Battle Maison Discussion & Records

[Benefactor]

Now that Pokebank finally came out here I put together the trick room team I was planning. I played around with one in Super Doubles in Black and it was a lot of fun so I thought I would give it a shot in X as well. On what was seriously my first run in Super Doubles I get a streak of 173.

Relaxed Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Levitate
31/x/31/31/31/0
252/0/252/0/4/0
Trick Room
Helping Hand
Light Screen
Psychic

Everyone's favorite psychic moon duck, specially RNGed on Black 2 for just this purpose. Its bulk is unparalleled...not once have I seen it get OHKOd. While not the slowest Pokemon around, it has everything it needs to work as a Trick Room setter. It's a really nice supporter as well, with Helping Hand assisting a lot of important KOs and Light Screen increasing everyone's longevity. I considered another support move in the 4th slot but settled on Psychic...it's something productive if Helping Hand wouldn't make a difference and nice for Focus Sashed opponents that really need to be KOd that turn. Mental Herb for preventing Taunt and assuring I get Trick Room up.

Brave Hariyama @ Toxic Orb
Guts
31/31/31/x/31/0
0/252/252/0/4/0
Fake Out
Close Combat
Knock Off
Ice Punch

Hariyama fills the role of a powerful Fake Out lead. It assists in getting Trick Room set up, activates Guts, then rolls over everything. It dies in most matches, since the poison damage + Close Combat defense drops make it kind of fragile, but it always leaves a huge dent in the other team before it goes down. Knock Off is so good now and is the primary counter to Ghosts and Psychics, while Ice Punch takes care of Flying types and Grass types if Close Combat is unnecessary.

Brave Escavalier @ Assault Vest
Swarm
31/31/31/x/31/0
252/252/4/0/0/0
Megahorn
Iron Head
Drill Run
Knock Off

A pretty powerful dude, although I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do with it. Its STAB moves are really handy and it getting Drill Run this gen was a nice addition for dealing with Fire and Steel types. If I go for another run, I'll probably ditch Knock Off (this is reversible now with Heart Scales anyway) and replace it with Protect, since Knock Off feels a bit redundant and there are some situations where I would have liked to use Protect. The Assault Vest would be replaced with Leftovers I guess?

Quiet Ampharos @ Ampharosite
Static -> Mold Breaker
31/0/31/30/31/0
252/0/4/248/4/0
Thunderbolt
Dragon Pulse
Hidden Power Fire
Protect

One of the slowest Megas out there and also one of the highest-powered special attackers. Its STAB moves are ridiculous and have saved me from quite a few losses. HP Fire is admittedly kind of useless, since Thunderbolt does more against Steel, Ice, and Bug types and Dragon Pulse is a better option against Grass types. It's only been useful when 4x effective and against Steelix and Excadrill. I'll have to go back to the coverage calculator for this one, maybe replace it with Power Gem or Signal Beam.

Some videos of problem teams + proof:

Battle 89: F7NG-WWWW-WWW5-BLZZ vs Latias, Articuno, Suicune, Registeel. This is a good example of why Curse users are a problem with this team and I should really try to kill them ASAP. If I fail at that, just KO everyone else, let Trick Room expire, and pray for crits. Warning: long match.
Battle 123: T6EW-WWWW-WWW5-BLP3 vs Braviary, Electrode, Talonflame, Archeops. What happens if the game really hates Hariyama and just throws in a bunch of problematic Flying types at the same time. The bench manages to win this one for me.
Battle 132: D5BG-WWWW-WWW5-BLP5 vs Musharna, Gourgeist, Cofagrigus, Trevenant. Yup, Trick Room vs Trick Room. I ran into these a lot, and the AI does some really strange things like reversing yours just to set it up again the next turn. Mostly these teams weren't an issue since Hariyama KOs everyone with Knock Off, and you always have the option of not even setting up if the other team is already slower.
Battle 174: M2AG-WWWW-WWW5-BLPA vs Metagross, Jynx, Medicham, Gallade. The loss. This battle was kind of misplayed, although the Ally Switch from Gallade REALLY threw me off. I also kept underestimating how much damage Medicham would do to everyone. Lesson learned I guess.

I will give it another go sometime with the changes I mentioned, it's a fun team!

 

[Hclegend]

Well, with Pokebank out, my team took on a temporary change. And then another one. Introducing....

Shiny. Latios.
252SpeAtt/252Speed/4Def @ Life Orb
Ice Beam
Draco Meteor Dragon Pulse
Energy Ball
Psychic
This guy..... Is a less potent Greninja. Seriously, I don't know why I modelled a Greninja set off him (Maybe its back from my Showdown days.... Even then I had a better set). He didn't last long due to the lack of oomph Greninja has, and I wasn't prepared to Choice Spec him either (Being stuck with one move in Maison is just ASKING for it)
So let's look at my new member, who's proved herself quite well...

Cuteness Never Looked So Badass

Azurmarill
(I've forgotten the exact EVs, but I know it's 252Att/84Speed/RestOnHP) @Sitrus Berry Leftovers
Belly Drum
Aqua Jet
Superpower
Play Rough
Belly Drum. Aqua Jet. GG. While she can sweep teams, it depends on how bulky the opponent is (it's not surprising considering 40 Base Power :/) But on the more frail mon... 1HKO them all! :D and if she dies, Greninja comes in to finish them off (Yeah, 2 water types blah).
I've explained the other 2 members (Mega Khan and Greninja) in a previous post, so I'm not going to explain again. But hopefully I can get past 50 again someday...
Edit: Pictures Suck. :P
Edit2: HUZZAH I CAN USE PICTURES! Also I tried Battle Maison a few times and lost... A lot XD

 

[DrDimentio]

I've hardly played since my glory days in the Platinum Battle Tower (barely touched the Subway in 5th gen), but with Poke Bank I've been getting back into it temporarily. Felt like posting my team because it's fun to use, although it has some flaws that will probably prevent it getting into the top 10 records.

Super Doubles: 50 wins, streak still in progress.

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Nature: Timid
Ability: Blaze -> Drought
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Protect
- Ancient Power

Typhlosion @ Choice Scarf
Nature: Timid
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
- Eruption
- Solar Beam
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Landorus-T @ Passho Berry
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Stone Edge
- Imprison

Latios @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Sp. Atk, 252 Speed, 4 HP
- Dragon Pulse
- Psychic
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt

I probably need some better backups for Charizard and/or Typhlosion to switch into when it's not safe to stay in... any suggestions would be appreciated.

Instead of writing too much I'll let some of the more interesting battles show how it works, including troublesome opponents:

8HYW-WWWW-WWW5-DAY5 - Battle 50 (the boss girl), Raikou/Latios/Suicune/Entei
- One of the closest battles you'll ever see, I replaced Landorus with a standard Amoonguss just for this battle (only time you can know the opponent's full team details in advance). Not sure if that was such a good idea…

43CG-WWWW-WWW5-DAYS - Battle 46, Zapdos/Tornadus/Entei/Terrakion
- Terrakion is dangerous as one of the only Rock-types that outspeeds Charizard… also an example of how Entei without Flash Fire is less dangerous

ZMGW-WWWW-WWW5-DAJY - Battle 45, Registeel/Cobalion/Moltres/Regicock
- Ganging up on a Rock-type like Regirock is usually safe when its partner doesn't outspend my Charizard. Also shows the huge power of even resisted Fire attacks against Moltres

EAWG-WWWW-WWW5-DAKL - Battle 41, Raikou/Virizion/Terrakion/Thundurus
- Showcasing Eruption's power as it OHKOs Thundurus, and another example of dealing with Terrakion

DLAW-WWWW-WWW5-DALC - Battle 43, Nidoking/Vileplume/Bastiodon/Zebstrika
- The AI does something hilariously stupid with Me First

 

[Snail489]

Super Triples - 350 straight wins
Charizard, Terrakion, Latias, Heatran, Camerupt, Talonflame
(full team details quoted)

I've lurked these battle facility threads for quite a few years now (on and off), ever since the DP Battle Tower thread. Since I finally got around to registering on Smogon I decided to post a current streak of mine.

Super Triples - 150 wins (Unfinished)
Yesterday I was finally able to use PokeBank to transfer a team I'd planned and made since about November. Most battles with this team only take 3 turns. Here it is:

Charizard @ Charizardite Y
Blaze
Timid 252 SpA 6 SpD 252 Spe
Beat Up
Flamethrower
Dragon Pulse (I don't quite remember why this is here to be honest, I'll replace it with something else later)
Protect

Terrakion @ Wide Lens
Justified
Adamant 252 Atk 6 SpD 252 Spe
Rock Slide
Earthquake
Sacred Sword
Protect

Latias @ Lum Berry (might change to Focus Sash, since Lum berry is rarely used up and Sash deals with the Maison's ScarfChomp)
Levitate
Timid 252 HP 6 Def 252 Spe
Tailwind
Helping Hand
Thunder Wave
Sunny Day

These first three are quite simple to use. Protect + Protect on the first two ensure their survival while Latias uses Tailwind to speed up the whole team (Latias almost always gets to use Tailwind since its defenses are quite high and it has maximum speed). On the second turn, Charizard (who outspeeds Terrakion by 7 points, which is important) uses Beat up on Terrakion to maximise its Attack stat (Justified). Latias uses Helping Hand on Terrakion to buff Rock Slide further, and generally all 3 opponents are KO'd in one move. Charizard seems like an odd choice for Beat Up but I decided to turn this into a Sunny Day team in case Terrakion faints.

Heatran @ Choice Specs (the power is quite unnecessary to be honest, and I'm thinking of switching this to Scarf to outpseed a few other Scarfers)
Flash Fire
Quiet 252 SpA 6 SpD 252 Spe(OBLIVIA Heatran is the only one with Eruption, and it is always Quiet nature. Otherwise I would choose Modest)
Eruption
Earth Power
Solar Beam
Dragon Pulse

Camerupt @ Life Orb
Solid Rock 6 HP 252 SpA 252 Spe
Timid
Eruption
Earth Power
Solar Beam
Lava Plume

Talonflame @ Sharp Beak (might change this to something else but I'm not sure what)
Gale Wings
Adamant (not sure what the EV spread is since I think I screwed up its EV training after forgetting to remove a Power item. I'll rework it later)
Brave Bird
Flare Blitz
Swords Dance
Tailwind


If Terrakion faints, Heatran typically takes up its position. Charizard's super high power Flamethrower can be used to take out something annoying/Sashed, or it can be used on Heatran to activate Flash Fire. Heatran and Camerupt's Eruptions are ridiculously powerful nukes (as expected). Talonflame is also very useful as a reserve since if Latias faints, it can take its place to set up Tailwind, and if there are very few opponents I just send out Talonflame to finish it faster.

I find Camerupt is a bit unnecessary sometimes, definitely the least used member of the team. Its Ground attacks are pretty handy sometimes to remove any random Flash Fire Pokemon, but those are quite rare. I've been thinking of replacing it with a Sheer Force (special attacker) Landorus instead.



Threats to this team:
Wide Guard (usually Bastiodon 1/4). Against these I typically go all-out offensive against them (Sacred Sword on Bastiodon is a 2HKO due to Sturdy), and if Terrakion faints after that it just clears the way for a Heatran sweep.
Trick Room teams (i.e. Hex Maniac Mara). All out offense on the first turn usually deals with these teams (i.e. skip the Protect+Protect+Tailwind turn) since they just won't get a chance to use TR.
Flash Fire (especially with Heatran center). Opposing Heatrans are usually the most difficult one to deal with since most other Flash Fire pokemon are very squishy and can just be removed first turn by a BB from Talonflame. Camerupt and Terrakion can deal with it though.
Garchomp 3 (i.e. Choice Scarf Garchomp). It can outspeed and KO Latias first turn and I won't be able to set up Tailwind as easily. It also outspeeds Heatran under Tailwind I think (but not Terrakion). Could really screw this team over but I haven't encountered it yet.

There were some other threats to the team but they don't come to mind at the moment.

Proof: Battle 150 (Hex Maniac Mara) - SA5W-WWWW-WWW5-7ML9

I made only one change to the team, Terrakion's EV spread was changed to 244 Atk 84 Def 182 Speed (or something around there), enough to give 151 Speed to outspeed max base 85 without Tailwind while tanky enough to survive Quick Claw Donphan's Earthquake (Donphan 4 IIRC) while sacrificing as little power as possible. In the end perhaps this modified EV spread could have been the cause of my loss since with the old max Atk/max Speed spread I could have outsped the Espeon that put me in a checkmate position.

I was put into an extremely difficult situation where I faced two Trick Roomers with very high defensive stats and a Pokemon that can potentially instantly KO Terrakion (Bronzong Espeon and Trevenant), which meant I was not able to do either of my two usual strategies (Protect+Protect+Tailwind meant that the opponent gets to use Trick Room, straight up offense means they KO Terrakion and STILL get to use Trick Room). Perhaps I misplayed because I did not really think too much about the moves I was using and how it would play out in the end. In the end I was sending out my Heatran locked into Eruption against two unrevealed Pokemon, and of course one of them had to be a Flash Fire Chandelure...

Anyway I don't care that much that my streak finished cause I really wanted to try some different modes, Triples takes too long in my opinion and I still haven't gotten all the trophies yet!

Proof: Battle 351 LXNW-WWWW-WWW5-DC4T
Other videos:
308 - close match with a similar initial team opposition as my lost match - Trevenant Dusknoir and Starmie. In the end I probably only won due to some retarded AI plays like Trick Room + Trick Room again... Also I probably played this match a bit better than the one I lost. [ZYVW-WWWW-WWW5-DCFK]
288 - Cofagrigus uses Will-O-Wisp on Starmie? [YQKG-WWWW-WWW5-DCG3]
218 - Surprise! Custap! Then next turn, massive priority spam all over. My three big sweepers all got OHKO'd unexpectedly (well Terrakion's faint was expected and because that always happens against Torterra). Almost lost this but a good match up in the end allowed me to win. [CDKW-WWWW-WWW5-DCGG]
191 - More Trick Room shenanigans proving itself to be the bane of my team. [KHZW-WWWW-WWW5-DCGN]


If I do ever make revisions to this team I may include a bulky Trick Room Pokemon just to reset the dimensions. The majority of my troublesome battles have been against this strategy and I don't like having to concentrate on my battles to win (which is why the team's strategy is "plow through the opponent with maximum power" i.e. 252+ SpA Choice Specs Flash Fire Heatran Helping Hand Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Blissey in Sun: 313-369 (86.4 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO)

 

[Slavandar]

Triples is ridiculously easy compared to the other modes. Or at least it is with my set up. If you're having problems I recommend a front line based around Greninja's Mat Block.

