Other Metagame Tournaments

Introduction

The Other Metas room is a fairly popular room on PS about discussing and playing Other Metas. Other Metas stands for Other Metagames, which are basically all the metagames that aren't made official by either Nintendo or Smogon. Examples of these are the well-known Random Battles, the popular STABmons, but also fairly unknown ones such as Wonkymons. Since the introduction of scripted tournaments, tours have also become a common sight in the Other Metas room. They are arguably the most defining and popular feature of the room.

Tournaments in the Other Metas room

The Other Metas room hosts lots of tournaments every day. Anybody can hop in and play in them, but make sure that you have a team. A lot of Other Metagames differ a lot from OU, or an OU team isn't even legal, so you'll either lose badly or won't be able to play at all. Luckily, you don't need a team for Random Battles, Challenge Cup, or Challenge Cup 1-vs-1 Tournaments, so everyone is able to participate in them. You can also play Tier Shift with any team for NU, RU, UU or OU if you want. Almost Any Ability can be played with an OU team, but your opponent will have a significant advantage over you. Other OMs are probably not worth joining without a team. You can find all of the rules on the Other Metagames subforum if you're interested and want to create teams or are just curious. We also host Daily Tournaments. These consist of a variety of popular Other Metagames. Every day of the week has a specific metagame and they're hosted at midnight (GMT). There's currently no prize for winning these tours, but that might be up for a change. Also, please keep in mind that scouting another player's team is an automatic disqualification!

Popular Other Metagames

Many of these metagames are played in the Other Metas room. People discuss a wide range of metagames and ask for matches if they're playable. We usually only host tournaments of coded metagames, however. We decided not to host non-coded tournaments, as we'd have to use Custom Battle to play them. This causes a lot of players to be confused and forces us to DQ a lot of people, making those tours fairly disorganized. The fact that a large percentage of the players have to teambuild makes these tours not worth the effort. That said, there are enough metagames that we host to keep the room varied. This ranges from random formats like Random Battles and Challenge Cup to the Other Metagame of the Month, as well as various Other Metagames with either a ladder or a challenge-only option. This includes Almost Any Ability, STABmons, Tier Shift, Balanced Hackmons, Monotype, and a lot of other interesting formats. You can visit the Other Metas room if you want to discuss any of these formats or need help. We've got quite a few approachable users that are willing to help you start out!

How to play

General tips: Familiarize yourself with the metagame before entering. Play a few games on the ladder or watch replays from experienced players first. Some Other Metas have viability ranking threads and these are well worth checking out if you're new to the tier. Make sure that you have a team (preferably a few) for the tier prepared before you enter the tournament. Don't expect your OU/Ubers team to do well in a completely different metagame. Also be prepared for the top threats in the meta. Other Metas will often have a slightly different banlist than standard play. If you're confused, try typing /om [other metagame name] - for example /om stabmons - into the chat on Pokémon Showdown! It will bring up information on the metagame. Don't be afraid to try out more gimmicky sets during tours. The element of surprise can help in a tournament setting. If you have any problems or questions, don't hesitate to ask people in the room for help. If you lose, don't rage about it - learn from the experience and try to do better the next time. People don't like it if you rage, if you must just be mad but don't show it, just ask people to let you alone for a little. If you still really don't know where to begin, this thread might help you get started.
STABmons: Watch out for Prankster Sableye - common moves include Dark Void, Will-O-Wisp, Parting Shot and Topsy-Turvy. It's a common thread that can hinder setup sweepers. It may be tempting to throw as many powerful setup moves onto your team as possible (Tail Glow, Shell Smash, Belly Drum, etc), this is often not the best strategy as they will leave you vulnerable to revenge killers and Topsy-Turvy. Use them in moderation. Normal-types are a massive threat in STABmons as with moves like Fake Out, Extremespeed, Boomburst, and Shell Smash - make sure you have a couple of checks on your team. Diggersby in particular stands out thanks to Huge Power and STAB Ground-type moves for beating Rock- and Steel-types.
Almost Any Ability: Stall teams are quite common in this format, so be sure to have something on your team that can handle Pokémon such as Poison Heal Suicune and Unaware Cresselia. A mold breaker Pokémon can put in good work. Flying-types with Gale Wings can be very dangerous for unprepared teams, so try to carry something to check them. Intimidate Zapdos or Regenerator Doublade can work well in this role. On offensive teams you can run quicker priority like Refrigerate Extreme Speed from Lucario. Strong offensive abilities include Adaptability, Sheer Force, Tough Claws, and Refrigerate. Strong defensive abilites include Magic Bounce, Regenerator, Poison Heal, and Unaware. Don't underestimate Mold Breaker. Many Pokémon in the tier rely on their abilities, so being able to break through things like Flash Fire, Levitate, and Magic Bounce can be a game changer.
Tier Shift: Even though they don't get any stat boosts, OU Pokémon can still be very effective in this format. They might have unique typings or abilities, which cause their niche in both Tier Shift and OU. That said, some will still have decent stats, even when the others are boosted. Similarly, a team of all NU Pokémon might not be as effective as you'd expect despite all of the boosts. The best Tier Shift teams typically feature Pokémon from a few different tiers. Stall is strong in Tier Shift, as a lot of strong defensive Pokémon get buffed a lot. A lot of players get frustrated at not being able to break through stall teams, so it can be handy to carry a dedicated stallbreaker on your team. Alomomola is everywhere on defensive stats and can be very difficult to KO thanks to its sky-high defensive stats, Regenerator, and Wish. Make sure that you are prepared. Weather is a very strong playstyle in Tier Shift as well, as many of the best abusers of it are in lower tiers. Watch out for rain teams in particular. Shedinja has Base 16 HP in Tier Shift, meaning that it no longer instantly faints to entry hazards or passive damage and it can now set up Substitutes. It's not a huge threat, but you got to have something that can KO it.
1v1: Don't forget, like a lot of players, that there's a 3v3 Team Preview. Try looking at things from your opponent's perspective. What do you think that they'll expect you to choose based on their team? This will help you counter their choice, instead of trying to find the best average matchup. Be prepared for gimmicky strategies such as Level 1 FEAR Pokémon or Sturdy + Mirror Coat/Metal Burst. They are usually not very good, but if you're not prepared for them they can cause your opponent to instantly win. Try to cover as many potential threats as possible with your 3 Pokémon team. There is a lot of luck and prediction in 1v1, but with a good team, you can minimize the effects of these factors. Kyurem-B is extremely common and powerful in 1v1 - make sure that you have at least 1 Pokémon that can take it on.
Challenge Cup 1-vs-1: Again, it helps to think about things from your opponent's perspective. What are they most likely to expect you to pick? And what are they going to select to combat your choice?Carefully look through each of the movesets on your team, don't just rush to pick the most powerful Pokémon. An Arceus with no attacking moves other than Natural Gift is likely to lose to an NFE with a decent STAB attack. You might as well see something decent, but something else might be better against the opposing team. Pay attention to your items as well. It's not uncommon for a player to start setting up only to realize that they're carrying a Choice item.
Random Battles: Try to identify any potential win conditions early on and do your best to preserve them until your opponent's team has been weakened enough for them to sweep. Similarly, try to identify any of your opponent's potential win conditions and do your best to eliminate or cripple them as soon as possible. Entry hazards are very useful in Randbats, as your opponent will often find themselves with no way to remove them. Similarly, preserve hazard removers or Pokémon that can check those of the opponent or boosters. You might be swept otherwise. The lack of Team Preview makes phazing moves very useful. The sooner that you can reveal more of the opponent's team, the easier it becomes to plan ahead. Don't discount Pokémon that are normally subpar. Pokémon such as Unfezant, Plusle, and Simipour can be very good in Randbats. Similarly, Uber and OU Pokémon can often be underwhelming. The levels can really make a difference
Balanced Hackmons: Study Shedinja is commonly used in this format. Because of its 1 HP, direct attacks are unable to KO it and will continuously activate its Sturdy. It can, however, be defeated by partial trapping moves (for example, Infestation or Magma Storm), entry hazards, weather (provided that it isn't holding Safety Goggles), Rocky Helmet, Spiky Shield, burns, Toxic, or Mold Breaker. Be sure to have at least one way of defeating it on your team. Imposter Chansey is another commonly used Pokémon. Like Ditto in standard play, it can come in and transform into the opposing Pokémon (except with much higher HP and Eviolite boosted defenses), copying any stat boosts in the process. For this reason, it is important to have "Imposter-proof" Pokémon on your team in order to avoid Chansey countersweeps. One such set is Mold Breaker Mega Gengar with Spooky Plate Judgment and Secret Sword as its only attacking moves. The -ate abilities (Refrigerate, Aerilate, and Pixilate) can be very dangerous if you are not prepared. Steel-types such as Aegislash, Registeel, and Mega Aggron are commonly used to combat them. King's Shield is also a great tool to use against physical -ate sweepers. There's a clause that limits more than one of them on the same team, but nearly every time carries one, so be careful.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many fun Other Metagames and tournaments are a perfect way to try them out. You can play with good players and they can help you get better! The tours will show people that you're good at the tier and you'll get in the Other Metas community more easily than by laddering. Just be sure to follow the rules and check out the tips to start out as well as possible. Don't get discouraged if it won't work out instantly as you'll always start out as a mediocre player, but if you play enough you will get better and get more recognition. If you still have any question, go to the OM room and ask a roomstaff to help you.

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