Ask a Simple Question; Get a Simple Answer & General Resources (OU Edition)

[Randy Butternubs]

Originally Posted by Fat Commander Vimes

Pokemon Showdown! works fine on my iPod Touch (iOS 5).

I tried running it on my iPad. It crashed Safari twice. :/
With no easy access to a sim with no PC, guess it is back to the original question regarding on making a time efficient team in-game:

Originally Posted by Fat Randy Butternubs

Hello everyone. I have a not so simple question. I didn't know where to post this so I PM'd a moderator and he linked me to this topic.

I posted this on GameFAQs with no real results. Hoping that the community here might prove more fruitful and helpful. :)
Here is what I asked for help there and now ask here:

I used to play these series, ever since it started. I was never into competitive gameplay, as I don't play with real people. That slightly changed with the advent of WiFi battling. While I tried to get into it, I found EV training and IV Breeding (and Legendary reseting and catching to try to get Decent IVs with the right nature) too much work for just getting the satisfaction of the few matches I used to play. I burned out and even though I picked up Platinum I never got to even finishing it.

Due to various factors (DS broke, series started to feel childish, etc.) I never got Black or White. I got a 3DS as a gift from my brother months ago, and as I'm an RPG nut, I recently searched for RPGs on the web. I learned this game was coming and despite the old childish feelings, nostalgia won me over. Preordered it through Amazon with the Guide (yes, I like guides, keep that discussion out of here). It ships on Wednesday and it should take a week to arrive at the earliest so I got time to finish my current game (Golden Sun: Dark Dawn) and start thinking about what to do in this game.

I thought of just playing through the story and just playing against daily NPCs. Afterall, I don't have opponents in real life (serious minded ones at least) and I'm not going to sny tournaments. But the competitive bug is slightly setting in just for enjoying battling in the online community.

I'm an adult in his late 20s. Free time is just an hour (2 if I'm lucky) daily on weekdays. Saturdays I tend to have the night free to myself (so 4-6 hours). Sundays I have more (usually 5-10 hours depending on what I need done).

For team building, I need to think on the following:
1. I need my team to be able to be built up as efficiently as possible and with limited resources (I don't have past games, limited time, etc.)
2. No Legendaries or Uniques: I don't want to reset a lot. With this, I think I'm out of playing what I recall was called the Über Tier (I am rusty). And that's fine by me. Overused or Lower seems better anyway.
3. Pokémon need to be available in Black 2 or White 2 (a local friend is getting White 2). As I have no past games anymore, I only have what I can capture. I would have little to "leverage" trade of rarer older Pokemon.
4. I like rarer strategies. If everyone is using it, it isn't my cup of tea.

With that in mind, what ideas and tips can you guys share? What team ideas?

On a tangent matter, I've heard that N's Pokémon come with near perfect IVs. I dunno if they themselves are competitive, but at the very least they should help to get better than average IV spreads on others through breeding, right?

[IstheCakeReallyaLie]

Originally Posted by Fat Randy Butternubs

I tried running it on my iPad. It crashed Safari twice. :/
With no easy access to a sim with no PC, guess it is back to the original question regarding on making a time efficient team in-game:


On a tangent matter, I've heard that N's Pokémon come with near perfect IVs. I dunno if they themselves are competitive, but at the very least they should help to get better than average IV spreads on others through breeding, right?

Near is the key word. Breed with them for everything but speed.

[Chimpakt]

Originally Posted by Fat Randy Butternubs

I tried running it on my iPad. It crashed Safari twice. :/
With no easy access to a sim with no PC, guess it is back to the original question regarding on making a time efficient team in-game:


On a tangent matter, I've heard that N's Pokémon come with near perfect IVs. I dunno if they themselves are competitive, but at the very least they should help to get better than average IV spreads on others through breeding, right?

I think Pokemon Online has an android app so you can try that. If you would like some trained pokemon you can go to the wifi trading forums and try your luck there. There are a lot of pokemon that people just giveaway.

[Randy Butternubs]

Originally Posted by Fat Chimpakt

I think Pokemon Online has an android app so you can try that. If you would like some trained pokemon you can go to the wifi trading forums and try your luck there. There are a lot of pokemon that people just giveaway.

iOS user here. :( Sorry for being all negative. :/

I know this is the Smogon Tier/Meta Board for OU but I wanted to also ask in general terms, how is the VGC/Other Nintendo Events Metas vs Smogon OU, Uber, etc.? Is it simpler?
If I would try to get into competiveness, I would prefer a simpler (not necessarily easier) format.

