Battle Tree Discussion and Records

[Makorel]

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.

 

[Towertroll]

Any got much luck with Tapu Fini? Considering running one with Taunt to throw off those stall sets.

 

[XnadrojX]

Multis are impossible. I can't think of any strategy with them. Anyone got any advice?

 

[Doobzi]

Any got much luck with Tapu Fini? Considering running one with Taunt to throw off those stall sets.

I ran a timid Sub Calm Mind Moonblast surf set and it got me to 50 alongside mega-mence and kartana. You're better of running substitute to beat stall as that allows you to set-up better. Be it on Fini or anyother pokemon.

 

[Carrier]

Y'know, I'm surprised Pheromosa isn't being toted as an easy way to get the Destiny Knot. It's hilariously overpowered with HJK+ Wide Lens, and the 1% miss chance with it is essentially irrelevant for the short streaks you're going for (approx. the 20 streak win it takes to unlock Super Singles). Just click whatever physical move is Super Effective (or neutral / NVE High Jump Kick lol, especially after a boost) and watch your opponent drop. On the off case of resisting the dual STABs, like ghosts or something like Charizard, it has U-Turn to allow an immediate swap to something capable of handling such Pokemon (which can be whatever you used to check fire / ghost types ingame, like a Gyarados). I myself used my starter Decidueye and a Silvally I rushed for completing my Dex, both horribly EV'd but with OK nature's (Adamant and Bold) and still managed the 20. Considering its capture is easy as heck thanks to Beast Balls and the only thing that's challenging about it is a good nature, it makes casually obtaining the Destiny Knot possible (for Moon, at least)

 

[SonOfTheShire]

I ran a timid Sub Calm Mind Moonblast surf set and it got me to 50 alongside mega-mence and kartana. You're better of running substitute to beat stall as that allows you to set-up better. Be it on Fini or anyother pokemon.

What EV spread did you use?

 

[Doobzi]

What EV spread did you use?

I ran a 252 SP.att/ 252 Spee/ 4 Hp spread but I'm sure you could cut on speed for bulk depending on the threats you want to speedcreep. At the time, I was just looking to hit 50 so I didn't care but if you want to go longer, I'd suggest adding some bulk. Held item: Leftovers is the option I took as the recovery to me was more valuable then a one time nuke.

 

[SonOfTheShire]

I ran a 252 SP.att/ 252 Spee/ 4 Hp spread but I'm sure you could cut on speed for bulk depending on the threats you want to speedcreep. At the time, I was just looking to hit 50 so I didn't care but if you want to go longer, I'd suggest adding some bulk. Held item: Leftovers is the option I took as the recovery to me was more valuable then a one time nuke.

Oh, that's the same spread I've got on my Fini, but I haven't used her for the Battle Tree yet because I love Mega Slowbro too much...

 

[Darkflagrance]

Multis are impossible. I can't think of any strategy with them. Anyone got any advice?

There is a significant degree of luck that you have to mitigate or control.

The first step is to get a good partner. You probably want someone with a Mega, so scout anyone with a good mega you fight in the other modes. MegaGross has reputedly carried people to victories in the past so I prioritize that one, but other bulky/fast megas of already good mons are good picks.

Try to have the other pokemon be a legendary or a good mon with as few status moves (t-wave, taunt, stat boost) as possible, because the AI will use useless status moves in critical situations.

Your team should complement the AI and try to earn free turns for it with protect and priority, if possible.

Even then, it will likely take multiple runs for the stars to align.

 

[Anna says hi]

Any got much luck with Tapu Fini? Considering running one with Taunt to throw off those stall sets.

I've gotten to 200 with a Scarf set, a couple of pages ago.

 

[Vaporeon]

Finally clawed my way to 50 -- Red was actually quite easy for me as I was able to set up on his lead Venusaur-M with my Dragonite...
Nothing too original, essentially just a Dragon-Fairy-Steel core aiming for as much coverage as possible.
I was defeated on battle 56 due to carelessness but it probably could have gone much farther.

My team:
Kartana @ Focus Sash
Jolly
Ability: Beast Boost
252 Atk / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
- Leaf Blade
- Sacred Sword
- Smart Strike
- X-Scissor

Tapu Lele @ Choice Scarf
Modest
Ability: Psychic Terrain
252 SpA / 6 SpD / 252 Spe
- Moonblast
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Adamant
Ability: Multiscale
52 HP / 252 Attack / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance
- Fire Punch

Going to try Multis next, managed to scout someone with Latios + Dragonite, hopefully will be decent...

 

[ngtunganh]

I want to try Fini with nature madness + brine combo
How should I build it?

 

[Kommo-o]

Hello everyone, not exactly a new member since my old account got lost but posting in here to showcase an ended streak of 201 wins in the Battle Tree. I was inspired by my friend Collector Togami to do this, but I personally set the challenge to myself on not using Bank/Injected stuff. This is a team I have been brainstorming for a while back from when I used to farm BPs in the ORAS maison. In a nutshell, the team consists of using Garchomp as a powerful lead and the main sweeper to KO stuff around, Tapu Fini as a support/bulky win-con mon to provide status protection with Misty Surge and make Chomp´s sweep easier; she assumes her role as a bulky CM sweeper only if the situation is ideal for it, and Mega Metagross as glue to this team providing fast-paced power (despite Meteor Mash) and defensive synergy:

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Garchomp (Harribel) @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 SpD
IVs: 31.31.31.24.31.31
Jolly Nature
- Fire Fang
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Swords Dance

Tapu Fini (Ursula) @ Normalium-Z
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 4 Spe
IVs: 31.18.31.26.31.31 (Hyper Trained)
Bold Nature
- Surf
- Refresh
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast

Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
IVs: 31.31.31.5.31.31
Jolly Nature
- Brick Break
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt

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Set discussion:

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Garchomp is the main lead because of her great match-up against the mayority of the Pokemon seen in the Battle Tree. As someone who has used Garchomp before on the XYORAS Maison, one of its main selling points compared to Dragonite and Mega Salamence would be the helpful immunity against Electric and actually beneficiating from Misty Surge directly. For those who are curious on how Misty Surge mechanics works on Garchomp: Under Misty Terrain, grounded Pokemon become immune to status, to which is the main reason why I run a Life Orb since a Lum Berry becomes now somewhat situational. Another important aspect of this comes from the fact that Outrage becomes unusable under the Terrain: If Misty Terrain is in effect, you will get locked into the move until Misty Terrain disperses and finally get confused. Since grounded Pokemon receive half the damage from Dragon type moves (regardless of whether the user of the move is grounded or not), being locked into Outrage would be disadvantageous. To add on, under Misty Terrain, Garchomp can actually survive against powerful STAB Dragon attacks while being able to retaliate back and KO Flying/Levitating Dragons without fearing the Misty Surge penalty. Grounded Dragons, like Druddigon, Kingdra or Drampa are usually defeated by Tapu Fini. This is really amazing consider that Garchomp can actually win against stuff like Latios 2 who would otherwise outspeed Chomp and KO her:

252 SpA Latios Draco Meteor vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp under Misty Terrain: 126-150 (68.8 - 81.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (126, 128, 128, 132, 132, 134, 134, 138, 138, 140, 140, 144, 144, 146, 146, 150)

Wait... are you telling me that this thing can actually survive a STAB Draco Meteor now??? MOTHER OF JESUS.

Dragon Claw is not the best STAB move, but it doesn´t locks you into Outrage which means that in case you ever find yourself still under Misty Terrain´s effect, you can switch into moves and plow the opponent´s team with Earthquake if they are grounded. It will still KO most stuff like Charizard-X thanks to the LO boost (outside Misty Terrain) and it´s a great move to hit Flying types and stuff that are immune to Earthquake. A +2 LO boosted Dragon Claw is still nothing to laugh at as it still has a decent chance to KO BrightPowder Zapdos (62.5% chance to OHKO iirc). Fire Fang is for Mega Scizor/regular Scizor, Ferrothorn, x4 weak stuff, Skarmory and Grass types, and it is mainly used for coverage. The EV spread is very simple: Max Speed to creep anything sitting on the 100 speed benchmark like both Zard formes (Y is 2HKO´d by Dragon Claw while X dies to the same move) and Max Attack for more damage.

Tapu Fini is probably the heart of this team and the most important team member. For starters, we are talking about a Pokemon with base 115/130 Defenses and an acceptable base 95 SpA. Base 85 Speed is ok since it makes her outpace a lot of bulky mons in the Battle Tree. However, her meager base 70 HP really lets down her amazing bulk as well as her lack of a consistent recovery method. It took me the longest to think of a decent Tapu Fini set for the Battle Tree. Base 95 SpA imo is not enough to run a bulky/offensive set while using Protect + Leftovers as a way for recovery is less reliable than Lillie´s Bag. When I locked into all of the Z-move effects, my eyes were lit for one thing: Moves like Z-Refresh and Z-Mist gave the user 100% recovery for one turn and since Tapu Fini can´t use Chesto + Rest because of her ability, I wondered why not giving this a try? On paper, it might look shaky: It´s a one-time full recovery and once it is used, you can´t recover HP again but Tapu Fini gained access to both. On one hand, Z-Mist would not only allow Tapu Fini to recover 100% of its health but also protect her teammates from random status drops coming from Psychic/Shadow Ball/etc. Is this necessary considering that Metagross has Clear Body? On the other hand: Z-Refresh not only filled her HP bar full again but also cured her status conditions. This has been really amazing for her because, should the situation call where I need Tapu Fini to set-up Calm Mind on something that can´t really scratch her, Z-Refresh allows her to recover HP and cure status ailments outside of Misty Surge and continue to set-up or proceed to sweep. I should say something important: TAPU FINI IS NOT SUICUNE AND IT WILL NEVER DO THE SAME THING. Suicune can stall out stuff with Pressure and usually has easier time to set-up on many stuff thanks to that beefy HP. However, on Tapu Fini´s case, her job is mainly to support her other teammates with Misty Terrain. I would like to say that her role on my team is more of a dedicated team supporter rather than a bulky win-con to finish the job. I prefer to switch her out most of time just to recover the effects of Misty Terrain and at most, I do 1 or 2 CMs to get her going. The good thing is that Tapu Fini can still set-up on a lot of stuff. For example, she laughs at Mega Blastoise so hard (she resists all of his moves lol), Sharpedo 4, Vaporeon, Politoed 4 and anything else that can´t scratch her but won´t force her to use Z-Refresh more than once. In these specific scenarios, then Tapu Fini can make it to +6, otherwise, just stick to setting up a few times just to get her going on and switch out if necessary because you will never know when Misty Terrain will come at help again.

