Old Dog, a New Metagame

[Chou Toshio]

So despite having fallen out of battling and laddering during that later part of Generation IV, and despite not being really into playing on my Pokemon Black either—I have found I really enjoy battling PO’s BW battling. I have actually been battling quite frequently.

The following is a battle I had on the 5th gen Dream World ladder in the Beta server. Please enjoy!

Chou Toshio’s Team:



Due to popular demand, I moved the enemy's team to the end. I'm not aware of how you new-fanggled kids like to see your warstory format! Also, for privacy I'm hiding the enemy's name.



OPP sent out Machamp!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Tyranitar!
Tyranitar's Sand Stream whipped up a sandstorm!

V.

So from turn 1 I can tell that this is not going to be a fun battle for me. I have been having a good time abusing my Tyranitar lead and its sand with the relative fallout of Machamp leads since last Gen . . . only to be met with my dreaded enemy even in the new Gen. I literally have nothing I can do against it with Tyranitar, and not really thrilled about the options on the rest of my team. All I really got is a switch to Burungeru to avoid the fighting attack, and perhaps have a chance to burn it. Well, I know this turn isn't going to go well, so I might as well start . . .

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu . . .

Start of turn 1
CHOU TOSHIO called Tyranitar back!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Burungeru!

The foe's Machamp used Substitute!
The foe's Machamp made a substitute!

Leftovers Revealed V. 69% + Sub

. . . UUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCK!!!!!!!

That went a lot worse than I thought it would! With a substitute up, I got nothing to touch the machamp . . . I will pretty much have to sack burungeru to kill its sub unfortunately. I go for my STAB water attack.

Start of turn 2
Burungeru used Boil Over!
The foe's Machamp's substitute took the damage!

The foe's Machamp used Stone Edge!
Burungeru lost 138 HP! (34% of its health)

66% V. 62% + Sub

OMG I didn't even break its substitute! I would be extremely fucked, except for it fortunately not having Payback. I got really nothing to do but to go to break the substitute.

Start of turn 3
Burungeru used Boil Over!
The foe's Machamp's substitute faded!

The foe's Machamp used Stone Edge!
Burungeru lost 129 HP! (32% of its health)
34% V. 56%

Ok, the sub is gone, and Burungeru is not happy with me. Leaving it in is pretty much futile since it is just going to substitute again, and I'll die from another Stone Edge.

Start of turn 4
CHOU TOSHIO called Burungeru back!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Skarmory!

The foe's Machamp used Substitute!
The foe's Machamp made a substitute
V. 25%
!

Brave Bird to break the sub, not much else I can do.

Start of turn 5
Skarmory used Brave Bird!
It's super effective!
The foe's Machamp's substitute faded!
Skarmory is hit with recoil!

The foe's Machamp used DynamicPunch!
Skarmory lost 114 HP! (34% of its health)
Skarmory became confused!
66% V. 19%

Great . . . confused . . . here's hoping to kill the Machamp.

Start of turn 6
Skarmory is confused!
It hurt itself in its confusion!
Skarmory lost 16 HP! (4% of its health)

The foe's Machamp used DynamicPunch!
Skarmory lost 121 HP! (36% of its health)
26% V. 12%

No . . . it's not going to happen. This battle is just not going my way. At this point, I still value Skarmory more than Burungeru. I opt to sacrifice Burungeru to save my Skarmory. I might be able to recover/spike on something later. There is a chance he will D-Punch, miss the burungeru, and I can finish Machamp off without losing anyone! Maybe . . .

Start of turn 7
CHOU TOSHIO called Skarmory back!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Burungeru!

The foe's Machamp used Stone Edge!
Burungeru lost 134 HP! (33% of its health)
Burungeru fainted!

The foe's Machamp is buffeted by the sandstorm!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Garchomp!

6 v. 5 OPP

V. 6%


So Machamp lead worked brilliantly, and basically completely had its way with me-- bent me over and . . . yeah, I dropped the soap on that one. Burungeru falls, and I bring in Garchomp to finish off the bastard.

