Project ORAS OU - Better Battlers Project (Revamp) [READ THE OP BEFORE POSTING]

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Approved by AM and Aragorn the King
Original thead by Doughboy


Art to go here (If any artists want to do this)

One of the biggest struggles new players in any game face when starting out is improving how they play. In most strategy games it is encouraged to review games afterwards in order to gain an understanding of what improve on. However, how can a new player truly improve if they aren'y fully aware of what they did right or wrong? Not to mention the frustration of losing often prevents people from analysing their games regardless of experience. This is where the Better Battlers Project comes in. This thread has two purposes, for newer players to receive assistance on how to play matches and for experienced players to go through their own thought processes during a match, allowing both newer and more experienced users alike improve the way they play.

The Basic Idea
  • Any player can post a replay of a recent match they had, an importable of their team and a summary of the match, making sure to explain their choices at key turns.
  • Someone in the analysis panel will analyse your game, giving you tips. Experienced members of the community can also help out if they wish.
  • Tournament players and other experienced users are also encouraged to post replays of good matches they've had recently to demonstrate what sort of thought process a good player will have during a match. These will likely not be analysed by the team and are there for the benefit of all.
Rules
  • Be civil, the aim of this thread is to help people, not scare them off. Like my mum always used to say, If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Any flaming of other users WILL NOT be tolerated.
  • Make sure to use Hide tags in your post to prevent cluttering (for those that don't know it's [ hide ] what you want to say [ /hide ] (remove the spaces inside the square brackets)).
  • This is for OU battles only, I dont particularly care If you played really well in Balanced Hackmons, this isn't the place for it.
  • Do not help people if you yourself are not experienced. Doing that will only serve to clutter the thread.
Guidelines
  • Preferably upload matches you felt were close and weren't swayed one way or another because of hax. It's hard to help someone get better if the match was just a jirachi paraflinching everything in it's path.
  • Giving some context to what the team you are using is trying to accomplish will help people write better reviews.
  • If you have further questions you want to ask a reviewer, PM them privately to avoid cluttering the thread.
Template for posting
Code:
Battle: Put your battle link here [HIDE=Team]copy and paste your team into here[/HIDE]
Username: Put your username for the battle here
Summary: Put the summary of the match and the description of your team's strategy here
Leaders
Flamer
Analytic
DarkNostalgia
ArchPhantom
JohnYiu

If there are too many replays that have not been analysed yet the thread will temporarily close to allow us to analyse all of them to the best of our ability although users are still free to review other peoples matches in the meantime.
 
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DarkNostalgia

Fading in, fading out, on the edge of paradise
is a Contributor Alumnus
Super hyped to see this going back :)
Guess I'll start discussion up with my own replay.

Battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-220776370 Close game after a few weeks of inactivity on Showdown with a friend :)
altitude (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

realize (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

gravity (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

into the clouds (Altaria-Mega) @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Heal Bell

surprises (Reuniclus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Recover

through the night (Toxicroak) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch


Username: DarkNostalgia

Summary: I won... barely. If praga had 29 HP IVs on Kyurem-B I would've lost lol. Basically my thought process during the game was, first and foremost, that my opponent's team was incredibly weak to Mega Altaria, and my team had a decent matchup against his squad as well. However, my team had a really big weakness to Azumarill, which led me to panic, which led me to effectively sack Toxicroak to a Play Rough. Also, I could've made another double on turn 12, similar to the one I did earlier on in the game.
 
Super hyped to see this going back :)
Guess I'll start discussion up with my own replay.

Battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-220776370 Close game after a few weeks of inactivity on Showdown with a friend :)
altitude (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

realize (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

gravity (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

into the clouds (Altaria-Mega) @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Heal Bell

surprises (Reuniclus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Recover

through the night (Toxicroak) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch


Username: DarkNostalgia

Summary: I won... barely. If praga had 29 HP IVs on Kyurem-B I would've lost lol. Basically my thought process during the game was, first and foremost, that my opponent's team was incredibly weak to Mega Altaria, and my team had a decent matchup against his squad as well. However, my team had a really big weakness to Azumarill, which led me to panic, which led me to effectively sack Toxicroak to a Play Rough. Also, I could've made another double on turn 12, similar to the one I did earlier on in the game.
You had a great game,I thought you pulled some nice doubles early on to get rid of his Zapdos and cause damage to his Azumarril.
Here are some better plays that you could've made:

When you brought in Tyranitar on Diancie,it protected and switched out to Chestnaught.I think you should've doubled into M-Alt here,not doing so allowed him to double into Azumarril and he got a kill.

Speaking of Tyranitar,I would've rather sacked Landorus or M-Alt because all you needed to win was Exca in Sand+A mon that could take Chestnaught down.Lando has Sludge Wave and M-Alt had Hyper Voice so I think you could've afforded to sack one of them rather than Tyranitar.You could've sacked TTar later on when you needed the sand back up again.

These are the turns that you could've done better,keeping the Sand up was your priority and not doing so almost cost you the game.

That's it,hope I helped
 
Battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-224046637

Username: ArchPhantom

Summary:
This was a close game that I had on ladder in which I lost. Wanted to share my thought process and explain what I could've done to avoid losing. From team preview, I formulated a plan to A- win with Feraligatr once Ferro was lured or B- win with Mega Scizor if I could remove Victini and weaken Rotom-W.

My team consisted of HP Fire Kyurem-B, fast rocks Lando-T with Yache Berry, 4 attacks Emboar (with Sucker Punch), Sash Thunder Wave Alakazam, DD Gatr, and finally SDTurn Scizor. As far as match up was concerned, I had a fair match up: if I played my cards right, I could easily win the game. Problematic mons for me was my opponents Mega Lopunny, so I would need to keep Scizor healthy and keep Lando T for Intimidate unless it was not to my advantage to keep it.

Goal was to get up rocks early and lure Ferro ASAP which wasn't hard considering Kyurem decimated 5/6 mons and Ferro was the 'safest' only switch for my opponent. So basically, once KB got a free switch in on, say, Rotom or Gliscor, Ferro would die, which happened turn 5&6.

Turn 7 is when Latios came in to revenge kill my Kyurem. I went into Scizor but in hindsight I probably should've went into my sashed Alakazam seeing as Lati could easily have had HP Fire and Zam was rather expendable. Thankfully Lati didn't have HP Fire but it did crit my Sciz which scared me a bit. All in all, going into Zor turn 7 play was a bad play looking at it now. *scratches head*

Skip to turn 11. once again, I'm risking my Scizor when it's the thing that best checks the mLop, the biggest threat to my team. The better play would be to sack Lando because it couldn't beat the remaining mons my opp had left. I was caught up in intimidating Lopunny, lol. Anyways moving on.

