Apologies for the lack of updates;

Posted in News etc. on May 14th, 2008 by AZ

But I got Brawl last Wednesday and I’ve been playing that in pretty much all of my free time, I’m getting started on a Marth guide now but it’ll take a while for it to be up, sorry.

First Smash Brothers pages up

Posted in News etc. on May 2nd, 2008 by AZ

*Points to Menu on the right*

Nothing more really needs to be said.

Mewtwo

Posted in 4th Gen Pokemon of the Every now and then on May 1st, 2008 by AZ

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I had exams this week so had to study, this article’s pretty good though so it’s worth it right? Right?


Mewtwo has been around since the first generation and has been obscenely powerful the whole way through. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY doubts that Mewtwo is an Uber Pokemon. In fact, it’s up there as one of the very best Ubers. In the right hands it can be completely devastating in that environment.

Access to the best Special moves in the game; excellenet set-up moves; good Physical moves for unpredictability; and some of the most insane stats in the game mean thatif you know what you’re doing then it really might as well be game over as soon as Mewtwo hits the field.

Abilities

Pressure: All opponent’s attacks directed at Mewtwo use 2 PP instead of 1.

Base Stats (Max Stats in brackets)

HP: 106 (416)
Attack: 110 (319)
Defence: 90 (279)
Special Attack: 154 (407)
Special Defence: 90 (279)
Speed: 130 (359)

Movesets

Calm Mind set up

Mewtwo @ Leftovers
Timid Nature (+Speed -Atk)
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Speed
Ability: Pressure

- Calm Mind (Raises Mewtwo’s SAtk and SDef 1 stage. Learned by TM04)
- Recover (Restores 50% of Mewtwo’s HP. Learned at lvl 86)
- Ice Beam (95/100. Ice. Special. 10% chance of freezing opponent. Learned by TM13)
- Taunt (Forces opponent to use offensive moves. Learned by TM12) OR Aura Sphere (90/-. Fighting. Special. Learned at lvl 100)

Looks simple enough, to realise the full devastating potential of this monster requirs a bit of skill, but it’s pretty easy to understand.

Set up a Calm Mind on something that would fear Mewtwo. Most Ubers are Special hitters and most of those that use Physical moves are Ice weak. So after two or three Calm Minds Mewtwo becomes practically untouchable.

Recover should be easy to understand on a fairly brittle Pokemon that needs to survive to set up, any time Mewtwo’s health runs low just Recover it back up.

Taunt’s main use is to stop other Calm Minders setting up on you, it also prevents status which would not be fun for Mewtwo. As an additional bonus it prevents opponents healing themselves so Mewtwo can destroy them. Basically Taunt prevents anything from beating Mewtwo by methods other that having to KO it, which works wonderfully with Calm Mind’s boost and Recover.

Ice Beam is a fantastic move in Ubers, nothing is immune to it, the only things that resist it are Kyogre, Manaphy, Metagross and variour Arceus forms (Those ones are rarely used though), and it is also super-effective on quite a few of them. This makes it ideal to use as a sole attacking move; however if you feel that isn’t enough you can go with Aura Sphere, this is an option to allow Mewtwo do defeat Tyranitar and Darkrai, two Pokemon that ruin any efforts of Mewtwo’s unless it has an amount of Calm Minds anyone with those two Pokemon should not be letting it have.

Put simply, if this thing can set itself up your opponent might as well just hit Run. As nothing barring a critical hit from a Deoxys-A Shadow Ball (As nothing else which would KO Mewtwo even with the crit will outspeed it) will stop it completely destroying your opponent’s team. Make sure to play smart though, unless you have at least two Calm Mind’s up don’t fool yourself into thinking you can just survive anything.

Make sure it’s counters are gone though, even with Mewtwo’s fantastic Special Attack there are some things that will be able to beat you because Mewtwo isn’t versatile enough with this set. Check the counters at the end of this post and make sure you’re able to beat them before you even consider battling with this in your team.

I almost forgot! You may be wondering with Psychic isn’t used on this Pokemon, surely STAB would be of use right? Wrong. Psychic hits nothing super-effective in Ubers except Arceus forms, while Fighting Arceus is used, one specific incarnation of a Pokemon, especially when so many Pokemon resist Psychic in Ubers, is not enough to use a move. Mewtwo has enough power anyway.

Special Sweeper

Mewtwo @ Choice Specs or Life Orb
Timid Nature
EVs: 40 HP / 252 SAtk / 216 Speed

- Aura Sphere
- Ice Beam
- Shadow Ball (80/100. Ghost. Special. 20% chance of SDef drop. Learned by TM30)
- Thunder (120/70. Electric. Special. 30% paralysis chance. Learned by TM25)

Nothing like the last set really. Where the last one focussed on setting up and winning the whole game, this focuses on just killing anything that moves on the opposing team. Specs gives it 610 Special Attack and 529 with Life Orb, so you can imagine this will leave quite a dent in anything stupid enough to do the aforementioned moving.

