A few months back when some of us were writing a gen 6 BH playstyle guide (Which was abandoned halfway through production for laziness reasons by everyone involved) I had typed out parts of a baton pass guide. The important parts are covered, though the minor tricks are not since it's incomplete.
BPass is very match-up reliant but can utterly crush most standard teams that don't have something reliable to stop it.
BPass is very match-up reliant but can utterly crush most standard teams that don't have something reliable to stop it.
II.C. Baton Pass
What is Baton Pass in BHXY?
Much like in standard, Baton Pass in BHXY focuses on leaving your opponent completely helpless in the face of your stacked defensive boosts. Of course, the main difference is Balanced Hackmons is full of scary wallbreakers, making BP seem completely unviable. However, there is one key addition to BP's repertoire that makes it a very big threat - Minimize. No evasion clause means that once you get one or two of these up the opponent will have a very hard time breaking you down with offensive pressure as you continually set up Substitutes. Because of this, the game can sometimes be immediately decided the second you get one up. While this description may make it seem easy to pull off, BP can only be accomplished using an intricate mix of abilities and walls to handle the counters it has, and has lots of trouble beating teams that carry Heart Swap. But with the right mix, it is borderline unstoppable when up against standard teams.
Mandatory Baton Pass Abilities.
Don't even think of not using these in any serious BP team.
Multitype / Illusion / Stance Change( In order of viability )
Seems like an odd trio of abilities to group together, no? The reason why they're grouped together is not because of their primary effects, but a hidden second one - they cannot be skill swapped. Nothing sucks more than having Chansey, the most common Pokemon in the tier, coming in on your Substitute and skill swapping you to give you Imposter; immediately killing off any boosts you may have and turning you into a useless, fat egg nurse. Hence, for this reason, one of these three abilities is a mandatory addition to baton pass teams. Multitype is generally the best since Spooky Plate Ghostceus can take the place of your BP recipient boasting a Chansey immunity, but Illusion sports the advantage of letting you use any 'mon you want as well as playing a bit of mindgames and Stance Change gets you Aegislash's godly defensive typing and ability to smack things around with those mixed offenses should you be acquiring both attack and special attack boosts.
Soundproof
As you may know from facing / using BP in standard tiers, Soundproof is the only shot BP has at defeating Perish Song users. For this reason, it's an auto-addition to any good BP team. While it's not why it's included, Soundproof is also good at stopping Boomburst and Parting Shot as well, which is something to keep in mind if an obnoxious Boomburst wallbreaker is beating you down.
Magic Bounce
Without a bouncer, you're exposing yourself to a slew of irritating moves such as taunt, torment, whirlwind, and toxic spikes, which can seriously screw up your game plan. Because of this, every good BP team must pack a bouncer.
Highly Recommended Baton Pass Abilities
Abilities that are highly recommended for use but can be removed if you're hard pressed for space.
Unaware
While Heart Swap can't be directly countered, Unaware means that once you've been heart swapped you're not utterly doomed. With careful play, an Unaware user means that you can usually even the odds when up against heart swap players. This method usually boils down to using simple minimize with your booster once you've forced out the opposing Poke carrying all your boosts with your unaware user, and frustrating the opponent seeing as you can barely be hit at +4 evasion. Since minimize has 32PP and HS has 16PP, if you can handle the long battle your opponent will run out of heart swaps and you can proceed as normally. Do note that if the opponent is hesitant to heart swap continually you can usually force his hand by using an attack boosting move and hammering him with your offensive Poke.
Mold Breaker
To beat Shedinja, Baton Pass teams are generally recommended to run a Mold Breaker Ghost-type with Pursuit or a Mold Breaker sweeper. It is possible to do so without mold breaker though, though it's usually a slower process and can occasionally end in PP stall.
Simple
For the first few turns of the match, this ability allows you to effectively make two moves to your opponent's one. Simple Minimize gives Baton Pass teams the breathing room to take a second boosting move (Quiver Dance, usually) the following turn. It also makes it very difficult for your opponent's nukes and boosters to fight you effectively, and can even cause things like Taunt to miss.
Optional BP Abilities
Abilities that can aid a baton pass team in accomplishing its main goal but are generally inferior to the utility that other abilities provide.
Poison Heal
Poison Heal is a pretty good ability for BP teams, as it generally allows the user to forgo recovery in favor of another move since PH + Evasion heals so much. It also provides an additional back-up plan against status and can allow you to switch into moves such as scald and sacred fire in a pinch.
Oblivious
Oblivious is the only way to stop Mold Breaker taunt (And provides bigger safety against taunt users in general) meaning that baton pass teams with mold breaker taunt problems could potentially look to this ability for a solution.
Prankster
A great way to ensure you move first when you haven't got speed boost and pose a threat with disruptive moves such as spore, prankster can help get that early-game momentum early on and help insure a victory. A very notable prankster user is SubPass Blissey, who can pass very chunky substitutes to teammates.
Magnet Pull
While it doesn't do much in specific for BP teams, if you can trap an opposing support steel type using this ability, you can often instantly win by using accupressure and obtaining +6 in all stats while they are helpless to defend. It's usually unreliable though, so you should make sure you have everything else covered before adding a magnet pull user since it risks being dead weight in some matches.
Mandatory Moves
Baton Pass
On every Pokemon, for obvious reasons.
Minimize
Minimizing on turn 1 is a great way to give yourself room to boost again on turn 2. It should always, always, always be one of the two stat-increasing moves your booster uses. The utility it provides is simple far too great to give up, and after +4 evasion you can basically completely wall your opponent by setting up a faster substitute while your opponent cannot hope to hit it many times in a row.
Substitute
Spore, Secondary Effects, Topsy Turvy, Dragon Tail, Imposter, and Trick all get stopped by Substitute- not to mention it provides a safety net in conjunction with evasion to let you not care about your opponent's boosters. Substitutes are so useful for baton pass teams that you usually want about 3 or 4 substitute users per team.
Ingrain
It is good to not auto lose to Mold Breaker Whirlwind. However, you should be careful when using Ingrain, as a surprise Perish Song once you've used it means you'll have to pick a team member to die, unless you have U-Turn on another team member.
Recovery
Recovery is generally a very good thing to have on most of your Pokemon, allowing you to keep taking a beating in an effort to set up boosts. Due to 4MSS syndrome however, you will be forced to use Pokemon without it, which should be used wisely.
Other Boosting Moves
Quiver Dance is the best one, though others such as Shift Gear, Cosmic Power, and Cotton Guard work for different purposes.
What is Baton Pass in BHXY?
Much like in standard, Baton Pass in BHXY focuses on leaving your opponent completely helpless in the face of your stacked defensive boosts. Of course, the main difference is Balanced Hackmons is full of scary wallbreakers, making BP seem completely unviable. However, there is one key addition to BP's repertoire that makes it a very big threat - Minimize. No evasion clause means that once you get one or two of these up the opponent will have a very hard time breaking you down with offensive pressure as you continually set up Substitutes. Because of this, the game can sometimes be immediately decided the second you get one up. While this description may make it seem easy to pull off, BP can only be accomplished using an intricate mix of abilities and walls to handle the counters it has, and has lots of trouble beating teams that carry Heart Swap. But with the right mix, it is borderline unstoppable when up against standard teams.
Mandatory Baton Pass Abilities.
Don't even think of not using these in any serious BP team.
Multitype / Illusion / Stance Change( In order of viability )
Seems like an odd trio of abilities to group together, no? The reason why they're grouped together is not because of their primary effects, but a hidden second one - they cannot be skill swapped. Nothing sucks more than having Chansey, the most common Pokemon in the tier, coming in on your Substitute and skill swapping you to give you Imposter; immediately killing off any boosts you may have and turning you into a useless, fat egg nurse. Hence, for this reason, one of these three abilities is a mandatory addition to baton pass teams. Multitype is generally the best since Spooky Plate Ghostceus can take the place of your BP recipient boasting a Chansey immunity, but Illusion sports the advantage of letting you use any 'mon you want as well as playing a bit of mindgames and Stance Change gets you Aegislash's godly defensive typing and ability to smack things around with those mixed offenses should you be acquiring both attack and special attack boosts.
Soundproof
As you may know from facing / using BP in standard tiers, Soundproof is the only shot BP has at defeating Perish Song users. For this reason, it's an auto-addition to any good BP team. While it's not why it's included, Soundproof is also good at stopping Boomburst and Parting Shot as well, which is something to keep in mind if an obnoxious Boomburst wallbreaker is beating you down.
Magic Bounce
Without a bouncer, you're exposing yourself to a slew of irritating moves such as taunt, torment, whirlwind, and toxic spikes, which can seriously screw up your game plan. Because of this, every good BP team must pack a bouncer.
Highly Recommended Baton Pass Abilities
Abilities that are highly recommended for use but can be removed if you're hard pressed for space.
Unaware
While Heart Swap can't be directly countered, Unaware means that once you've been heart swapped you're not utterly doomed. With careful play, an Unaware user means that you can usually even the odds when up against heart swap players. This method usually boils down to using simple minimize with your booster once you've forced out the opposing Poke carrying all your boosts with your unaware user, and frustrating the opponent seeing as you can barely be hit at +4 evasion. Since minimize has 32PP and HS has 16PP, if you can handle the long battle your opponent will run out of heart swaps and you can proceed as normally. Do note that if the opponent is hesitant to heart swap continually you can usually force his hand by using an attack boosting move and hammering him with your offensive Poke.
Mold Breaker
To beat Shedinja, Baton Pass teams are generally recommended to run a Mold Breaker Ghost-type with Pursuit or a Mold Breaker sweeper. It is possible to do so without mold breaker though, though it's usually a slower process and can occasionally end in PP stall.
Simple
For the first few turns of the match, this ability allows you to effectively make two moves to your opponent's one. Simple Minimize gives Baton Pass teams the breathing room to take a second boosting move (Quiver Dance, usually) the following turn. It also makes it very difficult for your opponent's nukes and boosters to fight you effectively, and can even cause things like Taunt to miss.
Optional BP Abilities
Abilities that can aid a baton pass team in accomplishing its main goal but are generally inferior to the utility that other abilities provide.
Poison Heal
Poison Heal is a pretty good ability for BP teams, as it generally allows the user to forgo recovery in favor of another move since PH + Evasion heals so much. It also provides an additional back-up plan against status and can allow you to switch into moves such as scald and sacred fire in a pinch.
Oblivious
Oblivious is the only way to stop Mold Breaker taunt (And provides bigger safety against taunt users in general) meaning that baton pass teams with mold breaker taunt problems could potentially look to this ability for a solution.
Prankster
A great way to ensure you move first when you haven't got speed boost and pose a threat with disruptive moves such as spore, prankster can help get that early-game momentum early on and help insure a victory. A very notable prankster user is SubPass Blissey, who can pass very chunky substitutes to teammates.
Magnet Pull
While it doesn't do much in specific for BP teams, if you can trap an opposing support steel type using this ability, you can often instantly win by using accupressure and obtaining +6 in all stats while they are helpless to defend. It's usually unreliable though, so you should make sure you have everything else covered before adding a magnet pull user since it risks being dead weight in some matches.
Mandatory Moves
Baton Pass
On every Pokemon, for obvious reasons.
Minimize
Minimizing on turn 1 is a great way to give yourself room to boost again on turn 2. It should always, always, always be one of the two stat-increasing moves your booster uses. The utility it provides is simple far too great to give up, and after +4 evasion you can basically completely wall your opponent by setting up a faster substitute while your opponent cannot hope to hit it many times in a row.
Substitute
Spore, Secondary Effects, Topsy Turvy, Dragon Tail, Imposter, and Trick all get stopped by Substitute- not to mention it provides a safety net in conjunction with evasion to let you not care about your opponent's boosters. Substitutes are so useful for baton pass teams that you usually want about 3 or 4 substitute users per team.
Ingrain
It is good to not auto lose to Mold Breaker Whirlwind. However, you should be careful when using Ingrain, as a surprise Perish Song once you've used it means you'll have to pick a team member to die, unless you have U-Turn on another team member.
Recovery
Recovery is generally a very good thing to have on most of your Pokemon, allowing you to keep taking a beating in an effort to set up boosts. Due to 4MSS syndrome however, you will be forced to use Pokemon without it, which should be used wisely.
Other Boosting Moves
Quiver Dance is the best one, though others such as Shift Gear, Cosmic Power, and Cotton Guard work for different purposes.
Last edited:
