PLAYS BOIS

Not sucking pt2 ('plays')

So this topic wasn't originally on the list of things to cover regarding VGC. But it's something I've personally noticed and experienced happening not only to myself, but to a lot of other players as well, especially newer ones. I'm of course talking about 'plays' and more importantly, when one is required. Now the term 'play' is pretty subjective so what is written will just be my own opinion. 

Since this is actually really difficult to explain since it encompasses literally everything you need to know in VGC, I'll do it in key points to simplify it as much as I can. Starting with what actually is a play.

Technically speaking a play is whatever you tell your Pokemon to do in each given turn. What is the right play and what is the wrong play differ massively from turn to turn and deciding what the best play is for any given turn can be incredibly hard, even for advanced players. There are a million things to take into account when deciding what the best course of action is during a turn. From risk reward and resource management to simply thinking ahead to the upcoming turns.

Thinking ahead:

This is by far the most important skill to have in competitive Pokemon in my opinion. It sounds so simple in theory to think a turn ahead, but its very often forgotten. Thinking ahead is just what it sounds like, thinking ahead. It's a lot more complicated when you dig deeper however, so simplifying it is hard. 

Picture the scene, Your opponent has a Whimsicott and you have a Kangaskhan. If you use Fake out you can expect to be encored. Just acknowledging this and knowing what is going/could happen next turn is an example of thinking ahead. (A very simple one) Much more complex examples of thinking ahead can involve deciding to leave a certain Pokemon alive instead of knocking it out. An example of this could be leaving a burnt Kangaskhan alive next to a Xerneas, as knocking it out would provide free entry for a Smeargle to use Dark void. This is all incredibly scenario based but hopefully you get the general idea. Before you make your play, always always always consider the following turns before locking something in. Thinking ahead can also involve combo's as mentioned in the previous article as well!

Big boy plays:

I've decided to call these big boy plays for comical reasons but just like thinking ahead, its just what it says on the tin. Big boy plays are plays that grant unbelievable amounts of momentum and leverage that the opponent will struggle to come back from it. On the downside, these plays are incredibly risky and if they backfire you'll find yourself losing rather quickly. It's worth noting that most of these 'big' plays happen in the endgame where one player is losing heavily and needs anything they can get to have a chance to come back. Using your own personal judgement and observing your last ludicrous win con are what you need for this stuff. If you can't see how to win, then how can you expect to win? Now I've made some big boy plays in the past. Using Hp ice on a Kyogre to catch a Landorus was a personal favourite and also the game that clinched me my worlds invite so I'll discuss that. 

Now I didn't use HP ice to show off nor did I click it because 'I'd lost screw it'. There was thought behind it, the thought being; If Landorus comes in here for free I'm going to lose. But if it doesn't and I ignore the Kyogre I'm going to lose anyways. I 100% had to pick up a KO that turn so I went for it. Risk management was tossed aside for one turn and it payed off. Now its not going to work every single time, in fact it'll probably work less than half the time. But if you're likely to lose, you may as well try. 'A cornered opponent is a dangerous one' couldn't be more accurate, picture it as flailing your arms around like a lunatic in a last ditch effort to win. 

What is the best play?

This is something that spectators will often claim to know and it's something that you need to know. Everyone gets it wrong, likely multiple times per game. I like to break it all down into Four seperate categories:

The best play

The good play

The mid-ground play

The bad play

The best play is actually fairly rare, I view it as a turn with no negative repercussions and nothing but gain for one of the players. Think doubling an opposing pokemon as the other protects, or switching in Groudon and using Tailwind at the cost of nothing. What your own best play is per turn is what your opponent is likely to try and stop, and you should do the same. Look at the field, determine what the opp is most likely to try and do, and then punish or disrupt it. 

The good play is similar to the best play since both achieve positive results but one at more cost. Imagine the same scenario with the Groudon and Tailwind, but you lose the tailwinder as a result. It's a good play because of the momentum gained from Tailwind, but you may of lost a valuable resource to do so. Whether this can always be called a good play is scenario based, but a boost of momentum is always good in my books.

