Tomas Elliot

You made a lot of very bad points without even bothering to provide facts to support them ("psychic moves suck"), so I usually wouldn't deign your post of a second look. However, I will address this bit right here, because people who lack proper understanding of the English language piss me off. Not once in this entire topic did I ever say that sweepers are "unviable", simply because I am not in the business of macking ridiculous claims without backing them up (like for example, oh I don't know, "psychic moves suck"). What I did say is that, between the decline of defensive cores (which, before you jump to conclusions again, DOES NOT MEAN DEFENSIVE CORES ARE NOW UNVIABLE. It simply means that, on average, less and less people use them compared to Gen 4, and this is a fact demonstrated by usage stats. Why are people not using defensive cores? I don't know, you should ask them) and the sheer power of many new wallbreakers that Gen 6 has brought to the table (I detailed the power of Keldeo and Charizard on the special side, but you also have Mega Medicham with effectively base 200 Atk on the physical side, and many many more), it is more advantageous to run a strategy based on a pair of strong wallbreakers, than a strategy based on a set up sweeper. Simply because, between hazard control, walls removal and the turns it actually takes to set up, it will take at least 4 or 5 turns before a set up sweeper can go to town, and well, in the same amount of time a couple of wallbreakers with good synergy can potentially decimate a team. To this I then added that, since a set up sweeper needs anything that checks it to be gone before it can come in, an offensive team that wants to use a set up sweeper must also use a wallbreaker, and since, again, wallbreakers nowadays have the potential to blast through most teams, that makes me question if spending those turns setting up is really needed, when you could just use another wallbreaker in that team slot and achieve the same results. In short: what I said is that a powerful wallbreaker can, if properly managed, achieve without boosts what a set up sweeper achieves with boosts. And since it takes some turns to rack up boosts, this effectively means that a wallbreaker can save time, killing the same amount of opponents (realistically not more than 3) in less turns. If you think that saying this equals saying that set up sweepers are "unviable", then it means, quite simply, that you can't read, and I am afraid I cannot spare any time to teach you. I must therefore ask you to never post in a topic of mine again, at least not untill your reading skills have dramatically improved. And this is without mentioning that I am currently testing Mega Manectric over Mega Charizard, which solves most of the problems you mentioned. Or the fact that the same problems had already been pointed out, with much better arguments, by other people, which lead to the decision to try out Manectric in the first place. Of course, you'd know all this if you could read.

Well considering that Yukino has never been depicted to be even remotely in her league, and that nobody else has Golden keys, that was kinda a given

I am still mad that Wendy never got to do the shadowed-face-and-red-eyes thing. This is probably my fav series of all times. It has a fantastic plot. And boobs. And some surprisingly deep characters. And boobs. And a very compelling structure that builds up the characters and setting properly before diving into the bulk of the plot. And boobs. And what is possibly the sole instance of a love story that got my attention AND did a lot for the plot. And boobs. There ARE many aspects of the story I wish were done better, and some fatal flaws that I feel are keeping the series from becoming the worldwide hit it could and should have been. But I forgive it because of the feels, the good times, and the genuine laughs it has given me. And the boobs.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1wefe_robocop-in-wcw-capital-combat-1990_sport Ah, the idiocy of professional wrestling in the '90s... Good times.

Dude, take a joke <.< I went directly to the third one merely because I was already in the process of testing the third build, which seems to be the mosr consistent overall. And Bisharp is a change I was pondering too. But seriously, don't take offense every single time you aren't given the response you were expecting. EDIT; @Nick, of course.

Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog Assault Vest and Defog ... Currently testing your suggestion concerning the third lineup with Bisharp over Ttar.

People who have never tried to make a fangame cannot understand the pain of coming up with breeding chains ;-;

I think you should get to it, it's worth the effort. I can promise you will like her final form. Yes, "her". Something we forgot to mention is that this species is 100% female. Later evos look the part more, I swear.

