Pokemon and the Competitive Exclusion Principle

[Dark Talon]

It's odd how natural laws tend to work the same way in Pokemon. For those of you who don't know, the Competitive Exclusion Principle states that no two organisms can occupy the same niche in an environment for an indefinite period of time; one of the two organisms will be driven to extinction. If you think for a second, you'll realize that this is true in Pokemon as well. Take, say, Gallade for example. Lucario and Gallade are, all in all, similar Pokemon in terms of the role that they play on teams. If you have a Lucario on your team, chances are that you don't also run a Gallade since the roles they generally play (aka not the Double Status set or whatever) are remarkably similar. Over time, when both of these Pokemon were commonplace in OU, people started to realize that Lucario's greater Speed, movepool, and typing enabled it to be the better sweeper. Hence, natural selection and the Competitive Exclusion Principle took effect, forcing Gallade out of the niche and into extinction (BL/UU). The same is true of Rotom-A and Dusknoir. Both are used as bulky Ghosts and spin blockers, but Rotom-A's better typing, ability, and movepool pushed it past its spectral competitor. When was the last time you saw a Dusknoir?

Dragons are probably the best example of natural selection and the CEP. Garchomp and Flygon originally occupied the same niche. Comparing them side by side, Garchamp clearly had the advantage over Flygon in stats and movepool. As such, Garchomp forced Flygon out of the niche and became the sole occupant. However, once Garchomp was removed from the environment, Flygon started to rise in usage and has recently flourished. You'll notice that Flygon and Salamence both thrive because they occupy different niches; Salamence is a DDer or a Mixed wall breaker while Flygon preforms revenge killing duties as a Scarfer. If both tried to only fulfill the position of a mixed wallbreaker, Salamence would most likely drive Flygon to 'extinction' due to its superior movepool and Special Attack. Salamence was about to push Dragonite into obscurity because they both filled essentially the same niche in OU, but then Dragonite got adaptations in the forms of Superpower and Extremespeed and it claimed a niche, however nebulous, for its own.

As Darwin said, it is not the strongest nor the most intelligent organism who survives, but the one who most efficiently adapts to a changing environment. This is why Pokemon such as Salamence, Gyarados, and Heatran have withstood the test of time and remained top players in OU. It doesn't matter how the metagame is structured at any given time because these Pokemon have the means to adapt to it. Pokemon such as Electivire have declined in usage because the changing metagame offers too much competition for it to fulfill its fundamental niche and results in it acquiring a much lower realized niche.

In nature, organisms often adapt to accommodate the adaptations of other organisms. This is true in Pokemon as well. The most common example of this that I can provide is the Scizor/Gengar relationship. Scizor's newest adaptation, Bullet Punch, provided it with the means to easily eliminate Gengar. Because of this, Gengar acquired a new set in the form of MysticGar. It was only because of the challenge presented by Scizor that the MysticGar set is viable. In any other situation, it would be perceived as a waste of a moveslot. Gengar's response to this change in the metagame allowed it to continue to function, and not go extinct as Pokemon such as the inflexible Porygon-Z and Electivire.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but I think that it's interesting that natural laws govern the environment of competitive Pokemon. It's slightly unnerving to think that such aspects of nature have this sort of impact in something that is entirely virtual. Each teir's metagame is like its own ecosystem: they are constantly changing with cycles of different Pokemon filling specific niches as the metagame mutates. Nature seems to have the final say in everything, as everything that exists seems to fit into one pattern or another.

 

[-FUCK-]

Good read, and I agree. Its just fricken awsome (and intresting) how the natural laws of survival exist in pokemon, even though it isn't intentinal at all, it just.. happens lol.

I hope this doesn't get locked -___-

 

[capefeather]

If you study a science or a social science, this kind of connection crops up all the time. It's really pretty amazing.

 

[Ballad]

Natural selection applies to pretty much any competitive activity. This is pretty common sense to me (and probably a lot of people), but good read nonetheless.

 

[jumpluff]

While I agree that this correlation exists, I'd like to point out that some hyper offense players run two or more very similar Pokémon to wear down each other's checks and counters. Furthermore, Gallade, Lucario, and Heracross all have their own niches, which is why Heracross is still OU by a thread. Overall, though, Lucario outclassing them in most respects has pushed them towards extinction.

