Singles 3v3 General Discussion

[I dont care]

I think people is tricked by the fact gengar got a nerf, as no more levitate and no more destiny bond spam.
In the other hand M Gengar has a buff, and with perish song is still cancerous as always, let them the time to understand.

I am not surprised of nothing but cloyster, maybe he is #11 lol.
many ghosts means pheromosa went down while Gyarados went up.

Lol porygon2 sure is a big thing, hoping Gf moves his butt fast for getting many knock off user. Or better the mega stone that are not in the game. I really don't understand the sense of missing them.

 

[ArtezzaMagnus]

Kind of surprised to hear about disconnects, although the only multiplayer I've done so far is Battle of Alola. I guess people would be less inclined to disconnect when you can't have as many fights as you want.

Isn't there a thing now where the game will prevent you from connecting online for awhile if you disconnect from a battle? I know there is for trading.

 

[cant say]

DCs were pretty common when XY was released and then again when ORAS came out, there are a lot of casuals trying Battle Spot out at these times who are prone to ragequits. I've run into a few but not enough to annoy me about it. Once you get to about 1650+ it basically stops anyway.

 

[Kanon90]

Guys what would be a viable set for Alola Golem on BSS? (Have seen a few people running Autonomize/Rock Polish sets with full investment on Attack and Speed)
Really want to give it a try online. Thanks in advance.

 

[Theorymon]

Guys what would be a viable set for Alola Golem on BSS? (Have seen a few people running Autonomize/Rock Polish sets with full investment on Attack and Speed)
Really want to give it a try online. Thanks in advance.

Unfortunately, I think 6tennis tried out Rock Polish and apprently it wasn't too good. Might want to ask him for more details though!

Anyways, I was a doofus and lost 100 points (am now in the 1650s rofl) from testing out some silly things yesterday. However, there are some really weird trends I've noticed in the past week that I figured I should share!

-Almost all the Mega Kangaskhan I've been seeing have been mixed. I think the idea is that they wanna hit Celesteela really hard with Fire-type attacks. I'm guessing that post bank, a lot of these will just switch to Power-up Punch.

-I've started to notice some sort of strange bulky Choice Band Garchomp set used among high rated Japanese players. I'm not sure what the EVs are, but they seem to have some serious Special Defense investment, since they've been boosting my Porygon2's Attack stat!

-Been noticing more semi Trick Room teams on the ladder (I myself was using one pretty well before I was an idiot and testing out dumb things lol). It seems that a lot of them are trying out Araquanid now. While Araquanid's coverage is really lame since only its Water-STAB hits hard, I wouldn't understimate it: Hydro Vortext freaking nukes stuff! All of these have Alolan Marowak as expected.

-I saw 3 Type:Null o_O. All of them seem to be some sort of Rest Talk set. I'm a bit skeptical that this has much use over Porygon2, since Porygon2's defenses are almost as good and its much less predictable (alongside better abilities), but I'm not gonna lie: it is bulky as hell, and it makes a mockery out of the Sub Toxic Aegislash that has become so common.

-Speaking of that, among high rated players, the usual Special Attacking Aegislash set seems to have vanished: its all Substitute Aegislash now!

 

[6tennis]

It's just way too vulnerable defensively. Run Galvanize, and you lose the ability to survive a hit unless you use a Focus Sash, in which case you lose power. If you're using Sturdy, then you lose the benefit that Galvanize gives, so it's a tradeoff, and neither outcome is favorable.

 

[Owen Quillion]

Yeah, I've been trying hard to make it work because I have one that is my first viable competitive shiny (well, it has max IVs). Focus Sash is basically mandatory - Golem is hideously vulnerable to Ground and Water attacks, and as 6tennis said, can't really afford the bulk as it needs all the speed it can get, and can't go skimpy on the attack either. That said, if you can Automotize and then kill whatever comes in with Galvanize Return and then Explode on the next guy, it feels pretty good - and barring outright immune Pokemon, that Explosion is going to do a lot of damage. Of course, outright immune Pokemon are common and Stone Edge doesn't really work out there.

It's probably the best set and you'll occasionally get value out of it, but the Focus Sash and the team slot are probably better spent on another Pokemon.

 

[cant say]

Golem-A is pretty cool for an anti-Celesteela/Marowak-A choice. Magnet Pull would be great but then it's stuck with Thunder Punch for Electric STAB which is pretty crap. Galvanize allows Golem to nuke Cele though and if you predict a switch out it has the coverage to get a hard hit off on most things.

Golem-Alola @ Magnet / Air Balloon / Life Orb
Ability: Galvanize
EVs: 116 HP / 252 Atk / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return / Double-Edge
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Explosion

The speed is for neutral 4 Spe Cele (think Impish / Bold / Calm / Adamant builds) so you can hit it before getting EQ'd or Sub stalled. Electric / Rock / Ground coverage is pretty damn good and then Explosion for filler.

252+ Atk Magnet Galvanize Golem-Alola Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Celesteela: 200-236 (98 - 115.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

0 Atk Celesteela Earthquake vs. 116 HP / 0 Def Golem-Alola: 124-148 (72.9 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Life Orb guarantees the OHKO on Cele which is why I slashed it but LO's a good item so you probably want to use it on something else.

