Introduction to Competitive Pokemon - Page 3

Tangerine · Feb 17th, 2009, 9:45:34 PM

Initial Draft - comments in red on what we need.

We need sections for

- Status
- Stats
- Competitive Clauses.
- Transition into the Forums/Terminology

I also want comments! Tell me what we should be adding, what we should be removing, what we can phrase better, etc. The shorter and more personal the better - we want this to be a fun read for the users really.

We also need links - links to other useful articles and such that explain certain concepts "better" - since they are supposed to be brief, etc. There are a lot of articles/good threads - we should be using them for this guide.

EDIT1: Added a transition regarding "Perfect Pokemon". Thanks DJD!
EDIT2: Reorganized a few sections.
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Introduction

Hello, my friend.

If you’re a dedicated trainer, you’ve probably battled the Elite Four so many times they sound like boring class lectures. You endured this for the sake of training your loyal Pokémon, and after turning them into the fullest they could be, maybe you wanted more. So you decided to battle your friends on Wi-Fi, but after pounding them mercilessly (or having cried “Uncle!” one too many times), maybe Pokémon began to get stale.

But there is more to this game. Something bigger.

This is the world of competitive Pokémon, the art of playing Pokémon to win. In this world, that 999 attack Pelipper you hacked as a joke to sweep your friend’s team isn’t allowed. Competitive Pokémon emphasizes an understanding of game mechanics, team organization, and battle tactics, rather than cramming four moves of differing types on your Pokémon and picking whichever one is super effective.

Now that we’ve gotten you interested, you’ll want to examine just what competitive Pokémon is about in more detail. You will first learn about the finer details of the game you may not have noticed, and then we will give you a brief overview of the competitive world.

Game Mechanics

"Mechanics" is the term we use to refer to the way Pokemon works internally. Up until now, you have probably been able to ignore most of the detailed mechanics of the game, and still be successful. But in competitive Pokemon, there is a very fine line between success and failure. You must understand the subtle mechanics of the game, and exploit them to their maximum effectiveness. If you don't, you can be sure that your opponent will.

In order to win a battle, you must faint all of your opponent's Pokemon before they do it to you. As such, the entirety of competitive Pokemon strategy is focused on damage -- the ability to deal damage, withstand damage, and avoid damage. Since damage is the end-all-be-all of battling, you must become familiar with the various game mechanics that affect damage.

Move Mechanics

These are mechanics that affect the damage of a given move in battle.

Type Effectiveness
You are probably familiar with this from ingame play. Certain types of moves do more or less damage to certain types of pokemon. For example, Ground moves are "super-effective" against Electric pokemon, doing twice as much damage to them. A Pokemon's type, and the type of moves it uses is the single biggest factor determining how much damage it can give and take. The ability for an individual pokemon or a team of pokemon to give and take damage across a variety of types is called "Type Coverage" or simply "Coverage".

Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB)
If a Pokemon uses a move that matches its type, that move will be 50% stronger. For example, Earthquake has a base power of 100. If it is used by a Ground-type, it will be 50% stronger and have a base power of 150.

Physical and Special moves
All damaging moves are either physical or special. Physical moves use the Attack stat while Special moves use the Special Attack stat.
For the first three generations, these moves were based on type. All Bug, Flying, Fighting, Ground, Normal, Poison, Rock, and Steel moves were physical. All Dark, Dragon, Electric, Fire, Ghost, Grass, Ice, Psychic, and Water moves were special.

It wasn't until the 4th generation that moves were categorized based on their style of attacking. This information can be found under your Pokemon's Battle Moves page on their Summary screen. Physical moves have a red and yellow box while special moves have a purple box. Moves that deal no direct damage have a gray and white box.

It's important to keep this in mind when building your Pokemon's movesets. You do not want to give a move like Psycho Cut to a Pokemon like Alakazam. Even though Psycho Cut would be STABed, it is a physical move and will not deal much damage due to Alakazam's horrible Attack stat.

Stat Mechanics

These are mechanics that affect the statistics of a Pokemon, and thus affect it's ability to give, take, and avoid damage.

Natures
Every Pokemon can have 1 out of 25 different natures. Most natures will raise one stat by 10% and lower another stat by 10%. In competitive battling, every Pokemon has one or two preferred natures depending on the moveset they are using. For example, a Pokemon meant to use only physical attacks would most likely benefit from an Adamant Nature, which raises Attack by 10% and lowers Special Attack by 10%.

There are 5 Natures out there which do not have an effect on any stat. They are Hardy, Serious, Bashful, Quirky, and Docile. These natures should not be used in a competitive setting since they provide no beneficial stat boosts to the Pokemon.

For a list of natures and what stats they affect, check here. (Link to Smogon's Natures section)

Effort Values (EVs)
EVs are "invisible" numbers that can increase a Pokemon's stats. Every 4 EVs in a particular stat is equal to 1 point in that stat. Every Pokemon is capable of having a maximum of 510 EVs with a maximum of 255 EVs in any one stat. Note that neither 510 nor 255 are numbers that are divisible by 4. This means you only need 508 EVs total (252 EVs in any one stat) to have a completely EV-trained Pokemon. The remaining 2 EVs are useless.

For more information on EV's and how to EV train pokemon in the cartridge games, see here.

Individual Values (IVs)
Two untrained Pokemon of the same species with the same level and nature may still have slightly different stats. The reason behind this is that the two Pokemon have different IVs. IVs are "invisible" numbers that range from 0 to 31 and tell you the quality of a Pokemon's stats. 0 means that particular Pokemon's stat is the lowest it can be. 31 means that stat is at its best and is considered a perfect IV.

Unlike EVs, IVs cannot be changed and are permanent when you obtain the Pokemon. There is no guaranteed way of obtaining the exact IVs you want. The best way to get a Pokemon with good IVs is by breeding. More information on IV breeding can be found in the Breeding Guide. (Link to the Breeding Guide)

Competitive Pokemon battling is based on the assumption that all players have perfect Pokemon. Much like professional athletes have near limitless access to state-of-the-art sports equipment, competitive Pokemon strategy assumes you have access to perfect Pokemon. This is often a difficult concept for players of the cartridge games to understand. But, it is essential to forget about that "awesome level 78 Charizard" you used to beat the Elite Four in FireRed. In competitive Pokemon, all players use level 100 Pokemon exclusively, they use only the most powerful species of Pokemon, AND the Pokemon are perfectly EV trained with perfect IVs, with perfect moves.

