History WebVideo / FalseSwipeGaming

* TheRemake: False Swipe Gaming has done eight remakes of Pokémon videos including Dragonite, Scizor, Skarmory, Tauros, Chansey and it's evolution Blissey, Charizard, Heracross, and Starmie. These were done due to the channel's increased production value compared to their earlier videos. For example, in the case of Chansey/Blissey, their original video was barely 10 minutes long compared to their remake clocking in at a ''whopping 67 minutes.'' In Charizard's case it's even more extreme, going from a 6-minute video to almost as long as the Chansey/Blissey video.

** Also of note is Landorus, who, to date, has ''the longest'' video on the channel, at a full ''75 minutes.'' The writer, Zane, even goes on a rant about Landorus as the section for Landorus' VGC performances in Gen 5 starts, to the point where Kellen gets a bit [[JustForPun intimidated]] by it and considers putting it off, only for Zane to cut in:

* HalloweenEpisode: False Swipe Gaming has done three of these where they analyze the viability of spooky looking Ghost-type Pokémon on the actual date. Specifically, they analyzed Misdreavus and it's evolution Mismagius in 2018, Haunter in 2020, and Gastly in 2021. Though not on the exact date, 2022 had an episode based on Cofagrigus and Runerigus, which seems to follow the format, including using the special background reserved for Halloween episodes.

* KryptoniteIsEverywhere: In a number of cases, Pokémon would end up being incapable of competing in higher tiers not through any fault of their own, but because Pokémon that were especially good at countering them just happened to be extremely popular in that tier.

** Dragonite wasn't used in Gen 3 OU because Salamence had the exact same typing, was faster, and had higher offensive stats, making Salamence the better option.

* BaitAndSwitch: The Dunsparce video is initially built up as a video about Mewtwo, with all the fear and hype it deserves...until Kellen gets interrupted at the last second, being told he has to cover [[JokeCharacter Dunsparce]] instead. He spends the whole video being annoyed at that.

** Whenever Game Freak ''tries'' to create a DifficultButAwesome Pokémon, they tend to go overboard on the "difficult" part, and end up rendering the final result useless, as shown in the Slaking and Regigigas episodes, both of which frame their subject Pokémon as {{Joke Character}}s.

* SpecialGuest: A few narrators have taken over Kellen in narrating a few of the channel's videos. These include Vish (a competitive ''Franchise/SuperSmashBros'' narrator), Joey "pokeaimMD", and BKC.

* CripplingOverspecialization: Electrode had the highest Speed of any Pokémon until Ninjask was created, and remains one of the fastest to this day, but at the cost of mediocre offenses, even worse defenses, and absolutely miserable type coverage. At times this has helped it, such as in Gen 4, when it ended up being indispensable support for Rain Dance teams in UU. Less so at other times, such as Gen 5, where it saw very little usage even down in NU since the likes of Zebstrika and Electabuzz were much better offensively and were themselves already faster than pretty much anything worth outspeeding in the tier, rendering Electrode's higher Speed pointless.
** Even then, though, Electrode's niche in Gen 4 was noteworthy enough that it got a mention in a video titled the "The Deoxys Theorem".

* AchievementsInIgnorance: Canonically dumb-as-bricks Quagsire is a lame Pokémon on paper, and relegated to the lower tiers. But its breakdown characterizes it as not having the mental capacity to care about tiers, competition, or things seen as impossible. It's seen play in just about every tier in most generations, and boasts feats like checking Kyogre in Ubers or countering Speed Boost Blaziken.
-->'''Kellen''': It sort of seems like Quagsire just goes where he wants and then the meta has to deal with him one way or another.
** Eventually, a video around a theorem of Pokemon with low stats who ended up being competent in higher tiers was released, named (what else?) the "Quagsire Theorem", which made mention of some of Quagsire's more recent successes to boot, including being arguably the best answer to Sword/Shield ''Zacian-Crowned'', who was listed (alongside its "Hero of Many Battles" form) as #1 on the "Most Broken Pokemon of all Time" list[[note]]though not the overall [[{{Pun}} top dog]], though, as RBY Mewtwo took a "#0" slot in the same video, outranking even Zacian[[/note]].

