A Beginner's Guide to RBY Tradebacks [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2] [HTML-ready!]

Plague von Karma · Apr 22, 2021

Artwork commissioned from RacieBeep!
Approved by shiny finder

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Introduction
The first generation of Pokemon is unique in that it can trade forwards and backwards with Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal via the Time Capsule. This makes it the only generation directly influenced by a future one; most notably, Pokemon can learn moves that normally cannot be obtained. For example, it's possible for Magmar to learn Thunder Punch via TM in GSC, and since this is an existing move in RBY, you can trade it back without any issues. This is also the only way to get around RBY's unusual DV legality; otherwise, due to encounter rates influencing DV generation, it's impossible for some Pokemon — most notably Tauros — to get legitimate max DVs across the board.

The legitimacy of what would become known as Tradebacks has been widely disputed in the RBY community ever since the early 2000s on Azure Heights. Some believe it diversifies the game, while others believe it's unintended and hurts the generation's identity. There is no right or wrong answer to this decades-old debate, but the divide has been large enough to ban Tradebacks in standard play. Regardless, "Tradebacks OU" has continued to exist as a side format that's enjoyed by players, but lacks the plentiful resources of RBY OU. This guide aims to change that.

List of Tradeback Moves
GSC changed RBY Pokemon's movepools significantly. Generally, many Pokemon received the elemental punches and Headbutt, giving them a good pool of staple moves to use. Additionally, many Pokemon gained reliable coverage, such as Hypno and Alakazam. Pokemon Crystal's Move Tutor also made Flamethrower accessible to pretty much any Pokemon that learned Fire Blast, giving them a consistent option to use instead. Breeding also gave many Pokemon all manner of interesting options, such as Hypnosis Persian and Ninetales, Rock Slide Charizard, and Fire Spin Arcanine. The Odd Egg gave a few Pokemon Dizzy Punch, though it has no effect, so it's not too notable.

The most notorious source of Tradebacks is the New York Pokemon Center (NYPC) events. From 2001 to 2003, the New York Pokemon Center distributed Pokemon to the Gen 2 games. These could be shiny, have special moves, or sometimes even both. This event gave many Pokemon unusual moves; most notably, it released the demonic Lovely Kiss Snorlax that has since rocked the metagame.

This list will go over moves exclusively learned through Tradebacks. Methods such as Stadium 2's move relearner can allow a Pokemon to learn any normally obtainable move as well. For Pokemon that are part of evolutionary families, all moves carry up.

Pokemon	Level-up	TM/HM	Move Tutor (Crystal)	Breeding	Event
Bulbasaur		Defense Curl, Flash, Headbutt		Light Screen, Petal Dance, Razor Wind, Skull Bash
Venusaur		Roar
Charmander	Smokescreen	Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt,		Bite, Rock Slide
Charizard	Wing Attack	Roar
Squirtle		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall		Confusion, Haze, Mist
Blastoise		Roar
Pidgey	Tackle
Rattata		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Bite, Counter, Fury Swipes, Screech
Raticate		Cut, Roar, Strength
Spearow				Quick Attack, Tri Attack	Sonic Boom
Ekans		Headbutt		Haze, Slam
Pikachu		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Strength, Thunder Punch		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Double Slap	Petal Dance, Sing
Sandshrew		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Counter
Nidoran-F		Headbutt		Counter, Disable, Focus Energy, Supersonic	Lovely Kiss
Nidorina		Strength
Nidoqueen		Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Nidoran-M		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Amnesia, Confusion, Counter, Disable, Supersonic	Lovely Kiss
Nidorino		Strength
Nidoking		Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Clefairy		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Amnesia, Splash	Petal Dance, Swift
Vulpix		Headbutt		Disable, Hypnosis
Jigglypuff		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)	Petal Dance
Zubat				Gust, Quick Attack
Oddish		Flash		Razor Leaf	Leech Seed
Paras	Poison Powder	Flash		Counter, Light Screen, Psybeam, Screech
Venonat		Swift		Screech
Venomoth	Gust
Diglett				Screech
Dugtrio	Tri Attack
Meowth		Defense Curl, Dream Eater, Headbutt		Amnesia, Hypnosis
Persian		Roar
Psyduck	Screech	Flash, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall		Hypnosis, Light Screen, Psybeam, Psychic	Petal Dance, Tri Attack
Mankey		Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Meditate
Growlithe		Headbutt		Fire Spin, Thrash
Poliwag		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Waterfall		Haze, Mist, Splash	Growth, Lovely Kiss
Poliwhirl		Ice Punch
Abra		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Light Screen
Machop		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Light Screen, Meditate, Rolling Kick	Thrash
Bellsprout		Flash		Leech Life	Lovely Kiss
Tentacool				Aurora Beam, Haze	Confuse Ray
Geodude		Fire Punch, Headbutt	Flamethrower
Golem		Roar
Ponyta	Tackle	Headbutt	Flamethrower	Double Kick, Hypnosis, Quick Attack, Thrash	Low Kick
Rapidash	Fury Attack
Slowpoke	Tackle	Dream Eater	Flamethrower	Stomp
Slowbro		Ice Punch
Magnemite					Agility
Magneton	Tri Attack
Farfetch'd		Headbutt		Gust, Mirror Move, Quick Attack
Doduo		Swift		Haze, Quick Attack, Supersonic	Low Kick
Seel		Waterfall		Disable, Lick, Peck, Slam
Grimer		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Haze, Lick
Shellder				Barrier, Screech
Gastly				Haze
Gengar		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch
Onix		Headbutt, Roar			Sharpen
Drowzee		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Light Screen	Amnesia
Krabby				Amnesia, Dig, Haze, Slam
Voltorb		Headbutt			Agility
Exeggcute		Dream Eater, Flash, Strength*		Confusion, Mega Drain*
Exeggutor		Headbutt
Cubone		Fire Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Rock Slide, Screech, Swords Dance	Fury Attack
Hitmonlee	Tackle	Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)
Hitmonchan	Tackle	Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), High Jump Kick
Lickitung	Lick	Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower		Double Slap
Koffing	Poison Gas			Psybeam, Psywave, Screech
Rhyhorn		Blizzard, Counter, Headbutt, Roar	Flamethrower, Ice Beam*	Thrash
Rhydon		Fire Punch, Thunder Punch
Chansey		Dream Eater, Headbutt	Flamethrower
Tangela		Flash, Headbutt		Amnesia, Confusion, Reflect
Kangaskhan		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Disable, Focus Energy, Stomp
Horsea		Headbutt, Waterfall		Aurora Beam, Disable, Dragon Rage, Splash	Haze
Goldeen				Haze, Hydro Pump, Psybeam	Swords Dance
Staryu		Waterfall
Mr. Mime		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Hypnosis, Psybeam
Scyther		Headbutt		Counter, Light Screen, Razor Wind	Sonic Boom
Jynx	Confusion (Smoochum), Sing (Smoochum)	Dream Eater, Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Meditate	Petal Dance
Electabuzz		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch		Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Meditate, Rolling Kick
Magmar		Headbutt, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Screech
Pinsir		Headbutt		Fury Attack	Rock Throw
Tauros	Horn Attack, Thrash	Headbutt, Surf	Flamethrower		Quick Attack
Magikarp					Bubble
Gyarados	Thrash	Headbutt, Roar, Waterfall	Flamethrower
Lapras		Dream Eater, Headbutt		Aurora Beam	Bite
Eevee		Headbutt			Growth
Vaporeon		Roar, Waterfall
Jolteon		Roar
Flareon		Roar
Porygon		Dream Eater			Barrier
Omanyte	Bite, Constrict	Headbutt		Aurora Beam, Haze, Slam, Supersonic	Rock Throw
Kabuto	Mega Drain, Sand Attack			Aurora Beam, Dig	Rock Throw
Kabutops		Headbutt
Aerodactyl		Earthquake, Headbutt, Roar	Flamethrower		Rock Throw
Snorlax	Tackle	Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Lick	Lovely Kiss, Splash
Articuno	Gust	Roar
Zapdos	Peck	Roar
Moltres	Ember, Wing Attack	Roar	Flamethrower
Dratini		Headbutt, Waterfall	Flamethrower	Haze, Light Screen, Mist, Supersonic	Hydro Pump
Dragonite	Wing Attack	Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch
Mewtwo	Confusion, Disable	Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Mew		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch, Waterfall	Flamethrower

*This Pokemon's evolution(s) obtains these normally in RBY, but this form does not.
**These moves exist in the Pokemon's RBY learnset but, due to being caught at a higher level, cannot be obtained without the move relearner in Pokemon Stadium 2.

Notable Changes to OU
Tradebacks OU is an almost entirely different metagame to regular RBY OU. It's far more aggressive in nature and you'll be seeing a lot of KO trades and fast-paced gameplay. This is Pokemon in its purest form: you have your status, your setup, and your damage. No tricks or gimmicks, all while being flexible enough in the teambuilder to give you much wider team variety than in standard play.

Your new Big 3
The first thing to get out of the way is introducing your new Big 3: Snorlax, Hypno, and Gengar. Tauros and Chansey are still incredible, but very droppable in this format; the general power uptick is the main culprit.

Being bestowed with Lovely Kiss jacked up Snorlax's threat level to a high degree. Snorlax is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a Self-Destruct from another Snorlax or a very lucky critical hit, allowing it to strike back in return with Lovely Kiss to cripple a Pokemon for the rest of the game. This puts you into a situation where you have to freeze or sleep it first, only the latter of which can be reliable. As a result, with Self-Destruct in mind, Snorlax can now do a similar two-for-one that Exeggutor does in regular RBY OU, only this time it's backed by its already amazing utility. It also gets Ice Punch, which will freeze more often than not by the time all of its PP is exhausted, making it more effective at forcing opposing Snorlax out.

On the flip side, Snorlax often has to make a big compromise to run Lovely Kiss, especially on the Reflect set, which forfeits the Gengar matchup. There's also the matter of it being the slowest sleeper in the game, so against something like Exeggutor, it's liable to lose out and now you're a Snorlax down. The physical set also has to pick between dropping Self-Destruct or Hyper Beam, both of which are crucial for blowing past important threats like Chansey. However, these drawbacks do little to detract from what Snorlax can bring to a team. As a lead or anywhere else, it'll do something for you. Never drop this bear!

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct
- Earthquake
- Lovely Kiss

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Ice Beam
- Body Slam
- Rest / Self-Destruct

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Earthquake / Lovely Kiss / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct
- Reflect
- Rest

Hypno is great. Gaining Amnesia and actual coverage did it a big favor, making it RBY's premier user of the move. It has a variety of sets, with Amnesia + Thunder Wave and then any of Psychic, an elemental punch, Rest, Hypnosis, and Reflect being the main pool of options. With just two boosts, it nearly reaches the 999 stat cap, making it a scary foe to fight. You can really fine-tune it to what your team needs.

However, it's far from unbeatable and suffers from just not being able to do everything, arguably being a healthy top tier threat. Unlike the terrifying Amnesia Slowbro, Hypno suffers from having decidedly mediocre physical bulk, making it very vulnerable to Persian, Tauros, and Snorlax. If using Rest to try and copy the "TobyBro" set, it will often perform worse and have trouble sweeping. It's a big draw for Explosion Pokemon in the same way Slowbro is, but without the survivability. Make no mistake though, Hypno will absolutely deal massive damage before finally being brought down.

Hypno
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Psychic
- Reflect / Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
- Rest / Thunder Wave / Hypnosis

Gengar gained a ton of value with the addition of elemental punches to its movepool, and with Tauros finally being a remotely droppable Pokemon combined with Persian's rise it's in a very good position in the metagame. With the ability to run Thunderbolt and Ice Punch together in addition to its already great Hypnosis + Explosion combination, it's a common fixture on offensive teams. It's also one of your best Snorlax checks, letting you pivot around its Body Slam whether asleep or not, often giving very important information on its set. Gengar can be quite difficult to wall at times, similar to Starmie albeit less powerful, so expect to see it popping up a lot. It's also possible to run Rest when leading with it to absorb paralysis while not losing the utility that pivoting around Snorlax brings to the table.

However, it's still Gengar, and ergo, it suffers from the same issues it's always had; Hypnosis's low accuracy, an annoying Ground weakness, and a lack of STAB moves being the most glaring ones. Its Ground weakness particularly drags it down against Pokemon like Tauros. Compared to Starmie, its damage output isn't as high as it looks either. These flaws are really quite minor though, so don't let them discourage you from splashing Gengar onto your teams.

Gengar
- Hypnosis
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Explosion

Gengar
- Rest
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Hypnosis / Body Slam / Psychic / Explosion

New and Improved Threats
Tradebacks doesn't just buff the OU staples though; it also propels many lesser-used Pokemon into viability. This makes for a significantly more diverse metagame.

Persian is a very flawed Pokemon in standard OU, lacking offensive pressure outside of Slash. With the addition of Hypnosis and Amnesia to its movepool, Persian goes from an off-meta pick just barely missing OU to a staple lead. Having the fastest sleep move in the game makes Persian a very scary foe to face, forcing the opponent into a 50:50 situation where they can try to sack something or take a Slash. Additionally, a successful sleep often means an uncontested Amnesia, allowing it to fire off boosted Thunderbolts or Bubble Beams.

This isn't to say Persian is suddenly overpowered, though. It's still somewhat hurt by Gengar if it isn't using Amnesia + Thunderbolt to force it to Explode, and it isn't like paralysis users are suddenly nonexistent. Paralysis is still the absolute counter to Persian's existence, and the very sight of Alakazam can send it packing. Persian is also less inclined to run Bubble Beam as a result of Amnesia allowing it to get past Gengar, which indirectly makes Rhydon a very big threat despite its drop in usage. Hypnosis has very shaky accuracy as well, which makes Persian among the most inconsistent leads out there; combined with its pitiful bulk, the new Persian is a high-risk, high-reward Pokemon.

Persian
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Amnesia

Alakazam gains the elemental punches, making it an incredibly versatile Pokemon in Tradebacks OU. The best part? It doesn't really have to drop Seismic Toss or even change at all, it's just gotten new weapons in its arsenal. Alakazam can fine-tune itself to beat Starmie or Exeggutor with the addition of Thunder Punch and Ice Punch, or keep with Seismic Toss for a more neutral matchup spread. Plus, even 3 attacks builds are a possibility if you don't need Thunder Wave. For those who like the Reflect build, that's improved with the advent of Barrier as well, allowing Alakazam to further boost its Defense stat if necessary. Generally, Alakazam is much more diverse in Tradebacks OU and is a lot of fun to build with.

It can be inferred that this added diversity makes Alakazam lose some consistency, though. When dropping Seismic Toss, Alakazam is going to lose more matchups in exchange for becoming more proficient in one, as well as become setup fodder for the terrifying Hypno. Ergo, the moves you choose on Alakazam are going to be centered on what your team needs. Doing otherwise will result in an objectively worse Pokemon.

Alakazam
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss / Thunder Punch / Ice Punch
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

Nidoking and Nidoqueen become much scarier in Tradebacks as their movepools grow forever deeper, with them both getting Lovely Kiss. Nidoking also gains Amnesia, though it's incompatible with Lovely Kiss. As it turns out, both are perfectly viable; Nidoking becomes an Amnesia sweeper with decent Speed, while Nidoqueen can be used as a Lovely Kiss lead. The reason you use Nidoqueen over Nidoking as a sleep lead is the extra Speed doesn't matter, and since Nidoqueen is bulkier, it's safer to miss with Lovely Kiss against Pokemon like Snorlax. You can still use Nidoking in the lead slot, but its only niche in this role is beating Nidoqueen leads. Overall, this is a metagame where you can use either and not lose out on much.

However, it's no secret that Poison / Ground is a horrific typing in RBY. Being weak to basically every common special move + Earthquake and only having an Electric immunity to make up for it, they're quite unwieldy to use, which begs the question of whether a team using them would be more effective with a different Pokemon. Regardless, making a team around them is very rewarding if an experienced player is piloting them, so they're solid metagame threats.

Nidoqueen
Ability: none
- Lovely Kiss
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

Nidoking
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

A Pokemon previously on the very edge of RBY OU viability, Clefable becomes a perfectly usable threat in Tradebacks OU. With Amnesia now under its belt, Clefable can serve as what can be considered a superior AmnesiaLax. While it can hardly replace the tubby bear, its immediate power and good stats make it a perfectly fine Pokemon to slot onto teams if you want to use a different Snorlax set or go with a two-pronged assault. The only setback is that it's not always a necessary pick, as Hypno often fulfils its role just fine.

Clefable
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Psychic
- Body Slam / Thunderbolt
- Rest

Vaporeon is a fairly surprising threat to come out of Tradebacks, possessing Growth in addition to Acid Armor. This can make it a particularly brutal win condition when using Rest and Surf, being near-impossible to KO. It's easily one of the best abusers of the stat reapplication glitch as a result of its setup method as well. There's also the absolutely ginormous amount of PP it gets from Growth and Acid Armor's combined total of 122, making even Chansey stare in awe. Unlike Slowbro, it's not too scared of Thunderbolt from Starmie and Chansey either, as its special bulk forces them to land two critical hits in a row to bring it down. Vaporeon has to watch out for Persian's Slash if it comes in on its predicted Rest though, so care has to be taken before bringing Vaporeon to the field and setting up. It's also a bit slow to set up at times and Zapdos isn't too afraid until the boosts start racking up.

Vaporeon
Ability: none
- Surf
- Growth
- Acid Armor
- Rest

Rapidash gains Hypnosis and Double Kick. This gives Rapidash the unique privilege of being an RBY Fire-type with an actual movepool, as well as all the usual tools that made them remotely function in the first place: Fire Spin, Agility, and a decent Attack stat. This makes Rapidash a good mixed sweeper sometimes, packing anything from an AgiliSpin set to a sleeper set to support a team.

