The History of F.E.A.R. - Pokémon’s Oldest Cheese
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Sometimes Legendaries just get destroyed by Lv 1 Rattata and friends.
#pokemon #pokemonshowdown
0:00 - Intro
2:06 - How it started
4:17 - Aron becomes the new FEAR Pokemon
7:02 - FEAR indirectly nerfed
8:12 - The many weaknesses of FEAR
12:25 - Aron in DPP Little Cup
15:05 - Outro
Directed by Kellen
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Written By
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Edited By
Connor Nguyen aka CDK
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VFX Intro By
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Thumbnail:
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Sound Designed by
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Game Capture Artist:
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I never got the impression that FEAR was a strategy used in viable competitive pokemon. It was more of a "Shock Value" gimmick to force new players to realize that Pokemon has a lot more strategic diversity than just "Throw all your legendaries at 'em!"
It's not for the competitive scene, it's to traumatize 9 year olds playing online for the first time.
So it’s the best strat ever.
@@WildChargeressentially
It's the Pokemon version of Git Gud and it's very effective. Like Shedinja
@@WildCharger More like a gatekeeper strategy.
Definitely a noob check strategy, if you didn’t bring priority/multi hit moves on your team before that, you will forever bring it on your team after playing against this strat
Source: Got swept by a level 1 Aron and Cottonee in Gen 5
The rise of multi-strike moves has made this strategy more rare with each gen release
And priority
Obviously it's another weakness but I wouldn't say that, I think perma weather leaving and the abundance of hazards are the main reasons it doesn't really work
Loaded dice means multi-strike moves are actually viable now too, like Baxcalibur's icicle spear, breloom's bullet seed, cloyster doesn't even need loaded dice but still counts, etc. So multi-strike moves are more common and FEAR is harder to pull off because of it. Urshifu-Rapid invalidated the strategy alone, now it's even worse for them.
@@BlueAizu_ And _ability_ negating abilities!
@@InsertNameHere649 Breloom's Bullet Seed was viable since Gen 5 thanks to Technician, but now it's downright silly.
I had no idea that FEAR originally stood for F****** Evil Annoying Rodent. Thanks FSG for making me laugh at competitive Pokémon
It's because everyone uses the other acronym for it due to not wanting to be demonatized by TH-cam for using a curse word in their video. Other people don't use it due to not liking swearing, which lead to the other version becoming the more popular and widely recognized name for this strategy
What are you….8 years old?
only 8yo minds like swearing
2:57
POV when this reply section finds out religion exist: 🤯🤯🤯😱😵💫😵💫
I feel FEAR is like when you find a naked guy in Dark Souls' PVP.
You know the match is going to be a joke and you are the punch line
“The opposing Aron recovered a little HP thanks to its shell bell!”
_heals to full_
“A little”
I mean it is a little! Aron just has a little HP to begin with so lol
Makes sense, he's just a little guy
Well yeah 12
12 is a little HP, so they are not wrong
I'd like but it's at 666 lol
surprised at no mention of Scrappy Taillow being a better FEARer than Rattata due to actually hitting Ghosts, but I suppose by the time Gen 5 rolled around to give Taillow Scrappy, the novelty of FEAR had already been killed several times over.
Ground immunity gives it some extra potential to come in on a choiced ground move too
Taillow is pretty funny because it also gets U-Turn. Like, instead of going for the FEAR you just U-Turn out. Pretty funny when your opponent has a Skarmory and you have a Magnezone
A hell naw Terra is even here
Bro turned his taillow into a fearow
Dude
My first online game in gen 5 was against 5 scrappy tailow and a smeargle passing leech seeds
I used F.E.A.R. in its original form (Rattata) against Ultra Necrozma in UltraSun. So much fun, the music, the stage, the build-up to the great fight... And the giant apocalyptic Pokemon goes down to quick attack in second turn. Priceless.
That's why alola actually has rattatas because they deter ultra beasts.
I used a Zoroark lol. Ultra Necrozma’s AI isn’t able to handle it.
Fun Fact, in Pokémon XD Gale of Darkness, in one of the Battle CD's where you have to do certain challenges, there is a variation of this strategy where you have to beat a LV 100. Shuckle with a LV. 5 Rattata, this strategy has actually been officially acknowleadge since 2005.
Wasn't the moveset for that lvl 5 Rattata comprised of Super Fang, Toxic and Substitute? But otherwise yes I believe you are correct!
"The Rattata That Roared". #18, if I remember correctly.
Can a level 5 really prevail over a level 100?
@@ShadowOfCicero its #17 but otherwise this is correct
Those Battle CDs were full of niche scenarios like that. I believe there was also one where you needed to beat a Medicham by forcing it to miss High Jump Kick with Protect and another where you had to find a way to deal with Explosion and Selfdestruct a lot, can't recall much about that one but I think it also involved using Protect.
FEAR seems like "the oldest trick in the book" for competitive Pokemon
Pretty much
A more niche one is Scarf Excadrill
@@internetguy7319 People still switch Rotom into Scarf Excadrill to this day though because it's easy to forget what breaking the mold refers to lol.
Also includes them thinking the opponent is foolish and leaving the Rotom in.
nah that would be toxic stall
Man, I feel old if gen 1 tactics isn't part of the oldest trick in the book.
Hahah nah FEAR can die from any indirect damage
Losing to FEAR honestly was a rite of passage back in gen 4 and 5. I feel like most new to competitive Pokémon players fell for it, or saw a vid about it and used it themselves. I remember thinking it was so OP when I was a kid and first encountered it. FEAR might be the coolest and funniest shock factor set in competitive Pokemon history.
just like prankster copycat roar riolu
Fear or a gimmic team of all the same Pokémon line. You gotta try/lose to one of them at least once. Otherwise, have you really played the game?
I remember making a FEAR team that was actually able to beat multi-hit move users with endure custap berry destiny bond Frillish. The only multi-hit priority move that can go before custap berry is water shuriken, which Frillish is immune to with water absorb
That turned out to be way too specific of a situation so I switched it to Mimikyu who can actually switch into moves lol
Does it beat stealth rock?
@@alexbeauchamp8627 yup, since endure doesn't require you to be at full hp. But I also had other ways to handle it, such as magic guard Solosis or fake out Togedemaru, who only takes 1 damage from stealth rock and heals it with fake out + shell bell. Rapid spin Pineco is also vital to try and deny the hazards
What about hail/ sandstorm or even poison?
Awesome!
@@Potato_tomato47 you beat it for free with stealth rock up. Any attacking move beats it with entry hazards
This is like the hurdle that separates casuals and competent competitive players, any player who is at least familiar with competitive Pokémon can easily shut down FEAR, usually on turn one, but if you’re a casual with no attention to team building you’re getting rolled.
Hell, I'd say it's a good metric between good competitive players to accurately judge their team's general ability. If your carefully crafted anti-meta team can't deal with the rat, you overspecced.
@@lithoselsteinii6892aka if you don’t have rocks you overspecced
@@energeticgorilla Well, you also need a way to get the FEAR to hit the rocks, right? So either scaring it out or phasing.
@@lithoselsteinii6892 when they switch in? you never lead w fear. tons of teams run wisp rn regardless.
Just a note, Endeavor/Dark Void Lvl 1 Smeargle was used in the 2009 Seattle Regional finals
Still waiting on dark void to return to form after the nerf to smeargle.
Came here to post this, actually. FEARgle doesn't get enough respect
The first ever World Championships was won by a Smeargle team, that might have been the same set as well.
@@CyberKnightProbably dark void is not allowed to be good
Smeargle no longer able to learn nerf was a straight up malicious intent from Gamefreak after so many angry cries from competitive players.
I remember finding this on Showdown while I was on high school, and for some reason it still wasn't as terrifying as petilil
whats the deal with Petilil?
