Battle Tree Discussion and Records

Wonderful. Once more the A.I. brought me into trouble! I switched to my Marowak-A with Lightning Rod, and Colress' PorygonZ kept attacking my Marowak with
Thunderbolt, presumably to increase the Special Attack. However, this was useless because it only runs physical moves!
Meanwhile, the enemy wrecked my Marowak and PorygonZ into pieces. But thanks to Mega-Garados I could win the battle.
It was No. 14 on Super Multis.
Colress was telling you to use a different Pokemon that doesn't cockblock his electric moves.
 
I tried to upload the video just now but it gives me the error message that it can't be published. That's the second time this happens to me and I don't know why. First I assumed it
might be the length but my battle 14 was 8 turns and my battle 4 12 turns long.
I have uploaded Battle 4 for you now, which was very nasty:

V4ZW-WWWW-WWW3-ABAB
 
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WELP, sadly lost to red and blue on the Super Multi 50 battle, all cuz my partner did not use a bullet punch at the most CRITICAL moment in the battle -_-; can't upload the video for some reason..and another which I saved using the same team. Yet I COULD upload this one using said team:
24BG-WWWW-WWW3-AB7W
(Just me getting my butt kicked and leaving it to my AI partner to win lol..)
It's a simple team of a Waterinium Z Ash- Greninja, and a Mega Salamence, with my partner being Ace Trainer Levi with his Mega Metagross and Choice banded Blaziken (both have terrible abilities in Light metal and Blaze lol)

I'd love to know what can and can't be uploaded, cuz I'd love to show my friends some hilarious battles I've had, but can't for some reason :/
 
I don't want bother you guys again but I'm stuck at Battle Royal's Master rank now. I didn't see a separate thread for this here, so I thought I ask you again.
This battle kind is so confusing! Does anybody have a solid team for this, please?
For Battle Royal, you don't want to lead early. Once you're in 1st place, the AI will start targeting you. The AI will generally attack whoever is in 1st place, then their next priority is whoever they have type advantage against, or simply anyone they can OHKO.

I usually lead with stall pokemon on the first round (I use Chansey with substitute). Let the AI fight each other, then after 2-3 pokemon die on the arena, I immediately switch to Mega Salamance, DragonDance, and start attacking. Only attack when you're sure you can score a kill.
 
As far as I'm beginning to understand it, if the AI team is using any combination of pokemon/moves/abilities that is currently unobtainable in Gen 7 or illegal, you can't upload the video. That's why it's a constant problem for everyone.
 
I just wanted to point out that in my battle with Red and Blue, I purposely planned the match out so Colress would use Thunderbolt on the turn that Marowak wasn't in play, by switching back out as soon as I saw the last Pokemon was Charizard. On the first turn your new Pokemon is out, it will use another move. Poyrgon 2 used Psychic for me for some reason when tri attack is stronger. however when the A.I fully realises that Lightning rod isn't on the field it will then go for the super effective hit, hence why it was able to hit Charizard in the face, and the cost of my Gyarados fainting.
(Go back and read my post on the previous page about how I won the 50th Super Multi Battle)
As far as I'm beginning to understand it, if the AI team is using any combination of pokemon/moves/abilities that is currently unobtainable in Gen 7 or illegal, you can't upload the video. That's why it's a constant problem for everyone.
I thought this was the case too, however while i was unable to upload battle number 50, of me beating Red and Blue, I could upload and post the code for battle number 51, which i lost.
in terms of number of turns. My Super Singles 50th battle win was 17 turns long, and i was allowed to upload that just fine.
 
As far as I'm beginning to understand it, if the AI team is using any combination of pokemon/moves/abilities that is currently unobtainable in Gen 7 or illegal, you can't upload the video. That's why it's a constant problem for everyone.
This is what I'm thinking as well.

I just wanted to point out that in my battle with Red and Blue, I purposely planned the match out so Colress would use Thunderbolt on the turn that Marowak wasn't in play, by switching back out as soon as I saw the last Pokemon was Charizard. On the first turn your new Pokemon is out, it will use another move. Poyrgon 2 used Psychic for me for some reason when tri attack is stronger. however when the A.I fully realises that Lightning rod isn't on the field it will then go for the super effective hit, hence why it was able to hit Charizard in the face, and the cost of my Gyarados fainting.
(Go back and read my post on the previous page about how I won the 50th Super Multi Battle)


I thought this was the case too, however while i was unable to upload battle number 50, of me beating Red and Blue, I could upload and post the code for battle number 51, which i lost.
in terms of number of turns. My Super Singles 50th battle win was 17 turns long, and i was allowed to upload that just fine.
I'm not sure how your battle video disproves this theory, unless I'm missing something. All of those sets and pokemon are available currently, no?
 

turskain

activated its Quick Claw!
is a Community Contributor Alumnus
I initially wasn't planning to play the Tree until Pokémon Bank was released, with the ability to use all Pokémon and import RNG'd Dittos - but after SRing a few legendaries I got a bad idea of playing a team composed solely of nonbreedables I'd acquire prior to Bank. Effectively, this means that only Tapus and Ultra Beasts are available. Can you build a team for Tree Doubles that can break 200 using only these Pokémon?





