Hi everyone! Finally, we here.
This is the first article I write on this site and I'm sure I forgot something or made mistakes here and there.
For this reason, all the help that may come is well accepted.
Moreover, if someone has doubts on certain points/spreads/strategies, write me without hesitations.
What I present to all of you is an ended streak of 1090 wins in Battle Tower Singles, at Emerald Battle Frontier from Gen 3.
Like probably anyone who's reading such contents, I grew up as a child playing Emerald on my GBA, falling in love an spending a lot of really good time on it.
I rediscovered this beatiful game after years moved by one reason:boredom achieving all the coveted Gold Symbols!
Honestly, I already had the Gold ones from the Tower and the Dome (my favourite ones), get with some ignorant, fat teams I don't even exactly remember; the most difficult part to me was getting Pokémons strong enough to push through other facilities.
This forced me to learn how to breed (I spent more hours than what I'm ready to admit just for my first x/31/x/x/31/31 Slaking) and, after that, I've discovered RNG manipulation (thanks, Smogon articles!) that let me obtain flawless shiny Pokémons, mainly by breeding.
After I managed to collect my trainer badges, I wasn't fully satisfied, I was still searching for a challenging mission, so I came back to my first love, the Battle Tower Singles, that I haven't touched since 2006 more or less.
I don't have regrets, neither from my last game and choices.
It was a great ride, 1090 wins are way more than I expected and probably deserved, but I really enjoyed it, even if it took away for a couple of months my wish to play a Pokémon game.
Now I'm having fun with Battle Tower Doubles on Emerald, I think it's the perfect place where a creative builder can really try out the craziest stuff.
Lastly, shoutouts to everyone on this site who provides such good materials and contents, your work is great and I'll never stop to be amazed by that.
Thanks for reading, writing it up was funnier than I thought.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed!
This is the first article I write on this site and I'm sure I forgot something or made mistakes here and there.
For this reason, all the help that may come is well accepted.
Moreover, if someone has doubts on certain points/spreads/strategies, write me without hesitations.
What I present to all of you is an ended streak of 1090 wins in Battle Tower Singles, at Emerald Battle Frontier from Gen 3.
Like probably anyone who's reading such contents, I grew up as a child playing Emerald on my GBA, falling in love an spending a lot of really good time on it.
I rediscovered this beatiful game after years moved by one reason:
Honestly, I already had the Gold ones from the Tower and the Dome (my favourite ones), get with some ignorant, fat teams I don't even exactly remember; the most difficult part to me was getting Pokémons strong enough to push through other facilities.
This forced me to learn how to breed (I spent more hours than what I'm ready to admit just for my first x/31/x/x/31/31 Slaking) and, after that, I've discovered RNG manipulation (thanks, Smogon articles!) that let me obtain flawless shiny Pokémons, mainly by breeding.
After I managed to collect my trainer badges, I wasn't fully satisfied, I was still searching for a challenging mission, so I came back to my first love, the Battle Tower Singles, that I haven't touched since 2006 more or less.
My first "mature" team was very close to the ones from my childhood, I guess:
Salamence @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Agility
- Earthquake
- Explosion
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Surf
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
Aaand yes...it sucks in my humble opinion. It's the classic "some good ones stuck togheter" team, made just taking in consideration high Base Stats and some defensive types synergies.
No chances of reliable streaks. Too weak to OHKO moves users, weak to Double Team abusers (despite the Aerial Ace on the lead), weak to Snorlax, no speed control over 299.
I barely reached 70 wins with this one, so I started thinking out about some better strategies based on what destroy me at every try.
After that, I was convinced that Lapras, Walrein and Snorlax were the 3 most broken Mons in the whole Tower, so I was searching for an answer to them.
That led to my second team:
Blaziken @ Choice Band
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Brick Break
- Overheat
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Zapdos @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Toxic
- Substitute
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
At least, it's fun to use.
But yes, it was useless in a "competitive streak" speech. I really liked the Fighting Banded lead, but the answers to most of the previous team's problems still lacked.
Moreover, I was particularly weak to strong special attackers, like Lati@s.
So I did an easy research (I swear, I checked Smogon RSE OU list of Pokémons searching for a Special wall) and found out Blissey. I liked the idea to put a strong Choice Bander, a fast Special sweeper and a wall who could also check physical attackers, so that's the result:
Medicham @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Fake Out
- Shadow Ball
- Rock Slide
Latios @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Claw
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Counter
- Thunder Wave
P.S.: I have to thank one dear friend of mine who got an Emerald cartridge with an Eon Ticket (because it was sent to Nintendo Italia), and with a Latios not caught on it. He gave it to me because he stopped playing years ago, and without that Latios and that test cartridge I wouldn't have done this record.
Finally, things started to work.
Blissey was broken and two Psychic Pokémons (Latios in particular, I know) could easily check her Fighting weakness. The team wasn't that bad, I reached 140 wins and lost to Lapras 8, appeared while I had already sacked Medicham. All things considered, I was pretty confident.
Checking online what were the records, I found Hozu's spreadsheet and my head blown.
If you've paid attention, until this moment I've always used the most straightforward spread for my mons and didn't actually knows opponent sets, I thought they were casual (!).
This changed eveything.
I decided to modify my team to make it as haxproof as possible. This is what came out:
PUGILE (Medicham) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Fake Out
- Shadow Ball
- Swift
KEITH MOON (Latios) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Shock Wave
- Surf
APNEA (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Defense Curl
- Thunder Wave
A few explanations:
-Swift and Shock Wave replace 2 underused coverage moves and make the matchups against Double-Team spammers with Leftovers easier (I usually made Regis/Ludicolo/Suicune... run out of PP against Blissey and switches, and then killed them with those moves), Surf is definitely the best coverage on this Latios' set;
-Defense Curl is a bet. If Blissey has just a little chance to set up (and she can set up on 95% of Tower's foes), its value is unbeatable, BUT if opponent has only fat, strong physical hitters, it's detrimental not to have Counter.
