Hey all,
I recently moved out of my house and became a full-time student studying 3d modeling and animation, so I've found I've had a lot of time on my hands, so I've been tackling the battle frontier. So far I've manager to get my silver prints everywhere, and my gold print at the Battle Tower. I got annoyed trying to win at the Factory, so I decided to try my hand at 100+ wins in the Tower. I managed to get up to 53 with this team:
Mesprit@Choice Scarf (Holy War)
252 HP/4 Def/252 Spe
-Trick
-Thunder Wave
-Charm
-Flash
Everyone knows the premise of this set. It's served me admirably, although at times it's not been bulky enough and I haven't gotten as much set-up time as I'd like.
Drapion@Black Sludge (Drake)
252 HP/56 Def/196 SpD/4 Spe
-Acupressure
-Substitute
-Crunch
-Rest
Also from Jumpman's team. This thing is a beast, you did a great job coming up with it. It really can just sit there and Acupressure up in the face of even STAB EQ's sometimes.
Latios@Leftovers (Mercutio)
110 HP/252 SpA/148 Spe
-Substitute
-Calm Mind
-Recover
-Dragon Pulse
My go to when I need a quick setup, on Special moves I don't want Drapion to take, or when it's a physical tank like Skarmory.
Good work and thanks for the kind words. As Chinese Dood mentioned, Scizor may be a better third than Latios, but you will probably miss the Water and Electric resistance. Drapion does cover two of the weaknesses that Mesprit shares, and your issue was mainly with not Charming Heracross. I would probably stick with Latios before going with Scizor (but then again, I would "probably" use Garchomp instead, lol).
And speaking of Drapion...if you all haven't heard, Acupressure is confirmed to work behind a Substitute in BW. This may seem like a minor change given the success that is possible without it, but it is gigantic. No longer will Drapion have to setup naked on stupid Gengar and Download PZ Shadow Balls and take inevitable SpD drops, or waste Sub PP with a Sub already up on Regice's FPs. No more having to take Articuno IBs or Vaporeon Surfs naked after an Acupressure. I'm looking forward to B&W and seeing just how more challenging it is with the new pokemon and stronger items on old pokemon (LO and Specs Lati@s, etc).
I'm here to report a loss...but not in the Tower, so don't get too excited. I lost at like 264 in the Hall trying to get past 283 with Kingdra, met a Hypno that Kingdra couldn't OHKO with DM but did 50% min with Surf...but I never woke up in the two turns I could have as Psychic/Nightmare/Psychic took their toll.
61-84306-08353...don't really feel that bad about this loss even if my original Kingdra idea (Yawn/Protect/DD/Outrage [usually used in that order]@Lum) would have murdered Hypno since this has massive issues with the actual Psychic threats like Metagross and Bronzong. Those are pokemon I saw in the Psychic Type more than Hypno in all my Hall runs (a significant observation in that I literally never saw Latios or Latias when doing the Dragon type, which mathematically feels like more than just a coincidence considering there's only eight Dragons).
Anyway, the Acupressure thing got me thinking about a new team for Gen V, so with about 10 minutes of thought/research, this is my probable BW BS team:
Erufuun @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Mischievous Heart
EVs: 252HP/4Def/252SpD
Nature: Calm
~ Switcheroo
~ Cotton Spore (now 100% acc.)
~ Charm
~ Flash
Drapion (M) @ Black Sludge ** DRAPULA
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252HP/56Def/196SpD/4Spe
Nature: Careful
~ Crunch
~ Acupressure
~ Substitute
~ Rest
Blaziken (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252HP/252Atk/4Spe
Nature: Adamant
~ Hi Jump Kick
~ Flare Blitz/Blaze Kick
~ Substitute
~ Claw Sharpen
Mischievous Heart is a Goddishsend for an "annoyer". Team "Eight Speed EVs" really doesn't feel the need for speed with the improved priority bracket for every move Erufuun can use and the now-100% accuracy Cotton Spore (just like with Flash from Gen III [70%] to Gen IV [100%]) from 85%. Missing out on the FP chance Thunderwave grants may suck, but not as much as dealing with French Gliscor (which doesn't appear to be in BW but the point on problematic Ground Types stands, even on Volt Absorb pokes like Jolteon or Lightning Rod stuff). The fact that this thing even gets both Charm and Flash is reason enough to try it out, we all know how "Trick"/Charm/Flash works on paper (or at least know it's proven to work).
Drapion's still a pokemon and necessarily much better now so yeah. For Blaziken, the fact that it actually cover most of Erufuun's weaknesses (getting Fire, Ice, and a 4× on Bug) is the same kind of serendipitous synergy that Acupressure and Battle Armor have. Drapion gets Poison as usual and missing flying is something I'm used to by now (thogh two weaknesses kinda sucks I guess). Claw Sharpen deserves a shot in the BS, no questions asked. Swords Dance with HJK/Flare Blitz and Wide Lens is an idea too but it seems Blaziken will really enjoy its recovery so idk. I'm not too worried about Flare Blitz recoil since 130 BP HJK should be killing even resists, but we'll see.
Probably getting ahead of myself but you know, that's part of the fun...