Battle Maison Discussion & Records

More moments of being unskilled while playing Durant in battle 331: EVKW-WWWW-WWWY-FZJV

Kingdra used Protect! Durant used Entrainment! Kingdra protected itself!
Durant is loafing around! Kingdra used Surf! A critical hit!

Not the ideal way for those two turns to play out. Guess I have to bring in Cloyster and hope it can sweep at +2. Just kidding, Cloyster's just Draco Meteor fodder so Drapion can set up on a -2, -4, and -6 Special Attack Kingdra. The back-ups are Gogoat and Floatzel (which would have picked a 1 HP Cloyster off with Aqua Jet and been one Waterfall flinch away from beating Garchomp).

In battle 372, Leafeon joined the "things that don't let Durant use Entrainment" club by alternating Detect and Aerial Ace the first 8 turns and having its Quick Claw activate to KO Durant with Aerial Ace. Drapion sets up on non-Truant Leafeon without too much trouble (got a Sub up its first turn out as Leafeon used its last Detect and PP stalled X-Scissor without any Defense or Evasion boosts) so I wasn't extremely concerned with letting Durant use Entrainment - I'm sure if Leafeon blocks Durant 2-3 times, you could switch out to the non-Cloyster team member and get Leafeon to waste its remaining Detect PP so you can ensure the Entrainment goes off, but I hadn't seen that strategy discussed anywhere before.

A Mega Salamence with random IVs, a few HP EVs from leveling up against Blissey Secret Bases, and Double Edge/Dragon Claw/Flamethrower/Earthquake was definitely key to my triumph against the regular Singles. Lots of 3 turn battles without even needing to Mega Evolve most of the time. It's definitely going to be underwhelming compared to how it is in competitive play just because of how overstocked the Maison is with Rock types that are all too happy to take a +0 Earthquake (or hold on with Sturdy) and land a critical hit with Stone Edge. The only speedy Rock resist out there gives you two 4x Ice weaknesses


If we're still trying to finalize the trainer names and cues in ORAS, Breeder Lalani (definitely spelled that incorrectly) uses all starters, and the Worker who uses the Sand teams has a pre-battle line about throwing out his shoulder from throwing a Poke Ball so many times.
 

turskain

activated its Quick Claw!
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
For ORAS special trainer lines, I have the following jotted down:

Chef Frank (Roux) - "I may not be a Chef, but ..."
Punk Guy Jensen (Puck) - "Hey, kid! Are you scared of me? If you're scared, say you're scared."
Beauty Lana (Claire) - "I'm begging for a distraction. Show me so much strength that it feels like I'm going crazy."

Worker Rasmus - "a line about throwing out his shoulder from throwing a Poké Ball"
Hex Maniac Anastasia - "I was born in a graveyard and raised in a cemetery. Leave all your curses and grudges to me!
Hex Maniac Mara - "I get stronger by dwelling on the past."
Veteran Eleanor - "This is battle paradise. Only the strong survive here..."
Veteran Alfie - "You had better learn that not everyone gets to be the star of the show"
Veteran Isabella - "My life hasn't been a bed of roses... Not exactly overflowing with opportunities."
Veteran Saba - "Hmph... You're just some brat! Who do you think I am?"
Ace Trainer Bunny - "I don't believe in things like good luck charms, but times like these make me want to pray"
Ace Trainer Jai - "It's merely a Pokémon battle, right? Why so serious?"

I'm still missing the line for Chef Cobb (Andrei).

Edit: added Lana's line
 
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Sooo... I am trying new teams for the Maison Run. So far I've hadn't had much success, but due to being horribly haxed the three times at lost (Fist time a Swagger Zebstrika had my Pokemons hit themselves 5 times in a row, second time Meteor Mash missed 4 times in a row without Brightpowder or anything and the last one was against a Regigias with Brightpowder and Double Team which I could actually beat, but the final pokemon, Cobalion, survived my Hydreigon's Flamethrower with a slit of health... somehow.)

Anyhow the team is as follows in Singles so far:

Hydreigon@Life Orb
Levitate
Modest
6 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spd
-Dark Pulse
-Earth Power
-Flamethrower
-Surf

The point with him is coverage, try to hit SE from as many angles as possible. Hydreigon is good in every area, but not great. Even in offense and with the Life Orb he lacks that little Oomph. Many times it fails to finish off his opponents, and in the last run being unable to finish off a Cobalion cost me the run (she left the musketeer with tiny bit of red health) not to mention that while Hydreigon isn't slow, it isn't fast. On the positive though it typing and decent defenses allow it to switch in safely for almost anything that hits SE both Azumarrill and Metagross, usually being able to hit with SE moves that work well. It's coverage with Flamethrower, Dark Pulse and Earth Power rounds very well for the other two. Really wish it could learn Grass Knot or Energy Ball and the coverage would be perfect.


