![Terywj [태리]](/data/avatars/l/71/71007.jpg?1555906021){kind=avatar}
Terywj [태리]
Charismatic Maknae~
So, I have a lot of stuff to say about Pokemon, and no place to say it. This is a thread where anybody can write anything about Pokemon and possibly get it published in the OP. Basically, PM me an article, and if its good enough I'll copy it into the OP for everyone to read. You can also start a weekly/monthly/biweekly/whatever collumn and I'll publish it in its own section.
Without further ado, the articles!
Miscellaneous Articles
[collapse=General Thoughts on Synergy - By Riddle]I see the term synergy thrown around a lot, and mostly it is used incorrectly. So, before I get to the meat of this article, let me provide a working definition of synergy. Synergy is essentially the ability of two or more things (in this case pokemon) to work together. It goes slightly beyond that , however that's the only definition we need for this discussion. Now, I think that people understand that, but do not quite understand how it applies to pokemon, so let me tell you what synergy is not. Synergy is NOT having every type resisted twice on your team. Synergy is also not hitting every type super effectively with your team. Pokemon that are synergetic work together in one of three ways: Offensively, defensively, or (for lack of a better word), supportively.
Offensive Synergy
A group of pokemon that have offensive synergy if they wear down or take out each others counters, and are able to beat a wide variety of pokemon. There are multiple ways to accomplish this goal. If all of the pokemon have the same perfect counter than they do not have offensive synergy. Thunderbolt/Taunt/Hammer Arm/Thunder Wave Thunderous and standard SD Excadrill, for instance, do not have offensive synergy, since Gliscor stops them both cold. However, having the same counters can also sometimes LEAD to offensive synergy. Let me explain. When something like Ferrothorn switches in to counter your Scizor and you U-turn out you are doing damage to Ferrothorn. Ferrothorn has very limited healing ability so that damage is largely permanent. If this happens enough times Ferrothorn will eventually be down pretty low on health, but so will Scizor most likely. That's where synergy comes in. The point of wearing down Ferrothorn with U-turn was not for Scizor to sweep (he's too low on health), it was for something else to sweep. Something that couldn't get by Ferrothorn on its own, like Kingdra. Without Scizor's weakening of Ferrothorn, DD Kingdra would have no chance of sweeping. It really has no hope of getting past full health Ferrothorn, but with Scizor's help he can set up and sweep the other team (assuming Ferrothorn was his opponent's only counter to Kingdra).
Another type of offensive synergy comes in the form of lures. Lures work similarly to the concept of weakening each others counters, but are slightly different. Lures are generally uncommonly used sets that are able to kill the normal sets usual counters. Let me illustrate with an example. I have an Excadrill I want to sweep but that evil omnipresent Gliscor is in my way. Whats the solution? I could use something with an Ice attack like Starmie to kill Gliscor but he'd just switch to his Chansey or Latis or whatever and Gliscor would still be there to wreck my Excadrill. Therefore, I'd like to use a lure to beat Gliscor. A good lure for Gliscor is Ice Beam Tyranitar (though its becoming more expected). Standard Tyranitar sets are generally walled really easily by Gliscor, because of Gliscor's amazing defensive stats and great typing. However, Tyranitar learns Ice Beam and has the Special Attack to OHKO Gliscor. This Tyranitar set can entice Gliscor to switch in by spamming Crunch or some other easily walled physical move, attempting to convince the opponent that he is locked into it. When the Gliscor switches in hoping to wall and kill Tyranitar with Ice Beam, he is met by a surprise when Earthquake doesn't kill Tyranitar and he is suddenly taken out by a swift Ice Beam. Then Excadrill is free to sweep with his primary counter gone.
The third type of offensive synergy comes in the form of hard counters and/or revenge killers. These pokemon can switch into their partner's counters and take them out allowing for a a sweep. This works best when The counter has some way to trap the target pokemon such as Pursuit, Shadow Tag, or Magnet Pull. Let's go back to the example of Gliscor countering Excadrill. A lure is certainly one option that you can use to kill Gliscor, however a counter/revenge killer can work as well. Chandelure in Dream World OU does this perfectly. Chandelure can switch in on Gliscor on the revenge or on a predicted Protect, outspeed with Choice Scarf, and OHKO with Hidden Power: Ice. Gliscor is unable to switch out, because of Shadow Tag, and can not do anything at all to Chandelure once he's in. Thus, Chandelure is very reliable at removing Gliscor, because of Gliscor's inability to switch out and also, because Gliscor can't really run a surprise Choice Scarf or Yache Berry or something to beat Chandelure. It is very easy to tell what Gliscor is running generally, because Toxic Orb has a specific message, so if you see that message you know it is safe to revenge with Chandelure. With Gliscor gone, Excadrill can sweep as before.
