Battle Tree Discussion and Records

[Jebus McAzn]

Lost at battle 65 with my first attempt at Super Singles. I'm gonna keep trying; I think I can go quite a bit higher. I enjoyed using my team a lot (I've been in love with lead Tapu Koko for a few weeks and am finally getting a chance to use him), and it was also quite easy to assemble since I didn't have to farm for a Mega Stone at all. Team is:

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch

Notes

Pretty straightforward. One of the main reasons I wanted to use Koko is that he flat-out eliminates Sleep and Paralysis as problems that I have to worry about. In maybe 1/4 of my battles, he 3-0s the enemy team by himself. I was iffy about Grass Knot at first, but there's very little that either HP Ice, Brave Bird, or another move would hit that would add any extra coverage I needed. GK is also nice for bulky grounds that Celesteela has trouble finishing off, like Hippowdon and (strangely enough), Steelix-2, which gave me a bit of trouble earlier today.

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 176 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Protect

Notes

This thing is a monster and gets past basically every bulky mon in the Battle Tree by itself. If Koko can 3-0 a quarter of enemy teams, this thing can 3-0 another 1/3rd of them. Koko hates Ground and Poison attacks, and Celesteela is immune to both of them. EVs are to outspeed everything up through and including base 85s, including all Walrein sets. They also let me get SpD boosts off of Beast Boost, but I'm not sure if that's actually preferred or not in the Tree.

I've seen some people running Flamethrower, but every single move on this set has been crucial to my success so far.

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Notes

Some things that Celesteela can't switch in on are scarfed Fire-types like Entei-3 and Typhlosion-3, and fast electric types like Manectric-3. Scarfchomp was actually the only thing I could think of that could handle most of those issues, while also being able to reliably beat Mega Gengar (which speed ties with Koko and OHKOs it with Sludge Bomb).

Adamant over Jolly on Garchomp because I didn't think I needed Jolly. Things that Jolly outspeeds that Adamant doesn't:

• Entei-3 (doesn't 2HKO with Eruption, gets OHKO'd by Earthquake; however I risk a burn from Fire Blast or flinch hax from Extrasensory)
• Terrakion-2 (more or less walled by Celesteela barring crit hax)
• Ties with Garchomp-3 (which is walled by Celesteela)

Adamant has more power and also OHKOs Nidoqueen-3 100% of the time with EQ whereas Jolly does not, so I went with that.

my loss

Off the bat I knew that I was going to have some issues with bulky Grass-types and Tyranitar. I fought 2 Venusaurs during my entire time in the tree, and both were pretty dicey. I think in the future, my most reliable strategy is just to PP stall Giga Drain with Celesteela before doing anything else.

I lost at battle 66 to a trainer packing Eelektross, Ampharos, and some third Pokemon that was OHKOed by Garchomp fairly quickly. I was locked into EQ and they sent out Ampharos, then switched to Eelektross right away. I had to switch to Celesteela and then back to Chomp to get around Levitate and eventually 2HKOed it with Outrage. Ampharos came in, Mega evolved while I got hurt by confusion, and KO'd Garchomp with Dragon Pulse. I couldn't PP stall Thunder with Celesteela, leaving Koko as my last member. Dazzling Gleam doesn't ever OHKO; it used Confuse Ray and I can win the battle right here if confusion doesn't kick in next turn - but it does, I hurt myself, then die to an Electric Terrain-boosted Thunder.

Any feedback or advice is appreciated, though I think I could do better by just not making as many mistakes as I have.

Happy new year, folks!

 

[SqueakySquirtle]

Hey guys just curious, it has prob already been discussed, but why fire punch over roost on dragonite? I ran into a Togekiss which was annoying but I'm sure there's a couple more examples?

 

[Volentes]

I don't use Dragonite but I assume it's to counter Steel types that Toxic Chansey can't stall to death.

On another note I can't believe how much of a dummy I was, I almost lost a run before I could get to 50 battles in super doubles. I didn't realize that Sky drop doesn't allow you to switch units until after said pokemon is done moving and that lead to the only pokemon being alive was my pheromosa. If it weren't for that Focus Sash I slapped on her in case my Oranguru, Koko and Lucario all bite the dust that would have been the end of me. Other than that one time, I cannnot believe how ridiculously easy super doubles is when you have a Choice Scarf Oranguru with speedy sweepers. Literally everything I met has either been ko'd by Instruct or so weakened they get swept by Mega Lucario's Extremespeed and Pheromosa's Ice Beam.

However one weakness I do see with this team comp is the very obvious priority/quick claw hax spam. I don't really have much of an answer for that aside from Lucario using extreme speed with instruct spam to counter quick claw with priority.

