Battle Tree Discussion and Records

I'm SERIOUSLY starting to lose my sanity! I can't get back to 50 no matter what I do! I'm begining to think you have to have every Trainer and Pokemon in the tree memorized in order to stand a chance at having a great streak!

I'm using a set nearly identical to HeadsILoseTailsYouWin, with some changes.

Dragonite doesn't have the same moveset, (mine: D. Claw, Fire Punch, Roost, DD) and his EVs are 252 Atk/252 Spe. I don't get why there is 188 in his speed and I've been thinking about lowering mine, but what does 188 out speed? I figure Mega Lucario is the most I need to outspeed after one DD but I'm worried about another threat I don't know being out there. I'd like the most bulk possible, anyone can help me with this EV spread?

My Aegislash isn't Brave, and I'd also like to know why 8 in speed?

My Tapu Fini is a plain 252 Hp/ 252 Spe. What his EV spread is for I don't know. Thought about using a more Defensive Fini, but I would need a Bold or a Calm nature to make the most of it, and I'm not restarting my game unti after I can put my poke's in the bank.

Thinking about making a new team, but I don't have the confidence to do it right now. Every team I make gets whooped in the 40s so I feel like trying to make my own unique one would just end up being worse.

I am thinking about a Modest, Choice Specs/Scarf Tapu Lele. Maybe team with a Toxapex and trade to get a Jolly Kangaskhan? I'm up for any suggestions at this point.
Use Life Orb Taunt Lele. It annihilates half of Red's team. Psychic shts on Venusaur-Mega, Thunderbolt hits Charizard and Blastoise (or was it Lapras). Basically destroys everything on a streak below 50.
 
I'm SERIOUSLY starting to lose my sanity! I can't get back to 50 no matter what I do! I'm begining to think you have to have every Trainer and Pokemon in the tree memorized in order to stand a chance at having a great streak!

I'm using a set nearly identical to HeadsILoseTailsYouWin, with some changes.

Dragonite doesn't have the same moveset, (mine: D. Claw, Fire Punch, Roost, DD) and his EVs are 252 Atk/252 Spe. I don't get why there is 188 in his speed and I've been thinking about lowering mine, but what does 188 out speed? I figure Mega Lucario is the most I need to outspeed after one DD but I'm worried about another threat I don't know being out there. I'd like the most bulk possible, anyone can help me with this EV spread?

My Aegislash isn't Brave, and I'd also like to know why 8 in speed?

My Tapu Fini is a plain 252 Hp/ 252 Spe. What his EV spread is for I don't know. Thought about using a more Defensive Fini, but I would need a Bold or a Calm nature to make the most of it, and I'm not restarting my game unti after I can put my poke's in the bank.

Thinking about making a new team, but I don't have the confidence to do it right now. Every team I make gets whooped in the 40s so I feel like trying to make my own unique one would just end up being worse.

I am thinking about a Modest, Choice Specs/Scarf Tapu Lele. Maybe team with a Toxapex and trade to get a Jolly Kangaskhan? I'm up for any suggestions at this point.
You should also try to learn what your sets are for, and Roost is bad for 252/152 Atk/Spe. You don't need to know exactly every single set, but you should know what you should do in certain situations.

Firstly, the EVs on DNite are carefully thought out by people who have studied the Tree extensively (i.e turskain) and the bulky DNite set outspeeds most dangerous things at 188. The Bulky DNite uses 52HP/252ATK/12Def/4Sp.Def/188SPE, this EV Spread maximises mixed bulk while still outspeeding threats at +1. With the 252/252 spread, it's hard to abuse roost for setup since a lot of 3HKOs using the bulky DNite becomes 2HKOs on 252/252 DNite.

Aegislash was what the guy above me a few posts said, this is actually a lot more important than it looks if you can't OHKO stuff in the 80 Speed Tier (Magnezone etc.), you need to underspeed to take a hit in SHield. The Speed should either be 81+ or 79-, but never exactly 80.

I don't use Tapu Fini, but 252HP/252SPE sounds strange to me. Maybe someone more experienced can answer you, but you should understand what it does.

Looking at your problems, it appears that you not fully understanding your own team is leading to your losses.


Also, bumping my question about the viability of Arcanine+MegaMence and I need either an incredibly specially bulky mon or a good defensive steel. I was considering AV MetaGross, but the stacked Ground weakness bothered me slightly.
 
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You should also try to learn what your sets are for, and Roost is bad for 252/152 Atk/Spe. You don't need to know exactly every single set, but you should know what you should do in certain situations.

Firstly, the EVs on DNite are carefully thought out by people who have studied the Tree extensively (i.e turskain) and the bulky DNite set outspeeds most dangerous things at 188. The Bulky DNite uses 52HP/252ATK/12Def/4Sp.Def/188SPE, this EV Spread maximises mixed bulk while still outspeeding threats at +1. With the 252/252 spread, it's hard to abuse roost for setup since a lot of 3HKOs using the bulky DNite becomes 2HKOs on 252/252 DNite.

Aegislash was what the guy above me a few posts said, this is actually a lot more important than it looks if you can't OHKO stuff in the 80 Speed Tier (Magnezone etc.), you need to underspeed to take a hit in SHield. The Speed should either be 81+ or 79-, but never exactly 80.

I don't use Tapu Fini, but 252HP/252SPE sounds strange to me. Maybe someone more experienced can answer you, but you should understand what it does.

Looking at your problems, it appears that you not fully understanding your own team is leading to your losses.


Also, bumping my question about the viability of Arcanine+MegaMence and I need either an incredibly specially bulky mon or a good defensive steel. I was considering AV MetaGross, but the stacked Ground weakness bothered me slightly.
You shouldn't just copy EV spreads blindly and assume they're the best. They're a good starting point, but they should be tweaked to your team. One Pokemon that may not have mattered to be faster at +1 to the team you copied it from, but it could be the bane of your team's existence.

The bulky Dragonite spread is outdated now that the AI has Mega evolutions. That set hits 186 Speed at +1. Mega Salamence is at 189 and a major threat. Mega Gengar at 200 is a threat to that set too and to Aegislash(and Fini if you use it). A faster (Jolly) Dragonite handily beats that too. I would suggest:

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Multiscale
68 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 172 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Roost
-Dragon Dance

This set will hit a 201 speed tier, which ties with only Scarf Skarmory3, which Dragonite can't really harm anyway with this set, so it doesn't really matter. If it does to you for some reason, move 8 more EV from HP to Spe and you will be at an empty 202 tier at +1.

Also, Roost works just fine with a 252 Atk/Spe set if you choose to use it. Look at the lead match up guide I posted for the 252 Atk/Spe Jolly Dragonite. There's a lot of stuff it can DD up to +6 on by using Roost. It also hits an empty 217 speed tier at +1 which beats Mega Sceptile and Sand Rush Excadrill at 216.

As to your team, Arcanine and Mega Salamence have a stacked Rock weakness. You'll also have trouble with Defiant Pokémon with 2 Intimidate users. You do really need a Steel as a 3rd to cover the Rock weakness, and Salamence's Fairy weakness. Mega Metagross is okay, but Aegislash is probably Salamence's and Dragonite's best partner.

