Resource Simple Questions, Simple Answers Thread

This is a combination of specific advice for this situation as well as how to play hyper offense in particular and some general advice for improving at the game.

I would recommend sticking to one team concept/archetype while you are laddering and tuning it to the meta when necessary. Unless the team you are using just isn't functional in the meta you'll get more mileage out of using the same team for many games as you will begin to learn what to do in certain situations/not get caught off guard by damage rolls and etc. I would also say that I don't think that webs is not super viable in OU. Balance is also underperforming at the moment but it certainly can work.
Screens HO definitely works in the current meta and it's a pretty easy team to play as well. Basically you are wanting your game to go something like this:
identify your wincon (your Pokémon that beats most of the opponents team/beats the opponents team if a few key Pokémon are out of the picture/weakened)
set up hazards if you have them
soften up the Pokémon that need to be weakened in order for your wincon to sweep (you can use screens to help facilitate this but try to save the screen setter if you can)
set up screens and then ideally sacrifice something so you can bring in your wincon safely
your wincon sweeps the opponent team and survives stray hits from the mons that outspeed it/it fails to OHKO thanks to screens

all hyper offense teams are based around this idea of identifying a win-con and then chipping away at its checks until you can blow through the opponent's team. If you are not clicking screens to set up a sweep, you should probably be clicking something that's going to do damage (straight up attacks but also hazards/boosting moves) otherwise you will sort of run out of gas. Don't be afraid to sacrifice Pokémon, hyper offense can frequently come back from 5-1 or 6-2 scenarios.

When playing hyper offense really focus on identifying win-cons and checks/counters to wincons(for both you and your opponent!) This is the most important element of HO and overall a really important concept in Pokémon. Always have the mentality that your opponent is asking themselves the same questions you are asking yourself. (What is good in this battle? How do I finish this battle? What does my opponent have that can stop me?) This will give you some insight into the moves they make before they make them.

Watch your replays, especially your close losses. Try to identify the turns where you made plays that led to the loss. Pay special mind to the long-term effects of your plays. Sure you switched Corviknight into Excadrill's earthquake, which seems like a good play out of context, but if that Excadrill set up on Corviknight after that and swept you because Corviknight didn't have body press then it wasn't such a great play.

Anyway, this post is definitely leaving the realm of "simple answers" but here's a few final rapid fire pieces of advice

it's better to make safe plays if you are ahead and you may need to make desperate plays if you are behind in order to have any chance of winning

if you get on a streak of several wins/losses or suffer a particularly bad loss, take a break. you will play much worse if you are salty/overconfident. you cannot win the battle at hand if you are still fighting your previous battles

seriously, analyze your replays. even if it seems like you lost to hax, always try to find the places where you could have done better. you can never change hax but you can always improve your play

Good luck! Don't get discouraged and remember that this game takes a long time and many losses to get good at.
Wow.....thanks. I will try, thanks
 
There seems to be a lot of screens HO and conk on the ladder where I'm at atm(1400-1500). Anything I could build around to take advantage of this?
 

Ruft

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There seems to be a lot of screens HO and conk on the ladder where I'm at atm(1400-1500). Anything I could build around to take advantage of this?
For one, screens can be removed with Defog or Psychic Fangs. Stalling out screens is also an effective strategy which can be done through the use of moves like Protect and bulky Pokemon in general. Look out for setup sweepers though as these are typically featured on this type of team and can set up on passive Pokemon. These can be handled by (p)hazing (Haze, Whirlwind, etc.) or the use of Ditto to act as a revenge killer. You can also disrupt them by tricking a Choice Scarf onto them with Rotom for instance.

Conkeldurr is a very strong pick in the metagame right now but it can somewhat struggle with Fairy-types like Clefable and Togekiss while the presence of Ghost-types like Dragapult makes its Fighting STAB less spammable (but they have to look out for Earthquake). It often tends to come down to what its fourth move is since most people will run Drain Punch, Mach Punch and Earthquake while the fourth move can be almost anything (Bulk Up, Close Combat, Facade, Poison Jab, Thunder Punch, etc.).

Overall I think a bulky balance team featuring Clefable is a good pick if you often encounter what you describe because it's a decent check to both Grimmsnarl (most common screens setter) and Conkeldurr, as well as common HO picks like Kommo-o and Hawlucha. Both Wish and LO Clefable are also just very strong picks in general right now.
 
