Blue Mermaids and the Winds of Change

I've been out of the metagame for a few years now, having not played competitively since DPP. I picked back up recently with XY and after playing around with various new threats, I found I really enjoyed Mattman324's idea of a team built around Pokes that all have numerous easy switch-in opportunities and can exploit those opportunities to build momentum.

That being said, full credit for the base of my team goes to him, with my only big change being swapping Blastoise out for Trevenant. I found it was just coming in on the same stuff as Azumarill, but without Azu's bajillion resistances and priority. Trevenant adds helpful Grass and Water resists, but more importantly he's a complete beast at building momentum - opponents are forced to go on the offensive to keep his Subs down, deterring them from setting up and usually leaving them crippled by Burn and/or Leech Seed by the time they finally break him.

Teams:

Me - Gliscor / Aegislash / Talonflame / Noivern / Trevenant / Azumarill

Opponent - Hitmonlee / Vaporeon / Electivire / Crobat / Gallade / Houndoom

Rules: Standard OU

Gliscor is my lead pretty much any time the opponent isn't running Greninja. Vaporeon leading would be problematic, too, but unless he predicts my lead and is specifically planning on forcing out Gliscor on turn 1, I don't foresee a problem. Crobat is also a common anti-lead, so I suspect he's up first and stick with my traditional choice.


Battle between Ryolain and Saint_Nico started!
Go! Gliscor!
Saint_Nico sent out Crobat!
Off to a good start. Protect is a safe option that guarantees I'll get Toxic Orb active so I'm free to sponge statuses for the rest of the battle. It also lets me know if Crobat is carrying Taunt, which crushes my ability to stall with Protect/Poison Heal.

Turn 1
Gliscor used Protect!
Gliscor protected itself!
The opposing Crobat used Confuse Ray!
Gliscor protected itself!
Gliscor's Toxic Orb activated!
Gliscor was badly poisoned!
I assume the fact that he doesn't Taunt me off the bat (heh, get it, like Crobat?) means he isn't running it. That's a false assumption that will come back to bite me. I make another mistake and go for my own Taunt, which I should have remembered is more or less pointless against a lead that's not trying to set up hazards.


Turn 2
Saint_Nico withdrew Crobat!
Saint_Nico sent out Vaporeon!
Gliscor used Taunt!
The opposing Vaporeon fell for the taunt!
Enter the Blue Mermaid. This thing will prove to be the bane of my existence for most of the match, and Taunt is useless against it - it's coming here to kill me, not set up. Not wanting to start the match 5-6, I switch out.

Turn 3
Gliscor, come back!
Go! Azumarill!
The opposing Vaporeon used Scald!
It's not very effective... Azumarill lost 15.6% of its health!
I was hoping for an Ice Beam that I could completely shake off, but this isn't bad either. Scald makes me nervous because I don't want to get Burned, but Vap can't do anything else to me offensively, so I stick it out.

Turn 4
The opposing Vaporeon used Scald!
It's not very effective... Azumarill lost 14.6% of its health!
Azumarill used Play Rough!
The opposing Vaporeon lost 64% of its health!
The opposing Vaporeon's Attack fell!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
I find people have been frequently forgetting that Azu is dual-type now, or at least they forget it has a non-Water 90BP STAB move now. Azu has a CB so I'm stuck with that choice now, but I know whatever comes in will take a nice chunk of damage, so I stay.

Turn 5
Saint_Nico withdrew Vaporeon!
Saint_Nico sent out Crobat!
Azumarill used Play Rough!
It's not very effective... The opposing Crobat lost 43% of its health!
The opposing Crobat restored HP using its Black Sludge!
Poison Jab has to be in his arsenal and since I didn't get the Att drop from PR, it will at best 2HKO me before I can 2HKO back. I go for Aegislash anticipating a free switch.

Turn 6
Azumarill, come back!
Go! Aegislash!
The opposing Crobat used Brave Bird!
It's not very effective... Aegislash lost 17.6% of its health!
The opposing Crobat is damaged by recoil!
The opposing Crobat restored HP using its Black Sludge!
Aegislash restored HP using its Leftovers!
He guesses I won't leave Azu in to die, but BB can't do much to Aegislash anyway. I go for SD, assuming he's not running Taunt since he didn't try it on Gliscor.

