Featured RMT: I'm Good (LC Baton Pass)

By tko. Art by Tikitik. Team by Tahu.

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If you've been playing LC for a while, chances are you've battled this team, or at least heard it talked about. Full Baton Pass first popped up relatively early with teams made by people such as ZoroarkForever and Splashyship. While they won easily, they never gained much traction. This team came up much later and is actually a highly edited and optimized version of a team created by Infamy (rip). Its proliferation (mostly due to it being spammed by me and others) even led to Baton Pass being suspected but ultimately left alone. It has proven capable of holding its own and winning against many of LC's top players, so I decided with encouragement from others in the LC community to formally bring it out into the open.

At A Glance

Torchic @ Berry Juice
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Protect
- Baton Pass

Torchic is the lead for the team about 99% of the time. Its sole purpose is to pass Speed boosts to the rest of the team, and its moveset is tailored to that end. Will-O-Wisp is incredibly useful for neutering physical attackers (Torchic lives almost any physical attack if the attacker is burned) and breaking sashes/Sturdy. Substitute and Protect allow it to stall for more boosts and potentially get the next mon in the chain in unscathed. The EVs give it decent 21/14/12 bulk and 14 Speed, the benchmark number to outspeed the unboosted meta at +1.

Mime Jr. @ Berry Juice
Ability: Soundproof
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 26 SpD / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Barrier
- Calm Mind
- Encore
- Baton Pass

Mime Jr. is the team's primary booster, capable of quickly boosting the chain's Defense, Special Attack, and Special Defense. It excels at this job due to its naturally high special bulk and x4 Fighting resistance. The most important asset it has, however, is Encore. Encore gives it free turns galore to set up more boosts in addition to blocking setup sweepers who want to setup alongside the chain. Its EV spread lets it live a +4 burned Fletchling Acrobatics (Yes that sounds weirdly specific but it's a common scenario).

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Def / 116 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Baton Pass

Mienfoo is a secondary Calm Mind booster and provides a lot of utility to the team. Knock Off is extremely useful for crippling Magnemite and other Sturdy mons and makes Mienfoo the team's only answer to Gastly early-game. Taunt is also very useful for blocking status moves and other Taunts. The EVs give it 22/14/14 bulk and 14 speed.

Munna @ Eviolite
Ability: Synchronize
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 236 Def / 60 SpA / 76 SpD / 84 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Barrier / Lucky Chant
- Stored Power
- Baton Pass

Munna is the team's primary sweeper. Once enough boosts are accumulated, Stored Power can OHKO the vast majority of the tier easily. Moonlight gives recovery and lets Munna deal more easily with stuff like Leech Seed and Toxic. Lucky Chant is an insurance policy, blocking untimely crits (which I have lost to on many occasions), while Barrier provides useful redundancy. The EVs give it 24/14/14 bulk and even numbers in Special Attack and Speed.

Togepi @ Berry Juice
Ability: Serene Grace
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 160 Def / 120 SpA / 80 SpD / 120 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Hidden Power Fighting
- Dazzling Gleam
- Stored Power
- Baton Pass

Togepi is the team's second sweeper as well as its method of dealing with Dark-types. Hidden Power Fighting OHKOes Pawniard at +2, while all other Dark-types are dealt with by Dazzling Gleam. Stored Power, while noticeably weaker than Munna's, can still run through teams with enough boosts. The EVs give it 20/15/15 bulk and even numbers in Special Attack and Speed.

Gothita @ Choice Specs
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power Poison
- Trick / Thunderbolt

Gothita, while it rarely comes into play, serves a very important function: trapping and KOing Pokemon that threaten the rest of the team. I chose Choice Specs over the standard Choice Scarf since it's easy to quickpass +1 Speed to Goth with Torchic, and Specs nets certain KOes that Scarf doesn't. Psychic OHKOes Mienfoo, the most common Taunt user, as well as various Poison-types that threaten the team. Energy Ball smacks Drilbur and bulky Waters. HP Poison OHKOes Cottonee, one of the biggest threats to Baton pass. Trick is useful as a sort of pseudo-Encore to give you a free turn, while Thunderbolt does a lot to Vullaby and Fletchling.

Conclusion

This team is fun to play with and infuriating to play against. I still think it's broken and should have been banned but w/e I can still get free wins.

Some of these use earlier versions of the team but they work in the same way.

