Offline Battle Tower teams

I just attempted the Battle Tower challenge a few times, and did suprisingly well. My final score before I fell was 56. I am actually quite proud of that. It is an all time new high for me. ^-^

Ninjask - Liechi
@Speed Boost
EVS: 4 Hp/ 252 Att/ 252 Spd (Jolly)
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Baton Pass
- X-Scissor
My amazingly fast lead. He subs, then subs again if need be. If not, he sword dances. If his Hp goes crit, then Liechi berry goes off. I have always maxed the attack on my Ninjask because a +2 STABBed X-Scissor off his Att always hurts. But, he can always pass to....

Infernape - Expert Belt
@Blaze
EVS: 4 Hp/ 252 Att/ 252 Spd (Adamant)
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Thunderpunch
- Stone Edge
Ahhhh, I love my little fire monkey. He is max speed attack and uses expert belt because I don't like recoil that much. He can receive the boosts from Nin, and that is always fun, especially with the swords dance. He does amazing damage and covers well. But, if I don't want him to receive the boosts, there is always....

Rhyperior - Wide Lens (I hate missing >_<;)
@Solid Rock
EVS: 252 Hp/ 252 Attack/ 4 Def (Adamant)
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang/Avalanche (Depends on my mood at the time: Currently Ice Fang)
And now I have my little Juggernaut Rhino. =^.^=
Well, he can hurt without a Swords Dance pass, but with it ouch. He can use the speed too if he needs it. Wide Lens is there to help with Megahorn and Stone Edge's accuracy. I really don't like missing. I have actually been thinking about sticking Dragon Rush on him, since with Wide Lens it will have higher accuracy, and I don't think any Dragon would want to come in on max att, +2 Rhyperior Dragon rush. lol
Anyways, that is my BT team. [=
 
My team got me to 92 wins in the Battle Tower

Garchomp@ Yache Berry
EVs :4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spd
Jolly
Earthquake
Fire Fang
Dragon Claw
Swords Dance

Metagross @ Shuca Berry
Adamant
EVs: 252 Atk / 136 Def / 120 Spd
Earthquake
Meteor Mash
Bullet Punch
Zen Headbutt

Azelf @ Wise Glasses
4 HP/ 252 SAtk/252 Spd
Timid
Nasty Plot
Flamethrower
Psychic
Energy Ball


Dunno why I kept Zen headbutt on metagross, but I've been doing pretty well.
 
So I was on 6 hour trip yesterday, and I was pretty bored. Training on the Elite Four is just plain tedious, and resetting for legends is pretty difficult without an IV calculator, so I decided to challenge the Battle Tower again. After all, even though I was never fond of it, I still needed a Choice Scarf. So I picked 3 of my half-trained Pokemon along with Gyarados, and went on with the challenge. Died battle 67.


Garchomp @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw

See what I mean by half-trained? It should of had Fire Fang, but whatever. Choice Banded Outrage kills the Battle Tower.


Weavile @ Focus Sash
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Pursuit
- Night Slash

What? No Swords Dance? Well, it's supposed to be a Choice Bander, but seeing as how Garchomp is already holding one, I figure Focus Sash is the next best thing.


Gyarados @ Leftovers
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 228 HP / 32 Atk / 148 Def / 100 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance

Standard-ish. Still haven't gotten around to replacing Waterfall with Taunt.
 
Died battle 58

Togekiss @ King's rock
Serene Grace
252 SpAtk / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Modest
-Nasty Plot
-Thunder Wave
-Airslash
-Aurasphere

Ninjask @ Leichi Berry
Speed boost.
255 Speed / 255 SpAtk
-Substitute
-Protect
-X-scissor
-Baton pass

Metagross @ Leftovers
Clearbody
252 Atk / 252 Speed / 4 HP
Adamant
-ThunderPunch
-IcePunch
-Earthquake
-Meteor Mash

Taken out by a Machamp, Aggron with quick claw, and Critical hit claydol earthquake.
 
Put together another team for the tower, got a bit further than the first group (Battle 101)

Gengar @ Wise Glasses (sometimes Life Orb, Once Choice Specs)
Hasty Nature, Levitate
252 SpA, 252 Spe, 6 HP
~Shadow Ball
~Focus Blast (Savior in Disguise)
~Thunderbolt
~Hidden Power Ice (70 BP) (What a pain in the ass to get)
Used Gengar to try to avoid a Few OHKO Hax (Immune to 3/4, Damn Sheer Cold)

Garchomp @ Life Orb (Sometimes Muscle Band)
Adamant Nature, Sand Viel
252 Atk, 252 Speed, 6 HP
~Swords Dance
~Outrage
~Earthquake
~Fire Fang (Tried Crunch, Didnt Work So Well)
This this is a monster. After a Swords Dance, almost nothing survived an outrage hit

Azelf @ Focus Sash
Nature: Rash (+Sp.Atk, -Sp.Def)
EVs: 252 Sp.Atk, 252 Speed, 6 Attack
~Nasty Plot
~Psychic
~Hidden Power (Fighting, 69BP)
~Explosion
Sent in last, used to clean up anything left after the first two.

This verry offensive Group was able to sweep first and ask questions later.
 