Turn 7
The opposing Crobat used Taunt!
Aegislash fell for the taunt!
Aegislash can't use Swords Dance after the taunt!
The opposing Crobat restored HP using its Black Sludge!
Aegislash restored HP using its Leftovers!
And I'm wrong. I don't get my free boost, but he doesn't get much either aside from giving me a free turn of lefties recovery. I know Crobat isn't staying in, but I don't think far ahead enough to figure out what will and end up choosing Shadow Ball as a generally safe option - it will hit anything on his team for mediocre damage at worst and he doesn't have any Normal types to eat it.

Turn 8
Saint_Nico withdrew Crobat!
Saint_Nico sent out Houndoom!
Aegislash used Shadow Ball!
It's not very effective... The opposing Houndoom lost 34% of its health!
Aegislash restored HP using its Leftovers!
I could kill this with Sacred Sword on the switch if I take 2 seconds to look at his team, but alas, I get cocky with Aegislash getting to switch in so easily. Fortunately Azu counters Houndoom in his sleep, so this is a no brainer.

Turn 9
Aegislash, come back!
Go! Azumarill!
The opposing Houndoom used Overheat!
It's not very effective... Azumarill lost 24.5% of its health!
The opposing Houndoom's Special Attack harshly fell!
If he wasn't staying in before, he's definitely not staying in with his SpA cut in half. I know Nico's going to either Crobat or Vaporeon, both of which I can kill on the switch; Crobat will die to Waterfall, Vaporeon will die to Play Rough. Given that he brought in Crobat last time, I put my money on him and go for Waterfall.

Turn 10
Saint_Nico withdrew Houndoom!
Saint_Nico sent out Crobat!
Azumarill used Waterfall!
The opposing Crobat lost 71% of its health!
The opposing Crobat fainted!
Saint_Nico sent out Vaporeon!
And I'm correct! But my moment of cleverness is cut short by a moment of stupidity, in which I completely forget about Vaporeon's ability and try to muscle through its defenses with Waterfall.

6-5

Turn 11
The opposing Vaporeon used Toxic!
Azumarill was badly poisoned!
Azumarill used Waterfall!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Water Absorb!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Azumarill was hurt by poison!
Really shot myself in the foot there, and Toxic is bad news for a team built around momentum - it means even once Vap's down, I can't just let Azu sit there and Aqua Jet everything to death. I switch out for Trevenant, which is what I should've done in the first place.

Turn 12
Azumarill, come back!
Go! Trevenant!
The opposing Vaporeon used Wish!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Wish is annoying but irrelevant since I carry Horn Leech and I'm confident it can put Vap in the range for Leech Seed + Burn to kill it in one turn. Once again, though, I get cocky and don't pay attention to his next obvious move. I should Sub since it's by far the safest option and is 90% of Trevenant's strategy, but I misplay and go straight for LS.

Turn 13
Saint_Nico withdrew Vaporeon!
Saint_Nico sent out Houndoom!
Trevenant used Leech Seed!
The opposing Houndoom avoided the attack!
Vaporeon's wish came true!
Yep, I'm a total idiot and forget about Houndoom again. And on top of that, LS misses, completely wasting this turn. However, I know that with max HP and SpD, Trevenant can tank a Shadow Ball from Aegislash. I'm pretty sure that means I can take Houndoom's Overheat, and the SpA drop combined with my Sitrus Berry and (hopefully) LS recovery will allow me to force a switch. It sounds ridiculous on paper that a Grass/Ghost Poke could force out a Dark/Fire Poke, but I make an educated guess that Houndoom isn't more powerful than I think.

Turn 14
The opposing Houndoom used Overheat!
It's super effective! Trevenant lost 71.1% of its health!
The opposing Houndoom's Special Attack harshly fell!
Trevenant ate its Sitrus Berry!
Trevenant restored HP using its Sitrus Berry!
Trevenant used Leech Seed!
The opposing Houndoom was seeded!
The opposing Houndoom's health is sapped by Leech Seed!
And I'm correct! Houndoom is useless now, so I get a free turn to Sub.

Turn 15
Saint_Nico withdrew Houndoom!
Saint_Nico sent out Hitmonlee!
Trevenant used Substitute!
Trevenant put in a substitute!
Trevenant lost 24.9% of its health!
Interesting choice. Obviously his STAB won't affect me, but I assume there's a coverage move he's planning to use. Regardless, I'm safe behind my sub, so WoW vs. a physical attacker is the clear choice.

Turn 16
The opposing Hitmonlee used Blaze Kick!
It's super effective! Trevenant's substitute faded!
Trevenant used Will-O-Wisp!
The opposing Hitmonlee was burned!
The opposing Hitmonlee was hurt by its burn!
Trevenant harvested one Sitrus Berry!
Trevenant ate its Sitrus Berry!
Trevenant restored HP using its Sitrus Berry!
It works, and Harvest kicks in, too, meaning I'm definitely not scared of further weakened Blaze Kicks. I have plenty of room to continue setting up without worrying about being OHKO'd, so I go for LS.

Turn 17
The opposing Hitmonlee used Blaze Kick!
It's super effective! Trevenant lost 30.5% of its health!
Trevenant used Leech Seed!
The opposing Hitmonlee was seeded!
The opposing Hitmonlee's health is sapped by Leech Seed!
The opposing Hitmonlee was hurt by its burn!
Trevenant harvested one Sitrus Berry!
Trevenant ate its Sitrus Berry!
Trevenant restored HP using its Sitrus Berry!
It works, and I get another Harvest activation, which in combination with LS pretty much negates his attack. Now it's just about stalling him with Sub until I can finish him with Horn Leech.

Turn 18
The opposing Hitmonlee used Blaze Kick!
It's super effective! Trevenant lost 33.7% of its health!
Trevenant used Substitute!
Trevenant put in a substitute!
Trevenant lost 24.9% of its health!
The opposing Hitmonlee's health is sapped by Leech Seed!
The opposing Hitmonlee was hurt by its burn!


Turn 19
The opposing Hitmonlee used Blaze Kick!
It's super effective! Trevenant's substitute faded!
Trevenant used Horn Leech!
The opposing Hitmonlee lost 39% of its health!
The opposing Hitmonlee had its energy drained!
The opposing Hitmonlee fainted!
Saint_Nico sent out Gallade!
Done and done. I know basically nothing about Gallade, so I just go for WoW. Physical attacker, can't be a bad choice, right?

6-4

Turn 20
The opposing Gallade used Shadow Sneak!
It's super effective! Trevenant lost 27.5% of its health!
Trevenant fainted!
Go! Gliscor!
Whoops. Gliscor is still feeling great, though, and save for a random Ice Punch Gallade's got nothing to threaten him. I go in for the kill.

5-4

Turn 21
The opposing Gallade used Swords Dance!
The opposing Gallade's Attack sharply rose!
Gliscor used Earthquake!
The opposing Gallade lost 60% of its health!

Turn 22
The opposing Gallade used Psycho Cut!
Gliscor lost 48.3% of its health!
Gliscor used Earthquake!
The opposing Gallade lost 40% of its health!
The opposing Gallade fainted!
Gliscor restored HP using its Poison Heal!
Saint_Nico sent out Vaporeon!
And I get it. Vap is the obvious switch. I take a free turn of Poison Heal just in case it helps me later and then get out.

5-3

Turn 23
Gliscor used Protect!
Gliscor protected itself!
The opposing Vaporeon used Scald!
Gliscor protected itself!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Gliscor restored HP using its Poison Heal!
I'm guessing he plans to keep spamming Scald, which Noivern resists. Noivern also doesn't care about being Burned, so I try him out and hope Specs Draco Meteor is enough to put this thing down.

Turn 24
Gliscor, come back!
Go! Noivern!
The opposing Vaporeon used Scald!
It's not very effective... Noivern lost 19.6% of its health!
Noivern was burned!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Noivern was hurt by its burn!

