Blew another randoms streak at 439 wins, losing #440 to Grimsley over a series of sloppy plays. While triples and doubles aren't too comparable, my Personal Best for randoms last gen was 367, then a pretty nice climb over 315 (my maiden post on Smogon) and 439 is another satisfying spike over that.
The streak should have ended a little over 40 battles sooner, due to my eagerness in running a really shitty lineup because "science is fuN!" but RNG gaveth as much as it tooketh away, and on I went (in my defense, the previous team of a comparable makeup had a pretty good run and I thought I could tap into more of the same, neglecting to recall that my frontline unit was nowhere near as disadvantaged.)
Eisenherz had already used Comfey as a TR setter and raved about it, in no small part due to Triage. I looked at a small handful of calcs and decided its defenses were adequate, plus its speed was a complete non-issue as its entire moveset would consist of priority. While set1s don't threaten quite as much, it still lived up to the hype. Props to Eisen for experimenting with it first.
Gothitelle was rolled very little this entire run, surprisingly, but it's not such a bad lead to have in early tree. I've said it elsewhere, Goth's biggest problem is that it just doesn't do anything better than anyone else. None of its good tools are exclusive, and since I always roll two setters...
Micro Selection Gigalith runs Assault Vest and Sand Stream if not paired with a Ghost, and uses Superpower instead of Explosion. As you can imagine it's extremely bulky.
Before this run I had rebred Cofagrigus because my old one didn't have Fake Tears as an egg move. This move was so devastating in this and subsequent runs that it gave Coff a sizeable edge over Dusclops when I rolled special attackers that didn't depend on Gravity. Vikavolt already hits so hard with Life Orb; Fake Tears support jacked its list of guaranteed OHKOs through the roof.
Anabel was the boss of this run!
Contained the first battle of the streak during which I was convinced my run was toast, saved by the fact that the lastmon was Shuckle4 (isn't that always the silver lining to every cloud? You get "That One Poke" that can't possibly kill your lastmon?) and Mega Sableye couldn't be harmed by anything it did except Sand, which could simply be healed.
A male office worker with Bisharp4/Porygon-Z4/Abomasnow3/Shuckle4. As you could probably guess if you pondered the way this team could screw me, Bisharp flinched with Iron Head and thus TR was hopelessly doomed. While Escavalier would kill PZ and waste Snow's sash, it wasn't enough to prolong it with LO recoil and it soon fell along with Abomasnow. Meanwhile, Assault Vest Rhyperior would tank Blizzard and freeze, fainting without doing anything. Which left Mega Sableye, all by itself. Because Bisharp had not taken any damage save for Hail, and I had not yet seen the final poke, I waited with dismay to see who would seal my fate, and of all things it's SHUCKLE.
I Will-O-Wisped Bisharp and stalled out its Iron Heads, recovering, using Nasty Plot, and peppering it with Shadow Ball while the meager damage did its job (only one flinch that I recall, of little consequence.) If you don't immediately recall, Shuckle4 has Wrap and Toxic for damage, and Protect/Sandstorm for defense. Shuckle would sit there and waste Protect PP, repelenishing sand once it faded. By the time Bisharp fainted and I'd healed up, Sableye was at +6 and Shuckle fainted a couple turns afterward. As an aside, I found it interesting that Shuckle never once tried to Toxic Sableye, and Bisharp never tried to Taunt it. They seemed to be aware of Magic Bounce from the getgo.
Using Heal Pulse on Magic Bounce was an effective means of healing Aromatisse. The original roll for this run contained Aromatisse/M-Sableye, Rhyperior/Gigalith/Conkeldurr/Escavalier, Slowbro & M-Aggron. Running offensive Slowbro would have likely been more helpful than Sableye, but like most brand new toys I was really eager to try it. I don't remember my logic for wanting the Nasty Plot set over FO/HH/AS/FP but it was likely because I had no other special attacker without Slowbro there.
This was a really fun team! I finally rolled Zard with Musharna, giving me access to After You (okay, Aroma basically uses After You just as well as Mush, but HH and HP are too good to pass.) While it's not the easiest thing to arrange, Zard is a blast to use.
I hadn't "unlocked" my larger roster yet, but I had rolled Stakataka as a setter (it still sits in that pool despite being wholly unqualified for the job) and because I allow myself to use pokes in any role I please so long as they're legitimately selected, I used what's normally Super Flunky #60, Stakataka, on this team.
Both this run and the last rolled Azumarill. At some point before either one I had decided to replace Aqua Jet with Knock Off, since I was frequently getting really dissatisfied with the numbers, even against frail targets. I also tried Assault Vest and really liked it. Lurantis was phenomenal this run and one such highlight was murdering a Ferrothorn before it could begin to set up (forgoing TR in order to HH Superpower.)
Escavalier outspeeding every setter can be very inconvenient if RNG decides it doesn't like me. No, I will not stop running Megahorn. Or Drill Run.
150 Wins - Super Factory Unlocked
Hilarious battle: Hitting Wishiwashi with Heal Pulse, then OHKOing Alakazam3 with U-turn, getting replaced by Heatran and subsequently targeted by Will-O, to find Scizor entering battle as the lastmon.
Disastrous Battle: Snorlax3/Primarina3/Lapras3/Magnezone4
I was going to post the discord logs for this, but upon rereading it it's mostly foaming at the mouth and insufficient details. Basically, through Baby Doll Eyes spam and consecutive Protects, Primalax wasted TR in the time it took to kill them and Aroma wasn't around to replenish it. Vileplume and Heatran both fell trying to deal with Magnezone and Lapras, and in the ensuing struggle I'd managed to hit Lapras with Waterfall due to retargeting (did not expect Lapras to kill its own Magnezone with Surf.) It didn't have Water Absorb, which would have screwed me. On the turn I won, Wishi had been knocked to 9HP by Lapras and I'd killed it before losing Schooling. Brightpowder never kicked in, either.
