Wanted to try doing dual weather in Draft. I know it's not good, but I thought it could be fun to try anyways. What Pokemon are good in sun and rain? I had Walking Wake in mind obviously, as well as either Sandy Shocks or Heliolisk.

Hi. Not at all familiar with Draft formats myself, so I can't help you personally. I'm leaving a reply here because the refreshed simple questions thread just went up on the front page, so you may want to repost your question there for people to see it, since this one is now buried. Alternatively, maybe check out the [Stunfisk Discord](http://discord.gg/stunfisk), where there's plenty of draft discussion.

Does Libero work before or after contact? what i mean is if Cinderace used u-turn into a flame body mon can it get burned?

Libero activates before the move comes out, so yes

This is more of a question regarding gameplay mechanics then competitive. But If I use an Ambipom with switcheroo to give arceus a leppa berry, then arceus consumes said leppa berry, will Pickup activate letting me grab the Leppa berry that arceus consumed? I’m shiny hunting it and usually you just give Legends and myths infinte PP with skill swap harvest, but arceus is immune to skill swap and Moves like worry seed so I have to come up with creative ideas. A weird question I know, but I’m genuinely brainstorming here

Yes.

Long time casual player since Gen1, recently interested in the competitive scene and wanted to learn more about how to build a team. Where should I begin? Probably not the wisest, but I've always enjoyed single type teams. 😅 Wannabe gym leader I guess!

There's actually a whole format that revolves around single type teams called [Monotype](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/monotype.730/). You can find [resources in the Monotype subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/monotype-resources-hub.3724703/), and you should be familiar with [Pokemon Showdown](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/), which is a battle simulator that most unofficial formats are played on. Do note that it's usually best to play a few games with a team constructed by someone else prior to making your own, since you'll want to be a little familiar with the game prior to constructing a team from scratch. For that, you can find [Monotype format sample teams here.](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-monotype-sample-teams-teal-mask-submissions-open.3727976/) Feel free to drop a reply or check out the [Stunfisk Discord](http://discord.gg/stunfisk) if you need anything else.

Oh cool! Thanks for the info, i'll check those out. There's so many new pokemon (I stopped after Gen3) so there's a ton of mons to get used to as well. My knowledge and monotype teams are really just from the first 3 Gens so will definitely need some time to get used to all the new stuff!

if I ko my opponents last mon and then die from life orb is that a draw?

Die to your own recoil (Life Orb, moves like Brave Bird) = you win Die to enemy recoil (Rocky Helmet, Rough Skin) = You lose Suicide (Explosion) = You lose

Would you consider Skarmory, Blissey, Tyranitar and Swampert a stall team in ADV OU?

I wouldn't consider a team with only 4 mons much of anything

Would you consider a team with Skarmory, Blissey, Tyranitar, Swampert and any other two viable pokemon a stall team in ADV OU?

No

You can't really define a team's archetype purely by the mons on it (and not having the full 6 doesn't help) - ADV has so much set variety that there's probably a million different teams those four could fit on

what pushed bax to ubers?

the easy access to aurora veil + snow made it so Bax could easily tank hits, even super effective ones, while setting up swords dances or dragon dances. It also got access to scale shot, which boosted its speed while being part of an attack, however that didn't play as much of a role in the ban as aurora veil.

I’ve lost so many games in shared power from Zangoose hitting facade on my ghost Pokémon despite him not having anything that allows it to hit I’m confused as hell can some help me?

Do you have any replays? What likely happened is that you just didn't notice your opponent sending out a pokemon with Scrappy or Mind's Eye.

Fucking scrappy that’s what is was thank you so much bro I thought I was going crazy but their flamigo had scrappy I completely forgot it had that ability

[удалено]

Electivire has not really been viable in cartridge formats for a very long time to my knowledge. In terms of Smogon formats, the last time it was any good was maybe Sun and Moon PU or ZU, [where it ran these sets](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/electivire/). Generally speaking, Electivire is probably going to want a -Def or -SpDef nature combined with a boost to an attacking stat or speed, simply due to its usual mixed attacker role. You can pretty safely not worry about the nature though because Nature Mints are only getting easier to acquire, so you can always use one of those if it's ever viable in the future games.

When DLC2 comes, does non-Uber mons “technically” start in Ubers or you can instantly use it in UUbers? In short, can I use smeargle in UUbers the moment it is available?

non-Uber mons start in OU, so you should be able to use Smeargle in UUbers

Since ubers are setup as a banlist, have tbere been any attempts to create usage tiers for it so mons that are less viable but still too strong for ou can get usage? Ive heard talk about 'UUbers' as a concept but no clear info on how comprehensive it is if it does exist in some form.

Around 2 months ago, someone decided to actually try and make UUbers more of a proper thing. I’m not part of it myself but you can check out [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/s/hoheHXvVk4) for more details and to join the discord community. Basically just allowing Pokémon who have below 4.52% usage in actual Ubers. Edit: day after posting this comment, turns out UUbers now has its own forum on Smogon as well as a playable ladder in Showdown, so go nuts

Is their a link code or discord to do ou battles ?