I also can't believe how long it took for me to realize that hey, maybe if I face a pokemon that knows rock slide and earthquake, maybe I should switch between Salamence and Aegislash constantly to stall out those two moves without losing any hp/pp while also lowering the attack of said enemy poke instead of spamming mega evolve like an impatient twit, I wouldn't be losing so much. That and forgetting to turn off the animations in the first time I did a run. So many hours just seeing a Chansey do absolutely nothing while toxic does its work while the enemy's poke roosts all day.

I've been meaning to ask. Since Seismic Toss Chansey doesn't have to worry about steel/poison pokemon and only has to worry about ghost types, how do you manage said ghost types? My Salamence and Aegislash aren't exactly the best at tanking Shadow Balls to the face. Or do I just pp stall ghost types until they can only Struggle and have my other pokemon set up on said mons?

EDIT: Screw the guy who gave Gengar Cursed Body. "Hi I'm Mardea, I see you PP stalling earthquake/rock slides for 20+ turns on my Tauros, here let my Gengar activate Cursed Body twice in a row on your Mono Return Megamence and Shadow Sneak on your Aegislash." I still beat her but I can't help but imagine her having the biggest "you deserve it you little shit" face.

Hah hah Ikram, I don't even care that you got flame body from your magmortar off me, you're still going to lose old man. I just love how much personality the Battle Tree people have, their lines always give me a chuckle at how morbid/dark and other forms of goodness that exudes from their dialogue. It honestly is the best part of the Battle Tree for me.

 

[SonOfTheShire]

Hey guys just curious, it has prob already been discussed, but why fire punch over roost on dragonite? I ran into a Togekiss which was annoying but I'm sure there's a couple more examples?

It just gives you a lot of freedom. Fire Punch lets you take out a lot of the Grass, Bug, Flying, and Levitate Pokémon that you'd otherwise have to lock yourself into Outrage to KO. It also lets you stay in (and set up) against the things Outrage and Earthquake can't beat, like Shiinotic, Whimsicott, and Ferrothorn.

 

[Piicky]

First time posting here in Orange Islands, but I had a great time in the Battle Maison last gen with a CM Raikou/CB Talonflame/LO Flygon team and since there are so many expensive prizes in the Battle Tree, it looks like getting good at it is a good idea.

I don't have a huge amount of time nowadays to play but I'm designing a team (probably post bank since the update won't be long and it'll take me some time to make the team anyway) and wanted to know everyone's thoughts, since I didn't want to spend ages building a team only for it to fail. My main idea was to do a Megamence/Aegislash/Tapu Fini team, since Megamence and Aegislash are just both so damn good and versatile while complementing each other well, and Tapu Fini is a strong glue to fill the gaps and cover some weaker aspects of the duo. I was thinking of something along the lines of:

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Dragon Dance
Return / Double Edge
Earthquake
Draco Meteor / Roost / Overheat / Stone Edge

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy / Leftovers / ???
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: HP/Atk/SpA
??? Nature
King's Shield
Shadow Sneak
Sacred Sword
Shadow Ball / Swords Dance / Flash Cannon / Iron Head / Something else?

Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf / Waterium Z/ Fairium Z
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: ?? HP / 252 SpA / ?? Spe
Modest Nature
Surf / Scald
Ice Beam
Moonblast
Grass Knot / Calm Mind / Something else?

I'm not fully sure what sets will work best on Aegislash / Tapu Fini, what would anyone suggest? This team seems like it has the potential to not just go far but also be efficient at grinding BP due to Salamence's raw power off the bat being able to take out most teams. I don't know how well this works in practice or if Dragonite simply does a better job in the Battle Tree however so let me know your thoughts.

I'm defaulting to Jolly Megamence with Return and Draco Meteor and no bulk investment since it seems like the best way to reliably set up and sweep, is this true, or am I better off with a different coverage move or Double Edge + Roost?

I can't decide what to do with Aegislash at all, since I thought 2 attacks would leave it a bit vulnerable to being walled on occasion, so I'm split between King's Shield + 3 attacks with weakness policy and a Sword's Dance set. Either way I'm not sure about where to put investment, what set have people had the most success with in the tree in general?

Finally there's Tapu Fini, which I see is a popular choice in this thread. I'm not too sure if an offensive scarf set or a setup set would be more reliable (or something else), and it probably depends on which Aegislash set I use. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks in advance if anyone has any good advice, and good luck with your own runs!

 

[Adamant_Torterra]

I couldn't PP stall Thunder with Celesteela, leaving Koko as my last member.