Surf (rip Scald) is her main STAB move and does great against anything vulnerable to it. Moonblast is her most powerful STAB and the chance of dropping the opponent´s SpA (In case she gets dragged into CM wars) comes in handy. It also allows her to set-up and comfortably beat most Water types. Calm Mind is there to improve her already massive Special Defense and bring her Special Attack to respectable levels. It should be worth mentioning that +2 or +3 is good enough for her to even shrug special Electric/Grass moves and at +6, she´s pretty much INVINCIBLE. The timing of using Z-Refresh is crucial mainly because using this move at the wrong moment can be costly specially if she gets a lot of damage. Would like to add as well that thanks to Misty Surge, confusion and status hax will not work on her and her teammates for 5 turn. The AI might have been improved, however, they will continue to use Confusion/hax moves most of time under its effect. Trust me, you don´t know what real hapiness is until you switch a physical attacker into a predicted Swagger and get a free pseudo-SD boost :D. Misty Terrain means that Tapu Fini doesn´t fears the occasional hax coming from the secondary effects of Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and etc. The same goes for her teammates as long as Misty Terrain is around.

Her EV spread is very simple: With max +Defense investment, Tapu Fini will not be 2HKO´d by Mega Charizard´s X +1 Flare Blitz (37.5 - 44.3%) and thanks to the accumulated recoil, Tapu Fini can actually 2HKO it with Moonblast. 4 Speed EVs are important in this set because they allow her to speed creep Suicune 3 (Suicune can´t use Rest on Misty Terrain which is crucial for her to out-muscle him after he takes damage from Garchomp). Because 8 EVs on a single stat do nothing significant, 4 EVs are distributed to her SpA and Spe to improve her overall stats.

Last but not least. Well, he is the least valuable member of the team, but Mega Metagross complements this team with his useful set of resistances. First of all, thanks to Misty Terrain, Mega Metagross doesn´t has to fear anymore the occasional Static/Flame Body hax (Mega Gross has always been an enemy of status ailments) and having a pseudo x4 Dragon resistance is always neat. Mega Metagross has the perfect combination of power, speed and bulk. Also, thanks to the new Mega Evolution mechanics, Mega Gross does not have to wait for one turn anymore to reach that sexy 178 Speed. Because this streak was pre-Bank, the moves listed above are the most useful as of right now.

Meteor Mash is like that Christmas gift-box you receive from your aunt: You expect that something good will come out of it, but what you get is nothing more than a soul-shattering disappointment. I should say that I was lucky that in most cases where a MM miss occurred, it didn´t mattered because the victory was already pocketed the same way Juventus secures a Serie A title every year. However, on the few times it did mattered, dear God... In fact my loss involves a MM miss although it was more of my fault since I played really bad. Zen Headbutt falls on the same category, but I guess that it´s kinda nice to have a STAB move that can hit Water types (Come on Game Freak, hurry up on Bank). Bullet Punch is for Archeops (nuff said) and for revenge killing purposes. Brick Break, a move that Zari recommended to me while I was theorizing on IRC, is not the 7th wonder of the world but it has the nice niche of getting rid of screens (I see you Rotom) and Aurora Veil. Against stuff that can hit hard my team, like Waterium-Z Primarina or CB Slaking, Mega Metagross is the one who usually receives the heavy damage or sacrifices himself to weaken these kind of threats and let Garchomp/Tapu Fini finish the job. He´s the least used member: Mostly, his role is more limited to a revenge killer or finisher. That´s it. No Nutella in here (at least until Bank is out). Well, if I ever give this team a try again, it will be once Bank is out since Thunder Punch / Ice Punch / Iron Head Mega Metagross would benefit this team so much better.

EV spread is very simple: Max Speed to speed tie with Lati@s, Gengar and outspeed anything below that. Max Attack for the best damage output possible and the rest goes to HP (Probably should go in Sp.Def lol).

Battling 101:

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This team is very easy to use. Usually this is what I do:

• If the AI leads with something that can´t threaten Garchomp, set up a Swords Dance and watch how they start to fall like flies.
• If the AI leads with something that Garchomp can defeat but can´t risk to set-up against, go for a straight attack.
• If the AI leads with a status ailment user, switch to Tapu Fini, then switch back to Chomp or Mega Metagross if necessary.
• Only attempt to set-up multiple Calm Minds with Tapu Fini only and only if the opponent can´t threaten her at all and will not force her to use Z-Refresh more than once even with some crit/flinch hax.
  
• If the AI potentially has Mega Gengar on his rooster, treat Garchomp the same way you would treat and love your mother.
• If the AI leads or carries something that relies on confusion moves: 1) Switch into Tapu Fini 2) Profit $$$$

Usually one Swords Dance is more than enough for Garchomp to sweep past many Pokemon as nothing enjoys eating a +2 LO boosted Earthquake. LO Earthquake will always out-damage whatever Outrage does and under Misty Terrain, it becomes your move of choice most of the time. Dragon Claw is for flying/levitating shenanigans, and as I explained before, its damage will not be penalized against non-grounded Dragons. Also, minimizing risk is important: Don´t let Garchomp take a lot of damage other than his LO recoil. It´s preferable to straight attack the opponent knowing that I will be at an advantage rather than setting up and take the risk of eating a CH or a powerful move that will end his sweep short. Status users are almost always defeated by Tapu Fini, so use her. Switching back and forth between the three also helps if I can get a safe switch-in for Garchomp/Mega Gross or re-activating Misty Terrain. Again, I´m doing emphasis on being conservative with Tapu Fini: Only set-up multiple Calm Mind if the opponent she´s up against will never force her to use Z-Refresh more than once. Differentiating between the opponent´s sets is probably the most difficult part, so analysis of the situation in most cases is important (which I forgot of during my loss).

Threats:

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This is what pretty much threatens the team mostly:

• 
  Mega Gengar: Garchomp has to be in good shape in order to defeat it. Shadow Ball ends Mega Metagross and Sludge Bomb decimates Tapu Fini.
• 
  Expert Belt Azelf: Can be difficult to handle if Garchomp is not in good health. It barely KOs Mega Metagross (18.8% chance to do so). Usually what I do, in case it leads, is use Dragon Claw on him, then switch into Mega Metagross and finish it off with Bullet Punch.
• 
  Primarina: She can´t clean my team but the problem relies on the fact that she is guaranteed to take one member out at least. Usually I switch into Mega Metagross to take a resisted hit, Meteor Mash for some damage as he dies next turn (Hydro Vortex and/or Hydro Pump will KO him) and let Chomp finish her.
• 
  Thundurus: Scouting which is his set is probably the most dangerous threat he poses to the team. Specs is the easiest one depending on which move he is locked into. My loss came to the Electrium-Z set which obliterated my team by himself due to my misplays.
• 
  King´s Rock Starmie: Surprisingly and luckily enough I never faced this thing during my 201 wins, however, you don´t need rocket science to know how scary it is for my team to handle it. Yes, the worst part is that you have to rely on MM to even be able to 2HKO it. Game Freak, please gib Bank soon.
  
• 
  Quick Claw/Cutsap hax: Goes without saying.
• 
  Sheer Force Landorus: Scarf set is the most dangerous one since I lack Ground imnunities on this team. Usually the plan is to Dragon Claw straight away, let Chomp die and then, use Tapu Fini to finish the job.

I could still go on, but these are the ones mostly on top of my head.

Battle history:

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Here are some interesting battles that showcases how this team works:

• RIP Mega Blastoise: P7BW-WWWW-WWW3-PTWK
• The 100 win benchmark: ZKCG-WWWW-WWW3-PSUS
• Tapu Fini trolling Double Team Cresselia so hard: PMNG-WWWW-WWW3-UC4Y
• Trick Room Mega Slowbro at most is a mild threat, this is an example of when attacking with Garchomp is more useful than just switching Tapu Fini into and risk getting critted by Psychic: MJQW-WWWW-WWW3-UC91
• Don´t take unnecessary risks if you can´t scout an opponent´s set. On this case, should I have used Swords Dance on Garchomp and instead of Mega Scizor turned out to be Scizor 3, things could have gone ugly... TE8W-WWWW-WWW3-UCL2
• Another situation in which is acceptable for Tapu Fini to get multiple boosts: WGAG-WWWW-WWW3-UBYL
• This is what happens when you mis-use Tapu Fini. This could´ve been my loss: 5WBW-WWWW-WWW3-UBY9
• Garchomp cleaning the house: W2KW-WWWW-WWW3-TPPV

Loss:

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Funny enough, I forgot to record the 200th win since my original objective was to obtain the Starf/Lansat berry for myself. My original intention was to stay at 200 wins and improve the streak with ORAS Mega Metagross (Ice Punch / Thunder Punch / Iron Head). So I´ve decided this morning that I should upload a video around 200s since I missed it. Battle 201 was to easy to even consider it worthy, however, little I expected to what happened in battle 202. I choked the very same way Arsenal does every year in December. Why the hell I didn´t switch Tapu Fini into Latias since this was a rule of thumb of mine? Probably I was feeling cocky enough to finish her off with Meteor Mash but I was wrong. In the end, Thundurus 4 destroyed me. Who knows, maybe in the future I´ll try the team again once Bank is out.

Video: VDRG-WWWW-WWW3-TQ7E

Special Thanks:

Would like to thank everyone for taking their time on reading my own experience on the Battle Tree. Would like to give a shout-out to NoCheese for his Mega Metagross team in ORAS: I´ve used this team back then to farm Battle Points just to afford tutor moves, items, etc and god, it was amazing. My inspiration for this team came from using his team.

Credits goes to Serebii.net and pokeunlock.com for the sprites.

 

[NoCheese]

Breeding is at last complete, and I'm finally playing in the Tree. Goodness it feels fun. Battle facilities how I've missed you. Using a very basic Dragonite / Chansey / Aegislash team, largely since all are solid Pokes that don't require any funky breeding chains, as the team is definitely flawed for any sort of major streak. Haven't done anything the slightest bit notable yet (still just in the 20s), but figured I'd share some early thoughts.

1. Toxic is wildly worse than Seismic Toss on Chansey. Being unable to hurt two types instead of just one (plus vulnerability to corner cases like Immunity Snorlax) is a huge pain, and forces the rest of the team to cover more things than it should have to.

2. Toxic also makes my fast blob Timid Chansey build worse, because of the timing of Toxic damage. Since absent a full stallout, you'll only KO stuff with Toxic, your KOs only come at the very end of the round. This means that when you outrun a foe, it can break your Sub with its final move without giving you the chance to get a new sub up before the new foe enters. Irritating.

3. Aegislash really takes some getting used to. Its typing encourages switch stalling, and issues of outspeeding, underspeeding, and King's Shield timing all require a fair bit of thought. The bad is that I certainly started off playing it poorly. The good is that mistakes are the best way to learn, and I feel starting with an Aegislash team has helped me get my skills closer to their Maison peak much faster than would otherwise have happened.

3. Dragonite remains lovely, and Fire Punch continues to prove its worth. The unavailability of Extreme Speed is, as I suspected, a non-issue.

4. While it at first seemed gimicky to me, actually getting to face notable trainers like Red and Cynthia is remarkably fun. Definitely a nice include this generation.

5. I miss Suicune.

 

[cspades]

I'm "new" here, but I've been lurking on the Battle Maison thread for months for ΩR. Really excited to finally participate, and I recognize a lot of names here from before, which is nice. Reporting an obvious wallbreaking team that got me to exactly 100 Consecutive Wins on Super Singles in the Battle Tree! (I did battles 81 -> 100 in the morning, went to the orthodontist, came home and lost at the first battle.)

I know this is a cliche team. I just wanted to post it here to keep tabs on my own history and put it out there. And I want to learn how to improve if there's some obvious things I missed, besides the obvious poor choice of typing. Despite playing Pokemon for 6 months, I am definitely a noob.

I noticed that this team is definitely a glass cannon, because I lost at 64 and 55 consecutive wins on my next two runs after the 100 wins run. So many weaknesses; especially to Fairy, stall, and any kind of hax. I changed Ash-Greninja to Scarf Tapu Lele and that's been working a little better, but it doesn't suit my style very much. Working on Doubles for now.

Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 31.31.31.x.31.31 (Hyper Trained)
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Night Slash
- Sacred Sword

Salamence-M @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate -> Aerilate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
IVs: 31.31.31.31.29.31 (Meh SpDef.)
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Ash-Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Battle Bond
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 31.31.31.31.31.31 (Hyper Trained)
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
- Extrasensory

 

[Arcaeight]

Hello all, Brand new here. I've been lurking for a long time but finally got into breeding and End game Battle "areas."

I have been using a different Dragonite/Slash core and tossed a recent trained Primarina in for fun and started having some good luck. I beat Red at 50 finally but lost Slash mainly to the first Mesprit I had seen followed by a Tyranitar who flinched Primarina. No idea what coverage moves Mesprit had. Most of my fights were won using SubDD on status abusers like Rotom and Elektross.

Def not the best team but it got me to 54.


Dragonite @ Leftovers
Ability: Multiscale
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 31.31.x.31.22.24 (Early Breed and took it)
Adamant Nature
- Substitute
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Fire Punch

Aegislash @ Spell Tag
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
IVs: 28.31.31.31.31.31
+Def -Spe Nature
- Shadowball
- Sacred Sword
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak

Primarina @ Choice Specs
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
IVs: 29.31.31.31.31.31
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Scald
- Ice Beam

 

[Josh C.]

'Sup everyone, reporting with an ongoing 100-win streak in Super Doubles to mark my first 'proper' Battle Tree post:
NADW-WWWW-WWW3-UV77

*Thank you turskain for the Sash + Fake Out recommendation, and also Pelipper.*

I'm a fan of most Electric types, so the prospect of a strong, speedy pseudo-legendary setting up Electric Terrain on its own accord, along with Alolan Raichu being able to abuse it sounded too good to pass up. Nothing too fancy here, the aim is to outspeed, incapacitate with Fake Out wherever necessary and generally overwhelm the opponent before they know what hit 'em. Then you've got my boy Pelipper waiting in the wings (pun intended) with additional support in Rain, plus a strong physical powerhouse in Kartana for backup.

Tapu Koko ("Glen Koko") @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Electric Surge
IVs: 31/31/x/31/x/x (Bottle Capped)
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunder
- Protect
4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe

Notes

- Dazzling Gleam mandatory for smacking Dragons & Scrafty, also good for wearing down Electric resists that don't threaten Koko a lot.

- No Thunderbolt because pivoting turn 1 (usually into Pelipper) is much more valuable, meaning Koko can come back in later to spam powerful Thunders in the rain.

Alolan Raichu (F) ("Gnarly Carly") @ Focus Sash
Nature: Modest
Ability: Surge Surfer
IVs: x/x/31/x/x/31 (Bottle Capped)
- Fake Out
- Thunderbolt
- Psychic
- Grass Knot
188 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 60 Spe

Notes

- Fastest Fake Outer in the Tree under Electric Terrain. This relieves a great amount of pressure against fast leads that also carry it, such as Mega Lopunny, Salazzle & Mienshao.

- EVs look strange since I was first trying Raichu without Sash or even Fake Out, and I haven't been bothered to re-EV her yet. But I'll explain anyway: 60 Spe lets her outspeed Toxicroak4, Nidoking4 & Sawk4 without ET (HP investment also lets her survive Toxicroak's Sucker Punch from full), while still outspeeding everything with ET active. 252/252 would obviously work best for 1HP bait if I were running Protect, but there's honestly no room since Psychic + Grass Knot are invaluable for STAB and hitting Mamoswine, Rhyperior etc.

- Thunderbolt > Thunder for consistent damage output; often Raichu will be staying in and attacking alongside Koko/Kartana without Rain support.

- If the situation permits, sometimes I preserve damaged Raichu for extra Fake Out pressure, even if ET has expired. A few times (but not many) I've been able to keep her Sash intact too.

Pelipper (F) ("Birdemic") @ Electric Seed
Nature: Modest
Ability: Drizzle
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/31
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Protect
- Tailwind
140 HP / 4 Def / 132 SpA / 4 SpD / 228 Spe

Notes

- Scald is the obvious reliable STAB move for its inability to hit my teammate and good power in Rain. The burn chance is also handy even with the nerfed residual damage, but is not something to be relied upon. Hurricane was the other no-brainer for smacking bulky Grass types that Koko can't do much to, & Bug types that threaten Raichu.

- EV spread most importantly enables Pelipper to outspeed and KO Excadrill & Lilligant4 with Scald & Hurricane respectively, while also outpacing Regirock4. While this bird does have OK bulk, she's not meant to fulfill a tank role with this team, which is why she doesn't run something like Roost + Leftovers/Damp Rock; her main aim is to switch into mons that threaten my other members, and either KO or heavily damage so they can be finished off afterward. Mind you, I wouldn't switch directly into a Rock type, but Electric Seed allows her to stay in and take hits she wouldn't normally be able to. Haven't done specific calcs so far, but I should make an effort to in the future.

- Tailwind may seem a little overkill considering how fast Raichu and Koko are; you're right, it's very situational and therefore the least used move. However, it has come in clutch a couple times for setting up Kartana as my win condition for the battle, or for Pelipper herself to outspeed a threat on the following turn and knock it out.

Kartana ("Horrorgami") @ Steelium Z
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Beast Boost
IVs: x/31/31/31/x/x (Bottle Capped)
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike {Corkscrew Crash}
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe

Notes

- Smart Strike is great for getting rid of BrightPowder holders and things that love boosting their evasion, like Regigigas. Sacred Sword is the coverage move of choice as it's my only way of 2HKO'ing Magnezone; Night Slash won't be missed too much since Ghost types get ganged up on by my other teammates.

- Steel Z Move works very well on Kartana in my opinion; you can use it as a one-time nuke on a threat for a guaranteed Attack increase, or for massive damage at the very least. I can't remember exact calcs against specific mons, but Leaf Blade already hits what it needs to hard enough without a ridiculous boost, while a Steel Z-move offers superior coverage for this particular team.

- If you can manage to setup Tailwind safely and keep Kartana protected, a blazing fast origami sword that boosts its already high Attack with each KO is a scary proposition for your opponent.

