RBY OU My RBY teams by year

I thought it'd be interesting to share my most successful teams by year, which might help people get an idea of how much (or how little) the game has changed over the years.

2002: The TOS team

Overview: This was, by default, my most successful team in 2002, as I made the finals of my first tournament with it (I won the tournament with a BL/UU team).

Starmie
~Blizzard
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave
~Recover

Exeggutor was a common lead during this period. Blizzard made going for the sleep at least somewhat of a risk, and Starmie's decent bulk and good defenses made it ideal sleep bait.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

Tauros, the king. Even back when I started out, Tauros was already recognized as arguably the best Pokemon in the game.

Exeggutor
~Explosion
~Psychic
~Mega Drain
~Sleep Powder

GolDon was a lot more common than it is now, and Mega Drain also gave it something to do against Starmie.

Golem
~Explosion
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide
~Body Slam

I wanted another boomer to help out my 6th Pokemon, and Golem was a good choice because it can take a hit from anything besides Surf Starmie, which wasn't always used. Thunder Wave immunity was also nice.

Alakazam
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Reflect/Seismic Toss
~Recover

Since I wasn't using Chansey, Zam was the next best thing for taking Special attacks. The blistering Speed and sky-high crit rate also helped. I initially had Seismic Toss, but switched to Reflect later on (I forgot when exactly, though).

Slowbro
~Amnesia
~Surf
~Thunder Wave
~Rest

The center of my team. After spreading paralysis with Zam, getting a sleep off with Exeggutor, and booming, Slowbro's mission was to come in and sweep the remainder of the opposition. Golem could explode on Snorlax, while Zam and Exeggutor could handle GolDon. Mid-game Exeggutor could be a problem, but it was a lead more than a reserve back then, which meant it usually didn't make it to the end.

To be continued...

 

2003: The Big 4

By 2003 I conformed and usually used the big 4 in my tournament matches. My most common team probably looked something like this (I had slightly different variants):

Starmie
~Blizzard
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave
~Recover

Exeggutor was still a common lead, so Starmie still worked in the front lines.

Snorlax
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam
~Selfdestruct

Surf Snorlax was definitely a thing in 2002 and still used somewhat in 2003. I never really saw the appeal in Surf, as Earthquake does a decent chunk to GolDon anyway, and Golem will usually go for Explosion if it stays in.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

Tauros will always be on my teams.

Chansey
~Ice Beam
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave/Reflect
~Softboiled

Counter didn't work on Azureheights, so that was out. I sometimes liked to use Reflect over Thunder Wave.

Exeggutor
~Explosion
~Psychic
~Stun Spore/Mega Drain
~Sleep Powder

I began running Stun Spore a lot more in 2003, though I still used Mega Drain.

Alakazam
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Reflect
~Recover

Standard Reflect Zam. Not much to say; you know what it does.

Notes
~I used Slowbro a lot less in 2003, mostly because I thought I was invincible with it only to get 6-0'd.
~I sometimes liked to use lead Alakazam by this point. I also replaced Zam with Hypno towards the end of the year (for example, those who read my memoir will notice that I used it against undone in one of the last OU tournaments of the year).
~I used Gengar once in a while, sometimes instead of Chansey or Alakazam.
~Other Pokemon I liked to use were Nidoking and Jolteon. On Azureheights, Focus Energy raises a Pokemon's critical rate by 90% or something like that, which made them incredibly viable in OU. I used Jolteon a lot more than Nidoking, though, because of 'King's weakness to Psychic.
~I used Dugtio every now and then.

Gengar
~Confuse Ray
~Thunderbolt
~Psychic/Mega Drain
~Explosion

When I used Gengar I usually didn't have Hypnosis, as I didn't like to lead with it. Mega Drain was for GolDon and Psychic was for other Gengars. I admit that I used Confuse Ray, which screams "n00b," I know.

Jolteon
~Focus Energy
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave/Pin Missile
Double Kick

After Focus Energy, Double Kick was actually able to 2HKO Dugtrio and did a decent chunk to GolDon (Golem takes around 40%). I may have used Pin Missile over Thunder Wave, but I forget exactly.

Hypno
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Reflect
~Rest

The tank set was my favorite. I was never a fan of Hypnosis back then, and I usually had something else to inflict sleep.

Dugtrio
~Substitute
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide
~Slash/Body Slam

I ran Substitute on Dugtrio to fish for paralysis. I think I also may have used Sand Attack, but I don't remember that well.

Nidoking
~Focus Energy
~Earthquake
~Thunderbolt
~Blizzard

Nidoking 2HKO'd pretty much everything after Focus Energy. The big drawback was its horrible defensive typing, which made it hard to use effectively.

To be continued...

 

2004: Something different

In 2004, thanks partially to the rise of Netbattle and RuSa, competitive RBY was dying. GameFAQs was the only surviving territory left, and even that wasn't saying much. By far the biggest tournament of the year was TOS3, which was a 16-man double elimination tournament in which RBY OU, RBY UU, GSC OU, and GSC UU were played. I won the tournament thanks to my superior UU teambuilding, which was loosely defined at the time. Here's the team I used.

Ninetales
~Flamethrower
~Body Slam
~Confuse Ray
~Dig

Ninetales was fast and could hit pretty hard with that 298 Special Flamethrower + decent crit rate. In retrospect I probably should have ran Fire Blast, but I was deathly afraid of missing, especially considering that Ninetales is rather frail. Body Slam and Confuse Ray could pull me out of an otherwise inescapable hole, and Dig hit Fire types, Kabutops, and Omastar much harder than anything else could.

Hypno
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Reflect
~Rest

No UU team was complete without Hypno. Hypno hit like a truck with Psychic and could take hits from both the physical and special spectrum really well. I usually ran Reflect + Rest, as I felt it had better things to do than rely on 60% accuracy Hypnosis, which wasn't that important to me in such a hard-hitting metagame.

Dugtrio
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide
~Slash/Substitute
~Body Slam/Sand Attack

Dugtrio was here to power through things with that massive crit rate, particularly sleeping Hypnos. Rock Slide hit Charizard, Gyarados, and Dodrio harder. I sometimes used Sand Attack + Substitute, which didn't really work very well.

Gyarados
~Surf
~Thunderbolt
~Blizzard
~Body Slam

Gyarados was incredibly threatening, able to hit pretty much everything except Hypno very hard. I used Surf over Hyper Beam for the OHKO on Dugtrio and for Fire types.

Kangaskhan
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam
~Rock Slide

Even back then, Kangaskhan was praised for being the Tauros of UU, a title which makes sense considering that its base Attack is only 10 points lower, and it has decent Speed. I think I used Rock Slide mainly for Chariard, though Thunderbolt was probably the better option considering what a force Gyarados was.

Golduck
~Amnesia
~Surf
~Ice Beam
~Rest

Everything on my team was capable of inflicting paralysis, which helped Golduck clean up if I needed to resort to Amnesia shenanigans. It was also good for the mid-game, though, just to hit Pokemon like Dugtrio and Kangaskhan hard off the bat. I preferred Ice Beam for the better freeze chance.

To be continued......

 

Sorry, I forgot all about this. I'll write an entry tomorrow (my time).

 

2005: Jynx Doesn't Stink

It was in 2005 when I started using Jynx a lot more. Nowadays nobody disputes how good lead Jynx is, but it used to be seen as a bad Pokemon in the eyes of a few ignorant Smogon players. In particular, when one reported that I lead with Jynx as it were proof that I was the worst player ever, the other one said, "lol, Jynx is shit." That's not a joke.

My most notable achievement with this new team was scoring a 6-0 against RBY veteran metalscyther. Even after just a cursory read of the log it became immediately apparent that RBY was changing: no longer was Exeggutor the most reliable lead, as Gengar and Jynx were becoming more common. After putting Exeggutor to sleep he went to Cloyster, possibly because he had no idea that Jynx always packs Psychic, then switched to Snorlax, which took a Special drop from Psychic. Jynx played a major role in securing the 6-0.

Jynx
~Lovely Kiss
~Blizzard
~Psychic
~Body Slam

When people lead Jynx today by far the most common move is Rest; however, before the mechanics changes were introduced, Body Slam was a viable option to score sleep + paralysis in the early game. I liked paralyzing Chansey and then going to Snorlax, or paralyzing Snorlax (which was actually a common switch-in, presumably because Jynx wasn't terribly common and people didn't know how to play against it as well as they should have) and firing off Blizzards.

Gengar
~Confuse Ray
~Thunderbolt
~Mega Drain
~Explosion

I was still using Con00b Ray with Gengar at this point, mostly because I already had Jynx to score a sleep. Mega Drain was for Golem, who was a lot more common a decade ago than it is now IMO.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

The Father Time of RBY. Nothing else needs to be said.

Snorlax
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam
~Selfdestruct

In 2003 I sometimes used Surf over EQ, but I had become an ardent disciple of EQ by this point. I ran the physical set, but things would change very soon.......

Exeggutor
Psychic
Sleep Powder
Explosion
Stun Spore/Mega Drain

My back-up sleeper in case Jynx failed. I don't remember if I usually ran spore or drain.

I don't remember the sixth Pokemon, but it could have been Alakazam.

To be continued.......

 

2006: You know what's coming, but you know what's coming in horror movies too. It still gets you.

The year was now 2006 and the competitive scene had changed dramatically over the last four years. All of the original territories were dead and a different generation, RSE, was enjoying its reign as the undisputed king, while the original champion, RBY, had no home. That is, until, I got the THE Alternative up and running. For the first time ever there was now a community that was solely dedicated to competitive RBY, which gave voracious RBY players across GameFAQs, Smogon, the Netbattle forum, a place to satiate their appetites on a consistent basis.

However, while THE Alternative may have played a significant role in the renaissance of RBY, it was not the only place in which I was active. I spent the first three years of my career in one territory, but it was in 2006 when I was officially a vagabond, as I had become known for playing in as many communities as I could. I was active on THE Alternative, GameFAQs, Battle Arena, overseas in Pokemonexperte and Brazil Pokemon, and more. No matter where I played, though, I usually stuck to one team, which became known to some as "GGFan's Jynx team."

I started using Jynx more a year ago, but it had become one of my trademark Pokemon by this point. I almost always lead with Jynx, as it almost always delivered. I've never compiled my statistics from 2006-2010, but if I did, even I would be surprised by the amount of success I managed to produce with one team.

So, without further ado, the team.

Jynx
~Lovely Kiss
~Blizzard
~Psychic
~Body Slam

Body Slam was immutable. The decent shot at inflicting paralysis far outweighed Counter's situational use, and I didn't see the appeal in Rest at all.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

Father Time standing strong and proud.

Snorlax
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam
~Selfdestruct

Not yet. Just wait a little more.

Exeggutor
Psychic
Sleep Powder
Explosion
Stun Spore

I usually went with Stun Spore by this point. Unfortunately, I never contemplated the possibility of Hyper Beam, an addition which I bet would have helped me win even more. Some people DID use Double Edge, but I never liked it.

Chansey
~Ice Beam
~Thunder Wave
~Counter
~Softboiled

One massive difference between Azureheights and Netbattle is that most moves worked properly on the latter, which gave Chansey more versatility. Counter was a somewhat popular choice, and I liked to use it once in a while. This isn't my favorite Counter set, however.

Alakazam
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Recover
~Reflect

Zam's main role was to provide even more paralysis support for Tauros and Snorlax (if Lax didn't blow itself up earlier). The decision to go with Zam, perhaps, made this my most logically sound team ever made.

Overall, with paralysis everywhere, two sleepers, and all of the big four present, it's no wonder why I was able to win a lot--especially at a time when a significant number of players weren't as knowledgeable about RBY as they are now. There was a dearth of resources available compared to what we have currently, and not as many players were interested in making RBY their specialty. Not only that, I had now been playing RBY at a high level for four years. Experience meant a lot more back in the 2000s.

To be continued........

 

2007: Old Dog, New Tricks

In 2003 I remember calling myself a veteran once, much to the umbrage of others, who insisted that, in order to truly be a veteran, one had to have started playing in 2000. Well, now we were in 2007 and I had already been around for half a decade, while most of my peers were fossilized into relics that one MIGHT be able to find with the Internet Wayback machine. I was the veteran now.

2007 was an eventful, exciting, and arguably the most productive year I ever had. Thanks to establishing a kind of partnership with then-competitive titan Pokemonexperte, THE Alternative held its most prestigious tournament at the end of the previous year, the IRBYT. It was going to be tough to top that, but I managed to do with TOS6 (TourneyOfStuff), which would be the first 32-man tournament in TA's history and saw players from four different communities participating. To be honest I sometimes I get the urge to try and make another RBY community, but when I think back to how involved I had to be in order for TA to amount to anything, it reminds me why I haven't even tried. I had to be on players' asses about deadlines and rules, was responsible for player recruitment and networking, etc.

TOS6 was certainly THE Alternative's zenith. Deep in my heart I knew TA reached its full potential with that tournament--the challenge wouldn't be topping TOS6, but trying to stay alive in an era dominated by RSE and minimal interest in competitive RBY. But that's a story for a different time. Anyways, still active in a few places, whether I was managing and competing in TOS6, the 2007 Pokemonexperte Weltmeisterschaft, the first RBY tournament on Pokefans, or on Netbattle, the GGFan brand maintained its standard of unparalleled consistency in the competitive RBY department.

While the Pokemon on my team were usually the same, I had begun to experiment with a different kind of Snorlax at the end of the year. Besides going all physical as Snorlax had been doing for at least seven years, one set that people brought up in the pre-Netbattle era was Amnesialax, which consisted of Amnesia/Ice Beam/Thunderbolt/Rest. However, as this set had glaring problems against Chansey and even Alakazam, it was not seen in the same vein at the time-tested physical set. What wasn't really explored as much as it should have been was Reflect, which I started playing around with in 2006, most notably towards the end of the year, when I used it in the RBY League and continued to do so in the finals of the tournament, which took place at the beginning of 2007. The knowledge of Reflect being a viable choice for Snorlax made the behemoth more versatile than it was before, as it could now boost either its Defense, Special, or both.

Indeed, at around this same time SamG (Smogon alt who used to compete on TA) conceptualized a Snorlax with both Amnesia and Reflect, which made it incredibly difficult to take down in certain situations. I dismissed the set as sheer nonsense at first; however, after doing some testing he convinced me that it was legit, that it could win games by itself. At this point, though, its success in tournament play remained unproven. Nonetheless, it was a very interesting discovery made in a time when such thought and exploration was few and far between.

Jynx
~Lovely Kiss
~Blizzard
~Psychic
~Body Slam

It sleeps, its paralyzes, it freezes.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

Father Time doing his thing.

Snorlax
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Reflect
~Rest

It's common for Snorlax to end up locking horns with one of its own and end up exploding, but Reflect forces the other Snorlax out. It also gives Snorlax more security against Tauros, as without it, Father Time can win by doing what it does best. Well, Tauros can still beat this set, but it's not quite as likely. Reflect is also really good if you manage to paralyze GolDon

Exeggutor
Psychic
Sleep Powder
Explosion
Stun Spore

Don't replace any of the big 4 and you'll win by default, even now.

Chansey
~Ice Beam
~Thunder Wave
~Counter
~Softboiled

Read above.

Alakazam
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Recover
~Reflect

Since my Snorlax didn't have as much firepower as before, it was imperative for the 6th Pokemon something that can reliably paralyze the opposition and make Snorlax's life easier. Zam was obviously the perfect candidate for that.

To be continued.........

 

2008: Defined Standards

The competitive scene underwent an enormous transition in just a year. Whereas in 2007 there were a plethora of places one could test and hone his skills, by 2008 Netbattle was already noticeably smaller, thanks partially to the rise of ShoddyBattle, which was the first simulator to support DPP. Several Netbattle servers as well as communities folded in 2008 or even earlier, such as the original SmogonJr AKA PokeRealm, Battle Arena, Pallettown, PokeFrance, and Morlord. THE Alternative, which managed to stay alive at the beginning of the year, also officially rolled over in May of 2008.

Thus, I spent the majority of '08 competing in the German circuit, which was still a major force in the competitive world. Pokefans (known back then as Pokemon Inside) was now the top German community, dethroning Pokemonexperte, which enjoyed an illustrious seven-year reign as the undisputed King of Pokemon in all of Europe. Other competitive communities still existed, but none even came close to reaching the level of activity and competition seen on Pokemonexperte and now Pokefans.

Although RBY wasn't played that much on Pokefans, several players were interested in it due to its simplicity compared to ADV and efficiency compared to GSC. In 2008 Pokefans hosted an RBY OU, UU, and tradebacks tournament, and RBY OU was even one of the metagames played in the annual Weltmeisterschaft. It was played far more than any GSC metagame and was arguably more popular than certain ADV metagames, such as ADV UU and Doubles.

As RBY managed to survive despite two waves of new generations and simulators, it's no surprise that its tiers had become far more defined. When I started playing UU five years ago, no official tier lists could be found anywhere; therefore, which Pokemon were deemed legal and banned came down to the discretion of the tournament host. At this point, tier lists could be found on Smogon, THE Alternative, Pokemonexperte, and now Pokefans, all with slight differences between them. I actually really enjoyed the UU metagame in the German circuit, though the credibility of its tier lists could easily be scrutinized due to the lack of testing done in comparison to, say, Pokemon Perfect. Nonetheless, I thought it was a fun, intense, hard-hitting metagame that I was able to learn very well.

Here's a UU team that I used in 2008.

Electabuzz
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave
~Psychic
~Seismic Toss/Reflect

As Venomoth was a common lead, I liked leading with 'Buzz to score easy paralysis or a chance at a crit Psychic, which does around 75%. In retrospect I realize that leading Electabuzz is, in some ways, a waste of his potential, but it worked here.

Venomoth
~Psychic
~Sleep Powder
~Stun Spore
~Mega Drain

Venomoth was easily the best sleeper in the game with a decent Speed stat and access to double powder. Tangela was another choice, but its absence of offensive power made it a poor choice, in my opinion. At least Venomoth's Psychic could score Special drops.

Blastoise
~Surf
~Earthquake
~Blizzard
~Body Slam

At first you may have thought, "There's little difference between our tier lists and theirs," but then you see Blastoise. Blastoise was an awesome choice in this metagame, as practically nothing walled him and he could hit a great deal of Pokemon for decent damage. I could have used Rest to beat other Blastoises, but I preferred Body Slam's paralysis chance, while Earthquake was for beating Omastar and paralyzed Electabuzz.

Raticate
~Super Fang
~Body Slam
~Hyper Beam
~Bubblebeam

Another unusual Pokemon that shined was Raticate, who was one of the fastest Pokemon in the tier and could inflict serious damage with its respectable Attack and STAB.

Wigglytuff
~Thunder Wave
~Body Slam
~Hyper Beam
~Thunderbolt/Blizzard

Wigglytuff was a sound choice thanks to being somewhat bulky, Normal STAB, and access to Thunder Wave. I sometimes ran Thunderbolt over Blizzard to hit Omastar for more damage, and because the only Rock type in the tier, Onix, was seldom used.

Arcanine
~Fire Blast
~Body Slam
~Hyper Beam
~Dig

Arcanine's high Attack and good Speed gave it some time in the UU spotlight. Its Special stat isn't anything to write home about, but STAB Fire Blast was still powerful in this metagame. I used Dig to hit Omastar, Electabuzz, and other Arcanines for far more damage.

To be continued.......

 

2009: An Anomaly

Time was flying by in the blink of an eye. It was hard to believe that the decade in which the first Pokemon World Championship took place, four generations were developed, and two of the most influential simulators in history were created was already coming to an end. By this time DPP had been the most prominent generation for a while, though ADV was still played. RBY and GSC, however, were fading into the background. With THE Alternative dead there was no longer a competitive source that focused solely on RBY, and it was seldom played elsewhere. It still existed somewhat in the German circuit; for example, I hosted an RBY OU tournament at the end of 2009 on Pokefans, and by this time the top German players had a very strong grasp of RBY. Besides that, two clowns by the name of icy and waterwizard made accounts on THE Alternative so that they could sign up for TOS8, which was an attempt to revive THE Alternative. They would later create the controversial RBY2K10.

I mostly played ADV in 2009. When I played RBY I was still throwing cutters with my Jynx team, which, although still successful, was starting to get hit. I finished in 3rd place of the RBY OU tournament on Pokefans, which was a legitimate surprise to people and even myself. I also lost in the semi finals of TOS8, which was an even bigger surprise. Maybe it was my predictability. Maybe it was not playing RBY as much as I did last year. Whatever the reason, things were changing. I didn't win as much as I did last year--in fact, this was the first year I didn't win an RBY tournament. I was, however, able to win an ADV tournament exactly seven years ago (12/15/2009) to keep my streak of winning at least one tournament every year alive.

It was difficult to find a game in which I used a team other than my Jynx team. After perusing through my impressive collection of logs, I was able to find a BL game that I played against waterwizard. I chose to feature this team for two reasons: I've already showcased the Jynx team, and this BL team, perhaps, gives us an ever-so slightly brighter picture of what exactly UU as well as BL looked like in the past.

Mr. Mime
~Psychic
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave
~Seismic Toss

Mr. Mime was a potent offensive threat in BL with high Speed and Special. Access to Thunderbolt is also nice. I may have used another move instead of Seismic Toss, but I don't remember.

Clefable
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave

One of my all-time favorite Pokemon, RBY's "Jack Of All Trades" was one of the best BL Pokemon around for its amazing movepool which includes Thunder Wave, respectable offensive stats, and decent bulk.

Dodrio
~Body Slam
~Drill Peck
~Hyper Beam
~Reflect/Agility

Dodrio's massive Attack and solid Speed made it a fearsome physical sweeper in this particular metagame. Back in the Azureheights era I used to use Dodrio in OU sometimes, where I usually had Reflect. Reflect was notable for its ability to take off a considerable chunk of HP from GolDon. In 2006 I even managed to nearly kill a full-health Golem once.

Hypno
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Seismic Toss/Reflect
~Rest

No BL team was complete without Hypno, who could come in at any time to inflict paralysis and mess things up with Psychic. Unfortunately I only used Psychic and Thunder Wave in the game against waterwizard, so I'm not sure what the other two moves were. However, considering what one of my other Pokemon were, I may have ran this particular set.

Kangaskhan
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam
~Counter

Kangaskhan has always been called "The poor man's Tauros," which is a great compliment to receive. Thus, Kangaskhan fulfilled an imperative role in BL as a supreme revenge killer. I probably ran Counter, as GolDon has never been below OU. Rock Slide had a bit of merit, though.

Poliwrath
~Amnesia
~Surf
~Ice Beam/Rest
~Hypnosis

Surprisingly enough I used Poliwrath. Amnesia and Hypnosis is pretty dangerous, and Poliwrath is bulky enough to take a couple of hits from anything not super effective. An Amnesia user was feasible here because of how much paralysis support Poliwrath got.

I don't remember if I ran Ice Beam or Rest.

To be continued..........

 

2010: Even Miss Cleo Saw It Coming

When I look back at 2010 retrospectively, it becomes clear that 2009 was definitely a harbinger of the adversity I would face in the beginning of the new decade. I had now been playing in the German circuit for four years. Although most people now know me as the person who writes verbose messages and speaks in an antiquated fashion in order to piss off people nearly half my age, there was a point in time where I genuinely appreciated the camaraderie I experienced with the German players, who were some of the best in the world. When I started playing there in 2006 I was not welcomed with open arms because of the language barrier and because of certain players' connections with Smogon. However, I managed to earn their respect and eventually, dare I say, I developed friendships with many of them.

In addition I, of course, got along with the core of THE Alternative (SamG, Yellow, HizardCoreMike, Slayer, MakoScientist, etc). Not only was I incredibly successful from 2006-2009, but I liked all of the people that I played against. No matter where I played there was also a strong sense of mutual respect for one another. It was a great time for me, maybe my favorite. However, THE Alternative died and I made the decision to leave the German circuit in the Spring of 2010, as I had accomplished everything I wanted to there and felt that four years was enough. I wanted to move on to new and more exciting challenges. Thus, I accepted a personal invitation from icy and waterwizard to join RBY2K10, which, in their own words, would be the successor to THE Alternative.

At first, my time at RBY2K10 was actually a pleasant experience. Even though I can still remember how much icy and waterwizard respected and valued my presence, it did surprise me a bit to read their old messages from 2010. They were so ecstatic when I joined a tournament or even posted a message in one of their threads. Indeed, at this point I was now a hardened veteran of the competitive world and a name synonomous with RBY, but my competitive spirit was still strong in that I wanted to prove that I could excel against a new generation of players.

It wasn't going to be easy, though. Gengar was now a very common lead in the metagame, perhaps because of how well-known my Jynx team was. I would even say that everyone on that forum knew my team and did their best to counter it. As predictable as it was, however, I still proved that a player's skill can overcome predictability. I won the first OU tournament inRBY2K10's history, where I got revenge against waterwizard for his victory against me in TOS8 and beat a very unlikable user by the name of Giga Punch in the finals, who used an alt called nerd on that forum. Being an ardent Smogon loyalist, my existence on RBY2K10 angered him to unfathomable degrees. Unfortunately, as childish and inappropriate as his messages were, icy and waterwizard batted a blind eye to his stupidity. I didn't understand why.....at first.

Shortly after the OU tournament I played in a tradebacks tournament, in which I lost to horrible luck to a gimmick troll in the first round and then icy in the second. I believe it was this loss that prompted icy to start his infamous trash talking which led to the death of his own forum. Icy and waterwizard were known for talking shit about other players despite never accomplishing anything, even on their own forum. In my case, they would randomly message people just to say that I wasn't that good and that I wasn't winning as much I used to--completely ignoring my recent and highly relevant tournament victory. Oh well, it's the internet, I guess. People on the internet are dumb.

In September there was another OU tournament, in which I beat another troll, Crystal, in the third round and made it into the semi finals against Icy. Unfortunately, I lost to Icy, which made him talk even more shit surreptitiously. While he and waterwizard were obviously in the wrong to behave the way they did (after all, having a forum with so many unlikable users like them, Crystal, Giga Punch, the jerk in the tradeback tournaments, little Garrin, Bobby, etc), I do recognize now that they had a point. My team HAD become predictable. I wasn't playing to my full potential by not bothering to do any kind of serious team building. Gengar was clearly dominating the metagame, but I was being a bad player by not respecting that. I needed to change.

As I was STILL using my Jynx team, 2010's featured team is my tradebacks team. I've played in a few of these tournaments; it's a fun metagame that's vastly overlooked compared to UU. In the tradebacks tournament in 2010, I remember playing insanely well but suffering from horrible RNG in all three sets I played. I have a log from the set I won.

Alakazam
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Ice Punch/Thunder Punch
~Recover

Zam has access to the elemental punches in tradebacks, making it one of the best leads in the game. I usually ran Ice Punch, as Zam can beat Starmie with Psychic.

Hypno
~Amnesia
~Psychic
~Reflect
~Rest

Hypno is arguably the best Pokemon in tradebacks thanks to Amnesia. In this tournament I went super tanky by using Reflect instead of Thunder Wave, as I had enough paralysis support from other Pokemon. I think it would have been better if I ran Ice Punch to freeze other Hypnos.

Snorlax
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Reflect
~Rest

Even though Lax has Lovely Kiss in tradebacks, I didn't use it here. Instead I went with the Reflect set. I didn't care for inflicting sleep that much with this team, which focuses on paralyzing everything and setting up.

Jolteon
~Growth
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave
~Double Kick

Growth makes Jolteon pretty dangerous in tradebacks. I have no idea what the fourth move was. It could have been Double Kick, it could have been Pin Missile, it could have been Sand Attack. I don't know.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

Tauros doesn't get anything notable from tradebacks, but he doesn't suffer, either. The King is still the King.

Slowbro
~Amnesia
~Surf
~Thunder Wave
~Rest

Another Amnesia user, what's just as important here is Thunder Wave, which helped Tauros and Snorlax.

To be continued..........

 

why you didnt use persian with hypnosis in tradebacks?

 

I dunno. I guess because I still didn't think Persian was that good.

 

2011: What Is A Mask?

By 2011 Pokemon Online had become the premiere simulator for competitive play; however, it didn't support RBY, which meant that it would be incredibly difficult to attract new players if it wasn't available on the most popular simulator. An upgrade to Netbattle known as Netbattle Supremacy was released around this time or earlier, which was what old gen players used if they wanted to play RBY. Although the RBY enthusiast could still play a game if he happened to find somebody on the lone server, "Global Casino," at this point there was no community dedicated to competitive RBY. Tournaments were few and far between, and RBY was being reduced to nothing more than a novelty.

While RBY2K10 was around at this time, it was already dying fast. In its now one-year history, at least half of its tournaments were canceled due to inactivity, while the other half took an unfathomably long time to finish, especially given that most tournaments never exceeded 8 participants. In a desperate attempt to keep it alive, icy and waterwizard combined their allowances to create the RBY2K10 Anniversary Tournament, in which a ridiculous amount of money was offered for first, second, and third places. For this reason and because of brown nosing on Smogon did the tournament get 32 participants.

As exciting as the prospect of receiving an exorbitant cash prize for playing Pokemon sounded, however, I suppose I wasn't as thrilled as I should have been. I was incredibly burned out by this point, partially because I had now been playing for quite a while and partially because--and I, to be perfectly honest, say this objectively--almost everyone on that forum was a giant asshole. It was hard to find enjoyment in the game when players were constantly talking trash, writing wildly inappropriate messages to me, blatantly flaming and trolling, and so on. I no longer experienced any kind of joy from winning, much less playing; rather, it was not only a chore now, but an insult to myself by participating in anything run by that garbage forum.

Even though we were now in the second year of a new decade, a lot of what I witnessed and experienced harked back to my early days on GameFAQs, in which everyone was either a gimmick, an antisocial douche, a braggart, an elitist, a weirdo, or all of the above. I don't remember what exactly inspired my decision, but maybe I made this comparison back then as well. Maybe that's what helped inspire the creation of the infamous, short-lived Hector Gold, whose gimmick was that he was a pompous, bombastic Mexican aristocrat who looked down on everyone else and had grandiose visions of leading the world into a golden era. Or maybe Crystal was the impetus for this character, as I knew him as a jerk who spoke broken English. Well, whatever the cause, Hector Gold was born in March, shortly before the awful RBY2K10 tournament began.

Hector Gold made his debut on Smogon, in which he asked a cryptic and bizarre question, "What Is A Mask?" He then proceeded to declare how much he despised liars while reassuring everybody that his "sangue" was royal and pure. However, what really made Hector memorable for me was his last statement, "Hector Gold the Truth, Coming Soon." It was hilarious. I did the same thing on other forums, and Hector became an instant sensation. What really made Hector brilliant, though, was how successful he was on the Global Casino server. I was shocked that nobody made the connection right away, as this was clearly not only a strange gimmick that came out of nowhere yet was a gimmick that was good enough to form an astonishing 25-5 record against practically every notable RBY player. During my brief yet amazing run I managed to beat a decent chunk of the participants in the tournament, and had a blast from start to finish.

I was having fun again. I didn't care about winning yet had a record most players could only dream of, I was saying whatever I wanted and let my creative juices flow everywhere. However, my creativity wasn't limited to what I said on forums and servers. I was finally experimenting with not just different Pokemon, but entirely different teams. Most notably, I wanted to center my teams around GSCLax, as I thought it would be a lot of fun to see how successful I could be with a moveset that practically nobody even knew existed. I didn't use one team exclusively this time, either: I had both standard teams and even a team that had both Jolteon and Nidoqueen of all things.

Besides GSCLax I also started using FriendlyMie, which would go on to arguably change the metagame 2-3 years later. It was just as effective here, though, punishing lead Gengars with Psychic, giving Snorlax paralysis support with Thunder Wave, and nailing presumptuous Exeggutors with Blizzard. Even though I never used one team, all variants included FriendlyMie and GSCLax. The premise behind FriendlyMie was that it was an aggressive lead that could accomplish something against everything except Jynx, while GSCLax's job was to clean up in the endgame unless I found an opportunity to set up earlier. Every variant of my team had at least three Pokemon that could reliably paralyze something, as paralysis played an integral role in securing the sweep (no surprise there, it's RBY).

My favorite variant was probably the one with Jolteon and Nidoqueen (the full team was Starmie/Snorlax/Tauros/Jolteon/Nidoqueen/Clefable). It was incredibly aggressive and fun to play with. An honorable mention goes to my more solid team that I used against Nitro in one of my last games as Hector Gold. Our rivalry from eight years ago was rekindled with one of the greatest games that I've ever had. It went over 250 turns and I almost PP wasted his Tauros with GSCLax. It came down to a Tauros-Tauros showdown, though mine was paralyzed. I survived Hyper Beam at 1%, then landed my own that, sadly, did not crit.

I thought Hector Gold had a lot of untapped potential that was, unfortunately, never realized, as I had created him at the worst possible time. As much as I was having fun, I knew that the end was near. So I intentionally made it painfully obvious that I was Hector Gold, and announced my "retirement" in July, after not playing for a few months. What could have been.

Anyways, the team:

Starmie
~Blizzard
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Recover

FriendlyMie was actually around as early as 2011, and for good reason. It was a damn great lead at this time, as Gengar had reached the apex of its popularity. Blizzard hit Exeggutor and could freeze something, while Thunder Wave is great in general.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

Tauros is never interesting, but always effective.

Clefable
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Thunder Wave
~Hyper Beam

I used Clefable here for a few reasons. First of all, it has a lot more offensive prowess over Chansey thanks to STAB and an amazing movepool, which made it, at times, unpredictable. Like Chansey it can also paralyze things, so I wasn't sacrificing paralysis support. Clefable's superior physical bulk also comes in handy when dealing with things like GolDon and Pokemon that can blow up (it can survive Exeggutor's Explosion, for example). Thunderbolt is certainly viable, but I generally prefer Hyper Beam for how useful it is in general, whereas Thunderbolt is for specific targets.

Jolteon
~Thunderbolt
~Thunder Wave
~Pin Missile
~Double Kick

Another anomaly, Jolteon's main mission was to provide even more paralysis support, though it's certainly a capable offensive threat as well. Jolteon was also meant to beat up Water types that otherwise give Snorlax trouble, namely Lapras.

Nidoqueen
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Thunderbolt

I wanted a Pokemon that could absorb Thunder Wave while threaten other foes at the same time. I opted for Nidoqueen because GolDon is too slow and Nidoking is too boring. Yeah, King is vastly superior if only for its better Attack, but both have the same Special and MAYBE Queen's extra bulk could come in handy. Well, probably not because of its horrible typing, but oh well. Queen can hit everything for at least neutral damage and can even kill something with paralysis support.

Snorlax
~Amnesia
~Reflect
~Body Slam
~Rest

The bread and butter of Hector Gold. Dormant for five years, this cranky, destructive giant finally awoke from its seemingly eternal slumber to put one of the most dominant performances of the Netbattle era. With shock value on its side, GSCLax could use Reflect when Chansey was out and then Amnesia on the Lapras switch, much to the opponent's bewilderment. I don't have every log, but the ones that I do have show just how frightening a Pokemon or even a move could be if you're sure the opponent won't see it coming. In a time where I hated competitive Pokemon and almost everyone who was a part of it, GSCLax helped make my last month some of the most fun I've ever had in this black hole of the internet known as the competitive Pokemon scene.

 

Cool, thanks for the more detailed analysis.

 

Sorry, forgot about this again. The 2012 retrospective is coming soon!

 

>soon

 

2012: You Have Your Empire, But Not Its King

As I touched upon in my previous entry, 2011 was a time in which I hated competitive Pokemon and almost everyone in it. It was a toxic environment that I no longer wished to be a part of, so I decided to announce my "retirement" in July of that year, writing a book-sized rant that covered the entire scope of my career. News of my departure spread like wildfire, mostly because I also posted a thread on Smogon, which resulted in the most traffic my forum, THE Alternative, ever received. In fact, good 600 or so people from Smogon were actually there at the same time. I knew people would be interested in the thread, but I didn't think I'd get that much attention.

I also posted the thread on RBY2K10, as this steaming pile of shit was the impetus behind my decision. My words clearly resonated with some of those idiots, as they seemed to finally realize the error of their actions or, at the very least, were desperate to address them. Icy made another idiotic thread about how RBY2K10 was the future of competitive RBY and that halcyon times were sure to come. Unfortunately, while things were certainly quiet after I left, that also included the battlefield, which was now desolate despite awaiting the final-round matchup of the anniversary tournament. Yes, that's right: what was supposed to be the biggest tournament in RBY2K10's history--one with a prodigious cash prize, mind you--was canceled in the finals. If this happened to another community I might have felt bad, but in this case it brought a smile to my face. Of course, the disappointing cancellation of this tournament was the central piece of the domino effect that ensued: practically every other attempt at revitalizing the forum or starting something ended in failure. By 2012, RBY2K10 was already practically dead.

One last, desperate attempt was made at saving this crumbling community in the forum of the 2nd anniversary tournament, which offered an even larger cash prize, more Smogon pandering, and thus more participants. However, according to waterwizard some players were actually asking about whether or not I would play, which brings this part of the story back to myself. The main reason I decided to "retire" from Pokemon was so that I could prioritize my real-life situation, as I was going to start graduate school. When I felt I could juggle my responsibilities without feeling overwhelmed, I began contemplating a comeback as a way of celebrating my 10-year anniversary. Thus, I began writing cryptic messages that always ended with jumbled numbers, which, when put in order, spelled out the start date of the tournament. By far my most infamous message was my "You're a liar, you're a coward, you're a hypocrite" rant that I posted on RBY2K10, Smogon, and GameFAQs, in which I called out Kevin Garrett of all people, accusing him of stealing my name and threatening to expose him for filthy monkey he was. At this time I tended to use lot of antiquated language and wrote like a knight, being as bizarre as I could because I didn't care about pissing off anyone on the forum or on the server. With that said, I'll be honest here: I find that typical trolling on Smogon or other Pokemon forums looks pathetic, childish, and idiotic. It's just a bunch of pasty nerds that have Chinese cartoon characters as their profile pictures who think that writing like ghetto trash is funny and cool, and post pictures of exotic animals which seem indicative of some kind of geek fetish. I think my style of trolling is often very creative, as I have a more eclectic imagination and can write very well.

On February 15th, 2012, I logged onto Netbattle for the first time in about a year and scored a decisive 3-0 victory against Redemption/Red Warrior. One aspect of Hector Gold that I maintained was saying whatever I wanted and being as obnoxious as I could, so after every victory I would post something in RBY2K10's chatbox much to the umbrage of their userbase. I don't remember very well, but I think one of my first messages looked something like this: "Thank you so much for your support, everybody, as I beat yet another victim within an inch of his life!" Even though Icy prohibited me from being able to signup, it didn't stop me from becoming bigger than the tournament itself, as certain players were actually angry that I wasn't allowed to play and because I was tearing it up on the Netbattle server with three consecutive seven-game winning streaks in a row. At the end of my comeback run, I formed an overall astonishing 21-3 (90%!) record against the majority of the tournament's participants. It was deja vu all over again.

By far my favorite victories were against Crystal, who gave me a hard time despite not even knowing me, and spies, who was also a jerk towards me. I let Crystal go, but I taunted spies after beating him and did such a good job of it that he left the server in frustration and another Smogon user actually encouraged me. Like last year I was having a lot of fun and saying whatever I wanted. The tournament didn't mean anything to me, especially given how long it took to finish and that it died immediately after it was over. Good riddance.

Sadly, I left again after my fun on Netbattle, as there wasn't any place to play it consistently. It was practically a novelty mode at this point that people played when they felt nostalgic. RBY was supported on Pokemon Online, but the coders only implemented Stadium mode, which was an entirely different metagame and one that almost nobody played consistently. If RBY was going to die, though, I felt that I achieved enough success that I would be remembered as one of its greatest players, which was what my goal was when I started playing 10 years earlier. This final run would be a worthy final testament to my legacy.

The team I’ve chosen to represent my 2012 was the one that earned me my laudable 21-3 record. It was a standard team with the exception of Clefable, who I’ve always been a huge advocate of. Clefable can’t do anything great, but it can do anything and has great type coverage.

Starmie
~Blizzard
~Psychic
~Thunder Wave
~Recover

FriendlyMie remained in the frontlines, with decent matchups against every lead except Jynx.

Tauros
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam

In my victory over spies, Tauros came through with a nice Earthquake crit on his paralyzed Jolteon.

Snorlax
~Body Slam
~Earthquake
~Hyper Beam
~Selfdestruct

I went back to standard Lax by 2012. Reflect and Amnesia would have to wait a couple of years before really getting the chance to shine.

Exeggutor
~Explosion
~Psychic
~Sleep Powder
~Stun Spore

Exeggutor would have to wait another year.

Chansey
~Ice Beam
~Thunder Wave
~Counter
~Softboiled

I always had a soft spot for Counter. It worked a lot better before even mediocre players knew to check for it.

Clefable
~Blizzard
~Body Slam
~Thunder Wave
~Hyper Beam

The “6th” Pokemon on this team, Clefable’s respectable physical power, bulk, and access to Thunder Wave made it easy to contribute something meaningful. It could take sleep as well, as I also had Snorlax and Tauros to dish out physical pain.

 

Bump. I feel like Exeggutor, waiting another year

 

2013, coming soon.