To scarf or not to scarf - An OU warstory

[Vampgelus]

TO SCARF OR NOT TO SCARF
Vampgelus vs. Popped Hood​

This is my first warstory post. I have decided to share this one, since my team totally surprized me. It was entirely built around Sub-Agiliperior, and I won almost completely without using it.

In this battle (fought out on Shoddy Battle) I faced Popped Hood in a Standard ladder battle on the team uber server (since I still haven't figured out how to connect to Pokelab). The lineup is the following :

VS

And here you got my team in further detail :

Fan-Cy (Rotom-s) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP/254 Spd/8 SDef
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Trick
- Thunder Wave
- Air Slash
- Confuse Ray

An annoying lead, inspired by battle tower tactics. I only prefer it's typing to Togekiss's. I tried a few other trick leads, but since I can do without entry-hazards, this one satisfied me the most. Being immune to fake-out is a little gimmicky in here, but I just don't like to lose a turn. It manages to cripple at least two pokemon in every match.

---

Heineken (Celebi) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP/254 Spd/4 SAtk
Timid nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Baton Pass
- Grass Knot

I needed an answer to Swampert (and some other bulky foes who would give Rhyperior trouble) and this is what I came up with. I enjoy the Subseeding strategy in general, that's probably why I chose this moveset. Baton Pass is what sets Celebi apart from other users of this strategy and can ease seting up the rest of my team.

---

Bulldozer (Rhyperior) (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 Atk/4 Def/254 Spd
Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Substitute
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Rock Polish

The "star" of my team. I used this set in the battle tower (lacking a Garchomp on my Soulsilver cartridge) and have been quite satisfied with the results, so I wanted to give it a try in competitve play. I opted for Leftovers over Life Orb because the recoil got me in trouble too often, and the next addition to my team makes up for it quite well. And even without an attack boost, he still packs quite a punch.

---

Gliscor (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 HP/254 Spd/4 SDef
Jolly nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Baton Pass
- Taunt
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish

Another player suggested I should replace my scarf magnezone (which I had in order to get rid of scarmory, gyarados and scizor) with this guy after defeating me and this was a good advice. I am still unsure about rock polish vs roost though.

---

Howly Shit (Suicune) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP/252 Def/6 Spd
Bold nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Surf
- Roar

This guy faces serious competition in Gyarados, but he manages to catch most people who expect the Crocune set off guard. The absence of rapid spin on my team is what motivated my choice, but still, pressure vs. intimidate is a tough one too. The biggest problem with suicine is me underestimating it's bulk, especially on the special side, which got me into stupid decisions on some matches.

---

Hamlet (Tyranitar) (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 56 Atk/202 Spd/252 SAtk
Naive nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Dark Pulse
- Flamethrower
- Ice Beam
- Superpower

This thing is a beast, especially when it comes to Blissey-Hunting or faking a choice item. The sand storm also is a very welcome side-effect for Rhyperior, who even manages to take in a super effective special attack despite the lack of defensive EVs under the sand storm. It's name is Hamlet, because guessing if it's holding a scarf or not probably is the first thing the opponent does when he sees it. (On a side note, I know that Shakespeare's Hamlet is a man)

---

So, here comes the actual fight. I must admit that I still don't some of Popped Hood's decisions...

My actions will be highlighted in Red
Popped Hood's actions will be highlighted in Blue

Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause, Self-KO Clause, Soul Dew Clause


Vampgelus sent out Rotom-s (lvl 100 Rotom-s).
Poppet Hood sent out Gengar (lvl 100 Gengar ?).
Rotom-s used Thunder Wave.
Gengar is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
Gengar used Taunt.
Rotom-s fell for the taunt!

100% - Taunted

100% - Paralyzed

I know from previous battles, that Gengar can really give me trouble, especially with it's speed, so I needed to shut this one down quickly. I chose thunder wave over trick because in case Gengar would pick shadow ball didn't hold a focus sash, not only would I have failed in criplling it severely (scarf gengar is still somewhat usable), but I would have lost my lead immediatly. Plus, even with a focus sash, I knew I would have to switch out on the next turn with 1 HP remaining. Since I had to send in Tyranitar just after this, so rotom would have been dead weight anyway. I don't fully understand what his taunt was supposed to accomplish, since I could have packed shadowball, meaning Gengar's immediate demise anyway.


---
Vampgelus switched in Hamlet (lvl 100 Tyranitar ?).
Hamlet's Sand Stream whipped up a sandstorm!
A sandstorm brewed!
Gengar used Shadow Ball.
It's not very effective...
Hamlet lost 15% of its health.
The sandstorm rages.
Gengar is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Gengar lost 6% of its health.