Died battle 63

My team was
Tyranitar@Choice Scarf
Nature: Naive
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Sp Atk / 6 Atk
-Dark Pulse
-Thunderbolt
-Ice Beam
-Earthquake

A set I made inspired by a GameFAQs member making a somewhat similar Dragonite. Works in Wi-Fi and the Battle Tower as well. In Wi-Fi, it causes sheer surprise, while in the Battle Tower it outspeeds and KOs some common threats without breaking a sweat. Usually lead with it so I can switch out and come back later and kill something else that isn't expecting. :D

Salamence@Life Orb
Nature: Naughty
EVs: 252 Spd / 158 Atk / 100 Sp Atk
-Dragon Claw
-Fire Blast
-Earthquake
-Roost

It actually does fairly well. Being able to smack things from both sides of the spectrum hard is nice. I'll probably use a DD one when I end up raising it, though. Still, my Mixmence helps out. And of course, we have the typical ground-weak Pokemon covered by a flier.

Infernape@Muscle Band
Nature: Jolly
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 6 HP
-Flare Blitz
-Close Combat
-Stone Edge
-Swords Dance

We've all seen this one. Packed a nice punch. Muscle Band because of the stupid item clause, and because Flare Blitz recoil + Life Orb + sandstorm damage does not suit me.

Observed weaknesses: Starmie, Aerodactyl, Swampert, Rhyperior (solid rock versions [ability is random in the BT I believe]), damn Trick Room...
Died at battle 63 to a stupid TR team. Except, they knew how to stall, and just when TR ended, out comes a nasty surprise - Starmie. Tyranitar was gone, so I was toast.

It isn't the best, but considering all I wanted was battle points, and that was my record, I wasn't about to complain. Once I raise some more defined sweepers and probably a Blissey, I'll challenge it again and see how far I make it.
 
This is my team, i've never managed to get past beyond 35th single battle:

- Swampert @ Leftovers
Relaxed 252 HP/96 Sp Atk/126 Sp. Def/30 speed "Messpert" -_-
Earthquake
Waterfall
Protect
Ice Beam
xD this is my "messpert" was the first pokemon i tried to spread the EV's by myself, and well, as you see kinda sux, but he can hold its own against a lot of enemies

Torterra@Big Root
Impish 252 HP/148 Atk/108 Def "Curseterra"
Leech Seed
Wood Hammer
Curse
Earthquake
Leech Seed has saved my ass quite a few times, i just need to throw my magical seeds and then curse until it can't do it anymore, if by that time the foe isn't dead either Wood Hammer or EQ finish it

Metagross@Wide Lens
Adamant 152 HP/252 Atk/104 Def "Agiligross"
Hammer Arm
Agility
Earthquake
Meteor Mash
It used to have Shell Bell attached, but wide lens makes meta less likely to miss, and God i hate to miss! >=(, since i can get a Thunderpunching metagross(because i don't own Emerald) I gave him Hammer Arm, IMO a nice attack, good power, not too much accuracy but wide lens kinda helps, EQ powerful and Accurate, what else could you possibly ask for, Agility is just a standard, so is Meteor Mash, which BTW has better accuracy with wide lens

I guess it's my Earthquake team, sometimes it is really useful when the opponent uses sandstorm or a pokemon with Sandstream, since each pokemon is inmune ^^ never gets past 35th battle, though.
I need a fire pokemon perhaps
i finally got to the 42nd battle, swampert isn't in my team anymore, starmie replaced it

Starmie@ Life Orb
Modest 6 HP/252 Sp atk/252 Spd
Natural Cure
Ice Beam
T-Bolt
Surf
Psychic
Just as Specsmie, but i kinda dislike Choice Items, so it holds Life Orb, it can use all of its moves, with the power boost ^^, it costs a little HP though.. but with the good type coverage that its moveset has I usually finish quickly, if i can't, Meta and torterra are still the hehe

Got countered by a Blissey/Lickitung/Porygon Z team -_-
 
Died battle 40

Infernape @ Expert Belt/Focus Sash?
Lonely (couldn't be bothered breeding)
Max Atk, Spd, 4 SDef
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- U-Turn

Set up first turn, sweep. If something I can't touch comes out (Gyarados, Sala), U-Turn outta there to...

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Jolly
Max Spd, 220 Atk, 38 Def
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang

My strongest Pokemon. EV'd to take hits. I can't OHKO Mamoswine without a Swords Dance, and this guy get's OHKO'd by all form of Blizzards, Ice Beams, whatever. Survives Ice Fangs, strangely.

Lucario @ Choice Specs
Modest
Max Spd, SAtk, 4 HP
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Dark Pulse
- Dragon Pulse

Good coverage. Takes down Double Teamers, but dies to all forms of Earthquakes and Close Combats :( Heck, this guy got knocked out by a Hi Jump Kick from a MEDITITE in the first round.

Died Battle 21
Salamence @ Choice Specs
Mild
Max Spd, Max SAtk, 6 Def
- Draco Meteor
- Dragonbreath (not leveled up for Dragon Pulse yet)
- Fire Blast
- Hydro Pump

Kills most things with a Draco Meteor in one shot.

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Jolly
Max Spd, 220 Atk, 38 Def
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang

The very one from above.

