Forcing myself back into the game

airconditioning

Take it slow, bro.
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    It's been months since I've battled- I'm pretty sure my last battle on Shoddy was before Christmas. Outside of the odd battle with my friend (who I now refuse to fight- we know each other's teams so well it's stopped being fun. Or at least, he knows my team too well.). I attribute this to my inherent fear of battling- for some reason, Shoddy makes me extremely tense.

    But that's not the point.

    My Pearl has been collecting dust, and I got sick of feeling like a mediocre player every time I come to these forums. So, I decided to force myself back into this game. My battle skills may be extremely rusty (I was swept by a Cresselia in my first battle, as Syaoran can attest to), and my ability to create a team is limited to copy-pasting from Smogon, but I won't let that stop me!

    Scout (Deoxys-e) @ Life Orb
    Ability: Pressure
    EVs: 252 Atk/6 Spd/252 SAtk
    Mild nature (+SAtk, -Def)
    - Superpower
    - Psycho Boost
    - Shadow Ball
    - Thunderbolt/ Ice Beam

    BONK. D-E makes a pretty good lead, since he can outspeed just about anything that exists ever. And with max EVs in both Attacks, he doesn't have to worry about not killing things too much. Superpower is fun to use when an opponent thinks you're a Special sweeper. (Superpower is a near-OHKO on Blissey, by the way- with any sort of residual damage, say the kind that comes from switching in on any other attack, she's out). Psycho Boost because Scout needs to hit things as hard as he can. Anything that he doesn't kill kills him. Shadow Ball so he can take out Psychics like Azelf, rather than be walled by them. As for the last move, I can't decide. T-Bolt hits Gyara hard, while Ice Beam takes out dragons. I'm leaning toward Ice Beam, since a normal Psycho Boost does only 97% to Garchomp. :(

    Lucario (M) @ Life Orb
    Ability: Inner Focus
    EVs: 6 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
    Adamant nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
    - Swords Dance
    - Close Combat
    - Extremespeed
    - Crunch

    Put in because I was swept by a Cresselia. He does pretty well. I may go Jolly with him, however.

    Currently, he's the only Poke on my team that doesn't have a name.

    Epilepsy (Porygonz) @ Choice Specs
    Ability: Adaptability
    EVs: 6 HP/252 Spd/252 SAtk
    Modest nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
    - Tri Attack
    - Thunderbolt
    - Ice Beam
    - Dark Pulse

    I don't care how better off my team would be if he were replaced with Gengar or Azelf, he's one of my favorite Pokes. He stays. Plus, he does pretty well if I can predict right.

    Light (Dusknoir) (F) @ Leftovers
    Ability: Pressure
    EVs: 252 HP/78 Def/180 SDef
    Careful nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
    - Shadow Sneak
    - Will-o-wisp
    - Pain Split
    - Fire Punch

    The same Mixed Wall that I've used since I started battling- he's always been on my team, as I'm far too unoriginal to replace him. Besides, he does pretty well whenever Will-o-Wisp decides to hit.

    Goggles (Forretress) (M) @ Leftovers
    Ability: Sturdy
    EVs: 212 HP/252 Def/46 SAtk
    Relaxed nature (+Def, -Spd)
    - Spikes/ Stealth Rock
    - Rapid Spin
    - Gyro Ball
    - Earthquake

    He's pretty cool. He helps with my Weavile weakness, and can set up Spikes. I might replace that with Stealth Rock, however, as the amount of Levitators I see annoys me greatly.

    Angie (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers
    Ability: Natural Cure
    EVs: 40 HP/252 Def/218 SDef
    Calm nature (+SDef, -Atk)
    - Seismic Toss
    - Softboiled
    - Thunder Wave
    - Aromatherapy

    That new Blissey that's all the rage with you kids today. I used to use Toxic over T-Wave, but that sucked- Steels ruined my fun. T-Wave support really helps Lucario and Porygon-Z, and Dusknoir can provide residual damage in the form of WoW if needed.
     
