The Dark Horse Project (RU Edition)

[col49]

Approved by Dittocrow; Credit to Birkal for the concept and OP

Awesome artwork by ToxicPhox
Led by col49 and Molk

Preface:

Welcome to the Dark Horse Project RU Edition! Rarelyused has always been one of the more diverse metagames, with numerous play-styles being not only viable, but effective as well. Not only are there a rich assortment of Pokemon to choose from in the immediate tier, but in NU as well, with more and more Pokemon from the Neverused tier proving themselves viable in the RU metagame all the time. However, as with any tier there remain certain Pokemon that are used more than others, leading to many Pokemon being ignored and under-appreciated. This project seeks to acknowledge these Pokemon, exploring their potential and uses to the fullest against the "standards" of the ladder.​

The Mission:

As stated prior, the basic goal of the Dark Horse Project is to discover and explore the niches and uses of less common Pokemon in the Rarelyused metagame. Users will have the chance to pick from an assortment of less common Pokemon and taking to the ladder, and in doing so attempting to establish or re-affirm their Pokemon's place in the metagame. Throughout their experience users are encouraged to share their experiences with their Pokemon of choice as well as the challenge as a whole, helping their fellow users to succeed and giving their thoughts on the project. In doing so we hope to spark diversity in the RU ladder, reinvigorating the creative and unique teams that we know Rarelyused is capable of offering!​

Rules:

• Each team must use at least ONE Dark Horse Pokemon. The term "Dark Horse Pokemon" is defined by February's usage stats. Anything below 4% usage is fair game. This means that a Pokemon can be tiered in NU and still be viable for this project!

• In this challenge, certain Pokemon have been omitted from the list of eligible Dark Horse Pokemon. Though these Pokemon do qualify as Dark Horses as per the usage cut-off, they have been deemed unfit for the challenge for one reason or another by the leaders of the project. The list of these Pokemon can be found below:

Dark Horse Banlist

• Glaceon
• Jynx
• Poliwrath
• Rotom-F
• Rhydon

• Only one Pokemon on your team has to be a Dark Horse Pokemon. The rest of your teammates can be found within any tier that is allowed within RU.

• The recommended number of Dark Horse Pokemon to register with is one, so that the user can focus specifically on that Pokemon and how to best build a team around it. Having more than one Dark Horse is perfectly fine of course, but please indicate that you are working with more than one.

• You MUST use a new Pokemon Showdown! username in order to restart your ladder ranking. Furthermore, the Dark Horse Pokemon that you are working with must remain on your team throughout your ladder run. The members of your team may shift around whenever you see fit, but the Dark Horse Pokemon must remain the same.

• Switching your focused Dark Horse Pokemon within this topic is acceptable. However, you must restart on the ladder with a new Pokemon Showdown! username.

• Please put all changes within your Registration Form. I will update based on those forms, not individual posts randomly scattered throughout the topic.

• Do not start laddering for this project until you have registered within this topic.

• Please follow the rules. The Dark Horse Project isn't about being dishonest, it's about developing great teams for great Pokemon! As a result, cheaters will most likely end up being banned from the Hall of Fame. You know something is serious when there's a rule about abiding by the rules!

• It is recommended that you post consistent ladder updates within your registration form. This will allow other users to see your progress and offer meaningful advice!

Registration:

You are eligible to register for the Dark Horse Project at any time of the month! The third post in this topic contains an index for easy access to all participants, so don't worry about your Registration Form getting lost in the sea of discussion. Get started by filling out the below form:

Pokemon Showdown! Username:
Hall of Fame Standing:
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With:
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:

Remember, your "Pokemon Showdown! Username" should be new so that your Dark Horse Pokemon will be starting from scratch. Your "Hall of Fame Standing" should be empty for right now. But once you're admitted into the Hall of Fame, feel free to update this part with links to your accomplishment!

Feel free to utilize Pokemon sprites to add visualization to your registration posts. Really anything can go here. If you've made posts elsewhere or even a RMT, feel free to link to it there. Here's an example of what a registration post might look like:

Registration Post Example

Pokemon Showdown! Username: larvesta n_n
Hall of Fame Standing: None as of yet!
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Larvesta
Current Ladder Standing: 1853 ± 81

Here's the current Larvesta set I'm working with:

Larvesta @ Eviolite
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 248 HP / 48 Atk / 212 Def
Impish Nature (+Def, -SpA)
- Flare Blitz
- U-Turn
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp

Once you've registered, you're all set to go! You can start teambuilding and laddering whenever you like. Feel free to update your registration posts whenever you like, whether it be with ladder ranking updates, your teammate selections, battle logs, sprites, or whatever you wish to do!