Left:
Greninja (Timid/Protean/Focus Sash) Speed/SpA EVs.
~Mat Block
~Dark Pulse
~Ice Beam
~Grass Knot

This dude is the glue of my team. First turn Mat Block allows my other two frontliners to set up and dish out massive damage on the second turn. I thought about changing Dark Pulse to U Turn, but didn't need it since I could easily switch him out of AoE (Earthquake) threats to Talonflame. If I have an opportunity to switch him back in another turn, there's another Mat Block to stall out/hide behind.

Middle:
M-Kanga (Adamant, Early Bird/Parental Bond) Speed/Attack EVs.
~Power Up Punch
~Return
~Sucker Punch
~Earthquake

Sets up Power Up Punch through Mat Block, almost guaranteeing a 1HKO on anything the next turn with any ability in his move set (depending on typing). So far the only thing that outsped him was Choice Scarf Aerodactyl, but really what's faster than that? Earthquake is there because I can switch Greninja out for Talonflame and with fliers on both sides, M-Kanga is free to EQ spam the opposing team to death. After 2 PuP's EQ is a 1HKO on almost any wall the AI sent at me. Knowing typing for PuP is a huge deal as it allows you to deal SE damage while skyrocketing your Attack very rapidly.

Right:
D-Nite (Jolly, Multiscale, Weakness Policy) Speed/Attack EVs
~Dragon Dance
~Dragon Claw
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide

With D-Nite's Multiscale/Weakness Policy, in addition to my free first turn Dragon Dance (due to Mat Block), this guy gets so strong so fast he's almost always the first to get taken out. However he does some massive damage to the enemy team before going down, and is an excellent resource to take out right side Dragon threats. If M-Kanga goes down, I switch in Levitate Gengar and move D-Nite to the center to take M-Kanga's place.

The Bench.

Aegislash (Adamant, Stance Change, Leftovers) HP/Attack EVs
~Swords Dance
~King's Shield
~Iron Head
~Sacred Sword

Excellent typing and very useful as a "set up unnoticed while the AI takes out low health front liners" pokemon. Depending on who gets taken out, and who is left on the enemy's team, this guy can come in and Swords Dance/King's Shield til he's at +6 Attack, and 1HKO everything without a second thought. It's usually a last resort though, as my other two bench Mons fit a better roll.

Talonflame (Adamant, Gale Wings, Life Orb) Speed/Attack EVs
~Brave Bird
~Flare Blitz
~Roost
~U-Turn

This dude is a troll, and sometimes I even trolled myself with him. I switch Greninja out for him constantly, to allow M-Kanga to EQ spam til he goes down or the enemy team is just dead. Brave Bird allows me to remove (usually 1HKOing) Fighting type anywhere on the field. Flare Blitz lets me slag Steel types almost as well as Brave Bird (Except for bullshit like Steelix or Probopass). Roost is the troll move, as it removes his Flying type and halves the weakness to Rock, outright removing Electric Weakness as well. Since it's so fragile, hitting Roost and depending on the AI's tendency to target your weakest Pokemon can be a good strat as Roost gets priority from Gale Wings (first turn, full health, removes Flying Typing), granting your other Pokemon a turn to breath and continuing sweeping unimpeded. However if you're like me and are pretty stoned most of the time, you'll hit Roost and forget about Gale Wings, meaning M-Kanga just murdered your Talonflame. (Whoops). U-Turn is extremely useful as it allows me to switch back to Greninja for another Mat Block.

Gengar (Timid, Levitate, Choice Scarf) Speed/SpA EVs
~Sludge Bomb
~Thunderbolt
~Dazzling Gleam
~Shadow Ball

With as many Fighting types that got sent out against M-Kanga, having this dude available to switch in (if Talon Flame was KO'd) was awesome. His typing/Ability synergize with my "Let M-Kanga/D-Nite set up + EQ spam" strategy pretty well. Gengar's coverage with this moveset was awesome. If I'm locked into an ability, I can just switch out for Talonflame and U-Turn back to Gengar in the same turn. This confuses the shit out of the AI and lets you choose a new move (do to Choice Scarf).

This team devastates Super Triples like no tomorrow. Knowing when to switch Greninja in and out with Talonflame's U-Turn can be an extremely wonderful strategy and Mat Block is essential to this team's make up. I got to 51 on my first try, and while I paused my streak to start Super Multis (I don't understand Rotation battles so I'm saving it for last), I can see myself getting my 100-200 streaks with this team, rather than toughing out Singles or Doubles. I'll update after I finish Super Multis/Rotation and can actually set a streak goal and commit to it. This post is mostly for anyone having problems with Triples, as I don't think a lot of people enjoy that mode for some reason.

In other news, how the heck do I get successful at Multis with an AI partner? One of my friends' AI teams is a Choice Scarf Entei with Eruption (occasionally uses Solar Beam), and a Heat Plate Delphox. I assume their IV/EV spread is perfect because they don't appear to have shitty stats. I partnered the Entei with Char-Y (Drought, Timid) and Aeigslash, but I've run into counters twice that just wreck Char-Y and Fire Type spam Aegislash to death, while Entei Struggles and Delphox focuses on using Sunny Day (if Drought is down) rather than attacking. What's the preferred method of dealing with Multis? I wanna finish it and Rotation so I can focus on my streaks more. I've read that if you can find someone with a Latios lead then I can setup/sweep with an EQ user since Latios has decent coverage. No idea where to find a friend with that AI combination though.

 

[rhrgrt]

I just had some stupidly great luck.
ZHSW-WWWW-WWW5-E3EQ
I made some wonderful misplays. I forgot that Fake Out is more than +1 priority, so I tried to stop it with Brave Bird, I didn't go for tailwind, and I figured Sucker Punch to avoid any more Muddy Water was more useful than trying to KO the Serperior ("is that even a 1.5hko?" was the flimsy justification). As soon as I saw the Serperior's contrary ability I just gave the match up as lost.

But then, I was able to use Azu to take out two Pokemon in a row, and knew that I had a 9% chance to win the game. I really didn't expect Serperior to miss. Especially after all that annoying Muddy Water from Whiscash.

Edited for clarity

 

[Tortoise]

Triples is ridiculously easy compared to the other modes. Or at least it is with my set up. If you're having problems I recommend a front line based around Greninja's Mat Block.

Left:
Greninja (Timid/Protean/Focus Sash) Speed/SpA EVs.
~Mat Block
~Dark Pulse
~Ice Beam
~Grass Knot

This dude is the glue of my team. First turn Mat Block allows my other two frontliners to set up and dish out massive damage on the second turn. I thought about changing Dark Pulse to U Turn, but didn't need it since I could easily switch him out of AoE (Earthquake) threats to Talonflame. If I have an opportunity to switch him back in another turn, there's another Mat Block to stall out/hide behind.

Middle:
M-Kanga (Adamant, Early Bird/Parental Bond) Speed/Attack EVs.
~Power Up Punch
~Return
~Sucker Punch
~Earthquake

Sets up Power Up Punch through Mat Block, almost guaranteeing a 1HKO on anything the next turn with any ability in his move set (depending on typing). So far the only thing that outsped him was Choice Scarf Aerodactyl, but really what's faster than that? Earthquake is there because I can switch Greninja out for Talonflame and with fliers on both sides, M-Kanga is free to EQ spam the opposing team to death. After 2 PuP's EQ is a 1HKO on almost any wall the AI sent at me. Knowing typing for PuP is a huge deal as it allows you to deal SE damage while skyrocketing your Attack very rapidly.