Aura Sphere is again for destroying Dark types which like abusing Mewtwo’s weak to their STAB moves, in addition to that it lets Mewtwo hurt Dialga quite a bit.

Ice Beam is again used because practically nothing resists it, this should probably be the move you use if nothing else seems suitable (As Mewtwo doesn’t pack STAB this is actually his most powerful fully-accurate attack).

Shadow Ball beats all those Psychic types in Ubers, Psychic is a very common type so having a move that will hit most of them regardless of second types helps.

Thunder is great in Ubers courtesy of the rain brought by Kyogre, it also allows Mewtwo to destroy said Kyogre as well as being Mewtwo’s most powerful move while the rain is in effect.

OK, saying 610 Special Attack is good enough, but what will really make this thing impressive is showing you the amount of damage it can do (All Pokemon will be EVd defensively as Smogon recommends. Damage over 53% is a 2HKO if Leftovers are on opponent. 37.3% is a 3HKO)

vs Lugia

Shadow Ball: 43.27% - 50.96% (LO). 50% - 58.89% (Specs)
Ice Beam: 51.20% - 60.34% (LO). 59.13% - 69.47% (Specs)
Thunder: 64.42% - 75.72% (L)). 74.28% - 87.50% (Specs)

vs Giratina

Shadow Ball: 43.85% - 51.59% (LO). 50.60% - 59.52% (Specs)
Ice Beam: 51.98% - 61.11% (LO). 59.92% - 70.44% (Specs)

vs Dialga (Dialga has multiple EV spreads, these are for the Toxic Stall, as it is very defensive).

Ice Beam: 36.39% - 42.82% (Specs)
Aura Sphere: 59.90% - 70.54% (LO). 69.06% - 81.44% (Specs)

vs Latias

Shadow Ball: 62.76% - 73.57% (LO). 72.37% - 84.98% (Specs)
Ice Beam: 74.17% - 87.09% (LO). 85.59% - 100.60% (Specs)

Those are just common walls, pretty much everything else is so weak to Mewtwo’s attacks they will be 2HKO’d without a doubt (The two exceptions are Blissey and defensive Arceus).

I personally prefer Life Orb as Mewtwo likes the extra versatility and it can KO well enough anyway, but if you feel the extra power of Specs suits you then it’s your choice.

This should have demonstrated to you how truly devastating Mewtwo is. A guaranteed 2HKO on all but a few Ubers with Life Orb means this thing is great any time in a game, able to give some good early damage and mop up a team at the end, it really is that deadly.

Surprise Physical Mewtwo!

Mewtwo @ Life Orb
Jolly Nature
EVs: 40 HP / 252 Atk / 216 Speed

- Selfdestruct (200/100. Normal. Physical. Halves opponent’s defence the turn it is used, Mewtwo faints. Learned by XD’s Move Tutor)
- Ice Punch (75/100. Ice. Physical. 10% freeze chance. Learned in Emerald Move Tutor)
- Bulk Up (Raises Mewtwo’s Atk and Def by one stage. Learned by TM04)
- Brick Break (75/100. Fighting. Physical. Breaks Reflect and Light Screen. Learned by TM31) OR Earthquake (100/100. Ground. Physical. Learned by TM26)

This may look stupid but it’ll catch anything fighting it completely by surprise, Base 110 Attack isn’t bad either.

Bulk Up gives Mewtwo some power to use behind its moves; as, even with the element of surprise and the fact most Ubers EV Special Defence, you won’t do much damage with this set relying on no boosts.

Selfdestruct is just awesome on anything and goes really well with Life Orb as the extra damage won’t hurt you when you’re already fainted. This can be used to give Mewtwo one final shot when it’s near the end of its sweeping, and just if you need an emergency KO if something is destroying your team.

Ice Punch is basically Ice Beam but Physical, I don’t think I have to explain it again.

Brick Break can be used to obliterate Tyranitar, Darkrai and Blissey but you’ll probably want Earthquake as this set really is low on Base Power and the ability to whack Metagross, Dialga and the aforementioned Tyranitar isn’t that bad.

Basically the main use of this set is to try and take something out by complete surprise, hopefully beat something else then blow up for another KO, pretty scary.

Counters

Blissey will stop all Special version cold so if running Life Orb on the Special Sweeper you might want Selfdestruct to prevent Her Royal Fatness from walling you silly. The same applies to defensive forms of Arceus that aren’t weak to any of Mewtwo’s attacks (Fighting springs to mind, as does Bug). Metagross also works well as it isn’t weak to any of Mewtwo’s moves on the Special set and can beat it up with a Choice Banded Pursuit.

Anything that isn’t weak to one of Mewtwo’s moves should probably do the job, Mewtwo’s power is so immense though that unless your Pokemon is pretty bulky it won’t stand up to the absurd power of Mewtwo’s assault.

Where to find Mewtwo

Cerulean Cave in Fire Red/Leaf Green, it’s at level 70 there so watch out.

HALLELUJAH

Posted in News etc. on April 24th, 2008 by AZ

And I’m not even christian.

The site’s back!!!!!!!!!!

Wooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!

Many thanks go to my mother’s friend for doing this.

Wheeeeeeeeeeee

Also, I have loads of new content coming. Mainly about Smash Bros Brawl (I’m obsessed with that so the site now has that as a side-focus).

So yeah. Tell everyone you know. Dragonite’s Island is back in business.

oooooooooooh yeah - Duffman, The Simpsons.

Lucario, redoing as the old one failed badly

Posted in 4th Gen Pokemon of the Every now and then on January 20th, 2008 by AZ

I’d like to point out I’ve edited the links section because the Mafia was deleted so I added the new version.

Now on to the Analysis


I’m redoing this as the previous one is possibly the worst review I’ve made barring the stuff from the very beginning of this site (NO ONE LOOK AT THAT STUFF, PLEASE =[)

Lucario has one of the largest movepools in OU (Not in the game as Ubers have ridiculous movepools lol), combined with decent Speed and good attacking stats mean that Lucario can be incredibly dangerous in the right hands with the great unpredictability it has.

Unpredictability isn’t Lucario’s only strength, it has a lot of attacking power when boosted by items and can do a lot of damage.

Base Stats (Max Stats in Brackets)

HP: 70 (344)
Attack: 110 (319)
Defence: 70 (239)
Special Attack: 115 (329)
Special Defence: 70 (239)
Speed: 90 (279)

Movesets

SpecsLuke

Lucario @ Choice Specs (You cannot swap between moves without switching, multiplies Lucario’s SAtk by 1.5)
Nature: Modest/Timid (+SAtk/Speed -Atk)
EVs: 252 SAtk / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Ability: Steadfast (Multiplies Lucario’s Speed by 1.5 when it flinches)

- Aura Sphere (90/- Fighting. Special. Never misses. Learned at lvl 37)
- Dark Pulse (80/100. Dark. Special. 20% Flinch chance. Learned by TM79 or Heart Scale)
- Dragon Pulse (90/100. Dragon. Special. Learned at lvl 47)
- Vacuum Wave (40/100. Fighting. Special. Always strikes first. Learned by breeding)

I would like to note that if HP [Ice] can be obtained it is worth using over Dragon Pulse, HP [Electric] can be used as well over Pulse or possibly Vacuum Wave.

Basically come in and murder with boosted up Special moves.

Aura Sphere is a godsend for Lucario, getting STAB on a Special move with good power and the amazing type coverage this attack has, hitting Ice, Rock, Dark, Normal and Steel. A Modest SpecsLuke also does 46.6%-54.5% to standard Blissey with Aura Sphere, if you include Lefties that’s very nearly a certain 2HKO with Stealth Rock/one layer of Spikes down.

Dark Pulse murders Ghosts that wall your Aura Sphere, Dusknoir would be a good counter to this if it didn’t take so much from a boosted Dark Pulse.

HP [Ice]/Dragon Pulse allows you to hurt Dragons (It should be noted that Garchomp WILL outspeed you and Mence will outspeed Modest Lucarios), as well as Gliscor (Only on HP [Ice])

Vacuum Wave is basically used to help Lucario to become a good revenge killer, Scarfed PorygonZ, other Lucario (Handy to have this so you don’t just have a straight 50/50 on who hits first) and Weavile are all stopped by this move, as well as letting you kill damaged sweepers that are hurting your team.

If your opponent doesn’t have a good resister for Fighting moves SpecsLuke will just Aura Sphere them into the ground, practically nothing without resistances can switch into it without being 2HKOd, allowing it to do quite a chunk of early damage while your opponent figures out you’re Specs as well as being able to sweep late-game.

Swords Dance Lucario

Lucario @ Life Orb (Multiplies the power of Lucario’s moves by 1.3 but causes it to lose 10% of it’s HP each time it damages an opponent)
Nature: Adamant (+Atk -SAtk)
EVs: 252 Speed/252 Atk/4 HP
Ability: Steadfast

- Swords Dance (Raises Lucario’s Attack two stages. Learned at lvl 33)
- Close Combat (120/100. Fighting. Physical. Lowers both of Lucario’s defensive stats one stage. Learned at lvl 42)
- Extremespeed (80/100. Normal. Physical. Always hits first. Learned at lvl 51)
- Stone Edge (100/80. Rock. Physical. High critical hit ratio. Learned by TM71) OR Crunch (80/100. Dark. Physical. 20% chance dropping opponent’s Def by one stage. Learned by breeding)

Simple principle, set up a Swords Dance and proceed to sweep with your Physical moves.

Close Combat offers STAB, with 120 power before STAB this will hurt quite a lot, especially when Lucario’s Attack is increased with Swords Dance.

Extremespeed’s priority modifier will allow Lucario to hit faster foes before dying, with a Swords Dance, Adamant and Life Orb boost as well as Max Attack EVs being able to strike first, even with Extremespeed’s relatively low power (Only 4/9 of Close Combat’s) this can be used, like Vacuum Wave, to pick off weakened foes quite easily.

