Forums · The Analysis Revamp Guide

Make sure to read this

Fantasty

0 +0

May 15 '08

First of all, credits for writing this guide go to Aldaron and myself. Major thanks to Ruesap, SNX7 and Masterofidiots as well, for their various contributions.

Hello, fellow Libelldrians! Welcome to the offical THE LIBELLDRA FORGE ANALYSIS REVAMP FORMAT GUIDE.

You see, in viewing the current analyses on Libelldra, along with the analyses on many other sites, one extremely disturbing point has consistently stuck out...Nobody competitively analyzes these Pokémon from the team's perspective. All analyses seem to be focused on the individual Pokémon, which, while certainly helpful, should only be part of a competitive analysis.

Hence, enter TLF, and you, its loyal, contributing members. Starting now, we are going to officially begin a massive overhaul of all the currently existing analyses, with an emphasis on including the team's perspective. We are going to accomplish this by including [DEFENSIVE COMBINATIONS], [OFFENSIVE COMBINATIONS], [STRATEGIC COMBINATIONS], [SET COUNTERS] and [PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER] sections.

You may have noticed all other analyses that used to be here are now gone. You can still view them in The Forge, another one of our forums. Please read the sticky in that forum for more information on the situation.

Before we begin explaining each of these new sections, please note the following: During this revamp, no analyses of Pokémon who have not been analyzed before will be accepted, regardless of its format. Fixing the analyses we have gathered up until now is a main priority, so even though we greatly appreciate the effort, we would really like to get this finished up before we start expanding our collection of analyses!

Let’s start with the explanations of the different sections now, starting with…

[DEFENSIVE COMBINATIONS] - This section is going to include the Pokémon that cover the analysis Pokémon's weaknesses, and is predominantly focused on type synergy and luring. When I say type synergy, I mean Pokémon B and Pokémon A cover each other's weaknesses well. For example, take Salamence and Magnezone. Salamence is weak to Ice, Rock and Dragon, and Magnezone resists Ice, Rock and Dragon. Magnezone is weak to Ground, Fire, and Fighting, and Salamence resists Fire and Fighting and is immune to Ground. Of course, the Pokémon don't have to perfectly cover each other's weaknesses. Something like Gliscor and Vaporeon (Vaporeon covers Gliscor's Ice and Water weaknesses and Gliscor covers Vaporeon's Electric weakness, but not its Grass weakness) is fine. As for the luring part, Pokémon B is a lure for Pokémon A if Pokémon B causes the opponent to switch to a Pokémon C that Pokémon A feels comfortable switching into. Essentially, Pokémon B "clears the road" for Pokémon A to enter. As you can tell, the lure in this case is simply an extension of the type synergy consideration, but should be included if a specific Pokémon B tends to lure out a specific Pokémon C that Pokémon A is comfortable switching in against. An example would be Lucario for Gyarados. Lucario covers Gyarados's Rock weakness well, yes, but does nothing for its Electric weakness. However, Lucario tends to lure Pokémon such as Garchomp out, a Pokémon that Gyarados, with its Ground immunity, tends to have little problem switching in against.

[OFFENSIVE COMBINATIONS] - This section is predominantly for offensive type Pokémon, but doesn't necessarily have to be limited to them. It focuses on including Pokémon that manage to defeat a majority of the Pokémon that give the analysis Pokémon difficulty. Remember, offensive combinations do not need to take either of the Pokémon's typing into account at all...just what Pokémon each manages to defeat. For example, Blissey, Cresselia, Empoleon, Tentacruel and Heatran can give SpecsMence difficulty, and CBCross or CBTar manage to deal with all of them. Another example would be Swords Dance Close Combat, Bullet Punch, Extremespeed Life Orb Lucario, who is unable to defeat Gliscor, Zapdos, most bulky Psychics / Ghosts like Cresselia, Dusknoir and Celebi, and has issues with Garchomp. A Pokémon that can easily handle all of those is Weavile, who has high powered STAB SE effective attacks for all of them.

[STRATEGIC COMBINATIONS] - This section is devoted to strategies that are a little more subtle than simple typing synergy or offensive complements. It is vague for a reason; this should simply be a compilation of what you feel might assist the Pokémon in doing what it has to do. For example, Salamence could use a Rapid Spinner on the team because he is weak to Stealth Rock, and could also use a Wisher on the team because he is susceptible to Hail / Sand, and many of his sets carry Life Orb, meaning he could feasibly take 16.25% damage each turn just for moving. Another example would be pairing Jirachi and Togekiss together, due to their Serene Grace abilities and the fact that they both have Body Slams with a 60% paralysis rate. Essentially, anything that is not related to type synergy and direct offensive complements should go here, so long as it actually assists the Pokémon. Also, try and exercise a little moderation; all Pokémon could obviously be helped by a Rapid Spinner and a Wisher, so if you mention either of these, at least specify a reason, like Pokémon A is weak to Stealth Rock or Pokémon A will lose 16.25% per turn (like Salamence).

[SET COUNTERS] - Note that for "counters," we are using a VERY loose definition. The standard definition of a counter is "a Pokémon that is able to repeatedly switch in, take minimal damage, and pose immediate threat to the opposing Pokémon."  We aren't going to adhere to this strictly, and will provide examples of Pokémon that can simply deal with the threatening Pokémon. Revenge killers will be considered fair game, yet again, exercise some basic moderation. Saying that ScarfChomp is an acceptable way to deal with Offensive DD Mence is fine (as most of the time it will be Dragon Dancing, and ScarfChomp will be faster and able to OHKO), but saying that ScarfChomp is an acceptable way to deal with SpecsMence is not, as most players will Draco Meteor or Dragon Pulse on the switch.

[PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER] - This section is arguably the most important section of the entire analysis. Here, you will take what you have explained for each set, and apply it. You will have spent significant time writing up a general [DEFENSIVE COMBINATIONS] section and [OFFENSIVE COMBINATIONS] and [STRATEGIC COMBINATIONS] for each set, and here you should take the information from each and provide basic "building blocks" for prospective team builders. You said that a bulky Water Pokémon complements Salamence defensively and Magnezone complements the P. Bulky DD Mence set both strategically and offensively? Well combine this knowledge and provide the P. Bulky DD Mence + Magnezone + CurseRestTalk Swampert trio, and give a basic explanation. I expect to see at least one trio for each set analyzed, and an explanation as to how each part of the trio contributes. Also, finish off the paragraph by some "notes" or "points" the reader should consider when building the rest of the team.

Aside from adding new sections to analyses and rewriting old ones, there’s also another point we would like to emphasize. We’ve noticed quite a lot of analyses contain movesets which list a plethora of options for each individual moveslot. This is referred to as “slashitis”, meaning that movesets contain a lot of slashes, indicating that multiple moves can be used in a slot. With this revamp, another one of our goals is to reduce the amount of slashes in movesets as much as possible, making the use of slashes only necessary when two options are completely equal to each other. This, for example, is the case with Yanmega, who can use both Hidden Power Ground and Hidden Power Ice for great results. In this case, using a slash to notify the reader that both of these moves would be viable options in the give moveslot is justified. Another example would be a Salamence set where both Dragon Claw and Dragon Rush can be used.

The format for the revamps will be as shown below, where anything that’s surrounded by a < and a  > is supposed to be filled in by you. The tags like [GLOBAL INFO] and [SET] are supposed to remain exactly the way they appear below.

To reserve a revamp, just post a new topic that mentions the pokemon that you're going to revamp and your username. So say I want to reserve Alakazam, I would post a topic with the following topic title:

Alakazam (Fantasty)

Also, please note that with this revamp, set names for each of a Pokémon’s sets will become obligatory. For example, a set in the analysis of Salamence that uses the hold item Choice Specs could be named “SpecsMence”. Likewise, a Garchomp using Choice Scarf as its hold item can be named “ScarfChomp”.

Either way, without further ado, here is the format for the analyses:

[GLOBAL INFO]

Analysis: <Pokémon>

[DEFENSIVE COMBINATIONS]
<Here, as explained, note the defensive combinations for the Pokémon>
[/DEFENSIVE COMBINATIONS]

[/GLOBAL INFO]

[SET]
Name: <set name>
Item: <set item>
IVs: <set IVs; in case of 31 across the board, put the word "max" in this place>
EVs: <set EVs>
Nature: <set nature>
Ability: <set ability>
Stats: <set stats>
Moves:
- <move 1>
- <move 2>
- <move 3>
- <move 4>
[/SET]

[SET DESCRIPTION]

<Here, explain the set. Explain why the EVs are such, why the item is chosen and why the moves are important. Very straightforward, and if you wish, you can include damage calculations to demonstrate your point.>

[/SET DESCRIPTION]

[OTHER OPTIONS]

<This where your indecisive urges are satisfied. Instead of cluttering the main set with multiple EV spreads or multiple move choices, just include them here, with the appropriate explanations.>

[/OTHER OPTIONS]

[OFFENSIVE COMBINATIONS]

<Here, as explained, note the offensive combinations for the particular set of the Pokémon>

[/OFFENSIVE COMBINATIONS]

[STRATEGIC COMBINATIONS]

<Here, as explained, note the strategic combinations for the particular set of the Pokémon>

[/STRATEGIC COMBINATIONS]

[SET COUNTERS]

<Here, as explained, note the counters for the particular set of the Pokémon>

[/SET COUNTERS]

You'll obviously repeat the format for any additional sets. At the end, you'll also include this:

[GENERAL COUNTERS]

<Here, you will summarize your set counters, and provide any examples of Pokémon that could feasibly deal with a majority of the analysis Pokémon's sets. While the set counters don't necessarily mandate details, try and be specific here. Try and provide a few EV spreads, just because this is the section that will deal with the Pokémon as a whole.>

[/GENERAL COUNTERS]

[PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER]
<Here, as explained, apply the information that you are trying to get across to the reader. I accomplished this by providing "trios" for each set I proposed, and explanations regarding the trios themselves and what to consider when building on these trios. Also, for the sake of maintaining interest, try and contribute original Pokémon to each trio, as reading Pokémon A + B + C, A + D + E, and A + F + G is much more interesting than Pokémon A + B + C, A + B + D, and A + B + E. Pokémon, especially in the DP metagame, is very expansive, and a competitive analysis can easily represent that.
[/PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER]

One last thing before we wrap this all up: for the sake of consistency, we have decided to use the following abbrevations for stats, which you're supposed to use when mentioning the EV spread and the IV spread of a set and when referring to a nature's effects (for example, when saying that the nature Adamant has the following effects: -SpAtk, +Atk). When talking about a stat drop or raise, like when the move Swords Dance is used, you are expected to use the full name of the stat. So, "Swords Dance raises this Pokémon's Attack by 2 points".

Thank for you reading this in its entirety... and for those of you who wish to contribute to the revamp process, please post here!

You can check out this topic to see a fully revamped analysis of Salamence.
Rating: 0

luis

0 +0

May 15 '08

k
Rating: 0

MillionDaggers

0 +0

May 15 '08

no more funny pictures i'm guessing xD
Rating: 0

Fantasty

0 +0

May 15 '08

Nope, we're going to follow a very strict format as this will allow us to get all the analyses up on the main site much easier, when they're finished. Pictures will be added later on, but since these can all be obtained automatically, there was no need to include them in the forum analyses anymore.
Rating: 0

MillionDaggers

0 +0

May 15 '08

kk
Rating: 0