Ezra also gave this team a run for its money, but nothing like Tasanee. Faced with Alakazam/Vikavolt leads, I brought Vileplume in to take Thunder/bolt and was hoping Alakazam (turned out to be Specs4) would do anything but target Wishi with Psychic, but it did, and Plume was wasted. PZ and Volcarona made up the backline, and Heatran easily dealt with the four of them.
I remember taking pause at the prospect of running both Vika and Amphy but quickly dismissed it as they share one attack type and by virtue of Bug typing, share no weaknesses.
And I thought Fake Tears spam was delightful! This team was so fun and murderous; even before the run began, Paper summed it up best: "RIP tree." If it's not already obvious from my style, this team involved Iron Ball Fini using Swagger on the backline to overinflate their killing power. Because Cofagrigus didn't really need a Lum Berry, it used Misty Seed for increased special bulk, which worked out well. Relaxed Fini doesn't hit particularly hard or have any notable OHKOs by itself, but it did its share of attacking and appreciated Fake Tears. Swagger can still miss instead of automatically tripping with the terrain up, but it didn't create an issue.
I was encouraged by Discord chums to abuse Psychic Terrain to the fullest, and I obliged, though the modus operandi was still Bellylax sweeping, and most battles played out as such.
Iron Ball Darmanitan is actually pretty good.Try Zen Mode, I think it has serious four-digit potential Sheer Force still gives a nice kick even without the Life Orb other pokes use with it.
Jellicent used with a bit of badgering from Smuckem. First time using Scizor in TR since the Maison (and it was pulled out of Bank to do it, after a lot of Scizor talk in Discord piqued my interest) and for the first several battles I was getting pretty displeased by its frequent shortfalls of KOs, even with its LO. As the run went on its muscle began to do more work than its teammates', which elevated my opinion and saved its seat in the alts box.
Fake Out/Helping Hand/Ally Switch/Foul Play Mega Sableye in all its... notoriety? Splendor? This run featured so many fighting-type leads, including undesireable FO targets in Gallade and Lucario, that Sableye was opening with Ally Switch much of the time. Sableye was a cancerous little troll for this team, between AS mindfucking the AI and HH Explosion doing a lot by itself. As if that weren't bad enough, when my tanks weren't winning the battle by themselves, I had the admittedly extremely unsafe but hilarious Quick Claw Walrein, who uses Super Fang instead of Fissure. Walrein was brought in to deal with stallier nuisances and lastmons. Among successful Sheer Cold recipients were +3/+3 Lanturn4 (QC proc no less) and Tentacruel4. Walrein took a more proactive role in a battle with Atalanta and, while no serious massacre occured, I did note that moves called by Sleep Talk ignore disabling when used. Marowak1 was felled, Cursed Body disabled Sheer Cold, and Sleep Talk attempted to use it with no failure message.
This run featured an encounter with our rare Anabel, whom I jokingly referred to as investigating the existence of an alleged QC Walrein. This run also featured my second personally witnessed instance of the AI making a resist switch that turned out to be Zoroark (Breloom to "Lapras" following a sashed hit from Ice Beam.)
Tasanee once again gave this team a serious run for its money with Golisopod4/Snorlax4/Something not mentioned in Discord/Milotic4. Lax successfully Fissured Incineroar, and upon returning to battle LO First Impression would lay waste to Drampa. I won because Milotic Rested and kept calling Surf with Sleep Talk, which is what allowed Gastrodon to do enough damage to kill it before it could wake up and simply Rest again.
Contrary to what the backline might imply, this Golem did not have Explosion.
Aromatisse and Slowbro get rolled together fairly often in some capacity, and having a slot in both the setter and megas sections increases Bro's chances of being rolled quite a bit. That said, I've yet to run Aroma in an offensive capacity as long as it and Bro are on the same team. For reasons which are hopefully obvious.
The return of semi-monotype! This team had a really good run, save for a rematch with Harding. The battle got off to a good enough start; Aggron3/Gardevoir34 leads, with an easy OHKO for Scizor. Bronzong3 would replace Garde and immediately explode, making Knock Off autotarget Aggron for pathetic damage. Escavalier replaces, which is very bad for the team with Volcarona being unable to enter while Aggron sits there, and none of my pokes outspeeding the snail under TR, at least until Aggron had paralyzed both of them, leaving me in a tough spot.
As it would happen, Escavalier3 would have its LO knocked off and Cress would die to be replaced by Araquanid. Scizor had put Aggron into range for a Hydro Vortex KO with Superpower, and all it needed to do was survive Escavalier's Megahorn to use it, which it did. TR was now off, so Volcarona could safely and easily kill Escavalier.
...the road leading to this destination was a lot more tense than it might look :P
Armaldo gets a ton of credit for delivering many of the KOs during this run, especially amidst the number of Taunts which greeted my leads.
Xenophon managed to give this team an extremely hard time without a Taunt Virizion lead. Grassy Terrain from my Bulu did not help. Mega Venusaur is so bulky that a +0 Rock Slide can't break a substitute. And Dhelmise4 is just an annoying douche between alternating Protect and Phantom Force; what's more, it survives +2 Throat Chop. Thankfully, Bug Buzz ignores Sub and Vikavolt is just a handy unit to have against teams like this. Without it, unless I ran a Fire type I'd have possibly lost.
