Kybyrian
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This will document various competitive terms, their meanings, and some basic information regarding competitive Pokemon. Suggestions are very welcome.
First off, the biggest thing you will hear about are EVs. What are EVs?
EV stands for Effort Value. You get an Effort Value (between 1-3 for one or more stats) every time you battle a Pokemon in your adventure. Effort Values stack up to 255 on one stat, and the stat increases by 1 point for every 4 effort values. You can find a list of Pokemon and the EVs they yield on defeat here. If you were to battle a Charizard, you would get 3 Special Attack EVs. If you battled 2 Charizards, you would accumulate 6 total EVs. This would boost your Special Attack stat by a total of 1.
EVs max out at 255 per stat, and never go above. 255 is not divisible by 4, so most people train to 252 EVs in a stat. You may not get more than 510 total EVs, meaning you can have 255 in two different stats or 252 in two stats and 4 in another, boosting it by one and the others to the fullest.
A Pokemon never yields more than 3 EVs. They may yield more than 1 type of EV, but it will never accumulate to more than 3 total. EVs are very important in battling in the competitive world, as they boost stats significantly. You can start EV training by finding a place where the Pokemon that has the EVs you want resides and battling it continuously, avoiding fights with other Pokemon. UT means that a Pokemon is Untrained, meaning it has no EVs.
EVs will slowly make your stats boost. If you get a lot of EVs in a short amount of time, your stats will not immediately boost. The stat boost will show over time, upping your stat by 5-8 points every level up (this is not true of Gen V games. In BW the EVs go into effect immediately after battle, making it possible to EV train a Pokemon at level 100). Eventually you will gain your max number of stats based on your nature and EV.
Some items, such as the Power Weight and Power Bracer, halve your speed stat but give an extra four EVs to the stat they correspond to, meaning your stat is boosted by a full point. You can find a list of these here.
Pokerus is a disease that affects some Pokemon, but it is actually very helpful. It doubles the amount of EVs you receive in a battling, making EV training twice as fast. This even affects the EVs you receive from the power items. Pokerus is contagious and can spread to other Pokemon in your party.
Pokemon Online
One important thing you might need to be aware of is the program Pokemon Online. This is a program widely used by many competitive battlers. It allows you to assign your IVs, EVs, natures, and everything to every Pokemon known in the game to date. This means that you can easily battle with friends online without a DS and without having to bother with training your Pokemon for hours on end.
Located on the main site of Pokemon Online, linked above, you can find a download button. Click this and set the program up. It's fairly straight forward. You can find tutorials on the site if you need them, but it's definitely basic. Click Teambuilder and choose your Pokemon as well as the settings you wish to associate with them. You can then save and load teams to and from your computer to use at any time. When you go online, there are many servers. Many use the Pokemon Online server, which is at the top of the list with the most people. You can easily search for battles or look on the list to the left to challenge another player. One player typically challenges another for battles between friends. This is how many tournaments are held, as well, because of the convenience of not having to train your Pokemon to Level 100 for everything.
How does Nature affect your stats?
Nature is very important in the realm of competitive battling. Nature defines one stat that is boosted and another that is decreased. For example, the Adamant nature gives a +boost to attack and a -decrease to special attack. Each nature has an opposite, with Adamant's opposite being Modest (+SpAtk -Atk). Five natures, Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky are neutral and do not boost any stat. A list of natures and their effects can be found here.
What is STAB and why should I care?
STAB is an acronym for Same Type Attack Bonus
STAB = damage x 1.5
If your Pokemon would happen to be a fire type and you used flamethrower, the damage caused by STAB could escalate the final damage by 50%. This is very useful because it can leave a much larger dent in a Pokemon than if you used some other move that wasn't super effective. If you've got a choice between a bunch of non-super effective moves, use one that is the same type as your Pokemon. The damage boost is noticeable and can make a big difference in a match.
What are IVs and how do I obtain them?
IVs stand for Individual Values. They are named such because they are random and differ from Pokemon to Pokemon. They are a result of a few different factors, and can be determined by your stats. An IV Calculator can be found here. You can only accurately determine your IVs when your Pokemon are at level 100, which makes sure that all of your EVs are distributed correctly and your stats will not change in the future.
1 IV = 1 stat; if you have 1 IV in Attack, your Atk stat is boosted by 1. IVs max out at 31 and are completely random unless influenced by outside programs or what is called Random Number Generation, which you can find more information on around the web. They are not as important as EVs, but can determine the outcome of a battle.
What are tiers?
Tiers help us recognize which Pokemon are allowed or disallowed in a competitive game. Different players like to use different tiers, and they are usually tournament-wide.
