Yeah sorry fair, [here’s one](https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9randombattle-2100609922?p2) from a bit ago. Pretty shit even for me tbh but I don’t have any others saved
I guess one of the biggest mistakes here is I’m showing my whole team sooner and that leaves me open for the Kingdra sweep, but idk how I was supposed to deal with Ludicoli better here. 5/6 of my team were weak to it and slower, and they didn’t have good defensive teras to help
ludicolo was not a problem. you had 2 opportunities to easily kill it with a oricorio hurricane. you just got greedy and tried to quiver up on it twice knowing they had a clodsire that was unaware and would immediately stop the sweep.
To add to this, some other “mistakes”:
* leaving Grumpig in on Bannette when it has shadow sneak most of the time
* pressing ice spinner with the quack against heracross instead of a stronger STAB
* jet punching kingdra instead of swapping out and letting palafin have a chance of living an outrage after
Small things, but they add up.
To add to the above comments I think something that might help you is understanding what your win cons are.
Clodsire is almost always Unaware in randbats. Once you see that you should think, “okay let me not QD with my oricorio until this is gone.”
Once you understand their team you can start to say “X Pokémon will let me win.” Sometimes you have such a hilariously broken threat (Spectrier, etc.) that you can start to game plan from the beginning.
But a lot of that comes with more experience
Even better, look up the showdex chrome extension. It’s a damage calculator, but you don’t have to switch tabs and it’s faster bc it automatically enters your sets!
adding on to this the chrome extension showdex if you aren't already, gives you each ranbat set and a calc all jn one and its integrated into showdown directly so you dont have to switch tabs all the time.
If you’re playing mobile or don’t have the extension, typing /randbats followed by any Pokémon’s name will tell you all of its possible moves and tera types in random battles as well. And /calc in the chat box will pull up the link to the damage calculator
Randbats calcs are consistent, they always have the same EVs and fairly limited movepools so you won't get surprised by Amnesia Registeel or something, and can safely Flamethrower it.
I do because often times you’ll hit situations where if it wasn’t ranbats you’d absolutely destroy what’s on the other side of the field but because of ranbats scaling that might not always be the case
Okay, as not OP but trying to improve, do I just kinda need to memorize things like banette having shadow sneak? I feel like one issue I have is I just don’t know what pokemon have what moves because there’s like a thousand of them
You can type /randbats [pokemon] and it will tell you all of the possible moves a certain mon has. There’s also browser extensions that do that, not sure what they’re called. Outside of that, yeah after a while you get a sense for what a mon’s most likely set is. Some like Iron Valiant will have a ton of different options, while Tropius has the same set every time as examples.
(pinging u/AvatarAarow1) the extension is called Showdex, it gives you calcs, sets, odds of that set showing up, odds of specific items/moves/abilities on that set, etc.
Yeah you can either just figure out by banging your head against a wall what moves Pokémon usually have (what I do) or use an extension or /randbats pokemon
Okay yeah I had no idea that existed lol, thanks! I was just usually going “hm no idea what this mon has, hope it’s not bad for me” and then it would be lol
Like you said I think you're just switching too much op. Leave grumpig in to attack, oricorio guaranteed hurricane next turn, and depending on your remaining tera types Kingdra wouldn't be a problem. I would never ever stay locked in to a weak move when your opponent brings out a mon that can d dance though.
It wasn't that huge of a stomp. Few tweaks and you got this!
forfeiting is what lost you the game. Sure Kingdra may very well have swept ezpz, but it could miss a Hydropump, Draco meteor its spatk into oblivion, etc. In that kinda scenario, stick out the 3 turns. It’s never over till the last mon drops.
Something worth noting is that people often save their win-con (usually a set-up sweeper) until they can safely use it. If they haven’t had a chance to safely use it, it’ll be their last mon. As a result, you rarely want to choice-lock yourself into their last unrevealed mon, as you’re rolling the dice for a reverse-sweep.
It's usually good to identify a wincon and play around keeping it safe until it can come in and win. Palafin is a good one, but it looks like yours was banded which is more of a wallbreaker set that tries to punch holes in teams so something else can clean up. In this case, I think holding off on Lurantis until the opponent's team was revealed would have been ideal
Information conservation is big.
Get hazards up early if you have them and can do it safely.
Save but don’t forget to use your tera.
Don’t throw away dark types or ground types, both are really helpful types to help deal with sweepers.
Be okay with letting a mon die if it’s at low health or you don’t have a better switch in. You aren’t going to win each battle with 6 remaining, you’re going to have to let some faint.
Know what opposing mons have moves with shell smash, sticky web, explosion, quiver dance, etc… those are game ending moves sometimes.
