Dear Smogonite,
I am a competative battler who entered the competative 'scene' at the end of BW1. In my time in the feild, I have gone through the generations and have been able to learn quite a few tiers. I am not a really good battler, but I wish to attempt to get a paper of mine into the Smog. I have written a page about how gsc had helped shape todays current metagame. If you feel my paper lacks substance, or needs more revision, please let me know. I have already posted it on my own personal fansite. I just wish to try and contribute to the community, because my fansite won't be a huge deal. This is the heart of competative play, so I wanted it to be posted where many people could read about it on this site. I am fully open to suggestions and I want criticism. Thank you and here is my paper:
Throught Pokémon, there has been several changes that makes life for a competative player rather difficult. Think about threats appearing because of a new ability or every Pokémon is now able to heal a little bit of life each turn. This makes the game a challange with each generation. We never know what is going to happen next. For all we know, we could have a new type coming in the future. It has happened before. The sky is the limit when it comes to Game Freak's changes. Some Pokémon actually became useful due to them. Its just luck of the draw. The effects that these changes add make the game is what it is today. Next generation, everything is expected to be altered also. This is a truth we must all face. There will always be something that is the next big thing.
New Type Mechanics
In the Red, Yellow, and Blue metagame, Psychic Types were completely broken. The only type that was super effective to a Psychic was the Bug type, but Bug types and Bug type moves were extremely weak. Pokémon like Alakazam, Starmie, Slowbro, Jynx, and Exeggutor found themselves as deadly threats to the opposing team. Two Psychic types, Mew and Mewtwo, were even banned for only having one weak weakness and devestating strength. Psychic was the dominate race back in Red, Yellow, and Blue. Once Pokémon Gold and Silver came along, Game Freak saw the problem with the Psychics and decided to add new Pokémon that would counter them. The Dark type was fully immune to it and the Steel type resisted the Psychic bombardment. Pokémon like Scizor, Tyranitar, and Umbreon came to ranks in combat against Alakazam and Slowbro so the metagame would become more balanced. Also, some old faces came to the occasion and were able to bring down a few Psychics. Gengar's Ghost typing allowed him to hit Psychics for super effective damage and Magneton was able to take a few weak Psychic Attacks with his new Steel typing. Even the ranks of the Bug type were blessed with Heracross and his 120 base power Megahorn! Dark types even had a move to trap and OHKO the weak Psychics, Pursit. Now, a Psychic would have trouble even calling itself a top-tier threat.
Without these new type mechanics, Latios and Latias would be completely broken and would be in the Ubers tier forever. Mew and Victini would still be in Over Used. There would be no Tyranitar, Scizor, Jirachi, or Ferrothorn. The lack of Steel and Dark types would make Psychics almost as powerful as today's Dragon type. Everyone would have to carry a Psychic, because only a Psychic would be able to resist it's Attack besides the lack luster Bug types in the game. Also, the Fighting Type would have been mearly a joke in the circumstances. Most of our Dragon types that dominate today and Psychics have one type to them that resists the Fighting Attacks. Keldeo would have to find itself in a lower tier in the circumstances. Under Used wouldn't be the Fight Club that it is today. The real scary thing to look at is what would the lack of Steel types mean? That is perfect neutral coverage in one Attack. Outrage would be flying everywhere. Nothing would be able to deal with Moxie Salamence. Who knows how broken the game would be without these changes?
