EPIC Status ReportWritten By: Angel Knight Phil | Category: Community Spotlight
I know you guys were disappointed that the EPIC project went underground, but I wanted to come out and show you guys a little bit of the progress we've made since then. But first, LINKSES!
Making Kudang broken Changing Chitang's evolution method to be more user friendly.
Streamlining the Ions level sets to mirror the Eeveelutions (and we'll do that for Aureon, Lungeon, and Anubeon when we get there)
Making the Lemaul line more useful all around so that they can be a more attractive choice for trainers. Includes meme.
Making the Siron line and the Telaqua line attractive alternatives to the later and more powerful water types of the OIs.
Tweaked Astrolion to be a little bit more realistic to use in the RPG and competitively.
And those are just a few. Everyone has the ability to view EPIC Creations, but you have to look for it under EPIC Productions. Keep looking out for more changes brought to you by our Dex Staff!
Leon Vane: Par for the course, how did you come about using your username of Chimera?
Chimera: Hoo boy. Chimera is from the far-bygone days of PokeRealm; it was my second username on the internet ever (after Topaznut, which is why Shawn still calls me TN to this day). That's...what, six years ago? I'm not entirely sure where the name came from, but if I had to hazard a guess, I would say that I borrowed it from the pages of The Lightning Thief, which I read around that time (the entire scene it was in was left out of that shambles of a movie based on the book, but that's neither here nor there). It sounded cool, it was a badass mythical monster, and my 13 (12?)-year old self thought it would make a good username on the internet. I brought it back recently during the early days of the Rocket uprising, then decided to keep it even after my attempt to give myself a "Rocket" username was swiftly rejected, partly because it sounded a little more respectable than AliasBot, at least to my ears/eyes. Which leads perfectly into...
Leon: Bonus question, since everyone calls you AB for "Aliasbot": How did that one come about as well?
Chimera: AliasBot is actually pretty simple: I changed my username way, way too often in my earlier days on this forum, as well as on PR prior to that. Topaznut, Chimera, Quicksilver, Renegade Wave, Red Rocket...I had a lot of aliases, is what I'm saying. So I ended up changing to AliasBot almost as a jab at myself for not being able to settle on one username. Ironically, I was AliasBot for a long, long time, so most people that have been around the site for a while know me as AB (the fact that it's a shorter abbreviation than one can manage for Chimera doesn't hurt: "Chim" never really caught on).
Leon: For some reason it has been apparent you are stretched too thin in your duties. You can choose between writing competitive articles or you can remain a GMod. Which do you pick and why?
Chimera: Have you seen me write anything resembling a competitive article lately (hell, written anything at all for that matter)? I'd much rather continue in my super-top-secret, behind-the-scenes G-Mod work and never be able to write competitive articles again than vice versa.
Leon: You were promoted at the same time that DF was; since then, DF has helped with Orre, while you've been working on seekruts, I can only imagine. Any spoilers?
Chimera: I'm pretty sure DF had Orre in the works before he was promoted, actually, but that's neither here nor there.
Leon: You sure?
Chimera: What? What do you want?
Leon: Positive?
Chimera: Scram, you little hooligans. I never want to see you on my lawn again!
Leon: C'mon, something?
Chimera: ...I should stop trying to be funny this late at night. It isn't working. Also, Meganium for master race. That is all.
Leon: Okay, if you won't give any spoilers, how about a sneak peek into how you plan to vote for the Golden Oranges? Any leading candidates for a category?
Chimera: I...I really haven't been nearly as active as I should have been over this past year. I'm not sure I'm qualified to nominate anyone for anything, pulling from such a limited sample size...by which I mean people should totally vote for me for every award ever, and also to be the next President of North America (after Canada and the US merge and Mexico is swallowed up by the ocean and/or vengeful Mayan gods).
Leon: Care to explain the "Abslute Moron" joke for those not in the know?
Chimera: Back in the day (read: not really that long ago), I wasn't a very good typer (typist? typton? typtrophan?), and I had a tendency to drop a lot of tpyoes. One of the more infamous instances of this was when I was replying to affronts to my intelligence with "I'm not an absolute moron." Unfortunately, I managed to misspell absolute in the process, and the rest is history.
