Re: Lucathegreat's loss
I'm not the best battle strategist, but I've been playing Jumpman's team in the tower for quite a while. I've gotten screwed a lot, and I've made some bad plays. My earlier post is an example. BTW, I ran up the tower again, and happened to run into the exact Togekiss, Licklicky, Snorlax team in battle 43 (wonder if it's hard-coded or something). Anyway, it went down a little differently, but I came out on top this time. Currently at 60 wins and counting. (Side note: Jumpman's team completely owns Palmer in battle 49!)
On to your loss - I think you made a couple of mistakes. If I'm wrong, I'll let someone else correct me and we'll both learn something.
First, I think I would've switched Starmie at the start. Two Bronzongs carry Shadow Ball, and anything Bronzong would throw at Starmie, won't hurt TTar. Depending on which Bronzong you get, Tar might be able to set up with DD. However, leaving Starmie in wasn't a completely horrible move, since an unstabbed Shadow Ball probably won't kill Starmie (I'm not sure here). After that first move, you have a better idea of what you're facing and Surf puts a dent in all Bronzongs.
After the Trick Room, I would have just kept surfing on Bronzong. Since he used Trick Room, you knew he didn't have Shadow Ball, so he wasn't going to KO you on the next hit, unless he exploded, which the AI usually doesn't do unless it's "cornered". You also knew this wasn't a SpDef EV's version, and you saw that first Surf put Zong in the yellow. Another surf would have killed it. Switching to a neutral non-STAB move (t-bolt) was a bad decision and cost you a KO.
Even though Starmie would be at low health after the KO, it's still a very effective pokemon because of it's speed and movepool. This was the big lesson I learned from Jumpman's advice to me earlier - don't sacrifice Starmie just because it's banged up. Switch in Tyranitar and let it take some hits and bring back Starmie to finish. Once I started "protecting" my low-health Starmie (I was sacrificing it too often), I've had better results against the tougher teams.
Another point on switching in Tyranitar to protect a battered Starmie -- getting sandstream up is a huge boon for Garchomp. Many times, Tar will draw a Focus Blast from the opponent. In those cases, a switch to Garchomp is almost a "free" switch. With SS evasion, and the low accuracy of Focus Blast, it will miss much of the time on Chomp. I've had this happen four times since battle 42 -- keep it in mind.
As for the Ice Fang from Luxray, that looked like a chicken-shit move by the AI. But, it really wasn't. You probably got the Swagger Luxray. The AI is not going to lay status (T-wave) on a Natural Cure Starmie, it can't Attract a genderless pokemon, and it won't Swagger a special attacker like Starmie. It's only logical move was to Ice Fang you.
Now, what should you have done? You didn't know which Luxray you faced, but you did know the possibilities. You knew that two Luxray's carried Ice Fang, so I don't know if I would have switched Chomp into a trick-roomed Luxray in the first place. Even if you would have gotten a free switch on an electric move, there was a 50% chance you would have to switch right back out again anyway. Tyranitar can take all forms of Luxray in the BT. One of them has Iron Tail, which will hurt but not KO. The Swagger Luxray kinda sucks, and I've gotten it before. It's annoying for DDTar, but beatable unless the AI keeps haxing you, which can't ever be beat by any team.
With Luxray out of the way, you've got three pokes against Gardevoir. If Trick Room was still up, she's toast against a Tyranitar Crunch. If not, she's toast against Garchomp's Crunch (or Outrage or EQ for that matter). See my earlier comment regarding SS evasion vs the Focus Blast she used on you.
I don't think you got haxed in that matchup. The Ice Fang from Luxray was subtle but could have been accounted for, if you looked at the BT threat list. This opposing team shouldn't have caused you too many problems.
I'm not the best battle strategist, but I've been playing Jumpman's team in the tower for quite a while. I've gotten screwed a lot, and I've made some bad plays. My earlier post is an example. BTW, I ran up the tower again, and happened to run into the exact Togekiss, Licklicky, Snorlax team in battle 43 (wonder if it's hard-coded or something). Anyway, it went down a little differently, but I came out on top this time. Currently at 60 wins and counting. (Side note: Jumpman's team completely owns Palmer in battle 49!)
On to your loss - I think you made a couple of mistakes. If I'm wrong, I'll let someone else correct me and we'll both learn something.
First, I think I would've switched Starmie at the start. Two Bronzongs carry Shadow Ball, and anything Bronzong would throw at Starmie, won't hurt TTar. Depending on which Bronzong you get, Tar might be able to set up with DD. However, leaving Starmie in wasn't a completely horrible move, since an unstabbed Shadow Ball probably won't kill Starmie (I'm not sure here). After that first move, you have a better idea of what you're facing and Surf puts a dent in all Bronzongs.
After the Trick Room, I would have just kept surfing on Bronzong. Since he used Trick Room, you knew he didn't have Shadow Ball, so he wasn't going to KO you on the next hit, unless he exploded, which the AI usually doesn't do unless it's "cornered". You also knew this wasn't a SpDef EV's version, and you saw that first Surf put Zong in the yellow. Another surf would have killed it. Switching to a neutral non-STAB move (t-bolt) was a bad decision and cost you a KO.
Even though Starmie would be at low health after the KO, it's still a very effective pokemon because of it's speed and movepool. This was the big lesson I learned from Jumpman's advice to me earlier - don't sacrifice Starmie just because it's banged up. Switch in Tyranitar and let it take some hits and bring back Starmie to finish. Once I started "protecting" my low-health Starmie (I was sacrificing it too often), I've had better results against the tougher teams.
Another point on switching in Tyranitar to protect a battered Starmie -- getting sandstream up is a huge boon for Garchomp. Many times, Tar will draw a Focus Blast from the opponent. In those cases, a switch to Garchomp is almost a "free" switch. With SS evasion, and the low accuracy of Focus Blast, it will miss much of the time on Chomp. I've had this happen four times since battle 42 -- keep it in mind.
As for the Ice Fang from Luxray, that looked like a chicken-shit move by the AI. But, it really wasn't. You probably got the Swagger Luxray. The AI is not going to lay status (T-wave) on a Natural Cure Starmie, it can't Attract a genderless pokemon, and it won't Swagger a special attacker like Starmie. It's only logical move was to Ice Fang you.
Now, what should you have done? You didn't know which Luxray you faced, but you did know the possibilities. You knew that two Luxray's carried Ice Fang, so I don't know if I would have switched Chomp into a trick-roomed Luxray in the first place. Even if you would have gotten a free switch on an electric move, there was a 50% chance you would have to switch right back out again anyway. Tyranitar can take all forms of Luxray in the BT. One of them has Iron Tail, which will hurt but not KO. The Swagger Luxray kinda sucks, and I've gotten it before. It's annoying for DDTar, but beatable unless the AI keeps haxing you, which can't ever be beat by any team.
With Luxray out of the way, you've got three pokes against Gardevoir. If Trick Room was still up, she's toast against a Tyranitar Crunch. If not, she's toast against Garchomp's Crunch (or Outrage or EQ for that matter). See my earlier comment regarding SS evasion vs the Focus Blast she used on you.
I don't think you got haxed in that matchup. The Ice Fang from Luxray was subtle but could have been accounted for, if you looked at the BT threat list. This opposing team shouldn't have caused you too many problems.