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Battle Tree Discussion and Records
- Thread starter Eisenherz
- Start date
Oranguru doesn’t get Helping Hand, either. While it can use Gravity, it’s not a very good user of it because of its speed. Gravity is best used by things with 30 base or below since only a couple usable things fall below that mark (opening with the move is more lenient.) This assumes the user is also your TR setter who won’t be doing much if any killing.
Playing setters to their strengths, which you should, there’s basically no reason to use Oranguru if Instruct isn’t its sole purpose. Inner Focus is a selling point akin to Aroma Veil; it’s a needless handicap to use anything else.
Playing setters to their strengths, which you should, there’s basically no reason to use Oranguru if Instruct isn’t its sole purpose. Inner Focus is a selling point akin to Aroma Veil; it’s a needless handicap to use anything else.
Thanks! I had no idea that had been used in the Subway haha, thanks for pointing it out! It's so weird to see BD Snorlax without Return, but it's cool to see they were using Relaxed, fully defensive as well!
And yes, I'm aware of the trainer differences between US and UM, but I'm committed to Sun, I made that choice :P
Happy day! After a ton of struggles in the format, I finally finally finally finally finally finally have my Multis stamp in Sun!
The key to success was blatantly trying to copy one of the better Multis teams published here so far:
"Gus" (Tapu Bulu) (Lvl.100) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 31/30/31/x/31/30 (Bottle Capped)
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Rock Tomb
Eisenhertz's Choice Band Bulu from his trade thread, re-tooled to be a poor man's Scarf Bulu (poor because not being Jolly causes it to lose out on some fairly important speed tiers). I maintained the simple EV spread because I figured that, with the loss of Speed, it would need every bit of Speed investment it could get. By and large, Wood Hammer and Rock Tomb were the selected moves of choice (I may have used the other two less than five times total-combined). "Nicknamed" after The Punisher Arcade Game enemy.
ThinkingCap (Tapu Lele) (Lvl.100) @ Psychinium-Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
IVs: 31/xx/xx/31/31/xx (Bottle Capped to 31/xx/31/31/31/31)
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic (Shattered Psyche)
- Moonblast
- Substitute
- Protect
The same Lele from Fight Club (Remix) , and since I was feeling adventurous at the time, I decided to go ahead and re-tool the EVs to match Shutterpike's. I also figured, "well, it's using Sub, the spread has to be more nuanced to support this concept." Subs ended up coming into play more often than I would have thought given the blistering pace of Multis, and being Protect bait for Poison attacks was invaluable at several points throughout the run. I ended up using Psychic more than Psyche, strangely enough (then again, Psychic Surge is a hell of a boost to have around). Still nicknamed after the Diablo I Unique helmet.
AI Partner: Entei3/Latios2
To this point, scouting for Scarfed Volcanoes has been a two-sided story: while the Volcanoes themselves are good enough to get me to the 40s, the backups--necessary for those pinches when my 'mons are countered by something, or when Flash Fires appear--have been mediocre at best. I've drawn Regigigas3, Regirock1, and Breloom3 as backups for the Volcano--I like those last two in principle, but there's no way I can tell you they are worth a damn in Multis (well, unless the opponent is dumb enough to let Rock1 get a Curse or two in). So, when I had my most recent Anabel Battle in Doubles, and she led with these two, there was no way I was going to pass the opportunity up. Latios2 relies on Draco Meteor to contribute (which brings its own set of problems), and it picks odd times to Protect, so it's not a solid AI choice by any means. Still, it was the best I had to work with at the time that I concocted this idea, so I rolled with it.
This team struggled with Fire-absorption Abilities less than anticipated, mainly because few of them showed up. Pairing Entei3 with Bulu is a stroke of genius that should be more obvious than it is: just pound away at the asses of those Water-types, frail Fire resists, and specially bulky foes who threaten to spoil the Lava-Spewing Party. The main issues here were against Arcanine (both of its regular Abilities are bad news for the leads, and Sets34 are too fast and powerful for Lele to try and save the situation), Crobat (all sets are 2HKOed by Full Eruption, and in the meantime it outspeeds and Crosses both Tapus), Rock Tomb's shaky accuracy (which led to a loss against Arcanine4 in my first attempt with this team), and the aforementioned dum-dum issues with Latios2.
Still, I knew I had a potential winner here when the first attempt with the team went to a pretty fast 39 wins before falling to Kiawe/Grimsley (or really, Arcanine/Drapion (Set 4)). The next run featured far fewer appearances by the sorts of things that could potentially knock this team for a loop, although Arcanine still made sure to be a regular presence. And so, I eventually managed to scrape my way to the Legend Battle (or as I like to refer to it for Multis, the Magenta Battle), and then had a tense but fairly easy time of it.
Thanks to Eisenhertz for the Bulu, to my Liege turskain for the team concept to shamelessly rip off, and to everyone who was present last night on the Battle Tree Discord to guide me through the heart-pounding Magenta Battle (I'm not kidding, I was fairly stressed during that battle and my chest was thumping throughout).
So, since I finally have all of my stamps, I should probably get to work linking to , and compiling, all of my stamp runs--will take some time though, both of my other stamp writeups are pretty far back in the thread and I've never linked to them anywhere else, I don't think. Time to check for any rewards one gets for getting all three...
Doubles Stamp Run (my adaptation of 'Doobs')
Singles Stamp Run (SuMo BP Collection Global Mission QR Rental Singles Sample Team)
Replays:
- vs. Anabel, Entei3/Latios2/Snorlax4/Raikou4 -- U5FG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KKP
The Anabel Battle that supplied me with the key to success, featuring my most recent idea for Tree Doubles, 'DubWitch and the Dubchics'.
- Battle 42, vs. Tasanee (Crobat/Arcanine) & Stein (Aromatisse4/Turtonator3) -- 8XZG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KPR
Both of my biggest enemies for this run appear on one Trainer, putting me on the ropes from the start...until I'm able to take Aromatisse4's TR and work it to my advantage. Also features ReptoAbysmal's favorite Tree set and why, under most circumstances, it's actually not that bad.
- Battle 44, vs. Xenohpon (Whimsicott/Exeggutor2) & Cal (Cofagrigus3/Bronzong4) -- ABBG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KR4
All things considered, my best performance of the home stretch, when the team is fucking, clicking, and wrecking (not necessarily in that order)
- Battle 45, vs. Candy (Virizion/Latias3) & Priya (Cresselia2/Cobalion) -- HZJW-WWWW-WWWZ-9KSU
My Nemesis makes a thoroughly unwelcome appearance, trying to stop history and turning this into a 44-TURN SLOG. At the same time, Substitute on Lele is made justified by this battle alone. My Liege must have foreseen that Cresselia2 would try to impede this team's progress...
- Magenta Battle, vs. Red (Blastoise3/Venusaur3) & Blue (Tyranitar4/Gyarados3) -- XJPG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KVQ
The battle for all of the marbles. Because of who these guys rolled on this occasion, the victory was a little faster and easier than I had predicted going in, although Gyarados3 going for a second Dragon Dance when it could have changed the tides of battle at +1 certainly helped. Although several Trainers were on-site at Discord for the play-of-play of this, the biggest credit goes to SadisticMystic and his Tree-climbing Suciune for making sure I thought out all of the possible Turn 1 scenarios before making my move.
The key to success was blatantly trying to copy one of the better Multis teams published here so far:
Imagine taking this general concept, making it slightly shittier because you have nothing better to work with, and throwing it out there:Posting an AI Multis streak of 109 wins.
Tapu Bulu @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SDef / 244 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Rock Tomb
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
AI Partner: Entei3/Mawile3
"Gus" (Tapu Bulu) (Lvl.100) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 31/30/31/x/31/30 (Bottle Capped)
Adamant Nature
- Wood Hammer
- Horn Leech
- Superpower
- Rock Tomb
Eisenhertz's Choice Band Bulu from his trade thread, re-tooled to be a poor man's Scarf Bulu (poor because not being Jolly causes it to lose out on some fairly important speed tiers). I maintained the simple EV spread because I figured that, with the loss of Speed, it would need every bit of Speed investment it could get. By and large, Wood Hammer and Rock Tomb were the selected moves of choice (I may have used the other two less than five times total-combined). "Nicknamed" after The Punisher Arcade Game enemy.
ThinkingCap (Tapu Lele) (Lvl.100) @ Psychinium-Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
IVs: 31/xx/xx/31/31/xx (Bottle Capped to 31/xx/31/31/31/31)
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic (Shattered Psyche)
- Moonblast
- Substitute
- Protect
The same Lele from Fight Club (Remix) , and since I was feeling adventurous at the time, I decided to go ahead and re-tool the EVs to match Shutterpike's. I also figured, "well, it's using Sub, the spread has to be more nuanced to support this concept." Subs ended up coming into play more often than I would have thought given the blistering pace of Multis, and being Protect bait for Poison attacks was invaluable at several points throughout the run. I ended up using Psychic more than Psyche, strangely enough (then again, Psychic Surge is a hell of a boost to have around). Still nicknamed after the Diablo I Unique helmet.
AI Partner: Entei3/Latios2
To this point, scouting for Scarfed Volcanoes has been a two-sided story: while the Volcanoes themselves are good enough to get me to the 40s, the backups--necessary for those pinches when my 'mons are countered by something, or when Flash Fires appear--have been mediocre at best. I've drawn Regigigas3, Regirock1, and Breloom3 as backups for the Volcano--I like those last two in principle, but there's no way I can tell you they are worth a damn in Multis (well, unless the opponent is dumb enough to let Rock1 get a Curse or two in). So, when I had my most recent Anabel Battle in Doubles, and she led with these two, there was no way I was going to pass the opportunity up. Latios2 relies on Draco Meteor to contribute (which brings its own set of problems), and it picks odd times to Protect, so it's not a solid AI choice by any means. Still, it was the best I had to work with at the time that I concocted this idea, so I rolled with it.
This team struggled with Fire-absorption Abilities less than anticipated, mainly because few of them showed up. Pairing Entei3 with Bulu is a stroke of genius that should be more obvious than it is: just pound away at the asses of those Water-types, frail Fire resists, and specially bulky foes who threaten to spoil the Lava-Spewing Party. The main issues here were against Arcanine (both of its regular Abilities are bad news for the leads, and Sets34 are too fast and powerful for Lele to try and save the situation), Crobat (all sets are 2HKOed by Full Eruption, and in the meantime it outspeeds and Crosses both Tapus), Rock Tomb's shaky accuracy (which led to a loss against Arcanine4 in my first attempt with this team), and the aforementioned dum-dum issues with Latios2.
Still, I knew I had a potential winner here when the first attempt with the team went to a pretty fast 39 wins before falling to Kiawe/Grimsley (or really, Arcanine/Drapion (Set 4)). The next run featured far fewer appearances by the sorts of things that could potentially knock this team for a loop, although Arcanine still made sure to be a regular presence. And so, I eventually managed to scrape my way to the Legend Battle (or as I like to refer to it for Multis, the Magenta Battle), and then had a tense but fairly easy time of it.
Thanks to Eisenhertz for the Bulu, to my Liege turskain for the team concept to shamelessly rip off, and to everyone who was present last night on the Battle Tree Discord to guide me through the heart-pounding Magenta Battle (I'm not kidding, I was fairly stressed during that battle and my chest was thumping throughout).
So, since I finally have all of my stamps, I should probably get to work linking to , and compiling, all of my stamp runs--will take some time though, both of my other stamp writeups are pretty far back in the thread and I've never linked to them anywhere else, I don't think. Time to check for any rewards one gets for getting all three...
Doubles Stamp Run (my adaptation of 'Doobs')
Singles Stamp Run (SuMo BP Collection Global Mission QR Rental Singles Sample Team)
Replays:
- vs. Anabel, Entei3/Latios2/Snorlax4/Raikou4 -- U5FG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KKP
The Anabel Battle that supplied me with the key to success, featuring my most recent idea for Tree Doubles, 'DubWitch and the Dubchics'.
- Battle 42, vs. Tasanee (Crobat/Arcanine) & Stein (Aromatisse4/Turtonator3) -- 8XZG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KPR
Both of my biggest enemies for this run appear on one Trainer, putting me on the ropes from the start...until I'm able to take Aromatisse4's TR and work it to my advantage. Also features ReptoAbysmal's favorite Tree set and why, under most circumstances, it's actually not that bad.
- Battle 44, vs. Xenohpon (Whimsicott/Exeggutor2) & Cal (Cofagrigus3/Bronzong4) -- ABBG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KR4
All things considered, my best performance of the home stretch, when the team is fucking, clicking, and wrecking (not necessarily in that order)
- Battle 45, vs. Candy (Virizion/Latias3) & Priya (Cresselia2/Cobalion) -- HZJW-WWWW-WWWZ-9KSU
My Nemesis makes a thoroughly unwelcome appearance, trying to stop history and turning this into a 44-TURN SLOG. At the same time, Substitute on Lele is made justified by this battle alone. My Liege must have foreseen that Cresselia2 would try to impede this team's progress...
- Magenta Battle, vs. Red (Blastoise3/Venusaur3) & Blue (Tyranitar4/Gyarados3) -- XJPG-WWWW-WWWZ-9KVQ
The battle for all of the marbles. Because of who these guys rolled on this occasion, the victory was a little faster and easier than I had predicted going in, although Gyarados3 going for a second Dragon Dance when it could have changed the tides of battle at +1 certainly helped. Although several Trainers were on-site at Discord for the play-of-play of this, the biggest credit goes to SadisticMystic and his Tree-climbing Suciune for making sure I thought out all of the possible Turn 1 scenarios before making my move.
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https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...e-help-developing.3579762/page-4#post-7808334
Not Battle Tree related but thought I might spark some discussion by throwing this out here. See my following post for a link that explains the context a little better.
Not Battle Tree related but thought I might spark some discussion by throwing this out here. See my following post for a link that explains the context a little better.
Assuming you would be using the 4 you mentioned you wouldn't need Perish Song, can't say the same for Fake Tears as it's useful for setting up knockouts, but against AI it might not be necessary. Encore is apparently useful for Tree (evidenced by Josh C's 1k streak with Lopunny), and I'm not really sure what 4th move you'd put on Gengar anyway (HP Ice maybe?). If you're breeding that core for VGC you'd might as well get the egg moves anyway, but fair warning, the team has fallen off in the meta lately.
What is the probability of paralyzing 5 out of 6 turns? (Just lost a streak)
Hi everybody! I'm back after a loooong time to submit two SM streaks in Super Multi with my friend Deynon. Like last time (see post 2224, page 89, for an in-depth write-up), the frontline consisted of Raichu and Golisopod (after all, they work so well together that we saw no reason to change them), but we decided to try something new for the rearguard. Admittedly, we didn't get great results, so I won't spend much time on the write-ups, but I still found these streaks worth posting because they feature some lesser seen Pokemon.
So, without further ado, let's start with the first streak.
Streak 1: Charjabug (Deynon) and Cresselia (-Snorlax-)
Number of wins: 93
Charjabug @ Eviolite
Ability: Battery
Nature: ???*
EVs: ???* HP / ???* Def / ???* SpDef
- Electroweb
- Bug Bite
- Protect
- Rest
*Note: my friend kindly asked me not to reveal too many details about his Charjabug. I think it's a fair request, since he spends a lot of time working on the EV spreads of his defensive Pokemon.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 108 SpDef / 12 Spe
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Calm Mind
- Rest
My friend Deynon loves using unconventional Pokemon, that's for sure. Last time it was Throh, and now we have Charjabug, a Pokemon that drew his attention because of its typing, good eviolite-boosted bulk and unique ability. Battery grants a nice 30% boost to its teammate's special attack, turning already powerful offensive Pokemon into absolute monsters. We considered several choices that could exploit Charjabug’s ability, with Landorus-I being the most prominent. After trying it a few times, however, its flaws became quite evident: its mediocre speed, barely passable bulk and 4x ice weakness prevented it from staying on the field for more than a couple of turns. As a consequence, I usually lost both my Pokemon in the blink of an eye, leaving Deynon’s poor bugs alone. And while Golisopod and Charjabug are more than capable of handling 1v2 situations, sadly they aren't immortal. We clearly needed something bulkier behind Raichu, even if that meant sacrificing a lot of power. When I think about bulky Pokemon, the first thing that pops up in my head is Cresselia. So, without much thinking, I took my old, dusty White 2 cartridge and RNGed a brand new, shiny Cresselia. Needless to say, the Lunar Pokemon has zero offensive presence compared to Landorus-I, but her titanic bulk gave her ample time to set up with Calm Mind, and thanks to Battery, she could actually deal respectable damage after just a couple of boosts.
As for the movesets, we had some troubles deciding the best set up for Charjabug, and actually it's still somewhat of a work in progress. The first goal with Charjabug is to make it survive as long as possible, in order to let its teammate take advantage of Battery. This is especially true if you pair it with a slow set up Pokemon that needs several turns to reach a decent offensive potential. These things considered, Rest is an absolute necessity, not only to regain health (Charjabug can't hold Leftovers), but also to get rid of status (especially poison, as Charjabug can't be paralyzed and doesn't mind burns too much). Protect may seem redundant when Rest already gives Charjabug great survivability, but it's still good to delay the moment of the inevitable nap, and of course to avoid powerful super-effective attacks (mainly the omnipresent Fire Blast/Overheat/Stone Edge). With two slots relegated to defensive duties, we had then to choose two attacking moves. Electroweb looked like a good choice, as it gives Charjabug a mean to deal some damage while also supporting Cresselia, which has a decent speed stat for a defensive Pokemon. Although it's not perfect (doesn't work on Ground types and on Volt Absorb/Lightningrod/Motor Drive mons, and also triggers Competitive/Defiant), it still got the job done, allowing Cresselia to outspeed most opponents at -2. For the last slot, we opted for a bug move, namely Bug Bite. Again, the move was chosen for the secondary effect more than for its power: eating the common Citrus Berries helps keeping Charjabug alive, while depriving Rest users of their precious Chesto Berries makes them much less annoying. There are a few alternative moves we considered, and that are still under examination. String Shot is an intriguing alternative to Electroweb, as it reduces speed by 2 stages and has no immunities. It isn't without flaws, of course: it can't hit behind substitutes and is blocked by Taunt. Still worth a try, in my opinion. Toxic is another appealing choice, as stalling the opposition is Charjabug's primary purpose. Last but not least, X-Scissor can go over Bug Bite if one values the extra power over the berry-eating effect, and it actually allows Charjabug to grab a few KOs on frail targets such as Alakazam or Shiftry.
As for Cresselia, there was no need to be particularly creative, as she works pretty well with a more conventional set. Calm Mind boosts her mediocre SpA and her already solid SpD; this, together with a generous investment in physical Defense, makes her incredibly sturdy on both sides. Rest is necessary here too to avoid being ruined by status ailments, and thanks to Cresselia's bulk and Leftovers, you won't have to use it too often. Then we have a STAB move, in this case Psychic, which was chosen over Psyshock because of its higher power and chance of dropping SpD. Psyshock is still a viable option if one is worried about Calm Mind wars. For the second attacking move, we had a few options, the most notable of which were Moonblast, Signal Beam and Shadow Ball. We went for Signal Beam because it covers both Dark- and Psychic-types, but Moonblast is a good option for a stronger hit on Dark-types, while Shadow Ball covers Ghosts and is neutral against Steel-types.
Threats:
Streak 2: Shuckle (Deynon) and Mega Latias (-Snorlax-)
Number of wins: 109
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: ???*
EVs: ???* HP / ???* Def / ???* SpDef
- Infestation
- Toxic
- Power Split
- Rest
*Note: my friend kindly asked me not to reveal too many details about his Shuckle. I think it's a fair request, since he spends a lot of time working on the EV spreads of his defensive Pokemon.
Latias @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Roost
It should be clear by now that you won't see ordinary Pokemon on Deynon’s side of the field, and this streak makes no exception. Shuckle has been his favorite Pokemon since GSC times, so it was clear that sooner or later we would have honored it with a place on the Battle Tree leaderboard. Mega Latias, on the other hand, was simply chosen as a replacement for Cresselia, as I wanted something with similar typing, good bulk but with a stronger offensive presence. As such, her movepool doesn't need a detailed explanation. Shadow Ball replaced Signal Beam just to try something different (questionable idea in hindsight), while Roost was chosen over Rest to have a one-turn healing move (again, not the smartest idea, as it leaves Latias vulnerable to status). All in all, she did a good job: while she can't match Cresselia in terms of bulk, she's also much less passive thanks to her higher speed, SpA and one-turn recovery.
Now let's talk about Shuckle, a Pokemon nobody would bet a cent on. Although it may seem a silly choice for the Battle Tree, it actually has a few traits that make it viable:
Threats:
Battle videos, streak 1 (Charjabug+Cresselia)
Battle 42
VRKG-WWWW-WWWZ-AE75
Seemingly endless battle (52 turns!!!). This one took so much time because Cresselia had to stall Mega Gallade’s Destiny Bonds.
Battle 86
GNHG-WWWW-WWWZ-AEGZ
Another exhausting battle, Charjabug and Cresselia had to deal with a bulky Scrafty-Cofagrigus duo.
Battle 94
KRZG-WWWW-WWWZ-ADFN
The loss. Same old story, a couple of questionable decisions and a bit of bad luck in the form of three Rock Slide flinches on Cresselia.
Battle videos, streak 2 (Shuckle+Latias)
Battle 83
WGZG-WWWW-WWWZ-AGDR
Golisopod and Raichu destroying a bunch of legendaries.
Battle 91
4SUG-WWWW-WWWZ-AGRU
Shuckle at work.
Battle 110
QWYG-WWWW-WWWZ-AFEP
The loss. Again, a bit of bad luck was involved, as Latias got frozen during her first turn on the field and never thawed. However, Shuckle did a good job at handling the opposition, and we could have easily won if it wasn't for a huge misplay when facing Toxapex. Nonetheless, the team is really solid, so we'll try it again at some point, possibly after adjusting Latias's EVs and movepool.
That's enough for now. Thanks for reading and see you soon for another streak :)
So, without further ado, let's start with the first streak.
Streak 1: Charjabug (Deynon) and Cresselia (-Snorlax-)
Number of wins: 93
Charjabug @ Eviolite
Ability: Battery
Nature: ???*
EVs: ???* HP / ???* Def / ???* SpDef
- Electroweb
- Bug Bite
- Protect
- Rest
*Note: my friend kindly asked me not to reveal too many details about his Charjabug. I think it's a fair request, since he spends a lot of time working on the EV spreads of his defensive Pokemon.
Cresselia @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Bold
EVs: 248 HP / 140 Def / 108 SpDef / 12 Spe
- Psychic
- Signal Beam
- Calm Mind
- Rest
My friend Deynon loves using unconventional Pokemon, that's for sure. Last time it was Throh, and now we have Charjabug, a Pokemon that drew his attention because of its typing, good eviolite-boosted bulk and unique ability. Battery grants a nice 30% boost to its teammate's special attack, turning already powerful offensive Pokemon into absolute monsters. We considered several choices that could exploit Charjabug’s ability, with Landorus-I being the most prominent. After trying it a few times, however, its flaws became quite evident: its mediocre speed, barely passable bulk and 4x ice weakness prevented it from staying on the field for more than a couple of turns. As a consequence, I usually lost both my Pokemon in the blink of an eye, leaving Deynon’s poor bugs alone. And while Golisopod and Charjabug are more than capable of handling 1v2 situations, sadly they aren't immortal. We clearly needed something bulkier behind Raichu, even if that meant sacrificing a lot of power. When I think about bulky Pokemon, the first thing that pops up in my head is Cresselia. So, without much thinking, I took my old, dusty White 2 cartridge and RNGed a brand new, shiny Cresselia. Needless to say, the Lunar Pokemon has zero offensive presence compared to Landorus-I, but her titanic bulk gave her ample time to set up with Calm Mind, and thanks to Battery, she could actually deal respectable damage after just a couple of boosts.
As for the movesets, we had some troubles deciding the best set up for Charjabug, and actually it's still somewhat of a work in progress. The first goal with Charjabug is to make it survive as long as possible, in order to let its teammate take advantage of Battery. This is especially true if you pair it with a slow set up Pokemon that needs several turns to reach a decent offensive potential. These things considered, Rest is an absolute necessity, not only to regain health (Charjabug can't hold Leftovers), but also to get rid of status (especially poison, as Charjabug can't be paralyzed and doesn't mind burns too much). Protect may seem redundant when Rest already gives Charjabug great survivability, but it's still good to delay the moment of the inevitable nap, and of course to avoid powerful super-effective attacks (mainly the omnipresent Fire Blast/Overheat/Stone Edge). With two slots relegated to defensive duties, we had then to choose two attacking moves. Electroweb looked like a good choice, as it gives Charjabug a mean to deal some damage while also supporting Cresselia, which has a decent speed stat for a defensive Pokemon. Although it's not perfect (doesn't work on Ground types and on Volt Absorb/Lightningrod/Motor Drive mons, and also triggers Competitive/Defiant), it still got the job done, allowing Cresselia to outspeed most opponents at -2. For the last slot, we opted for a bug move, namely Bug Bite. Again, the move was chosen for the secondary effect more than for its power: eating the common Citrus Berries helps keeping Charjabug alive, while depriving Rest users of their precious Chesto Berries makes them much less annoying. There are a few alternative moves we considered, and that are still under examination. String Shot is an intriguing alternative to Electroweb, as it reduces speed by 2 stages and has no immunities. It isn't without flaws, of course: it can't hit behind substitutes and is blocked by Taunt. Still worth a try, in my opinion. Toxic is another appealing choice, as stalling the opposition is Charjabug's primary purpose. Last but not least, X-Scissor can go over Bug Bite if one values the extra power over the berry-eating effect, and it actually allows Charjabug to grab a few KOs on frail targets such as Alakazam or Shiftry.
As for Cresselia, there was no need to be particularly creative, as she works pretty well with a more conventional set. Calm Mind boosts her mediocre SpA and her already solid SpD; this, together with a generous investment in physical Defense, makes her incredibly sturdy on both sides. Rest is necessary here too to avoid being ruined by status ailments, and thanks to Cresselia's bulk and Leftovers, you won't have to use it too often. Then we have a STAB move, in this case Psychic, which was chosen over Psyshock because of its higher power and chance of dropping SpD. Psyshock is still a viable option if one is worried about Calm Mind wars. For the second attacking move, we had a few options, the most notable of which were Moonblast, Signal Beam and Shadow Ball. We went for Signal Beam because it covers both Dark- and Psychic-types, but Moonblast is a good option for a stronger hit on Dark-types, while Shadow Ball covers Ghosts and is neutral against Steel-types.
Threats:
- Fire teams: if sun is up, they can spell doom for our team. With its water attacks neutered, Golisopod becomes basically useless, not to mention that fire-types have the bad habit of burning it, either directly (Will-O-Wisp) or indirectly (secondary effect of fire attacks, Flame Body). Charjabug doesn't like taking fire attacks, sun-boosted or not, and Raichu...well, it dies to basically everything that isn't an electric attack. This leaves Cresselia as the last wall against fire rampage, but even Cresselia isn't a fan of sun-fueled attacks, especially on her unboosted physical defense.
