This is going to be a lengthy post about my recently updated Trick strategy for the Singles Battle tower.
The old team
After 'joining the Moltres bandwagon' and being impressed by the use of Shedinja, I tried some variants of that team myself (Hidden Power Steel on Steelix and Thief/Dig Shedinja). I'm not a very patient player, but it looked so nice on paper I had to try it. I even experimented with using Rapid Spin somehow, be it with Blastoise/Starmie over Moltres or Donphan over Steelix. I lost a couple of times to a seemingly random Aerial Ace from Feraligatr before its other moves were out of PP, though, and I can imagine other opponents becoming a problem if the AI throws out random moves from time to time.
I didn't forget about optimizing the Trick team using Alakazam, Zapdos and Tyranitar yet and decided to give that kind of team one more serious attempt, trying to blend in the now-popular Torment + Protect strategy and get the best of both.
The scariest Pokémon for the ZamDosTar team were Rhydon (a Quick Claw Megahorn on Alakazam put me in serious trouble), Ursaring (Double-Edge is too strong and it's going to kill itself too soon) and Muk (Sticky Hold, Brick Break, Explosion). In fact, these Pokémon were so scary it was only a matter of time before one of them gets too lucky.
So the original way I tried to solve these three problems was to sweep with a Curse/Agility Air Cutter Skarmory instead of the monster Tyranitar, receiving a Lansat Berry boost from Zapdos in order to get a 1/3 crit rate (instead of Ganlon on the Tyranitar team), but its sweeping prowess was underwhelming in too many scenarios and it needed to have Evasion boosts against bulkier Electric-types. Air Cutter was necessary to break through Curse Regis and bulky stuff like opposing Skarmory in time, for example.
The new team: Trick revamped
Torment + Protect made me realize Pressure and Grudge (tried Memento too) were not the only ways of succesfully capitalizing on a Pokémon having forcefully obtained a Choice Band.
I decided to use Skarmory instead of Zapdos (ironically it moved from being the sweeper to being the wall, which is what it prefers anyway), which immediately added some benefits: Rhydon, Muk and OHKO-abusers are no longer threats, it resists Dark, Ghost and Bug-types moves thrown at Alakazam, and its high Defense generally lets users of Double-Edge survive recoil damage long enough for me to setup. Type-wise, the setup sweeper that covers Skarmory's weaknesses (Fire and Electric) best is Latios so I naturally went for that to round out the team. It also gets Recover, which enables me to run Leftovers on Skarmory instead of the final sweeper, making the setup much more reliable and flexible.
General strategy
Against most opponents, Alakazam swaps its Choice Band which locks the opponent into using one move and, against some important Pokémon, steals away their Quick Claw. Then it either switches out or cripples the opponent before Skarmory is sent in. Skarmory either uses Sand-Attack directly or it utilizes Torment + Protect, making good use of its Leftovers. The goal here is to force the opponent into using Struggle at -6 Accuracy, which Latios can easily set up on with Recover, Substitute and Calm Mind. The rest of their team then faces a fully setup Latios behind a Substitute that outspeeds the vast majority of the Tower. Before talking about specific situations, here is the team and an explanation of the sets:
Lv. 50 Alakazam (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 152 HP / 244 Def / 12 SpD / 100 Spe
Stats: 149 HP / 49 Atk / 96 Def / 155 SpA / 107 SpD / 168 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick
- Thunder Wave
- Kinesis
- Skill Swap
Alakazam is the mascotte of the team, just as before. Its EVs and set changed a little, however; it no longer outspeeds Sceptile and Dugtrio in favor of being just a little bulkier. Defensively, it now survives Snorlax' Quick Claw non-crit Double-Edge so it can't Curse up afterwards due to CB. It also lives through most Special attacks, and the ones that might KO it, like Houndoom's Crunch/Overheat, aren't threatening to the team. This team is played on Level 50 for two reasons: the absence of Sand Stream and not needing to EV Alakazam to survive the Quick Claw Crunch from Tyranitar. The reason Alakazam has 149 HP is because it's the lowest HP that allows it to survive Snorlax' Double Edge while also being a multiple of 3 minus one, which minimizes recoil damage for the opponent. Wasting 4 EVs cannot be prevented, which is disappointing.
