Battle Tree Discussion and Records

So I finally did it! For about a year (with gaps of several months in between) I have had a goal in Pokemon: Win 200 Super Single battles with Mega-Lucario as the lead. I tried several combinations and though defensive pokemon would have made this easier, after losing on battle 1xx with a sub/seed Celesteela I added to the challenge that I would not be using defensive strategies as they bored the heck out of me. This team is the one that did it. If you're looking for a hyper-offensive team that can blaze through fights, here is one I recommend.

Lost at battle 206 in a way that always beat me. J3YW-WWWW-WWX9-32BT. I'll say more under threats

Here's the team

Lucario-Mega @ Lucarionite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Substitute

The necessary part of the team, Lucario the non-setup-sweeper. A lot of battles, even higher up, just end with 3 Close Combats or maybe a Meteor Mash or 2. He makes a lot of fights trivial but has more than his fair share of hindrances. Mostly self explanatory. Get to know what you can and can't one shot because anything that hits decently strong will probably kill you if you don't kill it first. Bullet Punch to finish things off, or even straight up kill Carbink, A-Ninetales, or Some Aerodactyls and Rimbombees. Substitute is a move that changed around a lot, but although it kind of spits on my non-offensive approach, I think it is a necessary move to soak up status, scout, and even fish for misses on inaccurate moves, maybe even soften up an overheater or 2 before the switch. Needed for Mega-Gallade as he is unable to be 1-shot by Meteor Mash until after a def drop from close combat. My least favorite, but certainly necessary, move.

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

This guy is famously effective as a tree set-up sweeper and mine is no different. I had fire punch over fly, but found fly more powerful and effective overall and scizor/ferrothorn/skarmory aren't concerning enough for me to run fire coverage. Fly also helps me stall out things like weather or trick room in a pinch. Dragon/flying is great complimentary typing for Lucario as it is immune to ground and resists fire and fighting. Convesely Lucario, if needed, can switch into a Dragon, Rock, or Ice move. If he's stuck in outrage and comes up against a fairy/steel well that's just food for Lucario anyway.

Golem @ Rockium Z
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This 3rd slot changed quite a bit, but once I picked Golem I knew I'd found my winning team. Mimikyu held the 3rd spot for a while but was ultimately innefective against the speedy electrics and powerful birds (Talonflame and Staraptor). I needed something to deal with what hit both dragonite and Lucario hard neutrally and so the major concerns were flying, electric, and psychic, though the only really dangerous psychic type was alakazam. not a lot can switch into focus blast and take a psychic well. While you may have noticed that golem doesn't really either, his access to sucker punch meant he killed alakazam, or knocked m-alakazam to 1hp (due to sturdy) for bullet punch to finish off, essentially making it a 2v2. He had 252 in hp and fire punch instead of rock polish initially, but transferring his hp to speed made all the difference in the world, paving the way to 200 wins. If he comes in on an electric or flying type he can rock polish and sometimes sweep outright. I decided Rockium-Z was best to ensure that he almost always had a guaranteed 1v1 win against most pokemon as there's not much that can handle z-stone edge + sucker punch. His speed investment also allowed me to use him as a Primirina switch in. Prim would activate sturdy on the switch but be outsped and ohko'ed by z-stone edge. Otherwise he is just an excellent revenge killer

Some usage notes for lead Lucario.

Arcanine- Close Comat if not intimidate, switch to d-nite if it is

Gyarados- Substitute. If he mega evolves then CC him because intimidate won't save him. If he DD's, CC as well because the AI seems to DD twice if you're behind the sub and you can kill him with 2 CC's and a BP

Gallade- Sub. If he mega evolves than the def drop he's going to get will be essential to ohko.

kangaskhan/weavile/ludicolo/shiftry etc.- Don't mega evolve on these guys right away as they are likely to fake you out and give you a speed boost that could help you out.

Alakazam- switch to golem and s-punch away

Infernape- sub so flare blitz breaks sash

Charizard- sub. If x, kill it. If y keep subbing to hope for a miss on heat wave. If not then it's been 4 turns and you can switch to golem as sun fades. You are then free to rock polish while he charges solar beam.

Rotom (all but fridge, just kill him) - Substitute to draw WoW or T-Wave. Then proceed to kill.

Heatran- Just hit him. If he's scarf or sash that's ok, because he's set-up fodder for d-nite

Threats

These things can really end the run. I'll start with the one that beat me the most

Noivern- Specifically king's rock Noivern. As a matter of fact, almost every time this team lost it was because of a flinch, or likely multiple flinches. If they lead with this guy he can't kill m-Luc without a crit so just meteor mash and hope for the odds to favor you. Other notable flinch monsters are Cynthia's togekiss with king's rock (grass knot gg golem) and the swift swim BEARTIC OF ALL THINGS that ended my run (With a little help from ludicolo fake out to finish off dragonite. Fear the flinches.

Staraptor- I never check sets, so I don't know which number is dangerous, but most of the time you want to switch dragonite in because he usually uses close combat (Or the useless endeavor), but if this guy leads with brave bird and follows up with fly z than bye-bye dragonite. It might be best to use the charts to find out if you're facing scarf, cause lucario can just ohko if he isn't scafed.

