Useless Moves that still work in Competitive Pokemon - Open Mic

You thought these moves were useless? Think again! ‪@BKCplaysPokemon‬ shows us some players can get really creative.
#pokemon #pokemonshowdown
Daily Swipe #3
Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:19 - 1. Growl
2:18 - 2. Defense Curl
5:08 - 3. Worry Seed
8:39 - 4. Ghost Type Curse
PATREON! / falseswipegaming
The Official False Swipe Gaming Twitter: / falseswipeg
Directed by Kellen / kellen_fsg
Follow Me On Twitch!: / kellen_fsg
Written By Kevin aka BKC His Channel:
/ @bkcisthrash
This Bread Needs More Jam:
/ @thisbreadneedsmo...
Gameplay capture:
OF_DarkMusician

[@FalseSwipeGaming]

Hello! To clarify and be transparent, we didn't know about Reverend's video until it was made aware to us in the comments. You should definitely check out their video as they mention more moves!: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sHyakIunZd11na8&ab_channel=Reverend

[@asuuki2048]

Unrelated, but probably the greatest thumbnail you have ever made lol

[@alb7466]

Good of you to shout him out, reverend is awesome

[@kaja3932]

Honest mistake, still cool to have the same thing discussed by two awesome channels!

[@LordJacobGinsberg1st]

You could have said usually useless moves it was right there

[@malvado0468]

​@@asuuki2048p

[@princerjdeguzman2854]

My headcanon now is that whenever Snorlax curses, Miltank just growls at Snorlax like a warning

[@GoldGuard]

No cursing allowed🐮❌

[@Alche_mist]

Language, young man!

[@spookyscarylamppost3431]

No moo moo milk for naughty ones!

[@demi-femme4821]

It makes the Marge Simpson noise.

[@skeetermania3202]

I guess Miltank is just Snorlax’s mom or something?

[@b6oy1004]

one of my favourites has gotta be porygon using tackle to pp stall mew in gen 1 ubers

[@lvl5Vaporeon]

Ubers golbat comes in on physical mew also and just hazes while having the smuggiest toothy grin ever...

[@kaja3932]

Hello fellow Reverend viewers

[@seizalez8096]

blows up golbat with mew

[@skeetermania3202]

@@lvl5VaporeonHow does Golbat deal with Mew?

[@deeznoots6241]

@@seizalez8096in gen 1 ubers thats a win for the golbat, Mew and Mewtwo are straight up the best pokemon so if you can trade your golbat for a Mew then you are happy

[@lvl5Vaporeon]

I like thinking snorlax is just going "****!" and Miltank is just going "Rawrhehe" for 64 turns in a gsc battle...

[@sylversapphire9700]

"moooo" *makes you lose your boost* "FU€K" *gained +1 atk*

[@lvl5Vaporeon]

*Sips Milk* *Rawrhehe*

[@spookyscarylamppost3431]

I read that ”rawrhehe,” with a Scooby Doo voice with an added “he,” at the end.

[@noamarie2072]

Hi vaporeon

[@surendramamgain9206]

And then it turns out to be belly drum

[@ES-dp6tw]

Power Herb: "You are safe now my sweet child." Sky Attack, Meteor Beam, ect: "I owe you my life."

[@spookyscarylamppost3431]

Geomancy: You shall help me enact war crimes on the lives I’ve once nurtured.

[@sephikong8323]

Power Herb Solar Beam : who are you ? Z Solar Beam : I am you but better

[@spookyscarylamppost3431]

@@sephikong8323 Solar Beam in the sun: “UNLIMITED POWER!!!”

[@eistei]

I don't think sky attack works with power herb

[@bluebaron6811]

Skull Bash: the adopted child. Being real though, I *did* see some people experiment with Skull Bash Celesteela early in gen 7's lifespan.

[@jaredkuzik3876]

“Spiritomb getting by on its typing more than any sort of pressure it exerts” is a great line since it’s ability is pressure and is similar to what it says when you throw it out 😂.

