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Other The Dark Horse Project (ORAS Edition)
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knaal1
no hall of fame standing
banette/alomomola
i chose banette because of its great prankster ability in ou. not only does it have higher bulk than sableye it also has insane attack, i wanted banette because it help with my team's weaknesses to lando-t and metagross as well as other wall breakers; it can also stop sweeps with its destiny bond and then procede to do massive damage with phantom force
i wanted alomomola because it also helps with meta and lando, but is an amazing support pokemon since it can recover its own health with regenerator while passing a wish to pokemon like banette and conkeldurr who i use, but dont have good recovery. it also makes a good core with latios since they cover each others weaknesses
-----> hey did i sign up right?, this is my first time doing dark horse
no hall of fame standing
banette/alomomola
i chose banette because of its great prankster ability in ou. not only does it have higher bulk than sableye it also has insane attack, i wanted banette because it help with my team's weaknesses to lando-t and metagross as well as other wall breakers; it can also stop sweeps with its destiny bond and then procede to do massive damage with phantom force
i wanted alomomola because it also helps with meta and lando, but is an amazing support pokemon since it can recover its own health with regenerator while passing a wish to pokemon like banette and conkeldurr who i use, but dont have good recovery. it also makes a good core with latios since they cover each others weaknesses
-----> hey did i sign up right?, this is my first time doing dark horse
A lot of potential to try out Rain, looking down the list it looks like big rain threats such as Kingdra, Kabutops etc. are all well below the cutoff. I might give this a shot myself, I'm not the greatest but I do feel like Rain teams are a slept-on threat still.
It's not started yet, we're waiting for the vote on Greninja, but yeah, that's right
After the Greninja Suspect ends iirc.
Today? O_o
Personally, I think this is a little too quick since (I believe) other people like me still need to create their teams and PS logins in order to compete. A good solution to this could be wait the tier lists from PS to reorient themselves, since the only reason I could think is that the staff responsible to change pokémon from tier to tier after an update could be waiting the results from Greninja (and other pkm which are still being tested in lower tiers but idk) to them move things like Lopunny and Gallade, and since Ninja is gone now I believe that the lists will be changed very soon.
Not that what I said is what will happen, but is just an opinion
K so greninja is banned, lemme register now
Pokemon Showdown! Username: ifheusykr
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: This is my first time doing this
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Politoed, Swampert, Kingdra
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): I wanted to abuse rain since it's a very interesting playstyle, so I had to have a politoed. Looking around for a good mega, I found that swampert had enough usage for me to use it so I decided to run mega swampert. Kingdra is my second rain abuser. This is pretty standard I guess.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: ifheusykr
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: This is my first time doing this
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Politoed, Swampert, Kingdra
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): I wanted to abuse rain since it's a very interesting playstyle, so I had to have a politoed. Looking around for a good mega, I found that swampert had enough usage for me to use it so I decided to run mega swampert. Kingdra is my second rain abuser. This is pretty standard I guess.
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rip ninja
PS Username: blinkie
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: none lol
Current Dark Horse Mons: Pinsir + Staraptor
Explanation: standard.standard birdspam is not dead yet maybe i'm being stupid by deciding to do this when top 3 usage is heatran + rotom-w + landoge lulz whatever yolo I totally won't run smogonbird as well
PS Username: blinkie
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: none lol
Current Dark Horse Mons: Pinsir + Staraptor
Explanation: standard.standard birdspam is not dead yet maybe i'm being stupid by deciding to do this when top 3 usage is heatran + rotom-w + landoge lulz whatever yolo I totally won't run smogonbird as well
Alright, sorry anybody if I'm doing too much posts and overflowing the thread, but regardless when this whole thing will start, I'll submit my new account and core that I'll will be using for now:
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Revoltib
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: Never did this
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Aerodactyl and Suicune
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Everyone is talking about the speed creep ORAS brought to the metagame, but very rarely I see people coming with new ways of get around this problem, so here's when my core succeeds. While Mega Aerodactyl suffers from tons and tons of competition for a mega slot, he's surprisingly good at OU levels, primordially thanks to his awesome 150 base speed who let it outspeeds the role unboosted meta while also covering a few slower scarfers (Magnezone to an extend). Besides birdspam has suffered a big punch in terms of usage, Aero's also a very consistent check to it since he's the only Rock/Flying type in the game, which means that him not only checks the likes of Talonflame and Pinsir, while also has enough power to punish them with STAB Stone Miss.
Then it comes Suicune: I always want to check how it performs in my hands and I couldn't see a better opportunity than this. He was primordially chosen to act as a hard check to Mega Scizor and anything with an Ice move. It also cleans late game when Aero has done his job and the opponent team is sufficient weakened to get sweeped by Calm Mind.
