CAN I BEAT A POKÉMON DIAMOND HARDCORE NUZLOCKE WITH ONLY GROUND TYPES!? (Pokémon Challenge)

It's time for another Pokemon challenge! Diamond with only Ground types seemed like a really fun and challenging idea, as I can think of a few challenges in the game that seem downright impossible on the face of it with the encounters we'll have available!
We've done some hard Pokemon challenges in the past, but usually they were a solo Pokemon challenge run. What if we still did a really difficult challenge... but with a full team using hardcore nuzlocke rules, and with only one type? Today we find out: can I beat a Pokemon Diamond Hardcore Nuzlocke with only Ground types?
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Monotype Hardcore Nuzlocke Ruleset:
(1) If a Pokémon faints, it must be permanently boxed or released.
(2) Only the first type-specific Pokémon encountered in each Route/Area can be caught.
(3) No Legendaries/Mythicals, duplicates, or same-evolution-line Pokémon can be caught or used. If a duplicate is encountered, the next unique type-specific Pokémon encounter can be caught.
(4) Additional Pokémon may be caught for the purpose of HM use, but these may not be used in battle at any time during the run.
(5) No Items can be used in battle (Held Items are allowed).
(6) Party Pokémon levels are limited to the highest level Pokémon of the next Gym Leader or Elite 4 Member. So long as your Pokémon are at or below the level cap when the Gym Leader/Elite 4 Member battle starts, they can level up mid-battle.
(7) "Set" Battle Mode must be used at all times.
(8) No connecting with other games for the purposes of trading/importing Pokémon, Items, etc.
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#PokemonChallenges #HardcoreNuzlocke #PokemonNuzlocke

[@SilphSpectre]

Here we gooooo! If I can ask you guys for a quick favor; just double-check to make sure you & your friends are subscribed! As you can see we are SUPER close to 100k, and I want to reach it to make a big impact in the Pokemon community towards more fun and creative content so LET'S DO THIS!

[@mikhailhutchinson2011]

Do you record gameplay then read the script, or do you write the script from before?

[@starblitzz7283]

Subscribing was the first thing I did to this channel :3. Would love to see you get 100k~!

[@SilphSpectre]

@Mikhail Hutchinson For my solo challenges I used to write the script as I went along, but now I record everything and then write the script afterwards while I review it for editing 😀👍

[@mikhailhutchinson2011]

@@SilphSpectre Makes sense!

[@wanderlustwarrior]

Already subscribed! I still feel like you might want to put some sort of symbol on your badge case to show the places you wiped.

[@ariesstorm9577]

“Rollout has only 90% accuracy.” Yeah? Try telling that to Whitney’s Miltank

[@belowzero2091]

Exactly

[@jellalfernandes1309]

True😂😂

[@GudaGudaPaisen]

Whitney's Miltank Rollout Accuracy is like 180%. Not even sand attack will lower that.

[@stellarknight04]

@@GudaGudaPaisen true, that's why you get dig

[@TheCreoleSon89]

I remember crying as a kid facing her miltank lol 😂 it’s like how is your first Pokémon a weak Clafairy and then you bring out miltank? And for a cow to be so fast is upsetting.

[@JetblackJay]

Defense curl boosts rollout

[@corby789]

Yeah, but you're basically using one turn for defense curl to double rollout's damage in the next turn, when you could be using rollout to double rollout's damage in the next turn. It has less chance of killing the first pokemon you start to roll out on, because you spend a whole turn doing no damage and as a trade off you get one defense boost, which is only useful against physical opponents. Not to mention that most rollout users already have high defense. All in all you only get more bang for your buck, if roll out lasts until the very last turn, which is highly situational, as your opponent won't always wait for their death and rollout can miss.

[@cindyzhaoyingzi8719]

@@corby789 I’m just gonna pretend that I understood what you said…

[@adamkaris]

@@corby789 Yea so without it it does 30/60/120/240/480 But with it you've got curl/60/120/240/480/960 That's a lot of base power.

