This guide intends to provide a very basic introduction to Super Singles play in the Battle Maison. While facilities like the Maison have been part of Pokemon since all the way back in Crystal, many players, even good competitive ones, don't really know where to begin when trying to put together a winning team. While you have the huge advantage of playing against the game's weak AI, you only have three Pokemon to work with, and you'll have to handle a wide variety of threats, prepare to face many unusual movesets, items, and abilities, and overcome runs of bad luck if you want to put together a lengthy streak. This requires different teambuilding and play strategies than does 6 on 6 play against another human.
First, the rules. In Maison Super Singles, you match three of your Pokemon (autoleveled down to 50 if above that level) against three level 50 opposing Pokemon. Event and title legendaries are banned, as is Soul Dew, and you cannot use two of the same Pokemon or same item. Unlike matches with Team Preview, you do not see your opponents' Pokemon in advance. Teams typically are built in one of two ways: 1) Cripple the opponent's lead, taking advantage of the AI's unwillingness to switch out in most circumstances, and then set up a sweeper or 2) Build a good-stuff/synergy team of three powerful Pokemon that are super reliable and cover each other's weaknesses.
In previous generations, cripple-and-set-up was the more successful strategy, but so far, this generation has rewarded good-stuff teams. With more abilities to worry about (since opposing Pokemon now have access to their hidden abilities), and more ways around classic cripple moves (sound moves and Inflitrator bypassing Substitute, and Roar and Whirlwind bypassing Protect, for example), an all-your-eggs-in-one-basket strategy is a lot more risky over a long streak than it used to be. Still, crippling remains viable, particularly with a Durant, but it's nice that the best beginning strategy (good-stuff attacking) is also the strategy that's had the most overall success in Super Singles.
For a basic good-stuff team, you'll want one hard hitter that can KO a lot of opposing Pokemon on its own, one bulky pivot that can help handle the Pokemon that your primary sweeper can't handle, and a third Pokemon, bulky or hard hitting, to help fill in the gaps. Because you only have three Pokemon on your team, it's vital that you minimize any glaring weaknesses, and have at least a reasonable play line against all the Pokemon you may face. For example, no matter how strong your team is against everything else, if you have little chance to beat a Timid Starmie, your run is doomed, as you will run into one long before you can put together a massive streak. Accordingly, when teambuilding, it's well worth reviewing Team Rocket Elite's complete list of Maison Pokemon and their four possible sets each (available
HERE) for threats to your proposed squad. Pay special heed to the fourth set (e.g. Scizor4) for normal Pokemon and the first and second sets for legendary Pokemon, since these are the sets you'll face most often after battle 40, but recognize that legendary sets 3 and 4 still appear fairly frequently, and certain trainers, particularly those focusing in just a few types of Pokemon, have access to regular Pokemon with sets 1, 2, and 3 even deep into a streak. While some enemy sets will of course only be threatening to certain teams, others are dangerous enough that nearly any team you build should plan a strategy for handling them in advance. Starmie4, Donphan4, Walrein4, Volcarona4, and Tyrantrum4 top my personal threat checklist, but other major threats regularly discussed by experienced Battle Maison players include Terrakion3, Jynx4, Garchomp4, Tornadus1, Aerodactyl4, Zapdos2, Latios2 and 3, Thundurus2, Cresselia2, Darmanitan4, and Barbaracle4. VaporeonIce wrote an excellent guide to these most dangerous streak-stoppers (available
HERE), and reviewing it while teambuilding can save you from some painful premature losses later on.
Just as in competitive play, natures, IVs and EVs matter a lot. Though your opponents in early rounds will have imperfect IVs, after battle 40, your foes will have perfectly IVed Pokemon. Accordingly, using Pokemon with bad IVs will put you at a big disadvantage. Depending on your matchup, losing just a few points of Speed can turn outspeeding your opponent into being outsped, while the loss of just a little Attack might turn a guaranteed OHKO into a 2HKO. Take the time to breed for near perfect IVs. It is well worth it. While this was a huge hassle in previous generations if you didn't RNG, the new breeding mechanics, particularly the use of Destiny Knot, make it relatively easy to breed Pokemon with 5 perfect IVs, with the imperfect one in the unused Attack or Special Attack stat. Better still, the more quality Pokemon you breed, the faster future breeding projects will go, as you'll have more well IVed parents available. Choose your EVs and nature with care as well. While maxing Speed and an attacking stat for offensive Pokemon and HP and a defensive stat for defensive ones can be correct, the best spreads are often based around specific threats that need to be outsped. Snail489's Maison Speed Tiers list (available
HERE) can be very useful in figuring out what speeds you should EV your Pokemon to achieve.
In designing and playing your team, you need to focus on reducing variance, even at the cost of expected value. In competitive battles, for example, the extra OHKOs that Fire Blast nets typically make it better than Flamethrower, even with its 15% miss chance. But in the Maison, your team should already have the edge over the AI in the "average" state of the world thanks to your human intelligence in building and playing your team, so you need to minimize the harm in the "unlucky" state of the world. With Fire Blast, it's only a matter of time before you'll miss twice in a row (which will happen in 2.25% of Fire Blast pairs), and if you plan to win hundreds of battles in a row, it's a near certainty that this will happen at some point in your streak. Using 100% accurate moves is one of the most important ways of reducing variance, so be wary of trying a set that regularly needs to use inaccurate attacks. Even 90% accuracy can be remarkably risky. You're going to be stuck missing sometimes thanks to the occasional Lax Incense or Double Team using foe; there's no reason to increase this with unreliable moves, especially when an untimely miss can cost you a streak.
