OrangeManiac

Level 41. You can check all these from in-game Pokedex assuming you own the Pokemon.

Well, I searched the first 10 or so pages and didn't find anything so sorry if this is a duplicate which I very much may feel like is the case. Anyways, everyone knows happiness by far is the most tedious and especially pointless of all the grinding in the game. The time it needs to Soothe Bell and bike with that is just unrealistically awful. An option is to use EV reducing berries to increase happiness but the case might be that this is even worse solution compared to actually needing to bike that due to the re-EVing and cost of the berries. Also I'm aware Luxury Ball fixes this somewhat but it's only applicable to Pokemon that are newly hatched. We have NPCs for this and that and I thought it could be a good to implement one more. For a fair price of let's say 10-15k (or some item) you pay to a NPC and it maximizes your Pokemon's happiness. Other option that I saw could somewhat remove this pointless, tedious grinding is being able to change the ball of your Pokemon by basically putting them to Luxury Balls but it's still pointless grinding to be made, just in a bit lesser extent. But that's a separate thread and suggestion but the bottom line is we need something to be done for this because needing to just ride a bike for this amount of time is just ridiculous.

Please no. Mainly due to the reason RU and NU are real tiers in Smogon, this would just confuse people a lot thinking "NU" is a real tier and not just something to help people navigate the real NU list in PokeDex. I personally think the best idea is to just add a "NFEs (Not viable)" section below NU which basically has all the NFE that are not even somewhat viable in NU (which is like.. 90% of the remaining NFEs). If the NU Council was to determine this, I can just say here's the Pokemon that are reasonable to add to the NU section: Haunter, Kadabra, Metang, Diglett, Duskull, Pikachu (obviously haha), Wynaut and maaybe Shelgon and Clamperl (also Pupitar and Dragonair if we wanna be really loose). Other option of course is to make a NU (Fully Evolved) and NU (Not Fully Evolved) list which is probably the most politically correct way to do this but since some of these NFEs I mentioned are really viable in NU some people might miss a notable Pokemon in the NU metagame since no one wants to look at the (Not Fully Evolved) list. Or this. NFE is the most common term though so this "NCQ" combo might be another one needed addition to FAQ lol. I like this word combo, though. If the whole "Not Competitively Qualified" could be added then it's pretty damn self-explanatory to everyone. Only issue I see that will we add shit tier fully evolved Pokemon there?

I could take over. Would just help to get your current tables with everyone outside of this list.

Not really a same thing. Complex ban is when you ban an ability or move or something of a certain Pokemon to hinder its performance. This is just a way to try to balance out all the Pokemon between each other. This would will still allow all Pokemon to be used and it would actually be handier balancing than complex bans but this just doesn't sound too mlg pro suggestion be taking seriously as a competitive playmode. I can still appreciate the idea behind of trying to make Pokemon equally balanced, though.

What comes to "unfair bans" and not being allowed to use the Pokemon they want, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Ubers. Seriously, do it. You're not caring about a competitive metagame, you're caring about that you can use a Pokemon you want. Go play Ubers and this dream is fulfilled. What comes to the actual suggestion: It's no longer competitive play. First of all it just seems off, different Pokemon being different level. Just meh. Also it takes away the whole teambuilding, calculating and so on. It's no longer competitive play. It's fun play. I know after playing Showdown Random battles it might seem like a fun idea to play a mode where Pokemon are balanced between others but it just isn't competitive play. Now, honestly I don't mind if they implemented some additional "balance it all mode". It can even be fun. But tournament mode should be reserved to competitive play.

added one more that I thought was reasonable to add

OrangeManiac

Yes, I'm calling you a nerd. [spoiler]Nerd.[/spoiler] We've all been there. We've all been.. Thanks man.

