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Temp V1 · Oct 2nd, 2012, 3:08:52 AM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Temp V5
Hall of Fame Standing: -
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Uxie
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 0

EDIT: Challenge completed, and qualified for Bronze :D

Proof of Bronze

Essay on how I chose Uxie

Have to say this was quite fun, it made me think outside the box a little as to exactly which Dark Horse I wanted to use. Instantly I thought it was Sableye, because I love using that thing in general OU, however through some testing with ganj4lF I discovered that it really wasn't working and so I decided to change the team up a bit. Originally it was an offensive rain team, with Sableye there as an annoyance factor and a check to certain stall threats, however when my tests on the beta and with ganj4 revealed it wasn't working I knew I had to change something. It was obvious that I needed a grass type to patch up my issues with Thundurus-T and Rotom, so I decided to add another Dark Horse; Celebi. This made me change the team to a more balanced team, and it worked alright in testing, however I still wasn't really satisfied with the overall results. It was to vulnerable to losing a match due to hax, which I believe no good team should be.

As most of you would know ganj4 was the first to complete this challenge, and I had spent a fair bit of time talking with him about his team, and his strategy. At one point he suggested I try a Hyper Offense team, because they were a lot less vulnerable to hax, and generally quite strong in the current metagame. I hadn't made a HO team since the days of BW1, but I did like the idea of giving it a go, and it worked perfectly. I didn't like HO when I first used it because my playstyle was more suited to stall/balance, although now it seems HO fits me perfectly.

Ganj4 gave me the formula for this HO team, and so I set to work on building my own. I knew that the place the start would be with a Dark Horse, as most of the mons which best fit on HO teams are very commonly used, and there are next to know offensive Dark Horses that work as well as some of OUs most used for a HO team. That lead me to thinking of the suicide role, there were plenty of horses that could fill the slot. To my amazement Deoxys-D qualified as a Dark Horse, with its usage being slightly over 4%. So I figured why not abuse that and use it. Then I realised that would sort of be defeating the purpose of the challenge, as its so close to not being a Dark Horse, that it might as well not be one. That along with the fact that it meant I didn't have to be creative at all, which would have kind of ruined this challenge for me. I was interested in Mew because of ganj4's success with it, although I wanted to try something more original, which eventually lead me to choosing Uxie.

How this thing is RU is beyond me, for the set I used alone it should at least be UU, and probably OU. Generally for a HO team you want the suicide lead to be either a hazard layer, or a dual screener. Uxie does both. Couple the great support move pool with 75/130/130 defenses, and you have yourself one hell of a support mon. Most people expect the typical Yawn/Stealth Rocks/T-Wave/U-Turn Uxie set, which worked perfectly to my advantage, as it never got Taunted during the first few turns, and people kept trying to set up on it. The set I ended up using was this:

Uxie @ Light Clay
Trait: Levitate
Timid Nature
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Sdef / 252 Spe
- Light Screen
- Reflect
- Stealth Rocks
- Momento

God damn this thing did so much work. I would lead with it 100% of the time, and on the first turn set up whichever of the two screens I felt would give it the most longevity to use its other moves. I would then proceed to set up the other screen if I knew it would live a few more turns, or use Stealth Rocks if I knew it would get KO'd next turn. After both screens where up I'd use rocks, and then finally Memento. So basically at the end of turn 4 the match looks something like this; I have both screens up, with at least 4 turns on each, I have rocks up, my opponent has his mon in, at either -2 attack and special attack, or higher if they were setting up, there may be some hazards on my side, and I have no poke up. So from turn 5 its 5-6, to my opponent, but I have the huge advantage, because his mon is now weakened, I have screens up, and I get to choose what I want to go into to set up with. I swear this Uxie is a fucking beast, and I strongly recommend a few of you give it a go. It is possibly the best HO lead in the meta at the moment, because of the utility, and the surprise factor allowing it to do its job 99% of the time.

As for the rest of my team:

The Team

I'll add my answers to the questions after dinner.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 3:08:52 AM	#8
Temp V1 Movin' at the speed of life and I can't slow down Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 111 Australia	Pokemon Showdown! Username: Temp V5 Hall of Fame Standing: - Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Uxie Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 0 EDIT: Challenge completed, and qualified for Bronze :D Proof of Bronze Essay on how I chose Uxie Have to say this was quite fun, it made me think outside the box a little as to exactly which Dark Horse I wanted to use. Instantly I thought it was Sableye, because I love using that thing in general OU, however through some testing with ganj4lF I discovered that it really wasn't working and so I decided to change the team up a bit. Originally it was an offensive rain team, with Sableye there as an annoyance factor and a check to certain stall threats, however when my tests on the beta and with ganj4 revealed it wasn't working I knew I had to change something. It was obvious that I needed a grass type to patch up my issues with Thundurus-T and Rotom, so I decided to add another Dark Horse; Celebi. This made me change the team to a more balanced team, and it worked alright in testing, however I still wasn't really satisfied with the overall results. It was to vulnerable to losing a match due to hax, which I believe no good team should be. As most of you would know ganj4 was the first to complete this challenge, and I had spent a fair bit of time talking with him about his team, and his strategy. At one point he suggested I try a Hyper Offense team, because they were a lot less vulnerable to hax, and generally quite strong in the current metagame. I hadn't made a HO team since the days of BW1, but I did like the idea of giving it a go, and it worked perfectly. I didn't like HO when I first used it because my playstyle was more suited to stall/balance, although now it seems HO fits me perfectly. Ganj4 gave me the formula for this HO team, and so I set to work on building my own. I knew that the place the start would be with a Dark Horse, as most of the mons which best fit on HO teams are very commonly used, and there are next to know offensive Dark Horses that work as well as some of OUs most used for a HO team. That lead me to thinking of the suicide role, there were plenty of horses that could fill the slot. To my amazement Deoxys-D qualified as a Dark Horse, with its usage being slightly over 4%. So I figured why not abuse that and use it. Then I realised that would sort of be defeating the purpose of the challenge, as its so close to not being a Dark Horse, that it might as well not be one. That along with the fact that it meant I didn't have to be creative at all, which would have kind of ruined this challenge for me. I was interested in Mew because of ganj4's success with it, although I wanted to try something more original, which eventually lead me to choosing Uxie. How this thing is RU is beyond me, for the set I used alone it should at least be UU, and probably OU. Generally for a HO team you want the suicide lead to be either a hazard layer, or a dual screener. Uxie does both. Couple the great support move pool with 75/130/130 defenses, and you have yourself one hell of a support mon. Most people expect the typical Yawn/Stealth Rocks/T-Wave/U-Turn Uxie set, which worked perfectly to my advantage, as it never got Taunted during the first few turns, and people kept trying to set up on it. The set I ended up using was this: Uxie @ Light Clay Trait: Levitate Timid Nature EVs: 252 HP / 4 Sdef / 252 Spe - Light Screen - Reflect - Stealth Rocks - Momento God damn this thing did so much work. I would lead with it 100% of the time, and on the first turn set up whichever of the two screens I felt would give it the most longevity to use its other moves. I would then proceed to set up the other screen if I knew it would live a few more turns, or use Stealth Rocks if I knew it would get KO'd next turn. After both screens where up I'd use rocks, and then finally Memento. So basically at the end of turn 4 the match looks something like this; I have both screens up, with at least 4 turns on each, I have rocks up, my opponent has his mon in, at either -2 attack and special attack, or higher if they were setting up, there may be some hazards on my side, and I have no poke up. So from turn 5 its 5-6, to my opponent, but I have the huge advantage, because his mon is now weakened, I have screens up, and I get to choose what I want to go into to set up with. I swear this Uxie is a fucking beast, and I strongly recommend a few of you give it a go. It is possibly the best HO lead in the meta at the moment, because of the utility, and the surprise factor allowing it to do its job 99% of the time. As for the rest of my team: The Team Uxie @ Light Clay Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd / 4 SDef Timid Nature - Memento - Stealth Rock - Light Screen - Reflect Breloom @ Life Orb Trait: Technician EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP Jolly Nature - Bullet Seed - Mach Punch - Spore - Swords Dance Latios (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP Timid Nature - Draco Meteor - Surf - Hidden Power [Fire] - Psyshock Terrakion @ Rock Gem Trait: Justified EVs: 252 Spd / 4 HP / 252 Atk Jolly Nature - Close Combat - Stone Edge - Substitute - Swords Dance Mamoswine @ Life Orb Trait: Thick Fat EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP Adamant Nature - Earthquake - Ice Shard - Icicle Crash - Superpower Lucario @ Life Orb Trait: Inner Focus EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP Jolly Nature - Close Combat - Crunch - ExtremeSpeed - Swords Dance I'll add my answers to the questions after dinner. Last edited by Temp V1; Oct 3rd, 2012 at 6:42:56 AM.