Right:
D-Nite (Jolly, Multiscale, Weakness Policy) Speed/Attack EVs
~Dragon Dance
~Dragon Claw
~Earthquake
~Rock Slide

With D-Nite's Multiscale/Weakness Policy, in addition to my free first turn Dragon Dance (due to Mat Block), this guy gets so strong so fast he's almost always the first to get taken out. However he does some massive damage to the enemy team before going down, and is an excellent resource to take out right side Dragon threats. If M-Kanga goes down, I switch in Levitate Gengar and move D-Nite to the center to take M-Kanga's place.

The Bench.

Aegislash (Adamant, Stance Change, Leftovers) HP/Attack EVs
~Swords Dance
~King's Shield
~Iron Head
~Sacred Sword

Excellent typing and very useful as a "set up unnoticed while the AI takes out low health front liners" pokemon. Depending on who gets taken out, and who is left on the enemy's team, this guy can come in and Swords Dance/King's Shield til he's at +6 Attack, and 1HKO everything without a second thought. It's usually a last resort though, as my other two bench Mons fit a better roll.

Talonflame (Adamant, Gale Wings, Life Orb) Speed/Attack EVs
~Brave Bird
~Flare Blitz
~Roost
~U-Turn

This dude is a troll, and sometimes I even trolled myself with him. I switch Greninja out for him constantly, to allow M-Kanga to EQ spam til he goes down or the enemy team is just dead. Brave Bird allows me to remove (usually 1HKOing) Fighting type anywhere on the field. Flare Blitz lets me slag Steel types almost as well as Brave Bird (Except for bullshit like Steelix or Probopass). Roost is the troll move, as it removes his Flying type and halves the weakness to Rock, outright removing Electric Weakness as well. Since it's so fragile, hitting Roost and depending on the AI's tendency to target your weakest Pokemon can be a good strat as Roost gets priority from Gale Wings (first turn, full health, removes Flying Typing), granting your other Pokemon a turn to breath and continuing sweeping unimpeded. However if you're like me and are pretty stoned most of the time, you'll hit Roost and forget about Gale Wings, meaning M-Kanga just murdered your Talonflame. (Whoops). U-Turn is extremely useful as it allows me to switch back to Greninja for another Mat Block.

Gengar (Timid, Levitate, Choice Scarf) Speed/SpA EVs
~Sludge Bomb
~Thunderbolt
~Dazzling Gleam
~Shadow Ball

With as many Fighting types that got sent out against M-Kanga, having this dude available to switch in (if Talon Flame was KO'd) was awesome. His typing/Ability synergize with my "Let M-Kanga/D-Nite set up + EQ spam" strategy pretty well. Gengar's coverage with this moveset was awesome. If I'm locked into an ability, I can just switch out for Talonflame and U-Turn back to Gengar in the same turn. This confuses the shit out of the AI and lets you choose a new move (do to Choice Scarf).

This team devastates Super Triples like no tomorrow. Knowing when to switch Greninja in and out with Talonflame's U-Turn can be an extremely wonderful strategy and Mat Block is essential to this team's make up. I got to 51 on my first try, and while I paused my streak to start Super Multis (I don't understand Rotation battles so I'm saving it for last), I can see myself getting my 100-200 streaks with this team, rather than toughing out Singles or Doubles. I'll update after I finish Super Multis/Rotation and can actually set a streak goal and commit to it. This post is mostly for anyone having problems with Triples, as I don't think a lot of people enjoy that mode for some reason.

In other news, how the heck do I get successful at Multis with an AI partner? One of my friends' AI teams is a Choice Scarf Entei with Eruption (occasionally uses Solar Beam), and a Heat Plate Delphox. I assume their IV/EV spread is perfect because they don't appear to have shitty stats. I partnered the Entei with Char-Y (Drought, Timid) and Aeigslash, but I've run into counters twice that just wreck Char-Y and Fire Type spam Aegislash to death, while Entei Struggles and Delphox focuses on using Sunny Day (if Drought is down) rather than attacking. What's the preferred method of dealing with Multis? I wanna finish it and Rotation so I can focus on my streaks more. I've read that if you can find someone with a Latios lead then I can setup/sweep with an EQ user since Latios has decent coverage. No idea where to find a friend with that AI combination though.

My less than 2 cents worth: Maybe look for another AI partner? Having 3 fire types out of 4 is rather looking for trouble in Maison, especially if you run into Flash Fire pokes... From my experience, you need to learn the AI partner's attack/defending pattern. Just because the AI will choose sub-par moves from time to time. -.-"

 

[Hclegend]

I probably need some better backups for Charizard and/or Typhlosion to switch into when it's not safe to stay in... any suggestions would be appreciated.

Protean Greninja to replace Latios. Namely with Grass Knot, Ice Beam, Scald (Hydro Miss can and will screw you) and Dark Pulse. Worked wonders for me in Super Singles.
Edit: Protein? WTF am I on? I meant Protean XD
Edit(Again): Keep the nature/item/EVs the same as the Latios, just as a quick BTW

 

[Slavandar]

My less than 2 cents worth: Maybe look for another AI partner? Having 3 fire types out of 4 is rather looking for trouble in Maison, especially if you run into Flash Fire pokes... From my experience, you need to learn the AI partner's attack/defending pattern. Just because the AI will choose sub-par moves from time to time. -.-"

I just traded over half my team from Doubles to another cart and I'm doing this instead. http://i.imgur.com/sCG1pWy.jpg

Edit: Or I would be if Focus Blast spamming Abamasnow didn't wreck my Kangaskhan.

 

[Tortoise]

I just traded over half my team from Doubles to another cart and I'm doing this instead. http://i.imgur.com/sCG1pWy.jpg

Edit: Or I would be if Focus Blast spamming Abamasnow didn't wreck my Kangaskhan.

Hmm? Wouldn't Kanga move before Abomasnow? Or were you trying to get rid of a higher priority target instead?

 

[Eppie]

If you're having problems I recommend a front line based around Greninja's Mat Block.

I don't really think there is any need to ''recommend'' Greninja as #1 and #2 have already proven it to be very succesful :).

This post is mostly for anyone having problems with Triples, as I don't think a lot of people enjoy that mode for some reason.

Super Singles was the first mode that had a complete top 10, Super Triples was the second, so I'm pretty sure alot of people enjoy this mode given the fact that it had a top 10 before Super Doubles did.

I'm adding any 50+ Multi's streak from now on.

 

[Slavandar]

Hmm? Wouldn't Kanga move before Abomasnow? Or were you trying to get rid of a higher priority target instead?

I PuP'd Abamasnow and had Talonflame Flare Blitz it, but the Garchomp 1HKO'd Talon before Flare Blitz. Downhill from there. I shoulda Brave Bird'd instead, I'll check the replay and see what I could have done differently.

 

[Mr.Pooh31]

Alright so after an earlier post with some helpful feed back as well as some more lurking I have settled on a team and now only have a few more questions.

