Ultra Moon:
Kommo-o (M) @ Kommonium Z ** Drumstep
Ability: Bulletproof
EVs: 22 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp.att / 4 Sp.def / 228 Spd
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
Nature: Modest
- Clanging Scales
- Close Combat
- Flamethrower
- Protect
Talonflame (M) @ Life Orb ** Paper Wings
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 204 HP / 252 Att / 6 Def / 28 Sp.def / 20 Spd
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
Nature: Adamant
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Tailwind
- Protect
Excadrill (M) @ Focus Sash ** Foremole
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 6 HP / 252 Att / 252 Spd
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
Nature: Adamant
- Earthquake
- Iron Head
- Rock Tomb
- Protect
Primarina (F) @ Wiki Berry ** Sonata Dusk
Ability: Liquid Voice
EVs: 204 HP / 4 Def / 252 Sp.att / 4 Sp.def / 46 Spd
IVs: 31/1/31/31/31/31 (Hyper Trained)
Nature: Modest
- Hyper Voice
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball
- Protect
Streak:
200 (ongoing)
It all started with Primarina. Popplio was the starter I picked when I played Moon (my first Gen 7 game), and Primarina was the first member I decided on for this team. I had seen a tier list for Pokémon regarding Super Double in the Tree, and I remember that Liquid Hyper Voice Primarina was in the top there. However, I haven't been able to find the list in question afterwards, I don't remember exactly where I first found it but I believe it was in someone's signature here on the forums. Either way, I really wanted to give Primarina a try. It is my favorite Alola starter and one of my overall favorite Alola Pokémon, so if it could be useful in the Tree, I wanted to use it there.
I started looking at various teams that had used Primarina here, one that stood out was
this team by paperquagsire since it had reached a very high streak. And Eisenherz deserves credit too since he originally came up with the idea of the berry on Primarina for paperquagsire's team. I was very impressed by this team and the streak, so I decided to use a similar set for my Primarina. As for other members of the team, I looked around for some Pokémon that seemed fun that I hadn't tried in the Tree before. I quickly settled on Kommo-o, who had received a fun new exclusive Z-move in US/UM. I had also considered using it before settling on using Primarina. Several others here had also used Soulblaze Kommo-o successfully on their teams, paperquagsire included. I decided to use Kommo-o as one of the leads while Primarina got to be one of the backups, it felt better that way and I had expected Primarina to be one of the backups to start with. It didn't feel like it could work very well as a lead.
After this, I had to decide on a good partner for Kommo-o. I thought about using something like Mat Block Greninja since paperquagsire had used it as well, or something with a fast Fake Out like Mega Kangaskhan. But I eventually settled for Tailwind Talonflame, an idea I got from
this team by turskain. It seemed like a really good partner for Kommo-o, the rest of the team could also benefit from Tailwind. Then I wanted to have a fourth team member which had good synergy with the others. I thought about using Togedemaru, but then I would be using 3/4 of turskain's team, which I didn't want to. I tried to come up with something else and after thinking about possible partners, it felt like a Ground/Steel-type should work. Such as Steelix or Alolan Dugtrio. But neither of them felt like good choices for this team. So I wasn't sure what to use. Then I suddenly remembered a Pokémon I had used before but completely forgotten about while planning this team: Excadrill. It really felt like it could work. It has the same typing as Steelix and Alolan Dugtrio, but its stats and Ability are more suitable for this team. I had also used it before on my Super Double team on Sun where it was inspired by
this team by lolnub. And it had worked really well there, so I decided to use it again. With this, the team was complete.
Kommo-o and Talonflame are a great lead duo. Soulblaze and Tailwind is a ridiculously good combination, both or just one of them gives me the advantage in most battles. I EV'd Kommo-o to outrun base 130s after using Soulblaze, a "magic number" as I like to call it. Soulblaze is the main move, dealing tons of damage to everything that isn't Steel, Fairy, Blissey or has very high Sp.def, while giving it a +1 to all stats. A regular Clanging Scales at +1 is really strong too. Close Combat for secondary STAB and to destroy special walls, Flamethrower for coverage. Talonflame just destroys things with Brave Bird and Flare Blitz whenever it needs to. Setting up Tailwind is otherwise the main thing it needs to do. It sometimes has to be sacrificed, but that is sometimes necessary in order to win certain battles. Excadrill takes care of Fairy- and Electric-types, while also being a good answer to Rock-, Bug-, Steel- and Flying-types. It can also handle Fire- and Ice-types but needs to be a bit more careful around them. The speed boost from Tailwind combined with Mold Breaker turns it into the broken monster mole it was always destined to be. Mold Breaker is very useful for destroying many opponents that rely on their Abilities. Mimikyu isn't safe, neither are any Levitators except for Rotom-Fan. I decided to go with Earthquake this time around, as opposed to Drill Run which I used on my Excadrill in Sun. On this team, Excadrill has one partner which is a Flying-type, and all three partners have Protect, which makes Earthquake the better alternative. Lastly there's Primarina, which was sadly the least used member of the team despite being the first one I planned. It was rarely used, but it was still pretty good when I had to use it. It can hit very hard with Hyper Voice and Moonblast. Energy Ball was good too.
