For once, Pokemon Showdown completed a game without a glitch and without weird stuff happening. I think this game overall demonstrated various elements of my team. The star of the show today is Aegislash, specifically UltiMario's "252 Sp. Atk / 252 Atk Mixed-Pivot".
Overall, Aegislash is an excellent switch-in vs Scizor, and I took advantage of that throughout this game. Every Scizor switchin was punished with an Aegislash switchin, which each time resulted in the KO of one more of tDewy's mon.
Replay: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/pokebankoubeta-60054768
As far as I can tell, my team is pre-Pokebank ready. But Hydregeon / Draco Meteor is comming up as "Gen5 only" in Pokemon Showdown, so I participated in the OU Pokebank ladder. Since I'm emulating an in-game Wi Fi team, I've also restricted myself to Item Clause. Togekiss runs Pixie Plate, because TTar has taken the leftovers.
tDewy
VS
Dragontamer
First move of the game: What to lead with? My default lead is Tyranitar, so I pick him without thinking very much. In hindsight, I realize now this is the worst choice possible.
Match Start!
100%
100%
This matchup can't get any worse. I need to switch out, ASAP. Fortunately, Aegislash is a solid switchin vs Scizor.
100%
100%
It doesn't matter too much, Scizor is basically walled in completely by Aegislash. Now is the time to show why I use Ultimario's aggressive set.
KOed
80% (Life Orb Recoil x2)
Against a different opponent, tDewy's move would have been fine. Most Aegislash that I see use Swords Dance / King's Shield, losing their momentum. Instead, I play a far more aggressive and greedy Aegislash to punish ASAP. The combination Shadow Ball / Shadow Sneak safely KO's the majority of switchins thanks to 252 Atk and 252 Sp. Atk evs.
This is the point of "Pivot" Aegislash. Switch in on a walled attack, and then punish HARD. The following turn shows why I don't run King's Shield.
100%
80% (Life Orb Recoil x2)
tDewy demonstrates wisdom: He has chosen a pokemon that doesn't care about King's Shield. With Pain Split, Will-o-Wisp, and T-Wave, Rotom-wash has a number of options to hurt or damage me THROUGH King's Shield.
And since I'm not set up, there is no hope for Aegislash to actually win this fight. King's Shield, or no King's Shield, I'm forced out. This early in the game, against better players, King's Shield is a deadweight move.
100%
87% (Burned)
I know switching Togekiss into a STAB electric Pokemon doesn't make much sense, but hear me out. WoW doesn't cut my offense, and I know that Togekiss is 3HKOed by Rotom's Thunderbolts. Believe it or not, I'm actually safe here. Still, the WoW hurts my Tanking ability, and forces me to roost more often.
55% (Crit)
45% (Burned)
Note: Despite the fact that I have Pixie Plate, Togekiss is walled by Rotom, and Rotom is more or less Walled by Togekiss. My goal here is to go for Shadow Ball Sp. Def hax asap. Fortunately, my opponent switches into Aegislash, granting me a free hit.
With a little bit of Luck-Hax on that Thunderwave, I manage to capture a free Roost out of my opponent. Togekiss was sitting at 28% before the Roost here, because Burn was hurting quite a lot. Nonetheless, after a T-Wave, Togekiss can take advantage of "Faster Roost", and recover quite quickly. Togekiss's bulk easily survives Shadow Sneak, Shadow Claw, and Sacred Sword.
So I lock in the KO here.
KOed
6% (Burned)
100%
6% (Burned)
Well, my Togekiss is utterly screwed now. After Burn and Shadow Sneak, I'm only stting at 6%. My goal is to counter any Scizor setup... I cannot afford to let Scizor get a free Swords Dance.
Huh, look at that. Scizor didn't go for bullet punch. Was that a Swords Dance?
100% (Paralyzed)
100%
He knows that Fire Blast is comming, right? Time to Psych him out a bit.
Uhhhh, crap. He didn't switch out. I guess he was risking the 15% chance to survive the Fire Blast? Fortunately, Aegislash is still a great switch in here.
94%
80%
Look at that! Free Switchin. As usual, I'm going to do the Shadow Ball -> Shadow Sneak unless tDewy comes up with something different.
39%
70%
Rotom-Wash is an excellent switch into Aegislash. Once again, Aegislash is forced out. This is a point I need to emphisize: Good players force Aegislash out with good plays. But this is good, this is natural. Every switchin makes Aegislash back into Shield form. Use switches to enter Shield form, don't waste moveslots on King's Shield.
Anyway, Rotom-Wash was full HP and is now at ~40% after the Shadow Ball. Aegislash is forced out because he'll survive Shadow Sneak... and threatens that crippling Will-o-Wisp.
63% (Pain Split)
81% (Pain Split)
Shuckle has four jobs on my team: Eat Status, Tank hits, Knock Off Items, and setup Sticky Web. A quick look at my opponent's pokemon that are left indicates that my Hydregeon outspeeds everyone without Sticky Web support.
Believe it or not, this means that Sticky Web takes the _lowest_ priority at this point in the battle. I prioritize hurting Rotom-Wash with Binding Band + Infestation, hopefully getting Rotom at much much lower HP.
31% (Leftovers Knocked Off)
KOed
Notice Shuckle tanking that Hydropump like a madman :-). I didn't feel like Rotom getting more HP from Pain Split if I rested. Instead, I was going to die here and now, and leave Rotom-W crippled at only 31 % HP left with no leftovers.
Reminder to all: Do not use Volt Switch to kill an opponent. I now get to choose the best pokemon vs Togekiss. Since my TTar is running Sassy with 252 / 252 HP / Sp. Def EVs, I decide its the best switchin vs Togekiss. As long as Togekiss isn't running Aura Sphere, I should be fine.
100%
100%
I get a good hit vs Scizor, but I still need to keep TTar alive to own Togekiss later. Aegislash switchin yet again.
40% (Paralyzed)
73%
KOed
60%
Unfortunate paralysis hax once again. But I'll take it. I'm unsure if anything beyond this point needs commentary, aside from one more Aegislash Kill vs Forretress. Without any sweeper or win condition left for tDewy, I simply exchange blows that lead to victory.
In summary, Aegislash had 3 kills this match, and was easily the star player. My strategy here more or less boiled down into "Switch Aegislash in safely", and then "Protect Aegislash from Status". It played the ideal pivot.
Final Lineup:
Dragontamer
Aegislash KOs:
TTar KOs:
Togekiss KOs:
I'm making this warstory to somewhat prove a point. Good players play well. They will make plays that threaten Aegislash over and over and over, never giving him the room to Swords Dance or King's Shield. Setting up is a gift from the opponent... a gift that better players tend to not give.
I argue therefore, it is Aegislash's premier job to attack early and often.
Overall, Aegislash is an excellent switch-in vs Scizor, and I took advantage of that throughout this game. Every Scizor switchin was punished with an Aegislash switchin, which each time resulted in the KO of one more of tDewy's mon.
Replay: http://pokemonshowdown.com/replay/pokebankoubeta-60054768
As far as I can tell, my team is pre-Pokebank ready. But Hydregeon / Draco Meteor is comming up as "Gen5 only" in Pokemon Showdown, so I participated in the OU Pokebank ladder. Since I'm emulating an in-game Wi Fi team, I've also restricted myself to Item Clause. Togekiss runs Pixie Plate, because TTar has taken the leftovers.
tDewy
VS
Dragontamer
First move of the game: What to lead with? My default lead is Tyranitar, so I pick him without thinking very much. In hindsight, I realize now this is the worst choice possible.
Match Start!
This matchup can't get any worse. I need to switch out, ASAP. Fortunately, Aegislash is a solid switchin vs Scizor.
It doesn't matter too much, Scizor is basically walled in completely by Aegislash. Now is the time to show why I use Ultimario's aggressive set.
Against a different opponent, tDewy's move would have been fine. Most Aegislash that I see use Swords Dance / King's Shield, losing their momentum. Instead, I play a far more aggressive and greedy Aegislash to punish ASAP. The combination Shadow Ball / Shadow Sneak safely KO's the majority of switchins thanks to 252 Atk and 252 Sp. Atk evs.
This is the point of "Pivot" Aegislash. Switch in on a walled attack, and then punish HARD. The following turn shows why I don't run King's Shield.
tDewy demonstrates wisdom: He has chosen a pokemon that doesn't care about King's Shield. With Pain Split, Will-o-Wisp, and T-Wave, Rotom-wash has a number of options to hurt or damage me THROUGH King's Shield.
