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So I am firing this up again and have been looking for a Greninja team to get me past 100 wins, and I like the look of this one a lot.
Question I have is what do you do against Red if he leads with Zard here?
My thought is switch to Gliscor (assume worst case, so it goes X and Dragon Dances). I Toxic and take a flare blitz (which shouldn't OHKO Gliscor I don't think), protect, and then try to sub or EQ to finish it (sometimes it is dumb and DD's a second time).
Ninja can only 2HKO if it goes X, and it won't be able to get the second Surf off before it get's OHKO'd by a DD'd Claw. And Blaziken could EQ it but it won't be able to outspeed initially.
Anyone have thoughts on that? Mega Zard X lead always gives me nightmares.
I'm not sure how to approach this situation, Greninja seems to match up poorly against lead Charizard. You can use Ice Beam on turn 1 to deal damage, and then sac Greninja to Flare Blitz so Charizard takes recoil damage - but the price will be heavy.
For getting past Red specifically it's possible to swap your team after battle #49 and counterteam for a guaranteed win (also good for swapping in a weak Ribbon collector as only the battles against Red/Blue counts towards getting the battle facility ribbons), and if you're aiming for 100 wins specifically Mega Charizard X lead can only appear starting from battle #31 - it's reasonably common that during 70 battles/210 foes total, you'll never encounter a single Mega Charizard X aside from possibly Red's, whom you can counterteam.
I'm not sure how to approach this situation, Greninja seems to match up poorly against lead Charizard. You can use Ice Beam on turn 1 to deal damage, and then sac Greninja to Flare Blitz so Charizard takes recoil damage - but the price will be heavy.
For getting past Red specifically it's possible to swap your team after battle #49 and counterteam for a guaranteed win (also good for swapping in a weak Ribbon collector as only the battles against Red/Blue counts towards getting the battle facility ribbons), and if you're aiming for 100 wins specifically Mega Charizard X lead can only appear starting from battle #31 - it's reasonably common that during 70 battles/210 foes total, you'll never encounter a single Mega Charizard X aside from possibly Red's, whom you can counterteam.
Yeah it’s tricky. I was thinking of just switching to a counter team but I feel like it would break the spirit of it all. I can cruise red with the chomp-Scizor-Fini team but really want a ninja team.
Is there a way to calculate if a Surf Z move would OHKO Zard X? I could change items on ninja to a z crystal for just that fight
Yeah it’s tricky. I was thinking of just switching to a counter team but I feel like it would break the spirit of it all. I can cruise red with the chomp-Scizor-Fini team but really want a ninja team.
Is there a way to calculate if a Surf Z move would OHKO Zard X? I could change items on ninja to a z crystal for just that fight
These are all good suggestions thanks guys. The other option is I could lead with Blaziken and start with a low kick (since it hits every zard), then follow up with EQ if it is Zard X or Flare Blitz for Y.
Trying to theorymon a team centered around Koko and Surf Raichu, any ideas? Not getting access to Fake Out really blows, but seems like there's potential there combined with Rain supporter.
I've been trying several versions, and I can tell you, Surf-chu doesn't really do a whole lot. I went Alolan-Raichu (as with no Fake out and no Lightning Rod i don't really see any point in normal Raichu), and even with rain the Surf doesn't do a whole lot.
I've been trying several versions, and I can tell you, Surf-chu doesn't really do a whole lot. I went Alolan-Raichu (as with no Fake out and no Lightning Rod i don't really see any point in normal Raichu), and even with rain the Surf doesn't do a whole lot.
My son and I inch forward in the multis tree, up to battle 34 today. Decided to change Substitute to Encore on Gardevoirs set, wow, what a change. We'd hardly ever used Substitute, and granted when we did it was very good, but I felt like something else could offer more. Encore is definitely that move. In multis, where you want to remove one side ASAP Encore gives you a lot of chances to essentially do just that. One game there was an opposing Weavile lead, Gardevoir protects on Weaviles Fake Out, and Mega-Blastoise Icy Winds. Next turn Weavile is encored into Fake Out and that's basically the whole game as we annihilate the other side ignoring Weavile. I would say we used Encore in at least half the games played today. AV Bisharp did a ton of work too, switched into a couple of stat lowering moves and wrecked house in those games. A couple of scary games where my son forgot to mega though ><
kuladiamond
If you look for ideas, i spent much time in theorizing a Tapu Koko + Raichu team (see on page 98).
