I had nothing to do, because VGC season is ever for quit a while and X and Y come out in more than a month, so I decided to give the Subway another try. I wanted to use something else then what I used before and decided to give Breloom a shot. No one has a record here on Smogon with Breloom, which kind of surprised me seeing how great it is in VGC. So without futher ado, here is what I used.
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Trait: Technician
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Spore
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Protect
As soon as I decided on Breloom I knew that I had to lead with it. The main reason the use Breloom is of course Spore, so using it as a lead with a Focus Sash almost guarantees one sleeping Pokemon on the opposing side on turn 1. The set is probably self-explanatory, with both attacking moves getting boosted by Technician. Breloom seems to be a bit insecure, because of the sleeping turns of Spore and the quantity of hits from Bullet Seed, but it still works really well. You just have to account for first turn wake-ups and for Bullet Seeds which hit 2 times. Never expect it to be more, because it will bite you when you need them the most.
Darmanitan @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Rock Slide
-
Super Power / Earthquake
As a partner for Breloom I wanted a Pokemon who would be faster than most of the Subway (specifically faster then 110 base Speed) and could almost always KO at least one Pokemon on the other side, so that in an ideal situation, I would end up with one Pokemon KOd and one Pokemon sleeping. I also wanted the Pokemon at least be neutral against Ice, because I don’t like leading with two ice weak Pokemon in the Subway. This leaves a really small list of Pokemon, and Darmanitan is probably the best Pick. It does literally everything I asked my second lead Pokemon to do and even better. Flare Blitz is god, because it KO’s almost everything it hits neutral and when using Flare Blitz it is even immune to freezes. U-turn is used when he can’t KO one of the opposing Pokemon (mostly against dragons and waters). Rock Slide and Earthquake are for Fire Pokemon, who are otherwise pretty hard to deal with. I first used Superpower but I noticed that it was useless and Earthquake could hit Fire Pokemon when I really needed it (especially against something like Chandelure, who is a really big threat). The best thing about Darmanitan is the synergy with Breloom, which is absolutely amazing. Breloom has Super Effective moves on all types Darmanitan is weak to (Water, Ground and Rock) and Darmanitan just KO’s almost all the Pokemon Breloom has trouble with. The only thing they don’t cover are Dragons and Gyarados, but the back-row can handle that.
Latios @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Dragon Pulse
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
I needed something to take care of Dragons and Gyarados, so Latios was an easy pick. It can also switch in for Darmanitan after the U-turn, if I expect a Water or Ground move. The set is again pretty standard. Choice Specs is just the best Item for Latios because you will be using Dragon Pulse most of the time. Every other move is kind of filler. I am debating to chance Grass Knot for Shadow Ball, because it has a chance to KO 252 HP Chandelure and will KO after a Bullet Punch from Scizor. Latios is also really strong next to Darmanitan with very Strong Choiced Fire and Dragon moves.
Scizor @ Life Orb
Trait: Technician
EVs: 92 HP / 252 Atk / 164 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Superpower
- Protect
This Pokemon was just thrown in because I knew it worked alongside Latios. Scizor did his job well, and dual priority is really nice with Breloom. Every move is standard and does what they have to do. I do think I am going to try something else here, because Chandelure is really dangerous, especially in combination with (the threat of) Trick Room (I lost twice because of that exact combination). I think I will try something else next, who can deal better with Chandelure in this spot. Still have to decide which one it will be, but I will try again.
Random notes about the team:
- This team is incredible fast. Having Darmanitan outspeed anything, 2 Priority users and Latios, this team has no problem with other fast Pokemon.
- As a result to the above, you can’t let TR go up, because it will spell doom with 2 (fast) Choice Pokemon. Luckily it is easily avoidable. Breloom can Spore most Trick Roomers and those that have a Lum Berry can be KOd by a combination of attacks from Breloom and Darmanitan, although you sometimes need 3 hits from Bullet Seed to accomplish that.
- Chandelure is by far the biggest threat, having SE coverage on three and being immune to Flare Blitz, Mach Punch and resisting everything from Breloom and Scizor. No Pokemon in my team is able to KO it and one holds a Chesto Berry and is really fast (although Latios walls that Chandelure luckily).
- Intimidate is really annoying because Darmanitan can’t get the kills it normally has. Most Intimidaters are also pretty bulky and only Latios can deal with them (Salamence, Arcanine and Gyarados specifically).
The battle I lost:
Psychic Zaya (Gothitelle, Slowking, Claydoll, Chandelure)
Turn 1: Darmanitan FB Gothitelle KO, Breloom Spore Slowking Lum, Slowking TR
Turn 2: Slowking Psychic Breloom Sash, Claydoll EQ, both KOd some damage to Slowking
Turn 3: Slowking Ice Beam Latios, Claydoll Rock Slide, Scizor Bug Bite KO Slowking, Latios DP Claydoll
Turn 4: Scizor BP Claydoll KO, Chandelure Heat Wave, Scizor KO, Latios 10 HP, Latios DP
Turn 5: Chandelure Shadow Ball KO.
I made a huge mistake turn one, because I always KO Slowking with the combination of U-turn and Bullet Seed. It was 2 AM and got overconfident. Had I killed the Slowking, the battle would have been really easy.
This match was also battle 200 so I only needed one more battle to break my goal of 200. I will try again though, so let's see if I can break the 200 before X and Y come out.
proof: