Your First Battle

[RotomPoison]

No one was good when they started playing competitively i'm sure, so how bad was your first battle, or how bad were you?

I'll give mine first: I asked my opponent if Thundurus was ok (back right after he got banned) without knowing anything of Smogon or tiers, he said that it was Uber now, and I brought it anyway lol, and I still got destroyed. (Again, a very long time ago, i'm not that bad now)

Just post a quick story like that if you remember it, obviously a lot of your first battles won't be from Showdown or even if they are you probably didn't save the replay, but if you for whatever reason do have a replay feel free to post it if you want.

 

[ShootingStarmie]

I remember my first battle on Shoddy. I was using like Specs Starmie, Baton Pass Ninjask, 2 Stealth Rock users (one of them was a Steelix I think?), Sub Agility Empoleon, and DD Dragonite. When I first started getting into competitive Pokemon I knew the basics because I watched a lot of youtube videos about Wifi battles. But yeah, I actually won my first game, lmao.

 

[Soul Fly]

lol, I was pretty fucking paranoid about starting my 'competitive career' so read smogon/serebii (yeah I know) at a length and shit and then made my first team, I actually won my first 4-6 shoddy battles in a streak. felt pretty darn good.

LOL, I even dug up my old RMT from serebiiforums, after I enjoyed a nice 2-1 win record on the ladder. I remember everyone bashing my 'shit' team. Well tbf I was using a tyraniboah. xD

(For the record this is late gen 4, 2-3 months before the BW1 announcement

My Serebii RMT

[LEAD/Physical Sweeper]

Aerodactyl@Focus Sash

TRAIT: Pressure

Nature: Jolly

252Atk/252Spd/6HP

~ Stealth Rock
~ Earthquake
~ Rock Slide
~ Taunt

The usual lead Aero. Nothing much. Stealth rock at entry and taunt suspected Baton passers. Rock Slide and EQ the hell out of anything after that.



[Special Wall/Wish Support]

Blissey@Leftovers

TRAIT:Natural Cure

Nature: Bold

252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe

~ Wish
~ Softboiled
~ Seismic Toss
~ Toxic
Wish allows Blissey to heal both herself and her teammates, as the healing is delayed by one turn. By passing Wish around my team, you prolong its ability to fight and make it harder for your opponent to take it down. Softboiled can be used to instantly heal Blissey in case of a strong physical volley and use Wish to heal her team instead. Seismic Toss is the main attack as it can hit every type of Pokémon except Ghost-types for constant 100 damage.


[Physical Wall/Spikes Support]

Skarmory@Shed Shell

TRAIT:Keen Eye

Nature: Impish

252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spe

~ Spikes
~ Whirlwind
~ Roost
~ Brave Bird
Trademark Skarmory set. Spike Up at entry and then quietly switch out or use brave bird if the opponent is weak to flying orif you think that your opponent will switch to his Skarm counter and then screw him up with whirlwind. Shed Shell allows it to get out of the clutches of the omnipresent Magnezone. Roost somewhat cures the need of Leftovers, but Brave Bird still hurts

Skarmory can come in on physical attacks targeted at Blissey and vice-versa.
Works well in late game when Tyranitar's sand stream is up, effectively eliminating worn off late team threats with Brave Bird and Healing off with Roost


[Special Sweeper/Scout]

Gengar@life Orb
TRAIT:Levitate

Nature: Timid

4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

~ Protect
~ Shadow Ball
~ Focus Blast
~ Hidden Power Fire
Protect allows Gengar to defeat most versions of the two Pokemon who give it the most difficulty in the Platinum metagame: Pursuit Tyranitar and Bullet Punch + Pursuit Scizor. After Gengar has switched in and Tyranitar or Scizor have then switched in as well, Gengar will first use Protect to see if Tyranitar or Scizor uses Pursuit. If either Pokemon uses Pursuit, Gengar will use the proper move to OHKO it. If neither Pokemon uses Pursuit, Gengar can safely switch out. Note that even with Protect, Gengar needs to remain wary of non-Choiced Scizor with Bullet Punch and Pursuit and Choice Scarf Tyranitar with Pursuit. Shadow Ball and Focus Blast give Gengar perfect coverage, while Hidden Power Fire lets it OHKO Scizor that decide to Pursuit.
My Tyranitar also benefits from Scizors's Death as well since it is the only thing screws up my Tyraniboah set EVERY TIME.