-While not having Sturdy users, this team can outspeed and OHKO all the OHKO moves users, soft checking them until the omnipresent Quick Claw activates.
This team, so easy to use, reached 420 wins with the aknowledge of opponent sets and trainer's available Pokémons.
So, why did I change it while my run was still up?Boredom.
No, jokes apart, as predicted I found a team full of heavy-hitters (I think Aero+Hera+Gross) and Blissey won alone dodging a Megahorn and not getting Critted/Atk-Boosted by Meteor Mash (with the Tower level of Hax, I consider lucky even dodging 2 crits/boost in a bad situation).
After that, I realized that something had to change. It's not for the streak itself, with bad luck/crit/OHKO every streak could end (even my 1090 one could've been stopped way before, I'm aware I didn't discover the trick to "beat the game"), but I felt like I had to say to myself "I lost because of BS, not beacuse Game's team was stronger than mine".
I don't know if I can explain myself on this point, but that's what moved on in my mind.
Then I started to search, create, teambuild, test (all of that would have been impossible without my second cartridge, but again, thanks Daniel).
I needed something who can deal with Double Team, check as much as possible the OHKO moves, overpower opponents.
I could write another 4 articles on thetrash squads I built and tested, but then I found something interesting: a team used by Team Rocket Elite's in Platinum Battle Tower
I loved his strategy, the idea behind it, I wanted to bring it in Gen 3, even if, with Focus Sash, Gengar in DPP Tower is a pure beast.
Just two thing:
-Destiny Bonding when you have an advantage on the opponent is great, but creating it with Blissey as the "staying Mon" is too passive for the haxy Emerald Tower, I preferred a more offensive presence. That led me to the single strongest Mon allowed on the Frontier (sorry, Latios): Slaking.
With Choice Band, the list of OHKOs he achieves is just ridiculous.
-Secondly, I think that Destiny Bond is great for making an exchange of Pokémons, but it can be quite unreliable on setup sweepers, status users and leech seeders. For this reason, I opted for Perish Song on Gengar (who seriously has an amazing movepool).
Now, I had 2/3 of the new team, I needed my 3rd Destiny Bonder/Utility Pokémon.
I opted for Gardevoir for some good reasons: vaste movepool, useful typing for my Slaking lead, nice speed tier (she outspeeds Lati@s and moves first with Destiny Bond against all of the OHKO move users with my spread).
This was my first version of the definitive team:
SIMBA (Slaking) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball
- Hyper Beam
PARLAMI (Gardevoir) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Destiny Bond
- Rest
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
SOLILOQUIO (Gengar) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Destiny Bond
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Mean Look
While far from flawless, it did his job.
I feel comfortable playing with it, but some battle were just ENDLESS because I couldn't Perish trap effectively and 2 out of 3 of my team didn't have any sort of damaging move outside of Will-O-Wisp.
After 100 wins on test cartridge, I cloned the team with the Battle Tower Glitch and then I moved it on my official Emerald cartridge with an active streak of 4-hundred-something wins.
This gave me the possibility to keep testing on, while I could also start doing a few "real" matches.
Then it happened, I found a Tyranitar 4 who simply survived my (low rolling) CB EQ, critted Slaking and QC Crunched Gengar. I brutally lost in 2 moves.
Luckily, it was on the test cartridge, while I was sporadically using this team even on the official streak.
I immediately put Brick Break on Slaking, sacrificing Shadow Ball (Gengar and Misdreavus were not such threatening, especially for Rest Gardevoir).
Moreover, I needed something that synergized with the squad strategy better than Gardevoir, otherwise Perish Song would have been just a poor man's Yawn in too many situations.
That could only lead to one Pokémon: Wobbuffet, the perfect trapper thanks to Shadow Tag, with a good defensive typing for the team, Destiny Bond (a bit too slow, but still Destiny Bond), Encore that lets gengar pseudo-set up, and her own pseudo-attacking moves.
She definitely deserved that open spot on the team!
So, I end up with the final team that wins more than 600 games in a row.
P.S.: I noticed that on my previous post on Golden Blissey Record thread I wrote a different Slaking set, with SB over BB, and you can see this moveset also in the video of my 1036th win on YouTube.
That's because I switched those moves: I had already passed the 1000 wins benchmark, so I felt free to experiment something even on official streak and I used this variant for two or three series of 7 matches.
I've tried Slaking with Shadow Ball, just because I thought that generally Rest Gardevoir performed better against Gengar/Misdreavus, while Encore Wobbuffet had a slightly better matchup against Tyranitar.
In particular, Gengar 1 required some right switches and predictions, Gengar 2 (the Physical attacker) was the hardest to face without Shadow Ball from my side and it was often taken away only by Destiny Bond.
I did that change after a long, hard match against a team with both those two Levitating Ghost-types.
However, I proved that I was wrong, because while it's true that Ghosts required less time to get through, Tyranitar was always too hard to scout, it had too many favourable rolls against Earthquake and a set 4 with a bit of luck from its side could have badly slaughtered my team, so I quickly returned to Brick Break.
My bad, I simply wrote it on the thread basing on what I was actually using at that moment, without explaining this important detail.
It was not a way to trick people or hide the actual sets, otherwise we wouldn't be here now.
At the end of the day, I strongly suggest Brick Break at Lv.100 even with Wobbuffet.
I will continue this analysis using the BB set, that is the one I used for most of the streak and I definitely took some useless risks in my very few matches without it.
