Locormus
Can we please get the older, old forum back?
Straight off the bat, Aggron, Weavile, Nidoking, Hariyama, Gliscor and Gastrodon fall off the deep-end. In terms of strength, none of them really stack up. In terms of synergy, they only bring weaknesses that would problematize Paul's Top4 (Fighting, Aggron and Weavile have a x4 weakness which doesn't stack well with Ursaring), Ground, Ice). The only exception for synergy purposes would be Gastrodon as none of Paul's Top4 share a Grass-weakness, and Gastrodon does have Ice Beam to counter Electivire and Drapion's Ground-type weaknesses, but outside of its battle with Staraptor, it wasn't really that impressive.
That leaves Honchkrow, Magmortar, Ninjask and Froslass.
In terms of strength/feats, I've seen people raving on about Froslass, but really? It came in late in the battle, Pikachu already faced Aggron and wasn't fresh at all. It relied on dodging with Snow Cloak in order to hit with (most of) its attacks and went down in two hits. I'm not impressed by it at all. In terms of synergy, it really is worth mentioning since it doesn't really share too many weaknesses outside of Fire (with Torterra) - and Ice does cover the aforementioned Ground weaknesses that Electivire and Drapion share.
Ninjask did have a good showing vs. Gliscor and Infernape on first sight. I'd say that the battle vs. Gliscor might be a bit overrated, since all it did was outspeeding it (obscenely) and using Fury Cutter, of which only the fifth consequtive hit really impressed (but that's exactly how Fury Cutter works). But it's battle vs. Infernape is really grossly overrated. It hardly took any damage from the effects of the underground Flare Blitz (it just gets blown upwards (it doesn't get hit with the flames or debris),but has no flinching facial expression nor any problem correcting itself midair). That move was all about clearing the field and not doing anything in terms of damage to Ninjask. Then the bug goes for a Giga Drain out of nowhere (really Paul?) and gets one-shot by a x0.25 resisted move. It's overrated.
Magmortar definitely has the strength department down. It's flamethrower tied with Pikachu's Thunderbolt. It put up a great fight against it and Paul really knows how to get the most of his pokémon with abilities and tactics. However, unlike how Froslass and Ninjask relied on Snow Cloak and Speed Boost to get their hits in, Magmortar does not rely on its ability. It benefits that Pikachu got burned by carelessly attacking it, but it's battling tactics don't revolve around it. It also put up a good fight vs. Barry and managed to survive Empoleon's Hydro Cannon (Yes, Pignite apparently did so as well, but Riolu was Cameron's ace and Samurott was not, whereas Barry pretty much used Empoleon for everything), which is a big feat. In terms of synergy, it would add another Ground weakness, so that's a problem.
Honchkrow. It's definitely strong, but it's just another straightforward attacker and I wouldn't put it above any of the other three candidates. It does seem like one of Paul's favorites. Since he basically was on his team from around Eterna up to Snowpoint City. In terms of synergy, it would fit well enough, it would share an Ice-type weakness with Torterra, but that's pretty much it.
In tems of strength, I'd have to pick Magmortar by far and Honchkrow for good measure (and basically has shown us more than the other two).
In terms of rounding out the team, if you're going to add another Ground-weak pokémon (Magmortar), then.. well.. all four of these are weak to Rock. So adding two weak to Rock seems like a bit of overkill, but it could work. In that case I'd add Froslass since she functions as the Ground-type deterent and Torterra could function as the Rock-type counter.
OR. Magmortar and Gastrodon, since adding Gastrodon does not add more to existing weaknesses the team needs to cover and Magmortar would cover Gastrodon's sole weakness fine, as well as knowing that Water deters Ground as well as Rock - and that it has Ice Beam for Flying-types as well as for Grass.
So yeah, if Paul would invest some more time in Gastrodon, then definitely Magmortar and Gastrodon, those two seem to be the wisest addition.
That leaves Honchkrow, Magmortar, Ninjask and Froslass.
In terms of strength/feats, I've seen people raving on about Froslass, but really? It came in late in the battle, Pikachu already faced Aggron and wasn't fresh at all. It relied on dodging with Snow Cloak in order to hit with (most of) its attacks and went down in two hits. I'm not impressed by it at all. In terms of synergy, it really is worth mentioning since it doesn't really share too many weaknesses outside of Fire (with Torterra) - and Ice does cover the aforementioned Ground weaknesses that Electivire and Drapion share.
Ninjask did have a good showing vs. Gliscor and Infernape on first sight. I'd say that the battle vs. Gliscor might be a bit overrated, since all it did was outspeeding it (obscenely) and using Fury Cutter, of which only the fifth consequtive hit really impressed (but that's exactly how Fury Cutter works). But it's battle vs. Infernape is really grossly overrated. It hardly took any damage from the effects of the underground Flare Blitz (it just gets blown upwards (it doesn't get hit with the flames or debris),but has no flinching facial expression nor any problem correcting itself midair). That move was all about clearing the field and not doing anything in terms of damage to Ninjask. Then the bug goes for a Giga Drain out of nowhere (really Paul?) and gets one-shot by a x0.25 resisted move. It's overrated.
Magmortar definitely has the strength department down. It's flamethrower tied with Pikachu's Thunderbolt. It put up a great fight against it and Paul really knows how to get the most of his pokémon with abilities and tactics. However, unlike how Froslass and Ninjask relied on Snow Cloak and Speed Boost to get their hits in, Magmortar does not rely on its ability. It benefits that Pikachu got burned by carelessly attacking it, but it's battling tactics don't revolve around it. It also put up a good fight vs. Barry and managed to survive Empoleon's Hydro Cannon (Yes, Pignite apparently did so as well, but Riolu was Cameron's ace and Samurott was not, whereas Barry pretty much used Empoleon for everything), which is a big feat. In terms of synergy, it would add another Ground weakness, so that's a problem.
Honchkrow. It's definitely strong, but it's just another straightforward attacker and I wouldn't put it above any of the other three candidates. It does seem like one of Paul's favorites. Since he basically was on his team from around Eterna up to Snowpoint City. In terms of synergy, it would fit well enough, it would share an Ice-type weakness with Torterra, but that's pretty much it.
In tems of strength, I'd have to pick Magmortar by far and Honchkrow for good measure (and basically has shown us more than the other two).
In terms of rounding out the team, if you're going to add another Ground-weak pokémon (Magmortar), then.. well.. all four of these are weak to Rock. So adding two weak to Rock seems like a bit of overkill, but it could work. In that case I'd add Froslass since she functions as the Ground-type deterent and Torterra could function as the Rock-type counter.
OR. Magmortar and Gastrodon, since adding Gastrodon does not add more to existing weaknesses the team needs to cover and Magmortar would cover Gastrodon's sole weakness fine, as well as knowing that Water deters Ground as well as Rock - and that it has Ice Beam for Flying-types as well as for Grass.
So yeah, if Paul would invest some more time in Gastrodon, then definitely Magmortar and Gastrodon, those two seem to be the wisest addition.