Battle video uploading failed for both battle #200 and the loss, but a prior loss using the same variant of the team worked:
#192 - NAFG-WWWW-WWW3-AEXD vs.






Mone Mone (Pheromosa) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 SpA / 244 Spe
IVs: 8-9/31/8-9/31/8-9/31
Lonely Nature
- Low Kick
- Lunge
- Poison Jab
- Protect

Bait Pheromosa. When I first saw Pheromosa's stats, I thought of Sharpedo and using it in Doubles with low defensive IVs as an alternative to the shark. Due to the 3 guaranteed 31s, soft-resetting for this Pheromosa was not fun - only 1/20 of forced 31IV combinations allow for all three defensive stats to be imperfect, which on top of 1/2 chance of Synchronize working, makes 1/40 Pheromosas checkable for low IVs. I got rather lucky and caught this relatively low-bulk Pheromosa in just a few hours of soft resetting. It's still far from perfectly flawed, but SRing was quite frustrating so I settled for this.

Low Kick is Pheromosa's best reliable Fighting STAB. Lunge and U-Turn are the options for the other STAB; I picked Lunge for its Attack-decreasing property, and for the team's lacking switch synergy making U-Turn difficult to utilize. I originally ran Ice Beam as the third move, but after losing to Whimsicott4 setting up Tailwind on Turn 2 after using its Z-Move on Turn 1, I switched to Poison Jab to OHKO it as Ice Beam didn't end up being too important for the team's success in practice.

To give Download users an Attack boost, I opted for a Lonely nature instead of a Naughty one. In theory Pheromosa should be around as lacking in bulk as Sharpedo, but the AI in the Tree seems a little different from the Maison AI, and significantly more willing to attack Pheromosa's partner for less damage over going for the OHKO. The Protect bait strategy still seems to have decent success, but I've no idea how big possible AI targeting differences will be for various teams. Being Lonely also allows Pheromosa to gain Attack boosts from Beast Boost, where a Speed-boosting nature would boost its Speed. I didn't find the 202-221 Speed tiers worth outspeeding compared to the extra power and Beast Boost potential of Lonely.

The 12 Special Attack EVs are a leftover from using Ice Beam - I cut Speed to 202, since there is nothing on that exact Speed number in the Tree. The missing point of Speed makes no difference, so I didn't adjust Pheromosa's EVs after switching to Poison Jab.




Shutterpike (Tapu Lele) @ Psychium-Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Substitute
- Protect

When looking for a legendary to partner with bait Pheromosa, Lele stood out instantly with solid typing and great damage output. In addition, Psychic Terrain prevents priority moves from working, which Pheromosa appreciates - it also helps Lele against Scizor Bullet Punch.

I EV'd Lele primarily for bulk, relying on Psychic Terrain and Shattered Psyche to deliver damage and investing enough Speed to outrun Tyrantrum4. Since Lele can't support its partner actively like Mega Kangaskhan can with Fake Out, it needs to be more self-reliant and the bulk lets it survive most neutral attacks, reducing the AI's likelihood of targeting it over Pheromosa.

Shattered Psyche powered by Psychium-Z is hilariously strong. Even with no Special Attack investment save for a Modest nature, it OHKOs most neutral targets. For the third moveslot, I picked Substitute since I forgot to SR for Hidden Power - it's good against slower status moves that might target either lead, and to secure an advantage against the AI 3rd or 4th Pokémon when there is room to use it freely.




The Kokko-o (Tapu Koko) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Grass Knot

The Pherolele lead combination was surprisingly good, but the rest of the team options weren't looking so good with the UB/Tapu only restriction. The Koko is very, very strong - I expect it to be one of the best Pokémon in Tree Doubles bar none, the power and speed are unmatched (Specs Koko Thunderbolt hits harder than Timid ZardY Flamethrower, for instance). However, on this team its synergy with Tapu Lele isn't great, and using two different Terrains can make the Tapus sabotage each other, which must be maneuvered around. Its bulk is also lacking as a switch option, so I only very rarely switch it in directly.

I also tried Life Orb as an item on Koko, but found that the power and lack of recoil from Specs was too advantageous to pass up on.




Steele Yurec (Celesteela) @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 100 Def / 148 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Wide Guard
- Leech Seed
- Protect

Originally I ran Scarf Xurkitree as the 4th Pokémon, intent on overpowering what the leads couldn't handle with Electric Terrain-boosted attacks. However, this left the team hugely vulnerable to Trick Room, and I lost to Carbink3 of all things on two occasions; I needed glue that could serve as a real switch option and handle Trick Room conditions, and Celesteela was the closest thing on an answer from Alola's legendary lineup.

Celesteela isn't that great in the Tree. Leech Seed lacks accuracy, and using it as a win condition is generally a very, very dicy proposition compared to more straightforward offensive sets. Howewer, it covers Tapu Lele's weaknesses, can stand its ground under Trick Room and stall out the turns even if its offensive presence is minimal, and secures wins against some bad match-ups such as Mega Mawile and Mega Metagross in a pinch. Instead of Substitute, I picked Wide Guard since Leech Seed is a very unreliable win condition already, and Wide Guard lets it shield Koko from Earthquake and provide some support for the team in the many cases where it has no offensive presence at all.

I had no idea how to EV Celesteela, so I pulled a mixed bulk Careful spread out of thin air. Its bulk is adequate, but the Pokémon itself just doesn't seem like a good pick in the Tree.




On the first attempt on this final version of the team, I made it to 191 wins - this streak was the second attempt, ended by Colress in battle 220. The battle video is unpublishable right now due to the glitch discussed earlier - his team was Electrode/Muk-Alola/Magnezone4/Metagross4. Pheromosa was KO'd by the leads, and once Mega Metagross came in I was in a very bad position - and when Magnezone showed up afterwards to shut down Celesteela, nothing could prevent Lele/Koko/Celesteela from losing to the duo save for an act of God. Previous versions of the team (with Life Orb on Tapu Koko and Ice Beam on Pheromosa) made it to 186 wins on their best run; it's likely that this team lacks the potential to go much further than 200 wins. If you're looking for a team to go for Starf Berry with in Doubles, I'd recommend waiting for Bank; this team has some reliability problems and an overwhelming weakness to Mega Metagross, and the back-ups synergize rather poorly with the leads. But I think the Tapus & UBs only restriction made for a pretty interesting effort nonetheless.

As a last aside, Tree Doubles seems quite a lot tougher than its Maison counterpart. The full lineup of Mega Evolutions should deliver major threats for virtually any team.
 

R Inanimate

It's Lunatic Time
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Based on my own observations when trying to use a L1 Mimikyu in doubles, it usually led to the faster of the two opponent's active mons going after Mimikyu (or the one that has prioirty attacks, with exception to Fake Out), and the other mon doing things on its own accord. Be it using status moves, attacking my other Pokemon or trying to double up into the Mimikyu. Those kinds of strategies still work in Tree, but they do not have anywhere close to the absolute control over the AI's actions compared to how it worked in 4th and 6th Gen.
 
Hey all!

I just started doing some Battle Tree Super Singles, and I would like to get some advice.

First off, the Team I used:

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Play Rough
- Swords Dance
- Leech Life

Garchomp @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Iron Head

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body -> Tough Claws
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Agility
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt

When I was looking for good cores on the Smogon Forums, I saw that there was Grass/Water/Fire, Steel/Fairy/Dragon and others. I fell in love with the Steel/Fairy/Dragon one, and just mashed together three pokemons I had with those types.

And that's the result. I had a Jolly M-Garchomp, but I preferred M-Metagross for its aggressiveness, so I went for Rocky Helmet (though wrong nature and probably moveset, which must be adjusted).

Metagross should have something else in Agility's place, but there is no Move Tutor for Ice Punch (I saw on many analyses that move for Grass types, but I got Mimikyu with Leech Life to cover that). Is there any good move I could use there?
I was thinking of something like Pursuit (not very useful in Battle Tree, as there are far less switch ins than against real players) or Hammer Arm (something to get slow Dark Types which threaten Metagross).

Garchomp got Poison Jab and Iron Head for more coverage, and with good speed it can even get some Ice Types (in case Metagross dies somehow). But probably I should just change this Dragon for something else (or change my Steel Type and go with M-Garchomp).
I already have an Adamant Garchomp waiting in the Pokebank (with Rocky Helmet set, Outrage and the like), so I wouldn't redo from scratch this mon. Any ideas?

Mimikyu was very good overall, I liked Leech Life for the times where I had no super-effective moves on the opposing pokemon, and spamming Leech Life (+ Shadow Sneak as last hit) gave me an out to get a kill under 1-2 attacks, even against faster pokemons. And I noticed it was very easy to setup Swords-Dance through Disguise, status moves and opposing pokemons' setups.

