randomspot555

A Pokemon can't be expected to work against every single set a Pokemon may run. That's why they're designed with the standard set in mind. Sure, Salamence MIGHT be running 252 speed EVs with a +speed nature, but considering that none of the standard sets do that, it isn't something one should prepare for. But saying that base 90 with a + nature are outrun by base 100 w/ a neutral nature is just wrong.

Considering that you have a huge ground and fighting weakness, you need Gliscor, who is immune to ground and resists fighting.

Here's the Tyranitar I've been having fun with lately. Tyranitar w/ Leftovers/Lum Berry Careful (SpD, -SpAtk) Sand Stream 176 Sp Defense/8 Defense/252 Atk/74 HP - Curse - Subsitute - Payback - Filler Tyranitar has amazing stats in everything except speed. Seriously, it's slower than CHARMANDER. So lets just drop that stat instead of hopelessly boosting it with dragon dance while the opponent switches in Scarf Cross. Anyway, the EVs: 176 SpD+SpD sand storm boost means Scarf Heatran, at best, gets a 3hko. 8 EVs in Defense present standard Metagross from OHKO with Meteor Mash The other EVs are adjustable to suit your playing style. The moves: Curse- Duh Sub: Barrier so you can Curse-up. Also, prevents status. Payback is recommended over Crunch due to the higher base power of going last. Filler depending on what your team needs. Focus Punch can be viable behind a sub, or an elemental punch. If you play CurseCroaTar too early, you might want to give it Lum Berry to absorb status once it does get hit with some. Otherwise, leftovers all the way. And with 2 moves taking up space, with 2 attacks, don't leave yourself vulnerable. If Tyranitar is getting walled by...well, whatever it can't attack, switch out and live to Curse another day. But seriously, T-Tar, almost any set, benefits with defensive EVs in any of those 3 stats. DD doesn't need 252 speed. You need to figure out what you want to outrun with no DD, with one, with two, then use THOSE EVS, and dump the rest into HP/Def/SpDef EDIT: To the above conversation, at least with Flygon, most run Band/Scarf. As long as Lucario doesn't come in on Fire Punch or Earthquake, it'll be fine.

Done. I'll get to a second rate probably in the AM.

Regardless of what is and isn't posted, the thread is still relevant to discuss Smogon and all things related to it, because Smogon is relevant to a large part of the competitive game and the rules/tiers of battling that this (sub)forum follows. And even after we establish clauses and tiers from our own testing, Smogon basically making the metagame is going to have an affect on most battlers, even if it's subtle. As to what is posted, yeah, there's a limited amount of information already posted, but that doesn't invalidate the thread. Common rules of battling is just stating what is and isn't standard and common other clauses, the site follows the same clauses Smogon follows and uses their tiers.* We do have the Pokemon ranking thread, and while the work on it is great and should encourage others to do similar work, it's the result of a few people rather than a community, and isn't even enforced. There's a Singles Rate thread, but it's not exactly filled to the brim, and the RMT guide has only just been started. We're still a long way to go from making the claim that this place has all the sources it needs. *Of course, to change this, we need more original content. And I hope to put something together real soon to encourage this. Keep your eye on Competitive Battling for an Announcement (those appear at the very top, above the sticky threads). To end what seems to be carrying this on: No, this won't be stickied, yes the thread is relevant for many reasons and will remain open for discussion. Everyone can now chill out. It should be obvious to everyone why it won't be stickied, and after the first "No it won't be stickied", the discussion should've stopped.

No time to do a rate, but you should edit your new team into your first post. That way, latecomers to the thread will be aware of the changes.

I'll just copy/paste what I posted about this episode from another forum: Previously in Pokemon: A BATTLE TO THE DEATH (not really) between two big time legendary Pokemon, which are almost never featured in the anime. AND the Darkrai movie gets a continuity reference with Dawn mentioning that item she has. Oh, and Darkrai appearing (though not the same as in the movie). AND an evolution happened. That episode sucked. NOW pretty much a filler episode. No real big battle. No evolution. TR don't even "blast off." So why was this episode, featuring a Pokemon more annoying than scary or useful, was so much better? It was hilarious. This episode was full of scenes that need to be screen capped and turned into GIFs. If nothing big is going to happen. at least make it entertaining. And that's what this episode was.

That's true, to an extent, for the US legal system. It's because jury trials have jurors from the public, and they're supposed to not be biased. I have no idea how the Portugese legal system works, and this may very well be not a trial at all, but just calling witnesses to see if something can be worked out.

