[X & Y] Battles~Casual and competitive players, reunite!

[Anacybele]

Well, I guess I'm not battling again. It seems no matter how hard I try to change up/improve my team, I still lose every single time.

What baffles me most is how my Aggron didn't knock out your Typhlosion with Earthquake. It has a very high attack stat. :/

[Sasori]

No need to get so down on yourself. You did pretty well for yourself there. You still had 4 Pokémon remaining until the end. I only managed to turn things around by using a weakness policy and triggering unburden on my Drifblim. Losing in itself isn't a bad thing either. I lose a lot as well, but that's just a reason to try more.

Also about Aggron. I knew its attack was pretty high so I used will-o-whisp with my Typhlosion. The burn status not only damages pokemon, but cuts their attack in half as well. I needed till Black and White to figure that out too.

[Anacybele]

Oh, right. Sometimes I forget about some effects moves and status problems have...

And it's not the fact that I lost this particular battle, it's that I've lost almost every single battle I've had online in this game so far. I only actually won one.

But I'm doomed to be a terrible battler, there's nothing more that can be done about it. I still lose to NPC trainers on occasion, nothing has changed.

[Silver Lightning]

Pokemon battling in general (but especially competitive battling, as in fighting another human mind) is like anything else in life that takes effort; if you ever want to get better, you have to practice and put time into it. While its important to research Pokemon and movesets and items and strategies to use, that's only half the battle. All the preparation in the world can't carry you through if you don't know how to react well and respond in battles against another intelligent player. It might be disheartening to lose a lot at first, but that's the only way you can get the necessary experience to learn and become stronger. And believe me, I'm speaking from experience. Even with all the years I had of playing pokemon games, it hardly helped me when I started entering the competitive scene these last couple months. I had a slew of terrible and embarrassing battles at first, but those were some of the most important and informative battles I had that helped me see my mistakes and improved my reaction to threats and how to handle them. While I'm not nearly at the same league of several people here (and I may never reach that level of skill), I've become competent enough to hold my own against opponents and I'm proud of where I've gotten to now with the help of some friends who have practiced with me.

Don't say you can't do it, because you really can if you're willing to put in the effort. If you're not, well, then that's your prerogative. But my offer still stands from October; if you want advice and practice in getting better, I'm always willing to lend a hand. I don't believe that the competitive community has to be elitist or standoffish to newcomers; at the very least I'm not (and I know a fair number of people who aren't either) so let me know if you ever want help.

[Anacybele]

Er, thanks, but you're telling me things I already know. And have already tried. I took advice from fellow players, changed up moves, held items, and even team members. But it didn't change anything.

I'm just not meant to get any better, and I'm accepting that. I think one of my problems is that the Pokemon I'm using are only classified as "decent all around" by the guy that tells you this, but also that sometimes, I probably don't know how to react. And I can't do anything about either one of these things, at least not any time soon. It's not that I don't want to, I don't have the time to. I work a job and I have a life. I can't spend half of it on Pokemon. I don't like the series THAT much anyway. I'd give up Pokemon before I'd give up better games like FE, Zelda, and Mario. And Smash Bros. too.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Anacybele

[Redwall]

Most people who play Pokemon also have real-life obligations; developing the skills to win a satisfactory fraction (whatever you deem this fraction to be) of your matches is not something that requires a whole lot of time commitment, given that most people online are also playing for fun and are not hardcore players in any capacity. You should watch this video to get a basic idea of what should be going through your head when battling.

[Chiki]

Pokemon battling in general (but especially competitive battling, as in fighting another human mind) is like anything else in life that takes effort; if you ever want to get better, you have to practice and put time into it.

It really depends on how experienced you are. If someone plays it for a long enough time it becomes as natural to them as say, swimming and riding a bike.

I've been playing competitive Pokemon since I was 9, for over half of my life, and I never forget the things I learned; skills that became useful when I beat some of Smogon's best players and got to the top of the ladder in gens 4 and 5. I was able to qualify for the suspect test pretty much instantly after I started playing again.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Chiki

[Comet]

Hm, wasn't this match fun.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-86014100

Have some hax:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-86033968

Edited February 9, 2014 by Comet

[Redwall]

I was able to qualify for the suspect test pretty much instantly after I started playing again.

It takes about a hundred matches (fifty on each of the OU and suspect ladders to meet the deviation requirement of 50 or below) to qualify. I can't fathom how you would complete 100 games instantly.

[Chiki]

It takes about a hundred matches (fifty on each of the OU and suspect ladders to meet the deviation requirement of 50 or below) to qualify. I can't fathom how you would complete 100 games instantly.

By instantly I meant without practicing beforehand; it only took me a few hours.

I don't think I'll be voting though.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Chiki

[Redwall]

By instantly I meant without practicing beforehand; it only took me a few hours.

Assuming an average of five minutes per match, you would need over eight hours to qualify.

I don't think I'll be voting though.

At risk of sounding confrontational, could this be because you haven't actually qualified?

[Chiki]

Assuming an average of five minutes per match, you would need over eight hours to qualify.

At risk of sounding confrontational, could this be because you haven't actually qualified?

Pokemon Showdown doesn't prevent you from playing multiple matches at the same time. People generally take ages (20 seconds) to make a move. It's not difficult to pay attention to every game, especially considering the fact that most people aren't very good and use things like Swampert. Is that really so hard to believe?

My point with that post was to show that, if you have enough practice with the game, you get so used to it that even after a long period of not playing, you can learn it so well that you don't need to practice to get up to par again.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Chiki

[Redwall]

Please answer my question. Did you or did you not qualify for Smogon's ongoing XY suspect test? Given the phrasing of this post and the phrasing of this other post ("I played on the ladder with a high rating a month ago or so"), I am inclined to believe that you haven't met the requirements on the current Elo-based ladder, but that your performance on last month's Glicko2-based ladder has led you to believe that you would qualify if you had the time.

And while players with 1700 Elo aren't necessarily any good, I know for a fact they all use better Pokemon than Swampert (save for the players using obvious troll teams). Given this, and given the pace at which one would play the team you posted on Smogon ("balanced," as you described to me), I have reason to doubt that one would obtain voting reqs with your team in a matter of hours.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Miikaya

[Chiki]

Please answer my question. Did you or did you not qualify for Smogon's ongoing XY suspect test? Given the phrasing of this post and the phrasing of this other post ("I played on the ladder with a high rating a month ago or so"), I am inclined to believe that you haven't met the requirements on the current Elo-based ladder, but that your performance on last month's Glicko2-based ladder has led you to believe that you would qualify if you had the time.

And while players with 1700 Elo aren't necessarily any good, I know for a fact they all use better Pokemon than Swampert (save for the players using obvious troll teams). Given this, and given the pace at which one would play the team you posted on Smogon ("balanced," as you described to me), I have reason to doubt that one would obtain voting reqs with your team in a matter of hours.

Of course I qualified; I answered your question ages ago. This doubt is silly. 1700 is not a high rating and not worth bragging about. =_=

It's really easy if you play 3-4 matches at the same time.

[Redwall]

Your post on Smogon ("I played on the ladder with a high rating a month ago or so") suggests otherwise: why not mention instead that you got a high rating on the current ladder? Your claim of seeing many Pokemon comparable to Swampert continues to leave me in doubt, given the considerably better constructed teams that pop up around the 1700 range. Posting a picture of your record in the voter-confirmation thread would not only shut me up here on SF, but would also lend credence to some of the arguments you've been making in Smogon's suspect thread.

edit: To make clear a relation to the topic at hand--competitive play--and to prevent me from getting capital-W Warned, let me explain that my posts are rooted in doubts of the efficacy of this team Chiki constructed and subsequently used.

The team has no answer to Talonflame because Heatran, the team's only Flying-type resistance, lacks Toxic. The team is arguably more vulnerable to Mega Pinsir since Heatran gets OHKOed by Earthquake, and since Talonflame, which is 4x weak to SR, cannot switch into Mega Pinsir's Return or Quick Attack. The team has no answer to Aegislash, since Heatran takes a minimum of 45.5% from Sacred Sword and since the other bulky Pokemon on the team, Salamence and Azumarill, take minimums of about 47% from Shadow Ball. Opposing Mega Lucario with Extremespeed also give this team trouble, as Salamence can be beaten with double-switches into Stealth Rock. Garchomp has neutral or better coverage against everything on the team.

Celebi and Salamence have no offensive presence. The former has a particularly awful defensive typing for the current metagame. I also pointed out to Chiki on his profile feed sometime ago the inability for his team to break past stall teams that have Aegislash.

As I, too, wish to be a winner, I would like for Chiki to either explain how he dealt with these threats or admit that he is lying about his procurement of voting requirements for the sake of wagging his e-peen.

Edited February 9, 2014 by Miikaya

[Fruity Insanity]

Honestly, does it matter? So what if he's lying, geez.

I mean, who cares?

Edited February 9, 2014 by Not-an-Apple

[Comet]

what fruity insanity said.

and it doesn't seem like talonflame would really be able to do anything against him other than scare his celebi or chip the lucario, and the heatran carries stealth rocks, it just seems like it would kill itself from recoil damage and rocks. not going to debate the others as much.

[Redwall]

Honestly, does it matter? So what if he's lying, geez.

I mean, who cares?