At last, Tangrowth: Poor guy, when everyone's using Ferrothorn, he has being dropped all the way to RU, even if he isn't terrible (at UU and OU levels), however, not everything is being outclassed by his "big brother": Tangrowth have an arguably much better ability in Regenerator while also having and somewhat good offensive movepool to a tank, with things like Giga Drain, Focus Miss and Sludge Bomb. Speaking of those pros, Growth's also a very good AV use, thanks to be able to run a full offensive set with all the moves I've listed and more, while gaining a big chunk of HP every times it switches (which happens A LOT)
EDIT 14/01: Screw Tangrowth, my team was having too much problem with him on board and not going anywhere. Everything i said about him was a lie: Never use this thing, Ferrothorn is your best friend.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Revoltib
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: Never did this
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Aerodactyl and Suicune
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): Everyone is talking about the speed creep ORAS brought to the metagame, but very rarely I see people coming with new ways of get around this problem, so here's when my core succeeds. While Mega Aerodactyl suffers from tons and tons of competition for a mega slot, he's surprisingly good at OU levels, primordially thanks to his awesome 150 base speed who let it outspeeds the role unboosted meta while also covering a few slower scarfers (Magnezone to an extend). Besides birdspam has suffered a big punch in terms of usage, Aero's also a very consistent check to it since he's the only Rock/Flying type in the game, which means that him not only checks the likes of Talonflame and Pinsir, while also has enough power to punish them with STAB Stone Miss.
Then it comes Suicune: I always want to check how it performs in my hands and I couldn't see a better opportunity than this. He was primordially chosen to act as a hard check to Mega Scizor and anything with an Ice move. It also cleans late game when Aero has done his job and the opponent team is sufficient weakened to get sweeped by Calm Mind.
EDIT 14/01: Screw Tangrowth, my team was having too much problem with him on board and not going anywhere. Everything i said about him was a lie: Never use this thing, Ferrothorn is your best friend.
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Srsly man? It means something "At first" or "Thanks to"... Besides, I've used it only 2 times in the whole post. I really don't get it
lol I wasn't trying to be rude or anything, I was just wondering what it means since I thought it meant like really old (think primal groudon/kyogre)
Not even me... I'm just astonished that you already doesn't know the meaning, that's it :)
Primordial does mean really old, in a sense. It has meaning similar to prehistoric: something that has existed since the primeval, or the beginning of time.
I believe the word you were looking for was "primarily," not "primordially."
Anyhow, I have my team more or less together with one Dark Horse definitely chosen, but I still haven't found a good replacement for Amoongus, whose usage is too high. I'll have to keep thinking and tinkering.
I believe the word you were looking for was "primarily," not "primordially."
Anyhow, I have my team more or less together with one Dark Horse definitely chosen, but I still haven't found a good replacement for Amoongus, whose usage is too high. I'll have to keep thinking and tinkering.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: DarkWhorse
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: none
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Houndoom, Tornadus-Therian
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): With Gren's banishment (RIP in peaces bby), Mega Metagross and Mega Sableye sink their feet deeper into the ground of OU. They are super defining, super effective: they are the meta. I wanted something that could go toe-to-toe with these fiends and beat their asses, something that could oppose the meta - that something was Mega Houndoom. Megadoom has a great speed tier outspeeding the way-too-many 110's, two useful stabs, ways to fuck stall and balance in Nasty Plot and Taunt, and incredible potential in the current meta. I chose DogofDoom as my main dark horse to distance myself from the super-standard choices that I usually find myself going for.Still using Land-t as a teammate.
Sidekick to Doomdog and 2nd dark horse, is the blazingly fast, immensely versatile Tornadus-Therian. Gren leaving OU opened up all the doors for Torn-T, as it can now freely fly through the OU skys, spamming Hurricanes, knocking off valuables, and annoying the living hell out of many archetypes. Chose this thing because I figured it would pair well with Doom from a synergetic perspective. In addition, Torn-T can be customized to check/answer key OU threats, which makes it sort of anti meta, much like DoomPuppy.
tl;dr: Wanting to challenge myself, go in the anti-meta direction, and open an unexpected can of whoopass on OU, I chose the above mons as my dark horses. :]
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: none
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Houndoom, Tornadus-Therian
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): With Gren's banishment (RIP in peaces bby), Mega Metagross and Mega Sableye sink their feet deeper into the ground of OU. They are super defining, super effective: they are the meta. I wanted something that could go toe-to-toe with these fiends and beat their asses, something that could oppose the meta - that something was Mega Houndoom. Megadoom has a great speed tier outspeeding the way-too-many 110's, two useful stabs, ways to fuck stall and balance in Nasty Plot and Taunt, and incredible potential in the current meta. I chose DogofDoom as my main dark horse to distance myself from the super-standard choices that I usually find myself going for.