Stone Edge and Crunch both help with resistors, Crunch hits Psychics and Ghosts, whereas Stone Edge hits Flying types, it depends what you want to beat.

Reversal Lucario

Lucario @ Salac Berry (Raises Lucario’s Speed by 50% when on 1/4 of it’s HP)
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 8 HP/248 Atk/252 Speed
Ability: Steadfast

- Reversal (Does more damage the lower Lucario’s HP is/100. Fighting. Physical. Learned by Riolu at lvl 19)
- Crunch
- Swords Dance
- Endure (Any attack that would KO Lucario leaves it on 1 HP instead. Learned at lvl 1) OR Substitute (Uses 1/4 of Lucario’s HP to set up a decoy, making Lucario unable to be hurt, after enough damage to do 1/4 of Lucario’s HP is done the Sub fades. Learned by TM90)

The EVs give it 283 HP, meaning if you use four Substitutes you’ll go to 1 HP.

The point is to use Substitute or Endure to get yourself to 1 HP, get your Speed boosted by Salac Berry and sweep with Reversal (Which has 200 power, 300 with STAB on 1 HP), Substitute makes Swords Dance easier to pull off, however it will be ruined if you take any damage (Including Stealth Rock!)

Lucario’s excellence as a Revresaller is based around the fact it’s immune to Sandstorm, which ruins most others.

Crunch obviously hits Ghosts which wall Reversal.

Swords Dance can be used if you get any free moves, making Reversal kill even more.

MixCario

I’m not making a set, I’ll help you make one, as there’s infinite possibilities.

The main attraction of a Mixed set is to be able to hit on both sides of the spectrum very hard, effectively making it much more difficult to counter.

Close Combat should be used even if you are using Aura Sphere, as without Specs you won’t be able to beat Bliss.

Dark Pulse and Crunch are both good choices to beat Ghost types.

Stone Edge is a possibility for beating Flying types, HP [Ice] is a good option to beat Dragons / Gliscor (The bane of most Physical sets).

Extremespeed can be used for a priority move, as can Vacuum Wave.

Basically just build the set arond what you want to kill.

Where to find Lucario

Go to Iron Island, you’ll get an Egg from Riley after getting all the way through, it hatches into Riolu which evolves into Lucario by max Happiness in Daylight.

Counters

The Specs set can be beaten by a combination of Blissey and any Pokemon that can take Aura Sphere, as strategic switching between the two can prevent Lucario ever doing damage.

Resistances and prediction in general will beat SpecsLuke.

Physical sets are ruined by Gliscor and Weezing, Dusknoir with Will-o-Wisp can shut it down but it can’t take SD boosted Crunches well (It can take them but it’s walling capabilities are ruined.

It depends on the Mix set as to what counters it really

Heatran

Posted in 4th Gen Pokemon of the Every now and then on January 2nd, 2008 by AZ

First thing you will notice about looking at Heatran is… is…

In fact, I’m not sure whatthe hell this thing is meant to be except a Fire/Steel legendary that takes residence is Diamond and Pearl’s Stark Mountain. Being a Legendary it has very high stats, however looking at it’s typing you’ll notice a 4x Weak to Ground, possibly the most common type out there, you’ll also notice a weakness to Fighting and Water moves (The former being rather common as well), however if you include it’s ability Flash Fire it has an amazing 12 resistances, many 4x resisted (It is also the only Pokemon to resist Fire and Dragon, a handy combination if most Dragons didn’t pack Earthquake, although it does let it beat SpecsMence).

Next thing you’ll see is that huge SAtk, the well-above-average Defences, an Attack high enough to make use of EXPLOSHUN!!!1 Unfortunately it’s Speed is a bit of a downer, although it still has it’s uses.

Base Stats (Max Stats in brackets)

HP: 91 (386)
Attack: 90 (179)
Defence: 106 (311)
Special Attack: 130 (359)
Special Defence: 106 (311)
Speed: 77 (253)

Movesets

Choice Scarf

Heatran @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Mild (+SAtk -Def)
EVs: 252 SAtk / 240 Speed / 16 Atk
Ability: Flash Fire (Makes Heatran immune to Fire moves and boosts the power of it’s Fire moves by 50% when hit by a Fire move)

- Earth Power (90/100. Ground. Special. 10% chance of SDef drop. Learned at lvl 73)
- Fire Blast (120/85. Fire. Special. 10% burn chance. Learned by TM38)
- Dragon Pulse (90/100. Dragon. Special. Learned by TM59) OR Hidden Power [Ice] (Go to Serebii for a guide)
- Explosion (250/100. Normal. Physical. Halves opponent’s Def while being used [Effectively making it 500 power]. Learned by TM64) OR Hidden Power [Ice]

By far the most common Heatran set and the reason Lucario isn’t a counter for this thing (Not like it’ll want to come in on Fire Blast or Earth Power anyway).

Fire Blast’s huge power coming off all that SAtk is a lot of pain, Earth Power hits Fire types (As well as beating other Heatrans who will just come in on Fire Blast and take the Flash Fire boost), Dragon and Fire is a type combo only resisted by Heatran (Who gets an Earth Power down the gullet, then again that could happen to you lol).

