Speaking of raising, do you want a 5IV Cleffa with Covet named Clefto? Or 5IV Skitties? I have several boxes of them.
Persona, the saddest things is that I do not even own the actual Pokemon games. I just play Showdown.
Maybe when I return to the US I will try my hand at the tournament scene and actually get a copy of the new games and just buy my top Smogon teams from breeders. But for now Iâm really happy just battling in my browser.
Thanks for the offer, thoughâreally cool of you!
This is actually a huge relief. I thought your write-up came out very horoscopey, and you didnât really have a strong reaction; so I thought I had totally whiffed. That totally makes me feel better!
If Iâm not sure of what to make someone, I at least want to write a decent overlong fortune cookie.
@ArOne, your love of anime, fighters, and anime-fighters makes you a Lucario, possibly the most anime and one of the more fightinest pokemon out there.
Plus, I bet a lot of furries wanna have sex with you or watch you have sex.
You could mega-evolve to Mega-Lucario, but then youâd be on the low-end of the Uber tier, and do you really wanna hang out with all those intimidating god-beasts when you can just chill with your friends and talk about who would win in a fight: Hitmonlee or Medichamp?
Close Combat is your main stab attack with Bullet Punch for STAB bonus and a likely first hit against anything other than a Talonflame, which will almost certainly Bravebird you right in the goddamn face. Weâve boosted your HP and attack to make you a mid-game bruise, with Sword Dance allowing you to capitalize on any switch out or heal turns your opponent takes. If you anticipate a break in their rhythm, take the opportunity to 'roid up a bit to make your next attack all that much more lethal.
ArOne (Lucario) @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Drain Punch
- Swords Dance
The doctors tell you you shouldnât use Life Orb, but you know that a bird in hand is worth two in the bush and surviving in the moment is worth a slow decline.
Hereâs the thing though: shonen sports drama secret: you want to live.
Your trainer, heâs going to want you to learn Iron Tail or Ice Punch to spread out your typing and sacrifice your HP boosts for speed. But you know the only way youâre going to make it for the long-haul is with Drain Punch, another fighting move which heals you for 50% of the damage done.
This means that to live, you must kill. Every 1/10th of your HP that that Life Orb sucks, youâll need to make back in blood, each punch saying, âI am not disposable.â
'Course, youâre still weak to Fire, Fighting, and Ground attacks, and Bullet Punch only leaves you a weak answer to Fairies and Psychics.
But survival is survival, and who would you be without limits?
At the very least, youâll always have your Inner Focus, which means that you never flinch, no matter how many bigger pokemon move their hand really fast at your head but stop at the last minute before touching you (thus not technically doing anything that could get them expelled).
And thatâs priceless.
@Kilroy, itâs after much consideration that I determined that you are not actually a pikachu or raichu, as your fursona might indicate. Instead your dedication to learning programming languages and earning degrees and certifications makes you a mewâthe only pokemon who can learn every TM and HM in the game.
As a mew, you start with base 100 stats in every category, which gives you a solid standing in the OU metagame but also makes you universally great at everything and the best at nothing. By design, mew is a blank slate, but in an incredibly competitive metagame climate not having a strong and obvious strength (either from a particularly high stat, useful move, wide move pool orâideallyâall three) actually seems to close more opportunities than it opens.
You can theoretically do anything, and yet with many builds the response will always be, âWell, why not use Chansey for that? Its base HP is so crazy!â or âBut you could do the same thing with Dragonite and get that dragon typing.â
You might be used as a Defogger, since Defog (one of the few moves that clears deadly and annoying hazards from the field) is relatively rare, and pairs well tactically with other chip damage status effect moves that you can use.
Except, youâre not much of a utility player by nature. Youre more of a saver and a scrapperâa pokemon who believes that the best defense is a good offense, and is willing to sacrifice a turn to work towards the safety of guaranteed OHKOâs.