[@corby789]

@@adamkaris The detail is in time. You only get to do one move per turn. So if we adjust your handy base power scale, then it would actually be: Without 30/60/120/240/480/x With curl 0/60/120/240/480/960 You lose a turn using defense curl in the beginning, thus I put a 0 there. The x stands for any move your pokemon could use after finishing 5 rollouts and is there to align both cases to have 6 entries. When you compare both, you can see that the base power is the same after the second turn, if you used rollout or not. That meager 30 base power attack you did on turn 1 instead of using defense curl will contribute more to your total damage dealt until the very last turn of rollout. Yes 960 base power is amazing and no base power you substitute for x will come close to that number. But from the accuracy alone you only have a roughly 60% chance of reaching that last turn (0.9^5) which will only be lower in reality because of things like protect, fly or simply killing the roll out user. And if you don't reach that fabled 960 BP last turn of rollout on turn 6, then you have made a net loss.

[@jackfitzgerald9619]

@@corby789 Also not using curl means you can potentially get out of rollout quicker to switch and save the rollout user if it is low health. I think no curl is better

[@pablojams5152]

Adamant torterra just gets wiped the moment it’s sent into battle, such a shame!

[@realar]

It's like what happened with Ash. His Torterra was royally screwed.

[@bluecamel786]

@@realar lol one-shotted with ice punch

[@WondR_]

@@bluecamel786 *shadow ball

[@kohinoorbanerjee4009]

@@WondR_ he probably means Ash's torterra, which got defeated by Volkner's electivire's ice punch. It was the very first major battle it was sent into

[@user-pl3mn5od1k]

@@WondR_ *ice punch*

[@damianodidomenico4756]

Can we get Man oh man on a t shirt?

[@SilphSpectre]

500 Likes on your comment and we'll make it happen. Along with some other new merch 👀

[@voiceappeal]

„What in the world“ „Dear Lord“

[@venomgaming7014]

@LEGO Boy *LET’S GET LIKING!!*

[@MikeM-wf8jx]

"On what must be 1 hp.

[@mypheelz]

@@SilphSpectre DONE.

[@Goudhaantje1993]

All those grass types in the second gym be like: ''Should we end his run here? Nah, the video would be so short!''

[@GhGh-gq8oo]

would be like*** Talking like a monkey on purpose isn’t cool.

[@Tempest0347]

He had to wipe a few times lol

[@ryanstone2443]

Gh Gh racist

[@GobaGNon]

@@GhGh-gq8oo are you special? Do you have a disability?

[@emilysmith2965]

Nah they just don’t care that AAVE is a valid English dialect with internally self-consistent grammatical rules. If you understand what people are saying, don’t police them. Even if you don’t… just ask. Good luck!

[@jjmcclure1998]

This is one of those rare runs where it’s scary to be against a grass type. Normally it’s “meh it’s grass” now it’s “oh god it’s grass”

[@Shay96]

Grass gyms are usually like Electric gyms for me. I'm less worried about damage and more about status effects.

[@membrane-cd7055]

@@Shay96 so true

[@freckledfranki]

silph: names his onix dwayne me: has war flashbacks to jaiden's platinum nuzlocke

[@nicholebinaco6817]

Samw

[@Getsugaru]

Ditto.

[@w4ddle921]

same

[@salemmetal6433]

Literally what I thought of instantly

[@silvathefox7239]

I named my machop in Pokémon quest chad

[@rodolfoarias4102]

not sure if this is considered “cheating” because it requires leaving a pokémon at the daycare, but you can delete hm moves using the day care service! if you switch the hm into the first move slot, and deposit ur pokémon one level under it acquiring a new move, the day care will delete the hm for you!! don’t have to wait til canalave city, delete at solaceon haha

[@LordLucario12]

I've only played Platinum so watching a playthrough of Diamond it is really is insane to me just how much of an upgrade Platinum is over it in literally every way.

[@CheeseBlaster]

Still baffles me how they decided to give so many new evolutions and lock half of em to post game

[@iohan2801]

"Welcome Silph, my name is Everyone" Alternative Universe

[@steakmode]

just something to note, you could have gotten a ground type before the first barry battle. ravaged path to the north of jubilife has geodudes at lvl 5

[@jcfrvr23]

Really?

