Platinum/HG/SS Battle Frontier and DP Battle Tower Records

Somewhat long post time (Kind of bored from working)!

Currently at 210 streak in Single Battle Tower with this team (and still continuing):
1. Latios / Timid / Levitate @ Life Orb
IVs: 31/x/31/30/30/31
EVs: 4 HP 4 Def 248 SpA 252 Speed
Moves: Dragon Pulse / Psychic / Thunderbolt / Surf

2. Metagross / Jolly / Clear Body @ Lum Berry
IVs: 31 / 31 / 29 / 1 / 30 / 31 (from what I can remember those were the IVs... i.e. that easy pokewalker spread)
EVs: 4 HP 252 Attack 252 Speed
Moves: Bullet Punch / Explosion / Earthquake / Ice Punch

3. Suicune / Bold / Pressure @ Leftovers
IVs: 31 / x / 31 / 30 / 31 / 31
EVs: 228 HP 252 Def 24 SpA 4 Speed
Moves: Calm Mind / Surf / Rest / Substitute

** I call it team BLUE since all 3 pokemon are coincidentally BLUE, :P **

If you (the reader) have been paying attention to my posts, you might have noticed that this is very similar to the team for my 85 minute run:
first page said:
Fun Top 5 Platinum, HeartGold & SoulSilver Battle Tower Single Time Challenge Records (battles 1-49):
3. Chinese Dood (85 minutes) - Latios, Metagross, Suicune
Click to expand...
The ONLY exception is that Suicune now has REST instead of Shadow Ball. (Recall Shadow Ball was for my Latias-Mawile-Suicune team.) This change of just one move is what made the 210 streak possible, because probably nearly 35%+ of the battles were Suicune sweeps, most of which were only possible because of Rest.

Yes, I'm totally walled by water absorbs and dry skin pokemon, but that's what team mates are for! Plus I'm not totally walled by them, because Suicune can pressure-rest stall out all of the water-immune pokemon except the perish songers. i.e. one of the Lapras (whose sheer cold I fear more than perish song) and Politoed (not too big of a problem. At worst Metagross can explode since it can't have both water absorb and damp).

I DON'T think I'm the first one to use this CM-Sub-Rest-Surf set. I thought I read about it somewhere before, but I don't see anyone using it? This thing is amazing. Latios faces a Dusknoir lead. Just for kicks, I switch to Suicune to take the Shadow Punch. Suicune then proceeds to pressure stall Dusknoir out of thunder punches. Tpunch is 5HKO. Dusknoir needs to get crit on 2 out of 3 thunderpunches while Suicune is resting in order to beat Suicune, and only one chance to do that because of Pressure making Dusknoir's Tpunches effectively 8pp. Most UnSTAB Shadow Balls don't even break Suicune's Sub when Suicune's at +1. Houndoom/Drapion Thunderfangs don't break Suicune's sub either, but Fang Drapion is better handled by Metagross. O yeah, Adamant Weavile Night Slash does max 49 damage to Suicune (whose Sub is 51 HP). You can see why Sub + Rest on Suicune just lets it set up on so many things.

Type synergy for these 3 pokemon is amazing. Latios + Metagross of course has the famous Levitating/Flying Dragon + Steel combo, but that's also where Suicune shines because Suicune has good synergy with BOTH Latios and Metagross, resisting Latio's Ice and Metagross's fire while Latios resists electric and grass and Metagross resists grass.
EDIT: I don't think I explained this enough. Basically, what I actually meant to say is that because all 3 pokemon have great synergy with each other, even if one faints (usually Latios, but even if it's gross or suicune), the other 2 still have great resistance combos with each other.

O yeah, and, the team is not too bad in the status-hax-prevention department. Latios doesn't mind burn or poison since he's not expected to last more than a few turns anyway. Metagross has Lum and Suicune has rest, though freeze hax or full paralysis is still potentially annoying, but that's where sub comes in. It's funny when Blissey sings to Suicune and Dream Eater barely scratches Suicune though (it's like an 8HKO or something like that even at +0 Sp Def).

EVs:
Seriously everything should be obvious, but I'll just explain anyway:
1. Latios
- not max SpA because of 30 SpA IV, so last 4 EVs given to Def.
- then just max SpA and Speed and 4 HP.
2. Metagross
- I want this to outspeed more things. Self explanatory.
3. Suicune
- Max Def.
- Enough HP to get to 204 (not point maxing out to get 207 since sub will still be 51 HP)
- 4 Speed to outspeed no speed base 85s (Articuno is a big one, because Sheer Cold means nothing to Suicune when Suicune outspeeds)
Typical Battles:
1a.Can be really fast --> Latios sweep (<2 mins) OR
b. can be somewhat slow (3-6 mins)-->Suicune set up after sub and rest OR
c. can be REALLY slow (10 mins?) (facing Double team / Counter Blissey lead... I just keep switching to PP-stall and then set up with Suicune. I mean I could explode with Metagross, but that's just stupid since having 3 team members with Suicune fully set up is definitely infinitely a better position than having 2 members with nothing set up).
Stats:
Just approximate stats from memory since I didn't actually keep track:
- Latios sweep - 25% of the battles
- Suicune sweep - 35% of the battles
- A mix between Latios/Metagross - 25% of the battles
- A mix between Latios/Suicune - 5% of the battles
- A mix between all L/M/S - 9% of the battles
- Metagross sweep - 1% of the battles (M's main job is cleaning things up with Bullet punch / Explosion, not sweeping).

Comments on the above:
- Latios beats out so many of the bird trainers and black belts. It's awesome.
- Suicune beats out most Water types and pretty much all ice types (I usually sac Latios to get Suicune in safely though because freeze hax and sheer cold are not good).
- For the Latios/Metagross sweep, it's typically like this:
Turn 1 + 2: Latios 2HKOs opponent pokemon#1 while taking a heavy hit.
Turn 3: Latios hurts opponent pokemon#2 badly and faints.
Turn 4: Metagross finishes off opponent pokemon#2 with Bullet Punch (or Ice Punch / EQ if Metagross is faster or if that's the only move that KOs - that's why I want Metagross to be fast)
Turn 5: Metagross explodes on opponent pokemon#3 and wins.
Insights and Thanks
Of course I made the team myself, but I did get some insight from successful teams. I mainly got inspirations from the following two, so thank you!

Top 30 Platinum, HeartGold & SoulSilver Battle Tower Single Records:
9. typhlosion23 (272) - July 27th, 2009 - Infernape, Latios, Metagross

Top 25 Diamond & Pearl ORIGINAL Battle Tower Single Records:
1. Peterko (459) - December 13th, 2008 - Latios, Skarmory, Snorlax;

- My Latios was almost exactly the same as typhlosion23's. It doesn't function quite the same though of course. For him, Latios was his main switch in for water types, but of course for me, there's Suicune which is arguably much better because water types often carry ice moves which suicune also resists.

- typhlosion23's team also has a Metagross which is similar to mine... Ice punch (which mine has instead of Iron Head) isn't used extremely often, but better coverage together with being able to OHKO outrage-locked pokemon is good. PLUS, I wanted something to hit grass types for super effective. THERE are times, however, where I wished I had Iron Head (namely facing Abomasnow which threatens both Latios and Suicune - nothing in my team can OHKO Abomasnow other than explosion).

- Peterko's team might not look extremely similar to mine (and plus his record is for Diamond), but the formula IS pretty close: Dragon + Steel + bulky set-upper that resists ice and fire.
-- Skarmory has Sturdy. Suicune has Sub (and Pressure) for at least a similar effect.
-- Latios and Latios ... I just don't like Draco Meteor missing. I thought about Choice Specs before, but Life Orb's working pretty well.
-- Curselax is specially bulkier than Suicune is physically bulky, but Suicune also has pressure and a better mono-attack. But most importantly, Suicune's speed is at least mediocre outspeeding a bunch of stuff. Not saying Suicune's better, but I think it's more suitable for my team. For Peter's team, that would create 2 electric weaks and no immunities which is obviously not good. Plus, Peter's team's working off of the Skarm-lax physical and special wall combo. I actually don't have a good special wall in my team

- Interestingly, if I read correctly, these 2 records are the only other two non-Trick records higher than mine! So let's see if I can get that far! (EDIT: O wait, there's also TRE's Gengar/Blissey/Froslass team)

O yeah, just a side note: LO Latios totally > LO Starmie for 1-49 runs imo. A neutral LO Latios Psychic/Dragon Pulse KOs so many things that LO Starmie just couldn't. The slightly lower speed isn't much of an issue for 1-49 where things don't have perfect IVs anyway. (e.g. Starmie Psychic has very low chance to OHKO any of the Venusaurs while Latios Psychic guarantees OHKO on 3 of the 4 Venusaurs and high chance to OHKO on the 4th. Latios Psychic also has chance to OHKO Lucario while Starmie Surf has no chance). Of course I still have yet to beat 85 mins (I didn't time my 1-49 this run since they were on separate days), so ... well, whatever.
No resist for Ghost/Bug/Dark...
Gengar - if it beats the speed tie on Latios and gets a crit Shadow Ball, that's going to be a bit of a hard battle. Thankfully only 1 Timid Gengar.

Abomasnow - I mentioned this already. Can OHKO Latios and seriously hurt Suicune. Metagross can only 2HKO with Bullet Punch. But USUALLY that's good enough since Abomasnow can't hurt Metagross THAT much, except for Sheer Cold, which Suicune can take care of since Sheer Cold Abomasnow can't break Suicune's sub after 1 Calm Mind (it usually tries sheer cold and leech seed/ingrain before giga drain).

Timid Raikou - Outspeeds Latios (i.e. thus my entire team) and can 2HKO my entire team (Shadow Ball 2HKOs Latios, Thunderbolt 2HKOs Suicune and Metagross). Metagross Earthquake doesn't OHKO either. Thank goodness I haven't faced this as a lead yet, but that "somewhat close call" mentioned earlier was facing this Raikou as last pokemon, which is of course better since I won't have to worry about facing 2 more pokemon after raikou. If Raikou leads and crits Latios first turn, I'm in deep trouble.

Timid Starmie - Not nearly as dangerous as Raikou since Latios can OHKO and moves aren't as accurate (talking about the wide lens one with thunder... the parafusion one is ok to deal with as long as Suicune gets one Calm Down and not get a lot of hax)

Horn Drill Rapidash - Just wanted to mention because that's what ended the streak with the other Suicune team. Latios OHKOs, and Suicune under a sub is safe. I Metagross got nothing though of course.

Sheer Cold QC Lapras - Well, regardless of your team this thing is always going to be a potential threat, unless you have a sturdy pokemon. The only thing I can really say is that at least Suicune has pressure. If it has a sub up facing Lapras, then it's much less of an issue since that's at least 4 PP used up to KO Suicune.
I know the team isn't perfect and some untimely hax will end my streak. I just hope it's going to be hax and not my misplay.
 
great streak there CD :) good luck on continuing it :)

i havent streaked in while, but going to start it up again next few days. going to try get decent singles streak since i never have lol, only ever done well in doubles. got team idea in mind kinda basic the norm but with 1 different poke which dont think been used before (aint looked yet so might have been lol)

so hopefully be posting soon for help/decent streak :)

good luck 2 those who are still towering :)
 
Thanks! I'm thinking of potentially tweaking this team after this and try for Castle, Bozo-style! :) Sub-Rest-CM Suicune is staying for sure, but I might use another steel or dragon (but the dragon+steel combo is probably staying). I just might have to go on a power gaming trip using my 5 level 90+ Pickup Pachirisus to pick up some more PP Ups for Castle (... or... should I use Pokewalker for this? EDIT: Hm, Stormy Beach 10% chance of PP Up sounds way faster than Pick Ups actually... can probably get 10+ PP Ups on a good day.)
 
i lost early on around 40ish really stupid misplay by me,followed by double crit. will try again but just hate doing battles 1-40ish so boring even using starmie etc lol. wish you could skip it and start at 50. haha we can dream right?
but wen i can be bovered i'd try again prob be tomo night tho.

yeah pokewalker sounds best bet lol go for a jog or something :P unless you've got some ev/level training to do lol

never used my pokewalker :(
 
If you have one, use Latios instead of Starmie! It hits so much harder and 5 base speed lower hardly matters for 1 - 49. I'm almost positive I can get under 80 mins with Latios+Metagross+filler (something that can hit sheddy... maybe weavile or CS TTar.)
 
thats interesting Tombstoner i personally didnt no about that.

cheers for the advice about latios instead of starmie, it actually works wonders. my 1-49 team now is - latios - surf, physic, tbolt, dragon pulse
techtop - mach punch,aerial ace,sucker punch,fake out
heatran - explosion, flamethrower, substitute,earthpower
it took me roughly hour and half to reach battle 49 :)

just doing some quick calcs for some pokes that i think worry my new team, then will continue my streak sometime 2mo :)

out of interest around what match number do you start using your "main team" (trick etc)?
 
Lost at 222 due to misplay (fairly badly now that I look at it lol), but then again, even without misplay I might still have lost to crits anyway.

Opponent team was Sash Garchomp, Outrage Flygon, and Outrage Gyarados.

First turn misclicked Psychic instead of Dragon Pulse.

Didn't check movesets (never did in this whole run... almost never do nowadays actually) and figured I should Bullet Punch with Metagross since EQ will KO Gross anyway, might as well try a crit, only to realize chomp didn't have EQ (it used Aqua Tail), but Bullet Punch 2HKO (so it didn't actually matter whether I used Ice or Bullet punch).

Was going to pivot switch Metagross->Suicune->Metagross to get Flygon locked into Outrage so Gross can Ice Punch Flygon to death, but misplayed again because Flygon got 2 turn outrage and Lum cured confusion but I didn't switch back to Suicune, which I should have. EQ KO'd the Metagross that took an aqua tail and flygon outrage.

Suicune alternated between rest and sub and managed to get 2 calm minds before flygon apparently ran out of outrages (no crits amazingly), but it got a Crunch down lowering Suicune's defense before dying to confusion the next turn (Suicune never attacked Flygon. Flygon just slowly killed itself from confusion while Suicune kept resting). Suicune had only 30% health or so facing Gyarados.

Because of that -Def from Crunch, Gyarados Outrage just barely 3HKOs Suicune, so Suicune fainted sleeping its last turn of rest.

If I didn't misclick first turn and used Dragon Pulse, Metagross would have KO'd Garchomp with Bullet Punch, take Flygon's EQ (assuming no crit) and then Ice Punch it to dealth, and then outspeed the no speed Gyarados and explode for the win in less than 3 mins. But o well.

EDIT:
@ashez: If I'm not doing a speed run of 1-49, I start using my main team at 43. Otherwise, I start at 50 or shortly after that. That having said, now that this speed run team of mine (i.e. my Blue team) has proved itself to be capable of getting to 200+, I think that I probably won't start using my main team until 100+ probably. I'll probably use it for one set of 7 during 50-56 just to test that it's at least ok though.
 
great run and unlucky at the end there. but great result due to no trick team etc

yeah i normally start using my main team at 43 because i dont wana loose at 49 lol

there were majory problems with team i started with the other day after testing it, i new it wasnt going to work. so done some calcs changed lead etc and hoping team will feel more solid. on paper it is anyway but am using 2 pokes currently not on leader board so might not actually workout but only one way to find out :)

you guna be working on anything else now? or you guna move onto the castle? i personally not to keen on rest aeras. tried in the hall with heracross and got to about 130ish i think? prob try get on leader board with that at some point. but enjoy tower to much :)
 
Too busy to even play lately. Haven't played pokemon since that lost (which was on Feb 8 but didn't even have time to post til 9th). I dunno what I'll do after now.

A Japanese friend of mine asked me if I wanted to buy Pokemon White (Japanese version) from her for around half price and I did (probably getting it tonight), so maybe that will keep me busy for a while. Certainly saves me the trouble of having to decide whether to get Black or White now (i.e. since I have White Jap, I'm going to get Black English to cover both).
 
Hey^^
I've been playing Battle Frontier for a long time (since July or August 2009, when I begun with playing BF competitively, I regularly tried to beat my own records and sometimes also those of others), and reached some streaks that are good enough to be posted here. As soon BW will probably severely reduce the popularity of the PtHGSS Battle Frontier, and as I reached some quite good records recently, I decided to not only post my records in a German forum, but also here.

And now the most important part of my post, the facts:

Summary of relevant records (=tl;dr version):
Battle Tower Singles: 130 (Gengar, Metagross, Dragonite)
Battle Hall Singles: 196 (Togekiss)
Battle Castle Singles: 86 (Latias, Metagross, Zapdos)
Battle Arcade Singles: 130 (Latias, Metagross, Milotic)
Battle Tower Doubles: 318 (Tauros, Latias, Metagross, Gengar)
Battle Hall Doubles: 201 (Azelf, Azelf)
Battle Castle Doubles: 86 (Salamence, Metagross, Gyarados)
Battle Arcade Doubles: 72 (Salamence, Metagross, Gyarados)
Battle Tower Multi (with in-game trainer): 62 (Gengar, Gyarados)
(I also tried out Battle Factory, but without enough success to get into the list =/)



Detailed Information:

Battle Tower Singles
Streak: 130
Team:
Gengar@Focus Sash
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Levitate
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Destiny Bond

Metagross@Occa Berry
Adamant 252/252/0/0/0/4
Clear Body
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Thunderpunch
- Bullet Punch

Dragonite@Yache Berry
Adamant 4/252/0/0/0/252
Inner Focus
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch

I didn't want to use a trick team at the time I got this record (over 1 year ago),but soon i'll try this out, if i have enough time for RNG abuse, EV training and battling; Anyway, that was the reason I used an (almost) all-out-attacking offensive team. Gengar almost always takes out one pokemon, and often even a second one with Destiny Bond. I prefer Focus Blast over Sludge Bomb, Energy Ball and other options, because it provides perfect coverage and hits lots of things for super effective damage, while the other options only help against few opponents. The low accuracy is a real drawback, but even if it misses, I usually can at least take out the opponent with Destiny Bond.
Metagross and Dragonite cover each other's weaknesses perfectly, both sets are nothing special. I used Dragonite instead of Garchomp and Salamence just because I wanted some individuality, and because I just don't like Garchomp.
If I would try again with the same team now, I would maybe replace Metagross' Thunderpunch with Explosion and Dragonites Fire Punch with Roost, but as I said before, I'll try something different.

dteinzel130.jpg


Battle Hall Singles
Streak: 196
"Team":
Togekiss@Choice Scarf(/Choice Specs)
Modest 4/0/0/252/0/252
Serene Grace
- Hyper Beam
- Aura Sphere
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower

The first notable record I reached in the Platinum Battle Frontier, so it's quite a long time ago, and that's the reason why I can't remember any details about this. Anyway, the strategy should be obvious, Hyper Beam as main attack and the rest for coverage.

2weky9s.jpg


Battle Castle Singles
Streak: 86
Team:
Latias (@Expert Belt)
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Levitate
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Draco Meteor

Metagross (@Lum Berry/Occa Berry)
Adamant 252/252/0/0/0/4
Clear Body
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion

Zapdos (@Leftovers)
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Pressure
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power Grass
- Roost

I basically used my team from Battle Arcades, but Milotic wasn't very useful here so I replaced it. Although I have a two weaknesses against Ice this team worked well, and Meta could deal with most Ice types with ease. Also, Latias often survives one Ice Attack, also Zapdos sometimes does so.

The reason why I always chose Lum Berry instead of Occa Berry on Metagross was, that random freezes are very problematic, because the rest of my team has problems with Ice types. I used Expert Belt instead of Choice Specs, Life Orb and some other options, because I don't like being locked in an attack, recoil is a significant drawback because you get less CP when your pokemon are weakened, but I also wanted a power boost for Latias. Leftovers on a Zapdos with completely offensive EV distribution may seem a bit strange at the first look, but I didn't know what item I should give him, so I chose Leftovers and they worked really well, especially in combination with roost.

