win con

Written by: Lemonade.
Art done by: x
Grammar checked by: x
HTML done by: x

summary

The vocabulary should be change because currently it's
less accurate and not consistent. definition shows consistency outside of Mons. issues with definition shows (in)accuracy. An example that follows the definition shows accuracy.
redundancy (sweeper)
And it is relevant because it's important to be accurate, and consistency helps new ppl


Intro

Win condition is a term that pops up around games that involve, unsurprising, winning. However, on Smogon in particular, I question its accuracy. "Win condition" is commonly used to refer to a sweeper of sorts, and more generally to a Pokemon that has a good matchup against the opponent. The issue I see here is based around what "condition" means in every other context outside of Smogon. This inconsistency is why I hope it will make sense to you why the vocabulary should change.

Current Usage

Right now, "win condition" can be found all around, and not just on the forums. Numerous YouTube commentaries involve calling a setup sweeper a "win con." This is not intended as a jab toward any one person, especially because their thought processes are not the issue, and we will shortly see why this term is not correct. Other places "win condition" crops up are RMTs and general team discussion (describing some Pokemon the team is built around as the "win condition"), and forum discussion such as Viability Rankings (X Pokemon is good because it's a strong "win condition").

Condition

A quick look at the definition of a condition can help us see why Smogon's common usage is an issue.

condition, n. something demanded or required as a prerequisite to the granting or performance of something else

This is perhaps the most precise definition of condition in this context.

Note: the other definition boils down to "the state of something," such as "living conditions" or "what is the condition of that car?" We are less interested in that here.

This definition states that some prerequisites must be filled before something else is granted. If you throw the word win in front of it, you could read it as "prerequisite(s) to winning the game." Armed with this, let's look at issues with how "win condition" is most commonly used on Smogon.

In many instances, Pokemon themselves are referred to as "win conditions." Let's say in this case we have a Swords Dance Talonflame. With the definition above, it doesn't make sense to say Talonflame is my win condition. Talonflame itself does not fulfill any requirements. Rather, it is more accurate to say my win condition is when Tyranitar is weakened and Talonflame is at +2. These are clear prerequisites to a clean Talonflame sweep (which is pretty much the same thing as a win). 1) Tyranitar must be weakened. 2) Talonflame must be at +2. If these two conditions are not met, Talonflame cannot sweep, and therefore cannot win.

Another way to think about it is to use the construction "when ____ happens, I win," where the blank is your win condition. It doesn't make sense to say "when Talonflame happens, I win." However, "when Tyranitar is weakened and Talonflame has set up a Sword Dance (ie when these things have happened), I win" works fine.

A Quick Step Back

So in Pokemon specifically, what is a win condition? Discounting forfeits, it is more or less if your opponent has no remaining Pokemon. Let's put this up to the definition. "Your opponent has no Pokemon" is a clear prerequisite to your victory. It is a condition. If you opponent has Pokemon remaining, you haven't won.

On defensively oriented teams, this is more or less what you are going for. This is because you are passively whittling away at your opponent. A good position might be having Toxic Spikes up when the opponent doesn't have their Defogger or grounded Poison-type, but that doesn't necessarily mean you've won. Here is where your win condition changes from game to game (which it should, otherwise every game is basically identical). In some games, the above situation might be enough: the opponent can't break through your cores, so it's easy to stall them out. In other games, this might not be enough to win. Maybe the opponent still has a chance to overpower you before they tick down to Poison damage.

On offensive builds, experienced players tend to extrapolate back from just KOing all six Pokemon. The main discrepancy here is the vocabulary; their thought processes do in fact lead to a way to win the game. For example, say you are running Geomancy, Moonblast, Thunder, and Aromatherapy Xerneas. The opponent has Primal Groudon and six Pokemon that take 88% or more damage from a +2 Moonblast (these teams are not really good teams since Primal Groudon can't handle everything, but I'll stick with this example). Note that Specially Defensive Primal Groudon takes around 43% minimum from Moonblast. So, the point where you have won the game, ie your win condition, would be if Primal Groudon has taken 57% or more damage, Stealth Rock is up, and Xerneas has set up. After this happens, you can just click Moonblast six times and sweep. When these prerequisites are met, it directly translates into the opponent having no Pokemon remaining, so we can also call the situation a win condition.

A More Detailed Example

pokeaim has allowed me to use his video as an example. He is undoubtedly thinking long term :], about what situation directly translates into a victory. From Team Preview, I would say three things need to happen for Xerneas sweep, and aim is likely thinking this as well. 1) Primal Groudon must be weakened. 2) Genesect must take a little damage so Moonblast is a guaranteed KO. 3) Xerneas must have used Geomancy / be at +2/+2/+2. In other words, at the very least, the situation where all these has happened is his win condition. We can see that all the numbered points are very clear prerequisites, which fits the definition nicely.

Shuca Berry Dialga accomplishes 1), as aim points out in the opening. It lures Primal Groudon and weakens it. At around 2:35, aim uses Extreme Speed on Genesect, which also means aim loses his Arceus. However, this is fine. His decision meets 2). He doesn't need Arceus anymore to win this particular battle. Here aim also offers an explaination as to why Genesect uses Iron Head. Iron Head prevents aim from bringing in his Xerneas and setting up a Geomancy, which is the only thing left to do for Xerneas to sweep. In this sense, his opponent is denying aim's 3rd requirement, because obviously if you want a chance to win, your opponent can't win first.

