Q&A thread 2.0- ask us anything

[Slec]

Since November of 2015 or so I've noticed that this thread hasnt really been touched so im gonna revive it. SO this thread originally created by Animekid7 or now known as @ChaseInfinity is now being brought back to life by a devilishly handsome and terrible pokemon player named Slec. The purpose of this thread is to help new players who are on the fence about getting into the competitive scene take the next step and finally get into it. Types of questions to ask are included but not limited to:

• What EVs should I put on this Pokemon?
  

• What's the best nature for my Pokemon?
  

• How should I use this Pokemon?
  

• What item should I put on this Pokemon?
  

• I just caught this legendary Pokemon, but its IVs are x/x/x/x/x/x...should I keep it?
  

• Who is a good teammate to use with this Pokemon?
  

• I really want to get into singles/doubles, but where do I start?
  

• I don't really understand EVs, breeding, IVs, whatever...how can I learn?
  

• What's a good check for this Pokemon that I can't seem to beat?
  

• I saw this player run this build...why did they do it?
  

• What does it mean when someone says "sweeper," "counter," "ubers," (insert other competitive term here)?
  

• Do you think this Pokemon could be good in singles/doubles?
  

• Any other questions you might have about competitive play
  

Please don't post RMTs, analyses, build submissions, or anything related here. Those are best suited for their own separate thread in the main Competitive Discussion forum.

Remember there are no Stupid questions

Please post your question in bold text to improve visibility. To do this, format your post as [b*]Your question here[/b*], but remove the asterisks (*).

[Brockahly]

What would be the easiest way to get into competitive play? I've been playing pokemon since I was a kid but never anything serious. Now that I'm revisiting it at an older age(22) I've found its a whole lot more competitive and serious with the introduction of the internet for battles/trades ect. So my question is whats the easiest way to get into competitive play and get the experience?

[croissant]

@Brockahly First step would be to decide what format do you want to play in. Smogon tiers 6v6? VGC? Battle Spot Singles? In my opinion, this is the most important step since it'll be much easier to get into competitive once you kinda know where you're heading. After that you've decided what you want to do, I suggest reading everything you can find about the metagame you want to play in; if you want to get into Smogon tiers, you can go on Smogon to find everything you need to know, and if VGC is more your thing, Trainer Tower is one of the best resource for VGC out there. We also have tons of content on the forum here, such as movesets and other stuff. Keep in mind that some of the older stuff might be outdated however, especially when talking about movesets, so if you see something that has been posted a few months back I recommend asking a competitive mod (@Black117 or myself) if it is still usable.

After you've done your research, I recommend either trying to make a team (if you choose to do so, I highly recommend using the Teambuilder since it allows you to spot your weaknesses more easily), or find a team you think you'd enjoy using. After you made said team, you can try making a RMT (Rate My Team) to have members of the forum rate your team (please make sure to read the rules first) If you are looking for good teams to use in OU (a Smogon format), there is a sample teams thread on Smogon with a lot of solid teams for the format that are always updated to fit the metagame trends. If you are looking for VGC teams, we have a few threads showcasing top teams from tournaments. Though we do not have the specific movesets, you can probably look them up online after finding one that you think you'd enjoy.

Last step to get into competitive is the most simple one; go play! If you want to play official formats like VGC, go on Battle Spot. If you don't have your team bred/genned, want to test a team or want to play Smogon formats, I highly recommend using Pokémon Showdown, which is a very well-made Pokémon simulator that is easy to use and includes chat rooms to discuss the metagame with other people, and there's even a RMT channel there if you want help with a team.

Now while I don't play too much VGC, I play a lot in the Smogon OU metagame, so if you're interested in that, you can PM me if you need a team to play with. Also, if you have Discord, feel free to send me a message there if you want more help, and we also have a forum Discord channel with a teambuilding room where people can help you. Hope I was able to help

[Brockahly]

@eclarte cheers for taking the time to give such a detailed response, I definitely will be looking at all the formats and finding one that best suits me. Hopefully I'll be posting some of my own team builds and move sets in the near future, thank you!

[Invader]

I really prefer SM OU, but finding games is such a hastle on cartridge is there anyway to find back to back games reliably?

As far as "competition" would you sugguest VGS or just BSDoubles? Not really a fan of the VGC meta

[Slec]

(Apr 3, 2017, 12:19 PM)Invader Wrote: I really prefer SM OU, but finding games is such a hastle on cartridge is there anyway to find back to back games reliably?

As far as "competition" would you sugguest VGS or just BSDoubles? Not really a fan of the VGC meta

VGC is honestly the way to go if you're going to battle using doubles. Not only is it official but it also has a wide variety of players and team styles to choose from. As for finding battles I suggest joining the forum discord or just finding communities that have more single battlers. This community, well the competitive battlers we have left' are mainly focused on VGC.

[Invader]

(Apr 3, 2017, 02:54 PM)Slec Wrote:

(Apr 3, 2017, 12:19 PM)Invader Wrote: I really prefer SM OU, but finding games is such a hastle on cartridge is there anyway to find back to back games reliably?

As far as "competition" would you sugguest VGS or just BSDoubles? Not really a fan of the VGC meta

VGC is honestly the way to go if you're going to battle using doubles. Not only is it official but it also has a wide variety of players and team styles to choose from. As for finding battles I suggest joining the forum discord or just finding communities that have more single battlers. This community, well the competitive battlers we have left' are mainly focused on VGC.

Honestly I feel like the VGC meta is so stale, most tourneys are 80% of the same team comps, that doesnt seem very diverse :/

[Black117]

To be honest, I don't see most of the VGC teams as the same compositions as compared to the other formats like in VGC 15 or 16 not to mention the variety of sets people tend to use on the same Pokemon like say Tapu Koko or Arcanine. While there are always going to be some clearly dominate cores and team compositions people tend to mirror in almost any Pokemon battle format, take note people will attempt to differentiate themselves as best as possible in order to have the best possible competitive advantage over their peers as possible, though I guess this is going loose or on par with generalizing. Do respect your view about VGC 17 so if it isn't your format, then you can try something else like BS Doubles or OU Doubles and so on.