Pokemon League DS

A discussion about the most powerful Pokemon in the game, regardless of tiers or banlists. Who is it? Well, you should probably listen and find out (duh).

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Another bout of teambuilding. This one turns into a fun VoltTurn team with a splash of pure annoyance. Here's the team that gets built:

Weezing @ BlackSludge

• Will-O-Wisp
• Pain Split
• Thunderbolt
• Haze

Umbreon @ Leftovers

• Heal Bell
• Protect
• Wish
• Foul Play

Mienshao @ Life Orb

• Fake Out
• U-Turn
• Hi Jump Kick
• Stone Edge

Rotom-W @ Choice Scarf

• Volt Switch
• Hydro Pump
• Thunderbolt
• Trick

Espeon @ Light Clay

• Reflect
• Light Screen
• Psychic
• Hidden Power Fighting

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb

• Substitute
• Earthquake
• Acrobatics
• Fling

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I spent as long as I could using my original Bug/Poison team, but it's been needing an overhaul lately. I finally got around to a revamp and now have a team of 6 brand new pokemon. I had actually trained 5 of them before for various other teams (so they're all pokemon I've had intentions of using before, and have used about half of them in DS battles before), but never got around to leveling them up or getting them battle ready until now. This marks the first time I've used a new team in about 6 months, and also includes the only gym team I've ever used that doesn't include Nidoking. Not sure how I feel about that...

Also, episode 50?! Damn, son.

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More adventures with the podcast team. What happens this time around?

Battles are here:

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-14585079

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-14585828

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-14586527

http://www.pokemonshowdown.com/replay/ou-14587727

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There are a number of really cool designs for pokemon. Unfortunately, some of the cool pokemon just can't compete because of their stats, moves, or typing. I call this list the "consolation prize" list, since it consists of horribly outclassed pokemon that just happen to have a good design.

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Some pokemon look really strong on paper, but when used in battles, something about them just doesn't add up and they start struggling for reasons you wouldn't expect. This is a short list of them.

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It's April Fool's Day, so there's no Pokemon content today. This cast talks about Pokemon's little brother, Digimon. As Pokemon fans, it's easy to dismiss something that looks so similar, but there are some things about Digimon that I really enjoy. Feel free to ignore this one if you're looking for Pokemon content, because there's none to be found in this cast.

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I tried. I really tried to use it. Shuckle is just really frustrating to try and use competitively because it has no way of doing any real damage. You can support a little with Encore or Stealth Rock, or possibly Toxic, but the rest of it is not very good news. Kudos to you if you can use it meaningfully in a competitive environment.

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So I went and made this shiny new team, why not try it? Since I went through the first step in building a team (the creation of it), I figure I can continue to use this team as I go through the testing and tweaking phase as well. I've decided to upload each battle I have with it so you can see what I'm seeing as I go through the process.

Battle 1

Battle 2

Battle 3

Battle 4

Battle 5

Interesting things of note:

1. I could use a proper setup sweeper to take advantage of Wobbuffet's Encore. Umbreon is awesome, but not as threatening as it could be. The replacement I feel best about is Staraptor for Gyarados, but we'll see if I feel I need to make it.
2. Steelix took a Superpower from Tyranitar [134 base Attack] on the jaw and only lost 27% of its health. Gallade's [120 base Attack] STAB Close Combat only did 48%. Even Haxorus can't beat it in 2 hits. I can now feel free to laugh at almost any physical attack aimed in my direction.
3. Fuckin' Gliscors, man. It's on my Scary Six and I didn't even bother to account for it. I'll probably start by switching to Fridge Rotom, but I might need to bench Wobbuffet for another good special attacker.

I also take some time to get into the numbers behind the calculations and how they're not always as clear as you'd think they are.

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