Why Turns Are EVERYTHING - The Salamence Theorem

foreign [Music] gaming theorems to this point have been all about the many facets of the Pokemon that shaped the game however today we're going to cover arguably the most essential of all the turn-based format the mechanism through which all of these aspects must go through the importance of each individual turn shapes so many aspects of the game it's why weather setting abilities are better than weather setting moves you don't have to take a turn to manually set it up it's why Pokemon that are immediately powerful are more dangerous than Pokemon that need a setup in order to pose a threat but consequently the one turn of setup is potentially so valuable because the boosted Pokemon could instantly end the game if given the chance the turn-based aspect of the game doesn't just shape meta games but in battle decisions as well don't give the opponent a turn to use recover find a turn to get that extra layer of spikes make the most of the limited turns you have when dealing with the ticking clock that is passive damage even those turns that might seem minimally important or close to inconsequential often wind up having a huge effect on the battle today we're going to examine key elements of the game that most exemplify that turns are in fact everything or what we would call the Salamence theorem but before we start once again I need to talk to the guys in the room because this video is sponsored by manscape the global men's Lifestyle brand that's disrupting the beard Market you may know manscape for their Cutting Edge ball trimmer but now manscape finally has a beard trimmer introducing the beard hedger Pro kit need to make a good impression or just want to look Suave for its own sake then start with your facial hair the beard hedger trimmer has a powerful 7200 RPM Motor and titanium coated t-blade that can cut through the thickest of hair in a single stroke it's even got different settings as you can choose from 20 different cutting lengths with the zoom wheel 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Spec's Pokemon can immediately threaten the KO against something they otherwise wouldn't be able to or just as crucially to hit keola switching by not needing to set up these Pokemon limit the opponent's window of turns for being able to deal with them this has all manner of application whether it's repeatedly bludgeoning the opponent until they collapse in the face of the immediate power they cannot keep up with or forcing a KO dealing as much damage in as a few turns as possible it's not just power boosting either scarf Pokemon can threaten chaos or status or Hazard removal or whatever else one might need against opposing Pokemon that would otherwise kill them first through there would be higher speed this is absolutely enormous in the eternal struggle of dealing with offensive threats or in creating cleanup sweeps in late game scenarios regardless of the details of how they are used the turn efficient Power of Choice items creates opportunities and turns with unmatched immediacy maximizing value across minimal turns thus making them into just about the perfect Exemplar of the importance individual turns have on a battle the uniqueness and strength of choice items is so useful it's worth the fact that they have the incredibly restrictive drawback of locking their user into the first move they use each time they switch in Choice items have been at the Forefront of every metagame in existence this Choice band was invented in gen 3. and specs and scarf were added in the subsequent generation so where does salomons come in it has used each of the three Choice items to great effect at different points in its competitive career in Generation 3 it quickly showed the effectiveness of choice bench sure the power level was lower relative to that of later generations since established none other than hidden power flying but men still pack the punch it's strength Lane not an immediate meta game ravaging power but instead in its ability to batter away at the opponent with repeated heavy hits until they collapse under the continuous pressure of its Onslaught in generation 4 men's would occasionally Don Choice specs launching obscenely powerful Draco meters that instantly smashed through just about everything while also reaping the benefits of strength and coverage from fire blast and the more surprising Hydro pumps finally in generation 5 it took advantage of its newly gained Moxie ability to become one of the scariest choice scarfers in the game on the defensive side it's great natural power speed and typing let it check many dangerous threats such as Volcarona but what made it so potent was the attack boost it gained upon koing and opposing Pokemon which meant it could and often did snowball into an Unstoppable late game sweeper and one that didn't need to set up in order to do so the instant speed was all that it needed of course Choice items is downside of locking into a single move at a time means that their user will be forced out quite easily of course non-choice Pokemon are forced out all the time as well but whereas the Boost of choice items created certain turn opportunities that otherwise wouldn't be there for their users so too did their move locks create turn opportunities that otherwise wouldn't be there for their opponents sure Tyranitar might threaten to obliterate Gyarados with Stone Edge but if it was Choice locked into superpower Gyarados would have a turn for the freest Dragon Dance in the world the Instant Power of Choice items limit the turns in which defensive responses are viable but on the flip