Defensive Synergy
Defensive synergy is generally what people think of when the word synergy is used, and it is by far the most misunderstood form of synergy. Whenever I see defensive synergy spoken about it is always in reference to resisting each others weaknesses or resisting every type. This is not defensive synergy. Its sort of part of it, but only sort of. Type resistances would be all well and good if everything had equal defenses (spoiler: they don't) or if pokemon only used one type of attack (Thunder, Thunderbolt, Spark, Volt Tackle Pikachu), however neither of those are true so it becomes more complicated than that. Pokemon with defensive synergy need to be able to switch in on pokemon that threaten each other. Sunkern might resist electric and grass attacks aimed at Magikarp but its still not taking a specs Jolteon Thunderbolt, or anything else for that matter, so Sunkern and Magikarp have horrible defensive synergy. Similarly, Landlos and Gliscor might have the same typing, but they are quite different in terms of the defensive synergy they provide because of Gliscor's superior defenses. Another thing to keep in mind is the fact that pokemon carry more than one type of move. Zapdos and Jirachi might resist both Ground and Rock type attacks between them, but Landlos still rips them apart with both types of attacks. Thus, defensive synergy is more about pokemon than types. Resistances are important, but the most important thing is to beat pokemon that threaten teammates rather than moves. Blissey and Skarmory do not resist a single one of each other's weaknesses, but they were still heralded as the best defensive core in pokemon for a large portion of gens. III and IV. This is because, they each countered a different large spectrum of pokemon. Blissey can take almost any special attack in the game and Skarmory does the same for most physical attacks. When put together, most non-mixed attackers can't do anything to one or the other and a formidable defensive core is formed, despite the lack or resistances.
Supportive Synergy
This is the least used and probably least important form of synergy but it still exists. Pokemon who are supportively synergistic work together in indirect ways. Examples of this include setting up entry hazards to facilitate a sweep or healing up pokemon with Wish or Aromatherapy/Heal Bell. This is most commonly seen on stall/semi-stall teams alongside defensive synergy, but it can also take place on more offensively oriented teams as well.
Pokemon that synergize well don't just have one of those types of synergy, however, the best cores have multiple types combined. Synergy is the basis for every successful team and I hope you take into account everything you've just read next time you build a team.[/collapse]
[collapse=Gamefreak's Difficulty's Balancing Pokemon - By CRASHiC]Gamefreak has a difficult challenge of creating a game that balances in game fairness with an engaging battle system built for all levels of players. At times I like to imagine what a Gamefreak blacklist of type/ability/move combinations might look like, consisting solely of the most ungodly of combinations that go far beyond the realm of power creep. Imagine, if you will, some of these unleashed onto the current pokemon world, invalidating nearly everything from Ubers to your in game tier list. Please, consider the following:
1. Ghost/Steel: Any hope this typing EVER had walking out the door likely vanished the moment Balloon was introduced. To the competitive world, balloon is not outstanding item, but in lower levels of play, I’m certain this is a real teeth grinder. The immunity to fighting and normal coupled with Steel’s numerous resistances makes this a defensive typing from hell. Stab wise, there are a number of wonderful options on both the physical and special side, allowing for a fair amount of liberty to be taken when designing his stats.
2. Drizzle/Drought: In our current environment, we tend to think about Weather as an active boost, and with good reason, Excadrill and Kingdra are no slouches and actively need to be feared. Consider though Drizzle on a Dragon/Flying pokemon, granting the pokemon effectively 3 STAB and giving it a 4 times resistance to fire attacks. 3 STAB allows for far better sweep potential and a far wider coverage to be obtained, especially when combined with an advantageous typing.
3. Slow Start: an ability that appears a nerf, but can be used for great potential and pushing the bsts of a pokemon to unreached heights. Slow Start allows you the liberty to create a pokemon that is not only great, but receives a +1.25 boost to its Attack and Speed each turn. Given more than free dragon dance, the pokemon could then run 4 moves allowing it the freedom to move. Slow Start at first appears a self nerf, but with the right base stat total and distribution, it becomes something far beyond Speed Boost.
4. Petal Dance + Harvest: Sadly neither Tropious nor Exeggutor learn the grass version of Outrage, but if combined with Harvest+ Lum Berry. Freed of Confusion consequence as well as a never ending full restore, the pokemon might immediately seem more viable. Imagine though, the combination on someone with a bit more potential, someone a bit more like Shaymin, someone capable of tearing through teams with that Petal Dance, ignoring all the short comings of grass STAB.
5. Analyze + Punishment. Analyze provides a 1.5 boost when you move last, punishment provides a times 2 boost when it moves last. Combine this with STAB and life orb and you have a move of a base power of 292, near the power of Kyogre’s Water Spout. Slap this on something bulky enough to take a hit, and Vital throw suddenly doesn’t seem such a bad option. . .
6. Sniper+Always Critical. Both of the Always Critical moves have a base power of 40, after sniper they sit at 120, after stab and life orb 234. This alone sounds like a sweet enough deal, but imagine hitting through a bulky stat upper’s boosted defense, ignoring their calm minds and bulk ups. Even more, imagine a pokemon that has the proper stats to effectively use both, to shut down these bulky stat uppers.
