Ask a Question Thread - READ FIRST POST

[20LigerZero16]

They will give you a code in your GL account in a couple weeks. The serebii home page and twitter typically make a post when they do as well

Thanks for the information.

 

[tixyma]

Hello I am looking for a kangourex vent of 2004-2005 I would like if possible legit this kangaskan is nivau 5 and to like attack yawn

 

[REVENULF]

I have a couple of questions concerning different pokemon from two seperate teams I'm using, but I'll be focusing on one at a time so not to get too convoluted. Right off the bat I need some help with my Scizor. Pretty standard for the most part.
Adamant nature
Technician
? Item
252 attack, ??
Swords dance
Bullet punch
Bug bite
???

So yeah thats the problem. I'm not sure what other stat to put evs into and what other move and item to give it. Some good options are roost, superpower, and pursuit, who knows maybe Arial ace would be good too. The issues are the moves and evs play a role with each other. Roost plays off of 252 hp and helps with surviving, 252 speed works with super power and basic offense. I'm not really sure which is a better role for Scizor. I don't play much stalls or status effects or stuff like that, I'm a pure offense fighter so all my pokemon take on the sweeper role, but thats not to say Scizor couldn't fill a partial role of walling with hp evs and roost compared to super power or pursuit. Also we have the item, all of the good options are already taken. Salamence has the mega stone, nidoking has life ord, and I avoid choice items completely as I can't stand switching out, I feel like I'm wasting a turn doing it, even when at a disadvantage which is why I try for counter moves but scizor has none for fire types, anyway I also like switching moves and don't want to be stuck to one single one, so choice band is also out. I've thought about again maxing his hp, giving it leftovers so it can survive better, but then would roost be overkill or should I go with a third attack? For a reference point my team consists of nido, salamence, gallade, chandelure, and greninja.

 

[MetalSonic]

Hello I am looking for a kangourex vent of 2004-2005 I would like if possible legit this kangaskan is nivau 5 and to like attack yawn

can u rephrase that

I have a couple of questions concerning different pokemon from two seperate teams I'm using, but I'll be focusing on one at a time so not to get too convoluted. Right off the bat I need some help with my Scizor. Pretty standard for the most part.
Adamant nature
Technician
? Item
252 attack, ??
Swords dance
Bullet punch
Bug bite
???

So yeah thats the problem. I'm not sure what other stat to put evs into and what other move and item to give it. Some good options are roost, superpower, and pursuit, who knows maybe Arial ace would be good too. The issues are the moves and evs play a role with each other. Roost plays off of 252 hp and helps with surviving, 252 speed works with super power and basic offense. I'm not really sure which is a better role for Scizor. I don't play much stalls or status effects or stuff like that, I'm a pure offense fighter so all my pokemon take on the sweeper role, but thats not to say Scizor couldn't fill a partial role of walling with hp evs and roost compared to super power or pursuit. Also we have the item, all of the good options are already taken. Salamence has the mega stone, nidoking has life ord, and I avoid choice items completely as I can't stand switching out, I feel like I'm wasting a turn doing it, even when at a disadvantage which is why I try for counter moves but scizor has none for fire types, anyway I also like switching moves and don't want to be stuck to one single one, so choice band is also out. I've thought about again maxing his hp, giving it leftovers so it can survive better, but then would roost be overkill or should I go with a third attack? For a reference point my team consists of nido, salamence, gallade, chandelure, and greninja.

That looks like an all out attackin Scizor, so max atk and spe would be your best bet for a truly offensive Scizor. However, if you do want it to be bulkier, you can run Roost on it and switch Bug Bite to Knock Off to!

http://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/pokemon/scizor/
This is a pretty good reference!

 

[Ghost94]

I have a couple of questions concerning different pokemon from two seperate teams I'm using, but I'll be focusing on one at a time so not to get too convoluted. Right off the bat I need some help with my Scizor. Pretty standard for the most part.
Adamant nature
Technician
? Item
252 attack, ??
Swords dance
Bullet punch
Bug bite
???

So yeah thats the problem. I'm not sure what other stat to put evs into and what other move and item to give it. Some good options are roost, superpower, and pursuit, who knows maybe Arial ace would be good too. The issues are the moves and evs play a role with each other. Roost plays off of 252 hp and helps with surviving, 252 speed works with super power and basic offense. I'm not really sure which is a better role for Scizor. I don't play much stalls or status effects or stuff like that, I'm a pure offense fighter so all my pokemon take on the sweeper role, but thats not to say Scizor couldn't fill a partial role of walling with hp evs and roost compared to super power or pursuit. Also we have the item, all of the good options are already taken. Salamence has the mega stone, nidoking has life ord, and I avoid choice items completely as I can't stand switching out, I feel like I'm wasting a turn doing it, even when at a disadvantage which is why I try for counter moves but scizor has none for fire types, anyway I also like switching moves and don't want to be stuck to one single one, so choice band is also out. I've thought about again maxing his hp, giving it leftovers so it can survive better, but then would roost be overkill or should I go with a third attack? For a reference point my team consists of nido, salamence, gallade, chandelure, and greninja.

Start by dropping the bug bite as Bug is among the worst offensive types in the game and replace it with Airiel Ace which will get a boost from Technician. Speed EV's are really a waste on this set, if you don't plan on giving him iron head and agility that is. Invest in his bulk with HP EV's in addition to Attack. And roost can round out the moveset as a means of healing after boosting with swords dance.

So the setup would look as such:

Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician
252 Attack
252 HP
Adamant
Bullet Punch
Airiel Ace
Swords Dance
Roost

 

[shadowF]

I was wondering, how is Drampa in the competitive scene?

I am thinking of using one and was wondering if it is used a lot in the competitive scene or if it is a strong choice to put in a team?

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

Start by dropping the bug bite as Bug is among the worst offensive types in the game and replace it with Airiel Ace which will get a boost from Technician. Speed EV's are really a waste on this set, if you don't plan on giving him iron head and agility that is. Invest in his bulk with HP EV's in addition to Attack. And roost can round out the moveset as a means of healing after boosting with swords dance.

So the setup would look as such:

Scizor @ Life Orb
Technician
252 Attack
252 HP
Adamant
Bullet Punch
Airiel Ace
Swords Dance
Roost

Actually, Scizor gains STAB from Bug-type moves whereas Aerial Ace does not, allowing Scizor Bug Bite to hit harder than Aerial Ace could unless it's a Fighting-type. Here are some examples from the damage calculator:

252+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Tangrowth: 206-246 (51.1 - 61%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Technician Scizor Aerial Ace vs. 248 HP / 212+ Def Tangrowth: 138-164 (34.2 - 40.6%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Weavile: 458-542 (162.9 - 192.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ Atk Technician Scizor Aerial Ace vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Weavile: 153-181 (54.4 - 64.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Technician Scizor Bug Bite vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 162-192 (47.3 - 56.1%) -- 24.6% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ Atk Technician Scizor Aerial Ace vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 108-128 (31.5 - 37.4%) -- 0% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

I was wondering, how is Drampa in the competitive scene?

I am thinking of using one and was wondering if it is used a lot in the competitive scene or if it is a strong choice to put in a team?

Drampa is quite rare in VGC17 and Doubles. I don't think Drampa is a particularly outstanding choice for a team either.

 

[FlorgesPower2]

Is Hidden Power Fighting even useful for anything anymore? I know offensive Cofagrigus still kind of needs it, but is that it?

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

HP Fighting was primarily used on Ghost types that lacked Focus Blast, most notably Chandelure and Mismagius.

Now that Steel no longer resist Ghost, Hidden Power got a damage nerf, and Dark types have been buffed so much so that's it probably not smart to use anything that isn't Focus Miss, it's not a very good HP.

It still has niche roles in the bottom of bottom tiers for things like Meowstic (F) who lack good fighting type moves.

