Competitive Pokémon is a completely different ballgame from a normal playthrough of any of the main games. To put it simply: it is hard and confusing to understand! There’s so many different things you have to be aware of and figure out if you want your Pokémon to even be competitively viable to start. From there, you have a plethora of all sorts of strategies your opponent might pull on you that you have to be aware of, in addition to familiarizing yourselves with clauses and rules. The competitive scene has a variety of different bans and rules that you have to follow, which is what we’ll be discussing in this article regarding 15 pro-level Pokémon tips you can use competitively. Along with that, we’ll be talking about 10 strategies that are no longer allowed in the metagame.
Through its generations, the competitive scene shifts drastically. This is due to new Pokémon, new mechanics, new items being implemented, or a variety of other reasons, so you’ll often find tried and tested competitive mainstays being banned from play.
Not everyone can be a Pokémon Master, but these help put players in the right direction.
25 Banned: Using Swagger
That’s right, the move Swagger, which raises the opponent’s attack stat sharply, but also confuses them, is banned in competitive play.
This is because if you stack this move with other status effects, I mean it’s just cheap and the opponent might not be able to attack at all, the raised stat makes it damage itself even more. It’s just a cheap tactic that really nobody is here for. In this case, not having swag is probably a good thing.
24 Allowed: Primal Reversion + Mega Evolution
One powerful strategy that is often used in the competitive scene is the use of Primal Reversion.
While Primal Kyogre and Groudon are both powerful Pokémon in their own right, the fact that they use Primal Reversion, rather than Mega Evolution, to evolve means that you can use Mega Evolution with another team member as well, allowing for two huge forces to be present on the team at once. This is almost a necessity in the competitive scene if you’re hoping to have a viable team.
23 Banned: Using The Same Species
One tactic that is banned in the competitive scene is having two or more of the same species of Pokémon on your team. I mean it makes sense, running a team of four Bidoof is simply just too much power at once.
Besides the fact that this type of play would lead to tons of imbalance among teams, it would also just be kind of boring to watch. This banned tactic does make quite a bit of sense.
22 Allowed: Mega Kangaskhan
Another great choice for your competitive team is Mega Kangaskhan. This is due to the massive signature ability of the Pokémon, Parental Bond.
While it has now been nerfed to 25%, the original ability allowed for each attack to be a multi-hit move, with the second strike being 50% as powerful as the first. It allows moves that have effects, such as Power-Up Punch, to activate twice. I wish Parental Bond worked on my paychecks.
21 Banned: Shadow Tag Wobbuffet
An absolute monster made out of what seems to be Jell-O, we have Wobbuffet. While its stats are, well, woeful, it is only allowed to be played in Ubers. This is because of its ability, Shadow Tag, which traps opposing Pokémon from switching out.
When you pair this with its moveset, which can only reflect moves back at the opponent, along with forcing it into using the same move, it is kind of spooky. But, considering it also has a base stats of like, five or something (besides HP) all around, playing it in Ubers is a massive risk to take.
20 Allowed: Other Shadow Taggers
On the other hand, other Shadow Taggers are allowed in more tiers. While the ability is basically defective on Wobbuffet, it’s actually a normal ability that has a variety of niches on other picks. For example, Gothitelle, usually a PU Pokémon, actually has a viable Ubers niche when using Shadow Tag.
Hilariously, it is a check to the god Arceus. From PU to striking down the creator of the universe, that’s the type of glo-up I’m still waiting on, honestly.
19 Banned: Mega Rayquaza
Ahhhh, the boi that broke the meta, we have Mega Rayquaza. This Pokémon actually Mega Evolves from the use of a (very good) move instead of through a held item, meaning this beast can hold any item it wants and still Mega Evolve.
Mega Rayquaza is a ridiculously defective Pokémon because of this, making this Mega the first Pokémon to ever be banned from Ubers. Oh, but don’t worry, it only gets better, read on to the next entry.
18 Allowed: Also Mega Rayquaza
Mega Rayquaza was banned from Ubers, yes, which in turn, actually created a new, higher tier than Ubers, AG (Anything Goes). This tier is kind of wild.
Only one restriction isn’t lifted, endless battles (we’ll talk about that a bit later), but other than that, as the title states, anything else goes! While Mega Rayquaza is literally the ONLY Pokémon that is actually placed in this tier, but there are a few other Pokémon that can find their way into it. I just find it hilarious that this ICON was so cheeky to the point that he formed his OWN tier. A legend, honestly.
17 Allowed: Smeargle And Sketch
Smeargle is a one of a kind Pokémon as its signature move, Sketch, can be used to copy any move (besides a select few) in the game. This is obviously a huge boon to Smeargle’s viability in the meta as he can copy signature moves that would work amazingly well together.
You can craft essentially any strategy you want with Smeargle, and if you can predict your opponent correctly, they’re in for a world of hurt. Or, you can just have four copies of flail live your best life.