You may wonder, "How it is possible to get completely perfect pokemon for competitive play?" In most cases, it is only possible to obtain perfect pokemon through the use of a Battle Simulator -- which is a program built for the express purpose of allowing competitive players to quickly and easily assemble entire teams of perfect pokemon, and then battle against others. It's also possible to acquire perfect pokemon through trading networks of competitive breeders, and thus use perfect pokemon and competitive strategies in wifi battles and real-life tournaments.

Simulators

The majority of competitive Pokemon battling is done over simulators. This was very important in the first three generations, as it was the only possible method of battling competitively against a large variety of opponents. The fourth generation brought Wi-Fi capability with it, but the most competitive play still exists on simulators, as they allow users to fine tune teams much more easily than they can in-game. On simulators, battles can also be conducted faster, rules can be enforced more strictly, and rating systems can be more easily implemented than would be possible by simply using Wi-Fi.

Shoddy Battle
The most popular Pokemon battle simulator is Shoddy Battle, which simulates the DPP generation. The program can be downloaded from the “downloads” section of their website. You must connect to a server to battle, but remember that different servers have different aims, and may not always be what you are looking for. The most popular server for playing standard Pokemon is the Smogon server. All servers have their own rules and are moderated. Reading the rules is vital, as it is possible to be banned from any server. Shoddy Battle is an open source program, meaning that users can submit patches to help improve the program, although server owners can choose whether to implement them or not.

Loading the application brings up the welcome window; from there the team builder can be used to create a team. The team builder loads in a separate window and allows users to choose Pokemon and their items, nicknames, level, Individual Values (and corresponding Hidden Power type), Effort Values, ability, and nature. Once the team is built, to start battling, one must connect to a server. Clicking on the Smogon server and pressing “connect” opens up another, server specific, welcome screen. It is possible to register a username and password by clicking on the register tab, clicking back on “Log In” connects the user to the server, using the username and password they just created. Either rated battles or unrated battles can be found by using the “find” tab. The ladder is a good skill test, as it runs a rating system, allowing users to compare their rating to those of other users. Unrated battles are more casual and do not carry any weight in terms of ranking points. The Smogon Shoddy Battle server provides a ladder for Uber, OU and UU tier battling and also allows users to conduct unrated battles with their own custom rules. It is also used to conduct suspect tests, which are vital to ensure that tiers are as balanced as possible.

Other Simulators
There are many old Pokemon simulations that are now out of commission, dating back to the days of RBY play. The most common of these old simulators were the bots and Pokemon NetBattle. Bot stands for robot and were run in IRC. There were popular bots for the first three generations, RBY (#rbystadium), GSC (#battlearena) and RSE (#rsarena). They had no graphical interface, so they attracted only the more serious battlers. These bots are no longer in use.

NetBattle allowed users to play all of the first three generations of Pokemon and had an attractive graphical interface. This meant that it attracted a wider userbase, helping the competitive Pokemon community to grow. It was similar to Shoddy Battle in some respects, one could create teams in the team builder, connect to a server, and conduct battles from there. NetBattle is still usable, but finding an active server on NetBattle is hard, as not many people run them.
(Netbattle DP?)

What To Expect

We also need a section here regarding "playing to win" and not "playing for fun" - emphasizing if you're not serious about it you probably won't be winning too many games. Maybe a link to Sirlin's Playing to Win book in the end to top it off. Expect others to be "playing to win".

The competitive Pokemon environment is drastically different from what most new players are used to. Unlike in the Gameboy and DS games, you play against human opponents. Outsmarting a handheld machine is one thing, but outsmarting a real person is something else entirely. As such, there are a few key things to expect in competitive battling.

One of the most surprising aspects to new players is the idea of switching. No longer will an opponent leave in a Pokemon until it faints; they can--and will--take advantage of switching. They may switch a Lucario into a Stone Edge, in order to take minimal damage; players can even predict when their opponent will switch and attempt to use a move that can hurt the switch-in, like using Earthquake when they switch in that same Lucario. Opponents will make any move necessary to make their victory more certain, however, remember that nothing in Pokemon is completely certain.

The aspect of luck in Pokemon is something else that is sometimes surprising. Luck manifests itself in Pokemon in several ways. The most widespread is the 6.25% chance of a critical hit on every attack; some attacks, like Night Slash or Psycho Cut, have increased chances of landing a critical hit. Another common form of luck is the fact that not every move has perfect accuracy. Some of the most common moves, for example Stone Edge or Draco Meteor, aren't the most reliable and often be great letdowns in crunch time. At the end of the day, new players should realize that while winning is important, an individual win is near meaningless. As in American Football, any given player can win on any given ladder match. More important is winning in the long run. The best player in the world will still lose, sometimes even to newcomers. But if he or she maintains an 80% winrate, there is really no doubt that he or she is the best.

Writing can be trimmed down a bit.

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All people are unique and play in unique ways. There are, however, a couple of main divisions that teams can be divided into. The three primary types of play include Offense, Stall, and Balanced.

~ Offense: Offensive teams rely on outspeeding and outdamaging the opponent directly. Players using this style of play will often utilize hard-hitting Pokemon and use resistances and immunities to switch into attacks as opposed to defined walls to take hits. Tactics include lures to eliminate counters, using stat boosters, and utilizing a quick Stealth Rock in order to facilitate kills. The suicide lead is an expansion of the quick Stealth Rock concept and is often used by offensive teams. A suicide lead is essentially a Pokemon in the lead position whose role is to stop the opponent from setting up Stealth Rock and at the same time set up its own Stealth Rock.

~ Stall: Stall teams are based off of residual damage. This damage can come in many forms, including sandstorm, hail, Toxic Spikes, Spikes, and Stealth Rock. The majority of Pokemon on a team like this will have good defenses and contribute to the overall goal of indirectly fainting the opponent's team. Tactics include using Ghosts to block Rapid Spin (a move which can eliminate entry hazards like Toxic Spikes, Spikes, Stealth Rock), setting up those entry hazards as fast as possible, and using Pseudo-Hazing (PHazing) moves such as Perish Song, Whirlwind, and Roar.

~ Balanced: This type of team does not rely on any single type of Pokemon. Generally speaking, balanced teams have a couple of sweepers, backed up by a number of walls and/or tanks. Most teams of this type will utilize a form or two of entry hazard. The most successful balanced teams often center around a certain threat, while the other teammates seek to help guarantee a sweep by said threat.

