The mic you’re recording with is stereo. For this video only the left side is picking up your voice. It’s only a major issue if you’re listening with headphones. It’s a pretty easy fix too, just gotta turn it to face the right way.
Thanks for pointing it out. I've avoided mentioning it for all these vids so far. But the dude's mic either has a mind of its own, or he's going through way too many. Cause it feels like every different video has a different flavor of mic quality weirdness. Somebody hook this man up with a standard audio setup.
Giving Onix Coil was such a great call, I love how it synergises with all of her inaccurate moves. And I really liked how the sandstorm team came together, especially with Cloud Nine and Overcoat for extra diversity.
I really like coil indeed, I think following the same logic, defense curl would also make a lot of sens and work as a pseudo coil woth rollout before getting replaced by coil.
It's funny how all of the good rock type moves have 80-85 accuracy, yet all the accuracy increasing moves, mainly coil and hone claws, are rarely given to rock types.
I really really like your videos, but sometimes the audio is balanced weird (not all of them). For this video it feels like your narration is only playing in left speakers? If you compare it to clips you inserted, you can maybe see the audio difference. Just being honest with you! But I really love the content you do
Oh is really only on left speaker? My left earbud is broken so I didn't hear any narration at all. I thinking through the video that onix was so bad that showing a slideshow without narration was enough to get the point across.
some notes: crits do not bypass eviolite (since it was asked). eviolite, sand spdef boost, and other innate factors are not bypassed by crits, only "stat boosts" which follow the specific stat boost formula (+1 = 1.5x, +2 = 2x, etc). on that note, eviolite sand is actually 2.25x which means it is better than +2 by a little bit. and one last thing, simisage does not resist rock, just felt like putting that out there.
Yeah my man made a couple of type matchup mistakes, rock/ground double resisting rock being another one. Easy mistakes to make tbh and these videos are an absolute joy regardless 👌
Related to the Rock-type rant, Rock is usually placed as the worst monotype in Smogon’s Monotype formats, whereas Ice is usually a few places above it.
Well, it's not exactly that "good" relative to other types most of the time. I usually see Ice ranked 13th-15th for monotypes. But yes, Ice has better merits than Rock. The offensive prowess of Ice fares well, and though Rock is also a good offensive type, Mono Flying's highest tier pokemon in gen 8 Monotype was Landorus-T (unsurprisingly), which Ice minds less than Rock of course. It's also worth noting that for gen 8 monotype, Alolan Ninetales is huge. Screens is good for hyperoffensive compositions, and Alolan Ninetales gets two screens in one move. I'd also mention that someone even got a top 4 peak on Sword and Shield OU ladder with a Mono Ice team (after the banning of Cinderace and Magearna). Which is a wild feat, doing that well with Mono Ice in standard OU.
Ice can very easily build a hail/snow offense structure that, thanks to threats like Arctozolt and, of course, Aurora Veil, can actually run roughshod over some teams. Rock could try to make a sand team, but it gets less from sandstorm than ice gets from hail, and even the chip damage from the weather is worse since three types are immune to it instead of just ice
Yeah another issue with Rock is that Ground overall has better Sand Rushers and Sand Forcers. The Sand Force options for both aren't the greatest, but Scale Shot Sand Force Mega Garchomp is a menace, whereas Rock pretty much only has Gigalith which is also a Sand Stream pokemon. And everyone knows how strong Excadrill is as a Sand Rusher.
Another great video! Since now the availability barrier has been broken, I am once again going to suggest my boy Natu in HGSS! It's the perfect generation with the newly introduced physical special split, changing its catch zone to around Violet City instead of in the Ruins of Alph, locked behind Surf+Strength. What really saddens me about Natu/Xatu is the movepool thou... it's only attacking move via Level Up is NIGHT SHADE until LEVEL 65, when it finally learns Psychic. That has got to be a joke 😭😭. A complete moveset overhaul, with some good flying special attacks thrown in the mix, would absolutely salvage this poor bird ❤️ Looking for your next works!
I genuinely can’t describe how much I enjoy these vids. The idea of making simple reasonable changes to Pokémon to make them more usable/memorable is just magnificent.
One of the best things about your channel is the pace and attention to detail. Taking the time to justify and evaluate your decisions. Please don’t change this as your channel grows. It’s so sad when a channel starts off like this then over time adds in loads of gifs, sound effects and the narrator sound like their on speed on the assumption that all views have low attention spans. So basically, just keep doing what you’re doing. Thanks!
Another interesting thing about Scyther: in gen 8 it learns Dual Wingbeat, which is an incredible STAB for it. This also further gives a good reason to use Scyther over Scizor. Obviously, Scizor is still better, but now Scyther is a fun alternative. I'm certain Onix stats were designed specifically to be a learning curve for the player in the first gym. Back then, they didn't know that they'll make another Pokemon game, let alone make one of the biggest franchises of all time. Their mindset was closer to the traditional RPG, as in gym leaders were like traditional bosses. Now, when they face Brock, they met Onix, which is like an impregnable wall. Up to this point, the player most likely caught Rattata, Pidgey, Weedle and so on. All Tackles, Gusts and so on deal nearly no damage. Unless the player figures out that their Squirtle or Bulbasaur can hit it very well with Water Gun and Vine Whip respectively. That's an interesting way to make players learn about the difference between stats and how valuable it is to know type advantages. Way more effective than what Hop was trying to tell us. Let's talk about Onix. First of all, let's face it: Onix's hp is just pitiful. 35 hp is laughable. If nothing will be added there, there's nothing that can salvage Onix's mid and late game. By how Pokemon math works, with such low hp, no amount of defense can make Onix survive more than two hits from special damage. Yes, not even super effective damage. By the way, that's the big problem Sandslash has, Onix is somehow even worse. I also don't agree with your ability choice. Sure, the weather overall was very strong in gen 5 and that alone would give Onix an awesome niche that gen. However, I'm not convinced it's a good choice thematically. Solid Rock fits way better. According to pokedex, Onix is supposed to have a solid body. Solid rock body that with age it becomes even more durable? Yeah, I believe Solid Rock is a more fitting option. Would certainly help, even if by little. If not that, I would go in a different direction. As you said in Delcatty video, pokemon doesn't have to be strong to be fun to use. Onix is not meant to be strong outside the early game. So why not keep Rock Head, but let Onix learn Head Smash? Maybe in something like 20-30 level, so it's reasonable for the player to get it in early mid game. Yes, Onix can learn it in gen 8 as egg move. With Head Smash, Rock Head is really handy. Even with 45 attack, it would still deal okay damage in mid game. Now, would it solve any issue it faces right now? Absolutely no. Is it fun to use it during the game, even though it would most likely hurt like wet paper? Absolutely yes. Well, that's it from my rant. I wonder when will be Sandslash's turn! :)
Too bad Scyther lost duel wing beat in Paldea. Regarding Onix I’m surprised Gamefreak didn’t give it stat boast like what they did to a lot of older Pokémon in gen 6 and 7 it desperately needs more points in both attack and HP and I fully agree with the ability point since I also thought he’d got for solid rock
I would also like to add Take Down as a good early-game move for Rock Head Onix to use during the 10-20 level range. A 90 BP move is pretty sizable in that range, and it would pair well with Coil, along with Head Smash. I still think Onix should probably get closer to 400 BST to be closer to Steelix. It really just needs more HP and ATK, even 20 HP and 5 ATK would make for a better tank.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 I prefer to ignore the official heights and weights of Pokemon because they rarely make any sense. Gamefreak clearly didn't put much thought into them. Wailord is lighter than air, Salamence and Dunsparce are the same size, Nidoking and Nidoqueen are shorter than most teenagers, Haunter is bigger than Gengar, etc.