These are 6 that come to mind as combinations that are not yet fully tapped into. Pokemon is a wonderful sandbox for a developer if he sets his mind to it. You can come up with a seemingly unlimited supply of niches and combinations if you set your mind to it. Will we see any of the above in the future? I’d be willing to bet that we will in some time. After all, Black and White brought us two new Shadow Tag users as well as a full host of new and considerably untapped abilities and moves. [/collapse]
[collapse=Creative Move Theorymon - By Terywj]Let’s admit it. Some Pokemon moves have absolutely little to no competitive value. Changes could bring massive overhauls in how a certain Pokemon is played, or what moves are run on common movesets. Let’s take a look at some competitively enhanced moves and what they could do in the new establishing metagame.
--Whirlwind / Ominous Wind / Razor Wind--
Effect: Forces the target to switch to a random Pokémon. Has no effect on a Pokémon with Suction Cups or one that has used Ingrain.
New: Forces the target to switch to a random Pokemon. Has no effect on a Pokemon with Suction Cups or one that has used Ingrain. Opposing entry hazards are removed.
Analysis: While Whirlwind has proven an effective phazing move throughout the past, the addition of being able to effectively Rapid Spin helps out many teams. The additional effects to Ominous and Razor Wind also help some Pokemon who can abuse them more, despite Razor Wind being a terrible move. Looking at Whirlwind with a flavor perspective, it also makes sense. If a Pokemon is providing enough wind power to force a switch, shouldn't entry hazards around the Pokemon also be blown away? Of course, one could argue that entry hazards that you setup would be removed as well.
--Power Gem--
Effect: [Rock / Special / 70 Pow. / 100 Acc.] No additional effect.
New: [Rock / Special / 80 Pow. / 100 Acc.] Has 40% chance to increase Special Attack by 1 stage.
Analysis: While it's no Charge Beam / Flare Dance, Power Gem gives certain Pokemon a unique new way to boost their Special Attack. Most Pokemon can appreciate the higher power base attack alongside the chance of increasing their Special Attack by one stage. The most promising user could be Dialga, who with base 150 Special Attack enjoys slamming Pokemon like Lugia or Rayquaza after a Special Attack boost. Unfortunately, this boost would not be taken advantage of entirely due to Power Gem's poor distribution (But it's still better than Flame Dance's).
--Dragon Rush--
Effect: [Dragon / Physical / 100 Pow. / 75 Acc.] Has a 20% chance to flinch the target.
New: [Dragon / Physical / 40 Pow. / 100 Acc.] +1 Priority. No other effect besides priority.
Analysis: I don't think Dragon-types have enough neat moves. A Dragon-type equivalent of Quick Attack would rage all across the metagame. Salamence can throw Dragon Rush alongside many of his offensive options. Ononokusu can enjoy abusing Choice Band sets with base 147 Attack and a priority move to make up for the dismal base 97 Speed. Garchomp, a Pokemon that flies can use Swords Dance + Dragon Rush to place a hole in everything not named Nattorei. Imagine Dratini in Little Cup with STAB Dragon Rush, Aqua Jet, and Extremespeed. You'd think "Rush" indicates something of similar nature to high speeds, anyway.
--Doubleslap / Sweep Slap / Bone Rush / Arm Thrust--
Effect: [Physical / 15-25 Pow. / 80 Acc.] Hits 2-5 times in one turn. There is a 37.5% chance to hit either 2 or 3 times, and a 12.5% chance to hit either 4 or 5 times.
New: [Physical / 20 Pow. / 85 Acc.] Hits 2-5 times in one turn. If the target switches, the move will still hitting the switching Pokemon a minimum of one time, any other hits will land on the switch-in.
Analysis: A general change in how multi-hit moves such as these are thought of, being able to have a Pursuit-esque effect can be beneficial to certain Pokemon. Technician Ambipom can assure weakened Pokemon they will be tortured by Fake Out + Doubleslap. STAB abusers can use entry hazards coupled with this extra damage can make switching out painful for your opponent. The problem is without Technician, these moves are generally very weak and therefore are used to rack up damage to punish switching. Ambipom and Chirachiino see the most uses. Note that moves like Rock Blast, Bullet Seed, and Icicle Spear would not receive these effects, because well, that would be ridiculous.
In essence, while changes to these moves may not all be game-breaking, it's certainly food for thought and interesting creative theorymon if Gamefreak ever did show a competitive degree when creating certain moves.[/collapse]
[collapse=Suicune Analysis - By Wave]Suicune @ Leftovers
Water Absorb / Bold
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Rest
Sleep Talk
Calm Mind
Boiling Water
Suicune is, has been, and always will be a fantastic Pokémon. Excellent typing, both defensively and offensively, and exceptional bulk are a great combination. As a bulky water, Suicune definitely has competition in the forms of Jellicent, Vaporeon, Gyarados, Politoed, and more, but Suicune stands out in the ability to take even super-effective hits and shrug them off with Rest.
