SubCM Bananza Peak Rank 16 Elo 1725

StrokeOfHail · Jan 12, 2026

Quick summary of the team:
This team was made with the hope of crawling me out of the 1500s where I usually reside. Like most of my teams to be honest. But this one did it somehow. The goal of this team is to rack up Calm Mind Boosts and find the positioning and damage to sweep. That means removing Phazers and Hazers and setting up as quickly as possible.

The Team:

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
- Baton Pass

I have a personal belief that Zapdos is the best lead in the game. It's especially good for this team because it can get the momentum going immediately with Substitute then Baton Pass. Salamence leads tend to be 299 or 270 depending on the set they're running. I think this is because they crave the damage output to finish off key Pokémon with a Power-Focused Nature. This let's me throw a Substitute up or fire an HP Ice right off the bat. Skarmory, Cloyster, and Foretress are in a similar boat because I threaten dealing significant damage with Thunderbolt. Zapdos is a decent spikes deterrent in this way. Metagross is a lead that I'll usually throw a substitute out first to scout for Explosion or Rock Slide. On Tyranitar, I should immediately Baton Pass out to Swampert to see what move it fires off. I've made the mistake of switching to Suicune before and lost the match because of it. From there, I can predict a switch, stop a Dragon Dance Sweep in its early stages, or use Protect to scout again if I'm not sure if it will try Hidden Power Grass and recover a little HP. One cool thing Zapdos can do is throw out a Substitute on a Blissey switch-in. Sometimes, this is an auto-win, or a significantly dented team. Here's an example scenario: I substitute up. Blissey switches in. Zapdos Baton Passes on Blissey's Ice Beam. The substitute doesn't break. Jirachi then proceeds to Calm Mind up. If they stay in, it's a huge mistake because Jirachi can make 101 HP substitutes and has a high Special Defense. If they switch out to anything that's not something like Tyranitar, I'm making a big dent or taking it out. Zapdos can, also, switch to any other team member to have a substitute up and be at an advantage, especially if they're scared of roaring it out because they don't know its Hidden Power or fear Thunderbolt from behind a Sub.

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 248 HP / 216 Def / 44 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Focus Punch

Swampert is my main Rock Resist and typically hits hard on the switching before switching out. Aerodactyl and Tyranitar are prevalent so having this at good HP is important. This, like most of my other Pokémon, is a Standard Set. This is the Defensive variant with Focus Punch. Earthquake and Ice Beam are for coverage and I used to have Hydro Pump to receive a bonus from Calm Mind and OHKO Aerodactyl. I went with Focus Punch because I didn't want Blissey to heal for free and have a hard time switching around against it. It's important that the EVs are Defensive because I value its survivability.

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 76 SpA / 180 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Calm Mind
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Baton Pass

Calm Mind Baton Pass Celebi. Calm Mind and Baton Pass are self explanatory. They allow for a good positioning or stay-in damage with my coverage. My team has a lot of coverage for Skarmory as you'll find out. That's because I have no spinner and don't want to be Roared all over the place. Celebi lives against Jolly Dugtrio and KO's back with Calm Mind Boosted Giga Drain as long as it has 98% of it's health. Hidden Power Fire chunks standard Skarm for about 1/3 of it's health each hit after lefties and protect the next turn. Outspeeding 297 Speed Charizard with Baton Pass to switch into Suicune is important for me so I would rather not sacrifice the speed EVs to take on Adamant Dug. Though, lately, Charizards like to run max speed. I still survive before the switch as long as I have a Calm Mind up and they're not in Blaze range.

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 80 SpA / 136 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Psychic
- Fire Punch
Sub CM Jirachi is really nice against Blissey as mentioned before. After a Calm Mind and behind a sub, it doesn't fear Dugtrio as well. The most it can do at that point is break the sub. Psychic KO's Offensive Gengar without a boost and Defensive Gengar with one. It, also, hits Swampert pretty heavily and, with some boosts, will be hurting Snorlax and Suicune. There are times I'll find myself in a Calm Mind battle against Blissey which can be annoying, but, with enough momentum, I tend to get the Crit needed. If not, Snorlax is there to blow up. Fire Punch is more Skarm coverage and has a nice burn chance.

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 28 HP / 252 SpA / 228 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Roar
Offensive Suicune is extra insurance against most everything. It can hit hard with Hydro Pump with or without a boost, and Ice Beam makes sure Salamence MixMence doesn't have a field day if Snorlax and Zapdos are down. Roar ensures opposing Pokémon can't just set up right alongside me.

Snorlax @ Leftovers
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 92 HP / 144 Def / 128 SpA / 144 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Self-Destruct
- Focus Punch
- Fire Blast
- Ice Beam

This is Utility Snorlax, but I moved the speed and Attack EVs to Special Attack and gave it a Quiet Nature. The only thing getting paralysis is Zapdos Thunderbolt so I couldn't think of a reason to keep the speed, and I thought it would need the Special Attack to hit Salamence, Metagross, and others. Focus Punch nails Tyranitar on the switchin, and Self Destruct is the emergency switch for Specially Defensive Pokémon or problematic powerhouses that I can't switch into.

Proof of Peak

Rainer24 · Wednesday at 7:51 PM

Very novel idea, cm passing to snorlax! On first read I assumed special lax was a terrible idea here, but the amount of skarms i finished off with fire blast was pretty surprising. With that said, I feel like the team has a really hard time into blissey and snorlax, especially if theres a few spikes. I tried a few changes that felt like they helped with that and I'd like to reccomend a few. First and foremost, leech seed on celebi is so so so nice here. It lets you force something like blissey out, or lets you spam sub on it with another mon if it stays in. I opted to drop giga drain as to maintain skarm pressure, but fire may very well be the thing to drop. I also went for a 101 hp sub on suicune over jirachi, and went max speed max special jirachi, as that felt like it could much easier clean games. I also opted for bolt beam coverage to prevent a mence setup (as dd mence can clean this pretty easily) and a harder hit into aero, as letting it come in repeatedly was an issue for me. I also dropped sub for grass, as without 101 hp, the coverage for tar (especially after dropping giga) was greatly appreciated. Overall a pretty fun squad though. It has some issues, like fatter teams, or tar if you don't punch it, but it definately gives you the tools to play the game.

https://pokepast.es/ea8e8c097f9b0633

StrokeOfHail · Thursday at 10:31 AM

Rainer24 said:
Very novel idea, cm passing to snorlax! On first read I assumed special lax was a terrible idea here, but the amount of skarms i finished off with fire blast was pretty surprising. With that said, I feel like the team has a really hard time into blissey and snorlax, especially if theres a few spikes. I tried a few changes that felt like they helped with that and I'd like to reccomend a few. First and foremost, leech seed on celebi is so so so nice here. It lets you force something like blissey out, or lets you spam sub on it with another mon if it stays in. I opted to drop giga drain as to maintain skarm pressure, but fire may very well be the thing to drop. I also went for a 101 hp sub on suicune over jirachi, and went max speed max special jirachi, as that felt like it could much easier clean games. I also opted for bolt beam coverage to prevent a mence setup (as dd mence can clean this pretty easily) and a harder hit into aero, as letting it come in repeatedly was an issue for me. I also dropped sub for grass, as without 101 hp, the coverage for tar (especially after dropping giga) was greatly appreciated. Overall a pretty fun squad though. It has some issues, like fatter teams, or tar if you don't punch it, but it definately gives you the tools to play the game.

https://pokepast.es/ea8e8c097f9b0633

Thank you so much for taking the time to try it out. I'll definitely try the changes you made because, tbh, this team shouldn't even be winning as much as it was imo. The players online have definitely adjusted to it I've noticed, too.

SubCM Bananza Peak Rank 16 Elo 1725

StrokeOfHail

Rainer24

StrokeOfHail