I had the streaks I'm sharing finished when this update happened... I have a problem with procrastination...
Awesome! This would've been nice when team building for Psychic, but I'm still glad about better (too) late (for me) than never! Thanks SilverstarStream! :D
I had 2 Types left after my last post here, so you can probably guess what I'm going to say. I've finally gotten 11 Wins with every Type in Restricted Sparring! The final teams were the one I feared the most the beginning and the one I was most unsure about building at the end. Fire and Psychic. Even better, I finished before SV came out! Too bad everyone will be too busy with SV to read this. :P
Here's why I was afraid of Fire. It has two Recycle users in SwSh, Blacephalon and the “somehow better than the alternative for once” Heatmor. Uhh... I’ll get back to which one I want to use...
Fire is weak to Water, Rock, and Ground. To not instantly lose to a type, you need someone not weak to that type. Fire Type combos that aren’t weak to more than one of those are Fire/Grass and nothing else. A Fire/Grass Pokemon would be really cool in SV, but it’d also be too little too late. So, I need three different Pokemon for three different types and neither Recycle user works for any of them. Heatmor makes me not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse. Either way, it somehow made me feel better.
I'm not going to lie about the diversity of the movesets. They're all this.
Everyone @ Whatever Item
Good Ability
Calm 252 HP/??? Def/??? SpD
-Toxic
-Will-O-Wisp
-Confide
-Rest/Roost
Toxic is for the quick Stall. Will-O-Wisp for Poison or Steel Types, Pokemon that need to have their Attack lowered, and Pokemon that I want to/don't care if they take a while. Confide lowers Special Attack to make enduring easier and Rest is the needed recovery move. The only Difference is the Ground Immune Pokemeon has Roost instead because they can learn it.
Heatran @ Leftovers
Calm 252 HP/172 Def/84 SpD
For the Rock Neutrality, Heatran. Duh.
Combusken also resists Rock, learns Feather Dance, and can use Eviolite but is less bulky than Heatran even with it and Steel, to no one's surprise, is so much better than Fighting.
Moltres @ Rocky Helmet
Bold 252 HP/60 Def/196 SpD
Ho-Oh is the best Fire type but has the minor problem of being banned, so I had to settle for the original Legendary Bird of Fire.
Fletchinder with Eviolite is a little less bulky than Moltres and learns Growl, but I forgot about that until after breeding and transferring Pokemon. Also, the Rocky Helmet is too good not to use. Rotom is also a little less bulky and has less weaknesses, but I liked Moltres’s resistances more. Especially the Fighting resist.
I could've used Volcarona or Centiskorch if I wanted to settle for anything not weak to Ground, but why would I do that? Immunities are awesome!
Torkoal @ Heat Rock
Calm 252 HP/4 Def/252 SpD
Turtonator is the obvious choice for a Water Neutrality because the only two other Pokemon in SwSh not weak to Water, Reshiram and Volcanion, are banned. Between letting me down on the Dragon Team, not resisting Ice, and that I just don’t like Turtonator I was pretty willing to be creative.
Torkoal doesn’t resist Water, but Drought making Water attacks deal half damage is close enough and lets me switch. It also let me use a Heat Rock to make Sun last long enough that I wouldn’t have to restart it before the opponent fainted. The reason that looked good is the only other item worth considering was Bright Powder. Leftovers, Eviolite, and Rocky Helmet are pretty much the only good Defensive Items that aren’t single use. (There's also the Leppa Berry if you count it too. It feels wrong to call it single use because of how many times I've reused it with Recycle.)
I don't have full notes for the first few "Battles" but none of them were bad enough to cause any lasting damage. "Battle" 3's Kingdra nearly KOed Torkoal with Draco Meteor, but she was able to recover a little against Eldegoss. Not entirely because of Worry Seed stopping Rest, but still a little because of Grassy Terrain. "Battle" 4 had a Pikachu lead. Volt Tackle is a 2HKO on Heatran without Will-O-Wisp, but a but was able to prevent the second hit from KOing, even though it was a Crit! He recovered the damage with Rest and it wasn't a big deal in the long run because being able to use Rest again against Bisharp. "Battle" 5's only problem was Corviknight using Spite on Moltres's Roost.
Fun Fact: Kingdra's Draco Meteor glitches Torkoal's smoke.
"Battle" 6's Lead Poliwrath made me switch to Torkoal then Moltres, but being able to recover with Roost meant it wasn't that bad after that. Rhyperior was sent out against Moltres and Rock Wrecker would OHKO if they used it, so I switched to Heatran and they used Sandstorm instead of attacking. I didn't take many screenshots, so I'm not sure what happened other than tanking Rock Wreckers, but it ended kind of okay. Healtran was left at half health.