Metagross@Metagrossite
Clear Body --> Tough Claws
Adamant
6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
-Meteor Mash
-Zen Headbutt
-Ice Punch
-Brick Break

The team's ace, though not invincible. It's huge defenses upon evolving mean it doesn't have to depend of protect for the speed boost. Zen Headbutt and Meteor Mash for hard hitting STAB and Ice Punch and Brick Break for coverage... However, there are some issues here; while both STAB moves hit stupidly hard the 90 accuracy misses a lot... as in several times in a row, Brick Break is also a pretty underwhelming move in general. I know I could go with Hammer Arm, but the Speed loss seems a bit pricey. Was considering running Hone Claws to make Meteor Mash a reliable all porpuse move and replacing Zen Headbutt with Thunderpunch to fix a coverage issue. Really, many times I've almost lost because that 90 accuracy fails. Good thing is that MegaGross is sturdy enough to get many good chances of setting up.

Azumarrill@Assault Vest
Huge Power
Adamant
252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 SpDef
-Aqua Jet
-Play Rough
-Power Up Punch
-Waterfall

I love this girl, the typing is excellent and meshes well with the other two. Assault Vest makes her surprisingly sturdy with maxed out HP and allows to set several Power Up Punches in her safe switch ins, anything that threates Hydreigon and Fire Types or Dark Types for Metagross. Aqua Jet as a priority move really helps the lack of a really fast team member, Waterfall and Play Rough hit hard enough and her bad speed actually works when someone pulls trick room on me. I tried using Superpower with her but... the stat drop really hurts her role (though this was on Rotation, perhaps in Singles it's different) I was considering replacing Waterfall with Ice Punch for coverage, mostly for Flying types, but Metagross already does that.

Nothing really complicated here, the main idea is a team that covers each other's weaknesses when both defending and attacking with their typings. Hydreigon can switch into Ghosts, Dark types, Fire and Ground types that treaten Metagross and strike, the same way that dragons, bugs, fighting types can be taken care of Azumarrill, etc.

There are some weaknesses of course: I have nothing to hit water types with, so when a Bulky water type comes in, the best I can do is send Azumarrill and hope to build up Power Up Punches to finish with Play Rough, this is why I wanted to put Thunderpunch on Metagross. Also Thunder Wave is an issue. I also I am not sure wheter lead with Hydreigon or Metagross... usually do with Hydreigon, but perhaps Metagross is a better idea given it can hit neutraly with more power, takes hits better and maybe is safer to setup at the beginning, while Hydreigon's coverage is better for cleaning up
 
I'm new to competitive/Maison battles, so here's my try at a Super Singles team:

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Thunderbolt

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Speed
Adamant Nature

- Swords Dance
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature

- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower

I know it's not the absolute BEST possible thing, but I'd rather not use things like MegaKang or TruAnt at least my first time around.
 
I'm new to competitive/Maison battles, so here's my try at a Super Singles team:

Latios @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Surf
- Thunderbolt

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Speed
Adamant Nature

- Swords Dance
- Bug Bite
- Bullet Punch
- Roost

Azumarill @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spe
Adamant Nature

- Belly Drum
- Aqua Jet
- Play Rough
- Superpower

I know it's not the absolute BEST possible thing, but I'd rather not use things like MegaKang or TruAnt at least my first time around.
Looks solid. One thing to pay attention to when you're getting to the Chatelaine using something like Latios or Greninja that has a lot of coverage is to not get caught up in hitting everything super effectively because sometimes you'll end up using Surf on something that has a Passho Berry when Dragon Pulse or Psyshock would have KOed it, and the extra bit of damage Latios takes could be the difference between a win and a loss.

Another neat little way of getting a jump on the AI when using all-out special attackers (or anything, I suppose) is to never use the same move twice in a row unless you absolutely need to for the 2HKO. If you're up against a Hiker and Latios hits Gigalith with Surf on turn 1, finish it off with another move because if that Hiker has something with a Water immunity ability like Cradily, Quagsire, or Gastrodon, that will likely be getting switched in. No downside, and the upside is that you can get a free 2HKO on the switch or at least be able to deduce that the Quagsire you see later on in battle that didn't switch in on turn 2 has an ability other than Water Absorb.
 
Another neat little way of getting a jump on the AI when using all-out special attackers (or anything, I suppose) is to never use the same move twice in a row unless you absolutely need to for the 2HKO. If you're up against a Hiker and Latios hits Gigalith with Surf on turn 1, finish it off with another move because if that Hiker has something with a Water immunity ability like Cradily, Quagsire, or Gastrodon, that will likely be getting switched in. No downside, and the upside is that you can get a free 2HKO on the switch or at least be able to deduce that the Quagsire you see later on in battle that didn't switch in on turn 2 has an ability other than Water Absorb.
Excellent advice. It's the easiest way to screw trainers that carry a lot of types notorious for Flash Fire and Levitate also. Speaking of which, has anyone witnessed the AI killing their own partner with a move like Overheat because they switched when anticipating a move which would presumably be nulled the next turn- but the poke that was replaced had Flash Fire? I've seen it at least twice, though only once during X, and the first instance I can recall was Emerald frontier.

It interests me because apparently even still, the AI only evaluates their "ideal" course of action one pokemon at a time, and the actions selected for one are not "considered" to be in effect when the next pokemon comes up in doubles or triples.

I mean, this was already fairly clear to most people given that we could expect multiple opponents to attempt killing blows on a target weak enough, allowing easy Protect abuse (at least if said weakened poke was the only target within kill range) but the aforementioned scenario involves the AI murdering its own team and failing to acknowledge such consequences. It sticks out more than ill-thought Trick Room usage, another fairly common blunder.

Anyway, some more extremely safe rules to follow for the Battle Facility inexperienced:

-Take note of Weakness Policy holders with potential to be Sturdy (such as Carracosta4) and make a habit of hitting them neutrally first, always, unless you know you'll be doubling up on them or have Mold Breaker. This is one of the easiest ways to suffer a KO. There are others such as Lucario4 and Flygon1 that depend on Endure to get their boost, and aren't as dangerous.

-Custap Berry holders are a different kind of beast, but still very dangerous in their own right. Regirock2 for instance can be Sturdy, and if allowed to use its berry will almost definitely detonate itself. Priority moves help in cases like these, but some enemies like Samurott3 are able to use priority as well, and the berry doesn't seem to influence their choice of move (that is to say, a Samurott with a speed disadvantage can still opt to Aqua Jet on the turn it'll eat its berry.)

-Never forget that type effectiveness and optimization always takes a backseat to KO potential for the AI. A Rampardos can and will opt to Head Smash an Alakazam regardless of its teammates being a Yanmega and Charizard. If Focus Blast and Thunderbolt will both KO a target, accuracy is totally irrelevant while base power is still a factor. You'll also see this with -2 SpA moves like Leaf Storm; the AI will happily use its White Herb and then neuter themselves when the target has only 3 HP. They will often make much poorer decisions based on the fact that their poke has a move that will finish a target. It'll help you with decision making, and is also your best indicator when an enemy will use an undesireable support move (such as Trick Room, Taunt, Yawn, etc) instead of one of its attacks.
 
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Adamant
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe (turskain spread)
-Return
-Dragon Dance
-Roost
-Heal Bell

Blaziken @ Expert Belt
Ability: Speed Boost
Nature: Adamant
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
-Low Kick
-Flare Blitz
-Knock Off
-Protect

Swampert @ Assault Vest
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Adamant
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 44 SpD / 84 Spe (Mercury spread)
-Earthquake
-Waterfall
-Ice Punch
-Rock Slide

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
Nature: Sassy
31/31/31/x/31/0
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 140 SpD (aussieman000 spread)
-Gyro Ball
-Power Whip
-Leech Seed
-Protect

The original plan was to try all three Hoenn starters for fun, with sceptile as the mega since it's the weakest without it. Then I realized swampert makes sceptile pretty much redundant in this format, so I went with my second favorite dragon instead.

Plan B was to make altaria special with hyper voice, cotton guard, roost and heal bell, a physically defensive support with serious firepower. Then I realized that I could just build it as an alternative dragonite instead, murdering everything after one ddance, with some added benefits and some downsides. Swamp and blaze cover pretty much all its weak points barring some bulky ghosts, which it can usually just beast through with enough boosts. Cofagrigus is a bitch though, but more of an annoyance than threat.

I didn't know what to do for EVs so I just used the thread's expertise. Turskain's dragonite spread, incidentally, lets altaria tank every blizzard in maison up to and including froslass. Swampert can scout safely while dealing damage, and expert belt gives blaziken more than enough damage with no need for suicide orb. See vid of it sweeping all 4 mons before dying. For backup, I highly considered stallscor, but decided water, ice and trick room were bigger threats to my team than fire and fighting.

Frankly, scizor might be a better support for altaria than blaziken, but I enjoy having two potent sweepers who can easily boost out of control, often without needing a turn in blazi's case. I'm still debating a different set on altaria, because curing itself isn't always an option, and sub might give it more breathing room, though sadly no multiscale. All in all I wouldn't say this team is optimized yet, but it's certainly fun.

XSQG-WWWW-WWWY-RZCY (Blaziken sweep, would not happen with death orb)
J7ZW-WWWW-WWWY-S8WF (Swampert sweep)
UTYG-WWWW-WWWY-RQ3C (Dragon bait)
NBKW-WWWW-WWWY-RQ4S (Legendary misprediction)


Video of AI trying to switcheroo a new mega: VJVG-WWWW-WWWY-RMSR

Of course this doesn't definitively prove it since it's rotation and it might have been predicting a switch. Really wish I recorded it in triples now.

Edit: god dammit, I REALLY wish I remembered to record the chatelaine battle with this team. Basically:

Turn 1: Altaria - mega, ddance | Cobalion - metal burst
Turn 2: Altaria - return | Cobalion - sacred sword
Turn 3, 4, 5, 6: Altaria - return

Good times.
 
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Battle 510: 3EAG-WWWW-WWWY-QG7D

What to do if you set up Cloyster and have Poliwrath come out 2nd. Cloyster's phazed out and immediately brought back in to give Durant a free Entrainment on Poliwrath. Note that if the trainer had led with Flareon instead of Gallade and OHKOed Durant with Fire Fang, you'd have wanted to set up Drapion instead of Cloyster if you're really trying to get a long streak instead of racking up BP. If the trainer can't have Quagsire as backup and the Truant Pokemon doesn't use have a means of KOing itself through Explosion, High Jump Kick, or a status orb before Drapion is all the way set up, you have a 100% assured victory.

