SURPRISE! *An OU Warstory*

Hello everyone! I am extremely new to the competitive battling scene, but have been playing the franchise since I was a little boy playing Blue Version. I recently got back into Pokemon after a friend had bought me Soul Silver for my birthday. Needless to say I got hooked immediately. I was referred to smogon's pokemon guides to help me assemble my team, and well...here I am! The plethora of things smogon has to offer it's battlers is pretty astounding and I am very grateful to those who put the effort in to create this all.

A little bit about my team. Being completely new to the metagame I had no idea what to expect in the OU scene, or even what Player vs. Player battles would feel like. With that in mind, I literally took a look at the top used OU characters from doug's stat reports and tried to create a balanced team from that. Lots of thinking and Notepad usage later, I came up with this team that has done pretty well for me. I've gotten up to 1200 CRE so far and will keep rising hopefully!

Below is my team:


This is my RMT


I have been reading quite a few Warstories (the good and the bad) to learn the thought process of battlers better than myself, and never enter a fight without the Pokemon Guide and Damage Calc pages open to act as my beginner's crutch.

Keep in mind i'm still glaringly new, but I'm not retarded. That being said, I make mistakes. I'm still learning the metagame, and would love all the feedback I can get from you guys about my team and play style (yes, even you Smogon Trolls. Be gentle! ^_^). I also plan on enrolling in the Battle Tutor program the next time it opens.

Time to get to the battle!

P.S. I totally forgot to ask my opponent if it was ok to warstory this, so like other warstories before me, I just changed his name to anonymous.


Felerial's moves will look like this.
Anonymous's moves will look like this.
My post-battle comments will look like this.
other text will look like this.
Leftovers will be removed.
Sandstorm/hail damage will be removed.
Scores will be shown after each KO.

Rules: Ladder Match, Sleep Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Evasion Clause, Species Clause, Strict Damage Clause
Felerial sent out Swampert (lvl 100 Swampert ?).
Anonymous sent out Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Machamp used Dynamicpunch.
Swampert lost 33% of its health.
Swampert became confused!
Swampert is confused!
Swampert used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
---
73% -
100%

God another Machamp. RNG was on my side today as I didn't smack myself and got rocks down....but according to the Anti-Lead Machamp on Smogon, I should have outsped him. He must be using a speedy Machamp. Good to know. Well, like most Machamps, he'll try to RNG me to hell until I make him stop. Time to send in one of my favorites!


Felerial switched in Gengar (lvl 100 Gengar ?).
Machamp used Dynamicpunch.
It doesn't affect Gengar...
---
100% -
100%

Well, that went off perfectly. Unfortuanately, my Gengar can't touch his Machamp, and he can sure as hell OHKO me. I'm guessing he'll go for the payback, since every other Machamp i've seen always has.


Felerial switched in Skarmory (lvl 100 Skarmory ?).
Machamp used Payback.
It's not very effective...
Skarmory lost 10% of its health.
---
96% -
100%

Well, I've just revealed my third poke, but I don't really mind. He's either feeling very happy about that, or very upset than I keep out predicting him. My Brave Bird can OHKO Machamp, but I have no idea just how speedy this Machamp is. He's either going to D-Punch me, Sub, or switch out. I'm going to go for spikes, since I'm guessing he doesn't want to lose his Machamp this early in the game. He wont out speed my Skarmory anyways, because I've boosted its speed a bit myself, so no real worries about Encore.


Anonymous switched in Jirachi (lvl 100 Jirachi).
Pointed stones dug into Jirachi.
Jirachi lost 6% of its health.
Skarmory used Spikes.
Spikes were scattered around the foe's team!
---
100% -
94%

Well crap, a Jirachi. I've never encountered a Jirachi without a Trick Choice Scarf, but this one isn't a lead. If he's a CM Jirachi, his TBolt will wreck me. If he's a tricker, he cripples my Skarmory and I dont want that at all. I'll Switch in Swampert since I think he's going to T-Bolt, and a Scarf wont break me.

Felerial switched in Swampert (lvl 100 Swampert ?).
Jirachi used Trick.
Jirachi obtained Leftovers!
Swampert obtained Choice Scarf!
---
73% -
100%

Well, he didn't T-Bolt so I don't get a free switch, but it's not too bad. This Jirachi is either a Lead Jirachi or some kind of Trick CM Jirachi. My money is on Lead, since most teams want an SR User and Jirachi is perfect. I'll go with an EQ Here and see how thing's pan out.


Jirachi used Stealth Rock.
Pointed stones float in the air around the foe's team!
Swampert used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Jirachi lost 70% of its health.
---
73% -
36%

Yep, Lead Jirachi. At least I crippled it. He still outspeeds me, of course, so he'd probably going to U-Turn into some Ground Immune poke. Instead of giving him a free switch in, i'll just go back to Skarm to see his Skarm counter.


Felerial switched in Skarmory (lvl 100 Skarmory ?).
Pointed stones dug into Skarmory.
Skarmory lost 12% of its health.
Jirachi used U-turn.
It's not very effective...
Skarmory lost 3% of its health.
Anonymous switched in Infernape (lvl 100 Infernape ?).
Pointed stones dug into Infernape.
Infernape lost 12% of its health.
Infernape was hurt by Spikes!
Infernape lost 12% of its health.
---
91% -
76%

Just as expected, but BAH INFERNAPE! With so many billions of viable movesets, I have literally no idea what this guy could be running. Well, running a quick Damage Calc of the Physical variant, he can't 2HKO me with CC, so he'll probably use Overheat/Fire Blast. Might as well threaten with my Scarfed Swampert. Dont really wanna put Gyarados in yet since he might have T-Punch.


Felerial switched in Swampert (lvl 100 Swampert ?).
Pointed stones dug into Swampert.
Swampert lost 6% of its health.
Infernape used Fire Blast.
It's not very effective...
Swampert lost 29% of its health.
Infernape lost 10% of its health.
---
38% -
66%

And there goes the Fire Blast. That means he didn't want a SPA decrease with Overheat. I'm thinking it might be a Special Variant, meaning it probably has Grass Knot and HP Ice which is not good for either Swampert or Salamence. Bah, I run another quick Damage Calc and see my Swampert is in CC Kill range. I really don't want to lose my Elec Immune just yet, and I hope he realizes i'm in CC KO Range too.


Felerial switched in Gengar (lvl 100 Gengar ?).
Pointed stones dug into Gengar.
Gengar lost 12% of its health.
Infernape used Close Combat.
It doesn't affect Gengar...
---
88% -
66%

Yay for a prediction streak! Gengar naturally outspeeds Infernape so i'm fairly certain he'll switch out to save it, and most likely switch in Machamp. I still wouldn't be able to kill it before it kills my using Gengar though, so i'll opt to scare it off again with my Skarmory.


Felerial switched in Skarmory (lvl 100 Skarmory ?).
Pointed stones dug into Skarmory.
Skarmory lost 12% of its health.
Anonymous switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Pointed stones dug into Machamp.
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
Machamp was hurt by Spikes!
Machamp lost 12% of its health.
---
84% -
82%

Skarm vs. Machamp means it's the same matchup as before. I'm confident I outspeed his Machamp, so I go for another layer of spikes to get that residual really going strong. He'll probably switch in Nape again, but i'll deal with it easily now that it's going to have so much spike damage. Hopefully he plays it safe again and doesn't go for the DPunch.


Anonymous switched in Starmie (lvl 100 Starmie).
Pointed stones dug into Starmie.
Starmie lost 12% of its health.
Starmie was hurt by Spikes!
Starmie lost 12% of its health.
Skarmory used Spikes.
Spikes were scattered around the foe's team!
---
84% -
76%

Bawww, Starmie. He can either T-Bolt me for tons of damage, or more likely Spin my spikes. I'm more afraid of him spinning my spikes, and I don't think his T-Bolt would be able to 2HKO my Gengar. Time to block that Spin!

Felerial switched in Gengar (lvl 100 Gengar ?).
Pointed stones dug into Gengar.
Gengar lost 12% of its health.
Starmie used Surf.
Gengar lost 54% of its health.
---
22% -
76%

God, I clearly get out predicted here. His surf would have KO'd my Swampert, and Surf can definitely 2HKO Gengar. Not to mention Starmie outspeed's Substitute Gengar. I guess it's time to decide who I want to lose, Swampert or Gengar.


Gengar used Shadow Ball.
It's super effective!
Starmie lost 88% of its health.
Anonymous's Starmie fainted.
(6-5)
---
22% -
0%

SURPRISE!! Scarf Gengar is such Epic Win. I know he wasn't expecting that. Nobody ever sees ScarfGar coming. Mwah hahaha ^_^;;. That definitely puts game momentum completely on my side. Lets see who else I can sweep!


Anonymous switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Scizor.
Scizor lost 12% of its health.
Scizor was hurt by Spikes!
Scizor lost 19% of its health.
Gengar used Shadow Ball.
It's not very effective...
Scizor lost 27% of its health.
Scizor used Pursuit.
It's super effective!
Gengar lost 21% of its health.
Felerial's Gengar fainted.
(5-5)
---
0% -
42%

Aaaaaand here comes CB Scizor to ruin my day. I get a resisted Shadow Ball off to lather some good damage on top of the Hazard damage and get him below half, but alas he pursuit's me down as expected. I pretty much know his whole team now, so it's time to start my Salamence sweep!


Felerial switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's Intimidate cut Scizor's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Anonymous switched in Jirachi (lvl 100 Jirachi).
Pointed stones dug into Jirachi.
Jirachi lost 6% of its health.
Jirachi was hurt by Spikes!
Jirachi lost 19% of its health.
Salamence used Earthquake.
It's super effective!
Jirachi lost 12% of its health.
Anonymous's Jirachi fainted.
(5-4)
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
---
65% -
0%

He sacrifices his already crippled Jirachi, om nom nom. Next is either the mystery poke or another sacrifice. Here's hoping for more sacrifices!


Anonymous switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's Intimidate cut Salamence's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Felerial switched in Skarmory (lvl 100 Skarmory ?).
Pointed stones dug into Skarmory.
Skarmory lost 12% of its health.
Salamence used Outrage.
Salamence went on a rampage!
It's not very effective...
Skarmory lost 26% of its health.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
---
52% -
65%

So he has a Salamence too. Thinking it was going to Draco Metor I Swap in Skarmory to eat it and laugh. But he outrages...It has to be a DD Mence. Well, time to roost up and get my last stack of Spikes in just in case.


Salamence used Outrage.
It's not very effective...
Skarmory lost 26% of its health.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Skarmory used Roost.
Skarmory restored 50% of its health.
---
Salamence used Outrage.
It's not very effective...
A critical hit!
Skarmory lost 53% of its health.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
Skarmory used Spikes.
Spikes were scattered around the foe's team!
Salamence's rampage ended.
Salamence became confused!
---
35% -
45%

Well, Skarmory is crippled. He can try for a kill if he wants, so I'll offer him Swampert just in case since I might be able to get Skarm in and roost up later. Thinking back on this battle, it probably would have been a pretty safe bet to stay in and roost up, though needless to say I was a bit "Intimidated" by his Salamence. Yea I know that's cheesy, sue me!.


Felerial switched in Swampert (lvl 100 Swampert ?).
Pointed stones dug into Swampert.
Swampert lost 6% of its health.
Anonymous switched in Infernape (lvl 100 Infernape ?).
Pointed stones dug into Infernape.
Infernape lost 12% of its health.
Infernape was hurt by Spikes!
Infernape lost 25% of its health.
---
32% -
29%

He doesn't take the risk, and opt's for Infernape instead. Either way, i'm glad I switched as Swampert isn't worth as much as Skarmory is right now, though I could have gotten a free roost. Better to be safe than sorry. Good battle Swampert, you've done a great job.

Infernape used Close Combat.
Swampert lost 31% of its health.
Felerial's Swampert fainted.
(4-4)
Infernape's defence was lowered.
Infernape's special defence was lowered.
Infernape lost 10% of its health.
---
0% -
19%

Time to send in my Gyara. I dont think it has T-Punch since I'm pretty sure its a Special Variant, so no worries.

Felerial switched in Gyarados (lvl 100 Gyarados ?).
Gyarados's Intimidate cut Infernape's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Gyarados.
Gyarados lost 25% of its health.
Infernape used Hidden Power.
Gyarados lost 30% of its health.
Infernape lost 10% of its health.
Gyarados used Waterfall.
It's super effective!
Infernape lost 9% of its health.
Anonymous's Infernape fainted.
Gyarados lost 10% of its health.
(4-3)
---
45% -
0%

DD Gyra finishes off that damn dirty ape. Time to start cleaning up.


Anonymous switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Scizor.
Scizor lost 12% of its health.
Scizor was hurt by Spikes!
Scizor lost 25% of its health.
Scizor used Bullet Punch.
It's not very effective...
Gyarados lost 34% of its health.
Gyarados used Waterfall.
Scizor lost 6% of its health.
Anonymous's Scizor fainted.
(4-2)
Gyarados lost 2% of its health.
Felerial's Gyarados fainted.
(3-2)
---
0% -
0%

BAH! My Gyra is gone thanks to LO Recoil. At least his Scizor is finished too. I should be able to finish this up pretty easily though.


Felerial switched in Skarmory (lvl 100 Skarmory ?).
Anonymous switched in Machamp (lvl 100 Machamp ?).
Pointed stones dug into Skarmory.
Skarmory lost 12% of its health.
Pointed stones dug into Machamp.
Machamp lost 6% of its health.
Machamp was hurt by Spikes!
Machamp lost 25% of its health.
Skarmory used Roost.
Skarmory restored 50% of its health.
Machamp used Dynamicpunch.
It's super effective!
Skarmory lost 68% of its health.
Skarmory became confused!
---
17% -
51%

Hurp durp, Roost gets rid of the Flying Element. I actually only learned that recently, and it slipped my mind. A misplay late game that will cost me my Skarmory. Hopefully I can get past confusion and Brave Bird Machamp down, resulting in a Double KO.

Skarmory is confused!
It hurt itself in its confusion!
Skarmory lost 5% of its health.
Machamp used Dynamicpunch.
Skarmory lost 12% of its health.
Felerial's Skarmory fainted.
(2-2)
---
0% -
51%

Well that sucks. So long Skarmory. I still have Salamence to outspeed and kill Machamp though. Here goes nothing!


Felerial switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's Intimidate cut Machamp's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Salamence used Draco Meteor.
A critical hit!
Machamp lost 50% of its health.
Anonymous's Machamp fainted.
(2-1)
Salamence's special attack was harshly lowered.
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
---
30% -
0%

Heh, the most unneeded critical i've ever seen. Either way his Machamp is down and all that's left is his Salamence. It's time to roll the dice and see who wins the speed tie.


Anonymous switched in Salamence (lvl 100 Salamence ?).
Salamence's Intimidate cut Salamence's attack!
Pointed stones dug into Salamence.
Salamence lost 25% of its health.
Salamence used Outrage.
Salamence went on a rampage!
It's super effective!
Salamence lost 31% of its health.
Felerial's Salamence fainted.
(1-1)
Salamence lost 10% of its health.
---
0% -
10%

Well, there's the Outrage as he wins the Speed Tie *grumble grumble*. My opponent hasn't seen my last poke. If he can outspeed it, he'll end up pulling away with the victory. Too bad I'm also packing one of the best Salamence counters in OU as well!

Felerial switched in Scizor (lvl 100 Scizor ?).
Pointed stones dug into Scizor.
Scizor lost 12% of its health.
Scizor used Bullet Punch.
Salamence lost 11% of its health.
Anonymous's Salamence fainted.
(1-0)
---
88% -
0%

Felerial wins!

This log was formatted using Warmachine Version 1.0


Well, that was the fight. I hope you enjoyed it. I've been wanting to do my first warstory for quite some time, and I thought this fight might be a nice one to warstory. I realize I made some misplays, as did the opponent. I'm still brand new and learning. Any advice and comments are welcome! Thanks!


Anonymous's Team:
 
What the hell, what just happened? Did he know I wasn't going to sac my Skarm? Why wouldn't he just get the Swampert kill with Salamence? Saving it for my Mence I guess....maybe it's Scarfed? I've never seen one of those before. Either way, he gets my Swampert. Good battle Swampert, you've done a great job.
There was life orb recoil, btw. It was not that great of a battle and comments were OK, but pretty good for your first time
 
Not sure why you switched out Skarm, it would have lived and been able to Roost of damage. Good first warstory though.

Also, YES pictures. <3
 
You seem to have a pretty solid grasp of battling strategy for a new player.

I'm pretty sure the reason he switched out his Salamence against your Skarmory was that he didn't want to risk the confusion damage. He probably figured he could deal with Skarm some other way and save Salamence for later (he did get a kill with it later, after all). Even if he had Fire Blast, with the half chance of hitting itself in confusion and the less than perfect accuracy of Fire Blast, he wasn't facing great odds there.
 
In hind sight, this was retarded, as a speedy Infernape can OHKO a Gengar with Fire Blast.
Gengar should always outspeed Infernape. 110 base speed is higher than infernape's 108.

Anyways, enjoyed the story.
 

Skymin_Flower

It's Seed Flare time.
For a first, well written, and you have a really good grasp on strategy for a new player! Trust me I have seen some really bad first warstories but this one was good! Keep it up!
 
It seems to me you have great natural talent at the game, I find this amount of knowledge extremely impressive from a new player. I too have been playing since Red/Blue, yet my introduction to competitive pokemon via 3rd generation netbattle yielded slow progress and a poor understanding of the fundamentals, such as tiers.

I also appreciate your grammatically correct sentences and lack of cursing.
 

Erazor

✓ Just Doug It
is a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
Except for you not noticing life orb recoil, you had a good match. This is a great warstory for you first time, and you're not nearly as bad as most new players are.

I also enjoyed the Scarf Gengar bit :)
 
You seem to have a pretty solid grasp of battling strategy for a new player.

I'm pretty sure the reason he switched out his Salamence against your Skarmory was that he didn't want to risk the confusion damage. He probably figured he could deal with Skarm some other way and save Salamence for later (he did get a kill with it later, after all). Even if he had Fire Blast, with the half chance of hitting itself in confusion and the less than perfect accuracy of Fire Blast, he wasn't facing great odds there.

I forgot about the confusion, and that makes complete sense. I usually have Notepad open during fights to write down things I find out about enemy pokes in a match i.e. what sets they run, who they switched in on, etc. Never wrote confusion down though. Good time to start, heh.


Gengar should always outspeed Infernape. 110 base speed is higher than infernape's 108.

Anyways, enjoyed the story.

That makes complete sense too. Plus add in the fact that many Infernapes only run 192 Speed EV's, and theres no way in hell he would have outsped me, and I wouldnt have revealed my Choice Scarf on him either. Something to keep in mind next time I guess.


Except for you not noticing life orb recoil, you had a good match. This is a great warstory for you first time, and you're not nearly as bad as most new players are.

I also enjoyed the Scarf Gengar bit :)

I can't understand how I didn't notice it. It's so completely and utterly standard on every single Salamence, I think I just had a Freudian slip. Looking back at my Notepad, I didn't write down the LO Recoil...bah. Just shows how much more I need to progress as a player. Working on it though!

Also, glad you liked the Gengar bit, I always smile irl when it happens, and it happens very very often. ^_^


I completely agree here? You did amazingly well. Good job and a great warstory. Nice job! ^^

I'm Ron Burgundy?


supermarth64 said:
Holy hell, I can honestly say I completely didn't expect this kind of reaction. Thank you all for being so nice and supportive.

I think today makes 1 week of competitive battling so far. I might do a Warstory Bi-weekly if you guys liked it enough and I get enough good battles to pick from. Kind of like a progress mark for me, heh.

I also plan on creating an RMT soon, so please keep an eye out for it and help me improve my team! Everyone on IRC and the forums are a lot nicer than I had expected. (^-^)y
 
So, I got the RMT up HERE. For those of you that rate RMT's please feel free to help me out! (Looking at you Delko! ^_^) I'll give free cookies, I swear.
 
Great warstory for a first time player. Formatting was good, comments kept my interest, and the ScarfGar was a cool addition.

Good lord I feel so pro right now! This is my best prediction streak ever! But of course, as soon as I start thinking that, I start making stupid decisions. I'm thinking to myself right now "He can touch me now! He knows it too! He'll probably switch out right now." In hind sight, this was retarded, as a speedy Infernape can OHKO a Gengar with Fire Blast.
Well, Scarf or not, Gengar OHKOes a 51% Infernape with Shadow Ball, so you could have killed it. But then, you would have died to Scizor, so it doesn't matter.
 

Ace Emerald

Cyclic, lunar, metamorphosing
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
You have a better grasp of competitve battling then a lot of players. Always room for improvement though. There were one or two mistakes but people aren't prefect and you're new. So good job and I'll keep an eye out for more of your stories.
 
Agreeing with everyone here. This was an excellent first Warstory: in about the first ~60-70%, you showed your thought process clearly (pretty advanced, too, for a new player!), which is the main point of a Warstory (well, a good battle is important, too, but this one was pretty good). You did somewhat let up near the end of the game with your comments, but 1) that's to be expected, and 2) overall, the piece was good.

Nice job! This shows the benefit to making well-thought-out, educated decisions, and not just going on autopilot on ladder (I guess unless you're someone like imperfectluck, but that's something else entirely).

I have to say, though, that, regardless of the relatively high quality of this Warstory, part of the reason we all like it is that 1) there have been too many bad ones recently, and 2) you kind of went out of your way to make it clear that you were a new player, subconsciously lowering expectations for readers, but still, as I said, the quality is not reduced!

By the way, when Scizor beats Gengar with Pursuit, you say that Gengar used "Shadow Bolt," instead of "Shadow Ball."
 

Snorlaxe

2 kawaii 4 u
is a Top Contributor Alumnus
As others have said, this is a very good warstory, and even better when you consider how new you are to competitive battling; keep writing warstories like this. I look forward to your next one! :)
 
Shadow Ball, not Shadow Bolt. And some of your predictions weren't as godly as you try to make them sound. And when your opponent manages to outpredict you, you immediately go from "Good lord I feel so pro right now!" to "What the hell, what just happened?", just take it like a man and move on with life. In my opinion, it really doesn't matter if you switched in a Gengar on Machamp's Dynamicpunch when it can one hit kill you with Payback. Revolving door switches don't usually accomplish much, aside from showing the opponent your team.
 

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