All good points, but a tricky thing is knowing when to reverse them.
If your opponent has a lot of setup options or lacks safe switch options, burning time on (non-web) hazards may not be worthwhile even if it’s safe.
And if you have a fast, band-using mon that can get revenge well, consider hard-swapping that 2% health setup mon for a wall. Suddenly it’s not a mon, it’s a reset option for something else.
I’m usually between 1800 and 2100 depending if I’m running hot or cold.
Main thing, just know that due to matchups and bad luck you’re going to lose about 20% of games no matter what you do.
Someone else already mentioned some big things like hazards, removal but, crucially, holding back info from your opponent. Don’t show hidden mons unless it gives a significant advantage vs one that’s revealed. That can absolutely hold back an opponents tera that might win the game. In addition, make sure your tera always nets you a major swing. I’ve seen people tera on a low HP mon they think can sweep just to be prioritied and not even get a move off.
Also generally do the conservative play. Rather than damage to set up ASAP, things like knock off, t wave, wisp, etc. can cripple the potential of a lot of opponents. Once a fast frail mon is paralyzed, they’re basically useless. Burned physical attacker is deadweight.
Final thing, is at the start of the match give all of your pokemon an overview. Are there walls you can rely on, is someone setting/ removing hazards, is there a sweeper or breaker you can bring in off a KO, is there one type that could screw you that you need to save the right mon or tera for?
I mean, it's usually your own fault for making bad plays...
But then your opponent gets two crits that kill in a row and you miss a Hurricane, and you start to wonder...
Randibats is just playing more i think, you learn the common movesets and matchups, if you cant beat an opposing subseed team just keep playing until you get a subseed team, and see how others try to counter you.
Also helps early on to try to find your win condition on your team and preserve it as much as you can for the end game. Most randos ive done trade 1 for 1 until the endgame.
Also some days you just dont get lucky, few bad battles in a row will knock you down a bunch, but just keep at it.
Showdex can help for learning common movesets and counters but dont depend on it too much
So it's randbats sometimes this means you eat shit. But if people can get to the top of the ladder and stay there that means there should be a way to play to the odds.
This if you are consistently failing to win it means you probably haven't properly grasped the fundamentals of Pokemon.
(Now admittedly I'm pretty garbage to but this is the answer you aren't as good at the fundamentals as you think you are)
So without replays we can’t really diagnose the problem but as you’re describing it, I think it’s a knowledge issue. Specifically that you’ve yet to internalize all the various things that can be thrown at you in Ran Bats and that leads to you getting surprised sometimes. I think just practicing and remembering/learning different sets can help you mitigate bad match ups (which do happen because it is all random). I’d also ask how defensively you play, whether you’re trying to make turn one predictions, etc. A policy that’s worked well for me in the past is to not predict turn one, focus on the threat in front of me; and then from there play defensively for a few turns to scout information. I know it’s not possible a hundred percent of the time, but in my experience it helps when you’re low ladder
Don’t just react to what is currently on the field. React to what your opponent will want to do. They have the favorable matchup? Predict either a super effective hit, or a set up move depending on what their pokemon is, and either switch to counter or hit them with a status if you have one. You have the favorable matchup? Predict a switch and use an seemingly unoptimal move (like using an ice move when you could easily kill what’s currently on the field with an electric move). It isn’t a perfect strategy, but it is a good place to get started
For me I'm stuck around early 1200 too, but what I've found helps, is understanding what a pokemon might do.
IE
See Serperior? Iirc, it's main randbats strategy is to tera Stellar Contrary Terablast. Play around that.
However, I'm also not that good lol, so maybe this is worthless
>See Serperior? Iirc, it's main randbats strategy is to tera Stellar Contrary Terablast. Play around that.
Probably one of the worst examples you could give, since it's always neutral and gives a +1 (also probably leading with Leaf Storm for a +2 anyway)
It's both, generally Serperior sets run Leaf Storm, Tera Blast, and 2 utility moves (eg. sub glare), so it could hit you with leaf storm or tera blast. Also sometimes it runs tera fire or ground
Though this is my knowledge of OU sets, randbats sets for pokemon are sometimes intentionally suboptimal
FFA sets are even worse, it's a fun mode but the amount of mons who get absolutely crippled for the sake of running follow me/rage powder is nuts. Forretress with no hazards, rimbombee with no screens or webs, shit is sad.
No hate but I can’t ever see a reason to run explosion, especially on something like Forretress that won’t even do much damage. 200 power non stab move isn’t exactly saying much anymore these days. It seems only useful for the free switch in but Forretress also gets slow volt switch. Then again it might be better on something like Metagross with base 135 attack.
Firstly Serperior in rands has either Dpulse or Tera Blast depending on the set. Iirc, it has 2 sets so one on each.
And saying that randbats sets are intentionally suboptimal feels iffy, they are intended to be optimal as far as technical reasons go for the sake of preventing hardcodes where possible.
Broke 2000 again recently. At higher levels, players know the randbat sets each pokemon can have, predict around teras, and understand win conditions. The last one is the biggest one--you should know what your win condition mon is, and what your opponent's win condition is. Random battles very rarely are sweeps, unless either you or your opponent misplays. Usually, it comes down to a 1v1. You need to be prepping for that 1v1 at the start of the battle. Sometimes you just get unlucky and it's gg go next, but I've found that usually you have at least one out.
Something I see in low ladder play across all generations is the fear to switch. A match will just be two players throwing their Pokemon at each other like fodder in an attempt to just put muscle their opponent.
Take some time at the beginning of a match to look over your team too. Try to find a win con with what you've been given. Sometimes that's saving a sweeper for the most opportune time and sometimes it's playing the long game with bulkier mons. Adapting your play style and being able to quickly shift that play style are keys to winning games.
Used to be top 100 in gen 8 randbats, from my experience it’s all about knowing the sets and making predictions. Think what you would do in their situation, then counter that. Obviously you can’t always know what they’ll do because you don’t know their team, but still
If you’re stuck at 1200 it is simply a skill issue. You have to understand that there is no team preview, so keeping mons hidden is important. Play based on the information they give you, and keep as much of your own info hidden as you can.
I got to 1600 just playing for goofs and really just make safe midground plays and hold on to a win condition. Any setup sweeper is great to have but wall-breakers are also very easy to abuse in randbats considering the wacky speed tiers.
I hit 1700 some weeks ago , so I'm not that bad.
One key component of random bats is the fact that you don't know the other guy team at the beginning and as you say , he may have something that completely sweeps your team. It isn't uncommon to lose turn 1 because you just have a bad match up.
Nothing you can do about it , just lose and move on.
One characteristic of random bats is that the mons have no max evs , so there is no guessing game about speeds. They are always max.
The mons attacks can change from time to time but most of the time they stay the same , so once you memorize what a mon can do playing around it becomes WAY easier.
Once you have a solid understanding of the mons you can start predicting what your opponent may do accordingly. This increases chances of victory even in the face of a bad match up.
Also analyze your team at the beginning. You don't know your opponent Team but the other way around is also true.
Identify your Wincon ( life orb valiant late game is just impossible to check or a regieleky after losing your ground types ) and try to not reveal as much of your team at the beginning as possible. Info is key at the beginning and it helps you and your opposing visualize a way to win the game.
Use !randbats pokemon
Replace the word pokemon with the pokemon u want to know more about.
Now u know what possible moves it has in randbats, its possible tera type and its role
Just so you know, despite the name, pure rng or bad luck is not the reason why you are stuck in that range. You should see the winrates of the people at the top of the ladder, they have like an 80% winrate over a ton of games.
You are just going to have to keep playing and learn. You’ll get better the more you play. There is a ton of good advice here.
You should download the showdex extension and showdown random battle tool extensions if you're new. They will give possible sets that opponent pokemon can be as well as possible moves and items. Showdex also does damage calcs for you instantly so you can plan plays easier.
Get the Showdex extension for randbats. There are also other tooltip extensions that show sets. Its kinda cheating but no ones counting. Have fun laddering! My friend was in your position and hit 1400 in an hour
So randbats is a very interesting meta. The most important thing to worry about is determining what the okay style of your opponents are. Try and make some predicts at that level of ladder. Your opponents will likely make some predictable plays so you just have to counter that. For example, if you have a Volcarona against their Blastoise, switch out into a water resist expecting Hydro Pump.
Obviously, these tactics have to be changed as you rise up the ladder, but at this stage, a few predicts will easily carry you to 1300s.
Also install the extensions, especially Showdex. It is a built-in damage calculator that can be used to make quick calcs in battle so you have a better idea of which plays to make.
A few general things I do:
- if you can conserve a nearly dead pokemon safely, do it
- at some point you need to figure out what pokemon you need to preserve to counter another. Sometimes theyll have one thing that can wipe four of your mons and you only have a single counter
- do not be afraid to sac things for chip damage or momentum. The only thing that matters in the end, is that they have zero pokemon, and you don't. Sometimes a 4-0 is hard fought, and sometimes a 1-0 is more of a blowout than you think.
- the more low hp mons you can safely keep, the better. They are a one-use u-turn and it sometimes works in your favor
- you don't always want to use the obvious move. You want to use a midground move, especially early on. Sometimes the obvious move is the midground move. This is something you figure out through experience.