(Potentially Unnecessary)

And then finally, you may be shocked to know that many people will refuse to play with you because you are using a specific move or Pokemon in your team. This is because competitive Pokemon enforces clauses and divides Pokemon into tiers. This is done to promote competitive play.

Competitive Clauses
In competitive Pokemon, there are several standard rules used in every match. These rules are called clauses, and they serve to stop some over-powerful strategies, reduce the role that luck can play in a match, and overall just make the game more enjoyable. If you are playing on a simulator, these rules will be enforced automatically; in wi-fi play, activating any one of these clauses will usually result in disqualification.

Evasion Clause
Moves that boost evasion (i.e. Double Team and Minimize) are not allowed.

Freeze Clause
Two or more Pokemon on a team cannot be frozen at the same time.

Sleep Clause
Two or more Pokemon on a team cannot be asleep at the same time. Self-induce sleep via rest does not activate Sleep Clause.

OHKO Clause
One-Hit KO moves are not allowed.

Species Clause
Two or more of the same Pokemon may not be used on the same team.

Self KO Clause
If both players have only one Pokemon left, moves which KO both the user and the opponent are not allowed (e.g. Explosion, Destiony Bond). If recoil damage would cause a tie, Self KO Clause does not activate, and the player who last attacked is the winner.

Item Clause
All Pokemon on a team must hold different items. This is not a standard clause in competitive play, but it is used in Nintendo tournaments.

Tiers

The tiers serve a dual purpose. The first is to promote balanced gameplay and the second is to create an environment where weaker Pokemon can be used. A Pokemon may only be used in a tier equal or above its situated tier.

Uber
Ubers are Pokémon that are considered too powerful for the OU metagame. The Uber tier is not meant to be a balanced tier, and therefore isn't the main metagame. Every Pokemon is allowed in this tier.

OU
OverUsed is the main metagame and used for most competitive battles and tournaments. It is the balanced tier that bans as few Pokémon as possible. However, placement in OU is based on usage rather than power, because power is difficult to gauge objectively. A Pokemon is OU if it shows up in 1 out of every 20 teams in the standard metagame.

BL
Borderline is a non-competitive tier that has a function similar to that of Ubers. It is to include Pokémon that aren't used sufficiently to be considered OU, but are too powerful to be used in UU.

UU
UnderUsed is a lower competitive metagame than OU and is generally composed of Pokémon that aren't powerful enough to compete in OU. It is also based on usage.

Limbo
Limbo serves the same purpose as Uber and BL, except for the NU tier.

NU
NeverUsed is the lowest tier in the system and denoted Pokémon that are extremely weak. It is based on usage and doesn't exist in RBY or GSC, due to there not being enough Pokémon.

Common Mistakes

Prediction is key into playing a successful game, but should it be relied upon? It should not be overly relied upon, as relying on it too much can easily lead to your demise as the opponent can outpredict you. We’ll take Focus Punch, for example. Focus Punch is a move with 150 base power, and will only succeed if the user is not hit by an attack move. Suppose you’re using Choice Band Medicham, and you feel that another fighting move is a waste of a moveslot because you think everything that you can destroy with a fighting move will switch anyways. Relying on this type of prediction every time can be fatal, as all the opponent has to do is stay in and attack it and Medicham will receive damage and lose two turns (one on the Focus Punch turn, two on the turn it is forced to switch out).

Gimmicks, or novelty Pokemon or sets, are self defining. They can be created for comical purposes, but rarely will they ever succeed in competitive battling. A great example of a gimmick set is Choice Specs Blissey. What are some qualities of Choice Specs Blissey? Well she can switch in many times to special attacks due to her massive HP and Special Defense, and her respectable special movepool in Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Focus Blast. Blissey can also switch in or out of status with Natural Cure. So why, exactly is this a gimmick? Her Special Attack stat is too low to deal any significant damage to a large portion of the metagame, and ultimately also fails to perform what she can do best due to the restrictive effect of Choice Specs: the ability to wall special attacks. The amount of surprise you can receive from running this set is far outweighed by the qualities Blissey have lost.

Perhaps the toughest concept to understand for many people is that countering everything in the game is impossible. It is quite likely that your counter to a given Pokemon in your opponent’s field will not be the perfect counter, and due to such you should not attempt to counter everything in the game. Pokemon is more than just countering, and there are more ways to play it without resorting to always be one step behind your opponent. Even if your counter is perfect, if it can’t use the free turn to countered Pokemon is switching to perform a significant move or pose a threat, then it’s almost like a waste of turn for you. If your goal is to win, make every free turn you receive, and every team member count. If your approach is to counter perfectly, you will be thrown off when people use strange EV spreads and movesets against you. Pokemon is about seizing up your situation, finding the best moves to deal with the situation and how that affects your long term strategy, not solely focusing on what your opponent has out right now. Rather than reacting to what your opponent does every time, why not find other restrictive ways to prevent a certain threat from prevailing against you?

The writing here can be trimmed down a bit i think.

Where to Go From Here

At this point, you're probably feeling pretty confident in the direction you're headed - you have a rough idea of how everything works and you can now begin to settle into our competitive battling community. That's great! You might find that as time goes by, however, you still need a bit of help every now and then. That’s natural, and rest assured, the community is here for you - there are a number of places and people you can turn to when you're having trouble getting to the "next level".

If you're still new to the battling scene, or perhaps need help jumping into a new tier, Smogon's Battling 101 program is very much worth checking out! Every three weeks, a new teaching period begins. All you need to do is sign up when a new round thread is posted, and if you’re quick enough to get in, you’ll be assigned a tutor for the duration of the teaching period. Keep in mind that it might take a few attempts to get in – the program is very popular and we only have so many tutors! However, once you’ve gotten your foot in the door, your tutor will be an invaluable contact! They will be there for you, and not only pass on their competitive battling knowledge. Many tutor and apprentice pairs become great friends, and you’ll often find that contact with your tutor will carry on long after your time in the Battling 101 program.

Battling 101 also runs apprentice tournaments every two rounds. The first 16 applicants to declare their interest in the tournament will be eligible, and pitted against 16 competitors from another round! The last men standing from each teaching round are inducted into the Battling 101 Hall of Fame! If you intend on taking part in these tournaments, make sure you put in the necessary preparation time with your tutor, as competition has been known to be very fierce indeed!

