Jorogumo

100? Anyway, many bosses award Focus Sash. You can try to get some that way. Make sure to check this thread.

Hey, [mention]Enforcer[/mention]! Did you read the posts regarding Poliwrath? I think most people want it to be ranked lower than A-. Here are some suggestions: Chesnaught: Chesnaught does suffer from not being able to abuse Drain Punch. It is a decent spiker, with good physical bulk and, more importantly, an amazing ability that grants it an immunity to Bomb, Ball and Blast moves (such as Gyro Ball, Shadow Ball, Focus Blast and Sludge Bomb). Gengar doesn't get Sludge Wave in PRO, which means that this thing is a complete counter to non-Icy Wind variants. It lacks the moves to hurt it back, though. Overall, it is a check to the likes of Excadrill, Tyranitar (physically offensive variants), and even Bisharp. Its Special Defense is low. The prevalence of Talonflame in the current metagame does hurt it. It also has 6 weaknesses. Smeargle: Decent speed for a Pokémon with otherwise garbage stats. Its best set allows it to function as a suicide lead for HO teams. People should consider using this thing more when running HO. The set should be: Spore, Stealth Rock, Sticky Web, Taunt. Xatu: Mostly found on sun teams. Magic Bounce is an outstanding ability, but it isn't a reliable source of hazard control on its own. It gets Heat Wave, which allows it to check many common entry hazard setters, such as Ferrothorn and Skarmory. U-turn is nice for gaining momentum. In my opinion, the defensive set is the best, because Espeon outclasses it offensively. Both can run Dual Screens. Infernape: Too much to say on this one, so I'll keep it short. The physically offensive set is good, but completely outclassed by Blaziken. The specially offensive set does get STAB priority (Vacuum Wave), but Lucario outclasses it. In sun, it can use Solar Beam, but dedicated Chlorophyll sweepers are better suited for this role. It can run a nice mixed set that benefits from Gunk Shot (perhaps its only perk over Blaziken). It can run a good defensive set with Will-O-Wisp, Slack Off, Taunt, Stealth Rock, coverage moves... Will-O-Wisp is unexpected and cripples Azumarill, Gyarados, Garchomp and other switch-ins. Aerodactyl: I don't think the offensive variant is even worth considering. However, it is a good suicide lead with access to Taunt (coupled with a base speed stat of 130), Stealth Rock, Double-Edge (to KO itself after setting up hazards), and Stone Edge. It also gets Fire Blast, which hits Ferrothorn, Scizor, Forretress, Skarmory, etc. I'd say: Chesnaught to B+/A-, Smeargle and Xatu to B/B-, Aerodactyl to C+... I don't know where Infernape should be ranked. As for Raikou (and Serperior), I don't know if the ranking should assume the best possible options for said Pokémon or not.

Thank you very much! :Grin:

I bought a Pokémon in game and didn't quite manage to get all my money back. Sieger knows about this and agreed to let me change my offer to 8.3m.

9m then.

I offer 7m.

I offer 5m.

3.5m.

:y: Yes, RoarCune is infinitely better! The only two things that Milotic has over it are probably not relevant enough to justify running the set (Sleep triggering Marvel Scale and Dragon Tail losing its decreased priority because of Sleep Talk having a normal move priority). Other than that, Milotic, Gyarados (with a similar set) and the overrated Poliwrath are outclassed by RoarCune. Even with no chance to burn the opposing Pokémon, I can actually see Gyarados being more relevant than Milotic and Poliwrath: good defensive typing, Intimidate, some offensive presence (when compared to the other two), as well as the possibility to run Dragon Tail or Roar.

didnt thought about that lol, thanks for telling me! :y: As nice as getting a boost from marvel scale is, you are a sitting duck for two turns if you go with Rest. Don't do it. There still is the rather mediocre, yet annoying Scald/Dragon Tail/Rest/Sleep Talk set for Milotic. The likes of Calm Mind Clefable must rejoice every time Milotic runs this set.

Re: PRO Viability Rankings (PVP) v0.97_2 <t>If the issue is Breloom being in the same tier as Poliwrath, then why not move the latter down to B+ instead?</t>

Maybe there should be a poll to see if the community is OK with it being exclusive to legendary (and maybe shiny) Pokémon?