However, Rapidash is slower than Persian, which means it does lose to it in the lead slot. Plus, while Double Kick is nice for 3HKOing Chansey, Rapidash is not really beating Rhydon without burning it with Fire Blast. Starmie and Slowbro continue to exist and counter it. Regardless, it's a fine option to bring on serious teams, which is far more than what can be said for it in standard OU.

Rapidash
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast / Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Double Kick

Electabuzz rises as a surprise threat with the addition of Rolling Kick, which, with its 30.1% flinch chance and Electabuzz's 20.5% critical hit rate, gives it a solid shot at beating paralyzed Chansey. It also gains the coveted Ice Punch, letting it situationally muscle past Rhydon and Zapdos. If Persian, Tauros, and Gengar have been successfully incapacitated, Electabuzz becomes a big threat, sometimes even closing out the late-game. It can also use Seismic Toss to deal more damage to Zapdos and Jolteon, more consistently winning Electric mirrors. However, its stats are a bit middling offensively, so it's strictly a late-game threat and does require some team support. It's also quite frail, and if paralyzed, is pretty much dead weight. Regardless, this is a massive glow-up for the electric yokai, and it's a serviceable pick on teams that need a bit more offensive coverage.

Electabuzz
Ability: none
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Rolling Kick

Old Mainstays
Contrary to popular belief, many Tradebacks Pokemon are virtually the same as normal RBY in how they play, giving an element of familiarity to the world of Tradebacks. Here are some of the more notable cases of the old staples continuing their dominance over the chromatic generation.

A foreign concept to many, it's perfectly viable to drop Tauros in favor of Persian in Tradebacks OU. However, make no mistake: it's still a top threat and is on a wide array of teams, repeating its RBY OU antics. With Surf and Quick Attack also in its arsenal, Tauros is capable of fine-tuning its fourth move to accomplish more as well. Surf is best used alongside Electric-types such as Zapdos, Jolteon, and Electabuzz, as it's a linchpin in Rhydon matchups. Stomp Tauros fans will also be pleased to know it got directly upgraded with the addition of Headbutt, letting it more heavily punish paralyzed Pokemon.

Chansey gains absolutely nothing of value in Tradebacks bar the potential to fish for burns with Flamethrower, but it's still a staple on many teams. Sing, BoltBeam, and Reflect are all excellent sets that continue to see success, and it's not uncommon to see it continue performing its regular roles. The Sing set has become a bit rarer with the increased availability of sleep moves, though, which has also made lead Chansey an exceedingly rare sight.

Cloyster gets a minor new toy in Screech to complement its Explosion, but outside of that, it's pretty much the same Pokemon. The rise of Persian has been a mixed bag for it; it's great at stopping Slash, but Thunderbolt really stings, and that demon can even use Amnesia to secure a 2HKO. Still, Cloyster is more than happy to facilitate partial trapping cores while Exploding on Hypno.

Exeggutor gains Headbutt in Tradebacks, allowing it to run the paraflinch set it's always wanted. However, this is far from the main set: that hasn't changed much at all. Generally, it's still out to put something to sleep and use Explosion later, it's just a case of what its fourth move is going to be unless it's making compromises. While many sleepers have burst onto the scene, forgetting what Exeggutor can do is a fatal mistake, especially when considering that Starmie is quite comfortable with Surf + Thunderbolt as its coverage in this metagame.

Jynx gains the niche Petal Dance in Tradebacks, which gives it the potential to damage Starmie, Slowbro, and Vaporeon. However, this isn't quite standard and Jynx remains largely the same. Jynx remains the fastest user of a 74.6% accurate sleep move in Lovely Kiss, which gives it a solid place as a midground lead that isn't overly fussed about paralysis. However, as is the case with regular RBY OU, it's quite weak after it's put something to sleep, so teams should account for that.

Rhydon took a bonk on the head with the increased availability of elemental punches, now having to watch out for Ice Punch Gengar, Hypno, and Alakazam when going about its business. The addition of Headbutt is a decent buff to old Stomp sets, though those weren't exactly tearing up RBY OU in the first place. Persian tends to drop Bubble Beam to fit Amnesia or Hyper Beam on its sets, which Rhydon is more than happy to exploit. Overall, while some movepool additions to old targets have hurt, Rhydon can still serve as a centerpiece on paralysis-intensive teams and turn incapacitated teams into a bowling alley. It also remains the best Zapdos and Amnesia Snorlax check in the game, quickly stealing their momentum.

While Hypno rudely stole the spotlight as the best Amnesia user in the game, Slowbro remains a solid choice for its much better physical bulk, allowing it to stomach an Explosion and Snorlax assaults. Slowbro also has a miles better defensive typing than Hypno and Vaporeon, though it still has to be afraid of Thunderbolt Starmie and Chansey, so accounting for them when teambuilding is essential. It also gains an interesting new toy in Flamethrower, which it can use to fine-tune its coverage or even fish for burns, so it's a touch more diverse. Just like in RBY OU, expect Slowbro to catch you off-guard and randomly sweep your team.

Starmie hasn't changed at all, still using the same Thunder Wave + Recover + 2 attacks set, and remains an influential Pokemon in the metagame. Because of Hypno's rise to power, Surf + Thunderbolt becomes the more common set, allowing Starmie to 2HKO Hypno with consecutive critical hits. It's also one of the best Vaporeon checks thanks to resisting Surf, and it's also possible to 2HKO it with critical hit Thunderbolt. Blizzard is much rarer because of these qualities, which indirectly allows Exeggutor to check it with relative consistency.

Zapdos is the same as ever, even in movepool, securing endgames with its nuclear Thunderbolt. The faster-paced nature of the metagame is a massive boon to Zapdos, perfectly supporting its playstyle and allowing it to find a place on many successful teams.

The Lead Triangle
(if you want you can use this crude interpretation but I'd strongly recommend making something more presentable in that case)

The main leads in Tradebacks OU create a triangle format of sorts, which is very important to understand if one is to be successful in teambuilding and gameplay alike. It's almost completely different from regular RBY OU. Think of it like the popular "Grass/Fire/Water" matchup triangle or Rock/Paper/Scissors.

Lead Lovely Kiss Snorlax is the biggest game-changer, now being a suitable lead rather than a Pokemon you switch in early. Early-game Snorlax is already a well-known monster that often defines how a game will go, and now you've got a good chance of fighting one out of the gate. Paralysis leads will simply lose to Snorlax, so it's often a good option to just get some damage in before you're sent to dreamland. Expect to see this a lot. However, Snorlax is the slowest lead, so any opposing sleep lead will leave it in a difficult spot, usually forcing it out, so it isn't some automatic win button.

Persian is the new fastest sleep lead; this makes it not only a good option against Snorlax but also against all of Persian's other checks should it be faster. Once a foe has been put to sleep, Persian can get to work, forcing high damage from Slash that can be difficult to come back from if Gengar isn't present. The main thing keeping Persian from prominence is that it really hates being paralyzed and is very frail, which can give it problems against paralysis leads. Ergo, if Alakazam or Starmie are what it's faced with, it's often forced out right away while giving the opponent valuable information. Any paralysis user faster than Persian can and will be a problem. There's also the matter of its consistency; Hypnosis will miss sometimes, and it sucks.

Alakazam and Starmie remain solid paralysis leads and are the best ways of dealing with Persian, and Starmie hasn't changed at all. The opposite can be said for Alakazam, now being capable of allocating its second attack slot to Thunder Punch to combat Starmie leads. However, this will cause it to be less effective against opposing Seismic Toss Alakazam, being completely outdamaged. While mowed down by Snorlax, the classic paralysis leads should never be ignored. Outside of these two, other paralysis leads like Jolteon can be effective, though they are definitely less consistent and matchup-dependent.

Midground Options

(when depicting jynx the vc sprite is prolly best, just avoids all those...issues)
You don't have to commit to the triangle format either; there are plenty of alternatives that serve as solid midgrounds. Exeggutor remains a good option and a particularly brutal way to stop Snorlax, Gengar makes Snorlax squeal while having a potential dice roll against Persian, Jynx remains the fastest 74.6% accuracy sleep move user, Nidoqueen ignores paralysis leads while putting them to sleep, and Rapidash has the flexibility of Hypnosis and Fire Spin pivoting. The lead metagame has a noticeable amount of depth once you start looking into these and has a lot to offer a player when building teams.

Conclusion

Do you know what you just did? You just took your first step into learning Tradebacks OU! You're now armed with sufficient information to dive into the format and start mowing down the competition! Tradebacks OU is regularly hosted in the Ruins of Alph room's RBY Monday Tour Nights on Pokemon Showdown, come on down and enjoy the mad world of Lovely Kiss Snorlax!

Plague von Karma · Apr 25, 2021

I believe this is now at a point where it's in a QC-able state. This took a bit longer than usual, but I think I did an alright job.

A few minor concerns that I have but think would be better for quality controllers to answer;

Do we need a threatlist? It seems that what's noted here is already pretty fine.
Is the Lead Triangle concept I put forward too reductionist? It's definitely a trend I've noticed and it may be a good thing to help noobs grasp the meta, though. If it's ok, I'll see about making a cool graphic for it...or I'll ask a graphic design friend. We'll see!
Do we talk about Ubers at all? I'm not sure if it fits our scope, especially since nobody plays it.

Considering the general lack of significant optimization in Tradebacks, I've decided that calling this a beginner's guide may be appropriate. If that's not right, maybe "Introduction" is what we're after, but then we could get confused with the TFP article...it's a bit of a conundrum.

Anyway, time for some tags...
Caetano93
Enigami
Shellnuts
Lutra (do you play this? I forgot)
Amaranth (you too i know you're interested but are you the big knowledge man)

Caetano93 · Apr 25, 2021

Comments in green.

Plague von Karma said:
Notable Changes to OU
Tradebacks OU is an almost entirely different metagame to your regular RBY OU. It's far more aggressive in nature and you'll be seeing a lot of trades and high-flying gameplay. This is Pokemon in its purest form: you have your status, your setup, and your damage. No tricks or gimmicks, all while being flexible enough to give you much wider team variety than in standard play.

Your new Big 3
The first thing to get out of the way is introducing your new Big 3: Snorlax, Hypno, and Gengar. Tauros and Chansey are still incredible, but very droppable in this format; the general power uptick is the main culprit.
View attachment 335015
Being bestowed with Lovely Kiss jacked up Snorlax's threat level to a high degree. What this brings to the table is immense. Snorlax is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a Self-Destruct from another Snorlax or a very lucky critical hit. This puts you into a situation where you either have to freeze it or sleep it first, only the latter of which can be deemed reliable. As a result, with Self-Destruct in mind, Snorlax can now do a similar two-for-one that Exeggutor does in regular RBY OU, only this time it's backed by the already amazing utility Snorlax brings. It also gets Ice Punch, which will freeze more often than not when all of its PP is exhausted, making it more effective at forcing opposing Snorlax out.

On the flip side though, Snorlax often has to make a big compromise to run Lovely Kiss, especially on the Reflect set, since you're going to be forfeiting a Gengar matchup there. There's also the matter of it being the slowest sleeper in the game, so against something like Exeggutor, it's liable to lose out and now you're a Snorlax down. The Physical set also has to pick between losing Self-Destruct or Hyper Beam, both of which are crucial for blowing past important threats like Chansey. However, these drawbacks do little to detract from what Snorlax can bring to a team. It can be used in the lead slot or anywhere else, it'll do something for you. Never drop this bear!

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct
- Earthquake
- Lovely Kiss

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Ice Beam
- Body Slam
- Rest / Self-Destruct

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Earthquake / Lovely Kiss / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct
- Reflect
- Rest

View attachment 335018
Hypno is great. Gaining Amnesia and actual coverage did it a big favor, making it RBY's premier user of the move. It has a variety of sets; Amnesia + Thunder Wave + 2 Attacks, Rest, Hypnosis, and Reflect being the main pool of options. With just two boosts, it nearly reaches the 999 stat cap, making it a scary foe to fight. You can really fine-tune it to what your team needs.

However, it's far from unbeatable and suffers from just not being able to do everything, arguably being a healthy top tier. Unlike the terrifying Amnesia Slowbro, Hypno suffers from having decidedly mediocre physical bulk, making it very vulnerable to Persian, Tauros, and Snorlax. If using Rest to try and copy the "TobyBro" set, it will often perform worse and have trouble sweeping. It's a big draw for Explosion Pokemon in the same way Slowbro is, but without the survivability. Make no mistake though, with coverage in the elemental punches and Amnesia at play here, Hypno will absolutely deal massive damage before finally being brought down.

Hypno
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Psychic
- Reflect / Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
- Rest / Thunder Wave / Hypnosis

View attachment 335019
Gengar gained a ton of value with the addition of elemental punches into its movepool, and with Tauros finally being a remotely droppable Pokemon combined with Persian's rise, it's in a very good position in the metagame. With the ability to run Thunderbolt and Ice Punch together in addition to its already great Hypnosis + Explosion combination, it's a common fixture on offensive teams. It's also one of your best Snorlax checks, letting you pivot around its Body Slams whether asleep or not, often giving very important information on what set its running. Gengar can be quite difficult to wall at times, similar to Starmie albeit less powerful damage-wise, so expect to see it popping up a lot. It's also possible to run Rest when leading with it to absorb paralysis while not losing the utility that pivoting around Snorlax brings to the table.

However, it's still Gengar, and ergo, it suffers from the same consistency issues it's always had. It also suffers from having a horrific Ground weakness that constantly drags it down against Pokemon like Tauros. Compared to Starmie, its damage output isn't as high as it looks either. These flaws are really quite minor though, so don't let them detract you from splashing Gengar onto your teams.

Gengar
- Hypnosis
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Explosion

Gengar
- Rest
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Hypnosis / Body Slam / Psychic / Explosion

New and Improved Threats
(There are definitely more to mention but these are the most important imo)
Tradebacks haven't just buffed the OU staples though; it's also propelled many lesser-used Pokemon into viability. This makes for a significantly more diverse metagame with a lot to offer a player.

View attachment 335195
Persian was once a very flawed Pokemon, lacking offensive pressure outside of Slash. With the addition of Hypnosis and Amnesia to its movepool, however, Persian went from an off-meta pick just barely missing OU to a staple lead. Having the fastest sleep move in the game makes Persian a very scary opponent to face, forcing the opponent into a 50:50 situation where they can try to sack something or take a Slash. Additionally, a successful sleep often means an uncontested Amnesia, allowing it to fire off boosted Thunderbolts or Bubble Beams.

This isn't to say Persian is suddenly overpowered, though. Gengar's continued existence spells bad news for our little kitty, as it can take even boosted hits from Persian just fine (amne + tbolt 4HKO gar, and gar tbolt is a 5hko back, with bith full, persian most of the times wins this interaction and forces gar to boom. Gar is a very good check but isnt a hard counter). This is part of what makes Gengar common; it helps against not only Snorlax but this ferocious feline as well. Ergo, if it's not in the lead slot, Gengar still has to be accounted for before unleashing the cat. a mention about rhydon usage drop in tradebacks is also cool to explain why bubblebeam isnt standard anymore.

Persian
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Amnesia

View attachment 335200
Alakazam gains the elemental punches, making it an incredibly versatile Pokemon in Tradebacks OU. The best part? It doesn't really have to drop Seismic Toss or even change at all, it's just new weapons in its arsenal. Alakazam can fine-tune itself to beat Starmie or Exeggutor with the addition of Thunder Punch and Ice Punch while losing to the other, or keep with Seismic Toss for a more neutral matchup spread. Plus, even 3 Attacks builds are a possibility if you don't need Thunder Wave. For those who like the Reflect build, that's improved with the advent of Barrier as well, allowing Alakazam to further boost its Defense stat if necessary. Generally, Alakazam is much healthier and more diverse in Tradebacks OU and is a lot of fun to build with.

It can be inferred that this added diversity makes Alakazam lose some consistency, though. When dropping Seismic Toss, as stated, Alakazam is going to lose more matchups in exchange for becoming more proficient in one (and becomes an hypno setup fodder). Ergo, the moves you choose on Alakazam are going to be centered on what your team needs. Doing otherwise will result in an objectively worse Pokemon.

Alakazam
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss / Thunder Punch / Ice Punch
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

View attachment 335201 View attachment 335202
Nidoking and Nidoqueen become much scarier in Tradebacks as their movepools grow forever deeper. While incompatible, Amnesia and Lovely Kiss are now available, finally giving them a sense of identity and direction rather than "click the super effective move". As it turns out, both are perfectly viable; Nidoking works better as an Amnesia sweeper with decent Speed, while Nidoqueen can be used as Lovely Kiss lead. The reason you use Nidoqueen is that you don't lose any Speed creep in the lead slot, and since Nidoqueen is bulkier, it's safer to miss with Lovely Kiss. As a result, this is a metagame where you can use either Nido and not lose out on much. hm... there is an error here. Only nidoking can learn amnesia. The info is correct tho, just rephrase it to not make the reader assumes queen can be an amne sweeper.

However, it's no secret that the Nidos have horrific typings. Being weak to basically everything and only an Electric immunity to make up for it, they're quite unwieldy to use, which begs the question of whether a team using them would be more effective with a different Pokemon. Regardless, making a team around them is very rewarding if an experienced player is piloting them, so they're solid metagame threats.

Nidoqueen
Ability: none
- Lovely Kiss
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

Nidoking
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

View attachment 335199
A Pokemon previously on the very edge of RBY OU viability, Clefable becomes a perfectly usable threat in Tradebacks OU. With Amnesia now under its belt, Clefable can serve as what can be seen as a superior AmnesiaLax. While it can hardly replace the tubby bear, its immediate power and good stats make it a perfectly fine Pokemon to slot onto teams if you want to use a different Snorlax set or go with a two-pronged assault. The only setback is that it's not always a necessary pick.