Salamence @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Aerial Ace
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Agility
- Earthquake
- Explosion
Milotic @ Leftovers
Ability: Marvel Scale
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Surf
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
Aaand yes...it sucks in my humble opinion. It's the classic "some good ones stuck togheter" team, made just taking in consideration high Base Stats and some defensive types synergies.
No chances of reliable streaks. Too weak to OHKO moves users, weak to Double Team abusers (despite the Aerial Ace on the lead), weak to Snorlax, no speed control over 299.
I barely reached 70 wins with this one, so I started thinking out about some better strategies based on what destroy me at every try.
After that, I was convinced that Lapras, Walrein and Snorlax were the 3 most broken Mons in the whole Tower, so I was searching for an answer to them.
That led to my second team:
Blaziken @ Choice Band
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Brick Break
- Overheat
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
Zapdos @ Lum Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Toxic
- Substitute
Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
At least, it's fun to use.
But yes, it was useless in a "competitive streak" speech. I really liked the Fighting Banded lead, but the answers to most of the previous team's problems still lacked.
Moreover, I was particularly weak to strong special attackers, like Lati@s.
So I did an easy research (I swear, I checked Smogon RSE OU list of Pokémons searching for a Special wall) and found out Blissey. I liked the idea to put a strong Choice Bander, a fast Special sweeper and a wall who could also check physical attackers, so that's the result:
Medicham @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Fake Out
- Shadow Ball
- Rock Slide
Latios @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Dragon Claw
Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Counter
- Thunder Wave
P.S.: I have to thank one dear friend of mine who got an Emerald cartridge with an Eon Ticket (because it was sent to Nintendo Italia), and with a Latios not caught on it. He gave it to me because he stopped playing years ago, and without that Latios and that test cartridge I wouldn't have done this record.
Finally, things started to work.
Blissey was broken and two Psychic Pokémons (Latios in particular, I know) could easily check her Fighting weakness. The team wasn't that bad, I reached 140 wins and lost to Lapras 8, appeared while I had already sacked Medicham. All things considered, I was pretty confident.
Checking online what were the records, I found Hozu's spreadsheet and my head blown.
If you've paid attention, until this moment I've always used the most straightforward spread for my mons and didn't actually knows opponent sets, I thought they were casual (!).
This changed eveything.
I decided to modify my team to make it as haxproof as possible. This is what came out:
PUGILE (Medicham) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Pure Power
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brick Break
- Fake Out
- Shadow Ball
- Swift
KEITH MOON (Latios) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Shock Wave
- Surf
APNEA (Blissey) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Defense Curl
- Thunder Wave
A few explanations:
-Swift and Shock Wave replace 2 underused coverage moves and make the matchups against Double-Team spammers with Leftovers easier (I usually made Regis/Ludicolo/Suicune... run out of PP against Blissey and switches, and then killed them with those moves), Surf is definitely the best coverage on this Latios' set;
-Defense Curl is a bet. If Blissey has just a little chance to set up (and she can set up on 95% of Tower's foes), its value is unbeatable, BUT if opponent has only fat, strong physical hitters, it's detrimental not to have Counter.
-While not having Sturdy users, this team can outspeed and OHKO all the OHKO moves users, soft checking them until the omnipresent Quick Claw activates.
This team, so easy to use, reached 420 wins with the aknowledge of opponent sets and trainer's available Pokémons.
So, why did I change it while my run was still up?
No, jokes apart, as predicted I found a team full of heavy-hitters (I think Aero+Hera+Gross) and Blissey won alone dodging a Megahorn and not getting Critted/Atk-Boosted by Meteor Mash (with the Tower level of Hax, I consider lucky even dodging 2 crits/boost in a bad situation).
After that, I realized that something had to change. It's not for the streak itself, with bad luck/crit/OHKO every streak could end (even my 1090 one could've been stopped way before, I'm aware I didn't discover the trick to "beat the game"), but I felt like I had to say to myself "I lost because of BS, not beacuse Game's team was stronger than mine".
I don't know if I can explain myself on this point, but that's what moved on in my mind.
Then I started to search, create, teambuild, test (all of that would have been impossible without my second cartridge, but again, thanks Daniel).
I needed something who can deal with Double Team, check as much as possible the OHKO moves, overpower opponents.
I could write another 4 articles on the
Just two thing:
-Destiny Bonding when you have an advantage on the opponent is great, but creating it with Blissey as the "staying Mon" is too passive for the haxy Emerald Tower, I preferred a more offensive presence. That led me to the single strongest Mon allowed on the Frontier (sorry, Latios): Slaking.
With Choice Band, the list of OHKOs he achieves is just ridiculous.
-Secondly, I think that Destiny Bond is great for making an exchange of Pokémons, but it can be quite unreliable on setup sweepers, status users and leech seeders. For this reason, I opted for Perish Song on Gengar (who seriously has an amazing movepool).
Now, I had 2/3 of the new team, I needed my 3rd Destiny Bonder/Utility Pokémon.
I opted for Gardevoir for some good reasons: vaste movepool, useful typing for my Slaking lead, nice speed tier (she outspeeds Lati@s and moves first with Destiny Bond against all of the OHKO move users with my spread).
This was my first version of the definitive team:
SIMBA (Slaking) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Earthquake
- Shadow Ball
- Hyper Beam
PARLAMI (Gardevoir) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Destiny Bond
- Rest
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
SOLILOQUIO (Gengar) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Destiny Bond
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Mean Look
While far from flawless, it did his job.
I feel comfortable playing with it, but some battle were just ENDLESS because I couldn't Perish trap effectively and 2 out of 3 of my team didn't have any sort of damaging move outside of Will-O-Wisp.
After 100 wins on test cartridge, I cloned the team with the Battle Tower Glitch and then I moved it on my official Emerald cartridge with an active streak of 4-hundred-something wins.
This gave me the possibility to keep testing on, while I could also start doing a few "real" matches.
