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3v3 Singles Metagame Discussion Thread

against certain sets of Mega Gengar, Bulletproof Chesnaught can switch safely and threaten M-Gengar. Mega Blaziken is tricky, but Gliscor and Slowbro work well.
 
Impish 252HP/252Def Donphan threatens Blaziken out with OHKO EQ, or even on some sets Endeavor/Ice Shard for others that SE doesn't hit. Even works well with M-Gengar since he loses levitate for Shadow Tag.
 
Assault Vest Drapion actually goes pretty hard as a Mega Gengar counter, able to come in on practically anything and trap it with Pursuit (though you have to be explicitly cautious for sets that run Destiny Bond, as they're basically taking Drapion down with it). Outside of that priority users like Bisharp, Talonflame, Scizor, Honchkrow, etc. can take Mega Gengar on if it isn't behind a Substitute since it's still relatively frail (Though they still can unless they rely heavily on Sucker Punch to hit it). Mega Blaziken is pretty much countered by Azumarill, who resists its STABs and gets off an Aqua Jet on it for free. Talonflame, same deal for the most part. Slowbro can take anything it has with ease too. Scarf Chandelure with Infiltrator can beat down Gengar regardless of what it does, and it can check Blaziken if it isn't running Stone Edge, since you can still hit behind Substitutes.

But even then, in the event all of these guys fall short, Sash Alakazam will definitely give you some solid results. STAB Psyshock/Psychic disposes of both these guys no matter what they do in the long run, just...don't let them be behind a Sub.
 
has anyone tried mixed kangaskhan?
I mean, when only invested in spa, it has an equivalent to fully invested 112 spa and 140 atk, which is even better than stuff like salamence.
-Fire blast
-Ice beam
-Seismic toss
-Earthquake/sucker punch/return/fake out

yes, it can't do carp to ghosts, but standard kangaskhan dont want to deal with them either.
 
has anyone tried mixed kangaskhan?
I mean, when only invested in spa, it has an equivalent to fully invested 112 spa and 140 atk, which is even better than stuff like salamence.
-Fire blast
-Ice beam
-Seismic toss
-Earthquake/sucker punch/return/fake out

yes, it can't do carp to ghosts, but standard kangaskhan dont want to deal with them either.

Many ghosts are weak to something on that moveset (Aegislash, Gourgeist, Trevenant, even the odd Froslass)
 
What counters perish song mega-gar? I've been beat by too many of them.. I mean even scarf chandelure can't do much against a protect and a disable :(

And what is the standard set for perishgar? It seems like people might be investing in HP and not SpAtk? I dunno

Also seismic tossing mega-kanga is a BITCH to deal with.
 
imo the best way to beat Mega Gengar is to get around it. Things that can bypass Shadow Tag (Ghost-types, other trappers, VoltTurners) and things that can threaten it with two separate moves at once, thereby getting around Disable (two super effective attacks, or an effective attack and Thunder Wave) are really useful for playing around it. Generally, they also need to either be faster or able to tank a Shadow Ball; Pranksters like Mega Banette and Knock Off Sableye can Taunt it and threaten with super-effective STAB, whereas Mega Manectric outspeeds and can use Thunder Wave without much fear of Disable and Volt Switch away. Mega Aerodactyl can run both Earthquake and Tough Claws-boosted Crunch to play around Disable in a similar way. Dugtrio is slower, but can escape Shadow Tag and packs both Earthquake and Sucker Punch. Pursuit trapping can work against Perish Song, but only if you're strong enough to take it out before the counter runs out. Bisharp packs Sucker Punch and has an immunity to Sludge Bomb, but really fears Focus Blast. AV Tyranitar is best for this as it can take almost anything Gengar throws at it and Pursuits back. (Not sure how it performs against Focus Blast)

Of course you can just predict the Protect and use some other attack that isn't useful, forcing it out, but this can take some prediction and is shaky at best.
 
imo the best way to beat Mega Gengar is to get around it. Things that can bypass Shadow Tag (Ghost-types, other trappers, VoltTurners) and things that can threaten it with two separate moves at once, thereby getting around Disable (two super effective attacks, or an effective attack and Thunder Wave) are really useful for playing around it. Generally, they also need to either be faster or able to tank a Shadow Ball; Pranksters like Mega Banette and Knock Off Sableye can Taunt it and threaten with super-effective STAB, whereas Mega Manectric outspeeds and can use Thunder Wave without much fear of Disable and Volt Switch away. Mega Aerodactyl can run both Earthquake and Tough Claws-boosted Crunch to play around Disable in a similar way. Dugtrio is slower, but can escape Shadow Tag and packs both Earthquake and Sucker Punch. Pursuit trapping can work against Perish Song, but only if you're strong enough to take it out before the counter runs out. Bisharp packs Sucker Punch and has an immunity to Sludge Bomb, but really fears Focus Blast. AV Tyranitar is best for this as it can take almost anything Gengar throws at it and Pursuits back. (Not sure how it performs against Focus Blast)

Of course you can just predict the Protect and use some other attack that isn't useful, forcing it out, but this can take some prediction and is shaky at best.


252 SpA Mega Gengar Focus Blast vs. 4 HP / 252+ SpD Assault Vest Tyranitar in Sand: 204-244 (59.6 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

If Mega Gengar can hit twice, Tyranitar is doomed no matter what even at maximum Special Defense (assuming max Attack for Tyranitar calc).
 
I went from a rating in 1700s to now sitting at the low 1300s....wow.

It feels as though any team I make is never prepared for anything, lol. This meta evolves too quick for me. Actually, since Pokebank I've been getting obliterated.

Anyone have tips on composing a team? I'm so used to the 6v6 format
 
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Been seeing an opposite effect on my end. I used to sit around 1200, ended up failing with newer team strats and such. Now I'm up to around 1375, and been climbing still. It varies on what they bring, but most tend to bring the same ol' stuff that isn't hard to handle with a M-Scizor/M-Venusaur/M-Houndoom, Diggersby, Avalugg/Noivern/Tangrowth.

Anymore, Noivern just soaks a hit on the switch with a Focus Sash for a free switch, then lets me either KO, or have damage on the free switch.
 
What else does your team consist of? Neither should just be thrown on at random, you should fill in what your team needs.
My team (so far) consists of Delphox (Assault Vest Bulky sweeper), Greninja (LO special attacker), Lucario (mega-evolve with Swords Dance + 3attacks). I figured that Garchomp and Zygarde would be similar enough so that I should just pick the better one.
Unless you're playing in Free Mode, Zygarde is banned on Wi-Fi anyway, so...

Use Flygon

I was actually making a team for a tournament that some of my friends are hosting that has no restrictions (although people don't use the OP legends), so I could use either of them.
 
It's a real shame there is no clause for sleep or ohko moves in battle spot, I keep getting obliterated by them. Up to about 1700 then the evasion, ohko, and multiple sleep inducers appear and put me back in my place. Having sheer cold from a shiny japanese suicune kill all three of your mons in succession is enough to make one throw his gameboy across the room (I didnt though).

I have success with Mandibuzz though, toxic/taunt. I usually pair it with megavenusaur or assault vest tyranitar what would be the best third pokemon?
 
My team (so far) consists of Delphox (Assault Vest Bulky sweeper), Greninja (LO special attacker), Lucario (mega-evolve with Swords Dance + 3attacks). I figured that Garchomp and Zygarde would be similar enough so that I should just pick the better one.


I was actually making a team for a tournament that some of my friends are hosting that has no restrictions (although people don't use the OP legends), so I could use either of them.
A tanky Rocky Helmey/Leftovers Garchomp would go pretty well.

Garchomp Rocky Helmet/Leftovers
Impish 252 HP/ 4 Atk / 252 Def
Rough Skin
- Earthquake
- Poison Jab
- Dragon Claw/Outrage
- Fire Blast/Stone Edge

Annoyance via direct contact damage could limit some attempts at taking him down willingly. He hits hard enough without investment to do a sizable amount of damage, usually OHKOing due to damage either from an attack before or after your own. Zygarde is rather tanky as is, although he gets access to Coil. I would lean for the Garchomp though myself, as legendaries tend to be big targets or easily KO'd because of their typing, and prevalence of fairies (reason for Poison Jab).
 
It's a real shame there is no clause for sleep or ohko moves in battle spot, I keep getting obliterated by them. Up to about 1700 then the evasion, ohko, and multiple sleep inducers appear and put me back in my place. Having sheer cold from a shiny japanese suicune kill all three of your mons in succession is enough to make one throw his gameboy across the room (I didnt though).

I have success with Mandibuzz though, toxic/taunt. I usually pair it with megavenusaur or assault vest tyranitar what would be the best third pokemon?


There are some ways around these things. We need to think beyond the clauses of Smogon.

What kind of sleep moves are they using? If it's Spore or Sleep Powder, the item Safety Goggles can shut that down, as well as any Grass type (or Sap Sipper Goodra. I love using that in Double Battles to make people waste a turn using Spore). If it's something like Dark Void Smeargle or Lovely Kiss Jynx, Insomnia/Vital Spirit may be necessary. Good Insomnia users aren't common. Mostly just Honchkrow and Gourgeist. Vital Spirit has slim pickings too. *Checks Serebii* Primeape. . .Magmortar. . .Electivire. Well, if all else fails, slap Sleep Talk on random Pokemon. I did that with Tyranitar once. Safeguard may also be worth considering, especially on a Prankster user. That helps against confusion spammers too. Or if you really want to go out there, Electric Terrain prevents sleep for grounded Pokemon (i.e. non-Flying or Levitate Pokemon).



Since I'm a Pokemon old-timer (unlike all you kiddies who started with Emerald in the Orange Islands forum), I remember the Sleep Clause from the Pokemon Stadium games, but NOT the OHKO Clause. The Gambler was frustrating when he always used Horn Drill and Fissure. . .I have no clue why they removed Sleep Clause later.

I would recommend Sturdy, but most of the Pokemon that get that are weak to Water themselves or have crummy Special Defense. I don't know why so many people rely on OHKO moves. Risky strategies like that always seem to mess me up more than they help (Yes, Moody, I'm talking about you too).


Evasion can be countered partially with No Guard Machamp/Golurk/Doublade, but Ghosts may cause problems for them. Haze is rarely used in Smogon battles, but perhaps this will wipe that smirk off their faces. :)

I think Roar/Whirlwind have perfect accuracy now too.
 
Honchkrow is a good sleep absorber thanks to Brave Bird beating every Spore user one on one, as well as Sucker Punch hitting things like Jynx and Gengar hard. You have to wait for Bank to get Superpower but it's a beautiful coverage move for it.
 
While playing around with some gimmicks on the battle spot (meaning I had a smeargle and ditto in my team preview) I noticed a lot of Japanese players running a Brave Bird/Flare Blitz/U-Turn/Sleep Talk Talonflame lead to deal with Spore Smeargle. So that is worth a try if sleep is giving you a lot of trouble.
 
While playing around with some gimmicks on the battle spot (meaning I had a smeargle and ditto in my team preview) I noticed a lot of Japanese players running a Brave Bird/Flare Blitz/U-Turn/Sleep Talk Talonflame lead to deal with Spore Smeargle. So that is worth a try if sleep is giving you a lot of trouble.
Sleep talk always have been popular on choiced attackers that dont need/have too many coverage moves. eg Entei, Zekrom, Escavalier
 
I maxed out at 1700 and am now stuck in the mid-1500s, are we allowed to post "rate my team" kinda posts in this subforum cause I could use some 3v3 advice? I do seem to have inordinately bad luck on the wifi battle spot. 3v3 on pokemon showdown; I win most of the time, with the same pokemon and spreads i have in the game, but those damn japs on wifi always surprise me.

Also want to ask, what besides Aegislash and Dragonite go well with weakness policy?
 
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