Clefable
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Psychic
- Body Slam / Thunderbolt
- Rest

View attachment 335196
Vaporeon is a fairly surprising threat to come out of Tradebacks, possessing Growth in addition to Acid Armor. This can make it a particularly brutal win condition in tandem with Rest and Surf, being near-impossible to KO. While it's very possible to PP stall, in a late-game scenario, it can really just win games outright. It's easily one of the best abusers of the stat reapplication glitch in the game as a result of its setup method as well. Vaporeon has to watch out for Persian's Slash if it comes in on its predicted Rest though, so care has to be taken before bringing Vaporeon to the field and setting up. (vaporeon is better than slowbro because of it initial special bulk. Vaporeon isnt 2hkoed by starmie / chansey crit tbolt, forcing thyem to land 2 crits in a row to defeat it after the setup starts. It is also a pp stall machine since acid armor have freaking 61 pps)

Vaporeon
Ability: none
- Surf
- Growth
- Acid Armor
- Rest

View attachment 335197
Rapidash gained Hypnosis like Persian did, as well as Double Kick. This gives Rapidash the unique privilege of being an RBY Fire-type with an actual movepool, as well as all the usual tools that made them remotely function in the first place; Fire Spin, Agility, and a decent physical attack stat. This makes Rapidash a good mixed sweeper to bring to games sometimes, packing anything from an AgiliSpin set to a sleeper set to support a team.

However, Rapidash is still slower than Persian, which means it does lose to it in the lead slot. Plus, while Double Kick is nice for 3HKOing Chansey, it's not really stopping it from losing to Rhydon without burning it with Fire Blast. Starmie and Slowbro's continued existence is also a problem, hard countering it. Regardless, it's a fine option to bring on serious teams, which is far more than what can be said for its RBY days.

Rapidash
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast / Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Double Kick

No mentions to Electabuzz? It is the Thundurus-T of RBY with BoltBeam + fighting coverage. It also have a very good Speed and offensive stats. Not much common, true, but in the hands of a good player (and with some rolling kick flinches) easily can sweep entire teams.

Old Mainstays
While some Pokemon have seen significant changes, contrary to popular belief, many Pokemon are virtually the same in how they play, giving an element of familiarity to the world of Tradebacks. Here are some of the more notable cases of the old staples continuing their dominance over the chromatic generation.
View attachment 335546
A foreign concept to many, with the rise of Persian, it's perfectly viable to drop Tauros on Tradebacks OU teams. However, make no mistake: it's still a top threat and is on a wide array of teams, repeating its RBY OU antics once more. With Surf and Quick Attack also in its arsenal, Tauros is capable of fine-tuning its fourth move to do more as well. (focus more on Surf Tauros, as it is mandatory on all electric builds to deal insane damage on the rare rhydon)

View attachment 335548
Chansey gained absolutely nothing of value in Tradebacks bar the potential to fish for burns with Flamethrower, but this doesn't mean it's suddenly unviable: it's still a staple on many teams. Sing, BoltBeam, and Reflect are all excellent sets that continue to see success and it's not uncommon to see it continue performing its regular roles. The Sing set has become a bit rarer with the increased availability of sleep moves, though.

View attachment 335554
Cloyster got a minor new toy in Screech to complement its Explosion, but outside of that, it's pretty much the same Pokemon. The rise of Persian has been a mixed bag for it; it's great at stopping Slash, but Thunderbolt really stings, and that demon can even use Amnesia to secure a 2HKO. Still, though, Cloyster is more than happy to facilitate partial trapping cores while exploding on Hypno.

View attachment 335558
Exeggutor gained Headbutt in Tradebacks, allowing it to run the ParaFuse set it's always wanted. However, this is far from the main set: that hasn't changed much at all. Generally, it's still out to put something to sleep and Explode later, it's just a case of what its fourth move is going to be unless it's making compromises. While many sleepers have burst onto the scene, forgetting what Exeggutor can do is a fatal mistake.

View attachment 335552
Rhydon took a bonk on the head with the increased availability of elemental punches, now having to watch out for Ice Punch Hypno and Alakazam (don already hates being in the receiving end of Psychic, a better exemple here is gengar who rarely touchs don in standard OU) when going about its business. The addition of Headbutt is a decent buff to old Stomp sets, though these weren't exactly tearing up RBY OU in the first place. Persian also tends to drop Bubble Beam to fit Amnesia or Hyper Beam on its sets too, which Rhydon is more than happy to exploit. Overall, while some movepool additions to old targets have hurt, Rhydon can still serve as a centerpiece on paralysis-intensive teams and turn incapacitated teams into a bowling alley. (while still is the best zapdos + fishlax check)

View attachment 335557
While Hypno rudely stole the spotlight as the best Amnesia user in the game, Slowbro remains a solid choice for its much better physical bulk, allowing it to stomach Explosions and Snorlax assaults, unlike our hypnotic friend. It also gained an interesting new toy in Flamethrower, which it can use to fine-tune its coverage or even fish for burns, so it's a touch more diverse. Just like in RBY OU, expect Slowbro to catch you off-guard and randomly sweep your team. (slowbro have a better defensive type and def stats than vapo, this is his main selling point. It trades it for being KOed by mie and chan tbolt crit so having ways to deal with those mons are a must)

View attachment 335556
Zapdos is the same as ever, even in movepool, securing endgames with its nuclear Thunderbolt. The faster-paced nature of the metagame is a massive boon to Zapdos, perfectly supporting its playstyle and allowing it to find a place on many successful teams.

You can add Starmie here. Very important piece of the metagame with it Surf + tbolt set to be a check of amnesia hypno (2hko it with 2 surf crits) while being the best vaporeon check (2 tbolts crit in a resting cicle ko it). Blizzard mie is a lot rarer in tradebacks so you even mention this in the Exeggutor section.

Jynx here is also possible. It is a lot worse in tradebacks but it have the niche petal dance to damage starmie, slowbro and vaporeon.

The Lead Triangle
(if you want you can use this crude interpretation but I'd strongly recommend making something more presentable in that case)
View attachment 335529
View attachment 335522 View attachment 335517 View attachment 335525 View attachment 335526
The main leads in Tradebacks OU create a triangle format of sorts, which is very important to understand if one is to be successful in teambuilding and gameplay alike. It's almost completely different from regular RBY OU.

Lead Lovely Kiss Snorlax is the biggest game-changer, now being a suitable lead rather than a Pokemon you switch in early. Early-game Snorlax is already a well-known monster that often defines how a game will go, and now you've got a good chance of fighting one out of the gate. Paralysis leads will simply lose to Snorlax, so it's often a good option to just get some damage before you're sent to dreamland. Expect to see this a lot. However, as aforementioned, Snorlax is the slowest lead, so any opposing sleep lead will leave it in a difficult spot, usually forcing it out, so it isn't some automatic win button.

Persian is the new fastest sleep lead; this makes it not only a good option against Snorlax but also a solid option against all its other checks. Once a foe has been put to sleep, Persian can get to work, forcing high damage from Slash onto the opposing team which can be difficult to come back from if Gengar isn't present. The main thing keeping Persian from prominence is that it really hates being paralyzed while simultaneously being very frail, which can give it problems against paralysis leads. Ergo, if Alakazam or Starmie are what it's faced with, it's often being forced out right away while giving the opponent valuable information. Any paralysis user faster than Persian can and will be a problem. There's also the matter of its consistency; Hypnosis will miss sometimes, and it sucks.

Alakazam and Starmie remain solid paralysis leads and are the best ways of dealing with Persian, and Starmie hasn't changed at all. The opposite can be said for Alakazam, now being capable of allocating its second attack slot to Thunder Punch to combat opposing Starmie leads. However, this will cause it to be less effective against opposing Seismic Toss Alakazam, being completely outdamaged. While mowed down by Snorlax, the classic paralysis lead should never be ignored. Outside of these two, other paralysis leads like Jolteon can be effective, though they are definitely less consistent and matchup-dependent.

Midground Options
View attachment 335519 View attachment 335521 View attachment 335523 View attachment 335533 View attachment 335534
(when depicting jynx the vc sprite is prolly best, just avoids all those...issues)
You don't have to commit to the triangle format either: there are plenty of alternatives that serve as solid midgrounds. Exeggutor remains a good option and a particularly brutal way to stop Snorlax, Gengar makes Snorlax squeal while having a potential dice roll against Persian, Jynx remains the fastest 74.9% accuracy sleep move user, Nidoqueen ignores paralysis leads while putting them to sleep, and Rapidash has the flexibility of Hypnosis and Fire Spin pivoting. The lead metagame has a noticeable amount of depth once you start looking into these and has a lot to offer a player when building teams.

View attachment 335539ConclusionView attachment 335540
Do you know what you just did? You just took your first step into learning Tradebacks OU! You're now armed with sufficient information to dive into the format and start mowing down the competition! Tradebacks OU is regularly hosted in the Ruins of Alph room's RBY Monday Tour Nights on Pokemon Showdown, come on down and enjoy the mad world of Lovely Kiss Snorlax!

shiny finder · Apr 25, 2021

Plague von Karma said:
snip

Nice work pvk, thanks. Don't have much to add on this one, but as one of those aforementioned tradeback noobs, I appreciate the triangle. If you want to really drive it home, you could make an analogy to the Grass/Fire/Water starter triangle since most people would be able to relate to that.

ftr since there's always a bit of confusion on this front: if anyone else has something to add (and wasn't tagged) please feel free to chime in!

Plague von Karma · Apr 26, 2021

Caetano93 said:
Comments in green.

Addressed all of these and implemented Electabuzz like you asked in the RBY Discord. This should be much better now!

shiny finder said:
Nice work pvk, thanks. Don't have much to add on this one, but as one of those aforementioned tradeback noobs, I appreciate the triangle. If you want to really drive it home, you could make an analogy to the Grass/Fire/Water starter triangle since most people would be able to relate to that.

Added the analogy, will see what I can do about making a better graphic if others are happy with going that route.

We could possibly use the upscaled Cardass artwork and put them in rings or something to make pucks, but I am an actual dumbass in regards to graphic design haha. I have the Snorlax one, I believe Persian and Alakazam are floating around as well but I can't find them atm. Here are the cards though, just to illustrate the idea.

Caetano93 · Apr 26, 2021

Plague von Karma said:
A few minor concerns that I have but think would be better for quality controllers to answer;

Do we need a threatlist? It seems that what's noted here is already pretty fine.

Is the Lead Triangle concept I put forward too reductionist? It's definitely a trend I've noticed and it may be a good thing to help noobs grasp the meta, though. If it's ok, I'll see about making a cool graphic for it...or I'll ask a graphic design friend. We'll see!

Do we talk about Ubers at all? I'm not sure if it fits our scope, especially since nobody plays it.

I'm happy with what you wrote already. For a starter guide it is very informative and easy to undertand. It could have some more indeep mons analyses, but i'm not sure if this is the guide to do it (just explaining the mon roles is ok to me for now).
The lead triangle is a good concept, keep it.
UBER is an unexplored territory atm, not the best idea trying to cover it.

I didn't find anything more to add here. QC 1/?

Melbelle · May 1, 2021

PvK went over this with me since I've played the meta a bit, this looks good

Oiseau Bleu · May 1, 2021

Plague von Karma said:
Persian was once a very flawed Pokemon, lacking offensive pressure outside of Slash. With the addition of Hypnosis and Amnesia to its movepool, however, Persian went from an off-meta pick just barely missing OU to a staple lead. Having the fastest sleep move in the game makes Persian a very scary opponent to face, forcing the opponent into a 50:50 situation where they can try to sack something or take a Slash. Additionally, a successful sleep often means an uncontested Amnesia, allowing it to fire off boosted Thunderbolts or Bubble Beams.

This isn't to say Persian is suddenly overpowered, though. It's still somewhat hurt by Gengar if it isn't using Amnesia + Thunderbolt to force it to explode, and it isn't like paralysis users are suddenly poofed from existence. Paralysis is still the single-hardest counter to Persian's existence, and the very sight of Alakazam can send it packing. Persian is also less inclined to run Bubble Beam as a result of Amnesia allowing it to get past Gengar, which indirectly makes Rhydon a very big threat despite its drop in usage.

I think you should mention that Hypnosis has an horrible precision. It's another huge drawback. Missing Hypnosis with Persian is very annoying, since Persian has a pitful bulk. Same for Gengar, but it doesn't change compared to classic RBY OU.

Plague von Karma said:
Think of it like the popular "Grass/Fire/Water" matchup triangle.

I think the expression "rock / paper / scissors" would be more accurate here.

Should you highlight some cool aditions to side mon? Sing on Raichu, Hypnosis on Ninetales, SD on Seaking, Low Kick on Dodrio are cool changes, even these pokemon are still unviable.

Nothing more to say, good job here.

Plague von Karma · May 3, 2021

Finally got the time to deal with this, sorry for the brief delay!

Oiseau Bleu said:
I think you should mention that Hypnosis has an horrible precision. It's another huge drawback. Missing Hypnosis with Persian is very annoying, since Persian has a pitful bulk. Same for Gengar, but it doesn't change compared to classic RBY OU.

Oiseau Bleu said:
I think the expression "rock / paper / scissors" would be more accurate here.

Implemented these! I added RPS at the end of the FWG line since both are equally helpful comparisons in my opinion.

Oiseau Bleu said:
Should you highlight some cool aditions to side mon? Sing on Raichu, Hypnosis on Ninetales, SD on Seaking, Low Kick on Dodrio are cool changes, even these pokemon are still unviable.

I think this is something more reserved for Tradebacks OU analyses, which will likely be coming up at some point. They're already in the movelist and are also featured in this thread, which for less viable picks seems largely sufficient. It's a beginner's guide, so we shouldn't overwhelm people too much.

If that's everything, I'll mark it as QC 3.
EDIT: Clarified on Discord!

Plague von Karma · May 5, 2021

shiny finder Asked around and nobody seems to have any further critique on this guide; Enigami also said it looks good. Mind if I sent this to GP?

shiny finder · May 5, 2021

Plague von Karma said:
shiny finder Asked around and nobody seems to have any further critique on this guide; Enigami also said it looks good. Mind if I sent this to GP?

sounds good!

Plague von Karma · Jun 1, 2021

Minor update; I realised that it's impossible to get Confusion or Disable on Mewtwo without a move relearner, making them Tradeback moves.

Mewtwo's learnset, for reference;

You obtain it at L70 with Psychic, Barrier, Recover, and Swift. Ergo, Confusion and Disable are left out, and with a lack of a move relearner, effectively become unused. PS factors this in, luckily.

So, I added those two moves to the list of stuff you get through Tradebacks, with an additional note regarding their situation.

CryoGyro · Jun 2, 2021

GP 1/2

View attachment 335218
Artwork commissioned from RacieBeep!

----

Introduction
The first generation of Pokemon is unique in that it can trade forwards and backwards with Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal via the Time Capsule. This makes it the only generation directly influenced by a future one,; (semi) as this makes it possible to get Pokemon can learn moves that normally cannot be obtained. For example, it's possible for Magmar to learn Thunder Punch via TM in GSC, and since this is an existing move in RBY, you can trade it back without any issues. This is also the only way to get around RBY's unusual DV legality; otherwise, due to encounter rates influencing DV generation, it's impossible for some Pokemon — most notably Tauros — to get legitimate max DVs across the board.
View attachment 335193
The legitimacy of what would become known as Tradebacks has been widely disputed in the RBY community ever since the early 2000s on Azure Heights. Some believe it diversifies the game, while others believe it's unintended and hurts the generation's identity. There is no right or wrong answer to this decades-old debate, but the divide has been large enough to ban Tradebacks in standard play. Regardless, "Tradebacks OU" has continued to exist as a side format that's enjoyed by players, but lacks the plentiful resources of RBY OU. This guide aims to change that.

List of Tradeback Moves
GSC changed RBY Pokemon's movepools significantly. Generally, many Pokemon received the elemental punches and Headbutt, giving them a good pool of staple moves to use. Additionally, many Pokemon gained reliable coverage, such as Hypno and Alakazam. Pokemon Crystal's Move Tutor also made Flamethrower accessible to pretty much any Pokemon that learned Fire Blast, giving them a consistent option to use instead. Breeding also gave many Pokemon an all-manner of (google tells me this isn't a thing, could be wrong) interesting options, such as Hypnosis on Persian and Ninetales, Rock Slide Charizard, and Fire Spin Arcanine. The Odd Egg also gave a few Pokemon Dizzy Punch, though it has no effect, so it's not too notable.
View attachment 335194
The most notorious source of Tradebacks is the New York Pokemon Center (NYPC) events. From 2001 to 2003, the New York Pokemon Center began distributing distributed Pokemon to the Gen 2 games. These could be shiny, have special moves, or sometimes even both. This event gave many Pokemon unusual moves; most notably, it released the demonic Lovely Kiss Snorlax that has since rocked the metagame.

This list will go over moves exclusively learned through Tradebacks. Methods such as Stadium 2's move relearner can allow for a Pokemon to learn any normally obtainable move as well. For Pokemon that are part of evolutionary families, all moves carry up.

