Fellow Smogon pokéfans,
As promised a more detailed look into what’s behind the team that’s currently in first place when it comes to the Super Multi Battle Maison (post #5182).
Pre-streak Planning Phase
Before Draco and I start a team, we spend a few months brainstorming about what it would take for a team to reach the number one spot. The Super Multi version of any Maison/Subway/Tower takes a mind-blowing amount of time, with the forced animations and what not. It’s also something you have to meet up for every time you intend to continue the streak, so we prefer not to take things lightly and waste hundreds of hours only to be crushed by the Chatelaine.
Early on in our preparation, Draco was saying how impressed he’d been with his Salamence Mega (see also his Super Single 107-Streak). I checked it out on Smogon and indeed, Salamence is impressive. It’s like a legendary that you can breed to your heart’s content. So it was decided: we’d make this team all about him.
We have some requirements when it comes to the BM as well:
- Always carry Fake Out;
- 100% accuracy = the minimum percentage;
- The second line of Pokémon is intended for switching purposed, so they need to resist or be immune to what the front line fears;
- Intimidate is strongly preferred on the second line;
- 50% special attackers, 50% physical attackers;
- Every Pokémon has at least one physical or special attack (for Taunt);
- Given the move versatility of Water Pokémon and the numerous advantages of being a Water type, we always use one ourselves and have a means to punish the opponents’.
We figured Salamence would be amazing at taking out Fighting Pokémon, so we soon decided on a Fighting-weak front line. Salamence would be a switch-in for Fighting Pokémon. The Super Multi allows for two Megas on your team of four, so Kangaskhan was a no-brainer. It took us a while to come up with Greninja after, but with its Dark typing, Godlike ability Protean and nigh-perfect attacking stats it became rather clear that it would be the perfect match for both Salamence and Kangaskhan. Opting for these two, we also ticked quite a few of our required boxes.
With one slot left, we began discussing the possibility of the front line being wiped out by a collection of legendary Pokémon. What chance would Salamence have then, with its 4x Ice weakness? Very little, generally. So we had to divert the attention paid to Salamence to the other Pokémon. It took me some time to come up with Clefable, who filled the missing role. Follow Me literally diverts all attention from Salamence. Clefable is awesome as a switch-in for Kangaskhan, as it resists Fighting moves. So it was decided and the team was complete.
Individual Pokémon Notes
Greninja @ Focus Sash
Ability: Protean
EV’s: SP.ATT and SPEED
Timid Nature
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Protect
The pinnacle of special attackers, Protean Greninja has more STABs than any other Pokémon in the game. Focus Sash generally allows it to hit at least twice. 1 HP Protects are a sure way to mess with the computer AI.
We originally went for Extrasensory, feeling that it would be great to punish the Fighting Pokémon that were bound to show up against a Normal and a Dark Pokémon, given the BM’s propensity to choose STABs that will hurt you. This was a serious miscalculation on our part that we quickly set right. Not only does Extrasensory make the AI less likely to send out Fighting Pokémon, it’s also just too weak to dish out any sort of punishment. Draco was unhappy with the move and pointed out that Grass Knot would be a superior choice in almost every way. He was right:
- It allows us to seriously damage Water Pokémon (requirement);
- It annihilates Ground-Water Pokémon, which is strongly recommended;
- It’s amazing against legendaries, who tend to weigh a lot;
- It allows Greninja to turn from a Water Pokémon into a Grass Pokémon, which is a fantastic option to have against Electric attacks (it’s also great against Earthquake);
- It’s generally a very damaging move, given the heavy Pokémon that hang around in the BM.
Grass Knot turned out to be astonishingly good besides Ice Beam and Surf. Great targets include Terrakion, Rhyperior, all Water Pokémon, Regirock/Registeel/Regigigas, Raikou/Suicune.
Ice Beam was the most used move in our streak. It’s spectacular, but I guess this is not news.
Mega Kangashkan @ Mega stone
Ability: Scrappy / Parental Bond
Jolly Nature
EV’s: ATTACK and SPEED
- Return
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Sucker Punch
So pretty much everything has been said about this one by now. This particular build focuses on longevity, with Return over Double-Edge to save your HP. Drain Punch helps Kangaskhan to last longer by the syphoned HP. Sucker Punch finishes off low-HP opponents and halts Dragon Dance Pokémon that have been damaged by Greninja, allowing Kangaskhan to remain in battle longer than its average bulk should allow for.
Special mention should be made of the Surf + Drain Punch combo. Greninja can use Surf and damage Kangaskhan, who will then simply steal the missing HP back from the enemies. A common and very damaging strategy.
Mega Salamence @ Mega stone
Ability: Intimidate / Aerilate
Adamant Nature
EV’s: ATTACK, SPEED, HP
- Return
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
There’s good news and bad news here. The Adamant nature with incomplete Speed EVs means that without a Dragon Dance, Salamence isn’t really all that fast. This leaves it open to faster Pokémon with Ice attacks, which is a serious risk. Draco’s calculations are based on a required Dragon Dance. After dancing even once, the story is the complete reverse. Salamence will outspeed anything of 130 base speed, regardless of the IVs/EVs. The Adamant nature now shines, with a maximum damage output. Aerilated Return is absurdly powerful.
Note the synergy between Clefable and Salamence. Clefable will divert 90% of all attacks to itself, allowing Salamence its required Dragon Dance. But Salamence’s Intimidate allows Clefable to sponge physical attacks that much more easily. Dragon moves targeting Salamence are the best here, with Clefable’s new Fairy typing. But that dream hardly ever came to life.
Earthquake deals with Poison and Steel types which might otherwise threaten Clefable. Roost provides longevity, but up to this point we’re not sure if Protect might not just be better. For now we’ll accept that it’s done the job.