 

[Delta 2777]

I agree somewhat, but also disagree. For example, many heavilly offensive teams will run two very similar pokemon, even if one is outclassed by another, to dent its counters. Such examples are DD Salamence and DD Dragonite on the same team, SD Lucario and SD Scizor, etc.

However, this is true for things that don't tend to sweep (although as IPL demonstrated on the ladder two similar Pokemon together can be successful even if they don't sweep, ex. Spiritomb and Rotom-A). There are very few reasons to choose SD Gallade instead of SD Lucario in a standard OU match if you end up only using one of them.

 

[Anachronism]

I like the idea but I would like to make a bit of a counterclaim. Some teams use two pokemon with similar sets, like a team might run an SD Heracross/Gallade to open up a Lucario sweep, or a Dragonite to do the same for Salamence. The same holds true for Agiligross and SD Scizor. How does this fit in?

 

[FlareBlitz]

Actually, a lot of the Ubers metagame is based around overloading walls and revenge killers with one Pokemon so that another Pokemon of a similar niche can sweep. For instance, DD Salamence weakens Dialga and Scizor and lures Scarf Palkia to be killed off by Wobby, which aids DD Rayquaza's sweep. Similar trends can be seen in OU (Agiligross and SD Scizor are common partners) and even UU (Moltres and Swellow). However, your observations are pretty much accurate for stall and balance teams.

 

[whistle]

while the Pokemon equivalent of the CEP might apply to competitive relationships between Pokemon (i.e. two Pokemon fulfilling the same niche on a balanced or bulky team), there can exist a non-competitive relationship between the same two Pokemon if they are used on a hyperoffensive team. this results in a symbiotic relationship, most likely mutualism -- both Pokemon help the other benefit by weakening each others' counters. it's pretty interesting that the type of team that these Pokemon are used on changes whether their relationship is of a competitive or non-competitive nature, but not all that surprising...

 

[cantab]

One thing to note that applies to an extent in Pokemon, and is generally the case in most areas other than actual biological evolution, is horizontal transfer. Specifically, a set can be discovered effective for one Pokemon, and then identical or similar sets transferred to another Pokemon. The Crocune set springs to mind: the basic idea is Rest, Sleep Talk, Offense+Defense Boost, and Attack, and it's been seen on some other Pokemon (I think people have tried it on Manaphy and on Raikou).

 

[Chou Toshio]

This is true and not true.

It is true under 1 condition:

(1) The most efficient organism is able to fully fill the available space for the niche.

In other words, if there are not enough eagles (say, slow reproduction or something) to fill the role of fish-catching bird of prey, than other birds like Ospreys can exist within the same territory (yes I know in real life they're not the same niche and Ospreys are not necessarily less efficient than eagles, just an example).

What this essentially comes down to is the existence of Species Clause.

I might want two or more hard hitting physical Dragon/Ground types, but I can only have 1 Garchomp (say if it were allowed). So, if Flygon hits hard enough and I want 2, I might put both on the same team.

Like others have mentioned, this actually plays out in competitive pokemon, in the form of using similar sweepers on the same team to weaken each others counters and then proceed to rape. Usually they are slightly different (a mixed mence that can severly weaken the enemy's "Dragon" counter before Flygon comes out to rampage over the weakened remains), but similar enough to have similar counters.

I remember Stathakis (I think? Spelling?) once popularized a pure-setup offensive style with 3 "set up pokes" (entry hazards, screens, etc.) and 3 "Setup Sweepers". With both Luke and Metagross on the same team, or something like that, the opponent would have an extremely hard time dealing with one after the other. It was a very effective type of team (and I imagine it still is).

It wouldn't surprise me if we didn't have species clause, such strategies could become even more effective (imagine mixluke and standard luke on the same team). In the mean time though, Gallade + Luke might give you the desired result.

 

[cantab]

I actually independently tried the same idea as Stathakis myself. I found only 3 sweepers left me a bit lacking in offensive power, and 4 sweepers + 2 supporters worked better.

I suppose this is like convergent evolution with team types. So a bit relevant to the present discussion.

