#genvuu Challenge #4 - Choice Items

[Nas]

#genvuu challenges will test your knowledge of the UU tier, battling skill, and teambuilding prowess. Each round you will be given a set of teambuilding guidelines that you must follow in order to compete. The rounds will last approximately two weeks, and whoever achieves the highest ladder rating at the end of each round will be declared winner. Whoever wins will receive a spot in the UnderUsed Hall of Fame where the names of the winners are displayed. You are encouraged to discuss these challenges in both IRC and this thread; they are meant to generate as much activity and discussion as possible. If you have any challenge that you would like to see happen, feel free to contact me on Smogon or IRC with suggestions.

Also, make sure you join #genvuu on IRC, this is where most Senate meetings and discussions about the UU tier take place. Participating in these discussions is a great way to get more involved with the tier and UU community.

#genvuu Challenge #4: Choice Items

Due to popular demand, this challenge is back! For this challenge, each member of your team must be holding a Choice Band, Choice Specs, or Choice Scarf as their item. If you wish to compete, provide me with a NEW alt, which you can only use for challenge matches.

The challenge will end on December 16th at approximately 11:59 PM EST, whoever has the highest ranking on the UU leaderboard at that time wins.

Participants

forum name -- ladder alt

 

[TPO3]

In with the alt: #hazemeta2012

 

[rlyn99]

In with the alt YourChoice

 

[Chimera404]

Wow, this one will be truly exciting!

I assume Trick is allowed, meaning that stuff like Dual Screens Trickband Bronzong is allowed?

Maybe stuff like Scarf Darm, Specs Lure, CB Victini, CB Bronzong/Azelf, Specs Raikou, and Scarf Rotom-C all on the same team?

In with alt SpecsHelios

 

[neoswordmaster]

Doing this, less because I think I'll win the challenge, but more because it seems fun, interesting and different.

Alt is Proto

 

[Reaver12]

Definitely in. Didn't have time to battle last time you guys did this challenge

Alt: KrookedBoss

 

[JolteonFTW]

In for funsies.

Alt: yugdaBretsiM

 

[exotic]

In as BossCrobat

edit: a core of cb crobat, cs slowbro and cb snorlax is godly.

 

[Ernesto]

In as gogo slowbro, which I haven't used since the last ladder reset, so I guess it's alright, right?

User: gogoslowbro
This user has not played any ladder games yet.

I'm thinking of using a similar core to the one exotic mentioned, probably with Scarf Ditto or Scarf Rotom-H for revenge killing purposes... Lack of a spinner will hurt though.
Using Trick is not out of the question, right? Lol

 

[Chimera404]

I have a VolTurn team full of gimmicks, which works surprisingly well. To make up for the lack of a conventional spinner I've tried Trick+RS Claydol, which you may have heard me theorymonning about in the chat. Unfortunately it's a piece of junk and does nothing to alleviate some crucial weaknesses; thus, I've since swapped it out for CB Hitmontop which is amaaaaaaaaazing given that it beats all other variants of Hitmontop except for the BU variant, which gets trolled by Trick on my other Pokemon. Instead of Scarf Ditto, however, I chose to run the much less viable Transform Scarf Mew which is hilarious and takes hits like a boss. It also boasts good attack types in Aura Sphere+Psychic+U-turn and just adds to the general momentum of the team. I thought it'd be deadweight when this guy suggested it to me after a close match, but it's as close to a wall as you can get on a Choice team. I find that the aforementioned core is... uh... decent, but I'll stick with my SpecsLure+ScarfDarm and Specs Raikou+Scarf Rotom-M cores for the sheer firepower/revenge killing potential.

 

[exotic]

The way to go is obviously bulky offense, so I would not use more than one scarfer. Let's say that rain dance kingdra gets a free turn. You are swept with some sort of hyper offense whereas bulky ofdense can tank a hit and retaliate. This is why the core of slowbro+snorlax+crobat is amazing. It check a lot of pokemon in the tier. CB Crobat is amazing and it nets me 2 kills a match. It is fun to see a Chandelure getting ohkod by it. Also, he gets a lot of switches and hits so hard. It 2hkos so many things. The only problem is his Sr weakness and brave bird recoil. I think CB Crobat is better than the stallbreaker version.