Explosion is great fun for murdering stuff when you’re about to die (Blissey, Blissey and Blissey are really good options for doing this btw)

Before anyone says DARK PULSE!!! Fire Blast does more than a super-effective Dark Pulse anyway.

Choice Specs

Basically the same as the last set but with Choice Specs

Utilises less Speed for the purpose of obliterating whatever tries to stand in it’s way, standard Cresselia is 2HKOd by Fire Blast (You’re still only 3HKOing Blissey so don’t bother with that).

ResTalk

Heatran @ Life Orb
Modest Nature
EVs: 252 SAtk / Dunno rest of the EVs
Ability: Flash Fire

- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Rest (Fully restores Heatran’s HP and puts it to sleep for 2 turns. Learned by TM44)
- Sleep Talk (Can only be used wile Heatran is sleeping, uses any one of Heatran’s other attacks, Rest does nothing if chosen. Learned by TM82)

Takes status, recover off the Life Orb recoil with Rest and continue Fire Blast sweeping, easy concept to understand. Earth Power stops other Heatran walling you.

Where to find Heatran

Go into Stark Mountain into the Survival Area, you will find a trainer who you will have met at the start of the Battle Area, reach the end and she will take a stone, talk to her in Resort Area then go back to the end to find Heatran at level 70

Counters

Other Heatran can beat it, coming in on Fire Blast and outspeeding you if they’re Scarfed (Even if you’re Scarfed you’ll already have used Fire Blast), predict them with Earth Power.

Milotic, Vaporeon, Swampert, Suicune, all bulky waters really can come in relatively easily on non-Specs ones and threaten KOs with Surf (In Swampert’s case Earthquake)

Garchomp hurts it a lot as Heatran can only beat it with Dragon Pulse, which will requre prediction as Garchomp is faster than non-Scarfed Heatran (Most Chomps run Scarf anyway). Same applies to Dragnite and Salamence, moreso really as Earth Power doesn’t hurt them (However ScarfChomp is infinitely more common than ScarfNite and ScarfMence)

Castform

Posted in 4th Gen Pokemon of the Every now and then on December 20th, 2007 by AZ


Castform could have been an incredible Pokemon, it’s unique ability and excellent Special movepool could have made it good, however it’s low Base Stats means it is relegated to the confines of the NU tier, the very bottom (Note, I use this tier list).

However, within the NU tier Castform is an exceptionally useful Pokemon, where people can actually use it well with it’s insanely cool ability, of course I’m not saying it should be used in OU, unless you’re insane like me and jokingly use NU teams in OU matches (Then win 4-0!!!)

On to something actually useful about using Castform lol, Castform’s ability changes it’s type if the weather is Hail, Sun or Rain (Not Snadstorm for some reason), add this with it’s unique attack Weather Ball, which has 100 power during weather and changes type according to the weather (If you consider that you then get STAB and the actual boost afforded by rain or sun that’s 225 power (!)) add that with the fact it learns Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Surf and Energy Ball along with the new items which increase the duration of weather to 7 turns if the weather starter holds them, along with Castform’s not too shabby Base 70 everything stats, and you’ll see why this is a quite common Pokemon to see in NU.

Base Stats (Max Stats)

HP: 70 (344)
Attack: 70 (239)
Defence: 70 (239)
Special Attack: 70 (239)
Special Defence: 70 (239)
Speed: 70 (239)

Movesets

Rain Dance

Castform @ Wet Rock (Prolongs the effects of rain caused by Castform to 7 turns)
Nature: Modest (+SAtk -Atk)
Ability: Forecast (Castform’s type changes accordingly if Hail, Sun or Rain are in effect).
EVs: 252 SAtk / Do not know as I can’t remember vital Speed stats in NU

- Rain Dance (Causes a rainstorm which raises the power of Water moves by 50% and halves the power of fire moves for five turns, it disappears if another weather effect is brought in. Learned at lvl 20)
- Weather Ball (50/100. Normal. Special. Changes type depending on weather and doubles power if weather is in effect. Learned at lvl 30)
- Thunder (120/70. Electric. Special. 30% paralysis chance, has 100 accuracy in rain. Learned by TM25)
- Ice Beam (95/100. Ice. Special. 10% freeze chance. Learned by TM13)

Set up rain and sweep.

Ice Beam is an attack to use before you get rain up, very little in NU resists it so fire, freeze rather, away. You can also use it to hit Grass and Dragons (Although be aware that the only Dragons in NU are unevolved ones like Dragonair).

Once the rain is up, blast them all with your 225 power Weather Ball, Thunder hits Waters that would resist you (As well as annihilating that blasted Pidgeot).

It should be noted that although you have the BoltBeam combo, Ice Beam and Thunder’s main uses are hitting the three types that resist Weather Ball super-effectively, as that’s your main move due to it’s crazy power.

The other good reason to use this is because of the abundant Water types in NU, so a rain based team can work with Rain Castform.