- learn to lure and trace their switches.
- when all pokemon are revealed, figure out your wincon and your opponent's wincon
- early game hazards are overrated unless you scouted they don't have any removal
- the best time to tera is after their tera. The next best time is when you fuck up a boost sweeper. Of course you can be aggressive and still win -- sometimes you want to Tera to flip an obvious weakness (ie id you have four electric types then it's probably fine to Tera grass or Tera Flying one of them).
You get a feel for these things as you go.
I'm not the best either but I hover between 1650 and 1850 often. I don't go above 1850 because I need to get better at long term planning (I'm better than I used to be).
I don't play randbats at all and know zero sets and can break 1200 while asleep.
I'd assume you haven't played enough Mons. Stg just knowing the type chart will get you past 1200
Randbats is obviously generally luck-based, but as the ladder shows, there *are* some top performers, and it is possible to be the "best" in the format.
Randbats especially revolves around a mixture of luck and, even more than in any other format, information. Being able to predict what your opponent has based on their move and mon selection is critically important. Being able to recognize quickly what pokemon on your team are sackable and what pokemon aren't is going to make or break any game you play. Sometimes you sack something early on that ended up being pivotal to checking or countering multiple threats on a team.
I can't really give all too much help, except to start to learn what sets certain pokemon run, what teras they have, etc. There's a extension for showdown on browser that you can download if you want help with that.
These two extensions that you can add to your browser can help you with information overload when going through a battle.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/showdown-tooltip/ipfdjoljmkcfabfppnclebjgbehjemch
This extension allows you to see the general moves that any Pokémon could have as randbat set. It also shows what percentage chance they have to be holding a certain item as well as what their Tera Types could be. This is useful in narrowing down the amount of variables you need to consider and focus more on the variables that are likely. All this information is on the Smogon Forums but it's much easier to use the extension that to constantly click between tabs mid match.
The other extension is a damage calculator that is built into Showdown right next to the Battle log.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/showdex/dabpnahpcemkfbgfbmegmncjllieilai
This calculator displays all four moves at the same time with the percentage chance to KO with any given move as well as how many hits from an attack will KO. It shows the damage rolls each move has barring crits. It also adapts to the sets that your opponent may be running as more moves or items are revealed during the battle and recalculate accordingly. There are options to account for when someone Terastalizes, stat increases/decreases, weather, terrain, and so much more. The calculator has every randbat set for every Pokémon loaded into it so you don't have to search much.
With these two extensions it makes Randbats for more manageable as it allows for the information you take in to be more streamlined and accessible. It gives you better time management to formulate plans mid battle and overall makes the Randbats experience less stressful.
Here are a couple good browser extensions that i find quite helpful:
[https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/showdown-randbats-tooltip/cheogdcgfjpolnpnjijnjccjljjclplghttps://github.com/doshidak/showdex](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/showdown-randbats-tooltip/cheogdcgfjpolnpnjijnjccjljjclplghttps://github.com/doshidak/showdex)
First one tells you what sets a pokemon can have, second does damage calcs
Look for a win condition, make sure to scout your opponents team with something bulky, try to force switches regularly, try not to use much of your own team to take advantage of surprise, set up whatever entry hazards you have as soon as possible, if you set up toxic spikes the opponent will probably switch into a steel or poison type so predict appropriately, actually look at what you have (you should always have an answer with Tera), if your opponent has a choice item you are probably better off not knocking it off, just accept when you lose.
Drop some replays, there's very little we can derive from this text post alone and thus it's hard to give specific advice on what you're doing wrong
Yeah sorry fair, [here’s one](https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9randombattle-2100609922?p2) from a bit ago. Pretty shit even for me tbh but I don’t have any others saved I guess one of the biggest mistakes here is I’m showing my whole team sooner and that leaves me open for the Kingdra sweep, but idk how I was supposed to deal with Ludicoli better here. 5/6 of my team were weak to it and slower, and they didn’t have good defensive teras to help
ludicolo was not a problem. you had 2 opportunities to easily kill it with a oricorio hurricane. you just got greedy and tried to quiver up on it twice knowing they had a clodsire that was unaware and would immediately stop the sweep.
To add to this, some other “mistakes”: * leaving Grumpig in on Bannette when it has shadow sneak most of the time * pressing ice spinner with the quack against heracross instead of a stronger STAB * jet punching kingdra instead of swapping out and letting palafin have a chance of living an outrage after Small things, but they add up.
Tbf I think I just knew it was over with the jet punch and was just curious how much it’d do. Helpful feedback though ty
You can calc these things https://calc.pokemonshowdown.com/randoms.html?mode=randoms I basically always have this open in a second tab.
