The UU Dark Horse Project

[CoolStoryBrobat]

Since Mazz left, he designated me to be in charge of this project. In order to make updating easier, a new OP will be made in place of the former one. Don't hesitate to join if you haven't already!

artwork shamelessly stolen from the OU version; art by ToxicPhox
​

Hello Underused! Those of you who've been here a while might remember the Dark Horse Project that Birkal hosted in OU a long time ago; well I'm here to port it to Underused. There are a couple good reasons to participate in this project. First, participating will help us test the new Pokemon that this generation brought us. Second, participating will bring up the usage of some criminally underused Pokemon to help balance out all the noobs spamming Ambipom. Third, if you succeed your run of the Dark Horse project, you'll get a nice reward (Leaderboard points)!

The rules of the project are as follows:

• You must choose two Pokemon on the list of usage stats (found here) that have had less than 4% usage in the previous month.
• You must build a team with them (don't just steal an RMT that happened to have both). The entire team's usage stats combined must have 35% usage or less!
• Post your entire team in this thread or send me a PM containing your team and their percentages! Send me a PM also if you edit your team, so I can keep track.
• You must post here stating the two Dark Horse Pokemon you were using and the fresh alt you are going to ladder under.
• After that, you have the entire month to bring said fresh alt up to a point where you can be a Dark Horse champion! (Don't worry about maintaining your score, this challenge is based on peak scores only. I.E. laddering up to 1600+ and then losing a few games afterward would still earn you B-Rank for reaching the 1600+ mark)
  
• Once you've achieved this, edit your registration post with a screencap of your ranking to be added to the Hall of Fame.
• If someone else took your same dark horse to a higher ranking, you don't get to enter the hall of fame for that dark horse! Only one of your dark horses needs to not be topped in order for you enter the hall of fame.
• Every month, the Hall of Fame will be preserved, but a new Dark Horse challenge will start, so you can pick another couple Pokemon that you want to use and score leaderboard points again!
• Note you can't get in the Hall of Fame with the same Dark Horse Pokemon multiple times (though the rest of your team can be recycled if you so wish).
• Discussions of your Dark Horses are greatly encouraged. Post here with commentary, findings, teams, strategies, etc.—anything to do with the Dark Horse you've been using and what you've learned from it!
• Your team can be changed as much as need be, so long as you keep your original Dark Horses and maintain < 35% usage.
• Quitting and re-entering with a different set of Dark Horses is prohibited; stick with your choices and do your absolute best. You have an entire month to ladder, or at least explain any findings and discussion you may have about the Pokemon you used.

There will be three ranks in the hall of fame. C-Rank is bringing your team to Elo 1500 and will earn you 1 Leaderboard point. B-Rank is bringing your team to Elo 1600 and will earn you 2 Leaderboard points. A-Rank is earning an Elo 1750 or better and will earn you 3 Leaderboard points! Remember, these points can be converted into a Community Contributor badge nomination!

​

Hall of Fame:
A-Rank
-none yet-

B-Rank
-none yet-

C-Rank

Patrick1088

December

A-Rank
-none yet-

B-Rank

Patrick1088

warzoid

C-Rank

Hogg

BenzMafia

Zartres10

November

A-Rank

Yifeng

Hogg

B-Rank

Patrick1088

C-Rank
-none yet-

October

A-Rank

Dudeman130498

B-Rank
-none yet-

C-Rank

Patrick1088

September

A-Rank

Yifeng

B-Rank

Meowiekins

C-Rank

King UU

Hogg

August

A-Rank

Branflakes325

B-Rank

King UU

Dudeman130498

IronBullet93

Meowiekins

C-Rank

Patrick1088

Hogg

SlottedPig

Jellied Eels

Sean B.

July

A-Rank
-none yet-

B-Rank

Sean B.

C-Rank

Professional2341

Patrick1088

Chimpact

Sage of the 6

Meowiekins

June

A-Rank

Kirigakure

B-Rank

Pearl.

MikeDawg

Pom

RowDog

Chimpact


C-Rank

Patrick1088

Calloflochie

Professional2341

Kitten Milk

LiberalLucario

Sean B.

Sage of the 6

May

A-Rank
-none yet-

B-Rank

Fat Lenny

Sage of the 6

C-Rank

Professional2341

CoolStoryBrobat

Insomniac.

Patrick1088

President Shinra

April

A-Rank
-none yet-

B-Rank

CoolStoryBrobat

C-Rank

PresidentShinra

Cyrus-V

March

Hall of Fame

A-Rank

Meru

hilarious

B-Rank

Metal Sonic

PTJon7

-Tsunami-

C-Rank

Calloflochie

Swamp Link[/url]

Participants

eaglehawk

TeraVoltage

Mozz

Wyvern

Sweep

mallpal

NinjaWithLightsaber

Billtodamax

Berserker Lord

Mahmudkipz

Fuzzfire101

ryanr554

Koshi Komeji

dbzmariogeno

The Reptile

Swamp Link

Arcanine Lion

Metal Sonic

Calloflochie

Adrian Marin

copycatcat

PTJon7

-Tsunami-

Bouffalant

Namehtmas

Meru

Hell_Above

hilarious

 

[pokemonisfun]

how is mence being factored into this? (sorry if its been answered) and if i get to 1600 this month i get another 2 points right???

