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Project ORAS OU - Better Battlers Project (Revamp) [READ THE OP BEFORE POSTING]
- Thread starter Flamer
- Start date
- Status
Monkey Smurf From initial watching I can see several huge errors that you made which close to caused you to nearly lose, which you would have if your opponent didnt make a few errors himself. Straight from team preview we can see your team does not appreciate the almost guaranteed Mega-slowbro. Other than encore zam and Specs zone none of your mons can safely deal with it (no, scizor cannot win 1v1). So why did you go on a saccing spree in which you got rid of your most reliable bro check, your defogger and crippled chomp. Granted your team really had very little for cofagrigus (as so few do) but your best move was going to keldeo to weaken it and then go to chomp to finish it off. Contrary to your reasoning, keldeo was kinda useless against your opponent and you had other ways of dealing with chomper, regardless of whether it was scarfed or not.
You had the right idea for a time in ensuring that zam sustained no damage. Straight away you should have identified that it was your best way of winning and that it needed to be healthy. In fact, zam pretty much broke your opponents team single handedly. Risking your wincon like you did is a crucial mistake, especially considering the fact that it was also your only method of stopping Slowbro. In future, you should be identifying what mons are essential to victory (in this case Zone and Zam) and which are expendable (Keldeo), it makes you much less likely to be put in a position where you have to take risks to win.
This brings me to the biggest reason I feel you made the game so close, a lack of long term planning. Every single move you made didnt seem to follow a plan, you were focusing solely on the mon in front of you. This meant that you never actually were pushing the match in your favour, for example you focused all your energy on beating cofagrigus which resulted in the loss of mons which were crucial to a more decisive win, hence making it closer than it should have been. This is a skill which separates mediocre players from good ones and is worth practicing.
Other than that, you didnt have any glaring errors and its definitely an improvement over your previous battles so kudos.
_____________________________________________________________
Career Ended You played pretty well entire match despite losing diancie early on. Its a shame you did lose diancie though, considering how much work it would have put in. This leads into the biggest reason to your eventual loss, the fact that you immediately assumed zard X from team preview. While its always good to assume an opponent is carrying something which threatens you (for example EQ on Latios) there was literally no reason for the move you made turn 1. Not only did you have defensive Lando-T to deal with a +1 Zard X, it was unlikely to be carrying EQ just on the basis of the fact that the rest of its team deals with most EQ targets pretty effectively. Hell, it would be unlikely for your opponent to even stay in on a diancie if it were a zard X, let alone try to set up. That would be a huge risk they were taking with a potential wincon.
Your reasoning behind assuming zard X is what annoys me the most, that fact they lacked a pursuiter. Pursuit support may be great with zard y but its hardly a set in stone rule that must be followed. I see it all too often, players even get angry when what they thought was a zard Y turned out to be a zard X. In fact, I sometimes make teams which purposely appear as though they use Zard Y just because so many people seem to almost religiously think that Pursuit=Zard Y. Itd be best to get out of that habit immediately, many players take advantage of trends like that specifically to trick people like yourself.
There was honestly not much you could have done differently within the final turns to shift the match in your favour, losing Diancie and ferrothorn meant your opponent had little to stop thundy from running around without a care in the world. While you did eventually lose ferro because of hax, you had already let it get weakened a considerable amount, which would have meant that it was unable to prevent mence from cleaning. Like I was saying in the previous response, long term thinking is one of the best skills to hone and can often mean the difference between a win and a loss. Hax sucks but its not like you couldnt have done stuff to minimise its effect. In the same vein, sacking Lando to prevent the potential roost meant you were going to have trouble against lando and mence. The better play in this case would have been latios, if he roosted then you got a kill, if he FB then you could switch into starmie and threaten the rest of his team with psyshock.
Like I said before, you didnt play 'bad' per se, you were likely to win that if you didnt lose Diancie early on and you made good plays throughout. Being a bit too quick to jump the gun on assuming which zard was your downfall, as well as some slight long-term planning issues.
Analytic will be doing the other 2 :)
You had the right idea for a time in ensuring that zam sustained no damage. Straight away you should have identified that it was your best way of winning and that it needed to be healthy. In fact, zam pretty much broke your opponents team single handedly. Risking your wincon like you did is a crucial mistake, especially considering the fact that it was also your only method of stopping Slowbro. In future, you should be identifying what mons are essential to victory (in this case Zone and Zam) and which are expendable (Keldeo), it makes you much less likely to be put in a position where you have to take risks to win.
This brings me to the biggest reason I feel you made the game so close, a lack of long term planning. Every single move you made didnt seem to follow a plan, you were focusing solely on the mon in front of you. This meant that you never actually were pushing the match in your favour, for example you focused all your energy on beating cofagrigus which resulted in the loss of mons which were crucial to a more decisive win, hence making it closer than it should have been. This is a skill which separates mediocre players from good ones and is worth practicing.
Other than that, you didnt have any glaring errors and its definitely an improvement over your previous battles so kudos.
