How to use Smogon Rules(and a question about tiers)?

[Supreme Leader Palpitoad]

I have been thinking and I wonder, where do you use the Smogon rules when playing competitively in X and Y. All these banned mons, and the sleep clause and all that stuff. In Free Battles at Battle Spot I have seen people with Mewtwo and such and Mewtwo is banned. So where do you use those rules?

Then the tiers, what is the point about them? Is it just a ranking system or is it something more?

 

[TerraTF]

The tiers are a ranking system ranking usage. There are two banning tiers, Ubers and BL. Ubers is the banlist for Pokemon, Moves, and items that cause Hax or are just overpowered. BL is the banlist for UU.

I tend to use Smogon tiers every time I battle. I don't really use Free Battle because its stupid people who mostly don't know anything about competitive battling.

 

[Supreme Leader Palpitoad]

The tiers are a ranking system ranking usage. There are two banning tiers, Ubers and BL. Ubers is the banlist for Pokemon, Moves, and items that cause Hax or are just overpowered. BL is the banlist for UU.

I tend to use Smogon tiers every time I battle. I don't really use Free Battle because its stupid people who mostly don't know anything about competitive battling.

Should I use Ranking Battles instead?

 

[TerraTF]

The tiers are a ranking system ranking usage. There are two banning tiers, Ubers and BL. Ubers is the banlist for Pokemon, Moves, and items that cause Hax or are just overpowered. BL is the banlist for UU.

I tend to use Smogon tiers every time I battle. I don't really use Free Battle because its stupid people who mostly don't know anything about competitive battling.

Should I use Ranking Battles instead?

Ranking Battle follow Nintendo's rule set

 

[Apawn:p]

The tiers are a ranking system ranking usage. There are two banning tiers, Ubers and BL. Ubers is the banlist for Pokemon, Moves, and items that cause Hax or are just overpowered. BL is the banlist for UU.

I tend to use Smogon tiers every time I battle. I don't really use Free Battle because its stupid people who mostly don't know anything about competitive battling.

Should I use Ranking Battles instead?

It's the best random online battle you can get, so in a way, yes.

 

[Master Mew]

You can also set something like"6v6 Smogon OU" as your status message and hook up with challengers over PSS. It doesn't guarantee that your opponent will run a Smogon-compliant team, but it attracts more Smogon-based challengers and deters non-Smogon challengers (who generally don't follow Smogon rules because they don't like them, and probably won't want to battle you if you're up front about the ruleset you're playing under).

This works best for me. Alternatively, you can play ranked Battle Spot and just learn to love Nintendo's metagame, which isn't quite as bad as it's made out to be.

 

[UB-01 Kenobi]

Adding to what Terra said, BL2 is also a banlist between RU and UU. You can play Smogon matches on Pokémon Showdown!, Pokémon Online, and other simulators, by coordinating battles with other people online, and by setting your status message on the PSS like Master Mew said. Note that while this will attract Smogon players, it will also attract trolls who challenge you with Moody Pokémon, Ubers, etc. Usually you will still win these battles as the people who run those teams tend to be terrible at actually playing the game.

 

[Alexey]

Just confirming what GB wrote about those Uber-wielding people
I once accepted a random passerby challenge, having my box of lv 50 - 60 Pokemon
I was up against 6 Uber legendaries lv 100 (yeah, I didn't check the settings beforehand, silly me)
I still KOed three pokemon that chick had