* AwesomeButImpractical: The "Rampardos Theorem" that is frequently discussed is a demonstration of this trope, as many Pokemon are described as having monstrous, unstoppable power on paper, but in practice range from [[DownplayedTrope merely average]] (such as Porygon-Z or Xurkitree) or downright useless (such as Slaking or the titular Rampardos) for one reason or another.
** Not even the Ubers Tier are immune to this effect; Reshiram boasts the unresisted[[note]]At least until the Fairy Type was introduced[[/note]] STAB combo of Dragon/Fire, and can 2-hit KO just about anything in Gen 5. However, its inability to switch in safely, vulnerability to entry hazards, and middling speed (which only got worse over the generations) rendered it impractical to use. And when Kyurem-White was released and did everything Reshiram did but better, Reshiram was rendered unviable.

*** This happened to an even greater extent to Ambipom, who suffered this fate in multiple generations.
* {{Catchphrase}}: Before going over a Pokémon's history in competitive play, the narrator will ask, "How good was [name of the the Pokémon] actually?"

* DifficultButAwesome: The video on Linoone mentions that performing a Belly Drum sweep with Linoone was usually extremely difficult, but worth the effort if successfully pulled off.

* TheDreaded: The beginning of the Mewtwo video is framed like this, with Kellen trying to push it out of his mind and ignore it while it slowly finds holes in his mental defenses, frightening in its inevitable arrival...until it just [[StatingTheSimpleSolution wins the comment votes]], so he had to talk about it. And talk he did...[[note]]Fun Fact: the Mewtwo video was the longest ''Pokémon'' video on the channel until the Dragonite remake video nearly 2 years later.[[/note]]

* HalloweenEpisode: False Swipe Gaming has done three of these where they analyze the viability of spooky looking Ghost-type Pokémon on the actual date. Specifically, they analyzed Misdreavus and it's evolution Mismagius in 2018, Haunter in 2020, and Gastly in 2021.
** Though not on the exact date, 2022 had an episode based on Cofagrigus and Runerigus, which seems to follow the format, including using the special background reserved for Halloween episodes.

*** As a lesser example, Murkrow tends to appear in the VGC format considerably more than Honchkrow, though in this case, it's more due to the Prankster ability giving it a few unique tricks than Honchkrow being outright worse.

** While Golem's video makes it a point of how it normally always been outclassed by Rhydon and been pushed into lower tiers by it, it managed to reverse it briefly in Gen 2, thanks to being the only fully-evolved Pokémon in the game that could learn the combination of Rapid Spin, Explosion, and Roar, on top of being a Rock type with very high Defense. When Gen 2's meta heavily relied on Spikes removal, Explosion to punch holes in the opposing teams in a meta that severely lacked strong offense, phazing to rack up Spikes damage and remove Curse boosts, and a Normal resistance in a meta ruled by Snorlax, Golem became an OU staple in Gen 2, whereas Rhydon, while still ranked OU, was a more niche pick in comparison with its lack of Rapid Spin and Explosion.
*** The same video also noted that Alolan Golem, while ordinarily a PU-Tier Pokémon, would sometimes be used by players in OU-Tier matches to trap and defeat Steel-type Pokémon that Magnezone - the Pokémon normally known for handling that job - can sometimes have trouble with, including the likes of Heatran and Magearna.

** Also of note is Landorus, who, to date, has ''the longest'' video on the channel, at a full ''75 minutes.'' The writer, Zane, even goes on a rant about Landorus as the section for Landorus' VGC performances in Gen 5 starts, to the point where Kellen gets a bit [[{{Pun}} intimidated]] by it and considers putting it off, only for Zane to cut in:

** Eventually, a video around a theorem of Pokemon with low stats who ended up being competent in higher tiers was released, named (what else?) the "Quagsire Theorem", which made mention of some of Quagsire's more recent successes to boot, including being arguably the best answer to Sword/Shield ''Zacian-Crowned'', who was listed (alongside its "Hero of Many Battles" form) as #1 on the "Most Broken Pokemon of all Time" list[[note]]though not the overall [[{{Pun}} top dog]], though, as RBY Mewtwo took a "#0" slot in the same video, outranking even Zacian[[/note]]