_____________________________________________________________
Career Ended You played pretty well entire match despite losing diancie early on. Its a shame you did lose diancie though, considering how much work it would have put in. This leads into the biggest reason to your eventual loss, the fact that you immediately assumed zard X from team preview. While its always good to assume an opponent is carrying something which threatens you (for example EQ on Latios) there was literally no reason for the move you made turn 1. Not only did you have defensive Lando-T to deal with a +1 Zard X, it was unlikely to be carrying EQ just on the basis of the fact that the rest of its team deals with most EQ targets pretty effectively. Hell, it would be unlikely for your opponent to even stay in on a diancie if it were a zard X, let alone try to set up. That would be a huge risk they were taking with a potential wincon.
Your reasoning behind assuming zard X is what annoys me the most, that fact they lacked a pursuiter. Pursuit support may be great with zard y but its hardly a set in stone rule that must be followed. I see it all too often, players even get angry when what they thought was a zard Y turned out to be a zard X. In fact, I sometimes make teams which purposely appear as though they use Zard Y just because so many people seem to almost religiously think that Pursuit=Zard Y. Itd be best to get out of that habit immediately, many players take advantage of trends like that specifically to trick people like yourself.
There was honestly not much you could have done differently within the final turns to shift the match in your favour, losing Diancie and ferrothorn meant your opponent had little to stop thundy from running around without a care in the world. While you did eventually lose ferro because of hax, you had already let it get weakened a considerable amount, which would have meant that it was unable to prevent mence from cleaning. Like I was saying in the previous response, long term thinking is one of the best skills to hone and can often mean the difference between a win and a loss. Hax sucks but its not like you couldnt have done stuff to minimise its effect. In the same vein, sacking Lando to prevent the potential roost meant you were going to have trouble against lando and mence. The better play in this case would have been latios, if he roosted then you got a kill, if he FB then you could switch into starmie and threaten the rest of his team with psyshock.
Like I said before, you didnt play 'bad' per se, you were likely to win that if you didnt lose Diancie early on and you made good plays throughout. Being a bit too quick to jump the gun on assuming which zard was your downfall, as well as some slight long-term planning issues.
Analytic will be doing the other 2 :)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-275638701
This is a battle I had against Wheezer in the OU Underrated Tour a few months ago (I forgot to post it here) . Since Wheezer was known to be a Stall player, I brought along Mega Gardevoir. The rest of the team was set up to support a Sandslash clean-up.
This is a battle I had against Wheezer in the OU Underrated Tour a few months ago (I forgot to post it here) . Since Wheezer was known to be a Stall player, I brought along Mega Gardevoir. The rest of the team was set up to support a Sandslash clean-up.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stone Edge
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam
Sandslash @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 192 SpD / 68 Spe
Calm Nature
- Lava Plume
- Stone Edge
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
Tangela @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fire
- Sleep Powder
- Leech Seed
Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
Manaphy @ Leftovers
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Tail Glow
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
Tyranitar @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 80 Def / 180 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Pursuit
- Ice Beam
Sandslash @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
Just as I expected, Wheezer brought a Stall team. Looking at his team, the only thing that can take repeated hits from Mega Gardevoir is Honedge which does not have reliable recovery. None of his team likes to give Gardevoir a free turn to Mega and fire off Hyper Voice so I expected a Steel-type lead such as Honedge or Skarmory. Thinking along those lines, I lead with Heatran, thinking I can go for an easy Rocks, which will be nice to chip his team.
Turn 1: I facepalmed here as he leads with Sableye. Not wanting unnecessary damage on Gardevoir (such as Knock Off) , I go for Lava Plume as standard Mega Eye can't do anything to Heatran anyway.
Turn 4: Wanted to bounce a predicted Will-O-Wisp back but he surprised me when he revealed Calm Mind. I know Honedge is coming in but I use this opportunity to Mega up. Hopefully, he overpredicts and stays in but I know he won't.
Turn 7: In hindsight, I should have Tail Glowed here as a +3 Manaphy does significant damage to his team. However, at that point of time, I wanted to avoid getting my 2 main win conditions statused with Toxic.
Turn 9: I know Sableye won't come in as the risk of a double to Mega Gardevoir is too big so I set up Rocks.
Turn 13: At this point, I know getting status-ed is unavoidable. I stay in with Manaphy to Tail Glow and hopefully deal as much damage as possible before going down.
Turn 14: Well, I got minimum rolls and didn't get a burn while he burned me with his second Wisp.
Turn 16: I misclicked Tail Glow. I wanted to Scald it actually. This stupid move cost me my Manaphy.
Turn 20: I was pretty confident at this point as Wheezer sacked his Honedge, leaving all his mons in 2HKO range of Mega Gardevoir.
Turn 22: Psyshock won't OHKO Weezing from this range so I switch to Heatran to take the Poison STAB.
Turn 23: I should have doubled to Mega Gardevoir here as the Seismitoad switch is so obvious.
Turn 26: I had no idea why I did not double to Mega Gardevoir here.
Turn 30-33: I lose the plot around here.
Turn 34: Made the same mistake of not doubling to Mega Gardevoir.
Turn 44: Again and again I did not switch to Mega Gardevoir. I think I lose my head in frustration and too focused on the mon ahead instead of thinking and predicting properly.
Turn 47: Proof I lose my head. I should have sacked Tangela, have Sandslash weaken Sylveon (Banded Iron Head did 54% upwards, which leaves it in Gard's Hyper Voice KO range, even with Protect+Leftovers) , and then have Mega Gard finish it off. Instead, I clicked Taunt because "fuck Wish+Protect". I essentially lose at this point.