I actually used Focus Sash TG Xurkitree before but yeah, coverage sucks.
I used Tapu Koko too but it's quite underwhelming. Outside of strong Thunderbolts, it doesn't quite do much. Soooo post-bank, I'll be using a Sub CM Raikou, I guess. Other post bank options? It's really quite annoying since I was planning on reaching 200+ with Pokémon in the Alolan dex but I guess using post bank mons would be inevitable. Lel
Does it need to be Electric? Pretty much every Electric type suffers from a limited coverage movepool. That's why they end up using Hidden Power so often. Grass Knot and Shadow Ball are others, but usually underwhelming without STAB. Raikou is not going to solve these problems.
 
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Cannot put into words right now how utterly overpowered Mega Salamence is. Once a DD is set up its basically GG. Currently at Battle 97 in Super Singles:

Salamence@Salamencite
Nature: Jolly
252 Atk/6 Def/252 Speed
- Return
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Roost

Tapu Koko@Life Orb
Nature: Naive
4 Atk/252 SpA/252 Speed
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot
- Brave Bird

Garchomp@Focus Sash
Nature: Jolly
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Speed
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance

Honestly, should have just SR'd for a Timid Koko with HP Ice but still, this team is working wonders for me.

Edit: Ugh just got schooled in Battle 100 by Sina and her hail team, but Im satisfied with 99 wins on my first try with this team.

NoCheese Edit: Proof photos is here
 
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Got 94 wins using this. Unless something changes once you get past 100 wins I feel pretty confident in this team since I got a good ways past 50 and only lost due to being a bonehead.

Porygon-Z @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Ground
- Conversion

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate/Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Earthquake

Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- Swords Dance

The underlying logic behind this team is "Battle Tree can't hax you if they don't get a chance to move." As such the strategy is to concede turn 1 to setting up with Porygon-Z's Z-Conversion so that the opponent won't be able to do anything on the next 3 turns. Thunderbolt will be able to oneshot most things, Ice Beam is often super effective against things Thunderbolt isn't effective against, and Hidden Power Ground works in the rare cases that Thunderbolt and Ice Beam aren't very effective. I tried Recover for a while but I think HP Ground is just a little bit better because it makes things like Magnezone and Togedemaru easier to breakthrough.

Gyarados is the back up and can usually sweep off of the pokemon Porygon-Z has trouble setting up on. It's a very nice partner to Porygon-Z because it can eat the fighting attacks for normal Porygon-Z as well as the ground attacks for electric Porygon-Z. Being effectively 2 different pokemon at once is also quite handy in a 3 pokemon format and allows me to game the A.I. depending on when I choose to mega evolve (psychic types are usually a free dragon dance). Waterfall and Crunch are stabs with good coverange, and Earthquake is to hit all dragon type pokemon not weak to ice beam, so basically this move is only for Charizard X and it is entirely worth using over ice fang since Porygon-Z has the ice beam to deal with all of the other dragons. It also gets a bit more mileage out of Mold Breaker this way by being able to hit levitating pokemon. I'm sure I'm forgetting other little things that makes Gyarados good because I've found that it fills a bunch of small niches at once that add up quite a bit.

Kartana is the cleaner. Once Porygon-Z has set up it does not leave until it has either routed the other team or died. In the case of the latter, Kartana comes in because Porygon-Z usually doesn't go out without having done a huge chunk of damage leaving Kartana with a weakened pokemon to boost off of into a sweep. Focus Sash is crucial to keeping Kartana in the game, and it has pretty good coverage in Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword and Smart Strike which can often take care of the pokemon Porygon-Z and Gyarados are uncomfortable fighting. Swords Dance is a good fourth move because even when all of Kartana's moves are not very effective it can potentially power through with Swords Dance provided it can live long enough to set up.

DSLG-WWWW-WWW3-QGJ4

This is how I lost. I really wasn't thinking and by the time I realized that Lycanroc would have Accelrock it was already too late, although in my defense all the Lycanrocs I've fought so far like to start with Z-Stealth Rock. Then I mega evolved Gyarados against an Alakazam firing Focus Blasts when as it turns out the only non mega set is the Specs set. Oops.

As far as counters to this team goes the only thing to truly scare me has been Thundurus. The first time I fought Thundurus it caught me by surprise and if it didn't miss Focus Blast twice on my Kartana it would have ended my run 20 battles earlier. It has two sets with Focus Blast, one with specs and one with Electrium Z, and while the specs set is easy enough to handle I basically have to sack my Porygon-Z to figure out which set I'm fighting, because I need to switch to Gyarados to take the Focus Blast, switch back to Porygon-Z to see if I get another Focus Blast or the Gigavolt Havoc, and then switch back to Gyarados to start setting up. Thankfully the Electrium Z set only has discharge and volt switch which can't oneshot Mega Gyarados even after the Focus Blast damage on regular Gyarados.
This set wrecks on Singles Battle Tree.

So after like 5 runs ending in the 40's in super doubles I finally hit 50 with the koko/pelliper/kingdra/mamoswine team. Doubles is, contrary to my initial observation, way fucking harder than singles even though the AI is worse at it simply because you get so many more opportunities to get hax'd. Granted, I never really messed with doubles in a battle facility before this. For those interested, this was the team

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Timid nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
-Thunder
-Dazzling Gleam
-Grass Knot
-Protect

Pelipper @ Damp Rock
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpA
Bold Nature
- Hurricane
- Scald
- Protect
- U-turn

Kingdra @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 116 HP / 252 SpA / 140 Spe
Modest Nature
- Muddy Water
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Ice Shard
- Earthquake
- Icicle Crash
- Protect

The Kingdra/Mamoswine are basically cut and paste from my old BSD team docs which I'm sure are straight out of the analysis pages. Pelipper has the most room for optimization seeing as he's a capable offensive pokemon now and you might be able to eke out a few more 1/2HKOs with some EVs from defense. Special defense goes uninvested because most of the time those attacks are electric and are going into Mamoswine. Hydro pump is an option on Kingdra but even the 90acc muddy water misses too often for my taste. I used more Devastating Drakes than muddy waters.

Also my Mamoswine wasn't thick fat because HAs on island scan pokemon are illegal until bank, but of course you'd want to run it if/when it's possible. I don't think it matters whether you go with Oblivious or Snow Cloak in the meantime.
This set wrecks for doubles.

I copied these sets because they were readily available and I liked them. I am currently at 83 in doubles and 68 in Singles. I'm working on Multi-Battles now.

Thanks for posting these sets and a HUGE THANK YOU to das_eisenherz for the Tapu Koko and Kartana. :)

Kartana is a great match for Napoleon's Regice in Multi-Battles by the way.
 
Got to 96 wins on Super Singles and misplayed for the loss; should have swapped Phero into the predicted Shadowball on Aegislash instead of Dragonite, and cleaned up that way. It's bulky enough to take one and sweep.

NoCheese Edit: The team, for clarity, is Pheromosa / Dragonite / Aegislash

Of course the flinch also fucked me over. If I had gotten Dance off, I would've outspeed and nuked everything with EQ and conserved Aegis more.