    Mixape weak. MixVire weak (sorta). Heatran can come in on WoW or Fire
    Using Deoxys-E as an offensive lead is misrepresenting its strengths as the most efficient revenge-killer. D-E needs to outrun Scarfers, so it should run:

    Deoxys-E @ Life Orb
    Naive
    96 Attack/252 SpA/160 Speed (479 for 252 Modest ScarfGar and +nature Vire)
    Superpower
    Thunderbolt
    Ice Beam
    Shadow Ball/Psychic/Psycho Boost

    McGar is going to ruin Bliss =D
    Having SToss as an only attack really sucks, as Garchomp can come in for free and KO Forry with FB/Fire Fang, and the rest of your team.
    Forry is kinda set-up fodder for Steel resists without Explosion. I would suggest it over Earthquake. Your team doesn't get hit hard by SR, so Rapid Spin isn't really useful. I recommend a different wall > Forry.
    Gengar or Azelf > P-Z, unfortunately. Your team doesn't have the necessary speed to function well, and D-E can't switch in. Your best bet is to use the two aforementioned pokemon, as they can get past Blissey and in Gengar's case, Cresselia.
    You seriously need a good Mixape counter, it outspeeds and rapes everything on your team sans D-E, and LO + Residual damage + constant switching in + Mixape switching out = fail.
     
    To be honest, I didn't watch the entire battle, just the start, coz I had to go. The window was just kept open xD

    Jolly Luke is definitely something to ponder about, especially with all those Jolly Mamoswine running around. =\

    I never really liked Adaptability on Porygon.. I think it loses so much potential limiting itself to just boosting Tri Attack, and then what? You get walled by a ghost. You could, however, use a pursuer like Weavile/TTar to get rid of ghosts and feel free to rampage with Tri Attack [barring Blissey and other steels of course, but Dugtrio can take care of these to an extent, and Wubba gets a mention if you don't mind using him]. I feel that Timid Life Orb P-Z with Download is much deadlier when switched in correctly.

    Dusknoir.. meh. I'm still wondering how this is still OU. Extremely overrated when it comes to walling. Spiritomb does the job a lot better and can use Hypnosis. It also isn't owned completely by random pursuits. The Calm Mind set also solves you "being swept by cressy" problem. Rest / Sleep Talk / Calm Mind / Shadow Ball is a deadly set, just make sure Normals die beforehand. HP fighting on a Spiritomb is also somewhat recommended to deal with Luke in case he gets an SD.

    I'm not liking Seismic Toss on that Blissey, leaves room for so many pokes to get a free switch in. Ice Beam please.

    1 last thing, perhaps make Deoxys a -Sp.def nature, otherwise you're getting owned by Priority moves, most of which are physical [Vacuum Wave is resisted anyway].
     
    Without Adamant Lucario would not be able to KO a lot of stuff with Extremespeed. Jolly Mamoswine should have been eliminated earlier as a potential threat to Lucario's sweep, and even then it doesn't like Extremespeed.

    Adamant +2 Lucario Extremespeed on 4HP/0 Def Mamoswine:

    73.48066% - 86.74033%

    which is a near KO with SR.

    Adaptibility Porygon-Z is the more reliable choice compared to Download as you might not recieve the SpA boost in the first place, and Tri-Attack becomes a deadly move on Specs-Z. I doubt Gengar or Mismagius would switch in on a Porygon-Z in the first place, Dusknoir you can switch out of. Basically once you've confirmed the initial switchin you can choose which move to use.

    Deoxys-E isn't surviving long with the constant LO recoil + the possibility of weather, making it lose 16% each turn. D-E rolls over to priority moves anyway, it really doesn't matter which one you choose.
     
    Still, Extremespeed isn't a KO even with SR. Jolly Mamo outspeeding both modest Porygon-Z and adamant Lucario isn't looking good. Is it a potential Earthquake sweep, which btw, NOTHING resists on his team. Gengar could really help for his good immunities, or Cress, for being a great wall.
     
    I disagree with Sya's Dusknoir comment. It has served me very well these past battles as a wall, although admittidly, I run a different, nearly all defensive set.
     
    Man, I didn't think so many ideas could fly over my head at once...

    Alright, I guess I'll scrap P-Z for Gengar, D-E for something else, and Forry for a better wall (note: I have absolutely NO idea who a better wall would be). Blissey, I may switch Ice Beam for Seismic Toss, but I still kinda like Toss... As for Dusknoir, I like him too. I don't really see much of a problem with him, although in most battles he tends to not do much. So, anything else?
     
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