I am looking for help in building a solid team that doesn't necessarily involve using legendaries but can compete with and or defeat teams that do use legendaries. i am very green when it comes to building teams and I would really like some input when it comes to building a strong competitive team and then i guess to understand more about the game. I have a link to my first competitive battle that I got VERY lucky with the team I had I don't really want to be in that position again. (Here is the replay from showdown:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-74623856)
Anything you could help me with would be GREATLY APPRECIATED! (I am located in Washington so GMT -8)
First suggestion would be to not limit yourself in terms of teambuilding, I see a lot of newcomers who impose the no legendaries restriction for personal reasons and there's really no room for that if we're talking strictly competitive Pokemon, a game which you play to win, and a game which you build teams to maximize those chances of winning. That's not to say you can't succeed without using legendaries, but frankly legendary status is an awful measure of viability, just look at Articuno and Regigigas. As for other suggestions for teambuilding, try to keep it simple when you're first starting out, don't do any crazy shit until you have a good feel for the metagame and have a reasonable amount of experience. It's best to establish the basics first before trying some ridiculous set out, this means familiarizing yourself with using common threats like Aegislash or Mega Lucario before you delve into the more obscure parts of the metagame.
As for other things, keep it simple when you battle, don't try to overpredict when it's not necessary, know the risks and rewards of each move you make when you predict. Another thing I see with new battlers is the concept of a dedicated lead, which is a pretty overrated concept nowadays, and this started in the beginning of BW with team preview. Some teams might need one depending on how they play (hyper offense is a common example of this), but others really don't need one. They're predictable and can be easily exploited by your opponent if he has half a brain and knows what he's doing. Team preview is there for a reason; it's for seeing what your opponent is most likely to lead with, what type of team he's bringing, and what he's most weak to. Those are factors you have to consider when picking a lead. A lot of the strategy devising comes before the game.
What brought you to Smogon initially?
Why did you decide to rate teams?
Was rating the first thing you did on Smogon?
Why is Krokorok your favorite Pokemon?
Cheers!
I decided to troll Doug's CAP Server on Shoddy, a lad named Elevator Music (formerly known as Alphabet_Soup) challenged me to a battle, I had no idea what CAP was at the time. I was up like 4-1 on EM until he whipped out Syclant and I was like wtf is this shit? I managed to barely survive on the skin of my teeth 1-0 and then I decided to check out the project for myself by joining Smogon.
I decided to rate teams after I lost interest in CAP, by then I had established a small group of friends here which also happened to include tab and Bloo. I wanted to involve myself elsewhere in the site so they kinda jumpstarted my teamrating escapades.
Nope, the first thing I did on Smogon was CAP, then I involved myself in Battling 101. Tutor was the first badge I got, then I dabbled in the Smog writing CAP articles, then I went to RMT.
Krokorok dgaf, he has his arms crossed and he basically has sunglasses without sunglasses. He's Ground / Dark like my boy Colossoil and has an ability called Moxie cause he got character. Also Krookodile has a dick snout so yeah Krokorok's the best -.-
Why does redew punctuate :O and X.X?
Advice for team rating?
How do you manage to think of raps? Like is there some thought process or does it just come randomly?
Just try to identify the most common threats first, then look for more obscure threats. This means looking for Aegislash and Mega Luke weaks before trying to find a weakness like Restalk Curse Snorlax in OU as a last Pokemon or some shit. Threats aren't limited to Pokemon sets, but also playstyles such as stall or offense. Explain how threats are actually threats, try to theorymon some actual scenarios in which said threat would destroy a team. For example, many people would try to pass CB Scizor off as a response to Terrakion in BW OU, but in reality they're still Terrakion weak because they have no means of switching into Terrakion, period. And Scizor can't do jackshit to Terrakion because it resists Pursuit so it can switch out and just hit and run. Then apply these hypothetical situations when suggesting threats. Does your suggestion actually help what you've pointed out as a weakness, and would you realistically use this on your own team?
When I rap I need to get into a zone, usually this zone is in the middle of the night when I got stuff on my mind, I can't really say that there's a thought process. I just think of a subject and go with it. It's nice that the English language has a lot of room for improv and simplified language, that makes it easier to think of rhymes.
I'm going to report my thread here because you might be able to help me!
This is my current team and I'm trying to fill my last spot. What does my team need and where am I lacking?
Uhhh there's a lot to talk about here, just skimming over the sets and everything I'd probably advise taking out Slash on Excadrill because that has no competitive merit anywhere on anything, run Shadow Claw over that instead. Tell you what, just hit me up on #mentor on IRC and we can talk about the team there because I don't want to write essays!