Battles 1-10:
First and last time I would use Mimikyu as a setter. While getting TR up was not much of a problem, misses and status aside, it was virtually deadweight outside of it, in stark contrast to all of my other setters. Lack of power was another factor, as its favorite pastime was failing to KO targets if it could even hit them. Fortunately the remaining three pokes were able to do the work themselves. I haven't permanently banished Mimikyu to the Bank, and have not yet fully settled on a new job for it, but setting TR and supporting its teammates is the wrong choice.
Battles 11-20:
Worldie may be interested to know this Stacky was not used as a setter, but some offensive support; Rockium Z with Gravity, Wide Guard, Stone Edge and Gyro Ball. It did its job particularly well, easily scoring KOs here and there and being fairly difficult to KO. Lack of enemy EQ usage made it all the easier to set Gravity. The boon from the 20 points added to Beartic's base attack cannot be understated; this MASSIVE spike opened up so many KO opportunities and put this big boy on par with his buddy Mamoswine. I was really happy with it, having previously kicked it out of the pool last gen (to some mild disappointment from Smuckem.) VS Grimsley is the only battle Stakataka did little, but Torterra stepped up to the plate in its stead. While I like to use vanilla Slowbro as a setter (standard M-Slowbro set doesn't use TR) the crit immunity and added offense did help.
Battles 21-30:
As I would come to find out, highly amusingly, Healer cures Ursaring's poisoning before the Toxic Orb immediately refreshes it, preventing poison damage but maintaining the Guts boost. Escavalier is one of the only pokes M-Audino dislikes facing, and this team fought two of them; the latter, Escavalier3, was the cause of a generally close battle which was won because of the AI stupidity in selecting a target for KO; Palossand has no way to badly damage Toucannon and, with TR off, I was required to Destiny Bond it as it chose to Beak Blast twice. All Toucannon needed to do was attack my weakened Azumarill, and I'd have lost. Palossand used an Expert Belt which normally would have gone to Azumarill, so Azumarill tried the Protective Pads instead. Because it relies on contact moves and Flame Body is a significant threat, I figured it was a sound choice (Healer is great, but shouldn't be depended on.)
Battles 31-40:
This team originally rolled Stakataka as its second setter, and I was initially stoked to try it, but two battles in I strongly reconsidered and switched it out for the second setter rolled, Bronzong. While I haven't lumped Stakataka in with Mimikyu yet, that being "DO NOT USE" for TR, triples might be the better avenue for it, or at least someplace Ally Switch can be constantly at the ready. Holding an Air Balloon compensated for its ground weakness but did nothing for special fire attacks, and the team as it was had a significant risk when facing those types. Not only that, in contrast to Rockium Z Stone Edge, Rock Slide made for pretty poor offensive support, and its speed meant it would be going first and typically failing to KO anything. Reuniclus was vital in destroying any fire types that might have appeared, and while Heatran was rolled, I opted not to use it because I'd just be replacing one common weakness for another.
While I didn't give Stakataka its fair chance, I DID save a replay of it passing Beast Boost onto Vileplume, who steamrolled the enemy because of it.
Battles 41-50:
I had the opportunity to run Sand Stream AV Gigalith and Mega Steelix for this portion, but chickened out because they wouldn't have played well with the rest of the team. Pulverizing Pancake is the sort of nuke that works in doubles because of the limited number of opponents; while Snorlax has fallen a long way, it was still good at punching the sorts of holes my backline could capitalize upon. Crabominable was the true MVP, winning a number of the battles that went to shit, though the enemies being severely weak to its STABs was the main culprit. This was the first round of battles I got a taste of just how dangerous Thunder Wave can be, though I wasn't finding myself in severe crisis until the Team Araquanid portion.
Battles 51-60:
An alternate Gigalith's moveset changed drastically for this streak, particularly in gaining Throat Chop. Ally Switch was pivotal in allowing Gigalith to do as much damage as possible before exploding; even without Helping Hand, the results were devastating. Cofagrigus was running a Mental Herb, but one battle saw such an inconvenience from paralysis that I wished I'd gone with a Lum Berry. I wouldn't make that mistake twice.
