3v3 Singles Metagame Discussion Thread

JabbaTheGriffin

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Keep all general 3v3 metagame discussion to this thread. What Pokemon have been working for you lately? What Pokemon have you had trouble beating? How many Japanese players in a row have you lost to?

To get things started, I've found Talonflame to be the biggest threat in the metagame to this point. It checks a ton of threats and Fire/Flying is relatively good coverage (though I find I don't use Flare Blitz all that often). Its predictability can be a blessing at times though if your opponent falls into the routine of just spamming Brave Bird (as I'm sure we've all done from time to time). Having something like Blaziken on your team almost makes your opponent feel obligated to bring Talonflame along and that can be a bit easy to take advantage of by bringing something that resists its STABs while being a threat itself.

I've also found Rotom-W really hard to get around. With Wisp's higher accuracy this gen, W is pretty hard to switch in on decently and it can just be a real pain to kill. I've never been tempted to use it because I prefer to bring nothing but extreme offensive threats, but I definitely hate seeing it in team preview.
 
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I used to be pretty good at 3v3s in PBR and BW. But i'm just getting obliterated at XY.

Every single team i go against has Azumarrill, Scizor, Aegislash Garchomp it's just a big messy pain. I guess i'll have to use stronger pokemon as just using the ones i like won't cut it this time...
 

Jibaku

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I've been spamming Free Mode for the time being because it allows Ubers n_n. Although good matches may be difficult to come by, after playing >120 games I have a couple of impressions.

Mega Mawile and Kangaskhan are everywhere and are mostly used by the Japanese players. From what I've heard, the same stuff happens on rated, so I can't be the only one seeing this. The amount of damage they do is absurd, but they're definitely a bit sucker punch reliant. I've recently been using this set to punish their predictability and unreliability.

Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite Y
Ability: Pressure/Insomnia
EVs: 252 speed/252 satk
Timid Nature (+Spe, -Atk)
- Will-O-Wisp
- Psystrike
- Ice Beam
- Aura Sphere

Mewtwo is an excellent Sucker Punch bait and many players will not hesitate to send Mawile or Kanga in to otherwise OHKO with Sucker Punch. This, however, leads to their undoing as they find themselves burned (ty, accuracy increase) and potentially Pressure stalled. I can then switch or stay in to take a hit, depending on the situation. Substitute is another option but Kanga can bust through Subs and WoW is useful for crippling unrelated things like Aegislash and Scizor, so I feel like this is the most flexible option.

Reason I have this instead of Mewtwonite X is mostly due to the extra weaknesses caused by becoming a Fighting type (Talonflame, fairies) and the fact that Mewtwo X is p. weak atm without its real fighting STABs waiting for it in poketransfer. Also, sleep absorption is nice.

How does this translate into rated? Well idk. Gengar with WoW hardcounters Mega Kanga unless it has Crunch (dont megaevolve your gengar), and can cause serious issues for Mega Mawile (probably want to mega gar here). However, Gengar may not be the best Sucker Punch bait since it usually carries a non Attacking Move (e.g Disable, Sub).
 
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I keep getting RAPE by minimize Chancey with protect toxic and STOSS. Such a lame strategy but so freaking effective 3v3 batles get rids of any need to set up entry hazrds ect ..
 

Hill

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Got near 1900 and my team is struggling hard against standard stuff from the players around and general bizzare stuff. Everybody appears to be using Mega Gyarados and/or MegaSaur in here and some random dudes are using defensive cores such as Slowbro, Tangrowth and Blissey. I've noticed a dramatic increase on Slowbro usage and a decrease on Mawile and Kangaskhan usage. Dragonite is still a powerhouse, Rotom is the MVP now and thirdmon varies around Talonflame, Aegislash and Azumarril. Greninja is being used fewer and fewer and I guess I'll exchange him for MegaSaur.

EDIT: A Pokémon that deserves mention is Subs Protect Guillotine Quake Gliscor. I lost to it one time to the better ranked player I've faced (1999) and, even if it appears to be unrealiable, it is definitely a good stallbreaker.
 
Got near 1900 and my team is struggling hard against standard stuff from the players around and general bizzare stuff. Everybody appears to be using Mega Gyarados and/or MegaSaur in here and some random dudes are using defensive cores such as Slowbro, Tangrowth and Blissey. I've noticed a dramatic increase on Slowbro usage and a decrease on Mawile and Kangaskhan usage. Dragonite is still a powerhouse, Rotom is the MVP now and thirdmon varies around Talonflame, Aegislash and Azumarril. Greninja is being used fewer and fewer and I guess I'll exchange him for MegaSaur.