On the games, I lost at 40ish battle sadly. Went against a Glaceon, Jolteon and Sylveon Team. He led with Jolteon, and I switched from Mimikyu to Garchomp, then he switched to Glaceon and I went on Metagross which got Freezed by the first Blizzard. 2 Blizzards later he managed to unfreeze (at 14hp) and Meteor Mash failed. I went with Garchomp again (probably I did a mistake here, not going for Mimikyu) hoping to get a kill with Iron Head, but did roughly 75-80% damage and Blizzard destroyed him. Mimikyu then managed to kill Glaceon, and died to Sylveon with Shadow Ball.

Some things I noted during those games:
1) I had very good luck on not missing a single strike while confused with Mimikyu and M-Metagross;
2) I had bad variance against Ice Teams. 4 times out of 5 that I went against Ice Teams, M-Metagross got freezed on the Switch-In (pretty frustrating, but happens). The first 4 Times I managed to get a win somehow, the fifth I lost :( ;
3) I faced a lot of condition-based teams, which makes me want to try to go Lum Berry Garchomp (with Swords-Dance possibly), and few Trick Room teams (but they all died to Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak);
4) Having so many 90% accuracy moves made me unconfortable at some times (missing in critic spots).

What do you guys think of this setup? Is going All-Aggressive a good way to get "easy wins" in Battle Tree? Any modifications should I make?

Thanks in advance! :)
 

QuentinQuonce

formerly green_typhlosion
Been making some attempts at a Doubles run with the below team. Nothing too great yet.

upload_2016-12-22_14-17-57.png

Oricorio-Baile @ Scope Lens (Dancer)
Revelation Dance
Hidden Power (Ice)
Air Slash
Protect
252 Sp. Atk/Speed, 6 HP (Timid)

I've found Oricorio to be a monster in Doubles thus far. The strategy so far has been to Protect on the first turn while Ribombee Quiver Dances, even if there's an easy target such as Ferrothorn or Escavalier out. Attacking on the first turn risks getting statused before Ribombee can use Safeguard. From there, sweep as necessary. Oricorio has a surprisingly shallow movepool but Fire/Ice/Flying has done the job so far. Baile style was chosen mostly due to it being my preferred form, I haven't tried the others yet. Item could probably be better (I'm thinking Wise Glasses?) but I don't have enough BP yet.

upload_2016-12-22_14-15-24.png

Ribombee @ Focus Sash (Shield Dust)
Quiver Dance
Struggle Bug
Reflect
Safeguard
252 Sp. Atk/Speed, 6 HP (Timid)

Fastest Quiver Dance user in the game. Ribombee's job is support, support, support. Struggle Bug hits both targets and lowers their Special Attack, making Oricorio even more Specially bulky. Mostly though, Ribombee repeatedly QD's while Oricorio continues to attack. I rarely find time to use Reflect or Safeguard, but Safeguard is the preferred choice due to status completely crippling Ori. Shield Dust rarely comes in useful, Sweet Veil would have been better, but I got a decent IV Cutiefly and stopped there. It keeps it from being frozen, though.

upload_2016-12-22_14-34-21.png

Wishiwashi @ Figy Berry (Schooling)
Scald
Earthquake
Ice Beam
Faint Attack
252 Atk/Sp. Atk, 6 HP (Brave)

My favourite gen VII Pokemon was almost obligatory on this team. Figy Berry restores more HP than Sitrus and keeps him in School Form for longer, and he hits plenty hard without a boosting item. EVs and Nature aren't ideal due to me using the Wishiwashi from my ingame run, but I'll rebreed at some point. Not sure whether to stick with Brave or Quiet due to speed issues with the next Pokemon, which I'll detail below.

upload_2016-12-22_14-38-9.png

Oranguru @ Psychium-Z (Telepathy)
Instruct
Energy Ball
Psychic
Calm Mind
170 HP/Sp.Atk/Sp.Def (Timid)

Again, the screwy Nature and EVs are due to this being an in-game mon. I was intrigued by the possibilities of Instruct, especially when used alongside Wishiwashi or Oricorio. Only problem is that Oranguru is faster than Wishi even without any speed EVs due to its nature - when I rebreed I think I'll go for Sassy. Item choice is due to Z-Instruct raising Oranguru's Special Attack, but once I can afford Leftovers I'll swap them. As for the other moves, I'm kind of stuck. Calm Mind is rarely used since Oranguru tends to come out last and by then it's everyone piling in to finish off the opponent's last 1 or 2 Pokemon. Energy Ball provides a bit of extra coverage.

I think the concept and synergy of this team is fairly sound - there's no gaping holes that I can see, and I've not found myself hampered by any major types. The only major problem so far is Z-Moves bypassing Protect, which can be tricky. What finished my first run was having everyone else faint and Oranguru left to take on the opponent's Lickilicky and Walrein alone - it's too passive to sweep. So, any tips?

