Sandshrew is the Best Pokémon in a format where you try to lose. Here's Why.

The Loser's Game
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[@Almond19912]

Even in the intentionally losing category, Calyrex-S is too OP

[@wienerrrrrrrrrrr]

god i hate that stupid horse

[@leaDR356]

Just goes to show how strong the Horse council members are

[@misalignedmisanthropist]

​@@leaDR356Calyrex-S is a fraud, he can't even learn High Horsepower

[@sidhaarthnair8368]

​@@leaDR356he doesn't learn High horsepower so should he be considered in horse council?

[@RoninofCrimsonMaple]

I still stand by that Grim Neigh is close enough to maintain its status as a horse.​@@sidhaarthnair8368

[@randomnessrules4971]

"Should I make this weird metagame?" "Sure, knock yourself out."

[@Laezar1]

nice

[@firemanking3271]

This comment is so good I could faint

[@cranapple3367]

Familyguyhaha.mp4

[@enigwa3286]

LOL it's hilarious to see this. I'm Adrian Marin, the creator of 'Suicide Cup' (later called The Loser's Game). I'm proud to have created such a cursed metagame 😂

[@werh227]

Playing Loser's Game to feel like I'm winning by not using loser strategies and oneshotting everything

[@isaacsimpson8098]

It would be pretty fun to see a bottom ladder full of people just doing this lol, playing losers game but both trying to win

[@woomyboy98]

@@isaacsimpson8098 technically they would be the true losers by losing at winning by winning which is losing

[@isaacsimpson8098]

@@woomyboy98 yes

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

This Broke: Playing Loser's Game to lose, thus winning Woke: Playing Loser's game to win, thus losing Bespoke: Ignoring the conditions of Losers game, and playing it to boost your ego or pull off combos that are too inconsistent to use otherwise, but really cool to pull off Ascended: Funbro in Loser's Game

[@jrodd13]

​@@aprinnyonbreak1290 Funbro in losers game is just flat out evil 😂

[@plhbuschannel]

Fun Fact: In gen 7, Skill Swap Magic Guard is actually banned because people start running offensive alakazam to kill 5 pokemon and then skill swap magic guard and the opponent literally cannot die with heal pulse support

[@olivergro7105]

Well shouldn't they have banned recycle leppa berry instead? :I

[@irakyl]

The fact that you straight up win if you stop just 1 of your opponent's pokemon from dying is what makes this so interesting, for the tourney I was trying to see if I could make it an actual legit playstyle like steel beam and court change but it's too inconsistent. Realizing that you can intentionally faint their problematic pokemon so the final one is exploitable was a eureka moment, but it still wasn't enough.

[@FurryCombatWombat]

Fun fact: as the guy in the video that did this strat, it does *not* stop the hp cut from Curse :/

[@ViciadoSocialempires]

LMAO

[@The_Red_Scare]

What if the opponent had something like Mold Breaker which ignored abilities? Would Mold Breaker on the Alakazam prevent Magic Guard from forcing the opponent to live? And yes, I know they could just switch pokemon, but I'm asking if receiving an ability that ignores other abilities would override the strat if you couldn't switch pokemon for whatever reason.

[@muishaggyblanco2349]

Finally… black sludge bisharp is its optimal set

[@AMereFool]

The CTC foresight be shiesty.

[@brunoemf90]

I was waiting to hear Freezai do an 180 on his catchphrase “People play to win” when talking about tiers

[@meadnex331]

Hey freeze sauce, ai here. People play to win...but what if they didn't?

[@essentures]

So I was not bad at Pokémon, I was just playing the wrong format

[@ioioi_prx4639]

I'd be a millionaire if I got 100$ after losing

[@nellewoodruff6337]

@@essentures Cue that one gen 5 preschooler quote about changing perspective

[@500werewolf]

Praise the almighty Calyrex-S! Even when it loses, it still wins.

[@PatrickArcato]

I really can't like that pokemon, first it doesn't even look like one, second it's designed by 12 year old stoner, way too strong

[@SeaOfPixels]

@@PatrickArcato What seems to be happening is that Gamefreak makes sure to make the latest generation's main important Pokemon blatantly overpowered, so that they stand out in the generation. Sometimes they'll nerf them the next generation so that they don't overshadow the new important Pokemon (Zacian). Seems like they're trying to avoid another Reshiram/Zekrom situation?

[@michabaron4129]

I like the deep dive into an obscure metagame and it was fun trying to come up with my own ideas about the format before learning the truth (i figured out SR court swap yay) but it would he nice to hear a smidge more about the final tournament match than "one guy lost other didnt" lol

[@zachpro5475]

Funny uploaded after the meta game was unlisted for latter

[@zdelrod829]

Heal Pulse is insane in this format. Also, I didn't know Perish Song could be Baton Passed.

