Project Puzzles of the Week - Week 3

[Carrotman]

Welcome to VGC's iteration of Puzzles of the Week!
approved by Zee


Puzzle of the Week is a new forum project with the goal of bringing you weekly puzzles to solve, with a point leaderboard to track your scores! Each week the project host(s) will post a new puzzle, along with the solution for the previous puzzle. Every 4th week, a link will be included to submit a puzzle you made (instructions will be included in the form). Every 5th week will feature a puzzle submitted through this google form (puzzle creators cannot answer/gain points that week). At the end of the VGC Season (1-2 weeks after the World Championships), the leaderboard scores will be posted, and special prizes may be included. The sheet with the leaderboard will be updated shortly after each puzzle is posted, and will be included in the week 1 puzzles.


How do i submit my answer?
Answers are submitted through this Google Form!
The current Project Host(s) are: Carrotman, Magicalarcher57, and forkuser.


Before You Submit!
- Users with outstanding Smogon/VGC Room punishments may not submit their answers.
- Answers are accepted in the form of battle instructions, or through a replay showing what moves you would make in that situation.
- If you choose to submit battle instructions, please use the format detailed in the form.
- Think about your answer before you send it!
- Maximum answer submission per-week is 1.
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Good luck, and have fun!

 

[Carrotman]

Startup Week​

To start things up, we're keeping it simple. A guide to the structure of the puzzle will be included. Here is your puzzle for the startup week, with a special format to celebrate; the Terastal Crescendo challenge format! Your opponent has a cheesy strategy, including a Custap Berry Endure Azumarill. Can you win before the counter drops to 0?

For a detailed account of the battle up until the point of your puzzle, each week will include a replay.
You will also receive a link to your own team's pokepaste. Make sure to look at this, as it may include important details for the puzzle!
Although your opponent's teamsheet will be included in most replays, you will still get a pokepaste of your opponent's OTS.
Additionally, any important information (such as pokémon in the back, remaining health percentages of revealed pokemon, and any other details important for the puzzle will be listed here.

 

[Carrotman]

There seem to be some misconceptions here and there.
- You are playing from the Koraidon + Flutter mane POV. Pictures will be adjusted in coming weeks to make this clearer.

- The teamsheets contain valuable information for the puzzle. Read them!

- The example answer format in the form is just that: an example. There is no iron hands in the puzzle.

Have fun!

 

[Carrotman]

Week 1​

Your back Pokémon is Dondozo.
Your opponent's back Pokémon is Kingambit.
Assume that Grassy Glide is an OHKO into both Glimmora and Annnihilape.
Assume that Shadow Sneak is an OHKO into Annihilape.
Your Electabuzz is at 39% health, but will survive one Grassy Glide on very low health.
Assume that your opponent will stay in with both Ceruledge and Rillaboom until one is knocked out.
If your opponent can KO one of your Pokémon with a priority attack, it will always go for that. This includes a double-up with Shadow Sneak and Grassy Glide. If it cannot KO a pokémon with a priority attack, it will attempt to use the move that deals the most damage into the current target. If the pokemon is low HP and will faint to a combination of poison damage + one of your moves, it will always use a priority attack.
Assume that Ceruledge will Terastallize to Grass this turn.

Given damage rolls:
Wave Crash deals 19% into both Ceruledge and Rillaboom.
Grassy Glide deals 50% into Dondozo, and 25% if Dondozo has Terastallized.
Non-terrain boosted Wood Hammer deals 36% to Tera Electric Dondozo.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2025regh-2463547410-8bwlqmq5xbwy68d9dsavyyi35kes7ubpw
This is your replay up to the point of the battle.

https://pokepast.es/bb6e948869fcda8e
This is your team.

https://pokepast.es/70e46cf2c4aa19a3
This is your opponent's team.

This week is the first week to award points toward the leaderboard!

 

[Sapphire]

Hi, feedback regarding this week's puzzle has been noted, solutions for all future puzzles will work regardless of what the opponent does. Furthermore, calcs regarding the board state will be provided. in addition to more friendly visual aids.
If you have any further concerns, please message Carrotman, Magicalarcher57, or forkuser!
Thanks for participating these past two weeks, and happy puzzle solving for weeks to come!

