RMT Formatting

I am going to stress the importance of this: This isn't a guide to dictate the uniform method of team posting. This is designed to give folks a way to present their team clearly so that the raters can properly read the information regarding your team. Again, this is not promoting any one way of posting your Pokemon's set. This is promoting that time and care be taken in displaying your team so that the raters can do their job effectively.

I have seen numerous Teams posted for critique and they vary widely in formatting...I am going to offer a template. Hopefully, it will be easier for the folks here to read and understand the individual pokemon and give better rates without nitpicking on the formatting.

Firstly, as an introduction, one should clearly state the intentions and the purpose for the team. Are you playing competitively? Is this a tourney? What are the rules of said tourney? Is this Wifi or Shoddy? Singles or Doubles? etc. This will give the rater a place to start and allow them prepare mentally for what suggestions they could offer.

Secondly, the team itself should be clearly posted with Natures, EVs, and Moveset. Here are two subtly different formats:

Wartortle (M) @ Leftovers ** Nickname
Trait:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Focus Punch
- Yawn
- Waterfall

Nickname (Wartortle) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability:
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Focus Punch
- Waterfall
- Yawn

Both display all of the important information and are neatly presented. The first was exported from NetBattle, the second from ShoddyBattle. Both are Online Battle Simulators. You may use either of these or your own template, just make sure all of the necessary information is clearly and neatly displayed. Nicknames aren't necessary but if you want to post it, by all means, do so.

*To accompany the Pokemon's move set, it would be beneficial if a concise entry was written to explain your choices behind the Pokemon, the role is serves, and the move choices. This helps the Rater understand your logic. If a suggestion needs to be made, the Rater will know what to keep in mind regarding Pokemon choice, role on the team, etc.

Thirdly, An optional threat list can be provided. When making my teams, I sometimes end it with some finds that I had made through play testing. I'll usually mention that I am weak to a specific Pokemon or type. The threat list, if done, should be a list of common Pokemon within the metagame your team falls into (Standard, Ubers, UU, etc.) or, at least, something as basic as a type coverage listing. This portion is entirely optional though it can help draw attention from the immediate weakness which warrants a more advanced look on the second run through of the team. It's up to you.

I think that a lot of the teams that are posted, especially by newer folks, get overlooked or misunderstood because of the poor formatting. If everyone would format their teams by loosely following this guide, I think that it would provide a better environment for rates. This isn't to call anyone out or belittle. It is more of a helpful tool to ensure quality rates. This is just a general guide for a bare bones RMT post. Feel free to add what you desire like pictures, colored text, etc. Just make sure that it isn't distracting from the team itself and doesn't disrupt the clarity of the post.

ALSO: I'd like to point out that if English isn't your strong point, which isn't a big deal, you should build the team in ShoddyBattle or NetBattle, then export the team to text, and copy+paste it into your RMT. It appears as most of the folks here speak English and if you were to post using the exported team, you wouldn't have to worry about your spelling and we'll be able to understand what you mean with better clarity.

Code:

POKEMON (GENDER) @ ITEM ** Nickname
Trait:
EVs:
 Nature (+stat, -stat)
-move
-move
-move
-move

^

neutral777 wrote:

I have seen numerous Teams posted for critique and they vary widely in formatting...I am going to offer a template. Hopefully, it will be easier for the folks here to read and understand the individual pokemon and give better rates without nitpicking on the formatting.

Firstly, as an introduction, one should clearly state the intentions and the purpose for the team. Are you playing competitively? Is this a tourney? What are the rules of said tourney? Is this Wifi or Shoddy? Singles or Doubles? etc. This will give the rater a place to start and allow them prepare mentally for what suggestions they could offer.

Secondly, the team itself should be clearly posted with Natures, EVs, and Moveset. Here are two subtly different formats:

Wartortle (M) @ Leftovers ** Nickname
Trait:
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Focus Punch
- Yawn
- Waterfall

Nickname (Wartortle) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability:
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Aqua Jet
- Focus Punch
- Waterfall
- Yawn

Both display all of the important information and are neatly presented. The first was exported from NetBattle, the second from ShoddyBattle. Both are Online Battle Simulators. You may use either of these or your own template, just make sure all of the necessary information is clearly and neatly displayed. Nicknames aren't necessary but if you want to post it, by all means, do so.

To accompany the Pokemon itself, it would be beneficial if a short and concise entry was written in to explain your choices regarding the Pokemon. This plays a role helping the Rater understand what you'll want. If a suggestion needs to be made, the Rater will know what to keep in mind regarding Pokemon choice, role on the team, etc.