Then it happened, I found a Tyranitar 4 who simply survived my (low rolling) CB EQ, critted Slaking and QC Crunched Gengar. I brutally lost in 2 moves.
Luckily, it was on the test cartridge, while I was sporadically using this team even on the official streak.
I immediately put Brick Break on Slaking, sacrificing Shadow Ball (Gengar and Misdreavus were not such threatening, especially for Rest Gardevoir).
Moreover, I needed something that synergized with the squad strategy better than Gardevoir, otherwise Perish Song would have been just a poor man's Yawn in too many situations.
That could only lead to one Pokémon: Wobbuffet, the perfect trapper thanks to Shadow Tag, with a good defensive typing for the team, Destiny Bond (a bit too slow, but still Destiny Bond), Encore that lets gengar pseudo-set up, and her own pseudo-attacking moves.
She definitely deserved that open spot on the team!
So, I end up with the final team that wins more than 600 games in a row.
P.S.: I noticed that on my previous post on Golden Blissey Record thread I wrote a different Slaking set, with SB over BB, and you can see this moveset also in the video of my 1036th win on YouTube.
That's because I switched those moves: I had already passed the 1000 wins benchmark, so I felt free to experiment something even on official streak and I used this variant for two or three series of 7 matches.
I've tried Slaking with Shadow Ball, just because I thought that generally Rest Gardevoir performed better against Gengar/Misdreavus, while Encore Wobbuffet had a slightly better matchup against Tyranitar.
In particular, Gengar 1 required some right switches and predictions, Gengar 2 (the Physical attacker) was the hardest to face without Shadow Ball from my side and it was often taken away only by Destiny Bond.
I did that change after a long, hard match against a team with both those two Levitating Ghost-types.
However, I proved that I was wrong, because while it's true that Ghosts required less time to get through, Tyranitar was always too hard to scout, it had too many favourable rolls against Earthquake and a set 4 with a bit of luck from its side could have badly slaughtered my team, so I quickly returned to Brick Break.
My bad, I simply wrote it on the thread basing on what I was actually using at that moment, without explaining this important detail.
It was not a way to trick people or hide the actual sets, otherwise we wouldn't be here now.
At the end of the day, I strongly suggest Brick Break at Lv.100 even with Wobbuffet.
I will continue this analysis using the BB set, that is the one I used for most of the streak and I definitely took some useless risks in my very few matches without it.
DANS MACABRE
SIMBA (Slaking) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
- Brick Break
- Hyper Beam
6 A.M. (Gengar) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Destiny Bond
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Mean Look
LUNEDI' (Wobbuffet) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
- Destiny Bond
SIMBA (Slaking) (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Truant
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Double-Edge
- Brick Break
- Hyper Beam
6 A.M. (Gengar) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Levitate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Destiny Bond
- Perish Song
- Protect
- Mean Look
LUNEDI' (Wobbuffet) (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Shadow Tag
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 136 Def / 120 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Encore
- Mirror Coat
- Counter
- Destiny Bond
THE SETS
SIMBA (Slaking)
The lead is easy to understand and explain.
Adamant nature, maximized Atk (252 EVs) and Speed (252 EVs).
The moveset needs Double-Edge for the OHKOs it gets over Return (I don't care about recoil that much, the most important thing for this squad is the 3v2 on the opening move) and Hyper Beam for some extra needed power.
I already explained the coverage, I use Earthquake for general synergy with Normal (Brick Break alone is too weak even if its coverage is the same), and BB only for Tyranitar, leaving Slaking useless against Gengar/Misdreavus (easily handled by the rest of the team).
Please note that Earthquake is stronger than Normal coverage only if it's super effective AND the target resists Normal.
As I will further say, I think that this team performs better at Lv.50: better calcs, NO TYRANITAR and no Dragonite (that sometimes can be annoying with Thunder Wave).
Banded Slaking is the most powerful Pokémon, I won't put calcs now but they simply show how broken he is.
In fact, the interesting and useful thing to know approaching the team is the list of enemies that ARE NOT OHKOed by Slaking:
-Gengar and Misdreavus are untouchable,
-some Metagross,
-Armaldo,
-Regirock,
-Scizor,
-Forretress,
-Cradily,
-Registeel,
-Duscolps,
-Sableye,
-Shedinja,
-Skarmory,
-Slaking itself,
-Steelix,
-Umbreon,
-some Rock Type (Golem, Rhydon, Shuckle...)
A special mention goes to Lapras 8/Walrein 3, who can Quick Claw OHKO me, and I have a particular strategy for them.
Walrein 4 can dodge attacks thanks to Brightpowder and has Sheer Cold too, but at least it cannot outspeed Gengar.
Another mention goes to the tricky opponent lead with Focus Band+Counter (Machamp Hariyama, Heracross), who forces Slaking out immediately, but also are very easily handleable by the rest of the team (unlike Lapras if it's set 8 on lead).
I usually switch out even when foe's lead is a faster Special attacker that can OHKO if it gets a Critical Hit, like some Espeon's or Starmie's sets.
Moreover, Slaking is often retired also against dangerous opponents that may hold Brightpowder.
The bolded Pokémons are the biggest threats to this team, and a squad made by 2 out of 3 of this Mons ended the streak.
If Slaking gets the first kill, the match is already won.
This team is built for capitalizing from this advantageous position.
6 A.M. (Gengar)
Gengar is the star, the center of this team, the reason it works, the planets travel around him.
I love this Pokémon, his versatility, his unpredictability.
This set is very bulky: reached 340 speed benchmark with Timid nature and 216 EVs, the rest is put into Hp (252 EVs) and Def (40 EVs).
The set is built around Perish Song. Every time that Wobbuffet Encores a non-attacking move or a Normal/Fighting/Earth move, this Mon is dead. Unfortunately, this set doesn't have room for Substitute, but every other move is essential (and again, the lack of Substitute was crucial in my loss).
