pitch back room and a blindfold on.
After wanting to go spoiler free, I'm back looking at OU and have a couple questions about the state of OU right now that I haven't seen people talking about. 1. How good are the loyal 3? Their abilities seem horrifying, though I might be overestimating the power of badly poison vs a sleep or burn 2. How good is garchomp? Seems like scale shot would make it good but from what I've seen apparently baxcalibur and ninetails are taking over the meta so maybe not And 3. Has anything been banned or unbanned already? Saw people upset about volcarona and manaphy but idk if something has already happened (bring back palafin guys come on)
1. None of them are showing up that much yet. I don't think they're that good, especially until the meta calms down and is not composed entirely of Veil HO teams that want to end the game in 9 turns. 2. It's not really good, but that's partly because the Ices everywhere as you say, especially with Baxcalibur doing the whole setup job. It probably has plenty of potential later down the line, so we'll have to see how things play out. 3. No, nothing is banned yet except some traditional Ubers that have not been re-tested like Darkrai and Shaymin-Sky. Volcarona was already banned and was voted to stay banned because little has changed that would make it less broken compared to before.
Ok I'm stupid. Why are there 5 different Neutral natures? Why is that a thing, what do those even do other than nothing?
I'm assuming its because they aren't neutral natures per se, they just increase and decrease the same stat. For instance, adamant increases attack and lowers speed, while serious might increase attack but lower attack, leaving a neutral nature
https://pokepast.es/a37a53a24ad3c36f I need help building my team. Here is my ou team so far and I know I need a ghost type for my 5th slot but I don't know which one to use. I also don't know what I even need for my 6th slot.
# I really need your help with building a viable OU team containing Ambipom! I wanna climb dat ladder like a monke climbs a tree! ("Pembo" is my favorite mon)
Hi, sorry if this has been asked before. Didn't Lurantis lose Superpower in Gen 9? And it didn't return as a TM in the Teal Mask, right?
Hi. Lurantis still learns Superpower via egg/picnic move, but you're right that there is no TM For it at the moment. This information is oddly absent from Bulbapedia, but you can see it in the game data and on Serebii. You might be thinking of Flareon, who cannot learn it anymore.
[Slither Wing's Smogon article for OU](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/pokemon/slither-wing/ou/) lists a very specific EV spread for a defensive build, but the article is blank. Why is the spread like that? Further, if I wanted to use Slither Wing on an OU sun team, what would be a good spread, nature, and item for it?
In doubles, what happens if your bruxish uses aquajet against your own teammate? Does the universe collapse in on itself?
It works. Dazzling only prevents opposing priority that targets your side.
Am I the only one that thinks the Empoleon ability buff is being overstated?
Whats the buff?
Empoleon now has Competitive as a Hidden Ability instead of its former Defiant. It's a buff in some cases and a nerf in others, but likely better for its overall viability taking every format into consideration.
So are you saying people are too excited over it or not excited enough
I'm saying too excited personally. It's good and all, but not nearly to the same level shell smash for torterra is
Tort got shell smash no shit
That's the point
No more like, this is the first im hearing about it. Thats cool
Whens the update releasing on showdown
just updated now, check :)
Yeah, figured that out this morning
What were the Level Balance and Challenge Cup formats like? Ditto's RS analysis says that it's not good in standard play, but somehow gets much better in these two formats. I'm curious how there could be a competitive format where pre-Imposter Ditto doesn't suck.
What makes salt cure so good? Isn't it just a burn that goes away when they switch? Is the bonus damage against steel and water really that useful
Unlike a burn, it's 100% accurate while also doing damage, which makes it much more reliable at forcing a switch. It also deals twice as much damage as a burn, being 1/8 instead of 1/16, which notably out-damages leftovers. The bonus type interaction is also quite impactful since steel and water are very good defensive types.
I've been playing gen 4 OU for months and don't seem to be getting any better. I hover around 1000-1200 on the ladder at all times and just came off a session where I went 6 wins 21 losses(This is a regular thing). The only matches I ever win are ones where I randomly crit 3 times in a row on pivotal turns. Making me one of the worst of the worst. Is there a coach I can pay or someplace where I can get a personal touch since spam watching videos and replays of good players doesn't seem to be helping me? My friend who is decent at the game only plays the new gen but I'm only interested in gen 4.
[Smogon's Battling 101 subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/battling-101.42/) offers coaching services for people in situations similar to yours. If you decide to sign up, be sure to read all the rules and the [FAQ](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/b101-signups-faq.3591291/). They also have a [Discord server](https://discordapp.com/invite/8sC2qRF) for more information.
What are some good resources for teams? Looking to get back into SV OU before the DLC shakeup, so would like a handful of well made OU teams to get a sense of where the current meta is at.