 

[shadowpandax]

in

Alt: choicechoiceasdf

Using an all Choice team hasn't been difficult at all for me, hax though can screw up a lot. At 1900ish so far at #14. Bulkier things are great choice users, as they are great for tanking hits and dishing out lots of damage. Don't really have much time to ladder right now, but progress has been good with this team

EDIT: After being haxed so much in this last hour, I've practically given up. Hopefully I'll have better luck next challenge.

 

[FlareBlitz]

ChooseyFlare

 

[Chimera404]

Bulky Offense...? Hm. Hadn't considered that, but that's probably viable too... I find that Fast Offense has less problems with momentum, though; and with a Choice team, that's obviously bad. Still, I'm not surprised that it could work.

Transform CS Mew is just amazing for its troll value. I use it like Meloetta, except that this particular Meloetta copies all stats except for HP and will always outspeed the copied opponent.

Here's a replay for the awesome:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/uu3838374

Basically I grab the guy's Nasty Plot Cofagrigus and beat his team up with it.

 

[RitterCat]

Ritter-AllChoice

 

[Tyranitarphantom]

In as Switcheroo

Tangrowth is amazing

 

[exotic]

Bulky Offense...? Hm. Hadn't considered that, but that's probably viable too... I find that Fast Offense has less problems with momentum, though; and with a Choice team, that's obviously bad. Still, I'm not surprised that it could work.

Transform CS Mew is just amazing for its troll value. I use it like Meloetta, except that this particular Meloetta copies all stats except for HP and will always outspeed the copied opponent.

Here's a replay for the awesome:
http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/uu3838374

Basically I grab the guy's Nasty Plot Cofagrigus and beat his team up with it.

how can you switch between moves with your scarfmew after you transformed into cofagrigus?

tangrowth seems very interesting

 

[pokemonisfun]

coming in as fried ice cream

 

[cim]

wow i didn't know i was already competing in this month's challenge!!!

use slowbro guys. you won't regret it

my alt will be cim-uu02

 

[Ace Emerald]

Alt: Choice Ace

 

[MrGatr]

In as: Gatraide!

 

[kokoloko]

This is a public service announcement:

The ladder will be put on pause (as in, rankings will be preserved but probably with a bit of decay) in order for the UU community to focus on UU Suspect Ladder. I'm not sure if RT is just going to move the challenge to the Suspect Ladder or pause it and keep it going once the main ladder re-appears. He'll tell you I guess!!

PS. This is happening a few hours from this post.

 

[FlareBlitz]

Preliminary impressions.

I'm currently in the upper 1700s / lower 1800s. I find that a mix of bulky, powerful attackers and a couple of quick, frail cleaners works best. Running full bulky offense with a choice team means that something like Togekiss, Mew, or Heracross can immediately threaten a clean sweep, whereas a team of frail offensive pokemon has problems with every speed boosting sweeper (sharpedo, kingdra, liligant) as well as things like OTR cofag. Having a mix of both protects you against either eventuality, but it also means you need to have a solid strategy before you ever leave the team preview screen.

You absolutely need to plan for the long-term when using an all-choice team. Something like kingdra on the opposing team can easily turn a sure win into a resounding defeat if you let something get locked into the wrong move. You can't be lusting after the quick, obvious kills - remember that every kill costs you momentum (because your opponent can send out his best answer to your current pokemon and the move it is locked into for free). I've already had a few games where the best course of action was to use a weak move and allowing my opponent to destroy the Pokemon I currently have on the field instead of using the stronger move, getting the ko, and having a fresh, unharmed pokemon coming in the next turn to set up safely.

And get used to being on the wrong side of information control. Your opponent will probably figure out your gimmick pretty quickly if he's any good at all, meaning you're going to be playing at a psychological disadvantage from mid-game onwards, if not earlier (i.e. if you have a really obvious account name).

Edit: Goddamn it koko

 

[Chimera404]

how can you switch between moves with your scarfmew after you transformed into cofagrigus?

I have no idea. Glitch? Obviously I was carrying the scarf as I tricked it to Umbreon, but I'm not sure how I swapped moves from Shadow Ball to Trick.

*shrugs*

Works for me.

 

[Nas]

The UU Suspect ladder is now up, so I will be putting this challenge on hold for now. As soon as the suspect test is resolved, I will unlock this thread and the challenge will continue. For now, enjoy the snow. :)