Team preview discussion;

So basically the argument in favor of team preview: Less guesswork = more skill
Argument against team preview: More guesswork= more adrenalin?
 
I think team preview has far more widespread effects than plain guesswork. Team preview makes many pokemon far more manageable, as the ycan be prepared for prior to having them being sent out against you. (ie. Excadrill)
 
After playing with it for a whole day, I hate it with a passion. This will be completely one-sided, but for good reason. The way that I see it, team preview just shows how overcentralized and standard the Gen. 5 metagame has become through team preview. I have written down my opponent's teams before each and every game today. If my opponent carried a Gliscor (which my team has a slight weakness to) and my check dies, I quit. If I can beat it, i know I have the game in the bag, and relax. It's all about not even having a form of adrenalin based excitement through the game. Why should I relax when I have 2 pokemon left and my opponent has 4 (my Conkeldurr vs 4 fighting weak pokemon). That's really lame. Also, most of the time the opponent doesn't even switch the lead, so it's not as if you're playing chess before the game starts. The teams look so assymetrical that it's just lame. Team preview DEFINATELY ruins this game. :(

I'm sure I could also get some agreement on these banned as well;
"Hax" Thunder Wave Serene Grace Iron Head Jirachi
"Hax" Thunder Wave Air Slash Togekiss
Genesect in OU
Sand Veil/Snow Cloak
Rotom W being electric/water...is that a glitch?!
Balloon
Multiple hitting attacks (Bullet seed, Double chop, etc).
You're out of your mind. None of those are broken; don't suggest to ban something only because you "don't like it".
 
JSND: That why you have to build a good team.
I saw one match before. An Idiot Player use Scizor Bullet Punch on Jirachi even that idiot knows Jirachi has Fire Punch. After weaken Jirachi, that idiot's opponent leads 5-3 lol (suicide 3 pokemon to weaken Jirachi) then that idiot switch in CScarf Terrakion spamming Stone Edge, finally, that idiot won 3-0. You love to watch/play this kind of games? It's not skill, finding opponent's team has Rock weak, try to weaken Jirachi then win by CS Terrakion Stone Edge, i think a 3 years old baby can do that lol.
IMO, you'd better find ways to avoid being raped by building a good team, not seeing their team and try to win. You lose Scout and Building team Skill with Team Preview, even Game-Controlling Skill. Somebody says that Team Preview requires Controlling skill but i don't think so because you know your opponent from the start, you plan to win from the start, just follow the plan and you win. It's not controlling skill imo
 
So basically the argument in favor of team preview: Less guesswork = more skill
Argument against team preview: More guesswork= more adrenalin?
Pretty much how I see it, although if it's a good battle there should be adrenaline with or without team preview...

@Above: I don't think you've played enough with team preview. If you can show me a match where YOU (i.e. Not someone else) Effectively make a "plan" against a quality opponent (someone who you've never played against) and win by 3+ pokes (A good plan shouldn't involve much death, right?) then I'll eat my words.

There's more to strategy than just a team; that's what makes Pokemon such a versatile game.
 

Woodchuck

actual cannibal
is a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnus
I agree with those who say Team Preview is a shift in the skills you need. Your thinking becomes more long-term rather than short term, you start scouting for movesets rather than pokemon, and there is a greater incentive to use unorthodox sets. Also, risk assessment (should I switch my Gyarados into the ScarfNape's Close Combat, or will he predict the switchin and use Thunderpunch?) and resource management (you need to keep tabs on what pokemon you need to check the opponent's, and you know that pokemon can eventually win you the game provided you take care of them).

All in all, I think the thinking during the game becomes higher-leveled, as I've gone from attack-attack-die-revenge kill to predicting switches and chipping down their walls to eventually break through with x threat. Meanwhile, my opponent is trying to take the momentum and protect that wall's integrity while trying to pose a threat back.