 

[shadowF]

So my current planned team for USUM is Tyranitar,Zoroark, Incineroar, Dusk form Lycanroc, Drampa and Alolan Maroark. I was wondering if that is a good/balanced team or do you guys think that I should make some changes?

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

So my current planned team for USUM is Tyranitar,Zoroark, Incineroar, Dusk form Lycanroc, Drampa and Alolan Maroark. I was wondering if that is a good/balanced team or do you guys think that I should make some changes?

I assume this is competitive? In that case, this is not a team that's going to do very well. Tyranitar is good, Alolan Marowak is probably not getting any worse next game so that's fine, it's everyone else that I would not bring in a competitive fight.

Lycanroc is Lycanroc, a new forme is not going to do it any favors (at least from what we know of it).

Incineroar is not going to get any decent until they release intimidate, and even then there's Landorus, Krookodile, Salamence ect who are just better at that. Zoroark still suffers to much from team preview and mediocre stats to be used seriously.

And Drampa (while certainly better than his Sun counterpart Turtonator) shares a lot of similar issues he does along with just significantly better options to use all of which have better typings.

So as replacement: Bisharp > Zoroark. You don't need to double down on fire when it came to Incineroar, but I'm not entirely sure what sort of synergy you're looking for (not sure if this is just hyper offense). Maybe switch it for a tank like Toxapex?

Excadrill/Aerodactyl> Lycanroc. Both have incredible speed (Excadrill under Sand Rush of course) and Mega Aerodactyl has the same ability so you aren't missing out on much.

And for Drampa. Garchomp, Dragonite, Latios, Kommo-O with his new Z-move are all just better overall Dragon choices (and just a few examples).

 

[FlorgesPower2]

What are the most common/viable Hidden Power types to the least?

Like a tier list if you will.

 

[EKZ1505]

What are the most common/viable Hidden Power types to the least?

Like a tier list if you will.

It can depend on the format, but in general I would say (from best to worst):

Ice (especially when it can form a pseudo bolt-beam combo for Pokemon w/o access to Ice Beam)
Fire (very important for tough threats like Scizor and Ferrothorn)

Ground and Grass in some order.

Electric, Rock, Flying, Water, and Fighting have had niche uses (not sure Flying and Fighting are relevant anymore, and water was mainly for Primal Groudon in VGC 2016, so they could drop a tier)

I don't know if I've ever seen Bug, Psychic, Ghost, Dark, Steel, or Poison used in battle, but they might be usable in a league-type format where you want coverage for a specific threat your opponent has that gives you trouble (like bringing HP Poison to surprise a Tapu Bulu or something specific like that)

Dragon is useless

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

Keldeo used to run Ghost for the Lati's at one point.

Pretty sure that's not the case anymore though.

 

[MetalSonic]

Runnin HP Steel on Honchkrow in mid gen 6 RU sure was fun! Never seen Dragon been used though.

 

[Mr. Reloaded]

The only Pokémon that could have theoretically ran Dragon was Greninja... Pre ORAS.

But you're weren't giving up HP Fire for a nonsense gimmick any who.

 

[dementeddurian]

I have a question. What happens if Metagross uses Magnet Rise on Psychic Terrain? Would it be allowed to use Bullet Punch?

 

[EKZ1505]

I have a question. What happens if Metagross uses Magnet Rise on Psychic Terrain? Would it be allowed to use Bullet Punch?

It wouldn't make a difference, only the target matters. Your Metagross, however, could be vulnerable to priority moves if you use Magnet Rise in Psychic Terrain I believe.

 

[Vanwoo]

New competitive player

Hello guys! I would like to get into the competitive part of the game... Should I focus on the new USUM or just play SM?
What do you think?

Thanks!!;230;

 

[MetalSonic]

Hello guys! I would like to get into the competitive part of the game... Should I focus on the new USUM or just play SM?
What do you think?

Thanks!!;230;

The USUM meta will be upon us soon and many new move tutors will definitely shake up the game in regards to competitive. Getting familiar with the roles each individual Pokemon plays now would be nice, so yeah, you should go ahead and read up on whatever meta it is you're interested in right now!