85%

94% - Paralyzed

Once more, I don't fully understand what motivated Pupped Hood's move. He could easily have figured out that Rotom was holding a scarf, since it's the only way it can outspeed Gengar (unless he had no speed EV's, which I doubt). So hoping for me to stay in really is quite an overprediction. I suppose he thought that I would hope for him to switch in order to paralyze another pokemon. This is a good example of why I try not to predict more than one step in advance most of the time, since most people will try to do so, and fail.

---
Hamlet used Dark Pulse.
It's super effective!
Gengar lost 94% of its health.
Poppet Hood's Gengar fainted.
The sandstorm rages.

85%

0% - KO

This turn is quite self-explainatory : He thought I packed pursuit, so he probably gave focus blast a try, just in case he survived to the first attack.

---
Poppet Hood switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Hamlet used Flamethrower.
It's super effective!
Scizor lost 100% of its health.
Poppet Hood's Scizor fainted.
The sandstorm rages.

85%

0% - KO

This is why I love expert belt. Most people will think that Tyranitar is holding a choice item and will try to set up on it. An often fatal mistake.

---
Poppet Hood switched in Skarmory (lvl 100 Skarmory ?).
Hamlet used Flamethrower.
It's super effective!
Skarmory lost 86% of its health.
Skarmory used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
The sandstorm rages.

85%

14%

Now, this is a mysterious decision on his part. I am still trying to figure out what he was expecting when sending scarmory in, knowing I packed flamethrower. I mean, ok he got SR up. But scarmory sure is no suicide-pokemon.

---
Hamlet used Flamethrower.
It's super effective!
Skarmory lost 14% of its health.
Poppet Hood's Skarmory fainted.
The sandstorm rages.

85%

0% - KO

Once again : why didn't he switch out to blissey at this point ? He knew that he wouldn't outspeed me, and that even if he did, a roost wouldn't have saved scarmory.

---
Poppet Hood switched in Blissey (lvl 100 Blissey ?).
Hamlet used Superpower.
It's super effective!
Blissey lost 76% of its health.
Hamlet's attack was lowered.
Hamlet's defence was lowered.
Blissey used Toxic.
Hamlet was badly poisoned!
The sandstorm rages.
Blissey is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Blissey lost 6% of its health.
Hamlet is hurt by poison!
Hamlet lost 6% of its health.
Blissey's leftovers restored its health a little!
Blissey restored 6% of its health.

79% - Badly Poisoned, -1 Att, -1 Def

24%

This is what I love about this Tyranitar set : A clean 2HKO on both Blissey and Scarmory. I don't think there are many mixed attackers who can do this so easily. Popped Hood obviously was caught off guard by superpower, and at this point, Toxic was only a minor annoyance. Thunder wave would have been a whole different story now that I think of it, but I would probably pack toxic only too. In this situation, having protect on Blissey could have been a saving grace, and a logical move since he already had been caught off guard once by Tyranitar's moveset. But I will probably never know if he packed it.

---
Hamlet used Superpower.
It's super effective!
Blissey lost 24% of its health.
Poppet Hood's Blissey fainted.
Hamlet's attack was lowered.
Hamlet's defence was lowered.
The sandstorm rages.
Hamlet is hurt by poison!
Hamlet lost 12% of its health.

67% - Badly Poisoned, -2 Att, -2 Def

0% - KO

He could have switched out to Starmie or Zapdos at this point, especially to Zapdos, since he didn't know that I also packed Ice beam at this point, and a pressure stall tactic could have worked on a specially defensice Zapdos, but once again, I will probably never know if he packed roost and/or defensive EVs. Using a fighting move once more was a no-brainer, since Gengar was already shut down, and nobody would knowlingly switch a ghost-type in to Tyranitar anyway.

---
Poppet Hood switched in Starmie (lvl 100 Starmie).
Vampgelus switched in Howly Shit (lvl 100 Suicune).
Howly Shit is exerting its pressure!
Pointed stones dug into Howly Shit.
Howly Shit lost 12% of its health.
Starmie used Surf.
It's not very effective...
Howly Shit lost 12% of its health.
The sandstorm rages.
Starmie is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Howly Shit is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Howly Shit lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
Howly Shit's leftovers restored its health a little!
Howly Shit restored 6% of its health.

76%

94%

I really fear fast special sweepers with this team (as a reminder, my Tyranitar has a SpDef lowering nature and gliscor and suicine have no SpDef EVs). Expecting a Water-type attack, Suicune was the most logical answer.