side passive damage exists especially entry hazards and in some generations permanent Sandstorm this limits the turns in which Choice Pokemon which are forced to switch view of their move lock are able to threaten their powerful moves incidentally this is why protect is such a powerful move of course passive damage does not exclusively limit Choice Pokemon their Hit and Run play style is the most prone to getting worn down uncomfortably quickly yes but other Pokemon offensive and defensive alike are just as susceptible in having their turns both short and long term limited by the presence of passive damage however though offensive exceptions exist defensive Pokemon by their nature of needing to stick around long term are generally more able to go the distance in the face of passive damage than their offensive counterparts generally through a combination of typing and Longevity think Skarmory Gliscor clefable toxics thus as Choice items maximize damage over minimal turns passive damage minimizes the opportunity for such turns something like Choice specs tapulele would be obscenely difficult to deal with repeatedly without any sort of passive damage wearing it down but the mere presence of the neutral Stealth Rock despite its neutrality makes it infinitely more palatable where does Salamence fit into this well it is famously vulnerable to passive damage it is the single biggest weakness holding it back from crushing everything in sight even more than its notable quadruple ice weakness even before Stealth Rock existed gen 3 men's had its struggles in this regard thanks to the omnipresence of permanent Sandstorm this most notably limited its recovery less Choice band set of course to such drastic extents that it often necessitated wish support from Blissey or Jirachi to offset it however even sand canceling leftovers holding sets were significantly affected by it it meant every little hit whether an intimidate weekend Heracross brick break or an innocuous Celebi leech seat would stick to it of course was Gen 4 came around meant his opportunity to wreak havoc were limited greatly by Stealth Rock funnily enough on rare occasion in gen 3 men's could actually use an effective physically defensive wish protect toxic set which took turns from physical attackers like nobody's business and reveled in using passive damage to limit opposing Pokemon's turns when we play single player we don't bother setting up hazards weather dual screen stat boosters even trick room they are generally wasted in our fights against the elite four not to say that there aren't those Among Us who didn't get tactical once in a while when making our way through them but by and large turn spent setting up our turns wasted it's more effective to Simply plow ahead with attacks the competitive scene though necessitates more Nuance of course turn setting up can still be wasted if you Swords Dance with Lucario as the opponent switches to their counter in gliscore you have effectively wasted a turn barring the highly unlikely incredibly rare scenario that you want to sacrifice through Lucario to get a plus two extreme speed off on gliscore on the other hand setup moves also bring incredible reward that same Source that's Lucario if positioned and timed correctly is a game-winning machine simply finding the opportunity to get that Source test takes skill many Pokemon aiming to boost their stats do not do so entirely freely even suicune calm minding on Heatran risks the possibility of heat ran staying in and exploding if Farr prefers getting a combine on the switch as heat ran flees from it this is why setup Pokemon love the presence of choice items on the opposing team if the opponent is going to reap the benefits of high-powered or fast moves they will lock into a move that can guarantee free setup the power of free turns to generate setup is so powerful it forms a large part of wobbuffet's role in gen for Ubers yes its primary purpose is to trap and KO opposing Pokemon with the combination of Shadow attack alongside counter and Miracle but it also uses Shadow attack alongside Encore a potentially Safeguard of the move being on court is status like giratina's willowist to lock the opponent into a non-threatening move just so the devastating storage that's Rayquaza can get a same opportunity it would otherwise struggle to find you probably know where this is going Dragon Dance has been a staple Salomon set ever since gen 3. turning it into one of the most frightening Pokemon around all it needs is that one turn and the game might well be over perfectly exemplifying the concept as such players will fight tooth and nail to either get it that one turn or to prevent it from getting that one turn both can be challenging given mensa's many weaknesses and strengths and the stakes are incredibly High given the damage Mensch will leave in its wake if it manages to do this thing as it so often does dealing with a Pokemon whose moveset you know can already be challenging enough something like yoshifu doesn't need to surprise you to Bull you over with its ludicrous strain however when there is a Pokemon that can attack you with multiple sets specifically multiple sets whose answers are different and you don't know which set it's running the first turn it's out can be devastating you don't know which Pokemon you should use to deal with the opposition yet you can make an educated guess based on the opponent's team composition play style and so forth but you cannot be sure especially against good opponents who can flip the most reasonable educated guesses on their head like using an offensive deoxy speed on a team where it