By TheDarkLucario, banner by safariblade
Sometimes, the hardest part to getting into competitive battling is learning some of the lingo. To some beginners, words like 'hax' and 'phazing' can seem like words from a weird foreign language. Even I had trouble learning some of these terms (I thought hax was beating someone easily when I first started.) This guide will hopefully help many newer players trying to get into the game or improve, so it's not really meant for expert to average players. However, it would be nice to make sure you know all of these terms well. Hopefully, this will make many less experienced players better, or possibly encourage others to start playing.
The terms you're about to see range from being used commonly, like BoltBeam, to being used rarely, like AA. However, I've taken the liberty to include some of the rarer terms for convenience and your learning. If you feel like I left anything out, feel free to point it out.
Move, Item, and Mechanic Abbreviations:
Sometimes, players like to use abbreviations of such things as moves to save time when typing them out. It's much faster to type out LO as opposed to typing out Life Orb. However, abbreviations can sometimes stand for more than one thing, such as BP, which can possibly lead to confusion. As I mentioned before, abbreviations are much easier to type out, so I encourage that you use them.
AA: Aerial Ace.
In early BW, AA on Gliscor was common to get rid of Brelloom.
BB: Brave Bird or Brick Break.
Staraptor, with Reckless and a CB, can inflict massive amounts of damage with its STAB BB.
BP: 1) Base Power of a move, or the amount of damage it will do if you do not factor in STAB or any other boosts. 2) Bullet Punch or Baton Pass.
Earthquake has a BP of 100.
BST: The total combined number of all of a Pokémon's base stats.
Celebi has a BST of 600.
CB / Band: Choice Band.
Haxorus can be equipped with a CB, allowing it to rip holes with its STAB Outrage.
CC: Close Combat or Cross Chop.
Infernape's STAB CC provides excellent coverage, and the defense drop is irrelevant because Infernape can't take hits anyways.
CM: Calm Mind.
Reuniclus can use CM to not only boost its offensive power, but also its defensive power to the point where it's nearly impossible to take down without the proper counter.
DD: Dragon Dance.
With Dragon Dance, Salamence can be a force to be reckoned with. Not only does it boost its Attack to high levels, it also boosts its speed to the point where revenge killing can be difficult.
DD- : Means that the Pokémon uses Dragon Dance in its moveset.
DDNite and DDMence are examples of this.
DM: Draco Meteor.
Specs Latios's DM is the golden arrow of OU, ripping through almost everything that doesn't have enough Sp. Def bulk or doesn't resist.
DP: 1) DynamicPunch or Dragon Pulse.
Machamp's DP is a monstrous move, screwing with almost every Pokémon's strategy with the confusion.
EQ: Earthquake.
The only reason people use Air Balloon is because EQ exists.
EP: Earth Power.
Shaymin almost always is forced to run EP so it isn't walled by Heatran.
ES: ExtremeSpeed.
In BW, ES recieved a major boost. Now it's a priority level of two, outspeeding other priority moves like Ice Shard and Mach Punch.
EVs: Effort Values. A Pokémon can have a maximum amount of 510 EVs distributed to its stats. For every four EVs, it counts as one point to that stat at level 100. At level 50, one point in a stat requires 8 EVs.
Most sweepers have a EV spread of 252 (Sp.) Atk / 252 Speed, as it maximizes both offensive stats.
FB: Fire Blast or Focus Blast.
FB is often considered the most dissapointing move in the game because of the 70% accuracy
FP: Focus Punch.
FP should always be paired with Substitute to avoid flinching.
GK: Grass Knot.
With GK, Infernape fairs much better against bulky Ground- and Water-types
HP: 1) Hidden Power. 2) Health Points.
Almost every special attacker in the game uses HP to achieve perfect to okay coverage.
IVs: Individual Values. At level 100, each IV counts as one extra point in a stat. A Pokémon can have a maximum of 31 EVs in each stat. IVs also influence a Pokémon's Hidden Power.
Bronzong and Ferrothorn run 0 Speed IVs to maxamize the power of their STAB Gyro Ball.
LO: Life Orb.
Without the power of LO, Hidden Power Ice can never OHKO Gliscor at full health.
LS: Light Screen.
With LS support, Haxorus finds itself sweeping better now that its weaker Sp. Def stat is buffed up.
Mix- : Means that the Pokémon is meant for mixed attacking.
MixMence and MixApe are examples of this.
MM: Meteor Mash.
With a CB, Metagross's MM is able to rip holes in most switch-ins that don't resist.
NP: Nasty Plot.
With one NP, Thundurus is able to OHKO or 2HKO everything in the game.
NVE: Not Very Effective, or when a move is hindered by 50% because of the Pokémon’s typing.
Fire type attacks are NVE on Jellicent.
OHKO: One-Hit Knockout
Thundurus was able to net a OHKO on Gyarados with Thunderbolt.
Para: Paralysis.
My Heatran died because it was para'd for three turns straight.
QA: Quick Attack.
With QA and a CB, Scizor is able to revenge certain threats such as Infernape, Thundurus, and Volcarona after SR damage.
RD: Rain Dance.
RD is often never seen in OU because DrizzleToed exists.
Rocks: A common reference to Stealth Rock.
Ferrothorn manages to set up rocks early and late in the game thanks to its great bulk.
RP: Rock Polish.
After RP, Terrakion is able to wreck most offensive teams.
RS: Rapid Spin.
Excadrill is one of the best users of RS since most spinblockers wouldn't dare switch in on its attacks after a boost.
Scarf: Choice Scarf, an item that boosts the holder's Speed by 1.5, but locks the user into using only one move until they switch out.
Rotom-W has fantastic Sp. Atk and average Speed, while also having the move Volt Switch to scout for counters, making Scarf a perfect item to use. Rotom-W can also trick the Scarf off to cripple switch ins.
SD: Swords Dance.
With a Swords Dance, Excadrill can sweep entire teams once its checks / counters have been removed.
SE: 1) Super-effective. 2) Stone Edge.
Fire- and Fighting-type moves are SE on Ferrothorn.
SP: Sucker Punch or Superpower.
A mixed Dragonite can use SP to its full potential by beating three Pokémon who would otherwise wall the set; Heatran, Blissey, and Tyranitar.
Specs: Choice Specs, an item that boosts the holder's Sp. Atk by 1.5, but locks the user into using only one move until they switch out.
Latios is one of the best users of Specs because of its fantastic Speed and Sp. Atk, making its STAB Draco Meteors more threatening.
SR: Stealth Rock.
Ferrothorn manages to set up SR early and late in the game thanks to its great bulk.
SS: Sandstorm or Sand Stream, both of which are basically the same.
Tyranitar's SS brought permanent sandstorm to the field.
STAB: Same Type Attack Bonus, or when a move is increased by 50% if the attacking type matches the user’s type.
Scrafty’s Dark/Fighting STAB offer near-perfect coverage as they’re unresisted by most Pokémon.
STalk: Sleep Talk.
STalk prevents a Pokemon from being dead weight while asleep.
SToss: Seismic Toss.
Blissey is a fantastic user of SToss, as it allows her to deal constant damage on everything that's not a ghost.
Sub: Substitute.
With a Sub up, Gliscor can easily stall out the opponent with Poison Heal, Protect, and possibly Toxic.
TBolt: Thunderbolt.
TBolt is reliable Electric-type attack that is used instead of Thunder if you want better accuracy or you're not on a rain team.
TO: Toxic Orb.
Gliscor's most reliable way of activating Poison Heal is with a TO.
TR: Trick Room.
TR teams are a little unorthodox, but, if used right, they can severely cripple the opposing team.
TSpikes / TS: Toxic Spikes.
Tentacreul can effectively set TSpikes, while also absorbing them.
TWave: Thunder Wave.
TWave can cripple almost every sweeper due to the speed drop.
WoW: Will-O-Wisp.
Jellicent can use WoW to severely weaken a physical sweeper, which goes really well considering its physical defense isn't too great.
WW: Whirlwind.
Skarmory can utilize WW to remove boosting sweepers and rack up hazard damage.