What's cool is if you think hard, you can come up with a "win condition" you need to reach in order to win the game, and your game-playing from that point becomes more tactical than reactive.
It makes Pokemon seem almost as intellectual and deep as chess.
/exaggeration
 
JSND: That why you have to build a good team.
I saw one match before. An Idiot Player use Scizor Bullet Punch on Jirachi even that idiot knows Jirachi has Fire Punch. After weaken Jirachi, that idiot's opponent leads 5-3 lol (suicide 3 pokemon to weaken Jirachi) then that idiot switch in CScarf Terrakion spamming Stone Edge, finally, that idiot won 3-0. You love to watch/play this kind of games? It's not skill, finding opponent's team has Rock weak, try to weaken Jirachi then win by CS Terrakion Stone Edge, i think a 3 years old baby can do that lol.
IMO, you'd better find ways to avoid being raped by building a good team, not seeing their team and try to win. You lose Scout and Building team Skill with Team Preview, even Game-Controlling Skill. Somebody says that Team Preview requires Controlling skill but i don't think so because you know your opponent from the start, you plan to win from the start, just follow the plan and you win. It's not controlling skill imo
Then your opponent should be prepared for CS Stone edge Terrakion if he's that weak to rock. Imo, that Jirachi user is the idiot if he plaeyd like that.
 
It's just funny that at the beginning, a Scizor Bullet Punch on a Fire Punch Jirachi. Before, that's noob. Now, it becomes incredible prediction...
 
Come on, before no one suicide 3 pokemon to weaken a pokemon at the beginning because they don't know their opponent team... Now it's just incredible, everybody predicts like a monster =))
 

Mario With Lasers

Self-proclaimed NERFED king
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnus
...Ah, I see what you mean. And still can't see your point. Of course you wouldn't sacrifice three pokémon to take one out one in the beginning of the match; you've just said it, you would have zero idea of the opponent's team, doing so would be beyond retarded. What if the opponent had a Scizor to stop Scarf Terrakion and two of the pokémon you sacrificed were the ones that could take care of it?. If you do that nowadays, it's clearly because Jirachi is the only thing between you and victory, and the Jirachi user knows that too. It's the Jirachi user's job to ensure it will be alive until Terrakion is dead, while they work on their own strategy to win.

It seems that match's problem was the Jirachi user playing like an ass.
 
Team preview will never be banned, the simulators are designed to be as close to the game as possible. It's not like banning a pokemon because it's "broken", it's a fundamental part of the b/w metagame.

With the massive number of threats in 5th gen, it's vital to be able to see someone's team to get an idea of what you need to do. It's not a case of "I know he has Lucario, I'll keep my Gliscor alive and win", there's a load of strategy involved even after getting your game plan together. Without tp we'd all be guessing and battle results would be very inconsistent.

Nobody can say "oh I lost that match because of team preview", you both have the same advantage at the start of the match, your opponent is trying to eliminate your key team members as fast as you are trying to keep them alive. Take advantage of it.
 
Come on, before no one suicide 3 pokemon to weaken a pokemon at the beginning because they don't know their opponent team... Now it's just incredible, everybody predicts like a monster =))
...Isn't that ideal? More predictions, less guessing?

@Darkartisain: With or without team preview, you still have a 50% of calling the match before it starts...
 
...Isn't that ideal? More predictions, less guessing?

@Darkartisain: With or without team preview, you still have a 50% of calling the match before it starts...
Says who? The odds of winning the match techincally is 50%, but pending on the Pokemon that you have and the Pokemon that the opponent has, it could very easily be in the others favor even up to i'd say as much as 80%. Pure sandstorm vs Pure rain? Rain is like 100% barring hax/crits, gay shit.

The reason to build a good team is so that you minimize your chances of having to guess and check opponent's Pokemon. Now with team preview, you could still throw a cookie cutter team and be even better off. I mean, it's not like i'm losing tons of matches at all even with team preview, but it's just not as fun. You could perhaps even argue that the game becomes "autopilot" even more so than last gen, although last gen it wasn't very auto-pilot at all due to no previous team knowledge of your opponent.
 
Yeah ok I give up, you don't even know what you're talking about.
Are you kidding me? That's a completely fair example. Now does it even matter if I run Zone or trappers? Does it even matter if I run skarm/bliss? I don't see how you guys are all so comfortable with revealing teams before the game starts. It's so fucking retarded on another level...
 