The only relevant non-CB Quick Claw assaults Alakazam usually doesn't survive are Ursaring's Double-Edge and Scizor's Silver Wind. These will be covered later on.
Thunder Wave is very useful as it further reduces the chances of -6 Accuracy Pokémon landing a move and paralyzes some threats that otherwise outspeed Latios. Kinesis is nice and spammable even when Alakazam still has the Choice Band (usually only when Skarmory has to be sent in turn 1), and Skill Swap is for escaping Wobbuffet, stealing Keen Eye from Fearow, reducing Medicham's Attack, nullifying Clear Body and finally removing abilities that could leave Latios with a status effect, most importantly Static Pokémon, Breloom (Effect Spore) and to a lesser extent Flame Body and Poison Point.
Lv. 50 Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Def / 244 SpD
Stats: 172 HP / 76 Atk / 162 Def / 60 SpA / 133 SpD / 90 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Torment
- Sand-Attack
- Whirlwind
While Skarmory is naturally bulky on the physical side, it sadly needs all the HP it can get in order to be strong enough on the special side (otherwise I could further minimize recoil damage from Double-Edge). It is guaranteed to survive non-crit Thunderbolt from Modest Jolteon, which outspeeds Alakazam. The rest is put into Defense in order to minimize damage it takes from Choice Banded hits. Torment + Protect saves a load of HP in tandem with Leftovers (pity it has such an unlucky HP stat to optimize Leftovers) and misses due to Sand-Attack.
The last move was originally a filler slot I first tried to use Spikes in so Latios could be made bulkier, but ultimately I chose for Whirlwind. The latter option provided to be invaluable in order to remove Metagross and Regirock from the field. Original idea: Alakazam used Skill Swap on them so Skarmory could lower their Accuracy, but since they can raise Attack with Meteor Mash and Curse, respectively, and would still hold their Quick Claw, this proved to be too dangerous. So the new strategy became to switch in Skarmory immediately, Whirlwind them out (with a Protect in between against Metagross, not Regirock because of Curse) and hopefully being able to cripple the next opponent with a fully healthy Alakazam waiting. Whirlwind is also a general panic button, but it's not used frequently outside of the above scenario.
Lv. 50 Latios (M) @ Dragon Fang
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 12 HP / 76 Def / 236 SpA / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Stats: 157 HP / 85 Atk / 110 Def / 198 SpA / 131 SpD / 153 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Substitute
- Recover
- Dragon Claw
The sweeper of the team, with an item that looks like a joke. Of course, I wanted to use Lum Berry first, and run a way more bulky (and speedy) set, but concluded that Metagross is not OHKOed in general, even with +6 252+ SpA. The Quick Claw variants can then break the Substitute and Quick Claw critical hit me to death every time they show up. With Dragon Fang and 198 SpA, I OHKO all Metagross that run Quick Claw. Dragon Fang generally boosts the power of Dragon Claw when I can't fully setup for some reason, so I guess that helps as a 'really poor man's Soul Dew'. Fun: +6 Dragon Claw at worst 2HKOs all Pokémon not named Shedinja and the Pokémon it can't OHKO without a crit usually can't even break Latios' Substitute (Blissey, sometimes Regice survives too).
Not having Lum requires me to be very cautious against moves that have a secondary effect or Pokémon with an ability that can cause status afflictions, such as Breloom. Having 157 HP is optimal with both Substitute and Recover, 153 Speed outspeeds the neutral 100 BS group and the rest is put into Defense to minimize Struggle (recoil) damage. Anything with an Attack lower than 190 deals less than 75% damage to Latios with a critical hit CB Struggle, which allows me to NOT die to two consecutive crits using Recover while setting up. Since they only have 1/3 chance of hitting, the probability of them 3HKOing me would be 1/48^3 = 1/110592 and that's if they have extremely high rolls as well. So even the Pokémon with more than 190 Attack, such as Machamp and Breloom, won't easily break through with -6 Accuracy. And against those I would be more careful with Substitutes as long as I have enough PP left on it. Generally, if Latios outspeeds, it always Recovers to full health and waits until opponents miss before continuing to use Calm Mind, except if they have very low Attack.