The rest - getting stalled to death because I have no more offensive mons left after playing stupidly with my win conditions.
Hopefully, someone can analyze and help me learn to be better. Also, please point out some mistakes that I didn't pick up.
Turn 1: I facepalmed here as he leads with Sableye. Not wanting unnecessary damage on Gardevoir (such as Knock Off) , I go for Lava Plume as standard Mega Eye can't do anything to Heatran anyway.
Turn 4: Wanted to bounce a predicted Will-O-Wisp back but he surprised me when he revealed Calm Mind. I know Honedge is coming in but I use this opportunity to Mega up. Hopefully, he overpredicts and stays in but I know he won't.
Turn 7: In hindsight, I should have Tail Glowed here as a +3 Manaphy does significant damage to his team. However, at that point of time, I wanted to avoid getting my 2 main win conditions statused with Toxic.
Turn 9: I know Sableye won't come in as the risk of a double to Mega Gardevoir is too big so I set up Rocks.
Turn 13: At this point, I know getting status-ed is unavoidable. I stay in with Manaphy to Tail Glow and hopefully deal as much damage as possible before going down.
Turn 14: Well, I got minimum rolls and didn't get a burn while he burned me with his second Wisp.
Turn 16: I misclicked Tail Glow. I wanted to Scald it actually. This stupid move cost me my Manaphy.
Turn 20: I was pretty confident at this point as Wheezer sacked his Honedge, leaving all his mons in 2HKO range of Mega Gardevoir.
Turn 22: Psyshock won't OHKO Weezing from this range so I switch to Heatran to take the Poison STAB.
Turn 23: I should have doubled to Mega Gardevoir here as the Seismitoad switch is so obvious.
Turn 26: I had no idea why I did not double to Mega Gardevoir here.
Turn 30-33: I lose the plot around here.
Turn 34: Made the same mistake of not doubling to Mega Gardevoir.
Turn 44: Again and again I did not switch to Mega Gardevoir. I think I lose my head in frustration and too focused on the mon ahead instead of thinking and predicting properly.
Turn 47: Proof I lose my head. I should have sacked Tangela, have Sandslash weaken Sylveon (Banded Iron Head did 54% upwards, which leaves it in Gard's Hyper Voice KO range, even with Protect+Leftovers) , and then have Mega Gard finish it off. Instead, I clicked Taunt because "fuck Wish+Protect". I essentially lose at this point.
The rest - getting stalled to death because I have no more offensive mons left after playing stupidly with my win conditions.
Hopefully, someone can analyze and help me learn to be better. Also, please point out some mistakes that I didn't pick up.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ou-103871
Whats popping G, this is my Top 16 game from the recent Suspect Tour in which I get skillfully scouted and C teamed by Obliviate LOL.
On the real though I was expecting some nasty BO and balance teams in this tour since M Sableye was banned and I was mostly correct, so I bring Spike stack Lop offense and Obliviate brings Mega Latias and these two fat Magic Guard CM monstrosities that I literally only break with one Pokemon....that is vulnerable to his Scarf Pursuit Tyranitar.
Regardless, I could have won this by simply playing Gengar smarter instead of trying to attack what was in front of me (there was no way he was sacking Reuniclus on Turn 20 considering he probably saw my last replay and knew I had Hex Gar, so that dumbass play on my part loses me the game right there).
My strategy from the beginning was to status as much of his team as possible, especially Latias and Clefable, and then Spike up to limit his Tyranitar switch ins and then win with Gengar.
Anyway, could I have won any other way here that I wasn't seeing?
Team
Whats popping G, this is my Top 16 game from the recent Suspect Tour in which I get skillfully scouted and C teamed by Obliviate LOL.
On the real though I was expecting some nasty BO and balance teams in this tour since M Sableye was banned and I was mostly correct, so I bring Spike stack Lop offense and Obliviate brings Mega Latias and these two fat Magic Guard CM monstrosities that I literally only break with one Pokemon....that is vulnerable to his Scarf Pursuit Tyranitar.
Regardless, I could have won this by simply playing Gengar smarter instead of trying to attack what was in front of me (there was no way he was sacking Reuniclus on Turn 20 considering he probably saw my last replay and knew I had Hex Gar, so that dumbass play on my part loses me the game right there).
My strategy from the beginning was to status as much of his team as possible, especially Latias and Clefable, and then Spike up to limit his Tyranitar switch ins and then win with Gengar.
Anyway, could I have won any other way here that I wasn't seeing?
Team
Albyness (Gengar) (M) @ Spooky Plate
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Lopanny (Lopunny-Mega) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Frustration
- Fake Out
- Quick Attack
Landorust (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Foul Play
Latius (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Calm Mind
KeldeOoOoo (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hex
- Knock Off
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
Lopanny (Lopunny-Mega) @ Lopunnite
Ability: Limber
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Frustration
- Fake Out
- Quick Attack
Landorust (Landorus-Therian) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Stealth Rock
Klefki @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Thunder Wave
- Spikes
- Foul Play
Latius (Latios) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Calm Mind
KeldeOoOoo (Keldeo) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Ragnarock
Banned deucer.