Was waiting for this one! Onix is underrated and has an embarrassing attack stat like you said. I'm sure your changes would make it so much better to use in game. EDIT: Now that I've watched the entire video, I have to say Coil is such a clutch move! The sand team you made was also creative. Also underrated humour man, yes I applaud you landing 3 Stone Edge attacks in a row! My 2 cents about slight disagreements with your choices, if it was up to me then yes I would have changed its base stats. Onix doesn't need its special attack, especially with your move pool choices. You can make it even lower and add them over to its speed and/or attack, so it is slightly more usable. And even though I agree having Sandstorm buffs a pretty abysmal non eviolite Sp Def considerably, I think Solid Rock would have been a decent alternative. Like you said, the Pokémon that do have the ability have 4x weaknesses, especially Rhyperior who's the same type. Whereas I also understand that it applies more so to the final stage Pokémon because they don't have an eviolite to lean back against, I just think that a lower multiplied value to received damage might have helped survive the Marlon battle. That's just my opinion, though, because I do agree that the 2x Sp Def from Sandstorm is crucial and I know that wasting a move slot on Sandstorm is not feasible whether it be on Onix or any other mon you find in the game for your sand team, because Unova mons just don't get luck with Sand Stream.
I love the creative way that you decided to give yourself the Onix. It makes sense lore wise and I think it’s a great way for you to bring late/game Pokémon for these experiments
I feel a lot of Onyx's problems stem being designed to be the first gym's ace. Like it's bad attack feels like a concession that it can't hit too hard else the opening boss is too hard (probably also why it doesn't get any stab moves in RB for the Brock fight). Problem is that because of that its kinda poorly balanced as a result, it can't hit too hard, and it can be too specially bulky since it still has to be able to be brute forced by charmander since Mankey is a pretty bad out to it in RB and for some reason they didn't make Oddish/Bellsprout available before Brock to counter that. So it gets stuck with a mishmash of stats that leave it outclassed by evey other rock/ground. Redesigning it as a whole Onyx should probably be a bit frailer but hit harder and be speedy, basically make it the fast offense of a rock mon in gen 1 (Rock/Ground is bad defensively but amazing offensively), it would also give Bruno a power boost since he's now carrying a mon that isn't a free KO or setup fodder.
I Just startet working on a RBY hack, and the literally first change I made was to Onix. Ofc I raised most of its base stats, but I also added a few moves to its move pool, specifically Sharpen, Glare and Roar. Excited to see your approach on how to fix Onix!
I like to imagine that Onix rolling out is it disintegrating into each of its big stones and hopping and rolling in a recreation of a real life rock slide before coming back together into its snake shape. Snakes dislocate their jaws to fit larger prey into it, apply this idea to a magical rock snake and why not let it dislocate each of the rocks that compose it?
Zen Mode, this series of videos you've been serving on a silver platter have been a joy to watch and inspiring for replaying through previous games and trying out Pokemon that have been overlooked and asking critical questions about the level progression of moves learned and the theming of that particular Pokemon. It has been so much fun to figure out how to bring out the best of every Pokemon. If I had one recommendation for a video, it would be for some love for Butterfree back in Gen 3. With a real lack of end game moves with no stat boosting potential and still suffering from no physical/special split for being a bug/flying type. I know I have my theories though I'd be more excited to see your take on how to tackle such a befuddling challenge. Keep up the great work and I'm excited for the next video!
I’m glad to see you managed to make the big brown pool noodle capable of doing damage. Onix was an old favorite of mine…and an old disappointment. Thanks for giving him life. 😁
I haven't watched the whole video but I'm surprised you didn't elect for Magic Guard on the Reuniclus given that it is also immune to sandstorm and is by far the superior ability
@@Shay96 You still take damage from confusion, recoil from Struggle, moves that self damage such as Belly Drum and Curse. It isn't blanket immunity to indirect damage, though it does prevent a great deal of damage sources, making it a straight up upgrade compared to Overcoat.
Not only is the video really high quality, but you are a fellow Blue Lion fan You've earned a subscriber. Keep up the good work because I engulf these videos without noticing
I actually like Rock type. I just really wish it wasn’t so often given to defensive Pokémon and combined with other types that give it tons of weaknesses like fire, ground, Ice and steel.
This video rocked!! (Lol) I would really love to see how you’d handle turning Ledyba into a useful Pokémon. It’s like the posterboy for bad Pokémon. Keep up the good stuff!!
Onix's only real good quality is having early access to Screech in Gen 2 as well as bonus EXP from the early trade. Can halp make Whitney's Mitank into just a Mil. THIS is incredible. I love these 'theme teams' that fully use qualities to their absolute best. Weather is something that's never used in a main story playthrough, yet you used it in conjunction with so many Pokemon, including a magnificently buffed Onix. Hats off to you, man. You always impress me with these vidoes! You've left the next Pokemon very vague, so I'm gonna say Ledyba/Ledian, just because they're probably the only other Pokemon I can think of as just a massive joke. Well, unless we count Unown, but uh... that'll be a special episode I imagine.
Every time I see a new video, I think it's going to be the one where you finally cave and adjust base stats. But each time, you impress with some extremely creative changes! Loved this one!
I know you’ve seen my Cranidos-in-Diamond-posting before. I don’t feel like typing the whole schpeal today soooo, it’s bad. I would love to see it be not bad. (Regardless of whether you do this or not I will continue to love and support you and your videos. Keep it up!)
I was very suspicious of seeing Rollout considering the other pokemon I know to use rollout... then you immediately showed it learning Rollout through breeding anyway. I still disagree that it learns it, but not that you added it 😂 Coil is super cool. Definitely fits onix.
I would have loved to see you give it the Scyther treatment honestly. I understand that this series is about tweeking weak pokemon and not turning them into OU monsters, but it just makes so much sense for the giant rock snake to have 500 base stats that I think it should have been the first change and then balance everything else around that. Regardless, I love the content and I'm amazed that you somehow made it work. Also for the next video, is it Ledian? Can't think of much worse than that.
Amazing concept as usual, but I'd like to remind you that overcoat was kinda useless on Reuniclus in this run. Magic Guard also makes it immune to sand damage, it is only good for spore based moves.
I'm early on in the video, but my suggestion is actually to just start with the Pokemon you're fixing as your starter in all of these videos. Keeping availability in mind is a nice touch, but it's an arbitrary limiting factor that isn't necessary. The point of the video is to showcase how the fixed Pokemon can function in the game you're showing, so I'd rather see it during the whole game. That's just my two cents. Love the videos!
I think a 'mon's availability is actually important here, and that they shouldn't replace the starter. A 'mon's performance in fights before it can possibly join, whether poor or exceptional, doesn't actually matter, as it wouldn't ever be used in those fights under normal circumstances (post-buff). Therefore, I think it's fine to simply skip over the fights before you get a 'mon in the video, unless you're specifically tweaking availability and/or the trade exp boost as a lever (which is nice to leave open). Plus, this leaves the door open for shorter/gimmick videos covering the design(s) of a Gotoh 'mons, e.g. Durant or box legos, that will only be around for a few important fights that they can be tightly designed around.
Im peraonally of the opinion that it should only be changed for bad late game mons. Like say glalie in the sinnoh games or most bad ice types for that matter
These videos are so fun! Keep up the incredible work giving these sweet little guys new life. Every Pokémon is someone’s favorite so these, granted they find the right person, will resonate so much with fans of their under-appreciated little goobers and I think that’s beautiful. (And I don’t know if you take suggestions, but Farfetch’d is one of my favorites and I’d love to see how you fix his availability and stats for a full game!)