LUNEDI' (Wobbuffet)
Growing up and even approaching at the Frontier competitively, I've honestly never thought this Pokémon would've found a place in a serious team.
This beautiful lady is the glue of this squad, the main switch-in, the threat handler.
The EVs spread makes her as bulky as she can, with HP maxed out (252 EVs) to deal as much damage as possible with the mirror moves.
The SpDef is "low" enough (120 EVs) to guarantee the OHKO with Mirror Coat on Electrode 2, the rest is put into Defense (136 EVs) with Bold nature.
255+ Atk Choice Band Armaldo Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Wobbuffet: 242-285 (41.4 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
255+ Atk Heracross Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Wobbuffet: 486-572 (83.2 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
170+ Atk Metagross Meteor Mash vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Wobbuffet: 202-238 (34.5 - 40.7%) -- 56.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
SIMBA (Slaking)
The lead is easy to understand and explain.
Adamant nature, maximized Atk (252 EVs) and Speed (252 EVs).
The moveset needs Double-Edge for the OHKOs it gets over Return (I don't care about recoil that much, the most important thing for this squad is the 3v2 on the opening move) and Hyper Beam for some extra needed power.
I already explained the coverage, I use Earthquake for general synergy with Normal (Brick Break alone is too weak even if its coverage is the same), and BB only for Tyranitar, leaving Slaking useless against Gengar/Misdreavus (easily handled by the rest of the team).
Please note that Earthquake is stronger than Normal coverage only if it's super effective AND the target resists Normal.
As I will further say, I think that this team performs better at Lv.50: better calcs, NO TYRANITAR and no Dragonite (that sometimes can be annoying with Thunder Wave).
Banded Slaking is the most powerful Pokémon, I won't put calcs now but they simply show how broken he is.
In fact, the interesting and useful thing to know approaching the team is the list of enemies that ARE NOT OHKOed by Slaking:
-Gengar and Misdreavus are untouchable,
-some Metagross,
-Armaldo,
-Regirock,
-Scizor,
-Forretress,
-Cradily,
-Registeel,
-Duscolps,
-Sableye,
-Shedinja,
-Skarmory,
-Slaking itself,
-Steelix,
-Umbreon,
-some Rock Type (Golem, Rhydon, Shuckle...)
A special mention goes to Lapras 8/Walrein 3, who can Quick Claw OHKO me, and I have a particular strategy for them.
Walrein 4 can dodge attacks thanks to Brightpowder and has Sheer Cold too, but at least it cannot outspeed Gengar.
Another mention goes to the tricky opponent lead with Focus Band+Counter (Machamp Hariyama, Heracross), who forces Slaking out immediately, but also are very easily handleable by the rest of the team (unlike Lapras if it's set 8 on lead).
I usually switch out even when foe's lead is a faster Special attacker that can OHKO if it gets a Critical Hit, like some Espeon's or Starmie's sets.
Moreover, Slaking is often retired also against dangerous opponents that may hold Brightpowder.
The bolded Pokémons are the biggest threats to this team, and a squad made by 2 out of 3 of this Mons ended the streak.
If Slaking gets the first kill, the match is already won.
This team is built for capitalizing from this advantageous position.
6 A.M. (Gengar)
Gengar is the star, the center of this team, the reason it works, the planets travel around him.
I love this Pokémon, his versatility, his unpredictability.
This set is very bulky: reached 340 speed benchmark with Timid nature and 216 EVs, the rest is put into Hp (252 EVs) and Def (40 EVs).
The set is built around Perish Song. Every time that Wobbuffet Encores a non-attacking move or a Normal/Fighting/Earth move, this Mon is dead. Unfortunately, this set doesn't have room for Substitute, but every other move is essential (and again, the lack of Substitute was crucial in my loss).
LUNEDI' (Wobbuffet)
Growing up and even approaching at the Frontier competitively, I've honestly never thought this Pokémon would've found a place in a serious team.
This beautiful lady is the glue of this squad, the main switch-in, the threat handler.
The EVs spread makes her as bulky as she can, with HP maxed out (252 EVs) to deal as much damage as possible with the mirror moves.
The SpDef is "low" enough (120 EVs) to guarantee the OHKO with Mirror Coat on Electrode 2, the rest is put into Defense (136 EVs) with Bold nature.
255+ Atk Choice Band Armaldo Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Wobbuffet: 242-285 (41.4 - 48.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
255+ Atk Heracross Megahorn vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Wobbuffet: 486-572 (83.2 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
170+ Atk Metagross Meteor Mash vs. 252 HP / 136+ Def Wobbuffet: 202-238 (34.5 - 40.7%) -- 56.7% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery
THE STRATEGY
This is the most difficult part. Using this team is almost subcortical to me, I exactly know how to move on each opponent but it's threatening to sum it all up in an article.
Let's try.
The main strategy is under everyone's eyes. Quick KOs, Perish Song on Double-Teamers/Annoyers/Passive Foes, Encore and Mirror moves on certain foes to kill them, Destiny Bond to keep the advantage achieved and remove dangerous threat.
In fact, there are a thousand different situations that requires different strategies.
The name itself, "Dans Macabre", it's a reference to the ammount of switches this team usually does in a normal match, often without even directly attacking the foe, just "dancing" around him 'till death.
Seriously, these are some tips:
As I said before, in this filmed match I was running SB on Slaking, it was a try (the record was already set by far) and a useless risk.
I suggest again BB at Lv.100, as I used for most of my streak.
I'm sure I forgot something crucial, I already know I will keep editing and adding up things on this writing.
The team is easy to get, all the members are breedable.
My main advice is to try this at home!