Alright, I decided I should make a somewhat how2comp guide but I didn't know exactly how to approach it. So I decided the best way to approach is by listing some mistakes I have seen inexperienced players doing and telling why those things they are doing are either not beneficial or straight out preventing them from winning. This is 100% opinionated guide but you're more than free to comment if you think my logic at times is flawed or just have anything to add relating anything. If there's a certain mistake or misconception you have been seeing then feel free to add it in the comments. I've been ending up in multiple conversation with some newer players and especially these misconceptions are something that I feel like majority if not all newer competitive players have, for one reason or another. Meanwhile the biggest mistakes people do in competitive battle are just points I have discovered while battling in Vermillion or just spectating some duels while as experiencing them myself: when I have got rid of some of these mistakes I have been doing, my winning rate has been increasing by a lot. Without further ado, let's get this started. The biggest misconceptions relating to competitive play There is an universal formula to build a good competitive team - By far, the biggest and most common misconception relating to competitive play. I've ended up in discussions relating to this way too often and have got even called a bad player for "not having a physical wall" in my team, for example. The common conception is that you need a Pokemon of "every role" to have a good balanced team and being able to win. The most usual conceptions of this could be something like "You need to have 1 Special sweeper, 1 physical sweeper, 1 mixed sweeper, 1 physical wall, 1 special wall, 1 cleric/utility" and when your team is lacking one of these things, it's not a well built team. Although it is true that variety definitely will help and oftentimes good team builds have this kind of a formula more or less. It is nice to have bulky switch ins to sweepers that can scare them away as well as it is good to have fast sweepers to clean the table and cause pressure to opponent. However, the biggest meter to reflect your team build is the metagame. Back in the old OU where Blissey and Lax, the well build defensive team protected all each other with the correct switch ins making some of the defensive cores unbreakable by the most used offensive Pokemon. An example for this is running Weezing with Blissey and Snorlax that counters Heracross which is a major threat to these Pokemon. People didn't run Weezing because "it's a physical wall, you need one", it's because it helped their team. A 6 wall team could have easily been victorious in the old OU, while bringing 6 walls to current NU would just ask you to be getting 6-0d. The real diversity that you need in battles to live: Typings. Having as diverse typings and especially making sure are not weak to a certain type too bad defensively is much more important than having those certain roles for a Pokemon. Much more important. However, another smaller misconception is that you absolutely can't run two same types in one team, not to mention three. You can do both, but make sure your rest of the team resists their weaknesses. IVs are a significant factor determining a winner of a competitive battle - Also a really common one. A lot of players do not want to join tournaments with IVd Pokemon that are not in the standards of all people, which is completely respectable - I do understand you want to maximize your winning with having good IV Pokemon and not go too early to tournaments with trash. It's completely respectable. However, it is still important to acknowledge those things don't determinate the winner of a match. The difference between a 20 IV and a 31 IV Pokemon is so minimal that your teambuilding, selection of moves in the battle and RNG has dozens if not hundreds of times more effect on the duel than the Pokemon you have. The reason why experienced players are winning is because of their experience they have, not comps. Anyone of them can confirm this. So I'm not saying you should join tournaments with IVd Pokemon you're not comfortable with but you should at least acknowledge the difference they give is usually just some couple of percentages. However, the only time the 31 IV is oftentimes really helpful or even required is Speed Stat. Especially with fast sweepers the 31 IV can be a matter of having your Pokemon attack first and KO the opponent or getting KOd yourself. You can try yourself: http://pokemonshowdown.com/damagecalc/ A Pokemon that is not used can not be good (or more so: a threat to your team) - This is more intermediate level of misconception. I've seen even good players doing the mistake of thinking of this. Usually there are reasons why a Pokemon isn't used, good reasons for it. However, especially if the metagame changes it is especially a good time to use a not that used Pokemon. A Pokemon that we considered possibly "bad" such as Umbreon and Porygon2 don't have that same image anymore now that the