Traditionally, Suicune's biggest weakness lies in powerful physical moves, such as Explosion or Seed Bomb and Water Absorbant Pokémon. This generation's nerfed Explosion is no longer a threat, thanks to halved damage. While Seed Bomb isn't a problem anymore, Breloom's Bullet Seed can OHKO with 3 hits after Stealth Rock, and Ferrothorn's Power Whip deals a solid 40% damage, possibly fatal after Leech Seed saps away your remaining health. Jellicent and Vaporeon (still) stop you in your tracks. Suicune's own Water Absorb helps Suicune's role as a bulky water more than it's role as a late-game sweeper. As an extra perk, Water Absorb makes Suicune one of the few Pokémon not vulnerable to Ditto's unique trademarked brand of douchebaggery disguised as revenge killing. Virizion's combination of special bulk and power with Calm Mind boosting cleanly counters you. The new move Psycho Shock also poses a threat to Suicune. Being able to boost Special Attack while ignoring Suicune's Special Defense boosts is Suicune's worst nightmare. Rankurusu is a potent Psycho Shock user, with both bulk and power. Beware of the jellybaby. You cannot win. You cannot break even.
Suicune's biggest threats are, without a doubt, Vaporeon and Jellicent. Ironically, Breloom makes an excellent teammate thanks to its ridiculously powerful Bullet Seed easily taking care of so-called "bulky" waters. Offensive threats, more often than not, must rely on STAB Grass- and Electric-type moves. Magnezone, Zapdos, and Thunderous's Thunderbolts. Breloom's Mach Punch will kill any Magnezone that dares switch in, while a Porygon2 with an Evolution Stone can eliminate Zapdos and Thunderous with Ice Beam while taking virtually no damage. Chandelure's unique typing allows you to safely switch into any unboosted Virizion and kill with your choice of Fire-type move. Chandelure would also complete a Water / Grass / Fire core on your team. A Tyranitar can destroy enemy Reuniclus with either Crunch or Pursuit. Depending on your team, you might even consider Tension Tyranitar to spare Suicune the damage from Sandstorm.[/collapse]
[collapse=Competitive Retypes - By Terywj]Alright. So since the beginning of time the theory of retyping a Pokemon has always been discussed throughout various communities. Retyping a Pokemon can bring many advantages by changing up its list of weaknesses, resistances, immunities, etc. Almost any change in a Pokemon's typing can really shake up the ways the Pokemon is used - switching from offense to defense, etc.
In this article I will be exploring some Pokemon retypes from all the tiers and the potential behind each.
Gyarados - Water / Dragon
Leading off with what could possibly the most wanted retype in all of Pokemon is Gyarados. Despite being used by in-game trainers who specialize in using Dragon-type Pokemon, Gyarados lacks the powerful Dragon-type his brother Kingdra enjoys so much. Let's take a minute to look into the benefits of Water / Dragon. Water / Dragon is a STAB that is unresisted in all of OU with the exception of Empoleon and Shedinja, the former can be hit supereffectively with Earthquake, and the latter...is never used anyways. While Gyarados really only benefits from getting STAB Outrage offensively, it gains many defensive gifts with a Dragon-typing. First off, it removes that nasty 4x weakness to Electric-type attacks and completely removes its Rock-type weakness. Furthermore, being weak to only Dragon-types, and 4x resisting Fire- and Water-types is a huge benefit for switch-in oppportunities. At the same time, Gyarados might miss using Bounce to catch Celebi off-guard, but when it comes down to it, why will it matter when you have a STAB Outrage to hit Celebi with? Aside from that, I don't really see anything wrong or harmful with this retype other than making Gyarados weak to all the Dragon-types out there - Salamence, Flygon, etc.
Gyarados @ Leftovers
Intimidate / Jolly (+Spd. / -Sp. Atk.)
4 HP / 252 Atk. / 252 Spd.
~ Dragon Dance
~ Waterfall / Aqua Tail
~ Outrage
~ Earthquake / Taunt
Gyarados looks to capitalize on his two powerful STAB with Dragon Dance to back him up. Unfortunately, he's still completely shut out by the likes of Skarmory even if you run Earthquake so Taunt can be used to help prevent Whirlwind. It should be noted that Earthquake is the only way Gyarados can hit Empoleon though.
Gengar - Ghost / Fighting
Gengar's Poison-typing has always been...underwhelming. Sure, immunity to Toxic and Toxic ****es are nice, but the Poison-typing also brings a Psychic-type weakne- okay so that's not really a flaw, but a resistance to Fighting-type is absolutely worthless because he's already part Ghost-type. A Fighting-type pairing still gives Gengar a Psychic-type weakness, but I think we already laughed that off. Besides, the Fighting-type brings Gengar so many gifts. First off, while Focus Miss isn't really a great move because it misses a lot (did I forget Focus Blast misses?), Gengar has a 50% chance to 2HKO Blissey (if you get the joke then kudos to you!) and that's absolutely huge. Furthermore, Gengar suddenly enjoys a neutrality to Dark-type attacks, resisted residual damage from Stealth Rock, and perfect neutral coverage through Shadow Ball and Focus Blast. I also forgot the Fighting-type brings it a Flying-type weakness, but Gengar has such poor defenses that a Flying-type attack (read: Brave Bird) would probably have killed it easily regardless of whather or not it hit supereffectively.