Re: PRO Viability Rankings (PVP) v0.97_2 <r>Don't worry about it. I knew there was some kind of misunderstanding.<br/> <br/> However, you are wrong to think that I'm not talking about PRO's metagame. Recently, I've been playing with Snowbull on his way to #1 (well, ngiannas ended up getting it back every single time). We did face you a few times. I remember that you even ran Aerodactyle as a lead. You also used a Krookodile/Talonflame/Gliscor/Tentacruel/Magnezone/Scizor team, if I recall correctly. But you did end up changing your team more than once. As you know, he runs a weird sand team with no Stealth Rock. He also runs Choice Band Dragonite. I do remember Extreme Speed sweeping a lot of teams once most Pokémon are low. I'm surprised you're not mentioning his lead Greninja (with Toxic Spikes), which is surprisingly good even without Protean. <br/> <br/> Ngiannas sold an epic H.A. HP Fire Tangrowth not too long ago for over 1m. I, myself, sold an epic H.A. HP Fire Tangrowth. People have epic H.A. Talonflame. Tangela is way more common and easier to farm. Regardless, Tangrowth, Amoonguss and Venusaur can run poison-type coverage to deal with Breloom.<br/> <br/> In any case, you shouldn't disregard my opinion just because I am mostly a Showdown player. I've been getting a lot of PRO experience thanks to Snowbull. He only faced 1 rain team when I played PvP with him. A lot of players ran sand teams, though (I remember mostly Jelvas). Most Tyranitar sets were specially offensive with Stealth Rock. <br/> <br/> How is Scizor not good enough? JakeMurasaki (ranked #11) runs a VoltTurn core with Magnezone/Scizor, and I can tell you that Scizor is far from not being good anymore. With the right prediction and enough caution, you can reveal Magnezone and not get trapped by it.<br/> <br/> Just one thing, though: even if you put a Pokémon to sleep and manage to freely Swords Dance, a good player will switch out as soon as you spore one of his Pokémon and go to something that can resist Mach Punch (or is immune to it): Volcarona, Talonflame, Togekiss, Gengar, etc.<br/> <br/> <B><s></s>Breloom is not ranked below Poliwrath.<e></e></B> They're in the same tier (A-).<br/> <br/> As for Dragonite, what stops it depends on the set it's running. If it's Dragon Dance, then it lacks an extra coverage move (meaning that Ferrothorn/Tangrowth can wall it if it runs Earthquake over Fire Punch and that a Pokémon like Empoleon --which Ngiannas, who's been #1 many times recently, uses a lot-- can wall it if it runs Fire Punch over Earthquake and threaten it with Scald or Stealth Rock+Roar). Choice Band Dragonite runs Extreme Speed, Outrage, Earthquake, and Fire Punch. While the coverage is basically perfect, it locks the Pokémon onto one move. That's the main drawback of the set.<br/> <br/> <B><s></s>Edit:<e></e></B> I'd like to comment on this calculation:<br/> +2 252 Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Bullet Seed (3 hits) vs. 244 HP / 8+ Def Gliscor: 354-420 (100.5 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO<br/> <br/> An Impish Gliscor running 8 Def. EVs? That's what "+" before "Def" means (it means it's Impish). Also, Gliscor should always have 240 speed to outspeed both Adamant Breloom and Adamant Bisharp. On top of that, it can run either Swords Dance or Taunt. My point is: Gliscor is not "free" for Breloom. It also is a great Spore absorber with Toxic Orb. Once poisoned, it can switch into Breloom's spore, then switch out, predicting a Bullet Seed. A lot of Pokémon with Natural Cure can switch into Breloom even if it's a bad match-up. It's all about the mind games. Will you risk using Spore a second time or will you try to kill them, expecting them to switch out? Bullet Seed can also be disappointing because it's RNG. You need to predict right and, sometimes, you need to get lucky. Even if Breloom runs a Jolly nature, it will miss out on a lot of OHKOs and 2HKOs. Those are a lot of drawbacks (on top of what I mentioned earlier). However, if your problem is with Poliwrath being overranked, you can make a post and explain why it should go down to B+ (or lower tiers).</r>