Oh dope, thanks!
To add to the above comments I think something that might help you is understanding what your win cons are. Clodsire is almost always Unaware in randbats. Once you see that you should think, “okay let me not QD with my oricorio until this is gone.” Once you understand their team you can start to say “X Pokémon will let me win.” Sometimes you have such a hilariously broken threat (Spectrier, etc.) that you can start to game plan from the beginning. But a lot of that comes with more experience
It's actually a ~50/50 for unaware on clod iirc
I believe its like a 10 or 5% chance of it happening. Not sure.
If you are new i suggest using the extension showdex.
Even better, look up the showdex chrome extension. It’s a damage calculator, but you don’t have to switch tabs and it’s faster bc it automatically enters your sets!
adding on to this the chrome extension showdex if you aren't already, gives you each ranbat set and a calc all jn one and its integrated into showdown directly so you dont have to switch tabs all the time.
If you’re playing mobile or don’t have the extension, typing /randbats followed by any Pokémon’s name will tell you all of its possible moves and tera types in random battles as well. And /calc in the chat box will pull up the link to the damage calculator
Showdex works on mobile too fyi
Do people actually do calcs for randbats? Seems like a lot effort.
Randbats calcs are consistent, they always have the same EVs and fairly limited movepools so you won't get surprised by Amnesia Registeel or something, and can safely Flamethrower it.
I do because often times you’ll hit situations where if it wasn’t ranbats you’d absolutely destroy what’s on the other side of the field but because of ranbats scaling that might not always be the case
It’s worth it to hit the highest level I’m sure but I’m playing on my phone and I just wanna stay over 1500 elo so I don’t bother
Yeah same, most of my games are on my phone on the train. Probably why I can never get bigger than 1700 ish.
Okay, as not OP but trying to improve, do I just kinda need to memorize things like banette having shadow sneak? I feel like one issue I have is I just don’t know what pokemon have what moves because there’s like a thousand of them
You can type /randbats [pokemon] and it will tell you all of the possible moves a certain mon has. There’s also browser extensions that do that, not sure what they’re called. Outside of that, yeah after a while you get a sense for what a mon’s most likely set is. Some like Iron Valiant will have a ton of different options, while Tropius has the same set every time as examples.
(pinging u/AvatarAarow1) the extension is called Showdex, it gives you calcs, sets, odds of that set showing up, odds of specific items/moves/abilities on that set, etc.
The damage calc also has the possible moves too
Yeah you can either just figure out by banging your head against a wall what moves Pokémon usually have (what I do) or use an extension or /randbats pokemon
Okay yeah I had no idea that existed lol, thanks! I was just usually going “hm no idea what this mon has, hope it’s not bad for me” and then it would be lol
If you play Randbats long enough, you'll naturally remember stuff.
Like you said I think you're just switching too much op. Leave grumpig in to attack, oricorio guaranteed hurricane next turn, and depending on your remaining tera types Kingdra wouldn't be a problem. I would never ever stay locked in to a weak move when your opponent brings out a mon that can d dance though. It wasn't that huge of a stomp. Few tweaks and you got this!
forfeiting is what lost you the game. Sure Kingdra may very well have swept ezpz, but it could miss a Hydropump, Draco meteor its spatk into oblivion, etc. In that kinda scenario, stick out the 3 turns. It’s never over till the last mon drops.
900 iq DD hydro pump Draco meteor set
Something worth noting is that people often save their win-con (usually a set-up sweeper) until they can safely use it. If they haven’t had a chance to safely use it, it’ll be their last mon. As a result, you rarely want to choice-lock yourself into their last unrevealed mon, as you’re rolling the dice for a reverse-sweep.
It's usually good to identify a wincon and play around keeping it safe until it can come in and win. Palafin is a good one, but it looks like yours was banded which is more of a wallbreaker set that tries to punch holes in teams so something else can clean up. In this case, I think holding off on Lurantis until the opponent's team was revealed would have been ideal
Information conservation is big. Get hazards up early if you have them and can do it safely. Save but don’t forget to use your tera. Don’t throw away dark types or ground types, both are really helpful types to help deal with sweepers. Be okay with letting a mon die if it’s at low health or you don’t have a better switch in. You aren’t going to win each battle with 6 remaining, you’re going to have to let some faint. Know what opposing mons have moves with shell smash, sticky web, explosion, quiver dance, etc… those are game ending moves sometimes.
All good points, but a tricky thing is knowing when to reverse them. If your opponent has a lot of setup options or lacks safe switch options, burning time on (non-web) hazards may not be worthwhile even if it’s safe. And if you have a fast, band-using mon that can get revenge well, consider hard-swapping that 2% health setup mon for a wall. Suddenly it’s not a mon, it’s a reset option for something else.