Gengar @ Life Orb
Levitate / Modest (+Sp. Atk. / -Atk.)
4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk. / 252 Spd.
~ Shadow Ball
~ Focus Blast
~ Thunderbolt / Hidden Power [Ice]
~ Substitute
Gengar makes the most out of his unresisted STAB with Life Orb providing that extra punch. Thunderbolt or Hidden Power [Ice] help him with other problems like specially defensive Skarmory, but when you unresisted STAB is coverage needed at all? At that point, Substitute and Pain Split might be just as viable options for the last two slots.
Absol - Dark / Fighting
As we dip into the lower tiers, let's take a look at Absol and its new typing. Absol already possesses the most powerful priority move in the game with STAB Sucker Punch, but what happens when it can smash those pesky Steel-types with a STAB Superpower? That's right: disastrous things. While Absol has a limited Fighting-type movepool to Superpower and Rock Smash, getting STAB on Superpower is more than enough to suffice. And while Dark / Fighting-type coverage may not be as superior as the Ghost / Fighitng-type coverage presented earlier in Gengar, having a secondary STAB is still really useful for Absol. With a new STAB comes new weaknesses, however. Absol now struggles with a Flying-type weakness which is a bit more common in the lower tiers through the likes of Moltres, Scyther, etc. but Absol is already so frail that such a weakness shouldn't even matter. It's also neat to note that the Psychic-type weakness from being a Fighting-type is alleviate because of the primary Dark-typing. Lol Psychic-types.
Absol @ Life Orb
Super Luck / Adamant (+Atk. / -Sp. Atk.)
4 HP / 252 Atk. / 252 Spd.
~ Sucker Punch
~ Swords Dance
~ Superpower
~ Night Slash / Psycho Cut
Absol is the Disaster Pokemon, and this set brings disastrous results. While it's highly unchanged, the STAB on Superpower lets him tear through Registeel more easily. Super Luck helps boost his remaining choice of coverage move for a chance at a critical.
Porygon Z - Normal / Ghost
I'm gonna come right out and say it - there's always been something eerie about Porygon Z, and this retype acts upon that. Normal / Ghost-type is quite interesting. The previously existing weakness to Fighting-types is now cancelled, while the immunity to Ghost-types is retained. An unpleasant Dark-type weakness is exposed but better a Dark-type weakness than a Fighting-type weakness. On the offensive note, Porygon Z now has Adaptability STAB on Shadow Ball, meaning Ghost-types think twice before switching in to take the Tri Attack.
Other than an exchange of a single weakness, I see no other faults of Porygon Z becoming Normal / Ghost-type. Scary, huh?
Porygon Z @ Choice Scarf
Adaptability / Modest (+Sp. Atk. / -Atk.)
4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk. / 252 Spd.
~ Tri Attack
~ Shadow Ball
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
Porygon Z makes the most out of Adaptability with a ridiculously powerful STAB Tri Attack and Shadow Ball. While Steel-types do kinda ruin the day, the premier defensive Steel-type - Skarmory, doesn't enjoy Thunderbolt coming from base 135 Special Attack. Ice Beam is listed there for coverage reasons (Salamence, etc.) but Tri Attack is doing massive amounts of damage anyway.
Weezing - Poison / Dark
This is our first retype with no real advantage on the offensive side, but focuses more on the defensive side. Poison / Dark-type with Levitate gives Weezing no weaknesses. As awesome as that sounds, losing a resistance to Fighting-type attacks hurts it due to how often they appear in UU and in general. However, with Weezing's great physical bulk switching in and soaking hits should not be too much of a problem. Simple and straightforward retype, not much more needs to be said.
Weezing @ Leftovers
Levitate / Bold (+Sp. Def. / -Atk.)
252 HP / 4 Def. / 252 Sp. Def.
~ Pain Split
~ Will-o-Wisp
~ Sludge Bomb
~ Thunderbolt / Protect
Weezing opts for being a great stop to many sweepers out there. Maximum special defenses combined with natural physical bulk combined with Will-o-Wisp allow Weezing to take hits well. Pain Split alongside Leftovers gives Weezing some sort of variety, and prevents Registeel from punishing it. Sludge Bomb is obligatory STAB while Thunderbolt or Protect help with coverage and recovery, respectively. It should also be noted that Will-o-Wisp works well with Sludge Bomb since many Steel-types would not enjoy a burn due to comon lack of recovery.