 

[Carrotman]

Week 2

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Your back Pokémon, Urshifu-R, is at 27% health; in range of both Poison Jab and Glacial Lance.
+1 Calyrex-S Shadow Ball deals 70% to your opponent's Calyrex-I.
+2 Calyrex-S Shadow Ball will OHKO your opponent's Calyrex-I.
Poison Jab from Urshifu-S will deal 70% to your Calyrex-S.
Your Calyrex-S is locked into Shadow Ball, while your opponent's Calyrex-I is locked into Glacial Lance.
Assume that the opponent's Urshifu-S is Adamant-natured.
Mienshao does not have Fake Out available to use.
The opponent's Urshifu-S is not yet locked into a move.
Close Combat from your Urshifu-R will always OHKO your opponent's Urshifu-S.
Your team: https://pokepast.es/3ea68364783a67d4
Your opponent's team: https://pokepast.es/dbef36848437e23d
The replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2025regi-2467715564-dj9lcuop24huqvk4xfrxwj85kny6w30pw

Last week's winners:
Pengu
christianfinity

 

[Carrotman]

Week 3

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Your opponent's Dragapult is faster than your Volcarona.
Your Dusclops is slower than your opponent's Amoonguss.
Your Volcarona cannot use Protect this turn.
Your Volcarona is in 2HKO range from your opponent's Gholdengo, even after Life Orb recoil.
Your opponent's Gholdengo cannot OHKO either of your Pokémon with Shadow Ball.
Assume that Heat Wave OHKOs Gholdengo in all cases.
Heat wave does not KO Amoonguss from this range, though Tera Blast does.
Your opponent's back Pokémon, Dragapult, is at 20% health, and will get KOd by Heat Wave in all cases.
Assume that Heat Wave will never miss.

Your team: https://pokepast.es/271f6d73e9034dbd
Your opponent's team: https://pokepast.es/c8f534936879af3c
The replay up to the point of the battle: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2025regh-2472492190-a6rhimpfpbghjf2qhj3sxtotc10raujpw

Last week's winners:
coolguy14604
ProssettiVGC

The leaderboard can be found here.

Last week's answer:
Mienshao will use Wide Guard, while Calyrex-S uses Shadow Ball into Mienshao.
Your Calyrex-S can safely survive a Poison Jab from the opposing Urshifu, even if it gets a poison. Wide guard means both of your Pokémon are safe from Calyrex-I. At this point, Urshifu's only move that would do anything to threaten your Calyrex-S is Poison Jab. Because it has the Choice Scarf equipped, it will move after your Calyrex-S in Trick Room, which means you are garuanteed the Grim Neigh boost from knocking out Mienshao.
Urshifu-R uses Close Combat into Urshifu-S, while Calyrex-S uses Shadow Ball into Calyrex-I.
Because your opponent's Urshifu-S is Adamant-natured and your Urshifu-R is Jolly-natured, Close Combat is a safe OHKO into the Urshifu-S. This means Calyrex-S is safe to move, and can OHKO your opponent's Calyrex-I due to the second Grim Neigh boost it received from knocking out Mienshao, together with the boost from Choice Specs. Because your Urshifu is such low health, it cannot use a move into the opposing Calyrex-I due to the Rocky Helmet it is holding.

 

[Carrotman]

An oversight relating to Rillaboom's ability has been fixed: this was not relevant to the answer of the puzzle. Again, please do not post in this thread. If you find an issue with the puzzle, you can ping any of the project hosts in the Smogon VGC discord.

 

[Carrotman]

Week 4
This week's puzzle will feature VGC 2014!

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Your Ludicolo is slower than your opponent's Lucario.
Your opponent's Tyranitar is in range of Talonflame's U-turn.
Your Politoed is slower than your opponent's Tyranitar.
Politoed is not in range of any OHKO.
Tyranitar, after a turn of Life Orb chip damage, is in range of Scald from both Ludicolo and Politoed.
Your Ludicolo is in KO range for Close Combat from Lucario.
Your Politoed is in 2HKO range for Close Combat, but not for Close Combat + another move besides Venusaur's Giga Drain.
Venusaus is in 3HKO range for Ice Beam from both Politoed and Ludicolo.
Your team: https://pokepast.es/02cd29902bc39d1d
Your opponent's team: https://pokepast.es/b2e7199ae4502f2a
Your replay up until the point of the puzzle: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen6vgc2014-2476961278-irr72au3bbch7t4pyi00ws5y3htfpc7pw

Last week's answer:
Volcarona uses Tera Blast into Amoonguss, while Dusclops uses Trick Room.

