Other Tiers Orre Singles (Now Playable!)

[Akiak]

art by IoSonoNeon
approved by johnnyg2​

Orre Singles​

Orre Singles is the officially supported Singles format of Gen 3. It uses Bring6Pick3 rules, with Item Clause, Team Preview and no additional bans or restrictions.

Compared to 6v6, Orre Singles is much faster paced, but individual games are more volatile. It is therefore recommended to always play in Bo3s, or even Bo5s.

Rules

• All Pokemon from the first three generations are allowed, except Restricted ("Box" Legendaries) & Mythicals.
• Item Clause (no duplicate items), Sleep Clause, Self-KO Clause
• Team Preview
• Bring 3 out of 6
• The format is Single Battles, with standard Gen III mechanics.
• Soul Dew is banned.

Banned

Threats

A consistent threat with access to Explosion that matches up well into most of the metagame.

Two excellent Pokemon with access to numerous tools such as Recover & Calm Mind.

A phenomenally bulky tank with a number of viable sets, and access to STAB Self-Destruct.

More

A metagame staple thanks to its signature ability and versatile offensive capabilities.

A fantastic special attacker with a number of viable sets.

The ultimate bulky Water-type with access to Calm Mind.

A mainstay of the format thanks to its ability to trap and remove key threats.

An extremely versatile Pokemon with tools such as Ice Punch, Will-O-Wisp, Explosion and Destiny Bond.

A fast, powerful special attacker with the ability to sweep thanks to Calm Mind.

A devastating physical attacker with decent durability and sweeping potential.

A versatile physical & special attacker with access to Intimidate.

Subformats

History

The Bring6Pick3 ruleset with Team Preview and Item Clause has always been the officially supported competitive Singles format, starting with Nintendo Cup 1997, the very first official tournament played on Red & Green.

In the context of Generation III, most official tournaments were Doubles, with the primary exception of the Pokémon Emerald Ultimate Frontier Brain Battle.[1][2][3]

The Singles format has remained active in Japan ever since, with in-person tournaments happening fairly regularly.

Resources

The formats are all currently playable on https://dawn.psim.us

Join the Discord to easily find games: https://discord.gg/znxhWNsEx6

 

[Akiak]

Over time the Orre community has come up with several subformats that diversify the viable strategies and Pokemon.

Main formats

XD - Restricted & Mythical Pokemon are banned. Soul Dew is banned. Inspired by Pokemon XD's Orre Colosseum. Colloquially referred to as "Standard".

Classic - Standard rules, only what's obtainable in Ruby, Sapphire & Colosseum is allowed. Inspired by the metagame when Colosseum first released.

Neo - Standard rules, only Ruby & Sapphire learnsets are allowed (all Pokemon allowed). Ruleset.

Sub formats

Unlimited is our Ubers metagame, where all Pokemon and items are allowed. It's inspired by Level 100 Orre Colosseum.. Unlike Realgam, Mythical Pokemon have a chance to shine here, and Soul Dew is allowed.

Limited is played at Level 50 and only allows 1 Legendary (non-Restricted/Mythical) per team. Inspired by Level 50 Orre Colosseum, as well as the fact that you are penalized for using Legendaries in any of the Colosseums (as well as XD's Mt. Battle). If playing with Classic rules, no Legendaries allowed.

Realgam allows 1 (or optionally 2) Restricted/Mythical Pokemon per team. Inspired by Tower Colosseum.

Under is our UnderUsed metagame, inspired by Under Colosseum.

Pyrite is our NeverUsed metagame, inspired by Pyrite Colosseum.

Phenac is our Little Cup metagame, inspired by Phenac Stadium. Ruleset.

*All sub formats can be played with XD, Classic or Neo rules.

 

[Akiak]

Japanese Tier Lists

As mentioned in the OP, Orre Singles has been played for the last 20 years in Japan, so I wanted to share some tier lists I found.

There are two important differences. The first is that they played at Level 50, which means no Tyranitar. This is undoubtedly significant, as it buffs Snorlax, and Substitute strategies. The other is that they play on cartridge and legitimately catch and train all their Pokemon, which mainly affected the viability of roaming Legendaries until RNG-manipulation was discovered.

anononononono (2022) - https://gba-pinsir-is-weak.hatenadiary.jp/entry/2022/09/20/221611
Translation courtesy of cianchan

1192 (2018) - http://1192at.blog70.fc2.com/blog-entry-404.html

purasu (2018) - https://game-life-plus.com/category16/category28/entry101.html

These last two tier lists pre-date discoveries about how to RNG-manipulate Raikou and Suicune.

anononononono (2023) - https://gba-pinsir-is-weak.hatenadiary.jp/entry/2023/12/02/235943 (Raikou & Suicune omitted)