[code]Kilroy (Mew) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- Nasty Plot
- Soft-Boiled[/code]
With that in mind, weâll max out your Speed and Special Attack and dedicate your moveset towards making you a Setup Sweeper. At your first opportunityâwhen you anticipate an opponent switching out or using a heal or protect moveâuse Nasty Plot to raise your Special Attack by 2. That should be enough to allow you to OHKO the majority of the metagame with Focus Blast or Psychic. Focus Blast is the more powerful move, but it misses sometimes and wonât hit Ghosts. Psychic is your STAB attack, strong against Fighting and Poison types.
Soft-Boiled heals 50% of your max HP, which keeps you in the game, taking punches and doling out mind missiles. Ultimately, your strong Psychic typing makes you defensively weak to Bug, Ghost, and Dark, and both your moves are weak to Bug. But then, there are very few pure bugs in the OU. Just watch out for Mega-Pinsir and Mega-Heracross. You can use Focus Blast on Mega-Scizor, since itâs part Steel.
Ultimately some other pokemon could potentially be a stronger sweeper with better STAB moves and more defensive typing. But few will have the HP, Defense/Sp Defense, and reliable recover move to take a hit and bounce back like you. This gives you the opportunity to be risky with your set ups and to stay in longer, making you a killer first and a survivor as a close second.
Future Notes: FYI, Kilroy was my first mew build and turned out to be so effective in testing that I endd up using her quite a bit in my main teams. I havenât been using her much lately, just because I never seem to stick with one team for too long; but I consider her to be a very reliable Sweeper, and probably one of the most effective members of the SB team.
I tend to avoid the pokemon meta game, but I am also horribly self-indulgent, so
Wait, what does self-indulgence have to do with it?
You mean, because you only like to play single-player campaigns?
@Mikey, you were pretty hard to pin down. You donât really have a strong gimmick as a poster. However, you do have some kind of job that involves travelling around the country and hard drives or something, so Iâm just going to assume it involves GPS mapping and make you a crobat.
Now, like some of our other SBrethren, saying that you can make it in OU is kind of a stretch. Sure, youâre fast as hell, and your Attack isnât too bad. But your main issue is your defense. Most pokemon in the OU would OHKO or 2HKO you pretty easily, and youâd have trouble even 3HKOâing them.
However, if you pick the right moves and are willing to make some concessions when it comes to your held item, we can make you the kind of crobat that excels at the UU level and could definitely do a bit of damage in the OU.
Future Edit: This turned out to be completely wrong. Mikey-bat CLEANS UP. First off, heâs Flying/Poison, which makes him double-resistant to Fighting, Grass and Bug and a serious threat to Fairies and Fighting, two major threats in the OU format this generation. Basically, Mikey counterbalances friendly Psychics, Fairies, Dragons, and Dark pokemon really well, which is really useful, since those are by far the most popular Sweeper typingsâthe same typings heâs proficient at killing. Basically, I think this build proves that crobat is supremely underrated.
[code]Mikey (Crobat) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Super Fang
- Cross Poison[/code]
First of all, letâs max out that Speed and Attack, making you one of the faster pokemon, even in the OU. Great, so now you will usually attack first. Now to make those attacks matter, weâll have to give you the right moveset. Brave Bird is a quasi-kamikaze move. It does a ton of damage and is 100% accurate, but youâll take 33% of the damage you do. That makes you a bit of ticking clock. You can excel, but you burn out. If youâre up against a Wall of any kind, use Super Fang. This is 90% accurate and halves the opponents current HP. This makes you a bit of a secret weapon for the team. If you know an opponent canât be OHKOâed by Brave Bird, start by halving their HP, a move that will supremely annoy bulky pokemon who think youâre crazy for even being in the game. You also have the ability Infiltrator, which allows your moves to attack through a lot of the gameâs blocking moves. This makes you a great answer to Substitute. When your opponent puts out their substitute and loses 1/4 their HP, you can just take another half.
Cross Poison is your Poison STAB move, which your can use against Grass or Fairy types. Or if you want to poison something right before it kills you.
