Guidelines for an effective overview (more for checkers, but obviously writers can read this too)

Lemonade

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Technically speaking, they aren't new:

* Generalize what the Pokemon does in the metagame and as a whole and why you should or shouldn't consider using it on your teams.

We just want to encourage everyone to follow this more tightly. Here are some basic guidelines.

Start the overview with the "big picture". Usually this means the Pokemon's main or best role. In a way, this is easier to understand, since it captures how to use the Pokemon. The reader doesn't have to try to figure out why the Pokemon's typing matters, or why some particular move is a huge deal. It also more useful to the reader: they are probably at this analysis because they want to use this Pokemon on their team (so they should find out what it can do), or because they are looking for one Pokemon out of many to put on their stall / balance / offensive team. Take the following:

* [Sableye is] useful on stall teams for its entry hazard control and ability to shut down more passive Pokemon.

Entry hazard control and beating passive Pokemon don't really require details to understand. The reader immediately gets a sense of what Sableye can do and how it can fit onto their team. Following this, details about Sableye's traits explain how Sableye does these things.

While talking about the stats, typing, ability, movepool, etc. first may help you as a writer organize your thoughts, it sort of leaves the reader hanging because they don't necessarily know where you're going. For example, a good typing can mean different things depending on the stats, ability, and movepool. So here's what a decent overview ordering might look like (not meant to call out anyone who worked on Sableye, it just illustrates most of what I want to talk about well).

* Sableye is great on defensive teams since it can check huge offensive threats such as _, shut down passive Pokemon such as _, and has entry hazard control.
* Solid 50 / 125 / 115 bulk and a Dark / Ghost typing mean it can deal with common attackers such as Mega Alakazam, and have some capacity for spinblocking.
* Magic Bounce lets Sableye deflect entry hazards and other status moves, completely neutering Pokemon like Ferrothorn.
* [cons still go here]

The overview starts with the big idea, so a relatively inexperienced reader can immediately get an idea if Sableye is right for their team. If not, they don't have to read through information that is irrelevant to them. If so, they can get into the details and continue to the body. (Obviously we don't know exactly what kind of people read analyses, but I think my assumptions are fair).

QC (and Writers)

You all are the ones who know about the specific Pokemon, so you're suited to identifying the big idea(s) and ordering them logically. Often times everything is there, it's just a matter of moving things around and emphasizing the important bits. If not, prompt the writer a little to see if they can figure it out themselves, to help them improve.

In a similar vein, look out for information that can be found on the analysis page. Ask the writer to include why that information matters (e.g. why does a x / y typing matter for this Pokemon?), as a way to guide them to become a better writer.

As always, mentioning specific examples is very helpful if they are common.

GP Checkers

As always, GPers should look at fitting the sentences together nicely and finding an ordering like above (big idea -> details).

But since GPers can provide an outside perspective, I encourage you to look out for the big idea. Most of the time it's just seeing if the overview explicitly talks about the role of the Pokemon. The overview guideline is good to keep in mind. Tag a QC member, ask in Discord, etc. if you can't tell.

I will address this specifically for GPers soon.
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Hopefully this doesn't add too much work since it's concentrated to one short section of the analysis. I plan to take a close look at usage tips soon (what I consider the other most important part of an analysis), so if you have any suggestions for that or questions in general leave them below!
 

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