Competitive Sportsmanship Rant

[Zak Rodgers]

I'm still fairly new to the PvP scene (not ashamed to admit 36 wins to 40 losses), but already I'm disgusted by the behavior of the vast majority of PvP trainers.

First of all, time-stalling. While some see this as a simple strategy, to me it just seems spiteful. Time-stalling can refer to waiting until the timer hits a very low number before you submit your team or take your turn. While sometimes this is simply because players are indecisive about how to act, many arrogant players do this simply to frustrate their opponent in the hopes that it will cause them to miscalculate their turn or, in the case of team selection, scare the other player off (the victim may think "oh crap, he/she put a lot of thought into their team; they'll probably beat me easily!") I think this is quite an underhanded way to do things, gaining the upper hand with no skill or strategy involved. People also time-stall in spite - if they know they'll lose, they may resort to forcing the other player to wait as long as possible for their victory. Time-stalling is unsportsmanlike, spiteful and generally unfair on your opponent.

Next up, rage quitting. In a nutshell, this means disconnecting from a hopeless battle rather than conceding defeat and forfeiting. While there is now a penalty for this, people still do it. I myself have been a victim of this very often - The opponent knows they can't beat me so they disconnect so I don't get the win. I and many other fair players have no time for sore losers in our battles. Disconnecting rather than forfeiting is cowardly, and perhaps surprisingly the players who do it the most are the veterans - they simply can't accept that they can be beaten. Big news - you can. Deal with it.

Lastly, the general disrespect among PvP trainers. If somebody beats me, I'll admit they were better than me and deserve the win - "good job buddy, this one's your's". If I am the victor I still congratulate the loser - "I won, but you put up a good fight!"
Sadly, it seems no-one else shares my etiquette.
The PvP community nowadays seems to run on the basis of "I win, you suck." I have always hated this vibe in other PvP games: every time I'm beaten I imagine the person on the other end laughing and saying "what a noob!" Pokemon is no different. People need to learn to respect their opponent and the fight they put up, rather than gloating. It doesn't matter how easy your victory was (I once lost a battle in 4 turns), you don't belittle your opponent.


That's about it. Think about my rant and if it applies to you, SORT IT OUT.
Thank you.

[Drago]

Nice post. Although I do agree with your points, I just assume that most people I battle online are smarmy teenagers with too much time on their hands. Humility doesn't come to them naturally.

I actually kind of like rage quitting, only because of battle videos. You can record and shame them that way. My personal peeve is that everyone out there is using the same Pokemon. EVERY. TIME. I get sick of the multitudes of Charizard Y/Azumarill/Goodra/Xerneas/Yvetal/Mewtwo/Talonflame/Noivern using the same cheap tactics.

[Zak Rodgers]

Oh hell yeah. Gale. Wings. Talonflame. every goddamn time.
Belly Drum Azumarill, Calm Mind Sylveon.......ARGH.

[Mr.E]

Sometimes people timer stall to win, because game time happens to be running low and it's their best/guaranteed shot at winning.

[Zak Rodgers]

That's still a pretty underhanded way to win.

[shadownite90]

I admit, I do do a lot of stalling (though to run toxic down more than time), but I do hate rage quitters. That one gets on my nerves a ton. And maybe it's because I have mostly been playing showdown, but I don't see too many talonflames (except the one I use). And while I May use some cheap tactics, I play to win only second to playing fair. I'm also not ashamed to admit what I use because any good pokemon can be considered cheap. I just call it good.

[Zak Rodgers]

"Cheap" generally means a way of fighting that is almost impossible to counter, thus giving an easy win. Read my other post on this for more amusing ranting.

[shadownite90]

Aegislash is a perfectly good pokemon that has the same base stats as several other great pokemon that are not banned(Flygon, Chandelure, Rotom, etc.). I do not see it as "impossible or very difficult to counter them in a reasonable manner"(http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tiers). So why is it banned?

[Drago]

Aegislash has some pretty cheap mechanics at its disposal. One part attacker, one part defensive specialist with the ability to decimate the opponent's attack on contact? Not a fan.

[Zak Rodgers]

AND with maximum investment in HP, Aegislash can still tank some attacks while in the defensively weak sword form.

I do admit to using Aegislash on occasion, just because it has such a fun play style. Also, while many people recommend using Shadow Sneak as a ghost-type STAB, I disagree. While it's true that a Swords Dance-boosted Shadow Sneak can usually decimate anything that doesn't resist it, if the opponent survives Aegislash is stuck in sword form for the rest of the turn, allowing the opponent to attack it in its weakened state. You're better off giving Aegislash an Iron Ball (to ensure it always goes last) and using Shadow Claw: Since Aegislash will attack last, it will have been in shield form for the whole turn. That means it's probably been tanking hits like crazy. Transforming into the offensive sword form at the end of the turn allows Aegislash to attack with the much stronger Shadow Claw without fear of being hit in its weakened state. And since King's Shield is priority, it can just jump right back into shield form at the START of the next turn.