Vs Snou (SnowCristal) - POCL Week 4
This replay goes to show that if your match-up isn't in your favor, having knowledge about your opponents mindset and taking advantage of that can help you win your games. I feel like if you all practiced enough and studied replays of GOOD GAMES AND GOOD PLAYERS, you can develop intuition very quickly and play more effectively in the future. I'm assuming this thread is not only to get you better at mental thinking for the ladder, but also to increase your battling knowledge so you can participate in big tours such as SPL, WCoP, or even playoffs of Smogtours and do well in them. It's going to take work, just like everything else you want in life. Use your initiative, industriousness, and common sense and you will do well in these tours. It's all about self-improvement and if you continue to improve, this will get captains and managers of team tours to notice you as well as being loved by the community.
If any has a question or wants to respond to a play I made (I probably could have played better), let me know your thoughts.
Oh and shoutouts to WCAR for the squad, altho I edited some of it.
:]
Diggersby @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Wild Charge
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 240 HP / 244 SpA / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Return
- Earthquake
- Wild Charge
Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Aqua Jet
- Superpower
Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 248 HP / 248 Def / 12 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Dragon Tail
- Fire Blast
Venusaur @ Venusaurite
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 240 HP / 244 SpA / 24 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Synthesis
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Thundurus @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunder Wave
- Thunderbolt
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Jirachi @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- U-turn
- Healing Wish
This was a past tournament game vs a good friend of mine -Snow (SnowCristal) for a PO team Tour a while back. Snow is a player where he basically uses everything so it was very hard to attempt at counter-teaming so I decided to go with a style I know best which is offense. At team-preview, I always define what is a big threat to me and what is a big threat to Snow. I saw Pory-Z and as you can see, it gets a kill every time it comes in so I know that i need to eliminate that ASAP. I've noticed that Diggersby can put in a lot of work and 2hkos everything so I need to make sure it stays alive. Thundy outspeed everything and once seismitoed is removed, it just has a lot of fun vs the rest of Snows squad.
Another threat was Mega Scizor as if it's fast offensive, as if can win easily vs me if I allow chomp to get weakened too much. Fortunately, there were not a lot of chomp lures from Snows team to allow that to happen as you will see later on in the game. I decided to lead w/ Azu because I was predicting Snow to lead with his rocker being either Clef or Toed since I do not have anything that removes hazards. Unfortunately, I got the lead match-up wrong and then the battle took place from there.
It was hard going right to Jirachi as it was one of my back up checks to the fairies, however it was my only normal resist and figured keeping everyone else on my team healthy would be a large benefit. However even if Jirachi does go down, I still have my bunnies/venu/thundy to take care of his fairies, so I figured it be a safe play to make. The high amount of dmg from tri atk on rachi obviously meant that it was specs, which was a huge threat to my team. Every play until up to turn 5 is just common sense. Turn 5 was very annoying when I was predicted to go to chomp on the rotom-h and Snow making a great play doubling to Pory-Z knowing I was fat chomp. I couldn't risk chomp getting damaged or I'd lose to Scizor (again, i was assuming it was Fast 3 Atk Scizor), so I was forced to sack something. I decided on Azu cuz both it and Diggersby do put in some work, however I believed Diggersby would be great to keep in case the clef was Twave CM as it doesn't get annoyed by paralysis and is risk free on atking, which Azu still has a chance to get haxed out so I decided to sack that. I couldn't sack thundy as it was one of the few things to outspeed the Pory-Z, Can't sack rachi as having a scarfer + ability to 60% flinch is just viable in my eyes, Chomp was for scizor, and Venusaur is just great vs Snows team.
After turn 5, I really had to start playing aggressive w/ my team in order to have a shot at winning the game. I sent in Thundy knowing that i can kill it in 1 shot. I know Snow needed pory-z to still punch in holes in my team for her scizor to basically clean, and knowingly that she has a seismitoed in the back, being her only thundy check, I doubled to venusaur to get a mega off ASAP as the extra bulk/power from venusaur I felt would help me vs Clef, Rotom-H, and especially Scizor. I decided to sludge the seis cuz i know Snow wasn't gonna just sack her only check to thundy predicting rotom-h to come in. He did predict me and went to Scizor on turn 7 on the sludge bomb, however again, the mindset that I have and knowing my opponent well helped me take advantage of the situation at hand. Snow needs scizor as a spare win condition vs me. It is very important to understand your opponents win condition so you can make necessary risk/reward plays in order to bring back momentum. Because of this knowledge, I decided to Sludge Bomb again on the Scizor. Everybody SHOULD know that Venusaur carries HP Fire at this point, which damages Mega Scizor a lot if not killing it. Because that I KNOW THAT HE KNOWS about that info, I knew he was going to try to bring in rotom-h safely predicting HP FIRE to try to get either a free Will-o or Twave off on venusaur. This Risk/Reward play helped me take advantage of the situation. It was very nice to get damage off the rotom as it is now in range of a LO focus blast from thundy finishing it off.
I didn't wanna risk anything getting burned at turn 8 or want anything to get pain splited, however I was forced to chomper anyway. Even if it gets weakened or burned, I can always HW it back up from my scarf rachi so I can still fight scizor. Up to the point at turn 14, I've been playing my Thundy as if I dont have a move to hit toed with, still maintaining my aggressive plays to keep the momentum going on my side. Focus Blasting on turn 15 and 16 really shifted a lot of things for me (also i didn't expect FB to 2hko the toed) as I got rid of his rocker which helps thundy come in for free more as well as keeping another Bullet Punch Resist alive in case I needed to land a hit off of scizor later on in the game.
