Read this entire post without blinking... 3,2,1, go!
This quote-infested post contains some replies to Jumpman, Peterko and Bozo, so if you're one of them you may want to read it (others may be intimidated by the size of it, although you should be used to Jumpman and Peterko's posts if you've been here before)
It's typical that when I don't check here for a while lots of stuff happens, but when I come here often nobody posts... anyway, hopefully the posts aren't too outdated for me to be quoting them now...
Thanks to Jumpman for going to the effort of analyzing my insignificant loss (I wasn't expecting all that, but then again you love writing heaps of stuff here), I'll reply to some of his questions:
what are you leading with? i'm always able to keep mesprit alive against flygon if that is indeed what you lead off with, and even if it uses a thunderpunch that if you're in "im not losing this battle" mode you set up drapion on (17 turns is good enough against a PI poke unless you dont boost speed at all and only boost attack twice i guess, getting PARed is a bigger problem). mesprit doesn't die to CH thunderpunch though (or two ches for that matter) and that's flygon's strongest move against her (mesprit is a girl ok mystery dungeon says so) and there's obviously no reason to not go right out to garchomp when you lock flygon into TP even if getting drapion set up is a little more secure (would be even more if flygon weren't immune to thunderwave), so i'm wondering what you're leading with that wasn't actually alive after being able to set up chomp.
I was still leading with Uxie, because it was indeed just a test with Drapion instead of Registeel, and my intention was to use it to get to 100 and then train my mystery Trick lead. I'm glad I decided to test Drapion first, as he does take a lot of getting used to after Registeel. I often made the mistake of choosing Acupressure while Subbed... it's just a natural inclination I guess. Oh, and it was a bit random that I said 'Flygon or something' (think I faced one in the previous battle, probably why), as it was actually Bronzong using Iron Head. After Memento and Flash (I ditched SR even though I was just testing) I knew it would be easy to setup Chomp. Now, it would have been just as easy to setup Drapion to 'invincibilty' with +6 in every stat and a Sub.
HOWEVER...
While using Drapion for just a few battles, I noticed a flaw in the strategy.
Quick Claw OHKO moves. Because unlike the slow Registeel, Drapion, especially after a Speed boost being selected by Acupressure, cannot Sub
after being hit with a OHKO. This means that you have to be vulnerable before Subbing again, and of course this is just begging for a QC OHKO. How did you manage to get around that, Jumpman? Did it ever cause any problems in your entire streak? So anyway, I went to Garchomp since this was a PI (which I forgot by the time Forretress came out - like Peterko I may have been affected from using Amnesia so much), and I'm paranoid of QC OHKOs, having lost to quite a few in the D/P Tower. About the '17 turns is good enough against a PI' - that's true except when you get what I kept getting in my Drapion-using battles; useless boosts in all the earlier turns. Sp. Atk, irrelevant defense stat, accuracy, and such tended to occur first, and on two occasions I got no Attack boosts until the last 4 setup turns.
gliscor would have to have killed your lead with guillotine hitting twice in a row with guillotine (focus sash) for your lead to not be alive after getting gayed by forry, regardless of the almost certainty that you would have made note of setting up garchomp against a faster guillotine that had already gone 2-for-2
Kind of ominous that you mentioned that very shortly before Peterko lost that way. I'll talk about Gliscor when I get around to quoting Peterko on his loss (so much to write in this post...)
bronzong i doubt you faced since it's so dissimilar to the "flygon" you probably faced and it probably used IH which i'm pretty sure you'd set drapion on, unless it exploded first turn which would explain why your lead was dead but wouldn't explain why you wouldn't mention it
As I said above it was in fact Bronzong with Iron Head, and I'm sorry that my outburst of 'Flygon' confused you. But that's interesting that you assumed I'd setup Drapion on that rather than Garchomp, because it suggests to me that you either never thought of the QC OHKO hindrance to a fully set-up Drapion, or considered it unlikely enough as to be dismissible. You do seem to know the Tower inside-out though, so I doubt you wouldn't have thought of that issue with the Drapion strategy.
