Smogon Shoddy Server Statistics - May 2009

Rurushu

Sleepless Strategist
is a Past WCoP Champion
| Blissey | Nature | Calm | 55.6 |
| Blissey | Nature | Bold | 37.7 |

Nice to see the ever-widening gap between Calm and Bold Blissey.
But Bold Blissey isn't even close to being worse than calm. Even if you get 30+ Stats points by picking Calm, Pokemon is a game of percentages, and Blissey really enjoys a Def bonus. Neither bold or calm are required (with either calm or bold, blissey will still be the hell for almost any special attacker and will have enough Phys.Defensive powers to wall weak hits)

It's just a matter of preference.

| Blissey | Nature | Other (3) | < 2.5 |
| Blissey | HP EV | None | 46.1 |
| Blissey | HP EV | Max | 30.9 |
Now we are talking about people who don't know how to use blissey :/
 

JabbaTheGriffin

Stormblessed
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There's nothing wrong with Max HP Blissey. I don't get why people think that Calm with a lot of Sp. Def is the way you're supposed to run Blissey. I personally run Max Def Bold with a shitload of HP. The only reason I don't run max HP is because I like to put a little bit of Sp. Attack just because I prefer Flamethrower/Ice Beam/Tbolt/whatever to hit a bit harder.

Saying that a certain set of EVs is the "right" way to use a Pokemon is definitely wrong and quite pretentious if you ask me. Sorry if I like the fact that with HP and Def I can take shit like Flygon outrages, Scizor U-turns and even (if i have to risk it) the occasional Tyranitar Stone Edge much better and I don't really care if Heatran Fire Blasts or Zapdos Tbolts do a few percentage points more.

It's about how you want to use a Pokemon. There's nothing wrong with doing things your own way.
 

Rurushu

Sleepless Strategist
is a Past WCoP Champion
Eh, ok, i agree, my commentary was pretentious, and (imo) as long you use max def, blissey will work, though in my humble opinion, i still think that using max EVs (something that won't even raise blissey's HP in 10%) isn't very good.

Oh, and i forgot to say, thank you doug!
 
Yeah, I do find it annoying how people whine every month about things, whether it be how Porygon-Z is always higher than Porygon2, or whether it's Umbreon getting usage, or Donphan scraping OU every month, or Electivire being mid-OU, or Bold Blissey being used.

Enough with the moaning! Please! Sure, I find Electivire getting into the 20s and 30s rather strange sometimes, but I'm not really that bothered. If everybody uses it, I'll just find my matches easier... Not to mention, it isn't actually that bad anyway.
 
I'm surprised to see Electivire's usage is more than Empoleon and Forretrees. It's not that bad but... everything just kills it and it can't kill anything. But if it's usage rise i will be happy though, because as shuckle man already said, it will make battles easier.
 
First of all, I'm confused why people think pokemon x doesn't "deserve" to be in this or that place. Is your pokemon y doing worse than pokemon x? Good, you'll have less people preparing for it. The lower a pokemon is in the useages the less people will prepare for it, and thus more victories for you! It's not a popularity contest, is it?
Anyway, as I utilise Heracross at times, I can explain it like this: Heracross is slow, but at the same time can get killed easily. And it doesn't hit hard.
The only thing I can see working is a full out bulky set with Guts support. Perhaps then it won't get mauled as much.
As far as Electivire, it can get killed easily but it's not as bad as some make it out to be.
About the only 'problem' I can see is Donphan, simce some people might want to use it in UU. That I can understand. Otherwise... Empoleon is so low? He's UU now? Who cares? You can still use him in OU if he's that great.
40 | Tentacruel
Even though it happened years ago I still can't get over Tentacruel's OU status.
20 | Jolteon
This is... surprising. Not the fact he made it to 20, as I see him a lot now, but that he is being used. What's the point? He's at best mildly annoying.
24 | Kingdra
Hmm. Obviously Rain Dance. Interesting that Rain Dance useage is on the rise... before the only weather in OU was Sandstorm, none, and Hail. In that order. Has there been less Hail useage, and thus Rain Dance is destroyed less by it. Still... A Magnezone (29) hiding behind a substitute can clean up RD teams effectively.
Also, who the hell uses Bronzong (19)? Not that that's surprising that he's being used, but I've yet to see one.
 