Turn 25
Noivern used Draco Meteor!
The opposing Vaporeon lost 69% of its health!
Noivern's Special Attack harshly fell!
The opposing Vaporeon used Wish!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Noivern was hurt by its burn!

Turn 26
The opposing Vaporeon used Protect!
The opposing Vaporeon protected itself!
Noivern used Draco Meteor!
The opposing Vaporeon protected itself!
Vaporeon's wish came true!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Noivern was hurt by its burn!
It's definitely not, and I waste some turns letting Vap heal. Again, lack of research/general knowledge on Vap is really hurting me right now, especially with Trevenant down. With my SpA cut, I have no chance of killing this thing, so I go back to Azu.

Turn 27
Noivern, come back!
Go! Azumarill!
The opposing Vaporeon used Wish!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Azumarill was hurt by poison!

Turn 28
The opposing Vaporeon used Protect!
The opposing Vaporeon protected itself!
Azumarill used Play Rough!
The opposing Vaporeon protected itself!
Vaporeon's wish came true!
Azumarill was hurt by poison!

Turn 29
The opposing Vaporeon used Scald!
It's not very effective... Azumarill lost 14.6% of its health!
Azumarill used Play Rough!
The opposing Vaporeon lost 61% of its health!
The opposing Vaporeon's Attack fell!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Azumarill was hurt by poison!
Azumarill fainted!
Go! Aegislash!
As I feared, Poison is a serious problem for Azu. I finally come to my senses and realize Aegislash is the answer - the worst it can do is Burn me, which I can completely negate with SD anyway.

4-3

Turn 30
The opposing Vaporeon used Wish!
Aegislash used Swords Dance!
Aegislash's Attack sharply rose!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
He's either going to Protect or switch, so I have another free turn to SD….

Turn 31
The opposing Vaporeon used Protect!
The opposing Vaporeon protected itself!
Aegislash used Swords Dance!
Aegislash's Attack sharply rose!
Vaporeon's wish came true!

Turn 32
The opposing Vaporeon used Scald!
Aegislash lost 27.5% of its health!
Aegislash used Shadow Ball!
The opposing Vaporeon lost 38% of its health!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Aegislash restored HP using its Leftovers!
Which I totally squander by overestimating Shadow Ball and underestimating Shadow Sneak. I realize that I'm no match for Vap's SpD, and after some brief Protect stalling I finally put it down.

Turn 33
Aegislash used Shadow Sneak!
The opposing Vaporeon lost 50% of its health!
The opposing Vaporeon used Scald!
Aegislash lost 66.8% of its health!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Aegislash restored HP using its Leftovers!


Turn 34
The opposing Vaporeon used Protect!
The opposing Vaporeon protected itself!
Aegislash used Shadow Sneak!
The opposing Vaporeon protected itself!
The opposing Vaporeon restored HP using its Leftovers!
Aegislash restored HP using its Leftovers!

Turn 35
Aegislash used Shadow Sneak!
The opposing Vaporeon lost 31% of its health!
The opposing Vaporeon fainted!
Aegislash restored HP using its Leftovers!
Saint_Nico sent out Houndoom!
I assume that even resisted, a +4 Shadow Sneak will OHKO Houndoom, so I go for Shadow Sneak...

4-2

Turn 36
The opposing Houndoom used Sucker Punch!
It's super effective! Aegislash lost 30.2% of its health!
Aegislash fainted!
Go! Talonflame!
And I learn that apparently Houndoom runs a mixed set. This is actually critical, though, because Sucker Punch's reliance on opposing attack moves makes it exploitable. I know I don't need SD to OHKO him but I want to be sure there aren't any Scarf shenanigans going on, and fortunately Tailwind is the perfect trick up my sleeve to make that happen.

3-2

Turn 37
The opposing Houndoom used Sucker Punch!
But it failed!
Talonflame used Tailwind!
The tailwind blew from behind your team!
Exactly as anticipated, and given that he does still outspeed my priority Tailwind it seems I was right about the Scarf. I'm now all clear to wipe him off the map.

