James and the Giant YEET

*Approved by grand master Hoot man*



Hi ya'll. Most of you probably know who I am because pretty much only up until this year I've contributed a lot to both the OU forum as well as OU C&C since 2013, being a staff member in both as well as council for a short stint (almost doesn't even count though lmao). With that said, I wanted to bring an issue to light that my fellow staff members @Hootie and @Colonel M shared with me. In fact, Hootie already wrote up his own take on this at the beginning of this year for those who want see it here, although you need staff perms so keep that in mind.



I'm choosing to post this in here instead of the staff forum because I wanted to get insight from not just staff members but also QC members and contributors because they are the ones who are ultimately effected the most by this. For a long time now, I've had a huge issue with how extremely over the top the entire analysis writing process is. People are spending hours upon hours of their own time to sit down and write was is essentially an essay about a Pokemon when realistically the same information could be relayed in much less time and words. I've never really understood why we make writers go from bullet point format, to complete sentences, when the bullet points accomplish the same exact thing in usually less words and is MUCH less of a process, because you don't have to completely rewrite what you just wrote. But that's just one issue. We say that we want to cater to new users and attempt to educate them on the Pokemon as much as possible, but looking at some of the analysis currently onsite, it's more intimidating than anything. Take something like Dusk Mane Necrozma's Ubers analysis for example. Regardless of the amount of sets, the massive amounts of words in each section is completely over the top. If I were a new user looking to understand more about Dusk Necrozma and I found that analysis, I'd maybe read about 10% of it. New users don't want to be lectured, they want something to reference and a little push in the right direction. They are just going to skim through all this massive sea of text to find what they are looking for and move on. Why should we make it harder for them to do this? These analysis are essentially just hand holding you the entire way instead of just getting to the point. Why do we need to include that Prism Armor is Necrozma's only possible ability when it's very obvious to see this by looking at it? Why do we need to define what an item does when they can easily just look up the item description in the item section? Why does C&C need 8 different sections instead of just lumping most together? Why does OO need to list moves that are generally inferior to the other moves in every way? Why do we need an entire section dedicated to explaining what the set does when it can easily be summed up in like one or two sentences? These are just some examples of issues I have with this analysis that are also present in MANY others.



My solution to this is similar to what Hootie brought up in his thread. I think merging a few sections is definitely the easiest way to cut down on writing without changing much of the format. Sections such as "Usage Tips" and "Set Details" for example accomplish almost the same thing. The merged section would describe the EV spread if it's specific and not self-explanatory, talk about the different item choices if there are any others, and briefly explain what this set does. Boom, done. No need to explain why Intimidate is good on Landorus-T when it's the only ability that Landorus-T gets and everyone should know what Intimidate does. No need to explain that Choice Scarf makes Landorus-T 1.5x faster, and should only mention what it's good for. The most important sections are "Team Options " and "C&C", because that is where the the player is going to look at the most for help, other than the overview and sets obviously. The other sections aren't necessarily pointless, but don't need to be given so much attention. Another solution and one I personally can get behind the most, is to just remove the need for write ups entirely. Bullet points on their own are practically complete sentences, even though they don't need to be. Write ups just cause more work for everyone. If the information can be addressed with less words, than why overdue it? Tell me, as a new player, which one is more pleasing to read but is also able to get the point across:



[HIDE=The lengthy "write up"]

Necrozma-DM stands as one of the best Pokemon in the tier. Its typing, ability, movepool, and general offensive presence all contribute to nearly unmatched levels of utility and versatility.
While Necrozma-DM's offensive typing isn't great, it has an expansive pool of coverage moves and setup options and access to an immensely powerful Z-Move, Searing Sunraze Smash, all of which narrow its defensive counterplay.
The combination of Necrozma-DM's typing and ability makes it the strongest check to Xerneas and enables it to blanket check the majority of setup sweepers. This allows Necrozma-DM to provide valuable defensive utility to its team regardless of its set.
Necrozma-DM's potential can be expanded even further through Ultra Burst with Ultranecrozium Z. A sudden change in typing and a boost in Speed allow Necrozma-DM to have an upper hand against threats it otherwise cannot beat and overcome its slow Speed after transforming.
Although Rock Polish, Trick Room, and Ultra Burst alleviate the problem to a degree, Necrozma-DM's below-average Speed is a notable downside, as this forces it to often move last. When combined with its vulnerability against priority moves from the likes of Yveltal and Marshadow, Necrozma-DM's effectiveness as an offensive threat is somewhat limited.
Due to its disappointing STAB combination, Necrozma-DM tends to be reliant on prior damage, boosts, Z-Moves, or sometimes all of these to surmount defensive Pokemon, although an immunity to Toxic improves its matchup against many defensive Pokemon to an extent.
Gaining a boost in Speed and Neuroforce through Ultra Burst can remedy these shortcomings, but due to the fact that Necrozma-DM forfeits its Steel typing, a considerable portion of its bulk, and Prism Armor during the process, it becomes more vulnerable to revenge killing.
While Necrozma-DM's typing lets it blanket check a large number of threats, it also leaves it vulnerable to very common threats in the tier, such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, Mega Gengar, Yveltal, and Marshadow, due to its common weaknesses to Dark, Fire, Ghost, and Ground.
[/HIDE]



[HIDE=Or a shortened version]

Necrozma's-DM utility and versatility thanks to its movepool, typing and offensive presence make it one of the best Pokemon in Ubers
Necrozma's lackluster offensive typing is offset by its expansive movepool and setup options, as well its signature Z-move, Searing Sunraze Smash
Defensively, it is able to check the majority of setup sweepers, most notably being one of the strongest Xerneas checks in the tier
Ultranecrozium Z allows it to transform into Ultra Necrozma, a Dragon/Psychic type that trades bulk for raw power and Speed
Necrozma-DM is slow unboosted and weak to common priority, leaving it vulnerable to Pokemon such as Marshadow, Yveltal, and Ho-Oh
Offensively, it tends to rely a lot on prior damage, boosts, and its Z-Moves to break through defensive Pokemon
Ultra Necrozma can help remedy these issues offensively, but it loses most of its defensive utility after transforming
Necrozma-DM's typing, while good defensively, still leaves it wide open to common threats such as Primal Groudon, Mega Gengar, and Arceus Ground[/HIDE]
I used this analysis as an example to prove a point that just because something is S rank, doesn't mean it needs to have a lot of writing. I personally think teaching writers how to relay information in as little words as possible is better, because more writing usually turns into uneeded filler/fluff that makes the analysis look bigger and better when in actuality it's arguably more flawed and uses big writing to hide its issues. I think a lot of the issues that tiers are having with lazy QC members/writers could be helped if the procedure is simplified. By merging sections or removing the need for full write ups, I'm confident that more work can be pumped out with just as good of quality as before. It will also make future analysis easier to follow and much more beneficial to newer players as a guide. Please feel free to chip in with any thoughts or concerns you may have. I just want C&C to be taken more seriously, as it is an important part of Smogon yet seems to have these underlying issues that can only be fixed with change, and I feel like a lot of it has to do with how we are currently formatting analysis. Sorry for the ironic wall of text.