Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread (read the op before posting a thread)

Colonel M

I COULD BE BORED!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
To stray away from that, what do you consider to be a very underrated mon in the meta?

I personally find nido to be an excellent breaker

(insert Omari joke here)
In the future I would suggest asking such a question within the metagame thread and elaborate more on why you think Nidoking is underrated. The question is better suited there.

That said I think Jirachi is a mon that should be utilized a bit more. It's a good check to some of the dangerous Psychic-types while being a support Pokemon with Stealth Rock, U-turn, and / or Healing Wish.
 
To stray away from that, what do you consider to be a very underrated mon in the meta?

I personally find nido to be an excellent breaker

(insert Omari joke here)
This is only my opinion, but I think Mamoswine and Araquanid are pretty underrated.

Mamoswine has unresisted STAB, and isn't really prepared for when you build a team. It can even run Adamant Life Orb to potentially break stall (that does not bring Buzzwole or Avalugg) through brute force. However, it's walled by Rotom-W, a mon that's pretty popular right now.

Choice Band Araquanid is always a menace to deal with, with your typical Water-type resist taking loads from Leech Life. Again, Pokemon like Toxapex, Buzz, Avalugg, and Mega Aggron can somewhat wall it. Araquanid can threaten to 2HKO all of the above checks, including SpDef Toxapex (OK it's a 98% but that's close) under rain. There's also a plus of using this over Crawdaunt, and that's Araquanid has much better bulk, although it's weak to rocks.

Neither of these really come up as what you would include in a threat list for your team until you meet one, so I'd consider them underrated.
 
What's the most consistent breaker in the tier? (highest average kills per game?) Is that data available? I used to think Heatran/Mawile/Medicham but I've been finding many otherwise solid builds I'll make just get eaten alive by Kyurem-B.
 
why is phydef RH tang is becoming a thing? (*AGAIN* ik it was a popular set back in ORAS OU but the meta was way different)

Like what exactly does it wall?

edit: You know, I should really think about my posts before I send them
:facepalm:
That was a good defensive countermeasure against virtually every Zygarde set on the planet back when Zygarde was more prominent. It's not terrible now, but there are better pivots that can do a better job deterring physical attackers while providing more utility. Tangrowth was so good because it was a fantastic Zygarde and Ash-Greninja blanket check; Tangrowth is good now, though nowhere near as good as it was in the Zygarde meta, because it's a fat Grass type with a noticeable offensive presence, an amazing ability, and solid mixed bulk with an Assault Vest that allows it to take on the oppressive threat that is Ash-Greninja. Run PhysDef Tangrowth and you run the opportunity cost of not running Assault Vest Tangrowth, and your team is therefore that much weaker to one of the tier's top threats. You do not want a team that can get effortlessly run through by Ash-Greninja.
 
So what exactly are the right steps to creating a team?

Do you start off with mons that have important roles such as a sweeper, scarfer, pivot, sr setter, etc and then build around that?

Or do you build around a specific core that counters/checks a portion of the metagame?

And I'm talking generally and not about any particular team architype
 

Colonel M

I COULD BE BORED!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
So what exactly are the right steps to creating a team?

Do you start off with mons that have important roles such as a sweeper, scarfer, pivot, sr setter, etc and then build around that?

Or do you build around a specific core that counters/checks a portion of the metagame?

And I'm talking generally and not about any particular team architype
A lot of teams usually consist of a mon or core and then build around that. Sometimes it can also be based off of team structure like stall if it's bulkier or hyper offense if the Pokemon in question or the player in question prefers to build that way. At the end of the day a team should have a general gameplan on their end goal and how to reach to said endgoal. Of course the end goal will vary from game to game and what happens along the way, but a basic start of a structure can follow this thinking process.

Going back to an earlier post that was made, if a person wanted 3 special sweepers like SG Magearna, Mega Zam, and Ash Gren they would need to think of what helps accomplish one of these three Pokemon to sweeping or picking apart the opposing team. Balanced is nice because you can generally have a backup plan defensively while still having flexibility offensively. For stall your gameplan involves addressing key threats and how to scout or handle them throughout the game.
 

Colonel M

I COULD BE BORED!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
If I was to build a team strictly built for beating stall at the expense of all other matchups, what should I use?
Realistically you should never focus on always beating one archetype. Lacking versatility means you'll likely get pounded match-by-match. The best thing to do is look at your team, look at a variety of stall builds that are commonly used (you can check Samples, SPL, high ladder, Finch's stall post is still fairly accurate) and figure out a gameplan from there. Some Pokemon like Mega Mawile have a more consistent time beating a variety of stall, but it will still need some backbone behind it in the event that the player predicts incorrectly and has to have Mega Mawile retreat. Not to say you can't take a more hyper offense approach to it, but again that also boils down to the strategy of "what is my win condition? what are my alternatives if things don't work out?", etc.
 
How is doing Z-Bounce Gyarados in the meta?
I know it dislikes the massive influx of Rotom-W, but, aside of that, how it fares in playstyles outside of HO?
 

Finchinator

-OUTL
is a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis the defending OU Circuit Championis a Two-Time Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
OU Leader
How is doing Z-Bounce Gyarados in the meta?
I know it dislikes the massive influx of Rotom-W, but, aside of that, how it fares in playstyles outside of HO?
Not very common tbh. There is more Ferrothorn and less Tangrowth; couple that with the rise in Electric types, such as Rotom-Wash, and the drop in overall HO usage due to Zygarde's ban and it really seems underwhelming atm
 
I think I've been seeing a bit of choice banded Scizor on relatively high ladder recently (1700+) and was wondering (1) why it was being used, and (2) what EVs it runs (moves are U-Turn, Bullet Punch, Superpower, and another move, I guess Pursuit/Knock off).
 
Is Z-Move Ash-Gren even remotely a thing? It's been listed as A- (versus the obvious S-rank in Specs) in the Sets VR for a while now but I don't think I've seen a single Waterium, Darkinium, or Icium (yes, I saw this on low ladder once) Ash-Gren in well over a year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gum

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 4)

Top