20 | Jolteon
This is... surprising. Not the fact he made it to 20, as I see him a lot now, but that he is being used. What's the point? He's at best mildly annoying.
I use Jolteon to set up weather and baton pass subs to others who can abuse that weather (mostly rain). It works well as a lead, with its speed, and has good enough SpA as well that it can force some switches to get a sub or weather up. I'm happy that more people are using him now.
 
This is... surprising. Not the fact he made it to 20, as I see him a lot now, but that he is being used. What's the point? He's at best mildly annoying
SpecsJolt is an absolutely lethal force if you can remove an opponent's Blissey/Bulky Ground and he's not too bad of a revenge killer due to his incredible speed. Add the fact that his ability is great and he's an okay BPer, and I understand perfectly while people use this thing.

Hmm. Obviously Rain Dance
Not necessarily. DD Kingdra is pretty useful even without rain, especially since Water/Dragon is a very good typing both defensively and offensively
 
Code:
| Salamence  | Attack EV    | Max              |    35.0 |
| Salamence  | Attack EV    | Low (50-100)     |    18.0 |
 
| Salamence  | SpAttack EV  | None             |    40.2 |
| Salamence  | SpAttack EV  | Very High (200+) |    22.6 |
 
| Salamence  | Speed EV     | Max              |    66.4 |
| Salamence  | Speed EV     | Very High (200+) |    11.4 |
 
| Salamence  | Move         | Earthquake       |    78.6 |
| Salamence  | Move         | Outrage          |    65.8 |
| Salamence  | Move         | Fire Blast       |    45.0 |
| Salamence  | Move         | Draco Meteor     |    45.0 |
| Salamence  | Move         | Dragon Dance     |    43.8 |
I'm confused, the EVs yell DDMence majority yet the moves say MixMence has the edge. What kind of crafty material are people using? Simply substituting Fire Blast for Draco Meteor? (I think I made that suggestion in a Creative moveset thread once =X). Can't assume Fire Blast anymore ;_;

[/realpost]
_____________________________________

Extra bit:
Code:
[SIZE=1]| Infernape  | Move         | Close Combat     |    86.9 |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]| Infernape  | Move         | Grass Knot       |    47.5 |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]| Infernape  | Move         | Fire Blast       |    31.9 |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]| Infernape  | Move         | Flamethrower     |    29.8 |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]| Infernape  | Move         | HP-Ice           |    28.0 |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1]| Infernape  | Move         | Nasty Plot       |    17.4 |[/SIZE]
[SIZE=1][SIZE=2][B]| Infernape  | Move   | Flare Blitz  | 16.3 |[/B][/SIZE]
| Infernape  | Move         | Stealth Rock     |    16.1 |
| Infernape  | Move         | U-turn           |    15.8 |
| Infernape  | Move         | Fake Out         |    13.7 |
| Infernape  | Move         | Stone Edge       |    13.6 |
| Infernape  | Move         | Overheat         |    12.9 |
| Infernape  | Move         | Vacuum Wave      |    11.3 |
| Infernape  | Move         | Mach Punch       |    10.7 |
| Infernape  | Move         | Thunderpunch     |    10.1 |
| Infernape  | Move         | Other (9)        | <   7.6 |
[/SIZE]
Ok, I'm glad Flare Blitz is being used over Fire Punch, but...where in the hell is Swords Dance? Flare Blitz usage, especially THAT MUCH, without Swords Dance or Choice Band is...absurd imo. It has nothing over Fire Blast (or Overheat if going mixed) without a boost as most things that Fire hits (Steels) dislike special moves a lot more than physical moves.
 
Blissey is out of the top ten? That is hard to believe really. Great that Metagross is finally getting the lead usage it deserves, it really performs exceptionally well against most leads.
 