The last Pokemon was another threat, Politoed. The good news is I wouldn't have to use Toxic because of Perish Song. The bad news, Turn 1 Hydro Pump brought Torkoal to her knees when I switched to her. With Heatran at half HP and Torkoal almost KOed, I figured I'd need to use a heal even if Toakoal survived the next turn. Hydro Pump landed afinishing blow before Torkoal could use Rest.
Leg 1: 6 Wins
"Battle" 7 started with Skuntank so I started with switching to Torkoal because her item is the least valuable. It didn't matter though. They used Memento and the opponent sent out Bouffalant. I switched to Moltres because of Earthquake then used Toxic. After that, switching between Heatran and Moltres. The plan was for Moltres to take Earthquakes, but they only took Giga Impact’s recharge turns.
The last Pokemon was a little ammusing. Mr. Rime’s Copycat copied Giga Impact. I'm so glad Moltres was slower because I was using Toxic. I used Roost durring the recharge turn then switch to Heatran and Copycat was less amusing when it copied Roost, healing what Toxic and the Rocky Helmet had done. It went back to amusing when Copycat became Confide and they kept spamming it and became annoying when they finally attacked on their last turn, dealing damage to Torkoal.
"Battle" 8 had a Pokemon that's annoying for a lot of my teams because of Substitute. This time though, Heatran outspeed Jellicent and was able to Toxic before they could use Substitute. I switched to Torkal then back to Heatran because of Brine, but they prefered using Poltergeist.
The second Pokemon wasn't annoying. Heracross, even though it doesn't have Fighting Attacks, is something I'm never happy to see. Too tough to be annoying. Will-O-Wisp could backfire because of Guts and Toxic is better against set up Pokmeon anyway, so I used Toxic. Heracross used Bulk Up twice before attacking and Stone Edge missed. I Dynamaxed, thinking they were done setting up, and Max Guard was wasted against Bulk Up. The second Max guard failed and a devastating Stone Edge missed again. lol. Max Guard blocked the last one and Heatran didn't have much trouble against the last Pokemon, Pelipper. Torkoal was even able to use Rest against it.
"Battle" 10 had another Pokemon I never like to see, Azumarill. I used Will-O-Wisp because of Belly Drum. Turn 1, they used Aqua Jet and brought Heatran's health to the point I wouldn't let him take anything that wasn't resisted. (or patheticly weak) They used Belly Drum while I switched to Torkoal for Drought and Aqua Jet dealt about 50 Damage. I needed to use Rest twice, even with Drought and the Burn. So glad they apparently didn’t have Huge Power.
Ribimbee was a good chance to let Heatran and Torkoal heal. I’d let Moltres heal too, but 2 HP isn’t worth a Roost PP. The only problem was Torkoal’s Toxic missed twice...
The last Pokemon has to have a bad match up if Psychic and two STABs Heatrran has x4 resists to was the second one. Still, I’m not getting my hopes up too much until I see what it is. Turns out, Scolipede... Wow. I forgot it was a Poison type and still used Will-O-Wisp anyway because it’s so pathetic. Leftovers would heal Heatran and Moltres wouldn’t have enough done to them for me to care about. If anything, I wanted Moltres to be hit by Skitter Smack because of the Rocky Helmet.
Another Rhyperior started "Battle" 11. They started with Breaking Swipe for some reason. I'm not complaining about taking next to no damage while using Toxic though. Sandstorm the next turn was just as good, but Rock Wrecker brought Heatran down to 1/3 HP! I felt clever for an idea that would waste a turn. I could switch to Torkoal while they Recharge then back to Heatran while they restart the Sa-
Rock Wrecker
Uh oh...
Critical Hit!
I had a feeling they’d attack while I was switching back to Heatran and that Rock Wrecker would KO.
I send out Moltres for the final turn and heal the tiny bit of damage with Roost. The last two Pokemon weren't a problem though. Malamar's Quick Claw activated, letting them use Baton Pass to bring in Jellicent before Moltres could use Toxic. The timing didn't matter though because Toxic missed. Moltres outspeed and was able to poison with the second Toxic before Jellicent could use Substitute.
Leg 2: 5 Wins
So... Why was I afraid of having to do Fire?