While Rotom/Ally Switch was meant to mitigate it somewhat, I was getting pretty annoyed with the number of Ice-typed leads, and ran into Regice and Articuno repeatedly. Fortunately Regice doesn't stand up to HHWP-boosted attacks, but sacrifices were usually made. Heal Pulse and Berserk was abused repeatedly.
If I were ever bitten harder in the ass for gung-ho experimenting, I must've blocked it out of my mind. After the thrill and success of semi-mono Ice and Bug, I was excited to try this with Dragon, not considering that my lead choice of Tyrantrum was absolutely terrible, not to mention having no real switch prospects should the need arise. So there would be plenty of sacrfificing. Upon saving and mock battling replays with Tivon, then Aino and Sam, I would lose the first two extremely quickly and realise that I won through strokes of pure luck. Sam's battle would get off to a shitty start like last time but be salvaged in much the same way.
Tivon: Steelix4/RotoFrost34/Conkeldurr4/Crabominable4
Conk would use Superpower to finish off Tyrantrum4 instead of Flinging into Cress, and would be crit OHKOd by its partner Steelix in return. I needed this to happen, as I would miss Hydro Pump on Steelix and the battle would go rapidly downhill from there.
Aino: Metagross4/Gallade3/Uxie2/Oranguru
Winning stemmed from Ally Switching and staving off Meteor Mash in time to KO Metagross, at which point I was able to set TR. The benign-ish backline helped. During the mock battle, Metagross targeted Cress with MM, Tyrantrum was AS into it, and the battle went unsalvageably downhill from there.
Sam: Barbaracle4/Salamence3/Tyrantrum4/Magmortar4
In sacrificing Tyrantrum, Barbara would get a Sniper crit on Cress (non fatal) and set the stage for a difficult game of Kill or Be Killed. It would miss twice, which was necessary for Guzzlord to clean up the rest of the team including Barbaracle itself.
Like I said in the discord, I am never doing Dragon TR again. at least until they make more TR-worthy dragon pokes GF pls
More Misty Swagger fun! Carbink ran anIapapa Eisenberry because of the protection from Misty Surge, but would not eat it very often; it was usually hit once for small to moderate damage and then obliterated. Five of the teams faced were TR specialists, which amused me at the time. The biggest highlight was facing a Breeder with Cofagrigus, and bringing Fini in to protect Mawile from a Will-O-Wisp, then successfully Swaggering to maintain the doubled attack after gaining Mummy from the ensuing OHKO. Bastiodon would dodge an Iron Head under Gravity from its DT spam, then be hit and crit by Hydro Pump (an earlier IH had connected and dealt over 50%.)
Kukui did not run Magnezone as I feared, but I did have the pleasure of OHKOing Primarina with +2 Hydro Vortex.
Very rare sighting of fully offensive Aromatisse, which is fun to use. This run was also pretty difficult (admittedly this was not the time to use Steelix, though it appeased Eisen.) Empoleon would end up doing quite a lot of work outside TR, and its "high" speed came in quite handy. Breeder Lori would show up twice and lead Escavalier4 both times; in one encounter, Steelix would be Swaggered and do nothing but assist in killing itself the rest of the battle; in another, it would miraculously waken from Spore T2 and OHKO Shiinotic4 with Heavy Slam, then be paralyzed as a result. In both battles, Empoleon would connect two Hydro Pumps and be done with Escavalier. Because the backline didn't play well with Steelix spamming EQ, Stomping Tantrum was used, and generally didn't cause problems as a result (though some prospective double KOs were missed.)
I was getting pretty annoyed by the unwillingness of the AI to bait into Flash Fire, at one point hitting Chandelure with my own Fire Blast just to trigger it. One amusing battle of note was against Tivon, who set to +2 with Mega Audino and was generally being a tanky pain in the ass; I swapped Ferrothorn in to prevent Octillery from being killed by Draining Kiss- and was immediately reminded that it's a rare special contact move, and the ensuing damage from Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet was severe enough to finish it off. While I had an Octillery for a long time in Bank, credit goes to Eisen for getting it rebred and put back into the alts box.
I had the joy of slaughtering Uxie and Cress with LO Knock Off, and until Grimsley this team was having a great run. Honchkrow3/Scrafty4/Sharpedo4/Houndoom4 gave this team no good switch prospects, but what really doomed me was negligent (more like nonexistent) use of Ally Switch, which would have prolonged Bisharp and especially Dragalge in doing enough damage to them before they fell. As it would stand, I would manage to get Scrafty by itself, and with its max special bulk my badly weakened Rotom was hopelessly checkmated, and Scrafty would prolong things by continuing to Protect and even throw in a Bulk Up before finishing it off.
I had planned to write up some trivia using the various tidbits from those two segments, but this has gone on quite long enough. Anyone who bothers to look through them will inevitably notice some trends or odd things.
The streak should have ended a little over 40 battles sooner, due to my eagerness in running a really shitty lineup because "science is fuN!" but RNG gaveth as much as it tooketh away, and on I went (in my defense, the previous team of a comparable makeup had a pretty good run and I thought I could tap into more of the same, neglecting to recall that my frontline unit was nowhere near as disadvantaged.)
Eisenherz had already used Comfey as a TR setter and raved about it, in no small part due to Triage. I looked at a small handful of calcs and decided its defenses were adequate, plus its speed was a complete non-issue as its entire moveset would consist of priority. While set1s don't threaten quite as much, it still lived up to the hype. Props to Eisen for experimenting with it first.
Gothitelle was rolled very little this entire run, surprisingly, but it's not such a bad lead to have in early tree. I've said it elsewhere, Goth's biggest problem is that it just doesn't do anything better than anyone else. None of its good tools are exclusive, and since I always roll two setters...
