Battle Tree Discussion and Records

[scoobydoobydrew]

So I'm currently at 225 wins on Doubles, and I'm taking a break because I think my team needs some work and would love advice. I've posted about it once but made some lineup changes so here's the team I'm using right now:

----------

Whimsicott (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Relaxed / Prankster
Level: 1
EVs: None
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand
- Light Screen
- Safeguard

Whimsicott is basically here to set up Tailwind, which it will always be able to do in Psychic Terrain. The other moves are pretty much for the rare events when it doesn't die immediately, such as if the opponent's move misses or if they choose to use status for some reason. Speaking of which, I made it Level 1 in order to mitigate my team's initial weakness to opposing Tailwind and Trick Room by having those setters target Whimsicott rather than set up; then, it dies so one of the backups can immediately start Tailwind sweeping.

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Modest / Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

Tapu Lele provided Psychic Terrain to block priority stuff, making my team only weak to Quick Claw speed-wise. It has immensely powerful attacks and Shattered Psyche helps to destroy something especially bulky.

Blastoise (F) @ Blastoisinite
Modest / Rain Dish (Mega Launcher)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Water Spout
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam

Mega Blastoise is a monster, outspeeding the whole Tree at exactly 260 Speed. Water Spout is an amazingly powerful STAB and is my only spread move, while the other moves exist for coverage but are also boosted by Mega Launcher bar Ice Beam.

Alolan Marowak (M) @ Thick Club
Jolly / Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Low Kick
- Protect

Marowak basically gives me physical power and coverage. While it only reaches 106 Speed, 212 under Tailwind, it still can outrun most threats and its teammates handle anything that's faster than it. Even with a Jolly nature, Thick Club provides it with awesome power. I ran Rock Head because I use Flare Blitz so often and don't usually have trouble with Electric-types, but I may consider changing that. Fire and Ghost get amazing coverage on things the other members of my team can't get, and thanks to Bank and Alolan evolution mechanics I was also able to get Low Kick for awesome Fighting coverage.

----------

However, I do have a couple of concerns about this team. Probably the biggest is my struggle against Water-type teams, as you can see in this battle video: B89W-WWWW-WWW4-VZ8P. I pretty much just got lucky because of the secondary typings on the opponent and Araquanid not having Water Bubble. I also struggle against Fairies, because while they don't outright resist my most powerful attacks, they have great bulk and can fire back strong moves in return. For this reason, I find Firefighters as well as Pokémon Center Lady Perri (strong Fairies and potential TR) to be a challenge. That's why I was considering making a few changes, especially one specific member.

Whimsicott: One thing I noticed is that since it shared a Fairy typing with Tapu Lele, opponents will often attack it with Poison or Steel attacks, and if one opponent kills it first, then Tapu Lele (if unprotected) will often get hit by that super effective attack. I was wondering if I should switch out to Illumise to avoid this, as when I used Illumise previously, the problem didn't occur as often and sometimes Tapu Lele even took Dragon attacks. Would it be worth it to give up Safeguard for this?

Tapu Lele: Currently I have Tapu Lele EV'd for maximum damage. Would it be better to make it quicker to function better outside of Tailwind? (I have a spare Timid Tapu Lele from a trade.) Or should I perhaps invest in some more bulk to take some more hits for when I can't stop Trick Room?

Marowak: Marowak doesn't outspeed everything, and it does make my team pretty weak to Water-types. Might I do better switching to something else? I was thinking about Kartana, since it has real speed, snowballing power, and can easily deal with Water- and Fairy-types that I currently struggle with. It also carries Sacred Sword for Fighting coverage, and while I previously noted that it was somewhat weak, the situation has changed with a spread attacker who can deal that chip damage as well as carry its own Fighting move to alleviate some pressure. However, Kartana would leave me weak to opposing Grass-types and pretty much let me be destroyed by Veteran Xenophon; I know because I used Breloom in this slot for some time and almost lost to him. Night Slash also isn't that strong for its intended targets; it can't hit Bronzong, Cresselia, Uxie, Trevenant, etc. as hard as Marowak could. Would this be a good change? If so, what moves should I use on Kartana? If not, should I keep Marowak or use someone else?

Please leave your suggestions and ask any questions!

 

[Luigi Bros.]

Alright folks, finally got the singles and doubles streaks up to date! Pretty cool how fast streak lengths are expanding, and I've loved the discussion. I really need to start getting multis together too, but that will take longer, since I'll need to go back through earlier posts.

Remember that you should include some proof if you'd like your completed streak to be added to the leaderboard. A couple of otherwise eligible streaks are not yet listed due to lack of proof. So if your streak is missing, please get a photo or preferably video added (and let me know) and I'll get your team on the list!

And naturally, it's likely I've made mistakes during the update process. So please, as always, give me a shout if you catch any errors or omissions.

