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Jan 26th, 2012, 9:58:56 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,944
Maryland
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The Alpha Stages
Hello, it’s Pwnemon, celebrating my return here to Smogon with a brand new warstory! The last warstory that I wrote (yes, I did write a warstory oh say ten months ago) got a lot of helpful criticism – mostly regarding the fact that both my opponent and I played like bona fide dunderheads and that I kept calling SR “Stealth Rocks.” Well, I bring you a new narrative, where at least half of that is fixed! Introducing Pwnemon vs taylor!
>>>Click to watch this replay!<<<My Team:       I had actually just made this team that very day, but for some reason it didn’t suck as much as all my other teams. The main idea of the team is quite simple: survive. I mostly built it with resistance synergy in mind as opposed to momentum or a central sweeper or something like that, so I guess that the best idea is “balanced.” taylor’s Team:      [/hide]Battle between Pwnemon and taylor started! Tier: Standard OU Variation: +24, -8 Rule: Rated Rule: Sleep Clause Rule: Species Clause Rule: Wifi Battle Okay, looking at his team I immediately notice two things: number one, the spread. +24 means this battle is gonna be no joke. Then I see the RotoBro combo, and the situation gets even graver. Celebi can singlehandedly crush ScRotom, but Landorus outspeeds my entire team and is walled only by Slowbro, who is coincidentally hammered by Rotom. I’ve beaten these cores in the past with this team, but it’ll take a lot of smart switching to pull this off. That in mind, I decide to go with Mienshao, my typical lead, as he can give me an advantage off the bat usually. Pwnemon sent out Mienshao! taylor sent out Celebi! This is a good matchup. Mienshao outspeeds Celebi and gets a quick KO with U-turn. Normally I lead with Fake Out, but that’s really not necessary. A 6-5 lead T1 is staring me in the face and I’m not about to say no. Landorus is virtually guaranteed to rear its ugly stache, and I do carry HP Ice, but Cobalion and Terrakion are also capable of taking a U-turn and the golden rule of Turn 1 is don’t overpredict. Plus, if I U-turn out I get some quick damage, scout, and take no damage, so U-turn it is! Turn 1 taylor called Celebi back! taylor sent out Landorus! Mienshao used U-turn! It's not very effective... The foe's Landorus lost 17% of its health! Mienshao is hurt by its life orb! Pwnemon called Mienshao back! Pwnemon sent out Slowbro! Welp. Slightly disappointing that I could have made a kill, but I’m on top of this matchup and that means I retain the momentum. Landorus is definitely going to U-turn, the question is to whom. Rotom and Celebi seem like the two most likely options. Ice Beam can deal the hurt to Celebi, but so can like two thirds of my team. Rotom is a tougher nut to crack, and if I can break RotoBro, this game will get substantially easier. Deciding that a predict to Celebi is less damaging than a predict to Rotom, I go for the Thunder Wave. Turn 2 The foe's Landorus used U-turn! It's super-effective! Slowbro lost 27% of its health! taylor called Landorus back! taylor sent out Celebi! Slowbro used Thunder Wave! The foe's Celebi was paralyzed! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Of course, he goes to Celebi. Whether he thought along the same lines I did and outplayed me or whether I just lost a coin flip I don’t know, but he’s on top of the momentum ladder right now. I don’t yet know anything about this Celebi, but I can assume that staying in with Slowbro is not the wisest option. I try to minimize my use of Hydreigon as a defensive pivot because once that sucker loses HP it’s never coming back. My other two grass resists are Celebi and Heatran, and while Heatran originally looks nice, again I don’t know anything about this Celebi and for all I know it carries Earth Power. For all I know, it carries U-turn, but there are little red buttons in the corners of windows for a reason and -8 points won’t kill me. Turn 3 Pwnemon called Slowbro back! Pwnemon sent out Celebi! The foe's Celebi used Stealth Rock! Pointed stones float in the air around Pwnemon's team! That’s a revealing, damaging turn. I’m pretty sure this Celebi is defensive, and thus doesn’t carry Earth Power, now, and that I have no harm done in boosting up. I don’t really know what I was thinking here – I guess that I thought he would go for an HP fire? Anyway, I Nasty Plot with Landorus still around because I am intelligent! Turn 4 taylor called Celebi back! taylor sent out Landorus! Celebi used Nasty Plot! Celebi's Special Attack sharply rose! I have two choices here: I can go to Slowbro and keep on in an infinite loop, with, of course, the one exception that he put Stealth Rock on my field. On the other hand, I can switch it up, go to Mienshao on the U-turn. I’ll at least get minimal damage with Fake Out and get out unscathed thanks to Regenerator. Turn 5 Pwnemon called Celebi back! Pwnemon sent out Mienshao! Pointed stones dug into Mienshao! The foe's Landorus used U-turn! It's not very effective... Mienshao lost 23% of its health! taylor called Landorus back! taylor sent out Tyranitar! The foe's Tyranitar's Sand Stream whipped up a sandstorm! The sandstorm rages! Mienshao is buffeted by the sandstorm! Sweet! Amazing! I don’t just get Fake Out damage here. To paraphrase the Epic Rap Battles of History, Mienshao against Tyranitar is just too bad, cause after this Britain is gonna lose a sand-spewing rock behemoth. Turn 6 The foe's Tyranitar used Earthquake! Mienshao lost 64% of its health! Mienshao fainted! The sandstorm rages! SCORE 6-5 TAYLOR YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH. On second thought, I probably should have seen that coming. I don’t think even the very bottom of the ladder players would switch a non-scarfed Tyranitar into a Mienshao, so I sort of have no excuse for that. Eh, whatever. Loss of a Pokemon is the ultimate momentum theft, especially to a Choice mon. taylor has no spinner. Do I need another excuse to send in Donphan? Pwnemon sent out Donphan! Pointed stones dug into Donphan! Spinning is temporary. Especially since Celebi is his SR setter, it’s pretty futile to spin. I’ll just have to find a way to get Donphan right back in, which is basically kill something else. On the other hand, Stealth Rock is permanent. Especially since taylor is running a VoltTurn team, I don’t think I’ll have another chance to damage him this much for the rest of the match. Turn 7 taylor called Tyranitar back! taylor sent out Celebi! Donphan used Stealth Rock! Pointed stones float in the air around taylor's team! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Celebi is buffeted by the sandstorm! Donphan restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Well, that turn went well enough. With Celebi out, my logic is simple. Heatran hard counters Celebi all day. I figure with sand damage and Stealth Rock, I can outwall taylor until his team is weak enough for a Hydreigon sweep, so it’s go through the motions time! Turn 8 Pwnemon called Donphan back! Pwnemon sent out Heatran! Pointed stones dug into Heatran! The foe's Celebi used Giga Drain! It's not very effective... Heatran lost 4% of its health! Heatran had its energy drained! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Celebi is buffeted by the sandstorm! Heatran restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Just as I expected, Celebi deals a grand total of jack shit after Leftovers. Now I don’t want to play recklessly on a defensive game such as this one, and this Celebi may still have Earth Power, or, more plausibly, Thunder Wave. I have Protect for scouting and I’m going to use it. At the very worst, all that happens is I get Leftovers recovery and have to switch out. Turn 9 taylor called Celebi back! taylor sent out Rotom-W! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Rotom-W! Heatran used Protect! But it failed! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! Heatran restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Okay, the very worst happened, not that it’s a really big deal. Celebi is a great matchup for Rotom. Volt Switch or Hydro Pump, neither hurt Celebi. What a man. Turn 10 Pwnemon called Heatran back! Pwnemon sent out Celebi! Pointed stones dug into Celebi! The foe's Rotom-W used Trick! The foe's Rotom-W switched items with Celebi! The foe's Rotom-W obtained one Leftovers! Celebi obtained one Choice Scarf! The sandstorm rages! Celebi is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Yup. Celebi takes nothing from Volt Switch or Hydro Pump. Unfortunately, I’m not the only guy who gets four moves on his Pokemon. What did we learn here? Don’t underestimate your opponent. When you underestimate your opponent, you get Tricked a Scarf. When you get Tricked a Scarf, you get locked into one move. When you get locked into one move, your trainer thinks you’re worthless. When your trainer thinks you’re worthless, you get sacked. Don’t get sacked. Look at the split. Anyway, my goal right now is to take down Landorus as soon as possible. When I do, Hydreigon can come in and start B52ing things. Landorus is probably coming in right now, and Celebi’s best damage is with Giga Drain, so Giga Drain it is. Turn 11 taylor called Rotom-W back! taylor sent out Cobalion! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Cobalion! Celebi used Giga Drain! It's not very effective... The foe's Cobalion lost 24% of its health! The foe's Cobalion had its energy drained! The sandstorm rages! Celebi is buffeted by the sandstorm! Cobalion is on his team? Really? This is a new development. I do not remember this. As of right now I don’t know much about Cobalion. He’s 5hkoed by Celebi, he’s not carrying Leftovers, oh, right, his STABs are walled by Slowbro. Staying in is not an option, so it’s not hard to determine what to do. Turn 12 Pwnemon called Celebi back! Pwnemon sent out Slowbro! Pointed stones dug into Slowbro! The foe's Cobalion used Work Up! The foe's Cobalion's Attack rose! The foe's Cobalion's Special Attack rose! The sandstorm rages! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Work Up is a set I have never seen Cobalion run. Postmortem I see that it’s not even on Smogon, and I really have no clue what to expect. I assume three attacks, because otherwise Work Up would be wasted. CC, X-Scissor, and HP Ice would be my guess, and since a CB Terrakion X-Scissor is a 3HKO, I feel more than safe going for the Scald. Turn 13 The foe's Cobalion used Volt Switch! It's super-effective! Slowbro lost 46% of its health! taylor called Cobalion back! taylor sent out Rotom-W! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Rotom-W! Slowbro used Scald! It's not very effective... The foe's Rotom-W lost 14% of its health! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! So apparently, running Volt Switch on a boosting sweeper was a good idea and nobody told me? Yeah, I don’t get it. Well, whatever. Slowbro barely even felt it (after regenerator) and I managed to dish some hurt onto Rotom. Sadly, there was no burn, but all damage is good damage in my book, especially that which cannot be recovered. I’m now in a pretty nasty position, with an angry looking Rotom with three moves, one of which I do not know but assume is Will-O-Wisp or Hidden Power. The former is shrugged off by Celebi and the latter is – we’ll just hope it’s the former, OK? Turn 14 Pwnemon called Slowbro back! Pwnemon sent out Celebi! Pointed stones dug into Celebi! The foe's Rotom-W used Volt Switch! It's not very effective... A critical hit! Celebi lost 26% of its health! taylor called Rotom-W back! taylor sent out Landorus! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Landorus! The sandstorm rages! Celebi is buffeted by the sandstorm! Okay, right around here I am overcome with a sudden rage. I ain’t your little bitch, switching around passively while you walk your momentum all over me! I’m in charge of my own destiny, man! I ain’t a part of your system! I’m an adult! Other than that, no, there is no reason for what I do next. Turn 15 Celebi used Giga Drain! The foe's Landorus lost 51% of its health! The foe's Landorus had its energy drained! (Okay really idk what the hell is going on with Landorus’s item. He didn’t deal enough damage to Slowbro to be Banded, he’s too slow to be scarfed, he doesn’t have LO or Lefties. He never changed moves, but I just have to assume he has an Expert Belt because nothing else makes sense. Nevertheless, while I was in this battle I didn’t even notice I had outsped and for some reason finished the battle still believing Landorus was Scarfed, so my commentary will continue this way) The foe's Landorus used U-turn! It's super-effective! Celebi lost 60% of its health! Celebi fainted! SCORE 6-4 TAYLOR taylor called Landorus back! taylor sent out Rotom-W! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Rotom-W! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Think, Pwnemon. For once in your life, think. You’re down 6-4, but your four are all healthy. Your Mienshao is gone. So is your Celebi, so you have no hard counter to Rotom. Speaking of Rotom, it outspeeds and kills three of your Pokemon. You have one free switch. Make it count. Just kidding. How tough did you really think this decision was? Pwnemon sent out Hydreigon! Pointed stones dug into Hydreigon! There is no overexamination here. I’ve been trying all game to get Hydreigon in safely, and for once, he is. Bombs away!  shitting your pants is entirely forgivable Turn 16 taylor called Rotom-W back! taylor sent out Terrakion! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Terrakion! Hydreigon used Draco Meteor! The foe's Terrakion lost 65% of its health! Hydreigon's Special Attack sharply fell! The sandstorm rages! Hydreigon is buffeted by the sandstorm! [size=”1”]Pwnemon: No wonder I’m down, it’s vs taylor! Pwnemon: Never even noticed that until now, lol[/size] In case you’re wondering, yes, this is actual dialogue from the battle and yes, it is actually the point at which I looked up and realized who I was facing. Time to buckle down. I’m not losing to taylor. My horribly misplaced pride is too great for that. Unfortunately, I’ve played myself into quite a pickle so far, losing two members of my team, and that means I’ll have to be perfect from here on out. Ah, who am I kidding. What I mean is, taylor better start sucking, and fast. Terrakion could either be Scarfed, Banded, or Boosting. For this exercise, let us simplify this to Things Hydreigon Outspeeds and Things Which Cause Ragequits. taylor already has a scarfed Rotom, a scarfed Tyranitar, and a scarfed Landorus. Will he have a scarfed Terrakion? I doubt it. Draco Meteor for the kill! Turn 17 Hydreigon used Draco Meteor! The foe's Terrakion lost 28% of its health! The foe's Terrakion fainted! Hydreigon's Special Attack sharply fell! The sandstorm rages! Hydreigon is buffeted by the sandstorm! taylor sent out Cobalion! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Cobalion! SCORE: 5-4 TAYLOR Finally I get a kill. I assume that he was banded, not that it matters anymore. Locked into a -4 Dragon move vs a Steel type is not exactly where I want to be. Slowbro has already demonstrated an inability to handle Cobalion and it’s not hard to guess whether Heatran can, which means Donphan is up. Here’s hoping that fourth move wasn’t HP Ice, then, and then an ineffective EQ! Turn 18 Pwnemon called Hydreigon back! Pwnemon sent out Donphan! Pointed stones dug into Donphan! The foe's Cobalion used Hidden Power! It's super-effective! Donphan lost 39% of its health! The sandstorm rages! Donphan restored a little HP using its Leftovers! But of course. The way Donphan’s HP is now, he can take another Hidden Power and retaliate with Earthquake. Judging from the past, Celebi has been his answer to Donphan. With my offensive spread, Fire Fang should KO Cobalion or Celebi, or at least majorly dent each. It’s also the only move (excluding rapid spin) that can hit Rotom, the other potential switch. Turn 19 taylor called Cobalion back! taylor sent out Celebi! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Celebi! Donphan used Earthquake! It's not very effective... The foe's Celebi lost 19% of its health! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Celebi is buffeted by the sandstorm! Donphan restored a little HP using its Leftovers! So, uh, yeah. I ran a calc, and in case you’re wondering what I was smoking, Fire Fang would not have killed either of them. I refused to stand for that blasphemy, so I went for Earthquake, which would at least have killed Cobalion. Of course, he didn’t feel like HP Icing again, so now taylor has the momentum yet again. Finally I feel like I’ve scouted this Celebi enough to know the limits of its potential. I’m fairly confident that it does not carry Thunder Wave. What does non-thunderwave carrying Celebi have lots of trouble with? DRAGONS. Especially big, scary, three-headed, fire breathing dragons with exceptionally fashionable scarves. Turn 20 taylor called Celebi back! taylor sent out Landorus! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Landorus! Pwnemon called Donphan back! Pwnemon sent out Hydreigon! Pointed stones dug into Hydreigon! The sandstorm rages! Hydreigon is buffeted by the sandstorm! Crap, I’ve been outpredicted. I assume taylor knew I would be going to Hydreigon and went to the one thing that could scare it out: scarf Landobro. I really have no choice here but to switch. But let’s stop for a second and appreciate how momentous this small turn really was. Landorus is at 6%. Stealth Rock does 12%. That means after Landorus leave’s the field, he’s as good as dead. When he’s as good as dead, there is no Rotobro, and, more importantly, nothing to outspeed Hydreigon nukes. And who can force Landorus out and/or kill his ugly stache? Let’s do this once more, old buddy. For old time’s sake. Turn 21 Pwnemon called Hydreigon back! Pwnemon sent out Slowbro! Pointed stones dug into Slowbro! The foe's Landorus used U-turn! It's super-effective! Slowbro lost 28% of its health! taylor called Landorus back! taylor sent out Rotom-W! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Rotom-W! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! However, even without a bro, Rotom is still enough of a troublemaker for my team. With Celebi down for the count, Hydreigon still resists both of Rotom’s STABs. Do I want to squander the precious HP of my endgame plan? No, not necessarily. As in not at all. Is it late enough in the game for ballsy moves? Let’s find out. Donphan is immune to Volt Switch, right? Turn 22 Pwnemon called Slowbro back! Pwnemon sent out Donphan! Pointed stones dug into Donphan! The foe's Rotom-W used Volt Switch! It had no effect! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Donphan restored a little HP using its Leftovers! I’d like to say that I pondered the choices here, and realized that the only real way to get Hydreigon in was with a sack. I’d like to say I didn’t want to switch back and forth between Donphan and Slowbro until I made a prediction error. I’d like to say that I saw no better time to get Hydreigon in than right here, where Landorus was as good as dead and everything else was in OHKO range. Truth is, I forgot that Rotom had tricked away its Choice Scarf. Turn 23 The foe's Rotom-W used Hydro Pump! It's super-effective! Donphan lost 66% of its health! Donphan fainted! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Pwnemon sent out Hydreigon! Pointed stones dug into Hydreigon! SCORE 5-3 TAYLOR Okay, he’s in. Question is, what do I click? Draco Meteor, at this point, is a no. I don’t think I’ll get many more chances to pull Hydreigon into the battle and dropping a single nuke, killing a weakened Pokemon or not killing Cobalion, then lose all my momentum. U-turn is out for a similar reason. That leaves Fire Blast or Focus Blast. On the one hand, I don’t think taylor is about to switch in Tyranitar, which means Fire Blast gets exactly one kill no matter what. Focus Blast, while not walled by anything, is more than a little notorious for its impeccable accuracy. Well, as my great-grandmother used to say, “GO BIG OR GO HOME.” Time to follow her advice. (The next few turns will be shrunk as Hydreigon sweeps errybody) Turn 24 taylor called Rotom-W back! taylor sent out Celebi! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Celebi! Hydreigon used Focus Blast! It's not very effective... The foe's Celebi lost 17% of its health! The sandstorm rages! Hydreigon is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Celebi is buffeted by the sandstorm! At this point in the game I’m feeling extremely confident, as Focus Blast will be able to OHKO all four of his Pokemon. The only thing that could stop me now is a miss. Turn 25 Hydreigon used Focus Blast! It's not very effective... The foe's Celebi lost 16% of its health! The foe's Celebi fainted! The sandstorm rages! Hydreigon is buffeted by the sandstorm! taylor sent out Cobalion! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Cobalion! SCORE 4-3 TAYLOR Cobalion is out next. I guess this means he would be the least useful in taking on Slowbro and Heatran, and now taylor is just fishing for a miss so he can try and regain the momentum. On my side, all I can say is keep sweeping. Turn 26 Hydreigon used Focus Blast! The foe's Cobalion's Chople Berry weakened Focus Blast's power! It's super-effective! The foe's Cobalion lost 61% of its health! The foe's Cobalion used Close Combat! It's super-effective! Hydreigon lost 32% of its health! Hydreigon fainted! The foe's Cobalion's Defense fell! The foe's Cobalion's Special Defense fell! The sandstorm rages! Pwnemon sent out Slowbro! Pointed stones dug into Slowbro! SCORE 4-2 TAYLOR That’s the other thing Cobalion could mean, I guess. Frustratingly, I ran a damage calc, and that attack landed smack dab in the middle of the range. A high roll and I would have KO’d right through the berry. Of course, I don’t have much room to whine, because with a lower roll, Cobalion could survive two rounds of Stealth Rock, and that becomes very pivotal later on in the match. Now it’s time to test the strength of the defensive core this team was even built around. Hell no I’m not sending in Heatran on a Fighting type. Thanks to Regenerator, Slowbro will be able to survive anything Cobalion throws at it and heal it off completely with Slack Off. Volt Switch did less than half at +1, so I feel quite safe, thank you. Right now my mission is simple: stay healthy, and let Donphan do the rest. Turn 27 The foe's Cobalion used Volt Switch! It's super-effective! Slowbro lost 31% of its health! taylor called Cobalion back! taylor sent out Landorus! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Landorus! The foe's Landorus fainted! Slowbro used Slack Off! Slowbro regained health! The sandstorm rages! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! taylor sent out Tyranitar! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Tyranitar! Excadrill5: That’s what you get for not bein American. SCORE 3-2 TAYLOR That’s how you show your American pride, Excadrill5! While the reduction in score is purely symbolic, I can see the reasoning behind sending in Landorus. You wouldn’t want an unlucky scald burn on Tyranitar, and right now Rotom at his 16% HP (after Rocks) gets knocked over by a light breeze, so Landorus was there as an insurance policy. Plus, if he wanted, taylor could have sent Cobalion right back in, who, thanks to his quad rock resistance, has just enough to live with a sliver of HP thinner than an Asian schwang. Well the fact of the matter is, what’s past is past and Tyranitar is now staring me down with his beautiful powder blue scarf complimenting his bright red eyes. Unfortunately for taylor, the choice lock means just easy pickins. Right now I’ll leave Slowbro in, who has the manliness to tank either four Earthquakes or one Crunch. Scald will help me fish for burn, or, in the case of an unlikely switch, kill everything. If it’s Crunch, I’ll just go to Heatran and Lava Plume until I get a burn. Then it’s gg for Tyranitar. If it’s EQ, Slowbro can sit there forever and just take it like a man. Either way. Turn 28 The foe's Tyranitar used Crunch! It's super-effective! Slowbro lost 52% of its health! Slowbro used Scald! It's super-effective! The foe's Tyranitar lost 40% of its health! The foe's Tyranitar was burned! The sandstorm rages! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! The foe's Tyranitar is hurt by its burn! So Scald gets me a lucky burn, although it wasn’t that small of a chance. Anyway, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference, because I would have just outstalled with Heatran. Hey, speaking of outstalling with Heatran…. Turn 29 Pwnemon called Slowbro back! Pwnemon sent out Heatran! Pointed stones dug into Heatran! The foe's Tyranitar used Crunch! It's not very effective... Heatran lost 8% of its health! The sandstorm rages! Heatran restored a little HP using its Leftovers! The foe's Tyranitar is hurt by its burn! I assume that taylor is just going to stay in and let Tyranitar die in peace, as it basically has nothing to do now that it’s burned. With that in mind, I decide to use Protect to get my Leftovers recovery instead of losing 2%. Heatran likes his health back. Turn 30 taylor called Tyranitar back! taylor sent out Cobalion! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Cobalion! Heatran used Protect! But it failed! The sandstorm rages! Heatran restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Of course, he could switch, in which case Lava Plume would be a better option. Do I have a problem with Protect spam? Nah. Anyway, once Cobalion leaves the field, it’s as good as dead. The same is true with Rotom. They each have one shot. Right now I have this feeling that taylor is gonna try to capitalize on that one shot and go for the Close Combat. Even if he Volt Switches, it’s not enough to kill, so Slowbro is my answer. Turn 31 Pwnemon called Heatran back! Pwnemon sent out Slowbro! Pointed stones dug into Slowbro! The foe's Cobalion used Close Combat! It's not very effective... Slowbro lost 14% of its health! The foe's Cobalion's Defense fell! The foe's Cobalion's Special Defense fell! The sandstorm rages! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Pwnemon: the only thing that kills me is Volt Switch Pwnemon: you do that, you lose Cobalion Pwnemon: this is definitely down to the wire... This is the turn that will make or break the game. taylor gets to wait for like three minutes as I ponder my move. Cobalion has a move to kill either of my Pokemon (unfortunately, at this point, Slowbro was at 28% or something just below the threshold.) I really don’t know what to do. No matter what, this game is down to a coin flip. It’s completely luck. However you slice it, a Cobalion/Rotom volt switch in succession can kill a friendless Slowbro. A Hydro Pump/EQ combo (actually, no combo necessary: either one is a KO) kills my Heatran. It really just falls down to a coin flip. I go to Heatran. Turn 32 Pwnemon called Slowbro back! Pwnemon sent out Heatran! Pointed stones dug into Heatran! The foe's Cobalion used Volt Switch! Heatran lost 10% of its health! taylor called Cobalion back! taylor sent out Rotom-W! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Rotom-W! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Heatran restored a little HP using its Leftovers! yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes. Now mind you, I’m not out of the woods yet, but Cobalion is down for the count, so the game is essentially 2-2. Better yet, it’s 2-2 and none of his Pokemon have >25% health. Once Rotom exits stage right, he’s in the same boat as Cobalion (after Sandstorm damage, he’ll faint.) I just have to play smart a couple more turns… For now, I’m going to scout his Rotom (all scouting is non-legally binding and used mostly for Leftovers recovery purposes) with Protect, as I don’t really have much better to do and I might as well get health. Turn 33 Heatran used Protect! Heatran protected itself! The foe's Rotom-W used Hydro Pump! Heatran protected itself from the attack! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Heatran restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Rotom can either Volt Switch or Hydro Pump (or his third move, whatever the heck that may be.) Anyway, if Rotom uses Volt Switch, it’s a death sentence. Tyranitar can live exactly one turn with burn and Rocks. Rotom can live one turn as well. All in all, going to Slowbro looks safe. Turn 34 Pwnemon called Heatran back! Pwnemon sent out Slowbro! Pointed stones dug into Slowbro! The foe's Rotom-W used Hydro Pump! The attack of the foe's Rotom-W missed! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! So I totally didn’t even wonder if two Hydro Pumps could possibly KO Slowbro, but I check now, and it couldn’t so that hax was useless. Sorry about the last couple turns being pretty anticlimax, but the battle’s gonna wind down now with taylor stuck in between a rock and a hard place and no way out. Turn 35 The foe's Rotom-W used Hydro Pump! It's not very effective... Slowbro lost 29% of its health! Slowbro used Slack Off! Slowbro regained health! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Nothing much to say here. Even if Slowbro dies, Heatran can win the battle with bulk, so I may as well just continue on in my slacking off to full health. Turn 36 The foe's Rotom-W used Hydro Pump! It's not very effective... Slowbro lost 28% of its health! Slowbro used Slack Off! Slowbro regained health! The sandstorm rages! The foe's Rotom-W is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! The foe's Rotom-W restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! Once more, and then I’ll go on a mercy killing rampage. Turn 37 The foe's Rotom-W used Volt Switch! It's super-effective! Slowbro lost 67% of its health! taylor called Rotom-W back! taylor sent out Cobalion! Pointed stones dug into the foe's Cobalion! The foe's Cobalion fainted! Slowbro used Slack Off! Slowbro regained health! The sandstorm rages! Slowbro is buffeted by the sandstorm! Slowbro restored a little HP using its Leftovers! SCORE 2-2 And for the first time in this game since 6-6, I’m not in a deficit! This battle will now last exactly two turns, and then it’s game over. GG taylor. Send somebody in. Pwnemon won the battle! >>>Click to watch this replay!<<<Oh. I guess taylor saw the writing on the wall and decided that he had better things to do with his time than finish up the battle? Eh, can’t blame him. I’m more than a little guilty of ragequits in the last few turns, and it was a great game either way. Time for everyone’s favorite (?) part of a warstory, Props and Slops! Props: - Heatran and Slowbro for being baller wallers. - Hydreigon for almost late game sweeping - Focus Miss for not missing - taylor in general for being a great opponent with a well-built team - aesoft for this warstory generator - Donphan, for setting up Rocks Slops: - Landorus for having an indiscriminate item (probably one of them durn resist berries) - Mienshao for dying young - Rotom, because it’s a pain - The way I played in general - Congress MVP:  You may be saying, “Donphan! Lol what?” but he had the single best play of the game by setting Stealth Rock on turn six. Without that, I surely would have lost the game, and for that he earns the MVP award. Way to go, you little armored elephant thing.
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[11:56pm] Pwnemon: statutory rape and all [11:56pm] bmelts: i have such a huge boner right now [9:28pm] Kadew: pwnemon that signature is like an x marking the spot of treasure, except instead of treasure its a pile of humorous garbage that turtles crapped out |
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Jan 26th, 2012, 10:33:24 PM
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#2 |
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 38
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The battle was excellent, esp. the risk you took around turn 32 . Thank you for sharing this.
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Jan 26th, 2012, 10:47:18 PM
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i am happy
 
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Excellent battle and commentary, solid graphics, maybe include HP percentages.
9/10
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Jan 26th, 2012, 10:55:13 PM
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#4 | |
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 2,481
Mystery Zone
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On turn 10, you should have used Protect to scout Rotom-W's move. Then you could have switched Hydreigon to swap their Choice Scarves. Still, it's a great warstory.
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My Trick Room team peaked at 6th out of 2668 in the Wi-Fi ladder on Pokemon Online. Porygon2/Dusclops/Rankurusu/Zuruzukin/Scizor/Latios Quote:
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Jan 26th, 2012, 11:29:58 PM
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#5 |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 426
Berries that turn your mouth blue by the swiftly flowing river
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I liked this. A lot. 9.5/10 and a Luvdisk for you.
