Ask a Simple Question, Get a Simple Answer MK IV: Read the FAQ in the Opening Post

[Stratos]

dark void hits both mons a double battle

 

[Ffancrzy]

Hello everybody.

I used to be on this site a little during DPP and I haven't even played the B/W Games yet. Is there some sort of "returning player's primer" that outlines the changes between the generations? Stuff like New Moves, New Abilites, anything that has gotten changed (like what a move/ability does) and maybe some new common pokemon? Its just a lot of information to jump into cold turkey and I don't wanna just blindly jump in. Thanks in advanced!

 

[BattleStar]

Dark void can completely cripple teams. Spore only effects one Pokemon sink guess that's why Nintendo lets it by.

 

[truevillany]

dark void hits both mons a double battle

hmmm I was unaware of darkrai's true power... I thought he was limited to one pokemon...


What a frighteningly powerful move

 

[doughboy]

Hello everybody.

I used to be on this site a little during DPP and I haven't even played the B/W Games yet. Is there some sort of "returning player's primer" that outlines the changes between the generations? Stuff like New Moves, New Abilites, anything that has gotten changed (like what a move/ability does) and maybe some new common pokemon? Its just a lot of information to jump into cold turkey and I don't wanna just blindly jump in. Thanks in advanced!

Although it is locked it provides a pretty good summary of what has changed. Hope I helped:

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3453548

 

[himynameisAD]

I have a question about auto-weather abilities. If Tyranitar and Abomasnow were both sent in on the first turn and they had the same speed stat, say 59, which weather would end up being set up?

 

[King Serperior]

^ my guess is 50/50 like almost all speed ties.

 

[haunter]

Your guess is correct. It comes down to a coin flip like every other speed tie.

 

[Mr. XYZ]

If a Dry Skin Poke is behind a Sub and is hit by Surf, will it be healed or will the Sub take dmg and no healing?

 

[Jimera0]

If a Dry Skin Poke is behind a Sub and is hit by Surf, will it be healed or will the Sub take dmg and no healing?

I'm pretty sure it'll be healed and take no damage, functioning like any other immunity does behind a sub. Don't take my word for it though, as I'm honestly not 100% certain.

 

[Nova]

I'm pretty sure it'll be healed and take no damage, functioning like any other immunity does behind a sub. Don't take my word for it though, as I'm honestly not 100% certain.

This is correct

 

[Mr. XYZ]

Ok thank both of you.

 

[JSteele]

WARNING: This is gonna be one hell of a long post.

Soooo, im a player returning from the R/S/E times, thus i consider myself a noob to the new meta and i need help.

I have managed to raise a few pokemon to 100 in my pokemon black, and i need help about which ones should make my team, which other pokemon i should raise, what items i should use, as well as changes to existing pokemon/movesets.

Before i post my pokemon, id like to mention a few things so that this thread can actually help me:
A. I do NOT use Dream World abilities
B. Im just too bored to EV train my pokemon fully. All i do is feed em Vitamins and use the Power Items.
C. Im not familiar with HP, so please dont mention it if you feel like suggesting anything.
D. Also, I hate re-raising pokemon ive already raised. So, please make any suggestions to the existing Natures, without proposing moves that should be bred.
Most of my pokemon are OU, i apologise in advance for anyone that is not.

So, my lvl 100 Pokemon are:

Tyranitar
Adamant
Sand Stream
@ ??? (maybe Choice Band/Scarf)

Earthquake
Crunch
Stone Edge
Aerial Ace

Pretty standard imo. I regret not having bred DD on him, but i think a set without it could pretty good as well. Aerial Ace may seem weird, but it gives me coverage for Fighting AND Grass types, so i find it useful. And the perfect accuracy can be sweet.

Excadrill
Jolly
Sand Force
@ ???

Swords Dance
Earthquake
Brick Break
Rock Slide

You probably noticed that it lacks the good ability, but Force can sometimes be surprisingly good. The reason i chose it was that i bred like 40 Drillbur to find a Jolly/Adamant. I finally found it and, though it had the most mediocre ability, i decided to keep it.

I chose Rock Slide over Stone Edge because the latter can be very annoying and can interrupt the sweep when it misses. Also, with his respectable speed, the flinch possibility is just fine. Hes been testing fine overall.

