Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread

Why did corviknight fail so drasticly when it comes to usage?
Because it simply does not fill a lot of the important defensive niches right now. Right now, you often want your Defogger to resist Ghost, like Mandibuzz or Hydreigon, in order to check Spectrier, or for it to fill some other role like checking Pheromosa, which Moltres does really well. Despite Corviknights good typing, it also struggles with the Ground- and Dragon-types that we're seeing a lot of. Corviknight struggles a fair bit with handling Garchomp, especially if its mixed, and it's easily overwhelmed by Latios.

In short, there's Pokemon that compete for the role that it tries to occupy as they fill more relevant defensive niches than Corviknight does right now. Ofcourse, Corviknight is still useful on specific structures that want a Defogger that consistently beats Stealth Rock Clefable and Excadrill.
 
Why did corviknight fail so drasticly when it comes to usage?
Its matchup is not very favorable versus the mons that recently game in. Moltres and Mandibuzz are currently better defoggers due to their typing, and new rockers like Lando/Heatran don't care a lot about Corvi or straight up beat it. Corvi is way more passive than the other defoggers, and the meta currently isn't very kind to passive mons.

Edit: Also the sheer pressure of rocks is less due to HDB, so
 
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AM

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I think trapping moves and items are hugely unexplored outside of Magma Storm. I remember a highly ranked rmt in DLC 1 that featured a binding band tangrowth with infestation but outside that, not much. Has anyone used any cool techs and combos involving some of these moves/items?
I have used Block Lando-T to Explode on things like Defoggers to deny them a Defog with hit or miss success. I used this in Gen 6 as well which is where the original idea was from. It always works but the move doesnt hold much utility outside of that. I have seen Thunder Cage Regileki (whatever the name spelling is) on maybe give or take a 1/4 of the ones I’ve come across which seemed more practical. Tried whirpool Fini with Nature Madness / Taunt for defensive switch ins, which was more of a miss than a success mostly due to whirpools tendency to miss and take away the surprise.
 
Hey guys, can anyone explain me what is a balance team?
In my mind it is like, helf defensive and half offensive, but i'm not shure
 

Finchinator

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Hey guys, can anyone explain me what is a balance team?
In my mind it is like, helf defensive and half offensive, but i'm not shure
A balance team has a sufficient amount of offensive and speed to make progress, but it also tries to cover a lot of the things it needs to defensively. It is not necessarily half-and-half because the metagame sometimes warrants different structures and some Pokemon can function both offensively and defensively.

Here you can find some examples of balance teams in the current metagame.
 

Martin

A monoid in the category of endofunctors
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I know this doesn't have anything to do with the post but how do you put the sprites in the comments(Great post BTW)
Step 1:

Step 2:


Step 3: You can check https://serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/ and search for the mon you want
Step 4: Right click on the sprite on serebii and hit "copy image address"

Step 5: Paste the sprite URL into the box that opened before from the toolbar. It'll look like this once you do:

Step 6: Hit "Insert"
Step 7: You're done and your sprite is here!


Step 8: Repeat for other mons, or simply adjust the sprite URL's link to match the pokedex number of the mon you want. For example, Giratina was #487. If you want Kartana's sprite (#798), then you simply change the 487 into 798 at the end of the URL, and then paste in the box like before and you'll be set.

Step 9: For forme changes, serebii will usually have the other forme sprite on the page, but usually the easy way to remember is to add "-x" where x can be anything depending on the mon. For Galarian formes, you can usually add -g, for alolan forms, you can add -a, and so on. Giratina-origin would use -o since that's the name of the other form.

https://serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/555.png
https://serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/555-g.png
https://serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/487-o.png

https://serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/487.png
https://serebii.net/pokedex-swsh/icon/798.png

Hope this helped!
Or you could alternatively type : tornadus : (minus the spaces) to get :tornadus: and : tornadus-therian : to get :tornadus-therian:

:blissey::skarmory::landorus-therian::latios::latias::giratina::giratina-origin:
 
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Maybe it's just my building habits but :ferrothorn: keeps killing my teams. I've been running :zapdos: as a switch in, but it handles Ferro poorly in the long term. Anyone have suggestions on how to improve the matchup on balance teams?
 

Zneon

uh oh
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Maybe it's just my building habits but :ferrothorn: keeps killing my teams. I've been running :zapdos: as a switch in, but it handles Ferro poorly in the long term. Anyone have suggestions on how to improve the matchup on balance teams?
Hello. Ferrothorn is a pretty hard and just flat out annoying Pokemon to pivot around. So, here are some Pokemon or just ways to beat Ferrothorn while also being a great team component in general.