Let me touch on this point a bit. Without damage on Genesect, Xerneas could have still KOed with Thunder. However, Thunder only has 70 Accuracy, which is not appealing since aim wants to secure a 100% win. Therefore, condition 2 is necessary. This style of playing minimizes the effect that hax has, which is a part of why aim is such a consistent player.

At 3:27 in the video, aim has met all the necessary requirements for victory, by switching Xerneas into Arceus-Dark. Even though Xerneas has not set up a Geomancy, being in against Arceus-Dark directly leads to this situation. Xerneas fears nothing from Arceus, so it can set up Geomancy and proceed to win, which is exactly what happens. Aim analyzes that the only way his opponent could have won is if he made a double switch into Genesect. Once again, we see that this play would have denied aim's 3rd requirement and kept his opponent in the game.

The point is, Xerneas, and any other Pokemon, cannot be described as a condition. A Pokemon does not fill a prerequisite for winning. Rather, some situation in the game does; in this case the situation was when all three requirements were met. At 3:27, the game was in such a situation, and directly translated into a win.

Sweeper?

Another issue with referring to a Pokemon as a "win con" is that there is already a term that conveys the same meaning (in most cases). Let's look at the phrase "Xerneas is my win con." Used in a teambuilding context, this sounds like the goal of the team is for Xerneas to sweep, in most games at least. However, that is what a sweeper is! If you want to be more specific, you can add some adjectives. Set-up sweeper is literally what Xerneas is. If your team is made around a Xerneas sweep, though, it could be your main sweeper (which conveys more or less the same idea as a "win condition"). Maybe you splashed Xerneas on your team. Secondary, auxiliary, or backup sweeper convey this idea.

Here, it is convenient to use sweeper and "win condition" interchangeably, but it is important to note Pokemon that are not sweepers can still win the game (this is what I meant by most of the time in the intro). For example, if your Ferrothorn has a good matchup against the opponent, Ferrothorn can win you the game, but most people wouldn't call Ferrothorn a sweeper. One way to think about it is you can use "Ferrothorn wins me the game" as shorthand for "I win this game if I get free switches into Ferrothorn, who can proceed to Leech Seed stall or KO opponents with Gyro Ball / Power Whip." However, it is not accurate to say "Ferrothorn is my win condition" because Ferrothorn itself is not meeting any requirements that win you the game.

This construction also helps to clear up some misleading phrases: "I lost my 'win condition' because of that crit." Well, that suggests winning is not possible anymore anymore, because you lost whatever it is that lets you win. Sweeper with some modification is much better: "I lost my main sweeper because of that crit." This suggests it will be hard for you to win, but it's still possible. Often times, this is the case (and if you only have one way to win on your team that's a problem).

One distinction that can help clear up the definition is as follows. A set like GeoXern is always a sweeper, but depending on matchup and the meta, it doesn't always win.

Changing the Vocabulary

Here, I would like to offer some alternate sayings to avoid misusing the term "win condition," based on this article.
I am guaranteed to win if Primal Groudon and Genesect are at X% and Y% health, respectively, and Xerneas has used Geomancy.
My win condition is when Primal Groudon and Genesect are at X% and Y% health, respectively, and Xerneas has used Geomancy. I can get a free Geomancy against my opponent's Arceus-Dark or Latias, so I should try to bait them in.
Xerneas sweeps my opponent's team once Primal Groudon is weakened.
If I get a Geomancy, Xerneas just wins.
Xerneas wins this game for me.
Xerneas has a good matchup.
Earlier I mentioned experienced players. With regards to the example battle earlier, an experienced player might say "Xerneas is my win con" as shorthand for "Xerneas wins the battle when Primal Groudon and Genesect have taken damage, and Xerneas has used Geomancy." This unshortened form is absolutely accurate, but it is often useful to have condensed way to say it. Because it doesn't make sense for a Pokemon to be a condition, the more accurate shorthand sentence would be "Xerneas can win (me the game)" instead. It is this distinction that I urge people to make in their language.

Does This Matter?

People coin new terms frequently, so does in necessarily matter that "win condition" isn't quite used correctly? In this case, it does. The difference between calling a set with Rest and Sleep Talk as RestTalk, and calling a Pokemon with a good matchup or one that can set up and potentially sweep a "win condition," is that in the latter's case, it doesn't make sense to call a Pokemon itself a condition. Furthermore, a term already exists to convey nearly the same idea: sweeper.

It is also important to be consistent with how win / victory condition is used outside of Smogon, particularly in other games. They are all similar to what I described in this article, as in the concept of some prerequisites needing to be met for victory. This consistency helps new players become familiar with battling concepts, since the ideas they've accumulated from other games also applies to Pokemon.

This sounds a bit pedantic, but eliminating incorrect prose is not new on Smogon. "Both sides of the spectrum" was used to describe physical and special attacks, until some people realized the physical-special split isn't actually a spectrum.

Conclusion

So what should you take away from this article? Here are the important points:
A win condition is when some set of requirements (aka conditions) are met that directly translates into a win.
Therefore, a Pokemon itself is not a "win condition."
Pokemon, however, can (and often do) have good matchups or win the game.
To identify your win condition, find a situation that directly leads to your victory and work backwards.
It does matter because it's important to be accurate and consistent.
With that in mind, I hope you the reader can see why I have issues with the current vocabulary and why it makes sense to change it. Thanks for reading and happy battling!