Turskain's Triples Threats and Tips
Mechanics & Terminology: Side position = the positions on the right and left side of the field that can attack adjacent Pokémon, but not the cross-field position
Center position = the position in the center of the field that can hit the entire field
Cross-field position = the position diagonally across the field relative to your side position; the blind spot for regular moves
Long-range/Cross-field move = moves that can target Pokémon on the field regardless of the user's position
Spread move = move that hits all adjacent enemies
Field move = move that hits the entire field such as Earthquake
Field effect move = status moves that affect the entire field such as Mat Block, Tailwind
and Trick Room
Triples mechanics are mostly similar to Doubles, with the major addition of the
Shift command. This command is available to Pokémon in the side position, and it swaps the user and the center position, "shifting the user to the center". It has +0 priority (moving in normal Speed order), and can be used separately from moves at any point; Sleep, Freeze, Taunt, Encore, Choice items and similar do not prevent it, but you can't use it while locked into Outrage or a similar move that prevents you from choosing a move at all. It is more like the Switch command than a move, though none of the effects of switching apply and it most closely resembles the move Ally Switch. While it typically has limited use when playing against the AI, it can make the difference between winning and losing in a pinch, so you should try to remember the option.
General Teambuilding Advice: While Triples shares a lot of qualities with Doubles, the teams built a good bit differently than Doubles ones. While in Doubles, all positions are equal, the center is special in Triples; you can attack all enemies from it, but all enemies can also attack you. While this allows you to exploit spread moves very effectively, it also makes switching out the center very difficult with possibly three attacks slamming your switch-in - ideally, the center should have great staying power and support from teammates to avoid having to switch out, or be a disposable lure such as Aron. Volt Switch and U-Turn can work for more self-sufficient centers that exit stage more frequently, such as Mega Manectric and Rotom-W. You should also have a designated back-up center among your to take the place of your center if it is KO'd or needs to switch out; a lot of the same qualities that the lead center needs apply to it, though not as strictly. You could think of a Triples team as four Pokémon designated to the side positions that form a Doubles team, accompanied by two Pokémon that primarily occupy the center position to complement them and glue the halves together with coverage for the cross-field positions. Note that the designated positions aren't strict for back-ups; while your leads will nearly always be in their set roles, battles can progress in any number of ways and your back-ups may find themselves in any position, so bulky goodstuffs are usually preferred for those roles.
Cross-field moves such as Dark Pulse, Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse and Brave Bird are extremely potent in Triples, as they give your Pokémon a big advantage (being able to hit anyone on the field) without any of the drawbacks of the center position. The side positions greatly benefit from any long-range attacks, even if they're just non-STAB coverage moves. Not every team member requires them, but at least one or two Pokémon on your team should carry some as a general rule.
Spread moves (Hyper Voice, Water Spout, Eruption) can be tremendously effective, especially in the center position. Wide Guard is seldom used by the AI, only ran by Mienshao4, Bastiodon4, Regigigas4 and the very rare Bastiodon1 (only used by Ace Trainer Bunny), so there are very few drawbacks to them; but you should exercise caution against those specific Pokémon.
Tailwind is extremely effective both as a primary strategy and a situational "back-up plan", as noted later.
Fake Out can be strong, but it's slightly less powerful than in Doubles due to its limited reach from the side position where supports will usually be (the cross-field enemy that may threaten your other two Pokémon is in a blind spot) and the center position being a very unpleasant position for most Fake Out users, with only 1/3 of the field being flinched and 2/3 still possibly being able to strike. Running multiple Fake Out users can be extremely effective to alleviate this.
Intimidate can be very useful, especially in the center. Make sure you have answers for the possible Defiant/Competitive users that the Maison may have in store with all Hidden Abilities being available to the AI, howewer.
Field moves are a bit more unwieldy than in Doubles, as the larger field makes keeping your allies safe more difficult. As a general rule, you should have two or more Pokémon that are immune to a field move you use regularly, such as two Flying-types/Levitators if you are running a Pokémon with Earthquake.
Protect is extremely powerful, like in Doubles; every Pokémon that can spare a moveslot and isn't using Assault Vest or a Choice item should have it, aside from Fake Out/Mat Block users (and even they could use it, sometimes). Protect is so good against the AI that the general drawbacks of Choice items (and Assault Vest) are mostly a non-issue compared to specifically being unable to use Protect; often, being locked into a move is perfectly OK but lacking Protect is the deal-breaker that forces you to pursue other item options.