[voodoo pimp]

Originally Posted by Fat Randy Butternubs

iOS user here. :( Sorry for being all negative. :/

I know this is the Smogon Tier/Meta Board for OU but I wanted to also ask in general terms, how is the VGC/Other Nintendo Events Metas vs Smogon OU, Uber, etc.? Is it simpler?
If I would try to get into competiveness, I would prefer a simpler (not necessarily easier) format.

Depends what you mean by "simpler." If you want to learn more about it, Smogon's VGC forum is here, or you can check out Nugget Bridge which focuses a lot more heavily on it (particularly with regard to strategy, Smogon's forum is more of a social thing aside from the SQSA thread).

[MeteoHydreigon]

How do I find the bw2 page for OU

[Electrolyte]

Originally Posted by Fat MeteoHydreigon

How do I find the bw2 page for OU

The OU page right now is represented by the BW tab, so just click that, and most pf the information should br updated.

[dragonuser]

Originally Posted by Fat MeteoHydreigon

How do I find the bw2 page for OU

If I am not mistaken, you are looking for this. This page will always be updated/changed to represent the BW2 OU metagame. You may notice that some of the sets/analysis are still from BW1, but that is because they are still being written. If you want to view what analysis are currently under work you can go here, and can even offer to write some yourself if you want.

[Zowayix]

Why was Snow Cloak ever an option in the latest Suspect Test round? The discussion thread was all about Sand/Garchomp, and pretty much any talk about Snow Cloak was discouraged. Why, then, was it even a selectable option in the voting?

[dragonuser]

Snow Cloak is essentially the same thing as Sand Veil, but for Hail. I voted for it to be banned, because I thought banning only Sand Veil would be a bit hypocritical in a way. My reasoning for my vote was that, if we are banning Sand Veil for bringing an uncompetitive luck based advantage to the game, we should try to get rid of all forms of this. While Snow Cloak may not have the same quantity/level of abusers, it is still based off of the same principle, and therefore should be banned. Note that I am not speaking for everyone that voted, just the reasoning behind my vote.

EDIT: And I am guessing it was a selectable option for the reasons I listed above.

[Zowayix]

Were you aware at the time that your vote would also mean banning both abilities in Ubers?

[Thorhammer]

While it's odd that it wasn't explicitly stated, it makes sense. If someone wants to ban not just Sand Veil + Sand Stream, not just Sand Veil, but both Sand Veil and Snow Cloak entirely, it's not too much of a stretch to infer that they don't care about individual circumstances and just think the fundamental concept needs to go.

Besides, Ubers is doing its own clause testing anyway, so the actual Uber players will be reviewing the clause soon enough and can make adjustments then.

[andreds]

Hey everyone. It's been awhile since I've played competitively (not since Diamond/Pearl times) and it's amazing to see how the metagame has changed since then. So I wanted to give competitive battling a try again.

I apologize in advance because my post won't be heavily detailed. Haven't been on the boards since 2009, lol. But hopefully you guys can help me get started with things again.


Volcarona @Leftovers
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Quiver Dance
- Bug Buzz
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast

Wanted to go with the bulky quiver dance set, but I saw that it's mostly used on sun teams. So this was my second choice.


Dragonite @Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Evs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Extreme Speed
- Roost

Oh, Dragonite. So many choices when it comes to his moves. The main reason I went with Dragon Claw and ExtremeSpeed instead of the usual Outrage+Fire Punch combo: Haxorus. With Mold Breaker it makes MultiScale useless, and I'll need moves to take him out asap.


Jellicent @Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Evs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover
- Taunt

The gentleman with the brostache. Thankful for this Scizor counter. I went with Toxic instead of Will-o-wisp because of Scald's chance of burning the opponent. Also, for opposing Jellicent.

-----
Now. This is where it gets difficult. I decided that Volcarona, Dragonite and Jellicent are my core, (Btw, at a point and time I was undecided if Haxorus would be a better choice than Dragonite, so thoughts on that will help!) but I cannot choose between Scizor or Lucario.

If Lucario is chosen I'll be running the classic Swords Dance version (good to see that is still running strong!) and that will leave two slots open.

If Scizor is chozen I'll be running either the Choice Band or Trapper set and Rotom-W will tag along using the Choice Specs set. Leaving only one team slot open.
---

I know this is a little different than usual RMT's. But team building gets difficult after having 3 pokemon decided for. Also, I was on Gamefaqs and had no help whatsoever.

Thanks in advance and looking forward to building better teams and better posts.