Discussion:

This topic also serves a second purpose to initiate discussion on battlers' teambuilding and laddering progress; in this thread, you share your struggles and success, and reflect upon the Dark Horse Pokemon's niche in the current NU metagame. This thread is not only a place to show off successful challenges, but also a place to help each other achieve their goals via posting your problems and receiving quality input from others. Challengers should not hesitate to post their teams and/or team ideas to receive help from the community. You are allowed to post your thoughts and opinions. However, here is a "Do and Do Not" list that posters in this topic must adhere to:

• Do post and share sets for your Dark Horse Pokemon.
• Do provide teammates that you're using, with optional sets.
• Do pinpoint which threats in the metagame need to be covered.
• Do ask questions about the current RU metagame and teambuilding.
• Do give meaningful answers to asked questions. This can include suggested sets, teammates, and strategies.

• Do not post insignificant updates. Each post should be well thought and unique.
• Do not ask someone to make the team for you. Team building is YOUR job (and a fun one at that).

Hall Of Fame:

Now comes the competitive aspect of this project. Once you've reached a ranking within the Top 50 on Smogon's competitive RU ladder (with a minimum Glicko2 rating of 1850 and deviation of 75) with your Dark Horse Pokemon, you are eligible to enter the Hall of Fame! The Hall of Fame is located within the post below the OP and recognizes each user that has entered its halls. Moreover, the user that achieves the highest ranking on the ladder during this challenge will receive voice on #rarelyused! Once you've reached the Top 50, please fill out the following Hall of Fame Registration Form:

Pokemon Showdown! Username:
Dark Horse Pokemon:
Screenshot of Top 50 Ladder Ranking:
Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:

As with the regular Registration Form, you are encouraged to upload battle logs, teammates, and other relevant information. Since you're entering the Hall of Fame with a successful team, many users would love to hear some wisdom on how you accomplished that goal. So feel free to post a summary of your team (similar to a RMT), battle logs, and general thoughts. Once you've filled out this form, you'll be accepted into the Hall of Fame, which will link to your Hall of Fame Registration Form and other relevant links.


Now, there is one final catch to this project. You see, only one of each Dark Horse Pokemon is allowed into the Hall of Fame per month. For example, only the challenger who laddered highest with Scollipede will be accepted this month; Scollipede challengers with lower ladder ratings cannot enter the Hall of Fame until they pass the highest rating for Scollipede. That's where the competitive edge comes into play. You are racing against other users for a place in the Hall of Fame! Furthermore, the Hall of Fame ranking is based off of peak ladder ranking points, meaning the more points you score, the higher you'll be placed. So now that you know the rules, get registered and start team building! Best of luck. If you have any questions, send me a PM or VM, or contact Molk and we'll do everything in our power to provide a response in a timely fashion. Best of luck to all, and I hope to see you in the Hall of Fame!


Hall of Fame Archive (1):

HoF Archive

GOD / Grandmaster: >2050+Top 3

Platinum Class: 2000-2050+Top 10

Gold Class: 1999-1950+Top 20

Silver Class: 1949-1900+Top 40

Bronze Class: 1899-1850+Top 50
speed ghilliesniper -

Swellow
Peaked at: 1860 (#50) on 3 / 07 / 13

 

[col49]

Credit goes to the incredible Karite-Kita-Neko for the cute image ^_^

Preface:

Welcome to the "Learning and Discussion" section of the Dark Horse Project! I am very excited for what's going to take place here, which will mainly be to catalog any meaningful tidbits of advice for public use. This is something new that we'll be working on as a team. As a result, this is currently under construction. However, I've devised a list of questions that you can feel free to answer at any point. Remember, it's not just the answers to these questions that will get posted here; any meaningful advice that you give also has a shot of making it here. I hope this resource can be insightful and meaningful for anyone who's looking to improve their skills with Dark Horse Pokemon. To offer some incentive to contribute, the best discusser, like the most successful ladderer, will also be rewarded will voice on #rarelyused, so everybody do your best to offer incite ^_^

If you ever see a tidbit or piece of advice that you deem as valuable and would like to see posted here, I'll consider it if you send me a PM with the necessary information. I'll also take questions that you'd like to see answered if you're willing to provide them and add them to the below list. Thanks for your help!

Since Molk is enabling my laziness, I'll pretend like I'm doing things by focusing my efforts on maintaing this thread to the best of my abilities =)

Questions:

How did you choose your Dark Horse Pokemon for this project? What lead you to choose the Pokemon you did? Did you have regrets or were you happy with your selection?


How did you go about building a team for your Dark Horse Pokemon? Which kinds of teammates did you consider? What factors contributed to the team you created?


Do you think it is more difficult or less difficult to ladder with a Dark Horse Pokemon? Why? Does the element of surprise play a factor in your battles? Is it easier to fight with a "highly used"" team or with Pokemon that are less common?


(For Hall of Fame members only) How did you reach the Hall of Fame? Was it easy or difficult? Did having a Dark Horse Pokemon on your team benefit you? What advice would you give to those laddering with Dark Horse Pokemon?


(For Non-Hall of Fame members only) What was the most challenging aspect of this project? What did you learn the most from your experience with Dark Horse Pokemon? How has your learning from this project changed the way you battle?



Again, feel free to answer any of these questions. It can be anything from a few sentences to an essay. Sharing your learning and thoughts is an incredibly important part of this project. So get writing and keep on laddering. Keep it up!

speed ghilliesniper

How did you choose your Dark Horse Pokemon for this project? What lead you to choose the Pokemon you did? Did you have regrets or were you happy with your selection?
I looked around first off at using something from NU, as using something from RU that's already very good such as Mesprit seemed to easy. I almost went with Golurk as I'v used it quite a bit before and my normal team focus is on either semi stall or bulky offense so it would have fit very well. However, I'm glad I didn't thanks to the number of people doing him, and instead I decided to go a very different route from my normal team building process with this project. What lead me too it was some conversation on it in the viability thread about how it was a very effective late game cleaner and a very powerful attacker in general, plus just how strong of an attacking type Flying is in this meta. I have no real regrets with Swellow as it was very fun to play with and an deadly threat to most teams team as not many people are aware of just how fast and powerful this thing is.

How did you go about building a team for your Dark Horse Pokemon? Which kinds of teammates did you consider? What factors contributed to the team you created?
I knew right off that I was going to go %110 offense in this challenge and that Swellow wanted a few things: hazards on the other side, no hazards on it's side, a wall breaker to lure in and ko it's counters, and partners who can deal with priority. Hazards were supplied by Smeargle who had no other purpose than to get them down and hopefully cripple something in the process. As an offensive spinner Kabutops was the obvious answer while also giving me another form of priority to play with, and a set up sweeper should the opportunity arise. As far as wall breakers go 2 stood out: Mixed Absol and Mixed Druddigon. Druddigon was very tempting due to his powerful Outrages and better bulk but ultimately bulky psychics were a bigger issue to the team so Absol got the nod, giving me an answer to Uxie, along with stout physical walls such as Steelix by using Fire Blast and even more priority (the strongest priority in the game infact). After that I needed another general wall breaker, Druddigon nearly got the nod again for reasons explained but ultimately I went with Nidoqueen because of the sheer force (pun intended) of it's attacks, and that it's only common counters (Uxie, Clefable) are either worn down by the Queen to be broken through later or destroyed by other members of the team. Finally, as the team was already looking like a physical over load team I looked for something that played very much like Swellow, fast to set up and very fast and powerful once it got going. Ultimately the standered Normal Gem Hitmonlee gave me just that, plus more priority and a very potent late game sweeper, as if most teams can't handle the onslaught of 2 fast and furious sweepers in a match after being softened and worn down through hazards. Also, while priority might not have been really assessed I'm packing 3 forms of priority and just enough bulk and typing balances to win against most threats packing priority, although some things such as opposing Absol can give me trouble without good prediction. Some other things I looked at was Poliwrath to help deal with priority (to much of a momentum killer, just asking to be spun or set up on by anything with a sub), Magneton to trap those annoying steels (to slow, didn't often pull his weight and found that Nidoqueen and Hitmonlee kill all the relevent steels I was facing), Entei for more Priority (sadly didn't add much past that, stacking a Stealth Rock weakness instead; special set outclassed by Nidoqueen), and Duddigon (almost went with him but Absol had the stronger special attacking prowess and better priority, while Nidoqueen was just to good to pass up).


Do you think it is more difficult or less difficult to ladder with a Dark Horse Pokemon? Why? Does the element of surprise play a factor in your battles? Is it easier to fight with a "highly used"" team or with Pokemon that are less common?
I honestly though it was easier as with the team I was using the matches played quicker and more rewarded whoever could make the best early game choices. It was in this fashion that a simple misplay by the opponent could easily be exploited later on. Plus I never felt like my mon was dead weight or lagging behind the other members thanks to it's power and speed. The element of surprise played a huge part of what seems like half of my matches because of one thing: Cinccino. Seriously, every time the opponent saw a Smeargle they got all hyped up and just lead with it thinking oh hey I'm about to keep away these hazards. Only to have me Protect turn one and ko them turn 2, punishing them for thinking their fuzz ball could out speed any no name threat they'v never ran into. Unless they use Scarfcinno, which I never saw and I'm not terribly surprised as most people wouldn't bother to do that. I'm honestly finding that using under rated mons is awesome for surprising things and generally causing mayhem.


(For Hall of Fame members only) How did you reach the Hall of Fame? Was it easy or difficult? Did having a Dark Horse Pokemon on your team benefit you? What advice would you give to those laddering with Dark Horse Pokemon?
Like I said, heavy heavy offense putting a ton of pressure on the opposing team to force mistakes or just over powering the opposition. It seemed very easy as Offense seems to be the dominating play style right now and this team was tailored to destroy most other offensive teams, including hail. Having a dark horse helped me tremendously by giving me an amazing Cinccino answer and just in general beast of a late game sweeper. My advice would be to not only play to your dark horse's best traits but also play to your own strengths as a player, and as always to have fun with it as that's what all of these projects should be about.

 

[col49]

Credit goes to Xous54 for the above Blitzle image


Hi! Most of you know me from this thread, and that's it .-. I will be in charge of keeping track of the registration list for the Dark Horse Project RU Edition! If I haven't added you yet, just VM/PM me and I'll get right on it. Now for the rules, as (mostly) c/ped from the original OU project

ONE REGISTRATION POST PER DARK HORSE(s), AND KEEP IT UP TO DATE. When you achieve Hall of Fame status with a Dark Horse(s), always update the original post! That way, when we need to update our lists, we can just skip through the registration list. You can make a new post as well to let us know, but always make sure the updates for ladder ranking, alt name, etc are in the original post. We cannot guarantee that we will notice ANY data outside of them.

You are permitted to use the same Dark Horse as someone else, if that wasn't clear - there are no reservations, no rush, etc, and overlap is certainly allowed. Remember, though, that only one of each Dark Horse, and its associated user, can get into the Hall of Fame per month! You can also ladder with as many Dark Horses at a time as you like. If you reach the Hall of Fame cutoff with multiple Horses at once, they ALL go into the Hall of Fame with you. And remember, even if someone else takes your Dark Horse to the Hall of Fame first, you CAN take it back by beating their ladder rating, so don't give up easily! Be tenacious and ladder to the top!

If you've already reached the Hall of Fame this month, you can continue to participate in the project by either creating a new alt and choosing a new Dark Horse, or simply improving your Hall of Fame record even further. You've got one month, and an ocean of RU / NU Pokemon - we sure aren't going to stop you from trying all of them!

Our regulations have changed a bit this month. Any Pokemon with more than 4% usage in RU for the month of January is an ineligible Dark Horse. We operate on the honor system, of course. We highly recommend you check this list I've put together, to make sure your Dark Horse selection is legal.