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Alright, I got a homework assignment! I’ve lurked in smogon forums since DPP meta but never posted or anything. Just found out I need replays from showdown for a nom I’m championing for CrimsonXantriss (Hey they brought a good point about Chandelure).

So how do I save a replay from the other site and import it to my post. Feel free to move this if there another Q/A forum for it.

Thanks for the help in advance. :psyglad:
 
This is a combination of specific advice for this situation as well as how to play hyper offense in particular and some general advice for improving at the game.

I would recommend sticking to one team concept/archetype while you are laddering and tuning it to the meta when necessary. Unless the team you are using just isn't functional in the meta you'll get more mileage out of using the same team for many games as you will begin to learn what to do in certain situations/not get caught off guard by damage rolls and etc. I would also say that I don't think that webs is not super viable in OU. Balance is also underperforming at the moment but it certainly can work.
Screens HO definitely works in the current meta and it's a pretty easy team to play as well. Basically you are wanting your game to go something like this:
identify your wincon (your Pokémon that beats most of the opponents team/beats the opponents team if a few key Pokémon are out of the picture/weakened)
set up hazards if you have them
soften up the Pokémon that need to be weakened in order for your wincon to sweep (you can use screens to help facilitate this but try to save the screen setter if you can)
set up screens and then ideally sacrifice something so you can bring in your wincon safely
your wincon sweeps the opponent team and survives stray hits from the mons that outspeed it/it fails to OHKO thanks to screens

all hyper offense teams are based around this idea of identifying a win-con and then chipping away at its checks until you can blow through the opponent's team. If you are not clicking screens to set up a sweep, you should probably be clicking something that's going to do damage (straight up attacks but also hazards/boosting moves) otherwise you will sort of run out of gas. Don't be afraid to sacrifice Pokémon, hyper offense can frequently come back from 5-1 or 6-2 scenarios.

When playing hyper offense really focus on identifying win-cons and checks/counters to wincons(for both you and your opponent!) This is the most important element of HO and overall a really important concept in Pokémon. Always have the mentality that your opponent is asking themselves the same questions you are asking yourself. (What is good in this battle? How do I finish this battle? What does my opponent have that can stop me?) This will give you some insight into the moves they make before they make them.

Watch your replays, especially your close losses. Try to identify the turns where you made plays that led to the loss. Pay special mind to the long-term effects of your plays. Sure you switched Corviknight into Excadrill's earthquake, which seems like a good play out of context, but if that Excadrill set up on Corviknight after that and swept you because Corviknight didn't have body press then it wasn't such a great play.

Anyway, this post is definitely leaving the realm of "simple answers" but here's a few final rapid fire pieces of advice

it's better to make safe plays if you are ahead and you may need to make desperate plays if you are behind in order to have any chance of winning

if you get on a streak of several wins/losses or suffer a particularly bad loss, take a break. you will play much worse if you are salty/overconfident. you cannot win the battle at hand if you are still fighting your previous battles

seriously, analyze your replays. even if it seems like you lost to hax, always try to find the places where you could have done better. you can never change hax but you can always improve your play

Good luck! Don't get discouraged and remember that this game takes a long time and many losses to get good at.
This is a really great primer on the basics of HO. Excellent post!

For those thinking of trying it out, some great win-cons to base a team around in this meta are :gyarados:, :kommo-o: and :hawlucha:. Great mons to consider for any HO team are :mew:, :excadrill:, :bisharp: and :grimmsnarl:.
 

Finchinator

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Alright, I got a homework assignment! I’ve lurked in smogon forums since DPP meta but never posted or anything. Just found out I need replays from showdown for a nom I’m championing for CrimsonXantriss (Hey they brought a good point about Chandelure).

So how do I save a replay from the other site and import it to my post. Feel free to move this if there another Q/A forum for it.

Thanks for the help in advance. :psyglad:
In the future, this is just for OU questions, but this is basic enough and I know the answer anyway, so...

When the battle ends, you will see this. Click "upload and share replay", a link will pop up, click that link, and you have the saved replay. Replays can be viewed through this website and you can search for your name/someone else's name for more replays.
 

Ruft

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Hopefully this is a simple question, but does Guts work when Dynamaxed? (Ex: when using flame orb on Conk)
It does work.
I think the only items and abilities that are negated when Dynamaxed are those that force a choice-lock, i.e. choice items and Gorilla Tactics.

Either way Dynamax (and Gigantamax) are banned from OU so this isn't really the place to ask such a question.
 
