I ran a fairly dog team in Regulation M-B and was able to reach Master Ball tier! The team is not completely optimal at all, but I accomplished my goal of using Mega Scolipede.
Scolipede-Mega (M) @ Scolipite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 32 HP / 2 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Skitter Smack
- Iron Defense
- Toxic
- Rest
I wanted to build a team around Mega Scolipede this season. I noticed its ability upon Mega Evolution is Shell Armor, meaning it cannot be hit with a critical hit, especially by Pokémon who run high critical hit rate moves like Mimikyu. I decided I would run a stalling set, with Rest for recovery, Iron Defense to stack Defense, and Toxic as the crux. Scolipede loses 50 Speed points upon Mega Evolution, but it has Speed Boost before it Mega Evolves, so you often want to set up Iron Defenses while you can still Speed Boost, then Mega Evolve to bulk up and prevent critical hits before you slowly work your way to setting up Toxic and stalling them. However, my Scolipede isn't invested in Speed to maximize bulk, and Scolipede actually gains a whopping 60 base Defense and 30 base Special Defense when it Mega Evolves, so sometimes, when the enemy outspeeds, you actually won't have time to delay Mega Evolution. Skitter Smack was actually not my own innovation, I saw a maniac running it on the ladder and appropriated it for myself because it drops enemy Special Attack by one stage, which, with team support, allows Scolipede to wall from two fronts. This is actually why I made Scolipede's defensive profile mixed, with 32 SpD to have a fighting chance against special attackers, but with Impish nature to maximize its already stronger Defense stat. I thought the Special Attack debuff from Skitter Smack would be better than the slight HP recovery from Leech Life, since my Scolipede doesn't carry Attack investment and most of its recovery is handeld by Rest. There is an alternative though: Earthquake, which would hit Archaludon and Blaziken harder, but I ended up using Skitter Smack anyway. I think most people converged on Swords Dance Scolipede even with the Mega Scolipede, but I personally found my stalling Scolipede to be quite useful, and if the enemy brought too many physical attackers, it could even be self-sufficient against them.
Farigiraf (F) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Armor Tail
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 11 Def / 27 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stored Power
- Agility
- Baton Pass
- Amnesia
Since Scolipede cannot boost its own Special Defense and has no reliable recovery, as Rest leaves Scolipede vulnerable to multiple turns of being hit in succession, Farigiraf was chosen to support it. Farigiraf is the only Pokémon in Pokémon Champions: Regulation M-B that can actually learn the combination of the moves Amnesia and Baton Pass, which give it a valuable niche even though it may look like an odd pick in Singles. Stored Power was chosen in case Farigiraf gets an opportunity to get multiple boosts so it can start hitting decently hard in its own right, although perhaps a more immediate move like Twin Beam would be a decent alternative. Agility was chosen to be able to outspeed Pokémon like Gengar after a boost, and if you're up against a Special Attacker, you can Baton Pass both Agility and Amnesia to Scolipede to be able to Mega Evolve immediately or without needing as many turns of Speed Boost. Enough Speed EVs were chosen to outspeed Dragapult at +2, and the rest of the EVs were organized to maximize defense.
Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 1 HP / 1 Def / 32 SpA / 32 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aurora Veil
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Encore
Ninetales was chosen to support the team with Aurora Veil. The set is, essentially, standard. Encore will punish Pokémon that try to set up on you, such as Mimikyu with Swords Dance. I originally ran Moonblast but changed it to Freeze-Dry to deal better with Primarina and Rain.
Skeledirge (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 31 Def / 3 Spe
Bold Nature
- Torch Song
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Slack Off
Skeledirge was chosen as an option primarily for Metagross and Blaziken, but I discovered that it helps against Delphox too. This is another standard set, this time a physical wall, with Torch Song as STAB to ramp up your Special Attack, and Shadow Ball as secondary STAB for coverage. 3 Speed points were added for speed creep to get the jump on other Skeledirge.
Gliscor (F)
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Level: 50
EVs: 2 HP / 32 Atk / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Thunder Fang
I don't actually remember why exactly Gliscor was chosen, but because it cannot run Toxic Orb, I gave it itemless Acrobatics to combo with Swords Dance. Itemless Acrobatics also gets an easy KO on Araquanid leads, which they don't seem to expect, and can chunk Mega Staraptor. Earthquake is another STAB move. For the final coverage move, I originally went with Ice Fang for Garchomp, but I discovered that my team deals well enough with Garchomp on its own and Gliscor's other moves do significant damage to it anyway, so I changed it to Fire Fang so I could hit Corviknight on the switch, then switched over to Thunder Fang to hit Gyarados that haven't mega evolved (which hilariously did happen once), especially since Hyper Cutter makes Gliscor immune to Gyarados's Intimidate. Hyper Cutter also makes it so moves like Grimmsnarl's Parting Shot don't lower Gliscor's Attack.
Blaziken (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 2 HP / 32 Atk / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
Blaziken was originally chosen as an alternative option to Skeledirge for taking care of Metagross. Initially it carried Thunder Punch for the Primarina matchup which I unfortunately sacrificed when I was running into a lot of Charizard, which the team is weak to. Thunder Punch was also for Pelipper. Stone Edge took its place, as Rock Slide, while good enough for Charizard and more accurate, does not two-hit KO Pelipper. The rest of Blaziken's set is standard: Protect for Speed Boost and Flare Blitz plus Close Combat for STABS.
This team has a lot of weaknesses, like Rock-types (i.e. Kleavor). To this day, Mega Metagross+Primarina is one of my worst matchups, because the Skeledirge that can take care of Mega Metagross gets destroyed by Primarina, and Blaziken no longer carries Thunder Punch. Still, I was happy to be able to climb to Master Ball tier with a stalling Mega Scolipede team, and to show that it could be done. I had fun.
Scolipede-Mega (M) @ Scolipite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 32 HP / 2 Def / 32 SpD
Impish Nature
- Skitter Smack
- Iron Defense
- Toxic
- Rest
I wanted to build a team around Mega Scolipede this season. I noticed its ability upon Mega Evolution is Shell Armor, meaning it cannot be hit with a critical hit, especially by Pokémon who run high critical hit rate moves like Mimikyu. I decided I would run a stalling set, with Rest for recovery, Iron Defense to stack Defense, and Toxic as the crux. Scolipede loses 50 Speed points upon Mega Evolution, but it has Speed Boost before it Mega Evolves, so you often want to set up Iron Defenses while you can still Speed Boost, then Mega Evolve to bulk up and prevent critical hits before you slowly work your way to setting up Toxic and stalling them. However, my Scolipede isn't invested in Speed to maximize bulk, and Scolipede actually gains a whopping 60 base Defense and 30 base Special Defense when it Mega Evolves, so sometimes, when the enemy outspeeds, you actually won't have time to delay Mega Evolution. Skitter Smack was actually not my own innovation, I saw a maniac running it on the ladder and appropriated it for myself because it drops enemy Special Attack by one stage, which, with team support, allows Scolipede to wall from two fronts. This is actually why I made Scolipede's defensive profile mixed, with 32 SpD to have a fighting chance against special attackers, but with Impish nature to maximize its already stronger Defense stat. I thought the Special Attack debuff from Skitter Smack would be better than the slight HP recovery from Leech Life, since my Scolipede doesn't carry Attack investment and most of its recovery is handeld by Rest. There is an alternative though: Earthquake, which would hit Archaludon and Blaziken harder, but I ended up using Skitter Smack anyway. I think most people converged on Swords Dance Scolipede even with the Mega Scolipede, but I personally found my stalling Scolipede to be quite useful, and if the enemy brought too many physical attackers, it could even be self-sufficient against them.