[@firewall5189]

pokerogue taught me the hard way 😔

[@Subugugito]

​@@firewall5189 my reaction when that mf pulls out a spiritomb against my gator (its totover):

[@zaleww5824]

All changes except status passes to pokemon

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

I remember trying to make a team around intentionally forcing the Endless Battle Clause game loss, where I would use Block, Fling a Leppa Berry and then Recycle it. Was disappointed when that didn't win me the game.

[@Emilia-_.]

what is endless battle clause?

[@electrolapse7098]

@@Emilia-_.Endless battle clause is a clause that bans people from using specific moves that can create an endless battle, like using leppa Berry, fling and recycle. The idea of that is that nobody will run out of pp because the leppa berry will activate. It’s kind of hard to explain in one comment, but Freezai has a good video on it

[@Skullhawk13]

@@electrolapse7098why don’t they just ban leppa berry straight up?

[@rainbowthedragoncat6768]

​@@Skullhawk13 bc you might want to use it for non endless battle purposes

[@Skullhawk13]

@@rainbowthedragoncat6768 any examples?

[@razorshell3049]

"Loser's Game" nah nah nah the OG Name is the "Suicide Cup".

[@VixstraLarge]

Ah yes, the chalice laced with cyanide

[@zdelrod829]

​@@VixstraLargeBoeing Whistleblower Bash.

[@lorekeeper685]

​@@zdelrod829 Like the guy from enumclaw?

[@zdelrod829]

@@lorekeeper685 not that one. The one that was supposed to testify.

[@lorekeeper685]

@@zdelrod829 you mean the recent two

[@aldrichunfaithful3589]

a few ppl here were talking about endless battles, and it gave me a funny idea for a format which would basically be a race to trigger an endless battle. whoever gets their opponent stuck first wins

[@GGreenHeart]

This would be such a blast!! Shame it would be literally impossible to build a computer to recognize a win 😅 But human refs in a tournament could work!

[@aldrichunfaithful3589]

@@GGreenHeart i don't think it's too hard tbh. every endless trapper has to have recycle, heal pulse and a leppa berry, so once you get it going a computer could probably recognise that. the only cringe part would be people denying the loss with timer stall which already happens lol. also now that i'm thinking about it all the trappers would have to click a very telegraphed move that you'd switch out of to trap you, so the game would likely be about killing 5 mons to trap the last which would be pretty boring

[@gengarisnotinsmash...]

Obligatory "Finally, a format I'm good at!" comment.

[@JavierGomez-px8xh]

Black sludge bisharp is about to cook↕️↔️

[@inferno7892]

It was truly ahead of its time

[@tomorchard6660]

Agency intelligence knew

[@jpmac1119]

Playing in this was such a blast! Hope for more weird gimmick events like this in the future

[@JaxOf7]

"I fainted, making me the victor." "I must apologize for Sandshrew-Alola. He is an idiot. We purposely trained him wrong, as a joke."

[@VerbalLearning]

When you try to escape Calyrex Shadowrider by playing The Loser's Game. Calyrex Shadowrider: Nah i'd lose.

[@axr1798]

At first I thought that the whole was going to be about gholdengo and damp pokemon like golduck, but there's a surprising amount of depth, this could actually be an official ruleset.

[@davidknopp1208]

OGs remember when it was called Suicide Cup

[@Generichoneydew]

"comment on the video too, thats an order" ON IT BOSS

[@sup3760]

the format where tera ice is strong is the one where you want to lose, thats pretty funny

[@PotatoPrem]

tera ice is strong in normal format too bozo. Bolt-beam regieleki, jolteon, etc

[@jebalitabb8228]

@@PotatoPremno one uses those pokemon tho lmfao

[@TheRageBaiter]

It sucks that this is a challengeable OM and not an other metagame with a ladder

[@almightymudkip3856]

Can’t wait to try Jumpkick recoil strats

[@warmwater9509]

hear me out on a new tournament format: loser's game, expect that every other battle in the tournament, including the finals, is won by winning, ie making the opponent lose all 6 pokemon. It would be interesting to see teambuilding that's both good at fainting and killing

[@Siinory]

FINALLY!! A category for me! 8D

[@Edujs23]

My mental cook was using Cinderace, a stealth rock mon, and 4 pokémon 4x weak to rock The stealth rock mon uses it, Cinder court change it, and then you just switch your mons arround The rock mon would need a way to ko itself tho

[@sarraceniafell]

found the one who didnt finish the video before commenting

[@ohandthefracking]

@@sarraceniafell LMFAO GAG THEM FOR ME

[@leandro-eo7bd]

watch the vid until the end

[@nellewoodruff6337]

My mental cook is rocky helmet, trick, contact multihit turbo. Also could pain split be good?

