Can someone explain/break down competitive battling to me?

I apologize if this seems like a stupid question, but I’m new to competitive battling and I don’t really understand it… at all. So if someone could please break it down for me and help me wrap my head around it all, I would really appreciate it!

Here are the main things I would like some clearing up on:Tiers (I think thats what they’re called, Uber, UU, etc)Teams and what they do/ what they’re good against (Sweepers, Bulk, Choice, etc)WHERE DO I BATTLE !? (Is it online, simulator or actually in game…. IDK!)The rulesWhat types of battles are there? (double, triple, etc)

and that’s actually all I can think of because I don’t know if there’s anything else I need to know about… ugh any help would be lovely.Please don’t be rude or mean to me because I don’t know… Last time I tried asking for help I got snubbed. :(

Pleaselog inorregisterto add a comment.

Think of these as Pokemon ranking systems, with Uber being the highest and NU being the lowest (there is also FU and PU but those aren’t official tiers). The most well-known tiers that 99% of players use come fromSmogon, which regularly updates and changes them if need be. There are five official Smogon tiers: Ubers, OU, UU, RU and NU.

Each Pokemon is given a tier based on its usage in battles. Tiers are separate metagames - for example, if you played an OU battle, you would not be allowed to use Pokemon in Ubers as they are banned from OU. Similarly, if you played NU, any Pokemon ranked in RU, UU, OU or Ubers would not be allowed. OU is the tier that is most similar to wifi battles, as all the broken legendaries and over-centralising Pokemon get banned to Ubers.

A Pokemon changing its tier can happen in two ways - either through a suspect test or usage. A suspect test is when Smogon identifies a Pokemon or a group of Pokemon that are too strong in the tier they are placed in. Once a suspect test is started, players compete in the tier, and once they achieve a certain rank on the ladder, they may vote for a ban or no ban. For example, they are currently suspect testing Draglage, Serperior and Pidgeotite in RU. Dragalge and Serperior recently got powerful Hidden Abilities, and Pidgeot-Mega is undoubtedly one of the best Mega Pokemon in the tier. The suspect test isn’t done yet, but based on discussions in the Smogon forums, at least Dragagle and Serperior look like they will be booted from RU and placed in the tier above, UU. A Pokemon can also move due to usage - if a Pokemon achieves a usage of roughly 3.4% per battle in the tier above it, it will automatically move to that tier. Similarly, if a Pokemon drops below 3.4% in its tier, it will drop down to the tier below.

The Pokemon tiers are as follows:

There are many different styles of teams in the games, but three are particularly dominant in each tier.

As stated before, there are so many others to factor in along with those, including weather-based teams, Trick Room teams, etc. these three are just the most common, and most teams can be called at least one of them.

As with teams, there are many different variations in roles, but most Pokemon can be called either an offensive Pokemon, a defensive Pokemon or a mixture of both (generally called a “tank”). Pokemon that are predominantly offensive can be called attackers or sweepers, who intend to break through teams with power or sweep teams using set-up moves.

Walls and support Pokemon are there to sponge hits and use offensive Pokemon that can’t beat them as a way to set up. Support Pokemon often carry a way to heal HP, set-up moves like Stealth Rock, a way to apply status to a Pokemon (often with Thunder Wave or Toxic which many Pokemon can learn) and usually an offensive move to avoid being Taunt fodder and to be able to deal some damage. Walls are often described as “passive” since they aren’t capable of doing much damage, but the support they provide for teams can win battles. Be careful with how you play with them though, as you may end up allowing your opponent to set up.

Other roles include revenge killers (who use Choice Scarf usually), or pivots who act as glue to take a hit, force a switch and then switch out often with U-Turn or Volt Switch which puts you in control of the game. There are so many other purposes that Pokemon have, but most are either defensive or offensive or a mixture of both as stated before.

You can play competitive games over Wifi, but battle simulators are much more accessible, fast and offer quality opponents that Wifi does not. It also allows you to type out a team rather than spending a month breeding in-game for it. By far the best battle sim out there is Pokemon Showdown, which uses Smogon tiers and rules and is the most pleasing to the eye. Just Google “Pokemon showdown” and you’ll find it.

Competitive games are usually played in singles, however, there has been a separate metagame for doubles for many years, and more recently, Smogon triples became available. Singles are by far the most played format, but if that’s not your style, you can play doubles or triples (the triples community is still young though).

There’s also the VGC format, which is the one that the Pokemon Company use when holding official tournaments. It’s in doubles as well, but it has different rules from the Smogon doubles.

Leave a comment if you have any more questions, I know how confusing my writing is. Also, I had a section for the rules and clauses, but I hit the character limit so yeah (I typed too much wow).