Re: PRO Viability Rankings (PVP) v0.97_2 <r><QUOTE author="arlington" post_id="404165" time="1498841863" user_id="619377"><s> </e></QUOTE> Yes, I read it all. Why "..."? It made it seem like you were separating the rain sweepers from the other part of the sentence. You said that Mach Punch kills Omastar, Kabutops, and Floatzel (OHKO is implied), then you said "Mach Punch after 1 boost+Life Orb". If the last part was also referring to the 3 rain sweepers aforementioned, you wouldn't mention Mach Punch twice, with a clear distinction between the first part (Mach Punch OHKOs) and the second (Mach Punch after using Swords Dance). So, before accusing someone of not reading your post correctly, proofread it first.<br/> <br/> Also, Breloom doesn't need to Swords Dance to kill Tyranitar and Excadrill. Not even fully physically defensive Tyranitar is guaranteed to resist a Mach Punch:<br/> 252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tyranitar: 380-452 (94 - 111.8%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO<br/> <br/> Therefore, the second part of what I quoted should forego the mention of any boost, and the first one should read that Breloom needs to Swords Dance once to OHKO Omastar and Floatzel (not needed for Kabutops, unless Breloom's nature is jolly, in which case the OHKO is no longer certain).</r>

Re: PRO Viability Rankings (PVP) v0.97_2 <t>Pokémon can go up and down in the list without necessarily taking another Pokémon's spot. Also, Poliwrath is in A-, which is the same tier as Breloom.<br/> <br/> First of all, Breloom doesn't OHKO Floatzel or even Omastar with Mach Punch (who uses Floatzel anyway?). Here are some calculations:<br/> Breloom vs Omastar: 252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Omastar: 234-276 (83.2 - 98.2%)<br/> Breloom vs Floatzel: 252+ Atk Life Orb Technician Breloom Mach Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Floatzel: 226-266 (72.6 - 85.5%)<br/> <br/> No one is going to allow Breloom to Mach Punch when it's obvious that it'll result in a kill. Breloom's spore can be stopped by Tangrowth (which is on many sand teams), Amoonguss, Venusaur, which can all hurt him back with HP Fire, while Breloom won't be able to deal any significant damage to them. In Tangrowth's case, Regenerator invalidates any kind of damage even more, especially when running a fully physically defensive set. Assuming an Adamant nature, Breloom also only does about 55% damage to Kingdra with Mach Punch. The omnipresent Clefable, even with a Calm nature, survives a Bullet Seed and comfortably OHKOs Breloom back. On top of this, Breloom loses to a lot of top threats, mostly Talonflame, Gengar (free switch in on a predicted Mach Punch and easy OHKO with Sludge Wave), Togekiss, Volcarona (with Flame Body threatening to burn Breloom on a Mach Punch and Lum Berry to cure Spore and put the opponent in a bad situation, not knowing whether Volcarona will Quiver Dance or kill Breloom to avoid another Spore), etc. You also didn't mention Breloom's abysmal speed tier. The priority move argument doesn't hold, when a lot of Pokémon can easily take a Mach Punch or are immune to it, while being faster and able to OHKO Breloom back. Breloom's STAB combination fails to threaten flying-type, poison-type, and bug-type Pokémon. It is unable to break past a lot of Pokémon that are in the same tier: defensive Arcanine with Initimidate, Donphan, Weezing, Roserade, and Venusaur (the latter two can't even be put to sleep). Even Alakazam (which was B+ and is now A) can shrug off Mach Punch and OHKO Breloom back. Breloom can take residual damage from Life Orb, as well as chip damage from Rough Skin and Iron Barbs.<br/> <br/> I'd like to compare Breloom to another Pokémon in A with the same base attack (130) and the same ability (Technician): Scizor. Scizor's typing is, defensively, a lot better than Breloom's. Scizor has more versatility, as it can choose between a Choice Band set and a SD+Roost set, as well as an offensive set, a bulkier set, and a defensive set with Defog. Toxic Heal+Toxic Orb sets are nowhere to be seen (no Substitute) and Focus Sash sets are uncommon (lead Breloom?), so it will almost always run Life Orb, Spore, Swords Dance, Mach Punch, and Bullet Seed. Yes, Breloom can forego a move and run a rock-type coverage, but that requires prediction, which is made harder by the absence of team preview. I see here a lack of versatility in Breloom's case, as opposed to Scizor. Both Pokémon have a poor STAB combination, completely walled by certain types or dual types (which is why they are not ranked higher). While Scizor can be trapped by Magnezone and easily removed from the game, it can just pivot in and out, in order to scout for the enemy team's Pokémon (and a potential Magnezone) with U-turn. With enough investment in HP and Sp. Def., Scizor will always survive HP fire from Choice Scarf Timid Magnezone and use either U-turn or Superpower. Scizor can resist a lot of hits, on top of being able to use Roost and Swords Dance more reliably, while Breloom's only perk over Scizor (Spore) is, in my opinion, not enough to warrant a rise to the same tier as Scizor.</t>