252+ Atk Golem-Alola Stone Edge vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Marowak-Alola: 164-194 (98.2 - 116.1%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

Life Orb again guarantees the OHKO (if you hit) so that's another reason to use it. You get destroyed by Bonemarang so hopefully you're faster.

If your opp is using both fast Cele AND Marowak then you're gonna lose I guess. Using Golem on a Trick Room team could be cool though. But yeah Golem hits Cele+Wak's common teammates really hard except Chomp so it's pretty cool for those teams. So if you hate facing those give Golem a try.

Bonus calc:

252+ Atk Magnet Galvanize Golem-Alola Explosion vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Porygon2: 178-210 (92.7 - 109.3%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

You guessed it; Life Orb guarantees the OHKO.

 

[Kanon90]

Thanks for the input guys and yeah the autonomize LO set I am using isn't bringing up good results as you say. I will give a try to the cant say's set since it seems interesting.

Edit : What about defensive Arcanine set(full investment on defense and hp i presume)

 

[3heartschall]

I've been using a specific set of Tapu fini, it provides excelent way to deal with +1/2 setup physical mons, like Garchomp and salamence.

Tapu Fini @ Icinium Z
252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpAtk Bold Nature
- Nature Madness
- Scald/Hydro Pump
- Haze
- Ice Beam

The idea is simple, switch to a mon that probably will setup. Take one hit and use the Z-Haze, it will erase all stats changes and recover tapu fini's health. Since the majority of setup are 4x weakness to ice, use Ice Beam. It does work even with cloyster or Gyarados, if u keep using the Haze. The problem of this set is the lack of any recovery method after Z-Haze, so it must be used carefully. Its outclassed by P2, but Water/Fairy typing + misty terrain could synergy with ur own setup, protecting it from brun, paralysis or burn. I've been using it with A-Marowak (which protects Fini from electric moves) and still working on. Nature Madness against other Bulky mons.

Scald loss its effect during Misty Terrain, but can burn Celesteela during a switch. There was a particular situation against a Mega-scizor where he kept SD. I was using haze till the Misty terrain effect be over, then proceded to Scald, which burned him.

+1 252+ Atk Aerilate Salamence-Mega Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 144-171 (81.3 - 96.6%)
+2 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 112-133 (63.2 - 75.1%)
+4 252+ Atk Technician Scizor-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 124-147 (70 - 83%)
+2 252+ Atk Cloyster Rock Blast (5 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Tapu Fini: 85-105 (48 - 59.3%)

 

[Bench Warmer]

I got it from a random internet giveaway, but I've grown to be very fond of +SpD Celesteela and would continue to use it over other variants.

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Careful
252 HP/252 SpD/4 Spe
Heavy Slam
Toxic
Leech Seed
Flamethrower

Nothing special about the set or EVs but I figure I should post exactly what I'm using. Physical Fire and Electric mons are very rare outside of A-Marowak and I've gotten clutch victories solely because it can survive unboosted SE moves including non-STAB Burn Up Arcanine and avoiding OHKOs from mons like Chandelure and Tapu Koko most of the time. Obviously I'm not meaning to tank those moves but it has been very useful to set up Toxic or Leech Seed for a wincon ally (usually Toxapex or LO Tapu Koko). Meanwhile, it does just fine against the gamut of mons it generally is supposed to wall, though I have to be more careful of mons packing strong neutral Rock and Fighting moves than the typical Relaxed Celesteela would. Relaxed Celesteela loses to this as does P2 if it doesn't get its SpA Download boost (it won't if it switches in).

I prefer Careful over Sassy atm, because I like beating base 60s. Actually Sassy is only worth running if you are using Fire Blast, which scores a 2HKO on 4 HP Megagross and OHKO on 252 HP/116 SpD Mega Scizor. I prefer reliable accuracy and winning some speed wars so that's fine with me.

 

[Theorymon]

So when I was getting ready for that SM Kickoff tour by practicing on the ladder, I noticed an unusual amount of Goodra. They seem to be pretty bulky ones too, since my Tapu Koko failed to 2HKO them with Dazzling Gleam. Not sure if it's worth much post-bank, but I have to admit: its access to Sludge Bomb is really cool against Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu. Does anyone know what EVs they're running?

(also, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!)

 

[Theorymon]

Sorry for the double post, but this is too cool not to share! Me and DragonWhale where just talking about random stuff, and I asked about Japanese resources. He linked me to this site.

http://altema.jp/pokemon-sunmoon/

Here's a link to their analyses too: http://altema.jp/pokemon-sunmoon/ikuseiron_top

This appears to be a strategy wiki for Pokemon Sun and Moon. They already have over 100 analyses for Pokemon up! Now note, since this is a wiki, not everything is going to be perfect here. Notice the stars as well: People are voting on which analyses they think are the best with them. This is NOT an indication of the quality of the Pokemon. For example, just because the Incineroar analysis has 4 stars doesn't mean that its a "4 star" Pokemon, its because the analysis itself is "4 stars" in quality.