If Amoonguss went down: Volcarona uses Heat Wave, while Dusclops uses Haze.
If Dragapult was switched in instead: Volcarona uses Protect, while Dusclops uses Taunt into Amoonguss. Afterwards, Volcarona uses Heat Wave, while Dusclops uses Haze.
Because your +1 speed Volcarona is sandwiched in between the scarf Gholdengo and Dragapult, and Dusclops cannot damage either of your opponent's Pokémon, you have to find a way to move before both Dragapult and Gholdengo. Quiver Dance is not an option, as you risk getting put asleep by Amoonguss; but, because your Volcarona is Life Orb, Heat Wave will knock out both Gholdengo and Dragapult, even after its special attack boost is gone. This way, you can remove your speed boost by using Haze and underspeed the Gholdengo due to its Choice Scarf. If Dragapult switched in for Amoonguss, you can use Taunt + Protect to shut it down before repeating the same strategy.

Last week's winners:
Pengu
volcaronavgc

You can now submit your self-made puzzles for next week!
Every fifth week will be a puzzle submitted by someone on Smogon! You will receive 2 points if your puzzle is selected, but you will not be able to gain any points by submitting an answer. You may use any VGC format for the puzzle. If you collaborated with someone, please submit their username as well. If you take someone else's puzzle without their permission, it will not be selected.
Submit your puzzles here! (hyperlinked)

 

[Carrotman]

The puzzle period will be extended for up to 1 day this week due to an issue with the author of week 5's puzzle. Apologies for the delay!

 

[Carrotman]

Week 5
Puzzle by Pengu

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Your Farigiraf is slower than both Incineroar and Okidogi.
Your Raging bolt is faster than your opponent's Incineroar, but slower than your opponent's Okidogi.
Your opponent's Okidogi is in OHKO range from Thunderbolt from Raging Bolt.
Your opponent's Incineroar is in 2HKO range from Thunderbolt from Raging Bolt.
Your opponent's Raging Bolt is in OHKO range from Draco Meteor from your Raging Bolt.
Eruption from Torkoal will not OHKO your opponent's Ogerpon-Wellspring, but it will if Torkoal is terastallized to Fire.
Your team: https://pokepast.es/eb3518a1e2263408
Your opponent's team: https://pokepast.es/07995d10f5504115
Your replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regf-2481819496-12cc93ygnjsnx0n5gg41uc9ux2q94hvpw

Last week's answer:
Talonflame uses U-turn into Tyranitar, while Ludicolo switches into Politoed.

Ludicolo uses Fake Out into Venusaur, while Politoed uses Scald into Lucario.

If Politoed went down to Close Combat, Ludicolo uses Scald into Lucario, while Talonflame uses Brave Bird into Venusaur.
This allows you to KO both: if Tyranitar swaps in for Lucario, you can use Scald + Brave Bird to take a double KO, as Venusaur will have gone down. If Tyranitar switches in for Venusaur; if Talonflame went down, Ice Beam into the Venusaur slot -> Scald into the Tyranitar slot will seal up the game. If Politoed went down, Brave Bird into Tyranitar will seal up the game.

If Ludicolo went down to Close Combat, Talonflame uses Brave Bird into Lucario, while Politoed uses Protect.
This means that, in order to gain any ground, Venusaur must use Sludge Bomb into Talonflame. If it does, use Brave Bird into Lucario + Ice Beam into Venusaur next turn. Barring Talonflame getting poisoned on the first Sludge Bomb, this will lock down the endgame as Venusaur will have gone down to U-turn + Ice Beam.

Lucario is immune to Fake Out due to Inner Focus.

Last week's winner(s):
volcaronavgc

 

[Carrotman]

A note about the aforementioned prize at the end of the season
In the original post, a prize was mentioned for the winner of the season. This has been slightly modified, where the top X on the leaderboard (depending on the interest shown/the amount of participants) will receive an invite to an invitational tournament. The details surrounding this tournament are still being discussed at this time.​