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Battle Tree Discussion and Records
- Thread starter Eisenherz
- Start date
The right thing to do would have been to switch to Durant immediately and KO Espeon, and then you have a full health Mimikyu to switch in to whatever comes out next.
So after Mimikyu red cards out the mismagius and I see espeon, I immediately switch back to Durant. X-scissor, then switch back to Mimikyu. ok cool thanks. i'm glad you replied to my post.
Just double checking the damage calculation as well for Espeon using Shadow Ball on the switch in.
252 SpA Espeon set 4 Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Durant on a critical hit: 122-144 (73.9 - 87.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Espeon set 3 Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Durant on a critical hit: 133-157 (80.6 - 95.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Durant survives both Espeon's using a critical hit Shadow Ball! Unbelievable.
I thought this would be one of those "what if I red card out a worse Pokemon" out situations.
I took a huge gamble here. But luckily it paid off for me. I thought Pokemon with 1 normal ability and 1 hidden ability had their abilities at a 50% ratio.
But according to SadisticMystic here if a Pokemon has no second ability, but they have a hidden ability then then first ability copies to the second ability slot as well. and all 3 slots have a 33.33% chance of showing, with odds favouring the 66.66% chance of the normal ability. This is good information for later runs past 100.
While this does leave me hopeful that it "MIGHT" work in the future. I will never risk something like this past a 200 streak. It's nerve wrecking to say the least.
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While the majority of the community here has been plugging away at the most recent games, I myself have been leaving USUM to the side, denying me the chance to see what Angency and the Ultra Tree is all about. Playing through the game has always seemed like a lot of work to me, so I wasn't bothering with it...until last month, when I summoned up a lot of work ethic and plowed through the in-game. I finally have been able to try Ultra Moon's facilities out over the past couple of weeks; the combined -Snorlax-/Deynon work recently published, on top of the Discord crew launching an all-out siege on all facilities other than Crystal Tower, has motivated me to ramble about my initial impressions of these places. And so...
Agency
- Current Rank 26
- The level scaling system has been a blessing for me to this point, as I'm not a Singles player and find that smashing lower-level opponents in small chunks of three battles takes some of the tedium out. Probably the most fun I've had playing Singles since one of the Gen VI online competitions (I forget which one)
- while cripple-and-setup, which propels the Singles savants here to untold heights, still works fine here, it can be mitigated, even with the level gap if you prepare right, by the stupid early sets that seem to have bizarrely efficient strategies for dealing with that; while I have had one of the best setup rentals known to this point, I have been reminded that, just like in traditional facilities, random stuff like Exploud1 or the various Psych Up users can poop all over the party. (this run so far is probably the most dangerous Sylveon2 has ever been to me.)
- highlights for things rented so far: Snorlax2, Camerupt3, Crobat3, Ribombee4, Terrakion1, Scizor4, Salamence4. The one lowlight has been the disappointing Trevenant3
- I have imagined a bizarre sort of camaraderie with the two fellows who have provided their rentals to me for the bulk of this run, even though it's obviously not them playing. It has cut down on the Singles tedium further and given me a tiny glimpse into a future with online non-local facilities Multis, however that ends up transpiring...
- speaking of which, there is no way any of this happens without the help of two fellow facilities Trainers and their charges:
"MysticCune" (Suicune1) (Lvl.100) (thanks to SadisticMystic)
The Anti-Sora to every battle facility Trainer's Bold Suicune. The setup sweeper.
"MaxLat" (Latios2) (Lvl.100) (thanks to Max. Optimizer)
The cleanup hitter, my go-to for most battles so far, would lead if I could make it so.
So yeah, find your Rank 50 Agency buddies if you have any, it makes this awesome even in the early stages. I can't wait to explore the upper reaches of this place with this crew...
Tree
- I was initially determined to play through the Basic Tree lines with fair teams, but became annoyed when my first attempt through Singles was stopped by some nonsense with bad matchups happening of Battle 15, being ended by Darmanitan1 (with a team that I don't remember now). So, I just grabbed my mid-eighties in-game team and plowed through Singles with Typhlosion/Granbull/Skarmory
- with that out of the way, the fun stuff could begin. I went to Basic Multis and crushed it with Lillie (at the insistence of several people on the Discord who exerted Pressure on me). I used MegaDrill & Landorus-T from: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-AFB7-41CC ('Beedrill Team')
- finally, to round things out, I went TOTAL INTIMIDATION through Basic Doubles with Arcanine/Hitmontop/MegaMence/Granbull from: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-FBAC-4F9E (fun factoid: I didn't notice Arcanine was at Lvl.100 until Battle 11)
- with all super formats unlocked, I have begun my Super Doubles Ultra Moon romps in earnest. I am going to be accumulating BP with the purpose of collecting specific categories of replays for research and fun:
Moon-exclusive Trainer Battles (check)
Kukui Battles
Double TR setter leads (check)
Double Z-Stone holders
Post-30 lead Oricorios
- in the process of doing this, I have gone on one run so far, making it to 157 wins. The First 10 were done using a different member of the QR-UNO for each battle, just to test various things out, along with using the above TOTAL INTIMIDATION team in Battle 6. The crew used:
'FEAR the Frog'
'Wall Boy Strikes Again'
'PheroLele V3: Click Buttons'
'My variation of Japan sand'
'All Hail Kommo-O'
'Focused Balzing Souls'
'White CHALK'
'Floral Kisses'
'Team LC' (for my first Guzma Battle)
- I then stuck with 'All Hail Kommo-O' for battles 11-20; the remainder of the streak was done using a secret new team that is currently carrying one of our regulars here to a new personal best (by like, a lot). I won't reveal the team and let his work speak for itself when the time comes, but if you are on the Discord, or pay enough attention to certain posts on this very thread, it's not much of a secret at all...the team itself is probably the most intuitive I have ever played in the Tree and is likely something I'll more shots to in the future. Once said creator reveals his finished work, I'll vouch for its effectiveness and publish proof and such
- I have been simultaneously attacking Sun Tree Doubles, Maison Triples, and dabbled a little in Subway Doubles at the same time as this streak. It's nice to be able to bounce between various teams, so you never get bored with any one team, should you be determined to make a significant enough streak with any of them. Said teams will be revealed when the time comes.
Thanks to everyone for continuing their good work, and particularly to Unbreakable on the Discord for giving me the kick in the ass needed to finally give Ultra Moon a go.
Agency
- Current Rank 26
- The level scaling system has been a blessing for me to this point, as I'm not a Singles player and find that smashing lower-level opponents in small chunks of three battles takes some of the tedium out. Probably the most fun I've had playing Singles since one of the Gen VI online competitions (I forget which one)
- while cripple-and-setup, which propels the Singles savants here to untold heights, still works fine here, it can be mitigated, even with the level gap if you prepare right, by the stupid early sets that seem to have bizarrely efficient strategies for dealing with that; while I have had one of the best setup rentals known to this point, I have been reminded that, just like in traditional facilities, random stuff like Exploud1 or the various Psych Up users can poop all over the party. (this run so far is probably the most dangerous Sylveon2 has ever been to me.)
- highlights for things rented so far: Snorlax2, Camerupt3, Crobat3, Ribombee4, Terrakion1, Scizor4, Salamence4. The one lowlight has been the disappointing Trevenant3
- I have imagined a bizarre sort of camaraderie with the two fellows who have provided their rentals to me for the bulk of this run, even though it's obviously not them playing. It has cut down on the Singles tedium further and given me a tiny glimpse into a future with online non-local facilities Multis, however that ends up transpiring...
- speaking of which, there is no way any of this happens without the help of two fellow facilities Trainers and their charges:
"MysticCune" (Suicune1) (Lvl.100) (thanks to SadisticMystic)
The Anti-Sora to every battle facility Trainer's Bold Suicune. The setup sweeper.
"MaxLat" (Latios2) (Lvl.100) (thanks to Max. Optimizer)
The cleanup hitter, my go-to for most battles so far, would lead if I could make it so.
So yeah, find your Rank 50 Agency buddies if you have any, it makes this awesome even in the early stages. I can't wait to explore the upper reaches of this place with this crew...
Tree
- I was initially determined to play through the Basic Tree lines with fair teams, but became annoyed when my first attempt through Singles was stopped by some nonsense with bad matchups happening of Battle 15, being ended by Darmanitan1 (with a team that I don't remember now). So, I just grabbed my mid-eighties in-game team and plowed through Singles with Typhlosion/Granbull/Skarmory
- with that out of the way, the fun stuff could begin. I went to Basic Multis and crushed it with Lillie (at the insistence of several people on the Discord who exerted Pressure on me). I used MegaDrill & Landorus-T from: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-AFB7-41CC ('Beedrill Team')
- finally, to round things out, I went TOTAL INTIMIDATION through Basic Doubles with Arcanine/Hitmontop/MegaMence/Granbull from: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-FBAC-4F9E (fun factoid: I didn't notice Arcanine was at Lvl.100 until Battle 11)
- with all super formats unlocked, I have begun my Super Doubles Ultra Moon romps in earnest. I am going to be accumulating BP with the purpose of collecting specific categories of replays for research and fun:
Moon-exclusive Trainer Battles (check)
Kukui Battles
Double TR setter leads (check)
Double Z-Stone holders
Post-30 lead Oricorios
- in the process of doing this, I have gone on one run so far, making it to 157 wins. The First 10 were done using a different member of the QR-UNO for each battle, just to test various things out, along with using the above TOTAL INTIMIDATION team in Battle 6. The crew used:
'FEAR the Frog'
'Wall Boy Strikes Again'
'PheroLele V3: Click Buttons'
'My variation of Japan sand'
'All Hail Kommo-O'
'Focused Balzing Souls'
'White CHALK'
'Floral Kisses'
'Team LC' (for my first Guzma Battle)
- I then stuck with 'All Hail Kommo-O' for battles 11-20; the remainder of the streak was done using a secret new team that is currently carrying one of our regulars here to a new personal best (by like, a lot). I won't reveal the team and let his work speak for itself when the time comes, but if you are on the Discord, or pay enough attention to certain posts on this very thread, it's not much of a secret at all...the team itself is probably the most intuitive I have ever played in the Tree and is likely something I'll more shots to in the future. Once said creator reveals his finished work, I'll vouch for its effectiveness and publish proof and such
- I have been simultaneously attacking Sun Tree Doubles, Maison Triples, and dabbled a little in Subway Doubles at the same time as this streak. It's nice to be able to bounce between various teams, so you never get bored with any one team, should you be determined to make a significant enough streak with any of them. Said teams will be revealed when the time comes.
Thanks to everyone for continuing their good work, and particularly to Unbreakable on the Discord for giving me the kick in the ass needed to finally give Ultra Moon a go.
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I decided to follow up on this using my current runs in Ultra Moon as an example. So, I went and captured a sample battle featuring Trevenent4/Dusknoir4 as leads; if anyone wants to play around with it themselves, they're free to check out:
WUKG-WWWW-WWWU-4VBV (vs. Tivon, Trevenant4/Dusknoir4/Carbink4/Conkeldurr3) -- this particular team I'm using actually could have been able to more carefully survive the TR period, and fairly easily. However, the random targeting by Trevenant and the unexpected targeting by Conkeldurr made this tighter than it needed to be. At least I made the proper opening play...
With this in hand, I decided to carry out some tests, a using a small number of random captures, Imperfects, and one of my finer creations to try and dissect the TR behavioral patterns of these opponents.
Test #1: One Lead Slower, One Lead Faster (FEAR Variant)
I replayed this ten times with the Lvl.14 in-game trade Noibat and ten more with a Lvl.4 Buneary I randomly caught during my in-game playthrough. Each of these were accompanied by:
'Hurrrrrrrrrr' (Tornadus) (M) (Lvl.100) @ Life Orb (thanks to SadisticMystic)
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot
- Hurricane
In all cases, both opponents attacked, never bothering with TR; while Dusknoir tended to go Never-Ending Nightmare, twice it simply went with Shadow Sneak; Trevenant always went Shadow Ball with Noibat and Focus Blast on Buneary. It seems that baitmons could still work to deal TR setting for as long as the bait's there, at least.
Test #2: Both Leads Faster
For the next set of tests, I brought in two Psychic-types, curious to see if the defensive typing would be enough to perhaps dissuade TR usage:
Cerebus'Bite (Azelf) (Lvl.100) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
- Nasty Plot
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Thunderbolt
Jalal'sMane (Mesprit) (Lvl.100) @ Wide Lens
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 6 Spe
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Blizzard
- Protect
However, there's no question that gaining the speed advantage is still a big priority for the AI, as TR was set every time:
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
When not setting, Dusknoir always used Pain Split and Trevenant always used Shadow Ball, although both were pretty random about who they targeted in these cases. Note that setting duty was evenly split between the two in this set of instances; though this sample size is way too small to start making grand statements with, is it possible that the AI legitimately selects who sets based on some coin flip command?
Test #3: Both Leads Slower, More or Less
To add some nuance, I next brought in two TRmons; intentionally brought in to underspeed Dusknoir4 (58 Spe) and to partly underspeed Trevenant4 (34 Spe):
EliteBell (Bronzong) (Lvl.50) @ Iron Ball
Ability: Heatproof
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31/31/31/0/31/0 (34 Spe)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Def
- Trick Room
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Explosion
'Hiiragi' (Golisopod) (F) (Lvl.51) @ Muscle Band (thanks to ReptoAbysmal)
Ability: Emergency Exit
Nature: Brave
40 Spe
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 SDef
- First Impression
- Aqua Jet
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Slide
The AI never bothered to set TR here either: as has been reported by others on here, EliteBell underspeeding both opponents, or perhaps Trevenant seeing that it could commit major damage to EliteBell (though even with a crit, it's a guaranteed 2HKO with Shadow Ball) was sufficient to dissuade setting, even though Hiiragi outspeeds Trevenant4. I was curious to see what a speed tie would do to change things, so I did ten replays under these settings and ten with the Bell's Iron Ball removed (without the Ball, it ties with Trev4). This did not change things: Dusknoir went for Pain Split, Trevenant went mostly for Shadow Ball (although random targeting on both leads) and Energy Ball on Golisopod four-five times. So, the "slowest Pokemon prevents TR" theory Worldie and PikaCuber have postulated has more data supporting it here. It also provides more evidence that individual setters only take account for their own speed matchups with the opponents and not their ally's.
Test #4: One Lead Slower, One Lead Faster (Standard Variant)
To see if the above theory could apply when one of the leads used was clearly faster than both opposing setters, EliteBell and Hurrrrrrrr were both brought back for a final set of twenty replays. The slower EliteBell totally neutered setting once again: Trevenant did nothing but Shadow Ball random targets once again, Dusknoir either Pain Split random targets, went for Never-Ending Nightmare three-four times (mostly on EliteBell, but once on Hurrrrrrrr), and bizarrely went for Z-Destiny Bond once.
Based on what I have seen here, the secret sauce to stopping the TR overall, although obviously being more vital in the case of double setters, is simply to bring along one sufficiently slow, puny baitmon or one slow, fat fuck of a bulkymon. You don't even need to run TR! (not that I dissuade you from doing so.)
I'm glad you were able to test that my theory is pretty much correct.
If you're particularly bored, you could check the part 2 of my theory as well. I'd do it myself but I have basically benched both my DS by now as I accepted I'm terrible at tree and will wait gen 8 to attempt again most likely.
It would be "If TR is up and you are slower than enemy, AI will attempt to revert it next turn". You happened to find a relatively low danger double TR setter, so getting TR up turn 1 should be pretty easy as neither can realistically Hax both your leads, expecially if you go by with a Scrappy Fake out of sort.
I'm mostly curious if this would be a consistent behavior, or a "possible but erratic" one, as we've all definitely seen it happen a few times.
Looking at this, I wonder if what you lead influences who would set Trick Room, specifically like you had in your second test. If you had two different leads, with different super effective targets, would there be a consistent pattern in who would set Trick Room. Cause when I tested it out with 2 leads faster than both Trick Room setters, I didn't get quite as even of a split as you did, which may mean there is a slight bias, maybe a weighted coin flip. So something like a Dragon type and a Normal type against Aromatisse and Dusknoir, or something like that. Basically, one setter has a super effective target on only one of your Pokemon, the other has no super effective moves against either leads. I would think that Dusknoir would be more likely to set up Trick Room in that scenario, but that's just a theory, and I don't have the time to test that out this week.I decided to follow up on this using my current runs in Ultra Moon as an example. So, I went and captured a sample battle featuring Trevenent4/Dusknoir4 as leads; if anyone wants to play around with it themselves, they're free to check out:
WUKG-WWWW-WWWU-4VBV (vs. Tivon, Trevenant4/Dusknoir4/Carbink4/Conkeldurr3) -- this particular team I'm using actually could have been able to more carefully survive the TR period, and fairly easily. However, the random targeting by Trevenant and the unexpected targeting by Conkeldurr made this tighter than it needed to be. At least I made the proper opening play...
With this in hand, I decided to carry out some tests, a using a small number of random captures, Imperfects, and one of my finer creations to try and dissect the TR behavioral patterns of these opponents.
Test #1: One Lead Slower, One Lead Faster (FEAR Variant)
I replayed this ten times with the Lvl.14 in-game trade Noibat and ten more with a Lvl.4 Buneary I randomly caught during my in-game playthrough. Each of these were accompanied by:
'Hurrrrrrrrrr' (Tornadus) (M) (Lvl.100) @ Life Orb (thanks to SadisticMystic)
Ability: Prankster
Nature: Timid
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
- Dark Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Grass Knot
- Hurricane
In all cases, both opponents attacked, never bothering with TR; while Dusknoir tended to go Never-Ending Nightmare, twice it simply went with Shadow Sneak; Trevenant always went Shadow Ball with Noibat and Focus Blast on Buneary. It seems that baitmons could still work to deal TR setting for as long as the bait's there, at least.
Test #2: Both Leads Faster
For the next set of tests, I brought in two Psychic-types, curious to see if the defensive typing would be enough to perhaps dissuade TR usage:
Cerebus'Bite (Azelf) (Lvl.100) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spe
- Nasty Plot
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Thunderbolt
Jalal'sMane (Mesprit) (Lvl.100) @ Wide Lens
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Modest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 6 Spe
- Psychic
- Thunder
- Blizzard
- Protect
However, there's no question that gaining the speed advantage is still a big priority for the AI, as TR was set every time:
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
- Trevenant
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Dusknoir
- Trevenant
When not setting, Dusknoir always used Pain Split and Trevenant always used Shadow Ball, although both were pretty random about who they targeted in these cases. Note that setting duty was evenly split between the two in this set of instances; though this sample size is way too small to start making grand statements with, is it possible that the AI legitimately selects who sets based on some coin flip command?
Test #3: Both Leads Slower, More or Less
To add some nuance, I next brought in two TRmons; intentionally brought in to underspeed Dusknoir4 (58 Spe) and to partly underspeed Trevenant4 (34 Spe):
EliteBell (Bronzong) (Lvl.50) @ Iron Ball
Ability: Heatproof
Nature: Brave
IVs: 31/31/31/0/31/0 (34 Spe)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 Def
- Trick Room
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Explosion
'Hiiragi' (Golisopod) (F) (Lvl.51) @ Muscle Band (thanks to ReptoAbysmal)
Ability: Emergency Exit
Nature: Brave
40 Spe
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 6 SDef
- First Impression
- Aqua Jet
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Slide
The AI never bothered to set TR here either: as has been reported by others on here, EliteBell underspeeding both opponents, or perhaps Trevenant seeing that it could commit major damage to EliteBell (though even with a crit, it's a guaranteed 2HKO with Shadow Ball) was sufficient to dissuade setting, even though Hiiragi outspeeds Trevenant4. I was curious to see what a speed tie would do to change things, so I did ten replays under these settings and ten with the Bell's Iron Ball removed (without the Ball, it ties with Trev4). This did not change things: Dusknoir went for Pain Split, Trevenant went mostly for Shadow Ball (although random targeting on both leads) and Energy Ball on Golisopod four-five times. So, the "slowest Pokemon prevents TR" theory Worldie and PikaCuber have postulated has more data supporting it here. It also provides more evidence that individual setters only take account for their own speed matchups with the opponents and not their ally's.
Test #4: One Lead Slower, One Lead Faster (Standard Variant)
To see if the above theory could apply when one of the leads used was clearly faster than both opposing setters, EliteBell and Hurrrrrrrr were both brought back for a final set of twenty replays. The slower EliteBell totally neutered setting once again: Trevenant did nothing but Shadow Ball random targets once again, Dusknoir either Pain Split random targets, went for Never-Ending Nightmare three-four times (mostly on EliteBell, but once on Hurrrrrrrr), and bizarrely went for Z-Destiny Bond once.
Based on what I have seen here, the secret sauce to stopping the TR overall, although obviously being more vital in the case of double setters, is simply to bring along one sufficiently slow, puny baitmon or one slow, fat fuck of a bulkymon. You don't even need to run TR! (not that I dissuade you from doing so.)
Though that still leaves the awkward scenario where one lead is faster than both Trick Room setters, while the other sits in the middle, speed wise, between the two setters. Really weird still that I saw some scenarios where the AI didn't set up Trick Room until Turn 2. But, your post does help clarify some of my thoughts, good to see that my work towards getting a new Charjabug wasn't fully in vain.
Worldie PikaCuber the cool thing about it is that, with the Bronzong/Golisopod in place, I can test both things out relatively easily; I just need a good chunk of time to test the resetting TR scenario out (it took me about two-and-a-half hours yesterday to compile this data) and the appropriate partner for the awkward test (but hey, I have this Speed Boost Scolipede based off of Boss Trainer Carlen's Scoli for reasons).
So yes, I will explore both questions in due time. You two just continue being lazy/busy.
So yes, I will explore both questions in due time. You two just continue being lazy/busy.
Okay, so I guess I should finally post here.
I've been working on trying to get Shuckle to 50 wins in Super Doubles. You may think I am crazy, and at this point I am feeling like I am too.
The first attempt at the team was probably very flukey. I threw some mons together I had and a Battle Spot Shuckle from Theorymon which I had bred for him. Shuckle/Gyarados/Magneton/Mega Heracross. I was using webs/rock tomb from Shuckle in order to speed control opponents and give space for Gyarados and Heracross to do work. I needed a Flying/Electric resist, so Eviolite Magneton popped into the back line. Obvious issue here was speed, so I tended to struggle with the first two mons on the field (especially with fast electrics), but ground them down most of the time. I managed to wobble my way up to 43 wins. I tried out a few other teams (and getting some more BP) before going back to Shuckle. I tried it out with mega Kangaskhan but that faltered around battle 20 to some haxy bullshit.
I started looking deeper into Shuckle's other options, and turskain mentioned it got String Shot. Over the gens, String Shot has gotten numerous buffs, now being a both opponent -2 speed debuff. There was one large problem here. Shuckle only gets String Shot from the HGSS Move Tutor pools. As it happened, I had like 21 bp from other streaks/play time. I grinded out the next 11BP I needed, grabbed the gift Shuckle from Cianwood and then proceeded to transfer it up. It stopped off in OR to Blissey Base train it up to 100 so I could bottle cap it when it finally reached Sun. I then needed to Ability Capsule it (luckily I had plenty of BP for all this now) to get Sturdy.
I was confident with the other members of the team. I got another Magneton, and evolved it. This gave me more special firepower (Magneton annoyingly missed a few KOs). I'm still not sure if Eviolite or normal Zone is bulkier though.
The new and improved team faltered at 39 wins after meeting with Sina. The team is below:
Shuckie (Shuckle) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
31/x/31/x/31/x (Triple Bottle Cap)
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- String Shot
- Rock Tomb
- Sticky Web
- Power Split
Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sturdy
31/x/31/31/31/31
EVs: no idea rn, I think its max spcl attack/max speed
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Metal Sound
Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts -> Skill Link
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Counter
I keep forgetting to get Bullet Seed on Mega Heracross (definitely will fix that for my next attempt) and I feel like I might try out something different (item wise) on Magnezone. I'm unlikely to spend the effort to breed for HP Ice/Grass so let's ignore that. General premise is Gyarados puts dents in something while Shuckle throws down a String Shot. If there is a scary Electric on the field, Gyarados swaps out to Magnezone (though I may be tempted to try out Raichu/other Volt Absorb or Lightning Rod etc in that slot to ignore electric completely). Magnezone also helps pressure Fairy types which can mess with Heracross badly.
Apparently Sina has ended more than her fair share of runs. Mine was purely one mistake and a lot of hax. Oranguru with Electrium Z means I was forced to switch out Gyarados for Magnezone. The incoming blizzard froze Magnezone while Shuckle Power Splitted. After Magnezone went down to Focus Blast, in came Mega Heracross. I felt like I could still win from this point... Sina made short work of that idea. I (for some reason) decided to Pin Missile Oranguru (whereas it should have gone into Abomasnow) which then got the dreaded double freeze. It was all over from then. Drampa came in along side Blizzard spam and that was all she wrote.
7M9G-WWWW-WWWU-6LW3 - Utter destruction in Pokemon form
Replay above. It took me two attempts to win the fight with the same team (the first attempt also got Magnezone frozen, but I power splitted Abomasnow to take its edge off). Drampa came in and wrecked shop in this match. The third attempt went super smoothly, no freeze, Abomasnow went down to Magnezone, Heracross came in and cleaned up.
Main threats at the moment are powerful/fast Electric types mostly and I can play around most others. Espeon can be troublesome, as well as other potent special attackers. Shuckle can only be really taken down by concentrated attacks, which causes the AI to misplay horribly more often than not. Rotom is always scary. All versions are a pain to get rid of. As it happens, freeze hax doesn't like me much either. Shuckle blocks the AI from setting up trick room the majority of the time (even though they would be quicker after String Shot/Sticky Webs). Power Split helps neutralize a lot of scary Pokemon. In one match I power Splitted Rhyperior and 3HKO'd its team mate Gyarados with Rock Tomb. Definitely an awesome move to help out my team.
T1 choices are always hard in doubles, but I am using Power Split on T1 more often now as opposed to going directly for the string shot. Both are awesome moves and the power boost Shuckle get's is usually very noticeable. I'm pretty hopeful this team is going to finally get me to 50. I've learnt a lot through this streak and I hope it will help me out in the future.
I've been working on trying to get Shuckle to 50 wins in Super Doubles. You may think I am crazy, and at this point I am feeling like I am too.
The first attempt at the team was probably very flukey. I threw some mons together I had and a Battle Spot Shuckle from Theorymon which I had bred for him. Shuckle/Gyarados/Magneton/Mega Heracross. I was using webs/rock tomb from Shuckle in order to speed control opponents and give space for Gyarados and Heracross to do work. I needed a Flying/Electric resist, so Eviolite Magneton popped into the back line. Obvious issue here was speed, so I tended to struggle with the first two mons on the field (especially with fast electrics), but ground them down most of the time. I managed to wobble my way up to 43 wins. I tried out a few other teams (and getting some more BP) before going back to Shuckle. I tried it out with mega Kangaskhan but that faltered around battle 20 to some haxy bullshit.
I started looking deeper into Shuckle's other options, and turskain mentioned it got String Shot. Over the gens, String Shot has gotten numerous buffs, now being a both opponent -2 speed debuff. There was one large problem here. Shuckle only gets String Shot from the HGSS Move Tutor pools. As it happened, I had like 21 bp from other streaks/play time. I grinded out the next 11BP I needed, grabbed the gift Shuckle from Cianwood and then proceeded to transfer it up. It stopped off in OR to Blissey Base train it up to 100 so I could bottle cap it when it finally reached Sun. I then needed to Ability Capsule it (luckily I had plenty of BP for all this now) to get Sturdy.
I was confident with the other members of the team. I got another Magneton, and evolved it. This gave me more special firepower (Magneton annoyingly missed a few KOs). I'm still not sure if Eviolite or normal Zone is bulkier though.
The new and improved team faltered at 39 wins after meeting with Sina. The team is below:
Shuckie (Shuckle) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
31/x/31/x/31/x (Triple Bottle Cap)
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- String Shot
- Rock Tomb
- Sticky Web
- Power Split
Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sturdy
31/x/31/31/31/31
EVs: no idea rn, I think its max spcl attack/max speed
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Metal Sound
Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts -> Skill Link
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Counter
I keep forgetting to get Bullet Seed on Mega Heracross (definitely will fix that for my next attempt) and I feel like I might try out something different (item wise) on Magnezone. I'm unlikely to spend the effort to breed for HP Ice/Grass so let's ignore that. General premise is Gyarados puts dents in something while Shuckle throws down a String Shot. If there is a scary Electric on the field, Gyarados swaps out to Magnezone (though I may be tempted to try out Raichu/other Volt Absorb or Lightning Rod etc in that slot to ignore electric completely). Magnezone also helps pressure Fairy types which can mess with Heracross badly.
Apparently Sina has ended more than her fair share of runs. Mine was purely one mistake and a lot of hax. Oranguru with Electrium Z means I was forced to switch out Gyarados for Magnezone. The incoming blizzard froze Magnezone while Shuckle Power Splitted. After Magnezone went down to Focus Blast, in came Mega Heracross. I felt like I could still win from this point... Sina made short work of that idea. I (for some reason) decided to Pin Missile Oranguru (whereas it should have gone into Abomasnow) which then got the dreaded double freeze. It was all over from then. Drampa came in along side Blizzard spam and that was all she wrote.
7M9G-WWWW-WWWU-6LW3 - Utter destruction in Pokemon form
Replay above. It took me two attempts to win the fight with the same team (the first attempt also got Magnezone frozen, but I power splitted Abomasnow to take its edge off). Drampa came in and wrecked shop in this match. The third attempt went super smoothly, no freeze, Abomasnow went down to Magnezone, Heracross came in and cleaned up.
Main threats at the moment are powerful/fast Electric types mostly and I can play around most others. Espeon can be troublesome, as well as other potent special attackers. Shuckle can only be really taken down by concentrated attacks, which causes the AI to misplay horribly more often than not. Rotom is always scary. All versions are a pain to get rid of. As it happens, freeze hax doesn't like me much either. Shuckle blocks the AI from setting up trick room the majority of the time (even though they would be quicker after String Shot/Sticky Webs). Power Split helps neutralize a lot of scary Pokemon. In one match I power Splitted Rhyperior and 3HKO'd its team mate Gyarados with Rock Tomb. Definitely an awesome move to help out my team.
T1 choices are always hard in doubles, but I am using Power Split on T1 more often now as opposed to going directly for the string shot. Both are awesome moves and the power boost Shuckle get's is usually very noticeable. I'm pretty hopeful this team is going to finally get me to 50. I've learnt a lot through this streak and I hope it will help me out in the future.
Nah, I don't think you're crazy. I believe you can make any Pkm work in Battle Tree.Okay, so I guess I should finally post here.
I've been working on trying to get Shuckle to 50 wins in Super Doubles. You may think I am crazy, and at this point I am feeling like I am too.
The first attempt at the team was probably very flukey. I threw some mons together I had and a Battle Spot Shuckle from Theorymon which I had bred for him. Shuckle/Gyarados/Magneton/Mega Heracross. I was using webs/rock tomb from Shuckle in order to speed control opponents and give space for Gyarados and Heracross to do work. I needed a Flying/Electric resist, so Eviolite Magneton popped into the back line. Obvious issue here was speed, so I tended to struggle with the first two mons on the field (especially with fast electrics), but ground them down most of the time. I managed to wobble my way up to 43 wins. I tried out a few other teams (and getting some more BP) before going back to Shuckle. I tried it out with mega Kangaskhan but that faltered around battle 20 to some haxy bullshit.
I started looking deeper into Shuckle's other options, and turskain mentioned it got String Shot. Over the gens, String Shot has gotten numerous buffs, now being a both opponent -2 speed debuff. There was one large problem here. Shuckle only gets String Shot from the HGSS Move Tutor pools. As it happened, I had like 21 bp from other streaks/play time. I grinded out the next 11BP I needed, grabbed the gift Shuckle from Cianwood and then proceeded to transfer it up. It stopped off in OR to Blissey Base train it up to 100 so I could bottle cap it when it finally reached Sun. I then needed to Ability Capsule it (luckily I had plenty of BP for all this now) to get Sturdy.
I was confident with the other members of the team. I got another Magneton, and evolved it. This gave me more special firepower (Magneton annoyingly missed a few KOs). I'm still not sure if Eviolite or normal Zone is bulkier though.
The new and improved team faltered at 39 wins after meeting with Sina. The team is below:
Shuckie (Shuckle) @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
31/x/31/x/31/x (Triple Bottle Cap)
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- String Shot
- Rock Tomb
- Sticky Web
- Power Split
Gyarados @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance
Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sturdy
31/x/31/31/31/31
EVs: no idea rn, I think its max spcl attack/max speed
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Flash Cannon
- Metal Sound
Heracross @ Heracronite
Ability: Guts -> Skill Link
31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Close Combat
- Rock Blast
- Counter
I keep forgetting to get Bullet Seed on Mega Heracross (definitely will fix that for my next attempt) and I feel like I might try out something different (item wise) on Magnezone. I'm unlikely to spend the effort to breed for HP Ice/Grass so let's ignore that. General premise is Gyarados puts dents in something while Shuckle throws down a String Shot. If there is a scary Electric on the field, Gyarados swaps out to Magnezone (though I may be tempted to try out Raichu/other Volt Absorb or Lightning Rod etc in that slot to ignore electric completely). Magnezone also helps pressure Fairy types which can mess with Heracross badly.
Apparently Sina has ended more than her fair share of runs. Mine was purely one mistake and a lot of hax. Oranguru with Electrium Z means I was forced to switch out Gyarados for Magnezone. The incoming blizzard froze Magnezone while Shuckle Power Splitted. After Magnezone went down to Focus Blast, in came Mega Heracross. I felt like I could still win from this point... Sina made short work of that idea. I (for some reason) decided to Pin Missile Oranguru (whereas it should have gone into Abomasnow) which then got the dreaded double freeze. It was all over from then. Drampa came in along side Blizzard spam and that was all she wrote.
7M9G-WWWW-WWWU-6LW3 - Utter destruction in Pokemon form
Replay above. It took me two attempts to win the fight with the same team (the first attempt also got Magnezone frozen, but I power splitted Abomasnow to take its edge off). Drampa came in and wrecked shop in this match. The third attempt went super smoothly, no freeze, Abomasnow went down to Magnezone, Heracross came in and cleaned up.
Main threats at the moment are powerful/fast Electric types mostly and I can play around most others. Espeon can be troublesome, as well as other potent special attackers. Shuckle can only be really taken down by concentrated attacks, which causes the AI to misplay horribly more often than not. Rotom is always scary. All versions are a pain to get rid of. As it happens, freeze hax doesn't like me much either. Shuckle blocks the AI from setting up trick room the majority of the time (even though they would be quicker after String Shot/Sticky Webs). Power Split helps neutralize a lot of scary Pokemon. In one match I power Splitted Rhyperior and 3HKO'd its team mate Gyarados with Rock Tomb. Definitely an awesome move to help out my team.
T1 choices are always hard in doubles, but I am using Power Split on T1 more often now as opposed to going directly for the string shot. Both are awesome moves and the power boost Shuckle get's is usually very noticeable. I'm pretty hopeful this team is going to finally get me to 50. I've learnt a lot through this streak and I hope it will help me out in the future.
Now, as for your team, I'd suggest to use Protect on some Pkm so that they don't have to take a hit at first before Shuckle reduces the Speed of faster opposing Pkm. Apropos Shuckle, I'm not really sure if it really needs Rock Tomb. You already have so much Speed control with Sticky Webs and String Shot. Instead of Rock Tomb you could use Toxic/Protect/Struggle Bug/Encore.
As for Heracross, I don't think Counter is that useful. It's very relient on your prediction, so I'd suggest Protect or Bullet Seed to deal with bulky Water or Ground Pkm.
Gyarados is fine, but you could replace Crunch with Protect or Earth Quake. Magnezone doesn't need Thunderwave as you have enough Speed control. Protect would be a good option.
As I said at the time, Rain possibly the easiest hyperoffense composition you can run really, aside from maybe pherolelegross core.
Koko, Pelipper, M-Swampert, X of your choice. You can even go full rain using stuff like Ludicolo in that place.
Otherwise you could try to run my ChariY+scarferuption comp but really it's prone to RNG very hard so unless you're me i don't recommend that.
p.s. personal favorite: ditch leftovers on fini and run wide lens Icy Wind. Be a real man.
Well, Tapu Bulu would be an excellent addition to your team as it weakens certain Ground moves and can deal with pesky Water/Ground/Electric Pkm. Personally, I recommend a Life Orb set. This is the Tapu Bulu set I would use:
Wood Hammer, Horn Leech, Protect, Superpower
108 HP | 252 Atk | 12 Def | 4 SpD | 132 Speed
It works wonder with Tailwind support, for example from Latios.
If you dislike Tapu Bulu, Kartana is fine as well, but I would realy suggest Tapu Bulu as it can take Fighting and Dark moves Incineroar and Metagross are weak to respectively.
Another amazing Pkm is Kommo-o. It's a good wallbreaker and an excellent cleaner in my experiences.
Modest, Z-Move, Bulletproof, Clanging Scales | Close Combat | Protect | Laser Focus/Work Up
212 HP, 244 SpA, 52 Speed
Kommo-o can deal with Gengar thanks to Bulletproof. As with Tapu Bulu, Tailwind works wonder. Both Pkm are able to outspeed Mega Alakazam, and they hit very hard. You have the choice between Laser Focus and Work up. The former will destroy opposing Pkm relying on defensive boosts, while the latter can be more consistent, and it boosts Attack and Special Attack. Personally, I would go for Laser Focus because there is nothing more annoying than dealing with Calm Mind Suicune and Cresselia or Curse Registeel.
Edit: I would recommend to put the 4 EVs in Special Defense as far as Incineroar is concerned because you don't want Download boost from Porygon2 and Porygon-z
Does anyone have recommendations for an all out attackers team looking for 100 wins in Super Singles?
I'm thinking some combination of Greninja, Mimikyu, Nihilego, Garchomp, Dragonite, M-Blaziken, M-Lopunny, M-Salamence, M-Scizor but I'm open to ideas. I have a Naive Greninja I'd like to be my lead if possible.
Edit - This is for regular Moon, if it matters.
I'm thinking some combination of Greninja, Mimikyu, Nihilego, Garchomp, Dragonite, M-Blaziken, M-Lopunny, M-Salamence, M-Scizor but I'm open to ideas. I have a Naive Greninja I'd like to be my lead if possible.
Edit - This is for regular Moon, if it matters.
Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
Greninja @ Life Orb /Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick (or some other coverage like dark pulse)
- Grass Knot
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Brick Break / bug bite / Brutal swing
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Swords Dance
- Outrage
Greninja @ Life Orb /Choice Specs
Ability: Protean
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick (or some other coverage like dark pulse)
- Grass Knot
Scizor-Mega @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Roost
- Brick Break / bug bite / Brutal swing
That looks fun. I think I'll breed them. Is Scald generally better than Surf?
The advantage with scald is that you can switch into ice beam and thaw by using scald :) Surf is better in most cases though, so you can use that instead if you want.
I'd actually use Lum on Garchomp over Dragonium. While Lum seems redundant with Substitute, you'll often find yourself switching into Fire moves (greninja is too frail for that) and you will, sooner or later, take a burn. Also Lum helps with fast Swagger/Hypnosis users like Cobalion and Crobat.
this cannot be understated: with the amount of AI sets running Blizzard in post 40 battles (but even earlier), the threat of swapping into a resist only to get frozen can be a streak killer.
Scald is a default on mons that learn it for consistency :)
Obviously, there's also the extra fancy possibility of getting a burn on a defensive wall. Random but nothing to displease.
Blew another randoms streak at 439 wins, losing #440 to Grimsley over a series of sloppy plays. While triples and doubles aren't too comparable, my Personal Best for randoms last gen was 367, then a pretty nice climb over 315 (my maiden post on Smogon) and 439 is another satisfying spike over that.
The streak should have ended a little over 40 battles sooner, due to my eagerness in running a really shitty lineup because "science is fuN!" but RNG gaveth as much as it tooketh away, and on I went (in my defense, the previous team of a comparable makeup had a pretty good run and I thought I could tap into more of the same, neglecting to recall that my frontline unit was nowhere near as disadvantaged.)
