Participating in the Suspect Testing process is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable aspects of belonging to Smogon. However, testing a Suspect is a long and challenging process. Suspects are Suspect specifically because they are on the borderline between OU and Uber, and so they are always difficult to evaluate at first. Knowing Smogon's definition of Uber is absolutely crucial to this process, of course, so the definition is found here: http://www.smogon.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1731477&postcount=72
This thread is for tips and suggestions as to how to become an intelligent and responsible Suspect voter. This has two basic components: evaluating the Suspect, and managing the Suspect ladder.
Evaluating the Suspect is the most important part of the Suspect process. If you succeed in attaining eligibility, how will you vote? The following principles will help:
1. Use the Suspect! This point cannot be overstated. Without actually using the Suspect, you will never fully understand what it is and is not capable of doing. You don't need to use the Suspect in 100% of your battles, and it is a good idea to see whether you can win without it. But if you never use it, you don't know it well enough to form a good opinion of it.
2. Throw away your prior ideas of what the Suspect is and does For the duration of the testing period, the Suspect is not Uber, nor is it OU. Do not assume right away where it belongs or will "probably end up". Begin from the beginning. What roles can this Suspect play? Think outside the box. Deoxys-E was seen as a revenge killer before an enterprising soul (I believe it was wdro) changed the way it was perceived with the Double Screen set.
3. Feel free to experiment Try new EV spreads, movesets, items, and even roles. Try as hard as you can to "break" the Suspect. When YacheChomp was first used, people laughed at it. Eventually, it came to be the most memorable Garchomp set. Few people remembered that Wobbuffet even learned Tickle before people started using it to trap and kill slower walls.
4. Use as many different sets for the Suspect as possible A single Suspect may have a chance to become Uber based on any or all of the three clauses (Offensive, Defensive or Support), so it is wise to attempt making use of the Suspect in as many of these roles as is plausible. If you have already used Calm Mind Latios with Life Orb, have you tried Specs Latios? If both of these have not swept through the metagame, have you tried mixed Dragon Dance Latios? Have you used Dual Screen Memento Latios to abuse Baton Pass?
5. Observe the Suspect both on your own team and on your opponents' Take note of what your opponents use against the Suspect when you use it. How are they stopping it? How effective is their strategy at containing the Suspect? Are their methods leaving them vulnerable to the rest of the metagame (such as using Skill-Link Cloyster to stop Garchomp)? Also take note of how well you have done against the Suspect, and prepare accordingly. If all of your Pokemon are below 328 speed and you don't have an Electric or Grass move, you cannot complain if Manaphy sweeps you.
Managing the Suspect ladder is the hardest part of the Suspect process for many players. How do I evaluate the Suspect, while raising my rating and lowering my deviation? These suggestions may help:
1. Actively maintain no fewer than two Suspect accounts Decide before you start how you will use your main name and your alts while testing. I recommend using one account specifically for experimentation with different teams and sets, and two others to ladder competitively with the teams and sets that you find successful. Using two serious laddering accounts protects you from the negative consequences of lowering your deviation to the point where you can no longer raise your ratings high enough to qualify should you have a bad losing streak. Don't ladder with two at the same time however, as this can lead to "mirror matches", which are cheating.
2. If you find a "broken" set, abuse it as much as you can Don't be shy about using an obviously overpowered set. Don't be discouraged if your opponents flame you for using it. This is what the Suspect process is all about. Play to win.
3. If you meet an obviously superior player twice or more in a row, take a break Nothing is more damaging to a would-be voter than getting repeatedly beaten down by the same opponent. I nearly lost eligibility this way in the closing days of the Latias test by losing repeatedly to Twist of Fate; if you find yourself getting "ToFed", wait for the other player to finish before you resume laddering. However, it might be a good idea to continue watching that player to see what he/she has been doing right: what aspects of his/her strategy allowed them to beat you?
4. Don't repeat your mistakes If you find that your team is very weak to a particular common Pokemon or strategy, adjust it before you continue laddering. This sounds obvious, but countless times I have wiped out an opponent with something like DD Salamence, then met them again immediately afterward and swept them exactly the same way.
5. Do your best to ladder every day If you go long periods of time without playing, your deviation will rise and your rating will lower, so consistency is important. Try to play at least three Suspect matches per day on each account you are using to competitively ladder. I have made this part of my morning pre-work routine, and it goes a long way toward keeping your record up.