Obvious plays were made until turn 20, which was a huge turn for me and snow. Why? Again, this is maintaining momentum to try and win the game. When Scizor was brought out, I know if I go to Garchomp right away, i can possibly get predicted easily from that if Snow decides to double to pory-z and getting another kill. This was the turn for Snow to still have a chance at winning the game which I couldn't afford. At this point, considering that I've killed the clef, I didn't really need diggersby anymore since it wasn't packing Quick Atk for revenge killing. If i lose my diggersby to scizor, I just get a free switch to chomp and get up rocks again forcing in togekiss to defog, and then thundy gets a kill. I also didn't want Snow getting up an SD for free as if could have been problematic for me. That was why I EQd that turn, either predicting Snows double to Pory-Z predicting my chomper or just getting Damage on one of the threats to my team. Him going to Pory-Z while I EQd helped me so much as now I dont have to sack anything else to a specs Tri Atk. The rest of the game kind of spoke for it self, since I knew I won after scizor died, I basically just clicked w.e buttons I wanted until I won the game.
Another threat was Mega Scizor as if it's fast offensive, as if can win easily vs me if I allow chomp to get weakened too much. Fortunately, there were not a lot of chomp lures from Snows team to allow that to happen as you will see later on in the game. I decided to lead w/ Azu because I was predicting Snow to lead with his rocker being either Clef or Toed since I do not have anything that removes hazards. Unfortunately, I got the lead match-up wrong and then the battle took place from there.
It was hard going right to Jirachi as it was one of my back up checks to the fairies, however it was my only normal resist and figured keeping everyone else on my team healthy would be a large benefit. However even if Jirachi does go down, I still have my bunnies/venu/thundy to take care of his fairies, so I figured it be a safe play to make. The high amount of dmg from tri atk on rachi obviously meant that it was specs, which was a huge threat to my team. Every play until up to turn 5 is just common sense. Turn 5 was very annoying when I was predicted to go to chomp on the rotom-h and Snow making a great play doubling to Pory-Z knowing I was fat chomp. I couldn't risk chomp getting damaged or I'd lose to Scizor (again, i was assuming it was Fast 3 Atk Scizor), so I was forced to sack something. I decided on Azu cuz both it and Diggersby do put in some work, however I believed Diggersby would be great to keep in case the clef was Twave CM as it doesn't get annoyed by paralysis and is risk free on atking, which Azu still has a chance to get haxed out so I decided to sack that. I couldn't sack thundy as it was one of the few things to outspeed the Pory-Z, Can't sack rachi as having a scarfer + ability to 60% flinch is just viable in my eyes, Chomp was for scizor, and Venusaur is just great vs Snows team.
After turn 5, I really had to start playing aggressive w/ my team in order to have a shot at winning the game. I sent in Thundy knowing that i can kill it in 1 shot. I know Snow needed pory-z to still punch in holes in my team for her scizor to basically clean, and knowingly that she has a seismitoed in the back, being her only thundy check, I doubled to venusaur to get a mega off ASAP as the extra bulk/power from venusaur I felt would help me vs Clef, Rotom-H, and especially Scizor. I decided to sludge the seis cuz i know Snow wasn't gonna just sack her only check to thundy predicting rotom-h to come in. He did predict me and went to Scizor on turn 7 on the sludge bomb, however again, the mindset that I have and knowing my opponent well helped me take advantage of the situation at hand. Snow needs scizor as a spare win condition vs me. It is very important to understand your opponents win condition so you can make necessary risk/reward plays in order to bring back momentum. Because of this knowledge, I decided to Sludge Bomb again on the Scizor. Everybody SHOULD know that Venusaur carries HP Fire at this point, which damages Mega Scizor a lot if not killing it. Because that I KNOW THAT HE KNOWS about that info, I knew he was going to try to bring in rotom-h safely predicting HP FIRE to try to get either a free Will-o or Twave off on venusaur. This Risk/Reward play helped me take advantage of the situation. It was very nice to get damage off the rotom as it is now in range of a LO focus blast from thundy finishing it off.
I didn't wanna risk anything getting burned at turn 8 or want anything to get pain splited, however I was forced to chomper anyway. Even if it gets weakened or burned, I can always HW it back up from my scarf rachi so I can still fight scizor. Up to the point at turn 14, I've been playing my Thundy as if I dont have a move to hit toed with, still maintaining my aggressive plays to keep the momentum going on my side. Focus Blasting on turn 15 and 16 really shifted a lot of things for me (also i didn't expect FB to 2hko the toed) as I got rid of his rocker which helps thundy come in for free more as well as keeping another Bullet Punch Resist alive in case I needed to land a hit off of scizor later on in the game.