I'd be interested in seeing Onix taken in a direction of being made to beat down the other Rock/Ground types. Earth Eater, some more speed and a usable special attack stat (to prey on the typically lower SpDef of other rocks), Earth Power, and Power Gem stabs. Switch it in on a physical rock move or predicted EQ from Golem or Rhydon and get sweet sandy vengeance on them for always being better than you. Sounds like fun!
Hi, quick question, what do you use to make these videos? The balance seems a bit off, usually caused by recording in stereo instead of mono. This happens for me. If you use an audio interface like a scarlett solo, the xlr takes the left channel and the other port takes the right channel when recording in stereo. However, if youre also using davinci resolve, theres another issue even if youve recorded in mono. Sometimes the audio, even in mono, will only play in only the left channel. To fix: - right click the audio clip - select "clip attributes" - change the "format" dropdown to stereo - then change the new "Mute" dropdown to "Embedded Channel 1" You can select all individual clips and do them all at once btw. Noticed that the pokemon cries you use in your videos also seemed to be extremely panned to the left (noticed specifically in the golduck video), and this is caused by this problem Fantastic content beyond that small hiccup though!
Nice video, my left ear enjoyed the explanation! I'd also reccomend not only to fix Buneary's line w/o mega evolutions but also a preview of your current team somewhere on screen with each clip
When I heard you mentioning *coil* because Onix was a giant snake I literally went "Oh yeah it is a giant rock snake that slipped my mind". Love your work as always!
I think the way you've done to get Onyx early was perfect. Changing availability so that you get the pokemon early is the right choice for these videos.
I'm really impressed with how *usable* Onix was here. I surely thought there was no way in hell Onix could actually sweep some of the boss teams but coil and sand stream came in clutch!
Okay, I have a lot of things to note (i.e. warning, long comment). First off, I'm sincerely impressed that you managed to make Onix work without changing anything about their base stats. ❤ Now, I did get misled into thinking you _would_ raise the BST, either to match Steelix or just to reduce the gap (say, buff to four hundred something), seeing as you cited the Scyther comparison. I also for a second thought you'd probably redistribute stats to change Onix's intended archetype from wall to fast attacker (either by just cutting from the overkill Defense, or by a combination of that + increasing BST) due to how you pointed out: 1) that Onix having low Attack contradicts GameFreak's "The stats match the design" claim. (I find it especially odd how you straight-up opened the video with this but then proceeded to leave Onix's Attack as-is). 2) that Onix's Dex entries boast about their high burrowing speeds. Putting together these first two points, the role would fit thematically with the Pokémon. 3) the Scyther comparison, since a big difference is in roles-- Scyther is a fast attacker, Scizor is a slow heavy-hitting tank; changing Onix to play a bit more like Scyther would have drawn a sort of parallel there. (Honestly, you brought up the Scyther comparison only to effectively do nothing with it lol). 4) that the Rock/Ground typing is awful on defense but good on offense and that therefore it's weird that GameFreak kept putting it on slow bulky mons; the implication thus being "this typing would be better if a fast attacker had it". (As a fun side note, Water/Ice is in a similar boat, if much less severe). Nothing about this is a complaint as such. In the end, you completed the mission of making Onix viable, and did it very creatively. I just find it odd that a lot of the points you raised during the Analysis part were red herrings that didn't get reflected in your final rework of the Pokémon. All said, I do greatly appreciate how you achieved the video's objective by taking advantage of the overcrowded level-up learnset and making it less redundant/wasteful, using Coil (which I agree is a big fail of GameFreak to not give to Onix) to synergize with the prevalence of inaccurate moves, implementing a very uncommon, very good Ability that still fits thematically... ...and the cherry on top, assembling a Sand team that makes the most of when Onix _isn't_ on the field; after all, a viable party member is not only the one that can pull their weight in many situations, but also the one that mixes well with potential teammates. 💞
I’ve binged watch all of your videos in 2 days and I don’t regret it at all. Your reimagining of a typically weak Pokémon in a specific gen, while maintaining their core elements, is such a cool idea both in concept and execution. I’ve always wanted to use a Skitty, and thanks to you I know what I’ll change to use it now
Something interesting you could have done was to give Onix the same base stats as Steelix (like the Scyther-Scizor example you mentioned earlier). Great video regardless!
I live for these videos man. The thought that goes into each Move, the on the fly style strategies when you go into the run, it's just 🔥 The fact that it's an hour long too is so damn good. Listening to these podcast style whilst doing some housework is easily one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. You're quickly becoming an absolute GOAT content creator 👏👑 Also lmao at the iconic Alpharad Onix moment, Jan will NEVER let him live that down 😆
The 10 year old me that used the trade onix in Pokémon Gold all the way up to the Red battle is really happy to see it be as good as I thought it was. Thank you.
Clicked this so fast. Love your vids, keep it up man! Also, don't forget to take breaks if you need. If you ever feel like experimenting from the standard or doing other content, feel free.
My favorite pokemon is Noivern, but trying to train it from a Noibat is nearly insufferable. I always feel like I basically have to switch train until it evolves. (Which isnt until level 48!) It would be divine to see you make a Noibat video, if you feel up for it! 💜🦇
They seriously need to stop having pokémon evolve in their 40s+ unless it is a pseudo. Especially stupid they do it with dragon types once dragon stopped being the uber pseudo type.
I don't know if i'm alone here or if it's intentional but the audio mixing for this video has your voice coming out of my left earbud and all the other sound effects coming out of my right.
Coil was definitely a genius move for a mon like Onix. You don't often see accuracy buffs coming into play, but I guess that's more due to a lack of good accuracy-boosting moves. So many inaccurate moves might see more play if the mons who used them had a way to make them more reliable. Maybe OHKO moves could even become a viable strategy with enough accuracy setup. As many other comments have pointed out, Onix definitely is the way it is because it was designed to be the first boss of RBY, and they didn't bother to think through what would happen if you tried to use one on a team. But that, coupled with your discussion on the drawbacks of Rock as a type in general, have made me realize that Rock was kind of designed to be a "tutorial boss type" in general. It's resistant to all the types that you're likely to have access to in the early-games of early generations, but is weak to a bunch of other common types. It *is* pretty good offensively, but the vast majority of Rock-types are slow and bulky despite their typing actively working against them, which makes them unwieldy to use, but gives you room to play around them if you're just learning the mechanics. And their moves are noticeably less accurate than those of similar power in other types, which is annoying as hell when you're trying to use one, but is actually a nice way to give new players a chance to beat an early Rock-type boss even if they don't know their type matchups, since they could still get a few lucky misses. Basically, it seems like the entire typing was designed to be fought *against,* not fought *with,* which is more than a little counterproductive in a series where one of the biggest appeals is being able to create personalized teams out of any creature you find and think is cool. And I guess, once again, I'll throw in my two cents about how I would prefer it if you were less conservative about the changes you make to your subject mons. When you mentioned Scyther and Scizor as an inspiration for Onix's relationship to Steelix, I got *extremely* excited for a version of Onix with the same BST as Steelix, with jacked-up Attack and Speed to actually take advantage of Rock's offensive potential and create a meaningful choice between Onix and its evolved form... Only to be extremely disappointed when you shot that idea down a few seconds later. I get that base stats are meant to reflect a mon's design, but all that really means is that GameFreak had some kind of thought process for assigning the stats the way they did: it doesn't mean that thought process was correct, or that there aren't other options that would make the games better. And in Onix's case, I'm sure we can all agree that 45 base Attack was, at very least, not the *only* way GameFreak could have chosen to reflect the design of an enormous land-based sea serpent made of boulders. All that said, though, your style of minimal changes has its advantages and is clearly very popular, so keep making the kinds of videos you want to make.
Magcargo and Slugma are in some dire need. Hell, team Magma, the team that names itself after MAGMA, doesn't even use the Magma Snail Pokemon because even they have standards.
ive spent the past day or so binging all of your videos, and i gotta say, i love this approach so much. I really love how you take into account the character and design of the pokemon when deciding on what moves or abilities to give it, i think thats so unique and makes something like this so much more interesting than if you just gave it a bunch of really overpowered stuff and left it at that. also, the fact that you go out of your way to actually rom hack and do a full playthrough with said revised pokemon really shows that you're willing to go above and beyond with this concept, and i think thats great. cannot wait to see more, keep up the good work!!
I am shocked by how only a few seemingly small changes turned Onix into the physical equivalent of Chansey with how bulky it got. I am curious how much of that was the Eviolite, admittedly, but there were quite a few moments where it should not have survived what it did.
Honestly, for Onix specifically, I think buffing its stats is much more logical than giving it sandstream. I get that you don't want to just give every single Pokémon huge stats and call it a day but I think sandstream is strong enough to justify buffing its stats in place of it. Onix is one of the biggest most imposing Pokémon in the franchise, having less stats than butterfree and less attack than joltik is really what needs to change with this Pokémon. Especially considering the metal coat does not actually buff Scyther base stats, I'm pretty confident giving him the same base stat total as steelix at 510. It will now have 75/80/185/55/45/70 which keep the 40 speed difference of the metal coat, and now gives it much more usable attack and hp stats while still being lower than rhyhorn and Graveler. Since its stats are much more powerful I feel like sandstream is very overkill. I think we should either keep rock head and replace sandstorm in its moveset by head smash, which would make a lot of sens with onix's design, but will still only serve in the elite 4 and give it take down earlier on, or give it rock solid which I personally find less interesting but would still be good. The rest of the movepool changes you made were fine, I would maybe just add defense curl to act as a pseudo coil before it actually gets it and synergies with rollout.
Glad you picked this series as your niche. It was something I have always wanted someone to do: fix bad Pokémon without breaking them. Keep up the good work.
Onix is a very interesting Pokemon because its stats are specifically balanced for the boss fight against Brock at the beginning of the game. I don't think Game Freak put much thought into it beyond that.
Kudos for the team building! Very diverse and seems so fun to use! We can only wish and hope that Onix could be this useful in any game, but that goes for every video you've made so far :3 Really loved this one the most for the whole team synergy
I'm surprised Onix doesn't have Sand Stream as a hidden ability, honestly. Also, I think it would be really cool if you could try one of these runs with Cherrim! I've always found its ability really interesting, but it's never really been viable lol.
Please try to fix the audio, it's recording mono when you want stereo. I love this series, but cannot listen with the speaking coming out of a single speaker
Just wanted to mention at 14:44 that Drought has the description for Drizzle. Other than that, i loved this video so much!! Thank you for the love towards our boy.
Even if Onyx being a Rock/Ground typing makes sense tematictly I think that is No right in a game-Design Perspective. Just remember Brock is the First Gym Leader who is supose to teach you the type advanage 'cause rock resist normal and you probably get to Brock Using Tackle and Scratch. The main Problem is that Geodure is also Ground/Rock and would makes feel New player who pick Bulbasaur and Squirtle that Super efective damage is equal to a one shot. I just think if Onix were a pure Rock Type It won't be obliterated by a simple Bubble.
Not sure if you'd want to do Zebstrika since you've done shinx already, but I had the same let down with how useless it turned out to be as I did with shinx
All I'd do to fix it is increase Wild Charge's Base Power to 120 and Volt Tackle's (Pikachu's signature move) to 150. It's not like Gamefreak doesn't love playing favorites.
1:22 That looks fun. I should check it out, if only to see if there's any funny reason they called Onix "MEWTWO". Good thing you linked the video in the description!
You might wanna try to improve the Magcargo line. Its stat distribution is absolutely horrible. Its already 4x weak to water and ground so making it stronger is a fair trade
My new favorite videos! I really admire how you don’t mess with the stats and make these pokemon viable through other means. Makes it so much more interesting to watch! Keep it up!
"Onix lays on its side and rolls sideways to use Rollout" Nah, Onix would pull an Ouroboros by chomping down on its tail, then starting rolling at its opponents like a wheel, like his fellow snake buddy, Dunsparce.
Ah yes Onix. Simultaneously terrifying to face and terrible to use. That badass enemy you proudly defeated before you realized it was just a tutorial…
When you unlock the boss:
@@nimbus7727I was thinking the same 😅
I like how I can tell you either picked charmander or played yellow
@ValToadstool yeah.. onix for bulbasaur and squirtle is just an easy one shot. I feel for the charmander enjoyers
@@alexandergordon648It's actually NOT an easy one shot. See any FRLG Speedrun. See any Gen 1 Speedrun.
every time a new zen mode vid comes out the day just gets better tbh
same here :)
Facts
Fact
Facts
For real. Even just seeing a new thumbnail is enough to brighen my day.
The mic you’re recording with is stereo. For this video only the left side is picking up your voice. It’s only a major issue if you’re listening with headphones. It’s a pretty easy fix too, just gotta turn it to face the right way.
It's making the video almost unlistenable on mobile through speakers.
it's honestly killing me on headphones, made me think they were breaking again
@@Victini0510 I don’t think it’s insufferable or anything but I don’t think it’s ideal 😅
Switch your audio settings to mono if you have this issue.
Thanks for pointing it out. I've avoided mentioning it for all these vids so far. But the dude's mic either has a mind of its own, or he's going through way too many. Cause it feels like every different video has a different flavor of mic quality weirdness. Somebody hook this man up with a standard audio setup.
Watching Conkeldurr slam Onix with a full power STAB super effective hammer arm and seeing Onix eat it like it’s nothing was amazing
Solid Snake: TASTY!
RIPPED Conkeldurr SLAMS Onix with his HAMMER ARM (HE EATS IT)
Giving Onix Coil was such a great call, I love how it synergises with all of her inaccurate moves. And I really liked how the sandstorm team came together, especially with Cloud Nine and Overcoat for extra diversity.
I really like coil indeed, I think following the same logic, defense curl would also make a lot of sens and work as a pseudo coil woth rollout before getting replaced by coil.
It's funny how all of the good rock type moves have 80-85 accuracy, yet all the accuracy increasing moves, mainly coil and hone claws, are rarely given to rock types.
>her
@@substitutedoll5224someone didn't watch the video. the onix used in the run is female. L
@@bunnyben5607imagine how terrifying Gyarados would be with Coil
I really really like your videos, but sometimes the audio is balanced weird (not all of them). For this video it feels like your narration is only playing in left speakers?
If you compare it to clips you inserted, you can maybe see the audio difference.
Just being honest with you! But I really love the content you do
i also have this issue :(
Oh is really only on left speaker? My left earbud is broken so I didn't hear any narration at all. I thinking through the video that onix was so bad that showing a slideshow without narration was enough to get the point across.
@@multiplierx10lmao
first thing that jumped to me right away
I was worried that my right headphone was busted.
some notes:
crits do not bypass eviolite (since it was asked). eviolite, sand spdef boost, and other innate factors are not bypassed by crits, only "stat boosts" which follow the specific stat boost formula (+1 = 1.5x, +2 = 2x, etc).
on that note, eviolite sand is actually 2.25x which means it is better than +2 by a little bit.
and one last thing, simisage does not resist rock, just felt like putting that out there.
Yeah my man made a couple of type matchup mistakes, rock/ground double resisting rock being another one. Easy mistakes to make tbh and these videos are an absolute joy regardless 👌
Related to the Rock-type rant, Rock is usually placed as the worst monotype in Smogon’s Monotype formats, whereas Ice is usually a few places above it.