- Taunt: Golisopod doesn't care about it, and Raichu can somewhat work even when taunted (although losing Protect can be troublesome at times). Charjabug and Cresselia, on the other hand, are completely ruined by Taunt, as it turns them into pathetically weak attackers without means of recovery.
- Rock-type attacks: Deynon's Pokemon share a rock weakness, which isn't good in an environment where Rock Slide and Stone Edge are everywhere. Rock Slide is particularly bothersome, as its flinching effect can be fatal if it occurs at the wrong time (see the video of the losing battle).
- Dragonite, Mega Salamence, Mega Altaria (i.e. Dragons with a bug resistance): extremely dangerous foes. Golisopod and Charjabug can't damage them in any significant way, Raichu’s HP Ice is a 2HKO at best, and Cresselia needs several boosts to pose a threat, leaving them ample time to slaughter the rest of the team. They must be dealt with as quickly as possible, but that usually means ignoring their teammates for two turns, which is never a good thing.
Streak 2: Shuckle (Deynon) and Mega Latias (-Snorlax-)
Number of wins: 109
Shuckle @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Nature: ???*
EVs: ???* HP / ???* Def / ???* SpDef
- Infestation
- Toxic
- Power Split
- Rest
*Note: my friend kindly asked me not to reveal too many details about his Shuckle. I think it's a fair request, since he spends a lot of time working on the EV spreads of his defensive Pokemon.
Latias @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Timid
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Roost
It should be clear by now that you won't see ordinary Pokemon on Deynon’s side of the field, and this streak makes no exception. Shuckle has been his favorite Pokemon since GSC times, so it was clear that sooner or later we would have honored it with a place on the Battle Tree leaderboard. Mega Latias, on the other hand, was simply chosen as a replacement for Cresselia, as I wanted something with similar typing, good bulk but with a stronger offensive presence. As such, her movepool doesn't need a detailed explanation. Shadow Ball replaced Signal Beam just to try something different (questionable idea in hindsight), while Roost was chosen over Rest to have a one-turn healing move (again, not the smartest idea, as it leaves Latias vulnerable to status). All in all, she did a good job: while she can't match Cresselia in terms of bulk, she's also much less passive thanks to her higher speed, SpA and one-turn recovery.
Now let's talk about Shuckle, a Pokemon nobody would bet a cent on. Although it may seem a silly choice for the Battle Tree, it actually has a few traits that make it viable:
- Bulk: everybody knows that Shuckle has the highest defenses in the game. While they're undermined by a terrible HP stat, Shuckle is still more than capable of tanking a lot of neutral hits. To complement its natural bulk, Shuckle has access to…
- ...Power Split: for those who don't know, Power Split averages the user's Attack and Special Attack stats with those of the target Pokémon. Considering that Shuckle’s attacking stats are non-existent (going as low as 13 Atk or SpA with 0 iv and a hindering nature), Power Split basically halves the target’s attacking power, allowing Shuckle to stall most opponents and giving Latias ample time to set up with Calm Mind. It's worth noting that Power Split can't miss, isn't blocked by abilities like Clear Body or Hyper Cutter, and doesn't trigger Defiant and Competitive, making it a safe move to use against any opponent.
- Sturdy: given Shuckle's above average bulk, Contrary may seem a better ability in order to take advantage of the common defensive drops caused by Shadow Ball, Crunch and the likes. Sturdy is still the optimal choice though, as it allows Shuckle to survive extremely strong SE hits (e.g. Head Smash), not to mention that it grants an immunity to OHKO moves, which are a huge threat for most defensive Pokemon.
Threats:
- Taunt: again, Taunt is a huge issue. Thanks to her great speed stat, Latias can usually launch a Calm Mind before being taunted, but losing the ability to regain health is still annoying. Shuckle is even more vulnerable to the move than Charjabug, as Taunt disables ¾ of its movepool, forcing it to use Infestation. Also, Shuckle's non-existent speed means that it can be taunted again after the first Taunt wears off.
- Rock-type attacks: again, the presence of two bug-types on Deynon's side of the field leads to the usual Stone Edge and Rock Slide hell. Tyranitar is particularly troublesome, as it takes no damage from Latias’s attacks and can effortlessly KO her with Crunch/Payback.
- Mega Gyarados: a tough opponent, especially for Latias and Shuckle. The former can't touch it and gets destroyed by Crunch, while the latter doesn't like taking Waterfalls, and can't rely on Sturdy because of M-Gyarados’s Mold Breaker. Both moves have nasty side-effects too, and on top of that, Gyarados knows Dragon Dance, so it can quickly snowball out of control. It becomes more manageable if Raichu or Golisopod are still alive, although it can comfortably tank a Thunderbolt or a -1 First Impression/Leech Life and retaliate back.
- Mega Mawile: “scary” is the word that best describes this deceiving little fairy. It has Play Rough for Latias (both variants), Iron Head for Shuckle (Mawile-3) and Stone Edge for Golisopod (Mawile-4), meaning that if it gets an opportunity to attack, something will die. To make things worse, both variants have access to Sucker Punch, which can foil Latias or Raichu's attempts to finish it off, and Power Split is basically useless against Mawile-3, as it can boost its attack with Swords Dance. Decent bulk and Intimidate as a possible pre-mega ability also make it more durable than expected. A very, very dangerous opponent. Just pray you don't find it too often.
Battle videos, streak 1 (Charjabug+Cresselia)
Battle 42
VRKG-WWWW-WWWZ-AE75
Seemingly endless battle (52 turns!!!). This one took so much time because Cresselia had to stall Mega Gallade’s Destiny Bonds.
Battle 86
GNHG-WWWW-WWWZ-AEGZ
Another exhausting battle, Charjabug and Cresselia had to deal with a bulky Scrafty-Cofagrigus duo.
Battle 94
KRZG-WWWW-WWWZ-ADFN
The loss. Same old story, a couple of questionable decisions and a bit of bad luck in the form of three Rock Slide flinches on Cresselia.
Battle videos, streak 2 (Shuckle+Latias)
Battle 83
WGZG-WWWW-WWWZ-AGDR
Golisopod and Raichu destroying a bunch of legendaries.
Battle 91
4SUG-WWWW-WWWZ-AGRU
Shuckle at work.
Battle 110
QWYG-WWWW-WWWZ-AFEP
The loss. Again, a bit of bad luck was involved, as Latias got frozen during her first turn on the field and never thawed. However, Shuckle did a good job at handling the opposition, and we could have easily won if it wasn't for a huge misplay when facing Toxapex. Nonetheless, the team is really solid, so we'll try it again at some point, possibly after adjusting Latias's EVs and movepool.
That's enough for now. Thanks for reading and see you soon for another streak :)
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(In case you're not aware, posting those battle video codes means it's possible for people to get a hold of and read out Shuckle/Charjabug's EV spreads from the data that gets sent. So much for trying to keep a "friend's" brews top secret...)
Submitting a streak of 119 in Ultra Sun Super Doubles (QR Code available here for anyone who wants to try it out, featuring 2 more guests!).
How could anyone NOT want to try this out??
Shortly after was the birth of...
Team LC:
@ Eviolite
Relaxed | Aroma Veil
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/0
EVs: 188 HP / 188 Def / 132 SpDef
Trick Room / Moonblast / Odor Sleuth / Helping Hand
I wasn't too fond of Spritzee's design when I first saw it in Gen 6, but seeing it on field, floating around, flapping its tiny wings, Spritzee has certainly won me over. Or it might be the fact it was tanking many hits surprisingly well, even surviving between 1-10 HP in a few clutch situations to set up Trick Room. More than for any other team I ran in the past, Trick Room was an absolute necessity here if I wanted to have any hope of winning, which is why Aroma Veil was so important to prevent Taunt - as uncommon as the move is, a single one would have meant the end. Thanks to Spritzee, Trick Room reliably went up for 120 games in a row without fail, which I find to be an impressive record. Surely, the fact a level 1 Aron was baiting attacks by its side was instrumental in its long-term success, but it still sometimes got double-targeted.
Moonblast is primarily meant to KO foes that have been brought down to 1-12 HP by Aron (or 25% more if they had a Sitrus Berry) before they can move. The extra power (vs. Dazzling Gleam) allows it to still KO Sitrus Berry Archeops, Thundurus and Rampardos, as well as deal very decent damage when super effective (many 2HKOs, as well as this blessed calc: 0 SpA Spritzee Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 168-196 (100.5 - 117.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO).
Odor Sleuth plays the same role Foresight does on Dusclops FEAR teams; it allows Aron to Endeavor Ghost-types. In addition, it prevents Minimize from ever being an issue (I would have lost to +6 evasion Muk-Alola without it!).
Finally, Helping Hand turns both Clamperl and Mudbray into extremely powerful attackers that can OHKO a wide array of threats, even with neutral attacks. The extra power is much needed, as many of the calcs show them doing damage in the 80% range.
The EV spread is meant to live a Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb 100% of the time (and it did happen - Spritzee lived on 6 HP!) and a Mega Beedrill3 Poison Jab 100% of the time as well. Big bonus, Mega Metagross' Meteor Mash only has a 12% chance to OHKO (it usually opts to Bullet Punch or Brick Break Aron, in any case)!
@ Berry Juice
Brave | Sturdy | Level 1
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: -
Endeavor / Toxic / Rain Dance / Protect
Aron has been a staple in so many Tree teams of the past that I probably don't need to explain much. It Protects on turn 1 while Spritzee sets up Trick Room, drawing a majority of attacks into its slot, then in the following turns, combos with Spritzee to Endeavor + Moonblast as many foes as possible before going down. Sometimes, this combo simply sweeps the opposing team, but in most cases, one of the sweepers from the back has to come in and clean up.
The other moves are not particularly important and they will only rarely be used. Toxic is useful when facing Ghost-types that you don't have the luxury of Odor Sleuthing, or to finish off low-HP foes. Rain Dance is usually used right before going down, when an additional Endeavor wouldn't benefit the team or isn't possible. Clamperl is already very powerful, so boosting it with rain (and potentially Helping Hand) makes for some ridiculous damage output. I also used it a few times against Fire teams to weaken their output damage. Like Toxic, it's very situational, but still helpful at times!
@ Deep Sea Tooth
Quiet | Shell Armor
IVs: 31/0/31/30/31/0 (Hyper trained to 31/0/31/31/31/0)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef
Scald / Ice Beam / Hidden Power Grass / Protect
And now, the powerhouse! With the Deep Sea Tooth, Clamperl's Special Attack stat is doubled and reaches a whopping 276! As a comparison, Modest Mega Alakazam hits 249 at most, Modest Xurkitree hits 247 at most, and Modest Kyurem-White hits 244 at most. Clamperl is stronger than all of these, and by quite a bit!
Now, imagine boosting this monstrous Special Attack stat even further with Helping Hand support, and even boosting Scald one more stage with rain... needless to say, Clamperl can score OHKOs even with neutral attacks!
Clamperl's coverage options are pretty lacking, but Water, Ice and Grass is excellent coverage, so I didn't find it to be an issue. Scald is the strongest Water STAB that's guaranteed to hit (since Surf is much weakened by spread damage - I wouldn't want to hit my ally anyway). Ice Beam is used to deal with Grass-types, which are very threatening to the backline of the team. Helping Hand + Ice Beam can OHKO about any of them (I didn't take the time to run all of the calcs, but I have yet to see one survive). HP Grass prevents Water-types from walling Clamperl, and even the very bulky ones such as Jellicent and Milotic are 2HKOd. Mega Swampert has a 69% chance to be OHKOd without Helping Hand. Seriously, the Clamp does not mess around with its damage output!
Thanks to a (very generic) 252 HP investment, it could usually tank a hit, but just one (and not a super effective one, lol). But Clamperl is not meant to be used defensively at all, so it doesn't matter; if anything, tanking one hit was more than I even expected from it, so it was always a nice surprise!
@ Groundium Z
Brave | Stamina
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
High Horsepower / Close Combat / Rock Slide / Protect
Mudbray's typing and coverage compliment Clamperl's really well, and with one being special and the other physical, they created a near-ideal backline. It rocks one of the highest attack stats of LC Pokémon (base 100, same as Trapinch), and some actual decent bulk (70 base Defense and HP, plus Stamina). What it offers over Trapinch, however, is not just bulk, but also High Horsepower, a powerful single-target Ground move that trumps Earthquake big time (with how frail my team is, hitting my own teammates is the last thing I needed!).
Close Combat is one of the best Fighting-moves, and since the Tree is bursting with Normal-types, it was vital in several circumstances. With Helping Hand, it's guaranteed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan; it also deals with Ice-types that heavily threaten it.
Rock Slide was added for lack of better options, and I ended up using it quite a lot. Missing is always scary, but a few risks need to be taken to win with a LC team! It's most useful when one of the opposing Pokémon is low on HP, and can deal some actual good damage on Pokémon that are weak to it, especially when Helping Hand-boosting it. Most importantly, it's Mudbray's only way to hit Flying-types, and since this team can never switch around (into Clamperl if I want to Ice Beam, for example), being able to hit almost everything for decent damage is really important.
There really weren't many items that Mudbray could have benefited from, so Groundium Z was a pretty obvious pick. In the end, I used Tectonic Rage about every single game in which Mudbray hit the field; having a Z-move nuke to score a OHKO is incredibly valuable for a team that cannot tank hits well; things need to go down fast!
History:
After seeing the messages quoted at the start, I immediately thought this idea had some actual potential.
