OU: Strategy Competitive Discussion of the Week - 17

RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 12

I personally use offensive Heatran, Terrakion or Garchomp as hazard setters whenever I go HO. Klefki has tons of utility and is a great support, but it doesn't hit and well... I hate it.

As PP said, hazard removal is something to think about when going HO. Personally, I'd rather not use it, but I feel that certain types or combinations require some form of it. It's not gonna be that useful if you don't have SR weakness (and if you manage to let more than one layer of Spikes down on your side, you're doing something wrong), but if your team has a significant weakness to SR (Birdspam, Dragonite etc.) or if you play VoltTurn, which employs tons of switches, you need some form of hazard removal otherwise the residual damage will wear you down quickly. My own personal choice is Lati@s, with a preference to Latios; while both are just screaming for Bisharp to come in, it's exactly that type of mindset you can take the most advantage of, they can almost function like a lure with HP Fire or Fighting or even Surf and T-Bolt, which do significant damage to Bisharp. Against teams without Bisharp, they are the best for me, with Latios pulling ahead for HO due to its own overwhelming power.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 12

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Discuss the viability of certain Pokemon that can replicate Mega Evolutions without taking up the latter's slot.

Raikou -> Mega Manectric
Scizor -> Mega Scizor
Kyurem-B -> Mega Garchomp
etc.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 13

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What are some solid Pokemon in OU that you like but are hard to build around/with relative to many high-usage Pokemon? How do you use them?

Tornadus-T and Altaria are hard for me to use.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 14

It's the same one for me every generation, haha. I looooooove Gengar so much, but I always seem to have trouble playing it due to its frailness. You can't really build "around" it for that reason, but I also seem to have problems using it on a core because I switch it in too much and it just takes too much damage.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 14

I also struggle with Gengar for the same reason as Teapot.

I also find it difficult to work with Tyranitar due its numerous weaknesses. When I do use it, I find I'm very reluctant to actually put it on the battlefield and that tends to cost me the game.

Mega Sableye and stall in general is also really tough for me to work with because I'm not at all patient when it comes to Pokemon.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 14

^^^^^Screw stall. I don't know why, I've just never been able to wrap my head around the concept of keeping pressure on the opponent through defense. I just don't get it.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 14

Dragonite. For some reason, no matter which set I choose to play, I can never seem to make the most of this guy. Either I overestimate Multiscale or become frantic about losing its protection and end up with a beaten dragon or an unused one.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 14

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What are some of your favorite anti-meta Pokemon to use in OU? How so?

I love to use Aerodactyl on hyper offense with things like Latios, Keldeo, Thundurus, and SR setters due to the defensive synergy it provides by checking the fast megas and birdspam while also punching holes. The teammates in turn handle all of what can stop Aero, like SR, bulky waters, physical walls, Scarfers, etc. Looking cool is just a bonus :)
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 15

I don't know quite how "anti-meta" it is, but Scarf Ditto is definitely a cool counter to most popular setup-sweepers, like Dragonite and Mega Gyarados. Along with Encore Wobbuffet, it can really mess with opponents, turning their momentum right back at them.
 
RE: Competitive Discussion of the Week - 15

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What is your favorite playstyle(s) and why? Has it changed from generation to generation?
 
This generation I play more of a balanced style because I find it easier to build teams that way. The problem I found with building stall type teams is critical hits are something that will inevitably happen which can shift control of the game to your opponent. If I go full scale offensive, I risk losing because of having a bad prediction. Once you make one wrong move with an offensive team, it is very hard to recover because you don't have the defenses to survive attacks.

In fifth generation I did a fair bit of playing using weather since that was a permanent boost to my team. It unlocks new combinations that become extremely powerful.
 
I play stall because I think I'm good at it. The generations have not been kind to me.
 
I've always preferred offensive teams just because I find them the most fun. I feel like Hyper Offense especially tests my ability to think long-term rather than short-term, but I like the idea of applying offensive pressure rather than setting up hazards and playing patiently. I just find it more fun. From generation to generation offense has fluctuated. The advent of Team Preview definitely aided it a ton going from DPP -> BW, but I don't think it's as strong in XY. I see Balanced doing much better in this metagame.

also I like to troll people with baton pass from time to time
 
It's more satisfying to sweep and punch holes, but I feel more comfortable being able to wall things. It's also really fun to get people to ragequit by playing a stall team.
 