Obvious plays were made until turn 20, which was a huge turn for me and snow. Why? Again, this is maintaining momentum to try and win the game. When Scizor was brought out, I know if I go to Garchomp right away, i can possibly get predicted easily from that if Snow decides to double to pory-z and getting another kill. This was the turn for Snow to still have a chance at winning the game which I couldn't afford. At this point, considering that I've killed the clef, I didn't really need diggersby anymore since it wasn't packing Quick Atk for revenge killing. If i lose my diggersby to scizor, I just get a free switch to chomp and get up rocks again forcing in togekiss to defog, and then thundy gets a kill. I also didn't want Snow getting up an SD for free as if could have been problematic for me. That was why I EQd that turn, either predicting Snows double to Pory-Z predicting my chomper or just getting Damage on one of the threats to my team. Him going to Pory-Z while I EQd helped me so much as now I dont have to sack anything else to a specs Tri Atk. The rest of the game kind of spoke for it self, since I knew I won after scizor died, I basically just clicked w.e buttons I wanted until I won the game.
This replay goes to show that if your match-up isn't in your favor, having knowledge about your opponents mindset and taking advantage of that can help you win your games. I feel like if you all practiced enough and studied replays of GOOD GAMES AND GOOD PLAYERS, you can develop intuition very quickly and play more effectively in the future. I'm assuming this thread is not only to get you better at mental thinking for the ladder, but also to increase your battling knowledge so you can participate in big tours such as SPL, WCoP, or even playoffs of Smogtours and do well in them. It's going to take work, just like everything else you want in life. Use your initiative, industriousness, and common sense and you will do well in these tours. It's all about self-improvement and if you continue to improve, this will get captains and managers of team tours to notice you as well as being loved by the community.
If any has a question or wants to respond to a play I made (I probably could have played better), let me know your thoughts.
Oh and shoutouts to WCAR for the squad, altho I edited some of it.
:]
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Afromaster
Hey so looking at your opponent's team, it's pretty fat so you had an immediate advantage when it comes to matchup because SD Gliscor, Keldeo, and M-Alakazam all had the potential to put in a ton of work this game. He also didn't have hazard removal so yeah lol this was a pretty good matchup for you
Now Turn 1 you lead off with Alakazam which is a pretty decent lead vs. your opponent's team, I wouldn't have led off with something Keldeo or Glis on the off chance he led with Gothitelle to trap them. I'd say you did pretty well in the first 12 turns before Gothitelle was trapped, and I think it was inevitable that he'd win with CM Goth after trapping one of your slower mons. Only thing I think you could have done better is to avoid the Goth switching in by doubling into Alakazam or something like that, but that's just expecting too much imo. You played pretty well, don't have much to say about this game.
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sand1234
Hiya. Your matchup was pretty decent I'd say. Even though M-Manectric was gonna be cock blocked by Hippo and Mew, I think your cool LO Nite set would've really come in handy this game by luring them. Add in NP Celebi, ooof fire, and I think this is gonna be a pretty interesting game.
So you lead off with Tyranitar expecting a Charizard Y/X lead which is pretty understandable considering how well Tyranitar can take either of those mons(Don't think he'd risk a Focus Blast miss so early on and lose a threat vs your team). I think you do pretty well to pivot into Klefki when ZardY came in so that you could scare it out with TWave, good job. Turn 13 I''d honestly pivot back into Klefki there because losing your sand and SR setter was p huge. Good play Turn 14 as he'll be forced to slack off the next turn which gives you an opportunity to go into Celebi and Recover up. Then you did pretty well from there on out, M-Manectric would not have OHKO'ed the Hippowdon if it was a Mixed Wall[Don't think it was coz HP Ice does a maximum 43% to it], so I guess you could've calc'd that, and the game would've ended up being a lot less closer than it was but well played on your part.
Lord Wallace I'll get to your game shortly.
Hey so looking at your opponent's team, it's pretty fat so you had an immediate advantage when it comes to matchup because SD Gliscor, Keldeo, and M-Alakazam all had the potential to put in a ton of work this game. He also didn't have hazard removal so yeah lol this was a pretty good matchup for you
Now Turn 1 you lead off with Alakazam which is a pretty decent lead vs. your opponent's team, I wouldn't have led off with something Keldeo or Glis on the off chance he led with Gothitelle to trap them. I'd say you did pretty well in the first 12 turns before Gothitelle was trapped, and I think it was inevitable that he'd win with CM Goth after trapping one of your slower mons. Only thing I think you could have done better is to avoid the Goth switching in by doubling into Alakazam or something like that, but that's just expecting too much imo. You played pretty well, don't have much to say about this game.
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sand1234
Hiya. Your matchup was pretty decent I'd say. Even though M-Manectric was gonna be cock blocked by Hippo and Mew, I think your cool LO Nite set would've really come in handy this game by luring them. Add in NP Celebi, ooof fire, and I think this is gonna be a pretty interesting game.
So you lead off with Tyranitar expecting a Charizard Y/X lead which is pretty understandable considering how well Tyranitar can take either of those mons(Don't think he'd risk a Focus Blast miss so early on and lose a threat vs your team). I think you do pretty well to pivot into Klefki when ZardY came in so that you could scare it out with TWave, good job. Turn 13 I''d honestly pivot back into Klefki there because losing your sand and SR setter was p huge. Good play Turn 14 as he'll be forced to slack off the next turn which gives you an opportunity to go into Celebi and Recover up. Then you did pretty well from there on out, M-Manectric would not have OHKO'ed the Hippowdon if it was a Mixed Wall[Don't think it was coz HP Ice does a maximum 43% to it], so I guess you could've calc'd that, and the game would've ended up being a lot less closer than it was but well played on your part.
Lord Wallace I'll get to your game shortly.