Youâre going to go against common wisdom in two ways: instead of U-Turn, youâre going to learn Roost. Rather than escaping, youâll stand and fight. Running is just prolonging the inevitable (since you canât re-enter on Stealth Rock), and if you get a window to Roost, youâll get more bang out of your buck, anyway.
Youâre also going to hold a Sitrus Berry instead of a Choice Band. Choice Band raises your Attack by 50%, but only allows you to use one move. The thing is that even with Choice Band, youâre not going to OHKO any pokemon thatâs neutral to your attack typing. And any pokemon that youâr super-effective to would OHKO without it. And whatâs the point of having Super Fang and Roost, if you have to take yourself out of battle in order to use a different move?
Instead, youâll hold Sitrus Berry, which restores 1/4 of your HP after you hit 1/2 HP, and can only be used one time. For you, this is better than gaining 1/16 HP every turn with Leftovers or Black Sludge, because it allows you to survive the recoil from your Brave Bird or a non-fatal hit from a typical OU attacker.
Your encounters will go quick, so itâs better to have a sudden bounce back, rather than gradual and patient return. Go in big, and take what you get.
Ultimately, youâre an odd variation of a standard strategy. Your investment in healing, rather than maximum attack and retreat speaks to a pokemon that ultimately has faith in their ability to survive in unlikely ways with maybe more than a little luck.
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@Gorblax, I was reluctant to make you a Snorlax, firstly because itâs a bit expected. Iâm not even sure how or why I know itâs your favorite pokemon; I think itâs just something that oozes out of knowing you. Regardless, I was hesistant to represent you with what is essentially a waddling fat joke. However, like Snorlax, your gentle nature and Normal typing make you surprisingly formidable. While you come off as sweet and self-deprecating, first impressions belie a fierce quality: a terrifying ability to sublimate self-effacement into diligent self-improvement.*
Of course, your greatest ally will always be your bulk. With uncommonly high HP and Special Defense youâre a natural wall. But your high tier Attack pairs your ability to take punches with an ever-looming threat of retribution.
To even out your bulk, weâre going to invest fully in your Defense stat, andâgoing slightly off bookâweâre also going to fully invest in HP, making you a complete wall. No pokemon in the tier could even 2HKO you without some serious in-battle stat boosts (save for a powerful Fighting type, your one weakness). On top of that, weâre gong to give you some Leftovers to nosh on for 1/16 HP heal per turn, the ability Immunity for poison-proofing, andâthis is the big oneâthe move Substitute to keep you out of the fray and status effect free.
Gorblax (Snorlax) @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Atk
Impish Nature
- Curse
- Body Slam
- Metronome
- Substitute
Substitute is the secret sauce that makes Gorblax special. While Snorlaxâs non-attack slots are typically used for Rest (fully heal & fall asleep) and Sleep Talk (while asleep, randomly selects one of your moves), this doesnât do much to protect snorlax from the typical anti-wall strategy of wearing them down with status effects. Despite your major bulk, you arenât actually that fond of taking a punch. If anyone is going to hurt you, itâs going to be you. Youâd rather take 1/4 of your own HP, put it in a doll, and have people beat up on that. Firstly because your kinky like that, and secondly because that way youâre immune to status effects; and your Leftovers can heal you while your enemies have to waste as many turns as it takes to wear down 131 HP of a highly bulky opponent. Substitute works incredibly well with snorlax, because it will almost always buy you an extra turn or two.
What do we do in that extra turn? Well, after tasting a bit of your own bloodâlike a lot of usâyou can get a bitâŚself destructive. Yâknow: negative thoughts compound, and we just kind of spiral. Maybe you remember some cringe moment from long ago, and you just canât help but utter Curse under your breathe. Thankfully, since youâre not a Ghost, Curse boosts your Attack and Special Attack by x1.5 and decreases your Speed accordingly. Luckily, you were never going to be a speed demon (letâs be honest). Your whole style is built around going second. But going second doesnât matter when everything slides off you, when nothing can hurt you, and the only real damage is the damage you do to yourself.