[OUtrainer]

Is Blaziken likely to get unbanned like garchomp just was?

[Dark Fallen Angel]

This is a thing that can only be decided by the council. And is unlikely as Blaziken's banning has nothing to do with Garchomp. Also, Garchomp only was unbanned now because it got an ability that made him unbroken, and the council decided that Sand Veil and Snow Cloak were two broken abilities for the metagame.

[Lork]

wherebouts is the usage stats thread gone?

EDIT: nvm, got it, didnt realise it'd been moved

[False Sense]

This isn't exactly a simple question, but I was hoping for some clarification.

Currently on the OU analysis for Dragonite, in the Substitute + Dragon Dance section, it says the following:

"While usually Dragonite will have to choose which issue to overcome, with this set it can have it all, with beating revenge killers such as Choice Scarf Haxorus lacking Dual Chop, Choice Scarf Genesect, Choice Scarf Terrakion, Choice Scarf Thundurus-T, and Tornadus-T being icing on the cake."

I was wondering, in what situation can the SubDD set beat Scarf Genesect? Sorry if I sound stupid here, but I'm not exactly sure.

[FastFlygon]

I would presume the scenario is as follows - Genesect comes in on Dragonite at +1 and behind a sub (not especially hard with Multiscale) and gets an attack boost. Ice Beam breaks the substituteas Dragonite gets another dance, becoming faster. It now use Roost and substitute to PP stall Genesect's Ice Beams, as with both Roost and Multiscale, Ice Beam is effectively a neutral attack and has nope hoping of killing Dragonite barring exceptional luck. In addition, Ice Beam is not actually guarenteed to break the Substitute if Dragonite is Roosting and at full health!

[Jukain]

this is just out of general wonder; the last round just ended, when should the next round be expected to go up? please don't just answer this, only answer if you actually know anything.

[False Sense]

Originally Posted by Fat FastFlygon

I would presume the scenario is as follows - Genesect comes in on Dragonite at +1 and behind a sub (not especially hard with Multiscale) and gets an attack boost. Ice Beam breaks the substituteas Dragonite gets another dance, becoming faster. It now use Roost and substitute to PP stall Genesect's Ice Beams, as with both Roost and Multiscale, Ice Beam is effectively a neutral attack and has nope hoping of killing Dragonite barring exceptional luck. In addition, Ice Beam is not actually guarenteed to break the Substitute if Dragonite is Roosting and at full health!

Huh. The problem with that is that Dragonite would require two turns of set up, meaning the opponent would have to not immediately switch to Genesect. That in itself is highly unlikely, since most people would want to avoid giving Dragonite free set up time, so if thats the only possible way then this Dragonite can't claim to "beat" Scarf Genesect. Not to mention, if Dragonite had two free turns to set up both a DD and a Sub, why not just set up two DDs? You can still get the same basic result.

If anyone can clarify this more, that would be greatly appreciated.

[Count Serperior]

Simple Question:

What is the fastest way to get shards in BW2?

[FaceFaceFace]

Who can Terrakion set up on? Or, who can Terrakion NOT set up on?
Clearly, presence of sandstorm would change a few things.

Yeah pretty vague Q, but it's something that has been bugging me for quite a while. The -no- list seems to vastly outweigh the -set up fodder- list by a mile.

Thanks.

[Sprocket]

Originally Posted by Fat Count Serperior

Simple Question:

What is the fastest way to get shards in BW2?

Black City in BW1, oddly enough. Otherwise you have to rely on dust clouds in caves.

Also Shards are a "reward" if you lose in the PWT.

[Zacchaeus]

Originally Posted by Fat FaceFaceFace

Who can Terrakion set up on? Or, who can Terrakion NOT set up on?
Clearly, presence of sandstorm would change a few things.

Yeah pretty vague Q, but it's something that has been bugging me for quite a while. The -no- list seems to vastly outweigh the -set up fodder- list by a mile.

Thanks.

Generally, Terrakion sets up on things that it beats. For instance, your opponent's Tyranitar just takes out your Ferrothorn, so now you bring in Terrakion. Because Terrakion beats Tyranitar, you use this opportunity to set up so you're ready to handle the Terrakion check they switch in or you boost and they fodder the Tyranitar allowing you to initiate a sweep

[FaceFaceFace]

That makes sense. But the fact that Terrakion is piss weak to priority often makes his set up redundant - unless you use a sub instead of swords dance. SO I suppose if they have a priority check = sub; otherwise, use swords dance and rape?