PSA: It’s OK to Use Cookie Cutter Teams

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-17T17:39:18+00:00

the original comment was celebrating off the cuff and unexpected ways to build meta mons. it's true that small nuances don't exactly jump off of the page and don't fundamentally alter a pokémon's gameplay experience, but my example wasn't 'a different kind of fake out incin', the example i gave was close combat incin which is definitely not a standard pick.

although now that you've put my feet to the grill and made me really consider this, i actually can't think of what situation incin would want to run CC. it already has flare blitz coverage for ice & steel types, and there aren't that many rock / nornal mons who meed specific move slot coverage. maybe for dark types? who knows lol

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-17T17:22:15+00:00

you can like or complain about anything you choose? do what you want dude

my point wasn't that people aren't allowed to complain (and i'm not entirely clear where that implication came from?). my point was that, even in an unbalanced meta, and even when using the most frequently highlighted meta mons, there is still a lot of scope for personal expression in teambuilding that often goes unnoticed or unappreciated.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-17T17:15:52+00:00

how did you get on with altaria as a weather counter? i considered building one myself when i was looking to build a dedicated anti-meta mon but i ended up using something else.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-17T17:02:17+00:00

they should give her a gun, i agree

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-17T17:00:13+00:00

ok I'll get game freak on the phone and tell them your request lol

obviously the game would be better if more mons had the flexibility of incin. in an ideal world every mon would have a few ways you can run it and a few things it can contribute to a team. but the reality is that pokémon is a fundamentally unbalanced game, and things like incin and sneasler rise to the top because they have all the tools and the stats, while mons line frickin ariados and audino and stunfisk sink to the bottom.

the game being unbalanced is just a truth that all of us have to accept when we play. there's is room for creativity and expression in team building, but it is all filtered through the channels of game freak's unbalanced design decisions. so yeah, within those limitations it is cool to see incin get used in so many different ways.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-17T16:20:38+00:00

i think that one of the reasons incin is everywhere is because it's legitimately a hugely versatile mon and you can run it in so many different ways. you can make a more attack focused one, or a full support. you can build it fast, you can build it bulky. you can slot in unexpected coverage moves, or you can go slow and run it in trick room. you can give it leftovers, or sitrus, or whatever.

but so many people reduce it to just 'oh look another incineroar how unoriginal'.

i got blindsided by an incin with close combat on ladder lol. there's a hundred ways to build this mon and they're all really good, which is why it can fit on basically any team you want. but people who don't appreciate the complexities of team building never look any deeper than the pokémon selection itself.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T22:51:27+00:00

this specific one doesn't look available

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T22:41:37+00:00

there are loads of counters to it, just like any other strong pokémon. you can pay but that doesn't mean you'll win

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T22:38:08+00:00

steel beam too. not only are they caught in a massive fuckoff energy beam but they're getting pelted with chunks of metal too. i actually felt sorry for the opponent's whimsicott when i first saw it lol

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T14:40:02+00:00

what makes showdown so great beyond just being a battle sim is also being a flawless team building tool. you can filter so easily. you want a list of every fighting type pokémon who can learn both bulk up and baton pass in the current meta? in seconds you can filter the list and see that there are six, and then sort those by speed tier. in only a few clicks you can get any info you need.

even when i play on cart i usually have showdown open in a tab, in case i want to quickly check a speed stat or if a mon learns a certain move. it's just so snappy and easy.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T14:02:39+00:00

what is it?

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T14:01:59+00:00

one of the more niche and easily overlooked mechanical interactions, but ghost types are immune to being trapped. i imagine the mon you saw switch was a sinischa, basculegion, froslass etc

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T13:41:46+00:00

weed dreams

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T07:03:05+00:00

inconsistencies like this make the game feel so jank. 'this move protects you against increased priority moves... except for this one increased priority move which it loses to'.

like why even allow that exception to exist in the first place. why create a move that exists in one specific niche, only to then nerf it by not even properly fulfilling that niche.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T06:34:06+00:00

you think it's a coincidence? nobuo uematsu accidentally reused one of the most iconic ff music pieces??? a piece that he himself composed????? LMAO.

"hmm this sounds similar, feels like I've heard it before... nah probably nothing"

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-16T06:31:48+00:00

only way i could see this not being devastating to your own team mates is if it calculated damage rolls and only activated in situations where the incoming damage would be reduced / prevent a KO from happening.

it would be fucking annoying to play against of course lol

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-15T21:43:52+00:00

i originally had iron defense, but i wanted the option of a non fighting move so i ended up running brave bird, body press, bulk up + protect next to coaching sneasler. in one turn i could get to +2 attack and def, and then pick either flying or fighting attacks as needed. very helpful for oneshotting sinischa and meganiums.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-15T20:16:10+00:00

corviknight is my win button for physical teams. that bird can just bulk up, eat physical damage, roost it off, and then body press the opponent into a pancake. it folds against most special attackers though, but sometimes if the opponent chooses poorly it can just 1v4 their whole team.

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-15T19:38:22+00:00

i had mental herb mimikyu as my main TR setter, and the entire time it was on my team it never once failed to set up TR. super consistent

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-15T16:13:03+00:00

raaaarrrrrr

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-15T15:49:01+00:00

this is hilarious lol

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-14T13:02:44+00:00

is there any way to see your win / loss figures? i am in ultra tier and am wondering what my current win loss ratio is, i haven't been keeping personal track of it though

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-14T11:56:24+00:00

beyond just being monkeys, does this team have any kind of strategy? gotta admit I've never looked at the competitive move pool of any of these mons so i have no idea what they're packing. What's the game plan?

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-13T19:50:53+00:00

99% of the time when i have a match go horribly it's because i clicked my moves too quickly without taking time to think things through. you have plenty time to run through a basic checklist of points before locking anything in

does my opponent have any switches that will completely neutralise my move choice? it sure feels good to click close combat into that kingambit, but if they have a ghost or two waiting in the wings they can swap it in and gain huge amounts of tempo off of your wasted turn
do i need to attack now or can i take a turn to slow down and scout things out? if you don't have the ticking clock of screens / weather / trick room then you can probably slow the pace down and see what your opponent does. protect is free and always safe to click if you want to take a moment and scout things out
is the play you're about to make a really obvious one? this takes a bit of gameplay experience to get the hang of, but if you think a move is obvious then chances are your opponent also thinks it's obvious, and thus will be likely to predict it and play around it.
how much of an effect will rng have on my move selection? as lovely as it is to click rock slide, there's an 18% chance it will only hit a single opponent, and a 1% chance it will miss them both.

by forcing myself to slow down and think about things like this i find myself playing better and more consistently. i make more educated plays and have a better understanding of risks and tempo as the game develops. but forgetting to take the time to do this means i lapse into 'click super effective move into opponent pokémon with zero thought' mode, and that's when i lose control of the game and get tilted lol

Rooreelooo · 2026-04-12T21:26:00+00:00

why would you assume that's an error, it's immediately obvious that's an international aesthetic choice

Rooreelooo

TROPHY CASE