Duskull + Aron as a lead is classic FEAR with a LC twist. Duskull's bulk becomes close to Dusknoir's with the Eviolite, missing only on a usable item and Attack stat, both of which FEAR could certainly work without, while Aron has been tried and tested for generations past; it may now be outclassed by Togedemaru, but it's still usable. Truly, if any type of lead was going to give a full LC team a legitimate chance in the Tree, that was it. Add an incredibly powerful (albeit frail) sweeper in Clamperl, and in theory, this could work out.
I started doubting Trapinch when I looked at its movepool, however. With a team as frail as this one, I really didn't want to have Earthquake (not to mention that its reduced spread damage would have made it underwhelming in general). I started looking for LC Pokémon with high attack stats that didn't rely on 80% STAB moves. Clearly, there aren't many.
Mudbray caught my attention: same base Attack as Trapinch, but a lot more bulk (actually decent physical bulk + Stamina), and most importantly, a nice and powerful single-target STAB with acceptably reliable accuracy. Plus, Mudbray is adorable, and cuteness points cannot be overlooked when it comes to baby Pokémon, since part of the strategy is to have the opponent find them much too cute and unthreatening to give it their best shot! (what do you mean that's not how it works?!)
And thus, Team LC was born!
I went into this streak acknowledging that a portion of luck would be needed to achieve a decent-ish streak, and I would have been satisfied with a successful stamp run of 50.
The second attempt ended with Duskull getting taunted by Weavile. Unable to safely switch it out or stall out the Taunt, Trick Room never went up, and pretty instantly, the team lost. Realizing a simple Taunt would be the downfall of the team every time, I wondered what sort of change could help this, and this is where Coeur7 came up with the brilliant idea of replacing Duskull with Spritzee, which boasts similar bulk - if not better - and an ability that stops Taunt.
2 runs later, the team broke my most ambitious hopes and rocketed to 100 and beyond!
I can hardly describe how fun and satisfying it was to see these four little buddies battling it out against monsters like Zapdos, Mega Latias, Mega Metagross, Thundurus, and co. and holding their ground. It made me super invested into the streak, cheering them on as I watched the HP bars drop (I may have pressed a few buttons along the way, but that's secondary).
Loss (replay: T6AG-WWWW-WWWZ-C833):
All good things must come to an end! Sina had been on my case for a while; I battled her already at 90, the big battle that granted the team a leaderboard spot, then again at 110, where Spritzee and Aron plowed though. Her ego must have been scorched... she came back at 120. And she meant business, that time. She clearly had enough of getting humiliated by LC Pokémon.
Turn 1:
+
vs.
+
Instantly, Abomasnow's Snow Warning goes off, meaning Sturdy will be broken after the turn. It stinks, but it's not the first time it happens, and if I can set up Trick Room, Aron should be able to Endeavor one threat before going down, and it'll be up to my backline, which could very well work out. The thought of setting Rain Dance crossed my mind, but Aron may have to take 2 Blizzards in the process, which not only could freeze it, but also would bring it down to 1 HP regardless, so not much would be gained from that.
Glaceon Blizzards and Abomasnow reveals to not be Mega (meaning it's sashed) and tries to Focus Blast Aron. Trick Room goes up, but Sturdy is broken by Hail.
Turn 2:
+
vs.
+
Aron + Spritzee can only score one KO before Aron goes down; I decide to go for Glaceon, because if both foes pick the same moves as last turn, I'd rather receive a Focus Blast than a Blizzard (in hindsight, bad play because Glaceon had Detect, but I wasn't looking up any of the sets on this run; I have many of them memorized and I just wanted to have fun).
And then comes the surprise, the same that cost me my Comfey streak.... ICE SHARD! WHY CAN I NEVER REMEMBER BOTH ABOMASNOW34 HAVE ICE SHARD?!?!
Aron goes down before doing anything, and Spritzee is left to do about 30% with its Moonblast on Glaceon. As predicted, it Blizzards and leaves Spritzee at very low HP; hail damage brings it down to exactly 2 HP. Things are looking really grim.
Turn 3:
+
vs.
+
In front of these 2 Pokémon, I just couldn't afford to bring in Mudbray, so Clamperl it is. Scald will do good damage on Glaceon, and Ice Beam is a 2HKO on Abomasnow... maybe I can figure something out? Abomasnow's sash still being intact, I figure out it's time to target it with Clamperl, and finish it off next turn while Mudbray protects against Glaceon. After that, Mudbray could Z-move or Close Combat Glaceon and hopefully together they can deal with whatever is in the back... maybe Lilligant? That would be neat...
Abomasnow Ice Shards Spritzee (nothing to be done about that), Clamperl Ice Beams Abomasnow for 50%... ok, this is going to plan, maybe I have a chance... "Glaceon used Aurora Veil!"... never mind. RIP.
Turn 4:
+
vs.
+
At this point, I'm really debating on my best odds to pull through. With the Veil freshly set, and Trick Room's end looming, I may need to rely on critical hits. Then I see a light glowing on my bottom screen around a move... Rock Slide... hmmm... flinches.... *sudden flow of VGC flashbacks*. It's worth a try! So in true VGC fashion, I press Rock Slide and Ice Beam Abomasnow; to my surprise, the combination of these moves is enough to finish off Abomasnow! I just need 1 flinch, come on...! "Glaceon used Blizzard!". A new level of RIP has been reached. Mudbray goes down (obviously). Clamperl is down to barely more than 50%.
Turn 5:
vs.
+
So Lilligant WAS in the back? Ugh, I actually had a chance, sort of. Clearly, it must be disposed of! Maybe Clamperl can live another Blizzard...? I probably lose to the last Pokémon anyway, especially since Trick Room is about to expire. But I refuse to forfeit.
Ice Beam does about 80% to Lilligant (damn you, Aurora Veil!), Blizzard is now single target and KOs Clamperl. GG. It was a good run!
How could anyone NOT want to try this out??
Shortly after was the birth of...
Team LC:
Relaxed | Aroma Veil
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/0
EVs: 188 HP / 188 Def / 132 SpDef
Trick Room / Moonblast / Odor Sleuth / Helping Hand
I wasn't too fond of Spritzee's design when I first saw it in Gen 6, but seeing it on field, floating around, flapping its tiny wings, Spritzee has certainly won me over. Or it might be the fact it was tanking many hits surprisingly well, even surviving between 1-10 HP in a few clutch situations to set up Trick Room. More than for any other team I ran in the past, Trick Room was an absolute necessity here if I wanted to have any hope of winning, which is why Aroma Veil was so important to prevent Taunt - as uncommon as the move is, a single one would have meant the end. Thanks to Spritzee, Trick Room reliably went up for 120 games in a row without fail, which I find to be an impressive record. Surely, the fact a level 1 Aron was baiting attacks by its side was instrumental in its long-term success, but it still sometimes got double-targeted.
Moonblast is primarily meant to KO foes that have been brought down to 1-12 HP by Aron (or 25% more if they had a Sitrus Berry) before they can move. The extra power (vs. Dazzling Gleam) allows it to still KO Sitrus Berry Archeops, Thundurus and Rampardos, as well as deal very decent damage when super effective (many 2HKOs, as well as this blessed calc: 0 SpA Spritzee Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 168-196 (100.5 - 117.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO).
Odor Sleuth plays the same role Foresight does on Dusclops FEAR teams; it allows Aron to Endeavor Ghost-types. In addition, it prevents Minimize from ever being an issue (I would have lost to +6 evasion Muk-Alola without it!).
Finally, Helping Hand turns both Clamperl and Mudbray into extremely powerful attackers that can OHKO a wide array of threats, even with neutral attacks. The extra power is much needed, as many of the calcs show them doing damage in the 80% range.
The EV spread is meant to live a Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb 100% of the time (and it did happen - Spritzee lived on 6 HP!) and a Mega Beedrill3 Poison Jab 100% of the time as well. Big bonus, Mega Metagross' Meteor Mash only has a 12% chance to OHKO (it usually opts to Bullet Punch or Brick Break Aron, in any case)!
Brave | Sturdy | Level 1
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: -
Endeavor / Toxic / Rain Dance / Protect
Aron has been a staple in so many Tree teams of the past that I probably don't need to explain much. It Protects on turn 1 while Spritzee sets up Trick Room, drawing a majority of attacks into its slot, then in the following turns, combos with Spritzee to Endeavor + Moonblast as many foes as possible before going down. Sometimes, this combo simply sweeps the opposing team, but in most cases, one of the sweepers from the back has to come in and clean up.
The other moves are not particularly important and they will only rarely be used. Toxic is useful when facing Ghost-types that you don't have the luxury of Odor Sleuthing, or to finish off low-HP foes. Rain Dance is usually used right before going down, when an additional Endeavor wouldn't benefit the team or isn't possible. Clamperl is already very powerful, so boosting it with rain (and potentially Helping Hand) makes for some ridiculous damage output. I also used it a few times against Fire teams to weaken their output damage. Like Toxic, it's very situational, but still helpful at times!
Quiet | Shell Armor
IVs: 31/0/31/30/31/0 (Hyper trained to 31/0/31/31/31/0)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef
Scald / Ice Beam / Hidden Power Grass / Protect
And now, the powerhouse! With the Deep Sea Tooth, Clamperl's Special Attack stat is doubled and reaches a whopping 276! As a comparison, Modest Mega Alakazam hits 249 at most, Modest Xurkitree hits 247 at most, and Modest Kyurem-White hits 244 at most. Clamperl is stronger than all of these, and by quite a bit!
Now, imagine boosting this monstrous Special Attack stat even further with Helping Hand support, and even boosting Scald one more stage with rain... needless to say, Clamperl can score OHKOs even with neutral attacks!
Clamperl's coverage options are pretty lacking, but Water, Ice and Grass is excellent coverage, so I didn't find it to be an issue. Scald is the strongest Water STAB that's guaranteed to hit (since Surf is much weakened by spread damage - I wouldn't want to hit my ally anyway). Ice Beam is used to deal with Grass-types, which are very threatening to the backline of the team. Helping Hand + Ice Beam can OHKO about any of them (I didn't take the time to run all of the calcs, but I have yet to see one survive). HP Grass prevents Water-types from walling Clamperl, and even the very bulky ones such as Jellicent and Milotic are 2HKOd. Mega Swampert has a 69% chance to be OHKOd without Helping Hand. Seriously, the Clamp does not mess around with its damage output!
Thanks to a (very generic) 252 HP investment, it could usually tank a hit, but just one (and not a super effective one, lol). But Clamperl is not meant to be used defensively at all, so it doesn't matter; if anything, tanking one hit was more than I even expected from it, so it was always a nice surprise!
Brave | Stamina
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
High Horsepower / Close Combat / Rock Slide / Protect
Mudbray's typing and coverage compliment Clamperl's really well, and with one being special and the other physical, they created a near-ideal backline. It rocks one of the highest attack stats of LC Pokémon (base 100, same as Trapinch), and some actual decent bulk (70 base Defense and HP, plus Stamina). What it offers over Trapinch, however, is not just bulk, but also High Horsepower, a powerful single-target Ground move that trumps Earthquake big time (with how frail my team is, hitting my own teammates is the last thing I needed!).
Close Combat is one of the best Fighting-moves, and since the Tree is bursting with Normal-types, it was vital in several circumstances. With Helping Hand, it's guaranteed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan; it also deals with Ice-types that heavily threaten it.
Rock Slide was added for lack of better options, and I ended up using it quite a lot. Missing is always scary, but a few risks need to be taken to win with a LC team! It's most useful when one of the opposing Pokémon is low on HP, and can deal some actual good damage on Pokémon that are weak to it, especially when Helping Hand-boosting it. Most importantly, it's Mudbray's only way to hit Flying-types, and since this team can never switch around (into Clamperl if I want to Ice Beam, for example), being able to hit almost everything for decent damage is really important.
There really weren't many items that Mudbray could have benefited from, so Groundium Z was a pretty obvious pick. In the end, I used Tectonic Rage about every single game in which Mudbray hit the field; having a Z-move nuke to score a OHKO is incredibly valuable for a team that cannot tank hits well; things need to go down fast!
History:
After seeing the messages quoted at the start, I immediately thought this idea had some actual potential.
Duskull + Aron as a lead is classic FEAR with a LC twist. Duskull's bulk becomes close to Dusknoir's with the Eviolite, missing only on a usable item and Attack stat, both of which FEAR could certainly work without, while Aron has been tried and tested for generations past; it may now be outclassed by Togedemaru, but it's still usable. Truly, if any type of lead was going to give a full LC team a legitimate chance in the Tree, that was it. Add an incredibly powerful (albeit frail) sweeper in Clamperl, and in theory, this could work out.
I started doubting Trapinch when I looked at its movepool, however. With a team as frail as this one, I really didn't want to have Earthquake (not to mention that its reduced spread damage would have made it underwhelming in general). I started looking for LC Pokémon with high attack stats that didn't rely on 80% STAB moves. Clearly, there aren't many.
Mudbray caught my attention: same base Attack as Trapinch, but a lot more bulk (actually decent physical bulk + Stamina), and most importantly, a nice and powerful single-target STAB with acceptably reliable accuracy. Plus, Mudbray is adorable, and cuteness points cannot be overlooked when it comes to baby Pokémon, since part of the strategy is to have the opponent find them much too cute and unthreatening to give it their best shot! (what do you mean that's not how it works?!)
And thus, Team LC was born!
I went into this streak acknowledging that a portion of luck would be needed to achieve a decent-ish streak, and I would have been satisfied with a successful stamp run of 50.
The second attempt ended with Duskull getting taunted by Weavile. Unable to safely switch it out or stall out the Taunt, Trick Room never went up, and pretty instantly, the team lost. Realizing a simple Taunt would be the downfall of the team every time, I wondered what sort of change could help this, and this is where Coeur7 came up with the brilliant idea of replacing Duskull with Spritzee, which boasts similar bulk - if not better - and an ability that stops Taunt.