Blissey wasn't really a threat, but it made "Battle" 13 funny. Wrap was actually kind of threatening to Heatran after the lead's Corrosive Gas removed Leftovers and Geomancy was a shock to see. Heatran was asleep during that and after the speed boost, I expected them to use Safeguard before I could use Toxic but I try it anyway. They used Metronome instead their random move was one that should be a death sentence for any Heatran, Stomping Tantrum. 75 Power and x4 Effectiveness added up to a whopping ~20 Damage! (I’m not sure if that was sarcasm. It’s a ton from a Blissey’s Physical Attack.)
After one of the best moves, they got one of the worst ones, Powder Snow... and the 20% Freeze Chance... I can't even be mad at Powder Snow Freezing Heatran. XD A few turns later, they used Flamethrower. I thought it was broken AI until I remembered that Metronome called Entertainment, which replaced Flash Fire with Serene Grace. Heatran somehow survived the Geomancy boosted attack and it thawed him, letting him use Rest! I’m not complaining about why Fire Attacks thaw frozen Pokemon, but I am asking why a Legendary Pokemon made of partly molten metal that’s probably hotter than most fire can be frozen.
There was good news and bad news about "Battle" 15's start.
Bad News: Heatran is asleep.
Good News: Against Talonflame, who cares?
They used Fly then U-Turn and Heatran woke up in time to use Toxic on Grapploct. I’m so switching to Moltres against that. Stomp Tantrum does nothing then Circle Throw brings out Torkoal. Another Stomping Tantrum did nothing because of another switch to Moltres and they used Taunt on their final turn before going down.
Lycanroc... Even if Moltres wasn’t Taunted, NOPE! Switch to Heatran and they used Roar to bring back Moltres. NOPE! Switch to Heatran and they used Stealth Rock.
Accelerock doesn’t do much to Heatran.
Moltres getting sent out twice is a KO, so... Dynamax blocks Roar! They used Roar as soon as Dynamax ended three turns later and their Roar brought back Moltres. NOPE! Switch to Heatran.
Talonflame spent their final turn using Overheat... against Heatran... Lol. I’d say it was bad AI if I didn’t think U-Turn would’ve been just as useless.
"Battle" 18 wasn't pretty. I had to switch to Torkoal against Golduck for Drought and Night Daze with a little previous damage brought her down to a little under half health. Zoroark used Flamethrower, which did nothing because I was switching back to Heatran, then 2 Night Dazes dealt almost half damage while Heatran used Toxic and Confide. I chose Rest expecting another Night Daze, but they used U-Turn to bring out the real Golduck instead. Crap...
I switched to Moltres and used Toxic agaisnt Golduck and Surf dealing about 1/3 damage per attack forced Moltres to use Roost. I would've stayed in, but the Sun ended! I expected the worst when I switched to Torkoal, but she barely endured Golduck Surf! That said, she can't take any hits so she's very unlikly to be able to use Rest and Heatran needs as much HP as possible to endure long enough to wake up... I didn't like having to do it, but I let Torkoal faint.
I sent out Heatran and had him Dynamax to take less damage before he woke up. He endured easily but had to use Rest again against Zoroark. He was about half HP and awake when Zoroark fainted.
The last Pokemon was yet another I had trouble with. Gallade's Sword Dance is (for most Pokemon) enough to make it a threat even if you resist its attacks. They used Sword Dance on their first turn and Toxic missed because of Night Daze lowering Accuracy twice. The second one hit brought Heatran to 1/3 of his HP, but he didn't miss with Toxic and was able to use Rest after enduring the second Psycho Cut at 3 HP! Going on with a Pokemon down is always a grim situation, especialy when it means you'll probably lose to a type of Pokemon, but you know what makes it even worse? Having to use Rest on the final turn against Gallade!
Final “Battle”
My opponent was trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but they failed. They tried so hard to let my weakened team win, but they were left with a Pokemon that couldn’t lose against Heatran.
Heatran was asleep, so I had to hope Barraskewda didn't boost their Attack with Acupressure. Drill Run did nothing to Moltres while I siwtched to them and they boosted their Attack while I use Toxic. Second Turn, I try to sacrifice Heatran, but he endured the somehow endured the Waterfall. I switched back to Moltres and Dynamaxed to survive. They spent their last 3 turns Spamming Acupressure.
Second Pokemon, Magneton. I used Roost to not die to Electro Ball and they used Thunder Wave. They took half Moltres's Health the next turn with Electro Ball and Pyralasis prevented Will-O-Wisp. Against Heatran, they used Magnet Rise instead of taking the easy KO. That let Heatran wake up and use Rest. After that, it took me a long time to realize I'd forgettoen to burn Magenton. Playing on Autopilot can be annoying sometimes...