The mid-ground play is my favourite. To put it simply, it's what you do when you're not 100% sure on what the opponent is going to do out of multiple options. Ala Crobat Groudon vs Kangaskhan Whimsicott. The opponent has more options than you so choosing which one to act upon can be tough, A play that checks multiple boxes but doesn't gain as much as a great play is much much safer, and can oftentimes be considered the best play in a tough spot. With these plays, its especially important to think ahead.

The bad play is a play that gains you nothing and loses you massive momentum and likely the game. This can be switching in Pokemon recklessly into attacks without thought or just letting important Pokemon die quickly. Example being using Geomancy t1 infront of a Mawile. This is a bad play since you're more than likely going to lose the main form of offence on your team. Simple

In general bad plays are more common than good plays and are much easier to make as a result. A lot of learning what is a good play or not is from experience. An easy way to gain experience for this incase you don't feel like playing, is watching game replays either of yourself or someone else. You can sit peacefully and inspect a replay and call out where the good bad great and mid-ground plays are, and picture what you would do in that scenario. It's surprisingly useful and I did it a bunch before I flew off to worlds. Tried and tested I suppose.

Showing off/being aggro/???

Now this is something I need to tackle. A lot of players will attempt to predict what the opponent is going to do every turn and act hard on it. The issue with this is if the opponent doesn't do what you thought you're in a lot of trouble. You can feasibly know what the opponent is going to do and act 'lightly' on it if you deem necessary. Think the Salamence is going to Tailwind? You don't have to taunt it, you can simply use Tailwind of your own to catch up, or attempt to KO it before it can. Think that Groudon is going to switch into a flying type to dodge your own Groudon? Using Eruption here can net a lot, but what if it stays in and uses a move to Ko you? Risk reward is key in making any play, don't throw it all out the window unless you have nothing else to lose!

I mentioned momentum a bunch in this piece and if you're not exactly sure what that is don't worry about it. It's the planned part 3/100 in this giant encyclopedia of 'knowledge'

PS: I wish I could've included replays for this but it's so so so hard to show. Its better to just get out there and see for yourself.

PSS: Have a sprite for no reason since this is a bit bland and boring.

PSSS: If I missed anything feel free to slap me round the head and tell me what it is. I'll fix it :]

-Matt

Things needed to not suck (pt1)

Part 1 Intro + Combo's

I guess this is going to be my attempt at a 'tutorial' for VGC. It obviously won't be perfect since everyone plays the game differently but hopefully I can cover a lot of universal mindsets that top players have. I'll also wack in a resource bin, almost like a references page for school work so everything is all in one place to start using and abusing. 

If you're reading this I'm assuming you know what VGC is so I'm not gonna write paragraphs about how its 4v4 double battles. I will however go over your 2 main win cons in the format. 

1:This is the most obvious and common way to win, knocking out all the opponents Pokemon.

2: The in game timer running out. Whoever has the higher % of HP for remaining Pokemon will win. Regardless of your personal thoughts on the timer, its a very real threat to you and it should be considered when it starts to run down a bit. 

Timer:

My personal thoughts on the timer are irrelevant in the game and so are yours sadly. It exists and we have to deal with it. When I personally start a game, I'm not even looking at it till it gets to about 7 minutes (which may be a flaw) at which point I'll consider if playing for it is worth it. Most of the time I've done this it backfires so I need to get a bit better at timer management. If your opp has no win con other than the timer, its perfectly in their right to go for it. Its frustrating for sure but its a competitive game. Playing the clock exists in almost all sports that utilise a timer so its hardly exclusive to Pokemon. While 15 minutes is a tad too low (imo) we have to deal with it and utilise it when we can.

KOing stuff:

This is the real meat and potatoes of Pokemon and the way you'll win the majority of your games. How you choose to KO the other team is completely up to you, as long as you get it done you'll win.

You can choose to set up and blow them away, you can Perish song them, you can Paraflinch them out, you can use a Kangaskhan. The possibility's are endless. Obviously you cant just throw out a kricketune and expect to ko mons left and right. (Niche mons are something I'll cover later on though.)

In regards to the actual game there are things to remember.