Salamence- Whichever one uses hydro pum/fire blast/ draco meteor. I see one of these and switch to d-nite for a hopeful earthquake, but if it's F-Blast than draco kills and I go to golem who polishes and gets hydro pumped. At that point I am at a big disadvantage, hoping for the right combination back-up pokemon. It may be a good idea to sub, but even then, there's no real safe switch.

Entei- Most of the time won't be ohko'ed and can't be safely switched into either. Sacrifice Lucario so that d-nite can set up 1 dd while eating a stone edge. Not a great position

Suicune/Wishiwashi- Both survive CC and might kill Lucario in return. There's nothing safe to switch into. Sub on wishi and he might rain dance or endeavor so it's not too bad.

Pelliper- Switch D-nite in. If he stockpiles you can dance. If he hits you just outrage right away and say goodbye to dragonite due to blizzard. Finish him with lucario. 2v2.

Bruxish/starmie/slowbro/slowking- Bruxish/starmie/Slowking are 2hko's with CC. After 1 they might kill you. You can sucker punch 2 of them to death but bruxish may have dazzling meaning you have to go to sturdy. Ouch. Slowbro however is the biggest problem for this team tank-wise, especially when mega'd. Access to blizzard and ability to suvive CC+ stone-z make this guy a 3hko that uses up the z move. Can definitely imagine a slowbro team taking this one down.

Jellicent- In line with the above mons, but not as bad. Subbing is usually fine as Jell will usually Trick Room or Will-O-Wisp. However luc may lose the 1v1 anyway. it's kind of 50/50. At least you can stall Trick Room with him.

Cynthia- Specifically if she leads with her own lucario. The best move is to just go straight for the kill. If you win the speed tie it's easy. Otherwise d-dance and kill lucario hoping she doesn't send togekiss out next. If she does, hope that garchomp isn't 3rd. If so, gg golem.

Thing that I hated with other teams that are now non-threats

Double Teamers- Rockium z for that zapdos. CC for regigigas. Steel type existing for Cresselia.



So that is my lengthy write-up on this team I am very proud of. Very fun, exciting, fast-paced, capable team...if you can get a SP Golem that is.
 
So I finally did it! For about a year (with gaps of several months in between) I have had a goal in Pokemon: Win 200 Super Single battles with Mega-Lucario as the lead. I tried several combinations and though defensive pokemon would have made this easier, after losing on battle 1xx with a sub/seed Celesteela I added to the challenge that I would not be using defensive strategies as they bored the heck out of me. This team is the one that did it. If you're looking for a hyper-offensive team that can blaze through fights, here is one I recommend.

Lost at battle 206 in a way that always beat me. J3YW-WWWW-WWX9-32BT. I'll say more under threats

Here's the team

Lucario-Mega @ Lucarionite
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Substitute

The necessary part of the team, Lucario the non-setup-sweeper. A lot of battles, even higher up, just end with 3 Close Combats or maybe a Meteor Mash or 2. He makes a lot of fights trivial but has more than his fair share of hindrances. Mostly self explanatory. Get to know what you can and can't one shot because anything that hits decently strong will probably kill you if you don't kill it first. Bullet Punch to finish things off, or even straight up kill Carbink, A-Ninetales, or Some Aerodactyls and Rimbombees. Substitute is a move that changed around a lot, but although it kind of spits on my non-offensive approach, I think it is a necessary move to soak up status, scout, and even fish for misses on inaccurate moves, maybe even soften up an overheater or 2 before the switch. Needed for Mega-Gallade as he is unable to be 1-shot by Meteor Mash until after a def drop from close combat. My least favorite, but certainly necessary, move.

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

This guy is famously effective as a tree set-up sweeper and mine is no different. I had fire punch over fly, but found fly more powerful and effective overall and scizor/ferrothorn/skarmory aren't concerning enough for me to run fire coverage. Fly also helps me stall out things like weather or trick room in a pinch. Dragon/flying is great complimentary typing for Lucario as it is immune to ground and resists fire and fighting. Convesely Lucario, if needed, can switch into a Dragon, Rock, or Ice move. If he's stuck in outrage and comes up against a fairy/steel well that's just food for Lucario anyway.

Golem @ Rockium Z
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Polish
- Sucker Punch
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge

This 3rd slot changed quite a bit, but once I picked Golem I knew I'd found my winning team. Mimikyu held the 3rd spot for a while but was ultimately innefective against the speedy electrics and powerful birds (Talonflame and Staraptor). I needed something to deal with what hit both dragonite and Lucario hard neutrally and so the major concerns were flying, electric, and psychic, though the only really dangerous psychic type was alakazam. not a lot can switch into focus blast and take a psychic well. While you may have noticed that golem doesn't really either, his access to sucker punch meant he killed alakazam, or knocked m-alakazam to 1hp (due to sturdy) for bullet punch to finish off, essentially making it a 2v2. He had 252 in hp and fire punch instead of rock polish initially, but transferring his hp to speed made all the difference in the world, paving the way to 200 wins. If he comes in on an electric or flying type he can rock polish and sometimes sweep outright. I decided Rockium-Z was best to ensure that he almost always had a guaranteed 1v1 win against most pokemon as there's not much that can handle z-stone edge + sucker punch. His speed investment also allowed me to use him as a Primirina switch in. Prim would activate sturdy on the switch but be outsped and ohko'ed by z-stone edge. Otherwise he is just an excellent revenge killer

Some usage notes for lead Lucario.