Hey. I'm gonna bring you this replay which is about 10 months old. I like it quite a lot because it was the final of a huge room tour which was pretty stocked in terms of participants, and had had quite a bit of exposure at the time, for some reason. For that reason, I tried to pull out my A-game and go with as much thought process as I could about this game. Anyway, I was running a team that my former tutor, Bluwing, had passed me. It was, if I recall correctly, something along the lines of: Defensive Landt / Sub + Fake out Lopunny / Ice + Grass coverage Manaphy / Standard HW Latias / SDef Rachi / HP Fire Kyube. With that in mind, I'm going to try and go through the different steps of the thought process that I had, or at least should have had, for this game.
Matchup, sets guessing.
-Kyurem-B, if used well, is the key for capitalizing on momentum for me. My opponent has no safe switchin.
-Jirachi is a pretty decent way to check two of his mons, and pivoting with U-Turn to regain momentum.
-Lopunny, once Garchomp weakened, can really do an amazing job at cleaning, especially if the opposing Keldeo isn't scarfed.
-Although Jirachi keeps Gardevoir in check, it can still come in against Latias, Kyurem-B, unboosted Manaphy, and non-full Lando-T, and mindlessly spam Hyper Voice about 2-3 times, and then mindlessly pivot to Garchomp after the -more or less- forced Jirachi switchin and end up wearing it down.
-Bisharp is also looking like an issue ; especially since there are things that, if it is SD, it can setup on. Lopunny keeps it in check, albeit only for a limited amount of time, and sure as hell isn't a switchin.
-Gengar can take advantage of outspeeding two thirds of my team and me needing to sac a mon to it almost every time.
-The way I see it now, my opponent's team can be either SD Bisharp / Specs Keldeo / LO Gengar / Standard Latias, RH Garchomp and Gardevoir or a variant with Scarf Keldeo and Pursuit Bisharp (kind of leaning towards this option as Gardevoir is already a really potent breaker, and opposing Lati@s are actually pretty annoying to the build he was running.
Gameplan
Trying to get Kyurem-B in as much as possible, getting the most value out of it, which could include netting KOs on Garchomp on a sac or on Bisharp on a potential trade. Cleaning with Lopunny late-game is also something I should have been looking to do.
On the other hand, limiting the damage Gardevoir, Bisharp and Gengar can do to my team. While nearly impossible to do, I do have ways of applying pressure to him as well, and that's probably where the game is gonna be won or lost for me.
The game
Probably trying to get the most out of Manaphy as soon as possible, I lead off with it. This would allow me to likely get one-two scalds which goes with the obvious burn chance on Gardevoir which I anticipated him to lead off with since, as I previously explained, it was pretty mindless for him to make good use of, here. He ends up leading off with Gengar, to which i just sac my Manaphy for some damage, not seeing much use in it and also thinking that Gengar is one of the ways he has to take care of my Kyurem-Black one on one, so getting damage on it would be good. On turn 3, I decide to take advantage of the "robot mode" Garchomp offense is played and get my Kyurem-B in on it on a double. I don't end up getting much mileage out of that play, which in retrospect given the amount of pressure I had to apply to his team was potentially bad for the rest of the game, especially if he did turn out to be Scarfed Keldeo (which gives my Lopunny a harder time), which is kind of confirmed seeing the switch he makes to Latias, as that would hint that his Keldeo wouldn't OHKO my Kyurem-B. My switch to Lopunny on turn 7 was to cover him going to Bisharp which seemed like a really nice midground for him on that turn (covered me agressively staying in against Latias with my own, or me safely going into Rachi). The matchup on this turn ends up being Lopunny v. Gardevoir, and the game is then played in a relatively normal way with no crazy plays on my end nor on his, up to the point where I create a double down situation after sacrificing my Lando-T which I had gotten up rocks with to his Gengar with two Life Orb hits left. Now on the double down it is really a pretty interesting sequence. Basically, after a little bit of damage on my Lopunny, his Bisharp almost definitely will clean up. That damage on Lopunny is extremely easy to get by just going to Garchomp on my Lopunny attacking (note. If his Bisharp is SD: even if I manage to HW my Lopunny back up, he can repeat this process of getting residual damage with Garchomp, force Lopunny out with Keldeo, set up Bisharp on Jirachi, and still potentially win or at least deal major damage with his Bisharp). What he doesn't know, however, is that my Lopunny has Sub to dodge Sucker Punch later on. I recognize all of these facts and throw off the one free hit I'm allowed to at this point. On turn 16 I have Kyurem-B in which shifts momentum in my favor, allowing me to both kill his Garchomp (he probably didn't want to risk me predicting him switching to Keldeo, as that would have hindered his chances of beating Lopunny severely) and nullify his plan of wearing down Lopunny => winning with Bisharp. Turn 21 is absolutely key for me ; the reveal of Sub allows me to get two kills off of him having to a) sac latias to my Lopunny behind a sub and b) trade his Keldeo for my Lopunny's Sub. On turn 25, I make what, looking back at it, is quite the fucking choke. If he attacked my Lopunny here, I would have had nearly no way of beating his Bisharp. My plan was to Healing Wish it back up with Latias, after having gone Kyurem-B on a sac (it was the only sac which, in case he was SD, prevented him from going +4), and my fear was that he would SD on a switchout, recognizing my plan - that doesn't justify the use of Substitute on turns 25 and 26, that really was just an awful series of plays - even if he did, I had a 100% win by defogging with Latias, Faking out his Bisharp once and then going Jirachi to absorb it's last Life Orb hit. I end up recognizing this, thank god, and netting the win in what was really quite a crazy game.
