Random Matchup Metagame
With the advent of Pokemon Black and White, an option has been created for players around the world to be randomly assigned an opponent. This metagame has very few rules compared to Smogon's metagame. While many prefer the set tiers established by Smogon, random matchup is a place to show off more unique Pokemon and sets and has a host of threats and rules to prepare for. This topic is created primarily for the discussion of the singles metagame.
Random Matchup Rules
As stated, the rules of Random Matchup are fairly few compared to the Standard Metagame. Many players already know them, but I might as well review them here.
Team Rules: You may have as many as six Pokemon with you, as always, but you will only select three after viewing a preview of your opponent's team. All Pokemon on your team will be autoleveled down to level 50 (not leveled up) and species clause is active, you cannot have more than two of the same Pokemon species on your team. No two of the same items are allowed on your team (Item Clause).
Banned Pokemon/ Moves/ Items:
Mewtwo
Mew
Lugia
Ho-Oh
Celebi
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza
Jirachi
Deoxys
Chatot
Dialga
Palkia
Giratina
Phione
Manaphy
Darkrai
Shaymin
Arceus
Victini
Reshiram
Zekrom
Kyurem
Keldeo
Meloetta
Genesect
Sky Drop (Move)
Soul Dew (Item)
**Other than the aforementioned things, anything goes. That means Double Team. One-hit KO moves. Speed Boost Blaziken. Dizzle+Swift Swim. Moody. Garchomp. Multiple Sleeping Pokemon. You name it. While this metagame may seem broken (and at time it definitely is), it present an extra challenge of overcoming more threats.
Random Matchup Strategies
Several things work better in random matchup than standard play, some just as well. I'll go over a few, explaining why they are especially good in random matchup. Here are a few:
Crippling Status: When you have three Pokemon, having any one of them become a dead weight is a huge issue. Any status that slows down, weakens, or otherwise completely stops an opponent is a huge advantage. I'm talking specifically about sleep, paralyze, and burn. Effective moves are Spore, Sleep Powder, Lovely Kiss, Hypnosis, Will-o-wisp, Glare, Thunder Wave, and Stun Spore.
Shuffling: Despite the unfortunate negative priority that comes with these moves, knowing what three Pokemon your opponent has in an amazing advantage. It allows you to better use Choice Users, and status is much more advantageous when you can Paralyze, Sleep, or Burn the entire opposing team with one Pokemon.
Choice Users: While bad in theory (in 3v3), they are somewhat unpredictable. They almost always take another Pokemon down with them, and are much harder to revenge kill because at most only two other Pokemon are left standing to oppose them. Knowing is half the battle, and with only three Pokemon in the game, it's much easier to decide when Garchomp should spam Outrage or hold back, for example.
Frisk/ Trick: Because item clause is in play, good players will find the best ways to use uncommon items to their advantage. You can only have one choice band, one focus sash, one life orb, one choice scarf, etc. Finding out what item the opponent has again grants a much more pertinent advantage in random matchup. Trick is especially useful when used with a scarf, because it again makes an opponent more predictable.
Screens: Battles only tend to last 5-8 turns. Why deny yourself protection for the whole battle? These can be especially useful for offense or bulky offense teams trying to counter the big threats, like Garchomp or Blaziken.
Set-up Sweepers: These can be used earlier in the game, because you only have to sweep three Pokemon to win, and they're even more so useful when you know the opponent's team.
Priority moves: If you keep running into specific threats, keeping priority moves on a team is useful, as you can see, revenging things is difficult.
Notes
If you can think of anymore, post. I know that random matchup is ridden with broken strategies and DCers, but I've found it to be an enjoyable metagame and I'd rather this discussion be about that metagame than any issues you might have with it. Post useful sets/ strategies and cool stuff you might have run into, and if I forgot anything, let me know.
Discuss.
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Originally Posted by asterat
I have claimed Giratina
