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Battle Tree Discussion and Records

Hello again. Here's another.. ahh screw it, you know by now.
If it seems like I'm a little irritated, that's because I am. I not going to go to much detail into it, but I do not feel like having my streaks being on the board anymore.
Anyways, let's get to this streak.

This team is hacked. Do not put this on the leaderboard, or any of my teams in general. And since people do not like irrelevant detail, I will make the explanations on why I used the Pokemon simple.
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Envy [Choice Scarf] (Tapu Lele) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Yea. Shiny Tapu Lele. Great. With a Choice Scarf, a Timid nature, 252 Speed EVs and its great 130 Special Attack and 252 Special Attack EVs along with Psychic Terrain it summons thanks to Psychic Surge, it can abuse its Psychic-type move, Psychic, allowing it to run wild. Dazzling Gleam simply breaks Sturdy, Focus Sashes, and hits Dragons hard. Moonblast, while it hits only one target, it is also more powerful and breaks Dragons like Garchomp, Mega Latios, and Dark-types like Tyranitar. Lastly, the choice of Hidden Power went to Fire. Otherwise, this team has no possible way to deal with Ferrothorn other than directing all attacks to it. It does not like dealing with Steel-types like Mega Aggron and Ferrothorn. And since it somewhat does not do well against Ghost-types, I considered putting Shadow Ball over Hidden Power Fire. But then again, I need someone to deal with Ferrothorn.
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LandMaster (Landorus) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Earth Power
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect

Landorus-I with Sheer Force is a ridiculously powerful Pokemon with its trademark Earth Power and other secondary effect attacks. A Timid nature and 252 Speed EVs makes Landorus-I super fast as well as super powerful with 252 Special Attack EVs. With a Life Orb, it can gain extra damage ignoring the Life Orb recoil damage that it would usually get. (But it still gets recoil from HP Ice) Earth Power is its main tool and dents through Rhyperior and Suicune. Sludge Bomb hits Fairy-types and Grass-types such as Whimsicott and Lurantis, while also hitting Virizion and Florges. Hidden Power Ice hits Dragons like Mega Garchomp and other Landorus. Protect because Doubles. Landorus does not have the best bulk though, and Water- and Ice-types usually always carry Ice-type coverage. So, Vaporeon, Vanilluxe, and Glaceon would be able to easily deal with Landorus.


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Deception [Doubles Set] (Aegislash) @ Leftovers
Ability: Stance Change
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Shadow Ball
- Wide Guard
- King's Shield

Aegislash is one of the best Pokemon to use in the game and it also does very well in the Battle Tree. Its typing defensively is amazing and also has one of the more interesting abilities as well in Stance Change. Flash Cannon and Shadow Ball are its only attacks, being STAB Attacks with the same BP. Wide Guard blocks Heat Wave from Mega Charizard Y, Rock Slide from Mega Swampert or Tyranitar, Blizzard from Abomasnow and Articuno, and Earthquake from a lot of different Pokemon. Lastly, King's Shield. I do not even have to explain. But I'm going to. As a protecting move, it not only buys Aegislash a turn of Leftovers recovery, but it also lowers the attacks of physical threats if their attack was gonna make contact. Aegislash's 0 Speed IVs and Quiet nature making it super slow is, no pun intended, a double edged sword. It might keep Aegislash in shield forme until it attacks but it also means, well, it's slow so that means a lot of Pokemon could potentially try to KO it. But it is very hard to kill, which is why Aegislash is something to consider.


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Rampage [Doubles] (Gyarados-Mega) @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Protect

Mega Gyarados is one of my favorite Mega Pokemon to use, even if it was unconventional. It's just fun. A Jolly nature and 252 Attack EVs and 252 Speed EVs makes Mega Gyarados super fast, especially after setting up with a Dragon Dance, which is the main niche of this set. Intimidate as usual, is a great ability to use in Doubles, which lowers the physical prowess of certain physical threats like Slaking and other Gyarados. Mold Breakser does not do much for Mega Gyarados but it does shut down Storm Drain and Water Absorb and other abilities. Waterfall and Crunch are Mega Gyarados' main STAB choices, with decent coverage alongside each other. Protect because yadda yadda yadda. Also, a Gyaradosite is required to make Gyarados Mega Evolve. It does not like Electric-types like Raikou especially, and Grass-types aren't usually the friendliest either. Also, Mega Alakazam outspeeds Mega Gyarados even after a Dragon Dance.

This team broke through 100 wins so, I guess that's cool.

On the Singles side, I'm not gonna lie, the Pokemon I am using are not genned, or at least I don't think they are, but I'm still not going to have them on the leaderboard. Sure, it might put me in the Top 5, but meh. It's just a game.

See you.
252 SpA Tapu Lele Hidden Power Fire vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 92-112 (50.8 - 61.8%) -- 96.5% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

0 Atk Ferrothorn Gyro Ball (150 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Tapu Lele: 204-242 (140.6 - 166.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO


It was strongly recommended against running that set by multiple people for a reason.

I hope this is the last time I'll say this. Using genned pokemon is the least of the reasons your credibility on a 1k streak will not be accepted. Be upset, sure, but no unnecessary drama, please. You are laying in the very bed you made. Dismissiveness and passive aggression isn't going to alleviate any of that.
 
Completely irrelevant. The point I was making is that you lack the knowledge and/or ability to use a team to legitimately reach 1000 wins, and then discuss it in such a way that readers are convinced you legitimately reached 1000 wins.

To elaborate on those damage calcs, Tapu Lele has a roll, not a guarantee but a ROLL to 2HKO Ferrothorn4, the bad one that won't immediately commit sucide. Ferro4 has a guaranteed OHKO on you in return without a single Curse. You still must repeatedly double into it, and failing to KO within two hits will more than likely be the end of Lele. You handle Ferrothorn with that Lele in the same manner paper's Scizor handles Primarina.

After all of these posts you repeatedly pretend that the grand issue is using "someone else's" genned pokes and, while it still invalidates the streaks, it speaks nothing of the much more glaring red flag that you do not display the sort of skill, to say nothing of consistency, to honestly reach high milestones.

You will see a pattern of this if you look over past phony streaks; while I am the only person presently speaking up, that will change if you have the wherewithal to post a 1000-win singles streak here, no matter what kind of disclaimer you use. I respond to you now because I can't stand the shameless dishonesty. ...or the victim playing. Note it was only now, after no less than three prior posts involving unnoted hacks, that you admitted upfront to using them without requiring your nose to be rubbed in it by an asshole like myself. Says a ton about your character.
 
Alright, Repto. Who cares if I do not have the knowledge to even get to a thousand wins? You know I'm never gonna get to a thousand and why the hell do you think I try to convince people that I reached it?
I care because there was nothing dissuading you from passing off a 500+ win streak as genuine. You then spoke casually of going for 1000 wins in singles. It's pretty reasonable to expect this from you in the near future.

I do not care if the team is flawed. At least Lele has a weapon, what do you want, no weapon? Surely that will fucking solve it of dealing with Ferrothorn. And who cares if I have to double target it? I don't. And you do not have to either.
You advertised something as having a purpose which multiple discord posters informed you it *does not* fulfill that purpose, advice you clearly ignored. Pretending a move provides coverage is not the same as having real coverage. Possibly 2HKOing a wall you hard counter is one thing, but Lele is swatted away and your remaining teammates lack the muscle to finish Ferrothorn off before that can happen.

252 SpA Life Orb Landorus Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 60-71 (33.1 - 39.2%) -- 15.2% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

You need absolute max rolls from both Lele and Lando to kill Ferro4. Fat chance.

252+ SpA Aegislash-Blade Shadow Ball vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Ferrothorn: 55-66 (30.3 - 36.4%) -- guaranteed 4HKO after Leftovers recovery

Your team does not handle Ferrothorn the way you claim it does. "So what?" It's called disingenuous, that's what. It's called total lack of credibility.

Again, who cares if I can't reach high milestones? In fact, I've already DMed NoCheese to remove my streaks solely because you keep bothering me about my illegitimate streaks, which they are. Is that enough to keep you quiet?
I care because it obviously was not stopping you from posting them. You had been admonished more than once by your peers for continuing to post streaks involving genned pokemon without bringing attention to that fact, which clearly shows intent to be credited for the streaks, not to mention disregard for the rules. Again your use of hacks is not the biggest problem here; it is your writeups containing buckets of bogus info which portray scenarios that could not have happened and are among the clearest indicators of phony streaks. ie save restoration.

Now do me a favor and keep your mouth shut.
One particularly effective way to ensure this is to cease and desist posting illegitimate streaks at all. Continuing to post them while hiding behind a shield of "it's okay because I don't want credit and it's just a game" is not the same, and will not stop your posts from being questioned.
 
Interesting piece of data I uncovered while trying to find where things are stored in the save file: When you scout a teammate for AI multis, their Pokemon always become male if that is at all possible for the species. Sorry if you distinctly remember scouting a team with a female that you hoped to use for Cute Charm/Rivalry shenanigans, but the game won't preserve that unless it's Nidoqueen.
 
Posting a completed Super Doubles win streak of 214 wins in Ultra Moon.

This is important for me because not only is this the farthest I've gotten in any non-singles facility, but I used no less than 22 teams over the course of this streak, using a method described below to assemble every team I used.

But first, the Pokemon I used are as follows:
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First, I would use random.org's Random Integer Set Generator to generate 6 unique integers in the range [1, 30], each corresponding to a specific slot in the box above (starting at Dusclops and Oranguru and going all the way down to Sylveon and Dhelmise). If none of the random numbers corresponded to a Pokemon that ran Trick Room (top row only), I would re-roll. If I rolled 3 or more setters all at once, I would also be entitled to a re-roll (amusingly, this happened exactly once, before I got to play my first wave of battles). If I rolled exactly one or two setters, I would be stuck with that roll of six, and would have to choose four of those to go into the Tree with. Minor set alterations (such as switching out one or two moves) were permitted, although I never ran different sets for one species that differed drastically. I did allow myself to switch out hold items in the case of item conflicts, although this happened only once over the course of two streaks.

Once I had my team, I would play 10 battles with that team, suspend the streak, and generate a new team for the next round of 10. Additionally, I tried to record all the sets my opponents used in every battle and I saved notes on any difficulties encountered in getting up TR. This took up around the same amount of time as actually playing through the battles, lol.

Dusclops (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Brick Break
- Ally Switch
- Night Shade

One of the first setters I thought of for this run. Frisk is a god-tier ability in the Tree when you're a dedicated support mon like Dusclops. Night Shade let me do consistent damage, Ally Switch was great for screwing with the AI, and Brick Break's screen-removing ability came in clutch several times.


Oranguru (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 212 HP / 164 Def / 132 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 17 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Instruct
- Psychic
- Protect

Oranguru is another obvious choice. This set is pretty standard and has nothing worth mentioning.