Popularity doesn't really translate into quality. Johto (and Kanto, too, as many like to forget) had tons of filler episodes, regional Pokemon weren't used that much, and they had to plot-device out the Kanto starters because Ash wouldn't use the Johto starters otherwise. There's generally 3 seasons/years for each main region+1 season for a "filler" arc (Orange Islands, Battle Frontier in Kanto, and the speculated Battle Frontier in Johto). Kanto was in "one" american season, but it encompassed like 80 episodes. That has nothing to do with "butchered American dubs" , that's simply how the US does television, in seasons. Either way, it's semantics. Just because the Japanese have them as 3 different shows, they are 3 different shows that feature many of the main and supporting characters and share the same continuity. It's really the same show.

No, the Orange Islands are only in the anime and the Electric Tales of Pikachu manga. But for all essential purposes, they're basically the Battle Frontier before there was one. I agree with the consensus that the anime will probably go to the Battle Frontier in Johto, which I believe has been mentioned before as having one. But I wouldn't expect many Kanto/Johto callbacks. There were very few Kanto references while traveling in season 9. And the Johto season kind of sucked anyway, so I'd prefer that it'd be referenced as little as possible.

Before I rate, I'm going to be a mod: Please edit into your post strategy, both for each Pokemon and as a whole team. Read SS guide on how to make a RMT to do some other stuff that, while not necessary to comply with the rules, is highly recommended. If you're going to use Tyranitar/Hippowdon/Abomoasnow, you either need a sand storm/hail team, or someone to change the weather. The other option is your forced to keep T-tar until it's your very last, which isn't good for a Pokemon who relies on set up. Aero is fine. The EVs on Jolteon are screwed up. A bunch in HP and special defense, and +max speed, but none in special attack, on a specs set? HP EVs should really only be used if Jolteon is running a Sub-pass set. Otherwise, the standard spread is fine. Jolteon w/ Specs Timid Volt Absorb 252 sp atk/252 speed/6 HP - Thunderbolt - Hidden Power Ice/Fire/Fight/Ground/Grass - Shadow Ball - Baton Pass/Toxic/Signal Beam/Thunder Wave/Hyper Beam Thunderbolt for STAB. HP is whatever your team calls for, but HP Ice gives you the best coverage. The others cover Scizor, Tyranitar, Heatran, and Swampert respectively. Shadow Ball because there's not much else left. The fourth slot can be used to either be strategic, or gimmicky, because Jolteon's move pool sucks. Specs/Scarf Baton Pass is known as a "dry" Baton Pass. Jolteon is pretty fast, and this allows it to escape Pursuit users, or you get in a counter to whatever attack is coming. Toxic/Thunder Wave is for one last hit before Jolteon goes down, but at least you gave your opponent some status to worry about. If you are...I don't know, Ludicolo weak, Signal Beam is okay. Hyper Beam is probably the worst bet, but similar to Toxic/T-Wave, use it before you die and only before you die. Tyranitar needs to go, or you need a new team. But on the set, I never use 252/252/6 on T-tar, because then it isn't utilizing it's bulk. Vaporeon's set seems good, but your opponent will quickly realize the strategy and do one of three things. Taunt, set up itself, or use Gyarados who can do both. But Vaporeon's EV spread is okay. It just needs to narrow down it's team support role, which is Wish Passing, with this move pool. -Surf -Wish -Protect - Ice Beam/HP Electric/Toxic/Yawn If you want to give Wish to Vaporeon, Protect. If to someone else, switch. The 4th slot is simply what you want to hit. Ice Beam for dragons, HP Electric for Gyarados. Toxic and Yawn can help against other bulky waters, or force a switch. Latias isn't something I'm used, but I think the set is a bit all over the place. With one attack, it's just a huge sign saying SCIZOR PLEASE COME IN AND KNOCK ME AROUND. Less so for Metagross and other steels, and Pokes with naturally high special defense (Tyranitar, Blissey). I just can't see it doing much besides setting up Reflect, then switching out. EDIT: Besides Jolteon and Jirachi for their respective electric/poison immunities, you have no way of reliably absorbing status. Paralysis can screw up any DD or Calm Mind user, Will O Wisp with your physical attackers, etc... Tyranitar and Latias would operate well with a Lum Berry. I don't see common weaknesses being too much of a problem, but I only thought about it for like 5 seconds. And if you do want to make a sand storm team, you already have a half-way decent one going. Vaporeon can stay, you just need to get rid of Latias and Jolteon.

