Ladder ORAS 1v1 [3v3 Team Preview]

A thread to discuss your strategy for building a competitive 1v1 team. Now that 1v1 allows you to have 3 pokemon and pick one, there are a lot of new possibilities and things to explore. So feel free to post your philosophy and let's have a discussion!

My philosophy:

I always want 2 things, Sturdy and Mold Breaker/Teravolt

There are a number of different pokemon that can abuse Sturdy in a couple different ways. Since Focus Sash is banned it should be pretty obvious that Sturdy is really good. Being able to abuse Metal Burst/Counter/mirror coat/endeavor with sturdy is really easy to do unless your opponent has a pokemon with... Mold Breaker or Teravolt

Mold Breaker or Teravolt are great because they beat opposing sturdy users, especially those brutal level 1 or 2 pokemon like aron or probopass. Obviously also potentially being good against levitate/volt absorb/water absorb, but beating sturdy is really powerful all by itself.

My third slot often changes a lot. Gimmicks every once in a while, but I mostly try to round out my other 2. Maybe use a strong special attacker if the other 2 are physical. I really like Choice Scarves and I really like Lum Berries, but those could be anywhere. Might try out specific answers to pokemon I notice my team struggling with. Like I said, my third slots usually change a lot.
 

Arcticblast

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Threads must be approved before posting.

That said, this is pretty well done. While I'm inclined to say "post this in the 1v1 thread instead" I think I'll let it stay. Any other moderator is free to disagree.
 
Let's see... my 1v1 teambuilding strategies...

So first off, specs Kyurem-B on EVERY team. It's a must-have to beat things like mega pinsir, banded victini (48 defense EVs), mega-venusaur, Mega Mawile, Aggron, sturdy abuse, etc. This is basically the foundation, as it covers pretty much half the meta; 120 spA, a not-too-shoddy movepool, insane bulk, an above-average speed stat, and an EXCELLENT 1v1 ability in teravolt. I can't stress how much easier teambuilding is with one of these things (before this thing came, I was struggling to make it to 1600, after it came, I got to the top 5 on two different alts at the same time just because of how well it covers the meta).

My second pokemon can be one of two things: A gimmick that seems to be fun and not overlap with specs Kyurem-B, or a pokemon that seems pretty solid that I happen to lose to or observe people losing to repeatedly (the watch a battle button can be very helpful at times). So, a fun gimmick would be something like Specs Blissey or Metal Burst Mawile or something like that. An example of something that would classify as a "solid pokemon" would be mega venusaur because of how hard it is to counter.

The last pokemon on the team is a matter of what people are using atm. If I'm not having trouble with anything, this slot will usually use up another fun gimmick/solid pokemon, but it can/will be swapped out to beat certain threats (babiri berry sylveon was giving me problems once). Most of the time, the pokemon in the third slot will be either Specs Blissey, Banded Dragonite, Mega Gyarados, or Mega Venusaur.

Some things that I never use:

Sturdy users; almost every pokemon has an answer for it, intentional or not; so it's really dead-weight.
Scarf Kyurem-B: I sometimes change out specs Kyube for the weakness policy or band variant, but from my experience, Scarf Kyube, loses to literally every pokemon worthy-of-mentioning in existence.
Scarfers in general: Yes, there are lots of good scarfers; however, if your pokemon are bulky enough, they will always be able to take a hit and beat more pokemon at the same time.
 

MAMP

MAMP!
I build 1v1 teams similarly to how I build teams for 6v6 metas; choose a Pokemon, then build around it. For 1v1, I choose a Pokemon that is good in the current meta, work out what it loses to, then add a couple of Pokemon that beat those Pokemon. Most of the time, I can come up with a pair of Pokemon that beat most of the meta between them, then the third mon is a wallbreaker that can beat gimmicky crap and whatever troubles the rest of the team. For example, a recent team I built was built around Perish Song Azumarill. Azu loses to sturdy, Taunt, really slow walls, and to anything that can 2hko it (mawile, venusaur, kyu-b mainly). I paired it with Mawile, which can beat Sturdy with Iron Head, breaks down the slow walls and most Taunters with its powerful attacks, and can take on many of the powerful attackers which trouble Azu. In return, Azu takes on Charizard, Greninja, and many other Pokemon that threaten mawile. I rounded out the team with a Charizard Y, which beats non-Scarf kyub, and breaks a lot of the physical walls which trouble mawile. Overall, the team is pretty weak to venusaur, and I have trouble against kyu-b if I don't know it's set, but both are manageable, and overall it's a pretty solid team.

