Which side did those voters favor? Do you have any idea?

Even so, Shaymin-S looks a lot like a Ho-Oh with less stat points, in that its signature move's added effect turns off a lot of its supposed counters (and unlike Ho-Oh, Shaymin's got another super-cheap haxy STAB move). And just for kicks, guess which one is more popular in ubers? Yep, Shaymin. Suddenly I can imagine a Ho-Oh OU test much better. Not that it's a better idea than before... doomsday hax just owns all its would-be counters. Only Stealth Rock would make such a test anywhere near relevant.

I think it'd be different if Skymin didn't have access to Earth Power. It makes unscarfed Heatran switching into Shaymin suicide, as no defensively oriented (ignoring the fact that no Scarftran is ever defensively oriented) Heatran can survive Earth Power after Seed Flare butchers its SDef.

Steels can still be pretty bad to Skymin though, particularly Registeel and Scizor, the former of which eating everything it dishes out and the latter messing it up with Bullet Punch. I think with Stealth Rocks in play, Scizor has an easier time making the kill with BP, as otherwise it comes in on Seed Flare and gets easily killed by the following Air Slash.

I'm in no position to place any weight on my opinion, but my initial stance is that Skymin isn't uber. However I can easily see a future suspect test (I think Smogon will redo it) reaching the verdict that it is.

That was my first observation when the test occured - if it weren't for Earth Power we would never have had that debate.

Fun fact: even with Shaymin-S gone, Registeel remains the most used Regi by a comfortable margin. Never thought I'd see the day.

Oh, and your bit about Shaymin-S having OU and BL checks reminds me that the latest Smogon update pegged Quagsire as a very neat check for the almighty Kyogre. I personally would never have thought of it, since Quagsire's pitiful in comparison to both Swampert and Gastrodon. When was the last time I used Quagsire? On my first time through Gold in-game, when I was crazy over the fact that there was a Water-type immune to Electric (along with other little things, because let's not dance around it, Water/Ground is an awesome typing). Then I reached the endgame, and realized the stats on that thing were just too bad. Never touched the thing since, because for every Water Absorb excuse there's a Swampert just waiting for a team spot.

As for the actual debate regarding Shaymin... well, while it's definitely a mean mofo, the one thing that makes me actually unsure of where it belongs is that #16 in usage in the month prior to its ban. It's so freaking awesome, and it still falls well short of a top 10 position. Is it all Scizor's contribution?

For what it's worth, Scizor alone killed a lot of things and all but exterminated DDTar. I wouldn't say it was the main reason Skymin didn't make top ten, but a strong factor nonetheless.

Its ability to murder walls is like no other. Salamence may be better when it comes to delivering single, solid blows, but it can't just shut down its switch-ins like Skymin can and it can only kill through force, not hax, which can be as lethal to walls as an attack itself. What good are your status and recoveries when you can't use them, right?

Not to mention it can get away with an unmixed set, whereas I don't think any good Salamence is lacking Fire Blast. You look at those move usage lists too, right? Is Draco Meteor the only special attack Salamences have much of the time or do they pack Fire Blast also?

48.1% for Fire Blast, 39.4% for Draco Meteor. Oh, and 21.3% for Flamethrower, which is quite a bit.

Well, the Arcade on the Battle Frontier is not as horrible as I thought it would be. Sure, there are so many ways to make in unenjoyable and aggravating, but you also circumvent a lot of the ways that make it so.

First and foremost, The opponent gets no hold items either. None of that Quick Claw or Brightpowder bullshit, no Focus Sashes, nada.

Second, the scroller is not too hard to use. It speeds up after a few streaks but since you use the stylus, it's easier to quickly tap it down when you want it to stop.

Third, you have the ability to skip battles entirely should the roulette wheel land on it. If it's surrounded on either side by something really bad like freezing or switching pokes with the opponent, I opt for something else. Free BP, +Lv (your pokes are level 53 for that match) or the "No event at all" are also good.

Fourth, with the really shitty ones like sleep or freezing, they not only do it to only one of your Pokemon but the one in the middle, so placing something in that spot that can't be frozen/slept will prevent it. Poisoning and paralysis affect all three but the same thing applies; it's worth pointing out that the paralysis is treated as electric and grounds are immune.

The Factory is just as bad as it was in Emerald if not worse. The stats on those things are just.. so shitty. So, so shitty. Aerodactyls with 340 speed. A Flygon that took 80% damage from a non crit Stone Edge. Roserade getting OHKOed by a STABless, neutral-powered Return. However, since I hated this so much from Emerald, I whipped out the AR and cheated from the very beginning, letting me kill everything in one hit. In Emerald I found a code that made it my turn, always; I couldn't find such a code for Platinum so I settled for this. So, what I'd do is pick the three fastest pokes, placing emphasis on priority moves and/or Aerial Ace (I almost lost twice thanks to Brightpowder) and just gunned through it.

