Why Bad Pokemon Work Sometimes

Yes, your favorites can work..sorta! Find out how! Thank you so much to @pinkacross2042 for guest starring in this video and also showing us how to really team build!

PATREON!

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Directed & Narrated by Kellen

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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
3:08 - Pinkacross' OU Luxray Team
6:51 - Team Building with a Bad Pokemon
11:07 - The Other 5 Pokemon need to be Very Good
12:02 - An Example from Older Generations
14:24 - Outro

[DragonmistX]

It's funny seeing Floatzel classified as bad like it wasn't a menace in pre dlc gen 9.

[ryancharles]

See yall in a month for "why every pokemon cant work (the meganium theorem)

[Nin-Saber]

"Truly skilled Trainers should try to win with the Pokemon they love best. A Flutter Mane doesn't hurt though." ~Karen

[lvlVaporeon]

This is like the Energy Ball theorum where you have to sometimes anticipate wacky coverage moves that no sane person would ever run.

[videakias]

Some guy managed to make it to the number 2 elo in gen 9 OU with probopass since it has the ability to trap and remove kingambit.

[jaydenyoo]

So true landorus can never beat ice punch dusknoir

[Marshal_Bowdrie]

Someone tell me how to make Dusknoir viable

[cinder]

Kinda wish luxray could learn aleast hone claws

[peterholmes]

This is what makes draft leagues fun. They make you actually use those weaker Pokémon and make you bring out their strength and synergy with your draft.

[rizachan]

That reminds me of the guy who showed up this year to worlds with a Scraggy
>Intimidate
>Slower than Caly Ice in Trick room (it's good as being both a partner and a counter)
>Coaching
>Foul Play
>Depetively very tanky with Eviolite

[KrizzlerYT]

I knew it! I can finally use my Choice Scarf Slowbro competitively!

[CaptainJLinebeck]

The mark of a skilled player is one that recognises the advantages and disadvantages of bad Pokemon to find a niche they can fill. But to get to that level of playing can require a lot of time, studying, and practice, something a lot of unskilled players fail to understand.

[ryans]

Funny thing about Moltres is that, not only did it have a legitimate niche in gens 1-3 OU, but much later in gen 9, Moltres is actually one of the top picks in the SV OU metagame because a defensive flame body set is frustratingly hard for Zamazenta and Great Tusk to deal with if they lack rock-type coverage, as they hate getting burned, and flame body can also seriously punish U-Turn users like Rillaboom as well as Dragonite, Kingambit, and Ogerpon-W, the latter of which it can deal with if it runs tera grass, which can also help it against electrics like Raging Bolt. Not to mention it can learn Roar to phase setup sweepers.

[CaptainJLinebeck]

Shoutouts to Moltres being a decent OU mon in Gen 9 thanks to Flame Body and its Fire/Flying typing

[DrakonLameth]

I'm glad the "the other 5 need to be good" section brought up Pachi -- this is basically the application of the Pachirisu theorem without using quite such a noted example of "why bad/off-meta mons can be made to work"

[goodsharks]

Reminds me of when I was building a mono Bug team back in gen 7. It wasn't working because I didn't have a reliable counter to both forms of Mega Charizard, but then I found out Crustle filled that very niche and prevented them from sweeping. Then I kept using Crustle and found it actually worked shockingly well to the point where I would start slapping it on any standard team I made. It was barely fast enough to shell smash sweep late game, could stop other sweepers in their tracks in an emergency where my priority attackers wouldn't work thanks to Sturdy, and could even pull of Custap Berry stuff thanks to the same ability to great effect. Weak Armor patched up its poor speed even further but I used Sturdy more for utility. It got even better in gen 8 when Heavy-Duty boots were introduced since it wasn't reliant on a hold item for most of my sets to work, allowing it to always come in with Sturdy intact.

I've seen it compared unfavorably to Carracosta, but I prefer it since it lacks that horrible Water/Rock typing and has better speed in the many scenarios where Aqua Jet wouldn't cut it, plus Bug STAB dropping Tyranitar is very handy. I'm very sad it wasn't brought back in gen 9 and I haven't been able to make another successful mono-bug team without it. I know it's not going to break OU anytime soon but I still really enjoy using it and consider it extremely underrated. But it's not all bad being Untiered. That just means I can slap it on any team in any tier, especially since it doesn't need exceptional teammates to pull its weight. Plus no one ever expects it.

[theskullboy]

I actually did try this back in gen 8 OU with jellicent. I mainly did it because funny pringles squid. And then I found out that it was actually pretty good.

Turns out when Urshifu rapid is punching thing into oblivion like akuma from street fighter. Having an auxiliary check to it is great……..even though toxapex was by all accounts and purposes better

[megasean]

I’m fortunate that my favourite Pokémon is Gardevoir, and her plethora of coverage moves, access to Choice Scarf for 120 base speed and decent 125 special attack makes her a reliable revenge killer. Especially when paired with Ground and Dark allies to cover her Poison and Ghost weaknesses. She loves Excadrill and Hisuian Zoroark, who can safely switch into her checks and threaten them in turn. Choice Scarf is also optional, since she can also use either Choice Specs for wallbreaking potential, Focus Sash to set up a Calm Mind safely, or Assault Vest to make her unkillable to any unboosted special attacker. She is so damn versatile.

[TheJarheadd]

In high school I was known for taking crappy normal types and ruining lives. My best works were Raticate, Purugly, and Lickilicky

[thebeshortedcellist]

Personal favourite is Mudsdale in Gen 8.
Ground max for special defence and Stamina for physical defense, plus body press could make it a nuisance to get rid of.