Infernape @ Expert Belt/Focus Sash?
Lonely (couldn't be bothered breeding)
Max Atk, Spd, 4 SDef
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- U-Turn

Yeah. I died Battle 21 because Palmer sent out his Rhyperior, which was promptly sent to a watery grave. Dragonite came. I went to Garchomp to take the likely Dragon Rush. I died. Sent out Salamence again. Draco Meteor. Missed. His Dragon Rush missed. Draco Meteor again. MISSED. And Dragon Rush hit me. Go Infernape. Aqua Tailed to death >_> I hate hax
 
Haven't died yet, still up to only battle 30, see what you think:

Metagross @ Life Orb
Trait: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpAtk)
EVs: 100HP, 252Atk, 16SpD, 142Spd
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Thunder Punch
- Explosion (think I should replace Explosion with Ice Punch so I have a way of dealing with dragons)

My Starter. Kills a lot of things until it's Life Orb nearly kills it which I use Explosion.

Salamence @ Choice Specs
Trait: Intimidate
Nature: Modest (+SpAtk, -Atk)
EVs: 6 HP, 252 SpAtk, 252Spd
- Draco Meteor
- Dragon Pulse
- Hydro Pump
- Flamethrower

Does anyone think I should put this as my starter? Well covers Metagross weakness' and kills anything that trys to wall Metagross.


Blissey @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
Nature: Bold (+Def, -Atk)
EVs: 252HP, 252Def, 6SpD
- Seismic Toss
- Counter
- Aromatherepy
- Softboiled

Cleric and stops special sweepers.
 

Jumpman16

np: Michael Jackson - "Mon in the Mirror" (DW mix)
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Alive and kicking ass, Battle 105:

Starmie@Expert Belt ** You wish!!
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4HP/252SpA/252Spd
Nature: Modest
- Surf
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt

Gets unequivocally better from Advance now that it has a good item to use (I used the almost-redundant Lum Berry on it in Advance the few times i used it in the BT). Hits 9 of 17 types for SE and can take a hit from a LOT of pokemon it can't OHKO, which is why I don't use the Life Orb whose recoil would kill it. Grass Knot would be an option over Thunderbolt if the rest of my team actually liked dealing with Gyarados lol

329 speed here: only Garchomp pretty much is a threat and of the three that are actually 333 speed, one is Timid. Not enough of a threat to make me consider a Timid Starmie and drop considerable power.

This very Starmie (with Lum) won me my Gold Symbol in the Battle Factory in Emerald after six straight weeks of mind-bogglingly bad luck, and will always have a place in my heart as "the best pokemon in the game". I built this team around Starmie, after my Bronzong/Gyarados/Cresselia and Garchomp/Metagross/Blissey teams I thought would be stronger failed.

Tyranitar@Lum Berry ** Like That?
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spd
Nature: Jolly
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Sand Stream screws over enough Focus Sashes still to make the addition of Tyranitar a more than welcome one to my team. Jolly so it gets to 363 and beats all Base 115 Speed pokes after a DD, all of whom, with the exception of Floatzel and Ambipom, it can DD in their faces thanks to the SpD boost (Raikou, Starmie, Azelf). A free 3-0 win usually against Psychic types that can't hit it at all or only have like Shadow Ball...but the object isn't really to sweep with Tyra thanks to my next poke.

Garchomp@Choice Scarf ** Jet Blue
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 160HP/252Atk/96Spd
Nature: Adamant
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Crunch

What goes better with Sand Stream than Garchomp? Adamant Outrage from 396 speed is pretty damn dirty, and is the only move I really use besides EQ. Nothing in the DP BT surpasses 394 speed even with a Scarf besides the stuff you would expect — Ninjask and Electrode — so the rest of the EVs gladly go into HP for a relatively bulky revenge killer. Outrage is stronger than even a SE Crunch and if anything I'd replace the latter with AA to deal with Double Teamers, but that has much less efficacy unSTABbed and unboosted (I swore by AA on my CB Salamence on Emerald Frontier) [i replaced Crunch with AA many months ago and am editing it today, 9-20-08, to finally reflect that, lol].

The idea is to take out basically everything I can with Starmie, gladly switching Garchomp into Electrics. Lead grasses can be a problem but Ice Beam can usually KO. If Starmie kills the first pokemon it is pretty much over, as I can and will sacrifice Tyranitar, as I kind of alluded to above (object isn't to sweep with Tyra), to better sweep with either Starmie or Garchomp as the situation calls for it. You essentially cannot do anything when Sandstream is running (go to hell Focus Sash/Band) against a 329 Speed Starmie and a 396 Speed Garchomp who together can OHKO like 90% of the pokemon in the game or something.

On paper, a Timid Latios (359SpA/350Spd) is better than a Modest Starmie (328SpA/329Spd), but with Garchomp also on my team, Latios would attract a lot of Ice Attacks, many of them being from Water pokemon that Tyranitar doesn't exactly like tangling with. The #1 reason, perhaps, that I can't use Latios is Weavile.

