Interesting Competitive Pokémon Gimmicks

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Come on, man, we've all fumbled. No hard feelings if you just own up to it.

Starting to think this ImprovedSupport stuff is. Not Cool

Hey man, i saw the sponsor and wanted to chime in. I don`t think you`re a bad guy and you need to feed yourself, but better help is not someone you wanna partner with. There`s numerous articles/videos addressing peoples concerns about their practices, and they really arent a company to be trusted. I`d look into the stigma around that company and consider ceasing sponsorship from them. It`s ok to take sponsors and I really do respect the hustle, love the vids, but there are far better companies to partner with.

all the substitutions for the sponsor’s name is killing me rn

Best gimmick is Poketuber + No due diligence

Favourite gimmick strat is going in with no due diligence while being a public figure

My favorite gimmick move is Pay Day, you'd think that it would have absolutely no competitive use but there are a few mons you can put it on to saddle Ditto with a completely useless move before switching out strategically, or even just sacrificing them. Reminds me of how Freez sacrificed his soul for a $1000 pay day in sponsorbux.

Just here to see if my comment is going to get deleted for criticizing you for supporting that shit

Shoutouts to Big yellow teaching me about level 85 chansey

2:15 doo doo

When generation 10 gets released, it will be interesting to see BetterHelp’s impact on the VGC meta. I heard it’s getting a new ability that buffs the Special Attack of all IDF soldiers on switch in. Combined with its signature move stealing the opponents health information and giving it to any social media type teammate, it’s value as a support is through the roof.

My favorite version of FEAR was probably in gen 5, when weather was still permanent and Sturdy just got buffed. You'd get up sandstorm, then use a level 1 Aron with Endeavor and Shell Bell. The idea was that Endeavor would bring the opponent down to 1 HP (because you survived with Sturdy), the damage from that would immediately heal you to full again through Shell Bell, and then the sand chip damage would ideally kill the opponent, allowing you to the same thing over again on the next mon. Obviously plenty of things that could stop it, but when it works and actually kills more than just one mon (contrary to the regular FEAR, which always just kills one mon at best), it's hilarious.

2:14 He said doodoo

Long time fan of your content, do better on who you accept sponsors from, this one is getting a dislike from me.

If y'all don't have an extension that makes dislikes viewable, y'all really should look into getting one, because at the time I'm commenting roughly over two thirds of the likes are matched by dislikes, and for good reason ☠

My favorite gimmick is using shedinja as the most efficient spike sac in the game in gen 3. Basically, by switching in shedinja and having it immediately die, the turn just ends and you can deny a recovery or setup move while getting a completely safe switch into a fast offensive threat one per battle

Dive Cats was also a Gimmick that you didnt go over and was incredibly annoying

Protective Pads, Whirlpool, Psychic Fangs Dracovish only for toxapex be like: Double Kick Terrakion only for UBERs Smeargle lol. If you know, you know.

It's all fun and games until Mega Bannete in National Dex OU is in the vid.

One time I swept my younger brother with full ubers using a full Level 1 team. It was probably the most hilarious battle I ever had (for me at least lmao)

I don't think you should be promoting EnhancedAid.

I can’t believe you’ve done this

The only gimmick I knew from this video was the F.E.A.R. Strategy

An interesting gimmick that was used in Gen 8 was Grudge Dragapult to remove all the PP on Clefable Moonblast so that it would no long be a check for Urshifu-SingleStrike prior to when it was banned

Not cool man.

sometimes is best to accept your mistakes and apologize... -1 sub

Did you miss any gimmicks? Go through Weedletwineedle's showdown videos. Simple beam+trace. Wandering spirit+no guard/huge power. Skill swap. Teatime+Harvest. All the good stuff.

GreaterAid sponor real fishy

video starts 4 effing minutes in

Fun fact, Z-Me First was also seen on Pinsir in Gen 7 PU, using basically the same strategy but combining the effect with Moxie as a late game cleaner

Cmon man better help

Ya missed a bunch of controversy on your spon.

I would like to mention Safety Goggles Zoroark as a gimmick. You can use it on a sand/hail team to trick your opponent into thinking it's a different Pokemon, or you can use it to switch into powder moves to bluff being a Grass Type.

My favorite gimmick Poketuber is WeedleTwineedle with Simple+Trace Gardevoir strats

Ariados has a gimmicky trap passing set in Generation 2. Normally, Roar/Whirlwind can shut down this strategy, which many defensive Pokémon you may want to trap pass have. But with Protect+Disable, no such problem occurs.
Speaking of Ariados, it has a niche set in Gen 4 - specifically, the Uber Tier. It can anti-lead Darkrai really well as Insomnia makes it immune to Dark Void, it threatens to win a direct combat with X-Scissor+Sucker Punch and it can also setup Toxic Spikes. It can also remove TSpikes for your team as well.

i've got a good one. in gen 3, hidden power can be either physical or special because the physical special split hadn't happened yet. but the base move itself is a normal type physical move, which means if your opponent uses hidden power (the most common attack in the tier) then you can use counter on it even if it's a special attack lol

Missed dive cats lol

I watch weedle twineedle so nothing surprises me

My Full Assist team used V-Create as the only callable move. I was walled pretty hard by Heatran (trying to knock it out with moves like Covet and Thief), but it was a lot of fun. I had Ninetales to set up permanent sun (this was in the days of the weather wars), then Victini to supply the V-Create. My Assisters were Infernape (STAB V-Create in sun), Spinda (Contrary means V-Create boosts your stats every time you use it, and Copycat ideally lets you steal more good moves (Draco Meteor, say) to sweep with), Liepard (Choice Band Prankster means that the V-Create has +1 priority) and Purrloin (just as a second Liepard, priority V-Create is that strong).

Mentioning prankester as well as assist in a gimmick video and not talking about dive cats is wild

The betterhelp

Wasnt Copycat + Roar not supposed to function that way on Showdown so they patched it?

My favorite will always be the Magneton match up fish in Gen 3 OU, where you use torment as Skarm hoping they switch to a mag to counter the skarm, then switch to dugtrio and sand attack the magneton down. You then switch into trace gardevoir so the mag can't leave and sub calm mind up. It's disgusting and hilarious (Jimothy Cool has a video on it)

Mummy Slaking with Pursuit is probably the craziest gimmick...

One gimmick I saw and then tried but didn't exactly work all the time was Nightmare Butterfree. Basically a Butterfree equipped with Focus Sash and using Infestation, Sleep Powder, Nightmare and something to deal damage in the fourth slot (Dream Eater, Bug Buzz, Etc).
Just Sleep Powder the opponent, which has +/- 99% accuracy because of Butterfree's Compoundeyes, then trap it with Infestation. Next Nightmare it and watch it just wither away.
Unless, you know, it wakes up during any of this... on which case Focus Sash can at least buy you 1 more turn if they don't switch too much.

Choice band Ferrothorn in gen 5 ou is funny af. No you don't try to eliminate a counter with this, you genuinely use it offensively.
94 attack and 30 speed aren't great, but 150 power gyroball and huge natural bulk almost makes up for that.

I expected better from you man

can someone tell me the like/dislike ratio on this video

One of the things I used to do in VGC during sword and shield was prankster, trick, ring target on Whimsicott along with regieleki. Gives the opponent NO turns to adjust to becoming electric weak on their Lando and other prominent ground types. This along with fake tears and dynamaxing let regieleki absolutely decimate teams with no switchins. Personally, I piloted it to top 100 on the smogon VGC ladder and only struggled after facing the same players multiple times, which is another reason it is a gimmick in the normal 3 v 3 format, but in a ladder format I found it to be absolutely a legitimate strategy.

Betterhelp

This is a rather obscure gimmick, but I came up with an idea with the Natdex OU chat about revive spam (not revive cats). So I use pawmot with a standard revive set, I use rabsca with revive, rest and sleep talk to make it have a 50% chance of calling revive when asleep, which bypasses pp limitations. The rest of the team would be scarf ditto, prankster destiny bond banette, imprison form mew and a random mon. The thought process is that on this team you losing a mon isn't a high price since you can always revive it, so using stuff that guarantees knock outs even through indirect damage is worth it like destiny banette.

F.E.A.R., level 85 Chansey, and HP-Ground Skarmory i already knew about, those last two were covered by Big Yellow!

I thought we eliminated betterhelp like, 3 or 4 years ago, they should not have been allowed to weasel their way back into the sponsorship space like they have

damn.. i hope the money was worth it

Honestly, i'd like to think he's being forced to show a possitive image about WorseDisturb because of a contract.
Money is money, after all. Not everyone is an Eagleland high class who can just buy new devices every time theirs stop working and don't suffer with student debt. Plus, with how WorseDisturb's reputation is going down the drain, their Payday must give WAY more Pokédollars than other sponsors.
That being said, pick your partners better next time, Zai.

I saw most of them on Big Yellow's videos (and I think Reverend?)

I was STUMPED when I fell for that Cofagrigus/Slaking strat 😭

I knew every one except the copycat shell smash eject button tech
that's a lot of layers to fake out into a second setup but the 200 IQ satisfaction must feel great when it works

Actually, the riolu roar gimmick... wasn't supposed to exist. It doesn't work on console, and it was only on showdown because nobody noticed it.

I like Beat-up Justified Lucario.

6:02 That's actually something I like doing with certain Pokemons. One such set I did was special Ultra Necrozma evolving from Dusk Mane form. Typically, physical Ultra Necrozma evolve from Dusk Mane, and special Ultra Necrozma evolve from Dawn Wings, or Dusk Mane doesn't evolve and stays a physical tank. But my Dusk Mane Necrozma was using a special set with Calm Mind, so they switch upon seeing my Necrozma, see Calm Mind, and then they're completely confused on if I'm just trying to boost my weaker defensive side or if I'm going to evolve and be a special powerhouse. At least, even if they don't fall for it, the Dusk Mane form still gives me some nice bulk to set-up, and they never know when I'll switch typing.

My favorite gimmick is Magic Room with a Choice Scarf user with SD/Nasty Plot. You set-up Magic Room, swap in the Set-up sweeper, set-up, and when Magic Room is over, you get +2 atk/spA +1 speed, and you try to sweep. Funnier if it is the same pokemon, but "too much set-up". Basically a worse double dance. But funnier ahahaha

Back when espathra was in uu i used torment bisharp to counter it, i forgot how it did but i think it worked suprisingly well

appreciate you bringing these to the forefront and giving players more ways to think about the game :D

minimize -> baton pass to smergle with moody ability and the moveset of spore, substitute, accupressure, and baton pass -> setup with accupressures until you have enough boosts -> baton pass to krookadile with power trip and sweep.

2:24 :(

My personal favorite gimmick strategy is Arcanine + Wonder Guard + Burn Out. Basically makes him (almost) invincible

i knew all but one

The only one I didn't know about was Copycat + Shell Smash, but if I saw Eject Pack on a Shell Smash Pojémon I would've been able to guess that Copycat would follow.

As a casual pokemon fan that hasn't kept up with the series in 10 or so years, I really appreciate that you explain what abilities/moves do. In many cases i've either never heard of them, or i've forgotten.

My fav one was clearly ant and dog
You would use the truant tactic with the ant and then change to zygarde-dog to trap them with waves. You could then dragon dance your heart now, and then when you are done, just let the enemy hit you once. The damage will hopefully be enough to transform the dog into the gig-garde...

i knew fear and the lvl 85 chansey one, 5 years of competitive pokemon and still have a lot to see

Is reverse sticky web/toxic spikes too farfetched? With ability swap magic bounce and then guts pokemon, contrary or even quickfeet

lvl comfee tailow magneton and nosepass are all noteworthy at least

Didn’t know 5, but Slaking acc goes crazy when it finally stops skiving and gets some work done