Arcanine- Close Comat if not intimidate, switch to d-nite if it is

Gyarados- Substitute. If he mega evolves then CC him because intimidate won't save him. If he DD's, CC as well because the AI seems to DD twice if you're behind the sub and you can kill him with 2 CC's and a BP

Gallade- Sub. If he mega evolves than the def drop he's going to get will be essential to ohko.

kangaskhan/weavile/ludicolo/shiftry etc.- Don't mega evolve on these guys right away as they are likely to fake you out and give you a speed boost that could help you out.

Alakazam- switch to golem and s-punch away

Infernape- sub so flare blitz breaks sash

Charizard- sub. If x, kill it. If y keep subbing to hope for a miss on heat wave. If not then it's been 4 turns and you can switch to golem as sun fades. You are then free to rock polish while he charges solar beam.

Rotom (all but fridge, just kill him) - Substitute to draw WoW or T-Wave. Then proceed to kill.

Heatran- Just hit him. If he's scarf or sash that's ok, because he's set-up fodder for d-nite

Threats

These things can really end the run. I'll start with the one that beat me the most

Noivern- Specifically king's rock Noivern. As a matter of fact, almost every time this team lost it was because of a flinch, or likely multiple flinches. If they lead with this guy he can't kill m-Luc without a crit so just meteor mash and hope for the odds to favor you. Other notable flinch monsters are Cynthia's togekiss with king's rock (grass knot gg golem) and the swift swim BEARTIC OF ALL THINGS that ended my run (With a little help from ludicolo fake out to finish off dragonite. Fear the flinches.

Staraptor- I never check sets, so I don't know which number is dangerous, but most of the time you want to switch dragonite in because he usually uses close combat (Or the useless endeavor), but if this guy leads with brave bird and follows up with fly z than bye-bye dragonite. It might be best to use the charts to find out if you're facing scarf, cause lucario can just ohko if he isn't scafed.

Salamence- Whichever one uses hydro pum/fire blast/ draco meteor. I see one of these and switch to d-nite for a hopeful earthquake, but if it's F-Blast than draco kills and I go to golem who polishes and gets hydro pumped. At that point I am at a big disadvantage, hoping for the right combination back-up pokemon. It may be a good idea to sub, but even then, there's no real safe switch.

Entei- Most of the time won't be ohko'ed and can't be safely switched into either. Sacrifice Lucario so that d-nite can set up 1 dd while eating a stone edge. Not a great position

Suicune/Wishiwashi- Both survive CC and might kill Lucario in return. There's nothing safe to switch into. Sub on wishi and he might rain dance or endeavor so it's not too bad.

Pelliper- Switch D-nite in. If he stockpiles you can dance. If he hits you just outrage right away and say goodbye to dragonite due to blizzard. Finish him with lucario. 2v2.

Bruxish/starmie/slowbro/slowking- Bruxish/starmie/Slowking are 2hko's with CC. After 1 they might kill you. You can sucker punch 2 of them to death but bruxish may have dazzling meaning you have to go to sturdy. Ouch. Slowbro however is the biggest problem for this team tank-wise, especially when mega'd. Access to blizzard and ability to suvive CC+ stone-z make this guy a 3hko that uses up the z move. Can definitely imagine a slowbro team taking this one down.

Jellicent- In line with the above mons, but not as bad. Subbing is usually fine as Jell will usually Trick Room or Will-O-Wisp. However luc may lose the 1v1 anyway. it's kind of 50/50. At least you can stall Trick Room with him.

Cynthia- Specifically if she leads with her own lucario. The best move is to just go straight for the kill. If you win the speed tie it's easy. Otherwise d-dance and kill lucario hoping she doesn't send togekiss out next. If she does, hope that garchomp isn't 3rd. If so, gg golem.

Thing that I hated with other teams that are now non-threats

Double Teamers- Rockium z for that zapdos. CC for regigigas. Steel type existing for Cresselia.



So that is my lengthy write-up on this team I am very proud of. Very fun, exciting, fast-paced, capable team...if you can get a SP Golem that is.
Cool team, I'm guessing you did this on Ultra Sun because Slowbro (Dexio) is a lot more common in the other game. With this and the Omastar team from a while back, it's good to see people coming across to the idea that something like Substitute or a debuffing move on a lead is objectively better than some random coverage attack and in many cases allows you to clear battles more quickly than if you just mindlessly threw together a team where every moveslot is either a damaging or boosting move.
 
Cool team, I'm guessing you did this on Ultra Sun because Slowbro (Dexio) is a lot more common in the other game. With this and the Omastar team from a while back, it's good to see people coming across to the idea that something like Substitute or a debuffing move on a lead is objectively better than some random coverage attack and in many cases allows you to clear battles more quickly than if you just mindlessly threw together a team where every moveslot is either a damaging or boosting move.
It was Ultra Sun indeed. I shudder to think that the version of the game may in fact be critical to this team's success.

