Battle Maison Discussion & Records

[Smuckem]

Kinda just messing around using most of R Inanimate's rain team, with his Bisharp being replaced by Tornadus4, and I've had a couple of run-ins with a specific pair of opponents that give me pause. I've run into this same pairing two or three times in each of my last several runs, and looking at the Trainer pools it actually has a decent chance of occurring, so I figured I'd ask about it here.

I'm referring to the Bastiodon4/Mienshao4 pair. All 'Set A' goodstuffs trainers, a few of the Ace Trainers, all of the Black Belts/Battle Girls and both Hikers, who can potentially draw this pairing post-Dana. That covers quite a few trainers. There have been sveral instances on this thread that have pointed out one or the other as a threat to their Doubles/Triples teams (moreso Bastiodon4 than Meinshao4), and the better/best Singles teams will always have their headaches with the annoying Fake Out user Mienshao4, but very little, if anything, on dealing with both of them on the same opposing team.

I'm not going to ask how the-community-as-a-whole deals with the pair: my primary interest is in Triples, and in most instances the leaderboard teams have prioritized taking either of them out before enacting their usual strategies when they appear. I would assume that, if both are the opposing side, it's simply a case of "prioritize taking both out before doing your thang". My inquiry, as it were, would be for folks to relate their experiences in dealing with the pair (in any format). Given the probability that you could draw both at once, I would imagine it's something that needs to be addressed briefly, especially if Bastiodon4 survives the transition to Gen VII battle facilities (as I believe it will) and gets new Wide Guard users to possibly be partnered with.

Like so:
567W-WWWW-WW4P-CT6M

 

[Josh C.]

Kinda just messing around using most of R Inanimate's rain team, with his Bisharp being replaced by Tornadus4, and I've had a couple of run-ins with a specific pair of opponents that give me pause. I've run into this same pairing two or three times in each of my last several runs, and looking at the Trainer pools it actually has a decent chance of occurring, so I figured I'd ask about it here.

I'm referring to the Bastiodon4/Mienshao4 pair. All 'Set A' goodstuffs trainers, a few of the Ace Trainers, all of the Black Belts/Battle Girls and both Hikers, who can potentially draw this pairing post-Dana. That covers quite a few trainers. There have been sveral instances on this thread that have pointed out one or the other as a threat to their Doubles/Triples teams (moreso Bastiodon4 than Meinshao4), and the better/best Singles teams will always have their headaches with the annoying Fake Out user Mienshao4, but very little, if anything, on dealing with both of them on the same opposing team.

I'm not going to ask how the-community-as-a-whole deals with the pair: my primary interest is in Triples, and in most instances the leaderboard teams have prioritized taking either of them out before enacting their usual strategies when they appear. I would assume that, if both are the opposing side, it's simply a case of "prioritize taking both out before doing your thang". My inquiry, as it were, would be for folks to relate their experiences in dealing with the pair (in any format). Given the probability that you could draw both at once, I would imagine it's something that needs to be addressed briefly, especially if Bastiodon4 survives the transition to Gen VII battle facilities (as I believe it will) and gets new Wide Guard users to possibly be partnered with.

Like so:
567W-WWWW-WW4P-CT6M

Well, the one mon I can think of that deals with both Mienshao/Bastiodon4 is Aegislash. Obviously in Singles play it's a lot easier since Wide Guard is rendered useless, but I'd bet Aegi is a popular choice in Doubles/Triples too; haven't dabbled too much in either format though, so I wouldn't know what the best sets are. Immune to Fake Out, the standard SD variant in particular handles Bastiodon with no trouble (Shadow Sneak first before boosting so you can break potential Sturdy/take minimal Metal Burst damage).

But yeah, I can see the dilemma if both happened to be out at the same time in Triples/Doubles. Shao could Fake Out first turn while Bastio Wide Guards, then it could Sturdy/Metal Burst if it wasn't targeted the first time while Shao Wide Guards etc. I would prioritize taking out Bastio first though, definitely. If you can afford to break Sturdy with a resisted/weak neutral hit in fear of Metal Burst, that's not a bad option either. But really, any well-structured team (like the Rain one you're using) with adequate firepower should be designed to take on these threats, and the remainder of the team afterwards.

 

[TheMantyke]

Hey, so I've gotten horrendously bored waiting on Sun & Moon, so I decided to beat the Triples Maison based off of an idea I saw during the Johto Classic. Much like my XY Blissey team, it's definitely not built to get anywhere close to impressive streaks (felt it breaking down a little late into the 50 Battles, had one battle that went to a 1v1 off of some Quick Claw crap) but it had enough weird stuff on it to the point where I thought it was worth sharing.

I present:

TEAM GUTBUSTERS

​

Medicham @ Sitrus Berry
Telepathy
Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
-Drain Punch
-Psycho Cut
-Helping Hand
-Fake Out

Yup, that's a Telepathy Medicham alright. I had one of these bred because I thought I could do some fun stuff with friends. Something like Turn 1 Fake Out with Medicham, partner explodes, Turn 2 Medicham Mega evolves and gets a proper attacking stat. It seems that triples is where it finally got to shine. Medicham is the only Pokemon outside of a Sableye from Pokemon XD with access to Fake Out + Helping Hand + Explosion or Self Destruct immunity. Gave it a whirl and now I'm interested in using support Medicham elsewhere. The evs are definitely not the best for this purpose, but it helped to hurt things instead of tickle them with Medicham's pathetic base 60 attack.

Snorlax @ Custap Berry
Gluttony
Adamant
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def
-Belly Drum
-Self-Destruct
-Earthquake
-Crunch

I ran into this set during the Johto Classic and thought it was pretty neat. Apparently it got a tiny amount of usage in VGC 2015 on a few more jokey teams. It certainly did work in the triples maison, ooh man. Three mon knock outs turn 2 were the norm with Snorlax which transitioned into a wonderful 5-3 advantage to play with. Earthquake was actually a little bit more common than SD considering every Pokemon not immune to EQ was getting decimated by +6 Helping Hand boosted Earthquake. Definitely a fun thing to center the team around.

Greninja @ Focus Sash
Protien
Timid
4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Speed
-Dark Pulse
-Ice Beam
-Mat Block
-Protect

Greninja gave Snorlax the security it needed to buy Snorlax a turn to Belly Drum. Fake Out and Mat Block meant only the occasional Crobat were even getting a chance to inflict damage on Snorlax and stop a Belly Drum. I considered giving it Shadow Sneak > Protect for some cheeky plays with Self-Destruct, but Protect was far too versatile to pass on.

Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Telepathy
Modest
4 HP / 252 SpAtk / 252 Speed
-Hyper Voice
-Psychic
-Shadow Ball
-Protect

Once Snorlax has blown up, Gardevoir gets to come in and Hyper Voice what remains to death. It's an absolutely outstanding middle Pokemon, not much else to explain.

Landorus-T @ Soft Sand
Intimidate
Jolly
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Speed
-Earthquake
-Rock Slide
-Explosion
-Protect

This thing actually helped me beat the doubles subway back in BW as a normal Landorus, first RNG ever to boot! Landorus complements all the spread immune Pokemon on this team very nicely and provides some very welcomed Intimidate support. Another Switch in for Snorlax's EQ was also lovely.

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak
Gale Wings
Adamant
(Don't remember but pretty sure max attack, some bulk, some speed)
-Brave Bird
-Flare Blitz
-Tailwind
-Protect

Talonflame is so good in triples its hard to not use him. It's a great fit for Snorlax too considering it can take out Fighting and Steel-types and makes up another EQ immunity. Not much else to mention, really.

So yeah, a bit typical past the wacky first two, but had fun with it! Hope it made for an interesting concept.

 

[Stormorbiter]

So I've been doing a lot of playing around in Super Singles with this team and I've had a fair amount of success.

Omastar ♂ - Modest @ Focus sash
Ability: Shell Armor
EVs: 252 Sp. Att / 28 Sp. Def / 228 Speed
Surf | Shell Smash
Ice Beam | Ancient Power

Haxorus ♂ - Adamant @ Lum Berry
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Attack / 192 Speed
Outrage | Poison Jab
Earthquake | Dragon Dance

Scizor ♂ - Adamant @ Scizorite
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Attack / 4 Speed
Swords Dance | Bullet Punch
Bug Bite | Superpower

This team revolves around Omastar, a fantastic special sweeper. If Omastar dies then Haxorus or Scizor can set up and pick up where he left off. I love the dragon/steel combination in the back since they have good synergy when it comes to type-resistances. They can both take at least one hit to set up and start their own sweep. The idea for this team is that (except Scizor) everyone should be able to outspeed almost all non-scarfed pokemon after a boost. (It's ok if they can't outspeed Accelgor or Electrode. The ability to hit harder is more valuable with the Modest/Adamant natures than losing that to outspeed pokemon who aren't a huge threat to the team.)
Adamant Haxorus (base 147 attack remember) with a STAB Outrage will OHKO most everything (save steels and fairies) after a Dragon Dance. (That's what Earthquake and Poison Jab are for.) Scizor is bulky enough to be able to max out his attack with Swords Dance sometimes, but only one Swords Dance is usually enough.

I was having a lot of fun with this shell smashing Omastar so it got me thinking about other shell smashers I could use. Yes, everyone loves Cloyster, but I wanted a special attacker on my team out of fear of getting walled. Also, I didn't have a Cloyster, but maybe I can try one out now that I want to try a whole bunch of others too.

Omastar:
- After a Shell Smash, outspeeds all non-scarfed pokemon slower than Electrodude.
- Hits everyone for at least neutral damage except for Empoleon and Poliwrath.
- His biggest problem is hitting the pesky water types (who usually have relatively high special defense), so at least with STAB Ancient Power, he's able to hit Lapras, Dewgong, Cloyster, and Walrein. Other water types that he can't take out, Scizor usually cleans up. I ended up going with STAB Ancient Power over non-STAB Earth Power because of the off-chance of raising stats, which is nice earlier on in the battle.
- Surf is a great STAB move and is able to OHKO most everyone that it hits neutrally (after a Shell Smash)
- What is great about leading someone weak to electric is that you tend to not get crippled by thunder wave right off the bat. Electric types appear to generally just go for the KO with Thunderbolt/Thunder instead of doing a Thunder Wave first.

Alright, now I want to compare to other Shell Smashers that I want to try out:

Gorebyss ♀ - Modest @ Focus Sash
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp. Att / 252 Speed
Shell Smash | Surf
Psychic | Ice Beam

Gorebyss is very similar to Omastar. Similar Speed and Sp. Attack, similar moves, similar type coverage. There are really just two main differences between Gorebyss and Omastar.
1. Type defenses. Adding the rock typing to Omastar does give a resistance to normal, poison, and flying. But they're not all that useful when you consider the trade off: Added a weakness to ground and fighting (two very common types), and lost resistances to water and steel (also pretty common). So I like Gorebyss' defensive typing better.
2. For the last move slot, Omastar has a choice between Ancient Power and Earth Power. Gorebyss has a choice between Psychic and Shadow Ball. Neither set gives perfect type coverage, but I like Psychic on Gorebyss because it's more powerful than shadow ball, plus it does allow her to OHKO Poliwrath.

Cloyster ♂ - Adamant @ Focus Sash
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 124 HP / 252 Attack / 132 Speed
Shell Smash | Icicle Spear
Dive | Rock Blast

Cloyster -- not sure how well a third physical attacker will fit into my team but we'll go with it. His attack isn't really all that high (which was my initial turnoff to him) but he makes up for it with Skill Link. Guaranteed 5 Icicle spears is like an Ice Punch if Ice Punch had a base power of 125 (just with a little more damage variability). Going with Dive over Razor Shell because it's slightly more powerful and more accurate. (I've found that accuracy is very important in the Battle Maison.) Rock Blast is another great way to make use of skill link and gives Cloyster the same type coverage as Omastar, just with a different typed primary Stab Move (Icicle Spear). I'm not too worried about Rock Blast's less than 100% accuracy because on average it will still hit 4.5 times.

Crustle ♂ - Adamant @ Leichi Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
X-Scissor | Rock Slide
Earthquake | Shell Smash

Crustle is fundamentally different than the previous three in that he has Sturdy which means he doesn't need a focus sash. This gives him the opportunity to use another item, and he needs it. His speed is just ok and his attack isn't great, so he's gonna have to make up for it somehow. I'm torn between a Leichi Berry and a Salac Berry for Crustle, but I'm leaning toward Leichi Berry because he is still at least able to outspeed everyone Greninja and slower with full speed EVs, and his attack stat really needs a boost. He's not a water type, meaning he has different type coverage than the others, so it will be interesting to try. His primary STAB move is X-Scissor, and for accuracy reasons, I think that Rock Slide should just be reserved for flying types that resist his other two attacks. He is the only non-water type on this list which means that electric types will try to cripple him with thunder wave instead of attacking for the KO, making it slightly harder for him to set up a shell smash.

Carracosta ♂ - Adamant @ Salac Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Attack / 252 Speed
Waterfall | Rock Slide
Shell Smash | Earthquake

Carracosta is even slower than Crustle, but at least he has a decent attack stat. Salac berry is definitely the choice here to go with Sturdy. But without access to a decent physical Ice type move, Carracosta will have to make do with Rock Slide for hitting grass types. But at least he's got access to Waterfall and Earthquake as a physical attacker, something that Cloyster can't say he has. Like with Crustle, let's save Rock Slide for the flying types.

============

I would also love to try out this Tough Claws Barbaracle, but I think I'll just wait until Sun and Moon come out!

Barbaracle - Adamant @ Focus Sash
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 88 HP / 252 Attack / 168 Speed
Shell Smash | Razor Shell
Earthquake | X-Scissor

The only real turnoff here that I can see is Razor Shell's 95% accuracy. He should totally be able to learn waterfall. I went with X-Scissor over Rock Slide to make more use of Tough Claws and its superior accuracy, but I think flying types would be a problem if they resist water.

==============

You can forget about Shuckle, Macargo, Torkoal, and Huntail. The first three are way to slow even with a Jolly/Timid nature. Huntail may be ok, but he doesn't have much of a moveset for physical attacking, and the pokemon above have all the advantages that Huntail might have, and they do it better.

 

[Smuckem]

Have been pushing a little further with my current streak, and more or less 'interrupted' it to try out a little something: inspired by my run-ins with Triple Fissure in my last couple of serious runs, I decided to fashion a half-PokeGen-ed Ranger squad of Donphan4/Trevenant4/Walrein4/Whiscash4/Wailord4/Tangrowth4. Battle #203 of my current streak became this team's 'test' battle, successfully beating back a challenge from Ace Trainer Bunny. I am now testing this team against all of my Unova Classic opponents (I made sure to save all forty-five battles from my participation).
I mention this now because I'm trying to gather data about a particular 'core' featured by this team. I have encountered Triple Fissure a couple of times, but never the full terror that Rangers can throw at you. So, I am curious if anyone in the-community-as-a-whole has any logs, warstories, or replays of encounters with Tetra Fissure (Donphan4/Wailord4/Walrein4/Whiscash4 on the same team).

 

[-Snorlax-]

Hi everybody! This is the first time I'm posting here, despite being a long-time reader of this AMAZING thread. Some weeks ago I decided it was time to seriously challenge the Battle Maison, and the result was a streak of 433 wins in Super Triple. Considering it was my first try, I'm pretty satisfied with it, although I was really hoping to get to 500.
This is my team (probably not the optimal team for Maison battles, since it's what I normally use for Battle Spot Doubles, but I really wanted to give it a try):

Hide

Togekiss @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Timid
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
- Air Slash
- Aura Sphere
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick

(Starting position: left)

Standard Choice Scarf Togekiss. Most of the time I simply click Air Slash and flinch things to death. It usually gets the job done, barring incredible amounts of bad luck (like Air Slash failing three times in a row -__-). The other moves were rarely used, although Trick proved very useful on occasion to disrupt annoying walls like Cresselia or Registeel, and Aura Sphere helped dealing with the ever present Rock-types that greatly threaten my front row.