Matchup, sets guessing.
-Kyurem-B, if used well, is the key for capitalizing on momentum for me. My opponent has no safe switchin.
-Jirachi is a pretty decent way to check two of his mons, and pivoting with U-Turn to regain momentum.
-Lopunny, once Garchomp weakened, can really do an amazing job at cleaning, especially if the opposing Keldeo isn't scarfed.
-Although Jirachi keeps Gardevoir in check, it can still come in against Latias, Kyurem-B, unboosted Manaphy, and non-full Lando-T, and mindlessly spam Hyper Voice about 2-3 times, and then mindlessly pivot to Garchomp after the -more or less- forced Jirachi switchin and end up wearing it down.
-Bisharp is also looking like an issue ; especially since there are things that, if it is SD, it can setup on. Lopunny keeps it in check, albeit only for a limited amount of time, and sure as hell isn't a switchin.
-Gengar can take advantage of outspeeding two thirds of my team and me needing to sac a mon to it almost every time.
-The way I see it now, my opponent's team can be either SD Bisharp / Specs Keldeo / LO Gengar / Standard Latias, RH Garchomp and Gardevoir or a variant with Scarf Keldeo and Pursuit Bisharp (kind of leaning towards this option as Gardevoir is already a really potent breaker, and opposing Lati@s are actually pretty annoying to the build he was running.
Gameplan
Trying to get Kyurem-B in as much as possible, getting the most value out of it, which could include netting KOs on Garchomp on a sac or on Bisharp on a potential trade. Cleaning with Lopunny late-game is also something I should have been looking to do.
On the other hand, limiting the damage Gardevoir, Bisharp and Gengar can do to my team. While nearly impossible to do, I do have ways of applying pressure to him as well, and that's probably where the game is gonna be won or lost for me.
The game
Probably trying to get the most out of Manaphy as soon as possible, I lead off with it. This would allow me to likely get one-two scalds which goes with the obvious burn chance on Gardevoir which I anticipated him to lead off with since, as I previously explained, it was pretty mindless for him to make good use of, here. He ends up leading off with Gengar, to which i just sac my Manaphy for some damage, not seeing much use in it and also thinking that Gengar is one of the ways he has to take care of my Kyurem-Black one on one, so getting damage on it would be good. On turn 3, I decide to take advantage of the "robot mode" Garchomp offense is played and get my Kyurem-B in on it on a double. I don't end up getting much mileage out of that play, which in retrospect given the amount of pressure I had to apply to his team was potentially bad for the rest of the game, especially if he did turn out to be Scarfed Keldeo (which gives my Lopunny a harder time), which is kind of confirmed seeing the switch he makes to Latias, as that would hint that his Keldeo wouldn't OHKO my Kyurem-B. My switch to Lopunny on turn 7 was to cover him going to Bisharp which seemed like a really nice midground for him on that turn (covered me agressively staying in against Latias with my own, or me safely going into Rachi). The matchup on this turn ends up being Lopunny v. Gardevoir, and the game is then played in a relatively normal way with no crazy plays on my end nor on his, up to the point where I create a double down situation after sacrificing my Lando-T which I had gotten up rocks with to his Gengar with two Life Orb hits left. Now on the double down it is really a pretty interesting sequence. Basically, after a little bit of damage on my Lopunny, his Bisharp almost definitely will clean up. That damage on Lopunny is extremely easy to get by just going to Garchomp on my Lopunny attacking (note. If his Bisharp is SD: even if I manage to HW my Lopunny back up, he can repeat this process of getting residual damage with Garchomp, force Lopunny out with Keldeo, set up Bisharp on Jirachi, and still potentially win or at least deal major damage with his Bisharp). What he doesn't know, however, is that my Lopunny has Sub to dodge Sucker Punch later on. I recognize all of these facts and throw off the one free hit I'm allowed to at this point. On turn 16 I have Kyurem-B in which shifts momentum in my favor, allowing me to both kill his Garchomp (he probably didn't want to risk me predicting him switching to Keldeo, as that would have hindered his chances of beating Lopunny severely) and nullify his plan of wearing down Lopunny => winning with Bisharp. Turn 21 is absolutely key for me ; the reveal of Sub allows me to get two kills off of him having to a) sac latias to my Lopunny behind a sub and b) trade his Keldeo for my Lopunny's Sub. On turn 25, I make what, looking back at it, is quite the fucking choke. If he attacked my Lopunny here, I would have had nearly no way of beating his Bisharp. My plan was to Healing Wish it back up with Latias, after having gone Kyurem-B on a sac (it was the only sac which, in case he was SD, prevented him from going +4), and my fear was that he would SD on a switchout, recognizing my plan - that doesn't justify the use of Substitute on turns 25 and 26, that really was just an awful series of plays - even if he did, I had a 100% win by defogging with Latias, Faking out his Bisharp once and then going Jirachi to absorb it's last Life Orb hit. I end up recognizing this, thank god, and netting the win in what was really quite a crazy game.
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