The Special Split
In Red and Blue, there was five stats to every Pokémon. These stats were HP, Attack, Defense, Special, and Speed. The Special stat was an offensive stat and a defensive one. It would deal out Special damage and see how well you took it. In Red and Blue, this stat was broken. The attack Amnesia doubled the Special stat! Pokémon that were fast and knew Amnesia were dominate in being able to sweep. In Gold and Silver, the Special stat was split into Special Attack and Special Defense. Pokémon like Mewtwo lost a lot of bulk and Pokémon like Tauros and Chansey lost their use of Special attacks. If these stats were just considered one today, Pokémon like Regice, Shuckle, and Deoxys-A would be extremely over powered. Shucle would have the equivalent of a base 230 Special Attack stat! Deoxys-A would have a base 180 Special Defense equivalent! Regice would have a base 200 Special Attack! This is not to mention all of the users of Nasty Plot or Amnesia. The Special side of the metagame would dominate. Pokémon everywhere would have sets like this:
Regice
- Amnesia
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Rest
Looking at this set is a terror. With an extremely high Special that Regice would have under the circumstances, a way to double it, and two moves with that are special and have perfect coverage would scare just about any competative player. The only major problem would be that Regice is slow, has bad typing, and has a smaller HP stat. Now, Regice can only be a Special Wall. He has a base 100 Special Attack and Amnesia only boosts his base 200 Special Defense. This is not nearly as threatening compaired to the monster above. With the mechanics in the example above, a single Amnesia boost would make the Regice set above have a stat over 800 in Special! This is even worse when you think of all the Pokémon that could possibly attack and hit hard. A Shuckle with Hidden Power Dragon would send Pokémon to their graves.
Hazards
In Gold and Silver, the concept of Hazards was born. Pokémon like Cloyster and Forretress would use the move Spikes and when the opponent switched Pokémon, they would take 12.5% damage. A player could get rid of Spikes with the attack Rapid Spin. It was a Normal type move, so Ghost types would come in and attempt to preserve their precious Spikes. Now, there is a lot more to Hazards. Toxic Spikes and Spikes crush stall teams and Stealth Rock stopped Charizard, Volcarona, Dragonite, and many other Pokémon from sweeping teams. Without the introduction of Hazards in Gold and Silver, a player would have to be extra cautious of Dragonite and Volcarona. Teams would be decemated in an instant. Thanks to Gold and Silver, we have Hazards to stop these Pokémon and we have a way to get rid of these Hazards.
Held Items
Without Gold and Silver, we would never have Held Items. That would make a Quiver/Dragon Dance user nearly invincible. There would be no Choice Scarf to get rid of the Sweeper. We would have no Choice Specs or Choice Band users to get rid of bulky threats. Walls would have no Leftovers to heal damage over time. There would never be a Lum Berry to heal Dragonite from status while trying to use Dragon Dance. There would have never been a ChestoRest. Empoleon would never have his Pinch Berry to sweep with. That is not the least of Empoleon's worries though. In a world without Gold and Silver, Empoleon probably would have never existed, because the Steel type was not there. It could possibly be there, but it would lose so many resistances that help it in viability as a Special Wall. The posibilites of how different life would be without items is tramendous. We would be a lot more hard pressed for a Wish User and bulky sweepers. Sweepers with moves like Roost, Recover, or other moves of the sort would be highly valuable. Without them being able to heal themselves, they would not be able to take out three or four Pokémon at a time. The game would still be stall-orientated.
Breeding
Without Breeding, we would never see Egg Moves. Egg Moves are attacks that the child Pokémon can learn, but its father must know it during the breeding process. Salamence and Tyranitar would never get Dragon Dance. Lucario would never learn Bullet Punch. Tyranitar was the king of ADV because he had access to the attack Dragon Dance. Without it, he would have been just using Curse and Pursuiting foes. There would be a lot less competative options that we have today. Many Pokémon gain a few viable options by breeding, but its not the most crucial effect that Gold and Silver played. It still benefits the current metagame however.
Conclusion
When it comes to competative play, every generation has left it's specific mark on the subject. Gold and Silver had a very defining role in competative play. Withought the Special split and the Dark and Steel typings that were added, the current metagame would be a chaotic mess. Latios and Latias would rule high as the Pokémon with the best typing in the game. We would have perfect neutral coverage in a single move and many Pokémon would gain so much power or bulk from generation one mechanics, but generation two stabalized the game and allowed a balanced game to occur. It may not have had the biggest impact on the game, but it sure comes close to that title.
Note I ripped this from my site itself: http://www.searingjustice.tk/
It is the Gold and Silver's Impact page on my left sidebar
