Hey everyone, I’m here to speak on my ongoing streak of 200 Wins in Super Doubles with a team consisting of Pheromosa/Tapu Lele/Garchomp/Mega Metagross. I’d first like to give a shutout to Level 51 and turskain for helping influence this team with fantastic runs of their own.
I really liked the idea of Pheromosa with Sash and Protect to bait opponents and grab Beast Boosts while Tapu Lele summons Psychic Terrain to guard Pheromosa from priority attacks. I also was a fan of having a Dragon and Steel type in the back to form a F/D/S core, with Mega Salamence and Aegislash being the go-to choices. A bunch of people already have over a 300-win streak in Super Doubles with Pheromosa/Tapu Lele/Aegislash/Mega Salamence (there was one just posted as I was writing this up lol, congrats Maunzi) so I decided I wanted to switch things up a bit. Mega Metagross was my immediate choice as he has a very high attack that can also take advantage of Psychic Terrain with Zen Headbutt. Metagross also takes advantage of the new mega evolution speed mechanic greatly, having base 110 right off the bat. Finally, Metagross is my favorite Pokemon and I even bred a Shiny flawless one in my Omega Ruby so I knew I wanted to use him. For my Dragon, I originally went with a Dragon Dance Dragonite with Lum Berry. I liked the idea of having at least one member with a setup move, however on my first run with the team I rarely clicked DD. Although Dragonite is great at sponging just about any hit with Multiscale, he was a bit too weak and slow without a boost for me. The team went on a 102-win streak before losing to a Trick Room team. Although I blame the way I played the first few turns in the loss instead of the team itself, I wanted to try someone else instead of Dragonite, as he certainly seemed like the weakest member of the team. I also wanted to abuse a Z-move, which Dragonite prevented me from doing, as my Tapu Lele runs Scarf, Mosa needs Sash and Metagross needs his Mega Stone. Enter Garchomp. The land shark has been an awesome addition to the team, having great speed, bulk and power. I knew I wanted to use Groundium Z on him, as that allows him to target one enemy when using Earthquake instead of always having to Protect with Metagross and Pheromosa. Additionally, if I bring out Garchomp with Lele on the field and I need to use Earthquake, Lele is going to get hit too (again Choice Scarf set that obviously doesn’t run Protect). Additionally, having such a powerful move that always hits (barring Flying types and levitators) and ignores evasion boosts is amazing. Now that I’ve explained why I decided to go with these four, let me go a bit more into detail on their movesets:
Pheromosa @
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 6 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Lunge
- Low Kick
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Mixed Sash Pheromosa is a monster. With a Naughty Nature and max attack EVs, she grabs an attack boosts whenever she gets a kill, which I much preferred over a speed boost. . Even without a +Speed boosting nature, a ridiculous 151 base stat and max speed EVs make her quick enough to out pace almost everything in the Battle Tree. Since she is so frail, lowering her special defense doesn’t matter since almost any attack, resisted or not, is going to knock her down to her Sash. This also allows her to go mixed and still hit pretty damn hard on the special side. I chose Lunge as my Bug STAB for the nice attack drop on opponents. Low Kick was chosen as the reliable Fighting STAB. I decided to go with Ice Beam over a straight physical attacking Pheromosa with Poison Jab for Ices much better coverage, especially considering the high amount of Flying types the Battle Tree loves to throw out against Pheromosa. Poison Jab is almost only useful to hit Fairy Types, which this team is already well equipped to take on as I’ll get to later. Protect is so amazing for baiting opponents, especially when she is down to 1 HP. Often times both opponents will target her, allowing Tapu Lele or whoever is paired with her to get in a free hit for that turn.
Tapu Lele @
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Hidden Power Fire
So after playing around with different Tapu Lele sets, I knew Choice Scarf was the way to go. First and most importantly, this allows Tapu Lele to be faster than Pheromosa. This is vital as it allows Tapu Lele to do enough that Pheromosa can clean up and get the attack boost on something, if it doesn’t just straight up OHKO something of course. The big threats that I can think of (but certainly not limited to) that the Scarf is very important for allowing Lele to OHKO or do enough for Pheromosa to clean are Latios/Latias, all three of the Swords of Justice, Azelf-3 with Focus Sash, Crobat, Salamence-3 with Yache berry and a Timid nature (but be careful double targeting because it has Protect), Garchomp-2 with Focus Sash and a Hasty Nature, Gallade-4 (Mega Gallade) and so many others. Psychic and Moonblast chosen for obvious STAB, and man do they hit hard, especially Psychic under the terrain. Shadow Ball is very important to do good damage to bulky Psychic and Ghost types such as Slowking (Mega) Slowbro, Reuniclus, and Musharna, Uxie, Cresselia, Bronzong, Dusknoir and Cofagrigus. A lot of these can set up the dangerous Trick Room as well, so having Shadow Ball usually allows Lele to get them low enough for Pheromosa to clean with Lunge. To be honest, Hidden Power Fire was clicked very rarely, but there was one game that I was up against Ferrothorn-2 with Curse, Rest and Chesto Berry that it saved me. I had managed to get in a Low Kick before Mosa went down that did decent damage after maybe one Curse or so and figured Tectonic Rage from Garchomp would do the rest. Then it used Rest and woke right back up and I got nervous. I immediately switched out my Lele (who was locked into something else), and eventually get her back in and finished the job with HP Fire.
Mega Metagross @
Ability: Tough Claws (Clear Body)
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Thunder Punch
- Ice Punch
- Protect
Metagross is the Mega of the team and he’s been nothing short of fantastic. He really just has everything going for him; excellent stats, great typing, amazing coverage and not one but two useful abilities (seriously Clear Body can be very valuable against Intimidate users the turn he is sent out). Jolly nature I feel is the much-preferred nature over Adamant for out speeding as much as possible. Since I bred this in Omega Ruby, I was able to teach him tutor moves. Iron Head over Meteor Mash for the consistency, while the 30% flinch rate is pretty cool too. It’s the main way I deal with Fairy types on this team, but is also useful for hitting things like I wanted both Ice and Thunder Punch for the famous Bolt/Beam coverage. Everyone knows how useful Ice typing is offensively and there’s a reason out of the 16 move slots available for my team, two of them are for Ice coverage. It just hits so much super effectively and it’s a great backup to Pheromosa’s Ice beam if she goes down or needs to switch out. For example, Metagross is able to switch into Landorus-2 or Garchomp-3 that go for Extrasensory and Outrage respectively, sponge it up easily and OHKO right back. Or if I only have Metagross and Garchomp left and the opponent has something like a Gliscor or Zapdos, I’d be in real trouble without Ice Punch. Thunder Punch was manly chosen for bulky Water types. Things like Suicune, Primarina, Gyarados, Jellicent and even Pelipper pretty much wall Pheromosa and can eat a hit from Tapu Lele. Also very useful for Moltres and Charizard-Y who are both very dangerous and only take neutral damage from Ice Punch. Lastly, Skarmory would be a major issue for this team without Thunder Punch since I have to rely on Hidden Power Fire from Lele, which I really don’t like to lock myself into unless I absolutely have to, or Low Kick from Pheromsa that doesn’t do too much without a boost. It straight up walls Garchomp as well. For the last slot, I originally had Zen Headbutt to abuse the Physic Terrain boost, which combined with STAB + Tough Claws off a 145 attack, it hit like a truck. However when I dropped Dragonite in favor of Garchomp, I knew I needed to drop something for Protect in order to avoid being hit by Earthquake when not using Tectonic Rage. It obviously wasn’t going to be Iron Head, so I had to choose between Thunder Punch, Ice Punch and Zen Headbutt. Nothing else on my team has Electric coverage so I wanted to keep that, since Lele has Psychic coverage and Mosa has Ice Beam. It was decided that although Zen Headbutt offers more power, Ice Punch has way better coverage and can’t miss like Zen Headbutt (I really like to stay away from imperfect accurate moves, the Battle Tree already has enough hax with Minimize and Bright Powder etc.). There’s also the fact that Pheromosa generally dies much more than Tapu Lele, so that backup Ice move is clutch. Losing Zen Headbutt really hasn’t been an issue at all and Protect has come in handy for much more than just guarding Metagross from my own Garchomp’s Earthquake, whether that be stalling out turns of Trick Room or baiting enemy attacks.
Garchomp @
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Protect
Last we have Garchomp, who fit perfectly onto this team right away, after one small change. Originally I had Swords Dance over Poison Jab, but I never found myself needing to use it. Poison Jab is just another way for this team to deal with Fairies other than just relying on Metagross, and makes it so this set isn’t completely walled by things like Togekiss, Whimsicott and Shiinotic. One major advantage Garchomp has over other popular Dragons is that it isn’t a Flying type like Mega Salamence or Dragonite or a Levitator like Hydreigon. This is critical in that Psychic Terrain doesn’t protect you from priority if you’re off the ground, leaving the others vulnerable to things like Ice Shard or Fake-Out. I really like having the option of using Earthquake to hit both opponents or firing off a nuke on one of them, which doesn’t force me to Protect own Pokemon. This is key if Pheromosa goes down and I need to bring in Garchomp on something Metagross can’t touch like Darmanitan. Since I can’t Protect with my Tapu Lele or switch in Metagross, the single-targeting Tectonic Rage is fantastic. So far in 200 battles, I’ve never been in this situation more than once a battle. As mentioned earlier, having a Pokemon in the back with a move that will never miss, especially one with such power, eases a ton of pressure against enemies with Bright Powder or Minimize (I’m looking at you Blissey-4 with Chople Berry for Mosa’s Low Kick, Minimize, Mud Bomb, Toxic and Soft-Boil). Dragon Claw is definitely preferred in my opinion for being able to choose the target enemy you’re hitting and not being locked into a move. These can both certainly be a major deciding factor in winning or losing a streak, and the power difference between it and Outrage hasn’t been a problem at all. Finally, having a Pokemon immune to electric attacks such as Thunder Wave and Thunder is just another reason Garchomp is a perfect fit for this team.
The biggest threats to this team are pretty much leads that can eat any two hits from Lele and Mosa first turn and do something dangerous other than just hitting Pheromosa down to its Sash. Examples include using a boosting move, setting up Trick Room or using a status move, potentially making Lele or Mosa dead weight. Other problems include things that can get off a hit before both Lele and Mosa, whether it be from a Choice Scarf, Quick Claw etc.
-Trick Room-
Trick Room is a major threat to this team, and the one that’s given me the most close calls, but somehow I always found a way out of it. If the opponent leads with anything that has a set with Trick Room, I will always double target them. Unfortunately there are quite a few things that can eat any two attacks from Tapu Lele and Pheromosa and get up the Trick Room such as Dusknoir, Cofagrigus, Cabrink, Aromatisse and Jellicent. In this case, I get as much damage off on them as possible and then either try and bait them with Pheromosa so Tapu Lele can get off another hit, or if Tapu Lele goes down or I find a way to switch her out, I’ll double protect every other turn to waste away the TR time and hopefully get rid of the Trick Room User the turn it disappears before they have a chance to set it up.
-Volcarona-
Volc dangerous as he can live any two hits from both Tapu Lele and Pheromosa turn one and set up a Quiver Danceor fire away a Heat Wave to knock Mosa down to her Sash (or even kill with a burn) while also damaging Lele. Again since she lives any two hits and Volcarona-2 has Protect, I advise not double targeting first turn. Generally I will switch Pheromosa to Garchomp and hit Voclarona with a Psychic from Lele, which does decent damage. From there I’ll go right for Tectonic Rage if a second Psychic doesn’t finish the job, for instance if Volcarona went for QD turn one. This will also allow me to preserve Pheromosa and her Sash for later.
-Rotom Forms-
The Rotom forms are truly a pain in the ass, besides Rotom Mow which Pheromosa can take care of, and Rotom Fan which can be taken out with a combination of Psychic and Ice Beam. However Rotom Heat, Wash and Frost (Low Kick does absolutely nothing to Frost due to Rotom’s low weight) can spam status moves such as Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray and Will-O-Wisp or set up Screens depending on which set they are. Some carry Sitrus berries which make them even harder to take down. Additionally, Rotom can also hit pretty hard with moves like Hydro Pump, Overheat, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse and Hex (when statused). Really such a pain to play around, especially since they have Levitate and I can’t Tectonic Rage with Garchomp. I’ll normally either target them with Lele if I can OHKO the other enemy straight up with Pheromosa and get the attack boost, or double target the other enemy if Mosa needs prior damage to finish them off get the boost. I then hope Rotom decided to go for an attacking move which is almost always on Pheromosa, live with the Sash and finish them off next turn. Thunder Wave on either or WoW on Mosa is pretty much the worst-case scenario, but even if those are the case I’m usually able to just revenge kill with Garchomp. Bottom line they’re annoying but generally will either status something or take down Pheromosa before being revenged.
-Electrode-
I really just don’t like seeing this thing. While it does die from a combination of Psychic and Lunge, it outspeeds Pheromosa which always allows it to get off a move, and there’s a ton of annoying things it can do. Between all four sets, there are a bunch of dangerous moves it can use such as Explode, Swagger, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Mirror Coat which will take out Lele and Rain Dance (Electrode-4 with Rain Dance also has Damp Rock) to set up Swift Swimmers in the back like Kingdra and Mega Swampert for eight turns. It can also use Thunder, which always seems to paralyze something when it hits. Lastly, Electrode-2 & 3 run Protect, which can make you think twice about double targeting. Like Rotom it’s annoying af but generally won’t do much more than statusing something and possibly allowing its teammate to take out Pheromosa if they both decide to target her before going down. You can Protect with Phermosa first turn hoping Eletrode targets her, but if it goes for something like Thunder Wave, Swagger or Mirror Coat on Lele, you can really fuck yourself, so I wouldn’t recommend it.
-Minor Threats-
Those are all of the major threats that I can think of. There are a few other minor threats I’ve come across that are much easier to handle than the above Incineroar-4 with Quick Claw has gone right for the Flare Blitz on Pheromosa every single time. Unless the other enemy is faster than Pheromosa which is very rare, Mosa just finishes off Incineroar with Low Kick, but can go down the same turn if the Lele doesn’t take out the other enemy and they target Mosa with an attacking move. Manectric-4 runs Timid with a Choice Scarf which outspeeds Lele and Mosa, but has gone for Overheat on Pheromosa everytime I’ve come across it. There are a few ways to handle it depending on the other enemy partner. If you’re not too scared of the other enemy, you can Protect with Mosa turn one to bait Manectric and attack it with Lele. If the other enemy is a potential problem you can double target the other enemy and let Manectric hit you down to your Sash (and pray no burn), Protect turn two and bait the second overheat and finish Manectric off with Lele. If turn two the third enemy you once again need Lele to go after, switch Pheromosa to Garchmp as Overheat shouldn’t be doing shit at -1 anyway. Again just pray for no Burn. Zapdos-2 with Bright Powder can be a real pain if Psychic or Ice Beam misses and it starts getting up Double Team. This did happen to me where I missed Psychic but hit Ice Beam. Luckily turn two I hit my next Psychic and took it out. Alolan Ninetales-1 can be a problem as Hail takes away Pheromosa’s Sash and Blizzard is annoying and can’t miss, Aurora Veil is scary and it has Hypnosis. Luckily I have only faced it once where I switched out Mosa for Metagross as it went for Hypnosis and missed, and I OHKOed it with Iron Head next turn. Lastly, if you see a Typhlosion, just assume it’s the third set with Choice Scarf and Eruption and immediately target it with Lele, don’t fuck around with that thing.
So if you made it to this point in my post that’s awesome and I greatly appreciate it because I made this way longer than it should have been. Any suggestions are very welcome, and I’d love to answer any questions about the team. Unfortunately I only saved 4 videos from the streak, two of which were 4-0s against teams full of legendries without losing a hit point, another was the same thing without losing any HP but against Wally and the last was battle 200 against Cynthia. The problem is that they don’t Metagross or Garchomp at all and its just Pheromosa and Tapu Lele fucking shit up. Truthfully when going for the streak, I rarely won a battle using Metagross and Garchomp and thought “I better save this replay for when I hit a big streak and can show off how the team operates”. I just wanted to get through the battles quick and not jinx myself thinking like that, but I promise once I decide to go back and continue the streak I’ll do my best to get some better replays. I do however still have them saved if needed as additional proof of my streak since I’m seeing more and more people on here lie about their own run which is pretty upsetting. I will also come back and edit this post to provide a QR rental team for anyone to try out once I get my Pheromosa to level 100 and bottle cap her defenses because I’m a perfectionist like that and if I’m giving out a team I want it to be flawless. Again, thank you all so much for reading :)
So since we are less than two weeks from USUM, I decided to give the Battle tree another shot. It has been months since I reached the 200 win mark and haven't touched it since then, focusing more on breeding projects (just surpassed 12,000 eggs in my Moon copy!). Unfortunately I did not last very long after getting back into this streak. A lack of motivation after achieving my goal of 200 wins using my Mega Metagross, months of not touching the Battle Tree as well as the new games coming so soon and this game coming to "a close" all lead to me losing pretty quickly. Regardless, I am very proud of this team and am here to announce my streak officially coming to an end at 228 wins!
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