Glen-i

Snorlax get, first attempt. Repeat Balls remain the best ball. I'm gonna take a break now and get some dinner, @RedShell

Welp, guess you can't! Which is weird. Don't see why that'd be a bad thing to just battle someone Gonna have to call it off, @RedShell. Sorry. I'm up for some raiding though.

OK, let's make it singles. I'll leave it up to you whether you want to allow Dynamax. Link code is 3729.

Well, it was a good thing I didn't post any then. Geez, what do you guys not get about this!?

Nothing says "I've cheated" quite like a team full of shiny Pokémon. Oh, and one of them was Dracozolt, which you can't breed. Battered her with just my Charizard. So far, I'm 5 matches in and I've won 3. I wonder if you can still have a battle against a friend with the team that's currently in the competition? Would anyone like to test that with me?

Today's prize is 5 copies of the Link's Awakening: Limited Edition pack. Which is a pretty sweet prize.

Well, good thing it's not a frog then, isn't it?

Well, seeing as you're asking...

Another Shenanigans video. This one is mostly N-E stuff from the past few weeks, but there's a few from the community centre there. If there's a timer at the top right, it's a N-E fight. As far as I recall, @S.C.G, @RedShell, @Ugh first aid, @BowserBasher and me are the people playing in this one. Also, gonna mention @drahkon, not because he's in this video, but the end is mostly there to teach him that THERE'S A DAMN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO! STOP BEING DUMB!

Yeah, I got some proper gold from some of those matches. I also got some proper flops from me as well. I always forget that Wolf goes up past the edge with his Side B. Glad I got a Smash taunt in there.

Wow, as far as Random matches go, you can't get more perfect than Ryu Vs Ken on the Street Fighter stage! What are the chances!?

Room's open now.

Right, yeah. Almost forgot. 9:15. Stock this week. I might have to spectate a bit though.

I'm not a fan of it myself. For a 3 on 3 fight, Dynamax is too overpowering, but can't be helped, I suppose. It's there and you're better off using it.

OK so it's changed a bit since Sun/Moon. You register your team when you first start an online competition fight. And then you can't edit it for the rest of the competition. You'll wanna put the team you're planning on using in a Battle Box. Don't worry, @RedShell, you choose your team before you start your first fight. @Ike you don't need to have your team ready by midnight, but you need to register for entry, so do that now.

Remember, Smart Steering is mandatory. I'll be watching you.

No, if you need the time, don't let me waste it.

Well, you still get the BP as long as you finish a few matches if you just want that.

Oh, you've not even been checking the team of your opponent? Wow, that's quite impressive. You're playing proper old school. But yeah, trying to figure out what Pokémon would best stand up to your opponent is probably what you should be doing. The great thing about everyone using Smogon as a resource is that's all they likely have studied. Cue you rolling in with your "Cute 'til I die" team and it can throw people off their game, giving you an advantage in the mind game department. Hell, this can even work if you use a popular competitive Pokémon and include a move, EV spread or an item that is unexpected, as my Thunder Punch Speedy Groudon last generation can attest to. The Online Competition is starting tomorrow, so if you haven't registered yet, get on that before midnight. It's a Singles tournament where G-Max is allowed, but legendaries aren't. Double check that your team have the right moves and items, because once you start, you won't be able to edit your team until the competition ends. But before I register for the online competition tonight, I'd like to take my team out for a test fight. So would anyone be up for that this evening? Preferably before 7:30, because I still have Mario Kart and Smash to play tonight.

On the other hand, online Kirby Super Star will be pretty dope. Would be up for playing through that with someone else. I'm also pleased Breath of Fire II came around so quick. I enjoyed the first one and want to revisit this game with its absolutely atrocious translation.

Torterra fans must be pretty peeved that its design was basically cribbed by Snorlax and no-one batted an eyelid.

No. Also, the only level you can force people into on an online match would be Level 50. You can't set a custom level. And with how EXP Share works, it'd be difficult to keep your whole team on the same level. As for the link @Hero-of-Time posted above, it's worth noting Smogon holds battles in its own isolated bubble. Some stuff there is banned that you'd be allowed to use in the actual game. I find I get more success if I use their suggestions as a base and tweak stuff there a little to throw people off. Smogon is great for battling similar Smogon players, but they can be blindsided with a little experimentation. We saw that with the previous World Championships when a Togedemaru was key to clinching a championship win. In other words, don't take it as absolute gospel.

Fair point, but I wanted to avoid having people mess around with the Switch clock, just in case it does get patched. Yeah, Shuckle's speed is atrocious. It's a waste to try and solve that. When it comes to defensive Pokémon, HP is almost always the best stat to max out. Defense and Sp. Def may block one category of attack, but HP is universal. More HP means you live longer. Of course, that leaves you with the conundrum of where to put the rest. As for Pikachu, it is very tempting to boost that Sp. Atk to even more monstrous levels, but Pikachu is so frail that if something outspeeds it, it's gonna do nothing. So Timid (More Speed, less Attack) is the nature I would use. You need to get those Volt Crashes (Or Nuzzle if you can't G-Max) in there and spread some Paralysis around. Hopefully, paralysis kicks in and gets you a free turn. If not, well, you can still use that pressure to send in a Pokémon that might need to set up with a stat-boosting move.

I said I would, and now I have. Thanks to @S.C.G and @RedShell for getting it up and doing the graphic work, respectively. How to get into Competitive Pokémon I tried to make this as simple as possible for people who haven't trained a competitive Pokémon team before to understand. But of course, some people will have further questions, so I want to make a thread dedicated to this side of Pokémon. This will be a place for anyone to ask other members about anything that comes to mind, whether that be what stats a certain Pokémon might want to focus on or what moves people recommend. Or if you want to take your competitive team out for a test spin against an N-E player, feel free to ask. I'd be happy to give feedback. Anyway, while I'm at it, the first Online Competition for Sword and Shield is starting this week. Registration for that ends Midnight, this Thursday with the competition taking place over this weekend, all participants get 50 BP. A bit short notice at this point, but I've got my team ready for that. I also plan on doing more articles in the future about other aspects of competitive battling, such as weather teams and notable items. But that's not for now.