 

[RufflesPro]

So this starts at June 1st or ends at June 21st?

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

how is mence being factored into this? (sorry if its been answered) and if i get to 1600 this month i get another 2 points right???

Right now, Mence isn't allowed to be used, since it has no usage in last month's stats due to being banned and whatnot. And yes, if you get to 1600 this month you get another 2 points.

So this starts at June 1st or ends at June 21st?

Well this is actually continuing the one that was already in play, and sign-ups will be closed May 24th for any who haven't signed up yet. Between the 24th and the 30th, anybody who signed up can post their ladder rankings if they qualify for Hall of Fame. After that, next month's Dark Horse Challenge for June will take place.

 

[RufflesPro]

Right now, Mence isn't allowed to be used, since it has no usage in last month's stats due to being banned and whatnot. And yes, if you get to 1600 this month you get another 2 points.



Well this is actually continuing the one that was already in play, and sign-ups will be closed May 24th for any who haven't signed up yet. Between the 24th and the 30th, anybody who signed up can post their ladder rankings if they qualify for Hall of Fame. After that, next month's Dark Horse Challenge for June will take place.

Is there gonna be new signs up for June or is this THE sign ups for June?
If June has different sign-ups, then count me in in this one. (Well I'll try)

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

Is there gonna be new signs up for June or is this THE sign ups for June?
If June has different sign-ups, then count me in in this one. (Well I'll try)

Different ones for June, so yeah. Get this one while it's hot bruh!

 

[President Shinra]

Wait, so the hall of fame for April and May carry over? So I can't use the dark horses from April?

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

Wait, so the hall of fame for April and May carry over? So I can't use the dark horses from April?

Yeah, that's correct. Everything from the old thread is still gonna apply here, this is just a continuation

Edit: That is, if you got into the Hall of Fame from April's Dark Horses. If they weren't in the Hall of Fame, then no you don't need to change them.

 

[Cyrus-V]

I will enter with Kyurem and Tentacruel, under the username "Cyrus-DH01".

Aromatisse / Mew / Slowbro / Snorlax / Kyurem / Tentacruel (~32%)
Aerodactyl / Flygon / Hippowdon / Stoutland / Kyurem / Tentacruel (~30%)

I should have gotten to 1600 within the first 24 hours, but I've been playing pretty poorly lately. Even my main has fallen from mid 1700s down to sub 1600. Anyways, here's my progress so far, should hopefully hit 1600 soon.

 

[RufflesPro]

I'll try this with Malamar and Gligar. Username: "DH Pro"

Malamar / Gligar / Kingdra / Darmanitan Mew / Exploud / Chandelure (~32%)

 

[Patrick1088]

Count me in as well. Ill come up with a team later on. So, hydra is less than 4% used? This cant be accurate is it? I wouldnt consider hydra to be a dark horse... (well hes a dark dragon but thats beyond the point...)

 

[Cyrus-V]

Count me in as well. Ill come up with a team later on. So, hydra is less than 4% used? This cant be accurate is it? I wouldnt consider hydra to be a dark horse... (well hes a dark dragon but thats beyond the point...)

Hydreigon's usage stats are low because it was banned for part of April. It's clearly not part of the "Dark Horse" category and, along with any other Pokemon that was suspect tested, should not be used.

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

Count me in as well. Ill come up with a team later on. So, hydra is less than 4% used? This cant be accurate is it? I wouldnt consider hydra to be a dark horse... (well hes a dark dragon but thats beyond the point...)

Hydreigon's usage stats are low because it was banned for part of April. It's clearly not part of the "Dark Horse" category and, along with any other Pokemon that was suspect tested, should not be used.

Cyrus is right, its usage stats were low cause it was banned for part of last month. However, since it still had some degree of usage for that month, Mazz imposed a 6% penalty for using Hydreigon on your team, meaning it took up an extra 6%, plus the less-than-4% its usage had. That still applies if you decide to use it this month. Next month it'll probably have more "normal" stats, meaning there won't have to be a penalty. This is gonna probably apply to any mon who was retested in UU in the middle of the previous month, and then allowed to stay afterward, since its usage will be a little skewed despite being legal.

I was originally gonna close this month's sign-ups tomorrow but I might extend it since we got a few new challengers, meaning general interest in this project might get a few more peeps coming in around this time. So I'm gonna extend Sign-ups till Tuesday, May 27th, 11:59 PM EST. Anybody who hasn't signed up before then will not be able to participate in the project. In the meantime the rest of y'all got until the end of next Saturday to get your scores up! I look forward to seeing how y'all do. Get a little discussion going on your Dark Horses too!

 

[Patrick1088]

I assumed as much, but wanted to confirm! So, the current dark horse will run until 5/30 right?

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

I assumed as much, but wanted to confirm! So, the current dark horse will run until 5/30 right?

Yup, that's right. Well, I'll be nice and let it run until 5/31 but I'll probably end it sometime during the evening that day

 

[Patrick1088]

Thats fine for me! I have a 4 day weekend from work and can finally get a chance to ladder

 

[clairedestroyer!]