Battle 536: XRHW-WWWW-WWWY-QH44

Articuno 4 blocks 4 Entrainments with Protect en route to 2HKOing with Blizzard. The one nice thing about leads that use Protect this often to screw over Durant is that they're not as likely to go on the offensive. Since Articuno's Tailwind had petered out the turn before, I knew it was going to use it again and get a free Sub for Drapion its first turn out. After stalling out the 3 remaining Blizzards, Articuno can't damage it. Outside of maybe the hail Chefs, Veterans are probably the worst trainers for the Cloyster-Chomp combo to try to take on 2v3.

Battle 539: SRKW-WWWW-WWWY-QH6C

Jynx leads off here, a Pokemon that you have a good chance of running into given its presence on the smaller rosters of Hex Maniacs and the hail team Chefs - in fact, I'd seen it a couple times earlier in the streak but forgot to save the battle. Normal protocol against a Fake Out lead is to just sacrifice the non-essential team member to it so Durant can come back in and use Entrainment (you don't want to just keep Durant in on Jynx because it can put you to sleep or freeze you with Blizzard, which can 2HKO, on turn 2). While that's better than not using Entrainment at all, a 1-2 punch of Quick Claw/priority/Rock Blast miss/hax item miss/Slowbro/Empoleon from the backups can finish you off. With this team, Drapion switches in on the Fake Out, Protects against Blizzard #1, survives Blizzard #2 to set up a Sub, Protects against Blizzard #3, tries to double Protect and fails against Blizzard #4, and switches out for Jynx's last Blizzard. This can go more smoothly if Jynx misses a Blizzard/double Protect works or can require a bit more switching if Blizzard freezes Drapion, but the key is that Jynx has 5 PP worth of attacks that can damage Drapion, and after that you're in the driver's seat.

Battle 564 (loss): ANQG-WWWW-WWWY-QH7F vs. Ace Trainer Nikita

Mienshao used Fake Out! Durant flinched!
Durant is loafing around! Mienshao used High Jump Kick! Durant fainted!

This Durant has 164 HP. Fake Out's maximum damage is 13. High Jump Kick's maximum damage is 151 (provided Mienshao has Reckless, a 1 in 3 chance).

This is where you could come in and say "That's why you need to have Durant's speed lower and more defenses!" but that's where I would say "True if I were really trying to optimize this team rather than just rack up BP, but a 4/16ths followed by a 1/16th damage roll (even with no critical hits) is less likely than having a Reckless Mienshao get a critical hit on turn 2, in which case no amount of defensive investment is going to save you."

So here comes the first time in the streak I have to say yolo and go for a Cloyster sweep against a non-Truant opponent. I catch quite a break with Mienshao missing HJK, so Cloyster takes it out at +2 with its Focus Sash intact. Note here that Mienshao and Medicham are in the same boat as Fake Out leads where switching something in and sacrificing it so Durant can use Entrainment isn't the best plan because you'll only get one turn of boosting off with your final team member before Medicham/Mienshao takes itself out by using High Jump Kick as you Protect. Also, these two are almost equally likely to HJK on turn 1 against Durant, which is why staying in is the best play.

This is where laziness in just using previously-bred stuff really kicks in. My Adamant, non-invested Cloyster's +2 Surf fails to OHKO the Volcarona that comes in second when a Naughty Surf with just 4 throwaway EVs has a 50% chance to KO. I'm hearing the "bet you wish you had Rock Blast," but Volcarona is actually one of the very Pokemon where Surf helps; even when Cloyster's +6, it has about an 8.5% chance of failing to KO 252/252+ Volcarona with Icicle Spear (factoring in damage rolls and none of the 5 hits being a crit) and a 10% chance of evading Rock Blast. The Surf KO would obviously be guaranteed at +6 and +4, and since there's no real point to a Cloyster on these types of teams having max speed when it's still outrun by Scarf Entei and Manectric at +2 and doesn't need any investment at all to outrun everything at +4 you could conceivably dump enough EVs to guarantee a +2 Surf KO. Volcarona uses Heat Wave and doesn't burn Cloyster, so the outcome to this point is identical to if Mienshao had connected with High Jump Kick and Cloyster had Rock Blast and didn't miss with it against Volcarona.

Absol comes out 3rd and you guessed it, avoids Icicle Spear with Bright Powder. If Drapion gets a Sub up without being burned, it can pull off the win since it just has to stall out Absol's 5 Punishments (even a 100 BP one is more likely than not to not break a Sub). Unfortunately, Drapion got hit by Swagger and hit itself the first turn out, and a subsequent Will-o-Wisp sealed its fate. That Absol would have played directly into a Lum Garchomp's hands provided Bright Powder didn't continue activating, but I'll take the several earlier battles Drapion pulled out. Actually, I'd rather take going thousands of battles without running into the hax that prevents Durant from using Entrainment rather than encountering it 8-10 times in 514 battles, but that's what you have to deal with in the real world.

Here's the actual team I used - it's what I'd recommend to someone who just wants to grind BP or get the Lansat/Starf Berry as quickly as possible. You have the primary "Truant Cloyster +6 lol easy" mode that takes a little under 2 minutes from the beginning of one battle to the beginning of the next, and Drapion is mostly identical to Garchomp in terms of "thing that wastes Sand Stream turns so Cloyster's Sash doesn't break," "thing that takes the last bit of health off the 3rd Pokemon if both the 2nd and 3rd mons are really bulky Ice resists," and "thing you can switch in to most Perish Song and Fake Out leads so Durant can eventually use Entrainment and Cloyster doesn't lose its Focus Sash," while also being a more guaranteed victory if the opponent's lead KOs or otherwise incapacitates Durant the turn it uses Entrainment.