You might feel that you don’t need tutoring, but have still arrived at bit of a roadblock with that team you were working on. Whether it be that you’re just not as winning as much anymore, or you just need a bit of advice, you should head over to Stark Mountain and check out the Rate My Team board. It is here that you can get advice from all sorts of other users, including our expert Team Raters (signified by the Fist badge in their profiles). Having a fresh set of eyes look over your team never hurts, so if you’re after a different perspective, look no further!

(TRANSITION NEEDED - I think it is a good idea for the guide to "Transition" the user into the forums - and the following info afterwards (Generations/Terminology) are tools that help users understand what is going on in the forums better.)

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Generations

In competitive play, the cartridge games are segregated into generations, or groups of games with similar game mechanics. Generations generally correspond to Nintendo's handhelds and are named after the initial two games released on the platform. Here are the currently recognized generations:

R/B (also known as RBY)
The games Red, Green, Blue and Yellow make up the first generation. The first generation is defined by its heavy centralization around a few Pokemon, due to the small number of available Pokemon and unbalanced mechanics. The generation was largely Speed oriented, which lead to the popularity of paralysis-inflicting moves such as Thunder Wave and Body Slam. RBY also had many glitches that may be implemented in a battling simulator.

G/S (also known as GSC)
Gold / Silver / Crystal is the second generation, most notable for its splitting of the Special stat into Special Attack and Special Defense, in addition to adding two new types of Pokemon. The generation also introduced items, such as Leftovers, which helped promote the slow pace and defensively oriented nature it is famous for. Despite the stall-ish nature of the game, Stall Breaking tactics may still be effective.

R/S (also known as Advance, ADV, and RSE)
The games Ruby / Sapphire / Emerald / FireRed / LeafGreen make up the third generation generation; it introduced abilities, natures, revamped the IV system, and made stat experience into Effort Values. The introduction of items such as Choice Band led to more varied strategies. Introduction of many new Pokemon also made it more difficult to cover every threat. The metagame never truly stabilized despite the heavy usage of certain key Pokemon such as Blissey, Skarmory, Tyranitar, Celebi, and Swampert.

D/P (also known as DPPt)
Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum make up the current generation and it is famous for changing attacking mechanics so that physical and special moves were differentiated individually rather than by its type. It introduced a particularly large number of quality Pokemon by giving many lackluster Pokemon new evolutions, while introducing many new attacks that gave many Pokemon from previous generations a chance to shine. This large number of Pokemon to choose from also meant that there were too many threats to prepare for, making it impossible to counter everything your opponent attempts to do. Team advantage also became more significant, with many players gaining advantages before the battle even begins.

(Potentially completely unnecessary - it doesn't really flow with the guide)

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Commonly Used Terms and Abbreviations

BST
Refers to the total of a Pokemon's base stats.

STAB
Same Type Attack Bonus, which increases the power of a direct attack by 50% if the one of the user's types is the same as attack's type.

Hax
An event which has a low probability of happening which critically affects a match. Also used to refer to luck in general.

Priority
Any attack which will always move first (e.g. Fake Out, ExtremeSpeed, Ice Shard)

OHKO
Short for "One-Hit Knockout", though it can also refer to moves that KO the opponent in one hit like Horn Drill.

NFE
Not Fully Evolved, a Pokemon that is not in it's final evolution stage. Most don't see competitive usage outside of Little Cup.

NVE
Not Very Effective, a move that does lowered damage due to resistances.

Trapper
A Pokemon which can either stop an opponent from switching out - via Arena Trap or Magnet Pull - or can KO them even if they due - via Pursuit.

Sweeper
A Pokémon that uses offensive moves to do damage and bring down an opponent's team. Many carry boosting moves like Swords Dance. Usually physical or special-oriented.

Mixed Sweeper
A sweeper that uses both physical and special offensive moves to do damage. Mixed sweepers are referred to with the Mix- prefix.

Supporter
A Pokémon that uses non-offensive moves which benefit the team.

Tank
A Pokémon intended to take attacks, usually one side of the spectrum, and hit back

Wall
A Pokémon intended to take attacks, usually one side of the spectrum, extremely effectively

Wall-Breaker
An offensively oriented pokemon meant specifically for crushing walls rather than sweeping. This is usually done with extra powerful offense (even at the expense of continued sweeping abilities or using a pokemon with low speed), and often with physical and special moves.

Revenge Kill
KOing an opposing Pokemon immediately after one of your own Pokemon has fainted, therefore avoiding the risk of switching into an attack.

Revenge Killer
A Pokemon whose main purpose on a team is to revenge kill certain threats, usually those who your team lacks a solid defense against. Generally characterized by high speed and frailty. May also be a Trapper.

Status-absorber
A Pokemon that can avoid, remove, or use to its advantage one or more Status effects through means like Rest Talk or the ability Guts.

Entry Hazards
Any of the attacks which deal damage as a Pokemon switches in - Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes

Residual damage
Damage taken by a pokemon without having been attacked, whether by recoil (life orb or otherwise), weather (hail or sandstorms), statis effects,(toxic or burn) and entry hazards.

Pinch Berry
Stat-boosting berry that activates when the holder falls below 25% health. Often used in conjunction with Substitute, as subbing 3 times activates the berry. The most common ones are: Salac (boosts Speed), Petaya (boosts Special Attack), and Liechi (boosts Attack).

Pseudo Passer/Dual Screen
A Pokemon which uses moves like Reflect, Light Screen, and Wish with the intent of passing them to another pokemon.

Auto-Weather.
A Pokemon whose ability creates a weather effect such as sand, rain, hail, or sun when they are brought into play.

Suicide lead
A lead Pokemon that tries to set up entry hazards quickly and prevent opponents from doing the same (with Taunt) before dying.

Aromatherapist / Cleric
A Pokémon that uses Aromatherapy or Heal Bell

Phazer / Pseudo-hazer / Shuffler
A Pokémon that uses Roar or Whirlwind

Spinner
A Pokemon with Rapid Spin

Restalker / Rest Talk
A Pokemon who uses the moves Rest and Sleeptalk

Specific Sets and Combinations

Agiligross
A Metagross with Agility.

Bulkygyara
A Gyarados with defensive EVs, aimed to take hits.

