Smogon Tournament #1 Aftermath - Did you learn anything?

Ness

This was my first chance to really get to battle some serious trainers, and although I have had some good battles from Gamefaqs/SPP, I was looking forward to this one mainly to get a better grasp on what the metagame is like.

What I learned:

1. Stealth Rock/Spikes stacking is stupid. What was Game Freak thinking on this one? This basically ensures that EVERY team needs a Rapid Spinner. I didn't have one, and paid for it, getting 6-0'ed mostly thanks to this.

2. Sucker Punch saved my ass in my first battle and win. I could have been swept out of the 1st round by a Garchomp who Swords Danced and activated Salac Berry, but my Honchkrow came in and Sucker Punched it. It may not be as practical as, say Quick Attack-like moves, but on Dark Pokemon it can hit hard.

3. My fear was confirmed, as I was taken out by a person using the "Fantastic 4" team. Even though the guy was DQ'ed for hacking, I still fear that the metagame may be centralized by the "Fantastic 4". Fantastic 4 Team, for those of you wondering, is Blissey, Garchomp, Salamence, and Tyranitar with any 2 other Pokemon. I have a bad feeling that many teams in the future will contain these 4 Pokemon, making things a bit bland.

4. Baton Passing is hard to pull off. By pull off, I mean get what you want to achieve and have it pay off. Using Baton Passable moves(aka Agility, Nasty Plot, Swords Dance) tips off your opponent as to what you have in mind, allowing them to bring in the appropriate counter. One could attempt to set up Baton Passes later in the match, but Stealth rock/Spikes make it not as enticing.
 
The "Fantastic 4" you're saying is not imposible to stop, I mean, a well-played ScarfCham can own them all, and stuff.

I didn't enter the tourney, but I want to read more final words and learnings, it may be interesting.
 
In reply to you;

There are weaknesses to the Fantastic 4 Team. I do know that Blissey has a Marowak weakness once Marowak brings up a Swords Dance, but good luck in trying to set Marowak up. I'd like to run more physical attackers for the express point of bringing down that annoying egg who is annoyingly popular now.
 
So what happened to the hacker? I heard it was some guy named "Raidos" or something, care to explain, if you don't mind? Thanks
 
I "learned" a lot I guess. I was basically comedy (I might be able to write an amusing 0-5 loss story about my round 1 battle with raidos) fodder, but I seem to have learned today:

1. Stacked spikes that don't go away are annoying. Stealth rock is mildly annoying. Teams that use both and constantly roar/whirlwind you are annoying. I suspect you may have been doing the same thing I was/playing the same person. >_>

2. I should probably have EV'd 4/6 of my team. Maybe even bred for good stats and moves.

3. While using ditto as my sixth pokemon was awesome (though not as awesome as a shiny ditto), it apparently dies (AFTER transformation) in one shot from close combat by a heracross. The only way I can figure this out is attack boost + copied defense -.

4. Dusclops isn't as sturdy as dusknoir (presumably) is.

5. Chansey dies too easily. Presumably blissey is sturdier.

6. Everything uses earthquake. It's rather annoying.

7. Everything is too fast and kills you in one hit. It's somewhat annoying.
 
I learned that my team has lots of problems with Rain Dance teams, and especially a Bronzong. Well, at least I'll learn from my mistakes. I hope there's going to be another tournament, I'll be fun to have more than 1 battle =\.

Oh, and I should've used a DT BP Celebi / Wobba.
 
Blizzard said:
I "learned" a lot I guess. I was basically comedy (I might be able to write an amusing 0-5 loss story about my round 1 battle with raidos) fodder, but I seem to have learned today:

1. Stacked spikes that don't go away are annoying. Stealth rock is mildly annoying. Teams that use both and constantly roar/whirlwind you are annoying. I suspect you may have been doing the same thing I was/playing the same person. >_>

2. I should probably have EV'd 4/6 of my team. Maybe even bred for good stats and moves.

3. While using ditto as my sixth pokemon was awesome (though not as awesome as a shiny ditto), it apparently dies (AFTER transformation) in one shot from close combat by a heracross. The only way I can figure this out is attack boost + copied defense -.