I didn't increase or decrease the opponents' level, or buy anything other for CP than items and restoring HP. I only skipped some battles, I think 50-63, because I didn't want to lose with all those CP I had from the first battles. After that, the number of CP I had increased slowly, I could always afford the items and healing and at the end of the 7 battles I usually had slightly more than before (although sometimes, if many of the last battles were hard, or an opponent tricked my item away, I lost some CP, but sometimes Latias just won 3:0 against an opponent with full health, so I could compensate that).

I lost to a Tyranitar, because Metagross wasn't at full HP and Meteor Mash missed (I should have used EQ to bring it in KO range for Latias' Surf), and then both Latias and Zapdos couldn't hurt it hard enough and were both OHKOed.

3147y0x.jpg


Battle Arcade Singles
Streak: 130
Team:
Latias
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Levitate
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Draco Meteor

Metagross
Adamant 252/252/0/0/0/4
Clear Body
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion

Milotic
Modest 252/0/0/252/0/4
Marvel Scale
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power Grass
- Recover

This was the first Battle frontier team I really planned, for most former records I reached I just picked out some pokemon out of my box filled with Pokemon for the Frontier which seemed to have a decent defensive type coverage and synergy.
Initially, Latias had Dragon Pulse instead of Psychic, but I often missed the secondary STAB, and most Pokemon I hit with Dragon Pulse harder than with Psychic (mainly Dark-Types) threaten Latias anyway with their STAB moves and so It's usually advisable to immediately try an OHKO with Draco Meteor or switch out. Psychic types were also a problem, but Metagross can deal with most of them and I still have Draco meteor. Before I replaced Dragon Pulse, I also did lots of damage calculations, which supported the impression of the usefulness of Psychic I got when testing this team.
Metagross had Thunderpunch instead of Explosion, but I thought about using Explosion before and I successfully tested it here.
Because many of my former streaks ended when my last pokemon was one with a 4xweakness, like Gyarados or Salamence, and then faced an opponent with a attack of exactly that type which OHKOed, I wanted to use a team without any pokemon with 4xweaknesses. Metagross was the first thing that came to my mind, as is it one of my favourites anyway. Because I had used fragile pokemon like Gengar before without success, I wanted bulkier Pokemon this time. Metagross is also very bulky, but I needed something to cover it's weaknesses so I chose Latias. Then I needed a third pokemon, which was also bulky, hat a decent (Special) Attack stat (I preferred Special Attack, because a burn on all three pokemon cannot hurt me that hard with only one physical attacker), and did not share weaknesses with the other two. I thought about using a bulky water, Swampert was my first idea, but it was physical, had a double weakness and it's only recovery move is rest. Then Vaporeon came to my mind, as well as Milotic. I compared those two and chose Milotic because it was slightly better in my eyes (doesn't need protect for reliable healing, has slightly higher overall defenses (as far as I remember) and his ability seemed to be more useful due to the chance of getting statused by the roulette, Vaporeon has a slighly higher Special Attack stat, can heal its teammates and water absorb can also be useful, but finally I chose Milotic.
The strategy is not complex by any means, just kill opponents with 11/12 attacking moves and switch if needed.
I tried I think four times before I reached 130, in the first and second run I lost because of a misclick on the roulette, in the third and fourth run I lost somewhere between 90 and 100 wins due to hax, and because I wanted at least 100 wins and knew I could reach that I tried again and I finally reached my aim.
I lost to a Raikou that way:
Raikou vs. Latias
Raikou Thunder Wave.
Latias fully para.

Raikou Shadow Ball (Latias 50 % left).
Latias fully para.

Raikou Shadow ball.
Latias fainted.

Raikou vs. Metagross
Raikou Thunderbolt crit.
Metagross fainted.

Raikou vs. Milotic
Raikou Thunderbolt (Milotic ~30 % left).
Milotic Surf, no crit, game over.
I had hit the field on the roulette that reduces the opponents' HP by 1/5, but even this didn't help against that much hax.

14b28hv.jpg


Battle Tower Doubles
Streak: 318
Team:
Tauros@Life Orb
Jolly 4/252/0/0/0/252
Intimidate
- Return
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Latias@Lum Berry
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Levitate
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Draco Meteor
- Protect

Metagross@Occa Berry
Adamant 252/252/0/0/0/4
Clear Body
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Explosion

Gengar@Focus Sash
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Levitate
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast/Energy Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Protect

I didn't want to use a Trick Room or Rain Dance Team, because there's not much space for creativity and I didn't want to depend on one move. So I built a Good Stuff team, inititally I wanted to try out Double Intimidate on my leads, but I realized that this would have limited use because special attackers still threaten my team and the only Intimidate classified as OU users were Salamence and Gyarados (Salamence at least was OU when I had this idea^^). I searched for other options, because I don't really like using pokemon with 4x weaknesses. I didn't find much, most of the Intimidate users were too weak (e.g. Arbok, Masquerain, Mawile, Mightyena, Stantler), too slow (Granbull, Luxray) or too fragile on the special side (Staraptor, it couldn't even use Focus Sash because Brave Bird would make it useless). The only pokemon left besides Gyarados and Salamence were Tauros, Arcanine and Hitmontop. Because Tauros was the fastest of those and had only one weakness and also had access to two useful multi-target-moves which provide almost perfect coverage. Initially, Salamence was Tauros' lead partner, with Latias and Metagross completing the team. But Salamence wasn't that useful and I realized that Latias could be a great partner for Tauros because of its massive 130 base special defense, acceptable, and, coupled with tauros' Intimidate, great physical staying power as well as STAB Psychic to deal with Fighting types Tauros fears and also high speed. Metagross did its job and covered Latias' Ice and Dragon weakness (anyway, I almost never switch when facing a dragon-type because Latias outspeeds them all (only execept some Lati@s I have to win the speed tie) and OHKOes with Draco Meteor). Gengar came into the team because I already had an EVd version an only had to change the moveset a bit, and because it can easily switch into fighting type moves aimed at Tauros and doesn't need to protect if Metagross explodes.

Tauros' moveset includes a strong and reliable STAB, two multi-target-moves with nice coverage, and protect, it just has nothing other what is really usable, but it doesn't need more because this works great.
Life Orb, because being locked in one attack and losing protect for an almost useless attack (due to Tauros poor movepool) is just bad, and it needs the extra power. I used the berry that weakens fighting type moves at my first try but it just dealt to less damage without Life Orb. The EV spread is straightforward because I Tauros bulk is acceptable even without any defensive EVs and I neither want to sacrifice Speed nor Attack for a bit more staying power.

Latias' moveset also isn't extraordinary, Psychic as a reliable STAB, Thunderbolt for coverage and against common Water- and Flying-types, Draco Meteor because many dragons survive unboosted timid Latias' Dragon Pulse and I sometimes just need the power. Protect is an obvious choice in doubles.

Metagross doesn't really need protect, so I used just 4 Attacks: I thought about replacing Meteor Mash with Iron Head, but I finally wasn't convinced by the loss of power and chance of an attack boost. Earthquake for coverage and because multi-target-moves are always nice to have. Bullet Punch is a very useful priority move, and Explosion allows me to almost always kill two opponents (if I have to use it), and helps against some opponents that would be annoying otherwise (e.g. Hippowdon or Swampert).

Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt and Protect on Gengar are nothing special. Initially I used Energy Ball because Rhyperior, Swampert and some other ground types seemed to be problematic on paper, but they weren't that dangerous, and I had more problems if Gengar and Latias had to face steel types. Due to this, I replaced Energy Ball with Focus Blast when my streak was at ~170 (and as I had expected, it was more useful than Energy Ball).

This team is based on the great synergy of Latias and Tauros:
They are both at 110 base speed, so they can outspeed almost everything in Battle Tower, they both have a decent attack stat and can do lots of damage with their strong attacks, and can both survive a hit from almost every attack from Battle Tower opponents. Latias survives even most super effective attacks after Intimidate, I think only Rampardos' Iron Ball Fling, some strong Dragon STABs (which the opponents can only use if Draco Meteor misses, their +Init Lati@s wins the speed tie or Latias already has an special attack drop), and sometimes Glaceon's Ice Beam OHKOed it, besides crits (and it even survives crits sometimes). Tauros is threatened by Fighting STABs and random Focus Blasts, but usually I can OHKO the opponent before or predict his attack and use protect or switch.
Metagross is mainly there because Tauros' Rock Slide spam isn't enough against many Ice teams, and I also need a second physical attacker to be able to beat blissey and others with high SDef after Tauros fainted. Furthermore, Metagross is able to switch in many attacks with ease due to its good defensive stats and lots of resistances. It also deal with Rock types my leads cannot handle that good. Moreover it can take out annoying opponents with Explosion.
Gengar is immune to both Earthquake and Explosion and can switch in Fighting types aimed at Tauros. It also can lure attacks after it is brought down to 1 HP, and often provide it's partner a free turn while it protects. It is also very fast and can hit almost any opponent hard, so it was a great addition to my team.

This team has only very few problems, and no opponents are extremely dangerous, only some are a bit more annoying than others (e.g. Umbreon with Curse, because it even survives an Explosion after one defense boost, Ice teams that OHKO Metagross (usually with Sheer Cold) before it can KO some of them, Glaceon is also annoying, because it sometimes attacks Tauros and not Latias with Ice Beam and does lots of damage, and I can only OHKO it if both Rock Slide and Draco Meteor hit (I didn't calc, but when playing, I got that impression), and then I have Latias with an SAtk drop and Tauros against another opponent (if he isn't OHKOed by Rock Slide, but even against Ice teams, this doesn't happen that often), who can strike back with an attack. Also, because of the high speed of my team, Trick Room teams (though they are rare) can be annoying, especially with Levitate Bronzong, but I can handle them with Protect and switching, as well as Metagross.
All in all the only thing this team really fears is hax, but as I often knock out at least one opponent before he can use an attack, the chance of crits and random bonus effects like Ice Beam freezes is not very high, and even if the other opponent gets a crit it's 3:3, which isn't really problematic.

I finally lost due to misplay, maybe because I was tired and had already played for some hours, and then misclicked and, even more important, sacrificed my Metagross by exploding although it wasn't really necessary.
I uploaded the video of the last battle in the Global Terminal: 66-52221-87006
I misclicked when I used Bullet Punch on Regirock (the first time), and I should have saved Meta until comes down to a 1 vs. 1 against Cresse, which Meta will win I don't have very bad luck and all Meteor Mashes miss. As it only has 5 Moonlight PP and no leftovers recovery, and Metagross neither fears Psychic nor Toxic. Entei cannot OHKO Metagross because of the Occa Berry, so I could stay in without a high risk, and Earthquake, Shadow Ball and Psychic could hit it hard.

24pxeur.jpg


Battle Hall Doubles
Streak: 201
Team:
Azelf@Choice Band
Level 54
Naive 4/252/0/0/0/252
Levitate
- Zen-Headbutt
- Fire Punch
- Iron Tail
- Explosion

Azelf@Focus Sash
Level 54
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Levitate
- Flamethrower
- Shadow Ball
- Swift
- Protect

I searched for something fast that can explode, and Azelf is the fastest Pokemon that can learn Explosion except Electrode, which obviously is much too weak offensively.
The basic strategy is using a powerful CB Explosion, which kills anything that doesn't resist it, is immune to it, or has the Damp ability, and even quite a lot pokemon that resist it were OHKOed by a 75 % Explosion.
The other Azelf usually uses Protect, because if I don't protect and Sash Azelf is hit by a priority move, a quick claw attack or just by an attack from a faster opponent, its sash would be useless and I lose if I explode.
Against opponents with Focus Sash I use Azelf's only multi-target move besides Explosion: Swift.
Fire Punch and Flamethrower help to deal with Steels. Shadow Ball gives me some extra power I need against Dusknoir and Dusclops, but is otherwise inferior to Psychic so I considered replacing it (but I didn't try again since this streak ended).
Iron Tail isn't a great attack, it's main use is to beat some Rock types, though the unreliability and bad type coverage are drawbacks, but I could't find a better option.

This team has problems with some Steel, Rock and Ghost types, especially Heatran, Tyranitar and Spiritomb. I usually lose if I face one of them on a level that is not much lower than that of my pokemon (which means above 170 I just have to hope that they don't appear).
Pokemon with the Damp ability and the moves Protect or Detect hinder CB Azelf to OHKO the opponents with Explosion, so some of them are also a problem.
Furthermore pokemon with priority moves, especially Sucker Punch, are problematic, if they decide to attack CB Azelf.
And, of course, hax can beat this team, but that's nothing special.

I finally lost to Umbreon, one of those hit CB Azelf with a Sucker Punch CH and OHKOed it, and Sash Azelf was unable to deal enough damage to them, and they had Moonlight anyway.

xlxl68.jpg


Battle Castle Doubles
Streak: 86
Team:
Salamence
Naive 0/4/0/252/0/252
Initimidate
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage

Metagross
Adamant 252/252/0/0/0/4
Clear Body
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Thunderpunch

Gyarados
Adamant 4/252/0/0/0/252
Intimidate
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake

This team was just built out of three pokemon i picked out of my boxes and they worked relatively well. Just three outright attackers, I didn't even use real "doubles movesets" (I had none because I tried singles first, and only spontaneously decided to try doubles). I also didn't use items, because I didn't know that buying higher ranks brings more options for the whole streak and not only 7 battles, lol.
I don't remember anything about the last battle (that's quite some time ago), but from my post in a German forum I know that I lost to Suciune, Latias and Heatran^^

bgr0oj.jpg

Battle Arcade Doubles
Streak: 72
Team:
Salamence
Naive 0/4/0/252/0/252
Initimidate
- Draco Meteor
- Earthquake
- Fire Blast
- Outrage

Metagross
Adamant 252/252/0/0/0/4
Clear Body
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake
- Bullet Punch
- Thunderpunch

Gyarados
Adamant 4/252/0/0/0/252
Intimidate
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake

Same as above, I spontaneously wanted to play doubles and I used this team both in Arcades and in Castle. I also can't remember the last battle here, but I posted in a German forum, that I lost, because i hit the field on the roulette, that paralyzes all my pokemon against a team of Regice, Cresselia and Latias.