Durant | Choice Scarf | Jolly
244 HP | 12 Def | 252 Spe EVs for the 971 streak: 220 HP|64 Def|228 Spe with Protect instead of Rock Slide
-Entrainment
-X-Scissor
-Rock Slide
-Iron Head

Same stuff as always. Didn't change the EVs from my Glalie team because lazy, but if you're relying on lead Durant to always be successful in using Entrainment, you don't need to outspeed any +2 Blazikens so go ahead and drop it down to outspeeding the Scarf Manectric. Since the only time you will actually be using an attack is to KO the 4x weak Exeggutor with X-Scissor, you can take a guess as to how to allocate the remaining EVs. Go crazy with what you have as the last 2 attacks. Protect is fine if the lead is Slaking or something that Traces Truant, but you can switch Drapion directly into Slaking (Night Slash) or Gardevoir (Focus Blast) and either start setting it up or go to Cloyster. Porygon2 is never on the same team as Quagsire, so you can go ahead and let Durant take the Thunder Wave or whatever and set up Drapion for the free win. Confide is another option that Turskain has mentioned before to help deal with Speed Boost Yanmega leads (both Yanmega leads I faced in this run had Frisk - that is just luck), but I was too lazy to look for the TM in Omega Ruby.

Cloyster | Focus Sash | Adamant
252 Atk | 252 Spe | 4 HP For the 971 streak: Naughty, 252 Atk| 84 SpA| 164 Spe
-Shell Smash
-Protect
-Icicle Spear
-Surf

Just want to stress again that the 4th move is very negotiable. If you're playing this team for a long streak, you should probably only set up Cloyster against teams that you can just roll through with Icicle Spear only (or if you need to set up quickly because of Explosion, of course). For example, not being able to touch Walrein or Dewgong doesn't matter because Drapion can set up on them even if they take out Cloyster - Lapras is something that could potentially take out Cloyster with Body Slam and Drapion with Perish Song, so if Durant's KOed you can set up Drapion instead if you want to be cautious. Surf gets a nice guaranteed KO on stuff like Barbaracle, Volcarona, non-Sash Entei and Heatran, and non-Sturdy Avalugg, Bastiodon, and Aggron. I know Focus Sash gives an "extra life," if Rock Blast misses, but it's already easy enough to use up that extra life elsewhere on Sand Stream, Quick Claw, Bright Powder, priority, and so on. If one of those Pokemon comes up 3rd when Cloyster has 1 HP remaining, I'd rather be guaranteed to either kill it or knock it down to 1 HP and have something else finish it off than have a 10% chance of it surviving at full health. Also, in the scheme of grinding out fast wins with Cloyster, it can be nice to KO something with a single +6 Surf rather than deal with all the "Hit 4 times! It's not very effective.... X ate its Sitrus Berry!" kind of stuff.

Regardless, I hope the replays I've posted have demonstrated that a team with Durant and two Protect sweepers is much, much more likely to lose because bad luck against a Fake Out/Protect/hax item lead preventing Durant from using Entrainment than because a +6 Cloyster with Focus Sash wasn't able to get the job done.

Here are some Special Attack EV benchmarks I've found (with a Naughty nature) that would help Cloyster guarantee certain KOs with Surf it wouldn't get normally, or if Rock Blast were to miss

76: Chandelure 4 at +2
92: Volcarona 4 at +2
124: Non-Sash Heatran at +2
220: Thick Fat Hariyama at +6

Drapion | Leftovers | Adamant
252 HP | 252 Atk | 4 SpD
-Substitute
-Protect
-Acupressure
-Knock Off

VaporeonIce's Drapion is the closest thing to a guaranteed win in the Maison when set up. Cloyster covers its vulnerability to leads that use Explosion too quickly because being able to get to to +2 or +4 with a Sash is better than something like Gyarados or Salamence getting to +2 or +1 with a Sub (even before factoring in the Sturdy, Focus Sash, or contact abilities that can screw the latter two over); it also helps make battles quicker when the lead is something like Gyarados or Swampert that can force Drapion to use Protect every other turn while setting up if it's not getting some help from evasion. Leftovers over Black Sludge because stealing a Black Sludge from one of those Grimers on the Fiery Path was too hard. Here are a few leads with Protect or Fake Out that Drapion can easily set up against if they manage to prevent Durant from Entraining: Venusaur, Meganium, Torterra, Samurott, Shiftry, Tauros, Abomasnow, Cradily, Shuckle, Roserade, Zoroark, Jynx, Tentacruel, Kingdra, Unfezant, Glaceon, Leafeon, Regice 3, Articuno 4, and Registeel 4.


Strategy against some problem leads that I didn't show in replays:
Mismagius/Lapras: Switch directly to Drapion. If they didn't use Mean Look/Block on you, try to get a Substitute up and stall until they use Perish song so Drapion can switch out on the last Perish Song turn. If you're trapped, start using Knock Off to make them easier for Cloyster to handle later on, but don't use Knock Off on the last turn of Perish Song; you just have to let Drapion faint because if it KOs the switch in, the Perish Song lead will come right back in.