[Rapid Spinner/Special Sweeper]

Starmie@Life Orb

TRAIT:Natural Cure

Nature: Timid

4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

~ Hydro Pump / Surf
~ Thunderbolt
~ Ice Beam
~ Rapid Spin
Starmie works as an excellent late game sweeper with. Hydro Pump is a powerful STAB attack that OHKOes most Tyranitar after one Stealth Rock switch-in and Scizor after two. Ice Beam and Thunderbolt are used to hit bulkier Pokemon who resist Water-type attacks, such as Celebi, Dragonite, Suicune, and Vaporeon. Though the lack of recover makes starmie a little susceptible to infernape and heatran switches, and reduces it general longevity in battle, rapid spin is a better option to scatter away entry hazards which screw my team more than starmie's death does, plus there is always Blissey's wish support whenever it really needs it.


[Physical Volley/Stall Breaker]

Tyranitar@Leftovers

TRAIT:Sand Stream

Nature: Quiet

252 HP / 60 Atk / 176 SpA / 20 Spe

~ Substitute
~ Focus Punch
~ Dark Pulse
~ Flamethrower
\m/ Behold TyraniBoah \m/
Bring it in on something that can't threaten it, set up a 101HP Substitute, and prepare to wreak havoc. Dark Pulse is Basically my main stab and a Counter to Physical walls which Tyranitar Struggles with. Pairing it with Starmie allows it to wreak havok on any Special Wall. Flamethrower takes out its greatest Counter Scizor in late-game, (If I manage to survive It though) and the most threatening physical wall Skarmory.

 

[TaBuu]

Back in early BW I was using a team based around Sand Veil AcroBat. I had watched a ton of YouTubers play and so I knew a good amount about the current Metagame. LOL, was my team any good? I doubt it. Did I win? Hell yeah. Sand Veil and Substitute on PO like a boss, till I could get a free Dance up with a Flying Gem boosted Acrobatics.

 

[MrEon]

I also remember my first battle on PO.
It was a team of defensive Skarmory/SpD Umbreon/SubSeed Sceptile/DD Mence/Agility Metagross/Dual Screen Cresselia. Game plan - Stall the opponent with Skarm/Umby core, annoy them with Sceptile, put up screens with Cress, send in the appropriate 'mon(Mence/Gross), sweep.
In my first match, since I didn't even know how to change the lead, I accidentally sent out Mence. I forfeited on turn 1 when the opponent's lead, a Mamoswine, one-shotted my Mence with Ice Shard :(

 

[scorpdestroyer]

I only remember two of the (really dumb) sets I used: Breloom with Sub/Leech Seed/Focus Punch/Facade @ Toxic Orb. And Forretress with all 3 hazards and Rapid Spin

Oh and also I didn't EV my pokemon because I didn't know what they were, so I had completely no idea why I kept losing.

 

[G-Von]

Ahhh good ol' Shoddy! I don't exactly remember my first battle, but I do remember the type of player I was. I was one of those "I don't want to use a full team of OU's so I'll make it fun and use non-OU's too" and it took a while for me to realize how stupid that was lol. There were a lot of times I would head into battle with 5 sub-OU pokemon and 1 OU poke. That's when I realized I should probably just drop down to UU and switch the one OU poke out for something in UU.

Man I was stupid back then.

 

[Oopa]

First battle on shoddy battle for DP OU lol was when i used a banded scizor as a lead, and the opponents Shiftry exploded on it XD. Scizor didn't get KO'd ofc, but gee it was cool, coveniently forgetting how it resists Explosion, and mentally noting Scizor as a bulky beast.
And then there was the time when i forgot to put evs on my pokemon, and the other time where i thought Infernape was a beast because i used a scrubby Physical set to take down 3 opposing pokemon (D'nite, Vappy and 'Loom) with 'Ape as my last poke lol

 

[Grey Knight]

It was some wifi battle against some guy with ideograms for a name he had over 500 wins and i didn't even own a level 100 pokemon, even so i managed to get a lot of dragon dances with mence against his machamp lead and destroyed him,

that battle is still recorded in the vs recorder and whenever i look for some inspiration for a new dragon spam team that i want to make i watch it again.

 

[Pikachuun]

My first battle was fighting a wild Level 2 Zigzagoon with my Level 5 Mudkip. I spammed tackle and won. Good times :]

 

[Antar]

Thanks to the glory that is Youtube, you can actually watch my first competitive battle. Spoiler alert: it did not go well for me.

My first non-RWF Singles battle went a bit better, but it's embarrassing that I thought Suicine was Ice-type.