EDIT: A Pokémon that deserves mention is Subs Protect Guillotine Quake Gliscor. I lost to it one time to the better ranked player I've faced (1999) and, even if it appears to be unrealiable, it is definitely a good stallbreaker.
Care to share your Dragonite and Rotom sets? I use them as well, but I haven't been able to do much. I'm currently trying a Tyranitar + Excadrill core, but it's not the same as it was last year as this metagame is much faster and you don't always have a switch in to mons that you know you can't KO before they KO you.

I'm thinking of running a Dual weather core with Tyranitar (smooth rock bulky attacker) + Excadrill (SD sweeper) + Ninetales (heat rock status spreader) + Venusaur (Growth Sweeper) + MegaChomp (sand force in sand and powerful fire blasts in sun) + Talonflame (banded revenge killer), so I can swap around depending on what my opponent is weak to, but I haven't gotten to building the sun core yet. Thoughts?

I like this metagame as it is a lot faster, but it's hard to prepare for everything, so it's easy to lose to gimmick sets.
 

Hill

ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day
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Dragonite is DD Offensive set with Lum Berry and Adamant Nature, 252 atk and speed with Dragon Dance, Earthquake, Outrage and Fire Punch. Rotom is Bold 252 HP and Def with Chesto Rest, WoW, Volt Switch and Hydro Pump
 

Jibaku

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I'm now at 1769 (with probably the most boring team in existence) and it seems that the metagame has made a shift. Talonflames are still everywhere (though not as effective, but still is), but Mawiles have decreased in usage and Rotoms begin to take over. Teams have started to become more flexible here - I can't remember a single team post 1700 that was purely offense or purely stall. What I see instead is a combination of both. Chansey, Gliscor, Slowbro, Skarmory begin to show their heads as well. I think that kind of flexibility is important as you get up the ladder. Unlike 6v6, where your entire team archetype is decided with your entire party, 3v3 allows you to run stall/balance/offense depending on who you face. As always beware of gimmicks as people attempt to find creative ways to counter the metagame.


Also mega heracross is annoying if you don't have aegislash q.q
 
What do you guys think is an effective way to team build in 3v3?
For instance in singles one approach is to have a lead, a spinner, a sweeper, a wall, etc. I was wondering what approach is typically applied to 3v3?
Maybe something like two sweepers, two defensive pokemon, and two leads and picking based on the opposing team?
Just trying to get ideas since my local offline scene is running 3v3 singles as standard
 
I decided to start Ranked game today.
My team was Jolteon/Venusaur and Gyarados.
To be honest, I never used the three other Pokemon on my Battle box...

My Jolteon has a HP Ice, it's my lead actually, Venusaur is my stall, with the Venusaurite, it's pretty good, it tanks fire and ice damage like a beast. And my Gyarados is a bulky one, i'll probably change it for a full offensive one, because isn't often usefull on my games.
3v3 it's kind of weird, especially with that Nintendo metagame, lot of haxx, strange items (King's rock, Rocky Helmet, Razor wind). But it's also fun to finally have a real ranking on the game. I have to train a lot, because my team isn't very good, and because my mind game in 3v3 is very bad too, but I guess this metagame has some fun potential.
I'm also interested on how we can build a good team for this metagame, if anyone has an idea !

Sorry if I've done english mistakes, I'm french, but this is the only one start' website where I want to be :)
 

Hill

ticking away, the moments that make up a dull day
is a Past WCoP Champion
Venusaur and Gyarados and painful to deal with speacially if you use Mega Stones on both. 80% of the time you will evolve Venusaur, but sometimes MegaGyarados just DDs and win it all. I'd switch the Jolteon tho, Scarf Rotom or just regular Rotom deals better with Talonflame and can perform a similar role
 
Totally agreed about the Jolteon/Rotom change. I was thinking about that 2 hours ago, I've to found some Rotom to start my breeding. I though Rotom-H would be good, I've actually a weakness against all the Bug/Steel and Grass/Steel type. Ferrothorn is the evil for me actually.
So I've to put a Gyaradosite on my Gyara ?

Thanks for the advices :)
 
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CoolStoryBrobat

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Has anybody noticed the absence of Scarfers in this metagame so far? I've played about ~40 matches on Wi-Fi in total (If you count Free Mode + Rating Mode), and I can honestly say the only times I saw a Scarf Pokemon were two specific instances, and both of them happened to be Imposter Dittos. I've been thinking of using a Scarf Mienshao or a Scarfed Diggersby to do some cleaning or just as an emergency revenge killer, because there've been so many times where I know my opponent could have won if he was using a Scarfer of some sort.