Pokémon Nicknames:
Just like the above section, the following terms are used to generally save time. However, these are not two letters, and will consist of a certain part of a Pokémon's name, like Ferro. These are usually the easiest terminology you will learn, but sometimes people use different variants (for example, Dnite and Nite), so it would be wise to know the different variants, but I recommend to use the one you feel most comfortable using.
Ape: A short name for Infernape.
Dnite / Nite: A short name for Dragonite.
CroCune: A SleepTalk Suicune with Calm Mind. It's called CroCune because it was first used and popularized by the Smogon user Cromat.
DrizzleToed: Politoed with its Dream World ability, Drizzle.
DroughtTails: Ninetails with its Dream World ability, Drought.
FatMence: A Salamence that serves a defensive role. It usually carries Wish / (Protect or Roost) / Flamethrower / Dragon Tail.
Ferro: A short name for Ferrothorn.
Jelly: A short name for Jellicent.
LandBro: Another name for Landorus.
Lati@s: A name that means both Latios and Latias.
Luke: Another name for Lucario.
Mence: A short name for Salamence.
Rotom-A: Rotom Alternative Forms, or Rotom Appliances. Used to apply to all of the Rotom appliances.
ScarfTar: A Tyranitar holding the item Choice Scarf to make it a great revenge killer.
ThunderBro: Another name for Thundurus.
TornadoBro: Another name for Tornadus.
Tran: A short name for Heatran.
TTar: A short name for Tyranitar.
Roles:
What a Pokémon provides to the team is its 'role'. A role can range from countering a certain threat, to sweeping using physical moves, and all the way to absorbing status. There are many, many different roles, and plenty of Pokémon that can fill these rolls.
Counter: A Pokémon that can safely switch in on any of a Pokémon's attacks and immediately threaten back.
Bronzong is a great counter to Gliscor by resisting all of Gliscor's moves, while also beating Gliscor with a x4 Hidden power Ice
Dual Screens / Dual Screener: When a Pokémon has the moves Light Screen and Reflect on the same set to support the team. This strategy can be used to add an extra layer of defense, or to let a frailer sweeper set up more easy.
Deoxys-S can easily set up dual screens because of its excellent Speed and average defenses.
Glass Cannon: A Pokémon with amazing offenses and paper-thin defenses.
Rampardos is a great example of a glass cannon. It has sky high attack, but its defenses are horrible, its speed is terrible, and it's weak to three forms of priority. Seriously, guys, don't use it.
Hazing / Hazer: Using the move Haze to get rid of the opponent's stat boosts. Not to be confused with phazing, which is slightly different.
Milotic can use Haze to prevent sweepers from continuing their sweep.
Mixed Sweeper: A Pokémon that uses both Physical and Special moves to deal damage.
Infernape makes a terrific mixed sweeper, using a combination of four physical or special moves from its large movepool to break through most common walls.
Phazing / Phazer / Pseudo-Hazing: Using a move that forces the opponent to switch his Pokémon so that it eliminates any stat boosts. Some moves force switches, like Whirlwind, Roar, Dragon Tail, and Overhead Throw, while others might encourage the opponent to switch, like Yawn, Screech, Perish Song, and Leech Seed. Phazing is best to be used with entry hazards, that way the opponent is put at a difficult decision on if they should switch.
Skarmory can use the move Whirlwind to phaze out some of the most common physical sweepers in OU.
Physical Sweeper: A Pokémon that uses physical moves to damage the opponent, and might also carry stat boosting moves to help their sweeps.
With Swords Dance, QuakeSlide coverage, and a filler move, along with is ability, Sand Rush, Excadrill is one of the best physical sweepers in the game.
Revenge Kill / Revenge Killer / Revenge KO: When you send out a Pokémon after your previous Pokémon was KO'd and manage to KO the opposing Pokémon. A revenge killer is a Pokémon designed for revenge killing certain threats.
Excadrill managed to revenge kill Salamence after Slamence knocked out Tyranitar.
Scout: A Pokemon that is meant to judge what the opponent is using, check for counters, learn their moves, and rack up hazard damage through the use of moves like U-turn, Volt Switch, and Protect.
Scizor is an amazing scout thanks to U-turn, allowing it to easily switch to the appropriate counter to handle whatever comes in.