[@tardigrade8019]

​@@nellewoodruff6337I also feel like truck leftovers could do something

[@therealx2907]

This format is just a full on comedy show on my little friend Sandshrew-A

[@vanesslifeygo]

it is just as difficult to intentional lose at rock paper scissors as it is to win. pokemon is rock paper scissors gone out of control. here we are again.

[@Arcanine1995]

'free' and 'doesn't cost anything' mean the same thing

[@Blanktester685]

incorrect

[@ShinyCyndaquil3]

@@Blanktester685please elaborate

[@jqvy]

L take

[@imapaincake2305]

You have free space on your phone You have "doesn't cost anything" space in your phone. It wouldn't cost you anything to do more chores!! It would be free to you to do more chores!!

[@ShinyCyndaquil3]

@@imapaincake2305 I understand what you mean but in this context wouldn’t it just be a case of one word having multiple meanings.

[@thecornmaker849]

You love to see electrode winning

[@kemosonicfan123lbp]

This is like that one chess variant except there's enough layers to it that it's not solved

[@slushbucket707]

finally a metagame where my goat Klefki is good

[@raywt]

aww alolan sandshrew is one of my favorite pokemon.. i'm so proud seeing it be the best, even if it's just the best at being the worst

[@noxiousroxie]

I didn’t expect the perish song + Baton LOL

[@luislaracuente]

This is fun and creative!

[@et34t34fdf]

This is hilarious.

[@Ufo3208_]

Dude I had so much fun in this tournament, but sadly lost to the guy who ended up winning the whole thing by me throwing a little bit 😅

[@Zorin1]

Still interesting to see the sweaty strats in a meme format

[@sagacious03]

Another neat analysis video! Thanks for uploading! Although, this meta sounds a little centralized, no?

[@untossablesalad4423]

Could you make a playlist with videos of yours that are like this? :)

[@emilygordbort7300]

I was instructed by Freezai's discord to watch and comment

[@meguy7735]

This is awesome

[@Yas-gu1pj]

İ feel like this video should have been a freezai live video

[@justme14357]

Sounds fun

[@NagKai_G]

It was fun playing this tournament and format. I didn't even think about black sludge strats, so i lost on the second game, but i used a stealth rocks comp (although it was very poorly made as i created the team minutes before the tournament) with shadow tag gothita to lock a mon that couldn't easily die by itself after i set up stealth rocks and heal pulse + taunt till gothita dies. Very poorly explained but at least i won 2/3 games (1 win in tournament and another in post tournament game)

[@ashross5860]

Kinda want to see a primary flying/grassy terrain combo being used to losing game equivalent of sand/hail chip

[@axbox8543]

Could using trick with leftovers or choice items be a good strategy?

[@nickhelmer]

Hi Jump Kick seems like the anti Calyrex tech. Also I imagine Trick + Leftovers would be interesting countermeta

[@majorhoolahan]

I never thought I'd hear about a metagame so fundamentally hilarious.

[@eeveewithcoffee9554]

I wonder if court change could be useful. Like switching stealth rock to a full rock double weak team that uses eject button

[@eeveewithcoffee9554]

I swear I commented this like a minute before that part came up

[@gravityvertigo13579]

Finally... The time of Sandshrew is at hand...

[@zEr-ne5ri]

When first hearing in this intro I thought I was having a stroke.

[@user-yu8vu9xu5n]

great video

[@ashtonoak4370]

id use a mons magic bounce to give my own side hazards

[@FeeN0mene]

This metagame makes me think about the move Torment. It's the move that prevents the opponent from repeating the same move twice. Is there a way for this move to be reliable ?

[@leaDR356]

My awful plays will make me win (lose) in this game too 💀

[@fabian6087]

The stealth rock strategy should be called 'Self-Rock'.

[@FishGamingReal]

Cant wait for the day Freezai popularizes Balanced Hackmons and I can say I was there "before it was cool"

[@ashtonoak4370]

i guess because id never do it, but never knew baton pass could pass perish song till now, and i now also see how i blew one of my pokerouge runs as i didnt know HOW perish song killed me after i baton passed out

[@Brandon_Hardie]

FINALLY A W FOR MY BOY ALOLAN SANDSHREW

[@Timeflow_X]

I've actually been hoping someone would cover the loser's game so much because I don't have a good handle on the meta just from the forums

[@esrohm6460]

i wonder if you could make a stall team in this so that you can stall out your opponents ways to die and when they start to struggle is that recoil slower than whatever other method you use. or if we want to be funky try to get a last pokemon scenario and then get on that pokemon normalize while having a ghost team/terra ghost.