Micro Selection Gigalith runs Assault Vest and Sand Stream if not paired with a Ghost, and uses Superpower instead of Explosion. As you can imagine it's extremely bulky.
Before this run I had rebred Cofagrigus because my old one didn't have Fake Tears as an egg move. This move was so devastating in this and subsequent runs that it gave Coff a sizeable edge over Dusclops when I rolled special attackers that didn't depend on Gravity. Vikavolt already hits so hard with Life Orb; Fake Tears support jacked its list of guaranteed OHKOs through the roof.
Anabel was the boss of this run!
Contained the first battle of the streak during which I was convinced my run was toast, saved by the fact that the lastmon was Shuckle4 (isn't that always the silver lining to every cloud? You get "That One Poke" that can't possibly kill your lastmon?) and Mega Sableye couldn't be harmed by anything it did except Sand, which could simply be healed.
A male office worker with Bisharp4/Porygon-Z4/Abomasnow3/Shuckle4. As you could probably guess if you pondered the way this team could screw me, Bisharp flinched with Iron Head and thus TR was hopelessly doomed. While Escavalier would kill PZ and waste Snow's sash, it wasn't enough to prolong it with LO recoil and it soon fell along with Abomasnow. Meanwhile, Assault Vest Rhyperior would tank Blizzard and freeze, fainting without doing anything. Which left Mega Sableye, all by itself. Because Bisharp had not taken any damage save for Hail, and I had not yet seen the final poke, I waited with dismay to see who would seal my fate, and of all things it's SHUCKLE.
I Will-O-Wisped Bisharp and stalled out its Iron Heads, recovering, using Nasty Plot, and peppering it with Shadow Ball while the meager damage did its job (only one flinch that I recall, of little consequence.) If you don't immediately recall, Shuckle4 has Wrap and Toxic for damage, and Protect/Sandstorm for defense. Shuckle would sit there and waste Protect PP, repelenishing sand once it faded. By the time Bisharp fainted and I'd healed up, Sableye was at +6 and Shuckle fainted a couple turns afterward. As an aside, I found it interesting that Shuckle never once tried to Toxic Sableye, and Bisharp never tried to Taunt it. They seemed to be aware of Magic Bounce from the getgo.
Using Heal Pulse on Magic Bounce was an effective means of healing Aromatisse. The original roll for this run contained Aromatisse/M-Sableye, Rhyperior/Gigalith/Conkeldurr/Escavalier, Slowbro & M-Aggron. Running offensive Slowbro would have likely been more helpful than Sableye, but like most brand new toys I was really eager to try it. I don't remember my logic for wanting the Nasty Plot set over FO/HH/AS/FP but it was likely because I had no other special attacker without Slowbro there.
This was a really fun team! I finally rolled Zard with Musharna, giving me access to After You (okay, Aroma basically uses After You just as well as Mush, but HH and HP are too good to pass.) While it's not the easiest thing to arrange, Zard is a blast to use.
I hadn't "unlocked" my larger roster yet, but I had rolled Stakataka as a setter (it still sits in that pool despite being wholly unqualified for the job) and because I allow myself to use pokes in any role I please so long as they're legitimately selected, I used what's normally Super Flunky #60, Stakataka, on this team.
Both this run and the last rolled Azumarill. At some point before either one I had decided to replace Aqua Jet with Knock Off, since I was frequently getting really dissatisfied with the numbers, even against frail targets. I also tried Assault Vest and really liked it. Lurantis was phenomenal this run and one such highlight was murdering a Ferrothorn before it could begin to set up (forgoing TR in order to HH Superpower.)
Escavalier outspeeding every setter can be very inconvenient if RNG decides it doesn't like me. No, I will not stop running Megahorn. Or Drill Run.
150 Wins - Super Factory Unlocked
Hilarious battle: Hitting Wishiwashi with Heal Pulse, then OHKOing Alakazam3 with U-turn, getting replaced by Heatran and subsequently targeted by Will-O, to find Scizor entering battle as the lastmon.
Disastrous Battle: Snorlax3/Primarina3/Lapras3/Magnezone4
I was going to post the discord logs for this, but upon rereading it it's mostly foaming at the mouth and insufficient details. Basically, through Baby Doll Eyes spam and consecutive Protects, Primalax wasted TR in the time it took to kill them and Aroma wasn't around to replenish it. Vileplume and Heatran both fell trying to deal with Magnezone and Lapras, and in the ensuing struggle I'd managed to hit Lapras with Waterfall due to retargeting (did not expect Lapras to kill its own Magnezone with Surf.) It didn't have Water Absorb, which would have screwed me. On the turn I won, Wishi had been knocked to 9HP by Lapras and I'd killed it before losing Schooling. Brightpowder never kicked in, either.
Ezra also gave this team a run for its money, but nothing like Tasanee. Faced with Alakazam/Vikavolt leads, I brought Vileplume in to take Thunder/bolt and was hoping Alakazam (turned out to be Specs4) would do anything but target Wishi with Psychic, but it did, and Plume was wasted. PZ and Volcarona made up the backline, and Heatran easily dealt with the four of them.
I remember taking pause at the prospect of running both Vika and Amphy but quickly dismissed it as they share one attack type and by virtue of Bug typing, share no weaknesses.
And I thought Fake Tears spam was delightful! This team was so fun and murderous; even before the run began, Paper summed it up best: "RIP tree." If it's not already obvious from my style, this team involved Iron Ball Fini using Swagger on the backline to overinflate their killing power. Because Cofagrigus didn't really need a Lum Berry, it used Misty Seed for increased special bulk, which worked out well. Relaxed Fini doesn't hit particularly hard or have any notable OHKOs by itself, but it did its share of attacking and appreciated Fake Tears. Swagger can still miss instead of automatically tripping with the terrain up, but it didn't create an issue.