 

[TSPhoenix]

The difference between Pokemon and nature is that players get to pick which six Pokemon they get to "be" rather than being tied to a specific choice, say using Feraligatr, and then having to find a way for Feraligatr to survive. At any time you can simply ditch any team member which is letting you down instead of finding a way (if at all possible) to make them work. As such you see everyone copying one another and 30%+ Scizor usage an a shrinking OU list, because there really isn't that much incentive to come up with a new set when an staple standard does so well.

 

[DIABLO69]

That's a very interesting point and it makes alot of sense, in the fact that the metagame closely resembles an ecosystem based on natural selection. Althought there are some holes in this theory.
But there is one difference: sometimes in nature-when there are two different organism tyring to do the same thing, one of the organisms sometimes evolves to a different forme.This might enable the organism to outclass the other one aand drive it to extinction. But this does not happen in the Pokemon game.The reason being that players would rather change the Pokemon than its set to try an accomadate (as the user above said), therefore some Pokemon who could adapt are just left out, becoming extinct.

 

[Afti]

Azelf wasn't always used primarily as a suicide lead; it was, by and large, a pure sweeper.

That became inefficient, but, unlike, say, Porygon-Z, Azelf was able to find a new niche for itself.

 

[The Illuminati]

Good Read. I suppose you are talking about Darwin's Theory.
The one which included Natural Selection, Survival of the Fittest. I doubt Lamarks theory of use and disuse is of any relevance here. I mention it as they are both very important in the study of Evolution, Genetics etc.

 

[Eternal]

Nice analogy. Obviously, we can denote that since Lucario is better at sweeping than Gallade due to many reasons, that it augmented Lucario's usage and niche (tier). It is proven by the usage statistics. Some may disagree that these two Pokemon may be successful in Hyper Offensive teams because one can wear off it's counter and then the other can succeed it and continue the sweep. While this may be true, we are undermining the viability of Hyper Offense teams. If Hyper Offense teams were more popular, and Lucario and Gallade are able to coexist with each other in team, then we can conclude that this theory is false. But alas, due to the incapability (shown by usage statistics) of Hyper Offense teams and the coexistence of analogous Pokemon in one team, the Competitive Exclusion Principle can be valid.

While it can also be invalid because the Competitive Exclusion Principle states "no two organisms can occupy the same niche in an environment for an indefinite period of time; one of the two organisms will be driven to extinction." The reason you cannot correlate this to this game is because usage is determined by popularity (and not completely because one Pokemon is better than the other). While in real life, the organism that is best fit in the environment would be able to surpass the other organisms. While in this game, you cannot determine the best fit Pokemon due to popularity. Salamence is more popular than Dragonite shown by the usage statistics. This does not mean Salamence is better than Dragonite in the same niche (tier). We all know Dragonite has other properties for battling (priority, support) that would make some battlers choose it over Salamence.

 

[StarWizard]

IMO that is true to an extent. In cases that one pokémon does the job of another 95% or so better, then yeah. But all it takes is a single move to make the "inferior" pokémon find a niche. The Dragonite example is one, with Superpower and Extremespeed being key differences it has over Salamence, among others like Thunder Wave and Heal Bell. Lucario and Gallade are quite different, and I don't think that Lucario's rise had anything to do with Gallade's fall.

 

[Jack]

Great read. I guess in general the pokemon able to fill certain niches become more common and their kind flourish, just like in the wild. But then the lesser pokemon are forced into a different environment so they can survive, i.e. UU.

And then God/Smogon realizes dinosaurs/Garchomp are overpowered and completely removes them from existence/OU. XD

 

[petrie911]

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but I think that it's interesting that natural laws govern the environment of competitive Pokemon. It's slightly unnerving to think that such aspects of nature have this sort of impact in something that is entirely virtual. Each teir's metagame is like its own ecosystem: they are constantly changing with cycles of different Pokemon filling specific niches as the metagame mutates. Nature seems to have the final say in everything, as everything that exists seems to fit into one pattern or another.

It seems to me that it's less of a matter of the competitive Pokemon environment following the laws of nature and more that nature follows the rules of game theory. For example, the "survival of the fittest" effect follows very clearly from a simple law of game theory: you don't use dominated strategies. If strategy A gives a higher payout than strategy B in all situations, you use strategy A without question. The competitive exclusion principle follows directly from this, since if two Pokemon have the same role, one will undoubtedly be better at it, and thus it will be used and the other will not.