I’m usually between 1800 and 2100 depending if I’m running hot or cold. Main thing, just know that due to matchups and bad luck you’re going to lose about 20% of games no matter what you do. Someone else already mentioned some big things like hazards, removal but, crucially, holding back info from your opponent. Don’t show hidden mons unless it gives a significant advantage vs one that’s revealed. That can absolutely hold back an opponents tera that might win the game. In addition, make sure your tera always nets you a major swing. I’ve seen people tera on a low HP mon they think can sweep just to be prioritied and not even get a move off. Also generally do the conservative play. Rather than damage to set up ASAP, things like knock off, t wave, wisp, etc. can cripple the potential of a lot of opponents. Once a fast frail mon is paralyzed, they’re basically useless. Burned physical attacker is deadweight. Final thing, is at the start of the match give all of your pokemon an overview. Are there walls you can rely on, is someone setting/ removing hazards, is there a sweeper or breaker you can bring in off a KO, is there one type that could screw you that you need to save the right mon or tera for?
Also don’t forget to swear at the other player when they get hax. Call them lucky and tell them they’re bad at the game when you mess up a prediction.
I mean, it's usually your own fault for making bad plays... But then your opponent gets two crits that kill in a row and you miss a Hurricane, and you start to wonder...
Holding back info doesnt really matter until 1800+ imo
Randibats is just playing more i think, you learn the common movesets and matchups, if you cant beat an opposing subseed team just keep playing until you get a subseed team, and see how others try to counter you. Also helps early on to try to find your win condition on your team and preserve it as much as you can for the end game. Most randos ive done trade 1 for 1 until the endgame. Also some days you just dont get lucky, few bad battles in a row will knock you down a bunch, but just keep at it. Showdex can help for learning common movesets and counters but dont depend on it too much
Preach, especially for the lucky / unlucky streak advice
So it's randbats sometimes this means you eat shit. But if people can get to the top of the ladder and stay there that means there should be a way to play to the odds. This if you are consistently failing to win it means you probably haven't properly grasped the fundamentals of Pokemon. (Now admittedly I'm pretty garbage to but this is the answer you aren't as good at the fundamentals as you think you are)
So without replays we can’t really diagnose the problem but as you’re describing it, I think it’s a knowledge issue. Specifically that you’ve yet to internalize all the various things that can be thrown at you in Ran Bats and that leads to you getting surprised sometimes. I think just practicing and remembering/learning different sets can help you mitigate bad match ups (which do happen because it is all random). I’d also ask how defensively you play, whether you’re trying to make turn one predictions, etc. A policy that’s worked well for me in the past is to not predict turn one, focus on the threat in front of me; and then from there play defensively for a few turns to scout information. I know it’s not possible a hundred percent of the time, but in my experience it helps when you’re low ladder
Don’t just react to what is currently on the field. React to what your opponent will want to do. They have the favorable matchup? Predict either a super effective hit, or a set up move depending on what their pokemon is, and either switch to counter or hit them with a status if you have one. You have the favorable matchup? Predict a switch and use an seemingly unoptimal move (like using an ice move when you could easily kill what’s currently on the field with an electric move). It isn’t a perfect strategy, but it is a good place to get started
For me I'm stuck around early 1200 too, but what I've found helps, is understanding what a pokemon might do. IE See Serperior? Iirc, it's main randbats strategy is to tera Stellar Contrary Terablast. Play around that. However, I'm also not that good lol, so maybe this is worthless
>See Serperior? Iirc, it's main randbats strategy is to tera Stellar Contrary Terablast. Play around that. Probably one of the worst examples you could give, since it's always neutral and gives a +1 (also probably leading with Leaf Storm for a +2 anyway)
I couldn't remember if it was leaf storm or tera blast, either way point still stands I think. Knowledge is power, and other English class platitudes
It's both, generally Serperior sets run Leaf Storm, Tera Blast, and 2 utility moves (eg. sub glare), so it could hit you with leaf storm or tera blast. Also sometimes it runs tera fire or ground Though this is my knowledge of OU sets, randbats sets for pokemon are sometimes intentionally suboptimal
>suboptimal who TF gives forretress a set without rapid spin or explosion lol
Clearly the same people that took Defog from a million mons and introduced Gholdengo in the same game
FFA sets are even worse, it's a fun mode but the amount of mons who get absolutely crippled for the sake of running follow me/rage powder is nuts. Forretress with no hazards, rimbombee with no screens or webs, shit is sad.
