The Outsiders Challenge — Mk II

[ganj4lF]

Okay, thanks for the clarification - I'm editing my submission, tomorrow I'll start over with a new alt.

[Jobriq]

I updated my post with new score and screencap since I made it above the 1900 mark. I'm probably gonna stop there since I've been getting mostly +1's and my record is 66-6 which is cool or something because it's like 666 and my team is the devil?.... I don't know....

[Me So Shiny]

Originally Posted by Fat Jobriq

I updated my post with new score and screencap since I made it above the 1900 mark. I'm probably gonna stop there since I've been getting mostly +1's and my record is 66-6 which is cool or something because it's like 666 and my team is the devil?.... I don't know....

I too have ran into this problem, while I do not have quite the ranking. I am at 1711 but am getting +1's so I'm also gonna have to hang up the team.

[senegal]

new peak at 1878 with 41-2

going to try for the 1900 but these 1 pointers are killing me

edit: better new peak at 1905 with 46-2



I think what Im appreciating most from this challenge is the difference between pkmn with niche roles and those with much broader responsibilities. Many times I will sacrifice my Forry in the first 2 turns (thank god for the new Sturdy) just to get rocks up. However, I really needed Jellicent and Latias to be present throughout most of the match to even have a battle. I found so many Heatran and Jirachi on the ladder that were integral parts of opponents' teams that I nearly always treated them as passive threats, fully expecting the defensive sets. Heatran especially; I honestly only remember one or two using Fire Blast over Lava Plume.

[ganj4lF]

Challenge competed! Edited my submission -- thank you Harsha for the awesome challenge you proposed!

[JoshuaMunoz]

Name: JoshuaMunoz
Alt: Ditto 1
Ladder standing: ------

I never tried OU, only NU and UU. I wonder how I play, though I know that I'm gonna fail this challenge, lol.

[Ashley11]

Name: Ashley11
Alt: celeblast
Ladder standing: we will see

[The Great Mighty Doom]

Peak: 1934

Proof

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1. What did you think was the biggest challenge when not being allowed to use any of the restricted Pokemon? Was it overcomeable?
The team I used for this challenge started construction awhile ago, during the World Cup Of Pokemon and when I found this challenge, I saw that it fit the criteria perfectly and used it. So; no, not being able to use any of the constricted pokemon wasn't a problem.

2. How did you feel the challenge tested your metagame skill? Did it make playing much harder, or were you still able to leaderboard with relative ease.
The laddering portion was easy as always and I think the harder put for most people will be the teambuilding and looking for underrated threats that can check / dismantle the power houses of OU. Unfortunately for me my computer hates me and D/Cs in the middle of battles, so I suppose that added a bit of challenge, lol. However, on my new alt D/Cing was luckily alot more rare.

3. What is your opinion on how overpowered the Pokemon that you were not allowed to use, but were required to face? Were they too strong to deal with, are there metagame shifts you would consider to correct this? Please don't derail the thread with a constant debate over this point, only reply once you've won!
I didn't have any trouble with most of the threats, a few pokemon such as Genesect caused issues because some of their better checks I find myself using often in teams are in the banlist for this challenge eg. Jirachi and Heatran.

4. What team style did you use, and how did it fare against the metagame? Were there team styles you couldn't beat? (As an aside, please share your team with an importable! It'll be fun to disect those, and you may even be featured in a Smog article!)
I used a Bulky Offense Sand team based around a Stoutland sweep, utilizing Specs Magnezone to take out the steel types that resist Stoutland's STAB. It fared pretty great against the metagame and no particular playstyle caused any major issues. Here's the team: http://pastebin.com/tgB3S84f

5. What is your personal opinion on this challenge?
This was an awesome challenge that encouraged users to think outside the box when teambuilding, something I always try to do when making new teams and I encouage everyone to do the same. Also, the book this challenge is based on is pretty good as well :)

Originally Posted by Fat Harsha

I wanted to see what ways people used to deal with Tornadus-T, considering Jirachi, arguably its best counter, is banned.