And Lightningrod and Fake Out should outclass Surf in almost any case.
While the team members are familiar and the concept the same as with a couple of other PheroLele teams featured, the team is shared here due to its success rate and the triple STAB employed by this particular Lele set.
Interestingly, the Pokemon appear to have been taken from actual carts, rather than made from scratch. Tapu Lele hits 223 Speed, allowing it to outrun Jolly Mega Aerodactyl (which isn't in the Tree, since the only Mega Aero is Adamant). I'm not sure what benchmarks Aegislash's EV spread is supposed to hit.
Super Doubles L1 Mimikyu / Snorlax / Araquanid / Marowak-A Team
Since this post, we have had a few people join this little Tree-climbing community, and since they may or may not have been around for the BP Global Mission, it's entirely possible that these sample teams are unknown to some. Since it's becoming doubtful that I will rebuild the Q.R.T.O.O. at the rate I'm going, I will re-share them here, for reference and for those who desire...a bit more of a challenge:
Tyranitar @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
- Rock Slide
- Fire Punch
- Ice Punch
- Protect
At a first glance this team seems weak to ground but the combination of salamence+intimidate and aegislash+wide-guard works well to mitigate this. -spe natures are chosen for aegislash and tyranitar for trick room. Crunch can be an alternate move for tyranitar but the loss of type coverage is significant.
After much grinding on on the GTS, (and my reluctance to pay £5 a year for pokebank) I finally got a Truant Durant in a trade. now the real fun in super singles can begin.
And with help from my mate who was able to obtain a Venonat for me from GTS i can now have my old super singles Battle Maison team with my old pal Venomoth!!
You can find my old record on the Maison thread where I secured a 265 win streak but lost to a soundproof Abomnasnow. things are a little different now in the battle tree. instead of running Bug Buzz on Venomoth, i'm now running Signal Beam, just because of soundproof.
Also the buff to dark types being unaffected by prankster, has meant that my old Meowstic setup with choice scarf/ trick is dead. but i found a solution.
Sableye is one of the few prankster Pokemon who is also unaffected by opposing prankster Pokemon because of its dark typing, but unlike the other prankster dark types like Murkrow and Liepard, it has an option to use taunt successfully on opposing lead Pokemon, if it changes its ability by Mega evolving into mega Sableye. The prankster ability is overwritten with magic bounce. now you can use turn 1 taunt on lead dark types.
Lead Espeon with magic bounce dies to knock off which is fun, and i can always use protect on Absol to scout if its a mega or not.
Absol might be the single biggest threat to prankster leads in gen 7.
Barely made it up there, much like my other leaderboard-worthy streaks, but I guess it counts. Reporting a streak of 91 wins in Super Doubles. I've used this team before, it's my Mega Absol + Tapu Lele team. I've quoted in below.
Not only does Mega Absol look amazing, it can hit pretty hard too. Knock Off helps remove any items, does really good damage, and helps remove Ghost types that otherwise threaten Tapu Lele. Psycho Cut acts like a second STAB move when under terrain, and does just a little bit more than what Knock Off would do without an item on the opponent. Superpower helps break down Steel types that can wall out Tapu Lele. Rarely used though, since the Attack drop can be pretty annoying at the beginning. Protect is really obvious with Absol's fraility and just stalling out things like Trick Room.
Jolly is the nature of choice to be as fast as possible, and the EV spread is a simple one just to maximize damage and speed. Nothing too special really.
Magic Bounce is really nice after Absol Mega Evolves. It essentially makes Absol immune to any sort of status. There seems to be a weird thing with the AI not recognizing Magic Bounce though, something I'll cover when I get to the replays.
Good old Tapu Lele, one of my most used Pokemon in the Battle Tree. Psychic is STAB with Psychic Terrain, and Moonblast is an alternate STAB, mainly for opposing Dragon and Dark types. Dazzling Gleam for a spread move, which often chips things enough to where Absol can take them out. Shadow Ball is used for coverage and to hit opposing Psychics if absolutely needed.
Modest nature and 236 Speed EVs with a Scarf hits an empty speed tier, and max Special Attack to do the most damage. Everything else is just spread out for a tiny bit of bulk to make the most of the EVs. Spread is just a slight modification of Josh C.'s Tapu Lele on Sharkanine.