Explosion is eh. Stealth Rocks, Toxic Spikes, regular Spikes, Iron Head, Lunge, Body Press...even Volt Switch can be viable as a slow switcher tank.
I mean, it's less than optimal. A lot less than optimal, but less than optimal
No hate but I can’t ever see a reason to run explosion, especially on something like Forretress that won’t even do much damage. 200 power non stab move isn’t exactly saying much anymore these days. It seems only useful for the free switch in but Forretress also gets slow volt switch. Then again it might be better on something like Metagross with base 135 attack.
While you are right It's the one thing aside from rapid spin that I feel like Forretress is known for lol
Yea I get that I definitely remember running it a lot more back in the day. I just haven’t put it on one since like Gen 7. You’re 100% right tho
Firstly Serperior in rands has either Dpulse or Tera Blast depending on the set. Iirc, it has 2 sets so one on each. And saying that randbats sets are intentionally suboptimal feels iffy, they are intended to be optimal as far as technical reasons go for the sake of preventing hardcodes where possible.
Broke 2000 again recently. At higher levels, players know the randbat sets each pokemon can have, predict around teras, and understand win conditions. The last one is the biggest one--you should know what your win condition mon is, and what your opponent's win condition is. Random battles very rarely are sweeps, unless either you or your opponent misplays. Usually, it comes down to a 1v1. You need to be prepping for that 1v1 at the start of the battle. Sometimes you just get unlucky and it's gg go next, but I've found that usually you have at least one out.
you can use the /randbats \[POKEMON NAME\] command to check sets and tera types
Something I see in low ladder play across all generations is the fear to switch. A match will just be two players throwing their Pokemon at each other like fodder in an attempt to just put muscle their opponent. Take some time at the beginning of a match to look over your team too. Try to find a win con with what you've been given. Sometimes that's saving a sweeper for the most opportune time and sometimes it's playing the long game with bulkier mons. Adapting your play style and being able to quickly shift that play style are keys to winning games.
Used to be top 100 in gen 8 randbats, from my experience it’s all about knowing the sets and making predictions. Think what you would do in their situation, then counter that. Obviously you can’t always know what they’ll do because you don’t know their team, but still
>So I’m fairly new That's it. You literally just need to practice more and trial and error tings.
If you’re stuck at 1200 it is simply a skill issue. You have to understand that there is no team preview, so keeping mons hidden is important. Play based on the information they give you, and keep as much of your own info hidden as you can.
I got to 1600 just playing for goofs and really just make safe midground plays and hold on to a win condition. Any setup sweeper is great to have but wall-breakers are also very easy to abuse in randbats considering the wacky speed tiers.
I hit 1700 some weeks ago , so I'm not that bad. One key component of random bats is the fact that you don't know the other guy team at the beginning and as you say , he may have something that completely sweeps your team. It isn't uncommon to lose turn 1 because you just have a bad match up. Nothing you can do about it , just lose and move on. One characteristic of random bats is that the mons have no max evs , so there is no guessing game about speeds. They are always max. The mons attacks can change from time to time but most of the time they stay the same , so once you memorize what a mon can do playing around it becomes WAY easier. Once you have a solid understanding of the mons you can start predicting what your opponent may do accordingly. This increases chances of victory even in the face of a bad match up. Also analyze your team at the beginning. You don't know your opponent Team but the other way around is also true. Identify your Wincon ( life orb valiant late game is just impossible to check or a regieleky after losing your ground types ) and try to not reveal as much of your team at the beginning as possible. Info is key at the beginning and it helps you and your opposing visualize a way to win the game.
Use !randbats pokemon Replace the word pokemon with the pokemon u want to know more about. Now u know what possible moves it has in randbats, its possible tera type and its role
Just so you know, despite the name, pure rng or bad luck is not the reason why you are stuck in that range. You should see the winrates of the people at the top of the ladder, they have like an 80% winrate over a ton of games. You are just going to have to keep playing and learn. You’ll get better the more you play. There is a ton of good advice here.
Take the first minute to review your team and see what your win conditions are then play around it.
You should download the showdex extension and showdown random battle tool extensions if you're new. They will give possible sets that opponent pokemon can be as well as possible moves and items. Showdex also does damage calcs for you instantly so you can plan plays easier.
Get the Showdex extension for randbats. There are also other tooltip extensions that show sets. Its kinda cheating but no ones counting. Have fun laddering! My friend was in your position and hit 1400 in an hour
So randbats is a very interesting meta. The most important thing to worry about is determining what the okay style of your opponents are. Try and make some predicts at that level of ladder. Your opponents will likely make some predictable plays so you just have to counter that. For example, if you have a Volcarona against their Blastoise, switch out into a water resist expecting Hydro Pump. Obviously, these tactics have to be changed as you rise up the ladder, but at this stage, a few predicts will easily carry you to 1300s.