4. Dusclops isn't as sturdy as dusknoir (presumably) is.

5. Chansey dies too easily. Presumably blissey is sturdier.

6. Everything uses earthquake. It's rather annoying.

7. Everything is too fast and kills you in one hit. It's somewhat annoying.
Click to expand...

... You just made my day with that post.
I think that merits an award or something.
 
Although I didn't participate in the tourney (Team wasn't ready yet) that "Fantastic 4" idea is pretty accurate.

Invisible Woman - Blissey, neither of the two take damage from projectile attacks EVER

The Thing - Tyranitar, I think they share a resemblance, don't you?

The Human Torch - Salamence, Flying Fire Dragons = Flying Person on Fire

Mr. Fantastic - Garchomp, By default.
 
Well I lost my first round, so I didn't learn much, but I did learn that I still want to make an omelet out of Blissey, and CH's still show up at the worst possible times.
 
Looks like it was fun, but any decent fighter can take care of the F4 by simply using Brick Break and Ice Punch - Couldn't a Medicham basically set up a Sub, and counter them all - swap Brick Break for Focus Punch and Blissey's down in 1 hit.
Unless BB would OHKO, in which case.. what's so great about those 4 dudes?

Meh, I always carry Medicham around since he's cool, owns, and is part fighting. :)

I'll participate in the next one if there's one before competitor.
 
Gyarados is way more threatening that Garchomp, Ice Beams are everywhere and it can be outspeeded, when DD Bulky Gyarados is rather impredictable and has nice resistances (Flying, Bug, Water, Fire, Inmune to Ground, they all are useful ^^)
 
sarunibi said:
I'm surprised though that Gyarados isn't part of the "Fantastic four" considering that it's been hyped nearly as much as the other 4. Is it the "unofficial" fifth member?
Click to expand...

It can be the Silver Surfer <_<.

Anyway, I learned...

1) sometimes if you try and breed for one HP, but get a slightly worse HP type instead, sometimes it can actually work out for you instead.

2) Double-Team Umbreon with Mean Look and BP..oh wait, DURING the tournament? Let's try that again

2.1) Sandstorm/Spikes/Stealth Rock out at the same time is a tad annoying if you don't deal with them quickly.

3) 6-0 matches in your favor really put a bounce in your step =).

and lastly

4) Mods have to take a lot of shit during the tournament. I kinda feel sorry for them, cause it's not their fault that a select few people can't follow simple instructions
 
oh man i learned alot.

1. EVERY team i faced had a Specsmence. It may just have been the coincidence of the pairings, but it was so predictable at times that i just immediatley switched to blissey eveyrtime i saw salamance. However, taking nearly 45% from Draco Meteor got annoying, cuz i always had ot be at full healtj with Bliss. Spikes and Stealth Rock just made things worse.

2. Gyarados was easily the Ace of my team. I mean among the miriad of sweepers on my team, nothing did as much damage early on as Gyarados had. Oh and countering him was pretty tough too. 2 of my 4 matches involved gyarados vs gyarados. it was pretty intense.

3. Item Clause is a bitch. Sandstorm rips apart teams due to item clause. Yet it allowed for some innovation and originality, and as annoyed to hell i was when i found out it was claused, i actually liked it. :)

4. Wobbeffet was dumb. I lost the game to one, but only cuz i played stupidly. Taunt owns wobb, yet it still is a pain. The battle with Wobb didnt clear up the debate on its banning at all. It just made the battle much harder, since i had to outpredict my opponent almost every turn. After my experience in battling Wobb, i still dont have a clue as to whether is should be banned or not. But i do know that w/o it, i could have won my match. =/

5. WiFi tourneys are soo tedious. Its very time consuming, it basically took my whole day. It was hard to manage, so big props to all the mods, especially Surgo, because with all of those people who didnt show up, and those who hacked 252 evs in all stats, the tourney could have clearly been a disaster. So thanks for your hard work.