Major threats specific to Triples
Tailwind: Tailwind is very strong for the player in Triples, boosting the Speed of all three Pokémon - but it is equally strong for the AI in the rare occasion when it is used. Articuno4, Braviary4, and Moltres1 are the three AI Pokémon past battle 40 that use Tailwind; their number may seem few, but consider that you face six Pokémon in every battle and typically have quite long streaks in Triples. I've gotten Tailwinded by Moltres1 5-10 times over the streak, once or twice by Articuno4, and I think two or three times by Braviary4. It isn't very common, but it will happen, and when it does you need to something against it if you intend to get into four digits. (In at least three of the Tailwind battles I've had, if I didn't have Tailwind of my own to counter it, the battle might have turned into a loss.)
How to deal with it:
- Tailwind: some gusts of your own are the most common solution to match the AI's boost. Note that this doesn't mean you have to run a Tailwind team; having Tailwind as a rarely used fourth move on one of your Pokémon is useful, and enough for this purpose. Talonflame is the best Tailwind user in Triples. Other options may work, but keep in mind that your Tailwind setter might have to take 1-2 hits from Tailwind-boosted enemies before getting to use the move unless it has elevated priority.
- Level 1 bait: all three Tailwind users have attacking moves. If they can hit Aron, they won't use Tailwind.
- KOing its users: if you have a fast, strong Rock or Electric type move you can use on a lead, you can just KO the users outright without issue. Note that Braviary4 has Wacan Berry and Braviary3 has Choice Scarf (Roller Skaters), though.
- Trick Room: speed control of your own to take the wind out of the AI's sails.
- Fake Out: it flinches the users. Note the Flame Body risk on Moltres1, howewer.
Rain Dance/Drizzle + Swift Swim, Beauty Claire and
Sand Stream/Sandstorm + Sand Rush, Worker Rasmus:
While Rain can be a threat in any mode, the higher Pokémon amounts and streak numbers make it a greater threat that has to be accounted for in Triples. It isn't very common due to HAs and Politoed only having Drizzle 1/3 of the time, but it is going to happen to you sooner or later, from Beauty Claire or otherwise.
Excadrill is the prime offender in Sand, hitting 216 Speed when Sand Rush is active with Set4 boasting a Life Orb and having some bulk EVs. You don't want to meet this thing - even worse, it may ship together with Garchomp3 (Choice Scarf) with Sand Veil on Worker Rasmus. Arena Trap Dugtrio is also not something you wish to see with these guys if you have grounded leads.
Another problem with Rain and Sand is that you don't know if they have Sand Rush or Switft Swim until they move, or Sand Veil until you miss - at which point it may be too late to make an adjustment. When you see bad weather, assume the worst and play it safe.
How to deal with it:
- Your own weather: if you can maintain control of the skies with Mega Charizard Y, you've got nothing to worry about.
- Tailwind: did I mention having priority Tailwind as a situational option is really good? Swift Swim and Sand Rush double Speed, making Tailwind nullify their effect. Talonflame, again, reigns supreme thanks to its priority and excellent bait properties in Rain and Sandstorm.
- Rotom-W: deserves special mention as a very effective "anti-weather" Pokémon in Doubles and Triples. With HP Water, it does well against Sand teams (outside Storm Drain Gastrodon (Rasmus runs a special set!) and Storm Drain Cradily) and Thunderbolt/Discharge give it tools for Rain teams (outside Lightningrod Zebstrika, though Discharge still works against it - take care, though, Claire's Zebstrika2 has Thunder and can be threatening with a boost), with great typing and defenses for both. If you run Sun, consider having Rotom-W on your team if only to have a strong actor for when the Sun goes down for a second.
- Fake Out can also take out a rampaging fast threat - Balloon Infernape or Balloon Mienshao are actors that can work, or MegaKhan if the Mega slot is free. Hitmontop from the past can also work for a more Intimidating, bulky option.
- A fast Choice Scarf user can also work.
- Potent lures like Talonflame, as mentioned earlier, are always useful for hard hitters, and weather-boosted menaces are no exception.
Cross-field move users - Lati@s1, Tornadus, Brave Bird users (especially Talonflame and the numerous Choice Scarf holders ran by Roller Skaters), Noivern, Aerodactyl and others: while the AI doesn't use cross-field moves most of the time, some top threats carry them. Be wary of them and don't get your Dragons destroyed from long range by a boosted Lati@s1. They seem to be highly unpredictable in general, more so than the AI usually is - I've seen Lati@s1 Dragon Pulsing Lucario from across the field when switching in Garchomp for it, and Brave Birds commonly fly off on anything that moves, weakened or not.
