Battle Spot - Simple Questions and Answers

[Joeyboy]

Hey, I've begun to get interested in battle spot singles but can't really find too many places to learn more about it. I've loved up on the viability rankings and etc on the forums but I've been trying to find articles or blogs or videos on it and am having a hard time finding anything :) any place that you guys like checking up on in particular? Maybe high ranking youtubers or articles?

 

[NOVED]

Hey, I've begun to get interested in battle spot singles but can't really find too many places to learn more about it. I've loved up on the viability rankings and etc on the forums but I've been trying to find articles or blogs or videos on it and am having a hard time finding anything :) any place that you guys like checking up on in particular? Maybe high ranking youtubers or articles?

There's unfortunately not a lot of english articles about battle spot that you'll find outside of this subforum here. One of the best ways to learn is hanging around PS with other people who play. I feel you can learn pretty quick that way. If you dont mind reading things with kinda shitty translation, there's a lot of japanese blogs you can read with the help of google translate. One of my personal favorites is http://oras-pokemon.com/ that one has a lot of informative articles about cores and what pokemon are good counters to others. If you type in japanese in the search bar you can find things you're looking for pretty easily. Serebii/bulba has the japanese names for all pokemon stuff, google translate can work well enough for searching anything else.

Also look up GroudonEmpire on youtube

 

[freekhoorn]

Hey, I've begun to get interested in battle spot singles but can't really find too many places to learn more about it. I've loved up on the viability rankings and etc on the forums but I've been trying to find articles or blogs or videos on it and am having a hard time finding anything :) any place that you guys like checking up on in particular? Maybe high ranking youtubers or articles?

Well, that is a really good idea! Maybe it is possible that we will make articles about general stuff other than pokemon but that are typical for battlespot like the different perspectives on team preview tactics or that someone makes a blog about things he faces in his battles on battlespot. Hulavuta or cant say?

 

[cant say]

Well, that is a really good idea! Maybe it is possible that we will make articles about general stuff other than pokemon but that are typical for battlespot like the different perspectives on team preview tactics or that someone makes a blog about things he faces in his battles on battlespot. Hulavuta or cant say?

What are you tagging us for? If people want to write articles then be our guest! Just head to The Flying Press subforum and post in the Article Approvals section and you're on your way. It's probably worth swinging your idea by us first though. From there it works just like an analysis (you write a skeleton outlining what you'll be writing about, we tell you what to add, then you write it up and we tell you what to add again).

Hey, I've begun to get interested in battle spot singles but can't really find too many places to learn more about it. I've loved up on the viability rankings and etc on the forums but I've been trying to find articles or blogs or videos on it and am having a hard time finding anything :) any place that you guys like checking up on in particular? Maybe high ranking youtubers or articles?

Speaking of analyses, we have a whole lot completed on-site and more coming out of our C&C section. You can check out our Battle Spot Hub on the dex which has a list of completed analyses, as well as links to a bunch of forum stuff. Some of the links are outdated (like the current special season and online competition, also it links IRC but not PS lol) but the rest is fine / I plan to update it.

We also used to stream on the Smogon Twitch channel and plan to start back with that really soon. I'm trying to get DragonWhale to upload the old streams (that have been removed from Twitch over time) to YouTube so we can watch them whenever, so look out for those.

But yeah like NOVED said the PS room is the best.

 

[Hulavuta]

Hey y'all, I was thinking about making a thread for this but nah just decided to stick with the simple questions thread for now.

Anyway, I was wondering how do you all actually go about making a team? If you don't mind posting an in-depth process. I'm getting back into battling but I've realized I was never actually that great at teambuilding. I always just took random shit and put it in my battle box and made it work. But as for building a team from scratch from the ground up, how do you all do that? Using your own team as an example would be nice.

 

[a0161613]

Hey y'all, I was thinking about making a thread for this but nah just decided to stick with the simple questions thread for now.

Anyway, I was wondering how do you all actually go about making a team? If you don't mind posting an in-depth process. I'm getting back into battling but I've realized I was never actually that great at teambuilding. I always just took random shit and put it in my battle box and made it work. But as for building a team from scratch from the ground up, how do you all do that? Using your own team as an example would be nice.

I suck at this too. It's why I've always wanted to do a Community Create a Team for BS. I'd like to get an insight into that process too.

I also suck at choosing what to bring to a battle.

 

[Demantoid]

Hey y'all, I was thinking about making a thread for this but nah just decided to stick with the simple questions thread for now.

Anyway, I was wondering how do you all actually go about making a team? If you don't mind posting an in-depth process. I'm getting back into battling but I've realized I was never actually that great at teambuilding. I always just took random shit and put it in my battle box and made it work. But as for building a team from scratch from the ground up, how do you all do that? Using your own team as an example would be nice.

I'm going to give you my basic one but it's easier for me to talk about bs doubles because I'm better at it.

Step 1: Choose what to build around
You can choose your favorite, what you think is a good anti-meta choice a random mon etc. If you wanted you could choose multiple mons (I wouldn't choose more than 2 unless it's already a core). I generally cjoose most of the moves for this pokemon at the beginning.

Step 2: Form a core
Choose one or two pokemon that can support most of the weaknesses of the first choice. This can be achieved through offensive and/or defensive synergy.

Example: I chose Mega Kangaskhan as the first pokemon and add Cresselia here to help against things like Landorus Salamence and Amoonguss.

Step 3: Add things to support your core
Add things here that can fill in gaps that your origin core has trouble with. In doubles this usually fills the remainder but in singles you can often add another more random mon like in step one that adds another strategy.

Example: I notice that the core of Kang/Cress struggles against Steels, Amoonguss, and opposing Kangaskhan while also lacking spread moves, so Heatran and Landorus-T are added. I then see a major weakness to Water-types and a lack of speed control so I add Amoonguss and Thundurus.

Step 4: Determine move ev spreadsand item choices
The moves and items you give pokemon should help them fulfill their role on the team. While open moveslots can be used as more niche moves a pokemon does not need to be able to beat anything as long as the team can.

Example: To counter Amoonguss I give Heatran sub or Goggles with the move Heat Wave. I don't run HP Grass because I don't need it to deal with Water-types because my team can.

End is rushed may edit it later

 

[jroxas]

I suck at this too. It's why I've always wanted to do a Community Create a Team for BS. I'd like to get an insight into that process too.

I also suck at choosing what to bring to a battle.

Well, I'm still new-ish myself, but here's the process I go through for teambuilding and team select.

Teambuilding
I like start with a mon or core that is "powerful in a vacuum" and build around it. If I don't know where to start, I utilize resources like the Singles Viability Rankings thread or the the top ladder teams for inspiration. This fills the first slot or two.

Then I start filling in weaknesses with increasing levels of specificity. For example: if I'm building from a core that's an offensive duo, I'll add a defensive mon next. Then the next mon or two (and more importantly, their moveset selections) cover as many existing type weaknesses as I can while fulfilling some desired "team roles" (status spreader, wallbreaker, anti-gimmick, etc.). The last team slot or two and any open move slots will cover specific metagame threats that either aren't already covered or need to be addressed more thoroughly (for example, it seems like a good idea to have multiple options strong against Garchomp, Kangaskhan, and Gengar).

And for ladder play, especially at low to low-mid rankings, I always make sure to have at least one fast/Prankster Taunt for gimmicky shit because otherwise, win or lose, playing against Smeargle, Klefki, Glalie, etc. nonsense takes forever. Taunting a Smeargle and watching it have to Struggle or crushing whatever crappy Baton Pass target switches in is the most amazing feeling.

Team Select
There are two approches I use here. We'll call them proactive and reactive. Which one I use depends on my team composition and how my betting portfolio has performed in the past week.

Reactive
Covering this one first since it's applicable to any team, whereas the proactive method isn't.

First I check to see if they have any pokes for whom I only have one "out." I will make every effort to include that out, since I will generally expect the opponent to bring something so strong against my team.

From here, if my team is designed well, I can build a solid trio around that one "must-bring." Let's say I see a Heatran at team select, and the only mon on my team that beats it comfortably is Garchomp. Surely my opponent will see that weakness and bring Heatran along, realizing that I have only Garchomp for it. So now I need to prepare for his probable anti-Garchomp tools - perhaps by bringing a wallbreaker/stallbreaker along with something that can switch into an Ice Beam and blast its user.