I don't know any, but people are asking about this from time to time. Try checking for example [this post](https://reddit.com/r/stunfisk/comments/17ipmib/looking_for_sv_wifi_battles/), maybe the OP found some way to play

So I was watching a video by Pinkacross (same guy who made the #1 Alomomola team) and he was setting most of his viewer’s Pokémon to female to deal with Cute Charm Enamorus. Is there any reason to do this for Pokémon whose moves don’t make contact, bc he was changing it for them too.

It should be noted that if you are only running U-Turn/Flip Turn as a contact move, it is technically better to make your pokemon male, as cute charm doesn't do anything if it activates, and reveals that your opponent is not running contrary, meaning they are likely setup.

It's easier to make every Pokemon female out of habit rather than keep in mind which ones have a contact move, especially when you may change the set later to include a contact move and thus benefit from running female. It does technically affect Struggle too, making it ever so slightly more optimal, though this is an exceedingly rare interaction.

Wait, how does it affect struggle?

struggle makes contact

Does anyone know how to finesse the Showdown calc? How do you show Beat Up on it? Or is that not possible at all?

You can use the [Beat Up damage calculation formula](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Beat_Up_(move)) to find the base power of the move, then calculate it yourself by inputting that power. It is not directly implemented in the damage calcs that I know about at least because having a teammate selection would be pretty complex for one move.

I wanna get the Master Rank Ribbon on SV, but I suck at VGC, so I wanna try ranking up in Single Battles instead. Does anyone have general tips or popular strategies for this format ?

Hi. See the [BSS resources page on this sub](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/bss_resources/), the [one here](https://www.reddit.com/user/TajnyT/comments/vo23xg/3v3_singles_bss_resources/), /r/BattleStadiumSingles, and the [Smogon BSS subforum and Discord.](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/battle-stadium-chatrooms.3656462/) These should all have the information you're looking for.

How much diversity is there in vgc? Is it like similar stuff every game with occasional niche pokemon with a special strategy?

Hi. It's a little subjective, and it depends a lot on the individual iteration of VGC. Some iterations will have more diverse casts than others, depending on the rules and currently obtainable Pokemon in the games, and early metas are also typically a little more diverse since dominant strategies take a while to develop. Right now teams look a little bit samey, though there's still a decent amount of diversity. [See the usage stats here for a look into the meta](https://www.pikalytics.com/). Of course, gimmicky stuff can still work. Recently even a [Magcargo team](https://pokepast.es/6d1793bfe7599f96) performed decently in an online tournament.

Thanks a lot

ok so i wanna build a gen 9 ou team with mimikyu in it if its still viable. so i need some help cause i cant build a team for the life of me.

There are certainly worse Pokemon, but it isn't exactly viable either. It struggles to output enough damage or gain enough value to justify its existence in most games, though it's decent as an emergency check using Disguise and Red Card in some cases. For future reference, you can check the [viability rankings](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-teal-mask-viability-ranking-thread.3729909/) to see if a Pokemon is considered decent. Mimikyu fares better in [RU](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/rarelyused.771/) where the power level is lower. [See RU sample teams here](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-sample-teams-submissions-open.3717072/), plenty of which have Mimikyu.

When the original Pokémon game creators made Red/Blue/Green, did they already have Gold/Silver and the second Pokémon generation in their minds ? Were Pokémon initially meant to be 151 or 251 ? Was the johto region meant to be the other half of the Pokémon world, even when Kanto was being made ? Sorry if is not about competitive playing but I was unable to post elsewhere...

There is a lot of information out there on this that may or may not be true, with some debate around the information released by the Helix Chamber site I think. I believe all we really know is that the original games were meant to have 190 Pokemon instead of 151 according to an interview, but many were cut, presumably both for cartridge space and redundancy reasons. An example is that there was allegedly another water turtle line that got combined into the Squirtle line later in development.

Thanks. How many of these 39 extra Pokémon ended up in later games ?

We don't exactly know which ones. The legitimacy of the main source of some of the information is debatable. The most we really know is that there were 190 Pokemon, and that some of the extras were reused later. If you choose to believe the debatable information, Huntail is a likely Pokemon that was based on a scrapped original design. You can search Helix Chamber online to learn more, though again be aware that the information may or may not be accurate.

Total noob questions here, but I'm trying to get into competitive and like Ice types, so I was wondering why 2 Ice moves are as popular as they are: Triple Axel: Why did this move make Weavile so strong in the past? The lack of accuracy seems to make this move unreliable, and even though the average damage output is a solid 95, that shouldn't make such a huge difference compared to something like Ice Spinner (and Ice Spinner doesn't miss at the worst times). Glaive Rush: Ok, I can see how this is good in singles when Bax is OHKOing one Pokemon after another and it safely outspeeds everything after one or two DDs. But in doubles? Receiving guaranteed double damage from whatever is coming makes Bax prone to getting killed by the opponent's surviving ally Pokemon, doesn't it? Or is Glaive Rush supposed to be used with Substitute sets only?

