Aww. it's so nice to see this project again. I'm very much looking forward to it
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Miss K.
Hall of Fame Standing: Archives (4 times) BW2: Success
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working with: Kingdra
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: ACRE- 2255 Glicko2- 2339
Sucess
Updated ladder position
Team I used
Kingdra (M) @ Choice Specs
Trait: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Dragon Pulse
- Draco Meteor
- Sleep Talk
This set is breloom's worst nightmare. While I didn't initially think of breloom when I decided on using Kingdra, I realized that I might as well use sleep talk as the final move since it doesn't really need any other coverage moves (besides maybe hp fire, but the rest of my team more than adequately deals with ferrothorn). Hydro pump is devastatingly powerful in the rain, still potent in the sand, and threatens even most things that resist it. Draco Meteor also deals massive amounts of damage. Dragon pulse is basically for situations where I'm in the rain and have an opportunity to sweep a weakened enemy team. The way I go about handling breloom is switching kingdra in on the obvious spore. As it tries to set up, it's going to get hit by either a dragon pulse, draco meteor, or hydro pump. Draco meteor 1hkos unquestionably, dragon pulse does about 96% so sand damage will finish it off, and Hydro pump is a guaranteed 2hko. With hydro pump, Kingdra is going to quite a lot of damage from the mach punch, but will survive with enough health to finish breloom off.
Link to my RMT:
Dreaming of Meteor Showers
How did you choose your Dark Horse Pokemon for this project? What lead you to choose the Pokemon you did? Did you have regrets or were you happy with your selection? I just looked at the usage statistics and saw kingdra, so I decided to use it.
How did you go about building a team for your Dark Horse Pokemon? Which kinds of teammates did you consider? What factors contributed to the team you created? The two things I considered most were "What pokemon can I use to cover kingdra's weaknesses?" and "What pokemon should I use to allow kingdra to more easily perform its role." I'll go into more detail about that in my RMT as soon as I finish it.
Do you think it is more difficult or less difficult to ladder with a Dark Horse Pokemon? Why? Does the element of surprise play a factor in your battles? Is it easier to fight with a "highly used"" team or with Pokemon that are less common? For me, I really like laddering with a dark horse. The surprise element that a dark horse gives your team can very frequently make the difference between a lost match and a victory.
(For Hall of Fame members only) How did you reach the Hall of Fame? Was it easy or difficult? Did having a Dark Horse Pokemon on your team benefit you? What advice would you give to those laddering with Dark Horse Pokemon? It was incredibly easy. Kingdra is absolutely amazing and I thoroughly recommend it. My biggest piece of advice would be to not be too caught up in using a team full of standard sets or teams that you've copied from successful RMTs. I say that because whenever I recognize a team that someone has copied, it becomes incredibly easy to beat since I know exactly what sets they are running and even have access to the RMT they used for a reference. Like I said previously, having at least one surprise, unexpected twist on your team is, in my opinion, essential to climbing high on the ladder.