Worth a shottttt.

Dark Horses are Whimsicott and Ditto.

Whimsicott (2.1%) / Ditto (1.5%) / Aggron (7.6%) / Slowbro (8.3%) / Noivern (6.1%) / Donphan (8.3%) = ~33.9%

Alt is Scarlet Gensokyo

 

[Patrick1088]

my alt is Sylvester1088_DH. Proof of fresh alt is below:

User: sylvester1088dhThis user has not played any ladder games yet.

Sorry, my laptop doesn't let me take screenshots.

Zangoose-.27%
Gorebyss-.42%
Smeargle-2.7%
Honchkrow-14.7%
Nidoqueen-5.5%
Krookodile-6.9%

Hulk Smashpass oh yeah!

 

[Patrick1088]

11-7 so far on the ladder. I forget how much trouble I have laddering *sigh*

 

[MikeDawg]

MikeDawg DH

Ursaring (.22%)
Cresselia (2.6%)
Exploud (2.3%)
Drudiggon (.74%)

 

[CoolStoryBrobat]

MikeDawg DH

Zangoose (.23%)
Cresselia (2.6%)
Exploud (2.3%)

I kinda need your other 3 mons lol. Even though I believe you're probably under the limit, it's good closure

 

[MikeDawg]

I kinda need your other 3 mons lol. Even though I believe you're probably under the limit, it's good closure

I PMed :)

 

[Cyrus-V]

I've used Kyurem and Tentacruel for about 35 battles so far. Unfortunately, I feel like they're both probably at the usage levels they deserve to be at.

Kyurem is the bigger disappointment to me. I had high hopes for it, but the problem is that while it's a good Pokemon... there's not much it can do that Hydreigon can't do better. Kyurem and Hydreigon share a lot of similarities, but Kyurem is an inherently outclassed Choice Scarf user for numerous reasons: it loses to every single other Dragon due to its lower speed, it lacks U-turn, and it gains nothing in return to make the set stronger than alternative Dragons. Likewise, it is an outclassed Choice Specs user because it has about the same power as Hydreigon, with worse coverage and lesser speed. Neither Choice set offers to take advantage of the two things Kyurem has better than Hydreigon, those being its attack and HP.

Therefore, I saw the most potential to differentiate Kyurem from Hydreigon by designing a set meant to take advantage of both. I went for a bulky mixed Life Orb set - speed was not crucial, as it would get outsped and killed by other Dragons anyways, and there's not too much else in that speed region it would want to max out its speed to gain a turn on. I ran enough speed to get past uninvested base 100s / Honchkrow. Iron Head was the physical attack of choice, and one of the few advantages it did have over Hydreigon - it was accurate and even without attack investment capable of cleanly 2HKOing even physically defensive Florges.

Kyurem did okay in this role, but after a while I realised a sad truth. Kyurem is not more bulky than Hydreigon. I've had an easier time switching in Hydreigons *with no HP investment* than my 188 HP Kyurem. The reason for this is its useless ability and much worse typing. It has a critical weakness to every single hazard, no immunities compared to Hydreigon's very useful two, and its Ice typing maintains a weakness to Fighting while adding even more weaknesses to common attacking types, while not gaining much defensively. Hydreigon is capable of switching in on a lot of Pokemon who can't do much to it thanks to its resistances and immunities and lack of weaknesses to hazards, Kyurem is not. Even with the support of a rapid spinner and defogger on my teams, it's not possible to always keep hazards off the field without completely losing momentum.

So, with that being said, I had planned to, in addition to trying the set mixing its two supposed strengths, try out both a set focused on taking maximum advantage of its bulk that I've heard people use (subroost) and one focused on taking more advantage of its dual 130 offensive stats by being more physically-oriented. I can't justify the former any longer, since I've realised it's actually *more* fragile than Hydreigon, and the latter... well, that idea didn't pan out upon closer inspection of its physical movepool. The only physical move Kyurem has worth using over Hydreigon in the first place is Iron Head, and it lacks a physical secondary STAB move or any other coverage at all.

At this point I believe I'm just going to try to offensively use a specially-based LO set and bank on the only thing it can do better than Hydreigon, wreck Florges with Iron Head. If anybody has used Kyurem and would like to comment or throw any suggestions out there, I'd be interested in hearing it.

 

[RufflesPro]

I can't get past the 1400s because I keep getting haxed.

My plan was Agility + Baton Pass Gligar into a mew with Nasty plot and then baton pass to malamar/critdra/chandelure/gardevoir.

60% of my losses were due to hax man. I know I was using a cheap strategy but it worked. Whatever. Since I have exams next week I'll be dropping this. I'll try again with different pokemons in June.

 

[clairedestroyer!]

I am......actually really loving Ditto. It's very existence on my roster serves as effective pressure versus setup sweepers. Admittedly, there are probably better ways to do it, but clawing them down to 1-2 pokes and sending Ditto in as cleanup feels so dirty. I am having some trouble clawing out of the lower tiers cuz of luck (Ice Punch...) but I feel like my current team is at least workable in concept, which is nice.