Arcanine @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Nature: Bold
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
- Flamethrower
- Snarl
- Will-O-Wisp
- Morning Sun

(Starting position: middle)

Arcanine is probably the most important member of the team: its main purpose is to debilitate opposing Pokemon to the point where they can't threaten Arcanine's allies any more. Between Intimidate and Will-O-Wisp, it can completely shut down most physical attackers, while Snarl progressively weakens special ones. Flamethrower was chosen over the stronger Flare Blitz for the lack of recoil and because it targets a lot of steel types (Skarmory, Forretress, Aggron, Metagross...) on their weaker SpD, allowing Arcanine to quickly get rid of them (which is essential, since Togekiss locked into Air Slash and Aerodactyl have no way to damage them). Last but not least, Morning Sun gives Arcanine even greater staying power, allowing it to support the team throughout the match.

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
Nature: Adamant
IVs: 31/31/31/9/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Rock Slide
- Aerial Ace
- Taunt
- Protect

(Starting position: right)

Aerodactyl is my main physical attacker. I chose it for Battle Spot Doubles mainly because I needed a quick Rock Slide to take care of M-Charizard Y, but it worked surprisingly well for Battle Maison too. Rock Slide makes a devastating flinching duo with Togekiss's Air Slash, while Aerial Ace is an extremely useful cross-field move that can get rid of some dangerous targets without fail (you really don't want to miss things like Choice Scarf Pinsir or Life Orb Medicham). Since the A.I. apparently loves to target Aerodactyl (maybe because of its frailty), Protect was great to avoid a lot of attacks. Taunt was the less used move (I often considered replacing it with a third attacking move), but it proved sometimes worth the slot, especially to stop trick room setters.

Gastrodon @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
Nature: Sassy
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Def / 12 SpA / 192 SpD
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Recover

Thanks to its typing and ability, Gastrodon is the perfect choice to cover the main weaknesses of the front row. It can freely switch into Electric attacks aimed at Aerodactyl and Togekiss, while also redirecting the Water attacks that greatly threaten Aerodactyl and Arcanine. It can also tank Steel and, to a lesser extent, Rock attacks (Head Smashes and CH Stone Edges still hurt). Earth Power is by far the most useful move, especially to destroy dangerous Electric Pokemon like Magnezone and Raikou. Toxic is great for dealing with sturdy walls like Cresselia, especially in conjunction with Taunt or Trick. Scald didn't prove very useful overall (can it really burn?), but at least it saved Gastrodon when it got frozen (this happened quite often, since Water types tend to target Gastrodon with Ice attacks after triggering Storm Drain).

Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Nature: Bold
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/31
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 68 SpA / 8 SpD
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

The physical tank of my team. It has huge bulk on its own, and with Arcanine support, it becomes nearly impenetrable on the physical side (I think that only Life Orb Medicham can OHKO it from full health). The bolt-beam combo helps dealing with some dangerous sweepers/wallbreakers like Dragon Dance Gyarados, Swords Dance Garchomp and Choice Band Dragonite, while Thunder Wave gives Porygon2, Gastrodon and Snorlax the chance to outspeed something. It also works very well with my speedy birds' flinching attacks. Porygon2's ability, Trace, is very unreliable in this format, but it can still be incredibly funny if it copies broken abilities like Multiscale or Magic Guard.

Snorlax @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
Nature: Careful
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 184 HP / 108 Def / 216 SpD
- Body Slam
- Crunch
- Curse
- Rest

Snorlax can be seen as Porygon2's special counterpart: with enormous HP and great SpD, it takes special attacks to no end, while happily boosting its physical stats with Curse. Snorlax's low speed also makes it a fine response to Trick Room teams, since it becomes slower than almost anything after a Curse or two, and most TR setters don't like taking boosted Crunches. Rest is incredibly useful not only to keep Snorlax alive, but also to reliably beat toxic-stallers (Cresselia, Blissey, Registeel and many others).

Some miscellaneous battle videos and the loss:

Hide

Battle 200 - Nothing special here, just a generic veteran trying to deprive me of my Starf Berry >:(
V4CW-WWWW-WW4R-9E5H

Battle 282 - Only time I found myself 1vs1
RU5W-WWWW-WW4R-9CXK

Battle 328 - Easy win despite the horrible match-up
JBYG-WWWW-WW4R-9B3V

Battle 434 - The loss T-T
EZ5W-WWWW-WW4Z-58FM


There's really not much to say about the loss. It was the usual, lethal mix of bad luck, unexpected A.I. behaviour and misplay. Missing Articuno twice in a row with Rock Slide was very unfortunate, and honestly I didn't expect Raikou to target Arcanine instead of Togekiss, or Landorus to switch out just to change move. However, i'm not denying that I played very poorly, especially since I completely forgot that a) Landorus2 has Grass Knot in its moveset and b) Latios can use Dragon Pulse to hit across the field.

All in all, I really had fun winning 400+ battles with my usual team, maybe I could make another attempt after doing some adjustments. At the moment, I'm trying my luck with Super Multi with A.I. I already got some decent results, but I'd like to reach at least 100 wins before posting a streak :)

 

[MQJinx]

Well, my Super Doubles streak ended at 676 wins because Whiscash4 decides to rear its ugly head.

Video: 659W-WWWW-WW4R-BRDP

Team:

Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Fake Out

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- U-turn
- Superpower

Sylveon @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 164 HP / 76 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock
- Moonblast

 

[Smuckem]

Really cool to see two Snorlax teams pop up this 'late in the game', so to speak.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My most recent streak ended at 239 wins, against a Veteran with Heatran1/Latias1/Cresselia1/Regigigas1/Regice1/Articuno2: too much bulk, a few Lax Incense misses, a couple of Confuse Rays screwing me over, and Regice1 doing more damage than I had anticipated took me down. The team was entirely PokeGen-ed and thus ineligible for the leaderboard, but it demonstrated that my Grafting concept can hold water beyond my own teams, as sticking a Maisonmon onto other peoples' teams can work too, to a degree. If R Inanimate were still around, and saw what I tried with his rain team and Tornadus4, I'm sure he could do better.

The wacky teams featured on this page got me brainstorming my next idea, though. I tried a couple of different things that couldn't crack 20 wins and was annoyed...but then Unova Classic came along. After participating in--and receiving my gift from--that, I decided to fuse a couple of different ideas together and came up with:

TIMEY'S RULE (Prototype)

This is a test version of something I've had in my mind for a bit. It's simultaneously an extension of my 55-win streak with "The Gimp" & a tribute to Timey's intial trophy run. The eventual idea is to create a team with two filler 'mons and see how far I can take it. The teams is composed of two parts:

The Starters minus their Captain

"Ben" (Talonflame) (M) (Lvl.64) @ Sharp Beak (Left)
Ability: Gale Wings
Nature: Adamant
IVs: 31/31/31/15-16/31/10-11
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spd
- Flare Blitz
- Brave Bird
- Tailwind
- Protect

Teelo (Blastoise) (F) (Lvl.50) @ Blastoisinite (Center)
Ability: Torrent
Nature: Modest
IVs: 31/31/31/31/22-23/31
EVs: 6 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
- Protect
- Dragon Pulse
- Aura Sphere
- Water Spout

Blizzmarck (Bisharp) (M) (Lvl.53) Focus sash (Right)
Ability: Defiant
Nature: Adamant
IVs: 31/31/31/0/17/3
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 140 Spe
- Protect
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

SamiClone (Greninja) (M) (Lvl.53) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
IVs: 31/13/31/31/31/31
Naïve Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse
- Scald
- Mat Block

The same guys 'n' gals that have taken me to my highest highs, minus the Imperfect Starmie4. Without the team captain around to SPIT, the rest of the Starters have to increase their synergy and cooperative spirit (i.e., I need to pay even more attention to type matchups than usual).

Rounding out the team are what I would classify as 'pseudo-fillers'; they have been IV bred and EV trained, but don't necessarily add anything to the team, other than additional Water and Electric weaknesses. If anything, one member actively hurts the team, simply because it's a hard set to pull off in Doubles/Triples/Multis. They were added solely due to being sets I'm interested in trying out. With that:

The Pseudo-Fillers

Dumb (Drifblim) (M) (Lvl.50) @ Custap Berry
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SDef / 252 Spd
IVs: 0/0/31/31/31/31
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Icy Wind
- Shadow Ball
- Hypnosis
- Destiny Bond

Originally meant to be Imperfect Drifblim4, it has become something fairly different. The EV spread and item remain the same, but as can be seen, Tunderbolt was too useless to be kept (I am open to suggestions as to what I can put into that slot, although I can see merit in Icy Wind too), Bold-->Timid to better take advantage of Tailwind, and a questionable HP IV. When breeding for Drifblim4, this was the frist hatchling to adopt 0 Atk and 31 Def IVs from the parents, and I found the idea of it just so happening to get 0 HP IVs so absurd that I decided "I'll keep it". Besides, the way I figure it will just make it that much more tempting for foes to be suckered into Destiny Bond.