Aromatisse (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 8 Atk / 0 Spe
- Dazzling Gleam
- Helping Hand
- Trick Room
- Protect

Aromatisse's niche is its Taunt immunity, as well as its Dark + Fighting resistances. Aside from those it has nothing non-standard.


Porygon2 @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 20 Atk / 0 Spe
- Ice Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Ally Switch / Gravity
- Trick Room

I got the idea of using Porygon2 as a setter from someone who won a VGC event with it (I don't remember his name or the specific tournament). I knew his EV spread was full physdef and that it had Trick Room, but nothing else, and I kinda improvised from there. My original idea was to have Recover as the third move, but right before I rolled it for the first time, I thought that I might as well give it Ally Switch because I could never realistically see myself using Recover. Ally Switch proved to be immensely useful whenever Porygon2 had no real targets to hit. Aside from that, the idea of a setter that has solid offensive presence is cute, but Porygon2 sacrifices a lot of defensive utility, and that's just not something that a long streak can sustain. It was fun to use the few times I got a team that could work with it, however.


Musharna (M) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Telepathy
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Def / 20 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Psychic
- Protect / Energy Ball
- Helping Hand

Musharna's Telepathy makes it an Explosion lead's best friend. I was lucky enough to get this and Golem in the same draft several times, and they worked together phenomenally well. Musharna isn't as weak offensively as you might expect - its Psychics have the ability to 2HKO frail neutral targets like Leafeon and Energy Ball will at worst 3HKO a lot of important waters (notable exceptions are Slowking4 and Milotic). If I felt like the team could deal with bulky waters on its own, I would run Protect instead for extra insurance setting up TR.


Cofagrigus (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 216 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Trick Room
- Ally Switch
- Night Shade
- Protect

Cofagrigus is one of those setters that seems like it would have so much going for it until you realize it's completely outclassed by Dusclops. The reason I ran Cofagrigus was so that I would have 2 Ghost-type setters in the pool, giving me an equal chance to run a Ghost-type, Psychic-type, or other type. Also, while I never had the chance to put this in action, my Cofagrigus had the IVs for Hidden Power Fighting, giving me the potential to trip my Gigalith's weakness policy should I ever happen to draw it alongside Cofagrigus.


Torkoal (F) @ Firium Z
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Protect
- Solar Beam
- Earth Power

Torkoal is essentially Camerupt but without the caveat of being a Mega. Its Eruptions are similar in power, especially when boosted by Helping Hand. Firium Z lets me essentially run a stronger, single-use Flamethrower without having to give up a moveslot, letting Torkoal occasionally lead.


Azumarill (M) @ Wide Lens
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Liquidation
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Protect

Azumarill is one of those pokes that never gets used in tree because it has to give up its hold item slot just to ensure that one of its STABs doesn't miss at a bad time. Wide Lens isn't just there to patch up Play Rough, however - it gives me extra insurance against evasion item holders like Lati@s1, Landorus1, and Walrein4.


Abomasnow (M) @ Abomasite
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 1 Spe
- Wood Hammer
- Blizzard
- Protect
- Earthquake

Abomasnow typically only spammed Blizzard whenever it wasn't protecting itself, and that's perfectly fine - Blizzard is a ridiculously good move whenever it's at perfect accuracy. Even with no investment, Wood Hammer hits the likes of Milotic and Slowking much harder than Energy Ball, and Earthquake is there to smack around Heatran.


Vikavolt (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 4 Atk / 0 Spe
- Bug Buzz
- Thunderbolt
- Protect
- Volt Switch

As one of two non-mega Electrics capable of functioning decently under Trick Room, I couldn't keep Alola's resident bug zapper out of the spotlight. Life Orb gained a tremendous amount of kills, and while I can't remember a single time when Volt Switch was a game-changer, Vikavolt's other options are somewhat limited as the one I owned didn't posses the right IVs for HP Ice.


Magnezone @ Air Balloon
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 0 Spe
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect

The other Electric. To separate itself from Vikavolt, Magnezone is decently capable of functioning outside of TR as well. Its typing lets it perform completely different bait roles if used as a lead (I never got the chance to use Magnezone in the front).


Mawile (M) @ Mawilite
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 0 Spe
- Play Rough
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Protect

Mawile is really good. I am ashamed to admit that I relied on Play Rough hitting more than I'm comfortable with, but Mawile can't hold Wide Lens so it was unavoidable. At least I had Oranguru giving it two chances to hit most of the time.


Hariyama (M) @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
Level: 50
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 108 Def / 116 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Fake Out
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Heavy Slam

While Hariyama falters a bit when going after lengthy (500+) streaks, it truly shines in a format like this, since Hariyama is just a great generalist lead. It pairs solidly well with all 6 of my setters, and that's why I used it nearly every time I rolled it.


Araquanid (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Water Bubble
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Life
- Liquidation
- Ice Beam
- Protect

Araquanid is probably one of the most horrendously broken mons for TR. The set I used was from Spidey and Friends (which was designed around not needing support most of the time), and that made it work with all of my setters. Araquanid was mostly used as a backup, since attracting Rock Slides would not work very well with my non-Oranguru setters.


Slowbro (F) @ Slowbronite
Ability: Own Tempo
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Scald
- Flamethrower
- Protect / Blizzard

Given Slowbro's high bulk, you'd think it would be used as a setter. Much to ReptoAbysmal's joy, however, I ran an all-out attacking set. Unfortunately, it was only ever used once, and spent most of the time spamming Blizzard.


Incineroar (M) @ Incinium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 0 Spe
- Flare Blitz
- Fake Out
- Darkest Lariat
- Low Kick

Incineroar's versatility is one of the reasons it is the Landorus-T of Doubles. Unlike everyone else on Discord who insisted on using a 50% berry or AV set, I ran a Z-move set. Running Incinium actually gave me some side-benefits: Darkest Lariat ignores Evasion boosts even when not powered up into its Z move.


Camerupt (F) @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 6 Atk / 0 Spe
- Eruption
- Earth Power
- Ancient Power
- Protect

Is there even anything that needs to be said at this point about Camerupt? It's a behemoth of a mon whose Eruptions will destroy everything not resistant to it (and if backed by Helping Hand or Instruct, even some stuff that is) and its secondary STAB provides near perfect coverage with Eruption. Unlike Torkoal, this was more often used as a lead.


Tapu Bulu @ Power Bracer
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 244 HP / 252 Atk / 12 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 3 Spe
- Wood Hammer
- Protect
- Horn Leech
- Superpower

One of three Power item holders on the roster. An oft-overlooked item, this can result in some surprising TR-viable mons. Tapu Bulu is a one-dimensional mon offensively, but its defensive support is very much appreciated when using Stakataka, Golem-A, or the Eruption users. Superpower saw literally no use.


Gigalith (F) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 SpA / 12 Spe
- Explosion
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Protect

Gigalith is one of two Explosion users, and was designed with the intention of being used alongside Musharna. Its 12 speed IVs ensure that it will move after Musharna and Cofagrigus under Trick Room, letting them activate its Weakness Policy before it clears the field with its spread move of choice.


Drampa (F) @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Sap Sipper
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Draco Meteor
- Hyper Voice
- Protect
- Flamethrower

Drampa is the only Normal-type TR abuser on this roster, and it has a similar set to the Spidey & Friends version(with Protect over Energy Ball). Lead Drampa poses phenomenal synergy with any setter in the roster aside from Porygon2, thanks to the Ghosts' Ally Switch and the Psychics' support moves.


Ampharos (F) @ Ampharosite
Ability: Static
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 13 Atk / 0 Spe
- Dragon Pulse
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Protect

Ampharos is a great lead no matter which way you swing it. It baits EQs, it can Volt Switch out for extra versatility, and its type change can help as well.


Gastrodon (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Storm Drain
Level: 50
EVs: 184 HP / 92 Def / 220 SpA / 12 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 15 Atk / 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- Clear Smog
- Scald
- Ice Beam

Gastrodon is the textbook glue for water-weak teams. This one is also the exact same specimen used by Turskain in the Maison, but re-EV'd for a better spread.


Mudsdale (M) @ Soft Sand
Ability: Stamina
Level: 50
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- High Horsepower
- Close Combat
- Heavy Slam
- Protect

Mudsdale is the best non-mega Ground TR poke that gets around the flaw most Grounds have in that they hit their allies. Also it has solid bulk.


Celesteela @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 100 Def / 4 SpA / 148 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Heavy Slam
- Flamethrower / Seed Bomb
- Wide Guard
- Protect

Celesteela is one of the few "defensive" abusers, in that it works more to patch up a gaping hole than to actually sweep on its own. Celesteela also claims the dubious title for fastest set on the roster, sitting at a mediocre 59 raw speed, although it's not uncontested as four sets have 58 speed. The coverage move depended more on what the rest of my team needed.


Gyarados (F) @ Power Band
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Waterfall
- Return / Leer
- Leer / Flamethrower
- Protect

When someone mentions the idea of Gyarados being used in Trick Room, you wouldn't be faulted for laughing it off. Nevertheless, here it is, with quite a few appearances on various sets of 10. Perhaps the key here was using Gyarados as a support Pokemon? Intimidate is especially valuable when considering how rare it is on TR mons - only 3 things in my roster have it. Uninvested Flamethrower has a roll to 3HKO Ferrothorn4 (the fully SpDef one). Leer is used more because of the support it can give rather than due to the lack of better options, and Return is good if you don't want to be helpless against bulky waters (especially Gastrodon). Hilariously, there were quite a few battles where Flamethrower happened to be the only reason I won.


Golem-Alola (F) @ Magnet
Ability: Galvanize
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Explosion
- Return
- Rock Slide
- Stomping Tantrum / Protect

Alolan Golem is the cream of the crop for Exploders: It gets STAB and a x1.2 boost from its ability, along with solid coverage. Return is there for when I don't want to go boom. Since this often lead (alongside Musharna), Protect was often necessary to survive the first turn. Plays such as (explode + switch in camerupt) or hh explosion gave Golem a decent amount of versatility and nearly always made the 1-for-2 trade worth it.


Stakataka @ Groundium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Lonely Nature
IVs: 17 Def / 0 Spe
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Gyro Ball
- Rock Slide

What Golem has in crowd control, Stakataka brings in precision threat elimination. Even without a speed-lowering nature, Gyro Ball often hits its max power on at least something on the field, letting me get the ball rolling easily. Resists were often meaningless once Staka was at +1. The downfall of Staka is that it very often can't deal with everything at once, so Ally Switch support was instrumental in keeping Staka alive long enough to clean against Fighting-heavy teams. Even with a negative nature and IVs, Stakataka's physical bulk is not to be underestimated: It can survive the strongest Earthquake in the tree in Grassy Terrain.


Tyrantrum (M) @ Power Belt
Ability: Rock Head
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Head Smash / Rock Slide
- Dragon Claw
- Protect
- Superpower

Tyrantrum is one of those abusers that requires major team support to be able to do anything in any fashion that resembles consistency, and even then it's mediocre. I would often get a single Head Smash KO, only to faint to its partner's attack. I avoided using Tyrantrum as much as I could when given the chance, and given how shoddy my teams were the two times I did use it, I'm glad.


Sylveon (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Pixilate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Hyper Voice
- Shadow Ball
- Psyshock
- Swift

Specs Sylveon is one of the more consistent cleaners that I would run. I would usually pair it with an Eruption user for massive spread damage, but it could often put in work on its own. Psyshock was useful against Blissey exclusivelly, and even the "set-filler" move Swift saw more usage (for instance, against possible Soundproof pokes like Kommo-o).


Dhelmise @ Wide Lens
Ability: Steelworker
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 23 SpA / 0 Spe
- Anchor Shot
- Power Whip
- Shadow Claw
- Protect

Poor Dhelmise. It had a lot of potential to be a great abuser, and then rolled it exactly twice out of 31 possible rolls. The one time I used it, I thought it was a solid Grass mon, and was super excited for when I would roll it alongside Porygon2... which never happened. The only other time I rolled Dhelmise, I got Tapu Bulu that same draft alongside a ground-weak team. This makes Dhelmise one of two sets in my box that I did not use at all during the 214-win streak, only seeing minor usage in the earlier 81-win streak.
1-10:bulu, zone, gastro, torkoal, mush, vika
went with mush/torkoal/bulu/gastro for an FWG core, musharna should help torkoal's eruptions, with gravity helping provide extra targets for gastrodon's earth power

1: accelgor/aerodactyl/marowak/froslass (set 1) aero flinches mush with rock slide and survives inferno overdrive. TR goes up turn 2.
2: comfey/abomasnow/lopunny/vanilluxe (set 1)
3: vaporeon/wishiwashi/dhelmise/audino (set 1)
4: togekiss/tauros/noivern/ludicolo (set 1)
5: gardevoir/pelipper/blissey/aromatisse (set 1)
6: heracross/carbink/swampert/accelgor (set 1)
7: musharna/ludicolo/pelipper/florges (set 1) musharna1 targets hypnosis at my torkoal slot, hits a switchin bulu. torkoal gets back in to hit musharna1 with an IO. TR runs out, but is re-set and the battle is won.
8: gogoat/slowbro/whimsicott/dusknoir (set 1)
9: crabominable/golisopod/swampert/klinklang (set 1)
10: klinklang4/magnezone4/porygon-z/electrode4: T1 overload with eruption + TR. torkoal takes a thunderbolt knocking it down to 63 HP, but T2 psychic into klinklang + EP into zone finishes the job.

11-20: zone, cofa, mudsdale, dhelmise, ince, celes
went with cofa/ince/muds/dhelmise, every combo of flunkies i could run shares massive stacked weaknesses, and this was the 3 mons i felt most comfortable running. ince/cofa should have great synergy, as ince can fake out stuff and cofa can ally switch in front of fighting leads

11: crabominable/glalie(moody)/porygon2/abomasnow (set 1) 19 IV crab underspeeds ince, so T1 flare blitz is necessary
12: lanturn1/medicham2/rhyperior/mudsdale2(stamina)
13: sylveon1/jolteon2/hariyama2/glaceon1
14: jellicent2/slowbro1/slowking/primarina2. Cofa uses nothing but Ally Switch. TR never goes up, Dhelmise eventually comes in to deal with primarina.
15: rotom-w2/gliscor1/sawk2/aromatisse2. Gliscor flings its razor claw into cofa. TR goes up turn 2.
16: crobat/noivern/tyranitar/nidoking(poison point) (set 1) Crobat lands a 3 turn sleep on cofagrigus turn 1, and TR goes up on turn 7? 8? almost all of the battle is played without TR
17: samurott/greninja/conkeldurr/politoed (set 1)
18: braviary(defiant)/gallade/machamp/lucario (set 1)
19: weavile1/vanilluxe1/crabominable1/rotom-frost1
20: bisharp3/toxicroak4/golisopod4/pinsir4. Ally switch helps avoid damage while chipping the leads, cofa gets taunted on turn 4. TR never goes up.

21-30: camel, zone, staka, snow, gyara, clops
flunkies do not mesh at all with clops. clops/staka/abomasnow/gyarados, after several failed attempts to construct a decent team with camerupt, ally switch dusclops and staka should make a better lead pair.

21: wailord2/jellicent1/toxicroak/swampert2
22: vanilluxe2/mismagius3/gourgeist3/glalie. dusclops survives avalanche + NeN, sets TR, and faints to hail.
23: jolteon2/vaporeon2/umbreon3/sylveon
24: heracross2/altaria2/druddigon/malamar
25: shiinotic2/amoonguss3/exeggutor2-alola/lopunny3
26: leafeon3/glaceon3/espeon/umbreon
27: breloom1/toucannon2/hawlucha2/beedrill2. turn 1 ally switch + gyro into toucannon. TR goes up on turn 2.
28: raichu3-alola/porygon2-3/exploud3/rotom-frost
29: lurantis3/turtonator2/blaziken3/delphox
30: whimsicott3/espeon3/braviary/ninetales4-alola

31-40: golem, cofa, tyrantrum, gastro, ince, guru
given the choice of setters, cofa works better here. ince/cofa is a proven lead combo, and gastrodon helps alleviate the water weakness the rest of the draft has. golem is better than tyrantrum since cofa does not learn gravity.

31: aggron4/conkeldurr3/audino4/bronzong4. t1, faked out aggron to prevent potential taunt, audino came in on turn 3 and reversed trick room. played the rest of the battle outside of TR.
32: amoonguss3/turtonator2/sharpedo2/shiinotic3
33: staraptor/sableye3/banette3/mimikyu2
34: exploud/beartic/hydreigon/crobat (set 4)
35: exploud(scrappy)/blissey/kangaskhan/mandibuzz (set 4) in which exploud reminds me that exploud gets scrappy. kangaskhan fortunately fakes out cofagrigus when it enters, letting me 2HKO it with low kick.
36: gigalith4/hippowdon24/rotom-c/garchomp3
37: incineroar3(blaze)/tauros3 (sheer force)/gyarados(moxie)/greninja. comical lineup. if even one thing had intimidate, fight gets much harder.
38: kangaskhan/rotom-w4/weavile/aurorus (set 4)
39: tauros3(intimidate)/gyarados2(intimidate)/staraptor/salamence2
40: decidueye3/lycanroc4-night/incineroar3(intimidate)/magnezone4

41-50: tisse, zone, gastro, cofa, drampa, celes
at first thought, the roll looks like shit. however it features cofa and a fighting-weak lead, so maybe it's better than first impressions lead to believe. cofa/drampa/gastro/celes

41: swampert4/tangrowth4/feraligatr/slaking4
42: avalugg/rotom-f34/dragonite/exploud (set 4)
43: azelf2/thundurus1/virizion2/latios
44: azelf3/kommo-o3/raikou4/latias3
45: lucario4/blaziken3/magmortar3/crobat
46: cofagrigus4/rotom-f/reuniclus3/aggron4
47: charizard3/shiftry3/venusaur4/rotom-h4
48: chandelure/gothitelle4 (competitive)/reuniclus4/slowbro4. TR was delayed in order to prioritize KOing chandelure, and later reuniclus. TR eventually set.
49: rotom-h3/manectric3/raichu4/raikou2. Turn 1 double protect to scout movesets. Turn 2, Cofagrigus takes a Thunderbolt and FPs on turns 2 and 3. TR is never set, but Gastrodon and Drampa carry the team.
50: pidgeot4/tyranitar3(unnerve)/alakazam/machamp3. lineup was not changed, but using Aromatisse would have made this battle much less stressful. Turn 1 TTar3 dragon dances as Hurriane goes into Cofagrigus, Turn 2 pidgeot trips Berserk with Hyper Beam.

51-60: P2, Mudsdale, vikavolt, golem, azu, gastro
I hate this draft. Porygon2 with no fake out support is horrendous to build a team against, especially considering it and vikavolt are the only things that aren't weak to grass. If lead Virizion or Breloom ever shows up, I will likely have a very rough time.
P2/Azu/Vika/Muds.

51: latias4/entei3/tornadus3/terrakion (set 34)
52: froslass4/tangrowth4/hariyama4/gyarados3
53: bewear3/togekiss4/lilligant4/gardevoir3 (set 234)
54: bronzong2/kingdra4/armaldo/swampert3
55: alakazam4/magnezone4(non-sturdy)/chandelure3(flame body)/drampa4
56: bastiodon4/metagross4/klinklang4/scizor3
57: zapdos1 (static)/raikou1/regice2/latios2
58: darmanitan3/bisharp/lanturn4/wishiwashi3
59: togekiss4/gogoat3/hydreigon3/feraligatr
60: lucario4/milotic3/togekiss4/garchomp4

61-70: aboma, bulu, camel, aroma, araquanid, azu
lots of good abusers, but nothing really stands out as being good to lead here. aroma/camel/bulu/araquanid

61: manectric3/medicham4/steelix/alakazam. double protected turn 1 in fear of medicham4 faking out aromatisse, which happened in the battle. TR went up turn 2.
62: arcanine3(intimidate)/lilligant3/lurantis/houndoom4
63: uxie1/azelf4/moltres/cresselia2
64: typhlosion4/blastoise4/charizard3/samurott
65: crobat/ribombee/alakazam/jolteon (set 34) - crobat hit aroma with non-crit CP turn 1, and evreything died to HH eruption turns 2-3.
66: gyarados4/rotom-s3/mawile(no intimidate)/scrafty (no intimidate). t1 switch camel out for bulu, which dies to air slash + waterfall. araquanid replaces and focuses gyarados with leech + gleam. rotom faints to chip + liquidation, and the backups pose no threat to araquanid + camel.
67: slowking3/shuckle4/musharna3/reuniclus4
68: amoonguss3/avalugg4/slowking/slowbro4
69: goodra/vanilluxe(snow warning)/glaceon/rotom-w4 (set 4)
70: toxicroak4/golisopod3/toxapex/bisharp4

71-80: aroma, celes, mush, zone, gigalith, incineroar
Musharna is taught Energy Ball instead of Gravity. This lets the team have a reliable option against bulky waters, and it also lets me trip Gigalith's weakness policy on command. In battle 79, the former of these mattered especially, against Hashim's mono-water lineup I would have had a nasty time without Energy Ball. mush/ince/giga/celes. I lack any confidence in this team's ability to last 10 battles with numerous stacked weaknesses, coverage overlap, etc.

71: palossand/gastrodon3/rotom-mow/hippowdon. Leads are OHKOed without setting TR, and upon seeing the backups, TR is not set.
72: virizion/latios3/azelf4/latias4 (set 3/4)
73: metagross4(clear body)/mesprit3/garchomp3/dragonite3
74: thundurus1/suicune2/azelf/zapdos1 (set 1/2)
75: ampharos4/manectric4/thundurus2/rotom-h3
76: regirock1(clear body)/thundurus2/tornadus/regice (set 1/2)
77: vaporeon4/salazzle4/aerodactyl4/conkeldurr3 (guts)
78: salamence4(intimidate)/entei3/garchomp4/metagross4
79: feraligatr/swampert3/greninja4/kingdra
80: garchomp4/gallade4/altaria3/magnezone

81, 82: mawile, azu, sylv, torkoal, mudsdale, oranguru
these flunkies are among the best to abuse Instruct with. mawile, mudsdale, and torkoal were a given, but the question was which one to I lead with. I decided on torkoal for eruption spam and baiting lead Rock Slides. The team may have issues with bulky waters, but not to the extent of the previous team.

81: bisharp/manectric/zoroark(undisguised)/meganium (set 4). bisharp and manectric double into oranguru's protect turn 1. oranguru is switched out turn 2 and TR never goes up.
82: electrode4/primarina4/kindgra3/empoleon - loss.
1-10: aboma, hariyama, mawile, ince, mush, bulu. mush/yama/bulu/mawile seems like a straightforward squad, with mush taught Protect over energy ball. Team was solid, only trouble was during battle 3 when I neglected to look up infernape1's moves.

1: typhlosion/ludicolo/froslass/hariyama
2: darmanitan/gothitelle/infernape/conkeldurr
3: infernape/bewear/dragonite/umbreon
4: arcanine/steelix/beedrill/politoed
5: eelektross/infernape/mawile/gardevoir
6: wailord/minior/porygon-z/hippowdon
7: rhyperior/ferrothorn/armaldo/rampardos
8: dugtrio-alola/jolteon/togekiss/pyroar
9: slaking/cofagrigus/gourgeist/gyarados
10: garchomp4/togekiss/milotic3/spiritomb3

11-20: drampa, ince, vika, mush, p2, aboma
let's run mush + ince with drampa and aboma in back. aboma covers bulky waters. one downside is that all of the flunkies are fighting-weak, but incineroar's intimidate + fake out as well as Musharna's psychic helps with that.

11: sharpedo2/barbaracle2/pelipper/starmie2
12: vaporeon/gastrodon/tentacruel/toxicroak (set 1)
13: shiftry2/manectric2/reuniclus/typhlosion
14: tentacruel/gothitelle(competitive)/sableye (set 1)
15: glaceon1/glalie/abomasnow/froslass
16: glalie/nidoking/rhyperior/bisharp (set 1)
17: milotic/toxicroak/kingdra/lapras (set 1)
18: froslass/blaziken/accelgor/salazzle (set 1)
19: turtonator2/typhlosion/charizard/exeggutor1
20: toucannon3/comfey3/lurantis/sceptile4

21-30: aroma, azu, guru, yama, amph, araquanid
amazing lead pair in hariyama/oranguru is available. araquanid and ampharos are chosen as back line to avoid type redundancies (araquanid has been proven with oranguru, azumarill hasn't yet)

21: weavile1/incineroar2/oricorio1-sensu/vespiquen1
22: rhyperior3/marowak2-alola/amoonguss3(effect spore)/escavalier3
23: politoed2/swampert3/goodra/ludicolo2
24: tauros1/metagross/espeon2/lickilicky2
25: beedrill2/weezing1/goodra/mimikyu2
26: torterra2/barbaracle3/dragonite3/bewear
27: vikavolt3/ursaring3/aerodactyl2/lopunny3
28: vanilluxe1/crabominable/ninetales2-a/glaceon
29: lapras2/armaldo/starmie2/feraligatr2 (set 23)
30: magnezone/lycanroc3-day/braviary/incineroar(blaze)

31-40: maw, aboma, mush, zone, gastro, ince
incineroar and musharna are the obvious choice to lead with, while backup gastro complements incineroar well. last mon abomasnow to prevent stacked ground weaknesses.

31: accelgor/aerodactyl3/electrode3/alakazam4
32: ludicolo3/jolteon3/toxicroak2/armaldo3
33: yanmega3/komala2/tsareena2/dusknoir3
34: cradily3/lycanroc4-night/mudsdale4/hippowdon2
35: reuniclus2/sharpedo2/torterra2/incineroar2 (intimidate)
36: bruxish2/yanmega2/salazzle3/incineroar2
37: rampardos/altaria/togekiss/florges (set 4)
38: golurk3/mienshao3/samurott2/sableye3. mienshao fake out + golurk NeN both went into musharna, ince MM'd golurk. TR went up on turn 3.
39: golurk(klutz)/kangaskhan/probopass3/heracross (set 4)
40: sceptile3/tsareena/trevenant/comfey

41-50: celes, cofa, golem, sylv, aroma, ince
decent lead pair available in ince/cofa, problem is the backups are all sketchy. golem is the slowest flunky available, but it horribly stacks weaknesses with incineroar (shared weak to ground, water, fighting). so that leaves me with little choice for my team. this'll be the first run of specs sylveon, and Blue should be interesting.

41: lickilicky4/jellicent3/rotom-f4/shiinotic4. jellicent3 ohkoes incineroar with water spout (1/16 roll) and reverses trick room on turn 2. TR is not set after that.
42: braviary(defiant)/lickilicky3/wailord/salamence (set 4)
43: togekiss4/gardevoir3/whimsicott4(prankster)/sylveon
44: minior/mandibuzz/glalie/slaking (set 4)
45: musharna/spiritomb/rotom-s4/aurorus (hail set2 + set4)
46: greninja/lucario3/togekiss4/kommo-o2
47: lickilicky3/slowbro4/wishiwashi3/carbink3. I opted to not set TR.
48: golisopod/exeggutor4-alola/decidueye/gyarados3 (intimidate)
49: serperior (overgrow)/sceptile3/rotom-c/noivern
50: gyarados3 (intimidate)/machamp4 (guts) exeggutor3/arcanine3(intimidate)

51-60: aboma, sylve, azu, aroma, hariyama, vika
hariyama/aroma is the only real choice i have for a lead, and while I could run sylveon and abomasnow in back for spread move spam, I went with abomasnow and azumarill to not stack weaknesses unnecessarily.

51: heatran4/regirock/moltres(pressure)/articuno (set34)
52: blissey/golisopod/talonflame (flame body)/drifblim (set 4)
53: articuno4/latias3/zapdos2/latios4
54: rotom-h/houndoom4/clawitzer3/gourgeist
55: chandelure4/charizard4/shiftry3/lurantis4
56: blissey2/togedemaru4/gardevoir4/musharna4
57: articuno2/tornadus1/regirock2/zapdos1
58: drampa3 (no cloud nine)/vikavolt3/magnezone3/chandelure4. TR goes up with no problem, but the team is nearly too much for me to handle, culminating in a fresh chandelure and half HP vikavolt against my abomasnow and 2/3 Aromatisse, with one turn of TR left.
59: magmortar/blissey/ursaring/venusaur (set 4)
60: scrafty4/liepard3/sharpedo4/drapion

61-70: zone, staka, cofa, vika, bulu, araquanid
staka/cofa make a solid lead pair, with bulu to switch into EQs in the back and araquanid as the only remaining option without a fire weakness. staka goes in slot 1 so that I can immediately test for magnet pull probopass/magnezone. staka/cofa/bulu/araquanid

61: goodra/clawitzer4/carbink3/crobat4
62: latias2/entei2/regice/terrakion (set 12)
63: marowak2-alola/rotom-w3/politoed/jolteon2
64: terrakion/suicune3/regirock4/landorus (set 1234)
65: staraptor3(intimidate)/gyarados4(intimidate)/mawile(intimidate)/tauros4
66: darmanitan3/moltres4/exeggutor3/delphox
67: suicune2/pelipper4/politoed/swampert3
68: samurott/bewear/magmortar/tauros (set 4)
69: landorus3/terrakion/moltres/registeel (set 34)
70: braviary/slowbro3/passimian/whimsicott

71-81: mush, vika, bro, hariyama, aboma, sylveon
hariyama/musharna leads make a solid frontline, with abomasnow to round out the team nicely. tough to choose a fourth member, since both vikavolt and sylveon stack weaknesses. Settled on vikavolt, since having a fire-weak and rock-weak backline isn't too big of a problem when abomasnow can hit the rocks anyway and most fires don't like CC or HH eq too well. mush/hariyama/aboma/vika

71: garchomp4/dragonite3/kommo-o2/cresselia3. dragonite3 outrage goes into musharna turn 1, and the frontline dies on turn 2. backline cleans up very well.
72: gardevoir/sylveon4/aromatisse/togedemaru4 (set 234). misty terrain is set turn 1, hariyama doesn't activate flame orb until last mon togedemaru is isolated.
73: slowking3/slowbro4/snorlax4/cofagrigus3
74: infernape4/incineroar3/typhlosion/serperior3
75: heatran2/whimsicott/shiftry3/ninetales1
76: torterra3/ampharos4/hydreigon/magnezone
77: togekiss/kingdra3/delphox4/slaking
78: articuno/uxie2/heatran1/landorus2 (set 12)
79: slaking/tentacruel4/flygon/charizard4
80: liepard3/toxapex4/toxicroak4/honchkrow
81: shiftry4/lilligant3/houndoom4/charizard. An extra battle was played with this team by accident. Next round will only be 9 battles long to compensate.


82-90: hariyama, torkoal, aromatisse, gyarados, cofagrigus, azumarill
This is one of the worst rolls I've gotten. Flunkies offer no synergy (to the point that their presence hurts one another). Decided to use torkoal, but in the back so that I can choose whether to have sun or no sun. Aroma/Hariyama/Torkoal/Azumarill.

82: empoleon3/charizard4/blaziken/haxorus
83: uxie2/mesprit1/heatran2/cresselia1 (set 12)
84: dusknoir4/oranguru4/torterra4/wishiwashi. Dusknoir4 reverts TR turn 2, and a decent portion of the battle is played without TR.
85: articuno3/moltres/registeel3/latias4 (set 34)
86: steelix3/turtonator3/muk3-alola/tentacruel3
87: walrein/gallade/gardevoir/rotom-w3 (set 4)
88: porygon-z4/aggron4/manectric3/raichu3-alola
89: articuno/moltres2 (flame body)/cobalion/azelf (set 12)
90: toxicroak4/golisopod3/bisharp3/honchkrow

91-100: dusclops, aboma, torkoal, sylve, gyara, zone
Terrible roll. No synergy offered between the setter and flunkies, and none of the flunkies are comfortable leading alongside dusclops (abomasnow attracts rock slides, but it lacks a way to get in safely). Gyara is the only thing on this draft that addresses my alarming weaknesses to Fire-types and Ferrothorn. clops/aboma/gyarados/sylve. Gyarados is taught Flamethrower over Leer.

91: charizard3/exeggutor4-alola/incineroar3/rotom-w4
92: porygon-z3/glaceon4/volcarona4(flame body)/latios2
93: mandibuzz/blastoise/archeops/medicham (set 4)
94: milotic4/ninetales4-alola/togekiss/komala4
95: dugtrio4-alola/nidoqueen3/palossand/ampharos3
96: articuno2/thundurus1/regirock2/registeel (set 12)
97: skarmory/blissey/sableye/minior (set 4)
98: togedemaru4/magnezone4/conkeldurr3/machamp3
99: noivern4/ribombee3/jolteon/weavile3
100: toxicroak3/pinsir4/bisharp3/toxapex4

101-110: aroma, vika, celes, bro, mawile, camerupt
no matter what mega I use, the team will have problems with waters or rocks. I chose to go with the lesser evil and have problems with Waters, since Celesteela can learn Energy ball. Aromatisse/Camerupt/Vikavolt/Celesteela. Celesteela is taught Energy Ball over Flamethrower.

101: sharpedo3/goodra4/ninetales4-alola/aerodactyl3
102: kommo-o2/articuno14/heatran24/cresselia1
103: kommo-o2/uxie3/regirock4/registeel
104: raikou4/cobalion3/terrakion3/latias3. (set 34)Aromatisse is switched out for Vikavolt turn 1 in fear of Cobalion4. It comes back in after Terrakion is sent out, and is flinched to death without setting up TR.
105: greninja4/noivern3/electrode4/accelgor
106: chesnaught4/meganium3/infernape3/incineroar
107: zapdos3/mesprit2/cresselia4/azelf
108: porygon-z3/gyarados3/milotic/rotom-c
109: houndoom4/whimsicott3/venusaur/charizard
110: talonflame3/toucannon4/trevenant/comfey

111-120: sylve, torkoal, aroma, gyarados, slowbro, ampharos
This draft has problems with grounds, regardless of what I run (Slowbro creates mega conflicts and I have to run Torkoal to deal with Ferrothorn). Aroma/Ampharos/Torkoal/Sylveon. Teaching Ampharos HP Ice over Volt Switch should also help with the ground weakness.

111: gardevoir4/whimsicott4/florges2/aromatisse4. Gardevoir4 OHKOes Aromatisse with Hyper Beam on turn 1. TR is not set, but the battle is won thanks to the harmless florges2/aromatisse4 backline.
112: flareon3/vaporeon4/espeon/leafeon
113: kommo-o1/noivern3/tyranitar4/umbreon4. Turn 1, Hidden power goes into Noivern, who takes 30%? Whoops, this Ampharos actually has HP Psychic.
114: pinsir3/kangaskhan3/aurorus3/blissey4
115: weavile/greninja4/talonflame/aerodactyl4
116: latios3/glaceon3/espeon/volcarona3
117: registeel2/uxie1/entei1/zapdos1 (set 12)
118: palossand4/sharpedo4/conkeldurr3/machamp4
119: pelipper4/tornadus4/suicune/beartic
120: toxicroak4/bisharp4/pinsir4/toxapex4. These leads scare Aromatisse. It switches out, and TR is never set.

121-130: aroma, hariyama, magnezone, clops, torkoal, vikavolt
Aromatisse/hariyama/magnezone/torkoal is the only team configuration that has both a solid frontline and decent backups, as Hariyama's potential is wasted in the back. Magnezone is taught HP Ice and holds Air Balloon to alleviate the team's problems with Grounds.

121: exeggutor3/rotom-c4/venusaur4/tsareena3
122: beartic4/politoed1/bruxish3/marowak2-alola
123: landorus4/regigigas/terrakion4/tornadus3 (set 1234)
124: drampa/gengar4/heatran/chandelure4
125: moltres(pressure)/landorus4/tornadus/entei3 (set 34)
126: sylveon3/porygon2-3/gardevoir4/slaking
127: zapdos4/staraptor3/entei1/tentacruel4
128: latios3/cobalion/kommo-o3/raikou3 (set 34)
129: dhelmise4/avalugg4/lickilicky/turtonator4
130: houndoom3/absol4/bisharp4/tyranitar3

131-140: guru, gyarados, torkoal, ampharos, clops, sylveon
While Torkoal/Guru sounds like a good lead pair in theory, it happened to let me down the last time I used it. Hopefully, Ampharos can help counter bulky waters. oranguru/torkoal/ampharos/sylveon.

131: sceptile4/empoleon/blaziken/chesnaught
132: liepard/weezing/mamoswine/togekiss (hail set2 + set4)
133: greninja4(torrent)/talonflame3/crobat/ribombee
134: chesnaught4/noivern3/torterra/gogoat
135: wishiwashi4/aggron4/slowking4/gothitelle
136: mamoswine/flygon/minior/gyarados (set 4)
137: conkeldurr4/jellicent4/audino4/cofagrigus4
138: blastoise3/delphox4/torterra3/infernape4
139: musharna4/oranguru2/rotom-w3/gardevoir3
140: espeon/slowbro4/passimian3/turtonator4

141-150: p2, camel, mush, araquanid, golem-a, vikavolt
mush alongside an exploder is always a solid lead choice, especially with an explosion-immune backup alongside it. The team is a tad weak to ground, so Mush is taught Energy Ball. Golem is taught Protect over Stomping Tantrum so that it can function as a lead. mush/golem/camerupt/araquanid

141: tauros4/beartic4/hawlucha/golisopod3
142: cobalion4/regice4/virizion/uxie (set 34)
143: tentacruel4/trevenant4/muk3-alola/probopass4
144: mudsdale3/scizor4/medicham3/machamp4
145: goodra4/comfey4/togedemaru/mimikyu
146: blissey3/audino4/sylveon/slowbro4 (set 234)
147: cresselia4/uxie3/cobalion/virizion3 (set 34)
148: kommo-o2/azelf4/mesprit/registeel
149: articuno1/latios1/garchomp3/snorlax4
150: muk3-alola/porygon-z4/electrode4/porygon2-4 (analytic)

151-160: mush, drampa, dhelmise, mawile, torkoal, guru
This roll is legitimately horrible. Numerous stacked weaknesses and item conflicts, on top of a choice of two nearly identical TR setters.
After much debating, I settled on Mawile/Oranguru/Torkoal/Drampa. Torkoal is taught Flamethrower over Solarbeam and holds Soft Sand. Drampa is taught Energy Ball over Flamethrower.

151: scizor3/wishiwashi4/samurott3/empoleon4
152: machamp/medicham/spiritomb/carracosta (set 4)
153: rotom-c3/dhelmise3/virizion2/exeggutor4-alola. Out of fear of a Z-move going into Oranguru, Dhelmise is switched in turn 1. TR goes up on turn 3.
154: crobat/accelgor4/aerodactyl4/electrode3. Crobat goes for Cross Poison, it is disposed of and TR is set.
155: spiritomb3/armaldo4/magmortar3/nidoking
156: tentacruel4/politoed4/trevenant3/dhelmise4
157: empoleon4/magnezone3/mandibuzz/umbreon4
158: mudsdale4/lapras3/lopunny4/ludicolo4
159: rotom-w4/pelipper3/blastoise4/goodra3
160: liepard3/bisharp3 (inner focus)/pinsir4/golisopod

161-170: camel, hariyama, p2, golem-a, sylveon, mawile-mega
No confidence in this roll. P2, as a setter, needs a solid lead partner in order for it to function. Sylveon would be the only partner here that fits that job, but is harmed by protect being near mandatory on TR leads. Maybe it can manage to work anyway? Hariyama is another choice for a lead, as it lacks Sylveon's nice type synergy with P2 but makes up for it with Fake Out. Man, I wish I'd rolled Dhelmise here. p2/hariyama/sylveon/camerupt

161: clawitzer4/hippowdon3/pelipper/sharpedo3
162: ludicolo4/pelipper4/beartic/carracosta
163: delphox3/ninetales3/exeggutor3/shiftry4
164: leafeon4/hydreigon/noivern4/salamence3
165: thundurus2/cobalion4/regirock(sturdy)/raikou
166: aggron3/hippowdon3/steelix3/palossand
167: musharna4/snorlax/slowbro4/steelix4
168: magmortar4/beartic4/jolteon/carracosta
169: alakazam4(inner focus)/sceptile3/greninja/serperior
170: milotic3/togekiss/lucario3/garchomp3

171-180: gyara, celes, bro, maw, aroma, tyrantrum
This draft is incredibly awkward to build for. Two megas, a bunch of pokes that need gravity on a setter that lacks access to it, stacked weaknesses, and pokes with relatively high speeds.
mawile/aromatisse/tyrantrum/gyarados. Tyrantrum is taught Rock Slide over Head Smash because Gravity isn't available. Gyarados is taught Leer over Return to better support its teammates. I have no faith in this team, but let's see what it can do.

171: cradily3/skarmory3/pinsir3/magmortar
172: goodra3/magmortar3/kingdra/bruxish
173: glalie4/clawitzer3/gourgeist3/vespiquen3
174: gigalith/bastiodon4/steelix3/snorlax3. TR was opted to not be set, as it was likely that the majority of this Breeder's roster would underspeed my team.
175: palossand4/gastrodon3/sandslash3/gliscor4
176: rotom-w/swampert3/politoed3/goodra3
177: drampa3/gastrodon4/rhyperior3/golisopod4
178: heracross/arcanine/mimikyu/lickilicky3 (set 4)
179: tornadus3/entei1/raikou/virizion2
180: sceptile4/trevenant4/lurantis/toucannon3

181-190: p2, maw, bro, guru, tyrantrum, yama
Weird roll at first glance. However, this gives me all the pieces to use a gravity room team! Porygon2/Hariyama/Slowbro/Tyrantrum. Tyrantrum is re-taught Head Smash. Porygon2 is taught Gravity over Ally Switch. Slowbro is taught Blizzard over Protect.

181: dragonite4/exeggutor3/salamence3/mesprit1
182: snorlax/turtonator4/gigalith4/steelix4
183: tornadus/entei4/landorus/suicune1
184: greninja/politoed1/beartic/carracosta
185: metagross3/gardevoir4/medicham4/rotom-w3
186: charizard3/leafeon4/heatran/whimsicott4
187: umbreon3/incineroar/togekiss/crobat
188: virizion2/tsareena/rotom-c4/florges2
189: landorus4/kommo-o3/cresselia4/uxie4 (legends set 34)
190: primarina/lycanroc4-n/braviary4/magnezone4

191-200: camel, bulu, dhelmise, mush, p2, golem-a
With the effectiveness of Golem-A lead next to Musharna already proven, especially with a Ground-type partner, the last question is which Grass do I want to use. Bulu helps reduce EQ, making it possible for Golem-A to survive weaker STAB EQs.
Musharna/Golem/Camerupt/Tapu Bulu. Musharna is taught Protect over Energy Ball.

191: beartic/ambipom3/mamoswine/passimian
192: carbink4/shuckle3/swampert3/scizor3
193: rampardos3/haxorus3/rhyperior3/regigigas4
194: tornadus1/thundurus1/suicune/regice (set 1234)
195: hippowdon2/gigalith4/dugtrio4-alola/tyranitar4
196: gastrodon3/carracosta/wishiwashi4/mudsdale
197: kommo-o2/registeel4/regice/mesprit2
198: entei2/thundurus4/electivire/terrakion4
199: goodra4/dragonite3/uxie3/hydreigon
200: tsareena4/sceptile4/toucannon/talonflame4

201-210: vika, sylve, hariyama, bro, torkoal, mush
Pretty good draft to work with here. Strategy is "pair flinch-weak setters with lead hariyama and run spread moves in back for big damage". Musharna/Hariyama/Torkoal/Sylveon. Musharna runs Protect here since Hariyama + Torkoal can take care of waters in tandem.

201: rotom-f4/braviary/vaporeon/ursaring (set 4)
202: entei4/registeel3/thundurus1/virizion1
203: lilligant3/moltres2/leafeon4/tangrowth
204: armaldo3/beartic4/rotom-w/greninja
205: aerodactyl4/machamp4/politoed4/lycanroc3-d
206: tornadus3/thundurus4/latios3/raikou4 (set 34)
207: latios2/virizion2/cobalion/cresselia2 (set 12)
208: regigigas1/charizard3/comfey/slaking3
209: porygon-z/toxapex/raichu/mandibuzz (set 4)
210: whimsicott4/turtonator3/braviary/passimian

211-215: p2, ince, staka, vika, araquanid, gastro
Everything I could pair with Porygon2 either stacks a Fighting weakness or is weak to Rock (and thus draws Rock Slide). Incineroar may be both of those, but it does at least bring Fake Out and Intimidate to the table, giving me some way to assist Pory in setting up TR. Porygon2 is re-taught Ally Switch since nothing here can feasibly abuse Gravity. Porygon2/Incineroar/Gastrodon/Vikavolt.

211 was accidentally entered with musharna/incineroar/gastrodon/vikavolt. 212-215 were played with the correct team.

211: kingdra4/electrode4/greninja4/pelipper1
212: crobat3/ribombee/accelgor/electrode4
213: regigigas1/landorus2/heatran2/articuno2 (set 12)
214: gengar4/weavile/exploud/nidoqueen3. Weavile fake out goes into Incineroar, and TR is set on turn 1.
215: medicham4/lickilicky3/beartic3/gardevoir3 - loss

Battle Videos:
FKHG-WWWW-WWX4-4CQE. #92: vs. Porygon-z3/Glaceon4/Latios2/Volcarona4. Things start to go awry when my own Abomasnow supplies hail for Snow Cloak Glaceon4.
NLQG-WWWW-WWX3-KQ57. #177: vs. Drampa3/Gastrodon4/Golisopod4/Rhyperior3. An early Quick Claw activation and very threatening AI team is negated by the AI's terrible move choices.
7RWG-WWWW-WWX4-XW7N. #215: vs. Medicham4/Lickilicky3/Beartic3/Gardevoir3. An extremely dangerous lead combo causes the battle to spiral out of my control instantly, finishing with a 1v1 between Lickilicky3 and Gastrodon after Trick Room ends.

Thanks for taking the time to read all the way through this! I promise I'll get back to my Singles streak and either hit 3000 or lose before Gen 8 is released.
 
Long time no post! I didn't come to post a streak, because I have nothing to show yet, but to ask for some advice. I'm working on the super singles format in the tree, and I want to be able to earn a respectable streak (100 or so) on my Ultra Sun cart before the new games drop, and this is what I'm working with right now:

greninja.png

Greninja (M) @ Life Orb
Nature: Timid
Ability: Protean
IVs: 31/x/31/31/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Grass Knot
- Dark Pulse

In many ways, I regard Greninja as the spiritual successor of the Starmie that carried me far into the Battle Subway in gen five, and even back then it was paired with the same team mates as this Greninja. There isn't much to be said about the set itself, it's very self-explanatory.

scizor-mega.png

Scizor (M) @ Scizorite
Nature: Adamant
Ability: Technician -> Technician
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Scizor switches in on many ice types and dragon types as well as grass attacks aimed at Greninja. I used to run Bug Bite over Superpower but reconsidered after reading a lot of posts in this thread, using Superpower provides better coverage against stuff like Ferrothorn and the plethora of bulky normal types in the tree (Snorlax, M-Kangaskhan, etc.). Otherwise it's all standard stuff.


garchomp.png

Garchomp (M) @ Dragonium-Z
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Rough Skin
IVs: 31/31/31/x/31/31
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spd
- Earthquake
- Outrage
- Swords Dance
- Substitute

Sub-Chomp rounds out the team well and switches in on some things neither of the other two want to touch with a ten-foot pole. I used to run a team of DD-Dragonite/Suicune/M-Scizor, but I lost to random things like Magnezone (admittedly with some hax), and Rotom-Frost of all things. I needed an electric immunity it seemed, and it made me reconsider the team in its entirety. I've seen some others use Dragon Claw on Garchomp, but I think the immediate power of Outrage is needed with Jolly, though I hate locking into it without a sub up. Thankfully, it doens't happen very often.

I lost my streak at 59 hilariously to Sina who used Glaceon-3, in a loss involving both getting my Scizor frozen and her getting Snow Cloak hax. :( I know that the team is capable of a longer streak, at least to my goal of 100 wins, since others have cleared 100+ wins with the same team (more or less), so I'm back at it and I just beat Red.

Before proceeding though, I wanted to ask the experts here on whether or not I could fix something with my team before I keep going? My main questions are:

- I've only PP-Up:ed Scizor's Roost; are there any other moves you think I need to PP-Up? None of my mons are going to stall anything out, bar Scizor stalling out some 5 PP moves, most notably Stone Edges and Focus Blasts. Is there any use using any PP-Ups?

- The EV-spreads are super simple, and while both Garchomp and Greninja are pretty self-explanatory, I don't think Scizor's EV:s are optimal. Should I spend more in SDef for example? Are there any useful speed tiers I could hit with some investment?

Here are some quick insights for your Scizor questions. I've been on-and-off attempting a 200-streak singles run through a team ultimately inspired by Echskiry's two teams (Mimikyu, Kartana, Garchomp and Mimikyu, M-Scizor, Garchomp). I tried the first team for a while but M-Scizor's bulky capabilities were more handy than Kartana's offensive prowess. I am currently using the second team with a little variation to M-Scizor. I know that our teams are different but I think that M-Scizor can play a similar role with your team.

Question 1: Really only necessary to max PP for Roost because of the stalling capabilities in a pinch, especially for some 5 PP moves. The kind of low PP moves to sponge leads into my next answer.

Question 2: I would suggest a bulky M-Scizor running 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpDef. The teams we run lean closer to a hyper offensive playstyle that relies on setting up relatively quickly and going instead of slowly setting conditions to win like the moody teams you see on the top the leaderboard. However, M-Scizor serves greatly as a special defense wall that can soak up powerful non-fire low PP special attacks such as Hydro Pump, Blizzard, and Focus Blast. Of course, you may get the unfortunate freeze but having a that special defense investments give you at least one more opportunity to unfreeze. Don't get me wrong, a freeze will happen here and there the longer you play but a bulky M-Scizor is still your best answer.

I have found that no speed investment on M-Scizor is a non-issue because it won't be outspeeding a lot anyway. Plus, you have that priority win button with Bullet Punch.

Regarding the lack of attack investment, your bulk will allow you to set up at least one Sword Dance and you can always Roost off the damage. When the time is right, you can absolutely bop the opposition.

One more note: I would reconsider Superpower because it negatively affects your bulk. If you absolutely must run a fighting attack, Brick Break is safer. Otherwise, I endorse Bug Bite for STAB and Technician Boost. Berry stealing is rare but is funny when it happens. Another option is Brutal Swing.

Sorry about the Sina loss. I've been bopped by not respecting Glaceon as well. Just gotta keep mitigating your risk and keep going. You got a cool team going on there.
 
Hello guys.
I've always wanted to join this section because I am very keen on Battle Tree and Maison but this is the first time I got a really good streak with a team of my own. And it all started with a Tapu Lele that I got after 4 or so weeks of soft resetting.
Super Multis AI with Colress
Event: Tapu Lele Lvl 100
Ability: Psychic Surge
Item: Choice Scarf
Nature: Modest
Evs: 6 Def 252 Sp Atk 252 Speed
Hidden Power Fire
Psychic
Psyshock
Moonblast

It took me a LONG LONG time to get this Lele.... Totally worth it.

Gyarados Lvl 100
Ability: Intimidate
Item: Gyaradosite
Nature: Adamant
Evs: 6HP 252 Atk 252 Speed
Dragon Dance
Crunch
Iron Head
Waterfall

I bred this Gyarados back in Pokemon Y and I used to use it with Earthquake instead of Ironhead for Singles.
I found it to be a very useful Pokemon in Multies due to its inmunities, type changes and great abilities.
Metagross Lvl 50
Ability: Light Metal
Item: Metagrossite
Nature: Jolly
Evs: 252 Atk 252 Speed
Zen Headbutt
Meteor Mash
Brick Breaker
Bullet Punch

Most of the fights I would just aim with Lele to the opposing Pokemon that could not be defeated by this Monster....

Porygon-Z Lvl 50
Ability: Download
Item: Normalium Z
Nature: Timid
Evs: 252 Sp Atk 252 Speed
Tri Attack
Thunderbolt
Shadow Ball
Recover
Win battle N° 50: U99G-WWWW-WWX4-AEM4
Win battle N° 100: CCNG-WWWW-WWX4-AEME
Win battle N° 150: 354W-WWWW-WWX4-AEMV
Win battle N° 200: PRKW-WWWW-WWX4-AEN5
Loss battle N° 214: RTFG-WWWW-WWX4-AEN9
I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
 
Here's my 3000th straight: JTUW-WWWW-WWX4-HDRR. Pretty basic battle where Glalied OHKOed Guzma's 2nd and 3rd team members.

Here's a bonus fun close call at #2563: WHFW-WWWW-WWX4-HDSW.

In it Glalie is able to continue setting up on a non-Truant Volcarona-4 that came in after Archeops-3 (one of 4 sets that OHKOs Durant with a 5 PP Choice move). This was one of my more rewarding wins in quite a while since for 2+ years the only real benchmark for me has been improving my play/decision-making over time. After Volcarona broke Glalie's sub with Heat Wave, I was in an extremely rare and unlucky matchup where I had to consider a lot of moving parts - Glalie's current boosts (which were lackluster to say the least) and where they'd be likely to end up, which moves Volcarona would use, whether to try chipping it down immediately or stall for more boosts first, if/when I should switch in Mimikyu, what the 3rd team member could be and whether it would be sent in before Archeops, to name a few.

My past experiences and practice battles suggested that Volcarona would be likely to attempt Quiver Dances as long as Glalie was faster, and I was confident enough to act on that knowledge by Taunting Volcarona even while unsubbed rather than making a more passive play such as switching to Mimikyu (definitely ended up being the right call in that regard as both of Volcarona's teammates could have U-Turned right back to it) or attempting to Sub stall as much as possible and hope for better boosts to come around eventually. Each time Taunt landed on a predicted Quiver Dance, it gave Glalie the chance to stall 2 more Heat Wave PP without having to worry about being boosted on, and after a few cycles of this Glalie's own stats were boosted enough to evade a few attacks and to laugh off +0 Hurricanes and Bug Buzzes while continuing to wait for Special Attack boosts.

edit: the team is Durant, Glalie, and Mimikyu and it's been pretty good for a while and if somehow you're still curious about the team here's other stuff about it

 
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Hello everyone!

I'm not very good when it comes to competitive battles, so I wanted to ask for some help with the USUM Battle Tree. I want to do a mono-fighting team, but I'm not sure it's even possible? My goal is to get the stamps and maybe the special berries, I'm not aiming for the leaderboard with this team.

Here's what I have planned so far:

(Full disclosure: I've failed math class twice, so I'm going with what the respective Smogon pages recommend for EV spreads. In other words: I would really appreciate some guidance on them)

Medicham - Light Clay
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
  • Light Screen
  • Reflect
  • Bullet Punch
  • Ice Punch
Medicham's role is to set up Light Screen and get out of the way. Bullet Punch is in case of fairies and Ice Punch is in case of ground- or flying-types, but I don't expect to use either of those because Medicham seems like a relatively frail Pokemon.

Kommo-o - Salac Berry
EVs: 52 HP / 204 Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
  • Belly Drum
  • Substitute
  • Drain Punch
  • Ice Punch
This set is taken directly from the Smogon page for it. I was going to go with the Kommonium-Z set, but this one looked fun so I wanted to give it a try. Medicham's screens should add to Kommo-o's survivability and Drain Punch aids recovery.

Lucario - Lucarionite
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves:
  • Bullet Punch
  • Flash Cannon
  • Earthquake
  • Close Combat
Lucario is here to clean up anything left over when Kommo-o is done. With Mega-Lucario's huge attack/special attack, I'm thinking there won't be much that can resist him.

I'm also breeding a Hawlucha for Tailwind support for Doubles, but I'm going to try Singles first.

Thank you very much for any advice!
 
First off, I'm going to give it to you straight: I don't think a mono-ANYTHING team is going to get the singles stamp without significant luck. There are some sets that solo your whole team (Charizard3 comes to mind immediately, which also can be on Red's roster). This is because, as a monotype team, your team shares a lot of weaknesses. And you'll have to face 150 mons before that stamp, so there's a huge chance that something will be able to solo your team.

Now onto the individual problems with your team.

Medicham is extremely unreliable in the job you've given it, that being to "cripple". With only 80 base speed and horrendous bulk (uninvested bulk at that), it is extremely unlikely to get both screens up before it dies, and a significant portion of the time it won't be able to get up either screen. If you're going to have a crippler in the first slot, I'd recommend the following set:

Gallade @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Steadfast
Level: 50
EVs: 108 HP / 148 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Memento
- Trick
- Thunder Wave / Flash
- Psycho Cut / Flash

Gallade's significantly higher bulk and much better movepool make it more suited to a crippling role than Medicham. Memento access means it can free up its item slot, letting it run a Choice Scarf to outspeed the base 145 crew. Trick, Thunder Wave, and Flash provide extra safeties if you can afford to get them off, but usually you'll just be spamming Memento (which ignores magic bounce). Psycho Cut lets you OHKO Beedrill and 2HKO Accelgor (whose item can't be removed and carries Encore). EVs give you a 15/16 chance to survive Mega Alakazam's Shadow Ball.
Do note that some of the moves here are obscure. Memento (a must for this set) is an egg move, acquired by breeding with Koffing. Flash, should you choose to run it, requires that you breed the Ralts in ORAS.

Now for Kommo. It's not the best booster, but when you run a team with restrictions like these, you take what you can get I guess. Fighting + Ice coverage leaves you walled by the Slowthings (Slowbro3 carries recover, so you will never score a KO on it) and Primarina. Additionally, Kommo-o's low base speed leaves it to get outsped at +1 by: Typhlosion3 (Extrasensory), Entei3 (Extrasensory), Landorus2(Extrasensory), Terrakion2(Sacred Sword), Rotom-s4(Air Slash), and a few others. Kommo is fine as is, it's just not as infallible when fully set up as you'd think it would be.
 
Thank you! I'll try that Gallade set.

Edit: If it changes anything, I'm not too attached to the mono-fighting idea; it would just be nice to use, if I could make it viable.
 
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Hello everyone!

I'm not very good when it comes to competitive battles, so I wanted to ask for some help with the USUM Battle Tree. I want to do a mono-fighting team, but I'm not sure it's even possible? My goal is to get the stamps and maybe the special berries, I'm not aiming for the leaderboard with this team.

Here's what I have planned so far:

(Full disclosure: I've failed math class twice, so I'm going with what the respective Smogon pages recommend for EV spreads. In other words: I would really appreciate some guidance on them)

Medicham - Light Clay
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
  • Light Screen
  • Reflect
  • Bullet Punch
  • Ice Punch
Medicham's role is to set up Light Screen and get out of the way. Bullet Punch is in case of fairies and Ice Punch is in case of ground- or flying-types, but I don't expect to use either of those because Medicham seems like a relatively frail Pokemon.

Kommo-o - Salac Berry
EVs: 52 HP / 204 Atk / 252 Spe
Moves:
  • Belly Drum
  • Substitute
  • Drain Punch
  • Ice Punch
This set is taken directly from the Smogon page for it. I was going to go with the Kommonium-Z set, but this one looked fun so I wanted to give it a try. Medicham's screens should add to Kommo-o's survivability and Drain Punch aids recovery.

Lucario - Lucarionite
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves:
  • Bullet Punch
  • Flash Cannon
  • Earthquake
  • Close Combat
Lucario is here to clean up anything left over when Kommo-o is done. With Mega-Lucario's huge attack/special attack, I'm thinking there won't be much that can resist him.

I'm also breeding a Hawlucha for Tailwind support for Doubles, but I'm going to try Singles first.

Thank you very much for any advice!

I would try some speed passing Blaziken lead (pass to Moxie Scrafty on a Psychic move for example) before I tried setting up screens or Memento when any critical hit from Psychic or Moonblast or whatever will do you in regardless.

I’m sure you could get 50 with other monotype teams (I got 100 my first try with Krookodile/Smeargle/Chansey and I’m sure like Stoutland could fulfill a similar debuffing lead role) but Fighting is hard (and conversely it’s an easy enough weakness to plan around in your own teams) because it’s got an immunity and its moves don’t have any beneficial side effects.
 
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I had a Steel Triples team in Y; it didn't go too far, but I think that was more because of bad play on my part than because the team itself wasn't good. I wish I could get my hands on a Scizor, the Bullet Punch+Technician is wonderful.

Someone wonder traded me a 5IV Mimikyu, so I'm considering using that instead of Lucario. I've got a Ralts and Jangmo-o getting ready. Is there a faster way to EV train than using PokePelago?
 
Yes, you can get to 252/252 in just 10 or so minutes via SoS... :P

Find mon that gives 1 or 2 EV that you need (es: Zubat for speed, Psyduck for spatk, Slowpoke for HP, etc), equip appropriate brace on the pokemon in reserve with Exp share on, false swipe one then defeat 7 in a SoS battle. Or 14 without Pokerus.
Repeat for other Evs. Can EV train up to 6 pokes at time, too.

You can math out what you need for more precise values, or berry your way down from 252 if they are close to 200.
 
Huh! I didn't know non-battling Pokemon could get EVs from battle. Thank you!
EVs are granted by getting experience (even if level 100), so if exp share is enabled, entire team gets the EVs.
Which allows if you please to EV 6 pokes at same time (I used to do some combinations, like farming Zubats while having some pokes with Spatk and some with Atk braces to speed up the EVing as I needed speed EVs anyway as well).

Which also contributes to why during a casual gameplay it's very easy to end up having completely random EVs on the team :D

(don't forget to either use a active pokemon with Intimidate / pressure / unnerve, or use Adrenaline orbs, expecially if on USUM as without orbs you only get a single SoS call)
 
I would like to record an ongoing streak of 122 in the Battle Tree(Ultra Moon).
Last battle Nr 122: NZMW_WWWW_WWX4-QQBN
The team:
Aegislash: I breed this on my copy of Sun. Therefore the OT. !BOBO!
As you can see it has maximu HP and Attack investment and a brave nature.
Although it has maximum speed Dv's. It is a purely physical nature but I was to lazy to breed for one with 0dv's in speed and to this day I did not manage to use PP maxes on his attacks. I didn't breed it from scratch I received a 4 dv honedge via GTS.

Next Member: Salamence-Mega

That mon is broken. It is my primary sweeper. I usually Mega and use Dragon Dance turn 1, unless my opponent is capaple of learning a strong Ice attack or Stone Edge/Rockslide. Then I start sweeping. I ha ´ve no way to get a refresh Mega Mence so I don't even bother using a defenive one with roost. I breed this salamence using a bagon from GTS.


Silveon it is the clerik for my Team. If Salamence or Aegislash get statused or low on HP and are on no possition to continue the sweep, I switch into Sylveon if possible to set up a wish or use heal bell. Maximum Hp and Defense investment because it's physical defense sucks otherwise.


Battle Nr 122.
 

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Battle Tree - 2.220 wins

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Foreword
I don't like doing write ups. Simply because I am not good at it and mainly because I end up explaining the self explanatory.
If you've followed this thread or read the previous ones you may know who I am and what I do.

I exploit a Trick Room Endeavor strategy since the Battle Tower era and I think I've gotten quite good at it too.
In the previous generation I hold a 4.000+ record using this strategy. In this generation, -with the introduction of the Tapu's, Z moves and the AI working way different-, it seemed like this strategy was outdated. I'm coming back once again to prove you otherwise.

After my 1.647 loss against Zapdos2 I didn't play Battle Tree competitively anymore. The loss involved a lot of hax, I knew the team could get a lot higher but I had zero intention to go through all those battles again to prove this. I ended up not playing Pokémon at all for a long while until I got triggered again and started RNGing new Pokémon. During this time I still had no intention to start a new streak but I needed Battle Points for tutoring moves so I started anyway. I got to 400 with my "old" team, ending up with way more BP then I actually needed. Then I started FRLG RNG and it hit me. At first I wanted to RNG a Careful Kangaskhan in Fire Red with Seismic Toss as a suporter for a Tapu Koko/Mega-Kangaskhan/Back-up team. But then I figured that running a similar set would actually increase my odds for a 2k+ run with the Trick Room team.
In my previous build Kangaskhan's Double-Edge dealt more damage than I needed it to do most of the times, while damaging myself hard via it's recoil. Drain Punch and Sucker Punch on the other hand started missing out on a lot of imporant rolls due to the Parental Bond nerf.

I will talk about the Kangaskhan and her team mates a bit more down below.

There have been two crucial battles during this run which should not allow me to post this streak in the first place.
The first one is showcased in the video below where I freeze a Toxicroak to secure the win.
There was another battle where I ended up against Mega Scizor who had a 75% chance to KO my Kangaskhan with Bullet Punch, but failed.


Team

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Dusclops @ Eviolite*
Nature: Relaxed
Ability: Frisk
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/00
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Def / 188 Sp.Def
Lv. 50 stats: 147/90/261*/80/261*/27
Moves: Trick Room / Foresight / Brick Break / Night Shade

Same old Dusclops, I really can't write any more about this thing.
You all know what it does. I changed the EV's to equal defenses which I felt would give me better odds to the Tree mons in general.
I did dozens of calculations to figure out what would actually be the best EV spread but I think there is no better one than this.
252 HP is mandatory due to the low HP stat while equal defensive stats allow it to take hits from both sides better.
I used to run more defense to work around possible Rock Slide flinches and Rock types better but I learned to use Fake Out better in this run.
With this spread Dusclops also isn't 1HKO'd by any Z-move.


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Togedemaru @ Berry Juice
Nature: Brave
Ability: Sturdy
IVs: 00/31/00/00/31/00
EVs: 100 Sp.Def
Lv. 1 stats: 12/07/06/05/07/05
Moves: Fake Out / Spiky Shield / Endeavor / Toxic

Togedemaru wasn't changed either. I re-bred one with perfect IV's and hatched it at the Battle Tree to showcase my serious intention to take a shot at the leaderboard.
100 Sp.Def EV's give it a higher Sp.Def stat than Defense, guaranteeing that Download leads always get the Atk boost.


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Kangaskhan @ Kangaskhanite
Nature: Brave
Ability: Scrappy (Parental Bond)
IVs: 31/31/30/03/30/00
EVs: 252 HP / 52 Atk / 100 Def / 104 Sp.Def
Lv. 50 (Mega) stats: 212/167/132/66/133/94
Moves: Fake Out / Seismic Toss / Retaliate / Crunch

Kangaskhan has been involved in the least amount of battles compared to Conkeldurr but really is the star of the team in regards of longetivity.
The previous build ran 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Sp.Def with Double-Edge, Drain Punch and Sucker Punch over Retaliate, Seismic Toss and Crunch.
Seismic Toss deals 50% - 71% damage on around 75% of the Tree, which is enough in most cases.
With 52 Atk EV's, Retaliate hits for the exact same damage as a 252 Atk Double-Edge would do, without recoil.


52+ Atk Parental Bond Kangaskhan-Mega Retaliate vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gallade-Mega: 143-170 (100 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
52+ Atk Parental Bond Kangaskhan-Mega Retaliate vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 165-195 (106.4 - 125.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO


52 is also the absolute minimum I wanted to run to ensure the 1HKO on Mega Gallade.

Retaliate may sound like a real gimmick as it only gives me a 1 time 140 Base Power move but this, combined with Seismic Toss is what make it so much better than my previous Kangaskhan.

As for the defense EV's, I ended up dividing them over both def stats to give it as much allround bulk as possible.


252+ SpA Trevenant Focus Blast vs. 252 HP / 104 SpD Kangaskhan-Mega: 88-104 (41.5 - 49%) -- fails to 2HKO
52+ Atk Parental Bond Kangaskhan-Mega Crunch vs. 0 HP / 252 Def Trevenant: 97-117 (60.6 - 73.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO


I opted for Crunch over Sucker Punch because it deals more damage and the Pokémon I'd use any of these two moves against usually run non attacking moves.

An alternative spread of 252 HP / 52 Atk / 80 Def / 120 Sp.Def was considered as it survives Specs Focus Blast from Thundurus2


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Conkeldurr @ Assault Vest*
Nature: Brave
Ability: Iron Fist
IVs: 31/31/31/31/31/00
EVs: 108 HP / 252 Atk / 148 Sp.Def
Lv. 50 stats: 194/211/115/75/156*/45
Moves: Drain Punch / Ice Punch / Mach Punch / Knock Off

Conkeldurr remains unchanged too.
The real drawback of this team is actually that it's not using a Z move, but it doesn't have the room for it either.


Alternative spread: 196 HP / 44 Atk / 62 Def / 204 Sp.Def @ Fightinum Z
44+ Atk Conkeldurr All-Out Pummeling (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 252+ Def Walrein: 186-218 (100.5 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

I did theorymon the above spread to ensure the 1HKO on Walrein4, my good old Maison friend.
While it would be good to have at least 1 powerful move that always hits through Bright Powder and Lax Insence, Conkeldurr can't afford to lose this much Atk investment and Sp.Def points (Assault Vest) as it was build this way to deal with Psychic types a lot better.


Threats:

Note: Regarding threats there are a lot more but they are way too situational for me to write them all down.
A Pokémon sitting in the back of the AI's team could not be a problem at all while it could be a potent threat if it is in the leading spot, paired with another threat.
Double Mold Breaker, Double Taunt, two priority leads etcetera can all make the difference between winning and losing the battle.

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(1) (Jolly / Bright Powder / Shadow Claw / Slash / Double Team / Thunder Wave / Atk / Spd)
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(3) (Jolly / Fairium Z / Play Rough / Shadow Claw / Wood Hammer / Swords Dance / Atk / Spd)
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(4) (Adamant / Rocky Helmet / Play Rough / Shadow Claw / Destiny Bond / Shadow Sneak / Atk / Spd)

Mimikyu is the biggest threat. Any set needs to be Foresighted in order for Kangaskhan to actually damage it. Set 1 isn't assured for me to connect, set 3 completely destroys Conkeldurr while set 4 breaks Berry Juice and has a priority move. Mimikyu is usually paired with other Pokémon my team has trouble with, mainly Alolan-Ninetales. In order to actually hit it on top of all that I also need to break it's abillity: disguise.

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(1) (Timid / Icium Z / Aurora Veil / Hypnosis / Dream Eater / Blizzard / HP / Def)
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(2) (Timid / Psychium Z / Freeze Dry / Dazzling Gleam / Extrasensory / Ice Shard / HP / Spd)

Alolan Ninetales isn't difficult to beat but I cannot afford to get frozen or put to sleep by set 1 while set 2 comes with priority and both sets have a Z move. Alolan Ninetales also comes with Snow Warning 50% of the time which makes Togedemaru a lot less effective. Set 2 basically forces me to Endeavor the Ninetales or it's partner and if that partner is Mimikyu I am in a lot of trouble at the very beginning of the battle.

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(4) (Bold / Lax Incense / Sheer Cold / Fissure / Rest / Sleep Talk / Def / SpD)

While it is slightly better to control thanks to Fake Out Togedemaru, Walrein 4 is still a big threat.

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(2) (Bold / Leftovers / Double Team / Moonlight / Toxic / Protect / HP / SpD)

While it cannot beat Togedemaru 1 vs 1 Cresselia 2 is still one of the most annoying stallers to face.

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(2) (Bold / Bright Powder / Charge Beam / Ancient Power / Double Team / Roost / HP / SpD)

Conkeldurr walls Zapdos for a great deal but Zapdos2 can become very powerful and hard to hit once it get's Charge Beam and Double Team boosts.

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(4) (Modest / Waterium Z / Sparkling Aria / Dazzling Gleam / Blizzard / Aqua Jet / HP / SpA)

This thing completely walls Conkeldurr while it is "faster" than Mega Kangaskhan. It comes with Blizzard, Aqua Jet and Hydro Vortex.
Primarina 4 is a very dangerous Pokémon.

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(4) (Modest / Bright Powder / Nasty Plot / Shadow Ball / Grass Knot / Baton Pass / HP / SpA)

Deciduye 4 is an absolute nightmare. It has a tendency to flat-out attack Dusclops with Shadow Ball and when it boosts up via Nasty Plot it becomes public enemy #1. I know I simply hit it 80% of the time but only Conkeldurr 1HKO's it 25% of the time so I need to pray and hope I do not miss.

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(1) (Rash / Quick Claw / Ice Shard / Blizzard / Mirror Coat / Helping Hand / HP / SpA)
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(3) (Modest / Focus Sash / Hail / Blizzard / Mirror Coat / Hyper Beam / Def / SpA)
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(4) (Modest Bright Powder / Blizzard / Shadow Ball / Aurora Veil / Detect / Def / SpA)

Glaceon is very tricky to play, I absolutely don't want it to Blizzard or Hail but need to watch out for Detect and Bright Powder too (set 4).

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(3) (Relaxed / Leftovers / Moonblast / Giga Drain / Strenght Sap / Spore / HP / Def)
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(4) (Sassy / Weakness Policy / Moonblast / Grass Knot / Moonlight / Spore / HP / SpD)

Shiinotic is a very dangerous enemy, set 3 and 4 both carry Spore and it may have Effect Spore as it's ability. Shiinotic cannot really damage me hard with attacking moves but the fact that these two sets carry Spore pretty much force me to Fake Out on it, hoping I do not end up being put to sleep through it's ability as well.

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(2) (Timid / Bright Powder / Fissure / Toxic / Substitute / Sandstorm / HP / Spd)

I will not comment on this one, you all know what it is capable of doing.

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(3) (Relaxed / Rocky Helmet / Rage Powder / Spore / Giga Drain / Sludge Bomb / HP / Def)
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(4) (Calm / Black Sludge / Giga Drain / Spore / Clear Smog / Synthesis / HP / SpD)

Rocky Helmet, possible Effect Spore, Rage Powder (!!) ánd Spore make Amoonguss 3 and 4 really big threats. I lost to Amoonguss 3 before.

Video:
Sorry for bad quality, lag and the watermark

 
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I'm curious what the veterans of this thread would suggest to players who don't play Battle Whatever much but want to get a decent streak. Here are some of the tips I've seen from some of the lurking that I've done, including very basic stuff up to things that newer players may not know about:
  • Your 'mons need to be bred for IVs, trained for EVs. If you aren't sure about how your team should be trained, try...
  • ... emulating the teams that have made it into the top streaks
  • Look up the trainer sets to know what moves your opponent may want to use against you
  • Generally, assume the opponent will use the most optimal move against you, but know they have a small chance of a random selection
  • Consult the Tree Speed Tiers list to make sure you know if you are going first or not. Helpful in cases where you might think you have a speed tie or if you forgot to consider Choice Scarf
  • Save videos of the battles you lose so you can replay them (thanks Worldie and others)
  • Practice, practice, practice
What other tips come to mind? This list feels pretty basic but I'm interested in tips that people who have played a lot of Pokemon but not a lot of Battle Whatever would need. For instance, are there any nuances about AI switching or using environmental moves (weather, hazards, terrain, rooms, etc.) that wouldn't be intuitive? Or perhaps that differ from the best (lol) AI used in-game prior to postgame?

It's really cool that members of the community have built the Potentially Useful Resources list on the original post, so thanks for that.
 
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