Cloyster@ Focus Sash/Lum Berry
Naughty
252 At, 252 speed, 4 spa
Shell Smash, Surf, Icicle Spear, Rock Blast
This should make an excellent lead as I should be able to do either do a lot of damage or just 3-0 sweep. He should be good but I am stuck on items. Focus Sash insures a Shell Smash which if the other poke doesnt have priority will assure Cloyster going to town. However that would leave me open to stupid hax or a status move like t-wave or will-o-wisp that would leave my Cloyster useless. I am torn either way and you appreciate advice on that. I know others have used focus sash so maybe I will do that.

Mega Charizard Y
Timid
252 Spped, 252 spa, 4 wherever
Flamethrower, SolarBeam, Dragon Pulse/Air Slash/Protect
I really want to use him so I am. Char Y will be a great poke to send in after one dies and has useful ground immunity + grass 4 x resist to help switch in. I am only stuck on move set. I am thinking D pulse and Air Slash but I feel I will rarely use either of them so protect could prove better for scouting. Any experience here?

Aegislash@ Lum Berry/Leftovers
Adamant
252 HP, 252 Attack, 4 Speed
Swords Dance, Kings Shield, Iron Head, Shadow Sneak/Shadow Claw
Aegislash is really good. He also has useful fighting immunity and rock resist which will make him switch in a lot. Do I need Shadow Sneak or will Claw do just fine? Is the power difference noticeable in Maison? If Cloyster takes Focus Sash would Lum be a viable alternative to absorb status/block hax?
Sorry for big post but looking at final preparations and want to get it right. All of your posts have been really helpful and I am pumped to give it a whirl.
Thanks!

 

[VaporeonIce]

Cloyster is WAY too frail to go without Focus Sash. Lum Berry is cool, but not cool enough to let it faint against almost any special attack. You don't want to use Lum Berry on Aegislash; it can't stop the opponent from using a status move twice, because it can't set up Substitute and probably won't KO the opponent because it can move again. Leftovers Aegislash is amazing; the ability to regain health AND drop attack at the same time is amazing.

You'll want something that can switch in against Electric-type moves without risking paralysis (Aegislash won't be nearly as effective if it keeps getting hit with full paralysis). I would probably use Lum Berry Garchomp instead of MegaZard Y for that reason, but you could use Garchomp over Aegislash instead if you refuse to drop MegaZard Y. That said, Aegislash is extremely effective, and I'm not sure if MegaZard Y would do a comparably good job, since a pretty sizable number of Pokemon can outspeed it and do serious damage to it.

If you use Aegislash, you definitely want Shadow Sneak. I can't stress enough how amazing it is as a move; at +6, it will OHKO most Pokemon that don't resist it and don't have a lot of defensive investment. Just as examples, you want to OHKO Jynx/Espeon, not have them outspeed you and put you to sleep with Lovely Kiss/Shadow Ball. Many Pokemon that DO have enough defensive investment can't do much damage to Aegislash anyway. Sacred Sword is much better than Iron Head; too many Pokemon resist Steel, and many of them are too bulky to faint against Shadow Sneak (e.g. bulky Waters). A good example is Swampert 4; if you've boosted a couple of times, you can use King's Shield to get back into Shield Forme, meaning it can't OHKO with Earthquake anymore. If you have Sacred Sword, you can OHKO, but if not, you'll give it a chance to set up with Curse and cause problems.

Good luck!

 

[BowlArt64]

Building off of what VaporeonIce said, I'm working on a Super Singles streak with the following team, basically a modified Cloyster/Garchomp/Suicune:

Cloyster @ Focus Sash
Adamant, Skill Link
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Ice Shard

Garchomp @ Lum Berry
Jolly, Rough Skin
4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Rock Slide
- Swords Dance

Aegislash @ Leftovers
Quiet, Stance Change
112 HP / 144 Atk / 244 SpA / 4 SpD
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball
- Sacred Sword
- Shadow Sneak

It's at 150 wins and counting pretty easy. Adamant and Ice Shard are nice on Cloyster for keeping the Sash intact to revenge kill if it switched out first turn, but Naughty and Hydro Pump are prob better, I'm just using what I already had b/c lazy. The Aegislash EV spread I saw posted in the Aegislash thread by Seth Vilo, and it apparently does something specific like give a Leftovers and Life Orb number, give Downloaders an Atk boost, and guarantee the OHKO on max HP Tyranitar with Sacred Sword with the rest in SpA. Something like that. Mine sometimes misses the Ttar KO because it has an imperfect Atk IV (but it's shiny and has perfect HP/Def/SpA/SpD...!). The key is knowing when to set up, when to attack, and when to switch in the first turn. Cloyster hates status, but Chomp can't get Thunder Waved and has a Lum for burns/sleep/confusion, and Aegislash can't get poisoned. Both backup mons can punish Fake Out in different ways: either Rough Skin gets some residual damage or sword is completely immune. The only thing that could have caused me to lose so far is an untimely Rock Blast miss, which has only happened once so far but I won anyway. Bulky Waters are the biggest problem for the team, but +2 Cloyster can OHKO a lot with Rock Blast (here's where a Rock Blast miss is most likely to show up!) and Garchomp/Aegislash aren't too shabby against weakened ones. Not even Trick Room is a major issue because Exeggutor is OHKOed by unboosted Icicle Spear (or always has been for me, I think) and Aegislash is fantastic against TR teams. Long story short: Cloyster is broken as hell, have fun with your really big streak dude.

(I'd continue the streak, but I really want the last trophy and it's Super Multi and I'm using Timid Hyper Voice Mega Gardevoir and Jolly Terrakion with a Scarf Eruption Entei and 4 attacks Marowak AI partner and I lost in the 40s at least four times so far and I'm really frustrated ugh)

 

[Slavandar]

For anyone doing Super Rotation, it seems like Greninja's Protean can confuse the AI enough that they'll start sending out pokemon that either have no synergy (noticing a lot of all-eeveelution teams where Glaceon and Jolteon just switch and alternate Rain Dance/Hail for no reason), or send out teams that are weak to all of your coverage attacks.

 

[Skore]

Decided I needed some more BP items so took my team into Super Doubles and I'be paused it @ 51 wins.

The line up is a pretty standard Mega CharYzard and Venusaur front two with Venusaur spamming sleep powder on everything while CharYzard rapes with Heat Wave, my back 2 are a Timid Togekiss and a Jolly Garchomp which have enough speed power and hax behind them to clean up anything if my front 2 are taken down.

 

[hotdogturtle]

Woo, got the Super Rotation trophy. All I did was take my singles team (Mega Kangaskhan/Talonflame/Greninja, capped at 96 wins) and add a Dual Screens Klefki to the lead. The streak's still open so I'll continue 51+ another time, but I want to move on to another mode.

 

[SqueakySquirtle]

I'm on an ongoing streak of 300+ in Super Doubles and having a lot of fun! i will post details when i lose :)

 

[Coolhand Luke]

Super Multi Maison: Lost on 104. Not with AI but a friend. Sorry for the poor picture quality, they are backwards because I took the pictures on my laptop. Also not sure how to post a video of this, once I figure that out I will post the match I lost.