With your substitute up, you can Curse yourself as many times as youâre able. Just be sure to raise another substitute when you feel like your opponentâs about to break through. One Curse is probably enough for a mini-sweep. Two Curses should be a full sweep. If you can get up to 4 boosts, the battle is yours to lose.
Hereâs where your two remaining slots come in. We use Body Slam as your Normal STAB. It does 85 bp with a 10% chance to paralyze the opponent. Itâs tempting to give you Mega Kick for 120 bp, but with only 75% accuracy, itâs just not reliable enough for you. Thatâs not to say that you donât take risks, however. Gorblax being Gorblax, youâre willing to live or die by the RNG. While Crunch would give you much needed coverage against Ghosts (which are immune to body slam), you canât help but learn your favorite move: Metronome. When in a stalemate with a Ghost, throw those digital bones and see what move appears.
Realistically, once youâre set up, the only 'mons that can stand in your way are a strong Fighting pokemon (the one type that Normal is weak to), a Ghost pokemon (see above), or possibly an Unaware clefable (ability that makes you ignore status changes).
So there you have it: the most unassuming gentle giant can, with the right cocktail of pros and cons, turn out to be the sleeper (ba-dum-cha) 'mon of the team.
*I know this line is going to make Gorblax think, âWhat the hell is he talking about?â I consider creating a ton of fun podcasts, web projects, and super-lists to be self-improvement. Creative production is its own reward.
Future Edit: This is probably the build that Iâm most proud of, though itâs actually the first step to a variation I made after this. Curselax isnât unique, but giving it Substitute and Immunity (poison doesnât work on it) isâand it makes a huge difference. I actually donât want to reveal the update Iâve made to this build, because Iâve literally never seen anyone use it and this is the public forum. I know thatâs a little lame/greasy, but having a tricky build that is both reliable and surprising is pretty rare these days; and I want to enjoy it while it lasts.
I think what I like most about my Lucario build is that it sounds like a good build to use in the wild since I can keep myself alive from battle to battle with the only limiting factor being individual move power points.
Wasnât there an item that increased PP for attacks? How does that factor into the competitive meta?
Iâm saying that having a long post dedicated to making a Pokemon version of me down to attack and stat choice sounds really cool, even if I only play the games casually.
Gotcha! Youâre on the list Courier!
Were you on SB? I have no idea who most of the updated handles are. I thought Cuba was Elder Toups for, like, two weeks.
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I was very briefly on the old forums with the same name (I had an avatar of Sunset, the cowboy from Live A Live). Mostly just lurked for years. Everybody moving to SB2 gave me the motivation to start over, and itâs been good!
Eh. PP doesnât matter outside of stall matches, which canât happen in official tournaments (which are now timed) and is made very unlikely by Smogon rulesets (which are continually updated to make boring strategies unviable).
Oh, also there are no non-held items in competition battles, so items donât matter at all. The lack of items are are what make healing so precious. Maybe thereâs a held item that increases PP, but itâs such a non-concern that Iâm not even aware of it!
But yeah, I think your lucario is totally viable for a single player campaign. If you raise it, I totally want to hear about it!
Oh cool! Yeah: Iâve definitely noticed you as a poster, so much so that I figured you were an old regular that I just didnât recognize. Really glad that the new digs have given people the opportunity to come out of the shadows.
@Tulpa youâre a floppy-haired cat person whose alignment could best be described as âgood bad, but not evil.â So obviously, youâre a mega-absol.
Though you start out only moderately threatening, once you get your first hit in, you mega-evolve, boosting your Speed and Physical Attack to heroic levels. Unfortunately, your Defense and Special Defense remain relatively low, meaning youâre excellent at dishing out but not great when it comes to taking it. For this reason youâre quite comfortable in the UU but have to be clever to make it in an OU full of aggressive attackers. That said, your pure Dark typing is an ally, making you completely immune to intellectual attacks and skeptical of Ghosts. So, Psychic attacks canât hit you, and you do double damage to Psychics and Ghosties. On top of that, once you go mega you have the excellent ability Magic Bounce, which means that entry hazards and status effects bounce off of you and effect the opposite team.