I was encouraged by Discord chums to abuse Psychic Terrain to the fullest, and I obliged, though the modus operandi was still Bellylax sweeping, and most battles played out as such.
Iron Ball Darmanitan is actually pretty good.
Jellicent used with a bit of badgering from Smuckem. First time using Scizor in TR since the Maison (and it was pulled out of Bank to do it, after a lot of Scizor talk in Discord piqued my interest) and for the first several battles I was getting pretty displeased by its frequent shortfalls of KOs, even with its LO. As the run went on its muscle began to do more work than its teammates', which elevated my opinion and saved its seat in the alts box.
Fake Out/Helping Hand/Ally Switch/Foul Play Mega Sableye in all its... notoriety? Splendor? This run featured so many fighting-type leads, including undesireable FO targets in Gallade and Lucario, that Sableye was opening with Ally Switch much of the time. Sableye was a cancerous little troll for this team, between AS mindfucking the AI and HH Explosion doing a lot by itself. As if that weren't bad enough, when my tanks weren't winning the battle by themselves, I had the admittedly extremely unsafe but hilarious Quick Claw Walrein, who uses Super Fang instead of Fissure. Walrein was brought in to deal with stallier nuisances and lastmons. Among successful Sheer Cold recipients were +3/+3 Lanturn4 (QC proc no less) and Tentacruel4. Walrein took a more proactive role in a battle with Atalanta and, while no serious massacre occured, I did note that moves called by Sleep Talk ignore disabling when used. Marowak1 was felled, Cursed Body disabled Sheer Cold, and Sleep Talk attempted to use it with no failure message.
This run featured an encounter with our rare Anabel, whom I jokingly referred to as investigating the existence of an alleged QC Walrein. This run also featured my second personally witnessed instance of the AI making a resist switch that turned out to be Zoroark (Breloom to "Lapras" following a sashed hit from Ice Beam.)
Tasanee once again gave this team a serious run for its money with Golisopod4/Snorlax4/Something not mentioned in Discord/Milotic4. Lax successfully Fissured Incineroar, and upon returning to battle LO First Impression would lay waste to Drampa. I won because Milotic Rested and kept calling Surf with Sleep Talk, which is what allowed Gastrodon to do enough damage to kill it before it could wake up and simply Rest again.
Contrary to what the backline might imply, this Golem did not have Explosion.
Aromatisse and Slowbro get rolled together fairly often in some capacity, and having a slot in both the setter and megas sections increases Bro's chances of being rolled quite a bit. That said, I've yet to run Aroma in an offensive capacity as long as it and Bro are on the same team. For reasons which are hopefully obvious.
The return of semi-monotype! This team had a really good run, save for a rematch with Harding. The battle got off to a good enough start; Aggron3/Gardevoir34 leads, with an easy OHKO for Scizor. Bronzong3 would replace Garde and immediately explode, making Knock Off autotarget Aggron for pathetic damage. Escavalier replaces, which is very bad for the team with Volcarona being unable to enter while Aggron sits there, and none of my pokes outspeeding the snail under TR, at least until Aggron had paralyzed both of them, leaving me in a tough spot.
As it would happen, Escavalier3 would have its LO knocked off and Cress would die to be replaced by Araquanid. Scizor had put Aggron into range for a Hydro Vortex KO with Superpower, and all it needed to do was survive Escavalier's Megahorn to use it, which it did. TR was now off, so Volcarona could safely and easily kill Escavalier.
...the road leading to this destination was a lot more tense than it might look :P
Armaldo gets a ton of credit for delivering many of the KOs during this run, especially amidst the number of Taunts which greeted my leads.
Xenophon managed to give this team an extremely hard time without a Taunt Virizion lead. Grassy Terrain from my Bulu did not help. Mega Venusaur is so bulky that a +0 Rock Slide can't break a substitute. And Dhelmise4 is just an annoying douche between alternating Protect and Phantom Force; what's more, it survives +2 Throat Chop. Thankfully, Bug Buzz ignores Sub and Vikavolt is just a handy unit to have against teams like this. Without it, unless I ran a Fire type I'd have possibly lost.
While Rotom/Ally Switch was meant to mitigate it somewhat, I was getting pretty annoyed with the number of Ice-typed leads, and ran into Regice and Articuno repeatedly. Fortunately Regice doesn't stand up to HHWP-boosted attacks, but sacrifices were usually made. Heal Pulse and Berserk was abused repeatedly.
If I were ever bitten harder in the ass for gung-ho experimenting, I must've blocked it out of my mind. After the thrill and success of semi-mono Ice and Bug, I was excited to try this with Dragon, not considering that my lead choice of Tyrantrum was absolutely terrible, not to mention having no real switch prospects should the need arise. So there would be plenty of sacrfificing. Upon saving and mock battling replays with Tivon, then Aino and Sam, I would lose the first two extremely quickly and realise that I won through strokes of pure luck. Sam's battle would get off to a shitty start like last time but be salvaged in much the same way.
Tivon: Steelix4/RotoFrost34/Conkeldurr4/Crabominable4
Conk would use Superpower to finish off Tyrantrum4 instead of Flinging into Cress, and would be crit OHKOd by its partner Steelix in return. I needed this to happen, as I would miss Hydro Pump on Steelix and the battle would go rapidly downhill from there.