Edit: Rewatching that Singles battle, I lol at my bashing of Smogon-standard sets around 5:25

 

[Spinda]

I had a scizor to baton pass iron defense and agility to a subcm blissey and it actually worked :3

 

[X5Dragon]

X5Dragon's Double Dragon Team:

"July 19, 2011"
"Beat a 1600er once :3"

"Breloom(aka Wall-E) @ Toxic Orb

Ability: Toxic Heal
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 atk, 252 spd, 4 HP

Spore
Sword Dance
Mach Punch
Seed Bomb"

"Starmie (aka Starflex) @ Life Orb
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 spa, 252 spd, 4 HP

Thunderbolt
Rapid Spin
Psychic
Ice Beam"

=============

Even when I was a fucking noob I still owned :cool:

 

[MCBarrett]

i dont remember exactly what team i used for my first battle but i do remember that i didnt upload the team to PO correctly and i just had 6 question marks and couldnt make any moves so i lost from a time out. the same thing happened the second time and i was pretty embarrassed so i didnt try battling again for a few weeks :[

 

[cagedWINGS]

My first battle was against this guy called Garry, who was a complete dick-nugget! I had a Bulbasaur that his grandfather gave me, and he had a Charmander. Despite the type disadvantage I kicked his ass!

Oh. Competitive battle?

Well before I knew about Smogon or tiers, EV training or anything like that I used to play a mixed tier team on Battle Revolution. I always used to play exclusively Doubles though. I think my team was something like Cradilly, Corsola, Gallade, Altaria, Magnezone and Magmortar I think. It wasn't the best of teams, but I remember it fondly as I built that team when I was on holiday in Italy when I was fifteen. I think which matches I won depended on how good the opponent's team was. Like, I remember Battle Revolution had a bunch of Japanese guys using Darkrai and Palkia and sheit. Those were the ones where my Pokemon spent four months in hospital in a coma afterwards.

I also remember I had a Bellydance Doubles team I had featuring two Politoeds, a Lickilicky and a Togekiss.

 

[Mulan15262]

My first competitive battle was against a friend of mine in a tournament. It was 3 vs 3 single battle, and I used a Tyranitar, a Sand Force Excadril, and a Boldore. I managed to lose 2-3, but I did catch him off guard when sandstorm reduced the effectiveness of his Cradily's Synthesis.

The next battle I had was against a sun team in a 4 vs. 4 doubles environment. I used the same team as before, but I added in a Sand Rush Stoutland. I let my Tyranitar get KOd while my opponent wisely switched out his Ninetails so he could control the weather. I still won, though. On the last turn my Stoutland (who knew Protect and Last Resort) used protect, and my Excadril used Earthquake and KOd his Amoonguss, giving me the win.

 

[Legitimate Username]

My first team was in DPP OU on Shoddy Battle (suprisingly, way back in 2009), and it was downright terrible. I think it consisted of Aerodactyl, Breloom, Milotic, Magmortar, Electivire, and Lucario. I gave all of them 4 attacking moves of different types, Leftovers, and completely balanced their EVs investment. I don't remember my first battle exactly, but I do remember losing the majority of them rather easily.

Eventually, I managed to evolve my strategies into using actual Smogon sets in a barely successful attempt at Hyper Offense, except I also ran Sash Smeargle with Spore and all 3 hazards. I remember falling for Aerodactyl's Taunt EVERY SINGLE TIME. Take a taunt, switch out, switch back in, take another taunt. Fun times.

 

[baddjordan]

I didn't play competitive until 2009 on Shoddy Battle, but in 2005 (as an 11 year old) I went to a restaurant with my cousin and I wrote down my team on a napkin. Went back to his place and went on net battle and I had Charizard, Milotic, Cradily, Jolteon and 2 others. Got 6-0ed by lead DD Tyranitar after spending about half an hour on the team, lol.

 

[MoosyDoosy]

My first competitive battle was with a pretty standard Sand stall team. I remember using SubStall Gliscor and making my opponent rage quit in the end. xD The funny thing was that he was trying to trash my team and saying it sucked when I was stalling him, and I was trying to pretend to be a pro and calling out "bad plays."

 

[starwarsfan]

My first battle of BW2 was a sweep. :) I had only 2 pokemon, a smeargle and a Kyurem-b, meant to troll. He sent out a Ferro. I managed to get off a Belly Drum and Sub and pass it to K-B. You can probably see what happened from there.

But is you want to know about my very first battle, I got swept by some guys baton pass team since I thought EQ was super effective vs. his Salamence, who received the chain. This was early DPP.