Substitute was t-punch for some things like slow things and non mega gyarados. Only when gyarados survived it did I join team sub for good
 
It was Ultra Sun indeed. I shudder to think that the version of the game may in fact be critical to this team's success.
It does sound funny, but the exclusive trainers (namely Dexio and Sina, though Guzma has some degree to this too) have some threats that are otherwise quite rare, expecially the dreaded Sina who is very lethal to a lot of Doubles comp due to her featuring a LOT of rng-inducing scenarios with Blizzard, Trick Room and freezes in general.
 
Well I think I got the Battle Tree Team MU Analysis sheet to a substantially improved enough point to share again now. Here is version 3!: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Mq6PmNnViq_-rmfFrkX8mXUC1K7xVEzbynPP8k4tS6Y/edit?usp=sharing

Basically trainer/pokemon ranges of appearance and damage calcs now implemented. That would just leave future enhancements regarding status moves, items, abilities, certain moves like Freeze-Dry etc. I can work on next, so that custom formulas or manually adjusted values won't be necessary anymore. Will take any other suggestions.
 
I made it to a battle 30 something in super single battles and my last Pokémon lost to a sceptile this a focus sash and endeavor and quick attack. I didn’t even know the battle tree could do that!
 
I made it to a battle 30 something in super single battles and my last Pokémon lost to a sceptile this a focus sash and endeavor and quick attack. I didn’t even know the battle tree could do that!
There's also a staraptor with that set but believe me, you saw nothing of the atrocities lurking there ... D:
 
This is more a vent than anything, I just lost my 3rd streak in a row on battle #32, unlucky number for me apparently. I'm just aiming to hit 50 in Super Singles without looking up sets or doing damage calculations (because I don't have that kind of dedication). I've got decent natures and good IVs, never really learned how to calculate EVs (note again my lack of dedication).

Current team:
Kartana, Rash(?)
Focus Sash
Leaf Blade
Sacred Sword
X-Scissor
Smart Strike


Dragonite, Jolly
Lum Berry
Arial Ace
Dragon Dance
Roost
Earthquake


Mimikyu, Adamant
Leftovers
Shadow Sneak
Play Rough
Protect
Curse
(thanks to whoever on this forum noted the usefulness of this)

I played with using Double Team instead of Protect on Mimikyu, didn't go all that well. Even after going +3 or 4 on evasion I was still taking more hits than made it worth it.

I think with a little luck I should be able to brute force my way to 50 wins. Could probably find a better item for Mimikyu, doesn't typically live long enough to really take advantage of leftovers. Basic plan is hyper offense with Kartana and Dragonite, when that won't work lay down curse on whatever is stalling me. Farms BP well enough at least.

Any gaping holes I should address? Overall I enjoy the team, but I do have some other decent mons I could switch in (again with favorable natures and at least good IVs): Metagross, Salamence, Tyranitar, All of the Tapus, Kommo-O, Aegislash, Suicuine and probably others I'm forgetting.
 

Eisenherz

επέκεινα της ουσίας
is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnus
Moderator
This is more a vent than anything, I just lost my 3rd streak in a row on battle #32, unlucky number for me apparently. I'm just aiming to hit 50 in Super Singles without looking up sets or doing damage calculations (because I don't have that kind of dedication). I've got decent natures and good IVs, never really learned how to calculate EVs (note again my lack of dedication).

Current team:
Kartana, Rash(?)
Focus Sash
Leaf Blade
Sacred Sword
X-Scissor
Smart Strike


Dragonite, Jolly
Lum Berry
Arial Ace
Dragon Dance
Roost
Earthquake


Mimikyu, Adamant
Leftovers
Shadow Sneak
Play Rough
Protect
Curse
(thanks to whoever on this forum noted the usefulness of this)

I played with using Double Team instead of Protect on Mimikyu, didn't go all that well. Even after going +3 or 4 on evasion I was still taking more hits than made it worth it.

I think with a little luck I should be able to brute force my way to 50 wins. Could probably find a better item for Mimikyu, doesn't typically live long enough to really take advantage of leftovers. Basic plan is hyper offense with Kartana and Dragonite, when that won't work lay down curse on whatever is stalling me. Farms BP well enough at least.

Any gaping holes I should address? Overall I enjoy the team, but I do have some other decent mons I could switch in (again with favorable natures and at least good IVs): Metagross, Salamence, Tyranitar, All of the Tapus, Kommo-O, Aegislash, Suicuine and probably others I'm forgetting.
This is definitely the kind of team that should be able to get you to 50 if you're willing to give it a few shots, however, I do think some things could be improved to make things easier on yourself:

- If possible, a Kartana with a nature that boosts a useful stat (attack or speed) would definitely help, ideally Jolly. I would suggest replacing X-Scissor with Knock Off if you have access to USUM tutors, since it offers better coverage and some utility as well.

- Dragonite should definitely be running Outrage, probably over Aerial Ace. After a Dragon Dance, Outrage can sweep through several teams on its own, and the Lum Berry will snap you out of confusion. You may want to consider leading Dragonite rather than Kartana, since Dragonite is not great as a switch-in (you don't want Multiscale broken). Since you're almost always going to boost with Dragon Dance, an Adamant Dragonite is probably better, but Jolly is fine if you can't be bothered.