2 runs later, the team broke my most ambitious hopes and rocketed to 100 and beyond!
I can hardly describe how fun and satisfying it was to see these four little buddies battling it out against monsters like Zapdos, Mega Latias, Mega Metagross, Thundurus, and co. and holding their ground. It made me super invested into the streak, cheering them on as I watched the HP bars drop (I may have pressed a few buttons along the way, but that's secondary).
Loss (replay: T6AG-WWWW-WWWZ-C833):
All good things must come to an end! Sina had been on my case for a while; I battled her already at 90, the big battle that granted the team a leaderboard spot, then again at 110, where Spritzee and Aron plowed though. Her ego must have been scorched... she came back at 120. And she meant business, that time. She clearly had enough of getting humiliated by LC Pokémon.
Turn 1:
Instantly, Abomasnow's Snow Warning goes off, meaning Sturdy will be broken after the turn. It stinks, but it's not the first time it happens, and if I can set up Trick Room, Aron should be able to Endeavor one threat before going down, and it'll be up to my backline, which could very well work out. The thought of setting Rain Dance crossed my mind, but Aron may have to take 2 Blizzards in the process, which not only could freeze it, but also would bring it down to 1 HP regardless, so not much would be gained from that.
Glaceon Blizzards and Abomasnow reveals to not be Mega (meaning it's sashed) and tries to Focus Blast Aron. Trick Room goes up, but Sturdy is broken by Hail.
Turn 2:
Aron + Spritzee can only score one KO before Aron goes down; I decide to go for Glaceon, because if both foes pick the same moves as last turn, I'd rather receive a Focus Blast than a Blizzard (in hindsight, bad play because Glaceon had Detect, but I wasn't looking up any of the sets on this run; I have many of them memorized and I just wanted to have fun).
And then comes the surprise, the same that cost me my Comfey streak.... ICE SHARD! WHY CAN I NEVER REMEMBER BOTH ABOMASNOW34 HAVE ICE SHARD?!?!
Aron goes down before doing anything, and Spritzee is left to do about 30% with its Moonblast on Glaceon. As predicted, it Blizzards and leaves Spritzee at very low HP; hail damage brings it down to exactly 2 HP. Things are looking really grim.
Turn 3:
In front of these 2 Pokémon, I just couldn't afford to bring in Mudbray, so Clamperl it is. Scald will do good damage on Glaceon, and Ice Beam is a 2HKO on Abomasnow... maybe I can figure something out? Abomasnow's sash still being intact, I figure out it's time to target it with Clamperl, and finish it off next turn while Mudbray protects against Glaceon. After that, Mudbray could Z-move or Close Combat Glaceon and hopefully together they can deal with whatever is in the back... maybe Lilligant? That would be neat...
Abomasnow Ice Shards Spritzee (nothing to be done about that), Clamperl Ice Beams Abomasnow for 50%... ok, this is going to plan, maybe I have a chance... "Glaceon used Aurora Veil!"... never mind. RIP.
Turn 4:
At this point, I'm really debating on my best odds to pull through. With the Veil freshly set, and Trick Room's end looming, I may need to rely on critical hits. Then I see a light glowing on my bottom screen around a move... Rock Slide... hmmm... flinches.... *sudden flow of VGC flashbacks*. It's worth a try! So in true VGC fashion, I press Rock Slide and Ice Beam Abomasnow; to my surprise, the combination of these moves is enough to finish off Abomasnow! I just need 1 flinch, come on...! "Glaceon used Blizzard!". A new level of RIP has been reached. Mudbray goes down (obviously). Clamperl is down to barely more than 50%.
Turn 5:
So Lilligant WAS in the back? Ugh, I actually had a chance, sort of. Clearly, it must be disposed of! Maybe Clamperl can live another Blizzard...? I probably lose to the last Pokémon anyway, especially since Trick Room is about to expire. But I refuse to forfeit.
Ice Beam does about 80% to Lilligant (damn you, Aurora Veil!), Blizzard is now single target and KOs Clamperl. GG. It was a good run!
Almost makes a guy want to try Clamperl. ...Almost.Submitting a streak of 119 in Ultra Sun Super Doubles (QR Code available here for anyone who wants to try it out, featuring 2 more guests!).
How could anyone NOT want to try this out??
Shortly after was the birth of...
Team LC:
@ Eviolite
Relaxed | Aroma Veil
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/0
EVs: 188 HP / 188 Def / 132 SpDef
Trick Room / Moonblast / Odor Sleuth / Helping Hand
I wasn't too fond of Spritzee's design when I first saw it in Gen 6, but seeing it on field, floating around, flapping its tiny wings, Spritzee has certainly won me over. Or it might be the fact it was tanking many hits surprisingly well, even surviving between 1-10 HP in a few clutch situations to set up Trick Room. More than for any other team I ran in the past, Trick Room was an absolute necessity here if I wanted to have any hope of winning, which is why Aroma Veil was so important to prevent Taunt - as uncommon as the move is, a single one would have meant the end. Thanks to Spritzee, Trick Room reliably went up for 120 games in a row without fail, which I find to be an impressive record. Surely, the fact a level 1 Aron was baiting attacks by its side was instrumental in its long-term success, but it still sometimes got double-targeted.
Moonblast is primarily meant to KO foes that have been brought down to 1-12 HP by Aron (or 25% more if they had a Sitrus Berry) before they can move. The extra power (vs. Dazzling Gleam) allows it to still KO Sitrus Berry Archeops, Thundurus and Rampardos, as well as deal very decent damage when super effective (many 2HKOs, as well as this blessed calc: 0 SpA Spritzee Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Hydreigon: 168-196 (100.5 - 117.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO).
Odor Sleuth plays the same role Foresight does on Dusclops FEAR teams; it allows Aron to Endeavor Ghost-types. In addition, it prevents Minimize from ever being an issue (I would have lost to +6 evasion Muk-Alola without it!).
Finally, Helping Hand turns both Clamperl and Mudbray into extremely powerful attackers that can OHKO a wide array of threats, even with neutral attacks. The extra power is much needed, as many of the calcs show them doing damage in the 80% range.
The EV spread is meant to live a Mega Gengar Sludge Bomb 100% of the time (and it did happen - Spritzee lived on 6 HP!) and a Mega Beedrill3 Poison Jab 100% of the time as well. Big bonus, Mega Metagross' Meteor Mash only has a 12% chance to OHKO (it usually opts to Bullet Punch or Brick Break Aron, in any case)!
@ Berry Juice
Brave | Sturdy | Level 1
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: -
Endeavor / Toxic / Rain Dance / Protect
Aron has been a staple in so many Tree teams of the past that I probably don't need to explain much. It Protects on turn 1 while Spritzee sets up Trick Room, drawing a majority of attacks into its slot, then in the following turns, combos with Spritzee to Endeavor + Moonblast as many foes as possible before going down. Sometimes, this combo simply sweeps the opposing team, but in most cases, one of the sweepers from the back has to come in and clean up.
The other moves are not particularly important and they will only rarely be used. Toxic is useful when facing Ghost-types that you don't have the luxury of Odor Sleuthing, or to finish off low-HP foes. Rain Dance is usually used right before going down, when an additional Endeavor wouldn't benefit the team or isn't possible. Clamperl is already very powerful, so boosting it with rain (and potentially Helping Hand) makes for some ridiculous damage output. I also used it a few times against Fire teams to weaken their output damage. Like Toxic, it's very situational, but still helpful at times!
@ Deep Sea Tooth
Quiet | Shell Armor
IVs: 31/0/31/30/31/0 (Hyper trained to 31/0/31/31/31/0)
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpAtk / 4 SpDef
Scald / Ice Beam / Hidden Power Grass / Protect
And now, the powerhouse! With the Deep Sea Tooth, Clamperl's Special Attack stat is doubled and reaches a whopping 276! As a comparison, Modest Mega Alakazam hits 249 at most, Modest Xurkitree hits 247 at most, and Modest Kyurem-White hits 244 at most. Clamperl is stronger than all of these, and by quite a bit!
Now, imagine boosting this monstrous Special Attack stat even further with Helping Hand support, and even boosting Scald one more stage with rain... needless to say, Clamperl can score OHKOs even with neutral attacks!
Clamperl's coverage options are pretty lacking, but Water, Ice and Grass is excellent coverage, so I didn't find it to be an issue. Scald is the strongest Water STAB that's guaranteed to hit (since Surf is much weakened by spread damage - I wouldn't want to hit my ally anyway). Ice Beam is used to deal with Grass-types, which are very threatening to the backline of the team. Helping Hand + Ice Beam can OHKO about any of them (I didn't take the time to run all of the calcs, but I have yet to see one survive). HP Grass prevents Water-types from walling Clamperl, and even the very bulky ones such as Jellicent and Milotic are 2HKOd. Mega Swampert has a 69% chance to be OHKOd without Helping Hand. Seriously, the Clamp does not mess around with its damage output!
Thanks to a (very generic) 252 HP investment, it could usually tank a hit, but just one (and not a super effective one, lol). But Clamperl is not meant to be used defensively at all, so it doesn't matter; if anything, tanking one hit was more than I even expected from it, so it was always a nice surprise!
@ Groundium Z
Brave | Stamina
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/0
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
High Horsepower / Close Combat / Rock Slide / Protect
Mudbray's typing and coverage compliment Clamperl's really well, and with one being special and the other physical, they created a near-ideal backline. It rocks one of the highest attack stats of LC Pokémon (base 100, same as Trapinch), and some actual decent bulk (70 base Defense and HP, plus Stamina). What it offers over Trapinch, however, is not just bulk, but also High Horsepower, a powerful single-target Ground move that trumps Earthquake big time (with how frail my team is, hitting my own teammates is the last thing I needed!).
Close Combat is one of the best Fighting-moves, and since the Tree is bursting with Normal-types, it was vital in several circumstances. With Helping Hand, it's guaranteed to OHKO Mega Kangaskhan; it also deals with Ice-types that heavily threaten it.
Rock Slide was added for lack of better options, and I ended up using it quite a lot. Missing is always scary, but a few risks need to be taken to win with a LC team! It's most useful when one of the opposing Pokémon is low on HP, and can deal some actual good damage on Pokémon that are weak to it, especially when Helping Hand-boosting it. Most importantly, it's Mudbray's only way to hit Flying-types, and since this team can never switch around (into Clamperl if I want to Ice Beam, for example), being able to hit almost everything for decent damage is really important.
There really weren't many items that Mudbray could have benefited from, so Groundium Z was a pretty obvious pick. In the end, I used Tectonic Rage about every single game in which Mudbray hit the field; having a Z-move nuke to score a OHKO is incredibly valuable for a team that cannot tank hits well; things need to go down fast!
History:
After seeing the messages quoted at the start, I immediately thought this idea had some actual potential.
Duskull + Aron as a lead is classic FEAR with a LC twist. Duskull's bulk becomes close to Dusknoir's with the Eviolite, missing only on a usable item and Attack stat, both of which FEAR could certainly work without, while Aron has been tried and tested for generations past; it may now be outclassed by Togedemaru, but it's still usable. Truly, if any type of lead was going to give a full LC team a legitimate chance in the Tree, that was it. Add an incredibly powerful (albeit frail) sweeper in Clamperl, and in theory, this could work out.
I started doubting Trapinch when I looked at its movepool, however. With a team as frail as this one, I really didn't want to have Earthquake (not to mention that its reduced spread damage would have made it underwhelming in general). I started looking for LC Pokémon with high attack stats that didn't rely on 80% STAB moves. Clearly, there aren't many.
Mudbray caught my attention: same base Attack as Trapinch, but a lot more bulk (actually decent physical bulk + Stamina), and most importantly, a nice and powerful single-target STAB with acceptably reliable accuracy. Plus, Mudbray is adorable, and cuteness points cannot be overlooked when it comes to baby Pokémon, since part of the strategy is to have the opponent find them much too cute and unthreatening to give it their best shot! (what do you mean that's not how it works?!)
And thus, Team LC was born!
I went into this streak acknowledging that a portion of luck would be needed to achieve a decent-ish streak, and I would have been satisfied with a successful stamp run of 50.
The second attempt ended with Duskull getting taunted by Weavile. Unable to safely switch it out or stall out the Taunt, Trick Room never went up, and pretty instantly, the team lost. Realizing a simple Taunt would be the downfall of the team every time, I wondered what sort of change could help this, and this is where Coeur7 came up with the brilliant idea of replacing Duskull with Spritzee, which boasts similar bulk - if not better - and an ability that stops Taunt.
2 runs later, the team broke my most ambitious hopes and rocketed to 100 and beyond!
I can hardly describe how fun and satisfying it was to see these four little buddies battling it out against monsters like Zapdos, Mega Latias, Mega Metagross, Thundurus, and co. and holding their ground. It made me super invested into the streak, cheering them on as I watched the HP bars drop (I may have pressed a few buttons along the way, but that's secondary).
Loss (replay: T6AG-WWWW-WWWZ-C833):
All good things must come to an end! Sina had been on my case for a while; I battled her already at 90, the big battle that granted the team a leaderboard spot, then again at 110, where Spritzee and Aron plowed though. Her ego must have been scorched... she came back at 120. And she meant business, that time. She clearly had enough of getting humiliated by LC Pokémon.
Turn 1:+vs.+
Instantly, Abomasnow's Snow Warning goes off, meaning Sturdy will be broken after the turn. It stinks, but it's not the first time it happens, and if I can set up Trick Room, Aron should be able to Endeavor one threat before going down, and it'll be up to my backline, which could very well work out. The thought of setting Rain Dance crossed my mind, but Aron may have to take 2 Blizzards in the process, which not only could freeze it, but also would bring it down to 1 HP regardless, so not much would be gained from that.