I agree with the above poster regarding sturdy, it's so easy to beat without even trying. Don't use sturdy
 
Threads must be approved before posting.

That said, this is pretty well done. While I'm inclined to say "post this in the 1v1 thread instead" I think I'll let it stay. Any other moderator is free to disagree.
Heh. This is literally the purpose of the 1v1 thread. I mean what else can we discuss there?

Permission to merge?
 

DoW

formally Death on Wings
As for teambuilding strategies mine generally include sticking a big scary threat there e.g. Kyurem-B, then working from there. While I rarely actually use the big scary threat, it often forces my opponent to use a pokemon which would counter it, allowing me to win when I instead send out one of the other two, which are often one to deal with big scary threats itself and one to deal with annoying things like whimsicott.
 

Aggron @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Protect
- Metal Burst
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This guy is a monster. With max investment in attack, it can deal a number to a lot of pokemon. Metal Burst is the key to this set. It can take any attack and deal 1.5x damage, with the Brave nature and 0 IVs in speed there to help with it. Earthquake and Stone Edge are there to deal damage to foes that predict the metal burst and use a weaker attack, frequently getting OHKOs. Protect is there to see what move is being used. Leftovers protect against any unpredicted Fake Out, and might even help you deal with NVE coverage moves that are used to break Sturdy.


To put this in perpective, I use it along with a Slaking and Kyurem-B. This Aggron sees more use than either of the other two combined.
 
My team building philosophy is really simple : 2 really annoying mons that can beat every single sweeper in existence (usually Blissey + a gimmick), and a stallbreaker. MegaGard is one of the best as a set like Taunt + Trace + HyperBeam + Filler destroy many stall strategies. I almost never use any "real" sweeper like Cube or Mawile, because trolling with PP stall strategies is much more effective and fun. Seriously guys, use Blissey, it's a monster.
 
First time posting here. My apologies in advance for any errors!


My team covers three roles: general hard hitter, specific threat counter, and choice-gimmick counter.




Charizard @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 24 HP / 232 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Thunder Punch
- Flare Blitz
- Outrage
- Earthquake

"Charwizard" was my first and still favorite Pokémon, so I was obligated to toss him into my 1v1 team. Jolly Nature guarantees a 50/50 with any form of Charizard I encounter as well as the rare Mega Gardevoir packing Protect and Hyper Beam. Thunder Punch serves a couple roles. It has almost always guaranteed easy victories against Azumarill bar the occasional Defensively invested aqua rabbit. Additionally, it allows me to pop a Heatran's balloon if it so happens to carry one, then follow up with an Earthquake. I stole 20 EVs from his Attack to use in HP for a singular reason: Dragonite. Now, if the Dragonite I'm facing is a Choice user, the game's up and Charwizard is going to bite the dust. If Dragonite is not a Choice user, I have about a 62.5% chance to break MultiScale with Thunder Punch and survive the incoming Outrage, then mega evolve to finish the game with my own Outrage. Alternatively, Dragonite might have Dragon Dance and just get to +1 in Speed and Attack to call it a day for me, but I've yet to see more than a couple of "disco dragons" as I've heard it put! A consequence of running only 232 EVs in Attack is that Mawile has a slightly better chance of surviving (75% exactly), but I've only encountered that 25% once to date.



Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 152 HP / 232 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Aerial Ace
- Bug Bite
- Counter

"Caesar" was, to me, the coolest thing since canned bread when Gold and Silver first came out. Not much to say about his HP and Attack EV spread because I've yet to find any game changing differences in the adjustments I've made. The 124 EVs in Speed, however, proved a boon because it meant I just outran an uninvested Venusaur. Even after Venusaur pulls off a Sleep Powder, I've only twice had sleep last long enough to keep Caesar out of the game, and on those two occasions, Venusaur was packing Hidden Power Fire. Other than that, Giga Impact Mega Pinsir eats an Aerial Ace followed by Bullet Punch, no matter what it does, and any physical attacker not packing heat falls to Counter.



Banette @ Banettite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 200 HP / 252 Atk / 56 Def
Adamant Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Taunt
- Disable
- Protect

"Hoodoo" has always had a soft spot in my heart, but never on my teams until the advent of his mega evolution. Hoodoo is a utility, not a fighter. If I suspect the opponent will lead with a Choice user, in goes Hoodoo to scout out their item, Protect while mega evolving to gain access to Prankster, then Disable and watch the opponent Struggle to death. I used to run Will-O-Wisp in fear of strong Struggles, but after running the math on an Adamant Choice Band Kyurem-B with full Attack investments, allocating 200 EVs into HP and 56 EVs into Defense were more than enough as long as I'm attacking too. Mega Banette is more than capable of handling the rare Aegislash, being able to take a Shadow Ball easily, crippling it with Taunt and Disable, then finishing with Shadow Sneak. I've a couple important notes to make though: Hoodoo is, first and foremost, a choice user counter; secondly, Taunt is primarily for non-attacking gimmicks that make use of the ability Sturdy (Magnemite, Probopass, and Aron) and PP stalling strategies.