All Pokemon that ineligible to be Dark Horses

• Nidoqueen
• Slowking
• Sceptile
• Uxie
• Gallade
• Entei
• Hitmonlee
• Spiritomb
• Typhlosion
• Druddigon
• Feraligatr
• Aerodactyl
• Sandslash
• Durant
• Sigilyph
• Galvantula
• Accelgor
• Tangrowth
• Kabutops
• Clefable
• Magmortar
• Cincinno
• Lanturn
• Dusknoir
• Aggron
• Cryogonal
• Manectric
• Archeops
• Lilligant
• Rotom-Mow
• Moltres
• Crawdaunt
• Steelix
• Rotom
• Hitmonchan
• Drapion
• Bouffalant
• Quagsire
• Qwilfish
• Omastar
• Crustle
• Electivire
• Medicham
• Whimsicott
• Amoonguss
• Absol
• Escavalier
• Smeargle
• Scyther
• Snover
• Magneton
• Rhydon
• Emboar
• Primeape
• Poliwrath
• Rotom-F
• Glaceon
• Jynx

Now then, without further ado, here is your user registration list for the Dark Horse Project! The name in brackets after a mon is the active alt, and if someone has already achieved Hall of Fame status with a mon, that mon's name will be bolded and colored appropriately. We're starting to get to the point where people are making second runs on the project, so alts will be separated with a pipe character.

(*- means that the user has achieved Hall of Fame Glicko2 ranking / deviation)

Current Participants:

- TropiOUs: Metang / Misdreavus / Sawsbuck (Smorgen owner)
- Double01: Kangaskan (n/a)
- Scrafty: Mesprit / Scollipede / Roselia / Golurk / Alomomola / Mandibuzz: Krookodile)
- Molk: Cacturne (Godlike Cactus)
- SpareAacount: Ludicolo (Waah)
- Drakzis: Ludicolo ( Summation)
- Megapants: Exeggutor / Golurk (rake the leaves)
- SilverShadow234: Haunter (N/A)
- speed ghilliesniper: Swellow (kacaw king)* / Braviary (the kacaw law)
- Living Things: Zangoose (Conspiracy)
- Giustizia: Kingler GiustiziaKing)
- The Unlucky One: Miltank (Deserving)
- Fuchsia: Tauros (Fuchsia Fox 4)
- celever: Hariyama (idk my name)
- Explorer: Cradily (Blue Boulder
- Mack the Knife: Krokorok (19 Characters)
- Noblesse Oblige: Scollipede / Misdreavus (Lovewwalk)

 

[TROP]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Smorgen owner
Dark Horse Pokemon: Metang, Misdreavus, Sawsbuck
Screenshot of Top 100 Ladder Ranking: Screenshot goes here
Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:

THE MIGHTY METANG @ Eviolite
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Explosion

 

[Double01]

Username: n/a
Darkhorse Mons: kangaskhan
Current Ranking: n/a

 

[ScraftyIsTheBest]

I'll do all Dark Horses to make this a bigger challenge :)

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Krookodile
Hall of Fame standing: N/A
Dark Horse Pokemon currently working with: Mesprit, Scolipede, Roselia, Golurk, Alomomola, Mandibuzz
Current Ladder standing on Pokemon Showdown!: N/A

 

[Molk]

Might as well sign up myself :>

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Godlike Cactus
Dark Horse Pokemon: Cacturne
Screenshot of Top 50 Ladder Ranking: Screenshot goes here
Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:

btw, we're prolly going to increase the hall of fame reqs in a little bit to make this a bit more of a challenge, for anyone who thinks the current ones are too easy

 

[Cherub Agent]

I'm thinking... is 4% cutoff point the best? So, so many NU Pokemon are already ridiculously viable in RU, so imo a cutoff point of 2% or 1% would make this challenge more interesting. Lets face it, almost every RU team has a Pokemon under 4% usage, doesn't it?

EDIT: PU ftw

 

[col49]

Alright, small update: As Molk mentions, the HoF reqs have been deemed a bit too lenient, and in order to increase the level of difficulty a little bit we have raised the minimum requirement to Top 50, and raised the minimum Glicko2 rating to 1850. That being said, I wish all users the best of luck in achieving the requirements =)

edit: With the new February usage stats fresh off the presses, we will be using them to determine the cutoff. While this doesn't change much, it does make Mesprit available as a Dark Horse Pokemon, so Mesprit users rejoice!