Glaceon Blizzards and Abomasnow reveals to not be Mega (meaning it's sashed) and tries to Focus Blast Aron. Trick Room goes up, but Sturdy is broken by Hail.
Turn 2:+vs.+
Aron + Spritzee can only score one KO before Aron goes down; I decide to go for Glaceon, because if both foes pick the same moves as last turn, I'd rather receive a Focus Blast than a Blizzard (in hindsight, bad play because Glaceon had Detect, but I wasn't looking up any of the sets on this run; I have many of them memorized and I just wanted to have fun).
And then comes the surprise, the same that cost me my Comfey streak.... ICE SHARD! WHY CAN I NEVER REMEMBER BOTH ABOMASNOW34 HAVE ICE SHARD?!?!
Aron goes down before doing anything, and Spritzee is left to do about 30% with its Moonblast on Glaceon. As predicted, it Blizzards and leaves Spritzee at very low HP; hail damage brings it down to exactly 2 HP. Things are looking really grim.
Turn 3:
+vs.+
In front of these 2 Pokémon, I just couldn't afford to bring in Mudbray, so Clamperl it is. Scald will do good damage on Glaceon, and Ice Beam is a 2HKO on Abomasnow... maybe I can figure something out? Abomasnow's sash still being intact, I figure out it's time to target it with Clamperl, and finish it off next turn while Mudbray protects against Glaceon. After that, Mudbray could Z-move or Close Combat Glaceon and hopefully together they can deal with whatever is in the back... maybe Lilligant? That would be neat...
Abomasnow Ice Shards Spritzee (nothing to be done about that), Clamperl Ice Beams Abomasnow for 50%... ok, this is going to plan, maybe I have a chance... "Glaceon used Aurora Veil!"... never mind. RIP.
Turn 4:
+vs.+
At this point, I'm really debating on my best odds to pull through. With the Veil freshly set, and Trick Room's end looming, I may need to rely on critical hits. Then I see a light glowing on my bottom screen around a move... Rock Slide... hmmm... flinches.... *sudden flow of VGC flashbacks*. It's worth a try! So in true VGC fashion, I press Rock Slide and Ice Beam Abomasnow; to my surprise, the combination of these moves is enough to finish off Abomasnow! I just need 1 flinch, come on...! "Glaceon used Blizzard!". A new level of RIP has been reached. Mudbray goes down (obviously). Clamperl is down to barely more than 50%.
Turn 5:
vs.+
So Lilligant WAS in the back? Ugh, I actually had a chance, sort of. Clearly, it must be disposed of! Maybe Clamperl can live another Blizzard...? I probably lose to the last Pokémon anyway, especially since Trick Room is about to expire. But I refuse to forfeit.
Ice Beam does about 80% to Lilligant (damn you, Aurora Veil!), Blizzard is now single target and KOs Clamperl. GG. It was a good run!
Reporting a finished streak of 284 wins in USUM Super Doubles.
Hey all, quick little update with what has been going on in my Tree-adventures.
Time for yourdaily weekly dose of salt.
Lolnub and I built a rain team together and I went to seek success with MegaPert myself. With a lot less success, but alas, that’s the tree for you.
You can read about the team in more detail in his longer post here.
The team quickly summed up:
Fake Out a threat with Ludi, Surf with Peli and go ham. Pert in the back for Electric types and overall physical strength and AV Steela to round off the team with some nice bulk and much needed resistances.
Pelipper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Surf
- Rain Dance
- Protect
Ludicolo @ Absorb Bulb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 Def / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Protect
Celesteela @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Brave Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Seed Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Earthquake
The major change when comparing my team to lolnub’s is that I chose to give the 12 HP EVs of Pert to its Defence, as this gave Download users more chance to get a +Atk boost instead of a +Sp Atk boost. Looking at you, Porygon2/Z.
After this loss, I decided to change EQ of Steela to Superpower, but I never broke this record again after many runs over. Time for a new team.
Battle Vid:
4JNG – WWWW – WWWZ – CEMX
Loss vs Cloud Nine and MGengar
Hey all, quick little update with what has been going on in my Tree-adventures.
Time for your
Lolnub and I built a rain team together and I went to seek success with MegaPert myself. With a lot less success, but alas, that’s the tree for you.
You can read about the team in more detail in his longer post here.
The team quickly summed up:
Fake Out a threat with Ludi, Surf with Peli and go ham. Pert in the back for Electric types and overall physical strength and AV Steela to round off the team with some nice bulk and much needed resistances.
Pelipper @ Focus Sash
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Surf
- Rain Dance
- Protect
Ludicolo @ Absorb Bulb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fake Out
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Energy Ball
Swampert-Mega @ Swampertite
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 Atk / 12 Def / 244 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Protect
Celesteela @ Assault Vest
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Brave Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Seed Bomb
- Flamethrower
- Earthquake
The major change when comparing my team to lolnub’s is that I chose to give the 12 HP EVs of Pert to its Defence, as this gave Download users more chance to get a +Atk boost instead of a +Sp Atk boost. Looking at you, Porygon2/Z.
After this loss, I decided to change EQ of Steela to Superpower, but I never broke this record again after many runs over. Time for a new team.
Battle Vid:
4JNG – WWWW – WWWZ – CEMX
Loss vs Cloud Nine and MGengar
Last edited:
I got some streaks with two story theme team. One is a fail streak and the other one is barely board worthy, but still worth reporting. And here they are
Team #1: Ho-oh's Johto Furry Shop. Meow meow!
(Streak 76 in Ultra Moon Super Singles)
Three mysterious Pokemon, reincarnated by the sacred fire of Ho-oh, joining forces together to put the Pressure down on all Battle Tree opponents. Today, right here, they past lives identity will be revealed!
Raikou @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Extrasensory
- Shadow Ball
The lead. Raikou, recently acquired from Target, can scout and Volt Switch into one of the more appropriate furry bros.
And now, its true past life identity:
That's right. This is obvious. Raikou was the thundercat, Zeraora. And I get to break the rule and play as an illegal, yet to be released Pokemon in the Battle Tree. You can all be jolly, except Zeraora, who turned timid.
Entei @ Firium Z
Ability: Pressure
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Sp
- Sacred Fire
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
The proud Entei, who inherited the Sacred Fire from its creator Ho-oh, and thank god he did not also inherit the letter "H". Entei is the finisher furry of the trio. Stone Edge over Rock Slide because he doesn't give a shit, he can pretend to be some little kid's daddy (yeah I actually went to the theater to watch that movie
)
But turned out in its previous life, it ain't no papa, but in fact it is:
Did you expect anything else? Look at him, furry and buff with a championship belt at its his waist. Only everyone's favorite furry can turn into a lion.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Bold Nature
Evs: 252 Hp / 200 Def / 56 SpD
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Rest
The most important kitty of the bunch. Suicune beats 80% of opponents while the other two just loaf around. I gave it some SpD EVs cuz those first few hits before Calm Mind gets up are the most dangerous.
And before it died and was reincarnated into Suicune, the identity of this majestic furry creature can only be ONE:
Yes, you better believe it. How did a flappy whale thing turned into a furry, you ask? By ingesting and digesting Primal Groudon of course. It doesn't make sense? You better bet that it makes sense! It's called Pokemon magic. Just look at him. Does that not look like Suicune? Sure does to me!
Replay of Red getting destroyed by angry furries:
vs
HSLW-WWWW-WWWZ-B77G
Most matches went like this: Suicune stalled out everything. Snorlax tried to Fissure and failed, what a joke.
Replay of furries getting destroyed (Battle 77) :(
vs
H4YG-WWWW-WWWZ-B7DL
Suicune can't outstall Spec Latios. I might've won had I not switch Entei in there. Meh.
Final Words on this team:
This team just reminds how boring Super Singles is. Stall and win on Turn 20, yawn. So let's move on to the next team and win on Turn 3 instead!
Team 2: The Invasion of UB Serial Killers!!!
(Streak 94, Ultra Moon Super Doubles)
The Ultra Beasts have descended upon Alola! And they will burned down your houses, ravage your women, and eat your babies!!! We need the help of Detective Looker to gain some insight to these otherworldly creatures. But he was found murdered in his motel room early this morning! The UBs got to him first! All that remains is his notes. And from it, we began to unravel the mystery of the Ultra Beasts.
Kartana, the Early Morning Stabber
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Sp
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
The UB who strikes in the morning. Kartana runs amok and stabs all Alolans in sight. Victims with affinity to water and earth are often found with wounds stashed with leaves. While other victims suffered from wound of steel and fist of that nature. Focus Sash allowed him to victimize even special attackers. This is one tough psycho. The more he kills, the stronger he gets. We must find the stabber quickly!
Xurkitree, the Midnight Strangler
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
Modest Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball
The UB who often strangles and electrocutes, then disappearing into thin air. Police have a very tough time identifying him because he moves faster than other stranglers. Some brave Ground Alolan had been hunting for him to make him pay for his crime, but they were all stabbed in the back by his killing buddy, Kartana. The more he kills, the stronger he gets. We must find the strangler quickly!
Blacephalon, the Early Evening Arson
Item: Firium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Protect
The UB who likes to trap his victims their houses before setting them ablaze. In the crime scene, there is usually writings on the wall: "Why so SERIOUUUUS?" The notes say that he is equipped with a special item that makes his fire burn even hotter, 100% of the time! Although his blaze is strong, his lack of stamina means that even the weakest physical attack can bring him to his knees. If we can get to him, at least. And we must, because the more he kills, the stronger he gets!
Celesteela, the Midday Mass Shooter
Item: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
- Heavy Slam
- Acrobatic
- Stone Edge
- Protect
Unlike other UBs, this thick chick does her crime out in the open, in the middle of the day! The notes say that she shoots like a tank first, but when when she gets down to half HP, she gets serious, really serious, and starts going all acrobatic like Dante from Devil May Cry. What can we do to stop her? We can talk about legislation on gun control. But no, we are going to use Pokemon, because the more she kills, the stronger she gets!
So what can we do to stop these rampaging maniacs? The notes suggests that Fire and Ground work really well. Indeed, rumor has that there are also other Ultra Beasts in hiding, but they won't come out because they are also afraid of Fire and Ground. So we'll keep that in mind as we call upon our heroes, our saviors of Alola!
UB Serial Killers vs Heroes of Alola:
With our team assembled, it's time to put this menace out once and for all! We must not let them reach the leaderboard! The heroes of Alola will prevail!
Battle 20: The first line of defense, Captain Mallow
ZVRW-WWWW-WWWZ-B7HB
The brave Captain Mallow volunteered to be our first line of defense. But alas, Blacephalon lit her team up and she became the first casualty of our defense.
Battle 30: The passing by scientist, Colress, volunteered to defend
(alola one)
9PPW-WWWW-WWWZ-B7KC
The scientist from Unova offered his help. But when he started losing, he turned treacherous and got scouted instead!
Never trust a scientist who dyes his hair blue.
Battle 40: The mask superhero of Kalos, Dexio.
(alola one)
538G-WWWW-WWWZ-B7NN
As a superhero of Kalos, Dexio couldn't just sit idly by as destruction happens all around him, so he turned into his alter ego and stepped in to face the UBs. He thought his Mega Slowbro could deter them. He was wrong and Kalos lost a hero.
Battle 50: The 5 minute champion of Kanto, Blue Oak
GSYG-WWWW-WWWZ-B7QT
Our savior is here. Blue stormed into the scene, immediately knocking out the stabber and the strangler on turn 1: "Smell ya later!" He is going to save us! But like in the immediate aftermath of defeating Lance, he couldn't carry on the momentum and became a footnote in the Alola defense history.
Battle 70: Grimsley, the guy who just wants to win.
ZN2G-WWWW-WWWZ-87T9
This one doesn't care about Alola, he just wants to battle. And he sees the UBs as the perfect challenge to test his own strength. But what he eventually saw, is the blinding light of Dazzling Gleam.
Battle 80: "This is my turf!" - Guzma
Y2ZW-WWWW-WWWZ-87VN
No one crosses Guzma, not even the Ultra Beasts. When you are in Guzma's turf, expect a beatdown coming your way! At least that's what the Team Skull goons thought. Turned out Guzma face ended up in the dirt, and he's definitely out.
Even the boss of Team Skull couldn't stop this pack of lunatics! Only one match and they'll reach the leaderboard! We have only one hope left! In the direst of times, the true hero of Alola appears!
Battle 90: The Masked Royal
3JVG-WWWW-WWWZ-B82Z
And so...with the hero of Alola defeated. The UBs reached the leaderboard, and the land was about to be burned to the ground.
But at this very moment, a lady who was vacationing in Alola became annoyed. "You are disturbing my vacation!"
Battle 95: The end of the UB menace
6N7G-WWWW-WWWZ-B85H
Go Volcarona! Says the pretty vacationing Ezra. The UBs did not like that at all. They tried their best to do what they do best, killing, but they couldn't kill it. They burned, they froze, they got torn to pieces!
Alola saved, thanks to the heroics of a vacationing girl. When we asked for her thoughts on saving Alola, she said, "I need to go back to shopping!"
The End
Team #1: Ho-oh's Johto Furry Shop. Meow meow!
(Streak 76 in Ultra Moon Super Singles)
Three mysterious Pokemon, reincarnated by the sacred fire of Ho-oh, joining forces together to put the Pressure down on all Battle Tree opponents. Today, right here, they past lives identity will be revealed!