Proactive
This is for teams that have some sort of defined "Plan A," which includes stuff like stall, screens + setup sweeper, sleep/paralyze everything, or the Mawile + TR P2 setup you've all watched me use recently.

The decision tree is simpler. Does it look like they can stop Plan A easily? If not, awesome! If they can, I substitute for one or more pieces of Plan A to handle whatever situation I've encountered if it's one I've prepared for. There aren't enough slots to fully prepare for everything though; if I'm not prepared, I switch to the Reactive method and make the best trio I can with what I have available.

P.S. This is what makes Mega Gengar so powerful - it's amazing at spot-removing whatever beats your Plan A, breaking up the opponent's Plan A (or threatening to in team select and forcing an answer), and just being a strong inclusion when choosing a trio reactively.

 

[cant say]

Hey y'all, I was thinking about making a thread for this but nah just decided to stick with the simple questions thread for now.

Anyway, I was wondering how do you all actually go about making a team? If you don't mind posting an in-depth process. I'm getting back into battling but I've realized I was never actually that great at teambuilding. I always just took random shit and put it in my battle box and made it work. But as for building a team from scratch from the ground up, how do you all do that? Using your own team as an example would be nice.

"/ds swagger, thunder wave, recovery, all"

 

[freekhoorn]

Hey y'all, I was thinking about making a thread for this but nah just decided to stick with the simple questions thread for now.

Anyway, I was wondering how do you all actually go about making a team? If you don't mind posting an in-depth process. I'm getting back into battling but I've realized I was never actually that great at teambuilding. I always just took random shit and put it in my battle box and made it work. But as for building a team from scratch from the ground up, how do you all do that? Using your own team as an example would be nice.

Teambuilding
For teambuilding, the first thing that I do is choose which style my team is going to be: hyper offense, bulky offense, balance, or stall. Then I will choose a pokemon that fits into that style best and give it the set it needs for that style (hp evs if bulky offense for example). Then i will choose two other pokemon that fits a core with it: a defensive core if the team has a defensive style like stall, or a more offensive core if I choose hyper offense. There is a really nice article made on one of the smog websites on type synergy cores and whether they are offensive or defensive. Then I will seek for specific roles in my team: a pokemon with a priority move is a must for me for dealing with sashes or worn out pokemon late game. A kanghaskan counter (or two checks) is a must. A type that is strong against dragons so a fairy steel or ice type pokemon is a must and so on. Then when having like four or five pokemon it is often best to practice a bit on the ladder cause I find it hard to prepare for everything. When i made my bulky offense team for example, with my five pokemon battling i found out that i was weak to mega venusaur, ferrothorn, and leech seed users in general. I therefore wanted a pokemon that was immune to leech seed and also had enough offense to deal with these bulky pokemon while also having enough special defense and defense to switch in on a sludge bomb from mega venusaur: for these things, only one pokemon stood really out that was also bulky offense: reuniclus with magic guard, calm mind psychic and focus blast for ferrothorn. Hope i helped with this!

Oh and it is also very useful to put your almost finished team in an online teambuilder to see what types/ pokemon you are most weak to.

Team selection
As in 3v3 team preview and team selection makes you get only 3 of 6 pokemon and your opponent also takes 3, imo there are two styles of choosing: one is a more riskier when you try to predict which pokemon your other player will - or will not - take. If you have for example two pokemon that can handle breloom, say a serperior and a lum berry dragonite, you can predict your opponent will not choose breloom. Therefore you can choose to be risky and do not bring any of these two pokemon if other pokemon will be able to beat the other five of the opponents pokemon better. You can also predict that your opponent will pick a certain pokemon because half your team is weak against that. Then the obvious choice would be to pick the pokemon that can beat thát pokemon. Say you have three pokemon that lose to your opponents blaziken: a mega kanghaskan, a scizor and a weavile, but you also have a talonflame in the back. Than you can predict that your opponent will bring blaziken so you bring your talonflame to be sure to deal with blaziken.

The other style of selecting three pokemon is a safer option, and the one i am using. You will not predict which pokemon your opponent will use, but you pick three pokemon that can beat all pokemon your opponent can bring the most reliably, even when this means you have to pick pokemon that are less reliable to beat something than pick three pokemon that can beat 5 of his pokemon very reliable cause if he dóes pick that sixth pokemon, youre screwed. The first thing is deciding if your opponent has a pokemon where you have only one option against, for example your opponent has a mega gardevoir, and your only resist to that is your aegislash. Then, because you want to be safe, you choose to pick aegislash. As aegislash can safely switchin to a hyper voice, you decide it is not necessary to lead with aegislash. Aegislash is a counter to mega gardevoir. If your only answer to a certain pokemon is a check, say a sashed garchomp against a greninja you have to lead with that check, because otherwise you are screwed if your opponent will lead with that pokemon, and you have to sack the pokemon youre leading with to bring the check. If you covered all your opponents pokemon where you have onely one answer for, you have to see what are the remaining pokemon of your opponent and bring pick the pokemon that can beat the rest, when you have multiple options, choose the pokemon that can beat most of your opponent pokemon. Say you have two options aganst tyranitar and bisharp: a hippowdon and a conkeldurr, then choose hippowdon if your opponent also has a mega mawile and bring conkeldurr if your opponent has also a lot of other pokemon that conkeldurr can beat better than hippowdon such as a hydreigon.

 

[Omastar68]

Whats the best set for Heatran in Singles? I run specially defensive, and that's really good, but I wonder if a more offensive one would be better. Specifically, making my Heatran Specs could be good since its allow my Sylveon to be Lefties instead of Specs(not that there's anything wrong with Specs, or Lefties is the best item for Sylv, but still.)

Is Agility a good move on Thundy-T? It's only on a little under 6%-NP is way more common. But Agility lets you run a
Modest nature, which boosts damage quite a bit, especially on conjunction with a LO. Ofc, Modest Thundy-T without a boost is weaker than Timid at +2 by quite a bit, but you won't always have a set up opportunity, and I'm sure the extra Spe over Timid is quite helpful.

Do people like Darmanitan in BSS? What are some good sets? It has a nice movepool, so I think there are a few things besides the obvious Scarf or LO. One idea is a bulkier set with sub and Encore, mayb even with Toxic and no Atk investment(Flare Blitz would still destroy fire weak stuff easy.) AV seems possible, as Darm is ok running all attacks, and the SpD boost would help a lot with Thundy and stuff. Bulk Up could work, boosting that already gigantic Atk and Def.

 

[ProjectTitan313]

Whats the best set for Heatran in Singles? I run specially defensive, and that's really good, but I wonder if a more offensive one would be better. Specifically, making my Heatran Specs could be good since its allow my Sylveon to be Lefties instead of Specs(not that there's anything wrong with Specs, or Lefties is the best item for Sylv, but still.)

Is Agility a good move on Thundy-T? It's only on a little under 6%-NP is way more common. But Agility lets you run a
Modest nature, which boosts damage quite a bit, especially on conjunction with a LO. Ofc, Modest Thundy-T without a boost is weaker than Timid at +2 by quite a bit, but you won't always have a set up opportunity, and I'm sure the extra Spe over Timid is quite helpful.

Do people like Darmanitan in BSS? What are some good sets? It has a nice movepool, so I think there are a few things besides the obvious Scarf or LO. One idea is a bulkier set with sub and Encore, mayb even with Toxic and no Atk investment(Flare Blitz would still destroy fire weak stuff easy.) AV seems possible, as Darm is ok running all attacks, and the SpD boost would help a lot with Thundy and stuff. Bulk Up could work, boosting that already gigantic Atk and Def.

Sylveon commonly runs Pixie Plate in Doubles: frees up LO / Specs, allows you to switch moves / bluff Specs since there's no LO recoil, and is a consistent 20% buff to the only move Sylveon uses anyway all at basically no cost.

Agility is a bad move on everything that learns it. Metagross and Double Dance Terrakion were, iirc, the only mons in the last... fuck, 6 years to ever really use it? So I'm gonna go ahead and say "no" to that one.