Crocune
A Suicune with Surf, Sleep Talk, Calm Mind, and Rest

Mixpert
Swampert with Earthquake, Ice Beam, Surf/Hydro Pump and Stealth Rock/Roar

TechniTop
A Hitmontop with the ability Technician and a set with low base power priority moves such as Bullet Punch, Fake Out, and Mach Punch.

Tyraniboah / Boah
A Tyranitar with Substitute, Focus Punch, Crunch or Dark Pulse, and Thunderbolt or Ice Beam

Stallrein
A Walrein using Substitute + Protect under Hail to stall for up to 32 turns, using Leftovers + Ice Body to fully replenish the HP lost during each two-turn cycle.

Bellyzard
A Charizard with Belly Drum

Curselax
A Snorlax with Curse

Lati@s
Latias and Latios collectively

Skarmbliss
Skarmory and Blissey used on the same team. Also called Blisskarm.

GyaraVire
Gyarados and Electivire.

GyaraJolt.
Gyarados and Jolteon.

CeleTran
Using Celebi and Heatran as a Defensive Core.

General Movesets

Paraflinch
Utilizing both paralysis and flinches to keep an enemy Pokemon from being able to attack.

BoltBeam
Thunderbolt and Ice Beam

SubPunch
Substitute and Focus Punch

SubSalac
Substitute and item Salac Berry

SubSeed
Substitute and Leech Seed

SubCM
Substitute and Calm Mind

SubRoost
Substitute and Roost

EndFlail
Endure and Flail

EndRev
Endure and Reversal

EndSalac
Endure and item Salac Berry

ChestoRest
Using a Chesto Berry and Rest in tandem to wake up instantly after a Rest.

Paraflinch
Utilizing both paralysis and flinches to keep an enemy Pokemon from being able to attack.

Abbreviations of Moves and Items

SD
Swords Dance

WW
Whirlwind

EQ
Earthquake

QA
Quick Attack

DT
Double Team

LK
Lovely Kiss

HP
Hidden Power

ES
ExtremeSpeed

WoW
Will-O-Wisp

BB
Brick Break or Brave Bird

AA
Aerial Ace

CM
Calm Mind

DD
Dragon Dance

CC
Close Combat or Cross Chop

TSpikes or TS
Toxic Spikes

NP
Nasty Plot

DM
Draco Meteor

SE
Stone Edge

SR
Stealth Rock

GK
Grass Knot

BP
Short for either Bullet Punch or Baton Pass, depending on the context.

FP
Short for either Focus Punch or Full Paralysis, depending on the context.

STalk
Sleep Talk

MM
Meteor Mash

T-Wave
Thunder Wave

CB/Band
Choice Band, an item that increases the power of physical attacks by roughly 50% but locks the holder into one move (CB is a very common prefix)

Specs
Choice Specs, an item that increases the power of special attacks by roughly 50% but locks the holder into one move

Scarf
Choice Scarf, an item that increases the holder's Speed by 50% but locks the holder into one move

Lefties
Leftovers, an item that restores 6% of the users health each turn.

LO
Life Orb, an item that increases the power of the holder's attacks by roughly 30% but takes 10% health each time it issues a direct attack

Dual Screen
Light Screen and Reflect

(This entire section is probably best off in a guide by itself - I don't think it's really worth it to stick it here - I think we can link to it at the end)

(Overall this entire thing looks just a little bit bulky - it's like 13 pages, lol. We might need to cut it down! Great Job everyone though, and much thanks to everyone who wrote the initial rough drafts!)

***jumpluff**** · Feb 17th, 2009, 11:43:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Tangerine

Initial Draft - comments in red on what we need.

We need sections for

- Status
- Stats
- Competitive Clauses.

EDIT1: Added a transition regarding "Perfect Pokemon". Thanks DJD!
EDIT2: Reorganized a few sections.
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Introduction

Hello, my friend.

If you’re a dedicated trainer, you’ve probably battled the Elite Four so many times they sound like boring class lectures. You endured this for the sake of training your loyal Pokémon, and after turning them into the fullest they could be, maybe you wanted more. So you decided to battle your friends on Wi-Fi, but after pounding them mercilessly (or having cried “Uncle!” one too many times), maybe Pokémon began to get stale.

But there is more to this game. Something bigger.

This is the world of competitive Pokémon, the art of playing Pokémon to win. In this world, that 999 Attack Pelipper you hacked as a joke to sweep your friend’s team isn’t allowed. Competitive Pokémon emphasizes an understanding of game mechanics, team organization, and battle tactics, rather than cramming four moves of differing types on your Pokémon and picking whichever one is super effective.

Now that we’ve gotten you interested, you’ll want to examine just what competitive Pokémon is about in more detail. You will first learn about the finer details of the game you may not have noticed, and then we will give you a brief overview of the competitive world.

Important Mechanics

Competitive Pokemon battling is based on the assumption that all players have perfect Pokemon. Much like professional athletes have near limitless access to state-of-the-art sports equipment, competitive Pokemon strategy assumes you have access to perfect Pokemon. This is often a difficult concept for players of the cartridge games to understand. But, it is essential to forget about that "awesome level 78 Charizard" you used to beat the Elite Four in FireRed. In competitive Pokemon, all players use level 100 Pokemon exclusively, they use only the most powerful species of Pokemon, AND the Pokemon are perfectly EV trained with perfect IVs, with perfect moves.

EV? IV? You may be wondering what they are. This section will cover what EVs and IVs are, along with other mechanics that you should be aware of.

Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB)

If a Pokemon uses a move that matches its type, that move will be 50% stronger. For example, Earthquake has a base power of 100. If it is used by a Ground-type, it will be 50% stronger and have a base power of 150.

The 'and' here is a bit confusing - I might be alone in this inference, but it seemed to imply to me that it will deal 50% more damage from a base power of 150 (like 150*1.5 ._.) I think it might be clearer if it was 50% stronger (a base power of 150)..but that's just me.

Physical and Special moves

All damaging moves are either physical or special. Physical moves use the Attack stat while Special moves use the Special Attack stat.
For the first three generations, these moves were based on type. All Bug, Flying, Fighting, Ground, Normal, Poison, Rock, and Steel moves were physical. All Dark, Dragon, Electric, Fire, Ghost, Grass, Ice, Psychic, and Water moves were special.

It wasn't until the 4th generation that moves were categorized based on their style of attacking. This information can be found under your Pokemon's Battle Moves page on their Summary screen. Physical moves have a red and yellow box while special moves have a purple box. Moves that deal no direct damage have a gray and white box.