Aino: Metagross4/Gallade3/Uxie2/Oranguru
Winning stemmed from Ally Switching and staving off Meteor Mash in time to KO Metagross, at which point I was able to set TR. The benign-ish backline helped. During the mock battle, Metagross targeted Cress with MM, Tyrantrum was AS into it, and the battle went unsalvageably downhill from there.
Sam: Barbaracle4/Salamence3/Tyrantrum4/Magmortar4
In sacrificing Tyrantrum, Barbara would get a Sniper crit on Cress (non fatal) and set the stage for a difficult game of Kill or Be Killed. It would miss twice, which was necessary for Guzzlord to clean up the rest of the team including Barbaracle itself.
Like I said in the discord, I am never doing Dragon TR again. at least until they make more TR-worthy dragon pokes GF pls
More Misty Swagger fun! Carbink ran an
Kukui did not run Magnezone as I feared, but I did have the pleasure of OHKOing Primarina with +2 Hydro Vortex.
Very rare sighting of fully offensive Aromatisse, which is fun to use. This run was also pretty difficult (admittedly this was not the time to use Steelix, though it appeased Eisen.) Empoleon would end up doing quite a lot of work outside TR, and its "high" speed came in quite handy. Breeder Lori would show up twice and lead Escavalier4 both times; in one encounter, Steelix would be Swaggered and do nothing but assist in killing itself the rest of the battle; in another, it would miraculously waken from Spore T2 and OHKO Shiinotic4 with Heavy Slam, then be paralyzed as a result. In both battles, Empoleon would connect two Hydro Pumps and be done with Escavalier. Because the backline didn't play well with Steelix spamming EQ, Stomping Tantrum was used, and generally didn't cause problems as a result (though some prospective double KOs were missed.)
I was getting pretty annoyed by the unwillingness of the AI to bait into Flash Fire, at one point hitting Chandelure with my own Fire Blast just to trigger it. One amusing battle of note was against Tivon, who set to +2 with Mega Audino and was generally being a tanky pain in the ass; I swapped Ferrothorn in to prevent Octillery from being killed by Draining Kiss- and was immediately reminded that it's a rare special contact move, and the ensuing damage from Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet was severe enough to finish it off. While I had an Octillery for a long time in Bank, credit goes to Eisen for getting it rebred and put back into the alts box.
I had the joy of slaughtering Uxie and Cress with LO Knock Off, and until Grimsley this team was having a great run. Honchkrow3/Scrafty4/Sharpedo4/Houndoom4 gave this team no good switch prospects, but what really doomed me was negligent (more like nonexistent) use of Ally Switch, which would have prolonged Bisharp and especially Dragalge in doing enough damage to them before they fell. As it would stand, I would manage to get Scrafty by itself, and with its max special bulk my badly weakened Rotom was hopelessly checkmated, and Scrafty would prolong things by continuing to Protect and even throw in a Bulk Up before finishing it off.
Who knows; maybe these will provide some insight into my selection processes. Nah, they mostly just show favoritism, frequent defaulting, and leaving some otherwise good pokes woefully underused. ...which in a way is useful and informative to me, so I'll actually go through with this.
Some Pokemon inevitably get rolled twice, but only appear once on the list.
1-10: Comfey*, Kangaskhan, Snorlax*, Gastrodon*, Druddigon, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle, Abomasnow
11-20: Stakataka, Charizard, Golem, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr*, Escavalier*, Audino*, Kangaskhan
21-30: Audino, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle*, Mawile
31-40: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Muk, Gigalith*, Eelektross, Vikavolt*, Comfey, Camerupt*
41-50: Cofagrigus*, Camerupt, Muk, Exeggutor*, Vikavolt*, Crabominable*, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
51-60: Comfey*, Heracross, Exeggutor, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Golisopod*, Slowbro*, Camerupt
61-70: Oranguru*, Camerupt*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Araquanid*, Palossand, Bronzong, Abomasnow
71-80: Aromatisse*, Sableye*, Rhyperior*, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Escavalier*, Slowbro, Aggron
81-90: Stakataka*, Mawile, Golem, Snorlax, Mudsdale, Araquanid*, Musharna*, Charizard*
91-100: Comfey, Steelix, Golem, Marowak*, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Cresselia*, Ampharos*
