Resource Ask a simple question, get a simple answer: NU Edition

So I think I am at the point where I have a decent grasp of the basics of competetive pokemon battling and I want to branch out into using more diverse pokemon for my teams instead of always using the go-to solutions to a certain teambuilding problem. That being said, I still have a hard time valuing a Pokemon correctly. I keep seeing C-Rated mons in RMTs where the team peaked very highly and it makes me wonder wether its the player just being very good, them abusing a cheesy strategy (Para-Confusion-Sub-Chatot comes to mind) or if it just doesn't matter all that much whether a mon is technically outclassed. What makes certain pokemon so much better than their counterparts, and how big is the difference? I don't know how many here can relate, but the only analogy I can think of is a Super Smash Bros Melee one, where Doctor Mario is a character that is very capable of pulling of sweet combos and punish insanely well, but he has to work way, wayyy harder to achieve that in comparison to the higher ranked part of the cast. Is it a bit like that?

Lets take Floatzel and Samurott as an example: as far as I am aware, both of these mon have the possibility to run physical and special sets, both have comparable attack stats, Samurott is bulkier while Floatzel is faster. What makes one A+ while the other one is C+?

Sorry if this is not a simple question. Couldn't find a more appropriate thread to ask this.
 
There's essentially two or three reasons to use a lower ranked Pokemon in teambuilding in my opinion.

1. The lower ranked Pokemon checks certain threat to the team better than its counterpart. (Floatzel helps on slower teams that Samurott would otherwise hinder)
2. The lower ranked Pokemon lures in a common check or counter for another team member. (Ursaring handles Garbodor and Rhydon better than Zangoose, and helps teammates to get past it)
3. The teambuilder was bored and decided to use something different, lol.

I feel like when you see RMT's that perform well with more niche Pokemon, its typically the second option. I think its far more likely a better player makes a 'metagame call' to get past a popular style than it is they were weak to something in the teambuilding stage and a niche mon corrected the weakness. It really depends on who you're talking about and what the rest of the team looks like though, and these are just general assumptions I'm making based on experience.
 
Deeerpz said:
So I think I am at the point where I have a decent grasp of the basics of competetive pokemon battling and I want to branch out into using more diverse pokemon for my teams instead of always using the go-to solutions to a certain teambuilding problem. That being said, I still have a hard time valuing a Pokemon correctly. I keep seeing C-Rated mons in RMTs where the team peaked very highly and it makes me wonder wether its the player just being very good, them abusing a cheesy strategy (Para-Confusion-Sub-Chatot comes to mind) or if it just doesn't matter all that much whether a mon is technically outclassed. What makes certain pokemon so much better than their counterparts, and how big is the difference? I don't know how many here can relate, but the only analogy I can think of is a Super Smash Bros Melee one, where Doctor Mario is a character that is very capable of pulling of sweet combos and punish insanely well, but he has to work way, wayyy harder to achieve that in comparison to the higher ranked part of the cast. Is it a bit like that?

Lets take Floatzel and Samurott as an example: as far as I am aware, both of these mon have the possibility to run physical and special sets, both have comparable attack stats, Samurott is bulkier while Floatzel is faster. What makes one A+ while the other one is C+?

Sorry if this is not a simple question. Couldn't find a more appropriate thread to ask this.
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The general premise of why you'd use a lower ranked Pokemon over a more commonly used Pokemon is, simply put, if they can fulfill some role or check a certain threat in a way that other Pokemon cannot. For example, Vibrava is very low on the rankings but it holds a useful niche of checking Fire-type Pokemon [not fletch tho lol], resisting edgequake, having the combo of reliable recovery, U-turn, and entry hazard removal in one teamslot. Sure, it has pretty mediocre stats overall, and after losing its eviolite its pretty worthless, but if it can do something in a way that another Pokemon cannot, for example comparing Vibrava to Pelipper as they both have u-turn / roost / defog, the qualities that pelipper has are really just better stats and a different set of resistances. If your team is super weak to dual dance rhydon and fire types, Vibrava can hold a spot on a team, albeit a very small niche. Vibrava was much better in the mega camerupt meta, but this was just for comparison because its low on the rankings.
Hope this and what Kiyo said clarifies the confusion.
 
Thank you guys, that makes it pretty clear. Just to make sure I got it right: basically, certain mons are ranked higher than others not neccessarily because they dish out more damage or are faster, but because they are the "correct" choice in team building for more teams, because they are able to come in on/check/counter more stuff. To use the Floatzel/Samurott example again, sure, Floatzel is great when your team needs a really quick water type with decent coverage, but in reality, that just doesn't happen all that often and Samurott is the superior choice because it just does better against/synergizes better with a majority of the meta

Is that about it?
 
I'm trying to Breed a perfect cubchoo. I have 5 perfect IVS so far. What iv would be ok to not have at 31 based on beartic's stats?
 
Hey mwicker92, I don't think this is the right place to ask those questions but it's a pretty simple one so I'll answer you anyway. Beartic is mostly a physical attacker so you'd probably get away with not having perfect IVs in its special attack.
 
Hey, just a general question here. So I started playing NU literally today and I love it. I laddered for a couple hours and my record is something like 22-2 (yeah, I'm probably not that good, I'm sure I just played Noobs), but I want to get involved in some smogon NU tournaments or something. How do I do this? Do I need to ladder more until I am ranked high so that I am proven to be good, or do I just sign up somewhere?
 
WaffleTitan said:
Hey, just a general question here. So I started playing NU literally today and I love it. I laddered for a couple hours and my record is something like 22-2 (yeah, I'm probably not that good, I'm sure I just played Noobs), but I want to get involved in some smogon NU tournaments or something. How do I do this? Do I need to ladder more until I am ranked high so that I am proven to be good, or do I just sign up somewhere?
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Hi, first let me say "Welcome to NU!" In terms of community based tournaments, we host small room tournaments in the Pokemon Showdown Never Used room every now and again. There's no set schedule for these so you kinda have to be lucky to be around when one is started. In terms of tournaments hosted on the forums, I actually host a regular tournament that anyone can sign up for. You can read about it HERE. We're currently in the middle of the second cycle so just pay attention to the NU Sub-Forums here for when the next one gets posted. We also host some mini-tournaments every now and again with a gimmick or so. There's also a new cool tournament known as the Lower Tier Series which you can read about HERE. All you have to do is keep an eye on things ;)
 
Disjunction said:
Hi, first let me say "Welcome to NU!" In terms of community based tournaments, we host small room tournaments in the Pokemon Showdown Never Used room every now and again. There's no set schedule for these so you kinda have to be lucky to be around when one is started. In terms of tournaments hosted on the forums, I actually host a regular tournament that anyone can sign up for. You can read about it HERE. We're currently in the middle of the second cycle so just pay attention to the NU Sub-Forums here for when the next one gets posted. We also host some mini-tournaments every now and again with a gimmick or so. There's also a new cool tournament known as the Lower Tier Series which you can read about HERE. All you have to do is keep an eye on things ;)
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks! I'll keep a lookout for the next tournament.
 
Can someone please tell me all the different types of sets Aurorus runs in NU ? (the SmogonDex doesn't have any NU sets for it)
 
Speaking of Aurorus, I heard on multiple occasions that the Rock Polish set is supposed to be bad, though in theory it would seem like a good set, considering the amount of coverage Aurorus can run in 3 attacks. Does it lack the power to kill things without Specs or is it the weak defensive typing that makes this set worse than specs/scarf? Or something else entirely?
 
Deeerpz said:
Speaking of Aurorus, I heard on multiple occasions that the Rock Polish set is supposed to be bad, though in theory it would seem like a good set, considering the amount of coverage Aurorus can run in 3 attacks. Does it lack the power to kill things without Specs or is it the weak defensive typing that makes this set worse than specs/scarf? Or something else entirely?
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The main thing is that it gets revenge killed fairly easily, as it gets hit hard by common priority like Aqua Jet, Mach Punch, Bullet Punch, Sucker Punch, etc, and it sometimes doesn't last long because of its weakness to hazards, LO recoil (this is actually more important than it might appear imo), and bad typing so it can't really check much of anything. I'd say Choice Specs is 100% more consistent in most matches, and is overall more dangerous in general
 
How come Pokemon hold items like the Charcoal and Silk Scarf for a 10% power boost for only one type of moves when you can use the Muscle Band or Wise Glasses for the same boost but with all types of moves?
 
Bluerain said:
How come Pokemon hold items like the Charcoal and Silk Scarf for a 10% power boost for only one type of moves when you can use the Muscle Band or Wise Glasses for the same boost but with all types of moves?
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charcoal and silk scarf both boost their types by 20% as do all other type specific items, this is true for all games including and after gen 4
 
Kiyo said:
that's more than likely an error from when we recently switched our dex's formatting, i'll bring it up / fix it soon. unless something has drastically changed plates and type items should be 20%
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Ah, I see. Thanks, that's been bugging me for a while now.
 
So I wanted to build a team around CM Barrier Musharna, but I'm not sure what a good EV spread would be. And should I run Colbur Berry or Lefties? The set would look something like this:

Musharna @ Colbur Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: ?
- Barrier
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Moonlight

Thanks
 
SlickHippo99 said:
So I wanted to build a team around CM Barrier Musharna, but I'm not sure what a good EV spread would be. And should I run Colbur Berry or Lefties? The set would look something like this:

Musharna @ Colbur Berry / Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: ?
- Barrier
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Moonlight

Thanks
Click to expand...
colbur gives you the ability to beat CB Sneasel 1v1, max hp and max def is typically the best ev spread unless your team needs to survive something specific
 
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