Clefable @ Lum Berry
Ability: Magic Guard
Bold Nature
EV’s: HP, DEF, SP.DEF
- Cosmic Power
- Follow Me
- Rest
- Moonblast
I invested full EVs in HP and then used an EV/IV calculator to spread the final EVs out across the two defences so that both were almost equal. They ended up at 129 and 130.
Follow Me will make sure the partner Pokémon is ignored and Clefable’s maximum bulk ensures that this will happen turn after turn. Getting in even one Cosmic Power increases Clefable’s bulk to impressive levels, especially Intimidate-neutered physical attacks.
Lum Berry may seem out of place here, given Leftovers’ obvious power. Initial testing revealed that the BM AI will literally pile on the Paralysis and Confusion moves to deal with Follow Me. It was so bad, that we even considered dropping Clefable for a while, being turned off by the prospect of always having to battle status teams. In the second test run, I tried out Lum Berry, stipulating that this would at least enable Clefable to use Follow Me twice. As it turns out, the item switch completely turns around the BM AI strategy, and we saw close to zero use of movement-impairing status. So Lum Berry it was and we never looked back. Lum Berry is also fine with Rest.
Speaking about status, this is where Clefable’s ability Magic Guard absolutely shines. Use Toxic on it and the Lum Berry will trigger. Use Toxic on it again, and it will become poisoned with zero damage. Follow Me will then force the opponents to keep using Toxic on it, theoretically creating infinite free turns. The same is true for Will o’ Wisp.
Moon Blast is there to not be completely shut down by Taunt. It’s a fair STAB move with a coveted extra effect in that it gives Clefable even more longevity. Video 6RFW-WWWW-WW57-JKC5, a battle against two Veterans, displays how incredibly tough and important Clefable is.
Regular Tactics
- Quite frequently, the damage output from the front line Pokémon will be too much for the opposing Pokémon to deal with and they are simply wiped out. We have provided a video of this where the enemies in round 209 did not even move once: DJ3W-WWWW-WW57-JKEV.
- In other cases, we will delete one trainer, to make sure we can safely switch to Salamence + Clefable. In most cases, the BM isn’t even remotely equipped to deal with this. This can be seen in video of round 208: EXGW-WWWW-WW57-JKR8.
- Given Clefable’s bulk, it’s a regular occurrence that it will use Follow Me up to eight times in a row, allowing for a maximum number of Dragon Dances or, in the case of Greninja, special attacks.
- If Greninja has 1 HP, this is fantastic for the team. We will use Protect to either enable Kangaskhan to knock opponents out, or switch to Clefable. In the latter case, Clefable will follow up by using Follow Me, allowing Greninja to once more dish out some serious damage. Next, we will use Protect again, to sneak in a Cosmic Power. After that, we repeat the previous moves. 1 HP Greninja is actually quite sure to survive in these instances.
- Surf + Drain Punch (see above)
Threats & Sad Saps
We’ve recognized four different threats:
1. Blizzard – Follow Me provides no defence against it and with BM hax it has threatening accuracy and freeze chances. Articuno and Glaceon are the biggest issues here, as they carry Stab Blizzard and have amazing and good bulk, respectively.
2. Focus Blast – It crushes Kangaskhan and is run by so many Pokémon that it’s hard to play around. Choice Scarf Landorus is a good example.
3. Terrakion – Again, this one wipes out Kangaskhan. We have to choice but to use Fake Out and Grass Know on it instantly.
4. Volcarona – Much less of a threat, but still noteworthy. This one has enough bulk to get a Quiver Dance through, after which things can become unpleasant. We use Surf + Return in this case.
Besides threats, there’s also plenty of hilarity to be found in the BM. Some strategies are just so laughably bad against our team that we’d like to share them.
- There’s nothing quite like a Metagross craftily using Trick against two Mega Pokémon, only to see it fail and attempt the same thing the next turn.
- Ah, Spiritomb. Will o’ Wisp doesn’t work on Clefable. Not even after your tenth attempt. Neither does using Sucker Punch or Pain Split, for that matter. Was it frustration that you used Will o’ Wisp on your ally instead? We like to think so.
- Trick Room was the most used strategy against our team but it simply doesn’t work. Greninja will easily work its way out of it via Protect and Kangaskhan can just allow itself to get hit to syphon the HP back afterwards. Sucker Punch ignores Trick Room and is great against the Pokémon setting it up (Slowbro/king, Dusknoir, Reuniclus). Finally, Clefable is so slow that a Trick Room means it can get a Cosmic Power through before getting hit. Follow Me has priority.
- There’s a really odd Dusknoir who’ll first use Trick Room and will then start spamming Shadow Sneak. Quite the strategy we’ve got here.
- Dragons and Ghosts proved to be completely irrelevant. Greninja easily disposes of Dragons and Kangaskhan, either in its pre-mega form or via Sucker Punch, takes care of Ghosts.
- Our absolute favourite was the concept of ‘Worst. Ally. Ever.’ Sometimes, the BM will choose to use Protect on turn one. It’s like the BM is saying to its partner, ‘Yeah, you’ve got this bro!’ and then contentedly looks on as its partner is ripped to shreds by a boxing Kangaroo and a Frog Ninja. Protect Pokémon are easily predicted and as such this strategy will never work out well.
- Will someone either remove Flareon from the BM or put it out of its misery? It stinks and will never, ever be a threat to anyone.
- To round off, Explosion users were also quite the oddity. Why run Explosion on a Forretress? It’s SO WEAK. Even its Custap Berry is predictable. But at least that’s some sort of strategy. The Skuntank is like the worst type of ally as well. ‘Screw this, you’re on your own!’ BOOM!!! Zero damage to the Greninja using Protect, negligible damage to Kangaskhan. GG.