 

[Jimbon]

i remember getting absolutely raped by subpunch breloom

 

[Trinitrotoluene]

My first team and battles on Shoddy Battle (yes, I too played DPP OU *gasp*) actually involved me using a Belly Drum Linoone and SubPunch Breloom IIRC. I actually got to ~1100 ACRE (the starting point on Shoddy was zero if I read the papers correctly) and I lost when I faced a stall team for the first time. Yea, I think I did well for a first-timer because I actually enjoyed reading Smogon's analyses, no matter how disparaging to the subject they were.

 

[AfroThunderRule]

I remember my first DPP Shoddy battle, I swept someone with lead Choice Scarf Heracross Close Combat. >___>

 

[Lady Alex]

Like Jimbon, my first competitive battle ended with me losing miserably to a sub-punch Breloom.

 

[Shayhok]

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Dynamicpunch
- Body Slam

This was my go-to set in gen 3. Either I was really smart or really stupid depending on whether or not Sleep Talk gave your moves 100% accuracy in gen 3 / on NetBattle. At least it was better (?) than my SubPunch Quick Claw Rhydon and Substitute + Charge Zapdos.

Also, here is the oldest NetBattle log I still have on my computer (from 2006):

Shayhok vs Cob

Battle Log:
Battle Mode: Ruby/Sapphire
Rule: Sleep Clause
Rule: Freeze Clause
Rule: Self-KO Clause
Rule: Apply PP Ups
Rule: Stadium Mode
Rule: Level Balance
Rule: Battle Timeout
Rule: Unrated
Rule: Disallow Spectators
Shayhok vs Cob. Begin!
Shayhok sent out Jirachi (Lv.56 Jirachi)!
Cob sent out Quagsire (Lv.71 Quagsire)!

Begin Turn #1
Jirachi used Substitute!
Jirachi made a Substitute!
---------------------------------
Quagsire used Earthquake!
The Substitute took damage for Jirachi!
Jirachi's Substitute faded!
It's super effective!
---------------------------------
Jirachi's Leftovers restored its HP a little!
End of turn #1
Shayhok's Jirachi: 159 HP
Cob's Quagsire: 100% HP

Begin Turn #2
Jirachi used Wish!
Jirachi made a Wish!
---------------------------------
Quagsire used Earthquake!
(159 damage)
It's super effective!
Jirachi fainted!
Shayhok sent out Blaziken (Lv.61 Blaziken)!
---------------------------------
End of turn #2
Shayhok's Blaziken: 188 HP
Cob's Quagsire: 100% HP

Begin Turn #3
Blaziken used Endure!
Blaziken braced itself!
---------------------------------
Quagsire used Surf!
(187 damage)
Blaziken Endured the hit!
It's super effective!
---------------------------------
Jirachi's Wish came true!
Blaziken regained health!
End of turn #3
Shayhok's Blaziken: 95 HP
Cob's Quagsire: 100% HP

Begin Turn #4
Blaziken used Endure!
Blaziken braced itself!
---------------------------------
Quagsire used Surf!
(94 damage)
Blaziken Endured the hit!
It's super effective!
---------------------------------
Using Salac Berry, the Speed of Blaziken rose!
End of turn #4
Shayhok's Blaziken: 1 HP
Cob's Quagsire: 100% HP

Begin Turn #5
Blaziken used Reversal!
(80% damage)
---------------------------------
Quagsire used Earthquake!
(1 damage)
It's super effective!
Blaziken fainted!
Shayhok sent out Shiftry (Lv.65 Shiftry)!
---------------------------------
Quagsire's Leftovers restored its HP a little!
End of turn #5
Shayhok's Shiftry: 212 HP
Cob's Quagsire: 26% HP
Shayhok: Jeez

Begin Turn #6
Cob withdrew Quagsire!
Cob sent out Lapras (Lv.64 Lapras)!
---------------------------------
Shiftry used Fake Out!
(8% damage)
---------------------------------
Lapras's Leftovers restored its HP a little!
End of turn #6
Shayhok's Shiftry: 212 HP
Cob's Lapras: 98% HP

Begin Turn #7
Shiftry used Giga Drain!
(43% damage)
It's super effective!
Lapras had its energy drained!
---------------------------------
Lapras used Ice Beam!
(196 damage)
It's super effective!
---------------------------------
Shiftry's Leftovers restored its HP a little!
Lapras's Leftovers restored its HP a little!
End of turn #7
Shayhok's Shiftry: 29 HP
Cob's Lapras: 61% HP

Begin Turn #8
Shiftry used Giga Drain!
(41% damage)
It's super effective!
Lapras had its energy drained!
---------------------------------
Lapras used Ice Beam!
(84 damage)
It's super effective!
Shiftry fainted!

End Battle! Cob wins!
Score: 0 to 3