Just one thing, challenge the Tower at Lv.50, because, with the absence of Tyranitar, it's possible to run a decent coverage on Slaking with Shadow Ball in place of Brick Break.
Then trust me, the most you use it, the better it gets. It's funnier than it may appear, I swear that it's way more entertaining than some aggro/haymaker team I made, and it forces you to use 100% of your brain always, even in the simplest battle.
I lost a never-ending number of times when I decided to add Wobbuffet on the team in my test cartridge, but I knew it was just because of my mistakes, I felt the squad was good and after every loss I learnt how to circumnavigate that specific difficult situation.
In fact, even my loss in the battle 1091 came from a foe's team I could've handled better.
This is the most difficult part. Using this team is almost subcortical to me, I exactly know how to move on each opponent but it's threatening to sum it all up in an article.
Let's try.
The main strategy is under everyone's eyes. Quick KOs, Perish Song on Double-Teamers/Annoyers/Passive Foes, Encore and Mirror moves on certain foes to kill them, Destiny Bond to keep the advantage achieved and remove dangerous threat.
In fact, there are a thousand different situations that requires different strategies.
The name itself, "Dans Macabre", it's a reference to the ammount of switches this team usually does in a normal match, often without even directly attacking the foe, just "dancing" around him 'till death.
Seriously, these are some tips:
- Slaking and Gengar call moves that each other are immune to. This can make you gain safe switches and free turns, and after a bit of time you can learn how to get the best from this (like making a Snorlax run out of PP).
- The trapping ability of Shadow Tag is simply priceless. Wobbuffet can switch (even statused) on a Foe that's behind a Substitute, with raised evasion, faster, with status or flinching moves, and she still manages to Trap without a single turn of "set-up" spent hitting moves like Block or Mean Look.
- In fact, the highest number of kills, beside Slaking quick KOs, is got this way: Gengar sets Perish Song surviving an hit/ consuming his Lum Berry/ abusing Encore, then he uses Protect. After these 2 turns, I switch into Wobbuffet and the foe can't switch out at the beginning of its last turn. Then I immediately switch out Wobbuffet, to make a less passive ally come in. This trapping potential without even moving is one of the main strenghts of the team, I've sincerely used Mean Look so few times that I even came considering to run Substitute on its place sometimes.
- As said before, if Gengar manages to just set a needed Perish Song and then it's about to die, Protect to gain 1 turn. Then directly switch on Wobbuffet, don't risk a Mean Look if not absolutely necessary. The A.I. won't switch his Pokémon until the last turn, so if you have on the field Wobb at the beginning of it, he's trapped. Then the best play is to switch out Wobbuffet, considering that A.I. prefers not to directly attack her if he can, so you can bring in Slaking or Gengar (if you have a safe chance) when opposite countdown goes on 0.
- I prefer not to leave Wobbuffet in, if possible, when a new foe enters on the court, because a mistake on some 50/50 moments between using Encore or another move can give opponent too big leads. In some tricky situations, as for example while facing Scizor, sometimes the best and safest choice is just to spam Destiny Bond if Wobbuffet is on the field (it clearly depends on the flow of the match).
- Remember that if you let Gengar die by his own Perish Song and then you send out Slaking, Truant will subsequently trigger.
- Sometimes when Wobbuffet faces a defensive foe that has Thunder Wave, I suggest to get statused first, and then Encore. If you Encore a Status Move, the best play is to wait until it ends its effect and not directly switch into Gengar because he will immediately lose his Lum Berry and get statused setting Perish Song.
- Annoying Double-Team spammers, even behind a Substitute, are destroyed by Encore and/or Perish Song, but without Gengar they auto-win against this team most of the time.
- Slaking and Gengar are Male, Wobbuffet is Female as a counterplay to Attract: as I keep repeating, Wobbuffet is the main switch-in, and if the opponent is about to choose Attract against one of my Pokémon previously on the field, the foe must be Female and Wobbuffet comes in for free. Moreover, if Wobbuffet Encores an Attract used on her, it clearly means the opponent is a Male Pokémon now locked into Attract, or, said in other words, Gengar has already killed him.
- Gengar is immune to 3 (!) OHKO moves out of 4: Horn Drill, Guillotine, Fissure.
- Sheer Cold users are outsped and OHKOed by Slaking, but they may also have Quick Claw/Brightpowder. Gengar outspeeds them too and can defeat them with Destiny Bond, that doesn't check accuracy (again, Quick Claw activation is a threat).
Hands down, Gengar is the best Heracross counter in this world, prove me wrong.- Rhydon itself is dangerous, but can be handled by accurate switch-ins on Gengar, thanks to his immunity to Earthquake/Horn Drill (main attacking moves it uses on Slaking) and 4x resistance to Megahorn (that set 3/4 usually choose against Wobbuffet, set 1/2 still use EQ or HD).
- I always prefer to arrive at the end of the match with Gengar alive (because of Perish Song: if the last foe is something with Double-Team and Toxic, it can potentially kill Slaking and Wobbufett even if they are at full health) and possibly Slaking, so on the most dangerous switch I predominantly use Wobbuffet.
- The previous statement is true, but keep in mind: if your last Pokémon left is Gengar, you've automatically lost due to in-game rules about tie!
I suggest again BB at Lv.100, as I used for most of my streak.
I'm sure I forgot something crucial, I already know I will keep editing and adding up things on this writing.
The team is easy to get, all the members are breedable.
My main advice is to try this at home!
Just one thing, challenge the Tower at Lv.50, because, with the absence of Tyranitar, it's possible to run a decent coverage on Slaking with Shadow Ball in place of Brick Break.
Then trust me, the most you use it, the better it gets. It's funnier than it may appear, I swear that it's way more entertaining than some aggro/haymaker team I made, and it forces you to use 100% of your brain always, even in the simplest battle.