Critical hits, flinches, stat drops, and other secondary effects of an enemy's attacks are similarly a big source of variance, so you also need to be prepared to minimize their risk. Using powerful and speedy offensive Pokemon is one good way of doing this, as a foe can't hax you if you outspeed and OHKO it. Substitute can provide protection from unexpected otherwise-fatal critical hits, and it also blocks status moves and secondary effect stat drops and status from attacking moves. On bulkier setup Pokemon, Rest can heal an unexpected statusing, and better still, while your Pokemon is resting, it cannot be re-statused. Lum Berry can likewise heal unexpected status, while Focus Sash can save you from being OHKOed by an untimely crit.
Conservative play is also a means of reducing variance. While your lead may be able to immediately attack and kill your opponent's lead, a seemingly appealing option, if you can switch in another Pokemon and safely set up against your opponent, your battle may go a bit more slowly, but you'll be much better positioned against your opponent's future Pokemon, and accordingly, there will be fewer ways for bad luck in the remainder of the battle to hurt you. A +6 / +6 Suicune behind a Substitute fears very little, for example, while there's plenty of second Pokemon that can wreck your lead Dragonite if you immediately Outraged for an OHKO. In short, make sure that you are not mistaking the laziest play for the best one. Conversely, in other situations attacking directly will be the conservative play. Trying to squeeze in a second or third Dragon Dance and then fainting to a crit is a great way to turn a win into a loss. Getting greedy when a set up is not truly safe, or trying plays that depend heavily on correctly predicting a series of moves by your opponent (collectively, "getting cute") are the opposite of conservative play, and should be avoided.
One exception to the guideline of avoiding overly predictive plays is when you can switch-stall to drain the PP from a Pokemon who threatens multiple members of your team (but with different moves). Since the AI strongly favors attacking for the KO whenever possible, if there is only one move in your foe's set that will KO your current Pokemon, the AI will almost always choose that move. Thus, if you have a teammate who is immune or heavily resistant to that move, you can switch it in safely. Just switching to a teammate who is immune to the incoming attack is bread-and-butter Pokemon, the sort of play that any experienced trainer can make in his or her sleep, but a safe switch-in alone is not always enough to help you. Your opponent may have a second move that threatens your switched-in teammate, meaning you can't take profitable advantage of the single switch. Thankfully, (particularly with good team design) your Pokemon's resistances and immunities may synergize to the extent that your original Pokemon is immune or resistant to the move that now threatens your switch-in. In this situation, you can switch back to your original Pokemon and safely blank the second attack. If you continue to switch back and forth between the two Pokemon in this manner, you can then stall out at least one of the threatening moves, and position yourself for a safe set up. Dragonite and Aegislash stalling out an Earthquake / Stone Edge user is a classic example of this, but there are others, so keep this tactic in mind when developing strategies against foes with broad coverage that appear to threaten multiple members of your team. Just be sure (conservative play once again!) that the repeated switching really is safe, as a bunch of not very effective hits can wear down your Pokemon, and you greatly increase the chance of eating a crippling freeze or burn as an additional effect when you switch into moves multiple times.
Continuing on the subject of making the best play decisions, knowing the specific set that the Pokemon you are facing is using really helps in determining the optimal line of play. Be sure to pay attention to the opposing trainer's name when the battle starts (don't zone out in the moments between battles!), because each named enemy trainer has access to a specific list of Pokemon sets. Search for the trainer's name in Team Rocket Elite's Maison trainer list (available
HERE), and see what sets are available for the Pokemon you are facing in the named trainer's list. Much of the time, there will only be one set available for each Pokemon, letting you easily pull up the set from the Maison Pokemon List to see that Pokemon's specific moves, nature, item, and EVs. Opposing Pokemon split their EVs evenly between the two (255 each) or three (170 each) listed stats, so if you need to calculate the foe's exact stats, it is easy to do so. (Where you are just concerned with whether or not you outspeed a given set, it's faster to just use the Speed Tiers list linked above). The more you play, the more you'll start to remember which trainers have access to which sets (again, most late stage trainers just have access to Set 4), what you can OHKO, and what you can outspeed, and you'll find yourself consulting the lists a lot less, but it's a good idea to get into the habit of checking frequently early on. Better to spend a little extra time reminding yourself of the set you are facing than to blow a streak to an avoidable mistake.
Though knowing what you are up against is trivial when your opponent only has one possible set for each Pokemon on his list, some regular trainers, and ALL legendary trainers (Veterans) have access to multiple sets for the same Pokemon. This can be a big problem, as the correct strategy against one set may leave you horribly vulnerable against another, and even if you figure out what you're up against after a single move, you may already be way behind. Chose your moves very carefully in these circumstances, since you want to be sure you minimize the harm should you pick a suboptimal move against the actual set you are facing. Ask yourself "what's the worst thing that can happen if I pick this move and face the wrong set?" and then make the choice that minimizes this possible harm. Remember, you have at most six options to consider (four attacks and two switches), so this is not an overwhelming exercise. Even where predicting the foe's set correctly can give you an easy set up, it's usually correct to minimize variance by focusing on ensuring the least ugly bad state of the world rather than the most beautiful good state. When this approach doesn't yield a good answer, and I remain stumped on my best plan, I usually just chose to attack, since whatever else happens, the extra damage will usually help out my next Pokemon, while trying to set up when success is not guaranteed often means throwing away a Pokemon with no benefit at all to its teammates.
