Recent content by Whiskey Tango

Psychic Terrain is stupidly good in doubles; holy hell. They're really going after Pokemon like Kangaskhan, Talonflame and Azumarill this time around. And yeah; fast, frail sweeping Pokemon just got a significant buff in that format, whereas they've been just as likely to be liabilities and...

I'm predicting Sinnoh Classic will be a reasonable starting place for this. They seem to share a lot of similarities, with similar threat lists in terms of old Pokemon, and Sinnoh Classic being the last non-Mega doubles format we've had. That means strong Trick Room and Intimidate being less of...

It'd become beneficial to have a partner paralyze you in Doubles. That wouldn't be an optimal play in most cases, but automatically becoming the fastest thing in Trick Room and blocking other status ailments would be extremely powerful. I'm not a huge fan of how strong paralysis is with both a...

My immediate reaction to this yesterday was that higher bulk, lower speed, and an increase in Power-Up Punch sets were going to become the new norm in Doubles. Double-Edge is still ridiculous, but I see an increase in Return and boosting moves. I simply see more players investing into Mega...

Fair enough! Didn't quite think that through, as I missed signups. Really enjoyed reading ethan06's rundown and getting a feel for all sorts of both successful and uncessful stuff that gets tried in Singles over the course of a generation. Zapdos is a cool bird.

So many likes, so few replies. You don't have to do a big fancy list like Solerme and I did. Just open up some PC boxes and post reflections.

As Gen 6 draws to a close, I thought it might be interesting (and amusing) for us to catalogue what Pokemon we wound up actually raising (or obtaining) and using for competitive play in any Battle Spot format or event. I'm inviting everyone to take a spin through their boxes and post the results...

I've used that spread on both Perish Trap and more flexible TR teams and never been blindsided by anything. Are you using Sitrus? If so, I wouldn't worry about more Physical bulk, as the thing that has the highest chance to ruin your day is an Adamant Kangaskhan Double-Edge with a crit. Sitrus...

Xerneas, Gardevoir and Sylveon ripped their formats apart because strong spread Fairy moves are great offensively. That said, I don't think the type needs nerfing. Those three are so dangerous because of their bulk and abilities.

I certainly hope Z moves are a one-off. Maybe I'll feel differently after playing a format with them, but on paper I really hate the idea of one-turn nukes. Not a big fan of gen 5's gems eithers.

Oh shit. That'd be cool. Showdown implementing QR code generation would be awesome, even if it draws play away from its non-Smogon formats (which I don't think anyone would have a problem with).

You're probably right about hidden abilities being the upshot of that Poke-Bean island. Which, on the surface of it, seems like about as frustrating a system for that as the evolution stone-excavation is useful.

Oh. I thought it was all rating battles, which was what caused me worry. You're right, though. I missed the "certain" caveat.

Yeah. The issue is that Pokemon is a game where "good" only overcomes its luck factor so much, hence the swiss and Bo3 formats, and those odds get worse with bigger pools of players with competent teams. Knowing the meta enough to at least have a good team (and create it on-cart, even back when...

I think it's possibly(?) a net positive for Rating Battles, as they'll be better practice. Lowering barriers to entry is also generally good, though I thought they were doing enough of that with IV training to take away the last real hurdle. My big fear is that a high number of these teams show...