Raikou @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Extrasensory
- Shadow Ball
The lead. Raikou, recently acquired from Target, can scout and Volt Switch into one of the more appropriate furry bros.
And now, its true past life identity:
That's right. This is obvious. Raikou was the thundercat, Zeraora. And I get to break the rule and play as an illegal, yet to be released Pokemon in the Battle Tree. You can all be jolly, except Zeraora, who turned timid.
Entei @ Firium Z
Ability: Pressure
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Sp
- Sacred Fire
- Iron Head
- Stone Edge
- Substitute
The proud Entei, who inherited the Sacred Fire from its creator Ho-oh, and thank god he did not also inherit the letter "H". Entei is the finisher furry of the trio. Stone Edge over Rock Slide because he doesn't give a shit, he can pretend to be some little kid's daddy (yeah I actually went to the theater to watch that movie
)But turned out in its previous life, it ain't no papa, but in fact it is:
Did you expect anything else? Look at him, furry and buff with a championship belt at its his waist. Only everyone's favorite furry can turn into a lion.
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Bold Nature
Evs: 252 Hp / 200 Def / 56 SpD
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Rest
The most important kitty of the bunch. Suicune beats 80% of opponents while the other two just loaf around. I gave it some SpD EVs cuz those first few hits before Calm Mind gets up are the most dangerous.
And before it died and was reincarnated into Suicune, the identity of this majestic furry creature can only be ONE:
Yes, you better believe it. How did a flappy whale thing turned into a furry, you ask? By ingesting and digesting Primal Groudon of course. It doesn't make sense? You better bet that it makes sense! It's called Pokemon magic. Just look at him. Does that not look like Suicune? Sure does to me!
Replay of Red getting destroyed by angry furries:
HSLW-WWWW-WWWZ-B77G
Most matches went like this: Suicune stalled out everything. Snorlax tried to Fissure and failed, what a joke.
Replay of furries getting destroyed (Battle 77) :(
H4YG-WWWW-WWWZ-B7DL
Suicune can't outstall Spec Latios. I might've won had I not switch Entei in there. Meh.
Final Words on this team:
This team just reminds how boring Super Singles is. Stall and win on Turn 20, yawn. So let's move on to the next team and win on Turn 3 instead!
Team 2: The Invasion of UB Serial Killers!!!
(Streak 94, Ultra Moon Super Doubles)
The Ultra Beasts have descended upon Alola! And they will burned down your houses, ravage your women, and eat your babies!!! We need the help of Detective Looker to gain some insight to these otherworldly creatures. But he was found murdered in his motel room early this morning! The UBs got to him first! All that remains is his notes. And from it, we began to unravel the mystery of the Ultra Beasts.
Kartana, the Early Morning Stabber
Item: Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 Atk / 252 Sp
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Protect
The UB who strikes in the morning. Kartana runs amok and stabs all Alolans in sight. Victims with affinity to water and earth are often found with wounds stashed with leaves. While other victims suffered from wound of steel and fist of that nature. Focus Sash allowed him to victimize even special attackers. This is one tough psycho. The more he kills, the stronger he gets. We must find the stabber quickly!
Xurkitree, the Midnight Strangler
Item: Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
Modest Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball
The UB who often strangles and electrocutes, then disappearing into thin air. Police have a very tough time identifying him because he moves faster than other stranglers. Some brave Ground Alolan had been hunting for him to make him pay for his crime, but they were all stabbed in the back by his killing buddy, Kartana. The more he kills, the stronger he gets. We must find the strangler quickly!
Blacephalon, the Early Evening Arson
Item: Firium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Timid Nature
EVs: 4 Hp / 252 SpA / 252 Sp
- Fire Blast
- Shadow Ball
- Psychic
- Protect
The UB who likes to trap his victims their houses before setting them ablaze. In the crime scene, there is usually writings on the wall: "Why so SERIOUUUUS?" The notes say that he is equipped with a special item that makes his fire burn even hotter, 100% of the time! Although his blaze is strong, his lack of stamina means that even the weakest physical attack can bring him to his knees. If we can get to him, at least. And we must, because the more he kills, the stronger he gets!
Celesteela, the Midday Mass Shooter
Item: Sitrus Berry
Ability: Beast Boost
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 Hp / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
- Heavy Slam
- Acrobatic
- Stone Edge
- Protect
Unlike other UBs, this thick chick does her crime out in the open, in the middle of the day! The notes say that she shoots like a tank first, but when when she gets down to half HP, she gets serious, really serious, and starts going all acrobatic like Dante from Devil May Cry. What can we do to stop her? We can talk about legislation on gun control. But no, we are going to use Pokemon, because the more she kills, the stronger she gets!
So what can we do to stop these rampaging maniacs? The notes suggests that Fire and Ground work really well. Indeed, rumor has that there are also other Ultra Beasts in hiding, but they won't come out because they are also afraid of Fire and Ground. So we'll keep that in mind as we call upon our heroes, our saviors of Alola!
UB Serial Killers vs Heroes of Alola:
With our team assembled, it's time to put this menace out once and for all! We must not let them reach the leaderboard! The heroes of Alola will prevail!
Battle 20: The first line of defense, Captain Mallow
ZVRW-WWWW-WWWZ-B7HB
The brave Captain Mallow volunteered to be our first line of defense. But alas, Blacephalon lit her team up and she became the first casualty of our defense.
Battle 30: The passing by scientist, Colress, volunteered to defend
9PPW-WWWW-WWWZ-B7KC
The scientist from Unova offered his help. But when he started losing, he turned treacherous and got scouted instead!
Never trust a scientist who dyes his hair blue.
Battle 40: The mask superhero of Kalos, Dexio.
538G-WWWW-WWWZ-B7NN
As a superhero of Kalos, Dexio couldn't just sit idly by as destruction happens all around him, so he turned into his alter ego and stepped in to face the UBs. He thought his Mega Slowbro could deter them. He was wrong and Kalos lost a hero.
Battle 50: The 5 minute champion of Kanto, Blue Oak
GSYG-WWWW-WWWZ-B7QT
Our savior is here. Blue stormed into the scene, immediately knocking out the stabber and the strangler on turn 1: "Smell ya later!" He is going to save us! But like in the immediate aftermath of defeating Lance, he couldn't carry on the momentum and became a footnote in the Alola defense history.
Battle 70: Grimsley, the guy who just wants to win.
ZN2G-WWWW-WWWZ-87T9
This one doesn't care about Alola, he just wants to battle. And he sees the UBs as the perfect challenge to test his own strength. But what he eventually saw, is the blinding light of Dazzling Gleam.
Battle 80: "This is my turf!" - Guzma
Y2ZW-WWWW-WWWZ-87VN
No one crosses Guzma, not even the Ultra Beasts. When you are in Guzma's turf, expect a beatdown coming your way! At least that's what the Team Skull goons thought. Turned out Guzma face ended up in the dirt, and he's definitely out.
Even the boss of Team Skull couldn't stop this pack of lunatics! Only one match and they'll reach the leaderboard! We have only one hope left! In the direst of times, the true hero of Alola appears!
Battle 90: The Masked Royal
3JVG-WWWW-WWWZ-B82Z
And so...with the hero of Alola defeated. The UBs reached the leaderboard, and the land was about to be burned to the ground.
But at this very moment, a lady who was vacationing in Alola became annoyed. "You are disturbing my vacation!"
Battle 95: The end of the UB menace
6N7G-WWWW-WWWZ-B85H
Go Volcarona! Says the pretty vacationing Ezra. The UBs did not like that at all. They tried their best to do what they do best, killing, but they couldn't kill it. They burned, they froze, they got torn to pieces!
Alola saved, thanks to the heroics of a vacationing girl. When we asked for her thoughts on saving Alola, she said, "I need to go back to shopping!"
The End
When did Ezra turn from a murderous emotionless ender of streaks into a hero? D:
...maybe that's what it takes to stop a team of murders, a bigger murder....
Side note: When I was in Hawaii, there were lots of vacationing Japanese ladies dressing classy exactly like Ezra! Unlike their unclassy American counterparts who are in tank top and shorts. Those Japanese ladies sure know how to look nice <3
*made a few edits for grammar, and to clarify which slot was doubled into during my loss*
5 and a half months later, the quest has been completed. Reporting a UM Super Multis streak of 61 wins with AI partner!
Loss: 2DUG-WWWW-WWWZ-E6LB.
Feel free to change my previous Doubles streak to UM as well if you like NoCheese, since I see the leaderboard now denotes due to exclusive trainers.
Back in December I put some attempts into finding any success with Lillie as a partner with random different things, promptly getting stomped every time. Shortly after I became engrossed with the VGC 18 circuit, only heading to the Tree every so often to mess around and go for another attempt at Lillie for leaderboard, naturally getting stomped every time. My VGC season recently having ended, I decided I'd return to the Tree, and wanted to make a serious push for my spot on the multis leaderboard, I tried a cute "StakaMence" idea with Lillie and hit a personal best of 7 wins! Dragon/Steel seemed to be worth sticking with, so I pulled the two most broken Pokemon of those typings my boxes would allow, being Kowmoo and Megagross.
Moo (Kommo-o) @ Kommonium Z
Ability: Bulletproof -> Soundproof
Level: 50
EVs: 76 Atk / 204 SpA / 228 Spe
Mild Nature
- Protect
- Close Combat
- Clanging Scales
- Iron Head
Ability was capsuled while still in single digits after learning that Bulletproof blocks the healing effect of Pollen Puff, Soundproof actually was useful for blocking Snarl once and for walling the Kowmoo3's that were thrown at me between 50 and 60 wins.
Moo seemed like the best Dragon I could use on paper, sporting a broken boosting move that was further strengthened by AI habits and Lillie's Dual Screens + Healing lead. The AI habit that specifically aided me throughout the run was them knowing when they can take knockouts, since Moo's Soulblaze does so much damage to the enemy frontline, Lillie was easily coaxed into betraying her values and mercilessly attacking our enemies... with pollen. The spread is designed to hit 201 speed after boosting, alongside some CC calcs against Lapras and Glaceon, Iron Head was chosen to give Moo the highest potential to solo one side, giving it useful coverage against the plague known as Fairy typing and Froslass.
Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch -> Rock Tomb -> Ice Punch
- Stomping Tantrum
Solely for battle 50 I put Metagross in the lead and switched to Rock Tomb, the streak had come too far to be squashed by a Zard34 lead.
It's fast, it's powerful, it's Steel. You all know what Metagross does, and it worked here beautifully (although I do theorize that switching to Heatran fixes a lot of the team's threats, since it also opens doors for new threats I just stuck with Gross for the last 10 games after theorizing Tran). Ice Punch and Tantrum were chosen due to them specifically targeting the team's threats (although Rock coverage could be argued), and just being generally broken coverage with Steel. If it's broke, don't fix it.
Ribombee @ Light Clay
Ability: Honey Gather -> Shield Dust
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Pollen Puff
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- U-turn
I had remembered from previous attempts her Ribombee being Shield Dust, yet she was flinched by a Fake Out causing me to check what was up. Thanks to Fougeta in the discord, I found out you can reroll her abilities, and had randomly done so the last time I talked to her, so naturally I rolled until I had the best combination possible (this occurred after winning battle 23).
The saving grace of Lillie's career as a Pokemon trainer, and this run. I mentioned the synergy that Ribombee had with my comp already, but it cannot be undersold how useful she was when she set the right screen, aside from that her offensive edge over Psychic and Dark threats, immunity to secondary effects greatly improving her consistency, great speed tier, and the fact she healed me with Pollen Puff more than the next Pokemon, Ribombee was clearly turning a presumed 2v4 vs the Tree when attempting a Lillie run into a 3v4.
Tapu Bu... (Comfey) @ Grassium Z
Ability: Triage
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Dazzling Gleam
- Petal Blizzard
- Grassy Terrain
- Floral Healing
Turskain really wasn't kidding when called Lillie the "premier Z-Grassy Terrain setter", I'm fairly certain I've seen that field effect take place more times on my DS during this streak than the entirety of VGC 2018.
If Ribombee is what makes Lillie vs the Tree a 3v4, Comfey is the crushing reminder of why it's not a 4v4, it's just so terrible. The best thing about Comfey is sadly that it has a good speed tier and decent damage output (for the moveset it has to work with), once again going against Lillie's values as a trainer and... not fulfilling Comfey's niche of being a healer. She barely noticed my side of the field exists and either spamming Dgleam, set Terrain, went for clutch Bloom Dooms, or (god forbid) went for Petal Blizzard. I had a solid opinion of Comfey as a Pokemon going into this run, and I sorely doubt I will ever again.
I'm not going to put as much effort in here as previous writeups, seeing how I was pretty much clicking buttons and playing with no effort to continue the streak, only doing so for the sake of doing so.
Lead Latios (can't remember the potential sets, but it was 1) and Mimi (I believe 34) stare down the trusty Soul Warrior and... Bee.
"Okay I'm definitely getting Z-moved here, I need to switch to Gross"
That happens, while Ribombee sets Light Screen and Lati Luster Purges into it.
I Protect Metagross and pray Lillie performs some random attack into Mimikyu, instead she targets Lati with Puff, and unfortunately the AI decided to double her slot up.
I misplay by not trying to Iron Head flinch Mimi's Disguise away, but since I only had a 30% chance to pull it off I'm fine with the result.
Lead Latios (can't remember the potential sets, but it was 1) and Mimi (I believe 34) stare down the trusty Soul Warrior and... Bee.
"Okay I'm definitely getting Z-moved here, I need to switch to Gross"
That happens, while Ribombee sets Light Screen and Lati Luster Purges into it.
I Protect Metagross and pray Lillie performs some random attack into Mimikyu, instead she targets Lati with Puff, and unfortunately the AI decided to double her slot up.