Ice type moves are accurate, and the handful of fast Ice-types are really good.
Ice is good in monotype since it is good against mono dragon and mono ground
Well, it's not exactly that "good" relative to other types most of the time. I usually see Ice ranked 13th-15th for monotypes.
But yes, Ice has better merits than Rock. The offensive prowess of Ice fares well, and though Rock is also a good offensive type, Mono Flying's highest tier pokemon in gen 8 Monotype was Landorus-T (unsurprisingly), which Ice minds less than Rock of course.
It's also worth noting that for gen 8 monotype, Alolan Ninetales is huge. Screens is good for hyperoffensive compositions, and Alolan Ninetales gets two screens in one move.
I'd also mention that someone even got a top 4 peak on Sword and Shield OU ladder with a Mono Ice team (after the banning of Cinderace and Magearna). Which is a wild feat, doing that well with Mono Ice in standard OU.
Ice can very easily build a hail/snow offense structure that, thanks to threats like Arctozolt and, of course, Aurora Veil, can actually run roughshod over some teams. Rock could try to make a sand team, but it gets less from sandstorm than ice gets from hail, and even the chip damage from the weather is worse since three types are immune to it instead of just ice
Yeah another issue with Rock is that Ground overall has better Sand Rushers and Sand Forcers.
The Sand Force options for both aren't the greatest, but Scale Shot Sand Force Mega Garchomp is a menace, whereas Rock pretty much only has Gigalith which is also a Sand Stream pokemon.
And everyone knows how strong Excadrill is as a Sand Rusher.
Another great video! Since now the availability barrier has been broken, I am once again going to suggest my boy Natu in HGSS! It's the perfect generation with the newly introduced physical special split, changing its catch zone to around Violet City instead of in the Ruins of Alph, locked behind Surf+Strength. What really saddens me about Natu/Xatu is the movepool thou... it's only attacking move via Level Up is NIGHT SHADE until LEVEL 65, when it finally learns Psychic. That has got to be a joke 😭😭. A complete moveset overhaul, with some good flying special attacks thrown in the mix, would absolutely salvage this poor bird ❤️
Looking for your next works!
i'd love to see xatu get some love lmao, such a sick design
Xatu absolutely deserves better, as not only an interesting design, but the ace of the psychic elite 4 member of gen 2.
Alpharad and Brayden are never outliving that Onix clip
I genuinely can’t describe how much I enjoy these vids. The idea of making simple reasonable changes to Pokémon to make them more usable/memorable is just magnificent.
Sugestion: How I Would Fix Maractus in Pokemon Black & White
That'd be great, it's one of my favorites in terms of design, but sadly it's too forgettable to most people
MARACTUS GANG
🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵🌵
@@m.d7167 cacturne was better
honestly Leech Seed/Ingrain/Giga Drain +Big Root Maractus carried in a recent B2 random nuzlocke
No need maractus is already perfect
One of the best things about your channel is the pace and attention to detail. Taking the time to justify and evaluate your decisions. Please don’t change this as your channel grows. It’s so sad when a channel starts off like this then over time adds in loads of gifs, sound effects and the narrator sound like their on speed on the assumption that all views have low attention spans. So basically, just keep doing what you’re doing. Thanks!
Another interesting thing about Scyther: in gen 8 it learns Dual Wingbeat, which is an incredible STAB for it. This also further gives a good reason to use Scyther over Scizor. Obviously, Scizor is still better, but now Scyther is a fun alternative.
I'm certain Onix stats were designed specifically to be a learning curve for the player in the first gym. Back then, they didn't know that they'll make another Pokemon game, let alone make one of the biggest franchises of all time. Their mindset was closer to the traditional RPG, as in gym leaders were like traditional bosses. Now, when they face Brock, they met Onix, which is like an impregnable wall. Up to this point, the player most likely caught Rattata, Pidgey, Weedle and so on. All Tackles, Gusts and so on deal nearly no damage. Unless the player figures out that their Squirtle or Bulbasaur can hit it very well with Water Gun and Vine Whip respectively. That's an interesting way to make players learn about the difference between stats and how valuable it is to know type advantages. Way more effective than what Hop was trying to tell us.
Let's talk about Onix. First of all, let's face it: Onix's hp is just pitiful. 35 hp is laughable. If nothing will be added there, there's nothing that can salvage Onix's mid and late game. By how Pokemon math works, with such low hp, no amount of defense can make Onix survive more than two hits from special damage. Yes, not even super effective damage. By the way, that's the big problem Sandslash has, Onix is somehow even worse.
I also don't agree with your ability choice. Sure, the weather overall was very strong in gen 5 and that alone would give Onix an awesome niche that gen. However, I'm not convinced it's a good choice thematically. Solid Rock fits way better. According to pokedex, Onix is supposed to have a solid body. Solid rock body that with age it becomes even more durable? Yeah, I believe Solid Rock is a more fitting option. Would certainly help, even if by little.
If not that, I would go in a different direction. As you said in Delcatty video, pokemon doesn't have to be strong to be fun to use. Onix is not meant to be strong outside the early game. So why not keep Rock Head, but let Onix learn Head Smash? Maybe in something like 20-30 level, so it's reasonable for the player to get it in early mid game. Yes, Onix can learn it in gen 8 as egg move. With Head Smash, Rock Head is really handy. Even with 45 attack, it would still deal okay damage in mid game. Now, would it solve any issue it faces right now? Absolutely no. Is it fun to use it during the game, even though it would most likely hurt like wet paper? Absolutely yes.
Well, that's it from my rant. I wonder when will be Sandslash's turn! :)
Too bad Scyther lost duel wing beat in Paldea. Regarding Onix I’m surprised Gamefreak didn’t give it stat boast like what they did to a lot of older Pokémon in gen 6 and 7 it desperately needs more points in both attack and HP and I fully agree with the ability point since I also thought he’d got for solid rock
I'll just say
Onix is NOT solid rock. It weighs under 500 pounds. The damn thing has a density on par with styrofoam.
I would also like to add Take Down as a good early-game move for Rock Head Onix to use during the 10-20 level range. A 90 BP move is pretty sizable in that range, and it would pair well with Coil, along with Head Smash.
I still think Onix should probably get closer to 400 BST to be closer to Steelix. It really just needs more HP and ATK, even 20 HP and 5 ATK would make for a better tank.
@@aprinnyonbreak1290 I prefer to ignore the official heights and weights of Pokemon because they rarely make any sense. Gamefreak clearly didn't put much thought into them. Wailord is lighter than air, Salamence and Dunsparce are the same size, Nidoking and Nidoqueen are shorter than most teenagers, Haunter is bigger than Gengar, etc.
@@xelac1334 ... how do you think blimps float, exactly?
Replacing Dragonbreath with Dragon Tail was exactly what I hoped you would do, and giving Onix Coil was brilliant. Another very cool video
Was waiting for this one! Onix is underrated and has an embarrassing attack stat like you said. I'm sure your changes would make it so much better to use in game.
EDIT: Now that I've watched the entire video, I have to say Coil is such a clutch move! The sand team you made was also creative. Also underrated humour man, yes I applaud you landing 3 Stone Edge attacks in a row!
My 2 cents about slight disagreements with your choices, if it was up to me then yes I would have changed its base stats. Onix doesn't need its special attack, especially with your move pool choices. You can make it even lower and add them over to its speed and/or attack, so it is slightly more usable.
And even though I agree having Sandstorm buffs a pretty abysmal non eviolite Sp Def considerably, I think Solid Rock would have been a decent alternative. Like you said, the Pokémon that do have the ability have 4x weaknesses, especially Rhyperior who's the same type. Whereas I also understand that it applies more so to the final stage Pokémon because they don't have an eviolite to lean back against, I just think that a lower multiplied value to received damage might have helped survive the Marlon battle. That's just my opinion, though, because I do agree that the 2x Sp Def from Sandstorm is crucial and I know that wasting a move slot on Sandstorm is not feasible whether it be on Onix or any other mon you find in the game for your sand team, because Unova mons just don't get luck with Sand Stream.
Love how you play around the pokemon instead of just buffing their stats. Good luck with Magcargo and Lumineon
You just brought back memories of 9-year-old me trying out the gift only in soulsilver only to instantly drop it after dealing a tiny sliver of damage
These are always pretty fun. Hoping for Swablu and Altaria soon.
I love the creative way that you decided to give yourself the Onix.
It makes sense lore wise and I think it’s a great way for you to bring late/game Pokémon for these experiments
Calling out Brock's dad for gifting him an Onix as child abuse lmao
I feel a lot of Onyx's problems stem being designed to be the first gym's ace. Like it's bad attack feels like a concession that it can't hit too hard else the opening boss is too hard (probably also why it doesn't get any stab moves in RB for the Brock fight). Problem is that because of that its kinda poorly balanced as a result, it can't hit too hard, and it can be too specially bulky since it still has to be able to be brute forced by charmander since Mankey is a pretty bad out to it in RB and for some reason they didn't make Oddish/Bellsprout available before Brock to counter that. So it gets stuck with a mishmash of stats that leave it outclassed by evey other rock/ground. Redesigning it as a whole Onyx should probably be a bit frailer but hit harder and be speedy, basically make it the fast offense of a rock mon in gen 1 (Rock/Ground is bad defensively but amazing offensively), it would also give Bruno a power boost since he's now carrying a mon that isn't a free KO or setup fodder.
I Just startet working on a RBY hack, and the literally first change I made was to Onix. Ofc I raised most of its base stats, but I also added a few moves to its move pool, specifically Sharpen, Glare and Roar. Excited to see your approach on how to fix Onix!
I like to imagine that Onix rolling out is it disintegrating into each of its big stones and hopping and rolling in a recreation of a real life rock slide before coming back together into its snake shape.
Snakes dislocate their jaws to fit larger prey into it, apply this idea to a magical rock snake and why not let it dislocate each of the rocks that compose it?
Unironically a great idea for a prevo or evo.
@@lwfawn I meant more of just "what it would look like for a giant rock snake to use the move 'Roll Out'."
@@lwfawn I do like your idea too though
I like to imagine that Onix uses Rollout by biting its tail and rolling like a wheel.
Zen Mode, this series of videos you've been serving on a silver platter have been a joy to watch and inspiring for replaying through previous games and trying out Pokemon that have been overlooked and asking critical questions about the level progression of moves learned and the theming of that particular Pokemon. It has been so much fun to figure out how to bring out the best of every Pokemon.
If I had one recommendation for a video, it would be for some love for Butterfree back in Gen 3. With a real lack of end game moves with no stat boosting potential and still suffering from no physical/special split for being a bug/flying type. I know I have my theories though I'd be more excited to see your take on how to tackle such a befuddling challenge. Keep up the great work and I'm excited for the next video!
I’m glad to see you managed to make the big brown pool noodle capable of doing damage.
Onix was an old favorite of mine…and an old disappointment.
Thanks for giving him life. 😁
With the videos more and more becoming hour long I've started watching them as a movie with snacks and ice-cream. Keep up the great work!!
I haven't watched the whole video but I'm surprised you didn't elect for Magic Guard on the Reuniclus given that it is also immune to sandstorm and is by far the superior ability
Nice to see Overcoat for once :)
Magic Guard is unaffected by weathers? Wow that is incredible
@@shanerpressley You only take damage from direct moves. Not weather, entry hazards or statuses.
@@Shay96 You still take damage from confusion, recoil from Struggle, moves that self damage such as Belly Drum and Curse. It isn't blanket immunity to indirect damage, though it does prevent a great deal of damage sources, making it a straight up upgrade compared to Overcoat.
@@KageNoOnisuovercoat blocks powder moves as well, but I don't think that makes it comparable to magic guard
Not only is the video really high quality, but you are a fellow Blue Lion fan
You've earned a subscriber. Keep up the good work because I engulf these videos without noticing
The fact that Onix has 45 base attack will always be wild to me. Like, you're telling me that Onix has the same attack as a Skitty???
I actually like Rock type. I just really wish it wasn’t so often given to defensive Pokémon and combined with other types that give it tons of weaknesses like fire, ground, Ice and steel.
Fire and ice are quite uncommon types for rock types and in generation 1, all rock types were rock/ground type. Rock/Steel is unforgivable
And the infamous Onix nuzlocke clip continues to pop up for the rest of time
This video rocked!! (Lol)
I would really love to see how you’d handle turning Ledyba into a useful Pokémon. It’s like the posterboy for bad Pokémon. Keep up the good stuff!!
Onix's only real good quality is having early access to Screech in Gen 2 as well as bonus EXP from the early trade. Can halp make Whitney's Mitank into just a Mil.
THIS is incredible. I love these 'theme teams' that fully use qualities to their absolute best. Weather is something that's never used in a main story playthrough, yet you used it in conjunction with so many Pokemon, including a magnificently buffed Onix. Hats off to you, man. You always impress me with these vidoes!
You've left the next Pokemon very vague, so I'm gonna say Ledyba/Ledian, just because they're probably the only other Pokemon I can think of as just a massive joke. Well, unless we count Unown, but uh... that'll be a special episode I imagine.
Every time I see a new video, I think it's going to be the one where you finally cave and adjust base stats. But each time, you impress with some extremely creative changes! Loved this one!
I know you’ve seen my Cranidos-in-Diamond-posting before. I don’t feel like typing the whole schpeal today soooo, it’s bad. I would love to see it be not bad. (Regardless of whether you do this or not I will continue to love and support you and your videos. Keep it up!)
I was very suspicious of seeing Rollout considering the other pokemon I know to use rollout... then you immediately showed it learning Rollout through breeding anyway. I still disagree that it learns it, but not that you added it 😂
Coil is super cool. Definitely fits onix.
I picture an ouroboros roll, not a roll to the side. Bite your tail, Onix, and Rollout!
@@JaharNarishmathat’s what I was thinking too! Giant rock wheel rapidly approaching your location!!
I would have loved to see you give it the Scyther treatment honestly.
I understand that this series is about tweeking weak pokemon and not turning them into OU monsters, but it just makes so much sense for the giant rock snake to have 500 base stats that I think it should have been the first change and then balance everything else around that.
Regardless, I love the content and I'm amazed that you somehow made it work. Also for the next video, is it Ledian? Can't think of much worse than that.
Amazing concept as usual, but I'd like to remind you that overcoat was kinda useless on Reuniclus in this run. Magic Guard also makes it immune to sand damage, it is only good for spore based moves.
I'm early on in the video, but my suggestion is actually to just start with the Pokemon you're fixing as your starter in all of these videos. Keeping availability in mind is a nice touch, but it's an arbitrary limiting factor that isn't necessary. The point of the video is to showcase how the fixed Pokemon can function in the game you're showing, so I'd rather see it during the whole game. That's just my two cents. Love the videos!
I think a 'mon's availability is actually important here, and that they shouldn't replace the starter. A 'mon's performance in fights before it can possibly join, whether poor or exceptional, doesn't actually matter, as it wouldn't ever be used in those fights under normal circumstances (post-buff). Therefore, I think it's fine to simply skip over the fights before you get a 'mon in the video, unless you're specifically tweaking availability and/or the trade exp boost as a lever (which is nice to leave open).
Plus, this leaves the door open for shorter/gimmick videos covering the design(s) of a Gotoh 'mons, e.g. Durant or box legos, that will only be around for a few important fights that they can be tightly designed around.
@@athath2010 Agreed wholeheartedly. There's no point to showcase the Pokemon's capability in fights when they weren't supposed to be available then.
Im peraonally of the opinion that it should only be changed for bad late game mons. Like say glalie in the sinnoh games or most bad ice types for that matter
The team composition is just genius. Nice concept and video!
You know you're actually an immortal meme when Zen Mode of all people puts you in his vid.
That onix clip will actually never die
I just bought this headset the other day, and the sound balancing made me think they were already broken.
I like that your new onix is kind of a budget sandaconda + sand setter combo. Its fun
These videos are so fun! Keep up the incredible work giving these sweet little guys new life. Every Pokémon is someone’s favorite so these, granted they find the right person, will resonate so much with fans of their under-appreciated little goobers and I think that’s beautiful. (And I don’t know if you take suggestions, but Farfetch’d is one of my favorites and I’d love to see how you fix his availability and stats for a full game!)
I'd be interested in seeing Onix taken in a direction of being made to beat down the other Rock/Ground types. Earth Eater, some more speed and a usable special attack stat (to prey on the typically lower SpDef of other rocks), Earth Power, and Power Gem stabs. Switch it in on a physical rock move or predicted EQ from Golem or Rhydon and get sweet sandy vengeance on them for always being better than you. Sounds like fun!
Hi, quick question, what do you use to make these videos? The balance seems a bit off, usually caused by recording in stereo instead of mono.
This happens for me. If you use an audio interface like a scarlett solo, the xlr takes the left channel and the other port takes the right channel when recording in stereo.
However, if youre also using davinci resolve, theres another issue even if youve recorded in mono.
Sometimes the audio, even in mono, will only play in only the left channel.
To fix:
- right click the audio clip
- select "clip attributes"
- change the "format" dropdown to stereo
- then change the new "Mute" dropdown to "Embedded Channel 1"
You can select all individual clips and do them all at once btw.
Noticed that the pokemon cries you use in your videos also seemed to be extremely panned to the left (noticed specifically in the golduck video), and this is caused by this problem
Fantastic content beyond that small hiccup though!
Nice video, my left ear enjoyed the explanation! I'd also reccomend not only to fix Buneary's line w/o mega evolutions but also a preview of your current team somewhere on screen with each clip
When I heard you mentioning *coil* because Onix was a giant snake I literally went "Oh yeah it is a giant rock snake that slipped my mind".
Love your work as always!
I think the way you've done to get Onyx early was perfect. Changing availability so that you get the pokemon early is the right choice for these videos.
I'm really impressed with how *usable* Onix was here. I surely thought there was no way in hell Onix could actually sweep some of the boss teams but coil and sand stream came in clutch!
you are genuinely one of my favorite youtube creators. your premises are inspired and your execution is incredible
Okay, I have a lot of things to note (i.e. warning, long comment). First off, I'm sincerely impressed that you managed to make Onix work without changing anything about their base stats. ❤
Now, I did get misled into thinking you _would_ raise the BST, either to match Steelix or just to reduce the gap (say, buff to four hundred something), seeing as you cited the Scyther comparison. I also for a second thought you'd probably redistribute stats to change Onix's intended archetype from wall to fast attacker (either by just cutting from the overkill Defense, or by a combination of that + increasing BST) due to how you pointed out:
1) that Onix having low Attack contradicts GameFreak's "The stats match the design" claim. (I find it especially odd how you straight-up opened the video with this but then proceeded to leave Onix's Attack as-is).
2) that Onix's Dex entries boast about their high burrowing speeds. Putting together these first two points, the role would fit thematically with the Pokémon.
3) the Scyther comparison, since a big difference is in roles-- Scyther is a fast attacker, Scizor is a slow heavy-hitting tank; changing Onix to play a bit more like Scyther would have drawn a sort of parallel there. (Honestly, you brought up the Scyther comparison only to effectively do nothing with it lol).
4) that the Rock/Ground typing is awful on defense but good on offense and that therefore it's weird that GameFreak kept putting it on slow bulky mons; the implication thus being "this typing would be better if a fast attacker had it". (As a fun side note, Water/Ice is in a similar boat, if much less severe).
Nothing about this is a complaint as such. In the end, you completed the mission of making Onix viable, and did it very creatively. I just find it odd that a lot of the points you raised during the Analysis part were red herrings that didn't get reflected in your final rework of the Pokémon.
All said, I do greatly appreciate how you achieved the video's objective by taking advantage of the overcrowded level-up learnset and making it less redundant/wasteful, using Coil (which I agree is a big fail of GameFreak to not give to Onix) to synergize with the prevalence of inaccurate moves, implementing a very uncommon, very good Ability that still fits thematically...
...and the cherry on top, assembling a Sand team that makes the most of when Onix _isn't_ on the field; after all, a viable party member is not only the one that can pull their weight in many situations, but also the one that mixes well with potential teammates. 💞
I’ve binged watch all of your videos in 2 days and I don’t regret it at all. Your reimagining of a typically weak Pokémon in a specific gen, while maintaining their core elements, is such a cool idea both in concept and execution.
I’ve always wanted to use a Skitty, and thanks to you I know what I’ll change to use it now
Something interesting you could have done was to give Onix the same base stats as Steelix (like the Scyther-Scizor example you mentioned earlier). Great video regardless!
I live for these videos man. The thought that goes into each Move, the on the fly style strategies when you go into the run, it's just 🔥
The fact that it's an hour long too is so damn good. Listening to these podcast style whilst doing some housework is easily one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. You're quickly becoming an absolute GOAT content creator 👏👑
Also lmao at the iconic Alpharad Onix moment, Jan will NEVER let him live that down 😆
the audio seems to be only coming out of the left side haha
all good just a small audio issue
The 10 year old me that used the trade onix in Pokémon Gold all the way up to the Red battle is really happy to see it be as good as I thought it was. Thank you.
Clicked this so fast. Love your vids, keep it up man! Also, don't forget to take breaks if you need. If you ever feel like experimenting from the standard or doing other content, feel free.
20:48 great buff!! You can also give Onix the move glare which in Japan it’s called snake glare
My favorite pokemon is Noivern, but trying to train it from a Noibat is nearly insufferable. I always feel like I basically have to switch train until it evolves. (Which isnt until level 48!) It would be divine to see you make a Noibat video, if you feel up for it! 💜🦇
They seriously need to stop having pokémon evolve in their 40s+ unless it is a pseudo. Especially stupid they do it with dragon types once dragon stopped being the uber pseudo type.
Wow, you just did it. To wipe out an entire elite four with an onix, without change his stats, just amazing
I don't know if i'm alone here or if it's intentional but the audio mixing for this video has your voice coming out of my left earbud and all the other sound effects coming out of my right.
I do like the ideas on display here. Way more creative than what I usually do and just raise HP and AtK stat by roughly 50%.
Coil was definitely a genius move for a mon like Onix. You don't often see accuracy buffs coming into play, but I guess that's more due to a lack of good accuracy-boosting moves. So many inaccurate moves might see more play if the mons who used them had a way to make them more reliable. Maybe OHKO moves could even become a viable strategy with enough accuracy setup.
As many other comments have pointed out, Onix definitely is the way it is because it was designed to be the first boss of RBY, and they didn't bother to think through what would happen if you tried to use one on a team. But that, coupled with your discussion on the drawbacks of Rock as a type in general, have made me realize that Rock was kind of designed to be a "tutorial boss type" in general. It's resistant to all the types that you're likely to have access to in the early-games of early generations, but is weak to a bunch of other common types. It *is* pretty good offensively, but the vast majority of Rock-types are slow and bulky despite their typing actively working against them, which makes them unwieldy to use, but gives you room to play around them if you're just learning the mechanics. And their moves are noticeably less accurate than those of similar power in other types, which is annoying as hell when you're trying to use one, but is actually a nice way to give new players a chance to beat an early Rock-type boss even if they don't know their type matchups, since they could still get a few lucky misses. Basically, it seems like the entire typing was designed to be fought *against,* not fought *with,* which is more than a little counterproductive in a series where one of the biggest appeals is being able to create personalized teams out of any creature you find and think is cool.
And I guess, once again, I'll throw in my two cents about how I would prefer it if you were less conservative about the changes you make to your subject mons. When you mentioned Scyther and Scizor as an inspiration for Onix's relationship to Steelix, I got *extremely* excited for a version of Onix with the same BST as Steelix, with jacked-up Attack and Speed to actually take advantage of Rock's offensive potential and create a meaningful choice between Onix and its evolved form... Only to be extremely disappointed when you shot that idea down a few seconds later. I get that base stats are meant to reflect a mon's design, but all that really means is that GameFreak had some kind of thought process for assigning the stats the way they did: it doesn't mean that thought process was correct, or that there aren't other options that would make the games better. And in Onix's case, I'm sure we can all agree that 45 base Attack was, at very least, not the *only* way GameFreak could have chosen to reflect the design of an enormous land-based sea serpent made of boulders. All that said, though, your style of minimal changes has its advantages and is clearly very popular, so keep making the kinds of videos you want to make.
On the bright side, we got to see HOW he fixed something with only 45 attack!
That work is awesome. The wait is always worth it just like always. Hopefully audio will be balanced in the later vids.
Magcargo and Slugma are in some dire need. Hell, team Magma, the team that names itself after MAGMA, doesn't even use the Magma Snail Pokemon because even they have standards.
ive spent the past day or so binging all of your videos, and i gotta say, i love this approach so much. I really love how you take into account the character and design of the pokemon when deciding on what moves or abilities to give it, i think thats so unique and makes something like this so much more interesting than if you just gave it a bunch of really overpowered stuff and left it at that. also, the fact that you go out of your way to actually rom hack and do a full playthrough with said revised pokemon really shows that you're willing to go above and beyond with this concept, and i think thats great. cannot wait to see more, keep up the good work!!
I am shocked by how only a few seemingly small changes turned Onix into the physical equivalent of Chansey with how bulky it got. I am curious how much of that was the Eviolite, admittedly, but there were quite a few moments where it should not have survived what it did.
Once I saw the Sand Stream change I knew this would be an absolute BANGER.
Also my guess is Ledian.
Honestly, for Onix specifically, I think buffing its stats is much more logical than giving it sandstream. I get that you don't want to just give every single Pokémon huge stats and call it a day but I think sandstream is strong enough to justify buffing its stats in place of it. Onix is one of the biggest most imposing Pokémon in the franchise, having less stats than butterfree and less attack than joltik is really what needs to change with this Pokémon. Especially considering the metal coat does not actually buff Scyther base stats, I'm pretty confident giving him the same base stat total as steelix at 510. It will now have 75/80/185/55/45/70 which keep the 40 speed difference of the metal coat, and now gives it much more usable attack and hp stats while still being lower than rhyhorn and Graveler.
Since its stats are much more powerful I feel like sandstream is very overkill. I think we should either keep rock head and replace sandstorm in its moveset by head smash, which would make a lot of sens with onix's design, but will still only serve in the elite 4 and give it take down earlier on, or give it rock solid which I personally find less interesting but would still be good.
The rest of the movepool changes you made were fine, I would maybe just add defense curl to act as a pseudo coil before it actually gets it and synergies with rollout.
Love the vid, as always, and I am not even finished with the video yet. I know this is 1 hour of banger content.
For rollout I'm kinda imagining it's pulling a ouroboros or hoop snake sort of deal and just grabbing its tail in its mouth and rolling like a wheel
Algernon did so well in that last fight... give it it's flowers
Glad you picked this series as your niche. It was something I have always wanted someone to do: fix bad Pokémon without breaking them.
Keep up the good work.
Quickly becoming one of my favorite content creators. Genuinely look forward to every upload!
I'm very impressed you made this thing usable without touching its stats. Impressive.
Oh is the audio lopsided?
ye sounds like left only
yeah his recording is left-sided, but other sounds are fine
This was a fun video to watch! I’m especially impressed by the team you built to support Onix!
Onix is a very interesting Pokemon because its stats are specifically balanced for the boss fight against Brock at the beginning of the game. I don't think Game Freak put much thought into it beyond that.
Gen 1 is way, way more designed as a "traditional RPG" than later entries in game design. Onix and some other factors really show that
Kudos for the team building! Very diverse and seems so fun to use! We can only wish and hope that Onix could be this useful in any game, but that goes for every video you've made so far :3 Really loved this one the most for the whole team synergy
I'm surprised Onix doesn't have Sand Stream as a hidden ability, honestly. Also, I think it would be really cool if you could try one of these runs with Cherrim! I've always found its ability really interesting, but it's never really been viable lol.
Yesss!! I love cherrim! That video would be so fun! 🍒 🌸
I absolutely love the idea of future episodes using later game Pokémon earlier like you did Onix.
Please try to fix the audio, it's recording mono when you want stereo. I love this series, but cannot listen with the speaking coming out of a single speaker
Just wanted to mention at 14:44 that Drought has the description for Drizzle. Other than that, i loved this video so much!! Thank you for the love towards our boy.
My left ear enjoyed this video
The pacing of this video was so good, genuinely on the edge of my seat!
14:45 There is a small mistake in this part of the video. In the ability text for Drought, it uses the text for Drizzle instead. Hope this helps out!
Bro, I love Onix. Thanks for doing a video with him, much appreciated. Hope some day to see Shuckle having the spotlight also.
Even if Onyx being a Rock/Ground typing makes sense tematictly I think that is No right in a game-Design Perspective. Just remember Brock is the First Gym Leader who is supose to teach you the type advanage 'cause rock resist normal and you probably get to Brock Using Tackle and Scratch. The main Problem is that Geodure is also Ground/Rock and would makes feel New player who pick Bulbasaur and Squirtle that Super efective damage is equal to a one shot. I just think if Onix were a pure Rock Type It won't be obliterated by a simple Bubble.
I agree nothing about it is really ground like it's just a rock snake
Cool concept for a series, I'll sub to see more. Hoping to see some vids on Beedrill and Ledian one day.
Using trade NPC's is a good way to do things!
I'm imagining Onix using Rollout by taking its tail in its mouth and rolling like a hoop snake.
Not sure if you'd want to do Zebstrika since you've done shinx already, but I had the same let down with how useless it turned out to be as I did with shinx
All I'd do to fix it is increase Wild Charge's Base Power to 120 and Volt Tackle's (Pikachu's signature move) to 150. It's not like Gamefreak doesn't love playing favorites.
1:22 That looks fun. I should check it out, if only to see if there's any funny reason they called Onix "MEWTWO". Good thing you linked the video in the description!
You might wanna try to improve the Magcargo line.
Its stat distribution is absolutely horrible.
Its already 4x weak to water and ground so making it stronger is a fair trade
My new favorite videos! I really admire how you don’t mess with the stats and make these pokemon viable through other means. Makes it so much more interesting to watch! Keep it up!
Why is the audio broken?
"Onix lays on its side and rolls sideways to use Rollout"
Nah, Onix would pull an Ouroboros by chomping down on its tail, then starting rolling at its opponents like a wheel, like his fellow snake buddy, Dunsparce.