As for my own Tree exploits, thanks to Bank, I've been playing around with one of my Maison teams, namely Dragonite / (Sub) Suicune / Mega Metagross. I've had reasonable sucess, but the team feels less solid, on the whole, this time around. First, it's little easier for the AI to break through with Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves, especially with the Speed of Mega Evolutions now impacting turn order immediately. And Suicune is a bit more stressful to play with the AI tending to switch when out of damaging moves (with some exceptions for things like Mirror Coat), because it forces one to count enemy PP much more carefully to be sure not to end up Resting the turn the foe switches out.

I expect I'll switch things up and try my old (Timid) Chansey / Mega Slowbro core soon, and see how it plays now that we have access to Seismic Toss. Becuase Toxic only deals damage at the end of the turn, it's a much clunkier move for fast Chansey than Seismic Toss, and that's without even considering that two-types are immune to it rather than just one. So I'm eager to see if Chansey can again be dominant now that it can use a proper moveset.

There was also some discussion of Double Team as opposed to Minimize on Chansey as a means of getting around moves like Dragon Rush. While the pluses and minus of this were pretty well evaluated earlier, one thing that was missed was the PP issue. Non-growl Chansey has pretty limited PP, and sometimes is stuck having to PP stall stuff out. The extra 8 PP on fully boosted Double Team (24 vs 16) may not be a major deal, but they do have some potential relevance. I still suspect Minimize is better, as there are plenty of situations where the faster boost of Minimize is helpful, but it's one more issue worth considering.

I managed to reach 99 wins in Super Singles, with a Mega Mence/Koko/Garchomp team I posted on Page 46, so it would be nice if you could put it on the leaderboard =)

 

[turskain]

So I'm currently at 225 wins on Doubles, and I'm taking a break because I think my team needs some work and would love advice. I've posted about it once but made some lineup changes so here's the team I'm using right now:

----------

Whimsicott (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Relaxed / Prankster
Level: 1
EVs: None
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand
- Light Screen
- Safeguard

Whimsicott is basically here to set up Tailwind, which it will always be able to do in Psychic Terrain. The other moves are pretty much for the rare events when it doesn't die immediately, such as if the opponent's move misses or if they choose to use status for some reason. Speaking of which, I made it Level 1 in order to mitigate my team's initial weakness to opposing Tailwind and Trick Room by having those setters target Whimsicott rather than set up; then, it dies so one of the backups can immediately start Tailwind sweeping.

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Modest / Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

Tapu Lele provided Psychic Terrain to block priority stuff, making my team only weak to Quick Claw speed-wise. It has immensely powerful attacks and Shattered Psyche helps to destroy something especially bulky.

Blastoise (F) @ Blastoisinite
Modest / Rain Dish (Mega Launcher)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Water Spout
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam

Mega Blastoise is a monster, outspeeding the whole Tree at exactly 260 Speed. Water Spout is an amazingly powerful STAB and is my only spread move, while the other moves exist for coverage but are also boosted by Mega Launcher bar Ice Beam.

Alolan Marowak (M) @ Thick Club
Jolly / Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Low Kick
- Protect

Marowak basically gives me physical power and coverage. While it only reaches 106 Speed, 212 under Tailwind, it still can outrun most threats and its teammates handle anything that's faster than it. Even with a Jolly nature, Thick Club provides it with awesome power. I ran Rock Head because I use Flare Blitz so often and don't usually have trouble with Electric-types, but I may consider changing that. Fire and Ghost get amazing coverage on things the other members of my team can't get, and thanks to Bank and Alolan evolution mechanics I was also able to get Low Kick for awesome Fighting coverage.

----------

However, I do have a couple of concerns about this team. Probably the biggest is my struggle against Water-type teams, as you can see in this battle video: B89W-WWWW-WWW4-VZ8P. I pretty much just got lucky because of the secondary typings on the opponent and Araquanid not having Water Bubble. I also struggle against Fairies, because while they don't outright resist my most powerful attacks, they have great bulk and can fire back strong moves in return. For this reason, I find Firefighters as well as Pokémon Center Lady Perri (strong Fairies and potential TR) to be a challenge. That's why I was considering making a few changes, especially one specific member.

Whimsicott: One thing I noticed is that since it shared a Fairy typing with Tapu Lele, opponents will often attack it with Poison or Steel attacks, and if one opponent kills it first, then Tapu Lele (if unprotected) will often get hit by that super effective attack. I was wondering if I should switch out to Illumise to avoid this, as when I used Illumise previously, the problem didn't occur as often and sometimes Tapu Lele even took Dragon attacks. Would it be worth it to give up Safeguard for this?