@@leeto64 similar strat, don't remember as it's been 10+ years, leech seed, focus sash, absorb, substitute, and it just drains you slowly every turn, while ending up being unlikable
You might be thinking of cottonee we since it has prankster
@@obi-wankenobean594 I think both did the same strategy. Cottonee is just better at it.
I mean petilil is pretty scary in smash lol
I was actually thinking about this recently. And I realized one of the most underrated Pokémon for this strat is actually Tailow. It gets endeavor and quick attack but also has scrappy so it can hit ghost types.
Yea but it got Scrappy in Gen 5, and the sand strat with Aron seemed way better. In gens 4, killing a legendary with a Rattata looked funnier than with a Taillow
Yoo black archeops
@@Squirtle_Squad_Supremacy
This is what people seem to forget these days: Rattata was the poster child for Garbagemons, Pokemon you box early in your playthrough because you have something better. Sure, it could become capable of more, and we know that now with more time for that to enter public view, but at the time, no Pokémon was quite as clear of an example of “crutch character”: the early Bugs were made deliberately weak, and so was Magikarp, but Rattata’s excuse was that it was “just a rat”, and it wasn’t even failed due to movepool, just to being low stats and kind of boring to a lot of people
So for one of the most underwhelming, underpowered, _unremarkable_ Pokémon of all time to be at the new lowest level possible of ONE, and yet somehow beat a box legendary?
It was the very embodiment of David vs Goliath. The Unloved one quickly gained a new reputation in the popular community, one of a scrappy defiance to insurmountable odds
Another weakness of fear was abilities like mold breaker that completely ignores sturdy
Can we all just pause for a moment and appreciate that Aron is one of the most adorable Pokemon ever?
It is also the most dense I think, being a foot tall and around 230 lbs. No one is picking up this good boy.
Nah, the densest is Cosmoem, who fits in your hand yet has a hilariously massive weight of a damn ton. Sleepy baby star is going to be hard to top.
Alot of gym guys can pick up 230lbs but it aint gonna be easy lmao especially with Aron being so small and awkward to hold
I love its adorable waddle when it gets hit by a move in Battle Revolution
1. Aron is adorable
2. Aggron is dope as hell looking
3. Hehe heh 69 likes lets goooooooo
@@ExeloMinish ah, right. Planetoid orb dethroned adorable steel dino.
in gen 5 there was that gamemode where you have 3 pokemon on a wheel that rotates, I remember aron being quite good there
Rotation battle?
@@danielotano8677yep
Oh wow, I forgot that was a thing.
Rotation Battles were fun. I miss them.
Rotation battles had crazy potential. I used to sweep with Shuckle in this format. Simply use power trick with Shuckle, rotate to trick room setter, then rotate back to Shuckle and commence the slaughter
Marriland vs. Untouchable is still one of my favorite competitive battles to watch, for a few reasons. It's incredibly dumb and the lore behind it is so nostalgic to me
Shout out to Aerovalkyrie's level 1 team beating Cynthia so early in BW that it wasn't even released overseas. It utilized some FEAR strategies even weirder than what put it on the map, like leech seed loops off of a baton passed substitute from level 1 girafarig, as well as sub-protect toxic stalling.
It was less than a month after it came out in *Japan!*
Glad this doubles as "How GOOD was Aron, ACTUALLY?"
F.E.A.R is the manifestation of 'every Pokémon can win any match, if you try hard enough'.
I used to challenge kids to 1v1 with their best pokemon for small amounts of money ($5,$10 etc] when I was in middle school using this strategy. I'll never forget my friends face when his level 100 palkia got beat by my ratatta lol
Man, 30 Cents used to be small amounts for me back then. 10€ made me feel rich.
fear is the great little timmy filter
teaching him that a team full of pokemon with only attacking moves is not gonna fly
I once ran across a fear user in Pokemon showdown but the fact that bullet punch scizor is like one of my favourite mons completely destroyed the opponent.
There’s several ways to have your Pokémon counter a fear ratatta.
