Chinese Tempest: A Journey of One Thousand Posts (Peaked #1)

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中国风暴 trademark
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis an Artist Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
...it begins with a single step.

Cue the history lesson.

In early 2008, I joined the Create A Pokemon Project as a 13 year old boy. I met many people along the way, and I developed my skills as a battler under the tutelage of two individuals in particular named Bass and Tacho. I was a hotheaded individual, and I still am now, but I have made many friends along the way that have helped me grow as a person. And while my experiences in high school have made me walk away from Smogon after becoming disenfranchised with its community, I return during the summer of my Senior year in an attempt to rekindle the relationships that I seem to have lost over the years before I head to college. I still don't know most of you, but I'm content knowing the people I already know within this community, and I appreciate you for taking the time to read my RMT.

I started learning and playing BW2 UU/RU/NU during this month of July. Suspect laddering, and whatnot. This team is a team I slapped together in an attempt to make UU reqs, and it got me to the top of the ladder pretty easily. Without further ado, I present to you team CHINESE TEMPEST, a tribute to my old UU laddering alt back in 4th gen, and to my Chinese heritage.


At a Glance:



李小龍 (Machamp) @ Lum Berry
Trait: No Guard
EVs: 252 Atk / 248 HP / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- DynamicPunch
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
- Bullet Punch

Meet Bruce Lee, my Machamp. I'll usually lead with this because it messes with Froslass leads with Stone Edge + Bullet Punch. It also messes with slower leads like Bronzong and Swampert, who will usually switch out like a wimp after one Dynamic Punch. This provides me an excellent opportunity to get a Substitute up, which will then net me a two for one kill in most scenarios. If I see a Chandelure, I will usually predict that and go for a Sub or Stone Edge depending on the situation. Lum Berry is a very clutch item and is better than Leftovers because Lum allows me to mess around with sleepers like Roserade, and I can also tank burns from faster threats like Blastoise who like Scalding me. This is also my primary option to beat threats like Snorlax, Scrafty, Rhyperior, etc. If I can get paralysis support from Slowbro and Togekiss, this is usually the pokemon that will be winning me the games.


胡锦涛 (Roserade) @ Life Orb
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- Sleep Powder
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Hu Jin Tao, the Roserade. He hits like a truck, as big of a truck as the amount of garbage that the US throws into China on a daily basis. With team preview up, I take a glance at my opponent's team to see what I can destroy with Giga Drain and Sludge Bomb, and I alternate between the two attacks so my opponent can't predict my movements. You have a steel? Good job, I'll sleep it, thank you very much. And while you're asleep I can pick you off with HP Fire, which rounds off my coverage and plays much like Venusaur in the sun, except it's not as fast. But hey, it's still pretty fast. It outspeeds cool stuff like Nidoking and Calm Mind Sigilyph (which Sludge Bomb does about 70+% to), and also benefits from paralysis thanks to Togekiss and Slowbro. He picks off the water threats and is a valuable asset against hail and rain teams.


毛泽东 (Scrafty) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Shed Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Crunch
- Rest

Chairman Mao, doing it as big as mother China itself. During team preview, I will look personally at what needs to be eliminated so I can sweep with Scrafty lategame. It's surprising how many teams are unprepared for it considering how Heracross and Mienshao are such good pokemon to use. If I see a fighting type or a flying type, they are on my radar of must kill pokemon, because they need to be eliminated for Scrafty to sweep. Scrafty has given me the most wins out of all my team members, and is comparable to 4th generation Revenankh to all you old school CAP people who know what I'm talking about. Shed Rest allows me to switch into nearly any status with relative ease, and so this acts as my primary sleep absorber, burn absorber, you name it. It's also sponges special hits naturally because of the spread I use, so I tend to use this against Raikou and Zapdos a lot because my team has a bit of trouble with that kind of stuff. But even so, it didn't deter me from beating most teams running Raikou or Zapdos as I can play around it pretty well.


蔣介石 (Rhyperior) @ Leftovers
Trait: Solid Rock
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail

Chiang Kai-Shek, my rocks guy, my physical wall, and my glue pokemon. I play mind games with my opponents using Dragon Tail, racking up residual damage as they try sending in their Blastoise while they take about 30% damage per switch in while they get forced out before they can even Spin. Rhyperior helps me against physical Victini, Darmanitan, Snorlax, and also helps against Specs Electric type pokemon like Rotom-H or Raikou, who like Volt Switching all over the place. Rhyperior is also a great pokemon who benefits from my paralysis core of Togekiss and Slowbro. Combined with those two, they make the defensive core of my team, laying out rocks, paralyzing threats, and providing my offensive pokemon with openings to attack. I run 8 Speed EVs because of the speed creep, so I get the jump on opposing Rhyperior with Earthquake before they deal significant damage to my valuable political and military leader.