 

[shadowpandax]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: ROTT
Hall of Fame Standing:
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Samurott
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:

 

[Double01]

Changing my dark horse poke to arbok

 

[Drakzis]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Summation
Hall of Fame Standing: N/A
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Ludicolo

Ludicolo @ Life Orb
Trait: Swift Swim
EVS: 252 SAtk / 252Spe / 4 Hp
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Giga Drain
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance

Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 1819 - Glicko2(RU), 1900~ - Glicko2(OU)

 

[Megapants]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: rake the leaves
Hall of Fame Standing: N/A
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: exeggutor, golurk
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: rake the leaves - 1689 +/- 55

March 3, 2013

Team 1; 42W-21L-0T

Exeggutor (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Trait: Harvest
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 124 Spd
Bold Nature
- Psychic
- Substitute
- Protect
- Leech Seed

Entei @ Choice Band
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Stone Edge
- Iron Head

Qwilfish @ Black Sludge
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Def / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Waterfall
- Poison Jab

Clefable @ Leftovers
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Ice Beam
- Softboiled
- Thunder Wave

Golurk @ Lum Berry
Trait: Iron Fist / No Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 132 SDef / 124 Spd
Careful Nature
- Ice Punch / DynamicPunch
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Shadow Punch

Kabutops @ Leftovers
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Jet

After about 60 games, I have yet to breach the 66% win/lose ratio with this team. I'm sure some of you have seen it the last few days. The team is fun and it works but there's definitely some holes that could be patched, so I'm putting it up for discussion.

For now, the team's basic strategy is to wear down the opponent's fast sweepers with hazards, status, and infinite stalling and then clean them up with priority. The majority of this team's wins have probably ended with either Entei or Kabutops being the only mon left standing.

First, I'd like to talk about Golurk. In my experience with the Ghost, I have been leading almost every game with it. There have been a few mishaps where he gets OHKO'd, but against most specially based leads, he gets rocks up at the least, sometimes a kill. He also acts a great sponge in the midgame. He eats Giga Drains and Earth Powers like a champ and gets some big hits in before going down.

Next, I have found Exeggutor to be an excellent Plan B for this team. At 124 Spd EVs, he can stall out everything below base 60 with substitutes. Paralysis can help make this guy appear almost unbreakable. It's obviously preferable to have your targets be Poisoned, but most things aren't affected by Toxic Spikes, so Paralysis is good at helping Eggy outspeed and eventually get a substitute up on a paralyze. Between Psychic, Leech Seed, and Poison, this thing can kill pretty much anything that's slower than it. It also tanks Cincinno like very few other mons can.

I would appreciate any suggestions that involve adding Burn, adding a better Wall Breaker, adding PHaze, or whatever, and that don't involve removing either Exeggutor or Golurk.

 

[ss234]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: N/A
Hall Of Fame Standing: N/A
Dark Horse Pokemon Working With: Golurk, Sawsbuck, Arbok
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: N/A

 

[col49]

Ok, I [finally] updated the registration, and I have to say I'm pretty excited to see some of my personal favourites (Kangaskan, Samurott, etc.) getting picked up for this :) On a side note, Golurk looks to be a really popular pick, being part of half of participants' team :O If I may, what made the people that selected Golurk so inclined to use him? Is his ability to set up Stealth Rock and double as a spin blocker what draws you to it, or perhaps are you running Choice Band to break through 'mons? There is also the possibility of running Rock Polish, though with Absol on the rise and Pokemon such as Spiritomb, Kabutops, and Feraligatr firmly set in respectable usage I'd imagine it to require some serious team support to make it work (not that it isn't viable, it just needs to be built around to work). I'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter =)

 

[ss234]

I'm using Golurk mainly because it is like a one-poke core, checking electric types, some normal types and fighting types. It is also a spin-blocker, and having all of these attributes in just one poke is incredibly useful on offensive spikes teams. That, and it hits incredibly hard with a CB-2HKO ing everything in RU bar weezing and tangrowth, and thanks to its typing it gets lots of switch ins to dish out some pain.

 

[Megapants]

as you can see my set is specially defensive, so i use my golurk very differently from most (people will even run physically defensive before special). i love specially bulky golurk because he tanks hits so, so well and still hits stuff really hard thanks to that base attack stat. this allows it to actually threaten the revenge kill on mons that it had trouble with before such as slowking (!), nidoqueen (!!), magneton, rotom-C, sceptile (giga drain or -2 spatk), galvantula.

i think golurk is one of the more unique ways to abuse paralysis thanks to dynamic punch. i've seen confusion do some ridiculous things and i've seen paralysis do some stupid things, but they are game ending when working together. not only is it fun, but it's definitely one of the things that makes him stand out, making him a good dark horse for me.

