The Dark Horse Project IV

[alkinesthetase]

uvood: if the ranking of your main account is effectively "zero" (ie back to 1000, or less), it would be equivalent to a fresh alt, so that should be fine.

Also, updated! (including some alt changes and some hall-of-faming)

[Lady Alex]

@Jimbon- I absolutely love your team. If i had run into your team on the ladder, I probably wouldn't have even taken it seriously at first glance. I'm really excited to try out that mew set, and seeing a pokemon like lanturn be used so successfully is what makes me enjoy playing this game. Congratulations!

[Ninelol]

Updates in Red

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Ninelol
Hall of Fame Standing:Bronze
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Honchkrow, Virizion, Rotom-H
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:1909(ACRE) 2001(Glicko2)

made it #27



The Sets!

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Boots (Virizion) @ Life Orb
Trait: Justified
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Stone Edge
- Close Combat





Cookies (Rotom-Heat) @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Overheat
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split




Boss (Honchkrow) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Sucker Punch
- Superpower
- Drill Peck

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? The Pokemon I chose were either were anti meta, or just did well in the current meta in general. Rotom-H cockblocks Genesect hard, poops on the Lavos Sun core, Walls Tornadus-T and can at least manage Thundurus-T. SD Virizion is super anti Rain/Sand and coupled with Rotom-H Makes weather easy to manage. Honchkrow is just a surprise pokemon, Just ruining teams game after game. This guy only has a few pokemon it's afraid of in OU (Scizor, Jirachi, Genesect, Terrakion) pretty much things that survive +1 suckerpunch and can out speed his other coverage moves.


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? For the most part Just filled in holes with my team since I had half of it made at the beginning. I needed a spinner and rocks and something that could take on a dragon for a turn or two(Forretress). I needed a pokemon that could for the most part take out of pick apart the Walls and problem pokes for Honch/Viri (Keldeo) and I needed a Pokemon that could take water/ electric/ fire and Ice attacks and keep forward momentum (Gastrodon)


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? I Started playing competitive pokemon in lower tiers, so I tend to play Better with "Dark horse" pokemon on my teams. Surprise is always a factor and this team is an example of that. It has a few glaring weaknesses but due to the surprise factor I was able to ladder pretty smoothly till the end.


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? To be honest this team melted the lower tiers but started eating chop after it got higher, as most players were a little more ready for the Surprise factor of the team. But all around it wasn't bad. I'm now at the point where I will probably change the team around a bit to try to climb the top 100.



RMT- http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3473029

[FastFlygon]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: -273.15c
Hall of Fame Standing: None
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Carracosta
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 1716
EDIT: Had to make a couple of tweaks to my team, but Carracosta is impressing so far. With rain and rocks, Aqua Jet has a solid chance to OHKO Genesect at +2 - which should indicate just how effective it is against more fragile scarfers. Using a simple Smash/AJet/Waterfall/SEdge set at the moment, haven't run into any coverage problems really - it's just a matter of softening things like ferrothorn up with the rest of the team.
EDIT #2: Just got another epic Carracosta sweep. The power of his Aqua Jet is really underestimated in my experience - OHKOing a Scarf Thundrus-T that thought it was an easy revenge kill, KOing an 80% Genesect and OHKOing a Keldeo with Waterfall in the same match.
EDIT #3: Been having a good day, but still got a long way to go. I lost my first couple of matches to a poor teambuilding choice, and thanks to the way PS's ladder works that's making it much more difficult to get anywhere even with a 39-11 record (six of those losses were with the older, inferior variant). I'm considering switching to a fresh alt, but I don't know whether that's allowed?
EDIT #4: I've been overhauling the team since I wasn't happy with the way things meshed in the old version and I'm now going to switch to fresh Alt and see how it does! (I haven't actually switched alt yet, will most likely wait for the ladder reset, but feel free to change it now)
EDIT #5: Decided that, neat as Carracosta is, it just doesn't get a setup opportunity 9/10 matches, so I'm going to switch Dark Horse. Will most likely be Tornadus-I or Mienshao but I will update before I play any games on the new alt.