Excadrill @ Groundium Z
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 20 SpA
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide / Rock Tomb
- Protect
185/187/81/58/85/154
The Z-Move user of the team and an Electric immunity for Mantine and any Thunder Waves. Earthquake and Iron Head are obvious STABs, dealing with opposing Fairy and Steel types. When Z-powered, Tectonic Rage helps give me a one time nuke to use without hitting my partner, though it is rarely needed to be used instantly. Rock Slide, while rarely used, helps against any opposing Flying types if absolutely needed. Protect is used to stall Trick Room and just take up turns in general when needed.
EV spread is again relatively basic, just to hit fast and hit hard. Mold Breaker makes Earthquake and Tectonic Rage even better, ignoring Levitate, Sturdy, and Solid Rock, among other annoying abilities. Excadrill is by no means the best Ground type ever, but it's typing fits it in pretty well, ignoring it's somewhat lower speed.
I tried out Rock Tomb from around Battle 50, just to see how it would work out. I didn't really use it too often, besides at points when it didn't matter if I used it between something else, but having a more accurate Rock type move felt like a good enough reason to try it out.
Mantine @ Aguav Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 148 Def / 116 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 18 Atk
- Scald
- Helping Hand
- Tailwind
- Wide Guard
191/48/109/100/192/90
The general team supporter and switch-in for a lot of different things. Scald is just to not be Taunt bait and to help break Focus Sashes if ever needed. Helping Hand makes any move from the rest of the team much more powerful, supporting spread moves or just solidifying a KO. Tailwind seemed kinda useless at first, but being able to make Excadrill's speed match with the rest of the team or just ignore Speed drops for a few turns is really helpful. Wide Guard helps block spread moves that can otherwise be annoying and potentially disastrous.
Since most of Mantine's weaknesses are specially based, a Calm nature is used along with max HP and a decent amount of investment to help it survive various Electric moves. The remaining EVs go into Defense to help improve it's physical bulk more. With it's relatively massive bulk, an Aguav Berry is the item of choice to quickly bring Mantine back to a health range that helps it take an extra move or two. Water Absorb gives Mantine an extra immunity and lets it switch into things for Excadrill, which gives a bonus of healing some health back.
Threats:
Trick Room: The team plays extremely quickly and relies a lot on Speed, so taking that away can cripple the team quite a bit. How I deal with it varies based on the Trick Room setter, but if I can't OHKO it with Absol and/or Tapu Lele, or there are two Trick Room setters, then I just hope to stall it out with switching and Protect.
Alakazam3: One of the Pokemon that gives me the biggest trouble. Outspeeds my whole team, and nothing I have can OHKO it without being OHKO'd in return. My best bet is to just hope that Tapu Lele can 2HKO it while taking minimal damage, or getting Tailwind up so something can OHKO it.
There are certainly other threats. I just haven't played the team far enough to see them, but I did run into these two things several times on this run.
Team Problems:
At the moment, I don't see any major flaws that require massive changes, like changing a whole Pokemon. The main reason for my loss is my fault, targeting the wrong thing at the wrong time. You could argue that there was a tiny bit of hax involved, but that could have been avoided entirely. I'll cover this more when I get to that battle.
First time I've faced an Alakazam. Dealing with that got mildly annoying, but once Alakazam went down, it finished up relatively easily. Also was my first Blue battle in quite a while, I haven't been able to get this far lately in Doubles.
Battle 75: JSTG-WWWW-WWW9-Y3PF
Black Belt Boris (Rhyperior3 / Aggron4 / Virizion2 / Regigigas1)
Aggron can get really annoying for Tapu Lele, and Absol can't really break through it either. A potential Rhyperior3 also means I can't just use Absol to take it out, as I risk losing Absol. A couple switches and a weird Magic Bounce interaction makes it easier, as it allows me to ignore Aggron for the most part and deal with the other side, then nuke Aggron to finish it off.
As seen in this battle, the opposing Aggron continuously uses Thunder Wave into Absol, who has Magic Bounce and thus is essentially immune to it. This happened several other times in this streak, at least 3 times I know for sure, all of which I saved the battle for. Seems to be something similar to how the AI reacts to Misty Terrain, but I'm not sure.
A mistarget from the beginning, I'd say. Seeing the wrong Pokemon as the threat, I decide that a potential Choice Band Slaking is fine to leave around, going after Tentacruel instead, who could have had a Focus Sash. It doesn't, but Slaking takes out Tapu Lele in return, and Absol has it's Protect wasted from a prediction. The battle goes pretty downhill from there, since I have no good way to hit Salamence and it outspeeds me. I unfortunately miss a Rock Slide there, which may have cost me the game, but I don't believe it would have mattered, as a Zapdos in the back would be pretty annoying to handle with just Excadrill.
If I just double targeted Slaking right from the beginning, I should have won that. Absol and Tapu Lele would theoretically be able to deal with anything in the back, and if not, they would be crippled enough to where the back can take them on. Or even if the Rock Slide connected, I may have needed to take one less Crunch, thus not lowering my Defense and having just over half health on Excadrill, which should have been enough health for it to go down in 3 hits, assuming Rock Slide connected.
Final Thoughts:
I really like the concept of the team, and getting lesser used Pokemon out there, like Absol and Mantine, makes me happy that it actually functions relatively well. Very glad I didn't give up on the team immediately when I saw it lose a few times under 40 battles. I'll try another run after this post goes up, so some sort of update should come around.
A relatively clean battle, Mantine coming in and taking a Pidgeot Hyper Beam to help set up Tailwind, making me faster than anything possible in the back with Absol and Excadrill, for the most part. I never figured out the exact sets of what I faced, as they all went down in a turn without doing anything, besides Gyarados, who only used Dragon Dance.
One of the battles that shows how scary a Mega Alakazam can be. A wrong prediction Turn 1 could have cost me the game, as I would have very few ways to deal with it. Thankfully, I guess that it would Focus Blast Absol rather than Shadow Ball Tapu Lele. With that, I am able to get up Tailwind, outspeed Mega Alakazam, and take it out with a Helping Hand Shadow Ball. Tapu Lele unfortunately goes down, but it has done enough in taking out a big threat. At that point, the whole team is weak to a Helping Hand Earthquake from Excadrill, ending the game.
An unfortunate double Trick Room lead. At this point, I just take a guess and double target Slowbro, what I hoped to be the only Trick Room setter. Sadly, it was a double lead, so I spent the next few turns stalling out Trick Room, switching in resistances and using Protect when I could. Eventually, I get into the position I want, having Absol out against Cofagrigus so I can take it out before it can get Trick Room up again. I prepare to have a Helping Hand Knock Off launched right into Cofagrigus...only to get a Quick Claw proc. Absol goes down, Trick Room comes up, and I no longer have what I need to stall out Trick Room as effectively a second time. I plan to keep Mantine and either Tapu Lele or Excadrill alive, so I can Helping Hand + attack to stop it from setting a third Trick Room, something that would mean a guaranteed loss at that point. With all four turns of Trick Room still up, I plan to keep Excadrill alive for after Trick Room, since it deals with most of the potential back better than Tapu Lele. My main hope is that Mantine gets very few targets from the opponents, as it resists a lot of their moves and is really bulky, so I just Scald to waste turns and try to keep it alive. A crit does reduce this bulk greatly and I lose Mantine due to this, but I still have both Excadrill and Tapu Lele on the last turn of Trick Room, and with Cofagrigus just under half health, I go for the knock out onto Cofagrigus with Psychic as Excadrill baits Lickilicky into Hammer Arm. Except Destiny Bond. I lose Tapu Lele in exchange for stopping Trick Room, but now I have no way of beating Tangrowth with just Excadrill. I hope for a flinch and a miss, to try and make a win condition, but at that point it was futile.
Not considering Destiny Bond was definitely big issue. I assumed that it wouldn't use it, especially since it only just got put into the yellow through a burn. Though, that may have not even needed to happen if Quick Claw hadn't happened, or if Hammer Arm had missed. I greatly ignored the threat of an RNG roll, and it cost me that game.
I also messed around with another team prior to this, a Trick Room idea I had based around Mega Ampharos. It...sorta worked, but it's sorta volatile, if that's the right word. Ended up being a Trick Room + Rain hybrid, or TRain as I've heard. Pretty sure this streak of 48 wins in Super Doubles is the highest I've brought it to.
The main focus of the team, supporting Mega Ampharos. Nothing too special here, with the basic STABs in Thunderbolt and Dragon Pulse, having the utility in Volt Switch, and stalling out turns and keeping itself safe before Trick Room goes up with Protect. General EVs for bulk and as much firepower as possible.
Thunder isn't used, as strong as it is, mostly because Rain is not the main focus of the team; Trick Room is. I'd rather have the guaranteed accuracy in any weather for less power, than more power and similar accuracy in Rain, but much less accuracy out of it. Plus, the utility of Volt Switch and general usefulness of Protect is too good to skip out on, and I have other ways of powering up Thunderbolt.
The Trick Room setter and a lot of the bulk of the team. Trick Room is mandatory for a team like this, and Gyro Ball to have a decently strong STAB move for Fairy types and just to not be Taunt bait. Protect is there to not be vulnerable to Fake Out, status, Taunt, or just general scouting. Rain Dance helps support the team a lot. It effectively makes Bronzong weak to only Ghost and Dark, powers up Araquanid, and weakens the threat of Fire to Escavalier. I really liked the idea and I might try it again in the future, but I don't know if I'll come back to this idea.
Mental Herb and Lum Berry were the two items I considered for this, and honestly both have their uses. I may try Lum Berry in a future run, but I felt like I got Taunted more often than statused with Bronzong.
However, I found that a lot of the times, once Trick Room itself went up, it just got in the way in the lead and I had to waste a turn getting it out. It's damage output is pretty mediocre if it isn't super effective, and I don't remember running into too many Fairy types. Most of the time, I just let it go down to the opponent or just swapped it to something else, to get more damage going.
Escavalier @ Assault Vest
Ability: Shell Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 9 SpA / 0 Spe
- X-Scissor
- Iron Head
- Drill Run
- Knock Off
One of the sweepers of the team and a good, bulky switch in wherever needed. X-Sxissor and Iron Head are really solid STAB moves to have, generally strong off of a high Attack. Drill Run for coverage against the Electric types that I otherwise have trouble hitting, as well as opposing Fire types if needed. Knock Off is a good utility move to have, beating out Psychic and Ghost types if getting I can't KO them.
Assault Vest was the item for improving bulk, and I already needed all the attacks, plus it was going to be switched in most of the time, taking a hit. The extra 4 Special Defense EVs puts it at an even stat point, making the most out of the Assault Vest boost.
Araquanid @ Waterium Z
Ability: Water Bubble
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 6 SpA / 0 Spe
- Liquidation
- Soak
- Wide Guard
- Protect
Definitely the Pokemon that made this team really fun to use. Rain + Water Bubble makes things hurt. Liquidation for a really good STAB and Z-Move, especially in Rain. Soak was an interesting choice at first, but being able to remove the STAB bonus from the opponents, as well as making Ampharos hit super effectively, really appealed to me. Makes it even better that Araquanid is just slower than Ampharos, so it's very similar to the Choice Scarf Tapu Fini + Kartana/Tapu Koko idea. Wide Guard for protection against spread moves that this team was kind of weak to already. And Protect just for stalling where needed.
Much like a lot of Trick Room teams, they struggle when Trick Room can't go up, but unlike most other teams, mine doesn't have any extra support. It really just relies on Bronzong's bulk and a little bit of hope/luck to not get prevented.
Due to the stupid 10 video limit, I only have my loss video to share, but it was not a good one. Probably faced the worst possible lead for me, as I had nothing I could really do, from what I could see.
The battle was basically over from the start. Fake Out can stop Trick Room, and Marowak-A can easily OHKO Bronzong. Ampharos can't do too much with double Lightning Rod potential and the back can't really touch one without going down to the other. I do what I can, with switching around, hoping to get a KO somewhere so Bronzong is less vulnerable, but the power of Rampardos4 Head Smash is too much and it rendered (Rendor'd?) my efforts to be useless. I never even see the Blastoise, only knowing it's there because of the battle video.
EDIT: Also, another question about Red's stupid Zard X. How often does he Double Dragon Dance? Because I think I can get him if I switch my lead from Ninja to M-Blaziken. Start with Low Kick (speed boost) and it DDs, I protect (speed boost) *it does SOMETHING*, I EQ.
So does anyone know how often that 'SOMETHING' will be a second DD? I imagine it would be a Dragon Claw and then Metal Chicken should outspeed but I am not sure.
just had a strange match i lost a win streak too. Durant's entrainment fails twice on a lead Wishiwashi. it was holding no item because i used knock off from my Sableye on turn 1. wasn't much of a deal since it was only in the mid 10's (not even a 20 win streak)
Is Wishiwashi immune to ability swapping moves?
Regardless, i'm now running Thunder Wave on Durant, just in case i see a lead wishiwashi again.
Wishiwashi is indeed immune to Entrainment. So are Komala, Mimikyu, Zen Darmanitan, and any Magic Bounce user and Minior I believe, and mostly why you generally run Red Card Mimikyu in Durant comps
I'm playing Super Singles, leading with Dragonite, Adamant, with 196 speed EVs (the rest in HP). I run Dragon Dance, Outrage, Fire Punch, and Iron Head. I chose 196 speed EVs because it outspeeds jolly tyranitar by 1. Tyranitar2 and Tyranitar3 are jolly, and use dragon dance and rock slide. Unless they miss or I crit, they will beat my Dragonite if our typical battle happens (we both dance, then I use outrage and they use rock slide) unless I outspeed them (I can survive one rock slide but not two). Outrage has about a 45% chance to OHKO at +1. Earthquake will always kill at +1, if I change my moveset to have it. I'm wondering if I should up to 252 and just leave 4 in HP (or def or spdef).
196 speed EVs: 125 speed --> 187 after one dance (I think it drops the decimal part, instead of rounding up)
252 speed EVs: 132 speed --> 198
There are a bunch of dragons in between 125 and 132 speed, like certain sets of latios, kingdra, etc. However I don't think any of these can OHKO me, and I usually do a dragon dance first anyway, because I don't want to be locked in to outrage before dragon dancing. I will definitely OHKO all of these after one dragon dance. So I'm looking more at the +1 part...
Between 187 and 198 speed are some other threats, mainly all four weavile sets. When I see Weavile, I usually switch. If I'm at +1 with 196 EVs, I would also switch, because below is what would happen...
Weavile-1: No ice moves. This one flings a razor claw, so I know which weavile it is if I see it.
Weavile-2: This one has nevermeltice. If it uses ice punch, it has a 31.3% chance to kill me at 56 HP EVs (slower speed dragonite). If I use faster dragonite, I will outspeed it and OHKO with iron head if I'm at +1 dance (Iron Head does enough damage to OHKO it even at +0). If it uses ice shard, it's a guaranteed 2HKO either way.
Weavile-3: Can use fake out, then ice punch for a definite kill. (has focus sash)
Weavile-4: similar to weavile3, can use fake out then ice punch. (also has focus sash).
Other threats between 187 and 198 are some ribombee sets, but these have quite weak attacks and I can survive two easily, and kill them with a +1 iron head.
Noivern-1 is between here but it has no dragon attacks.
Greninja-2, timid, is here, and it has ice beam and will 2HKO me at either EV spread. I will OHKO it with outrage unboosted. This Greninja has rain dance + damp rock, and the AI loves to use weather moves even when it should be attacking, so I may get to outrage it without being hit here.
Salamence-4 (a jolly mega set) has dragon rush is in this speed range.
My other team members get shuffled around a bit, but usually it is Protean Greninja and Mega Kangaskhan. Sometimes one or both are switched for Mega Gyarados, Gliscor, Scarf adamant Kartana,, or Porygon-Z (which uses Z-conversion on Thunderbolt).
I'm wondering, what notable things will I survive at 56 HP EVs that I won't at 4? (or def/spdef EVs). It's a bit harder to figure that out.
This time i managed to take Durant to the mid 40's but a lead drampa used quick claw and used fire blast. i'm able to switch to my sableye which knows the move spite, and reduce that fire blast pp to zero but drampa's next attack activates the red card hold item, sending in a slowbro. i try to trick it, but it mega evolves and finishes me off. my last pokemon is Venomoth. i get 1 quiver dance off and survive a psychic. i use signal beam at the mega slowbro lives on 1 HP and kos me.
I forgot quick claw was even a thing in the battle tree. Had I of known i would of switched out turn 1, to force the opponent to switch.
btw here are the calculations for +1 Venomoth VS Mega Slowbro
+1 252+ SpA Venomoth Signal Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Slowbro-Mega: 200-236 (99 - 116.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
252+ SpA Slowbro-Mega Psychic vs. +1 0 HP / 0 SpD Venomoth: 144-170 (99.3 - 117.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO
so i got the 6.2 survival chance, and fail the 87.5% chance
Forgot Quick Claw was even a thing in the tree! Well, I never!
Jokes aside, every gen has had at least one notoriously dangerous pain in the ass because of that item. DPP Metagross4 was a big one because of the good old Explosion mechanics back then. Donphan4 was also a bad apple until this gen. Now we have Incineroar4 and, as you've experienced, Drampa. IIRC the non-Steelixite packer has a Quick Claw as well.
