Robofiend

Also thank you des for winning so I don't haves to live with the chokefiend nickname for the rest of my digital life

My niggas

fuark yeh lions op

thought it was 100k

I see Kanga as pretty predictable - if it's low on health or status'd it's going to Rest and otherwise it'll probably Double Edge/Return to try to get some chip damage. But part of the problem is just how few pokemon actually have reasonably safe switch ins against it. Altaria could run a bulky set to abuse some of its attacks but it's still pretty niche, Vileplume or Steelix could sponge an attack or two, but nothing really punishes you for running Kangaskhan, which I see as inherently problematic. There ought to be at least a couple things that make you go "oh shit, maybe X wasn't the best idea for this team" in any metagame, and I really can't think of anything that makes you say that when running Kanga except really odd things like WoW Houndoom or Misdreavus - neither of whom are ever really seen and both of whom have some serious flaws. I will say that Kangaskhan as a physical attacker is a little less cancerous than the wall variant - but not by much. Since it lacks special weaknesses its still hard for even the strongest of special attackers (Doom, Manec, etc.) to put holes in it, and there are so few viable Rock/Steel types (especially ones that don't die to EQ) that Kanga can pretty much afford to cover itself by running mixed offensive/defensive set with DE/EQ and Toxic/Rest - getting all of the benefits of being a wall without the drawbacks (mainly that its coverage attacks hit softly). As far as I can tell, the ban train is leaving the station, choo choo. Too many people have suspected it for too long (both in and outside of TC) for us not to take a long hard look at it. As much as I like watching UU matches right now, I think that (test) banning Kangaskhan is both inevitable and likely informative about the health of the current metagame. This is all assuming Scizor is actually going to be banned (I've voted in favor of doing so). Last tangent: I actually really enjoyed that this Scizor test ban has lasted as long as it has - its given players a lot of time to develop new strategies, which rewards creative players like JJ, Toast, and Des. The players I've seen prosper the most in the last month have all built and refined new comps that have let them take advantage of holes in the "safe" defensive strategies that used to define the tier. It's worth saying some of this innovation has also been finding new ways to abuse Kangaskhan's natural strength, which is part of the reason I think it's worth focusing our energy on Kanga more than other threats like Swellow. EDIT: Oh good, the ban has been made public. Thought I'd cover my ass there because it's pretty obvious I knew what was going to happen lol.

It's pretty easy to get high happiness solely through leveling.. I'd be surprised if the devs signed off on this unless it was a very minor buff to very high levels of happiness (like 100% gets you one extra IV passed or something) Overall, it's not a bad idea, but I think if happiness could be raised by means other than totally mindless grinding (leveling, biking with Soothe Bell) then it'd be more of a positive change. As it stands, this would only benefit people with enough free time to bike their pokes around for hours (or grind trainers) and I'd prefer to see buffs to breeding that weren't super time consuming but required some skill (maybe through trainer challenges, BP, dungeons or special loot gained from dungeons).

hilariously enough I played that team last week and 5-0'd but only because I had helmet chomp and several priority users to mess with Trick Room.

Lmao Zeeb getting no love

it's because you linked it with a space at the end, translates to like %20 or something in computer speak and thus 404 also I really enjoyed seeing your momo take so much damage so early but was sad that guy choked so bad against emboar. srs how did he fuck that up so bad? He's at +2 and unless you're meh scarf then it would've been over. +2 252 Atk Virizion Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Emboar: 223-264 (120.5 - 142.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO unrelated: its amazing how poorly I played here and still somehow won. http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-330682576

Hype train

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/ou-329368016 where's k9 at

http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-ou-329368016 update ou is actually an ok tier

Good guy Qbeert :)

@Luis you're correct from a usage standpoint- set up pokes like ursa are far less common than many top walls.

Sure, Zangoose is good, but I have trouble seeing how it'd be broken in UU, especially since Hitmonlee is now fairly useful with Slowking usage lower than ever. Someday the Bulk Up set will reign supreme in this wall filled tier.

Yo plat I can help I was a transfer in college too

Qbert shook he knows he's facing the god

monday morning qb here yes, I noticed

it's happening http://play.pokemonshowdown.com/battle-gen4ou-327762668

But Chansey was still highly used when Dugtrio was around. Something like 30% Chansey usage right before the ban.

And another one

A little bit. Zam is pretty bad on non hyper-offense teams because, like Pikachu, it can't switch in on anything. It's also weak to Pursuit, a common attack carried by Metagross. As for walls that can force switches: a good example is Ludi/Venu because Leech Seed saps enemy health. Weezing is another option that can scare Gyarados or Heracross out of play. Miltank can also be used in the special wall slot as something that sets up Curses and threatens most of the metagame with Paralysis from Body Slam.

Pikachu is a usable attacker in OU if you have Volt Tackle, but it's a total glass cannon and it can't break walls that well Gyarados is great, you just gotta know how to use it right Starmie is meh, wouldn't reccomend Chansey is a special wall/utility sponge, it doesn't stand up to physical attackers Arcanine is ok but its weakness to rock/ground (combined with the rest of your teams weakness to rock/ground) will hurt you Porygon2 is an ok special wall but it's mostly outclassed by Chansey. My first piece of advice is swapping out P2 since Chansey does its job better. You'll want a physical wall of sorts, unless you'd rather just run an offensive core that works with Pika/Gyara. Unfortunately, since Pika has no resistances and dies to pretty much anything, it's going to be largely useless for you unless it's surrounded by walls that can force switches. The main problem I see from a teambuilding perspective is that Arcanine only does well on teams that feature heavily defensive cores, for instance, Ludicolo/Arcanine/Chansey. It won't provide you much utility as is against most top sweepers and your teams lack of a physical wall will hurt you. Aerodactyl, Gyarados and Flygon can just rip through your team once in play, and things like Agility Metagross will have an easy time ripping through your team if Arcanine dies. Arcanine is decent for checking CB Metagross or Heracross, but it hates EQ from either and doesn't have the bulk of other physical walls. Weezing is a good partner for Chansey, as is Skarmory, to some degree. Even Forretress could work here. While losing Starmie's Rapid Spin will hurt, it's just too risky since you have no way of beating Chansey. Gyara struggles to swap in, as does Pika, and neither threatens Chansey that much. So one option would be to gear your team for defense and get a Venusaur that can come in on anything Chansey does and Leech Seed it, or to run other walls like Skarm/Clops or something to rack up residual damage. Metagross is great at beating Chansey and can pair up with Arcanine well, but then you'll definitely want something to sponge Physical water attacks and Earthquakes, something your team currently doesn't have much of. I'd highly recommend ditching Pikachu to be totally honest. Last a quote from me some long time ago: "the best way to lose battles is to cling to a pokemon that underperforms in battle". You may feel like Pikachu is your baby now, but after 10 consecutive losses you may have a change of heart.

I'd really appreciate seeing some votes for/against Chansey from the comp community at large since I believe we'll be voting soon

damn pbc, so close. well played tho. EDIT OH SHIT I THOUGHT #2 WAS #3 EDIT2 OH SHIT LIONS HYPE