Ok, I'm glad Flare Blitz is being used over Fire Punch, but...where in the hell is Swords Dance? Flare Blitz usage, especially THAT MUCH, without Swords Dance or Choice Band is...absurd imo. It has nothing over Fire Blast (or Overheat if going mixed) without a boost as most things that Fire hits (Steels) dislike special moves a lot more than physical moves.
I think those are just new players "testing it out" and Swords Dance is absent because it's mainly outclassed by Lucario. It's more frail, doesn't get extremespeed, and Lucario has a lot more resistances.
 
| Pikachu | Item | Light Ball | 97.9 |
| Pikachu | Item | No Item | 2.1 |
Haha thats priceless people actually use pikachu W/no item i was suspecting something like light ball-100% or atleast a choice item... HAHA Priceless... uh
 

DougJustDoug

Knows the great enthusiasms
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The list of Infernape's moves in Veedrock's post made me ask the question:

"Which pokemon have the most diverse number of moves used commonly on the Standard ladder?"

So I ran a quick query, and here's the top 20 amongst highly-used pokemon in May:

Code:
+------------+-------+
| Pokemon    | Moves |
+------------+-------+
| Blaziken   |    16 |
| Infernape  |    15 |
| Jirachi    |    15 |
| Hariyama   |    15 |
| Typhlosion |    14 |
| Regirock   |    14 |
| Celebi     |    13 |
| Spiritomb  |    13 |
| Sceptile   |    13 |
| Slaking    |    13 |
| Salamence  |    12 |
| Heatran    |    12 |
| Lucario    |    12 |
| Tyranitar  |    12 |
| Gengar     |    12 |
| Swampert   |    12 |
| Blissey    |    12 |
| Latias     |    12 |
| Azelf      |    12 |
| Zapdos     |    12 |
+------------+-------+
That means that Blaziken has 16 different moves that are used often enough to be broken out as a separate line in the monthly stats. Infernape is actually number 2, with 15 different moves (which can be seen a few posts up). Most of these pokemon are well-known for running lots of different sets, but a few caught me by surprise. Regirock certainly isn't a pokemon that I normally think of when the topic of "diverse movepool" comes up!
 
Makes me wonder which moves something like Slaking actually uses.

Return/Focus Punch/Shadow Claw/Stone Edge/Earthquake/Fire Punch, those 6 should be all he need really...
Oh wait, all newbies give him Giga Impact...
 

Seven Deadly Sins

~hallelujah~
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No it isn't. The only nearly passable thing about Slaking is that it can switch out on its Truant turns, but with Giga Impact you can't even do that. It basically means that once you use Giga Impact, that's basically all you're good for, and that's only if the opponent doesn't switch in one of many Normal resists.
 
| Pikachu | Item | Light Ball | 97.9 |
| Pikachu | Item | No Item | 2.1 |
Haha thats priceless people actually use pikachu W/no item i was suspecting something like light ball-100% or atleast a choice item... HAHA Priceless... uh
People must have forgotten to give Pikachu an item on the Team Builder before starting to battle with it. I've done things like that before too...
 

X-Act

np: Biffy Clyro - Shock Shock
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Programmer Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Researcher Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
I would like to mention something that has been bothering me for a long time.

In short, the rank on the usage chart is the most useless statistic ever. Saying "Jolteon is now top 20", "Blissey is outside the top 10", etc. does not say anything about that Pokemon's usage at all.

Get this: a Pokemon can actually have an increase in usage compared to the previous month and still fall the usage chart, and vice-versa. Who cares if the Pokemon's rank dropped from #14 to #15 if its usage actually increased by, say, 0.5%? I would care about the increase in usage much more than about the drop in rank.

Granted, a high rank usually represents high usage, but this is not always the case. If you look at the Suspect ladder, Manaphy is ranked #10. Pretty respectable right? Not at all, actually, when you realise that Manaphy is used less than a third of the time than Garchomp, the #1 Pokemon. For a comparison, Swampert, the Standard ladder's #10 Pokemon, is used more than half of the time than Scizor, the #1 Pokemon in that ladder.

So, the bottom line is: don't look too much into the ranking of Pokemon, people; their actual usage is what matters.
 
Now I understand how much work you put into these statistics Doug, and I am very appreciative of it. The only thing that annoys me is how misleading the statistics are because over half of the people on the ladder dont know how to play it seems.

Is there anyway you can filter the statistics to give a weighted statistic (like usage*ranking on the old shoddy server) or include usages for only peopel with a rank of over 1400 or something. This would useful to see what better players use as a lot of OU pokemon are rarely seen near the leaderboard
 
three things:
1) swampert is the #3 lead, the smog's lead article was right
2) scizor continues to rise
3) the teammate thread is a bit lopsided, almost every pokemon has scizor as the top partner and salamence and gyarados as the next. maybe make a "who do they switch to" statistic?
 
Code:
| Tyranitar  | Item         | Leftovers        |    36.2 |
| Tyranitar  | Item         | Choice Band      |    25.7 |
| Tyranitar  | Item         | Babiri Berry     |    10.6 |
| Tyranitar  | Item         | Other (7)        | <   7.2 |
From this it looks like Life Orbed DDTar and Mixtar aren't being used very often. What surprised me is that Leftovers is the most common item by more than 10%, as I have seen more Banded Tyranitar than Leftovers ones.
Code:
| Ninjask    | Nature       | Jolly            |    57.0 |
Code:
| Ninjask    | Speed EV     | Max              |    51.1 |
This confirms how nooby Ninjask users are. Come on, what more will those EVs let you outrun?
Code:
| Jolteon    | Move         | HP-Ice           |    39.7 |
| Jolteon    | Move         | HP-Grass         |    36.3 |
HP Ice has a slight edge over HP Grass this time around, even though Thunderbolt would do just as good a job of revenge-killing Dragons as HP Ice would.
Code:
| Porygon2   | Move         | Recover          |    97.3 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Ice Beam         |    96.3 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Thunderbolt      |    61.0 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Thunder Wave     |    52.3 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Discharge        |    31.5 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Toxic            |    22.6 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Tri Attack       |     7.7 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Magic Coat       |     6.2 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Trick Room       |     5.9 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Charge Beam      |     5.5 |
| Porygon2   | Move         | Other (4)        | <   3.3 |
Thunderbolt is the clear leader over Discharge on Porygon2 now, and Thunder Wave is also much more popular than Toxic. People must be finding the ability to stall out Blissey with Toxic less useful now that Blissey has fallen and Steels are gaining even more popularity.
 

Mr.E

unban me from Discord
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The Ninjask ditto is virtually irrelevant due to Speed Boost, only mattering on the lead or the odd double switch and only if one or both carry Aerial Ace. Else, it'll usually be advantageous to be slower so you get the advantage in the event of a double Baton Pass. It's barely in OU usage levels and even fewer carry Aerial Ace (12.6%) -- most carry X-Scissor as their sole attack -- so how often can that even possibly happen? Beyond the minimal investment required to outspeed max Speed Azelf and Starmie, adding Speed EVs has little use, especially if your moveset includes Protect.

As far as Jolteon is concerned, HP Ice is primarily for the odd Grass-type who resist Electric attacks. That said, it also threatens to OHKO Dragons at far higher health levels than TBolt does, including Flygon who is immune to TBolt. HP Grass doesn't really do anything but hit Swampert or the barely-OU Rhyperior, as Mamoswine will usually eat Jolteon with Ice Shard and HP Ice works just as well on every other Ground-type.
 

X-Act

np: Biffy Clyro - Shock Shock
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Is it possible to display the top 50 teammates for each Pokemon instead of the top 20 and remove the teammates related to rank? Let's face it, teammates related to rank is not very interesting.

Also I'd prefer to have teammates information for more than the top 50 Pokemon if it's possible... maybe top 100. I would like the info for the other ladders' teammates to be increased proportionally as well.

The reason for this is that I wrote a program that attempts to reconstruct the teams that were used, given the usage information and teammates information (that's why I wasn't very active lately, by the way). The program works, but since the teammates information is limited, the teams produced are, to say the least, not what you would expect.
 

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