Pokemon	Level-up	TM/HM	Move Tutor (Crystal)	Breeding	Event
Bulbasaur		Defense Curl, Flash, Headbutt		Light Screen, Petal Dance, Razor Wind, Skull Bash
Venusaur		Roar
Charmander	Smokescreen	Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt,		Bite, Rock Slide
Charizard	Wing Attack	Roar
Squirtle		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall		Confusion, Haze, Mist
Blastoise		Roar
Pidgey	Tackle
Rattata		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Bite, Counter, Fury Swipes, Screech
Raticate		Cut, Roar, Strength
Spearow				Quick Attack, Tri Attack	Sonic Boom
Ekans		Headbutt		Haze, Slam
Pikachu		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Strength, Thunder Punch		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Double Slap	Petal Dance, Sing
Sandshrew		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Counter
Nidoran-F		Headbutt		Counter, Disable, Focus Energy, Supersonic	Lovely Kiss
Nidorina		Strength
Nidoqueen		Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Nidoran-M		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Amnesia, Confusion, Counter, Disable, Supersonic	Lovely Kiss
Nidorino		Strength
Nidoking		Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Clefairy		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Amnesia, Splash	Petal Dance, Swift
Vulpix		Headbutt		Disable, Hypnosis
Jigglypuff		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)	Petal Dance
Zubat				Gust, Quick Attack
Oddish		Flash		Razor Leaf	Leech Seed
Paras	Poison Powder	Flash		Counter, Light Screen, Psybeam, Screech
Venonat		Swift		Screech
Venomoth	Gust
Diglett				Screech
Dugtrio	Tri Attack
Meowth		Defense Curl, Dream Eater, Headbutt		Amnesia, Hypnosis
Persian		Roar
Psyduck	Screech	Flash, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall		Hypnosis, Light Screen, Psybeam, Psychic	Petal Dance, Tri Attack
Mankey		Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Meditate
Growlithe		Headbutt		Fire Spin, Thrash
Poliwag		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Waterfall		Haze, Mist, Splash	Growth, Lovely Kiss
Poliwhirl		Ice Punch
Abra		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Light Screen
Machop		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Light Screen, Meditate, Rolling Kick	Thrash
Bellsprout		Flash		Leech Life	Lovely Kiss
Tentacool				Aurora Beam, Haze	Confuse Ray
Geodude		Fire Punch, Headbutt	Flamethrower
Golem		Roar
Ponyta	Tackle	Headbutt	Flamethrower	Double Kick, Hypnosis, Quick Attack, Thrash	Low Kick
Rapidash	Fury Attack
Slowpoke	Tackle	Dream Eater	Flamethrower	Stomp
Slowbro		Ice Punch
Magnemite					Agility
Magneton	Tri Attack
Farfetch'd		Headbutt		Gust, Mirror Move, Quick Attack
Doduo		Swift		Haze, Quick Attack, Supersonic	Low Kick
Seel		Waterfall		Disable, Lick, Peck, Slam
Grimer		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Haze, Lick
Shellder				Barrier, Screech
Gastly				Haze
Gengar		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch
Onix		Headbutt, Roar			Sharpen
Drowzee		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Light Screen	Amnesia
Krabby				Amnesia, Dig, Haze, Slam
Voltorb		Headbutt			Agility
Exeggcute		Dream Eater, Flash, Strength*		Confusion, Mega Drain*
Exeggutor		Headbutt
Cubone		Fire Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Rock Slide, Screech, Swords Dance	Fury Attack
Hitmonlee	Tackle	Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)
Hitmonchan	Tackle	Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), High Jump Kick
Lickitung	Lick	Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower		Double Slap
Koffing	Poison Gas			Psybeam, Psywave, Screech
Rhyhorn		Blizzard, Counter, Headbutt, Roar	Flamethrower, Ice Beam*	Thrash
Rhydon		Fire Punch, Thunder Punch
Chansey		Dream Eater, Headbutt	Flamethrower
Tangela		Flash, Headbutt		Amnesia, Confusion, Reflect
Kangaskhan		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Disable, Focus Energy, Stomp
Horsea		Headbutt, Waterfall		Aurora Beam, Disable, Dragon Rage, Splash	Haze
Goldeen				Haze, Hydro Pump, Psybeam	Swords Dance
Staryu		Waterfall
Mr. Mime		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Hypnosis, Psybeam
Scyther		Headbutt		Counter, Light Screen, Razor Wind	Sonic Boom
Jynx	Confusion (Smoochum), Sing (Smoochum)	Dream Eater, Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Meditate	Petal Dance
Electabuzz		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch		Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Meditate, Rolling Kick
Magmar		Headbutt, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Screech
Pinsir		Headbutt		Fury Attack	Rock Throw
Tauros	Horn Attack, Thrash	Headbutt, Surf	Flamethrower		Quick Attack
Magikarp					Bubble
Gyarados	Thrash	Headbutt, Roar, Waterfall	Flamethrower
Lapras		Dream Eater, Headbutt		Aurora Beam	Bite
Eevee		Headbutt			Growth
Vaporeon		Roar, Waterfall
Jolteon		Roar
Flareon		Roar
Porygon		Dream Eater			Barrier
Omanyte	Bite, Constrict	Headbutt		Aurora Beam, Haze, Slam, Supersonic	Rock Throw
Kabuto	Mega Drain, Sand Attack			Aurora Beam, Dig	Rock Throw
Kabutops		Headbutt
Aerodactyl		Earthquake, Headbutt, Roar	Flamethrower		Rock Throw
Snorlax	Tackle	Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Lick	Lovely Kiss, Splash
Articuno	Gust	Roar
Zapdos	Peck	Roar
Moltres	Ember, Wing Attack	Roar	Flamethrower
Dratini		Headbutt, Waterfall	Flamethrower	Haze, Light Screen, Mist, Supersonic	Hydro Pump
Dragonite	Wing Attack	Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch
Mewtwo	Confusion, Disable	Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Mew		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch, Waterfall	Flamethrower

*This Pokemon's evolution(s) obtains these normally in RBY, but this form does not.
**These moves exist in the Pokemon's RBY learnset but, due to being obtained caught at a higher level, cannot be obtained without the move relearner in Pokemon Stadium 2.

Notable Changes to OU
Tradebacks OU is an almost entirely different metagame to your regular RBY OU. It's far more aggressive in nature and you'll be seeing a lot of trades and high-flying gameplay. (can't tell what that's supposed to mean) This is Pokemon in its purest form: you have your status, your setup, and your damage. No tricks or gimmicks, all while being flexible enough (what's flexible? the pokemon? the mechanics?) to give you much wider team variety than in standard play.

Your new Big 3
The first thing to get out of the way is introducing your new Big 3: Snorlax, Hypno, and Gengar. Tauros and Chansey are still incredible, but very droppable in this format; the general power uptick is the main culprit.
View attachment 335015
Being bestowed with Lovely Kiss jacked up Snorlax's threat level to a high degree. What this brings to the table is immense. (kinda filler imo) Snorlax is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a Self-Destruct from another Snorlax or a very lucky critical hit. This puts you into a situation where you either have to freeze it or sleep it first, only the latter of which can be deemed reliable. As a result, with Self-Destruct in mind, Snorlax can now do a similar two-for-one that Exeggutor does in regular RBY OU, only this time it's backed by the its already amazing utility Snorlax brings. It also gets Ice Punch, which will freeze more often than not when by the time all of its PP is exhausted, making it more effective at forcing opposing Snorlax out. (you emphasize lovely kiss, but don't make it particularly clear what the move does for lax; i see where you're going with the "impossible to ohko" stuff, but it was confusing on first read)

On the flip side though, Snorlax often has to make a big compromise to run Lovely Kiss, especially on the Reflect set, since you're going to be forfeiting which forfeits a Gengar matchup there. There's also the matter of it being the slowest sleeper in the game, so against something like Exeggutor, it's liable to lose out and now you're a Snorlax down. The physical set also has to pick between losing Self-Destruct or Hyper Beam, both of which are crucial for blowing past important threats like Chansey. However, these drawbacks do little to detract from what Snorlax can bring to a team. It can be used in the lead slot As a lead or anywhere else, it'll do something for you. Never drop this bear!

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct
- Earthquake
- Lovely Kiss

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Ice Beam
- Body Slam
- Rest / Self-Destruct

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Earthquake / Lovely Kiss / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct
- Reflect
- Rest

View attachment 335018
Hypno is great. Gaining Amnesia and actual coverage did it a big favor, making it RBY's premier user of the move. It has a variety of sets;, (comma) with Amnesia + Thunder Wave + 2 Attacks, Rest, Hypnosis, and Reflect being the main pool of options. With just two boosts, it nearly reaches the 999 stat cap, making it a scary foe to fight. You can really fine-tune it to what your team needs.

However, it's far from unbeatable and suffers from just not being able to do everything, arguably being a healthy top tier. Unlike the terrifying Amnesia Slowbro, Hypno suffers from having decidedly mediocre physical bulk, making it very vulnerable to Persian, Tauros, and Snorlax. If using Rest to try and copy the "TobyBro" set, it will often perform worse and have trouble sweeping. It's a big draw for Explosion Pokemon in the same way Slowbro is, but without the survivability. Make no mistake though, with coverage in the elemental punches and Amnesia at play here, Hypno will absolutely deal massive damage before finally being brought down.

Hypno
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Psychic
- Reflect / Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
- Rest / Thunder Wave / Hypnosis

View attachment 335019
Gengar gained a ton of value with the addition of elemental punches into to its movepool, and with Tauros finally being a remotely droppable Pokemon combined with Persian's rise, it's in a very good position in the metagame. With the ability to run Thunderbolt and Ice Punch together in addition to its already great Hypnosis + Explosion combination, it's a common fixture on offensive teams. It's also one of your best Snorlax checks, letting you pivot around its Body Slam whether asleep or not, often giving very important information on what its set its running. Gengar can be quite difficult to wall at times, similar to Starmie albeit less powerful damage-wise, so expect to see it popping up a lot. It's also possible to run Rest when leading with it to absorb paralysis while not losing the utility that pivoting around Snorlax brings to the table.

However, it's still Gengar, and ergo, it suffers from the same consistency issues it's always had. (meaning what? are you fine assuming the reader already knows a lot about rby?) It also suffers from having a horrific Ground weakness that constantly drags it down against Pokemon like Tauros. Compared to Starmie, its damage output isn't as high as it looks either. These flaws are really quite minor though, so don't let them detract discourage you from splashing Gengar onto your teams.

Gengar
- Hypnosis
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Explosion

Gengar
- Rest
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Hypnosis / Body Slam / Psychic / Explosion

New and Improved Threats
(There are definitely more to mention but these are the most important imo)
Tradebacks haven't just buffed the OU staples though; it's also propelled many lesser-used Pokemon into viability. This makes for a significantly more diverse metagame with a lot to offer a player.

View attachment 335195
Persian was once a very flawed Pokemon, lacking offensive pressure outside of Slash. With the addition of Hypnosis and Amnesia to its movepool, however, Persian went from an off-meta pick just barely missing OU to a staple lead. Having the fastest sleep move in the game makes Persian a very scary opponent foe to face, forcing the opponent into a 50:50 situation where they can try to sack something or take a Slash. Additionally, a successful sleep often means an uncontested Amnesia, allowing it to fire off boosted Thunderbolt or Bubble Beam.

This isn't to say Persian is suddenly overpowered, though. It's still somewhat hurt by Gengar if it isn't using Amnesia + Thunderbolt to force it to explode, and it isn't like paralysis users are suddenly poofed from existence nonexistent. Paralysis is still the single-hardest absolute counter to Persian's existence, and the very sight of Alakazam can send it packing. Persian is also less inclined to run Bubble Beam as a result of Amnesia allowing it to get past Gengar, which indirectly makes Rhydon a very big threat despite its drop in usage. Hypnosis has very shaky accuracy as well, which makes Persian among the most inconsistent leads out there; combined with its pitiful bulk, the new Persian is a high-risk, high-reward Pokemon.

Persian
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Amnesia

View attachment 335200
Alakazam gains the elemental punches, making it an incredibly versatile Pokemon in Tradebacks OU. The best part? It doesn't really have to drop Seismic Toss or even change at all, it's just gotten new weapons in its arsenal. Alakazam can fine-tune itself to beat Starmie or Exeggutor with the addition of Thunder Punch and Ice Punch while losing to the other, or keep with Seismic Toss for a more neutral matchup spread. Plus, even 3 attacks builds are a possibility if you don't need Thunder Wave. For those who like the Reflect build, that's improved with the advent of Barrier as well, allowing Alakazam to further boost its Defense stat if necessary. Generally, Alakazam is much healthier (what does that mean) and more diverse in Tradebacks OU and is a lot of fun to build with.

It can be inferred that this added diversity makes Alakazam lose some consistency, though. When dropping Seismic Toss, as stated, Alakazam is going to lose more matchups in exchange for becoming more proficient in one, as well as become setup fodder for the terrifying Hypno. Ergo, the moves you choose on Alakazam are going to be centered on what your team needs. Doing otherwise will result in an objectively worse Pokemon.

Alakazam
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss / Thunder Punch / Ice Punch
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

View attachment 335201 View attachment 335202
Nidoking and Nidoqueen become much scarier in Tradebacks as their movepools grow forever deeper, with them both getting Lovely Kiss. Nidoking also gains Amnesia, though it's incompatible with Lovely Kiss. As it turns out, both are perfectly viable; Nidoking becomes an Amnesia sweeper with decent Speed, while Nidoqueen can be used as Lovely Kiss lead. The reason you use Nidoqueen over Nidoking as a sleep lead is that you don't lose any Speed creep tiers, and since Nidoqueen is bulkier, it's safer to miss with Lovely Kiss against Pokemon like Snorlax. You can still use Nidoking in the lead slot, but its only niche in this role is beating opposing Nidoqueen leads. Overall, this is a metagame where you can use either Nido and not lose out on much.

However, it's no secret that the Nidos have horrific typings Poison / Ground is a horrific typing. Being weak to basically everything and only having an Electric immunity to make up for it, they're quite unwieldy to use, which begs the question of whether a team using them would be more effective with a different Pokemon. Regardless, making a team around them is very rewarding if an experienced player is piloting them, so they're solid metagame threats.

Nidoqueen
Ability: none
- Lovely Kiss
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

Nidoking
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

View attachment 335199
A Pokemon previously on the very edge of RBY OU viability, Clefable becomes a perfectly usable threat in Tradebacks OU. With Amnesia now under its belt, Clefable can serve as what can be seen as considered a superior AmnesiaLax. While it can hardly replace the tubby bear, its immediate power and good stats make it a perfectly fine Pokemon to slot onto teams if you want to use a different Snorlax set or go with a two-pronged assault. The only setback is that it's not always a necessary pick. (because? what makes it generally worse?)

Clefable
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Psychic
- Body Slam / Thunderbolt
- Rest

View attachment 335196
Vaporeon is a fairly surprising threat to come out of Tradebacks, possessing Growth in addition to Acid Armor. This can make it a particularly brutal win condition in tandem with when using Rest and Surf, being near-impossible to KO. It's easily one of the best abusers of the stat reapplication glitch in the game as a result of its setup method as well. There's also the absolutely ginormous amount of PP it gets from Growth and Acid Armor's combined total of 122 which, when combined, gives it 122 PP alone, making even Chansey run away in fear. Unlike Slowbro, it's not too scared of Starmie or Chansey's Thunderbolts Thunderbolt from Starmie and Chansey either, as its special bulk forces them to land two critical hits in a row just to bring it down. Vaporeon has to watch out for Persian's Slash if it comes in on its predicted Rest though, so care has to be taken before bringing Vaporeon to the field and setting up. It's also a bit slow to set up at times and Zapdos isn't too afraid until the boosts start racking up, so care should be taken in that regard as well.

Vaporeon
Ability: none
- Surf
- Growth
- Acid Armor
- Rest

View attachment 335197
Rapidash gained Hypnosis like Persian did, as well as and Double Kick. This gives Rapidash the unique privilege of being an RBY Fire-type with an actual movepool, as well as all the usual tools that made them remotely function in the first place;: (colon) Fire Spin, Agility, and a decent physical attack Attack stat. This makes Rapidash a good mixed sweeper to bring to games sometimes, packing anything from an AgiliSpin set to a sleeper set to support a team.

However, Rapidash is still slower than Persian, which means it does lose to it in the lead slot. Plus, while Double Kick is nice for 3HKOing Chansey, it's Rapidash is not really stopping it from losing to beating Rhydon without burning it with Fire Blast. Starmie and Slowbro's continued existence is also a problem, hard countering it continue to exist and counter it. Regardless, it's a fine option to bring on serious teams, which is far more than what can be said for its RBY days.

Rapidash
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast / Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Double Kick

View attachment 335722
Electabuzz rises as a surprise threat with the addition of Rolling Kick, (comma) which, with its 30.1% flinch chance and Electabuzz's 20.5% critical hit rate, gives it a solid shot at beating paralyzed Chansey. Not only that, but it It also gained the coveted Ice Punch, letting it situationally muscle past Rhydon and Zapdos. If Persian, Tauros, or and Gengar have been successfully incapacitated, Electabuzz becomes a big threat, sometimes even closing out the late-game from there. It can also use Seismic Toss to deal more damage to Zapdos and Jolteon, more consistently winning Electric mirrors. However, its stats are a bit middling offensively, so it's strictly a late-game threat and does require some team support. It's also quite frail, and if paralyzed, is pretty much dead weight. Regardless, this is a massive glow-up for the electric yokai, and it's a serviceable pick on teams that need a bit more coverage. (vague)

Electabuzz
Ability: none
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Rolling Kick

Old Mainstays
While some Pokemon have seen significant changes, Contrary to popular belief, many Tradebacks Pokemon are virtually the same as normal RBY in how they play, giving an element of familiarity to the world of Tradebacks. Here are some of the more notable cases of the old staples continuing their dominance over the chromatic generation.
View attachment 335546
A foreign concept to many, with the rise of Persian, it's perfectly viable to drop Tauros in favor of Persian in Tradebacks OU. However, make no mistake: it's still a top threat and is on a wide array of teams, repeating its RBY OU antics once more. With Surf and Quick Attack also in its arsenal, Tauros is capable of fine-tuning its fourth move to do more as well. Surf is best used when Tauros is being used alongside Electric-types such as Zapdos, Jolteon, and Electabuzz, as it's a linchpin in Rhydon matchups. Stomp Tauros fans will also be pleased to know it got directly upgraded with the addition of Headbutt, letting it more heavily punish paralyzed Pokemon.

View attachment 335548
Chansey gained absolutely nothing of value in Tradebacks bar the potential to fish for burns with Flamethrower, but this doesn't mean it's suddenly unviable: it's still a staple on many teams. Sing, BoltBeam, and Reflect are all excellent sets that continue to see success, (comma) and it's not uncommon to see it continue performing its regular roles. The Sing set has become a bit rarer with the increased availability of sleep moves, though, which has also made lead Chansey an exceedingly rare sight.

View attachment 335554
Cloyster got a minor new toy in Screech to complement its Explosion, but outside of that, it's pretty much the same Pokemon. The rise of Persian has been a mixed bag for it; it's great at stopping Slash, but Thunderbolt really stings, and that demon can even use Amnesia to secure a 2HKO. Still, though, Cloyster is more than happy to facilitate partial trapping cores while exploding on Hypno.

View attachment 335558
Exeggutor gained Headbutt in Tradebacks, allowing it to run the ParaFuse paraflinch set it's always wanted. However, this is far from the main set: that hasn't changed much at all. Generally, it's still out to put something to sleep and Explode use Explosion later, it's just a case of what its fourth move is going to be unless it's making compromises. While many sleepers have burst onto the scene, forgetting what Exeggutor can do is a fatal mistake, especially when considering that Starmie is quite comfortable with Surf + Thunderbolt as its coverage of choice in this metagame.

View attachment 335523
Jynx gained the niche Petal Dance in Tradebacks, which gives it the potential to damage Starmie, Slowbro, and Vaporeon. However, this isn't quite standard and it remains largely the same. Jynx remains the fastest user of a 74.6% accurate sleep move in Lovely Kiss, which gives it a solid place as a midground lead that isn't overly fussed about paralysis. However, as is the case with regular RBY OU, it's quite weak after it's put something to sleep, so teams should still account for that.

View attachment 335552
Rhydon took a bonk on the head with the increased availability of elemental punches, now having to watch out for Ice Punch Gengar, Hypno, and Alakazam when going about its business. The addition of Headbutt is a decent buff to old Stomp sets, though these those weren't exactly tearing up RBY OU in the first place. Persian also tends to drop Bubble Beam to fit Amnesia or Hyper Beam on its sets too, which Rhydon is more than happy to exploit. Overall, while some movepool additions to old targets have hurt, Rhydon can still serve as a centerpiece on paralysis-intensive teams and turn incapacitated teams into a bowling alley. It also remains the best Zapdos and Amnesia Snorlax check in the game, quickly stealing their momentum.

View attachment 335557
While Hypno rudely stole the spotlight as the best Amnesia user in the game, Slowbro remains a solid choice for its much better physical bulk, allowing it to stomach Explosion and Snorlax assaults, unlike our hypnotic friend. Slowbro also has a miles better defensive typing than Hypno or and Vaporeon, though it still has to be afraid of Thunderbolt Starmie or and Chansey, so accounting for them when teambuilding is essential. It also gained an interesting new toy in Flamethrower, which it can use to fine-tune its coverage or even fish for burns, so it's a touch more diverse. Just like in RBY OU, expect Slowbro to catch you off-guard and randomly sweep your team.

View attachment 335720
Starmie hasn't changed at all, still using the same Thunder Wave + Recover + 2 attacks set, and remains an influential Pokemon in the metagame. Because of Hypno's rise to power, Surf + Thunderbolt becomes the more common set, allowing Starmie to 2HKO Hypno with consecutive critical hits. It's also one of the best Vaporeon checks thanks to resisting Surf, and it's also possible to 2HKO it with critical hit Thunderbolt. Blizzard is much rarer because of these qualities, which indirectly allows Exeggutor to check it with relative consistency,

View attachment 335556
Zapdos is the same as ever, even in movepool, securing endgames with its nuclear Thunderbolt. The faster-paced nature of the metagame is a massive boon to Zapdos, perfectly supporting its playstyle and allowing it to find a place on many successful teams.

The Lead Triangle
(if you want you can use this crude interpretation but I'd strongly recommend making something more presentable in that case)
View attachment 335529
View attachment 335522 View attachment 335517 View attachment 335525 View attachment 335526
The main leads in Tradebacks OU create a triangle format of sorts, which is very important to understand if one is to be successful in teambuilding and gameplay alike. It's almost completely different from regular RBY OU. Think of it like the popular "Grass/Fire/Water" matchup triangle or Rock/Paper/Scissors.

Lead Lovely Kiss Snorlax is the biggest game-changer, now being a suitable lead rather than a Pokemon you switch in early. Early-game Snorlax is already a well-known monster that often defines how a game will go, and now you've got a good chance of fighting one out of the gate. Paralysis leads will simply lose to Snorlax, so it's often a good option to just get some damage before you're sent to dreamland. Expect to see this a lot. However, as aforementioned, Snorlax is the slowest lead, so any opposing sleep lead will leave it in a difficult spot, usually forcing it out, so it isn't some automatic win button.

Persian is the new fastest sleep lead; this makes it not only a good option against Snorlax but also a solid option against all its (persian's or lax's?) other checks. Once a foe has been put to sleep, Persian can get to work, forcing high damage from Slash onto the opposing team which that can be difficult to come back from if Gengar isn't present. The main thing keeping Persian from prominence is that it really hates being paralyzed while simultaneously being and is very frail, which can give it problems against paralysis leads. Ergo, if Alakazam or Starmie are what it's faced with, it's often being forced out right away while giving the opponent valuable information. Any paralysis user faster than Persian can and will be a problem. There's also the matter of its consistency; Hypnosis will miss sometimes, and it sucks.

Alakazam and Starmie remain solid paralysis leads and are the best ways of dealing with Persian, and Starmie hasn't changed at all. The opposite can be said for Alakazam, now being capable of allocating its second attack slot to Thunder Punch to combat opposing Starmie leads. However, this will cause it to be less effective against opposing Seismic Toss Alakazam, being completely outdamaged. While mowed down by Snorlax, the classic paralysis leads should never be ignored. Outside of these two, other paralysis leads like Jolteon can be effective, though they are definitely less consistent and matchup-dependent.

Midground Options
View attachment 335519 View attachment 335521 View attachment 335523 View attachment 335533 View attachment 335534
(when depicting jynx the vc sprite is prolly best, just avoids all those...issues)
You don't have to commit to the triangle format either:; (semi) there are plenty of alternatives that serve as solid midgrounds. Exeggutor remains a good option and a particularly brutal way to stop Snorlax, Gengar makes Snorlax squeal while having a potential dice roll against Persian, Jynx remains the fastest 74.6% accuracy sleep move user, Nidoqueen ignores paralysis leads while putting them to sleep, and Rapidash has the flexibility of Hypnosis and Fire Spin pivoting. The lead metagame has a noticeable amount of depth once you start looking into these and has a lot to offer a player when building teams.

View attachment 335539ConclusionView attachment 335540

Do you know what you just did? You just took your first step into learning Tradebacks OU! You're now armed with sufficient information to dive into the format and start mowing down the competition! Tradebacks OU is regularly hosted in the Ruins of Alph room's RBY Monday Tour Nights on Pokemon Showdown, come on down and enjoy the mad world of Lovely Kiss Snorlax!

Plague von Karma · Jun 2, 2021

CryoGyro said:
GP 1/2

Implemented this.

"all manner of" is very much a thing, not sure why Google told you otherwise, perhaps it's just more common in Britain. However, my use of the idiom was a bit iffy, so I reworded it to better fit the sentence.

Oglemi · Jun 3, 2021

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View attachment 335218
Artwork commissioned from RacieBeep!
Approved by shiny finder

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Introduction
The first generation of Pokemon is unique in that it can trade forwards and backwards with Pokemon Gold, Silver, and Crystal via the Time Capsule. This makes it the only generation directly influenced by a future one; most notably, Pokemon can learn moves that normally cannot be obtained. For example, it's possible for Magmar to learn Thunder Punch via TM in GSC, and since this is an existing move in RBY, you can trade it back without any issues. This is also the only way to get around RBY's unusual DV legality; otherwise, due to encounter rates influencing DV generation, it's impossible for some Pokemon — most notably Tauros — to get legitimate max DVs across the board.

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The legitimacy of what would become known as Tradebacks has been widely disputed in the RBY community ever since the early 2000s on Azure Heights. Some believe it diversifies the game, while others believe it's unintended and hurts the generation's identity. There is no right or wrong answer to this decades-old debate, but the divide has been large enough to ban Tradebacks in standard play. Regardless, "Tradebacks OU" has continued to exist as a side format that's enjoyed by players, but lacks the plentiful resources of RBY OU. This guide aims to change that.

List of Tradeback Moves
GSC changed RBY Pokemon's movepools significantly. Generally, many Pokemon received the elemental punches and Headbutt, giving them a good pool of staple moves to use. Additionally, many Pokemon gained reliable coverage, such as Hypno and Alakazam. Pokemon Crystal's Move Tutor also made Flamethrower accessible to pretty much any Pokemon that learned Fire Blast, giving them a consistent option to use instead. Breeding also gave many Pokemon all manner of interesting options, such as Hypnosis Persian and Ninetales, Rock Slide Charizard, and Fire Spin Arcanine. The Odd Egg gave a few Pokemon Dizzy Punch, though it has no effect, so it's not too notable.

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The most notorious source of Tradebacks is the New York Pokemon Center (NYPC) events. From 2001 to 2003, the New York Pokemon Center distributed Pokemon to the Gen 2 games. These could be shiny, have special moves, or sometimes even both. This event gave many Pokemon unusual moves; most notably, it released the demonic Lovely Kiss Snorlax that has since rocked the metagame.

This list will go over moves exclusively learned through Tradebacks. Methods such as Stadium 2's move relearner can allow a Pokemon to learn any normally obtainable move as well. For Pokemon that are part of evolutionary families, all moves carry up.

Pokemon	Level-up	TM/HM	Move Tutor (Crystal)	Breeding	Event
Bulbasaur		Defense Curl, Flash, Headbutt		Light Screen, Petal Dance, Razor Wind, Skull Bash
Venusaur		Roar
Charmander	Smokescreen	Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt,		Bite, Rock Slide
Charizard	Wing Attack	Roar
Squirtle		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall		Confusion, Haze, Mist
Blastoise		Roar
Pidgey	Tackle
Rattata		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Bite, Counter, Fury Swipes, Screech
Raticate		Cut, Roar, Strength
Spearow				Quick Attack, Tri Attack	Sonic Boom
Ekans		Headbutt		Haze, Slam
Pikachu		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Strength, Thunder Punch		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Double Slap	Petal Dance, Sing
Sandshrew		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Counter
Nidoran-F		Headbutt		Counter, Disable, Focus Energy, Supersonic	Lovely Kiss
Nidorina		Strength
Nidoqueen		Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Nidoran-M		Defense Curl, Headbutt		Amnesia, Confusion, Counter, Disable, Supersonic	Lovely Kiss
Nidorino		Strength
Nidoking		Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Clefairy		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Amnesia, Splash	Petal Dance, Swift
Vulpix		Headbutt		Disable, Hypnosis
Jigglypuff		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)	Petal Dance
Zubat				Gust, Quick Attack
Oddish		Flash		Razor Leaf	Leech Seed
Paras	Poison Powder	Flash		Counter, Light Screen, Psybeam, Screech
Venonat		Swift		Screech
Venomoth	Gust
Diglett				Screech
Dugtrio	Tri Attack
Meowth		Defense Curl, Dream Eater, Headbutt		Amnesia, Hypnosis
Persian		Roar
Psyduck	Screech	Flash, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall		Hypnosis, Light Screen, Psybeam, Psychic	Petal Dance, Tri Attack
Mankey		Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Meditate
Growlithe		Headbutt		Fire Spin, Thrash
Poliwag		Defense Curl, Headbutt, Waterfall		Haze, Mist, Splash	Growth, Lovely Kiss
Poliwhirl		Ice Punch
Abra		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Light Screen
Machop		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Light Screen, Meditate, Rolling Kick	Thrash
Bellsprout		Flash		Leech Life	Lovely Kiss
Tentacool				Aurora Beam, Haze	Confuse Ray
Geodude		Fire Punch, Headbutt	Flamethrower
Golem		Roar
Ponyta	Tackle	Headbutt	Flamethrower	Double Kick, Hypnosis, Quick Attack, Thrash	Low Kick
Rapidash	Fury Attack
Slowpoke	Tackle	Dream Eater	Flamethrower	Stomp
Slowbro		Ice Punch
Magnemite					Agility
Magneton	Tri Attack
Farfetch'd		Headbutt		Gust, Mirror Move, Quick Attack
Doduo		Swift		Haze, Quick Attack, Supersonic	Low Kick
Seel		Waterfall		Disable, Lick, Peck, Slam
Grimer		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Haze, Lick
Shellder				Barrier, Screech
Gastly				Haze
Gengar		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch
Onix		Headbutt, Roar			Sharpen
Drowzee		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Light Screen	Amnesia
Krabby				Amnesia, Dig, Haze, Slam
Voltorb		Headbutt			Agility
Exeggcute		Dream Eater, Flash, Strength*		Confusion, Mega Drain*
Exeggutor		Headbutt
Cubone		Fire Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Rock Slide, Screech, Swords Dance	Fury Attack
Hitmonlee	Tackle	Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)
Hitmonchan	Tackle	Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), High Jump Kick
Lickitung	Lick	Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower		Double Slap
Koffing	Poison Gas			Psybeam, Psywave, Screech
Rhyhorn		Blizzard, Counter, Headbutt, Roar	Flamethrower, Ice Beam*	Thrash
Rhydon		Fire Punch, Thunder Punch
Chansey		Dream Eater, Headbutt	Flamethrower
Tangela		Flash, Headbutt		Amnesia, Confusion, Reflect
Kangaskhan		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Disable, Focus Energy, Stomp
Horsea		Headbutt, Waterfall		Aurora Beam, Disable, Dragon Rage, Splash	Haze
Goldeen				Haze, Hydro Pump, Psybeam	Swords Dance
Staryu		Waterfall
Mr. Mime		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch		Hypnosis, Psybeam
Scyther		Headbutt		Counter, Light Screen, Razor Wind	Sonic Boom
Jynx	Confusion (Smoochum), Sing (Smoochum)	Dream Eater, Headbutt		Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Meditate	Petal Dance
Electabuzz		Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch		Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Meditate, Rolling Kick
Magmar		Headbutt, Thunder Punch		Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Screech
Pinsir		Headbutt		Fury Attack	Rock Throw
Tauros	Horn Attack, Thrash	Headbutt, Surf	Flamethrower		Quick Attack
Magikarp					Bubble
Gyarados	Thrash	Headbutt, Roar, Waterfall	Flamethrower
Lapras		Dream Eater, Headbutt		Aurora Beam	Bite
Eevee		Headbutt			Growth
Vaporeon		Roar, Waterfall
Jolteon		Roar
Flareon		Roar
Porygon		Dream Eater			Barrier
Omanyte	Bite, Constrict	Headbutt		Aurora Beam, Haze, Slam, Supersonic	Rock Throw
Kabuto	Mega Drain, Sand Attack			Aurora Beam, Dig	Rock Throw
Kabutops		Headbutt
Aerodactyl		Earthquake, Headbutt, Roar	Flamethrower		Rock Throw
Snorlax	Tackle	Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower	Lick	Lovely Kiss, Splash
Articuno	Gust	Roar
Zapdos	Peck	Roar
Moltres	Ember, Wing Attack	Roar	Flamethrower
Dratini		Headbutt, Waterfall	Flamethrower	Haze, Light Screen, Mist, Supersonic	Hydro Pump
Dragonite	Wing Attack	Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch
Mewtwo	Confusion, Disable	Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch	Flamethrower
Mew		Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch, Waterfall	Flamethrower

*This Pokemon's evolution(s) obtains these normally in RBY, but this form does not.
**These moves exist in the Pokemon's RBY learnset but, due to being caught at a higher level, cannot be obtained without the move relearner in Pokemon Stadium 2.

Notable Changes to OU
Tradebacks OU is an almost entirely different metagame to regular RBY OU. It's far more aggressive in nature and you'll be seeing a lot of KO trades and fast-paced gameplay (because of the quick jump from in-game to comp not everyone will make the jump to understand you mean trading KOs here). This is Pokemon in its purest form: you have your status, your setup, and your damage. No tricks or gimmicks, all while being flexible enough in the teambuilder to give you much wider team variety than in standard play.

Your new Big 3
The first thing to get out of the way is introducing your new Big 3: Snorlax, Hypno, and Gengar. Tauros and Chansey are still incredible, but very droppable in this format; the general power uptick is the main culprit.
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Being bestowed with Lovely Kiss jacked up Snorlax's threat level to a high degree. Snorlax is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a Self-Destruct from another Snorlax or a very lucky critical hit, allowing it to strike back in return with Lovely Kiss to cripple a Pokemon for the rest of the game. This puts you into a situation where you have to freeze or sleep it first, only the latter of which can be reliable. As a result, with Self-Destruct in mind, Snorlax can now do a similar two-for-one that Exeggutor does in regular RBY OU, only this time it's backed by its already amazing utility. It also gets Ice Punch, which will freeze more often than not by the time all of its PP is exhausted, making it more effective at forcing opposing Snorlax out.

On the flip side though, Snorlax often has to make a big compromise to run Lovely Kiss, especially on the Reflect set, which forfeits the a Gengar matchup. There's also the matter of it being the slowest sleeper in the game, so against something like Exeggutor, it's liable to lose out and now you're a Snorlax down. The physical set also has to pick between dropping losing Self-Destruct or Hyper Beam, both of which are crucial for blowing past important threats like Chansey. However, these drawbacks do little to detract from what Snorlax can bring to a team. As a lead or anywhere else, it'll do something for you. Never drop this bear!

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct
- Earthquake
- Lovely Kiss

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Ice Beam
- Body Slam
- Rest / Self-Destruct

Snorlax
Ability: None
- Body Slam
- Earthquake / Lovely Kiss / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct
- Reflect
- Rest

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Hypno is great. Gaining Amnesia and actual coverage did it a big favor, making it RBY's premier user of the move. It has a variety of sets, with Amnesia + Thunder Wave + 2 Attacks and then any of Psychic, an elemental punch, Rest, Hypnosis, and Reflect being the main pool of options. With just two boosts, it nearly reaches the 999 stat cap, making it a scary foe to fight. You can really fine-tune it to what your team needs.

However, it's far from unbeatable and suffers from just not being able to do everything, arguably being a healthy top tier threat. Unlike the terrifying Amnesia Slowbro, Hypno suffers from having decidedly mediocre physical bulk, making it very vulnerable to Persian, Tauros, and Snorlax. If using Rest to try and copy the "TobyBro" set, it will often perform worse and have trouble sweeping. It's a big draw for Explosion Pokemon in the same way Slowbro is, but without the survivability. Make no mistake though, Hypno will absolutely deal massive damage before finally being brought down.

Hypno
Ability: None
- Amnesia
- Psychic
- Reflect / Ice Punch / Thunder Punch
- Rest / Thunder Wave / Hypnosis

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Gengar gained a ton of value with the addition of elemental punches to its movepool, and with Tauros finally being a remotely droppable Pokemon combined with Persian's rise it's in a very good position in the metagame. With the ability to run Thunderbolt and Ice Punch together in addition to its already great Hypnosis + Explosion combination, it's a common fixture on offensive teams. It's also one of your best Snorlax checks, letting you pivot around its Body Slam whether asleep or not, often giving very important information on its set. Gengar can be quite difficult to wall at times, similar to Starmie albeit less powerful, so expect to see it popping up a lot. It's also possible to run Rest when leading with it to absorb paralysis while not losing the utility that pivoting around Snorlax brings to the table.

However, it's still Gengar, and ergo, it suffers from the same issues it's always had; Hypnosis's low accuracy, an annoying Ground weakness, and a lack of STAB moves being the most glaring ones8
. It also suffers from having a horrific Ground weakness that constantly drags it down against Pokemon like Tauros. Its Ground weakness particularly drags it down against Pokemon like Tauros. Compared to Starmie, its damage output isn't as high as it looks either. These flaws are really quite minor though, so don't let them discourage you from splashing Gengar onto your teams.

Gengar
- Hypnosis
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Explosion

Gengar
- Rest
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Hypnosis / Body Slam / Psychic / Explosion

New and Improved Threats
Tradebacks doesn't just buff haven't just buffed the OU staples though; it also propels it's also propelled many lesser-used Pokemon into viability. This makes for a significantly more diverse metagame.

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Persian is a very flawed Pokemon in standard OU was once a very flawed Pokemon, lacking offensive pressure outside of Slash. With the addition of Hypnosis and Amnesia to its movepool, Persian goes went from an off-meta pick just barely missing OU to a staple lead. Having the fastest sleep move in the game makes Persian a very scary foe to face, forcing the opponent into a 50:50 situation where they can try to sack something or take a Slash. Additionally, a successful sleep often means an uncontested Amnesia, allowing it to fire off boosted Thunderbolts or Bubble Beams.

This isn't to say Persian is suddenly overpowered, though. It's still somewhat hurt by Gengar if it isn't using Amnesia + Thunderbolt to force it to Explode, and it isn't like paralysis users are suddenly nonexistent. Paralysis is still the absolute counter to Persian's existence, and the very sight of Alakazam can send it packing. Persian is also less inclined to run Bubble Beam as a result of Amnesia allowing it to get past Gengar, which indirectly makes Rhydon a very big threat despite its drop in usage. Hypnosis has very shaky accuracy as well, which makes Persian among the most inconsistent leads out there; combined with its pitiful bulk, the new Persian is a high-risk, high-reward Pokemon.

Persian
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Slash
- Thunderbolt
- Amnesia

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Alakazam gains the elemental punches, making it an incredibly versatile Pokemon in Tradebacks OU. The best part? It doesn't really have to drop Seismic Toss or even change at all, it's just gotten new weapons in its arsenal. Alakazam can fine-tune itself to beat Starmie or Exeggutor with the addition of Thunder Punch and Ice Punch while losing to the other, or keep with Seismic Toss for a more neutral matchup spread. Plus, even 3 attacks builds are a possibility if you don't need Thunder Wave. For those who like the Reflect build, that's improved with the advent of Barrier as well, allowing Alakazam to further boost its Defense stat if necessary. Generally, Alakazam is much more diverse in Tradebacks OU and is a lot of fun to build with.

It can be inferred that this added diversity makes Alakazam lose some consistency, though. When dropping Seismic Toss, as stated, Alakazam is going to lose more matchups in exchange for becoming more proficient in one, as well as become setup fodder for the terrifying Hypno. Ergo, the moves you choose on Alakazam are going to be centered on what your team needs. Doing otherwise will result in an objectively worse Pokemon.

Alakazam
Ability: none
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss / Thunder Punch / Ice Punch
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

View attachment 335201 View attachment 335202
Nidoking and Nidoqueen become much scarier in Tradebacks as their movepools grow forever deeper, with them both getting Lovely Kiss. Nidoking also gains Amnesia, though it's incompatible with Lovely Kiss. As it turns out, both are perfectly viable; Nidoking becomes an Amnesia sweeper with decent Speed, while Nidoqueen can be used as a Lovely Kiss lead. The reason you use Nidoqueen over Nidoking as a sleep lead is the extra Speed doesn't matter that you don't lose any Speed tiers, and since Nidoqueen is bulkier, it's safer to miss with Lovely Kiss against Pokemon like Snorlax. You can still use Nidoking in the lead slot, but its only niche in this role is beating Nidoqueen leads. Overall, this is a metagame where you can use either Nido and not lose out on much.

However, it's no secret that Poison / Ground is a horrific typing in RBY. Being weak to basically every common special move + Earthquake everything and only having an Electric immunity to make up for it, they're quite unwieldy to use, which begs the question of whether a team using them would be more effective with a different Pokemon. Regardless, making a team around them is very rewarding if an experienced player is piloting them, so they're solid metagame threats.

Nidoqueen
Ability: none
- Lovely Kiss
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

Nidoking
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard
- Thunderbolt
- Earthquake

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A Pokemon previously on the very edge of RBY OU viability, Clefable becomes a perfectly usable threat in Tradebacks OU. With Amnesia now under its belt, Clefable can serve as what can be considered a superior AmnesiaLax. While it can hardly replace the tubby bear, its immediate power and good stats make it a perfectly fine Pokemon to slot onto teams if you want to use a different Snorlax set or go with a two-pronged assault. The only setback is that it's not always a necessary pick, as Hypno often fulfils its role just fine.

Clefable
Ability: none
- Amnesia
- Blizzard / Psychic
- Body Slam / Thunderbolt
- Rest

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Vaporeon is a fairly surprising threat to come out of Tradebacks, possessing Growth in addition to Acid Armor. This can make it a particularly brutal win condition when using Rest and Surf, being near-impossible to KO. It's easily one of the best abusers of the stat reapplication glitch as a result of its setup method as well. There's also the absolutely ginormous amount of PP it gets from Growth and Acid Armor's combined total of 122, making even Chansey stare in awe run away in fear (i think it runs away anyway). Unlike Slowbro, it's not too scared of Thunderbolt from Starmie and Chansey either, as its special bulk forces them to land two critical hits in a row to bring it down. Vaporeon has to watch out for Persian's Slash if it comes in on its predicted Rest though, so care has to be taken before bringing Vaporeon to the field and setting up. It's also a bit slow to set up at times and Zapdos isn't too afraid until the boosts start racking up.

Vaporeon
Ability: none
- Surf
- Growth
- Acid Armor
- Rest

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Rapidash gains Hypnosis and Double Kick. This gives Rapidash the unique privilege of being an RBY Fire-type with an actual movepool, as well as all the usual tools that made them remotely function in the first place: Fire Spin, Agility, and a decent Attack stat. This makes Rapidash a good mixed sweeper sometimes, packing anything from an AgiliSpin set to a sleeper set to support a team.

However, Rapidash is slower than Persian, which means it does lose to it in the lead slot. Plus, while Double Kick is nice for 3HKOing Chansey, Rapidash is not really beating Rhydon without burning it with Fire Blast. Starmie and Slowbro continue to exist and counter it. Regardless, it's a fine option to bring on serious teams, which is far more than what can be said for it in standard OU its RBY days.

Rapidash
Ability: none
- Hypnosis
- Fire Spin
- Fire Blast / Body Slam
- Hyper Beam / Double Kick

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Electabuzz rises as a surprise threat with the addition of Rolling Kick, (comma) which, with its 30.1% flinch chance and Electabuzz's 20.5% critical hit rate, gives it a solid shot at beating paralyzed Chansey. It also gains the coveted Ice Punch, letting it situationally muscle past Rhydon and Zapdos. If Persian, Tauros, and Gengar have been successfully incapacitated, Electabuzz becomes a big threat, sometimes even closing out the late-game. It can also use Seismic Toss to deal more damage to Zapdos and Jolteon, more consistently winning Electric mirrors. However, its stats are a bit middling offensively, so it's strictly a late-game threat and does require some team support. It's also quite frail, and if paralyzed, is pretty much dead weight. Regardless, this is a massive glow-up for the electric yokai, and it's a serviceable pick on teams that need a bit more offensive coverage.

Electabuzz
Ability: none
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Punch
- Rolling Kick

Old Mainstays
Contrary to popular belief, many Tradebacks Pokemon are virtually the same as normal RBY in how they play, giving an element of familiarity to the world of Tradebacks. Here are some of the more notable cases of the old staples continuing their dominance over the chromatic generation.
View attachment 335546
A foreign concept to many, it's perfectly viable to drop Tauros in favor of Persian in Tradebacks OU. However, make no mistake: it's still a top threat and is on a wide array of teams, repeating its RBY OU antics. With Surf and Quick Attack also in its arsenal, Tauros is capable of fine-tuning its fourth move to accomplish do more as well. Surf is best used alongside Electric-types such as Zapdos, Jolteon, and Electabuzz, as it's a linchpin in Rhydon matchups. Stomp Tauros fans will also be pleased to know it got directly upgraded with the addition of Headbutt, letting it more heavily punish paralyzed Pokemon.

View attachment 335548
Chansey gains absolutely nothing of value in Tradebacks bar the potential to fish for burns with Flamethrower, but it's still a staple on many teams. Sing, BoltBeam, and Reflect are all excellent sets that continue to see success, and it's not uncommon to see it continue performing its regular roles. The Sing set has become a bit rarer with the increased availability of sleep moves, though, which has also made lead Chansey an exceedingly rare sight.

View attachment 335554
Cloyster gets a minor new toy in Screech to complement its Explosion, but outside of that, it's pretty much the same Pokemon. The rise of Persian has been a mixed bag for it; it's great at stopping Slash, but Thunderbolt really stings, and that demon can even use Amnesia to secure a 2HKO. Still, Cloyster is more than happy to facilitate partial trapping cores while Exploding on Hypno.

View attachment 335558
Exeggutor gains Headbutt in Tradebacks, allowing it to run the paraflinch set it's always wanted. However, this is far from the main set: that hasn't changed much at all. Generally, it's still out to put something to sleep and use Explosion later, it's just a case of what its fourth move is going to be unless it's making compromises. While many sleepers have burst onto the scene, forgetting what Exeggutor can do is a fatal mistake, especially when considering that Starmie is quite comfortable with Surf + Thunderbolt as its coverage in this metagame.

View attachment 335523
Jynx gains the niche Petal Dance in Tradebacks, which gives it the potential to damage Starmie, Slowbro, and Vaporeon. However, this isn't quite standard and Jynx it remains largely the same. Jynx remains the fastest user of a 74.6% accurate sleep move in Lovely Kiss, which gives it a solid place as a midground lead that isn't overly fussed about paralysis. However, as is the case with regular RBY OU, it's quite weak after it's put something to sleep, so teams should account for that.

View attachment 335552
Rhydon took a bonk on the head with the increased availability of elemental punches, now having to watch out for Ice Punch Gengar, Hypno, and Alakazam when going about its business. The addition of Headbutt is a decent buff to old Stomp sets, though those weren't exactly tearing up RBY OU in the first place. Persian tends to drop Bubble Beam to fit Amnesia or Hyper Beam on its sets, which Rhydon is more than happy to exploit. Overall, while some movepool additions to old targets have hurt, Rhydon can still serve as a centerpiece on paralysis-intensive teams and turn incapacitated teams into a bowling alley. It also remains the best Zapdos and Amnesia Snorlax check in the game, quickly stealing their momentum.

View attachment 335557
While Hypno rudely stole the spotlight as the best Amnesia user in the game, Slowbro remains a solid choice for its much better physical bulk, allowing it to stomach an Explosion and Snorlax assaults. Slowbro also has a miles better defensive typing than Hypno and Vaporeon, though it still has to be afraid of Thunderbolt Starmie and Chansey, so accounting for them when teambuilding is essential. It also gains an interesting new toy in Flamethrower, which it can use to fine-tune its coverage or even fish for burns, so it's a touch more diverse. Just like in RBY OU, expect Slowbro to catch you off-guard and randomly sweep your team.

View attachment 335720
Starmie hasn't changed at all, still using the same Thunder Wave + Recover + 2 attacks set, and remains an influential Pokemon in the metagame. Because of Hypno's rise to power, Surf + Thunderbolt becomes the more common set, allowing Starmie to 2HKO Hypno with consecutive critical hits. It's also one of the best Vaporeon checks thanks to resisting Surf, and it's also possible to 2HKO it with critical hit Thunderbolt. Blizzard is much rarer because of these qualities, which indirectly allows Exeggutor to check it with relative consistency.

View attachment 335556
Zapdos is the same as ever, even in movepool, securing endgames with its nuclear Thunderbolt. The faster-paced nature of the metagame is a massive boon to Zapdos, perfectly supporting its playstyle and allowing it to find a place on many successful teams.

The Lead Triangle
(if you want you can use this crude interpretation but I'd strongly recommend making something more presentable in that case)

View attachment 335529
View attachment 335522 View attachment 335517 View attachment 335525 View attachment 335526

The main leads in Tradebacks OU create a triangle format of sorts, which is very important to understand if one is to be successful in teambuilding and gameplay alike. It's almost completely different from regular RBY OU. Think of it like the popular "Grass/Fire/Water" matchup triangle or Rock/Paper/Scissors.

Lead Lovely Kiss Snorlax is the biggest game-changer, now being a suitable lead rather than a Pokemon you switch in early. Early-game Snorlax is already a well-known monster that often defines how a game will go, and now you've got a good chance of fighting one out of the gate. Paralysis leads will simply lose to Snorlax, so it's often a good option to just get some damage in before you're sent to dreamland. Expect to see this a lot. However, Snorlax is the slowest lead, so any opposing sleep lead will leave it in a difficult spot, usually forcing it out, so it isn't some automatic win button.

Persian is the new fastest sleep lead; this makes it not only a good option against Snorlax but also against all of Persian's other checks should it be faster. Once a foe has been put to sleep, Persian can get to work, forcing high damage from Slash that can be difficult to come back from if Gengar isn't present. The main thing keeping Persian from prominence is that it really hates being paralyzed and is very frail, which can give it problems against paralysis leads. Ergo, if Alakazam or Starmie are what it's faced with, it's often forced out right away while giving the opponent valuable information. Any paralysis user faster than Persian can and will be a problem. There's also the matter of its consistency; Hypnosis will miss sometimes, and it sucks.

Alakazam and Starmie remain solid paralysis leads and are the best ways of dealing with Persian, and Starmie hasn't changed at all. The opposite can be said for Alakazam, now being capable of allocating its second attack slot to Thunder Punch to combat Starmie leads. However, this will cause it to be less effective against opposing Seismic Toss Alakazam, being completely outdamaged. While mowed down by Snorlax, the classic paralysis leads should never be ignored. Outside of these two, other paralysis leads like Jolteon can be effective, though they are definitely less consistent and matchup-dependent.

Midground Options
View attachment 335519 View attachment 335521 View attachment 335523 View attachment 335533 View attachment 335534
(when depicting jynx the vc sprite is prolly best, just avoids all those...issues)
You don't have to commit to the triangle format either; there are plenty of alternatives that serve as solid midgrounds. Exeggutor remains a good option and a particularly brutal way to stop Snorlax, Gengar makes Snorlax squeal while having a potential dice roll against Persian, Jynx remains the fastest 74.6% accuracy sleep move user, Nidoqueen ignores paralysis leads while putting them to sleep, and Rapidash has the flexibility of Hypnosis and Fire Spin pivoting. The lead metagame has a noticeable amount of depth once you start looking into these and has a lot to offer a player when building teams.

View attachment 335539ConclusionView attachment 335540

Do you know what you just did? You just took your first step into learning Tradebacks OU! You're now armed with sufficient information to dive into the format and start mowing down the competition! Tradebacks OU is regularly hosted in the Ruins of Alph room's RBY Monday Tour Nights on Pokemon Showdown, come on down and enjoy the mad world of Lovely Kiss Snorlax!

GP Approved 2/2

Plague von Karma

Plague von Karma · Jun 3, 2021

Oglemi said:
GP Approved 2/2

Implemented, ready for HTML! Thank you for the help <3

Ryota Mitarai · Jun 6, 2021

author asked me to HTML this, so claiming this

Ryota Mitarai · Jun 7, 2021

HTML:

[title]
A Beginner's Guide to RBY Tradebacks

[head]
<meta name="description" content="An introduction to tradebacks in RBY and their impact on competitive RBY." />

<link rel="stylesheet" href="../stylesheet.css" />
<script src="//ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.4/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<style type="text/css">
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[page]
<div class="author">By <a href="/forums/members/plague-von-karma.236353/" target="_blank">Plague von Karma</a>. Art by <a href="///twitter.com/RacieBeep" target="_blank">RacieBeep</a>.</div>

<img src="/ingame/guides/rby_tradebacks_art.png" alt="art" class="img-center" />

<h2>Introduction</h2>

<p>The first generation of Pok&eacute;mon is unique in that it can trade forwards and backwards with Pok&eacute;mon Gold, Silver, and Crystal via the Time Capsule. This makes it the only generation directly influenced by a future one; most notably, Pok&eacute;mon can learn moves that normally cannot be obtained. For example, it's possible for Magmar to learn Thunder Punch via TM in GSC, and since this is an existing move in RBY, you can trade it back without any issues. This is also the only way to get around RBY's unusual DV legality; otherwise, due to encounter rates influencing DV generation, it's impossible for some Pok&eacute;mon&mdash;most notably Tauros&mdash;to get legitimate max DVs across the board.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/alakazam.png" alt="Alakazam" class="img-center" />

<p>The legitimacy of what would become known as Tradebacks has been widely disputed in the RBY community ever since the early 2000s on Azure Heights. Some believe it diversifies the game, while others believe it's unintended and hurts the generation's identity. There is no right or wrong answer to this decades-old debate, but the divide has been large enough to ban Tradebacks in standard play. Regardless, "Tradebacks OU" has continued to exist as a side format that's enjoyed by players, but lacks the plentiful resources of RBY OU. This guide aims to change that.</p>

<div id="toc">
    <h3>Table of Contents</h3>
    <ul class="links">
        <li class="link"><a href="#list">1. List of Tradeback Moves</a></li>
        <li class="link"><a href="#notable-changes">2. Notable Changes to RBY OU</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
                <li><a href="#big-three">Your New Big 3</a></li>
                <li><a href="#new-and-improved">New and Improved Threats</a></li>
                <li><a href="#old-mainstays">Old Mainstays</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
        <li class="link"><a href="#lead-triangle">3. The Lead Triangle</a></li>
        <li>
            <ul>
                <li><a href="#midground-options">Midground Options</a></li>
            </ul>
        </li>
    </ul>
</div>

<hr />

<h2 id="list">List of Tradeback Moves</h2>

<p>GSC changed RBY Pok&eacute;mon's movepools significantly. Generally, many Pok&eacute;mon received the elemental punches and Headbutt, giving them a good pool of staple moves to use. Additionally, many Pok&eacute;mon gained reliable coverage, such as Hypno and Alakazam. Pok&eacute;mon Crystal's Move Tutor also made Flamethrower accessible to pretty much any Pok&eacute;mon that learned Fire Blast, giving them a consistent option to use instead. Breeding also gave many Pok&eacute;mon all manner of interesting options, such as Hypnosis Persian and Ninetales, Rock Slide Charizard, and Fire Spin Arcanine. The Odd Egg gave a few Pok&eacute;mon Dizzy Punch, though it has no effect, so it's not too notable.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/nidoking.png" alt="Nidoking" class="img-center" />

<p>The most notorious source of Tradebacks is the New York Pok&eacute;mon Center (NYPC) events. From 2001 to 2003, the New York Pok&eacute;mon Center distributed Pok&eacute;mon to the Gen 2 games. These could be shiny, have special moves, or sometimes even both. This event gave many Pok&eacute;mon unusual moves; most notably, it released the demonic Lovely Kiss Snorlax that has since rocked the metagame.</p>

<p>This list will go over moves exclusively learned through Tradebacks. Methods such as Stadium 2's move relearner can allow a Pok&eacute;mon to learn any normally obtainable move as well. For Pok&eacute;mon that are part of evolutionary families, all moves carry up.</p>

<input type="button" data-show-target="table" value="Toggle table" id="tradeback-list" />

<div class="big-table" data-target="table">
    <table class="rby-table">
       <tr>
          <th>Pok&eacute;mon</th>
          <th>Level-up</th>
          <th>TM/HM</th>
          <th>Move Tutor (Crystal)</th>
          <th>Breeding</th>
          <th>Event</th>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Bulbasaur</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Flash, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Light Screen, Petal Dance, Razor Wind, Skull Bash</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Venusaur</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Charmander</td>
          <td>Smokescreen</td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt,</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Bite, Rock Slide</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Charizard</td>
          <td>Wing Attack</td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Squirtle</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Confusion, Haze, Mist</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Blastoise</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Pidgey</td>
          <td>Tackle</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Rattata</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Bite, Counter, Fury Swipes, Screech</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Raticate</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Cut, Roar, Strength</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Spearow</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Quick Attack, Tri Attack</td>
          <td>Sonic Boom</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Ekans</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Haze, Slam</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Pikachu</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Headbutt, Strength, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Double Slap</td>
          <td>Petal Dance, Sing</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Sandshrew</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Counter</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Nidoran-F</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Counter, Disable, Focus Energy, Supersonic</td>
          <td>Lovely Kiss</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Nidorina</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Strength</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Nidoqueen</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Nidoran-M</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Amnesia, Confusion, Counter, Disable, Supersonic</td>
          <td>Lovely Kiss</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Nidorino</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Strength</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Nidoking</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Roar, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Clefairy</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Amnesia, Splash</td>
          <td>Petal Dance, Swift</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Vulpix</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Disable, Hypnosis</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Jigglypuff</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)</td>
          <td>Petal Dance</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Zubat</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Gust, Quick Attack</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Oddish</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Flash</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Razor Leaf</td>
          <td>Leech Seed</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Paras</td>
          <td>Poison Powder</td>
          <td>Flash</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Counter, Light Screen, Psybeam, Screech</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Venonat</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Swift</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Screech</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Venomoth</td>
          <td>Gust</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Diglett</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Screech</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Dugtrio</td>
          <td>Tri Attack</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Meowth</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Dream Eater, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Amnesia, Hypnosis</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Persian</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Psyduck</td>
          <td>Screech</td>
          <td>Flash, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Waterfall</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Hypnosis, Light Screen, Psybeam, Psychic</td>
          <td>Petal Dance, Tri Attack</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Mankey</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Meditate</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Growlithe</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Spin, Thrash</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Poliwag</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Headbutt, Waterfall</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Haze, Mist, Splash</td>
          <td>Growth, Lovely Kiss</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Poliwhirl</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Ice Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Abra</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Barrier, Light Screen</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Machop</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Light Screen, Meditate, Rolling Kick</td>
          <td>Thrash</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Bellsprout</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Flash</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Leech Life</td>
          <td>Lovely Kiss</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Tentacool</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Aurora Beam, Haze</td>
          <td>Confuse Ray</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Geodude</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Headbutt</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Golem</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Ponyta</td>
          <td>Tackle</td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Double Kick, Hypnosis, Quick Attack, Thrash</td>
          <td>Low Kick</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Rapidash</td>
          <td>Fury Attack</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Slowpoke</td>
          <td>Tackle</td>
          <td>Dream Eater</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Stomp</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Slowbro</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Ice Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Magnemite</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Agility</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Magneton</td>
          <td>Tri Attack</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Farfetch'd</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Gust, Mirror Move, Quick Attack</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Doduo</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Swift</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Haze, Quick Attack, Supersonic</td>
          <td>Low Kick</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Seel</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Waterfall</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Disable, Lick, Peck, Slam</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Grimer</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Haze, Lick</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Shellder</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Barrier, Screech</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Gastly</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Haze</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Gengar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Onix</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt, Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Sharpen</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Drowzee</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Barrier, Light Screen</td>
          <td>Amnesia</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Krabby</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Amnesia, Dig, Haze, Slam</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Voltorb</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Agility</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Exeggcute</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Flash, Strength*</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Confusion, Mega Drain*</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Exeggutor</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Cubone</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Rock Slide, Screech, Swords Dance</td>
          <td>Fury Attack</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Hitmonlee</td>
          <td>Tackle</td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg)</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Hitmonchan</td>
          <td>Tackle</td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), High Jump Kick</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Lickitung</td>
          <td>Lick</td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Double Slap</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Koffing</td>
          <td>Poison Gas</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Psybeam, Psywave, Screech</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Rhyhorn</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Blizzard*, Counter*, Headbutt, Roar</td>
          <td>Flamethrower, Ice Beam*</td>
          <td>Thrash</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Rhydon</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Chansey</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Headbutt</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Tangela</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Flash, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Amnesia, Confusion, Reflect</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Kangaskhan</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Disable, Focus Energy, Stomp</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Horsea</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt, Waterfall</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Aurora Beam, Disable, Dragon Rage, Splash</td>
          <td>Haze</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Goldeen</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Haze, Hydro Pump, Psybeam</td>
          <td>Swords Dance</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Staryu</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Waterfall</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Mr. Mime</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Hypnosis, Psybeam</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Scyther</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Counter, Light Screen, Razor Wind</td>
          <td>Sonic Boom</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Jynx</td>
          <td>Confusion (Smoochum), Sing (Smoochum)</td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Meditate</td>
          <td>Petal Dance</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Electabuzz</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Meditate, Rolling Kick</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Magmar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Barrier, Dizzy Punch (Odd Egg), Karate Chop, Screech</td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Pinsir</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Fury Attack</td>
          <td>Rock Throw</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Tauros</td>
          <td>Horn Attack, Thrash</td>
          <td>Headbutt, Surf</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Quick Attack</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Magikarp</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Bubble</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Gyarados</td>
          <td>Thrash</td>
          <td>Headbutt, Roar, Waterfall</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Lapras</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Aurora Beam</td>
          <td>Bite</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Eevee</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Growth</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Vaporeon</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Roar, Waterfall</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Jolteon</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Flareon</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Porygon</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Barrier</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Omanyte</td>
          <td>Bite, Constrict</td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Aurora Beam, Haze, Slam, Supersonic</td>
          <td>Rock Throw</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Kabuto</td>
          <td>Mega Drain, Sand Attack</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Aurora Beam, Dig</td>
          <td>Rock Throw</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Kabutops</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Aerodactyl</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Earthquake, Headbutt, Roar</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Rock Throw</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Snorlax</td>
          <td>Tackle</td>
          <td>Defense Curl, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Lick</td>
          <td>Lovely Kiss, Splash</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Articuno</td>
          <td>Gust</td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Zapdos</td>
          <td>Peck</td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Moltres</td>
          <td>Ember, Wing Attack</td>
          <td>Roar</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Dratini</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Headbutt, Waterfall</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td>Haze, Light Screen, Mist, Supersonic</td>
          <td>Hydro Pump</td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Dragonite</td>
          <td>Wing Attack</td>
          <td>Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Mewtwo</td>
          <td>Confusion**, Disable**</td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
       <tr>
          <td>Mew</td>
          <td></td>
          <td>Dream Eater, Fire Punch, Headbutt, Ice Punch, Roar, Thunder Punch, Waterfall</td>
          <td>Flamethrower</td>
          <td></td>
          <td></td>
       </tr>
    </table>
    
    <ul class="notes">
        <li>*This Pok&eacute;mon's evolution(s) obtains these normally in RBY, but this form does not.</li>
        <li>**These moves exist in the Pok&eacute;mon's RBY learnset but, due to being caught at a higher level, cannot be obtained without the move relearner in Pok&eacute;mon Stadium 2.</li>
    </ul>
    
    <p><a href="#tradeback-list">Back to top of table!</a></p>
</div>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to table of contents!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="notable-changes">Notable Changes to OU</h2>

<p>Tradebacks OU is an almost entirely different metagame to regular RBY OU. It's far more aggressive in nature and you'll be seeing a lot of KO trades and fast-paced gameplay. This is Pok&eacute;mon in its purest form: you have your status, your setup, and your damage. No tricks or gimmicks, all while being flexible enough in the teambuilder to give you much wider team variety than in standard play.</p>

<h3 id="big-three">Your New Big 3</h3>

<p>The first thing to get out of the way is introducing your new Big 3: Snorlax, Hypno, and Gengar. Tauros and Chansey are still incredible, but very droppable in this format; the general power uptick is the main culprit.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/snorlax.png" alt="Snorlax" class="img-center" />

<p>Being bestowed with Lovely Kiss jacked up Snorlax's threat level to a high degree. Snorlax is nigh-impossible to OHKO without a Self-Destruct from another Snorlax or a very lucky critical hit, allowing it to strike back in return with Lovely Kiss to cripple a Pok&eacute;mon for the rest of the game. This puts you into a situation where you have to freeze or sleep it first, only the latter of which can be reliable. As a result, with Self-Destruct in mind, Snorlax can now do a similar two-for-one that Exeggutor does in regular RBY OU, only this time it's backed by its already amazing utility. It also gets Ice Punch, which will freeze more often than not by the time all of its PP is exhausted, making it more effective at forcing opposing Snorlax out.</p>

<p>On the flip side, Snorlax often has to make a big compromise to run Lovely Kiss, especially on the Reflect set, which forfeits the Gengar matchup. There's also the matter of it being the slowest sleeper in the game, so against something like Exeggutor, it's liable to lose out and now you're a Snorlax down. The physical set also has to pick between dropping Self-Destruct or Hyper Beam, both of which are crucial for blowing past important threats like Chansey. However, these drawbacks do little to detract from what Snorlax can bring to a team. As a lead or anywhere else, it'll do something for you. Never drop this bear!</p>

<h4>Sample Sets</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Snorlax</li>
    <li>Ability: None</li>
    <li>- Body Slam</li>
    <li>- Hyper Beam / Self-Destruct</li>
    <li>- Earthquake</li>
    <li>- Lovely Kiss</li>
</ul>
<ul class="set">
    <li>Snorlax</li>
    <li>Ability: None</li>
    <li>- Amnesia</li>
    <li>- Blizzard / Ice Beam</li>
    <li>- Body Slam</li>
    <li>- Rest / Self-Destruct</li>
</ul>
<ul class="set">
    <li>Snorlax</li>    
    <li>Ability: None</li>
    <li>- Body Slam</li>
    <li>- Earthquake / Lovely Kiss / Ice Punch / Self-Destruct</li>
    <li>- Reflect</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
</ul>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/hypno.png" alt="Hypno" class="img-center" />

<p>Hypno is great. Gaining Amnesia and actual coverage did it a big favor, making it RBY's premier user of the move. It has a variety of sets, with Amnesia + Thunder Wave and then any of Psychic, an elemental punch, Rest, Hypnosis, and Reflect being the main pool of options. With just two boosts, it nearly reaches the 999 stat cap, making it a scary foe to fight. You can really fine-tune it to what your team needs.</p>

<p>However, it's far from unbeatable and suffers from just not being able to do everything, arguably being a healthy top tier threat. Unlike the terrifying Amnesia Slowbro, Hypno suffers from having decidedly mediocre physical bulk, making it very vulnerable to Persian, Tauros, and Snorlax. If using Rest to try and copy the "TobyBro" set, it will often perform worse and have trouble sweeping. It's a big draw for Explosion Pok&eacute;mon in the same way Slowbro is, but without the survivability. Make no mistake though, Hypno will absolutely deal massive damage before finally being brought down.</p>

<h4>Sample Set</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Hypno</li>
    <li>Ability: None</li>
    <li>- Amnesia</li>
    <li>- Psychic</li>
    <li>- Reflect / Ice Punch / Thunder Punch</li>
    <li>- Rest / Thunder Wave / Hypnosis</li>
</ul>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/gengar.png" alt="Gengar" class="img-center" />

<p>Gengar gained a ton of value with the addition of elemental punches to its movepool, and with Tauros finally being a remotely droppable Pok&eacute;mon combined with Persian's rise it's in a very good position in the metagame. With the ability to run Thunderbolt and Ice Punch together in addition to its already great Hypnosis + Explosion combination, it's a common fixture on offensive teams. It's also one of your best Snorlax checks, letting you pivot around its Body Slam whether asleep or not, often giving very important information on its set. Gengar can be quite difficult to wall at times, similar to Starmie albeit less powerful, so expect to see it popping up a lot. It's also possible to run Rest when leading with it to absorb paralysis while not losing the utility that pivoting around Snorlax brings to the table.</p>

<p>However, it's still Gengar, and ergo, it suffers from the same issues it's always had; Hypnosis's low accuracy, an annoying Ground weakness, and a lack of STAB moves being the most glaring ones. Its Ground weakness particularly drags it down against Pok&eacute;mon like Tauros. Compared to Starmie, its damage output isn't as high as it looks either. These flaws are really quite minor though, so don't let them discourage you from splashing Gengar onto your teams.</p>

<h4>Sample Sets</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Gengar</li>
    <li>- Hypnosis</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Ice Punch</li>
    <li>- Explosion</li>
</ul>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Gengar</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Ice Punch</li>
    <li>- Hypnosis / Body Slam / Psychic / Explosion</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="new-and-improved">New and Improved Threats</h3>

<p>Tradebacks doesn't just buff the OU staples though; it also propels many lesser-used Pok&eacute;mon into viability. This makes for a significantly more diverse metagame.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/persian.png" alt="Persian" class="img-center" />

<p>Persian is a very flawed Pok&eacute;mon in standard OU, lacking offensive pressure outside of Slash. With the addition of Hypnosis and Amnesia to its movepool, Persian goes from an off-meta pick just barely missing OU to a staple lead. Having the fastest sleep move in the game makes Persian a very scary foe to face, forcing the opponent into a 50:50 situation where they can try to sack something or take a Slash. Additionally, a successful sleep often means an uncontested Amnesia, allowing it to fire off boosted Thunderbolts or Bubble Beams.</p>

<p>This isn't to say Persian is suddenly overpowered, though. It's still somewhat hurt by Gengar if it isn't using Amnesia + Thunderbolt to force it to Explode, and it isn't like paralysis users are suddenly nonexistent. Paralysis is still the absolute counter to Persian's existence, and the very sight of Alakazam can send it packing. Persian is also less inclined to run Bubble Beam as a result of Amnesia allowing it to get past Gengar, which indirectly makes Rhydon a very big threat despite its drop in usage. Hypnosis has very shaky accuracy as well, which makes Persian among the most inconsistent leads out there; combined with its pitiful bulk, the new Persian is a high-risk, high-reward Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Sample Set</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Persian</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Hypnosis</li>
    <li>- Slash</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Amnesia</li>
</ul>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/alakazam.png" alt="Alakazam" class="img-center" />

<p>Alakazam gains the elemental punches, making it an incredibly versatile Pok&eacute;mon in Tradebacks OU. The best part? It doesn't really have to drop Seismic Toss or even change at all, it's just gotten new weapons in its arsenal. Alakazam can fine-tune itself to beat Starmie or Exeggutor with the addition of Thunder Punch and Ice Punch, or keep with Seismic Toss for a more neutral matchup spread. Plus, even 3 attacks builds are a possibility if you don't need Thunder Wave. For those who like the Reflect build, that's improved with the advent of Barrier as well, allowing Alakazam to further boost its Defense stat if necessary. Generally, Alakazam is much more diverse in Tradebacks OU and is a lot of fun to build with.</p>

<p>It can be inferred that this added diversity makes Alakazam lose some consistency, though. When dropping Seismic Toss, Alakazam is going to lose more matchups in exchange for becoming more proficient in one, as well as become setup fodder for the terrifying Hypno. Ergo, the moves you choose on Alakazam are going to be centered on what your team needs. Doing otherwise will result in an objectively worse Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<h4>Sample Set</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Alakazam</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Psychic</li>
    <li>- Seismic Toss / Thunder Punch / Ice Punch</li>
    <li>- Thunder Wave</li>
    <li>- Recover</li>
</ul>

<div class="center">
    <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/nidoking.png" alt="Nidoking" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/nidoqueen.png" alt="Nidoqueen" />
</div>

<p>Nidoking and Nidoqueen become much scarier in Tradebacks as their movepools grow forever deeper, with them both getting Lovely Kiss. Nidoking also gains Amnesia, though it's incompatible with Lovely Kiss. As it turns out, both are perfectly viable; Nidoking becomes an Amnesia sweeper with decent Speed, while Nidoqueen can be used as a Lovely Kiss lead. The reason you use Nidoqueen over Nidoking as a sleep lead is the extra Speed doesn't matter, and since Nidoqueen is bulkier, it's safer to miss with Lovely Kiss against Pok&eacute;mon like Snorlax. You can still use Nidoking in the lead slot, but its only niche in this role is beating Nidoqueen leads. Overall, this is a metagame where you can use either and not lose out on much.</p>

<p>However, it's no secret that Poison / Ground is a horrific typing in RBY. Being weak to basically every common special move + Earthquake and only having an Electric immunity to make up for it, they're quite unwieldy to use, which begs the question of whether a team using them would be more effective with a different Pok&eacute;mon. Regardless, making a team around them is very rewarding if an experienced player is piloting them, so they're solid metagame threats.</p>

<h4>Sample Sets</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Nidoqueen</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Lovely Kiss</li>
    <li>- Blizzard</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Earthquake</li>
</ul>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Nidoking</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Amnesia</li>
    <li>- Blizzard</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Earthquake</li>
</ul>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/clefable.png" alt="Clefable" class="img-center" />

<p>A Pok&eacute;mon previously on the very edge of RBY OU viability, Clefable becomes a perfectly usable threat in Tradebacks OU. With Amnesia now under its belt, Clefable can serve as what can be considered a superior AmnesiaLax. While it can hardly replace the tubby bear, its immediate power and good stats make it a perfectly fine Pok&eacute;mon to slot onto teams if you want to use a different Snorlax set or go with a two-pronged assault. The only setback is that it's not always a necessary pick, as Hypno often fulfils its role just fine.</p>

<h4>Sample Set</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Clefable</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Amnesia</li>
    <li>- Blizzard / Psychic</li>
    <li>- Body Slam / Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
</ul> 

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/vaporeon.png" alt="Vaporeon" class="img-center" />

<p>Vaporeon is a fairly surprising threat to come out of Tradebacks, possessing Growth in addition to Acid Armor. This can make it a particularly brutal win condition when using Rest and Surf, being near-impossible to KO. It's easily one of the best abusers of the stat reapplication glitch as a result of its setup method as well. There's also the absolutely ginormous amount of PP it gets from Growth and Acid Armor's combined total of 122, making even Chansey stare in awe. Unlike Slowbro, it's not too scared of Thunderbolt from Starmie and Chansey either, as its special bulk forces them to land two critical hits in a row to bring it down. Vaporeon has to watch out for Persian's Slash if it comes in on its predicted Rest though, so care has to be taken before bringing Vaporeon to the field and setting up. It's also a bit slow to set up at times and Zapdos isn't too afraid until the boosts start racking up.</p>

<h4>Sample Set</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Vaporeon</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Surf</li>
    <li>- Growth</li>
    <li>- Acid Armor</li>
    <li>- Rest</li>
</ul>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/rapidash.png" alt="Rapidash" class="img-center" />

<p>Rapidash gains Hypnosis and Double Kick. This gives Rapidash the unique privilege of being an RBY Fire-type with an actual movepool, as well as all the usual tools that made them remotely function in the first place: Fire Spin, Agility, and a decent Attack stat. This makes Rapidash a good mixed sweeper sometimes, packing anything from an AgiliSpin set to a sleeper set to support a team.</p>

<p>However, Rapidash is slower than Persian, which means it does lose to it in the lead slot. Plus, while Double Kick is nice for 3HKOing Chansey, Rapidash is not really beating Rhydon without burning it with Fire Blast. Starmie and Slowbro continue to exist and counter it. Regardless, it's a fine option to bring on serious teams, which is far more than what can be said for it in standard OU.</p>

<h4>Sample Set</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Rapidash</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Hypnosis</li>
    <li>- Fire Spin</li>
    <li>- Fire Blast / Body Slam</li>
    <li>- Hyper Beam / Double Kick</li>
</ul>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/electabuzz.png" alt="Electabuzz" class="img-center" />

<p>Electabuzz rises as a surprise threat with the addition of Rolling Kick, which, with its 30.1% flinch chance and Electabuzz's 20.5% critical hit rate, gives it a solid shot at beating paralyzed Chansey. It also gains the coveted Ice Punch, letting it situationally muscle past Rhydon and Zapdos. If Persian, Tauros, and Gengar have been successfully incapacitated, Electabuzz becomes a big threat, sometimes even closing out the late-game. It can also use Seismic Toss to deal more damage to Zapdos and Jolteon, more consistently winning Electric mirrors. However, its stats are a bit middling offensively, so it's strictly a late-game threat and does require some team support. It's also quite frail, and if paralyzed, is pretty much dead weight. Regardless, this is a massive glow-up for the electric yokai, and it's a serviceable pick on teams that need a bit more offensive coverage.</p>

<h4>Sample Set</h4>

<ul class="set">
    <li>Electabuzz</li>
    <li>Ability: none</li>
    <li>- Thunder Wave</li>
    <li>- Thunderbolt</li>
    <li>- Ice Punch</li>
    <li>- Rolling Kick</li>
</ul>

<h3 id="old-mainstays">Old Mainstays</h3>

<p>Contrary to popular belief, many Tradebacks Pok&eacute;mon are virtually the same as normal RBY in how they play, giving an element of familiarity to the world of Tradebacks. Here are some of the more notable cases of the old staples continuing their dominance over the chromatic generation.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/tauros.png" alt="Tauros" class="img-center" />

<p>A foreign concept to many, it's perfectly viable to drop Tauros in favor of Persian in Tradebacks OU. However, make no mistake: it's still a top threat and is on a wide array of teams, repeating its RBY OU antics. With Surf and Quick Attack also in its arsenal, Tauros is capable of fine-tuning its fourth move to accomplish more as well. Surf is best used alongside Electric-types such as Zapdos, Jolteon, and Electabuzz, as it's a linchpin in Rhydon matchups. Stomp Tauros fans will also be pleased to know it got directly upgraded with the addition of Headbutt, letting it more heavily punish paralyzed Pok&eacute;mon.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/chansey.png" alt="Chansey" class="img-center" />

<p>Chansey gains absolutely nothing of value in Tradebacks bar the potential to fish for burns with Flamethrower, but it's still a staple on many teams. Sing, BoltBeam, and Reflect are all excellent sets that continue to see success, and it's not uncommon to see it continue performing its regular roles. The Sing set has become a bit rarer with the increased availability of sleep moves, though, which has also made lead Chansey an exceedingly rare sight.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/cloyster.png" alt="Cloyster" class="img-center" />

<p>Cloyster gets a minor new toy in Screech to complement its Explosion, but outside of that, it's pretty much the same Pok&eacute;mon. The rise of Persian has been a mixed bag for it; it's great at stopping Slash, but Thunderbolt really stings, and that demon can even use Amnesia to secure a 2HKO. Still, Cloyster is more than happy to facilitate partial trapping cores while Exploding on Hypno.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/exeggutor.png" alt="Exeggutor" class="img-center" />

<p>Exeggutor gains Headbutt in Tradebacks, allowing it to run the paraflinch set it's always wanted. However, this is far from the main set: that hasn't changed much at all. Generally, it's still out to put something to sleep and use Explosion later, it's just a case of what its fourth move is going to be unless it's making compromises. While many sleepers have burst onto the scene, forgetting what Exeggutor can do is a fatal mistake, especially when considering that Starmie is quite comfortable with Surf + Thunderbolt as its coverage in this metagame.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/jynx.png" alt="Jynx" class="img-center" />

<p>Jynx gains the niche Petal Dance in Tradebacks, which gives it the potential to damage Starmie, Slowbro, and Vaporeon. However, this isn't quite standard and Jynx remains largely the same. Jynx remains the fastest user of a 74.6% accurate sleep move in Lovely Kiss, which gives it a solid place as a midground lead that isn't overly fussed about paralysis. However, as is the case with regular RBY OU, it's quite weak after it's put something to sleep, so teams should account for that.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/rhydon.png" alt="Rhydon" class="img-center" />

<p>Rhydon took a bonk on the head with the increased availability of elemental punches, now having to watch out for Ice Punch Gengar, Hypno, and Alakazam when going about its business. The addition of Headbutt is a decent buff to old Stomp sets, though those weren't exactly tearing up RBY OU in the first place. Persian tends to drop Bubble Beam to fit Amnesia or Hyper Beam on its sets, which Rhydon is more than happy to exploit. Overall, while some movepool additions to old targets have hurt, Rhydon can still serve as a centerpiece on paralysis-intensive teams and turn incapacitated teams into a bowling alley. It also remains the best Zapdos and Amnesia Snorlax check in the game, quickly stealing their momentum.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/slowbro.png" alt="Slowbro" class="img-center" />

<p>While Hypno rudely stole the spotlight as the best Amnesia user in the game, Slowbro remains a solid choice for its much better physical bulk, allowing it to stomach an Explosion and Snorlax assaults. Slowbro also has a miles better defensive typing than Hypno and Vaporeon, though it still has to be afraid of Thunderbolt Starmie and Chansey, so accounting for them when teambuilding is essential. It also gains an interesting new toy in Flamethrower, which it can use to fine-tune its coverage or even fish for burns, so it's a touch more diverse. Just like in RBY OU, expect Slowbro to catch you off-guard and randomly sweep your team.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/starmie.png" alt="Starmie" class="img-center" />

<p>Starmie hasn't changed at all, still using the same Thunder Wave + Recover + 2 attacks set, and remains an influential Pok&eacute;mon in the metagame. Because of Hypno's rise to power, Surf + Thunderbolt becomes the more common set, allowing Starmie to 2HKO Hypno with consecutive critical hits. It's also one of the best Vaporeon checks thanks to resisting Surf, and it's also possible to 2HKO it with critical hit Thunderbolt. Blizzard is much rarer because of these qualities, which indirectly allows Exeggutor to check it with relative consistency.</p>

<img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rg/zapdos.png" alt="Zapdos" class="img-center" />

<p>Zapdos is the same as ever, even in movepool, securing endgames with its nuclear Thunderbolt. The faster-paced nature of the metagame is a massive boon to Zapdos, perfectly supporting its playstyle and allowing it to find a place on many successful teams.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to table of contents!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2 id="lead-triangle">The Lead Triangle</h2>

<img src="/ingame/guides/tradebacks_lead_triangle.png" alt="Tradebacks Lead Triangle. Alakazam beats Persian, Persian beats Snorlax, and Snorlax beats Alakazam." class="img-center" />


<div class="center">
    <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/snorlax.png" alt="Snorlax" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/persian.png" alt="Persian" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/alakazam.png" alt="Alakazam" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/starmie.png" alt="Starmie" />
</div>

<p>The main leads in Tradebacks OU create a triangle format of sorts, which is very important to understand if one is to be successful in teambuilding and gameplay alike. It's almost completely different from regular RBY OU. Think of it like the popular "Grass/Fire/Water" matchup triangle or Rock/Paper/Scissors.</p>

<p>Lead Lovely Kiss Snorlax is the biggest game-changer, now being a suitable lead rather than a Pok&eacute;mon you switch in early. Early-game Snorlax is already a well-known monster that often defines how a game will go, and now you've got a good chance of fighting one out of the gate. Paralysis leads will simply lose to Snorlax, so it's often a good option to just get some damage in before you're sent to dreamland. Expect to see this a lot. However, Snorlax is the slowest lead, so any opposing sleep lead will leave it in a difficult spot, usually forcing it out, so it isn't some automatic win button.</p>

<p>Persian is the new fastest sleep lead; this makes it not only a good option against Snorlax but also against all of Persian's other checks should it be faster. Once a foe has been put to sleep, Persian can get to work, forcing high damage from Slash that can be difficult to come back from if Gengar isn't present. The main thing keeping Persian from prominence is that it <em>really </em>hates being paralyzed and is very frail, which can give it problems against paralysis leads. Ergo, if Alakazam or Starmie are what it's faced with, it's often forced out right away while giving the opponent valuable information. Any paralysis user faster than Persian can and will be a problem. There's also the matter of its consistency; Hypnosis will miss sometimes, and it sucks.</p>

<p>Alakazam and Starmie remain solid paralysis leads and are the best ways of dealing with Persian, and Starmie hasn't changed at all. The opposite can be said for Alakazam, now being capable of allocating its second attack slot to Thunder Punch to combat Starmie leads. However, this will cause it to be less effective against opposing Seismic Toss Alakazam, being completely outdamaged. While mowed down by Snorlax, the classic paralysis leads should never be ignored. Outside of these two, other paralysis leads like Jolteon can be effective, though they are definitely less consistent and matchup-dependent.</p>

<h3 id="midground-options">Midground Options</h3>

<div class="center">
    <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/exeggutor.png" alt="Exeggutor" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/gengar.png" alt="Gengar" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1/jynx.png" alt="Jynx" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/nidoqueen.png" alt="Nidoqueen" /> <img src="//play.pokemonshowdown.com/sprites/gen1rb/rapidash.png" alt="Rapidash" />
</div>

<p>You don't have to commit to the triangle format either; there are plenty of alternatives that serve as solid midgrounds. Exeggutor remains a good option and a particularly brutal way to stop Snorlax, Gengar makes Snorlax squeal while having a potential dice roll against Persian, Jynx remains the fastest 74.6% accuracy sleep move user, Nidoqueen ignores paralysis leads while putting them to sleep, and Rapidash has the flexibility of Hypnosis and Fire Spin pivoting. The lead metagame has a noticeable amount of depth once you start looking into these and has a lot to offer a player when building teams.</p>

<p><a href="#toc">Back to table of contents!</a></p>

<hr />

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>Do you know what you just did? You just took your first step into learning Tradebacks OU! You're now armed with sufficient information to dive into the format and start mowing down the competition! Tradebacks OU is regularly hosted in the Ruins of Alph room's RBY Monday Tour Nights on Pok&eacute;mon Showdown, come on down and enjoy the mad world of Lovely Kiss Snorlax!</p>

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Lumari · Jun 11, 2021

same as before Ryota Mitarai would be more proper to have something in place so that the css catches the mon sprites specifically rather than "any" image, though i guess for now it may not cause any immediate issues since there's already artwork in place here

rest is fine regardless

Ryota Mitarai · Jun 11, 2021

gave all the necessary images a class and targetted that instead.

This should be ready for upload

shiny finder · Jun 11, 2021

Up'd

https://www.smogon.com/rb/articles/rby_tradebacks

A Beginner's Guide to RBY Tradebacks [QC 3/3] [GP 2/2] [HTML-ready!]

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