[@yatazen7670]

This is true, but it's only a D/P encounter

[@Pokepowergaming]

@@yatazen7670 Yes, and this is Pokemon Diamond

[@Mr..Malice]

@@yatazen7670 bruh

[@zahners1267]

This man is so close to 100k he deserves it so much everyone make 100k happen!

[@starblitzz7283]

he works so hard to make these videos and is underappreciated, lets get him to 100k!

[@gabyzerlium3699]

Agreed

[@jonaflander5140]

Ok

[@ruileite4579]

Yes

[@emperorpalpatine4911]

Do it.

[@thephantomire]

I was looking for something to watch this morning. This looks like it will be an absolute nightmare. Watching now! Thanks for all that you do. Makes the world a better place 💜

[@thephantomire]

That was such a clutch ending. Oh my goodness. I was clenched.

[@jcfrvr23]

@@thephantomire Me too.

[@bossbaby6651]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3qbqaiVopZqjqs 😉

[@dezignerbilly9274]

I’m learning so much about these games from watching your Nuzlockes. I never knew anything about using strategies for the gameplay because I’d level up, use all attack moves & hope for the best lol Keep up the great work my guy

[@jcfrvr23]

Yeah same, I don't own this game and many others but know how to play them cause I watch nuzlockes.

[@Shiyokai]

Lol i can relate so much, i just use every move i have and somehow i get through the game like this 😂

[@jcfrvr23]

@Jacob Perry how is that a bad strategy? They are just learning from somebody's video. Unless you're talking about their first strategy, that's a totally different story.

[@jcfrvr23]

@@SylverMs What?

[@cirquedufreak6676]

@@jcfrvr23 what’d that dude say lmao

[@ThePokeTran]

Man most youtubers use Pokemon even if they dont have the type yet. You always go above and beyond which is why I'll always support this channel.

[@HouseRN]

This is definitely the most interesting sand team I’ve ever seen.

[@Fenixion88ZX]

First video I see from you , when I saw 40 min I thought that it would be boring ,but it really kept me engaged until the last fight ,you got a new sub bud , keep up the good work !

[@SilphSpectre]

Thanks so much Marcos, awesome to hear you're enjoying the content! 🙌

[@finalscore2983]

Have to ask; a 6 pokemon, no pokecentre hardcore nuzlocke. You can catch any 6 pokemon (but not legendaries), as long as they are the first encounter in that area. If you have 6 in your team, one must be released. (So, if one dies, you can't take one of your old ones from the PC, you have to wait for your next encounter). Level cap applies. You may only use free healing if it's mandatory (like just before the Giratina fight in platinum). All other healing must be done via items. No berry farming either. No pokecentre, no beds, no trainer heals. For extra challenge, you could take one mon per gym badge, so one when fighting leader one, two when fighting leader two, up to six, after which the cap of 6 remains. I'd say do it in one of the later gens. Loving these challenges by the way.

[@Marv1089]

Silph: “these are all the encounters in the game for Ground types” Somewhere, in a dark corner, a Wormadam-Ground weeps, forlorn and forgotten by Silph.

[@dylanniro3488]

I binged all of his videos yesterday and now wake up to a new one? That's a win, boys.

[@joshhatchett4361]

Amazing run! Ready to see a hard challenge now, poison type vs Platinum

[@cameronbuck1179]

this channel reignited my love of pokémon. i’m getting a system to play the games once again and because of videos like this, i’m so very excited.

[@skibot9974]

11:30 you could’ve caught Shellos back at Valley Windworks and attach EXP share to that

[@Azumafoo]

Get this man to 100k already!!!! This looked like a crazy challenge, like all yoir videos. You always take on the hardest challenges. Can't wait for the next one

[@trubberdox3089]

I watch your playthroughs while working out. Makes it easier for me since I'm entertained ❤️.

[@ShadowAgent94]

Been watching your videos so much lately. Your humor in each video always manages to catch me off guard in the best way. Your videos have definitely cheered me up on a few rough days too. Been subbed for a while, so worth it.

[@mbclove1]

Finally using my fav sinnoh starter! Silph you're the best RIP Franklin

[@soulhoney1227]

He got roasted by a mismagius

[@HennyG59]

I hope to see a ghost only nuzlocke in the future, that would really rustle my jimmies

[@enzoisaiah1434]

i always wait for ur videos every week and i've never been disappointed. keep up the good work 😁

[@clemsontigerfan2679]

Great video man! Awesome to see you so close to 100k subs. Been around for a good little bit now but can't remember exactly how long. I think about 2 years. I know I've watched all your true power vids so whenever those started is around where I started. Keep it up man. Here's to the road to 200k!!! Plus I'm glad you are doing this cause Torterra is my favorite pokemon lol

[@nickcrawford9075]

Congrats on 100k! One of my favorite nuzlockers on the scene for sure!

[@kakashi5590]

Recently found your channel and just decided to binge your videos, im hooked now

[@thatguynoonelikes4865]

All water types Ultra moon? Maybe all grass ultra moon actually Idk I just thought it would be a good challenge

[@Raiga345]

Congrats on (damn near) 100K my guy. The True Power Tournament was incredible watching day-to-day.

[@barrybludgeon7448]

I finally got to watch this as I have been holding off for months now due to wanting to play through pearl again first, I wanted the gyms to be a fresh experience as I hadn't played it in 10ish years. Well worth the wait though as this video was awesome to watch once I had completed a steel type only run through so I could feel some of his pain in the second gym!

[@three-b4212]

Aaaayyy! So happy to see a new challenge! Thanks Silph!

[@nazeersadek6705]

This is was really fun to watch really appreciate all your hard work Silph and it seems you’re super close to 100K!! I remember when I subbed to your channel when you had less than 30K my god time really flies anyways here’s hoping your channel will continue to grow since you’re one of the few people who I can see have a positive impact on the Pokémon community

[@SilphSpectre]

Thanks so much Nazeer! You've definiteky been supporting for a while and I appreciate it beyond words! 🙏

[@nazeersadek6705]

@@SilphSpectre my pleasure dude 😃 also please ignore the silly mistakes in the original comment I was half a sleep when I wrote it lol

[@silverwolfcat777]

Well done! Your calcs were always very precise, yet you have to admit that you have benn incredibly lucky at certain critical points. Keep up with the good work: there is no nuzlocker better than you, Silph.

[@AhmedHussain-ju6xd]

Congrats on 100K subs silph. After years of work you are one of the best poketubers. You deserve it

[@yashmishra3569]

My guy silph sooo close to 100k cant wait for him to get to 100k subs! you deserve it silph

[@AliLiz91]

🎶 Hey, it's Franklin 🎶 🤣 Looking forward to this! I love this monotype challenges! I think ground types are pretty great. Keep these challenges coming! :D

[@griz507x]

Silph!! I see you have hit 100k subscribers!! Honestly well deserved, your videos are the perfect cure for boredom and watch them as soon as i can Oh and also, insterting my usual asking for steel only run here lol

[@darthcirca9735]

Dude, this one was so solid. Well done! That gardenia battle was rough, and Cynthia too, as usual. Lol

[@brendancosgrave2490]

Brilliant stuff another great run, I feel getting the poor nature on "Big Mama" was the game balancing itself out for giving you an adamant nature on Turtwig lol (cant make it too easy Silph). Loving the early sneak peaks too, keep up the excellent work and cant wait to catch the next one.

[@oblivioussquirrel8626]

For future reference: rest ALWAYS leads a 3 turn sleep You can plan around that easily Great video tho! Sad to see Torterra out right away

[@damianworrell803]

"Giga Impact of all things, HOLY SHIT!" Bruv that was hilarious. This was a great vid!!!!

[@michaelf719]

I get off of work see sliph uploads and it makes every Sunday night relaxing and entertaining. Here's too 100k!

[@BrianStorm742]

Couldn't Sandy Cloak Wormadam have helped against Grass types in the early to mid game?

[@peterrealar2.067]

Yeah, I noticed that too.

[@ugaarbruh]

I love his vids

[@Kleineralsdulil]

Ye me too

[@riokengaming]

We all do

[@jcfrvr23]

Me too.

[@jcfrvr23]

@@riokengaming that's true.

[@th3_b1itz87]

He reached the 100 k!! Congrats man! I know I dont comment much on your vids but they are great, keep up the good work!

[@hocustar4641]

Thanks for the awesome nuzlocke challenges, they are really fun to wathc and keep up the good work!

[@pacoramon9468]

Sinnoh has the best looking ground types: Torterra, Gastrodon, Garchop, Mamoswhine, hippowdon, Gliscor.

[@luiseduardo8806]

Silph, if i could ask, if you do a water only challenge, could you nickname the pokémon as rivers/seas? It would make a lot of sense. Also i tought that all the pokémon in this challenge were going to be nicknamed as countries/continents lol

[@MasterFallenHero]

I started watching the dex like 9000 yrs ago in the before times and that rabbit hole lead to mah dry bread and eventually flygon hg and now here a few weeks ago. The KZbin recommendation algorithm works once every other year and I'm glad it spit me out here.

[@dunsparcedude474]

I’m going to make a evil team for every type (not fire or water cause Archie and maxie have actual evil plans and are type specific) Bug: Team Exos Dark: Team Eclipse Dragon: Team Draconic Electric: Team Powerhouse Fairy: Team Pixie Fighting: Team Brawl Flying: TEAM SKY Ghost: Team Paranormal Grass: Team Trees Ground: Team Terra Ice: Team Hail Normal: Team Plain Poison: Team Toxic Psychic: Team Mind Rock: Team Boulder Steel: Team Titanium

[@thsand5032]

the AI in DP was sooo hilariously bad. I didn't recall it being so random, esp on named trainers - but maybe they improved it in platinum.

[@gconnor18]

I’m glad to see you made 100K I only recently found these but think they are great. As a big fan of poison type would love to see you do a poison only run!

[@kevinclark4668]

This was an idea of mine, glad to see it being put to use lol love your runs bro also when is the next True Power? And thanks for the advice on Arcanine again!! Been kicking booty lol

[@rp8253]

happy to have just discovered this channel

[@SilphSpectre]

Welcome and hope you enjoy the content! :D

[@mattmc1234]

D/P never made sense to me, some of the main battles in the game like candice have pokemon that arent even the type that they are specialised in, and also there only being 2 fire types in the game, im glad they fixed these problems in platinum but damn diamond and pearl are just so much worse than platinum

[@cirquedufreak6676]

In terms of replaying the game, I don’t see how anyone plays D/P. Platinum is better in every way

[@mattmc1234]

@@cirquedufreak6676 yeah its just far more enjoyable and actually makes sense

[@taylord2006]

Congrats on 100k man! You deserve it!

[@MohammadAmir170]

Just love your nuzlocks, do more like this.

[@kennovafastforward8460]

Not gonna lie I've never seen anyone use a geodude and an onix so well, because well let's be honest, they suck. Especially onix before they gave him an evolution.

[@arr0w769]

tbh he couldve used geodude better, defense curl makes rollout do double damage

[@silvathefox7239]

Have you ever played Pokémon quest? Onix is one of the best tanks in that game

[@lorien6205]

@@arr0w769 Does it actually? I had no idea defense curl had that function

[@arr0w769]

@@lorien6205 yep! Its super strong

[@yamumhasthebiggay2582]

"it's a range to kill steelix with earthquake at +2" Well then it's a good fucking thing that you were at +4 then, isn't it.

[@jordster401]

Inspired to try Nuzlockes! Thanks for another great vid 👍

[@robertbarrows6687]

When you talk about perfect natures, in two of my runs I got a Modest Jolteon AND a Modest Litleo/Pyroar.

[@destinygalearies7382]

13 minutes in and I'm wondering when the hell he's going to put an EXP Share on his Turtwig to get a Grotle

[@kohinoorbanerjee4009]

When the level cap is above 32

[@spacejam4523]

For the sake of variety, I’m a proponent of evolving trade-evolution mobs like Graveler into Golem. Rarely get to see mons like Golem used in game. I’d pick a reasonable level though, like 32-36 because that’s when most starters tend to evolve to their final stage Edit: To those who don’t know what I mean, I believe the Universal Pokémon Randomizer has a patch that can be applied to games to enable evolving trade-evolutions in the main game.

[@dangbtk1142]

That's what I do in my nuzlockes, I don't see the point of ignoring trade evos when they are an intended part of the game so its not as if you're really cheating. Item trades still require the item (e.g. metal coat) too so you can't evolve anyone earlier then intended, and non item trades like Graveler or Kadabra evolve at level 37 with the randomizer setting.