- Mimikyu's best item here would most likely be a Z crystal. If you're playing in USUM, Mimikium Z is ideal, otherwise Fairium Z; both have the advantage of letting you use Play Rough without fear of missing. Substitute could be a nice option over Protect, not only would it allow Mimikyu to stall out a Curse turn if necessary, but it would prevent status moves from slower Pokémon, which I'm sure you noticed there are quite a few in the Tree. Alternatively, Mimikyu can make good use of Swords Dance, and the Disguise can be used to guarantee setting one up, so you may want to consider that.

Having maxed out EVs in relevant stats would certainly be a big help, have you considered using Poké Pelago for that?

I hope these tips are going to be helpful, good luck in your next attempts!
 
I think I must be mis-remembering Kartana's nature as I was pretty sure it's +speed. I've been meaning to hunt for a Jolly one but never got around to it. I'm in Ultra Sun, so I'll look into Knock Off.

Dragonite isn't running Outrage because of one bad experience. I was on a decent (for me) run and I'm down to just Dragonite, but +3 on on Dragon Dances so I'm feeling pretty good. Out comes Togekiss and I can't do anything. This is probably a bad reason not to run it in general but I was pretty annoyed. Aerial Ace is only mildly useful, but hits decently enough once set up, so no real attachment to it.

Substitute is definitely an option, this is my first time using a battle facility so I'm just learning as I go, but I have noticed a lot of people on here seem to use it pretty successfully.

Thanks for the tips. Actually let's make this a double thank you because you sent me a 6IV Ditto in your giveaway thread and it's saved me about a zillion hours in breeding.
 
Alright, I got a streak of 154 in Super Singles in Moon.
After playing around a lot with different teams, I finally landed on this one. I was a little disappointed that my teams with Shell Smash + Sturdy Crustle didn't make the cut. I thought for sure he was a part of a winning strategy, but there were just too many fast Pokemon that outsped even him (not to mention speed priority users). I also really like my Rash Pheromosa with Quiver Dance and Beast Boost (+SpA each kill), but type coverage was an issue.

1566443933040.png
Terrakion @ Focus Sash
Jolly Nature
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
- Close Combat
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance

A lot of the time he doesn't need to set up with Swords Dance to kill off the first Pokemon and give my team a 3-vs-2 advantage because STAB Close Combat is so powerful, but there are a lot of opponents that can take a hit, which is when I Swords Dance instead of attacking. Actually, as a general rule, always Swords Dance first unless:
* The opposing Pokemon will get OHKOed with any of Terrakion's attacking moves.
* The opposing Pokemon could be faster than Terrakion
* The opposing Pokemon could have Sturdy or a Focus Sash
Most of the time, except for Pokemon faster than 108 base speed (and can take a hit from Terrakion without fainting), it's a 3-vs-2 advantage, which I found to be extremely important in the Battle Tree.

1566443969281.png
Scizor ♂ @ Life Orb
Adamant Nature
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Attack / 4 Speed
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower

Standard Life Orb Scizor. One Swords Dance and he can kill off most anything that doesn't resist Bullet Punch. Bug Bite is for those that resist steel (but not bug). Superpower is for the occasion he needs to hit other steel types. He's basically the next in line because he can set up a Swords Dance on most Pokemon while still having half his HP left. The only times I won't use Scizor to set up or revenge kill are obviously on fire types which Salamence can. He does a phenomenal job against rocks, fairies, and ices, which is super nice to have with Mega Salamence on the back end.

1566443992982.png
Salamence ♂ @ Salamencite
Adamant Nature
Ability: Intimidate -> Aerilate
EVs: 100 HP / 252 Attack / 156 Speed
- Dragon Claw
- Return
- Earthquake
- Dragon Dance

Before I added him to the team, I kept getting wrecked by bulky fighting types because I simply didn't have the offense or defense to take them on. Like Scizor, one Dragon Dance and he can OHKO most things with Aerilated, STABed Return. I'll typically opt to set up with Salamence as opposed to Scizor on Fire and Fighting types. He and Scizor just complement each other so well (if they can get past Terrakion).


Obviously, this team's biggest weaknesses are Trick Room, the obnoxiously fast teams, and of course Water types which beat Scizor by resisting Bullet Punch and beat Salamence by always packing an ice type move. I survived a pretty good scare a couple of times during this run that I was completely convinced I was done for (No. 113 and No. 149).

No. 113 vs Collector Dennis: KD9W-WWWW-WWX9-VQMG
Basically, this battle was just me not thinking, so it really shouldn't have been as close as it was. He leads out with Porygon-Z, no problem to kill off with a quick Close Combat. Sends out dragonite, Rock Slide won't be good enough, and I forgot about ExtremeSpeed so Swords Danced, focus sashed and got dead by ExtremeSpeed (whoops!). Went with Salamence instead of Scizor since Dragonite could have Fire Punch, and I am glad I did. Intimidate cut Dragonite's attack well, but I forgot that Dragonite will be faster than my Salamence without Dragon Dancing. I naively used Dragon Claw which didn't even do half of Dragonite's HP, and Dragonite killed me the next turn. This is when I thought I was boned. The only reason Fire Punch didn't kill Scizor was because Salamence intimidated Dragonite (thank you). Swords Dance + Bullet Punch killed Dragonite, and I was just hoping that a water, fire, or electric type wouldn't be next. Luckily it was Tyrantrum which went down on one Bullet Punch.

No. 149 vs Raz: DMG-WWWW-WWX9-VRW9
Super speed team. Starts out with Accelgor (faster than Terrakion and will have a focus sash). Used Earthquake just to break the sash and got locked into an encore. Eh ok. Did another EQ and switched to Scizor (poor choice since fast teams will beat Terrakion no matter what). But anyway, I didn't want Scizor to be encored into Swords Dance, so I quickly revenge-killed with Bullet Punch. And comes out Noivern which always packs a Flamethrower. Crap, oh well. Bullet Punched away. Dragon Pulse from Noivern and Salamence is treading water. Dragon Dance + Dragon claw finishes off Noivern, and out comes Ribombee. Welp I lost... Dazzling gleam will kill my remaining two Pokemon. I probably should have invested a few more EVs into Salamence, but I made it before Gen 6 so I wasn't thinking about Mega Evolutions. Ribombee kills Salamence, and wait... it's slower than Terrakion? Oh it must be modest instead of timid. That was close.. too close. Terrakion Rock Slides Ribombee for the win.

LOSING BATTLE
No. 155 vs Veteran Demiathena: 44QW-WWWW-WWX9-VR9B
Sends out Latios, and there's no way Terrakion will OHKO Latios, so Swords Dance. Wait... Dope, Latios is faster than Terrakion. Oops. Psychic takes out Focus Sash, but at least it's choiced on Psychic since it didn't mega-evolve. Psychic deals out Terrakion's one last HP. Scizor resists Psychic so switch to him and Swords Dance + Bullet Punch. Let's hope the next Pokemon isn't Moltres... Well, Zapdos resists Bullet Punch too. Zapdos takes the Bullet Punch to over half HP, uses Thunder and misses (luckily). Bullet Punch finishes off Zapdos. ...And comes out Suicune. At this point I know I'm boned. Only hope is that Blizzard misses twice on Salamence. Bullet Punch and Scizor dies from a Surf. I send out Salamence as a final hope, and Blizzard kills him. Rock Slide instead of Swords Dance wouldn't have had an impact, so I'm not sure what I could've done differently besides switching to Salamence instead of Scizor to set up on the Psychic from Latios, but even then, Salamence and Scizor both would have a hard time against that bulky Suicune.

Alright, I'm off to finally go play Ultra Sun, breed and train up some new ones that I'm excited about. I'll figure out the doubles game eventually.
 
Last edited:
In doubles, this is where I'm at in my team building (yes I know I'm late to the party). I kind of really like the combination of Mega Charizard-Y with Choice Band Infernape. Flare Blitz & STAB & Choice Band & Drought has been working quite well as a non-setup sweeper (especially on his 3rd Flare Blitz thanks to Blaze). The thing is, I'm not sure what to have on the back-end. Currently, I've got Garchomp to deal with fire types, and I've tepidly got Thundurus because of Garchomp's EQ and he can Thunderbolt/Discharge/GrassKnot water types.

1566443489657.png
Charizard ♂ @ Charizardite Y
Timid Nature
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Protect
- Solar Beam

1566443451645.png
Infernape ♂ @ Choice Band
Jolly Nature
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

1566443760279.png
Thundurus @ Focus Sash
Timid Nature
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Special Attack / 252 Speed
- Thunderbolt
- Sludge Bomb
- Grass Knot
- Nasty Plot

1566443791228.png
Garchomp ♂ @ Lum Berry
Jolly Nature
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Swords Dance

It seems my collection of EV trained Pokemon might not be enough, so I'll be grabbing some more before Sword & Shield come out. But anyways, these are a couple of Megas with Adaptability I'm interested in making and trying out (for singles or doubles) because maybe I need a completely different strategy and also because I can imagine Mega Beedrill being really good in general. Yes, I am offensively-minded, thank you for asking.

1566443554429.png
Lucario @ Lucarionite
Jolly Nature
Ability: Steadfast -> Adaptability
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
- Close Combat
- Bullet Punch
- Ice Punch
- Swords Dance/Earthquake/Substitute

1566443370901.png
Beedrill @ Beedrillite
Jolly Nature
Ability: Swarm -> Adaptability
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
- X-Scissor
- Poison Jab
- Drill Run
- Fell Stinger
 
In doubles, this is where I'm at in my team building (yes I know I'm late to the party). I kind of really like the combination of Mega Charizard-Y with Choice Band Infernape. Flare Blitz & STAB & Choice Band & Drought has been working quite well as a non-setup sweeper (especially on his 3rd Flare Blitz thanks to Blaze). The thing is, I'm not sure what to have on the back-end. Currently, I've got Garchomp to deal with fire types, and I've tepidly got Thundurus because of Garchomp's EQ and he can Thunderbolt/Discharge/GrassKnot water types.
Your composition isn't that much different from what i've used at the time to hit 140 or so.

A couple optimizations you could do:
1) Ditch Heat Wave and Air Slash on Charizard. They're inaccurate and Charizard isn't exactly the bulky pokemon that can afford to miss. When running Sun, you really want to either break both leads or at least trade 2 for 1 in turn 1 outside of bulky enemies. Flamethrower hits significantly harder on single target than Heat Wave, and you can round up with either Dragon Pulse (so you're not walled by dragons), Ancient Power (allows you to actually damage Heatran on top of hitting a few fliers that resist fire on top of oneshotting Talonflame Moltres and opposer Charizards), or HP Ice/Ground. Also, a minimal investment in HP (iirc, something like 50 EV, I would need to recheck) allow Charizard to survive some unstabbed Rock slides, most notably Bronzong34's ones, which otherwise threatens to either setup TR or QC 1hko you, while not really losing much of anything in term of damage due to its already massive Spatk.
2) Infernape's attack is already quite decent and he is insanely squishy and going to kill himself with recoil anyway, so I would suggest ditching Band for Life Orb, and replacing one of the attacks (most likely Rock Slide) for Fake Out. Charizard's biggest vulnerability is its mediocre speed, and Fake Out can buy you that one turn against speedy trainers necessary to get going. (By the way, Aerodactyl34 and Garchomp3 right now can single handedly mow down your entire team, expecially if combined with a second dangerous lead, and unfortunately they're common enough to need consideration)
3) Change your Garchomp and Thundurus sets. Setup moves are sorta pointless on backline pokemon: when they're coming in, you're likely in istant need to kill something right away and potentially in desperation mode cause your lead just got killed or forced out. I would personally suggest Z-move on Garchomp (potentially ground) and just replace both setup moves with Protect or a 4th coverage. Do note that Thundurus is decently fast and gets access to Sky Drop, which while not doing much damage can be pretty precious in buying out a TR or weather turn to perform a swap, while another option could be Smack Down to let your Garchomp be able to hit fliers more easily with his main stab.
Z-move on Infernape and LO on Garchomp is also a possibility if you want a bigger chance to murder something turn one and don't mind the risk of not being able to use Earthquake while Infernape is still on the field.

Hope this helps. If you're curious of it, my streak with a very similar comp and a bigger analysis is available here
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...ion-and-records.3587215/page-112#post-7557884


Edit: Ah, I've tried to use Mega Beedrill, and contrary to what you'd expect, he's sadly terrible. He's super fast, but not fast enough to get the jump on scarfers, and his stabs are awful. You'd be surprised by how many times it does basically nothing turn 1 :(
 
Last edited:
I'm going to be streaming soon. Will start off with a battle video or two before trying to add to the streak (currently at 4260).

Link

The beginning of the stream showed the video of the most dramatic battle of the streak. Battle summary: Scarf Entei KOed Durant, Glalie wasn't able to KO the Thundurus on the switch-in because of negative Accuracy boosts, Thundurus hit Glalie with a Prankster Taunt (through +4 or +5 Evasion) the turn it got KOed, Entei hit Glalie again the following turn to break its Substitute and with negative Sp. Def boosts and no ability to Sub/Protect stall I had to switch to Mimikyu, the Tornadus that came in had Supersonic Skystrike and OHKOed Mimikyu (3/8ths damage roll) before it could move, and then all that crazy bad luck was largely undone the following turn when Glalie used Protect and got a Speed boost.
 
Last edited:
Is mega Charizard Y viable in singles? If yes, what are some good teammates for it? Does it need checks for electric?
Realistically not. He's too slow and without a reliable way to setup, even with a neutered lead. Its high spatk, while neat, isn't anywhere enough to oneshot certain rock types (expecially Tyranitar and Terrakion) which threaten to 1hko it right away and severely dent almost anything you may want to swap in.
X would be borderline usable with neutered leads since it can abuse Dragon Dance and Roost, basically working similarly to Salamence, but Y would just work in short-term hyperaggressive combos.
 
Could anyone help me assemble a team from these mons for super doubles? Completed super single using mega Scizor, Garchomp and Toxapex.
Greatful for any help, natures, abilities, attacks, evs ivs and items.
192967
192968
 
Last edited:
Could anyone help me assemble a team from these mons for super doubles? Completed super single using mega Scizor, Garchomp and Toxapex.
Greatful for any help, natures, abilities, attacks, evs ivs and items.
View attachment 192967View attachment 192968
Slowking @ Lum Berry
Oblivious or Regenerator
Sassy (252 HP 4 Def 252 SpD)
0 Speed IV
Trick Room
Scald
Disable/Psychic
Heal Pulse/After You

Incineroar @ Figy Berry/Assault Vest
Intimidate
Brave (252 HP 252 Atk 4 SpD)
0 Speed IV
Fake Out
Flare Blitz
Knock Off/Darkest Lariat
Low Kick

Metagross @ Assault Vest/Iron Ball
Brave (252 HP 252 Atk 4 SpD)
Clear Body
0 Speed IV
Meteor Mash
Zen Headbutt
Earthquake
Ice Punch

Vikavolt @ Life Orb
Quiet (252 HP 4 Def 252 SpA)
Levitate
0 Speed IV
Thunderbolt
Bug Buzz
Energy Ball
Protect/Flash Cannon/Charge Beam

The idea is to FO Taunt or Rock Slide users, or prevent Slowking from eating supereffective Z moves. From there, you damage what you can and safely switch if possible and let Vikavolt do its thing, which is murder. Don't underestimate neutral hits off that LO; it is extremely strong.