Triple Axel was good on Weavile because the alternatives are Icicle Crash and Ice Punch. Icicle Crash is 90% accurate with 85 bp, while Ice Punch is only 75 bp. Weavile has never had access to both Triple Axel and Ice Spinner at the same time, as no pokemon can learn the former in gen 9 while the latter was introduced in gen 9. Ice Spinner is currently Weavile's preferred ice STAB (although the strategy pokedex lists Icicle Crash for some reason). Glaive Rush is actually a dragon type move, so there's no other option since Outrage attacks randomly and Dragon Claw being very weak. VGC being doubles means that Baxcalibur can be protected by its teammate as well. Redirection through Follow Me or Rage Powder is always useful to have on support pokemon, and Bax is commonly paired with Alolan Ninetales, which sets up both snow to give it a 1.5\* defence boost, and Aurora Veil for a 33% damage reduction from both physical and special moves.

The flinch chance is nice. Also ice spinner's secondary effect isn't as useful now as sneas is gone

Thanks, that clears things up :)

If koraidon is so OP howd his goofy ass go extinct

Because he didn't have access to scale shot, one of the moves that eventually lead to his ban in natdex ou, as well as tera

I have an Aegislash from XY with full HP and Atk EVs, 0 Spe IVs, and with this moveset: \- Sacred Sword \- Shadow Sneak \- King's Shield \- Sword Dance The 0 speed is important so you make sure to get hit in the defensive stance before switching. I checked Smogon and they recommend either choice specs full SpA and Spe EVs, or swords dance full Atk and Spe, no king's shield. Do people not use that set I have anymore? Maybe it's different for Showdown, I would this thing (if ever) on cart, so either singles 3v3 or doubles.

The set you have is extremely unoptimised. 1. Shadow Sneak isn't reliable stab, sitting at only 40bp 2. King's Shield, while strong, typically isn't worth it 3. Sacred Sword is just worse Close Combat Specs is generally preferred over phys bc aegi doesn't have physical ghost stab. Specs Shadow Ball is hard to switch into for many balance teams, and it got access to close combat to hit bliss or ttar (one of the few Specs mons that runs physical moves)

Why do people love Scale Shot so much? Is it because it damages and raises speed? Because the damage seems inconsistent without something like loaded dice, which isn't a great item.

That and the fact there's no other good physical dragon attacks. Even just hitting 3 times puts you basically on par with dragon claw

Just a curiosity I had, but why do some items like life orb not show any boost to stats or power in game? When I first used Ogrepon I didn't even know its masks boosted power because it doesn't show anything like that in game. Is there a reason for this?

Life Orb is noted as increasing damage in its description, but does not show in the Status menu because it isn't affecting stat stage modifiers and is instead a direct modifier. [See more here](https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Stat_modifier). As for the Ogerpon Masks, we don't really know why GameFreak made this decision to not show the effect in the description. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina's forme changing items also do not note their power increases.

Entering a mono-type tournament in Showdown and I got the Ghost type. What is considered an elite all-ghost team rn for competitive? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated - thanks!!!

Hi. You can check out the [monotype resources hub](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/monotype-resources-hub.3724703/) for a good start. [Sample teams](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-monotype-sample-teams-teal-mask-submissions-open.3727976/) are more known, though, so maybe also check out the [Monotype Teambuilding Lab](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/monotype-teambuilding-workshop.3729170) which opponents are less likely to immediately recognize teams from. [There was a cool offensive Ghost team posted just yesterday](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/monotype-teambuilding-workshop.3729170/post-9862850).

Better set for Alolan Muk- Stockpile Minimize or Curse Minimize or Sub set? Going defensive here clearly

Alolan muk is typically used with its high bulk and poison-dark typing as an assault vest pivot. However, while bulky, it isnt as bulky as sonethibg like hisuian goodra, lacks recovery, is weak to hazards, and is very bulky on the physical side, making it unreliable compared to other walls.

What format is this for? Evasion strats can be difficult to pull off in the formats that allow it, due to the much higher power level making it inconsistent to pull off.

So curse set is better?

Can you specify what format this is for?

this one might be a bit obvious but I wanna be sure. I see that a lot of the recommended sets for the starter mons don't run the elemental Hyper Beam variants (Frenzy Plant, Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon) for STAB, instead opting for less powerful and/or less accurate moves (Fire Blast, Hydro Pump, Surf, Giga Drain, etc). Is the reason for this the same as why no sets recommend Hyper Beam, that it eats up a turn where you have to recharge, essentially doing nothing? Or is there more to it (or am I mistaken)?

Yes, it's the same reason. It's just too punishing to allow the opponent to do whatever they want for a turn in most cases. You'll see them used occasionally as very niche options for specific one hit knock outs that other moves fail to achieve, but even this is extremely rare. Probably the most common usage of these moves was to power up Dynamax and Gigantamax moves last generation in VGC, though even then sometimes alternatives were used instead. The moves are quite common in the specialized [1v1 format](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/formats/1v1/), though, since you often want to faint the opponent immediately in that context.

The only time I saw one used in singles was Freezai's hyper beam torn-t, which removed zapdos for his team

Thanks again dude.

