Project The Dark Horse Project! (Big Update! Read post #31)

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2xTheTap

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I built another hyper offense team for fun because i wanted to try out frogadier, I've never used it before. I might as well get at least bronze with this team too sense i'm testing it.

Alt: Frog Days
Dark Horses Used: Frogadier and Driflblim (Rampardos too but i already have silver with that)

Importable.

Frogadier @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Toxic Spikes

Rampardos @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 144 Atk / 112 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Superpower
- Head Smash
- Surf

Simisear @ Life Orb
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Fire Blast
- Grass Knot
- Rock Slide
- Low Kick

Purugly @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Wake-Up Slap
- Knock Off

Mr. Mime @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Trick
- Healing Wish
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam

Drifblim @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Endure
- Knock Off
- Baton Pass
- Acrobatics



http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pu-254108122
He got Hindenburg'd
Some notes on your team and on the thread in general:

This team is interesting, but I'd change a few things (assuming all Pokemon and their movesets stay the same). Mr. Mime should be using Filter instead of Soundproof (living a super effective hit is much more useful than blocking really situational stuff, like Chatot's Boomburst for example). Rampardos also needs a little more Special Attack in order to OHKO Sturdy Dwebble with Surf. 128 SpA gets the OHKO: 128 SpA Mold Breaker Rampardos Surf vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Dwebble: 242-286 (100.4 - 118.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO.

I've hit on this in chat before, but I'm also a fan of the team synergy you have going on with Purugly (Defiant + Fake Out) combined with Frogadier's Toxic Spikes. In my opinion, Purugly has a small niche over Pawniard, in that Purugly makes a more effective partner to Toxic Spikes because of Fake Out's ability to add an extra turn of poison damage for free (assuming the opposing mon isn't a Ghost, obviously). Nice job there.

What I might not be a fan of, however, is the lack of defensive switch-ins this team has for Pokemon common to the meta. If you're facing Zebstrika, the best you can do is revenge it with Mr. Mime (assuming it hasn't already Volt Switched out), or Fake Out with Purugly. Taking into account that Rampardos has probably already used up its Focus Sash at the beginning of the battle trying to set SR, you wouldn't have anything for potent offensive threats like Shell Smashers (especially Barbaracle), Pawniard, or CB Scrappy Stoutland. What's more is that there's not even an Electric immunity to stop momentum gained via Volt Switch.

In other words, by ignoring these common threats, you could say that this team is basically throwing out conventional team building basics in favor of cramming as many low-ranked Pokemon on one team as it can in order to achieve the highest score possible. You could therefore argue that this thread has the potential to make the PU ladder even worse than it is right now. I already see plenty of gimmicks on the ladder as it is, so I wasn't exactly ecstatic when I saw Choice Specs Regigigas a little less than a week ago. Instead, what I really want to see is more effective team building that actually addresses the PU meta as a whole by taking into account how to beat relevant threats, while not starting the game 5-6 (with your sixth mon being a clearly acknowledged gimmick). I more or less understood the main purpose of this thread as a challenge to incorporate infrequently used Pokemon into functional teams in order to examine how effective the Dark Horse was, why it worked, and what sets it could use that would make it viable.

By using multiple, low-ranked Pokemon on the same team, you're essentially allotting less analysis to each Pokemon and placing more emphasis on the end score, which takes away from the original value of this thread. One way to look at this could be: would you submit any of these teams as a sample team? And if so, would they be accepted? Were these novel tactics actually effective, or just something to alleviate boredom in a stale meta? New standards can be made if what you've shown off in this thread is truly effective and if enough analysis of each individual dark horse candidate has been done.

I'm really posting this to just say keep ladder quality in mind when you're laddering with and posting Dark Horse teams, and to keep analyzing why the Pokemon you used was effective, while refraining from using replays against clearly new players as justification for why your Dark Horse candidate worked.
 
Yeah I know about the obvious problem of ladder quality vs not quality, we actually talked about it a lot in ps yesterday. To be completely honest I think I was on something when I made that team and have been waiting to build an actual viable team to replace it with with a dark horse. So sorry about that. As for things like specs regigigas, it is posted under its analysis as other options so it's at least relatively usable.in a perfect world, the dark horse player would give more positive/negative feedback regarding their dark horse to give a better picture of how it did/fare in the meta. However, only I and one other have given feedback so far.

However, sorry about the other team, seriously. I don't know what I was thinking when I posted it and have been waiting to edit it, as it really is gimmick compared to other teams I have built. Honestly was just trying to have fun with that team and shouldn't have brought it to this thread, that already has a bad connotation.

Thankfully I might be implementing a really fun idea to dark horse soon that will increase activity and showcase quality better. I will reveal it as soon as it is double approved. Thank you for the input 2xthetap ^^
 

2xTheTap

YuGiOh main
is a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
Focusing on one mon at a time might be nice too, so that the amount/quality of analysis each week's Dark Horse gets is increased. It'd be cool to see each player's choice fleshed out a bit more, as I definitely know more thought went into the selection of these seldomly used mons (RawMelon's Lombre up there is a good example of something that hasn't been talked about yet).
 
Why lombre?
A: I wanted to find something that easily beats Pilo that wasn't named Poliwrath (although I also used Machoke). It just so happened that Lombre can actually check multiple threats that I didn't originally aim to check such as Poliwrath, Barbaracle, Costa, scarf Mime, Zeb, Raichu, and the list goes on.

Did it work out well?
A: Lombre has done very well, one huge issue was that he is a free switch in for Roselia or Arbok but with proper back up it hasn't been too troublesome. The set I used was Scald, Giga Drain, Toxic, Synthesis with mixed bulk and enough speed to creep Piloswine and other mons in that speed tier. Against balanced teams that lack reliable recovery you can easily toxic stall mons that can't 2hko.

Would you ever use it again?
A: If I'm running a balanced stallish team I would definitely give it another shot. However, on a standard team it needs a bit of support to not end up being a liability and set up bait. I also recommend that you bring hard checks to arbok and roselia. Also, giga only really helps in the costa and barb match up so knock off is another option.
 
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Ok I updated your score RawMelon you now have 6 points! I might be updating this soon with something exciting, so stay tuned.

it is very likely that carracosta and barbaracle might get suspected. If this happens, You won't be able to use them on your teams until the pokemon are either not banned or banned. For now though, you can enjoy abusing both of them until that happens. I really am looking forward to seeing what you guys can showcase that makes use of the new meta! And like i said, stayed tuned for more updates ^^ Those leaderboard points and hall of fame might mean more soon!
 
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NEW UPDATE:

Now that it is definitely approved, I am adding a new thing to the Dark Horse Project! In order to get more activity, more quality, and more fun, the Dark Horse Project Tournament is now going to start going through its qualifying rounds! This is how it will work.

  • The tournament is an 8 man best of 1 tourney. Single Elimination
  • To qualify for this tourney you must get top 2 in hall of fame for the round.
  • There will be four qualifying rounds to get the 8 people.
  • These 8 people must use at least one dark horse from the team they used to get Hall of Fame in the tournament. For example, I am currently 2nd place with Huntail and Rampardos. I will have to use one of those pokemon in my team in the tournament in order to follow the rules if I qualify with that.
  • The winner will be be posted on the other post as a Dark horse champion, and have bragging rights :p
  • The leaderboard will determine the seeding of the players in the tournament.
  • It will be a lot of fun! This first one is only 8 people because we just started this project so its pretty small. However, if we get more activity and popularity we might expand the tournament. This is just a really fun way to work towards something in dark horse! Keep up the work ^^
ALSO, we are NOW using the new usage statistics. Everyone that is one the Hall of fame currently is still on it, and this round will last until the first of September. Anyone who already posted their teams that have pawn and poli and crap on it, sorry that nu stole your babies. If any of you already signed up before i announced this, don't fret, continue idc. It wouldnt be fair for me to say you can't keep going now. The Dark horse of the month is staying the same because I want some more people doing it and some are also already doing the challenge with it, so It wouldn't be fair to change that either. But nevertheless, THE NEW USAGE STATISTICS ARE WHAT WE ARE USING NOW

Good luck to everyone pushing for top two this round, and I might edit this with the new dark horses we got that may be fun to try.
 
Alt Name: Magmar Too Good
Dark Horses Used: Magmar, Lapras, Rampardos

Monferno @ Focus Sash
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt
- Overheat
- Endeavor

Dusknoir @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Pain Split
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Memento

Magmar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Vital Spirit
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Belly Drum
- Thunder Punch
- Fire Punch
- Mach Punch

Rampardos @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Slide
- Superpower
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Beam

Lapras @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 208 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Freeze-Dry
- Toxic

Swanna @ Life Orb
Ability: Hydration
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Scald
- Defog
- Roost
 
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Alt Name: Mighty Room
Dark horses: Octillery, Lampent, Carbink, Chimecho
Importable:
Carbink @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
- Magic Coat

Octillery @ Life Orb
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Acid Spray
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

Chimecho @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Healing Wish
- Psychic
- Recover

Ursaring @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Facade
- Close Combat
- Crunch
- Swords Dance

Mightyena @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Crunch
- Play Rough
- Iron Tail

Lampent @ Eviolite
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 252 SpA / 8 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball


Usage: 17.12 (lol)
 
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Congrats nihilos you earned 11 points. Here are some of my questions regarding your usage of regigigas.