1: literally any ghost type, even gastly or misdreavus will do.
2: have a Pokémon that can learn fake out, any will do.
3: a status effect like burn or poison to remove the effect of the sash, or get lucky with confusion.
4: actually know how it works.
5: multi-hit moves like icicle spear, pin missile, dragon darts or *population bomb* will suffice.
New players using Mewtwo and legendaries got swept by level 1s makes me feel hilarious and fun but also hopes that they don’t get desperate and quit Pokémon after that at the same time
Similar strats showcasing a level 10 Bunnelby beating a level 70 Mewtwo with Endeavour and Quick Attack is even on a video in the official Pokémon channel, about telling the fun of Pokémon battles to kids by beating them up with FEAR
tbf if i had to guess a lot of those "TOXIC SALTY LEGENDARY SPAMMER GETS DESTROYED BY LITTLE CUP TEAM(WITH FACTS AND LOGIC)" videos are either staged or done on the lowest of the lowest rungs of the showdown ladder
There's an official video showing off FEAR? What's the title?
I had fun with FEAR Taillow at the beginning of Gen 6 when Aegislash was legal and it was way more useful than it should've been. Opponents that knew about FEAR always switched to Aegislash because Ghosts are immune to Normal Attacks, like Endeavor... or so they thought. Apparently, I was the only guy that knew Taillow's Hidden Ability was Scrappy.
This is pretty much going to be “How Good was Rattata Actually”
My favorite strategy by far(meme-wise)
Most people probably won't mention this, but I really love the artwork you use for the thumbnails of these more 'left-field' videos. It does a great job of portraying the topic in question in a humourous and energetic fashion, and helps to differentiate these niche deep-dives from your Pokemon overviews. Plus, it just looks really cool. Just thought I'd throw that out there!
Good to know that the OG Marriland came up with such a legendary strat. Seriously, his walkthroughs were so good.
Fun fact, Barry talks about using a fear strategy with his staravia in the gen 4 games, and even uses a set of it during the journey
If I remember correctly, he mentions using double team, endeavor, and quick attack in tandem for free KOs
Iirc correctly outside Heartholm he says "I've discovered the ultimate strategy, never get hit and always hit your attacks"
I discovered this strat by accident on my first playthrough of Pearl back in 2011
I felt like I had destroyed the game
There is another FEAR mon that i sometimes encounter on showdown: Taillow. He gets access to scrappy, and is pretty much a rattata with more weaknesses.
Idk why but I adore aaron's little walking animation in battle revolution when he gets hit
He said the name Marriland and I fully got Ratatouille'd back to being a 6 year old child on the playground discussing the cool hip new Pokemon games for the cool hip new DS. FEAR Rattata was a mystical thing back then.
Funny enough I actually used a Ratata named Ratatouille when I used the FEAR strat back in the day, even if the Aron strat was deemed better
This actually happened me in a Ruby playthrough! I skipped one of the very early trainers, and I ran into him long after I had beaten the Champion. For absolute overkill, I switched to my Lv90 Swampert, and my heart sank as I saw the healthbar go down and down.
Kinda sad Cottonee and Whimsicott's level 1 Prankster Subseed shenanigans only got a brief mention, but I guess that's content for How Good Was Whimsicott Actually
Whimsicott is a sick support Pokemon. Prankster Tailwind alone is unique enough for it to preform a very unique role for the team
Fear is a perfect example of a skill check
The epiphany of team checks:
1) counters Landorus in any way
2) Balanced typings
3) Has guaranteed anti-FEAR
@Austrian American Atheist that is the requirement, either you have Landorus or something that counters him.
@Austrian American Atheist it’s the meta, so there’s nothing you can do unfortunately
@Austrian American Atheist yeah… or at least banned or something
I thought Swinub was good, because it was immune to Hail and Sandstorm.
