EnGarde
Not Dead Yet
Hello! This is my first time submitting an article idea independently, however I did help Age of Kings with an article in the most recent issue. I have also shared this outline with AoK and Hulavuta before posting here (moderators for the battle spot sub-forum), and the response was enthusiastic. :)
I wasn't sure of the proper procedures, so I wanted to share what I have so far before progressing further. I am consulting with them as well prior to posting. They are helping me. ^_^
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The emphasis of this article will be to demonstrate how to beat pokemon and strategies that are banned from OU but allowed on battle spot, and to emphasize that they have counters and that some are unviable in general thanks to the differences between OU and battle spot formats.
As a second emphasis, I will post basic set recommendations for viable strategies that users might wish to experiment with themselves, especially for banned pokemon they may be unfamiliar with, like mega kangaskhan. If the article is too long, this aspect will be cut from the article.
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Outline:
1. Banned Pokemon:
Mega Kangaskhan
Counters - Intimidate (Landorus-T), Will-o-Wisp, Fighting Types, Ghost Types
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES (Jolly Set)
Aegislash
Counters - Other ubers, Garchomp, Strong Ground/Fire types
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES (Sub/King's Shield Set)
Mega Mawile
Counters - Earthquake, Strong Special Attacks (SE or neutral)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES
Mega Gengar
Counters - Strong priority, strong attacks (might have to trade with this one)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? Depends on the Format (Singles - YES; Doubles/Triples - Maybe, perish trap is a challenging strategy, and MG is generally too frail to be effective with other sets here)
Blaziken / Mega Blaziken
Counters - Talonflame, Priority, Things that can take a hit and deal solid damage back.
Is it Recommended for Beginners? Depends on the Format (Singles - YES, with some reservations I'll go into in further detail in the full article, Others - NO, too frail)
Mega Lucario
Counters - Talonflame, Priority, Things that can take a hit and deal solid damage back.
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (It can counter mega mom and other relevant metagame threats, but it is fragile and easily countered by many threats)
2. Banned Playstyles:
Sleep Clause (Putting multiple pokemon to sleep)
Culprits: Smeargle, Breloom, Amoonguss, Venusaur/Mega Venusaur
Counters: Lum Berry, Safeguard (Doubles, triples), Grass Types (in general, not including smeargle),
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES (if the opponent gives you the opportunity to put multiple things to sleep, TAKE IT. Some users are more viable than others)
Swagger Clause
Culprits: Pretty much everything CAN swagger, most dangerous users are pranksters or defensive pokemon (i.e. meowstic, klefki, sableye, thundurus, zapdos, togekiss); will discuss implications: swag-play (urk), safe-swagger (better)
Counters: Lum Berry, Safeguard (Doubles, triples)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES, where appropriate (safe-swagger will be explored, while full swag-play will be de-emphasized: also please note that all strategies based on probability will cause some lost matches in the long run, not to mention your likelihood of getting timer-stalled rises exponentially on full swag-play teams--urk)
Evasion
Culprits: Clefable, Chandelure, Garchomp (paired with sand veil)
Counters: 100% Accurate Moves, Whirlwind, Roar, A handful of moves that gain accuracy and power when used against minimizers (body slam, phantom force, etc)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (Very fragile playstyle)
Ability Moody
Culprits: Smeargle, Glalie, Bibarel
Counters: Strong SE attacks, take them out early before they can accumulate many boosts
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (Only smeargle is viable).
OHKO Moves (Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Sheer Cold)
Culprits: Smeargle, Suicune, Defensive pokemon with no/little other viable coverage
Counters: The move's own low accuracy, take them out early so they don't have as many RNG rolls
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (This is a move of last resort. If you have other options, those options are almost always superior).
Baton Pass (Using more than 1 baton pass user on the same team)
Culprits: Smeargle, Scolipede, Espeon, and friends
Counters: Strong SE attacks, taunt, pokemon with unaware
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (This is much more a phenomenon of OU than any other format. It is highly unlikely you'll see baton pass chains, though you may see standard single passers, which is still legal in OU).