Hex Maniac Anastasia: she deserves attention in every mode, but I've had enough tough encounters with her in Triples to warrant a special mention. Her pre-battle line goes something like: "Scary places are best for me. I'd like to live in a cemetery...". Always look out for the mention of cemeteries or the name Anastasia when a Hex Maniac shows up. Check the spreadsheet just to be sure on what the rare Set3 Pokémon she can run have.
Trick Room: Trick Room is different from Tailwind in that you can't reliably match it, stop it, or counter it every time with the possibility of multiple TR setters and the variety of things that can go with them. Depending on your leads, you may be able to stop it against 90%+ of leads, but there's always going to be battles where the dimensions refuse to stop twisting.
On the upside, unlike Tailwind, TR doesn't boost the AI's whole team - the 4th set/Ace Trainer TR situations which are the most threatening often involve the AI's faster Pokémon getting slowed down by TR. Unlike the wide variety of threats that go with Tailwind users, Hex Maniacs/Psychics and Hex Maniac Mara, the most common TR offenders, run a rather narrow set of Pokémon that's more manageable than the full set of legendaries Veterans toss at you under Tailwind. Watch out for Anastasia as well - she has Cofagrigus3 with Trick Room, among other unpleasant things.
TR is a very wide threat, but Talonflame does okay once more with priority and Rock bait. Fake Out, priority, bulk, Dark-type attacks and low Speed are good to have, Scarfers and Greninja are deadweight. At least half of your team should be able to function OK under TR in a pinch.
Common setters:
Aromatisse4: one of the most specially bulky setters, its Fairy-typing makes common anti-TR attacks ineffective against it and punishes Dark-types that would typically excel under TR. Additionally, it may have Aromatic Veil to protect the entire enemy field from Taunt if you're trying to use it to stop TR.
Bronzong4: Its HP/Atk EV investment with a Brave nature cuts it bulk nicely, but on the flip side, its Rock Slide and Zen Headbutt will dent Pokémon weak to them if TR does go up. Bronzong may have either Heatproof or Levitate, so using super-effective Fire-type attacks to take it down is unreliable. The Steel nerf in XY makes this Pokémon much nicer, as Dark-type attacks will now destroy it nicely.
Dusknoir4: With Shadow Sneak/Pain Split/Destiny Bond/Trick Room, it is probably the least threatening TR setter out there. It can be left alive and finished last, as it simply doesn't do anything and may even unset its own Trick Room after agonizing at its complete lack of anything resembling a movepool.
Exeggutor4: with Explosion/Wood Hammer/Zen Headbutt and maximum Attack, it is the hardest-hitting setter out of them all. It also dies easily to common attacks and tends to be very predictable with Exploding right after using Trick Room; kill it or use Protect to avoid the predicted Explosion.
Slowbro4: Oblivious for Taunt immunity, and great physical bulk and Blizzard for a very threatening spread move when it gets TR up. Its Special bulk is low, so Thunderbolt and Dark Pulse kill it very quickly. If TR does go up, it's often the more threatening Slowthing due to carrying Blizzard rather than Ice Beam.
Slowking4: Slowbro's special cousin, with Quiet HP/SDef for massive special bulk. It carries Ice Beam instead of Blizzard, making its offensive presence less threatening despite its Quiet nature; as a setter, it's usually more threatening than Slowbro due to its better bulk against common anti-TR moves. Aromatisse, Slowking and Slowbro are the three setters that cannot be Taunted, and Aromatisse may protect the whole enemy field from it; these three are why relying on Taunt to stop TR from going up is usually not a reliable strategy.
Trevenant4: With Def/SAtk EVs and dreadful defensive typing, it dies very quickly to the common Dark Pulse, Brave Bird, Flamethrower, and others.
Note that Hex Maniac Mara carries many more Trick Room setters than this, Hex Maniac Anastasia can carry a couple more, and Veterans that carry Set3-4 may run Cresselia4 to set it.
Threatening Individual Pokémon
Entei3: Choice Scarf Eruption. Taking full-field Eruptions will wear your team down very quickly. Damaging it cripples it; just keep the possiblity of Entei3 in mind whenever facing Alfie, Eleanor, Isabella or Saba. Talonflame, again, is a great check, resisting Eruption and crippling it with priority Brave Bird.
Typhlosion3: Ran exclusively by the Starter specialist Pokémon Breeders, it has Choice Scarf Eruption like Entei3. Its lower bulk makes it easier to cripple, but it is also Modest with 19 higher base Special Attack, making it hit considerably harder. Typically, it is less of a threat than Entei3 simply because the Starter specialists are not very threatening trainers in general, unlike Veterans.