Sadly, Latios gets only 300 Speed this way so attention has to be given against second or third Pokémon like Gengar. Most Special Attacks don't even break its Substitute, however. Play carefully against possible Destiny Bonds (check the set by using Substitute for example) if Latios is the only remaining Pokémon, even though the AI seldomly uses the move at full HP. Against second Pokémon Starmie, for example, use Substitute if Latios' Substitute is not 'full' in order to make a full Substitute when it Ice Beams; the second Ice Beam won't break the Substitute without a critical hit.
Things to watch out for
=== TURN 1 EXPLOSION ===
Previously, turn 1 Explosions were more difficult to handle without the aid of Skarmory. Now, nearly all Explosion users can be switched into on turn 1, get Sand-Attacked by Skarmory and when they (eventually) explode, they don't kill Skarmory by far even when they manage to hit. The following opponents can be switched into safely:
Claydol, Exeggutor, Forretress (Zap Cannon deals maximum of 44%, so use Torment), Glalie (stall out its Ice-type move with Torment), Golem (Whirlwind the Focus Punch evasion spammer, Flamethrower does abysmal damage, use Torment), Muk, Shiftry and Steelix.
The others have a more specific strategy:
Electrode: I've never seen it use Explosion on turn 1, so using Trick has been safe until now as it usually Mirror Coats or something equally unthreatening (doesn't even use an Electric-type move most of the time). Use Skill Swap on Electrode before setting up when possible to steal its Static ability.
Metagross and Regirock: The main reason to use Whirlwind; switch to Skarmory and use Whirlwind instead of Sand-Attack.
Regice: I've never seen it use Explosion on turn 1, so using Trick seems safe. If Alakazam lives, use Skill Swap to remove Clear Body. Latios can easily setup against Regice's Struggle, even if its Accuracy is not lowered.
Registeel: Switch to Skarmory on turn 1 to scout its set. If it's the Explosion one, stall it until it uses the move, which won't take long because it will run out of Ancientpower pretty quickly. In fact, it really seems to like using Explosion on turn 1. If it's not the Choice Band set, then it has no Quick Claw either. Be sure to steal the Evasion spammer's Leftovers with Trick before Skill Swapping it. The Amnesia user is difficult to take down even with Latios, so stall out its Rests before using Dragon Claw in order to save PP.
=== OPPONENTS OUTSPEEDING ALAKAZAM ===
Crobat: Switch to Skarmory
Stall it out of dangerous moves (such as Aerial Ace), then see if Alakazam can get the Thunder Wave off, which makes it easier for Latios to setup. Faster critical hit Struggles can be dangerous.
Jolteon: Alakazam uses Trick
Alakazam and Skarmory both survive non-crit Thunderbolt, even from the Modest one, so Skarmory should be able to use Torment. Use Sand-Attack while Skarmory hopefully survives the Struggle after Leftovers (not possible only if Thunderbolt has near max roll), then Protect again, et cetera. If Skarmory would die to a Struggle, switch into Latios to take the Struggle, then bring in Skarmory to take the Thunderbolt. Latios can then use Substitute without fear of getting paralyzed. At +1, Latios' Substitute doesn't break from Thunderbolt.
Dugtrio: Switch to Skarmory and stall it out as much as possible. Don't use Trick even afterwards, because faster CB crit Struggle can be threatening. Thunder Wave is not possible.
Sceptile: Switch to Skarmory, discover its set and if it's a Thunderpunch variant, Tormentstall it. Using Trick afterwards is safe because it has low enough Attack. This is better than risking a critical hit Leaf Blade on turn 1.
Aerodactyl: The ones that are faster than Alakazam do not have a Fire-type move (one of them already has a Choice Band), so try to use Thunder Wave, and then stall it out with Skarmory. Be sure to postpone sending out Latios if it still has Aerial Ace PP. If somehow it gets too many boosts with Ancientpower, Whirlwind it out. Fun bonus: the only way for Aerodactyl to OHKO Alakazam without a critical hit is CB Hyper Beam, which is very easy to setup on.
=== STRONG DOUBLE-EDGES ===
The Double-Edge users not covered here can be Tricked in relative safety.
Ursaring: Use Kinesis with Alakazam, then switch to Skarmory if Alakazam survives the turn in order to steal its Quick Claw later when it's at -6 Accuracy. Don't give it Choice Band, as Double-Edge + Struggle will then deal too much damage to Skarmory and recoil damage to Ursaring.
Machamp: Use Kinesis with Alakazam until it is clear that it's not the Double-Edge set. If it's not that set, it's safe but not really necessary to use Trick after switching to Skarmory. The Bulk Up variant easily runs out of Cross Chop PP, after which Latios can safely set up.
Aggron: Use Trick with Alakazam, as it has 50% chance of having Rock Head and its Choice Banded Double-Edge doesn't kill Alakazam, so Thunder Wave can be used as well.
Armaldo: Use Kinesis with Alakazam. The Choice Band set deals good damage to Skarmory with Rock Slide, so it needs all the Accuracy reduction it can get. If it turns out to be the Swords Dance variant against Skarmory, Whirlwind it out as it could activate Quick Claw with boosted Attack. Alakazam will still live in that case, unless it was crit on turn 1.
Granbull: Same as with Armaldo; Kinesis first. Thunder Wave is a good alternative with 100% accuracy. The Cheri Berry variant will often use Thunder Wave against Alakazam.
Snorlax: Has enough HP to live long enough, even if it uses Double-Edge. Alakazam is EVed specifically to survive a Quick Claw Double-Edge from it before using Trick. This prevents it from setting up Curses while holding Quick Claw as well.
Dodrio: Use Thunder Wave with Alakazam. It lives through non-CB Double-Edge, so switch to Skarmory after and stall it out. It won't have much HP left if many Double-Edges hit, although it will usually choose Double-Edge against Skarmory so Torment + Protect greatly helps here. If it turns out to be not the Double-Edger, it's safe to use Trick after.
Salamence: Use Trick with Alakazam. There is a high probability it won't use Double-Edge, in which case I autowin. If it does D-E, however, Alakazam will usually faint and Skarmory will get it to -6 Accuracy, but sadly it might not have enough HP left for Latios to get to +6 if it hits too many Struggles in succession. The priority is to have a Substitute up, so kill it with Dragon Claw when you feel it's the right time.
Fearow: Use Skill Swap with Alakazam to remove Keen Eye and switch to Skarmory, stalling it out of all its PP. Tri Attack could be a nuisance, but Latios outspeeds as well so it could stall many moves even when Fearow doesn't Struggle yet. Latios and Skarmory have a different gender to disrupt Attract when necessary.
Tauros: Use Thunder Wave and then switch to Skarmory. The Swagger + Thrash version put me in a very difficult spot before when I switched to Skarmory directly, and I had to rely on luck because it was faster than Latios, wasn't at -6 Accuracy and had Thrash PP left after critting Skarmory a few times. Special attacking variants have only one super effective move, making Torment really useful as well. Tauros is one of the few Pokémon that outspeeds Latios and breaks its Sub when fully setup, further emphasizing the utility of Thunder Wave.
=== STATUS EFFECTS AND SYNCHRONIZE ===
First I had Inner Focus on Alakazam in order to prevent the opponent from poisoning or burning itself, and being able to hit a Trick through (Quick Claw) Rock Slide / Fake Out flinches. But then I got into a weird scenario where I had to Whirlwind out Metagross and a Zapdos came out. It used Thunder on the Alakazam switch in and paralyzed Alakazam after which Skarmory couldn't Sand-Attack it, putting me in a weird spot where Latios barely came out on top (but with a Substitute up) and was left paralyzed before 'sweeping' away the Metagross and the remaining Registeel (a pretty dangerous team to face indeed). When Alakazam has to switch in, it's actually really important that random paralyzes also paralzye the foe. It also helps when I get Thunder Waved on turn 1, in which case Alakazam sometimes heals itself with a stolen Lum Berry, so Skarmory can come in and use Torment, setting up an opportunity for Latios to come in and prevent paralysis with Substitute every other turn while setting up.
