casuallycompetitivepokemon

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Sand Stream

Effect: The user summons a sandstorm when they enter battle

Common users: Tyranitar, Hippowdon and Gigalith

Competitive usage: Creating a painful sandstorm just by switching into battle, Sand Stream is arguably the most annoying of the weather abilities.

Chipping away at anything that’s not a Rock-, Ground- or Steel-type (with exceptions), it helps its three users achieve more KOs, as the extra 6% damage per turn effectively cancels out Leffovers gain, and can turn a 3HKO into a 2HKO or similar.

It also disrupts any other weather plans that may be in place, and boosts the Special Defence of any Rock-types in the vicinity, which is great news for Tyranitar and Gigalith, both of which already have decent special bulk.

Of course, summoning a sandstorm turns any of these three users into the cornerstone for sand based teams, where they only need to stay alive in order to keep that sandstorm flowing, which of course enables abilities like Sand Rush, making it a very dangerous ability to have, even if it only gets the party started.

Sand Stream gets the sand storming, but what’s a rave party without one?

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokemon #sand stream

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Sand Spit

Effect: The user summons a sandstorm when hit by a damaging move.

Common users: Sandaconda

Competitive usage: Essentially just Sand Stream but worse, Sand Spit allows for easy sandstorms, at the cost of the user taking a direct hit.

That’s definitely worse than just having to switch in, but with Sandaconda’s natural bulk - at least on the physical side - means it won’t have to sacrifice too much HP with a tactical switch letting it sponge a Rock move or something.

After that, it’s sandstorm time, and any other Pokemon on the team that can abuse its conditions, or simply appreciate the chip damage it inflicts on vulnerable types. It’s not exciting, but it is efficient, albeit less so than Sand Stream.

Game Freak’s attempts to make Sandaconda stand out meant giving it an inferior ability, but hey, it sort of worked at least?

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokemon #sand spit

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Sand Rush

Effect: The user’s Speed is doubled in sandstorm conditions. They’re also protected from damage, if they weren’t already by type.

Common users: Excadrill, Stoutland, Dracozolt and Sandslash among a few others

Competitive usage: Protecting users from sandstorm and also doubling their Speed, Sand Rush offers no subtlety at all, but can cause some real mayhem on dedicated teams.

As long as there’s something to provide the sandstorm - Tyranitar and Hippowdon thrive here - Sand Rush users can take advantage of the increased Speed to tear through the opposition.

Excadrill is probably the most infamous choice, with its combination of power, Speed and bulk to get the job done, not to mention its access to Rapid Spin for yet more Speed. Sure, it might be tempted by Mold Breaker instead, but that potential only makes it more dangerous.

Midday Lycanroc doesn’t have any better options, and an amazing base 112 Speed hits terrifying heights in the sand, meanwhile Dracozolt and Stoutland get free sandstorm immunity on top of the Speed increase, even though they’re not Rock-, Ground- or Steel-types.

As if sandstorm didn’t already get pulses racing, Sand Rush users can really up the tempo.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokemon #sand rush

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Sand Force

Effect: During a sandstorm, the user’s Rock, Ground and Steel attacks are boosted by 30%. The user is also protected from sandstorm damage if they’re not a Rock-, Ground- or Steel-type themselves.

Common users: Mega Garchomp and Mega Steelix. Maybe Dugtrio too.

Competitive usage: A simple but effective way of abusing sandstorm conditions, Sand Force boosts Rock, Ground and Steel attacks by 30% during one, which is comparable to a Life Orb boost, free of charge.

Sure, this generally means something else has to supply the sandstorm, but that’s far from unheard of in sand teams, and the power boost is definitely worth it, where powerhouses like Mega Garchomp in particular get to hit even harder.

It also grants sandstorm immunity to anything with Sand Force and isn’t already immune to sandstorms. Currently, this only applies to Shellos, but it’s nice potential for future games.

The only things likely to use it are Mega Garchomp itself and Mega Steelix, but that’s mostly because they don’t have any other choice, as Mega Evolved Pokemon only get one ability.

Plenty of other things also get Sand Force, but they also have superior alternatives, whether that’s Gastrodon’s Storm Drain, Incarnate Landorus’ Sheer Force, or indeed Hippowdon and Gigalith’s ironic Sand Stream, which provides the sandstorm that would activate Sand Force.