Focus Sash, Ice Shard, Endeavor, Swinub
I feel like level 1 Clefable was one of the best users of this strategy. Magic Guard protects it from having the sash broken from rocks / sand etc while it has Stealth Rocks, Knock Off, Twave etc to support if the opponent tries to switch into a ghost or Leftovers Pokemon. With hail or sand support it could often guarantee a kill at best, setup hazards and paralyze something at worse. Best of all players would see a Clefable and switch to Heatran or something assuming they were level 100 as per usual only to get nailed for 99% by Endeavor which even at full health would be devastating.
Level 2 clefable you mean? Clefairy wasn't available at lv1
@@shawnli4746 Yeah probably lol. 5th gen was a while ago.
Who would win?
A pokemon able to take down level 100 legendaries in 1 turn?
Or a seed spittin boy?
As you said towards the end this kind of creativity helps you think up your own alternative strats. I'm a Grapploct fan and to have it be useful I use a focus sash and topsy turvy to turn the tables on stat boosters. It's pretty sweet although usually short lived
Kind of hoped there would've at least been a mention of the training disc in XD Gale of Darkness that pitched you, a lvl 1 Rattata against lvl 100 Aerodactyl. I think it was even called "Can a level 1 beat a level 100?" That was back in gen 3 already
I was introduced to FEAR through FEAron solo sweeping an entire opposing team, so he always holds a special place in my heart
I only vaguely heard of FEAR prior to this, so I learned quite a bit
I've tried to do a similar thing with Aggron. The set being Sturdy, Custap Berry, Metal Burst, Endeavor, probably Head Smash and some steel move. Man I love Aggron.
Thanks for this. Marriland's TH-cam presence was a huuuuuge part of why I loved (and still love) Gen 4 to this day - and some of my foremost formative "Internet memories". I still remember the Untouchable fight well to this day.
If you have a Greninja that knows water shuriken, especially if it has battle bond, you completely counter the fear strategy. You'll have a priority multi hit move that can give Greninja a free transformation.
I remember doing online on Black and White on Wifi Rotation, and that battle format allowed this infamous strategy to work even more.
Have a Sandstorm Pokemon enter and immediately rotate into Aron with Shell Bell for a one turn KO, for example.
Great video! Kinda surprised he didn't mention that multi-hit moves also destroy most of these strats - it's what I primarly used to deal with them.
Fear rattatta is one of the best cheese (punintended) strats ever
It’s funny watching people get absolutely destroyed by FEAR strats, but it’s arguably funnier to watch FEAR strats fail miserably
I remember hearing about FEAR in middle school and being like "no way a rattata can knock out any pokemon"
There are a thousand different ways to take out an enemy Pokémon, and FEAR is by far the funniest. Too bad it doesn’t work against anyone with a brain.
Great video. I'd love to see an updated remake of how good was Venusaur, actually, alla Charizard. The Bulbasaur line is some of my favorite starters.
You failed to mention that Level 1 Aron was an absolute annoyance in VGC. Sure it didn't win tournaments but it most certainly disrupted players.
That and Perish Trap teams.
perish trap is still a viable strategy used somewhat commonly in vgc today
I love these videos. They're such a fresh take on the "How Good Was ______ Actually" by examining strategies. Now I eagerly await one for Prankster, which IMO is the most OP ability in the game.
*gholdengo is typing*
@@matthewcass3773 "Hahaha why use Rapid Spin? We have Defog now haha get rekt entry hazards!" *Gholdengo stares motherfuckingly*
ahhhh, the noobkiller strat. Went wild at middle school lmao
Loved the pause at "And that tier was... DPP Little Cup 😐"
Multi hit moves and taunt:
The FEAR strat only works in noob battles. Stealth rock, sandstorm, etc would destroy these strats.
Fear actually stands for
F*cking
Evil
Annoying
Rodent
I remember watching Marriland's game where he used that strategy. My god that was 15+ years ago, how time flies.