The danger of these situations is a key reason why it's important to correctly identify and take advantage of matchups where you can safely set up. While getting cute and trying to set up when it's not really safe is usually a very bad idea, more likely to cost you a streak than steal you a win, maximizing your ability to seize safe setup opportunities helps limit the dangers from your opponent's remaining Pokemon. Once a sweeper is fully set up, it can often just brute force its way through all of the possible sets your opponent's second and third Pokemon can run, even if you are not sure which of these sets the foe is running. Without being set up, you're stuck in the land of making a prediction and playing to minimize the harm if you are wrong, a far more dangerous position. A lengthy (but sure) set up is almost always a better choice than a quick OHKO against Veteran trainers, since there are many ways things can turn ugly when you are sitting unboosted, facing powerful second and third foes, and can't immediately identify their sets. Time may indeed be the great equalizer in the Maison, to paraphrase Jumpman16, but where spending a little extra time can heavily reduce your risks, it's a price worth paying.
Even when you know your foe's set, remember that there's all sorts of oddities you may forget or lose track of, especially since opponents now have access to their hidden abilities and there are more unusual abilities and items available this generation than previously. Sound moves may kill you through your Substitute, Gale Wings Talonflame may wreck your fully set up Dragonite with priority Brave Bird, and so forth. Pay careful attention to the battle, so you don't risk missing something like Tailwind or Trick Room going into effect. Keep track of your opponents' possible abilities, so you don't accidentally do something foolish like triggering a Miltank's Sap Sipper with your Ferrothorn's Leech Seed. Remember that when one of a foe's possible abilities gives an immediate message (as is the case with Intimidate and Pressure), you can often deduce which ability a foe has the moment it enters play by the presence or absence of that message. Don't get careless against Pokemon with a Weakness Policy or Custap Berry, because though these items are easy to play around when you remember them, blindly attacking into them can spell big trouble. In short, pay attention, as even a brief moment of forgetfulness or carelessness can ruin a monster streak. While access to Mega Evolution gives you an edge in this generation compared to previous ones, the trade off you face is that there are a lot more things to watch out for, and more ways to be punished for sloppiness.
Eventually, even with great play, you are going to lose. As a rule of thumb, a good team's losses almost always involve some bad luck, but there's also usually a way you could have played or teambuilt around losing to that ill fortune. Accordingly, if you want to improve in the Maison, don't blindly blame hax for your losses, and instead consider what decisions you could have made differently that might have allowed you to win the battle. Sure, it's frustrating to lose to low probability events, but over a long streak, you are going to face a lot of them. Accept this, and work on minimizing the impact of these unlucky stretches, and you'll be well-positioned for Maison success.
The leaderboard gives some excellent team ideas, and is where you should start when designing a team, but on the subject of strong individual Pokemon, what follows is a list of (mostly) tried-and-true Maison Pokemon and their main advantages, disadvantages, moves, and play styles. While this list leans toward good-stuff Pokemon, I'll discuss Durant too, since so far this generation, the most successful pure cripple teams have relied on it. Note that I'll also discuss hybrid team members, who can play basic attacking roles against some foes while (partially) crippling others. Togekiss is one Pokemon who can run an effective hybrid set; Latios is another.
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Kangaskhan: By far the most potent new singles option of this generation, the Mashing Marsupial is an absolute beast thanks to its Mega Evolution. Curtesy of Parental Bond, Mega Kanga hits incredibly hard, turns Power-Up Punch into a damage dealing Swords Dance, and merrily breaks Substitutes, Sashes, and Sturdy Pokemon as she spreads her devastation. With good Speed, excellent bulk, and only one weakness, Kanga is very hard to take down, and has been the backbone of many top-level Maison teams. Pretty much all Kanga sets run Return, for its massive STAB damage and strong neutral coverage, and Sucker Punch, for its priority and ability to hit the Ghost-types that laugh at Return. The remaining two moves usually vary based upon what role Kanga is trying to play. Played as a setup sweeper, Kanga runs Power-Up Punch and either Crunch or Earthquake, while as a cleaner, designed to come in and finish off what her teammates can't, Fake Out and Earthquake are typically preferred. Both are wonderful options. Fake Out Kanga is extremely hard to beat one-on-one, as STAB Parental Bond Fake Out opens up most foes to being KOed on the following attack, while Power-Up Punch Kanga can sweep many teams with ease after a single boost, and is able to set up even through the normally frustrating Trick, Taunt, and Encore. While like most sweepers, Kanga does not enjoy being statused, the priority on Sucker Punch at least provides some resilience against paralysis. Adamant guarantees you some more KOs, and Speed is irrelevant when using Sucker Punch, but Jolly does help you outspeed some hard-hitting Fighting-type threats like Heracross and Gallade on the first turn of battle, since your improved speed from mega evolving is only figured in on the following turn. As Fighting-type moves are Kanga's only weakness, she attracts a lot of them, so be sure to pair her with a Fighting immune or resistant partner.
Aegislash: Another new addition this generation, Aegislash is the Ghost / Steel type many have long desired. While slow, Aegislash is wonderfully bulky in Shield forme and a hard hitter in Blade forme. Typical sets run Shadow Sneak, for STAB priority, Sacred Sword for its excellent coverage, King's Shield for stalling and lowering the opponent's Attack, and Swords Dance for sweeping power. Iron Head is an option as well. Even with Steel losing its resistances to Dark and Ghost-type attacks, Aegislash still has an impressive resistance spread, and can wall and set up on many things. Ideally, Aegislash comes in on a physical attacker, cripples its Attack stat with King's Shield on a contact move, sets up with Swords Dance, and then begins attacking. Even when Aegislash cannot fully set up, it's both bulky and hard-hitting enough to take out many foes. To ease setting up and enable recovery, Leftovers is the preferred item on Aegislash, and it combos well with the extra turns gained by using King's Shield. Aegislash wants an Attack boosting nature, but both Adamant and Brave are viable options. Adamant outspeeds a few more things, but the majority of enemies will still be faster than you. Given that Aegislash stays in Shield Form until it attacks, it's often advantageous for Aegislash to be slower than its foe when it is using Sacred Sword, so that it can take that turn's attack while still in Shield Form. This cuts in favor of a Brave nature with zero Speed IVs, which also has corner-case utility against opposing Trick Room teams. Aegislash must be careful against opponents with status moves, since King's Shield does not block them, but while it hates being burned, Aegislash is immune to Toxic and only really minds being paralyzed when it loses a turn to full paralysis. Aegislash's biggest flaw as a Physical wall is its vulnerability to the extremely common Earthquake. Since the move does not make contact, King's Shield does not cripple Earthquake users, and even in Shield Form, Earthquake badly dents Aegislash. Accordingly, Aegislash really wants to be paired with a Flying or Levitating teammate. Dragonite, in particular, combos very well.
