Hello there, first-time poster here. I’d like to report my completed streak of 882 wins for Ultra Sun Super Singles, using Garchomp / Mega Scizor / Tapu Fini.
First of all, I’d like to thank iVolke for this team (and by extension Hamber and Lassi, for their tweaks, records, and write-ups). This is a pretty fun team to use with its synergies and general strength against the Tree. I like that its main strategy doesn’t involve setting up for 10+ turns, and can sometimes end the battle within 4 or 5 turns, which makes the team that much better and much less grindy.
On a tangent, I’d also like to thank Eisenherz for his Dusknoir/Silvally/Snorlax/Mimikyu Doubles team. I love how unique this team and its strategies are, and it was nice to use from time to time to break up the monotony of Singles attempts. It’s definitely fun to use, though I never got especially far with it.
My Story
I first started messing with the Tree about 3 years ago in Moon, trying out my own teams to see how far I could get. Then about 2 years ago, after consistently failing to achieve 200 wins with any team I could throw together, I started looking for resources about climbing the Tree and found this thread. Hamber’s team stuck out to me as a non-grindy team with a good streak, so I started grinding with a carbon copy of the team, move-for-move and stat-for-stat. I think I got to 200 wins within a couple of months and my goal quickly shifted to 300. How much time it would take and how difficult achieving that goal would turn out to be, I couldn’t have known.
I wasn’t initially going to submit any records since my goals and achievements with the Tree have always been personal, with the caveat that ever since I learned about this thread I’ve had a standard to compare against. I finally hit my goal of 300, and wanted to play out the streak to see how far it would go if I let it die naturally (turns out the death wouldn’t be natural, I would actually murder it myself). However, once I started approaching 500 wins with this streak, I decided I wanted to submit it. After finishing near 900 it’s just slightly disappointing to me that I couldn’t hit 1000, but surpassing 300 and 500 is such a huge achievement for me and I wanted to share about my success.
The Team
Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Jolly Nature
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
Scizor-Mega
Adamant Nature
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 SpD
- Bullet Punch
- Brutal Swing
- Roost
- Swords Dance
Tapu Fini @ Sitrus Berry
Modest Nature
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 172 SpA / 84 Spe
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Grass Knot
- Calm Mind
Team Details
Threat List
The majority of my losses have been when one of my team’s members is fainted, and the opponent is a Pokemon that can outspeed the entire team and has too strong of a type advantage against my remaining Pokemon, making a comeback impossible. So, many of the threats on this list are fast Pokemon. Even then, most every Pokemon on the Tree will lose if it switches into a +6 Attack Scizor or the rarer Garchomp-behind-Substitute. However, there needs to be a way to deal with whatever the Tree has when it comes out.
This list only covers sets that appear at battles 40 and higher. The threats are generally sorted from most threatening to least threatening. This order is fairly subjective, but I also roughly know what has caused me losses and scary situations, so there is some objectivity here.
Milestone Battles
Many of the below Battle Videos had to be removed because of the arbitrary 10 upload limit. I'm happy to provide any of the removed videos upon request.
Battle 300 vs. Sina [R7DG-WWWW-WWXE-87DH]
Battle 400 vs. Cynthia [Code removed to make room]
Battle 500 vs. Gimsley [Code removed to make room]
Battle 600 vs. Cynthia [Code removed to make room]
Battle 700 vs. Grimsley [Code removed to make room]
Battle 800 vs. Sina [Code removed to make room]
Scary Battles
The Loss
Battle 883: Victor – Mesprit, Latios, Uxie [LR7G-WWWW-WWXE-87E6]
Battle Summary:
Since it’s a Mesprit lead, Garchomp uses Substitute to scout the set. Unfortunately it’s Blizzard, and it hits.
I swap out to Tapu Fini. Mesprit uses Blizzard and does marginal damage.
Fini uses CM, and Mesprit uses Thunder, leaving Fini at 69% health after Sitrus Berry.
Mesprit uses Protect, blocking Fini’s Moonblast.
Fini uses Moonblast, damaging Mesprit for over half its health, and Mesprit uses Thunder again, leaving Fini at 29%.
Fini then KO’s Mesprit.
Latios is sent out, and it uses Thunder to KO Fini.
I send out Scizor to set up on Latios. Latios uses Thunder and crits, leaving Scizor at about 25%, and Scizor uses Swords Dance.
Scizor uses Bullet Punch and leaves Latios with just a little HP, and Latios KO’s Scizor with Thunder.
I’m down to Garchomp. I use Devastating Drake to finish off Latios, but Victor switches it out for Uxie. This does a large chunk of damage, which is perfect for finishing off Uxie with Outrage, since getting stuck in Outrage against Latios isn’t bad.
Garchomp uses Outrage and Uxie is KO’d.
Latios is sent out, and KO’s Garchomp with Draco Meteor.
Battle Notes:
I think all my plays were pretty correct until Latios came out. Maybe I could have used Scizor instead of Fini against Mesprit, since it probably could have set up for a sweep, but going for Fini’s CM isn’t bad, even though Thunder can sting. Getting a free switch from Fini fainting was probably smart, since I didn’t want Scizor to take any damage from a switch, and the Mega Latios set would have been problematic for Garchomp, probably. After this, the battle went completely downhill. My fatal flaw came from not looking up the Latios set at this point, or at the very least not knowing that Latios only had one set with Thunder, and that that set was the Choice Specs set. I should have had Scizor spam Roost to deplete Thunder’s PP. Even my final turns with Garchomp should have taken all this set info about Latios into account, but I didn’t. At the very least I should have realized that Latios outsped Garchomp and gone for a desperation Substitute against Uxie after using Drake on it, since I knew that swapping out meant Latios was choice’d. But for whatever reason I just assumed Garchomp would outspeed since I know it outspeeds half of the Latios sets. Also, all my problems could have been avoided if I had just looked up Victor’s possible sets early on, since he doesn’t have access to all four Latios sets. At the very least, a little bit of luck by getting any of the opponents’ attacks to miss would have been nice. This was a very disappointing loss since I can’t just blame luck, only my own incompetence.
Thank you for reading this far. I realize this is a lot of words for this post, but I wanted to be detailed. Hopefully someone finds this interesting.
(edited on 2022/5/15 to add final stats, comment on battle videos, and correct and update some of the threat strategies)
First of all, I’d like to thank iVolke for this team (and by extension Hamber and Lassi, for their tweaks, records, and write-ups). This is a pretty fun team to use with its synergies and general strength against the Tree. I like that its main strategy doesn’t involve setting up for 10+ turns, and can sometimes end the battle within 4 or 5 turns, which makes the team that much better and much less grindy.
On a tangent, I’d also like to thank Eisenherz for his Dusknoir/Silvally/Snorlax/Mimikyu Doubles team. I love how unique this team and its strategies are, and it was nice to use from time to time to break up the monotony of Singles attempts. It’s definitely fun to use, though I never got especially far with it.
My Story
I first started messing with the Tree about 3 years ago in Moon, trying out my own teams to see how far I could get. Then about 2 years ago, after consistently failing to achieve 200 wins with any team I could throw together, I started looking for resources about climbing the Tree and found this thread. Hamber’s team stuck out to me as a non-grindy team with a good streak, so I started grinding with a carbon copy of the team, move-for-move and stat-for-stat. I think I got to 200 wins within a couple of months and my goal quickly shifted to 300. How much time it would take and how difficult achieving that goal would turn out to be, I couldn’t have known.
I wasn’t initially going to submit any records since my goals and achievements with the Tree have always been personal, with the caveat that ever since I learned about this thread I’ve had a standard to compare against. I finally hit my goal of 300, and wanted to play out the streak to see how far it would go if I let it die naturally (turns out the death wouldn’t be natural, I would actually murder it myself). However, once I started approaching 500 wins with this streak, I decided I wanted to submit it. After finishing near 900 it’s just slightly disappointing to me that I couldn’t hit 1000, but surpassing 300 and 500 is such a huge achievement for me and I wanted to share about my success.
The Team
Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Jolly Nature
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
Scizor-Mega
Adamant Nature
Ability: Technician
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Atk / 252 SpD
- Bullet Punch
- Brutal Swing
- Roost
- Swords Dance
Tapu Fini @ Sitrus Berry
Modest Nature
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 172 SpA / 84 Spe
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Grass Knot
- Calm Mind
Garchomp
Level 50:
183 / 182 / 116 / X / 105 / 169
Scizor (non-Mega)
Level 50:
176 / 167 / 120 / X / 132 / 85
Tapu Fini
Level 50:
177 / X / 135 / 150 / 150 / 116
Level 100:
344 / X / 266 / 295 / 296 / 227
Level 50:
183 / 182 / 116 / X / 105 / 169
Scizor (non-Mega)
Level 50:
176 / 167 / 120 / X / 132 / 85
Tapu Fini
Level 50:
177 / X / 135 / 150 / 150 / 116
Level 100:
344 / X / 266 / 295 / 296 / 227
Team Details
The Garchomp and Scizor sets are identical to Hamber’s, except at one point I moved 8 of Scizor’s HP EVs to Attack since those EVs don’t contribute to Roost’s HP gain. These are miniscule changes in stats, so they don’t matter much. Recently I’ve been wondering if there’s any merit to putting those 8 EVs in Speed and Defense instead. But an extra HP like in Hamber’s spread definitely isn’t a bad use of those EVs. Maybe someone experienced in Tree stats could give me an argument for the best spread.
Anyways, EV minutiae aside, the main difference in this team comes from Tapu Fini. At some point in my road-to-300 grind I decided that I absolutely hated getting locked into a move with Specs, and wanted to find a set that didn’t use them. I thought about swapping Fini out for another Pokémon, but its Misty Terrain and type synergy with the rest of the team were too good to pass up. So I decided on Calm Mind (CM) as a new option for the set since it replicates the functionality of Specs, with a Sp. Defense boost as a bonus. CM would replace Ice Beam, because, as Hamber wrote, it’s the least-used move, and even super-effective Ice Beams fail to KO targets. Grass Knot also has very low usage, but was still very desirable to beat Gastrodon and Swampert. To drop Specs, Fini would run a Sitrus Berry, which would boost its chances of successfully setting up CM. Fini was also already fully invested in HP, so the HP gain from the Sitrus Berry would be maximized. I went with Sitrus Berry’s instantaneous recovery over Leftovers since Leftovers would be too slow against most threatening opponents, especially in a 3v3 format where battles are short. Also, against opponents that Fini would benefit from Leftovers more, Fini can beat them just fine without turns and turns of Leftovers recovery. Finally, after an embarrassingly long time, I figured out that the EV spread could be optimized to get a few more points, and changed it to the current one. Only now when I’m writing this up did I notice turskain's comment right underneath Hamber’s first streak submission, explaining exactly this. Cool. I should read more things more often. Like with Scizor, 8 HP EVs do nothing towards Sitrus Berry recovery, and could be moved around. But Fini has also lived at 1 HP just often enough for me to never want to change that. Or maybe my sample size is too large.
There’s three main aspects that make this Fini set great in practice.
Of course, the flexibility in being able to switch between moves is the defining feature of this set, and while Fini does fine either choice’d into a single move or switching, every bad situation from getting choice’d is completely avoided. This lets Fini be more flexible in not only her choice of moves, but her choices with switching out or fainting.
Secondly, the 25% extra HP is such a boon, especially when combined with gaining Sp. Defense stages. This is great whether she uses the berry to effectively set up CM(s), or to better survive stray Electric, Grass, Poison, or strong neutral moves. It adds both to her longevity against weaker opponents, and her survivability against powerful ones.
Finally, the access to CM. While she can use CM to simply regain the power lost from Specs, she can also set up multiple CMs against many opponents that can’t hit for much damage, mostly Water-types. Honestly I have lost many streaks due to being greedy by going after too many CM boosts, but I’ve started to figure out just when to use them, even when that’s no boosts at all. Generally the number of CMs to use is the number to just barely one or two-shot the current opponent, assuming the set-up is relatively safe. It’s a balancing act to get this right, but it usually works very well.
Of course, there are a couple of downsides to this Tapu Fini set, too. The biggest one is that the instant +1 Sp. Attack from Specs is sometimes missed. This creates threats in Gyarados and Articuno-2, and increases the threats of Aerodactyl, Raikou, and Landorus. Also, since Fini uses turns setting up CM, Misty Terrain will effectively expire sooner, which mainly affects Scizor’s status protection.
As far as notes on how to play Garchomp and Scizor and why the sets are what they are, I’d like to defer to Hamber’s write-up. Those are excellent notes, and I remember that those pointers helped me out a lot early on when I first started learning this team, and continue to even now.
I would like to add one thing about Garchomp, however. At some point I realized that I hardly ever clicked on Devastating Drake, saving it for some hypothetical threat. Saving Drake’s single use isn’t inherently a bad thing, but every battle that goes by where Garchomp doesn’t use it, it’s like it’s not using an item. Additionally, using Drake to make the game a 3v2 is a fantastic position to be in with this team. After this realization I started doing calcs on certain opponents and wrote up a spreadsheet just for Devastating Drake to help figure out exactly what it can OHKO, and it turns out it’s a significant portion of the Tree. It’s very rare to have a threat that can’t be taken out simply due to Drake getting used too early.
Anyways, EV minutiae aside, the main difference in this team comes from Tapu Fini. At some point in my road-to-300 grind I decided that I absolutely hated getting locked into a move with Specs, and wanted to find a set that didn’t use them. I thought about swapping Fini out for another Pokémon, but its Misty Terrain and type synergy with the rest of the team were too good to pass up. So I decided on Calm Mind (CM) as a new option for the set since it replicates the functionality of Specs, with a Sp. Defense boost as a bonus. CM would replace Ice Beam, because, as Hamber wrote, it’s the least-used move, and even super-effective Ice Beams fail to KO targets. Grass Knot also has very low usage, but was still very desirable to beat Gastrodon and Swampert. To drop Specs, Fini would run a Sitrus Berry, which would boost its chances of successfully setting up CM. Fini was also already fully invested in HP, so the HP gain from the Sitrus Berry would be maximized. I went with Sitrus Berry’s instantaneous recovery over Leftovers since Leftovers would be too slow against most threatening opponents, especially in a 3v3 format where battles are short. Also, against opponents that Fini would benefit from Leftovers more, Fini can beat them just fine without turns and turns of Leftovers recovery. Finally, after an embarrassingly long time, I figured out that the EV spread could be optimized to get a few more points, and changed it to the current one. Only now when I’m writing this up did I notice turskain's comment right underneath Hamber’s first streak submission, explaining exactly this. Cool. I should read more things more often. Like with Scizor, 8 HP EVs do nothing towards Sitrus Berry recovery, and could be moved around. But Fini has also lived at 1 HP just often enough for me to never want to change that. Or maybe my sample size is too large.
There’s three main aspects that make this Fini set great in practice.
Of course, the flexibility in being able to switch between moves is the defining feature of this set, and while Fini does fine either choice’d into a single move or switching, every bad situation from getting choice’d is completely avoided. This lets Fini be more flexible in not only her choice of moves, but her choices with switching out or fainting.
