Battle Stadium Rounding Out My Team for Singles Climb

eljeffe17

eljeffe17

Hi everyone! So I’ve been running the below team in a singles format on Sword. Having moderate success, reaching great ball tier and winning as much as I’m losing. I was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on how to step up my team to the next level and advice on what Pokemon I should switch in or out as I have been indecisive in some of the team members. I have been playing Pokemon since the beginning but have only recently got into competitive battling. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Cinderace-Gmax (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
Level: 50
Gigantamax: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- Sucker Punch
- Bounce
- High Jump Kick

Cinderace is a great mon and has been the ace for my team. I love the coverage it gives with me Libero and the ability to stat boost attack and speed after maxing. I love sucker punch because having that priority move has saved me many times. The more I play, the more I see stealth rock. Should I consider using heavy duty boots or is life orb a better bang for my buck?

Tapu Koko @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot

Tapu Koko is fast and hits pretty hard. Grass knot has been an awesome coverage move for me and Koko is always ready to get revenge KOs. Is this how I should be using him? The big question I have with Tapu Koko is the item. Should I be using specs or scarf, or even a sash? I found a lot of trouble with Zapdos using Max Airstream to out speed me. Do I invest more in speed or look elsewhere to take down Zapdos? Also should I consider Moonblast instead of Gleam since I am battling in singles?

Mimikyu (M) @ Spell Tag
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 4 Spe
- Shadow Claw
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough

Mimikyu is the third of my heavy sweepers. Disguise allows me to have a "free turn" to power up. I realize that I have to level up and hyper train that speed stat. Assuming I do that, is spell tag a good item or should I look elsewhere? Is doubling up on fairy types redundant since they are both sweepers on my team and should I look elsewhere for ghost such as Gengar?

Lapras-Gmax (F) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Gigantamax: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 24 Atk / 21 Def / 23 SpA / 22 SpD / 8 Spe
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Surf
- Rest

Once again IV issues here that I will address with hyper training. Lapras was my answer to Landorus - T and some other members of the current meta. I found my self rarely setting up the rain to use Thunder so should I consider swapping that out for Thunderbolt? I also have no idea what to put in that fourth slot. I have rest for now but I rarely use it, let alone capitalize on it. Should I go Perish Song, Protect, or is there something else I am not thinking about?

Mudsdale (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stamina
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
IVs: 24 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Smack Down
- Earthquake
- Iron Defense

(I really gotta get on this IV training) Musdale has been my response to Zapdos and other Tapu Kokos. So far I have found limited success. Is there another bulky ground type that would fit this role better or do I need to make adjustments to Mudsdale's moveset?

Dragonite (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 13 Atk
- Outrage
- Extreme Speed
- Earthquake
- Dual Wingbeat

(Almost bred this one perfectly.) Dragonite has been the enigma of my team. Sometimes very useful and sometimes I go dozens of battles without using it. Is outrage with lum berry a good strategy or should I look for a different strategy. Something I have also considered is taking out Mudsdale and Dragonite for a Garchomp to satisfy both of those roles and then freeing up another spot on my team for a bulky mon like Umbreon, Cresselia or Corviknight.

Thank you in advance for all of the help and advice!
 
Hm...lots of people making these have heavy-duty boots. It is NOT viable, certainly not on Cinderace which would rather have a regular item than 25% of it's frail HP kept if and when.

Koko is mostly light clay, followed by specs so I say specs is fine. It does not learn Moonblast. Also, are you sure about U-Turn? Uninvested -atk it is quite weak, perhaps Volt Switch?

Mimikyu tend to run Phantom Force not Shadow Claw, for power and to waste Dynamax turns(theirs.) Spell Tag is an ok item, it's #2 anyway. Put the 4 evs in HP not SpD for an odd # that helps iirc.

Lapras should probably have Freeze-Dry or Sheer Cold 4th slot. I don't understand rest or protect on it, and perish song is much rarer than those 2 ice moves.

Mudsdale should definitely have Body Press cause of all the Def buffs. I also don't see it being good vs. Zapdos.

252 SpA Life Orb Zapdos Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mudsdale: 136-161 (65.7 - 77.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I hope that improves your individual sets. I'm not good at identifying problem pokemon much less cores so that's about all I can do. I'm sure marilli or someone will help w/ the rest.
 
Last edited:
Hi! Instead of Mudsdale, you could use a Mamoswine.

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Jolly Nature
Ability: Oblivious / Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear
- Ice Shard

3 hits on Icicle Spear does 90.9-112.7% to 0 HP 0 Def Timid LO Zapdos, and you'll usually be able to hit it due to Focus Sash, then Ice Shard can finish it off if it wasn't a KO. This only works if the opposing Zapdos's dynamax ran out, though. Otherwise, worst case scenario you can dynamax Mamo, and Max Hailstorm does 153.9 - 183% to Zapdos, so it's a guaranteed OHKO after stealth rock damage, even during dynamax.

I have an extra Max IV Jolly Oblivious Swinub baby if you want to try it.
 
I do suggest either Focus Sash or Life Orb on Cinderace. It's not that boots in general are bad but they are usually seen on SR weak Pokemon on switch-heavy teams (Seen a few Boots Roost Dragonite on stall, and Zapdos rarely has it). I do have a writeup on SR in BSS here that I refer to fairly frequently because SR in BSS is often a misconstrued / oversimplified topic. But long story short there are other ways of handling early game rocks, like aggressive use of Rillaboom or Lapras to threaten OHKO on common SR users. Use their offensive pressure to delay the use of opposing Stealth Rocks until it is late enough in the game that SR loses much of its value.

Scarf Tapu Koko is very overkill, it is very poor and I do not recommend it. I don't like Specs Koko either but it actually works if you really want to use it, it's fine. Scarf Koko outspeeds Zapdos at +1... then what? You aren't gonna do much because Scarf Koko is very weak and dynamax zapdos is very bulky, and it still gets 2HKOed. Moonblast isn't an option on Koko because it doesn't learn it. If it did then it would be an obvious STAB inclusion.

For Mimikyu, Spell Tag isn't a bad choice but Life Orb is preferred on that set. Spell Tag is more common because you often do want that Life Orb elsewhere. But right now you don't have another lo user, but when you do, maybe you want Life Orb Cinderace, then spell tag is a good alternative. Kee is another standard item choice but you should use bulk investment to make it work. If Zapdos remains a problem you can consider Maranga Berry instead.

Lapras should be using Freeze-Dry, usually over Ice Beam. For last slot Ice Shard and Sheer Cold are both quite common. Thunderbolt is fine ofc, but the main argument I've seen some people opt for Thunder's poor accuracy is that Freeze Dry is pretty redundant coverage so it only comes in play in Dynamax, and Thunder ofc has higher bp max lighting, less so about setting up Rain - Lapras wants to set up Veil first and foremost and start attacking things. It doesn't have to set up rain and go for extended sequences to gain value from Thunder.

Dragonite is a fine Pokemon and each of your items and moves are fine, just not all of them together. Dragonite without any boosting item or moves hits like a wet noodle. Lum Bery is fine, but you should make room for DD by removing a move. Extreme Speed is the easiest move to cut there. Weakness Policy or Expert Belt would make a 4 attacks Dragonite a bit more palatable but I strongly suggest still dropping one of your moves for Fire Punch to not get walled by Celesteela / Ferrothorn. I do think either going with a bulkier Roost Dragonite here (to sponge hits from Landorus-T) or making an all-out attacker 4 attacks Dragonite with Fire and Ice Punch coverage (+ Airstream + Dragon STAB) is best, in order to combat your Landorus-T weakness that is about to get a bit worse with the final change.

Finally, Mudsdale isn't a Zapdos check and it's why your team is Zapdos weak. Max Airstream is why it's good and you get blown into smithereens switching into that with no SpDef investment, and in a max-off you don't do enough back with no damage investment. Rhyperior, Excadrill, or AV Garchomp are all better at checking Zapdos - all but Excadrill has difficulty switching into Life Orb Max Airstream, but at least they can all come in after a sack and Dynamax to withstand Zapdos. If you had to use Mudsdale for the role here, you'd use AV because otherwise the team is very Zapdos weak. Alternatively use things like spdef p2 or nihilego or tyranitar or Maranga bulky Dragonite if you actually want to be able to switch in on Airstream and cushion the Zapdos completely. Mudsdale can check some good Pokemon (like Cinderace) but Zapdos isn't one of them. I think Excadrill works best here with Dragonite but you should try things out to see what suits you.

I tried fixing the sets instead of trying to revamp the team entirely because your team has some good Pokemon. Hope that helps. Look in the Wifi Giveaway subforum if you have difficulty getting Pokemon. Cheers and have fun laddering.
 