This is pretty much the crux of my own pet peeve as well. Basically, the game makes it clear that there is a system in effect, a system of which there is NO MENTION in canon games (meaning, Ame spontaneously decided to include it, nobody forced her), and then it blatantly disrespects it. Why introducing a system if you were going to disrespect it anyway? And again, I would like to stress the fact that "Reborn is a dystopian story" is NOT a valid in-universe justification as to why something is or isn't done, simply because the fourth wall exists. If the in-game Ame was asked why, when and on what basis she decided to appoint Noel as a gym leader, she could not reply "because Reborn is a dystopian story" because she, being a character of the story, is not supposed to BE AWARE of being the character of a dystopian story. I therefore stand by my point: I fully expect later episodes to provide satisfying in-universe explanation as to why/when/how Shade and the orphaned kids got their respective positions, as well as why they got to keep them despite their respective situations calling for the reserve system to be enforced. For completeness' sake if nothing else. Although I do appreciate the fact that, as ICSW pointed out, steps in this direction have already been made as of Ep 15. Again Damage, your perspective is wrong. In the Pokemon world, society has always been shown to be a peaceful, somewhat childish dystopia that the most experienced at Pokemon battling (I.E. the gym leaders) can easily keep under control. Sure, crime syndacates are born here and there, but they aren't THAT dangerous, considering that a primary school kid is perfectly capable of thwarting their plans single-handedly. Reborn deconstructs this notion. So yeah, the situation you are talking about is a contraddiction, but the fact of the matter is, Ame purposedly worded it as a contraddiction to expose the childishness of the way society is depicted in canon games. That is what "deconstructing" means. And as far as the "responsible" part goes, again, it is the reverse: imagine a group of 100 people. They are all expert battlers. Of those 100 people, who are all equally skilled at Pokemon, the 8 who prove to be the most responsible are chosen to be gym leaders. This is how it should work in theory, although there are exceptions and, again, Reborn purposedly deconstructs the notion (although it goes too far at times, as detailed in my earlier posts).

For a plethora of reasons, I consider this to be ZIm's overall best creation. Fun fact: at some point I had suggested to give this line some magical girl / japanese teen idol elements (if you have seen the first evo, you should get why), and to build their moveset around a musical theme which would lead to them having Pixilate Boomburst. However, this idea was ultimately scrapped, and they ended up not getting Boomburst nor Pixilate. And mind you, it wasn't because of competitive reasons ("my God Pixilate Boomburst so broken") that it was scrapped, but rather because Zim felt the japanese teen idol elements I had suggested didn't fit the way he envisioned the line (this is a line he had created long before starting his cooperation with me). Therefore, the line has since evolved in a completely different direction, in terms of both design and competitive role. So yeah, the more you know I guess.

So, first of all I would like to thank you guys for your feedback. I am glad to see so many people bought into my theory and are willing to improve and refine it. Let's get to the important stuff: after realizing that, on paper, Raikou could solve many of my problems, I gave it a try... And what do I know, it does solve many of my problems. This lead me to creating these possible line-ups that can make use of the tiger: 1) Lando - Raikou - Clefable - Mandibuzz - Keldeo - Charizard (see it in action here). Raikou and Lando are the Volt-Turn core, while Mandibuzz takes over the Defog duties and checks physical set up sweepers courtesy of Foul Play. Pros: - Very balanced in terms of physical and special bulk - I have a direct out to physical set up sweepers Cons: - Lack of Pursuit - The defogger is itself weak to SR which, when you factor in the amount of threats it has to switch in, reduces its survivability and makes its job harder 2) Lando - Raikou - Mew - Tyranitar - Keldeo - Charizard. Mew is on Defog duties and, since I already have a Volt-Turn core, it now carries Thunder Wave over Volt Switch. Pros: - Less overall weakness to rocks makes it easier to hazard control - Tyranitar's presence, paired with Raikou, allows me to address what is probably the widest range of threats Cons: - Loss of Healing Wish, which is a very important move for a team like this - Two Assault Vest users with no cleric whatsoever makes the overall efficiency worse 3) Lando - Mew - Clefable - Tyranitar - Keldeo - Mega Manectric. It is essentially the team in the OP with Charizard replaced by Manectric, which basically combines into itself the roles Raikou and Charizard play in the other possible line-ups (it has the stats and coverageto do it). Pros: - Significantly less weak to hazards - Better offensive coverage, momentum on one of my wallbreakers, and improved speed make it even harder for opponents to switch in Cons: - Loss of sun makes it difficult to reset Ttar's sandstorm and to check enemy Water-type threats - I lose Charizard, which was the main focus of this project What are your thoughts people? Which of these solutions sounds the best?