Dragonite: Dragonite remains a great choice even after the introduction of the Fairy-type. The smiling Dragon hits like a truck, particularly after a Dragon Dance or two, and it is extremely difficult to OHKO thanks to Multiscale. After just one Dance, Dragonite outspeeds and OHKOes a lot of the Maison, and after a second, very few things can survive it, absent a Focus Sash or Sturdy. Movewise, Outrage is your preferred STAB due to its incredible power, and Dragon Dance is a must for letting you outspeed and sweep through foes. Typical offensive sets round out their coverage with Earthquake and Fire Punch, but Extreme Speed can be used to dent priority using or speedy foes, Dragon Claw gives you a solid STAB without locking you into a move, and Roost gives you the chance to abuse Multiscale several times while playing a bulkier role. Adamant with max Attack and Speed is the default for pure offensive Dragonite, but particularly for Roost sets, more HP works well too. Lum Berry is probably the best choice of item, as it both protects against the confusion from Outrage and allows you to Dragon Dance safely even in the face of a status move from the opponent. The addition of the Fairy-type means that last generation's cripple-team staple of Dragon Claw / Dragon Dance / Substitute / Roost is no longer viable, but there are few enough Fairies in the Maison that Outrage is still fine when used in a normal attacking set. Dragonite's biggest weakness is its low base Speed. Because most other Maison Dragons can initially outspeed it, an unboosted Dragonite can take a lot of damage from an opposing Dragon, and crits can sometimes OHKO it even through Multiscale. Lots of Ice-type move users can outspeed you too. A Steel-type teammate can cover all of Dragonite's weaknesses, making one a recommended ally.
Suicune: My vote for best self-supporting Pokemon in the Maison. Even without any team support, Suicune can switch into and defeat a huge number of Maison Pokemon. Besides being able to counter many opponents, Suicune is often able to set up to the point that subsequent foes become pushovers as well, a big advantage compared to other bulky Water-types like Milotic. Water is an amazing defensive type, and coupled with Suicune's big defenses, Suicune can be very tough to take down. Scald, Calm Mind, and Rest are Suicune's staple moves, as they let you set up and then sweep in the face of many attacks. While I like Substitute as the fourth move, thanks to the protection it provides against crits and status and the "extra life" it gives against subsequent opponents, Icy Wind is a great alternative. The current top two singles streaks both use Icy Wind, which can help out by slowing speedy foes and giving good coverage against Dragon-types. Since Calm Mind boosts your Special stats, almost all Suicune run a Bold nature with near max HP and Defense to maximize their ability to tank Physical attacks, and a few EVs in Speed to avoid awkward speed ties. Leftovers and Chesto Berry are both good item choices. Leftovers helps over the course of long setups, and counteracts weather damage, while Chesto Berry is useful when trying to stall out Pokemon with one particularly threatening attack where two close succession Rests may be needed early in the setting up process. Note that Pressure, a normally unexciting ability, is pure gold on Suicune. Many Pokemon have only one move that can break Suicune's Substitute, particularly after a Calm Mind or two, and Pressure lets you stall out that move, and then easily set up to +6 / +6. Additionally, while there are more Pokemon immune to Water-type moves this generation, because your foes may now have their hidden abilities, this is not a big problem because Suicune, aided by Pressure, is able to beat most of these Pokemon by stalling them out.
Garchomp: With its typing, bulk, and power, Garchomp remains a strong candidate for Maison teams. With a Jolly nature and max Speed and Attack, it can outspeed many foes, and KO them with its powerful attacks. Garchomp's Ground and Dragon-type STABs cover a huge fraction of the Maison Pokemon, and corner case moves like Fire Fang and Rock Slide can handle the few that they don't. With Swords Dance and Life Orb or Lum Berry, Garchomp makes a great setup sweeper, as very few things can survive Garchomp's attacks at +2. Alternatively, with just a Choice Band, Garchomp's Outrange and Earthquake can OHKO a bunch of things. Only weak to Ice, Dragon, and Fairy-type moves, and blessed with substantial bulk, even when Garchomp isn't able to OHKO the opponent, most opponents won't be able to OHKO it either. Garchomp also plays very well with bulky Water-types. It is immune to the Electric-type attacks that they draw, while they resist the Ice-type attacks that destroy it. Like any Dragon, Garchomp fears faster Dragon-type attacks, so you may also want a Steel-type to help protect against opposing Latios and Latias or Choice Scarf Garchomp. Note that with the addition of the Fairy-type this generation, Garchomp is a little less powerful, and choice items are more of a liability, but Garchomp, even choiced, is still a potent option. Although Garchomp has the option to run a Mega Evolution, it's probably not the best idea. Garchomp really takes advantage of its unusual base 102 Speed, and Mega Chomp, being slower, is sadly outsped by many things that normal Chomp isn't. Save your Mega slot for something else. As for your choice of ability, be sure to run Rough Skin, as the damage-upon-contact proves relevant far more often than does the unreliable Sand Veil.