Secondly, the 25% extra HP is such a boon, especially when combined with gaining Sp. Defense stages. This is great whether she uses the berry to effectively set up CM(s), or to better survive stray Electric, Grass, Poison, or strong neutral moves. It adds both to her longevity against weaker opponents, and her survivability against powerful ones.
Finally, the access to CM. While she can use CM to simply regain the power lost from Specs, she can also set up multiple CMs against many opponents that can’t hit for much damage, mostly Water-types. Honestly I have lost many streaks due to being greedy by going after too many CM boosts, but I’ve started to figure out just when to use them, even when that’s no boosts at all. Generally the number of CMs to use is the number to just barely one or two-shot the current opponent, assuming the set-up is relatively safe. It’s a balancing act to get this right, but it usually works very well.
Of course, there are a couple of downsides to this Tapu Fini set, too. The biggest one is that the instant +1 Sp. Attack from Specs is sometimes missed. This creates threats in Gyarados and Articuno-2, and increases the threats of Aerodactyl, Raikou, and Landorus. Also, since Fini uses turns setting up CM, Misty Terrain will effectively expire sooner, which mainly affects Scizor’s status protection.
As far as notes on how to play Garchomp and Scizor and why the sets are what they are, I’d like to defer to Hamber’s write-up. Those are excellent notes, and I remember that those pointers helped me out a lot early on when I first started learning this team, and continue to even now.
I would like to add one thing about Garchomp, however. At some point I realized that I hardly ever clicked on Devastating Drake, saving it for some hypothetical threat. Saving Drake’s single use isn’t inherently a bad thing, but every battle that goes by where Garchomp doesn’t use it, it’s like it’s not using an item. Additionally, using Drake to make the game a 3v2 is a fantastic position to be in with this team. After this realization I started doing calcs on certain opponents and wrote up a spreadsheet just for Devastating Drake to help figure out exactly what it can OHKO, and it turns out it’s a significant portion of the Tree. It’s very rare to have a threat that can’t be taken out simply due to Drake getting used too early.
Threat List
The majority of my losses have been when one of my team’s members is fainted, and the opponent is a Pokemon that can outspeed the entire team and has too strong of a type advantage against my remaining Pokemon, making a comeback impossible. So, many of the threats on this list are fast Pokemon. Even then, most every Pokemon on the Tree will lose if it switches into a +6 Attack Scizor or the rarer Garchomp-behind-Substitute. However, there needs to be a way to deal with whatever the Tree has when it comes out.
This list only covers sets that appear at battles 40 and higher. The threats are generally sorted from most threatening to least threatening. This order is fairly subjective, but I also roughly know what has caused me losses and scary situations, so there is some objectivity here.
Pinsir-3 (Mega)
This thing’s Thrash hits way too hard, and puts all members of the team in immediate danger since it outspeeds everything. Thankfully it can’t OHKO anything, but crits will. It does more than half HP damage on Scizor, so it’s not the best idea to try to stall to get Pinsir to hit itself in confusion. Fini can live one Thrash, but it definitely can’t switch in on it. I think the best way to beat this thing is to use Drake as soon as any Pinsir comes out, even it turns out to be the significantly less dangerous Pinsir-4.
Articuno-2
It’s hard to deal with Articuno-2. Garchomp can’t set up or use Drake without dying, so I have to swap out. Fini can’t effectively beat Articuno-2 in time before Sheer Cold is used, so the end goal is Scizor. Articuno will always use Ice Beam on the first swapping turn, which carries the 1/10 risk of a freeze on Scizor. I can try to avoid this with Misty Terrain by swapping from Garchomp into Fini into Scizor, but it’s super dangerous for Scizor if Articuno uses Lock-On on the turn that it switches in. I think I’ve had times when Articuno-2 uses something other than Lock-On during the switch from Fini to Scizor, which is good for Scizor, but seems unlikely, and my memory might be bad. If it does use Lock-On on the Fini to Scizor switch, I can always swap back to Fini and let it get KO’d, allowing Scizor get at least one Swords Dance and KO’ing Articuno with Bullet Punch before Sheer Cold gets used. But trading Fini for a +2 Scizor isn’t a trade I like to make. I’m not sure. Hence why it’s hard to deal with Articuno-2.
Gyarados, both sets
While not impressive by themselves, both Gyarados sets can set up with Dragon Dance to great effect. Also, if Gyarados has Intimidate, Garchomp can’t OHKO it with Drake, so Garchomp has to switch out, since it fears Garchomp-3’s Ice Fang. Furthermore, even if Gyarados doesn’t have Intimidate, Drake only OHKOs Mega Gyarados-4 5/16ths of the time. All of this means that Gyarados will almost always live on its first turn, and I’m pretty sure it always goes for Dragon Dance that first turn since Ice Fang can’t OHKO Garchomp. I typically switch to Fini to deal with Gyarados. CM then 2HKO Gyarados-3 with Moonblast, or just 2HKO Mega Gyarados with Moonblast If something does happen to Fini, Scizor might be able to finish off Gyarados-3, or Garchomp can deal with Gyarados-4.
Salamence-4 (Mega)
This thing is scary since it outspeeds and its Double Edge damage is terrifyingly high, although thankfully the potential Intimidate doesn’t matter too often. It carries Dragon Rush which OHKOs Garchomp, and its Double Edge does more than half of Scizor’s HP. Always switch into Tapu Fini, since it will use Dragon Rush on the first turn if it’s Salamence-4, or Fini can set up many CMs against Salamence-3. From here, Salamence-4 will use Double Edge, giving itself lots of recoil, putting itself in range for Moonblast to KO. In scenarios where it crits the Double Edge on Fini, Scizor can use one Swords Dance to have a guaranteed Bullet Punch KO after both instances of recoil. Alternatively, Misty Terrain is up so Garchomp won’t get OHKO’d by Dragon Rush. The AI accounts for this though, and will use Double Edge against a Garchomp in Misty Terrain, which Garchomp can live at full health and use Drake to KO Salamence, but will leave Garchomp at low HP. In other weird situations, Scizor can spam Roost to whittle down Mence with recoil.
Aerodactyl-3 (Mega)
This set carries both Fire AND Thunder Fang, so Scizor and Fini don’t like to stay in against it, and it also outspeeds the team. Garchomp can beat it with Drake and Rough Skin, but takes a fair amount of damage in the process. Against Garchomp, it will always use Sky Drop, against Fini, it will always use Thunder Fang, and against Scizor, it will always use Fire Fang. Aside from using Drake, one way to beat Aerodactyl-4 is first, switch to Fini, and Aerodactyl will use Sky Drop. Sky Drop will go first and Fini should use Surf. Next, swap back to Garchomp so that Thunder Fang does nothing. Next, switch to Scizor, and Aerodactyl will use Sky Drop. Scizor can either Roost or Swords Dance after Sky Drop damages it. Finally, Mega Evolve and finish Aerodactyl off with a Bullet Punch. Unfortunately this particular strategy only works when all team members are alive. On the first turn when the Aerodactyl set is unknown, Fini is still a good switch since it can just Surf against Aerodactyl-4.
Raikou, all sets
Raikou is more annoying than anything else, at least when I’m not paying attention. I like to watch streams while grinding the Tree, so if I’m not paying close attention, I’ll miss both the trainer’s name and the prompt indicating the opponent has an Air Balloon. Even without distraction from important details, Raikou has options that can make it tough to deal with. First of all, it outspeeds everything. There’s Reflect on the Air Balloon’d Raikou-4, Shuca Berry on Raikou-1, and all sets have either Extrasensory or Shadow Ball which damage Garchomp more than I’d like. Fini’s not well equipped to deal with Electric-types, but can usually survive at least one attack and do just under half of Raikou’s max HP with Moonblast if unboosted. Scizor can try to stall and set up, but Paralysis could always happen, whether from Thunder Wave, Thunder, or Thunderbolt. If the set is Raikou-4 (Air Balloon), I’ve decided that switching into Fini, back to Garchomp, to Scizor, Scizor uses Roost until Misty Terrain and Reflect expire, then Brutal Swing on the turn that Raikou uses Reflect. Swap into Garchomp, use Swords Dance and EQ. Unfortunately this means that the opponent is left with a lingering Reflect for one turn, but Garchomp is at +2 Attack. Otherwise, for Raikou 1, 2, or 3, use Earthquake and hope it doesn’t have Shuca Berry.
Gengar, both sets
Both sets outspeed the entire team, and with strong Shadow Balls, both sets having coverage that hit Fini super-effectively, and Gengar-3 having Dazzling Gleam, both sets will at least do moderate damage against any team member. Compounding the problems is there’s no way to know whether it will Mega Evolve until after a move is made. I’ve settled in on letting Garchomp just take a hit and returning an Earthquake for a KO, since it survives every attack both sets can use, assuming no crit happens. Scizor can deal with Gengar reasonably well too, and it switches into Gengar's moves that target Fini perfectly. Might as well set up 1 Swords Dance and Bullet Punch, since Brutal Swing OHKOs and a SE Brutal Swing = +2 Bullet Punch. Unfortunately Gengar is not uncommon thanks to Plumeria.
Metagross-4 (Mega)
It outspeeds everything, hits very hard, and lives Garchomp’s Earthquake. There are a couple of options to deal with it. One is to have Garchomp eat the first-turn Meteor Mash and use Earthquake, leaving both Metagross and Garchomp at low health. If Garchomp stays in it's a double-KO because of Rough Skin. Alternatively, swap to Scizor after Garchomp’s Earthquake. Unfortunately it usually uses Meteor Mash here since it usually doesn't roll high enough to prefer Bullet Punch. If Metagross didn't get an Attack boost, congrats, it's setup fodder. Against Scizor, Metagross will always spam Brick Breaks, and Scizor can then very safely use Roosts and work its way towards Swords Dances and a Bullet Punch, even if Brick Break crits. Even if Garchomp faints to a crit, Scizor can set up just the same. In the worst cases, any given Meteor Mash has an 18% chance of getting an Attack boost on the turn Garchomp uses Earthquake or when Scizor has to switch into a Meteor Mash. Scizor can still set up since +1 Brick Breaks do less than half HP damage, but the potential for crits make this situation scary. Any +2 or better Bullet Punch will KO after EQ. It's probably best to sac Garchomp and remove Metagross if it gets the turn 1 Attack boost, unfortunately. For other options, Scizor can just switch into a Metagross blindly but things can go bad if it's the Mega set and it gets the Attack boost since it's not at low health.
Alakazam-3 (Mega)
Outspeeds and hits its Focus Blasts way too often. Garchomp can return a Drake after taking a Psychic, but hopefully Garchomp hasn’t taken too much damage already. At full health, Garchomp can live most Psychic crits, so any given Psychic only has a 1.8% chance to OHKO the entire HP bar. Alternatively, Alakazam is a bit of a setup opportunity. Scizor can swap in and PP stall the Focus Blasts, then work its way towards +6 Attack. Just hope that the Focus Blasts or eventual Shadow Balls don’t drop its Sp. Defense, but fortunately Alakazam also likes to use Grass Knots once Focus Blast is done. Scizor can work around -1 Sp. Defense, but it’s better switching to Fini and back to Scizor for safety. Or, Scizor might have used a couple of Swords Dances, and can just Bullet Punch Alakazam once its Sp. Defense gets dicey. +2 Bullet Punch OHKOs Mega Alakazam.
Landorus, all sets
Landorus is surprisingly annoying. Garchomp does outspeed all sets, but the Choice Scarf’d Landorus-2 is an exception. Landorus-1 carries Bright Powder and Fissure, and Landorus-4 has Explosion. Also, any of these sets can hit moderately hard, but Landorus-3 can use Sandstorm, pushing its Earthquakes to dangerously high power, especially if team members have already taken damage. I think Garchomp should always scout Landorus with Substitute. Garchomp can easily set up against Landorus-1, and ignores the Bright Powder with Drake. Against Landorus-2, Garchomp will take an Earth Power, then use Substitute, meaning it can safely use Drake on the next turn. For Landorus-3, ideally it uses Protect, but it also lives an unboosted Drake, so be careful. Landorus-4 would ideally use Explosion, but I think it rarely goes for it turn one. Fini can do decently well against Landorus with Surf, but it can’t always OHKO, and it usually takes a good chunk of damage in the process. Not my favorite option. But at the end of the day, I can’t complain since the Tree holds off from using Landorus-Therian.
Tornadus-1
I’ve never really thought of Tornadus as much of a threat, more so an annoyance that can just get OHKO’d with Drake, until one day this set outsped and OHKO’d Garchomp with its Supersonic Skystrike. Then I started paying attention to it. Turns out this thing has an 81.3% chance to OHKO Garchomp. So if the opposing trainer can carry Tornadus-1, I think it’s best to swap in Fini and let it tank the hit. From there, Tornadus will follow up with a Hurricane, and Fini should use Moonblast. Fini will probably get KO'd by the Hurricane if it hits, so back to Garchomp to use Drake. Sometimes Hurricane will miss or Skystrike and Hurricane low roll and Fini will live, in this case Moonblast again. Either Fini will KO Tornadus, or Scizor gets a free switch. For the other sets, Garchomp can just use Drake, or use the above strategy and have Fini deal with Tornadus; she matches up a little better when she's not taking a Z move.
Togekiss, both* sets
*(Perri’s Togekiss-2 doesn’t count)
The biggest pitfall with this opponent is the idea that Scizor can swap in and set up against another Fairy-type. The 1/3 chance that Togekiss can have Serene Grace boosting its Air Slashes to a 57% flinch rate means that it’s far too dangerous for Scizor to try setting up. Even if it has one of its other abilities 2/3rds of the time, it can still get flinches just the same. Garchomp can’t touch this thing, and it outspeeds Fini, so Scizor is the main option, unless Fini has some CM boosts and doesn’t mind taking a hit or two. I like to just switch into Scizor and use two Bullet Punches to deal with Togekiss.
Arcanine, both sets
Garchomp normally deals with Arcanine with its Earthquake, but if it has Intimidate, Garchomp can’t OHKO it. As a Water and Fairy-type, Fini wants to swap in against Arcanine-4 since it’s a Fire-type that likes to use Close Combat and All-Out Pummeling, but it wants to avoid Arcanine-3 since it always goes for Sunny Day on the first turn and carries Solar Beam. I’ve found that using Swords Dance against Intimidate Arcanine works well if Garchomp is at full HP. Arcanine-4 also carries Extreme Speed, which can definitely catch me off guard if I’m not thinking about it, especially with how much damage it can do against Garchomp (23.4 - 27.8%). Also, pay attention to the trainer name since many of the sun team trainers only carry the Sunny Day set; it doesn't have to be a coin flip and Swords Dance is best for these.