[code]Tulpa (Absol-Mega) @ Absolite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Swords Dance
- Iron Tail[/code]
This gives you a niche as an excellent starter. If the opposite team has an entry hazard or wear-down pokemon, we throw you in and get you mega as fast as possible. To that end, weâll max out your Speed and Attack and give you Sucker Punch, a priority +1 move that is also a STAB move for your Dark typing. Even with your speed fully boosted, pre-mega there are plenty of pokemon faster than you. The caveat to Sucker Punch, however, is that your opponent must also be attacking or you miss. So, if you predict a hazard open, youâre probably better off going with another move.
Knock Off is the go-to STAB for every Dark type. Itâs a fairly powerful attack, does double damage if theyâre holding an item (they all are), and knocks the item off for good. Itâs a devastating move, even without type advantage. If you have a speed advantage already, youâll want to use that. If you ever get a free turn (you predict a switch-out, etc.), use Sword Dance for the +2 bonus to attack that makes you an effective early-term Sweeper.
Now, recall that you donât have much going for you, as far as Defense. Unfortunately, this severely limits your longevity. Without any viable heal options and niche offensive typing, youâre not likely to survive more than two hits. Add to that your weakness to Fairies and Fighting, and youâre in trouble. When it comes to Fighting types, youâre probably better of switching out. A switch to Gengar (or any Ghost) is a great option, as theyâll be immune to any Fighting attack that your opponent uses. For Fairies, you have a contingency plan in the way of Iron Tail. Even before mega-evolving, I believe your base speed stat is faster than most Fairies, and after mega-evolving it definitely is.
Actually, I just ran the numbers, and it looks like youâd have to switch out on Sylveon and Azumarill, but youâd have a double-effective, guaranteed KO on Mega-Diancie and Gardevoir, two major threats. However, you really canât reliably switch in on them.
The other option is to give you Play Rough, a Fairy type move that would 2HKO any Fighting threat. However, Mega-Lopunny outspeeds you with an OHKO, and Conkeldurr can out-priority you with an OHKO Mach Punch. Choice-scarf Keldeo can outspeed you and OHKO you with Secret Sword. So, in my estimation, you have more of a dark horse chance of edging off a Fairy type than Fighting. I can easily see a scenario in which someone threatens you with a Gardevoir or a Mega-Diancie, and you instantly surprise-KO them. It would be nice if you could switch-in on them, but as an alternative, you could use a wounded ally as fodder late-game (their death gives you a free chance to switch in without taking a hit). So there are options.
If Iâm being honest, the reality is that Mega-Diancie also has Magic Bounce, andâŚitâs kind of better than you in every way. So giving you the move you need to instantly revenge-kill it is too delicious to pass up.
So yeah: you can go tell Tulpaâs Wife that I made you an emo Sphynx. You now know your true tulpa. And anyone I fight using this thing will think that have a collection of poke-porn.
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I am still supremely satisfied to be a sleeper pick that will surprise your foes. Also I like Crobat a lot.
Yeah, what can I say? You have great synergy.
Actually in the VGC 2016 Doubles ruleset (the format used for official tournaments, with time limits, 4 'mon teams, and four pokemon on the field at once), I ran into a guy running an interesting crobat gambit with a very similar build.
Basically, you team up with a Fairy that has a very powerful move that attacks both of your opponent at once (Togekiss is a good choice). Crobat uses itâs awesome speed to halve the strongest opponentâs HP with Super Fang. Togekiss goes soon after (maybe next) and likely kills the halved opponent and might even OHKO the remaining opponent.
You do this two to four times and the battle is over (4 mon doubles goes really quick).
For this usage, you replace Roost or Cross Poison with Quick Guardâa move that always goes first and neutralizes priority attacks. This allows you to neutralize the chance of someone getting in before you consistently.
Itâs a pretty effective strategy that I want to try sometime. Not sure if it really holds up against some of the crazy legendaries that are allowed in VGC 2016.
Can I be the pokemans?
I want to be too! I was Zmann on the old forums, but Iâm not sure how much that will help!