[@zemenes8873]

Dragapult with Curse has also been relatively common in OU for the past couple generations. It runs it on hyper offense with screens. It allows it to kill itself and prevent defog from removing the screens it sets up. Also gives a free switch in to whatever set up sweeper it is trying to enable. If the opponent switches then you get a free turn of setup. If they don't switch then they have taken half their health from curse damage already.

[@highgogoat]

it also helps stop the opposing mon from setting up to sweep, as screens leads are pretty passive

[@skeetermania3202]

It’s actually a standard set in BSS, specifically on Dual Screens.

[@notapear]

The reason why it does is pretty funny. It doesn't get destiny bond.

[@fatyoshi696]

I remember once using worry seed on a doubles team with regigigas, if regigigas was struggling to survive the slow start turns it could rest up to full then I would worry seed it, simultaneously waking it up and removing slow start. It sucks as a strategy because you're using regigigas but it was super fun

[@smugsneasel]

I always wanted to surprise my opponents in a double battle with growl and tailwhip with certain pokemon, glad to see there's some actual precedent.

[@1_KingDom]

Weirdly enough a lot of these moves are way better in doubles. Howl, leer, string shot, growl and tail whip all are spread status moves and hit both opponents (howl raises self and ally's attack 1 stage). Howl is actually not uncommon on arcanine and tornadus and thundurus can definitely run leer with prankster to setup their teammate for major damage output

[@Hunted0LessShirt]

@@1_KingDom Yeah, often you'll see baby-doll eyes or scary face on different prankster pokes in VGC, it's a pretty nice twist to add threat in a turn.

[@1_KingDom]

@Hunted0LessShirt tbh i never see babydoll eyes. But god fake tears brought me back to series 12 in gen 8. The amount of times id lead fake tears+trick lagging tail grimm and theyd expect screens only to be blown apart. 🤌🏽

[@DrumJamino-lq2qo]

Brambleghast has the unique combination of Ghost curse + Strength Sap, which it could infinitely whittle down opponents along with sub, disable, and T-spikes support

[@Yell0wCheese]

last gen galarian Corsola did some strenght sap schenanigans for a while, so it might have worked on that in PU or smth

[@DrumJamino-lq2qo]

Yeah, though the problem with that was corsola relied too heavily on its bulk, which made Night Shade much more reliable. Brambleghast on the other has decent speed that could Curse and switch out many times as it wants to without worrying about it's bulk

[@fulgenzio89]

​@@Yell0wCheese man, I miss Corsola 😢

[@gdrlss1535]

Always great to hear commentary by BKC. Dude's like a competitive Pokémon encyclopedia.

[@Mattias_the_unimpressive]

Let's not forget gen 1 porygon using tackle while stalling Snorlax, because that just has a lot of pp.

[@stealthy9156]

Porygon never needs tackle to pp stall snorlax. Recover stalls body slam and you outspeed it so you can react to whatever snorlax did last turn, and you have more recover pp than body slam. If you need to waste turns thunder wave is totally enough. Any move to chip it is fine, if rests you switch to a strong attacker, if it doesnt rest it eventually dies. Tackle is reserved to mew who generally has much higher total pp (at least, higher than the lax sets porygon actually beats, cause if they have amnesia you just lose that 1v1 anyways, and some of lax's moves like hyper beam and selfdestruct isnt gonna be something it clicks multiple times in a row), especially if it's running reflect and is paralysed, losing extra turns compared to you

[@Mattias_the_unimpressive]

@@stealthy9156 You're right, yes Porygon walls Mew in ubers using tackle, but that's even better than what I first wrote. Porygon actually walls Snorlax AND Mew too... ideally.

[@retrokoh1507]

​@@Mattias_the_unimpressiveMew... too? Mew 2... Mew to... Mewtwo?!? Me: Runs off to Cerulean Cave with an underleveled Porygon with Tackle and Recover

[@user-lq4ct6dr5m]

@@Mattias_the_unimpressiveGen 1 Mewtwo, one of the strongest Pokémon ever existed, got crap on by tackle

[@merouln700]

The funniest use I've seen of Ghost type Curse was on some AG matches where it would sabotage Baton Pass since the Curse gets passed with the stats Also for some who wants more silly stuff regarding usually useless moves, I'd recommend 2 videos of Reverend and maybe Big Yellow's video on Gen 1 Porygon vs Snorlax.

