Why High Stats Aren't Everything - The Quagsire Theorem

foreign competitive Pokemon is by and large dominated by the types of Pokemon you'd expect those with multiple excellent useful stats this is most easily exemplified by legendaries mythicals and pseudo legendaries but there are plenty of so-called quote unquote regular Pokemon that fit the build just as well for example Pokemon like ferrothorne extra Joe or Slowbro art legendary mythical or pseudo legendary but they've been among the best most consistent Pokemon from multiple Generations Pokemon that succeed in the competitive scene generally have one or two really really high stats but also have a balanced set of stats across the board even something like Kyurem black and its hilariously High 170 bass attack are supported by solid bulk speed and special attack but there are some Pokemon who succeed despite not having any of that but before we get to that customize your browser like you customize your teams because this video is sponsored by Opera GX and I'm so glad to be sponsored by 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when it's not use Opera gx's quick import tool and import all your browser history bookmarks cookies you name it in less than a minute also Opera GX is compatible with every Chrome extension so get a browser that is literally better at everything by using my link in the description below and download Opera GX for free so what then is the Quagsire theorem well it's rarer but sometimes there are Pokemon that are fixtures in the competitive scene despite not being very impressive statistically in fact they're so unimpressive the fact that they succeed it can often baffle players how are they struggling with a Pokemon with a base that spread more in line with lower tiers where such Pokemon often reside even temporarily despite their OU viability this is one of the things that makes competitive Pokemon so interesting though it's not just about the stats while they are of course important it's about a Confluence of factors from typing to ability to move pull and sometimes these come together with such impact that overcome the stats and launched their Pokemon to Star status why is it named after Quagsire one because Quagsire is a perfect example of this concept two because quackstar rules which is all the reason anyone should need and then some and there's a third reason which you'll see later today we're exploring Pokemon with unimpressive stat spreads using a general guideline of not having any base stats of or higher than base 100 that regardless managed to find heavy combat additive success in the higher tiers we call this the Quagsire theorem when it comes to the Pokemon it's surrounded by in the higher tiers clef key stats aren't just lower they're outright bad it's a defensive Pokemon with an aggressively underwhelming base 57 HP we'll find the Rotom appliances have even lower HP than that and they're excellent but cleft key doesn't have the defensive stats they do it's base 87 special defense while decent in its own right is it enough to compensate for that low HP or so it would seem clef key stats aren't amazing but they are just good enough in conjunction with this amazing type superb utility move pull and prankster ability for cleft key to do what it's supposed to do perfectly and what exactly did it do well cleft Key's most well-known appearance was in XY and oras Ubers it didn't just have a small Niche though it was one of the best most popular defining and important Pokemon in the tier a tear staple on par with or even ahead of the huge stat legendaries whose image Ubers was created in part of what made it so good was that it was entirely unique in the combination of traits it brought to the table but the most important by by far was its ability to reliably answer the single most terrifying Pokemon in the game geomancy Xerneas it switched into all of zern's unboosted moves quite decently and threatened the sweet ruining Thunder Wave in return as Xerneas switched out it would be punished with the spikes cleft key laid down making its next switch in and set up more difficult turning the scariest sweeper around into Spike spotter only clef key could do that now klefki wasn't a hard counter to Xerneas in and of itself in the event Xerneas decided to stay in and Slug It Out but it didn't need to be should Xerneas attempt that it still finds itself paralyzed and therefore vulnerable to a huge portion of the tier especially since after the paralysis clefty had the option of chipping it down further with the play rough that was boosted by xerneas's own fairy aura the same playoff that prevented substitute Xerneas from avoiding that all-important thunderway alternatively if the follow-up answer to Xerneas didn't need the extra chip clef key could throw down some spikes even restocks Xerneas wouldn't get the job done that's what klefki's heel block was for as if answering Xerneas and laying spikes wasn't enough cleft key levers is resist distance late in typing and prankster Thunder Wave to switch in on and threaten several more of the scariest Pokemon around Darkrai yoveltal Mewtwo and the lady twins with the ladies being especially relevant since they were the most common defoggers around and klefki spiked in their faces with ease cleft Key's prankster thunderwave could threaten anything from Mega Gengar to Mega salamance and its Spike supported its teammates beautifully making them even more threatening this was Far and Away clef Key's greatest Niche but it had others it popped up near the end of XY OU to counter mega Gardevoir which was shredding the tier with ease and to lay the spikes which were gaining traction it also occasionally appeared in auras with magnet rise and Foul Play turning the tables on a seemingly perfect answer Excadrill finally even though gen 7's prankster Nerf meant klefki could no longer Thunder Wave dark types like Yveltal and t-wave itself also got nerfed to 90 accuracy and having the opponent's speed as opposed to its previous 100 and quartering respectively and there was also an incredible new steel fairy type magearna klefki still managed a decent niche in gen 7 Ubers its presence in Gen 6 Ubers though was one of a kind perfectly Illustrated that even in the strongest metagame out there stats are in everything foreign typing with Lugia but that's about it it's outright poor bulk is exacerbated by nasty weaknesses to Stealth Rock and pursuit while its offenses aren't exactly noteworthy even in the lower tiers and its loophole isn't anything to write home about either however true to the Quagsire theorem xatu has just the right attributes in just the right places which it can use to carve out the slightest Niche for itself its standout trait is of course its magic bounce ability bouncing back all manner of utility is useful from status to leech seat to taunt to phasing but its primary function is the blocking of Entry hazards one of the most important components of competitive singles being able to deny hazards opens so many possibilities and opportunities in both team building and the battle itself and nowhere is this unclear display then zlatu's most prominent appearance Gen 5 OU where it becomes a sun team staple without hazards its teammate dugster was free to run Focus stash while Volcarona was one of the most ludicrously threatening Pokemon around when unimpeded by rocks zatsu had no problem completely shutting down the tier spikers Ferrothorn and Skarmory this was absolutely excellent given how much of Gen 5 OU revolved around spikes zatu especially enjoyed facing Pharaoh on raid teams since it'd almost always be the team's stealth rocker as well however zatsu had a problem other stealth rockers were far far more difficult for it to deal with after all it was weak to Tyranitar totally blanked by heat ran and none too enthused about facing Landorus Tyrion either those were just the bulky rockers too something more offensive like Guard Shop or Terrakion forget it zatsu didn't need to beat all of these on its own though what made it so good was the way its traits worked in conjunction with its teammates its weaknesses could even be turned into advantages this was most apparent in the Tyranitar matchup sure Tyranitar dominated zatsu one-on-one in a nutshell but with Rocky helmet zatsu completely flipped the script each time Tyranitar crunched satu it would take significant ship damage zatu was just bulky enough to where it could force several crunches with Roost too and if it managed to get a reflect up it could even win zatsu didn't need to beat Tyranitar itself though just chip and low enough for his teammate Doug chiro to pick off afterwards ensuring the weather war was won for the sun team it was similarly effective against Heatran if Heatran ever wanted to actually kill zatsu it'd be punished with a ducktrio trap afterwards zatu's deceptive bulk meant it was surprisingly Adept at taking on Landers Therian too not Ironclad but good enough to allow for leeway and playing against it and with Rocky helmet and Nightshade AKA even mess with Garchomp enough for Doug Cheryl to finish the job to give an idea of how bulky Max defense zotu was it was overwhelmingly favored to survive a Terrakion Stone Edge from full health as a nice side bonus zaltu also completely countered the massively irritating brellu zatu's Hazard blocking was so infuriatingly reliable that it was a major contributing factor to why sunteams wound up being broken if you could beat them with hazards it's hard to imagine them getting Nerf via badge the way they were repeatedly talk about bypassing your low stats effectively other than that Niche Gen 5 Ubers teams generally preferred Espeon as a magic bouncer far higher speed and offensive capability but zatu's access to turn one of the best moves in the game also gave it a niche and that's here which was famously Hazard heavy furthermore hyper offense teams so oras OU briefly enjoyed zatsu for both its fast-paced Hazard blocking and the dual screens it was set enabling threats like Mega Charizard X with particularly terrifying efficiency however Gen 5 OU was where zatu really shown as a consistently legit part of the metagame fiercely wrangling as much value as possible out of its low stats any way it could including sacrificing itself foreign on this list with a single base stat over 100 which ordinarily would disqualify it from contention but we're making an exception because in the generation specified it doesn't even use that base 102 attack set okay so it could slide in Focus punch and Jenny for Blissey but in practice it usually didn't on account of wanting several other generally more useful moves even if it wanted to mess with blissly it generally preferred taunt which was a more valuable move overall so for all intents and purposes Nino King was a pure special attacker and that was just gen 8. anyway in seven and six and never even thought of the move since it just bounced off the Evo light Chansey that was the preferred special Walling block so we feel justified in nidoking's inclusion here what would be a thoroughly underwhelming base 85 special attack stat by OE Sanders skyrockets into one of the scariest struts around when bolstered by nidoking's many other