Ferrothorn
Careful
Iron Barbs
@ Rocky Helmet

Curse
Thunder Wave
Power Whip
Gyro Ball

I know, the set seems pretty random, but it works surprisingly well. My mistake was believing that he would learn some entry hazard by level up, so i didnt breed anything to him.

But, other than that, he is amazing. Boosted SDef by his Nature, Boosted Att and Def by Curse, pretty strong Gyro Ball after some Curses, reliable STAB on Power Whip, Thunder Wave when i know im gonna die. He just never ceases to amaze me.

Crustle
Jolly
Sturdy
@ ???

Shell Smash
Earthquake
Stone Edge
X-Scissor

I decided to give Shell Smash a shot and its pretty cool. If he survives until he can Shell Smash once or twice, he can sweep pretty fine, with high Att and Speed.

Lucario
Modest
Inner Focus
@ ??? (maybe Choice Specs)

Nasty Plot
Aura Sphere
Dark Pulse
Psychic

I know the physical set is considered to be better, but, while i also had a Riolu with Adamant, i chose to raise this one, to take advantage of the slightly better base SpA. The result is extremely fragile, though the offensive coverage is awesome.

Gyarados
Adamant
Intimidate
@ ???

Dragon Dance
Waterfall
Earthquake
Stone Edge

Hes not bad at all, though the PhD is a little bit depressing. Kinda fast, pretty powerful and with nice coverage.

Chandelure
Timid
Flame Body
@ ???

Shadow Ball
Flamethrower
Energy Ball
Psychic

Though it lacks a boosting move (Y U NO LEARN NASTY PLOT?!?), its pretty good. It doesnt have a monstrous SpA, cause i chose to emphasize on its speed problem.

Mamoswine
Jolly
Oblivious
@ ???

Earthquake
Stone Edge
Icicle Crash
Ice Shard

Hes the last pokemon i raised, so i havent tested him much but he is VERY good so far (and hes my only viable Ice type). However I find the lack of a boosting move disturbing. Also, i know the ability is terribad, but i almost spit blood until i found that Jolly Swinub, and i didnt care about the ability. I could never get a Hail team anyway, so Snow Cloak wouldnt help one bit.

Milotic
Calm
Marvel Scale
@ ??? (Toxic Orb???)

Recover
Hydro Pump
Scald
Ice Beam

With the only exception being Scald instead of Surf, its the exact same Milo ive always used. I dont know however how much he can survive todays meta, though ive noticed that Electric types are not very common. Anyway.

Heracross
Jolly
Guts
@ ???

Swords Dance
Stone Edge
Close Combat
Megahorn

His coverage is good, he has a boost move, and his speed with Jolly nature is not that bad. Hes pretty strong i guess.

Dragonite
Adamant
Inner Focus
@ ???

Dragon Dance
Dragon Claw
Earthquake
Roost

Hes been amazing so far, i love him. I chose Claw over Outrage because its safer. All in all this is a "safe" DDNite, thats why he has Roost.

Volcarona
Calm
Flame Body
@ ???

Quiver Dance
Fiery Dance
Bug Buzz
Psychic

One of the first pokemon i raised, hes Calm nature cause hes the one i caught in the Relic Castle. Yeah, i know he has to be weak since i caught him @ 70, but hes actually not bad. After 2 QD he sweeps while maintaining a REALLY high SpD stat. However hes still OHKO'd when hit by a Stone Edge.



Ta-Daaaaa those are my good pokemon. Im also gonna raise a Jolly Metagross and a Modest/Timid Hydreigon. Im also getting a Landorus.

I also have a very strong -for my standards :P- Garchomp, but i didnt mention him cause hes an Uber.

I also have some other topics on which i need advice.

I) Whats up with Breloom? I mean, OK, spore is amazing, but isnt he pretty easy to kill with so low defenses and speed??? I totally dont get why hes considered sooooo good, so any suggestions would be welcome.

II) Im missing Entry Hazard setters and spinners, and the best option that comes to mind is obviously Forretress. However, can i him as well as Ferrothorn in the same team? Its just that i grew to like Ferrothorn a lot... What do i do???

