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Smogon Simple Questions & Suggestions Thread

Celever said:
So I’m not totally sure what you’re asking here because it’s clumsily worded, but the way that competitive Pokémon works is that EV spreads are tailored to specific opponents. Bulk EVs are given to a Pokémon based on what move from a specific opponent that Pokémon needs to tank, and if you google “Pokémon damage calculator” you’ll be able to modify stats within the calculator to figure out what EVs are necessary for that particular Pokémon. Notably, with very few exceptions, it’s better to just put the full 252 EVs into a Pokémon’s HP for better bulk toward both physical and special moves than to put it into a specific defensive stat. Also notably, EVs work in divisions of 4 (4 EVs in a stat = one extra point in that stat) and you can only put 252 EVs into any stat, with a cap of 508 total EVs. With the exception of Gen II where you can and should put 252 EVs into every stat.
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I know about the damage calc and the basics of EVs. My issue is trying to figure out how to find ideal EV spreads for mons like Snorlax who have more nuanced defensive stats. If I go to Snorlax's ADV analysis the sets have EV investment in HP Def and SpDef. Is there an easier way to find the ideal numbers for this stuff besides trial and error?
 
Rchie99 said:
I know about the damage calc and the basics of EVs. My issue is trying to figure out how to find ideal EV spreads for mons like Snorlax who have more nuanced defensive stats. If I go to Snorlax's ADV analysis the sets have EV investment in HP Def and SpDef. Is there an easier way to find the ideal numbers for this stuff besides trial and error?
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No, it's trial and error. As I mentioned, the "ideal" EV Spread of a Pokémon is dependent on what you want that Pokémon to do. For that reason, "ideal" EV spreads don't actually exist, as they depend on metagames and other factors independent of the Pokémon itself. So because EV spreads are tailored to the opponent, you have to trial and error with the opponent's moves to figure out how many EVs you need to tank the hit. Even Smogon's Dex Analyses don't have "ideal" EV spreads, they have "standard" ones. Depending on how you build your team, EV spreads are often different to the ones in Smogon's Dex because different Pokémon are capable of answering different opposing Pokémon based on their EVs, and teambuilding is about having an answer to as many relevant threats in a metagame as possible. So what EVs you choose to run on a given Pokémon can depend on what other Pokémon are on your team.

The more you teambuild, the less complex you realise it actually is.
 
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Celever said:
No, it's trial and error. As I mentioned, the "ideal" EV Spread of a Pokémon is dependent on what you want that Pokémon to do. For that reason, "ideal" EV spreads don't actually exist, as they depend on metagames and other factors independent of the Pokémon itself. So because EV spreads are tailored to the opponent, you have to trial and error with the opponent's moves to figure out how many EVs you need to tank the hit. Even Smogon's Dex Analyses don't have "ideal" EV spreads, they have "standard" ones. Depending on how you build your team, EV spread are often different to the ones in Smogon's Dex because different Pokémon are capable of answering different opposing Pokémon based on their EVs, and teambuilding is about having an answer to as many relevant threats in a metagame as possible.
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OK I think that I worded my initial post very poorly. I was already at the point where I am trying to calc for a specific move from a specific mon. What I want to know is if there is a way to find EV spreads that meet certain milestones while using as few EVs as possible. FOR EXAMPLE:

I want my Snorlax to always survive an Earthquake from Adamant Marowak after a layer of Spikes AND always avoid the 2HKO from a +1 Modest Raikou Thunderbolt after 1 layer of Spikes. How do I balance investing in all 3 defensive stats to achieve these goals while saving as a many EVs as possible?
 
Rchie99 said:
OK I think that I worded my initial post very poorly. I was already at the point where I am trying to calc for a specific move from a specific mon. What I want to know is if there is a way to find EV spreads that meet certain milestones while using as few EVs as possible. FOR EXAMPLE:

I want my Snorlax to always survive an Earthquake from Adamant Marowak after a layer of Spikes AND always avoid the 2HKO from a +1 Modest Raikou Thunderbolt after 1 layer of Spikes. How do I balance investing in all 3 defensive stats to achieve these goals while saving as a many EVs as possible?
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The thing is is is, ultimately, the fastest way to figure this out is to use the damage calculator with various EV totals to figure out the minimum EVs you need in HP and Def / SpDef to take each respective hit so that you can put the rest in attack. There is of course a damage formula, but it’s essentially impossible to do in your head and so no competitive Pokémon players memorise the formula when they can have a damage calculator open in another tab which is faster at telling you how much damage is taken than manually calculating damage with a calculator and the formula is. Not least because you would already have to keep doing the formula over and over again for the Marowak’s damage with various EVs until you get the right distribution, and then the Raikou’s until you get the right distribution... using the calculator is so much faster and the programmers of the calculator really do a service to the rest of us by engineering it.

So it’s trial and error. Doing anything else is both slower and less efficient, but also way more complicated and is information I don’t have on-hand to give you because as a competitive Pokémon player, it’s information no one actually needs.
 