Start of turn 8
The foe's Machamp used Bullet Punch!
Garchomp lost 57 HP! (15% of its health)

Garchomp used Dragon Claw!
The foe's Machamp lost 8% of its health!
The foe's Machamp fainted!

The sandstorm rages!
OPP sent out Terakion!

5 v 5

75% V.


. . . and the four-armed bastard gets a parting shot on my Garchomp . . . great. Now I am using Scarf-Chomp, so I fully expect to 2 hko and defeat the Terakion. At least I can't be 1hko'd, so I feel safe going for the Dragon Claw.

Start of turn 9
The foe's Terakion used Close Combat!
Garchomp lost 211 HP! (58% of its health)
The foe's Terakion's Defense fell!
The foe's Terakion's Sp. Def. fell!

Garchomp used Dragon Claw!
The foe's Terakion lost 76% of its health!
27% V. 24%


Unless of course it's also scarfed! This is bad. At this point in the game, I have nothing that can out-speed it, and I (brilliantly) have no priority moves to take it out either. My only plan is to use Machamp to finish it off, and it involves sacrificing Skarmory and letting Machamp eat a Close Combat to the face. Needless to say I will be down a lot after that exchange, but it is the best that I got.

Start of turn 10
CHOU TOSHIO called Garchomp back!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Skarmory!

The foe's Terakion used Close Combat!
OPP: Fuuuuck Garchomp is bulky.
Skarmory lost 52 HP! (15% of its health)
The foe's Terakion's Defense fell!
The foe's Terakion's Sp. Def. fell!
Skarmory fainted!

CHOU TOSHIO sent out Machamp!

Start of turn 11
The foe's Terakion used Close Combat!
Machamp lost 252 HP! (65% of its health)
The foe's Terakion's Defense fell!
The foe's Terakion's Sp. Def. fell!

Machamp used DynamicPunch!
It's super effective!
The foe's Terakion lost 23% of its health!
The foe's Terakion fainted!

OPP sent out Gengar!

4 v. 4

35% Leftovers Revealed V.

Things go exactly as planned (not that it's a terrific outcome for me in the process) so Skarm and Terrakion are both dusted, but Machamp is about to be toast too. Gengar is really too dangerous to play around with . . . if it just went for Shadow Ball I could switch in Tyranitar and kill it with Pursuit (I have scarf), but that is unlikely to happen. Gengar has no issues Focus Blasting my No Guard Machamp after all. I decide to take the safe route and click Machamp's Payback.

Start of turn 12
The foe's Gengar used Substitute!
The foe's Gengar made a substitute!

Machamp used Payback!
It's super effective!
The foe's Gengar's substitute faded!

The sandstorm rages!
The foe's Gengar is buffeted by the sandstorm!
Machamp is buffeted by the sandstorm!
35% V. 75% Leftovers Revealed

Wow, that worked out brilliantly. Gengar went for a sub, which failed, but with its health dropped by 25%, I don't have to worry about it staying in or not-- Scarf Pursuit will take it out regardless. I click Payback again, not wanting to potentially give it a substitute (or get focus blasted).

Start of turn 13
The foe's Gengar used Shadow Ball!
A critical hit!
Machamp lost 131 HP! (34% of its health)
Machamp fainted!

The sandstorm rages!
The foe's Gengar is buffeted by the sandstorm!
The foe's Gengar restored a little HP using its Leftovers!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Tyranitar!

3 v. 4 OPP

V. 75%

Time for Tyranitar to do what it does best. Gengar on a stick anyone?

Start of turn 14
Tyranitar used Pursuit!
It's super effective!
The foe's Gengar lost 75% of its health!
The foe's Gengar fainted!

The sandstorm rages!
OPP sent out Kingdra!
V.


As much as I would love to sacrifice Tyranitar here, that's not going to happen . . . my unboosted Pursuits would just let him set up. I got to switch out. I go to Kerudio on the off-chance he does decide to just attack with a water move outright (yeah right). Kerudio would also have a chance to force Outrage should it DD, which would be a good outcome for me.

Start of turn 15
CHOU TOSHIO called Tyranitar back!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Kerudio!

The foe's Kingdra used Dragon Dance!
The foe's Kingdra's Attack rose!
The foe's Kingdra's Speed rose!
94% V. 94%


He does indeed Dragon Dance. My plan here is to save Kerudio, whose flexibility and power will likely prove to be more useful than Tyranitar's attacking in this late game struggle. Since I have a water with plenty of power out, I think I have good odds of forcing him to outrage, which would then give my Garchomp a chance to revenge kill with ease.

Start of turn 16
CHOU TOSHIO called Kerudio back!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Tyranitar!

The foe's Kingdra used Outrage!
A critical hit!
Tyranitar lost 342 HP! (100% of its health)
Tyranitar fainted!

CHOU TOSHIO sent out Garchomp!

2 v. 3 OPP

27% V. 88%

All goes according to plan-- again, not great but at least I am still in the game. I think that crit was actually a blessing. On the off chance Tyranitar survived, there's a chance kingdra could have broken out of Outrage and ran away before I could dragon claw it . . . but that didn't happen! Woot! A quick Dragon Claw will take out the Kingdra and even things up again.

Start of turn 17
Garchomp used Dragon Claw!
It's super effective!
The foe's Kingdra lost 87% of its health!
The foe's Kingdra fainted!

OPP sent out Heatran!
27%V.


Obviously, after revenging a +1 Speed Kingdra, he knows that I am Scarf'd and walled by Heatran. Ooh! Fire Type, Kerudio is actually a fantastic switch in . . . !

Start of turn 18
CHOU TOSHIO called Garchomp back!
CHOU TOSHIO sent out Kerudio!

The foe's Heatran used Hidden Power!
It's super effective!
Kerudio lost 274 HP! (84% of its health)

16%V.


. . . that he totally knew was coming. HP Electric/Grass . . . I have no idea . . . He could be scarfed, he could be sashed or anything really . . . But all I can do at this point is hit the panic button . . . !

Start of turn 19
Kerudio used Mystery Sword!
It's super effective!
The foe's Heatran lost 100% of its health!
The foe's Heatran fainted!
Kerudio fainted!

1 v. 1

I breath a sigh of relief as I see Heatran fall. My Life Orb pony rips the demon train to shreds, but falls in the process. It all comes down to this last draw of guns. He knows I got a Scarf Chomp. I got no idea what he's got . . . but I do know Scarf Chomp is baller. What will this last matchup bring!? It is a double switch of destiny!


OPP sent out Erufuun!

CHOU TOSHIO sent out Garchomp!

27%V.


I almost laugh to myself, expecting to Outrage the thing to dust. Then I think a bit more and realize that Erufuun actually has some fare defense, especially since it's likely investing just over half its evs in its defensive stats. Plus my ScarfChomp is Jolly . . . well it's pretty much out of my hands at this point anyway. Nothing to do but rage!

Start of turn 20
The foe's Erufuun used Leech Seed!
Garchomp was seeded!

Garchomp used Outrage!
The foe's Erufuun lost 83% of its health!

The sandstorm rages!
The foe's Erufuun is buffeted by the sandstorm!
Garchomp's health is sapped by leech seed.
The foe's Erufuun restored a little HP using its Leftovers!

14% V. 40%


I am stunned that it survived . . . and it leech seeded me! It's out of my hands though, and it's going to come down to the last health point . . . !

Start of turn 21
The foe's Erufuun used Substitute!
The foe's Erufuun made a substitute!

Garchomp used Outrage!
The foe's Erufuun's substitute faded!

The sandstorm rages!
The foe's Erufuun is buffeted by the sandstorm!
Garchomp's health is sapped by leech seed.
The foe's Erufuun restored a little HP using its Leftovers!
2% V. 25%


. . . still holding my breath . . . !

Start of turn 22
The foe's Erufuun used Substitute!
The foe's Erufuun made a substitute!

Garchomp used Outrage!
The foe's Erufuun's substitute faded!

