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That's how I've always done it for all attacks, combos or not, but since there appears to be an official way to do it now regarding Combos (I was unaware of this, my mistake), I will edit the previous Round. Stand by.
Will Powers, begin with Sand Tomb, then Taunt, and finish with a Chill.
IF Gastrodon uses Double Team action 1, Bind it in place to prevent it from making clones, then continue with actions.
IF Gastrodon uses Protect on action 2, Chill, then Taunt.
Sand Tomb ~ Taunt ~ Chill
IF Gastrodon uses Double Team action 1, Bind it in place to prevent it from making clones.
IF Gastrodon uses Protect action 2, Chill, then Taunt.
I feel robbed...Oh well, despite the inconsistency, I'll take it like a man & move on... :(
"Alrightio Sleast, this is where economy comes into play, & we take full advantage of our opponent while their energy levels are low. Scratch-destroy the substitute with a Sand-Force boosted Mud-Slap A1. Then use Scald in an attempt to burn the Steelix. Then finish up by pummeling the Steelix with a Sand-Force boosted Earth Power."
Now faster than its entombed foe, Will Powers whips up even more sand with a Sand Tomb just before Sleast flaps up and down to send a delicate but still terrifying Sand Force-boosted Mud-Slap its way, destroying its Substitute that it has had for a very long time! Will then arrogantly Taunts Sleast, who already has its eyes on the prize and goes for an offensive strike with a powerful Scald attack! Reeling, Will is forced to Chill due to the intensity of the battle, but Sleast will not let up the pressure and connects from beyond its sandy vortex nightmare dungeon with a crippling Earth Power that puts Will in a really tight spot!
Just a couple of minor nitpicks, Sleast should have 2 less HP than before (65-(9+(2*3))=50) & you haven't factored in Sturdy for any of Gastro's attacks. At any rate...
"Well Deck Knight, I'm afraid this is where it all ends for you. Even with Endure shenanigans, I'm afraid you simply cannot deal enough damage by my calcs. Sleast, time to wrap this up I guess...Begin with a Scald, follow up with a Mud Slap. Finish with another Scald. If he's Enduring & using Bide, replace the action he used Bide with Sludge, & the next with Body Slam."
Scald > Mud-Slap > Scald
(Once only) IF Will Powers uses Endure A1...
AND would use Bide successfully A2 or A3, THEN Replace the action Bide was used with Sludge, AND replace the following action (If there is any actions left for the round) with Body Slam
AND would use Flail (Combo or not) successfully A2 or A3, THEN replace the action Flail was first used with Dig & push actions back (If illegal for whatever reason/this would count as too many subs, ignore this sub (Flail one))
Sleast should still have -1 Spe, since I used Rock Tomb at the end of Round 5, and 4 actions haven't elapsed since it had the speed lowering effect (the first action of R7 would be the fourth action Rock Tomb's Speed lower went into effect). That said, this would affect IAR's actions because of lower speed, so he should have a chance to re-issue attacks.
Apart from making my substitution "less exploitable", I'm fine with my current actionset, as the speed only stays lowered until the end of A1 anyway. Over to you DK.
Apart from making my substitution "less exploitable", I'm fine with my current actionset, as the speed only stays lowered until the end of A1 anyway. Over to you DK.
Well actually, it stays till the end of the round (since that's when it does the stat check to readjust) but uh, OK.
Will Powers, it's probably true we can't win... but I do so love a good draw (see: tournament matches). We've got a 30% chance of that.
Will Powers, begin with Endure, then Flail, and finish up with Explosion. Since we can't be Energy KO'd after Endure, we might as well finish with a sacrifice.
Okay I went back and forth on how to ref this Round and ended up with the following. I'll be more than willing to make changes if there are rules somewhere I'm not aware of that would change the way this Round played out, but for now this is what is going on.
Will Endures for the final throw, bracing itself for Sleast's incoming Scald attack! As the Sand Tomb dissipates, Will Flails for huge damage as it violently swings its massive tail around! It gets to be too much for Sleast, who Digs underground to wait for Will to calm down, coming up moments later for an attack that just cannot seem to KO the wild metal snake! Then, Will, tries for an Explosion, but it doesn't have enough energy and the move fails oh no! Sleast comes back with another Scald, but the raging Steelix is still somehow with it enough to battle!
And with but soft-palmed Mud-Slap, Sleast is able to take down the mighty Will Powers, bringing the match to an end in the favor of ASB's new Ground-type Gym Leader, Its_A_Random! Congratulations!
Grats IAR! That was one monster of an epically awesome battle, and I think every single ASBer can learn something from both of your brilliant ploys and strategies.
Firstly, I'd like to say gg to DK. He has been a valiant opponent & being ASB's creator, this was never going to be an easy fight. He has put up an excellent opposition & never gave in until the end. This was a close fight & I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite some minor glitches (Read: Ice Beam combo).
Next, I'd like to say thanks to Korski for reffing. Despite a couple of hiccups, this was a good reffing job & yeah. Thanks for reffing, much appreciated as usual.
All in all, this was a high quality battle that signifies the advantages of attacking second & how crucial it is to take advantage of it, while trying your best to minimise the advantage when going first. Despite this, I would admit, & DK would probably admit, we both made a few mistakes. My mistakes came first in the second round, where the Protect Sub should've been more specific, then on Round 6, where I was working on the assumption that the combo would deal reduced damage, for consistency's sake, & the lack of codification (I think there is...) whether last-ditch moves like that would deal full, reduced, or no damage. The mistake I could see on DK's part that really defined the battle was when DK went to use Rock Polish on Torterra, which then went into Round 5, where he went for the Wood Hammer without subbing for Counter. That, I believe, was the real crucial mistake that put me in the box seat to win this.
This was a high-pressure battle that will probably be one for the books/archives/whatever. Now comes the hard part. I'm relieved that I, as the (almost certainly) underdog heading into this, managed to win this. While I have got the win & the job, I now must have to deal with the same thing all the other confirmed GL's have to put up with...And make an arena that isn't broken, lol...
Thanks to those who supported me, the referee, & my opponent. Now to claim the spoils.
Congratulations to both for an incredible battle, and to IAR as the new Ground Gym Leader - I look forward to wreaking my revenge on you and claiming your badge!
I guess I might as well explained what happened there with that Ice Beam Combo.
I've been doing the damage/energy thing for a while now for attacks that cannot afford the energy cost of the move they are using. I brought it up in an earlier SotG and no one seemed to object to it then, and I haven't received any complaints about it until this match regarding the Combo. Deck Knight brought up a codified rule that allowed Combo moves to be performed so long as they can afford the (EN + (EN+4)) cost (regardless of the 2x multiplier). The Poke would still faint from energy loss, but the attack would still be released at full strength. This is why Deck Knight was correct in correcting my reffing and allowing Gastrodon to do full damage to Gliscor. Now, in Round 4 when Firmoise used Wood Hammer, it didn't have enough energy to afford the move, and so it didn't have enough energy to perform the move at full strength. I hope you can see the difference.
Of course there was no way to predict that I would ref it that way; obviously, I reffed it a different way originally. But as they say, "ignorance of the law is no excuse" or something like that, and there was, in fact, a codified rule in support of DK's argument over my original reffing material and it was, in my opinion, consistent with the way I've been reffing these scenarios in the past. So that's what happened. Thank you, IAR, for being gracious and not making a huge stink about it (I assume it's because you were fairly certain of a win at that point), but I still think I owe you and anyone else wondering an explanation of my thought process. Great battle, guys; it was an honor to ref it and you both battled in a way deserving of the ASB Gym League! And congratulations, IAR!