OMg: An Introduction to the Other Metas Room

Introduction

Have you ever wanted to spam the most powerful things imaginable? Have you wished a certain Pokémon got an ability or a move that it doesn't? Have you ever wished PU mons could compete with the mighty OU mons? In Other Metagames, all of that is possible, and more! In the Other Metagames room, we discuss everything, from what it would be like if every Pokémon was burned throughout the entire battle to what it would be like if all four weathers were active at once. We are a very friendly room, always willing to discuss interesting ideas people have, and a very inviting community. Come join us for a discussion any time!

Popular metagames

The Other Metagames room is great because of the variety in discussion, but there are definitely more popular metagames people like to discuss regularly. 1v1, Balanced Hackmons, Anything Goes, Almost Any Ability, and STABmons are by far the most popular metagames.

In 1v1, each player brings three Pokémon to Team Preview and selects one, and the battle commences. That one Pokémon you select now makes up your entire "team" for that battle. Once you have chosen your Pokémon, there is no switching, phazing, or any other form of team support. To have a successful team in 1v1, you need to attempt to cover as many top threats as possible, such as Kyurem-B and Mega Gyarados, in the three slots you have. Once you get to Team Preview, it becomes a predicting game of trying to guess what your opponent will bring and you then bringing something that beats that. For more information, feel free to check out the Beginner's guide to 1v1.

Balanced Hackmons, commonly referred to as BH, is a metagame where you can use nearly anything currently hackable onto the cartridge. Balanced Hackmons is unique in that only the typing and stats of a Pokémon matter. With (nearly) every move and (nearly) every ability available to every single Pokémon, there is tons of room for creativity and innovation. Pokémon can enter the battle Mega-Evolved, and Megas can hold items. As you can imagine, there are tons of incredibly cool things possible. For offense, you can use extremely powerful threats such as Aerilate Mega Rayquaza with Boomburst, and stall can keep up with excellent options like Fur Coat Chansey. The Balanced Hackmons resource thread has lots more information available for anyone looking to get into the game.

Anything Goes, or AG, doesn't introduce anything per se, but it is rather Pokémon the way the game intended you to play it, and it is so popular it has its own subroom now! There are no bans and no clauses (bar the Endless Battle Clause), and the only rule is that things have to be legal on the cart (for example, this means you may only Mega Evolve one Pokémon per battle). Lots of people looking in on Anything Goes with no experience may view it as uncompetitive because of the lack of clauses and bans, but in the end it all balances out. For example, Darkrai is a huge threat due to the lack of Sleep Clause, so Lum Berry became a staple on Arceus-Normal and Mega Rayquaza. For anyone interested in Anything Goes, feel free to check out the Anything Goes resource thread.

Almost Any Ability (usually called AAA) is just as the name sounds. Your Pokémon can have, to put it simply, almost any ability in the game, with the only restrictions being a few overpowered ones such as Wonder Guard. Almost Any Ability is great to play because there's so much variety, and every playstyle from stall to hyper offense is fully viable, giving lots of room for variety and exploration. A prime example of versatility in Almost Any Abilities is that Skarmory, a Pokémon used exclusively on stall in standard, has a plethora of options, including defensive ones such as Flash Fire and Intimidate but also Gale Wings! Gale Wings Skarmory is one of the most threatening sweepers in Almost Any Ability. Most other Pokémon also have several options and aren't overly restrictive; for example, Heatran with Levitate to remove its 4x weakness is obvious, but Heatran is also very good with other abilities such as Desolate Land, Chlorophyll, and Magnet Pull! For all players looking to learn Almost Any Ability, the Almost Any Ability Ladder thread is a great place to start.

Last but not least, my personal favorite metagame, STABmons. In STABmons, a Pokémon can gain (almost) any STAB move! For example, while it does still get to use its original movepool, Landorus-T also gains access all Flying- and Ground-type moves, most notable including Dragon Ascent, Roost, and Defog on the Flying-type side and Precipice Blades and Spikes on the Ground-type side. Moves can also be inherited from previous evolutions, but not from Mega Evolutions. This means Azumarill gains Normal-type moves as well thanks to Azurill's Normal typing, but Mega Gyarados can't inherit Dark-type moves. The STABmons Ladder thread has some useful resources for anybody looking to get into STABmons.