It's important to keep this in mind when building your Pokemon's movesets. You do not want to give a move like Psycho Cut to a Pokemon like Alakazam. Even though Psycho Cut would be STABed, it is a physical move and will not deal much damage due to Alakazam's horrible Attack stat.

Natures

Every Pokemon can have 1 out of 25 different natures. Most natures will raise one stat by 10% and lower another stat by 10%. In competitive battling, every Pokemon has one or two preferred natures depending on the moveset they are using. For example, a Pokemon meant to use only physical attacks would most likely benefit from an Adamant nature, which raises Attack by 10% and lowers Special Attack by 10%.

There are natures out there which do not have an effect on any stat. They are Hardy, Serious, Bashful, Quirky, and Docile. These natures should not be used in a competitive setting since they provide no beneficial stat boosts to the Pokemon.

For a list of natures and what stats they affect, check here. (Link to Smogon's Natures section)

Effort Values (EVs)

EVs are "invisible" numbers that have an effect on a Pokemon's stats. Every 4 EVs in a particular stat are equal to 1 point in that stat. Every Pokemon is capable of having a maximum of 510 EVs with a maximum of 255 EVs in any one stat.
Note that neither 510 nor 255 are numbers that are divisible by 4. This means you only need 508 EVs total (252 EVs in any one stat) to finish EV training a Pokemon. The remaining 2 EVs are useless.

Every Pokemon you battle and defeat will give you a certain number of EVs in a certain stat. There are also many items that give/reduce the EVs of a Pokemon.

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Every Pokemon you battle and defeat will give you a certain number of EVs in a certain stat. For example, each Starly you beat will give you 1 EV in Speed. Each Bidoof you beat will give you 1 EV in HP. Each Cacturne will give in 1 EV in Attack and 1 EV in Special Attack. For a complete list of what EVs each Pokemon gives, check here. (link to Serebii's EV section)

There are many items in the game that have an effect on EVs. They can be very handy when you EV train your Pokemon.

Vitamins - These items give your Pokemon 10 EVs in a corresponding stat. You can use each Vitamin up to 10 times (100 EVs each) until you hit the limit of 510. Note that they will not work if you already have over 100 EVs in the particular stat they raise.

HP UP – 10 HP EVs
Protein – 10 Attack EVs
Iron – 10 Defense EVs
Calcium – 10 Special Attack EVs
Zinc – 10 Special Defense EVs
Carbos – 10 Speed EVs

It is recommended that you use Vitamins before actually EV-training to make the process go a lot faster. Instead of battling 252 Magikarp to gain 252 Speed EVs, you can use 10 Carbos to gain 100 Speed EVs and only have to battle 152 Magikarp afterwards. But there are other items that can reduce the number of battles you need even further.

Macho Brace - This item reduces the holder's Speed in half, but it also doubles the amount of EVs you gain after every battle.

PokeRus - This is a rare condition that your Pokemon may randomly get. PokeRus doesn't have any effect besides doubling the EVs you gain after each opponent you defeat. It can be combined with the Macho Brace so that you can gain EVs 4 times quicker. PokeRus can be spread to other members of your team if you keep an infected member in your party for at least a few battles. Check your Pokemon's summary screen to see if it's infected. It will have a small purple box with the word PKRS in it.

After an infected Pokemon is in your party for an extended period of time, the PokeRus will disappear. Once that happens, the purple box will turn into a tiny yellow face. That symbol tells you the Pokemon can no longer become infected with PokeRus again and it also can't pass the condition onto other Pokemon. However, it will still receive the EV bonus. PokeRus will not disappear if you keep an infected Pokemon in a PC Box, so it is recommended that you keep a few spare Pokemon in your Box for EV training purposes.

Power Items - These items give 4 EVs to one stat after defeating an opponent. Like the Macho Brace, it reduces the holder's Speed by half.

Power Weight – +4 HP EVs
Power Bracer – +4 Attack EVs
Power Belt – +4 Defense EVs
Power Lens – +4 Special Attack EVs
Power Band – +4 Special Defense EVs
Power Anklet – +4 Speed EVs

For example, defeating a Machop will give you 1 Attack EV. Defeating a Machop while holding a Power Bracer will give you 5 Attack EVs (1 EV from the Pokemon + 4 EVs from the item).
Defeating a Machop while holding a Power Weight will give you 1 Attack EV and 4 HP EVs.
If you have PokeRus, you will double the amount of EVs you gain. Defeating a Machop while holding a Power Bracer and being infected with PokeRus will give you 10 Attack EVs!

EXP Share - Not only does the EXP. Share give experience to the user holding it, it also gives EVs to the user. The user doesn't even have to be in battle to get this. This is a good way to train low level Pokemon in EVs.

EV-Reducing Berries - Certain berries can decrease a Pokemon's EVs. This can be useful if you've trained a Pokemon, but didn't pay attention to the EVs.

Pomeg Berry - Reduces HP EVs
Kelpsy Berry - Reduces Attack EVs
Qualot Berry - Reduces Defense EVs
Hondew Berry - Reduces Sp. Attack EVs
Grepa Berry - Reduces Sp. Defense EVs
Tamato Berry - Reduces Speed EVs

The first berry you feed your Pokemon reduces its EVs to 100. Each additional berry will reduce 10 EVs.

When you begin EV training your Pokemon, you have to keep track of their EVs manually since the game will not do it for you. When your Pokemon has gained all 510 EVs, you can go to Sunyshore City and talk to the girl in Market building. She will give you an Effort Ribbon, which confirms that your Pokemon has been fully EV trained.

(Might mention EV training hotspots if you think it would help)

(I'm not too sure about the above - Smogon does not have a EV training guide so this is useful information - but I don't think it belongs in this guide... what do you guys think? - I think we are best off just linking to this article http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33832)

Individual Values (IVs)

Two untrained Pokemon of the same species with the same level and nature may still have slightly different stats. The reason behind this is that the two Pokemon have different IVs. IVs are "invisible" numbers that range from 0 to 31 and tell you the quality of a Pokemon's stats. 0 means that particular Pokemon's stat is the lowest it can be. 31 means that stat is at its best and is considered a perfect IV.

