Posting my progress now simply because I was planning on suspending this streak until I'm able to use Mega Mawile, with whom I intend to replace Araquanid.
While I did mention well before this topic gained momentum (let alone most regular had even begun the tree) that I'd planned to use this team; since most of the members are the go-to squad for Trick Room, I'm afraid my team is not going to raise any eyebrows. At least I have the comfort of knowing I thought for myself :P
Oranguru @ Mental Herb
Sassy, Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP, 164 Def, 92 SpD
-Trick Room
-Instruct
-Psychic
-Protect
Tried and true. I fluffed the defense instead of using any attack investment whatsoever because there are no particularly relevant numbers to hit with Psychic, and apart from Toxapex the move is only used to keep Hariyama from taking a second stat drop from Close Combat due to the first leaving the target red.
I want to thank whomever had the idea to make Fling waste your hold item against Protect users, because without it Conkeldurr4 would be a nightmare for this team. One of the Shiftry sets can do that also. Protect got sufficient mileage but rarely had to be used in lieu of TR.
Hariyama @ Flame Orb
Brave, Guts
EVs: 28 HP, 252 Atk, 108 Def, 116 SpD
-Fake Out
-Knock Off
-Heavy Slam
-Close Combat
Apart from gorging himself on HP-reduction berries to fluff both defenses, this is the same fellow from years prior, still doing the exact same thing to great effect. There have been a number of hiccups brought about by 7th-gen additions, but I'll get to those later. I've learned a lot since using this guy on a more serious team, mostly things about risk hedging and the like, which brought more out of him.
This EV spread allows Hariyama to survive non-crit Mega Gallade Psycho Cut, an attack it's guaranteed to eat if Wally leads with him. After an Intimidate, back-to-back Close Combats will still destroy Mega Mawile. Against Mega Mence, another problem, I'll typically flinch it and then use two Knock Offs. The damage is poor thanks to -1 and no damage buff, but the recoil from Double Edge is so severe that it'll kill Salamence afterward. If I opted to take down its partner instead or otherwise allow Mence to survive the recoil, the damage is still severe enough to allow Araquanid or Drampa to easily pick it off.
Araquanid @ LifeOrb
Brave, Water Bubble
EVs: 252 HP, 252 Atk, 4 SpD
-Protect
-Liquidation
-Lunge
-Power Split
This moveset looks a little wonky partly because as a temp I gave it that which it really needed to function on the team, while letting me quickly adapt it to my eventual randoms style of play without having to do the thing over. It'll later have Entrainment and/or Wide Guard in place of Protect. The lack of Waterium Z will be elaborated on.
Kinda weird that the default image from serebii is shiny Araquanid, but my own spidey is not shiny.
Drampa @ Dragonium Z
Quiet, Berserk
EVs: 196 HP, 60 Def, 252 SpA
-Protect
-Flamethrower
-Get Off My Lawn, Whippersnapper (Hyper Voice)
-Draco Meteor
I am convinced this is the optimal tree moveset for Drampa. I have not once wished I had a different elemental coverage move, though later on, using different teams, it's nice to have all those options. I decided Drampa is a much better candidate for the Z crystal than Araquanid for a number of reasons:
- Liquidation has no penalty and is otherwise a spammable attack
- Z moves can't be paired with Instruct, so DD is a better choice of one-time nuke
- Hydro Vortex is walled or absorbed by more enemies than Dragon attacks
Talk about reliable ol' Granddad. I don't know whether to say Drampa put in the least amount of work, or was my MVP. Purely from a numbers standpoint, Drampa has the fewest KOs to his name by a freaking mile. But the things he destroyed were things that have pissed me off for fucking years in these facilities, or some new annoying things that I'm able to simply laugh at, like Toxapex. But the main thing I can't get enough of is the LOLvasion. In one of the battles leading up to 200, I faced a Zapdos2, who set up two Double Teams for itself while Hariyama took care of its partners. Rather than Instruct a CC onto Zapdos, Oranguru simply sent some Psychics its way; the only one that connected got a drop to SpD. At that point I couldn't have cared less what it did, because it can't KO Drampa in any number of hits I'd notice, and sure enough, it healed to full health and was OHKOd by Devastating Drake right afterward.
