2010-03-15, 06:55 PM
4th Gen really changed a lot with the physical/special split. Like Dusk mentioned, Weavile finally got usable STABs and Gyarados/Salamence became beastly with their physical Waterfall/Outrage respectively. Also, Stealth Rock has made former threats like BellyZard practically unusable.
Dragonite is my favorite too, but it was generally regarded as inferior to Salamence until HG/SS gave it ExtremeSpeed. This let Dragonite fulfill certain roles that Salamence couldn't. Heracross has dropped tremendously in usage in 4th gen, especially since Scizor practically rules the OU metagame. It has better typing, arguably a better ability, and access to Bullet Punch/U-Turn.
If I were you, I would get HG/SS and Platinum, not Diamond. Platinum offers practically everything that Diamond/Pearl offers and more.
As for Shoddy Battle, it's basically the new Netbattle. It's fairly straight forward to use and doesn't take forever to download.
Dragonite is my favorite too, but it was generally regarded as inferior to Salamence until HG/SS gave it ExtremeSpeed. This let Dragonite fulfill certain roles that Salamence couldn't. Heracross has dropped tremendously in usage in 4th gen, especially since Scizor practically rules the OU metagame. It has better typing, arguably a better ability, and access to Bullet Punch/U-Turn.
If I were you, I would get HG/SS and Platinum, not Diamond. Platinum offers practically everything that Diamond/Pearl offers and more.
As for Shoddy Battle, it's basically the new Netbattle. It's fairly straight forward to use and doesn't take forever to download.