Are you kidding me? That's a completely fair example. Now does it even matter if I run Zone or trappers? Does it even matter if I run skarm/bliss? I don't see how you guys are all so comfortable with revealing teams before the game starts. It's so fucking retarded on another level...

It does. Magnezone can still trap those Steels, you just need to actually think to ensure you'll get them with Magnezone. Team Preview is not nearly as bad as your trying to make it seem, and it shouldn't matter if the opponent sees your team because if your team is good enough, it should win regardless.
 
EDIT: ^That


I don't see how you guys are all so comfortable with revealing teams before the game starts. It's so fucking retarded on another level...
Wrong.

Even though this has been said enough this thread, Team Preview does add it's own level of depth to the game...

If you can't see that or can't be bothered to just go back and play HG/SS that way you won't have any Team Preview to complain about..
 
Be to honest, leads are still plenty useful, sure then you can tell what they are leading with, but I highly doubt you have a counter for every single type of lead, thats a bit overkill, and even then they just might predict and switch to a diferent pokemon, which is more offensively oriented, to beat your anti lead. For example, if I see an Aerodactyl on a team, sure I know thats going first, but I can't do anything about it, I don't have an anti-Aero pokemon, so it still works as a lead.
 

Run

Poster of the Month
TP decentralizes the metagame. I think it makes games less cut-and-dry, not more.

First looking at leads. Leads have always been as simple as rocks, EXPLODE!; or anti-lead, etc... one pokemon designed to do one job at the very beginning of the match against as many possible other leads as possible. Now, your opening requires actual strategy. Openings are more about opening plays, not opening pokemon. No longer are stealth rocks a given. In Gen IV, a bad lead matchup could throw off a whole match, that early disadvantage is not a mark of one player or the others skill, but rather the luck of the draw on lead vs. lead. Early momentum can be hard to get back. However, with tp, you have to account for any plausible leads and come up with an opening strategy. Sure, with both of you looking and picking you can still end up with a bad matchup, but you both got to look and pick, its not nearly as much of a gamble.

As far as revealing the whole team is concerned, I think tp does take something away from strategically revealing pokemon so you can take out your biggest threats before bringing in the big guns. On the flip side, if you are building your team and playing correctly, your match shouldn't be about keeping the best secrets, but rather forcing your opponent to play into your strategy. One secret pokemon can no longer flip the match. Players need to be more creative with their playstyles in order keep momentum. Versatility and prediction are now more important.

I think without tp, rain and sand teams would be even more rampant. Its tp that allows more versatile teams and strategies to win out. Any time your strategy is broadcast, it looses some of its effectiveness. You see a team that's obviously stall? keep your taunter alive and handy, identify the biggest holdups to your team, lure them out and clear the way. Sand or Rain or Sun or Hail? you can see which pokes need to stay healthy. Those teams that lack diversity are putting all their hopes in being able to take down the 1-2 major threats you have so their singular advantages win for them. Tp decentralizes the metagame away from less diverse teams because the more diverse team is harder to predict and the less diverse team is much more easily identified and strategized against.

I hated the idea of tp before i actually started playing with it. But it has made the game significantly more deep for me. Pokemon has always resembled chess to me, and now even more so.
 

Mario With Lasers

Self-proclaimed NERFED king
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Be to honest, leads are still plenty useful, sure then you can tell what they are leading with, but I highly doubt you have a counter for every single type of lead, thats a bit overkill, and even then they just might predict and switch to a diferent pokemon, which is more offensively oriented, to beat your anti lead. For example, if I see an Aerodactyl on a team, sure I know thats going first, but I can't do anything about it, I don't have an anti-Aero pokemon, so it still works as a lead.
The problem with the lead metagame weren't the leads themselves, but the anti-leads, anti-anti-leads and anti-anti-anti-leads. Now you can have an anti-Machamp, anti-Azelf, Anti-Deoxys and anti-Azelf pokémon and put them as your lead if the need arises, instead of having one anti-everything always at the lead spot.
 