Re: PRO Viability Rankings (PVP) v0.97_2 <r><QUOTE author="TR3Y" post_id="403507" time="1498680408" user_id="4097"><s> </e></QUOTE> I'd like to think my private message didn't go completely wasted then. I guess I no longer need to edit the post I previously reserved for Alakazam. I just got lazy and PM'd you a quicker version of what it would have been. <E>:Sleeping:</E> Thank you for all your work!<br/> <br/> I've heard that some Pokémon finally got moves they didn't have, but are supposed to learn on their own. I wonder if Shell Smash on the likes of Carracosta or Barbaracle is one of them. There are a lot of moves that could put some Pokémon on the list. <e> </e></QUOTE> What private message? :O <e> </e></QUOTE> Did you never get it? I was wondering why you didn't reply! Ugh... Give me a sec, I'll PM you again!</r>

Re: PRO Viability Rankings (PVP) v0.97_2 <r><QUOTE author="TR3Y" post_id="403405" time="1498662324" user_id="4097"><s> </e></QUOTE> I'd like to think my private message didn't go completely wasted then. I guess I no longer need to edit the post I previously reserved for Alakazam. I just got lazy and PM'd you a quicker version of what it would have been. <E>:Sleeping:</E> Thank you for all your work!<br/> <br/> I've heard that some Pokémon finally got moves they didn't have, but are supposed to learn on their own. I wonder if Shell Smash on the likes of Carracosta or Barbaracle is one of them. There are a lot of moves that could put some Pokémon on the list.</r>

I'd like to insta this one.

Another recommendation is getting a Tangrowth with HP Ice (you don't need one with HP Fire as long as you have Magnezone and HP Fire Starmie). This will allow you to hit Garchomp, which you said you struggled against, as well as Dragonite, Gliscor, and Salamence. Another thing I noticed: your EVs are the ones recommended by Smogon. Those assume perfect IVs. I see you have 56 speed EVs on Gliscor. This allows a Gliscor with 31 speed IVS to outpace Adamant Bisharp and Breloom. However, yours does not, because it has much lower IVs. You are better off investing in more special defense EVs. As for Tangrowth, when the special defense IVs are 31, you can use 48 special defense EVs to survive a Life Orb-boosted Ice Beam from Starmie. Again, your Tangrowth does not have perfect IVs, so that does not apply here, and your Tangrowth will most likely end up dying to Starmie's Ice Beam. You should invest in more defense EVs. Also, keep in mind that, even if you have perfect IVs, what Smogon sometimes recommends is very situational. I think that, overall, Blaziken can rip your team apart. I don't even know how well Careful Gliscor would do against him, but it can't switch into it, because Blaziken 2HKOs Careful Gliscor for sure. Knock Off Blaziken, carrying Flare Blitz and High Jump Kick, alongside either Swords Dance or Protect, will break past most of your Pokémon (bar Excadrill in sand). Priority users, such as Talonflame and Azumarill, with Acrobatics/Brave Bird and Aqua Jet, are why Blaziken isn't as good as many thought it would be. Not to say that you always need priority moves, but they're really good right now (against sand teams, Gengar, etc.).

You needed to run Iron Head on Excadrill, I wasn't the only one to say that. That would have allowed you to deal with Togekiss and Clefable. Excadrill can deal with all the threats that you mentioned if you can bring him in safely. Double switches are important. If you feel like you can't use the sand turns well enough, then running Smooth Rock on Tyranitar is another option to extend the duration of Sand Stream. Tyranitar can run Superpower if Blissey and Miltank are considered threats. Gliscor will beat Calm Mind Clefable with either Taunt or Swords Dance. You can put Stealth Rock on Tyranitar if you get rid of Assault Vest, but only if you do so, considering it is bulky enough to set up Stealth Rock when running a Sassy nature. Magnezone can form a VoltTurn core with another Pokémon to make sure that you can bring in Excadrill without having him take damage. Magnezone needs higher speed (yours is timid, yet doesn't reach 350 with Choice Scarf). You don't need to run Tyranitar+Excadrill. If you want a sand team, then it should be centered around your Sand Rush sweeper (covering up his weaknesses, making sure he can sweep the enemy team by eliminating the Pokémon that wall him or hinder him, etc.). If you don't want that anymore, you can start from scratch again. You can keep the Pokémon that you would like to utilize, but never lose the team's focus from your mind. For example, if you run Tyranitar+Excadrill as a sand core, then what is the team's purpose? Ensuring that Excadrill can sweep the enemy team. How? By eliminating Pokémon that can stop him from sweeping (Magnezone traps Skarmory, Ferrothorn, Scizor, etc.), covering up his weaknesses (fighting-type, fire-type, water-type, and ground-type moves are super effective against him, but Excadrill doesn't like taking any hits that aren't resisted, like grass-type moves; thankfully, though, he has a lot of resistances), bringing him in safely, to ensure that he takes as little damage as possible (you can put Rapid Spin on Starmie if you don't want Excadrill to take any risk by using Rapid Spin or any unnecessary damage from Stealth Rock; you can bring him in safely via predicted double switches or U-turn or Volt Switch support), etc. Abusing Excadrill in sand, knowing when you can Swords Dance your way to victory, but also acknowledging Excadrill's limitations, realizing when you should switch out, or make an aggressive play (a double switch, for example) are things you need to be able to do to win. This doesn't mean only relying on Excadrill, but building around him does imply making sure the team has the synergy to work with Excadrill and help him achieve his purpose (each Pokémon has one). If you think Excadrill should be the first one to go/be switched out, then something is fundamentally wrong, either with the team itself or the way you have been utilizing it (or just Excadrill). Uploading replays of your losses would make it easier to see what some of the issues are and what can fix them. Iron Head on Excadrill would have helped for sure. If you decide to give the team another shot, check some of your EVs (mainly Tangrowth... what is the special defense EV investment for?). You said you struggled against Swords Dance Garchomp sometimes. Did you run into any Fire Blast variants? If not, then Tangrowth is good against that. As for the rest, remember that Excadrill is a good status absorber (immune to Toxic and Thunder Wave, but not Stun Spore), which is another way to bring him in safely. Run Rapid Spin on Starmie and Swords Dance, Earthquake, Iron Head, and Rockslide on Excadrill, or just switch out Rock Slide for Iron Head if you still want Rapid Spin on Excadrill. If your win-con is no longer Excadrill, then you need to re-think the team over. What is your new focus/purpose? You can't build a good stall team by randomly putting together 6 defensively-inclined Pokémon and hoping that they somehow synergize well together. Just an example. Good luck.

That was the main reason I recommended Careful Gliscor, as it can either use Knock Off or roost off Gengar's Sludge Wave/Shadow Ball while the latter takes Life Orb recoil damage and wears himself down. I don't know how AV Conkeldurr (carrying Knock Off) fairs against Gengar, though.

What are your other 5 Pokémon so far? Also, keep in mind that Tyranitar has increased special defense in sand (and yours is Sassy).