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There are a couple of methods to find out your Pokemon's IVs. The most common method is to have a level 100 Wi-Fi battle with a friend. You will be able to see your Pokemon's stats when they are at level 100 and from there you can use a stat calculator program to figure out the IVs. (Link to good stat calculators)
If you don't have Wi-Fi access, another method is to use an IV calculator which will give you a range of possible IVs for your Pokemon. The higher level your Pokemon is, the more accurate the results will be. (Link to good IV calculators)

Keep in mind that in order to use either of these methods, you have to know the EVs of your Pokemon first. That's why it's better to calculate the IVs of Pokemon that have been newly caught or hatched, because those Pokemon have no EVs.

(Same as before)

Unlike EVs, IVs cannot be changed and are permanent when you obtain the Pokemon. There is no guaranteed way of obtaining the exact IVs you want. The best way to get a Pokemon with good IVs is by breeding. More information on IV breeding can be found in the Breeding Guide. (Link to the Breeding Guide)

(Probably need a section on Switching perhaps, and a brief overview of the stat system and Status)

You may wonder, "How it is possible to get completely perfect pokemon for competitive play?" In most cases, it is only possible to obtain perfect pokemon through the use of a battle simulator -- which is a program built for the express purpose of allowing competitive players to quickly and easily assemble entire teams of perfect pokemon, and then battle against others. It's also possible to acquire perfect pokemon through trading networks of competitive breeders, and thus use perfect pokemon and competitive strategies in wifi battles and real-life tournaments.

Simulators

The majority of competitive Pokemon battling is done over simulators. This was very important in the first three generations, as it was the only possible method of battling competitively against a large variety of opponents. The fourth generation brought Wi-Fi capability with it, but the most competitive play still exists on simulators, as they allow users to fine-tune teams much more easily than they can in-game. On simulators, battles can also be conducted faster, rules can be enforced more strictly, and rating systems can be more easily implemented than would be possible by simply using Wi-Fi.

Shoddy Battle

The most popular Pokemon battle simulator is Shoddy Battle, which simulates the DPP generation. The program can be downloaded from the “downloads” section of their website. You must connect to a server to battle, but remember that different servers have different aims, and may not always be what you are looking for. The most popular server for playing standard Pokemon is the Smogon server. All servers have their own rules and are moderated. Reading the rules is vital, as it is possible to be banned from any server. Shoddy Battle is an open source program, meaning that users can submit patches to help improve the program, although server owners can choose whether to implement them or not.

Loading the application brings up the welcome window; from there the team builder can be used to create a team. The team builder loads in a separate window and allows users to choose Pokemon and their items, nicknames, level, Individual Values (and corresponding Hidden Power type), Effort Values, ability, and nature. Once the team is built, to start battling, one must connect to a server. Clicking on the Smogon server and pressing “connect” opens up another, server specific, welcome screen. It is possible to register a username and password by clicking on the register tab, clicking back on “Log In” connects the user to the server, using the username and password they just created. Either rated battles or unrated battles can be found by using the “find” tab. The ladder is a good skill test, as it runs a rating system, allowing users to compare their rating to those of other users. Unrated battles are more casual and do not carry any weight in terms of ranking points. The Smogon Shoddy Battle server provides a ladder for Uber, OU and UU tier battling and also allows users to conduct unrated battles with their own custom rules. It is also used to conduct suspect tests, which are vital to ensure that tiers are as balanced as possible.

Other Simulators

There are many old Pokemon simulations that are now out of commission, dating back to the days of RBY play. The most common of these old simulators were the bots and Pokemon NetBattle. Bot stands for robot and were run in IRC. There were popular bots for the first three generations, RBY (#rbystadium), GSC (#battlearena) and RSE (#rsarena). They had no graphical interface, so they attracted only the more serious battlers. These bots are no longer in use.

NetBattle allowed users to play all of the first three generations of Pokemon and had an attractive graphical interface. This meant that it attracted a wider userbase, helping the competitive Pokemon community to grow. It was similar to Shoddy Battle in some respects, in that one could create teams in the team builder, connect to a server, and conduct battles from there. NetBattle is still usable, but finding an active server on NetBattle is hard, as not many people run them.
(Netbattle DP?) <-- imo shouldn't be mentioned, should be written in at a later date when we can talk more solidly about it ~_~

What To Expect

The competitive Pokemon environment is drastically different from what most new players are used to. Unlike in the Gameboy and DS games, you play against human opponents. Outsmarting a handheld machine is one thing, but outsmarting a real person is something else entirely. As such, there are a few key things to expect in competitive battling.

One of the most surprising aspects to new players is the idea of switching. No longer will an opponent leave in a Pokemon until it faints; they can--and will--take advantage of switching. They may switch a Lucario into a Stone Edge, in order to take minimal damage; players can even predict when their opponent will switch and attempt to use a move that can hurt the switch-in, like using Earthquake when they switch in that same Lucario. Opponents will make any move necessary to make their victory more certain, however, remember that nothing in Pokemon is completely certain.

The aspect of luck in Pokemon is something else that is sometimes surprising. Luck manifests itself in Pokemon in several ways. The most widespread is the 6.25% chance of a critical hit on every attack; some attacks, like Night Slash or Psycho Cut, have increased chances of landing a critical hit. Another common form of luck is the fact that not every move has perfect accuracy. Some of the most common moves, for example Stone Edge or Draco Meteor, aren't the most reliable and often be great letdowns in crunch time. At the end of the day, new players should realize that while winning is important, an individual win is near meaningless. As in American Football, any given player can win on any given ladder match. More important is winning in the long run. The best player in the world will still lose, sometimes even to newcomers. But if he or she maintains an 80% winrate, there is really no doubt that he or she is the best.

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All people are unique and play in unique ways. There are, however, a couple of main divisions that teams can be divided into. The three primary types of play include Offense, Stall, and Balanced.

~ Offense: Offensive teams rely on outspeeding and outdamaging the opponent directly. Players using this style of play will often utilize hard-hitting Pokemon and use resistances and immunities to switch into attacks as opposed to defined walls to take hits. Tactics include lures to eliminate counters, using stat boosters, and utilizing a quick Stealth Rock in order to facilitate kills. The suicide lead is an expansion of the quick Stealth Rock concept and is often used by offensive teams. A suicide lead is essentially a Pokemon in the lead position whose role is to stop the opponent from setting up Stealth Rock and at the same time set up its own Stealth Rock.

~ Stall: Stall teams are based off of residual damage. This damage can come in many forms, including sandstorm, hail, Toxic Spikes, Spikes, and Stealth Rock. The majority of Pokemon on a team like this will have good defenses and contribute to the overall goal of indirectly fainting the opponent's team. Tactics include using Ghosts to block Rapid Spin (a move which can eliminate entry hazards like Toxic Spikes, Spikes, Stealth Rock), setting up those entry hazards as fast as possible, and using Pseudo-Hazing (PHazing) moves such as Perish Song, Whirlwind, and Roar.

~ Balanced: This type of team does not rely on any single type of Pokemon. Generally speaking, balanced teams have a couple of sweepers, backed up by a number of walls and/or tanks. Most teams of this type will utilize a form or two of entry hazard. The most successful balanced teams often center around a certain threat, while the other teammates seek to help guarantee a sweep by said threat.

(Potentially Unnecessary)

And then finally, you may be shocked to know that many people will refuse to play with you because you are using a specific move or Pokemon in your team. This is because competitive Pokemon enforces clauses and divides Pokemon into tiers. This is done to promote competitive play.

Tiers and Clauses

These clauses and tiers serve two purposes. The first is to promote balanced gameplay and the second is to create an environment where weaker Pokemon can be used. A Pokemon may only be used in a tier equal or above its situated tier.

Uber
Ubers are Pokémon that are considered too powerful for the OU metagame. The Uber tier is not meant to be a balanced tier, and therefore isn't the main metagame. Every Pokemon is allowed in this tier.

OU
OverUsed is the main metagame and used for most competitive battles and tournaments. It is the balanced tier that bans as few Pokémon as possible. However, placement in OU is based on usage rather than power, because power is difficult to gauge objectively. A Pokemon is OU if it shows up in 1 out of every 20 teams in the standard metagame.

BL
Borderline is a non-competitive tier that has a function similar to that of Ubers. It is to include Pokémon that aren't used sufficiently to be considered OU, but are too powerful to be used in UU.

UU
UnderUsed is a lower competitive metagame than OU and is generally composed of Pokémon that aren't powerful enough to compete in OU. It is also based on usage.

Limbo
Limbo serves the same purpose as Uber and BL, except for the NU tier.

NU
NeverUsed is the lowest tier in the system and denoted Pokémon that are extremely weak. It is based on usage and doesn't exist in RBY or GSC, due to there not being enough Pokémon.

(We need a section on Clauses)

Common Mistakes

Prediction is key into playing a successful game, but should it be relied upon? It should not be overly relied upon, as relying on it too much can easily lead to your demise as the opponent can outpredict you. We’ll take Focus Punch, for example. Focus Punch is a move with 150 base power, and will only succeed if the user is not hit by an attack move. Suppose you’re using Choice Band Medicham, and you feel that another fighting move is a waste of a moveslot because you think everything that you can destroy with a fighting move will switch anyways. Relying on this type of prediction every time can be fatal, as all the opponent has to do is stay in and attack it and Medicham will receive damage and lose two turns (one on the Focus Punch turn, two on the turn it is forced to switch out).

Gimmicks, or novelty Pokemon or sets, are self defining. They can be created for comical purposes, but rarely will they ever succeed in competitive battling. A great example of a gimmick set is Choice Specs Blissey. What are some qualities of Choice Specs Blissey? Well she can switch in many times to special attacks due to her massive HP and Special Defense, and her respectable special movepool in Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Focus Blast. Blissey can also switch in or out of status with Natural Cure. So why, exactly is this a gimmick? Her Special Attack stat is too low to deal any significant damage to a large portion of the metagame, and ultimately also fails to perform what she can do best due to the restrictive effect of Choice Specs: the ability to wall special attacks. The amount of surprise you can receive from running this set is far outweighed by the qualities Blissey have lost.

Perhaps the toughest concept to understand for many people is that countering everything in the game is impossible. It is quite likely that your counter to a given Pokemon in your opponent’s field will not be the perfect counter, and due to such you should not attempt to counter everything in the game. Pokemon is more than just countering, and there are more ways to play it without resorting to always be one step behind your opponent. Even if your counter is perfect, if it can’t use the free turn to countered Pokemon is switching to perform a significant move or pose a threat, then it’s almost like a waste of turn for you. If your goal is to win, make every free turn you receive, and every team member count. If your approach is to counter perfectly, you will be thrown off when people use strange EV spreads and movesets against you. Pokemon is about seizing up your situation, finding the best moves to deal with the situation and how that affects your long term strategy, not solely focusing on what your opponent has out right now. Rather than reacting to what your opponent does every time, why not find other restrictive ways to prevent a certain threat from prevailing against you?

Where to Go From Here

At this point, you're probably feeling pretty confident in the direction you're headed - you have a rough idea of how everything works and you can now begin to settle into our competitive battling community. That's great! You might find that as time goes by, however, you still need a bit of help every now and then. That’s natural, and rest assured, the community is here for you - there are a number of places and people you can turn to when you're having trouble getting to the "next level".

If you're still new to the battling scene, or perhaps need help jumping into a new tier, Smogon's Battling 101 program is very much worth checking out! Every three weeks, a new teaching period begins. All you need to do is sign up when a new round thread is posted, and if you’re quick enough to get in, you’ll be assigned a tutor for the duration of the teaching period. Keep in mind that it might take a few attempts to get in – the program is very popular and we only have so many tutors! However, once you’ve gotten your foot in the door, your tutor will be an invaluable contact! They will be there for you, and not only pass on their competitive battling knowledge. Many tutor and apprentice pairs become great friends, and you’ll often find that contact with your tutor will carry on long after your time in the Battling 101 program.

Battling 101 also runs apprentice tournaments every two rounds. The first 16 applicants to declare their interest in the tournament will be eligible, and pitted against 16 competitors from another round! The last men standing from each teaching round are inducted into the Battling 101 Hall of Fame! If you intend on taking part in these tournaments, make sure you put in the necessary preparation time with your tutor, as competition has been known to be very fierce indeed!

You might feel that you don’t need tutoring, but have still arrived at bit of a roadblock with that team you were working on. Whether it be that you’re just not as winning as much anymore, or you just need a bit of advice, you should head over to Stark Mountain and check out the Rate My Team board. It is here that you can get advice from all sorts of other users, including our expert Team Raters (signified by the Fist badge in their profiles). Having a fresh set of eyes look over your team never hurts, so if you’re after a different perspective, look no further!