If only, I have a near flawless (27 Spe IV) Bold Celebi from the Pokebank event that will never be used..
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3v3 Singles Metagame Discussion Thread [The Pentagon is back!!]
- Thread starter Hulavuta
- Start date
I don't think any of these can take many hits aside from Amoonguss, Lopunny has that ridiculously powerful Normal STAB too. I don't see Mega Aggron doing much to Rotom either with that burn :(
I had considered Venusaur but I didn't think it could stand up to Lopunny's Return. I checked the Nugget Bridge calculator and it looks like Return does between 36.8% and 43.8% which is a 3HKO, and I can heal up at the same time with Giga Drain so I guess it's not too bad. My chances of finding a Pokemon that can flat-out wall Lopunny were slim anyway so this seems pretty good. I don't have a mega on my team yet anyway, although I was considering Blaziken.
Cresselia seems like a good choice too, actually the only reason I didn't use it is because it wasn't trained yet, but it is now so I guess I'll try it if Venusaur doesn't work out.
I'm not too worried about Mega Salamence as I have a lot of Thunder Wave on my team, as well as priority and a sash Garchomp so I can always get that Outrage off at the end.
Thanks!
I'm gonna try to steal this core's effectiveness for another team too, although not with Lopunny 'cause I hate that thing. Gonna switch it with some other physical attacker, maybe good ol' Kanga lol.
Celebi is illegal.
Also, defensive Mega Venusaur with Leech Seed is great do deal with them as you can't be Tricked by choiced Rotoms and you can 1v1 Lopunny.
However, encore and sub variants might prove to be much for defensive Mega Saur if played well so be wary.
Mega Latias (I wrote an entire nation of text in one of the threads victim of week i think) also doesn't care about Rotom-W and is bulky enough to 1v1 Lopunny as it can 1v1 Knock Off Mega-Blaziken so Mega Lopunny, that has significantly lower base Attack even with a slightly stronger super effective move in Ice Punch and barely different base power neutral stab return, should be no trouble.
Chesnaught Breloom and Amoonguss are all cool in their own ways as well as CM Reuniclus and a Cresselia with Psychic stab except encore and Trick can hinder em as well.
Special Mega Altaria is a common mid-high ladder Mon and it also deals very well with these 2 with the right spread (bulky). I like Dragon Dance more personally but then Will-O becomes an issue. Facade can cover that problem up but then move slot syndrome since Facade damage output is too low without status boost so 2 normal type moves become ideal IMO but yeah Fairy is great neutral stab so it's fine at the end of the day with a well-built team even if you run only monotype attacking moves. I wouldn't run Facade dd m-Altaria so I'd say go Special.
On that note, Facade DD Mega Salamence is great and is what I currently am using (I have I think at least 2 videos uploaded so far that are very illustrative of its effectiveness)
but you would have to play around Lopunny smartly so as to avoid getting KOd by it before DDing up. I run Facade and Double-Edge because Facade turns the annoying lil crapper rotom-w into a "plssss press will-o" mon as well as other bulky waters with Scald to "pls get the burn" mons and eq deals very very nicely to complement flying stab which only really leaves rocky helmet ferrothorns a pain which the team should weaken before hand or KO entirely before setting up anyway. Also, double-edge is already an ohko button especially at plus 1 but not even necessary to dd so Facade fits perfectly unlike Altaria who doesn't have access to such a single lethal attack so Return and Facade on same moveset might feel repetitive.
Also, defensive Mega Venusaur with Leech Seed is great do deal with them as you can't be Tricked by choiced Rotoms and you can 1v1 Lopunny.
However, encore and sub variants might prove to be much for defensive Mega Saur if played well so be wary.
Mega Latias (I wrote an entire nation of text in one of the threads victim of week i think) also doesn't care about Rotom-W and is bulky enough to 1v1 Lopunny as it can 1v1 Knock Off Mega-Blaziken so Mega Lopunny, that has significantly lower base Attack even with a slightly stronger super effective move in Ice Punch and barely different base power neutral stab return, should be no trouble.
Chesnaught Breloom and Amoonguss are all cool in their own ways as well as CM Reuniclus and a Cresselia with Psychic stab except encore and Trick can hinder em as well.
Special Mega Altaria is a common mid-high ladder Mon and it also deals very well with these 2 with the right spread (bulky). I like Dragon Dance more personally but then Will-O becomes an issue. Facade can cover that problem up but then move slot syndrome since Facade damage output is too low without status boost so 2 normal type moves become ideal IMO but yeah Fairy is great neutral stab so it's fine at the end of the day with a well-built team even if you run only monotype attacking moves. I wouldn't run Facade dd m-Altaria so I'd say go Special.
On that note, Facade DD Mega Salamence is great and is what I currently am using (I have I think at least 2 videos uploaded so far that are very illustrative of its effectiveness)
but you would have to play around Lopunny smartly so as to avoid getting KOd by it before DDing up. I run Facade and Double-Edge because Facade turns the annoying lil crapper rotom-w into a "plssss press will-o" mon as well as other bulky waters with Scald to "pls get the burn" mons and eq deals very very nicely to complement flying stab which only really leaves rocky helmet ferrothorns a pain which the team should weaken before hand or KO entirely before setting up anyway. Also, double-edge is already an ohko button especially at plus 1 but not even necessary to dd so Facade fits perfectly unlike Altaria who doesn't have access to such a single lethal attack so Return and Facade on same moveset might feel repetitive.
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Nice suggestion GroudonEmpire, I totally forgot about Latias. Gotta remove its Calm Mind moves and EVs though and make it more offensive though, haha. Dunno if I wanna use Mega Latias though, but I guess I'll try it if I have to.
Forgot Celebi was banned too, although I don't have a good one so there was never a chance of me using it anyway!
Forgot Celebi was banned too, although I don't have a good one so there was never a chance of me using it anyway!
Calm Mind Mega Latias is pretty legit though, what set were you thinking of running instead?
(was I not obvious enough in my last post about Celebi? lol)
So cant say, I finally tried out Analytic Porygon2, and I'm probably gonna put it on the analysis. It's pretty good, guess you're vindicated:P
Seriously though, it was pulling some nice stunts such as 2HKOing Mega Charizard X with Tri Attack. This pretty much means that with Steath Rock, Charizard can't set up on Analytic Porygon2, which is awesome.
Believe it or not though, Modest is an ok nature on it too. The main thing about Modest is that you outspeed Mega Mawile. At first you may think "man that makes it worse", but it works out better if you hit it on the switch, because Knock Off + Play Rough will murder Porygon2.
Also, maybe its just me but I feel like Mega Gengar + Wobbuffet usage continues to rise. I LOVE the combination myself, and really want to make a more stable team around it. Wobbuffet and Mega Gengar are nightmares together against stall teams. It really makes running Tyranitar or something important when you're using stall.
Speaking of Wobbuffet, Custap Wobbuffet has been working out very well. I've managed to beat some rather high ranking players on Singles and Special because they didn't see it coming. Of course, the beauty of Custap is that even if you see it coming, a lot of Pokemon are sorta helpless to stop it. Sitrus might fit on more teams better, but Custap certainly is no joke. This brings me to my final thought before I get studying again: I am tempted to make a new Wobboffense core with Belly Drum Azumarill. Since I'm using Custap Wobbuffet, I might as well give Belly Drum Azumarill a shot since it can have Sitrus again!
Maybe I'll even go as far as trying out Slurpuff and risk torpedoing my rating next season. I did get a perfect one of those in a give away recently! I expect that lacking priority is a huge bummer for it though, and it unlike Azumarill, if you don't get a Belly Drum off, Slurpuff sounds sorta lame. Still, I gotta give it a try somewhere besides rotations...
EDIT: Forgot to mention: Hulavuta , if I recall, one of the top (maybe even highest ranking) team two seasons ago on the 3DS ladder used Calm Mind Mega Latias. It was something like Calm Mind / Psyshock / Substitute / Recover. Apprently it owned a lot of teams that weren't carrying Dark-types.
Seriously though, it was pulling some nice stunts such as 2HKOing Mega Charizard X with Tri Attack. This pretty much means that with Steath Rock, Charizard can't set up on Analytic Porygon2, which is awesome.
Believe it or not though, Modest is an ok nature on it too. The main thing about Modest is that you outspeed Mega Mawile. At first you may think "man that makes it worse", but it works out better if you hit it on the switch, because Knock Off + Play Rough will murder Porygon2.
Also, maybe its just me but I feel like Mega Gengar + Wobbuffet usage continues to rise. I LOVE the combination myself, and really want to make a more stable team around it. Wobbuffet and Mega Gengar are nightmares together against stall teams. It really makes running Tyranitar or something important when you're using stall.
Speaking of Wobbuffet, Custap Wobbuffet has been working out very well. I've managed to beat some rather high ranking players on Singles and Special because they didn't see it coming. Of course, the beauty of Custap is that even if you see it coming, a lot of Pokemon are sorta helpless to stop it. Sitrus might fit on more teams better, but Custap certainly is no joke. This brings me to my final thought before I get studying again: I am tempted to make a new Wobboffense core with Belly Drum Azumarill. Since I'm using Custap Wobbuffet, I might as well give Belly Drum Azumarill a shot since it can have Sitrus again!
Maybe I'll even go as far as trying out Slurpuff and risk torpedoing my rating next season. I did get a perfect one of those in a give away recently! I expect that lacking priority is a huge bummer for it though, and it unlike Azumarill, if you don't get a Belly Drum off, Slurpuff sounds sorta lame. Still, I gotta give it a try somewhere besides rotations...
EDIT: Forgot to mention: Hulavuta , if I recall, one of the top (maybe even highest ranking) team two seasons ago on the 3DS ladder used Calm Mind Mega Latias. It was something like Calm Mind / Psyshock / Substitute / Recover. Apprently it owned a lot of teams that weren't carrying Dark-types.
Yeah, I do have that set but I never got it to work for me, maybe 'cause I was only using regular Latias, haha. Not really a fan of Mega Latias so I've been more inclined to make regular Latias work. It looks like non Calm Mind offensive sets get a little bit of usage. The Calm Mind set does seem really fun to use though (not to mention I've already EVd her for it) so I'm gonna give that another shot.
I've tried giving Hippo Rocky Helmet and putting LO Terrakion on (I gave Greninja the Expert Belt). Terrakion seems pretty good, at least in that he frees Hippo from having to run Smooth Rock. However, what sort of moveset should I try on it? I currently have CC/EQ/Rock Slide/SD, but I haven't gotten any chances to use SD yet, so is there a better move?
EDIT: Whoops! Wrong topic! I meant to post this in the RMT thread
EDIT: Whoops! Wrong topic! I meant to post this in the RMT thread
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There are quite a few interesting options here. You can try Quick Attack for some extremely weak priority, but it can be useful in some situations. There aren't many Pokemon that are faster than Terrakion that you'd want to use it on though, Talonflame already has priority and Scizor resists, so I don't know how great of an option that is. Perhaps against Scarfers, although they're not too common.
Taunt and Stealth Rock are good options too, depending on your team and if they want to have that sort of thing. Taunt can be useful against Sub users like Gliscor (although it'll still die to Gliscor's attacks) and other defensive/stall mons. Both of these options are pretty good if you're having trouble with stall I suppose.
Gonna bump this with a question: what do you guys usually do as far as scouting for the opponent's team? I usually find I never really have a "free" or "safe" turn and I just assume his team based on synergy with the current Pokemon rather than knowing for sure. For example, last night I played against a guy who led with a Sableye, so I assumed that he had brought Chansey as well, and he happened to switch out to it immediately. I figure it might be a little more difficult with more offensive teams though.
I've had one successful ORAS team: the one that I used last season to get a decent ranking, and so far since then most of my teams have been kinda failing hard, lol. I think I'm actually gonna steal that 2215 team that Jibaku posted a few months ago, since I have all those Pokemon.
I've had one successful ORAS team: the one that I used last season to get a decent ranking, and so far since then most of my teams have been kinda failing hard, lol. I think I'm actually gonna steal that 2215 team that Jibaku posted a few months ago, since I have all those Pokemon.
I felt like U-turn / Volt Switch tends to do good with scouting (hence why I mentioned it a lot in analyses lol).
Choice Scarf Landorus-T and Trick Scarf Rotom-W are probably my favorite ones, and sometimes Ive used Mega Manectric when I have the mega slot open. I've also used Focus Sash Landorus-T, who can reveal scarfers which is cool.
Also, Blaziken tends to do this pretty well. The Protect + Speed Boost forces quite a few switches, so you can use Blaziken to try and force your opponent to reveal pieces of your team.
Focus Sashers like Breloom can work well too, though the lead match up metagame can be annoying against some teams.