Video for leaderboards: 69UG-WWWW-WWW4-HN3N

Going to play some more with this team and see if I can't break 100+; it clearly has the potential for it, I just need to rely on Phero's paper bag defenses to sponge certain hits.

Once I get past 100 I'll probably make a decent write-up, since mobile is a pain to do that on.
 
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I think it's been brought up before that the Showdown damage calc is not absolutely 100% accurate, and I'm looking for either clarification or reiteration, really.

Basically I was up against the irritating Gengar-1 and the attack in question (Nihilego LO Power Gem) indicated a max of 133 HP, 98.5% of Gengar's 135 HP. So I was mildly surprised when it alerted me Gengar was saved by its Focus Sash. I expected it to survive regardless, of course, but not to get a max damage roll or, apparently, do a smidge more than indicated.

It doesn't matter because of this, but I have done particular very precise spreads using that calc simply because it would "ensure" 3HKOs for certain things.
 
I think it's been brought up before that the Showdown damage calc is not absolutely 100% accurate, and I'm looking for either clarification or reiteration, really.

Basically I was up against the irritating Gengar-1 and the attack in question (Nihilego LO Power Gem) indicated a max of 133 HP, 98.5% of Gengar's 135 HP. So I was mildly surprised when it alerted me Gengar was saved by its Focus Sash. I expected it to survive regardless, of course, but not to get a max damage roll or, apparently, do a smidge more than indicated.

It doesn't matter because of this, but I have done particular very precise spreads using that calc simply because it would "ensure" 3HKOs for certain things.
What battle are you on? Before 40 the AI Pokémon have less than perfect IVs. Meaning you will do more damage and take less than what the calculator says.
 
I don't know how to upload videos yet, or if that's even possible. It must be possible. Anyway - my tapu fini got attacked by a fake out from a hariyama and did not flinch. It inflicted damage and was late on in the battle but it makes no sense. Has anyone else found this or can anyone explain why I didn't flinch?
 
What battle are you on? Before 40 the AI Pokémon have less than perfect IVs. Meaning you will do more damage and take less than what the calculator says.
*headdesk* I had given myself the misimpression that they'd done away with that considering the 1-20 starter battles involved nothing but fully evolved pokes. But yeah, of course that's what happened. I should have considered that.
 

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Resident Facility Bot Wannabe
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
I think it's been brought up before that the Showdown damage calc is not absolutely 100% accurate, and I'm looking for either clarification or reiteration, really.

Basically I was up against the irritating Gengar-1 and the attack in question (Nihilego LO Power Gem) indicated a max of 133 HP, 98.5% of Gengar's 135 HP. So I was mildly surprised when it alerted me Gengar was saved by its Focus Sash. I expected it to survive regardless, of course, but not to get a max damage roll or, apparently, do a smidge more than indicated.

It doesn't matter because of this, but I have done particular very precise spreads using that calc simply because it would "ensure" 3HKOs for certain things.
Headdesks aside, have you dealt with that particular set in the usual switch-stall fashion, or have you found/used mons that pretty much stop it cold? Has Nihilego fulfilled that role?

Magnezone
Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 72 SpA+ / 180 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk- / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Hyper Beam/Magnet Bomb/ Shock Wave (Filler, Ideas appreciated. Maybe something Shock Wave to counter Double Team?)
Thanks to Viridi's current giveaway, I will be testing this out shortly--and she might too. Any ideas for good Doubles partners for this?
 
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So, I've done my 50 wins in Singles and Doubles. Now in Multi-Battles, would Cynthia be considered a good partner with this set?

Togekiss w/ King's Rock
  • Grass Knot
  • Thunder Wave
  • Air Slash
  • Shadow Ball
Lucario w/ Weakness Policy
  • Aura Sphere
  • Dragon Pulse
  • Stone Edge
  • Extreme Speed
I was reaaally hoping to get Mega Lucario, but this is the best I've got. I didn't know about the Scout function until starting Multi Battles, so I just went to 60 wins in singles and got what I could. Is it worth trying to build a team around this?
 
Aegislash @ Leftovers ***BLADE BEAM
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 84 SpA / 156 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- King's Shield


12 Speed EVs to outspeed Tyranitar-4 by 1. 84 SpA for a bonus point of SpA, and the rest added into HP and SpDef.
This post is from ages ago, but someone raised a question about this spread today and I wasn't sure how to answer.

Tyranitar-4 holds a Mega Stone, so Tyranitar-Mega-4 outspeeds this anyway once it evolves. Was this Aegislash EVd more to defeat all 81s as opposed to TTar-4 specifically? Last gen's "magic number" that Turskain calculated was 79; does that still hold true, or is 82 better?
 
Headdesks aside, have you dealt with that particular set in the usual switch-stall fashion, or have you found/used mons that pretty much stop it cold? Has Nihilego fulfilled that role?
I'm still waist deep in breeding and basically preparing myself for when I've finally been able to bring over my 6IV 0-speed Dittos (apparently the consensus is it'll be by or before Tuesday, as the VGC ruleset allows National Dex mons... a stupid thing to deliberately allow if they know it'll be impossible to do, right?)

So I've just been making do with UBs and Tapus for some BP farming, and in this particular case I had Pheromosa/Kartana/Nihilego and the N just happened to be out while Gengar was sent. Nihilego is the only one who can eat a Shadow Ball and the other two will prompt that move and not Hypnosis, so I basically just play it as the situation requires.

Unideal but that'll change once I have pokes I actually want to be using. Pheromosa is an extremely mixed bag and I frankly don't know why the fuck it gets the praise that it does (elsewhere.) Apart from sitting at a really comfortable neutral-natured speed its movepool is so shallow its hand is constantly forced. It's the exact opposite of versatile. U-turn all day every day, with the occasional High Jump Kick (or more often than not, the Z variant as it's much stronger and safer.) That said, there's a really long list of frail enemies that are easily one-shotted by Z-HJK and then a +1 U-turn right afterward, so she puts in enough work as a lead, I guess.
 
I've been running what is probably a really suboptimal Pheromosa, but the thing is phenomenal considering how much this thing hurts.

Pheromosa @ Wide Lens
252atk 252 speed 4 HP
Naughty
-HJK
-Lunge
-U-Turn
-Ice Beam

Probably not the best set, but this was something I slapped together, taking a cue from Wide Lens Azumarill back from Maison. HJK is just too damn powerful to gut in favor of Brick Break.

The sheer force of HJK shreds a TON of things ingame, allowing you to snowball through a ton of teams after a boost. Ice Beam blasts apart the various ingame dragons that HJK won't kill, and I decided both Lunge and U-turn because keeping in for the boost is usually worth the lost coverage on fairies via Poison Jab (which Aegislash covers anyway).

Phero is nice in that only about 25-26 out of the 997 sets outspeed it when running a neutral nature, and quite a few of those are scarfers that become setup fodder for common streak picks such as Dragonite / Salamence and Aegislash. It picks off pretty much all dark types for Aegislash, a lot of rock, steel, and ice types for Dragonite, and has nice defensive synergy for switches as a lead, even though it can't take a bit worth much.
 