Well yes. All the Pokemon you guys (Ody and Jericho) mentioned have given me trouble at some point or another, and... Yeah, solving the issue without major changes is kinda hard. AV Tornadus-T could replace Lando as the team's U-turner, thus helping check many of the mons in the speed tier you mentioned, most notably Gengar and the Latis. This in theory would allow me to replace Ttar with a physical wall that can take care of Talonflame and the various Fighting-type threats, but there is a problem: by adopting this strategy I sacrifice my main Manectric/Raikou check AND I increase the number of Electric weaknesses, so yeah, that doesn't really seem a good idea. Latias has Defog and Healing Wish, so she could replace Clefable and act as my emergency Full Heal, my Keldeo check AND my Defogger all in one, which in turn would leave Mew free to carry Thunder Wave. But well, I am essentially swapping moves around while adding a second Dark weakness, so this doesn't seem smart either. AV Raikou is also an option to act as my Volt-Switch user, providing decent sponging abilities on the special side, and checking many of the threats you mentioned. Fitting it in the team while preserving the overall balance would most likely be VERY complicated, but on paper it looks like the best option. Like, let's assume we make a Volt-Turn core with my current Lando and AV Raikou, and we keep my current wallbreaking duo of Keldeo and Charizard. Now we need to fill the last two spots with general bulk, Defog, and possibly Healing Wish. What are the possible options to achieve this? Maybe a surprise UU core of Cresselia (insane bulk on both sides, Thunder Wave and Lunar Dance) and Mandibuzz (Defog, Roost, Foul Play to punish set-up sweepers)? What would such a team miss out on, compared to my current line-up? The most blatant answer is: Pursuit. Losing Pursuit is not ideal. But what other options are there? Am I failing to see something obvious?

Yeah pretty much. "Weaken the foe's top threats as much as possible before finishing them off with something else" is pretty much the bread and butter of the team. Although, priority control and/or a scarfer could help with that, but I don't know how to include either without major changes ;-;

Hoopa IS a Pokemon I failed to consider. To work it in however, I would need to make some major modifications: it would replace Keldeo, but then I would have two dark-type mons, so I would need to remove Ttar... Which would force me to run physically defensive Rotom-W, as otherwise I'd be weak to Talonflame. In turn, this would cause me to change Mew to specially defensive, thus settling with a lineup of Lando-T, Rotom-W, Mew, Clefable, Hoopa and Charizard. This would cause me to lose my reliable ways of handling Heatran, thus forcing me to run stuff like Drain Punch on Hoopa and Focus Blast on Charizard... Although Rotom's presence would mitigate the need for a volt switching defogger, meaning that I could run something else as a defogger, something capable of dealing with Heatran. Latias comes to mind, and she has Healing Wish and can also handle Keldeo, so if she replaces Mew then I don't need Clefable anymore, which leaves me essentially free to run whatever the hell I want in the spot... Lol 4/6 of the team changed by a single suggestion. That's good too, it's what synergy and balance are all about