Disable off that 31 speed is pretty useful and can be used to deactivate annoying moves, while After You benefits pokes with poorer TR speeds, namely Incineroar, and will allow it to outspeed and KO Escavalier or a Ramblin' Evil Mushroom (those spores will be your downfall if you let them!) Oblivious is immensely good for its Taunt blocking, while Regen is better for giving second chances if you can't prevent a flinch.

Intimidate will do a lot for Slowking, and take it from me: base 95/80 fully invested survives a lot of STAB supereffective hits, Thunder and Bug Buzz and the like, and Slowking is rocking 95/110, a nice spike over Bro. I am one of the few people who condemns Uturn on Incin, especially in a role with a movepool which allows it to deal huge or fatal damage to things like Tyranitar or Snorlax. Knock Off rarely fails to be a poorer option, but Darkest Lariat will ignore Minimize/DT and Curse.

Metagross with an Assault Vest is very bulky and is still able to wreck stuff outside of its mega form. Another beneficiary of After You, but whenever possible your killing should fall onto Vikavolt. The main perk to Gross is switching him into powerful rock users.

TR is my bread and butter and I would probably run a randomly assembled team like this. I believe it's easily capable of 50 wins, with some getting accustomed.

You have a few more excellent TR pokes, like Azumarill, Dragalge and Lurantis.
 
Slowking @ Lum Berry
Oblivious or Regenerator
Sassy (252 HP 4 Def 252 SpD)
0 Speed IV
Trick Room
Scald
Disable/Psychic
Heal Pulse/After You

Incineroar @ Figy Berry/Assault Vest
Intimidate
Brave (252 HP 252 Atk 4 SpD)
0 Speed IV
Fake Out
Flare Blitz
Knock Off/Darkest Lariat
Low Kick

Metagross @ Assault Vest/Iron Ball
Brave (252 HP 252 Atk 4 SpD)
Clear Body
0 Speed IV
Meteor Mash
Zen Headbutt
Earthquake
Ice Punch

Vikavolt @ Life Orb
Quiet (252 HP 4 Def 252 SpA)
Levitate
0 Speed IV
Thunderbolt
Bug Buzz
Energy Ball
Protect/Flash Cannon/Charge Beam

The idea is to FO Taunt or Rock Slide users, or prevent Slowking from eating supereffective Z moves. From there, you damage what you can and safely switch if possible and let Vikavolt do its thing, which is murder. Don't underestimate neutral hits off that LO; it is extremely strong.

Disable off that 31 speed is pretty useful and can be used to deactivate annoying moves, while After You benefits pokes with poorer TR speeds, namely Incineroar, and will allow it to outspeed and KO Escavalier or a Ramblin' Evil Mushroom (those spores will be your downfall if you let them!) Oblivious is immensely good for its Taunt blocking, while Regen is better for giving second chances if you can't prevent a flinch.

Intimidate will do a lot for Slowking, and take it from me: base 95/80 fully invested survives a lot of STAB supereffective hits, Thunder and Bug Buzz and the like, and Slowking is rocking 95/110, a nice spike over Bro. I am one of the few people who condemns Uturn on Incin, especially in a role with a movepool which allows it to deal huge or fatal damage to things like Tyranitar or Snorlax. Knock Off rarely fails to be a poorer option, but Darkest Lariat will ignore Minimize/DT and Curse.

Metagross with an Assault Vest is very bulky and is still able to wreck stuff outside of its mega form. Another beneficiary of After You, but whenever possible your killing should fall onto Vikavolt. The main perk to Gross is switching him into powerful rock users.

TR is my bread and butter and I would probably run a randomly assembled team like this. I believe it's easily capable of 50 wins, with some getting accustomed.

You have a few more excellent TR pokes, like Azumarill, Dragalge and Lurantis.
Thank you!
 
So I have decided to tackle the Battle Tree before SwSh gets here. I want to get to 100 wins in Doubles and at least to the 50 I need in Singles. Maybe, I'll try for the Multi as well, if I can.

My Doubles Team will be the one I beat all Maisons and Trees since XY, Aron/Dusclops/Mega Kanga/Conkeldurr.

However, since I'm trying to learn how to better play Singles 3x3, I'm in doubt of which team to use. Currently, the one I'm using (just got to 10 wins - nothing, I know) is the one below:

Tapu Lele @Psychium Z
Psychic Surge
Timid (252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP)
-Psychic
-ShadowBall
-Energy Ball
-Moonblast

Umbreon @ Leftovers
Synchronize
Careful (252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Def)
-Wish
-Protect
-Foul Play
-Toxic

Salamence @ Salamencite
Intimidate
Naive (164 Atk / 92 SpA / 252 Spe)
-Flamethrower
-Hyper Voice
-Draco Meteor
-Crunch

Can you tell me if it's a well-rounded team to at least get the stamp?

If not, how should I change it?

Thanks a bunch!
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 5)

Top