Noivern, both sets
Noivern can be easily dealt with by switching into Fini and using an unboosted Moonblast, but if Fini already fainted it’s very tricky for Garchomp and Scizor to deal with. And even though Fini answers Noivern, Noivern-3 could still makes things annoying by getting one or two Air Slash flinches. Noivern outspeeds Garchomp, and both sets pack Flamethrower and Dragon Pulse. Flamethrower has a 6.3% (10.2% including crit) chance to OHKO Scizor, but it’s not like living one Flamethrower is going to do much good, because the best bet is for Scizor to use two Bullet Punches and pray that one of them crits. Dragon Pulse does (83 - 98.3%) damage against Garchomp, so hope that Garchomp hasn’t taken any damage this battle, or that a crit doesn’t happen. If Misty Terrain is still up when Garchomp switches in, then it has a much better chance to make a comeback.
Whimsicott-3
This set is more of an annoyance than a threat. But since it’s a Fairy-Grass-type, it shouldn’t even be a problem; Scizor can just set up on it, right? Sure, but it’s slow and painful to do so, since Whimsicott-3 carries priority Cotton Guard so it’s like Swords Dances do nothing against it. Throw in priority Substitutes and Leech Seed, and this thing becomes a slog to work around. It’s such a juxtaposition to how easy Whimsicott-4 is to deal with. But it turns out that Whimsicott has fairly below-average HP and Sp. Defense, and Whimsicott-3 doesn’t have an attacking Grass move, so some combination of Scizor’s Bullet Punches and Fini’s Moonblasts easily gets around this thing.
This thing’s Thrash hits way too hard, and puts all members of the team in immediate danger since it outspeeds everything. Thankfully it can’t OHKO anything, but crits will. It does more than half HP damage on Scizor, so it’s not the best idea to try to stall to get Pinsir to hit itself in confusion. Fini can live one Thrash, but it definitely can’t switch in on it. I think the best way to beat this thing is to use Drake as soon as any Pinsir comes out, even it turns out to be the significantly less dangerous Pinsir-4.
Articuno-2
It’s hard to deal with Articuno-2. Garchomp can’t set up or use Drake without dying, so I have to swap out. Fini can’t effectively beat Articuno-2 in time before Sheer Cold is used, so the end goal is Scizor. Articuno will always use Ice Beam on the first swapping turn, which carries the 1/10 risk of a freeze on Scizor. I can try to avoid this with Misty Terrain by swapping from Garchomp into Fini into Scizor, but it’s super dangerous for Scizor if Articuno uses Lock-On on the turn that it switches in. I think I’ve had times when Articuno-2 uses something other than Lock-On during the switch from Fini to Scizor, which is good for Scizor, but seems unlikely, and my memory might be bad. If it does use Lock-On on the Fini to Scizor switch, I can always swap back to Fini and let it get KO’d, allowing Scizor get at least one Swords Dance and KO’ing Articuno with Bullet Punch before Sheer Cold gets used. But trading Fini for a +2 Scizor isn’t a trade I like to make. I’m not sure. Hence why it’s hard to deal with Articuno-2.
Gyarados, both sets
While not impressive by themselves, both Gyarados sets can set up with Dragon Dance to great effect. Also, if Gyarados has Intimidate, Garchomp can’t OHKO it with Drake, so Garchomp has to switch out, since it fears Garchomp-3’s Ice Fang. Furthermore, even if Gyarados doesn’t have Intimidate, Drake only OHKOs Mega Gyarados-4 5/16ths of the time. All of this means that Gyarados will almost always live on its first turn, and I’m pretty sure it always goes for Dragon Dance that first turn since Ice Fang can’t OHKO Garchomp. I typically switch to Fini to deal with Gyarados. CM then 2HKO Gyarados-3 with Moonblast, or just 2HKO Mega Gyarados with Moonblast If something does happen to Fini, Scizor might be able to finish off Gyarados-3, or Garchomp can deal with Gyarados-4.
Salamence-4 (Mega)
This thing is scary since it outspeeds and its Double Edge damage is terrifyingly high, although thankfully the potential Intimidate doesn’t matter too often. It carries Dragon Rush which OHKOs Garchomp, and its Double Edge does more than half of Scizor’s HP. Always switch into Tapu Fini, since it will use Dragon Rush on the first turn if it’s Salamence-4, or Fini can set up many CMs against Salamence-3. From here, Salamence-4 will use Double Edge, giving itself lots of recoil, putting itself in range for Moonblast to KO. In scenarios where it crits the Double Edge on Fini, Scizor can use one Swords Dance to have a guaranteed Bullet Punch KO after both instances of recoil. Alternatively, Misty Terrain is up so Garchomp won’t get OHKO’d by Dragon Rush. The AI accounts for this though, and will use Double Edge against a Garchomp in Misty Terrain, which Garchomp can live at full health and use Drake to KO Salamence, but will leave Garchomp at low HP. In other weird situations, Scizor can spam Roost to whittle down Mence with recoil.
Aerodactyl-3 (Mega)
This set carries both Fire AND Thunder Fang, so Scizor and Fini don’t like to stay in against it, and it also outspeeds the team. Garchomp can beat it with Drake and Rough Skin, but takes a fair amount of damage in the process. Against Garchomp, it will always use Sky Drop, against Fini, it will always use Thunder Fang, and against Scizor, it will always use Fire Fang. Aside from using Drake, one way to beat Aerodactyl-4 is first, switch to Fini, and Aerodactyl will use Sky Drop. Sky Drop will go first and Fini should use Surf. Next, swap back to Garchomp so that Thunder Fang does nothing. Next, switch to Scizor, and Aerodactyl will use Sky Drop. Scizor can either Roost or Swords Dance after Sky Drop damages it. Finally, Mega Evolve and finish Aerodactyl off with a Bullet Punch. Unfortunately this particular strategy only works when all team members are alive. On the first turn when the Aerodactyl set is unknown, Fini is still a good switch since it can just Surf against Aerodactyl-4.
Raikou, all sets
Raikou is more annoying than anything else, at least when I’m not paying attention. I like to watch streams while grinding the Tree, so if I’m not paying close attention, I’ll miss both the trainer’s name and the prompt indicating the opponent has an Air Balloon. Even without distraction from important details, Raikou has options that can make it tough to deal with. First of all, it outspeeds everything. There’s Reflect on the Air Balloon’d Raikou-4, Shuca Berry on Raikou-1, and all sets have either Extrasensory or Shadow Ball which damage Garchomp more than I’d like. Fini’s not well equipped to deal with Electric-types, but can usually survive at least one attack and do just under half of Raikou’s max HP with Moonblast if unboosted. Scizor can try to stall and set up, but Paralysis could always happen, whether from Thunder Wave, Thunder, or Thunderbolt. If the set is Raikou-4 (Air Balloon), I’ve decided that switching into Fini, back to Garchomp, to Scizor, Scizor uses Roost until Misty Terrain and Reflect expire, then Brutal Swing on the turn that Raikou uses Reflect. Swap into Garchomp, use Swords Dance and EQ. Unfortunately this means that the opponent is left with a lingering Reflect for one turn, but Garchomp is at +2 Attack. Otherwise, for Raikou 1, 2, or 3, use Earthquake and hope it doesn’t have Shuca Berry.
Gengar, both sets
Both sets outspeed the entire team, and with strong Shadow Balls, both sets having coverage that hit Fini super-effectively, and Gengar-3 having Dazzling Gleam, both sets will at least do moderate damage against any team member. Compounding the problems is there’s no way to know whether it will Mega Evolve until after a move is made. I’ve settled in on letting Garchomp just take a hit and returning an Earthquake for a KO, since it survives every attack both sets can use, assuming no crit happens. Scizor can deal with Gengar reasonably well too, and it switches into Gengar's moves that target Fini perfectly. Might as well set up 1 Swords Dance and Bullet Punch, since Brutal Swing OHKOs and a SE Brutal Swing = +2 Bullet Punch. Unfortunately Gengar is not uncommon thanks to Plumeria.