Nicknamed:
- because it seemed to fit the idea of using something with such questionable HP IVs
- after the Seal song of the same name
- in tribute to arguably the best part of the first 10 pages of the thread, this dialogue:

Lost at 45 to a drifblim of all things, though. It survived a shadow ball and used hypnosis, Gengar is dead weight. It kept spamming destiny bond so I couldn't just flat out kill it with mawile, and then when it finally ran out of PP it used hypnosis (which obviously hit). Couldn't recover after losing him that early. I know this team can do it, though, so I'm going to try again.

Drifblim is awful, no kidding. Every time it's come up it's been a close match for my team. Its movesets are so annoying, and to be fair it is strong against most of my current team. Hopefully my new Hydreigon will get revenge if I see that stupid balloon again.

Who are you calling a stupid balloon ;^;

Stop haxing my Pokemon to death! Every set has one of Memento, Hypnosis or Destiny Bond. Drifblim is so fast that it always does one of these! And it can have Aftermath too...

Ah, the early days of feeling our way around the Maison...

"EarthMonk" (Darmanitan) (M) (Lvl.54) @ Petaya Berry
Ability: Zen Mode
IVs: 30/30/30/30/30/30
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Def / 252 SAtk
Calm Nature (+SDef, -Atk)
- Substitute
- Flamethrower
- Psychic
- Grass Knot

My Unova Classic gift Darmanitan, tailored to be a Calm version of Serebii's Gen V Pokémon of the Week "Zen Mode Activate!" set. No real purpose to having it on this specific team, I just wanted to use at least one of my Battle Competition rewards for something in the Maison. I also wanted to get Zen Mode Darmanitan on the leaderboard if possible. On the plus side, being a backup means I have a chance to switch him into neutral hits aimed at Talonflame and get Zen Mode activated pretty quick, while also preserving the latter for later. "Nicknamed" after the floating, meditating monks from the Earth Temple in Sub-Zero Mythologies.

The team has already reached 70 wins, though Rasmus tried really hard to prevent that this morning. I laugh at how the non-Set4 Choice holders are mild inconveniences pre-Dana and suddenly become terrifying post-Dana, simply due to the element of surprise. Garchomp3 was my reminder of that fact, in this case...

Let's see what the future brings for this team. Depending on the results, I will swap two of my in-game 'mons with the current pseudo-fillers on the next run.

EDIT: Well, that was fast...dropped at 78 wins by Beauty Lana (vs. Floatzel4/Seismitoad3/Kingdra2/Aromatisse3/Goodra4/Dewgong4). Trying to keep things fast, I kept Sucker Punching into thin air as Kingdra2 happily DD'ed and the rest of my leads fought everyone else. By the time Talonflame, Bisharp, & Tailwind were down, of course Kingdra2 was ready to rip through things. With 4 DDs under its belt, it and Aromatisse3 picked off the rest of the team at will. Trying to do this while wrapping up my shift at work probably wasn't the smartest thing...so I'm definitely giving this another shot, the concept can do better. I may go ahead and get the true fillers some minutes, though.

 

[Hughsie28]

Hey All!

Its been a while since I last left a response, I've started playing Pokemon ORAS during my lunch times at work so I've gotten back into the Battle Maison and doing doubles. So far I have beaten my last record(s) which I left on the leader board:

(Doubles)
#39. @Hughsie28, (90) - Mega Kangaskhan / Weavile / Greninja / Talonflame
(Triples)
#48. @Hughsie28, (119) - Liepard / Mega Kangaskhan / Talonflame / Jolteon / Greninja / Garchomp
Currently my record is on 128 (12th Sept 2016) with a team I threw together in a lunch break which is proving more stable than I 1st realised. I will be back in the future when I eventually lose to post my proof so that my "leaderboard spot" can be updated. :)

But in the mean time I would like to share my strat for any newer players who are looking for ideas (As this is where I came for mine).

The Current Doubles Team

I open with Togekiss and Bisharp 100% of the time, its a perfect crime.

The following is my exact EV's / IV's / Movesets after breeding

SuchTogeWow (Togekiss) (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
Level: 50
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 25 Atk
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Tailwind
- Follow Me

Standard Togekiss, redirects all fighting moves from bisharp (x4 resist + all tank, take literally no damage). Its amazing how often there is brick break, focus blast, drain punch and close combat in the maison to the point you can more or less spam "follow me" and let bisharp clean up.
Standard paraflinch for those enemies which do get to set up before you kill them or you have no coverage for.
When Bisharp protects set up a tailwind or get a free air slash off on those that are weak or to break a potential focus sash
Tailwind for those odd moments bisharp needs a speed boost to ko something which is faster and has aoe.

Axe (Bisharp) (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Defiant
Level: 50
EVs: 8 HP / 248 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Protect

Standard Bisharp set for me, really high offense and with the combo of protect, focus sash and Togekiss's "follow me" leads to some clever shenanigan outplays.
Knock off does 65 base damage (100 accuracy) + STAB + item boost with 1.5x extra damage, I literally spam this move unless a fairy comes out then I spam iron head.
Sucker punch to outspeed something when I know it will die (to counter ko or get damage down before I die) or to clean up allowing togekiss to be offensive for a turn as well
Protect allows togekiss to attack fighting/bug/grass types or set up some status/tailwind.
Simple but effective and the combo of Togekiss & Bisharp allows you to out predict/outplay the maison so easily!

Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Parental Bond
Level: 53
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Low Kick
- Sucker Punch
- Fake Out

Couldn't be any more standard if it tried, all round power house, practically counters everything in its own right.
Just one big naturally bulky speedy powerhouse one shotting most things or supporting/killing with fake out (Fake out can one shot Digletts and Zoroaks I have found)
Also outspeeds most pokemon in the maison, for those it doesn't it has the fake out / sucker punch combos.
This guy gets rare screen time due to the wombo-combo of the 1st 2. but can still clean up like crazy or makes a solid backup with redirect togekiss since also weak to fighting.

CerealKiller (Alakazam) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 5 Atk
- Psyshock
- Energy Ball
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute

The interesting part of this set is the substitute over protect. I have found this guy to be INSANELY weak to random sucker punches or stuff that survives due to bulk which ohkos me back. So due to trial and error I discovered that sub is better on alakazam that protect because if you get it off when they sucker punch (they will fail) and you get a free sub, if not and they still hit you you only lose a small % of your hp, not all of it (give you time to think for the next turn if your other mon hasn't already killed the enemy which is causing grief). Also from experience I have found that both enemies don't attack alakzam together unless they both have a counter move or they don't have something for my other mon (meaning you still only lose the sub). I did orginally run leftovers on alakazam to abuse this abit but it wasn't too fruitful.
This guy gets used rarely but is there for coverage and to provide special offence.
The only thing his moveset is designed around is those common x4 weak to grass, shadow ball for when knock off on bisharp fails or general coverage, and coverage psyshock.

 

[Skewtr]

Low Kick or Drain Punch?

I'm trying to decide between Low Kick or Drain Punch for my Mega Kangaskhan. I ran the numbers and for all battles 41+, accounting for how frequently each opponent Pokemon appears based on how many trainers use them, the average power for Low Kick is ~79 over the fixed Drain Punch power of 75. Despite Low Kick being stronger on average, Drain Punch has allowed my Kangaskhan to sustain longer fights due to the high Double Edge recoil damage.

What do you guys think is the better move, knowing that Low Kick on average is power ~79 vs Drain Punch's 75?

 

[NoCheese]

Low Kick or Drain Punch?

I'm trying to decide between Low Kick or Drain Punch for my Mega Kangaskhan. I ran the numbers and for all battles 41+, accounting for how frequently each opponent Pokemon appears based on how many trainers use them, the average power for Low Kick is ~79 over the fixed Drain Punch power of 75. Despite Low Kick being stronger on average, Drain Punch has allowed my Kangaskhan to sustain longer fights due to the high Double Edge recoil damage.