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† I could give a damn what your religion is † |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 2:23:42 AM
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#6 |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 100
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In short:
--- The commentary was very good, if not great. It was by far the biggest bright spot of this warstory. The battle itself, was at best slightly below average. Too many misplays and a curious effort at team construction by your opponent. The strategy and reasoning was very poor. ------- In greater detail: Some major issues, in my humble opinion. 1. "For all I know, it carries U-turn, but there are little red buttons in the corners of windows for a reason and -8 points won’t kill me." Really? Come on, at least finish what you started. It was way too early to quit out. 2. Hax, luck, or anything of the sort is usually unavoidable in a match, but lots of it makes for a bad warstory. Focus blast hitting 3 times in a row, imo, is almost hax in itself. The scald burn on Tyranitar was annoying, as well. I don't have an inherent issue with the hax, because it was minimal, but it might turn others off. Food for thought in future warstories. 3. The misplays killed this warstory for me, even though you acknowledge them. Forgetting about tricked scarfs, trying to nasty plot after you've already seen Landorus come in, and worst of all, not recognizing that it was unscarfed and still believing that it would be. 4. That Cobalion set is pretty bad. A boosting sweeper that volt-switches out... it's rare, but you've found bad team synergy within the same pokemon. It's like Kingdra carrying Hidden Power fire and Rain dance; it doesn't make any sense. His whole team wasn't the best effort I've seen, really. I have to think this was just a copy paste team. Replace Cobalion with Scizor and you've got the most common team in the game. 5. Although it was over, posting a forfeit just doesn't seem right. Any warstory that ends in a forfeit (unless it's the last turn), shouldn't be a warstory. Those are my biggest gripes. Hopefully, a better battle will yield a very good warstory, and I look forward to your next one. |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 3:37:37 AM
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It's a ninja bug!
  
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Also, lol at the above for ripping on Taylor.
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Jan 27th, 2012, 4:48:22 AM
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#8 |
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 1,146
Pinas
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i like your warstory! the format and comments are nice in my eyes.
I actually don't care about the misplays that happened there. They actually made the events more interesting. You two are humans playing Pokemon anyway... but it really seems that Taylor is just testing out Cobalion in place of Scizor (for standard voltturn teams)... and that SR is a badass. changed the tide for you despite a bad start.
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Knicks and knees just don't get along, and until mankind learns to play basketball without using the knees, the Knicks will never win that elusive championship. |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 7:50:17 AM
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#9 | |||
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no.... no i do not look like psyduck
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,987
play?
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Ah, you posted!
I think that maybe the Hydo Pump miss on Turn#34 did in fact 2HKO Slowbro, or am I missing something? And without the burn, Tyranitar's Earthquake would've been useful towards the end. Also thumbs down to those who critique a warstory because hax makes an appearance where neither play can be sure the tide of the game has been changed. Quote:
I thought with Chople Berry, Cobalion could take on Terrakion that isn't Choice Banded, and those that don't OHKO Cobalion are likely to be Choice Scarf; allowing me to win the one-on-one. It also lets me know whether my Landorus or Tyranitar can revenge kill Terrakion or not. Quote:
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People like you accuse someone for using innovative sets that have potential but don't always deliver, or alternatively whine about players using the same standard stuff that wins games. Thanks for writing this up and very well done. ggs! |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 10:40:06 AM
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#10 |
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,029
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While there were some mistakes you made, they were not that bad and honestly things like that happen to everyone once in a while (i don't know how often i forgot that i set-up TR and forgot it was still up after Reuniclus has gone down). You also played with this team the first day and i actually think you did a great job on how you handled the opponents pokes.
Overall the commentary was solid and clearly showed what you thought at the moment and you listed possible outcomes of the turns when it was necessary, since you made some misplays (the forgotten scarfs) it would propably be good to mention them the turn after so the reader doesn't gets confused. The format was good but percentages would be a great addtion to the health bars you used especially in the late game. The battle itself clearly wasn't the gratest battle of all time, but you did well against a good opponent, it had some unusual Pokemon and it wasn't full of hax so overall it was a good game and worth a war story . 8/10 for me, good job. |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 12:53:45 PM
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#11 |
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 2,819
I am an "Andalite Bandit." Shiver in fear while you can, Yeerks. We're coming for you!
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Now, in my personal opinion, I like the idea of Volt Switch on a boosting sweeper.
Why? If Cobalon faces something that it outruns, but cannot defeat while it can OHKO it, Volt Switch out for some (hopefully) good damage and send in your counter. Overall, a much better battle than any that I have ever had.
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(>^-^)>@ <(o.o<) "Here's a cookie for you!"
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Jan 27th, 2012, 1:52:01 PM
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#12 | |
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 156
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Quote:
 Very provoking warstory. Well done for a non-badger to beat Taylor.
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BW Name: VCROBAT BW Friend Code: 3911-7666-4492 http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3468618 |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 2:10:10 PM
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#13 |
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 1,667
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Really nice battle. Extremely funny and the only thing you could have done better is include HP% which sadly aesoft doesn't do. However the commentary was funny, the battle was great (sadly Taylor rage quit, the only bad point (but I would have done the same)) and the presentation was 1st class.