921 440 Weavile Brave Razor Claw Night Slash Metal Claw Slash Shadow Claw HP/Atk
922 576 Weavile Jolly Chople Berry Night Slash Ice Shard X-Scissor Poison Jab Atk/Speed
923 712 Weavile Jolly Choice Band Night Slash Ice Shard Aerial Ace Brick Break Atk/Speed
924 848 Weavile Jolly Focus Sash Night Slash Ice Punch Aerial Ace Brick Break Atk/Speed

If a Weavile leads off against Starmie, it is 100% going to Night Slash since all of them have it and an Ice Attack is NVE against Starmie, where it could be both SE and more power against Latios in the case of Ice Punch on the CB variant. So I can switch to Tyranitar into the Night Slash and get Sandstream going (as you can see, one Weavile variant has a Focus Sash that would otherwise allow it to sweep my team).

From Tyranitar, I can switch in my Scarfed Garchomp because it will not use an Ice Attack. It will use: BB, meaning it's the Focus Sash variant (848) that doesn't have Ice Shard; Metal Claw (440), meaning it can't touch Chomp (no Ice Shard); X-Scissor (576), which does 21-25%, or Night Slash again (712), which means it's the CB variant that can't use its Ice Shard. Only the X-Scissor variant (576) is cause for concern, since after the switch to Garchomp it will use an Ice Shard that does 66-78% but thankfully Weavile needs to do near max damage twice in a row to Garchomp (adding the 21-25% damage of X-Scissor), which is all the less likely thanks to Sand Veil.

As you can see, I'm proud enough of this team to have graced you all with another big boring Jumpman Wall of Words!
 
^Solid post Jumpman. You even broke down how to deal with your team's only "counter." But, are you sure that BT will never use something unorthodox? Let's say, using Ice Punch when you switch from Tyranitar to Garchomp?
 

Jumpman16

np: Michael Jackson - "Mon in the Mirror" (DW mix)
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Yeah, I'm sure, because the AI always calculates the most damage it can do and uses that move. In fact, a certain Jolteon almost totally screwed me over (not really but yeah):


393 861 Jolteon Modest Razor Fang Charge Beam Hyper Beam Shadow Ball Thunder Wave Sp. Atk/Speed


Led off against my Starmie. Easiest switch in the world to Garchomp, right? Well, it used Shadow Ball on the switch, and CHed...in spite of its item being for Flinching lol. Took my 200HP Garchomp to 88HP, which would have done me in if I weren't faster cause Jolt has Hyper Beam.

It used Shadow Ball instead of Charge Beam on Starmie, though, because even though Charge Beam is 82.5 Base Power with STAB, it has 90% accuracy, which gives it an effective 78.375% Base Power to Shadow Ball's 80. There's seriously no other reason for it to have used Shadow Ball other than this mathematic fact, as the AI literally has nothing to go on at the beginning of the battle (for all it knows I have a Blissey lol).
 

Team Rocket Elite

Data Integration Thought Entity
is a Top Researcher Alumnus
Charge Beam is actually 50 power not 55. Shadow Ball was the stronger move to use. In my experience, unless both moves can kill you the CPU will choose the stronger move regardless of accuracy.

BTW how far did you get with your other teams?
 

Jumpman16

np: Michael Jackson - "Mon in the Mirror" (DW mix)
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Charge Beam is actually 50 power not 55. Shadow Ball was the stronger move to use. In my experience, unless both moves can kill you the CPU will choose the stronger move regardless of accuracy.

BTW how far did you get with your other teams?
Thanks that was kind of dumb of me! That would have been the only explanation...

I used my all-star Emerald team at first, fully expecting to get stopped by something but employing the "if it aint broke dont fix it" mantra (all stats are L100):

Salamence@Choice Band ** Good Game.
Ability: Intimidate
Stats: 332/405/194/280/227/173
Nature: Adamant
- Dragon Claw
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake
- Brick Break

Like most people I somewhat lamented the loss of a physical HP Flying (even if the addition of the more powerful Dragon Claw was very welcome) which led to me subconsciously thinking my Emerald team was unusable...then I remembered that I never even used HP Flying and I could gladly replace Rock Slide, which I routintely dub "the worst attack in Advance", with the aforementioned Dragon Claw. I figured most Fliers could be met with Suicune (every Flier but Zapdos) or Snorlax (Zapdos) if Salamence couldn't OHKO them with DC.

Suicune@Chesto Berry ** Holy Water
Ability: Pressure
Stats: 404/156/345/197/208/256
Nature: Bold
- Surf
- Icy Wind
- Calm Mind
- Rest

Pressure rules, and I swear by Icy Wind more than I swear by AA because pokemon don't switch and being able to take the initiative with Suicune itself or Salamence should Suicune faint to like Gengar or Aero is awesome.

Snorlax@Leftover ** SASS?!!
Ability: Thick Fat
Stats: 493/278/176/63/146/316
Nature: Sassy
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Curse
- Rest

Standard, no Shadow Ball because in Emerald no Gengar could actually do anything to Lax besides notch repeated Special falls with Psychic. Probably a bit different in DP but whatever lol

ANYWAY I detailed this team at all because I got to 73 wins before losing likely of my own accord. IIRC, Salamence killed like Pinsir with AA (after it didn't die to the AA and used Guillotine which thankfully missed) and then out came Lickitung, which paralyzed Suicune on the switch and then broke Power Whip out of nowhere as I (probably mistakingly) used Icy Wind, planning on Resting after it "used Body Slam again" but I forgot it's slow as hell anyway. So I died to another Slam and Licky was at like 90% but didn't die to the 405 Attack CBed BB and exploded on Sala lol...so it was Lax vs a Guillotine Gliscor who hit first try whatever. The team would have had enough issues with Electivire and Gengar anyway...even Gyarados though that's one of the many reasons I swear by Icy Wind.