What do you guys think is the better move, knowing that Low Kick on average is power ~79 vs Drain Punch's 75?

The average damage against the entire Maison is less important than which move is going to do what you want against specific threats. Drain Punch can be used on damaged foes for a little free healing, but in general, you're only running a Fighting-type move to cover certain Rock- and Steel-types. You also get super effective coverage on Normal-types, but the gain there is much less pronounced since your STAB attack is effective against them. So I suggest taking a look at the specific Rock- and Steel-type threats threats that make you want to add in a Fighting-type move, and see what plays best against them. Turskain's damage calculator, available here, can be very useful in this analysis.

 

[Lumari]

Low Kick or Drain Punch?

I'm trying to decide between Low Kick or Drain Punch for my Mega Kangaskhan. I ran the numbers and for all battles 41+, accounting for how frequently each opponent Pokemon appears based on how many trainers use them, the average power for Low Kick is ~79 over the fixed Drain Punch power of 75. Despite Low Kick being stronger on average, Drain Punch has allowed my Kangaskhan to sustain longer fights due to the high Double Edge recoil damage.

What do you guys think is the better move, knowing that Low Kick on average is power ~79 vs Drain Punch's 75?

Someone else ran the numbers before, but there's not a single target where Drain Punch isn't outdamaged by either Double-Edge or Low Kick (except a couple cases where the difference is only marginally in favour of Drain Punch), so from a pure damage output standpoint, Low Kick always and forever. Drain Punch's healing is a potentially valuable thing for sure though; I'd say Low Kick should be the default option (for the OHKO on Tyrantrum if nothing else haha), but if you have Kangaskhan paired up with a partner that can handle not 4x weak Rock- and Steel-types decently well and your team benefits from the healing in some way, then consider Drain Punch. turskain's team has Drain Punch Kanga in order to keep it at high health to take better advantage of Sharpedo's baiting qualities and because Sharpedo has Rock- and Steel-types covered decently well, and Eppie's team also runs Drain Punch because the healing is valuable in sticky late-game situations whereas Aron indiscriminately destroying anything anyway makes Low Kick's higher damage output less significant, but on the other hand if you've got Kangaskhan paired up with say Sylveon or Gardevoir then Low Kick seems better because Steel-types can get stupid.

 

[Skewtr]

Someone else ran the numbers before, but there's not a single target where Drain Punch isn't outdamaged by either Double-Edge or Low Kick (except a couple cases where the difference is only marginally in favour of Drain Punch), so from a pure damage output standpoint, Low Kick always and forever. Drain Punch's healing is a potentially valuable thing for sure though; I'd say Low Kick should be the default option (for the OHKO on Tyrantrum if nothing else haha), but if you have Kangaskhan paired up with a partner that can handle not 4x weak Rock- and Steel-types decently well and your team benefits from the healing in some way, then consider Drain Punch. turskain's team has Drain Punch Kanga in order to keep it at high health to take better advantage of Sharpedo's baiting qualities and because Sharpedo has Rock- and Steel-types covered decently well, and Eppie's team also runs Drain Punch because the healing is valuable in sticky late-game situations whereas Aron indiscriminately destroying anything anyway makes Low Kick's higher damage output less significant, but on the other hand if you've got Kangaskhan paired up with say Sylveon or Gardevoir then Low Kick seems better because Steel-types can get stupid.

So I ran the numbers myself, and for only the cases where Low Kick/Drain Punch out-damages Double Edge:

Low Kick Average Power: ~193
Drain Punch Average Power: ~137

There are about 1200 cases where you would use Drain Punch over Double Edge (purely for damage purposes) and 1400 cases for using Low Kick over Double Edge (taking to account each Pokemon/Set and how many Trainers have this Pokemon/Set in their roster for Battles 41+).

Also there is a uncommon edge case with Blissey. While Double-Edge would be the most damaging, the recoil damage would be too great. Drain Punch IMO would be optimal as it drains HP and out-damages Low Kick.

I've used both moves for Double/Triple challenges and have seen that while Low Kick is usually more powerful, Drain Punch has saved Kangaskhan from certain death in numerous occasions.

Anyways, this is just my own analysis. Thank you all for the input.

(There is also another step I could have taken with accounting for the probability of a Pokemon appearing given that the Trainer has sent another one out, due to the Item and Species clause, but I didn't have the time or brainpower to go over such complicated combinatorics - it probably would have made minimal difference anyways.)

 

[Plaak]

I just finished a 583 win streak in Super Rotation.
My thanks to The Dutch Plumberjack for all the advices, they helped me a lot.
The team is almost the same, these are the changes i made:

NoCheese Edit: Here's the original team.

-Charizard's spread is 252 hp, 132 atk, 124 speed;
-Sylveon replaced Chansey, as i said in my previous post. It's less bulky but has more offensive presence thanks to pixilate, which boosts hyper voice;
-Feraligatr, Charizard and Klefki now have substitute instead of protect.
I lost to an insanely lucky Walrein who landed an absurd amount of sheer cold / fissure.
Replay: 4JVG-WWWW-WW4S-G2KW
Well, i assume that nobody can do anything if the game wants you to lose.
I don't know if i'll try an other streak, especially with the incoming Sun & Moon. I'm a bit upset after losing like this.

 

[Smuckem]

I'm a bit upset after losing like this.

I wouldn't be. It's true, the luck was clearly in the opponent's favor in this case. But at the same time, Leafeon4/Volcarona4/Walrein4 is an awful trio to face, no matter the format, and more than capable of dragging the comparatively harmless Lapras4 to victory. Hell, any paired combination of the three, with the third and Lapras4 waiting in the wings, would have sucked to deal with in Doubles/Multis.
You have nothing to be upset about--you have reached some awesome heights in a difficult format, and will get higher someday (whether it's here or in Sun & Moon).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My experimentation with Timey's Rule has undergone a couple of different incarnations since the initial run, but none has reached the heights of the initial streak. The concept is sound enough to help one nab the Triples trophy but not much more than that, it seems...

...which is fine, as the recent reveal of a certain tree's alternate form has gotten me interested in an oft-forgotten Maison set. A set I've always had my eye on but have been too lazy to breed for, I finally made the move to do so earlier today:

My third (or forth) Frontier set

BF857 (Exeggutor) (M) (Lvl.50) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 6 SDef
IVs: 31/23/31/31/31/0
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Psychic
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Ancientpower

Imperfect Frontier Exeggutor4/Subway & Maison Exeggutor3. As you see, Modest-->Quiet, an unused Atk IV score that will cause some Swagger-related problems, and 6 EVs that could likely be placed elsewhere (any ideas?). This set clearly is meant for Trick Room as a backup, so at least there isn't too much thinking involved in the teambuilding process. I suspect this is one of my favorite battle facility sets due to the attack selection screen for its moveset; it's so colorful and cool-looking. I don't know if this set achieves perfect offensive coverage or not, but it should cover a wide variety of Maisonmons at least.

The final Maison challenge I will likely undertake pre-Gen VII, I want to try and fit this into a solid Triples team. Its defensive typing pretty much prevents me from building a team around it, but I imagine it can fulfill the same role as my Imperfect Starmie4, just in TR form. Hopefully, I can at least crack 200 wins with it in tow.

 

[ToadBrigade]

After several singles and doubles runs which always ended at ~70 wins (due to lack of concentration more than anything) I thought I'd try out the multi battle using Steven as a partner. Still only got 78 but more of an achievement than 70s in other formats. The team I used wasn't anything special with standard Gren and M-Kang

Greninja Focus sash
Ability: Protean
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Timid Nature
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Grass Knot
- Mat Block

Pretty much standard. Mat Block for a free turn 9/10 times + coverage moves.

Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 HP
Jolly Nature
- Double Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Fake Out

Missing the power from Adamant Kang I used Double-Edge over Return even though I didn't check to see what extra KOs it would pick up. Same with Low Kick for more power against heavy steels and rocks compared to Drain Punch. Usually I run Crunch due to Ghost types often using status moves but general consensus seems to be Sucker is better and after using this I 100% agree.

9VXG-WWWW-WW4T-AX76

Ended up losing to Chelsea and Darcy. Froslass4 and Emboar4 lead. Mat Block to block Shadow Ball and Focus Blast on the first turn but Metagross misses Meteor Mash. Dark Pulse to bring Froslass down to its Sash, it Icy Winds, Metagross KOs Froslass, and Emboar Focus Blasts Greninja into another dimension. I don't think there was too much else I could've done except for hope Metagross ZH the Emboar instead, oh well. Kang comes in and they send out Feraligatr4. Sub DD Gatr gave me a bit trouble before so I targeted that while Metagross KO'd Emboar with ZH. Or at least he would have. Forgot about the speed drop from Icy Wind and got Focus Blasted again meaning Steven had to win by himself. Gatr was taken out easily but Metagross nor Aerodactyl couldn't touch Cofagrigus4 after a couple of Wisps.

I enjoyed this format more than I've been enjoying singles and doubles lately so any tips or suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[Marowak2000]

BF857 (Exeggutor) (M) (Lvl.50) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 6 SDef
IVs: 31/23/31/31/31/0
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Psychic
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Ancientpower

Imperfect Frontier Exeggutor4/Subway & Maison Exeggutor3. As you see, Modest-->Quiet, an unused Atk IV score that will cause some Swagger-related problems, and 6 EVs that could likely be placed elsewhere (any ideas?). This set clearly is meant for Trick Room as a backup, so at least there isn't too much thinking involved in the teambuilding process. I suspect this is one of my favorite battle facility sets due to the attack selection screen for its moveset; it's so colorful and cool-looking. I don't know if this set achieves perfect offensive coverage or not, but it should cover a wide variety of Maisonmons at least..

Steel types wont care much for your colourful attack selection screen! But for your future reference you can use this site to check for any weaknesses in your offensive set :)

 

[-Snorlax-]

Ok...As planned, I got past 100 in ORAS Super Multi with AI, but sadly my streak didn't last long after that. I stopped at 108 wins, losing to...bad luck? Misplay? Bad match-up? I don't know exactly, I can't really say I was unlucky (see Gyarados vs Regice), but I don't feel I could have played much better either. Sometimes you have to lose, and that's all. The Pokemon I used (with Steven as my partner, of course):

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 31 Atk / 31 Spe
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out
- Protect

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate --> Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 88 HP / 248 Atk / 4 Def / 168 Spe
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance

Battle videos:

56 - Metagross <3
EQYW-WWWW-WW4U-XLWV

108 - Close call. Loss was around the corner.
EG3W-WWWW-WW4U-XHBV

109 - The loss.
BGSG-WWWW-WW4U-XHD7


Weavile as a lead worked much better than expected. Fake Out+Protect pair well to play "mind" games with AI, allowing Weavile to buy time for its teammate to do what it has to. Knock Off and Ice Punch hit decently hard, and I particularly love the former for its ability to remove hax items like Bright Powder and Quick Claw. I played Weavile with both M-Metagross and Aerodactyl as starting partners, and it never disappointed me; of course, I had to change my playstyle accordingly. Metagross has enough staying and attacking power to smash trough teams on its own, so Weavile's main job is to keep it alive with a smart use of Fake Out and Protect (after going down to Focus Sash, I often keep using Protect to attract as many hits as possible, especially if there's something faster than Weavile on the field). Sometimes it's also a good idea to switch Weavile out and use Gyarados's Intimidate to increase Metagross's bulk.
Aerodactyl has two main advantages over Metagross: a MUCH higher speed stat and the ability to hold a Focus Sash, meaning that most of the time it can land at least two hits before fainting. However, Aerodactyl's pathetic damage output (at least compared to Metagross's) means that Weavile must be played much more aggresively, since the prehistoric bird is not going to kill many foes on its own. Also, Aerodactyl's tendency to be quickly brought down to 1 HP makes a bit more difficult to predict what the AI is going to do.
As for Gyarados, it was chosen mainly for its ability to cover Metagross's weaknesses. It can also switch into Fire, Fighting, Bug and Steel attacks aimed at Weavile without taking excessive amounts of damage. Unlike Weavile, it's a very simple Pokemon to use: mega evolve if necessary, Dragon Dance if possible and sweep.

Since both Pokemon worked very well, I'm really tempted to give them another chance, but I definitely feel I need suggestions about Gyarados's set-up. Does that EV spread make sense (honestly I don't remember where it comes from...)? Should I replace Ice Fang (or any other move)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated ^_^

 

[PrivateJoker]

Ok...As planned, I got past 100 in ORAS Super Multi with AI, but sadly my streak didn't last long after that. I stopped at 108 wins, losing to...bad luck? Misplay? Bad match-up? I don't know exactly, I can't really say I was unlucky (see Gyarados vs Regice), but I don't feel I could have played much better either. Sometimes you have to lose, and that's all. The Pokemon I used (with Steven as my partner, of course):

Weavile @ Focus Sash
Ability: Pressure
Nature: Jolly
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 31 Atk / 31 Spe
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Fake Out
- Protect

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate --> Mold Breaker
Nature: Jolly
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 88 HP / 248 Atk / 4 Def / 168 Spe
- Waterfall
- Crunch
- Ice Fang
- Dragon Dance

Battle videos:

56 - Metagross <3
EQYW-WWWW-WW4U-XLWV

108 - Close call. Loss was around the corner.
EG3W-WWWW-WW4U-XHBV

109 - The loss.
BGSG-WWWW-WW4U-XHD7


Weavile as a lead worked much better than expected. Fake Out+Protect pair well to play "mind" games with AI, allowing Weavile to buy time for its teammate to do what it has to. Knock Off and Ice Punch hit decently hard, and I particularly love the former for its ability to remove hax items like Bright Powder and Quick Claw. I played Weavile with both M-Metagross and Aerodactyl as starting partners, and it never disappointed me; of course, I had to change my playstyle accordingly. Metagross has enough staying and attacking power to smash trough teams on its own, so Weavile's main job is to keep it alive with a smart use of Fake Out and Protect (after going down to Focus Sash, I often keep using Protect to attract as many hits as possible, especially if there's something faster than Weavile on the field). Sometimes it's also a good idea to switch Weavile out and use Gyarados's Intimidate to increase Metagross's bulk.
Aerodactyl has two main advantages over Metagross: a MUCH higher speed stat and the ability to hold a Focus Sash, meaning that most of the time it can land at least two hits before fainting. However, Aerodactyl's pathetic damage output (at least compared to Metagross's) means that Weavile must be played much more aggresively, since the prehistoric bird is not going to kill many foes on its own. Also, Aerodactyl's tendency to be quickly brought down to 1 HP makes a bit more difficult to predict what the AI is going to do.
As for Gyarados, it was chosen mainly for its ability to cover Metagross's weaknesses. It can also switch into Fire, Fighting, Bug and Steel attacks aimed at Weavile without taking excessive amounts of damage. Unlike Weavile, it's a very simple Pokemon to use: mega evolve if necessary, Dragon Dance if possible and sweep.

Since both Pokemon worked very well, I'm really tempted to give them another chance, but I definitely feel I need suggestions about Gyarados's set-up. Does that EV spread make sense (honestly I don't remember where it comes from...)? Should I replace Ice Fang (or any other move)? Any advice would be greatly appreciated ^_^

At the very least, I'd replace Ice Fang on Gyarados. Earthquake would be a better coverage move, or even something like Substitute is useful for avoiding status, and helping you find opportunities to safely Dragon Dance.

 

[JT Hitman]

1337

I thought this was a nice spot for a quick update. The team is here except I switched Cressy's leftovers for a power lens dropping her speed from a high-ish 81 to 40(?) so she functions better under TR.

Maison AI seems to have turned up the heat a bit. I've already had three close calls since match 1,000 when I only had one up until then. My very first match today featured a very inconvenient Escavalier4 partnered with a myriad of EQ spammers including a very inconvenient Gastrodon4 and a Golurk4 that caused me to misplay because it wasn't actually Golurk4. That's what I get for playing while half-awake and nowhere near my computer.

I wanted to slow down but the allure of drawing closer to the top 10 is too much to bear.

 

[Smuckem]

Success! My current streak has broken the Starf Mark, and has achieved the goal I had set for myself with this team. Anything after this is gravy. With that, it's time to introduce my newest foray into the Trick Room realm:
SOMETHING ABOUT DÉBRIEF PST (S.A.D.P.)