(Very) Preliminary Threat List

- Weather setters: Rock types get a Special Defense boost in Sandstorm, and many of them carry Ground coverage for my two leads, not to mention threatening Pelipper with Rock moves; Hail users on the other hand can use Blizzard against my team. In both cases switching out to Pelipper to gain control of the weather war would be the go-to play, as I could still potentially preserve a 1HP Raichu at the end of the turn.

- Dual Trick Room Leads: Fake Out whatever's more threatening, Volt Switch out to Pelipper is usually what happens. Oranguru is particularly troublesome since I can't risk it having Inner Focus, and it's bulky enough to take 2 Volt Switches from memory. However, even if I can't prevent TR from going up, switching out + Protect stalling has done the trick; getting a second Fake Out off and the fact that a number of TR abusers don't deal with Pelipper too well also helps.

- Lightning Rod Pokemon: Requires taking them out (obviously) before I can resume Electric spam. Sash Rhyperior3 in particular is a pain, as I have to Grass Knot + Dazzling Gleam to get rid of it, not being able to launch an Electric move into the other slot.

- Garchomp/Landorus: Fortunately Raichu outspeeds Scarf variants under ET, but I always Fake Out turn 1 in order to protect Koko and determine what set they are.

- Mimikyu: Haven't seen it a whole lot to my surprise, but a threat nonetheless by virtue of its Ability & super effective hit on Raichu.

I'd say this team has some pretty decent potential to go further, provided I keep playing well enough. How much? I'm not too sure on that, but I'm enjoying how battles tend to play out; hyper offensively, just the way I like it. You're obviously restricted a fair bit as to which mons you have access to pre-Bank, but I think this showcases that you don't always need amazing type synergy, or Pokemon with outstanding stats to make things work in the Battle Tree. Sure, the nature of this team means you have to make every move count, but the strategy is a reliable one at that.

 

[yoyochi89]

I've been monitoring this thread for a while and it's fun to share success story & sometimes frustating one...

I've completed single & double (got stamps already) and now I want to play multi. However I haven't got good partner yet & now I'm playing singles to scout for trainers. My question is, do we have to go to above 40 to get opponents with perfect IVs accross the board (like in oras)?

My effort to get above 40 streak again was cut short prematurely twice (in battle 40 and 30ish) due to flinch hax (courtesy to dark pulse). I used sniper kingdra, physical aegislash, & standard dragonite (different team from the 1st time). I experienced strange things where it occured many times that my crits draco meteor damage resulted in 1 hp (not sashed & happened many times, I thought if not able to kill something why not left the damage to 10 % or less). Maybe it's just not my day...

 

[Aaraeus]

49. I lost to red. Aaarrrrgghhh! I used the following:

Porygon-Z @ Normalium Z
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Conversion
- Shadow Ball

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 124 Atk / 136 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Nature Jolly/Adamant
- Swords Dance
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
- Facade/Shadow Sneak

Led with Porygon which hits like a truck. Very annoyed at confusion spam though; most of the time you can set up with Z-Conversion and sweep, but confusion definitely wrecks the team.

I think the team is too much of a glass cannon personally... I got wrecked by Blue's Lapras/Blastoise. Lapras was fine, got it down to a respectable amount with Thunderbolt, then I finished it off with my Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak. Then came Charizard, and I opted for shadow sneak - when I completely forgot that it would probably mega evolve!!! GAAAHHH!! It evolved into Charizard-X, so I could have OHKO'd it with Play Rough... but I didn't. It hit back with Flare Blitz so I was down 2-1 with Salamence to go. Afraid to set up, I went straight for EQ. Then came Blastoise... and I tried to roost spam... but it got a Blizzard through then got a damned freeze! GRRRRRRR.

 

[Adamant_Torterra]

Hey all, i've had pretty good success with singles but i want to see if i can crack 100. The team i've been using until now has been phero/xurk/m-bro, which has been decent but has some definite flaws that may not really be addressable. I was thinking i might try special phero, but it actually still doesn't get kills with ice beam vs the grass types i really need to clear, and i'm kind of bored of using m-bro. I was looking through the list of high-speed pokes on bulbapedia to see if there were any other possible scarfers that could outpace the whole tree and i realized that m-sharpedo could do the job pretty well. With the change to how m-evo works this gen, it gets to use its 105 base speed the turn it evolves, so only scarf manetric and aero outpace it after 1 boost. Using protect in singles is a little risky, so i was thinking about a slow u-turner. Pelipper has the added bonus of rain, which not only boosts waterfall and aqua jet, but also lets xurk use thunder for more power

What i'm trying to figure out, and hoping to get some opinions on, is whether i still need protect on sharpedo or if i'm better off with a 4th attack/taunt and what item/evs i should give pelipper assuming a moveset of scald/hurricane/uturn/roost (or potentially ice beam over roost). I'm also not sure whether i am better aiming for lower speed or just sticking with -att

Pelipper @leftovers/sash/rindo berry/z-crystal/lum berry
Bold/relaxed evs ???
Scald/ice beam
Hurricane
Uturn
Roost/ice bean

Sharpedo @sharpedonite
Jolly att/spd
Crunch
Psychic fangs
Waterfall/aqua jet
Protect/aqua jet/ice fang

Xurkitree @ choice scarf
Timid/modest spa/spd
Thunder/thunderbolt
Energy ball
Dazzling gleam
Volt switch/signal beam

Xurk can usually sweep after a boost, and i imagine sharpedo in the rain should be pretty destructive. Most of the fastest pokemon are weak to water or ice, so sharpedo should be able to take the faster scarfers, and crunch and waterfall are both pretty strong. The things i'm worried about are a continued weakness to grass if hurricane doesn't clear them and swift swimmers that i haven't had to pay attention to now outspeeding. I haven't seen omastar/kabutops/floatzel yet though, so i imagine the list of actual possible swift swimmers is relatively short. I'll draw up a threat list before i start breeding, but based on what i've seen i think this will be pretty solid with physical and special attackers that set themselves up.

 

[Drewmatics]

Hi, new poster here, long time lurker. I made it to 59 wins in Super Singles using this team (good enough for me since all I wanted was the stamp):

Salamence (Saladmints) @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Earthquake

Toxapex (Uni) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpDef
Bold Nature
- Haze
- Scald
- Toxic
- Recover

Aegislash (Helga) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpDef
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sacred Sword
- Iron Head
- King's Shield

The EVs could definitely be optimized, but I was too lazy to figure out benchmarks. The team is pretty self-explanatory... Salamence and Aegislash cover each others weaknesses pretty well; everything except for Electric, Ghost, and Dark is a resisted hit by one of these pokes. I usually switch stalled between Mence and Toxapex when pokes had Ground/Rock coverage, and was careful not to mash the mega evo button unless it was completely necessary (Intimidate comes in handy). A few times I overestimated Aegislash's defensive prowess but usually he was able to take EQs / Shadow Ball when I was desperate and retaliating with a +2 attack after the Weakness Policy boost. Lost against Cynthia's Mega Garchomp; wastefully sacked Aegislash when it used Earthquake (I should've switched into Mence but I thought Aegislash could take one, what was I thinking). KO'd it with Mence after taking ~85% from a Dragon Claw. Can't kill incoming Togekiss in one hit and it KO's my Mence. Togekiss proceeds to Flinch Toxapex to death.

 

[Matheus Fim]

Hey, i've got a 201 on-going streak on super singles, and my team is:

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

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake

The team is pretty solid, it's just to know the timing to switch among they. I open with Dragonite, DD on 1st turn, Multiscale and Lum berry provides safety DD, then sweep. Dragonite turns a monster after one DD, if the AI send any Dragonite counters, like ice or something, switch into tapu or metagross, they can provide good coverage.

 

[Scythes]

Hey, i've got a 201 on-going streak on super singles, and my team is:

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

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake

The team is pretty solid, it's just to know the timing to switch among they. I open with Dragonite, DD on 1st turn, Multiscale and Lum berry provides safety DD, then sweep. Dragonite turns a monster after one DD, if the AI send any Dragonite counters, like ice or something, switch into tapu or metagross, they can provide good coverage.

I'm curious about this team. I've experimented with Tapu Koko a bit in singles and have found him to be an effective lead, at least for the first 30 or so battles.
However he's quite difficult to switch into, given how frail he is.
You might've had a hard time with that, especially given the added recoil he took with the life orb.
I don't see how he see how he fits the narrative of this team exactly.
Dragon steel makes sense, yeah. They complement each other perfectly.
But Koko? Besides the obvious dragon immunity he provides, he adds another EQ weakness, which is incredibly common.

 

[wdistance]

Anyone else experiencing long load times in doubles? I am playing on an older 3DS XL.

 

[ReptoAbysmal]

Got tired of SRing for 0 Spd Guzzlord and settled for one with 13. Gets outsped under TR by some things like Wishiwashi-3 but they generally can't even 2HKO it so I'll take my chances. Yeah, I'm gonna be that guy attempting to use that almost universally hated UB :P

It has a couple things that tempt me, namely hitting every steel-weak poke for max damage with Heavy Slam, including the extremely fat Regice, so most of those fairies are in for it. Dragonium-Z Dragon Rush is 180 BP and an extremely easily-attained Beast Boost which makes it a little easier to accomplish something with its other moves. I'll see if running it as a lead tempts ganging upon it like Aron, since it has major weaknesses to traditionally high-BP common moves.

While it would require probably more support than it's worth, I gave Vespiquen her fair chance to shine (she and Beartic will probably get another chance due to various small improvements) so it's only fair that I play around with Guzzlord for a bit before deciding it can go fuck itself like just about everyone else concluded from day one. That support will no longer be at the mercy of RNG however because GF nuked my preferred format. Now, all I need is Bank. I want all my flunkies back.