Even if it's mostly useless, FEAR Aron helped me win Triple Battles in the Battle Maison
I reckon it must be the most useful it's ever been there
Surprised Smeargle didn't get mentioned since it could not only abuse this strat but also use it in conjunction with Spore and spikes.
this was good. i liked this one. putting aron's dpp lc stint in there at the end was a nice touch. i'm glad y'all care again.
I really liked the format of this video! Highlighting a strategy, then highlighting a Pokemon that used it in a competitive tier towards the end, whether they used that strategy in the tier or otherwise.
I love that pretty much the easiest way to beat this is just by switching
I know FEAR wasn't the best strategy, but it was powerful enough that you had to account for it when team building. And if you saw a little guy in team preview you had to make sure to save the right guys to handle it. Losing to FEAR was too embarrassing. So it did shape the meta even if you didn't see it terribly often.
If your team is completely without ghost, ground, rock, and steel types, has no priority, nothing with leftovers, and no multi hit moves, you probably didn’t build a good team in the first place. You had to actively avoid making counters for FEAR to lose to it or, more likely, be dumb enough to lose your counter to it before it came in, in which case it wasn’t FEAR you lost to, it was yourself.
@@Natibe_ You may be in some respect correct but I also think by the tone I'm getting that perhaps you should go outside.
I don't think you needed to account for FEAR when team building, it's just something that you end up countering by virtue of making a halfway viable team. Fake Out, leftovers, any multi hit move, changing the weather, status, etc all shut it down and were just an ordinary part of team building instead of something to be consciously aware of
@@AdaptiveReasoning I mean your original statement is just flat out wrong though. Not one of my teams was built with FEAR in mind and yet on the very rare occasions I run into it I beat it easily. Additionally, in serious play you don’t see it at all so even if you somehow had no way to beat it you would be fine. Natibe isn’t “in some aspect” correct, they’re completely correct and you’re trying to invalidate it with the “touch grass” argument as if it makes you right.
No. I was correct. They are also correct. You did have to think about FEAR when building a team, especially if you were new, it was possible to accidentally put the wrong six pokemon together and not realize it until you ran into the baby rock lizard, (especially in lower tiers). If you knew what you were doing (by nature of "getting good") you would probably have your bases covered. They are right in that respect.
They (and y'all) just have a tone problem and need some perspective. What I said isn't that big a deal. We're in the TH-cam comments, we're strangers, this is about a video game and a meta that I did dabble in at the time it was current. And I do remember when I would put stuff together that I did think about it a wee bit. That is all.
Go in peace, be at peace, this isn't something you get snippy about. Everything y'all said you could have said more politely and I wouldn't have said anything.
Nice mini double feature there. That said, one could say the FEAR strategy is the opposite of the Baton Pass strategy in terms of competitive usability & especially skill needed.
This is what I had hoped to get from this channel, love it. Would love one on prankster.
don't let this distract you from the fact that he finally pronounced reuniclus properly!
Happy aron gets its moment. What a cute little rock goober
My first experience was Aron in gen 5 wifi battles. I didnt even know about evs or nautures either at the time so you can imagine my dumbfoundry of what had happened to me.
I remember doing this when I played DP competitive online. Even used to upload and commentate my battles. The good old competitive Pokémon days
I wish you mentioned some level 100 Pokémon use focus sash endeavor priority too, like gen 4 lead Infernape and mamoswine (sometimes). Another is alot of Pokémon with sturdy using countercoat.
Ghost types laugh at this
Tallow says hi
At most of them yes!
However there is another!
SEAFT: Scrappy, Endovor, Focus Sash, Quick Attack, Tallow
@@frazzianimations9027 it's called SAFE
It's because of stuff like this why Stealth Rock, Spikes, Leech Seed, Toxic, Infestation, Sandstorm, and Hail all exist.
All hail the almighty passive damage.
I remember back in high school, I had a friend say there was no way my legitimate level one Rattata could defeat his level 100 Pokémon. I told him it was possible and I was willing to bet money on it. After a week, we brought our DS’s to our science class and EVERYONE was HYPED to watch the battle and everyone hurdled over to watch us, thinking I was going to get sweeped. I quickly won and got a $50 gift card, and it wasn’t until the battle ended that he said “Ohhhhhh I should’ve known you were gonna use that strategy” even though he said previously he couldn’t think of how I could win without cheats. Good times.