Rchie99 said:
OK I think that I worded my initial post very poorly. I was already at the point where I am trying to calc for a specific move from a specific mon. What I want to know is if there is a way to find EV spreads that meet certain milestones while using as few EVs as possible. FOR EXAMPLE:

I want my Snorlax to always survive an Earthquake from Adamant Marowak after a layer of Spikes AND always avoid the 2HKO from a +1 Modest Raikou Thunderbolt after 1 layer of Spikes. How do I balance investing in all 3 defensive stats to achieve these goals while saving as a many EVs as possible?
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There's a tool that could help with this at https://pokeasc.appspot.com/
The EV spread it gave me was 60 HP/28 Def/164 SpD. This seems to be correct when plugged into the Showdown calc (assuming the item isn't Leftovers; you need to tweak the "survive at %" to make it work if it is).
 
Are french translations for natdex analyses planned? And if yes, when can we start contributing to that?

In the case that's not the thread were i can find an answer, who should i ask that? The translation leaders/staff?
 
R8bbit Konijn Lapin said:
Are french translations for natdex analyses planned? And if yes, when can we start contributing to that?

In the case that's not the thread were i can find an answer, who should i ask that? The translation leaders/staff?
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Hello there R8bbit Konijn Lapin !
I'm one of the two Leaders of the French Translations Project and currently we're not doing NatDex analyses mostly because we're lacking of people for translations. We're already doing SM Analyses (OU / UU / Monotype) and SS Analyses (OU / UU / Monotype) which is a lot to be honest. At the same time, we're doing translations for "Articles" and Spotlights which are posted almost every day on Facebook. If you want to talk about this or join the project, feel free to DM me and I'll answer your questions / give you the link to join our discord !
 
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Hello, one and all! I have some questions about the custom title.

So I had been told that custom titles required badges, maybe they didn’t maybe they do but since I recently gained a badge, I thought I would just go and get a custom title. I was told that I could go to account details. However, it says that my full account details are not currently editable for some reason. Why is this? How do I fix it?
 
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Fusion Flare said:
Hello, one and all! I have some questions about the custom title.

So I had been told that custom titles required badges, maybe they didn’t maybe they do but since I recently gained a badge, I thought I would just go and get a custom title. I was told that I could go to account details. However, it says that my full account details are not currently editable for some reason. Why is this? How do I fix it?
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From the Name & Profile Requests thread:
Kalalokki said:
you will be profile locked for a month after getting a new name. Remember to ask a Super Moderator or Admin to remove the lock after a month, it will not come off automatically;
  • naturally, this is a month after the change was carried out, not a month after you posted your request.
  • do not post here asking to unlock your profile "when my month is over in 3 days", if we want to go through the thread before then we're not gonna wait for you, and if we go through it later then there was no point in posting ahead of time in the first place.
  • Include a link to your name change request when you ask for your profile to be unlocked.
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So post there if it's been a month
 
At what elo can I say I'm good at gen 8 ou?

Clicking OU ladder shows 500 names, does that mean ~1710 is low ladder?

Just wanna know when I can (legitimately) start bragging to my friends
 
tubitr said:
At what elo can I say I'm good at gen 8 ou?

Clicking OU ladder shows 500 names, does that mean ~1710 is low ladder?

Just wanna know when I can (legitimately) start bragging to my friends
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There isn't a simple or uhh correct answer to this, but what I will say is that ELO doesn't mean all that much. You can go on a losing streak and drop from 1800 to 1500 ELO in half an hour with a stream of bad luck, and similarly you can go from 1500 to 1800 ELO if you go on a lucky streak. The stat that judges skill much better is next to your ELO -- your GXE. GXE calculates how likely it is that you will win against an average player in a battle. It's never 100% and very rarely even 90% due to the variability of Pokémon (specifically, getting haxxed to death lmao), but tbh I think you can say that you're truly good at a tier or metagame if you have over 80% GXE.

The most "formal" or perhaps "correct" answer is that if your account could vote in a suspect test, which if it has more than 50 games played on it requires a GXE of 79% or higher, then you're certainly good. For a full breakdown of how it works, check here (I just used ZU because I know they're having a suspect test right now, it's the same in every tier). Maybe it could be fun to start an alt account and see if you would qualify for reqs at some point just for fun ^^
 
if defog didnt removed hazards from your own side before xy but removed your own hazards after why wasnt defog viable before xy?
 
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Sorry for the text wall, but I'm running into an issue with spoilers. How can I make it so that a spoiler end so that this doesn't happen?
 
Amour Du Risque said:
Hello I can't see the like button near the reply button on other's posts, how can I fix that?
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Can you screenshot? This sounds like an odd problem.

Gooie_Weeggie said:
I have a question regarding the sprites myself: Can you put them in the name of a Spoiler?
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I don’t know the answer so I’ll test it right now and we’ll see what happens
it should show :mantine:

Edit: unfortunately not, by the looks of it.
 
hello! I made my account minutes ago and I'm really lost and don't know where to do what. I'm looking for a place where I can just discuss national dex in general and was wondering if anyone could help. (I'm so sorry if this is the wrong place for this question)
 
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