Maybe I'll split my blogs into two; one for music and music reviews, and one for me to rant.
I have some things to upload here, so yeah.
Um...that's all I really want to say.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Final version of The Biggest Loser
So yeah, this is the edited version of the article that will appear on Bulbanews.
It’s the end of another generation, and the time leading up to the next set of games is a time where every player reflects on his or her experience with the previous ones. Diamond and Pearl were significant in that whether attacks were physical or special were no longer governed by type. Platinum and HG/SS expanded the movepools of many Pokémon and many previously underrepresented types finally got their time in the spotlight. But what Pokémon have been left in the dust? Which ones have been unable to adjust to all the changes? Who is the Biggest Loser, and what does it say about the metagame? In this article, I will attempt to pick out the top 5 Pokémon, both old and new, most deserving of the title “The Biggest Loser”. For the old, the question is who was most adversely affected by the generation gap; for the new, the question is which have been unable to keep up with the constantly shifting metagame. And unlike the reality show, being called that isn’t a good thing.
Old:
1. Alakazam: Of any other Pokémon, there is no sadder case than Alakazam’s. Besides having to contend with physical Pursuit, Sucker Punch, and the wider distribution of physical priority moves like Extremespeed, its elemental punches are now physical, forcing it to rely on Hidden Power for coverage. Platinum and HG/SS have introduced more Pokemon capable of learning Trick and Encore, robbing Zam of some of its more unique niches (though it remains the fastest user of Encore in the game). Oh, and it failed to get Vacuum Wave or Aura Sphere, instead relying on the 70% accurate Focus Blast, which makes it otherwise walled by many popular Dark types (unless you want to use the weaker Signal Beam), not to mention Tyranitar gaining a 50% Special Defense boost in the sand. And for the final nail in the coffin, Azelf outclasses it in nearly every way. Sure, it retains good usage in UU, but Alakazam’s golden age has long been over.
2. Everything weak to Rock: Stealth Rock is undoubtedly the most important move in 4th generation competitive play. As a result, everything weak to Rock has been adversely affected with no exceptions. It can be anywhere from a check to Salamence and Gyarados, despite both receiving otherwise incredible gains this generation, or the deal breaker for Pokemon like Articuno and Regice. At one point, a number of people even called for the unbanning of Ho-oh. Granted, Stealth Rock isn’t the sole reason certain Pokémon aren’t used, but there is no doubt that starting with a minimum of 75% health before getting to do anything is crippling to say the least.
3. Sceptile: The fastest starter lost not only its signature move to the physical side, but was then cheated by it being more widely distributed to Pokemon who could use it better. More than anything else though, Venusaur’s gains this generation has supplanted it as the best Grass type starter in competitive play. About the only thing Sceptile can indisputably do better is spam a blistering fast Choice Specs Leaf Storm, which is….walled by Venusaur, not to mention easy to outpredict. In standard play, Celebi outclasses Sceptile in every way, with new toys like Nasty Plot, Earth Power, and tons of support moves. In short, while enjoying good usage in UU, Sceptile has not acclimated to this generation well and lost the versatility that made it a fast, deadly killer in ADV.
4. Heracross: Poor Heracross; it had everything going for it when this generation started out, gaining Close Combat in addition to monstrous Megahorn, Choice Scarf to rectify its dismal speed, and a few other minor movepool additions. Besides the whole “ONG GLISCOR IS COUNTER” craze, Heracross is easier to switch in to than other commonly used Fighting types, lacking the coverage or annoying perks that make Lucario, Machamp, Breloom, and even Gallade so widely feared. It doesn’t even get U-turn, which it could potentially abuse much better than Scizor can. While Heracross can take advantage of Guts quite well, it’s simply harder to use and harder to fit in on a team. In short, there is little space for Heracross in this brave, new [strike]world[/strike] metagame.
5. Walls: In general, Pokémon with the specific purpose of taking hits from either side of the spectrum have been on the decline, owing to choice items, Life Orb, easier access to boosting moves and better STAB, the physical/special split, the increase of mixed attackers….I could go on and on. Passive damage like Sandstorm and Stealth Rock doesn’t help matters. Pokémon are simply taking too much damage to consider pure walling an option anymore, and had to reinvent themselves for some other purpose, usually support. Chief among these are the former SkarmBliss combo (Skarmory barely qualifies as a wall of any kind anymore), Weezing, and Donphan and even some newcomers like Gliscor, Cresselia, and Hippowdon. All in all, there is much more offensive play this generation compared to previous ones.
Honorable mention: Fragile Medicham always took a lot of skill to use, but was shafted by failing to get Close Combat. It gained the elemental punches, though. Deoxys-A is even more fragile and easier to deal with in ubers though it remains a deadly force. Dugtrio also took a lot of skill to use but its main flaw was its lack of power which was always a problem. All were adversely affected by an increase in priority moves.
New:
Note that there is a difference between a “Biggest Loser” and an overhyped pre-D/P Pokémon that never amounted to much. Therefore, only Pokémon that enjoyed significant popularity at one point are included.
1. Weavile: Unlike the other Pokémon overhyped in pre-D/P, Weavile took a bit of time to take a fall. At the beginning of D/P, it was one of the foremost of revenge killers with perfect dual STAB to carry out said task and blistering speed. Everyone considered one for their team because it was the “ultimate Dragon killer”. Rocks were a detriment, but not the deal breaker. What brought Weavile down was first and foremost a sparse movepool with pitiful STAB that barely outdamages Return (112.5 BP for STAB Ice Punch vs 102 BP for Return). There were plenty of better alternatives for revenge killing, especially when Platinum came out. Now, it had to contend with Choice Scarf Jirachi, Scizor, and others; Gengar and Starmie started to Scarf themselves more often so it was unable to outspeed them. While Weavile continues to have a revenging niche, it is relegated to the bottom of the OU tier.
2. Spiritomb: Spiritomb had some time in the spotlight early D/P, notably part of Obi’s legendary stall team and as the infamous Holy Grail of hackerdom, Wondertomb. The main selling point of Spiritomb was its typing, but resistances as well as lack of weaknesses are important and here Spiritomb faltered. Most people realized that Dark/Ghost isn’t all it’s cut up to be and the fact that it fell to repeated beatings to powerful STAB attacks. Its decline was gradual, but solidified by the Rotom formes’ ascension in Platinum and inferior defenses to Dusknoir when the Rotom formes are not available (such as on Wi-Fi). While Spiritomb enjoys high usage in UU, this is solely because the use of Mismagius and Alakazam are also high. Spiritomb’s glory days are over.
3. Bronzong: Bronzong was the top lead in early D/P but the rise of fast Taunt-using suicide leads have hurt it tremendously. Defensively, it was one of the better checks to the dreaded Garchomp, but then Garchomp was banned and people did not require it to check the next big dragon, Salamence. The story isn’t all bad, however, as its many support options have made it a popular choice for the official Nintendo video game championship (VGC) doubles teams, especially since Trick Room is extremely common. In singles where Trick Room has not had the same amount of popularity, Bronzong’s bell tolls little more.
4. Cresselia: People more or less expected Cresselia’s downfall and thus she is lower on the list. People damn well knew that Sandstorm cut into Moonlight’s effectiveness and that Pursuit further cut into her durability. She could take hits, but as a supporter faced stiff competition from Azelf, Jirachi, Celebi, and others. While Cresselia has had what is probably the quickest ban in the history of the UU suspect test, her usage is very low otherwise. All in all, Cresselia is analogous to a retired, forgotten old woman in a nursing home.
5. Giratina (another forme): Rounding off this list is the second least popular uber, after Deoxys-D (third if you count regular Deoxys). Giratina is a rather interesting case, because it is one of the few Pokémon whose fall can be attributed to….itself. Or, more accurately, its Origin forme that was introduced in Platinum. The original Giratina was once prized because of its gigantic HP and defenses which meant that it would be very difficult to kill, despite the fact that it is weak to Ice, Dragon and Dark like many other ubers. It was the sole counter to the feared “Extremekiller” Swords Dance Arceus whenever Arceus was allowed. Its popularity actually lasted until well after Platinum was released because the Origin forme seemed underwhelming when it was first released. This was until a few innovative players discovered that the Origin forme’s Levitate made it an asset because it was immune to the relatively common Spikes and the Griseous Orb was discovered to have more benefit than handicap. Not only did it boost the power of Origin Giratina’s fantastic STAB, but it also rendered it immune to Trick. As more people discovered the many perks of using Origin Giratina, the use of the other form gradually slipped. While it does have some merits with its better defenses, Origin Giratina is generally the better choice for an uber team.
Honorable mentions: The vast majority of the overhyped Pokémon from pre-D/P, like Rampardos and Electivire, never amounted to much, though a few like Mismagius enjoy high usage in the lower tiers. Hippowdon was an early D/P favorite but never significantly impacted the metagame.
There are plenty more Pokémon deserving of being named the Biggest Loser, but the 10 I picked are probably the best candidates for the title. Do you have other ideas and you think I missed something? Do you disagree with my choices or anything I said? Feel free to shoot me a PM or VM on the forums or simply comment on this article’s forum thread, and I will try my best to get back to you! Thanks for reading, and remember that as far as B/W go, anything can happen. Today’s star could be the next game’s Biggest Loser.
It’s the end of another generation, and the time leading up to the next set of games is a time where every player reflects on his or her experience with the previous ones. Diamond and Pearl were significant in that whether attacks were physical or special were no longer governed by type. Platinum and HG/SS expanded the movepools of many Pokémon and many previously underrepresented types finally got their time in the spotlight. But what Pokémon have been left in the dust? Which ones have been unable to adjust to all the changes? Who is the Biggest Loser, and what does it say about the metagame? In this article, I will attempt to pick out the top 5 Pokémon, both old and new, most deserving of the title “The Biggest Loser”. For the old, the question is who was most adversely affected by the generation gap; for the new, the question is which have been unable to keep up with the constantly shifting metagame. And unlike the reality show, being called that isn’t a good thing.
Old:
1. Alakazam: Of any other Pokémon, there is no sadder case than Alakazam’s. Besides having to contend with physical Pursuit, Sucker Punch, and the wider distribution of physical priority moves like Extremespeed, its elemental punches are now physical, forcing it to rely on Hidden Power for coverage. Platinum and HG/SS have introduced more Pokemon capable of learning Trick and Encore, robbing Zam of some of its more unique niches (though it remains the fastest user of Encore in the game). Oh, and it failed to get Vacuum Wave or Aura Sphere, instead relying on the 70% accurate Focus Blast, which makes it otherwise walled by many popular Dark types (unless you want to use the weaker Signal Beam), not to mention Tyranitar gaining a 50% Special Defense boost in the sand. And for the final nail in the coffin, Azelf outclasses it in nearly every way. Sure, it retains good usage in UU, but Alakazam’s golden age has long been over.
2. Everything weak to Rock: Stealth Rock is undoubtedly the most important move in 4th generation competitive play. As a result, everything weak to Rock has been adversely affected with no exceptions. It can be anywhere from a check to Salamence and Gyarados, despite both receiving otherwise incredible gains this generation, or the deal breaker for Pokemon like Articuno and Regice. At one point, a number of people even called for the unbanning of Ho-oh. Granted, Stealth Rock isn’t the sole reason certain Pokémon aren’t used, but there is no doubt that starting with a minimum of 75% health before getting to do anything is crippling to say the least.
3. Sceptile: The fastest starter lost not only its signature move to the physical side, but was then cheated by it being more widely distributed to Pokemon who could use it better. More than anything else though, Venusaur’s gains this generation has supplanted it as the best Grass type starter in competitive play. About the only thing Sceptile can indisputably do better is spam a blistering fast Choice Specs Leaf Storm, which is….walled by Venusaur, not to mention easy to outpredict. In standard play, Celebi outclasses Sceptile in every way, with new toys like Nasty Plot, Earth Power, and tons of support moves. In short, while enjoying good usage in UU, Sceptile has not acclimated to this generation well and lost the versatility that made it a fast, deadly killer in ADV.
4. Heracross: Poor Heracross; it had everything going for it when this generation started out, gaining Close Combat in addition to monstrous Megahorn, Choice Scarf to rectify its dismal speed, and a few other minor movepool additions. Besides the whole “ONG GLISCOR IS COUNTER” craze, Heracross is easier to switch in to than other commonly used Fighting types, lacking the coverage or annoying perks that make Lucario, Machamp, Breloom, and even Gallade so widely feared. It doesn’t even get U-turn, which it could potentially abuse much better than Scizor can. While Heracross can take advantage of Guts quite well, it’s simply harder to use and harder to fit in on a team. In short, there is little space for Heracross in this brave, new [strike]world[/strike] metagame.
5. Walls: In general, Pokémon with the specific purpose of taking hits from either side of the spectrum have been on the decline, owing to choice items, Life Orb, easier access to boosting moves and better STAB, the physical/special split, the increase of mixed attackers….I could go on and on. Passive damage like Sandstorm and Stealth Rock doesn’t help matters. Pokémon are simply taking too much damage to consider pure walling an option anymore, and had to reinvent themselves for some other purpose, usually support. Chief among these are the former SkarmBliss combo (Skarmory barely qualifies as a wall of any kind anymore), Weezing, and Donphan and even some newcomers like Gliscor, Cresselia, and Hippowdon. All in all, there is much more offensive play this generation compared to previous ones.
Honorable mention: Fragile Medicham always took a lot of skill to use, but was shafted by failing to get Close Combat. It gained the elemental punches, though. Deoxys-A is even more fragile and easier to deal with in ubers though it remains a deadly force. Dugtrio also took a lot of skill to use but its main flaw was its lack of power which was always a problem. All were adversely affected by an increase in priority moves.
New:
Note that there is a difference between a “Biggest Loser” and an overhyped pre-D/P Pokémon that never amounted to much. Therefore, only Pokémon that enjoyed significant popularity at one point are included.
1. Weavile: Unlike the other Pokémon overhyped in pre-D/P, Weavile took a bit of time to take a fall. At the beginning of D/P, it was one of the foremost of revenge killers with perfect dual STAB to carry out said task and blistering speed. Everyone considered one for their team because it was the “ultimate Dragon killer”. Rocks were a detriment, but not the deal breaker. What brought Weavile down was first and foremost a sparse movepool with pitiful STAB that barely outdamages Return (112.5 BP for STAB Ice Punch vs 102 BP for Return). There were plenty of better alternatives for revenge killing, especially when Platinum came out. Now, it had to contend with Choice Scarf Jirachi, Scizor, and others; Gengar and Starmie started to Scarf themselves more often so it was unable to outspeed them. While Weavile continues to have a revenging niche, it is relegated to the bottom of the OU tier.
2. Spiritomb: Spiritomb had some time in the spotlight early D/P, notably part of Obi’s legendary stall team and as the infamous Holy Grail of hackerdom, Wondertomb. The main selling point of Spiritomb was its typing, but resistances as well as lack of weaknesses are important and here Spiritomb faltered. Most people realized that Dark/Ghost isn’t all it’s cut up to be and the fact that it fell to repeated beatings to powerful STAB attacks. Its decline was gradual, but solidified by the Rotom formes’ ascension in Platinum and inferior defenses to Dusknoir when the Rotom formes are not available (such as on Wi-Fi). While Spiritomb enjoys high usage in UU, this is solely because the use of Mismagius and Alakazam are also high. Spiritomb’s glory days are over.
3. Bronzong: Bronzong was the top lead in early D/P but the rise of fast Taunt-using suicide leads have hurt it tremendously. Defensively, it was one of the better checks to the dreaded Garchomp, but then Garchomp was banned and people did not require it to check the next big dragon, Salamence. The story isn’t all bad, however, as its many support options have made it a popular choice for the official Nintendo video game championship (VGC) doubles teams, especially since Trick Room is extremely common. In singles where Trick Room has not had the same amount of popularity, Bronzong’s bell tolls little more.
4. Cresselia: People more or less expected Cresselia’s downfall and thus she is lower on the list. People damn well knew that Sandstorm cut into Moonlight’s effectiveness and that Pursuit further cut into her durability. She could take hits, but as a supporter faced stiff competition from Azelf, Jirachi, Celebi, and others. While Cresselia has had what is probably the quickest ban in the history of the UU suspect test, her usage is very low otherwise. All in all, Cresselia is analogous to a retired, forgotten old woman in a nursing home.
5. Giratina (another forme): Rounding off this list is the second least popular uber, after Deoxys-D (third if you count regular Deoxys). Giratina is a rather interesting case, because it is one of the few Pokémon whose fall can be attributed to….itself. Or, more accurately, its Origin forme that was introduced in Platinum. The original Giratina was once prized because of its gigantic HP and defenses which meant that it would be very difficult to kill, despite the fact that it is weak to Ice, Dragon and Dark like many other ubers. It was the sole counter to the feared “Extremekiller” Swords Dance Arceus whenever Arceus was allowed. Its popularity actually lasted until well after Platinum was released because the Origin forme seemed underwhelming when it was first released. This was until a few innovative players discovered that the Origin forme’s Levitate made it an asset because it was immune to the relatively common Spikes and the Griseous Orb was discovered to have more benefit than handicap. Not only did it boost the power of Origin Giratina’s fantastic STAB, but it also rendered it immune to Trick. As more people discovered the many perks of using Origin Giratina, the use of the other form gradually slipped. While it does have some merits with its better defenses, Origin Giratina is generally the better choice for an uber team.
Honorable mentions: The vast majority of the overhyped Pokémon from pre-D/P, like Rampardos and Electivire, never amounted to much, though a few like Mismagius enjoy high usage in the lower tiers. Hippowdon was an early D/P favorite but never significantly impacted the metagame.
There are plenty more Pokémon deserving of being named the Biggest Loser, but the 10 I picked are probably the best candidates for the title. Do you have other ideas and you think I missed something? Do you disagree with my choices or anything I said? Feel free to shoot me a PM or VM on the forums or simply comment on this article’s forum thread, and I will try my best to get back to you! Thanks for reading, and remember that as far as B/W go, anything can happen. Today’s star could be the next game’s Biggest Loser.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
I'm too lazy to post more despite having tons of shit I should do
Firstly, this, this, so much this. This woman could not have put my thoughts on Christianity any better.
With that out of the way, I have an idea for this blog if I can somehow get it to work. Since lossless audio formats are pretty stupid because I can't fucking play them on my computer or get them on my iPod, I was thinking of uploading mirrors for albums that are difficult to get in mp3. The problem is....I don't know how to convert from ogg or flac to mp3. Ugh.
With that out of the way, I have an idea for this blog if I can somehow get it to work. Since lossless audio formats are pretty stupid because I can't fucking play them on my computer or get them on my iPod, I was thinking of uploading mirrors for albums that are difficult to get in mp3. The problem is....I don't know how to convert from ogg or flac to mp3. Ugh.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
If I had a credit card, I'd buy WinRAR
I may post a rant in the next few days. But for now, these places are godly:
http://forums.ffshrine.org/forumdisplay.php?f=72
http://gabber.od.ua/
I am avoiding posting metal blogs because well....they're more well known.
A computer is an extremely cheap multimedia device. You can practically get anything downloadable you want for free off the internet, be it video games, comics, or music, and you save tons of money doing it. Oshit, it's stealing! Well, it's called fucking market forces. If you price your shit too high, like the entertainment industry does, people will avoid buying your products. Oh, and it's DRM free too.
http://forums.ffshrine.org/forumdisplay.php?f=72
http://gabber.od.ua/
I am avoiding posting metal blogs because well....they're more well known.
A computer is an extremely cheap multimedia device. You can practically get anything downloadable you want for free off the internet, be it video games, comics, or music, and you save tons of money doing it. Oshit, it's stealing! Well, it's called fucking market forces. If you price your shit too high, like the entertainment industry does, people will avoid buying your products. Oh, and it's DRM free too.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Biggest Loser: Pokemon gen IV edition
Sadly, I haven't gotten any of my article ideas off the ground for Bulbanews but I hope to...eventually. But for now, I might as well post my reflection here. I dunno why I feel like sitting in front of the computer and typing up pages of dialogue about fuckin' Pokemon, but I guess I am that bored this summer. I need a car and a job.
Without further ado, top 5 biggest losers of the fourth generation of Pokemon, divided into the old and the new. Feel free to flame me about my opinions if you wish by leaving a comment or some other medium you can contact me with.
Biggest losers:
Old:
1. Alakazam: I was debating between this and Gengar over who should deserve the top spot, but I ultimately went with Alakazam on virtue of losing much more. Besides having to contend with physical Pursuit, Sucker Punch, and increased physical priority, it lost the punches (which beat the shit out of HP, power and IV wise), it lost its niches as a Tricker and Encorer due to Platinum and Heartgold respectively (though it retains its status as the fast user of Encore in the game), and it’s pretty sad when Espeon outclasses you as a CMer in the lower tiers. Oh, and it failed to get Vacuum Wave or Aura Sphere, instead relying on the 70% accurate Focus Blast. And for the final nail in the coffin, Azelf outclasses it in nearly every way. Sure, it retains good usage in the lower tiers, but Alakazam’s golden age has long passed us.
2. Gengar: WAT GENGAR IS IN THE TOP 10 I DON’T EVEN. Trust me, Gengar deserves to be here, and I am equal opportunity in nominating both OU and non-OU Pokemon. On one hand, Gengar received a tremendous boost in receiving dual STAB this generation and started out with a more accurate Hypnosis; on the other hand, like Alakazam, it lost its punches, is plagued by priority and Pursuit, and relies on the shaky Focus Blast for coverage and it still fails to beat Tar. How does Gengar manage to stay in high usage? Firstly, it boasts a far superior typing to Zam; secondly, while fragile, Gengar has superior physical defense which prevents it from dying to a light bitch slap; thirdly, and probably the most likely/most prominent reason, Explosion. Granted, Gengar’s Explosion is weak, but it’s enough to stop people from being trigger happy with Blissey or Snorlax or some other generic special wall although people are using Tar and Heatran more for this purpose. But…yeah. Did I mention Hypnosis reverted back to 60% accuracy in Platinum?
3. Heracross: Poor Heracross; it had everything going for it when this generation started out, gaining CC in addition to monstrous Megahorn, Choice Scarf to rectify its dismal speed, and a few other goodies. Now it’s on the brink of dropping to UU and inevitably condemned to the usage hell known as BL (if only people played BL more). Most competitive players, including myself, really can’t definitively answer why Heracross took such a downward fall or “why didn’t you use Heracross on your last team?” “idk because I didn’t have room”. Besides the whole “ONG GLISCOR IS COUNTER” bullshit, it’s pretty easy to switch in to and less convenient or easy to use like Scizor. Heracross can enjoy niche use as something to piss off stall users who make the mistake of setting up one layer of Toxic Spikes or use Toxic with their Blissey, beats some of the things that would normally be a stop to Scizor (primarily Heatran and Magnezone), and can legitimately switch in to pretty much anything Tar does but otherwise most people dismiss Heracross as a washed up former star. Don’t want to name any real life examples…. *coughcough*
4. Raikou: WHY DID THEY MAKE IT RASH JKASHDJKLASSDA. Alas, Aura Sphere Raikou’s bid for late OU status was sadly put down due to Gamefreak’s bad decisions to a) make the event shiny and b) give it Extremespeed and a shitty nature. In ADV and 4th gen UU, Raikou was a holy terror, boasting great speed, excellent typing (though one generation before the steel move spam), and decent bulk. It managed to do all of this with the grand total of 6 moves and a couple of items in variance; Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, CM, Substitute, Crunch/Shadow Ball, and sometimes Rest. Sadly, the single largest cause of Raikou’s demise was, like many other unfortunate special attackers, the 1.5x Sandstorm boost. Entry hazards, SS, and all kinds of passive damage plus metagame changes meant that Raikou was on the out. And the one thing that could’ve saved it, Aura Sphere, is ruined by a less than optimal nature.
5. Walls: I thought about this and most of the Pokemon I thought of in this slot fit into this general category so I just ended up with this. In general, Pokemon with the specific purpose of taking hits from either side of the spectrum have been on the decline, owing to choice items, Life Orb, easier access to boosting moves and better STAB, the physical/special split, the increase of mixed attackers….I could go on and on. Passive damage doesn’t help matters. Pokemon are simply taking too much damage to consider pure walling an option anymore, and had to reinvent themselves for some other purpose. Chief among these are the former SkarmBliss combo, Weezing, and Donphan and even some newcomers like Gliscor, Cresselia, and Hippowdon. All in all, this is a testament to a metagame that is far more offensive than what we’ve seen in previous generations.
Honorable mention: Dugtrio; started as OU but usage was never really high and gradually declined and dropped due to prevalence of priority moves. Ubersect gets an honorable honorable mention.
New:
Note: No overhyped evolutions of old Pokemon are included, unless they enjoyed significant popularity; therefore, Pokemon like Electivire and Rhyperior are omitted.
1. Weavile: Unlike the other pre-D/P hyped Pokemon, Weavile took a bit of time to take a fall. At the beginning of D/P, it was one of the foremost of revenge killers with perfect dual STAB to carry out said task and blistering speed. Rocks were a detriment, but not the deal breaker. What brought Weavile down was first and foremost pitiful STAB that barely outdamaged Return (112.5 BP for STAB Ice Punch vs 102 BP for Return) and there were plenty of better alternatives. Secondly, Platinum. Just Platinum. No more explanation needed. It retains some of its revenging niche from early D/P, but is relegated to the bottom of the OU tier.
2. Everything weak to Rock: Stealth Rock pretty much hurt them badly but the wide distribution of Stone Edge also hurts. It’s very feasible that Moltres would have a good shot at being OU if the damn rocks weren’t everywhere, but everything else is pretty much badly affected too. The plague doesn’t spare Pokemon like Salamence and Gyarados who stay where they are by virtue of their otherwise absurdly good qualities, and probably the biggest obstacle facing Salamence for ubers fanatics. I could write so much more on Rocks but everyone knows about it, so I’ll just end it here before it gets too long.
3. Spiritomb: Ok, I’ll be honest, I was hard pressed to think of new Pokemon that didn’t fall under “overhyped evolution” or something already covered. While Spiritomb kinda fits into “overhyped” and “wall”, it did have some time in the spotlight early D/P, notably part of Obi’s legendary stall team and as the infamous hacker whore known as Wondertomb. The main selling point of Spiritomb was its typing, but as the Smog aptly put it, resistances as well as lack of weaknesses are important for a stall team member and here Spiritomb faltered. Most people realized that Dark/Ghost isn’t all it’s cut up to be. Its decline was gradual, but solidified by the Rotom form’s ascension in Platinum and inferior defenses to Dusknoir when the Rotom forms are not available. Even its UU usage has fallen a bit since Gallade and Froslass were banned. All in all, Spiritomb misses its glory days.
4. Cresselia: Unlike Weavile and Spiritomb, people more or less expected Cresselia’s downfall and thus it is lower on the list. People damn well knew that SS cut into Moonlight’s effectiveness and that Pursuit further cut into its durability and was just as easily walled as Blissey was if not more. It was once known as the thing that could take a hit and barely getting the revenge kill or using X support move, but people were pretty much over Cresselia by the time Platinum was released; Garchomp was banned, Trick screwed around with it, and of course Scizor. It finally dropped down to UU in early 2010 due to low usage and probably had the quickest ban in the history of the UU suspect test. It sits in BL and enjoy niche uses in OU and ubers, but is more or less like a retired old woman in a vacation home, waiting patiently until she is needed for Social Security paperwork or other such shit.
5. Bronzong: While still a solid OU with a ton of support options, the rise of Taunt using suicide leads have hurt Bronzong tremendously. It is outclassed as a lead by Metagross. Like Cresselia, its usage fell when Garchomp was banned and Scizor took its place as the #1 OU. The “Steel immune to ground” niche has long since worn off its popularity and Trick Room has never quite caught on and Bronzong sits in relative obscurity despite this being a metagame dominated by steels. If only it had better HP. Or auto-heal.
Honorable mentions: People gave only a fleeting fuck about those overhyped evos, but the vast majority never amounted to much. Only Gliscor enjoys lasting popularity. Hippowdon was an early D/P favorite and usage has fallen significantly, but never was a large force in the metagame.
*insert conclusion I'm too lazy to type up* Leave comments please, whether they're flames or critiques or whatever. I'm always willing to answer them. :) And yes, I can defend my thoughts, except perhaps why I filed walls under old, and things with a Rock weakness under the new. I really don't know why, but just take them at face value.
Without further ado, top 5 biggest losers of the fourth generation of Pokemon, divided into the old and the new. Feel free to flame me about my opinions if you wish by leaving a comment or some other medium you can contact me with.
Biggest losers:
Old:
1. Alakazam: I was debating between this and Gengar over who should deserve the top spot, but I ultimately went with Alakazam on virtue of losing much more. Besides having to contend with physical Pursuit, Sucker Punch, and increased physical priority, it lost the punches (which beat the shit out of HP, power and IV wise), it lost its niches as a Tricker and Encorer due to Platinum and Heartgold respectively (though it retains its status as the fast user of Encore in the game), and it’s pretty sad when Espeon outclasses you as a CMer in the lower tiers. Oh, and it failed to get Vacuum Wave or Aura Sphere, instead relying on the 70% accurate Focus Blast. And for the final nail in the coffin, Azelf outclasses it in nearly every way. Sure, it retains good usage in the lower tiers, but Alakazam’s golden age has long passed us.
2. Gengar: WAT GENGAR IS IN THE TOP 10 I DON’T EVEN. Trust me, Gengar deserves to be here, and I am equal opportunity in nominating both OU and non-OU Pokemon. On one hand, Gengar received a tremendous boost in receiving dual STAB this generation and started out with a more accurate Hypnosis; on the other hand, like Alakazam, it lost its punches, is plagued by priority and Pursuit, and relies on the shaky Focus Blast for coverage and it still fails to beat Tar. How does Gengar manage to stay in high usage? Firstly, it boasts a far superior typing to Zam; secondly, while fragile, Gengar has superior physical defense which prevents it from dying to a light bitch slap; thirdly, and probably the most likely/most prominent reason, Explosion. Granted, Gengar’s Explosion is weak, but it’s enough to stop people from being trigger happy with Blissey or Snorlax or some other generic special wall although people are using Tar and Heatran more for this purpose. But…yeah. Did I mention Hypnosis reverted back to 60% accuracy in Platinum?
3. Heracross: Poor Heracross; it had everything going for it when this generation started out, gaining CC in addition to monstrous Megahorn, Choice Scarf to rectify its dismal speed, and a few other goodies. Now it’s on the brink of dropping to UU and inevitably condemned to the usage hell known as BL (if only people played BL more). Most competitive players, including myself, really can’t definitively answer why Heracross took such a downward fall or “why didn’t you use Heracross on your last team?” “idk because I didn’t have room”. Besides the whole “ONG GLISCOR IS COUNTER” bullshit, it’s pretty easy to switch in to and less convenient or easy to use like Scizor. Heracross can enjoy niche use as something to piss off stall users who make the mistake of setting up one layer of Toxic Spikes or use Toxic with their Blissey, beats some of the things that would normally be a stop to Scizor (primarily Heatran and Magnezone), and can legitimately switch in to pretty much anything Tar does but otherwise most people dismiss Heracross as a washed up former star. Don’t want to name any real life examples…. *coughcough*
4. Raikou: WHY DID THEY MAKE IT RASH JKASHDJKLASSDA. Alas, Aura Sphere Raikou’s bid for late OU status was sadly put down due to Gamefreak’s bad decisions to a) make the event shiny and b) give it Extremespeed and a shitty nature. In ADV and 4th gen UU, Raikou was a holy terror, boasting great speed, excellent typing (though one generation before the steel move spam), and decent bulk. It managed to do all of this with the grand total of 6 moves and a couple of items in variance; Thunderbolt, Hidden Power, CM, Substitute, Crunch/Shadow Ball, and sometimes Rest. Sadly, the single largest cause of Raikou’s demise was, like many other unfortunate special attackers, the 1.5x Sandstorm boost. Entry hazards, SS, and all kinds of passive damage plus metagame changes meant that Raikou was on the out. And the one thing that could’ve saved it, Aura Sphere, is ruined by a less than optimal nature.
5. Walls: I thought about this and most of the Pokemon I thought of in this slot fit into this general category so I just ended up with this. In general, Pokemon with the specific purpose of taking hits from either side of the spectrum have been on the decline, owing to choice items, Life Orb, easier access to boosting moves and better STAB, the physical/special split, the increase of mixed attackers….I could go on and on. Passive damage doesn’t help matters. Pokemon are simply taking too much damage to consider pure walling an option anymore, and had to reinvent themselves for some other purpose. Chief among these are the former SkarmBliss combo, Weezing, and Donphan and even some newcomers like Gliscor, Cresselia, and Hippowdon. All in all, this is a testament to a metagame that is far more offensive than what we’ve seen in previous generations.
Honorable mention: Dugtrio; started as OU but usage was never really high and gradually declined and dropped due to prevalence of priority moves. Ubersect gets an honorable honorable mention.
New:
Note: No overhyped evolutions of old Pokemon are included, unless they enjoyed significant popularity; therefore, Pokemon like Electivire and Rhyperior are omitted.
1. Weavile: Unlike the other pre-D/P hyped Pokemon, Weavile took a bit of time to take a fall. At the beginning of D/P, it was one of the foremost of revenge killers with perfect dual STAB to carry out said task and blistering speed. Rocks were a detriment, but not the deal breaker. What brought Weavile down was first and foremost pitiful STAB that barely outdamaged Return (112.5 BP for STAB Ice Punch vs 102 BP for Return) and there were plenty of better alternatives. Secondly, Platinum. Just Platinum. No more explanation needed. It retains some of its revenging niche from early D/P, but is relegated to the bottom of the OU tier.
2. Everything weak to Rock: Stealth Rock pretty much hurt them badly but the wide distribution of Stone Edge also hurts. It’s very feasible that Moltres would have a good shot at being OU if the damn rocks weren’t everywhere, but everything else is pretty much badly affected too. The plague doesn’t spare Pokemon like Salamence and Gyarados who stay where they are by virtue of their otherwise absurdly good qualities, and probably the biggest obstacle facing Salamence for ubers fanatics. I could write so much more on Rocks but everyone knows about it, so I’ll just end it here before it gets too long.
3. Spiritomb: Ok, I’ll be honest, I was hard pressed to think of new Pokemon that didn’t fall under “overhyped evolution” or something already covered. While Spiritomb kinda fits into “overhyped” and “wall”, it did have some time in the spotlight early D/P, notably part of Obi’s legendary stall team and as the infamous hacker whore known as Wondertomb. The main selling point of Spiritomb was its typing, but as the Smog aptly put it, resistances as well as lack of weaknesses are important for a stall team member and here Spiritomb faltered. Most people realized that Dark/Ghost isn’t all it’s cut up to be. Its decline was gradual, but solidified by the Rotom form’s ascension in Platinum and inferior defenses to Dusknoir when the Rotom forms are not available. Even its UU usage has fallen a bit since Gallade and Froslass were banned. All in all, Spiritomb misses its glory days.
4. Cresselia: Unlike Weavile and Spiritomb, people more or less expected Cresselia’s downfall and thus it is lower on the list. People damn well knew that SS cut into Moonlight’s effectiveness and that Pursuit further cut into its durability and was just as easily walled as Blissey was if not more. It was once known as the thing that could take a hit and barely getting the revenge kill or using X support move, but people were pretty much over Cresselia by the time Platinum was released; Garchomp was banned, Trick screwed around with it, and of course Scizor. It finally dropped down to UU in early 2010 due to low usage and probably had the quickest ban in the history of the UU suspect test. It sits in BL and enjoy niche uses in OU and ubers, but is more or less like a retired old woman in a vacation home, waiting patiently until she is needed for Social Security paperwork or other such shit.
5. Bronzong: While still a solid OU with a ton of support options, the rise of Taunt using suicide leads have hurt Bronzong tremendously. It is outclassed as a lead by Metagross. Like Cresselia, its usage fell when Garchomp was banned and Scizor took its place as the #1 OU. The “Steel immune to ground” niche has long since worn off its popularity and Trick Room has never quite caught on and Bronzong sits in relative obscurity despite this being a metagame dominated by steels. If only it had better HP. Or auto-heal.
Honorable mentions: People gave only a fleeting fuck about those overhyped evos, but the vast majority never amounted to much. Only Gliscor enjoys lasting popularity. Hippowdon was an early D/P favorite and usage has fallen significantly, but never was a large force in the metagame.
*insert conclusion I'm too lazy to type up* Leave comments please, whether they're flames or critiques or whatever. I'm always willing to answer them. :) And yes, I can defend my thoughts, except perhaps why I filed walls under old, and things with a Rock weakness under the new. I really don't know why, but just take them at face value.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Smashed + bffs = fun times
Hannah is the best. Also we are smashed and noise music superstars. Play these in your background and YOU'LL NEVER BE BETTER.
http://www.mediafire.com/?owzdzgt3ynw
http://www.mediafire.com/?inlokj2jbje
http://www.mediafire.com/?owzdzgt3ynw
http://www.mediafire.com/?inlokj2jbje
Sunday, July 11, 2010
"No girls on the internet" bullshit
You meet as much trash, if not more, on the internet than you do in daily life. Trolling, immaturity, other shit...all that jazz. What pisses me off most though is that on every fucking forum I join, I am assumed to be male because I don't have some pretty ass username or some girly avatar. I don't give a shit if it's unintentional, but gender stereotypes are absolutely inexcusable. Well, of course, if it's intentional, it's trolling which means you know and therefore you are just guilty of being a dumbass which doesn't bother me as much. But really, to be assumed a smelly hairy beast with a penis behind the computer screen is one of the few insults that brings my piss to a boil. Especially when I am beautiful and I'm not a butch or a dyke.
And that is all for my short rant. I suppose I could go further given Oranje's terrible playing when they badly need to win. To hell with Spain.
And that is all for my short rant. I suppose I could go further given Oranje's terrible playing when they badly need to win. To hell with Spain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