[Milos]

i'd rather use raikou than ditto.. so yeah, im changing my dark horse and dont worry i havent started laddering yet anyway

using mienshao. new alt : Jet Li

[zzazzdsa]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Cryolitest
Hall of Fame Standing: Please Come Again
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Jumpluff (seriously)
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 3602, but still provisional :c

[The QWAZ]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: QWAZ
Hall of Fame Standing: none yet
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Azelf
Current Ladder Standing: none

[Eranu]

Made it with deoxys-defense.
New peak:


Set:
Deoxys-Defense @ Tanga Berry
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Night Shade
- Spikes
- Stealth Rock

I will edit the rest in later.
I will try to get higher so i'll wait with answering that question form.

[Lady Alex]

Updated my post with my RMT.

[Tabuu]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Pokemon Ace Tabuu (I haven't even made a team around my former BH, so I'm deciding to just keep the username)
Hall of Fame Standing: Nope
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Landorus-Therian
Current Ladder Standing: Nope

[alexwolf]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: MoltresMan2
Hall of Fame Standing: None yet
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Moltres
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: None yet

Changing Nickname because losing the first 5 battles out of hax sucks...

[alkinesthetase]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Pokemon Ace Tabuu (I haven't even made a team around my former BH, so I'm deciding to just keep the username)
Hall of Fame Standing: Nope
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Landorus-Therian
Current Ladder Standing: Nope

Note that I have chosen to include Landorus-T and Keldeo on this list - I know, one of their usages for September is below 5%, but the other one is above 5%, and so is their 3 month usage, so I had to make the call and I chose to put them on the list. Maybe if their usage goes down, you might be able to take Keldeo out for a spin as your Dark Horse next month =]

[Tabuu]

Oh ok sorry bout that didnt see it.
Well then Could you take me off the list for now?
I'm keeping my username; just want some time to think of another DH 'Mon

[Bl1tzkri3g]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Champ Brah
Hall of Fame Standing: None
Dark Horse: Heracross
Ladder Standing: None

[Pocket]

You guys rock my Smogon! Took me quite awhile to update the HoF x_x;;

Jimbon, thanks for your detailed response - you are a pure genius when it comes to inventing interesting sets :d Also thank you for the indispensable advice you have offered to us fellow challengers - build your teams with your Dark Horse Pokemon in mind! Plopping a Dark Horse Pokemon on a standard team would only result in sub-optimal results. I'm looking forward for more from you!

Special mention goes to Ninelol, though, who managed to climb up the ranks with 3 Dark Horse mons (some are REALLY dark!) I am glad you crafted a team that was able to pull this off!

And Lady Alex is at it again, ranked above the rest and earned Gold! You are a strong player >:D Check out her RMT, too!

Also, to add a new twist to our Dark Horse challenge, I will now introduce a new tier - Grandmaster! Here are the conditions:

1) Top #3, 2200 min glicko2 rating
2) only 1 Grandmaster per DHP
3) The original Grandmaster can be knocked out by someone with a higher glicko2 rating.

This awards not the expeditious, but those with grit and talent who must fend off his or her Grandmaster title to the very end of the month! I especially encourage Gold users like Lady Alex and ginganinja to strive for this sacred spot!