This tournement clearly showed the best and worst of WiFi. I loved it and i truly hope for new ones in the upcoming future.
 
Although I wasn't in it, I learned that I should have got into IVs and all that crap early so I could have joined with a fully competitive team >:(
 
Well hopefully when the next one comes up (there will be a next one right?) I'll be able to enter. Cause with more time and preparation, things can run a lot more smoothly.
 
Maybe I should go more into detail about the "Fantastic 4" idea. By that, I mean teams contain those 4 Pokemon + 2 others, and one of the two others is a defensive wall(i.e. Skarmory). Sure, Medicham can deal with the "Fantastic 4" by themselves, but Skarmory(or another defensive wall) can just come in and take the hits, though Thunder/Fire Punch might not be fun.
 
3N3MY, I didn't have SpecsMence =D And you should switch out your two hacked pogeys for some legit ones =(
 
Firestorm said:
3N3MY, I didn't have SpecsMence =D And you should switch out your two hacked pogeys for some legit ones =(
Click to expand...

I liked your team Firestorm, and it was unexpected because since you are a competitive Smash Bros. player and a Mario Kart snaker I expected you to use the most standard boring team, but instead you didn't. Butterfree and Raichu = awesome, Props to you
 
I learned that my 222 speed Skarmory worked a lot better than even I expected. In one battle, I killed a Bronzong with it. I demolished my entire round three opponent's team with just Skarmory, as well. Not having Substitute backfired sometimes, but Roost was a great help as well.
 
i learned ,that my awesome trick room team did work, even when i lost my first round battle (though i got outpredicted and my opponent had luck in a critical situation..damn you waterfall!) but i need to rebuild the team ,maybe just use 2 trick roomer , so i have more space for more real attacking pokemon...

Stealth Rock is pain ,so is Garchomp..its also a shame ,that we see Skarm/Bliss again ,this duo will never die , it seems...
 
Ness said:
I liked your team Firestorm, and it was unexpected because since you are a competitive Smash Bros. player and a Mario Kart snaker I expected you to use the most standard boring team, but instead you didn't. Butterfree and Raichu = awesome, Props to you
Click to expand...

I use Young Link (and sometimes Sheik) in SSBM. I use Toad in the Dry Bomber (Mushroom in a tank, if that's unappealing you have no heart) for Mario Kart DS. And I don't really get a chance to attend tournaments, but I do stay in touch with some of the tournament players in my city!

Yeah Thunderhorse, we should probably see the verdict on Double Team ^_^;
 
What I learned was:

1. My team has a weakness. It is: "IMPORTANT!DANGER!(ONLY FOR DUSKNOIR!)"

2. Choice Specs Alakazams can carry Grass Knot.

I got out in the first round. My opponent did have the "Fantastic 4" only without Tyranitar, and I did not recall any of them to be significant threats (Zam and Dusknoir were the ones that stood out for me).

The tourney was a good experience, nevertheless, and I think the organizers did an excellent job setting it up and moderating it.
 
-Gyarados is the biggest threat in the game.

-Garchomp is the single biggest overhyped thing in overhyping history. Once the cool-new-pokemon novelty wears off, the 'fantastic four' will find a new member (read: gyarados).

-Skarm is still by far the best physical wall in the game. Rhyperior seems to be weak to everything and dies way too quickly despite solid rock/sandstream, and there were a curious lack of Gliscors present (then again, there were barely any Heracross, at least from what I saw).

-Does everyone in the world just 'do what Jump do'? There was a specsmence on every other team for Christ's sake.

-Stupid Gallade, with his stupid waist and stupid legs, isn't stupid at all. It's a fucking awesome pokemon that may just be the biggest sleeper hit of D/P.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top