credit to ginganinja, stole OP from him
Welcome back to the Dark Horse Project, Round 6! While there may have been a hiatus for a while, it's back and better than ever! With a new Hall of Fame, it'll be exciting to see who and what makes the Hall of Fame this time around!
The Mission:
For those who weren't around for the last installment, the Dark Horse Project is an experiment per-se, in which players are encouraged and rewarded for playing OU with dark-horse Pokemon - Pokemon that have the ability to to shine in OU, but don't get used because players either have no reason to use them, or don't want to in lieu of more conventional Pokemon. Through this project, diversity in the OU metagame will increase, by the encouraging of good Pokemon that sadly fall on the lower levels of usage. This project also encourages discussion on how Dark Horse Pokemon can be used in the OU metagame, as well as the sharing and distribution of teams that are successful and use unconventional Pokemon.
Rules:
This project aims to recognize and reward users who put in the effort to create a competitively successful team with non-conventional Pokemon. Anyone with a Smogon account has a chance of entering the Hall of Fame for this project. Here are the rules for this project.
Registration:
Registration is not limited to a certain time period only. As long as this project is running, you may register. There will be a post in this thread later to keep track of all participants, as well as links, so don't worry about your registration getting lost in the sea of discussion.
Fill out this form to register:
Remember - the Pokemon Showdown! Username should be something that has no ranking on the OU ladder, so all your points will have been affected by your Dark Horse team, and only your Dark Horse team! Currently the HoF standing should be empty, but when you've entered the Hall of Fame, feel free to update your post with your standing!
Also, that signup sheet is a basic skeleton - you're more than welcome to add stuff like sprites, images, replays and thoughts to your registration post that would improve it!
Discussion:
This topic should also be used to discuss teambuilding and laddering thoughts and progress. Share your struggles and successes, and discuss your Dark Horse's niche in the OU metagame. This is a place not only to show off warstories/replays/rankings you are proud of, but to also help others achieve their goals! This isn't a competition or a tournament, it's a community project. Here's a basic Do/Do Not listing for those who are wonder what is encouraged, and what is frowned on:
Hall of Fame
Now here comes the competitive part. Once you've reached a ranking within the Top 100 on Smogon's competitive OU ladder (with a minimum Glicko2 rating of 2000) with your Dark Horse Pokemon, you may enter the Hall of Fame! Once you are eligible, please fill out this registration form:
Even more so than the regular Registration Form, you are highly encouraged to post thoughts, warstories, sets and other related information so others can learn from your success! Once you've filled out the form, you'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Now, the final catch to this project is: only 1 of each Dark Horse Pokemon is allowed into the Hall of Fame each month. For example, only the challenger who laddered highest with Jolteon will be accepted this month; Jolteon challengers with lower ladder ratings cannot enter the Hall of Fame until they pass the highest rating for Jolteon.

Credit to ToxicPhox for the art.
Introduction:
Welcome back to the Dark Horse Project, Round 6! While there may have been a hiatus for a while, it's back and better than ever! With a new Hall of Fame, it'll be exciting to see who and what makes the Hall of Fame this time around!
The Mission:
For those who weren't around for the last installment, the Dark Horse Project is an experiment per-se, in which players are encouraged and rewarded for playing OU with dark-horse Pokemon - Pokemon that have the ability to to shine in OU, but don't get used because players either have no reason to use them, or don't want to in lieu of more conventional Pokemon. Through this project, diversity in the OU metagame will increase, by the encouraging of good Pokemon that sadly fall on the lower levels of usage. This project also encourages discussion on how Dark Horse Pokemon can be used in the OU metagame, as well as the sharing and distribution of teams that are successful and use unconventional Pokemon.
Rules:
This project aims to recognize and reward users who put in the effort to create a competitively successful team with non-conventional Pokemon. Anyone with a Smogon account has a chance of entering the Hall of Fame for this project. Here are the rules for this project.
- Each team must use, at the very least, ONE Dark Horse Pokemon. A Dark Horse Pokemon is any pokemon that falls below 4% usage on last month's stats. All the other members of your team can be any Pokemon you wish, so long as they do not fall into the Uber tier.
- You must use a NEW Pokemon Showdown! account, and not one with previous laddering points. The team you use can shift, but the Dark Horse Pokemon must remain constant on the account.
- Switching Dark Horse Pokemon is acceptable, but you must restart with a new account if you do, as well as posting in this thread informing the leaders of the project.
- Put all changes in your original registration form, as well as sending the leaders of the project a visitor message. If you do not, then I cannot promise a swift update to your official registration.
- Do not start laddering until you've registered in this topic.
Registration:
Registration is not limited to a certain time period only. As long as this project is running, you may register. There will be a post in this thread later to keep track of all participants, as well as links, so don't worry about your registration getting lost in the sea of discussion.
Fill out this form to register:
Pokemon Showdown! Username:
Prior Hall of Fame Standing:
Current Dark Horse Pokemon:
Current Ladder Standing:
Remember - the Pokemon Showdown! Username should be something that has no ranking on the OU ladder, so all your points will have been affected by your Dark Horse team, and only your Dark Horse team! Currently the HoF standing should be empty, but when you've entered the Hall of Fame, feel free to update your post with your standing!
Also, that signup sheet is a basic skeleton - you're more than welcome to add stuff like sprites, images, replays and thoughts to your registration post that would improve it!
Discussion:
This topic should also be used to discuss teambuilding and laddering thoughts and progress. Share your struggles and successes, and discuss your Dark Horse's niche in the OU metagame. This is a place not only to show off warstories/replays/rankings you are proud of, but to also help others achieve their goals! This isn't a competition or a tournament, it's a community project. Here's a basic Do/Do Not listing for those who are wonder what is encouraged, and what is frowned on:
- Do post and share sets for your Dark Horse Pokemon, as well as teammates.
- Do discuss threats to your Dark Horse, or your team as a whole.
- Do ask questions (and by extension, answer other's) regarding the current OU metagame and teambuilding.
- Do not post insignificant updates - while it's great you broke your previous record or something similar, it does not encourage discussion. Posts should be thought through and unique.
- Do not ask people to make teams for you. You may ask for thoughts regarding teammates, and individual sets, but do not ask for people to build a team around your Dark Horse Pokemon for you.
Hall of Fame
Now here comes the competitive part. Once you've reached a ranking within the Top 100 on Smogon's competitive OU ladder (with a minimum Glicko2 rating of 2000) with your Dark Horse Pokemon, you may enter the Hall of Fame! Once you are eligible, please fill out this registration form:
Pokemon Showdown! Username:
Dark Horse Pokemon:
Screenshot of the Top 100 Ladder Ranking:
Dark Horse Complete Set:
Even more so than the regular Registration Form, you are highly encouraged to post thoughts, warstories, sets and other related information so others can learn from your success! Once you've filled out the form, you'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Now, the final catch to this project is: only 1 of each Dark Horse Pokemon is allowed into the Hall of Fame each month. For example, only the challenger who laddered highest with Jolteon will be accepted this month; Jolteon challengers with lower ladder ratings cannot enter the Hall of Fame until they pass the highest rating for Jolteon.