Turn 38
Talonflame used Brave Bird!
The opposing Houndoom lost 88% of its health!
Talonflame is damaged by recoil!
The opposing Houndoom fainted!
Talonflame restored HP using its Leftovers!
Saint_Nico sent out Elekible (Electivire)!
There's no point playing around here. If Flare Blitz doesn't kill him, it'll put him well in the range of my two remaining Pokes, and they've got a speed boost now to easily hit him first.

3-1

Turn 39
Talonflame used Flare Blitz!
The opposing Elekible lost 79% of its health!
Talonflame is damaged by recoil!
The opposing Elekible used Wild Charge!
It's super effective! Talonflame lost 51.9% of its health!
The opposing Elekible is damaged by recoil!
Talonflame fainted!
Go! Noivern!
Anything will work now, but Boomburst is just such an enjoyably overpowered move that I let it do the honors.

2-1

Turn 40
Noivern used Boomburst!
The opposing Elekible lost 7.0% of its health!
The opposing Elekible fainted!
Ryolain won the battle!

Final: 2-0


Takeaways:

-I have a tendency to ignore threatening Pokes if they're uncommon - Houndoom surprised me twice because it wasn't something I regularly have trouble with like Greninja, so I kept forgetting it was there and could easily put a dent in my team.
-Not having at least a basic knowledge of all OU/BL Pokes is detrimental - I should definitely have known that Vap's ability was Water Absorb and I should've known it could eat Shadow Ball like it was nothing.
-Knowing what hits my team can and can't take is critical - knowing Trevenant could force out Houndoom allowed me to build huge momentum on that turn, and knowing things like that for the rest of my team will only improve their utility as pivots.
-If a lead isn't planning to set up, don't waste time Taunting it - Gliscor doesn't care about status so you're just giving away free turns. Conversely, since Gliscor isn't a setup lead, people won't usually try to Taunt you back.
-Trevenant is still a magic wonder tree and I will love it forever.

So there you have it. My first war story. Not the most challenging opponent and I'm clearly still learning, but hopefully it was enjoyable to read!
 
Hey, nice warstory. The battle could have been more exciting, but the commentary was good.
If you could, could you insert pictures of the pokemon next to the turn? It really makes the warstory more appealing to read.
Nice Job!
 

Stone RG

Megas are broke
Hey, nice warstory. The battle could have been more exciting, but the commentary was good.
If you could, could you insert pictures of the pokemon next to the turn? It really makes the warstory more appealing to read.
^

Whats with no good battles? :[ Tho i cant really talk since i havent done one myself rofl
 
Thanks Ultima! Pictures will come next time, I started writing this in the middle of the night when I was too lazy to find whatever source people always seem to use on on this board.

I think it's too early in the metagame to have any truly great battles happen - everyone is experimenting with all the new toys available and the new top threats are still sorting themselves outs. Even popular choices like Aegislash, Greninja and Talonflame are heavily under debate as to how much they'll impact XY in the long run. I think at this point, warstories serve less to show off your prediction skills or showcase a unique team strategy. Instead, they're more to provide empirical evidence of new threats as a counter to the rampant Theorymon that happens after a new gen. For example, I think this thread shows the utility of Trevenant, since I see many posts saying he's just a gimmick and doesn't have the real power to make OU in the long term. On paper, his average stats make him seem inconsequential, but in practice he has just enough bulk to complement his moveset and kill off opponents even without a sweeper-level attack stat.
 
I have to say that your opponents team was overmatched by a TON. He or she didn't even have a mega stone on Houndoom? (Plus, anything that's running Electivire shouldn't really be taken too seriously).
The writing was pretty good; the lack of pictures does hurt, though, imo. Minor nitpick with your Aegislash boosting up to plus 4 attack and then launching a special move at Vaporeon.
I personally would give a pass to not knowing a lot about your opponents team, as most of them weren't anywhere near OU last gen.
 
I think Trevenant might be one of my favorite pokes from the new gen, thanks to harvest. I honestly think a Harvest--Lum Berry+ Rest is better than sitrus berry,
because it can eat status and have complete recovery. What's everyone else's thoughts on this?
 