Kangaskhan: Switch Drapion in on the Fake Out and spam Knock Off. You will likely be Endeavored down to 1/4 of Kanga's HP as you KO it. By then you've seen 2/3rds of the team and should know which of Drapion or Cloyster you should sacrifice to let Durant do its thing. Sure, the 2nd Pokemon could be another Protect/Detect/Fake Out lead that Drapion can no longer deal with, but that's just the risk you take.

Meganium/Venusaur/Roserade: You don't need to wait until Durant is KOed. Once it's Leech Seeded Durant, you can go ahead and switch in Drapion because the AI won't be using Leech Seed again.

Floatzel: If its first 3 turns are Protect/Waterfall/Protect, switch to Cloyster to take the incoming Waterfall then switch back to Durant. It will either use Low Kick or Protect, freeing you to try another Entrainment without worrying about an Aqua Jet KO. After that, set up Drapion.

Bright Powder/Quick Claw/Lax Incense: If Walrein, Glaceon, Unfezant, Gothitelle, or Dugtrio KO Durant without allowing a successful Entrainment, Drapion can set up. If Lati@s or Regigigas avoid a couple Entrainments, switch to Drapion and try to get it Knocked Off.

Yanmega: If it broadcasts having the ability Frisk, congrats - you can probably get Entrainment off on them. Otherwise, switch to Cloyster. Yanmega will likely use Detect. If that happened and the Yanmega has Speed Boost, hit it with a +0 Icicle Spear to get it off the field. If Cloyster comes in on Detect and Yanmega doesn't Speed Boost, Shell Smash then Icicle Spear. If Cloyster's hit on the switch, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Go for the Icicle Spear until it faints and then hope that Entrainment works. If that fails, maybe Drapion can pull a nice Evasion or Special Defense boost out of its ass.

Other than that, just pay attention to the trainers you're fighting in the event that Durant gets KOed or incapacitated to the point where it can't come in for a 2nd Entrainment. Off the top of my mind, Unaware Quagsire, Cobalion, Metagross, Slowbro, Empoleon, Aggron, Probopass, Registeel, Poliwrath and Thick Fat Hariyama can take a hit from +6 Cloyster, so if you see a lot of those Pokemon combined with Quick Claw, priority, and evasion items on the trainer's roster, you may want to take a little more time and set up Drapion. One nice thing is that Drapion just needs a Sub and +2 in Speed, Accuracy, and Attack to guarantee a win against any Hex Maniac, so it won't always take 21 Acupressure boosts.


This streak was on ORAS and eclipses my highest listed streak, but I had a 576 Super Singles streak quite a while back when using the Glalie team which I never got around to posting because it was just dumb. UNYG-WWWW-WWWY-TKGN shows the loss. It was similar to my previous 500+ loss with the Glalie team, just zoned out and on the 2nd turn out of 15,000+ during the streak in which Glalie took a hit with no Substitute, it had -2 Special Defense and +0 Evasion after 20+ turns of Moody boosts and a -2 Accuracy Alakazam 1 OHKOed it with Psychic.
 
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What's the generally best thing to do if I get Swaggered (or other statuses like sleep for that matter)? I nearly lost a match because I hit myself 5 times in a row across two different Pokemon. It seems like the AI loves to employ hax strats.

EDIT: And life orb Tauros Giga Impact strats...also nearly destroyed me.
 
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What's the generally best thing to do if I get Swaggered (or other statuses like sleep for that matter)? I nearly lost a match because I hit myself 5 times in a row across two different Pokemon. It seems like the AI loves to employ hax strats.

EDIT: And life orb Tauros Giga Impact strats...also nearly destroyed me.
You're probably better off switching. Best bet against status is substitute and/or lum berry in general.
 
Well, FML. Battle 41 hits and suddenly legends:



I'm sure I could have done something to prevent this. I must have made a newbie mistake somewhere.

M6BG-WWWW-WWWJ-ACEQ if anyone feels like looking.

I'm not giving up, but the sudden difficulty spike is making me want to change things up, possibly swap Garchomp in for Latios, maybe include MegaKang after all if I really have to.
 

Lumari

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Well, FML. Battle 41 hits and suddenly legends:



I'm sure I could have done something to prevent this. I must have made a newbie mistake somewhere.

M6BG-WWWW-WWWJ-ACEQ if anyone feels like looking.

I'm not giving up, but the sudden difficulty spike is making me want to change things up, possibly swap Garchomp in for Latios, maybe include MegaKang after all if I really have to.
couple of things:
-it might have been more prudent to straight up attack against Tornadus. Confusion hax from Hurricane happens, and that way you'll at least inflict a decent amount of damage in a worst-case scenario. Scizor isn't gonna sweep the entire team then, but you'll at least have the upper hand and Latios and especially Azumarill can handle a lot of stuff in a 2v2 scenario. Kind of a personal preference, so not a major point.
-you should have sacked Scizor against Heatran, in order not to have Latios take unnecessary damage. Scizor's only use would (likely) be to revenge kill something with BP afterwards, but for that you have Azu's Aqua Jet anyway. Additionally, it might have been wise to run some calcs for Heatran vs. Latios, then you would have seen that Latios beats Heatran one-on-one but can't reliably switch in on it. If Latios had beaten Heatran, Latios+(bulky) Azu usually beats an unknown last mon. That brings me to my last point:
-I recommend you use this Azumarill set:
Azumarill @ Wide Lens (missing Play Rough sucks, seriously)
-Waterfall
-Play Rough
-Superpower
-Aqua Jet
nature: Adamant
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 12 SpD / 4 Spe (maximises power+bulk, puts Azu at 71 Speed and lets it outspeed a ton of stuff that sits at 70 Speed, and makes SpD > Def in order to give the Porygons the wrong Download boost).