====


Moltres

If you want a hazard remover that can directly threaten out Ferrothorn, then Moltres is a great Pokemon to use. Even outside of having a great matchup against Ferrothorn since unlike Zapdos, Moltres can threaten to OHKO it with Flamethrower, its ability to check stuff like Toxic-less Heatran, CB Pheromosa, Melmetal and Rillaboom, similarly to Zapdos is very valuable defensive utility with the added bonus of actually threatening Heatran due to Scorching Sands, which is very helpful when dealing with Heatran + Ferro cores.



Knock Off

Ferrothorn usually needs its Leftovers for recovery outside of Leech Seed, so knocking off its Leftovers will help you a lot in the Ferrothorn matchup since its going to be more prone to offensive pressure long term. Clefable and Ferrothorn I feel are especially good for an opposing Ferrothorn due to them not being worn down by opposing Leech Seed, however Toxapex also has its uses in dealing with Ferrothorn as Scald burns can also help wear it down long term while also Knocking Off its Lefties.


Pivoting and Offensive pressure

This seems like a pretty odd thing to include but hear me out. Pressuring the Ferrothorn is in my eyes an incredibly good way in beating it long term, and I feel pivoting does a great job in doing so! In terms of slow pivoting, whether its with Blissey, Slowbro or Clefable, you can pivot into a Pokemon that can threaten it like Urshifu, Pheromosa or Heatran without having to switch them in, forcing out the Ferrothorn and thus creating a cycle of offensive pressure, which is an excellent way of dealing with Ferrothorn. More offensively based pivots like Magearna and Dragapult, baiting the Ferrothorn in and bringing in a breaker is something I always love to do; its going to switch out almost all of the time, however the little chip damage that U-turn and Volt Switch put on Ferro makes a big difference long term.

====

Hope this helped! Ferrothorn is pretty annoying I know and I hope these tips make a difference in beating Ferrothorn or at least deterring it from making too much progress. :blobthumbsup:
 

ausma

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Is Heatran not that great rn compared to last gen? I feel like there's just so many fighting types running around
Heatran is definitely good. Although it's nowhere near the power it was last generation with Z-Crystals, it still performs as a great Magma Storm user, Stealth Rock user, and Special wall that performs very well for teams in need of a bulky Steel-type and Stealth Rock user that's not Fire-weak. It also has access to options such as Taunt that make it a pretty good lead and a stronger option against more passive builds.

Most prominently, though, it's a really good Fairy-type check that also compresses Stealth Rock. It stone walls most common variants of Magearna and Clefable, and usually threatens them in the 1v1 thanks to its nifty defensive typing and access to Lava Plume, Flash Cannon, and Taunt. It has a few rough matchups, but it isn't something you should ever underestimate. It still performs very nicely as a bulky hazard setter with great resistances, and provides useful defensive utility for teams in need of it.

Maybe it's just my building habits but :ferrothorn: keeps killing my teams. I've been running :zapdos: as a switch in, but it handles Ferro poorly in the long term. Anyone have suggestions on how to improve the matchup on balance teams?
To add onto Zneon's fantastic post, I would suggest watching out for Knock Off, which is an option being run very commonly in part to Zapdos and Moltres's ability to check it decently well. Although Moltres beats it 1v1, losing its Heavy-Duty Boots can make its defensive application much more difficult, especially if it performs as your hazard removal.

For that reason, I usually aim to beat it with offensive pressure. There are a lot of strong offensive options in the tier, such as Urshifu-SS/Pheromosa, and Pokemon that naturally run Fire-type moves like the aforementioned Heatran, that are really good at pressuring it and giving it a difficult time.
 

Katy

Banned deucer.
Is Heatran not that great rn compared to last gen? I feel like there's just so many fighting types running around
Heatran is a great Pokemon but it finds itself in an awkward place with Pheromosa, Urshifu, Buzzwole, and occosionally Zapdos-Galar around, however its defensive assets are still great, especially the Stealth Rock-Set finds a great place in the current metagame. If you decide to go with Heatran as your Stealth Rocker, I strongly recommend Pokemon such as Slowbro, Tapu Fini, Clefable or Slowking.

Furthermore Heatran dislikes the many ground-types roaming around such as Landorus-T, Nidoking, and especially Garchomp. It also strongly dislikes Swampert, so pairing Heatran up with a great check to those is a great option such checks contain the aforementioned Slowbro, and also Rillaboom makes up for a great Teampartner, as it can threaten the common ground-types with a strong Grassy Glide and can weaken their Earthquake with its Grassy Terrain.

Bun in overall Heatran is still a great defensive tool with a lot of utility and the ability to set Stealth Rocks and if you fear fighting-types Clefable, Tapu Fini and Slowbro are great choices currently.
 
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Katy

Banned deucer.
Has anyone made doom desire + regidrago work?
Hey,

Jirachi in general isn't that great in the current metagame because of Pokemon like Spectrier, Melmetal, and Zapdos holding it back, furthermore it gained new enemies in Landorus-Therian, Swampert and other bulky ground-types like Tankchomp, which can combat Jirachi just fine with chipping it down or forcing it out.