My Pokemon (Coolhand):
Breloom @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EV's: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SDef
Jolly Nature
-Mach Punch
-Spore
-Bullet Seed
-Swords Dance

Mawile @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
EV's: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
-Sucker Punch
-Play Rough
-Iron Head
-Swords Dance

Friend's Pokemon (Strawhat):

Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
Jolly Nature
EV's: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
-Power Up Punch
-Return
-Fake Out
-Sucker Punch

Noivern @ Life Orb
Ability: Frisk
Timid Nature
EV's 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spd
-Dragon Pulse
-Air Slash
-Hurricane
-Flamethrower

 

[Robo Mike]

I knew the extremely good hax I had in Doubles 50th battle was gonna bite me, I lost the 51st battle immediately thanks to the enemy Entei and a misclick from me. XD

So only my Multi streak remains, but I went back into Singles with a team of Conkledurr, Mega Kanga and Greninja. We'll see how far that goes, so far I'm at the 40th. I'd post more, but I need to sleep, so I'll just do it when I lose.

 

[Slavandar]

I knew the extremely good hax I had in Doubles 50th battle was gonna bite me, I lost the 51st battle immediately thanks to the enemy Entei and a misclick from me. XD

So only my Multi streak remains, but I went back into Singles with a team of Conkledurr, Mega Kanga and Greninja. We'll see how far that goes, so far I'm at the 40th. I'd post more, but I need to sleep, so I'll just do it when I lose.

How are you handling Multis? Almost every AI team I pick just can't keep it together.

 

[NoCheese]

Well, though I'm miffed about losing to a distracted missclick, I just put together a streak of 286 wins in super singles. My team is hardly exotic, but it is pretty darn effective.


Mega Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Trait: Parental Bond
Nature: Adamant (+Att, -Spa)
-Power-Up Punch
-Return
-Sucker Punch
-Crunch

Stats: 181/177/120/72/120/167
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 6/252/0/0/0/252

Suicune @ Chesto Berry
Trait: Pressure
Nature: Bold (+Def, - Att)
-Scald
-Calm Mind
-Substitute
-Rest

Stats: 205/74/181/110/134/107
IVs: 31/7/28/31/29/30
EVs: 236/0/252/0/0/20

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Trait: Multiscale
Nature: Adamant (+Att, -Spa)
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Fire Punch
-Dragon Dance

Stats: 167/204/115/108/120/132
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 6/252/0/0/0/252

Mega Kanga is just amazing. While she may have a madonna and child appearance, her penchant for smiting is decidedly old testament in nature. Somewhere, in the home for retired Pokemon, R/B/Y Tauros is surely cheered to see a first generation Normal type shredding things with its offensive prowess. Parental bond lets her effectively Swords Dance for damage, hit ridiculously hard, and break Strurdy and Sashes while it's at it.

If at all possible, Kanga leads with PuP. At +2, the other attacks OHKO a large fraction of enemies, and against Fighting-weak enemies, one can sometimes 2HKO a foe while setting up to +4, which is just nuts. PuP doesn’t typically do much damage, but even that little bit can open up certain OHKOs on the follow-up attack, and because it is an attacking move, Kanga can even set up through Taunt.

While obviously lacking in super effective coverage, Return is a very powerful stab, and Kanga enjoys the fact that only Steel, Rock, and Ghost types resist it. Even unboosted, Return scores a number of important KOs, and once PuP has been used, it's a house.

Sucker Punch is likewise essential to this set. Though relatively bulky, Kanga's speed is only decent, and plenty of dangerous pokemon can outrun it. Sucker Punch allows Kanga to handle otherwise worrisome threats like Latios, Latias, and the infamous King's Rock SPIT Starmie. Sucker Punch also helps mitigate the pain of getting paralyzed, and allows plays like PuPing into a faster poke and then KOing it with Sucker Punch, while taking only one hit total in return. Finally, Sucker Punch heavily tips the scale in favor of running an Adamant Nature instead of a Jolly one.

Crunch is probably the least used move on the set, but is still quite important. Bulky Ghosts and Psychics, for example, often like to use various status moves, making Sucker Punch a bad choice. Crunch nicely covers Return and PuP's inability to hit Ghosts, while not being dependent on your opponent’s choice of move. Steel no longer resisting Dark is also a big deal, since Crunch now trumps Steel types like Metagross. The more you play, the more you get a feel for where you should Sucker Punch and where you should Crunch, and despite the fact that carrying two damaging moves of the same type is normally unwise, this is certainly an exception.

As noted earlier, where I can, I try to lead with a PuP, and then follow it with a suitable attack. A remarkable number of battles just go PuP, Attack, Attack, Attack, Win. Obviously, this is nice, but it isn't always going to happen. Being weak to Fighting moves, it's unwise for Kanga to try to set up against a hard hitting Fighting-type. Thankfully, a number of otherwise threatening pokes, like Toxicroak, Blaziken, Medicham, Gallade, and Sawk can be outrun and OHKOed by a simple unboosted Return. The same goes for Sucker Punch against fast/hard hitting Psychic or Ghost types, sometimes with access to Focus Blast, like Alakazam, Gengar, and the Lati twins. It's situations like this where Adamant nature really proves its worth. With a Jolly nature, Kanga outruns a few more things, but most of them are not particularly threatening, and it loses guaranteed OHKOs against some very, very important threats. You're fast enough with an Adamant nature and max IVs and EVs in speed. Giving up some crucial OHKO power for even more Speed just isn’t worth it.

Though Kanga at +2 covers many threats, it's still not as effective as a fully set-up Suicune, my choice for the best self supporting Subway/Maison poke there is. Accordingly, if I know Suicune can fully set up on a foe, even if Kanga beats it too, I switch to Suicune. At +6/+6 with a Substitute up, there are very, very few things that Suicune fears. Suicune naturally loves to prey upon other bulky Waters, but it's remarkably good at setting up on bulky opposition generally, even physical attackers. Pressure is the key to this, because often, a foe has only one attack that can break Suicune's sub. Stall that move out with Substitute and Rest, and setting up fully becomes a breeze. Against special attackers, the process is often even faster, since after a Calm Mind or two, even most super effective attacks won't break the sub. I know that Jumpman has had big success without running Substitute on his Suicune, but I can't imagine leaving home without it. The protection Substitute provides against crits and status, and its utility in stalling out moves like Earthquake, is incredibly valuable, and it adds a ton of reliability to the team. Just remember that sound moves and moves from Pokemon with Infiltrator now bypass subs, as does weather damage, and adjust your play when appropriate. Subbing all the way down to 1 HP against something that could use Sandstorm is unwise, for example. Still, the vast majority of the time this is not an issue, and even things like Infiltrator Spiritomb can be easily set up on.

Running Scald as my only attacking move naturally means Suicune's coverage is limited, but at +6, this is often unimportant. Obviously, Suicune can't profitably attack Water Absorbers or Storm Drainers (which there are more of now, thanks to hidden abilities), but the vast majority of these can be stalled out while Suicune sets up, with Pressure again helping out a bunch. One nice trick on slower Water Absorbers is that once such an enemy is struggling, and low enough that it will die on its next Struggle, I keep Scalding it (healing it the same 25% it would lose for struggling) until it breaks my Sub, and then set up a new one while the enemy struggles itself dead. Losing a sub to a final struggle from a slower enemy is maddening, and this technique ensures that I won't lose it here. The few Water Absorb/Storm Drain pokes that hit hard enough to threaten Suicune, like Toxicroak and Poliwrath, can typically be handled by Kanga and Dragonite. Scald's burn chance further speeds things along against other bulky pokes, and once a burn lands, makes setting up on physical attackers a breeze.