I would say Specially Defensive Rotom-W is the second best counter to Tornadus-T, it shares similiar traits to Jirachi: High special defense, Resistance to Hurricane, and not being weak to any of it's other coverage moves under the rain (except for Grass Knot but Rotom-W is increidbly light so that does lol damage.)

I'll just put this here for Harsha's copy-pasting convenience:
The Great Mighty Doom - Kuni - 1941 -

[senegal]

ahh I was posting a new peak to reclaim my #1 spot, only to find Jobriq is actually 4 points above me anyways XD

1920 with 53-2

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[XKnightX]

Name: XKnightX
Alt: Unfaithful
Ladder standing: None yet!

[Lavos Spawn]

grats to Doom, senegal, Jobriq, and ganj4lf

also I'm #1 again pls edit good sir

[senegal]

not quite :P

okay this time Im really done for the night

tying Jobriq at 1937 with 58-2

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[ganj4lF]

Originally Posted by Fat The Great Mighty Doom

Ha! I battled you while laddering, and I was really amazed by your team, really nice and well built. The match ws quite close, although Latios pulled out a last pokemon sweep with Surf. Congrats anyway for the awesome team and the peak!

[Lavos Spawn]

wtf guys stop passing me, I have to sleep ya know

[Asterat]

Name: Asterat
Alt: turdz
Ladder Standing: 1144

[Harsha]

There are some Pokemon I've been meaning to ask about, so I'll see if anyone's been able to use these to any degree of success.


Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Focus Blast
- Psychic / Hidden Power Ice

I recently went on and tested this set on the ladder and it's been pretty hit-or-miss for me. In most of my battles it failed to accomplish anything other than just sitting there, but there were a few that it actually went off and 6-0ed the opponent. I've been wondering if anyone has had success with it to any degree, and if so, how useful has it been? Would you use it over another Pokemon?


Tornadus @ Flying Gem
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe, -SpA)
- Substitute
- Acrobatics
- Brick Break / Superpower
- Bulk Up / Heat Wave

Most people seem to have forgotten about Tornadus in the BW2 hype, but this set still has a niche over its successor, Tornadus-T, because of its access to Prankster and its higher Attack. I know ShakeItUp has found some success in BW2 with this set, so I'm wondering if anyone else has as well. If so, to what extent? Was it a sitting duck, or did it actually sweep? My BW1 experience with it leads me to believe that like Landorus, it is a hit-or-miss Pokemon.


Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpD
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

This is the Rotom-W set I've been testing out to check Tornadus-T and sponge Hurricanes, and it's actually been my MVP quite a few times. It discourages Ferrothorn switch-ins with Will-O-Wisp, has enough bulk to tank most hits, and has the offensive power and the typing to do enough damage. It's been pretty solid in all of my matches; has anyone else found success with this set?

Other Pokemon that I have been wondering about are Kingdra and Salamence. Both have pretty advantageous traits for the new metagame, whether it is due to its Ability or to its power. Has anyone had success on their team with these underrated Pokemon? They're all outsiders, so you're welcome to try them out!

[pieguy13]

Made a new PS account. It's in my post on the first page so you can update the OP with it.

[Grape Drink 2.0]

Name: Grape Drink 2.0
Alt: Hypocrite
Ladder standing: None yet

[Jobriq]

Hey, PS ladder.... GOML

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It took me more battles going from 1900 to 1950 than from 0 to 1900 ._.
Also, the OP shows my team having Jellicent but that should be a Skarmory(I don't really know how to insert those little images)
Responding to Harsha's post, I was actually going to build a team with special Lando since I hit the 1950 point, but I was going to use sludge wave(lol) since its boosted by sheer force and has a nice base power and I've also thought about HP flying since it gets STAB but HP ice is kinda needed for flying types. Although Sheer Force Lando doesn't need to be in sand, I think it will work best there as it can act as a lure by using a mixed Ebelt set. He could also be used on VoltTurn teams but those seem to be less common these days.