Sorry to sound a bit dickish but... I think you are not getting the point of this team. The point of this team is to use a pair of wallbreakers to fire off brutally powerful moves, in order to pressure the opponent as they attempt to find the right switch. Megazard X, which you suggest using over Megazard Y, is not a wallbreaker by any stretch of imagination, as it needs to set up in order to pull off sweeps, and I clearly stated in the OP that I do not believe setting up is as rewarding in the current meta. So yeah, if you think Megazard Y is not the best wallbreaker for this team feel free to suggest another one, but it has to be a WALLBREAKER, not a set up sweeper. Clefable can switch with impunity into Rotom-W and Keldeo, which is more than I can say about Chansey. Considering that those two Water-type threats are very problematic for the rest of my team, I would never consider replacing Clefable with Chansey. And wish passing and aromatherapy are things a cleric does, but there is a problem: to run a dedicated cleric, you need to expect the recipients of your wishes to be able to tank some hits. And frankly, I really don't believe Keldeo or Charizard can take any hits, therefore Healing WIsh is the superior option for emergency healing, as it grants them a free switch in which, as I explained with LOTS of details in the OP, is crucial for the playstyle of this team. And Tyranitar does 3 important things for the team: switches into the Latis and Kyu-B, traps worn out walls with Pursuit, and resets the weather, to prevent Keldeo from finding itself in the sun. It's hardly a "more independent Pokemon". On a more serious note, a change I am considering is LO over Specs on Keldeo. I have found myself facing situations in which the ability of changing moves would have been important, but I would need some feedback as to how relevant the loss in firepower is.