Regigigas @ Leftovers
Ability: Slow Start
Happiness: 0
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Substitute
- Frustration
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch

This set is very different from what we've been seeing used. Was it effective?

Why run max special bulk on a sub+3 attacks set?

Would you run this pokemon again?
 
Was it effective?
Depending on the matchup yes, it does great vs more bulky teams, he acts like a stall-breaker mon.They can't break his subs easily and that allows him to get past SS and sweep. Vs HO he does alright, although he can't stay in for very long,not being able to tank the more powerful attackers. He might be able to sack 1-2 of their mons. Like any Regigigas he is really afraid of phazing.

Why run max special bulk?
This set is supposed to be used with a bulk up pass from Floatzel, the special bulk+bulk up defense boost,substitute,leftovers and drain punch make him into a huge tank that is hard to take down in this tier. I run 3 attacks for more coverage because thunder wave isn't really needed on this set, especially after the 5 turns are gone.

Would i run again?
I would definitely run Regigigas again, i love using him but this set isn't to splashable because you need to use it with another mon. Maybe would run this set again if PU happens to become a more stall-based tier.

Some Replays:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pu-256395656
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/pu-255603932

Gold! http://imgur.com/QUMUWtW
 
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lol gj, you know you can edit your team to make it good right? Here are your questions.

Was magmar effective at sweeping with Belly Drum, or was it too much of a liability for its worth?

What reasons would you run magmar over something else like linoone.

Would you ever use magmar again?


Of course, additional feedback is much appreciated!

Your usage was 24.75%, and You got 4 points. Also, sadly lapras and rampardos aren't dark horses anymore. However you will get the dark horse credit for magmar. Anyone who made hall of fame and submitted entry form before i posted statistics though can keep those two pokemon in hall of fame.
 
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lol gj, you know you can edit your team to make it good right? Here are your questions.

Was magmar effective at sweeping with Belly Drum, or was it too much of a liability for its worth?

What reasons would you run magmar over something else like linoone.

Would you ever use magmar again?


Of course, additional feedback is much appreciated!

Your usage was 24.75%, and You got 4 points. Also, sadly lapras and rampardos aren't dark horses anymore. However you will get the dark horse credit for magmar. Anyone who made hall of fame and submitted entry form before i posted statistics though can keep those two pokemon in hall of fame.
It was pretty effective at sweeping, but its one problem was its lack of good priority. It could take a hit, but many other sweepers were faster. I tended to really on Rampardos more.
I would never really run Magmar over Linoone, I just thought it was fun to use.
I would never use Magmar again unless it is for a fun team.
 

rubsomebacononit

I was cringe and annoying when I was on smogon RIP
is a Contributor Alumnus
Alt Name: Lol I'm Laddering
Dark Horses: Regigigas and Kricketune

Mr. Mime @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Filter
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish
- Focus Blast

Regigigas @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Slow Start
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Return
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off

Kricketune @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sticky Web
- Taunt
- Endeavor
- Knock Off

Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Moonblast
- Thunder Wave
- Stealth Rock

Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Shadow Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Memento

Purugly @ Silk Scarf
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
 
Hello, this is my first post on Smogon and i'd like to post a team with Slaking where ive reached 1400 ELO with.

Alt Name: KingKongsRevenge Dark Horses Used: Slaking

Piloswine @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Ice Shard

Dodrio @ Choice Band
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Brave Bird
- Quick Attack
- Knock Off

Leavanny @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swarm
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Knock Off
- X-Scissor
- Sticky Web
- Leaf Storm

Huntail @ White Herb
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 56 Atk / 252 SpA / 200 Spe
Rash Nature
- Shell Smash
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Sucker Punch

Slaking @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Retaliate
- Earthquake
- Night Slash

Kadabra @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- Dazzling Gleam
- Encore
 

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This project is dead because Ztstaffo hasn't been online in a month. Sorry you went through all the effort for nothing but I'm locking this thread because a project can't exactly go on without the person who's running it.

Also Slaking is garbage and nowhere near viable, just use Stoutland instead
 
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