TP decentralizes the metagame. I think it makes games less cut-and-dry, not more.

First looking at leads. Leads have always been as simple as rocks, EXPLODE!; or anti-lead, etc... one pokemon designed to do one job at the very beginning of the match against as many possible other leads as possible. Now, your opening requires actual strategy. Openings are more about opening plays, not opening pokemon. No longer are stealth rocks a given. In Gen IV, a bad lead matchup could throw off a whole match, that early disadvantage is not a mark of one player or the others skill, but rather the luck of the draw on lead vs. lead.

The problem here is that you need to be able to prepare for if this does happen, so that you could actually counter the lead that beats your lead with another Pokemon on your team. Anti Lead Machamp vs Azelf? Ok, switch into a Ghost and nail it, or sacrifice the active and revenge.

Early momentum can be hard to get back. However, with tp, you have to account for any plausible leads and come up with an opening strategy. Sure, with both of you looking and picking you can still end up with a bad matchup, but you both got to look and pick, its not nearly as much of a gamble.

As far as revealing the whole team is concerned, I think tp does take something away from strategically revealing pokemon so you can take out your biggest threats before bringing in the big guns. On the flip side, if you are building your team and playing correctly...

Who determines if you're building your team "correctly?"

your match shouldn't be about keeping the best secrets, but rather forcing your opponent to play into your strategy. One secret pokemon can no longer flip the match. Players need to be more creative with their playstyles in order keep momentum. Versatility and prediction are now more important.

Completely disagree here. The match should be about keeping secrets, because this also takes the scouting strategy away, which is super lame. U Turn wasn't just made to hit and run, ya know. But on the other hand, versatility and prediction has ALWAYS been important since gen 1. So that's just filler bullshit to back up your statement.

I think without tp, rain and sand teams would be even more rampant. Its tp that allows more versatile teams and strategies to win out. Any time your strategy is broadcast, it looses some of its effectiveness. You see a team that's obviously stall? keep your taunter alive and handy, identify the biggest holdups to your team, lure them out and clear the way. Sand or Rain or Sun or Hail? you can see which pokes need to stay healthy. Those teams that lack diversity are putting all their hopes in being able to take down the 1-2 major threats you have so their singular advantages win for them. Tp decentralizes the metagame away from less diverse teams because the more diverse team is harder to predict and the less diverse team is much more easily identified and strategized against.

While I do agree that I think Rain and Sand would be tougher, it still wouldn't justify them to completely run through things. Since Rain/Sand teams are pretty heavy in offense, they don't really care what they're blasting and saccing as long as they're taking KO's, until you drop something like Specsjolt GG rain. Sand has a counter the same.

I hated the idea of tp before i actually started playing with it. But it has made the game significantly more deep for me. Pokemon has always resembled chess to me, and now even more so.
It really does nothing much but force a switch early game. Yay.
 

jas61292

used substitute
is a Community Contributoris a Top CAP Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
It'll be better without Team Preview. Because your opponent can see your whole team, can see your Zoroark and can see the others pokemon that would be transformed by Zoroark so your opponent can predict easier. Without it, your opponent will never know when will Zoroark come (without Hazard helps)
Oh, I'm not going to say that it makes it easier to use. Not at all. But then again, most people don't know how to use it anyways. If you opponent doesn't know it is coming, they will just play normally. You might get lucky and they use a bad move, but in generally it won't change too much. However, if they know it is coming, not only can you make them second guess themselves, but you could also force a bad switch or attack if they think it is Zoroark. No one is going to guess Zoro if not for TP.

Basically, as I said before, it makes him less noob friendly, but for the most skilled users, it may actually be an advantage.
 
The problem with the lead metagame weren't the leads themselves, but the anti-leads, anti-anti-leads and anti-anti-anti-leads. Now you can have an anti-Machamp, anti-Azelf, Anti-Deoxys and anti-Azelf pokémon and put them as your lead if the need arises, instead of having one anti-everything always at the lead spot.
But to deny leads don't exist though is futile, becuase they still do exist, yes now there is a very diferent lead metagame, but its still a lead metagame, just not the way we are use to it.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 1)

Top