And since I'm not set up, there is no hope for Aegislash to actually win this fight. King's Shield, or no King's Shield, I'm forced out. This early in the game, against better players, King's Shield is a deadweight move.
I know switching Togekiss into a STAB electric Pokemon doesn't make much sense, but hear me out. WoW doesn't cut my offense, and I know that Togekiss is 3HKOed by Rotom's Thunderbolts. Believe it or not, I'm actually safe here. Still, the WoW hurts my Tanking ability, and forces me to roost more often.
Note: Despite the fact that I have Pixie Plate, Togekiss is walled by Rotom, and Rotom is more or less Walled by Togekiss. My goal here is to go for Shadow Ball Sp. Def hax asap. Fortunately, my opponent switches into Aegislash, granting me a free hit.
With a little bit of Luck-Hax on that Thunderwave, I manage to capture a free Roost out of my opponent. Togekiss was sitting at 28% before the Roost here, because Burn was hurting quite a lot. Nonetheless, after a T-Wave, Togekiss can take advantage of "Faster Roost", and recover quite quickly. Togekiss's bulk easily survives Shadow Sneak, Shadow Claw, and Sacred Sword.
So I lock in the KO here.
Well, my Togekiss is utterly screwed now. After Burn and Shadow Sneak, I'm only stting at 6%. My goal is to counter any Scizor setup... I cannot afford to let Scizor get a free Swords Dance.
Huh, look at that. Scizor didn't go for bullet punch. Was that a Swords Dance?
He knows that Fire Blast is comming, right? Time to Psych him out a bit.
Uhhhh, crap. He didn't switch out. I guess he was risking the 15% chance to survive the Fire Blast? Fortunately, Aegislash is still a great switch in here.
Look at that! Free Switchin. As usual, I'm going to do the Shadow Ball -> Shadow Sneak unless tDewy comes up with something different.
Rotom-Wash is an excellent switch into Aegislash. Once again, Aegislash is forced out. This is a point I need to emphisize: Good players force Aegislash out with good plays. But this is good, this is natural. Every switchin makes Aegislash back into Shield form. Use switches to enter Shield form, don't waste moveslots on King's Shield.
Anyway, Rotom-Wash was full HP and is now at ~40% after the Shadow Ball. Aegislash is forced out because he'll survive Shadow Sneak... and threatens that crippling Will-o-Wisp.
Shuckle has four jobs on my team: Eat Status, Tank hits, Knock Off Items, and setup Sticky Web. A quick look at my opponent's pokemon that are left indicates that my Hydregeon outspeeds everyone without Sticky Web support.
Believe it or not, this means that Sticky Web takes the _lowest_ priority at this point in the battle. I prioritize hurting Rotom-Wash with Binding Band + Infestation, hopefully getting Rotom at much much lower HP.
Notice Shuckle tanking that Hydropump like a madman :-). I didn't feel like Rotom getting more HP from Pain Split if I rested. Instead, I was going to die here and now, and leave Rotom-W crippled at only 31 % HP left with no leftovers.
Reminder to all: Do not use Volt Switch to kill an opponent. I now get to choose the best pokemon vs Togekiss. Since my TTar is running Sassy with 252 / 252 HP / Sp. Def EVs, I decide its the best switchin vs Togekiss. As long as Togekiss isn't running Aura Sphere, I should be fine.
I get a good hit vs Scizor, but I still need to keep TTar alive to own Togekiss later. Aegislash switchin yet again.
Unfortunate paralysis hax once again. But I'll take it. I'm unsure if anything beyond this point needs commentary, aside from one more Aegislash Kill vs Forretress. Without any sweeper or win condition left for tDewy, I simply exchange blows that lead to victory.
In summary, Aegislash had 3 kills this match, and was easily the star player. My strategy here more or less boiled down into "Switch Aegislash in safely", and then "Protect Aegislash from Status". It played the ideal pivot.
Final Lineup:
Dragontamer
Aegislash KOs:
TTar KOs:
Togekiss KOs:
I'm making this warstory to somewhat prove a point. Good players play well. They will make plays that threaten Aegislash over and over and over, never giving him the room to Swords Dance or King's Shield. Setting up is a gift from the opponent... a gift that better players tend to not give.
I argue therefore, it is Aegislash's premier job to attack early and often.
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