16 Banned: Evasion-Boosting Moves
To this day, I have to spam Double Team if I even want a chance to beat Cynthia in Gen 4, which is a reason why moves that boost evasion are banned in competitive play.
Spamming Double Team (a.k.a the only competitive strategy that I have been able to execute successfully, so far) is boring to watch, play, and is a cheap way to clinch a victory. I mean, it’s the only way I can pull out a victory, but there’s a reason I literally can’t even compete in the PU tier.
15 Allowed: Soul Dew
Originally, Soul Dew was essentially the big oof (I can’t believe that’s a sentence I just wrote). The item, when held by Latias and Latios, boosted their special attack and defense by 50%. It was an incredible item that was banned everywhere.
Now, in the new generation of games, the item boosts psychic and dragon type moves used by the duo by 20%. While it still isn’t anything to sneeze at, it in no way holds the power it once did, but hey, I mean, at least you can use it now.
14 Allowed: Bottle Cap Usage
Bottle Caps are GREAT. As a person who (yes, I’m going to continue to bring myself up throughout this list) has always seen competitive play as something hard to jump into, this is one item that really helps lower the barrier to entry.
Bottle Caps allow the Pokémon that use them to act as if they have perfect IVs; thus, they can’t pass on the stats through breeding, but it will make them technically 100% competitive ready and will make the grind to find suitable Pokémon all but eliminated.
13 Banned: Causing Double Sleepers
The Sleep Clause deems that you automatically lose if at the end of your turn, two of your opponent’s Pokémon are asleep by your doing. Having one asleep is obviously fine, but any more means you lose.
This is a smart rule, as putting every Pokémon to sleep is another one of those cheap methods to try and take a win any way you can. Wigglytuff, this might be the reason why you’re barely slugging it out in PU. Best of luck.
12 Allowed: Using Trick Room
Trick Room is a staple in the competitive field. The move lasts for 5 turns and allows the slowest Pokémon to attack first, save for priority moves. This allows big powerhouses that might move a bit slower to get huge hits off first.
While it’s worth weighing if you’re willing to give up an attack to use the move (support Pokémon tend to be the one to carry the move), overall, it is a very effective strategy that can help turn the tide in battle.
11 Allowed: EV Training
EV Training is the bread and butter of competitive Pokémon battling! Depending on what Pokémon you battle to level up your own, they will gain different EVs that will increase stats such as defense, attack, or special attack.
There are also all sorts of modifications to this training process like items that will increase EV yields, and your Pokémon being infected with a disease that doubles the amount of EVs gained called Pokérus. If you want to get into competitive battling, EV Training is a must.
10 Banned: Moody Ability
Moody is probably the most defective ability in Pokémon. At the end of every turn, the Pokémon who has this ability will have one stat raised by two stages, and one lowered by one.
While it could technically cost you the game with bad luck, having even okay luck could lead to a clean sweep of your opponent’s Pokémon, which makes sense why this ability is completely banned in the competitive scene. Granted, almost no Pokémon have this ability (half of them are the Bidoof line)… but still.
9 Allowed: Egg Moves
Egg Moves are often moves that can be learned by Pokémon exclusively through breeding. While the mechanics have changed from generation to generation, currently, both the mother and father Pokémon have the ability to pass down moves to their offspring that they might not generally learn in other ways. As a result, breeding has become a hugely important part of the metagame.
You want to get the best IV parents you can to breed, so they will pass down Egg Moves to give you a competitively strong offspring. Look, I hatched 700 eggs for a shiny Eevee, I get it guys. I really do.
8 Allowed: Mimikyu And Disguise
Disguise is the signature ability of the Generation 7 Mimikyu, and oh boy, it’s a good one. While there are a lot of small tidbits to consider when using the ability, to make a long story short, Disguise will completely negate the damage of one attack used against Mimikyu.
This immediately makes Mimikyu a strong contender for the competitive field as this strategy can be used to essentially negate big moves from powerhouse Pokémon, as long as you can predict your opponent’s attacks correctly.
7 Banned: Excessive Baton Passing
Baton Passing, in a nutshell, is boosting stats with one Pokémon and then switching out to another Pokémon that keeps those same boosts. One of the biggest competitive strategies used to be Baton Passing from one Pokémon to another, over and over until you got a monster at the end of the passes capable of sweeping everything.
While you can still Baton Pass in the current meta, it’s to a much more limited capacity that still has its uses, but isn’t what it once was.
6 Allowed: Ash-Greninja
Ash-Greninja is one of the weird cases where the anime and the games overlap. To make a long story short, you can get Ash’s actual Greninja in the game through an old Sun and Moon demo event.
When this Pokémon feints another Pokémon, it turns into a powered-up Ash-Greninja that has higher base stats and a beefed-up Water Shuriken. Yeah, the whole thing is bizarre, but if it works, it works.