[TropiOUs]

This sounds fun

Name: TropiOUs
Alt: -MLG-Trop
Ladder standing:1850(damn +1 and running out of bonus pool).

Ladder Screenshot

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Answer to questions coming soon.

[senegal]

got to 1947 trying to catch Jobriq, then took 3 losses in a row and I dont know if I have the interest/energy/ability to climb back up! Fun challenge though, maybe Ill try it with a drastically different team

[XKnightX]

I just reached 1850 but I can't seem to find a way to post my screenshot. Does anyone know what to do?

Edit Here's the Screenshot(thanks The Great Mighty Doom)

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Name: XKnightX
Alt: Unfaithful
Ladder Standing: 1850

What did you think was the biggest challenge when not being allowed to use any of the restricted Pokemon? Was it overcomeable?

I think the biggest challenge was having one of the banned Pokemon be a good fit and then having to find something else. In the end I was able to make a team that did not really need one of the banned Pokemon

How did you feel the challenge tested your metagame skill? Did it make playing much harder, or were you still able to leaderboard with relative ease.

I think it definitely challenged my metagame skill since I'm not very good. Playing was a bit harder since there are many big threats to watch out for but laddering wasn't too bad(except for those matches where I lost points for winning).

What is your opinion on how overpowered the Pokemon that you were not allowed to use, but were required to face? Were they too strong to deal with, are there metagame shifts you would consider to correct this? Please don't derail the thread with a constant debate over this point, only reply once you've won!

Some Pokemon were very strong and I had to play well to beat them. Tornadus-T was really annoying since it could just spam Hurricane. Thundurus-T was tough to deal with since I have no Electric resists but I didn't face too many.

What team style did you use, and how did it fare against the metagame? Were there team styles you couldn't beat?

I used an offensive team with Trick Room. It has a bunch of flaws but it still worked out well. I found some Rain teams to be problematic since I have only one Water resist on my team and no Electric resists. My team did well against some offensive teams because Reuniclus would set up Trick Room and sweep. Here's my team: http://pastebin.com/Ugf5ujq4 It's not great but it's fun to use.

What is your personal opinion on this challenge?

I liked the challenge and thought it was a good way to use some Pokemon that weren't used as much. I'll continue to play with this team and hopefully get a bit higher.

[toshimelonhead]

Name: toshimelonhead
Alt: t_oshi
Ladder standing: 1492

[The Great Mighty Doom]

Originally Posted by Fat Harsha

Rotom-W @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 100 Def / 160 SpD
Calm Nature (+SpD, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

This is the Rotom-W set I've been testing out to check Tornadus-T and sponge Hurricanes, and it's actually been my MVP quite a few times. It discourages Ferrothorn switch-ins with Will-O-Wisp, has enough bulk to tank most hits, and has the offensive power and the typing to do enough damage. It's been pretty solid in all of my matches; has anyone else found success with this set?

I absolutely love this set, I've been using it on my sand team since the introduction of BW2 and it's easily one of the best defensive pivots in the game. However, I personally prefer 248 HP / 32 Def / 228 SDef or 248 HP / 32 SAtk / 228 SDef. This allows you to live a max damage Specs Draco Meteor from Hydreigon and then take a huge chunk out of Hydreigon with Pain Split, this is great for teams that don't really have anything to lead with against Specs Hydreigon, such as my own, which is likely considering you're using Rotom-W to take special hits on that team in the first place.

Originally Posted by Fat XKnightX

I just reached 1850 but I can't seem to find a way to post my screenshot. Does anyone know what to do?

Just go to the ladder page and scroll to your name on PS and then click the "Print Screen" button (on my keyboard this button is on the top row next to Scroll Lock and the F1-12 buttons), then you simply open up paint (start --> all programs --> accessories --> paint), right click then paste or hit ctrl V and the picture of your ladder peak should appear on the screen, then save it, then upload it to tinypic and finally copy paste the picture into your post.

[The Great Mighty Doom]

I started up a new alt and I'm currrently at 1906 with a record of 50-2. I updated OP with my new peak and screenshot.