Metagross-4 (Mega)
It outspeeds everything, hits very hard, and lives Garchomp’s Earthquake. There are a couple of options to deal with it. One is to have Garchomp eat the first-turn Meteor Mash and use Earthquake, leaving both Metagross and Garchomp at low health. If Garchomp stays in it's a double-KO because of Rough Skin. Alternatively, swap to Scizor after Garchomp’s Earthquake. Unfortunately it usually uses Meteor Mash here since it usually doesn't roll high enough to prefer Bullet Punch. If Metagross didn't get an Attack boost, congrats, it's setup fodder. Against Scizor, Metagross will always spam Brick Breaks, and Scizor can then very safely use Roosts and work its way towards Swords Dances and a Bullet Punch, even if Brick Break crits. Even if Garchomp faints to a crit, Scizor can set up just the same. In the worst cases, any given Meteor Mash has an 18% chance of getting an Attack boost on the turn Garchomp uses Earthquake or when Scizor has to switch into a Meteor Mash. Scizor can still set up since +1 Brick Breaks do less than half HP damage, but the potential for crits make this situation scary. Any +2 or better Bullet Punch will KO after EQ. It's probably best to sac Garchomp and remove Metagross if it gets the turn 1 Attack boost, unfortunately. For other options, Scizor can just switch into a Metagross blindly but things can go bad if it's the Mega set and it gets the Attack boost since it's not at low health.
Alakazam-3 (Mega)
Outspeeds and hits its Focus Blasts way too often. Garchomp can return a Drake after taking a Psychic, but hopefully Garchomp hasn’t taken too much damage already. At full health, Garchomp can live most Psychic crits, so any given Psychic only has a 1.8% chance to OHKO the entire HP bar. Alternatively, Alakazam is a bit of a setup opportunity. Scizor can swap in and PP stall the Focus Blasts, then work its way towards +6 Attack. Just hope that the Focus Blasts or eventual Shadow Balls don’t drop its Sp. Defense, but fortunately Alakazam also likes to use Grass Knots once Focus Blast is done. Scizor can work around -1 Sp. Defense, but it’s better switching to Fini and back to Scizor for safety. Or, Scizor might have used a couple of Swords Dances, and can just Bullet Punch Alakazam once its Sp. Defense gets dicey. +2 Bullet Punch OHKOs Mega Alakazam.
Landorus, all sets
Landorus is surprisingly annoying. Garchomp does outspeed all sets, but the Choice Scarf’d Landorus-2 is an exception. Landorus-1 carries Bright Powder and Fissure, and Landorus-4 has Explosion. Also, any of these sets can hit moderately hard, but Landorus-3 can use Sandstorm, pushing its Earthquakes to dangerously high power, especially if team members have already taken damage. I think Garchomp should always scout Landorus with Substitute. Garchomp can easily set up against Landorus-1, and ignores the Bright Powder with Drake. Against Landorus-2, Garchomp will take an Earth Power, then use Substitute, meaning it can safely use Drake on the next turn. For Landorus-3, ideally it uses Protect, but it also lives an unboosted Drake, so be careful. Landorus-4 would ideally use Explosion, but I think it rarely goes for it turn one. Fini can do decently well against Landorus with Surf, but it can’t always OHKO, and it usually takes a good chunk of damage in the process. Not my favorite option. But at the end of the day, I can’t complain since the Tree holds off from using Landorus-Therian.
Tornadus-1
I’ve never really thought of Tornadus as much of a threat, more so an annoyance that can just get OHKO’d with Drake, until one day this set outsped and OHKO’d Garchomp with its Supersonic Skystrike. Then I started paying attention to it. Turns out this thing has an 81.3% chance to OHKO Garchomp. So if the opposing trainer can carry Tornadus-1, I think it’s best to swap in Fini and let it tank the hit. From there, Tornadus will follow up with a Hurricane, and Fini should use Moonblast. Fini will probably get KO'd by the Hurricane if it hits, so back to Garchomp to use Drake. Sometimes Hurricane will miss or Skystrike and Hurricane low roll and Fini will live, in this case Moonblast again. Either Fini will KO Tornadus, or Scizor gets a free switch. For the other sets, Garchomp can just use Drake, or use the above strategy and have Fini deal with Tornadus; she matches up a little better when she's not taking a Z move.
Togekiss, both* sets
*(Perri’s Togekiss-2 doesn’t count)
The biggest pitfall with this opponent is the idea that Scizor can swap in and set up against another Fairy-type. The 1/3 chance that Togekiss can have Serene Grace boosting its Air Slashes to a 57% flinch rate means that it’s far too dangerous for Scizor to try setting up. Even if it has one of its other abilities 2/3rds of the time, it can still get flinches just the same. Garchomp can’t touch this thing, and it outspeeds Fini, so Scizor is the main option, unless Fini has some CM boosts and doesn’t mind taking a hit or two. I like to just switch into Scizor and use two Bullet Punches to deal with Togekiss.
Arcanine, both sets
Garchomp normally deals with Arcanine with its Earthquake, but if it has Intimidate, Garchomp can’t OHKO it. As a Water and Fairy-type, Fini wants to swap in against Arcanine-4 since it’s a Fire-type that likes to use Close Combat and All-Out Pummeling, but it wants to avoid Arcanine-3 since it always goes for Sunny Day on the first turn and carries Solar Beam. I’ve found that using Swords Dance against Intimidate Arcanine works well if Garchomp is at full HP. Arcanine-4 also carries Extreme Speed, which can definitely catch me off guard if I’m not thinking about it, especially with how much damage it can do against Garchomp (23.4 - 27.8%). Also, pay attention to the trainer name since many of the sun team trainers only carry the Sunny Day set; it doesn't have to be a coin flip and Swords Dance is best for these.
Noivern, both sets
Noivern can be easily dealt with by switching into Fini and using an unboosted Moonblast, but if Fini already fainted it’s very tricky for Garchomp and Scizor to deal with. And even though Fini answers Noivern, Noivern-3 could still makes things annoying by getting one or two Air Slash flinches. Noivern outspeeds Garchomp, and both sets pack Flamethrower and Dragon Pulse. Flamethrower has a 6.3% (10.2% including crit) chance to OHKO Scizor, but it’s not like living one Flamethrower is going to do much good, because the best bet is for Scizor to use two Bullet Punches and pray that one of them crits. Dragon Pulse does (83 - 98.3%) damage against Garchomp, so hope that Garchomp hasn’t taken any damage this battle, or that a crit doesn’t happen. If Misty Terrain is still up when Garchomp switches in, then it has a much better chance to make a comeback.
Whimsicott-3
This set is more of an annoyance than a threat. But since it’s a Fairy-Grass-type, it shouldn’t even be a problem; Scizor can just set up on it, right? Sure, but it’s slow and painful to do so, since Whimsicott-3 carries priority Cotton Guard so it’s like Swords Dances do nothing against it. Throw in priority Substitutes and Leech Seed, and this thing becomes a slog to work around. It’s such a juxtaposition to how easy Whimsicott-4 is to deal with. But it turns out that Whimsicott has fairly below-average HP and Sp. Defense, and Whimsicott-3 doesn’t have an attacking Grass move, so some combination of Scizor’s Bullet Punches and Fini’s Moonblasts easily gets around this thing.
Milestone Battles
Many of the below Battle Videos had to be removed because of the arbitrary 10 upload limit. I'm happy to provide any of the removed videos upon request.