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Alright, here's the team:




Silvally @ Wide Lens ***ChaosLemures
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 212 HP / 4 Atk / 44 Def / 196 SpA / 52 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Toxic
- Parting Shot


Before going any further, let me just say my Silvally's stats here are sub-optimal. I picked up a Quiet Silvally because I intended to create some sort of bulky Assault Vest set with it for VGC. Instead, I found myself using it here in the Battle Tree. Running Modest at the very least would be better. Running a Defense or Special Defense boosting nature like Calm or Bold and investing fully into defenses would also make a good recommendation. However, even with the stat set up being sub-optimal, it at least didn't stop my Silvally from executing what it needed to.

The general idea here is to Thunder Wave the opponent, then Parting Shot to weaken them for Salamence to set up a sweep, or for Aegislash to eliminate the active Pokemon while taking minimal damage. Thunderbolt was used specifically to hit Bisharp or Milotic as they are risky to use Parting Shot against. Toxic was originally for Raikou-3, but came in handy in a few other situations throughout the run, usually as a way to corner a mon trying to set up and stay healthy with Recover or Roost. Why I needed it for Raikou-3 was because the Raikou cannot be paralyzed, has Thunder Wave to debilitate my Salamence, and has both Calm Mind and Charge Beam allowing it to boost up and become out of control in the long run. But since it takes a good 10 or so Turns before it gets out of control, Toxic keeps the damage from the Raikou well contained.

Wide Lens is crucial for comfort for using this team. While there is still that 1% chance I can miss with Thunder Wave (which happened about 6 or 7 times in 450 games), it still makes Thunder Wave into a move I can rely on repeatedly, game after game.

Salamence @ Salamencite ***WickedFlight
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 4 Def / 196 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Roost


While I haven't been following what has been used lately in Singles, it doesn't take much to know that Mega Salamence is completely busted. EVs in Atk to get a bonus stat point. EVs in Speed to hit 143, outspeeding neutral Base 90s. Everything else into HP and Special Defense bulk.

Parting Shot support can let Salamence drop down a sub and not have it immediately broken by the opponent's attacks. Once I'm able to do that, it is pretty easy to constantly maintain a Sub up while Roosting back HP and slowly building up Dragon Dances. Once the music stops and Salamence is done dancing, there is very little in the way to stop it from running over everything with Aerilate boosted Returns.

While it's usually safe and easy to max out to +6 DD, I found myself fine stopping at +4 before going on the offense. Against some trainers, who are less likely to have bulky Rock- or Steel-type Pokemon, I can get away with fewer dances. Against certain trainers who are more likely to have Flying-type resists I'll go for the full +6.

It's important to know not to immediately Mega Evolve Salamence and instead take advantage of switching to cycle Intimidates before finally committing to set up. This will be talked about a bit more later on.

Aegislash @ Leftovers ***BLADE BEAM
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 84 SpA / 156 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- King's Shield


12 Speed EVs to outspeed Tyranitar-4 by 1. 84 SpA for a bonus point of SpA, and the rest added into HP and SpDef.

Aegislash is pretty fun to use in Single Tree, and is a complete monster once it can get behind a Sub. After a Parting Shot to the opponent, Aegislash's Subs will often tank various STAB 90 power moves. And while it may take around 10 turns to do so, it can pretty much take out the opponent while having a Sub up, and still be at around 80~90% of its HP. While it does mean the opponent's active mon is no longer one that is debiliated by Thunder Wave or Parting Shot, being up 3v2 with my team being in good health, and with an active sub for Aegislash is often more than enough to maintain momentum for a win.


Using the Team:

To put simply:


The ability to switch around is very important for this team. Salamence has Intimidate, Silvally has Parting Shot, and Aegislash has an excellent set of resistances. Silvally's Ghost-type immunity, and Salamence's Ground-type immunity also creates a lot of situations for Aegislash to safely switch back out, allowing the team to cycle usage of Parting Shot and Intimidate. Ultimately, the ideal goal is to set up a situation where the opponent cannot break Salamence's Substitute, and then set up the Salamence sweep. But the team is a bit more flexible in not always needing to commit to trying to force the opportunity. Don't be afraid to just use Aegislash to safely knock out a Pokemon and create yourself a lead instead of putting in a great amount of resources to force an opportunity to set up Salamence.

Risk mitigation and patience are also traits needed for running the team. Since Silvally doesn't get sacrificed in this team in order to heavily debilitate the opponent, Salamence or Aegislash will often have to switch into an oncomming attack. If you aren't careful this can lead to some disastrous results like Mence getting OHKO'd by a critical hit through -5 Atk (hello Guzma @ Battle 450). Opponents are not locked into any moves, unlike TrickScarf strategies, so it is also imporant at times to keep track of how much PP they may have remaining in their moves in order to know when it is safe.

The team is far from foolproof as some of the teams of past days. While 449 is a pretty long streak, I had plenty of close calls throughout the run where I was barely able to scrape by, and would have lost if I was any less lucky.

Some Notable Threats:

Infiltrator

Naturally, if the opponent can just ignore my Substitutes it makes setting up a lot more difficult. Watch out for opponent Chandelures, Malamar and Noiverns.

Defiant / Competitive / Contrary

They can be Thunder Wave'd at least, but be wary of trying to use Parting shot against Pokemon such as Milotic, Bisharp, Braviary, Serperior, Lurantis or Malamar. Especially be careful about using King's Shield against Malamar and Lurantis.

Raikou-3

As mentioned earlier, it can't be Thunder Waved, it has Charge Beam and Calm Mind making Parting Shot somewhat useless, it has Thunder Wave and will use it to Paralyze Mence if I try to set up on it, and it has Shadow Ball for my Aegislash. This is why Toxic is on Silvally.

Taunt

All three of my Pokemon rely on non-damaging moves so Taunt can be pretty annoying. One thing to note, however, is that the AI is extremely trigger happy with using Taunt, so this can be exploited as you can play the battle slowly and eventually KO their active mon without taking too much damage in return.

Magnezone-4

It has Volt Switch, it has Assault Vest, it is 4x resistant to Return. I'll usually Parting Shot to Aegislash, then chip away and KO it with Aegislash. Pay attention to its damage output, as it may end up having Analytic, and will need 2 Parting Shots to allow Aegislash to wall Thunderbolts with Sub.

Thunder Wave / Toxic / Will-o-Wisp

Pay attention to opponents that have status moves. Salamence can sort of just tough it out if it gets Paralyzed or Burned due to the nerfs to those status, but it's still best to avoid dealing with those things. Getting Salamence hit by Toxic though is obviously a no-go. I often try to let Silvally get hit by status so that the opponents will not try to use a status move as I switch in Salamence, then set up Substitute. Watch out for Mega Banette as it has Prankster WoW.

Charizard-4, Gyarados-4

Dragon Dance mons that can do a real number to Aegislash if they can catch me without a Sub up. I had one game where Mega Gyarados just went really wild with using Dragon Dances, so these two can be pretty dangerous.

Mega Lopunny

Normally Aegislash would be my go-to choice to switch in against Fighting moves. Not so here. It's best to switch to Mence first, bait an Ice Punch and switch to Aegislash, and let Lopunny just KO itself by HJK into King's shields.