fatsos are banned and they're used instead. But this applies to other things. Finding niches to support your team even from how low of a tier can oftentimes be working well and even be fun. The biggest mistakes done in competitive battling Thinking just switching the right type advantages will give you the win - Let me start out with the most beginner one. This is basically the very basic Vermillion-ism (no offense to Vermillion players, some of you are good) which is basically just making the safe type advantage switches every turn and expecting to win. When you're facing even slightly more experienced player they already find this out and use strategies such as double switches to gain the momentum from the inexperienced player. ... but also thinking playing straight-forward is always nubbish - A mistake I used to a lot of times before when playing against known good players. I expected them constantly do all kinds of experienced prediction plays, I often just overpredicted myself with often even terrible plays when the experienced opponent decided to go for the simple play. Always keep the risks and rewards in mind. Doing too much stuff on paper - The way I got my best working teams was battling, battling, battling and more battling. When I discovered there's a Pokemon that causes a problem to my team, I replace one with something that counters or at least checks it. A lot of times you don't know how good is your team until you really have played with it. Not looking at the match as a whole - The most common and the most destructive mistake to make as a competitive player, which is usually common for new players. An example of this is that let's say you're facing a Jolteon and you realize it tears down 3 out of 6 Pokemon easily and can sweep 5 out of 6 Pokemon in a right situation and you have a one hard counter to it. If you're not saving your counter to that dangerous Pokemon until it's down, you will be in a lot of trouble. A lot of times new players just think for the next turn and think "hey, I can make a Pokemon faint so I'm leading 5-4" and they possibly give up their main counter to something just for a momentary good feeling and later they realize they're doomed. Player should not just think about the next 3-4 moves but the whole match how it will come down to and not just think about this moment and the next move. Not maximizing your chance to win - This is the most experienced level stuff. Pokemon is a RNG filled game. RNG happens, like it or not. An example of maximizing your chances of winning is for example seeing a situation where you could set up against a 3 turn sleep, paralyzed, confused Pokemon with good RNG. Even though by chances it could be unlucky, sometimes the best way to win a hopeless match is try to achieve RNG help with something like this. An example would be a Dragon Dance sweeper like Gyarados and you might think: "Hmm, if I paralyze this Pokemon I have 25% chance of not getting hit by paralyze or 20% chance with Waterfall to flinch in order to beat this counter and to proceed to sweep a team". Even though in a situation you might seem unfavorite to win, in a hopeless match trying to get the RNG help to win is something that will increase your long rate win ratio by a lot. Another side of the coin is realizing your opponent can beat you with certain RNG happening and making sure this unlikely event won't completely make you lose the match. Not caring about the metagame when movesetting Pokemon - I felt I needed to add one more common mistake to the guide which is quite common. Even though I did say underestimating Pokemon that are not used it is generally a not good thing to do but when you're building movesets for Pokemon it is really important to acknowledge the metagame and the powerful threats in the tier. An example of this could be running Air Cutter instead of Flamethrower with an utility Wall-taria (dem puns) when a Pokemon like Scizor is being #1 used Pokemon in UU tier. When these two moves have similar power and coverage, it would be stupid to not consider a top threat like this with a 4x effective move. There are multiple other cases like this as well but every move should always be thought out and have a reason why it is there other than "it's just an overall good move.. I guess.". "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the best way to lose battles is to be too attached to a pokemon that underperforms in battle." - Robofiend - If you want to win, this. So much this. Competitive is competitive. I'm not saying you shouldn't run Pokemon you just like as a Pokemon but if you want to win you should always look at Pokemon objectively of how they perform. So yeah, here's some of the main points I have discovered to be the biggest reasons what separates the best from the good. I might add some later but here's the main ones I could think in this while as I got bored and started to think of this. Hope this helps someone, etc. etc. and feel free to comment regarding about anything. Still I will emphasize this guide is 100% opinionated and do not reflect universally all competitive players. Peace.