Next I tried:

DD/RS/EQ/Crunch Jolly Tyra@Lum
DM/DC/TB/IB Modest Latios@Specs
SD/EQ/Sub/DC Jolly Garchomp@Leftovers

I thought this was "the team" until I realized how badly Weavile destroyed it, thankfully in my mind and not in battle. I literally stopped using it midstreak in favor of:

SR/Gyro/EQ/Hyp Relaxed Bronzong@Sitrus
DD/WF/Taunt/Return Gyarados@Leftovers
CM/Psy/IB/Rest Cress@Chesto

By now I knew how much of a dick Focus Sash was, and I went out of my way to employ Stealth Rock as best I could, breeding for that Bronzong for like a week or something. The strategy was to get SR up no matter what turn 1 (unless an actual fire type led off), then get three DDes with my bulky Gyarados and literally only fear Brightpowder and Quick Claw, about which nobody can really actually do anything. I realized though, with the help of ET, that not enough stuff really used Focus Sash to validate Bronzong in the BT, and that there was still a 1/3 chance said Sash would lead off anyway, rendering Bronzong's main (only? lol) purpose useless. This team and its inherent slowness died at Battle 66 to a Horn Drill Rapidash, and that pissed me off enough to want to build my next team around the irresistable sexual quickie that is Starmie, and the rest is a history that's still writing itself I guess, if and when I care enough to continue my streak.

But enough about me (finally), that 177 battle streak of yours is mighty impressive. What were yours closest battles? And what other teams did you try out before you found your gem?
 

Team Rocket Elite

Data Integration Thought Entity
is a Top Researcher Alumnus
I was mostly using three fast Pokemon that hit hard at first. I later moved on to a team that abused sleep. This was in my Japanese Diamond where they accidently rised the minimum length of sleep by one instead of lowing the max by one like in the English version.

My 177 streak was my third Battle Tower run I did in my English Pearl Version and was the first time I broke 100 on an English game. The team was actually similar to the one I used in Emerald. The only change was I used a Focus Sash Gengar instead of a Latios and added elemental punches to Metagross. The idea for the Gengar came from the Wi-Fi Battle Tower where Focus Sash is heavily abused. I haven't really gotten close to 177 as of late. I've managed around 130~150 about three times using similar strategies as I've usually been using, then die to terrible luck factors

e.g.

Metagross
-Earthquake
-Meteor Mash
-ThunderPunch
-Ice Punch
>>Choice Band

Snorlax
-Toxic
-Rest
-Earthquake
-Counter
>>Leftovers

Gengar
-Counter
-Shadow Ball
-Thunderbolt
-Destiny Bond
>>Focus Sash

It's a team similar to the one I posted earlier, just I replaced the Blissey for a Snorlax. I got a bit annoyed with stalling Ghosts out of PP when Metagross and Gengar were KO'd and all the opponent has left is a Mismagius or Gengar whom couldn't do much to Blissey, so I swapped it for something that could actually do something to ghosts not named Gengar. But then I run into things that have Quick Claw and Sleep Attacks or mass flinch hax. (It really isn't funny when your opponent uses Fire Fang and finches and KOs your Counter users, twice, in the same battle)

Here's one of the close calls I had with this team:

I start with Metagross, they start with Poliwrath. Poliwrath activates Quick Claw and puts me to sleep. My Metagross sleeps, Poliwrath Earthquakes. My Metagross sleeps, Poliwrath Earthquakes. My Metagross sleeps, Poliwrath Earthquakes and KOs my Metagross. Next I send out Gengar. Quick Claw, Hypnosis and I'm sleeping again. I keep sleeping and Gengar dies to Waterfall. Now it's 3 on 1. I send out my Snorlax and Counter its Brick Break for the KO. If it went for Hypnosis, I'd be dead but the CPU doesn't seem to do that for some reason. The CPU sends out Breloom. Snorlax versus Breloom and i'm at half health. I'm pretty screwed. It starts off with Focus Blast?! I survive with less than 10HP and use Rest. It was the one Breloom I stood any chance of beating! I spam Rest and somehow manage to stay alive until it ran out of Focus Blast. I try to Toxic but it turns out to have Poison Heal. <_< Fast forward 25 turns or so and it Struggles to death. One more Pokemon to go! I catch a bit more luck and it turns out to be Probopass. It can't really hurt me and I finish it off with Earthquake.


I haven't really had much time to be challenging the Battle Tower, as I've been busy breeding a Specsmence.

Another team I've been trying out is:

Garchomp
-Earthquake
-Outrage
-Swords Dance
-Stone Edge
>>Yache Berry

Umbreon
-Yawn
-Wish
-Substitute
-Baton Pass
>>Leftovers

Azelf
-Nasty Plot
-Energy Ball
-Flamethrower
-Psychic
>>Focus Sash

It's similar to my Diamond version team (the Umbreon is the same one from Diamond in fact). It's a bit weak to Hail teams and my Umbreon has an uncanny ability to be frozen solid about 30% of the time by its opponents, but it's been pretty successful so far.
 