 

[speed ghilliesniper]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: kacaw king
Dark Horse Pokemon: Swellow
Screenshot of Top 50 Ladder Ranking: Rather large image.

Hide

Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:

Swellow @ Flame Orb
Trait: Guts
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Facade
- Protect
- U-turn

Assuming that number 50 on the ladder counts as top 50, if so I'm in as bronze! May go for silver later on since it (seems) so close but for now I'm tired so I'll probably just work on writing up Swellow's favorite partners and worst enemies.

Edit: Did the write up, got to 1897 before getting haxed hard in 2 games by Hi Jump Kick miss. Now down to 1849, looks like I won't make it to silver this time around.

 

[JCM.]

While I won't participate in this project yet, I have used a very successful Golurk set in RU couple of days ago.

Golurk @ Leftovers
Trait: No Guard / Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 HP
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Rock Polish
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge / Shadow Punch / Ice Punch

With his great typing, Golurk can find many opportunities to set up. He hits already pretty hard, and now he's fast. Earthquake is absolutely mandatory STAB, and hits a lot of Pokemon hard. The last moveslot is up for grabs: Stone Edge forms the EdgeQuake combo, giving neutral coverage on most of tier and never misses with No Guard, Shadow Punch gives Golurk another STAB but he becomes walled by Swellow and Ice Punch lets him hit some Pokemon that Stone Edge can't hit hard enough such as Rotom-C and Druddigon. I used Stone Edge, but some Pokemon like Aerodactyl, Crustle, and others just wouldn't take enough damage for it.

 

[Molk]

changed my dark horse to Zweilous

 

[Living Things]

Pokemon Showdown Username: Conspiracy
Dark Horse Mons: Zangoose
Ladder Standing: N/A

 

[Giustizia]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: GiustiziaKing
Dark Horse Pokemon: Kingler
Hall of Fame Status: n/a
Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:
Current standing: 1496 ± 116 (RU)

I love the look of this project, so I'll throw in my share.
This has had mixed results for me, but c'mon; it's Kingler!

Kingler @ Choice Scarf
Adamant
Hyper Cutter
252Atk/252Spe/4Def
Crabhammer
Superpower
X-Scissor
Rock Slide

EDIT: This new scarf set is a great cleaner, totally unexpected and can even come in as a surprise revenge-killer!

 

[TUO]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: How do you play?
Dark Horse Pokemon: Miltank
Screenshot of Top 50 Ladder Ranking:Wait for it
Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sap Sipper
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Body Slam
- Heal Bell
- Earthquake
- Milk Drink

If Ryuzaki San doesn't mind me using his team, ill do this. he can take over if he wants i guess.
Apparently my old alt got hax'd up the ass, also i just got it from someone i know so excuse the set being odd. LO is def better. A heal beller is pretty much required in the team im using due to how crippling status is to guys like Lilligant

 

[Slory]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Undeserving
Dark Horse Pokemon: Milktank
Screenshot of Top 50 Ladder Ranking:Wait for it
Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:

Miltank (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sap Sipper
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Body Slam
- Heal Bell
- Earthquake
- Milk Drink

If Ryuzaki San doesn't mind me using his team, ill do this. he can take over if he wants i guess.

Withouth anything that boost its moves or using much more powerful moves Miltank its still very weak because of its mediocre 80 Base Attack even with +1. I recommend you using it with Life Orb over Leftovers and Return / Double-Edge over Body Slam. With Milk Drink, Leftovers isnt neccesary and you dont need to worry that much about Life Orb recoil. Although 30% chance to paralyze the opponent seems good, Miltank doesnt need it and make a lot of weaker. For example, Miltank cant never OHKO Lilligant at +1 even if SR is up, and if youre +0 you has a small chance to even 2HOed it. But if you are using Life Orb and Return youre always OHKOing even if SR isnt up, really the differences is huge, and there are a lot of others examples.

 

[Megapants]

Agreed with slory, if you're going to run speed at all, you should probably accompany it with as much power as possible. Offensive Miltank is incredibly unique in that it can break down walls, cure your team of status, take a hit, heal up and fall back to a healthy teammate. However this exact role can be contested by LO Clefable. The biggest advantage Miltank has over Clefable is that rocking 100 base speed stat, but Clefable's immunity to hazards, status, and recoil makes it tough competition.

That being said, I want to try out that Miltank myself. I'll report back with results.