Ah yes, the FEAR tactic. AKA: "I'll stop cheating as soon as you stop spamming minmaxed legendaries."
The temp specail
I recall thinking of this idea by accident late in Gen 5 as a kid, when I had this thought of packing endeavor on a Pokémon and finding a good priority move as a cheap KO, of course I never thought to choose a LV1 Pokémon because I thought every mon allowed in PWT/battle subway was set to LV50, but I didn’t think it would be a real competitive strategy at the time.
and it never was an real competitive strategy xd
Aron has a a special place in my heart. it was easily 10 years ago when it happened but I used to go to pokemon league for the TCG but I also brought my DS sometimes to battle people. I absolutely wrecked the floor with some kid using that Aron strategy then traded him that little monster, I have no idea what he did with it since then, lol
i got stomped by FEAR the first time i played an online battle in Diamond and that got me into competitive battling. great video!
Honestly the main use I had for this was using it to get Pokémon down to 1 hp so I could catch them easier in game.
false swipe is much better for that purpose
You were burning a focus sash to catch wild pokemon? I could see sturdy strats but why not just false swipe?
@@dengar96 in scarlet and violet you don't lose your focus sash after the battle
Now imagine if dugtrio had endeavor and extreme speed with nothing added to defenses or hp and a focus sash
All u need to beat this is one of the following.
- priority
- multi-hits
- stealth rocks
- spikes
- a ghost type
- trick room
- lagging tail
- tera ghost
- leftovers
- encore
- tricking a choice item
- flinches
- Roar/whirlwind
- mold breaker/ magic room
- rocky helmet
- spiky shield
- burn
- toxic
- a lucky paralyze
- trap move (whirlpool magma storm)
- substitute
it ur team is decent u probably have at minimum 1-2 of these.
I’m a doubles player mainly but interestingly enough there’s a few sets running around with sash endeavor in the VGC metagame as well. They’ve fallen off a but recently but back in series 1 Lycanroc and Salazzle both sometimes used it as an answer for Dondozo
Literally knew what this was the second I saw Ratata. So many viable counters, but nothing beats the feeling of pulling this off on someone. “60% of the time, it works every time.”
The classic Endeavor / Pain Split + Sturdy / Focus Sash + Shell Bell + Quick Attack strategy that I never properly knew how to use it
So proud to discover the FEAR strat back in 2008 with my old af Sony Ericsson phone from the same Marriland video against the Empoleon.
It's always fun to see that the "Most replayed" part of most videos these days is the end of the ad read.
god..... i first started watching competitive pokemon in gen 4, and marrilands silly gimmick vids were such a delight to me, so i remember FEAR vividly.
the only time i tried to use fear was on a gen5 hail team with solosis, most of the time it didn't get to set up or if it did it would get ruined by pursuit or priority, it did work once though where i faced a team with no opposing weather and saved it until the late game, was pretty funny that one time but probably never again, great video :)
I remember seeing videos of this strat so many years ago. Probably my first exposure to competitive Pokemon
as someone who never really was involved in competitive pokemon, when i learned about FEAR it was one of the first time i really realized how strategic pokemon could actually be. as a kid who never used setup moves and rarely used items, i had never seen what the appeal would be of competitive pokemon, so FEAR and whatever that one shuckle strategy was definitely opened my eyes!!
14:15 The way croagunk danced/waddled its way across the field. Ha!
FEAR is every newcomer’s of rite of passage into the deeper nuances of Pokémon, competitive or otherwise.
In some draft leagues, I have encountered FEAR Infernape. They are level 50 and set up Rocks, then use Endevor and Mach Punch (if they didn’t die)
FEAR is like a fool's mate in chess.
Never used seriously, used to teach new players always to look ahead/for the gimmick