Tapu Lele: Currently I have Tapu Lele EV'd for maximum damage. Would it be better to make it quicker to function better outside of Tailwind? (I have a spare Timid Tapu Lele from a trade.) Or should I perhaps invest in some more bulk to take some more hits for when I can't stop Trick Room?

Marowak: Marowak doesn't outspeed everything, and it does make my team pretty weak to Water-types. Might I do better switching to something else? I was thinking about Kartana, since it has real speed, snowballing power, and can easily deal with Water- and Fairy-types that I currently struggle with. It also carries Sacred Sword for Fighting coverage, and while I previously noted that it was somewhat weak, the situation has changed with a spread attacker who can deal that chip damage as well as carry its own Fighting move to alleviate some pressure. However, Kartana would leave me weak to opposing Grass-types and pretty much let me be destroyed by Veteran Xenophon; I know because I used Breloom in this slot for some time and almost lost to him. Night Slash also isn't that strong for its intended targets; it can't hit Bronzong, Cresselia, Uxie, Trevenant, etc. as hard as Marowak could. Would this be a good change? If so, what moves should I use on Kartana? If not, should I keep Marowak or use someone else?

Please leave your suggestions and ask any questions!

I was planning to try a team of Lv1 Cottonee / Mega Blastoise / Alolawak / Hydreigon @ Dragonium-Z myself, with Fake Tears/Encore/Tailwind/Protect on Cottonee inspired by Jumpman's Whimsicott/Eruptran lineup from the Subway. I was thinking Protect + Encore on Lv1 Cottonee would punish TR setters, Fake Out and random status moves appropriately, with Fake Tears allowing something slower than Megatoise to go down quickly. Against Electric leads, Marowak could switch into the Cottonee slot directly to absorb the hits, and Hydreigon now has a perfectly accurate nuke to capitalize on Tailwind with.

What are Light Screen / Safeguard and Rocky Helmet for on Whimsicott's moveset? I think it would be a waste of Tailwind turns to be using either of those moves over Helping Hand or Fake Tears most of the time, and passing up Sash on a Lv1 Pokémon seems like a missed opportunity to tank one more hit for free.

 

[scoobydoobydrew]

I was planning to try a team of Lv1 Cottonee / Mega Blastoise / Alolawak / Hydreigon @ Dragonium-Z myself, with Fake Tears/Encore/Tailwind/Protect on Cottonee inspired by Jumpman's Whimsicott/Eruptran lineup from the Subway. I was thinking Protect + Encore on Lv1 Cottonee would punish TR setters, Fake Out and random status moves appropriately, with Fake Tears allowing something slower than Megatoise to go down quickly. Against Electric leads, Marowak could switch into the Cottonee slot directly to absorb the hits, and Hydreigon now has a perfectly accurate nuke to capitalize on Tailwind with.

What are Light Screen / Safeguard and Rocky Helmet for on Whimsicott's moveset? I think it would be a waste of Tailwind turns to be using either of those moves over Helping Hand or Fake Tears most of the time, and passing up Sash on a Lv1 Pokémon seems like a missed opportunity to tank one more hit for free.

That moveset sounds great for Cottonee/Whimsicott, but I prefer having Psychic Terrain to protect it from Fake Out and stuff and guarantee a Tailwind. Of course, that means that ALL grounded Pokémon are protected from priority, including Prankster, so I could almost never use Fake Tears or Encore. Rocky Helmet was just to get some chip damage and because sometimes the AI is weird and won't double attack, use a two-turn move, etc. This is a guarantee that it'll die, though Focus Sash has crossed my mind before. (It won't really be an option if I plan on switching to Kartana though.)

 

[kuladiamond]

So I'm currently at 225 wins on Doubles, and I'm taking a break because I think my team needs some work and would love advice. I've posted about it once but made some lineup changes so here's the team I'm using right now:

----------

Whimsicott (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Relaxed / Prankster
Level: 1
EVs: None
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand
- Light Screen
- Safeguard

Whimsicott is basically here to set up Tailwind, which it will always be able to do in Psychic Terrain. The other moves are pretty much for the rare events when it doesn't die immediately, such as if the opponent's move misses or if they choose to use status for some reason. Speaking of which, I made it Level 1 in order to mitigate my team's initial weakness to opposing Tailwind and Trick Room by having those setters target Whimsicott rather than set up; then, it dies so one of the backups can immediately start Tailwind sweeping.

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Modest / Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

Tapu Lele provided Psychic Terrain to block priority stuff, making my team only weak to Quick Claw speed-wise. It has immensely powerful attacks and Shattered Psyche helps to destroy something especially bulky.

Blastoise (F) @ Blastoisinite
Modest / Rain Dish (Mega Launcher)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Water Spout
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam

Mega Blastoise is a monster, outspeeding the whole Tree at exactly 260 Speed. Water Spout is an amazingly powerful STAB and is my only spread move, while the other moves exist for coverage but are also boosted by Mega Launcher bar Ice Beam.