Firstly, always switch out of confusion when you can, especially when it is 3v1. If you had gone from garchomp to koko you would have taken no damage from the dragon pulse, knocked a chunk off with dazzling, and easily finished it with any of garchomp's moves

If you end up in that situation again though, you should try to switch stall. Not sure how much health you had to start, but assuming you brought cele in after garchomp died with over half health, the strat probably should have been protect, go to koko, go to cele, go to koko, etc, setting up subs too assuming you are faster (i'm not checking the spreadsheet right now but it should be). Thunder only has 10 pp and a 30% miss chance, so if you play it right you should definitely be able to get rid of all of it.

 

[Matheus Fim]

I'm curious about this team. I've experimented with Tapu Koko a bit in singles and have found him to be an effective lead, at least for the first 30 or so battles.
However he's quite difficult to switch into, given how frail he is.
You might've had a hard time with that, especially given the added recoil he took with the life orb.
I don't see how he see how he fits the narrative of this team exactly.
Dragon steel makes sense, yeah. They complement each other perfectly.
But Koko? Besides the obvious dragon immunity he provides, he adds another EQ weakness, which is incredibly common.

Koko can hit really hard man, ET + Life orb provides great electric damage to bulky water types or even bulky ground types what can provide some danger to M-Metagross. The point of this team is sweep with DD Dragonite, and use Koko or metagross to deal with any dangers to him.

 

[OLK]

First time posting here in Orange Islands, but I had a great time in the Battle Maison last gen with a CM Raikou/CB Talonflame/LO Flygon team and since there are so many expensive prizes in the Battle Tree, it looks like getting good at it is a good idea.

I don't have a huge amount of time nowadays to play but I'm designing a team (probably post bank since the update won't be long and it'll take me some time to make the team anyway) and wanted to know everyone's thoughts, since I didn't want to spend ages building a team only for it to fail. My main idea was to do a Megamence/Aegislash/Tapu Fini team, since Megamence and Aegislash are just both so damn good and versatile while complementing each other well, and Tapu Fini is a strong glue to fill the gaps and cover some weaker aspects of the duo. I was thinking of something along the lines of:

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
Dragon Dance
Return / Double Edge
Earthquake
Draco Meteor / Roost / Overheat / Stone Edge

Aegislash @ Weakness Policy / Leftovers / ???
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: HP/Atk/SpA
??? Nature
King's Shield
Shadow Sneak
Sacred Sword
Shadow Ball / Swords Dance / Flash Cannon / Iron Head / Something else?

Tapu Fini @ Choice Scarf / Waterium Z/ Fairium Z
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: ?? HP / 252 SpA / ?? Spe
Modest Nature
Surf / Scald
Ice Beam
Moonblast
Grass Knot / Calm Mind / Something else?

I'm not fully sure what sets will work best on Aegislash / Tapu Fini, what would anyone suggest? This team seems like it has the potential to not just go far but also be efficient at grinding BP due to Salamence's raw power off the bat being able to take out most teams. I don't know how well this works in practice or if Dragonite simply does a better job in the Battle Tree however so let me know your thoughts.

I'm defaulting to Jolly Megamence with Return and Draco Meteor and no bulk investment since it seems like the best way to reliably set up and sweep, is this true, or am I better off with a different coverage move or Double Edge + Roost?

I can't decide what to do with Aegislash at all, since I thought 2 attacks would leave it a bit vulnerable to being walled on occasion, so I'm split between King's Shield + 3 attacks with weakness policy and a Sword's Dance set. Either way I'm not sure about where to put investment, what set have people had the most success with in the tree in general?

Finally there's Tapu Fini, which I see is a popular choice in this thread. I'm not too sure if an offensive scarf set or a setup set would be more reliable (or something else), and it probably depends on which Aegislash set I use. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks in advance if anyone has any good advice, and good luck with your own runs!

I had a similar team to you and made it to 163, except I used Dragonite instead of Mence and had Tapu Fini run with Scald/Moonblast/Taunt/Calm Mind. Taunt was essential for stopping all the Trick Room and Double Teamers

 

[iVolke]

Lost at battle 65 with my first attempt at Super Singles. I'm gonna keep trying; I think I can go quite a bit higher. I enjoyed using my team a lot (I've been in love with lead Tapu Koko for a few weeks and am finally getting a chance to use him), and it was also quite easy to assemble since I didn't have to farm for a Mega Stone at all. Team is:

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Grass Knot
- Volt Switch

Notes

Pretty straightforward. One of the main reasons I wanted to use Koko is that he flat-out eliminates Sleep and Paralysis as problems that I have to worry about. In maybe 1/4 of my battles, he 3-0s the enemy team by himself. I was iffy about Grass Knot at first, but there's very little that either HP Ice, Brave Bird, or another move would hit that would add any extra coverage I needed. GK is also nice for bulky grounds that Celesteela has trouble finishing off, like Hippowdon and (strangely enough), Steelix-2, which gave me a bit of trouble earlier today.

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 176 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Protect

Notes

This thing is a monster and gets past basically every bulky mon in the Battle Tree by itself. If Koko can 3-0 a quarter of enemy teams, this thing can 3-0 another 1/3rd of them. Koko hates Ground and Poison attacks, and Celesteela is immune to both of them. EVs are to outspeed everything up through and including base 85s, including all Walrein sets. They also let me get SpD boosts off of Beast Boost, but I'm not sure if that's actually preferred or not in the Tree.

I've seen some people running Flamethrower, but every single move on this set has been crucial to my success so far.

Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Dragon Claw
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Notes

Some things that Celesteela can't switch in on are scarfed Fire-types like Entei-3 and Typhlosion-3, and fast electric types like Manectric-3. Scarfchomp was actually the only thing I could think of that could handle most of those issues, while also being able to reliably beat Mega Gengar (which speed ties with Koko and OHKOs it with Sludge Bomb).

Adamant over Jolly on Garchomp because I didn't think I needed Jolly. Things that Jolly outspeeds that Adamant doesn't:

• Entei-3 (doesn't 2HKO with Eruption, gets OHKO'd by Earthquake; however I risk a burn from Fire Blast or flinch hax from Extrasensory)
• Terrakion-2 (more or less walled by Celesteela barring crit hax)
• Ties with Garchomp-3 (which is walled by Celesteela)

Adamant has more power and also OHKOs Nidoqueen-3 100% of the time with EQ whereas Jolly does not, so I went with that.

my loss

Off the bat I knew that I was going to have some issues with bulky Grass-types and Tyranitar. I fought 2 Venusaurs during my entire time in the tree, and both were pretty dicey. I think in the future, my most reliable strategy is just to PP stall Giga Drain with Celesteela before doing anything else.

I lost at battle 66 to a trainer packing Eelektross, Ampharos, and some third Pokemon that was OHKOed by Garchomp fairly quickly. I was locked into EQ and they sent out Ampharos, then switched to Eelektross right away. I had to switch to Celesteela and then back to Chomp to get around Levitate and eventually 2HKOed it with Outrage. Ampharos came in, Mega evolved while I got hurt by confusion, and KO'd Garchomp with Dragon Pulse. I couldn't PP stall Thunder with Celesteela, leaving Koko as my last member. Dazzling Gleam doesn't ever OHKO; it used Confuse Ray and I can win the battle right here if confusion doesn't kick in next turn - but it does, I hurt myself, then die to an Electric Terrain-boosted Thunder.

Any feedback or advice is appreciated, though I think I could do better by just not making as many mistakes as I have.

Happy new year, folks!

Should have switched to Koko or Celesteela as soon as Ampharos came in knowing that it wouldn't use an electric attack on Garchomp, even if it wasn't Ampharos4. You could have switched Celesteela in on the Dragon Pulse then get a free switch to Garchomp on the Thunder. EQ has a 56% chance to OHKO Ampharos4. Even if you don't get the OHKO, it would have at most 8% HP left and easy to clean up with Koko. You just completely missplayed the situation.

 

[zhaow]

Just managed to beat Super Singles on my 4th or 5th proper run at it.

The team:

Tsukihime (Tapu Fini) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
​

Super Fly (Pinsir) @ Pinsirite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Quick Attack
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
​

Rocky (Goodra) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Flamethrower
- Muddy Water
​

I could have screwed up a few times in the 40s, but I think the team was solid enough to compensate for my poor decision making. Case in point:

Battle 49 vs Thundurus, Mega Latias & Tornadus:
KRBW-WWWW-WWW4-XZNJ

Tapu Fini should have stayed in vs Thundurus for the Weakness Policy boost and hit back with +2 Ice Beams. In my panic I used Devastating Drake even though Misty Terrain was on. Luckily I got the OHKO. And then that lucky freeze vs Mega Latias.

Battle 50 vs Red was a lot smoother:
Z8YW-WWWW-WWW4-XZEK

Now that I've used up my luck for the week, I shall take a mini break from the Battle Tree and figure out how to build a decent doubles team for that 3rd last stamp!

 

[Jebus McAzn]

Firstly, always switch out of confusion when you can, especially when it is 3v1. If you had gone from garchomp to koko you would have taken no damage from the dragon pulse, knocked a chunk off with dazzling, and easily finished it with any of garchomp's moves

If you end up in that situation again though, you should try to switch stall. Not sure how much health you had to start, but assuming you brought cele in after garchomp died with over half health, the strat probably should have been protect, go to koko, go to cele, go to koko, etc, setting up subs too assuming you are faster (i'm not checking the spreadsheet right now but it should be). Thunder only has 10 pp and a 30% miss chance, so if you play it right you should definitely be able to get rid of all of it.

Should have switched to Koko or Celesteela as soon as Ampharos came in knowing that it wouldn't use an electric attack on Garchomp, even if it wasn't Ampharos4. You could have switched Celesteela in on the Dragon Pulse then get a free switch to Garchomp on the Thunder. EQ has a 56% chance to OHKO Ampharos4. Even if you don't get the OHKO, it would have at most 8% HP left and easy to clean up with Koko. You just completely missplayed the situation.

Thanks for the tips, you two are totally right. I blanked and forgot that Koko's also on the team to help cover Garchomp's weaknesses. Already back up at a 50 streak, so hopefully I can break my PB soon.

 

[Xanderpitz]

I was surprised I did as well as I did in super singles with this team considering I lacked special attackers. Hadn't had much time to breed so I was just working with what I had, but I surprisingly hit 68 streak:

Tapu Koko @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Wild Charge
- Mirror Move
- Brave Bird

I thought up this set on the fly and it actually worked wonders. Wild Charge is obvious enough. Z Mirror Move wrecks nearly every ground type (except gliscor and flygon), and seriously damages other neutral attackers. You protect T1 to scout their move, then Z Mirror move for +2 attack and uses Z Move of whatever type attack the opponent used. If there's no real opportunity to use mirror move, Z Brave Bird OHKOs almost every grass type (except the bulkiest Gourgeist sets) with the added benefit of no recoil. Otherwise, if Wild Charge can hit neutrally, it's more powerful than Z Brave Bird in Electric Terrain.

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Claw
- Flamethrower
- Protect

This is a pretty standard Mega Salamence set. You can't get Outrage without a transfer, but being locked into 1 move is generally dangerous anyway. Flamethrower hits steel types hard and is practically the only defense against avalugg on this entire team. Protect is to mega evolve safely against base 101-109 speed tiers.

Mimikyu @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Protect
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Destiny Bond

Pretty standard set. This is definitely the pokemon I'd want to replace on this team, but my other options were Garchomp, Tsareena, Pheromosa (all physical attackers), and Ninetales (Who doesn't contribute much of anything to the team's synergy). As for the set, not much to say about it. Any bulky opponent with high defense that Salamence or Tapu Koko can't hit generally falls to a destiny bond (especially Avalugg).

This team has a soft spot for Fairy and Ice types, especially Avalugg as I noted. However, I ended up losing to an Iron Defense Crabominable. Tapu Koko had recoiled himself to death, and Mimikyu ended up paralyzed for 2 turns while the Crabominable set up. Couldn't destiny bond him and Salamence couldn't OHKO with Double Edge. Was kind of a shitty way to go, but I got enough BP and knowledge to make a better team.

I DEFINITELY want to keep that Tapu Koko set, and was considering adding Gastrodon since it covers literally everything that Tapu Koko can't with Ice Beam, Scald, and Earth Power. Any ideas?

 

[SonOfTheShire]

Tapu Koko @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Wild Charge
- Mirror Move
- Brave Bird

I thought up this set on the fly and it actually worked wonders. Wild Charge is obvious enough. Z Mirror Move wrecks nearly every ground type (except gliscor and flygon), and seriously damages other neutral attackers. You protect T1 to scout their move, then Z Mirror move for +2 attack and uses Z Move of whatever type attack the opponent used. If there's no real opportunity to use mirror move, Z Brave Bird OHKOs almost every grass type (except the bulkiest Gourgeist sets) with the added benefit of no recoil. Otherwise, if Wild Charge can hit neutrally, it's more powerful than Z Brave Bird in Electric Terrain.

I never thought to use Protect with Z-Mirror Move, but now I'm definitely going to try it. I just had U-Turn, but you don't really want to be U-Turning once you've set up.

 

[FreeSomething]

I thought up this set on the fly and it actually worked wonders. Wild Charge is obvious enough. Z Mirror Move wrecks nearly every ground type (except gliscor and flygon), and seriously damages other neutral attackers. You protect T1 to scout their move, then Z Mirror move for +2 attack and uses Z Move of whatever type attack the opponent used. If there's no real opportunity to use mirror move, Z Brave Bird OHKOs almost every grass type (except the bulkiest Gourgeist sets) with the added benefit of no recoil. Otherwise, if Wild Charge can hit neutrally, it's more powerful than Z Brave Bird in Electric Terrain.