Greninja: With its incredible Speed, Greninja is faster than most of the Maison, and has sufficient type-coverage and attack power to get a lot of OHKOs, particularly with a boosting item. Greninja's biggest advantage over similar Pokemon like Starmie is the added punch from Protean, which essentially gives all of its attacks STAB, sometimes also turning the opponent's super effective counterattack into something not very effective. Although Grenjinja is capable of running a mixed or physical set, a special set is probably best, as it avoids awkward EV splitting and takes advantage of Greninja's higher Special Attack. Surf, Grass Knot, Ice Beam, Dark Pulse, and Extrasensory are your best move options, so choose according to the type of coverage your team needs. You'll want Timid as your ability since you'll be slower than a number of threats if Modest, but you can shave a few speed EVs for added HP if you want and still be able to outspeed the important stuff. Choice Specs lets you hit the hardest, while Life Orb lets you switch attacks and take optimal advantage of Protean. Focus Sash is also a reasonable choice. Greninja's weakness is that it can't boost and is really frail, so it is vulnerable to bulky Pokemon that can take a hit or Scarfed ones that can outspeed it. Since it depends heavily on its speed, paralysis wrecks it too.
Scizor: Excellent typing gives Scizor only one weakness and a lot of key resistances, and with Technician, its STAB moves Bug Bite and Bullet Punch pack a whollop. Better yet, Scizor gained a very potent Mega Evolution. Scizor can play a boosting tank type role with Roost and Swords Dance, or can replace Roost with Superpower for better coverage. It can switch into a lot of scary moves thanks to its typing, and especially after a Swords Dance, can take big advantage of priority Bullet Punch to KO a number of Pokemon before they can act. If you are using a Dragon, you'll likely want a Steel-type to cover its weaknesses, and Scizor is one of the best options available. Just make sure your team is not otherwise weak to Fire-type moves, since that 4x weakness hurts, and remember that Scizor no longer resists Ghost and Dark-type attacks. A typical set will run an Adamant nature with Max HP and Attack and 4 EV in Speed. Itemwise, the best choice is Scizorite, since Mega Scizor is faster, bulkier, and harder hitting than its regular cousin, but if you are already committed to another Mega Evolution on your team, Leftovers works well on the Roost variant while Life Orb is probably best on the Superpower one. Lum Berry is also reasonable, as Scizor hates being burned.
Durant: Durant takes advantage of the AI's unwillingness to switch out and thereby lets an allied Pokemon fully set up and attempt to sweep. With its hidden ability of Truant, Durant first uses Entrainment to pass Truant to the opponent. Durant then switches out while the opponent loafs around, and your new Pokemon is able to set up by alternating Protect on the turns your opponent acts and a boosting move on the turns your opponent loafs around. While Durant is already quite fast unaided, because of the importance of successfully firing off an Entrainment, you should run a Jolly Nature with a Choice Scarf and max (or near max) Speed. Protect should fill one moveslot to be your first turn move when the opponent naturally has the Truant ability (or Traces it), and the final two moves should be attacks like Iron Head and X-Scissor for the occasional circumstances where Durant may have to switch back in and finish something off. Durant is vulnerable to Pokemon that can interfere with a first turn Entrainment through moves like Protect and Fake Out or Prankster status moves, and also by moves or items that cause the victim to switch out or faint before there is time to set up, such as Volt Switch, Toxic Orb, Hi Jump Kick, and Explosion. U-turn is not normally an issue because Durant resists it and so the AI rarely will use it on the first turn, after which it won't matter since Protect will stop it from working on your setup Pokemon. Also note that Pokemon with Roar and Whirlwind can force out your sweeper even when it uses Protect. While the correct strategy against these sorts of complications depends heavily on the specific Pokemon you are facing, you will definitely want to review the Maison Pokemon list carefully to be sure your team has a plan for handling Pokemon which resist this Entrainment then set up strategy. One option is to use a second support Pokemon to help cripple, while another is to use sweepers that can cover each others' weakness and set up reasonably well unaided. Popular sweepers to partner with Durant include Mega Gyarados, Cloyster, Garchomp, and Dragonite, all of whom carry Protect, a setup move, and at least one attack. Remember that if you carry just a single attack on your sweeper, you need to be sure that nothing in the Maison is immune to it. Protect / Dragon Dance / Substitute / Dragon Claw Dragonite, perhaps the best choice for a Durant partner last generation, is no longer advisable because Fairy-types are immune to Dragon Claw.
Cloyster: After a single Shell Smash, Cloyster becomes a blazing fast and hard hitting beast. With Skill Link as its ability, Icicle Spear and Rock Blast both always hit five times, doing a ton of damage and breaking through both Focus Sashes and the Sturdy ability. Surf or Razor Shell provides additional coverage. Since Shell Smash lowers Cloyster's defenses, a typical tactic is to equip it with a Focus Sash and either lead with it or switch it in after a KO to ensure it can survive the Shell Smash turn. Cloyster dislikes opposing priority moves and status ailments, particularly paralysis, so it pairs well with Garchomp or other Ground-type Pokemon, which can switch in on a predicted Thunder Wave. Because Icicle Spear at +6 OHKOs most of the Maison, Cloyster is an excellent partner for Durant, though in that case you'll obviously want to run Protect instead of a Water-type move. For best sweeping potential, run an Attack boosting nature and max Attack and Speed EVs, with the choice between Adamant and Naughty determined by whether or not you run Surf. Remember that both Rock Blast and Razor Shell have imperfect accuracy, so avoid using them when Icicle Spear will also get the KO, a particularly common situation when you pair Cloyster with Durant and are able to fully set up.
