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Mr.E

unban me from Discord
is a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
The problem with a Choice Band Metagross moveset without Choice Band is that it's no longer a Choice Band set because the set is defined by the use of Choice Band. :smogthink:
 
The problem with a Choice Band Metagross moveset without Choice Band is that it's no longer a Choice Band set because the set is defined by the use of Choice Band. :smogthink:
So "the choice band Metagross set" refers to any Metagross with choice band? If that's true, what is the name of this specific set? How can I distinguish this set from other Metagrosses with choice bands?
Metagross @ choice band
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 128 Spe
Adamant nature
- meteor mash
- explosion
- earthquake
- rock slide
 

Mr.E

unban me from Discord
is a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
So "the choice band Metagross set" refers to any Metagross with choice band?
Yes.
If that's true, what is the name of this specific set?
It's a Choice Band Metagross.
How can I distinguish this set from other Metagrosses with choice bands?
By using words to communicate the specific attacks in its moveset like you would any other moveset with commonly slashed options.
 
https://www.smogon.com/dex/gs/pokemon/seaking/

Tell me... how the FUCK do you intend to get a Seaking that knows both Swords Dance and Hydro Pump? The former is an event move and the latter is an egg move. There's no way for Seaking to carry both of these moves simultaneously, as far as I can tell.
It's an error. Whoever wrote the analysis probably hadn't used Seaking. I'll correct it soon.

edit: Fixed
 
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I've gotten interested in RSE UU. Are there any individual tournaments other than the UU Classic? What's the best way to play UU when neither the tournaments nor the spotlight ladder are happening? Are there any good resources other than the Smogon analyses and this thread? (both seem kind of outdated)

Also when are the OU viability rankings going to update to account for the baton pass nerf?
 
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Is there anything on the bw council's radar? Chlorophyll / Latios / Baton Pass? I am mainly referring to the last thread in Policy review that mentioned "upcoming changes" in the OP
 

McMeghan

Dreamcatcher
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis the 5th Smogon Classic Winneris the Smogon Tour Season 14 Championis a defending SPL Championis a Past SPL Champion
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I don't know about the Council as a whole, but being part of it, I can tell you that I'm personally very much against Cholorophyll being introduced back. Baton Pass isn't really a thing right now but if it gets abused again, I would further nerf it / ban it. As for Latios, I'd be open to discussions, though I lean on the noban side.
 
Thanks for the answer. While I'd like to see Chlorophyll retested, I can't see how the current metagame would handle it -- too many things have changed since it was allowed and even then it has always been a controversial subject
Latios is dumb and I believe the (defensive) benefits it provides are far outweighted by the downsides, but it takes a straight face to force change on the tier (again) after all the events it has been through

Thoughts on Magnet Pull? MP only affects Steel-types, however BW Magnezone ended up with way more feasible targets than Arena Trap users, including the best 2 spikers and the best spinner of the tier. MP enables "cheese" such as AA Reuniclus, SubDDNite, Tailwind, Sun...don't to mention it removes Ferrothorn and Jirachi for Latios, which is arguably the most problematic pokemon of the tier. It has proven time and time again to be able to negatively impact games (think of Posho vs FLCL, last SPL) and as opposite to Dugtrio/Goth it can actually sweep teams with SubCharge (this happened in WCOP but I don't remember what game) or wreak havoc with Specs because even without factoring Magnet Pull its still a good mon, a Steel-type nonetheless. Heck you can testify yourself how Magneton ended up more relevant, than say things like Trapinch and Wobbuffet, so I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter. I'm not advocating for the ban of anything, of course, just discussing
 
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McMeghan

Dreamcatcher
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis the 5th Smogon Classic Winneris the Smogon Tour Season 14 Championis a defending SPL Championis a Past SPL Champion
Big Chungus Winner
First of all, I'll preface by saying that I think BW is really good as is. As a result, you'll find a lot of my opinions to be conservative as I don't see any reason to change the status-quo for now.

BW is built around Latios, removing it from the tier would definitely affect its balance and I don't know if it's really worth it to go that route for such an old gen. Not to mention I think Latias could replace it pretty well so is it really worth it to go through that trouble if at the end of the way, every team just puts Latias as a replacement and so be it? I also think Latios, while dominating, is a good Pokemon of progress (forces Ttar to take damages and open the way for partners, force Rain to get their steel weakened, etc) without winning games on its own. It also has natural and reliable answers in the top tier mons in Pursuit Ttar/SpDef Drill/Ferro/Jira/scarf Uturn Lando/Heatran mostly. Also, it's a good offensive check to plenty of offensive powerhouses, especially Keldeo/Breloom.

Magnet Pull does what it does in every gen, and I don't think its overbearing either. Forces you to play/build smart to avoid getting ran over by its partners. The most common reliable Magnezone usages are when its paired with a spinner in bulky teams to have an advantage in the hazard game, as it can remove Skarm/Ferro for good, or in DragMag for obvious reasons. While those playstyles are good, I dont think they play in such a way that it gives better odds to lesser players. If anything, they force you to build more intelligently than just randomly slapping a Ferrothorn on your team and thinking it's gonna handle everything while laying down Spikes for free. I just think the tier has plenty of ways to play without or against those strategies.
 
First of all, I'll preface by saying that I think BW is really good as is.
The current state is good, yes. That's why I hope it won't have to go through any more changes
 
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I've been out of the game for a while, and I would like to catch up on what I missed. The biggest question I have is, What's the deal with Moltres being ADV OU now? I remember looking at it once or twice, but Sand ruins Morning Sun and there's no Roost yet, and it's hard to imagine Fire/Flying typing being good when everything is carrying Rock Slide and Tar/Aero/Cune/Mie/Zap being so commonplace. So what does Moltres do exactly? Are there any tour games that really show off what it does?
 
I've been out of the game for a while, and I would like to catch up on what I missed. The biggest question I have is, What's the deal with Moltres being ADV OU now? I remember looking at it once or twice, but Sand ruins Morning Sun and there's no Roost yet, and it's hard to imagine Fire/Flying typing being good when everything is carrying Rock Slide and Tar/Aero/Cune/Mie/Zap being so commonplace. So what does Moltres do exactly? Are there any tour games that really show off what it does?
I'm no ADV expert by any means, but I think having access to a decently fast Will-o-Wisp + its typing has made it a popular pick for a lot of players who are looking for some support against Steels and Celebi. My understanding is that the Fire-type, in general, is not very common in ADV, so Moltres has become the common pick for filling that role since its typing gives it both a Spikes immunity and STAB Fire Blast/Flamethrower, the latter being used to offensively check threats like Metagross, Jirachi, and Heracross (at max speed investment it will always outspeed Metagross and Heracross, assuming no stat boosts are in play) while applying pressure to things like Skarmory and Celebi. I don't think it's meant to be used as a tank like you suggest since its main role is to force out certain offensive threats while inflicting Will-o-Wisp onto incoming Snorlax/Blissey/Suicune/etc. on predicted switch-ins, or Roaring for scouting + Spikes damage. This strategy, in particular, can be rather annoying for a Blissey to deal with, since the combination of Burn + Spikes + Sand forces it to use Softboiled earlier than it might like, opening up opportunities to bring in your own offensive threat that can force Blissey out and preserve your own momentum. If you are able to pull this off effectively, lack of recovery should, in theory, not be too much of an issue since your goal should be forcing out certain threats, and the Spikes immunity really helps a lot and gives you multiple opportunities to switch in the bird when necessary.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-410313
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-425791
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-425539
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-425655
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-427629

Here are some relevant battles from SPL X. Interestingly enough, only one battle that had a Moltres ended in victory for its user, but I don't think that has anything to do with Moltres itself. As you can see from the replays, Moltres is particularly good at threatening things like Metagross with the Fire STAB or Swampert with HP Grass, while also spreading Burn when it's able to, making it good at shifting the momentum of the battle in the user's favor when given a good matchup. Its also used as a lead in the first battle which I'm guessing is used to immediately threaten Skarmory leads and gain an early lead.

Like I said I'm not too knowledgeable of the ADV metagame so take what I say with a grain of salt. There's probably someone out there who can provide a more detailed explanation, but the Smog analysis doesn't seem to be updated so rip.
 