Honestly, a case could be made for running Ice Beam instead. The coverage against Dragon and Grass types would be very nice, and nothing is immune to it. However, the loss of STAB, the reduced effectiveness against Fire, Ice, and Steel types, and the reduced PP are real costs, and for the moment at least, I'm sticking with Scald. The emergency protection against freezes that Scald provides is nice too, though it does not come up often, thanks to Substitute.

Suicune's EVs are designed for avoiding speed ties while still letting me make four big 51 HP Substitutes with 1 HP left over. With so many EVs in HP and Defense, a lot of non-STABed Physical moves don't break a Sub, which hugely eases things. Perhaps a few more EV could be transferred into Speed, since setting up is much easier and safer when you outspeed the opposition and so know exactly when you need to Sub or Rest, but the smaller Suicune's Subs get, the more non-STABed physical attacks can break them, so I am happy with the current spread. Even at just 107 Speed, Suicune outruns a lot of pokes.

Many people love Leftovers on Suicune, but I've come to prefer Chesto Berries. Leftovers are very handy during long set ups, but the one "free" Rest that a Chesto Berry provides proves more useful against hard hitting physical attacks. If I'm trying to stall out something with 15 PP like a STABed Rock Slide, for example, I need to drain eight attacks. With Leftovers, I have to stay sleeping while the foe still has plenty of PP remaining, and a crit can easily kill me while Suicune sleeps. With Chesto Berry, I can Substitute four times, Rest, Sub again (typically three times, taking into account an attack on the turn I rest), and Rest again, knowing that the threatening move will be drained of PP on the next attack and I should be able to safely wait out the sleep time and continue setting up. In short, Leftovers may be better once you are actually setting up, but Chesto Berry is better at helping you survive to the point when you can start the set-up process.

Dragonite, the Jolly Green Giant, would work fine as a lead, but on this team, he’s by far my least used poke, coming in mainly to clean up after Kanga or Suicune is knocked out. With an Adamant Nature and Max attack, Dragonite hits very hard right off the bat, and if he is able to get in a dance or two, he’s very capable of sweeping entire teams by himself. The combination of Multiscale and Lum Berry means that a healthy Dragonite can almost always Dragon Dance at least once, at which point it will outspeed and be able to kill most things. With two dances, Dragonite outspeeds the entire Maison (bar priority moves), and few things short of Sturdy or Sashed pokes will be able to survive an attack.

Because protecting Multiscale and the Lum Berry is so important to ensuring a safe Dragon Dance, I rarely switch Dragonite into hostile moves, and typically bring him in as a revenge killer/sweeper. However, because of Dragonite’s beautiful fighting resistance, I will bring it in against pokes that threaten Kanga with powerful Fighting attacks but lack a strong Rock or Ice type move. This is a relatively short list, particularly since I’ll keep Kanga in if it can just OHKO with an unboosted Return/Sucker Punch, but it does come up from time to time.

Outrage’s power is amazing, but I try to avoid getting locked into it if Earthquake or Fire Punch can get the KO. Still, with Lum Berry to cure confusion, the raw KO power that Outrage provides, and the relative dearth of Fairy-types in the Maison (most of which are very easily handled by both Suicune and Kanga), getting Outraged locked is normally not something to worry about. Fire Punch and Earthquake provide excellent coverage, and because Dragonite is so fast after a Dragon Dance, I feel that subbing in ExtremeSpeed would not be worth the coverage loss. Also note that even unboosted, Dragonite hits very hard, so against things that threaten to outrun and 2HKO, it’s often correct to just attack without first Dancing.

No team is perfect, and this team definitely is a bit soft to the Musketeer and Genie trios. The Musketeers outrun my team, Cobalion and Terrakion resist Return, and all three can hit with very strong STABed Fighting attacks that shred Kanga. Trying to sneak in priority damage with Sucker Punch is a terrible idea too, thanks to the attack boost that Justified provides. And Terrakion even gets STAB Stone Edge to threaten Dragonite. Likewise, the Genies couple high speed (or a Scarf, in the case of Landrous) with powerful Focus Blasts, and Thundurus also scares Suicune with its potent Electric type attacks. Indeed, the legendary teams are by far the most difficult opponents generally, since besides containing some of the biggest threats against me, they also contain at least two versions of each poke, meaning that sometimes, the strategy which is best against one version is very poor against another, and it takes at least one move/switch to discover what approach is best, at which point it might be too late. Thankfully, Suicune can set up on many of the legendaries, and once fully set up it can handle even otherwise bad matchups well, and Dragonite can usually sneak in at least one Dragon Dance even in the face of a super effective move, and then proceed to salvage a battle that was going badly.

I lost by playing while distracted. On battle 287, I was in the process of setting up Suicune against Rhyperior 4, and accidently clicked on Sub again on the turn I needed to Rest. Lacking the HP to make a Sub, Suicune was of course then KOed. Kanga then dented Rhyperior but fell to Hammer Arm, and though Dragonite finished off Rhyperior, I forgot that Choice Scarf Darmanitan outspeeds Dragonite even after one Dragon Dance, and so fell to two Stone Edges. Badly played throughout, but misclicking on Sub is particularly galling, because had I not made that mistake, I would have won the battle easily. Guess it will serve as a reminder to keep my focus throughout my streaks, as one moment of inattention can spell doom.

Proof Video is: CJ4G-WWWW-WWW5-FZWJ

On balance, I’m very satisfied with this team. It is powerful, efficient, and generally plays through battles quickly. Sure, occasionally things get slowed by Suicune having to stall out a Water Absorber or the like, but even so, this squad aligns well with the “Bullet Train” teambuilding style. I fully believe that this team is capable of going much deeper into the maison, and so plan to continue playing it further.

I had wanted to add some more general observations about the Maison here, but this write-up has gone on long enough, so I’ll leave those thoughts for a separate post. Best of luck on your streaks everyone!

 

[Slavandar]

After about 6 failed attempts in a row at Super Multis I'm tearing my hair out. What's the go to AI team to pick for a quick way through this?

 

[VaporeonIce]

I'm in the middle of a streak and I wanted to claim this "title" before Jumpman comes in and snatches it up. I haven't posted before now because I'm paranoid that posting will make me lose, but I'm far enough along that I would be okay with a loss. I currently have 500 wins in Super Singles. I'm using the following team:

Togekiss (male) @ Lum Berry (Sweet Dreams)
Ability: Serene Grace
Nature: Bold
EVs: 252 HP/252 Sp.Atk/4 Spd
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/31
- Yawn
- Safeguard
- Dazzling Gleam
- Air Slash

Kangaskhan (female) @ Kangaskhanite (RockEmSockEm)
Ability: Scrappy -> Parental Bond
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 4 HP/252 Atk/252 Spd
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
- Power-Up Punch
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Return

Aegislash (female) @ Leftovers (Hylian -> TriumphForks)
Ability: Stance Change
Nature: Brave
EVs: 252 HP/252 Atk/4 Def
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/2
- King's Shield
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Sacred Sword

My original goal was just to get the Starf Berry. I started developing the team before reading this thread, with the hope of developing the team as independently as possible. Mega Kangaskhan is probably the most outrageously powerful Pokemon to ever be allowed in the OU tier, and I aimed to get the most I could out of it. I realized that putting her as a lead would make her hugely susceptible to status moves or just being knocked out. I also LOVE the move Yawn, and I knew there must be some way to use it to allow MegaKhan that one essential turn to set up. When she's at +2, she's pretty much only going to switch out against Mienshao, Infernape, Terrakion, Virizion, Cobalion, and possible Houndoom and Talonflame if she's low on health; everything else that's coming to mind right now will be outsped and OHKOd by the appropriate move (exceptions are Landorus 1, which is a crappy set, and Tornadus 3, which has a chance to survive Sucker Punch). Since Fighting-types are clearly Khan's Achilles heel, I wanted two Pokemon that could switch in on Fighting moves with no problems.