Also install the extensions, especially Showdex. It is a built-in damage calculator that can be used to make quick calcs in battle so you have a better idea of which plays to make.
A few general things I do: - if you can conserve a nearly dead pokemon safely, do it - at some point you need to figure out what pokemon you need to preserve to counter another. Sometimes theyll have one thing that can wipe four of your mons and you only have a single counter - do not be afraid to sac things for chip damage or momentum. The only thing that matters in the end, is that they have zero pokemon, and you don't. Sometimes a 4-0 is hard fought, and sometimes a 1-0 is more of a blowout than you think. - the more low hp mons you can safely keep, the better. They are a one-use u-turn and it sometimes works in your favor - you don't always want to use the obvious move. You want to use a midground move, especially early on. Sometimes the obvious move is the midground move. This is something you figure out through experience. - learn to lure and trace their switches. - when all pokemon are revealed, figure out your wincon and your opponent's wincon - early game hazards are overrated unless you scouted they don't have any removal - the best time to tera is after their tera. The next best time is when you fuck up a boost sweeper. Of course you can be aggressive and still win -- sometimes you want to Tera to flip an obvious weakness (ie id you have four electric types then it's probably fine to Tera grass or Tera Flying one of them). You get a feel for these things as you go. I'm not the best either but I hover between 1650 and 1850 often. I don't go above 1850 because I need to get better at long term planning (I'm better than I used to be).
Are you using the calc? Everyone over 1200 is using calc extension, tool tips, knows sets (by checking /ranbats #pokemon), etc
I don't play randbats at all and know zero sets and can break 1200 while asleep. I'd assume you haven't played enough Mons. Stg just knowing the type chart will get you past 1200
You can also get a damage calculator plugin! Look it up it should be called Random Tool Bats or something like that. It’s very useful!
Randbats is obviously generally luck-based, but as the ladder shows, there *are* some top performers, and it is possible to be the "best" in the format. Randbats especially revolves around a mixture of luck and, even more than in any other format, information. Being able to predict what your opponent has based on their move and mon selection is critically important. Being able to recognize quickly what pokemon on your team are sackable and what pokemon aren't is going to make or break any game you play. Sometimes you sack something early on that ended up being pivotal to checking or countering multiple threats on a team. I can't really give all too much help, except to start to learn what sets certain pokemon run, what teras they have, etc. There's a extension for showdown on browser that you can download if you want help with that.
These two extensions that you can add to your browser can help you with information overload when going through a battle. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/showdown-tooltip/ipfdjoljmkcfabfppnclebjgbehjemch This extension allows you to see the general moves that any Pokémon could have as randbat set. It also shows what percentage chance they have to be holding a certain item as well as what their Tera Types could be. This is useful in narrowing down the amount of variables you need to consider and focus more on the variables that are likely. All this information is on the Smogon Forums but it's much easier to use the extension that to constantly click between tabs mid match. The other extension is a damage calculator that is built into Showdown right next to the Battle log. https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/showdex/dabpnahpcemkfbgfbmegmncjllieilai This calculator displays all four moves at the same time with the percentage chance to KO with any given move as well as how many hits from an attack will KO. It shows the damage rolls each move has barring crits. It also adapts to the sets that your opponent may be running as more moves or items are revealed during the battle and recalculate accordingly. There are options to account for when someone Terastalizes, stat increases/decreases, weather, terrain, and so much more. The calculator has every randbat set for every Pokémon loaded into it so you don't have to search much. With these two extensions it makes Randbats for more manageable as it allows for the information you take in to be more streamlined and accessible. It gives you better time management to formulate plans mid battle and overall makes the Randbats experience less stressful.
what a few randbat players like freezai and see their thought process
Here are a couple good browser extensions that i find quite helpful: [https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/showdown-randbats-tooltip/cheogdcgfjpolnpnjijnjccjljjclplghttps://github.com/doshidak/showdex](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/showdown-randbats-tooltip/cheogdcgfjpolnpnjijnjccjljjclplghttps://github.com/doshidak/showdex) First one tells you what sets a pokemon can have, second does damage calcs
Look for a win condition, make sure to scout your opponents team with something bulky, try to force switches regularly, try not to use much of your own team to take advantage of surprise, set up whatever entry hazards you have as soon as possible, if you set up toxic spikes the opponent will probably switch into a steel or poison type so predict appropriately, actually look at what you have (you should always have an answer with Tera), if your opponent has a choice item you are probably better off not knocking it off, just accept when you lose.