Soundproof / Clear Body

These will block Silvally from switching out through use of Parting Shot. Fortunately, most of these mons are also easily handled by Aegislash. As such, try not to use Parting Shot against Tentacruel, Carbink, Metagross, Kommo-o, Abomasnow (if no Snow Warning), Bouffalant or Electrode

Terrakion

There's one Terrakion set that has Swords Dance. So while it may seem like a good idea to switch immediately to Aegislash to avoid a Fighting-type move, it can quickly cause the match to get ugly if Terrakion starts setting up. As such, it's better to just go for the Thunder Wave with Silvally, even though it risks the chance that it will be OHKO'd by Terrakion-1's Close Combat. All the Terrakion sets have Earthquake, making it fairly easy to cycle switches between Aegislash and Salamence to Intimidate it down before setting up the Mence Sweep.


During my play through of the Tree, I tried to note some AI Tendencies, or at least what I can recall might be different than what it was in the past:

-The AI will usually switch out immediately if they have expended all usable attacking move PP, at least of moves that can hit your active pokemon. They'll also usually switch out if they've expended all PP of a move they are choice locked into. Often times, if they DON'T switch out despite not having any effective moves, it means that their other Pokemon are easily KOable by your active mon.

-I can't remember if this was the case before, but the AI recognizes when you have a Sub up. They will not waste time throwing status moves that will get blocked by Sub. Pain Split is a rare exception to this rule.

-if they can Mega Evolve their active mon, they will always do so immediately. Sucks for Wally when he decides it's a good idea to bring Mega Garchomp, Mega Gallade, AND Mega Altaria. lol

-AI seems to love activating weather and using Taunt. I feel they put high priority into using these moves above everything outside from using a move that can KO your active mon.

-having a stat at +6 won't stop the opponent from using a boosting move that boosts multiple stats. eg. They will still use Dragon Dance if they are at +6 Speed, but not +6 Atk. However, this doesn't seem to apply for the use of Curse as they stop using that once they hit -6 Speed.

-The AI still does not recognize Return as a 102 power move, and will instead use their other attacks over use of STAB Return

-The AI's selection of moves can become a bit strange in situations where they've run out of PP of their primary move to use against your active mon. eg. vs Raikou-4, if it has run out of Thunder vs Salamence, it doesn't always stick to using Discharge, and instead randomly throws Extrasensory at me even though it is less optimal. Another one would be Nidoqueen 3 actually being more likely to use Ice Beam instead of Flamethrower against my Aegislash after it runs out of Earth Power.

-Double Battle AI is a little bit smarter when it comes to dealing with a L1 mon. From what I could tell, the faster of their two active mons (or slower of the two when TR is active, or the one that has priority moves other than Fake Out) will be provoked towards going for a KO against the L1, but the other Pokemon will still choose moves as if it isn't on kill mode (unless it's able to KO your other Pokemon).


Other Notes:

-I didn't notice this but... the Battle Tree Pokemon do not have any Battle Resort or Battle Frontier Tutor moves anymore.

-When you are past 50, you predominantly face 2 different sets (set 3 or set 4) for non-legendaries, and 4 different sets for legendaries (though not all trainers will run all 4 sets), but there are a lot more trainers that will run both set 3 and 4 of a mon.

-the RNG on what decides what trainer you face does still seem a bit strange at times like it is in XY, where you can end up facing the same few trainers repeatedly, and never see some of the other trainers. eg. I still haven't seen Anabel to recruit her for Multi Tree =(

Reaching 500 first here is still up for grabs, hopefully this post helps for people planning their future runs at the Tree. I don't think I'll be trying another run at singles in the near future, but may try to find something good for doubles.

Good Luck.
Is there a good replacement for Silvally? I don't think Silvally is breedable so it would be difficult to get the perfect Silvally. :/
 
Here's a team I came up with and my cousin is beta testing for me. He currently has an ongoing >50 streak. I'm working on breeding my own and I'll post some streak later.

Team Garcizorini <-- placeholder until I think of something I like

Garchomp @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Rough Skin
EV: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Substitute
- Swords Dance

This set is pretty self explanatory. Substitute to be used as needed to scout the opponent's set, block status/OHKO moves from slower status users and set up in front of the weaker or more passive opponents. Jolly nature and max speed to ensure you can OHKO or set up the Substitute in front of as many opponents as possible. Max attack investment with Outrage and EQ are chosen to hit as hard as possible. The 4 Def EV as opposed to HP ensure you can survive an Ice Fang from Gyarados3 which is somewhat random but potentialy useful. Swords Dance is to boost as fast as possible since Garchomp doesn't have access to recovery, power through Curse users, and because you only have 3 turns of status immunity from a Tapu Fini pivot to reach +6 in front of Swagger/Flatter users that Substitute can't block or status users than can actually break your Substitute. My favorite part of the set is hands down the Dragonium Z. The 190 Base Power + STAB gives you a OHKO option on a lot of Pokemon you can't set up on that Outrage misses. This makes it a 3v2 with a perfectly fresh team, and it also doesn't lock you in if a Fairy or Steel comes in to ruin your sweep, especially without a Lum Berry to cure the confusion. For that reason alone, Devastating Drake should be used to KO all first or second Pokemon that can't be taken down with EQ regardless if Garchomp is +0 or +6. The second use is to guarantee a KO on those annoying Bright Powder/Lax Incense sets that can hax you over. Also, did I mention that the character's Dragonium Z jaws pose goes really well with GarCHOMP? That alone makes it worth using! Nothing like the feeling when you KO the last Pokemon with a +6 Devastating Drake while hiding behind a Substitute.

I prefer Garchomp over Dragonite because of the STAB EQ giving you other KO options besides locking yourself into Outrage. It also makes short work of some faster leads that Dragonite has issues with such as Charizard34 which I always hated seeing. Charizard-X either OHKO's or Dragon Dances as well and Charizard Y can flinch and neuter Dragonite with Air Slash, then has no trouble sweeping the Steel and Water/Fairy backups thanks to Drought. Garchomp also provides an electric immunity and is able to benefit from the Misty Terrain status immunity to set up and KO with a STAB move, something that Dragonite cannot do.


Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EV: 252 HP / 144 Atk / 112 SpD (currently in use by cousin)
EV: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 SpD (recommended)
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
- Swords Dance

My cousin's spread adds a rather arbitrary amount into SpD and dumps the rest in attack. Heavy SpD investment is required to allow Scizor to set up on special attackers as safely as possible. Thanks to Technician, Scizor generally has more than enough power to sweep at +6, even against some Steel resists types. I saw this particular set OHKO Red's Charizard34 at +6 with Bullet Punch after setting up on Mega Venusaur. I ran the calculations later, and it wasn't a guaranteed OHKO, but that is impressive nonetheless.

Right now I am leaning toward the second spread. The 76 Atk lets you OHKO Gengar4 at +2 while the 252 HP / 180 SpD gives you special bulk and a decent chance(>50%) to switch in regular Scizor on a Gengar34 lead, mega evolve Swords Dance and survive a second Shadow Ball from a Gengar4 while you boost to take it out if you really don't want to risk losing Garchomp. If Scizor is already mega evolved and at full health, it is guaranteed to survive 2 Shadow Balls from Gengar4 without any critical hits or SpD drop on the first one, which is pretty impressive. Scizor uses Bullet Punch most of the time, so it's not that important to hit an empty Speed tier. The only ones available to Scizor are 73, 74 and 77 if you use Brave, and 82, 83 and 89 for Adamant with imperfect IVs. The next open one is 107 which is not worth the sacrifice in bulk.