excellent attributes first its move full is overflowing with outstanding choices it is perfectly poised to crush most walls with its stabs and Ice Beam sludge wave shreds bulky fairies and grasses while earth power tears through Steels and toxic packs and Ice Beam ensures it has zero problems with any ground flying types Walling the two moves it can bolster this coverage further with Thunderball to really lay into Waters or flamethrower to effortlessly smash the likes of ferathor both moves ensure a crushes steel flying types too its coverage is so good with just stabs and Ice Beam though that it doesn't even need that last attack it can delve into utility such as with the aforementioned taut or toxic spikes letting it support itself and or its team against annoying Pokemon like Chansey or most commonly substitute which ruins any attempt to play around Nidoking with prediction with substitute you can't pivot in a faster Pokemon on a move it resists to threatening it out anymore the safety of the sub means it's always going to blast whatever it's facing with the strongest move possible which usually means a KO but wait what if that base 85 special attack super effective coverage is great but you've got to have more than that well that's where needle King's amazing sheer force ability comes in removing the secondary effects of moves that have them but giving them a massive boost in power that's not all either as Needle King gets even stronger with lifeform which it runs without drawback as any move boosted by sheer force will not take life or recoil thus Nino King has amazing raw strain ensuring even neutral targets get hit incredibly hard forget taking its sludge waves at all decently with Rotom wash for example but with the huge number of Pokemon it hits super effectively it becomes a one-hit KO machine what makes Nino King especially threatening is that it has terrific defensive typing for an offensive Pokemon is resistant to Stealth Rock immune to Thunder Wave and toxic and even absorbs toxic spikes upon switching in which is massively helpful team support it can't be worn down by Sandstorm and it can take some actual attacking moves as well most notably boasting and Immunity to Vault switch and resist to moonblast and so Nidoking has been one of the most feared wall breakers in OU for the last several Generations it's been in thank you clefable often vexes players because they don't understand why it takes so little damage from everything base 95 HP is good but 90 special defense doesn't seem like it can make it as bulky as it is and that applies even more so to its 73 defense how is it that a Pokemon with this defensive profile is so unkillable of course the first answer is Magic card it's easy to remain a pristine hit taking condition when you don't have to worry about entry Hazard or status damage the second answer is soft boiled making it even easier for clefable to stay healthy however clefable also does have to take actual hits and that it does with a plum demonstrating that those seemingly low stats actually have quite some heft to them it helps that clefable is far from passive if it was an unthreatening blob Allah something like Cresselia it wouldn't matter that you can't immediately overwhelm it with damage you just keep hitting it however clefable's excellent move pull makes it quite threatening in its own right which means you've got to hit it hard and do it quickly and therein lies the issue in most cases clefables bulk gets the job done within the window you have to over overwhelm it without being ruined in return even many super effective hits like bishop and extra Joe Ironhead aren't threatening it for a one-hit KO and clefable can do some nasty stuff if you give it that opportunity too which is quite difficult to avoid the example of its boat goes as far back as Gen 4 before it had the resistances of the fairy typing to bolster its defensive profile further before that it was a normal type it had just about nothing in the way of useful resistances it was neutral to everything and still devoured hits with ease it then did the same things it did as a fairy type it set up rocks and spread Thunder Wave and knock off it could threaten with combine and or its special coverage moves and maybe even recoil less life form it had all manner of superb utility and wish and Encore and heal Bell in gen 8 it became renowned for how easily it passed wish to its teammates through teleport of course one can't speak too highly about Magic Guard which gave clefable terrific utility and outlasting slower paced opponents while keeping it healthy enough to withstand hits from faster ones this was the backbone of its viability as a staple and gents four six seven and eightou Magic card was so good it even gave normal type clefable niches in the higher powered meta games of Gen 5 OU and Gen 4 Ubers however clefable did occasionally use its other ability unaware in OU and Ubers in both Gen 6 and 8. it wasn't quite the same as his Magic Guard dominance but it was so useful in its own right especially with how scary Xerneas was but as far as unaware Pokemon go there was another but before we get to it we have to quickly rattle off some honorary mentions first despite its seemingly unimpressive stats Neato Queen's outstanding defensive profile gave it an incredibly important place in Gen 4 OU with its amazing toxic spikes absorption and fighting resistance it alongside the fellow seemingly low stats lower tier Pokemon clefable which is so commonly partnered up with completely changed the face of Defense in the tier and forced offense to adapt in a major way second several Pokemon with poor or unimpressive stats spreads have been launched through huge viability or even Brokenness in OU by virtue of their abilities dog Trio and gothatel have brutal trapping capabilities and nine tells polytone and peloper set weather finally gastrodon has had a long time history in lower tiers only to repeatedly show up and dominate OU sometimes even making appearances in Ubers gastro's viability is often attached purely to storm drain's buff in Gen 5 which has made it as good as it has been for so long but it also was an effective choice but the trick and knock-off blocking effect of sticky holding Gen 4 OU however gastrodon's base HP is way too high to consider it a true Exemplar of this theorem as opposed to laughs this theorem's namesake is now synonymous with the unaware ability especially given its fittingly content vacant expression but quackstar was doing great things as far back as Generation 4 with its water absorbability upon receiving recovery and hard gold and soul silver it could finally make the most of its outstanding unique defensive typing it was an amazing water type answer that Shrugged off the obligatory ice coverage with ease giving it an excellent Niche should owe you shrugging off Starmie suicune and Gyarados alike it was also a great answer to several other threats like Zapdos heat red Tyranitar and many variants of Jirachi water absorb quagstar wasn't just good in OU either it worked beautifully in Ubers where it blanked none other than King Kyogre immune to its water stab immune to thunder and just specially bulky enough to shrug off even ice beams what if Kyogre started calm minding well then Quagsire would Encore it and that be that Gen 5 buffing storm drained to include a water immunity meant water absorbed Quagsire was Now outclassed by gastron and OU and Ubers alike but that was just fine as Gen 5 had also bestowed upon plague it's now signature ability unaware is switched over to physical defense and effortlessly sat on the high-powered physical attackers running through the rest of OU even the terrifying likes of Sword snacks extra Joe and dragon Dash Dragonite wouldn't get past quag who ignored their boost and devoured their attacks with ease it could even help against the likes of the famed stall killer combine reuniclist and saving off such monsters boosting sweepers quagsar gave life to stall teams which struggled to withstand the enormous power Gen 5 had brought with it boosting their viability to the point where whether it was sand or rainstalled defense anchored by Quagsire was among the most reliable team Styles in the game quiksar pulled this same trick in Gen 6 oh you Pokemon like Bisharp and Mega Charizard X would ordinarily threaten nearly any defensive Squad but with Flagstar around they were basically non-factors quikstar was a fixture on dedicated stall teams throughout the generation for this reason Flagstar was so good at doing this job that some players even bemoaned its efficiency claiming that it could be unreasonably difficult to break through stall when boosting wasn't an option and X and Y Uber's quikstar also had a niche and while none other than extreme killer Arceus turns out being the god of Pokemon has no effect on those who are ignorant plexar wasn't as much of a stall steeple in gen 7 OU but it still had its place but this was nothing compared to gen 8 Ubers zashian Crown tore through everything in sight with absurd speed and attack with the latter receiving a plus one boost whenever it's switched in who do you call when there's a boosting threat none other than Quagsire of course it ignored the Boost and just barely avoided a two-hit KO making it one of the most reliable checks to one of the most impossible to stop Pokemon in history again this is the real reason quag's tire is number one on this list and has the theorem named after it in three different Generations it has stifled the most dangerous Pokemon in the game and that's it of course stats are important even though quagstar and clefable aren't Giratina tier bulky they still are great hit takers however it's always great to see that you don't need to have obscenely high stats in order to succeed or even to have multiple very good stats this list is comprised of Pokemon who don't break even base 100 in a single stat with the exception of Nidoking and the attacks that it doesn't use it's just a matter of the right traits coming together thanks for watching everyone and as always if you liked the video and want to see more be sure to subscribe to fall swipe gaming for more weekly Pokemon content and in the comments I want to know what do you think about this theorem were there any Pokemon you thought should have been on this list whatever it is let me know in the comments and thank you so much to our patrons for continuing support of our videos and thank you to everyone else watching as well [Music] and follow my crew in these social media platforms and that's all I got see you next time everyone foreign

Channel: False Swipe Gaming

Views: 923,880

Keywords: Pokemon, Pokemon Go, Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue, Pokemon Yellow, Pokemon Gold, Pokemon Silver, Pokemon Crystal, Pokemon Ruby, Pokemon Sapphire, Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Diamond, Pokemon Pearl, Pokemon Platinum, Pokemon Black, Pokemon White, Pokemon X, Pokemon Y, Pokemon Ultra Sun, Pokemon Ultra Moon, Pokemon Sword, Pokemon Shield, Competitive Pokemon, Smogon, VGC, False Swipe Gaming, Quagsire, Rampardos

Id: gEkMi_y3Wzo

Length: 21min 11sec (1271 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 29 2023