Turn 14 was questionable as hell going for T-Wave on Lati ?.? -straight up attacking was the best play not to mention this dude had a SDef Gliscor in the back so wtf was I thinking rofl. Good thing was that Zam was able to weaken Rotom-W, a key check to my Feraligatr.

Turn 18 and 19 why was I preserving a near dead Lando-T? And why the hell would I sack Scizor at that point? Call it a choke frens. These turns were, imo, what lost me the game. I was thinking because Lop's HJK did above 40 to Scizor, I needed to intimidate it at some point to get off a roost, but I knew that Lati didn't have HP Fire meaning I could've Roosted on it easily but chokety choke choke nothing more. The best play on that 2-turn interval was to sack Lando and Roost with Scizor. ;_;

So at this point, Rotom was weakened, Lati was at -2, and I figured it was Gatr time, which it was, but I rushed a bit. Turn 21, I should've sacked Lando (for the 100th time rroooffll) to get Lati at -4 and ensure Gatr could seal the game. This is because -2 Draco did over half to me and 2 fake outs from M-Lop could finish me from that range. My opp had Quick Attack so that was epic as hell haha. Sigh..

So yeah I could've won the game had I:

-Preserved Scizor.

-Sacked anything Turn 21 to -2 Latios' Draco Meteor so Gatr wouldn't take 10000 damage and be in range of 2 Fake Outs.
 
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Super hyped to see this going back :)
Guess I'll start discussion up with my own replay.

Battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-220776370 Close game after a few weeks of inactivity on Showdown with a friend :)
altitude (Landorus) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rock Polish
- Earth Power
- Sludge Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

realize (Tyranitar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake

gravity (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Iron Head
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

into the clouds (Altaria-Mega) @ Altarianite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 76 HP / 252 SpA / 180 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- Heal Bell

surprises (Reuniclus) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Recover

through the night (Toxicroak) @ Life Orb
Ability: Dry Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Gunk Shot
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch


Username: DarkNostalgia

Summary: I won... barely. If praga had 29 HP IVs on Kyurem-B I would've lost lol. Basically my thought process during the game was, first and foremost, that my opponent's team was incredibly weak to Mega Altaria, and my team had a decent matchup against his squad as well. However, my team had a really big weakness to Azumarill, which led me to panic, which led me to effectively sack Toxicroak to a Play Rough. Also, I could've made another double on turn 12, similar to the one I did earlier on in the game.
I wont dabble to much onto anything Analytic has said, as his points were fair and his assessment of those aspect were correct. I'd like to add a few things however, Like on "Turn 9", when you clicked Psyshock. The correct play to make here was to use Recover > Psyshock, as he had no means of killing you with that Pokemon and was basically set up bait which could have potentially won you the game from that point if you had kept it healthy verses Mega Diancie instead of sacking it for some damage. "Turn 14", just to make clear Sacking Mega Altaria was indeed your best play, as it could only be put to effective work against Chesnaught or a weakened Azumarill, where as the rest of your team, especially Tyranitar could handle at least two of more Pokemon guaranteed on your opponents team. Other than that and what has been said there inst much to be added and I hope you were able to gain something from my posts!

I'd also just like to also say how really glad I am to see a thread like this and I look forward to its future development!
 
Battle: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-224437679 I'm sure I might have probably played a bit better on some of my other matches, though.

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect

Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Defog

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Bisharp (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Talonflame (M) @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Roost


Username: Repeater1947

Summary: On the beginning, I had switched my Mega Diancie to Ferrothorn allowing opposing Landorus-T to head to Heatran so I lost momentum. Then I switched to Rotom-W and fired off a Volt Switch predicting it would have been forced out. However, opposing Heatran strangely stayed in, so I decided to go to Mega Diancie and attempted to threaten it with Earth Power (as I know the opponent would not be idiotic to fire off a Flash Cannon or Earth Power on a Rotom-W). Next as the opponent had switched to Gengar, I had switched to Ferrothorn predicting the Sludge Wave and attempting to set up free SR and had success after tanking the Focus Blast.

On Turn 12, I had my Rotom-W Volt Switch against the opposing Clefable and had went to Bisharp, only to get screwed by a Flamethrower therefore losing momentum as opposing Clefable goes to Mega Scizor.

Turns 18-20
, I had realized that I got too greedy with the SD boosts and got phazed out by Roar. My decision for me to set-up in front of Heatran's face was because I assumed that I could have severely dented it with a +6 Brave Bird, assuming he lacked Stone Edge.

Turns 22-23
, I had spammed Defog in order to remove hazards to let Talonflame clean safely. Turns 24-26 as I switched to Talonflame, fortunately, the opponent had went to Mega Scizor, allowing me to grab a free SD boost and rack up damage on Heatran while getting a lucky crit. Turn 27, as Heatran was weakened enough I had Mega Diancie fire off a Diamond Storm and had got Landorus-T weakened on the switch.

On Turns 30-35, the opponent had apparently made a bad play due to the fact that my Talonflame had made his Clefable set-up fodder and giving me extra turns to Roost up, given that he had his Clefable stay in. After killing his Clefable, my opponent begins to sack his Keldeo in order to wear my Talonflame down with recoil damage. Then, I begin to click Roost in order to avoid being KOed by Bullet Punch, then proceeding to screw it with Flare Blitz. After the Talonflame sweep, I have pretty much weakened the enemy enough for me to win.
 
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Battle: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-224437679 I'm sure I might have probably played a bit better on some of my other matches, though.

Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 16 Atk / 240 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Earth Power
- Protect

Ferrothorn (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed
- Power Whip
- Gyro Ball

Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Defog

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Bisharp (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Talonflame (M) @ Sharp Beak
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Roost


Username: Repeater1947

Summary: On the beginning, I had switched my Mega Diancie to Ferrothorn allowing opposing Landorus-T to head to Heatran so I lost momentum. Then I switched to Rotom-W and fired off a Volt Switch predicting it would have been forced out. However, opposing Heatran strangely stayed in, so I decided to go to Mega Diancie and attempted to threaten it with Earth Power (as I know the opponent would not be idiotic to fire off a Flash Cannon or Earth Power on a Rotom-W). Next as the opponent had switched to Gengar, I had switched to Ferrothorn predicting the Sludge Wave and attempting to set up free SR and had success after tanking the Focus Blast.