I misplay by not trying to Iron Head flinch Mimi's Disguise away, but since I only had a 30% chance to pull it off I'm fine with the result.
TL:DR is that pretty much anything that outright beats one of my Pokemon and is impossible for Lillie to beat belongs in this list, I'm only listing what comes to mind at 6am.
Threats to both:
,
34,
,
1234,
3,
34,
4, Trick Room.
I only survived an encounter with Mawile34 because Reflect was up and I crit a Stomping Tantrum, Zard34 lead forces you to pray for the AI to do something stupid while you Z, while Megasol lead forces a turn 1 Protect -> switch in Megagross and pray Ribombee is useful. Mimi2 is the least threatening unless it Curses something, Chomp3 back comes in and locks into a favorable STAB, being a Fairy not weak to Steel is super annoying, "please be set 3 or target Ribombee like everyone else". When your slowest Pokemon is normally Lillie's Comfey, you don't like Trick Room.
Threats to Moo:
4,
234,
4 + Soundproof.
My Moo spread was designed for Super Doubles and is meant to be paired with Kang and Follow Me Magmar (which I still need to get, XD is boring zzzz) so it's not designed to creep Tsar4. Gus2 does Evasion things, 3 is fat and sleeps you, 4 is 3 + Clear Smog and Synthesis. Moo 4 needs to swing Outrage at the correct target and roll the correct ability, scary but nothing major.
Threats to Gross:
,
.
Your best bet at beating any of these after Moo goes down is Ferro3 deciding it doesn't want to live anymore.
Threats to both:
I only survived an encounter with Mawile34 because Reflect was up and I crit a Stomping Tantrum, Zard34 lead forces you to pray for the AI to do something stupid while you Z, while Megasol lead forces a turn 1 Protect -> switch in Megagross and pray Ribombee is useful. Mimi2 is the least threatening unless it Curses something, Chomp3 back comes in and locks into a favorable STAB, being a Fairy not weak to Steel is super annoying, "please be set 3 or target Ribombee like everyone else". When your slowest Pokemon is normally Lillie's Comfey, you don't like Trick Room.
Threats to Moo:
My Moo spread was designed for Super Doubles and is meant to be paired with Kang and Follow Me Magmar (which I still need to get, XD is boring zzzz) so it's not designed to creep Tsar4. Gus2 does Evasion things, 3 is fat and sleeps you, 4 is 3 + Clear Smog and Synthesis. Moo 4 needs to swing Outrage at the correct target and roll the correct ability, scary but nothing major.
Threats to Gross:
Your best bet at beating any of these after Moo goes down is Ferro3 deciding it doesn't want to live anymore.
Battle 60 vs Cynthia & Mallow: J6WG-WWWW-WWWZ-EDA3
Read the threatlist again if you need an explanation for my turn 1 play.
Battle 50 vs Battle Legends: ZBCG-WWWW-WWWZ-EDGM
Should probably show off the one game a change was made to my team for, thankfully no Zard34 from Red anyway.
Battle 10 vs Guzma & Grimsley: C9MG-WWWW-WWWZ-EDYR
The G-Force manages to pull probably the best possible lead combination on me.
Battle 12 vs Sightseer Hart & Gentleman Henry: 3S5W-WWWW-WWWZ-EDPU
LILLIE GOAT! This is the game I decided to stop playing when I don't have access to the spreadsheet.
Battle 25 vs Golfer Alim & Golfer Arnon: XE7W-WWWW-WWWZ-EDU7
"Man, Golfers sure do have a lot of Flying types". I think this was one of the earlier games where I started learning that anything with Brave Bird hates Ribombee.
Battle 35 vs Black Belt Chucky & Golfer Anisa: 5Q9G-WWWW-WWWZ-EEBD
"Man, Golfers sure do have a lot of Flying types". I think I took a pretty dumb risk here, not wanting to give Hax4 a DD was probably less urgent than losing turn 1. I can't remember if this was influenced by what potential sets they could have been, but iirc it was guaranteed to be Braviary3 so I might have took the gamble of Hax34 because of it, or it was guaranteed to be 4 idk, too lazy to check.
Battle 56 vs Golfer Moe & Madame Donny: 3XRW-WWWW-WWWZ-EEDT
Thought I saved the replay vs Soundproof Kowmoo4 but I guess not, so here's what happens when you fight Kowmoo3. Game against Moo4 was them being Soundproof for the 3rd time but whiffing Outrage into Ribombee.
Read the threatlist again if you need an explanation for my turn 1 play.
Battle 50 vs Battle Legends: ZBCG-WWWW-WWWZ-EDGM
Should probably show off the one game a change was made to my team for, thankfully no Zard34 from Red anyway.
Battle 10 vs Guzma & Grimsley: C9MG-WWWW-WWWZ-EDYR
The G-Force manages to pull probably the best possible lead combination on me.
Battle 12 vs Sightseer Hart & Gentleman Henry: 3S5W-WWWW-WWWZ-EDPU
LILLIE GOAT! This is the game I decided to stop playing when I don't have access to the spreadsheet.
Battle 25 vs Golfer Alim & Golfer Arnon: XE7W-WWWW-WWWZ-EDU7
"Man, Golfers sure do have a lot of Flying types". I think this was one of the earlier games where I started learning that anything with Brave Bird hates Ribombee.
Battle 35 vs Black Belt Chucky & Golfer Anisa: 5Q9G-WWWW-WWWZ-EEBD
"Man, Golfers sure do have a lot of Flying types". I think I took a pretty dumb risk here, not wanting to give Hax4 a DD was probably less urgent than losing turn 1. I can't remember if this was influenced by what potential sets they could have been, but iirc it was guaranteed to be Braviary3 so I might have took the gamble of Hax34 because of it, or it was guaranteed to be 4 idk, too lazy to check.
Battle 56 vs Golfer Moe & Madame Donny: 3XRW-WWWW-WWWZ-EEDT
Thought I saved the replay vs Soundproof Kowmoo4 but I guess not, so here's what happens when you fight Kowmoo3. Game against Moo4 was them being Soundproof for the 3rd time but whiffing Outrage into Ribombee.
It was a wild ride, what started out as just an afterthought of trying to make her Grassy Terrain useful turned into the miracle run Lillie probably needed to get this far. Shoutout to Fougeta for sharing his warstory with me and teaching me the exploit to reroll her abilities. You might see me posting with a Stakataka next time to complete the new UB Trio, or with some other jank, I'll be around, and still suffering through my terrible ideas. Until next time. <3
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nowadays filming the murders as they take place so the footage goes viral is considered more important than intervening to save them. her phone is out 24/7 to capture the next twitter blowup (or whatever the poke equivalent is called)
ezra is the new age hero (she also creates misleading video titles so the viewer doesnt know its her pokes doing the murdering)
Lost interest with the game after gen 5, but have recently been playing again, after discovering that RNG manipulation is again possible. Decided to muck around with some battle tree.
Finished a streak of 337 battles in USUM super singles battle tree. Second attempt with the team, and probably the last. Used some familar strats with a few changes.
Durant @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Truant
EVs: 174 HP / 108 Att / 228 Speed
Jolly
- Entrainment
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Superpower
Standard Durant set. Entrainment was used 95% of the time. Never used Iron Head. I started originally using X-scissor if an Espeon opened, but I stopped after I almost lost in that scenario (second opposing poke was a strong fighting type that Chansey would struggle to switch into).
Cloyster @ Life Orb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Att / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
Decided to try a mono-attacking Cloyster. After 3 shell smashes, it OHKOs almost everything, with Slowbro, some Cobalion, some Aggron, Alolan-Sandslash, Empoleon and maybe 1-2 more surviving. Sub is a way to get around priority/future sight. Only on one occasion did it fall after switching in after an entrainment; a switched-in drampa used hyper voice on a quick claw which hit through sub and took him out. In theory, opponents with multiple priority attacks could win here, but this scenario never happened.
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Minimize
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
Standard bulky set. Similar to Cloyster, never actually got knocked out once it setup had completed. In hindsight, running a faster spread would probably work better; had to play around a lot of status users who wouldn't let me get a free sub up. Basically used Chansey when things went wrong, often resulting in a PP stall.
Threats
Skarmory - whirlwind beats sub/protect and stops a setup
Darmanitan - can block entrainment, but also not a safe switch in for Chansey
Toxic Spikes - only encountered this once, which was kinda lucky. Completely stops Cloyster, and means Chansey has to come in before two layers get up.
Anything with Protect - Obviously. Particularly if it had protect/volt switch, or had enough physical damage to threaten the Chansey switch
Fake Out - Only with openers.
Not paying attention - pretty rinse and repeat strat, so often got distracted. Nearly lost a few times due to not noticing a Protect or similar.
How I lost:
Made a mistake turn one against a protecting Raikou. It normally uses gigavolt havoc to OHKO Durant (AI seems to always attempt an OHKO if it has it) the turn after it protects, which it did here. I don't like switching Chansey in to this scenario, since then I have to heal on the volt switch, and don't know what I'm facing. So after Durant fainted, Chansey came in and got off a minimize on Raikou's protect, and then a sub on the volt switch. Terrakion came in, and knew Sacred Sword. Sacred sword ignores evasion boosts and did over half. I tried to stall pp but both Chansey and Cloyster fell before that happened. If I saved Durant, I could've then setup on the Terrakion, but I suppose I didn't think of this scenario. Happens sometimes!
Replay of the loss: AQYW-WWWW-WWWZ-FR7R
That's that. I'll be looking to get some sort of decent score in doubles over the next few weeks.
Finished a streak of 337 battles in USUM super singles battle tree. Second attempt with the team, and probably the last. Used some familar strats with a few changes.
Durant @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Truant
EVs: 174 HP / 108 Att / 228 Speed
Jolly
- Entrainment
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Superpower
Standard Durant set. Entrainment was used 95% of the time. Never used Iron Head. I started originally using X-scissor if an Espeon opened, but I stopped after I almost lost in that scenario (second opposing poke was a strong fighting type that Chansey would struggle to switch into).
Cloyster @ Life Orb
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Att / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Substitute
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
Decided to try a mono-attacking Cloyster. After 3 shell smashes, it OHKOs almost everything, with Slowbro, some Cobalion, some Aggron, Alolan-Sandslash, Empoleon and maybe 1-2 more surviving. Sub is a way to get around priority/future sight. Only on one occasion did it fall after switching in after an entrainment; a switched-in drampa used hyper voice on a quick claw which hit through sub and took him out. In theory, opponents with multiple priority attacks could win here, but this scenario never happened.
Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Def / 12 SpD
Bold Nature
- Substitute
- Minimize
- Softboiled
- Seismic Toss
Standard bulky set. Similar to Cloyster, never actually got knocked out once it setup had completed. In hindsight, running a faster spread would probably work better; had to play around a lot of status users who wouldn't let me get a free sub up. Basically used Chansey when things went wrong, often resulting in a PP stall.
Threats
Skarmory - whirlwind beats sub/protect and stops a setup
Darmanitan - can block entrainment, but also not a safe switch in for Chansey
Toxic Spikes - only encountered this once, which was kinda lucky. Completely stops Cloyster, and means Chansey has to come in before two layers get up.
Anything with Protect - Obviously. Particularly if it had protect/volt switch, or had enough physical damage to threaten the Chansey switch
Fake Out - Only with openers.
Not paying attention - pretty rinse and repeat strat, so often got distracted. Nearly lost a few times due to not noticing a Protect or similar.
How I lost:
Made a mistake turn one against a protecting Raikou. It normally uses gigavolt havoc to OHKO Durant (AI seems to always attempt an OHKO if it has it) the turn after it protects, which it did here. I don't like switching Chansey in to this scenario, since then I have to heal on the volt switch, and don't know what I'm facing. So after Durant fainted, Chansey came in and got off a minimize on Raikou's protect, and then a sub on the volt switch. Terrakion came in, and knew Sacred Sword. Sacred sword ignores evasion boosts and did over half. I tried to stall pp but both Chansey and Cloyster fell before that happened. If I saved Durant, I could've then setup on the Terrakion, but I suppose I didn't think of this scenario. Happens sometimes!
Replay of the loss: AQYW-WWWW-WWWZ-FR7R
That's that. I'll be looking to get some sort of decent score in doubles over the next few weeks.
Try a battle tree helper I developed. It allows you to see the details of Pokémon you're facing in battle tree.
adrianywh.github.io
Report any issues using the GitHub issues feature or drop me a message here.
adrianywh.github.io
Report any issues using the GitHub issues feature or drop me a message here.
Yeah, this is great. And very phone-friendly, which is a big plus. I've added to the OP. Thanks a bunch!
Following some discussion yesterday in the Discord server about having a banner for this thread, I decided to have a go at it:
I tried to stick to the Tiki-ish theme of the in-game Tree. The circle logo on both sides is the pattern found on the Tree floor, and was digitalized yesterday by Rina to use as a logo for the Discord server. The 4 colors are the colors representing each Alola island (matching their respective Tapu and Oricorio). Obviously, the 4 Pokémon represent the top streaks in Singles and Doubles, and if ever the top position was to change, they could be changed.
It's nothing crazy, but I figured it may be better than nothing for now. What do you guys think?
I tried to stick to the Tiki-ish theme of the in-game Tree. The circle logo on both sides is the pattern found on the Tree floor, and was digitalized yesterday by Rina to use as a logo for the Discord server. The 4 colors are the colors representing each Alola island (matching their respective Tapu and Oricorio). Obviously, the 4 Pokémon represent the top streaks in Singles and Doubles, and if ever the top position was to change, they could be changed.
It's nothing crazy, but I figured it may be better than nothing for now. What do you guys think?