Rudimentary Guide to Battling in OU
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Rudimentary Guide to Battling in OU
Battling in OU or in any tier takes alot of thinking. There is alot more predicting than in Yu-Gi-Oh. But the similarity between the two games is momentum. Having a Pokemon boosted with ATK/SpA and Spe is the same as having an OTK field. So, the two main components in battling falls into:
-Prediction
-Momentum
Let's get started with momentum. Momentum is first of all based on the understanding of your own team. You need to know what its strengths and weaknesses are. From there, you need to dominate on that strength to take the sway battle. For example, you have a Snorlax. Snorlax are one of the slowest Pokemon in existence and his Defense is a bit lackluster. However, his HP, Atk and SpD are his key points. People have taken advantage of such and made the Curselax set, where he uses the attack Curse to boost his ATK and Def, and the only downside would be speed where he didn't anything to work with anyway. But Snorlax needs this golden opportunity to set up, because once he gets atleast 2 curses in, he can sweep. So, he'll need some teammates that will lead this golden opportunity. Pokemon that induce status effects are good. Then the Pokemon that cover Snorlax's weaknesses are good partners, such as Gengar for Fighting types and Lucario for the Steel/Rock types that wall against Snorlax.
This idea applies to any Pokemon that will be your core attacker. Blaziken, Lucario, Excadrill, as long as you know its weaknesses and best times to shine, you'll gain enough momentum to mow down teams.
As for the next thing, prediction, you'll need to understand your opponent and his/her team. This is augmented with the team preview. If you see something like Tyranitar, Politoed or Ninetales, you automatically know that you're facing Sandstorm, Rain or Sun respectively. While you battle, you will also latently learn about their sets and what moves they tend use. Excadrill tends to have an Earthquake, all Scizor use Bullet Punch, etc. So your ability will also depend on how much you've been battling and know your opponent.
For the otherside of momentum and prediction is stall, where there's still momentum and still alot of predicting, only its different. Your momentum in this style is based on how little control your opponent has over the sway of battle. If all of their Pokemon are poisoned or burned, they're going to die eventually so play the waiting game. Use recovery attacks, protect or substitute to waste time. Wallrein's a good example of this, where it can spam substitute and protect and never lose HP. Gliscor's now able to do this as well with Poison Heal. However, you'll still need to know your central method of damage, likewise with the sweepers for offensive teams. Once you have your central method of damage motion, all you need to do is predict to make sure you win. Examples of is to set up Toxic Spikes at 2 layers and to KO the Poison/Steel types on the opposing team so you can have a straight shot to victory. Another way is to set up Spikes and Stealth Rock and then shuffle the opposing team with roar, dragon tail, whirlwind or the like once their rapid Spinner is gone. However, finding out the main stall threat takes experience so I can't stress the need for this enough.
In conclusion, battling in OU's no different than battling anywhere else on the tier ladder. There's only the certain Pokemon you need to look out for, such as Scizor, Dragonite, Salamence, etc. But there's still the central concepts of momentum and prediction. So, know your Pokemon, the ins outs, weaknesses and strengths, and then know your opponent's Pokemon, down to every moveset and attack they can pull.
At the bottom line, get experience. You'll lose a few battles, but it's necessary.
-Prediction
-Momentum
Let's get started with momentum. Momentum is first of all based on the understanding of your own team. You need to know what its strengths and weaknesses are. From there, you need to dominate on that strength to take the sway battle. For example, you have a Snorlax. Snorlax are one of the slowest Pokemon in existence and his Defense is a bit lackluster. However, his HP, Atk and SpD are his key points. People have taken advantage of such and made the Curselax set, where he uses the attack Curse to boost his ATK and Def, and the only downside would be speed where he didn't anything to work with anyway. But Snorlax needs this golden opportunity to set up, because once he gets atleast 2 curses in, he can sweep. So, he'll need some teammates that will lead this golden opportunity. Pokemon that induce status effects are good. Then the Pokemon that cover Snorlax's weaknesses are good partners, such as Gengar for Fighting types and Lucario for the Steel/Rock types that wall against Snorlax.
This idea applies to any Pokemon that will be your core attacker. Blaziken, Lucario, Excadrill, as long as you know its weaknesses and best times to shine, you'll gain enough momentum to mow down teams.
As for the next thing, prediction, you'll need to understand your opponent and his/her team. This is augmented with the team preview. If you see something like Tyranitar, Politoed or Ninetales, you automatically know that you're facing Sandstorm, Rain or Sun respectively. While you battle, you will also latently learn about their sets and what moves they tend use. Excadrill tends to have an Earthquake, all Scizor use Bullet Punch, etc. So your ability will also depend on how much you've been battling and know your opponent.
For the otherside of momentum and prediction is stall, where there's still momentum and still alot of predicting, only its different. Your momentum in this style is based on how little control your opponent has over the sway of battle. If all of their Pokemon are poisoned or burned, they're going to die eventually so play the waiting game. Use recovery attacks, protect or substitute to waste time. Wallrein's a good example of this, where it can spam substitute and protect and never lose HP. Gliscor's now able to do this as well with Poison Heal. However, you'll still need to know your central method of damage, likewise with the sweepers for offensive teams. Once you have your central method of damage motion, all you need to do is predict to make sure you win. Examples of is to set up Toxic Spikes at 2 layers and to KO the Poison/Steel types on the opposing team so you can have a straight shot to victory. Another way is to set up Spikes and Stealth Rock and then shuffle the opposing team with roar, dragon tail, whirlwind or the like once their rapid Spinner is gone. However, finding out the main stall threat takes experience so I can't stress the need for this enough.
In conclusion, battling in OU's no different than battling anywhere else on the tier ladder. There's only the certain Pokemon you need to look out for, such as Scizor, Dragonite, Salamence, etc. But there's still the central concepts of momentum and prediction. So, know your Pokemon, the ins outs, weaknesses and strengths, and then know your opponent's Pokemon, down to every moveset and attack they can pull.
At the bottom line, get experience. You'll lose a few battles, but it's necessary.
Xia Byusa- Dragon Rider
- Posts : 50
Cash : 70
Join date : 2013-03-04
Age : 32
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