Eisenherz had already used Comfey as a TR setter and raved about it, in no small part due to Triage. I looked at a small handful of calcs and decided its defenses were adequate, plus its speed was a complete non-issue as its entire moveset would consist of priority. While set1s don't threaten quite as much, it still lived up to the hype. Props to Eisen for experimenting with it first.
Gothitelle was rolled very little this entire run, surprisingly, but it's not such a bad lead to have in early tree. I've said it elsewhere, Goth's biggest problem is that it just doesn't do anything better than anyone else. None of its good tools are exclusive, and since I always roll two setters...
Micro Selection Gigalith runs Assault Vest and Sand Stream if not paired with a Ghost, and uses Superpower instead of Explosion. As you can imagine it's extremely bulky.
Before this run I had rebred Cofagrigus because my old one didn't have Fake Tears as an egg move. This move was so devastating in this and subsequent runs that it gave Coff a sizeable edge over Dusclops when I rolled special attackers that didn't depend on Gravity. Vikavolt already hits so hard with Life Orb; Fake Tears support jacked its list of guaranteed OHKOs through the roof.
Anabel was the boss of this run!
Contained the first battle of the streak during which I was convinced my run was toast, saved by the fact that the lastmon was Shuckle4 (isn't that always the silver lining to every cloud? You get "That One Poke" that can't possibly kill your lastmon?) and Mega Sableye couldn't be harmed by anything it did except Sand, which could simply be healed.
A male office worker with Bisharp4/Porygon-Z4/Abomasnow3/Shuckle4. As you could probably guess if you pondered the way this team could screw me, Bisharp flinched with Iron Head and thus TR was hopelessly doomed. While Escavalier would kill PZ and waste Snow's sash, it wasn't enough to prolong it with LO recoil and it soon fell along with Abomasnow. Meanwhile, Assault Vest Rhyperior would tank Blizzard and freeze, fainting without doing anything. Which left Mega Sableye, all by itself. Because Bisharp had not taken any damage save for Hail, and I had not yet seen the final poke, I waited with dismay to see who would seal my fate, and of all things it's SHUCKLE.
I Will-O-Wisped Bisharp and stalled out its Iron Heads, recovering, using Nasty Plot, and peppering it with Shadow Ball while the meager damage did its job (only one flinch that I recall, of little consequence.) If you don't immediately recall, Shuckle4 has Wrap and Toxic for damage, and Protect/Sandstorm for defense. Shuckle would sit there and waste Protect PP, repelenishing sand once it faded. By the time Bisharp fainted and I'd healed up, Sableye was at +6 and Shuckle fainted a couple turns afterward. As an aside, I found it interesting that Shuckle never once tried to Toxic Sableye, and Bisharp never tried to Taunt it. They seemed to be aware of Magic Bounce from the getgo.
Using Heal Pulse on Magic Bounce was an effective means of healing Aromatisse. The original roll for this run contained Aromatisse/M-Sableye, Rhyperior/Gigalith/Conkeldurr/Escavalier, Slowbro & M-Aggron. Running offensive Slowbro would have likely been more helpful than Sableye, but like most brand new toys I was really eager to try it. I don't remember my logic for wanting the Nasty Plot set over FO/HH/AS/FP but it was likely because I had no other special attacker without Slowbro there.
This was a really fun team! I finally rolled Zard with Musharna, giving me access to After You (okay, Aroma basically uses After You just as well as Mush, but HH and HP are too good to pass.) While it's not the easiest thing to arrange, Zard is a blast to use.
I hadn't "unlocked" my larger roster yet, but I had rolled Stakataka as a setter (it still sits in that pool despite being wholly unqualified for the job) and because I allow myself to use pokes in any role I please so long as they're legitimately selected, I used what's normally Super Flunky #60, Stakataka, on this team.
Both this run and the last rolled Azumarill. At some point before either one I had decided to replace Aqua Jet with Knock Off, since I was frequently getting really dissatisfied with the numbers, even against frail targets. I also tried Assault Vest and really liked it. Lurantis was phenomenal this run and one such highlight was murdering a Ferrothorn before it could begin to set up (forgoing TR in order to HH Superpower.)
Escavalier outspeeding every setter can be very inconvenient if RNG decides it doesn't like me. No, I will not stop running Megahorn. Or Drill Run.
150 Wins - Super Factory Unlocked
Hilarious battle: Hitting Wishiwashi with Heal Pulse, then OHKOing Alakazam3 with U-turn, getting replaced by Heatran and subsequently targeted by Will-O, to find Scizor entering battle as the lastmon.
Disastrous Battle: Snorlax3/Primarina3/Lapras3/Magnezone4
I was going to post the discord logs for this, but upon rereading it it's mostly foaming at the mouth and insufficient details. Basically, through Baby Doll Eyes spam and consecutive Protects, Primalax wasted TR in the time it took to kill them and Aroma wasn't around to replenish it. Vileplume and Heatran both fell trying to deal with Magnezone and Lapras, and in the ensuing struggle I'd managed to hit Lapras with Waterfall due to retargeting (did not expect Lapras to kill its own Magnezone with Surf.) It didn't have Water Absorb, which would have screwed me. On the turn I won, Wishi had been knocked to 9HP by Lapras and I'd killed it before losing Schooling. Brightpowder never kicked in, either.
Ezra also gave this team a run for its money, but nothing like Tasanee. Faced with Alakazam/Vikavolt leads, I brought Vileplume in to take Thunder/bolt and was hoping Alakazam (turned out to be Specs4) would do anything but target Wishi with Psychic, but it did, and Plume was wasted. PZ and Volcarona made up the backline, and Heatran easily dealt with the four of them.
I remember taking pause at the prospect of running both Vika and Amphy but quickly dismissed it as they share one attack type and by virtue of Bug typing, share no weaknesses.
And I thought Fake Tears spam was delightful! This team was so fun and murderous; even before the run began, Paper summed it up best: "RIP tree." If it's not already obvious from my style, this team involved Iron Ball Fini using Swagger on the backline to overinflate their killing power. Because Cofagrigus didn't really need a Lum Berry, it used Misty Seed for increased special bulk, which worked out well. Relaxed Fini doesn't hit particularly hard or have any notable OHKOs by itself, but it did its share of attacking and appreciated Fake Tears. Swagger can still miss instead of automatically tripping with the terrain up, but it didn't create an issue.
I was encouraged by Discord chums to abuse Psychic Terrain to the fullest, and I obliged, though the modus operandi was still Bellylax sweeping, and most battles played out as such.
Iron Ball Darmanitan is actually pretty good.Try Zen Mode, I think it has serious four-digit potential Sheer Force still gives a nice kick even without the Life Orb other pokes use with it.
Jellicent used with a bit of badgering from Smuckem. First time using Scizor in TR since the Maison (and it was pulled out of Bank to do it, after a lot of Scizor talk in Discord piqued my interest) and for the first several battles I was getting pretty displeased by its frequent shortfalls of KOs, even with its LO. As the run went on its muscle began to do more work than its teammates', which elevated my opinion and saved its seat in the alts box.
Fake Out/Helping Hand/Ally Switch/Foul Play Mega Sableye in all its... notoriety? Splendor? This run featured so many fighting-type leads, including undesireable FO targets in Gallade and Lucario, that Sableye was opening with Ally Switch much of the time. Sableye was a cancerous little troll for this team, between AS mindfucking the AI and HH Explosion doing a lot by itself. As if that weren't bad enough, when my tanks weren't winning the battle by themselves, I had the admittedly extremely unsafe but hilarious Quick Claw Walrein, who uses Super Fang instead of Fissure. Walrein was brought in to deal with stallier nuisances and lastmons. Among successful Sheer Cold recipients were +3/+3 Lanturn4 (QC proc no less) and Tentacruel4. Walrein took a more proactive role in a battle with Atalanta and, while no serious massacre occured, I did note that moves called by Sleep Talk ignore disabling when used. Marowak1 was felled, Cursed Body disabled Sheer Cold, and Sleep Talk attempted to use it with no failure message.
This run featured an encounter with our rare Anabel, whom I jokingly referred to as investigating the existence of an alleged QC Walrein. This run also featured my second personally witnessed instance of the AI making a resist switch that turned out to be Zoroark (Breloom to "Lapras" following a sashed hit from Ice Beam.)
Tasanee once again gave this team a serious run for its money with Golisopod4/Snorlax4/Something not mentioned in Discord/Milotic4. Lax successfully Fissured Incineroar, and upon returning to battle LO First Impression would lay waste to Drampa. I won because Milotic Rested and kept calling Surf with Sleep Talk, which is what allowed Gastrodon to do enough damage to kill it before it could wake up and simply Rest again.
Contrary to what the backline might imply, this Golem did not have Explosion.
Aromatisse and Slowbro get rolled together fairly often in some capacity, and having a slot in both the setter and megas sections increases Bro's chances of being rolled quite a bit. That said, I've yet to run Aroma in an offensive capacity as long as it and Bro are on the same team. For reasons which are hopefully obvious.
The return of semi-monotype! This team had a really good run, save for a rematch with Harding. The battle got off to a good enough start; Aggron3/Gardevoir34 leads, with an easy OHKO for Scizor. Bronzong3 would replace Garde and immediately explode, making Knock Off autotarget Aggron for pathetic damage. Escavalier replaces, which is very bad for the team with Volcarona being unable to enter while Aggron sits there, and none of my pokes outspeeding the snail under TR, at least until Aggron had paralyzed both of them, leaving me in a tough spot.
As it would happen, Escavalier3 would have its LO knocked off and Cress would die to be replaced by Araquanid. Scizor had put Aggron into range for a Hydro Vortex KO with Superpower, and all it needed to do was survive Escavalier's Megahorn to use it, which it did. TR was now off, so Volcarona could safely and easily kill Escavalier.
...the road leading to this destination was a lot more tense than it might look :P
Armaldo gets a ton of credit for delivering many of the KOs during this run, especially amidst the number of Taunts which greeted my leads.
Xenophon managed to give this team an extremely hard time without a Taunt Virizion lead. Grassy Terrain from my Bulu did not help. Mega Venusaur is so bulky that a +0 Rock Slide can't break a substitute. And Dhelmise4 is just an annoying douche between alternating Protect and Phantom Force; what's more, it survives +2 Throat Chop. Thankfully, Bug Buzz ignores Sub and Vikavolt is just a handy unit to have against teams like this. Without it, unless I ran a Fire type I'd have possibly lost.
While Rotom/Ally Switch was meant to mitigate it somewhat, I was getting pretty annoyed with the number of Ice-typed leads, and ran into Regice and Articuno repeatedly. Fortunately Regice doesn't stand up to HHWP-boosted attacks, but sacrifices were usually made. Heal Pulse and Berserk was abused repeatedly.
If I were ever bitten harder in the ass for gung-ho experimenting, I must've blocked it out of my mind. After the thrill and success of semi-mono Ice and Bug, I was excited to try this with Dragon, not considering that my lead choice of Tyrantrum was absolutely terrible, not to mention having no real switch prospects should the need arise. So there would be plenty of sacrfificing. Upon saving and mock battling replays with Tivon, then Aino and Sam, I would lose the first two extremely quickly and realise that I won through strokes of pure luck. Sam's battle would get off to a shitty start like last time but be salvaged in much the same way.
Tivon: Steelix4/RotoFrost34/Conkeldurr4/Crabominable4
Conk would use Superpower to finish off Tyrantrum4 instead of Flinging into Cress, and would be crit OHKOd by its partner Steelix in return. I needed this to happen, as I would miss Hydro Pump on Steelix and the battle would go rapidly downhill from there.
Aino: Metagross4/Gallade3/Uxie2/Oranguru
Winning stemmed from Ally Switching and staving off Meteor Mash in time to KO Metagross, at which point I was able to set TR. The benign-ish backline helped. During the mock battle, Metagross targeted Cress with MM, Tyrantrum was AS into it, and the battle went unsalvageably downhill from there.
Sam: Barbaracle4/Salamence3/Tyrantrum4/Magmortar4
In sacrificing Tyrantrum, Barbara would get a Sniper crit on Cress (non fatal) and set the stage for a difficult game of Kill or Be Killed. It would miss twice, which was necessary for Guzzlord to clean up the rest of the team including Barbaracle itself.
Like I said in the discord, I am never doing Dragon TR again. at least until they make more TR-worthy dragon pokes GF pls
More Misty Swagger fun! Carbink ran anIapapa Eisenberry because of the protection from Misty Surge, but would not eat it very often; it was usually hit once for small to moderate damage and then obliterated. Five of the teams faced were TR specialists, which amused me at the time. The biggest highlight was facing a Breeder with Cofagrigus, and bringing Fini in to protect Mawile from a Will-O-Wisp, then successfully Swaggering to maintain the doubled attack after gaining Mummy from the ensuing OHKO. Bastiodon would dodge an Iron Head under Gravity from its DT spam, then be hit and crit by Hydro Pump (an earlier IH had connected and dealt over 50%.)
Kukui did not run Magnezone as I feared, but I did have the pleasure of OHKOing Primarina with +2 Hydro Vortex.
Very rare sighting of fully offensive Aromatisse, which is fun to use. This run was also pretty difficult (admittedly this was not the time to use Steelix, though it appeased Eisen.) Empoleon would end up doing quite a lot of work outside TR, and its "high" speed came in quite handy. Breeder Lori would show up twice and lead Escavalier4 both times; in one encounter, Steelix would be Swaggered and do nothing but assist in killing itself the rest of the battle; in another, it would miraculously waken from Spore T2 and OHKO Shiinotic4 with Heavy Slam, then be paralyzed as a result. In both battles, Empoleon would connect two Hydro Pumps and be done with Escavalier. Because the backline didn't play well with Steelix spamming EQ, Stomping Tantrum was used, and generally didn't cause problems as a result (though some prospective double KOs were missed.)
