Ooooh okay, I've got another idea (and I'm pretty sure nobody's writing about this one yet)!
I see this all the time, people asking what checks and counters are and/or people using the words "check" and "counter" completely incorrectly. You might think that this is not a topic that one could write an entire article about, because usually it just takes a couple sentences to explain what these things are in IM chatrooms. However, I can definitely elaborate on this topic enough to stretch it into a solid article.
Along with obviously stating and explaining the definitions, I would give examples of when things check/counter other things and why they check/counter in that instance. I could explain how whether a check or a counter happens can depend on the set. It follows that a distinction would be made between just countering and hard countering, as in, countering only a certain conventional set, versus "hard countering" which is countering regardless of set, with examples and explanations of course.
Also, I would have to explain that when we talk about things checking or countering other things, we think about the hypothetical 1v1 situation, and in the back of our minds, we realize the other possibilities in a real match.
I've been noticing this, I guess, lack of understanding of terminology, for a while now and have been thinking about writing something about it. In fact, a few other skilled players have also said that they felt the same way and this is a need that could be addressed. Maybe down the line, this article could be accessed by a quick command on Showdown, like /faq check or some other better name which I can't come up with right now, so that whenever this question comes up, there would be a quick way to give them a really thorough answer. Ah, but what am I saying, this article hasn't even been approved yet!
I couldn't find any topics about this, and in the general Smogon articles, there was nothing. Although there's a glossary/definition article, neither "check" nor "counter" are in there. Thanks for reading!
I see this all the time, people asking what checks and counters are and/or people using the words "check" and "counter" completely incorrectly. You might think that this is not a topic that one could write an entire article about, because usually it just takes a couple sentences to explain what these things are in IM chatrooms. However, I can definitely elaborate on this topic enough to stretch it into a solid article.
Along with obviously stating and explaining the definitions, I would give examples of when things check/counter other things and why they check/counter in that instance. I could explain how whether a check or a counter happens can depend on the set. It follows that a distinction would be made between just countering and hard countering, as in, countering only a certain conventional set, versus "hard countering" which is countering regardless of set, with examples and explanations of course.
Also, I would have to explain that when we talk about things checking or countering other things, we think about the hypothetical 1v1 situation, and in the back of our minds, we realize the other possibilities in a real match.
I've been noticing this, I guess, lack of understanding of terminology, for a while now and have been thinking about writing something about it. In fact, a few other skilled players have also said that they felt the same way and this is a need that could be addressed. Maybe down the line, this article could be accessed by a quick command on Showdown, like /faq check or some other better name which I can't come up with right now, so that whenever this question comes up, there would be a quick way to give them a really thorough answer. Ah, but what am I saying, this article hasn't even been approved yet!
I couldn't find any topics about this, and in the general Smogon articles, there was nothing. Although there's a glossary/definition article, neither "check" nor "counter" are in there. Thanks for reading!
