Subject: Oh, absolutely.
Author:
Posted on: 2015-06-11 15:46:00 UTC
I've a team I've been wanting to improve on. Seems as good a time as any to pull them out for a bit of practice. May not have much time for it today due to a bit of late spring cleaning, but I'm up for pitting them against Miss Notary's band sometime soon.
I've made a deal with myself that I won't spend all my money on a new pokemon game until I've beaten the ones that I already have.
So to make it more of a challenge for myself, I'm playing through Black 2 with only my trustworthy ottowat, Tatertot. I've already beaten the first two gym leaders and I'm pretty confident that I'm gonna kick butt.
I just throw moves at things until they die. To me, the level matters more than the type matchups. That sort of carried over from when I was a kid and couldn't be bothered to memorize type matchups. I also have a really weird connection to my starter pokemon, It's always in my party.
My focus is on the Pokédex, so I only use Pokémon until they become fully evolved. Then, I put them in the PC and grab the next-closest to final evolution. It takes a long time; I've been playing Pokémon Y for over a year now, and I've only just reached the fourth gym this week.
It also becomes rather daunting later in the game, when I have a team of NFEs going up against NPCs' full evolutions. I guess it's a "Not Fully Evolved Challenge," though that's not really my aim.
(And I've never really been into the online battle scene.)
—doctorlit, the admitted %100 completion-obsessed
And thanks to Plat being a fantastic guy, I had two for my White Version play-through, instead of just the one!
May I direct The Book Repairman’s attention to this? I’m feeling awkward here and can use every support I can get.
HG, by common non-objection Wechi’s delegate at the Baronial Council of the Union of Plort.
I've written a couple of stories for the whole Protectorate of Plort thing, but I never really saw much interest in the RPing aspect. And geography has always been beyond me, whether real or fictional. I can't really make out what you're saying in that link (or, frankly, what anyone is saying in that entire thread). :(
A short supporting response to the post would be sufficient :-)
Since we Wiki people are a basic democratic folks, we cannot allow the barons to decide how the new nation shall be governed; this should be decided by the people of this new nation. That’s all I attempt to achieve; everything else in this document is just supporting what hS and apparently everybody else intends to do anyway. I would really like to have this signed by all known residents of the Commonwealth of Wechi. There are only five: Neshomeh, you, me, eatpraylove and Baroom.
HG
Because Samurott's actually p good. You shouldn't have too much trouble. =]
I actually don't like the final evolution of oshawott so I'm not going to allow Tatertot to evolve past dewott. It's really an aesthetic thing.
I agree that samurott is pretty great. I had an oshawott starter in Pokemon Black that I let evolve all of the way.
Dewott is just the perfect combination of cute and cool-looking. It's my favorite Water-type starter (maybe even favorite Water-type in general). Meanwhile, Samurott's just kind of... blah. Not bad-looking exactly, but design-wise Dewott's got leagues on it. I feel the much same about Servine vs Serperior too. Gen V's middle evolutions were great.
By the by, Tatertot is an absolutely adorable name.
Serperior is, of course, the best of the Gen V bunch, let no one tell you any different. *Is totally not biased due to Nuzlocke challenge experiences.*
*high fives*
After several Coils, there isn't much it can't wreck with Leaf Blade. Single-handedly took out Ghetsis in a monolocke. >:)
It was a Serperior that took me all the way to Ghetsis the one time I managed to make it that far. Unfortunately, she and the rest of the team didn't make it through the battle. But she goes on in my heart (and also my competitive mono Grass team)!
Contrary Serperior is best Serperior, and is also now tournament-legal. Ride the Leaf Storm to victory! =]
It's called Serperior for a very good reason.
But Feraligatr (curse that ten-letter name limit in Gen 2!) has Sheer Force as a hidden ability and a much better stat distribution for its moveset. With Serperior, you kind of have to base your entire attacking set around its weirdly high Speed and access to Contrary Leaf Storm, whereas General LazerGator has a lot more versatility. =]
Serperior has a much less versatile attacking move pool, I'll grant you that, but the combination of that weirdly high speed, decent bulk and a, frankly, under-appreciated status movepool grants some pretty great support/annoyance potential. The Serperior on my Grass team has even managed to rival my Whimsicott's staying power with a combination of clever (read: annoying) tactics and draining moves (admittedly, in a previous generation. I don't know how well she'd fair in the current competitive climate. I've gotta dust off the old Grass team one of these days and give them a spin.).
