Some lower tiered pokemon can be good in the tiers above their "assigned" tier, so there's definitely no reason not to use, mega aggron in this case, in UU even if its viable in OU.
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- Thread starter Redew
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what happened to the staff directory
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Is this what you're referring to?
http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...ead-on-misc-info-inside.3526346/#post-5965608
So I see a lot of people with a little message beneath their username whenever they make a post. How do I do that?
That would be a "Custom Title", something you can't personalize, unfortunately, unless you are a badged member.
Everywhere I read, Choice items seem to be the hot item. Why is that? I know the boost it gives is substantial but I really hate being locked onto a single move. Is the constant switching really worth that boost?
Also just a side question: Is there a specific thread for sharing opinions on matching balls to bred Pokemon? Been having quite some dilemma on which one to choose.
Also just a side question: Is there a specific thread for sharing opinions on matching balls to bred Pokemon? Been having quite some dilemma on which one to choose.
Choice items give the largest boost of any held item; that's probably why it's so popular. Being locked into the move can be a pain, but you can always just switch into another ally. It's usually worth the switch, but keep in mind that pokemon do a lot of damage with specs or band.
I couldn't tell you much about ingame stuff, though, but you might want to take a gander at Orange Islands, the ingame discussion section of Smogon.
Sets that use Choice items usually make the set with the Choice item in mind and use it for specific targets. A lot of thought is put into putting a Choice item on a Pokemon, it's common but it is definitely not something you just throw on without thinking about it. I'm mostly going to be talking about Black and White 2 (Generation 5) OU when I bring up examples (didn't really play X and Y OU) but they should be mostly applicable.
The boosts given by Choice items are very significant and sometimes required for a set to work. For example, Tyranitar is generally very slow, but with a Choice Scarf, he can outspeed very fast Pokemon like Latios, Latias, etc. and hit them first. That's a big difference. In Generation 5 a lot of teams had a fast Pokemon with a Choice Scarf known as a revenge killer; this let them take out a Pokemon that would otherwise sweep them. In this case, the speed was really important and they only needed to use one move anyway. Keldeo with a Choice Scarf was very popular because it could outspeed a Salamence who had used Dragon Dance. Only being able to use one move was not a big problem, because it only needed to use the move that could kill Salamence.
Sometimes you would use a Choice item on a Pokemon that would switch anyway. For example, Choice Specs Draco Meteor. Usually you'd switch after using Draco Meteor anyway due to the -2 you get. So if you're going to switch anyway, having to switch because of Choice items is not a big deal. Another example is U-turn or Volt Switch which would force you to switch after use.
Finally, sometimes the Pokemon needs the Choice item because they are not strong enough on their own. Back to the Generation 5 example, Choice Band Tyranitar could 2 hit KO Skarmory with Stone Edge, if it had a Choice Band. If it didn't, there was no chance it would ever beat it. Pokemon that mainly use priority moves like having that boost too because priority moves are generally weak.
Basically, Choice items are used for very specific situations that are generally worth not being able to use other moves, or in some cases where you wouldn't want to use other moves anyway. Each Pokemon that uses a Choice item has a very good and specific reason for doing so, so rather than asking why Pokemon use Choice items in general, a better question would be to ask why a specific Pokemon's set needs to use a Choice item.
Hope this helps and clears things up a bit.
Thank you for the detailed explanation. That cleared up a lot of confusion. My general assumption was that the one move lock would limit its coverage making that Pokemon only for a single specialized use. I have greatly underestimated its potential. To elaborate on that Draco Meteor example; Would a Choice Spec'd Pokemon be filled with powerful status reducing moves to make use of the high number of switches? Like hit and run guerrilla tactics?