Leon: Congratulations on winning WSoP! That Starmie completely wrecked (almost) everything in its path, and what it didn't beat, Porygon2 finished up with. Did you expect to go all the way with your team, and more importantly, were you just as stunned as I was when Pixels & Pirates forfeited?
Chimera: If there's one thing Israel is good at, it's kicking ass. I wasn't expecting to do quite as well as I did, but I was betting on a pretty good run (or at least I would have, if betting were legal). As for the forfeit, well, I didn't expect to win that stall battle when I was slower and couldn't break Miltank's Subs in one hit (hindsight being 20/20, I really should have taught Pory2 Charge Beam instead of Thunderbolt). My only hope was to drag things out long enough that my counterpart would go down on strikes, or just give up in exasperation. Obviously, Operation Annoy Your Way To Victory was a complete success. Now where's my crown? I was promised a crown! (I will, however, settle for a cash prize, as I am quite broke at the moment. ...we'll discuss this later, when we're not on-the-record.)
Leon: If you could design a promotion of any kind with admin approval, would you give away an item or a Pokémon?
Chimera: Weeping Lumik statues: Rock-type, with an ability that doubles their Atk, SAtk, and Spd on turns that they aren't targeted with an offensive attack. Because OI needs more Doctor Who references. And time travel. Everything needs more time travel. Except Back to the Future: that has just the right amount of time travel. Fortunately, OI should be getting a distinct uptick in time travel in- uh....just ignore that last bit.
Leon: Just as we started the session with a traditional question, we'll end with the traditional ending. The floor is yours, and you can speak your mind on anything you want, be it your view on how OI can continue to grow or a plea for people to vote for you in the Holon Sprites contest.
Season's BeatingsWritten By: +SilentSentinel | Category: Pokemon of the Week
Hey ya'll! It's your somewhat friendly neighborhood SilentSentinel, back from a long hiatus of TT writing! To make up for, here's a bunch of competitive analyses for winter-y Pokémon (Spoiler alert: Random Ice types from OI and Amaya)!
Miralupe
Let's get this party started with a fast and furious analysis of one of my favorite Ice Types on the site, Miralupe! Miralupe is a great Pokémon that a lot of people in Amaya aspire to own, but finding its pre-evolution Mirai is tough, especially if one has specific preferences regarding ability and gender. That also makes it a risky birthday promo Pokémon, but the reward is oh-so sweet.
Miralupe's Level 100 Stats
Stat
Base Stat
Actual Stat
Hit Points
80
364
Attack
40
179
Defense
70
239
Special Attack
112
323
Special Defense
110
319
Speed
93
285
Synchronize: Easily Miralupe's worst ability. It transfers Burn, Poison, and Paralysis to the foe. Not bad, but certainly not better than... Magic Guard: Here we go! One of the best abilities in the game, Magic Guard protects from all sorts of secondary damage, including Life Orb recoil! DW-Regal Sheen: Miralupe also gets one of the new abilities through the Dream World. When Miralupe's HP goes under 1/4th, its Attack, Special Attack, and Speed all rise one stage. This ability has some situational use that I will get into later, but in most cases, Magic Guard is still preferred.
Overview:
Miralupe is a really cool Pokémon, but its effectiveness in competitive play is hard to quantify without actually playing with it. One big issue is that Ice/Psychic isn't the best defensive typing, giving it 6 weaknesses to some fairly common attack types and giving it only 3 resistances, one of which being to the rare Light type. Miralupe does have quite a few things going for it though, like Psyshock access, a good special movepool, and of course the ability to switch into all sorts of non-damaging moves thanks to Magic Guard.
Not as offensively oriented as a Mystic Dance variant, but with more staying power. Note that if Miralupe is being used in Hail, Blizzard can be used reliably instead of Ice Beam. Calm Mind, Subsitute, and Recover can turn Miralupe into a nice Special Wall, with Miralupe starting off at 110 Special Defense. Wish can be used instead of Recover if you want to heal others as well. Substitute should give you enough of a guard against powerful physical attackers to dispatch them with your move of choice. Psyshock is prefferred over Psychic in order to damage speciallly based opponents more easily.