Just a random question about something I’ve heard somewhere: What is hyper stall? To be clear, I’ve heard this term drop in the context of gen 7.
 

Ruft

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Just a random question about something I’ve heard somewhere: What is hyper stall? To be clear, I’ve heard this term drop in the context of gen 7.
I think that in most contexts this is just a synonym for full stall, i.e. fully defensive teams with the intention of dragging out the game and winning through primarily residual damage.
 
I want to have an optimal gengar spread that allows me to almost always eat a toxapex scald when in substitute, but I'm kinda new and not sure how to build that. I'd still like it max spa with modest nature
 

talah

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I want to have an optimal gengar spread that allows me to almost always eat a toxapex scald when in substitute, but I'm kinda new and not sure how to build that. I'd still like it max spa with modest nature
Modest Gengar really isn't good in this meta, it's slower than some very important Pokemon; Timid Hydreigon, Sigilyph and other Gengar, namely.

as far as the Substitute eating a Scald goes, there's various ways to EV for it, with the most optimal one being 96 HP / 88 SpD. for the future, i'd recommend playing around with calcs yourself; it's not exactly that hard to do and it can help develop good Pokemon habits.
 
Modest Gengar really isn't good in this meta, it's slower than some very important Pokemon; Timid Hydreigon, Sigilyph and other Gengar, namely.

as far as the Substitute eating a Scald goes, there's various ways to EV for it, with the most optimal one being 96 HP / 88 SpD. for the future, i'd recommend playing around with calcs yourself; it's not exactly that hard to do and it can help develop good Pokemon habits.
its from a RMT that i made some small changes to, the team is very good and i don't have problems with hydreigon and sigilyph, just with toxapex/corviknight/seismitoad cores. Thanks anyway!

edit: it sucked, way too situational
 
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Scribble

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https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8ou-472335

In this replay from SPL, Updated Kanto is using Rotom-Wash with the move set Substitute, Nasty Plot, Discharge, and Dark Pulse.

How is it possible to have Rotom-Wash without Hydro Pump? To my knowledge this has been impossible in game, but seeing this, what changed in Gen 8 to allow the Rotom forms to forego their signature moves?
 

Ema Skye

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Why is Quagsire not seen as a viable replacement to Seismitoad, as both are very similar?

Bulk-wise, 105/75 (Seismitoad) and 95/85 (Quagsire) are virtually indistinguishable. I know Unaware is cool and all, but Water Absorb lets Quagsire still accomplish a primary task of Seismitoad: blocking Fishious Rend.

Seismitoad has Stealth Rock which is a legitimate advantage between the two. However, we've seen some info from SPL that suggests hazards may not be terribly essential. Even so, Seismitoad is also much more liable to being worn down when it has to run Stealth Rock since it has to drop Protect and miss out on extra Leftovers turns.

Quagsire, meanwhile, has Recover and essentially the same movepool (both have Toxic, Scald, Protect and Earthquake - Quag also has Encore if you feel cheeky). As a pivot, because Quagsire is as bulky as Seismitoed on the physical side (where it matters), Quag has the option of using switches to regain HP, which lets it stomach much more throughout the game. With SpDef Clefable being more common (a common Stealth Rock user), as well as Ferrothorn continuing its high usage, Stealth Rock is still easy to fit on teams. Even new tricks like Defensive Kommo-o can drop the hazard. With Stealth Rock on another Pokemon, it removes Seismitoad's key movepool advantage over Quagsire and, as far as I can tell, gives Quagsire the upper hand.

Quag's special bulk is worse (105/65 vs 95/65) but neither Pokemon is taking attacks from Specs Aegislash or HP Hydreigon so it really doesn't matter imo. Unboosted hits like SpDef Clef Moonblast are still 3HKOs on both, and again, Quag can recover.
 
Why is Quagsire not seen as a viable replacement to Seismitoad, as both are very similar?

Bulk-wise, 105/75 (Seismitoad) and 95/85 (Quagsire) are virtually indistinguishable. I know Unaware is cool and all, but Water Absorb lets Quagsire still accomplish a primary task of Seismitoad: blocking Fishious Rend.

Seismitoad has Stealth Rock which is a legitimate advantage between the two. However, we've seen some info from SPL that suggests hazards may not be terribly essential. Even so, Seismitoad is also much more liable to being worn down when it has to run Stealth Rock since it has to drop Protect and miss out on extra Leftovers turns.

