Approved by Sweep, Concept ~kind of~ stolen from LightningLuxray who allegedly stole it from Mazz
Shaian give me art sometime within the next decade or so
The Next Best Thing
Shaian give me art sometime within the next decade or so
The Next Best Thing
I think that most of us have made an original set at some point in our competitive Pokemon careers. It's common practice for newer players to create new sets before someone refers them to Smogon, and certainly it's even common in high levels of play, such as SPL, where players will design new and interesting sets custom-made to beat their opponent for a designated week on a pretty regular basis. We might remember Hidden Power Fire Mega Gengar from last SPL, or Double Team Gothitelle from last Ubers Open. Creative and inspired sets like these, though they might be scoffed at and may even be deemed outright unviable by certain people at certain points in time, help shape the metagame. But these sets often don't get the exposure they deserve; they aren't always featured on analyses, and many sit in players' teambuilders for generations, only very occasionally seeing the light of day in archives or the rare "past generation" tournament settings. These sets deserve more love, which is why I created this thread.
So here's how it'll work. Each week, I'll nominate a Pokemon from any given generation (but with an emphasis on generations 4-6 because I don't know enough about earlier gens to tell what might make an interesting choice; if someone could shoot me ideas on PS!, IRC, or Smogon, that would be wonderful) and our wonderful community will post creative or interesting sets for it. The sets can't be featured in main slashes of any analyses of the Pokemon picked, even if they're only in the process of being put on-site. I'd prefer if you'd make the sets yourself, but I guess you can post things from AC/OO if you feel like they don't get enough exposure. If you feel that you're the original creator of a set that's put in an analysis/being put in an analysis and want to make a case for it here then, by all means, go ahead. Participants will be given five days to post sets, with discussion on them heavily encouraged throughout, and on the 6th and 7th day in a 7-day time period, we will all vote on whatever sets we like the most. Factors to keep in mind when voting are creativity, effectiveness, and splashability on a team (Splashability essentially means this: if someone nominates, say, Protect Heatran for BW, we'll know that it can't be slotted on an archetype like offense but that it has a niche on a decent number of balanced teams and is therefore splashable on a decent number of balanced teams). Once the votes are tallied and a winner is determined, we'll start on the eighth day with a new Pokemon and the process repeats. Bear in mind that consistently winning or posting well might certainly contribute to the acquisition of a reward down the road.
Now, please don't post outright gimmicks or attempt to troll in this thread. If I nominate Deoxys-A, for instance, I don't want anyone posting a set like Cosmic Power. It's not funny and it derails discussion of sets with legitimate niches. I don't mean to scare newer players out of posting, but please use common sense; if the set only has a niche on your one very specific team and probably won't find one on another team, please don't post it. And it's important to remember that there's a fine line between "creative" and "gimmicky"; I want to encourage the posting of creative, outside-the-box sets, not crazy lures that only handle an uncommon Pokemon some of the time or something random and useless like Wacan Berry Ho-Oh. To quote the original OP: "I am looking for sets that test what we think we know about checks or counters, so-called standards, and what it means to be viable. Maybe a particular option for a Pokemon looks inferior at first glance for that particular Pokemon, but dig deeper and try and find what it might mean in the big picture, for the entire team."
This week's Pokemon is:
ORAS Latias
Credit to whoever drew this and posted it on deviantart ^_^
Credit to whoever drew this and posted it on deviantart ^_^
Past weeks-
Latios (M) @ Soul Dew
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 SpA / 176 Spe [Outspeeds max speed Palkia, but you can tailor it to your team]
Timid Nature
- Tailwind
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock / Defog / Roost / Filler
- Defog / Roost
Running Tailwind on Latios enables both it and other members of its team to outrun threats that would otherwise outspeed and potentially be a problem; Notable examples include Gengar-Mega, Salamence-Mega, and Scarf Zekrom, all of which would be able to put Latios in a bad position otherwise. Latios is great for this role because its natural special bulk and great defensive typing allow it to find opportunities to switch in, and once it's in it can find spare turns by exploiting its tremendous offensive presence. This set works best on bulky offense, especially in conjunction with slower nukes like Tank Ho-oh, Spec/Primal Kyogre, and MixQuaza. Where HO would normally be able to pressure you by outspeeding and threatening with powerful attacks, Tailwind enables your bulky offensive team to take them on with increased ease.
Tailwind Giratina-O
This Giratina-o set is just something i thought could be interesting and fun to try.
Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 128 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Claw / Outrage
- Shadow Sneak
- Tailwind
- Destiny Bond
The main focus of this set is for Giro to support the team and itself with Tailwind, with the added speed Destiny Bond can be an interesting and effective move to use, the other two moves are just dual stab, the speed EVs allow Giro to outspeed Timid/Jolly Base 100 scarfers, the attack is maxed for the best possible damage output and the rest is put into HP for extra bulk, (ik there are 4 EVs missing because as Problems said they can be added to Def or Spdef depending on what your team doesn't want Genesect gaining a Download boost)
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