On Turn 12, I had my Rotom-W Volt Switch against the opposing Clefable and had went to Bisharp, only to get screwed by a Flamethrower therefore losing momentum as opposing Clefable goes to Mega Scizor.
Turns 18-20, I had realized that I got too greedy with the SD boosts and got phazed out by Roar. My decision for me to set-up in front of Heatran's face was because I assumed that I could have severely dented it with a +6 Brave Bird, assuming he lacked Stone Edge.
Turns 22-23, I had spammed Defog in order to remove hazards to let Talonflame clean safely. Turns 24-26 as I switched to Talonflame, fortunately, the opponent had went to Mega Scizor, allowing me to grab a free SD boost and rack up damage on Heatran while getting a lucky crit. Turn 27, as Heatran was weakened enough I had Mega Diancie fire off a Diamond Storm and had got Landorus-T weakened on the switch.

On Turns 30-35, the opponent had apparently made a bad play due to the fact that my Talonflame had made his Clefable set-up fodder and giving me extra turns to Roost up, given that he had his Clefable stay in. After killing his Clefable, my opponent begins to sack his Keldeo in order to wear my Talonflame down with recoil damage. Then, I begin to click Roost in order to avoid being KOed by Bullet Punch, then proceeding to screw it with Flare Blitz. After the Talonflame sweep, I have pretty much weakened the enemy enough for me to win.
Yep.You made a misplay right at the start like you said by going into Ferrothorn,this allowed the oppo to set up rocks and rack up some momentum.

Those couple of times when it was a M-Scizor vs your Rotom-W, I think you should've Voky Switched because the switch into Clefable was kinda obvious.Also,when Bisharp vs up against Clefable,I think you would've been better off Knocking Off or SD'ng instead of Iron Head because the switch was obvious.

Other than those,I think you played pretty well.Roosting up on Clef and M-Sciz,these were some good plays that you made.Not going for Knock Off against Gengar was pretty sensible because in 50/50s like these,the oppo was bound to go for a Focus Blast,good call for Sucker Punching.

That's all,hope I helped.There was not a lot that you did wrong in the replay except in the beginning 15 turns,you managed to pull it together in the end :)
 
Repeater1947 s post is the sort of thing we're looking for in terms of detail, acknowledging where you made errors is an important part of improving. Remember that all players choke, dont be embarrassed to say what you did wrong.
 
tbh i felt that repeater1947 had no reason not to lead with rotom-w, after all it is the most threatening pokemon to the opponent's team, and further more it is able to force out heatran and landorus-t and prevent either of them from getting up stealth rock, giving you immediate momentum turn 1. without a doubt, the opponent leads off with scarf landorus-t (p easy just by looking at team preview altho if landorus-t reveals sr, heatran is likely the one being scarfed, if not it should be running a magma storm stallbreaker set) I guess mega evolving turn 1 isn't bad too to activate magic bounce but you could have mega evolved diancie on the heatran as it went for lava plume/sr. although honestly diancie isn't really too helpful in the game other than scouting what landorus-t's choice locked move was.

i felt that the gameplan of the team should have been to win with sd talonflame, by weakening heatran and landorus-t. heatran is easy to wear down because mdiancie+rotom-w are really good vs it. landorus-t being scarfed means that it is not heavy on defense investment which means ferrothorn could have helped to chip away health with iron barbs if he went for u turn and is fairly squishy

turn 7 would be the turning point of the game imo, letting ferro take a massive chunk from focus blast and afterwards sacking it on the next turn was honestly a questionable play on your part when ferrothorn is fairly useful in beating clefable as well as going for leech seed+protect on mscizor/landorus-t and racking up u turn iron barbs recoil on landorus-t, lessening the pressure on the team. and for what? just getting up a layer of stealth rock which barely threatens the opponent's team and only to be defogged later at turn 15. ferrothorn could have been played so much better, but i guess everyone makes mistakes.

turn 14, no reason to sucker punch honestly as just by looking by team preview the mscizor set is either bulky defog or bulky sd roost.

turn 18/19/20 was just being kinda greedy and talon should have just brave bird to dent heatran so that it can sweep unhindered lategame. instead you let heatran stay on the field longer and let it get back more health from leftovers.

turn 26 was the gamebreaking hax. imo you should have lost without the crit as heatran could still shuffle the team around or set up sr and pressure you further. roaring out into mega diancie of all pokemon was also very unfortunate for the opponent and forced landorus-t to take some damage.

turn 28, you had no reason not to go for protect to scout what the opponent would use. i guess it worked out in your favour since he went for eq and you went into rotom-w but he could have went for u-turn and punished you further with gengar.

good game nonetheless

hope this post helps!
 

valetta

Banned deucer.
Game: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogtours-ou-47771

Name: Valetta

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
- Scald

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 232 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Return
- Earthquake

Heatran @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Taunt
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Ancient Power

Manaphy @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Ice Beam

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Counter

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock


Summary:
At team preview i saw that he didnt have much for my heatran, as i can get chipped damage on most of his team on turn 1, except for keldeo, and i expected him to lead with either ferro or sable as preventing hazards was a must to him, because if he were to defog with lati, i could get potential free switches to threats like tran/altaria and because he's offensive sharp beak talon, he didn't have a real switchin to altaria except for ferro, and going ferro was dangerous because i could easily double to altaria. So my goal for the game was keeping altaria healthy, so keldeo and lati aren't big problems, but also trying to tail glow with manaphy on the potential landorus so i can lure ferro and get rid of it.

First few turns: I got pretty lucky turn 1, seeing as how he let me trap, and 2hko his sableye which, even though it couldn't do much to my team, it's still an annoying mon. I did get rid of it for the price of my item. Now, on turn 3, i make what was probably my biggest missplay, going to clefable on keldeo. It was obvious he was specs, and i couldn't risk him clicking icy wind and donking altaria on the switch which would lose me a really valuable mon. Also, as you can see, my clef is rocks and with his team, it isn't gonna have a good time trying to get them up at this point, as everything can ko it, except for keldeo locked into a fighting move. At that point, i basically lost a mon, but decided to save it because altaria is defensive, and EVed to live a specs hydro+specs hydro crit from keldeo, and to always take 2 psyshocks from lati.