Quagsire, meanwhile, has Recover and essentially the same movepool (both have Toxic, Scald, Protect and Earthquake - Quag also has Encore if you feel cheeky). As a pivot, because Quagsire is as bulky as Seismitoed on the physical side (where it matters), Quag has the option of using switches to regain HP, which lets it stomach much more throughout the game. With SpDef Clefable being more common (a common Stealth Rock user), as well as Ferrothorn continuing its high usage, Stealth Rock is still easy to fit on teams. Even new tricks like Defensive Kommo-o can drop the hazard. With Stealth Rock on another Pokemon, it removes Seismitoad's key movepool advantage over Quagsire and, as far as I can tell, gives Quagsire the upper hand.

Quag's special bulk is worse (105/65 vs 95/65) but neither Pokemon is taking attacks from Specs Aegislash or HP Hydreigon so it really doesn't matter imo. Unboosted hits like SpDef Clef Moonblast are still 3HKOs on both, and again, Quag can recover.
you might as well run gastrodon at that point, i think a big part of seismitoads niche is actually rocks because we really dont have that many rockers easy to fit on teams this gen, and even the couple mons that do get rocks (clefable, excadrill) would rather be running other moves.
 
Modest Gengar really isn't good in this meta, it's slower than some very important Pokemon; Timid Hydreigon, Sigilyph and other Gengar, namely.

as far as the Substitute eating a Scald goes, there's various ways to EV for it, with the most optimal one being 96 HP / 88 SpD. for the future, i'd recommend playing around with calcs yourself; it's not exactly that hard to do and it can help develop good Pokemon habits.
Is there anything about that checks and 'optimizes' EV spreads? I seem to recall years ago that you could put a proposed ev spread and nature in, and it would tell you if it was more efficient to change nature/ev spread to free points up for elsewhere.
 

talah

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Is there anything about that checks and 'optimizes' EV spreads? I seem to recall years ago that you could put a proposed ev spread and nature in, and it would tell you if it was more efficient to change nature/ev spread to free points up for elsewhere.
there isn't a tool that does that's integrated in showdown, so it's something that you're going to have to check for yourself
 
i personally wouldn't recommend this for every case, while it's a valuable tool it only accounts for one side of the defensive facet. a lot of these reddit spread calculators seem to completely disregard the fact that investing into HP helps with BOTH physical bulk AND special bulk, so that only Pokémon with really high base HP like say Snorlax or Chansey you really wanna calculate at what point investing a point into both defenses wields more than investing two points into HP, which like i said is a very rare occurrence.

so yeah for the most part when calculating spreads just go to the good ol' calculator and put max hp and the rest of the evs into whatever benchmark you want, really. max max is fine as well, don't be dissuaded by running it just because it's max max, because a lot of the time it's still the most optimal spread.
 
Since r/stunfisk has ignored my question, I have registered here. If my post does not belong here, I am sorry.

I wanted to use Glaceon competitively (it is one of my favourite Pokémon, I know that it is weak) and came up with the following idea:

Glaceon @ Leftovers
Ability: Ice Body
EVs: HP 252 | ?
Nature: Bold (+ Def. | - Atk.) / Calm (+ Sp. Def. | - Atk.)
- Freeze-Dry
- Mirror Coat
- Baby-Doll Eyes
- Shadow Ball / Protect

The strategy is to force physical sweepers which do not boost to switch and lure special sweepers into Mirror Coat. Freeze-Dry instead of Ice Beam offers better coverage. Baby-Doll Eyes instead of Charm offers priority. Shadow Ball offers more coverage, but Protect offers Leftovers recovery and lets me see what my opponent does.

My problem is that I can't decide which EV split and Nature to choose. HP 252 is necessary in order to take as much damage as possible and have Mirror Coat deal respective damage. Because Glaceon's base Defense is higher than its base Sp. Defense (110 vs. 95) and because it has access to Baby-Doll Eyes, I prefer to focus on its Sp. Defense, but by how much? Furthermore, I am not familiar with most of the current metagame, therefore, I do not know which damage calculations to run.

Do you have any ideas? Since I want to breed such a Glaceon, I am cautious. I am looking forward to your suggestions.
 
Hello,

I'm not sure it is the most appropriate place to ask this question, but let's try:

Is there a place for rental teams sharing? I'm looking for sample teams to play on SwSh, but nobody seems to talk about this feature; and every others websites only shares 3v3/ VGC teams :blobnauseated:
 

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