The Dark Horse Project IV - Page 2

ganj4lF · Oct 2nd, 2012, 12:04:44 PM

Did a speed run of the challenge since I don't know if I have time to retry it; my schedule will be pretty busy in the next weeks. Prolly could have played better and lost less battles (although hax is always ready to ruin everything...) but still was fun and interesting. I used the same team that got me into 1880s for the Outsiders Challenge, since I really enjoyed building and playing it (thinking about an RMT on the topic). Edited the original post with proof. And, first to the finish line!

***Birkal**** · Oct 2nd, 2012, 1:53:01 PM

Yep! My apologies for being unclear. The Dark Horse Project runs off of the past month's statistics, not the past three. Consider your selections from this post. Anything under 5% on the Overused stats for September is fair game.

And in response to ginganinja's run: you need a standard deviation lower than 80. For those of you reading this who don't know what that means, it's the number after the ± on your Glicko2 rating. You need that to make the leaderboard anyways, so this should be self explanatory. Remember, if you have any questions, let us know!

Master of the Six Kings · Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:13:45 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: MCHammerArm
Hall of Fame Standing: None with current team, #20 previously
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Mew
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: None

**Pocket** · Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:20:13 PM

GANJ4LF!!!! You are too fast xD Find some time to ladder, since you'll easily get into Silver Class at this rate.

Btw, the ladder points is referring to Glicko2 rating, so you actually have 1977, NOT 1865!

I'm glad that Mew set worked for you, although your Memento set was also awesome in giving your Sweepers the set-up opportunities they need. Which Pokemon worked better for you?

PS: ginganinja u nub, you need to reach top 100

Patolegend! · Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:23:34 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: El Dark Frog
Dark Horse Pokemon: Abomasnow
Screenshot of Top 100 Ladder Ranking: http://tinypic.com/r/mb32tz/6 (Rank 44, 1956 ACRE, 2056 +- 72 Glicko)
Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set:

Finally found time, and made it!

EL DARK FROG

Rocky (Toxicroak) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Dry Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch

An absolute menace with the right support (rain), and very impressive in previous metas, with the new drain punch tutor he becomes a true beast, easing its woes in other weathers.

Team

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've liked 'Croak for a while, having had him in many of my teams. He's amazing in rain, but requires a lot of prediction. The hell of sucker punching a Celebi, only to have it fail and twave you is irritating to say the least. He is excellent against threats such as terrakion, latios, dragonite, and countless others. The amount of times defensive Gliscor stayed in to get ice punched was endless.

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?

I already had a team featuring him before hand, so I just had to make a few tweaks to that.

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?

Croak worked well for what I needed him for. I thought he might be outclassed by Keldeo, but his typing and recovery where absolutely essential. He served as my main check to Terrakion, allowing me to switch to Tornadus-T if earthquake was coming, as well as Conkeldurr if Tornadus was out of action. Many players simply didn't know what to expect either, as it isn't as common, so I guess the surprise factor played its part.

(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?

I was close to the top 100 when the ladder reset, and I found it difficult afterwards, due to Garchomp coming down, and the combination of Chomp-Gene-Trio appearing on every team.

I'm gonna carry on with this team to see if I can take it higher, as it's pretty fun to play with! I'll update the post again if I do.

**Pocket** · Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:38:16 PM

Master of Six Kings, ganj4lf just reached HoF with Mew, so it's off-limits now D:

**Jirachi** · Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:57:21 PM

pokemon showdown username: steven stamkos
hall of fame standing: none
dark horse pokemon currently working with: shaymin
current ladder standing on pokemon showdown: none

ganj4lF · Oct 2nd, 2012, 3:05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Pocket

I'm glad that Mew set worked for you, although your Memento set was also awesome in giving your Sweepers the set-up opportunities they need. Which Pokemon worked better for you?

They both have their merits, however I find Mew more consistent since it can dish out damage to a wider range of threats and does not depend on a Fire Gem to OHKO threats like Scizor or the likes. Also I appreciate the fact that nothing can safely switch and spin, Starmie was really annoying when I was using Uxie since it just switched and forced me to risk Gengar or to play without SR. Also, while Memento eases set-ups, I rarely found myself taking full advantage of it. Many threats aren't OHKO'd by +2 Espeed (Terrakion for example), thus I found myself throwing out attacks to avoid being forced to switch, and this basically gave away the usefulness of Memento since there are many other ways to get a free switch without sacrificing a poke. Keldeo can get a CM up, but then what you're gonna do if they switch into Latios, Tornadus or even Tentacruel? Again, you're forced to just attack to avoid having wasted a turn for a +1 that you cannot take advantage of. This, added to the fact that Mew can come in later to set up SR again, be foddered, or whatnot, pull off a little sweep (it does also that, against unprepared opponents...) makes me conclude that overall Mew is quite better, although that Uxie set was really lovely!