Haven't tried Singles or Multi yet, but for Singles I'm thinking of using Ash-Greninja, Mega Salamence and Tapu Lele.
 
I think the concept and synergy of this team is fairly sound - there's no gaping holes that I can see, and I've not found myself hampered by any major types. The only major problem so far is Z-Moves bypassing Protect, which can be tricky. What finished my first run was having everyone else faint and Oranguru left to take on the opponent's Lickilicky and Walrein alone - it's too passive to sweep. So, any tips?
How far have you gotten (streak lengths)?
 
Hey! Like others I've been lurking here for quite a bit of time, but I was mostly interested in hitting 50 battles in previous generations. For Sun & Moon I wanted to try going for more and eventually be in the leaderboard even though I kinda have doubts about my perseverance and skills. Today I hit 60 (streak still going on) with a team that felt really solid and also quite fast to chain battles. I'm not sure that the team is resilient enough for super long streaks, I guess I'll have a better idea soon, but it's very efficient to easily and quickly go to 50. Since I saw some people asking for easy ways go get battle points and beat red, I thought I could contribute.

The Team:

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 hp / 252 SpAtk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- U-turn
- Grass Knot

This mon is just perfect if you want to farm BPs, as you can get a life orb without BPs and it 3-0 a surprisingly large number of team (at least between 1 and 30). I wanted to have it as a lead because I had a lot of success with it when farming bps, and the team is in some ways built to support that. I've seen a couple people running electrium Z or Specs on koko, I haven't tested these items mostly because I've been very happy with life orb since you either OHKO or switch which means the recoil doesn't matter a ton. However, if you have some good arguments for other items, I'd be happy to hear them. One last note: mine is hasty instead of timid because I wanted to potentially use a physical set.

Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
Evs: 252 Hp / 4 Atk / 4 Def / 248 SpD
Carefull Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Brutal Swing
- Roost
- Swords Dance

I wanted something bulky to switch into poison or ground moves that threatens Tapu-koko and went with this. When searching for a set I've mostly seen adamant nature with a medium bulk, but since this is my main switch in when Tapu-Koko can't stay in, I opted for as much bulk as possible. Also, my idea was that this would always try to set up to +6, so attack investment was not necessary. So far I'm quite happy with this spread, the only thing I might change is adding a little bit more physical bulk instead of special bulk because super strong neutral physical moves are sometime tough to set up on. This can pretty much set up on anything that doesn't have a fire move but a couple mons were able to deal ~50% to my scizor with neutral moves which was quite annoying. (I'll talk a little more about that in the threat section.)


Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Swords dance

This one is very standard, not much to say about that, it's mostly there because I wanted something that could switch in fire moves that threatens Scizor and sometime strong electric moves under my own electric terrain. It also completes the very non-original dragon/steel/fairy core.

Threats:

The run is quite short right now so there's not a ton I can say at the moment, but I'll give an update if I continue to do well with this team. So far there's only one thing that has really been threatening: a mega-loppuny that had ice punch for the garchomp, dealt a little bit more than 50% with HJK to scizor (this is the main reason why I think more physical bulk would be good on Scizor), and I thought could have OHKOed Tapu-Koko with return, but since it used ice punch turn one, I suppose it might not have it. I was mostly able to deal with it because it missed a HJK, but it felt like this could have swept me... Another thing I haven't faced yet, but seemed very threatening is Mega Zard X, which I don't really see how I could deal with... I'd be interested to know if you have ideas about potential threats or anything to improve the team.

Recordings:

C57W-WWWW-WWW3-B8RQ

This was battle 50 against Red, not much to say except that I was praying for Zard to be non-mega or Y otherwise this might have been much tougher or even unwinable.

C9PW-WWWW-WWW3-B8MA

This is the last battle I played so far, I don't think it's super interesting but I thought I could share it, if some were interested to see a little more.

I feel like Toxapex instead of garchomp could make the team stronger, but I would be pretty weak to electric moves and something like rotom-heat could be very threatening, so I'm not sure. I'm quite happy with the Tapu-Koko/Scizor core, but it feels like something could be better over the Garchomp, so let me know if you have any idea!
 
For Battle Royal, you don't want to lead early. Once you're in 1st place, the AI will start targeting you. The AI will generally attack whoever is in 1st place, then their next priority is whoever they have type advantage against, or simply anyone they can OHKO.

I usually lead with stall pokemon on the first round (I use Chansey with substitute). Let the AI fight each other, then after 2-3 pokemon die on the arena, I immediately switch to Mega Salamance, DragonDance, and start attacking. Only attack when you're sure you can score a kill.
Thank you for your advice! I actually didn't think of playing defensively in Battle Royal because I wasn't sure if you can get kills with this strategy.
If that's okay for you, would you share the team you used with me?
 
