The 1v1 Metagame

[Ditto]

The 1v1 Metagame
Join #1v1 on IRC for more discussion on this subject.
Weekly 1v1 WiFi tournaments will be held on Mondays at 8 PM. Look Below for more info.
Approved by Jibaku

PO 1v1 Stats [September]

5 Most Used Pokemon (1->5)

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What is "1v1"?
1v1 is exactly as it sounds like, each player only brings 1 pokemon into the battle. This offers quick, entertaining, and interesting matches with a whole new outlook on pokemon.

What does this change from the Standard OU Metagame?

1. Focus Sash - Focus Sash seems way too broken for this Metagame and would probably be on every pokemon, therefore it will be banned. This may be reconsidered later, but upon first look it is deemed to dangerous.
2. Entry Hazards - Because players are unable to switch their pokemon out, there is no use for any entry hazards.
3. Phazing - With only 1 pokemon, moves like Roar and Whirlwind are completely useless. As a result, +Stat moves cannot be phazed except for Haze and Mist. This could make +Stat moves very popular, but they are still incredibly risky.
4. -Stat Moves - Without the ability to switch out to restore Stats, -Stat moves actually are completely viable within this metagame. A whole new way to look at movepools. Also, they could easily help counter +Stat moves. Because they work the same as +Evasion moves, -Accuracy moves (Flash, Kinesis, Sand-attack, or Smokescreen) will be banned.
5. Choice Items - Because players cannot switch out to counters for your pokemon, Choice Items can be extremely useful.
6. Perish Song - Without the ability to switch, this limit the battle to 3 turns. While it can be very possible that the battles won't take that long, it is also forces a draw within that time. For this reason it will be added into the "Self KO Clause".

Proposed Clauses

• Hax Items Clause: Bright Powder, Focus Band, Quick Claw, Lax Incense, King's Rock, Razor Fang, Scope Lens, and Razor Claw cannot be held by your pokemon.
• Focus Sash Clause: Focus Sash cannot be held by your pokemon.
• Evasion Clause: A pokemon may not use Double Team or Minimize.
• Accuracy Clause: A pokemon may not use Flash, Kinesis, Sand-attack, or Smokescreen.
• OHKO Clause: A pokemon may not use Horn Drill, Sheer Cold, Guillotine,or Fissure.
• Self KO Clause: A pokemon may not use Destiny Bond, Explosion, Perish Song, or Selfdestruct.
• Uber Clause: Players cannot use Arceus, Darkrai, Deoxys, Deoxys-A, Deoxys-D, Deoxys-S Dialga, Garchomp, Giratina, Giratina-O, Groudon, Ho-oh, Kyogre, Latias, Latios, Lugia, Manaphy, Mew, Mewtwo, Palkia, Rayquaza, Salamence, Shaymin-S, Wobbuffet, Wynaut.

Weekly #1v1 Tournaments

• Description: Weekly WiFi 1v1 Tournaments will be held on the #1v1 IRC channel. Depending on how many people enter, we will switch from Round Robin to Single Elimination. These tournaments will also sometimes be used to test the banning or unbanning of pokemon or items. And also there will be prizes!
• Time: Mondays at 8 PM (US Eastern Time)
• How to Join: Use anyone of these, in browser on firefox, download for Windows, download for Windows and Linux, download for Mac, to get onto IRC. Then type "/join #1v1" to get to the channel. Sign-ups for the tournaments will start at 15 minutes prior to the tournament.

Playing 1v1
While there is a huge amount of luck within 1v1, there is a lot strategy within the preparation. There are times that your opponent will have a pokemon that you can do nothing too, but this can happen to any metagame. Because of this, it may be one of the hardest metagames to prepare for. With 1 pokemon you have to counter a total of 481 different pokemon (including different forms). Do not let this discourage you though, for your opponent also has to do that.