So basically, is having a Scarfer worth the team slot, or is it a practice that's just less effective in 3v3?
 
I wish GF would expand it to 4 slots like doubles, it'd give us a little more time to have fun and doesn't reward random chance so much (Mkhan beat me only because of a critical Sucker Punch).

I play exclusively on Wifi singles but as I've only bred and trained a perfect Heracross I'm only doing passable. I don't like how common some mons are. Particularly MKhan and Talonflame . . . I'm very surprised that Blaziken isn't too common anymore...

But it's a fun meta and actually gives me something to strive for post game.

I'm actually thinking mega bannette can wreck most teams here, assuming protect mega, and I think I'll go for him before Gengar. He'd be able to willowisp most common threats but Tflame.

Hazards don't matter at all either . . . Maybe sticky web to set up a sweeper

Also Azumarril needs a counter ^^

As a nonpro just guessing I think you could use other options since priority is so common with Tflame and Sucker punch. I use flame orb Heracross and get moderate success.
 
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I wish GF would expand it to 4 slots like doubles, it'd give us a little more time to have fun and doesn't reward random chance so much (Mkhan beat me only because of a critical Sucker Punch).

I play exclusively on Wifi singles but as I've only bred and trained a perfect Heracross I'm only doing passable. I don't like how common some mons are. Particularly MKhan and Talonflame . . . I'm very surprised that Blaziken isn't too common anymore...

But it's a fun meta and actually gives me something to strive for post game.

I'm actually thinking mega bannette can wreck most teams here, assuming protect mega, and I think I'll go for him before Gengar. He'd be able to willowisp most common threats but Tflame.

Hazards don't matter at all either . . . Maybe sticky web to set up a sweeper

Also Azumarril needs a counter ^^

As a nonpro just guessing I think you could use other options since priority is so common with Tflame and Sucker punch. I use flame orb Heracross and get moderate success.
Banette could actually be alright. Khan, Scizor, Azu, Gyarados, Garchomp, etc are all hurt a lot by burns. You could run Destiny Bond for Talonflames.

You probably shouldnt use Flame Orb on Heracross. The boost gets cancelled out by the Burn, so Toxic Orb is generally better. 10/10 post.
 
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Banette could actually be alright. Khan, Scizor, Azu, Gyarados, Garchomp, etc are all hurt a lot by burns. You could run Destiny Bond for Talonflames.

You probably shouldnt use Flame Orb on Heracross. The boost gets cancelled out by the Burn, so Toxic Orb is generally better.
That's not true, Guts negates the burn attack cut. People use Toxic Orb because the first two turns of toxic deal less damage than two turns of burn.

Also Talonflame also gets priority, and since Talonflame outspeeds Banette... it can't really effectively kill it with +1 Destiny Bond.
 

JabbaTheGriffin

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Has anybody noticed the absence of Scarfers in this metagame so far? I've played about ~40 matches on Wi-Fi in total (If you count Free Mode + Rating Mode), and I can honestly say the only times I saw a Scarf Pokemon were two specific instances, and both of them happened to be Imposter Dittos. I've been thinking of using a Scarf Mienshao or a Scarfed Diggersby to do some cleaning or just as an emergency revenge killer, because there've been so many times where I know my opponent could have won if he was using a Scarfer of some sort.

So basically, is having a Scarfer worth the team slot, or is it a practice that's just less effective in 3v3?
I've tried out a few scarfers and I think the problem is that in such a metagame like this, being locked into a move is much more dangerous than in 6v6. Locking yourself into Outrage gives Fairies (notably Mawile) a free setup, locking yourself into EQ gives a few DDers a free setup. And since you probably don't have a defensive pivot to fall back on, that can oftentimes mean game over in 3v3.

There are still a few scarfers that can work, though. Togekiss can flinch itself out of a bad situation if need be. Garchomp is good if your opponent didn't opt to bring any fairies. Ditto obviously can obviously scare your opponent into not setting anything up in the first place. But besides those, it's pretty limited. I could see Mienshao working just for the pure power of Scarf Reckless HJK and the fact that there aren't many ghosts around and you can just U-turn the first time you're out to scout for them.
 
I've actually found that the best counter (in my case) for Tflame is my own Tflame, running a more defensive set and a rocky helmet. They hit me first because I didn't invest in speed, they take recoil from Brave Bird and then lose some HP to rocky helmet, then I BBird back for the KO.

A fast WoW and priority Roost lets me tank other physical attackers that I can't reliably KO by just Brave Birding or Flare Blitzing their face in. People don't seem to be using any Rock types, and I very rarely see any entry hazards, even though Stealth Rocks is a great way to put a damper on TFlame.

I have seen way more Hax than I would like, with people running Minimize and Bright Powder all over the place. One person ran minimize on every member of his team, which is why I've been finding Sableye significantly more useful with that priority taunt...
 

Nix_Hex

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Actually I'm finding phys. Defensive Rotom-W to be a fantastic Talonflame counter. It resists both stabs and as far as I can tell, always OHKOes with Hydro Pump even with absolute 0 SpA investment (I'm running Bold 252HP/252def/6SpD).

Also JabbaTheGriffin do you think CB Talonflame might be an exception with Flare Blitz / Brave Bird / U-turn / Filler? It needs all the power it can get and Life Orb is just too risky with FB/BB recoil and random rocky helmets floating around out there. However even CB has problems KOing Defense stance Aegislash, and like I said before, Rotom-W walls it to kingdom come.
 

JabbaTheGriffin

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Also JabbaTheGriffin do you think CB Talonflame might be an exception with Flare Blitz / Brave Bird / U-turn / Filler? It needs all the power it can get and Life Orb is just too risky with FB/BB recoil and random rocky helmets floating around out there. However even CB has problems KOing Defense stance Aegislash, and like I said before, Rotom-W walls it to kingdom come.
Yeah it's definitely an exception to the rule. Probably because Flying is an amazing STAB and the things that set up on it are generally pretty slow (Mawile takes a huge chunk and has to rely on sucker punch for faster threats, DDTar is pretty slow even after a DD). It's a little less effective the higher you climb up the ladder though, as people are way more prepared for it (Rotom-W is everywhere).
 
Just a quick question regarding Mega Evo's, is it worth running 2 on 1 team just for the sheer power of them combined fact that your only using 3 pokemon at a time instead of both, or are you better off just using some other item/ different pokemon entirely in the event of it being more convenient to run them on the same 3 man squad? Say I had Mega Venasuar and Gyarados, would it be beneficial to add a Gyaradosite or just stick with Leftovers/ Life Orb?
 

JabbaTheGriffin

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Just a quick question regarding Mega Evo's, is it worth running 2 on 1 team just for the sheer power of them combined fact that your only using 3 pokemon at a time instead of both, or are you better off just using some other item/ different pokemon entirely in the event of it being more convenient to run them on the same 3 man squad? Say I had Mega Venasuar and Gyarados, would it be beneficial to add a Gyaradosite or just stick with Leftovers/ Life Orb?
I always run 2 Megas on a team. You kinda want to make sure you have two that you'll never want to bring to the same battle. Gyarados/Venusaur is a pair of megas that you might want to do that for, so it might be frustrating when you can't (though they're both examples of megas that can somewhat function without mega evolving, especially gyarados). I run pairs like Blaziken/Tyranitar. Bring Blaziken if my opponent doesn't have Talonflame, bring Tyranitar if they do.
 
My favorite Pokemon so far:

Charizard Y
Timid
6def/252SpA/252Spe
Flamethrower (Fire Blast is better but I was fed up with missing it)
Focus Blast
Solar Beam
Flame Charge

It is just too strong, one shots Tyranitar and Water types (bar Politoad and maybe some others) cannot deal with it. I still get the feeling people expect Charizard X which makes this Pokemon even better.
 
Rotom-W (as well as some of the other Rotoms) are everywhere and fantastic leads. Pokemon that you would like to use against them like Ttar get crippled by WoW. Goodra with Dragon Pulse is the best pokemon I have raised to go against them and it's meehhhhhhhhh, especially if they also brought a special wall like Blissey. Rotom is just such a spectacular lead in this format I don't really know what to raise to fight it.

Jabba mentioned the Blaziken/Ttar synergy, what are some other mega-pairs people have been using to sure up eachothers weaknesses?
 
I've been using this:

Furfrou
Chesto Berry
Impish
80At/252Df/168SpD/4Spd (I think)
Return
Sucker Punch
Toxic
Rest

It works surprisingly well. Most unboosted physical attacks don't do enough damage before a toxic/return combo finishes them off.
I should also mention that most people don't tend to see Fufrou coming and don't seem to know what to do with it.
 

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