When I started playing, I used variants of bulky offense. This playstyle just felt right for me and my skillsets at the time. Not to discredit bulky offense players, but I felt I had a larger safety net to fall back on with that playstyle. Unlike stall and hyper offense, which usually require all or most of the cogs to be used correctly to win, I felt I could make mistakes with bulky offense. It also helped that teambuilding felt easier for bulky offense, but that's just my opinion.

In fighting and other strategic games (especially chess), I naturally played a "rushdown" type of playstyle. Pressuring my opponent with offense and forcing them to make the right defensive countermeasure just felt right and natural. It was through these other mediums that I was able to find my true calling card in hyper offense. Teambuilding and decisions felt more easier and fun than they were after making that switch because I was playing with the style that felt natural.

One thing that I think is important for players is to find their playstyle that fits them instead of forcing it. With bulky offense, I was forcing myself to play that because I thought my skill level required it, but the truth was that I was effectively limiting my potential and skill by not going with what felt more natural. You may like the benefits to this playstyle you are using, but if it doesn't feel natural to play, you're limiting your potential to win.
 
When I started playing I went, like the typical newbie, for hyper offense. However, it seemed it was also there to stay, for even later on I turned to offense whenever I made a team. Eventually, my style shifted towards a more balanced game. My teams were still more offensive than defensive though, and I never truly abandoned hyper offense.

From early on, I was bent on not playing stall; I tried it at some point, but it seemed too slow, too dull, not at all suited to me. I wanted to attack, not just stand and wait. Mindless hyper offense is the typical style of many new players, but as I begun to learn the game better I also begun to enjoy offense more. Mindless offense is fun, but real, solid and properly played offense gave me a feeling of satisfaction that I almost got addicted to. As I matured even more as a player, I began to shift towards more balanced playstyles. However, offense was always what I truly liked. Even as I made some OU teams which were clearly balanced, I used Ubers and their raw power to just relish in offensive teams. And soon I got back to offense in OU as well. A while back, before I went on an indefinite hiatus from competitive, I had settled in an offensive playstyle, with balanced elements. Hyper offense isn't something I play much anymore; I've changed as a battler and as a person throughout the years, and hyper offense isn't anymore something that truly expresses me. Balance doesn't do that either though.

In the end, offense is what I play and probably always will play. It may not be as all-out as it used to, but the element is still there, in my teambuilding process as well as battle style and decisions. Attacking comes natural to me. I will think, I will calculate, but I will also make the first move, and I will hit, not hit back. It's who I am as a person, really. It's only natural that my style in battling, and many other games, follows such a mindset.
 
My playstyle has changed a bit over years! In DPP OU I had used balance and with offensive in mind teams, Black and White was more offensive, in BW2 I played stallish I guess, I used Sub + Paralysis + Focus Punch a lot <3 at the beginning of XY I played offensive balance again, but now I just play stall, its fun having two ways to win
 
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How do you improve yourself as a player? This can be either generalized advice, specific to a type of player, or based on your own experience.
 
I do many battles which after doing them I watch them and make notes to myself what I could have done better. Even if I won.
If anyone haven't tried it before, you can't believe how helping this is.
I try to get advises from other trainers. Take their thoughts to account if its about the team building or my play style.
It is also important for me to train with 1 team and go as high as I can with them so I can actually see results that cannot be explained by the fact I might play with a better team than before.
I also watch other's battles in Showdown and especially experienced players on YouTube (which I'm not sure if I can recommend about them here ).
And of course- I learn a lot right here in PokeBeach :] RMT's guides and the many great experienced players here.
Too be more general its about going and not just read but open threads make discussions and ask questions in forums ( or any other fitting media but forums are usually the best ) and you can learn a lot more than just reading an existing topic that is not exactly what you need but "close enough".
 
I like looking through my battles, particularly battles I lost and figure out what I could have done differently. I'm trying to find ways I could have done better such as by doing a different move. I don't like that you can't save battle videos in Regionals and above tournaments. You can only view the previous battle you had and there isn't always enough time to see where you could have done better.

I rarely ask for advice on my team or my battles. My battle thread I had started a few days ago was mainly to demonstrate what VGC is like. I intend on doing more of them. I feel it will help the community grow so I can have more chances to play others.

I find by helping other players I also get better and make less errors. If you look hard enough in RMT Archives you'll see some teams of the Ubers tier by me that were primarily to educate people. These sometimes included unique spreads you wouldn't find elsewhere.
 
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