Salamence @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Claw
- Flamethrower
- Protect

You don't need Protect besides scouting... you said you wanted it on Mence to safely outspeed certain faster speed tiers but gen 7 is different in that Megas now get their speed upon the turn they Mega Evolve (Gen 6 required a turn, hence Protect). As far as a replacement for Mimikyu goes, I think Celesteela or Aegislash are reasonable Steel types that cover Ice and Fairy issues.

 

[Kel9800]

So I unlocked the battle tree super multis and lost at battle 30. My partner was Wally with his mega garchomp and (weirdly enough) his mega gallade in the back. Since his mega gallade has arguable has the better moveset of his two gallades, I decided to roll with it. The pokemon i brought were:

Vikavolt @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Bug Buzz
- Flash Cannon
- Energy Ball

Minior @ White Herb
Ability: Shields Down
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Shell Smash

The idea was to be completely immune to garchomp's earthquakes. Vikavolt handled anything that garchomp couldn't take out. Then, if necessary, minior came in and cleaned up anything that was left. Any suggestions for set changes, or just replacing pokemon altogether? Thanks in advance.

 

[Torqan]

I use

So I unlocked the battle tree super multis and lost at battle 30. My partner was Wally with his mega garchomp and (weirdly enough) his mega gallade in the back. Since his mega gallade has arguable has the better moveset of his two gallades, I decided to roll with it. The pokemon i brought were:

Vikavolt @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Bug Buzz
- Flash Cannon
- Energy Ball

Minior @ White Herb
Ability: Shields Down
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Sp. Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Shell Smash

The idea was to be completely immune to garchomp's earthquakes. Vikavolt handled anything that garchomp couldn't take out. Then, if necessary, minior came in and cleaned up anything that was left. Any suggestions for set changes, or just replacing pokemon altogether? Thanks in advance.

I use Vikavolt modest with assault vest. Hits like a truck

I have scarf chomp/ mega Gallade Wally as a partner. I use Mega Gyarados as a partner. Keep Ye flying type on the rare occasion Vikavolt goes down before Garchomp, set up a Sub and Dragon Dance to boost while Garchompite fires out EQs

 

[Kel9800]

I use


I use Vikavolt modest with assault vest. Hits like a truck

I have scarf chomp/ mega Gallade Wally as a partner. I use Mega Gyarados as a partner. Keep Ye flying type on the rare occasion Vikavolt goes down before Garchomp, set up a Sub and Dragon Dance to boost while Garchompite fires out EQs

So something like max HP max Sp. Atk with the same moves?

 

[Siggu]

Tapu Koko @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Protect
- Wild Charge
- Mirror Move
- Brave Bird

I thought up this set on the fly and it actually worked wonders. Wild Charge is obvious enough. Z Mirror Move wrecks nearly every ground type (except gliscor and flygon), and seriously damages other neutral attackers. You protect T1 to scout their move, then Z Mirror move for +2 attack and uses Z Move of whatever type attack the opponent used. If there's no real opportunity to use mirror move, Z Brave Bird OHKOs almost every grass type (except the bulkiest Gourgeist sets) with the added benefit of no recoil. Otherwise, if Wild Charge can hit neutrally, it's more powerful than Z Brave Bird in Electric Terrain.

It's a shame Tapu Koko's physical movepool sucks, really. That you have to use it as lead because you have to fill the fourth slot with something that can work - in this case, Protect. Although there's also the chance of running U-Turn (hits harder than Volt Switch despite Electric Terrain and STAB) and revenge Z-Mirror Move.

I had also been running a Z-Mirror Move set in Staraptor, alongside standard Alolan Marowak and Toxapex, and was going pretty fine until Dexio haxed me out at Battle 30.

 

[Xanderpitz]

It's a shame Tapu Koko's physical movepool sucks, really. That you have to use it as lead because you have to fill the fourth slot with something that can work - in this case, Protect. Although there's also the chance of running U-Turn (hits harder than Volt Switch despite Electric Terrain and STAB) and revenge Z-Mirror Move.

I had also been running a Z-Mirror Move set in Staraptor, alongside standard Alolan Marowak and Toxapex, and was going pretty fine until Dexio haxed me out at Battle 30.

Looking to try an AV Gastrodon with Ice Beam, Scald, Sludge Bomb, and Counter. It has perfect synergy with Tapu Koko, but I'd need a good Trick Room setter. It looks good on paper though.