U-Turn is a bit of a filler move. I think it could be replaced with Brick Break or Superpower(post-bank) to aid in taking down opposing Steel types which can be a pain. However, U-turn does give you a free switch to Garchomp on Magnet Pull Magnezone while simultaneously breaking Sturdy. Garchomp and Tapu Fini don't have any recovery, so avoiding having to sack Scizor is a huge plus. I like U-turn just for that reason. Swords Dance lets Scizor boost as high as possible during the 3 turns of status immunity he is given by Tapu Fini.

Bulky Scizor makes short work of Fairy/Ice/Grass types that threaten your team. Able to switch in on the thorn that is Altaria3, Roost, Swords Dance and Bullet Punch OHKO at just +2. He can even set up further if you can tolerate the risk of consecutive critical hits. He is also the team's best answer to Ice types that threaten Garchomp after a pivot through Tapu Fini to set Misty Terrain and provide freeze immunity.


Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
EV: 12 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 240 Spe
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot

Max SpA to hit as hard as possible when necessary and 240 Spe to outrun the base 130 crowd. Since Garchomp can't Dragon Dance, it's nice to have all the extra Speed you can get. The rest just maximize bulk.

Fini's main role is to pivot into predicted status moves that Garchomp can't block with Substitute and set up Misty Terrain. From here Tapu Fini can either take out the other Pokemon or switch back out to Scizor or Garchomp to give them a chance to set up without worry for status. In the case of Swagger users, they get a free +2 attack boost to help them set up. More often than not, Scizor will come in after Fini because access to Roost makes setting up easier and safer.


This is my Gen VII remix on the Dragon/Steel/Fairy core. It doesn't use any Intimidate switching or PP stalling, but is still effective due to its flawless type synergy. Garchomp is weak to Ice, Dragon and Fairy. Scizor resists all 3, and Tapu Fini has Dragon immunity and resists Ice with an added status immunity. Scizor's only weakness is Fire which is resisted by both partners. Fini is weak to Poison, Grass and Electric. Garchomp has electric immunity plus Poison resist, and Scizor has Poison immunity and 4x Grass resist. Because the team doesn't rely on Intimidate switching or PP stalling, matches tend to go fairly quickly. However, since Scizor is the only team member with access to recovery, it generally requires good prediction to use effectively since it can be worn down quickly. Scizor sees a lot of use as a result.

The general team strategy is:
1) If Garchomp can Substitute or set up on the first Pokemon, do it. Fire and Electric types generally fall into this category along with slow & passive sets.
2) If the first Pokemon is not something Garchomp can set up on, can Scizor set up either through direct switch in or Tapu Fini pivot? Or is Scizor the safer set up option in general? Most Ice, Fairy, Grass, Poison, Bug and Psychic fall into this category.
3) Can Garchomp EQ/Devastating Drake OHKO? Mostly anything EQ hits for super effective that is not a passive set like Arcanine and Typhlosion. Charizard34 is a good example of straight up Devastating Drake OHKO.
4) Can Fini switch in and KO it safer with minimal damage? Water and Dragon types usually.
5) "Oh ****, none of these are possible!" This happens every once in a while. Haven't encountered any leads yet that can't be beat, but some do require a little luck to not get critical hit.

Gourgeist34 is an example is an example of an annoyance. The best play is do Devastating Drake turn 1. If Gourgeist3, you will take ~40% and finish with EQ. If Gourgeist4, it will Trick-or-Treat, so EQ can't finish it with Garchomp as Ghost type. Free switch to Scizor for turn 1 of Phantom Force. Gourgeist4 is faster than Scizor, so mega evolve Roost to keep full health and finish with Bullet Punch.

Aggron3 is another example or one that can leave a big dent or a hole. Garchomp can't even EQ 2HKO, so free switch to Fini on the Dragon Rush, then hope for a Surf 2HKO(58.6% chance). The best outcome is Fini 2HKO and 60% or 100% remaining after 1 Stone Edge or Stone Edge miss, which it uses instead of Heavy Slam for some reason. The medium outcome is Fini 3HKO and barely survive 2 Stone Edge. The worst outcome is Aggron3 with barely any health and Fini dead from a Stone Edge critical. This team doesn't like Mega Aggron, but with Filter and max HP investment with mono-Steel typing, I can't think of too many Pokemon that can power through him.

Primarina34 is another example of a serious pain. Similar to the experience HeadsILoseTailsYouWin ran into using Dragonite/Aegislash/Tapu Fini, there is no great way past this Pokemon. Scizor can slowly set up to +2 2HKO or +4 OHKO Bullet Punch on Primarina4 if you don't fear critical hits, but Tapu Fini has to take a 20% Blizzard to ensure no freeze on Scizor. If Primarina3, Sizor can switch in directly and PP stall it out of Hydro Pump if no critical hits, then set up with ease, but since most trainers can carry both sets, Tapu Fini must eat a up to ~57% Moonblast before Scizor comes in. At least this team wrecks Mega Altaria and Incineroar leads thanks to Scizor and STAB EQ, respectively.

Gyarados34 leads are annoying if they have Intimidate. Without it Gyarados3 is OHKO'd by Devastating Drake, and Gyarados4 is left with minimal HP while doing about 50% to Garchomp. If it Dragon Dances, switch to Scizor and Bullet Punch. If it has Intimidate, it gets more tricky, but haven't seen them yet. The team can get past them, but not without some bruises.

Starmie4 is not too much of hassle unless it is a lead, but if it is, the safest way is Tapu Fini on the Ice Beam to set up Terrain to prevent freeze, Garchomp on the Thunderbolt, Scizor on the Ice Beam and U-turn OHKO. Else Fini can 2HKO with Grass Knot while taking 59-71% damage, but no chance for flinch hax. Bullet Punch is a 70% OHKO if Scizor is already at +6 with the 76 Atk spread.
Just beat battle 160!

Also, I've decided to make a slight tweak to the Scizor EV spread. Moved 4 EV from HP to Spe to be faster than Scizor4. Scizor4 is a free set up to +6, but it can be tricky with the Speed tie if it gets a critical hit on you. The revised set is below.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EV: 244 HP / 76 Atk / 4 Def / 180 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
- Swords Dance

Also, adding to the threat list another couple Pokemon capable of KOing 1 member of the team, but not really a danger to be swept.

Tyranitar4: If encountered as a lead, it requires a switch to Tapu Fini, who will most likely be sacked to weaken it enough for one of the other 2 to finish off. Not a problem if you have Garchomp behind a Sub(SD+EQ OHKO), +2 Garchomp(EQ OHKO) or +4 Scizor(Bullet Punch OHKO). If above 85%, +2 Scizor can SD, survive a Stone Edge critical then +4 Bullet Punch OHKO.