Even though I have seen multiple people speculating that this has happened, I have clear calculations for everyone who don't know how much damage this move really should cause. Explosion now does half of the damage it used to, which applies to 6th gen mechanics in which defense is not halved when used Explosion or Self-destruct. As this was a suggestion that got major support in suggestion box and because some other later gen mechanics were just implemented I have a reason to believe this might not be a bug but intentional, but nothing has been added to the changelog. If this is a bug then move it to bug reports or etc etc but I just thought it would be a decent idea for letting the community know. Some pictures to prove this is a thing. 3rd Gen Explosion calc: [spoiler][/spoiler] 6th gen Explosion calc: [spoiler][/spoiler] and screenshot of what happened: [spoiler][/spoiler]

IGN OrangeManiac

Well the thing is generally we don't consider stuff Ubers that is strong on paper but no one uses. But I just feel like Cradily is something that can make an exception to this because it's so. damn. annoyingly. good.

Curse > Barrier and Recover > Rest. But yeah, completely forgot about Mirror Coat. That move is quite insane for a Cursing wall. Oh yeah, fair point about Barrier beating Swords Dance.

Yeah Jim just ninjad me in game about that, replaced it with Sky Uppercut calculation. Yeah, Encore Walrein seems pretty good.

Cradily has always been a threat everyone had feared, yet usage statistics haven't reflected this by a lot. One could argue that this is because Cradily is a pain in the ass to breed and this probably is the main reason why people haven't been using it, if you ask me. Especially having access to two good physical STAB moves with Bullet Seed becoming 25 base power (giving it 50 to 125 power depending on RNG) you can tell Cradily really is now a force to reckon with. Due to Curse + Recover, nice defensive typing and base stats that are insane in NU it's safe to say one of the only reliable ways to take down a Cradily is the move Toxic. Steel-types offense is generally bad, only something like CB Aggron can really hurt Cradily. Ice-types such as Lapras or Glalie could do some special damage to the special side (but 252/252+ Careful will eat those up and hit back with +1 Rock Slide). Bug-types are pretty much NEVER used in the NU tier. Fighting-types are also strong on Cradily but the most used Fighting-type is offensively not that strong which is Hitmontop. Meanwhile Hitmonchan and Primeape aren't in favor by being used by the community. It's also notable that multiple highly viable Pokemon are used as Clerics in the NU tier, such as Lapras or Ampharos. This means that even if Cradily gets Toxiced, it's a one trip to the nurse to Heal Bell away the Toxic and back in to Curse and Recover. Cradily can set up on so many Pokemon it's insane. What's notable offensively is that Grass-Rock offensive combo is unbelievably good. The offensive types basically support each other giving them a super effective move of 7 types out of 17 while it's immune by only Steel. Cradily also has access to Earthquake, which means your whatever Aggrons aren't still even complete hard counters. Due to being so hard to break and having such amazing offensive output, the NU Council wants to discuss if Cradily has become an offensive Uber especially due to addition of Bullet Seed becoming 25 base power and dealing insane damage after Curses. It's just so good on paper so despite being not used that much (probably due to being so hard to breed), if it's found to be Offensively Uber then it's probably no point of waiting to everyone breed them one if everyone knows it's OP as heck. Some calculations in the spoiler. These calculations are mainly to show how easily can the NU metagame stop the Cradily from setting up Curses and sweeping. CB Chan and CB Aggron new meta? [spoiler] 252 SpA Glalie Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Cradily: 84-98 (43.5 - 50.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery +1 0 Atk Cradily Rock Slide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Glalie: 128-152 (82 - 97.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 252+ SpA Lapras Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Cradily: 96-114 (49.7 - 59%) -- 62.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery +1 4 Atk Cradily Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Lapras: 132-156 (55.6 - 65.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery 252+ Atk Choice Band Hitmonchan Sky Uppercut vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Cradily: 212-252 (109.8 - 130.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO +1 0 Atk Cradily Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Hitmonchan: 66-81 (52.3 - 64.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO +1 0 Atk Cradily Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Blastoise: 108-132 (58 - 70.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 252+ Atk Choice Band Aggron Superpower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Cradily: 206-244 (106.7 - 126.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO 252+ Atk Choice Band Aggron Iron Tail vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Cradily: 258-306 (133.6 - 158.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO 0 Atk Cradily Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aggron: 80-96 (45.1 - 54.2%) -- 28.5% chance to 2HKO [/spoiler] By the words of Bluejim, couldn't have said this much better: Wise words, Jim. Anyways, discuss. Edit: Fair point by Zebra about Encore Walrein, I forgot completely that move. Encore can be a nice move to switch in and lock Cradily to its Curse. Is it viable enough move, though can be a good question. In addition there's Taunt but I think the most viable Taunt users are prolly Banette or Sableye which just aren't that viable.

Ampharos has quickly became a force in NU that anyone can recognize to be a top threat NU Mon. With just sheer base stats or 90/75/90 bulk and astonishing 115 Special Attack, in most cases you find Ampharos hitting its whatever opponent much harder than they hit him. STAB Thunderbolt is a really good overall move to spam around as long as there is no Grass or especially Ground-types. For these ones, Ampharos however has Signal Beam and Hidden Power Grass/Water (or Ice but objectively inferior if you ask me) to deal with incoming Ground-types and they will take a lot of damage from it. Ampharos' biggest drawback is its low speed of 55, which means plenty of Pokemon will do always some damage to Ampharos which makes Ampharos a hard Pokemon to sweep opponents. However, a bit gimmicky but arguably effective move Agility can change that in one turn. In addition, Thunder Wave is an excellent move to slow down any opposing sweepers - cripple them and get a now first hit with his amazing STAB (or prediction move). However, what is notable about Ampharos is the fact that Ground-types could give it hard time. Even though by Hidden Power only bulky Nidoqueen has been calculated as a fully recognized counter, plenty of Ground-types can steal momentum from Ampharos user's wrong prediction by Thunderbolting. This may raise other questions, such as "How easy is it to switch in to Ground-types?" due to plenty of bulky water-types or "Is switching Ground-types even overall safe and a good option"? My personal experiences tell that Ampharos really has a tougher time to perform against a team of especially multiple Ground-types but this could be helped with other teambuilding and all of this makes it sound like it has a bit of a centralizing effect on the metagame. (Lesser extent than Fearow did but still.) Even though one tournament is too early to make any kinds of bigger assumptions, Ampharos had a usage of 50% which indicates that this Mon just might be too good not to use (but let's remember usage itself isn't a reason for banworthiness!). This thread is to take place of people to share their experiences over the course of their NU experiences regarding playing NU. Furthermore, it's really hard to actually tell where does Ampharos exactly rank in possible banworthiness. Even though Ampharos has massive damage output and moves like Agility and Thunder Wave giving it first hits can make Ampharos able to "sweep significant portions of the meta" or it just takes opposing hits too well while OHKOing them. The fact Ampharos can switch in to any move that is not a STAB Earthquake tells that this Pokemon could be like old Snorlax with Vaporeon Wish Support, it just lasts so long while taking the opposing team down. What's significant though is that against Ground-types it's hard to completely agree it can "sweep without effort", because its STAB is immune to them as well as Ampharos' main utility move, Thunder Wave. This leads to another possible banworthiness and what I feel like is the most likely for Ampharos to be banned of if it's getting banned: Being unhealthy. If the meta directs to for having necessary Ground-types or especially two against Ampharos, it's hard to argue that Ampharos isn't unhealthy. However, if a one or two Ground-type team makes Ampharos feel like a dead weight in the battle then people might not bring Ampharos as a Pokemon you can "just slap in every team", which would argue it's not. The NU council wishes to see inputs regarding to Ampharos which is clearly a Pokemon that is a significant threat to say the least in the NU environment. Is it Offensive Uber or unhealthy for the metagame? (Needs more proof that one tournament.) But 50% usage already tells this Pokemon ain't used for nothing. Most common movesets for Ampharos: (blatantly stolen from my own NU guide. Should prolly have agility set as well) [spoiler] Standard Special Attacker Nature: Modest EVs: 252 HP, 252 Sp. Atk (speed is an option) Item: Leftovers Thunderbolt Hidden Power Water / Hidden Power Grass Signal Beam Thunder Wave/Toxic/Heal Bell/Light Screen/Reflect - Probably Ampharos' main NU set. Thunderbolt is pretty self-explanatory, however the selection of the Hidden Power is much more problematic. Hidden Power Grass is mainly for Whiscash which at worst can DD set up on it but Hidden Power Water is better for beating Nidoking and Queen as well as Camerupt. Signal Beam is to deal with Bellossom, Tangela and Shiftry. This is where Ampharos kinda loses already it's special offensive moves so the last move is a selection of an utility move. Supporter Nature: Bold/Calm EV Spread: 252 HP 252 Defense/252 HP 252 Spec def Item: Leftovers Thunderbolt Heal Bell Light Screen/Seismic toss Hidden Power Grass / Hidden Power Ice / Hidden Power Water / Reflect / Thunder Wave - The set that emphasizes of supporting the team for maximum longevity. A lot of physical defense can also surprise a Zangoose which may think it can sweep when it in fact cannot. Light Screen supports the special defensive side for both Amphy and whole team. Hidden Power Grass / Water / Ice is just too good not to use in my opinion, because getting countered by Ground-types sucks hard. Calm Ampharos can tank strong special attacks ,such as haunters sludge bomb with ease and hit back. [/spoiler] So yeah, discuss.

Choice Band Diglett to me was always superior. Much superior. What comes to Belly Drummers, you're a bit exaggerating it. I can just claim Hyper Voice is not worth running unless it is a STAB. The only situation where Hyper Voice has any effect on Belly Drums effectiveness is when a Girafarig or Exploud switches in after a turn opposing Belly Drummer used Substitute. In a situation where Belly Drummer Substitutes against anything else, after the Belly Drum Salac activates and sweep happens. I doubt Girafarigs and Explouds really want to switch in on Poliwrath, though. I don't think that much changed. I guess it gives that certain uncertainty value that someone could troll you with Hyper Voice but I honestly think it's worth using when it's a STAB move.

Uproar is an awful move. What comes to Hyper Voice, it makes Giraf and Exploud slightly more viable because STAB. But only slightly.

oh found one more venonat

Although it hasn't been officially decided, we're still more inclined to not follow that policy as an absolute rule like it seemed to be. However, I shall add to this that I personally don't like the idea of banning multiple Pokemon at once at all but just mentioning this for clearance. I do think the overall idea of the policy needs to be followed which is not going nuts too early.

This thread. [spoiler][media]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F4qzPbcFiA[/media][/spoiler]

Seriously, I'm getting all OCD out of this.

It's female. Reds are females.. Still bidding on it?

bump