My main gripe with Belly Drum is that it's a bit hard to set up, at least too hard to perform consistently in the maison, where consistency is the most important thing ever. You see, Azumarill's main draw is that he beats an absurd amount of stuff one-on-one (it's honestly disgusting how good this thing is lol, I use Azu on my triples team as a secondary blanket check) in addition to finishing off a lot of things with Aqua Jet, but for that he really needs his bulk because his speed is kinda unsalvageable. This spread allows Azu to do the following:

252 SpA Raikou Thunderbolt vs. 236 HP / 12 SpD Azumarill: 168-198 (81.9 - 96.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Play Rough vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raikou: 120-142 (72.7 - 86%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ Atk Huge Power Azumarill Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Raikou: 54-64 (32.7 - 38.7%) -- 98.6% chance to 3HKO

So yeah, barring hax Azu beats three of the maison's Raikou sets one-on-one (including the one you faced, and tbh he probably beats Raikou2 as well because that set is kinda weak but I don't feel like calcing it now.)

But honestly, your team even in its current form is solid and should certainly be able to beat the chatelaine. This battle was just a matter of thinking more ahead (i.e. that Latios wouldn't be able to switch in on Heatran)
 
Legends will be a fairly regular sight from 41-onward, and the majority of your opponents not called Veterans will use Set 4 pokes exclusively, so it's a good idea to consider what your team will do against those sets.

Have you been cross-referencing with trainer and moveset charts? Those lists of info, as well as the numbers you get from damage calcs, can be really helpful to your success. You'll know immediately if a confrontation will only end in death for you, and if a poke isn't expendable (ie you haven't seen their whole lineup) it helps you narrow down your options.

If you do bring Mega Kangaskhan, I recommend against also dumping Latios, because MK is still badly threatened by a number of enemies that are faster than both it and Garchomp. Particularly Mienshao and Terrakion, who will easily OHKO her with STAB moves. Garchomp may be able to trade hits and come out the victor, but High Jump Kick and Close Combat/Sacred Sword/etc (especially if Terrakion has boosted itself, which some sets can do) will inflict more than 50% HP on offensive builds, and Garchomp can't afford to switch into those moves for it and still emerge victorious.

Latios can't switch into Banded Terrakion's Stone Edge, but it otherwise checks faster Fighting types very nicely and would be a big help to MK. Aegislash also teams well with MK for the same reason.
 
Battled Nita yesterday in Super Singles to unlock Wally and apparently she will choice-lock herself: 4WDG-WWWW-WWWJ-AU4G

Just sharing since I thought it was funny.
 
I'll try another streak with my current team, but I'm preparing a Mega Kang just in case. Honestly, I had started to think that my choice in switching out Scizor was poor. I should have sacked him like you said with BP and brought a full health Latios in instead.

EDIT: Ahaha, good god...another problem I just realized I had while re-training Azumarill's EVs is that I accidently trained him in Special Attack instead of Attack somehow. If I had trained him correctly I would have had much less problems. Probably the attack alone wouldn't be enough to have saved me though...I'm still working on bulking him up.
 
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Battled Nita yesterday in Super Singles to unlock Wally and apparently she will choice-lock herself: 4WDG-WWWW-WWWJ-AU4G

Just sharing since I thought it was funny.
Yeah, the only time it will switch is if its locked into a move with no effect, like if you had switched to a ghost type on its focus blast.
 
Hey everyone 1st time posting here on Smogon (even though I have lurked for years) but I wanted to share my super doubles team that is currently sitting at 200 wins.

Swampert @ Mega Stone
Nature: Adamant
Torrent -> Swift Swim
4Hp / 252Atk / 252Spe
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Protect

As soon as I saw that my favorite gen 3 starter was getting a Mega I knew I wanted to make a team with it. I don't see any reason to run a different set, Protect is a must to receive the speed boost on turn 2 in most fights, Waterfall+EQ are the obvious stabs and Ice Punch rounds off the coverage nicely.



Politoad @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
Drizzle
4Hp / 252SpA / 252Spe
- Scald
- Hidden Power (Grass)
- Ice Beam
- Rain Dance

Pretty standard rain setter stuff here. Choice Scarf because the speed is often needed. I chose Scald>Hydro Pump because 1 I don't like to miss 2 even though you should never rely on hax the random burns are nice. Rain Dance is for facing other weather setters which is a huge help even though I either have to switch it out or just let it die afterwards. I'm considering Perish Song>HP Grass since I never really use it and Perish Song could kill or force switches on annoying Double team pokes and other pokes like that.



