Competitive Battling

[Dai]

Is anyone here into competitive battling? I'd like to start, but I'm a bit nervous about it. I've read up a lot, but finding those to partake in it is a bit of a task for me since it goes outside of my usual comfort zones.

[Ema Skye]

By Competitive Battling, do you mean Nintendo VGC or Smogon Standard?

Both are radically different ways of playing.

[Anacybele]

I've kinda sorta gotten into it in gen 6 with Super Training making it somewhat easier to max your Pokemon's EVs and ORAS's DexNav enabling you to see if a Pokemon has up to three max IVs. I also actually bred a couple of Pokemon in ORAS that I intended to use for competitive battling. I use my favorite Pokemon though, not necessarily the best ones.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Anacybele

[Dai]

By Competitive Battling, do you mean Nintendo VGC or Smogon Standard?

Both are radically different ways of playing.

Either or works, really, though I see more appeal in Smogon, in a way. I don't agree with EVERYTHING...but I've read more for Smogon than VGC.

I wager I'll probably do Smogon, though. Any suggestions?

Edited May 9, 2016 by Dai

[Ema Skye]

Best thing I can suggest with Smogon is to just lurk around there. Get familiar with their metagame (what people use) and just play the game through their simulator. Make a team and hit their ladder with it.

[Anacybele]

Wait, we're talking about online stuff? Then I have no idea about that, I've only stuck to the video games.

[Dai]

Well, main thing I'm thinking of also is just, you know. Facing people, and not on a website. I AM actually working on Pokemon in my game to use.

Edited May 9, 2016 by Dai

[Reality]

I don't know if you'd really want to play with smogon then, because speaking as someone who lives and breathes smogon, I find that random local tournaments at gamestop or other people with DS at the courtyard/lunch of a school are now pointless.

I just end up rolling over people with generic bulky offense teams and I only attend if I want to test gimmicks and HyperOffense, which are better tested on the ladder via alt or during tournaments online anyway.

That said I don't think the transition from someone playing the rpg to competitive is all that hard. I didn't bother with the tutoring room or anything. I just read up on the anaylsis and the warstories ( being 4th gen). I wish those were never obsoleted by replays since a lot of them, especially the higher rated ones, showed the people explaining stuff like the fact that sending heatran in after the opponet's infernape KOd would reveal to the opponent that you were using choice scarf, and that the real problem was that using Earth power would let them bring in dragonite for free, and if they kept infernape in when you tried to snipe the switch in, they could tank the neutral attack and close combat you.

Viability threads and teambuilding advice don't show the difference between conservative play and opportunism nearly as well.

Really though just jumping into the OU ladder's (find battle)and talking to the people in the chatroom (not even the smogon forums) works well enough, especially if you do so with a super conservative team or even outright use a no1 ladder team as a pre-made (after reading up on how it's gameplan works of course). Honestly pre-mades get a bad reputation since when you are in a clan or doing the smogon tour you often get advice and collaborate teams from the other people, and even if you just laddered with it, you would probably tinker with it every 30 battles or so, after seeing an unexpectedly high amount of priority one day, or finding that sub+3 attack pokemon got guaranteed damage on your current setup, seeing a coverage attack that you never use, etc.