[@noah_of_babylon]

I think Dragapult uses curse on dual screens sets now actually

[@Relisoc]

I love how the vibe of these videos is like kellen ventured far into the wilderness to meet with the great sage bkc and humbly absorb his knowledge

[@eliashornwall8546]

I think we should all take a second to appreciate how active FSG has been . We have about 4 times more videos than normal! Well done!

[@nicocchi]

Gotta appreciate it, but also wanna be cautious and telll the FSG team to not burn/fatigue themselves with producing so much great content.

[@magicball3201]

The content itself is a lot less... Constructed? Research based? Unsure the correct word here. A competitive video involves searching several websites for data on did anyone use this 'mon in VGC, if so who and for what, and in singles, what is it's tiering history and what does it do in its tiers, if anything. Meanwhile, something like the Salamence Theorem is just a brief glance at a few mins in a few different generations/tiers. They require very little additional research, as you just need one example of a prominent Pokemon showing a trait. I'm not saying these videos take no effort, they still have scripting, recording, graphics, editing, etc. Just a lot less research based, so they're easier to make compared to the usual How Good was X Actually

[@enoyna1001]

So it's like a double weakness?

[@RandalfElVikingo]

I remember when they were crying for not releasing one video every two weeks.

[@darthalpha1525]

It makes me laugh to think that most people's first experience with curse is ghosts using it on your pokes, but in competitive that aspect is nearly forgotten. I was teambuilding one day and got very excited at the prospect of a curse boosting dusknoir, only to try it out and be reminded of the first use XD

[@Flamelance_Accendo]

I wish Garganacl Tera Ghost Curse was brought it. Cuz its pretty cool being able to swap between two kind of Curses. Even if it cuts its HP in half, it could use Recover to get it all back or at least most of it.

[@user-pf1kk7zc2n]

would be more funny if a non ghost used cruse wanting to boost its stats and your opponent used trick or treat to make it instead lose half of its health

[@PelemusMcSoy]

Imagine if a Ghost type had Regenerator.

[@senny-]

Is this a real thing? Not just a gimmick?

[@Flamelance_Accendo]

@@senny- I've seen it a few times. Idk how popular it is.

[@N12015]

​@@Flamelance_AccendoCurse Garganacl is not a gimmick, but you'd rather be water or Fairy to wall out more of the meta

[@stealthy9156]

Reverend did a similar video that is way funnier I recommend it. Also the moves covered are mostly different so don't worry about your attention span

[@danka1167]

Reverend my favourite grass allergic youtuber 🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@stealthy9156]

@@danka1167horribly false allegations rev would touch grass if the bugs in it were cool enough

[@HumanReverend]

cool video c^:;

[@bruh_moment]

my favorite bibarel user

[@tacomania4993]

Nice job stealing this video almost a year ago.

[@justinanderson2631]

The other use for Ghost type Curse is somewhat more obvious; Mimikyu is a fantastic setter of trick room thanks to disguise and curse can allow it to safely pivot into a sweeper (by killing itself) and forcing the opponent out.

[@DarthFhenix55]

Being a suicide lead is such a hard niche to fill tho. Although I don't know how common are taunt and priority in the modern competitive.

[@justinanderson2631]

@@DarthFhenix55 If you are building a suicide lead for trick room it's 100% Uxie. Access to Magic coat, Trick room, stealth rock and Memento ensures you have a strong early lead- (Provided the enemy doesn't lead with a wallbreaker if not running sash over mental herb.) But with Trick room teams; You live and die by Trick room. It's all about lining up as much damage within those 4-3 turns it's up. And Mimikyu acts as a perfect stopgap in the mid game. Though it's an even greater setter in doubles where disguise has even more merit

[@DarthFhenix55]

@@justinanderson2631 Isn't Mimikyu weak to double targeting tho?

