Smogon University

Added • Updated 10 months ago

Added by Rad Dudesman • Updated 10 months ago by Adam

Category: Site Status: Submission Year: 2004 Origin: Region:

Type:

Tags: pokemon, smogon, smogon university, competitive gaming, gaming, competitive pokemon, competitive battling,

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Part of a series on Pokémon VGC / Competitive Pokémon. [View Related Entries]

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Jul 9, 2019 & A #101 "Unfortunate" doesn't begin to describe my series, this game rewards blind luck and nothing else, I am beyond convinced at this point. After getting completely tooled by scheduling with my opponent changing times on me last minute and refusing to provide confirmation prior to the day of the match as to play times, losing this way somehow felt even worse than I had thought possible. My preparation was superior, my play was superior, and I lost, so I don't see a reason to continue engaging in an activity where what is within my control is overwhelmingly outweighed by what is not. I am done with competitive Pokemon, and you won't get a fond farewell. This community is infected to its roots with a degenerative disease that grows stronger over time but stops short of killing its host. Tournaments used to have a competitive spirit at their heart, this has been transplanted and replaced with an artificial organ that feeds on vitriol and mockery from insecure little boys that heckle by the sidelines and tear each other to shreds over scraps of attention. The environment we fostered has trapped us all like this in a vicious cycle, and escaping it requires acceptance of the harshest reality we all scramble to explain away, that none of the countless straining efforts we put ourselves through here will ever amount to one single shining glimmer of significance. I would make this the end, but World Cup is still ongoing, and I would never leave so many great friends out to dry, so l'll suffer through a few more games for them. One last thing before I leave you all to react with disdain, ridicule, and self-righteous fervor, before you do everything in your power to minimize my words and thoughts, box them up and shove them to some cobwebbed corner of your memory, and hope they disappear forever as a stain on your finite time ground to dust. From this moment on, nothing you say matters to me. The foulest insults you hurl with intent to wound will calmly settle at the earth before my feet, and the venom you spit will bring all the pain of a warm summer breeze. You are less than anything you can conceive, while I carry on, brimming with joy distilled from detachment.

This here is what the pros are packing I'd replace that with Rotom-W No hazards setter? "The crux of this set... Unviable in OU Some people have fun by winning THREAD CLOSED Go back to your tier still using 252/252/4 spreads It's gimmicky at best Guaranteed OHKO a fter hazards Generally outclassed

NO THANKS, T'M ALL SET... HEY HEY, SMOGON-TAN! WANT TO USE ANY OF THESE MEMES NEXT TIME YOU PLAY IN YOUR TOURNAMENT THING?

MEGA I ALTARİA TERRAKİOM MANOSWiNE NEGA TERRARİON MAN OSWİNE Scizor used Bullet Punch

Smogon University Following @SmogonU Landorus-l suspect test announced. Check out the details in the attached link! #smogon #tiering #suspectest ow.ly/N3F8M RETWEETS FAVORITES 60 29 12:03 PM - 17 May 2015

About • History • Clauses • Tiers •

About

Smogon University, commonly shortened to Smogon, is a website whose content encompasses competitive Pokémon battling. It offers guides on battling strategies for people of different Pokémon knowledge backgrounds. The website was founded by 'chaos' (one of the developers of NetBattle, the most popular battling simulator back then) and is a considerably well-known website, visited by competitive Pokémon battling enthusiasts.

The Smogon motto is "Pokémon on the Internet: Let's make it happen" and their mascot is the Pokémon Koffing, the name Smogon itself being the German name for this Pokémon.^[1]

Since its founding in late 2004, the site has been a subject of much debate and mockery among the Pokemon fandom.

History

Though officially established on December 18th, 2004, many of Smogon's battlers have been part of the online competitive Pokemon scene since 1999, originating from sites such as GameFAQs, Azure Heights, RPGamer, Pojo, and The PokeMasters. Top battlers from these websites held a number of tournaments, hosted on the original "Pokémon Battle Simulator," a web based sim written by Blizzard for the RBY Pokémon games. Other battle simulators were made, more strategies were developed, and a close knit community began to form around the game. In order to give this community a unified prescence and definitive home, Smogon was founded.^[2]

Clauses

In order to balance the game, many restrictions are placed on teams. These clauses vary between tiers, but below are the universal ones.^[3]

Endless Battle Clause: Any moveset on any Pokémon that is capable of intentionally causing an endless battle is banned from competitive play.

Baton Pass Clause: Only one Pokémon per team may know the move Baton Pass.

Evasion Clause: The moves Double Team and Minimize are not permitted in play.

Moody Clause: Pokémon with the ability Moody are not permitted.

OHKO Clause: A Pokémon may not have the moves Fissure, Guillotine, Horn Drill, or Sheer Cold in its moveset.

Sleep Clause: Only one Pokémon may be put to sleep on the opposing team at a time, if not induced by a move such as Rest.

Tiers

Smogon's metagame uses a usage-based tier system, in which Pokemon are divided into tiers based on how often they are used. Generally, Pokemon in higher tiers are more powerful and useful than ones in lower tiers, though this is not always the case.

Suspect Testing

If a Pokemon is deemed too powerful for a tier by its playerbase, the Pokemon may be suspect tested. This is accomplished by creating a suspect test ladder on the simulator, and setting a certain COIL rating that players must achieve in order to vote. The Pokemon's fate is then decided by the players who qualified to vote.