seems like it'd be a hazard lead and that's what makes that initial turn so terrifying it doesn't have to be completely different sets either though it's still going to bombard you with Draco meters either way something as simple as not knowing if the opposing Latios is Spec's scarf or another item can really thwart even well-prepared teams since all it needs is to capitalize on that one turn the first one where the uncertainty lends an extra element of danger to its already and enormous Threat Level salamis is the poster Pokemon for this concept During the period of generation 4 where players fiercely debated whether it was healthy for OU or not with the ultimate conclusion of course being that it was definitely not one thing was agreed upon salomez wasn't just incredibly powerful it was also diverse in how it attacked opponents and that made facing it difficult to unreasonable extremes it's mixed set's greatest weapon was Draco meter while its Dragon Dead Set Unleashed a ferocious outrage not knowing which side of the spectrum it was going to attack you on was horrifying you switch a physical wall like hippodon or Swampert and hoping to stop the dragon dancer from sweeping and they'd get melted by meteor you try to absorb Draco meter with Blissey or heat ran and in Dragon Dance and destroy you of course Mintz was so strong that it was leaving immense damage in its wake but the first turn Factor made it far too tough to take on on best case you took huge damage worst case you lost the whole game Beyond these highlighted specifics of the game turns are the truest essence of competitive Pokemon because maneuvering them is what skill is and this is seen in every aspect of the game from making the moves in battle to setting up situations through choices in the team Builder it's why speed is such an important stat if you can go first you often have the advantage to start out a turn whether it's threatening a KO status or simply something like using taunt to prevent an opposing Hazard or healing move higher speed generates opportunities which generates turns it's why Salamence is so much more terrifying than Dragonite in generation 4 despite the two being nearly equal in power it's much faster it's one major reason Mega Metagross was so broken in gen 7. after not quite getting there in Gen 6 the new mega evolving mechanics meant it instantly had the 350 speed of its megaforb as opposed to its first turn as a mega leaving it at the 262 of its Base Four which meant it could get its Mega off far more easily and be threatening right off the bat of course even this speed dependence can be inverted not just through the obvious example of trick room think of the Endless turn Slowking gets to teleport into its teammates with the negative priority of the move actually allowing it to consistently quote unquote win the turn so to speak and why does Slowking in particular use teleport so well because it generates you guessed it turns over and over with its incredible bulk and typing to switch into opposing moves while easily keeping itself healthy with regenerator and slack off the importance of turns is seen in quite literally everything down to teams of strategies slow teams are scarier the more turns the game goes as they are built to last meanwhile atheist teams do not want the game stretching out over more turrets they are focused on overrunning the opponent before they can respond shorter games are generally more volatile which is why many top players often prefer to stretch the game out over a higher number of turns speaking of short games we'll dip into VGC for a second whose 4v4 doubles format has wound up making it famous for the small number of turns in its battles it is a perfect example of how crucial each turn is but perhaps the most hilarious example would be how despite many attempts to remove their debilitating abilities through teammate tactics like skill Swap and worry seed slacking and Reggie gigas were still unviable in VGC until gallerian wheezing's neutralizing gas ability became available to them because that was automatic yes the one turn necessary to remove their abilities manually was too long to say nothing of how it could be disrupted more easily of course each turret is crucial even in longer games especially tight ones where both players are scrapping for each small Advantage they can get in conclusion sometimes we tend to overlook turns in the early game while game states are still being set in motion but the way they set things up for the later more defined aspects of the battle are often just as crucial the best players are those who know how hugely important each turn is and make the most of them not just in the battle but in the team Builder beforehand making choices so as to maximize the options they will have on each turn right from turn one thanks for watching everyone and as always if you liked the video and you 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 Pokemon or strategies do you think either are too powerful because they only take one turn to set up or are too weak because they take too many turns whatever it is let me know in the comments also thank you so much to our patrons for continued support of our videos and thank you to everyone else watching as well [Music] foreign [Music] social media platforms and that's all I got see you next time everyone [Music] foreign

Channel: False Swipe Gaming

Views: 344,536

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, Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet

Id: sSOFNggD2Q4

Length: 16min 10sec (970 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 22 2023