Staraptor - Fighting / Flying
Finishing off our list of retypes is Staraptor. Staraptor has been notorious for being a Flying-type with Close Combat to smash Steel-types, but with a STAB Close Combat, Staraptor becomes that much better. A Fighting-type brings a Psychic-type weakness (those silly Psychic-types), and somewhat ironically a Flying-type weakness. Staraptor also tosses away its immunity to Ghost-type moves, but Staraptor isn't likely to be surviving a Shadow Ball anyway.
Staraptor benefits greatly from a Fighting-type though. Neutrality to Stealth Rock is amazing, especially on a Pokemon who intends to use Brave Bird as a primary offensive move. STAB on Close Combat really hurts everything, and Fighting / Flying are not bad coverage moves at all.
Staraptor @ Life Orb
Intimidate / Adamant (+Atk. / -Sp. Atk.)
4 HP / 252 Atk. / 252 Spd.
~ Substitute
~ Roost
~ Brave Bird
~ Close Combat
Staraptor abuses the SubRoost strategy to the maximum potential. I don't need to go into much detail here as it is a straightforward set. Brave Bird and Close Combat work excellently with Substitute, while Roost helps maneuverability and Life Orb powers up those already powerful hits.
Well, I certainly hope you enjoyed this article. It's a great way to gain some insight on how typing is very, very critical (hit) in determining how well a Pokemon can function, as well as the mixture between offensive and defensive roles it can perform. With that in mind, you could probably come up with a million different and unique retypes which could change the metagame for better or for worse.[/collapse]
[collapse=The Face of An Uber - By Wave]The Uber tier is, without a doubt, the most-debated aspect of Pokémon. The world of Pokémon is fundamentally built on math. Everything is quantifiable. But when you try to apply a subjective and vague label to a Pokémon, which is an amalgamation of numbers at its roots, the result is arguments and flaming.
In your opinion, what criteria must a Pokémon fulfill to qualify as "Uber"?
Oh jeez, there are lot of ways I could word this. Pokémon who lack legitimate counters are considered "broken", since most people would abuse the **** out of it in the metagame, and if something like that is running rampant, every team is trying to combat said Pokémon to the point where it completely over-centralizes the metagame. If a Pokémon reaches such a point, removing the Pokémon opens up the metagame to different possibilities. I'm not saying a varying metagame is a perfect metagame, but if every team has Gliscor / Skarmory / Quagsire / Rotom-W just to fend off Doryuuzu, for example, then something is wrong
While I'm not normally one to determine what is Uber or not, I would say it depends on a couple different things. One reason to determine if a Pokémon should be banned or not is if the meta game is too focused around it, especially to the point of the Pokémon appearing on practically every team. What this is related to however, is the ability to defeat such a Pokémon. If the Pokémon has little to no counters, it will naturally rise up in usage statistics since, well, why wouldn't you use it? If a Pokémon is practically guaranteed to take out some Pokémon without the ability to be taken down with what's available, it simply doesn't fit in that metagame. Just the sheer fact of including such a Pokémon will give you a lead whenever you want as long as you use it, a good example of this being Wobbuffet in Gen. IV. The other primary example would be Garchomp, who really set a precedence for if things should be banned or not. Garchomp was simply too powerful for the OU metagame. There were counters to him, but they were rare. I believe one of them was a Hariyama, but outside of Garchomp, what else are you going to use Hariyama for? Nothing, really. The game no longer becomes fighting each other, it becomes killing your opponents Garchomp, which is not a healthy metagame. This is like how some people have joked where the metagame for Gen. V is simply about who can KO the other player's Excadrill (Doryuuzu) first lol, though thankfully that doesn't seem to be the case.
It must fall into one of the following categories:
1) Its presence alone significantly decreases the number of viable Pokémon (over-centralizing)
2) It must be used in order to have any chance of winning (similar to #1)
3) It violates a basic mechanic of Pokémon (ex: switching, the basic win condition of eliminating all of your opponents Pokémon, etc.) or clauses
4) Its removal creates a more fun metagame for the majority, while not decreasing variety too much to offset that change
5) Its presence makes the game considerably more luck based
Note: If a Pokémon falls into one of the above criteria, but won't if an item or ability or move or something is removed, then it is nearly always better to remove the ability / move / item / something.
Your criteria are subjective, not objective. How do we deal with something that cannot be quantified when we have to make such black and white decisions?
Gather a fairly large amount of qualified voters.
How do we do so? Ladder ranking does not show your skill; it shows how good you are at laddering. Smogon's suspect testing excludes people who either do not have the time to ladder or are not as eloquent when it comes to communication, and more importantly, debating.
Qualified and skillful aren't the same thing. I would argue that ladder ranking is the perfect method for qualifying voters. To get high enough on the ladder you have to have a certain level of skill, and you have to play a lot of battles. when you play a lot of battles you learn the metagame better (especially the upper level metagame since youre high on the ladder) and can make better informed decisions about how to vote. If you don't have the time to ladder than you are likely also not as knowledgeable. There are of course some exceptions however. I for one, have a lot of trouble getting high up on the ladder despite my rather large amount of metagame knowledge. I'm just a horrible battler. Qualification based on ladder rankings is still the best solution I can see and works well in almost all situations.
