News Page

The Competitor's 100th Update

On June 30, 2012, The Competitor was re-released as a permanent part of the site thanks to the hard work of Setsuna. Moving away from a bi-weekly release, we instead release content as soon as it's made available, bringing you tournament news as quickly as possible. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our many writers, grammar checkers, artists, HTML coders, and tournament players, The Competitor is proud to announce its 100th upload on the site. Since our inception, we have averaged about two submissions every three days, including articles, announcements, and interviews related to tournaments. Just after hitting the 100 milestone, we released our latest article: Who to Keep for SPL by Nachos, with art by Zracknel and ium. Be sure to constantly check out The Competitor, as we're working around the clock to bring the most relevant and recent tournament news to our readers. ~Eraddd & Jellicent

Signups Open for the Official Smogon Tournament

The ninth installment of the Official Smogon Tournament is now open for signups. The tournament is one of Smogon's largest and most prestigious tournaments. As such, this year Smogon will be awarding the winner not only with a trophy icon on the forums, but also a brand new Nintendo 3DS, as well as a Black or White 2 cartridge to second place, and Smogon T-shirts to the top four. For more information or to sign up to compete, check out the signups thread on the forums. Signups close on the 25th of November, so get in while you can! Good luck to all participants. ~Earthworm

CAP 4 Aurumoth Playtest

The Create-A-Pokemon community would like to present to you our newest creation: Aurumoth! It was a intrepid 68 day process to complete this Pokemon from start to finish. The journey that brought us to today was fraught with grandiose debates and massive polls. Aurumoth, the Gold Standard Pokémon, is a Bug / Psychic Seraph Moth that capitalizes on the concept of high risk and high reward trade-offs. It's got a smattering of abilities and moves that all revolve around risk in the competitive scene.

Since we've finished creating our new Pokemon, it's time for the official CAP 4 playtest to begin! The playtest is limited to a two week period where competitive Pokemon battlers will battle in a metagame consisting of Black 2 & White 2 OU plus Aurumoth. This isolated test will determine how well Aurumoth held to its original concept. Whether you're playing mindgames with Dragon Dance and Illusion or going for a late game sweep with Weak Armor and powerful coverage, you'll find that Aurumoth can fill a variety of roles. If you like to experiment and battle in a fun, creative, and combative environment in OU with an entirely new competitive Pokemon, check out Pokemon Showdown! to see what we're all about! And while you're at it, sign up for the CAP 4 Playtest Tournament to try your luck on the competitive scene.

If you're interested in CAP in general, head on over to the CAP forum, where we're running a plethora of side projects. First of all, we're finishing up the pre-evolutions for Pyroak, our Fire / Grass Lizard from Generation 4, in the CAP Pre-Evolution Workshop. Also, we've decided that Aurumoth should have two pre-evolutions, so stay tuned for us to begin that process in the upcoming days. Scope out the CAP sub-site if you're looking to discover more information on CAP. We're always looking for new members to get involved with our community, whether you're a competitive battler, an expressive artist, or simply a wandering mind looking to create something entirely unique. We're bustling with activity, so why not join in the fun? ~Birkal

The Smog #22

The latest issue of Smogon's web-zine, The Smog #22, has been released!

As we approach the cold months of winter, The Smog crew has been busier than ever. We've updated a large portion of how we operate; you'll want to make sure you check out the Note from the Editor for more information. We've whipped out a vast array of articles for this issue: Featured RMTs, Laddering on Pokemon Showdown!, the Interview, Underrated Movesets, Smogcraft, Competitive Retyping, The Medal Rally, and much more. They are all winners, so make sure to check them out. If you like what you read, mosey on down to our forum thread to give us some feedback and a Luvdisc!

If you aren't familiar with our previous issues, you can always head over to The Smog section of the website to get your fill. If you're considering joining The Smog production staff as a writer, an artist, or a coder, look into The Smog sub-forum for more information. Don't hesitate to send the Staff private messages if you have questions; we won't bite! ~Birkal

Smogon Tour Week 9 Postponed

Due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, the final week of Smogon Tour will be postponed until Friday, November 9 at 6 PM EST. For a look at the schedule for the final week of Smogon Tour, go to this page. This decision was made with everyone's safety in mind. We send our thoughts to the people affected by this disaster. ~Kevin Garrett

Seasonal Ladder is Underway

Smogon is adding a new ladder to the Pokemon Showdown! server. The ladder will be updated every month for a new theme relating to that month. Find out more about this month's theme here. ~Matthew

Pokemon Black & White 2 Giveaway Results

Smogon is pleased to announce the winners of our Pokémon Black & White 2 giveaway! We asked Smogoners to post their best Pokémon experience in 100 words or less to win a copy of Black 2, and asked users to like and comment on our Facebook page with their username to win a copy of White 2. The two winners are Bintog and FlamingDazz! Congratulations to both of them on their wins!

If you'd like to read everyone's entries and check out the winner and honorable mentions, check out the contest thread here. To keep up with Smogon news, be sure to like Smogon's Facebook page. ~Solace

Smogcast 14: Black & White 2 OU

Join host MikeDecIsHere and lovely panelists idiotfrommars, locopoke, and Lavos Spawn as they discuss BW2 OU, including:

• The Sand Veil / Snow Cloak Ban
• Garchomp, Genesect, Keldeo, and the Therian Formes
• Pokemon that dropped out of OU, underrated movesets, and much more!

You can listen to the Smogcast on Youtube, and a download link will be posted as soon as possible. Visit The Smogcast Forum for comments and questions! ~Solace

Pokemon Black & White 2 Giveaway

Smogon is launching its first giveaway starting today! With the US release of Pokémon Black & White 2, we've acquired a copy of both games and we're giving them to two lucky Smogonites! To win a copy of Black 2, you'll have to post an account of no more than 100 words about your best Pokémon experience here. To win a copy of White 2, you'll simply have to like Smogon's Facebook page and comment on the post made on the page with your username. This post will be up at midnight eastern time tonight.

This giveaway will last until midnight eastern time next Sunday, October 14th. Enter now, and good luck! ~Solace

Ubers Clause Testing Begins

Conventionally, Ubers has been a completely static tier — there has been no suspect testing of any kind, and no outside influences, other than a game release, ever mixed up the metagame. For this reason, it was often shafted with labels of "banlist" instead of a metagame. This, however, is not the case anymore. Ubers Clause Testing has just begun.

The Ubers moderation staff, some of the people most important in Ubers policy, has agreed that it's time to make some changes and liven things up. As a result, Ubers Clause Testing was announced, wherein we will be testing which clauses are actually necessary to keep our favorite metagame competitive. Everything is explained in the linked thread, but the gist of it is that we will have a central council of 7 of the best, most knowledgeable, and most open-minded Ubers players who will determine which clauses are viable to be removed. The best part is, however, that you will get to be involved too! After a period of playtesting, we will open a large-scale vote, reminiscent of the early BW votes, where the only thing you'll need to qualify is a high ladder rating.

What does this mean for you? Well, if you're interested in any sort of Ubers policy, or just the Ubers metagame in general, you should come on down to Ubers forum, the center of all the activity. We're really excited about the prospects of shaking up Ubers and adding a new level of excitement to what is undoubtably your favorite tier. If you have any questions about the Ubers Clause Testing or its process, feel free to contact Jibaku or me, since we're the ones leading it. Hope to see you involved! ~bojangles

The Orange League Continues

A few months ago, Smogon increased its scope of the world of Pokémon to include non-competitive Pokémon discussion. The result was the birth of the Orange Islands forum. All sorts of discussion occurs there, from creating In-Game Tier lists to sharing Nuzlocke Challenges.

Now, The Orange Island staff has decided to host an entirely new sort of Competition: The Orange League! In it, contestants face off in all sorts of Pokémon contests, from nailing a high score in Pokémon Snap to snagging the best Pokémon in the Bug Catching Contest. Furthermore, it's a team competition, so grab your four closest friends and make a team! You can also play as an individual or recruit for other members on the forums. For more information on the rules, check out The Orange League Rules.

Last round, Team SteelSeed and Team euheuheuh tied for first, and are now taking part in a sudden death competition to determine the victor. You can read all of the results on The Orange League Leaderboards. Think you can top them? Sign-ups for Round 2 are just beginning! It doesn't matter how long you've been on the forums; everyone is more than welcome to participate. Come check out The Orange Islands sometime to see the plethora of other contests and discussions we are hosting. See you all there! ~Birkal & Jellicent

5th Generation Create-A-Pokémon 4 Underway

The Create-A-Pokémon project has just begun making a new Pokémon in the CAP forums!

The widely celebrated Create-A-Pokémon Project aspires to concoct an entirely new Pokémon for competitive battling on our simulator: Pokemon Showdown!. The Project is all about writing detailed ideas, giving input on submissions, and voting as a community. Furthermore, it requires the talents of many Smogon members, from remarkable artists to intellectual debaters. Over the next several weeks, we'll be voting as a community on typing, stats, ability, movepool, art design, sprites, and name (to list a few aspects) that go in to designing a Pokémon.

This will be our fourth CAP for the fifth generation of competitive battling. Also, our Pokémon is being created for Smogon's Overused tier, which includes the new Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 adjustments. This time around, the CAP 4 process is being led by none other than bugmaniacbob. We also have a plethora of side projects going on in the CAP forums right now, including the Pre-Evolution Workshop and the Sprite Revamping Project. There has never been a better time to get involved in CAP, whether you are a casual onlooker or a veteran Pokemon battler. Come join us; we'd love to have you!

Visit the CAP sub-site if you're on the lookout for more information about the project. ~Birkal

Battling 101 Now Offers VGC Tutoring

After much planning, VGC tutoring is now available in Battling 101! The old Battling 202 program merged with Smogon's official tutoring program to provide the best opportunity to learn doubles with some of Smogon's best players. Be sure to sign-up so you too can learn Nintendo's official metagame and be a real-life Pokemon master!

For more information on the newly merged program, you can read the full announcement here. You can also learn more about the available tutors in the profile thread. And as always, check the Battling 101 subforum to see when new rounds go up! ~Solace & Bloo

Smogon Frontier VI Conquered

For three weeks and several hundreds of challenges, the Smogon Frontier remained standing. Challengers brought everything from standard sand to year-old Quagsire stall teams to Baton Pass chains, but not one was able to prevail. Not even renowned metagame changer xtranus.

It ultimately took the efforts of one Philip7086 to defeat the Frontier. He went 11-2, skipping McMeghan and losing to M Dragon and Iconic. In the subsequent rematches, he won convincingly, taking home the trophy after defeating Iconic in the final match of Smogon Frontier VI.

Congratulations, Philip7086, and thanks to everyone who participated in the latest season of the Smogon Frontier! ~Eo Ut Mortus

The Smog #21

The latest issue of Smogon's web zine, The Smog #21, has been released!

With the summer coming to an end in many countries, The Smog is coming back again with a new release, this time featuring a grand total of 43 articles, meaning more content than any other time before. As usual, we're bringing a lot of cool and interesting articles for our readers around the world to read: Metagame Analysis, Pokemon Biology, Tournaments Coverage, PokeTour, Underrated Movesets, the Interview, our old series of Ask the Admins, and most of our recurring articles such as Featured RMTs, Featured Pokemon, and more! Go check them out! And don't forget to stop by our forum thread to give it a thumbs up and leave your feedback!

If you missed any previous issues, check out The Smog section of the website to catch up. If you are interested in joining The Smog production staff, look into the The Smog sub-forum for more information. Don't hesitate to send the Staff private messages if you have questions. ~Setsuna

Team USA West Wins The World Cup of Pokemon VII

The seventh season of the World Cup of Pokemon has finally come to a conclusion after two months of intense battling. 16 teams, all consisting of the highest caliber players, duked it out for a chance to compete for the prestigious blue trophy and earn the title of best Pokemon nation for themselves. The battles were intense, the drama even more so, and in the end, the title came down to a showdown between USA East and USA West, with USA West pulling off the win to grab the title!

Be sure to congratulate captain Scofield and his team of Bloo, Indra, Lavos Spawn, Mithril, Moet, mostwanted, Myzozoa, Oristeros, Philip7086, remlabmez, symphonyx64, TheFourthChaser, undisputed, and yee! ~Bloo

Congrats to the VGC World Champions

Congratulations to BlueCookies for winning for the third consecutive time in the Pokemon VGC World Championship! He beat Wolfey, the winner of the National Championship earlier this year in two intense matches. In the Seniors division, Dimsun won 2-1 against Repr4y from Spain! All four of them have earned trips back to Worlds next year.

For more information, check out the VGC subforum to see the event thread and warstories! ~Solace

Smogon Frontier Underway

Smogon Grand Slam Begins

Smogon is Moving to a New Simulator

We are pleased to announce that Smogon is adopting Pokemon Showdown! as one of our official simulators. Pokemon Showdown! is a web-based simulator that requires no downloads and is currently fully up-to-date with Black 2 and White 2 changes. Support for previous generations and for modes of battling other than singles are coming soon, and eventually we will use Pokemon Showdown! as our sole supported simulator. Please give it a try here; remember that while our simulator has changed, our rules haven't, and have a great time! ~Great Sage