 

[Torqan]

So something like max HP max Sp. Atk with the same moves?

I run it modest, max Speed/special attack. Assault vest allows it to even eat up some fire moves. It's slow but hard hitting. I run speed on it because I want to move faster but not at the cost of giving up the firepower I get with modest.

 

[mctiguy]

Hello everybody :)
I'm new on this forum, and i just start the strat with the Battle Tree :) For the moment,i only play Double with this team :

>Lead<
Tapu Koko @ ?
Ability : Electric Surge
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Quirky Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Discharge
-Dazzling Gleam
-Grass Knot

>Lead<
Alolan Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability : Lightning rod
EVs : 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Bonemerang
-Shadow Bone
-Flare Blitz
-Protect

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability : Sand Veil
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Dragon Claw
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Protect

>Random<
Aerodactyl @ Quick Claw
Ability : Rock Head
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Stone Edge
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Aerial Ace

With this team, i can't do the 20 first win of the Double, and i haven't many point for build item.

EDIT : I finaly did it you this team :)

I don't know at all how to improve my team, so i'll be happy if we can help me :)

Thank you in advance,
Mctiguy

 

[nasc]

Hello everybody :)
I'm new on this forum, and i just start the strat with the Battle Tree :) For the moment,i only play Double with this team :

>Lead<
Tapu Koko @ ?
Ability : Electric Surge
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Quirky Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Discharge
-Dazzling Gleam
-Grass Knot

>Lead<
Alolan Marowak @ Thick Club
Ability : Lightning rod
EVs : 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Bonemerang
-Shadow Bone
-Flare Blitz
-Protect

Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability : Sand Veil
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Dragon Claw
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Protect

>Random<
Aerodactyl @ Quick Claw
Ability : Rock Head
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
-Stone Edge
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Aerial Ace

With this team, i can't do the 20 first win of the Double, and i haven't many point for build item.

I don't know at all how to improve my team, so i'll be happy if we can help me :)

Thank you in advance,
Mctiguy

Hi,
Most of your team is based on physical Rock/Ground moves and as a result they don't have the best synergy. You can't go wrong with Garchomp+Koko as a lead, so I'd use them. Focus Sash / Life Orb for Koko and I'd probably suggest Groundium Z or Lum Berry on Garchomp. I'd also replace Marowak because it's so slow and doesn't add much to the team... Don't know if you want/can run UBs but you could consider Celesteela because it has excellent synergy with your Koko+Chomp. Regarding Aerodactyl, since it's so frail and isn't being used as a lead you could replace it for something like Goodra/Gastrodon.

 

[ReptoAbysmal]

Tapu Fini should have stayed in vs Thundurus for the Weakness Policy boost and hit back with +2 Ice Beams. In my panic I used Devastating Drake even though Misty Terrain was on. Luckily I got the OHKO. And then that lucky freeze vs Mega Latias.

I don't know the damage calc, but I do know that Misty Terrain only protects grounded foes from Dragon or status moves. Devastating Drake would have hit that entire team with no penalty.

For that matter, the user may be grounded, but as long as the target is aloft, they are unprotected.

 

[Level 51]

I've had enough Battle Tree for tonight, so I figured I'd just browse through the last 3 pages of thread and reply to anything that caught my interest lol. Hopefully I can help a few people with what limited experience I have of the Battle Tree so far :P

Please report any misclassified Trainer classes. On the Tree Trainers sheet, I put question marks (?) next to Trainers I haven't actually met. I only made educated guesses based on their relative position on the list, and if that fails, I deduce it from their quotes.

Dan and Omar are indeed Workers if my memory doesn't fail me; Larry and Tony are Cooks, however. Thanks for this tool, by the way! :D

Anyone else experiencing long load times in doubles? I am playing on an older 3DS XL.

I often get long load times, especially if I select my moves quickly - I assume this could be a result of the "improved" AI algorithm taking a longer time to select its moves. Or maybe Doubles just confuses the AIs that much. I've noticed that once the opponent is down to one Pokemon, or if I take an exceptionally long time to select my moves, this issue doesn't occur. My 3DS (XL) is back from when X and Y came out, I think that's 2014. Wasn't all that much of an issue in the games I've played so far, though it can be annoying sometimes if you're in a hurry (which you shouldn't be if you're playing Battle Tree, I guess?), and the game hasn't actually crashed yet, so that's something.

Tapu Koko / Celesteela / Garchomp

Hi! I don't have a lot of experience with Singles, but I just thought I'd point out that your Celesteela spread (EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 176 SpD / 36 Spe) is inefficient; you can achieve the same Special Defense stat with 172 EVs, so you can take 4 out and put it into Attack to get that extra bit of damage on Heavy Slam. Who knows when it'll come in handy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tapu Koko / Alolan Marowak / Garchomp / Aerodactyl

Hi, welcome to Smogon! Your team has a few flaws that are likely going to prevent it from doing very well in the Battle Tree, so I'll do my best to list them down here:

• Defensive structure. In the Doubles Tree, you have just four Pokemon, so it's in your best interest to build your team so that each Pokemon's weaknesses can be backed up or overcome by an ally. For example, as it is you have two leads weak to Ground-type moves, and your only Ground-type immunity is the rather frail Aerodactyl, which can be KOd easily by other moves from your opponent. This means that as you progress through your streak, Pokemon such as Garchomp-3 (Choice Scarf Earthquake) and Landorus-2 (Choice Scarf Earth Power) are likely to give you lots of trouble.
  • One way to cover these threats is offensively; in other words, you can attempt to KO the threats before they can deal significant damage. Since the Doubles Tree is fairly fast-paced, this is usually the best way to cover such threats.
  • However, your team also lacks the offensive means to deal damage across a wide range of types, which leads me to my next point:
• Offensive structure. I'll go through each of your Pokemon one-by-one, to discuss what might be wrong with them and what changes you could make.
  • Tapu Koko: Quirky is not an ideal nature, as I'm sure you know. If you could get a Timid Tapu Koko, for example, you could use Life Orb or Choice Specs on it to boost its damage output while still outpacing a large proportion of the Battle Tree. Apart from this, Tapu Koko is usually alright in the Doubles Tree; Discharge spam is fairly good as far as short streaks go.
    
  • Garchomp: Garchomp is a good choice as far as Earthquake users go; once Pokebank is released you could try Landorus-Therian for Earthquake instead, or Landorus-Incarnate for single-target Sheer Force Earth Power.
    
  • Alolan Marowak: I enjoy the combination of Alolan Marowak and Tapu Koko, and it's admittedly a very solid backbone which can be built around in Doubles formats like VGC 2017. However, using both Alolan Marowak and Garchomp on the same team feels rather redundant; the main thing Alolan Marowak (besides high damage output) has going for it over other Fire-types is Lightning Rod (Garchomp is immune to Electric attacks anyway) and Bonemerang (Garchomp has Earthquake / Landorus has Earth Power). Once Pokebank comes out, I'd suggest going for Mega Charizard-Y; until then, you could stick with Alolan Marowak and see how it turns out.
  • Aerodactyl: I don't really like Aerodactyl in the Battle Tree. Although it moves fast, it does very little amounts of damage at a go, and Rock-type STAB is rather redundant with Tapu Koko (to hit Flying-types), Garchomp (to hit Fire-types) and Marowak (to hit Ice- and Bug-types). Furthermore, Rock-type moves tend to be inaccurate, which is likely to mess with you in the long run. If you're looking for a speedy Flying-type to use Earthquake next to, try Mega Salamence; alternatively, if you're more interested in Wide Guard, try Aegislash or Celesteela.

In short:

Before Pokebank:

• Aerodactyl -> Mega Salamence (fast Flying-type offense) or Aegislash / Celesteela (consistent Wide Guard user)
• Garchomp: Sand Veil -> Rough Skin
• Tapu Koko: Quirky -> Timid (@ Life Orb or @ Choice Specs)

After Pokebank:

• Tapu Koko: Quirky -> Timid (@ Life Orb or @ Choice Specs)
  
• Garchomp -> Landorus-Therian or Landorus-Incarnate
• Alolan Marowak -> Mega Charizard Y
• Aerodactyl -> Aegislash / Celesteela

 

[mctiguy]

Hi,
Thanks both for your answer :) You help me a lot :)

I think i'll try something like that, but i think it's not very good again :

>Lead<
Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability : Electric Surge
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 252 Spe
Quirky Nature
-Thunderbolt
-Discharge
-Dazzling Gleam
-Grass Knot

>Lead<
Garchomp @ Groundium Z
Ability : Sand Veil
EVs : 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Dragon Claw
-Rock Slide
-Earthquake
-Protect

Goodra @ Assault Vest
Ability : Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp. Atk / 4 Def
Modest Nature
-Dragon Pulse
-Flamethrower
-Thunderbolt
-Sludge Bomb

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability : Beast Boost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp. Def / 4 Def
Sassy Nature
-Leech Seed
-Heavy Slam
-Protect
-Substitute

I want just to EV train Celesteela and Goodra, and i'll try that :)

Thanks again for the help,
Mctiguy