Ferrothorn: Very bulky on both the physical and special sides, and its Grass typing removes the Ground weakness that most Steel-types hate. Because of its slow Speed, Ferrothorn's Gyro Ball can be extremely powerful, and Curse plays beautifully with it, not only boosting Ferrothorn's Attack and Defense, but also increasing Gyro Ball's power by dropping Speed. Ferrothorn can play a defensive stall role with Leech Seed and Substitute, or can broaden its attacking options with Power Whip, though the move has iffy accuracy. Ferrothorn's biggest disadvantages are that it lacks a reliable recovery move and its slow speed sometimes limits what it can set up on. The 4x weakness to Fire-type moves hurts too. Still, Ferrothorn stops a number of big threats cold, and makes a good choice of Steel-type. Since Ferrothorn can boost its Attack and Defense but not its Special Defense, you typically want a Special Defense boosting nature, while Gyro Ball means you want as low a Speed as possible. Accordingly, Sassy with 0 Speed IVs is your preferred nature, with maxed HP and Special Defense to maximize your special bulk. Itemwise, Leftovers is probably best, as it combines well with Leech Seed recovery, and Ferrothorn needs all the recovery it can get when trying to set up.
Gengar: Gengar has a wonderful Special Attack stat and great Speed, enabling it to outspeed threats like Infernape and the Musketeers. Its three immunities are really helpful too, and a small number of Pokemon in the Maison are unable to hurt Gengar at all. Unfortunately, it lacks a good boosting move and with the limited power and coverage of its STAB moves, a Life Orb or Choice Specs set won't grab as many OHKOs as you might want. Accordingly, Gengar works best as a lead with a Focus Sash, three damaging attacks, and Destiny Bond. Shadow Ball, Destiny Bond, and Thunderbolt are used in pretty much all sets of this sort. Last generation, the fourth slot was often filled with the horribly inaccurate Focus Blast for the coverage it provided against Steel-types, but in X and Y, since Shadow Ball now deals neutral damage to Steel-types, Gengar is free to use his Poison-type STAB and run Sludge Bomb, which hits the new Fairy-type super effectively. Dazzling Gleam and Energy Ball are also options if you want to dominate against Dragon-types or Water / Ground types. Against many foes, you can outspeed and 2HKO the lead, survive the first-turn counterattack thanks to your Sash, and then outspeed and KO the second opponent with Destiny Bond. This leaves you with a 2-1 advantage, typically a happy place to be in a battle. Even where you can't beat the opponent's lead, you can almost always at least trade with it thanks to Destiny Bond, meaning Gengar always helps a little. Since Gengar usually dies, however, you need to be really sure your remaining two Pokemon can cover as broad a range of threats as possible, since if the opponent's last Pokemon can beat both of Gengar's partners, you will be in trouble. Naturally, with Speed being so important to this strategy, Gengar should be Timid, with maxed Speed and Special Attack. Gengar also received an extremely powerful Mega Evolution, which can gain you more KOs with its substantially increased Speed and Special Attack, but be wary. You won't be able to run Focus Sash anymore, so a high powered attack or unexpected crit may ruin your strategy, while the loss of Levitate makes you vulnerable to Earthquake. Shadow Tag is amazing against a live opponent, but is near useless against the AI. You could also try to take better advantage of Mega Gengar's stats by just running four attacks, but the lack of a boosting move and the inability to use a boosting item like Life Orb means that you still may not get as many KOs as you'd hope.
Togekiss: A very versatile Pokemon, Togekiss makes an excellent lead. Thanks to Sarene Grace, it has a 60% chance to flinch with STAB Air Slash, giving it a chance of turning even unfavorable matchups favorable, or converting a 2HKO into a virtual OHKO, with the opponent not getting a chance to act. It can also be a powerful supporter for its teammates, putting foes to sleep with Yawn, Tricking over a Choice Scarf (an item which also happens to play very well with the flinch chance on Air Slash), or setting up a Safeguard. Togekiss also has very nice Special Attack, which it can boost with Nasty Plot, and access to reliable recovery, in the form of Roost. Base 80 Speed is a bit slow for the setup sweeper role, but the option is available. In the attacking moves department, after Air Slash, STAB Dazzling Gleam and Aura Sphere are probably your best bets, but you have a ton of potential coverage options depending on your team's needs, including Psychic, Shadow Ball, Flamethrower, and Grass Knot. The current top Togekiss streak uses a Bold hybrid support/tank set with maxed HP and Special Attack, but you should be able to find success with many other spreads too. For your item, Trick sets naturally want Choce Scarf, while Lum Berry, Leftovers, and Life Orb all are possibilities for other builds depending on the role you want Togekiss to play.
Azumarill: Another Pokemon that's benefited from gaining the Fairy-type this generation, Azumarill takes advantage of its ability, Huge Power, to hit opponents ridiculously hard. Water / Fairy is a strong defensive typing, and Azumarill is pretty bulky to boot, so it is typically able to take a hit or two without difficulty. Azumarill is especially bulky when it uses an Assault Vest, which boosts Special Defense by 50% at the cost of not being able to use non-attacking moves. Thankfully, Azumarill is still able to boost despite this limitation thanks to the beauty of Power-Up Punch, which conveniently also breaks Sashes and Sturdy. Waterfall and Play Rough provide powerful STAB coverage, and the downsides of Azumarill's low Speed are at least partially mitigated by using Aqua Jet, which provides an unusually strong priority hit. While Azumarill can run the the feared Belly Drum + Aqua Jet combination this generation, it's probably too high variance of a strategy for a typical Maison team. Lots of things can beat you when you drop 50% of your HP, even when you are at +6 Attack with a STAB priority move. Because of its low base Speed and access to a priority attack, Azumarill shouldn't bother boosting its Speed, and should instead focus on power and bulk by running an Adamant Nature (every point of attack is extra valuable thanks to the doubling by Huge Power) with maxed Attack and HP. While hardly a traditional "Bulky Water", Azumarill can fill a similar role on most teams, covering important weaknesses while trading some durability and recovery for much better sweeping ability. A weakness of Azumarill is the imperfect accuracy on Play Rough. Over a long streak, you can and will suffer misses at inopportune times, so it can be worrisome to rely on such a move. One option for controlling this is to run Wide Lens, which boosts Play Rough's accuracy to a much safer 99%, but losing Assault Vest really hurts your Special bulk.
Gyarados: With good defensive typing (save for the 4x weakness to Electric-type attacks), the ability to set up with Dragon Dance, and Intimidate to ease the setting up process, Gyarados can be a potent sweeper. Unfortunately Waterfall is a low base power physical STAB and Gyarados lacks a fully reliable Flying STAB (Bounce does not count!), so it is normally a bit outclassed by other Dragon Dancing options like Dragonite. Still, even with these disadvantages, Gyarados can be a valuable teammate, particularly when paired with a strong Ground-type that can cover its 4x weakness. More importantly, Gyarados received a very helpful Mega Evolution, which makes it one of the best available sweepers to set up against a crippled opponent, so it plays well on a Durant team. Mega Gyarados gains a lot of power and bulk, but perhaps its biggest blessing is its new ability of Mold Breaker. With Mold Breaker, abilities like Sturdy, Multiscale, and Levitate no longer hinder your sweeping moves, and better yet, you still get to take advantage of Intimidate as you switch in before you Mega Evolve. Fully set up, there is not a lot that can survive Gyarados' Mold Breaker-backed attacks. Losing your Flying typing costs you the immunity to Ground-type attacks, and Dark typing is not the best replacement, but it at least rids you of the 4x weakness to Electric-type moves and gives you a handy Psychic-type immunity. Waterfall and Dragon Dance appear on almost all Gyarados sets. When coupled with Durant, Protect (obviously) and Earthquake are your best options, while on a more generic sweeper, Earthquake, Return, Bounce and Ice Fang all have their advantages. Naturally, using Mega Gyarados requires a held Gyaradosite, but normal Gyarados can use Leftovers (which plays particularly well with Bounce), Lum Berry, or Life Orb. Gyarados typically runs an Adamant nature with maximum Attack EVs and substantial investment in Speed, but putting some EVs into HP to increase its bulk can be very helpful when setting up.
Starmie: One of the most dangerous Maison foes, Starmie can do well as a teammate too. 115 base Speed means that Starmie outspeeds most Maison opponents and its wonderful mix of coverage moves hit weaknesses hard, often for OHKOs, particularly when Starmie is equipped with a Life Orb or Choice Specs. Starmie can be a nice cleaner as well, finishing off Pokemon that its teammates have weakened. Unfortunately, Starmie is a lot less exciting this generation because Greninja just does these jobs better. Greninja has better natural Speed (and slightly better Special Attack), but more importantly, Protean gives Greninja STAB on all of its moves, which is huge for turning 2HKOs into OHKOs. Starmie still has some edges, notably its ability to recover from status moves with Natural Cure, and its somewhat better bulk, which means that it is able to survive many attacks at full health, short of STAB super effective moves or crits. Starmie can also run Recover, but honestly, it's not quite bulky enough to take full advantage, particularly since it lacks a boosting move like Calm Mind to pair with it. Even though Greninja now has the edge, Starmie remains usable, and can help you put together a solid streak. Most Starmie run Surf, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt. Pyschic, Psyshock and Hidden Power Fire are probably your best options for the fourth move, but Grass Knot, Dazzling Gleam, and even Flash Cannon are potential choices if you need their specific coverage. Starmie can also semi-cripple with Thunder Wave, but I believe it's best to focus on attack coverage more than support here. Starmie depends on its Speed and needs to optimize its middling power, so Timid with max Speed and Special Attack is your ideal spread. Choice Specs, Life Orb, Expert Belt, and Focus Sash all have merit as possible held items.
Latios: Not quite as fast as Starmie, but blessed with a much better Special Attack, Latios hits fast and hard. Latios also can set up a bit with Calm Mind, helping it muscle through opposing teams, and can even run a bulky setup style with both Calm Mind and Recover. You'll almost certainly want to run Dragon Pulse, but after that, you've got a lot of move flexibility, with a STAB Psychic or Psyshock, Thunderbolt, Surf, Ice Beam, and even Hidden Power Fire all being reasonable attack possibilities. You also have the option to use Latios as a hybrid attack/cripple lead, giving it three attacks, Life Orb, and Memento. Attack away until you get low, then Memento to make it easier for your next Pokemon to set up. Psychic typing gives Latios a lot more weaknesses than the typical Dragon, but it has a nice resistance spread too, and is one of the few Dragons to lack the ugly 4x weakness to Ice-type attacks, which means it can survive medium strength Ice-type attacks where many of its brethren would crumble. Latios' biggest shortcoming compared to other Dragon-types is the lack of a special attacking version of Outrage. Dragon Pulse is a fine move, but the thirty-five points of power it lacks compared to Outrage often makes the difference between an OHKO and a 2HKO. Latios can get a lot of opponents low with one move, but can't blast through teams as well as an Outraging Garchomp or Dragonite. Draco Meteor looks nice, but the 90% accuracy can bite you at the worst possible time, and the substantial Special Attack drop means you can't use it to sweep entire teams. Attacking sets are probably best served by running a Life Orb, a Timid Nature, and max Speed and Special Attack, but Modest Choice Scarf Latios makes a mean revenge killer. When running both Calm Mind and Recover, it's probably best to keep the high Speed, Latios' chief advantage over other Calm Mind users, but the EVs normally directed to Special Attack may prove more valuable if moved to HP. Last generation, Jumpman16 built a team that took advantage of the way Latios' and Terrakion's weaknesses and resistances perfectly complemented each other, and though the Fairy-type has complicated things this generation, it's still a pairing to consider.
Haxorus: While it has lower overall stats than Garchomp or Dragonite, Haxorus earns his keep in the Maison on the basis of sheer power. With its massive 147 Attack Stat its attacks leave a mark, and thanks to Mold Breaker, it can bypass annoying abilities like Sturdy, Multiscale, and Levitate. Dragon Dance is highly recommended since it improves Haxorus's middling Speed and boosts its already-awesome power, while Outrage deserves a slot based upon raw STAB power alone. Earthquake covers the Steel-types that resist Outrage, and thanks to Mold Breaker can even hit Levitators like Bronzong. Because of of the combination of Outrage's high base power and STAB, most additional coverage moves are not worth it, since a not very effective Outrage deals damage similar to neutral coverage attacks like X-Scissor and Rock Slide (the ratio is the same for neutral Outrage versus super effective coverage moves too), though such moves may have value when hitting 4x weaknesses. Substitute can be useful for giving Haxorus protection from status and a virtual "extra life", while Swords Dance boosts Attack very quickly. Haxorus's unusual 97 base Speed means it can be outsped unboosted by many other Dragons, making them dangerous thanks to their ability to hit you with a super effective Dragon-type attack, but after a single Dragon Dance, Haxorus is very hard to stop. The most successful Haxorus set in Super Singles to date used a bulky, Adamant, 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Spe spread calculated to just outspeed Choice Band Tyrantrum unboosted and base 130 Speed Pokemon with a Speed+ nature after one Dragon Dance, so is the best spread to start with. Lum Berry helps ensure you can get that one key Dragon Dance in without getting statused, but Life Orb is always an option if you are just after attack power. While Haxorus is frailer than many of its Dragon-type cousins, this is often unimportant, as Haxorus emphasizes the idea that the best defense is a good offense. Being mono-type, it doesn't have a second STAB, but this means it avoids the 4x weakness to Ice-type attacks that plagues many other Dragons.
Milotic: If you lack a Suicune (or don't have one with good stats and nature), Milotic is a reasonable replacement. Good bulk (particularly with Marvel Scale), reasonable Speed, and the flexibility to attack decently well make Milotic a fine choice for a bulky Water-type Pokemon in the Maison. Recover provides reliable recovery, Scald and Ice Beam give solid damage (and the chance of a super helpful burn or freeze), and Toxic lets you beat other bulky Water-types (or bulky Pokemon generally). You can even add Protect to the Toxic + Recover combo to crank up the Toxic stalling. Although Rest plays well with Marvel Scale, it is less appealing without a boosting move to go with it, and relying on Rest instead of Recover makes Milotic function even more like a weaker Suicune. Sadly, Toxic stalling Milotic looses badly to bulky boosting enemies with Rest. Moreover, Milotic is vulnerable to untimely crits (since it doesn't normally have room to run Substitute) and unlike Suicune, can't set up on things it dominates to make sweeping subsequent Pokemon easier. Despite these weaknesses, Milotic had some success last generation, and there's no reason it can't enjoy similar success now. A Bold nature with lots of Defense EVs is probably your best plan, since Milotic is a bit lacking in Defense, but you can move a few EVs to Speed and/or Special Attack if you want to give it a little more pop. Toxic stalling is also much easier when you can outspeed your opponent. Leftovers is the classic item for bulky Pokemon like Milotic, but since Milotic hates being hit by Toxic, Lum Berry makes sense too.
Darmanitan: Sheer Force + Flare Blitz gives Darmanitan ridiculous power. Throw on a Choice Scarf and you'll outspend most of the Maison, letting you dish out the KOs without taking a hit in return. Moves like Earthquake, Rock Slide, and Superpower provide solid coverage, and U-Turn lets you do a little damage while switching out of unfavorable matchups. Still, spamming Flare Blitz is your biggest strength, and that alone will get you a number of wins. Your biggest weakness is that Fire doesn't have the greatest coverage and is a bad defensive type, but for pure attacking power, very little matches Darmanitan. Since you want to maximize your OHKOs and really don't want anything to outspeed you, given your uninspiring defenses and the recoil from Flare Blitz, an Adamant nature with max Attack and Speed EVs is heavily recommended. Though Choice Scarf is definitely your preferred item, Choice Band gives you obscene attacking power, at the severe cost of allowing many threats to outspeed you. And if you really want to live the dream, imagine how hard Darmanitan will hit if you can set up sunny weather for it.... Sadly, the shared weaknesses with Drought Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y means that focusing on sun-backup for Darmanitan is likely to give your team too many fatal vulnerabilities, but even without favorable weather, Darmanitan packs a punch.
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The above list is not intended to be comprehensive, just a useful starting place, and I'm sure that many other Pokemon are quite viable. Powerful sweepers like Terrakion and Volcarona seem appealing, and last generation's crippler staples like Latias and Whimsicott may still have roles to play. One of the best parts the Maison leaderboard is seeing someone put together a big streak with unexpected Pokemon. Last generation, Chinese Dood put together a 349 win streak based around crippler Stoutland, hardly anyone's idea of a Subway staple before then! So be creative, and don't feel unreasonably restricted by the above list.
Reading about the Maison is fine and dandy, but teambuilding and playing are much more satisfying, so it's time to wrap this up. In summation and closing, once you've built a team, remember the following, and you'll do well:
1. Pay attention. Zoning out and missing the trainer name or not noticing something like Trick Room or Tailwind can be fatal.
2. Know your foes. Not just their moves and stats, but held items and potential abilities too.
3. Play conservatively. Take advantage of safe setup opportunities, even at the cost of time, but don't try to get too cute.
Finally, have fun! That's why we're all here, after all. Best of luck as you try to build a big streak!