The only real exception is Dugtrio, who might make use of it should Arena Trap get banned.

Full of potential but largely lost to inconvenience, you often have to Force Sand Force users to use Sand Force. Funny that.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokemon #sand force

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Run Away

Effect: The user can always run away from wild battles. Unfortunately, they can still be trapped by the likes of Mean Look or Shadow Tag.

Common users: Nothing ever

Competitive usage: Utterly useless in competitive play and pretty useless even in game, Run Away offers absolutely nothing for trainers.

Sure, users can escape from wild battles with certainty. But under competitive conditions, trainers can only forfeit, rendering it obsolete.

If they could still escape from Arena Trap, or squirm out of Wrap, then Run Away might’ve had some use. Hell, if it gave the user a free Speed boost upon switching in it would’ve been something. But nope, it’s just useless.

As expected, nothing at all uses Run Away, and there always a better alternative, even if it’s just Dodrio’s Early Bird. There’s nothing wrong with abilities that only have any purpose in-game, but Run Away doesn’t even manage that low bar, not really.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokemon #run away

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Rough Skin

Effect: Contact with this Pokemon will damage the user, reducing the attacker’s HP by 1/8 of the maximum.

Common users: Garchomp and Druddigon

Competitive usage: In a war of attrition, a contact ability like Rough Skin can make a real difference, shaving off a solid 12% of the opponent’s HP every time they touch the user.

While a rare ability, the two with any real bulk that get it - Druddigon and Garchomp - make good use of it. Tanking hits and chipping away at their enemies, then retaliating with attacks of their own for good measure, Rough Skin is a simple and effective way to quite literally exfoliate the opposition.

Sure, Druddigon may be tempted by Mold Breaker on more offensive sets, and Sharpedo gets it too, but with the far superior Speed Boost in its arsenal and no bulk at all, Rough Skin’s original user won’t be seen with it.

At the end of the day though, the little extra damage Rough Skin provides can be used to break Focus Sashes and turn 3HKOs into 2HKOs, at little cost to the user. It’s not the best ability out there, but it pulls a lot of weight.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive Pokemon #rough skin

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Rocky Payload

Effect: The user’s Rock moves are boosted by 50%.

Common users: Bombirdier

Competitive usage: Tying in with Bombirdier’s love of dropping rocks on things, its signature ability boosts the power of those Rock attacks by 50%, effectively giving it another STAB to play with.

On top of its decent bulk and Dark/Flying coverage, it at least stands out from other bird Pokemon. If nothing else, it’s a free 50% power boost with no drawback, and Bombirdier gets Rock Slide to take advantage of that boost.

It’s yet another example of a signature ability being created for the sake of uniqueness, but Rocky Payload certainly pays off when needed.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #rocky payload

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Rock Head

Effect: The user is protected from recoil damage, with the exception of Struggle.

Common users: Lots of tough Rock-types like Aggron, Relicanth and Tyrantrum. Alolan Marowak’s fond of it too.

Competitive usage: Everyone loves the high risk, high reward attacks. There’s just a satisfaction about absolutely mincing your opponent with a risk-it-all Flare Blitz.

One major drawback of these moves is the recoil though, which can devastate the user as well as the target. Thankfully for a lot of these users, there’s an ability that blocks the recoil in Rock Head.

Letting stubborn beasties like Sudowoodo finally use their head for something productive, they can shrug off the recoil damage from these moves, meaning they can throw them around much more recklessly. And of course that makes them all the more dangerous to face.

The only real downside to Rock Head is the moves themselves, where Head Smash in particular has woeful accuracy, and could still miss despite Rock Head wiping away its recoil.

There’s also the issue of things simply not learning the moves they need to abuse Rock Head. Aerodactyl is the sorriest victim here, as it learns neither Brave Bird or Head Smash, despite both attacks suiting its vicious nature.

With amazing potential, Rock Head lets their users be absolutely reckless in attack. Not every user can take full advantage of it, but that’s not their fault. Blame Game Freak for that one.

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[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Rivalry

Effect: The user’s Attack and Special Attack are increased by 25% if their opponent is the same gender as them, however the same stats are lowered by 25% of the opponent is the opposite gender. Genderless opponents don’t affect the user’s stats.

Common users: Pyroar, Beautifly, and maybe Unfezant

Competitive usage: Using a slightly dated definition, Rivalry lets the user power up by 25% if their opponent is the same gender as them, yet reverses that effect against opposite gendered opponents.

In this day and age it’s a little outdated, but on a battling simulator where all Pokemon are set to the same gender unless manually changed - assuming they can be male or female - it’s the perfect recipe for a free 25% power boost.

At least in theory anyway. Given the massive backlash if the user faces an opponent of the opposite gender, there’s a slight reliability issue that puts a lot of trainers off using it. Therefore, unless a Pokemon has no better option, odds are Rivalry won’t see much use.

Those training a Pyroar, Beautifly or Unfezant though? Might just get some mileage out of Rivalry. The likes of Haxorus and Nidoking have far superior alternatives in Mold Breaker and Sheer Force respectively, but where Pyroar’s other options are Moxie and Unnerve, neither of which it has any use for at all, it might as well gamble.

There’s no love lost between rivals, but as an ability, something with Rivalry could really rise to the occasion.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #rivalry

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Ripen

Effect: The user ripens their held berry, doubling its effect.

Common users: Nothing really

Competitive usage: A fun idea, but largely forgettable, the Applin line’s signature ability doubles the effect of held berries. Whether that’s a +2 Speed boost from a Salac Berry, 50% HP recovery from a Sitrus, or all manner of different exploits, it’s… an average at best ability.

Aside from berries being a rare tactic, Ripen is arguably inferior to Harvest, which naturally regenerates the berry rather than forcing Appletun or Flapple to use Recycle. There’s also the issue that both apple dragons get a better alternative ability, with Appletun’s Thick Fat helping it tank Ice moves, and Flapple’s Hustle boosting its Attack.

Ripen could have some use if you’re absolutely married to it, but relying on berries in a metagame filled with Knock Off abusers is a risky choice at the best of times.

Oh, and contrary to common beliefs, it doesn’t double the effectiveness of the Leftovers, despite activating when the user’s holding them. Such a shame. That could’ve made it useable.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #ripen

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Regenerator

Effect: The user restores up to 33% of their Max HP when they switch out of battle.

Common users: Pretty much everything that gets it, including Slowbro, Tangrowth, Alomomola and Mienshao.

Competitive usage: Considered one of the best abilities out there, Regenerator offers easy recovery for the user, and all they have to do is switch out of battle.

This provides incredible longevity at very little cost, with typical walls like Amoonguss and Slowking using it to sponge hits and pivot out, healing up in the process. And then there’s the offensive users like Tornadus and Mienshao, who pair it with a Life Orb and U-Turn out of sticky situations to heal off the recoil.

In short, it’s free HP recovery. With very few downsides, it plays perfectly into the switch-heavy mindset of competitive play, and helps established walls to keep on tanking hits, to the point where they don’t even need a recovery move, because Regenerator does all the leg work for them. For example, consider Assault Vest Tangrowth.

Healing pivots and prolonging stall tactics, Regenerator is the gift that keeps on giving.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #regenerator

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Refrigerate

Effect: This ability boosts the user’s Normal attacks by 20% and turns them into Ice attacks.

Common users: Mega Glalie and maybe Aurorus

Competitive usage: Padding out the STAB options for Ice-types and giving them a power boost without any drawbacks - on top of STAB - Refrigerate is a solid ability.

Available to just Mega Glalie and Aurorus as of Gen 9, it understandably sees little usage in the current metagame, as neither of them are technically available in this generation.

Either way though, Aurorus can simply use it for a reliable power boost if it doesn’t want Snow Warning for whatever reason, and it’s Mega Glalie’s only option… not that it’s a bad one of course.

In any case, turning simple attacks like Body Slam or Hyper Voice into deceptively powerful Ice STABs, it’s not a complicated ability by any means. Much like its other -ate cousins though, the users relish the free power boost, and the potential to trip up a Ghost-type is always appealing.

Largely forgotten but effective, Refrigerate hits hard while keeping cool.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #refrigerate

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Reckless

Effect: The user’s recoil moves receive a 20% power boost. This also applies to moves that damage the user if they miss, like High Jump Kick.

Common users: Staraptor, Hitmonlee and Embosr among a few others.