I also stumbled upon a usage list / viability list article. Here's a link: http://altema.jp/pokemon-sunmoon/saikyopokemon-870

They mention usage below 10th, but since I don't think Pokemon below the top 10 have been released, I think the rest are guesswork. Regardless, while most of the ones below the top 10 are pretty common sense, there are some unexpected ones too such as Snorlax in "A", and Araquanid above Azumarill o_O.

There is probably a lot of cool stuff to find in this site (maybe we could find some interesting sets as an example). Even with my 0 understanding of Japanese, I'm finding interesting stuff using the jank of Google translate. People with better understanding of Japanese might find a lot of value in this website!

EDIT: This appears to have some teams that are rated over 2000 o_O. http://altema.jp/pokemon-sunmoon/saikyouparty-887

 

[Johta]

So when I was getting ready for that SM Kickoff tour by practicing on the ladder, I noticed an unusual amount of Goodra. They seem to be pretty bulky ones too, since my Tapu Koko failed to 2HKO them with Dazzling Gleam. Not sure if it's worth much post-bank, but I have to admit: its access to Sludge Bomb is really cool against Tapu Koko and Tapu Bulu. Does anyone know what EVs they're running?

(also, HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!)

252 HP / 252 SpA, Modest + Assault Vest for sure—no other spread beats the Tapus 100% of the time. There's really no secret to using Goodra, though. Some Def investment could be made but overall you're still getting 2HKO'd by most physical hits so it's generally not worth it ( trust me, I tried ).

 

[TheKampi6]

Hi, today I played against a guy that used Aegislash with a special build :
He played with this build (I don't really know about EV's repartition but i think he did like this) :

OP Shield (Aegislash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- King's Shield
- Toxic
- Iron Defense

He always start with Toxic, and after he just spammed the other moves, in BSS he were just unkillable even with priority, with King Shield he counters a lot of physical Pokemon and if by chance you success to do one move one him he just have to spam Protect and King Shield and he regen easily with his Leftovers.

 

[elnimio]

that's horribly obnoxious

 

[Doobzi]

It is completely walled by steel and poison types though.

 

[cant say]

Hi, today I played against a guy that used Aegislash with a special build :
He played with this build (I don't really know about EV's repartition but i think he did like this) :

OP Shield (Aegislash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- King's Shield
- Toxic
- Iron Defense

He always start with Toxic, and after he just spammed the other moves, in BSS he were just unkillable even with priority, with King Shield he counters a lot of physical Pokemon and if by chance you success to do one move one him he just have to spam Protect and King Shield and he regen easily with his Leftovers.

Protect and King's Shield on the same set doesn't make sense. Are you sure it wasn't Substitute or Shadow Ball? Also, investing in both defensive stats like that on Aegi actually gives less bulk than just investing in HP due to its low base HP stat and super high defensive stats in shield forme. That's why the best SubToxic Aegi spread is 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Timid.

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 4 HP / 252 Def Aegislash-Shield: 102-122 (75 - 89.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

4 SpA Garchomp Fire Blast vs. 4 HP / 252 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 44-52 (32.3 - 38.2%) -- 1.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

vs

252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 122-146 (73 - 87.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

4 SpA Garchomp Fire Blast vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Aegislash-Shield: 50-60 (29.9 - 35.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

[I dont care]

Protect is for what? Stalling and avoiding in the same time status move?
I don't think this set have any chance.

 

[elnimio]

I'm so tired of Glalie users always getting lucky and beating me every damn time. How do I stop that cancer? I swear everytime they get the speed boost + the evasiveness in their 1st and second turns.

 

[jroxas]

I'm so tired of Glalie users always getting lucky and beating me every damn time. How do I stop that cancer? I swear everytime they get the speed boost + the evasiveness in their 1st and second turns.

Aegislash or Kartana using Sacred Sword

Tapu Fini with Haze or A-Muk with Clear Smog

Any fighting or steel-type that is faster (Pheromosa, Mega Lucario, etc.)

 

[DragonWhale]

I'm so tired of Glalie users always getting lucky and beating me every damn time. How do I stop that cancer? I swear everytime they get the speed boost + the evasiveness in their 1st and second turns.

Cloyster quarter-resists frost breath, is immune to sheer cold, and can kill through substitutes. Glalie gives it a free setup opportunity.

Once pokebank comes out there'll be cool infiltrators like chandelure. Toxic spikes might be an interesting counter strategy as well.

 

[cant say]

#freevolcarona

 

[elnimio]

Cloyster quarter-resists frost breath, is immune to sheer cold, and can kill through substitutes. Glalie gives it a free setup opportunity.

Once pokebank comes out there'll be cool infiltrators like chandelure. Toxic spikes might be an interesting counter strategy as well.

Wow, I just saw that Ice-types are immune to Sheer Cold this generation. Fantastic.

 

[Theorymon]

To add to this, I actually saw a few stall teams with Lapras on the higher end of the ladder. That thing totally stonewalls Glalie, and as a bonus, its pretty damn good at abusing Sheer Cold itself!