approved by llamas
op copied by anty who copied it by someone
Following the same basic idea as the other teambuilding compendiums found throughout the PU sub-forum, the basic goal of this thread is to provide a visual tool to assist teambuilding by giving players a quick way to pick checks and counters for the metagame's top threats. Basically, a "check" as defined here is anything that reliably beats a threat, and they're separated in this list by whether or not they can switch in. The Pokemon will be listed by sprites rather than name for the sake of easy and quick reference, and they will be organized in descending order of viability ranking. As I want this to be a community-built resource, I encourage everyone to suggest changes as you see fit.
There might be exceptions to the above rules, so these will be handled on a case-by-case basis. My advice for using this compendium is to take a look at the RU Viability Rankings and make sure that you have an answer to the highest ranked threats first, since these are generally going to be some of the most dangerous and common threats and as such are high priority when teambuilding. Once you have those covered, then you can more comfortably prepare for the lower ranked threats. Also, don't worry about having a GSI for everything; that's basically impossible given how many threats there are an how hard it is to fully counter some of them. Instead, try to at least have an SSI for the top threats so that you'll have something that you can throw in front of them somewhat reliably. More offensive teams can probably make do with a couple of NSIs and proper offensive pressure. Bottom line is that you shouldn't get too carried away with trying to have perfect counters for everything, but this compendium should give you a wide range of checks to choose from so that you can build until you feel you can cover what you need to between team synergy and in-game decision making.
Remember to read the entire OP before posting!
op copied by anty who copied it by someone
Following the same basic idea as the other teambuilding compendiums found throughout the PU sub-forum, the basic goal of this thread is to provide a visual tool to assist teambuilding by giving players a quick way to pick checks and counters for the metagame's top threats. Basically, a "check" as defined here is anything that reliably beats a threat, and they're separated in this list by whether or not they can switch in. The Pokemon will be listed by sprites rather than name for the sake of easy and quick reference, and they will be organized in descending order of viability ranking. As I want this to be a community-built resource, I encourage everyone to suggest changes as you see fit.
There are three categories that the checks will be divided into for each entry.
- Guaranteed Switch-Ins (GSI): These Pokemon can switch into basically anything a threat can throw at them and win the matchup, within reason. This often means switching in on more than one set, for example Samurott can be a Swords Dance sweepers and a Life Orb Special wallbreaker, so lacks a guaranteed switch in. When evaluating which moves a check must be able to switch into, I have used what I think is good enough to be standard, but obviously that is subjective.
- Situational Switch-Ins (SSI): These Pokemon can switch in safely under certain circumstances, but not always. Pokemon in this category can either switch safely into some variants of a threat but struggle against others, or they struggle with common coverage moves but can at least switch into a threat's STABs and other moves commonly used on switches (such as boosting moves and Knock Off) and win the matchup. This is somewhat of a "gray area" category, so there's a bit of flexibility here.
- Non-Switch-Ins (NSI): These Pokemon cannot switch safely into a certain threat, generally because they are beaten by one of the threat's STABs, lose if they switch in on a boosting move, etc. Pokemon in this category can, however, defeat a threat in a 1-on-1 matchup. This includes faster revenge killers, as well as Pokemon that can take a single hit and KO back.
There might be exceptions to the above rules, so these will be handled on a case-by-case basis. My advice for using this compendium is to take a look at the RU Viability Rankings and make sure that you have an answer to the highest ranked threats first, since these are generally going to be some of the most dangerous and common threats and as such are high priority when teambuilding. Once you have those covered, then you can more comfortably prepare for the lower ranked threats. Also, don't worry about having a GSI for everything; that's basically impossible given how many threats there are an how hard it is to fully counter some of them. Instead, try to at least have an SSI for the top threats so that you'll have something that you can throw in front of them somewhat reliably. More offensive teams can probably make do with a couple of NSIs and proper offensive pressure. Bottom line is that you shouldn't get too carried away with trying to have perfect counters for everything, but this compendium should give you a wide range of checks to choose from so that you can build until you feel you can cover what you need to between team synergy and in-game decision making.
Remember to read the entire OP before posting!