Choice Scarf Landorus-T and Trick Scarf Rotom-W are probably my favorite ones, and sometimes Ive used Mega Manectric when I have the mega slot open. I've also used Focus Sash Landorus-T, who can reveal scarfers which is cool.
Also, Blaziken tends to do this pretty well. The Protect + Speed Boost forces quite a few switches, so you can use Blaziken to try and force your opponent to reveal pieces of your team.
Focus Sashers like Breloom can work well too, though the lead match up metagame can be annoying against some teams.
I bred myself a wobbuffet and perish trap Gengar, expecting to have some evil fun. Instead my rating has plummeted. Everyone seems to be prepared for this, has this duo already had it's brief time in the spotlight on battle spot? Major thorns-in-the-side include mega heracross, other gengars, and trick room users. Any tips for how to use this duo more effectively? Typically Gengar is killed too quickly. I am running ps/protect/sub/shadow ball. Should I use destiny bond over shadow ball?
Generally, I felt like it was key to note when NOT to use both at the same time. I noticed that some teams that prepared for both at the same time could get screwed up hard if you say, used Wobbuffet and Mega Charizard X together instead. Generally, against really offensive teams, I'd bring Wobbuffet (unless their team was slow), while against Trick Room teams / Teams that rely on very specfic defensive mons, I'd bring Wobbuffet + Mega Gengar, or just Mega Gengar depending on the threat.
On the teammates side, I liked Talonflame quite a bit. It cant really switch into Heracross or Gengar, but Brave Bird still smashes them. I myself need to make my Wobbuffet team more stable though (it broke 1600, and I havent touched it much since because I wanna test some more stuff for Wobbuffet)
So I brought my Moody Glalie to BSS today and went on a 5-1 W tear. This Pokemon is really really good (I brought it to 5 of the games and went 4-1) as it can set Subs up vs slower, passive mons and alternate Sub and Protect (usually it doesn't even need a boost to any defense vs bulky passive mons to leave the sub up) and then Sheer Cold has a solid chance of nailing 2 of your opp 3 mons while Moody boosts are in your advantage between getting net plus 1 per turn and 5 of the 7 stats are beneficial for Glalie getting more chances at KOing its opponent and overall longevity (especially once those nasty evasion boosts get up). This also allows Glalie to force opponents to forfeit or lose a pp stall war if they dare try to battle through Glalie if you have the team/life lead as well as timer in your favor even if you are down as your opponent will realize it is useless to try and battle it out all the turns just to ultimately lose!
It is extremely important to note that the team wasn't based around Glalie. I simply added Glalie because I was sick and tired of 'picking my poison' in terms of bad matchups and coincidentally being matched up vs em so frequently. I decided just like many other higher point players Iv noticed throughout my time laddering that having a OHKO user on the team can prove helpful especially when you are simply matched up poorly. That said, Glalie isn't a magic addition that suddenly makes a team capable of plowing through bad matchups. It simply gives you a solid chance compared to settling for a loss in bad matchups since Moody boosts and Sheer Cold landing have a decent chance in your favor especially compared to trying to win a bad matchup otherwise.
The 1 loss i got with Glalie was me playing bad with my other mons otherwise that game definitely looked like a win too! This Mon makes you pay for having slower mons on the field and I love it so much! Made a full HP Aegislash forfeit game because of the boosts and came back vs a Mega Lopunny thanks to a clutch Speed Boost after I unfortunately crit the setup fodder Cresselia with a plus 2 Flame Charge from Zard X a turn before lol
Funny enough, the one opponent I didn't use Glalie vs had a Glalie him/herself! And was at like 177x or something (highest rating i faced tonight iirc) so that was cool! Like REAL COOL
That's why I Lava Plumed, Swords Danced, Flame Charged, and Flare Blitz my way to a W that game!!!
Day 2 edit: Today i went 5-1 again but this time my 1 loss was not me playing bad. I brought Glalie to all 6 today. The wins today felt a lot more lucky than yesterday as well. The thing is though, Glalie feeds off of slower and especially passive mons like walls and then when Sheer Colds land turn 1 it is just icing on the cake! Cress helps to not only rejuvenate my offensive Megas when they are down but also heal up Glalie if it by any chance gets Scald burned or some other unfortunate status condition as well as unfortunate Boosts (though I haven't used Lunar for any such reason so far since the only opp I had to do it vs ended up forfeiting before I lunard to heal the burn)
Glalie is really fun!! makes you wish none of your Pokemon were passive lil shizz or had sturdy and spdef out the roof!
Day 3 edit: So far I've played 4 games with the team today all bringing Glalie. My loss came at the cost of Moody boosts not coming through in terms of having plus 3 evasion but still fainting to a specs Draco from Latios at -1 spdef since I also was at -2 speed so i couldn't sub up. It was a game that coudlve been won had I brought my MegaZard X but team preview was a 50/50 to bring Glalie or not and it's so fun to use I went with it xD
So far The results make these few losses meh in the big picture in terms of effectiveness!
2 of the games I had, Cresselia came through big time truly showing what it means to be a wall. The last game was so phenomenal I had to stop to type this up as Camtasia was opening it up so I decided to type here in the meanwhile. Cresselia was set up fodder for a Hone Claws and Sub Metagross but poor thing could barely do half at plus 6 with ZenButt and kept taking Rocky Helmet recoil plus Sub hp loss until it fainted! Then Cress twaved Hydreigon and lunard to ZardX and it was gg. Glalie in the meanwhile was sittin in the back as number 3 as I was waiting for the meta to faint before I could have a chance at doing anything lol
And last game, my opp brought Garchomp, Mence-Mega, and Blaziken. Needless to say what happened with theory alone but having recorded a Cress single-crescently bringing it back vs em ON MY SIDE for once was gorgeous. And the way Cress devoured em is EXACTLY why I made a team with a OHKO move user in Glalie!!!
One more game I had was me switching Glalie in on Suicune, not getting burned, and then after gettin bad boosts I switched into Cress to deal with lol Mega Luke lol (puts you on a timer and demolishes Glalie with Aura Sphere if you don't land sheer colds) who switched out into Suicune who I just ended up switching Glalie back in for and avoided yet another Scald Burn. At that point, I had another chance at life and Glalie persevered! I couldve STILL went back into Cress to Lunar Dance if the boosts werent coming through! THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH FUN LOL
It is extremely important to note that the team wasn't based around Glalie. I simply added Glalie because I was sick and tired of 'picking my poison' in terms of bad matchups and coincidentally being matched up vs em so frequently. I decided just like many other higher point players Iv noticed throughout my time laddering that having a OHKO user on the team can prove helpful especially when you are simply matched up poorly. That said, Glalie isn't a magic addition that suddenly makes a team capable of plowing through bad matchups. It simply gives you a solid chance compared to settling for a loss in bad matchups since Moody boosts and Sheer Cold landing have a decent chance in your favor especially compared to trying to win a bad matchup otherwise.
The 1 loss i got with Glalie was me playing bad with my other mons otherwise that game definitely looked like a win too! This Mon makes you pay for having slower mons on the field and I love it so much! Made a full HP Aegislash forfeit game because of the boosts and came back vs a Mega Lopunny thanks to a clutch Speed Boost after I unfortunately crit the setup fodder Cresselia with a plus 2 Flame Charge from Zard X a turn before lol
Funny enough, the one opponent I didn't use Glalie vs had a Glalie him/herself! And was at like 177x or something (highest rating i faced tonight iirc) so that was cool! Like REAL COOL
That's why I Lava Plumed, Swords Danced, Flame Charged, and Flare Blitz my way to a W that game!!!
Day 2 edit: Today i went 5-1 again but this time my 1 loss was not me playing bad. I brought Glalie to all 6 today. The wins today felt a lot more lucky than yesterday as well. The thing is though, Glalie feeds off of slower and especially passive mons like walls and then when Sheer Colds land turn 1 it is just icing on the cake! Cress helps to not only rejuvenate my offensive Megas when they are down but also heal up Glalie if it by any chance gets Scald burned or some other unfortunate status condition as well as unfortunate Boosts (though I haven't used Lunar for any such reason so far since the only opp I had to do it vs ended up forfeiting before I lunard to heal the burn)
Glalie is really fun!! makes you wish none of your Pokemon were passive lil shizz or had sturdy and spdef out the roof!
Day 3 edit: So far I've played 4 games with the team today all bringing Glalie. My loss came at the cost of Moody boosts not coming through in terms of having plus 3 evasion but still fainting to a specs Draco from Latios at -1 spdef since I also was at -2 speed so i couldn't sub up. It was a game that coudlve been won had I brought my MegaZard X but team preview was a 50/50 to bring Glalie or not and it's so fun to use I went with it xD
So far The results make these few losses meh in the big picture in terms of effectiveness!
2 of the games I had, Cresselia came through big time truly showing what it means to be a wall. The last game was so phenomenal I had to stop to type this up as Camtasia was opening it up so I decided to type here in the meanwhile. Cresselia was set up fodder for a Hone Claws and Sub Metagross but poor thing could barely do half at plus 6 with ZenButt and kept taking Rocky Helmet recoil plus Sub hp loss until it fainted! Then Cress twaved Hydreigon and lunard to ZardX and it was gg. Glalie in the meanwhile was sittin in the back as number 3 as I was waiting for the meta to faint before I could have a chance at doing anything lol
And last game, my opp brought Garchomp, Mence-Mega, and Blaziken. Needless to say what happened with theory alone but having recorded a Cress single-crescently bringing it back vs em ON MY SIDE for once was gorgeous. And the way Cress devoured em is EXACTLY why I made a team with a OHKO move user in Glalie!!!
One more game I had was me switching Glalie in on Suicune, not getting burned, and then after gettin bad boosts I switched into Cress to deal with lol Mega Luke lol (puts you on a timer and demolishes Glalie with Aura Sphere if you don't land sheer colds) who switched out into Suicune who I just ended up switching Glalie back in for and avoided yet another Scald Burn. At that point, I had another chance at life and Glalie persevered! I couldve STILL went back into Cress to Lunar Dance if the boosts werent coming through! THIS IS WAY TOO MUCH FUN LOL
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Hey I'm new to this metagame as I've mostly played smogon OU and I'm wondering how to get the hang of it and have some general questions about viability. Such as why is cress and P2 considered to be such good walls but in 6v6 there generally considered fairly outclassed especially with all of the previously uber powerhouses
Hey there hobbert and welcome to Battle Spot!
There are many variables to consider when explaining the differences between Smogon OU and Battle Spot Singles, the biggest two are that this is obviously bring 6, pick 3 and that this has a very different banlist to that of OU.
The thing about 3v3 is that you can never be sure exactly what your opponent will bring into the battle from team preview, so it's best to bring stuff that has the best chance of covering several of the opponents threats at the same time, whereas in 6v6 you bring your whole team, and every team member is specifically designed to do certain stuff against certain mons. I guess stuff in 6v6 can be more specialised, whereas things in 3v3 are much more general.
Onto the banlist stuff, whereas OU has suspect tests and removes anything that is seen as broken or over-centralising, in Battle Spot we're stuck with the stuff that Nintendo has given us, so stuff like Mega Kangaskhan, Aegislash, Blaziken, Mega Gengar, Greninja, Mega Lucario, Mega Mawile and Mega Salamence run amock. The only things that are banned here are the title legendaries and event legendaries (the same as VGC and the Battle Maison), so no Mewtwo, Kyogre, Jirachi, Darkrai, Kyurem, Xerneas etc. Since we have to be able to deal with these 'uber' threats, but don't have access to defensive behemoths like Deoxys, Giratina, Groudon and Lugia, we have t o get a bit creative.
Enter Porygon2, Cresselia and Suicune! These three are some of the bulkiest Pokemon available to us, and are able to check a whole bunch of things. Cres has always been a staple defensive mon so I won't go into it too much, but it emerged very early as a great check to Mega Kangaskhan since it could avoid its non-contact option in Earthquake with Levitate and force it to hit it with Return or Crunch if they had it, which would incur Rocky Helmet damage. It also resisted Power-Up Punch so setting up on it wasn't always the best idea. Porygon2 sorta came out of nowhere as a super popular Pokemon amongst the Japanese community. It's got great mixed bulk with Eviolite, a great ability in Trace (allowing it to copy cool abilities like Parental Bond, Speed Boost, Rough Skin, Intimidate, Levitate etc.) and a cool movepool whihc includes all the tools it needs to annoy anything it wants. Foul Play lets it do plenty of damage to the physical powerhouses it's used to check, Ice Beam allows it to take care of the powerful Dragon (and Ground/Flying) types, Recover lets it stall out stuff, and it can either wear things down with Toxic or slow opponents down to help teammates gets past them with Thunder Wave. While the defensive set is good, the offensive set with Download is actually more popular according to the usage statistics. These sets try to come in on Pokemon with greater physical defense to grab a boost to their special attack and start breaking holes with Tri Attack / BoltBeam and/or Shadow Ball. The set is almost meta-defining, as any Pokemon that has equal (or really close to equal) base defenses will put remaining EV points towards their special defence so that P2 gets an attack boost instead! It's also damn slow and can set up Trick Room which can allow for teammates who appreciate it but don't necessarily need it up to succeed to destroy stuff for a turn or two (think Mega Mawile here). Suicune is the interesting one here since it's the newest mon on the block and has actually been jumping up the usage stats for the last couple of seasons (it's currently 9th after not even being there a few seasons ago). It has fantastic mixed bulk but prefers to go fully physical since it can easily get in a few Calm Minds if played well (and has Scald to patch up the physical side), it's pretty much the poster child for the 'try to cover everything with one mon' playstyle I was explaining earlier.
If you're wondering about usage stats and stuff, then check out the Pokemon Global Link's Rating Battles section, it lists the top 12 most used mons (includes a search function for anything that isn't in the top 12) and shows the top 10 most used moves, items, natures and abilities, and also what that Pokemon defeats and is defeated by, as well as what else is on it's team! It's really handy and quite in-depth.
Wow that ended up being quite long! tl;dr P2, Cres and Cune are all able to cover a bunch of threats at the same time.
hobbert , In general, to add to what cant say said, the reason Porygon2, Cresselia, and Suicune sorta succeed as defensive Pokemon in battle spot compared to other metagames is because in 3v3, its often better to more generally check a wide variety of threats than to directly counter some threats well. For example: +2 Life Orb Garchomp 2HKOes all 3 of them. That's a lot worse when you have 5 other Pokemon, but in 3vs3, just taking down that Garchomp is often a job well done, even if you're taking a huge amount of damage. Since you're limited in Pokemon slots, having one Pokemon that can take down a large swath of threats once is often more valuable than having several Pokemon that directly counter each other.
So, I was about to make a Feraligatr team for battle spot singles and I see this:
(Sorry if this screenshot looks bad, my computer is pretty crappy and wouldn't let me take a screenshot like I wanted to (>_<)).
Anyways, the one thing that strikes me here is Harriyama. Why exactly is it the #6 used partner for Gatr? I've never seen one of these things and I don't know what it's capable of. I just don't understand why things like Chomp and Aegi are under it. I also didn't expect Skarm there either, it's probably there because it sets up SR which is nice for Gatr to OHKO some pokes after a DD, and handles grass types. Can someone enlighten me on why Harriyama is there (Serperior seems kinda weird too tbh, why #3)?
(Sorry if this screenshot looks bad, my computer is pretty crappy and wouldn't let me take a screenshot like I wanted to (>_<)).
Anyways, the one thing that strikes me here is Harriyama. Why exactly is it the #6 used partner for Gatr? I've never seen one of these things and I don't know what it's capable of. I just don't understand why things like Chomp and Aegi are under it. I also didn't expect Skarm there either, it's probably there because it sets up SR which is nice for Gatr to OHKO some pokes after a DD, and handles grass types. Can someone enlighten me on why Harriyama is there (Serperior seems kinda weird too tbh, why #3)?
Sometimes, seeing strange explainable stuff like this just indicates that a Pokémon has really low usage, so a few teams can skew the teammate stats a lot harder.
That makes sense, just thought there would be more to it. I'll change up those usage stats with my team in Season 10 :P
Chill lol just cause the mons are a bit out of the ordinary doesn't mean they're holding nuggets and such. Probably just a guy who likes to use some snowflakes.
And yama usage is already dropping it seems, checking the PGL atm and it's dropped to gatr's #8 partner. But the core with skarm seems to be a pretty common thing, staying consistent throughout all 3 seasons.
You're my new hero!
Guys, this isn't the PS! chat or irc. Any more one-liners will be infracted
As for Hariyama, I really don't have any answers for it. It looks like it's played similarly to Conkeldurr (Assault Vest + Guts) but can run Thick Fat to be a great check to CharY who otherwise gives Gatr a lot of trouble.
As for Hariyama, I really don't have any answers for it. It looks like it's played similarly to Conkeldurr (Assault Vest + Guts) but can run Thick Fat to be a great check to CharY who otherwise gives Gatr a lot of trouble.