Zen

Only bulky psychics, though - gliscor/skarmory go down quite readily even if infernape doesn't step up yet. Perhaps I'll work in a lucario.

@ Conor - Ferrothorn usually goes down to two or three Hurricanes. Usually, the confusion causes ferrothorn to hit itself at least once if there's more Hurricane being used. Plus, the power of Hurricane on swanna is 180 with STAB, so it leaves more than just a dent in the ol' durian. @ Dragonite - Vaporeon and politoed serve that role.

Since there's been a little drama over the recent server crashes... here's some news to hopefully lift up the spirits a little ^^ (assuming they went down to begin with) So, we, the Dodrio, have been going on an orchestral binge of late. And that means looking for awesome orchestral music online and listening to loads of it in one go! Naturally, fan-made or actual orchestral performances of the game tracks were included. And of course, we just had to find a sequence that seemed fitting for an actual orchestra, including an intermission and encore, of all things... (yes, we are obsessive like that... or maybe it's just Fen). This was meant to be posted earlier as a fun contribution to the Reborn forums, but... we lost the list. Yup, we lost the list of songs, since it somehow went missing from our bookmarks list So, sometime at the end of this week, we'll be treating you all... to a concert of sorts XD At the subforums for The Radio Tower, three separate topics will be made, with YouTube links to the various songs that make up the orchestral series. After all, good music is to be shared, isn't it? Pretentious, sure! Random, definitely! Weird, obviously! But fun, infinitely LOL

So, why not abuse Wide Guard some more? Made for doubles/triples, naturally. I do seem to enjoy those more than singles. --- Mienshao (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Inner Focus EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Brick Break - Rock Slide - Fake Out - Wide Guard --- Blaziken (F) @ Air Balloon Trait: Speed Boost EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Fire Punch - Shadow Claw - Earthquake - Swords Dance --- Hitmontop (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Intimidate EVs: 160 Atk / 96 Def / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Mach Punch - Rock Slide - Fake Out - Wide Guard --- Creeper (Infernape) (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Blaze EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Fake Out - Flamethrower - Grass Knot - Hidden Power [ice] --- Gallade (M) @ Lum Berry Trait: Steadfast EVs: 80 Def / 252 SDef / 176 Spd Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Shadow Sneak - Drain Punch - Earthquake - Bulk Up --- Assassin (Machamp) (F) @ Lum Berry Trait: No Guard EVs: 76 Atk / 236 Def / 196 SDef Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - DynamicPunch - Stone Edge - Bullet Punch - Wide Guard --- So, the idea is to lead with a Fake Out or two, depending on whether it's doubles/triples. Then, use the flinches for blaziken to get in a SD. Next turn, the speed boost would probably allow blaziken to go first with an Earthquake. Use either mienshao or hitmontop to Wide Guard, and the other to attack. I gave those two Rock Slide for the classic mass effect in doubles/triples, but you could use other moves to your taste. Next turn, Wide guard with the pokemon on the other side of blaziken if it's triples, and set another Earthquake loose. Keep going until you're happy XD The second half of the team is more to individual bashing, with SAtk infernape and the ever-handy Bulky gallade. Nonetheless, it still retains some ability to work with the first half of the team in case blaziken or the other two go down. Problems would be with the likes of reuniclus, I think. Bulky pokemon seem to give this team problems, though even gliscor/skarmory have gone down to enough beatings with stat boosts behind them. --- Alternative to machamp would be: Dancer (Medicham) (F) @ Focus Sash Trait: Telepathy EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Fire Punch - Ice Punch - ThunderPunch - Bulk Up --- Telepathy allows medicham to ignore gallade's Earthquakes, for that Bulk Up to kick in. Should be fine if blaziken clears the speedier threats away first.

Haha, you do have a valid point - if you made a team PURELY for stat reduction, you're screwed XD Of course, there'll need to be some muscle behind the stat droppers... so it depends on your style, really.

Given the lack of attention given to a particular tactic Luna was fond of (possibly still is, but I wouldn't know due to the lack of logs), I decided to write a little something about it! Specifically, the tactic in question is mass reduction of the enemies' stats. Naturally, this is meant for doubles/triples. So, most people tend to go for either brute force or stat boosts to win. Some like Hardy use reversal tactics to beat the opposition. However, Luna's old hijinks seemed to straddle the barrier between those categories, if I may say so. The first and most obvious stat to be reduced is Atk or SAtk. Intimidate and Snarl work well for these, though Snarl is reliant on the time taken for its user to move. From there, it can be seen that speed reduction is the next logical step (though I myself prefer to drop the enemies' speed first). For speed reduction, Icy Wind is good. Alternatively, spamming Discharge as per Dr. Connal's habit could work, at the risk of friendly fire. Defence is probably the last thing you'd need to reduce. Screech of all things could work, along with the likes of Fake Tears. The reason why I placed these two stats last among the list is because there is no efficient means of decreasing them with a mass effect as with Snarl/Discharge/etc. Ideally, EV's on a doubles/triples team made to run this tactic would emphasize defence and offence, with nominal attention to speed. Higher defences buffer for the enemy offensive reduction, whereas the boosted offensive allows for some quick comebacks after the speed reduction stage. Sure, it's a slow tactic. Sure, it's gimmicky. But if you throw in a Tailwind instead of going for pure speed reduction... well now, that's a whole new ballgame altogether now, isn't it?