And, about continue laddering...my net just decided to screw my laddering attempt and crashed five f*****g times in 15 minutes, basically destroying my rating. I may start up again with a fresh alt if I find the time (is that allowed right?), although I'm kinda satisfied with the current result. After all, laddering up to 1850+ once could be due to luck, but doing that two times means the team is not that bad at all!

SubakSupreme · Oct 2nd, 2012, 3:07:41 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Monsey
Hall of fame standing:-
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Sharpedo
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: ARCE: 2004, Glicko 2: 2135

For some reason I can't find my rank on the leader bored.
Ranking

Miles Tails · Oct 2nd, 2012, 3:35:21 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Ashirogi Muto
Hall of fame standing:-
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Xatu
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:nothing yet

SlimMan · Oct 2nd, 2012, 4:06:45 PM

Yo, so I am finally home, and ready to ladder.

The OP was posted less than 12 hours ago, and we already have people making the HoF. A lot of people probably haven't even noticed this thread yet. I feel like there oughta be a 24-hour grace period, in which multiple people can enter the HoF with the same Pokemon. This would prevent there being any "victims of schedule", who simply weren't able to start the challenge before then.
For those who can't tell, I'm ranting that Sandslash is gone and I haven't even gotten the chance to do a single battle yet. Yes, I am proposing this for personal gain. But you can't deny that it is actually unfair to anyone in my situation.

edit: Changing my alt to Windbreake, because Rainboots Dark Horse got stolen because I neglected to choose a password for it this morning...

ClubbingSealCub · Oct 2nd, 2012, 4:49:12 PM

oh god I am so sorry D: at least you still have Metagross

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Birkal

Yep! My apologies for being unclear. The Dark Horse Project runs off of the past month's statistics, not the past three. Consider your selections from this post. Anything under 5% on the Overused stats for September is fair game.

Could the list be updated then, please? It currently says Landorus-T is not eligible but on the September-only statistics he barely makes the cut (4,9%) and, let's be honest, LanDog is pretty cool. I'm pretty sure there are 1 or 2 more mons in this "limbo".

EDIT: Actually, only Metagross is in the "limbo" with Lando-T and he's already been brought up. Derp.

EDIT2: Keldeo is now an eligible "Dark Horse". How fitting.

EDIT3:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat SlimMan

It's fine :P
I was only mad because I've been using Metagross and Sandslash on my team forever. I didn't actually build a team for this, I'm just using the same old one I've been using for like a month. Basically, I'm lazy and wanted to have Sandslash so that I wouldn't have to make a team.

That puts us at the same level of lazyness, lol :P

alkinesthetase · Oct 2nd, 2012, 4:52:08 PM

I corrected my list appropriately with Birkal's update about half an hour ago, but lando-t has just enough usage in one of the two percentages to break the 5% barrier. (Compare to keldeo, who has just enough usage in the OTHER percentage.) I chose to cut them both and put them on the list for consistency's sake, and since they were also above 5% in the 3-month stats, it felt logical to me. Basically I was looking at them thinking "okay can I justify cutting one but not the other?" and it was 2 percentages out of 3 being over 5%, so the easiest thing was to take them both.

Here are the Sept-only stats right at the bottom of the barrel (left being percent usage, right being percent real usage):

Code:

 | 45   | Keldeo             | 31591  |  5.097% | 24245  |  4.823% | 
 | 46   | Landorus-Therian   | 30597  |  4.936% | 25693  |  5.111% | 
 | 47   | Metagross          | 30310  |  4.890% | 24557  |  4.885% |

And here are the 3-month stats for those same mons:

Code:

 | 45   | Keldeo             |  5.183% |
 | 46   | Landorus-Therian   |  5.087% |
 | 47   | Metagross          |  5.025% |

Metagross is legal now though, definitely.

SlimMan · Oct 2nd, 2012, 5:27:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat ClubbingSealCub

oh god I am so sorry D: at least you still have Metagross

It's fine :P
I was only mad because I've been using Metagross and Sandslash on my team forever. I didn't actually build a team for this, I'm just using the same old one I've been using for like a month. Basically, I'm lazy and wanted to have Sandslash so that I wouldn't have to make a team.
But you're right, I still got Meta.

edit: PS! ladder is down for me, so I'll come back to laddering in a few hours... man I missed this since March

Instynct · Oct 2nd, 2012, 5:39:00 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: esrohkrad
Hall of Fame Standing: none
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Mienshao/Xatu
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: none

Going to be using a Volt-Turn team as they got some nice new toys in Genesect and Landorus - T

Miles Tails · Oct 2nd, 2012, 5:52:42 PM

Well come to ask you something, I just did my first fight and looks just the way my rating went up, I wonder if even with this growth rater of absurdity should still continue to ladder.

PRINT

Jimbon · Oct 2nd, 2012, 6:12:32 PM

Here was my attempt at it, I had one free evening and I went about 30-6 or something.

ladder thing

I was using Lanturn for this challenge, a ResTalk set that worked amazingly well, especially against the Rain Teams that I was seeing a lot. Lanturn is hands down one of the best answers to the combination of Tornadus-T / Thundurus-T / Genesect, and it was really fun to use. I really didn't have any trouble against Rain, but Sun was a pretty difficult matchup. Basically my team was just random hyper offense with a Lanturn for Rain. I had a Rock Polish Landorus for Sun, and Specs Keldeo / Scarf Genesect / Sub SD Terrakion core, with a lead Mew. Hyper Offense was something I've never used before, but it worked pretty damn well. I'm thinking it's the best weatherless playstyle to use, as it performs well against most weather teams. The MVP of this team was definitely Lanturn. Honestly, if you need something for Rain, use this. I definitely need to start using Hyper Offense more, it's crazy fun to use. Thanks for Birkal, Pocket, ginganinja and alkinesthetase for setting this up, and everyone else involved it. I might ladder at a later time to see how much higher I can get, we'll see.

team i used

The Reptile · Oct 2nd, 2012, 6:43:47 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: BattleToads
Hall of Fame Standing: None
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Toxicroak
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: Haven't started. :P

Boondocker · Oct 2nd, 2012, 6:55:26 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Jizz in My Pants
Hall of Fame Standing:
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Wobbufet
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:

Grape Drink 2.0 · Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:04:45 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Heart of Justice
Hall of Fame Standing: None yet
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Landorus-Therian
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:1000

alkinesthetase · Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:06:30 PM

Lando-T very narrowly misses the cutoff - one of its sept-only percentages is above 5%, the other is below, and since its 3-month percentage is above 5% as well it's not an eligible dark horse, sorry

Electrolyte · Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:13:00 PM

PS! Username: ElectrolyteDH
Hall of Fame Standing: Pending
Dark Horse: COBALION (couldn't even find him on the usage list)
Current ladder ranking: 1000

DrunkDemon · Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:26:43 PM

PS! Username: Cossack
Hall of Fame Standing: None
Dark Horse: Froslass
Current Ladder Ranking: None yet

Changing name since my ranking has sort of stalled after a loss streak.

MaximizedGamer · Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:30:04 PM

Pokemon Showdown! Username: MaximizedGamer-TDH
Hall of Fame Standing: none
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Rotom-Frost
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 1263 [12/12/0]

Lady Alex · Oct 2nd, 2012, 8:11:21 PM

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.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 1:53:01 PM	#27
*Birkal We have the technology. Super Moderator** Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 3,013 The Mentor	Yep! My apologies for being unclear. The Dark Horse Project runs off of the past month's statistics, not the past three. Consider your selections from this post. Anything under 5% on the Overused stats for September is fair game. And in response to ginganinja's run: you need a standard deviation lower than 80. For those of you reading this who don't know what that means, it's the number after the ± on your Glicko2 rating. You need that to make the leaderboard anyways, so this should be self explanatory. Remember, if you have any questions, let us know! __________________

Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:20:13 PM	#29
Pocket Bakuman ;< Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 7,177 Bergenfield	GANJ4LF!!!! You are too fast xD Find some time to ladder, since you'll easily get into Silver Class at this rate. Btw, the ladder points is referring to Glicko2 rating, so you actually have 1977, NOT 1865! I'm glad that Mew set worked for you, although your Memento set was also awesome in giving your Sweepers the set-up opportunities they need. Which Pokemon worked better for you? PS: ginganinja u nub, you need to reach top 100 __________________ Dark Horse Project: Conquer the Ladder! \| Word of Wisdom for Trainers \| Smogon Doubles: Let's Make It Official!

Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:23:34 PM	#30
Patolegend! Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 23	Pokemon Showdown! Username: El Dark Frog Dark Horse Pokemon: Abomasnow Screenshot of Top 100 Ladder Ranking: http://tinypic.com/r/mb32tz/6 (Rank 44, 1956 ACRE, 2056 +- 72 Glicko) Dark Horse Pokemon Complete Set: Finally found time, and made it! EL DARK FROG Rocky (Toxicroak) (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Dry Skin EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature - Swords Dance - Sucker Punch - Drain Punch - Ice Punch An absolute menace with the right support (rain), and very impressive in previous metas, with the new drain punch tutor he becomes a true beast, easing its woes in other weathers. Team Frogface (Politoed) (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Drizzle EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk - Hydro Pump - Ice Beam - Perish Song - Surf Stampy (Mamoswine) (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Thick Fat EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd Jolly Nature - Stealth Rock - Ice Shard - Earthquake - Icicle Spear Ringo Starr (Jirachi) @ Leftovers Trait: Serene Grace EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spd Timid Nature - Flash Cannon - Thunder - Substitute - Calm Mind Zeus (Tornadus-Therian) (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Regenerator Shiny: Yes EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Hasty Nature - Hurricane - U-turn - Superpower - Taunt Rocky (Toxicroak) (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Dry Skin EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature - Swords Dance - Sucker Punch - Drain Punch - Ice Punch Medusa (Hydreigon) (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Levitate EVs: 252 HP / 66 SAtk / 140 SDef / 52 Spd Modest Nature - Draco Meteor - Roost - Surf - Taunt *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've liked 'Croak for a while, having had him in many of my teams. He's amazing in rain, but requires a lot of prediction. The hell of sucker punching a Celebi, only to have it fail and twave you is irritating to say the least. He is excellent against threats such as terrakion, latios, dragonite, and countless others. The amount of times defensive Gliscor stayed in to get ice punched was endless. *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?* I already had a team featuring him before hand, so I just had to make a few tweaks to that. 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? Croak worked well for what I needed him for. I thought he might be outclassed by Keldeo, but his typing and recovery where absolutely essential. He served as my main check to Terrakion, allowing me to switch to Tornadus-T if earthquake was coming, as well as Conkeldurr if Tornadus was out of action. Many players simply didn't know what to expect either, as it isn't as common, so I guess the surprise factor played its part. (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? I was close to the top 100 when the ladder reset, and I found it difficult afterwards, due to Garchomp coming down, and the combination of Chomp-Gene-Trio appearing on every team. I'm gonna carry on with this team to see if I can take it higher, as it's pretty fun to play with! I'll update the post again if I do. Last edited by Patolegend!; Oct 30th, 2012 at 7:14:57 PM.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:38:16 PM	#31
Pocket Bakuman ;< Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 7,177 Bergenfield	Master of Six Kings, ganj4lf just reached HoF with Mew, so it's off-limits now D: __________________ Dark Horse Project: Conquer the Ladder! \| Word of Wisdom for Trainers \| Smogon Doubles: Let's Make It Official!

Oct 2nd, 2012, 3:07:41 PM	#34
SubakSupreme Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 67	Pokemon Showdown! Username: Monsey Hall of fame standing:- Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Sharpedo Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: ARCE: 2004, Glicko 2: 2135 For some reason I can't find my rank on the leader bored. Ranking Last edited by SubakSupreme; Oct 3rd, 2012 at 9:38:51 PM.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 12:04:44 PM	#26
ganj4lF Nobody is safe from the power of science! Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 688 Italy	Did a speed run of the challenge since I don't know if I have time to retry it; my schedule will be pretty busy in the next weeks. Prolly could have played better and lost less battles (although hax is always ready to ruin everything...) but still was fun and interesting. I used the same team that got me into 1880s for the Outsiders Challenge, since I really enjoyed building and playing it (thinking about an RMT on the topic). Edited the original post with proof. And, first to the finish line!

Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:13:45 PM	#28
Master of the Six Kings Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 791 Where soccer is the correct terminology and bacon isn't dishonest	Pokemon Showdown! Username: MCHammerArm Hall of Fame Standing: None with current team, #20 previously Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Mew Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: None

Oct 2nd, 2012, 2:57:21 PM	#32
Jirachi No excuses. Moderator Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 975 #27 Galchenyuk Mentor	pokemon showdown username: steven stamkos hall of fame standing: none dark horse pokemon currently working with: shaymin current ladder standing on pokemon showdown: none

Oct 2nd, 2012, 3:35:21 PM	#35
Miles Tails Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 64	Pokemon Showdown! Username: Ashirogi Muto Hall of fame standing:- Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Xatu Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:nothing yet

Oct 2nd, 2012, 4:06:45 PM	#36
SlimMan Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 1,475 Caroline du Nord	Yo, so I am finally home, and ready to ladder. The OP was posted less than 12 hours ago, and we already have people making the HoF. A lot of people probably haven't even noticed this thread yet. I feel like there oughta be a 24-hour grace period, in which multiple people can enter the HoF with the same Pokemon. This would prevent there being any "victims of schedule", who simply weren't able to start the challenge before then. For those who can't tell, I'm ranting that Sandslash is gone and I haven't even gotten the chance to do a single battle yet. Yes, I am proposing this for personal gain. But you can't deny that it is actually unfair to anyone in my situation. edit: Changing my alt to Windbreake, because Rainboots Dark Horse got stolen because I neglected to choose a password for it this morning... __________________ Messidor Last edited by SlimMan; Oct 2nd, 2012 at 4:20:53 PM.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 4:52:08 PM	#38
alkinesthetase <MrE> SPIDERS /\/\;,,;/\/\ Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 696 <ala> canadabros is the strongest bros you can be Mentor	I corrected my list appropriately with Birkal's update about half an hour ago, but lando-t has just enough usage in one of the two percentages to break the 5% barrier. (Compare to keldeo, who has just enough usage in the OTHER percentage.) I chose to cut them both and put them on the list for consistency's sake, and since they were also above 5% in the 3-month stats, it felt logical to me. Basically I was looking at them thinking "okay can I justify cutting one but not the other?" and it was 2 percentages out of 3 being over 5%, so the easiest thing was to take them both. Here are the Sept-only stats right at the bottom of the barrel (left being percent usage, right being percent real usage): Code: \| 45 \| Keldeo \| 31591 \| 5.097% \| 24245 \| 4.823% \| \| 46 \| Landorus-Therian \| 30597 \| 4.936% \| 25693 \| 5.111% \| \| 47 \| Metagross \| 30310 \| 4.890% \| 24557 \| 4.885% \| And here are the 3-month stats for those same mons: Code: \| 45 \| Keldeo \| 5.183% \| \| 46 \| Landorus-Therian \| 5.087% \| \| 47 \| Metagross \| 5.025% \| Metagross is legal now though, definitely. __________________ <%yee> i will summon a spider to kill alkines my massive mafia roles list Last edited by alkinesthetase; Oct 2nd, 2012 at 5:02:15 PM.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 5:52:42 PM	#41
Miles Tails Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 64	Well come to ask you something, I just did my first fight and looks just the way my rating went up, I wonder if even with this growth rater of absurdity should still continue to ladder. PRINT

Oct 2nd, 2012, 6:12:32 PM	#42
Jimbon already over Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 486	Here was my attempt at it, I had one free evening and I went about 30-6 or something. ladder thing I was using Lanturn for this challenge, a ResTalk set that worked amazingly well, especially against the Rain Teams that I was seeing a lot. Lanturn is hands down one of the best answers to the combination of Tornadus-T / Thundurus-T / Genesect, and it was really fun to use. I really didn't have any trouble against Rain, but Sun was a pretty difficult matchup. Basically my team was just random hyper offense with a Lanturn for Rain. I had a Rock Polish Landorus for Sun, and Specs Keldeo / Scarf Genesect / Sub SD Terrakion core, with a lead Mew. Hyper Offense was something I've never used before, but it worked pretty damn well. I'm thinking it's the best weatherless playstyle to use, as it performs well against most weather teams. The MVP of this team was definitely Lanturn. Honestly, if you need something for Rain, use this. I definitely need to start using Hyper Offense more, it's crazy fun to use. Thanks for Birkal, Pocket, ginganinja and alkinesthetase for setting this up, and everyone else involved it. I might ladder at a later time to see how much higher I can get, we'll see. team i used Mew @ Normal Gem Trait: Synchronize EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Adamant Nature - Stealth Rock - Taunt - Tailwind - Explosion Lanturn (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Volt Absorb EVs: 52 HP / 252 Def / 204 SDef Calm Nature - Scald - Sleep Talk - Rest - Volt Switch Keldeo @ Choice Specs Trait: Justified EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature - Surf - Hydro Pump - Hidden Power [Ghost] - Secret Sword Genesect @ Choice Scarf Trait: Download EVs: 112 Atk / 144 SAtk / 252 Spd Naive Nature - U-turn - Bug Buzz - Ice Beam - Thunderbolt Terrakion @ Rock Gem Trait: Justified EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Jolly Nature - Substitute - Stone Edge - Close Combat - Swords Dance Landorus (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Sheer Force EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature - Rock Polish - Earth Power - Focus Blast - Hidden Power [Ice] __________________