Lickilicky4: the strongest Explosion user in the Maison, with Lax Incense on top to make you miss while trying to kill it. It is typically quite eager to explode, so Protecting pre-emptively is usually safest against it over risking Lax Incense misses. Mega Lucario's Aura Sphere KOs it while ignoring Lax Incense; other Aura Sphere users also work great, but they don't have the power to KO it outright without boosts. High bulk, Ghosts, Steels, and Intimidate help mitigate Explosion if it blows up at the wrong time. It can also have Cloud Nine to shut down a weather team.
Muk4: The fifth strongest Explosion in the Maison, behind Lickilicky4, Landorus4, Golem4 and Metagross3 (exclusively ran by Hex Maniac Anastasia). While its power is not that high, it has Quick Claw to make up for it. Protect helps, but Muk also has a strong STAB attack in Gunk Shot that it likes using, making it slightly less eager to blow up than Lickilicky in some cases.
Donphan4: It's Donphan! Sturdy Quick Claw with Fissure/Stone Edge/Earthquake/Seed Bomb. Talonflame deserves special mention as a check - while its 4x Rock weakness may look bad, it works to your advantage as Donphan is all but guaranteed to use Stone Edge on it whenever it can, allowing you to get a free turn with Protect while your allies weaken Donphan and break its Sturdy, followed by priority Brave Bird to finish it off on the next turn. Not a lot of things are safe from Donphan; Levitators such as Latios, Hydreigon, Rotom-W, and others do well against it, only fearing neutral Stone Edge (and critical Seed Bomb in Rotom-W's case).
Ursaring4 & Leafeon4: The other two common Quick Claw users aside from Muk4 and Donphan4. While their threat level is lower in general, they can still do a number to your Water Spout/Eruption damage and any Pokémon that they can hit super-effectively and punish your Scarfers.
Regigigas: All sets carry Confuse Ray and Set3 has Thunder Wave on top, which is highly threatening in Doubles/Triples as it always has multiple targets to use it on, preventing usual Singles checks like Gliscor, Suicune or Lum Berry from stopping it. Aura Sphere is the best move against it, bypassing Set1's BrightPowder and Set4's Double Team while dealing super-effective damage; other high-damaging Fighting attacks work as well, though they may miss. Grass Knot from Greninja has 120BP against it, making even the common Sash-using set surprisingly effective against it.
Regice4: Regice is quite bulky, and Set4 carries Thunder Wave/Blizzard/Focus Blast/Thunder to be very obnoxious. Similarly to Confuse Ray, there are very few ways to check status like Thunder Wave in Triples; Lightning Rod, Electric-types, Ground-types and Limber users help, but Regice is also bulky and carries Blizzard to punish many of these and has massive special bulk giving Electric-types a hard time actually damaging it. Super-effective physical attacks can KO it, but with 252/0+, its physical bulk is considerable.
Cresselia3/4: Set3 carries Icy Wind/Helping Hand/Swagger/Round, while Set4 runs Trick Room/Psychic/Moonblast/Trick. Icy Wind and Swagger are bad news for any team, while Helping Hand support can be devastating; for Set4, Trick Room is never a fun prospect while Moonblast punishes Dark-types that would usually do well against Trick Room and other Cresselia sets such as Hydreigon.
Glaceon4: With BrightPowder and Def/SAtk EVs, it is quite bulky and risky to bring down thanks to BrightPowder, while laying down massive STAB Blizzards that may also inflict freeze. It survives CB Scizor Bullet Punch and Talonflame Flare Blitz most of the time, for instance. It also has Detect, making focus-fire attempts risky if it decides to use it. Because of Detect making focus-fire risky with BrightPowder and possibly Snow Cloak on top, you want to be able to OHKO it if possible.
Cobalion3: On a similar note to Regigigas, Cobalion3 deserves special mention for being the fastest Swagger user that Veterans can run, in addition to having Lax Incense. While its only offensive option is Iron Head, Swagger with Lax Incense and Substitute making it difficult to kill are nothing to scoff at.
Luxray4: with Careful 252HP/252SDef, possible Intimidate, and Air Balloon, it's very difficult to kill while carrying nasty support moves in Thunder Wave and Light Screen, with pseudo-BoltBeam coverage in Thunder Fang + Ice Fang for offense.
Jolteon4: Razor Fang gives all its attacks a chance to flinch, making its attacks quite unpleasant. A fast Rain Dance can stop a Sun team in its tracks, while Fake Tears puts your Pokémon into KO range for its Hyper Beam and the attacks of its allies. Garchomp, a very strong Pokémon against Electric types in general especially dislikes switching into Fake Tears + Hyper Beam.