Dugtrio2: Not fun as a lead. Use Substitute with Garchomp and hope it does anything except a Fissure OHKO, and ideally not a Toxic either. Garchomp behind a Sub wrecks it barring a lot of Bright Powder hax. Surf locked Tapu Fini or +2 Scizor Bullet Punch both dispatch it easily barring Bright Powder hax followed by a Fissure OHKO.

Articuno2: Another OHKO user that is not fun as a lead. I took it out by switching to Tapu Fini on the Ice Beam, used Moonblast while it used Mind Reader, then hit it with a second Moonblast before Sheer Cold. Finished it with Scizor Bullet Punch.

Talonflame34: If encountered as a lead, use Devastating Drake turn 1 always. Talonflame4 will either Swords Dance and die or hit you and die. Talonflame3 will either hit you(breaking its sash) and die to your attack, or Swords Dance and hit you turn 2 and die from Rough Skin. If Talonflame3 uses Swords Dance, Swords Dance turn 2 to get a free +2 going into the second Pokemon. Tapu Fini seems like a tempting switch, but if Talonflame4 uses Swords Dance on the switch and has Gale Wings, it will Brave Bird OHKO Fini then proceed to sweep the entire team.
 
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Alright, here's the team:




Silvally @ Wide Lens ***ChaosLemures
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 212 HP / 4 Atk / 44 Def / 196 SpA / 52 SpD
Quiet Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Toxic
- Parting Shot


Before going any further, let me just say my Silvally's stats here are sub-optimal. I picked up a Quiet Silvally because I intended to create some sort of bulky Assault Vest set with it for VGC. Instead, I found myself using it here in the Battle Tree. Running Modest at the very least would be better. Running a Defense or Special Defense boosting nature like Calm or Bold and investing fully into defenses would also make a good recommendation. However, even with the stat set up being sub-optimal, it at least didn't stop my Silvally from executing what it needed to.

The general idea here is to Thunder Wave the opponent, then Parting Shot to weaken them for Salamence to set up a sweep, or for Aegislash to eliminate the active Pokemon while taking minimal damage. Thunderbolt was used specifically to hit Bisharp or Milotic as they are risky to use Parting Shot against. Toxic was originally for Raikou-3, but came in handy in a few other situations throughout the run, usually as a way to corner a mon trying to set up and stay healthy with Recover or Roost. Why I needed it for Raikou-3 was because the Raikou cannot be paralyzed, has Thunder Wave to debilitate my Salamence, and has both Calm Mind and Charge Beam allowing it to boost up and become out of control in the long run. But since it takes a good 10 or so Turns before it gets out of control, Toxic keeps the damage from the Raikou well contained.

Wide Lens is crucial for comfort for using this team. While there is still that 1% chance I can miss with Thunder Wave (which happened about 6 or 7 times in 450 games), it still makes Thunder Wave into a move I can rely on repeatedly, game after game.

Salamence @ Salamencite ***WickedFlight
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 4 Def / 196 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Roost


While I haven't been following what has been used lately in Singles, it doesn't take much to know that Mega Salamence is completely busted. EVs in Atk to get a bonus stat point. EVs in Speed to hit 143, outspeeding neutral Base 90s. Everything else into HP and Special Defense bulk.

Parting Shot support can let Salamence drop down a sub and not have it immediately broken by the opponent's attacks. Once I'm able to do that, it is pretty easy to constantly maintain a Sub up while Roosting back HP and slowly building up Dragon Dances. Once the music stops and Salamence is done dancing, there is very little in the way to stop it from running over everything with Aerilate boosted Returns.

While it's usually safe and easy to max out to +6 DD, I found myself fine stopping at +4 before going on the offense. Against some trainers, who are less likely to have bulky Rock- or Steel-type Pokemon, I can get away with fewer dances. Against certain trainers who are more likely to have Flying-type resists I'll go for the full +6.

It's important to know not to immediately Mega Evolve Salamence and instead take advantage of switching to cycle Intimidates before finally committing to set up. This will be talked about a bit more later on.

Aegislash @ Leftovers ***BLADE BEAM
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 84 SpA / 156 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute
- King's Shield


12 Speed EVs to outspeed Tyranitar-4 by 1. 84 SpA for a bonus point of SpA, and the rest added into HP and SpDef.

Aegislash is pretty fun to use in Single Tree, and is a complete monster once it can get behind a Sub. After a Parting Shot to the opponent, Aegislash's Subs will often tank various STAB 90 power moves. And while it may take around 10 turns to do so, it can pretty much take out the opponent while having a Sub up, and still be at around 80~90% of its HP. While it does mean the opponent's active mon is no longer one that is debiliated by Thunder Wave or Parting Shot, being up 3v2 with my team being in good health, and with an active sub for Aegislash is often more than enough to maintain momentum for a win.


Using the Team:

To put simply:


The ability to switch around is very important for this team. Salamence has Intimidate, Silvally has Parting Shot, and Aegislash has an excellent set of resistances. Silvally's Ghost-type immunity, and Salamence's Ground-type immunity also creates a lot of situations for Aegislash to safely switch back out, allowing the team to cycle usage of Parting Shot and Intimidate. Ultimately, the ideal goal is to set up a situation where the opponent cannot break Salamence's Substitute, and then set up the Salamence sweep. But the team is a bit more flexible in not always needing to commit to trying to force the opportunity. Don't be afraid to just use Aegislash to safely knock out a Pokemon and create yourself a lead instead of putting in a great amount of resources to force an opportunity to set up Salamence.

Risk mitigation and patience are also traits needed for running the team. Since Silvally doesn't get sacrificed in this team in order to heavily debilitate the opponent, Salamence or Aegislash will often have to switch into an oncomming attack. If you aren't careful this can lead to some disastrous results like Mence getting OHKO'd by a critical hit through -5 Atk (hello Guzma @ Battle 450). Opponents are not locked into any moves, unlike TrickScarf strategies, so it is also imporant at times to keep track of how much PP they may have remaining in their moves in order to know when it is safe.

The team is far from foolproof as some of the teams of past days. While 449 is a pretty long streak, I had plenty of close calls throughout the run where I was barely able to scrape by, and would have lost if I was any less lucky.

Some Notable Threats:

Infiltrator

Naturally, if the opponent can just ignore my Substitutes it makes setting up a lot more difficult. Watch out for opponent Chandelures, Malamar and Noiverns.

Defiant / Competitive / Contrary

They can be Thunder Wave'd at least, but be wary of trying to use Parting shot against Pokemon such as Milotic, Bisharp, Braviary, Serperior, Lurantis or Malamar. Especially be careful about using King's Shield against Malamar and Lurantis.

Raikou-3

As mentioned earlier, it can't be Thunder Waved, it has Charge Beam and Calm Mind making Parting Shot somewhat useless, it has Thunder Wave and will use it to Paralyze Mence if I try to set up on it, and it has Shadow Ball for my Aegislash. This is why Toxic is on Silvally.

Taunt

All three of my Pokemon rely on non-damaging moves so Taunt can be pretty annoying. One thing to note, however, is that the AI is extremely trigger happy with using Taunt, so this can be exploited as you can play the battle slowly and eventually KO their active mon without taking too much damage in return.

Magnezone-4

It has Volt Switch, it has Assault Vest, it is 4x resistant to Return. I'll usually Parting Shot to Aegislash, then chip away and KO it with Aegislash. Pay attention to its damage output, as it may end up having Analytic, and will need 2 Parting Shots to allow Aegislash to wall Thunderbolts with Sub.

Thunder Wave / Toxic / Will-o-Wisp

Pay attention to opponents that have status moves. Salamence can sort of just tough it out if it gets Paralyzed or Burned due to the nerfs to those status, but it's still best to avoid dealing with those things. Getting Salamence hit by Toxic though is obviously a no-go. I often try to let Silvally get hit by status so that the opponents will not try to use a status move as I switch in Salamence, then set up Substitute. Watch out for Mega Banette as it has Prankster WoW.

Charizard-4, Gyarados-4

Dragon Dance mons that can do a real number to Aegislash if they can catch me without a Sub up. I had one game where Mega Gyarados just went really wild with using Dragon Dances, so these two can be pretty dangerous.

Mega Lopunny

Normally Aegislash would be my go-to choice to switch in against Fighting moves. Not so here. It's best to switch to Mence first, bait an Ice Punch and switch to Aegislash, and let Lopunny just KO itself by HJK into King's shields.

Soundproof / Clear Body

These will block Silvally from switching out through use of Parting Shot. Fortunately, most of these mons are also easily handled by Aegislash. As such, try not to use Parting Shot against Tentacruel, Carbink, Metagross, Kommo-o, Abomasnow (if no Snow Warning), Bouffalant or Electrode

Terrakion

There's one Terrakion set that has Swords Dance. So while it may seem like a good idea to switch immediately to Aegislash to avoid a Fighting-type move, it can quickly cause the match to get ugly if Terrakion starts setting up. As such, it's better to just go for the Thunder Wave with Silvally, even though it risks the chance that it will be OHKO'd by Terrakion-1's Close Combat. All the Terrakion sets have Earthquake, making it fairly easy to cycle switches between Aegislash and Salamence to Intimidate it down before setting up the Mence Sweep.


During my play through of the Tree, I tried to note some AI Tendencies, or at least what I can recall might be different than what it was in the past:

-The AI will usually switch out immediately if they have expended all usable attacking move PP, at least of moves that can hit your active pokemon. They'll also usually switch out if they've expended all PP of a move they are choice locked into. Often times, if they DON'T switch out despite not having any effective moves, it means that their other Pokemon are easily KOable by your active mon.

-I can't remember if this was the case before, but the AI recognizes when you have a Sub up. They will not waste time throwing status moves that will get blocked by Sub. Pain Split is a rare exception to this rule.

-if they can Mega Evolve their active mon, they will always do so immediately. Sucks for Wally when he decides it's a good idea to bring Mega Garchomp, Mega Gallade, AND Mega Altaria. lol

-AI seems to love activating weather and using Taunt. I feel they put high priority into using these moves above everything outside from using a move that can KO your active mon.

-having a stat at +6 won't stop the opponent from using a boosting move that boosts multiple stats. eg. They will still use Dragon Dance if they are at +6 Speed, but not +6 Atk. However, this doesn't seem to apply for the use of Curse as they stop using that once they hit -6 Speed.

-The AI still does not recognize Return as a 102 power move, and will instead use their other attacks over use of STAB Return

-The AI's selection of moves can become a bit strange in situations where they've run out of PP of their primary move to use against your active mon. eg. vs Raikou-4, if it has run out of Thunder vs Salamence, it doesn't always stick to using Discharge, and instead randomly throws Extrasensory at me even though it is less optimal. Another one would be Nidoqueen 3 actually being more likely to use Ice Beam instead of Flamethrower against my Aegislash after it runs out of Earth Power.

-Double Battle AI is a little bit smarter when it comes to dealing with a L1 mon. From what I could tell, the faster of their two active mons (or slower of the two when TR is active, or the one that has priority moves other than Fake Out) will be provoked towards going for a KO against the L1, but the other Pokemon will still choose moves as if it isn't on kill mode (unless it's able to KO your other Pokemon).


Other Notes:

-I didn't notice this but... the Battle Tree Pokemon do not have any Battle Resort or Battle Frontier Tutor moves anymore.

-When you are past 50, you predominantly face 2 different sets (set 3 or set 4) for non-legendaries, and 4 different sets for legendaries (though not all trainers will run all 4 sets), but there are a lot more trainers that will run both set 3 and 4 of a mon.

-the RNG on what decides what trainer you face does still seem a bit strange at times like it is in XY, where you can end up facing the same few trainers repeatedly, and never see some of the other trainers. eg. I still haven't seen Anabel to recruit her for Multi Tree =(

Reaching 500 first here is still up for grabs, hopefully this post helps for people planning their future runs at the Tree. I don't think I'll be trying another run at singles in the near future, but may try to find something good for doubles.

Good Luck.
Can you tell me what the IVs for your Aegislash? I'd like to know what IV in its speed.
 
Just beat battle 160!

Also, I've decided to make a slight tweak to the Scizor EV spread. Moved 4 EV from HP to Spe to be faster than Scizor4. Scizor4 is a free set up to +6, but it can be tricky with the Speed tie if it gets a critical hit on you. The revised set is below.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EV: 248 HP / 76 Atk / 180 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
- Swords Dance

Also, adding to the threat list another couple Pokemon capable of KOing 1 member of the team, but not really a danger to be swept.

Tyranitar4: If encountered as a lead, it requires a switch to Tapu Fini, who will most likely be sacked to weaken it enough for one of the other 2 to finish off. Not a problem if you have Garchomp behind a Sub(SD+EQ OHKO), +2 Garchomp(EQ OHKO) or +4 Scizor(Bullet Punch OHKO). If above 85%, +2 Scizor can SD, survive a Stone Edge critical then +4 Bullet Punch OHKO.

Dugtrio2: Not fun as a lead. Use Substitute with Garchomp and hope it does anything except a Fissure OHKO, and ideally not a Toxic either. Garchomp behind a Sub wrecks it barring a lot of Bright Powder hax. Surf locked Tapu Fini or +2 Scizor Bullet Punch both dispatch it easily barring Bright Powder hax followed by a Fissure OHKO.

Articuno2: Another OHKO user that is not fun as a lead. I took it out by switching to Tapu Fini on the Ice Beam, used Moonblast while it used Mind Reader, then hit it with a second Moonblast before Sheer Cold. Finished it with Scizor Bullet Punch.

Talonflame34: If encountered as a lead, use Devastating Drake turn 1 always. Talonflame4 will either Swords Dance and die or hit you and die. Talonflame3 will either hit you(breaking its sash) and die to your attack, or Swords Dance and hit you turn 2 and die from Rough Skin. If Talonflame3 uses Swords Dance, Swords Dance turn 2 to get a free +2 going into the second Pokemon. Tapu Fini seems like a tempting switch, but if Talonflame4 uses Swords Dance on the switch and has Gale Wings, it will Brave Bird OHKO Fini then proceed to sweep the entire team.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought 248 EVs give the same number of extra points as 244 EVs at level 50?
 

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