New Player Seeking Help Getting Started

J

Jamesie_Payne91

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Sup guys!

So I've been a fan of Pokemon since it first aired in the UK and I got my Dad to buy me my first ever pack of Pokemon cards, I played the TCG competitively for a few years and after being away from the franchise for over 3 years I thought I'd make a return and a jump to the competitive scene of the Video Games.

I have played the Video Games since being a boy, I can EV train my Pokemon and level up with ease so that isn't the problem, the problem is I have no idea what is big, under/over rated, unplayable or the meta in general. From general reading it seems the weather plays a massive part in the game with Sun, Rain and Sandstorms being the most common used with Abomasnow's Hail being used to counter. Entry damage also seems big with Spikes and Rocks being scattered around the opposition. Am I also correct in saying that Paralyze is the most common used status?

Going from what understanding I have Pokemon such as Reiniclus and Jellicent also work well in weather teams as long as they can essentially Absorb/Magic Guard the effect.

Any guidance/correction/team building help would be greatly appreciated
 
RE: New player needs help

For starters, most people online use a Simulator to conduct battles, such as Pokemon Online or Pokemon Showdown. These simulators take all the work out of raising the Pokemon such as breeding for a specific hidden power and EV training.

The metagame right now for Smogon's Standard OU is very much infested with weather, since we have Drizzle Politoed and Drought Ninetales now, as well as Tyranitar. That said, teams that don't use an auto-weather ability are very much viable in OU as long as you build them correctly. Entry hazards such as Stealth Rock is a very big factor in OU, and it's generally assumed that your opponent sets it up.

If you're looking for team help, where do you want to start? You do have quite a few options available to you, such as Rain, Sun, Sand, Hail, Baton Pass, Heavy Offense and more.
 
RE: New player needs help

I don't have the pleasure of using my laptop at the moment due to it being repaired and my PS3 web browser can't load Yahoo Mail, so I think simulators will be a no-go for now. I've been reading a few pages, the last being yours Bippa about non-weather teams but something that caught my eye was a Chlorophyll Venusaur if I'm correct. I'm assuming its based on the sun and how would I go about the Hidden Power (Fire)?

Also thanks for the snappy response.
 
RE: New player needs help

Well if you're playing on Wifi, you'll need to get a Dream World Bulbasaur (which was only available through some old Wifi events, so you'll no doubt have to trade around to get it), and then hope that it has Hidden Power Fire since you can't breed for Chlorophyll since it's male only through this event. If you can't trade around to get one, then I'm afraid you're out of luck.
 
RE: New player needs help

Still, even without HP Fire, Venusaur can sweep in the sun thanks to Growth. So if you wanna go with sun Venusaur is a highly viable choice nonetheless if, as Bippa stated, you can find it.
Is sun the only style you're interested in? 'Cos there are a lot of options in this metagame.
 
RE: New player needs help

Weatherless play is a great way to counter the metagame. If you pack a bulky Grass-type (Ferrothorn or Celebi), a levitating dragon (Latias, Latios or Hydreigon) and a Heatran, you can wall most weather offensive teams. The first two counter most rain offense, leaving only Tornadus-I and Toxicroak that beat them. The second two deal with mostly everything a sun team can throw at you. Sand doesn't have too many great abusers. Stoutland and Sandslash are pretty meh, and Landorus-I really wants to have Sheer Force instead of Sand Force.
 
RE: New player needs help

Can Latios, Latias and Celebi be used in competitive play then? Thats seems like a mean set up on its own. How does a Rain team look and play?
 
RE: New player needs help

Yeah, they can be used in competitive play. Any Pokemon that cannot be used in standard play is listed here: http://www.pokebeach.com/forums/thread-pokebeach-s-official-ban-list

Rain teams make use of Politoed's Drizzle support, making use of Water-type STAB attacks. Due to Rain and STAB, Water-type attacks hit for twice as much damage as normal (example: Scald hits for 80 BP normally. STAB multiplies it by 50% (+40). Drizzle adds another 50% (+40) for a total of 160 BP). They use this to hit really hard, using Water-type attackers like Keldeo, Starmie and Rotom-W to leave their mark. They also try to cover their weaknesses to the Pokemon that resist Water-type attacks (Grass-, Dragon- and other Water-type Pokemon) by using Pokemon that hit those types of Pokemon for super effective damage, or at least resists their STAB (Ferrothorn is a great example of this).
 
