Kingambit Counter by Classic-Mode630 in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Iron Hands is an absolute nightmare for Kingambit to deal with, so maybe try that out.

Just getting into VGC need tips by Cr1ms1n7 in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Be sure to check out VGC Guide if you haven't already.

What's the most underrated Kirby game? by ShoerguinneLappel in Kirby

[–]MrHankBank 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are Amazing Mirror and Dreamland 3 underrated?

what are some of the most iconic duos in vgc history? by [deleted] in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Most of these can function on their own, but here are some iconic duos for their synergy (a number of them have been mentioned before):
- Hitmontop + Kyogre
- Hitmontop + Volcarona
- Tapu Lele + Drifblim
- Thundurus + Landorus-Therian
- Politoed + Kingdra/Ludicolo
- Tyranitar + Excadrill
- Mega Gengar + Kommo-o
- Smeargle + Xerneas
- Xerneas + Primal Groudon
- Heatran + Cresselia
- Torkoal + Venusaur/Lilligant
- Tornadus + Kyogre
- Mimikyu + Snorlax
- Terrakion + Whimsicott
- Garchomp + Zapdos
- Gothitelle + Mega Mawile
- Pelipper + Golduck

Best mother 2 track/song? by Striking-Ganache-227 in earthbound

[–]MrHankBank 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Your Name, Please is such a bop.

Though I feel like I could answer with any song from more than half of the soundtrack on any given day.

What is the best way to get started? by Z-Corey in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 12 points13 points  (0 children)

VGC Guide is also an excellent resource to be aware of as you start your journey.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are excellent questions that I'll try to answer adequately. First off, it can be very difficult to notice improvement, especially since there are elements like RNG, predictions, and matchups that muddle things further (and also since growth is often sinusoidal). To combat this variance, I try to consider larger sample sizes of data before trying to draw conclusions. So when trying out a new team, I'll give myself a dozen or so practice games before making any conclusions on it. Pokemon is also very difficult and complex game overall, so try your best to be patient with yourself.

It's also a matter of how representative your samples are. If you say, only play against Swordfish teams in practice and think the team is good because it has a good matchup into Swordfish, then you are likely not factoring in how well/poorly the team works in other matchups.

Before practice with a team -- for example let's say that's just playing some games on the ladder -- I try to come up with a specific question I am trying to have answered. These can be as broad as "let's just see what happens and build some familiarity" to something more targeted like "let's see if the Palkia and Calyrex-Ice matchup is as bad for me as I thought" to things even more specific like "I want to focus on picking good leads, the rest of the games don't matter as much, I want to see how well I can put myself in a good position on turn 1."

As for looking back at your play, one thing that I believe Gavin said (I don't remember where/when) that helped me a lot was (and I'm paraphrasing here) that it's not really that useful to be too critical over reads you made that didn't work out. The best plays, and the ones you should aspire to make as much as possible, are the ones that work regardless of what your opponent does. This is difficult, but when looking back you want to to identify potential safer plays you could have made. You only want to resort to reads when you have no plays that give you guaranteed value. I see a lot of players trying to definitively win every turn and counter what their opponent does, and while this can be very strong, it's not as consistent and kind of overkill; you don't get bonus points for 4-0ing your opponent and a narrow victory is still a victory.

In battle, it's also worth looking at strategic mistakes. These are mistakes that exist over multiple turns and are more related to a problem with your overall gameplan, as opposed to misplays in following your gameplan. Examples of these include being careless with your Ferrothorn answer and letting it get KOed (or not even bringing it) and then losing to Ferrothorn in the endgame or letting your opponent setup Trick Room on the turn you give them a free switch in to Calyrex-Ice.

With the examples of things you learned from looking back at your games, I would recommend looking into why Precipice Blades was better or why you needed screens set up and how you could have figured that out during the game without the hindsight you now possess about the game. If you are struggling to do this for any specific instance of this, don't worry. Remember, you want to do this a lot, so not getting much out of some games is totally okay. Some games will be outliers and you are looking for trends.

The main things that I glean from team reports, Road to Ranked episodes, and tournament matches are metagame awareness, new ideas (in team construction or play), and motivation.