2enqjom.jpg


Battle Tower Multi (with AI)
Streak: 62
Team:
Gengar@Focus Sash
Timid 4/0/0/252/0/252
Levitate
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunderbolt
- Destiny Bond

Gyarados@Wacan Berry
Adamant 4/252/0/0/0/252
Intimidate
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Bounce
- Earthquake

I chose Gengar, because it can often take out one opponent with an attack and another one with Destiny Bond, and it also attracts attacks and so protects the KI's Pokemon from being killed before they can do something.
Gyarados is the second Pokemon, because it can make opponents much less dangerous with Intimidate, has only 2 weaknesses and is almost never OHKOed. Only Electric types threaten it, but with Wacan Berry, it also survives many Electric type attacks, even some with STAB. After a single Dragon Dance it can often beat 2 or 3 opponents with its powerful attacks and capability of taking hits.
I chose Bounce, because it provides better coverage and accuracy than Stone Edge (strongest STAB, super effective against Grass types, hits almost (?) everything neutral combined with Waterfall and Earthquake), and Ice Fang is extremely weak and almost useless (neutral Bounce has 127.5 BP, super effective IF 130, thats obviously not worth wasting a moveslot, only some Dragons can be annoying, but Bounce is better against everything else and can also do lots of damage to Dragons and OHKO some after one boost.
This run I also did long time ago, so I don't remember how I lost.

23uddo2.jpg
 
picture.php
Oh well. I hate the streak I made sinse last year September 14th 2010 at battle castle double of 331 (you can read the details on page 126 right here) still hasn't been posted. I slowed down hoping to give Peterko some time to update the list. And it was still overlooked! Sinse it is a 1st place record,I knew it would require picture proof. So I posted it in my picture album-Talis ars-for proof. still over looked. I guess why this is frustrating because Pokemon Black and White is three weeks from now, and once that comes out I won't be setting records for platinum/heart gold soul silver battle frontier anymore, but I'll be setting stuff for the battle subway. So I guess what I'm saying If I'm saying ANYTHING Is Smogon record board needs more People looking over the post so stuff like this won't happen in the future(especially with black and white coming out with new battle falcalties meaning new records to be posted). Now I'm not saying all this to make anyone angry(I know how people do here on this site) but as a competetive video game player I want my Respect. If I made an impressive 331 streak at battle castle double over 5 months ago and followed all the reqirements needed to have it posted(like a lot of my other records) then I still shouldn't see my old 134 streak there under team rocket elite's 301. Anyways Starting this week will be my last time for record setting. I see I have to fight at battle castle single again to at least regain my third place lost to fatum. Hmmm 401. That's pretty Sturdy. I'll probably take one more shot at arcade single too
 
Yeeeeeea Pokemon White version roughly three weeks away. I look forward to battle subway. you see. Things are way different this time unlike diamond and pearl generation when it came out in 2007. Early in the year 2008 on pokemon pearl version I set a considerable streak of 163 at battle tower in singles using my uber team just freshly migrated from emerald. Ah yes it was comical because after so long I had finally caught a strong modest natured Latios with hidden power max fire. So I used him, My legendary Adament Metagross(yep, taught her ice punch and thunder punch before she left emerald cause I new they were phisical now and she could beat a lot pokes up like that), and my legendary Modest Milotic( they that helped me to get all gold symbols on emerald at that time). And it was like: Ptth. all these new pokemon think thier all that, let's show'em how we do it back home! Yea, I wasn't Introduced to Fun Smokey Smogon by Dr.Dimentio yet at that time......................But Now.......It's here... It's all here......I don't even have to waste as much time catching favorite pokemon this time either. I will focus on battling and nothing but battling and setting records and crushing people on Wi-Fi with my newly caught cloud nine Golduck(wha what my politoed, he's useless again!!!! Golduck/Cloud strife: QUACK YOU! It's gonna be ELECTRIFIYING!!!!!!!!!
picture.php
 
What should I have done to avoid this?
(Battle 84)
Latias, Empoleon
Trick, Flash Cannon
T-wave, Flash Cannon
Switch to Scizor, Flash Cannon does a bit more than 1/4
SD, Flash Cannon, SpD drop, if hit by two more at this point I faint
SD, Fully paralyzed, so I try to get in another
SD, Flash Cannnon, critical hit, Scizor faints
Send in Salamence
DD, Flash Cannon does more than 1/2
Earthquake, KO
Slowro sent in
Outrage, about 2/3, Ice Beam, KO
Forfeit
Here are the movesets of my attackers:
Scizor@Leftovers
31/31/31/31/31/31
100 HP/252 Atk/100 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Substitute
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower

Salamence@Lum Berry
31/31/31/31/31/31
4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Outrage
- Earthquake
 
Should have let Latias faint. I.e. Trick, and then Flash until Latias faints. If you have Recover instead of Flash... you should have been using Registeel instead of Scizor because Crits (or even Sp Def drops in this case) will too easily stop short your set up (Scizor can't even set up on 4x resisted bug moves at times from crits).

The general rule of thumb is to always set up under a sub if the opponent's move has status / (important) stat lowering secondary effects or can cause confusion, assuming the resisted move cannot break the sub, of course.

Also, either you listed Scizor's EVs wrong, or you still have 56 EVs to spare.

EDIT: The alternative thing to do (better than letting Latias faint but longer battle)... I'm assuming your Latias has Recover instead of Flash (why else would you just switch Scizor into Flash Cannon without any flashes down) is that Latias can alternate between Charm and Recover and just PP stall Empoleon out of Flash Cannons and Scizor set up on Struggles with Latias still alive. This is probably the safest way I think. Even if Empoleon KOs Latias with a crit after a few hits, Scizor can at least get in safely instead of having to switch into a Flash cannon (and maybe Flash Cannon's PPs will be out soon and Scizor can set up on Struggles instead).

Also, your team really has to be careful with Brave Birds and Head Smashes. Charming straight off is probably the best option, but still fairly risky nonetheless.
 
No problem. Now that you mentioned it though, why 100 HP? That only gets Scizor to 158HP. Better to have 116 HP to get to 160 HP for Leftovers # (which, of course your Scizor is holding) so Leftovers recovers 10 HP instead of 9. Also, Scizor needs more Sp Def than Def.
 
Chinese Dood said:
No problem. Now that you mentioned it though, why 100 HP? That only gets Scizor to 158HP. Better to have 116 HP to get to 160 HP for Leftovers # (which, of course your Scizor is holding) so Leftovers recovers 10 HP instead of 9. Also, Scizor needs more Sp Def than Def.
Click to expand...

It was an originally competitive Scizor which I unwisely trained to level 100. :(
Thus the "cap" on the EVs.
 
Ah I see. In that case I guess just put the remainder EVs into Sp Def instead of Def since that will at least let take more special hits (since Latias's charm covers for Scizor's already higher defense already).

Empoleon's Flash Cannon only has a low chance to break Scizor's Sub (only 2 in 7 chance to break Scizor sub if it's 58 HP 100 Sp Def vs 3 in 8 chance if it's 100 HP 58 Sp Def).
 
hey i am just wondering what your guys' ideas on my team i am planning on making for the singles battle tower

mesprit@ choice scarf
bashful(only because i caught it before i needed it for my team)
252hp/252 spd/4 def
trick
thunderwave
flash
charm


shuckle@ muscle band
relaxed
252hp/252 def/4sp def
power trick
substitute
stone edge
bug bite

articuno@ leftovers
252 hp/ 252 spd/4 sp def
substitue
mindreader
roost
sheer cold


my basic strategy is to trick the opposing pokemon then proceed to paralyze it if possible and flash and charm it. if i trick a special attacker i will switch shuckle in and power trick up behind a substite. i will bring articuno in on not very effective attacks and mind read and use sheer cold on the opposing team.
 
clashcityrocker said:
hey i am just wondering what your guys' ideas on my team i am planning on making for the singles battle tower

mesprit@ choice scarf
bashful(only because i caught it before i needed it for my team)
252hp/252 spd/4 def
trick
thunderwave
flash
charm


shuckle@ muscle band
relaxed
252hp/252 def/4sp def
power trick
substitute
stone edge
bug bite

articuno@ leftovers
252 hp/ 252 spd/4 sp def
substitue
mindreader
roost
sheer cold


my basic strategy is to trick the opposing pokemon then proceed to paralyze it if possible and flash and charm it. if i trick a special attacker i will switch shuckle in and power trick up behind a substite. i will bring articuno in on not very effective attacks and mind read and use sheer cold on the opposing team.
Click to expand...

This type of post belongs in the Rate My Team thread, assuming it still exists, I haven't looked at it in a long time. Unless you are using a variation
of an established team, it can be very difficult to tell you that your team won't work or critique it. It's almost like doing the work for you. What we have done is provide you with a wealth of information.

If you like the team, try it out.

EDIT Chinese Dood, I was hoping that you wouldn't ninja me.

EDIT2 No need to apologize, I'll send you a PM
 
I figured I may as well post this, since it's under a month until Black and White come out in the US. After going insane trying to get the gold print in the Battle Factory (see my 48, 46, and 45 win streaks), I looked around for other frontier locations to spend my time on during my train ride to work. I eventually returned to my favorite, the Battle Arcade. I basically took Pokemon I had used for other facilities (including a failed Trick double-Memento team for the Battle Tower) and modified them ever-so-slightly for the Arcade. The result is Team Leverage (Uxie, Garchomp, and Drapion), which got a streak of 148 wins in the Heart Gold Singles Battle Arcade:

Thief (Uxie)
Serious Nature (it was the only Uxie I had)
Levitate
EVs unknown, stats 172/80/156/87/156/116
~Flash
~Thunder Wave
~Memento
~Yawn

Hitter (Garchomp)
Jolly Nature
Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
~Swords Dance
~Substitute
~Outrage
~Earthquake

Mastermind (Drapion)
Careful Nature
Battle Armor
(Jumpman's EVs; don't remember them at the moment, stats are 177/110/134/72/128/111)
~Acupressure
~Rest
~Substitute
~Crunch

This team works so well, it's insane. The strategy is pretty obvious; Uxie starts using with Yawn or Thunder Wave, depending on the opponent (against a lot of Pokemon faster than Uxie, and pretty much every Pokemon faster than Garchomp, I'll use Thunder Wave; I'll use Yawn on most other things). Depending on Uxie's health, I'll then either keep using Flash or go straight into Memento. If Garchomp is able to OHKO the lead with Outrage and sweep the team at +2, I'll pretty much always use Yawn, Memento, switch to Garchomp, Swords Dance, Substitute, sweep.

Of course, a +2 Garchomp can't sweep everything; because the opponent may wake up on the Substitute turn and break the Sub, sweeping with Garchomp can be risky if the opponent has a faster Pokemon waiting in the wings, or leads with a Flying-type or Pokemon with Levitate (I don't want to risk Outrage only going for two turns). That's where Drapion comes in. Against almost everything that's a threat to Garchomp, I'll Memento the lead (possibly after using Flash a few times) and send in Drapion. I pretty much never find myself wishing I had Black Sludge; sure, it would be nice, but after a Memento, the appropriate defense boost, and maybe an evasion or two, Drapion can stall out basically everything with Rest. Once I'm fully set up, I go behind a Sub and sweep easily.

I can't stress enough how amazing this team's synergy is. Typewise, it kind of sucks; Drapion doesn't resist Ice or Dragon and Garchomp doesn't resist Ground, and Uxie's fainted before either of them come in pretty much every time. But Garchomp is absolutely the best Pokemon for quick sweeping with the minimum of one turn provided by Yawn and Memento, and Drapion does the "slow and steady" thing better than any other Pokemon. This team also works really well against a lot of the negative squares on the board. Paralysis can be kind of annoying, but Uxie can usually still manage to live and pull off Yawn, and since Garchomp is immune to the board's paralysis, it doesn't have any trouble setting up. Drapion doesn't care much about burns, since it can just rest them off. Drapion is also immune to poison, though Garchomp usually sweeps so fast that it doesn't care about poison either. Sleep and freeze suck, but both sweepers work so well that it usually doesn't matter if one of them is taken out of commission, and Uxie often has the bulk to wait it out and still cripple the opponent. I also just have to point out how often hax works in my favor; after a Flash or two, if Drapion gets and evasion boost, the opponent is basically never going to hit him, and Garchomp can make good use of lowered accuracy to get free Subs to set up behind. The team just handles inconvenience very well, and it's extremely easy to use. The absence of most items in the Battle Arcade really helps as well; without hax items to force Garchomp or Uxie to miss with key moves, Quick Claws OHKOs, Focus Sashes, and Choice items to help opponents KO Uxie faster, I can almost always set up. Oh, and the sandstorm square on the board is simply golden; using Flash and Sand Veil to cause opponents to repeatedly miss is priceless.

How I lost:

The opponent's team was Dragonite, Porygon2, and Honchkrow. I think I was trying to stop the board on "Paralyze Opponents" so I could Flash to mess up the insanely threatening Dragonite, but I ended up paralyzing my own team. And to think, I'm usually so good about avoiding squares on the board that would cripple me.

Uxie comes out against Dragonite, and Nite immediately uses Outrage. I respond with Thunder Wave, thinking it could give Garchomp a chance to set up, especially once confusion sets in. Even though I'm faster after the T-Wave, I'm hit by full paralysis, so Flash (or maybe it was Memento) fails. Uxie's down.

I send in Garchomp; annoyingly enough, the two turns of Outrage didn't confuse the opponent's Dragonite, so I'm stuck Subbing up. Dragonite proceeds to hit through confusion AND paralysis five times in a row, so I'm stuck with a 3 HP Garchomp against Dragonite. I'm completely forced to attack; sending in Drapion would be suicide, since it can't take an Outrage and CERTAINLY can't take an Earthquake well enough to set up. I use Outrage. Dragonite faints.

Porygon2 comes in and gets a Download boost to its Special Attack. Dammit. I hit it with Outrage, and it lives with about a third of its health left. It KOs Dragonite with Tri Attack.

I send in my paralyzed Drapion, hoping for a miracle that obviously isn't coming. I use Acurpressure, because well, what the hell else am I going to do? I get an evasion boost; Porygon2 smacks me with Tri Attack, dropping Drapion to a little under half of its health. I use Sub, because Substitute + Evasion boosts = God, and a tiny chance to actually Rest and survive this awful situation. Unfortunately, P2 hits Drapion with Ice Beam, getting the KO. As I've often done, I got frustrated and tried to quit out so quickly, I forgot to save the video.

To be honest, this loss was entirely avoidable. If I had led with Yawn, Dragonite would have fallen asleep after KOing Uxie, giving Garchomp the turn it needed to set up and sweep. Even if it had gotten confused after two turns, I could've just switched to Drapion, who could have easily worn Honchkrow down enough for Garchomp's unboosted Outrage to finish it off (if it doesn't already). I honestly think this team can do way better than I've done with it; again, the three Pokemon work so well together, and frequently Garchomp can just wreck the opponent's team, even if something goes wrong with Uxie.

Although bad choices (probably caused by deathly fear of Dragonite and its stupid Outrage/Earthquake combo) led to my loss, this team is afraid of a few things. Obviously, it hates getting Choice items (or like, Flame Orbs) from the board; fortunately, the one time I got them, Garchomp was able to sweep with Choice Band, and I was able to switch them for berries in the next round. It doesn't like Steel-types on the opponent's team when the opposing lead is something too powerful for Drapion and immune to Earthquake, though frequently Garchomp can either 2HKO after a Swords Dance, or just switch out after being confused and KO when it comes back in. OHKO moves can be annoying, but usually I just put OHKO/Explosion Pokemon to sleep and set up with Garchomp. While Fog usually works to my advantage (allowing Garchomp and Drapion to set up while the opponent misses), I did have one insanely close call due to fog once (after Outrage kept missing). I ended up with a 17 HP Garchomp against a Rampardos weakened by Drapion's Crunch (before it promptly KO'd Drapion with Earthquake); we both missed twice in a row with Earthquake before I finally managed to hit and KO. Of course, the bane of my team's existence is lead Heracross; three out of four sets outspeed Uxie and OHKO with Megahorn most of the time, leaving me in a pretty bad spot unless I manage to paralyze it with the board. Of course, if I had a flawless Bold or Impish Uxie, it could live through a non-crit Megahorn, but I have what I have, and it's done pretty well.

I think I'll keep trying with this team; top 3 on my first attempt is pretty good, and I've definitely learned how to better avoid the loss I had last time. Plus, I need something to do on the train until Black and White come out.

25tkpyb.jpg

photoon20110215at1452.jpg
 
VaporeonIce said:
Thief (Uxie)
Serious Nature (it was the only Uxie I had)
Levitate
EVs unknown, stats 172/80/156/87/156/116
~Flash
~Thunder Wave
~Memento
~Yawn

Hitter (Garchomp)
Jolly Nature
Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP, 252 Atk, 252 Speed
~Swords Dance
~Substitute
~Outrage
~Earthquake

Mastermind (Drapion)
Careful Nature
Battle Armor
(Jumpman's EVs; don't remember them at the moment, stats are 177/110/134/72/128/111)
~Acupressure
~Rest
~Substitute
~Crunch
Click to expand...

This was my first successful Platinum BT team(238 wins). I used Trick instead of Flash. After getting a better Uxie, I was planning on doing another run. The memories of having to deal with OHKOs, strong Dragon, Bug, and Ice attacks inspired me to use a different team that worked out better, for me. I've never played Arcade, it's pretty cool that the team works so well in that arena.
 
FastHippo said:
This was my first successful Platinum BT team(238 wins). I used Trick instead of Flash. After getting a better Uxie, I was planning on doing another run. The memories of having to deal with OHKOs, strong Dragon, Bug, and Ice attacks inspired me to use a different team that worked out better, for me. I've never played Arcade, it's pretty cool that the team works so well in that arena.
Click to expand...
Definitely; lacking the Choice Scarf/Trick strategy makes the team so much more user friendly, since you don't have to spend three turns (two of which you're likely to be slower than the opponent, since you gave them a Scarf) just to hit the opponent with Yawn and Memento, which is usually the fastest way to win anyway. The ability to see your opponent's Pokemon beforehand makes a TON of difference too, since it tells you when it's safe to use Outrage on the first turn with Garchomp, in cases it can just switch out if it gets confused and OHKO the last Pokemon. I also can't sing the praises of the Thunder Wave/Flash combo enough; with one Flash after a T-Wave (which slows your opponent down enough to guarantee that you actually hit them with Flash), a 100% accurate move has a pathetic 56.25% chance of hitting, which makes setting up with Drapion insanely easy. It's worth noting that I never had a problem with other bugs; I never faced a lead Pinsir or Scizor, but they don't OHKO Uxie without a crit and they're slow enough to Yawn and Memento (or Flash, in the case of Hyper Cutter Pinsir), making it easy to set up with Garchomp. Yanmega doesn't OHKO Uxie with Bug Buzz, so I can hit it with Thunder Wave and Memento, generally making it too weak to beat Drapion (bar Special Defense drops, which led to a close call once when Yanmega's Speed Boost made it faster than Drapion while paralyzed, just in time to KO before I could Rest). It's amazing how much of a difference the lack of random Brightpowders/Lax Incenses makes when you're trying to cripple something to set up on it.
 
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