Torchic @ Berry Juice
Ability: Speed Boost
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Substitute
- Protect
- Baton Pass

Mime Jr. @ Berry Juice
Ability: Soundproof
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 36 SpD / 36 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Barrier
- Calm Mind
- Encore
- Baton Pass

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Def / 116 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Calm Mind
- Taunt
- Baton Pass

Munna @ Eviolite
Ability: Synchronize
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 236 Def / 60 SpA / 76 SpD / 84 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonlight
- Lucky Chant
- Stored Power
- Baton Pass

Togepi @ Berry Juice
Ability: Serene Grace
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 160 Def / 120 SpA / 80 SpD / 120 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Hidden Power Fighting
- Dazzling Gleam
- Stored Power
- Baton Pass

Gothita @ Choice Specs
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power Poison
- Trick

Introduction

Hey guys, today I'm here to showcase a team that had popularized Baton Pass in LC. The reason this team is up for spotlight, despite being rather old, is that its presence had made players question how good Baton Pass is in LC, and as a result, it brought upon a suspect test. This team is arguably the most stable version of a full Baton Pass chain team the metagame has seen, with the Pokémon each serving a role that helps each other so that the end receiver can win late-game. Despite the team changing throughout the age of ORAS, it is still viable today.

Baton Pass was brought up for a suspect test by the community while LC still had the system where the people nominated suspects. However, people deemed that there are solid ways to beat Baton Pass on almost every team, so the final vote ended up being to neither ban nor nerf Baton Pass. Baton Pass chains are prone to being overpowered by sheer offensive presence, as well as the fact that moves like Taunt, Whirlwind, and Encore are typically on a good team, so Baton Pass can easily be shut down by one who knows what he is doing. The lack of any Magic Bounce user able to run Baton Pass also weakens the viability of Baton Pass teams, because having no way to handle status moves can leave Baton Pass with no way of winning. However, Baton Pass is still a fun strategy to use, and Tahu's team is arguably the best representation of this style. So, without further ado...

The Team

Torchic

Torchic is essential to the success of this team, since it passes Speed to the rest of the members in order for them to set up safely. Without the Speed boosts, Baton Pass chains would not succeed, because the Pokémon could easily get KOed before getting to pass other stats. This spread is able to survive almost any physical attack and burn the foe for an easy setup while outspeeding the whole unboosted metagame at +1. While Fletchling may be a big nuisance for Torchic to set up on if the opponent leads off with it, Will-O-Wisp prevents it from being able to do a number to the team, as a burned Fletchling will have to boost up heavily to do damage, allowing Torchic to pass into Mime Jr. Speed Boost is the reason why Torchic is so irreplaceable on any Baton Pass team and claims the first slot on this team. Torchic is the go-to lead of the team, and it should alternate between Substitute and Protect in order to get its Speed stat up to a considerable amount. After doing so, it should pass into either Mime Jr. or Mienfoo, depending on what the opponent has.

Mime Jr.

Mime Jr. is the team member that will be passing most of the boosts around to the rest of the members. It has both Barrier and Calm Mind, which means that it can raise both defensive stats. However, the reason Mime Jr. is so important to the success of this team is because of Encore, which can allow it to set up on Pokémon trying to boost alongside it to break the chain or on Pokémon using a setup move. This makes it almost essential for Baton Pass teams, since it can give more opportunities for teammates to boost up stats before passing. Mime Jr.'s ability and its Fairy typing prevent it from being phazed by Roar and Dragon Tail, as an added bonus. The spread given in the RMT allows Mime Jr. to handle a +4 burned Fletchling's Acrobatics. This is very important because Mime Jr. will often be passed into from Torchic after it has burned Fletchling. Being able to tank hits from the opposing boosting Fletchling means you can set up Barrier so that it no longer becomes a threat, and Mime Jr. can pass the Defense boosts to Munna. Mime Jr. should get as many boosts as it can with Barrier and Calm Mind while utilizing Encore if your opponent is using a setup move or a weak move. Once Mime Jr. reaches low HP, it should pass out to avoid losing the chain, since it has no recovery.

Mienfoo

Mienfoo is definitely one of best Pokémon in the LC metagame. However, the sets it is most known for are not used on this team. Tahu has chosen a Calm Mind defensive set to serve in the chain. As a secondary Calm Mind passer, it is able to sponge hits after Mime Jr. is no longer able to. Since Mienfoo has Regenerator, it can often pivot in to sponge hits in a pinch and then potentially pass some extra boosts out. Knock Off provides useful utility to remove items like Eviolite. Taunt allows Mienfoo to stop Whirlwind from the likes of Pokémon such as Hippopotas so that the chain can continue. Taunt also helps Mienfoo stop entry hazards, namely Toxic Spikes, since these shorten the lifespan of the Baton Pass receivers, which can result in a loss. Mienfoo can be the receiver from Mime Jr. and continue to boost its special stats if that task was not completed by Mime Jr. Once Mienfoo gets as many boosts as possible, it's time to pick either Munna or Togepi as the recipient. Passing into Munna can allow a safer setup with Lucky Chant, while Togepi can jump straight down to dismantling the opponent's team. An important thing to note is that Mienfoo is the only way to reliably beat Gastly in the chain, since Gastly can easily handle Mime Jr. with Sludge Bomb as it switches in after Torchic.