Since I don't want to clutter the RMT with a BT team, I'm hoping I can get some critique on it here...

For fairness, I'll post what my team was when I got my farthest, and then in italics what I've changed. (And actually, the first few levels were fought with some random pokes I had, before I created this specific team based on its coverages, without knowing Smogon theory or these guys' base stats.)

Died: Battle 61

Infernape @ King's Rock (Focus Sash)
"Prometheus"
Naive
EVs: 126 Atk /128 S.ATk / 252 Speed (not sure exact spread, something like that)

UTurn
Flamethrower (Fire Blast)
Close Combat
Solar Beam (Grass Knot)

((Yeah, I know, King's Rock. Didn't have a Sash at the time, and I thought the flinch hax was better than anything. Originally had Flamethrower over Fire Blast for accuracy, but after seeing it fail to deliver the KO several times, I opted for the higher base power. Solar Beam was replaced by Grass Knot once I learned how to clone, so as to not use up a very powerful TM.))

I absolutely love this thing. Because of how certain BT teams are composed, I've had this thing run through many a poke on its own. you-Turn is there mainly for filler - often, I'll use it against a Psychic and switch to Starmie, easily resisting the move, and the opponent weak enough so Starmie can deliver the kill. I chose a speed + nature to ensure that Infernape would be fast enough. In retrospect, I think I made it too fast (for what it's gone up against so far.)


Starmie @ Choice Specs
"Typhon"
Modest
EVs: 4 HP / 252 S.Atk / 252 Speed

Surf
Ice Beam
Psychic
Thunderbolt

This guy has won me many battles. With such coverage, I'd often use my other two pokes as a re-set button for Starmie - something switches in against which another move would be more effective, so I switch it out and do what I can with the other poke, before sending Starmie back to kick ass. As far as memory serves, I've not met anything in the offline BT that outsped this Starmie.


Torterra @ Quick Claw/Yache Berry (Leftovers)
"Gaia"
Careful
EVs: Can't recall exactly... prolly something like 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def, I dunno

Crunch
Earthquake
Curse
Wood Hammer

Really, this guy is mostly filler. Chosen as a phsyical attacker, it has proven useful on occasion. Even though it wasn't in the 60-streak, it took out the AI's Wobbuffet who somehow predicted the special then physical attacks from Infernape; Torterra cursed up until I was sure it could OHKO w/ Earthquake. In all honesty, I'm looking for a pokemon that could replace this, while still maintaining the coverage - I just can't decide on any pokemon that learn a ground, dark, and grass move.


I don't recall exactly what I had lost against, but I recall having closer and closer matches as I went up in the battle tower. With the re-vamped team, I've been trying to work my way up again. I think I got to something like 31, and got cheated out of victory because of double team. Dusclops it was, I think. IIRC, now I'm trying a third time, and I believe I'm right after I beat the Tycoon the first time.

Aside from double-teaming pokemon, from wi-fi BT experience fast pokes with flying moves do a number on my team - Swellow sweeped me, and a one Choice Scarf Togekiss hax-flinched my Starmie out of its chance of KOing it. (I don't know what it is, but I seem to have something for my game teams ending up with flying-weaknesses... the team I used for the E4 could probably be Staraptor-raped.) Anyone got any suggestions for a replacement for Torterra? I love the combination of Infernape - Starmie, but I don't know what I can use for the third... (Oh, and BTW, just to note, these guys have crap IVs - Starmie has a perfect S.Atk by luck, didn't know the Ditto had perfect S.Atk, but the other IVs are low.)
 
This is my team which lead me to 72 wins (God damn things like Sheer Cold and such).

Metagross @ Life Orb
Adamant, Standard Agiligross
Rock Polish (No Agility for me)
Explosion
Earthquake
Meteor Mash

If the starter pokemon is of the physical variant, I RP and then take out as many pokemon as I can, exploding on the last pokemon (or if I'm about to die).

Garchomp @ Leftovers/Yache Berry
Jolly, Standard SDchomp
Sword Dance
Earthquake
Fire Fang
Dragon Claw

Switch in with one pokemon left, SD up and kill. Also switches into things which are resting and such.

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Adamant, Standard Bulky Gyara
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Waterfall
Taunt

Switches into things which like to sleep/paralyze/poison/etc and then Taunts back and can either DD up and sweep or provide a switch to Chomp or Metagross.

Garchomp covers the Elec. weak of Gyarados, Gyarados/Chomp cover the Ground/Fire weak of Metagross and Metagross/Gyarados cover the Ice/Dragon weak of Garchomp. Has slight trouble with Focus Sash users as there is no SS or SR/Spikes in play. Has trouble with powerful special attackers or Pokemon that boost their stats since I have no way to switch them out.

I also have a lot of fun with this too (43 wins thus far):

Swampert @ Quick Claw
Impish, Mixpert Variant
Stealth Rock
Roar
Earthquake
Ice Beam

Defensive oriented. Deals with dragons and fire users. Can switch into elec. moves. Sets up SR (stops Focus Sash users) and can roar away stat. uppers.

Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Adamant, Bulky Gyara
Dragon Dance
Earthquake
Waterfall
Taunt

Switches into things which like to sleep/paralyze/poison/etc and then Taunts back and can either DD up and sweep or provide a switch.

Blissey @ Leftovers
Bold, Standard Blissey
Ice Beam
Seismic Toss
Thunderwave
Softboiled

Special sponge. Switches into special sweepers/weak physical moves and TWaves the opponent which sets up Gyarados/Swampert for a sweep.

This team has trouble with hard-hitting mixed sweepers. Infernape with Grass Knot, CC, FT and Thunder Punch, for example. It's a fun sort of team though. If you can manage it, just shuffle pokemon with Swampert and abuse the SR damage.
 

Jibaku

Who let marco in here????
is a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
Newer team

Azelf @ Choice Specs
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Grass Knot
- Flamethrower
You realize how fast this thing is in the BT? It outsped a freaking Ninjask which scared me.

Tyranitar @ Lefties
- Dragon Dance
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Earthquake
He barely played so far.

Garchomp @ Focus Sash
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Dragon Claw
Sweeps. Counters OHKOers...sorta. I don't have Outrage chomp so will someone please give me one?

No Ice moves hurt, but Azelf has a pretty nice SA coupled with the ability to learn Flamethrower to throw off Weaviles. I worked around Dragons before, and Focus Sash on Garchomp helped me quite a bit, especially with Sand Veil which sometimes lets me get a free set up on even something with Ice Beam.

The first time I battled Palmer with this team, it was technically an Azelf sweep. Azelf nicely survived a Dragon Rush and Psychiced both Dragonite and RHyperior into oblivion. Milotic came out and ruined my party, but got finished by Garchomp.

For a while I didn't know that my Garchomp was on Lv.48. It did fairly well, but I might as well level it up with 2 RCs.

Second match was supposed to be easier until Palmer haxes me (I still won though). I started with Azelf and he lead with Heatran. I immediately ran off to Garchomp who ate a Magma Storm for quite a bit of damage. I tossed an Earthquake at Heatran AND IT MISSED! Heatran proceeeds to Flash Cannon me and Magma Storm is really cutting up Chompers' health. I just tossed another Quake and it missed...again! Stupid Brightpowder/Lax incense/whatever. Anyways Heatran stupidly tried to Magma Storm me again at like 2% health and I finally landed an Earthquake on the thing. Next he sends out Regifail, which killed Garchomp with a Brick Break, but not before a strong Earthquake cuts about 40% of his HP. I proceed to send out Azelf. Azelf Psychics Regigigas for an insane dent, and was promptly replied by an angry Crush Grip, cutting up approximately half of the pixie's health. I finished Regigias and Tyranitar finished Cresselia without taking any damage if you counter Lefties recovery.
 
I saw this thread, and then decided to try my luck. My team was, in order in my lineup:

Salamence - @ Choice Specs
Modest Nature
252 Sp. Att, 252 Speed, 6 HP
-Draco Meteor
-Flamethrower
-Hydro Pump
-Dragon Pulse

He raped most things right off the bat, so they were already down a dude or two in the first two turns.

Metagross - @ Choice Band
Adamant Nature
252 Att, 240 HP, 16 Speed (He sorta doubled as my Physical wall, his typing allowed for a lot of switch in's.)
-Meteor Punch
-Eathquake
-Explosion
-Bullet Punch

Bullet Punch saved my ass, once sweeping an entire team by itself after Blissey and Salamence were OHKOed.

Blissey - AKA Fat Bitch - @ Leftovers
Bold Nature
252 HP, 148 Def, 56 Sp. Att, 56 Speed
-Aromatherapy
-Seismic Toss
-Ice Beam
-Softboiled

Generic Special wall. Healed my team very well.

I got extremely lucky in one particular battle. I'll tell you about it. Weaville came out right off the bat, so it switched to Blissey to see if it was going to Ice punch. I know, retarded, but it was 1 in the morning. what did you expect. Anyways, it Brick Breaks me, killing me. So, i send out Salamence, he kills it. i don't know how it was faster, but it was. Next, he sends out Machamp. OK, i'm thinking. i'll DP it for the kill. PLOT TWIST, he has a quick claw, and he also has Ice Punch. He kills me. so, i send out Metagross, who is Dynamic Punched, causing confusion. He hits me again, and I hit myself in confusion. I'm now sitting tight at 1 HP, Choice banded in Meteor Mash, and confused. "this should end well", i'm thinking. I attack, go through confusion, CH him into oblivion! Awesome. Out comes a Toxicroak, and I cringe. If he uses Sucker Punch, which is basically standard on him, i'm screwed. He uses his attack, Me First. OH CRAP, HE'S GONNA USE METEOR MASH AGAINST ME! I pray for a miss, and get it! yay! I MM him for the win. thats was the closest call for me.

I got beaten in battle #68 by Draco missing a Glalie, and then me sending out Metagross to kill it with meteor mash, when a magnezone came out. he traped and killed my Metagross, and then I got finished off by a DDing T-tar, raping my Blissey

EDIT: Jibuka, since you are a respected member here, i could give you one for free.
 