well that was kind of unnecessary lol but still, your lead should probably have been alive, what are you using if not mesprit? if mesprit had stayed alive it would have been able to paralyze kingler (132 > 127) unless you'd gotten paralyzed by flygon's thunderpunch and it hit with guillotine before you could par it. i have actually had to set up drapion on unlocked kingler before because it was a lead and i paralyzed it (as you're supposed to), it was kind of a dick not using its last two guillotines on subbed drapion for a while and then using flail and endure at 100% instead of crabhammer and not breaking my sub so i could use acupressure before it struggled to death, i finally had to dent it so flail did enough damage to break my sub lol =/. but this would have applied to you because you could have actually attacked with crunch behind your sub because it would have been the last pokemon and it would still have been slower after the eventual salac
Perhaps unnecessary considering it was only battle 90 and only on a 'test run', but at least it inspired me to bring up those Drapion questions for you. It would be a bit more useful if you saved your in-depth analyses for when I'm at a high streak though, lol (didn't say much about my battle 314 post in comparison :P). Thanks for the post anyway, man. As I said, I would like to keep my new mystery lead a secret (I told you I was still with Uxie for the test though). I don't want to use Mesprit purely for the sake of not copying the team you used for an epic streak, as it wouldn't be an achievement. Using less than 2 'already used for a high streak' pokes is almost impossible though since the records are so high now and only a few things have proven to be effective. So my new team only has the lead as a completely different poke. The second is either Drapion or Registeel (more on that when I next lose), and of course Garchomp is third. It pains me to do so, but I guess I will breed a third Garchomp (Draco III?) with flawless IVs, since it might be useful in general and the fourth Sub is definitely a crucial advantage. I've mastered RNG abuse for egg IVs so I can actually do that now.
Also, I think you made a mistake saying something about me paralyzing a Ground-type - oh well. Man, Jumpman's walls of words are hard to reply to, being so huge. More later in this post...
yes they do explode
+6 garchomp does 128-151, with min damage he had 22 HP left
after he broke your sub with DE, he lost 15 HP due to recoil (this is against my chomp, don´t know what your sub is)
sub was the right move to make there dr.d, even if forry didn´t explode, the next DE would´ve killed it
I guess coming from a guy with a 2363 streak you know that for 100% sure, right? As in, do they
never use Double-Edge at low health? You know, the Exploding Forretress set. You're right that Substitute would have been wiser (although hax was the only thing making EQ not an obvious choice - I should always consult the list now, especially against PIs). But I still may have lost to some PI-style hax as I would then have an unsubbed Garchomp.
Oh well, thanks for running damage calcs on that... by the way, Peterko, do you use a certain online calculator or do the calcs yourself? I would like to know since I don't trust some calculators due to their varying results.
kingler is jolly and has 139 speed not 127
gliscor has yet to use guillotine in platinum against me, it´s always counter (now that I think about it, I´ve faced one today among the 5-6 PIs)
Oh boy, little did you know you would regret saying that... I'm not superstitious but it it slightly amusing that you lost to Guillotine hax after mentioning that Gliscor never uses it on you. Now I'm paranoid about Gliscor leads... although I should be fine if I don't Trick them, but then again it may screw up Garchomp's attempts at Sub stalling the remaining 4 PP by attacking with EQ. It was unfortunate that on the first occasion Gliscor used Guillotine it actually hit each time, and this makes me wonder... does the AI 'know' if a move will hit and change its choice accordingly (as in, choose a more beneficial move assuming it will hit)? Probably just a Farfetch'd thought of mine...
was just my feeling, but the foes seem to change lead behaviour during such a high streak...or maybe it´s just that different kind of trainers do different things with the same pokémon and having such a high streak gives them more chances to show it...
Also, since you lost to Bird Keeper Eliza, I'll take note of what she does if she happens to use a Gliscor lead against me. Because as you said, it could be that different trainers (maybe even the specific people, not just the Trainer classes like 'Bird Keeper') are programmed to act differently, but I wouldn't know. Could be worth looking into, although I doubt Peterko would care now that he's done the Tower for good!
- the fastest battle I had since I started using this team haha :(
- for posterity sake, the other two pokémon were vespiquen and moltres according to the video I recorded
- I know what you mean, Trick teams with Registeel, and even worse Drapion, are ridiculously slow to use. Of course the payoff makes it worthwhile though.
- Lol @ Vespiquen, but Moltres could have haxed you had Gliscor gone down (I'm thinking of Jumpman's 'lol 499' warstory).
my plan was 3K before the end of the year, but I´m not (and wasn´t) mad, because I simply couldn´t do shit...maybe pray for a while...I simply said "PLEASE NOT 4", YOU CAN´T!" lol
Come on man, that's insane! I'd never put pressure on myself to do that by the end of the year. In the end, 3000 is no more special that 2999, it's just that people who glance at thinks quickly without reading them (ie. most people on the internet in general) are more inclined to say 'wow' to 3000 than 2999. We all know that that extra battles doesn't prove you to be any more skilled than if you lose there and then, it's just that we humans seem to dramatize losses at certain 'significant' numbers - numbers don't even really exist, depending on your philosophical viewpoint (I like philosophy).
also, went to the hall to test, whether the "weak pokémon = weak oponents" theory was true, and I feel like it was someone´s bad joke or something
any ideas guys?
Lol, it's hard to imagine Peterko using little baby Pokemon and being in the Hall after finishing one of his epic 2363 streaks. Oh, and for ideas, well I remember when Jumpman mentioned that Munchlax is apparently good for the 'weak Pokemon' theory, but then again he might have been kidding or he hasn't tested it since he no longer cares about the Hall (don't blame you, Jump).
my approach on gliscor had to do with my exp. facing it and it never did anything else beside counter (you can´t judge and call me luckier - am not offended - by your exp. with cresselia and different EV spread latias, I´m sure they make a big difference in particular cases - move choices)...seriously, that gliscor set stayed in my memory as "counter", nothing else
Same here, until witnessing your loss, I would always associate Gliscor with that move and as such Trick without a second thought. I've been against Counter Gliscor many times, it's always used that.
also to tell you the truth, I can only trick with my moveset, or charm lol? charm´s probably better, now that that shit happened to me (but lol I think this was my last tower streak)...I´m pretty sure that I would´ve considered maybe a moveset change if my exp. was different, I did fix my outrage problem, etc.
Considering the combination of part Ground-typing, 50% chance of immunity to Charm, Guillotine and being faster than Garchomp after Trick, I'd say Gliscor is officially the 'true counter' to your team.
4/4 in a row is still bad, really really bad...the worst thing about it was the fact that it used guillotine for the first time and got those hits, damn
Yep, but as Bozo said later, the odds are quite 'high' at about 1 in 123 for four consecutive Gullotine hits. That's quite a shock to me, having never calculated the chance of that until this incident inspired me to.
I still consider kingler to be "superior" to gliscor, meaning worse for my team, if only from my exp. that I faced those two, I wouldn´t have bet any money on it ending my streak, to be honest
I'm only scared of non-lead Kinglers, especially after losing Drapion to the third-poke Kingler.
first turn explosion happened twice for me, during the 696 streak from lax incense (?) claydol 4, which does always rock slide and during this streak from lax incense (?) lickilicky 4, which body slams
I guess that contributes to the theory that the AI sometimes does 'random' or out of the ordinary stuff. Maybe it's all just a dice roll for move selection even in identical situations.
the tower was actually fun and I enjoyed it, it felt good after 2002 even though noone was close to me streak-wise
That's insane Peterko, I would be bored beyond my imagination by the time I got to 1000 even. It only makes sense that someone who apparently enjoys the Tower most out of all of us should get such an epic record.