Battle 300 vs. Sina [R7DG-WWWW-WWXE-87DH]
Battle 400 vs. Cynthia [Code removed to make room]
Battle 500 vs. Gimsley [Code removed to make room]
Battle 600 vs. Cynthia [Code removed to make room]
Battle 700 vs. Grimsley [Code removed to make room]
Battle 800 vs. Sina [Code removed to make room]
Scary Battles
Battle 529: Jo – Articuno, Latias, Milotic
Unfortunately I did not save this replay since I just hit next battle out of habit and was still shaking off my nerves. I realized this right away and wrote up what happened.
Battle Summary:
Jo leads with Articuno. Swap to Scizor. Articuno uses Ice Beam, and it freezes.
Scizor doesn’t thaw out, so Articuno can Lock-On and Sheer Cold for the KO.
Swap to Garchomp because I know that certain Articuno sets have a 15/16 chance of getting one-shot by Devastating Drake, but I didn’t realize that Articuno-2 will survive it. It loses about 3/4 of its HP from Drake and KO’s Garchomp with Ice Beam.
Fini is my final Pokemon. Now I look up Articuno-2’s set and speed, and realize that Fini outspeeds. Since I know it will go into Lock-On and Sheer Cold, I CM during the Lock-On turn and Surf to KO on the next.
Latias is sent out next, which uses CM and Fini uses Moonblast, and does over half HP damage.
For about the next 5 turns, Latias uses Recover and Fini uses Moonblast, and Latias is eventually KO’d because of the damage outpace. Once I knew Latias was stuck using Recover, I thought about going for a 2nd CM, but I didn’t want Fini to take any damage in case I needed her to clutch out a potentially scary one-on-one with the last Pokemon.
Thankfully the final Pokemon is Milotic, which a +1 Fini can easily 2-shot with Grass Knot.
Battle Notes:
Please see my notes on Articuno-2 as to why I sent out Scizor and risked a freeze.
When it happened, I thought swapping Garchomp in after Scizor fainted was a brain-dead lapse in judgment since I didn’t bother to look up Articuno’s set details once I saw Ice Beam, and Drake was only able to damage Articuno without KO’ing it. However, once the battle was over, I realized that likely the only reason I won was because Fini was able to get a free CM against a damaged Articuno and proceed to win. In the other scenario where I sent out Fini after Scizor fainted, it couldn’t have two-shot Articuno without a crit, and Garchomp would have had a very tough time against Latias and especially Milotic since it likely would have had to use Drake against Articuno. I got very lucky to turn around this battle.
Battle 609: Niara – Incineroar, Swampert, Feraligatr [G39W-WWWW-WWXE-87DZ]
Battle Summary:
Niara leads with an Incineroar that doesn’t have Intimidate, so I happily KO it with Earthquake.
Next is Swampert, specifically Mega Swampert. I switch out Garchomp for Tapu Fini, and Swampert uses Earthquake, damaging Fini down to 38% health, and Sitrus Berry healing it up to 63%.
Fini uses CM, and Swampert uses Rain Dance, so Swampert now outspeeds.
Swampert uses Earthquake and damages Fini down to 8% health, and Fini uses Grass Knot for a KO.
Finally, Feraligatr. I leave in Fini since I’m at such an advantage and getting a free switch after a faint seems good. Feraligatr uses Waterfall and KO’s Fini.
I send out Scizor since Misty Terrain is still up and would weaken Garchomp’s Devastating Drake. Feraligatr uses Substitute and Scizor uses Brutal Swing, and breaks the Substitute.
Feraligatr uses Dragon Dance, and Scizor uses Brutal Swing, damaging Feraligatr for more than 3/8 of its health, leaving Feraligatr at less than 3/8 health.
Feraligatr uses Waterfall, and Scizor wins with Brutal Swing.
Battle Notes:
This battle made me nervous only because of the last Pokemon, which is surprising considering I went into it with a 3-1 lead, though Mega Swampert basically KO’d Fini. Once Feraligatr set up a Dragon Dance, I was scared of Waterfall flinches, since Scizor would only live one and not two Waterfalls. For the last turn, Feraligatr’s last bit of health wasn’t low enough where Scizor could KO Feraligatr with a Bullet Punch if the flinch occurred, so it came down to not flinching and KO’ing with Brutal Swing, or Garchomp not flinching, since Feraligatr now outspeeds everything. Granted, the chance of flinches happening were a bit lower than normal (about 13.3%) since Feraligatr can have Sheer Force. The better play would have been to switch in Garchomp after Fini fainted and Substituted to burn the last turn of terrain. What if it’s Feraligatr-3 and it Ice Punches on the Substitute turn? Drake next turn. Uses Substitute? Earthquake, then Drake. Uses Dragon Dance? Drake, since Sub is still up. There’s a few exceptions to this logic, but it would have been very free with the Rough Skin as chip damage and a Scizor in the back.
Battle 784: Poppy – Metagross, Gyarados, Kommo-o [K6HW-WWWW-WWXE-87E2]
Battle Summary:
Poppy leads with Metagross, so I swap out to Scizor to let it set up Swords Dances and use Roost to ignore damage. Unfortunately Metagross Mega evolves, and it gets the 18% chance of both hitting Scizor and getting an Attack boost.
Thankfully Scizor can still spam Roost and use the rare Swords Dance to set up against the barrage of boosted Brick Breaks, eventually KO’ing Metagross with a Brutal Swing, ending up around half health. It’s pretty lucky that Metagross never scored a crit here, which is why this was so scary.
Next is Gyarados, with Intimidate. I think I had this idea that it could Mega Evolve and resist Brutal Swing, which is an obvious mistake since Metagross already Mega Evolved. I swap to Fini and Gyarados uses Dragon Dance.
Gyarados uses Stone Edge, leaving Fini just above half health, so Sitrus Berry doesn’t get eaten, and Fini uses Moonblast, also leaving Gyarados just above half health. I want Fini to use CM since there’s little difference between going for two Moonblasts or a CM and a Moonblast. This was dumb, since Gyarados uses Dragon Dance.
Gyarados KO’s Fini with Stone Edge.
I send in Garchomp. Gyarados goes for its third Dragon Dance, and Garchomp KO’s with Devastating Drake.
Finally, Kommo-o, which Garchomp cleanly KO’s with Outrage.
Battle Notes:
I don’t have any extra notes since I put my thought process in the above paragraph, besides this one: shoutouts to the AI for overextending its set-ups sometimes (a third Dragon Dance!) and letting me get away with things that are supposed to be punished.
Unfortunately I did not save this replay since I just hit next battle out of habit and was still shaking off my nerves. I realized this right away and wrote up what happened.
Battle Summary:
Jo leads with Articuno. Swap to Scizor. Articuno uses Ice Beam, and it freezes.
Scizor doesn’t thaw out, so Articuno can Lock-On and Sheer Cold for the KO.
Swap to Garchomp because I know that certain Articuno sets have a 15/16 chance of getting one-shot by Devastating Drake, but I didn’t realize that Articuno-2 will survive it. It loses about 3/4 of its HP from Drake and KO’s Garchomp with Ice Beam.
Fini is my final Pokemon. Now I look up Articuno-2’s set and speed, and realize that Fini outspeeds. Since I know it will go into Lock-On and Sheer Cold, I CM during the Lock-On turn and Surf to KO on the next.
Latias is sent out next, which uses CM and Fini uses Moonblast, and does over half HP damage.
For about the next 5 turns, Latias uses Recover and Fini uses Moonblast, and Latias is eventually KO’d because of the damage outpace. Once I knew Latias was stuck using Recover, I thought about going for a 2nd CM, but I didn’t want Fini to take any damage in case I needed her to clutch out a potentially scary one-on-one with the last Pokemon.
Thankfully the final Pokemon is Milotic, which a +1 Fini can easily 2-shot with Grass Knot.