Mid game: On turn 8 i make another missplay, an unecessary double to manaphy, when my best play was obviously roosting, and now keldeo is a threat, because i die to 2 specs icy winds or 2 high hydro rolls. I do end up getting a burn on lati which is great because it forces him to roost more, so i can get potential free switches to altaria/tran. What i do end up doing at turn 11 is sacking clef, as it was basically dead weight and it forced keldeo to hydro, which means altaria gets a free roost. There i make another missplay, i go keldeo. I def should've went altaria and roosted but instead i let keldeo get weakened, but i do get lucky and dodge a hydro. At turn 15 I'm finally able to roost and at that point i realised my wincon. All i needed to do was keep manaphy at full so it can take a brave bird, and don't let altaria get weakened so i have an easy switchin to lati/keldeo, provided no crits. Heatran wasn't doing that much at this point, as it already trapped sableye. Another big plus is that his rocker gets forced out by my defogger so i can keep hazards from my side of the field until late game, when they don't matter as much. I do get lucky here and there by dodging a few leech seeds, but honestly they didn't have much of an impact to the result of the game. At turn 32 I'm finally able to get manaphy in on lando, and he's basically forced to ferro at this point, which means i get a kill if i play this right. I don't tail glow, unfortunately, but that only prolonged the game, because a similar scenario happens a few turns later as I do end up surprising him with hp fire and a huge annoyance was out of the way, which was nice because altaria can safely click return at this point.

End game: So my plan was to keep manaphy healthy, keep defogging with skarm until it isn't necessary anymore and pressure his team with manaphy, seeing as how i basically get a kill every time i get it in safely. Turn 39 i took a big risk i really shouldn't have took, because heatran doesn't hold much value at this point, as all it does is prevent bird from sd'ing which manaphy can do as well, and i go altaria. I can't really explain why I did that, I just had a feeling he'd drop a draco, semi expecting skarm, and semi wanting to get more damage on heatran. If he psyshocked there i basically lost to keldeo+talonflame and it was a missplay in general. I do end up sacking bird, as that's less room for a choke, as funny as it sounds. It might look like I'm at a disadvantage, as bird just beats me, but my plan was to either stop him from boosting by doubling or pressure him to attack so he dies to recoil. At turn 45 i finally kill ferro and force him to go keldeo. That means i can sack tran, go keldeo, and get an easy kill with scald. He had to preserve keldeo so he had a way of not losing to manaphy, but it was basically over at this point. I do end up knocking out landorus and he was forced to go bird. All i do there is click scald so he can't set up, eat up a hit with mana and end up winning with altaria, which i do end up doing. I don't agree with a couple of my plays though, as if he was cb bird, he definitely could've won, but i just took a gamble and assumed he wasn't.
 
Game: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/smogtours-ou-47771

Name: Valetta

Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Icy Wind
- Secret Sword
- Scald

Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 232 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Return
- Earthquake

Heatran @ Power Herb
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Taunt
- Magma Storm
- Solar Beam
- Ancient Power

Manaphy @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Ice Beam

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Impish Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Counter

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 SpD
Calm Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Moonblast
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock


Summary:
At team preview i saw that he didnt have much for my heatran, as i can get chipped damage on most of his team on turn 1, except for keldeo, and i expected him to lead with either ferro or sable as preventing hazards was a must to him, because if he were to defog with lati, i could get potential free switches to threats like tran/altaria and because he's offensive sharp beak talon, he didn't have a real switchin to altaria except for ferro, and going ferro was dangerous because i could easily double to altaria. So my goal for the game was keeping altaria healthy, so keldeo and lati aren't big problems, but also trying to tail glow with manaphy on the potential landorus so i can lure ferro and get rid of it.

First few turns: I got pretty lucky turn 1, seeing as how he let me trap, and 2hko his sableye which, even though it couldn't do much to my team, it's still an annoying mon. I did get rid of it for the price of my item. Now, on turn 3, i make what was probably my biggest missplay, going to clefable on keldeo. It was obvious he was specs, and i couldn't risk him clicking icy wind and donking altaria on the switch which would lose me a really valuable mon. Also, as you can see, my clef is rocks and with his team, it isn't gonna have a good time trying to get them up at this point, as everything can ko it, except for keldeo locked into a fighting move. At that point, i basically lost a mon, but decided to save it because altaria is defensive, and EVed to live a specs hydro+specs hydro crit from keldeo, and to always take 2 psyshocks from lati.

Mid game: On turn 8 i make another missplay, an unecessary double to manaphy, when my best play was obviously roosting, and now keldeo is a threat, because i die to 2 specs icy winds or 2 high hydro rolls. I do end up getting a burn on lati which is great because it forces him to roost more, so i can get potential free switches to altaria/tran. What i do end up doing at turn 11 is sacking clef, as it was basically dead weight and it forced keldeo to hydro, which means altaria gets a free roost. There i make another missplay, i go keldeo. I def should've went altaria and roosted but instead i let keldeo get weakened, but i do get lucky and dodge a hydro. At turn 15 I'm finally able to roost and at that point i realised my wincon. All i needed to do was keep manaphy at full so it can take a brave bird, and don't let altaria get weakened so i have an easy switchin to lati/keldeo, provided no crits. Heatran wasn't doing that much at this point, as it already trapped sableye. Another big plus is that his rocker gets forced out by my defogger so i can keep hazards from my side of the field until late game, when they don't matter as much. I do get lucky here and there by dodging a few leech seeds, but honestly they didn't have much of an impact to the result of the game. At turn 32 I'm finally able to get manaphy in on lando, and he's basically forced to ferro at this point, which means i get a kill if i play this right. I don't tail glow, unfortunately, but that only prolonged the game, because a similar scenario happens a few turns later as I do end up surprising him with hp fire and a huge annoyance was out of the way, which was nice because altaria can safely click return at this point.

End game: So my plan was to keep manaphy healthy, keep defogging with skarm until it isn't necessary anymore and pressure his team with manaphy, seeing as how i basically get a kill every time i get it in safely. Turn 39 i took a big risk i really shouldn't have took, because heatran doesn't hold much value at this point, as all it does is prevent bird from sd'ing which manaphy can do as well, and i go altaria. I can't really explain why I did that, I just had a feeling he'd drop a draco, semi expecting skarm, and semi wanting to get more damage on heatran. If he psyshocked there i basically lost to keldeo+talonflame and it was a missplay in general. I do end up sacking bird, as that's less room for a choke, as funny as it sounds. It might look like I'm at a disadvantage, as bird just beats me, but my plan was to either stop him from boosting by doubling or pressure him to attack so he dies to recoil. At turn 45 i finally kill ferro and force him to go keldeo. That means i can sack tran, go keldeo, and get an easy kill with scald. He had to preserve keldeo so he had a way of not losing to manaphy, but it was basically over at this point. I do end up knocking out landorus and he was forced to go bird. All i do there is click scald so he can't set up, eat up a hit with mana and end up winning with altaria, which i do end up doing. I don't agree with a couple of my plays though, as if he was cb bird, he definitely could've won, but i just took a gamble and assumed he wasn't.
So you got off to a really nice start by trapping M-Sabeleye,I would've personally led off with M-Altaria seeing as to how it was the most likely mon to lead off with but I guess leading off with Heatran worked for you in the end.