Some things to think about

1. Unbanning Deoxys-S - One of the main thing that got Deoxy-S banned was it's ability to set up Entry Hazards. With Entry Hazards being useless, Deoxys-S should be considered to be allowed. Although it does still have a good movepool and stats.
2. Unbanning Wobbuffet or Wynaut - Wobbuffet loses one of his main functions without being able to help other pokemon set up. With his lackluster speed, Wobbuffet can easily be hit with status or Taunt. Despite this, Encore + CounterCoat + Massive HP still looks pretty threatening.
3. Unbanning Garchomp - Without the ability to have sand up automatically, Garchomp does lose some of it's usefulness with Sand Veil. However, his attack and speed are still something to fear.
4. Unbanning Focus Sash - While it does seem very powerful, there has an appeal for Focus Sash to be unbanned. With things like Sandstorm, Hail, and Fake Out being able to easily break it and counter the pokemon. Still it does seem like it may too powerful in concept.

 

[Wild Eep]

In plotting for the Close Combat tournament (from which I have since been eliminated), I figured that I'd have success if I can gain free turns from the opponent while beating them down. My first thought was flinching.

Pokemon Name: Jirachi
Set Name: Flinchfest A
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Move 1: Iron Head
Move 2: Zen Headbutt
Move 3: Thunderpunch
Move 4: Ice Punch
Description: Abuse great speed and Serene Grace to flinch your way through whatever your attacks can't cover!

In hindsight, I find Togekiss may work for this too.

Pokemon Name: Togekiss
Set Name: Flinchfest B
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Timid
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Move 1: Air Slash
Move 2: Aura Sphere
Move 3: Hidden Power (Ice)
Move 4: Fire Blast / Grass Knot
Description: Flinchy flinchy!

I realized that 1v1 is strikingly similar to the Battle Hall. I remembered that one of the better Battle Hall strategies was Yawn + Protect, and that's what I decided to use in the Tournament.

Pokemon Name: Swampert
Set Name: Yawn + Protect
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Atk / 252 Def
Item: Rindo Berry
Move 1: Yawn
Move 2: Protect
Move 3: Earthquake
Move 4: Ice Beam
Description: Yawn + Protect is analogous to Spore in 1v1. Swampert is notoriously difficult to OHKO, so it stands a good chance of getting the Yawn off. From there, it's just a matter of beating the foe down before they wake up!

On another note, I think Ubers 1v1 could also potentially be crazy as a separate format.

I may be back with other pondering about how this metagame might work beyond the context of the Close Combat tournament later.

 

[Fuzzy93]

woah

sounds interesting o_o

you're right that there is a large amount of luck involved.

I'm gonna see how a 1 vs 1 with my friends go :D

 

[Despotar]

Interesting idea.. Stall blissy could beat anything Special!
Spiritomb could be Viable..

 

[Boomguy]

I'm still in the close combat tournament so i'm not revealing what I have. The Jirachi Stratergy has been used on me and i survived phew, its really annoying. Once i'm eliminated or win the tournament i'll post a warstory that i'm keeping.

 

[ck49]

When I made my pokememon for the tournament, (which I got eliminated from), I figured that choice Items would run rampage, because at +1 attack attacking twice does more damage than at +2 attacking once (I think). therefore, I planned to abuse the choice users with my swampert.

Swampert @ rindo berry
relaxed
252 HP/110 att/ 64 SpD / 84 def
counter
mirror coat
earthquake
protect

Protect first to see what move my opponent would get locked into. Then Use counter/mirror coat. Earthquake makes sure you arent taunt bait, and can hit stuff that is weak to it. Rindo berry lets you survive unSTAB's grass attacks like infernape grass knot. Actually, with the given evs (my pert had a 30 iv in HP, if that makes a difference), swampert survives all attacks outside of STAB grass attacks. The defense evs let it survive a jolly LO breloom's spore because it got lazy and didnt spore first. The SpD evs let it surviv choice specs modest salamence draco meteor. The only attacks that kill it are STAB special grass attacks and modest Specs Porygon z Hyper beam. Protect lets it beat potential mixed attackers and slaking, whose giga impact KO's otherwise.