Carl

or Varl
is a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
My last like four shots at Battle Tower have all failed to get me remotely close to 100 wins and for the second strait time I have lost at trainer 55 tying my record of 54 sad wins. The team I used my last two tries seemed really solid to me and was met with minimal resistance until after 49 where suddenly everything seems to kick up a notch.

Metagross @Lum Berry
Adamant, maxed attack and HP
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Thunderpunch
- Bullet Punch

I used to use Explosion over Bullet Punch but Metagross always comes so close to OHKOing things that BP just works much better. Also nice coverage for Focus Sash and getting revenge kills.

Latias @Leftovers
Timid, maxed speed and HP
- Dragon Pulse
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Recover

My most recent loss came with Latias as my only remaining pokemon against a DT/Sheer Cold/ST/Rest Lapras. For that reason alone I'm debating adding Substitute over Shadow Ball but then I get stalled out of PP way too easily. Latias is not an attacking force but the bulk it provides is more than welcome. I might switch back to Bolt/Beam just so I get more SE hits. Shadow Ball is there for the nonexistent Shedinja I'm so worried about.

Gyarados @Life Orb
Adamant, maxed attack and various defenses/HP/speed
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Stone Edge

I'm not even sure if I need Ice Fang on here as I do a majority of my damage through Waterfall.

The team seems to center around Metagross unintentionally. My goal was to create a team that had minimal weaknesses, zero shared and great coverage for each other. On paper it looks like I succeeded in that regard. I find that I usually lose when I get behind early... a bad matchup with Metagross at the opening and some bad luck and this team will lose. Double Team and OHKOs scare me to the point of wanting things like Aerial Ace and Substitute or even a Sturdy/Pressure pokemon. I'm about ready to give up and attempt to do the offline doubles with a new team.
 
I just got out of Battle Tower a few days ago and then remembered this thread. Reaching a max wins record of 91, i was using a very unorthodox team (at least in comparison to the "standard" teams).

Misdmagius @ Focus Sash
Calm, mostly SpDef and HP EVs.
~Perish Song
~Mean Look
~Protect
~Pain Split

the great part about Perish Songing in Battle Tower is that the pokes will not switch until their Perish Count falls to 1, so I have plenty of time to get a Mean Look in and Perish Trap sucessfully. Mismagius absorbs special hits with ease, although high-powered physical attackers generally send me out running. Regularly, Perish Trap Mismagius wants leftovers, but i tried that for a while and eventually decided to use Focus Sash for added protection mainly because Skarm liked leftovers more. I'll outline the Mismagius strategy at the end of this post.

Skarmory @ Leftovers
Impish, maxed Def and HP
~Toxic
~Protect
~Double Team
~Roost

this thing owns. it basically switches in easily to everything that Mismagius has any trouble with (other than Gengar) and proceeds to Toxi-stall an opponent who will never switch out, all the while boosting Evasion and wreaking havoc with one of the more annoying sets. at one point, i had so many Double Teams up that i stalled an Infernape all the way out of Overheats. at another point, Skarmory hit 4 Protects in a row. I guess if i tried i may have been able to get more, but Protecting all the time has its weaknesses as well. Skarmory beasts most physical attackers, however, i am pretty much forced to switch when a steel-type comes out, regardless of how many Evasion boosts i have.

Spiritomb @ Lum Berry
Careful, max HP, almost max SpDef, some Def
~Will-O-Wisp
~Protect
~Pain Split
~Sucker Punch

Before making this team, i considered Spiritomb to just be a weaker Dusknoir. but after filling spots with Mismagius and Skarmory, i had an apparent Gengar weak to take care of. STAB Sucker Punch punishes Gengar, and deals a nice amount to Frosslass too. As you can tell, Spiritomb's Will-O-Wisp strategy is roughly the same as Skarm's Toxic magic. anyways i would have loved to put Leftovers on all of my pokes but alas, thats not the BT way. here's a step-by-step outline of how probably about half my wins played out:

1) Mismagius uses Perish Song, and absorbs a hit.
2) Mismagius uses Mean Look, and is often taken down to low health.
3) Mismagius uses Protect, and generally takes no damage.
4) Mimagius switches out to one of the tanks, whoever is better suited for the job.
5) Skarmory/Spiritomb stalls out the opponent with an HP-draining status move, all the while taking crap for damage.
6) Step 6 depends on how well-suited my tank is for another round of tanking. If he's up to the task, i can generally drain the opponent's HP again. this would be the end of the battle after some stalling.
If that's not gonna happen, i let this tank die and switch to a battered Mismagius.
7) Mismagius uses Perish Song again. this time around, Mean Look is not necessary, as there are only a mere 3 pokes per team. If the Mage is alive, he Protect-stalls. if dead, my remaining wall Protect-stalls. Fun strategy, right? i know, its fun if you're insane like me.

anyway this team turns out to be surprisingly effective, and i can only imagine how it might be even better if i was allowed a few more Leftovers. I didn't really use Sucker Punch that much, but it was fun to use when i did. I eventually died to guess what, an Abomasnow team. seems random, and i thought this was actually fake before it happened to me, but Blizzard hit through my Protect 3 times in that match. oh well, the team was cool to use and fun to create. feel free to use this if you like it, enjoy!
 

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