Following the same basic idea as the other teambuilding compendiums found throughout the OU sub-forum, the basic goal of this thread is to provide a visual tool to assist teambuilding by giving players a quick way to pick checks and counters for the metagame's top threats. Basically, a "check" as defined here is anything that reliably beats a threat, and they're separated in this list by whether or not they can switch in. The Pokemon will be listed by sprites rather than name for the sake of easy and quick reference, and they will be organized in descending order of viability ranking. As I want this to be a community-built resource, I encourage everyone to suggest changes as you see fit. Here are a few guidelines that explain how this compendium will be organized (subject to change):
There might be exceptions to the above rules, so these will be handled on a case-by-case basis. My advice for using this compendium is to take a look at the OU Viability Rankings and make sure that you have an answer to the highest ranked threats first, since these are generally going to be some of the most dangerous and common threats and as such are high priority when teambuilding. Once you have those covered, then you can more comfortably prepare for the lower ranked threats. Also, don't worry about having a GSI for everything; that's basically impossible given how many threats there are an how hard it is to fully counter some of them. Instead, try to at least have an SSI for the top threats so that you'll have something that you can throw in front of them somewhat reliably. More offensive teams can probably make do with a couple of NSIs and proper offensive pressure. Bottom line is that you shouldn't get too carried away with trying to have perfect counters for everything, but this compendium should give you a wide range of checks to choose from so that you can build until you feel you can cover what you need to between team synergy and in-game decision making.
- I decided to focus on Pokemon with a viability ranking of B- or higher for now since Pokemon below B- tend to be not common enough to worry about or weak enough that they're not too hard to handle. I can add lower ranks if demand is high enough, though.
- As a side note, anything that drops from B- will be kept rather than deleted to save me some trouble if it ever rises again to B- or higher. An exception might be made if the Pokemon suffers a serious drop in viability (i.e. D Rank or unranked altogether).
- I've also started with offensive threats since these are the ones that players generally need the most help keeping in check (this includes slow boosting sweepers). Again, I can add the really passive Pokemon if demand is high enough.
- When listing checks, anything that has a viability rank will be mentioned in order to include as diverse a selection for each threat as possible (within reason).
- Checks are separated by guaranteed switch-ins (GSI), situational switch-ins (SSI), and non-switch-ins (NSI). These categories are explained in detail below.
- I only consider fairly standard and common sets when talking about both the threats and their checks (i.e. no Assault Vest Alomomola).
- I'm only human, which means I make mistakes. Since these took a while to put together, I tried to scan through the viability rankings somewhat quickly for checks, so there's a good chance I missed some important checks or added some things that don't belong. If that's the case, please feel free to suggest changes!
There are three categories that the checks will be divided into for each entry.
- Guaranteed Switch-Ins (GSI): These Pokemon can switch into basically anything a threat can throw at them and win the matchup, within reason. They may only be able to switch in safely one or two times, or they may only be able to switch in with certain sets, so that'll be up to the player's discretion. When evaluating which moves a check must be able to switch into, I'll only consider moves that (A) are included as main set slashes on a Pokemon's analysis page, or (B) are at least common enough to show up on a Pokemon's 1825 moveset statistics entry. Anything else will be considered niche or uncommon enough that a check won't have to worry about it too often.
- Situational Switch-Ins (SSI): These Pokemon can switch in safely under certain circumstances, but not always. Pokemon in this category can either switch safely into some variants of a threat but struggle against others, or they struggle with common coverage moves but can at least switch into a threat's STABs and other moves commonly used on switches (such as boosting moves and Knock Off) and win the matchup. This is somewhat of a "gray area" category, so there's a bit of flexibility here.
- Non-Switch-Ins (NSI): These Pokemon cannot switch safely into a certain threat, generally because they are beaten by one of the threat's STABs, lose if they switch in on a boosting move, etc. Pokemon in this category can, however, defeat a threat in a 1-on-1 matchup. This includes faster revenge killers, as well as Pokemon that can take a single hit and KO back.
There might be exceptions to the above rules, so these will be handled on a case-by-case basis. My advice for using this compendium is to take a look at the OU Viability Rankings and make sure that you have an answer to the highest ranked threats first, since these are generally going to be some of the most dangerous and common threats and as such are high priority when teambuilding. Once you have those covered, then you can more comfortably prepare for the lower ranked threats. Also, don't worry about having a GSI for everything; that's basically impossible given how many threats there are an how hard it is to fully counter some of them. Instead, try to at least have an SSI for the top threats so that you'll have something that you can throw in front of them somewhat reliably. More offensive teams can probably make do with a couple of NSIs and proper offensive pressure. Bottom line is that you shouldn't get too carried away with trying to have perfect counters for everything, but this compendium should give you a wide range of checks to choose from so that you can build until you feel you can cover what you need to between team synergy and in-game decision making.
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