Pokemon Moves; The Useful and Useless

[BazookaNeon]

What pokemon moves do you find the most useful? Useless? Waste of a turn, or buying a turn?

For me, I'd say some moves that I find pretty useful are moves like Safeguard or Feint; Safeguard has a good use to protect the user from status changes, which for me, saves a few full heals or antidotes.

Useless? I'd have to say moves such as Protect and Detect; they only just buy an extra turn to live longer, which is waisted by not being able to do anything in offense of the opponent, and would fail if used consecutively.

 

[Doubled]

Well, the most USELESS move invented would have to be Splash. I mean, it does nothing. Other than that I don't deam any move useless.

As far as the most usefull, I'll say either Stone Edge or Trump Card. Stone Edge can be taught to a lot of Pokemon, and then it leaves people crying. Then Trump Card saves my ass alot in battles, plus I beleive the Eeveelutions can learn it.

 

[The iFlare]

I'm with doubled, splash is the only thing I deam useless.

As for useful, I have to go with Stone Edge, Giga Impact, and Feint. Stone Edge does leave opponents crying, and lots of pokemon can learn it. Giga Impact is the most powerful physical move Flareon can learn as of Gen 4 and my Flareon being the star of my team, I like having it around to sweep those annoying walls. Feint is just kickass because it breaks protect detect.

 

[Sir Red]

Useless? I'd have to say moves such as Protect and Detect; they only just buy an extra turn to live longer, which is waisted by not being able to do anything in offense of the opponent, and would fail if used consecutively.

As with most moves, it depends on how you use them. The Protect variety moves are some of my favorites and can used to incredible results when you know what you're doing. On my main competitive team I have two Pokemon that use Protect, and both are Walls. When coupled with moves like Toxic, Leech Seed and other life sapping moves Protect lets those set in for another turn and hurt your opponent. Anything carrying Leftovers gets a free turn to heal off of that too. Also, something like Dusknoir can Burn the opponent, then use Protect to let the Burn do some damage whilst healing from Leftovers, and using its ability so sap away some PP. :3

These moves can also be used to help set up some monster sweeping too. :3 My Yanmega employs this strategy with Detect. Simply Detect on the first turn, ability kicks in and I get a free Speed Boost and then I can set about sweeping things. And each turn that Yanmega survives it just gets faster and faster. :'D

So, yeah, grand moves right there. :3

But yes, Splash is rather useless. XP

Also, Feint is risky to use. You can't be sure if the opponent is gonna use Protect/Detect, and if they don't then you just wasted a turn. :V

 

[99EmagEht]

Well, the most USELESS move invented would have to be Splash. I mean, it does nothing. Other than that I don't deam any move useless.

As far as the most usefull, I'll say either Stone Edge or Trump Card. Stone Edge can be taught to a lot of Pokemon, and then it leaves people crying. Then Trump Card saves my ass alot in battles, plus I beleive the Eeveelutions can learn it.

Splash kills all, you just need to know how to use it.

 

[Jeydis]

Usefullness - Protect, Leech Seed, The beams (T-Bolt, Icebeam and Flamethrower), most status moves.

Useless - Moves that take 2 turns to happen but more particularly the charge moves like Sky attack, Razor Wind and (non-sunny day) Solar Beam. Doing nothing for a turn spells death for most pokemon but whats worse here is that it lets your opponent know in advance what your doing and prepare for it. Hyperbeam at least has the advantage of surprise. Oh and im not counting Focus punch here though it can be really annoying to use against certain opponents.

 

[snetonobre]

We all agree, any move (apart from splash, which was made to be useless) can be useful in some way. Believe it in the word of a experienced strategist. Well, you guys may be experienced trainers, may be better than me, may have started playing the game a lot of time before me, and you guys might be world champions: I'm not saying I'm better than you guys, nor am I saying you guys aren't skilled. It's just that as what I have seen so far, some of you prefer the "hit fast, hit hard" strategy, and there's nothing wrong about it. I myself uses it with at least half of my team. But, even though hiting hard and hiting fast can quickly defeat most (if not all) trainers in-game, as well as any opponent that also uses this strategy (though you will have to hit harder and faster), a slower strategy may also be good. As fellow users have stated, moves such as Protect, Leech Seed, etc. can be very strong. I myself, hate status moves, as they tend to make the battle a lot slower: but some may have secondary effects. Defense Curl (doubles Rollout power), Stockpile (after used a certain amout of times, with up to three, you can reset it to deal a average (Stockpile 1)/powerful (Stockpile 2)/"Oh my God, it's too powerful" (Stockpile 3) Spit Up, or recover the pokémon HP by a quarter (Stockpile 1)/half (Stockpile 2)/ fully (Stockpile 3) by using Swallow) and Charge (doubles damage caused by next attack if it's a Electric-type) are good example of stat moves with secondary effects. A good strategy with Protect/Detect might be in a double battle to protects from the partner attack that would affect also that pokémon and you need to protect it, if your opponent last pokémon will fall to poison in this turn end, but if he deals a successful blow your last pokémon will die first and you will lose the battle, or by simple having a pokémon with the moveset of Toxic, Leech Seed, Protect and Detect you may just wait until your opponent dies by first using Toxic, than Leech Seed, then alternating between Protect and Detect.