Alolan Marowak (M) @ Thick Club
Jolly / Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Low Kick
- Protect

Marowak basically gives me physical power and coverage. While it only reaches 106 Speed, 212 under Tailwind, it still can outrun most threats and its teammates handle anything that's faster than it. Even with a Jolly nature, Thick Club provides it with awesome power. I ran Rock Head because I use Flare Blitz so often and don't usually have trouble with Electric-types, but I may consider changing that. Fire and Ghost get amazing coverage on things the other members of my team can't get, and thanks to Bank and Alolan evolution mechanics I was also able to get Low Kick for awesome Fighting coverage.

----------

However, I do have a couple of concerns about this team. Probably the biggest is my struggle against Water-type teams, as you can see in this battle video: B89W-WWWW-WWW4-VZ8P. I pretty much just got lucky because of the secondary typings on the opponent and Araquanid not having Water Bubble. I also struggle against Fairies, because while they don't outright resist my most powerful attacks, they have great bulk and can fire back strong moves in return. For this reason, I find Firefighters as well as Pokémon Center Lady Perri (strong Fairies and potential TR) to be a challenge. That's why I was considering making a few changes, especially one specific member.

Whimsicott: One thing I noticed is that since it shared a Fairy typing with Tapu Lele, opponents will often attack it with Poison or Steel attacks, and if one opponent kills it first, then Tapu Lele (if unprotected) will often get hit by that super effective attack. I was wondering if I should switch out to Illumise to avoid this, as when I used Illumise previously, the problem didn't occur as often and sometimes Tapu Lele even took Dragon attacks. Would it be worth it to give up Safeguard for this?

Tapu Lele: Currently I have Tapu Lele EV'd for maximum damage. Would it be better to make it quicker to function better outside of Tailwind? (I have a spare Timid Tapu Lele from a trade.) Or should I perhaps invest in some more bulk to take some more hits for when I can't stop Trick Room?

Marowak: Marowak doesn't outspeed everything, and it does make my team pretty weak to Water-types. Might I do better switching to something else? I was thinking about Kartana, since it has real speed, snowballing power, and can easily deal with Water- and Fairy-types that I currently struggle with. It also carries Sacred Sword for Fighting coverage, and while I previously noted that it was somewhat weak, the situation has changed with a spread attacker who can deal that chip damage as well as carry its own Fighting move to alleviate some pressure. However, Kartana would leave me weak to opposing Grass-types and pretty much let me be destroyed by Veteran Xenophon; I know because I used Breloom in this slot for some time and almost lost to him. Night Slash also isn't that strong for its intended targets; it can't hit Bronzong, Cresselia, Uxie, Trevenant, etc. as hard as Marowak could. Would this be a good change? If so, what moves should I use on Kartana? If not, should I keep Marowak or use someone else?

Please leave your suggestions and ask any questions!

A quick question about the Marowak, doesn't the Alolan form always have Cursed Body as its alternate ability? Or are you using its Original form?

 

[Ames]

A quick question about the Marowak, doesn't the Alolan form always have Cursed Body as its alternate ability? Or are you using its Original form?

Pretty sure Alolan Marowak gets Rock Head as its Hidden Ability, funnily enough.

 

[kuladiamond]

Pretty sure Alolan Marowak gets Rock Head as its Hidden Ability, funnily enough.

Ah I see, my mistake. I overlooked that on serebii. Yeah, I might try a run at the Battle Tree with your team. Seems like a fun team :) Especially with Tapu Lele's overpowering Psychic moves.

 

[MrMarc]

So I'm currently at 225 wins on Doubles, and I'm taking a break because I think my team needs some work and would love advice. I've posted about it once but made some lineup changes so here's the team I'm using right now:

----------

Whimsicott (F) @ Rocky Helmet
Relaxed / Prankster
Level: 1
EVs: None
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand
- Light Screen
- Safeguard

Whimsicott is basically here to set up Tailwind, which it will always be able to do in Psychic Terrain. The other moves are pretty much for the rare events when it doesn't die immediately, such as if the opponent's move misses or if they choose to use status for some reason. Speaking of which, I made it Level 1 in order to mitigate my team's initial weakness to opposing Tailwind and Trick Room by having those setters target Whimsicott rather than set up; then, it dies so one of the backups can immediately start Tailwind sweeping.

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Modest / Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spe
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

Tapu Lele provided Psychic Terrain to block priority stuff, making my team only weak to Quick Claw speed-wise. It has immensely powerful attacks and Shattered Psyche helps to destroy something especially bulky.

Blastoise (F) @ Blastoisinite
Modest / Rain Dish (Mega Launcher)
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
- Water Spout
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam

Mega Blastoise is a monster, outspeeding the whole Tree at exactly 260 Speed. Water Spout is an amazingly powerful STAB and is my only spread move, while the other moves exist for coverage but are also boosted by Mega Launcher bar Ice Beam.

Alolan Marowak (M) @ Thick Club
Jolly / Rock Head
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Low Kick
- Protect

Marowak basically gives me physical power and coverage. While it only reaches 106 Speed, 212 under Tailwind, it still can outrun most threats and its teammates handle anything that's faster than it. Even with a Jolly nature, Thick Club provides it with awesome power. I ran Rock Head because I use Flare Blitz so often and don't usually have trouble with Electric-types, but I may consider changing that. Fire and Ghost get amazing coverage on things the other members of my team can't get, and thanks to Bank and Alolan evolution mechanics I was also able to get Low Kick for awesome Fighting coverage.

----------

However, I do have a couple of concerns about this team. Probably the biggest is my struggle against Water-type teams, as you can see in this battle video: B89W-WWWW-WWW4-VZ8P. I pretty much just got lucky because of the secondary typings on the opponent and Araquanid not having Water Bubble. I also struggle against Fairies, because while they don't outright resist my most powerful attacks, they have great bulk and can fire back strong moves in return. For this reason, I find Firefighters as well as Pokémon Center Lady Perri (strong Fairies and potential TR) to be a challenge. That's why I was considering making a few changes, especially one specific member.

Whimsicott: One thing I noticed is that since it shared a Fairy typing with Tapu Lele, opponents will often attack it with Poison or Steel attacks, and if one opponent kills it first, then Tapu Lele (if unprotected) will often get hit by that super effective attack. I was wondering if I should switch out to Illumise to avoid this, as when I used Illumise previously, the problem didn't occur as often and sometimes Tapu Lele even took Dragon attacks. Would it be worth it to give up Safeguard for this?

Tapu Lele: Currently I have Tapu Lele EV'd for maximum damage. Would it be better to make it quicker to function better outside of Tailwind? (I have a spare Timid Tapu Lele from a trade.) Or should I perhaps invest in some more bulk to take some more hits for when I can't stop Trick Room?

Marowak: Marowak doesn't outspeed everything, and it does make my team pretty weak to Water-types. Might I do better switching to something else? I was thinking about Kartana, since it has real speed, snowballing power, and can easily deal with Water- and Fairy-types that I currently struggle with. It also carries Sacred Sword for Fighting coverage, and while I previously noted that it was somewhat weak, the situation has changed with a spread attacker who can deal that chip damage as well as carry its own Fighting move to alleviate some pressure. However, Kartana would leave me weak to opposing Grass-types and pretty much let me be destroyed by Veteran Xenophon; I know because I used Breloom in this slot for some time and almost lost to him. Night Slash also isn't that strong for its intended targets; it can't hit Bronzong, Cresselia, Uxie, Trevenant, etc. as hard as Marowak could. Would this be a good change? If so, what moves should I use on Kartana? If not, should I keep Marowak or use someone else?

Please leave your suggestions and ask any questions!

Hello Charlie,

I have been using the same strat as you have been using for a while now, I'm currently only at 70, after losing due to miscalculating something.
But I digress.

I lead with a level 50 Whimsi with the following set:
Whimsicott (?) @ Focus Sash
Timid / Prankster
Level: 50
IVs: 0 HP
EVs: 252 Speed / 252 Sp Atk
- Tailwind
- Helping Hand
- Energy Ball
- Endeavor

This way, you'll set up Tailwind just as well, and have Whimsi weaken an opponent just as it hits his Sash using Endeavor.
Whimsi still acts as a Lightningrod for strong attackers and can actually be useful while being alive at 1 HP.
If Whimsi still manages to get killed, you'll get a free switch to Blastoise, but you knew that already.
Whimsi also acts as a Bulky-Water-killer with help of Energy Ball, which is what you were having problems with.

Speaking of having problems:
I myself am using Aegislash as a fourth member, but I'm not really content with its performance.
It acts as a TR counter, but doesn't really do that much else for the team.
Don't get me wrong; Aegi is an amazing mon in the tree, but using one in a Tailwind team is not that useful.

Anyway, hope this helps and GL with the streak!

EDIT: You can always run 0 IV's in Def/SP Def for Whimsi (With a Naive or Hasty Nature). This way, Whimsi is more likely to be targeted by mons who previously didn't have enough power to KO the fluffball.

 

[NoCheese]

I managed to reach 99 wins in Super Singles, with a Mega Mence/Koko/Garchomp team I posted on Page 46, so it would be nice if you could put it on the leaderboard =)

Congrats on the streak. As I noted in my post, a few otherwise eligible streaks are missing proof. Yours is one of those. If you could add a proof video of the losing battle, or at least a photo of the streak lady noting your longest streak, I'll get you added!