You can find a full list of regularly updated tiers at Smogon (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heargold, & SoulSilver). There is also a list of Black and White tiers that is still being researched and updated.
How can I find the clauses and know which ones to use?
Clauses are set of rules that govern what is allowed and banned in a Pokemon Battle. Different players use different clauses, and they are usually tournament-wide.
Species Clause - You may not have 2 of the same Pokemon.
Item Clause - You may not have more than 1 of the same item. (Variation: No more than 2 of the same item)
Sleep Clause - You may not put more than 1 Pokemon on the opponent's team to sleep at the same time.
Freeze Clause - You may not freeze more than 1 Pokemon on the opponent's team at the same time.
Self-KO Clause - If you use SelfDestruct, Destiny Bond, or Explosion as the final move of the game, your opponent is declared the winner.
What should I look for in a team?
When building a balanced team that you hope will crush your opponents, you want to focus on three main things: attack, defense, and support.
All three of these are very important. I'll go into depth on each of them right now.
Attack - This is self-explanatory. This is utilizing the physical or special moves of a Pokemon to deal as much damage as possible to the other team. There are Pokemon called "sweepers" put into a team that are called such because they are capable of sweeping through parts of entire teams when set up correctly. A Pokemon may become formidable by a stat boosting move such as Swords Dance, or they may have the extreme upperhand in type, speed, and stats.
A wide array of move coverage is suggested for any good sweeper. A move of the same type as your sweeper is always recommended as something to fall back on, and it intimidates your opponent's weakness. One strategy is to send out, say, a Fire-type Pokemon against a Grass-type and then Swords Dance as your opponent switches back, afraid of the damage your Fire-type may cause to their Grass-type. You are then free to utilize the exaggerated attack stat of your Pokemon to wipe through your opponent's replacement, provided you have the right stats, which is where speed comes in handy.
Many sweepers also utilize choice items. These are items choice scarf, choice band, and choice specs. They boost speed, attack, and special attack by x1.5 respectively, adding a lot of power, but lock you into only one move. You may still switch out Pokemon, but you may not attack with another move while that Pokemon is still in battle. This is very helpful to add some extra strength or sweeping speed.
It is important to try to utilize various strategies to set up your sweeper. As already said, switching into something that you are super effective against intimidates the opponent and allows you to set up for a proper sweep. Many people utilize this strategy to their advantage. This is why type coverage is very important. If you are threatened, there is always the chance you can counter successfully if you have the proper stats and type coverage.
Defense - Defense is another big factor in winning a battle. Defending Pokemon are often classified as two types - walls and tanks. Tanks are Pokemon that are specialized in not only defense but also attacking. This may be a Pokemon like Togekiss, which has an extremely large special defense and special attack stat, making it a formidable opponent, especially if set up correctly. A Togekiss may be set up in the following manner, allowing for a proper tank sweep.
This set is properly utilized by switching into a baton pass or a Pokemon that Togekiss is strong against. Baton pass is very important because effects can be passed from one Pokemon to another, allowing for sweepers and tanks/walls to be set up with ease. You may send out a Vaporeon and use Acid Armor, which doubles the defense stat of your Pokemon. The next turn you may use Baton Pass to switch out to Togekiss whenever your opponent decides to counter with, say, a Leafeon. Togekiss intimidates Leafeon because Leafeon is weak against flying and is also a physical attacker. Togekiss now has an awesome defense stat, making physical attacks very weak against it. Togekiss received the Acid Armor boost that Vaporeon originally had as the result of Baton Pass. Be careful - negative effects are also transferred with Baton Pass!
Togekiss can then set up a nasty plot when the opponent switches, dramatically boosting the special attack of said Togekiss. It's then very possible, with the major defense stats of Togekiss, to completely stall out an opponent with thunder wave and Air Slash, even if your moves are not very effective against the target. Roost can be utilized to restore health when you are in a tight situation, and even makes you temporarily use your flying type, making you less susceptible to Electric-, Rock-, and Ice-type attacks.
A wall is a Pokemon that is specifically designed to take large hits. There are physical, special, and mixed walls. Physical walls focus on blocking physical attacks by using their giant defense stat to counter the attack stat. Special walls block special attacks with their special defense stat. Mixed walls utilize both of these to block both ranges of attacks successfully.
A perfect example is the three Regis: Regirock (physical wall), Regice (special wall), Registeel (mixed wall)
Regirock has a defense stat of 200, making it extremely useful to block physical attacks, but its special defense stat is only 100. Regice switches it up with a 200 SpD and a 100 Def stat. Registeel is in between and has a stat of 150 in both Def and SpD.
