The Rotation Battle Metagame (GBU)

[lccorp]

Just following the other threads; hopefully I'm not doing anything wrong/stupid by making this thread.

Anyways, I don't claim to be an expert on these matters or experienced battler, but these are just what I've noted in about 100+ battles on random matchup, a good number of them directly or indirectly related to the rotation mechanic:

-Entry hazards go down in importance, since the rotation mechanic allows for tagging in/out while still in the field. I've only seen people attempt to set up SR twice. This situation is made more important by the fact that in random matchups, there's only one pokemon in reserve.

-Prediction goes out the roof; to use a move that's SE against one pokemon, or to use one that's neutral against all three on the field and play it safe?

-People are very reluctant to use a turn switch in/out instead of rotate to another pokemon already on the field; it's a psychological thing, I guess. This mindset can be exploited; I've switched into Chandelure before to get a FF boost.

-Similarly, if a pokemon becomes crippled through encore/taunt/otherwise, the tendency is to just rotate out--which can work to one's advantage, since the effects still persist as the pokemon has not been withdrawn from the field. It will need to spend the required number of turns in the front before it wears off.

-Wish passing becomes more effective, since one doesn't need to use a turn to pass the wish to another pokemon. Vaporeon becomes a far more effective medic.

-Phazing through roar/dragon tail/etc becomes less effective, as pokemon cannot be forced out once there are three or less non-fainted ones remaining. Haze/clear smog remain better choices.

[Virizion]

Note how much better Aron is in this format - Protect/Endeavor/Toxic/Sandstorm kills many things. Protect is for scouting, and is meant to be used with Wish support to keep Sturdy intact in case you can't heal through Shell Bell. Vaporeon's Heal Bell is also nice to protect Aron from Burns.

[133k]

I rarely play rotations, mostly because it takes too long to find a match (I have the patience of a 5 year old; 30 seconds and I'm done), but when I do, they're usually quite spectacular; it's amazing how one (myself before playing them) would think they they were just a stupid variation of single battles, but they're actually very different. The amount of predictions possible on the first turn alone are outstanding, as there are essentially 14 possible moves each turn (Rotate out to attack*6, Rotate out to defend*6, switch out*2). I like rotations most for their high-risk high-reward Play-Style.

[DoubleJG]

I run Trick Room with a touch of stall in my Rotation Battles and have gone 3-1 so far. It works surprisingly well.

[Sniffles]

Originally Posted by Fat Virizion

Note how much better Aron is in this format - Protect/Endeavor/Toxic/Sandstorm kills many things. Protect is for scouting, and is meant to be used with Wish support to keep Sturdy intact in case you can't heal through Shell Bell. Vaporeon's Heal Bell is also nice to protect Aron from Burns.

Or you could have Tyranitar or Hippowdon to set up Sand Stream, thus gaining you a free turn to do something other than set up sandstorm. The only counter to this method is other steel types, because obviously you can't use toxic and they wont take weather damage.
however, that might work better than my Trick Room idea...

[Bunny]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask this.

You know Dragonair with dream world ability, marvel scale?
I'd really like to use one with evolution stone in my rotation team.

Since Dragonair cannot have sleep talk at the same time as marvel scale.
This time, I really don't know how to build up a team around it because there are many strong, fast pokemons that use dragon and ice moves in random matchup.

I already use Whimsicott and cloyster in my team.
Any suggestions of what other pokemons to use?

-

Something else that I have noticed. Except for rain dance teams. I see water moves are kinda rare in this game.
Am I right?

And WHY does most flying pokemon use fly? Some people use fly in rotation teams. I don't see the point with using fly, also outrage. It is like, you'll know what's coming next and can switch into something that resists.

[lccorp]

Originally Posted by Fat Bunny

Something else that I have noticed. Except for rain dance teams. I see water moves are kinda rare in this game.
Am I right?

And WHY does most flying pokemon use fly? Some people use fly in rotation teams. I don't see the point with using fly, also outrage. It is like, you'll know what's coming next and can switch into something that resists.

Not really. They're no more rare than your other moves, in my experience.

Those just use fly...well, for no reason other than they've wandered into random matchup with their ingame teams. Outrage is worth it because of the damage, and that dragon is resisted by so few things.

[Calcifer]

What I think of it is that Rotation Battles are for fun. I do rotation battles all the time with my friends but never in GBU because it's just so hard to find a good team for Rotation Battles.

[OVERGRO]

What are some strategies in Rotation? I'm interested in finding out.

[Rackham]

Substitute is godly in this format, Wish/Protect is phenomenal and FWG cores are pretty strong. That's my two cents, anyway. Subseed Jumpluff also kicks ass.

[OVERGRO]

Is weather still extremely common and advantageuous?

Also, boosts are lost if rotated out, correct?

[kirbyman62]

I play pretty much nothing other than Rotation, becuase I find it very fun.

