Because I am bored...
EVII'S GUIDE TO BEGINNERS WHO WANT TO PLAY COMPETITIVE POKEMONIntroductionHello. This is my short guide to starting up in competitive Pokemon. Just a few tips and terms that you should know...
-Many attack names are going to be short-formed. The less obvious ones I will have spelled out in brackets but the ones that seem obvious to me will not. Feel free to ask, if you are unsure.
-SE and NVE: Super Effective and Not Very Effective, respectively.
-Hax: Luck-based triggers going in your or the opponent's favour. No actual hacking is involved.
-Clauses: There are many different clauses that can be decided on for competitive play. However, the standards are Evasion Clause (no Evasion boosting moves), Sleep Clause (you can only put one of your opponent's Pokemon to sleep at a time), and Species Clause (only one of a Pokemon species in your team at a time).
-I suggest using
this if you want to play around without having to completely train Pokemon.
TiersThere are four main tiers in competitive Pokemon: Ubers, OU, UU, and NU.
-Ubers are for the broken and overpowered Pokemon. All of the cover legendaries reside here and most of the legendaries in general are here.
-OU is OverUsed. This is the standard competitive scene, featuring heavyweights like Tyranitar, Salamance, Blissey, and Conkeldurr. If you like using mostly non-legendaries but like really good Pokemon, OU is for you.
-While BL (BorderLine) isn't really a tier in itself, it consists of Pokemon who are too strong for UU but do not see a lot of usage in OU, such as Alakazam.
-UU is UnderUsed. These guys are Pokemon who are capable but just have a hard time surviving OU, like Sandslash, Venomoth, Quagsire, and Charizard. If you find that OU is too same-y, UU is for you.
-Finally, NU is NeverUsed. These are the weak guys that you try and avoid putting in your party in story mode, like Butterfree, Linoone, Exploud, and Seadra. If you want to have a bizarre yet fun time, NU is for you.
Please note that you can use Pokemon from lower tiers in higher tiers. For example, you can use a Sandslash (UU) in an OU team, if you so choose. For now, I'd recommend sticking with the Pokemon in the tier you're battling in.
Making A TeamThis is one of the most important parts of playing competitively. I could talk about EVs and IVs and breeding moves and all that fun stuff, but you can automatically set that up in the Pokemon-Online simulator. To give you an example, here is my current OU team.
Aviator (Flygon) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 128 Atk / 128 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Fire Blast
High Rolla~! (Forretress) (F) @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic Spikes
- Explosion
- Gyro Ball
Meathead (Conkeldurr) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Guts
EVs: 212 HP / 228 Atk / 68 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Mach Punch
- Drain Punch
- Payback
King Boo (Gengar) (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Destiny Bond
Brocune (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Trait: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Scald
- Rest
- Substitute
Hentai Fan (Ferrothorn) (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Trait: Iron Barbs
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Curse
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Spikes
This might seem confusing at first but I will explain it to you.
The first few words outside of the brackets is the Pokemon's nickname (Aviator). You do not have to nickname your team members, but I do because I find it interesting.
Next to that is the species' name (Flygon). This kind of speaks for itself.
In brackets is the Pokemon's gender (F). F = Female and M = Male.
@ refers to what item the Pokemon is holding (@ Choice Scarf). Any hold item you can give to the Pokemon in a game is available to choose from.
Trait is their ability in-game (Levitate). Serebii has an Abilitydex which is very helpful for looking at all the different available abilities, what they do, and who has them.
EVs are Effort Values (128Atk/128SpAtk/252Spd). For every four you have in a stat, it increases that stat by one at level 100, the default fighting level.
Natures boost one stat by 10% and lower another by 10% (Hasty Nature). It will tell you which stat goes up and which one goes down. Use this to make attackers faster or stronger and defenders bulkier.
Finally, the attack list (Dragon Claw, Earthquake, U-Turn, and Fire Blast). This shows which attacks your Pokemon knows. When selecting your Pokemon, you will be given a list of all possible attacks it can learn. However, you only have four slots and some combinations cannot be learned on a single Pokemon due to generational gaps.
Now stop for a moment and look at the team. As you can see, it is an OU team. Flygon is the lead of the team and will often start a match by using U-Turn to scout the opponent. Due to his Choice Scarf, he will be almost guaranteed to go first but is limited to a single attack choice while he remains on the field. U-Turn allows him to hit fast and get back.
I can either switch to a counter if the opponent is offensive (Fighting types would likely try and hit hard as an anti-lead but would end up trying to punch Gengar with no success) or a setter if the opponent is defensive (Forretress or Ferrothorn would begin laying down Stealth Rock/Spikes). If I send out Ferrothorn or Forretress, my opponent will likely switch to a Fire user. After they switch, I can switch out to Suicune, who easily laughs off Fire damage. The tricky part comes based on whether or not that Fire user is packing Grass or Electric moves. The best way is to look at that on a case-by-case basis.
So, the number one most important thing about making a team is
synergy. You don't want six individual sweepers. You want a team that can properly support itself. I suggest running at least two defensive walls on a team, one physical and one special. If you want more, that's great. But you should never have less than two walls unless you feel like risking losing everything if the opponent can survive your attacks.
I think that covers the basics, so yeah. Lemme know if you think I missed anything.
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