also....
(double post i know)
my platinum BT streak ended on
459 wins. i am getting a new computer at home, so i will post picture + video when i am able.
i learnt something in my loss, so i will probably get back and try again some time, as i "shouldnt" have lost. yes there was hax as there really "needs" to be, but i now know a new situation in which i would do something differently.
basically i faced a set 3 trainer and their lead was yanmega (silver wind, ancient power, ominous wind, giga drain). all 4 moves are resisted by registeel, so in these situations, i usually dont even bother tricking it - switching in registeel, i know it will just use its STAB move repeatedly and then switch to an even weaker move. this strategy has served me well in many situations, essentially meaning i have latias completely intact, just in case something goes wrong with their second poke, and i can start again.
so.... it turns out that this yanmega has tinted lens (always a problem when your strategy relies on resistences), but to cut a long story short, it got several critical hits and an everything-boost, and unlike usual, registeel ended up very very low on health. in the end i was at about 20hp and, with 3 amnesias, it couldnt kill me (leftovers doing more than its attacks even with tinted lens, and the boost). it eventually did crit me, while i had done about 50% damage to it with a couple of curses and iron heads. i had to get it paralyzed so salamence would stand a chance, and i didnt want to trick it because boosted ominous wind would do too much. i had forgotten it had a lum berry, but i did manage to outspeed it and paralyze it the second time as it got a second everything-boost with the OW that KO'd me. now it was paralyzed, so i sub'ed hoping for a FP, but no such luck. when i was at 44/170 and still naked i figured i'd better just attack rather than go down to 2hp and risk weather/priority giving them a guaranteed win. outrage killed it thankfully (wasnt sure how it would fare with the defense boosts it had received) and the next poke was rampardos. i did about 95% and then it killed me with zen headbutt before dying to its life orb recoil. i saved the battle and will upload it to youtube when i have my computer situation sorted at home. looking at the initial screen for the replay, i discovered that the 3rd poke was luxray, so i would have needed a crit (even without intimidate non-boosted EQ does not OHKO). getting a sub up would have been awesome, as a DD'd outrage would have OHKO'd rampardos and also luxray if it didnt have intimidate, but yeah.....
so in the end, i know the loss was "due to hax", but it was hax that i knew was possible, and i should have thought of a way around it. now what i would do is trick the yanmega for sure. even if registeel lost to 4 consecutive silver wind crits, i could have set up salamence easily on struggle, maybe with a charm from latias to help. or even if registeel got up to something like +4/+3/+3/sub i would have been well on the way to a good position.
but i am happy for the moment. it was the first time i ever used that team, and it got me into the top 3.
DAWN - latias
timid - choice scarf
EVs: 252 HP / 182 Def / 76 Spe
Stats: 187 HP / x Atk / 133 Def / x Sp Atk / 150 Sp Def / 154 Spe
Moves: Trick, Charm, Thunderwave, Recover
same idea as peterko, but with
slightly more speed, to outspeed neutral base 100'ers with no scarf involved. i almost always keep latias alive, and it might need to come back later in the battle and paralyze/charm something to allow salamence the opportunity to finish it off or possibly even set up. i think this is exactly the trick-lead i would have come up with if i had designed one myself. the moves are the best i can think of, and they work effectively in so many situations, and i dont have to rely on luck with flash (the main purpose of thunderwave being to slow them down). in short, i think the best trick leads have been used already, and i am doing this to try and do well, rather than "have to" use something different. in my opinion, without saying that latias is
the best trick lead there is, i don't think there is anything that would convince me to choose a different one.
CLAW - registeel
careful - leftovers
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Atk / 146 Def / 12 Sp Def
Stats: 186 HP / 108 Atk / 188 Def / x Sp Atk / 189 Sp Def / 68 Spe
Moves: Substitute, Curse, Amnesia, Iron Head
my team strategy is based on resistences, so i can set up on something that will not hurt me. a steel-type is essential for that, and registeel is certainly the best that i know of. i have not changed this from the original (due to garo?), and have not thought too much about different EVs, although i have contemplated boosting defense more, given that it is easier to set up against special attackers thanks to the more rapid boosts amnesia provides. but it does its job every single time, except when it is dealt an uncharacteristic number of crits. most battles go like "latias used trick, foe used SE move, switch in registeel, GG".
CHARLIE - salamence
adamant - lum berry
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 6 Sp Def
Stats: 170 HP / 205 Atk / 100 Def / x Sp Atk / 101 Sp Def / 152 Spe
Moves: Substitute, Dragon Dance, Outrage, Earthquake
i used this not to "be different" but because i thought salamence had amazing potential (and also various salamences have been some of my most reliable battle frontier fighters). this reaches amazing stats of 820 Atk / 608 Spe when fully set up. he takes more turns to set up than garchomp, but does not have to lose the speed race with things like timid starmie, mismagious, and various other things that can beat it when naked. and besides, garchomp and salamence usually find themselves setting up on nondamaging moves (the way i play them anyway). additional things salamence brings are:
- better combined resistences - with registeel, electric is the only type not resisted.
- intimidate - this helps immesurably. if a lead is locked into a high powered move like brave bird or outrage, i can sacrifice latias, and then bring in salamence for the intimidate before switching to registeel. this makes a humungous amount of difference.
- ground immunity - if i am stuck naked against things like gastrodemon (you all know what i'm talking about) i can switch between steel and salamence. steel takes laughable damage from ice beam, and salamence takes nothing from earth power (without leftovers a total immunity is quite important). this also works on things with ground and rock moves, and here the intimidate is another useful factor.
originally i had only 140 speed (outspeeding unscarfed kingler being the idea behind this number), and 182 hp, but the fear of him losing in a one-on-one situation against something it "should" outspeed drove me to this. DrDimentio suggested this move, and was also helpful when i was considering whether to use dragon claw and roost instead of outrage and earthquake.
one other thing, i faced that gliscor as a lead only once during my streak. i didnt know which one it was at the outset and tricked it (would have anyway - i can stand 1/123 odds). its first two guillotines hit latias, and i thought i would die in a similar way to peterko. but the next three missed, so salamence got set up fairly well (with 3 DD's he is nigh on impossible to withstand).
another notable battle i actually recorded and will upload to youtube. registeel had easily set up on some random lead, and killed the second poke, when gliscor2 (with razor claw/fang, the crit inducing one) came in. then it went like this:
- EQ crit, sub breaks. sub. (needed to renew my sub anyway, so this crit is unneeded).
- EQ crit, sub breaks. iron head, didnt quite kill it.
- EQ crit, dead registeel. i look up the list and realise it has ice fang. crap. i send out latias hoping it doesnt have hyper cutter, and select charm....
- ice fang, FREEZES! latias is frozen solid.
- ice fang KO's latias.
- in comes salamence. intimidate works - yes! ice fang does not crit, flinch, or freeze me. i cant remember what i ended on but it was enough, and i killed it with outrage.
i dont remember if that was exactly right, as i have a couple of battles confused in my head, but like i said i video'd it and will upload it at some stage.