In your opinion, what criteria must a Pokémon fulfill to qualify as "Uber"?
Earlier I would've said that there are one of two things that a Pokémon must do in order to be considered Uber:
1: It needs to over-centralize the metagame.
2: It needs to have an ability that makes people get mad at it to a degree that they get a vote for it to become Uber.
A lot of Ubers are Uber because of specific abilities or moves that pissed people off. In all honesty, Shaymin-S would probably not be Uber if it didn't have Serene Grace, Garchomp would not be without Sand Veil, Darkrai would be a bottom-tier OU if it didn't have Dark Void, etc. Because of the combination of their abilities with their offensive power, and the stats they have, they became Uber. It's like looking at Slaking and realizing "Hey, this guy would be Uber if he didn't have Truant as an ability, and we gave him something like Drought instead!"
I can't really argue against over-centralization, because that's solely based on what other people decide to use, BUT I'd say that centralization isn't a factor that can determine Ubers anymore. Look at Technician Breloom; many teams pack all sorts of weird Pokémon to prevent themselves from being swept by it, Shadow Tag Shandera being primary. Shadow Tag Shandera is another one that's arguably over-centralizing, as people frequently run trappers like Tyranitar to deal with it. Then there's Blaziken, Roobushin, Haxorus, Reuniclus, Landorus, Excadrill, etc., all of which have good counters that have limited viability against other threats. Smogon is stuck in an old way of thinking, just from looking at their Reuniclus thread. They're too caught up in the idea that an entire metagame can be manageable on a defensive scale, that every Pokémon can have a counter on a team. That's actually why I don't really like Smogon much, they act too much like because they're awesome at Pokémon that they can have their cake and eat it too (desiring perfect stall teams, every threat should be counterable, complaining about hax a lot, etc.) The argument of centralization doesn't hold anymore, since there are too many threats to have a defensive metagame centered around countering those threats, so centralization isn't a legitimate argument to send something to Ubers anymore. The Uber tier is just a distinction for Pokémon with game-changing abilities with higher than 600 BST at this point; there isn't much meaning in it anymore. Life Orb Breloom OHKO's Kyogre at +2 with Mach Punch and beats standard defensive Groudon with Bullet Seed, Blaziken sets up on Giratina, etc. The only legitimate Uber at this point is Arceus because it has too much variety to handle...
So basically, for Gen. V, I think Ubers should be determined solely by their potential unpredictability (like, for example, Arceus, etc.). Anything else can be legitimately handled with a proper offensive strategy.
That's an interesting way of looking at it. Playing as the Devil's Advocate, don't you think you're raising the bar too high? Kyogre can't possibly belong in the OU tier. Sure, he's revenge killed. But that's like saying Darkrai belongs in OU because Mach Punch tears him a new one, like saying Mewtwo belongs in OU because non-Scarf variants are killed by Scarf Tyranitar. Kyogre still has that incredibly powerful Water Spout that tears holes even in prepared teams. Just because X is stopped cold by Y doesn't mean X isn't a god amongst Pokemon.
Furthermore, one trick ponies might only have one set, but that one set can still be incredibly potent. Wobbuffet is an ideal example. Smogon is right in naming his set "Oh, no! It's Wobbuffet!" as you know what it's running the second you see it.
I'm not saying that we should allow everything back into OU. The Uber tier exists for a good reason, but we should have had a full suspect test before allowing things to settle down back to normal. As it is, the entire process has been selectively implemented, with things like Latias and Wobbuffet being almost never used, and new stuff like Excadrill being used constantly. Everything should have been allowed in OU in order to do a full suspect test, lol. Everything that is currently Uber, odds are, would remain up there. This isn't really something I can argue very well because I don't really know what makes a Pokémon Uber beyond the fact that it's a combination of ability/stats, and that it has to piss enough people off to be made Uber. Smogonites want to treat this like it's Gen. IV, when you could still counter everything. In this gen, you can run Swords Dance Blaziken, Swords Dance Breloom, and Calm Mind+Rest Gochizeru to trap walls and just run over people with Mach Punch+Flare Blitz and redundant coverage overwhelming teams that aren't hardcore stall.
