I've not been in the competitive arena for quite some time now, I'd wish to inquire of the most respected and well groomed competitors here, and if possible, a match. I wish to see how the meta game has evolved, and if my best team is still able to withstand it.
-
Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
The elite?
- Thread starter The One Of Hax
- Start date
- Status
Mmm, a challenge of sorts, eh? I say simply get Shoddy Battle, spam ladder matches (my rank doesn't matter to me, but that's just me) and test the metagame for yourself. Then you could build your "best team" accordingly to the metagame as you see it. Actually, in your ladder matches, your bound to face at least ONE smogon goer, perhaps without knowing it due to alts. To my knowledge, about 95% of people on Shoddy actually know how to play competively, which IMO is a lot better than what I remember of Netbattle.
Anywho here's a little bit of my impression of the metagame:
~ Sandstorm teams are rampant.
~ Garchomp, Blissey, Gyarados, Gengar and Tyranitar are probably top 5 most OU from what I've seen.
~ Stealth Rock is dominating
~ Hail teams are on the downfall but are still rather common
~ Stall teams are still common
~ Random Scarf users will screw up your battle due to random "wtf outsped" revenge kills from pokemon you wouldn't expect it.
Anywho here's a little bit of my impression of the metagame:
~ Sandstorm teams are rampant.
~ Garchomp, Blissey, Gyarados, Gengar and Tyranitar are probably top 5 most OU from what I've seen.
~ Stealth Rock is dominating
~ Hail teams are on the downfall but are still rather common
~ Stall teams are still common
~ Random Scarf users will screw up your battle due to random "wtf outsped" revenge kills from pokemon you wouldn't expect it.
I personally think that Stall arose to counter the ridiculous Choice Scarf and Life Orb obsession, but the game is shifting back to Specs and Band to counter the stall.
It'll shift back to scarf and life orb, and then back to stall again when it gets out of hand... it's an endless cycle : | I reccomend testing out Shoddy on Ladder to get an idea of the current playstyle, and then go counter it.
It'll shift back to scarf and life orb, and then back to stall again when it gets out of hand... it's an endless cycle : | I reccomend testing out Shoddy on Ladder to get an idea of the current playstyle, and then go counter it.
Like Sun said, the easiest way to get good battles is simply play lots of ladder matches. While you won't always end up against the creme of the crop, you will find yourself some tough opponents once in a while (goofball, husk, MoP, Salaspectrum, Aldaron, Obi, these are some examples of good battlers that play, or have at least recently played the ladder regularly)
It also seems that the metagame is turning into a speed race now, where whoever attacks first wins. It's funny how it seemed to of changed from offense to defense to speed now (even moreso with the introduction of Deoxys-E into the OU metagame) random choice scarf pokemon are everywhere. From some data I've been collecting for a while now, Scarf Gengar is one of the most popular, and there's even been quite a big increase in jolly Scarfed Garchomps (499 speed, wtf?)
EDIT: It has come to my attention that SePh, yes, that's right, SePh, plays shoddy every day. Don't worry if you run into him though, he's really not that great, I mean, it took him 43 minutes to bring zerowings account into the top 100. I'll bet somebody like Jibaku could do it in under 30 >_> I normally end up mistaking him for just another random.
It also seems that the metagame is turning into a speed race now, where whoever attacks first wins. It's funny how it seemed to of changed from offense to defense to speed now (even moreso with the introduction of Deoxys-E into the OU metagame) random choice scarf pokemon are everywhere. From some data I've been collecting for a while now, Scarf Gengar is one of the most popular, and there's even been quite a big increase in jolly Scarfed Garchomps (499 speed, wtf?)
EDIT: It has come to my attention that SePh, yes, that's right, SePh, plays shoddy every day. Don't worry if you run into him though, he's really not that great, I mean, it took him 43 minutes to bring zerowings account into the top 100. I'll bet somebody like Jibaku could do it in under 30 >_> I normally end up mistaking him for just another random.
Well I'm new, but I know that MoP has been respected for a long time and still is. Same goes for Obi. You can also check out the shoddy battle leaderboard, but people's names on shoddy are often different than on smogon (and lots of smogoners are very good but only play wifi of course).
But ya, Shoddy Battle is a good way to get your feet wet if your coming back after a hiatus.
From what I'd seen on Shoddy Deoxy's E (which was recently unbanned on shoddy) is all over the place, as well as Sword Dance Lucario. Also someone won a lot with a rain dance team recently. Also people still use Obi's old stall team apparently .-.
EDIT: I haven't seen any Jolly Scarfchomps, but maybe I just don't notice because I don't run Deoxys or Adamant Scarfchomp. Oh ya and Iggybot is a skilled player.
More EDIT: It is true that scarfgengar is the most popular type of gengar these days. Also scarfed roserade is a popular opener (I blame Cynthia, or maybe I just think it's popular from losing to Cynthia so often).
But ya, Shoddy Battle is a good way to get your feet wet if your coming back after a hiatus.
From what I'd seen on Shoddy Deoxy's E (which was recently unbanned on shoddy) is all over the place, as well as Sword Dance Lucario. Also someone won a lot with a rain dance team recently. Also people still use Obi's old stall team apparently .-.
EDIT: I haven't seen any Jolly Scarfchomps, but maybe I just don't notice because I don't run Deoxys or Adamant Scarfchomp. Oh ya and Iggybot is a skilled player.
More EDIT: It is true that scarfgengar is the most popular type of gengar these days. Also scarfed roserade is a popular opener (I blame Cynthia, or maybe I just think it's popular from losing to Cynthia so often).
- Status