Using Synchronize has downsides too. If they burn Alakazam using Will-O-Wisp, which never happened to be honest, I would switch in Latios directly and setup a burned Latios in the time the opponent still lives. Bad poison is worse, because Latios can't handle the increasing damage reliably before sweeping. Luckily, if they use Toxic on Alakazam Synchronize inflicts regular poison to them, so Skarmory can come in, use Torment and Latios will be able to setup to something like +4, depending on the power of their Struggle. Most of the Toxic users are Poison-types themselves though, but for example Shuckle isn't.
=== MISCELLANEOUS ===
Scizor: Alakazam uses Trick
If Quick Claw doesn't activate against Alakazam, Torment prevents Scizor from using Silver Wind more than two times in total. If two Silver Winds get the boost, however, Scizor will outspeed Latios and Skarmory has to use Whirlwind.
If Quick Claw does activate, Alakazam faints guaranteed before using Trick and Skarmory has to try and stall it out of attacking PP before Latios tries to set up while Scizor wastes all its Light Screen and Swords Dance PP; setting up against +6 Struggle is too risky because of the Quick Claw. Note that Skarmory is 2HKOed by +6 Steel Wing, but Leftovers, the AI attacking before getting to +6, and -6 usually prevent this from happening until it runs out of Steel Wing PP. This is the only dangerous set, but if things really get out of hand, use Whirlwind.
Medicham: Use Skill Swap on it and switch to Skarmory while Alakazam only dies to critical hit Shadow Ball (still only 87.5% chance of OHKOing). The only dangerous scenario (to which I accidentally lost while testing) is Medicham passing Calm Mind boosts to something like (in my case) Blaziken. This can now be prevented by using Whirlwind when you see it uses Calm Mind. Skill Swap is necessary to guarantee the full setup with Latios, because CB Pure Power Struggle nearly 2HKOes Latios and gives too much recoil damage as well. Giving it Choice Band after using Skill Swap by switching around is the best case scenario, in which I get guaranteed setup.
Shedinja: Simply stall it out of attacking moves and setup BEFORE it has to use Struggle. Same if it's the second Pokémon (switch back to Skarmory if necessary, even when fully setup already). It doesn't even have Attack EV's.
Turn 1 Perish Song: Use Trick on turn 2 to retreive the Choice Band, then switch out to Skarmory, and switch back to Alakazam when they switch as well. The worst that can happen is Skarmory getting Mean Looked (but it won't die to Perish Song) or Lovely Kissed in the process. Altaria could Pursuit Alakazam, which it royally survives.
Curse: If it's a Ghost-type (usually Dusclops), simply use Kinesis or Thunder Wave until Alakazam faints, then send out Latios and use Substitute, setting up without -6 Accuracy. Non-Ghost types can be fully set up on before they run out of Curse PP.
Team Building process, alternatives and thoughts on further improvement
In the first version of these three Pokémon, I used Spikes Skarmory to be able to run a faster, bulkier Latios set that would OHKO everything (most importantly Metagross) at +6 after switching into 25% Spikes damage. While I was proud of this idea, lead Metagross and Regirock could make me lose too easily even with Skill Swap and an Alakazam that survives non-crit Quick Claw stuff; if Alakazam would still faint somehow (I got crit by QC Rock Slide Regirock earlier), Skarmory had no way of reducing their Accuracy and/or crippling them in any other way.