9/10 |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 2:55:36 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 100
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However, I stand by my criticism. Boosting up a poke to have it u-turn or volt-switch out is a bad set, plain and simple. Also, you spend a large portion of the match spamming volt switch or u-turn. I have no issue with using a common team. I use plenty of common pokes on my own. My bigger criticism was the Cobalion set, which is far from common. |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 3:31:34 PM
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#15 |
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 52
PITT
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I don't think boosting Cobalion with Volt Switch is bad at all. A 4x resist to SR and immunity to T-Spikes combined with the detrimental effects of Close Combat and Cobalion's high speed makes Volt Switch a pretty effective choice for a moveslot. Plus you can fake a Choice item and it hits Slowbro (as shown) pretty hard.
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Jan 27th, 2012, 3:34:44 PM
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#16 |
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We have the technology.
    
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Hey Pwnemon, welcome back! I ended up enjoying your warstory. Good formatting and use of pictures; your comments were also helpful and insightful. I personally think this was a battle worth warstory-ing. There's a lot of hatred going on about Volturn within DST; however, this battle is good proof that it can be stopped with proper prediction. Also major kudos to Taylor for providing the fireworks of the match. Cobalion is honestly what will make the match memorable for me. Taylor ran a creative set that definitely left an impression. But perhaps I am just biased! Regardless, great battle and congratulations to the both of you!
Also, NixHex is right. Some of your comments were borderline offensive during the battle. Please try to keep that to a minimum! No reason to ruin a good battle over something childish like snide remarks, y'know? Just my two cents.
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Jan 27th, 2012, 3:57:07 PM
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#17 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 100
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Work up gives you a +1, why not just use a choice item? |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 4:28:53 PM
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no abuse pls
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If so I find it difficult to take your criticisms seriously.
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Jan 27th, 2012, 4:41:10 PM
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#19 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 52
PITT
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I don't think boosting Cobalion with Volt Switch is bad at all. A 4x resist to SR and immunity to T-Spikes combined with the detrimental effects of Close Combat and Cobalion's high speed makes Volt Switch a pretty effective choice for a moveslot. Plus you can fake a Choice item and it hits Slowbro (as shown) pretty hard.
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Jan 27th, 2012, 5:02:46 PM
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 104
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Quote:
First: SD U-Turn Scizor IS common. Speaking of which: SERIOUSLY?? You criticize him for abusing U-Turn and Volt-Switch?? So you must be sick of OU cause this is the most used strategy in the tier (not judging it, just presenting the facts). About the battle: I found it very thrilling. Well done, both of you. I had a delightful reading. 9/10 @Taylor: was your Landorous carrying Yache Berry?
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Reached 1548 points on PO's Wifi (19:35:01) +RankingBot: Your rank in Wifi is 15/8098! (00:47:07)THE WINNER OF THE TOURNAMENT IS: MajorGambit (00:47:07) *** Congratulations, MajorGambit, on your success! *** |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 5:08:51 PM
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#21 |
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Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 258
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First time seeing someone I recognize in a warstory, anyways about the warstory. Your fomatting was really nice and the commentary. I'm gonna give you a 9/10!
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Jan 27th, 2012, 6:39:52 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,944
Maryland
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Thank you for the responses to my warstory! After you all took the time to read this wall of text and provide feedback, it's only right that I not leave you guys hanging! (Ctrl+F your name is probably going to be quite helpful for this post.)
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Oh, and if you played the way I do, you would find yourself lacking confidence as well. Quote:
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Also would you kiddies please stop fighting about whether Work Up Cobalion is viable? At least don't sour up my pretty little warstory. Go bump the Cobalion discussion thread or something, kthx
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[11:56pm] Pwnemon: statutory rape and all [11:56pm] bmelts: i have such a huge boner right now [9:28pm] Kadew: pwnemon that signature is like an x marking the spot of treasure, except instead of treasure its a pile of humorous garbage that turtles crapped out |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 6:48:54 PM
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#23 |
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 83
MI
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I wish focus miss worked liked that for me as well...
8.5/10
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#1 Bayleef fan on Smogon WOO! current tier: LC  and Ou (but I fail at Ou still...)
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Jan 27th, 2012, 7:22:29 PM
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#24 |
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 233
New York
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9/10
Nice formatting and good commentary. Enjoyed reading through this one. Also, congratulations for beating taylor. |
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Jan 27th, 2012, 7:48:53 PM
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#25 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 100
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I'm very interested in what that Cobalion set was specifically designed to do, as I said earlier. Guys, criticism is part of the game when it comes to warstories. I'm not here to personally attack someone, just pointing out what I perceived as minor flaws in this particular warstory. (and what is being focused on, my one comment about the opponent's team construction, isn't that big of a deal in this one). Bottom line, my criticism is just that: criticism. It isn't a personal attack, and I'm not ripping on an otherwise good warstory. But if the purpose of the warstory archive is to post anything and then expect no negative comments, I'm in the wrong place, I guess. |
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