Mystic Dance @
Ability: Magic Guard
- Mystic Dance
- Ice Beam
- Prismatic Ray
- Surf / HP Fire / Psyshock
Lots of slashes here. Mystic Dance increases Speed and Special Attack by 1, turning Miralupe into a potent sweeper. Life Orb is the preferred item as Magic Guard eliminates recoil. Ice Beam / Blizzard is obvious here, but the other moves are up to what weaknesses you want Miralupe to cover. Prismatic Ray is a solid choice for one moveslot as it hits 3 of Miralupes weaknesses (Bug, Ghost, Dark) Super effectively. For the final slot, Miralupe happens to get Surf, which can inflict pretty good damage against Fire and Rock type switch-ins. HP Fire does the same to Steel types. Finally, Psyshock can be chosen in the event your opponent brings out a foe with high Special Defense.
Generic Choice Set. 93 Speed is a little bit slow, so a Choice Scarf can be used to help Miralupe keep pace with its foes. The moves have been explained in the previous set, HP Fire can be subbed in for either of the last two. You could put a Choice Specs on Miralupe, but I find it to be kind of a waste seeing as a Life Orb is only a small drop in power, but gives you freedom of move choice and no recoil with Magic Guard.
Similar set to what Alakazam uses in OU. Magic Guard + Focus Sash ensures that the Focus Sash does not break upon switching in to Stealth Rock and stuff. The combination ensures that it takes two seperate incurrences of damage to dispatch Miralupe. Allows Miralupe to function as a revenge killer in a different way to that of the Scarf set.
Regal Sheen @
Ability: Regal Sheen
- Mystic Dance
- Ice Beam
- Prismatic Ray
- Surf / HP Fire / Psyshock
Not sure how effective this would be, but I like to throw out situational sets. Focus Sash will keep you alive, but keep in mind that hazards will need to be cleared first as you don't have Magic Guard. Mystic Dance as the opponent brings you down to the sash. Regal Sheen will increase your Special Attack and Speed to +2/+2, allowing for massive damage. Best done later in the game, or you'll be revenge killed too easily.
Other Options:
Thunderbolt can be used to give you Boltbeam coverage. You would end up losing the ability to muscle through some switch ins without your super effective moves, but would have nice neutral coverage. Miralupe gets Mirror Coat, which could be used with a Sash I suppose, but it would likely require some prediction. Finally, Mind Crush can be employed over Psyshock to stop CM users.
Counters:
Most variants of Miralupe are easily trapped and killed by Pursuit users, as Miralupe has low physical defense. Empoleon and Heatproof Bronzong wall it, and Bulky Pokémon like Porygon2 and Snorlax stop it in its tracks. There are many fast threats in UU like Zorark and Weavile that can force it out, as Miralupe's 93 Speed leaves it a bit slow for much of UU.
Tier:
Despite having a nice ability and some good boosting moves, Miralupe is not quite good enough for widespread use in OU. It's poor defensive typing, below average speed for the tier, and fragile physical defense leaves it vulnerable to far too many Pokémon in that fast past metagame. For now, I would place Miralupe in UU, as it has enough power for that tier, and outspeeds some important Pokémon like Roserade, Krookodile, and Heracross.
Let's keep this fun going with a Pokémon with will likely be highly relevant in the 5th gen weather wars:
Blizzaram
Blizzaram was a Pokémon that never got the respect it deserved in the earlier days of OI. It had a low BST and was not particularly good at anything. But the generation has suddenly shunted this sheep into the spotlight, thanks to the Dream World.
Blizzaram's Level 100 Stats
Stat
Base Stat
Actual Stat
Hit Points
75
354
Attack
90
279
Defense
100
299
Special Attack
75
249
Special Defense
70
239
Speed
50
199
Here's Blizzaram's abilities: Snow Cloak: This one raises Blizzaram's evasion in Hail. Not super useful, especially not compared to... DW-Snow Warning: Funny how sometimes all it takes is a new ability to bring a Pokémon from obscurity into standard play. Snow Warning makes Blizzaram the second Hail inducing line, and thus making it a staple of hail teams.
Overview:
Like Abomasnow, Blizzaram is only seriously discussed in competitive play due to its ability. Being the second fully evolved user of snow warning allows it to compete with Abomasnow for a spot on hail teams (athough some teams could end up using both). So what can Blizzaram do that Abomasnow can't? At first glance, not all that much, as Abomasnow has a high enough speed to utilize Choice Scarf Effectively, can use Subseed, and has better mixed attacking stats. But Blizzaram does have it beat in one area, and that is typing. While Abomasnow's typing gives it seven weaknesses, Blizzaram only has 3. It also has 10 resistances and one immunity, allow it to switch in and get Hail set up much easier than Abomsnow, who has to pick and choose its moment more carefully. That alone gives Blizzaram an edge.
Movesets:
Choice Band @
Ability: Snow Warning
- Ice Shard
- Head Smash
- Iron Head / Icicle Crash*
- Quick Attack / Brick Break / Icicle Crash*
Blizzaram sure doesn't have that great of a movepool, but there's enough here. Ice Shard is the main move on the set as Blizzaram is SLOOOOW. Only use one of the other moves when you think something is going to switch out. Head Smash is a nice move that can easily OHKO Ninetales, stopping a Sun-using team in its tracks. Iron Head is a 2HKO on the sandstorm inducing Tyranitar. If Blizzaram ends up getting Icicle Crash through EPIC, it can 2HKO Hippowdon. Quick Attack gives Blizzaram another Priority move if it needs to revenge kill something that Resists Ice, and Brick Break can get through opposing steel types.
Bulky Attacker @ /
Ability: Snow Warning
- Ice Shard / Icicle Crash*
- Rock Slide / Head Smash
- Iron Head
- Brick Break
Yep, this is about it. Blizzaram has a ton of resistances and a good defense stat, so a bulky attacking set is not out of the question. It can wear down opponents in this way. Rock Slide can be employed over Head Smash if you want to preserve your Blizzaram's longevity, but the power drop is really noticeable.
Other Options:
Blizzaram does get Counter and Mirror coat as egg moves, so some kind of gimmicky CounterCoat set would be possible. You would likely need good prediction skills for it to work well. Blizzaram gets some good special moves like Blizzard, Earth Power, and Power Gem, but its Special Attack is fairly low.
Gyro Ball could possibly be employed on a battle simulator in which speed lowering natures and 0EV/IV spread could be used, but in Pummelo, Blizzaram's speed is always 199, too high for Gyro Ball to be of much use.
Lastly, I just want to go over Choice Scarf. I would not recommend the use of Choice scarf on Blizzaram, despite it being the best set for Abomasnow. Blizzaram's speed with a choice Scarf gives it 298.5 speed, which rounds down to 298, or 1 point slower than base 100 Pokémon. If you want to be faster than stuff like Haxorus and Hydreigon, that's fine, but there are a lot of Pokémon that will outspeed you by that one measly point.
Counters:
Being very slow and with a questionable movepool, Blizzaram has many Pokémon that can cause it trouble. Anything with an existant speed stat that resists Ice Shard can force it out. Blizzaram can do nothing of note against Politoed without sacrificing a large chunk of its health through Head Smash. Heatran shrugs off Choice Banded Brick Break pretty well and can obliterate Blizzaram with just about any fire attack. Furthermore, OU has lots of priority users like Conkeldurr that can smash it with a well-placed Mach Punch.
Tier:
Blizzaram kinda... sucks. If it weren't for Snow Warning, it would barely see the light of day, even in NU play. But as it stands, Blizzaram has an important niche and is a huge boon for Hail based teams. It isn't quite as good as Abomasnow from the offensive side, but its typing gives it much better staying power. For this reason and this reason alone, Blizzaram will find itself firmly entrenched in the OU tier.
Now that we've introduced you to Hail's newest inducer, it's time to show off what is likely to become Hail's most dangerous abuser and sweeping force:
Komodic
The Ice Wyrm Pokémon is a fearsome sight to behold, and is liked by many trainers due to its dragonic appearance. Like Blizzaram, this mono-Ice type received a very helpful Dream World ability that will allow it to shape Standard play for quite some time.
Komodic's Level 100 Stats
Stat
Base Stat
Actual Stat
Hit Points
70
344
Attack
95
289
Defense
60
219
Special Attack
105
309
Special Defense
75
249
Speed
95
289
Contrary to what the OIdex may tell you, Komodic does not get Levitate as an ability, that's an error of some kind. Here's what it actually gets:
Ice Body: This one allows Komodic to recover some HP during hail. This isn't all that useful on Komodic due to its low bulk. Deep Freeze: This ability is pretty interesting. It is kind of like Static or Poison Point, but the status condition is Freeze, and the activation rate is 10% as opposed to 30%. Kind of hard to have a strategy around, but nice for the occasional Haxation Without RepresentationTM. A frozen opponent will give you an extra chance to set up or deal damage, and that Pokémon is useless until it unfreezes. DW-Freeze Flash: Here we go! Freeze Flash is basically Hail's answer to Chlorophyll, Swift Swim, and Sand Rush, doubling Komodic's speed in Hail. This helps to even the playing field between the weathers.
Overview:
Komodic is definently another game-changer for OU. Now Hail has its very own speed doubling sweeper Pokémon. Komodic also has nice stats for attacking from either side. It is certainly not without its flaws, but Komodic will likely help usher in an increase in Hail team usage for standard play.
Likely one of the top used Komodic sets this one will tear through frail teams with untouchable speed and strong attack. Ice Fang isn't that strong, but Dragon Dance does help. If Komodic gets Icicle Crash through EPIC, it will have a much stronger Physical STAB. Blizzard doesn't get the DD boost but is powerful and has perfect Accuracy under Hail. Aqua Crush handles Rock and Fire type switch ins, and combines with Dragon Claw for excellent neutral coverage.
Substitute @
Ability: Freeze Flash
- Substitute
- Blizzard
- Aqua Crush / Stone Edge
- Dragon Claw
Komodic will strike fear into the hearts of many trainers when it is sent out in Hail, leading many to quickly go to a priority using revenge killer, or a check to force it out before it can boost. Using Substitute can easily punish these foes, as you can then blast these Pokémon with a Life Orb STAB Blizzard while protected from priority and super effective attacks behind your Sub.
Komodic doesn't have a great special movepool, but it still manages to get great Neutral coverage with its moves. Blizzard is obvious, just spam this most of the time. HP Fire handles Ferrothorn who think they are walling a DD set. Dragon Pulse provides excellent coverage in conjunction with HP Fire. Water Pulse is mostly filler, although it is the only most that can really do anything to Heatran. Ice Shard would give you priority to use against other priority users.
Other Options:
For use in non-Hail, Komodic can still use Dragon Dance, or an Agility set. Deep Freeze is the prefferred ability as you could get lucky. Ice Beam over Blizzard of course.
Counters:
Komodic is somewhat tough to counter, like many of the weather sweepers. Komodic that lack Brick Break are pretty well countered by Steel Types, especially Empoleon. Jellicent does a pretty good job against Komodic that do have it, especially if they replaced Dragon Claw with it. Komodic has trouble muscling through many of the bulky water types that Rain teams offer. Also, Ferrothorn. Komodic ain't doing nothing to Ferrothorn.
Tier:
It might not be able to beat everything, but Komodic's new role as Hail's top sweeper ensures that it will be placed in the OU tier.
Not done yet! Time to examine the prevo's of these last two Pokémon in...
LITTLE CUP CORNER
Alright! Let's see how Ontlam and Wyrdra impact the Little Cup game.
First things first, and this is big for Hail play, Rain and Sun teams can't really function as well due to a lack of auto inducers (Vulpix is banned from LC currently). So the only weather for the most part that needs to be contended with is Sand, which is nice because Ice moves hit super effective on Ground types. Many of the most common sandstorm using Pokémon in LC are at least part Ground type (Hippopotas, Sandshrew, Drilbur, etc). However, your LC Hail team will need one, possibly two Pokémon to deal with Fighting type enemies, as Fighting types are extremely prevalent in LC. Priority Mach Punch is one of the most common moves in the game. If you can handle these, Hail becomes an even better strategy than before with the addition of these two Pokémon.
For Ontlam, you are probably best served with a Choice Scarf set. With a Scarf, Ontlam reaches the same speed as Snover.
@
Ability: Snow Warning
- Ice Shard
- Head Smash
- Blizzard
- Earth Power / Quick Attack
Ice Shard there as physical STAB, and despite having a Scarf, it is still very useful. Faster Scarfers like Scarf Taillow or Scarf Dratini can be hit hard before they can attack back. Head Smash because its awesome and can hurt Fire types badly. Ontlam's special attack isn't great, but Blizzard is so strong that it is nice to have on the set anyway. Earth Power gives you something for Steel Types while Quick Attack gives you something to revenge kill Fire and Water types easier.