Your Starmie is as good as it gets for a special sweeper: 1. 29 HP IVs minimize Life Orb recoil and grant you 11 potential hits, instead of only 10. Although just a detail, that is nice. 2. Your Starmie can learn Hidden Power Fire, which allows it to hit a lot of Pokémon that would otherwise wall it and/or Excadrill (Ferrothorn and Scizor are prime examples). 3. Analytic isn't fully coded, if I recall correctly, and Natural Cure is Starmie's best ability (at least right now), even when you intend on sweeping with it. It can use its ability to take on status moves, mainly Spore/Sleep Powder (Starmie can probably OHKO Amoonguss with Psychic, but not with a non-STAB Ice Beam), Thunder Wave and Toxic. That Lum Berry should be Life Orb. 4. Offensive Starmie can also run Rapid Spin as it gives you the freedom, when Stealth Rock is up on your side of the field, to choose whether to hit the opposing Pokémon or use Rapid Spin. Ground-type attacks seem to be a big threat to your team, especially if you lose Gliscor. Venusaur should be replaced. Better options include Amoonguss (same typing, better pivot thanks to Regenerator, 100% accurate sleep move) and Tangrowth (good against ground-type moves, can pivot in and out with Regenerator, has a sleep move, is tankier than Amoonguss). I would recommend physically defensive Tangrowth (with a Relaxed nature) to take on physical attackers, as they are more susceptible to carry ground-type moves (although some Pokémon such as Hydreigon can run Earth Power). You should then get a Careful Gliscor with Poison Heal and Toxic Orb to be able to take on special attackers better (Gengar never 2HKOs a Careful Gliscor, unless it crits, allowing you to either hit him with Knock Off or roost off the damage while Gengar slowly wears himself down because of Life Orb recoil). Excadrill should run Earthquake, Iron Head, Rock Slide and either Swords Dance or Rapid Spin. If you add Magnezone to the team, then you have 3 Pokémon that are weak to fighting-type and ground-type moves. I would then recommend to run Gengar over Starmie, as the former is immune to both fighting-type and ground-type moves. However, Magnezone and Gengar don't actually pair up too well together, as they can both hit Fairy-type Pokémon with Flash Cannon and Sludge Wave and Steel-type Pokémon with HP Fire and Focus Blast. Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt both deal with Slowbro, which walls Excadrill and can stomach a Crunch from Tyranitar while recovering HP thanks to Regenerator. If you go with Magnezone to have a more reliable means of dealing with the likes of Ferrothorn, Scizor and Skarmory (biggest Excadrill counter), then you shouldn't have Gengar. Gliscor can deal with fighting-type and ground-type moves, but you shouldn't solely rely on one Pokémon to deal with 2 big weaknesses that your offensive Pokémon all have in common. Amoonguss/Venusaur do provide a resistance to fighting-type attacks, while Tangrowth resists ground-type attacks. If you plan on keeping Starmie, you should go with Tangrowth, as Starmie resists fighting-type moves. You can even change the EVs and have it be bulkier (max speed, max HP). Your Starmie does have HP fire, which can surprise the likes of Ferrothorn (2HKO? on the switch) and Scizor (OHKO?). It all depends on the sets they're running. Assuming you want to Keep Magnezone alongside Tyranitar and Excadrill, I think you should try out and test out a few options: specially defensive or physically defensive Talonflame with Bulk Up, specially defensive Gliscor as a Swords Dance stallbreaker or Taunt stallbreaker, Calm Mind or Stealth Rock Clefable (entry hazards work in tandem with Excadrill, transforming a lot of 2HKOs and 3HKOs into OHKOs and 2HKOs, while Calm Mind lets you have another shot at winning, because Excadrill shouldn't be your only win-con), and a lot of other interesting options...

Will it be possible to merge all 3 servers if there are noticeably less players?

True. But this team does have a Blissey that could function as a Wish passer, granting AV Goodra more longevity. Overall, Scizor is a better offensive alternative, taking a little over 55% damage from Focus Blast (assuming decent EV investment in HP and special defense) and OHKOing Gengar with Bullet Punch. Scizor also runs Roost. A lot can revenge kill Gengar, but the lack of Pursuit means that you can, at best, find decent checks, but no real counters. Thankfully, Gengar dies to other factors, such as Life Orb recoil, Stealth Rock, weather effects like Hail and Sandstorm, and the inaccuracy of Focus Blast.