I've played around with both. LumRest is definitely more reliable when you absolutely need to heal and it allows you to completely ignore status, but I hate losing a moveslot to Rest. Sub, WoW and LS are pretty much required to make him effective, so you only have 1 slot to play with. Obviously lacking an offensive move leaves you open to Taunt, but on top of that I find it just makes you waste turns. When I was running LumRest I found myself safely behind a Sub with the 25% Sub cost mostly/completely healed thanks to LS and WoW already in effect. At that point I was just stuck choosing a random move that I knew wouldn't do anything.

LumRest will have more of a case in a month or so when people stop trying to set up on Trev and realize that they need to immediate go on the offensive to keep his Subs down. Right now, though, people are struggling too much to even hit him directly, so LS recovery + 30% chance of Sitrus heal (+ Horn Leech recover if you run it) is plenty. Note that in the battle shown here, I was down to around 25% and healed up to 100% in 2 turns. Why bother with Rest?

I really don't know what I was thinking with that Shadow Ball against Vap. Shadow Sneak's 40BP messes with my head, but I should've realized that an effective 450 base Att vs. 150 base SpA completely counteracted the BP difference.
 
On at least 95% of these war stories, there's always at least a few comments critiquing the war story as boring. I write war stories, try to think up unique strategies, and am basically here to entertain. So would someone PLEASE tell me what their definition of "exciting" is.
 
On at least 95% of these war stories, there's always at least a few comments critiquing the war story as boring. I write war stories, try to think up unique strategies, and am basically here to entertain. So would someone PLEASE tell me what their definition of "exciting" is.
Well, There is a warstory archive with fantastic warstories. Also, users such as Punchshroom write great warstories that make the readers tense about what happens next all the time.
 

November Blue

A universe where hot chips don't exist :(
is a Contributor Alumnus
Hmm, that Trevenant set is intriguing. I run a 252 HP / 252 SpDef Lum-Rest / Toxic / Horn Leech / Shadow Claw set. It's great and I love it, but aside from Toxic, it doesn't do much to threaten opponents. I might have to try Harvest-Sitrus.
 
Hmm, that Trevenant set is intriguing. I run a 252 HP / 252 SpDef Lum-Rest / Toxic / Horn Leech / Shadow Claw set. It's great and I love it, but aside from Toxic, it doesn't do much to threaten opponents. I might have to try Harvest-Sitrus.
Trev's power comes from slowly draining your opponent while healing yourself, usually while hiding behind Sub/Protect to make him even more annoying to kill. And I would definitely run Leech Seed, WoW and Curse before Toxic, they all have much better benefits (healing, attack drop and better damage, respectively).
 
Not a bad first effort for a warstory, but I feel a lot of the previous criticism people have posted stands. The battle here was far too one sided. Aside from the questionable team choices your opponent made, you also clearly were two steps ahead of him almost every move. I'm not sure he actually bothered attempting to predict anything at all; he just picked simplest option (usually "use super effective attack") every time. It was like reading about a battle with an AI controlled opponent. Overall this made for a battle without a lot of suspense. That being said, it did provide a nice bit of insight into how some of the lesser used Pokemon so far can function.

Of course, pictures will definitely help too. In its current form your warstory is rather unappealing to look at (I almost turned away from it immediately thinking it was going to be some barely commentated trash because of it). Some more advanced formatting could also really help make it look more appealing and easier to follow.

Btw, as a tip for your future battles: Usually if an opponent uses Overheat without a white herb, they're either choiced or mixed (or in this case both XD). Choice users (especially Scarf users) use it for the extra "oomph" over Fire Blast since they usually don't stay in for more than one turn anyway, while mixed sets use it to make up for having to split their offensive EVs while not suffering as much as a fully special attacker would since they can attack physically as well. The exception to this is Rotom-H of course, whose only fire-type move is Overheat and has no choice.

Oh, and you need to stop saying "it works" so often :P. Just try and mix up how you start and structure your commentary and it'll sound a lot better.

Keep going though, you have a knack for informative commentary that I'd had to see go to waste. Just wait until you get a better battle and take the time to pretty your warstory up next time.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top