Which was the point of my earlier post - the sense is apparently lacking in some of the recent users of ST chandelure Or at least, those I ran into.

It'll probably pass, like gas. Even PO's main server now has wobbuffet in the OU XD

To bring up a point related to ST chandelure - do bear with me on this one - I'd have to ask a rhetorical question: which came first, the phoenix or the flame? As Chrona has mentioned, most ST chandelure users are usually at least decently competent at handling one. So of course, they'd know how to switch it out, optimize the trapping, etc. However, there is also the fact that the Reborn server has apparently gained some popularity of late - and by that I mean the trickles of new server participants (not community members) who come by to have their weekly dose of Drizzle/SS or whatnot. Frankly, I see more ST chandelure on those members than the usual Reborn community. Which brings me to my point of the phoenix/flame question. Some of these users would have probably copy/pasted sets from the Smogon archives, from the days before ST chandelure got banned. Goodness knows I've taken down enough of them of late, though some were smart enough to save the chandelure, albeit temporarily. So the chandelure set may be viable, but the handling could be off. While it's a great trapper and revenge killer, chandelure goes down like a tin can if you run it wrong. Between entry hazards, damaging weather, and priority moves, chandelure's survival ability could be severely compromised by an incompetent handler. The player may be competent, but the lack of experience in handling the chandelure may lead to a loss. In fact, I don't think I've seen any ST chandelure on teams by Reborn community members recently. So I guess as far as Reborn is concerned, ST chandelure is not a problem. The usual server users are probably mostly bored of ST chandelure and tend to use other pokemon more frequently as of late, and know how to handle them if they do turn up, anyway.

Hmm, the question is, whether MANUAL weather may be more advantageous for this concept than automatic weather. Manual weather does allow for switch in climate without switching an attacker out.

Hmm, did use the old Waterfall/Shard combo on lapras, but ferrothorn/jellicent tended to wall him. So I switched for Bulldoze, which does a little more to those two. True, Stored Power isn't really maximized on vaporeon. As mentioned, come steel, vaporeon switches out for something else Gastrodon with Stockpile... workable, but not really to my taste - Rindo Berry and Ice Beam help it to kill grassy opponents

Hyperhydrosis is a disorder involving excessive perspiration, if I recall correctly. Seemed to fit the theme of multiple Hydration pokemon. Made for OU Singles. --- Epiphora (Politoed) (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Drizzle EVs: 176 Def / 252 SAtk / 76 SDef Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) - Surf - Ice Beam - Perish Song - Protect --- Swanna (M) @ Red Card Trait: Hydration EVs: 232 Def / 180 SAtk / 96 Spd Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Hurricane - Surf - Rest - Rain Dance --- RD (Gastrodon) (M) @ Rindo Berry Trait: Storm Drain EVs: 152 Def / 220 SAtk / 136 SDef Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) - Earth Power - Scald - Ice Beam - Recover --- Lapras (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Hydration EVs: 4 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SDef Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Ice Shard - Bulldoze - Dragon Dance - Rest --- Papillae (Vaporeon) (F) @ Leftovers Trait: Hydration EVs: 160 Def / 96 SAtk / 252 SDef Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk) - Stored Power - Toxic - Acid Armor - Rest --- Pterygium (Sharpedo) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Speed Boost EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Aqua Jet - Crunch - Ice Fang - Earthquake --- So, basically this team is meant to spam Hydration. Vaporeon's pretty standard for a Hydration piece, but with Stored Power to complement Acid Armor. Toxic can hit dark-types, so only drapion/bisharp/steel can block vaporeon. Lapras is another handy Hydration piece that can wreck any dragons, and which can also slow down the enemy if need be. DD and Bulldoze is a sweet combination, it is. Swanna may seem a little random, but he's also good with Hydration. Hurricane's also a decent means to handling ferrothorn/scizor, and has manual rain in case of opposing sand/sun/hail. Sharpedo, gastrodon and politoed are standards as found on any rain team nowadays.