Turn 13:His Keldeo was locked into Hydro Pump while yours was locked into Secret Sword,you chose to double into Manaphy on the incoming Latios switch allowing him to Recover while you switched Manaphy back out.

Turn 33:I would've revealed the HP Fire/TG'd right then and there,could've helped you later on in the game(not worrying about Ferro coming in on M-Altaria).

But yeah,you scraped though in the end but overall you had a good game.Sorry for the short post,I'm on mobile atm
 
Replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-197568943
Username: Vxy

This was a very close and fun game that I played. From the team preview, I had a pretty decent match-up. Landorus-T and Gengar seemed a bit annoying, and I was able to tell pretty easily it was scarfed Lando. I knew I could sweep with Mega Charizard X as long as I got rid of either Landorus-T or Gyarados because it’s hard to sweep through dual Intimidate. My goal was to remove one Intimidate user and get rid of that Gengar and maybe Latias because it’s a problem for a not set-up Charizard X. Gengar, just like Latias, is a problem for Zard if it hasn’t set-up.

Turn 1 I usually lead with either Jirachi or Raikou. Here I lead with Jirachi, and opponent leads with Heatran. I’m already in a bad spot since Heatran quad resists everything my Jirachi has. I U-turn and go right into Azumarill to set up a Belly Drum and hopefully weaken his team (especially Gyarados).

Turn 4 I used Aqua Jet even though I knew the opponent would go to Chesnaught. Wasn’t expecting to be out sped and KO’d by Wood Hammer which is why I clicked Play Rough.

Turn 6-7 I pretty much handicapped myself to 6-4 here as I defogged away rocks and ended up sacking Latias to Landorus-T’s Knock Off because I expected U-turn. This gave me a free set-up turn with Charizard.

Turn 10 Charizard kills Landorus-T making it much easier to sweep late-game and removing a huge threat (at the time).

Turn 17 My Raikou dies to a crit Sludge Wave from Gengar.

Turns 19-24 My opponent kept double switching and that whole time my only thought was “sack Ferrothorn”. My opponent caught on to that…eventually.

Turn 30-31 I used the ace up my sleeve which is [you’ll see]. One mispredict and he was swept at moment’s notice.


Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Earthquake
- Defog

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- U-turn
- Healing Wish

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
 
Replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/oususpecttest-197568943
Username: Vxy

This was a very close and fun game that I played. From the team preview, I had a pretty decent match-up. Landorus-T and Gengar seemed a bit annoying, and I was able to tell pretty easily it was scarfed Lando. I knew I could sweep with Mega Charizard X as long as I got rid of either Landorus-T or Gyarados because it’s hard to sweep through dual Intimidate. My goal was to remove one Intimidate user and get rid of that Gengar and maybe Latias because it’s a problem for a not set-up Charizard X. Gengar, just like Latias, is a problem for Zard if it hasn’t set-up.

Turn 1 I usually lead with either Jirachi or Raikou. Here I lead with Jirachi, and opponent leads with Heatran. I’m already in a bad spot since Heatran quad resists everything my Jirachi has. I U-turn and go right into Azumarill to set up a Belly Drum and hopefully weaken his team (especially Gyarados).

Turn 4 I used Aqua Jet even though I knew the opponent would go to Chesnaught. Wasn’t expecting to be out sped and KO’d by Wood Hammer which is why I clicked Play Rough.

Turn 6-7 I pretty much handicapped myself to 6-4 here as I defogged away rocks and ended up sacking Latias to Landorus-T’s Knock Off because I expected U-turn. This gave me a free set-up turn with Charizard.

Turn 10 Charizard kills Landorus-T making it much easier to sweep late-game and removing a huge threat (at the time).

Turn 17 My Raikou dies to a crit Sludge Wave from Gengar.

Turns 19-24 My opponent kept double switching and that whole time my only thought was “sack Ferrothorn”. My opponent caught on to that…eventually.

Turn 30-31 I used the ace up my sleeve which is [you’ll see]. One mispredict and he was swept at moment’s notice.


Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Power Whip
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Latias (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 72 HP / 184 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Earthquake
- Defog

Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 72 HP / 252 Atk / 184 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- U-turn
- Healing Wish

Raikou @ Assault Vest
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Alright,so looking at his team I'd have led off with Azumarril because his lead would've most likely been Landorus or Heatran.Leading with Rachi wasn't a really good idea imo and as you see,it wasn't.

Turn 4,when he protected on the Heatran,the switch was obvious and I think you should've gone for Play Rough.

Turn 7:You sacked Latias,a check to Gengar and Latias while being able to beat Chestnaught.I think going into Ferrothorn was the play to make.

Turn 8:I think you should've gone straight for the DClaw this turn because Gyarados was always coming in to get the attack drop.You would've gotten off some much needed damage too.

Turn 15:The way you switched in Zard into Heatran,it was screaming EQ.I think DD'ng up or Dragon Claw would've been a good play.

Turn 19:You made a really risky play here letting your Ferrothorn stay in on Heatran.He must've predicted the incoming Zard switch in and hence switched out to Latias.Didn't work out for your opponent in the end.

Turn 21:You made the same misplay staying in on Heatran and for what?Just to get up rocks? His team didn't get affected at all by Stealth Rock,don't see why you didn't switch out again.

Turn 25:You sacked Ferrothorn finally and really risked getting swept by M-Gyarados after a DD.Could've easily switched out to Zard here.Even if he doubled to Latias you always had a switch in to it in the form of Jirachi.

Turn 27:I would've Roosted up on the obvious Protect.

It worked out for you in the end because you managed to get the HW to Zard and you managed to get up a DD against Chestnaught and then proceeded to sweep.
I think the decision of sacking Ferrothorn against Heatran was really risky although I did see what you were trying to do, bring in Zard in safely to set up and win although personally,I wouldn't have sacked ferro because it could still deal against Latias and M-Gyarados.
 
Vxy, I would have to disagree with Analytic on what you should have done Turn 4, while in hindsight going for the play rough was advantagous you has no idea the Chesnaught was running speed so you were right in what you did. While Ive in the past run enough speed on Chesnaught to beat Jolly BD Azu, it is far too uncommon a spread for you to actually expect and thus your play was the smartest with the given information you had. This brings up a good point though, always scout possible variations in movepool, you set up far too early with Azu without learning what sets your opponent was using and while it worked out in the end, it very nearly cost you the game.

The only really questionable thing you did other than this was focusing solely on your wincon rather than your opponents as well. It was clear he intended to sweep with Mgyara and you chose to sac a healthy ferrothorn for almost no reason. Rachi was a safe switch to Latias in the event that he did double to it and from there you could easily U-Turn out from tran into Zard X and do the exact same steps, only this time you dont auto lose to Gyarados should it get a turn of setup. It worked out for you because your opponent over-predicted but just keep in the back of your mind how your opponent might play.

Other than that the choices you made were pretty valid and it was unfortunate your raikou got critted as having it alive pretty much would have sealed the win.
 
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Vxy, I would have to disagree with Analytic on what you should have done Turn 4, while in hindsight going for the play rough was advantagous you has no idea the Chesnaught was running speed so you were right in what you did. While Ive in the past run enough speed on Chesnaught to beat Jolly BD Azu, it is far too uncommon a spread for you to actually expect and thus your play was the smartest with the given information you had. This brings up a good point though, always scout possible variations in movepool, you set up far too early with Azu without learning what sets your opponent was using and while it worked out in the end, it very nearly cost you the game.

The only really questionable thing you did other than this was focusing solely on your wincon rather than your opponents as well. It was clear he intended to sweep with Mgyara and you chose to sac a healthy ferrothorn for almost no reason. Rachi was a safe switch to Latias in the event that he did double to it and from there you could easily U-Turn out from tran into Zard X and do the exact same steps, only this time you dont auto lose to Gyarados should it get a turn of setup. It worked out for you because your opponent over-predicted but just keep in the back of your mind how your opponent might play.

Other than that the choices you made were pretty valid and it was unfortunate your raikou got critted as having it alive pretty much would have sealed the win.
Agree with this,I'm gonna change my thought process up a bit.Flamer pointed out that I should put myself in the player's shoes.Sorry :/
 
Vxy, I would have to disagree with Analytic on what you should have done Turn 4, while in hindsight going for the play rough was advantagous you has no idea the Chesnaught was running speed so you were right in what you did. While Ive in the past run enough speed on Chesnaught to beat Jolly BD Azu, it is far too uncommon a spread for you to actually expect and thus your play was the smartest with the given information you had. This brings up a good point though, always scout possible variations in movepool, you set up far too early with Azu without learning what sets your opponent was using and while it worked out in the end, it very nearly cost you the game.

The only really questionable thing you did other than this was focusing solely on your wincon rather than your opponents as well. It was clear he intended to sweep with Mgyara and you chose to sac a healthy ferrothorn for almost no reason. Rachi was a safe switch to Latias in the event that he did double to it and from there you could easily U-Turn out from tran into Zard X and do the exact same steps, only this time you dont auto lose to Gyarados should it get a turn of setup. It worked out for you because your opponent over-predicted but just keep in the back of your mind how your opponent might play.

Other than that the choices you made were pretty valid and it was unfortunate your raikou got critted as having it alive pretty much would have sealed the win.
Well on that team I use Azumarill mostly as an early-game wallbreaker to weaken the team. Didn't particularly work in that battle lol.

Also this is directed to both you and Analytic as you both kind of asked this. Mega Gyarados wasn't exactly a threat even late-game as it doesn't get a free switch on anything (Jirachi just spams U-turn anyway) and the reason I got rocks up was because I had absolutely no clue how much an unboosted Dragon Claw would do to Gyarados (if I couldn't set-up). In the end it worked out because if I DIDN'T get a set-up opportunity Gyarados would have had around 63% (or something like that) and unboosted Dragon Claw can't even deal 60%. Sure, Gyara can't OHKO Zard back but I got them up just to be sure. And the Ferro staying in on Heatran wasn't a misplay, I intentionally was doing that so I could maybe set-up with Zard X. Also Charizard doesn't have Roost, haha.

But yeah, thanks guys :)
 

leremyju

Banned deucer.
Replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-50229
Username: leremyju

Maybe this looked like I had the matchup, but the reality was that every time Excadrill was sent in, Ox the Box could sack something and then send in wobuffet. The same situation went with Skarmory. It was the counter to Altaria but he had the Magnezone. I think it was a very well built team and to be honest I think the matchup was against me. My game plan was just to prevent Altaria from setting up. I had to do this with a couple of double switches and make several plays or ultimately hax my opponent.

Turn 1-4 Even though I can hit the Garchomp with HP Ice I figured it was either Sash or Defensive chomp. There was no reason to stay in so I went into Celebi. I got a lucky roll and killed the Garchomp while having my Celebi weakened.

Turn 6 After finding out Altaria was a Dragon Dance variat I knew he would try and go to Magnezone. I doubled to Celebi to either sac or potentially kill the Zone.

Turn 8 I know he will go to Mega Altaria trying to set up so I double to Excadrill.

Turn 9 This was a difficult decison for me. I knew he would sac something and then bring in Wobuffet. I wanted to prevent that but there wasn't a way to do that. Probably the better play was to double again to Mega Manectric then get a kill and Volt Switch out into Tyranitar. Instead I Rock Slided predicting the Salamence.

Turn 14 Important turn as I stay in thinking he would not stay in with Altaria. It was a ballsy play and I wasn't thinking enough. I should have Fire Blasted to get off lots of damage. Had I done that the game was probably mine.

Turn 19 I thought that he would sac Magnezone because it was basically useles. Maybe Thunderbolting was the better play.

Turn 23 Should have just Hidden Power Iced because it was a 2HKO although the game was basically over.

I mentioned possible plays I could have made to win the game. Really I think it was just not thinking plays through. I made the right decisions but in the end I could not pull through.


HoldUpWaitaMinute (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Flamethrower

AllGood (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Counter

JustAWeekAgo (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

CrewAtMyHouse (Tyranitar) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 216 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Rock Slide

AndWeParty (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 128 SpD / 112 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power
- Recover

EveryWeekendSo (Manaphy) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 84 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Tail Glow
 
Replay: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-50229
Username: leremyju

Maybe this looked like I had the matchup, but the reality was that every time Excadrill was sent in, Ox the Box could sack something and then send in wobuffet. The same situation went with Skarmory. It was the counter to Altaria but he had the Magnezone. I think it was a very well built team and to be honest I think the matchup was against me. My game plan was just to prevent Altaria from setting up. I had to do this with a couple of double switches and make several plays or ultimately hax my opponent.