Just in the case any of you became offended by how this post begun, I didn't wanted to offend no one, and I was not talking specifically to none of you, nor I was talking about you all.

If anyone need help with the best moveset to a pokémon, pm me. I think I'll put this in my sig.

Now, a joke commentary: you really read all this post? I would never read a post so long (this applies to forum posts only: of course I ready things bigger than this like any cultured man, in books of physics, psychology and philosophy, etc.).

 

[Rediejack]

Hi

 

[Rediejack]

I think the pokemon company should make a new move called "Slash Up." It is a one hit K.O. move that never misses. When you use the move, the screen turns black, than white, than the pokemon should dissapear and reappear than spin than stick its hand out and its hand will sparkle and it makes a scene of light.

Try doing the upgrade as soon as possible.

-Rediejack

 

[Sem]

Sure, we'll get right on that, but first we're designing a secret legendary Pokemon for Grey version that's a giant meteor. It's a Rock/Fire/Dark/Steel-type and is stronger than Arceus. You have to join forces with the characters from every other game including the Ranger games to stop the Meteor Pokemon from destroying the world.

... Seriously. Warned for some serious spam. I highly suggest that you read the rules before posting again.

 

[Linkachu]

Since I pretty well agree with most everything that's been stated already, I'll add new attacks that weren't mentioned yet: priority attacks.

In the past strategies that relied heavily on getting low HP to trigger a berry, an ability, or reversal/flail were pretty nasty and sometimes unbeatable unless you had a speedier Pokemon handy. Now that tons of priority attacks have been created for many different types, they're not nearly as potent. I love my priority moves, especially in cases where the opponent manages to hang on by 1 HP and you're just facepalming over it. They're nice technqiues to have around.

 

[KoL]

Anyone who says Protect/Detect are bad should feel bad for being completely wrong and completely ignorant.

My favourite offensive moves are Close Combat, Outrage and Draco Meteor. The raw power these moves provide more than offsets the negative effects each move has (and anyone who has the gall to say Draco Meteor is bad due to the Sp.Attack drop deserves shooting) and each move is single-handedly responsible for making the Pokemon who use them best some of the very best Gen IV has to offer. Lucario, Salamence, Garchomp and Latios will tell you all about it, since Close Combat contributes heavily to Lucario's spot as Gen IV's current best OU game-ender and the three dragons are all considered Uber (by Smogon standards, anyway...pardon me while I facepalm Salamence) due in part to the raw power provided by Outrage and Draco Meteor.

Priority attacks, as Katie said, are awesomesauce. Lucario's ExtremeSpeed/Vacuum Wave, Bullet Punch from Metagross and Scizor and Ice Shard from Weavile and Mamoswine are all deceptively powerful with STAB in all cases (except ExtremeSpeed since Lucario doesn't get STAB on it) and allow the users a guaranteed first strike that can either contribute to wearing down a foe fast or gaining a swift, sudden KO against a weakened opponent. These moves are all but mandatory to stopping this next move.

Dragon Dance is the best pre-Gen V stat-boosting move in the game, bar none. This move is a brutal game-ender that's nearly impossible to beat if you're unprepared for it, a claim no other stat-boosting move has been able to claim until Butterfly Dance arrived in Gen V. The power boost it provides is deceptively high for a single stage, and the speed boost is almost impossible to bypass without priority or Choice Scarf on certain Pokemon (Salamence and Gyarados mostly.) Offensive stat-boosting moves are fantastic in general, and Dragon Dance/Butterfly Dance sit at the top of the pile. The defensive ones are...meh, unfortunately, since they do nothing to stop stuff like Toxic or Roar/Whirlwind, and while the offensive stat boosters can win you an entire match easily, the defensive boosters...well, they usually end up making you die slower than you would have done beforehand, while baiting endless amounts of Taunts, Toxics and PHazing moves to ruin your efforts in the end anyway. Not worth using in 9 out of 10 cases given the amount of anti-stall stuff Gen IV has really.

Of course defensive strategy doesn't have it all bad. Wish is awesome, Heal Bell/Aromatherapy are also awesome, Protect/Detect + Leftovers and the aforementioned Wish rock too, Protect + Pressure = pissed off opponent once they realize you've just made off with all their PP, and Toxic is awesome alongside Protect/Detect to gain a slow and painful KO on an otherwise tough adversary without having to suffer too much of a beating yourself. These are definitely the most common uses by far for Protect/Detect, which essentially shows that if you think they suck, you are just using them wrong. Did I mention they're almost mandatory moves in doubles matches too? Yup, just did right there.

 

[99EmagEht]

anyone who thinks protect/detect is bad OBVIOUSLY has not seen a speed boost yanmega, baton pass ninjask, or speed boost passing blaziken in Gen V. out of the two, however detect is worse due to a lower PP.

 

[Blarg]

For me, the most useful moves are Slash and Extremespeed. They generally seem to make quick work of anything you go up against. As for the useless, I'd say that Rain Dance/Sunny Day are useless, as they never seem to have an outcome on the amount of damage you do. Also Substitute. Substitute seems like a waste of HP just to save yourself for a turn or two.

 

[Jeydis]

I'd say that Rain Dance/Sunny Day are useless, as they never seem to have an outcome on the amount of damage you do.

Swift swim Kabutops and Qwilfish would like a word with you...

Substitute helps greatly against status and in using Focus Punch. Also setting up strong subs can protect pokemon from KO while you set up.

But in any case, its easy to tell who plays more competitively in this topic :S

 

[Weeds]

My POV is rather limited, since I don't do competitive battling (lack of WiFi, not lack of interest), but I tend to like moves like Surf and Flamethrower. they have enough power to be good moves, and also enough PP to last, since your healing options are rather limited in-game.

As for useless; I know how effective moves like Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Protect, Detect, Substitute, Baton Pass etc are in competitive battle, but in-game I find them rather useless. As stated before, it is pretty easy to see who battles competitively in this thread and who doesn't. The usefuls and uselesses are so different for these two very different aspects of Pokemon.

 

[Sir Red]

I'd say that Rain Dance/Sunny Day are useless, as they never seem to have an outcome on the amount of damage you do.

Swift swim Kabutops and Qwilfish would like a word with you...

Substitute helps greatly against status and in using Focus Punch. Also setting up strong subs can protect pokemon from KO while you set up.

But in any case, its easy to tell who plays more competitively in this topic :S

Substitute can also be used to lessen your Pokemon's HP to activate a Pinch Berry and/or their ability (such as Blaze/Petaya Berry Charizard combo). ;3

I feel like throwing out the idea that idea the Substitute was useless was just a careless idea when you look at the thread and see how the idea that Protect/Detect were considered useless and then disproved in great length (repeatedly), especially when the exact same reasoning was used as to why each move was "useless". :x

 

[KoL]

But in any case, its easy to tell who plays more competitively in this topic :S

Part of me is sorely tempted to lock this purely because 75% of the posts in it are so unbelievably wrong.

In fact, next stupid post of "X move is shit when in actuality it's amazing" gets this topic locked. Last thing I want is for players to start taking moveset advice from this cancerous morass of misinformation.

 

[Shocari]

Swift Swim Kingdra says "Welcome to Davy Jones' Locker" to those who don't acknowledge the power of Rain Dance :3

I'd say that virtually every move is useful, even Skill Swap(as hard and essentially stupid to pull off as it is). Hell, even Splash is useful, if you want your opponent to cry themselves into a coma because they fear for their lives.

I personally love the weather effects, Trick Room, Gravity, and Tailwind(did I miss anything else?), as they all provide a nice variety of options with what to use, and you can just devastate the enemy team when used correctly.

 

[Animefan1]

Completely Useless : Splash
It inflicts no damage whatsoever

Completely Not Useless : Swagger
One of my most used Pokemon moves .
Surprisingly helped me beat the Champion in Pearl and
Helped greatly in the battle against Tate and Liza in Emerald .

 

[Alek_Golden]

Splash combine with smeagle has trick(switcheroo),mean look,baton bass in wifi battles=WTF!they will ruin the competition!