陳港生 (Togekiss) @ Leftovers
Trait: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SDef / 252 HP / 4 Spd
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Air Slash
- Roost
- Heal Bell
My movie star Jackie Chan is usually the last pokemon on my team to die. Because...it really doesn't die. He's my cleric and main paralysis spreader, and paraflinching is a legit strategy that has given me a plethora of insults and ragequits on the ladder. But such is the life of Jackie Chan, master archaeologist and talisman collector. Paralysis is vital to my team because I am slow as fuck. I'm so bulky that I can even stay in on Life Orb Zapdos just to cripple it with paralysis so I can pick it off with something like Rhyperior before it gets the jump on me with HP Grass. I know, it's stupid and unreliable to do that kind of shit against Zapdos, but I'll do whatever it takes to get the victory. This dude also stops things like Cofagrigus in its tracks. Get that Nasty Plot out of my face, because it's that shit I don't like. HP Fighting from a +2 Cofagrigus only does 24% to my Togekiss. That's how fat it is, and I wouldn't have it any other way. If Shed Rest Scrafty isn't activating Shed Skin properly, at least I have Heal Bell to clean the mess up. Having a cleric rocks because burn is so prominent in UU, whether it be because of Scald or Will-O-Wisp, both of which are ridiculously common in this tier.


花木蘭 (Slowbro) @ Leftovers
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 248 Def / 248 HP / 12 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock

Mulan, why are you so ugly? The legendary warrior of ancient China begins its transgender rage on pretty much any fighting type or physical threat that attempts to lay a finger on this team. Slowbro functions by spreading paralysis on things that need to be crippled pronto, and makes it so that Raikou and Zapdos don't always switch in willy nilly on my Slowbro. It also helps to have a cleric whenever you run Slowbro, and my boy Togekiss does just that. Defensive Togekiss and Slowbro make such a good combo, and their synergy is amazing, bar the electric types. But that's why I have the rest of my team to handle that kind of stuff, right after Slowbro is done paralyzing things that like switching in on it. It's my main form of defense against stuff like Mienshao and Heracross (I predict the Megahorn), as well as Darmanitan, Cobalion, Kabutops, pretty much anything physical, you name it. Also it has some great synergy with Scrafty because Scrafty lures in Fighting attacks ridiculously well, because nobody wants to be swept by Bulk Up Shedresting. So whenever Mienshao comes in on Scrafty, it will usually HJK. And then I send in Slowbro. And then they switch to Umbreon. And then I send in Scrafty. I'll go switching galore until I get a comfortable situation to take the win.

Final Thoughts
Yeah, if you couldn't tell from the title, this is my 1k thread, so don't hate. I realize there are glaring flaws with this team, such as that with Specs Chandelure and Zapdos, so I'm all ears for suggestions though I don't know if I'd want to change any Pokemon in particular. Here's my team in exportable format if you want to get reqs pretty fast and you're too lazy to make a team yourself.
 

Plus

中国风暴 trademark
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis an Artist Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
And for my actual 1K post, I give shout outs to the people who have impacted me the most. Though a lot of these people have already quit Smogon, maybe one day they'll stumble upon this thread -- and their day will be a little bit better. Just maybe.

@Al_Alchemist : Hey man, I know we don't talk too much to each other anymore despite being Facebook friends and both of us still being active on Smogon atm, but I've probably known you for as long as I can remember even before I joined CAP, back in the days of PMNB Shoddy Battle. You were 14 and three fourths years old, I will never forget that. And you spammed a lot too. Chilling with you on Captain's Modded Server back in 08 were the glory days, if not ridiculously fucking weird. But I dig that shit. We should talk more, I feel like we've grown a bit distant since the end of CMS.

@Bass : I remember when I got my ass handed to you when I laddered on CAP. And I considered myself good at the time, topping a ladder comprised of roughly 20 crappy ass players and 3 or so decent ones. I don't know if the CAP ladder as of now is any better, but thanks for taking me under your wing, and teaching me how to play the game the right way. And stopping me from slapping Breloom on every damn team I made. Though Breloomandala is significantly better this gen! And thanks for helping me with AP Calc, because I'm an asian who can't do maths. But I got college credit for it, thanks to your help! In all seriousness, thank you for being a friend, a mentor, and a guy I can trust. You've opened up my view on competitive gaming in general, not just Pokemon.

@Beej : Truly the greatest online friend that anyone could ask for. I remember when we would constantly bitch about the CAP process, how terrible the inner workings of Smogon were, and the endless hours of conversation and laddering we would do while moderating the CAP server on Shoddy Battle. You're on to bigger and better things in college now, but just know that I'll be in the area next year if you ever want to hang out. You were one of the most levelheaded individuals that I talked to, and people really don't give you credit here for how good you were as a user. Fuck the haters man, stick it to the boss.

@Bloo : I'm glad Fuzznip formally introduced me to you after I quit CAP in '09, because you are a great battle buddy and Naruto nerd, and I can embrace my inner geek with you. And thanks for getting me into Rate My Team, it's a tedious but rewarding job that gives me some self satisfaction from helping others. I'm glad that our friendship has remained pretty much the same even though you have like a metric fuckton of badges now, because you're pretty much the same person I knew you as. Just help me on my conquest of Smogon now, okay?

@Bobtheball4 : My local Hawaiian brother, who I had to chase around the streets of Manhattan just to get a blurry ass picture with two and a half years ago. I remember those nights where I couldn't fall asleep, and I'd just message you about random shit because of your very convenient timezone. Hopefully we'll meet again, and not for like 10 minutes at the Nintendo Center in NYC. Because I had to spend like 6 hours chasing you down the streets, it was ridiculous.

@Captain : You're weird as hell, man. But all joking aside, I appreciate everything you've done for me these past couple years, and you made me feel welcome and part of a small community in the depths of Shoddy Battle as an underage user. We don't talk as much, and maybe I've gotten a bit more boring as time progressed, but know that I don't ever regret spending time on your server, and the memories there were priceless.

@cyberzero : I know you didn't really like me when we first met, which was understandable. We all know that I came off as a dick more often than not during the CAP days. But I'm glad we settled our differences... and now we're becoming roommates next year? What the fuck? It's pretty surreal, to be honest. But you've evolved from being a close online friend to a tight irl friend that I can talk to for advice for the incoming year. I am looking forward to next year; I will see you on Tuesday because that's when my bed is going to arrive. =)

@DougJustDoug : This might be weird coming from me as we haven't really talked much to each other, but thanks for accepting me into the CAP community even when I was (or maybe I still am) a rather questionable user. I know you think that I'm pretty hotheaded and brash as a user, but sometimes a little criticism can go in the right direction. I guess I'm putting you here because you gave me a chance, and I took that chance. From that, I learned. Keep up the great work Doug, please know that I do appreciate everything you're doing even though I haven't much interest to return to CAP.

@franky : Another person that Fuzznip introduced me to. I guess you're pretty ghetto, even though you're not black. Or asian. You're just an enigma, but I can deal with that. We should talk ball more because my nigga MWP is coming to the Knicks, baby. Problem: the raptors. How to fix: get melo to drop 40 on their ass

@Fuzznip : I still think Poopazing is a better name, but that's for another day. I remember we started CAP around the same time, but then you magically disappeared from the forums. And then you appeared again as Fuzznip, C&C extroardinaire. And then you quit again. And then I quit. And now you're back again. And now I'm back! It seems like we were destined to work together as the one two punch on Smogon. Thanks for helping me get involved with other aspects of Smogon and introducing me to Bloo, who then introduced me to RMT. It's been a pleasure ladderwhoring with you these past few weeks. We're gonna get that pretty ass wing badge in record time, my nigga. And when that time comes, we'll victory screech the fuck out of this place. OOOLOOLOOO

@Lunar Fang : it lf. Jeray, my main man. A really solid battler back in the day, and an even better friend now. It sucks that we only see each other once a year now, but this year our meet up will be hella sick. Keep me updated on your life man, it seems pretty interesting from what I can tell.

@Magmortified : Blue team representing. You, me, and Beej made the big three of CAP battling, even bigger than the Miami Heat's. Our competition was questionable, but our dominance was undeniable. I miss making teams with you, you always seemed very enthusiastic about building teams. I have no idea what you're up to nowadays though, I hope we are able to keep in touch if you ever log on these forums.

@reyscarface : Yeah... you're kind of a douche, but I can live with it. I like your sense of humor, even if it's uncalled for sometimes. But we can be down to earth with each other, and I like that about you. You're a really approachable guy despite what others think, such as when I popped up here and there during these past three years just checking up on how Smogon has evolved. I hear you are dating Ivysaur now, so gl with that and I wish you the best.