Battle Notes:
Please see my notes on Articuno-2 as to why I sent out Scizor and risked a freeze.
When it happened, I thought swapping Garchomp in after Scizor fainted was a brain-dead lapse in judgment since I didn’t bother to look up Articuno’s set details once I saw Ice Beam, and Drake was only able to damage Articuno without KO’ing it. However, once the battle was over, I realized that likely the only reason I won was because Fini was able to get a free CM against a damaged Articuno and proceed to win. In the other scenario where I sent out Fini after Scizor fainted, it couldn’t have two-shot Articuno without a crit, and Garchomp would have had a very tough time against Latias and especially Milotic since it likely would have had to use Drake against Articuno. I got very lucky to turn around this battle.
Battle 609: Niara – Incineroar, Swampert, Feraligatr [G39W-WWWW-WWXE-87DZ]
Battle Summary:
Niara leads with an Incineroar that doesn’t have Intimidate, so I happily KO it with Earthquake.
Next is Swampert, specifically Mega Swampert. I switch out Garchomp for Tapu Fini, and Swampert uses Earthquake, damaging Fini down to 38% health, and Sitrus Berry healing it up to 63%.
Fini uses CM, and Swampert uses Rain Dance, so Swampert now outspeeds.
Swampert uses Earthquake and damages Fini down to 8% health, and Fini uses Grass Knot for a KO.
Finally, Feraligatr. I leave in Fini since I’m at such an advantage and getting a free switch after a faint seems good. Feraligatr uses Waterfall and KO’s Fini.
I send out Scizor since Misty Terrain is still up and would weaken Garchomp’s Devastating Drake. Feraligatr uses Substitute and Scizor uses Brutal Swing, and breaks the Substitute.
Feraligatr uses Dragon Dance, and Scizor uses Brutal Swing, damaging Feraligatr for more than 3/8 of its health, leaving Feraligatr at less than 3/8 health.
Feraligatr uses Waterfall, and Scizor wins with Brutal Swing.
Battle Notes:
This battle made me nervous only because of the last Pokemon, which is surprising considering I went into it with a 3-1 lead, though Mega Swampert basically KO’d Fini. Once Feraligatr set up a Dragon Dance, I was scared of Waterfall flinches, since Scizor would only live one and not two Waterfalls. For the last turn, Feraligatr’s last bit of health wasn’t low enough where Scizor could KO Feraligatr with a Bullet Punch if the flinch occurred, so it came down to not flinching and KO’ing with Brutal Swing, or Garchomp not flinching, since Feraligatr now outspeeds everything. Granted, the chance of flinches happening were a bit lower than normal (about 13.3%) since Feraligatr can have Sheer Force. The better play would have been to switch in Garchomp after Fini fainted and Substituted to burn the last turn of terrain. What if it’s Feraligatr-3 and it Ice Punches on the Substitute turn? Drake next turn. Uses Substitute? Earthquake, then Drake. Uses Dragon Dance? Drake, since Sub is still up. There’s a few exceptions to this logic, but it would have been very free with the Rough Skin as chip damage and a Scizor in the back.
Battle 784: Poppy – Metagross, Gyarados, Kommo-o [K6HW-WWWW-WWXE-87E2]
Battle Summary:
Poppy leads with Metagross, so I swap out to Scizor to let it set up Swords Dances and use Roost to ignore damage. Unfortunately Metagross Mega evolves, and it gets the 18% chance of both hitting Scizor and getting an Attack boost.
Thankfully Scizor can still spam Roost and use the rare Swords Dance to set up against the barrage of boosted Brick Breaks, eventually KO’ing Metagross with a Brutal Swing, ending up around half health. It’s pretty lucky that Metagross never scored a crit here, which is why this was so scary.
Next is Gyarados, with Intimidate. I think I had this idea that it could Mega Evolve and resist Brutal Swing, which is an obvious mistake since Metagross already Mega Evolved. I swap to Fini and Gyarados uses Dragon Dance.
Gyarados uses Stone Edge, leaving Fini just above half health, so Sitrus Berry doesn’t get eaten, and Fini uses Moonblast, also leaving Gyarados just above half health. I want Fini to use CM since there’s little difference between going for two Moonblasts or a CM and a Moonblast. This was dumb, since Gyarados uses Dragon Dance.
Gyarados KO’s Fini with Stone Edge.
I send in Garchomp. Gyarados goes for its third Dragon Dance, and Garchomp KO’s with Devastating Drake.
Finally, Kommo-o, which Garchomp cleanly KO’s with Outrage.
Battle Notes:
I don’t have any extra notes since I put my thought process in the above paragraph, besides this one: shoutouts to the AI for overextending its set-ups sometimes (a third Dragon Dance!) and letting me get away with things that are supposed to be punished.
The Loss
Battle 883: Victor – Mesprit, Latios, Uxie [LR7G-WWWW-WWXE-87E6]
Battle Summary:
Since it’s a Mesprit lead, Garchomp uses Substitute to scout the set. Unfortunately it’s Blizzard, and it hits.
I swap out to Tapu Fini. Mesprit uses Blizzard and does marginal damage.
Fini uses CM, and Mesprit uses Thunder, leaving Fini at 69% health after Sitrus Berry.
Mesprit uses Protect, blocking Fini’s Moonblast.
Fini uses Moonblast, damaging Mesprit for over half its health, and Mesprit uses Thunder again, leaving Fini at 29%.
Fini then KO’s Mesprit.
Latios is sent out, and it uses Thunder to KO Fini.
I send out Scizor to set up on Latios. Latios uses Thunder and crits, leaving Scizor at about 25%, and Scizor uses Swords Dance.
Scizor uses Bullet Punch and leaves Latios with just a little HP, and Latios KO’s Scizor with Thunder.
I’m down to Garchomp. I use Devastating Drake to finish off Latios, but Victor switches it out for Uxie. This does a large chunk of damage, which is perfect for finishing off Uxie with Outrage, since getting stuck in Outrage against Latios isn’t bad.
Garchomp uses Outrage and Uxie is KO’d.
Latios is sent out, and KO’s Garchomp with Draco Meteor.
Battle Notes:
I think all my plays were pretty correct until Latios came out. Maybe I could have used Scizor instead of Fini against Mesprit, since it probably could have set up for a sweep, but going for Fini’s CM isn’t bad, even though Thunder can sting. Getting a free switch from Fini fainting was probably smart, since I didn’t want Scizor to take any damage from a switch, and the Mega Latios set would have been problematic for Garchomp, probably. After this, the battle went completely downhill. My fatal flaw came from not looking up the Latios set at this point, or at the very least not knowing that Latios only had one set with Thunder, and that that set was the Choice Specs set. I should have had Scizor spam Roost to deplete Thunder’s PP. Even my final turns with Garchomp should have taken all this set info about Latios into account, but I didn’t. At the very least I should have realized that Latios outsped Garchomp and gone for a desperation Substitute against Uxie after using Drake on it, since I knew that swapping out meant Latios was choice’d. But for whatever reason I just assumed Garchomp would outspeed since I know it outspeeds half of the Latios sets. Also, all my problems could have been avoided if I had just looked up Victor’s possible sets early on, since he doesn’t have access to all four Latios sets. At the very least, a little bit of luck by getting any of the opponents’ attacks to miss would have been nice. This was a very disappointing loss since I can’t just blame luck, only my own incompetence.
Thank you for reading this far. I realize this is a lot of words for this post, but I wanted to be detailed. Hopefully someone finds this interesting.
(edited on 2022/5/15 to add final stats, comment on battle videos, and correct and update some of the threat strategies)
Last edited:
