Introduction to Smogon

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ausma

token smogon furry
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Top Artistis a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
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:koffing::bw/lugia:
intro to smog no bg.png
:bw/ho-oh::koffing:


Hello, and welcome to Smogon, the premier website and forum for all things related to playing Pokemon games competitively! The purpose of this thread is to provide you with resources to get started and insight into how our institution works. In particular, it will serve as a guide for the different major sections on the site by exploring our own metagames, how to contribute to its resources, as well as more casual mediums to communicate with and meet new friends.

However, before participating in our community, it is imperative for you to read the Global Rules as well as the respective rules of any forum you choose to participate in. We highly value your ability to have fun and enjoy your time on our website, but this is necessary in order to maintain forum quality and also to keep you and your fellow players safe. Please keep in mind that while these standards are a fixture of our maintenance process, they are not universal among different communities on the internet. As such, it is expected and assumed that all participating members of the community have read our rules and will comply with them. Full adherence to these rules is required, and forum moderators can enforce them to their discretion.

In this thread, you will see numerous posts that break down the key sections of Smogon and its various external components. These sections consist of Competitive Play, Content Creation, Socialization, and Learning Resources respectively, which will all explore the specific subsections that comprise them. Smogon’s climate is vast and multifaceted, and we guarantee that no matter your skills and interests, there will be a home for you!
 

ausma

token smogon furry
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Top Artistis a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
OU Forum Leader
COMPETITIVE PLAY:

Smogon Metagames

Smogon is home to a wealth of metagames centered heavily around competitive 6v6 singles. Due to the often unequal balancing of Pokemon and the wide selection of Pokemon the game provides, Smogon's tiering system is usage based with 5 primary usage tiers: OverUsed, UnderUsed, RarelyUsed, NeverUsed, and PU. Each official Smogon format operates under varying clauses and bans to optimize competitiveness and the average player's experience, and unlike Game Freak-endorsed formats, allows the use of transfer moves and Mythical Pokemon. In order to learn more about Smogon's tiering philosophy and its framework, you may refer to the following thread for more information.

Furthermore, there are other official formats that aren't usage based, but feature different rosters of Pokemon that are not represented by usage tiers to allow widespread representation of Pokemon, moves, and battle styles that may not fit the mold of standard play. For example, Little Cup focuses around Level 5, first stage Pokemon, Ubers focuses around Pokemon that are banned from standard play, Doubles OverUsed focuses on a doubles-based format, and Monotype is another official format that has a fun twist to it, featuring teams that all share a type. Because of this innate variety, there will always be a metagame for a Pokemon or playstyle you may resonate with!


Ruins of Alph, or RoA, hosts discussion of the metagames of previous Generations of Pokemon. Within RoA, you can find the sub-forums for the first eight Generations; RBY, GSC, ADV, DPP, BW, ORAS, SM, and SS. Each forum features tier discussion threads, Q/A threads, collections of sample teams, and a wide variety of forum projects. Once a year, each sub-forum also hosts a Generation-specific Premier League — a team tournament where the community comes together to play many historic metagames. To learn more about competitive Pokemon history, please visit each of the forums!

One of the Ruins of Alph forum's signature projects is the RoA Spotlight, where the community votes monthly to decide on an old-generation tier to be featured as a ladder on Pokemon Showdown! Whether you have a favorite format or want to experience something new, anyone is welcome to vote. The Ruins of Alph Tournaments forum is another large community project. There you can find old-generation Spotlight tours, Live tours and Team tournaments. These tournaments feature the tiers chosen in the RoA Spotlight and help to maintain interest in metagames that might otherwise be forgotten. Come compete!


Tournaments are where the strongest competitors across Smogon formats duke it out to find out who is truly the very best, like no one ever was. Through a wide variety of tournaments ranging from team tournaments, where you can play alongside fellow competitors in numerous formats, to individual tournaments, where you compete yourself against others in the same format, the arena of tournaments is the best stop for those looking to play competitive Pokemon at a high level. This forum includes both official and unofficial tournaments, which tie into the famous trophy tournaments as well as the circuits for each respective metagame.

Official trophy tournaments may bring in the most excitement of anything on Smogon; they showcase the strongest and most consistent players across our most popular metagames ranging from the current generation of OU to different alleys for both lower tiers and old generations. In addition, each individual current generation tier and old generation of OU has its own circuit of unofficial tournaments, which gives everyone a chance to play their favorite formats!


Ever get tired of playing the same ol’ metagame? Maybe you want to try out something new. What if the metagame gave Tyranitar Sucker Punch or Heatran Levitate? If you’re always eager to try out the what-ifs in battle, Other Metas is the place for you.

Other Metas is a forum where community members create and try out unique metagames. All metagames in this section consist of one simple change in a mechanic or ruleset that affects all Pokemon. For example, Almost Any Ability gives Pokemon access to almost any ability, STABmons gives Pokemon access to moves that match their type, and Camomons alters a Pokemon’s typing to match the types of their first two moves. Each of these metagames were created by regular people like yourself on Smogon. We house the successful ideas of many in our subforum and are always looking forward to a fresh batch of new ideas. Will you create the next metagame?

Pet Mods, on the other hand, is a section also dedicated to the creation of unique metagames, but with the primary twist being the emphasis on individual submissions and custom assets to build custom metagames as a community. Personal Pet Mod projects can also be made by one person or a small group, dubbed Solomods. To learn more about Pet Mods and our process, check out our Rules & Regulations post.


The Create-A-Pokemon Project is a project where we as a community design and create Pokemon of our own utilizing what we know and understand about the OU metagame. The process is split into different stages that represent an aspect of the Pokemon we wish to create; we begin with establishing a specific concept we want as a foundation, and then we discuss, suggest, and vote on its typing, abilities, stats, and movepool. CAP also has its own OU-based metagame with over 30 CAPs available to play with, but there are many other metagames like CAP LC, which features the pre-evolutions of the main CAPs, and plenty of CAP-based Old Gens metagames, where the CAPs available are limited to the ones created at the generation's time. As a whole, the CAP community is a great tightly-knit and welcoming community to join if you want to help to create Pokemon through a competitive lens.

You can find where all of the process goes into making a CAP here. You can also find discussion and information on the main CAP metagame and other various metagames here.


Smogon aren't the only ones crafting Pokemon formats, as even Nintendo and Game Freak have done it! Battle Stadium Singles (BSS) is Gamefreak's take on singles battling. While it doesn't have the official tournament presence that VGC has, BSS is generally the most active ladder you'll find in-game. OU players may see familiar Pokemon such as Landorus-T roaming around, but two major rules make BSS a far different metagame than OU: Only being able to bring half your team into battle, and Item Clause. With these two changes, players may be shocked to find strange Pokemon such as Mimikyu, or Hippowdon without a recovery move, to be major forces, or even aliens strategies such as Fling + Light Ball.

Unlike Smogon formats, BSS rulesets do not have suspect tests: they have static banlists that Gamefreak decides to run for a given amount of time, known as a "Series". At certain times, Gamefreak will change the Series into drastically different rulesets, such as blanket banning top Pokemon, or even allowing Ubers as "restricted Pokemon". The in-game ladder also has a different focus than Pokemon Showdown: each month is divided into a "season", where players compete to "win" the ladder at the end of the month!

VGC, on the other hand, is Pokemon's official format, being a bring 6, pick 4 Doubles-based format. To learn more about it, you can check out the forum here.
 
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ausma

token smogon furry
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Top Artistis a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
OU Forum Leader
CONTENT CREATION

Contributions & Corrections

Ever want to know where and how the Smogdex analyses are crafted? Look no further than the Contributions & Corrections section! Every official format as well as many OMs can be written for, and all it takes is a simple post in the reservation index thread to get started. Before getting too involved, though, make sure to familiarize yourself with Smogon's grammar standards to get a grasp of Smogon-specific terms and grammar and Lumari's Welcome to Contributions and Corrections so that you have a better understanding of how the analysis process works.

If you're one of those lost souls that think it's important that site pages are in tip top shape presentation wise, then the GP team is looking for you. One of the less visible sections on the site, we're primarily responsible for proper grammar, Pokégrammar, and sentence structure on Dex pages, but we're also active in sections like Flying Press articles and social media spotlights. Make sure to check out the grammar standards and other resource stickies in the root c&c forum, but afterwards you're encouraged to try your hand at amateur checks on Dex analyses that have reached the Copyediting stage, and with some practice, before you know it you'll be able to stamp your own checks!


Do you have proficiency in a different language, and want to contribute to Smogon? If that’s the case, then the Translations forum is definitively a must for you! Smogon is the biggest competitive Pokémon forum on the internet, and a ton of its members are composed of people from all around the globe. In order to make the language barrier feel less intimidating for our user base, an entire section is dedicated to translate Smogon’s content to various languages, such as French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese!

Currently our project only translates Flying Press articles, C&C analyses, and Facebook Spotlights. If you want to join a language project and to find out more, don’t hesitate to check out the Welcoming post from our section, with a list of our language moderators.

The Flying Press (TFP) is our on-site article outlet and possibly the section with the most diverse range of contributors on the site. We publish a wide range of articles, from metagame guides to in-game panels and honestly anything you can think of that's relevant to competitive Pokemon, the franchise, or the community. That's not all, though, since quality checkers, grammar checkers, HTML coders, and artists all contribute at various points in the process as well; whatever Pokemon background you have or whatever way you wish to contribute in, you'll probably be able to find your place here.


If you've got some artistic creations you want to share in Smeargle's Studio, whether you're an experienced artist or not, the most important first step is creating your own art thread! One thing to keep in mind is that you need a minimum of three separate art pieces before making the thread, as we'd otherwise get loads of threads by people just asking for quick opinions on a single image. But if you're a quick producer, odds are that the opposite is just as likely, so if you have many creations on display, consider putting them inside hide tags or links, so that new visitors with bad internet reception won't need much time to load your thread.

Depending on your pace, you'll either want to start participating in some threads hosted within the studio, such as the You're Not My Type thread for example. Threads like these come with a star prefix next to them, and are there for you to make some art, gain more experience with art while having fun with whatever the designated theme of the event is.If you have more questions about contributing art to Smogon and what that involves, feel free to contact any of the Smeargle's Studio staff and we'll gladly help out!


Smogon Social Media involves creating a great variety of content and posting Smogon-related news to our social media audience, primarily on Facebook and Twitter. Some of our ongoing projects include Social Media Spotlights, showcasing a Pokemon set from a variety of metagames everyday, and Team of the Week, featuring a different team each week for our audience to try out. Our team of posters are a group of trusted individuals that schedule such content, as well as announcements such as tier shifts, suspect tests, new analysis uploads, tournaments, and more, though such position is only given out when needed. Regardless, there are plenty of ways you can contribute to Smogon Social Media, whether it be through active or inactive projects or even brand new ones that come to light, which may eventually reward you with the Social Media badge.

For more information on Smogon Social Media's various projects and how to contribute to them, check out the Social Media subforum!
 

ausma

token smogon furry
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Top Artistis a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
OU Forum Leader
SOCIALIZING & GAMEPLAY

Orange Islands

Orange Islands is the discussion forum for non-competitive aspects of the Pokémon games. Here you will find discussions about everything from the design of the classic Pokémon games to news about upcoming games. Playthrough stories, discussion of in-game tiers, and in-game battle facilities are also covered in this forum. Generally, if it’s about Pokémon, and not directly related to battling other players, it fits in Orange Islands.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is Smogon's home for in-game trading and battling. If you are looking to expand your collection, amass competitive Pokemon for your next competition, or simply complete your Pokedex, this is the subforum to visit. Within this section, you'll find trade threads operated by our users as well as resources for breeding or capturing Pokemon. We also offer a simple requests thread if you just need help with a quick trade. We only allow trading of legitimate Pokemon, so you can rest assured that these Pokemon are safe for competitive play.

When you're ready to jump in, check out our subforum rules where we breakdown what's allowed and what each thread is for. Happy trading!


If “Pokemon” is Smogon’s topic, then Congregation of the Masses is the “non-Pokemon discussion forum” for hot takes and discourse on universal topics like world news and headlines, pop culture and media, and lifestyle! Smogoff, then, is the “off-topic forum” for (almost) everything between heaven and earth. True discussions may not be as common, but hilarity is at the heart of Smogoff; once you click into it, it may be difficult to click away.


For those looking for social games to play, Circus Maximus is your place to go! If you're a fan of the TV show "Survivor", we regularly run our own games ported to a Discord version! For music lovers, song-rating "Walrus" games are always available to be joined. Forum mafia games also can be found here, along with other spin-off games that run from time to time. To find out which games are running or are available to be joined, head to our subforum!

Battle-By-Post is a text-based playing format where you and your opponent use alternating orders to resolve a match. It takes its own spin on playing Pokémon by incorporating CAP Pokémon and offers a unique familiar-yet-fresh battle system driven by in-game data! Gather a powerful team, tackle daunting facilities to earn powerful techniques for your Pokémon to wield in battle, and take on or team up with other members of our community in heated battles! The depth of tactical battles await you...


Discord is a popular medium and widely used by Smogon and its various sub-communities as a live chat alternative to forums. The Main Smogon Discord facilitates various topics, from competitive and casual Pokemon play to more social subjects while serving as an announcement hub for various events, tournaments, and much more happening around Smogon! Contributing to the main server can also net you the Live Chat Contributor badge overtime. However, if you're looking for a more specific community, like your favorite tier or a place you might be interested in contributing to, the Smogon Discord Server Directory offers a list of various Smogon-approved discord servers that represents different parts of our community. Be sure to check them out!


Pokemon Showdown! is the premier online battling simulator on the web, and boasts many features. On Showdown!, you can try your hand at many of Smogon's formats on the ladder and battle against like minded players from all around the world! Want to improve your skills, or just want somewhere to chill and shoot the breeze? Join one of Showdown's many public rooms - each one is its own community. Public rooms range from chats centered around battling formats to chill hangouts where you can discuss topics such as food, art, reading and so on! Not an English speaker? We have chat rooms for players who speak other languages! Pokemon Showdown has something for everyone, from the experts to the newbies! A full guide to the basics of Pokemon Showdown can be found here!
 

ausma

token smogon furry
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Top Artistis a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
OU Forum Leader
LEARNING

Rate My Team

RMT is a great way to contribute to Smogon. If you are a resourceful teambuilder, have good metagame knowledge, and enjoy helping new users create solid teams, this forum is for you. The RMT forum allows builders and players from every metagame to contribute by sharing polished teams, as well as receiving positive feedback by other players to improve one's team. RMT expands beyond the forums, also having channels in the main smogon discord, with direct access to our raters in a live chat setting.

Due to this, the forum and discord is a friendly place for new and experienced users alike. Before diving in make sure to check out the RMT rules thread which breaks down how the forum works as well as providing a visual list of our badged Team Raters and Moderators!


Whether you are new to competitive battling or are a veteran who's curious about learning a new format, Battling 101 welcomes anyone who has an interest in learning or teaching! Our primary goals are to help people improve in the art of competitive battling and to integrate newer users into the forum and its communities. Our main service is the apprentice program, where Tutees are paired with a Tutor to continuously improve across one-on-one sessions. All of our Tutors are volunteers, accomplished players in their own right, who selflessly give back to the community by helping others.

Battling 101 currently supports all official Smogon formats ranging from Ubers to LC, official Pokemon formats in BSS and VGC, and National Dex OU. Head on over to our forum if you wish to sign up as a Tutee or to this thread for details on becoming a Smogon Tutor!
 
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