III) Should i consider a Sandstorm team with these pokemon?

IV) What do i do when a legendary (say Landorus) is caught with the wrong nature? Do i just reset and try all the torment again??? I caught a Quiet Virizion which im -obviously- never gonna train, as well as a Naughty Terrakion. And i didnt think of resetting at the time :'(


Soooooo, these were the subjects with which i need help. Id love it if s/o actually helped.

Also, DONT HATE on my choices, just suggest your own. Please :)

 

[rustysneakers]

wondering what kind of team i should make around a parashuffler dragonite. my team as of now would be:

Azelf - lead (with stealth rock)

Ninetails - (mainly for changing weather, especially from sandstorm since it's no good for my dragonite)

Froslass - using froslass cause i needed a spinblocker and a spikes setter but didn't have room for 2 pokes. not absolutely set on this

Magnezone - kill pesky steels that are getting in the way of my dragonite

celebi - as a physical wall and extra thunder waving if needed

and finally Parashufflin Dragonite to annoy the crap outta the opposing team with roosting and thunder waving

 

[Hariyama]

Can RestTalk and Curse Wailord work?
Also, on ScarfLord, is Hidden Power a must, or I can replace it with a stronger physical move?

 

[ToothPick]

Hello guys.

So heres the deal: I regained my love for pokemon ( i guess it never left ) since GSC....

Right now i own HeartGold and Diamond. Soon i will get White( or should i wait for white2? )

I know i cant enter competetive battling, while im still using my ingame team, but i would like to learn all there is to it, BEFORE i can actually do it =)

So, competetive battling, will be over wifi with your DS, ammi right? ( as i said, im still a big noob >.< )

I got the IV and EV thing. IV's are 31 at best, and 508 EV's to train into specific stat slots.

Now, for getting these pokemon. thats what i find hard. For example, i see people saying they got Perfect pokemon, how do they do that?! Using an AR or something?
Isnt that illegal, or even lame?

I got so many questions, but i wont post em here yet. Maybe im alrdy annoying you guys with these questions lol.....

Also, any pro battler out here, who thinks its fun to take me under his wings as his protoge? =p

 

[gvmgvm40]

Pokemon Online is the platform of choice for competitive battling. It's easy to use and doesn't require you to spend countless hours breeding and soft-reseting your game. If you already know the basics, just make a team and start battling! Also, these might help.

As for the question "How do people get perfect Pokemon?": Nothing in the game is actually random. Everything is determined by the PRNG (psuedo-random number generator). If you can successfully manipulate the PRNG, you can get the exact Pokemon you want. Look here! I don't have the time or patience to do it, but if you prefer to play the real game instead of a simulator and getting your own perfect Pokemon after hours of work sounds satisfying for you, well, try it!

I'm just your average player, not an expert by any means, but if you have any questions, PM me and I'll try to help.

 

[DDRMaster]

Can RestTalk and Curse Wailord work?
Also, on ScarfLord, is Hidden Power a must, or I can replace it with a stronger physical move?

Mono Attacking Wailord could potentially work, but I think it's better off just firing off Water Spouts. For the Scarf set, HP Grass is important to so that Wailord can hit apposing Water-types. If you plan on using it in OU, though, HP Electric could work to hit Gyarados harder while Earthquake could be useful to 2HKO Toxicroak and 3HKO Tentacruel, assuming no Atk investment.

 

[Entere]

Now, for getting these pokemon. thats what i find hard. For example, i see people saying they got Perfect pokemon, how do they do that?! Using an AR or something?
Isnt that illegal, or even lame?

I got so many questions, but i wont post em here yet. Maybe im alrdy annoying you guys with these questions lol.....

Also, any pro battler out here, who thinks its fun to take me under his wings as his protoge? =p

Erm, I'm not a pro battler, but I do have a few perfect pokemonz and I have to say, most of the time, through regular methods, they are pretty much impossible to get. There are two ways (without hacks, as far as I know) to get perfect pokemon. The first is breeding: basically getting pokemon until one has a perfect or good IV, then use methods to pass it down. It's very time consuming, and rarely does one get a completely perfect pokemon. The second method is called RNG'ing, using the pseudo-random number generator to get perfect pokemon. It's much easier, but considered by most to be not as amazing as the first method.
(BTW, most of the time you don't need perfect pokemon. Most attackers don't care about a stat, Attack or SpAtk. Basically, only mixed attackers need perfect IVs)

About actually playing, I don't have anything more to say that Plopper didn't. Just be yourself and don't give up. Wi-fi battling is nothing like playing in the game.

