Worst/Best Formats of Play?

[Darvan Korematsu]

This would be an opinion thread based on formal and official formats, whether VGC type stuff, or Smogon's usual tiers.

So which of those formats do you think are the best and worst tiers, based on your experiences in them.

I love and hate VGC at the same time. On one hand, it's Doubles, which is cool itself, but also anything can be viable on the right team, no matter how hard it is to get right. Although at the same time, you tend to see the same crap over and over again at the highest levels of play.

[FraRPetO]

LC is my least favourite. I don't really have a favourite tier because I don't play competitive as much.

No tiers ftw. (as long as there's no OP pokemon IMO)

[TimTim]

I hate legendaries both in-game(low catch rate is frustrating and my patience was easily worn thin) and competitively speaking, that is why i mostly play NU and PU(one or two legendary is fine like Articuno, not using it anyway), occasionally LC, but then who am i to comment, i am just an amateur of the amateurs.

Edited November 9, 2015 by TimTim

[TheGamedawg]

If I am playing with Smogon people, I prefer to play the lesser tiers. I'm a huge fan of using Pokemon that usually aren't seen as that good and this gives them as chance to shine! Characters such as my Choice Band Trick Furret, Assault Vest Goodra with a really weird moveset, Parashuffle Furfrou, and Life Orb HP Drain-themed Eelektross really get a chance to shine.

[AuthorReborn]

VGC has its merits, but I persoanlly prefer Smogon, since while OU is heaily centralized around Talon, MegaGross, Lando-T/Garchomp, Ferro, and Clefable, the other tiers are fairly balanced and you can see all sorts of mons shine where they wouldn't otherwise. After all, Mega Camerupt can't handle the Water intensive, Scald spamming OU tier, but it can truly shine in RU or on a Trick Room team in UU with Reuniclus. Sure, there are those mons that are "too good not to use" but Smogon has historically been rather good about retiering mons when they need to be moved up or down.

[mde2001]

UU is probably my favourite but I also like NU (don't like RU for some reason). I hate the name of PU because it calls things useless which goes against the whole idea of the tiers in the first place.

[Shanco]

UU has been, and always will be, my favorite tier.

It's like OU with all the polarizing things waded out of the metagame. There's so much freedom to run almost whatever you like, and the viable variety is so much more when compared to other tiers.

It never, ever gets old.

[Chase]

I'm hardly a professional battler, so my picks are actually on decent tiers....well, one of them is anyway.

Worst Formats:

Smogon Overused: My beef with OU isn't the parity, which has made the tier much better than it was last generation with all the ridiculous weather spam - but the centralization around the newest mechanics as well as my genuine dislike of legendary Pokemon in these battles. OverUsed houses MANY Mega-evolved Pokemon, and several legendary Pokemon - that do have a least a head and shoulders' difference over many of the other Pokemon in the tier. There is nothing too terrible about this tier other than it just doesn't redeem itself by harboring many of the Pokemon I like, and if I'm going to enjoy playing a tier, Johto's Elite Four member Karen stated it best.

"Strong Pokemon. Weak Pokemon. That is the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled Trainers try to win with the Pokemon they love best."

That doesn't mean people's favorite Pokemon CAN'T be an OU 'Mon - but the amount of elitism and emphasis on viability really contrasts with what I've always seen Pokemon as. Legitimate friends in a different universe that all have their merits. Not tools to achieve victory.

Ubers and Anything Goes: One of my crowning achievements was low-laddering on Pokemon Online with my first RU team- in Ubers. Druddigon was able to do a lot of damage against the tier's prodominately Dragon type denizons, and if I was running Glare or Stealth Rock on it, it was able to outfox Aegislash. That being said, there lies the rub with Ubers. It isn't extremely balanced type-wise and it's a fairly exclusive club, meaning the tier will feel extremely repetitive.

Little Cup: Like OU and Ubers - I actually enjoy these battles. A lot (there isn't a tier that I -don't- think is fun at all- I just like Pokemon a lot.) but Little Cup has a variety of issues that keep it from being a great tier. For one, forcing these Pokemon to be level 5 means that stats are hardly varied. Secondly, the tier seems to be all about being in the highest speed tier if you want to succeed, meaning it's very difficult to run other playstyles other than Hyper Offense. Thirdly, it's a pretty top-heavy tier and you will see the most viable Pokemon often. The redeeming quality for this tier is that it's different, followed by all of the denizens of said tier being incredibly cute.

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Best Formats:

PU: The worst. Of the worst. Is one of the best. Mostly because when people allow themselves to dig around the tier, and put something together in which you have no confidence in only for it to work insanely well causes a lot of enjoyment. PU is the tier that really reaches for the hidden gems at the bottom of the barrel, and it's allowed me to continue to appreciate ALL Pokemon even after dipping my toes in the Competitive pool. The tier has some obvious favorites, such as electric types Raichu and Zebstrika, but it feels diverse and the mystery behind most of the Pokemon in front of you is what makes it a thrilling tier.

NU, RU, UU: These tiers are all tied because the driving factor behind them all is that the Pokemon I like to use are found in these tiers. Period. End of Story.

Mixed: (Two OU, Two UU, RU, NU - ideally, but optionally.) Smogon does a very good job of keeping things organized, but there are times where it just doesn't satisfy with variety. And you know what they say about variety. It's the spice of life.

[Shadow Tack]

LC is my least favourite.

Kill the nonbeliever.

*ahem* I love LC tbh but that's my unconditional love of making everybody hate be since i spam horrifyingly dumb tactics, including building a team entirely based on belly drum spam. Least favorite is probably UU due to disliking being on the receiving end of stall.

[Synchronoise]

My God, I hate Anything Goes

Generally, when you're at ~1500 on the ladder, you run into competent teams. AG throws that out the window, I faced someone who had a full OU team in the 1500s. It's such a huge grind to get to people who are decent at the game. I faced teams with six Klefkis that all they do is try to swagplay you, people who don't understand the type charts, and people who cuss you out for using legendaries on a tier that's called Anything Goes.

This sounds elitist as fuck

Don't even get me started on Numel

[Leafy]

I love PU/NU. I love using unique Pokemon in battles.

[Cobalt996]

I generally like using... well, what I like; most of that is considered UU material, and it doesn't work at all works out okay, in the end. Double or Triples over Singles, as well, since I dislike massive stalling.

I like the triples environment the most (OU/UU) due to the amount of choices you get, and how quick it is to see whether or no yur ideas work out (what with the reduced amout of stalling).

AG, on the other hand... to many idiots/rngspams/yougettheidea/etc. Never again. I'd rather fight Corey in reborn with only Whismsicott; at least that's quick and painless.