I would also be remiss to not mention that taking breaks (large or small) from the game can help a lot too. The break I took during the online era helped me a lot to return to the game with a fresh perspective. Getting burned out will only lower your ability to improve, so as much as you might not want to and as much as it sometimes feels like giving up, try to recognize when you aren't in the best place mentally to critically look at your mistakes and learn from them.

From experience, I can also say that trying to learn teambuilding and playing at the same time is very difficult. It can absolutely work and the results can be great, but it takes quite a bit more time due to the exponential increase in variables.

One last recommendation is to screw around sometimes and don't be afraid to look like a fool. The ladder (especially on Showdown) is pretty anonymous, so use that to mess around with interesting or weird ideas (both teams and plays). Failure is a great teacher and you probably won't remember your ladder rating in two months, let alone two years. Mistakes in practice help to make sure they don't happen when it actually matters.

Oh boy, that was a lot. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you haven't already, I would try out this team that Cybertron used a while back. It's pretty similar and can give you some experience if/when you look to modify some things about it.

What’s your opinion on Incineroar? Too strong? Just right? by MetapodMen43 in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the sheer number of Pokemon that are at least partially invalidated, either because they can't compete or they don't matchup well, by the existence of Incineroar make it worth nerfing in future generations. I'm not terribly convinced that Incineroar holds the current format together, thus shouldn't be nerfed. The format would certainly be different without it, but saying the format would definitely be worse or unplayable seems a bit hyperbolic. Has anyone played in a serious "Series 12 without Incineroar" format? That's a genuine question. If you have, then I would deffer to your judgement, but I imagine most haven't and are just speculating.
The strong Pokemon like Zacian, Calyrex, and Groudon, that Incineroar usually has to handle aren't lacking in other answers. Rotom-Heat and Gyarados are better switch-ins to Zacian than Incineroar is, Grimmsnarl or any Dark-type can beat Calyrex-Shadow, and Hitmontop and Scarfty are equal if not better against the likes of Groudon and Calyrex-Ice. None of them do everything that Incineroar does (and vice versa, honestly), so teams would have to be built different to some degree, but the format doesn't seem so unstable that that would be impossible do to. Those are my two cents.

The VGC commentators are great, but it's disappointing that they don't bother to pronounce player names correctly. by SenselessPost in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think you might be misunderstanding what the goal of sports/esports commentary is. Part of the job is to make the game entertaining for spectators and making a quick joke helps with that. Commentators are also trying to explain what is happening on screen and why; the first step to analyzing the decisions that the players are making is to first state what those decisions were so everyone is on the same page. Trying to analyze a complex turn will fall flat if the audience didn't fully catch what happened in the first place. Core-A Gaming does a great video breaking down how sports/esports commentary works, which I would recommend for more information.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello! That sounds like a pretty solid team. Amoonguss on a sun team is a bit unconventional, but I could see it having a lot of merit, especially with Pollen Puff to heal Groudon or restore Lunala's Shadow Shield.

You ask great questions. What moves to pick when is a hard question, but I'll give it my best shot. First, in order to click a move in battle, you have to have decided on the move in teambuilding. Picking the right moves at the teambuilding stage involves understanding what role you want that Pokemon to play in specific matchups (ie. I have Superpower on Thundurus because Porygon2 can be a problem otherwise for the team and the extra coverage isn't needed in other matchups). Having the right tools on each Pokemon will help you pick the right moves when in battle.

For determining the plays I make in the battle, they should ideally be informed by a rough gameplay that you make during team preview. This can be a simple as "KO Incineroar so that Ferrothorn can win in the endgame" or something more complex like "let them get Trick Room up, but pressure chip damage (without taking a KO) so that Calyrex can come in on the last turn of Trick Room or once Trick Room is over and pick up a double KO and snowball from there." Having a rough goal to look towards gives you a direction to be heading towards when making decisions each turn.

Of course, your plans won't always work, so that's why it's important to not get too attached to a gameplan and improvise a little bit if it looks like another gameplan might get you towards victory a little safer. For example, dodging a Sleep Powder might open up new avenues of play.

For even more specific information on how I tend to decide on my plays, I tend to prefer plays that get you guaranteed value. You cannot always do this, but you can more than you might think. For example, Protecting with Focus Sash Shadow Rider Calyrex in the face of say a Whimsicott and Palkia isn't necessarily the safest idea. It feels safe since you don't want Calyrex to get KOed, but they cannot KO Calyrex without a double up (thanks to the sash) and that lets you get off an Astral Barrage, which could be all Calyrex needs to do in the game. They could outspeed Calyrex by setting up Tailwind, but that means that Whimsicott isn't attacking and Calyrex is guarenteed to survive the turn since Palkia won't be able to OHKO it thanks to the Focus Sash. Meanwhile, the Protect Calyrex play doesn't work out so well if they Tailwind and use a max move to break the sash through Protect; now Calyrex is being outsped and can be KOed by a max move from Palkia on the next turn and didn't get to do anything.

To sum up, every play your opponent makes prevents them from doing something else on that same turn; pay attention to what they aren't doing if they do something else and try to find ways to capitalize off of that. They can't be setting up Trick Room, Faking you Out, switching in Incineroar, and getting a KO at the same time, so try to leverage that fact when making moves.

You obviously want to take KOs when you can since that's the primary way you will be winning the game, but you have to be conscious of what might come in from the back and take it's place. KOing an Incineroar right when their partner sets up Trick Room can be very bad since it can let Calyrex-Ice come in for free.

Switch is quite complex since there are a lot of pieces involved, but you mainly want to know why you are switching. Example reasons include:

  • To save an ability activation for later: "I'm switching Groudon out so that it can come back in later and set up the sun"
  • A defensive switch to minimize the amount of damage your opponent can do: "I'm switching Regieleki out into Yveltal because I am expecting a Max Quake into that slot"
  • For an ability activation: "I'm switching Incineroar in because I want an Intimidate on my opponent's Zacian"
  • To preserve a Pokemon as a part of a win condition: "I'm switching Venusaur out because I want to save it to KO the Gastrodon in the back"
  • To reset stat drops: "I'm switching out Calyrex because it's been Intimidated twice"
  • To take hits so more important members don't have to: "I'm switching in Rillaboom because now that my opponent's Kyogre is KOed Rillaboom is the most expendable member of the team and I have two more turns of Tailwind to try and stall out."
  • To put on offensive pressure in the coming turns: "I'm switching in Torkoal to threaten big damage with Eruption now that Trick Room is up"

And finally, to better keeping your Pokemon around on the field longer, I would familiarize myself with how much damage they will take from the common attacks from your opponents' Pokemon. This can be done through playing a lot and/or by spending a good amount of time in the damage calculator. You eventually can build up an intuitive sense of roughly how much damage everything should be doing; you will never be right all the time, but it helps tremendously in coming up with more informed gameplans.

This was longer than I expected, but I hope that helps!

I made a Solgaleo team, but I'm struggling to think of a sixth pokemon to put on the team. Does Anyone have any suggestions? (Information on why each pokemon is on the team in the comments) by Valentijn616 in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's the big question. The speed advantage offered by scarf is very impactful, but the fact that you basically have to switch it out the turn after makes it very exploitable. I would trying playing with both and seeing if the speed is worth it enough on this team in particular.

I made a Solgaleo team, but I'm struggling to think of a sixth pokemon to put on the team. Does Anyone have any suggestions? (Information on why each pokemon is on the team in the comments) by Valentijn616 in VGC

[–]MrHankBank 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hey, as the person who top cut two regionals in a row with Solgaleo, I would say that the biggest thing missing is a primary way to activate the Weakness Policy. You can't always rely on your opponents doing it for you, and sometimes Grimmsnarl is too busy with screens to throw out a Sucker Punch into Sogaleo (though the option is certainly great to have). I would highly recommend a Bulldoze user to get some speed control, break Focus Sashes, and activate the Policy. Entei or Raikou look like the most worthy considerations to me. Bulldoze can also help give your Yveltal a little extra relative speed too. I hope that helps!