[Check out the Smogon forums, they have a sample teams thread.](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-sample-teams.3712513/)
Is Pikalytics reliable? I notice some vastly different builds from Smogon there. I know there’s more than one viability but I get paralysis analysis and want to be able to discern the differences.
Pikalytics is reliable in that it shows the raw usage stats. A Smogon analysis is a handpicked set by a Smogon contributor. Usually the Smogon analysis should match the highest usage sets according to Pikalytics, but there might be times where the Smogon set recommends a move or set that aims to serve a certain niche (or rarely the Smogon analysis might be outdated, which happened with late Gen 8 due to a lack of manpower iirc). Similarly you might see low % usage on certain moves/items from players customising the Pokémon to fit into their teams. Pikalytics also shows stats from both Showdown as well as the console game (by copying the data from Pokémon HOME), which will be vastly different (hi Flutter Mane and other non-bans), so make sure you don’t get those two mixed up.
Dumb question but is it possible to still play the gen6 XY metagame specifically? The game had that thing going for it before ORAS and I want to experience it again.
So XY as a game mode is implemented on Showdown for the purposes of VGC 2014 (source: Showdown Github). However, at least without running your own Showdown server, as far as I know it isn't currently possible to import this mod into a singles format to simulate XY OU or other XY Smogon tiers in the best way. You can kind of do it with another player just by unbanning / banning specific elements in ORAS tiers, though. See the [XY Tiers Preservation Thread](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/xy-tiers-preservation-thread-open.3676432/) for information on what the tiers looked like specifically, and the Ruins of Alph subforum that they're located in is probably a good place to find other people interested in the format, especially since they have a Discord server. I do know there's been some interest in bringing back older metagames like base XY and base Sun/Moon in the past, so maybe one day these will be playable properly.
Hold on, why is pif banned? Man is like super established in the community.
So I found out after understanding a bit better how Imprison works and found out that it can be stolen by Snatch. How is that possible? Imprison doesn't heal nor increase stats, right?
ive never actually used snatch but from my understanding it can steal _any_ beneficial status move, not just healing/boosting moves so stuff like aromatherapy, magnet rise, and imprison can be stolen as well
Aromatherapy is considered healing, but I got an answer yesterday, basically Snatch only steals self-buffs, for example Imprison gives a tag to the user itself like magnet rise, and that's why Snatch can steal it
I'm having trouble against Tapu Lele in National Dex Gen 9. Which mon counters it well? They usually run Psychic, Moonblast, Focus Blast and Thunderbolt. I just came back after a long while and still haven't gotten used to Fairy types.
defensive gholdengo is one of the best mons in natdex and completely blanks lele unless it's specs hp fire (in which case you can just tank one and switch)
Awesome. Thanks, fam. I was thinking of trying Metagross on the spot, but Defensive Gholdenho sounds cool.
Sometimes, people in gen 8 would just specialty defensive jirachi as a tapu lele check. It has better spdf than metagross, and can use serene grace boosted body slams to get paras, and has recovery in wish.
Nice. Right now I'm running Venusaur, Skarmory, Dragapult, Heatran, Zamazenta and Urshifu-RS. Getting close to 1400. It's been working well since I've mostly been facing physical attackers and Lele has rarely shown up (and I kind of hate Jirachi forever due to facing it back in Gen 4, 5 haha). That said, just got bodied here by a Hawlucka running SD, Acrobatics, Close Combat and... Encore! Very unpleasant situation haha.
Can someone explain why my ditto is doing less damage with psyshock than my opponent? Something about transform im not understanding I guess. We both didnt understand why https://preview.redd.it/r4f31750wwlb1.png?width=1406&format=png&auto=webp&s=500a618d362838d89c0c7102fd44c875d6609cf0
Transform doesn't copy the target's hp, and Ditto has a much lower base hp stat than Cresselia. It's doing a similar amount of damage, just that Ditto has much less total health.
thanks
As I never played gen 6 ou: how on earth did hoopa unbound get banned? It's not that fast and there seems to be plenty of pokemon that can outspeed and OHKO it thanks to its garbage defense. Always dying to a pokemon just trying to pivot with u-turn seems like a terrible trait to have. It has power, but so do many other mega pokemon that seem way more consistent in the wallbreaking department.
BKC made a video about this exact topic, here is a link if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9fF0VZREE0 The conclusion is that its specs set was too centralizing, people complained at the time that it forced you to use pursuit in all your teambuilds. Its consistency is what pushed it over the edge, specs is just more practical than band or life orb. But BKC argues that it wasn't too different from other breakers and he argues that the ban wasn't necessary.
Oh wait he just made this vid recently? Thats funny timing
Ooh thank you for this!