I've obviously not addressed a great number of counters to each of these individual components of my team, but I'd be writing a small novel if I were to do so! Besides, what matters most for me is using Pokémon that I personally enjoy the most. Nostalgia holds greater influence over my team building than anything else.
 
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Okay, I'm having some real problems with one specific pokemon
Venusaur
How the hell do I get something to guarantee 1 hit that thing, it walls my team so hard its not even funny
 
Okay, I'm having some real problems with one specific pokemon
Venusaur
How the hell do I get something to guarantee 1 hit that thing, it walls my team so hard its not even funny
You don't really need to guarantee one-hit it, something like Charizard X with Flare Blitz will do the job. Alternatively, run something like Taunt Mew or Substitute Gengar-Mega.
 
Are Aegislash and Mega Lucario banned?
No, Genesect, MegaGar, Deo-S and Deo-D are unbanned too.

Aegislash is one of the most versatile threat (Full Special, Head Smash Physical, Stance Dance, WP Mixed, Sacred Sword + Shadow Ball Mixed, LO Mixed, Balloon SD, Lum Physical, SuBalloon...), but has some hard counter (Wisp, the Char in general, Annoyers...) and a good number of checks depending on the set. It's great but struggles against Char...

Genesect makes you win if you get the Download boost, and straight looses in general otherwise. Also, worst speed tier ever (you have to run a Scarf to do anything)

MegaLuke, oddly enough, isn't powerful enough to break trough most walls/annoyers. A big problem is vs CharX : if you protect for your Base Speed, it has a free DD, and if you attack, it will roast you. And it must have a positive Nature in order to outspeed 252+ base 100 (MegaGard, MegaChar, MegaCham, everything ever)

MegaGar is useful, but not broken. Perish Song is suicide, and Shadow Tag is obsolete.

Deo-S can break through any Choice set by PP stalling, and Deo-D is great at CounterCoating (but it looses to way too many sweepers)

tl;dr : Everything ever looses to MegaChar.

EDIT : In fact you can use any of them because nobody knows they're unbanned

EDIT : Nevermind, Blaziken is banned.
 
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Knuckstrike

Hi I'm FIREEEE
is a Tiering Contributor
After having fought a lot of 1v1 battles I think I can come to the conclusion that stall is very underrated. This metagame seems to be focused a lot on hitting hard fast and preventing others from taking your hits instead of trying to take hits from others. By using stall/semi-stall (thanks to sw for giving me a mew set) I managed to get a ladder achievement I can be content with. I'm currently #2 on the ladder and am too afraid to continue now ]:

Anyway, now that there's a 3v3 instead of 1v1 metagame I've come to like it a lot more. You can actually build a team with mons in mind and not just having to pick a pokemon that beats 60% of the metagame and hoping you come across that 60% 70-80% of the time. Still there remain some holes you just cannot patch but that's part of the fun.

 
After having fought a lot of 1v1 battles I think I can come to the conclusion that stall is very underrated. This metagame seems to be focused a lot on hitting hard fast and preventing others from taking your hits instead of trying to take hits from others.
Totally true ! I've seen many teams that straight loose to forgotten stuff like Whimsicott or Sableye, and even PP Stall Shuckle. Another underrated mon is MegaGard who is basically a catch-all stallbreaker (beats Sturdy, Prankster, pink blobs, Megasaur, the Deos... In fact it's even a stallbreakerbreaker).

Also, what's with all those Spec Kyurm-B ?... I never understood why it was even a thing in first place (well, I guess this is because I'm a stall player, and it's mostly effective vs offense).
 
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I have just recently started playing 1v1 and i find it to be a very fun and an easy metagame to get into. I just recently topped the ladder as themediocregatsby using swords dance mawile, bulky specs kyurem w/ rock slide for zard x, and a stall breaker mew like this one:
Mew @ Mental Herb
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Amnesiais the set I've been using. mental herb is good for unpredicted taunts and allows you to always go for wisp first against mons that you think may have a slow taunt. (leftovers is definitely an option) outspeeds kyurem b and a little extra for other things that try to outspeed it. beats most things it outspeeds with most notable exception being heracross... obviously is unable to beat fire types.
 