I lost a never-ending number of times when I decided to add Wobbuffet on the team in my test cartridge, but I knew it was just because of my mistakes, I felt the squad was good and after every loss I learnt how to circumnavigate that specific difficult situation.
In fact, even my loss in the battle 1091 came from a foe's team I could've handled better.
Now, a short list of the most dangerous threats:
- ELECTRODE: Unexpected, isn't it? When I face this guy as a lead, I hope it doesn't dodge Earthquake with Protect (set 1), Brightpowder/ Swagger/ Double-Team (set 2, the worst) or full-para from a faster Thunder Wave (set3-4). If it happens, it's a dance of switches and crossed fingers. The main problem is SOUNDPROOF, that it can have as ability in place of Static. Without Perish Song, I have to rely on Destiny Bond (that always hits even through evasion modifiers) or Mirror Coat (unfortunately influenced by accuracy) to kill him if it dodges the first EQ. I've never lost because of this Poké Ball neither on my tests, but everytime it took a long, sweaty battle. The switch-ins I made against it inspired me for the name of the team.
- LAPRAS 8: Seriously, is there a team ready to safely scout a Lapras and handle set 8 in every moment of a streak? When I found a Lapras, I always choose to sack something spamming Destiny Bond. If this cancer is the lead, I immediately go into Wobbuffet and start clicking Destiny Bond. One time Lapras killed on the switch and fortunately Quick Claw didn't trigger on Gengar's first move after Protect, so I can Destiny Bond her with me once she hit and then A CHOICE LOCKED SLAKING HYPER BEAMED TWO FOES (as a said in a previous post, the streak could have happily ended with no regrets at 712 with the emotions of this match).
- ARMALDO 3/4: Basically every foe that's not OHKOed by Slaking is something that forces you to radically change the gameplan, but Armaldo 4 with Choice Band hits very hard and set 3/4 can make Wobbuffet flinch to death with Rock Slide. If set 4 is the lead, it usually opens with a locked Double-Edge on the Wobbuffet switch and I know I can safely kill him with Gengar (Unless the A.I. becomes "smarter", but that's a big spoiler from the loss).
- WALREIN 3/4: Read what I wrote for Lapras 8. Quick Claw/Brightpowder Sheer Cold can be deadly even for a team that has a dedicated scout with Protect and a Sturdy user, if it appears in the wrong moment. At least set 4 can't outspeed Gengar's Destiny Bond with hax.
- METAGROSS: I refuse to define Gross a threat, but it almost ended my streak with the first team and now I've lost mainly because of it, so I guess it deserves this place. Usually Wobbuffet does her job pretty well.
THE LOSS
First consideration.
I don't know if it's just paranoia, maybe I could've reported it better, but in my last 30~ matches I ONLY found foes that Slaking couldn't KOs. Moreover, a Regirock Exploded at full health on a Gengar switch, I noticed that it wasn't normal but it was an easy win so I didn't pay the right attention.
Probably, when you advance that far in the Tower, the game tends to make you fight opponent against whom you spent most time, or probably it's a mere coincidence.
Match 1091st, against Bryce Ruin Maniac.
I hate this trainer because he can have a lot of threats to my team, and so it was.
TURN 1
He leads with a Metagross.
I hard switch on Wobbuffet, as lately I was doing against Metagross lead.
It uses Brick Break, does nothing.
I know it has Explosion now, but Metagross 5/8 always goes Meteor Mash at full health from my experience.
It Explodes on turn 2, never happened to me before, and gets the kill.
Now I'm scared to death by Armaldo, so I decided to go with Gengar, it's the safest play. If Armaldo appears on Slaking, I lose because if I stay it wins the 1v1, if I switch out it can crit or Quick Claw can trigger on Gengar, so I prefer to switch Gar in immediately.
TURN 2
His second mon is Regice.
Wrong choice by me, probably I decided to play too defensively, Slaking has immense chances of OHKO with Hyper Beam.
In the worst case scenario, it's set 3/4 with Thunder Wave. I decide to go with Perish Song on turn 1, without scouting with Protect.
I do it hoping to capitalize on a potential Double Team, but it Thunder Waves, as expected in the worst case possible.
Lum Berry is gone.
Countdown -3.
TURN 3
At this point, I Protect to gain one turn. In this situation, switching on Slaking is a suicide, because it frees Regice from the following Mean Look and my Pokémon will be statused, I know the A.I. will keep spamming T-Wave.
That happens. He uses Thunder Wave, I Protect.
Countdown -2.
TURN 4
I have to trap it, so I go for Mean Look trading it for paralysis.
Countdown -1.
TURN 5
Now I have to face my last choice of the match.
I can stay with Gengar at full health WISHING Regice crit me with Ice Beam, because if Slaking comes in after one of my Mon fainted by battle, it can move next turn, if Slaking enters after his ally died for Perish Song, Truant will trigger and I will be freezed one turn against the last foe.
This is to risky, I prefer to hard switch Slaking in, let him stomach an Ice Beam (that will do around 55%), and then face the last mon with a moving Slaking and a paralysed Gengar at full health. It doesn't look so bad as a scenario, I've been in WAY more troublesome situations.
So I switch, Regice uses Ice Beam, it FREEZES my King, my heart dies.
Countdown to 0.
Regice faints.
I got two useless Pokémons.
TURN 5
As I see Bryce last Mon, I start laughing.
That freeze doesn't matter. It's Armaldo (4).
I switch on Gengar because it's the only move I can do (remember, if Gengar is my last Mon, I lose for tie rules).
He Rock Slides me and did an insane ammount of damage, leaving me in the red zone.
I immediately understand it's Banded (set 4 confirmed), and think "gg wp, A.I." (on whom lack of intelligence I made a record team) because now he has used the right move based on my team (an immediate, A.I. friendly move would have been Double-Edge/Earthquake on Slaking, he risks a move with 90% accuracy just to hit both of my remaining Mons, chapeau).