[@jonmichaelblaylock9996]

I just started watching your videos about 2 weeks ago and really enjoy videos like this keep up the great content thanks for all the great videos

[@crudercrane3261]

I believe everytime you use rollout, you have a 56% chance to make it to 5 hits. Loved the vid, that second gym is a quite scary for sure

[@efraincelin1881]

You forgot wormadam sandy cloak

[@TruthNotTold2008]

Come on guys, we need .8k more for 100k!

[@utpaldas6040]

Congratulations silph bro. Even though losing an adament torterra you were able too absolutely destroy pokemon diamond and take his revenge.

[@mightywaranvil2912]

1:33 Good point regarding Torterra in general (Especially physical-based movesets), but... *Jazz hands* Quiet Turtwig so you can have a good Absorb/Mega Drain/Giga Drain or Hidden Power early on.

[@rainthedraconic402]

I just realized that in gen 5 you can use a full water ground team with unique sprites. Quagsire, Swampert, Whiscash, both forms of Gastrodon and a seismitoad

[@j.corbygaming]

You forgot Wormadam Sandy form I would know; I was considering do this and learned that while researching.

[@robislike]

been binging a bunch of your videos, love them

[@shadow_catiki6558]

I LOVE your vids they're super entertaining and I hope you keep up the great work!

[@stupidbug3819]

i can definitely learn something from you. damn dude keep it up with ur videos they’re amazing ♡

[@ThePuckPodcast]

100k!!! CONGRATSSSS

[@anjalis4845]

Congrats on 100k!! 💯💯💯

[@wyattsteel285]

Love the Vid dude, I love watching these challenges and always welcome a new one in my sub box. Also just an fyi Rest always leads to 2 turns of sleep. No more and no less. Keep up the good work my dude.

[@Zitos77]

Another great video. Always look forward to your videos. Seeing you play this makes me excited to see the Sinnoh true power tournament. Will Cyrus be a participant?

[@darklordkuro7953]

I actually never found the wayward cave before platinum. When in tried to go there during my brilliant diamond playtrough i was surprised to see the path blocked by boulder😅

[@jcfrvr23]

CONGRATS ON 100K SILPH! You ultimately deserved that 👏 👏👏👏💯

[@alainiaharding4349]

Sticks to the rules..... Uses study..... Strategic strategy.... Stubbornness and luck..... This is as true as any challenges can get and I hope he keeps doing these..... Especially the first 4 gens..... I only love those games (also mystery dungeon games I have love for but only explorers of sky and earlier) and I truly enjoy his content and commitment

[@runawaydp]

I've watched so many of your videos and I just now noticed your accent on the word 'about' and now I'm hearing it every single time. 😂 Not bad, just thought I'd share. Love the vids!

[@itsyrb]

Glad to see you growing more man 100k on the way

[@slycooper914]

I flipping love these videos bro good job my guy

[@redspiralray2880]

18:15 "Quick Claw is the beeeessssssttt" Luchajin

[@nightdrivenen7909]

Having listened and watched many of these, I think I can safely say it would be near impossible to do any of these Monotype runs on the fan made Pokemon Insurgence XD would probably lead to insanity for anyone who tries

[@TheCreoleSon89]

Seeing the geodude use rollout reminds me of that dang miltank by Whitney lol

[@icecoldbros3302]

Congratulations on 100k silph u absolutely deserve it

[@krispin3509]

Dude, bro, if you can defeat Gardenia using 4x weak pokemon like that, you can do ANYTHING!!

[@jakemorgan985]

The number of times he gets lucky with this challenge is CRAZY. I tried this same challenge and it took me 13 ATTEMPTS, Great video's keep it up!

[@FluffiestWalrus]

Really love these series! It’d be cool to see one from a 3ds game (x/y or sun/moon)

[@shastamenon1946]

Congrats on 100k!!

[@cruzshirley1484]

Great video! You should try doing monotype hardcore nuzlockes of the Drayano rom hacks.

[@brodaciousbro1149]

Awe Whiscash’s back sprite looks like it wants to give you a hug