** Very recently came a video on The "Bastiodon Theorem", which is the polar flipside of the "Rampardos Theorem" (and rather fittingly, is named for the other of the Gen 4 fossils), where defensive Pokémon with nice defensive qualities are held back by crippling traits, and in practice range from downright useless (such as Wigglytuff, whose high HP is let down by poor defenses and a bad defensive typing and the inability to do damage, the titular Bastiodon, whose stellar defenses are let down by a horrible defensive typing and inability to do damage, and Avalugg, whose stellar defense, good HP and access to Recover are ruined due to its pure Ice-typing), to niche due to traits unrelated to their defenses (Such as Shuckle, who would otherwise be an even purer version of the "Bastiodon Theorem" than Bastiodon itself, but its access to Sticky Web in Gen 6 gave it a clear niche as a suicide lead).

** Very recently came a video on The "Bastiodon Theorem", which is the polar flipside of the "Rampardos Theorem" (and rather fittingly, is named for the other of the Gen 4 fossils), where defensive Pokémon with nice defensive qualities are held back by crippling traits, and in practice range from downright useless (such as Wigglytuff, whose high HP is let down by poor defenses and a bad defensive typing, the titular Bastiodon, whose stellar defenses are let down by poor HP and a horrible defensive typing, and Avalugg, whose stellar defense, good HP and access to Recover are ruined due to its pure Ice-typing), to niche due to traits unrelated to their defenses (Such as Shuckle, who would otherwise be an even purer version of the "Bastiodon Theorem" than Bastiodon itself, but its access to Sticky Web in Gen 6 gave it a clear niche as a suicide lead).

** Very recently came a video on The "Bastiodon Theorem", which is the polar flipside of the "Rampardos Theorem" (and rather fittingly, is named for the other of the Gen 4 fossils), where defensive Pokémon with nice defensive qualities are held back by crippling traits, and in practice range from downright useless (such as Wigglytuff, whose high HP is let down by poor defenses and a bad defensive typing, the titular Bastiodon, whose stellar defenses are let down by poor HP and a horrible defensive typing, and Avalugg, whose stellar defense, good hp and access to Recover are ruined due to its pure Ice-typing), to niche due to traits unrelated to their defenses (Such as Shuckle, who would otherwise be an even purer version of the "Bastiodon Theorem" than Bastiodon itself, but its access to Sticky Web in Gen 6 gave it a clear niche as a suicide lead).

--->'''Zane''': I've been writing for this channel for over six years at this point, and I don't think there's a single Pokémon whose name I've had to type out more than ''this thing here''. In fact, here's a little bit of first-hand evidence. My False Swipe folder in Google Docs has over a hundred documents. This is all of my notes, ramblings, research and the scripts for almost everything I have ever written for this channel (give or take a little bit of file mismanagement). I opened every single doc I have ever written, and merged them into one huge giga document. Then I searched for Landorus, or "Lando", or "Landie" or whatever. I ended up with ''313'' instances of this thing's name showing up. For comparison, I searched "Pika", and even with two entire videos dedicated to Pikachu's viability in ''two separate franchises,'' that only clocked in at 306 appearances. Oh, and that's without this script. This is by far the most research I have ever compiled on one Pokémon in the channel's history. You thought our new Charizard video was long? Yeah, that only had 120 links in the research. I took notes on ''331'' different links for this single video. My notes are a separate doc that is 76 pages, ''for just VGC.'' For years I have dreaded this day, but it is finally here, so I hope you have a glass of water ready, Kellen, because this one's gonna do a number on your voice. The reckoning is here.\\

