The Magazine Q&A Thread

[TAY]

In each issue, the Smogon Magazine will be publishing some of the questions asked in this thread, along with in-depth responses. These should not be simple questions that can be answered in one or two sentences; they should be complex and though provoking questions that require at least a single paragraph to be answered and these are not "fact finding" questions that we can answer with a google search either.

Rules

• Only one question per person.
• Do not ask a question that has already been asked.
• If you wish to change your question then that is fine, but do not create a new post. Simply edit your old one.
• Do not respond to anyone else's question. Even if you think a question is too simple, leave it to the mods to decide.

So feel free to pose your complex questions here!

EDIT: Anyone who obviously has not read the OP will be infracted
​

 

[Xia]

How does battling pokemon competitively compare to playing it in-game?

 

[Objection]

There are several items that can be put on a sweeper to boost their capabilities: choice band/specs, choice scarf, life orb and expert belt are the most notable. What determines the best item to put on a pokemon meant to sweep?

 

[Lord Blood]

PHazing. There are many responses as to exactly what PHazing is. Some say it's forcing a Pokemon out with Roar, losing all stat boosts. Some say it's preventing a Pokemon from racking up bonuses with Taunt, while others say that it's just a move that decreases the stat boosts with Haze. What exactly is PHazing to you? Is it just Roaring, Taunting or using Haze? Or is it something more in-depth? Like preventing your opponent from ever setting up on you? Or rather out smarting and out predicting them? How do you prevent PHazing?

 

[Dogfish44]

Which type forms the best monotype team in the OU enviroment?

 

[YTP]

What pokemon is considered to be "Anti-Metagame" in OU?

 

[MetaNite]

How has the metagame changed with the introduction of Latias (and by the time the magazine rolls around, possibly Latios)?

 

[Fuzznip]

What does every team need to have to be successful?

 

[TPM]

What justifies the needs of a wall on any team in OU? Why can't I just put 6 sweepers together and do good?

 

[Solstice]

During the transition from RSE to DP, what was the biggest major change in the metagame?

 

[cpt.aizen]

How can a person become better at predicting the opponents moves?

 

[Elevator Music]

Eh if I had to pick one it'd be something along the lines of, "Why is the suspect test important to do, and what are we doing right/wrong with it as participants and as policy makers", but that's got it's obvious flaws. Perhaps it is too intentionally biased towards the viewpoint of whoever is writing the article, aka we'd have a much different article if someone like Chrisisme wrote it as opposed to someone like Jumpman because they have very different views about it. Maybe this is good, maybe it isn't, I don't know. I still think it'd be important to tell people exactly why we are doing what we are doing though and maybe this is a good place to touch base on it...

PS: I really like this one. That's not against the rules to say right?

How has the release of Platinum affected the standard metagame, how does it play differently from standard D/P?

 

[lenihanman]

what are the most effective and innovative ways for new people to become productive members of the community ?

 

[reachzero]

"What are the advantages of using a stall team, and how would I go about building one?"

Most new players seem to have a strong bias against stall, and prefer easier to use offensive teams. Stall is one of the most misunderstood aspects of competitive battling, so I would like to see more written publicly about it.

 

[animenagai]

I'm gonna asking a tougher question based off one of our discussions here at smogon.

"How does adopting the use of double switches change how you would build a team? How much do you think you should change your team building to fit your play style?'

 

[Erazor]

Swords Dance versus Dragon Dance Rayquaza: What are the advantages of using one over the other in today's Uber Metagame?

 

[wooooood]

In the generation IV metagame, does the old adage "a best offense is a good defense" still hold true, or are stall teams on the way out?

 

[Veedrock]

"How can one overcome stall?"

I've heard the expression "a good stall team cannot be beat." No doubt that most higher leaderboard spots are primarily held by stallers, but surely not everyone has to resort to stall to go far. The quick and obnoxious answer is "use Infernape," but who the hell are they kidding? Infernape isn't enough to get through stall single handedly, nor does he make a significant impact against [good] stall. So (again) how can non-stall players to get past stall?

 

[Staraptor Call]

How can you stop your opponent's lead and also set up something useful? What leads do best in the current OU "lead metagame?"

 

[Shigen]

How do you create synergy in your teams? Do you have pairs of pokemon the work well together, such as GyaraVire, CeleTran, or JiraMence? Do you put together teams whose main attacks cover all types? Or do you set up for one strong sweeper in the lategame?

 

[Thorns]

In the current UU metagame, with a distinct lack of high powered sweepers such as Staraptor and Raikou, do stall teams fare well? Could they be the 'best' team type in UU?

 

[TVboyCanti]

How has Rotom's "evolution" affected the OU metagame? What pokemon have become less viable because of Rotom's presence, and what are the best ways to stop/kill Rotom without one of your teammates being crippled, factoring in it's most popular movesets.

 

[Unownasofyet]

From a chess player's perspective:

How important are personal playing styles in Pokemon? Should it be reflected by your choices in teams, movesets and EVs?

 

[General Tso]

Since the advent of WiFi, Smogon's tiers have been misunderstood in every conceivable manner by outsiders to the competitive community. Do you believe some sort of cross-forum education program would be worthwhile to clear up misconceptions, and if so, how would you go about implementing it?

Related to this. Why are the tiers named as they are? Why is it about the "overused" pokemon not the "high-stats" pokemon. Why do people confuse overused pokemon and the "strongest" pokemon? What is the purpose of a BL when you can just put them in UU?

 

[GB_Packers_Ftw]

How did Smogon become one of the most popular, organized, and well designed competative Pokemon sites on the web? How was it started and how do you keep the drive for Pokemon alive within the community?