Turn 1-4 Even though I can hit the Garchomp with HP Ice I figured it was either Sash or Defensive chomp. There was no reason to stay in so I went into Celebi. I got a lucky roll and killed the Garchomp while having my Celebi weakened.

Turn 6 After finding out Altaria was a Dragon Dance variat I knew he would try and go to Magnezone. I doubled to Celebi to either sac or potentially kill the Zone.

Turn 8 I know he will go to Mega Altaria trying to set up so I double to Excadrill.

Turn 9 This was a difficult decison for me. I knew he would sac something and then bring in Wobuffet. I wanted to prevent that but there wasn't a way to do that. Probably the better play was to double again to Mega Manectric then get a kill and Volt Switch out into Tyranitar. Instead I Rock Slided predicting the Salamence.

Turn 14 Important turn as I stay in thinking he would not stay in with Altaria. It was a ballsy play and I wasn't thinking enough. I should have Fire Blasted to get off lots of damage. Had I done that the game was probably mine.

Turn 19 I thought that he would sac Magnezone because it was basically useles. Maybe Thunderbolting was the better play.

Turn 23 Should have just Hidden Power Iced because it was a 2HKO although the game was basically over.

I mentioned possible plays I could have made to win the game. Really I think it was just not thinking plays through. I made the right decisions but in the end I could not pull through.


HoldUpWaitaMinute (Manectric) @ Manectite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Flamethrower

AllGood (Skarmory) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
- Spikes
- Iron Head
- Roost
- Counter

JustAWeekAgo (Excadrill) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide

CrewAtMyHouse (Tyranitar) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 44 Atk / 216 SpD
Sassy Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast
- Rock Slide

AndWeParty (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 128 SpD / 112 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Nasty Plot
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power
- Recover

EveryWeekendSo (Manaphy) @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 84 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Tail Glow
Wow,you had some pretty good turns from the start.Doubling from Skarmory to Excadrill and then getting the Mence kill.


Turn 13:I think Ox wins a 50/50 here that he shouldn't have.He could've trapped your Skarmory easily,going out to Tyranitar was a safe play.

Turn 17:I think you losing your Skarmory was pretty big.I think you should've doubled into Tyranitar like you did last time but I think the game was lost when Excadrill was revenged by Wobbafet.Excadrill was always gonna put in some work but just the presence of Wobbafet on ox's team meant that it wouldn't be possible.

You had a good game though.Can't really fault you for a lot.You made some really good doubles early on which allowed you to get the mence kill.Like you said,the matchup was against you from the start and I think you made the best out of it.
 

leremyju

Banned deucer.
But ttar dies to Flash Cannon D: Although he probably would have Volted to keep momentum and prevent a manaphy setup or manectric coming in.
 
Battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-225381541
napalm (Infernape) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 160 Atk / 140 SpA / 208 Spe
Naive Nature
- Fire Blast
- Close Combat
- Grass Knot
- Mach Punch

onion (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 232 HP / 152 Def / 124 Spe
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Nasty Plot
- Recover
- Stealth Rock

jet-lee (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Defog

based dog (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP / 240 Atk / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Stone Edge

bunny (Lopunny) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Return
- High Jump Kick

mortein (Scizor) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 68 HP / 220 Atk / 8 SpD / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Aerial Ace
- Pursuit

Username: TheFlamer
Summary: A battle I had recently while testing teams. The team was based on showcasing CB Scizor and LO Infernape, two mons that need more love. It didnt really have a defined win con, all of the mons could clean up in certain scenarios. Looking at my opponents team, it was clear his wincon was Pinsir and unfortunately I had no was of reliably beating pinsir as Scarf Lando necessitates I sac something. I also saw that both NP Celebi and Mega Lopunny could put in work as long as I could deal with heatran and the aforementioned pinsir. My best lead was either Lopunny or Landorus but I chose Lopunny just to guarantee a safe Mevo.

Early Game: Playing safe was my best bet, the Rotom switch was obvious but it was too risky to switch out. I made the wrong play by going out into Celebi though, the volt switch or wisp was obvious and Latios meant he wouldnt get a free switch into pinsir. I was punished for it immediately and was forced to let my Landorus take damage. I knew from here I had to play risky from here on or else I lose. For this reason I U-Turned out anticipating either Rotom or Heatran to come in. It ended up working out and I got another chance to pressure with Lopunny. From here the mid game began.

Mid Game: After that one misplay I had to redefine my game plan. The only way I could beat pinsir was with a combination of Scizor and Lopunny and my only way of winning the game was if I managed to beat Pinsir, Latios and Heatran, allowing Celebi or Lopunny to sweep. I began to carry out this plan by U-Turning into infernape on his heatran, which put me in a great position. He sacced tran which was a misplay but if he switched into Latias again the situation would repeat with him taking more damage. Sacrificing nape to pinsir was my best choice here to prevent setup. From there I managed to weaken Pinsir enough that it would be unable to threaten the team. I again made a big misplay that nearly cost me the game when I switched in Celebi on Latias. I thought I was Specially defensive which backfired spectacularly. I managed to recover after I took out Latias, leading me to the end game.

End Game: Having recovered from two near fatal misplays I was in a good position, all I needed was Pinsir dead and then celebi might sweep. I ended up doing that but I still had to worry about Manaphy, if it was CM I won, if not I lost. It ended up being CM and I managed to pull off a win. I was very lucky due to a few misplays on my opponents part.
 

leremyju

Banned deucer.
Hey man, despite your opponent making plays I think he choked dicks and you were lucky to win. At team preview, Pinsir kinda rapes you once it comes in, and it does so through slow Volt Turn.

Turn 2: you said it yourself, you let pinsir get in for free. Just because Celebi checks Rotom, doesn't mean it should be your switch. The better play was going to your Latios. This meant a switch finto Heatran rather than Pinsir, which is just momentum for you.

Turn 10: I have no idea why u u turned, bullet punch was the better play. First of all, Mega Pinsir is such a threat that you can't be fucking around with it. Let's say he went into Rotom next turn. It was possible for you to predict and double out to something like Lati.

tbh there is not much to say since your opponent had the matchup but messed up. Good win though.
 
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Hey man, despite your opponent making plays I think he choked dicks and you were lucky to win. At team preview, Pinsir kinda rapes you once it comes in, and it does so through slow Volt Turn.

Turn 2: you said it yourself, you let pinsir get in for free. Just because Celebi checks Rotom, doesn't mean it should be your switch. The better play was going to your Latios. This meant a switch finto Heatran rather than Pinsir, which is just momentum for you.

Turn 10: I have no idea why u u turned, bullet punch was the better play. First of all, Mega Pinsir is such a threat that you can't be fucking around with it. Let's say he went into Rotom next turn. It was possible for you to predict and double out to something like Lati.

tbh there is not much to say since your opponent had the matchup but messed up. Good win though.
Youre right about the oppenent having the advantage but tbh i wouldnt say he cheesed himself into losing, even with the giant misplay I made. There was honestly nothing the opponent could have done if I broke down two members of his team while I had ways of getting around Pinsir if lando died (which it did).

Like I said in my own analysis, Pinsir royally screwed me over and I should have gone to Latios. From that point where I misplayed with Celebi and essentially lost lando the only way I could win was if I played very ballsy. There was no "safe" way to win. I desperately needed momentum at this point to actually win the game and my opponent couldnt win unless Pinsir was +2 (Pinsir couldnt KO latios). BP might have been less risky but going for U-Turn won 2/3 scenarios (Switch into rotom, SD) while BP won 1/3 (Return).
 
Battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-224615482 [The only recent OU match I've had that I bothered to share heh]

Username: Questionnaire

R1 of a random OU Tournament that I joined last week (forfeited afterwards because i had to go and haven't joined a single other tournament yet heh

Straight from team preview, I see Azumarill doing a ton of work on ABR's team. Basically, his main checks to it are Celebi, which MMeta + KyuB should be able to take out, and I guess Zard Y can prevent me from spamming Aqua Jet all the time. As a result, I end up leading Azu and he leads Tyranitar.
Turn 1: I go for Knock Off in case he wants to go into Celebi straight away, and if he stays in then I just take out his Smooth Rock. He ends up going to Lando and reveals that he is Scarf. A fortunate crit puts him in range of just about everything.
Turn 2: I'm banded, so I can't go for Jet, and I don't want my win con to get weakened Turn 2, so I have to switch. Except there are no switch ins. Might as well go for Thundy and hopes he goes for EQ. Latios was probably a better option, but I play bad :]
Turn 3: I figured that he would save his Lando-T so I might as well make use of Volt Switch's best use: Styling on your opponent.
Turn 4: Due to this being my first ever tournament match, I lose my nerve and go for SD, forgetting TTar probably has Ice Beam. Unfortunately, the cancel button does not favor me.
Turn 10: A second misplay by me, I figured he might want to go into TTar to pursuit trap me, so I go for Surf, allowing him to cet up a CM. Looking back, I probably should have just doubled into MMetagross so even if he stays in I won't be in too bad of a position.
Turn 14: Sack KyuB; even though it could probably sweep late game, I don't have a real switch in to this. I couldn't sack Azumarill, don't want kill of Latios to make Keld problematic, and Thundurus was how I was revenge killing Excadrill.
Turn 15: Wait I'm lefties?
Turn 17: I forgot about Natural Cure so I just T-Wave it in case I need Azu to outspeed and kill with knock off later in the game. Parahax favors me anyways.
Turn 22: I then realize that he has like 200ish ELO on me. I really need to ladder.


Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Surf

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Hammer Arm
- Grass Knot
- Zen Headbutt

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 6 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Kyurem-Black @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
 
Battle: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-224615482 [The only recent OU match I've had that I bothered to share heh]

Username: Questionnaire

R1 of a random OU Tournament that I joined last week (forfeited afterwards because i had to go and haven't joined a single other tournament yet heh

Straight from team preview, I see Azumarill doing a ton of work on ABR's team. Basically, his main checks to it are Celebi, which MMeta + KyuB should be able to take out, and I guess Zard Y can prevent me from spamming Aqua Jet all the time. As a result, I end up leading Azu and he leads Tyranitar.
Turn 1: I go for Knock Off in case he wants to go into Celebi straight away, and if he stays in then I just take out his Smooth Rock. He ends up going to Lando and reveals that he is Scarf. A fortunate crit puts him in range of just about everything.
Turn 2: I'm banded, so I can't go for Jet, and I don't want my win con to get weakened Turn 2, so I have to switch. Except there are no switch ins. Might as well go for Thundy and hopes he goes for EQ. Latios was probably a better option, but I play bad :]
Turn 3: I figured that he would save his Lando-T so I might as well make use of Volt Switch's best use: Styling on your opponent.
Turn 4: Due to this being my first ever tournament match, I lose my nerve and go for SD, forgetting TTar probably has Ice Beam. Unfortunately, the cancel button does not favor me.
Turn 10: A second misplay by me, I figured he might want to go into TTar to pursuit trap me, so I go for Surf, allowing him to cet up a CM. Looking back, I probably should have just doubled into MMetagross so even if he stays in I won't be in too bad of a position.
Turn 14: Sack KyuB; even though it could probably sweep late game, I don't have a real switch in to this. I couldn't sack Azumarill, don't want kill of Latios to make Keld problematic, and Thundurus was how I was revenge killing Excadrill.
Turn 15: Wait I'm lefties?
Turn 17: I forgot about Natural Cure so I just T-Wave it in case I need Azu to outspeed and kill with knock off later in the game. Parahax favors me anyways.
Turn 22: I then realize that he has like 200ish ELO on me. I really need to ladder.


Latios (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 6 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Surf

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Knock Off

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Hammer Arm
- Grass Knot
- Zen Headbutt

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 6 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Kyurem-Black @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Ice Beam
- Fusion Bolt
I'm sorry for no replies. All of us seem to be busy. I'll post in an hour or so
 

Lord Wallace

Hentai Connoiseur
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ubers-53310 [warning long game]

Round 2 game I had in the recent OU suspect tour.
The tourney actually snuck up on me by surprise and I decided to just use my Genie Offense ladder team which has been doing pretty well.
In summary, I was really un-prepared for Amoonguss considering it's teammates and not having hazard control bites me here despite an overall decent matchup. My goal throughout the game was to play the status game then try and win with Power Up Punch Lopunny. I'd like to think that I mostly made the optimal plays despite some mid game impatient impulses and in the end I was in a decent position to win with Lopunny but theeeennn.....the Aegislash 50/50s struck. Kudos to my opponent for reading me so well but tbh if I had attacked on the turn he Toxiced Lopunny I had the game won.

Username: Darkerones2

The team:
Lopunny @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Power-Up Punch
- Return
- High Jump Kick

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 Def
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Substitute

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock

Thundurus (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earth Power
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Sludge Wave

Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split
- Volt Switch
 
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