Competitive usage: A rarity among abilities, Reckless is obvious in what it does straight away, taking high risk attacks like Wild Charge and making them riskier by powering them up.

It’s also used by exactly the kind of Pokémon you’d expect, namely roughhousing types like Emboar or Staraptor. The likes of Hitmonlee, Mienshao and Bouffalant may also be tempted, but importantly, everything that gets it learns at least a couple of recoil moves, so it’s not just a wasted ability.

Thankfully, Reckless’ power boost is applied regardless of when the move’s recoil takes place. If it damages the user upon contact, like Double-Edge, or if the user fails to damage the target, like Supercell Slam, that sweet 20% boost will be there to make the hit more worthwhile.

Satisfying and appropriately named, Reckless encourages dangerous behaviour on the battlefield. And we love it.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #reckless

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Receiver

Effect: The user gains the ability of a defeated ally in double battles.

Common users: Nothing ever

Competitive usage: Passimian’s signature ability is a creative misfire. Alongside quite a few Gen 7 innovations, Receiver’s glaring flaw is that it’s only useful in double battles, and thus completely hapless in singles.

Copying the ability of a fallen ally is interesting, and could land Passimian with a great ability, but it could have so much more potential if it also copied the ability of a defeated enemy.

That one minute tweak could turn Receiver into a fantastic ability, where Passimian could pick off an opponent - maybe with the aid of the Choice Scarf - and then gain literally any ability, depending on what it defeated. Whether that’s Moxie or Volt Absorb or Truant, the endless potential would be so much better than it is currently.

Should that ever happen, Passimian’s ready and willing to catch some momentum. Until then though, it’ll have to settle for Defiant, and dream of what could be.

The poster child for wasted potential, Receiver is the hot potato that nobody wants.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #receiver

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Rattled

Effect: The user’s Speed is increased by one stage if they’re hit by a ‘scary’ attack, namely a Bug-, Ghost- or Dark-type one. Intimidate will also boost the user’s Speed in addition to lowering their Attack.

Common users: Nothing really

Competitive usage: An interesting concept that’s all but useless in practice, Rattled would be a niche way to boost the user’s Speed… except that nothing gets any real use out of it.

Aside from most of its users being NFE, the ones that aren’t are either too frail (Wugtrio), or in possession of superior alternatives (Dudunsparce and Sudowoodo).

The closest thing to a viable user is Granbull, which has the bulk and resistance to tank the Bug and Dark attacks needed to activate the ability. Intimidate’s arguably better though, and Granbull still isn’t fast even after the boost, with a Jolly natured set hitting just 310 at +1. That’s enough to outrun some walls, and could work in a flawless situation, but then again, it’s Granbull. Not exactly the peak of competitive performance.

Difficult to use and incredibly situational, Rattled could pull some weight if the right thing got access to it. Until then though, Rattled can gather dust in the cutlery drawer.

#gaming #pokemon #abilitydex #casually competitive pokémon #rattled

[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: Rain Dish

Effect: The user’s HP is restored by 1/16 of the maximum when it’s raining.

Common users: Some defensive Water-types like Ludicolo or Blastoise. Shiinotic gets it too.

Competitive usage: Effectively a second set of Leftovers in the rain, Rain Dish can help for passive healing on rain teams, for the handful of things that get it.

It’s very situational, and of course clashes with changing weather, but arguably an improvement on Blastoise’s Torrent and Shiinotic’s Illuminate. Defensive Ludicolo gets good mileage out of it too, as it practically lives on rain teams, but ultimately it’s just a mediocre ability with limited use.

Largely forgotten, but situationally useful, Rain Dish helps users soak up a little more pain.

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[casuallycompetitivepokemon]

Abilitydex: RKS System

Effect: This ability changes Silvally’s type depending on what Memory disc it’s holding.

Common users: Silvally

Competitive usage: Much like Arceus’ Multitype (right down to the name), Silvally’s signature RKS System allows is to change type depending on its held Memory disc.

While that’s all fun, the obvious main drawback is that Silvally can’t hold another item if it wants to be any type other than its base Normal, and unlike Arceus’ type plates, the Memory discs don’t provide a power boost either, which is unfortunate to say the least.

Vital for Silvally, but just a worse Multitype, RKS System proves that you can’t just recreate a deity and expect results.

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