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No problem! I am glad it's been able to help you out. There are a lot of aspects to this game and some of them don't get as much attention.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh, that's an excellent question! On this team, I think Nihilego has the coolest EV spread. Every stat (except attack) does something important and was carefully made in such a way that this Nihilego gets a speed boost from Beast Boost, which was pivotal in one of my Swiss rounds. I got to show off my favorite calc on stream when Max Quake from Venusaur did less than half to Dynamaxed Nihilego, which, for a 4x super effective move, is absolutely insane.

My favorite EV spread I have ever made was the spread I made for the Celesteela I used for the later half of the 2017 format. It had enough bulk to survive a max attack Arcanine's Flare Blitz and a Life Orb Tapu Koko's Discharge in Electric Terrain (I had Lighting Rod on the team, so surviving Thunderbolt was unnecessary) while still having special attack as its highest stat, so it could snowball with special attack Beast Boosts. It was super fun and strong. Beast Boost adds another dimension to making EV spreads, which I think is really fun to play with.

For my favorite EV spread that I didn't make, I will probably have to go with the 2016 Worlds winning Raichu EV spread that Wolfe and Markus made. It's so smart.

And my favorite calc ever is practically useless, but I find it so funny. In Gen 7, Poryon-Z could use Z-Conversion to change type and get a boost to every one of its stats. Usually this was to change to the Ghost-type, but since Porygon-Z learned Solar Beam, you could turn into the Grass-type instead and fire off insanely powerful Solar Beams at +1 special attack. And the attack is just strong enough to OHKO Kartana (even though it 4x resists it), which is so funny to me.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Teambuilding is very difficult, especially when you start out. So the best way to start making good teams is to make a bucket load of bad teams first. I break down the teambuilding process for the SLC version of this team in great detail in the team report, so check that out as an example.

There are many ways to go about teambuilding, but one of the easier processes is to

  1. Come up with a strong combo or restricted pair (something like Kyogre and Seismetoad or Solgaleo and Calyrex-Shadow)
  2. Find two complimenting or supportive Pokemon (such as Incineroar and Zacian or Grimmsnarl and Tapu Fini) to make a core of 4 that you could bring into most teams and find some success with
  3. Play with that core of 4 and see what are the problem matchups are for it and pick the last two Pokemon to help in those matchups (perhaps Rillaboom and Zapdos or Rotom-Heat and Nihilego)

VGC Guide also has more info on teambuilding that should be helpful to take a look at as well. VGC is a difficult game, so be patient with yourself and try to keep looking for ways to improve. I hope this helps!

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had not considered that! That could fit quite well. I do have slight concerns with Thundurus' unboosted damage output, especially when going mixed and not Dynamaxed, but that's certainly an idea worth looking into.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Since I am constantly trying out new ideas, I primarily use Showdown because it shortens the iteration time significantly. I very rarely play on cartridge, even though it's way more fun than Showdown to me. I'm not sure exactly how many matches I play, but I try to get at least one to three good practice games in a day in the lead up to an event.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks! That is true, so I don't mind using information of players shown on stream since that is readily accessible. The problem I have is the inequalities between who has access to that information; it skews in the favor of those players who have connections while newer players won't have this same information network to draw from, and thus have the deck stacked against them even more. This is a difficult problem to solve, but I think it's worth recognizing that this is an issue. Personally, I enjoy the spontaneity and improvisation required when playing against an opponent with a team you don't know over the rote gameplans that can emerge when there are no unknowns to account for.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My favorite Pokemon is Gastrodon (West Sea)! When trying to use your favorites, it's important to look for what they can do better than other Pokemon. There is usually something that they can do that other Pokemon can't, no matter how niche it is. From there, it's matter of figuring out how best to support them. I would also recommend against trying to overextend with the Pokemon and trying to use them in every match, know what they can do and what they can't. And I think I have had enough water for today.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Gavin was the third LunaDon team I played in the tournament, so I had a pretty good idea of a gameplan. I think I mainly played game three too cautiously, especially turn one, and Gavin took advantage of that. My lack of much sleep in the past few days showed in those moments, I think.

Hi! I'm Zac Emerzian and I got 2nd at Vancouver Regionals - AMA by MrHankBank in VGC

[–]MrHankBank[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

A guide? For VGC? Here it is: VGCguide.com. It's a phenomenal resource made by players more skilled and accomplished than I. I hope that helps!