I've also murdered more than a few Sand Veil and Snow Cloak shitheads in their respective weathers. Ignoring Protect is also nice, and the quartering of damage doesn't accomplish much when the unblocked hit does something like 130%.
Hyper Voice has also been a surprisingly awesome move. Prior to SM I had only used this move with Pixilate, so I was initially taken aback that, even with plain old STAB, it was still hitting most targets for over 50% singularly; what this meant was that the initial Hyper Voice could KO a badly wounded enemy and then the Instructed move would do enough to KO the second target eating the full damage. Sound moves ignoring subs has come into play against Scrafty, which has shown up very frequently. I used this move a great deal. Flamethrower was just a great albeit situational move to have around. Drampa did a lot of battling with no Oranguru around and it still netted its fair share of OHKOs.
Drampa is easily my favorite new pokemon and isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Defensively, it's below average compared to most high-end Normal types, but it can survive a lot more after a Lunge to a key threat. Fortunately its speed allows it to go first in most cases.
I've also murdered more than a few Sand Veil and Snow Cloak shitheads in their respective weathers. Ignoring Protect is also nice, and the quartering of damage doesn't accomplish much when the unblocked hit does something like 130%.
Hyper Voice has also been a surprisingly awesome move. Prior to SM I had only used this move with Pixilate, so I was initially taken aback that, even with plain old STAB, it was still hitting most targets for over 50% singularly; what this meant was that the initial Hyper Voice could KO a badly wounded enemy and then the Instructed move would do enough to KO the second target eating the full damage. Sound moves ignoring subs has come into play against Scrafty, which has shown up very frequently. I used this move a great deal. Flamethrower was just a great albeit situational move to have around. Drampa did a lot of battling with no Oranguru around and it still netted its fair share of OHKOs.
Drampa is easily my favorite new pokemon and isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Defensively, it's below average compared to most high-end Normal types, but it can survive a lot more after a Lunge to a key threat. Fortunately its speed allows it to go first in most cases.
Some annoying problems to have come up repeatedly during these battles:
- The GSC legends getting Inner Focus. None of them are problems on their own, but Raikou was often able to set up Reflect while avoiding flinch, which never helps.
- Protect users with Pressure. This really is only referring to Suicune; one battle I didn't see it coming and blew 4 Close Combat PP for absolutely nothing. That really, really stung because it was early in the battle, but my dread was short-lived as I hadn't needed fighting coverage much.
- Even without Pressure, I've otherwise been very alert for sets which could potentially carry Protect and hedging my risks much better.
- Slowking, Carbink3, Aromatisse, Shiinotic, Amoonguss, to name some primary nuisances. TR teams were expanded far more than Mara or any Subway variants, and are a lot more problematic. If the aforementioned pokes lead, I forego TR and just work on killing them ASAP because they spell nothing but trouble. Bronzong is a more welcome sight because most of them carry only Rock Slide and Gyro Ball, which does jack shit to my leads.
- Dazzling/Queenly Majesty. Forget the losers that have this ability; I care about it protecting the allies!
- If the AI has a ghost in their lineup, they very well may switch the Fake Out target for it. A problem if my Close Combat rampage began with them. This has happened multiple times but thankfully never in any disastrous scenarios.
- Grimsley. I fought this guy I believe four times, and if he leads with two pokes capable of mega evolution, I get nervous. What I do is protect Oranguru and Close Combat one of them, but unfortunately this doesn't necessarily put it in the clear; the specific battle which comes to mind lead Tyranitar and Absol; neither evolved, leaving me thinking that the fallen (Tyranitar) would be replaced by something possibly worse. As it happened, Absol nearly KOed Oranguru the following turn, but I still got TR up. Unlike ghosts which Oranguru trolls to hell and back, dark types are more than capable of getting the better of me.
Mega Mawile will bring a lot more to the table than Araquanid by way of Intimidate, additional bulk, and having four great moves instead of one. I'm pretty excited to get it!
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