Special Sweeper: A Pokémon that uses special moves to damage the opponent, and might also carry stat boosting moves to help their sweeps.
Latias, with Calm Mind, can is a fantastic special sweeper thanks to her average Sp. Atk, Speed. and enough bulk to get in two or three calm minds.
Spin-Blocker: A Ghost-type Pokémon that is used to block the move Rapid Spin from removing entry hazards.
Thanks to its great defensive stats, and Ghost typing, Jellicent makes the perfect spin blocker to keep entry hazards up.
Spinner: A Pokémon that carries the move Rapid Spin to eliminate entry hazards, while also removing Leech Seed.
Excadrill and Starmie are among the best offensive spinners since most spin blockers don't like to take hits from the both of them.
Stallbreaker: A Pokémon that is meant to breakdown stall through use of moves like Taunt, Recover, Roost / Recover, mixed stats, having special immunities / resistances, and many more which can effectively shutdown a team's defensive cores.
Infernape is one of the best stallbreakers in the game, shutting down common defensive cores like the classic SkarmBliss. Common stall teams usually have a good answer to Infernape, though.
Status Absorber: A Pokémon that is meant to absorb common status moves, like Toxic and Thunder Wave.
Gliscor is a great status absorber thanks to its ability, Poison Heal.
Tank: A Pokémon that is meant to take hits over the match, but also dish out damage.
Jirachi is a fantastic tank thanks to its amazing bulk, great typing, access to Wish, and great offenses. With proper investments, Jirachi can even take little to nothing from Sp. Attackers like Latios and Reuniclus.
Wall: A Pokémon that is meant to take hits over the course of the match.
Blissey is a fantastic special wall thanks to her godly HP and great Sp. Def. However, even with investment in Def, it can't take most physical hits for too long without falling.
Wallbreaker: A Pokémon that is meant to crush walls, either through amazingly powerful attacks, or with mixed attacks.
Mixed Salamence, or MixMence, is a fantastic wallbreaker thanks to its fantastic 135 Attack, above-average 110 Sp.Atk, and a powerful STAB Draco Meteor that can put dents in most walls. With Fire Blast, Brick Break or Earthquake, and Outrage or Roost, MixMence has enough coverage to demolish every wall in OU with proper prediction.
Tiers, Banlists, and Generations:
Tiers are determined by the usage a Pokémon gets, and banlists are created to balance out tiers. Currently, there is the Over Used, Under Used, and Rarely Used tiers, and there are currently two banlists; Ubers, which is the OU banlist, and Borderline, which is the UU banlist. Generations are the divisions of the games. A new generation occurs when new Pokémon, items, abilities, and moves are introdueced,along with the addition or changing of mechanics.
BL: Borderline. This is the banlist for the UU tier. All Pokémon in this ban list may not be used in UU, RU, and NU.
Currently, Kyurem, Wobbuffet, Staraptor, and Espeon are the only Pokémon in BL.
BW: Black and White, or used to refer to the entire fifth generation metagame.
BW introduced many new usable Pokémon, Dream World, changed mechanics (sleep and Explosion for example), but didn't change / improve much.
DPPt: Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, or used to refer to the entire forth generation metagame.
The Physical / Special move split was introduced in DP, which either ruined or improved many Pokémon, along with the introduction of Stealth Rock.
GSC: Black, Silver, and Crystal, or used to refer to the entire second generation metagame.
GSC is best known for introducing the special split between Sp. Atk and Sp. Def, the Dark- and Steel-types, and breeding.
LC: Little Cup, a metagame where Pokémon are used in their most basic form at Lv. 5, but only Pokémon that can still evolve may be used. It is often a fast-passed metagame where strategies like Stall are less viable. If you wish to learn more, feel free to contact TheDarkLucario.
Scraggy is a very big threat in LC as it has access to Dragon Dance and Bulk Up, excellent stats, and can use Eviolite to its advantage.
Metagame: Also known as "meta", the metagame is the current environment of Pokémon in the current format. For example, in the current metagame, Ferrothorn is a very common wall who is used on many teams. The current metagame also flourishes with weather based teams.
