The Dark Horse Project IV

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So after losing due to a fire fang flinch for the 4th time I kinda give up on this team, I think it's cursed.

Anyways I chose Heracross because I used him for WCOP tryouts over the summer and he's always been one of my favorite pokemon. I used the choice band set and it was just ridiculously strong. Any time something slower was in and I could grab a switch to Heracross I pretty much got a KO or crippled something. Guts was a nice bonus to have since there is pretty much nothing that can live a guts + cb boosted close combat / megahorn. I teamed him up with kind of a patchwork team since I was in a little bit of a rush when I was working on the team. I knew I wanted spikes so I used deo-d, since he's the best spiker by far in my opinion, and in that vein I knew I wanted a ghost and the only offensive ghost I like is Gengar, so I used the sub-disable set to easier handle certain threats. From there I knew I wanted a scarfer, a physical sweeper, and a special sweeper. For those roles I went with scarf Latios to give me a fire / water resist, Rock Polish Expert Belt Genesect to take advantage of how torn up the other team would be from hazards+cb Heracross, and SD Lucario since Heracross and Lucario have similar counters and I knew anything switching into Heracross would be worn down by late game. Genesect and Lucario ended up being the stars of the team because they both loved seeing the other team have nothing at full health by the time they were ready to come in. They also both did a surprisingly good job playing in mid game scenarios, which was cool because for all of the good things Heracross did he did have matches where he didn't get to switch in as much as I'd like him to.

I honestly don't think using Heracross made laddering any harder or easier, just different. I don't think he should be below 5% usage at all because he's so powerful and really punches holes through teams if he gets the chance, but at the same time he's not a game breaker and he never took over a match where I was like "damn, good thing I had Heracross or I would have gotten raped."

Long story short Heracross is really cool and everyone should try him at least once in their life because it's not an experience you can function without.
 
Manliest Pokemon

Pokemon Showdown! Username: WobbuWobbu
Hall of Fame Standing: silver
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Manly-as-Fuck Shiny Pink Wobbuffet with Tickle
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: n/a
 

Lady Alex

Mew is blue
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Finished laddering with umbreon. updated my post. There should be a title for person who makes the most runs hahaha ;D

Oh. I also updated my zoroark post with its set and description
 

Pocket

be the upgraded version of me
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
HuntoftheLion is MLG! I love Heracross, too, and I'm glad you're pimping it for DHP ;D Mind if you share the CB set with us? Also, why didn't you use Scarf Moxie Heracross? I know that it totally serves a different role, but it seems to be an overall better set to use in OU; as you have noted, Heracross's Speed is a letdown for OU, limiting the time it's active.

Thanks, Lady Alex, for updating your Zoroark and Umbreon posts ;) Was there any particular "Illusion partner" that benefited from Zoroark's trickery?
 

Lady Alex

Mew is blue
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
The closest thing I had to an "Illusion partner" for Zoroark was a suicide Mew set. Genesects always feel comfortable u-turning out against Mew, so, if I knew they would lead with it, I'd start with Zoroark for the free KO. Otherwise, I mostly used Zoroark to cripple something with trick or as a late game win condition.

Nothing shows up in the HIDE tags on the front page where my other dark horse pokemon are listed lol (aww, I don't get to take up more space on the page xD) EDIT: NVM
 
Wasn't going to do another mon but i used a couple in a team i'm in the process of building so i might as well sign up in case it does well:
Alt: FastFlygon (untouched since the reset)
Pokemon: Gothitelle, Scolipede, Empoleon

Singularity (Genesect) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Download
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

Event Horizon (Gothitelle) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 16 HP / 240 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Thunder Wave
- Psyshock

Accretion Disc (Garchomp) (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Sleep Talk

Quark Star (Scolipede) (F) @ Bug Gem
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Megahorn
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Supernova (Alakazam) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Rogue Planet (Empoleon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Grass Knot
- Scald
- Roar
 

alkinesthetase

<@dtc> every day with alk is a bad day
is a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnus
lady alex thank you SO MUCH for updating your original posts and then dropping another post here - you're not the only one doing so, but it's especially important for you since i think you have like 6 alts in hof lol. i am totally going to make that an organizational requirement next month, lest we have more 2-hour registration update slogs like i had the other day >_> i'm sure pocket can sympathize as to how much vbulletin sucks at editing big posts (comparison of edit modes, like why the heck is the advanced one narrower than the inline one wtf) or having to fish through a 14 page thread every time we make a full update

also, props huntofthelion, it's about damn time someone hofed with hera seeing as several people have had it registered for a while now
 
Pokemon Showdown! Username: hailteamrising
Hall of Fame Standing: nuh-uh
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: WALREIN SON
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: Working on it
 

Lady Alex

Mew is blue
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Your welcome xD. I figured it would be a terrible hassle to have to carefully look through each post to see if there was an update.
 
Siiince the ladder reset, I can use my old name again, yes? New Trick Room team is up and testing.

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Obsolute
Hall of Fame Standing: N/A
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Druddigon, Bronzong, Sableye
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: None
 

Lady Alex

Mew is blue
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Lady Alex
Hall of Fame Standing: Platinum
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Zapdos
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: None

Success


Set

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef
Calm Nature
- Substitute
- Thunderbolt
- Baton Pass
- Agility

Mostly used as a secondary speed booster and a check to Tornadus-T, who is a pretty big threat to baton pass
 

Lavos

Banned deucer.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Lavos Spawn (ladder was reset so I can do this now)
Hall of Fame Standing: Grandmaster
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: BASCULIN-BLUE
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 2284 (provisional)
 

Pocket

be the upgraded version of me
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
lavos for the 2nd round :o

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Dark Pocket
Hall of Fame Standing: ;-;
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Moltres (look out, alexwolf!)
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: 1660 +/- 157

Dark Phoenix was taken, so I'm just going to use my old DH account that was wiped from ladder reset
 
HuntoftheLion is MLG! I love Heracross, too, and I'm glad you're pimping it for DHP ;D Mind if you share the CB set with us? Also, why didn't you use Scarf Moxie Heracross? I know that it totally serves a different role, but it seems to be an overall better set to use in OU; as you have noted, Heracross's Speed is a letdown for OU, limiting the time it's active.
Heracross @ Choice Band
Trait: Guts
252 HP / 252 ATK / 4SpD
Adamant Nature
-Close Combat
-Megahorn
-Stone Edge
-Pursuit

Max Attack should be self explanatory, Max HP since it's already going to be fast enough to outrun most things and people are going to assume it's adamant Max speed anyway. Being bulkier was more important than being fast.


For the CB set (in the hide tags) I ran Adamant 252 atk/HP and Megahorn / Close Combat / Stone Edge / Pursuit. Megahorn and Close Combat have really good coverage together and they're STAB so they're pretty obvious choices. Stone Edge is also pretty straightforward since Heracross lures in flying types and it's great to be able to OHKO them on the switch. Pursuit might seem a little out of place on something that doesn't particularly handle ghosts or most psychics (since psychics are generally faster and Hera usually can't take a stab psychic attack) but it was pretty great for coming in on scarf lati@s locked into -2 Draco Meteors or some other coverage move. Most of the time I just spammed Close Combat unless they had a ghost or a huge issue with bug attacks, in which case I spammed Megahorn.

I went with CB over scarf moxie for a few reasons. The first, and most important, is that as you said they play very different. Scarf Moxie is more of a late game option when the other team is weakened, but it lacks the immediate power that I wanted. Sure trading power for speed is a fair trade off in a metagame defined by speed, but honestly with all of the scarfers running around and the danger in giving up a free turn I just didn't feel like Heracross could do as well with it. As for Guts VS Moxie, Moxie is really only going to work on the scarf set so I didn't consider it for more then a second or two. Guts was great, especially against stall teams that ran toxic spikes, because it made it almost impossible for my opponents to switch in without sacrificing something.

The speed issue does limit Heracross a little bit, but he's fast enough to outrun enough to get good opportunities to switch in. The other cool thing is that he resists fighting attacks and has enough bulk to take at least one neutral attack and KO back. On paper he has a hard time getting in, but in practice he's not that difficult to bring in and he really only needs one or two chances to break the other team down.
 

Pocket

be the upgraded version of me
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Thanks, Huntofthelion, for your detailed explanation! It's interesting that you went with Max HP to make the most out of Heracross's usable bulk. I'd probably give it enough Speed EVs to outrun defensive Jirachi and Gliscor, but that may be taking away too much from its bulk.
 
Pokemon Showdown! Username:R-Evolve
Hall of Fame Standing: None as of yet
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Metagross and Tangrowth
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: None
 
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Dancing Lobster
Hall of Fame Standing:-
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Blastoise
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown! 1000
 

Molk

Godlike Usmash
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Darm was pretty good, but i suck at playing sun so changing again

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Dark Bishop
Hall of Fame Standing: Platinum
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Bisharp
Current Ladder Standing: 1000

I had teambuilders block with bisharp, so trying a different steel-type!

Pokemon Showdown! Username: 2 Gud
Hall of Fame Standing: Platinum
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Durant
Current Ladder Standing: 1000[/QUOTE]

im actually expecting durant to do pretty well, lets see!
 
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Johhny's Sunshine
Hall of Fame Standing: Gold
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Victreebell, Charizard, Hitmontop
Current Ladder Standing: ----

Sun team. Whoppidy do. xD Lets see how this goes.
 

Lavos

Banned deucer.
I just want to make it clear that I've switched my Pokemon of choice now from Azumarill to Basculin, but both were on my team originally so I won't be switching to a different alt. The team was Politoed / Ferrothorn / Tornadus-T / Starmie / Basculin / Azumarill, and it sucked, but that's beside the point. Hopefully I'll be able to break my previous record with big boy Basculin.
 

Pocket

be the upgraded version of me
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Just to clarify, although the new ladder puts you in the leaderboard after a deviation of 100, we're sticking with the previous leaderboard deviation requirement of 80. So jaredz99, you still need a few more matches to lower your deviation by another 19.
 
Well, that was the worst one yet. got to a bit under 2100 glicko but not quite on the ladder and watched crit after miss after miss after miss. I want a 100% accurate rock move stronger than Slide. Weaker than Edge is fine though. But, barely managed to get glicko up and under 80 deviation. First time getting 3 dark horses in one go though, so that was nice. Victreebell + Dugtrio = good shit.


Victreebel @ Expert Belt
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Weather Ball
- SolarBeam
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Sleep Powder

Charizard @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Solar Power
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Flamethrower
- Dragon Pulse
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Focus Blast

Hitmontop (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Sucker Punch
- Rapid Spin
- Foresight

Charizard and Hitmontop had their moments and their purpose. Victreebell absolutely ripped teams to shreds once their three counters (Mamo, Poli and Hetran) are removed by other members. I have no idea how James could not still Pikachu wth this beast by his side.


Will prolly try for another one tonight while i have time, will edit when i do.
 
Registration

Pokemon Showdown! Username: Master Tricky
Hall of Fame Standing: none yet
Dark Horse Pokemon Currently Working With: Weavile
Current Ladder Standing on Pokemon Showdown!: none yet

I guess this is how you register....
 
I have to say my team turned out much cooler and much less gimmicky than I thought. I haven't played that much with it, 31 battles with the two ladder resets in the middle and a record of 21/10 (most losses were due to crits while I was prepping my Slowbro sweep, but you learn to live with them, even though they severely punish you from improving your defenses). Garchomp being unbanned was actually awesome for me, since Slowbro and Bronzong become suddenly much more used. I'm telling you, most of my matches ended with Slowbro taking on the opponent, beating Garchomp 1 on 1 or things like that.

I don't think I'll be able to take them to HoF but I'll keep on trying. Either way, after I'm done I'll post my team, since it's extremely fun to play with and quite obnoxious for the opponents (even those that use HaxRachi tend to forfeit on me). I could even do an RMT since I've had more success with it than with my main Slowbro OU team...
 
just a little update, all three dark horses are AWESOME so far. I'm 13-1-0, using Gothitelle with Thunder Wave to troll revenge killers and generally prepare things for Expert Belt Genesect to run through the opposing team. With spikes down and a couple of threatening Pokemon weakened or removed it's almost impossible to stop.

Scolipede has also been doing very well, Bug Gem Megahorn is really damn strong - it OHKOs lead Deoxys-D if it doesn't have a Tanga berry, Rotom-W is it isn't running bulk (may need SR), Tyranitar (most Tyranitar even without the Gem) kos Latios without, usually 252 HP Latias without too (Always with Stealth Rock) and in Swarm range puts a big hole in even neutral targets.

Empoleon was a bit of an oddball, I kinda threw it on because it could condense the roles I needed into one Pokemon (Flying+Water resists, SR) but with a simple 252/252 specially defensive spread it has awesome bulk. I had a Gothitelle try to trap me only for scarf Thunderbolt to fail to 3HKO while I set rocks and 2HKOd with Scald :D.

Singularity (Genesect) @ Expert Belt
Trait: Download
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
- U-turn
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

Event Horizon (Gothitelle) (F) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Shadow Tag
EVs: 16 HP / 240 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
- Thunder Wave
- Psyshock

Accretion Disc (Garchomp) (F) @ Choice Band
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Sleep Talk

Quark Star (Scolipede) (F) @ Bug Gem
Trait: Swarm
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Megahorn
- Spikes
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Supernova (Alakazam) (M) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 SAtk / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Rogue Planet (Empoleon) (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SDef / 4 Def
Calm Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Grass Knot
- Scald
- Roar
 
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