Wyrda can run similar sets to what Komodic runs in OU. An important stat: Wyrdra under Hail reaches 30 Speed in Pummelo, faster than any Scarfed LC Pokémon, including the really fast stuff like Diglett and Voltorb. Here's a few sets:
@
Ability: Freeze Flash
- Blizzard
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Dragon Pulse
- Bubblebeam / Water Pulse
Blizzard should be your go to move, as Spec STAB Blizzard will crush a lot of things. The other moves are for coverage. HP Fire is very useful to get around Ferroseed.
It's that time of the year. The time where anyone living in an area of the world where it's the winter season complains about the cold and snow or about the lack thereof... darn you, global warming! It's also that time when we fawn over the artistic talent of those on the site on our humble little newspaper. Luckily, the winter-y theme carries into the arts this week!
Check this adorable little nugget out! Chaos Shadow never fails to impress and once more I am left to humbly marvel at the coloring on this little guy. The coloring makes him look like he'd be perfect to snuggle up with as long as he doesn't decide to use any ice moves during the snuggling. I imagine things would get pretty cold in that case. Anyway, he really does just give that look of "Please, gives me hugs but don't try anything funny or you will be rammed with surprising force with my horns or just frozen in place by ice moves, okay?" Which, I feel, is something that wouldn't ordinarily be easily conveyed. Maybe I'm reading too much into this piece. Oh well, it's awesome and you should be happy to gaze upon it!
From the art world to you, a very Merry Chrismahanukwanzakuh and a Festivus for the rest of us. This has been your hostess with the mostest wishing you the best for the rest of this year and into next! Stay classy, Orange Islands.
Hail and FarewellWritten By: Angel Knight Phil | Category: Hails and Farewells
Three issues in a row?
This one's a bit of a doozy. Today, we'd like to wish The Meta a heartfelt farewell from his position as Global Moderator. Hopefully you'll stick around, as it's almost not OI without DF around. You're definitely going to be missed from the staff.
And if this was TMM, this "big shoes to fill" segue would turn into a fat joke that would undermine my sincerity. Anyway, we do indeed have big shoes to fill and not because he's a dragon, but because of his many contributions over the years to OI. However, we've come to a unanimous decision on who to promote in his place. Ladies and Gentlemen, your new Global Moderator: Leon Vane! Congratulations!
I'd also like to announce a promotion to VIP (and the recipient of 2 OIp for the overhaul of the calculator) for MechanicalMonarch!
Congratulations to everyone! And DF, thank you for everything you've done for us. Now if there were just a way to make that Legend a thing. *cough*
MM, claim your OIp below!
OI LotteryWritten By: +Mysterious | Category: OI Lottery
Man, you guys sure love your lottery. And you know what? I thank you for it. And you know what? I bet the winner of this issue's lottery is going to thank you!
Our egg donation comes from none other than TMM. Usually because the base species is female (we had to work some last minute legal issues, so the breeding was rushed via Ditto), the baby doesn't acquire any nifty moves from the parents. However, we at the OI lottery just couldn't pass up an opportunity to make a prize even more worthwhile, so we taught the baby a TM or two for the winner's convenience. Though I supposed forcing a newborn to learn high powered attacks at such a young age is a terrible idea in practice..
Anyway, the winner is E-102 Parasect! Since the donor did not wish to be paid for his donation, the winner will receive 18,000P and a lovely Horsea egg that will hatch on 12/30! Claim your prize below!
That does it for this issue of the Tangelo Times! I know that I take a little while to get with the times because of my age, but when I do, I'm sure to run a meme into the ground. Wait...that's a bad thing, not a good thing.
Angel Knight Phil
- Might have knocked over Novi's fishbowl. MIGHT.
And for something completely different, courtesy of Mysterious. Merry Christmas everyone.
SwarmsSneasel are swarming in Navel Mountain! Snorunt are swarming on Route 24-25! Spheal are swarming on Route 36 Artily are swarming in Slateport City! Wyrdra are swarming on Route 209! Piloswine are swarming in Xengai Pass! Smoochum are swarming on Imperia Fields!
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