I don't think so, if I understand your question correctly. It's better to just put attacking moves on Choice Pokemon. Most moves that lower your opponent's stats are not very good, and the few that are good are either not available to most Choiced Pokemon or it doesn't fit into their sets. I think the only Pokemon who really uses a Choiced status move is Pangoro, using Parting Shot which makes it switch out. It's almost always better to put 4 attacks. If you think your opponent is going to switch, it's better to predict the switch and pick a move to hit the incoming Pokemon, or double switch to one of your own Pokemon that handles it better.
Okay guys. I am new to the later Generations of Pokemon. I haven't played since GSC. I have been doing a lot of reading on various Pokemon forums as I want to get into competitive battling on X and Y.
In my GSC days I would lead with Umbreon with the moveset (Mean Look, Double Team, Moonlight, Baton Pass). This set was very successful for me as I could trap a Pokemon and if it didn't know roar, whirlwind, etc I could then go about boosting my evasion and my opponent could then do basically nothing to stop my baton chain and could rarely even connect with my Pokemon as I baton passed down the chain.
Is there a reason this strategy doesn't work, or isn't popular?
In my GSC days I would lead with Umbreon with the moveset (Mean Look, Double Team, Moonlight, Baton Pass). This set was very successful for me as I could trap a Pokemon and if it didn't know roar, whirlwind, etc I could then go about boosting my evasion and my opponent could then do basically nothing to stop my baton chain and could rarely even connect with my Pokemon as I baton passed down the chain.
Is there a reason this strategy doesn't work, or isn't popular?
Well this should go in the old gens version but I'll answer here anyways. All I know is that bp is probably better in gsc (well any pre bw gen) considering you can pass mean looks but idk. Jorgen used it recently in spl and won, so he'd be the one to ask. As for your moveset, it isn't very viable because you are relying on evasion luck.
I may be wrong here so bear with me, but firstly I don't understand why this should be asked in the old gens thread. My question is whether this strategy would be viable in the current generation. The information about GSC was just to provide background for the question.
Secondly if the only problem is relying on luck, then what if Double Team was replaced with substitute?
Baton Pass chains are limited in XY OU; you can only have a max of 3 Baton Pass users on your team. Also, Double Team is banned under Evasion Clause (as it was in GSC as well.)
This means full chains are less viable, but passing boosts with Baton Pass can still be useful and can help keep momentum in your favor.
Thank you. I've never competed before, just battled friends so I am not familiar with any of the rules.
Whoops, just to clarify, I just stick to past gens, so didn't notice before, but Baton Pass is actually now limited to just one user per team in XY OU. Learn something new every day~
As for the rules, XY OU's can be found here. Good luck, and welcome to Smogon btw ^.^
Thanks again.
If you are limited to one baton pass I would personally think Baton Passing mean look is just about the single most useful baton pass you could make because it allows you to dictate the battle.
Then again I'm a n00b and I may have no idea what I'm talking about.
I'm new here. Just throwing that out there. So my question is...how to challenge someone to a practice battle on showdown?
QueBien
Nomad, vagabond, call me what you will
You can click their username, either by finding them in a roster, or using /user [name] and clicking that one. Click challenge, and select the tier you want to battle. Any private battle does not count towards your ladder rating, so technically, any private battle is a practice battle. :)
Starting a competitive team, only have the basics such as just the pokemon species planned out, any tips or changes or advice for moves and abilities?
Toxicroak
Lanturn
Flygon
Scizor (my mega)
Florges
Dusknoir
has only two instances of double weakness and those would be against Ground and Ice
also if i had a mono team, what should i look out for
Toxicroak
Lanturn
Flygon
Scizor (my mega)
Florges
Dusknoir
has only two instances of double weakness and those would be against Ground and Ice
also if i had a mono team, what should i look out for
QueBien
Nomad, vagabond, call me what you will
QueBien
Nomad, vagabond, call me what you will
It depends. If you breed using the Masuda Method, your chances of getting a shiny are higher than just trying to catch one in the regular wild. The Friend Safari in XY also has a higher chance of finding a shiny. Otherwise, if you use regular breeding, or just try to find a shiny in the regular wild, your chances are the same.