I wasn't sure of the proper procedures, so I wanted to share what I have so far before progressing further. I am consulting with them as well prior to posting. They are helping me. ^_^
---
The emphasis of this article will be to demonstrate how to beat pokemon and strategies that are banned from OU but allowed on battle spot, and to emphasize that they have counters and that some are unviable in general thanks to the differences between OU and battle spot formats.
As a second emphasis, I will post basic set recommendations for viable strategies that users might wish to experiment with themselves, especially for banned pokemon they may be unfamiliar with, like mega kangaskhan. If the article is too long, this aspect will be cut from the article.
---
Outline:
1. Banned Pokemon:
Mega Kangaskhan
Counters - Intimidate (Landorus-T), Will-o-Wisp, Fighting Types, Ghost Types
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES (Jolly Set)
Aegislash
Counters - Other ubers, Garchomp, Strong Ground/Fire types
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES (Sub/King's Shield Set)
Mega Mawile
Counters - Earthquake, Strong Special Attacks (SE or neutral)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES
Mega Gengar
Counters - Strong priority, strong attacks (might have to trade with this one)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? Depends on the Format (Singles - YES; Doubles/Triples - Maybe, perish trap is a challenging strategy, and MG is generally too frail to be effective with other sets here)
Blaziken / Mega Blaziken
Counters - Talonflame, Priority, Things that can take a hit and deal solid damage back.
Is it Recommended for Beginners? Depends on the Format (Singles - YES, with some reservations I'll go into in further detail in the full article, Others - NO, too frail)
Mega Lucario
Counters - Talonflame, Priority, Things that can take a hit and deal solid damage back.
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (It can counter mega mom and other relevant metagame threats, but it is fragile and easily countered by many threats)
2. Banned Playstyles:
Sleep Clause (Putting multiple pokemon to sleep)
Culprits: Smeargle, Breloom, Amoonguss, Venusaur/Mega Venusaur
Counters: Lum Berry, Safeguard (Doubles, triples), Grass Types (in general, not including smeargle),
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES (if the opponent gives you the opportunity to put multiple things to sleep, TAKE IT. Some users are more viable than others)
Swagger Clause
Culprits: Pretty much everything CAN swagger, most dangerous users are pranksters or defensive pokemon (i.e. meowstic, klefki, sableye, thundurus, zapdos, togekiss); will discuss implications: swag-play (urk), safe-swagger (better)
Counters: Lum Berry, Safeguard (Doubles, triples)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? YES, where appropriate (safe-swagger will be explored, while full swag-play will be de-emphasized: also please note that all strategies based on probability will cause some lost matches in the long run, not to mention your likelihood of getting timer-stalled rises exponentially on full swag-play teams--urk)
Evasion
Culprits: Clefable, Chandelure, Garchomp (paired with sand veil)
Counters: 100% Accurate Moves, Whirlwind, Roar, A handful of moves that gain accuracy and power when used against minimizers (body slam, phantom force, etc)
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (Very fragile playstyle)
Ability Moody
Culprits: Smeargle, Glalie, Bibarel
Counters: Strong SE attacks, take them out early before they can accumulate many boosts
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (Only smeargle is viable).
OHKO Moves (Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, Sheer Cold)
Culprits: Smeargle, Suicune, Defensive pokemon with no/little other viable coverage
Counters: The move's own low accuracy, take them out early so they don't have as many RNG rolls
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (This is a move of last resort. If you have other options, those options are almost always superior).
Baton Pass (Using more than 1 baton pass user on the same team)
Culprits: Smeargle, Scolipede, Espeon, and friends
Counters: Strong SE attacks, taunt, pokemon with unaware
Is it Recommended for Beginners? NO (This is much more a phenomenon of OU than any other format. It is highly unlikely you'll see baton pass chains, though you may see standard single passers, which is still legal in OU).
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