 

[Smuckem]

After a few months of frustration, I finally have obtained my Doubles stamp, using Doobzi's Doubles stamp run team. The team is pretty much the same, except for the Arcanine:

UnTigre (Arcanine) (M) (Lvl.50) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 31/31/31/11-12/31/31
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Extreme Speed
- Close Combat
- Flare Blitz
- Crunch

The only member of the team who I didn't receive via giveaway (thx to das_eisenherz & PSlana for the Tapus & A-Racihu), this guy was basically designed to be something that could be converted over to be my own Arcanine4 at any time (hence the far more straightforward EV spread). Thunder Fang was changed to Crunch in order to widen coverage slightly, and give me something that can kinda handle most TR setters. I don't miss the lack of Adamant, since this thing is principally a revenge killer and secondarily a cleanup hitter (main cleanup duty is designated to Tapu Bulu). Also, I'm obsessed with fitting Sitrus into my teams, and what amounted to a free invitation to do so was much appreciated.

I found the team very fun to use, as this is the third version of this team (prior to Bank, I had failed runs with Garchomp & Magnezone in Arcanine's slot) and actually having success with it was cool. I also am indebted to the Tree itself, as so far Lightningrod users have been restricted mostly to the earlier battles, TR setters have either been frail enough to take out with double Thunderbolt or been Electric-weak, and other enemies that can cause me problems (most of the Alohamons, as I am not familiar with them yet, Steel- and Ground-types, Ice-type backups) have been limited in appearance.

While getting my stamp here means that I can begin to focus on bigger Tree projects and bring this team to Basic Doubles (a cobbled-together team of Crobat/Ash-Greninja/Silvally-Fire/Garchomp got me through that) for a short fun run, I now have a bare-bones streak I can gradually nuture and work on in the future. It also frees me from having to tackle Super Singles any time soon (Mutlis is still interesting enough that I may jump on that later on). For now though, I can celebrate this 'small' boost to my confidence and get back to...other things.

Thx to Doobzi for continuing to pump out cool facilities material and indirectly giving me the means to break through 50.

EDIT: To show how much attention I'm paying to SM...it turns out my Arcanine actually IS Adamant, and I had somehow forgotten from the time I Transferred it over until I looked at it about half an hour ago. Apologies for the error. On the plus side, now I can make my own Frontier Arcanine4...

 

[Subpyro]

Does anyone perhaps know or would be willing to test out, what happens if you are at low HP and use Destiny Bond on your opponent at the Battle Tree, being the last to move in that round?

Is the opponent smart enough to switch out/use a status move, or will they finish you off with a direct attack?

 

[cocomunga]

Hi Smogon, I've been trying nearly every day since release to achieve 90 wins in Super Doubles, and I just finally reached 90!

I was nervous about losing on battle 90, and it was a fierce battle. Had a terrible start, but in the end I win.

9V6W WWWW WWW5 WERA

My team

Blastoise@Blastoisenite
Modest Nature
220 HP, 252 SpAtk, 36 Speed
Water Spout
Aura Sphere
Dark Pulse
Ice Beam

Pretty standard, the speed EVs are to outspeed Timid Mega Manectric while Tailwind from my Talonflame is active.

Clefairy@Eviolite
Ability-Friend Guard
Bold Nature
252 HP, enough special attack to kill Hydriegons in one hit, more in defense than special defense. I don't remember the exact EVs.
Moonblast
Protect
Helping Hand
Follow Me

A very valuable team member. I love Clefairy.

Talonflame@Flyinium-Z
Ability- Gale Wings
Jolly Nature
252 attack, 252 speed, 6 HP
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz
Tailwind
Confide

Amazing Pokemon, even with the nerf. Usually it uses Tailwind and dies.
Confide has proven useful in rare situations.

Kartana@ Focus Sash
Ability- Beast Boost
Adamant Nature
252 Attack 252 Speed, 6 HP
Leaf Blade
Smart Strike
Psycho Cut
Sacred Sword.

I lead with Talonflame and Kartana. Those two are very powerful together. Usually they sweep, or one or the other dies to make a safe entrance for Blastoise. Fake Out on Talonflame on turn 1 is a pain in the ass. I might run protect over Confide, but Confide does help sometimes so I'm not sure. Quick Guard could also be useful.

 

[adman2]

Which Pokemon would go well with Aurora Veil Ninetales in Super Singles? I don't necessarily mean a hail team, but something that could take advantage of dual screens and getting rid of Focus Sashes. Attack accuracy must become a problem since the AI only needs to win once, so anything dependent on moves like Hydro Pump or Stone Edge is probably out.

 

[cocomunga]

Which Pokemon would go well with Aurora Veil Ninetales in Super Singles? I don't necessarily mean a hail team, but something that could take advantage of dual screens and getting rid of Focus Sashes. Attack accuracy must become a problem since the AI only needs to win once, so anything dependent on moves like Hydro Pump or Stone Edge is probably out.

