The Magazine Q&A Thread - Mark 2

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Alright, lets get a new batch of questions!

In each issue, the Smogon Magazine will be publishing some of the questions asked in this thread, along with in-depth responses. These should not be simple questions that can be answered in one or two sentences; they should be complex and though provoking questions that require at least a single paragraph to be answered and these are not "fact finding" questions that we can answer with a google search either.

Rules
  • Only one question per person.
  • Do not ask a question that has already been asked.
  • If you wish to change your question then that is fine, but do not create a new post. Simply edit your old one.
  • Do not respond to anyone else's question. Even if you think a question is too simple, leave it to the mods to decide.
  • Only ask questions related to Competitive Pokemon.
So feel free to pose your complex questions here!

EDIT: Anyone who obviously has not read the OP will be infracted
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Smogon's tiers are followed by a vast majority of Competitive Battlers around the world. Is it really fair to let only ~100 people decide on the status of a pokemon such as Garchomp, when the decision is so far-reaching? Is there any alternative way to ensure that more people get to vote on the tiering of suspects?
 
When attempting to build a team around a forgotten threat(other than beating its checks), what else will the team have to worry about in today's metagame?
 
Too add on to KoTW's question, is it ever worth countering the metagame, or is it better to make a team that can check the "big" threats, but still keep up with it?
 
In any competitive scene, there is always something special that separates the great players from everyone else. No matter how much theory a person memorizes, they may never be great because there is always something missing. In the world of competitive Pokemon, what is it that makes the greats... great?
 
Many players feel they have a distinct playing style; that is, they will lean towards offense or stall or anywhere in the middle or on the sides. Do you think a great battler should be able to use any playing style as the metagame suits them, or do you think it is more important to be able to master their chosen style?
 
Instead of banning a Pokemon entirely from the standard OU metagame, is there a chance of ever banning just a specific set or a Pokemon with a certain hold item?

While I'm not exactly advocating this exact example: Something like Choice Scarf Jirachi. Or maybe Jirachi with either Thunder Wave / Body Slam or Iron Head, but not both attacks. I think stuff like this has been done in NU or UU, but why not OU?
 
based on KOTW's question...

What is a good way to defend against anti-metagame? Is it your own anti-metagame, using Pokemon that resist anti-metagame decently, or something else?

(I know that's two questions, but the second is just a clarification of the first.)
 
How to efficiently control the tempo of the game and use it to our advantage,and what
are the actual advantage we got when we control the game's tempo and flowing the tempo itself with the team ?
 
Why is Gravity so under-used? Starmie @ Life Orb with 252 Spa, 252 Spe and Gravity, Blizzard, Thunder, Hydro Pump wreaks havoc just as an example.
 
There is obviously a very thick, yet at the same time thin, line when it comes to views coming from users who play only on Shoddy, versus those of users who play solely on wifi. Obviously on Shoddy there is no breeding, or time to be sacrificed when creating a new team, so that is a pro in itself. However, there's still a myriad of users who play on wifi, spending time to breed and trying to get good Pokemon with decent IV's, etc.; while on Shoddy none of this is necessary. Their opinions on pretty much everything pertaining competitive Pokemon differ to some extent. It seems that someone who plays solely on Shoddy just can't have a conversation about competitive Pokemon with someone who plays exclusively on Wifi. Why do these differing opinions exist?

This question is pertaining to the community, as well as the competitive aspect of Pokemon
 
Is there any particular stat that has/had significant importance in the DPPt metagame? Or did the prevalence of such a stat help to shape the metagame?

For clarification of what I mean, here's a (bad) example: Did prevalence of the Special Attack stat bring on more usage of Blissey, or did the prevalence of Blissey bring on more usage of physical attackers?
 
NU is a tier that consists of some of the worst Pokemon (that are either fully-evolved or one-stage like Seviper) that Game Freak has ever created. However, out of all of those, there has got to be one that is at the center of the bottom part of the barrel; the one whose proper home lies in the core of the very earth. This Pokemon is perhaps the worst of the worst of the worst. Which one do you think it is?
 
How would the introduction of Arceus change the UBER metagame?
Which set would be the most used/"dominant"?

I'm curious as to what kind of effects Arceus would bring to the meta environment especially since some of the UBER players have been writing the Arceus analysis.
 
Marionic said:
NU is a tier that consists of some of the worst Pokemon (that are either fully-evolved or one-stage like Seviper) that Game Freak has ever created. However, out of all of those, there has got to be one that is at the center of the bottom part of the barrel; the one whose proper home lies in the core of the very earth. This Pokemon is perhaps the worst of the worst of the worst. Which one do you think it is?
Click to expand...

ledian
 
Marionic said:
NU is a tier that consists of some of the worst Pokemon (that are either fully-evolved or one-stage like Seviper) that Game Freak has ever created. However, out of all of those, there has got to be one that is at the center of the bottom part of the barrel; the one whose proper home lies in the core of the very earth. This Pokemon is perhaps the worst of the worst of the worst. Which one do you think it is?
Click to expand...

In a kind of opposite question to this, is it possible for a Pokemon to be NU all the way and still be a monster in OU? (P2 Comes to mind, as well as Lopunny.)
 
NatGeo said:
In a kind of opposite question to this, is it possible for a Pokemon to be NU all the way and still be a monster in OU? (P2 Comes to mind, as well as Lopunny.)
Click to expand...

all pokemon are in some way viable, the thing is some are more than others ore need less for a sweep or something like that, that's why P2 can wall, rhyperior can wall, and a bunch of other pokes, mostly uu tough there are very few NU that are viable in ou, there are many that are viable in ubers tough, shedinja and primeape come to mind
 
cayr said:
all pokemon are in some way viable, the thing is some are more than others ore need less for a sweep or something like that, that's why P2 can wall, rhyperior can wall, and a bunch of other pokes, mostly uu tough there are very few NU that are viable in ou, there are many that are viable in ubers tough, shedinja and primeape come to mind
Click to expand...

Luvdisc. But seriously, I agree many NU can be used effectively in the OU metagame. P2 is a fine example as he is a reliable Heatran/Jolteon counter and can set up and utilise TR well.
 
Is there a certain style of predicting? When you see pros battling, you see them switching, switching and switching some more, what is the certain style that we should do to achieve this, as predicting is very important in the current metagame, especially with offensive players.
 
You can't say that unknown is the worst, because it can do something better than...at least weedle can do. It can attack specially. That makes it better at beating steelix than half of the pokemon in the game. Every pokemon is usable in some way, and nothing is "bottom of the barrel"
 
What is the general effect of the weather (or at least one of them)?

Also, would you mind making garchomp the next featured pokemon? If you don't mind of course.
 
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