---
Starmie used Thunderbolt.
It's super effective!
Howly Shit lost 32% of its health.
Howly Shit used Roar.
Poppet Hood switched in Zapdos (lvl 100 Zapdos).
Zapdos is exerting its pressure!
The sandstorm rages.
Zapdos is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Zapdos lost 6% of its health.
Howly Shit is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Howly Shit lost 6% of its health.
Howly Shit's leftovers restored its health a little!
Howly Shit restored 6% of its health.

44%

94%

Seing that Starmie was holding leftovers, I gave Roar a try, since (my) Surf wouldn't do much to it and Pressure stalling would have been risky (a crit thunderbolt would probably be enough to KO Suicine). In fact, I expected Starmie to hurt a whole lot more, but as I said before, I am constatly underestimating Suicune's Special Bulk. Zapdos was a mixed blessing. On one hand, It was clear I couldn't stay in, on the other hand, his next attack was easily predictable.

---
Vampgelus switched in Gliscor (lvl 100 Gliscor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Gliscor.
Gliscor lost 12% of its health.
Zapdos used Thunderbolt.
It doesn't affect Gliscor...
The sandstorm rages.
Zapdos is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Zapdos lost 6% of its health.

88%

88%

I sent Gliscor in, since I knew Zapdos would fire off a thunderbolt.

---
Zapdos used Hidden Power.
Gliscor lost 38% of its health.
Zapdos lost 10% of its health.
Gliscor used Baton Pass.
Vampgelus switched in Rotom-s (lvl 100 Rotom-s).
Pointed stones dug into Rotom-s.
Rotom-s lost 12% of its health.
The sandstorm rages.
Rotom-s is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Rotom-s lost 6% of its health.
Zapdos is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Zapdos lost 6% of its health.

82%

82%

I really was surprized this turn. I wanted to get Rotom in unharmed, so Gliscor was meant to take a heavy blow (read OHKO) from HP Ice, but it seems like Zapdos was packing HP Grass (well, I can't tell for sure, but this would be the next best move for coverage he could get).

---
Rotom-s used Trick.
Rotom-s obtained Life Orb!
Zapdos obtained Choice Scarf!
Zapdos used Heat Wave.
Rotom-s lost 33% of its health.
The sandstorm rages.
Zapdos is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Zapdos lost 6% of its health.
Rotom-s is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Rotom-s lost 6% of its health.

43%

76%

Tricking the scarf on Zapdos was the best thing I could do in order to ease prediction and weaken it's attacks, by stealing it's life-orb.

---
Vampgelus switched in Hamlet (lvl 100 Tyranitar ?).
Hamlet's Sand Stream whipped up a sandstorm!
Pointed stones dug into Hamlet.
Hamlet lost 12% of its health.
Zapdos used Heat Wave.
It's not very effective...
Hamlet lost 13% of its health.
The sandstorm rages.
Zapdos is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Zapdos lost 6% of its health.
Hamlet is hurt by poison!
Hamlet lost 6% of its health.

36% - Badly Poisoned

70%

Now that I think of it, the best move I could have made would have been thudner-wave, knowing that Heatwave wouldn't KO Rotom, and Starmie (his other remaining pokemon) isn't immune to it either. I switched in Tyranitar instead for a quick KO, and even if I didn't need super-power anymore, the poison prevented it from getting burned by heat-wave.

---
Poppet Hood switched in Starmie (lvl 100 Starmie).
Hamlet used Ice Beam.
It's not very effective...
A critical hit!
Starmie lost 30% of its health.
The sandstorm rages.
Starmie is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Starmie lost 6% of its health.
Starmie's leftovers restored its health a little!
Starmie restored 6% of its health.
Hamlet is hurt by poison!
Hamlet lost 12% of its health.

24% - Badly Poisoned

58%

Popped Hood guessed that I packed Ice-Beam and switched in Starmie in a final attempt to scare me out. I don't think the crit had any influence on the outcome of the fight.

---
Starmie used Thunderbolt.
Hamlet lost 16% of its health.
Hamlet used Dark Pulse.
It's super effective!
A critical hit!
Starmie lost 70% of its health.
Poppet Hood's Starmie fainted.
The sandstorm rages.
Hamlet is hurt by poison!
Hamlet lost 7% of its health.
Vampgelus's Hamlet fainted.

0% - KO

0% - KO

Knowing I switched out to Suicune last time, thunderbolt wasn't a bad choice, but I was hoping for just that. Plus, Suicune is slower, so Starmie would have KOed it anyway. Once again, I don't think the crit was necessary for the KO, but the damage calculator might proove me wrong. But it still was a close call, since Toxic ended up taking it's toll and KOed my Tyranitar.

---
Vampgelus switched in Rotom-s (lvl 100 Rotom-s).
Poppet Hood switched in Zapdos (lvl 100 Zapdos).
Zapdos is exerting its pressure!
Pointed stones dug into Rotom-s.
Rotom-s lost 12% of its health.
Zapdos used Thunderbolt.
It's not very effective...
Rotom-s lost 27% of its health.
Rotom-s is paralysed! It may be unable to move!
Rotom-s is paralysed! It can't move!
The sandstorm rages.
Zapdos is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Zapdos lost 6% of its health.
Rotom-s is buffetted by the sandstorm!
Rotom-s lost 4% of its health.
Vampgelus's Rotom-s fainted.

0% - KO

64% - Paralyzed

At this point, sacrificing Rotom forced Popped Hood to lock himself into one of his moves and would allow me to act accordingly. I tried a thunderwave attack, but the full paralysis prevented it. It didn't really matter anyway, as long as I didn't reclaim my scarf, which would have been the most stupid move ever.


---
Vampgelus switched in Bulldozer (lvl 100 Rhyperior ?).
Pointed stones dug into Bulldozer.
Bulldozer lost 6% of its health.
Zapdos used Thunderbolt.
It doesn't affect Bulldozer...
Bulldozer used Rock Slide.
It's super effective!
Zapdos lost 53% of its health. (<- I saw that I must have missed out on something here, but it doesn't matter IMHO)
Poppet Hood's Zapdos fainted.
Vampgelus wins!
Poppet Hood has left the room.

94%

0% - KO

I could have sent in gliscor just for laughing at Popped Hood with a "Taunt" attack, but I'm not that kind of smartass, so I took it to a quick ending.


I hope you enjoed this warstory as much as I enjoyed the fight. Feel free to give me some feedback, as long as it isn't something like "X was a total noob move", etc.

I put some effort into presentation (took longer than I thought), I hope it was worth it.

PS : I'm not a native english speaker, so there may be a mistake or two, but I think it's understandable.

 

[tawp64]

Uh, you only lost 2 Pokemon. You basically just swept his team, which isn't exactly a warstory. A warstory is a battle with max strategy and small hax, suprise and suspence, into one battle.

 

[Zacchaeus]

Like tawp64 said, this isn't warstory material. The format was great in my opinion, I would love to see more warstories written the way this one is. However, there is a line between battles that you had fun in and battles that make good warstories, this one is definitely the former. I would suggest reading some archived warstories before you attempt to write another, but don't change the way you wrote it, that would just be a disappointment

 

[Shining Kestral]

I'm going to disagree on the format - I absolutely hate the sprite placement.

Anyway, aside from what others have said, I think you gave away too much information in the beginning, such as your opponent's team (something that should only be done if you knew the team beforehand or in dual commentary) and the fact that you won, which pretty much kill all sense of suspense. After all, why should we read the warstory if you tell us what happens right at the start?

 

[ginganinja]

yeah not a good warstory. Your opponent make a lot of stupid mistakes, and had a weakness to T-tar was well. A better battle would have been nice not a 4-0 sweep.

 

[Vampgelus]

I told what happend because that's an advice given in the sticky about wartories, I am sorry for the spoil.

I agree, it's not a great battle, but as I said at the beginning of the post, I shared it because my team won in a way I didn't expect when building it. Btw, comments on my line up are welcome, as I explained what doubts I still have with each member of my team.

But I disagree when you say Popped Hood's team was Tyranitar weak. It was only weak to that moveset in particular. With a more common moveset, that scizor could have set up and done quite some havoc.

I am glad most of you liked the format (it took me about an hour to do that).

Anyway, this was a test in the first place. Next time I get a great battle, I will consider your feedback and try and write a better warstory.

 

[ginganinja]

But I disagree when you say Popped Hood's team was Tyranitar weak. It was only weak to that moveset in particular. With a more common moveset, that scizor could have set up and done quite some havoc.
.

Uhhh he kinda is. Scarf Tar beats Blissey and Zapdos 1v1 and it can trap and kill Starmie and Gengar with Pursuit.

Heck Bait Tar will beat Scizor, Skarmory Blissey and Zapdos so yes I would argue that he was T-tar weak

 

[DetroitLolcat]

My Rating:

Choice of Battle: 3/10. It was a Tyranitar Sweep against a crappy opponent.

Commentary: 6/10. Not bad commentary

Formatting: 5/10. Why was the opponent on the other side and next time please display the score

Other Comments -1/10 for the terrible opponent

Overall: 11/30 = ~3.5/10

Try again.

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

At first it looked like a RMT, sadly I didn't like it too much. Pick a better battle, better luck next time.

3/10

 

[zdrup15]

To give a good rate or not to give a good rate...

Not a good rate won.

This was a terrible battle.

Didn't like your opponent's sprites being on the right.

Bright side: ok comments.

Pick a better battle next time please.

 

[Zacchaeus]

Since all of you are complaining about it, why is it so bad to have sprites on the right? It helps the reader avoid any confusion on whose Pokémon is whose, and it helps prevent the left column from being too cluttered. I don't see a problem with it

 

[Poor]

Stopped reading when his skarmory got flamethrowered

 

[Shining Kestral]

Since all of you are complaining about it, why is it so bad to have sprites on the right? It helps the reader avoid any confusion on whose Pokémon is whose, and it helps prevent the left column from being too cluttered. I don't see a problem with it

It's extremely jarring, you have to abruptly shift your eye over every single time, and was poorly formatted, especially when the opponent's sprite was on a new linebreak. I think keeping the sprites on the left is much neater and not cluttered at all. Or using back sprites vs front sprites. He was already color coordinating himself and the opponent, it would have been simple to tell whose Pokémon was whose with color.

This might just be a difference in opinion, but

- 100% - Taunted

- 100% - Paralyzed

To me is much neater and not confusing at all, plus is much easier on the eyes. Or perhaps something like this:

- 100% (Taunted) vs

- 100% (Paralyzed)

Both of those are neat, orderly, and even take up less room on a whole.
​

 

[Its_A_Random]

Your opponent was a noob, the formatting is terrible, & it's generally not a good idea to warstory how you owned someone without breaking a sweat.

2/5

 

[Elentiya]

You know, I'm no expert at warstories, but I have read the rules. And it says this somewhere in the rules:

Warstory interesting battles. Nobody wants to read about how you 6-0'd an opponent with Garchomp; we want to see interesting battles with plenty of strategy. Again, look at the Warstory Archive for good examples.

You basically wrote a warstory on how you 4-0'd an opponent with Tyranitar. I know that's different from 6-0'ing someone, but really, does it make much of a difference when it comes down to it?

Pick a battle that's more intense and closer next time. Those are the kind of battles I tend to enjoy.

Rating: 2.6/10

 

[boredomisbliss]

I LOVE EXPERT BELT TYRANITAR lol

but really, being up with 4 easy KOs is not worth a warstory

 

[Curtains]

Im not gonna hate and trash your hard work. Good battle and good effort with the RMT mixed in. Just make sure you pick a more suspenseful battle next time.

 

[Azure Demon]

Great game on you part however thrashing someone does not make for a good warstory

 

[More Cowbell]

You got a sweep on a nooby opponent who's team was TTar weak and you post it as a warstory? Get an enjoyable one next time.

 

[Lone_Prodigy]

Couldn't the opponent's Scizor have KO'ed Tyranitar with Bullet Punch?

 

[Elentiya]

Couldn't the opponent's Scizor have KO'ed Tyranitar with Bullet Punch?

The opponent must have thought that the Tyranitar was holding a Choice item, so it probably was going to set-up on it.

Though I would probably use Bullet Punch instead to get some damage in.

 

[elDino]

Hey dude, nice try with the story; a little constructive criticism, please write about a battle that was executed dramatically and was filled with suspense, not a 4-0 sweep. Better luck next time ;)

 

[Juice!]

I'm not gonna be a hater or anything, since you clearly put a lot of work into it, but next time pick a better, more suspenseful battle against a better opponent. Good luck on future stories. =)

 

[Comet]

Stopped reading when his skarmory got flamethrowered

If you didn't know, T-tars don't carry Flamethrower very often in Gen IV.

In Gen V, it's a different story. So maybe he thought a Gen V strategy would work in Gen IV, in which case it did.

 

[Cooky]

You know, I'm no expert at warstories, but I have read the rules. And it says this somewhere in the rules:



You basically wrote a warstory on how you 4-0'd an opponent with Tyranitar. I know that's different from 6-0'ing someone, but really, does it make much of a difference when it comes down to it?

Pick a battle that's more intense and closer next time. Those are the kind of battles I tend to enjoy.

Rating: 2.6/10

Well someone either picked that intensely specific rating out of their head or has a really devious equation.. But yeah Im agreeing with the rest of the post this warstory was just arrogant showboating. Anyone can 4-0 an idiot.