Never use attacks that have below 100% accuracy in Battle Tree. You can get a good streak with them, but eventually you will lose because your Fire Fang missed once, or even twice in a row. I miss twice in a row with Fang attacks all the time.

As for good partners for Alolan Ninetales, use something that Ninetales can't beat and can switch into when it knows a powerful hit is coming its way. Ice has so many weaknesses though that will probably kill your streak when they start leading with things that demolish Ninetales, such as Scizor and Rotom-Heat. You really don't want to be switching out on turn 1 all the time. I can't really think of good partners.

 

[Collector Togami]

Now that Bank is out, I ask that my team, which was the first to reach 200 wins in a row for the Tree, be added to the record. I have not recorded the 201st losing battle, but I have recorded and uploaded a video on YouTube showing not only the 200th battle, but also talking to the receptionist, who clearly indicates I reached 200. I also show the obtaining of the berries, a clear sign that my streak ended.

 

[Luigi Bros.]

Congrats on the streak. As I noted in my post, a few otherwise eligible streaks are missing proof. Yours is one of those. If you could add a proof video of the losing battle, or at least a photo of the streak lady noting your longest streak, I'll get you added!

Here you go:

 

[hearthebeard]

Never use attacks that have below 100% accuracy in Battle Tree. You can get a good streak with them, but eventually you will lose because your Fire Fang missed once, or even twice in a row. I miss twice in a row with Fang attacks all the time.

You're right to caution about accuracy. However I think you have to take into account that not everyone's trying to get 2000 streaks and many of the 90% accurate moves can be helpful to a team with lower ambitions than that. Additionally, there are enough bright powder mons out there that you can't even guarantee you're hundred percent accurate moves will always hit. Moves like Zen Headbutt and Rock Slide and Thunder Wave are always going to have some utility on certain Pokémon. I think saying that you can only ever use hundred percent accurate moves is a little reductionistic and not helpful for new people to the tree.

 

[MKL122788]

You're right to caution about accuracy. However I think you have to take into account that not everyone's trying to get 2000 streaks and many of the 90% accurate moves can be helpful to a team with lower ambitions than that. Additionally, there are enough bright powder mons out there that you can't even guarantee you're hundred percent accurate moves will always hit. Moves like Zen Headbutt and Rock Slide and Thunder Wave are always going to have some utility on certain Pokémon. I think saying that you can only ever use hundred percent accurate moves is a little reductionistic and not helpful for new people to the tree.

To be honest, the newer you are to the Battle Tree, the more likely you are to be depending on offensive moves, which increases the number of times you will likely be using that move without 100% accuracy, increasing your chances of getting haxxed out. Furthermore, Bright Powder isn't really an argument because moves that are not 100% accurate are even less accurate than ones that have 100% accuracy where bright powder is a concern.

Very rarely are moves like Zen Headbutt and Rock Slide useful because if a Pokemon has to resort to one of those two without a more viable option from a pure typing and accuracy standpoint, then that Pokemon is probably not a great bet to get you to 100 unless it is a massive stat stick.

There are few things more important than consistency in the Battle Tree, even for getting to a modest streak of 100.

Outside of type/role synergy, role compression, to some extent raw power through BST or abilities(like Protean), and being able to quickly decipher what sets the enemy is running, the consistency with which you can execute a strategy in any general situation is the most important and accuracy is a huge factor.

 

[hearthebeard]

To be honest, the newer you are to the Battle Tree, the more likely you are to be depending on offensive moves, which increases the number of times you will likely be using that move without 100% accuracy, increasing your chances of getting haxxed out. Furthermore, Bright Powder isn't really an argument because moves that are not 100% accurate are even less accurate than ones that have 100% accuracy where bright powder is a concern.

Very rarely are moves like Zen Headbutt and Rock Slide useful because if a Pokemon has to resort to one of those two without a more viable option from a pure typing and accuracy standpoint, then that Pokemon is probably not a great bet to get you to 100 unless it is a massive stat stick.

There are few things more important than consistency in the Battle Tree, even for getting to a modest streak of 100.

Outside of type/role synergy, role compression, to some extent raw power through BST or abilities(like Protean), and being able to quickly decipher what sets the enemy is running, the consistency with which you can execute a strategy in any general situation is the most important and accuracy is a huge factor.

Again, I agree that anytime you introduce an imperfect accuracy move you're risking your streak. A move set with all perfectly accurate moves is one of the strongest things a Pokémon can offer in the tree.

However, I will take this time to point out that (as long as I'm a passable counter) 15 out of the 37 streaks on the leaderboard have at least one not perfectly accurate move represented on the team. It is not even close to something that can't be overcome. Often, it becomes a necessary evil. Now, admittedly, M-Metagross, Celesteela, Play Rough and Rock Slide are almost all of these.