[@justinanderson2631]

@@DarthFhenix55 If we're talking VGC or "double targeting"... The tried and true strategy from Gen 8 is running an Indeedee with Focus sash using follow-me with a Hatterene to set up trick room. Psychic terrain blocks uses of Fake out ensuring trick room almost always gets set up. This was a tactic commonly employed during the start of the generation, as later VGC series introduced legends like Kyogre with powerful spread moves in water spout (often uses with helping hand) to break the combo.

[@someguy8511]

Ive been enjoying these types of vids with BKC, hopefully one day you guys will bless us with a podcast episode of the two(or more) of you guys rambling on about the absurdities and oddities of pokemon.

[@petrichor1956]

Great video! Big fan of BKC’s content (even though he helps write most episodes), so it was great to see both of you in this video 👍

[@bmac4]

A youtuber by the name of Reverend (aka HumanReverend) did a video on this subject awhile ago about weird fringe cases of "usually useless moves" that have very specific niches

[@alecjordan4180]

and has a nearly identical thumbnail (but posted his nearly a year ago)

[@eztempt1]

Yo is that a motherfucking reverend reference

[@Saizmatters]

I am loving these daily videos. The chill format is a great bite sized format.

[@benchesworth7750]

A lot of people have been mentioning curse screens dragapult (which I know BKC doesn't play a lot of new gen OU so it makes sense that he may not have mentioned it) but another fun, albiet very gimmicky one, was sub infestation curse sitrus mimikyu in gen 7 UU. Mimikyu was already quite strong on spikes offense, especially before that disguise nerf, but this set lets in infestation a switch in that would usually deal with it no issue, sub or curse next term to deal with either status or an incoming hit, shrug off said hit with disguise, and with sitrus be able to set up enough substitutes to kill the opposing mon with three curse ticks + infestation damage + any last damaging move if it so wanted it. Very gimmicky but very fun.

[@lordofbeads6198]

I remember using Whimsicott Prankster Worry Seed during gen6. At first I used it for getting rid of annoying abilities like Parental Bond or helping partners wake up from spore. But when Primal Groudon and Kyogre appeared it was a nice way of getting rid of their Weather abilities

[@clash_king1025]

I like to call this “The growl paradox”

[@nicolasromani3523]

I love the frequency you guys upload videos lately. It's reaaaally good content.

[@hammerfall8598]

Love to hear BKC outside of his channel. He makes some of the best content on the platform

[@beechteeth]

I really like this format. If I had to make a suggestion, I wanna hear from Kellen more. Surely after all these videos he's got a lot to contribute. I'd like to see how his chemistry with BKC works. Please keep up the good work. These daily releases are so fun!

[@Cheeseomlett1234]

This reverend video looks different

[@gymfamily]

Thank you as always for pumping out great content

[@kheireddineattala1281]

lol reverend was the first to make this video

[@wiseguise5960]

I'm really diggin this new commentary style for these videos!

[@doma3554]

I recently got back into playing Pokemon Showdown in the last 3 weeks. I hadn't played for about 10 years. I started looking for information online to get me up to speed. I gotta say, I freaking love this channel.

[@luxlukro9110]

I'm not gonna lie I am really really enjoying this new style of videos you've been doing

[@thunderhog45]

Love the amount of content recently.

[@ThePikachuKingRJ]

We definitely need a part 2 if possible.

[@brandontherabboat4850]

“AHAHAHAHA! Give up! My Choice Band Salamence has already devastated half your team! Your Bisharp doesn’t stand a chance of winning!” “Use Torment.” *BAKANAAAA!!*

[@HeisenbergFam]

8:14 "to switch to toxic" you just gotta become Twitter user for that

[@chadattenborough2241]

Love these BKC shorts

[@TheLimedew]

I always love BKC and Falseswipe collabs

[@lorenzo689]

Fr

[@TheVathi20]

loving this BKC appearence sequence!