I also experimented with the following bulky Salamence as a sweeper:
Salamence (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 52 HP / 164 Atk / 180 Def / 112 Spe
Stats: 177 HP / 193 Atk / 123 Def / 117 SpA / 100 SpD / 134 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Dragon Dance
- Substitute
- Hidden Power [Flying]
- Earthquake
Having Intimidate is a great benefit, reducing damage from Double-Edge users (after Alakazam faints, before switching in Skarmory) so more opponents can be Tricked safely. Because Salamence doesn't resist Electric, I decided to use specially defensive Steelix over Skarmory. Steelix has way more physical bulk than Skarmory even without investment, further reducing the risk against Double-Edge and Regirock/Metagross. Salamence's Substitute survives all Struggles after Intimidate. Sadly, Steelix has to make do with (STAB) Mud-Slap instead of Sand-Attack (0 Atk IV and Calm Nature) so it can't cripple Pokémon immune to the Ground-type. It does get Torment + Protect and Roar, although Rest could also be nice to have in certain situations. It still dies against some critical hit Surfs, however, which reduces its usefulness as a OHKO stopper (think of Wailord / Walrein / Whiscash). Not being able to cripple Pokémon like Salamence and Dodrio really hurts though, even with Intimidate help from Salamence, as Salamence would have to be lucky enough to avoid critical hits while switching in repeatedly, and has no way of recovering outside of Leftovers or Rest. Therefore, Steelix itself can't utilize Leftovers so it settles for Sitrus Berry / Chesto Berry. Here is the set I used:
Steelix (F) @ Sitrus Berry / Chesto Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Stats: 182 HP / 81 Atk / 221 Def / 75 SpA / 128 SpD / 50 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Torment
- Mud-Slap
- Roar / Rest
On that team, I also tested the following Grumpig for Trick because it stops Water(/Ice)-types(/moves) that could steamroll the team with a necessary crit against Steelix:
Grumpig (F) @ Choice Band
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Def / 108 SpD / 92 Spe
Stats: 187 HP / 50 Atk / 92 Def / 85 SpA / 158 SpD / 112 Spe
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 SpA
- Trick
- Skill Swap
- Flash
- Icy Wind / Torment
While it can run the 100%-accurate Mud-Slap as well, I used Flash to have a chance at crippling opponents Steelix couldn't. Icy Wind was situational and works as a poor man's Thunder Wave, being good against Pokémon that used Dragon Dance before getting Tricked, for example. Icy Wind is the reason Special Attack is minimized. Grumpig has the advantages of surviving all important physical attacks (including Ursaring and Scizor), laughing at Surfs and Ice-type moves and not even being 2HKOed by Modest Raikou's Thunder, but its low Speed opens up new problems, such as random physical critical hits, Heracross (who might Swords Dance first, ouch) and Pokémon that use Dragon Dance before Double-Edging with a +1 CB, although my own Salamence's typing and Intimidate semi make up for it. Because Grumpig is so good against Special attackers, I eventually replaced Steelix by Skarmory again and ran Thief + Sitrus Berry (EV'ed more physically bulky) in the Whirlwind slot, but ultimately decided that the team presented first is way more dependable, less difficult to use and less prone to hax, which is what the Tower is about. Most importantly, not having Rest reduces Steelix longevity too much and not having Roar invites Metagross and Regirock to become a problem. Using Latios + Steelix is another option, but makes Heracross and some Ground-immune Pokémon too much of a problem I think.
Finally, I'm planning to give Linoone a chance over Alakazam and Grumpig as a Trickster, trading some of Grumpig's bulk and Alakazam's Speed in order to get somewhere in between (closer to Alakazam). It outruns Heracross, gets very useful moves, most importantly Charm, but also Sand-Attack and Thunder Wave (although Skill Swap will be missed) and can avoid being KO'ed by Snorlax' non-crit Double-Edge and Scizor's Silver Wind. Also it attracts Fighting-type moves, which turns my attention to Salamence once again. If it only runs 153 Speed, which it needs to do in order to be meaningfully bulkier than Alakazam, stuff like Gengar, Raikou and Starmie outspeed it and will eventually crit through Linoone on the Special side before obtaining a Choice Band, putting the rest of the team in an awkward spot. I still have quite some testing to do, but for now I'm pretty sure Alakazam remains the best Trick user available even though it's frail. In the current team, I simply can't lose without quite extreme bad luck (think of double misses against Brightpowder or Focus Bands that keep activating while the opponent critically hits me) or repeatedly getting bad matchups / critical hits when Whirlwinding out Metagross/Regirock.
Sample battles
Finally, a sample streak to give an idea:
https://youtu.be/28RF_5iy82U
As always, thank you for reading; I am looking forward to a discussion!