@SoT : Kr3wbro428, another person I knew back in 2007 when I was beginning competitive pokemon. I miss you dude, but knowing you, you'll probably come back in about 6 months where I project that I'll ragequit for some obscure reason, and then you'll post another VM on my wall when I'm inactive. We should be active in the same time if you are ever planning on coming back. Thanks for helping me get my rater badge the first time around, it's nice to have sources of support when you are actively trying to do something good for the community.

@Steven Snype : Andy Kakkaakasdkaskaka! It's weird because we didn't actually meet on Smogon; we met because Scimjara told me you went to the same high school as me. Who would have thought that we went to the same high school, but never even talked to each other about competitive pokemon? Maybe it's because we're both closet players. Ramsden's class my junior year was so chill hanging out with you, playing randbats on PS and talking about dumb shit. I don't think we're gonna be able to hang out this year -- maybe during winter break? I'm down for whatever.

@tab :
tab
thank you
for hooking me up with this sexy badge
!

@TEzeon : idc that other people claim to be your tutor, because I was the original tutor of my man Dan. But you really didn't need much tutoring, because you're probably one of the most solid players in 5th gen that I know. A competitor by heart, playing Kaijudo, MTG, and balling up the Point Guard position asian style like Jeremy Lin. I really need to meet up with you and Tacho now that I'm going to be living in the city. I enjoy playing against your creative teams that always bring something new to the table. Smogon needs more players like you. Humble, competitive, and creative.

@Umbreon Dan : I remember I had my pants in a knot every time you talked competitive pokemon because every time you talked, you would say stuff regarding stall which just sounded like asinine bullcrap most of the time. And being the primarily offensive player I was, I would talk shit back. But yeah, I played both stall and offense in CAP, and as time progressed I realized you were a very chill person, and that I should lay down the heat. Another cool CAP user who has been living in the shadows. I'm glad we still keep in touch after all these years.

@Vader : You're a bigger druggie now than what I remembered a couple years ago, but you're still the same guy I knew way back in the days of the Little Cup Forums. And even though I didn't play LC, I do remember we were pretty tight back then, and you were a boss tutee back in 09. You fit right in with Captain and his semantics back then, too. Too bad I can't even recall half of the trippy shit that went on in that server. I guess that you worked your way up the social ladder on Smogon, and now moderate the prestigious forum of Trou Du Cul, just like you said you would 3 years ago.
 
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NEEDS MORE HITMONLEE D***MIT

Just kidding. Anyways, it looks like a fairly solid team. I notice there are indeed weaknesses to Chandelure and Zapdos, but I cannot seem to wrap my head around a potential solution to that. Anyways, good job
 
Hey, congrats on the ladder. Something tells me I've seen this team before, particularly the Chinese lettering, but who knows. Perhaps you remember me, I was using a Trick Room team.

Anyways, on to the rate.

This team has a somewhat weakness to Chandelure, specifically the Specs set and other sets with Energy Ball. I say this because although you do have Stealth Rocks, you have no spinblocker as well, making Chandelure a potential win condition against this team. I'm sure the problem can be worked around in battle if the battle is played intelligently, however.

It's weird that both Slowbro and Togekiss have Twave. Spreading status is good of course, but I just think that two users of paralysis can be unnecessary at times. Perhaps Toxic on Slowbro will help you wear down threats that Slowbro can't break with its own offensive power.

But really, that's it. This is a good team, and again, congrats on the peak.
 
Hey congrats on the peak. Its a very solid team you have here. The main thing i noticed (which is one of my favorite strategies) is that not one if your pokes would like to be tricked a choice item. Once one of your pokes is locked into a move it is very easy to set up. Two good examples are virizion and bisharp who can switch in on a locked move and boost. For example scarf chandy vs lead champ. I trick the scarf as you sub or stone edge. Either chandy is koed or youre locked into sub. Regardless virizion can come in and sd and your team is in trouble between leaf blade, close combat and stone edge. This is just one example but im sure you see where i am going. I think you could prob get rid of machamp and have scarf shao instead. Its much faster and can hit very hard with hjk stone edge and aerial ace. Regen also gives it nice recovery.
I would also say leaf storm > giga drain and rest> HP FIRE. Putting zong to sleep is better than getting the 2hko. Itll let you boost scrafty.

Other than that goos team!
 

Bass

Brother in arms
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnus
Man how the hell did I miss this. Your memory of our past battles is actually far better than my own, I only just recalled your breloom fetish now that you mentioned it again. Good luck and have fun with college. Congrats Zach!
 
I must say this is a very good team i have personally swapped Machamp out for Mienshao and roserade out for Amoongus to make half the team regenerators which is incredibly useful alongside a few more toxics and a few less thunder wave. I just felt that way it allowed you to play a more Stall game if needed. Overall though its a great team
 

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