Welcome to Smogon! Take a moment to read the Introduction to Smogon for a run-down on everything Smogon, and make sure you take some time to read the global rules.
I did it here is the post analysis that I also edited into my original post (because this thread could also use a bump :P)
Post-Ranking Analysis
I'll start with Mega Manectric because it is the easiest to talk about. Mega Manectric was even better than I thought it would be acting as a really solid pivot that help mandi out of some tough spots and a very good revenge killer as well. There were not many times I felt Manectric getting KOed was because it wasn't good but more because of my misplays. Most importantly though, Mega Manectric was a fantastic late-game cleaner that really thrived when Landorous-I switched in easily on a predicted EQ and broke down its checks and counters. I understand the usual pairing is Landoge+Mega Manectric for double intimidate but give Land-I+Mega Manectric a try it will surprise how good they are together. Overall Manectric is a fantastic pivot and cleaner that deserves to be OU (and A rank) I'd give it a solid 8.5/10 (5/10 being what I consider Average)
Now on to Entei, I was honestly surprised at how great Entei turned out to be on this team. Banded Sacred Fire is really nice both for its power and the threat of burn as Heatran is the only real counter and even it can get OHKOed by a predicted Bulldoze. Entei was so fun to use as well, Switch in Azumarill? Burned. Tyranitar? Burned. Garchomp? Burned. Charizard? Stone Edged, so much fun. Another great thing about Band Entei was its synergy with Landorous as they both feared Water-Type moves allowing Vest Azumarill to counter most of Entei's and Landorous's checks. Oh and Extremespeed was nice for revenge killing as well. At times Entei got outsped and Koed because I lacked a good switch-in and it was a pain when Sacred Fire didn't burn but in most matches Entei pulled its weight and was definitely an asset to my team. While Entei doesn't fit on every team it is worth giving it a shot as a solid wallbreaker with one of the best and hardest moves to switch in on in the game, I'd give it a 6.5/10
Cobalion is an odd case as it wasn't outclassed per se on my team but I found myself thinking at multiple points "I wish I had Terrakion" or "I wish I had Landorous-T" or "I wish I had Heatran" but there were a couple matches where I felt Cobalion really saved my team, RK Bisharp while setting up rocks on Mandibuzz were two great things Cobalion did. My favorite part of Cobalion was it typing made it a very good ground type lure, and usually Cobalion could survive an EQ with its good defenses and 2HKO with HP ice wearing down bulky ground types for an eventual Manectric sweep. I am so torn about Cobalion, but ultimately I realize that the team I made was pretty much built to help Cobalion and on any other team he would have been pretty much deadweight so I think Cobalion gets a 4/10 but on the upside Cobalion still looks awesome (way cooler than that brute Terrakion and girly Keldeo and Virizion). Cobalion was better than I expected though and it has a niche its just so incredibly miniscule that it may just stop at my team XD.
The team as whole
I'm actually really happy with how this team turned out I was not expecting the climb to 1650 to come so easily to this team given my low expectations for Entei and Cobalion. I loved the synergy my team had as most of the mons I used on this team were mons that I never used before such as Mandibuzz, Entei, Cobalion, Landorous-I and even Mega Manectric and I never used the AV variant of Azumarill either. AV Azumarill was probably the MVP of the team being a very safe swith-in to both Zards, Keldeo and Greninja mons that could wreck the rest of my team if given the proper chance. Mandibuzz was nice but nothing exceptional while Landorous-I was great for wallbreaking and as I mentioned before had very good synergy with Entei. The mon that caused the most trouble for this team would have to be Rotom-W for pretty obvious reasons as most my team doesn't want to take any of Rotom's attacks. I'm probably going to keep laddering with this team (I'll probably drop Cobalion though ;_;) and see how far I can go as I feel this team has lots of untapped potential.
I did it here is the post analysis that I also edited into my original post (because this thread could also use a bump :P)
Post-Ranking Analysis
I'll start with Mega Manectric because it is the easiest to talk about. Mega Manectric was even better than I thought it would be acting as a really solid pivot that help mandi out of some tough spots and a very good revenge killer as well. There were not many times I felt Manectric getting KOed was because it wasn't good but more because of my misplays. Most importantly though, Mega Manectric was a fantastic late-game cleaner that really thrived when Landorous-I switched in easily on a predicted EQ and broke down its checks and counters. I understand the usual pairing is Landoge+Mega Manectric for double intimidate but give Land-I+Mega Manectric a try it will surprise how good they are together. Overall Manectric is a fantastic pivot and cleaner that deserves to be OU (and A rank) I'd give it a solid 8.5/10 (5/10 being what I consider Average)
Now on to Entei, I was honestly surprised at how great Entei turned out to be on this team. Banded Sacred Fire is really nice both for its power and the threat of burn as Heatran is the only real counter and even it can get OHKOed by a predicted Bulldoze. Entei was so fun to use as well, Switch in Azumarill? Burned. Tyranitar? Burned. Garchomp? Burned. Charizard? Stone Edged, so much fun. Another great thing about Band Entei was its synergy with Landorous as they both feared Water-Type moves allowing Vest Azumarill to counter most of Entei's and Landorous's checks. Oh and Extremespeed was nice for revenge killing as well. At times Entei got outsped and Koed because I lacked a good switch-in and it was a pain when Sacred Fire didn't burn but in most matches Entei pulled its weight and was definitely an asset to my team. While Entei doesn't fit on every team it is worth giving it a shot as a solid wallbreaker with one of the best and hardest moves to switch in on in the game, I'd give it a 6.5/10
Cobalion is an odd case as it wasn't outclassed per se on my team but I found myself thinking at multiple points "I wish I had Terrakion" or "I wish I had Landorous-T" or "I wish I had Heatran" but there were a couple matches where I felt Cobalion really saved my team, RK Bisharp while setting up rocks on Mandibuzz were two great things Cobalion did. My favorite part of Cobalion was it typing made it a very good ground type lure, and usually Cobalion could survive an EQ with its good defenses and 2HKO with HP ice wearing down bulky ground types for an eventual Manectric sweep. I am so torn about Cobalion, but ultimately I realize that the team I made was pretty much built to help Cobalion and on any other team he would have been pretty much deadweight so I think Cobalion gets a 4/10 but on the upside Cobalion still looks awesome (way cooler than that brute Terrakion and girly Keldeo and Virizion). Cobalion was better than I expected though and it has a niche its just so incredibly miniscule that it may just stop at my team XD.
The team as whole
I'm actually really happy with how this team turned out I was not expecting the climb to 1650 to come so easily to this team given my low expectations for Entei and Cobalion. I loved the synergy my team had as most of the mons I used on this team were mons that I never used before such as Mandibuzz, Entei, Cobalion, Landorous-I and even Mega Manectric and I never used the AV variant of Azumarill either. AV Azumarill was probably the MVP of the team being a very safe swith-in to both Zards, Keldeo and Greninja mons that could wreck the rest of my team if given the proper chance. Mandibuzz was nice but nothing exceptional while Landorous-I was great for wallbreaking and as I mentioned before had very good synergy with Entei. The mon that caused the most trouble for this team would have to be Rotom-W for pretty obvious reasons as most my team doesn't want to take any of Rotom's attacks. I'm probably going to keep laddering with this team (I'll probably drop Cobalion though ;_;) and see how far I can go as I feel this team has lots of untapped potential.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: rsremakeconfirmed Prior Hall of Fame Standing: none Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Gardevoir Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Mega Garde is a sexy pokemon with a sexy special attack stat. It is quite underrated and is a great wallbreaker with pixilate hyper voice. I will write more once i get some experience with her.
Pokemon Showdown! Username:DarkAmbicrow
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: None
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Bannette, Weavile
Explanation of Dark Horse(s) The Bannette set I have created counters all Deoxys sets. In a meta filled with Deoxys, Mega-Bannette allows me to counter a big threat, essentially making it 6-5. Bannette 2hko's Deoxys-D, an impressive feet in itself, the ability to bounce back rocks or taunts on turn one using magic bounce, the ability to go 1 for 1 using destiny bond, and breaking stall. Weavile fills a niche in my team that traps weak threats with pursuit, and also has priority ice in ice shard.
As it seems to have been just a slight while since the last post, I'm wondering how the teams themselves are going? Are they working as you expected or could they be doing better? Is the dark horse of your preference that good or is it a lot of dead weight? All these questions and more can be answered by you in your next installment of posts!
Bannette quickly proved to be very good. He was never dead weight, always beat deoxys 1 on 1, and always did well for me late game finishing off a needed check. Unfortunately, he doesn't give an offensive or defensive presence, and is hard to switch into without a dedicated team to bring him in. Although I gave up on using bannette on my team, I did find a niche for him on a volt-turn team who has a win condition not based on residual damage and offensive pressure (i.e setting up and sweeping).
Edit: Nvr mind, I am going to have some originality
Pokemon Showdown! Username: t-bear67alt4
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: None
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Kabutops, Politoed, Absol.
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Pretty obvious I'm going for a rain team, so Politoed is absolutely essential. I'll probably use the defensive set when I create the team. Kabutops is able to set up against a variety of defensive mons, and some offensive mons like Talonflame, and is an absolute monster under rain. It also resists Brave Bird from Talonflame and aqua jet for Azumarill, which really helps it continue it's sweep.I don't want to have to run rapid spin or defog, as that takes the precious momentum away, but I also don't want anything SR weak. I really don't want to let Deoxys set up hazards early game. Because of this I want to use Mega-Absol, as it can a) reflect hazards turn one with magic coat b)OHKO Deoxys-S with sucker punch, and c)has a fast rain dance. Although that means I only really have 4 turns to use the rain, that's still enough to do damage if politoed is down.
To support Kabutops I'm either thinking of using Landorus-I to deal with Venusaur. Landorus is also good for creating as much offensive pressure as possible, as with rain teams, if you lose your momentum it can mean losing the game.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: t-bear67alt4
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: None
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Kabutops, Politoed
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Pretty obvious I'm going for a rain team, so Politoed is absolutely essential. I'll probably use the defensive set when I create the team. Kabutops is able to set up against a variety of defensive mons, and some offensive mons like Talonflame, and is an absolute monster under rain. It also resists Brave Bird from Talonflame and aqua jet for Azumarill, which really helps it continue it's sweep.
To support Kabutops I'm either thinking of using Landorus-I to deal with Venusaur, or taunt/WoW Gengar to help wear stall down first and to prevent hazards from Deoxys-D. I'm leaning on Landorus as I want to create as much offensive pressure as possible, as with rain teams, if you lose your momentum it can mean losing the game. No hazard clearing, as that takes the precious momentum away.
OK, so I'm not high enough on the ladder yet (currently at 1559), but I think that I can give my thoughts on the mons that I am using.
Gothitelle: Gothitelle is very situational. It is usually either the MVP of the match or something to sacrifice to get someone else in safely, depending on what kind of team I am facing. I am running a Psychock/HP Fire/Energy Ball/Trick Choice Specs set. The analysis recommends Thunderbolt, but I am not using it because the purpose of my Gothitelle is to trap stuff that Raikou can't beat. Anything that Gothitelle would need Thunderbolt to trap and kill is something that Raikou's STAB Thunderbolt will hit harder and is often setup bait for Raikou anyhow. The thing about Gothitelle that suprised me most it its bulk. Uninvested 70/95/110 bulk is surprisingly high, allowing it to switch into the attacks of almost every wall in the tier without worry. Gothitelle can't fit on every team, but you should give it a shot before dismissing it. Just remember, its biggest competition is Wobbufett for the unique role that it can play.
Raikou: Raikou is really fast. It outspeeds Thundurus without needing to use maximum Speed investment, allowing it to have slightly more HP. I use a Calm Mind/Thunderbolt/HP Ice/Substitute set, and a surprising number of foes are setup bait. Even the mighty Thundurus and Aegislash can be set up on by Raikou. Thundurus can't paralyze it, and Raikou outspeeds Aegislash. After one Calm Mind boost (which is all but guaranteed): 252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. +1 32 HP / 0 SpD Raikou: 108-127 (32.8 - 38.6%) -- 4.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
I'll let that calc speak for itself. Extrasensory is an option, as it lets Raikou beat foes such as Mega Venusaur easier, but that is what I have Gothitelle for. The biggest problem with Raikou is that it needs every hit point it can get. Entry hazards, switching into an attack, anything along those lines greatly hurts its attempts to set up. You really need something along the lines of a slow U-Turner. And this is only one set Raikou can run! An Assault Vest set is listed first on the analysis. I can't understand how Raikou only got 1.5% usage last month.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: superstardh
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: None
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: volcarona/starmie/ditto/manetric-mega/aerodactyl
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): going to try to make a team with five dark horses and one wildcard. We'll see how it goes.
No, the goal is to use "Pokemon that have the ability to to shine in OU, but don't get used because players either have no reason to use them, or don't want to in lieu of more conventional Pokemon." It helps create diveristy in the OU tier as well.
Just updated the hall of fame, but guys when you do achieve HoF, remember to PM/start a conversation with me, with the format shown in the OP. I don't always remember to look back through the thread to check for HoF posts, so PM'ing me helps me keep track of them.
Baby do you dare to do this? 'Cause I'm coming at you like a dark horse~
Pokemon Showdown! Username: It's Lucy bby
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: None
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Krookodile :D
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Well, I always wanted to try out Krookodile because of the buffs it got. Last gen, it was a sweeper, but this gen, it seems more of a pivot now. Also, I wanted to use Krookodile over Landorus-T for once, so, sure why not?
I have an idea to do another fun thing with this thread. I was thinking at the end of the month I can make a list of all the teams that have made HoF (bronze to top 5). We could then discuss and vote on which team we think is the best. Nothing would be archived or anything, since we already have the HoF for that. I'm just throwing this idea out there, so I want to hear if you guys would want to do something like this.
I play under the username "Crowleone" and I have been using a team I constructed around Mega Heracross (with Murkrow, Excadrill, Heatran, Vaporeon and Thundurus) to ladder. I started using this team when I was around the 1600s, and I am happy to say I am currently in the TOP 10 of the OU ladder with a Rank of 1941.
Though I have a feeling I don't qualify for this since like I said, I started using this team when I was at the 1600s (even though laddering becomes hard precisely from that point on).
Here are a couple of my latest matches, I also beat the user Denissss when I was at the 1700s with this team, it crushes baton pass.
I play under the username "Crowleone" and I have been using a team I constructed around Mega Heracross (with Murkrow, Excadrill, Heatran, Vaporeon and Thundurus) to ladder. I started using this team when I was around the 1600s, and I am happy to say I am currently in the TOP 10 of the OU ladder with a Rank of 1941.
Though I have a feeling I don't qualify for this since like I said, I started using this team when I was at the 1600s (even though laddering becomes hard precisely from that point on).
Here are a couple of my latest matches, I also beat the user Denissss when I was at the 1700s with this team, it crushes baton pass.
I'm impressed that you managed to ladder that high with Murkrow, of all pokemon. That's a pretty cool team. While I think it would be great if you shared your experience with the team, and showcase the underused mons on it, I can't put it into the hall of fame out of fairness to the people who started from 1000 Elo.
I'm impressed that you managed to ladder that high with Murkrow, of all pokemon. That's a pretty cool team. While I think it would be great if you shared your experience with the team, and showcase the underused mons on it, I can't put it into the hall of fame out of fairness to the people who started from 1000 Elo.
I figured that would be the case, I understand completely.
Really like this initiative though, the most thrill I get out of playing this game is trying to be original and building teams that can fare off with more standard ones. Originality should always be encouraged imo.
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Drifblim is the main (0.06% usage ftw). Also has Meloetta, Magnezone, and Klefki, who are subject to change (they did not).
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Scyrrel
Dark Horse Pokemon: Drifblim, Magnezone, Meloetta, Klefki
Screenshot of 1650+ Elo on OU ladder:
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Scyrrel
Dark Horse Pokemon: Drifblim, Magnezone, Meloetta, Klefki
Screenshot of 1650+ Elo on OU ladder:
Description of team as a whole:
Klefki screens to help Drifblim tank all kinds of super effective attacks, then doubling all its offensive stats so it can sweep or pass them to a teammate to sweep.
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Well, I was just messing around with a new team and got a 20-0 record. Pretty good sign right?
(Too bad I have to start fresh.)
Anyway, the six members of the team are Drifblim, Meloetta, Magnezone, Zapdos, Klefki, and Garchomp.
Drifblim (0.06%):
You might be wondering what a Drifblim can do in OU, well, on my team it's a Baton Passer/Sweeper. With its sack of 150 HP, and some defensive EVs, it can do a decent job of surviving Super Effective hits, activating Weakness Policy. Since Drifblim has Unburden, hitting it super effectively is the equivalent of a Shell Smash, without the defense drops, though sadly the speed can't be passed. From there, Drifblim kills as much as it can, and when it runs out of steam, it passes to something else to take out a few more.
Klefki (2.29%):
This is my dual screener, to help Drifblim survive some of its hits that it's provoking. Also, Drifblim often has to take a few more hits if it tries sweeping, since it has no attack or special attack EVs (Drifblim is the first time I have made a pokemon set where I really feel so choked for all 6 stats that I ran a neutral nature). Often, I find Klefki uses its typing to come in on something that can't hurt it, set up a reflect as the opponent switches in a ground type like Excadrill, and I bring in Drifblim on the obvious Earthquake, then set up on the rock coverage. Klefki is a great emergency stop to enemy sweepers, with priority Thunder Wave and Screens, so it can valiantly sacrifice itself for a teammate to check the sweeper. Decent defense and Extreme speed+Brave Bird resistance means it can get those priority moves up against any sweeper.
Meloetta (0.34%):
Assault Vest Meloetta is a decent catch-all special tank that still hits really hard. She's a great Aegislash counter too. Anyway, the main reason I considered her for the team is to have a fast mixed attacker, basically as my second sweeper when Drifblim had to baton pass out. She's only 90 base speed before hitting Relic Song, but once she switches form, she has 128 base speed (EV'd only to creep Greninja though) and then Close Combats everything in sight, if she has a +2 boost.
Magnezone (1.81%):
No, I don't need to trap steel types. I actually use Magnezone as a wallbreaker-pivot combo. 12 Resistances/Immunities and 70/115/90 defenses make it great for switching into attacks, and 60 base speed lets it pivot out to a teammate safely. Max Special attack, Modest, Specs, and Analytic adds up to a lot of damage. Really, I've OHKO'd Scarf Rotom, just routinely switching out:
252+ SpA Choice Specs Analytic Magnezone Volt Switch vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Rotom-W: 231-273 (95.4 - 112.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
It's a very underrated set.
Zapdos (5.12%):
My first of two OU pokemon is one of my glue pokemon. Every team needs something that can take hits from Talonflame or you will get run over. Countering Mega Pinsir and stacking on another Aegislash counter on is nicely anti-meta as well. Zapdos is also my defogger, conveniently I don't have to worry too much about Bisharp switchins.
Garchomp (14.44%):
Ok, here, I was getting even lazier. I needed stuff to take on Charizard, so I put on Jolly Scarfchomp despite that I hate Garchomp, because it's one of the easiest pokemon to switch into a Charizard before you know its form. Garchomp is a physical attacker which I somewhat needed, considering the only other physical attacks I had were on two mixed attackers.
A couple of replays, which I will update every now and then, probably.
I have an idea to do another fun thing with this thread. I was thinking at the end of the month I can make a list of all the teams that have made HoF (bronze to top 5). We could then discuss and vote on which team we think is the best. Nothing would be archived or anything, since we already have the HoF for that. I'm just throwing this idea out there, so I want to hear if you guys would want to do something like this.
That would be interesting kind of like the OU teambuilding competition it could stimulate a lot more discussion about the Dark Horses in the community, I'm definitely for giving it a shot!
Also I'm bored so I'm starting another Dark Horse Challenge, remember how i said I could just use a trick room team... that's happening now...
Pokemon Showdown Username: Aceroomba
Dark Horses: Porygon2, Cresselia, Wobuffet, Exploud
Current Ladder Ranking: 1169
Explanation of Dark Horses
Porygon2: I've talked about porygon2 so much (hell its even my avatar) it is the trick room setter not really a dark horse just a necessary component of my team.
Cresselia: Cresselia is a great physical wall/ TR Setter from my experience but lacks offensive presence. I went for a Lunar Dance set as BellyJet Azumarill, Exploud and Wobuffet all appreciate the HP.
Wobuffet: I don't really know why I chose Wobuffet I just don't see it being used that often and I've been experimenting with Trappers on TR teams
Exploud: Based Exploud too stronk. Exploud is probably TR best auto win con. vs lots of teams with almost unresisted STAB + scrappy Boomburst everything dies.
These are just first impressions I'll write more as I continue to ladder.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Manpharos
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: Nada
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Ampharos, Jellicent, Jirachi.
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Ampharos is obscenely underrated, the thing has great bulk, 165 base special attack, and good coverage. It has more than enough positive traits to merit a spot in OU but many players don't use it just because it's too slow. I want to demonstrate that Ampharos's good bulk and special attack more than make up for it's lack of speed.
Jellicent is just glorious. Great bulk, Water/Ghost typing, great coverage (dazzling gleam, shadow ball, etc), and has trick room. Did I mention it gets water spout?
Jirachi is one all the older players are probably familiar with, it has godly typing, is easy to set up, has serene grace and can sweep underprepared teams. It also is great for taking down those pesky fairies.
I feel that all these pokemon have untapped potential and I want to exploit that, besides, I'm looking for ways to get more involved in the community and want to help diversify the metagame.