One of the goofiest yet deadliest gimmick sets I remember was boomer remover mew
The idea was simple:
1) use block to trap a mon
2) use imprison to shut down their moves
3) use transform and watch them cry
It was truly evil, yet oh so hilarious

Gen 1 level 89(?) counter Chansey is another one that could be mentioned

An adaptation I’ve seen to stop Imprison Trick Room is to Dynamax your Trick Room user and use Trick Room as Max Guard. Your ally can Copycat the Max Guard which turns back to Trick Room. With Prankster Copycat, Trick Room goes up before your opponent can move.

Whirlpool Dracovish, Ring Target Jirachi, Mummy Pursuit Slaking, Block Zyguard, Z-Me First Mienfoo, Truant Protect Dugtrio, Copycat Eject Pack Shell Smash, Present Chansey, and Roar Trick Room were all new interesting niche strategies to me. Great list here!

what lack of decency for you to "promocionar" Bottom-Heist

yeah the sponsr of this vid isnt great, freez probably didnt know which is ok but I hope he learns and doesnt partner again

It's sad that a lot of these wacky strategies no longer exist thanks to Dexit/Movexit and, as the latest gen, complete moveset formatting

Kind of love gimmick pokemon like this Makes me feel like a bunch of Pokémon are special

That one video of Assist - V Create on Emvee's channel

Okay, the Present glitch is insane. Fascinating to learn the crazy information regarding how things worked back then.

4:00 "Generation 3 is well known for being one of the best Defensive Pokémon

I knew all of the accept present blissey. Assist teams were actually my favorite to make back in the day. I was upset when they removed the move but revive cats proved why it may have been necessary.

didn't know about entrainment truant durant or present blissey. i knew durant had entrainment and some part of my brain didn't want to know that it also had truant lol. the counter-imprison strat is really fucking cool

I can’t believe the toxic shit people are giving you. Hope you are doing well. So many insufferable comments doing rather the opposite of spreading awareness, and being plain hateful

I used Entrainment Durant + Dragonite to completely trivialize the Battle Maison(with mega slowbro with rest + calm mind in the back just in case), really fun strategy that worked way more than it should

mummy slacking is peak gaming

Idk if it counts, but the video reminded me of it. On a VGC tourney final (Markus Stadter vs Alex Soto).
Markus used trick to give a choice specs to Alex's Indeede, locking it on trick room and on that same turn he switched in Gothitelle for a swift win. Prob not gimmicky but cheese for sure

Didn't they recently find out copycat didn't copy roar multiple times in a row or something like that and has to change it?

I loved using Scarf Anger Point Primeape when Ursh Single Strike was running the OU meta when he was first released

I only knew fear...

I used Treecko instead of Rattata to kick Ultra Necrozma’s light-stealing butt in UM! Wish I nicknamed it Deku. From MHA AND ZELDA.

One of my favorite gimmicks is Transform/Block/Imprison Mew. It's only good to take down 1 opposing mon, but it's by far the funniest way to do it.

Here is a gimmic I'm quite fond of: Prankster spore in a double battle. You basically use a prankster skill swap user (either mega shuppet, male meowstic or sableye) and a spore user (preferably amoonguss with regenerator), you use skillswap on your spore user and (starting in gen 8) inmediantly put one of the opponents to sleep. From there one you can put the enemy to sleep before they can use regular moves while a partner defeats them.
The reason I consider this a gimmick is because, as a powder, sleep inducing move with prankster priority, It gets stoped by:
-Grass type pokemon
-Overcoat
-Safety googles
-Insomnia
-Vital spirit
-Sweet veil
-Leaf guard on sun
-Safeguard
-Electric terrain
-Misty terrain
-Chesto berry
-Lum berry
-Dark type pokemon
-Quick guard
-Psyquic terrain
-Upper hand
-Dazzel
-Queenly Majesty
-Armor tail
-Good as gold

I'm impressed I only didn't know four of these
I've encountered quite a few when I was playing online