Other Foreign OU metagames, Gen 6

[adman2]

I once made a fairly successful thread during early 4th gen about how non-English speaking countries approach their standard metagames. Many of them had different and interesting rules, and the Japanese players in particular are known for using UU and "gimmicky" sets successfully. There was at least one ruleset in 4th gen where Dugtrio was considered their equivalent of Uber! I think other ones had restrictions on how many base 600 Pokemon (e.g. Dragonite, Tyranitar, etc.) you could have on your team.

What has changed in 5th and 6th gen for non-Smogon rulesets and strategies?

I considered putting this in "Other Metagames", but this is about other STANDARD tiers, so I placed it here.


P.S.: I can read Spanish decently (I even play Pokemon X in that to practice), but I don't know where the "competitive" Pokemon forums are for that language.

I only found one that looked remotely like what I had in mind, and you had to sign up to view the pages, and I didn't feel like doing that.

 

[Talpr0ne]

I'm Italian and i can guarantee that in our country we use mostly(if not only) the Smogon ruleset, or for those who like that, the official VGC ruleset. Not sure about other countries thought.

 

[Mario With Lasers]

Brazil has the LOP (Liga Oficial Pokémon), which would be the closest we have to official tourneys for now. They used to have their own rulesets ("no legendaries allowed, but lv90 Mewtwo is ok to use!" what) at least until DPPt, but started using Smogon tier lists sometime in BW.

Any other forum/community/FB group I've heard of uses either Smogon, Rated Wi-Fi or VGC rules. Nothing too out of the ordinary. There seems to be an unwritten rule between some people of not using Evasion/OHKO/legendaries/Megas regardless of ruleset, though.

I think other ones had restrictions on how many base 600 Pokemon (e.g. Dragonite, Tyranitar, etc.) you could have on your team.

I remember that thread; you could use only one 600 BST pokémon and +2 boosting moves were banned on any pokémon with 550+ BST or 125+ Base Atk/Sp. Atk.

And to think we complained of Aldaron's proposal.

 

[Pyritie]

There seems to be an unwritten rule between some people of not using [...] Megas regardless of ruleset, though.

What?

 

[Judgement Blade]

They used to have their own rulesets ("no legendaries allowed, but lv90 Mewtwo is ok to use!" what0

That reminds me of when people decided to try to put Kyogre and Groudon in OU by allowing them at a lower level and it backfired horribly.

 

[Mario With Lasers]

What?

Yeah, some people think they're all broken or needless fanservice.

That reminds me of when people decided to try to put Kyogre and Groudon in OU by allowing them at a lower level and it backfired horribly.

LOP Double Battles were bizarre in ADV, every team had Kyogre, Kingdra and Ludicolo. I don't think even RBY Ubers had so many mirror matches lol.

 

[Shiruba]

As far as I know, French Spirit [I think that's what it's called, I can't find it again on Google or DuckDuckGo - I see Pokemon Spirit, but they're not the same] used Smogon rules as well, so nothing strange there. I might've actually recognized a few people from here, though it was a while ago and I don't remember.

I'm curious about Japan if anyone knows about it, though. I believe that one of Heracross' analyses says it was banned in Japan in ADV, and I've heard that the Japanese play totally differently from the west, and this is reflected in their rules. Personally, I don't even know about any Japanese competitive Pokemon sites, let alone anyone who goes on them or being able to actually read them. Anyone here know some?

 

[lopsided]

Here's one site.
Of course, you're not going to get a perfect translation but it's manageable

http://translate.googleusercontent....mon6th&usg=ALkJrhiZR1CYlBw57QkdDainQLbJ426-6A

 

[rachet67]

I don't understand how you would play pokemon "differently". I would think that there are generally more solid strategies than others in a stable metagame, and that any major play style differences between countries would have to stem off from different rule sets (such as allowing level 90 Kyogres or banning +2 boosting moves on certain pokemon).

 

[adman2]

I don't understand how you would play pokemon "differently". I would think that there are generally more solid strategies than others in a stable metagame, and that any major play style differences between countries would have to stem off from different rule sets (such as allowing level 90 Kyogres or banning +2 boosting moves on certain pokemon).

You have to admit we are quite different from Nintendo rules, for example! :)

Besides, have you played Battle Spot, or Pokemon Battle Revolution in 4th gen? The Japanese movesets can be very different from Western ones, yet still effective. For example, I hear they put Substitute on practically everything! Check out the Battle Spot forum for the moveset thread. It's quite interesting.

Rulesets count as "playing differently".

It seems that the metagames have homogenized a lot since 4th gen based on the comments. . .

 

[Manriki]

Hmm, there seems to be no information on the Internet regarding Russian fans, I guess if there are any players they go by foreign rules. On German site filb.de they seem to use Smogon and VGC ruleset, haven't found anything interesting there :/

 

[SunnyE]

Brazil has the LOP (Liga Oficial Pokémon), which would be the closest we have to official tourneys for now. They used to have their own rulesets ("no legendaries allowed, but lv90 Mewtwo is ok to use!" what) at least until DPPt, but started using Smogon tier lists sometime in BW.

I'm from Brazil, and the LOP (now it stands for Liga Organizada Pokémon, btw), at least here in Pernambuco, did NOT use the Smogon tiers, though they were very similar, during the B/W era. For example, Blaziken was not banned. Speed Boost Blaziken, along with any Dream World mons that weren't available here in Brazil were banned simply because they were to hard to get, and therefore it was considered unfair to use. (this also banned Solar Power Charizard, Rain Dish Blastoise, and many other weaker mons as well). During Gen 4, we had a "Restricted Clause", which is basically the afformentioned restriction to pokemon that have 600+BST (in reallity it was a list of top-tier threats, BST was not the only criteria used to determine restricted status.) to at most 2 per team.

With the start of gen 6, LOP is going, for the first time ever, to use Smogon Tiers for the first 4 months of the year. But will also be, for the first time ever (again), using Lvl 50 battles, instead of lvl 100 for this period. PokéBank'd mons are also Banned for now, as that has yet to come out here.

Basically, Brazil's metagame is very similar to Smogon's. However, as it is DS-Based, many decisions are made with the idea of fairness of availability in mind, as PokéSav is banned (ever legal ones...) and to allow such hard-to-get mons would likely push people into used it.

 

[SpaceFlare]

I found a Pokemon facebook group for our country and most people either play Smogon, or Wi-Fi, or VGC rules.

 

[Elveman]

Hmm, there seems to be no information on the Internet regarding Russian fans, I guess if there are any players they go by foreign rules. On German site filb.de they seem to use Smogon and VGC ruleset, haven't found anything interesting there :/

In Russian tournaments there is mix of Smogon, PO and VGC rules. For example, both Zygarde and Blaziken are banned. There's also VGC-like item clause (no same items)

 

[Elveman]

But most of Russian players follow Smogon rules

 

[SHUCKLE MAN]

I once made a fairly successful thread during early 4th gen about how non-English speaking countries approach their standard metagames.

I think I remember this thread!

It's interesting that it seems most other languages reported so far use Smogon rules. I think perhaps the tiering overhaul we had during Gen IV (treating all NFEs as individual Pokemon, dropping all the BLs to UU (i.e. Obi's Proposal), having proper tests to determine bans) made Smogon's banlists more attractive to people.

 

[Pyritie]

Basically, Brazil's metagame is very similar to Smogon's. However, as it is DS-Based, many decisions are made with the idea of fairness of availability in mind, as PokéSav is banned (ever legal ones...) and to allow such hard-to-get mons would likely push people into used it.

Just curious, but would this also prevent old gen event-exclusive movesets, like wish blisseys or extremespeed linoones?

 

[Mario With Lasers]

Just curious, but would this also prevent old gen event-exclusive movesets, like wish blisseys or extremespeed linoones?

Yes, for Wish Blissey. If the event for the pokémon wasn't available in Brazil, it is not allowed. For that same reason, Tanabata Jirachi was not allowed, only Jirachi from the Bonus Disc (and later, that Draco Meteor Jirachi as we also got a official distribution). Extreme Speed Linoone, on the other hand, was "easily" available from Pokémon Box, so if you had enough money to buy a GameCube and Box, you were fine.

 

[Stallmory]

Just started playing Pokémon competitively, and from what I can see here in Spain (at least in some groups I've been) we follow Smogon rules in general. Also the VGC rules, of course.

 

[Lirg]

I remember, during the 4th Gen era that in French speaking countries, there were a clause like the aldaron proposal but for the Sand Veil + Sandstorm and Snow Cloak + Hail. But by now, we use the smogon tiers.

 

[Haze Milotic]

I'm from Japan! I personally use the Smogon rules and tier sets, as they are used competitively in the United States, and most of the competitive battlers I come across are from the US...and most of my friends do too. If there is some Japanese website like Smogon, I don't know about it. And if there is, I would very much like to hear about it.

 

[Yayz]

Having a metagame with rules that are used in other countries could be interesting. I forsee a "Japanese OU" tier possible here.

I like the idea of having only 2 'mons with 600+ BST. It'd make for some more interesting battles, I think.

 

[Kralizec]

P.S.: I can read Spanish decently (I even play Pokemon X in that to practice), but I don't know where the "competitive" Pokemon forums are for that language

Don't bother, they pretty much follow Smogon to the letter.

 

[chronosaurus]

Here in Mexico most people limit their rules to banning legendaries (Mewtwo, Lugia, Groudon, etc.) and event legendaries (Mew, Celebi, Darkrai, etc.), but allowing the legendary trios out of each game (Articuno, Raikou, Regirock, etc.). No sleep clause, no evasion clause, and tons and tons of rage quits when someone reaches +6 Evasion.

 

[Retro64]

As far as differences between countries go I don't think Mexico plays any different than Smogon. There's probably less care to enforce those rules,so that's the only difference really. I speak Spanish fluently and visited Mexico often before.