Ask a simple question, get a simple answer - VGC edition

[RedSpyda]

Now that this years VGC is over its time to prepare for next years format>

Anyone intrugued to see if they are going to allow previous usable vgc mons into the fray? would be good to see Kyogre and Groudon mash it up with Thunderous and the rest!

Any thoughts guys

Sorry if this is the wrong place to discuss please remove if so

 

[voodoo pimp]

Anyone intrugued to see if they are going to allow previous usable vgc mons into the fray? would be good to see Kyogre and Groudon mash it up with Thunderous and the rest!

I hope they don't let the Ubers back in; that was just ridiculous. However, I'd be very surprised if they keep it Unova-only again next year. They need to change it up to maintain interest.

 

[Ramos123]

Gender Dilemma

Is there a better competitive gender for your pokemon? I was once told that females were preferable since most attract users were also female, therefore displaying an immunity. So is choosing boy or girl for your team members really a whole lot more than just preference?

 

[Age of Kings]

No one uses Attract. The only time gender ever matters is if you're using a Rivalry Pokemon, in which case it is preferable to use a male since both of the genies are always male and on simulators people rarely change genders. But generally no.

 

[Firestorm]

No one uses Attract. The only time gender ever matters is if you're using a Rivalry Pokemon, in which case it is preferable to use a male since both of the genies are always male and on simulators people rarely change genders. But generally no.

I know a couple of people who would disagree... Anything's game for regionals and I know of at least one or two players who were eliminated due to not getting off a single move after Attract hit them.

You don't want to make your entire team one gender.

 

[Steamroll]

I used attract in some online battles, the people complained a lot that I was cheating but it didn't really matter. I also have seen attract used in VGC 2009 and 2010 so it does lurk around.

 

[BlueCookies]

Is there a better competitive gender for your pokemon? I was once told that females were preferable since most attract users were also female, therefore displaying an immunity. So is choosing boy or girl for your team members really a whole lot more than just preference?

I RNG'd my worlds team to be all female, just for rivalry haxorus, and I played against two players in worlds with rivalry Haxorus who were unable to use it against me so I would say it was worth it to worry about the little things

 

[viperGTS]

what has been confirmed for VGC 2012? i've been hearing hawaii for Worlds.... anything else yet?

 

[PungentFruit]

what has been confirmed for VGC 2012? i've been hearing hawaii for Worlds.... anything else yet?

Nothing else but Worlds 2012 is in Hawaii.

 

[Linus]

hi im new. i will be trying out in regionals for the next worlds for the 1st time. what is there to do on this site to prepare me for it?

any tournaments i can join? to gain some rep in the online world .

and one last question. do i need to qualify for regional? or just show up

 

[gec]

hi im new. i will be trying out in regionals for the next worlds for the 1st time. what is there to do on this site to prepare me for it?

any tournaments i can join? to gain some rep in the online world .

and one last question. do i need to qualify for regional? or just show up

Well, at the moment nobody can really prepare for the 2012 championships as the ruleset has not been announced yet. However, you can make sure your knowledge of doubles is up to scratch in general. How much experience would you say you have?

In terms of tournaments, the official Smogon VGC Tournament just finished however you can still join us on #dreamworld on irc.synirc.net (the official Smogon IRC Pokemon channel) for discussion of VGC, and also you may find some people to practice against. You may also wish to download the Pokemon Online battling simulator if you have not done so already and join either the Smogon or Skarmbliss server, where you can find VGC opponents to play.

For regionals, you literally show up on the day to play. You may wish to get there a fair bit early since it's done on a first come, first served basis.

 

[Darkpenguin67]

hi im new. i will be trying out in regionals for the next worlds for the 1st time. what is there to do on this site to prepare me for it?

any tournaments i can join? to gain some rep in the online world .

and one last question. do i need to qualify for regional? or just show up

Hi welcome to Smogon! To prepare for regionals, I would recommend practicing on Pokemon Online. The Skarmbliss server is probably the best server for VGC. Currently no tournaments are running in VGC format iirc that you can sign up for, but their is a sub-forum that you can check to see if their is any later. Also you only need to show up for regionals.
Edit: accelgor'd

 

[Linus]

im not new to Pokemon, i have played every version, double battle and so on. i am new to the new generation Pokemon on black and white. and the strategies with the new Pokemon...
im also new to the online tournaments, and VGC games

when do they usually provide the rules on the next worlds?
and i guess all i should do is just beat this game and prepare a team to battle tournaments online until the rules come out?

 

[gec]

im not new to Pokemon, i have played every version, double battle and so on. i am new to the new generation Pokemon on black and white. and the strategies with the new Pokemon...
im also new to the online tournaments, and VGC games

when do they usually provide the rules on the next worlds?
and i guess all i should do is just beat this game and prepare a team to battle tournaments online until the rules come out?

Well since you are unfamiliar with the new B/W Pokemon, I would certainly recommend reading some warstories in this forum from people who have done well at Regionals, Nationals and Worlds. They usually list their team and how it works, so you can get an insight as to how VGC11 plays since it uses B/W Pokemon only.

The new rules will probably be released very late 2011/early 2012 in time for the Japanese qualifiers (if they have them this year). However this isn't concrete so it's just a waiting game until them.