INTRODUCTION It's been a while since I last made a RMT, hasn't it? Well, today I am feeling motivated to finally get over my crippling laziness and use some of my (scarce) free time to make one. The reason being, lately I have been pondering over a theory concerning the state of OU's meta, and I have created a team specifically to test this theory of mine. And well, considering that I am currently in the 1500 range (and keep in mind that I started these tests after the latest ladder reset), it would seem that the facts are proving me right. So, what is my theory about? It is very simple: my theory is that people have given up on attempting to address all possible threats from a defensive standpoint. There are so many offensive threats in OU, that the age of defensive cores created specifically to stop the most common sweepers in their tracks (remember Skarm-Bliss in Gen 4?) has ended. Nowadays, people prefer to build teams that can provide versatility, teams that can be effective against the wider possible range of threats, both from an offensive and a defensive standpoint. In other words, people try to check as many things as possible, rather than counter specific threats. But when it comes to switching into a threat, a dedicated counter is always better than a genericly bulky check, as the latter is worn out much faster. But since genericly bulky checks are what most people will be using nowadays, it follows logically that teams are easier to bust open with a wallbreaker nowadays, than they were in Gen 4. On the other hand, setting up is harder now than it was back then, because there are so many offensive threats around, that chances are the opponent will have out something capable of killing your setup sweeper before it can get a chance to start boosting. By the time you have removed entry hazards, all the defensive threats that could stand in the way of your setup sweeper and all the offensive threats that could kill it before it does its job, you will have more or less won the match, making the setup sweeper itself redundant. Allow me to clarify this point with an example: Dragonite requires you to get rid of Sandstorm, Stealth Rock, any Fairy-type Pokemon, and most Steel-type Pokemon (Megagross outspeeds and kills, Mega Scizor does not fear EQ, Balloon Heatran trolls the guy) before it can even THINK about attempting to set up, and faster dragons that could OHKO it with Outrage or Draco Meteor need to be gone, as well. This means, you need to remove 3, sometimes even 4 Pokemon per match, before Dragonite can come in and sweep. Which means, you are going through the trouble of setting up the guy, only for it to kill less than half of the foe's team, something its companion could probably have accomplished anyway, considering that they have already killed the other half beforehand. The question is: did you really NEED Dragonite to accomplish that? All this leads me to my theory: nowaydays, the most effective offensive strategy is the one I call "double wallbreaker". Basically, you grab two Pokemon with immense firepower, build a team capable of keeping momentum around them, and aim to provide them with free switches and fire off brutally powerful moves. No turns wasted for setting up, no strategy, no prediction: just hit hard. Eventually, the genericly bulky checks your opponent keeps switching into one of your wallbreaker will be worn out, meaning that the other one will then be guaranteed to kill something every time it comes in. Once upon a time, we used wallbreakers to try and bust the opponent's defensive core, but since nowadays people rely more and more on generic bulk and less and less on full-fledged cores, a wallbreaker can potentially kill 2 or 3 Pokemon per match, if managed correctly. Which means, TWO wallbreakers can potentially win a match, specially if they have good synergy and can wear down each other's checks. Long story short: nowadays finding a way to give a wallbreaker a free switch in, and then firing off a brutally powerful move, pays off MUCH more than attempting to set up. And now for the team with which I hope to prove just that. AT A GLANCE There. You have two Pokemon that provide momentum and hazard control, two Pokemon that provide bulk and utility, and two wallbreakers. At least on paper, there is no Pokemon in existance that can keep on switching into BOTH Charizard AND Keldeo, so the idea is to keep turning and switching untill you can give either a free tag, and then you start firing off brutally powerful moves. Early on this makes for a very tactical, defensive mindset, where you try to manage your resources and you switch a lot more than you attack. But the moment the opponent's bulkiest Pokemon goes down, the rest of the match essentially becomes a game of Whack-A-Mole, with your opponent's Pokemon as the moles and Keldeo/Charizard (whichever is still alive by then) as the hammer. Speed control is not needed (although Thunder Wave support is included) because this team aims to win by forcing switches and then hitting hard on the switch, you hardly ever attempt a revenge kill. IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS @ Leftovers Ability: Intimidate EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def Impish Nature - Stealth Rock - Earthquake - Knock Off - U-turn Lando-T is the single most used Pokemon in OU, and for a damn good reason. Good Bulk, Intimidate, key resistances and immunities, hazard control, item removal, momentum and decent offensive STAB, all in one Pokemon. There is only one Pokemon as versatile as this one... @ Leftovers Ability: Synchronize EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA Bold Nature IVs: 0 Atk - Defog - Roost - Volt Switch - Psychic ... Namely, Mew. I am honestly surprised to see that Smogon's recommended set includes U-Turn and Knock Off, Volt Switch is just as good for momentum and a STAB move is always good to have. You'd be surprised to see how many hits the little fella can take, and between recovery and momentum, keeping those nasty hazards away is rather easy. Which is important for a team that uses Charizard. And Psychic actually hits decently hard, making it possible for Mew to take on Fighting-type threats that carry Ice Punch for coverage, thus relieving some pressure from Landorus. @ Leftovers