Saturday, March 29, 2014

People still think Slowbro evolves into Slowking

Sadly, that is NOT a joke. I was reading this thread to get a better idea of what they were planning to do in regards to stat weighting (see yesterday's post for an explanation), and the subject of Eviolite Slowbro came up. So I took a look at the stats to see how bad it was, and believe it or not, it's its FOURTH most common item, at a whopping 2.7%. If you ever needed proof that the situation's gone so out of hand that the current weighting system just doesn't work anymore, well here you go.

I do find it weird, however, that no one in that Smogon thread seemed to realize that it was the whole evolve-into-Slowking schtick rearing its ugly head once again, instead suggesting that it might have to do with niche Trick uses. Can't blame them, though, really, most normal people haven't entertained the idea of Slowbro evolving into Slowking since gen 2. Still, it's pretty clear to me that it has everything to do with that old misconception and nothing to do with actual utility, and should count as a candle. After all, aside from PorygonZ and Dusknoir (which evolve from two of the best Eviolite users around), every other Pokémon in the top 250 for whom the Eviolite appears on the list is NFE, and even these two have an Eviolite rate of less than 0.5%. So if fully evolved Pokémon + Eviolite + Trick really was a thing, do you really think the Eviolite wouldn't be seen on anything but Slowbro, the one fully-evolved Pokémon people might think is not one?

15 comments:

  1. To further your point, why would one even bother tricking an Eviolite onto a target when Knock Off, which is now an insanely powerful move, does the exact same thing but better?

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    1. Maybe they think they'd be able to pull off some kind of chain that ends in something they view as threatening, like Thief Pikachu. It's no use justifying their "logic". That or they're afraid of Hawlucha, which is more justifiable than Pikachu. Either way, they must be the type that still believe the truck has Mew, and Marill's name is Pikablu...

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    2. I think they're thinking of giving it to a partner in double battles... but then why not just stick the eviolite on the other pokemon to begin with?

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    3. These stats are for OU singles exclusively, so that doesn't work.

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  2. I thought that when I was a kid, too. But yeah, I haven't thought that way since Gen 2.

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    1. I never thought that, not even when I was nine.

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    2. Yeah, but when you first see it, unless it's because you've evolved it from a Slowpoke yourself (and let's face it, that's not happening until you know about the evoution method and Slowking itself), the first reaction you should have should legitimately be "it evolves from Slowbro". You always find out later, even if it's just five seconds, that it evolves from Slowpoke instead.

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    3. I actually cried when I tried to evolve my Slowbro in gold and silver with my friend and it didn't work.

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  3. A couple of those are things I actually do, like Shuca Berry and Counter on my Ampharos and a limber ditto just for double battles so it can transform into it's partner instead of picking something else. It's like they're trying to make me feel embarrassed for it.

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    1. Well no wonder you feel embarrassed, these sets are bottom-of-the-barrel SHITE. I'd disappear from the universe entirely if I got caught using that stuff.

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    2. ... come on, shuca counter worked great for me in gen 4, and I had to catch Mareep in the safari zone and give it the counter tutor in gen 3 to use it!

      The ditto... well, it was before gen 5 happened.

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    3. If I wanted to use a gimmicky Counter set, I'd use Focus Sash Zoroark...

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    4. It wasn't gimmicky. It worked. A lot. Until I battled the same person a second time.

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  4. I just read the entire thread and I think you misunderstood the reason the "niche uses with Trick" were mentioned... I don't think they were serious about that. It was just an elitist outcry per usual. People not wanting others to try out new things, possibly catching them off-guard. They were trying to make up crap to justify everything as a way to satire what the thread had become. I'm really impressed by how Antar kept a cool head even at the end, because things could have gone haywire real fast. I completely agree with his approach, a niche use might not be good at all, but it's still theoretically usable, so we shouldn't be punished for trying it out.

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    1. Yeah, but Eviolite Slowbro is a special case, because there's a legitimate, very easy case to make for it being used out of sheer ignorance/stupidity.

      Besides, that Eviolite niche doesn't really work anyway, it's completely outclassed by Lagging Tail or Choice Specs.

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