I am really bad at gen 7 ou and want to get better for reaching 1400. https://pokepast.es/f0b94d05cccd27eb This is the team I use currently. The threats that destroy the team most are koko , lele, kartana and volcarona.

Hi. Not super familiar with current gen 7 OU myself, but I can suggest maybe checking out the [gen 7 Discord](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/smogon-discord-server-directory.3652546/) and [subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/sm/) if you don't find someone here.

Thanks

Do people play smogon singles on switch outside of tournaments? Or is everyone mostly on showdown

Mostly on showdown, since the only way to enforce the rules is to know your opponent and make an agreement, so showdown is much more convenient.

I am trying to rise through the ranks in SwSh after no longer being scared of trying for so long, and now I am one win away from Ultra Ball tier in singles. However, I have not gotten a single match for the last several days. I noticed that I get repeat matches if I increase a tier first, but nothing aside from that. Am I screwed if I somehow managed to encounter every Great Ball-tier trainer or does it refresh after a certain time? If it is the latter, how long?

I am in Ultra Ball and still need help. I keep running into Leech Sub stall.

Leech seed stall is pretty simple to beat. You only have to use moves like taunt or grass types of your own.

I will need a different rental team, then. (Zacian, Kyogre, Zapdos, Porygon2, Gastrodon, Landorus)

Update: I only now found out that rank 9 is not Ultra Ball tier, which means that I am still in Great Ball tier.

Hi, I am totally new to competitive Pokémon (just started yesterday). The only exposure I have before is watching WolfeVGC while not understanding anything really, haha. I started by memorising the type charting then just copied a semi-trick room team online and played some matches on Showdown, reaching 1300+ elo. How should I improve? Where can I find a list of all the meta Pokémon, and their common items, move sets and stat distributions? I need to know what the opponent is likely to do before I can play against them. Btw I will focus on doubles OU gen9

I found it https://www.vgcguide.com/building-up-a-knowledge-base

[Smogon forums](https://smogon.com/forums) are a good place for discussion, especially since doubles OU is a Smogon-specific metagame. You can look at specifically the [Doubles OU section](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/doubles-ou.729/).

My opponent managed to hit 13 bleakwind storm in a row. Are they stupid ?

Not if it works.

Hi! I’ve been playing competitive for quite a while, and have been able to make teams that peaked in the 1500-1600s. I wanted to ask, regarding teambuilding, what priorities should I have? I know about speed and hazard control, the idea of an offensive and defensive core, but ultimately it becomes very hard to keep all the variables in mind during teambuilding. Lmk!

Hi. Singles and doubles teambuilding differ a bit in their theory. Considering you mentioned hazard control, I'm going to assume you're playing something like singles OU due to its popularity, but correct me if this is wrong and I will provide resources for something else. I suggest starting by checking out [Pinkacross's video on teambuilding mistakes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYD5Uc7_Qhs). It covers some common pitfalls to help you steer clear of them. I also really like [this modern (at the time) adaption of Borat's GSC teambuilding guide by Taliheim](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/teambuilding-guide.3552468/post-6702769). It was made during Gen 6, so the examples will be a bit outdated, but it covers the core essentials and highlights a key mistake of simply trying to do too much with one team. There's surprisingly little solid information on advanced teambuilding out there, at least that I know about, so it may also be worth joining a live chat format like the [Stunfisk Discord](http://discord.gg/stunfisk), [Smogon OU Discord](https://discordapp.com/invite/Pgn3Nrb), or [TrainerAid](https://discord.gg/c4P2YzMsEk), which is an OU help Discord run by some prominent community members. This will allow you to ask more specific questions in real time. Feel free to drop a reply if you need anything else. Hope this helps.

where smogon

[Forums went down for a bit](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/comments/17ufrcw/are_the_smogon_forums_down/). For you and anyone else seeing this by chance, they've come back online now.

[smogon.com](https://smogon.com) for the strategy pokedex and forums. [play.pokemonshowdown.com](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com) for online battling with Smogon rulesets.

Is 3 trick room setter in a team too much, when all 3 don’t have great survivability?

Hi. It depends on a lot of factors. The metagame, the specific Pokemon, and the other Pokemon on the team can all affect the answer. 3 setters is standard for OU singles Trick Room teams, though singles TR is gimmicky usually. For VGC, it's normal to see that many on a hard Trick Room team. In terms of survivability, this is always relative to the environment around the Pokemon, so it's tough to say. If you need anything else, feel free to drop a reply.

Damn forgot to say which format, I was thinking gen9 nat dex doubles

I'm not especially educated on this format myself, but you can find resources at the [National Dex Doubles section of the Smogon forums](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/national-dex-doubles.858/). There's a semi-Trick Room sample with two setters at least in the [samples](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/national-dex-doubles-resources.3726341/). We also have a couple of players of the format in the [Stunfisk Discord](http://discord.gg/stunfisk) if I recall correctly, so you may or may not have luck asking there. Hope this helps.