 

[Jimera0]

@JSteele: Really, this thread is not a teambuilding thread. For the individual sets and such for each of your pokemon, I recommend you look them up on the site and figure it out for yourself using that as a reference. Reading a lot of those analyses can also give you a good idea of what works together and what to expect in the metagame. Reading some of the various topics on this particular forum (DST) should also help give you an idea. Finally, if you don't want to do a lot of reading you can always just pick a team that seems alright and jump right in. Learning as you go can help a lot. Also, a quick note, Smogon considers Excadrill to be Uber as well as Garchomp.

@Rustysneakers: Again, this is not a teambuilding thread. I suggest you just jump into the game with the team you have and figure out what needs changing through trial and error. However, it does look like you need more bulk, seeing as you seem to be trying full stall as it doesn't have any sweepers and relies on hazards. Also, you might want a secondary phazer so Dnite doesn't run out of Dragon Tail PP.

@Hariyama: First things first: If you're looking to use Wailord in OU, don't. There are far better options out there.
Now that that's out of the way, Curselord and Rest-talk lord are pretty much non-viable in every tier. Even NU Pokemon hit too hard for it to work these days. As for HP Grass, it probably is the best move as it's the only thing you can use to hit opposing Water Types which will otherwise give you a bucketload of trouble. In OU HP Electric might be almost as good, but again, why the hell are you using Wailord in OU?????

@Toothpick: Plopper seems to have it covered. I really recommend you read some of those articles, and also that you read a few analyses from the site so you can get a good idea of how stuff works. After you get Pokemon Online, you might want to spend some time spectating battles too. Finally, reading some warstories here can also give you an idea of how battling competitively works. Finally, before jumping into battling I strongly suggest you take a look at Smogon's OU Banlist so you know what's not allowed on your team.

So, in short, all you new battlers should just read around the site and forums. Eventually you'll pick up the information you need to put together good teams and battle well.

 

[JSteele]

@JSteele: Really, this thread is not a teambuilding thread. For the individual sets and such for each of your pokemon, I recommend you look them up on the site and figure it out for yourself using that as a reference. Reading a lot of those analyses can also give you a good idea of what works together and what to expect in the metagame. Reading some of the various topics on this particular forum (DST) should also help give you an idea. Finally, if you don't want to do a lot of reading you can always just pick a team that seems alright and jump right in. Learning as you go can help a lot. Also, a quick note, Smogon considers Excadrill to be Uber as well as Garchomp.

a mod told me to ask my question in this thread :/

http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3462879

thanks anyway

 

[Stratos]

Unfortunately for you, Jimera is right. nobody on Smogon is here to make your team, with the possible exception of Tutor 101's program. If you need help deciding on the last mon for your spikestack offense or you're wondering what the best Rain Sweeper is, then OK. However, in general, teambuilding is learned through PO's School of Hard Knocks.

 

[czechm8]

In a double battle if one pokemon uses Fakeout and its partner uses sucker punch on the pokemon that was flinched will it fail? This is assuming the opposing pokemon was preparing a direct attack.

 

[Pippy]

In a double battle if one pokemon uses Fakeout and its partner uses sucker punch on the pokemon that was flinched will it fail? This is assuming the opposing pokemon was preparing a direct attack.

Iirc correctly it will work.

 

[DDRMaster]

I am editing the Swords Dance Gliscor set on its Smogon analysis, making it Jolly and giving it enough Speed to outpace Adamant Lucario. Would it be better to take its EVs out of Defense or HP?

As a general rule, it's better to take EVs out of Defense. This is because HP needs to be much higher than Def or SpDef because it contributes to taking damage from both sides. The only time you would want to take it out of HP first is if the Pokemon already has extremely high HP, like Blissey and Wobbuffet.