Okay, I've just taken my first steps into the Battle Tree by beating the normal Single and Multi Battles and I'm quite surprised about how difficult this is when compared to Battle Maison. Breaking or even reaching my old Maison streaks is definitely going to be challenging.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that Multi Battles with the default AI partner is literal hell. The partner is dumb as a bag of hammers, especially when using her Hawlucha. I know that the Hawlucha knows Acrobatics because it has used it against Trevenant but it only uses the move when it absolutely has no other choice. There was a battle where I was against a Hariyama and Machamp and the Hawlucha kept spamming High Jump Kick even though both of the opponents obviously were weak to Flying. The Hawlucha has also used HJK against an Espeon which resists Fighting for Christ's sake. The worst thing is that both the aforementioned Hariyama and the Espeon had Protect and caused the Hawlucha to take unnecessary 50% recoil damage which could have been avoided by using Acrobatics. The Hawlucha has also randomly used Taunt against certain offensive Pokemon, even ones that are weak to Acrobatics. It's like the AI partner is deliberately trying to play as poorly as possible. If you have any protips for the Multis, I'd gladly hear them since there's no way in hell I'm attempting to break any streaks with a partner like this. I'm lucky I even managed to beat the normal Multi Battles.

And speaking about streaks, I feel like I have to wait for Pokebank compatibility with SM before really diving into the Battle Tree since I have like four boxes of competitive Pokemon in my Alpha Sapphire but only two competitive Mons (Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele) in Moon. I'm just really heartbroken that Triple Battles don't exist anymore since my Triples team was easily my best one and I had my highest streaks in that format. Guess I'll just have to git gud in Singles and Doubles.
 
*Sigh* Lost my streak in Super Multis at battle 42. This was just crazy! I intended to switch to Marowak in the first turn
to hit Gardevoir-M with Shadow Bone but I wasn't prepared for Aerodactyl. I guess I shouldn't have switched out.
Interestingly, I was able to upload the battle, although it contains currently unavailable Pokemon.

Code: J8TG-WWWW-WWW3-BHHT
 
Reporting a completed streak at 222 wins.

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
Level: 50
EVs: 52 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Roost

Dragonite is a good lead for pre-bank play. It's definitely pulled its weight throughout pre-bank. I don't really have any other comments on this.


Aegislash @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 8 Spe
Brave Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 14 Spe
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak

I need to rebreed this thing because missing out on 2 points of HP and 14 points of speed isn't exactly ideal. Fortunately, it's been able to work despite these issues.


Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Misty Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 52 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Grass Knot
- Ice Beam
- Surf

This works primarily not as a scarfer, but as something that grants Safeguard on switch-in. For this reason, even though its stats are too mediocre to fulfill its role as a bulky scarfer, it is truly irreplaceable.


Loss video: TLLW WWWW WWW3 CWG8

When asked what can go wrong here, the answer is "Everything". Incineroar34 leads without proccing Intimidate. Unlike most teams, Incineroar3 is significantly more threatening than Incineroar4, which needs a Crunch drop and a Quick Claw activation to be able to do significant damage, and I can mitigate the risk of that by switching to Tapu Fini as a safety play. Anyway, +0 EQ falls just short of a KO on Incineroar3, so it's somewhat safe to Dragon Dance once, especially because there are very few things Preschooler Reina can use that can threaten a +1 Dragonite not locked in to Outrage.
However, this all changes when Incineroar gets a Crit Outrage. It gets the absolute minimum roll, knocking Dragonite down to 66 HP. But this is still a suboptimal situation, as it forces me to KO Incineroar with Earthquake instead of fishing for a self-hit by Roosting up. So Incineroar is down and I have a damaged +1 Dragonite. A so-so situation.
Then alarm bells go off the instant I see the second mon. Primarina34 is horrible for this team to face. Between the possibility of Blizzard as well as insanely strong Moonblasts and Hydro Pumps. Worse still, it gives absolutely no clue as to what the third poke could be, meaning that I can't afford to recklessly sac my mons for fear of something like third mon Speed Boost Blaziken3. I need to go to Tapu Fini at this point to check its set, as Aegislash getting frozen by Blizzard would spell instant doom. However, this backfires, as it uses Moonblast instead, revealing set 3. I decide to PP stall Hydro Pump while setting up Aegislash.
This... does not work well. Primarina perfectly predicts my every move, getting a Baby-Doll Eyes off while I King's Shield, a Hydro Pump while I SD, another Hydro Pump while I King's Shield, a Baby-Doll Eyes as I Sacred Sword (in retrospect, using Swords Dance here would have been better, as I originally planned to +1 Sword + Sneak), a third Hydro Pump as I get back into Shield Forme, and a fourth Hydro Pump as I use Sacred Sword again. Now things get awful. I King's Shield to stall its final Hydro Pump, but in an incredible lapse of memory, I think that I've only seen it use four Hydro Pumps. In an attempt to get rid of its last Hydro Pump, I switch out to Tapu Fini. Naturally this does not work as it uses Baby-Doll Eyes. I use Moonblast futilely to bring it down into the red as my Tapu Fini faints.
I could have salvaged the battle here by setting up a Swords Dance, but still thinking that Primarina has one more PP left, I go to Dragonite to finish it off with Earthquake, hoping the third mon isn't something that I won't be able to beat. The last mon is.... Delphox. This would indeed be something that Dragonite can defeat, however after Incineroar crit me with Outrage, I am in KO range for Psychic. So my best hope here is to hope for either a crit Shadow Sneak or Delphox missing with a Fire move. Naturally neither of those happen and I take the loss.