Doom Desire + Regidrago looks great on paper, but usually fairy-types such as Clefable are paired up with bulky Pokemon such as Melmetal, Slowbro, and Slowking. Also Magearna is really high in usage right now and it can just Volt Switch out to an appropiate partner to take the Doom Desire for it. It also acts like a fullstop to Regidrago itself.

I think Doom Desire Jirachi + Regidrago does sound better on paper than it is in practice since no one uses this combo on the ladder because of the factors I explained above.

Hopefully that helped :)
 
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Regarding Team Builder, why can't the player decide whether they want the minimum or maximum amount of PP per move? For example, Trump Card's PP is set to 5 but, in the game, it could reach 8. In contrast, every other move in PS is max PP.
 
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Finchinator

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Given the fact that Trump Card works best with lower PP, and Showdown applies the max PP to all moves automatically, why can't the user decide whether they want the minimum (5 in Trump Cards case), or the max of 8? This should also apply to every move in all tiers/generations.

PS: I love showdown and really appreciate the people who make this possible!
More of a question for here as it is PS related rather than OU specific.
 
Best way to run Volcanion at the moment ?

Im running Specs on rain and while the power is unmatched (2hkoing Blissey with a special move feels good) sometimes it feels inconsistent.
 

Band

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Best way to run Volcanion at the moment ?
Its Heavy-Duty Boots set is the most consistent imo

Volcanion @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Steam Eruption
- Sludge Wave
- Defog

Boots made it a lot more viable, and being able to come in on hazards and Scald makes it very valuable. Also STAB Fire+Water coverage is very nice.
 
I've been seeing a surprising amount of unaware HDB Clef (like on 4 or 5 different teams, and that's only the ones I have noticed either via boosts not making a difference or toxic/burn getting them) on reasonably high ladder (1700+) on non-stall teams. Is this a coincidence or is unaware Clef actually worth running over magic guard on non-stall teams?
 

Finchinator

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I've been seeing a surprising amount of unaware HDB Clef (like on 4 or 5 different teams, and that's only the ones I have noticed either via boosts not making a difference or toxic/burn getting them) on reasonably high ladder (1700+) on non-stall teams. Is this a coincidence or is unaware Clef actually worth running over magic guard on non-stall teams?
It's really not worth running on non-Stall teams stall, but people have been doing it to try out the new compatibility and as a glue Pokemon anyway. It is not something to 100% ignore now, but it's still really poor on balance.
 

Zneon

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I've been seeing a surprising amount of unaware HDB Clef (like on 4 or 5 different teams, and that's only the ones I have noticed either via boosts not making a difference or toxic/burn getting them) on reasonably high ladder (1700+) on non-stall teams. Is this a coincidence or is unaware Clef actually worth running over magic guard on non-stall teams?
To add to what finch said, yeah it really isn’t. Reason being is that a big part of the reason why Clefable is so good being the fact that you are not really wearing it down, whereas you always are with Unaware Clef with status or sandstorm. This also means that it also can’t run Leftovers, and while I don’t think it’s a bad thing I don’t think it’s a good enough trade off to justify using it over Magic Guard on balance or really non stall in general.
 
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Is offensive Clef decent. It has Magic Guard so it doesn’t take Life Orb recoil. I know Alakazam is better for power but Clef has more bulk and an Immunity to dragons.
 
Is offensive Clef decent. It has Magic Guard so it doesn’t take Life Orb recoil. I know Alakazam is better for power but Clef has more bulk and an Immunity to dragons.
Clefable does run Life Orb on Calm Mind sets but those run a physically defensive spread for better overall bulk after a calm mind boost. Clefable rarely runs an all out specially attacking set with Special Attack EV because it’s outclassed often by other mons i.e. Nidoking.
 

ausma

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Is offensive Clef decent. It has Magic Guard so it doesn’t take Life Orb recoil. I know Alakazam is better for power but Clef has more bulk and an Immunity to dragons.
While it certainly can, I feel that its unique defensive attributes shine a lot more in a metagame filled with powerful Fighting-type wallbreakers such as Pheromosa and Urshifu-SS. You are correct in the sense that it does have more longevity as a merit of its natural bulk and typing, however, Clefable's offensive stats are ultimately fairly middling, and it wants to make use of 2 moveslots to both set up and remain healthy as well. As a result of this, as bb skarm said, as a wallbreaker, Pokemon with more immediate power (and STABs in certain cases) tend to shine considerably better.

If you wanted to make an offensive Clefable set work, it would need heavy defensive investment so it could take on threats and find more reliable set-up opportunities. Moonblast / Flamethrower / Soft-Boiled / CM tends to be the ideal moveset, but even this can require several turns before it can become threatening, and several Pokemon can scare it out in the process.
 

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