Battles 61-70:
Holy shit! If there were ever an example of how badly Ally Switch fucks with the AI, THIS IS IT. Originally very concerned for the RNG results, absolutely stacked with rock types, I began to look at it from a different angle and decided that perhaps I could use it to my advantage. And that's exactly what happened. Triples Aurorus used Dark Pulse for cross-field filler, but used Protect this time around for that crucial first turn. After that, it was an icy rampage. Hyper Voice, Earth Power and Freeze-Dry were all it needed to destroy most teams by itself. The AI happily supplied me with lots of fighting type leads to be duped (this portion of the streak is not a good demonstration rebutting idiots who claim the faclities counter team.)
Battles 71-80:
While I'm a big fan of memey Hone Claws sets on M-Aggron, there was none of that here; I used an extremely bulky Curse set, which worked well. Gravity also put in a lot of work, but unfortunately -1 Aggron undercuts Bronzong, so there was still potential for a miss. Dhelmise is not popular, nor would its moveset be seen as viable by the lot of you, but it hit incredibly hard and performed admirably well.
Battles 81-90:
I hate what has become of Sucker Punch but Honchkrow is still a solid user of it. Power Herb Sky Attack as a means of getting Moxie rolling ASAP even versus bulky enemies has been completely outclassed by Z-Brave Bird, and doesn't leave a moveslot devoted to deadweight afterward. Honchkrow doesn't make anyone's lists when discussing viable TR abusers but I've always liked it for its power and the sorts of holes it can patch (or create) in using it. It was my savior in a bad battle versus a Breeder, in which Audino was repeatedly flinched with Rock Slide; outspeeding all of the Breeders' available pokes, Honchkrow had a significant advantage without TR and would deliver a decisive OHKO to M-Camerupt that would have wrecked me otherwise. This streak featured a Moltres2 setting off my Flash Fire when any other move would have been preferable. While not likely intentional (for the AI) Gastrodon redirected and absorbed a Hydro Vortex, which felt freaking great.
Battles 91-100:
An unusual roll in that none of my possible TR abusers were from the first box, making them all from Gen V and higher. Also unusual was Wally's team, which included no megas. This Musharna used After You instead of Gravity, because it allowed Tyrantrum to keep its standard Choice Band instead of using an Iron Ball. Tyrantrum would also replace Superpower with Earthquake, but use the move only once. This streak contains a very one-sided Aegislash sweep completely devoid of AI hax, though they certainly tried. I ran Wide Guard but never found myself using it, and decided that in the future I'd try Sacred Sword (offensively, its only moves were Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon.)
Battles 101-110:
Togekiss remained completely unused until Wally because Abomasnow was being a cheap piece of shit and freezing everything that threatened to KO it or require some backup. Among those game-changing freezes were Armaldo, Primarina and Scrafty. The battle with Primarina involved a very surprising choice on behalf of the AI, neglecting to detonate Lickilicky next to its frozen ally; while it would have forced the AI into a loss, that's never stopped them before (at least not last gen; I can't immediately recall it happening in the tree.) Gravity was used on Musharna this time. I'm glad I opted for Bisharp instead of Lurantis, because it made a very effective LO attacker and was used to slaughter some things that Abomasnow wouldn't have beaten without its haxxy BS. WOULD it have inflicted freezes on them, also? Perhaps. But I'd have felt terrible about it. I despise Glaceon so much that the more my pokes behave like it, the harder it gets to look myself in the mirror.
Battles 111-120:
Feraligatr was used in only three battles because the free switches into Escavalier were too good to pass. I fought Xenophon and Xio twice apiece, and most other battles had lead pairs which were very friendly to it. There was also a battle that got off to a terrible start with Walrein4, but Guzzlord (special set) would save the day. When it actually did battle, Feraligatr easily swept with Swords Dance and an abusable Sheer Force moveset. While generally unacceptably weak right off the bat, I was glad I gave Guzzlord a chance (initially as switches for my primary muscle, plus Instruct abuse) because it turned out to be pretty useful.