OMotM and LCotM

Every month, two metagames that aren't regularly featured on Pokémon Showdown are selected to be given a spotlight. There is the Other Metagame of the Month, as well as the Leader's Choice of the Month. The Other Metagame of the Month is chosen democratically, with everybody getting to first nominate and then vote for their favorite metagames at the end of each month. Some of the more popular past winners include Sketchmons, a metagame where every Pokémon gets to Sketch (almost) any one move of their choice, and Mix and Mega, a metagame where Pokémon can Mega Evolve with other Pokémon's Mega Stones. The Leader's Choice of the Month is selected privately by the OM leaders Eevee General and The Immortal, and it is typically something that was forgotten about or just not well known, and sometimes it's something that doesn't even have a thread. The most popular ones include No Status, a metagame where no status move can be used, and Hackmons 1v1, a combination of Balanced Hackmons and 1v1.

Official Tournaments

Other Metagames has several official tournaments that anyone in the room can get involved in! Once a day on weekdays and twice a day on weekends, an official room tournament is hosted, with a rotating schedule. At the end of each month, whoever has won the most of these tournaments receives a special Star (★) rank they will have in the room for the entire next month, provided they aren't a terrible chat presence, and they will also go into the OM Hall of Fame. The metagames included in the rotation are Anything Goes, Hidden Type, Balanced Hackmons, Tier Shift, Inverse Battle, 1v1, Almost Any Ability, 2v2, and STABmons! If you are wondering when and what the official tournament will be on any given day, you can feel free to pm the room bot (TIBot) saying ".daily" and it will provide that information. Apart from official tournaments, there are also several regular tournaments in Other Metas daily for various formats including ones that lack a ladder, which is a great opportunity to test teams!

Staff Interviews

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got into OMs.

Eevee General

I'm a 29 year old human man. I work at a car dealership. I like to write. I haven't published anything, yet! I mostly write short stories, but I've tried my hand at a few novels. Never finished them, though, got stuck on too many revisions.

So, as you know, I was involved in the OM forums on Smogon and grand pappy Arcticblast (may he forever RIP) asked me to visit the OM room on PS every now and again and gave me room driver to help moderate the chat, but I had no clue what was going on there and didn't know the culture so I barely ever visited. I started coming on more once I got forum mods, and to "cement" myself there I asked ryan (hollywood at the time) to give me RO. By the end of 2014 ryan was retiring and making me and TI the next OM leaders, so I was much more active in the room. So yeah, that's my story.

What are some of your favorite metagames?

Eevee General

I love STABmons because it's my baby; there are others that I enjoy more tho. I loved Mediocremons (no stats above 100), it was pretty balanced after a few bans and had a lot of stuff to explore. I also liked Protean Palace. It sounds easy, but you have to pick your moves carefully to get the most out of STAB while also not getting hit SE by your opponent; lots of cool strategies there.

Are there any changes you'd like to see in OMs?

Eevee General

Fewer metagames. I'd rather we have like 10 to 12 popular and unique metagames that we focus on next gen, stuff that hit all the basics: a metagame about moves, one about abilities, one about types, etc. I want to keep doing OMotM because it's the "people's vote," and I want to keep doing LCotM too because it gives us a chance to revitalize an old idea. Tbh I want to wipe all the metas clean at the end of ORAS and start fresh for Sun / Moon. Deciding what gets to stay is tricky tho, because we have a handful that are very entrenched with OM history. We can't really get rid of Monotype at this point, for example; it even has its own subforum now, but all the random metas that only got to like page 3 just need to die off, may they RIP.

Any advice for new users in OMs?

Eevee General

Get to know the culture before you try to make your own metagame. People have this idea that in order to be accepted they have to invent a cool OM, but nine times out of ten it's been done before. We don't need new ideas at this point, we just need good players who stick around and contribute.

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got into OMs.

imas

My irl name is Sami and I'm currently working on failing my A levels. Or rather, trying not to. Yes, imas is my name backwards, I'm creative like that. I first joined the OM room via an advertisement for a randbats tour in the lobby. It's the first chatroom I really chatted in, and it was the first tour I joined on PS. The people seemed nice, specifically manu 11, so I came back after I finally remembered the room's name.

What are some of your favorite metagames?

imas

I like AAA the most out of the bunch because Game Freak generally does not give great abilities to stronger Pokémon. Which led to me always wishing certain mons had certain abilities. AAA lets me do that. I also liked STABmons for similar reasons, but the initial setup-heavy STABmons meta wasn't fun for me. I like the meta now but I haven't really picked it back up. Lastly, 1v1 has been a favorite of mine for ages because it's fun and matches are short. Also, 1v1 round-robin tours nostalgia is a factor. I think the first tour I won was a 1v1 round robin.