Sidekick to Doomdog and 2nd dark horse, is the blazingly fast, immensely versatile Tornadus-Therian. Gren leaving OU opened up all the doors for Torn-T, as it can now freely fly through the OU skys, spamming Hurricanes, knocking off valuables, and annoying the living hell out of many archetypes. Chose this thing because I figured it would pair well with Doom from a synergetic perspective. In addition, Torn-T can be customized to check/answer key OU threats, which makes it sort of anti meta, much like DoomPuppy.
tl;dr: Wanting to challenge myself, go in the anti-meta direction, and open an unexpected can of whoopass on OU, I chose the above mons as my dark horses. :]
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God damn it, firehusky beat me to it. No matter though, while I'm going to be using a similar playstyle I plan on using some different Dark Horses.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: WAWFIHA
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: Be gentle, it's my first time
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Politoed, Kabutops, Omastar, Tornadus-I
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): I've been trying rain offense out a little in advance of this, and it's such a gloriously straightforward and powerful way of playing. Keeping up rain is easy because Ninetales has vanished, Tyranitar is still around but has difficulty switching into rain threats, and asides from the odd Zard Y, which you can handle by playing your Toed carefully, there's really nothing challenging you from controlling the weather in this meta.
Politoed fell hard following the nerf that Gen 6 brought to rain teams, but a lot of people forgot what let this frog run BW OU like the mafia. It has to run Damp Rock now, so it's lost potential both in terms of offensive power and lasting durability, but with Rain boosting its attacks Politoed can still make a splash. Because it's more passive than it used to be because it can't run scarf, specs or life orb any more, a lot of pokes may try to set up on it, but access to Scald and Encore makes this a fool's errand much of the time.
My two big bangers abusing toed's monsoon are going to be the gen 1 fossil duo, Kabutops and Omastar. LO Kabutops is a complete savage, with very little comfortably switching into its rain-boosted Waterfalls. It has Aqua Jet for emergency priority, Stone Edge for a vicious secondary STAB with good neutral coverage, and Low Kick to do a lot to Ferrothorns trying to switch in. Likewise, Specs Omastar absolutely blasts huge portions of the meta for unspeakable amounts of damage, with even bulky resists getting huge chunks of their life bars erased. In rain, both of these make an absolute mockery of OU speed tiers, with only the fastest scarfers managing to outpace them.
Because on a team like the one I've built Politoed's mission is usually suicidal in nature, a backup rain setter is required. For me, that's Tornadus-I, who can set rain back up with Prankster Rain Dance, and in addition its powerful Hurricane provides important coverage against the bulky grass types that might otherwise give my sweepers a hard time. In addition, it has Prankster Taunt in order to run interference against stall, and U-turn to keep momentum.
I really think that due to Drizzle + Swift Swim being unbanned this gen, that rain offense is almost as strong as it was in Gen 5, and is this meta's most unprepared-for threat. I'm really not a good player but I feel with this playstyle I don't have to be to win matches simply because this rain-assisted barrage can be so overwhelming. However, I also know for a fact that there are a couple of threats that can give me problems, and a lot will depend on how prominent they become on the ladder.
Pokemon Showdown! Username: WAWFIHA
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: Be gentle, it's my first time
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Politoed, Kabutops, Omastar, Tornadus-I
Explanation of Dark Horse(s): I've been trying rain offense out a little in advance of this, and it's such a gloriously straightforward and powerful way of playing. Keeping up rain is easy because Ninetales has vanished, Tyranitar is still around but has difficulty switching into rain threats, and asides from the odd Zard Y, which you can handle by playing your Toed carefully, there's really nothing challenging you from controlling the weather in this meta.
Politoed fell hard following the nerf that Gen 6 brought to rain teams, but a lot of people forgot what let this frog run BW OU like the mafia. It has to run Damp Rock now, so it's lost potential both in terms of offensive power and lasting durability, but with Rain boosting its attacks Politoed can still make a splash. Because it's more passive than it used to be because it can't run scarf, specs or life orb any more, a lot of pokes may try to set up on it, but access to Scald and Encore makes this a fool's errand much of the time.
My two big bangers abusing toed's monsoon are going to be the gen 1 fossil duo, Kabutops and Omastar. LO Kabutops is a complete savage, with very little comfortably switching into its rain-boosted Waterfalls. It has Aqua Jet for emergency priority, Stone Edge for a vicious secondary STAB with good neutral coverage, and Low Kick to do a lot to Ferrothorns trying to switch in. Likewise, Specs Omastar absolutely blasts huge portions of the meta for unspeakable amounts of damage, with even bulky resists getting huge chunks of their life bars erased. In rain, both of these make an absolute mockery of OU speed tiers, with only the fastest scarfers managing to outpace them.