The metagame is like a tree; it grows and changes over time.
NFE: Not Fully Evolved, or a Pokémon that is not at its final evolution stage yet.
Some NFE Pokémon, like Chansey, can abuse the item Eviolite to surpass their evolutions in defenses.
NU: Never Used. Pokémon in this tier have below average to unusable stats, and did not receive enough usage to be considered RU.
At the time this article was written, NU didn't exist.
OU: Overused, but is also called the Standard Metagame. All Pokémon in this tier are used on almost every team. Pokémon in this tier cannot be used in the UU, RU, and NU tiers.
Ferrothorn, at the time of writing this article, is the number one used Pokémon in the OU tier.
RBY: Red, Blue, and Yellow, or used to refer to the entire first generation metagame.
RBY introduced the basic mechanics, fifteen types, and a basic stat system, but is often discouraged because of the huge amount of luck involved, lack of diversity, and various other problems.
RSE: Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, or used to refer to the entire third generation metagame.
RU: Rarely Used. Pokémon in this tier did not receive enough usage to be UU. Pokémon in this tier cannot be used in NU.
Quiver Dance is a common sweeping move in the RU tier since many Pokémon with that move don't have good enough stats to get higher use.
Uber: A ban list for the OU tier. Pokémon who are deemed too broken for the OU tier are sent here. The Pokémon in this ban list may not be used in OU, UU, RU, and NU.
The uber tier isn't made to be playable or fair, it's made to make the OU tier playable and fair.
UU: Underused. Pokémon in this tier do not receive enough usage to be OU, but still are useful. Pokémon in the UU tier cannot be used in RU and NU.
At the time of writing this, Staraptor was the most used Pokemon in UU. However, Staraptor was later banned.
VGC: Short for Video Game Championships, a tournament that is hosted every year. VGCs usually have different ban lists each year, and are always in doubles format. To learn more information, go here.
Wi-Fi Battle: In generation five, all battles are considered Wi-Fi Battle. In a Wi-Fi Battle, team preview is turned on, allowing you to see your opponent's team and shift the order of your Pokémon, including your lead.
Common Move and Pokémon Combinations:
Sometimes, when moves or Pokémon mesh together so well, they tend to get a special name. All of the names contain parts of the original words, like SkarmBliss and StoneEdge, and are easy to pick up on without knowing the definition. These are all very simple to remember, so there's no need to go into extreme detail.
BoltBeam: A combination of the moves Thunderbolt and Ice Beam. The move combination is only resisted by the Magnezone and Lanturn family (correct me if I'm wrong), so it provides nearly unresisting coverage. A pseudo-BoltBeam can be used with Hidden Power if you only have either Thunderbolt or Ice Beam.
Magnezone, along with its evolutions, are the only Pokémon to resist the BoltBeam move combination
EdgeQuake: Stone Edge and Earthquake. Only few Pokémon resist this move combination. A pseudo-EdgeQuake can be preformed with Rock Slide and Earthquake.
Some common physical sweepers, such as Excadrill and Landorus, use EdgeQuake as their main attacking choices.
JellyThorn / NatGeru: A defensive core of Jellicent and Ferrothorn. Both of these Pokémon resist all moves in the game except for Ground- and Flying-type. Ferrothorn can set up Spikes or Stealth Rock, while Jellicent can block attempts at rapid spinning them.
Paraflinch: Using paralysis and flinch to stop a Pokémon from attacking sometimes.
Jirachi is the perfect candidate to employ this tactic. It can attempt to paralyze the opponent's Pokémon by using Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, or Body Slam, then subsequently using Iron Head.
Parafusion: Using paralysis and confusion to stop a Pokémon from attacking sometimes.
Jirachi can cause parafusion with the effects of its moves Water Pulse and Thunder.
RestTalk: A combination of the moves Rest and Sleep Talk.
CroCune, a RestTalk Suicune with Calm Mind, can acquire one or two CM boosts thanks to its great natural bulk, heal it off with Rest, then use Sleep Talk to sweep with Scald/Surf.
