Silly Things You've Seen On The OU Ladder!

[AOPSUser]

We should write analyses for a few of these silly sets once, and put them in The Smog. With all the experienced people here, and a little help from the CnC guys, we could make pretty serious-looking arguments for stuff like Life Orb Shedinja, Air Balloon Rotom-F or Specs Machamp. I think it would be a fun read if done right.

Ability: Wonder Guard
Item: Sticky Barb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Nature: Bold
-Sandstorm
-Substitute
-Final Gambit
-Harden

This is your standard Shedinja set. Wonder Guard makes you immune to a lot of stuff, in fact, everything but Flying, Fire, Rock, Dark, Ghost, Mold Breaker, Leech Seed, Stealth Rock, Spikes, Hail, Toxic, and Burn. EVs maximize physical defense, which can let it survive things like Kyurem-B's Outrage. Sandstorm gets rid of Hail, which can kill you pretty fast. Substitute protects Shedinja from status and damage (assuming it was Baton Passed to Shedinja). Final Gambit gets rid of every non-Ghost type in OU (when used in conjunction with 704 Revives). Finally, Harden lets you survive attacks more powerful than Kyurem-B's Outrage, like Choice Band Zweilous's Outrage. Sticky Barb sticks onto an opponent that hits you with a contact move, so they get damaged for trying to Crunch you.

Jokes aside though, good luck convincing people to use Life Orb Shedinja lol. But Specs Machamp is actually something you can convince people to use. With its Base 65 Special Attack along with moves like Focus Blast and Fire Blast with No Guard, it would almost dominate NU.

Also:

<jas61292> Just EVed a Special Furret.
<jas61292> Hyper Voice/Shadow Ball/Grass Knot/filler
<jas61292> It has 92 Special Attack.
<jas61292> ...at lv. 50.
<capefeather> Yeah that would break Little Cup

 

[UnhandledException]

Politoed used Hydro Pump!
The foe's Hitmonchan lost 79% of its health!

The foe's Hitmonchan used Hidden Power!
It's super effective! Politoed lost 16.1% of its health!

The foe's Hitmonchan restored HP using its Leftovers!

 

[Pikachuun]

I also spotted a Jirachi with draco meteor, used right after calm mind.

I tried that before with Charge Beam instead of Calm Mind. It worked well against opponents who didn't expect it, as I can just spam Charge Beam on a Dnite behind a sub, get to +2 and break the sub, and OHKO that Dnite. I wouldn't recommend it though, as it is silly.

Lolicopter Edit: Not a ladder match per se, but I saw someone with offensive Gligar with no held Item, Entei, and Gigalith. Why did it have to break my Pikachu's sub :CCC

 

[starwarsfan]

Analysis for Rotom-S:
Rotom-S @ air balloon
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 spa / 4 spd / 252 spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Air Slash
- Telekinesis
This set, recently created by user [name], was for some reason ignored by the c&c people. Rotom-S has the ability to have a 4x immunity to ground! This means that when Telekinesis is in effect, Any ground attacker wanting to foil him will be stimied! Since it is a 4x immunity, ground attackers attacking rotom-s will take 3x the damage he would have taken! But it gets better: if he encounters any other type of attacker, he can simply volt switch out! Overthrow c&c!!!

 

[Pikachuun]

Bulk Up Giga Impact Breloom, Brick Break Empoleon, and Quick Claw Ursaring.

These are the metagame-defining threats of the OU ladder.

 

[RedsCharizard]

I can't tell you how many people tried to use earthquake on my gliscor.

 

[Emmy2]

The foe's Scizor used Bug Buzz!
A critical hit!
Smeargle's substitute faded!

What's happening to the world?

I actually came across a Scizor on a bug mono with the following set:

Item = insect plate
Moves: Bug Buzz, X-scizzor, U-turn, Swords Dance

Speaking of Scizor, it's funny how many people have tried to use Toxic on it, several times, while I set up on them....

 

[gvmgvm40]

Petition to add this directly to our article on The Smog if it's approved: http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/super-machamp-choice-specs.74982/

Also one analysis from me:

Physically Defensive
Deoxys-Attack @ Leftovers / Light Clay
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Def / 16 Spd
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Reflect / Iron Defense
- Recover
- Light Screen / Amnesia / Taunt / Toxic / Counter

One might look at Deoxys-A and say "Why would you use a Pokemon with 50/20/20 defenses as a wall?". The answer lies in Deoxys-A's sheer versatility and the surprise factor. Thanks to of its blistering speed and massive support movepool, Deoxys-A can provide a team all the support it needs while checking vital threats at the same time. Recover and Reflect are the crux of this set, letting Deoxys-A take a few hits from Forretress, Skarmory, scarved Terrakion locked into Close Combat, and even Bullet Punches from SpDef Scizor; while supporting the team with Reflect at the same time! If you're not into supporting your team and want to play more securely with Deoxys-A, you can use Iron Defense for a permanent and higher boost. Deoxys-A can use both Stealth Rock and Spikes, so feel free to choose whichever one your team doesn't have/appreciates more.

The last spot is mostly based on personal preference. Yes, this set has too many slashes, but this just proves how awesome and versatile Physically Defensive Deoxys-A is! Light Screen or Amnesia give Deoxys-A a way to handle Special attackers, letting Deoxys-A switch into threats like Lugia and Cresselia and tank their attacks. If you're using both Reflect and Light Screen, Light Clay can be used instead of Leftovers. Taunt and Toxic both are ways for Deoxys-A to beat opposing stall and deter stat-uppers, with Toxic having the added upside of giving Deoxys-A some way to dish out damage. Finally, Counter is another interesting option, letting Deoxys-A get some surprising KOs.

The EVs and nature maximize Deoxys-A's physical bulk, while letting it outspeed max Speed neutral natured Arceus. You can speed creep up to 240 Speed EVs, which would let Deoxys-A outspeed Timid Mewtwo and maybe get off a Taunt or Toxic, but this is not recommended as you lose quite a bit of bulk.

 

[starwarsfan]

I'm close to finishing the proposal, I'll post it here first then at the smog thread if no one has suggestions. Expect it by Monday.

 

[SoulMuse]

Just threw together a team to use, second battle out, run into a team of Gilgiath, Golem, Metagross, Lando-T, Snorlax and Azelf. Every single one in carrying explosion... and I tied due ot not expecting lando-T to explode.

 

[x42bn6]

Spectating a match:

Ninjask's Quick Claw let it move first!

 

[starwarsfan]

Okey day for the article:
Here's the list of sets I think we should use:
LO Shedinja
Balloon/TK Rotom-F
Specs Machamp
Defensive Deoxys-A
Quick Claw Ninjask
Anything Else?

 

[FinalLegendZero]

I've seen many things on the ladder recently that would make even a mediocre player such as myself shake his head. But by far, the worst thing I've seen is someone using a Cradilly as his entire team against a mono-dragon team... and winning due to the dragon team's user's incompetence.

 

[Yuttt]

Scarf jolteon nabs surprise KOs on things like salamence. You can also run Modest on it, and still outspeed Scarf Lati@s and the like.

252+ SpA Jolteon Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Keldeo: 420-494 (129.62 - 152.46%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Jolteon Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Salamence: 400-472 (120.84 - 142.59%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Jolteon Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 210-247 (64.81 - 76.23%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Spikes
252+ SpA Jolteon Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latios: 138-164 (45.84 - 54.48%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Sooo, yeah

 

[starwarsfan]

Scarf jolteon nabs surprise KOs on things like salamence. You can also run Modest on it, and still outspeed Scarf Lati@s and the like.

252+ SpA Jolteon Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Keldeo: 420-494 (129.62 - 152.46%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Jolteon Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Salamence: 400-472 (120.84 - 142.59%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252+ SpA Jolteon Thunder vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Terrakion: 210-247 (64.81 - 76.23%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock and Spikes
252+ SpA Jolteon Hidden Power Ice vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Latios: 138-164 (45.84 - 54.48%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Sooo, yeah

So you're saying it's not stupid to scarf the fastest thing in the meta?

 

[Yuttt]

It works, and has surprise factor. It is rather silly, but it can actually work (OHKOing one of the most common scarfers in OU), unlike specs Machamp, air balloon Rotom-somethingrather, and LO Shedinja.

 

[starwarsfan]

It works, and has surprise factor. It is rather silly, but it can actually work (OHKOing one of the most common scarfers in OU), unlike specs Machamp, air balloon Rotom-somethingrather, and LO Shedinja.

Ok I've taken it out.

 

[Yuttt]

Cool. I like the sound of the article, good luck with it!

 

[starwarsfan]

Alrighty, I've posted the application in the thread.

 

[Codraroll]

Okey day for the article:
Here's the list of sets I think we should use:
LO Shedinja
Balloon/TK Rotom-F
Specs Machamp
Defensive Deoxys-A
Quick Claw Ninjask
Anything Else?

- Expert Belt Delcatty
- Rain Dance Abomasnow (has to run Soundproof to avoid that pesky hail getting in the way). It could be a supporter set utulizing moves such as Block (now the foe has no way to escape Abomasnow's fury!), Role Play, Light Screen and the like. Politoed learns Hail too, and Tyranitar gets both Rain Dance, Sunny Day and Sandstorm (making for an awesome weather control set).

Also remember, for it to be funny, the reviews should
1) Never mention the downsides of the set, or at least pretend they don't exist (such as Deoxys-A's defenses. Don't state the numbers, just mention that it might not have the bulk of many traditional walls, but the surprise value weighs up for it - there's no way your foe could prepare for that!).
2) Never mention that other options could be superior in any way.
3) Try to look as authentic as possible. Use cliches if you can find any.
4) Not use damage calcs. Stuff like "37HKO" or "Will almost always KO Minimum Defense Volbeat in Sandstorm after Spikes and Stealth Rock" makes it seems a little contrived.

Good luck writing!

 

[gvmgvm40]

Analysis for Rotom-S:
Rotom-S @ air balloon
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 spa / 4 spd / 252 spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Air Slash
- Telekinesis
This set, recently created by user [name], was for some reason ignored by the c&c people. Rotom-S has the ability to have a 4x immunity to ground! This means that when Telekinesis is in effect, Any ground attacker wanting to foil him will be stimied! Since it is a 4x immunity, ground attackers attacking rotom-s will take 3x the damage he would have taken! But it gets better: if he encounters any other type of attacker, he can simply volt switch out! Overthrow c&c!!!

Magnet Rise is the clearly superior option versus Telekinesis, as Telekinesis works on the opponent not the user.

Well uh, unless you already know this and taking trolling further, in which case you should still mention Magnet Rise.

 

[starwarsfan]

Magnet Rise is the clearly superior option versus Telekinesis, as Telekinesis works on the opponent not the user.

Well uh, unless you already know this and taking trolling further, in which case you should still mention Magnet Rise.

Oh whoops.

 

[starwarsfan]

Magnet Rise is the clearly superior option versus Telekinesis, as Telekinesis works on the opponent not the user.

Well uh, unless you already know this and taking trolling further, in which case you should still mention Magnet Rise.

Rotom-S doesn't learn Magnet Rise, Telekinesis is the trolliest option we have. And it's not like the article stays true to mechanics anyway.

 

[starwarsfan]

Okey day for the article:
Here's the list of sets I think we should use:
LO Shedinja
Balloon/TK Rotom-F
Specs Machamp
Defensive Deoxys-A
Quick Claw Ninjask
Anything Else?

I've added Rain Dance Abomasnow and removed Deoxys-A since it's Uber.

 

[starwarsfan]

- Expert Belt Delcatty
- Rain Dance Abomasnow (has to run Soundproof to avoid that pesky hail getting in the way). It could be a supporter set utulizing moves such as Block (now the foe has no way to escape Abomasnow's fury!), Role Play, Light Screen and the like. Politoed learns Hail too, and Tyranitar gets both Rain Dance, Sunny Day and Sandstorm (making for an awesome weather control set).

Also remember, for it to be funny, the reviews should
1) Never mention the downsides of the set, or at least pretend they don't exist (such as Deoxys-A's defenses. Don't state the numbers, just mention that it might not have the bulk of many traditional walls, but the surprise value weighs up for it - there's no way your foe could prepare for that!).
2) Never mention that other options could be superior in any way.
3) Try to look as authentic as possible. Use cliches if you can find any.
4) Not use damage calcs. Stuff like "37HKO" or "Will almost always KO Minimum Defense Volbeat in Sandstorm after Spikes and Stealth Rock" makes it seems a little contrived.

Good luck writing!

Thanks for the advice!