[@sloowbroo]

Me when Freezai tells me to comment on his video (its an order)

[@crazydov]

So cool

[@JoSephGD]

surprised that trick isn't a niche strat here. just give the opponent leftovers or a berry!

[@TTLunar]

Yo waddup here for support

[@cryochick9044]

Im surprised torment isn't used. They wanna steel beam spam? They can't use it twice in a row

[@underrated1524]

Too slow

[@sloowbroo]

Not using floober is a fraud move ngl

[@Undergroundrising-c4j]

Black sludge sheninja is peak Paul mentality.

[@plaguekidd6902]

I love sandshrew of any kind. Just a cute little critter that you love to see winning- I mean losing.

[@gregorymirabella1423]

I thought Sandshrew only became steel type after it evolved, I guess I had it mixed up with Vulpix.

[@Zoroarkarceus123]

Mime Jr. would probably be a nice niche pick if it was available, because it can get Soundproof and Skill Swap and do what Clefable does but for Perish Song users. Plus, it's weak to Steel Beam, so hey

[@DoggyP00]

baton passing perish song is so funny

[@PrivateUser1667]

I have never heard Steel Beam so much in my Life

[@biospark4758]

I wonder if Pain Split would have a niche here. Run disruption tactics while your opponent is lowering their own HP and then equalize both your health bars

[@timskrobot4025]

I'm surprised I didn't hear about the move False Swipe or the Sticky Barb item. If you're forced to attack, false swipe would be a good option and Sticky Barb would be good if there are restrictions on items like Black Sludge.

[@baumina1706]

if youre forced to attack, snore always fails (except for a few nice scenarios)

[@analoghabits9217]

another ruleset could be your opponent uses the team you bring

[@kitchaos1118]

is high atk confusion viable in any way? you can deal a ton to yourself if you get attack very high

[@JackieJackJackerJacky]

It's not viable because it's just not very reliable. Having high Attack means you'll be dealing a lot of damage to your opponent. There's also very few ways to apply Confusion on yourself. Moves like Outrage and Petal Dance takes 2-3 turns meanwhile eating a berry that matches your Nature heals you which is counteractive. I haven't even mentioned that Confusion is not only temporary but you also only have a 33% chance to hurt yourself every turn.

[@tysondennis1016]

I remember when it was called the Suicide Cup

[@FunniClapboard]

Electrode with self-destruct 💀

[@leonshirogane5541]

Calyrex shadow still at the top even when you play to lose.

[@anonanim-9601]

This would a cool april fool's day exclusive event

[@dshifter7]

Kinda surprised some Swagger/Flatter - Thunderwave set isn't a thing yet! Thunderwave to prevent other status effects and minimize chances for effective turns, 1-3 Swaggers/Flatters to boost the opponents stats to encourage better ko chances. Run Shadow Tag/Arena Trap/Block to keep that opponent's powerful pokemon in, easy few ko's, right? What would be the downside to this minus the setup?

[@xian2themax]

I play this mode with court change stealth rock and then the rest of my Pokémon 4x weak to rock. If the opponent has defog it’s tough, but if they don’t it’s an easy win

[@ktvx.94]

Even when you're trying to lose, fairies are still top tier

[@Nirakolov]

Is a high-hp painsplit pokemon valid?

[@Excellsion]

Now this is podracing.

[@DiegoG2004]

How am i not shocked that even losing is hyper optimized to basically one strategy

[@guntergunter2750]

I missed the time he talked about sandsrew, you know, the pokemon in the titel!

[@lilfrogman0395]

I'm surprised pain split isn't used bc if you use it on a low hp mon you heal them while you drop. Especially if at full hp idk might be a sleeper pick

[@tinkerermelon6599]

Is Prankster/Copycat viable in this format at all? It seems like it'd be an interesting way to counter certain aspects of the format. Copy Steel Beam with priority off a non-STAB body for major self damage + constantly being able to reverse the effects of Court Change? +it's an unusual move unlikely to be locked w/ Imprison.

[@failurefiend]

Hmm a doubles mode could be interesting

[@justinfriedman2039]

Has anyone tried using trick with either AV or Sitrus to disrupt Steel Beam strats?

[@mjdxp5688]

Ah yes, of course: The best Pokémon are Calyrex-S and Sandshrew. Seems legit.

[@thenextdoor696]

Do a 35 Pokes video!

[@BlackReaper0]

Very interesting metagame.

[@rell660]

My brain doesn't work in a way where I'd purposely try to lose in Pokemon. It's a very interesting game mode. Lol

[@transrightsbaybee]

lmao hell ya