Some being: Momentum, Combo's, Risk management , Resource management, 'Prediction', Defensive options, Offensive options, Game and field evaluation, Team Preview etc etc.

This is a tonne of stuff to keep in mind and it may be pretty overwhelming at first but that's what I'm here for and I'll simplify it as best I can to make it easier to digest. All of this will eventually come from experience with the game but it's nice to have a Helping Hand to start with.

First part I'll cover Combo's since it's super important and all that.

Wombo Combo's:

This is a thing that's obvious to most players but never really talked about. This might be down to the fact that knowledge of combo's come from experience playing a meta game and a team for an extended period of time. Never the less! A lot of players still aren't 100% on what one is to begin with so I'll show one.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/vgc2016-434072429

Skip forward to turn 2 for this one. Notice how my opponents combo of Fire punch + Volt switch failed to KO my Kangaskhan and as a result my own combo of Grass knot + Return was able to take his Groudon. I was fairly certain Raichu was unable to take out my Kangaskhan and was 100% certain that Grass knot + Return would ko the Groudon. Having this knowledge in my arsenal I was able to 'safely' score a huge knockout early in the game and gain a significant advantage.
That was just one scenario, the beauty of Pokemon is that a combo can be pulled off with almost any combination of Pokemon. A M-Gengar's Sludge Bomb combined with a Kyogre Ice beam will ko most Amoonguss.

Now you don't have to go off and learn banded Kricketune calcs in case it can ko Kang with another Pokemon. Its important to learn all the 'big' Pokemon damage calculation. Or at least have a good damage range estimate in your head. Since that's all combo's are really; damage calcs combined. Learn the big mon calcs on your own team especially. Knowing that a Salamence Double-Edge + Groudon Eruption can KO your Kyogre can be the difference between a win and a loss.

While any Pokemon can pull off a damage combo with another, there are some Pokemon much more commonly involved in them. The main culprit in VGC16 is Salamence-M. Both of its stab attacks will put most common Pokemon in range of another's attack. (likely a Primal) This is due to Salamence's ability to spread damage across the board incredibly quickly and also due to its high speed which makes avoiding damage very tricky. Typically other very fast Pokemon can be good for putting Pokemon in range for other slower partners. Crobat can do this with Super fang and is very common. Weavile's stab attacks are hard to resist and are very strong. Even Greninja can fire off strong Stab attacks and help allies.

Its important to remember that combo's don't just exist on any given turn. A lot of top players will intentionally chip opposing Pokemon's HP for seemingly no reason other than DAMAGE. Its incredibly likely that the player is damaging a Pokemon for later in the game when another Pokemon can come in and clean it up with ease. Try to keep this in mind and don't let your bigger Pokemon get chipped for no reason. An example of this can be seen in the replay I posted above. I could of switched into Groudon on turn 3 or 4 relatively safely. The downside to this is that the Groudon would of taken heavy damage from the Kangaskhan, leaving it in range of a +2 Xerneas and no longer being able to effectively combat it. Thinking ahead is key in VGC and planning an endgame is of utmost importance. The burnt -2 Kangaskhan helplessly smacking away at Groudon might not seem like a big deal, but if it were to drop Groudon to around 60%, a late game Xerneas would easily be able to blow past it. Keep other Pokemon your opponent has in mind when choosing to take damage.

Its also worth noting that especially bulky Pokemon are more prone to being combo'd that others. Notably Kangaskhan Salamence and most restricted Pokemon. Some Pokemon also commonly hold a Focus sash like Gengar. This forces the opponent to combo or dedicate another turn into breaking the sash and koing later on, potentially hindering a game plan. Keep frail Pokemon in mind when launching attacks. You may need to double up on the slot to get the ko. (Sturdy also works like a sash but nothing really gets Sturdy so its very uncommon'

Sorry for the much more boring piece of writing this time but it's hard to be funny/stupid/entertaining when talking about damage calculations. To make up for it have a funny calc from a mon that doesn't need combos and a random sprite.

252 Atk Choice Band Teravolt Zekrom Bolt Strike vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 186-219 (102.7 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Hope this helps?


Edit: I forgot the resource bin! http://pastebin.com/PA0pDjxx

-Matt