SkarmBliss: A classic defensive core dating back to GSC, and still being used now. It's composed of Skarmory and Blissey (and now that the eviolite is released, Chansey), and the idea here is that Skarmory takes all of the physical hits, while Blissey takes any special hits.
SubCM: A combination of the moves Substitute and Calm Mind.
In Ubers, Giratina-O uses SubCM to avoid status and ease prediction.
SubPunch: A combination of the moves Substitute and Focus Punch.
Breloom is an excellent SubPuncher because it can use Spore to incapacitate foes, which makes setting up a Substitute easy.
SubRoost: A combination of the moves Substitute and Roost.
A common SubRooster is Zapdos, who can also use its ability, Pressure, to increase the Pokémon's PP usage.
SubSeed: A combination of the moves Substitute and Leech Seed. Often used to stall out opposing teams, while also recovering a decent amount of HP each turn.
Whimsicott makes a good subseeder because both moves are granted priority by its ability, Prankster.
SubSplit: A combination of the moves Substitute and Pain Split.
Gengar can use SubSplit to take down some of its counters, like Blissey, Chansey, and Snorlax.
Misc. Terms:
The other terms really belong in no specific category, but are all commonly used.
Auto-Weather: An ability that brings a new weather effect upon switching in that will last until another Auto-Weather ability enters the field or a move that summons rain is used. Sand Stream (Sandstorm), Drought (Sun), Drizzle (Rain), Snow Cloak (Hail), Cloud Nine (Removes current weather), and Air Lock (Removes current weather) are all the abilities that can do this.
Tyranitar has the ability Sand Stream, which summons an infinite sandstorm, and can use it to his advantage by increasing his Sp. Def, while also scoring bonus damage on any Pokémon that aren't immune to the passive damage of sandstorm.
Broken: Something that is too powerful for the tier it is in. It can either have zero true counters, ohko everything after a boost, or any other factor that makes it extremely hard to counter and beat.
Darkrai was insanely broken in OU because it had Nasty Plot, amazing Sp. Atk, blistering Speed, nearly perfect coverage, and Dark Void.
"The new "Electivire": A Pokémon in OU that a player thinks that shouldn't receive as much usage as it does.
Entry Hazards: A collective term for the moves Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes.
Volcarona suffers from being x4 weak to Stealth Rock, and is vulnerable to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, which can greatly reduce the chance of sweeping unless proper team support is given.
Hax: The term players use to describe luck. This is often when something with a low chance of occurring happens, like a critical hit or a miss.
Jirachi can abuse its Serene Grace boosted Iron Head’s flinch rate to prevent the other Pokémon from moving.
PO: Pokémon Online, a battling simulator that lets you play other players online. You can find many people to battle on the various PO servers. To download Pokémon Online, please go here.
Priority: Attacks that will make the user go first. There are fifteen levels of priority, from -7, which goes last, and +7, which goes first.
Azumaril’s CB Aqua Jet is often used for revenge kills as it ignores its low speed stat.
Scrub / Nub / Noob: Someone who generally isn't good, has a horribly built team, thinks they're the best, yet they do nothing to improve. A scrub can be someone who carries a team of five Ubers and a Charizard. Generally, a scrub will do nothing but send you challenges until you accept. Another form of a scrub is someone who thinks it's cheating to use legendary Pokémon, status moves, or any Pokémon that's even remotely good.
Hey, Bob, perhaps you should teach that scrub a lesson!
Set Up: 1) Using a stat boosting move to increase a Pokémon's stats. If another Pokémon uses stat boosting move and passes the changes via Baton Pass, it's still considered setting up. 2) Placing entry hazards on the field.
Excadrill set up on Blissey, who couldn't do anything but switch out.
Speed Tie: When two Pokémon have the same speed stat. There's only a fifty-fifty chance of winning a speed tie.
Jirachi speed tied with Celebi because they both had 252 Speed EVs and a Timid nature.
Synergy: A term used to describe the flow Pokémon on a team have with each other. Usually when you have good synergy, your teammates compliment and work well with each other. This may include covering each other's weaknesses, threats or roles that go hand in hand.
The synergy between Jellicent and Ferrothorn is amazing since they both cover each other's weaknesses and form part of a great core.