Electrode4: with Thunder, its damage is much more respectable than you'd expect out of Electrode, and it carries Taunt, Light Screen and Rain Dance to disrupt weather, prevent non-attacking moves, and annoy your special attackers while being blazing fast and having one of Static/Aftermath/Soundproof as its ability, all of which can be unpleasant to face for some Pokémon.
Froslass4: Focus Sash makes it difficult to kill, while Icy Wind, Blizzard and Destiny Bond are all unpleasant moves. Additionally, its new Hidden Ability in XY, Cursed Body, can disable the moves used to hit it - note that it may activate on any attacking move, instead of only contact moves like Static, Flame Body and Cute Charm. Mat Block Greninja does very well against it; other teams will need to be very wary of it.
Druddigon4: Outrage is a horrible, outright unusable attack outside Singles, but for the AI, the random targeting makes it impossible to predict, allowing it to wreak havoc and render typical Protect plays useless. While it is slow and usually easily focused, under TR it is one of the most dangerous Pokémon out there with considerable bulk and a very powerful Choice Band Outrage.
Excadrill4: With Life Orb and EVs in Atk/Def/SDef, it is the most powerful Earthquake user in the Maison and may have Mold Breaker to hit Pokémon with Levitate; keep an eye out for the ability's announcement. The bulk EVs make it quite a bit nastier on top. It may also have Sand Rush if Sandstorm is active.
Aren't some of these a bit obscure? When going for long streaks in Triples and battling six-Pokémon teams, the obscure threats are more common and dangerous than in other modes. With six Pokémon of your own, you can also have ways to deal with all of these; in Doubles with goodstuffs, you could say "bad team match-up, wrong abilities on the enemies; can't do anything" if losing to Tailwind or Swift Swim, but with larger rosters in Triples, there's not a lot of things that can't be accounted for.
Claire and Rasmus together probably account for half of the dangerous battles I've had in Triples. The numerous sets and weather-boosted threats they can toss at you are very threatening.
In conclusion, you should probably have Talonflame on your Triples team unless you are running Trick Room or weather of your own. It's strong in Triples in general with powerful priorty, and situational Tailwind is an invaluable asset to any team. If you opt to skip Talonflame, Tailwind Suicune or Tailwind Latios or something else could be options; just be sure to have something for when you need it.
Notable Trainer Lines (paraphrased):
Veteran Eleanor (Legendary Sets 3 and 4) -
Handy prey. The hunt is about to begin
Veteran Alfie (Legendary Sets 3 and 4) -
Let me warn you, I'm mighty strong.
Veteran Isabella (All Legendary Sets) -
My Pokémon are my pride and joy
Veteran Saba (All Legendary Sets) -
Do not mistake means for goal. That's what my master taught me
Hex Maniac Anastasia (Set3&4 Psychic and Ghost types) -
Scary places are best for me. I'd like to live in a cemetery...
Hex Maniac Mara (Trick Room) -
I used to be a Beauty once, you know!
Workes Rasmus (Sand, multiple sets) -
I've arrived from a distant island. Could I ask you for a battle?
Beauty Claire (Rain, multiple sets) -
Hey... When did you start loving your Pokémon?
Chef Andrei (Hail, Blizzard users, multiple sets) -
Let me tell you something valuable about eating a famous food
Chef Roux (Sun, multiple sets) -
Slobber... Looks like I've found a tasty Trainer and Pokémon.
Punk Guy Puck (Pokémon with Intimidate, all sets) -
My Internet friends told me to use this look. They said it'd make me more intimidating
Ace Trainer Bunny (Pokémon with high Special Defense, all sets) -
The pretty-suited Pokémon soldier who sprinkles love on the world appears!
Ace Trainer Jai (Pokémon with high Special Attack, all sets) -
I'm going to give you an experience so sweet your head will spin!
Breeder Tad (Starter Pokémon, all sets) -
I will test the Pokemon you have been training.
Breeder Ina (Starter Pokémon, all sets) -
I am the top breeder. I can tame any kind of Pokemon.
My memory and notes are failing me on a few, but that should be most of them. Even if you zone out, recognizing the trainer from just their line can give you an additional opportunity to notice them. Thanks to GG Unit for noting a couple more.
Be sure to consult the trainer list for the exact Pokémon these trainers can run - Hex Maniac Mara, for example, only runs one possible set on most of her species, so despite her non-Set4s, she is more predictable than other special trainers. The weather specialist trainers in particular have complex set lists, running just one set for some species and all four sets for others; always check the trainer list when facing them.
