Pokémon Global Station Competitive Rules

Well if you like Pokémon battling, you should know there are many ways to battle. Such as single, double, and the newly introduced triple. Along with these ways to battle there are many rules you may follow. If your new to battling, then we can help introduce you to this new environment!

What To Expect In Pokémon Competitive Play

The competitive Pokémon environment is drastically different from what most new players are used to. Unlike in the Gameboy and DS games, where you are used to battling cpus, you play against real human opponents across the world, or just across the street. Outsmarting a handheld machine is one thing, but outsmarting a real person is something else entirely. As such, there are a few key things to expect in competitive battling.

The first thing you need to know is that people will play to win. People are always looking for ways to tear down the opponent. Although it was enough to get by in the cartridge games, using Pokémon because they are cool or your favorites is the fastest way to lose. The best way to win is to develop a team that is based upon strategy. A team that involves every type of move, if possible, and can counter your weaknesses. Your opponents will be using whatever Pokémon they feel give them the best chance of winning, and in order to be competitive you should do the same to your extent.

One of the most surprising aspects to new players is the idea of switching. No longer will an opponent leave in a Pokémon until it faints; they can-and will-take advantage of the ability to bring in a new Pokémon with a better match-up, I suggest you plan ahead as your opponent will. Also, do not be surprised if your opponent predicts your switch to hit your incoming Pokémon with a super effective attack, as most players will take advantage of obvious plays in order to gain some sort of advantage in the battle. Switching isn't hard to predict, but it can be hard enough.

Pokémon comes as an unpleasant surprise to many new players. Between critical hits, chance effects such as burn and flinch, and attacks with less than perfect accuracy, the potential for lucky wins and losses is everywhere, there are many odds and ends to a battle, but it is up to the player to be able to override there opponents strategy. At the end of the day, new players should realize that, while winning is important, any individual win is near meaningless until you are on top of you game. But winning a Pokémon battle isn't everything...have fun in battling, enjoy it cause if you don't, this may cause problems among you and other players due to your dull enthusiasm. Just have fun with it!

Pokémon Competitive Clauses

In competitive Pokémon, there are several standard rules used in every battle that players must/can follow. These rules are called clauses, and they serve to stop some over-powerful strategies, reduce stress, and overall just make the game more enjoyable to players. If you are playing on a simulator, such as Pokémon Showdown, these rules will be enforced automatically making it easy to concentrate on the battle; in Wi-Fi play, which is the most popular, activating any one of these clauses will usually result in disqualification/loss of the potential win of the battle.

Common Clauses:

Evasion Clause
Moves that boost evasion (i.e. Double Team and Minimize) are not allowed.

Freeze Clause
Two or more Pokémon on a team cannot be frozen at the same time.

Sleep Clause
Two or more Pokémon on a team cannot be asleep at the same time. Self-induce sleep via Rest does not activate Sleep Clause.

OHKO Clause
One-Hit KO moves are not allowed.

Species Clause
Two or more of the same Pokémon may not be used on the same team.

Self KO Clause
If both players have only one Pokémon left, moves which KO both the user and the opponent are not allowed (e.g. Explosion, Destiny Bond). If recoil damage would cause a tie, Self KO Clause does not activate, and the player who last attacked is the winner.

Item Clause
All Pokémon on a team must hold different items. This is not a standard clause in competitive play, but it is used in Nintendo tournaments.

You can choose to follow these, but it isn't always necessary. If you choose to battle with some or none of the following clauses, that is perfectly fine, just make sure your opponent accepts your conditions.

Tiers

The tiers serve a dual purpose. The first is to promote balanced game-play and the second is to create an environment where weaker Pokemon can be used. A Pokemon may only be used in a tier equal or above its situated tier. The following tiers listed are provided by Smogon.

[Below the tier names are links to the list of Pokémon, just click the name of a tier to be linked to the list.]

Uber
Ubers are Pokémon that are considered too powerful for the OU meta-game. The Uber tier is not meant to be a balanced tier, and therefore isn't the main meta-game. Every Pokémon, ability, and item is allowed in this tier.

OU
Over Used is the main meta-game and used for most competitive battles and tournaments. It is the balanced tier that bans as few Pokémon as possible. However, placement in OU is based on usage rather than power, because power is difficult to gauge objectively. A Pokémon is OU if it shows up in 1 out of every 20 teams in the standard meta-game.

BL
Borderline is a non-competitive tier that has a function similar to that of Ubers. It is to include Pokémon that aren't used sufficiently to be considered OU, but are too powerful to be used in UU.

UU
Under Used is a lower competitive meta-game than OU and is generally composed of Pokémon that aren't powerful enough to compete in OU. It is also based on usage.

NU
Never Used is the lowest tier in the system and denoted Pokémon that are extremely weak. It is based on usage and doesn't exist in RBY or GSC, due to there not being enough Pokémon.


Common Mistakes

Prediction is one of the keys to a successful game, but it should not be heavily relied upon. No one can predict with even close to perfect accuracy, and even a single missed prediction often means that one of your Pokémon will be KOed. That is not to say that you should never take risks, but it is important to weigh the rewards and the potential consequences of each decision that you make.

Gimmicks, or novelty Pokémon or sets, are common among newer players. They can be fun for comical purposes, but will rarely serve any significant purpose in a competitive meta-game. Once you get to more advanced levels of play you can start creating custom Pokemon sets, but until then, the best way to get started is to use the common, tried and true sets until you get down the basics.

Although it may be difficult to comprehend at first, it is important to remember that directly countering every threat in the game is impossible. Even if the Black/White meta-game was not filled with more powerful sweepers than in any previous generation, the meta-game is constantly changing, due to updates in rules, Pokémon, and new games issued, and players will quickly find ways to abuse common trends. For this reason, there are in fact very few Pokémon that can always be directly countered at all! But fear not; Pokémon is more than just countering, and with experience you will learn that it is possible to play around any kind of threat with a well built team, through planning, prediction, and custom sets.

What to do now?

At this point, you are probably feeling pretty confident in the direction you are headed - you have a rough idea of how everything works and you can now begin to settle into the Pokémon Competitive World. It will be hard at first, but with some practice, you'll make it.


Now that you know the basics, you should begin to train, and try your best in every battle. If you think your ready, try challenging our Official Pokémon Global Station Pokémon League.

(If you don't wish to play by these rules, you may free battle.)

Thanks for reading and good luck!







("The following article read is based on Smogon's rules. We PGS give Smogon full credit for this article!*")