Boosts are not lost as they are rotated out, which means you can boost and then switch out and use it later, very nice.

I've been using Zoroark (disguised as Gengar) for a while and it's pretty good, because people's predicitions get thrown off.

Also, I've been wanting to know, does Cloud Nine (and other abilities like it) work on the Pokémon if it's rotated out? Not sure whever to keep my Cloud Nine Lickilicky or not.

[Bunny]

Originally Posted by Fat OVERGRO

Is weather still extremely common and advantageuous?

Also, boosts are lost if rotated out, correct?

Rain is still very common.
Hail is decently common.
Sun is rare.

But weather teams are not as common as they used to be compared to when drizzle-toad first was.

And boosts are not lost when rotated out. You get to keep them. :)

-

Hey. anyone have a good counter tip against Heatran without having fighting pokemon/move in the team? They usually carry air balloon and overheat/explosion is kinda dangerous if you can't 1KO them with a ground move.

[OVERGRO]

Wow! The thing with the boosts is amazing!

Is there a place where I can find out all the in depth mechanics of rotation battles? Bulbapedia doesn't say anything about the boosts and stuff. What else is important to note about Rotation battles and what are other common strategies?

This is sounding quite interesting.

@Bunny - Hydro Pump / Surf / Waterfall / Gyarados (sorry didn't know what else to say)

[forthwright]

I myself have found it difficult to find a Rotation Battle on the GBU. That really sucks because I love Rotation Battles. As it was mentioned before, they provide an entirely new depth to battles and play out so differently than traditional singles matches.

Anyway, back on subject, Rotation format is a perfect environment for Trick Room. It would seem to me to be the standard thing you would be facing. 5th gen added plenty of good Trick Room Pokemon as well. This could be interesting.

[Joel]

Originally Posted by Fat zekuhryuh

I myself have found it difficult to find a Rotation Battle on the GBU. That really sucks because I love Rotation Battles. As it was mentioned before, they provide an entirely new depth to battles and play out so differently than traditional singles matches.

Anyway, back on subject, Rotation format is a perfect environment for Trick Room. It would seem to me to be the standard thing you would be facing. 5th gen added plenty of good Trick Room Pokemon as well. This could be interesting.

I did my first rotational battle the other day. The first team I bettled was a Trick Room team.

I thought my opponent was joking when they used Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z. I didn't have a fighting type in my three Pokes (Politoed, Metagross, and Zapdos). >_<

I got destroyed. Never underestimate an opponent, I guess.

[ThrowMeAPeanut]

the most notable thing is the increased pace compared to singles. you dont have to waste turns bringing in a new poke. this increases the number of strateriges immensly because the whole team can actually function more as a group rather than a group of individuals. at the same time, you cant just force out sweepers and such and gain free turns just because you happen to have a resistance. even stall works incredibly well - you can utilise type synergy without wasting turns switching

[Tenodera]

Resurrection!!

I've been playing a lot of Rotations lately, with a really fun bulky offense team, and have discovered something: When I lose, I lose hard. And when I win, I win big.

Seriously, there are very few close matches in Rotation! The first person to lose a poke has to try and get a KO or sweeper set up quickly or else they're overwhelmed.

[Twannes]

i have played some rotation on wifi (6v6), but i tihnk GBU will help me in creating a better team :D

[ThrowMeAPeanut]

I kind of disagree with every battle being one sided. I do agree that once your numbers fall your at a disadvantage but ive had quite a few very close matches.

Trick room suprisingly isn't that common. Might have something to do with the fact its quite easy to stall out if your team covers its weaknesses well, especially considering you can potentially use protect three times in a row.

On a side note, Sableye makes my blood boil. Its far too easy for it to confuse and burn your entire team...

[Tenodera]

Close matches do happen, it just seems to me like they aren't as common as in other formats. It could have something to do with our team styles too.

Sableye is why I try to carry at least one Taunt and a Lum Berry... that thing is despicable! However, in my experience Sableye users tend to be really eager to get it in and score a burn, so often a first- or second-turn Taunt will incapacitate it.

[gabriel]

And how about Spiritomb? It's much sturdier than Sableye and can do essentially the same thing.

[ThrowMeAPeanut]

sableye gets priority, meaning he can confuse you before your first attack.

I thought about using taunt but i didnt have room for it on my team. Most of the time people do spam confuse ray or WoW, but when you get a smart player that can get in a free sub... well that just sucks lol

[Dragoon Master]

Rotation battles tend to revolve around trick room. I have only battled 11 rotation battle although 8 of the 11 battles had trick room strategy. I would like to ask: what is a great anti trick room strategy for rotation battles or just any type of battles?

[ThrowMeAPeanut]

your best options are probably taunt or stall it out. You could try encore, but it would be hard because most TR teams ive faced set it up then rotate. Your other option is to carry TR yourself, perhaps with inprison, though im not sure how it works in rotation, you may have to hit the user or it may be a field wide effect.