Farigiraf (F) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Armor Tail
Level: 50
EVs: 28 HP / 11 Def / 27 Spe
Bold Nature
- Stored Power
- Agility
- Baton Pass
- Amnesia
Since Scolipede cannot boost its own Special Defense and has no reliable recovery, as Rest leaves Scolipede vulnerable to multiple turns of being hit in succession, Farigiraf was chosen to support it. Farigiraf is the only Pokémon in Pokémon Champions: Regulation M-B that can actually learn the combination of the moves Amnesia and Baton Pass, which give it a valuable niche even though it may look like an odd pick in Singles. Stored Power was chosen in case Farigiraf gets an opportunity to get multiple boosts so it can start hitting decently hard in its own right, although perhaps a more immediate move like Twin Beam would be a decent alternative. Agility was chosen to be able to outspeed Pokémon like Gengar after a boost, and if you're up against a Special Attacker, you can Baton Pass both Agility and Amnesia to Scolipede to be able to Mega Evolve immediately or without needing as many turns of Speed Boost. Enough Speed EVs were chosen to outspeed Dragapult at +2, and the rest of the EVs were organized to maximize defense.
Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 1 HP / 1 Def / 32 SpA / 32 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aurora Veil
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Encore
Ninetales was chosen to support the team with Aurora Veil. The set is, essentially, standard. Encore will punish Pokémon that try to set up on you, such as Mimikyu with Swords Dance. I originally ran Moonblast but changed it to Freeze-Dry to deal better with Primarina and Rain.
Skeledirge (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Unaware
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 31 Def / 3 Spe
Bold Nature
- Torch Song
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Ball
- Slack Off
Skeledirge was chosen as an option primarily for Metagross and Blaziken, but I discovered that it helps against Delphox too. This is another standard set, this time a physical wall, with Torch Song as STAB to ramp up your Special Attack, and Shadow Ball as secondary STAB for coverage. 3 Speed points were added for speed creep to get the jump on other Skeledirge.
Gliscor (F)
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Level: 50
EVs: 2 HP / 32 Atk / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
- Thunder Fang
I don't actually remember why exactly Gliscor was chosen, but because it cannot run Toxic Orb, I gave it itemless Acrobatics to combo with Swords Dance. Itemless Acrobatics also gets an easy KO on Araquanid leads, which they don't seem to expect, and can chunk Mega Staraptor. Earthquake is another STAB move. For the final coverage move, I originally went with Ice Fang for Garchomp, but I discovered that my team deals well enough with Garchomp on its own and Gliscor's other moves do significant damage to it anyway, so I changed it to Fire Fang so I could hit Corviknight on the switch, then switched over to Thunder Fang to hit Gyarados that haven't mega evolved (which hilariously did happen once), especially since Hyper Cutter makes Gliscor immune to Gyarados's Intimidate. Hyper Cutter also makes it so moves like Grimmsnarl's Parting Shot don't lower Gliscor's Attack.
Blaziken (M) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 2 HP / 32 Atk / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Flare Blitz
- Protect
Blaziken was originally chosen as an alternative option to Skeledirge for taking care of Metagross. Initially it carried Thunder Punch for the Primarina matchup which I unfortunately sacrificed when I was running into a lot of Charizard, which the team is weak to. Thunder Punch was also for Pelipper. Stone Edge took its place, as Rock Slide, while good enough for Charizard and more accurate, does not two-hit KO Pelipper. The rest of Blaziken's set is standard: Protect for Speed Boost and Flare Blitz plus Close Combat for STABS.
This team has a lot of weaknesses, like Rock-types (i.e. Kleavor). To this day, Mega Metagross+Primarina is one of my worst matchups, because the Skeledirge that can take care of Mega Metagross gets destroyed by Primarina, and Blaziken no longer carries Thunder Punch. Still, I was happy to be able to climb to Master Ball tier with a stalling Mega Scolipede team, and to show that it could be done. I had fun.
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