RE: New player needs help

Note that the banlist does not apply for official Nintendo events (you probably already know that).
Another thing that some Rain teams abuse is Thunder. It provides excellent STAB and has no-miss rate and a good chance to paralyze. Mostly used to counter Water-types.
Another thing that Rain teams use is a Trick Room Pokemon, usually Musharna. Their main purpose is to shut down Trick Room strategies.
One of the best counters against Rain teams is Gastrodon. Storm Drain makes using Water moves nearly impossible and its Ground typing stops Thunders.
 
RE: New player needs help

So from what I'm getting so far, weatherless is probably best but is probably the hardest team to build.
 
RE: New player needs help

Jamesie_Payne91 said:
Am I also correct in saying that Paralyze is the most common used status?
Click to expand...

I'd say Burn and Poison are more common. Just about every OU Water type except for Rotom-W and Gyarados uses Scald. Toxic is a pretty common move because being badly poisoned is a great way to wear down a Pokemon's health. Toxic and Toxic Spikes are staples on stall teams.
 
RE: New player needs help

Astra said:
For starters, most people online use a Simulator to conduct battles, such as Pokemon Online or Pokemon Showdown. These simulators take all the work out of raising the Pokemon such as breeding for a specific hidden power and EV training.
Click to expand...

In other words you're saying that Pokemon Wi-Fi battling is pointless on the 3DS when everyone should be battling via Simulator that isn't even officially licensed by Nintendo and Game Freak for sanctioned VGC Tournaments? No wonder why I mostly get paired up against Japanese players on Wi-Fi Random Matchup... -___-

Doesn't this defeat the purpose of playing the DS Pokemon games in the first place? I mean what's the point of releasing the 6th Generation of Pokemon X & Y on the 3DS when everyone could play it straight from their computers, laptops, and smartphones which seems like the trend that Pokemon is heading toward anyway since we should probably do away with handhelds for good. At least Microsoft got the right idea with the Smart Glass.
 
I'm almost positive you brought up this somewhere else, CSJ. There are many reasons to use a simulator (not necessarily over DS; now you're just assuming things). First off, simulators are meant to test out teams so you don't have to waste your time EV training a team just to figure out it doesn't work as well as you thought it did. This saves a lot of time in the long run because if your team is unsuccessful and a team member needs to be replaced, it is much better to figure this out earlier than later. For example, if you're preparing for VGC and want to try out a new member or move on your team, you can test it out before making the final decision.

Also, simulators are so easy to use. Simple clicks of buttons can change your Pokemon's Nature, moves, EVs, and items. Training Pokemon on the handhelds can be a drag and take lots of time; I know this because I've done in this in the past, just to replace that member later on. With a simulator such as Pokemon Showdown, I find it easy to change my Pokemon's move set temporarily so I change it permanently in my game if I find that it was helpful o unnecessary.

Simulators have the added benefit of realistic competitive matches as well. Yes, I understand that there are competitive people on Random Matchup, but the preset rules that Random Matchup has just doesn't compare to simulators. Random Matchup only allows you to use 3 Pokemon for Singles, and 4 for Doubles (and however many for Triples and Rotation, respectively). Considering that most competitive servers use similar ban lists/tiers, you're likely going to have more of an experience using all 6 of your Pokemon in a Singles 6 vs 6 match than only being able to use 3 of your 6 Pokemon in what is truly a random match up.

And no, we should not get rid of handhelds for good. Simulators are good for testing, but handheld games are where the excitement of playing the game is. Your argument for ditching handhelds doesn't make sense because we don't have simulators for The Legend of Zelda, Megaman, Kirby, etc., but instead we play the games for excitement and passing time, no? I don't particularly view simulators as "fun" unless I'm chatting, playing Mafia, etc., but that doesn't mean simulators aren't helpful, so instead I go to my DS and play my White 2.

Also why are you bringing up Smart Glass if your argument is against simulators anyway? The Smart Glass is a good idea because it allows for using mobile devices to play the games, but it will never replace the fun of playing with your friends on your Xbox 360. Maybe I'm wrong, though. I thought playing with other people was more fun than staring at a Windows 8 application and playing it by yourself.
 
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