The difference between Pokemon and nature is that players get to pick which six Pokemon they get to "be" rather than being tied to a specific choice, say using Feraligatr, and then having to find a way for Feraligatr to survive. At any time you can simply ditch any team member which is letting you down instead of finding a way (if at all possible) to make them work. As such you see everyone copying one another and 30%+ Scizor usage an a shrinking OU list, because there really isn't that much incentive to come up with a new set when an staple standard does so well.

Since when was nature not able to ditch designs that don't work? Last I checked, that's the only thing it ever does. Also, the shrinking OU list and prevalence of standard sets is because the metagame is settling down. Most Pokemon have reached the pinnacle of their potential, and the reason new sets aren't being created is because they just aren't as good. The metagame cannot change forever. There is only a finite number of options, however large, and eventually the best will be found and the rest will be discarded. It is the nature of games.

 

[Lord Blood]

I have to agree with this 100%. However the problem is that your example of Dusknoir and the Rotom Forms are invalid. Ever since the Rotom Forms were introduced, Dusknoir sunk into deep OU. However, he is still used, therefore this "For those of you who don't know, the Competitive Exclusion Principle states that no two organisms can occupy the same niche in an environment for an indefinite period of time; one of the two organisms will be driven to extinction" is not true for many reasons:

- Since Dusknoir has slower speed meaning Tyranitar's Pursuit goes first and Dusknoir can hit with an EQ. Rotom-A are faster meaning they have to stay in and attack/status otherwise they die when they switch.
- Dusknoir has much higher Defense and Special Defense and when you combine that with his HP, you'll see that it's much better defensively than Rotom-A; due to the fact that Rotom-A has 50 HP, only 5 more than Dusknoir, and 107 base Defenses, not even close to Dusknoir's gigantic base 135s.

However I will agree that Rotom-A do have a couple of things over Dusknoir:
- Special attacks: Overheat, Air Slash, Leaf Storm, Blizzard, Hydro Pump.
- Dual STABs: Ghost/Electric = Shadow Ball + ThunderBolt/Discharge
- Speed: Offensive Rotom-A can outspeed Adamant Lucario.

So essentially, it depends on what exactly the Ghost should be capable of doing. Just my 2 cents.

- LB -

 

[Quaily]

I think you're missing part of the equation. If you take away one of the two pokes vying for the same spot, would the other take its place? If we look at raikou and jolteon they are very similar pokes. But if there was no jolteon would people use raikou anywhere near the level they use jolteon? probably not. Jolteon has just the right combination of speed, move pool, and special ability to make it a great addition to an OU team. Raikou simply does not have these advantages going for it anymore.

 

[Game Freak201]

The OP may seem sound for the most part, but one has to realize that it has some holes in it. This is due to the fact that a Pokémon's usage is based on artificial selection instead of natural selection.

After this conclusion, the usage statistics make more sense. In fact, the usage statistics is not unlike how humans perform artificial selection. Pokémon would be taken from the "wild" and domesticated for our needs. Of course, we would only take the ones that we find useful to us and discard the others. Therefore, the usage statistics is determined by a Pokémon's viability to fulfill our needs; not on how viable they are in nature.

 

[Pika25]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyrlJ2KWM3A, an NU battle, note that Mew55 has both a Pikachu and a Raichu on the same team, and they're both physical sets! The main difference between the two is Raichu's higher Speed and free use of an item (in this case, Life Orb) and Pikachu's Light Ball (which doubles its Attack). All Raichu accomplished was soften Nacho's Cradily (it didn't hit anyone but Cradily), but along with other members of Mew55's team (including Probopass), it opened the way for Pikachu to wreak some havoc (namely taking out Cradily and Scarf Espeon after barely living said Espeon's Psychic) before succumbing to a Furret Sucker Punch.

If we look at raikou and jolteon they are very similar pokes. But if there was no jolteon would people use raikou anywhere near the level they use jolteon? probably not. Jolteon has just the right combination of speed, move pool, and special ability to make it a great addition to an OU team. Raikou simply does not have these advantages going for it anymore.

Raikou can use Calm Mind, but Jolteon can't...

 

[PK Gaming]

After finishing my grade 12 bio course, I'm inclined to agree.
PS: Should be under the best of smogon.