Thirdly, An optional threat list can be provided. When making my teams, I sometimes end it with some finds that I had made through play testing. I'll usually mentioned that I am weak to a specific Pokemon or type. The threat list could be a list of common Pokemon within your metagame or as basic as type coverage. This portion is entirely optional though it can help draw attention to the immediate flaws at first which warrants a more advanced look on the second run through of the team. It's up to you.

I think that a lot of the teams that are posted, especially by newer folks, get overlooked or misunderstood because of the poor formatting. If everyone would format their teams by loosely following this guide, I think that it would provide a better environment for rates. This isn't to call anyone out or belittle. It is more of a helpful tool to ensure quality rates. This is just a general guide for a bare bones RMT post. Feel free to add what you desire like pictures, colored text, etc. Just make sure that it isn't distracting from the team itself and doesn't disrupt the clarity of the post.

this is a great idea i recommend people start using them

I added in some advice to help with folks with situations where their English isn't very strong.

@Evil: I am not going to say that one format is better than another. So long as the information is clearly represented and the important data is there, it doesn't matter. My personal suggestion is to just use ShoddyBattle to build the team, Export to Text, then Copy/Paste it. Everything will be clearly represented and good to go. That is my personal advice, though.

you know, I really like this, most people post it in the topics that need the help, but you actually made a guide.
I'll see if we can't get this sticky'd and locked for people to see

neutral777 wrote:

I added in some advice to help with folks with situations where their English isn't very strong.

@Evil: I am not going to say that one format is better than another. So long as the information is clearly represented and the important data is there, it doesn't matter. My personal suggestion is to just use ShoddyBattle to build the team, Export to Text, then Copy/Paste it. Everything will be clearly represented and good to go. That is my personal advice, though.

everything will look somewhat similar to it though, so meh.

That maybe the case, but, I am not going to say that you should display the information in a single exact fashion. As long as it is all there and easy to distinguish, the information can come in nearly any order.

If you can get everybody to follow this... Oh that'd make looking at teams SOOO much easier.

Random note on the topic of rules, could somebody post somewhere that Shedinja can't have its ability skill swapped, traced, or role played? I'm getting sick of all the people who think you can do so and those that post forums about it.

But good job, this is a great idea.

EDIT:Moved it back

does anyone notice any grammatical errors?

A few things.
One, I kind of liked clicking on random RMT's and seeing different formats people use, while sometimes, yes, some are completely wrong, and out of order. This method does take the creativness out of people's differnt ideas/formats.
Two, I use a different format than this to begin with,
Example:
Blastoise aka TurTerra @ Leftovers
Most pokemon only have one ability, that is usable, but if there are two different usable ones, put it in the second line.
Bold
252 HP/200 Def/56 Sp.Atk
~Rapid Spin
~Protect
~Ice Beam
~Surf

Theres my Blastoise, and i forget where i saw this format first used, but i liked it because it flowed, and was easy to remember.
There should NOT be a standard format issued, however, if people are completely out of wack and have no idea what they are doing, someone should definatley step up and show them a few different ways of formatting to put them on the right track.
~DarkJ

DarkJolteon wrote:

A few things.
One, I kind of liked clicking on random RMT's and seeing different formats people use, while sometimes, yes, some are completely wrong, and out of order. This method does take the creativness out of people's differnt ideas/formats.
Two, I use a different format than this to begin with,
Example:
Blastoise aka TurTerra @ Leftovers
Most pokemon only have one ability, that is usable, but if there are two different usable ones, put it in the second line.
Bold
252 HP/200 Def/56 Sp.Atk
~Rapid Spin
~Protect
~Ice Beam
~Surf

Theres my Blastoise, and i forget where i saw this format first used, but i liked it because it flowed, and was easy to remember.
There should NOT be a standard format issued, however, if people are completely out of wack and have no idea what they are doing, someone should definatley step up and show them a few different ways of formatting to put them on the right track.
~DarkJ

As I have posted before: This isn't about making a uniform way to post teams. This is about generating a team such that those who are going to rate it can do so properly without having to fish through typos and data randomly thrown across a post.

The formatting of a post does not affect the creativity of a team or of their post. There isn't a set way to relay the information so long as you provide all of what is needed. The point isn't to stifle creativity. The point is to give the raters what they need to know to properly analyze the team.

I've edited the initial post more. Is there anything that I should add?