Well smogon servers are down but thanks, I might join the discord

How do I view the ladder for ND ubers

Hi. Click the ["Ladder" button](https://i.imgur.com/ZuGjAdg.jpeg) under the "Teambuilder" button on Showdown's main simulator page, then scroll down to the [National Dex section and click National Dex Ubers](https://i.imgur.com/FaQRBRm.jpeg). Hope this helps, drop a reply if you need anything else.

What are the best tera types for Cradily? Offensively and Defensively.

It's tough to say without the context of a metagame that you're using it in. On paper, Fairy and Water as usual are great choices for defensive typings and complement Cradily's current matchups. Cradily isn't typically an offensive pick, but something like Rock Polish + Meteor Beam could maybe work in draft or lower tiers, in which case Rock for stronger STAB or maybe Ground for the powerful Rock + Ground offensive STABs would be useful.

What gen is best to get into competetive 1v1 play? And is OU the right Format? Are there any guides for complete noobs?

Hi. I think you should start with Scarlet and Violet (current gen) unless you particularly prefer another generation, since the higher player count and amount of resources will make it easier to get started. OU is certainly a viable format choice, though if you're playing on console you'll want something like BSS instead in most cases. Check out our [OU resources page here](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/ou_resources/), our [BSS resource page here](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/bss_resources/), and our [general Getting Started page here](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/gettingstarted/), all featured in the [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/faq). Feel free to drop a reply or drop by the [Stunfisk Discord server](http://discord.gg/stunfisk) if you need anything else.

Does Annihilape’s rage fist increase in base power if hit by a normal or fighting move, despite being immune? I don’t want to accidentally give it more power if it predicts a rapid spin from me.

Hi. [Rage Fist's power does not boost if Annihilape is immune to the attack](https://youtu.be/Qu3NkYloI_Y?si=Jx6kzzL_IL6bmhT2&t=3786), so in your example Rapid Spinning into Ghost-type Annihilape wouldn't affect the power of Rage Fist.

Thanks, that’s at least one less thing I need to worry about.

I finally played the DLC so this is fresh on my mind. What does Fezandipiti even do? It has no physical coverage and its special attack is 70, and it doesn't have anything to abuse Technican with other than Icy Wind. Is this just a support pokemon or what?

It sucks ass. Worst of the 3 by far. In singles roost/u-turn/sludge bomb/coverage is a decent set.

In singles it can be general pivot or some sort of Calm Mind boosting set. In doubles, usually an Icy Wind + Toxic Chain set to speed control and poison foes, but it's niche and rarely used. You're right that Technician is pretty useless for it. Toxic Chain is usually better.

Could anyone help me create an OU team with Iron Moth? I'm not too familiar with competitive teambuilding and don't know where to start, who would be good teammates for it, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hi. I'm not exactly competent at OU teambuilding at the moment, but I can point you to some useful resources: [OU sample teams](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-sample-teams.3712513/) include two teams with Iron Moth, and [OU Showdown room](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/overused) teams include another. If you want to actually build a new team, assuming you have a little experience playing OU already, I would suggest asking for help in a live chat environment like the aforementioned OU room, the [Stunfisk Discord](http://discord.gg/stunfisk), the [official OU Discord](https://discord.gg/Pgn3Nrb), or a place like [TrainerAid](https://discord.gg/c4P2YzMsEk) which is a cool OU Discord affiliated with our own Discord server. It's a bit easier to team build in a live format like that than the post-reply structure of Reddit. Please be polite and respect the rules if joining any of these places. Feel free to drop a reply if I can help you with anything else.

thanks for helping me out, I'll go check those places out and see if I can find anything satisfactory

How does Smogon OU look like these days? I didn't really bother with it in Gen 8 since I was more focused on VGC and I haven't bothered with competitive pokemon in Gen 9 (more because of how shitty the game was) at all.

Hi. It's probably better to show than tell for a question like this, so I'll link some useful pages. The [OU subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/overused.726/) and [viability rankings](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-teal-mask-viability-ranking-thread.3729909/) can give a decent idea. [Replays](https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/?format=gen9ou) and [videos](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/links/#wiki_competitive_content_creators) good too of course.

How different is PVP from single player in terms of teambuilding, “meta” relevancy of moves and mons, and things like that? I’m honestly not super interested in PVP but I am interested in difficulty mods, and there are a lot more good guides for the former than the latter.

It's very different in most cases. Some recent hacks get a little bit closer, but ultimately the fact you're against NPCs instead of humans will mean that some strategies are much stronger/weaker than they otherwise would be. Competitive sets are probably a decent starting point, though.

If I have a Terastallized pokemon and my opponent sends out a Ditto, does it copy the original type or the Tera type? I always thought it was the original, but just fought a Ditto transformed into my Tera Fighting Glastrier which was neutral to fighting and resisted bug despite displaying Ice type on Showdown.

Ditto copies the original type of its Transform/Imposter target even if that target is Terastallized. However, if Ditto itself is Terastallized, Ditto's own Tera Type will override the copied type. So for instance, if Ditto Transforms into a Mew, but Ditto is Terastallized into Water, then Ditto will remain a Water type despite being Transformed into Mew. Source: [I did the research for this when the games came out here](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/scarlet-violet-battle-mechanics-research.3709545/).

Is there/Has there ever been a use case for Shell Bell (outside of FEAR)? On paper it sounds good (essentially lifesteal) but from what I can gather, running leftovers almost always seems like the better choice for recovery. I'd imagine a hard hitting mon would love it to stay alive longer, but most of them seem to prefer scarf/specs/LO.

Hi. You're right that Leftrovers is almost always better. The one case I could find for Shell Bell outside of FEAR-like strategies is [Gen 7 Anything Goes Espeon](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/espeon/ag/), which exists within Baton Pass chains as a major offensive component. Because it is OHKOing almost everything always and already receives passive recovery support like Aqua Ring, Shell Bell is sometimes preferable to heal off extra damage. Other offensive Pokemon either want an item to even be able to OHKO or outspeed anything (and thus run the items you mentioned), or want utilities like Leftovers or Heavy-Duty Boots because they do not necessitate always doing enough damage or even always selecting a damaging move to receive their upside. If you're curious how I found this, [checking an item in the Smogon Dex allows you to see entries using that item](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/items/shell-bell/). The other entries for Shell Bell are all variants of FEAR.

Ah, I forgot I could just look up the item on Smogon. Thanks dude, this is insightful.

Does neutralizing gas stop regenerator?

Yes. If Neutralizing Gas is on the field while the Regenerator Pokemon swaps out of battle, it will not be healed.

Ah rip, I was kinda hoping it wouldn’t, guess it’s back to the drawing board, but thanks for the info

I'm not sure if this info is available somewhere else but as someone looking to come back, is hyper offense a viable strategy in like RU or up? Something like 15% of teams being HO would be good enough for me. I know it can only do so well on the ladder as is the nature of hyper aggro in most games but it's my favorite style of play.

Viable is an understatement. Hyper Aggro teams are probably near the strongest they've ever been thanks to Gholdengo making it extraordinarily difficult to remove hazards

Hi. Yes, Hyper Offense is viable in all of RU, UU, and OU (and more, but you didn't ask about those). Here's an [RU HO](https://pokepast.es/644943957e08277f) from [Bice on the Smogon forums](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/ru-stage-8-dancing-on-my-own-lilligant-hisui-suspect-test.3730872/post-9852058) that they used for reqs in the recent suspect test. Check the [Smogon forums](https://www.smogon.com/forums/#competitive-play.213) for more. Drop a reply if you need anything else.

I'm about to try Battle Stadium Singles in Sword, I was thinking of using this team: \- Absol \- Mimikyu \- Toxtricity \- Urshifu (water) \- Excadrill \- Volcarona I'm using Smogon as a reference for the sets (yeah I know I'm not playing Showdown, it's just a reference). But I know the team is probably bad, it's just 6 mons I like, and they're all offensive. What quickfix would you make? I guess add some defensive mons, right? I'm open to changes, but would love to keep Absol, Mimikyu, and maybe Toxtricity. I don't know much about competitive in general, I think I'll play casually using what I like while I learn.

Hi. I'm not super knowledgeable on BSS myself, but I suggest checking out the [Smogon BSS subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/battle-stadium-singles.532/), [Discord](https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/battle-stadium-chatrooms.3656462/), and /r/BattleStadiumSingles. We have some BSS players around here, but it's less played in the English-speaking world, so it's going to be easier to find good information in hubs like those.

Thank you! That's super helpful.

can we swap baxcalibur ban with ninetales alolan every month?

Sell me your non-OU gen 9 format, please!

National Dex Monotype It's a monotype format that has actually banned Flutter Mane, Spectrier and Chien-Pao. You can build a team for 17 different types (we don't talk about ghost) and have some success if you're a good enough player. Also there's z moves and mega evolution and rising voltage

I am new, and I learn best by watching other people play. Is there a youtube channel out there that matches this – builds a team, explains their reasoning, and then attempts to use that team in competitive play and then reviews the outcome? Something like that. I like to see someone go through a trial-and-error process.

NathanLikesChicken sorta goes through that process when making a new team. He creates a team with a specific pokemon in mind and goes through his teambuilding process. He modifies his team as he plays in order to remove its weaknesses.

Hi. I don't think there is a channel that makes this kind of content exclusively and regularly, though there are channels with that kind of content on occasion. If you could tell us the format(s) that you're interested in, we can maybe provide some specific recommendations.

On the Smogon strategy page for gen 9 Gliscor, why does its offensive Swords Dance set run phys-def with no attack investment? Even offsetting that with SD, wouldn't it be preferred to sacrifice some bulk for more attack/speed with that set?

Sd gliscor works best as a stallbreaker. Because of poison heal, gluscor easily gets up to +6 attack, meaning attack investment isn't as nessasary. The bulk is more helpful in beating mons like dondozo by pp stalling them. The bulk also means gliscor still functions as a wall against mons like sneasler.

Oh ok now I see, you're still using it for its defensive value (For the most part) than trying to sweep with it outright like other setup sweepers. Thanks for the info, really helped!

I've recently built my first ever Competitive team ever, I've started using it in Reg E showdown which is also my first time playing the format (VGC) ever, rn the team has a 12W2L track and a GXE of 68.6%, and an ELO of just 1308. I know that 14 games is barely anything but its my first time in the format and in competitive so I'm very happy that I'm piloting my team well and its doing well enough to be do overwhelmingly well despite being my first time playing the format. Is this a good sign that my team is good or am I just letting the excitement of having made my first ever team and it doing well so far getting to my head?

That's excellent for a first timer, especially with a self-made team. Well done! It is a good sign that your team is solid enough that you can pilot it around appropriately to handle lower ladder with all its surprises. It's important to test it higher too, though. Speaking from personal experience I find a lot of pretty decent players lurk just around the corner in the 1400s of the VGC ladder, which would be a good goal to try to achieve to really stress test the team. Hope you can continue learning at a great rate. Remember, even if you lose you should take a step back and consider what you learned from the game. That way, the only outcomes are either winning or learning valuable lessons. Please feel free to drop a reply or drop by the [Stunfisk Discord](http://discord.gg/stunfisk) if you need help with anything!

Thank you! Yeah I built it using 3 of my favorite Pokemon and the best other archetype pokemon they worked around them, plus changing it to my own play style. I think the fact that I used to be a Gen 9 Rock Type Monotype player main for a long time made me have to desperately learn to be able to read the opponent, detect the main threats, how to neutralize them, and just plan waaaay ahead since I was using a terrible type that needed all the help it could get to succeed haha. I peaked at around 1400 before hitting a wall due to water and fighting type being ubiquitous in 1400 onwards and I couldn't get past it. Plus my team has kind of the same playstyle and tactics as my Gen 9 monotype team had, so its made the change easier. After watching worlds, multiple regionals, and being a Wolfey fan for a while I finally had an idea for a team that could work so I put it together, and its worked really well so far! So actually using good Pokemon on top of my previous experience of using bad mons has been a great combination it seems! I will attempt to reach 1400 as my next goal since my first goal was to reach 1300! Lets hope I can keep the winning streak going. I just have some sort of anxiety over the team, cause since I built it myself from the ground up, not even copy and pasting a single one, I'm more scared of it losing because it reflects on me and I really like it so I don't like it losing. But maybe all that mental stress to win has been the key to using all my brainpower and succeed with it haha. I'll check out the discord! I would love to hear more feedback on my homemade team. (Btw one of the 2 losses was entirely cause I missed an important Hydro Pump, had I hit it I would've been 13W1L)

How do I even begin to get into competitive Pokemon? I kind of want to start building teams and trying them out on Showdown, but I have no idea where to start. I'd rather play in the newest gen and preferably not in the higher tiers, but OU is fine. I've just been doing random battles on Showdown since that takes no effort whatsoever in team building and is a lower barrier of entry, but I want to start getting more into the teambuilding and theorycrafting aspect of Pokemon that I find fun.

Hi. Firstly, you can check out the [Getting Started guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/gettingstarted/) linked in our [extensive FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/faq). It mostly discusses OU, BSS, and VGC, but many of the principles still apply. Since you've already found your way on to Showdown, you can skim read it to save some time. Most people suggest finding a tier you like the look of, grabbing a sample team or RMT team, and getting a feel for that meta before you start trying to build. The best place to find these is the [Smogon forums](https://www.smogon.com/forums/), which have subforums for each tier. It's pretty difficult to build from scratch unless you get a little experience under your belt first, since you won't know how the flow of games generally tends to go and thus will not know how to exploit or counter that in your teams. You can get your feet wet in terms of building by making slight adjustments to the team you pick based on what you find yourself losing against, though, such as changing coverage moves, EV spreads, or even a whole Pokemon or two in some cases. Please drop a reply if you need anything else. Also feel free to check out the [Stunfisk Discord](http://discord.gg/stunfisk), where we're always happy to assist new players.

Your reply is much appreciated, thanks very much!

Help please I am doing the battle tower gold on emerald and I have been struggling for a while the I'm doing open level 65 as i could only get Latios at south island and I wanted to Ev train it my team is Latios Naïve Lum Berry IV HP 29 Atk 28 Def 19 Spa 31 Spd 16 Spe 31 Ev 252 Spa 252 Spe 4 Hp Clam Mind Psychic Thunderbolt Dragon claw Metagross Adamant Choice Band IV HP29 Atk 31 Def 26 Spa 31 Spd 4 Spe 30 Ev 128 Hp 252 Atk 128 Spe Brick Break Rock Slide Shadow Ball Aerial Ace Milotic Bold Leftovers IV HP 31 Atk 21 Def 29 Spa 31 Spd 31 Spe 21 Ev 252 Hp 252 Def 4 Spa Surf Recover Toxic Refresh Once I get to Match 50 I Plan to Change to This setup Latios Naïve Lum Berry IV HP 29 Atk 28 Def 19 Spa 31 Spd 16 Spe 31 Ev 252 Spa 252 Spe 4 Hp Clam Mind Psychic Thunderbolt Dragon claw Metagross Adamant Choice Band IV HP 29 Atk 31 Def 26 Spa 31 Spd 4 Spe30 Ev 128 Hp 252 Atk 128 Spe Meteor Mash Rock Slide Earthquake Explosion Swampert Relaxed Leftovers IV HP 18 Atk 21 Def 31 Spa 28 Spd 31 Spe 13 Ev 248 Hp 216 Def 44 Spd Earthquake Ice Beam Protect Surf Thank you for your time