Grass as an attacking type has always been subpar, and you can't really use Leaf Storm because so much resists it. Serperior's bulk is... acceptable? Sort of? It's about average, really, but Grass is frankly one of the more ropey defensive typings. The Ground-type resistance is useful, I'll grant you, but it's weak to a combination of total rubbish and very common coverage moves like Flamethrower. Poison being super-effective also hurts, as Poison-types are experiencing something of a renaissance in Gen VI with the advent of Fairy-type and its weaknesses to pollution (thanks Ferngully fairies) and cold iron (thanks High European we-spell-it-with-an-ae-cuz-it-am-the-cool faeries). It can offer some useful stuff, but pure Grass-type's actually quite rubbish.
That said, STAB Leaf Storm'll cover a multitude of sins after a decent boost, and it does have access to Giga Drain if memory serves, so whack on an AssVest and a couple of other coverage moves (does it get Earth Power? idk) and give it 128 EVs in Special Attack and Special Defense along with 252 in Speed. It'll be handy as a lategame sweeper or for use as a wallbreaker against bulky walls. =]
Apparently, this is the optimal competitive set on Showdown:-
Serperior @ Life Orb
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP (all others standard - this spread decreases the damage from your LO)
252 SpA/4 SpD/252 Spe
Leaf Storm
Dragon Pulse
Hidden Power Fire
Giga Drain
There are arguments to be made for Glare, Taunt, and Synthesis in that last slot, but a boosted Giga Drain can heal a lot and still do decent damage. Dragon Pulse is there for coverage and HP Fire is the way to go - there are arguments for HP Ground, chief among them being Heatran, but Fire hits more stuff harder, like Scizor and Ferrothorn. It has a simple function, that being Leaf Spam and its inbuilt Nasty Plot, and it's effective in OU, especially because of its ability to outspeed common threats unboosted - and since it can't boost its speed because Contrary, that's an important thing to remember.
Its bulk ain't great and sometimes it fails in its duty to OHKO bulky Water-types (though Mega Swampert gets rekt), but there's quite a lot to like about Serperior. Hopefully its inevitable Mega retains Contrary and a halfway-decent secondary typing. It'd be interesting for it to get, say, Dragon-type and have it be some kind of Eastern wyrm-lookin' thing, and it'd fit in with the regal theme it's got going on - plus, Dragon Pulse is about the only proper coverage move it has, so, y'know, there's that. Ground-type would also be interesting if it got some proper coverage, though that nasty 4x weakness to Flying is unpleasant in a tier with Talonflame in it.
Please accept my apologies: Serperior is superior, and I was wrong to assert otherwise. =]
It'd be completely appropriate too, considering the connection between Serperior and its preeveolutions to the sun, according to the Pokedex (which hasn't really seen any in-game utility thus far). Instead of Contrary, then, it could have Drought. It'd lose it's free boost with Leaf Storm, but you could, say, keep it unevolved for a turn or two to set up, then evolve and wreck with Flamethrower and Giga Drain. They'd have to give it a completely new set of moves to account for the type change, but it'd not be the first time that's happened (coughcoughHeracrosscough).
Whatever typing they give it though, lots of gold ornamental fringes and frills and a massive headdress is definitely the to go. It is royalty after all, and who wouldn't want to see a Time Lord Serperior?
The Notary WILL get one. So shall it be. =]
(and they will bicker and argue and occasionally get into slap fights and it'll be so cute)
Gamefreak, don't let us down.
Now you've got me thinking now what kind of Pokemon the Notary would have if she trained. Along with Serperior, I feel like Froslass would match well with her. Somehow an Ice/Ghost type just fits. Heavens knows why.
After that last Continuity Council, Gothitelle seems to fit the bill pretty well too (or perhaps Gothorita, considering). :P
Serperior @ Life Orb
Contrary
Timid Nature
IVs: 29/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moveset:-
Leaf Storm
Dragon Pulse
Hidden Power Fire
Glare (come on, it's the Notary's mon, of course it runs Glare)
---
Persian @ Life Orb
Technician
Timid Nature
IVs: Full
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:
Nasty Plot
Hyper Voice
Icy Wind
Hidden Power Ghost
((Smogon recommends Water Pulse over Icy Wind, but personally, I think Tree likes to be a tricksy hobbitses and goes for the speed-lowering.))
---
Venomoth @ Black Sludge
Wonder Skin
Timid Nature
IVs: Full
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 Spe
Moveset:-
Sleep Powder
Quiver Dance
Baton Pass
Bug Buzz ((Substitute's also good here, but Tree Does Not Care For Taunt.))