 

[voodoo pimp]

I heard that they'll be allowing non-Unova Pokémon again next year, so if you're going to start planning ahead, then you should probably assume that to be the case for now. But don't invest too much in a team or strategy right away, because if they do something weird like allowing Ubers again, that's going to change things drastically.

 

[Pokemafia]

If I can add anything to help you out dude, it's this, the hours that you put in even when you don't really want to building teams pays off. Also, there are 2 speculations on what it will be like next year that I currently am aware of; either it will be VGC2010 rules with Unova Pokemon permitted, or VGC09 rules, with Unova Pokemon permitted, I suggest you have a flick through the VGC rules from 2009-2011 to familiari(z/s)e yourself with what it could be like next year.
But the most important thing is to ask for help if you need it, there are tons of awesome people on Smogon who help people out in situations like this one. Lastly, Pokemon Online will become your new best friend, it is the only way you can really prepare IMO.

 

[Linus]

so should i just enjoy the game, practice on my own

and wait for the rules before taking the preparation seriously? since anything can happen with the rules?

If I can add anything to help you out dude, it's this, the hours that you put in even when you don't really want to building teams pays off. Also, there are 2 speculations on what it will be like next year that I currently am aware of; either it will be VGC2010 rules with Unova Pokemon permitted, or VGC09 rules, with Unova Pokemon permitted, I suggest you have a flick through the VGC rules from 2009-2011 to familiari(z/s)e yourself with what it could be like next year.
But the most important thing is to ask for help if you need it, there are tons of awesome people on Smogon who help people out in situations like this one. Lastly, Pokemon Online will become your new best friend, it is the only way you can really prepare IMO.

do you have a link to the rules? since i dont know where to find them..

and you mean most likely these rules with only the unova Pokemon allowed?

 

[Pokemafia]

Links;
umm, I'm stuggling to find 2009 rules, someone help me out please? (Roughly it's something like no legendaries?)
2010 rules; http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61973
And I mean ALL generations allowed, not just Unova.

 

[Linus]

ohhh so migration from older versions to the black and white version is possible?
would that make it more difficult or easier to build a good enough team to win?
VGC is no easy task -_-

 

[Pokemafia]

Unless you are after a very specific move tutor move, you can breed the pokes you're after on black and white, all the other competitive pokes from the other gens have kinda already been bred by the rngers on hg/ss for last year's vgc, which is easily tradeable onto b/w, however, there may be (as there seems to be every year) a new game out in the first quarter of next year before the VGC.
We usually find out the rules around winter time, as Japan gets them before the rest of us do, so training and team building will become much more clearer towards the end of the year.

 

[Linus]

last question lol

since i heard the rules will not be released until the end of 2011 or something like that

should i just enjoy the pokemon game i have, practice with people online, and when the rules come out train hard for a good team?
or will it be too short of a notice?
i just dont wanna mess up my chances
what do you think?

 

[Pokemafia]

personally, I've already enjoyed the story etc ( i did it in 15hrs straight btw) and went straight into focusing on competivness, however, that was alright to start a few months before the vgc as it was quite different this year (very restricted). Next year should be a very un-restrictive year in VGC, with a HECK OF A LOT more to do when battling and team building. Atm I have been assuming the rules roughly and just piecing together ideas that work well, getting a general feel for what to expect and what to put in my team, I won't start playing full on until the rules are announced (ugh, I have GCSEs, so this could get tricky D:) but ye, no need what so ever to go full on hardcore 110% atm.
You can tell when it's time because the rules will be out and the Skarmbliss PO Server will have more than 10 people on it :D

 

[Firestorm]

Play through the single player and get to know the Pokemon. Then try Double Battles in the Global Battle Union to get a grasp on competitive doubles battling. Then once the rules are released, create a team for VGC 2012.

A lot of stupid stuff happens in Pokemon. Play to win, but remember to have fun doing it. If 100% of your enjoyment comes from winning, you are not going to be happy come VGC-time.

 

[Linus]

thanks ...this site is awesome. i will be posting here until the day after forever lol

***************

can someone explain this whole EV's thing? or provide a link that explains it. i saw one of Kamz battles and the guy recording was speaking technical about Ev's and did not even understand what it is

and also RNG'ing??

 

[voodoo pimp]

Then try Double Battles in the Global Battle Union to get a grasp on competitive doubles battling.

Seconding this. While playing against the AI doesn't really give you a feel for how human players are likely to play, it's still a good way to test out possible synergies between your Pokémon.

can someone explain this whole EV's thing? or provide a link that explains it. i saw one of Kamz battles and the guy recording was speaking technical about Ev's and did not even understand what it is

and also RNG'ing??

This gives a pretty good idea of what EVs are, but the locations are for 4th gen. Here's where I like to train in Black/White:
HP: Stunfisk in the deep water outside of Icirrus, or Victini if you haven't caught it yet
Attack: Lillipup/Patrat on Route 1
Defense: Cofagrigus on floor...B7F, I think, in Relic Castle (if your Pokémon aren't high enough level to handle it, then go for Yamask on the upper levels instead)
Special Attack: Litwick/Elgyem in Celestial Tower
Special Defense: Claydol in the room with Volcarona in Relic Castle, or Frillish on Route 4
Speed: Basculin in the water on Route 1

RNG thread is here.