--->'''Zane''': I've been writing for this channel for over six years at this point, and I don't think there's a single Pokémon whose name I've had to type out more than ''this thing here''. In fact, here's a little bit of first-hand evidence. My False Swipe folder in Google Docs has over a hundred documents. This is all of my notes, ramblings, research and the scripts for almost everything I have ever written for this channel (give or take a little bit of file mismanagement). I opened every single doc I have ever written, and merged them into one huge giga document. Then I searched for Landorus, or "Lando", or "Landie" or whatever. I ended up with ''313'' instances of this thing's name showing up. For comparison, I searched "Pika", and even with two separate videos dedicated to Pikachu's viability in ''two separate franchises,'' that only clocked in at 306 appearances. Oh, and that's without this script. This is by far the most research I have ever compiled on one Pokémon in the channel's history. You thought our new Charizard video was long? Yeah, that only had 120 links in the research. I took notes on ''331'' different links for this single video. My notes are a separate doc that is 76 pages, ''for just VGC.'' For years I have dreaded this day, but it is finally here, so I hope you have a glass of water ready, Kellen, because this one's gonna do a number on your voice. The reckoning is here.\\

--->'''Zane''': I've been writing for this channel for over six years at this point, and I don't think there's a single Pokémon whose name I've had to type out more than ''this thing here''. In fact, here's a little bit of first-hand evidence. My False Swipe folder in Google Docs has over a hundred documents. This is all of my notes, ramblings, research and the scripts for almost everything I have ever written for this channel (give or take a little bit of file mismanagement. I opened every single doc I have ever written, and merged them into one huge giga document. Then I searched for Landorus, or "Lando", or "Landie" or whatever. I ended up with ''313'' instances of this thing's name showing up. For comparison, I searched "Pika", and even with two separate videos dedicated to Pikachu's viability in ''two separate franchises,'' that only clocked in at 306 appearances. Oh, and that's without this script. This is by far the most research I have ever compiled on one Pokémon in the channel's history. You thought our new Charizard video was long? Yeah, that only had 120 links in the research. I took notes on ''331'' different links for this single video. My notes are a separate doc that is 76 pages, ''for just VGC.'' For years I have dreaded this day, but it is finally here, so I hope you have a glass of water ready, Kellen, because this one's gonna do a number on your voice. The reckoning is here.\\

''[[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDGbmCxt2CEZAsDh1CiWXsQ/feed False Swipe Gaming]]'' is a Website/YouTube channel that analyzes video game characters and how well they performed in competitive play. Narrated by the creator Kellen, the videos discuss a character's performance in ''multiple'' games, not just one. The channel primarily focuses on ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' and their history in ''Website/Smogon'' and sometimes VGC, but some ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' videos have also been produced. The channel uploads at least one video a week.

''[[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDGbmCxt2CEZAsDh1CiWXsQ/feed False Swipe Gaming]]'' is a Website/YouTube channel that analyzes video game characters and how well they performed in competitive play. Narrated by the creator Kellen, the videos discuss a character's performance in ''multiple'' games, not just one. The channel primarily focuses on ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', but some ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' videos have also been produced. The channel uploads at least one video every Sunday.

** Not even the Ubers Tier are immune to this effect; Reshiram boasts the unresisted[[note]]At least until the Fairy Type was introduced[[/note]] STAB combo of Dragon/Fire, and can 2-hit KO just about anything in Gen 5. However, its inability to switch in safely, vulnerability to entry hazards, and low speed rendered it impractical to use. And when Kyurem-White was released and did everything Reshiram did but better, Reshiram was rendered unviable.

** While Golem's video makes it a point of how it normally always been outclassed by Rhydon and been pushed into lower tiers by it, it managed to reverse it briefly in Gen 2, thanks to being the only fully-evolved Pokémon in the game that could learn the combination of Rapid Spin, Explosion, and Roar, on top of being a Rock type with very high Defense. When Gen 2's meta heavily relied on Spikes removal, Explosion to punch holes in the opposing teams in a meta that severely lacked strong offense, phazing to rack up Spikes damage and remove Curse boosts, and a Normal resistance in a meta ruled by Snorlax, Golem became an OU staple in Gen 2, whereas Rhydon, while still ranked OU, was a more niche pick in comparison.