The Underused Dark Horse Project

[Metal Sonic]

Mazz i''ll pm you my team

claim 1500
View attachment 12204


EDIT: NEW CLAIM 1600
View attachment 12216

 

[PTJon7]

Reached C-Rank:

 

[Mazz]

Our first two Hall Of Fame members have been added to the OP, as well as copycatcat and PTJon7's entries. Only 12 days left to finish your laddering!

 

[PTJon7]

Reached B-Rank (I'm sorry Kitten):

 

[-Tsunami-]

Pokemon Showdown Username: God Starscream
Dark Horse Pokemon: Vivillion / Emboar / Mightyena / Druddigon

Team:
http://puu.sh/8dWrx.txt

 

[Mazz]

Changes and additions made.

And I just noticed this, but TeraVoltage, you've been knocked out of contention by PTJon7 reaching the Hall Of Fame. Due to the time left to contend, you will not be able to change your Dark Horses and will have to try again in May.

 

[psVoltage]

Changes and additions made.

And I just noticed this, but TeraVoltage, you've been knocked out of contention by PTJon7 reaching the Hall Of Fame. Due to the time left to contend, you will not be able to change your Dark Horses and will have to try again in May.

Thats fine I didn't have time to compete this month anyway, It all works out

 

[Calloflochie]

bang bang

 

[Mazz]

Added to the HoF.

 

[Bouff]

Pokemon: Aromatisse, Cacturne, Kyurem
Alt: kek and wek
Teamu:

Hide

Kyurem @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Earth Power
- Dragon Pulse
- Ice Beam

Houndoom @ Houndoominite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Nasty Plot
- Fire Blast
- Dark Pulse

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spd
- Volt Switch
- Gyro Ball
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Crobat @ Black Sludge
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Atk / 136 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Brave Bird
- Toxic
- Roost

Aromatisse @ Leftovers
Ability: Aroma Veil
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 SAtk
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy
- Wish
- Protect

Cacturne @ Focus Sash
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Seed Bomb
- Sucker Punch
- Drain Punch

should be like 26%, if it went over the limit lmk.

 

[Sam]

Pokemon: Smeargle, Gardevoir, Tornadus, Honchkrow
Alt: AmplifiedToRock

I PM'd you the team yesterday.

 

[Swamp Link]

Got to 1500, I'll try to go farther next weekend.
View attachment 12329

 

[Meru]

Username: UUyal
Pokemon: Sableye / Slowking / Aromatisse / Gligar

P.S. why did someone get on the Hall of Fame for Snorlax? Isn't he 4.3317% usage? Or am I missing it wrong? Because otherwise tag Snorlax onto my list too.

 

[Metal Sonic]

1750 ACHIEVE
View attachment 12340

 

[newfren]

A-Rank is earning an Elo 1750 or better

That's not a 1750 Elo.

 

[Mazz]

Metal Sonic you're still 88 Elo from reaching A-rank.

Excellent work though.

 

[-Tsunami-]

1600 o.o will do 1750 in a bit

 

[Metal Sonic]

1600 o.o will do 1750 in a bit

Only 2 people on ladder have 1750

Petition to change A rank to 1700. It is difficult enough because only ~ 5 people on the ladder are >1700, and considering that UU has a small af playerbase it is almost impossible to reach such a high Elo, especially in the higher ranges, and with a 'dark horse' team

 

[heritage]

This is an awesome thread :D
I'm absolutely going to start lattering with my Dark Horse team.
Dark Horses: Furfrou, Flygon, Gogoat, Kingdra, Raikou. (Woah the only non-dark horse on my team is Manectric)
Alternate Account: ShadowHawkEX. I seriously worked for like an hour to get a screenshot that I haven't lattered yet, but god my computer is poop. I'll try to get one and I'll edit it into this post.
Team:

Hide

Memory (Flygon) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Let Live (Furfrou) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Fur Coat
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Def / 68 SDef
Careful Nature
- Cotton Guard
- Return
- Refresh
- Toxic

Until May (Manectric) (F) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightningrod
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 SDef
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Magnet Rise
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Gadget (Gogoat) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Atk
Careful Nature
- Horn Leech
- Leech Seed
- Milk Drink
- Bulk Up

Pythius (Kingdra) (F) @ Scope Lens
Ability: Sniper
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SAtk / 44 HP / 4 SDef / 208 Spd
Timid Nature
- Focus Energy
- Dragon Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- Flash Cannon

Sempiternal (Raikou) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Extrasensory
- Thunderbolt
- Signal Beam

Usage:

Hide

| Flygon | 3.54757%
| Furfrou | 0.22417% (wow)
| Manectric | 11.73690% (Still UU)
| Gogoat | 0.29224%
| Kingdra | 2.65393%
| Raikou | 2.23228%
Usage % About 20%. Heh.

I will start lattering soon with this team. I can't wait c:

 

[Pipotchi]

This looks cool! I'll join if theres still time, with username pipotchi600

The unused pokemon that I will use are: Abomasnow, Flygon

And this is the team:

Team

Abomasnow @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SAtk
Brave Nature
- Ice Shard
- Wood Hammer
- Giga Drain
- Earthquake

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Bold Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Scald
- Calm Mind

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Defog
- Soft-Boiled
- Will-O-Wisp

Arcanine @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd
Impish Nature
- Morning Sun
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Extreme Speed

Flygon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 124 Def / 4 Spd
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Aromatherapy

Hopefully thats ok

 

[Metal Sonic]

Question: can I make another alt with different dark horse pokemon to reach high rank again ? or is 1 user only permitted 1 entry?

 

[Mazz]

Question: can I make another alt with different dark horse pokemon to reach high rank again ? or is 1 user only permitted 1 entry?

One user per entry per month. So this means that your next available opportunity to "redo" this would be in May.

 

[pokemonisfun]

wow i just realized i've been on top of the ladder with elo hovering over 1800 with a team suitable for this

username will be: dA_pIFFIEST

pokemon used will be zoroark, heliolisk and shedinja


screenshot for c rank

i blame hax for those losses btw

screenshot for b rank

wow what a terrible ratio but ok ill take

got to a in new post

 

[Meru]

Alright so I finally finished and got the team to A rank, which to be honest was a bit of a chore, but I wanted to be able to contribute a healthy discussion about the viability of some of the Pokes that I tested, so now that I'm finally done laddering, I'm gonna do just that.

Hide

Slowking @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Psyshock
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Tail

Similar to Slowbro, AV Slowking is able to provide a good barrier of both ends of the spectrum. With the above spread, Scarf Darmanitan's U-turn only does 41% max, meaning it can hold up well as an early game pivot into some Flare Blitzes that comes your way. Slowking has an important bit more special bulk, allowing it to get more mileage out of an Assault Vest. Slowking is able to stand up against Modest Nidoqueen much better, being able to stay in not fearing any 2HKO, while AV Slowbro can't even consider switching into her.

252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Slowbro: 161-191 (40.8 - 48.4%) -- 71.9% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
252+ SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Nidoqueen Sludge Wave vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Slowking: 122-146 (30.9 - 37%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock

So what distinguishes this set from Slowbro besides greater special bulk? If you read the moveset, then it should be obvious that the main difference is Slowking's access to Dragon Tail. Dragon Tail allows it to kill early game set up attempts from Shell Smash Cloyster and Kingdra, without having to rely on a Scald burn chance. If you're really desperate and you want to chance the flinch proc, it can even switch in on +2 Mega-Houndoom, as +2 Dark Pulse only musters 86% max, not enough for a OHKO. Make sure to have an actual Mega-Houndoom counter though. Beyond thwarting set-up attempts, Dragon Tail finds most of its utility in racking up entry hazard damage, so pairing it with a Spikes user is a good idea.

So why isn't Slowking UU? To be honest, it wasn't really clear to me until writing the above paragraph, but UU has almost no top tier threats that necessitate Dragon Tail's utility. AV Slowking is able to be much more of a boss in RU, where it can switch in and phaze out huge threats like CM Delphox and SS Omastar/Gorebyss. In addition, its lower physical bulk compared to Slowbro is a huge con, as it makes it much more worn down by pivoting in, and in some cases, can suffer surprise death from a coverage move

252+ Atk Choice Band Victini Bolt Strike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowking: 324-382 (82.2 - 96.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Victini Bolt Strike vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 262-310 (66.4 - 78.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

All in all, 9/10 times, Slowbro should honestly be your choice of UU bulky water over Slowking, as it is much more adept to handling the threats in the metagame. However, keep in mind that is one of the few resilient switch-ins to Nidoking / Nidoqueen that doesn't give free turns, as nobody is running Thunderbolt in this meta.

Sableye @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Recover
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Knock Off

With the goblin's recent ban from RU, it's only naturally going to be tested in UU. However, using it in UU, it became apparent why this thing dropped out of the tier. Below are the aspects unique to UU that give Sableye a massive headache, and not the other way around.

1) Synchronize
While Sableye is able to provide a good stop to Mew and Umbreon, it cannot mindlessly throw out Will-o-Wisps, as both of the above clerics are able to punish it for doing so.

Support: Heal Bell / Aromatherapy, Toxic Spikes to prevent WoW backlash

2) Guts Heracross / Magic Bounce Mega-Absol
Just the presence of Guts and/or Absol means Sableye has to keep a serious eye out. While the Heracross problem can be solved by just having sturdy answers for it, Absol poses much more of a problem. Even before Absol mega-evolves, Sableye has to be cautious, as its access to Justified gives it the opportunity to potentially screw over Sableye's main STAB move, while also preventing the item loss from occurring. After it mega-evolves, it becomes immune to Sableye's Will-o-Wisp, giving it freedom to set up Swords Dance and go to town on the rest of the team. So why can't Sableye just counter this by spending early-game just spamming Will-o-Wisp for potential Absol switch-ins? I guess this is a good lead in to the next and biggest reason

Support: Bold Aromatisse can answer both of these threats, and takes many more of the Knock Offs that threaten Sableye

3) Ubiquity of Fire-types
Hot damn I'm pretty sure I've never seen a single tier more stuffed to the brim with Fire-types. Victini, Darmanitan, Entei, Rotom-H, Arcanine, and Mega-Houndoom. All of these are top tier Pokemon that get free switch-ins for predicting Will-o-Wisp, Recover, or Taunt, all three of which can usually be predicted from a mile away. While all but Mega-Houndoom aren't too thrilled with losing their item, none of them besides Victini are anywhere near close to OHKO'd by Knock Off, which means Sableye has to switch out, which is bad as Sableye doesn't get many switch in opportunities, and made even worse by the fact that there's no catch-all answer to the variety of Fire-types UU has to offer.

Support: Slowking, Slowbro, and Snorlax provide an answer to a large portion of the tier's Fire-types, and as such, make really good teammates

4) Florges and Scald
While none of these are long-term solutions to Sableye, both of them pose a serious threat that may necessitate switching out, which like I previously mentioned, is bad as Sableye doesn't get a whole lot of switch-in opportunities.

Support: Fire/Poison-types for Florges, Natural Cure 'mons, Heal Bell / Aromatherapy, CM Slowbro/Suicune

However, if you cover these four big flaws, Sableye is able to generate a lot of momentum for your team, as priority WoW in conjunction with priority recovery threatens to cripple many Pokemon in the UU tier.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 60 Atk / 196 SDef
Careful Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Curse
- Return

This right here made a debut on my team due to its utility as a catch-all special sponge, and especially for its ability to stand up to Mega-Houndoom. While the plethora of Fighting-types present in the tier may have been the cause for Snorlax's downfall to the bottom of UU usage, every single 'mon on my team besides Snorlax resists or is immune to its one weakness, so that wasn't much of an issue.

This set is particularly interesting, as mono-Normal coverage sounds terrible at first. However, the only one top-tier ghost commonly used in UU is Chandelure, which Snorlax is renowned for as being one of its hardest counters, so mono-Normal isn't as bad as it immediately sounds. The upside of it is that giving a free turn to Curse is threatening to many Balance teams, which take a huge chunk out from +1 Returns. Many teams often lack a long-term answer for him, as Heavy Slam does jack shit to Snorlax, who abuses Mega-Aggron's lack of Leftovers recovery to wear him down. Thick Fat is very useful in this meta, allowing it to hit back against the likes of CB Victini and Darmanitan locked into their respective Fire-type nukes. To be honest, I'm not sure why Snorlax's usage is so low, as it is still a very threatening 'mon in the tier. I'd have to say the biggest letdown of Snorlax is its inability to be used early-game against teams with Forry, as my team lacked any kind of Rapid Spin or Defog support

Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic

I'm not going to write too much about this 'mon, as its been a frequent mainstay in UU, and its job hasn't changed much. To be honest, it's a pretty mediocre mon, and early on in this team's run, I even wanted to replace it, as its main niche, walling Heracross, was better handled once I switched Aromatisse to 252/252+ Bold. However, I ended up keeping it on the team for the duration of the project, since it was able to reliably handle one threat that Aromatisse couldn't: Honchkrow. Not too sure why I didn't see any Substitute users, as then Gligar is pretty boned. Aside from that, the only other perk to include that isn't immediately obvious is Immunity, which can buy you a free turn from Umbreon and Mew, both of which can't bounce Toxic back to this little scorpion.

I'm not going to write about Aromatisse here, as I already made a post about it on the main thread.

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/np-xy-uu-stage-1-reload.3502404/page-19#post-5394781

Also if the mods want to separate each of my 5 'mons into their own hide tags, that might be better, as I didn't anticipate making the post quite this long x_X

 

[pokemonisfun]

Meruu those are some nice sets for your stall team. I just wanted to emphasize that Sableye should use Knock Off for stall teams but Foul Play is a decent (but still in my opinion lesser) option for more offensive teams. I really think that Gligar should run Defog since it gets more utility out of that on average than if you use Toxic because Defog will help is nearly all games (be patient you can set up your hazards again) while Toxic will only help in some games and will never be essential (as in Toxic is the only way you can beat sweeper x) except against very random things.

the real reason I wanted to post was because I finished the darkhorse challenge too.

And I would have finished much sooner too if the ladder didn't break when I won two games earlier today which would have certainly got me to 1750 ( I was already like in the 1730s) and then I promptly lost two games when the ladder worked again because I got outplayed.

My team http://pastebin.com/8WyTC218

A game that shows all the darkhorses doing work http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/uu-113048962 but to be completely honest that user beat me at least 2 other times on the ladder with same teams

Frankly Shedinja needs little explanation except maybe I have not tested out Baton Pass and I am not actually sure if that is legal (Shedinja is one of those weird Pokemon that cannot learn SD by TM I think but by other means only, breeding). Lum Berry is not really viable compared to Focus Sash which is by far better and lets you set up on random Victini's in a pinch and sweep. Keep in mind Sucker Punch is stronger than SHadow Sneak despite STAB and should be used most of the time on choiced Pokemon if the situation is appropriate (it would NOT be appropriate to Sucker Punch on a Flygon locked in U-Turn, a double switch or SD is generally more prudent there depeding on the circumstances) Shedinja also deals large problems to volt turn teams and some rain teams in general which is a plus. Shedinja is not the MVP but it has very good chances to sweep most teams especially when doubled with Zoroark.

Zoroark usually pretends to be Shedinja just to play games but I often make it Victini too to kill bulky waters or at leats badly damage tem. Sadly Shedinja cannot counter most bulky waters since they run Toxic or Roar or some other move to kill me much of the time so it is often up to Zoroark to lure them in (hello Slowbro). Zoroark has Trick almost exclusively for Umbreon which you may notice not only walls most of my team but can badly damage most members with Foul Play. Zoroark is definitely useful against random ladder games where people can't be bothered to remember your entire team from the preview and forget about Zoroark often. I suspect it would be strongly useful in other more serious games too because nobody can tell the illusion form the real thing, it is generally all down to prediction which is snob talk for guessing for the opponent.

Heliolisk is pretty overrated and I wanted to switch him out to use a better electric. I already have a great Crocune counter (Heliolisk can actually lose to Crocune lol if it gets really unlucky with CM) in Shedinja. Heliolisk have a pretty cool Normal immunity though that comes at little cost since it really cannot take Fighting moves anyways. Surf is great to OHKO Nidoking with and maul everything weak to it at the very least, OHKOing Entei after SR for instance. Grass Knot is to get even more Pokemon that could potentially wall me like Swampert for good damage. The electric immunity can be abused since you do not reveal Life Orb and people often assume a Choice set. I have used Hyper Beam and it is not very good, still rather weak and leaves you prone to being swept by random Pokemon (you will notice my team is incredibly weak to Houndoom, Absol, Cloyster, and many more. I just try not to let them set up). The lack of defense hurts Heliolisk by being forced out in otherwise good situations like against Honchkrow against a team with no electric immunity.

The rest of my team is pretty high in usage but the Celebi set I use is far from common. I got that set from a post on these forums actually and I think it is a very good set, maybe outclassed a bit by Mew but I already use Mew for Defog so that can hardly be helped. SUcker Punch is quite strong after a boost and can OHKO most Fire Pokemon after SR. Adamant Celebi is strong and still faster than Nidoking but slower than base 90s which is very annoying if you are Venemoth weak (which I am to a fair extent if Shedinja is dead/hazards are up) The best thing about SD Celebi is random special walls to scout your move often switch in like Florges AND the physical walls you expect to wall SD Pokemon are mauled by your STAB like Slowbro, Hippowdon and Chesnaught. Most physical walls even if they don't get KO'd by you after a boost still are set up fodder. That combined with strong priority and useable speed makes Celebi a big threat to all sorts of teams.

That is all, for now.