 

[insanemaniac]

Again, I agree that anytime you introduce an imperfect accuracy move you're risking your streak. A move set with all perfectly accurate moves is one of the strongest things a Pokémon can offer in the tree.

However, I will take this time to point out that (as long as I'm a passable counter) 15 out of the 37 streaks on the leaderboard have at least one not perfectly accurate move represented on the team. It is not even close to something that can't be overcome. Often, it becomes a necessary evil. Now, admittedly, M-Metagross, Celesteela, Play Rough and Rock Slide are almost all of these.

:X

i doubt the wisdom in pointing out that the leaderboard looks like it does because of an inferior and arbitrarily limited move/pokemon pool. its not like people would stop trying. but who will use meteor mash now that you can have iron head? who would use aqua tail over waterfall on gyarados, which was available?

 

[MKL122788]

Again, I agree that anytime you introduce an imperfect accuracy move you're risking your streak. A move set with all perfectly accurate moves is one of the strongest things a Pokémon can offer in the tree.

However, I will take this time to point out that (as long as I'm a passable counter) 15 out of the 37 streaks on the leaderboard have at least one not perfectly accurate move represented on the team. It is not even close to something that can't be overcome. Often, it becomes a necessary evil. Now, admittedly, M-Metagross, Celesteela, Play Rough and Rock Slide are almost all of these.

I don't know exactly about doubles, but things like Rock Slide have extra applications in doubles which make them valuable in a way that exceeds the accuracy, namely the ability to hit everyone and flinch the target.

As far as the singles streaks over 100, this is what we have:

Silvally with TWave and Toxic - Uses Wide Lens to handle the compromised accuracy, that is how important it is.

Chansey with Toxic - Defensive Pokemon can get away with misses because they can sponge endlessly. Particularly this one. Plus, most will dump Toxic for Seismic Toss now.

Garchomp with Fire Fang - Honestly, the least used move and could probably be flamethrower anyway.

Mimikyu with Play Rough - By most admissions, Mimikyu was rarely used anyway. He does really need play rough to succeed, but no one ever builds a team around Mimikyu...he is kind of just there.

Celesteela with Leech Seed - This is one of the rare exceptions and it has to do with the fact that it cannot fill the role with any other ability, and the 90% accuracy is acceptable due to the stat stick and typing it has. The accuracy is still a weakness, but the strengths Celesteela has outweigh said weaknesses.

Salamence with Rock Slide - Mega-Mence is a stat stick, and with Return and Earthquake, I would guess rock slide was rarely used. There are better versions of Salamence and very little reason to run Rock Slide on him at all.

Metagross with Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt - Mega-Gross is also a stat stick, but I wouldn't exactly call it great for the Maison. This was also considered the third pokemon in the Fini/Chomp core. Meaning despite being a stat stick, they didn't depend on it. The loss even was caused by a MM miss. And, with bank out, these moves will, most likely, disappear.

To be honest, if you try enough times, you can likely hit 100 with a team with somewhat compromised capabilities by simply getting the right RNG. The fact that most of these got stopped shortly after 100 indicates that could've very easily happened before that anyway.

For quite a few of these, however, I could replace that move with growl and they would function the same, relying on 3 moves unless desperation called.

That said, I am not saying a 90% accuracy move is the end of the world, I am just saying it will take great preparation in other areas and likely luck to get yourself to 100.

 

[Jebus McAzn]

I'd also like to put out there that my Celesteela used Leech Seed for the same reason that GG Unit and Psynergy took Toxic on Chansey - like MKL said, she's defensive enough that you can afford to miss once or twice in a lot of matchups. The only time it's really crucial to hit Leech Seed right away is if Celesteela is in on something that can demolish her, in which case the reason that the battle is lost is probably not because of Leech Seed mising.

I've also noticed a fair few Mimikyu sets taking Wide Lens or Fairium Z just to mitigate the accuracy drop from Play Rough - so yeah, accuracy is king. Even if you're a new player, one of the biggest advantages you can give yourself is to simply pick 100% accuracy moves when teambuilding.

 

[Siggu]

100% accuracy moves are cool until you encounter Anabel's Bright Powder Latios.

That thing can go to the Distortion World.

 

[Ivrin]

Hello!

I want to create my team for battle tree but I'm completely noob in pokemon competetive world. Could you help me with natures/abilities/items/movesets for Dragonite/M-Metagross/Porygon-Z team? I haven't any idea how it should look like.

 

[MKL122788]

100% accuracy moves are cool until you encounter Anabel's Bright Powder Latios.

That thing can go to the Distortion World.

This is one reason why everyone loves the pink(or green) Frumpy Sponge.