Walls typically use moves such as Toxic or Ingrain to wither down the health of their opponent, and sometimes fall back on powerful moves such as explosion whenever their health gets low, or they may recover with a move such as roost or synthesis. It all depends on your style and what you think works better on your team.
Support - Support is often less focused on than the other two parts of a team, but it is just as important when utilized correctly. The two best examples of support Pokemon are those that set up entry hazards and those that heal or reinforce others on your team.
Entry hazards are moves that affect the opponent's Pokemon when they are switched in. Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock are all entry hazards. Stealth Rock is the most common entry hazard, and most leading Pokemon will open with either Taunt to prevent a Stealth Rock, or their own Stealth Rock. This deals damage based on the opponent's type. You can look up the three moves for more information. Both forms of spikes are stackable, but stealth rock is not.
Moves that reinforce your Pokemon are moves such as Baton Pass and Aromatherapy. Baton Pass passes status changes (like Acid Armor from the earlier example) to another Pokemon in order to reinforce it or set it up for a sweep. Aromatherapy is a move that removes all status effects (paralysis, poison, burn, etc.) from the other members of your team.
One specific example of a support Pokemon is Blissey. Blissey is useful for switching in to take large Special Attack hits, which is good for protecting Pokemon weak to them. Aromatherapy can be put on Blissey to help the rest of your team recover if you're up against a defensive team that stalls your health with status effects like burn and poison.
Another example could be on a themed team, such as a Rain Dance team. Rain Dance teams utilize Rain Dance and the effects of rain on other Pokemon to run the show. One common support Pokemon for Rain Dance teams is Uxie. Uxie can be used to put up a new Rain Dance when the old one expires and can even set up moves like Reflect and Light Screen to boost the defenses of your team. Uxie also learns Memento, which lowers both the Atk and SpA of your target by two stages, meaning they do much less power, but this sacrifices Uxie. This paves the way for you to put in your favorite sweeper and set up for a victory.
Suggestions for other topics to cover here are very welcome. I hope that this information helps you.
First off, the biggest thing you will hear about are EVs. What are EVs?
EV stands for Effort Value. You get an Effort Value (between 1-3 for one or more stats) every time you battle a Pokemon in your adventure. Effort Values stack up to 255 on one stat, and the stat increases by 1 point for every 4 effort values. You can find a list of Pokemon and the EVs they yield on defeat here. If you were to battle a Charizard, you would get 3 Special Attack EVs. If you battled 2 Charizards, you would accumulate 6 total EVs. This would boost your Special Attack stat by a total of 1.
EVs max out at 255 per stat, and never go above. 255 is not divisible by 4, so most people train to 252 EVs in a stat. You may not get more than 510 total EVs, meaning you can have 255 in two different stats or 252 in two stats and 4 in another, boosting it by one and the others to the fullest.
A Pokemon never yields more than 3 EVs. They may yield more than 1 type of EV, but it will never accumulate to more than 3 total. EVs are very important in battling in the competitive world, as they boost stats significantly. You can start EV training by finding a place where the Pokemon that has the EVs you want resides and battling it continuously, avoiding fights with other Pokemon. UT means that a Pokemon is Untrained, meaning it has no EVs.
EVs will slowly make your stats boost. If you get a lot of EVs in a short amount of time, your stats will not immediately boost. The stat boost will show over time, upping your stat by 5-8 points every level up (this is not true of Gen V games. In BW the EVs go into effect immediately after battle, making it possible to EV train a Pokemon at level 100). Eventually you will gain your max number of stats based on your nature and EV.
Some items, such as the Power Weight and Power Bracer, halve your speed stat but give an extra four EVs to the stat they correspond to, meaning your stat is boosted by a full point. You can find a list of these here.
Pokerus is a disease that affects some Pokemon, but it is actually very helpful. It doubles the amount of EVs you receive in a battling, making EV training twice as fast. This even affects the EVs you receive from the power items. Pokerus is contagious and can spread to other Pokemon in your party.
Pokemon Online
One important thing you might need to be aware of is the program Pokemon Online. This is a program widely used by many competitive battlers. It allows you to assign your IVs, EVs, natures, and everything to every Pokemon known in the game to date. This means that you can easily battle with friends online without a DS and without having to bother with training your Pokemon for hours on end.
Located on the main site of Pokemon Online, linked above, you can find a download button. Click this and set the program up. It's fairly straight forward. You can find tutorials on the site if you need them, but it's definitely basic. Click Teambuilder and choose your Pokemon as well as the settings you wish to associate with them. You can then save and load teams to and from your computer to use at any time. When you go online, there are many servers. Many use the Pokemon Online server, which is at the top of the list with the most people. You can easily search for battles or look on the list to the left to challenge another player. One player typically challenges another for battles between friends. This is how many tournaments are held, as well, because of the convenience of not having to train your Pokemon to Level 100 for everything.
How does Nature affect your stats?
Nature is very important in the realm of competitive battling. Nature defines one stat that is boosted and another that is decreased. For example, the Adamant nature gives a +boost to attack and a -decrease to special attack. Each nature has an opposite, with Adamant's opposite being Modest (+SpAtk -Atk). Five natures, Hardy, Docile, Serious, Bashful, and Quirky are neutral and do not boost any stat. A list of natures and their effects can be found here.
What is STAB and why should I care?
STAB is an acronym for Same Type Attack Bonus
STAB = damage x 1.5
If your Pokemon would happen to be a fire type and you used flamethrower, the damage caused by STAB could escalate the final damage by 50%. This is very useful because it can leave a much larger dent in a Pokemon than if you used some other move that wasn't super effective. If you've got a choice between a bunch of non-super effective moves, use one that is the same type as your Pokemon. The damage boost is noticeable and can make a big difference in a match.
What are IVs and how do I obtain them?
IVs stand for Individual Values. They are named such because they are random and differ from Pokemon to Pokemon. They are a result of a few different factors, and can be determined by your stats. An IV Calculator can be found here. You can only accurately determine your IVs when your Pokemon are at level 100, which makes sure that all of your EVs are distributed correctly and your stats will not change in the future.
1 IV = 1 stat; if you have 1 IV in Attack, your Atk stat is boosted by 1. IVs max out at 31 and are completely random unless influenced by outside programs or what is called Random Number Generation, which you can find more information on around the web. They are not as important as EVs, but can determine the outcome of a battle.
What are tiers?
Tiers help us recognize which Pokemon are allowed or disallowed in a competitive game. Different players like to use different tiers, and they are usually tournament-wide.
You can find a full list of regularly updated tiers at Smogon (Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, Heargold, & SoulSilver). There is also a list of Black and White tiers that is still being researched and updated.
How can I find the clauses and know which ones to use?
Clauses are set of rules that govern what is allowed and banned in a Pokemon Battle. Different players use different clauses, and they are usually tournament-wide.
Species Clause - You may not have 2 of the same Pokemon.
Item Clause - You may not have more than 1 of the same item. (Variation: No more than 2 of the same item)
Sleep Clause - You may not put more than 1 Pokemon on the opponent's team to sleep at the same time.
Freeze Clause - You may not freeze more than 1 Pokemon on the opponent's team at the same time.
Self-KO Clause - If you use SelfDestruct, Destiny Bond, or Explosion as the final move of the game, your opponent is declared the winner.
What should I look for in a team?
When building a balanced team that you hope will crush your opponents, you want to focus on three main things: attack, defense, and support.
All three of these are very important. I'll go into depth on each of them right now.
Attack - This is self-explanatory. This is utilizing the physical or special moves of a Pokemon to deal as much damage as possible to the other team. There are Pokemon called "sweepers" put into a team that are called such because they are capable of sweeping through parts of entire teams when set up correctly. A Pokemon may become formidable by a stat boosting move such as Swords Dance, or they may have the extreme upperhand in type, speed, and stats.
A wide array of move coverage is suggested for any good sweeper. A move of the same type as your sweeper is always recommended as something to fall back on, and it intimidates your opponent's weakness. One strategy is to send out, say, a Fire-type Pokemon against a Grass-type and then Swords Dance as your opponent switches back, afraid of the damage your Fire-type may cause to their Grass-type. You are then free to utilize the exaggerated attack stat of your Pokemon to wipe through your opponent's replacement, provided you have the right stats, which is where speed comes in handy.
Many sweepers also utilize choice items. These are items choice scarf, choice band, and choice specs. They boost speed, attack, and special attack by x1.5 respectively, adding a lot of power, but lock you into only one move. You may still switch out Pokemon, but you may not attack with another move while that Pokemon is still in battle. This is very helpful to add some extra strength or sweeping speed.
It is important to try to utilize various strategies to set up your sweeper. As already said, switching into something that you are super effective against intimidates the opponent and allows you to set up for a proper sweep. Many people utilize this strategy to their advantage. This is why type coverage is very important. If you are threatened, there is always the chance you can counter successfully if you have the proper stats and type coverage.
Defense - Defense is another big factor in winning a battle. Defending Pokemon are often classified as two types - walls and tanks. Tanks are Pokemon that are specialized in not only defense but also attacking. This may be a Pokemon like Togekiss, which has an extremely large special defense and special attack stat, making it a formidable opponent, especially if set up correctly. A Togekiss may be set up in the following manner, allowing for a proper tank sweep.
Togekiss @ Leftovers
Serene Grace (2x chance of bonus effects occurring)
Calm (+Def -Atk)
- Nasty Plot (boosts special attack 2 stages (x2))
- Air Slash (30% flinch rate, 60% with Serene Grace)
- Thunder Wave (Inflicts paralysis, 10% chance of target being paralyzed and unable to move)
- Roost (heals HP)
Serene Grace (2x chance of bonus effects occurring)
Calm (+Def -Atk)
- Nasty Plot (boosts special attack 2 stages (x2))
- Air Slash (30% flinch rate, 60% with Serene Grace)
- Thunder Wave (Inflicts paralysis, 10% chance of target being paralyzed and unable to move)
- Roost (heals HP)
This set is properly utilized by switching into a baton pass or a Pokemon that Togekiss is strong against. Baton pass is very important because effects can be passed from one Pokemon to another, allowing for sweepers and tanks/walls to be set up with ease. You may send out a Vaporeon and use Acid Armor, which doubles the defense stat of your Pokemon. The next turn you may use Baton Pass to switch out to Togekiss whenever your opponent decides to counter with, say, a Leafeon. Togekiss intimidates Leafeon because Leafeon is weak against flying and is also a physical attacker. Togekiss now has an awesome defense stat, making physical attacks very weak against it. Togekiss received the Acid Armor boost that Vaporeon originally had as the result of Baton Pass. Be careful - negative effects are also transferred with Baton Pass!
Togekiss can then set up a nasty plot when the opponent switches, dramatically boosting the special attack of said Togekiss. It's then very possible, with the major defense stats of Togekiss, to completely stall out an opponent with thunder wave and Air Slash, even if your moves are not very effective against the target. Roost can be utilized to restore health when you are in a tight situation, and even makes you temporarily use your flying type, making you less susceptible to Electric-, Rock-, and Ice-type attacks.
A wall is a Pokemon that is specifically designed to take large hits. There are physical, special, and mixed walls. Physical walls focus on blocking physical attacks by using their giant defense stat to counter the attack stat. Special walls block special attacks with their special defense stat. Mixed walls utilize both of these to block both ranges of attacks successfully.
A perfect example is the three Regis: Regirock (physical wall), Regice (special wall), Registeel (mixed wall)
Regirock has a defense stat of 200, making it extremely useful to block physical attacks, but its special defense stat is only 100. Regice switches it up with a 200 SpD and a 100 Def stat. Registeel is in between and has a stat of 150 in both Def and SpD.
Walls typically use moves such as Toxic or Ingrain to wither down the health of their opponent, and sometimes fall back on powerful moves such as explosion whenever their health gets low, or they may recover with a move such as roost or synthesis. It all depends on your style and what you think works better on your team.
Support - Support is often less focused on than the other two parts of a team, but it is just as important when utilized correctly. The two best examples of support Pokemon are those that set up entry hazards and those that heal or reinforce others on your team.
Entry hazards are moves that affect the opponent's Pokemon when they are switched in. Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Stealth Rock are all entry hazards. Stealth Rock is the most common entry hazard, and most leading Pokemon will open with either Taunt to prevent a Stealth Rock, or their own Stealth Rock. This deals damage based on the opponent's type. You can look up the three moves for more information. Both forms of spikes are stackable, but stealth rock is not.
Moves that reinforce your Pokemon are moves such as Baton Pass and Aromatherapy. Baton Pass passes status changes (like Acid Armor from the earlier example) to another Pokemon in order to reinforce it or set it up for a sweep. Aromatherapy is a move that removes all status effects (paralysis, poison, burn, etc.) from the other members of your team.
One specific example of a support Pokemon is Blissey. Blissey is useful for switching in to take large Special Attack hits, which is good for protecting Pokemon weak to them. Aromatherapy can be put on Blissey to help the rest of your team recover if you're up against a defensive team that stalls your health with status effects like burn and poison.
Another example could be on a themed team, such as a Rain Dance team. Rain Dance teams utilize Rain Dance and the effects of rain on other Pokemon to run the show. One common support Pokemon for Rain Dance teams is Uxie. Uxie can be used to put up a new Rain Dance when the old one expires and can even set up moves like Reflect and Light Screen to boost the defenses of your team. Uxie also learns Memento, which lowers both the Atk and SpA of your target by two stages, meaning they do much less power, but this sacrifices Uxie. This paves the way for you to put in your favorite sweeper and set up for a victory.
Suggestions for other topics to cover here are very welcome. I hope that this information helps you.
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