Ability: Magic Guard EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD Calm Nature - Thunder Wave - Soft-Boiled - Moonblast - Healing Wish This is a Pokemon that plays with 3 moves for most of the match. Thunder Wave cripples Megagross and Heatran as they switch in, and can also be used to slow down the likes of Megazam, that re too frail to take a hit from our wallbreakers but can outspeed them. Soft-Boiled is for recovery and Moonblast is the STAB attack that hits for decent damage. In the fourth slot, Healing Wish is effectively a single use Full Restore, which sometimes can make the difference between a win and a loss, as it allows you to make up for your mistake if you are too reckless in managing Charizard/Keldeo early on. It also acts as an emergency momentum tool, to give one of your wallbreakers a free switch in. @ Assault Vest Ability: Sand Stream EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD Adamant Nature - Crunch - Pursuit - Stone Edge - Earthquake Of course, since this team relies on special attackers, I needed a physical attacker to round out my offensive presence. And I also needed an out to the likes of Talonflame, the Lati twins, and Kyu-B. Enter AV Ttar: between AV and the Sandstorm boost, this guy is ridiculously bulky (Kyu-B's Earth Power isn't even a guaranteed 3HKO), and with full Atk investiments, it is guaranteed to hit hard. Its main use is to Pursuit to death Pokemon that are repeatedly switched into my wallbreakers: Heatran can easily be worn out this way, Starmie can be OHKOed (Scald burn nonwithstanding), and the Lati twins won't last long either. Tyranitar has always been a mainstay of my personal top 5 as far as fav Pokemon go, so I am glad I get to use it. Heck, Sand Stream is even useful to reset the weather, so I don't accidentally send Keldeo out into the sun... @ Choice Specs Ability: Justified EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid Nature - Hydro Pump - Scald - Secret Sword - Icy Wind Wallbreaker #1. Keldeo is a special attacker that can kill Chansey, and that alone would grant it a spot in a team like this. It also has good typing that lets it switch into things that try to take the other wallbreaker on, as well as a powerful Scald that is extremely spammable, courtesy of the burn chance that makes it really easy to wear down any wall not named Clefable. Hydro Pump is for those occasions when you need power over burn chance (like against the mentioned Clefable), and Icy Wind is to nail Grass- and Dragon-type Pokemon on the switch, as the Spe drop makes it easier to 2HKO them. @ Make a wild guess Ability: Drought EVs: 40 HP / 252 SpA / 216 Spe Modest Nature - Flamethrower - Solar Beam - Dragon Pulse - Roost Wallbreaker #2. Megazard Y represents everything I like about the concept of mega evolution, specially when compared to its X counterpart (which represents everything I dislike about it). It does exactly what mega evolution should do: it makes a Pokemon better at what it already does. Charizard is a special sweeper that likes to take advantage from sunny weather. Megazard Y has ridiculously high SpAtk and Drought to guarantee to always be in sunny weather. It doesn't turn the base Pokemon into something entirely different (like, say, Megazard X), and it doesn't give it a sudden surge in power with a damage-increasing ability that makes little to no sense on it (like, say, Megadrill). It simply takes a Pokemon, and makes it better at what it already does. I wish all mega evolutions worked this way. Rant aside, here we have an EV spread that focuses on giving the big guy just enough bulk to roost in the face of resisted attacks (and even some neutral ones), just enough speed to outrun neutral-natured Kyu-B (as well as things like Breloom), and maximum SpAtk. Between the ridiculous SpAtk stat and the boost from sun, Flamethrower is enough to dent/kill anything foolish enough to switch into it: Fire Blast doesn't really turn any relevant 2HKOs into OHKOs, so we can afford choosing reliability over power (which is certainly good news, I was so tired of Fire Blast missing in crucial moments). Solar Beam kills most things that resist Flamethrower, and Dragon Pulse catches Latias on the switch (Smogon recommends Focus Blast to hit Ttar and Heatran, but I dislike how unreliable that moves is AND I have multiple outs for those Pokemon anyway, so I prefer Dragon Pulse). Roost is used to heal off any damage Charizard might have taken upon switching in, and well, the big guy forces so many switches you WILL have chances to use it. Although, the whole point of this team is to win by hitting opponents hard on the switch, so when you force a switch, you more often than not want to attack... But hey, merely knowing that recovery is an option can make a big difference sometimes, for example against Bisharp and its Sucker Punch. CONCLUSIONS Well here is the team. Feel free to share your opinions not just on it, but on the theory behind it. It took a while to achieve this kind of balance, so if you suggest a change, make sure to also suggest changes to the rest of the team in order to compensate and preserve the balance. Importable in the spoiler.

I fail to see what this has to do with anything. Purugly is a fast physical sweeper and a Defog punisher, Beheeyem is a TR-using special sweeper. They are completely different Pokemon, heck they could even coexist in the same team, if you use a non-TR set on the little alien (bulky specs can take a hit, and Analytic will then ensure A LOT of damage is dealt back).

Keep in mind, not every team can afford Pawniard because of its Steel typing, which makes it weak to common offensive types like Fire and Ground. So yeah, teams that are already weak to such types, possibly because they already use another Steel type like Klinglang or Probopass, might be discouraged to use Pawniard, and for those Purugly could be a decent option. The only problem I see is that PU has some defoggers that use Scald (Lumineon, Swanna), and a frail physical attacker like Purugly definitely won't like being burned. But that aside, the cat can do a good work in the tier.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-314333193 Well my opponent was rather bad but hey, it's a beginning. Let's see if I can make Bellyzard X the new meta.