I've been out of the game for a while, and I would like to catch up on what I missed. The biggest question I have is, What's the deal with Moltres being ADV OU now? I remember looking at it once or twice, but Sand ruins Morning Sun and there's no Roost yet, and it's hard to imagine Fire/Flying typing being good when everything is carrying Rock Slide and Tar/Aero/Cune/Mie/Zap being so commonplace. So what does Moltres do exactly? Are there any tour games that really show off what it does?
sorry for the shameless plug, but I made a video on exactly this topic. it should answer all your questions


here's the near-finished new moltres analysis too: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/moltres-ou-qc-2-2-gp-0-2.3655669/
 
I'm returning to competitive for the first time in 7 or so years and while the new generation had enough draw to pull me back into it, I'm feeling stuck between being so far behind on the current landscape of Pokemon and my knowledge of the generations I knew being outdated.

I'm mostly looking to find out what's changed in the years I've been gone, specifically how BW2 changed the meta and any changes to DPP. I vaguely remember playing a meta with Keldeo and the Therians but it was still early days. August 2012 would be a good estimate on when I stopped, probably quit when school started again.

I'm about to begin working my way through the resource archive, but figuring out which knowledge I have that's still useful would be a good place to start from.
 
I'm returning to competitive for the first time in 7 or so years and while the new generation had enough draw to pull me back into it, I'm feeling stuck between being so far behind on the current landscape of Pokemon and my knowledge of the generations I knew being outdated.

I'm mostly looking to find out what's changed in the years I've been gone, specifically how BW2 changed the meta and any changes to DPP. I vaguely remember playing a meta with Keldeo and the Therians but it was still early days. August 2012 would be a good estimate on when I stopped, probably quit when school started again.

I'm about to begin working my way through the resource archive, but figuring out which knowledge I have that's still useful would be a good place to start from.
Some DPP changes off the top of my head: Clefable has replaced Blissey on a lot of teams, people discovered that Nidoqueen is good, and Skarm-Nido-Clef TSS is a common stall core. Scizor has really fallen out of favor and Lucario isn’t as deadly as it used to be, either. Latias was reintroduced and fits nicely into the meta. Swamperts are now primarily offensive instead of defensive. Breloom is as terrifying as ever and usually runs Superpower + Mach Punch. Ttar and Heatran both run Passho a lot, which makes Starmie’s job harder. I’m sure there are a few other things that I forgot but those are some big ones.
 
Thanks a bunch! I had a feeling TTar, Heatran and Jirachi weren't going anywhere but it's cool to see that the meta's continued to evolve around them and there's some fresh things to try. I was active for the last year or so of DPPt but I was still very new to competitive and never got to learn as much about it as I wanted to before the shift to Gen 5.
 
In RSE OU, why is protect + 3 attacks bad on Tyranitar and Claydol? They both have good defense stats, at least 3 good attacks, and are immune to sandstorm. Also, because refresh Claydol is always not shiny, is it viable to bluff refresh by having a non-shiny non-refresh Claydol and 5 shiny teammates?

What are all the old generations UU tournaments other than UU Classic and UUPL?
 
The main reason to use Claydol is to have a Rapid Spinner. You also should have Psychic (or Shadow Ball), so you can make it difficult for Gengar to spinblock. EQ is important to not get easily Pursuit trapped by Tyranitars. This already leaves you with only one open slot and Refresh (to wall non Drill Peck Skarm), Explosion or even Ice Beam are considered to be more useful than Protect on an already rather passive mon.
I assume Protect is not as common on Tar is because it has a fantastic movepool and usually wants the slot for a coverage move.
 
Not really a simple question but I didn't really know where to post a question like this

What do you think is the most developed/best understood/closest to "solved" metagame on Smogon?
Obviously people have been playing RBY for a long time but I also feel like DPP OU has the most enduring popularity (that's when I got into competitive though so that could just be my own bias)
Does Pokémon Showdown have stats for which tiers have had the most games played over the years?
 

fanyfan

i once put 42 mcdonalds chicken nuggets in my anus
Not really a simple question but I didn't really know where to post a question like this

What do you think is the most developed/best understood/closest to "solved" metagame on Smogon?
Obviously people have been playing RBY for a long time but I also feel like DPP OU has the most enduring popularity (that's when I got into competitive though so that could just be my own bias)
Does Pokémon Showdown have stats for which tiers have had the most games played over the years?
rby and adv both had mechanics discoveries a few years ago and they’ve been settling ever since so not those. Dpp recently introduced Latias so not that one.
imo, the closest metagame to “solved” is gsc OU since that one has stayed pretty much the same for the longest amount of time. Obviously there are still new meta trends that pop up sometimes (Golem for example) but that’ll happen for even the most “solved” metas.
 

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