I don't know French and thus don't know what Debrief PST is referring to... but Uphaze sure likes talking about it.

As I have mentioned in a few previous posts, I have been fascinated by Uphaze's Triples trophy run team and was saddened by him (seemingly) never extending the streak any further. As a result, I eventually decided to take his concept further instead, while simultaneously getting my Imperfect EB Exeggutor some mileage. So:

The mostly-copied part of the team

MoreNuggets (Taillow) (F) (Lvl.1) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: N/A
IVs: 31/xx/xx/xx/xx/xx
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Protect
- Endeavor
- Mirror Move
- U-turn

FEAR #1, missing the crucial Quick Attack to strike back against opposing priority under TR. As a result, it is mostly used as bait (moreso than Aron) while the other leads do the heavy lifting, though it definitely still fulfills its primary function quite capably.

ComaRing (Hypno) (Lvl.50) (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 6 SpD
IVs: 20/31/31/31/31/0
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Trick Room
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball

Same deal as with Emile Louis, although the imperfect HP IVs are not optimal. 31 Atk IVs don't affect him as much as you think it would, as every Swagger user out there is stopped by Lum and then killed, along with the FEARs being targeted by said users fairly often. Nicknamed after the Lost Odyssey sleep-inducing item.

InspireZheng (Aron) (Lvl. 1) (M) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: N/A
IVs: xx/0/31/0/31/31
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Sunny Day
- Toxic
- Protect
- Endeavor

FEAR #2, the same Aron that has brought some of my biggest successes to date. Now equipped with Sunny Day to deal with sand & hail & give Megarupt some extra punch, though Rain Dance is also an option to boost Clawitzer's Water Pulse.

Ruger1132 (Clawitzer) (Lvl.68) (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
IVs: 31/15/31/31/31/5
Quiet Nature
- Ice Beam
- Water Pulse
- Aura Sphere
- Dark Pulse

Much like with Megatoise, another popular Pokémon among the folks on this thread that I was fighting not to use but eventually succumbed to. I've traded the AV for a Life Orb to make sure some certain, bulkier opponents are guaranteed dead. Besides, as the designated first backup of the team it's usually coming in once the opposing team has been decimated and can just snipe the remnants safely from afar. The Spd IVs are not optimal, but it does snuggle in under 70 Spd at lvl.50, so it's fine. Nicknamed after a gun, a revolver I believe.

While Uphaze's usage of Megawile was good, and the logic behind using Tyranitar was sound, I already have Aron taking a couple of shots and getting Sunny Day up to cancel opposing weather, so the latter doesn't fit all that well I feel. I'm not sure why, but I've just been kind of lazy about breeding for the former. With that, I made the decision to replace the physical attackers and Mega with a couple of slower 'mons:

An Old Faithful & a Graft

TestCano (Camerupt) (Lvl.53) (F) @ Cameruptite (Right)
Ability: Magma Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 6 Def/ 252 SAtk
IVs: 3/2/14/31/28/28
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Protect
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Will-O-Wisp

Same Megarupt as always, still awesome.

BF857 (Exeggutor) (M) (Lvl.50) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Harvest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SAtk / 6 SDef
IVs: 31/23/31/31/31/0
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Psychic
- Sludge Bomb
- Leaf Storm
- Ancientpower

My latest Imperfect and the leader of this team, this is meant to be this team's analog to my Imperfect Starmie4 on the Roslindale Condores/Quetzales.

Together, this team is basically a tale of two distinct halves: Double FEAR Endeavor under TR as a lead, and a TR FWG core with plenty of offensive coverage for backups, with the things Exeggutor can't hit being covered for by the other two.

I'm very happy with what this team has accomplished so far: this is my personal best streak using these specific leads--by more than double--and my first legal streak using Taillow/Hypno/Clawitzer. However, I strongly feel this team is living on luck and borrowed time; while my increasing comfort in dealing with sand, hail, priority, most Ghosts, Taunt users, and those resistant to Dazzling Gleam has certainly helped in maintaining the streak, there are still certain things I have trouble dealing with:

The spawn of Dave Mastiff

- Dusknoir4: while most TR users can be baited into attacking, this bastard is passive and erratic enough that him canceling my TR is always a real possibility. A high-priority target, particularly the Pressure variant
- Rampardos4: while most of the Mold Breakers are fairly easy to deal with by now, this bastard is someone I have to play carefully. Slow enough to kinda function under TR, Sitrus held to make it someone the entire lead line has to focus on (before it wipes out Aron), but Protect ready to make that risky, I often have to take care of its allies while saccing somebody to either let it kill itself when Head Smashing Hypno or having one of the backups pick it off afterward
- Lead Tyrantrum4: very erratic in who it targets, which means it has a decent chance to OHKO Hypno with Crunch and put me behind the 8-ball from the start
- Lead Escavalier4: the number-one danger to this team, this bastard will pretty much always target Hypno with Megahorn, and none of the backups are bulky enough to take that shot very well on the switch. Having Custap held means that it's risky to have one of the FEARs hit him and sac itself, then have one of the backups finish it on the next turn. Even as a opposing backup, its speed makes it the biggest target to shoot when it appears. it also currently has a mental edge on me, as it directly caused the end of my previous run with these leads, a 52-win streak.

The biggest reasons this team has gotten this far is because: Lead Tyrantrum4 hasn't targeted Hypno yet, and Escavalier4 has (mercifully) yet to show up at all. These trends MUST continue for this streak to keep going, as I don't have any good answers for the former until TR is up, and it's impossible to beat the latter without sacking someone in the process, barring a lucky Megahorn miss or Swagger usage (which doesn't bother this team much).

While the going's good, I'll post my most recent battle:
Battle #220: vs. Ryker (Unfezant4/Eelektross3/Archeops3/Raichu3/Talonflame4/Lanturn4)--while Roller Skaters are generally fast enough to be obliterated by TR, the post-Chantelaine ones have access to enough slower sets/sets with priority to keep things interesting. This battle is a mild example of this, though I really saved this to laugh at this idea that Archeops3 is any real threat (my first encounter with it in this streak). Unlike most of the non-Set 4 Choice holders who appear post-Chantelaine, I feel that Archeops3 is hampered greatly by being similar enough to Archeops4 (despite being very different sets at their cores) that the element of surprise enjoyed by most of these sets is mitigated in this case. Most Triples teams can deal with both sets in much the same way.
Q6DG-WWWW-WW4U-YPKP

With the primary goal of this run completed, the objective now is keeping this streak going long enough that the man who inspired it will take notice, post here again, give us a (possible) update on his team's progress, and be motivated to extend that streak, getting himself on the Triples leaderboard in the process.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cool to see a Red Gyarados on the leaderboard, excellent work -Snorlax-
Awesome to see Hughsie28 back on, hopefully he's not satisfied by being the low end of the Triples leaderboard totem pole and decides to pull himself out of there at some point.
Was reading the Teams from the 2016 Pokémon World Championships thread and noticed:

28. William Tansley (StarKO)

I so hope this is the same guy currently holding the #9 spot on our Singles leaderboard, would be happy to see a Maison veteran achieve such success on a big stage.

 

[Doobzi]

So I wanted to hit 50 on Super Doubles and Made a team that only hit 38, now onto my second try with a bit of tweaking and I'm currently on 30. Just wanted to shout out to you guys if you have any advice for me or anything I should change around this team for a better shot at success. Only done Singles and got to 60, new to mansion doubles so just experimenting as of now.

Leads:

Gengar@Focus Sash
Timid
252 sp.att/252 spe/ 4 def
~Shadow Ball
~Thunderbolt
~Sludge Ball
~Protect

Landorus-T@Assualt Vest
Adamant
252 Spe/252 Att/ 4 hp
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide
~Knock Off
~Superpower

Back-Up

Greninja@Life Orb
Naive
252 sp.att/ 252 spe/4 att
~Grass Knot
~Low Kick
~Ice Beam
~Dark Pulse

Heatran@Leftovers
Timid
252 sp.att/252 spe/4 hp
~Toxic
~Protect
~Heatwave
~Earth Power

So there it is. Any glaring weaknesses I should be worried about? Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: Lost again at 34, Thinking of changing Heatran to Bisharp and Low kick on Gren to Mat Block.