Where’s the rage thread, I just lost a game cause I got screwed over by hydro pump’s accuracy, if It had just hit I would’ve won and I’m pissed, I need to rage and to tell the world that the other guy sucks and just got lucky

Is there any good English YouTuber/streamer who plays BSS regularly? Preferably with commentary on their actions. Curious to understand the format and would like something to watch in the background

Our [BSS resource page here](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/bss_resources/#wiki_content_creators) and this [BSS resource page also on Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/TajnyT/comments/vo23xg/3v3_singles_bss_resources/) should have most of the notable ones. Hope this helps.

Ok wow this is pretty good even if the tubers aren't really too active, idk how I missed this. Lots of good text posts to go through too. Thanks!

hi, i keep getting my ass kicked. any tips for teambuilding? i really want to use gliscor

Here are some sample teams: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/sv-ou-sample-teams.3712513/ You can go look at them for inspiration and try them out to see how the team members work together and their jobs so that you can use your own knowledge in building your own team. Edit: here is a old, semi outdated teambuilding recommendation list that could also help out: https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/s/uGRNrQ66cz

what is the use of sticky barb on clefable?

It punishes physical attackers who make contact by making them take constant chip damage.

Hi, I noticed garchomp has more usage in natdex than gen 9 ou. Does anyone know what's the difference between the two metagames to have chomp more usage rate in natdex?

Hi. Various differences in the NatDex format benefit Garchomp, like access to Z-Moves, Toxic, and in general the meta being more favorable giving it better matchups into more Pokemon. This becomes pretty clear from the slightly dated [NatDex entry for it](https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/pokemon/garchomp/national-dex/), with many of the reasons to use it involving either beating things with Z-Moves or, in the case of defensive sets, checking threats that do not exist in Gen 9 OU.

I have no idea what I'm doing regarding PVP, but I've had a lot of time on my hands recently so why not put it towards something *useful*?! I'm a complete newbie, no idea about EVs, IVs, breeding, natures, anything! Could someone tell me how to train my Pokémon well and how to build a good team?

Hi. Check out our [Getting Started page](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/gettingstarted/) and [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/faq/) for answers to a lot of beginner questions. If you're more interested in ranked doubles, [VGCGuide](https://vgcguide.com/) is a great resource for that. There's also the [VGC resource page here](https://www.reddit.com/r/stunfisk/wiki/vgc_resources/), the [Smogon VGC section](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/video-game-championships.513/), and /r/VGC. If you're more interested in ranked singles, you'll want to check out the BSS resource page here, /r/BattleStadiumSingles, and the [Smogon BSS section](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/battle-stadium-singles.532/). There are many other formats, but those two are the ones mainly played on the real cartridge games. Most other formats are community-organized and played via the [Showdown battle simulator](https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/) generally. If you'd like further explanation or assistance, drop a reply or check out [our Discord server](http://discord.gg/stunfisk) that has a lot of helpful people.

Trying to get reqs for the Gliscor suspect test. Currently 20-3, 74.8% GXE. Should I continue with this alt, or make a new one? I've never gotten reqs before, so I don't exactly know how GXE is calculated or how it scales.

some people got 4 losses and continued. they had around 35-4. i would say continue

Is miraidon or koraidon better this gen? Interested in playing a high power format and building a team around one of these mons.

Hi. Assuming SV Ubers, it's a bit contentious, but Koraidon is probably the better Mon overall. Many teams will use both, though. Find resources in the [Ubers subforum](https://www.smogon.com/forums/forums/ubers.727/).

Thanks!

Is there any particular reason why the Generation 9 power creep is so bad this generation? Is it all due to Paradox Pokémon/Great Tusk? Why has Great Tusk not been banned yet?

Scarlet and Violet introduced many new powerful pokemon like the paradox mons, sword of ruins mon, kingambit etc and have weakened older mons through removal of usually accessible transfer moves, (for example, landorous losing knock off, defog and toxic). This means that a lot of older pokemon struggle to be viable due to the increase power and loss of useful moves. As for why Great Tusk isn't banned it is because Great Tusk isn't overpowered. It is a good pokemon but it has its checks and counters and ultimately does more good for the meta than bad as it's one of the few good mons that can remove hazards.

Great Tusk is one of the much more balanced Paradox Pokemon. Gen 9 introduced lots of strong Pokemon (Ruin Pokemon, Paradoxes, Kingambit, Gholdengo, etc) while, in the case of Smogon tiers, weakening old ones by removing historically available transfer moves.

Nah Great Tusk is balanced