Rare Article: 3 Things Newer Competitive Players Miss

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Beginning to understand competitive battling mechanics is, actually, pretty easy. It's fully mastering competitive strategy that gets very, very tough. I am by no means an expert (that last clause is pronounced "please don't make me feel sad by yelling at me if I get something wrong,) but here are three things that I've learned during my time playing Pokémon competitively that weren't very obvious at first.
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Featured Team 56

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I know, I know, your life has been on hiatus because there hasn't been a Featured Team for 27 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes, and 30 seconds...but who's counting? Anywho...get ready to blast back into a new Featured Team! This is Matt's team, he doesn't know too much about EV or IV stats, he feels like he has a good foundation but needs help perfecting it. Give him your $0.02 and make him a *Bulbasaur*ing Champion.
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AOTW: Shell Armor

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Good morning, pokéfanatics! Your chubby buddy of an Ability editor feels like he’s finally recuperated from an insane holiday season, and he’s got a reasonably juicy passive power to sink his proverbial teeth into! We’ve been talking a lot about weather, buffs, battlefield control and the like lately, but this week we’re going back to my personal favorite subject matter: blunt force trauma. Or at least the prevention of such a thing. Ladies, gentlemen, let’s dive in. This is Ability of the Week: Shell Armor!

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Rare Article: Gimmicks

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The world of competitive Pokémon is an odd one. While there are over six hundred monsters from which to choose, it seems that there are only a few basic strategies, namely walls and sweepers. Because of this, players have tried to do different things, explore the boundaries of the game. A well executed baton pass strategy can rip through an opponent, and a weather combo can be deadly. The same is true of the TCG. That one rogue deck can win a tournament, just because it was unexpected.

We at PKMNcast love that sort of stuff. You know how much we oppose just blindly following the "accepted" ways to play Pokémon. However, not all of these strategies are as successful. Just ask me about my Normal Monotype team and you will understand that all alternative strategies are not very useable. So what is it that distinguishes a legitimate strategy from a gimmick? Why, these three headings, of course!
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