Oct 2nd, 2012, 6:43:47 PM	#43
The Reptile Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 640 DreMZ on PS! (´･ω･`)	Pokemon Showdown! Username: BattleToads Hall of Fame Standing: None Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Toxicroak Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: Haven't started. :P __________________ I do the arts now! :D

Oct 2nd, 2012, 6:55:26 PM	#44
Boondocker Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 365	Pokemon Showdown! Username: Jizz in My Pants Hall of Fame Standing: Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Wobbufet Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: __________________ Names on PO: ProudAirman, SpeedBoostVick Last edited by Boondocker; Oct 2nd, 2012 at 9:40:34 PM.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:04:45 PM	#45
Grape Drink 2.0 Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 36	Pokemon Showdown! Username: Heart of Justice Hall of Fame Standing: None yet Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Landorus-Therian Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:1000 __________________ Bulbabattling Raise the standard there.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:06:30 PM	#46
alkinesthetase <MrE> SPIDERS /\/\;,,;/\/\ Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 696 <ala> canadabros is the strongest bros you can be Mentor	Lando-T very narrowly misses the cutoff - one of its sept-only percentages is above 5%, the other is below, and since its 3-month percentage is above 5% as well it's not an eligible dark horse, sorry __________________ <%yee> i will summon a spider to kill alkines my massive mafia roles list

Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:13:00 PM	#47
Electrolyte Cause you keep me coming back for more Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 1,048 And I feel a little better than I did before Mentor	PS! Username: ElectrolyteDH Hall of Fame Standing: Pending Dark Horse: COBALION (couldn't even find him on the usage list) Current ladder ranking: 1000 __________________ Stuff (Click!): l l l l l l l l l l VM me for an OU / LC team rate! MURKBRO MAFIA

Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:26:43 PM	#48
DrunkDemon Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 200 A Gansta's Paradise	PS! Username: Cossack Hall of Fame Standing: None Dark Horse: Froslass Current Ladder Ranking: None yet Changing name since my ranking has sort of stalled after a loss streak. __________________ Miep: The season finale is thirty minutes of Andrea's feet BobbyVaporeon: is it sexy Miep: No Miep: it's veiny Miep: and with crusty nails Last edited by DrunkDemon; Oct 6th, 2012 at 1:44:45 AM.

Oct 2nd, 2012, 7:30:04 PM	#49
MaximizedGamer Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 48 Georgia	Pokemon Showdown! Username: MaximizedGamer-TDH Hall of Fame Standing: none Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Rotom-Frost Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 1263 [12/12/0] __________________ I don't wanna play pokemon anymore Last edited by MaximizedGamer; Oct 12th, 2012 at 8:14:36 PM. Reason: Update

Oct 2nd, 2012, 8:11:21 PM	#50
Lady Alex So, I dashed all over the mansion, and I re-killed them; they were pretty alive when I found them Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 418 Stuck between a Stealth Rock and a hard place	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 ... Jirachi @ Leftovers Trait: Serene Grace EVs: 252 HP / 216 SDef / 40 Spd Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk) - Iron Head - Wish - Protect - Body Slam 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 Terrakion @ Life Orb Trait: Justified EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Close Combat - Stone Edge Rotom-W @ Chesto Berry Trait: Levitate EVs: 112 HP / 252 SAtk / 144 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Hydro Pump - Volt Switch - Will-O-Wisp - Rest Genesect @ Choice Scarf Trait: Download EVs: 8 Atk / 250 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - U-turn - Ice Beam - Flamethrower - Bug Buzz Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Sand Stream EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Pursuit - Crunch - Fire Blast - Superpower 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. __________________ Last edited by Lady Alex; Oct 5th, 2012 at 2:07:49 AM.