Armaldo can still miss the second Rock Slide and lose, so I click my last real chance, Destiny Bond through paralysis.
But it hits and scores the KO.
Then I send out Slaking.
The unfreeze+Hyper Beam Hit+Critical Hit is statistically almost impossible, and has not happened.
Armaldo hits again, a sniper, and spells the word "end" to the longest streak on this Tower.
One last thought on the loss.
I stayed on my gameplan, but with a more aggressive playstyle, with a direct switch on Gengar on turn 2, when I discovered that Metagross had Explosion by Brick Break (and then I could've used Destiny Bond or switched again on Wobbuffet after a Protect scout if it hit Gengar with a Meteor Mash), I would have definitely had higher chances of winning this tough match.
The difficulties clearly start when foes are so hard for Slaking to OHKO, I came from some long battles and decided to play conservatively also this time.
To be honest, in the rest of the streak I took more risks and it paid more.
First consideration.
I don't know if it's just paranoia, maybe I could've reported it better, but in my last 30~ matches I ONLY found foes that Slaking couldn't KOs. Moreover, a Regirock Exploded at full health on a Gengar switch, I noticed that it wasn't normal but it was an easy win so I didn't pay the right attention.
Probably, when you advance that far in the Tower, the game tends to make you fight opponent against whom you spent most time, or probably it's a mere coincidence.
Match 1091st, against Bryce Ruin Maniac.
I hate this trainer because he can have a lot of threats to my team, and so it was.
TURN 1
He leads with a Metagross.
I hard switch on Wobbuffet, as lately I was doing against Metagross lead.
It uses Brick Break, does nothing.
I know it has Explosion now, but Metagross 5/8 always goes Meteor Mash at full health from my experience.
It Explodes on turn 2, never happened to me before, and gets the kill.
Now I'm scared to death by Armaldo, so I decided to go with Gengar, it's the safest play. If Armaldo appears on Slaking, I lose because if I stay it wins the 1v1, if I switch out it can crit or Quick Claw can trigger on Gengar, so I prefer to switch Gar in immediately.
TURN 2
His second mon is Regice.
Wrong choice by me, probably I decided to play too defensively, Slaking has immense chances of OHKO with Hyper Beam.
In the worst case scenario, it's set 3/4 with Thunder Wave. I decide to go with Perish Song on turn 1, without scouting with Protect.
I do it hoping to capitalize on a potential Double Team, but it Thunder Waves, as expected in the worst case possible.
Lum Berry is gone.
Countdown -3.
TURN 3
At this point, I Protect to gain one turn. In this situation, switching on Slaking is a suicide, because it frees Regice from the following Mean Look and my Pokémon will be statused, I know the A.I. will keep spamming T-Wave.
That happens. He uses Thunder Wave, I Protect.
Countdown -2.
TURN 4
I have to trap it, so I go for Mean Look trading it for paralysis.
Countdown -1.
TURN 5
Now I have to face my last choice of the match.
I can stay with Gengar at full health WISHING Regice crit me with Ice Beam, because if Slaking comes in after one of my Mon fainted by battle, it can move next turn, if Slaking enters after his ally died for Perish Song, Truant will trigger and I will be freezed one turn against the last foe.
This is to risky, I prefer to hard switch Slaking in, let him stomach an Ice Beam (that will do around 55%), and then face the last mon with a moving Slaking and a paralysed Gengar at full health. It doesn't look so bad as a scenario, I've been in WAY more troublesome situations.
So I switch, Regice uses Ice Beam, it FREEZES my King, my heart dies.
Countdown to 0.
Regice faints.
I got two useless Pokémons.
TURN 5
As I see Bryce last Mon, I start laughing.
That freeze doesn't matter. It's Armaldo (4).
I switch on Gengar because it's the only move I can do (remember, if Gengar is my last Mon, I lose for tie rules).
He Rock Slides me and did an insane ammount of damage, leaving me in the red zone.
I immediately understand it's Banded (set 4 confirmed), and think "gg wp, A.I." (on whom lack of intelligence I made a record team) because now he has used the right move based on my team (an immediate, A.I. friendly move would have been Double-Edge/Earthquake on Slaking, he risks a move with 90% accuracy just to hit both of my remaining Mons, chapeau).
Armaldo can still miss the second Rock Slide and lose, so I click my last real chance, Destiny Bond through paralysis.
But it hits and scores the KO.
Then I send out Slaking.
The unfreeze+Hyper Beam Hit+Critical Hit is statistically almost impossible, and has not happened.
Armaldo hits again, a sniper, and spells the word "end" to the longest streak on this Tower.
One last thought on the loss.
I stayed on my gameplan, but with a more aggressive playstyle, with a direct switch on Gengar on turn 2, when I discovered that Metagross had Explosion by Brick Break (and then I could've used Destiny Bond or switched again on Wobbuffet after a Protect scout if it hit Gengar with a Meteor Mash), I would have definitely had higher chances of winning this tough match.
The difficulties clearly start when foes are so hard for Slaking to OHKO, I came from some long battles and decided to play conservatively also this time.
To be honest, in the rest of the streak I took more risks and it paid more.
I don't have regrets, neither from my last game and choices.
It was a great ride, 1090 wins are way more than I expected and probably deserved, but I really enjoyed it, even if it took away for a couple of months my wish to play a Pokémon game.
Now I'm having fun with Battle Tower Doubles on Emerald, I think it's the perfect place where a creative builder can really try out the craziest stuff.
Lastly, shoutouts to everyone on this site who provides such good materials and contents, your work is great and I'll never stop to be amazed by that.
Thanks for reading, writing it up was funnier than I thought.
I sincerely hope you enjoyed!
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