That piece of shit has no place in the already haxy BT environment; expecting us to go through 49 straight battles with not only cheating AI but horrendously bad pokes? FUCK. THAT. As long as I keep buying Pokemon games, and as long as they keep using Factory-type stuff, I'm always going to get it out of the way by cheating in any way I can. I still have several dozen of honest attempts uncompensated for from Emerald.

Part 83 is up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NdrlMOE_j4

Also, check this out... your faith in humanity should plummet after seeing this.

http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/fail-owned-pregnancy-fail.jpg

You did it! Hahahaaaaaaah! I was hoping you would remember!

Of course I did. I loved the idea to death.

The real part 83 is now up, along with four brand new ones!

Part 83: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX9onHnD_zw
Part 84: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAs-5iyBg8g
Part 85: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4MlMggFH3w
Part 86: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FONs-kQwJM
Part 87: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aD8AcsN0yc

Dunno if this is appropriate to say, but I really enjoy your LP Pokemon Red, Slowflake. Definitely looking forward and subscribing to any future LP you may decide to do.

Why wouldn't it be appropriate? IIRC it was a lack of feedback that made him question whether or not this LP was worth his time, many many videos ago. A game like this would take a huge number of videos to complete as it has already, and at the time he wasn't getting enough to assure that people were watching the entire thing (seeing as I think clicking the video alone counts as a view regardless if they watch the entirety.)

Ah, well, just feels kind of awkward just popping out of nowhere and complimenting for me. Considering that I visit this place about once per day (used to be once per week/two weeks).

First and foremost, I really like making those things. It was something that grew on me over time. Now, don't get me wrong, I liked doing it at the beginning, but not quite in the same way. (Does that make any sense?) There's also my repeated annoyance at all those things that were improved in GSC, whether it's the bag size, the sprites, and so on.

Oh, and have you noticed that my written rant output has become near zero since I started this? It's because my LP has progressively become part podcast during periods of downtime (which happens a lot, as I want to show everything), and I find it more convenient that way as well.

So it's basically just a combination of factors. Of course, I'll take a break of a few weeks after Red is done, which hopefully will occur by Easter.

It's a creative way to get thing done, that's for sure. Your rants have always been superb, and it's really entertaining to watch an LP of a Pokemon game while listening to your rants. I've also found it to be a nice way to keep up with news regarding Pokemon, considering I rarely visit Serebii anymore.

Ditto, only instead of Serebii, make that Smogon.

Hmm. Noticed that. To be honest, I think I prefer watching your videos while listening to you rant. Which is truthfully better commentating than what most people write.

Yeah. I actually started trying to dig around for my copy of Red just to play out of nostalgia while I was watching your videos. Maybe I haven't played Red in maybe couple of years now, but for some reason, it just looks kind of fun to go back to the roots of this series.

And I'm curious, just exactly how many users bugged you about doing an LP for G/S/C?

I agree too about your videos being an excellent way to keep up on Pokemon news. Which is due to the fact that I'm very very way out of date when it comes to Pokemon gossip/news. (PS, I enjoyed the video where you talk about that Pokemon marathon involving catching most of the Pokemon).

I actually gotta admit that occasionally (or rather, often) I'll be doing something and not watching the monitor, but listening to Slowflake talk. If he mentions something game related, I'll glance at the screen; but otherwise my attention lies with the audio and whatever I may be doing at the time.

With the Sonic GG LPs I watched them constantly though, but that's not only because the gameplay warrants focusing on, I've never gotten too far in any of them (the only one I could beat was Triple Trouble.)

Funny now that you mentioned it... I did kind of started doing that, mostly listening to Slowflake. For the most part, I already knew most of the routes he was going through, the most significants ones often being Blue battles, Gym Leaders and Victory Road being watched. Other times was mostly I played my dusty Ruby game. Which was interesting doing as I was listening.

For sure though, I'm probably going to watch his Crystal LP purely for the fact that I haven't played my own copy in about 4 years now (not even sure where that darn thing went). While Kanto wasn't exactly the most fulfilling, ergo disappointing, sidequest in the entire series, I think my nostalgia just springs purely from the playing in the [then] new region [Johto].

Haha, this is all very flattering... the way you say it, I have the ability to make taking down an army of trainers with level 30 Pokémon with my own Pokémon that are 20 levels higher watchable. Yeah, I just want to give people as much content as I can put in a 10-minute video, all while showing every nook and cranny of the game.

I'll probably record Moltres and the E4 this evening, unless something happens.

Personally, there's only so few LPs that I actually like where it is just commentating the playing itself. Then again, I don't search the Tube for LPs too frequently, only movies for the most part. =P