Because on a team like the one I've built Politoed's mission is usually suicidal in nature, a backup rain setter is required. For me, that's Tornadus-I, who can set rain back up with Prankster Rain Dance, and in addition its powerful Hurricane provides important coverage against the bulky grass types that might otherwise give my sweepers a hard time. In addition, it has Prankster Taunt in order to run interference against stall, and U-turn to keep momentum.
I really think that due to Drizzle + Swift Swim being unbanned this gen, that rain offense is almost as strong as it was in Gen 5, and is this meta's most unprepared-for threat. I'm really not a good player but I feel with this playstyle I don't have to be to win matches simply because this rain-assisted barrage can be so overwhelming. However, I also know for a fact that there are a couple of threats that can give me problems, and a lot will depend on how prominent they become on the ladder.
OK, I've been waffling between two different Dark Horse teams, but here goes...
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Hogg Horse (I also am using this for UU's DH this month, but I have not yet played any OU games on this alt.)
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: N/A
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Shedinja & Alomomola
Explanation of Dark Horse(s)
OK, Sheddy stall is something that I've been playing with a lot lately. Meowiekins made a Shedinja stall team in UU that peaked #1, and messing around with it was the most fun I've had playing stall in ages. Shedinja is not really used as a sweeper so much as a defensive pivot and phazer (hell, its mere existence forces switches). I've been curious for a while if I could make Shedinja stall OU-viable. On the one hand, some really nasty threats like Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Bisharp and Tyranitar make it really dangerous to play with the lonely little bug. On the other hand, Mega-Sableye is just about the perfect partner for Shedinja, bouncing back status and entry hazards and being the best Ferrothorn counter in the game. Meanwhile, Shedinja can hard counter some super dangerous threats, including basically all Mega-Metagross, most Thundurus and Keldeo, and just about anything wearing a Choice item.
Alomomola is a stall staple for a reason. I needed a bulky pivot that could switch into Azumarill, and Momo is bulky enough to avoid the 2HKO from CB Play Rough, which is not something most pivots can say. While I still miss Amoongus, who I had planned on using as my second DH (looked at the 1695 stats instead of the 1825 stats by mistake :(), Momo gets Knock Off, which Amoongus would kill to have, and can also pass gargantuan Wishes.
I tested this concept on the suspect ladder (using test teams with Chesnaught and Amoongus, because I assumed ONE of them would end up as a Dark Horse this month... silly me), and got reqs with it, so I know that it works in OU despite having some issues. Now that the ladder is starting to settle down, it's time to see how the rest of this goes!
Pokemon Showdown! Username: Hogg Horse (I also am using this for UU's DH this month, but I have not yet played any OU games on this alt.)
Prior Hall of Fame Standing: N/A
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Shedinja & Alomomola
Explanation of Dark Horse(s)
OK, Sheddy stall is something that I've been playing with a lot lately. Meowiekins made a Shedinja stall team in UU that peaked #1, and messing around with it was the most fun I've had playing stall in ages. Shedinja is not really used as a sweeper so much as a defensive pivot and phazer (hell, its mere existence forces switches). I've been curious for a while if I could make Shedinja stall OU-viable. On the one hand, some really nasty threats like Ferrothorn, Garchomp, Bisharp and Tyranitar make it really dangerous to play with the lonely little bug. On the other hand, Mega-Sableye is just about the perfect partner for Shedinja, bouncing back status and entry hazards and being the best Ferrothorn counter in the game. Meanwhile, Shedinja can hard counter some super dangerous threats, including basically all Mega-Metagross, most Thundurus and Keldeo, and just about anything wearing a Choice item.
Alomomola is a stall staple for a reason. I needed a bulky pivot that could switch into Azumarill, and Momo is bulky enough to avoid the 2HKO from CB Play Rough, which is not something most pivots can say. While I still miss Amoongus, who I had planned on using as my second DH (looked at the 1695 stats instead of the 1825 stats by mistake :(), Momo gets Knock Off, which Amoongus would kill to have, and can also pass gargantuan Wishes.
I tested this concept on the suspect ladder (using test teams with Chesnaught and Amoongus, because I assumed ONE of them would end up as a Dark Horse this month... silly me), and got reqs with it, so I know that it works in OU despite having some issues. Now that the ladder is starting to settle down, it's time to see how the rest of this goes!
Pokemon Showdown! Username:darkbobbobbob3 (for this) otherwise superbobbobbob3
Prior Hall of Fame Standing:None, first time
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Hydragon, Volcarona
Explanation of Dark Horse(s) will post later as i dont have the time atm
Prior Hall of Fame Standing:None, first time
Current Dark Horse Pokemon: Hydragon, Volcarona
Explanation of Dark Horse(s) will post later as i dont have the time atm
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