[@RealShylm]

FSG has been going crazy with these uploads 🔥🔥🔥

[@wahbucket501]

I love having a taste of BKC’s ramblings on the channel lmao

[@bows1rjr292]

They changed the thumbnail so it would'nt look like rev's video lmao

[@jonathanhay3212]

I feel like there was a missed opportunity to discuss why Miltank uses Growl over Defense Curl even though it learns both. Generally, its better to buff your own mons than to nerf your opponents and you would think it would be better to just use defense curl instead. Even if snorlax switches out from growl (which you want) it would be better to have a +6 def miltank than a +0. I thought about it for a few minutes and it eventually made sense because of crits. If you get crit and snorlax is

[@Yell0wCheese]

the simpler answer is that a weaker snorlax is better for you than having a strong milktank.

[@PiePie453]

Oh is it the BKC hour here now, I love BKC

[@massaosaito4084]

nice chat, I liked the idea and format

[@originalJoeKing]

Dragalge, magcargo, drifblim, or rotom and all of his forms! 💪💪💪

[@mr.lantern1111]

A podcast with these guys would probably slap

[@justfox-fs4oh]

i absolutely love this style of content

[@misirtere9836]

Isn't this just the Reverend "Usually Useless Moves" thumbnail?

[@bluemask96]

With these vids and the theorems, I really just want documentary vids on competitive gens as a whole. Maybe their shifts or how they've evolved over time.

[@SadNYGuy]

I like this casual / podcast vibe

[@LordBeau]

reverend video... TWO!

[@funkymachine]

My first thoughts

[@yourdagan]

Skill Swap Blissey gives you an out against Dugtrio, which can be critical against bulky full health Beat Up. There's also Snatch Blissey when toxic stalling opposing Blissey.

[@Wurry25]

YOOO DAILY SERIES also known as Bkc podcast feat fsg

[@lawtrixx3448]

one use of worry seed i was surprised you didn’t mention is the move being used by sand ferrothorn in gen 5 ou to stop magnezone from trapping you. since most magnezone will use sunny day to remove sand, you can safely use worry seed and then switch next turn without the risk of taking a ton from hp fire. it has a plethora of other uses, such as to force opposing magic guard pokemon like reuniclus or alakazam to take sand damage, breaking the focus sash on the latter and chipping the former. pretty neat option if you want to screw around

[@RuthroAlt]

the world is not ready for metronome hyperoffense

[@dinotastik]

awesome video!!

[@1Henrink]

Would you guys consider making some videos based on doubles? I love your content, and I would really like you guys to go into the differences of both formats

[@thunderhog45]

"Young Americans" the Snorlax😂

[@bobbylope8297]

I love your new style of videos!

[@SilverstarStream]

Surprisingly, False Swipe has a niche in Restricted Sparring (a battle facility from the Sword/Shield DLC)! While not strictly a competitive format, each of the battle facilities are played at a high level akin to competitive battles. It's used on some Baton Pass Shedinja as a way to damage down anything Shedinja walls. Its huge PP is the main reason it's used, since the facility greatly rewards high-PP moves. And its inability to finish things off is sometimes used to stall out some moves. Now that's some False Swipe Gaming!

[@demonicclips7180]

DID NOT expect a BKC feat. 😊

[@pokegarchomp]

He writes for the channel

[@MinunRobotnik4]

I think Ghost Curse has been used some this gen as a psuedo-Memento. At least for some gimmicky screen teams.

[@musiyevonchilla6769]

With an arena trap Pokemon like Dugtrio it could probably work After cursing ur own pokemon to dearh simply use Dugtrionfor 1 protect & 1 dig = gg

[@lucasprod18]

I've used Curse Dragapult on an offensive screens team and had some success with it. I'd give it dual screens, curse and U-Turn while holding Light Clay. Now, the reason I used Dragapult in this role as opposed to something like Prankster Grimmsnarl is because if Grimm shows up you know exactly what role it's going to be doing, compared to Dragapult whom you have to respect the threat of an offensive sets so it lends a bit of unpredictability

[@traviswilliams2348]

The fuckin "young Americans" Snorlax name lmao

[@DoodleWill]

This is literally the same thumbnail Reverend made for his video which he made on the same subject. Edit: Oh wow they changed it. Good job guys. 👍

[@gwaegs1234]

One of my all time favorites is Reflect Type Latias, especially in Gen5. Special attackers struggle to kill it through Calm Mind boosts, and many of its Physical answers such as Ttar, Scizor, Ferrothorn, and Jirachi can’t kill it if it steals their typing, then you CM boost to victory. Reflect Type Starmie gets a shoutout but that’s mainly for it to survive Pursuit, Reflect Type Latias is a serious threat for teams that can’t phase it and even then it’s a real “last Mon” threat.

[@AX-ROSE]

Hey didn't Reverend do this exact video a while back? The thumbnail is even pretty similar

[@metapowm4881]

Just because 2 channels cover the same topic doesn't make the content the same

[@CBSnB2R]

what an amazing video

[@byeguyssry]

If False Swipe had a normal base power (like 90 or something), I wonder if there could be some niche use.

[@IschmarVI]

in combination with hail or sandstorm, probably. Although you would be very hard-pressed to justify the move over return as return is still stronger. So if anything it would probably be a recent-generation-only-thing.

[@chrisdubose9573]

Idk who this other guy is in these videos but i like his style these are good videos

[@Neevkl_7]

I used false swipe once as a meme in gen 7. Used false swipe thunderwave cobalion to set up for mega beedrill fell stinger

[@legomann9092]

I love how that stall team is all named after blazblue characters

[@siguchan7485]

we love reverend

[@iSluff]

reverend did it first and also better

[@DaakkuuYRS]

The best Curse user... Arakune from Blazlue

[@TheAweDude1]

I remember running Galvantula specifically to Gastro Acid enemy Breloom in the early days of Gen V. It was hilarious.

[@cynamothcyclopsyt]

Another really cool case is gen 9 UU with Iron Treads It uses Steel Roller on some occasions to lure and KO rillaboom, and on electric terrain, it's a NUKE

[@OGRScintilla]

BKC in the lime light!!!

[@otttimon5654]

I’d really like to see you discuss the randbats metagame at some point

[@Deesn]

Got some use out of worry seed during the reign of tera electric Shedninja

[@clarkside4493]

10:46 I'm sure some maniac will find a way to False Swipe a fragile ally so they can eat a berry and use Flail or Reversal at max power. Or maybe you use it on an opponent so an allied Moxie Pokemon or Fell Stinger Pokemon can get the KO.

[@donovanchilton5817]

BKC the GOAT

[@mystrenula3911]

I cant believe fsg and bkc would steal content from our lord and savior reverend

[@Makedounia1]

I remember seeing Trevenants with curse in gen 6. The sets had harvest ability and moves being leech horn, curse, shadow claw and some filler move

[@Guayabaman305]

Surprised to see a video with Blazin' Kickin' Chicken last only 10 minutes.

[@roland8357]

I could listen to bkc all day.... no homo

[@XxTheCupidKidxX]

Seeing how useful curse can be for late game is singlehandedly what’s keeping me from getting rid of it from my Hisuian Typhlosion. I just know it will be useful someday

[@toukopaavolainen3566]

Did you know that hisuian sliggoo could use tera ghost curse (in gen 9 zu), because it went into pp wars against other h-sliggoos, and because of shell armor they could not get crit, but curse dealing 25% each turn broke that.

[@dragonslayerz2220]

I've played an OM called CU (basically create a mon, except every mon was made without knowing the other mons) and Gastro Acid is really good there.

[@thanksgivingh6185]

I remember using Growl Chansey in the Battle Tower Singles on 3DS games. was top tier for sure. 😅

[@j-koster1258]

I have seen false swipe once on a incredibly gimmicky team to set it up for a fell stinger It was an awful team but you gotta respect the hustle

[@deftfkaubgup4669]

I remember coming across a tera ghost curse garganacl in BSS and raging so hard. Don’t sleep on ghost curse

[@The_Great_Butler]

Loved that the last team had BlazBlue names. Could Celebi not be given a nickname? I only saw 5 names.

[@shirshobanerjee7751]

It might have been event

[@ladonmccabe]

Charm was one of those moves where I went on a limb and tried it out on my togepi/togetic in Gold, and it actually worked.