Similar to Owen's set, but made to counter chansey/blissey/skarmory. --- Zebstrika (M) @ Air Balloon Trait: Sap Sipper EVs: 252 Atk / 112 Def / 144 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Wild Charge - Flame Charge - Double Kick - Screech --- Laugh if you may, but this one's surprised enough opponents to take them down, lol. Screech is always handy to drop defences on those bastard eggs, and Double Kick tears through them from then on. Even skarmory can be broken down eventually between Screech and Wild Charge/Flame Charge. Ideal situation is to absorb a grass move first (rotom-W is great to bait those out) and then Flame Charge whoever comes in next, to get the speed jump on them. Can be a risky set on zebstrika given its relative fragility, but otherwise, it has done some considerable damage to date.

I prefer SubPunch dusknoir, myself - Pressure is good when coupled with SubSplit, since it leeches PP as dusknoir regenerates HP and/or attacks Reuniclus has indeed been a problem for the Nobodies (fighters). So far, only lucario/scrafty have been able to take one down by setting up before it did (once a reuniclus sets up on this team, it's pretty much screwed)

Those were old sets - might have grabbed the wrong hydreigon/cacturne from the boxes... will take a look.

Lord of the Rings meets the world of Pokemon! Won't be top-grade, but it's got a decent chance of survival in singles OU, I think. --- Oliphant (Mamoswine) (M) @ Lum Berry Trait: Snow Cloak EVs: 176 Atk / 136 Def / 196 SDef Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Ice Shard - Earthquake - Rock Slide - Stealth Rock --- Treebeard (Cacturne) (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Sand Veil EVs: 64 Atk / 96 Def / 96 SDef / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Sucker Punch - Seed Bomb - Destiny Bond - Swords Dance --- Nazgul (Hydreigon) (M) @ Yache Berry Trait: Levitate EVs: 96 Def / 64 SAtk / 96 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Dragon Pulse - Dark Pulse - Surf - Charge Beam --- Sauron (Spiritomb) (M) @ Leftovers Trait: Pressure EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SDef Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk) - Dark Pulse - Icy Wind - Sleep Talk - Rest --- Shelob (Galvantula) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Compoundeyes EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Thunder - Energy Ball - Hidden Power [ice] - Sucker Punch --- Smaug (Garchomp) (M) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Sand Veil EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Earthquake - Dragon Claw - Crunch - Brick Break --- A balance of physical and special attackers, with a tendency to do just that little bit better in sandstorms. The old walls like Skarmbliss may give it a little trouble, but otherwise, it's done alright thus far. Priority ice on the likes of weavile does present some problems. And no sprites were given here - I'm hoping to encourage more people to take a peek into the LotR universe (at least the movies, or the books if you're free)

Tyranitar isn't exactly fast, so if it goes down due to Fake Out as you said, one turn may not be necessary - it could get killed in the round after the flinch, along with whatever was flanking it (assuming this is doubles/triples).

First thing that pops to my mind - are you very sure Shadow Tag wasn't involved? Otherwise, it's another glitch on the list...

... What XD Blake would be disappointed - but then again, he was pretty much devoid of emotions XD

Might not be so, since plenty of tyranitars have gone down against them... would depend on his skill, theirs, and the random number generators, methinks. I suspect Laura/Aya/Hardy may present some problems for the team, given that they tend to run doubles/triples. Serra could, too... but again, I guess it'll come down to skill and luck mixed to an extent.

That's good to hear And maybe someday you could combine them both to run mixed HO ^^

Putting it very bluntly, Smogon isn't a good place to test-run teams. Reason being that they ban anything that's even slightly harder than average to counter. True, Reborn doesn't feature legendaries on a daily basis, but the common ones such as heatran will still be around quite frequently so that tested teams can get a decent, all-round analysis. Drizzle/Swift Swim can be countered - nothing unfair about it. Which is probably why some of the previous posters commented on your speed - they may have been viewing your team in the Reborn context. DD can easily outspeed stuff on Smogon, but here with Drizzle/SS, speed's a whole new ballgame. And of course, here blaziken/chandelure are also legal, which makes a Reborn-based RMT quite different. Just my two cents - and like you said yourself, Smogon does have a high RQ rate, LOL.

Aside from excadrill and skarmory, generic sand teams will have difficulty against this one.

Hmm, ice may present problems for some of the team (druddigon/tropius) is all I can get off the top of my head right now... Though honestly, I'm not too familiar with LU *checks tiers* And weavile is legal in LU! Might be a problem for half of your team - aggron suffers to weavile's usual fighting move of choice. Otherwise, I like it - looks like it has some decent coverage, with puppies >w<