The sandstorm rages!
The foe's Erufuun is buffeted by the sandstorm!
The foe's Erufuun fainted!

2%



And then there was one!



Garchomp for the Uber Tire!

CHOU TOSHIO won the battle!
OPP: Wow.
CHOU TOSHIO: gg
OPP: gg


It doesn't get much closer than that! I have to thank my opponent for an extremely intense and exciting battle, and I am glad I stuck out it to the end!


Baller:

ScarfChomp-- What did I ever do without you? Oh right . . . Flygon . . . love Flygon . . .

Not so Baller:

Machamp raping my ass. :S



OPP’s Team (I have opted to hide their name):

[Bombkirby]

Lol awesome! XD

Tire = Tier ? =P Is that some kinda meme I missed. :(

[Wafflez]

Well tbh it wasn't actually that good of a warstory.But i suppose that showed 5th gen in its truest form...A clusterfuck of revenge killing.
Overall it was pretty nice and with a good bit of suspense but it lacked any good predictions from both sides.Maybe im just criticizing because i hate short warstories >_< but w/e.And lol'd at Machamp dropping shit just like in the good ol days =3.
7.5/10 =P.

[Haunter**]

Your opponent made some excellent predictions, especially with Machamp at the beginning of the match. Garchomp is still awesome this Generation. You've posted better warstories but this one was entertaining as well.

[BurningMan]

Originally Posted by Fat Haunter

Your opponent made some excellent predictions, especially with Machamp at the beginning of the match.

that was imo a no brainer i mean who leaves TTar into machamp and i doubt a typical LeadTar has someting to really damage him.

Some criticism to teambuilding, run surf on Burungeru he got will o wisp as a much more reliable burn move and burning a guts ropushin on the switch is nothing you really want to do.
Boiling Water is a meh option for both burning and attacking, but thats just my opinion.
Another thing is that you shouldn't sacrifice Skarmory so early if imagine you opponent would run a SS team with Doryuzuu al he needs to do is get +2 and you are done and thats pretty easy considering that you have scarfTar.

Other than that it was a pretty cool battle no awesome twists, because it was so fast but still a cool battle.

7/10

[Chou Toshio]

@Noob-- Go read my 20 pager in the Warstory archive then

@Haunter-- Yeah, I know. It was just a fun battle that I wanted to posted, and honestly I wasn't thinking any more in depth about my moves than what I posted. I just don't know the meta in great enough detail yet to write more thoroughly about it. :/

Or maybe I'm making excuses for being extremely rusty.

edit: @BurningMan-- Or maybe the solution is just to run Mach Punch Ropushin > Machamp on this team. I was dying for priority the whole battle. <_<

Also, credit goes to DougJustDoug for the Garchomp pic-- I just dug this outta Trou

[Xav]

I demand Garchomp be moved back to the uber tire where he belongs (please don't he is fun in OU). Nice warstory and a very suspenseful ending. I would prefer if the opponent's team was posted at the end of the warstory so as not to slightly ruin the unfolding action. Overall weel done and comments were good. Battling in Gen 5 sure is fun, hey?

[BurningMan]

Originally Posted by Fat Chou Toshio

edit: @BurningMan-- Or maybe the solution is just to run Mach Punch Ropushin > Machamp on this team. I was dying for priority the whole battle. <_<

i think that would be an excellent solution.
Dory can't set upon your team without getting damaged (even Tars Pursuit and Skarmorys BB would be enough to secure the KO with Mach Punch).
Chople berry could still be dangerous, but i think without LO or Baloon Skarmory can take him much easier.
Birjion is another option IcyMan posted a nice Utility Counter Set on page 15 of the Doryuzu thread, but its a way more defensive option so i don't know if you would like the loss of some offensive Power (He is Shandera bait though but it could work nice with ScarfTar, sadly the candle threatens almost noone of your pokemon^^)

[Articanus]

No ES21 references made me very sad. ='[

It's a new metagame so I won't criticize you too much for the lack of depth in this warstory. Much better than every other genV one, for sure.