"bored" was the wrong word to use, better would´ve been "worth the time", seriously when you play 2 hours to get to 28 in the factory and then get a fucked up choice and simply can´t do shit to win, that´s time thrown out of the window, if not stomped on
on the other hand, if I play the tower and lose to something, I get the exp. to maybe change the approach next time, learn from my mistake and at least get the chance to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
That's exactly what I despise about the Fagtory (more than the hax, since hax is obviously everywhere in the Frontier). I'm time-obsessed even now when I'm on my 9-week school holidays, and as such I hate making zero progress upon a loss in the Fagtory. And unlike you, I have 'plenty of time' (in comparison to you, judging by you being an adult and stuff) and still hate it.
...my tower streak is one of the achievements I value and will value the most in my life (lol pokémon), it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, these 2.5 months
Peterko as an old man talking to his grandkids: "Back in my day, there were only 493 Pokemon and I was the world champion at the Battle Tower..."
Despite finding it mildly amusing, I don't blame you at all for valuing it that highly, because being the world's best at anything is great. Well, I'm glad Peterko made a positive reflection on his 2.5 months which many people (even gamers) would consider a 'waste of time/life'. Even I would probably think that, like during the 1.5 months I spent SRing for a shiny to get my Secret ID. By the way Peterko, would you ever tell non-gamers about that achievement?
"gold symbols" or whatever they are, I don´t care about, like I did in emerald
as of now, I´m considering a poké-break like I always make them :)
I'm equally indifferent to the meaningless Gold Prints (they're yellow, and they don't even sparkle). And you certainly deserve a long Poke-break (I've had two of those, but one was since I had other important gaming matters to attend to)... maybe your game was actually being kind to you by saying 'come on man, you need a holiday' - interesting that I happened close to Christmas. That's your game's way of looking after your mental wellbeing, by allowing you to relax for the 'festive season' (assuming you celebrate Christmas...).
my initial reaction was something like: "oh, I lost" rather than "oh my god noo waaah unfair"
That's interesting because my reaction to losing in my comparatively puny 313 streak was the same. I think after a long time, and when losing to stupid hax, it just doesn't have the same impact as losing after a short time and to 'other' means (probably not possible for your team, as it only loses to hax).
but seriously, there's not really any reason to cry about it. all of us know that the sure fire way to defeat that team is to "just" use a OHKO move and make sure it hits every single time. the AI essentially is able to make that decision, so it was always a matter of time. nice to know though that even if it happens on the next battle you have already gone past 2000.
Indeed, that's why I 'knew' Peterko would lose to 'some ridiculous hax' (those were my words, I think) before 3000. It was far more unlikely to get to 3000 unfazed by that kind of hax, than for the hax to occur by then. This is depressing when I think about my own feeble attempts at getting a large streak.
anyway, im up to 210 now with latias+registeel+salamence. my personal best by a long way, and now that i look at the records list, i realise that only one other person has gone past 100 battles using a salamence, which seems crazy to me!
Awesome work Bozo, it feels good when you know you're on your best streak. Using a different dragon is to be commended.
- salamence - max HP: 182 / Atk: 820 / Def: 101 / SpAtk: xx / SpDef: 101 / Spe: 560
- garchomp - max HP: 183 / Atk: 728 / Def: 115 / SpAtk: xx / SpDef: 106 / Spe: 169
both make 45 hp subs. i'm absolutely
not saying anything bad about garchomp here - we all know how amazing he is at what he does - just that i'm surprised that almost 100% of people have chosen him over salamence.
Not sure about others, but for me the main reason for Garchomp was that he's more likely to beat things 'in a pinch' (especially 1v1), having higher speed without setup and STAB EQ to ensure KOs on many Ground-weak pokes. But if you can surpass my current 313 record with Salamence, that will be awesome. I really should train a Salamence one day... I guess I'm just a Garchomp fanboy.
Oh, and if you're still awake after reading this post, does this qualify as a 'wall of words'? That was probably aimed at Jumpman since he uses that term. Of course, Peterko writes some massive posts here as well...