Thunderous-T @ Focus Sash
Nature: Timid
Volt Absorb
4Hp / 252SpA / 252Spe
- Thunder
- Dark Pulse
- Grass Knot
- Protect

Originally this was going to be a Zapdos but I really wanted a safe electric switch in for politoad while having atleast one poke immune to Swampert EQs. After seeing how similar Syndrome445's rain team was I thought I'd give Thunderous a go. I chose timid for speed and Dark pulse because I thought it would be a good move to have and I didn't see too much of a need for HP flying or ice (the random flinches have helped a few times as well).



Scizor @ Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
Technician
244Hp / 252Atk / 12Spe
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Swords Dance
- Protect

Scizor kills Storm Drain Cradily... Yup that is its true purpose on this team as well as being a pretty safe switch into any grass attack. The set is very standard because standard Scizor is good especially in rain. The Evs are from Jumpman16's Mega Scizor since I tried it out for my super singles trophy and has worked out really well although I have been thinking about adding some speed but the bulk has helped a lot.


So that is my team it feels pretty solid even though you have to be fairly careful while using it. I'll add some battle vids later as well as my teams from my other streaks.
 

NoCheese

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If you do bring Mega Kangaskhan, I recommend against also dumping Latios, because MK is still badly threatened by a number of enemies that are faster than both it and Garchomp. Particularly Mienshao and Terrakion, who will easily OHKO her with STAB moves.
Terrakion is indeed a huge threat to Mega Kangaskhan, but Mienshao after battle 40 is much less of a problem, because Mienshao4 is Impish and so is outsped by Kanga.
 
Guys, I seriously need your help, please. Yesterday, I was on the way to reach the trophy in Super Triples. I used the team by Eppie. There were some close battles but I could cope...
Until the 20th battle. It was devastating. A Granbull constantly used Wild Charge and wiped out my three leads in a few turns. I wasn't able to deal any damage because a Kangaskhan
used Rock Slide, causing my Mega Blastoise to flinch three times in a row! After my leads were gone, I Rage-Quitted and turned off the 3DS. Then I learned the lesson that the streak is gone
if you do this. But I wouldn't have made it, anyways.

Where is the wonderful, AI abusing team for Super Triples? For Super Singles, I had the TruAnt/Cloyster team and for Super Doubles, I had the Trick Room Dusclops/Endeavor Aron team
and they worked beautifully. Could you please give me a nice team like this for Super Triples? Eppie's team sure is great, but I guess I can't handle it well.

Thank you very much!
 

NoCheese

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is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Until the 20th battle. It was devastating. A Granbull constantly used Wild Charge and wiped out my three leads in a few turns. I wasn't able to deal any damage because a Kangaskhan
used Rock Slide, causing my Mega Blastoise to flinch three times in a row!
Your standard first turn is Mat Block / Water Spout / Tailwind. Mat Block means slower stuff won't hit you the first turn, and Tailwind means Blastoise outruns everything for the next three turns. Start battles like this, and flinching from stuff slower than Greninja (other than priority Fake Out) is no longer a problem.
 
Guys, I seriously need your help, please. Yesterday, I was on the way to reach the trophy in Super Triples. I used the team by Eppie. There were some close battles but I could cope...
Until the 20th battle. It was devastating. A Granbull constantly used Wild Charge and wiped out my three leads in a few turns. I wasn't able to deal any damage because a Kangaskhan
used Rock Slide, causing my Mega Blastoise to flinch three times in a row! After my leads were gone, I Rage-Quitted and turned off the 3DS. Then I learned the lesson that the streak is gone
if you do this. But I wouldn't have made it, anyways.

Where is the wonderful, AI abusing team for Super Triples? For Super Singles, I had the TruAnt/Cloyster team and for Super Doubles, I had the Trick Room Dusclops/Endeavor Aron team
and they worked beautifully. Could you please give me a nice team like this for Super Triples? Eppie's team sure is great, but I guess I can't handle it well.

Thank you very much!
Was the Kangaskhan a Fake Out user? If it couldn't hit Talonflame, you'd want to set up Tailwind, protect with Mega Blastoise, and Mat Block with Greninja. Alternatively, you could double Protect with Talonflame/Blastoise and attack with Greninja T1, then set up tailwind and attack with Blastoise. Granbull will probably hit either Talonflame or Greninja.

Alternatively, you can re-breed Talonflame for Quick Guard. In that case, Quick Guard-Water Spout-Mat Block T1 followed by Tailwind-Protect-Attack something should win that. The key is to always get Tailwind up so as to make flinch hax irrelevant.
 

NoCheese

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth!"
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Since it was battle 20, it should be Kangaskhan2: Rock Slide / Sucker Punch / Endure / Reversal. So no need to even use fancy plays to get around Fake Out. Just use your standard opening three moves and you'll be set.
 
I did this, but this Granbull was indeed faster and wiped everything off with Wild Charge. I always used Tailwind, Water Spout and Mat Block as first turn, just like Eppie described it, but it didn't help here.
I'm sorry that I don't have a video now. Furthermore, I like fancy plans and gimmicks, so I'd also like to try them. There's a Super Triples team with Endeavor Aron
that I found on Youtube back then. It works, too, but I found that the Mega Blastoise team was more efficient.
 
Damn, Life Orb Medicham is scary. He crit my Azumarill and came close to OHKOing Mega Scizor (I had to calculate it to see if I could even live against that thing). This place really starts to get merciless on you after 30.
 

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