---
Starmie @ Life Orb
Analytic
Timid Nature
IVs: Full
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Moveset:-
Hydro Pump
Ice Beam
Thunderbolt
Rapid Spin
((This is the Starmie set that best synergises with her QuiverPass moth friend. I wanted to use the Reflect Type set on her, but, well, she's not really about that. Though it is pretty awesome. While Rapid Spin's a bit of a dead rubber, it's also a really good way to get around entry hazards as long as you've dealt with any Ghost-types.))
---
Talonflame @ Choice Band (one day they'll bring back the type gems, tf, and then you'll be in Ubers no question)
Gale Wings
Adamant Nature
IVs: Full
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moveset:-
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz
U-Turn
Steel Wing
((This is Tree's revenge killer, and one of the best at that role in Pokemon. THE NOTARY SHALL HAVE HER VENGEANCE!))
---
Sharpedo @ Sharpedoite
Speed Boost --> Strong Jaw
Adamant Nature
IVs: Full
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moveset:-
Protect
Crunch
Waterfall
Ice Fang
((Protect -> Speed Boost activates -> MEvolve -> Hit like a speeding bus with a front grille made of landmines. Job done.))
---
And dat dat! Tree is difficult, but not impossible to beat. Her style is fast-paced, fragile, and involves rushing the enemy down. Mostly. She has the option to boost her special sweepers (in the form of Quiver Dance, which is AMAZING), but not so much her physical ones, though how much of a boost something like Mega Sharpedo really needs is open to interpretation. =]
Beating down the opponent with a show of superior strength and strategy is so much Notary. Would be interesting to see her actually on the field battling with them. I can't imagine, though, that she'd be caught dead enjoying playing a human children's game about catching and raising cute monsters (but, I can see her obsessing over getting the perfect set of IVs and EVs for her perfect team of superior Pokemon).
By the way, liking the usage of Persian. Weak as it is and paper-thin as its defenses may be, it is still pretty awesome. Though, I do have a bit of a soft spot for cats (having made an entire team of them) and Technician users (see: my Ambipom, Scizor, Breloom and Roserade, even if she can't properly utilize it)
I tried to get the Notary to use 'mons that reflected both her personality and her approach, which is to come at things a bit sideways and crush the foe completely, hence Persian. As an aside, I was debating whether or not to use a physical set with Covet, Bite (90 BP, 30% flinch hax chance, what's not to love?), Aerial Ace, and U-Turn and kick her out as a lead/scout, but she's a bit fragile for that and besides, it gives the Venomoth another person to QuiverPass to. Seriously, Quiver Dance is such a brilliant boosting move. The only better one I can think of is Shift Gear, and that really only benefits Sharpedo and Talonflame (because Talonflame needs more speed. =])
But yeah, I actually made this team on Showdown if you ever feel like having a go against Tree. I'm not terribly well-practiced with it yet, but oh well, them's the breaks. =]
I've a team I've been wanting to improve on. Seems as good a time as any to pull them out for a bit of practice. May not have much time for it today due to a bit of late spring cleaning, but I'm up for pitting them against Miss Notary's band sometime soon.
I've a UU team that's rearing to battle something that isn't randoms.
Its special movepool is basically Grass and Dragon, and because Dragons are kind of going out of style thanks to the aforementioned Fairy type, without STAB to make those moves more effective, its special coverage potential is pretty abysmal. Contrary does somewhat make up for this, of course (a Leaf Storm-Boosted Hidden Power can be pretty devastating) but the lack of stronger coverage moves hurts pretty badly. That said, the physical movepool is so much more promising, boasting the likes of Aqua Tail, Outrage and Knock Off. With Coil, it could even perhaps make Iron Tail work. If they added Superpower or Horn Leech to the mix (unlikely though that is), Physical Serperior might actually have some presence.
All that said, I may have to concede that my beloved Support Serperior no longer works in this generation. In fact, my entire Grass mono seems hopelessly, utterly outmatched. It's going to take some major tweaking to get them back in working order.
Try a Nuzlocke challenge. I'm a tiny bit addicted, myself. ^^;
Yikes, that's a pretty daunting set of rules. All of my respect to someone who follows those rules to beat the game. Have you seen the Youngster Joey Challenge ? It's what inspired me to take this journey with my oshawatt.
I prefer the Avatar:The Last Airbender challenge. Lots of fun, that.
-Phobos
I mean, just pick Earth Nation, get a Lucario and Lucarionite, win 4 days. =]
Also, yeah, AtLA challengers who pick the Earth Kingdom would wreck everything with Mega Lucario, but it's supposed to be a challenge. >:)
Can I have him? Please, please, pleaaaase! *stares hypnotized at the cute snout*
Well, I'll be doing a Water Tribes Emerald run. Bound to be fun.
Go for Treecko. Watch in horror as your rival gets Blaziken and misuses it terribly. =]