Togekiss ended up being the perfect choice; his new Fairy-typing means it has a massive 4x resist to Fighting, and Yawn and Safeguard give Khan some amazing set-up opportunities. I didn't want him to be a standard crippler, though. There are some situations where the opponent's lead poses an immediate threat and switching won't be safe. That's where the Special Attack EVs come in; with them, Togekiss can wear down or take out a lot of leads that would otherwise be a problem. I was having problems with Absol 4 (Swagger, Substitute, Punishment, Will-O-Wisp @ Brightpowder); how do you get around the fact that one Brightpowder miss can result in Mega Khan getting smacked with a hugely powerful Punishment? Then I realized that Dazzling Gleam is a clean OHKO. The same strategy is used against Honchkrow 4 (Life Orb Drill Peck is stronger than I'd like and Insomnia blocks Yawn). Volcarona 4 is a massive pain because of its huge bulk, the risk of Flame Body burns, and its ability to use Quiver Dance to outspeed Khan. So my strategy against it involves using Air Slash twice (it will usually Quiver Dance; if it attacks instead, Air Slash 2HKOs), using Yawn while it attacks, letting Kiss faint, and hitting it with Earthquake. Walrein 4 is another potential problem; it has Sleep Talk and I can't risk setting up when it has a 2 in 3 chance of choosing an OHKO move. Instead, I just start a hax war! Lax Incense + OHKO moves + Air Slash's 5% miss rate vs. Serene Grace + 30% flinch rate. I've only faced Walrein 4 leads two or three times, and that strategy has won every time.

I didn't realize how common the AegiKhan pair was among some people in this thread when I developed the team idea, but it also has excellent synergy with Khan. I originally used my in-game Aegislash (EVd in HP and Attack; it had a Sassy nature and like an Atk IV of 2, I think) with Iron Head over Swords Dance. The idea was that Khan should be sweeping and Aegislash should be supporting it, and I just liked the style points for using an in-game mon with bad IVs. I actually got to 149 with that team, but a lot of that was through miracles (e.g. the opponent's Focus Blast/Hypnosis missed at key times). As this team developed, I started realizing Aegislash's amazing potential. It's extremely easy to create set-up opportunities for Aegislash. One strategy I started using a lot was switching between Aegislash and Togekiss to stall out the PP of the opponent's dangerous moves (usually EdgeQuake). Once I've done that, I typically wind up with a Togekiss who still has full health AND its Lum Berry and an Aegislash who's at +6 and has almost full health (after I've used King's Shield to drop their attack against their other coverage move, which is typically crap like Aerial Ace) against two Pokemon. Usually Aegislash can KO the next Pokemon, even in hilarious situations where the opponent has a huge type advantage. One example is Houndoom 4. +6 Shadow Sneak has a decent chance to OHKO, but I don't want to leave it up to chance. Instead, I use King's Shield (it will use Overheat) and use Sacred Sword on the next turn. On the next turn, it will use Sunny Day (presumably because Overheat doesn't OHKO without a crit), meaning I just got a clean OHKO against a Pokemon that has two super-effective types and resists Ghost. This double-switching strategy can slow battles down a lot (especially against stuff like Archeops and Nidoking that run Protect), but it's well worth it to avoid the risk of crits/Rock Slide flinches and come out with a huge advantage.

Another hugely valuable characteristic of Aegislash is that its unboosted Shadow Sneak OHKOs Jynx, who would otherwise be a massive pain with Blizzard freezes and Lovely Kiss. This way, I can just switch Aegislash in on the Fake Out and take it out with Shadow Sneak before it can do anything. Because Aegislash is clearly a Zelda-themed Pokemon, I originally named him Hylian. But after getting the Starf Berry, I realized he was no ordinary Hylian; in fact, this shield/sword thing was the legendary TriumphForks!

This team's synergy is simply incredible. I never thought it would make it this far, but looking back over my battles, it makes sense. I lost five or six times after establishing the sets (all of them before 200); ultimately, knowing what the AI is going to do makes a huge difference, and can turn a huge risk into a trivial win. Mock battles have been really helpful for that, allowing me to devise reliable strategies against otherwise dangerous Pokemon like Gyarados 4, Moltres, and Infernape 4. I have a spreadsheet with every set and what I'll do against it, because every turn is so crucially important and maximizing the team's odds is essential. It's not an easy team to play by any means.

My team certainly has some vulnerabilities. Fire and Electric types are more threatening than most due to the risk of paralysis/burn and the fact that my team lacks resistances against them. Usually they don't OHKO Togekiss without a crit, though (a notable exception is Thundurus 2), so I can set up Safeguard then switch in Kangaskhan and set up (since they don't KO MegaKhan even WITH a crit). That means that, if the opposing Electric-type lead gets a crit on turn 1 AND paralysis on MegaKhan on turn 2, I'm in a lot of trouble. That situation hasn't happened yet, and it's pretty unlikely (1 in 160 chance), especially given the fact that many Electric-types don't even attack me.

Major threats:
Zapdos 2: I hate this thing. Double Team + a resistance to Sacred Sword + Heat Wave is a nightmare for Aegislash. If it has Pressure, I'll just use Yawn and switch to Khan, since I'll usually win even if it does trigger some BrightPowder/Double Team misses. If it has Static, it gets an extra turn to set up Charge Beam/Double Team, which can be a problem. I've only fought it as a lead once and managed to come out on top, but I do consider it a risk.
Thundurus 2: As mentioned before, Choice Specs lets it OHKO Togekiss without a crit; it also has a 56% chance to KO MegaKhan with a crit. The one time I fought it as a lead, it didn't crit or paralyze MegaKhan, so I was able to win easily.
Lati@s 1: I fight this thing SO OFTEN. I once lost against it because BrightPowder made me miss three times in a row, so I'm overly paranoid about it. My strategy against all Lati@s is to use Yawn, which allows me to switch to Aegislash and set up. +4 Shadow Sneak OHKOs, but it isn't strong enough to take out many legendaries that Veterans carry. I once had a very bad match (battle #390) where I was at +4 and Flame Body Moltres was the third Pokemon. I was forced to Shadow Sneak against it and it lived with about 2 health. Because MegaKhan doesn't have any non-contact moves that can hit Moltres, I had to Sucker Punch and wound up getting burned. I clearly should have lost that match, but the opponent's third mon was Heatran. Shuca Berry let it survive the turn, but since it wasn't strong enough to OHKO Khan with anything, it used Sunny Day. Because of that, I pulled off the win.
Walrein 4: As I mentioned before, I get into a hax battle with it. The odds are heavily in my favor (it has a roughly 50% chance to attack each turn, and only a 30% chance to hit), but it still makes me nervous because Khan needs to set up to have enough power to KO, and setting up is risky.
Volcarona 4: Already discussed. I've always beaten it, but an Air Slash miss could cause real problems. I feel very happy when it decides to attack instead of using Quiver Dance.

Battle video of #500: 32NW-WWWW-WWW5-G6HR

More battle videos to come once I've lost.