Feel free to discuss these points, and suggest points of your own!
This thread is for tips and suggestions as to how to become an intelligent and responsible Suspect voter. This has two basic components: evaluating the Suspect, and managing the Suspect ladder.
Evaluating the Suspect is the most important part of the Suspect process. If you succeed in attaining eligibility, how will you vote? The following principles will help:
1. Use the Suspect! This point cannot be overstated. Without actually using the Suspect, you will never fully understand what it is and is not capable of doing. You don't need to use the Suspect in 100% of your battles, and it is a good idea to see whether you can win without it. But if you never use it, you don't know it well enough to form a good opinion of it.
2. Throw away your prior ideas of what the Suspect is and does For the duration of the testing period, the Suspect is not Uber, nor is it OU. Do not assume right away where it belongs or will "probably end up". Begin from the beginning. What roles can this Suspect play? Think outside the box. Deoxys-E was seen as a revenge killer before an enterprising soul (I believe it was wdro) changed the way it was perceived with the Double Screen set.
3. Feel free to experiment Try new EV spreads, movesets, items, and even roles. Try as hard as you can to "break" the Suspect. When YacheChomp was first used, people laughed at it. Eventually, it came to be the most memorable Garchomp set. Few people remembered that Wobbuffet even learned Tickle before people started using it to trap and kill slower walls.
4. Use as many different sets for the Suspect as possible A single Suspect may have a chance to become Uber based on any or all of the three clauses (Offensive, Defensive or Support), so it is wise to attempt making use of the Suspect in as many of these roles as is plausible. If you have already used Calm Mind Latios with Life Orb, have you tried Specs Latios? If both of these have not swept through the metagame, have you tried mixed Dragon Dance Latios? Have you used Dual Screen Memento Latios to abuse Baton Pass?
5. Observe the Suspect both on your own team and on your opponents' Take note of what your opponents use against the Suspect when you use it. How are they stopping it? How effective is their strategy at containing the Suspect? Are their methods leaving them vulnerable to the rest of the metagame (such as using Skill-Link Cloyster to stop Garchomp)? Also take note of how well you have done against the Suspect, and prepare accordingly. If all of your Pokemon are below 328 speed and you don't have an Electric or Grass move, you cannot complain if Manaphy sweeps you.
Managing the Suspect ladder is the hardest part of the Suspect process for many players. How do I evaluate the Suspect, while raising my rating and lowering my deviation? These suggestions may help:
1. Actively maintain no fewer than two Suspect accounts Decide before you start how you will use your main name and your alts while testing. I recommend using one account specifically for experimentation with different teams and sets, and two others to ladder competitively with the teams and sets that you find successful. Using two serious laddering accounts protects you from the negative consequences of lowering your deviation to the point where you can no longer raise your ratings high enough to qualify should you have a bad losing streak. Don't ladder with two at the same time however, as this can lead to "mirror matches", which are cheating.
2. If you find a "broken" set, abuse it as much as you can Don't be shy about using an obviously overpowered set. Don't be discouraged if your opponents flame you for using it. This is what the Suspect process is all about. Play to win.
3. If you meet an obviously superior player twice or more in a row, take a break Nothing is more damaging to a would-be voter than getting repeatedly beaten down by the same opponent. I nearly lost eligibility this way in the closing days of the Latias test by losing repeatedly to Twist of Fate; if you find yourself getting "ToFed", wait for the other player to finish before you resume laddering. However, it might be a good idea to continue watching that player to see what he/she has been doing right: what aspects of his/her strategy allowed them to beat you?
4. Don't repeat your mistakes If you find that your team is very weak to a particular common Pokemon or strategy, adjust it before you continue laddering. This sounds obvious, but countless times I have wiped out an opponent with something like DD Salamence, then met them again immediately afterward and swept them exactly the same way.
5. Do your best to ladder every day If you go long periods of time without playing, your deviation will rise and your rating will lower, so consistency is important. Try to play at least three Suspect matches per day on each account you are using to competitively ladder. I have made this part of my morning pre-work routine, and it goes a long way toward keeping your record up.
Feel free to discuss these points, and suggest points of your own!