To not get into an extensive debate on what Nintendo can and can't check for (since honestly, none of us know), I think it's more of an issue of if hacking for it, even legally, is fair. I imagine a good number of people don't have the ability to hack. So their IVs might be a bit lower, or natures might not be perfect, or they chose something with less egg moves since it had a better nature. SCV has a good post that's better written than this, and it has essentially the same point. It really isn't that hard to breed for decent IVs and nature, even easier if you can exploit the RNG. It hasn't happened yet, and I'm guessing it'll be a bit more secure than TRU events are.

There's a "Helpful Member" badge. Wraith89 has it. I know that isn't specific for Save/Mod help, but it's something that could be used.

That's because (from what I know, I personally don't own a flashcart) the R4 is a heavily bootlegged product, and I heard the company that made the R4 went out of business. Many of the people I know into DS Homebrew prefer the CycloDS.

Why is Hippo stuffed with EVs in HP, Defense, and Sp Defense, and then you Focus Sash it? That's a waste of an item. Focus Sash is meant for Pokemon who can't survive a hit any other way. Change it to Leftovers. That's all I'll say for now, since UU isn't a tier I often play.

What I notice about your Heatran is that, strangely enough, it's weak to the standard Scarf/Specs Heatran. Two moves get Flash Fire going, and then you have set-up moves. It also leaves Heatran open to any number of bulky water types, and someone who has GUTS Machamp/Heracross tucked away will learn how to abuse Will O Wisp. While bulky Pokemon such as Dusknoir, Zapdos, and Vaporeon can operate on sand storm teams, you basically have to choose Leftovers. And using a standard 252/252/6 spread on Zapdos is just making it into a standard sweeper, when it can do so much more.

I agree. In the current competitive environment, it's a challenge to provide counters to everything (REAL counter, not revenge killing, or a check against, etc...; something that can switch in, take minimal/no damage, and eliminate the threat or force a switch). It also, as you said, doesn't help much. Blissey doesn't need to have to be on a threat list. Your counter to Blissey is any physical attack. The reverse goes for Skarmory. Now throughout typing up one's strategy, you should mention the biggest threats of the current competitive environment. Those being Heatran, Scizor, Tyranitar, Metagross, and so on. Lots of others can just be grouped together. Vaporeon, Suicune, etc... don't all need counters, you just need something to go against bulky waters. And so on. So if someone is obviously missing an answer to a big threat in their strategy, it should be pointed out. But I don't think someone's RMT thread should be looked down upon just because they didn't individually type up an answer to 20-50 Pokemon.

What is a shoutbox? VMs are already enabled for short messages. "Random conversations" sound like something that should be taken to AIM/MSN/Yahoo/ICQ or a chat room.

Yeah, I'm going to close this because it'll basically be a +1 postcount thread. Not to mention whatever random crap anyone is doing in their game, like "Day 1: Hunting; Day 2: Still hunting; Day 3: Took a break, watched House" isn't really discussable. If you want to start a Poke Radar-chaining thread, go for it. But not random hunting log journals.

Novely sets suck. As Destati said, no one is going to leave their Pokemon in so you can dream eat it. Ideally, this thread should be making original competitive sets. Novelty sets are fine, but in a competitive environment, they're just bad. But they're fine for in-game. Maybe even the BT.

The forum rules are simply a way to ask for a battle. If you don't know why forum rules get a sticky, then I don't know how much I can help you in understanding it. This thread has plenty of relevant information. Regardless of anyone's personal opinion on Smogon and how they utilize clauses and tiers, it's a fact that they are an influence on the competitive battling aspect of the metagame. And since this is the Competitive Battling forum, it's relevant to it, on-topic, and worthy of discussion. If you don't like the topic, more power to you. Don't post, contribute to the discussion, whatever. But if it's relevant or not isn't up for you to decide.

Plat is the "third version". They aren't going to majorly change it. It's going to stay the same, with the focus on the new features. It seems like you were expecting a brand new game with a new region. That was unrealistic.

I got a PM from a staff on the site saying that, even though they've identified the OT/ID#, they've decided not to release them to the public.

So you liked what the game featured and was promoted for. Anyone who thought the story would be drastically different was deluding themselves.

Generally, one month. Some last a bit longer, and custom ones can last longer.