Knuckstrike

Hi I'm FIREEEE
is a Tiering Contributor
I have just recently started playing 1v1 and i find it to be a very fun and an easy metagame to get into. I just recently topped the ladder as themediocregatsby using swords dance mawile, bulky specs kyurem w/ rock slide for zard x, and a stall breaker mew like this one:
Mew @ Mental Herb
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
- Taunt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Amnesiais the set I've been using. mental herb is good for unpredicted taunts and allows you to always go for wisp first against mons that you think may have a slow taunt. (leftovers is definitely an option) outspeeds kyurem b and a little extra for other things that try to outspeed it. beats most things it outspeeds with most notable exception being heracross... obviously is unable to beat fire types.
You could try for knock off in the last slot. You'll free up your mental herb for something like leftovers which definitely comes in handy and you can also beat stuff like specs mons, banded mons and semi-stall chandelure with it.
 
You could try for knock off in the last slot. You'll free up your mental herb for something like leftovers which definitely comes in handy and you can also beat stuff like specs mons, banded mons and semi-stall chandelure with it.
I think that Amnesia is better. It deals with Specs mon better than Knock Off, and the only relevant Specs sets are PZ, Cube and Greninja iirc. PZ and Greninja eat Mew for breakfast regardless of the set. It doesn't matter vs Cube since you'll win most of the time.
Against a banded mon, Wisp + Softboiled is generally enough.
I haven't seen many Chandelure, but they're usually Scarfed and sadly :
252 SpA Chandelure Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 284-336 (70.2 - 83.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery (2HKO even against the Amnesia set)
(btw, what is semi-stall Chandelure ?)
Knock Off isn't that useful in 1v1, except if you really want a Dark move (you're already dead by the time you Knock Off Specs/Band/Scarf)

I would use leftovers over Mental Herb tho : most Taunt users are extremely predicable mons that are easily countered (Whimsicott, Aggron) or just destroy Mew (Gardevoir, Gengar, Alakazam). It can be useful against over Mew and Gyarados, tho.
 
surprisingly my mew has capability to beat some sets of gardevoir and alakazam. XD whimsicott is a main reason to use taunt on mew since after you taunt it is forced to struggle and has a good chance of dying to recoil. same with alakazam. knock off seems like it could be useful against some banded threats like kyurem b and i think ill probably try testing it.
 
surprisingly my mew has capability to beat some sets of gardevoir and alakazam. XD whimsicott is a main reason to use taunt on mew since after you taunt it is forced to struggle and has a good chance of dying to recoil. same with alakazam. knock off seems like it could be useful against some banded threats like kyurem b and i think ill probably try testing it.
For Gard and Alakazam, I guess it depends what set they run but vs Gard : 1) If you go for Amnesia, you're Taunt bait (Gard outspeeds on turn 2) 2) If you go for Taunt, you loose because :
252 SpA Pixilate Mega Gardevoir Hyper Beam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mew: 381-448 (94.3 - 110.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO (Gard outspeeds on turn 2, or can predict Taunt).
So : by using Taunt on turn 1 and then Hyper Beam on turn two, Gard will kill you.

Vs Zam, it depends on the set. The offensive variant (aka the good one) 2HKO with Shadow Ball (and runs Taunt most of the time anyway). The shitty "stalling" gimmick (which is somewhat outclassed by MegaBanette) will win if running Shadow Ball in the last slot (3HKO even without investment) vs Koff Mew, and will always win vs Amnesia Mew.

Whimsicott has a good chance of beating Mew because it can Taunt back and Mew has no way of getting past its Sub (Koff does a pitiful amount of damage against 252/252+ Whims).

Mew can deal with Banded Kyurem-B just fine :

252 Atk Choice Band Teravolt burned Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 40 Def Mew: 172-203 (42.5 - 50.2%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
Even against Adamant Kyurem :
252+ Atk Choice Band Teravolt burned Kyurem-B Outrage vs. 252 HP / 40 Def Mew: 189-223 (46.7 - 55.1%) -- 14.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Just spam Softboiled and you won't die.
 
Those calcs include lefties though which atm i don't have on the set :(
Lefties are irrelevant, since you heal 50% of your health each time Kyurem uses Outrage. Even with max damage roll against the Adamant set, you will survive for 10 turns, which is more than enough for burn damage to kill Kyurem. The only difference is that if Wisp misses AND the opponent gets max damage roll (both of which are REALLY unlikely), you'll loose.
 

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