It only seems fitting to include another general topic in Stark Mountain for us to discuss intelligently.
The Ideal Lead
When you build your team, arguably the most important prospect is the lead. It's absolutely essential for you to begin a match with your lead being capable of gaining the advantage as soon as possible, and on a regular basis, from match-to-match; whether that set-up include hentry-hazards, Baton Pass chaining, or inflicting direct damage as lethally as possible with your Life Orb or Choice Banded lead. Whatever your beginning strategy may consist of, your intentions are quite simple - make an effort to gain advantage from the turn in which the match begun.
Different leads offer a wide variety of scenarios, each one with different results; sometimes the match is over before the game even begun, courtesy of those successful suicide leads, as it becomes extremely difficult to come back from once those enemy leads that set Stealth Rock onto the playing field and explode on one of your crucial members of your team.
Executing your ideal strategy right off-the-bat can be disrupted through the opponent's lead. I will illustrate a scenario for you to understand this more thoroughly.
Examples
Turn one begins, and you're preparing to execute your initial strategy. Rosarade is your current lead, which, to many of you all know, is designed to sleep the opposing lead/switch-in through Sleep Powder, immediately following with a layer or two of Toxic Spikes. The opposition, in this particular illustration, leads with Tyranitar.
Unfortunately, Tyranitar's well-renowned for its trait, Sand Stream, a blistering sandstorm that forever lasts until the weather is manually changed by its owner or the opponent. In this case, Focus Sash is your Rosarade's item, which is now eliminated from the match, thanks to the unappreciated sandstorm your opponent set-up with Tyranitar.
However, this doesn't grant the opponent with complete control of the match, as you're certainly elligible to Sleep Powder Tyranitar, enducing it in an unexpected sleep. But... you have to take a step back and consider the consequences - one of them being the possibility that the opposing Tyranitar carries Lum Berry as its item. What if this was the case? I presume Rosarade would take a powerful Crunch to the face; and, as a result, award the opponent with an OHKO in his favor, which puts you in a difficult position.
Regret this? Wishing you had just switched or set-up just one layer of Toxic Spikes?
Lum Berry, the unorthadox Choice Scarf addition placed on an unusual candidate, or Focus Sash - these are just a few examples of how unpredictable the first few turns of a match can be.
Forgive me for my lack of imaginitive in this scenario: imagine your Breloom lead, feeling rather comfortable sleeping the opposing Metagross with Spore, only to be suprised with Metagross' item, Lum Berry, to cure Metagross of the sleep so your opponent can strike back with Meteor Mash, following up the next turn with Bullet Punch. Breloom is now out of the equation. But how do you prepare for these unexpected suprises, espescially ones which may cost you the game?
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It is these kind of situations that often draw the fine-line between winning and losing. Admittedly, most of the time, when I lose a match, the fault lies within my idiocy within the first few turns of a match.
Which leads me to ask this question:
How do we maximize the chances of preventing the opponent from gaining the advantage by utilizing our leads to attain complete control of the match?
Following on from the previous question, present to us your lead which accomplishes such a goal. Feel free to display and analyze your leads you have created to ensure you're almost guaranteed immediate control.
Discuss!
[Edit: Cleaned up some of the typos]
The Ideal Lead
When you build your team, arguably the most important prospect is the lead. It's absolutely essential for you to begin a match with your lead being capable of gaining the advantage as soon as possible, and on a regular basis, from match-to-match; whether that set-up include hentry-hazards, Baton Pass chaining, or inflicting direct damage as lethally as possible with your Life Orb or Choice Banded lead. Whatever your beginning strategy may consist of, your intentions are quite simple - make an effort to gain advantage from the turn in which the match begun.
Different leads offer a wide variety of scenarios, each one with different results; sometimes the match is over before the game even begun, courtesy of those successful suicide leads, as it becomes extremely difficult to come back from once those enemy leads that set Stealth Rock onto the playing field and explode on one of your crucial members of your team.
Executing your ideal strategy right off-the-bat can be disrupted through the opponent's lead. I will illustrate a scenario for you to understand this more thoroughly.
Examples
Turn one begins, and you're preparing to execute your initial strategy. Rosarade is your current lead, which, to many of you all know, is designed to sleep the opposing lead/switch-in through Sleep Powder, immediately following with a layer or two of Toxic Spikes. The opposition, in this particular illustration, leads with Tyranitar.
Unfortunately, Tyranitar's well-renowned for its trait, Sand Stream, a blistering sandstorm that forever lasts until the weather is manually changed by its owner or the opponent. In this case, Focus Sash is your Rosarade's item, which is now eliminated from the match, thanks to the unappreciated sandstorm your opponent set-up with Tyranitar.
However, this doesn't grant the opponent with complete control of the match, as you're certainly elligible to Sleep Powder Tyranitar, enducing it in an unexpected sleep. But... you have to take a step back and consider the consequences - one of them being the possibility that the opposing Tyranitar carries Lum Berry as its item. What if this was the case? I presume Rosarade would take a powerful Crunch to the face; and, as a result, award the opponent with an OHKO in his favor, which puts you in a difficult position.
Regret this? Wishing you had just switched or set-up just one layer of Toxic Spikes?
Lum Berry, the unorthadox Choice Scarf addition placed on an unusual candidate, or Focus Sash - these are just a few examples of how unpredictable the first few turns of a match can be.
Forgive me for my lack of imaginitive in this scenario: imagine your Breloom lead, feeling rather comfortable sleeping the opposing Metagross with Spore, only to be suprised with Metagross' item, Lum Berry, to cure Metagross of the sleep so your opponent can strike back with Meteor Mash, following up the next turn with Bullet Punch. Breloom is now out of the equation. But how do you prepare for these unexpected suprises, espescially ones which may cost you the game?
----------
It is these kind of situations that often draw the fine-line between winning and losing. Admittedly, most of the time, when I lose a match, the fault lies within my idiocy within the first few turns of a match.
Which leads me to ask this question:
How do we maximize the chances of preventing the opponent from gaining the advantage by utilizing our leads to attain complete control of the match?
Following on from the previous question, present to us your lead
Discuss!
[Edit: Cleaned up some of the typos]