The only problem is sleep abusers, grass types, and stat uppers. And physical ghost types like shedinja who counter cant hit. Most special dark types aren't a problem (houndoom and spiritomb get beaten by EQ I think)

 

[Aurabreloom]

sleep would be a charm in 1v1

 

[Canuckassassian]

I've actually thought about how a 1v1 metagame would work a while ago. I think the focus would be on fast sweepers and choiced pokemon with great type coverage. There would also be a big stall element too. I think it would be very physically focused due to the threat of Blissey (bring special attacker, he brings Bliss and you lose). I can see things like Hippodown working very well. Steels would be ever prevalent because Toxic would be murder. Wish+Protect Vaporeon would be pretty good too. Shedninja? You're fucked if you don't have one of those 5 moves. Basically anything with good coverage that can take advantage of choice would be all over this. The whole idea is really interesting to me.

 

[Jigglez]

Really interesting idea...

 

[Ferrouswheel]

This is an interesting subject, and I'd like to take a moment to comment on a thing or two. One important thing is that the support clause for Ubers would pretty much not apply to the 1v1 metagame. The most important implication would be the unbanning of some of the Deoxys forms, though not attack. Also, Wynaut unban why not? I agree that Wobba would still be uber under the account that it would essentially be the same situation that it provokes when it switches in normally in Ubers.

 

[Canuckassassian]

For this metagame to even interest me sleep would have to be banned. It centralizes it way way way too much. The whole thing would be based around getting things to sleep and stopping things from going to sleep and countering the best sleep inducers. Imagine how much havoc the standard OU Breloom could wreak on most of the pokemon in the game. Put something to sleep and fire away with STAB focus punches until hes dead. So then people will start running things that can outspeed and OHKO it (scarftran?) which would lead to counters being run for those things ect ect.

 

[Boomguy]

For this metagame to even interest me sleep would have to be banned. It centralizes it way way way too much. The whole thing would be based around getting things to sleep and stopping things from going to sleep and countering the best sleep inducers. Imagine how much havoc the standard OU Breloom could wreak on most of the pokemon in the game. Put something to sleep and fire away with STAB focus punches until hes dead. So then people will start running things that can outspeed and OHKO it (scarftran?) which would lead to counters being run for those things ect ect.

Sleep won't be a havoc. Slow Pokemon can hold a Lum berry and then 1 hit KO Breloom. Fast pokemon could have Sub to prevent sleep or they just go for the kill

 

[Eggbert]

As shown in the above movesets, resist berries look pretty effective, especially on stuff like swampert. A berry can easily cover a common (or only) weakness. For reasons like that, this 1v1 metagame has a lot of chance to it.

 

[Canuckassassian]

Like I said the metgame would be centralized on coutering sleep rather than a diverse mix of offense/defense ect.

 

[Ditto]

Some things to think about

1. Unbanning Deoxys-S - The main thing that got Deoxy-S banned was it's ability to set up Entry Hazards. With Entry Hazards being useless, Deoxys-S should be considered to be allowed. Although it does still have a good movepool and stats.
2. Unbanning Wobbuffet or Wynaut - Wobbuffet loses one of his main functions without being able to help other pokemon set up. With his lackluster speed, Wobbuffet can easily be hit with status or Taunt. Despite this, Encore + CounterCoat + Massive HP still looks pretty threatening.
3. Unbanning Garchomp - Without the ability to have sand up automatically, Garchomp does lose some of it's usefulness with Sand Veil. However, his attack and speed are still something to fear.
4. Unbanning Focus Sash - While it does seem very powerful, there has an appeal for Focus Sash to be unbanned. With things like Sandstorm, Hail, and Fake Out being able to easily break it and counter the pokemon. Still it does seem like it may too powerful in concept.