AV Fire Punch Darm could be funny, Bulk Up I would run in Rotations just to be a (BAN ME PLEASE), but much like Our Lord and Savior Heracross, it's usually best with a Scarf. imo.

 

[ethan06]

I actually run Double Dance Sash Thundy-T on one of my teams and it is actually pretty alright for when you want an option between plowing through a fat team or picking off a weakened offense team. Fun fact: NP Thundurus-T is capable of dispatching a Chansey/Slowbro/Gliscor or Skarmory squad all by itself with Stealth Rock - Nasty Plot twice on the Chansey, which can't hurt you significantly except with Seismic Toss, and then Thunderbolt and Hidden Power [Ice] your way through the whole squad. high times. calc: +4 252 SpA Thundurus-T Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Chansey: 159-187 (44.5 - 52.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

 

[psVoltage]

When are you banning kangaskhan?

 

[Anirav]

When are you banning kangaskhan?

That was an april fool's day joke lol.

 

[GateCreeper]

Suggestions for a Mega Gardevoir moveset with EVs included? (would prefer a bulkier EV spread)

 

[Xander of Nohr]

Suggestions for a Mega Gardevoir moveset with EVs included? (would prefer a bulkier EV spread)

Hmm, just out of curiosity; why would you want a bulkier spread? M-Gardevoir can't really take hits very well without heavy investment, meaning you give up firepower which is M-Gardevoir's greatest asset. I could see it somewhat working as a dedicaded support considering it has got a pretty high Special Defense ( slightly offset by it's terrible HP, though ) but, honestly, you're better off min/max'ing its speed and sp. attack instead of wasting EVs on bulk Gardevoir doesn't actually have.

Just my two cents.

 

[GateCreeper]

Hmm, just out of curiosity; why would you want a bulkier spread? M-Gardevoir can't really take hits very well without heavy investment, meaning you give up firepower which is M-Gardevoir's greatest asset. I could see it somewhat working as a dedicaded support considering it has got a pretty high Special Defense ( slightly offset by it's terrible HP, though ) but, honestly, you're better off min/max'ing it's speed and sp. attack instead of wasting EVs on bulk Gardevoir doesn't actually have.

Just my two cents.

From what I've seen in Japanese blogs (such as this one: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/happyand72/e/7ae1a871111d173b7a8baa29d67b76afmost), Mega Gardevoirs invest in at least some bulk so that's what I assumed all Mega Gardevoirs run. I'm looking for more of a bulky attacker EV spread rather than a support EV spread.

 

[Omastar68]

From what I've seen in Japanese blogs (such as this one: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/happyand72/e/7ae1a871111d173b7a8baa29d67b76afmost), Mega Gardevoirs invest in at least some bulk so that's what I assumed all Mega Gardevoirs run. I'm looking for more of a bulky attacker EV spread rather than a support EV spread.

Knowing the rest of your team would help in picking a Spe benchmark to shoot for. DragonWhale's Spe tier thread was moved to the Mega resources thread, so look at that for Spe tiers. Alternatively this site is even more detailed, but more than what you need for singles. http://nuggetbridge.com/blogs/entry/723-vgc-’15-pokémon-speed-tiers/

Base 100s often like to run neutral Spe natures, tho that migh be different on Garde with its frailty. You can also compensate with t-wave support or something.

 

[Memoria]

Is Agility a good move on Thundy-T? It's only on a little under 6%-NP is way more common. But Agility lets you run a
Modest nature, which boosts damage quite a bit, especially on conjunction with a LO. Ofc, Modest Thundy-T without a boost is weaker than Timid at +2 by quite a bit, but you won't always have a set up opportunity, and I'm sure the extra Spe over Timid is quite helpful.

I've seen a set or two of Thundurus with Agility + Weakness Policy on http://aaaapokemon.blog.fc2.com/, which I've wanted to try it out. For example, this team's Thundurus-T uses it: http://maiyan20.hatenablog.com/entry/2015/11/17/221835 (Modest - H212 C252 S44). This one outspeeds Choice Scarf Jolly Garchomp by one after an Agility, and the rest dumped into HP, doesn't look like anything specific defensively, at least I assume. At first I thought it tied, but forgot to round down before applying the 1.5x Choice Scarf multiplier.

 

[Xander of Nohr]

From what I've seen in Japanese blogs (such as this one: http://blog.goo.ne.jp/happyand72/e/7ae1a871111d173b7a8baa29d67b76afmost), Mega Gardevoirs invest in at least some bulk so that's what I assumed all Mega Gardevoirs run. I'm looking for more of a bulky attacker EV spread rather than a support EV spread.

I see. Well, that Gardevoir has probably been invested to hit very specific benchmarks for its team, and I'd think this kind of spread would certainly not work for everyone. It seems to be entirely team reliant to me, so with no knowledge on the rest of your team it's kinda hard to figure out which benchmarks you should be aiming for. How much do you need to invest to tank this, or that? Which KOs you absolutely have to grab? Is it worth missing out on X KO if it means surviving Y move from Z mon? Those are some questions I usually ask myself whenever I feel like coming up with a more pragmatic EV spread.

 

[NoCheese]

Bit of an odd question, but does anything both breedable and Battle Spot relevant use a Hidden Power other than Fire, Ice, Ground, or Rock? I finally got around to capturing some Hidden Power Dittos in Black to transfer over and ease my breeding of Pokemon for the Battle Spot, but it's enough of a pain that I don't feel the need to grab Hidden Power Dittos of types that aren't competitively relevant. Grass maybe? Electric?

 

[Pyritie]

Bit of an odd question, but does anything both breedable and Battle Spot relevant use a Hidden Power other than Fire, Ice, Ground, or Rock? I finally got around to capturing some Hidden Power Dittos in Black to transfer over and ease my breeding of Pokemon for the Battle Spot, but it's enough of a pain that I don't feel the need to grab Hidden Power Dittos of types that aren't competitively relevant. Grass maybe? Electric?

Grass has some use on extremely niche sets, mostly when your team is weak to a ground+water mon and you have no other way of significantly hurting it.

IIRC the only thing that runs hidden power electric in OU is keldeo, who isn't breedable anyway. (And I can't think of any who run it in BS)

 

[ProjectTitan313]

Bit of an odd question, but does anything both breedable and Battle Spot relevant use a Hidden Power other than Fire, Ice, Ground, or Rock? I finally got around to capturing some Hidden Power Dittos in Black to transfer over and ease my breeding of Pokemon for the Battle Spot, but it's enough of a pain that I don't feel the need to grab Hidden Power Dittos of types that aren't competitively relevant. Grass maybe? Electric?

HP electric Vaporeon used to be a thing, but that was only ever for Gyarados who now has a mega that doesn't give a shit. But Vaporeon isn't a thing anymore.
HP Fire Technician LO Scizor might be funny. Fuck Ferrothorn / mirror matches lol.
Weird as shit HP Grass mons like Rotom-W for Quagsire / Gastro / Swampy.
HP Fighting Ghost mons, mainly Spiritomb, Mismagius, and Dusclops (CM). Used to be a thing on DroughtTales too but she obviously isn't a thing anymore.
HP Flying Thundy / Landog. Are bad.

That's all I got.

 

[cant say]

Bit of an odd question, but does anything both breedable and Battle Spot relevant use a Hidden Power other than Fire, Ice, Ground, or Rock? I finally got around to capturing some Hidden Power Dittos in Black to transfer over and ease my breeding of Pokemon for the Battle Spot, but it's enough of a pain that I don't feel the need to grab Hidden Power Dittos of types that aren't competitively relevant. Grass maybe? Electric?

All I can think of is HP Grass Greninja back in XY to hit Rotom-W, but since Gunk Shot and Low Kick are now things it's really hard to fit on a set (and Grass Knot is better against everything else).

Apart from that, there's nothing really relevant in the meta that a niche HP hits that a better move doesn't. All the good ghosts get Focus Blast so HP Fighting is crap. Gyarados is a great mon but there are so many good electric mons and/or electric-type coverage to use so that's HP Electric gone. Like I alluded to above, the bulky waters are too, well, bulky to make HP Grass (and Electric) worthwhile. Ad literally all the other types are poo...