Are there any changes you'd like to see in OMs?

imas

Yeah, more activity on the ladders. They're pretty dead for the most part, and I honestly don't fully understand why. People generally don't ladder because the ladders are dead, and when they do that, they just contribute to the inactivity. Suspect talk in OM threads is also something I'd like to see improve. Atm it usually goes into personal attacks after a certain point, and that shouldn't be happening. Lastly, more people knowing how OMs work and playing them would be nice. I think the last part will be happening with a combination of OM C&C, articles, and time.

Any advice for new users in OMs?

imas

Don't be afraid to start talking and asking questions! The userbase is really nice, and as long as you're not a dick to people, you'll get along fine with everyone. If you have consistent chat activity and are able to help other users out, you might find yourself becoming a roomvoice in no time. That's how I got mine!

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got into OMs.

The Immortal

Hi, I'm The Immortal! People often call me TI for short. I'm 24 years old and have been living in Dubai for more than half my life. I have a degree in Finance, but my passion is programming. I can't recall exactly how I got into OMs, but I think it's because I started coding them for Pokémon Showdown and hanging out in the community (Joim's Lab at the time). I probably began playing there.

What are some of your favorite metagames?

The Immortal

BH first and foremost. It was the metagame that I played during Gen 5 and enjoyed battling with the likes of Flint and Adrian. Later on I got into 1v1, as it was a simple concept and I wanted to try a different OM. I definitely fell in love with it. Shoutouts to AAA and Tier Shift as well; there were periods were I enjoyed playing them.

Are there any changes you'd like to see in OMs?

The Immortal

I'd like to see it continue to expand! We're getting bigger everyday, attracting standard players such as nv and rozes. Hopefully one day we'll have our very own trophy.

Any advice for new users in OMs?

The Immortal

Try out different OMs. There are many options and you'll never know which ones you like or which ones you're good at unless you try them!

Tell us a bit about yourself and how you first got into OMs.

E4 Flint

I was introduced to PS by my brother, during a time when I honestly was not quite so interested in Pokémon any longer. PS changed that, and I lurked for a quite a while, until I made my alt in 2012, named after my most favorite NPC in any of the Pokémon games. I tried my hand at OU for a while, running thematic fire or sun teams, but Gen 5 rain sucked. One time while complaining in a game about the uniformity, my opponent told me about this mysterious game format called Balanced Hackmons. I honestly didn't see myself playing anything besides OU, but the way he described the flexibility and myriad possible sets really stuck with me, and eventually I tried it. That was my first hook into OMs. As I became better, I formed a kind of underground community within a community as several good players began joining games to spectate and talk to get out of the brutal single-room Lobby at the time and we formed one of, if not the first organic OM community. This really built a strong foundation when the OM room was created, since it was mostly populated by us.

Over time, the then mod TheBurgerKing99 gave me roomvoice, and I began to branch out into other formats. I eventually came up the ranks to RO earlier this year, a responsibility I am greatly proud and thankful of having.

On the personal side, I'm a 23 year old guy, almost a year out of college now, having studied CompSci and Electrical Engineering, and am warming up for a Master's degree later this year. I greatly enjoy playing and trying to master all kinds of games, from Yu-Gi-Oh to Monopoly to Pokémon, though I've recently shifted from console video games to mobile now, and I also sketch on the side. I unfortunately look very little like the guy I modeled my alt on.

What are some of your favorite metagames?

E4 Flint

Balanced Hackmons, which I not only enjoy playing, and now have the honor of leading, but also enjoy helping others in greatly and trying to attract new players in, since it's so fun to see what other people can come up with. Besides that, I try my hand at almost every OM. I really prefer playing OMs with an interesting but simple mechanic that brings out the potential in underused mons and trying really new things, such as Ability Exchange, Inverse, and TS.

Are there any changes you'd like to see in OMs?

E4 Flint

I have talked before about making OMs more accessible to standards players, and a lot has been done on that front, so now I think I'd just like a shakeup in the OMs we have themselves. Many of them seem to suffering from low activity and could use a refresh. OMotM and LCotM are great to that end, but I think maybe some new permanent ladders would be helpful and heavily expanded OMs.

Any advice for new users in OMs?

E4 Flint

I would encourage new OM players to be patient; it is entirely possible (and probably inevitable) that ideas you think of while teambuilding utterly flop on the ladder, leading to initial losses; when that happens, instead of going back into the comfort zone of the standard tiers, analyze what you can change, and adapt to what you see while trying to incorporate your own creativity. OMs greatly reward players going out of the box in a way regular tiers don't, and the success that you get with your team afterwards is very rewarding, since it comes with the pride in your own unique take on the format's rules and limitations.