Specs

Castform @ Choice Specs
Nature: Modest or Timid (+SAtk/Speed -Atk)
Ability: Forecast
EVs: Same as last time

- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt (95/100. Electric. Special. 10% paralysis chance. Learned by TM24)
- Flamethrower (95/100. Fire. Special. 10% burn chance. Learned by TM35)
- Surf (95/100. Water. Special. Learned by HM03)

Involves less on team support and powerful hits by weather, and more on quick powerful hits with Choice Specs.

Ice Beam is again to hit Grasses, Flamethrower hits the 109838948757 Bugs in NU as well as Mawile, Surf hits Rock and Fire types (Not that they’re common but…), Thunderbolt hits all those Waters, they all have equal power so you can really choose whatever suits.

Sunny Day

Castform @ Hot Rock (Wet Rock but for Sun)
Nature: Modest
Ability: Forecast
EVs: Same again

- Sunny Day (Changes the weather to sun for 5 turns, sun increases the power of Fire moves by 50% and halves the power of water moves)
- Weather Ball
- Solarbeam
- Thunderbolt

Works like the rain one but with Sunny Day

Has the advantage of beating all those Bugs and Waters with Weather Ball and Solarbeam respectively, but is disadvantaged in that the only NUs that really benefit from the Sun are Cherrim and Tropius.

Thunderbolt hits stuff before you set up the Sun and to hit Pelliper.

No Hail team as there is bugger all that benefits from Hail in NU.

Counters

Depends on the set, Castform’s defences are nothing spectacular so a super-effective attack should spell doom.

The Rain set has problems with Faster Pokemon, especially ones with Thunder/bolt (The former praying off Castform’s Rain).
It sshould be noted however that due to Weather Ball’s extreme power little can block it without being fried by Thunder (Cherrim doesn’t like Ice Beam and Tropius is destroyed by it)

The Sun set has problems with fast Quakers (Slow ones get Solarbeamed) and Stone Edge (Although these moves are slightly rare in NU)

Where to Find Castform

It is rare in the Trophy Garden, no evolution necessary.

Umbreon

Posted in 4th Gen Pokemon of the Every now and then on December 15th, 2007 by AZ


Umbreon ranks right up there as one of my very favourite Pokemon, it’s incredibly sleek, dark and just plain cool looks immediately appealed to me as early as Crystal, however it wasn’t until Pokemon Colosseum when Umbreon becamse one of my favourites due to the fact that it was seemingly unkillable, single-handedly surviving everything and slowly murdering them with Toxic.

However competitively, Umbreon is not the unkillable ultra-wall you’s think it should be. The invention of Close Combat, as well as Substitute and Taunt abusing Umbreon’s inability to attack effectively means you’ll have to use Umbreon VERY well.

This isn’t to say Umbreon doesn’t have it’s uses, those massive Defences and support movepool can still be used despite the massive problems with Heracross and Substitute.

Base Stats (Max Stats in Brackets)

HP: 95 (394)
Attack: 65 (229)
Defence: 110 (319)
Special Attack: 60 (219)
Special Defence: 130 (359)
SPeed: 65 (229)

Movesets

“ChaosBreon” / Mean Look+Wish Pass

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Nature: Calm (+SDef -Atk)
Ability: Synchronise (If Umbreon if hit by a move which will induce a status condition the user of that move recieves the status condition as well)
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SDef

- Mean Look (Prevents the foe from switching, the effect is lost if Umbreon switches. Learned at lvl 57)
- Baton Pass (Switches out Umbreon and passes on all effects currently applying to it. Learned by Eevee at lvl 36)
- Toxic (Poisons opponent, damage starts at 1/16 but raises by 1/16 every turn. Learned by TM06)
- Wish (Heals whichever Pokemon you have out at the end of the turn after this move is used. Learned by breeding)

This is a rather nasty set, the point is to trap something with Mean Look and Baton Pass to something, because Mean Look is passed this means that whatever you pass to has the chance to set up freely or kill whatever you trapped.

Toxic and Mean Look is another nice little combo, racking up damage while you stall with Wish or Pass on.

Wish allows you to heal Umbreon or whatever you Pass to (Handy for healing from whatever attack they used while you Passed).

Overall this set mixes very nicely together and can be used to either stall an opponent to death or to give another Pokemon a free chance to set up, however it’s very rarely seen because, obviously, something that kills Umbreon (Substitute user or a Pokemon with a Fighting / Bug move) can switch in the turn you use Mean Look.

It should also be noted that while Umby has remarkable defences, the large amount of stat-up / Choice item users can outpower these defences, so Umbreon is no longer the unkillable wall that sits and Toxics your opponent’s team while healing with Wish and Trapping stuff and getting them killed, it can still do this to a degree, but with all the new things that beat it it’s hard to do so.

Counters

I thought I mentioned that enough.

Where to find Umbreon

Some random girl mentioned in Jolt review gives you an Eevee, max out it’s happiness then raise it a level during the night-time to get an Umbreon.

Jolteon

Posted in 4th Gen Pokemon of the Every now and then on December 12th, 2007 by AZ


Jolteon is one of the most popular Pokemon out there, the fact it looks cool, and has been around since first gen means many people have let this electric dog go into their favourites.

However, you might wonder, “Does this popularity reflect it’s use in battle?” Well I will aim to answer this now (The real answer is yes, but you need to use it well).

The first thing you will notice about Jolteon in terms of battling ability aside from obviously being the useful Electric type, is that it has a truly incredible Speed, only beaten by Ninjask and Electrode, and being tied with by Crobat and Aerodactyl (This does not include Ubers). This allows Jolteon to effectively outspeed everything not wearing a Choice Scarf (And some that are!)

Next you’ll spot his high Special Attack (Nothing monumental, but a Thunderbolt off this is going to sting a bit), then you’ll notice the rubbish Physical stats and HP (So keep it away from Physical attacks), then the absurdly shallow offensive movepool, and decent supporting movepool, so you’ll want to stick with a couple of attacking moves backed up by it’s exceptional Baton Passing skills.

Base Stats (Max Stats in brackets)

HP: 65 (334)
Attack: 65 (229)
Defence: 50 (219)
Special Attack: 110 (319)
Special Defence: 95 (289)
Speed: 130 (359)

Movesets

Baton Passer

Jolteon @ Leftovers
Nature: Timid (+Speed -Atk)
Ability: Volt Absorb (Restores 1/4 of Jolt’s HP when hit by an Electric attack)
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 SAtk / 4 HP

- Thunderbolt (95/100. Electric. Special. 10% paralysis chance. Learned by TM24)
- Baton Pass (Switches Jolteon out and keeps all things currently effecting Jolteon such as stat-boosts or Substitute. Eevee learns at lvl 36)
- Substitute (Sets up a substitute to take damage for Jolteon using 1/4 of it’s HP, any attack that would do 1/4 or more of Jolt’s HP breaks the Sub. Learned by TM90)
- Shadow Ball (80/100. Ghost. Special. 20% chance of dropping opponent’s SDef. Learned at lvl 30) OR Hidden Power [Ice OR Grass] ( click this for an explanation lol)

Use this to Pass Subs to fragile sweepers, Thunderbolt for murdering stuff, Shadow Ball is filler and hits Gengar, HP [Ice] hits Ground types (Not enough for KOs though, so don’t rely on that) as well as Grasses and Dragons that will resist your Thunderbolts.
HP [Grass] hits Swampert and Rhyperior in addition to other Grounds and Rocks.

Use your Speed to set up Substitutes, this gives you a free move on switches or non-damaging moves and it allows you to scout your opponent’s move if they attack, Baton Passing these Subs to something like Azelf giving them a free switch (Even a free Nasty Plot if they don’t attack). It can also allow you to see what set something is running by scouting their move.

Jolteon can also get itself free switch-ins and health restoring by using Volt Absorb and coming into Thunderbolts (Works well with Gyara)

Choice Specs

Jolteon @ Choice Specs (Raises Jolt’s SAtk but locks it into moves)
Nature: Timid
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 SAtk / 4 HP

- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- HP [Ice or Grass]
- Baton Pass

Baton Pass allows you to switch while knowing what your opponent has switched to (It’s effectively filler but Jolt has nothing else).
Basically just murder stuff with your new super-powerful Thunderbolt, and cover stuff with Hidden Power and Shadow Ball.
Make sure to predict well.

Counters

Cresselia beats it without Shadow Ball, most Ground types will make it flee (But Swampert and Rhyperior have to watch for HP [Grass]). Most Pokemon that don’t take too much from Thunderbolt and have Earthquake will scare it out.
Trace Porygon2 beats it, and Blissey stops it cold.

Where to find Jolteon

Some girl gives you an Eevee but I can’t remember where, use a Thunderstone on it to evolve it into Jolteon.

Dragonite revisited

Posted in 4th Gen Pokemon of the Every now and then on December 3rd, 2007 by AZ


I’m redoing this review because I feel I didn’t do it justice the last time.

Dragonite is an absolutely monstrous Pokemon, yet sees very little use, this is because many people see it as outclassed by Garchomp and Salamence.
This is not true, Dragonite is the only Pokemon to get Dragon Dance and STAB Outrage, it should also be noted that before boosts are applied, Dragonite’s Outrage outpowers all Physical moves bar Marowak’s Earthquake, Medicham’s Hi Jump Kick, Slaking’s Return and Rampardos’ Stone Edge / Head Smash (Although it should be noted that once natures / Life Orb / Choice Band get in Dragonite becomes outpowered).
Combine this with Dragonite’s above average Defences and the rest of his excellent movepool, you should see why this should be used.

On a more negative note, Dragonite’s Speed and 4x Ice weakness are issues you need to be careful of, however Dragon Dance can take care of the first problem, but you need to watch for surprise Ice Beams, especially as Ice Beam is probably the most common move in the game.

Base Stats (Max Stats in brackets)

HP: 91 (386)
Attack: 134 (367)
Defence: 95 (289)
Special Attack: 100 (299)
Special Defence: 100 (299)
Speed: 80 (259)

Movesets

Dragon Dance + Outrage

Dragonite @ Lum Berry (Cures Dragonite of status afflictions)
Nature: Jolly (+Speed -SAtk)
Ability: Inner Focus (Prevents Dragonite from flinching)
EVs: 252 Atk / Enough for 271 Speed / Rest in HP

- Dragon Dance (Raises Dragonite’s Atk and Speed one stage, learned at lvl 53)
- Outrage (120/100. Dragon. Physical. Lasts 2-3 turns, Dragonite cannot switch out or change moves during these turns, it is confused at the end of them. Learned at lvl 64)
- Earthquake (100/100. Ground. Physical. Learned by TM26)
- Roost (Heals 50% of Dragonite’s HP, removes all weaknesses and resistances of Dragonite’s Flying type for that turn) OR Fire Blast (120/85. Fire. Special. 10% burn chance. Learned by TM38)

Basically get a Dragon dance in then just eradicate stuff. Lum Berry is to stop you being statused during your DDs or Outraging (Obviously healing confusion at the end of Outrage is nice too). Earthquake for a move that doesn’t lock you in (This should be used as a main move before you start DDing).
Roost allows you to live longer whereas Fire Blast beats Skarm / Forretress.

With 271 Speed you outspeed everything trying to beat Heracross, and with a Dragon Dance you beat Scarfers trying to beat ScarfCross (As well as beating 202 Speed AgiliyGross, you tie with 203).

To put it very simply, if this set gets a Dragon Dance, NOTHING will stop it, even the dreaded Dragon killer Cresselia is 2HKOd by a DD’d Outrage, adding in Lum Berry means that once Skarm’s out of the way (Getting rid of Cress beforehand helps too), it will terminate entire teams, just ridiculous late-game.

MixNite

Dragonite @ Life Orb
Mild Nature (+SAtk -Def)
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: Enough for 244 Speed (stat, not EVs lol) / 252 SAtk (EVs, not stat) / Enough for 304, 320 or 336 HP (whichever is the lowest your Dragonite can obtain) / rest in Atk

- Draco Meteor (140/90. Dragon. Special. Drops Dragonite’s SAtk two stages. Learned by Move Tutor on Route 210)
- Flamethrower (95/100. Fire. Special. 10% burn chance. Learned by TM35)
- Thunderbolt (95/100. Electric. Special. 10% para chance. Learned by TM24)
- Focus Punch (150/100. Fighting. Physical. If Dragonite is attacked the turn it uses this attack it will do nothing. Learned by TM01)

Predict and win, sounds simple right?
Draco Meteor is for whacking stuff then getting out as a random Ice using Poke coms in.
Focus Punch is if you can predict switches or boosts and smack them with all that power (Completely screws Blisseys who see Draco Meteor and think you’re Special).
Thunderbolt hits Gyara and Flamethrower hits Steels (Both eradicate Skarm)

Watch out for Cresselia who walls this set beyond belief.

ScarfNite

Dragonite @ Choice Scarf (Look at my last two reviews)
Hasty / Lonely Nature (+Atk/Speed -Def)
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 Atk / Enough for 271 Speed if Jolly or 252 (EVs) if Adamant) / rest in SAtk

- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power (Grass) (Power varies from 30-70. Type varies but we want Grass. GO read an explanation somewhere else lol. Learned by TM10)

Now then, before I start this set I want to say something. Most sets I post are made by someone else, and posted here with explanations of the use. However this set is made by myself :)

Choice Scarf amends Dragonite’s Speed problem, and his Attack is high enough to take care of itself, Outrage’s problem of not changing moves is no real problemm so sweep away (But the lack of boosts means you have to watch for the non-switching thing, but outspeeding Weavile means there’s little that will kill you anyway).
Earthquake is obviously for hitting stuff without being locked into a move, T-bolt is for Gyara and HP [Grass] 2HKOs Swampy

Also, you should lead with this, Thunderbolt hits the many Gyara leads (Although watch for their Vire switch, have a Cresselia on standby), Outrage beats Gengar and Weavile leads which are common, Earthquake is less for leading and more for whacking stuff later, and HP [Grass] is for Swampert leads (Use Fire Blast if you can’t get this).

Counters

Cresselia will destroy it unless it has a DD up as Ice Beam is a 2HKO.
Swampert hurts quite a lot as well, although again it’s 2HKOd by DD Outrge.

Basically a lot of Physical walls beat it before a DD, and die afterwards, Weezing would be able to beat it but Lum Berry blocks Will-o-Wisp.

The Mix set is beaten by Cress, and if a Blissey gets in on a move not named Focus Punch it will get you out.

Scarf set is beaten by Cress and Swampert if you don’t have HP [Grass]

Where to FInd Dragonite

Somewhere in Mount Corornet you can fish with a Super Rod for Dratiin, evolve to Dragonair at lvl 30 then Dragonite at lvl 55.