We need to play still. Like, a year+ later and we still need to play. xPPPP

[Fatecrashers]

Good to see you still keeping up with the warstories man.
Trust a veteran to show'em how it's done.
Definitely a fun and fast-paced read :D

[black_cotton]

Good battle overall, good predictions, very fast paced and a very close ending.
I enjoy it, good job.
i just think that the opponent teams should only be fully revealed at the end, but i do understand what your were trying to do, since we see the full team at the start of the match it makes sense, but for a warstory point of view it would make much more apealing for the suspense. But that's just me.

[Banryu]

Originally Posted by Fat Chou Toshio

And then there was one!



Garchomp for the Uber Tire!

HA!

This is my favorite part of this.

Great story, great match... I can't believe how close it was.

[PK Gaming]

Wow what a good warstory. Great commentary and a good battle. I liked your conservative style of play and seeing Scarchomp own was pretty cool. That last matchup was really down to the wire!

Clearly this warstory shows that Garchomp should be an Uber tire.

[Woodchuck]

Unless I'm missing something, why didn't you whirlwind out Machamp with Skarmory?

[VirtualKaraokeCircusAct]

Originally Posted by Fat Bombkirby

Lol awesome! XD

Tire = Tier ? =P Is that some kinda meme I missed. :(

Yes

[Gabe]

Great warstory, sounded like a fun battle.

Originally Posted by Fat PK Gaming

Clearly this warstory shows that Garchomp should be an Uber tire.

No it shouldn't. Good pokemon, not broken anymore.

[Chou Toshio]

Xav-- yes it is!

Arti-- maybe next time I get a good battle I'll try for a funny one. Or else I will make a funny team explicitly for funny warstories.

Fate-- Thx man, I think that's a pretty bad reflection on Vth Gen warstories because I know I could have put more effort into this one.

Woodchuck-- It works like this:

Whirlwind: Because of WW's negative priority, you get confused before you get the chance to use it. Should you fail, you end up potentially getting killed by Machamp without doing anything-- including breaking its sub.

Brave Bird: 1) You break the sub, this is extremely significant. 2) You prove your willingness to use Skarm offensively, which posses a much more immediate threat to Machamp. This threat should prevent him from subbing again, and may even force him to run from being potentially brave bird'd to death.

Either way, you have to risk attacking while confused at least once, bringing things down to chance, but here is the risk/reward break down:

Whirlwind:
Ideal situation: You blow him out
Worst Situation: You get killed/forced out, and he STILL has substitute up.

Brave Bird
Ideal situation: You kill Machamp
Worst Situation: You get killed/forced out, but he no longer has Substitute up.

Clearly, Brave Bird is the superior decision.

[VirtualKaraokeCircusAct]

Originally Posted by Fat Gabe

No it shouldn't. Good pokemon, not broken anymore.

He was making a joke. Look at the post directly above you, and pay attention to what he said.
@Chou, good battle, It's nice having a quality fifth gen warstory.

[Professor Lamb]

Another entertaining warstory from one of my favorite users on Smogon.

Excellent presentation, great battle, and very nice comments.

Rating: 9/10

[The Pokemon Pimp]

Nice warstory. Like someone above me said, it's not your best work, but I understand your explanation too.

I can't wait until you get really into the new metagame. Thanks for the read.

8.5/10

[Aerrow]

This was a great read and also a great battle! 9/10

[Chou Toshio]

Thanks for the support guys. I moved the enemy's team to the end for future readers (since that seems to be popular now).

[Wafflez]

Originally Posted by Fat Chou Toshio

@Noob-- Go read my 20 pager in the Warstory archive then

Yeah its one of my favourate warstories T.T.This one was pretty good as well i suppose but its somewhat lackluster compared to some of your other amazing warstories though =L.

[Chou Toshio]

I admitted it before, but I can't argue with that. I'll try to post some stories of higher quality in the future, so forgive me on the low content level of this one. :)

[Heartgold]

Great warstory, credit to your opponent making great predictions. Scarf garchomp looks decent this gen, SD sets seem to be really rare over on PO.