Munna

Munna is a potential final receiver of the Baton Pass sweepers. It possesses great bulk that gets further complemented by the defense boosts from Mime Jr. and Mienfoo, which makes it easier for it to get its final setup before it goes to town. STAB Stored Power will handle most of the tier, just excluding the Dark-type Pokémon. Since Munna gets Moonlight, it can keep itself healthy from chip damage that the foe may try to inflict. One of the better parts about Munna is that, with Lucky Chant, it is able to protect the rest of the team from critical hits, which can otherwise cut a Baton Pass chain short. Munna can also be used as another booster, however, and end up passing to Togepi, which has coverage for all types in addition to Stored Power.

Togepi

Togepi is the other receiver of the final Baton Pass chain. The main reason Togepi deserves its spot here is because it is able to cover Dark-type Pokémon with Dazzling Gleam and Pawniard with Hidden Power Fighting. It also can still take advantage of the boosts through Stored Power. Unlike the rest of the Pokémon in the Baton Pass chain, Togepi does not offer any more support to the team and should only be sent out once the chain is fully prepared. However, in a pinch, Togepi can still Baton Pass out into an appropriate team member.

Gothita

Gothita is the oddball of this team. It really just finds itself coming in on predicted counterleads, such as Fletchling, Cottonee, and offensive Water-type Pokémon, and eliminating them with one of its coverage moves. Despite not being a part of the chain directly, it largely benefits the chain because these counterleads often pose a nuisance to Baton Pass chains, so having them out of the way immediately means that it becomes so much easier to get a sweep going on. Choice Scarf Water-type Pokémon, such as Chinchou, can prevent Torchic from setting up and ruin the chain. Gothita can also eliminate Hippopotas, the most common Whirlwind user, with a powerful Energy Ball, and Cottonee with Hidden Power Poison. Gothita can even trap Mienfoo, with a quick boost in Speed from Torchic to trap Taunt variants, and eliminate it with Psychic. This is what makes Gothita very important to the team. The aforementioned Pokémon have the ability to stop Baton Pass cold in its tracks, so by trapping them, the chain has a shot at winning again. Gothita does what it does best in the metagame for this team, too; trapping specific threats so that the team can carry on smoothly. In a pinch, Gothita can also be passed to if the coverage it boasts is needed in order to win.

Threats

No team is perfect, and this Baton Pass team shares its fair number of checks. Gastly's raw power alone enables it to stop Baton Pass, because nothing on the team can really survive one of its hits, so Mienfoo is the only thing that can handle it early on. With access to priority Encore, Cottonee is easily one of the better stops to a chain in the early stages, provided Gothita hasn't trapped it already. Choice Scarf leads that deal super effective damage to Torchic are a huge problem. Chinchou is the most common example, and it can OHKO Torchic with Hydro Pump even after a Speed Boost. Early on in the chain, Leech Seed can become problematic, since it keeps passing throughout the chain, and along with other status moves/conditions, it can leave the lifespan of the chain brisk. Powerful antileads that manage to get past Gothita can make it hard to set up the initial chain. Whirlwind, from Pokémon like Hippopotas, can ruin a Baton Pass chain, as there is nothing to counter it, because Natu is the only Magic Bounce user, and it cannot get Baton Pass in LC. Lead Fletchling with priority Acrobatics, along with Swords Dance, can pose a huge problem, especially if Torchic ends up missing Will-O-Wisp, which allows Fletchling to KO it the next turn.

Tahu's Thoughts

I sat down with Tahu and asked a few questions to get his thoughts on Baton Pass and his team. Here it is!

What do you think of Baton Pass overall?

In general, it isn't as good as it used to be, since people started preparing for it and because it is matchup based as well. Baton Pass in LC isn't at all like in XY OU, where you can play mindlessly and your opponent can't do a thing about it; to use it effectively requires good prediction, more so even than with "standard" teams.

How well do you think your team has been throughout ORAS?

Contrary to what some say, this team is still extremely effective in the hands of a skilled player. The post-Drifloon metagame is friendlier to the team than the previous meta. Diglett's influence on the metagame makes Poison-types, all of which are huge threats to the team, much less common, and the most common offensive Water-type is Shellder. Bulky offense and balance, playstyles the team does well against, are more common than hyper offense, which the team can struggle against.

What has changed about the team since the release?

I made a couple of minor changes to the team since publishing the RMT. I run Dazzling Gleam over Lucky Chant on Munna so I'm not forced to switch every time a Dark-type comes out. I also run Life Orb over Choice Specs on Gothita so that it's not setup bait for stuff like SD Pawniard.

Final Words

From trolling around on the ladder to making friends rage at you, Baton Pass is definitely one of the more fun ways to play in this tier. This RMT shows us one of the more controversial styles in action, and hopefully after seeing the team, you feel evil enough to use this team somewhere!

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