Certainly I find it interesting that Chiki claims to be uninterested in voting (which isn't exactly time-consuming) despite having invested considerable time in writing arguments in Smogon's thread, and despite supposedly having obtained voting reqs. But I am suggesting only that the Emperor may not, in fact, have any clothes; I am not suggesting that any of this should matter.

and it doesn't seem like talonflame would really be able to do anything against him other than scare his celebi or chip the lucario, and the heatran carries stealth rocks, it just seems like it would kill itself from recoil damage and rocks. not going to debate the others as much.

If Chiki's team had enough offensive presence to dissuade Defoggers, as many MLuc teams do, then I would agree with you, but he clearly does not. Opposing Talonflame will force out everything on the team short of Salamence and Azumarill, neither of which can switch into Talonflame's Brave Bird.

[Alfred Kamon]

Certainly I find it interesting that Chiki claims to be uninterested in voting (which isn't exactly time-consuming) despite having invested considerable time in writing arguments in Smogon's thread, and despite supposedly having obtained voting reqs. But I am suggesting only that the Emperor may not, in fact, have any clothes; I am not suggesting that any of this should matter.

So you're writing all those long posts just to disqualify Chiki from his (presumed) merits? (>°_°)>

From my point of view you're just trying to prove yourself better than Chiki and you can't accept that someone who you consider inferior in terms of battling ability has achieved a (presumed) coveted goal.

And it's understandable, honestly, but this is not the right place to talk about it.

Could we please return in-topic?

Hm, wasn't this match fun.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-86014100

Oh my, that was really intense!

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

I've been trying to prove the whole "Chesnaught can pull off wins out of his ass for no reason" hype and I did not manage to get a non stompy games

So..... I think this is the closest game example that I can show to you guys. Hope you don't mind reviewing my gameplay, and, of course, enjoy the reps

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-86169507

Edited February 9, 2014 by JSND

[Silver Lightning]

I'm curious about using a Chesnaught, since I'm trying to build a Kalos team that isn't completely filled with the same old pokemon you see used everywhere (and I'm looking for a physical tank). What EV spread is it?

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

max hp max defense

Chesnaught is actually a bad Tank. Its real worth comes from the fact that Protect and Substitute is the best move in the game and Leech Seed is really good

To be fair, the reason I decided to use Chesnaught is because "I don't like taking ridiculously powerful Shadow Ball from Aegislash"

Edited February 9, 2014 by JSND

[Anacybele]

I'm probably going to eventually build a new team too, and I don't want to use Pokemon that are seen on a lot of people's teams either. But at the same time, I also don't want to use any that aren't classified as good. And I don't want to use any that I don't like. :P

But I'll have to decide which to use when the time comes.

[Redwall]

So you're writing all those long posts just to disqualify Chiki from his (presumed) merits? (>°_°)>

From my point of view you're just trying to prove yourself better than Chiki and you can't accept that someone who you consider inferior in terms of battling ability has achieved a (presumed) coveted goal.

And it's understandable, honestly, but this is not the right place to talk about it.

Could we please return in-topic?

As I write this message, Chiki is laddering furiously as "Gokou Ruri", an account unqualified for voting, using the team from his Smogon topic and gunning for voting reqs at the eleventh hour; you can confirm this alt is his from this topic. This is consistent with my claim that he was lying.

More on topic, though, whether or not he was lying about procuring voting reqs has competitive implications: how, for example, does his team address well-played Aegislash, Terrakion, Mega Pinsir, Specs Keldeo, Manaphy, and other threats that escape me? If he indeed obtained voting reqs, then there would likely be a method of playing his team well that escapes me and that would prove educational for me and the other posters in the topic.

max hp max defense

Chesnaught is actually a bad Tank. Its real worth comes from the fact that Protect and Substitute is the best move in the game and Leech Seed is really good

To be fair, the reason I decided to use Chesnaught is because "I don't like taking ridiculously powerful Shadow Ball from Aegislash"

I personally prefer eschewing Substitute and instead using a set of Spikes / Spiky Shield / Hammer Arm / Leech Seed since Chesnaught is a bit slow.

[Comet]

As I write this message, Chiki is laddering furiously as "Gokou Ruri", an account unqualified for voting, using the team from his Smogon topic and gunning for voting reqs at the eleventh hour; you can confirm this alt is his from this topic. This is consistent with my claim that he was lying.

More on topic, though, whether or not he was lying about procuring voting reqs has competitive implications: how, for example, does his team address well-played Aegislash, Terrakion, Mega Pinsir, Specs Keldeo, Manaphy, and other threats that escape me? If he indeed obtained voting reqs, then there would likely be a method of playing his team well that escapes me and that would prove educational for me and the other posters in the topic.

isn't the voting for OU singles? all i saw was his doubles ranking