Very good read, specifically the parts regarding Tapu Bulu and its issues as I haven't gotten around to trying it myself. Mine is Brave and I'd been meaning to take an Iron Ball variant for a spin, so hopefully I won't have as many problems with its movepool as you did. I see that Superpower is not likely to do me a world of good. I'll consider replacing it with Horn Leech.Posting a streak of 248 in Super Doubles. It took more revisions and silly experiments than usual to develop the team, so we'll start with these - skip ahead for the actual team used for the streak.
QR team: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/BT-4E60-9E3E
Battle video compilation: HERE
My first encounter with Bulu was in AI Multis, pairing up Scarf Bulu with the AI partner's Entei3 (Choice Scarf) and Mawile4. It performed unexpectedly well on a very lucky Multis streak, and eventually I wanted to use Bulu in Super Doubles as well. I'd also been itching for Firium-Z Heatran, and trying something different so at some point I threw together a basic team to try out Bulu with.
(same Scarf Bulu set as in AI Multis at this time, might've had Rock Slide over Rock Tomb)
On paper it seemed like a decent idea with good synergy: Heatran resists or is immune to all of Bulu's weaknesses. Grassy Terrain halves the damage from Earthquake, granting Heatran a permanent Shuca Berry. Greninja can use Mat Block so Bulu doesn't get hit, while Scarf Bulu hits Jolteon before it would attack Greninja; can't forget Grassy Terrain Grass Knot pumping up Sash Greninja to unexpected power levels when appropriate, and Grassy Terrain keeping Greninja's Sash intact in Sandstorm/Hail. Then for the Mega slot, I'd already ran Salamence on teams with Greninja, and it fit into a Water/Steel/Dragon core; what could possibly go wrong?
Quite a lot, as I was about to find out. Heatran was much better in theory than in practice - mine was Timid 252 Spe, and it was still very slow and unable to use its Z-move effectively. It also shared a weakness to Thunder Wave which I hadn't considered - indeed, Tapu Bulu hates paralysis and is often rendered deadweight by the status, as it depends heavily on having a Speed advantage from Scarf to function. Heatran also did poorly against paralysis, and its non-STAB Earth Power failed to cover opposing electrics that 1) paralyzed it, 2) outsped it, 3) 2HKOd it with STAB Electric attacks and 4) were not OHKO'd by Earth Power in the first place. Time for Salamence to assist with Earthquake - wait, why isn't it dealing any damage even on super-effective hits? The halved damage on EQ ended up making the match-up against opposing Electric-types that much worse, to the point its utility in helping out Heatran was overshadowed by the drawback of being unable to KO Electric-types.
This team did not go far. I stopped using it with 3 losses before reaching Battle 50, as the weaknesses and idiosyncratic synergy made apparent that this idea was a disaster.
----
Back to the drawing board some time later. I'd used Greninja with different, more succesful leads in the meantime (see below) and abandoned the idea of running Greninja/Bulu, and the prescription called for a different approach to the lead combination, bringing me to another thing I wanted to try: Rockium-Z Terrakion. Previously, it required Wide Lens to function - but with Rockium-Z, it could deliver a very powerful, accurate Rock STAB while carrying an useful item. Put it next to Bulu - Bulu will halve damage from EQ and remove Fire-types that threaten Terrakion, while Terrakion can punish Fire- and Steel-types that would scare Bulu off the field. The best defense is a good offense - simple and effective. What could possibly go wrong with this idea?
Latios and Mega Scizor were stock glue that worked well with Terrakion in the past, and seemed adequate in overall synergy. This team was very short-lived - I ran into Infernape in the first 20 battles, and realized that it ties Terrakion, can't be KO'd by Bulu, and can OHKO both of my leads lol what was I even thinking theorymoning this? Realizing Fire/Fighting leads were outrageously threatening to the team and difficult to handle for all its Pokémon aside from Latios, I threw it in the trash immediately and went back to the drawing board. RIP Terrakion, may you find your Rockium-Z niche in a different team... (no promises)
----
Terrakion failed - it failed hard, since Fire/Fighting types exist, and it could never hope to check these. This flaw called for a different lead that genuinely matches up favorably against most Fire-types, including Infernape, Mega Blaziken, Chandelure, Charizard, Heatran, Talonflame, had speed and power to form a 1-2 punch with Bulu's Wood Hammer to grab quick KOs before opponents get to move. There was one Pokémon that checked all the boxes - a familiar face that was a shadow of its former bravery, reduced to irrelevance by Game Freak's nerf bat.
Flyinium-Z Talonflame as a lead - more damage than Choice Band Brave Bird, with no recoil. At the low price of only having priority when Talonflame has full HP - to note is that if Talonflame takes no damage on Turn 1, it can use priority Brave Bird once after first expending Supersonic Skystrike. A perfect fit for Scarf Bulu's hit-and-run playstyle - hit them before they move, and get off a priority Brave Bird after snagging a fast KO on the most prominent threat first.
What I was thinking with the back-ups I can't say, but Mega Metagross and Feraligatr were Pokémon I'd bred and briefly tried in the Maison but never got to use, and they were just begging for a test run supported by situational Tailwind from Talonflame. The back-ups quickly proved inadequate - I guess there's a reason Mega Metagross and Feraligatr didn't make many appareances on the Maison leaderboards...
Further theorymon brought on a different backline that had Lightning Rod support to cover Talonflame and neutralize T-Wave paralysis, Fake Out support, and Mega Blastoise to have the option of sweeping with Tailwind. Gimmicky - but possibly effective.
This version of the team actually wasn't terrible. It made it to around 150 wins or so, and I made several adjustments to it on Raichu's set, debating between Encore/Helping Hand/Protect with Thunderbolt/Fake Out as mandatory moves. Briefly, I also experimented with 252 Spe Talonflame, rather than 252 HP; eventually moving back to 252 HP, deciding Speed after Gale Wings had been expended was less important than overall bulk and staying power.
It still wasn't enough. After a couple of attempts, the team proved too shaky against a variety of opponents, and especially Trick Room/Tailwind from opponents were very difficult to handle as Mega Blastoise Water Spout lives by moving first, and becomes low-value when circumstances fall apart. Something else was going to have to make Bulu great again - the lead combination was surprisingly effective, for including a Talonflame that had been nerfed into oblivion. Raichu's Lightning Rod was also a step in the right direction towards covering Bulu's fatal weakness to Electric-types, Magnezone, and paralysis in general. I remember trying to run Raichu as a lead at some point, to little success - Talonflame was the right lead for this particular line-up.
----
I liked Raichu's Lightning Rod support, but its power without boosts was underwhelming and it was a little slow for its utility role. What about a different Lightning Rod user with more Speed and the ability to go Mega?
(This version of the team is also included in the QR team, with Manectric and Moltres as 5th and 6th members to choose from.)
You can probably see where this is going. Moltres was a Firium-Z Burn Up set I really wanted to give a try, and Gastrodon was the choice to help it out. Mega Manectric was surprisingly fun to use, but I lost to having it CH'd by Sceptile4-Mega on turn 1 and then getting run over by Rock Slide and Leaf Blade and the idea wasn't too sound. Moltres might've had a niche with Burn Up on paper setting up a strong Inferno Overdrive, but being able to only use it once was a significant issue and its other moves were weak outside that. It was also Moltres, limited by its low Speed.
This team was more of a fun try to get Manectric and Moltres on the field, and it did utilize them to some extent.
----
I'd tried Mat Block with Bulu before, but Rage Powder/Follow Me seemed like they could possibly cover its innumerable weaknesses and bad MUs. As a pretty strong Fire-type, Sash Volcarona could also remove Steel- and Grass-types, and double as decent offense when not using Rage Powder. For the back-line, I brought a glue lineup of Waterium-Z Wash Rotom and Mega Salamence for Rotom's defensive typing, and settled on Mence as the Mega after first trying Kangaskhan and finding it ill-fitting.
Rotom-W seemed too passive and slow for a Z-move user, so I brought in a Wide Guard/Fake Out/Close Combat/Sucker Punch Hitmontop holding Fightinium-Z. The team still didn't work - Volcarona/Bulu was a weaker lead than I had hoped, especially against opposing Fire-types and Rage Powder wasn't a silver bullet to keep Bulu safe, either. It was after this that the winning combination finally came to me.
U-Ship (Talonflame) @ Flyinium-Z
Level: 50
Ability: Gale Wings
Adamant Nature
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SpD
- Brave Bird
- Flare Blitz
- Tailwind
- Protect
The same Talonflame I used in the Maison, except with Flyinium-Z. On this team, Tailwind is a highly situational move for dealing with Speed boosters or very fast opponents such as Sceptile4-Mega, or as insurance for securing the Speed advantage when Talonflame doesn't need to attack immediately and/or has lost Gale Wings and would benefit from the Speed.
PrepTheBulu (Tapu Bulu) @ Choice Scarf
Level: 50
Ability: Grassy Surge
Jolly Nature
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 244 Spe
- Wood Hammer
- Rock Tomb
- Rock Slide
- Horn Leech
Jolly Scarf to outspeed Aerodactyl, Mega Gengar, Braviary3 & friends so they don't outspeed and OHKO Bulu. I tried different moves on Bulu, eventually settling for running both of Rock Tomb and Rock Slide and dropping Superpower off the set entirely - a decision that paid off, with the Rock coverage moves both having their own utility. Horn Leech is used when it OHKOs or 2HKOs foes and locking into Wood Hammer would result in equivalent KOs with more recoil damage, or when trying to preserve Bulu's HP to prevent it from dropping into KO range, or stand its ground with recovery under Trick Room.
Torm (Salamence) @ Salamencite
Level: 50
Ability: Aerilate
EVs: 4 HP / 4 Def / 244 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Claw
- Dragon Dance
- Protect
Dragon Claw Mega Salamence - and it's not even on a Q.R.T.O.O. team. You might remember the rant earlier about how Earthquake's damage being halved does Bulu no favors - the move is so weak in Grassy Terrain that for the DD Salamence I still insist on using, Dragon Claw is a flat out stronger coverage move to complement Double-Edge. I considered Hyper Voice and Flamethrower, but Dragon Claw proved its value with a recoil-free option against opposing Dragon-types, and being Salamence's strongest move against Electric-types.
Gyges (Gastrodon) @ Assault Vest
Level: 50
Ability: Storm Drain
Modest Nature
EVs: 172 HP / 92 Def / 220 SpA / 12 SpD / 12 Spe
- Earth Power
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Clear Smog
Assault Vest Gastrodon, very similar to the one I used in the Maison - except feeling blue, rebred with a Modest nature, EV'd to hit 61 Speed, and HP increased by 1 to maximize Grassy Terrain recovery at 13HP per turn, taking EVs out of Defense to get spare EVs for the changes. It still does its job of having immunities to Water and Electric with Storm Drain redirection to boost on attacks aimed at it or Talonflame, battling under Trick Room, thawing out of freezes with Scald, and having the right set of resistances for switching into Bulu's and Talonflame's major weaknesses. Earth Power deals full damage under Grassy Terrain unlike Earthquake, providing much-needed Ground coverage.
----
I'm quite satisfied with how this team turned out, since the odds of making Bulu work were slim to say the least, and there were a variety of hurdles with Gale Wings having been nerfed. The lead combo is simple and reminiscent of Team Leer - priority Supersonic Skystrike hits harder than CB Brave Bird, and Bulu's scarfed Wood Hammer is one of the fastest, most powerful attacks to fire off on Turn 1. The back-ups are the same as on the old Triples team, covering Talonflame's weaknesses and doubling up on birdspam - in spite of Salamence sharing a weakness to Ice with Tapu Bulu, it's still the Mega that is best equipped for supporting Bulu's offensive playstyle.
Bulu has a lot of match-ups it struggles with. Its Grass STAB is resisted by over a third of Tree opponents, including all Fire-types, Dragons other than Garchomp and Flygon, it suffers excessive Wood Hammer recoil and has low base HP, and Grass/Fairy typing gives it weaknesses to Poison, Steel, Flying, Fire, and Ice - difficult weaknesses to cover, with risk of status and many strong attacks to fear. Rather than try to defend Bulu, leading with Z-Talonflame is more focused on hit-and-run with fast KOs and defending Bulu with a strong offense - Gastrodon completes the FWG core with good defensive and offensive synergy between the three Pokémon, and as a lead Bulu also does well against users of STAB Water attacks that would limit Talonflame's presence.
Limited control and one-dimensional offense has its limits, especially when Bulu cannot deal damage due to its main STAB being resisted - in these cases it can 1) switch out, 2) use Rock Tomb for some damage and a Speed drop with 95% accuracy, or 3) click Rock Slide and get chip damage while having a chance of lucking out with flinches. Initially I had Superpower on the set, but it failed to net the OHKOs that would've been truly valuable such as Drampa3/Bouffalant4 (Sap Sipper users) and is the worst move in the game to lock into on a Choice set. Without Superpower, Bulu is helpless against Steel-types - but in practice this wasn't really a problem, as the team is not dependent on Bulu to handle these, and Superpower is very low-value against the most threatening Steels in Metagross4-Mega, Mawile, Heatran, and Magnezone - the former two are hit harder by resisted Wood Hammer, and it lacks the power to take out Heatran which outspeeds and OHKOs Bulu on Set4, forcing it to switch out of this set possibility immediately.
The threat list for the team is quite long, since Bulu has more than a few glaring holes.
-Colress is the worst special trainer to face, with most of his sets resisting Bulu's STAB and many OHKOing it in return.
-Queenly Majesty and Dazzling, from Tsareena and Bruxish respectively, block Gale Wings attacks. Never risk using Skystrike or Brave Bird if either of these Pokémon is on the field, and consider using Tailwind then taking a non-fatal hit, or attacking with Flare Blitz to disable Gale Wings if the situation is dire and Talonflame needs to deploy its Flying STAB while these abilities are active. Quick Guard I never encountered during this streak; Cobalion4 is its only user, and it would usually either Protect or try to use Iron Head on Bulu.
-Metagross, Mawile, Intimidate trainers, Salamence stand out as major problems that require a lot of switching to reset Intimidate, Rock Tomb control, or getting lucky with abilities to face, and as seen in some of the losses the team can get run over rather easily by a poor match-up.
-Other threats include: Drampa3 (Quick Claw), Uxie3 (Quick Claw, 2HKOs Gastrodon with Energy Ball), Entei (may target either Bulu or Talonflame, or be Set3 with Scarf Eruption which demands Skystrike or Brave Bird immediately, Hail/Sandstorm breaking Gale Wings and limiting options, Sceptile4-Mega outspeeding the whole team and threatening Rock Slide flinches (extremely threatening if Gale Wings is not active - Rock Tomb to slow it down is an option)
-With Set3 and Set4 both being common, there's a bunch more sets that have a possibility of carrying a Grass-type move for hurting Gastrodon than in the Maison. I don't have a list of them all but Grass attacks boosted by Grassy Terrain leave Gastrodon in a world of pain, so stay on your toes and don't forget to always be aware of enemy sets. Grassy Terrain fortunately only boosts attacks from Pokémon that are grounded, so Levitate users are not boosted.
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In the process of this streak I discovered that Uxie3 prefers Psyshock over Thunder on Mega Salamence - maybe this was posted earlier in the thread, but speculatively the AI is calculating Psyshock as a special move with 120BP and not accounting for its property of targeting Defense. In one of the battle videos I only won thanks to this quirk, and would have lost otherwise in a 1v1 endgame situation.
Grass Knot use on Gastrodon is slightly erratic. Sometimes the AI wants to use it, but not always, and on one occasion I saw Samurott4 fire Ice Beam into Gastrodon's slot over Grass Knot. In the Maison the AI was also somewhat broken, but I can't say if it's the same kind of busted this time around, only that something is wrong with it and it occasionally has trouble picking it as its strongest move.
I found there were quite a few pitfalls with playing this team, and whether to overkill with Z-move, or try and preserve for later in the battle is a difficult decision. My priorities in order of preference are:
1. Gale Wings on Talonflame intact, Z-move unused - this is a pipe dream, and mostly available when switching out Talonflame on Turn 1 against relatively benign leads while Bulu isn't threatened
2. Gale Wings on Talonflame intact, Z-move blown - even if Brave Bird would be enough to net a KO and Skystrike is not necessary, using the Z-move keeps Talonflame's HP at full and lets it use priority Brave Bird after. It's a tradeoff between having +1 Brave Bird, or +0 Supersonic Skystrike later in the battle - and the priority advantage tips this in the former's favor for consistent utility and speed.
3. Gale Wings on Talonflame lost and Z-move unused, Tailwind active - this is an option for rare situations where Talonflame doesn't have to attack, and can instead regain a Speed advantage using Tailwind so it doesn't mind having lost Gale Wings.
4. Gale Wings lost, Z-move used - you can't always get everything you want, and against threats that must be taken out with Skystrike ASAP this is frequently the result - with 252HP, Talonflame can survive more than you'd expect after its initial Skystrike having no recoil, and have a chance of using one more attack later.
This is Talonflame's overall plan, Bulu is also a consideration but generally a lower-importance team member and more difficult to preserve. Against Ace Trainer Lea and Ace Trainer Sylvia, every single set they run resists Bulu's STAB, and Bulu should be given little care as it's likely not worth preserving against these foes outside trying to luck out with Rock Slide. The leads lack control, so often saccing a lead and trading is the safest way to proceed when there are no safe switch options. Most commonly, Gastrodon is the switch option for both Talonflame and Bulu - it's also possible to switch it in Bulu's place to redirect Hydro Pump/Waterfall/Hydro Vortex away from Talonflame's slot. Salamence is generally more important to preserve and vulnerable to status, crits, and so forth and it may have to take Double-Edge recoil on top later, but occasionally double switching and getting in Intimidate is worth the risk.
This team was a lot of fun to theorymon and play for me despite its inherent flaws, and I'm more satisfied with this streak personally than with my Lee/Koko one. Bulu is a charming Pokémon and getting to use Talonflame after its nerf is a rare treat - I've not managed to think of anything better suited for the role yet. My goal with Bulu was to break 200 wins, and I met it after losing several times with this version (some, but not all included in the battle video compilation).
The losing battle (#249) I'm not happy about - if I had targeted Mega Venusaur instead of Whimsicott late in the battle, I had a chance of winning. But I survived many very close battles through great luck, and the streak overall met my goal so it was "about time" for Bulu to meet its maker. For now this is my last attempt with Bulu, but USUM and its tutors around the corner, the bull might just get new life and warrant a second try.
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I was going to post a 606-win streak with Greninja/Xurkitree/Salamence-M/Aegislash as a placeholder, but the battle video was from an older version of the game and not uploadable lol and the time to post a full writeup of it is not today. I wasn't satisfied with this result and did more attempts, and will do more still so this team remains a work in progress; write-up and full details coming up when it's done.
Here is a fixed QR team of Team Brexit with Double-Edge on Kangaskhan making it usable for QR: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/BT-21CF-4E1E
Lopunny (F) ("Bella") @ Lopunnite
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Limber --> Scrappy
IVs: 16/31/31/31/31/31, Hyper Trained to 31/31/31/31/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
- Fake Out
- Low Kick
- Return
- Encore
Landorus (M) ("Nutrigenie") @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Sheer Force
IVs: 31/0/x/31/31/31, Hyper Trained to 31/0/31/31/31/31 [thanks again to das_eisenherz ]
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Earth Power
- Sludge Bomb
- HP Ice
- Protect
Tapu Fini ("H2 Oh No") @ Leftovers
Nature: Modest
Ability: Misty Surge
IVs: 31/19/12/6/31/31, Hyper Trained to 31/19/31/31/31/31
EVs: 244 HP / 12 Def / 188 SpA / 52 SpD / 12 Spe
- Scald
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Taunt
Aegislash (M) ("Tin Soldier") @ Ghostium Z
Nature: Quiet
Ability: Stance Change
IVs: 31/0/31/31/31/0
EVs: 252 HP / 220 SpA / 36 SpD
- King's Shield
- Shadow Ball {Never-Ending Nightmare}
- Flash Cannon
- Wide Guard
Writing my first post on here to talk about how I choked a Super Singles streak at 198 wins a while back!
I haven't actually read any lists of threats and stuff and knowledge was all essentially built up on having played a few thousand battles in the Tree, so I don't have the super-efficient EV spreads you may see from other teams.
Mimikyu @ Ghostium-Z
Ability: Disguise
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Claw
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
I'd been messing around with other Mimikyu-led teams that never broke 80 wins, but felt that Mimikyu functioned very well as a lead. Ghostium-Z really was the only legitimate choice for this particular set, as even at +2 a Shadow Claw can barely kill anything. Also, there's a Mega Metagross that gave my teams all sorts of problems and Mimikyu can guarantee a kill on it with Z-Shadow Claw + Shadow Sneak. I ran Adamant because I was worried about the lack of power but I didn't run any calculations (after this run, I tried a Jolly Mimikyu and only got to 124 but again, I'm not sure exactly how much the nature played a part in the loss as opposed to my bad play). Mimikyu almost always needs a Swords Dance to get through more than one opponent. You do have to watch out for Play Rough misses. Will-O-Wisps suck but usually allows you to set up SD twice to allow a little damage control.
Kartana @ Focus Sash
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Smart Strike
- Sacred Sword
- Swords Dance
Focus Sash is good on Kartana as it's ridiculous Attack means it can usually OHKO anything it hits neutrally and definitely if Mimikyu got some Shadow Sneak chip damage on it before it went down, so keeping it alive against anything that's faster is real important. Swords Dance was basically never used, since it doesn't need it, and it's always great to bring Kartana in on severely weakened enemies to get that +1, making it nearly unstoppable. One of the few times I used Swords Dance in my run was a terrible play that directly resulted in the loss. Kartana really doesn't like status, but usually has enough in it to just power through things regardless.
Garchomp @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Rock Slide
I had always messed around with Garchomp as a sashed SD lead but this set worked out far better, helping take down a lot of the faster Pokémon in the tier I had problems with. I dislike choice items and there were a few battles which I only won out of luck when Garchomp had to KO two Pokémon but I didn't have the freedom to switch between moves. I rarely used anything that wasn't Outrage/EQ.
Loss: C8MG-WWWW-WWW6-L2PC
100% horrible play from me. Didn't know what Registeel had and should've just SD + Z-Shadow Claw'd with Mimikyu anyway. Wasn't thinking straight and switched as if it could've actually ruined my game. Even if it somehow had taken care of Mimikyu I had better options. Instead, not only did I switch, I set up a greedy SD on Kartana somehow thinking a +2 Registeel wouldn't outspeed and let it die for nothing. Choked and didn't get the satisfaction of reaching 200.
I don't know how lucky I got with this team to reach 198 because I didn't see it coming at all. Before this, my highest streak was 81 on another team and I haven't been able to replicate this streak since (though I haven't played with this exact same team since either).
Whee, another Guzzlord fan. I found its typing wasn’t *that* atrocious, though it needed to be kept well away from fairies. You’re absolutely right about its attack, which I consider a bigger inhibitor than its typing, because I rarely secured OHKOs without boosts unless I used Devastating Drake immediately (I used Dragon Rush for more power; it’ll be Outrage come UM.)Hey all, reporting a loss at 112 wins in doubles. Quite happy with how far I managed to get with this although I was hoping for at least 200. I will probably wait for USUM for that though. I am very impressed by the runs above as well, good job guys. Anyway, for the team I used...
Oranguru @ Lum Berry
Sassy, Inner Focus
EVs: 252 HP/148 Def/12 Sp.Atk/92 SpD
IVs: 0 speed
-Psychic
-Instruct
-Trick Room
-Protect
I originally used Aromatisse here but this turned out to be a lot better in my opinion. The ability to use instruct is much better than the decent damage from Dazzling Gleam that Aromatisse offers. In practice Taunt has never been a problem over about 300 battles so Lum Berry is much better and saved me quite a bit from status hax. The EV spread could probably be better but it does its job. Inner Focus stops Fake Out from being a problem especially when Kiawe leads with Kanga and Salazzle, which happened once on this run.
Hariyama @ Flame Orb
Brave, Guts
EVs: 28 HP/252 Atk/108 Def/116 SpD
IVs: 0 speed
-Close Combat
-Knock Off
-Heavy Slam
-Fake Out
I stole this spread from other sets here, and it works extremely well. I considered breeding one in ORAS for the punch moves but this turned out to be the best choice I think. I hardly ever found myself wanting a punch move. Thunderpunch would have been the best choice of them. It does a little bit more to Slowbro4 than Knock Off which is always a big threat for this team.
Camerupt @ Cameruptite
Quiet, Magma Armor
EVs: 252 HP/252 Sp.Atk/4 SpD
IVs: 0 speed
-Flamethrower
-Earth Power
-Ancient Power
-Protect
Probably the best trick room mega, being 20 base speed is amazing and it hits extremely hard. This Camerupt has HP ice but I chose to use Ancient Power instead to cover things like Charizard Y and Moltres. Its use was pretty niche and I did end up using it against a double dragon lead once. Flamethrower will still do more damage against neutral flyers like Zapdos or Staraptor.
Guzzlord @ Dragonium Z
Brave, Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk/124 Def/132 SpD
IVs: 0 speed
-Dragon Claw
-Crunch
-Heavy Slam
-Protect
This thing is great fun. The defensive investment makes it about 10% bulkier on both sides than 252HP would have and gives the download users an attack boost. Guzzlord's rather bad 101 base attack can let you down sometimes but is usually not a problem. Depending on how much damage the opponent pokemon have you can switch this in once Hariyama goes down. Beast Boost works just the way you hope with Instruct, making it a great combo.
Guzzlord is a lot better than it appears at first glance. It has a really good matchup against the extremely common psychic and dragon types that Veterans spam in the tree. It can also hit most trick room setters very hard, before they mess up your strategy (unless they lead...). Sitting at 43 speed, it barely underspeeds mons sitting at base 30 which is really helpful. Beast Boost is amazing once you get a single boost, making this thing hit pretty hard. Its bulk is also fantastic, except for its bad typing. This can actually work to your advantage though, as many times I would immediately protect and use psychic to soften up opposing mons. This allowed me to get easy boosts next turn and wipe both pokemon many times. It works very well against the frail fighting types and anything with fairy coverage. I also never felt like Guzzlord was being carried by the team. In games where Hariyama went down before I won, I sent out Guzzlord about 50% of the time. However, don't use a special version of this guy, Drampa is better in every way.
I found running Heavy Slam on two pokemon to not be an issue. It makes killing bugs and fairy types pretty easy for Hariyama which are threatening to the team. One of the weaknesses the team has is bug moves, and I fortunately only ran into Escavalier once where it died to flamethrower. One of the bigger weaknesses were Scientists with trick room leads. The bulk of them and their good water and ice coverage, including wishiwashi which was a consistent pain, always gave me a problem. The one thing I would change about the team is to use Darkium Z on Guzzlord. In most cases the difference in typing would not have hindered me, but Black Hole Eclipse is better against trick room setters. Legendary Beast spammers were also annoying as Suicune is hard to take down in a turn before it destroys my sweepers. Improvements to the team can clearly be made. Here is hoping Guzzy gets some nice new moves in a month!
Battle Videos
losing battle 113
LJMW-WWWW-WWW9-CDXG
Slowbro4/slowking4/Wishiwashi4/Oranguru
I made some mistakes here, like not being more aggressive with Knock off in the first few turns. Other than that it was just a bad lead scenario. Oh well, I am still satisfied with the run.
MWKW-WWWW-WWW9-CD2Q
Slowking4/Bronzong4/Slowbro4/Armoatisse
Another trick room scientist, this time with 3 setters. I got lucky with the rock slide flinches.
JWBG-WWWW-WWW9-CD42
Gallade4/Altaria3/Garchomp/Magnezone
Battle 100 Against Wally. Also shows off Guzzlord.
YES. This is one of the reasons I’m so disappointed by the prospect of sitting out Triples for another game, because triples really gave other setters a major chance to shine. Even pokes like Scrafty with its underwhelming attack didn’t waste much space because you always had at least three or four slots for straight damage and coverage. I’d love to try Pyukumuku and other exclusively support-oriented pokes, but it’s not at all feasible with the Tree as it is now.
Haha, I felt like Oranguru needed something more left field and self-sufficient in the lead position to support it since I wasn't going with the classic Fake Out setup. Modest Air Balloon Magnezone with 84 Speed EVs was just weird enough to actually work; not terribly slow so Mag didn't always have to waste time Protecting first turn with additional reassurance from Sturdy, could Volt Switch into Araquanid (the two cover each others' weaknesses pretty perfectly), but still decently slow to function inside the Room as well. Instructing Thunderbolts or Flash Cannons off the bat to soften up stuff that outslowed Oranguru was also handy (hello Shiinotic); that's basically the gist of it, weaken things for the real star Araquanid to ride the wave of destruction. I will admit though, Jolly Wide Lens Mimikyu is...pretty strange looking back on it now, I'd definitely change that if I were looking to recreate the team.
ok im having a bit too much fun not to post this, i dont have a big streak or anything yet but who says that should be the only time i post? not me
Blastoise @ Blastoisinite ** Blastoise
Ability: Torrent -> Mega Launcher
EVs: 4Def/252SpA/252Spe
Lv. 50 (Mega)stats: 154/102/141/205/135/130
Nature: Modest
~ Water Spout
~ Aura Sphere
~ Dark Pulse
~ Protect
I love spread moves a whole bunch. Anyone who read ~The Eruptran Project~ could guess how much I delight in the sheer joy of spread moves. The moves themselves are standard, no Dragon Pulse necessary because I rely on Dark Pulse to kill TR pokes and the rest of my team is considerably FUK DRAGON anyway.
Whimsicott @ Focus Sash ** Cotton Candy
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4Def/252SpA/252Spe
Lv. 50 stats: 135/77/106/141/95/168
Nature: Modest
~ Tailwind
~ Dazzling Gleam
~ Endeavor
~ Fake Tears
Still deliciously broken! The Tailwind setter, with a flashy bit of punch to spread my love of spread moves. Fake Tears is as useful as ever, and it guarantees that every TR user will die no matter where they are on the field due to Blastoise's sniping abilities. When I decided on Whimsy, I wondered if it really needed to be "defensive" and quickly came to the conclusion that "fuck sturdy and sash pokes, go HAM on em Candy". Or something like that? Modest 141 SpA DZ does more than enough to the Dragons that resist Water Spout and Eruption and you can never go wrong with guaranteed damage on three foes (barring priority or other technicalities obviously).
I'm still auditing Focus Sash—it very rarely uses it, meaning it's usually either double targeted (which necessarily renders sash useless no matter a pokemon's defenses) or it's hit by one move that doesn't kill it. Then there's moves like Poison Jab, Sludge Bomb and Blizzard in the hail which further render sash useless when my other two are Protecting. Or EQ happy foes that see Heatran and go apeshit and leave Whimsy at like 70% or whatever. Sash does have its appllcations, of course, but they are more intermittent compared to Doubles especially given that Whimsicott has to be in the middle. I "want to" change this to Lum for idiot Confuse Ray and Thunderwave bullshit, but I haven't lost yet so...
Every battle I ask whether Sash was useful, meaning "is Whimsicott alive and at 1HP at the beginning of turn 2?" Obviously 1HP Endeavor is the bees knees and people still say that, but if I find that the answer to that all-important question is no like 95% of the time, I'm going to swap Sash for Lum. This may also make Endeavor less important, which would free up a slot for any number of fantastic moves Whimsy may make better use of, like Encore, Energy Ball, Worry Seed, Taunt and Safeguard. We'll see I guess.
Heatran @ Flame Plate ** ヒードラン
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4Def/252SpA/252Spe
Lv. 50 stats: 167/110/126/199/126/116
Nature: Quiet
~ Protect
~ Eruption
~ Earth Power
~ Taunt
Oh Eruptran, will I ever make a serious non-Singles team without you? Probably not! Standard moves are standard, Taunt to shut down Trick Room pokes on my right (foe's left). I have used it like once in over 100 battles, but TR sucks and I don't want to lose to it so I have Taunt as a backup to Fake Tears + Blastoise Dark Pulse. Most of the times I've wanted to use Taunt, Heatran couldn't because of EQ or fighting move, so there's that to consider I guess. Heatran doesn't really want to use anything else though—WoW and Swagger have imperfect accuracy and I don't have a REAL use for Flash Cannon or even Incinerate, so if anything I'd use either DP or...DP lol.
199 SpA because I used HP something on it for The Eruptran Project and I don't have 31SpA/31Spe IV one (like anyone does). 232 speed is plenty in Tailwind, enough to get Scarfchomp(3) by one point for what it's worth.
Latios @ Life Orb ** unban me
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Lv. 50 stats: 156/92/100/182/130/178
Nature: Timid
~ Dragon Pulse
~ Psyshock
~ Thunderbolt
~ Tailwind
Secondary TW setter, with near-perfect synergy with Heatran should I have to switch out on Turn 2 (not often at all). DP reaches across the field, Psyshock is a much better fit on this otherwise special-attack–heavy team, Thunderbolt for Gyarados and other waters that Spout/Eruption can't dent (and dragons of course die horribly to DP). Gluemon #1, but a lot of my non-singles teams since even DP have had Latios so yeah.
Sylveon @ Choice Specs ** Patience
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 4HP/252SpA/252Spe
Lv. 50 stats: 171/76/85/178/150/112
Nature: Modest
~ Hyper Voice
~ these
~ dont
~ matter
I am so in love with you, Patience. I know this was posted about recently but I didn't steal it—the first time I used Sylveon was on a Doubles idea with lead Tailwind/Sludge Wave Tornadus and Hyper Voice/CM/Stored Power/Protect Sylveon@Weakness Policy. You can see that the idea was for Sylveon to be at +2SpA (or +3 if I could safely CM Turn 1) and for Stored Power to be a base 100 (or 140) move. This was hilarious when it worked but, well, "Sludge Wave", and I recall it not killing Slowking, scrapping the idea, and shelving Sylveon...until I wanted something to spitekill anything that fainted my beloved Cotton Candy after it got Tailwind up Turn 1.
Turns out that I love spread moves even more than I knew—the only thing that resists Water/Fairy/Fire is Tentacruel, and even then who cares, everything absolutely dies. Most battles go like this:
(Mega)Protect/Tailwind/Protect, Whimsy gets double targeted and dies, 5-6, out comes Sylveon in the middle
Water Spout/Hyper Voice/Eruption, everything dies, 5-3
Water Spout/Hyper Voice/Eruption, everything dies, 5-0
Water Spout goes first, then Eruption, then Hyper Voice at "224 speed" for what that's worth. I still shake my head at how powerful these spread moves are in practice, much more than I thought they'd be in theory.
The other moves do actually kind of matter—I actually have Dazzling Gleam for Soundproof stuff if I'm paranoid, and Protect, which I actually used when stuff got really hairy one battle. In case I'm paranoid of missing something like Tangrowth4 or Walrein4, Swift is 78 base power with Pixilate, and would be better than the redundant Disarming Voice, even without the 30% tie-breaking boost that Pixilate grants Swift over it. Heal Bell is probably better than Dazzling Gleam but "effort" and Sylveon is my second-slowest poke so it wouldn't heal anything in time anyway probably. Maybe Psyshock if I really want Tentacruel but Tentacruel is not something I'm worried about.
Scrafty @ Assault Vest ** im so hood
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 4HP/252Atk/252Spe
Lv. 50 stats: 141/156/135/52/135/110
Nature: Adamant
~ Fake Out
~ Drain Punch
~ Knock Off
~ Ice Punch
My lone physical attacker (Psyshock doesn't really count) and Gluemon #2. Fake Out is incredibly useful at buying time to get TW up in a pinch or protect one of my spread attackers, but sniping low-HP stuff for quick Moxie boost makes my day every time. I literally just threw a Scrafty on the team when I was going through my boxes of stuff I wanted to use and I haven't looked back (aside from changing the Intimidate, bulkier Scrafty I originally had in there). Usually too slow to get Moxie boosts outside of Fakeout, but I rarely even need to use Scrafty because lol at how gross Spout/HV/Eruption is.
So there we have it...I'm at like 108 now and loving every minute, actually saving some "tough" battles and mock playing even though I have yet to lose (I never really mock battled my own saved battles for any reason).
As a side note...I never really got into Triples because a few posters really early on said "triples battles takes forever" and...I disagree? Maybe it's just my team but every battle is like five turns max and the only real time spent is thinking about the best optimal move because I'm a triples noob (literally only found out "Shift" was a thing upon my first battle in the regular Triple Battle mode like last week) which doesn't really count as "slow". So that deterred me from ever really starting in Triples ("time remains the great equalizer", etc), but I'm also refreshed that this team is an absolute blast which probably matters more to me at this point. I tend to get serious "leaderboard-induced apathy" and not pursue fun modes that have been "broken" by the top players, myself included (there are so many Singles ideas I write down and then never try because "lol can this team even win 300/400/500 battles in a row". Like, "who gives a shit about your cute team if it's not either obviously super unique while great on paper or making a serious run at a respectable rank in a given mode?" I still feel that way in general and probably will as long as I play, but that feeling did not shadow me when I was theorymonning nor has or will it during gameplay. Sounds cheesy, especially from a cutthroat leaderboard hawk like me, but I'm very literally actually playing for fun, and I can't tell you have refreshing that is.
If you just want the print for your first time and you don't care about getting a high streak on that particular run, what you can do is battle as much as you can risk, then blow all of your remaining CP on skips. Play the easy early battles for CP bonuses. You can easily cheese at least a full round of battles at the end of your run.