Some room for discussion based on what people have said throughout the Close Combat Tournament and on #1v1

 

[Nexus]

For this metagame to even interest me sleep would have to be banned. It centralizes it way way way too much. The whole thing would be based around getting things to sleep and stopping things from going to sleep and countering the best sleep inducers. Imagine how much havoc the standard OU Breloom could wreak on most of the pokemon in the game. Put something to sleep and fire away with STAB focus punches until hes dead. So then people will start running things that can outspeed and OHKO it (scarftran?) which would lead to counters being run for those things ect ect.

Maybe but I'm leaning more towards no and seriously breloom is outrun by most pokemon that would be considered good options in this type of meta, drawing from Wildeep's post: jirachi outspeeds it and OHKOs it with zen headbutt and togekiss same thing and OHKOs with air slash, these are based of the standard spore puncher set for breloom.

 

[petrie911]

Sleep+Subseed Jumpluff would be annoying as hell to take out.

Actually, for that matter, Skymin would be pretty damn good. Fast Subseed+STAB Seed Flare+STAB, flinching Air Slash.

 

[Green Mage]

I'm not sure how interesting this could be. I get the feeling that the winner of the vast majority of matches would be determined after one move or less, and that's just not worth the effort.

It could be fun if two non-offensive pokes are going at it, but again, it all depends on the matchup you get. The worst thing about pokemon is the luck factor; why would I want to play a format that is almost entirely dependant on the matchup you get? And let's not even talk about anything with speed that's packing a sleep move.

I'd like to be proven wrong, but it seems extremely uninteresting.

 

[Itsuki]

After playing in the Close Combat Tournament and another 1 vs. 1 tourney in another forum, I find the factor to winning is based a lot on luck but also on strategy as mentioned. You never know what your opponent will carry, yet you need to strategize a way to combat other leads.

Status, especially sleep, is one thing that quickly popped into my head when I saw the idea for the tourney, and I'm assuming it was the same way to others. I would assume a lot of people would prepare for that idea so it wouldn't seem broken. The problem I found with sleep users, such as Breloom and Smeargle (Smeargle is kind of useless though...), is that they are rather slow and frail. Roserade, Crobat, and Gengar are faster users, however, they are forced to use rather unreliable ways of sleeping the opponent (60% - 75%) so it's not very reliable without the use of accuracy boosting items. Another problem I found was the coverage brought up by many of these Pokemon, except Gengar. These were the only sleep leads that popped into my head at first thought so I may be missing out on something exceptional. Its not a bad idea however and can wreck mayhem for an unprepared opponent!

 

[Hooker Punch]

Personally, I don't see how Focus Sash is broken: it only works at full health, and removes the benefits of ending the battle early(with LO/Band/Scarf) or removes most pokemon's only form of healing(leftovers). Especially in a metagame where there is no wish for pokemon to heal each other, it seems to me Sash is perfectly fine--the only pokemon I can think of off the top of my head who would love it would be Shedinja.

I think buffing moves would be very unviable in most cases, since during the turns that you are busy buffing, you're opponent will be status/killing/debuffing you. The only ones I think may be possible would be something like CosmicPowerFable or something.

On the topic of pokemon sets, I think that Breloom would be the obvious choice.

Pokemon Name: Breloom
Set Name: Obvious
Ability: Poison Heal
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
Item: Toxic Orb
Move 1: Spore
Move 2: Focus Punch/Sky Uppercut/Superpower
Move 3: Seed Bomb
Move 4: Stone Edge

Spore first, then kill them.
Focus Punch is recommended due to them being asleep. Sky Uppercut is over Superpower since you can't switch out to remove Atk debuff.
Seed Bomb is grass physical, all you really have.
Stone Edge covers Shedinja and flying types who would otherwise ruin your day. Like I said, this set is obvious.

Pokemon Name: Rampardos
Set Name: Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4HP/252Ark/252Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Move 1: Stone Edge
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Avalanche
Move 4: Sleep Talk

Rampardos will beat the shit out of everything with STAB Stone Edge off base 165. Mold Breaker means that there is none of that immunity stuff. Ergo, you have perfect coverage in EarthEdge. Avalanche hits dragons for more than Stone Edge, usually killing them in a single blow. Sleep Talk is for things like my Breloom set that rely on sleep to win.

 

[Captain Awesome]

Torterra still resists Ground + Rock.

Pokemon Name: Swampert
Set Name: Yawn + Protect
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Relaxed
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Atk / 252 Def
Item: Rindo Berry
Move 1: Yawn
Move 2: Protect
Move 3: Earthquake
Move 4: Ice Beam
Description: Yawn + Protect is analogous to Spore in 1v1. Swampert is notoriously difficult to OHKO, so it stands a good chance of getting the Yawn off. From there, it's just a matter of beating the foe down before they wake up!

Doesn't this need more Attack to ensure it can get those KOs before the opponent wakes up? 110 Based Attack is great, but you can't rely solely on that.

And I think it needs Sp. Def EVs, If I see a Swampert I'm going to assume it's physically based, so I hit it with Special Attacks.

Speaking of, wouldn't Mixed Sweepers dominate much of this game? Purely physical ones dislike being Intimidated and purely special ones dislike Blissey (which is still threatening between Calm Mind and Softboiled, right?)

 

[Luminary]

Tournaments often present unique new metagames for us to play in, but rarely is there a place for theory or collaboration. I'm glad there's a topic for discussion on this ruleset, at least.

Edit: I don't think a changed set of bans should be pursued (might activate acid rain). This metagame is more about creativity that perfect balance, I think. We would be tiering based on theory, since playtesting would be difficult. Garchomp losing Sand Veil is shaky ground for unbanning, and Deoxys-S still has that blistering Taunt, and a great movepool. I might support unbanning Wobb (a glorified CounterCoat Swampert in 1v1), since the theory is pretty irrefutable there.

In 1v1, confusion is useful. While unrestricted battling allows the opponent's Pokemon to be cured of its confusion by switching, 1v1 has that Pokemon stay in and batter itself to death. A fast confusion backed up by some bulk (Crobat, Starmie) is a worthwhile strategy. Edit: Taunt/Encore can also confound opponents trying to pull a fast one.

Pokemon Name: Crobat
Set Name: British Crobat
Ability: Inner Focus
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Item: Leftovers
Move 1: Brave Bird
Move 2: Taunt
Move 3: Confuse Ray
Move 4: Roost
Description: This set will beat Pokemon requiring the use of non-damaging moves, like Curse and Spore. The EVs prioritize speed and bulk, since your goal is to break the opponent's strategy, not break the opponent. Confusion allows you more turns to attack, while the opponent's Pokemon takes damage by its own hand. The greatest threats to this set are unrelenting, powerful attacks from Pokemon that can take a Brave Bird. However, an opponent that relies on Super-Effective hits to win the day will be punished by Crobat's quick Roost.

Mail can prevent Trick from Choice Scarfers above 394 Speed, giving you an auto-win against such an attempt. Leftovers are generally more useful, however. I had hoped to find a way to fit Toxic or Super Fang onto this set. Hypnosis would give you a chance against Pokemon who hit too hard.

Some of the strategies born in the Battle Tower can be useful here. Forcing a Choice Scarf on the opponent can ruin set-up strategies. Unfortunately, the prevalence of Band and Specs dampens this, as you will remain locked into Trick as the opponent attacks (my Disable Dusknoir lost in R2). A Pokemon with decent bulk, decent offensive power, decent speed, and Trick would probably make the best use of this strategy. Something able to function normally with the Choice item strategy, with the capability to Trick problem Pokemon would wreck plenty of opponents. Rotom-A (as it is unfortunately allowed), Jirachi, and Mesprit look like prime candidates for such a set. Latias would also be capable in a metagame where she is allowed.

Edit: @HookerPunch:
Breloom wants Jolly. Spore beats (almost) anything slower than it, so the objective should be to make him as fast as possible. His full potential is to beat 0 speed base 100s, so the extra speed is not useless. I would also say that Breloom wants Sub and Focus Punch, allowing him to hit a sleeping Pokemon harder without fear of a quick wakeup.

Ramardos needs Head Smash if it is to be used. I also remember hearing that choice locked Sleep Talk fails after one use.

 

[Wild Eep]

Doesn't this need more Attack to ensure it can get those KOs before the opponent wakes up? 110 Based Attack is great, but you can't rely solely on that.

And I think it needs Sp. Def EVs, If I see a Swampert I'm going to assume it's physically based, so I hit it with Special Attacks.

Attackwise, I found myself landing 2HKOs against frail things and 3HKOs against more defensive monsters. I didn't find waking up to be much of a problem for me.

I expected to see largely physical attackers in CC (the nastiest physical threats are things like Mence, Gyarados, Scizor, Electivire, Hitmontop, Machamp, etc., and I've heard about a ton of physical attackers among the Close Combat contestants). I need 252/252+ to guarantee survival against the strongest of these threats.

I haven't heard too many success stories about mixed sweepers, as you need to split EVs or otherwise sacrifice power.

--

Luminary: I recieved a lot of inspiration for this tourney from the Battle Hall records. Your focus on the Frontier is spot on.

 

[jumpluff]

In plotting for the Close Combat tournament (from which I have since been eliminated), I figured that I'd have success if I can gain free turns from the opponent while beating them down. My first thought was flinching.

Pokemon Name: Jirachi
Set Name: Flinchfest A
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Move 1: Iron Head
Move 2: Zen Headbutt
Move 3: Thunderpunch
Move 4: Ice Punch
Description: Abuse great speed and Serene Grace to flinch your way through whatever your attacks can't cover!

I can confirm this works great. It only really has problems with the likes of Heatran (since nobody is bringing a Forretress or anything), and Swampert, I guess. I used a bit more HP though. Lum Berry could work too, to allow you to consistently beat Machamp.

 

[Ditto]

Personally, I don't see how Focus Sash is broken: it only works at full health, and removes the benefits of ending the battle early(with LO/Band/Scarf) or removes most pokemon's only form of healing(leftovers). Especially in a metagame where there is no wish for pokemon to heal each other, it seems to me Sash is perfectly fine--the only pokemon I can think of off the top of my head who would love it would be Shedinja.

I think buffing moves would be very unviable in most cases, since during the turns that you are busy buffing, you're opponent will be status/killing/debuffing you. The only ones I think may be possible would be something like CosmicPowerFable or something.

On the topic of pokemon sets, I think that Breloom would be the obvious choice.

Pokemon Name: Breloom
Set Name: Obvious
Ability: Poison Heal
Nature: Jolly/Adamant
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
Item: Toxic Orb
Move 1: Spore
Move 2: Focus Punch/Sky Uppercut/Superpower
Move 3: Seed Bomb
Move 4: Stone Edge

Spore first, then kill them.
Focus Punch is recommended due to them being asleep. Sky Uppercut is over Superpower since you can't switch out to remove Atk debuff.
Seed Bomb is grass physical, all you really have.
Stone Edge covers Shedinja and flying types who would otherwise ruin your day. Like I said, this set is obvious.

I feel like a Bulky Breloom would be better. Maybe with Spore/Swords Dance/Mach Punch/Stone Edge or Seed Bomb. It can try to live an attack and spore. SD up and attack. Lum screws you though.

Pokemon Name: Rampardos
Set Name: Scarf
Ability: Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 4HP/252Ark/252Spe
Item: Choice Scarf
Move 1: Stone Edge
Move 2: Earthquake
Move 3: Avalanche
Move 4: Sleep Talk

Rampardos will beat the shit out of everything with STAB Stone Edge off base 165. Mold Breaker means that there is none of that immunity stuff. Ergo, you have perfect coverage in EarthEdge. Avalanche hits dragons for more than Stone Edge, usually killing them in a single blow. Sleep Talk is for things like my Breloom set that rely on sleep to win.

Avalanche has -4 priority, so using it on a Scarf User wouldn't the brightest idea. Also, If you wake up or aren't put to sleep and you choose Sleep Talk, then you automatically lose.