At first, I wasn't sure if this team would work. I was wondering if I would really be able to handle everything the Tree could throw at me. But it turned out that I had little to worry about since this team got me all the way to 200 wins in a row on my first try. Most battles were fairly easy too. I had at least 2 team members alive at the end of every battle, and there were rather few scary situations along the way. So I'm really happy about it in the end. That said, I have considered making some changes to it. As said, Primarina isn't overly useful and I have considered changing it to another Pokémon. Or maybe just changing its item, the Berry only activated in 2 battles during the entire streak if memory serves me correct. But I don't know if I'll make any of these changes if I decide to go back and continue on my streak with this team.
This team was honestly very fun to use, and quite easy to play with too. As said, there weren't all that many close battles, and I had control over the situation in pretty much all battles. The team is fast, powerful, has good coverage and can handle most opponents. I like it a lot.
Battle Videos:
Battle #50: EXVW-WWWW-WWX7-NULF
Vs. Blue
My battle against Blue with this team. This was an easy victory without any real difficulties, it got me the Stamp.
Battle #68: 6Y8G-WWWW-WWX7-NUZU
Vs. Hiker Vivek
This battle featured the following: Sandstorm, no Tailwind, an opponent which became faster than I had expected, a flinch, an unexpected dual Explosion, and finally Trick Room. All of these things made it a bit tougher than it should have been.
Battle #108: J93G-WWWW-WWX7-NUR6
Vs. Dancer Variel
Kommo-o getting Paralyzed is never a good thing, not to mention being forced to switch out after using Soulblaze and losing the boosts. Talonflame and Excadrill did what they could but they fainted along the way while Primarina took heavy damage. This battle became quite close in the end.
Battle #150: B5HG-WWWW-WWX7-NUT5
Vs. Colress
Colress makes another appearance. I decided to try to get rid of Magnezone first since it can be very annoying, but I was not expecting Klinklang to be so fast. Without Tailwind, it outran and defeated Talonflame, while Kommo-o couldn't defeat the Porygon2 with a Close Combat and got destroyed instead. This put me in a 2-3 situation with no Tailwind on my side. Thankfully everything went well from there on as I managed to get it to 2-1 on the next turn, and the final opposing Pokémon was a Porygon-Z which couldn't do much.
Battle #187: K3FW-WWWW-WWX7-NUVX
Vs. Pokémon Breeder Lori
The leads here made me think this would be a Trick Room team, so I went all out to take down the Slowbro on turn 1. It worked, but Talonflame fainted. Kommo-o then went down to the opposing Slowking's Psychic, it took surprisingly much damage. With only Primarina and Excadrill left, I decided to put full focus on the Slowking to take it down first and then the Musharna afterwards. It worked, and I won.
Battle #200: CPTV-WWWW-WWX7-NV28
Vs. Dexio
Saved this battle just as proof of winning 200 battles in a row. I got to face Dexio as my opponent here. The battle is nothing special, just a simple victory.
Ultra Sun:
Dusclops (M) @ Eviolite ** Spectral
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 158 Sp.def
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
Nature: Relaxed
- Night Shade
- Brick Break
- Foresight
- Trick Room
Togedemaru (F) @ Berry Juice ** Spinetussler
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 92 Sp.def
IVs: x/31/31/x/31/0
Nature: Brave
- Fake Out
- Endeavor
- Toxic
- Spiky Shield
Sylveon (M) @ Choice Specs ** Anthology
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def / 252 Sp.att
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/0 (Hyper Trained)
Nature: Quiet
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Swift
Conkeldurr (M) @ Assault Vest ** Berserker
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Att / 150 Sp.def
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/0
Nature: Brave
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
Streak:
200 (ongoing)
I had since long decided that I would use a Trick Room team for Super Double in Ultra Sun. Trick Room is a fun strategy, but I haven't used it that much in Battle Facilities. Only twice before using it here, first in D/P and then in Alpha Sapphire. Both times was for Double. Here in Ultra Sun, it was time again.
At first, I hadn't planned to use level 1 Endeavor again. But after thinking about it for a while, I decided to use it here as well. It had worked well for me in both D/P and Alpha Sapphire, and with Togedemaru being the new best user of it, I couldn't resist using it again. I then looked at some potential Trick Room setters. I really wanted to try something that I hadn't used before and I quickly settled for Dusclops. It has Frisk which felt like it could work well together with Togedemaru's Fake Out. The combination of Frisk and Fake Out would me scout what item the opposing leads are using and use Fake Out against potentially dangerous foes in order to safely set up Trick Room. I also really wanted to see if the bulk of Dusclops was as amazing as others had said it would be.
I wasn't sure about the backups though. I considered many different ones such as Mega Camerupt, Mega Ampharos, Torkoal, Incineroar, Primarina and Scrafty, but I eventually settled for Sylveon and Conkeldurr. I got the idea for Sylveon from
this team by Adamant Zoroark while I got the idea for Conkeldurr (as well as Dusclops and Togedemaru for that matter), from
this team by Eppie. However, this meant I was using 3/4 of Eppie's team. I regret that, but that's just how it had to be.
This team worked very well most of the time. Level 1 Endeavor is still a great strategy in the Tree. Many battles ended with Togedemaru still alive, I was surprised at how many times it lived all the way to the end. Dusclops turned out to have the amazing bulk others had said it would have, I don't recall it ever being OHKO'd, and it was rarely 2KHO'd. It can't hit very hard though, but dealing 50 HP of damage with Night Shade was usually enough. Especially when paired with Togedemaru. The backups worked fairly well too, Sylveon could fire off powerful Hyper Voices or use its other moves if necessary, while Conkeldurr had just the right moves it needed to be work.
Unfortunately, my first tries with the team didn't get me the results I wanted. On my first attempt, I made it past Blue but I lost before reaching 200. I managed to make it all the way to Battle #141 before losing. On my second try, I lost embarrassingly early in Battle #14. On my third try, I lost at Battle #156. These streaks showed me that the team had potential, but I was unsure if I would be able to make it all the way to 200. Losing late during the streaks was also very devastating. I thought about making some changes to the team, such as using Mega Camerupt instead of Sylveon and maybe changing Conkeldurr to something else as well. I felt that Dusclops and Togedemaru could stay as they worked very well did what they should most of the time. It was the backups I was unsure about. But I decided to make one more try. And this time, I made it all the way to 200! I was so happy when I finally made it. That said, I have still considered changing the team if I continue on the streak. Mega Camerupt is one Pokémon I can see working very well here, and I had a great experience from using it in Alpha Sapphire. If I use it instead of Sylveon, it would give me an easier time against Ice-, Grass- and some Steel-types. Though it might make it harder against Water- and Dragon-types, and maybe some other types too. I guess there are both positive and negative aspects to making changes.
This team was quite fun to use. I really like the combination of Dusclops and Togedemaru, but as said, I think there are better backups. The battles often went by very quickly without major issues, but it was annoying to lose during my attempts with this team. Overall a pretty good team, but it is not without issues.
Battle Videos:
Battle #50: 8LRW-WWWW-WWX7-NVKD
Vs. Blue
My initial battle against Blue. This was an easy battle, I won and got the Stamp.
Battle #141: F3NG-WWWW-WWX7-NVRU
Vs. Office Worker Savir
The first loss with this team. This was a pain. The leads here just scream trouble. Abomasnow is still a problem even if it isn't the Mega version, and Mega Mawile is tough as well since it hits extremely hard. I didn't know that non-Mega Abomasnow also had Ice Shard, I learned it the hard way during this battle. I also pretty much need either Togedemaru or Sylveon to safely beat Mega Mawile, it is tough to beat it without them. Now it survived a Night Shade + Drain Punch and destroyed Conkeldurr with Play Rough. The backups were then too much for Dusclops and Sylveon to handle, the Excadrill even survived a Night Shade + HP Fire, though it still fainted from Life Orb recoil on the last turn of the battle. I could definitely have won here if I had played better. Sacrificing Togedemaru and Sylveon while keeping Conkeldurr alive against the backups would have been a much better strategy. But I didn't do that, which led to my first but unfortunately not last loss with this team.
Battle #14: X7CG-WWWW-WWX7-NVTF
Vs. Rising Star Brandi
The second loss with this team. It feels like everything just went wrong in this battle. Ice-type leads are not fun, Abomasnow has Snow Warning while Glaceon has a Quick Claw and knows Ice Shard. I switch Togedemaru for Sylveon to try to beat the leads, but things don't go my way. I miss once with Night Shade against the Glaceon, and then I focus on taking out the Abomasnow first which was a mistake since it wasn't all that dangerous, the Glaceon was worse. Dusclops and Sylveon both take a lot of damage and faint, then Conkeldurr does not KO the Glalie with Drain Punch. Togedemaru can't do anything since Sturdy was already broken thanks to Hail, and the Glaceon has Ice Shard. I guess I should have tried to take out the Glaceon before the Glalie, though Moody is a very scary ability. Trick Room ends, and Conkeldurr gets fully paralyzed thanks to Porygon2's Zap Cannon. At that point it was just game over.
Battle #140: 7W8G-WWWW-WWX7-NVV8
Vs. Kiawe
A very tricky battle against Kiawe on my third attempt with the team. Several unexpected things happened here. Dusclops fainted after taking way too much damage, the opposing Kangaskhan got unexpectedly switched out for a Salazzle, and Sylveon's Hyper Voice got disabled because of Marowak's Cursed Body. Though I would have switched it out anyway as it isn't effective against Salazzle, and Trick Room ended on the same turn. This was a pretty close and scary battle, but I won in the end.
Battle #156: 8AQW-WWWW-WWX7-ZW22
Vs. Aether Foundation Harvey
The third loss with the team. This was not a fun battle. The Walrein managed to cause a lot of trouble here, but in unexpected ways. I use Fake Out on it on the first turn to make sure Dusclops doesn't get OHKO'd, though Rotom getting a freeze with Blizzard could also have been dangerous. I double target the Walrein on the next turn to get rid of it, but my opponent switches it out for Gengar, making Endeavor ineffective. I decide to get rid of the Rotom instead and I manage to do so, but Dusclops faints after having taken a lot of damage. I send out Conkeldurr while my opponent brings Walrein back. I try to take down the Walrein, but both of my attacks miss. Fortunately, it misses against me as well. It goes down on the next turn, but Trick Room ends and Conkeldurr faints after having taken too much damage. I send out Sylveon, my opponent's last Pokémon is Espeon. Togedemaru can't do anything at this point so it basically just faints, and I decide to take out the Gengar first since it is dangerous for Sylveon. Unfortunately, this leaves Sylveon locked into Psyshock against the Espeon. Both of them can 3HKO the other, and I lose since Sylveon is slower. This was a painful battle, my opponent made some good moves and I had pretty bad luck at some points. I was also annoyed by this loss since I was less than 50 battles away from reaching 200.
Battle #91: LU6G-WWWW-WWX7-ZW7V
Vs. Scientist Stein
A fairly annoying and scary battle on my fourth try with the team. The opposing Trevenant resets Trick Room and Dusclops faints before it can set it back up. This forces me to sweep with Conkeldurr and Sylveon, without Trick Room. Fortunately, Sylveon was faster than some of the opposing Pokémon, and Rhyperior's Horn Drill missed against me.
Battle #190: P89W-WWWW-WWX7-ZW9K
Vs. Sina
Ten battles before I am about to reach 200, Sina shows up. I had battled her before and always won, though some of these battles had been tough. In this battle, I made two mistakes. But first some good moves. I decide to get rid of her Glaceon first, then Oranguru resets Trick Room and Abomasnow is sent out. I make my first mistake which is to sacrifice Togedemaru here while Trick Room is down, something I shouldn't have done since it had already used up the Berry Juice. It faints, and I send out Sylveon to get rid of the Abomasnow. Thankfully, Sina is so kind that she decides to lets Abomasnow use Protect while Oranguru resets Trick Room again! This makes Sylveon faster than Abomasnow on the next turn, letting it defeat the snowy bastard with Hidden Power. My second mistake was to use Night Shade here and not Brick Break since Oranguru is immune to Night Shade. Fortunately, it didn't really matter. Sina's last Pokémon is Mandibuzz, I defeat the monkey first and then the bird. This battle wasn't super close, though I only had 2 Pokémon left at the end.
Battle #200: WXSG-WWWW-WWX7-ZWAL
Vs. Grimsley
Finally, after four tries, I reached 200 in a row! Saved this battle as proof of that. I got to face Grimsley as my opponent here. He is usually not that hard as he uses Dark-types which Sylveon and Conkeldurr destroys with ease. I usually use Fake Out on one of his leads to make sure Dusclops isn't KO'd before it can set up Trick Room, but his leads this time were a tricky duo and I wasn't really sure who to use Fake Out on. I decided to go for Liepard since it has a Red Card, giving Togedemaru a safe emergency exit from the battlefield for the moment. Dusclops safely sets up Trick Room while Conkeldurr gets confused by Honchkrow's Swagger. I switch out Conkeldurr for Sylveon while Dusclops gets paralyzed and takes heavy damage from Honchkrow's Black Hole Eclipse. But at this point, Sylveon is in the fight without any risk of getting defeated. So I decide to attack. Sylveon manages to nuke all opposing Pokémon into oblivion (with a little help from Dusclops), giving me an easy victory.