101-110: Cresselia*, Charizard, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Lurantis*, Porygon2*
111-120: Aromatisse*, Camerupt*, Golem, Snorlax*, Wishiwashi*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
121-130: Slowbro*, Muk, Rhyperior, Eelektross, Lurantis, Carbink, Aggron
131-140: Dusclops*, Camerupt*, Gastrodon, Escavalier*, Dragalge*, Crabominable, Carbink
141-150: Bronzong*, Mawile, Hariyama, Druddigon*, Dragalge, Crabominable*, Jellicent, Slowbro*
151-160: Porygon2, Heracross, Vileplume*, Heatran*, Carracosta, Tyrantrum, Wishiwashi*, Lurantis, Honchkrow, Aromatisse*, Mawile
161-170: Jellicent, Ampharos*, Exeggutor, Mamoswine, Gigalith*, Dragalge, Vikavolt*, Dhelmise, Gardevoir, Dusclops*, Steelix
171-180: Gothitelle, Kangaskhan, Vileplume, Tangrowth*, Togekiss, Druddigon, Aegislash, Golisopod*, Lapras, Turtonator, Aromatisse*, Camerupt*
181-190: Cresselia, Slowbro, Vaporeon*, Regirock*, Rhyperior, Carracosta, Dhelmise, Landorus, Avalugg, Cofagrigus*, Abomasnow*
191-200: Carbink, Abomasnow, Lickilicky, Rhyperior*, Escavalier*, Araquanid, Bisharp, Braviary, Dusclops*, Slowbro*
201-210: Comfey, Charizard, Ursaring, Hariayama, Armaldo, Carracosta, Mudsdale*, Stakataka, Turtonator, Tapu Fini*, Cofagrigus*, Mawile*
211-220: Oranguru*, Blastoise, Snorlax*, Torterra, Mamoswine, Chesnaught, Aegislash, Dragonite, Tapu Lele*, Slowbro*
221-230: Oranguru, Sableye, Regirock, Regice, Rhyperior, Ferrothorn*, Golurk, Primarina*, Darmanitan*, Tapu Lele, Cofagrigus*
231-240: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Empoleon, Carracosta, Eelektross*, Chesnaught*, Mudsdale*, Feraligatr, Beheeyem, Uxie, Ampharos
241-250: Dusclops, Charizard, Heatran*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn, Dragalge*, Clawitzer, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor*, Jellicent*, Camerupt
251-260: Porygon2*, Sableye*, Vileplume, Gigalith, Carracosta, Aegislash, Crabominable, Stakataka, Walrein*, Metagross*, Uxie, Ampharos
261-270: Dusclops*, Charizard, Heatran, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Dragalge, Clawitzer*, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor, Jellicent, Camerupt*
271-280: Dusclops*, Heracross, Marowak*, Donphan, Armaldo, Wishiwashi*, Palossand, Tyranitar, Beheeyem, Comfey, Abomasnow*
281-290: Carbink*, Heracross, Armaldo, Gastrodon*, Gigalith, Incineroar*, Drampa*, Tyranitar, Buzzwole, Charizard
291-300: Comfey, Sableye, Regirock, Togekiss, Golurk*, Clawitzer*, Primarina, Drampa, Bouffalant, Volcarona*, Oranguru*, Charizard
301-310: Cofagrigus*, Slowbro*, Azumarill, Gastrodon, Sylveon, Primarina*, Drampa*, Gardevoir, Tapu Fini, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
311-320: Oranguru, Charizard, Machamp, Golem*, Mamoswine, Gigalith, Bewear, Golurk, Gardevoir*, Turtonator, Dusclops*, Camerupt*
321-330: Musharna*, Slowbro, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Regirock, Ferrothorn*, Chesnaught, Darmanitan*, Braviary, Cresselia, Ampharos*
331-340: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Marowak*, Gigalith, Ferrothorn, Golurk, Tyrantrum*, Nidoqueen, Landorus, Slowbro*, Kangaskhan
341-350: Cresselia*, Ampharos, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Mamoswine, Incineroar, Araquanid*, Guzzlord, Scizor*, Volcarona*, Kangaskhan
351-360: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Armaldo*, Tangrowth*, Emboar*, Aegislash, Bewear, Dragonite, Darmanitan, Audino, Ampharos
361-370: Porygon2, Mawile, Machamp, Gigalith*, Incineroar, Vikavolt*, Golisopod, Flareon, Tapu Bulu*, Cofagrigus*, Charizard
371-380: Dusclops*, Heracross, Vaporeon, Escavalier*, Clawitzer, Aurorus, Vikavolt, Wishiwashi*, Darmanitan, Tapu Bulu, Slowbro, Ampharos*
381-390: Audino*, Blastoise, Ursaring, Donphan*, Aurorus, Primarina, Lurantis, Drampa*, Rotom-Wash*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
391-400: Cofagrigus, Kangaskhan, Emboar, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Dragalge*, Tyrantrum*, Guzzlord*, Scizor, Landorus, Cresselia*, Camerupt
401-410: Carbink*, Mawile*, Machamp, Ursaring, Aurorus, Araquanid*, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini*, Uxie, Kangaskhan
411-420: Aromatisse*, Slowbro, Donphan, Hariyama, Regice, Empoleon*, Golurk, Palossand, Volcarona, Landorus, Musharna*, Steelix*
421-430: Dusclops*, Abomasnow, Machamp, Torterra, Ferrothorn*, Eelektross, Chandelure*, Bewear, Dragonite, Octillery*, Jellicent, Mawile
431-439: Slowbro*, Heracross, Muk, Beartic, Chesnaught, Dragalge*, Palossand, Stakataka, Rotom-Wash*, Bisharp*, Steelix, Aromatisse
Some Pokemon inevitably get rolled twice, but only appear once on the list.