I was getting pretty annoyed by the unwillingness of the AI to bait into Flash Fire, at one point hitting Chandelure with my own Fire Blast just to trigger it. One amusing battle of note was against Tivon, who set to +2 with Mega Audino and was generally being a tanky pain in the ass; I swapped Ferrothorn in to prevent Octillery from being killed by Draining Kiss- and was immediately reminded that it's a rare special contact move, and the ensuing damage from Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet was severe enough to finish it off. While I had an Octillery for a long time in Bank, credit goes to Eisen for getting it rebred and put back into the alts box.
I had the joy of slaughtering Uxie and Cress with LO Knock Off, and until Grimsley this team was having a great run. Honchkrow3/Scrafty4/Sharpedo4/Houndoom4 gave this team no good switch prospects, but what really doomed me was negligent (more like nonexistent) use of Ally Switch, which would have prolonged Bisharp and especially Dragalge in doing enough damage to them before they fell. As it would stand, I would manage to get Scrafty by itself, and with its max special bulk my badly weakened Rotom was hopelessly checkmated, and Scrafty would prolong things by continuing to Protect and even throw in a Bulk Up before finishing it off.
I had planned to write up some trivia using the various tidbits from those two segments, but this has gone on quite long enough. Anyone who bothers to look through them will inevitably notice some trends or odd things.
The streak should have ended a little over 40 battles sooner, due to my eagerness in running a really shitty lineup because "science is fuN!" but RNG gaveth as much as it tooketh away, and on I went (in my defense, the previous team of a comparable makeup had a pretty good run and I thought I could tap into more of the same, neglecting to recall that my frontline unit was nowhere near as disadvantaged.)
Eisenherz had already used Comfey as a TR setter and raved about it, in no small part due to Triage. I looked at a small handful of calcs and decided its defenses were adequate, plus its speed was a complete non-issue as its entire moveset would consist of priority. While set1s don't threaten quite as much, it still lived up to the hype. Props to Eisen for experimenting with it first.
Gothitelle was rolled very little this entire run, surprisingly, but it's not such a bad lead to have in early tree. I've said it elsewhere, Goth's biggest problem is that it just doesn't do anything better than anyone else. None of its good tools are exclusive, and since I always roll two setters...
Micro Selection Gigalith runs Assault Vest and Sand Stream if not paired with a Ghost, and uses Superpower instead of Explosion. As you can imagine it's extremely bulky.
Before this run I had rebred Cofagrigus because my old one didn't have Fake Tears as an egg move. This move was so devastating in this and subsequent runs that it gave Coff a sizeable edge over Dusclops when I rolled special attackers that didn't depend on Gravity. Vikavolt already hits so hard with Life Orb; Fake Tears support jacked its list of guaranteed OHKOs through the roof.
Anabel was the boss of this run!
Contained the first battle of the streak during which I was convinced my run was toast, saved by the fact that the lastmon was Shuckle4 (isn't that always the silver lining to every cloud? You get "That One Poke" that can't possibly kill your lastmon?) and Mega Sableye couldn't be harmed by anything it did except Sand, which could simply be healed.
A male office worker with Bisharp4/Porygon-Z4/Abomasnow3/Shuckle4. As you could probably guess if you pondered the way this team could screw me, Bisharp flinched with Iron Head and thus TR was hopelessly doomed. While Escavalier would kill PZ and waste Snow's sash, it wasn't enough to prolong it with LO recoil and it soon fell along with Abomasnow. Meanwhile, Assault Vest Rhyperior would tank Blizzard and freeze, fainting without doing anything. Which left Mega Sableye, all by itself. Because Bisharp had not taken any damage save for Hail, and I had not yet seen the final poke, I waited with dismay to see who would seal my fate, and of all things it's SHUCKLE.
I Will-O-Wisped Bisharp and stalled out its Iron Heads, recovering, using Nasty Plot, and peppering it with Shadow Ball while the meager damage did its job (only one flinch that I recall, of little consequence.) If you don't immediately recall, Shuckle4 has Wrap and Toxic for damage, and Protect/Sandstorm for defense. Shuckle would sit there and waste Protect PP, repelenishing sand once it faded. By the time Bisharp fainted and I'd healed up, Sableye was at +6 and Shuckle fainted a couple turns afterward. As an aside, I found it interesting that Shuckle never once tried to Toxic Sableye, and Bisharp never tried to Taunt it. They seemed to be aware of Magic Bounce from the getgo.
Using Heal Pulse on Magic Bounce was an effective means of healing Aromatisse. The original roll for this run contained Aromatisse/M-Sableye, Rhyperior/Gigalith/Conkeldurr/Escavalier, Slowbro & M-Aggron. Running offensive Slowbro would have likely been more helpful than Sableye, but like most brand new toys I was really eager to try it. I don't remember my logic for wanting the Nasty Plot set over FO/HH/AS/FP but it was likely because I had no other special attacker without Slowbro there.
This was a really fun team! I finally rolled Zard with Musharna, giving me access to After You (okay, Aroma basically uses After You just as well as Mush, but HH and HP are too good to pass.) While it's not the easiest thing to arrange, Zard is a blast to use.
I hadn't "unlocked" my larger roster yet, but I had rolled Stakataka as a setter (it still sits in that pool despite being wholly unqualified for the job) and because I allow myself to use pokes in any role I please so long as they're legitimately selected, I used what's normally Super Flunky #60, Stakataka, on this team.
Both this run and the last rolled Azumarill. At some point before either one I had decided to replace Aqua Jet with Knock Off, since I was frequently getting really dissatisfied with the numbers, even against frail targets. I also tried Assault Vest and really liked it. Lurantis was phenomenal this run and one such highlight was murdering a Ferrothorn before it could begin to set up (forgoing TR in order to HH Superpower.)
Escavalier outspeeding every setter can be very inconvenient if RNG decides it doesn't like me. No, I will not stop running Megahorn. Or Drill Run.
150 Wins - Super Factory Unlocked
Hilarious battle: Hitting Wishiwashi with Heal Pulse, then OHKOing Alakazam3 with U-turn, getting replaced by Heatran and subsequently targeted by Will-O, to find Scizor entering battle as the lastmon.
Disastrous Battle: Snorlax3/Primarina3/Lapras3/Magnezone4
I was going to post the discord logs for this, but upon rereading it it's mostly foaming at the mouth and insufficient details. Basically, through Baby Doll Eyes spam and consecutive Protects, Primalax wasted TR in the time it took to kill them and Aroma wasn't around to replenish it. Vileplume and Heatran both fell trying to deal with Magnezone and Lapras, and in the ensuing struggle I'd managed to hit Lapras with Waterfall due to retargeting (did not expect Lapras to kill its own Magnezone with Surf.) It didn't have Water Absorb, which would have screwed me. On the turn I won, Wishi had been knocked to 9HP by Lapras and I'd killed it before losing Schooling. Brightpowder never kicked in, either.
Ezra also gave this team a run for its money, but nothing like Tasanee. Faced with Alakazam/Vikavolt leads, I brought Vileplume in to take Thunder/bolt and was hoping Alakazam (turned out to be Specs4) would do anything but target Wishi with Psychic, but it did, and Plume was wasted. PZ and Volcarona made up the backline, and Heatran easily dealt with the four of them.
I remember taking pause at the prospect of running both Vika and Amphy but quickly dismissed it as they share one attack type and by virtue of Bug typing, share no weaknesses.
And I thought Fake Tears spam was delightful! This team was so fun and murderous; even before the run began, Paper summed it up best: "RIP tree." If it's not already obvious from my style, this team involved Iron Ball Fini using Swagger on the backline to overinflate their killing power. Because Cofagrigus didn't really need a Lum Berry, it used Misty Seed for increased special bulk, which worked out well. Relaxed Fini doesn't hit particularly hard or have any notable OHKOs by itself, but it did its share of attacking and appreciated Fake Tears. Swagger can still miss instead of automatically tripping with the terrain up, but it didn't create an issue.
I was encouraged by Discord chums to abuse Psychic Terrain to the fullest, and I obliged, though the modus operandi was still Bellylax sweeping, and most battles played out as such.
Iron Ball Darmanitan is actually pretty good.
Jellicent used with a bit of badgering from Smuckem. First time using Scizor in TR since the Maison (and it was pulled out of Bank to do it, after a lot of Scizor talk in Discord piqued my interest) and for the first several battles I was getting pretty displeased by its frequent shortfalls of KOs, even with its LO. As the run went on its muscle began to do more work than its teammates', which elevated my opinion and saved its seat in the alts box.
Fake Out/Helping Hand/Ally Switch/Foul Play Mega Sableye in all its... notoriety? Splendor? This run featured so many fighting-type leads, including undesireable FO targets in Gallade and Lucario, that Sableye was opening with Ally Switch much of the time. Sableye was a cancerous little troll for this team, between AS mindfucking the AI and HH Explosion doing a lot by itself. As if that weren't bad enough, when my tanks weren't winning the battle by themselves, I had the admittedly extremely unsafe but hilarious Quick Claw Walrein, who uses Super Fang instead of Fissure. Walrein was brought in to deal with stallier nuisances and lastmons. Among successful Sheer Cold recipients were +3/+3 Lanturn4 (QC proc no less) and Tentacruel4. Walrein took a more proactive role in a battle with Atalanta and, while no serious massacre occured, I did note that moves called by Sleep Talk ignore disabling when used. Marowak1 was felled, Cursed Body disabled Sheer Cold, and Sleep Talk attempted to use it with no failure message.
This run featured an encounter with our rare Anabel, whom I jokingly referred to as investigating the existence of an alleged QC Walrein. This run also featured my second personally witnessed instance of the AI making a resist switch that turned out to be Zoroark (Breloom to "Lapras" following a sashed hit from Ice Beam.)
Tasanee once again gave this team a serious run for its money with Golisopod4/Snorlax4/Something not mentioned in Discord/Milotic4. Lax successfully Fissured Incineroar, and upon returning to battle LO First Impression would lay waste to Drampa. I won because Milotic Rested and kept calling Surf with Sleep Talk, which is what allowed Gastrodon to do enough damage to kill it before it could wake up and simply Rest again.
Contrary to what the backline might imply, this Golem did not have Explosion.
Aromatisse and Slowbro get rolled together fairly often in some capacity, and having a slot in both the setter and megas sections increases Bro's chances of being rolled quite a bit. That said, I've yet to run Aroma in an offensive capacity as long as it and Bro are on the same team. For reasons which are hopefully obvious.
The return of semi-monotype! This team had a really good run, save for a rematch with Harding. The battle got off to a good enough start; Aggron3/Gardevoir34 leads, with an easy OHKO for Scizor. Bronzong3 would replace Garde and immediately explode, making Knock Off autotarget Aggron for pathetic damage. Escavalier replaces, which is very bad for the team with Volcarona being unable to enter while Aggron sits there, and none of my pokes outspeeding the snail under TR, at least until Aggron had paralyzed both of them, leaving me in a tough spot.
As it would happen, Escavalier3 would have its LO knocked off and Cress would die to be replaced by Araquanid. Scizor had put Aggron into range for a Hydro Vortex KO with Superpower, and all it needed to do was survive Escavalier's Megahorn to use it, which it did. TR was now off, so Volcarona could safely and easily kill Escavalier.
...the road leading to this destination was a lot more tense than it might look :P
Armaldo gets a ton of credit for delivering many of the KOs during this run, especially amidst the number of Taunts which greeted my leads.
Xenophon managed to give this team an extremely hard time without a Taunt Virizion lead. Grassy Terrain from my Bulu did not help. Mega Venusaur is so bulky that a +0 Rock Slide can't break a substitute. And Dhelmise4 is just an annoying douche between alternating Protect and Phantom Force; what's more, it survives +2 Throat Chop. Thankfully, Bug Buzz ignores Sub and Vikavolt is just a handy unit to have against teams like this. Without it, unless I ran a Fire type I'd have possibly lost.
While Rotom/Ally Switch was meant to mitigate it somewhat, I was getting pretty annoyed with the number of Ice-typed leads, and ran into Regice and Articuno repeatedly. Fortunately Regice doesn't stand up to HHWP-boosted attacks, but sacrifices were usually made. Heal Pulse and Berserk was abused repeatedly.
If I were ever bitten harder in the ass for gung-ho experimenting, I must've blocked it out of my mind. After the thrill and success of semi-mono Ice and Bug, I was excited to try this with Dragon, not considering that my lead choice of Tyrantrum was absolutely terrible, not to mention having no real switch prospects should the need arise. So there would be plenty of sacrfificing. Upon saving and mock battling replays with Tivon, then Aino and Sam, I would lose the first two extremely quickly and realise that I won through strokes of pure luck. Sam's battle would get off to a shitty start like last time but be salvaged in much the same way.
Tivon: Steelix4/RotoFrost34/Conkeldurr4/Crabominable4
Conk would use Superpower to finish off Tyrantrum4 instead of Flinging into Cress, and would be crit OHKOd by its partner Steelix in return. I needed this to happen, as I would miss Hydro Pump on Steelix and the battle would go rapidly downhill from there.
Aino: Metagross4/Gallade3/Uxie2/Oranguru
Winning stemmed from Ally Switching and staving off Meteor Mash in time to KO Metagross, at which point I was able to set TR. The benign-ish backline helped. During the mock battle, Metagross targeted Cress with MM, Tyrantrum was AS into it, and the battle went unsalvageably downhill from there.
Sam: Barbaracle4/Salamence3/Tyrantrum4/Magmortar4
In sacrificing Tyrantrum, Barbara would get a Sniper crit on Cress (non fatal) and set the stage for a difficult game of Kill or Be Killed. It would miss twice, which was necessary for Guzzlord to clean up the rest of the team including Barbaracle itself.
Like I said in the discord, I am never doing Dragon TR again. at least until they make more TR-worthy dragon pokes GF pls
More Misty Swagger fun! Carbink ran an
Kukui did not run Magnezone as I feared, but I did have the pleasure of OHKOing Primarina with +2 Hydro Vortex.
Very rare sighting of fully offensive Aromatisse, which is fun to use. This run was also pretty difficult (admittedly this was not the time to use Steelix, though it appeased Eisen.) Empoleon would end up doing quite a lot of work outside TR, and its "high" speed came in quite handy. Breeder Lori would show up twice and lead Escavalier4 both times; in one encounter, Steelix would be Swaggered and do nothing but assist in killing itself the rest of the battle; in another, it would miraculously waken from Spore T2 and OHKO Shiinotic4 with Heavy Slam, then be paralyzed as a result. In both battles, Empoleon would connect two Hydro Pumps and be done with Escavalier. Because the backline didn't play well with Steelix spamming EQ, Stomping Tantrum was used, and generally didn't cause problems as a result (though some prospective double KOs were missed.)
I was getting pretty annoyed by the unwillingness of the AI to bait into Flash Fire, at one point hitting Chandelure with my own Fire Blast just to trigger it. One amusing battle of note was against Tivon, who set to +2 with Mega Audino and was generally being a tanky pain in the ass; I swapped Ferrothorn in to prevent Octillery from being killed by Draining Kiss- and was immediately reminded that it's a rare special contact move, and the ensuing damage from Iron Barbs and Rocky Helmet was severe enough to finish it off. While I had an Octillery for a long time in Bank, credit goes to Eisen for getting it rebred and put back into the alts box.
I had the joy of slaughtering Uxie and Cress with LO Knock Off, and until Grimsley this team was having a great run. Honchkrow3/Scrafty4/Sharpedo4/Houndoom4 gave this team no good switch prospects, but what really doomed me was negligent (more like nonexistent) use of Ally Switch, which would have prolonged Bisharp and especially Dragalge in doing enough damage to them before they fell. As it would stand, I would manage to get Scrafty by itself, and with its max special bulk my badly weakened Rotom was hopelessly checkmated, and Scrafty would prolong things by continuing to Protect and even throw in a Bulk Up before finishing it off.
Who knows; maybe these will provide some insight into my selection processes. Nah, they mostly just show favoritism, frequent defaulting, and leaving some otherwise good pokes woefully underused. ...which in a way is useful and informative to me, so I'll actually go through with this.
Some Pokemon inevitably get rolled twice, but only appear once on the list.
1-10: Comfey*, Kangaskhan, Snorlax*, Gastrodon*, Druddigon, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle, Abomasnow
11-20: Stakataka, Charizard, Golem, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr*, Escavalier*, Audino*, Kangaskhan
21-30: Audino, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle*, Mawile
31-40: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Muk, Gigalith*, Eelektross, Vikavolt*, Comfey, Camerupt*
41-50: Cofagrigus*, Camerupt, Muk, Exeggutor*, Vikavolt*, Crabominable*, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
51-60: Comfey*, Heracross, Exeggutor, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Golisopod*, Slowbro*, Camerupt
61-70: Oranguru*, Camerupt*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Araquanid*, Palossand, Bronzong, Abomasnow
71-80: Aromatisse*, Sableye*, Rhyperior*, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Escavalier*, Slowbro, Aggron
81-90: Stakataka*, Mawile, Golem, Snorlax, Mudsdale, Araquanid*, Musharna*, Charizard*
91-100: Comfey, Steelix, Golem, Marowak*, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Cresselia*, Ampharos*
101-110: Cresselia*, Charizard, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Lurantis*, Porygon2*
111-120: Aromatisse*, Camerupt*, Golem, Snorlax*, Wishiwashi*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
121-130: Slowbro*, Muk, Rhyperior, Eelektross, Lurantis, Carbink, Aggron
131-140: Dusclops*, Camerupt*, Gastrodon, Escavalier*, Dragalge*, Crabominable, Carbink
141-150: Bronzong*, Mawile, Hariyama, Druddigon*, Dragalge, Crabominable*, Jellicent, Slowbro*
151-160: Porygon2, Heracross, Vileplume*, Heatran*, Carracosta, Tyrantrum, Wishiwashi*, Lurantis, Honchkrow, Aromatisse*, Mawile
161-170: Jellicent, Ampharos*, Exeggutor, Mamoswine, Gigalith*, Dragalge, Vikavolt*, Dhelmise, Gardevoir, Dusclops*, Steelix
171-180: Gothitelle, Kangaskhan, Vileplume, Tangrowth*, Togekiss, Druddigon, Aegislash, Golisopod*, Lapras, Turtonator, Aromatisse*, Camerupt*
181-190: Cresselia, Slowbro, Vaporeon*, Regirock*, Rhyperior, Carracosta, Dhelmise, Landorus, Avalugg, Cofagrigus*, Abomasnow*
191-200: Carbink, Abomasnow, Lickilicky, Rhyperior*, Escavalier*, Araquanid, Bisharp, Braviary, Dusclops*, Slowbro*
201-210: Comfey, Charizard, Ursaring, Hariayama, Armaldo, Carracosta, Mudsdale*, Stakataka, Turtonator, Tapu Fini*, Cofagrigus*, Mawile*
211-220: Oranguru*, Blastoise, Snorlax*, Torterra, Mamoswine, Chesnaught, Aegislash, Dragonite, Tapu Lele*, Slowbro*
221-230: Oranguru, Sableye, Regirock, Regice, Rhyperior, Ferrothorn*, Golurk, Primarina*, Darmanitan*, Tapu Lele, Cofagrigus*
231-240: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Empoleon, Carracosta, Eelektross*, Chesnaught*, Mudsdale*, Feraligatr, Beheeyem, Uxie, Ampharos
241-250: Dusclops, Charizard, Heatran*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn, Dragalge*, Clawitzer, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor*, Jellicent*, Camerupt
251-260: Porygon2*, Sableye*, Vileplume, Gigalith, Carracosta, Aegislash, Crabominable, Stakataka, Walrein*, Metagross*, Uxie, Ampharos
261-270: Dusclops*, Charizard, Heatran, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Dragalge, Clawitzer*, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor, Jellicent, Camerupt*
271-280: Dusclops*, Heracross, Marowak*, Donphan, Armaldo, Wishiwashi*, Palossand, Tyranitar, Beheeyem, Comfey, Abomasnow*
281-290: Carbink*, Heracross, Armaldo, Gastrodon*, Gigalith, Incineroar*, Drampa*, Tyranitar, Buzzwole, Charizard
291-300: Comfey, Sableye, Regirock, Togekiss, Golurk*, Clawitzer*, Primarina, Drampa, Bouffalant, Volcarona*, Oranguru*, Charizard
301-310: Cofagrigus*, Slowbro*, Azumarill, Gastrodon, Sylveon, Primarina*, Drampa*, Gardevoir, Tapu Fini, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
311-320: Oranguru, Charizard, Machamp, Golem*, Mamoswine, Gigalith, Bewear, Golurk, Gardevoir*, Turtonator, Dusclops*, Camerupt*
321-330: Musharna*, Slowbro, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Regirock, Ferrothorn*, Chesnaught, Darmanitan*, Braviary, Cresselia, Ampharos*
331-340: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Marowak*, Gigalith, Ferrothorn, Golurk, Tyrantrum*, Nidoqueen, Landorus, Slowbro*, Kangaskhan
341-350: Cresselia*, Ampharos, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Mamoswine, Incineroar, Araquanid*, Guzzlord, Scizor*, Volcarona*, Kangaskhan
351-360: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Armaldo*, Tangrowth*, Emboar*, Aegislash, Bewear, Dragonite, Darmanitan, Audino, Ampharos
361-370: Porygon2, Mawile, Machamp, Gigalith*, Incineroar, Vikavolt*, Golisopod, Flareon, Tapu Bulu*, Cofagrigus*, Charizard
371-380: Dusclops*, Heracross, Vaporeon, Escavalier*, Clawitzer, Aurorus, Vikavolt, Wishiwashi*, Darmanitan, Tapu Bulu, Slowbro, Ampharos*
381-390: Audino*, Blastoise, Ursaring, Donphan*, Aurorus, Primarina, Lurantis, Drampa*, Rotom-Wash*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
391-400: Cofagrigus, Kangaskhan, Emboar, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Dragalge*, Tyrantrum*, Guzzlord*, Scizor, Landorus, Cresselia*, Camerupt
401-410: Carbink*, Mawile*, Machamp, Ursaring, Aurorus, Araquanid*, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini*, Uxie, Kangaskhan
411-420: Aromatisse*, Slowbro, Donphan, Hariyama, Regice, Empoleon*, Golurk, Palossand, Volcarona, Landorus, Musharna*, Steelix*
421-430: Dusclops*, Abomasnow, Machamp, Torterra, Ferrothorn*, Eelektross, Chandelure*, Bewear, Dragonite, Octillery*, Jellicent, Mawile
431-439: Slowbro*, Heracross, Muk, Beartic, Chesnaught, Dragalge*, Palossand, Stakataka, Rotom-Wash*, Bisharp*, Steelix, Aromatisse
Some Pokemon inevitably get rolled twice, but only appear once on the list.
1-10: Comfey*, Kangaskhan, Snorlax*, Gastrodon*, Druddigon, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle, Abomasnow
11-20: Stakataka, Charizard, Golem, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr*, Escavalier*, Audino*, Kangaskhan
21-30: Audino, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Dhelmise*, Gothitelle*, Mawile
31-40: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Muk, Gigalith*, Eelektross, Vikavolt*, Comfey, Camerupt*
41-50: Cofagrigus*, Camerupt, Muk, Exeggutor*, Vikavolt*, Crabominable*, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
51-60: Comfey*, Heracross, Exeggutor, Hariyama*, Araquanid, Golisopod*, Slowbro*, Camerupt
61-70: Oranguru*, Camerupt*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Araquanid*, Palossand, Bronzong, Abomasnow
71-80: Aromatisse*, Sableye*, Rhyperior*, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Escavalier*, Slowbro, Aggron
81-90: Stakataka*, Mawile, Golem, Snorlax, Mudsdale, Araquanid*, Musharna*, Charizard*
91-100: Comfey, Steelix, Golem, Marowak*, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Cresselia*, Ampharos*
101-110: Cresselia*, Charizard, Azumarill*, Conkeldurr, Lurantis*, Porygon2*
111-120: Aromatisse*, Camerupt*, Golem, Snorlax*, Wishiwashi*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
121-130: Slowbro*, Muk, Rhyperior, Eelektross, Lurantis, Carbink, Aggron
131-140: Dusclops*, Camerupt*, Gastrodon, Escavalier*, Dragalge*, Crabominable, Carbink
141-150: Bronzong*, Mawile, Hariyama, Druddigon*, Dragalge, Crabominable*, Jellicent, Slowbro*
151-160: Porygon2, Heracross, Vileplume*, Heatran*, Carracosta, Tyrantrum, Wishiwashi*, Lurantis, Honchkrow, Aromatisse*, Mawile
161-170: Jellicent, Ampharos*, Exeggutor, Mamoswine, Gigalith*, Dragalge, Vikavolt*, Dhelmise, Gardevoir, Dusclops*, Steelix
171-180: Gothitelle, Kangaskhan, Vileplume, Tangrowth*, Togekiss, Druddigon, Aegislash, Golisopod*, Lapras, Turtonator, Aromatisse*, Camerupt*
181-190: Cresselia, Slowbro, Vaporeon*, Regirock*, Rhyperior, Carracosta, Dhelmise, Landorus, Avalugg, Cofagrigus*, Abomasnow*
191-200: Carbink, Abomasnow, Lickilicky, Rhyperior*, Escavalier*, Araquanid, Bisharp, Braviary, Dusclops*, Slowbro*
201-210: Comfey, Charizard, Ursaring, Hariayama, Armaldo, Carracosta, Mudsdale*, Stakataka, Turtonator, Tapu Fini*, Cofagrigus*, Mawile*
211-220: Oranguru*, Blastoise, Snorlax*, Torterra, Mamoswine, Chesnaught, Aegislash, Dragonite, Tapu Lele*, Slowbro*
221-230: Oranguru, Sableye, Regirock, Regice, Rhyperior, Ferrothorn*, Golurk, Primarina*, Darmanitan*, Tapu Lele, Cofagrigus*
231-240: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Snorlax, Empoleon, Carracosta, Eelektross*, Chesnaught*, Mudsdale*, Feraligatr, Beheeyem, Uxie, Ampharos
241-250: Dusclops, Charizard, Heatran*, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn, Dragalge*, Clawitzer, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor*, Jellicent*, Camerupt
251-260: Porygon2*, Sableye*, Vileplume, Gigalith, Carracosta, Aegislash, Crabominable, Stakataka, Walrein*, Metagross*, Uxie, Ampharos
261-270: Dusclops*, Charizard, Heatran, Conkeldurr, Ferrothorn*, Dragalge, Clawitzer*, Golisopod, Feraligatr, Scizor, Jellicent, Camerupt*
271-280: Dusclops*, Heracross, Marowak*, Donphan, Armaldo, Wishiwashi*, Palossand, Tyranitar, Beheeyem, Comfey, Abomasnow*
281-290: Carbink*, Heracross, Armaldo, Gastrodon*, Gigalith, Incineroar*, Drampa*, Tyranitar, Buzzwole, Charizard
291-300: Comfey, Sableye, Regirock, Togekiss, Golurk*, Clawitzer*, Primarina, Drampa, Bouffalant, Volcarona*, Oranguru*, Charizard
301-310: Cofagrigus*, Slowbro*, Azumarill, Gastrodon, Sylveon, Primarina*, Drampa*, Gardevoir, Tapu Fini, Dusclops, Kangaskhan
311-320: Oranguru, Charizard, Machamp, Golem*, Mamoswine, Gigalith, Bewear, Golurk, Gardevoir*, Turtonator, Dusclops*, Camerupt*
321-330: Musharna*, Slowbro, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Regirock, Ferrothorn*, Chesnaught, Darmanitan*, Braviary, Cresselia, Ampharos*
331-340: Aromatisse*, Ampharos, Marowak*, Gigalith, Ferrothorn, Golurk, Tyrantrum*, Nidoqueen, Landorus, Slowbro*, Kangaskhan
341-350: Cresselia*, Ampharos, Vaporeon, Hariyama, Mamoswine, Incineroar, Araquanid*, Guzzlord, Scizor*, Volcarona*, Kangaskhan
351-360: Jellicent, Slowbro*, Armaldo*, Tangrowth*, Emboar*, Aegislash, Bewear, Dragonite, Darmanitan, Audino, Ampharos
361-370: Porygon2, Mawile, Machamp, Gigalith*, Incineroar, Vikavolt*, Golisopod, Flareon, Tapu Bulu*, Cofagrigus*, Charizard
371-380: Dusclops*, Heracross, Vaporeon, Escavalier*, Clawitzer, Aurorus, Vikavolt, Wishiwashi*, Darmanitan, Tapu Bulu, Slowbro, Ampharos*
381-390: Audino*, Blastoise, Ursaring, Donphan*, Aurorus, Primarina, Lurantis, Drampa*, Rotom-Wash*, Jellicent, Abomasnow
391-400: Cofagrigus, Kangaskhan, Emboar, Gigalith, Conkeldurr, Dragalge*, Tyrantrum*, Guzzlord*, Scizor, Landorus, Cresselia*, Camerupt
401-410: Carbink*, Mawile*, Machamp, Ursaring, Aurorus, Araquanid*, Tapu Bulu, Tapu Fini*, Uxie, Kangaskhan
411-420: Aromatisse*, Slowbro, Donphan, Hariyama, Regice, Empoleon*, Golurk, Palossand, Volcarona, Landorus, Musharna*, Steelix*
421-430: Dusclops*, Abomasnow, Machamp, Torterra, Ferrothorn*, Eelektross, Chandelure*, Bewear, Dragonite, Octillery*, Jellicent, Mawile
431-439: Slowbro*, Heracross, Muk, Beartic, Chesnaught, Dragalge*, Palossand, Stakataka, Rotom-Wash*, Bisharp*, Steelix, Aromatisse
I had planned to write up some trivia using the various tidbits from those two segments, but this has gone on quite long enough. Anyone who bothers to look through them will inevitably notice some trends or odd things.
Reporting a completed streak of 509 wins in Sun Super Doubles.
Earlier this year, one of the Discord regulars threw around, and eventually experimented with, the idea of Tailwind Suicune in Tree Doubles. This was followed by another user catching onto and trying the same thing, with a tweak or two thrown in. While both kind of got bored with the idea pretty quickly, and one of them got horrifically screwed by one of the Tree's most malevolent forces, which drove him from the team forever, I attached to the idea almost instantly. I found that:
- in the middle of my Ultra Moon in-game run, I was reaching for ideas to keep me busy in Sun in the meantime, until such time that I could make it to the Ultra Tree and get started on that
- I have become convinced by one or two people, indirectly, that Suicune is the best overall Pokemon for battle facilities--any evidence I can produce to support that argument is a task I am happy to undertake
- at the time the idea was floating around, I had drained a decent chunk of my BP away to work on my usual endless project, and was struggling to land on a team that could help me regain those expenditures
While the team that one of these precursors had made requires a lot of assistance from Legendaries, I was shocked to find that I had the proper Natures for the team members by sheer chance, through captures I have made across three Generations of games, and thus could replicate his team exactly. And so came to be:
FREEZER & JOSH SAVE THE WORLD
I can't speak as to whether either Hiddenfreezer or Josh C. have ever played/heard of Sam & Max Save the World; it's possible that neither of them have heard of Sam & Max (Freelance Police); hell, I'm not entirely certain that either of them even know what Bosco's is. Irrespective of that, I see them as an inseparable pair, at least in terms of this concept, and since the start of this project I often wonder how they would be if they ever met in person. Would they also be two wildly divergent personalities that would nonetheless form an unshakable bond? Would they be more like Suzak & Fenix, incredibly similar people, the classic "brothers from different mothers" phenomenon at work? Or would they be that pair of dudes who share a common acquaintance and awkwardly sit there when the acquaintance leaves the room and they suddenly find their shoes fascinating?
Whatever the case may be, I will forever link them in my mind, as thanks to them, I managed to build something pretty fucking satisfying. This run was for me to a degree, but it was a lot more for their sakes, to demonstrate what their skills & input can produce. In a way, they did save my world: they gave me a way to close the book on my SuMo Tree-climbing with peace of mind, gave me the confidence that I can keep up with the best climbers in an environment outside of Triples, and encouraged me to keep my mind open to every idea we can throw at the Tree, as they both were trying other concepts out during the entirety of my streak, to varying levels of success.
Thank you both for being the foundation holding this team up.
The template for this run is: KangKoko (possibly #5439)
The idea looks to be pretty straightfoward here: a powerful lead pair who can smash through things from both ends of the offensive spectrum, with some Volt Switch/Fake Out finesse thrown in so as to allow relatively safe entry for the bulky backline. Said secondary pair is there to provide Intimidate/Tailwind support for the team, as well as a tucked-away nuke in case I need to quickly eliminate certain threats.
In trying to replicate this, I came up with:
Tapu-Riki (Tapu Koko) (Lvl.100) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
IVs: 31/HT/31/31/HT/31
Timid Nature
- Grass Knot
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
Specs Koko is Specs Koko, y'all know what the deal is with this thing by now. I was unable to secure HP Fire on mine, since I hadn't even considered the idea and generally am leery of Hidden Power in its current form. Grass Knot ended up being invaluable regardless, as I got a feel with time as to what things could be safely OHKO'ed by it. Whereas my previous runs with Koko had been divided almost evenly between Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam, here I got a lot better with Volt Switch and the doors that opened for the rest of the team. So, my usage of Thunderbolt wasn't nearly as mindless as before. Thank you to whoever may have gifted me this thing as part of a Giveaway, though I've long forgotten who it was now--it may have been Christian it may have been PSIana, it may have been Eisenherz (if anyone knows who has distributed a German Koko from OT 'Phil' on these forums in the past, let me know--I really want to give them credit for this boon!).
WhatTheFuss2 (Kangaskhan) (F) (Lvl.54) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy (Parental Bond)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
IVs: 31/31/31/11-12/19/31
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Double-Edge
The daughter of my Maison MegaKhan, it fulfilled the tank role here and, much like her mom, is lacking somewhere in the bluk department. It didn't seem to affect her efficiency much, though--still hit like, well, a tank, and still absorbed quite a bit of damage despite the recoil issues and the ridiculous amount of Fighting attacks in the Tree. I also didn't use Scrappy nearly as much as I have with her mom, as most of the things it could be used to target are better served left alone until later in the battle, can be destroyed by Parental Sucker Punch anyway, or can be ganged up on by teammates easily. She was also my go-to weapon against boosting opponents, as Parental Double-Edge could cut through most of them like real kangaroos can cut through humans before they could get too out of control.
DetectCave (Landorus-Therian) (M) (Lvl.100) @ Groundium-Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 100 HP / 228 Atk / 4 Def / 20 SDef / 156 Spe
IVs: HT/HT/31/31/31/HT
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
- Earthquake (Tectonic Rage)
My original Dream World capture from my DSLite, brought up from my White 2 cartridge to originally serve as my Incarnate Imperfect for the Maison's Landorus4. My previous best Tree streak heavily featured Groundium-Z Therian, and he became an acquired taste I really wanted to try some more, this time on a fairly different recipe. What he ended up doing was a mix of that, Knock Off duty (it still comes up more often than one would think given the proliferation of Mega Stones & Z-Stones), and general EQ spamming with the boosted Suicune by its side. It survived a ton of things I did not think it would due to the elaborate EV spread, and was probably the biggest contribution Josh indirectly made to this streak. Nicknamed after the Earth Faith spell in Lords of Magic: Special Edition.
Aquarii (Suicune) (Lvl.100) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 210 HP / 4 Def / 150 SAtk / 60 SDef / 84 Spe
IVs: 31/1/31/HT/31/HT
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Tailwind
- Ice Beam
- Scald
My original Omega Ruby capture, living an interesting double life. By day, it is my Imperfect Suicune2, the Subway/Maison/Tree's most harmless opposing Suicune (though as some of my comrades will attest, still dangerous in its own right); by night, it is the bulwark of this team, giving its physical teammates the nudge needed to deal with some threats and Koko the oomph necessary to edge past the speediest foes the Tree has to offer. Despite Intimidate's function, the Electric Seed and the sometimes-urgency of Tailwind setting meant that it was the primary incoming post for Volt Switch--its bulk and, occasionally, Pressure meant that it served better as something for opponents to tire themsleves out punching while buying time for teammates to mount the pressure. Scald burns ended up coming into play a TON and saved me a number of times in tighter situations. When comparing mine to Josh's, you'll notice that I slightly screwed up the EV spread while raising it and kept it, finding that Suicune would have to immediately attack more often than anticipated. This nickname was provided by someone I was originally going to trade this to--it may have been hiddenfreezer, it may have been Fougeta, I sure don't remember now. It has something to do with the Eucharist, I guess?
I won't pretend to know what the EV spreads on the backline are meant to do; Josh came up with those spreads, I don't do calcs by and large, and I trusted his judgement that they would do whatever it is they're intended to do. Hopefully, he will elaborate sometime. As time went on, though obviously this team has all kinds of synergy between everyone and is incredibly flexible in how it deals with everything other than Ferrothorn, I came to think as a team of two distinct halves; the bulk of the effort was specifically done by KangKoko, as a pair, and CuneDorus, also as a pair. It often streamlined my decision-making when going for stretches of this team.
Threats included:
- Cresselia2: my Nemesis, the only stall-based opponent who I simultaneously could and couldn't leave alone, and who dragged battles out into nail-bitters on two different occasions
- Crobat34: Like with all Koko users, this piece of shit tended to necessitate an immediate Koko switch, Set 4 could Taunt Suicune right out of Tailwind (and appears with several Trainers for whom Tailwind is a necessity), and Set 3 could hit everyone on the team hard. Often times, MegaKhan had to drop everything and Double-Edge it just to give the rest of the team some breathing room (Lando-T can hit it but not reliably)
- Ferrothorn: without the hidden weapon Josh had for it, I had to go after it with everyone before possible Set 4 got out of hand, which would give its teammates time to do whatever. Thankfully, I ran into it very rarely, and Set 3 blew up pretty much every time I found it
- Charizard34: another piece of shit who I had to double-down on every time I found it, and like Crobat it appeared often. Unlike Crobat, though, I could Fake it Out and try to erase it from play more easily
- every Alolamon: while the Alolan Formes are sets I mostly have committed to memory, the actual new Pokemon are sets I am not totally familiar with yet, so if I didn't have the set listings accessible during play, there would be some guesswork involved there. Togedemaru, in particular, was a hell of a Gordian knot to unravel
Once again, silver_angel 's website was a powerful ally in giving me knowledge about the opponents faced; on this streak, it was incredibly useful for Vivek/Stellan, Scientists, and just about every Legendary-filled Trainer in particular. Once again, found here: http://the.silver.angel.free.fr/btree/
In addition to all those Trainers previously mentioned, big ups to everyone on the Tree Discord, both the regulars and the silent majority; you were witness to something special, and I'm glad that, in some small way, you were along for the ride. With this run completed, Doubles Suicune proving its worth, me setting a new battles facilities Doubles personal best, and kneeshoeshoe's streak definitively hemmed in by a bunch of our stupid little Discord clique, I now can line up several new goals:
- focus more on the Agency, at least for the near future (more on that elsewhere, later...)
- hone in on repeating this level of success for Ultra Moon, where my Tree-climbing is still in its toddler stages, so to speak
- badger Level 51 & Adamant Zoroark , whom I officially passed on the Doubles leaderboard with this streak, with "when are you getting back to it?" while they try to regroup and counterstrike
- keep up the pressure on others to try the KokoKang core out; Josh pointed out to me that he managed 320-330 wins with this team and feels like the KokoKang core is easily capable of much more. While I and two-three others have demonstrated this on this thread, more can always be done
- Colress was the Trainer to end this streak, and though I made one or two miscalculations in the loss to facilitate that, there's no denying that he is usually a tough opponent to face. ON the bright side, he has inadvertently given me a god-awful idea to try in the future...
Replays!
M7AG-WWWW-WWWU-MYMX (Battle 100, an example of how Kiawe, who has probably ended more of my streaks than any other special Trainer, is fairly average against this team)
R4SG-WWWW-WWWU-MYRC (my first Perri Pa'u encounter in a lllllllloooooonnnnnnnggggggg time. Fortunately, it didn't cause too much trouble)
GG6W-WWWW-WWWU-MYTX (I forgot to save my Battle 300 and made up for it by drafting this instead, an insane opposing lead pair for those who have been playing battle facilities long enough)
MTKG-WWWW-WWWU-MJWR (I also forgot to save my commemorative Battle 426 and decided to save this instead, an example of how this team deals with Sina)
PS8W-WWWW-WWWU-MJ38 (the closest battle of the streak, MegaKhan basically saves this streak by being MegaKhan; the Tree Elite Four (Xenophon/Kikujiro/Aino/Xio) (T.E.F.) will always present challenging matchups, no matter the team)
R2KW-WWWW-WWWU-MJ9X (a surprisingly close battle, what happens when you disparage Office Workers Jana/Darrel too much)
D6LG-WWWW-WWWU-MJBW (the loss, what happened when I forgot to preserve Lando-T, my best weapon against Colress, at all costs)
YSTG-WWWW-WWWU-MJDJ (bonus material shared because I like beating up on psuedo-Legendaries, to further hammer down on Repto that he made a mistake going semi-MonoDragon recently, and a warning to everyone: "if you're gonna attempt Monotype around here, for fuck's sake don't pick Dragon")
Earlier this year, one of the Discord regulars threw around, and eventually experimented with, the idea of Tailwind Suicune in Tree Doubles. This was followed by another user catching onto and trying the same thing, with a tweak or two thrown in. While both kind of got bored with the idea pretty quickly, and one of them got horrifically screwed by one of the Tree's most malevolent forces, which drove him from the team forever, I attached to the idea almost instantly. I found that:
- in the middle of my Ultra Moon in-game run, I was reaching for ideas to keep me busy in Sun in the meantime, until such time that I could make it to the Ultra Tree and get started on that
- I have become convinced by one or two people, indirectly, that Suicune is the best overall Pokemon for battle facilities--any evidence I can produce to support that argument is a task I am happy to undertake
- at the time the idea was floating around, I had drained a decent chunk of my BP away to work on my usual endless project, and was struggling to land on a team that could help me regain those expenditures
While the team that one of these precursors had made requires a lot of assistance from Legendaries, I was shocked to find that I had the proper Natures for the team members by sheer chance, through captures I have made across three Generations of games, and thus could replicate his team exactly. And so came to be:
FREEZER & JOSH SAVE THE WORLD
I can't speak as to whether either Hiddenfreezer or Josh C. have ever played/heard of Sam & Max Save the World; it's possible that neither of them have heard of Sam & Max (Freelance Police); hell, I'm not entirely certain that either of them even know what Bosco's is. Irrespective of that, I see them as an inseparable pair, at least in terms of this concept, and since the start of this project I often wonder how they would be if they ever met in person. Would they also be two wildly divergent personalities that would nonetheless form an unshakable bond? Would they be more like Suzak & Fenix, incredibly similar people, the classic "brothers from different mothers" phenomenon at work? Or would they be that pair of dudes who share a common acquaintance and awkwardly sit there when the acquaintance leaves the room and they suddenly find their shoes fascinating?
Whatever the case may be, I will forever link them in my mind, as thanks to them, I managed to build something pretty fucking satisfying. This run was for me to a degree, but it was a lot more for their sakes, to demonstrate what their skills & input can produce. In a way, they did save my world: they gave me a way to close the book on my SuMo Tree-climbing with peace of mind, gave me the confidence that I can keep up with the best climbers in an environment outside of Triples, and encouraged me to keep my mind open to every idea we can throw at the Tree, as they both were trying other concepts out during the entirety of my streak, to varying levels of success.
Thank you both for being the foundation holding this team up.
The template for this run is: KangKoko (possibly #5439)
The idea looks to be pretty straightfoward here: a powerful lead pair who can smash through things from both ends of the offensive spectrum, with some Volt Switch/Fake Out finesse thrown in so as to allow relatively safe entry for the bulky backline. Said secondary pair is there to provide Intimidate/Tailwind support for the team, as well as a tucked-away nuke in case I need to quickly eliminate certain threats.
In trying to replicate this, I came up with:
Tapu-Riki (Tapu Koko) (Lvl.100) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
IVs: 31/HT/31/31/HT/31
Timid Nature
- Grass Knot
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
Specs Koko is Specs Koko, y'all know what the deal is with this thing by now. I was unable to secure HP Fire on mine, since I hadn't even considered the idea and generally am leery of Hidden Power in its current form. Grass Knot ended up being invaluable regardless, as I got a feel with time as to what things could be safely OHKO'ed by it. Whereas my previous runs with Koko had been divided almost evenly between Thunderbolt and Dazzling Gleam, here I got a lot better with Volt Switch and the doors that opened for the rest of the team. So, my usage of Thunderbolt wasn't nearly as mindless as before. Thank you to whoever may have gifted me this thing as part of a Giveaway, though I've long forgotten who it was now--it may have been Christian it may have been PSIana, it may have been Eisenherz (if anyone knows who has distributed a German Koko from OT 'Phil' on these forums in the past, let me know--I really want to give them credit for this boon!).
WhatTheFuss2 (Kangaskhan) (F) (Lvl.54) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy (Parental Bond)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SDef / 252 Spe
IVs: 31/31/31/11-12/19/31
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Double-Edge
The daughter of my Maison MegaKhan, it fulfilled the tank role here and, much like her mom, is lacking somewhere in the bluk department. It didn't seem to affect her efficiency much, though--still hit like, well, a tank, and still absorbed quite a bit of damage despite the recoil issues and the ridiculous amount of Fighting attacks in the Tree. I also didn't use Scrappy nearly as much as I have with her mom, as most of the things it could be used to target are better served left alone until later in the battle, can be destroyed by Parental Sucker Punch anyway, or can be ganged up on by teammates easily. She was also my go-to weapon against boosting opponents, as Parental Double-Edge could cut through most of them like real kangaroos can cut through humans before they could get too out of control.
DetectCave (Landorus-Therian) (M) (Lvl.100) @ Groundium-Z
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 100 HP / 228 Atk / 4 Def / 20 SDef / 156 Spe
IVs: HT/HT/31/31/31/HT
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Rock Slide
- Knock Off
- Earthquake (Tectonic Rage)
My original Dream World capture from my DSLite, brought up from my White 2 cartridge to originally serve as my Incarnate Imperfect for the Maison's Landorus4. My previous best Tree streak heavily featured Groundium-Z Therian, and he became an acquired taste I really wanted to try some more, this time on a fairly different recipe. What he ended up doing was a mix of that, Knock Off duty (it still comes up more often than one would think given the proliferation of Mega Stones & Z-Stones), and general EQ spamming with the boosted Suicune by its side. It survived a ton of things I did not think it would due to the elaborate EV spread, and was probably the biggest contribution Josh indirectly made to this streak. Nicknamed after the Earth Faith spell in Lords of Magic: Special Edition.
Aquarii (Suicune) (Lvl.100) @ Electric Seed
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 210 HP / 4 Def / 150 SAtk / 60 SDef / 84 Spe
IVs: 31/1/31/HT/31/HT
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Tailwind
- Ice Beam
- Scald
My original Omega Ruby capture, living an interesting double life. By day, it is my Imperfect Suicune2, the Subway/Maison/Tree's most harmless opposing Suicune (though as some of my comrades will attest, still dangerous in its own right); by night, it is the bulwark of this team, giving its physical teammates the nudge needed to deal with some threats and Koko the oomph necessary to edge past the speediest foes the Tree has to offer. Despite Intimidate's function, the Electric Seed and the sometimes-urgency of Tailwind setting meant that it was the primary incoming post for Volt Switch--its bulk and, occasionally, Pressure meant that it served better as something for opponents to tire themsleves out punching while buying time for teammates to mount the pressure. Scald burns ended up coming into play a TON and saved me a number of times in tighter situations. When comparing mine to Josh's, you'll notice that I slightly screwed up the EV spread while raising it and kept it, finding that Suicune would have to immediately attack more often than anticipated. This nickname was provided by someone I was originally going to trade this to--it may have been hiddenfreezer, it may have been Fougeta, I sure don't remember now. It has something to do with the Eucharist, I guess?
I won't pretend to know what the EV spreads on the backline are meant to do; Josh came up with those spreads, I don't do calcs by and large, and I trusted his judgement that they would do whatever it is they're intended to do. Hopefully, he will elaborate sometime. As time went on, though obviously this team has all kinds of synergy between everyone and is incredibly flexible in how it deals with everything other than Ferrothorn, I came to think as a team of two distinct halves; the bulk of the effort was specifically done by KangKoko, as a pair, and CuneDorus, also as a pair. It often streamlined my decision-making when going for stretches of this team.
Threats included:
- Cresselia2: my Nemesis, the only stall-based opponent who I simultaneously could and couldn't leave alone, and who dragged battles out into nail-bitters on two different occasions
- Crobat34: Like with all Koko users, this piece of shit tended to necessitate an immediate Koko switch, Set 4 could Taunt Suicune right out of Tailwind (and appears with several Trainers for whom Tailwind is a necessity), and Set 3 could hit everyone on the team hard. Often times, MegaKhan had to drop everything and Double-Edge it just to give the rest of the team some breathing room (Lando-T can hit it but not reliably)
- Ferrothorn: without the hidden weapon Josh had for it, I had to go after it with everyone before possible Set 4 got out of hand, which would give its teammates time to do whatever. Thankfully, I ran into it very rarely, and Set 3 blew up pretty much every time I found it
- Charizard34: another piece of shit who I had to double-down on every time I found it, and like Crobat it appeared often. Unlike Crobat, though, I could Fake it Out and try to erase it from play more easily
- every Alolamon: while the Alolan Formes are sets I mostly have committed to memory, the actual new Pokemon are sets I am not totally familiar with yet, so if I didn't have the set listings accessible during play, there would be some guesswork involved there. Togedemaru, in particular, was a hell of a Gordian knot to unravel
Once again, silver_angel 's website was a powerful ally in giving me knowledge about the opponents faced; on this streak, it was incredibly useful for Vivek/Stellan, Scientists, and just about every Legendary-filled Trainer in particular. Once again, found here: http://the.silver.angel.free.fr/btree/
In addition to all those Trainers previously mentioned, big ups to everyone on the Tree Discord, both the regulars and the silent majority; you were witness to something special, and I'm glad that, in some small way, you were along for the ride. With this run completed, Doubles Suicune proving its worth, me setting a new battles facilities Doubles personal best, and kneeshoeshoe's streak definitively hemmed in by a bunch of our stupid little Discord clique, I now can line up several new goals:
- focus more on the Agency, at least for the near future (more on that elsewhere, later...)
- hone in on repeating this level of success for Ultra Moon, where my Tree-climbing is still in its toddler stages, so to speak
- badger Level 51 & Adamant Zoroark , whom I officially passed on the Doubles leaderboard with this streak, with "when are you getting back to it?" while they try to regroup and counterstrike
- keep up the pressure on others to try the KokoKang core out; Josh pointed out to me that he managed 320-330 wins with this team and feels like the KokoKang core is easily capable of much more. While I and two-three others have demonstrated this on this thread, more can always be done
- Colress was the Trainer to end this streak, and though I made one or two miscalculations in the loss to facilitate that, there's no denying that he is usually a tough opponent to face. ON the bright side, he has inadvertently given me a god-awful idea to try in the future...
Replays!
M7AG-WWWW-WWWU-MYMX (Battle 100, an example of how Kiawe, who has probably ended more of my streaks than any other special Trainer, is fairly average against this team)
R4SG-WWWW-WWWU-MYRC (my first Perri Pa'u encounter in a lllllllloooooonnnnnnnggggggg time. Fortunately, it didn't cause too much trouble)
GG6W-WWWW-WWWU-MYTX (I forgot to save my Battle 300 and made up for it by drafting this instead, an insane opposing lead pair for those who have been playing battle facilities long enough)
MTKG-WWWW-WWWU-MJWR (I also forgot to save my commemorative Battle 426 and decided to save this instead, an example of how this team deals with Sina)
PS8W-WWWW-WWWU-MJ38 (the closest battle of the streak, MegaKhan basically saves this streak by being MegaKhan; the Tree Elite Four (Xenophon/Kikujiro/Aino/Xio) (T.E.F.) will always present challenging matchups, no matter the team)
R2KW-WWWW-WWWU-MJ9X (a surprisingly close battle, what happens when you disparage Office Workers Jana/Darrel too much)
D6LG-WWWW-WWWU-MJBW (the loss, what happened when I forgot to preserve Lando-T, my best weapon against Colress, at all costs)
YSTG-WWWW-WWWU-MJDJ (bonus material shared because I like beating up on psuedo-Legendaries, to further hammer down on Repto that he made a mistake going semi-MonoDragon recently, and a warning to everyone: "if you're gonna attempt Monotype around here, for fuck's sake don't pick Dragon")
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Congratulations for your streak! I haven't come on smogon for months, and saw this notification today about the Battle Tree page :) I'm glad it's actually useful to someone!
At least not when your options are limited to Guzzlord and Tyrantrum for which I have yet to produce a believable excuse
Well, Josh uses it too, so that makes two...and yes, the schilling will continue until it's on the OP.
EDIT: I've blanked on this until now, but I will be adding this team to the QR3 and removing 'Fight Club (Remix)' at some point today.
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