Life Orb

[Miss Doronjo]

It is common knowledge that Gen IV was a far more offensive metagame than Gen III, but the question is, why? You might give credit to a new physical-special split that allowed more Pokemon to enjoy STAB and coverage. You might point to new high-power moves like Close Combat, Outrage, Focus Blast, Stone Edge, and Draco Meteor becoming the norm. It would be reasonable to bring up Choice Specs (and Scarf) and Nasty Plot, finally allowing special attackers to attack like their physical cousins. But for the most part, these were extensions of what we had already seen. We already knew what STAB and coverage was, how to use base 120 attacks, and the potential of Swords Dance and Choice Band.

However, one addition to the 4th gen metagame was completely unprecedented. Nothing like it had been seen before that wasn't exclusive to a single Pokemon. This new item that would have fit like a glove on Team Rocket fell into our hands, and with it came the push that drove Pokemon as we know it to Offense lane.

When this item is held by a Pokémon, the damage from the moves used by the holder is increased by 30%. The holder loses 10% of their maximum HP each turn.

Back when 4th gen was starting out, this was unheard of. Here we had the perfect item for sweepers, an item that significantly (1.3x, not that 1.1x nonsense) boosted ALL moves its holder used, with a cost that didn't completely change the style of the holder like Choice did. Instead the price was paid in HP, a tenth at a time. As this replaced Leftovers on physical, special, and mixed attackers who liked switching moves, stall had a hard time catching up to the boosts, and so, the metagame as a whole became more offensive.

When using the Life Orb, however, one cannot forget that you can no longer expect your pokemon to have any bulk what so ever. The cost in HP drove the metagame even more offensive, as bulky attackers who liked leftovers either missed out on the boost or sacrificed their selling point. If you take a hit, suddenly that seemingly arbitrary recoil will catch up with your precious sweeper. Plus, with Sandstorm, hazards, and priority around to stack with Life Orb, you may die before you even get to do much.

Unless, of course, you have Sheer Force or Magic Guard, in which case you can abuse Life Orb for free. If you have Sheer Force and you use a move affected by it, you don't take Life Orb recoil. Magic Guard makes you immune to passive damage, and this includes Life Orb recoil.

Life Orb is an incredibly influential item that represents the offensive shift in the transition from Gen III to Gen IV, and now in Gen V it's as strong as ever, with even more ways to abuse it for all it's got.

Do you tend to use pokemon that can utilize Life Orb? What pokemon do you think are best with Life Orb? What has Life Orb done for the 5th generation metagame? How is it influenced the way we play the game currently, and how so?

[Gym Leader Jake]

Life Orb is and amazing item, it allows for boosted power without the Lock of the Choice Items.

[Miss Doronjo]

Originally Posted by Gym Leader Jake

Life Orb is and amazing item, it allows for boosted power without the Lock of the Choice Items.

Okay but, how does that help certain pokemon, or help the metagame?

For example, I like to use Life Orb on pokemon when Reflect/Light Screens are up. I do like using Life Orb on Charizard or Drapion for extra power occasionally. I know that some people who used to use Choice Band/Specs on pokemon might be more inclined to use a Life Orb on certain pokemon now.

[François]

Originally Posted by Miss Doronjo

What pokemon do you think are best with Life Orb?

Alakazam, surely. It wouldn't be anywhere near OU were it not for having Magic Guard to abuse it with.

Really anything with Magic Guard or Sheer Force though. I've had fun with Nidoking.

[Hikari10]

Originally Posted by François

Alakazam, surely. It wouldn't be anywhere near OU were it not for having Magic Guard to abuse it with.

Really anything with Magic Guard or Sheer Force though. I've had fun with Nidoking.

Agreed, Alakazam can be such a beast with Magic Guard + Life Orb combo. Basically anything with Magic Guard makes good use of it, since the effects of Magic Guard prevent the HP loss from the Life Orb.

I personally do like Life Orb over Choice items, but the HP loss can be a bit annoying. Thankfully Magic Guard negates that effect. The Life Orb can also give you that boost of power needed to take a foe down quickly.

[Livewire]

Being a player that loves Offense & Hyper Offense, I love me some Life Orb. One of my favorite held items to use. Pretty much any Pokemon with Magic Guard, as stated, or with enough natural bulk to use it will wreck other teams. Terrakion hits really hard with a LO-backed Stone Edge/Earthquake. And given that Gen V was the gen of power creep and massive stats, the Life Orb's effect only exacerbated that.

[Jake♫]

Life Orb is almost required for anything that's trying to wall-break or to sweep. The 30% damage increase can change multiple 2HKOs to OHKOs, or 3HKOs to 2HKOs, much like that of using Stealth Rock. Although there are other items that help achieve these goals (such as Choice items), the 10% HP drop is worth the power increase. As for matching it with Pokemon, anything that needs to sweep, wall-break, and Pokemon with Magic Guard or Sheer Force (as the HP drop doesn't happen if the move used has a secondary effect).

[Sainan]

I personally like using life orb with a pain split pokemon, im trying to work on a sweeper with pain split and life orb to quickly gain alot of health back and hurt the opponent in the process.

[Narnia]

Losing 10% HP every turn was definitely worth it with the Life Orb, that boosted attack power by 30%, when used correctly on certain Pokemon such as Sawk and Gurdurr can rip straight through teams who would otherwise be difficult with stat-boosting moves etc. Also like Gym Leader Jake said it can also be nice not to have the irritating one move choice only option when dealing with choice items!

So yeah overall the Life Orb was fantastic and a great item in competitive battling despite the 10% HP loss side-effect.