Your first three mons (Cinderace, Tapu Koko and Mimikyu) look fine, though I would definitely drop Heavy Duty Boots for Life Orb on Cinderace. Specs Koko can work, but its more something you'll want to use at the beginning of the battle rather than later because of the Airstream issues you mentioned. For instance, it can OHKO your standard Hippo lead:

252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Hippowdon: 214-252 (99.5 - 117.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

Lapras is OK this meta but it can be pretty underwhelming without Dynamax, which is what both Cinderace and Mimikyu really want for themselves. If you are looking for a Landorus counter in this slot, Glastrier or Sash Mamoswine are good considerations. Glastrier is a big problem for Landorus if it isn't Swords Dance and can also make fantastic use of Dynamax but isn't useless without it. Mamoswine can OHKO no-bulk Lando with Ice Shard if Dynamax is off the table, but because it relies on Sash you have to play it right (as you would against Zapdos as well.) Running your own Lando isn't a bad idea either as you can switch into it with your own Intimidate.

If you do want to keep Lapras, Marilli's suggestions are on point. One extra thing I will mention is that when you put Rest on Lapras, your ability should be Hydration rather than Water Absorb. For the last two members, again Marilli addressed them pretty well.

Since some of the suggestions here are tooling this team more towards offensive momentum, my only other advice would be to make sure you are using your Dynamax wisely. You have the offensive tools to "scare" your opponent. Especially if you keep something like Mimikyu in the back, you can play aggressively and force your opponent to Dynamax first, then Dynamax your reverse sweeper after they have used theirs; Glastrier is also decent at this should you go that route. The main point here is that there is a time to Dynamax first and a time to do it last, so make sure you are watching for that. Hope that helps!
 
Omastar68 said:
Hm...lots of people making these have heavy-duty boots. It is NOT viable, certainly not on Cinderace which would rather have a regular item than 25% of it's frail HP kept if and when.

Koko is mostly light clay, followed by specs so I say specs is fine. It does not learn Moonblast. Also, are you sure about U-Turn? Uninvested -atk it is quite weak, perhaps Volt Switch?

Mimikyu tend to run Phantom Force not Shadow Claw, for power and to waste Dynamax turns(theirs.) Spell Tag is an ok item, it's #2 anyway. Put the 4 evs in HP not SpD for an odd # that helps iirc.

Lapras should probably have Freeze-Dry or Sheer Cold 4th slot. I don't understand rest or protect on it, and perish song is much rarer than those 2 ice moves.

Mudsdale should definitely have Body Press cause of all the Def buffs. I also don't see it being good vs. Zapdos.

252 SpA Life Orb Zapdos Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mudsdale: 136-161 (65.7 - 77.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

I hope that improves your individual sets. I'm not good at identifying problem pokemon much less cores so that's about all I can do. I'm sure marilli or someone will help w/ the rest.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for all the advice! Definitely going to use Life Orb with Cinderace. Some fine members on the discord have also suggested phantom force so I'm going to try that as well! It appears Mudsdale is getting the boot here.
 
Codex said:
Hi! Instead of Mudsdale, you could use a Mamoswine.

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Jolly Nature
Ability: Oblivious / Thick Fat
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Icicle Spear
- Ice Shard

3 hits on Icicle Spear does 90.9-112.7% to 0 HP 0 Def Timid LO Zapdos, and you'll usually be able to hit it due to Focus Sash, then Ice Shard can finish it off if it wasn't a KO. This only works if the opposing Zapdos's dynamax ran out, though. Otherwise, worst case scenario you can dynamax Mamo, and Max Hailstorm does 153.9 - 183% to Zapdos, so it's a guaranteed OHKO after stealth rock damage, even during dynamax.

I have an extra Max IV Jolly Oblivious Swinub baby if you want to try it.
Click to expand...

The sounds very interesting to me. I would love to try that Swinub out. Is there anything you want specifically in return? Thank you so much for offering!
 
marilli said:
I do suggest either Focus Sash or Life Orb on Cinderace. It's not that boots in general are bad but they are usually seen on SR weak Pokemon on switch-heavy teams (Seen a few Boots Roost Dragonite on stall, and Zapdos rarely has it). I do have a writeup on SR in BSS here that I refer to fairly frequently because SR in BSS is often a misconstrued / oversimplified topic. But long story short there are other ways of handling early game rocks, like aggressive use of Rillaboom or Lapras to threaten OHKO on common SR users. Use their offensive pressure to delay the use of opposing Stealth Rocks until it is late enough in the game that SR loses much of its value.

Scarf Tapu Koko is very overkill, it is very poor and I do not recommend it. I don't like Specs Koko either but it actually works if you really want to use it, it's fine. Scarf Koko outspeeds Zapdos at +1... then what? You aren't gonna do much because Scarf Koko is very weak and dynamax zapdos is very bulky, and it still gets 2HKOed. Moonblast isn't an option on Koko because it doesn't learn it. If it did then it would be an obvious STAB inclusion.

For Mimikyu, Spell Tag isn't a bad choice but Life Orb is preferred on that set. Spell Tag is more common because you often do want that Life Orb elsewhere. But right now you don't have another lo user, but when you do, maybe you want Life Orb Cinderace, then spell tag is a good alternative. Kee is another standard item choice but you should use bulk investment to make it work. If Zapdos remains a problem you can consider Maranga Berry instead.

Lapras should be using Freeze-Dry, usually over Ice Beam. For last slot Ice Shard and Sheer Cold are both quite common. Thunderbolt is fine ofc, but the main argument I've seen some people opt for Thunder's poor accuracy is that Freeze Dry is pretty redundant coverage so it only comes in play in Dynamax, and Thunder ofc has higher bp max lighting, less so about setting up Rain - Lapras wants to set up Veil first and foremost and start attacking things. It doesn't have to set up rain and go for extended sequences to gain value from Thunder.

Dragonite is a fine Pokemon and each of your items and moves are fine, just not all of them together. Dragonite without any boosting item or moves hits like a wet noodle. Lum Bery is fine, but you should make room for DD by removing a move. Extreme Speed is the easiest move to cut there. Weakness Policy or Expert Belt would make a 4 attacks Dragonite a bit more palatable but I strongly suggest still dropping one of your moves for Fire Punch to not get walled by Celesteela / Ferrothorn. I do think either going with a bulkier Roost Dragonite here (to sponge hits from Landorus-T) or making an all-out attacker 4 attacks Dragonite with Fire and Ice Punch coverage (+ Airstream + Dragon STAB) is best, in order to combat your Landorus-T weakness that is about to get a bit worse with the final change.

Finally, Mudsdale isn't a Zapdos check and it's why your team is Zapdos weak. Max Airstream is why it's good and you get blown into smithereens switching into that with no SpDef investment, and in a max-off you don't do enough back with no damage investment. Rhyperior, Excadrill, or AV Garchomp are all better at checking Zapdos - all but Excadrill has difficulty switching into Life Orb Max Airstream, but at least they can all come in after a sack and Dynamax to withstand Zapdos. If you had to use Mudsdale for the role here, you'd use AV because otherwise the team is very Zapdos weak. Alternatively use things like spdef p2 or nihilego or tyranitar or Maranga bulky Dragonite if you actually want to be able to switch in on Airstream and cushion the Zapdos completely. Mudsdale can check some good Pokemon (like Cinderace) but Zapdos isn't one of them. I think Excadrill works best here with Dragonite but you should try things out to see what suits you.

I tried fixing the sets instead of trying to revamp the team entirely because your team has some good Pokemon. Hope that helps. Look in the Wifi Giveaway subforum if you have difficulty getting Pokemon. Cheers and have fun laddering.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for the very in depth analysis and list of suggestions. I am definitely going to take your advice on all of these. Going to experiment a bit on Showdown with the alternatives you suggested for Mudsdale. Thank you again!
 
Photon said:
Your first three mons (Cinderace, Tapu Koko and Mimikyu) look fine, though I would definitely drop Heavy Duty Boots for Life Orb on Cinderace. Specs Koko can work, but its more something you'll want to use at the beginning of the battle rather than later because of the Airstream issues you mentioned. For instance, it can OHKO your standard Hippo lead:

252 SpA Choice Specs Tapu Koko Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Hippowdon: 214-252 (99.5 - 117.2%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

Lapras is OK this meta but it can be pretty underwhelming without Dynamax, which is what both Cinderace and Mimikyu really want for themselves. If you are looking for a Landorus counter in this slot, Glastrier or Sash Mamoswine are good considerations. Glastrier is a big problem for Landorus if it isn't Swords Dance and can also make fantastic use of Dynamax but isn't useless without it. Mamoswine can OHKO no-bulk Lando with Ice Shard if Dynamax is off the table, but because it relies on Sash you have to play it right (as you would against Zapdos as well.) Running your own Lando isn't a bad idea either as you can switch into it with your own Intimidate.

If you do want to keep Lapras, Marilli's suggestions are on point. One extra thing I will mention is that when you put Rest on Lapras, your ability should be Hydration rather than Water Absorb. For the last two members, again Marilli addressed them pretty well.

Since some of the suggestions here are tooling this team more towards offensive momentum, my only other advice would be to make sure you are using your Dynamax wisely. You have the offensive tools to "scare" your opponent. Especially if you keep something like Mimikyu in the back, you can play aggressively and force your opponent to Dynamax first, then Dynamax your reverse sweeper after they have used theirs; Glastrier is also decent at this should you go that route. The main point here is that there is a time to Dynamax first and a time to do it last, so make sure you are watching for that. Hope that helps!
Click to expand...

Awesome! Thank you for all the advice on my team! Going to test it all out on Showdown!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top