 

[-Snorlax-]

At the very least, I'd replace Ice Fang on Gyarados. Earthquake would be a better coverage move, or even something like Substitute is useful for avoiding status, and helping you find opportunities to safely Dragon Dance.

Thank you very much, PrivateJoker. Although I never considered it before, I'm now leaning towards Substitute. It can really make a difference against annoying stall-oriented mons (Regigigas4, Registeel4, Cresselia2 just to name a few), while also allowing Gyarados to set-up against Pokemon that have trouble breaking its substitutes, especially in 1v1 situations. And with regards to my last loss, Substitute would have blocked Heatran's Will-O-Wisp, allowing me to easily win the match...
Atm I have an ongoing streak with a friend, but I'll surely try this as soon as we lose. I'll also try to rework Gyarados's EV spread, maybe adding some bulk to make more resilient Subs.

 

[JT Hitman]

I have a question about using Pursuit in doubles/triples

VS.

Let's say Krookodile in the middle there uses Pursuit. If it targets Aron at the same time that I switch out Camerupt, does Pursuit switch targets and hit Camerupt instead or is the AI just reading the hell out of my inputs? Krookodile4 has been kind of a pain in situations like these where Slowbro gets flinched turn 1 and I don't want Camerupt to eat an Earthquake.

 

[Josh C.]

So I’ve been on the Maison grind quite a lot recently; due to the impending release of Sun & Moon, I really felt the urge to make a big push with my current Singles run. And the result – an ongoing streak of 2,000 wins.

2,000!

To commemorate this milestone, it’s only fitting that I give this team a proper title. And a horribly punny one at that. Reintroducing: A Drago-Knight’s Tale…of a frog!

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Multiscale
31/31/31/x/31/31
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Roost
52 HP / 252 Atk / 12 Def / 4 SpD / 188 Spe

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Stance Change
31/31/31/x/31/31
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword
252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe

Greninja @ Choice Specs
Nature: Timid
Ability: Protean
31/x/31/31/31/31
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse
- Scald
92 HP / 12 Def / 196 SpA / 4 SpD / 204 Spe

Battle No, 2,000 vs Pokemon Ranger Parker: KXAG-WWWW-WW4U-U8BS

I wasn’t going to forget about ORAS completely or anything, but I’m so glad I didn’t lose interest in the Maison and decided to keep going. After all, most (if not all) of my spare gaming time will initially be devoted to playing the heck out of SM, discovering everything they have to offer.

Honestly, never did I expect to produce a record of this calibre. Looking back on my late 2014/early 2015 days when I thought 100 wins was an insurmountable task, to now, it’s amazing to see how much I’ve grown as a battler. Watching various PokeTubers, perusing the Smogon Dex for inspiration, and especially lurking the Maison thread with its wonderful resources for so long; I wouldn’t take any of it for granted.

However, a player can only be as good as his/her team allows. Thankfully, this one’s a keeper. As I’ve no doubt mentioned before, the premise is quite simple; 3 reliable, hard-hitting mons that complement each other really darn well. I guess that’s what I like the most about this team; no convoluted strategy to wrap your head around, so it’s easily accessible for newcomers (like I was). Goodstuffs teams will be always be my first preference, but who knows, maybe I’ll dabble in some Durant or Drapion-related shenanigans next generation. ;)

What’s still left on the checklist before Gen VII arrives? Claiming 4th place could be nice, but for now I’ll probably take a bit of a break, breed for Shinies, raise new Pokemon, that kind of thing. Even if I end up falling short of 2,340, I honestly wouldn’t feel too gutted; as I said earlier, I’ve accomplished far beyond anything of what I thought I was capable of. This journey has been an absolute blast, and I couldn’t be happier.

A selection of Battle Videos to end my post seems fitting. They aren’t particularly exciting, but I thought I’d explain some of my thought processes as the turns played out. Using the same team for so long grants valuable experience, so naturally I found I was doing things my earlier, less-knowledgeable self didn’t do – minimize risk, don’t get greedy/impatient, identify win conditions as early as possible, do everything in my power to keep them alive. Unsurprisingly, greed, impatience and elevated risk go hand-in-hand-in-hand. If you find yourself in a potentially troublesome spot, it doesn’t hurt to think ahead a couple turns, and ask yourself questions like – “What’s the worst that could happen here? Is there an alternative play I can make to stop it? If not (and the worst does happen), what can I do afterwards to bounce back?” etc. Remembering a great deal of sets, Trainer names, damage calcs from the top of my head always helps, but I always keep the Maison references open to be safe.

Battle No. 1,569 vs Veteran Catherine: BFPW-WWWW-WW4U-U6G5

So basically I get a 3-turn Outrage killing Regigigas, then doing a decent chunk to Suicune. I didn’t expect Dragonite to live the Ice Beam on a sliver of health, which gets me thinking – Q: How am I gonna get rid of Suicune? A: Greninja’s Grass Knot. Q: Ok, but is it worth saving Dragonite? A: In this case, absolutely. Depending on the remaining Pokemon, he can either get one final attack off or just be a sac, granting extra maneuverability for Aegislash or Greninja, especially since the latter is Choice-locked. The CPU is known for using ‘rubber band’ AI, so I wasn’t ruling out a Fire-type coming out against two Fire-weak Pokemon. So in this scenario, keeping Nite alive as a sac made the battle a lot easier.

Battle No. 1,595 vs Veteran Catherine: 2DGG-WWWW-WW4U-U6V3

This just showcases Greninja’s ability to bait particular moves thanks to Protean, and I was able to pivot around Scarf Landorus with ease. Because of this, I was in control the whole time despite the battle coming down to a 1v1. I killed Articuno with Ice Beam on purpose to bait the Focus Blast, so Aegi could win hands-down.

Battle No. 1,790 vs Veteran Howell: 5XKG-WWWW-WW4U-U799

Pretty much the same thing, only easier since Howell’s switch-in was Ice-weak as well. Don’t you love it when the CPU doesn’t switch out of an ineffective move straight away?

Battle No. 1,791 vs Hex Maniac Mara: 3N9W-WWWW-WW4U-U7KK

Although I couldn’t know for certain if Quagsire was Unaware or not, staying in with +6 Aegi is never the play. I could easily pivot around into Greninja since him & Nite complement each others’ weaknesses. Afterwards, I just needed to keep Greninja alive since it deals with Cofagrigus efficiently, while keeping track of Trick Room turns. Against the majority of Psychics & Hex Maniacs though, Aegislash works wonders against them. Find an opportunity to setup (in most cases you will), and let it plough through the whole team with Shadow Sneak. Many of them use Trick Room abusers too, which Aegislash can stall out with King's Shield.

Battle No. 1,894 vs Worker Rasmus: TVLG-WWWW-WW4U-U8WD

Ah, good ol’ Rasmus. A worthy adversary since he can carry any of the 4 Garchomp or Tyranitar variants, which requires a turn or two to figure out. This started out rather oddly since Cradily3 is a rare sight, but I wasn’t too concernced about its EQ. The Greninja switch-in afterwards was necessary to scout for Garchomp4, but it turned out to be Scarfed. A slight misplay was not King’s Shielding that extra turn while Sandstorm was active to stall it out, in case of non-Scarf Chomp and Sand Veil shenanigans. Funny that it locked itself into Crunch at the end. Covering all bases, amirite?

Battle No. 1,921 vs Pokemon Ranger Hazel: 8KWG-WWWW-WW4U-U85H

I guess I was a bit impatient here going for Ice Beam while confused, but the worst that would’ve happened is I hit myself for minimal damage, Lilligant either Leech Seeds or charges up a Solar Beam, which I would switch to Aegi on anyway. The opposing Greninja not being Protean helped, since mine could come back in and OHKO with Grass Knot.

Battle No. 1,952 vs Punk Guy Quinton: UZZG-WWWW-WW4U-U8BH

Absol4 can be nasty, as displayed here. I suppose switching to Greninja could’ve worked after I missed the first EQ, but I wanted that Sub gone ASAP. Note that thanks to the prior damage, I could then knock Absol out with Scald rather than Ice Beam, which worked out superbly since Scarf Darmanitan followed. In any situation like this where more than one move from Greninja can score the KO, pick one that synergizes well with your teammate(s), and/or one that has the least chance to attract potential threats.​