1-10: Comfey*, Kangaskhan, Snorlax*, Gastrodon*, Druddigon, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle, Abomasnow
11-20: Stakataka, Charizard, Golem, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr*, Escavalier*, Audino*, Kangaskhan
21-30: Audino, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle*, Mawile
31-40: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Muk, Gigalith*, Eelektross, Vikavolt*, Comfey, Camerupt*
41-50: Cofagrigus*, Camerupt, Muk, Exeggutor*, Vikavolt*, Crabominable*, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
51-60: Comfey*, Heracross, Exeggutor, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Golisopod*, Slowbro*, Camerupt
61-70: Oranguru*, Camerupt*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Araquanid*, Palossand, Bronzong, Abomasnow
71-80: Aromatisse*, Sableye*, Rhyperior*, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Escavalier*, Slowbro, Aggron
81-90: Stakataka*, Mawile, Golem, Snorlax, Mudsdale, Araquanid*, Musharna*, Charizard*
91-100: Comfey, Steelix, Golem, Marowak*, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Cresselia*, Ampharos*
101-110: Cresselia*, Charizard, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Lurantis*, Porygon2*
111-120: Aromatisse*, Camerupt*, Golem, Snorlax*, Wishiwashi*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
121-130: Slowbro*, Muk, Rhyperior, Eelektross, Lurantis, Carbink, Aggron
131-140: Dusclops*, Camerupt*, Gastrodon, Escavalier*, Dragalge*, Crabominable, Carbink
141-150: Bronzong*, Mawile, Hariyama, Druddigon*, Dragalge, Crabominable*, Jellicent, Slowbro*
151-160: Porygon2, Heracross, Vileplume*, Heatran*, Carracosta, Tyrantrum, Wishiwashi*, Lurantis, Honchkrow, Aromatisse*, Mawile
161-170: Jellicent, Ampharos*, Exeggutor, Mamoswine, Gigalith*, Dragalge, Vikavolt*, Dhelmise, Gardevoir, Dusclops*, Steelix
171-180: Gothitelle, Kangaskhan, Vileplume, Tangrowth*, Togekiss, Druddigon, Aegislash, Golisopod*, Lapras, Turtonator, Aromatisse*, Camerupt*
181-190: Cresselia, Slowbro, Vaporeon*, Regirock*, Rhyperior, Carracosta, Dhelmise, Landorus, Avalugg, Cofagrigus*, Abomasnow*
191-200: Carbink, Abomasnow, Lickilicky, Rhyperior*, Escavalier*, Araquanid, Bisharp, Braviary, Dusclops*, Slowbro*
201-210: Comfey, Charizard, Ursaring, Hariayama, Armaldo, Carracosta, Mudsdale*, Stakataka, Turtonator, Tapu Fini*, Cofagrigus*, Mawile*
211-220: Oranguru*, Blastoise, Snorlax*, Torterra, Mamoswine, Chesnaught, Aegislash, Dragonite, Tapu Lele*, Slowbro*
221-230: Oranguru, Sableye, Regirock, Regice, Rhyperior, Ferrothorn*, Golurk, Primarina*, Darmanitan*, Tapu Lele, Cofagrigus*
231-240: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Empoleon, Carracosta, Eelektross*, Chesnaught*, Mudsdale*, Feraligatr, Beheeyem, Uxie, Ampharos
241-250: Dusclops, Charizard, Heatran*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn, Dragalge*, Clawitzer, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor*, Jellicent*, Camerupt
251-260: Porygon2*, Sableye*, Vileplume, Gigalith, Carracosta, Aegislash, Crabominable, Stakataka, Walrein*, Metagross*, Uxie, Ampharos
261-270: Dusclops*, Charizard, Heatran, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Dragalge, Clawitzer*, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor, Jellicent, Camerupt*
271-280: Dusclops*, Heracross, Marowak*, Donphan, Armaldo, Wishiwashi*, Palossand, Tyranitar, Beheeyem, Comfey, Abomasnow*
281-290: Carbink*, Heracross, Armaldo, Gastrodon*, Gigalith, Incineroar*, Drampa*, Tyranitar, Buzzwole, Charizard
291-300: Comfey, Sableye, Regirock, Togekiss, Golurk*, Clawitzer*, Primarina, Drampa, Bouffalant, Volcarona*, Oranguru*, Charizard
301-310: Cofagrigus*, Slowbro*, Azumarill, Gastrodon, Sylveon, Primarina*, Drampa*, Gardevoir, Tapu Fini, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
311-320: Oranguru, Charizard, Machamp, Golem*, Mamoswine, Gigalith, Bewear, Golurk, Gardevoir*, Turtonator, Dusclops*, Camerupt*
321-330: Musharna*, Slowbro, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Regirock, Ferrothorn*, Chesnaught, Darmanitan*, Braviary, Cresselia, Ampharos*
331-340: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Marowak*, Gigalith, Ferrothorn, Golurk, Tyrantrum*, Nidoqueen, Landorus, Slowbro*, Kangaskhan
341-350: Cresselia*, Ampharos, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Mamoswine, Incineroar, Araquanid*, Guzzlord, Scizor*, Volcarona*, Kangaskhan
351-360: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Armaldo*, Tangrowth*, Emboar*, Aegislash, Bewear, Dragonite, Darmanitan, Audino, Ampharos
361-370: Porygon2, Mawile, Machamp, Gigalith*, Incineroar, Vikavolt*, Golisopod, Flareon, Tapu Bulu*, Cofagrigus*, Charizard
371-380: Dusclops*, Heracross, Vaporeon, Escavalier*, Clawitzer, Aurorus, Vikavolt, Wishiwashi*, Darmanitan, Tapu Bulu, Slowbro, Ampharos*
381-390: Audino*, Blastoise, Ursaring, Donphan*, Aurorus, Primarina, Lurantis, Drampa*, Rotom-Wash*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
391-400: Cofagrigus, Kangaskhan, Emboar, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Dragalge*, Tyrantrum*, Guzzlord*, Scizor, Landorus, Cresselia*, Camerupt
401-410: Carbink*, Mawile*, Machamp, Ursaring, Aurorus, Araquanid*, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini*, Uxie, Kangaskhan
411-420: Aromatisse*, Slowbro, Donphan, Hariyama, Regice, Empoleon*, Golurk, Palossand, Volcarona, Landorus, Musharna*, Steelix*
421-430: Dusclops*, Abomasnow, Machamp, Torterra, Ferrothorn*, Eelektross, Chandelure*, Bewear, Dragonite, Octillery*, Jellicent, Mawile
431-439: Slowbro*, Heracross, Muk, Beartic, Chesnaught, Dragalge*, Palossand, Stakataka, Rotom-Wash*, Bisharp*, Steelix, Aromatisse
I had planned to write up some trivia using the various tidbits from those two segments, but this has gone on quite long enough. Anyone who bothers to look through them will inevitably notice some trends or odd things.