[TropiOUs]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Best Kyurem
Hall of Fame Standing: gold
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Kyurem
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!:

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[Lavos Spawn]

grandmaster eh

race you to the top guys

for now I'll leave you with this though

cune

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edit: ok I got the 2300+ ACRE part of the grandmaster, now I just need top 3. here's the pokemon I'm using:


Suicune @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Calm Mind
- Scald

just your standard crocune, nothing special, but let me tell you it does some serious work, laughs off rotom-w and sets up all over rain/sand's face

more edit: top 10 also 2400

[alkinesthetase]

EDIT #3: Been having a good day, but still got a long way to go. I lost my first couple of matches to a poor teambuilding choice, and thanks to the way PS's ladder works that's making it much more difficult to get anywhere even with a 39-11 record (six of those losses were with the older, inferior variant). I'm considering switching to a fresh alt, but I don't know whether that's allowed?

sorry i missed this when i was making my rounds, fastflygon: yes, you are absolutely allowed to change alts, or dark horses, throughout the project. just update your original registration post, and i'll update the master list the next time i run through the thread

and lol lavos, when pocket suggested we add grandmaster, i was like "okay i know EXACTLY the kind of person who's gonna go after this". i agree that the 2300 cutoff was pretty damn low, but seeing as the top 3 on ladder are all up at like 2800 glicko, it doesn't really make much difference =P

[ShakeItUp]

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Demolition Boys
Hall of Fame Standing:
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Heracross, Metagross, Swoobat, Throh, Deoxys-Defense
Current Ladder Ranking: 1779

[Eranu]

Posted the rest in my first post which is post #74

[Pocket]

Originally Posted by Fat alkinethetase

and lol lavos, when pocket suggested we add grandmaster, i was like "okay i know EXACTLY the kind of person who's gonna go after this". i agree that the 2300 cutoff was pretty damn low, but seeing as the top 3 on ladder are all up at like 2800 glicko, it doesn't really make much difference =P

Yep, alk, leave big man Lavos to raise the bar of this challenge like no one else! Lavos has just unlocked a secret tier - Platinum Class! Keep at it, Lavos, you're the closest to Grandmasters ;d

How's CroCune working for you? I know that Offensive CM didn't work so well, being totally outclassed by Keldeo

Also I lowered the min glicko rating for Grandmaster qualification to 2200, b/c I miscounted lol.

[alkinesthetase]

ah yes we did agree on platinum, didn't we - 10th or higher, was it? ladies and gentlemen, let it be known: there are NEVER too many achievement tiers in this project. NEVER.

and whoa SIU gonna go with all five dark horses at once? o_O i'll pencil you down then - oh but note, eranu has already hall-of-famed with deoxys-D this month

[Lavos Spawn]

Originally Posted by Fat Pocket

Yep, alk, leave big man Lavos to raise the bar of this challenge like no one else! Lavos has just unlocked a secret tier - Platinum Class! Keep at it, Lavos, you're the closest to Grandmasters ;d

How's CroCune working for you? I know that Offensive CM didn't work so well, being totally outclassed by Keldeo

Platinum Class is cool.

CroCune is far superior to Offensive CMCune in this metagame, simply because, as you say, the latter has a better option in Keldeo, whereas the former is its own beast. Nothing else can pull off CroCune like CroCune can. It's so awesomely bulky, even in this extremely offensive metagame, and ironically enough, the things that actually stand a chance of beating it while it's asleep (CB Terrakion, Landorus, etc.) are too scared of switching in and Sleep Talk drawing Scald! Speaking of Scald, the 30% burn chance also lets me beat Ferrothorn once I burn it, and whittle down stuff like Tentacruel in Rain as well. The only downside to being a mono-attacker is that I can't hit a couple prominent OU walls for squat, namely Jellicent and Gastrodon. I have stuff on my team to surprise and kill them, though (not going to say what in this thread!), so it's generally not a big deal. Also Pressure + Sleep Talk allows me to singlehandedly beat Rain Stall teams 1v6. Ban Suicune.

[Cyredax]

The challenge for deoxys-D is over, so I would restart the challenge with Sharpedo and Magneton.
My username in PS is Cyroda, with a current ladder ranking of 1835 (but too much deviation :( )

[Ninelol]

Updated post with RMT and new rating, added Gastrodon to the team, now running 4 Dark Horse pokemon to ladder, only 3 registered though ;)