The thing about one trick ponies (again, like Wobbuffet) is that they do their job well, but the presence of team preview makes the goal of your team clear to the opponent, for example trapping something to give yourself setup opportunities. If you see a Wobbuffet and a Rayquaza, they're probably gonna be Encoring Ground-type attacks, Mirror Coating your Scarf Palkia, and going in to set up a Swords Dance Rayquaza sweep in the late game. It's just clear. With Pokémon that bluff certain sets but are capable of running others, you can't play around them as easily since you don't know what they have. If you see Skymin, it might be a Scarfer, it might be a SubSeeder, it might be a 4-attack Expert Belt set, etc. It can bluff multiple sets and run SubSeed to deal with its normal counter Blissey. If you felt like it, you could even give it max HP for 101 Subs, making it a real pain for stall to take out. This is just my opinion, but nothing short of Specs Kyogre can break past Evolution Stone Chansey, and that's only at full health with Water Spout. Evolution Stone is what makes these Ubers counterable on a defensive end, and new offensive threats are capable of keeping up with Ubers and revenging them/beating them outright. I don't like how we didn't have a "let's throw everything into OU" phase of things, because I think the metagame would've benefited from it. How broken something is is only observable if you have an all-inclusive metagame. The luxury of seeing a threat and knowing you have a surefire counter to it is gone now tbh, so I'd rather see full testing than impulsive bans, like the Swift Swim+Drizzle ban in OU, and (with only a couple exceptions) carrying over the existing Uber tier into Gen. V.
It's like this: by deeming a Pokémon "Uber," you have deemed it too strong for standard, so you have sent it to the "ban list" of Pokémon. Now what is deemed "too strong for standard?" The usual mentality is if a Pokémon has no counters, then it is Uber. I find this definition to be false because then Infernape from Gen. IV might be considered Uber, or even Salamence from Gen. III (perfect prediction with Choice Band Salamence 2HKOs everything, except Swampert, IIRC, and even then Hidden Power Flying+Spikes wasn't very nice to it). I feel like a Pokémon needs to be based on Uber by the impact it has on the metagame.
It really is quite a peculiar definition for an Uber, especially since whether a Pokémon has a positive or negative impact on the metagame is highly dependent on the views of an individual. For me, a Pokémon has a positive impact if it allows for multiple styles of play and increases variety overall, and it has a negative impact if it makes strategies obsolete through its mere existence.
I'm going to use two powerful examples to prove my point; Salamence in Gen. IV and Celebi in Gen. II. Salamence in Gen. iV was deemed Uber, and sure you end up with maybe a balanced metagame where nothing seems threatening, but that also becomes the problem; now the lack of offensive prowess in the metagame caused a huge shift towards stall. Okay, so more Pokémon total are viable. There is a necessity in scarcity of Pokémon to be able to cover them properly; that's what makes Uber even remotely of a playable metagame (you don't check 50+ things, just the top 20). No one would disagree if I said that Salamence was overpowered; just by shifting between two sets, it can randomly sweep teams (Dragon Dance) or break them (Mixed / Banded). But yet, it was later discovered that having this dominating threat was more than necessary to keep a balance between the offensive prowess and defensive prowess of the metagame; defensive threats never got nominated last Gen. because they only work in combination with other defensive threats. On the other hand, offensive threats were more easy to point out because, well, they are more immediate.
Now to the Gen. II example of Celebi; nothing would suggest it's Uber. It's not too strong, has some counters, weak to common attacks, and just balanced overall. The problem: it never dies, and it ensures the rest of the team never does either. It upsets the huge balance between offensive and defensive prowess of the generation, and even though it by itself wasn't Uber by any characteristic, it's impact on the metagame is negative enough to banish it.
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The idea that a Pokémon with no counters must be Uber is one that has been thrown around for years. It's been used to fortify the reasoning behind the Garchomp and Salamence bans. The question is, how big of a problem is a Pokémon with no counters? On paper, a Pokémon with no counters will wreak havoc on any team, switching in repeatedly to tear holes into a team's defenses. In reality, entry hazards and residual damage make this idealistic Pokémon exactly that, idealistic. Salamence, while lacking viable counters, was weak to Stealth Rock and was not immune to Sandstorm damage. But then, what about Garchomp? Lacking viable counters, resistant to Stealth Rock, and taking no Sandstorm damage. One of the biggest reasons Salamence was banned was the fact that Dragon Dance variant counters do not work against MixMence, and vice versa, resulting in a pseudo-coin-flip situation: switch in the right counter, or risk losing the game.
The idea that counters are not required has been thrown around as well. In a generally offensive metagame, teams can't be expected to counter many threats at all, instead sacrificing and then revenge killing, or forcing out. This mindset relies on momentum; if you find yourself constantly playing catch-up, you can't expect to win many matches.
Moving on, the concept of over-centralization has also been mentioned often. Unlike “counterable”, “over-centralization” is vague and unclear. Kyogre is certainly over-centralizing in Gen. IV Ubers. But so was Scizor in Gen. IV OU. Scizor is stopped by so many Pokémon; Rotom-H, Zapdos, Gyarados, Skarmory, the list goes on and on. And yet, Scizor remained the most-used Pokémon in OU for years. If usage doesn't indicate centralization, I don't know what is. Despite this, nearly everyone will cite over-centralization as a reason to ban.
Gen. V is a completely different beast from Gen. IV. Is this new generation reason enough to rethink our ideas of counters? How can we determine over-centralization in a world where so many Pokémon are viable? Is it too early to even begin to answer these questions?[/collapse]
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IDK if he intentionally focused on the negatives but after reading that it makes you wonder what Suicune can actually function well against.