Battles 121-130:
Unbelievably satisfying OHKOs to Slaking, Regigigas, Regirock, and especially Suicune. How's that Bold 252/252 working for you now, jerk? Helping Hand was of great value to both Bulu and Golurk, who now has High Horsepower to mitigate the effects of Grassy Terrain. Clawitzer is just as good a cleaner as ever. Previously, Cresselia used Lunar Dance in Triples, albeit so rarely it was time to try something else. Ally Switch was, whaddya know, an excellent replacement. Rather than run dual grass coverage for some healing, Bulu ran Protect because it led, as well as Wood Hammer, Stone Edge and Fling. I consider No Guard to be heavily overrated on Golurk when it gets far more damage out of Iron Fist and an Expert Belt.
Battles 131-140:
M-Steelix struggled a bit due to the influx of heavies and bulky waters, but Sylveon gave a lot of support by simply having a rarely resisted, unusually strong spread move, and especially Buzzwole, by being so bulky it could switch into Earthquakes for pitiful damage and provide great additional damage. Still, this was not an easy team to use. Amusingly Gothitelle reached +6 SpA twice, because of a weak Musharna4 that gave two SpD drops from Shadow Ball, and again from a Punk Guy with his Intimidate team. The former made for a very satisfying KO lategame; the latter unfortunately did not give her any really good targets (the final +2 was given by Scrafty of all things.)
Battles 141-150:
While I think very highly of Hydreigon as a cleaner in TR, especially in Triples where its STABs can hit from anywhere, this team still depended heavily on Marowak doing most of the work, which it beautifully did. Komala is not a good fit for TR due to its frailty even when running the bulkier spreads which TR teams allow. Having said that, it does hit quite hard. Helping Hand secured a number of OHKOs against rather bulky enemies. I wouldn't recommend anyone trying Komala, but outside of Smuckem I don't think that's going to be a thing, ever :P
Battles 151-160:
I passed on trying Stakataka as a setter again; I just don't see myself being comfortable with it without Ally Switch. Otherwise this team was very braindead and strong, though I wasn't getting as many Fiery Dance boosts as I would have liked. It wasn't needing them to secure KOs, but it would have been a lot more fun to steamroll because of them. Alolan Golem is extremely nasty even without Explosion.
Battles 161-170:
Mudsdale is overwhelmingly bulky when attacked weakly by fast opponents, and was not often KOd. Fake Out? Yes, please. Nightshade has been a really good move for securing KOs and helping to topple walls. Fixed 50 damage tends to be a lot in this format, when your other pokes easily hit enemies to within that kill range. Both standard Alolan Egg and Empoleon use an Expert Belt, but with such a common hold item amongst my roster, they have easy alternatives.
Battles 171-180:
I was highly fortunate in that the only fire type encountered during this run was a lead M-Camerupt who was carefully disposed of without setting TR. There were also a lack of lead fighting types that might require Intimidate support. We've briefly discussed Druddigon in the discord, and it did what it does best here, which is deliver really strong hits. I consider it to be a lot more useful than most other physical dragons as far as TR is concerned.
Battles 181-190:
Rotom-Wash was originally born as an Ally Switch user, the idea being it could easily tank Hydro Pumps and Ice Beams and what have you. When it rolled alongside Camerupt, I thought this would be the perfect time to see it put into practice. ...and the move never ended up being used, even once, in no small part due to Regirock severely plowing through most teams by itself. When there was a time and place for Rotom to come in, I was left with what was regrettably a weakened version of what it could have been, because this washing machine was EV'd entirely for bulk. Since I wasn't depending on it, I didn't rebreed for Quiet until afterward, and it is now a bulky and slightly potent attacker.
Battles 191-200:
Four attacks Lonely Stakataka here in all its devastating brick-hurling notoriety, and Torrent Primarina, as the HAs hadn't been released yet. Not that it mattered, as LO Hydro Pump is still very strong. Ally Switch continued to be broken with or without Stakataka in play. Lurantis made a respectable lead, with fewer chances of needing to run and hide compared to Stacky. ..or so I thought; unfortunately, it would still need to switch fairly often. Delivered a OHKO to Wishiwashi without a crit, which I was not expecting. Also got so doped up on
steroids Superpower boosts that it made short work of Cresselia4, which felt great. Lickilicky notably does not like to detonate around Dusclops, as it'll just spam Brutal Swing for laughable damage. It's not the first time I've seen this behavior.
Also, FUCK SWAGGER. Guzma gave me my closest battle yet of this whole randoms streak, or at least the most anxious that I can recall. However, the aforementioned Swagger remark was more because of an Umbreon on an Eevee team, which caused a lot of disruption.
Battles 201-210:
Wouldn't you know it, not a Metagross in sight, the biggest roadblock to Carbink safely setting TR (Magnezone is also nasty, but not as much.) Carbink is not strong, but strong enough to help, considering its STABs cover a lot of useful weaknesses. Golisopod is a monster in spite of its terrible ability and, so I've come to find, so is LO Reckless Bouffalant. Originally, I rocked Scope Lens + Focus Energy in triples, for that 100% crit rate. Not leading with it meant there was even less incentive to try that shit here, so I went with a more direct approach. Like Snorlax, Bouffalant appears much weaker than the prominent physical threats nowadays but is deceptively powerful.
Battles 211-220:
I've said it a few times in the discord, but Lickilicky has some eye-opening muscle for such an unimpressive 85 attack. It compensates with a generally high-BP moveset able to 2HKO things weak to them (without Helping Hand) and both Z-Explosion and Explosion itself are obscenely strong, the former able to OHKO most things with average bulk and the latter easily OHKOing anything without a resist, with HH used beforehand. It's surprising more because the things that were detonating up to this point were sitting on Weakness Policy boosts on top of Helping Hand, with over a third of the raw attack power compared to Lickilicky. Yet the results were the same for both: total annihilation. There was not a lot of work for Vikavolt or Rhyperior, but they cleaned up very reliably.
Battles 221-230:
While Muk wasn't using Explosion for room clearing, Acid Downpour came in clutch many times. There was also a battle where it was getting constant Rock Slide flinches, which ultimately saved me. Donphan also had a lot of respectable power, using Knock Off and Seed Bomb in place of Ice Shard and Head Smash. While Sturdy allows it to use Weakness Policy, because it wasn't a lead, I opted to use an Expert Belt instead. After You came in extremely handy, as the same runts like Aromatisse and Shiinotic which easily outsped and slaughtered it, could now be safely slain in TR by acting first. In fact, there was a battle in which both of them appeared and fell just like that.
Donphan had to beat Cynthia almost entirely by itself due to some severe trolling (not that it was alone; Musharna had no offensive presence but was buffing it.) I complained about Hariyama triggering costly switches with its Fake Out targets, but this run involved a flinched Gigalith switching into Tyranitar... with a Close Combat targeting that slot. Top Ten Greatest-caliber play right there, everybody!
Battles 231-240:
The speed tie between Oranguru and Bewear proved to be annoying without Hammer Arm being used first. Cynthia was extremely annoying again, because of Spiritomb's Swagger. Florges is another eyebrow raiser, but it not only made a fantastic support with Helping Hand, it actually nearly solo'd an early team in the run, not to mention through Light Screen, at that. Having said that, the Veteran Electric-themed team was chock full of shitty SpD like Raichu, as well as Mega Ampharos who walls Moonblast about as well as it walls Earthquake. This Florges had Grassy Terrain, and originally I envisioned it pumping up Torkoal's Z-Solarbeam if it came to that, which it didn't. But it's the thought that counts. Only Oranguru had any real chance of losing its hold item, but Iron Ball Symbiosis was a possibility which never triggered.
Battles 241-250:
The finale. I spent so long deciding who to use because my desire to keep things fresh and avoid familiar faces was conflicted with my struggling to build the rest of the team around Iron Ball Tapu Lele, relatively new to my roster, and Ferrothorn; they were competing with the pokes I ultimately used and I decided I'd rather be boring than creative and throw away what had become a really lengthy randoms streak (nowhere near my personal best, but we'll see about triples.)
That said, I had an easier time than anticipated. Wide Lens was crucial on Chesnaught without Gravity, and he was in charge of killing first and foremost anything that could threaten the backline, even at its own expense. Jellicent3 is a pest on Scientist teams, even if you're immediately able to deal with it, but my fully defensive Jellicent was even worse. Cursed Body kicked in all the time, which was great.