Here's a preliminary threatlist for this team.
Primarina34: This is not something that you want to see, either as a lead or as a backup. Powerful STAB moves combined with Blizzard making a direct switch to Aegislash risky mean that this can and will wear down the team.
Altaria3: A complete disaster to face in the lead spot. If its trainer is Wally, Earthquake it immediately and switch out to sac Tapu Fini after turn 1. Set up one SD with Aegislash then finish it off with Shadow Sneak. If its trainer is Darrel or Jana, spam Earthquake until Dragonite dies and use the recharge turn to KO it with Moonblast. You'll want Tapu Fini alive to deal with some of their mons.
Gengar4: The best play here is an immediate Earthquake OHKO. This means that you potentially lose Dragonite on turn 1, making it a 2v2 with no guarantee of success. No other line of play is without flaws: Dragon Dancing twice means that you can potentially be crit by Sludge Bomb or double poisoned, neither of which are unlikely, and lose Dragonite without even damaging Gengar. Dragon Dancing only once is the worst of both worlds: You can be crit by Sludge Bomb which doesn't even give you a chance to retaliate, or you can be double poisoned or fall for Destiny Bond, which at least lets you take out Gengar.
Walrein4: The only reason this is on here is because I have no Substitute. Only threatening as a lead.
Gyarados34: Only on this list because they're annoying to face when you can't tell which one you're up against. Gyarados4 also threatens the team if it crits Aegislash with Crunch while at +1 speed.
Gardevoir4: On paper, this is easy to deal with: Switch Aegislash in on the turn 1 Hyper Beam, set up an SD, OHKO with Shadow Sneak. In practice, it's way worse. It can use Psychic versus Dragonite before Mega Evolving, which complicates things if it gets a drop or Shadow Ball crits.


Sorry R Inanimate for being unable to finish the race we had, although I'm still willing to have another go with this team and hopefully reach 500 or so.
 

Lord Wallace

Hentai Connoiseur
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Just passed 100 Battles in Super Singles with this team. I'm pretty shocked it did so well considering it was really just an experiment and I was skeptical of how consistent Porygon would be but it's the first team to break me out of mid sixties so I guess I'll post it. I'll try and record a battle or simply update when I lose to add to this later, but here it is. I'll keep it brief and add more detail when I complete the run.

Porygon-Z @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Conversion

Sweeps most teams up to Battle 50 by itself. Recover > coverage simply because breeding Hidden Powers sucks balls and the recovery did come in handy for certain encounters where it simply wouldnt have lasted long enough to 3-0 cleanly otherwise. Dragonite from my experience sets up on whatever stops this thing. A bulkier spread is probably more optimal but having a chance to OHKO Latios after Conversion is nice and you want to outspeed as much as possible to set up that Conversion on Turn One

Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Nasty Plot
- Vacuum Wave
- Flash Cannon

The cleaner and basically my counter play to those nonsense Double Team Toxic Protect mons. You know the ones. Rarely sets up really except against very passive mons. Also my Fairy check and source of priority which has saved me like once or twice. Used to be Mega Metagross but I got tired of missing. Lucario is consistent as hell and powerful as hell. Covers whatever stops Dragonite basically.

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

Bank pls come soon I like ESpeed. Oh well, the extra coverage doesnt hurt. The beauty of this team is that every Pokemon can potentially 3-0 the opponent by themselves, so you can afford to simply sack the lead Porygon if you get counter led. Dragonite usually appears because I sacked Porygon turn one and takes advantage of most of Porygon's unfavorable lead match ups and just sets up on them. Outrage's power is necessary to bust open bulky Pokemon like Suicune and Cresselia that Lucario doesnt like either. Plus if a Fairy type interrupts you that's Lucario's cue to come in and clean up. Dragonite is just super reliable in Super Singles. Haven't run into any issues yet with Adamant but if I end up losing because I got outsped then I'll breed for Jolly.

Threats: Pretty much any version of Primarina except 1 - got by with the skin of my teeth versus this, usually I just pray that Porygon pulled through if someone brings this, otherwise it's a bad time.

Latios2- Usually secures a kill unless it can be immediatley OHKOed. If it leads then it's pretty much just pray Dragonite doesnt get crit or lose.

Tornadus4- Only bad as a lead since it fucks up Porygon-Z with Focus Blast and keeps Dragonite from setting up with Taunt too. A nuisance more than anything since it usually just goes for the Rain Dance vs Dragonite and just dies.

Alolan Marowak2 - Pray Dragonite is alive if this shows up.

Camerupt3 - can be awful if it gets the Ancient Power boosts on Dragonite.

Theres a lot more on here that could be listed because they body Porygon but then are handily punished by Lucario or Dragonite. I'll probably remember more by the time I lose.
 
No need to fret too much on Multi battles. Well from my own experience, find ai/friends whose pokemon have only attacking moves. I find the battle tree partners to be erratic with non attacking moves so having them at the very least be dealing damage. Your partner also doesn't really care for you, so if he knows earthquake/blizzard/any all attacking move, keep a pokemon that can deal with such things. Your ai partner also likes to use their strongest moves to ko weakened pokes, even if their best move is the least accurate one it has. So for your sake, focus on one guy's pokemon so you are left with a 2 v 1 scenario in your favor. Since switching simply isn't an option, revenge killers that can complement your lead will take you far. Even so, expect some losses outside your control.
 
Finally managed to finish my 50 streak for both Singles and Multi. Here was the team:

Singles:

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt

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

Struggled against Trick Room and defense stackers. This was probably the hardest for me to finish.

Multi Battle:

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Flamethrower
- Draco Meteor
- Protect

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Shadow Ball
- Protect

Teamed up with Veteran Candy, who used Latias-4 and Terrakion-3. Wasn't exactly my initial dream team- and I was just winging it. But the synergy turned out so well I got to battle 50 before I knew it.

A basic strategy was to pick off one player first to force a 2-vs-1 situation. Unlike real people, the AI doesn't run Protect on every Pokemon.
 
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Nasty Plot
- Vacuum Wave
- Flash Cannon

The cleaner and basically my counter play to those nonsense Double Team Toxic Protect mons. You know the ones. Rarely sets up really except against very passive mons. Also my Fairy check and source of priority which has saved me like once or twice. Used to be Mega Metagross but I got tired of missing. Lucario is consistent as hell and powerful as hell. Covers whatever stops Dragonite basically.
I really like that Lucario set and want to give it a try. How did you get Vacuum Wave on that thing, cause serebii is telling me only Hitmonchan is learning it by lvl up in Sun and Moon and can breed with the Lucario family :/
 
I really like that Lucario set and want to give it a try. How did you get Vacuum Wave on that thing, cause serebii is telling me only Hitmonchan is learning it by lvl up in Sun and Moon and can breed with the Lucario family :/
Smeargle can sketch Vacuum Wave from Scyther and breed with the Lucario-line
 
After realizing I couldn't really think of a pokemon to complete a M-Salamence/Lele core on singles, I decided to try the super doubles and managed to get to 50 without facing any real trouble with the following team:


Tapu Bulu @ Leftovers
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Superpower
-Wood Hammer
-Protect
-Horn Leech

Xurkitree @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 SP. Atk / 252 SPD
Timid Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Hidden Power Ice
-Tail Glow
-Protect

Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SP. Def
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- X-Scissors
- Protect
- Swords Dance

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Salamence used Return like 99% of the time, as did Scizor with Bullet Punch and Xurkitree never really used Tail Glow, so I think the moveset could use some rework. I think maybe adding protect to Salamence and replacing tail glow with discharge on Xurkitree would be a good idea, and Scizor can't even use its last two slots, so IDK what to do with them. Still, this team has been working well. Xurkitree and Bulu have good synergy and most of the times there's a threat to one of them, the other can deal with it while it protects. Leftovers + Grassy Terrain helps negating wood hammer's recoil on Bulu, and that attack is so strong it can 2hko most things that normally resist it, though Horn Leech is also really useful, being able to kill almost everything weak to it while return bulu to full HP most of the time. So yeah, if anyone has any suggestion, I'm open to them.

Battle Video against Blue:
RZVG-WWWW-WWW3-CKG7 (I think I shared it the right way? It's been a while since I last shared a battle video)
 

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