The last Pokemon, Crustle, couldn't possibly lose, even if the AI wanted to. Heatran was weak to Body Press and there was no one to take it for him.
Leg 3: 7 Wins
I thought I'd be lucky to get 7 total with Heatmor.
Fun Fact: Kingdra's Draco Meteor glitches Torkoal's smoke.
"Battle" 6's Lead Poliwrath made me switch to Torkoal then Moltres, but being able to recover with Roost meant it wasn't that bad after that. Rhyperior was sent out against Moltres and Rock Wrecker would OHKO if they used it, so I switched to Heatran and they used Sandstorm instead of attacking. I didn't take many screenshots, so I'm not sure what happened other than tanking Rock Wreckers, but it ended kind of okay. Healtran was left at half health.
The last Pokemon was another threat, Politoed. The good news is I wouldn't have to use Toxic because of Perish Song. The bad news, Turn 1 Hydro Pump brought Torkoal to her knees when I switched to her. With Heatran at half HP and Torkoal almost KOed, I figured I'd need to use a heal even if Toakoal survived the next turn. Hydro Pump landed afinishing blow before Torkoal could use Rest.
Leg 1: 6 Wins
"Battle" 7 started with Skuntank so I started with switching to Torkoal because her item is the least valuable. It didn't matter though. They used Memento and the opponent sent out Bouffalant. I switched to Moltres because of Earthquake then used Toxic. After that, switching between Heatran and Moltres. The plan was for Moltres to take Earthquakes, but they only took Giga Impact’s recharge turns.
The last Pokemon was a little ammusing. Mr. Rime’s Copycat copied Giga Impact. I'm so glad Moltres was slower because I was using Toxic. I used Roost durring the recharge turn then switch to Heatran and Copycat was less amusing when it copied Roost, healing what Toxic and the Rocky Helmet had done. It went back to amusing when Copycat became Confide and they kept spamming it and became annoying when they finally attacked on their last turn, dealing damage to Torkoal.
"Battle" 8 had a Pokemon that's annoying for a lot of my teams because of Substitute. This time though, Heatran outspeed Jellicent and was able to Toxic before they could use Substitute. I switched to Torkal then back to Heatran because of Brine, but they prefered using Poltergeist.
The second Pokemon wasn't annoying. Heracross, even though it doesn't have Fighting Attacks, is something I'm never happy to see. Too tough to be annoying. Will-O-Wisp could backfire because of Guts and Toxic is better against set up Pokmeon anyway, so I used Toxic. Heracross used Bulk Up twice before attacking and Stone Edge missed. I Dynamaxed, thinking they were done setting up, and Max Guard was wasted against Bulk Up. The second Max guard failed and a devastating Stone Edge missed again. lol. Max Guard blocked the last one and Heatran didn't have much trouble against the last Pokemon, Pelipper. Torkoal was even able to use Rest against it.
"Battle" 10 had another Pokemon I never like to see, Azumarill. I used Will-O-Wisp because of Belly Drum. Turn 1, they used Aqua Jet and brought Heatran's health to the point I wouldn't let him take anything that wasn't resisted. (or patheticly weak) They used Belly Drum while I switched to Torkoal for Drought and Aqua Jet dealt about 50 Damage. I needed to use Rest twice, even with Drought and the Burn. So glad they apparently didn’t have Huge Power.
Ribimbee was a good chance to let Heatran and Torkoal heal. I’d let Moltres heal too, but 2 HP isn’t worth a Roost PP. The only problem was Torkoal’s Toxic missed twice...
The last Pokemon has to have a bad match up if Psychic and two STABs Heatrran has x4 resists to was the second one. Still, I’m not getting my hopes up too much until I see what it is. Turns out, Scolipede... Wow. I forgot it was a Poison type and still used Will-O-Wisp anyway because it’s so pathetic. Leftovers would heal Heatran and Moltres wouldn’t have enough done to them for me to care about. If anything, I wanted Moltres to be hit by Skitter Smack because of the Rocky Helmet.
Another Rhyperior started "Battle" 11. They started with Breaking Swipe for some reason. I'm not complaining about taking next to no damage while using Toxic though. Sandstorm the next turn was just as good, but Rock Wrecker brought Heatran down to 1/3 HP! I felt clever for an idea that would waste a turn. I could switch to Torkoal while they Recharge then back to Heatran while they restart the Sa-
Rock Wrecker
Uh oh...
Critical Hit!
I had a feeling they’d attack while I was switching back to Heatran and that Rock Wrecker would KO.
I send out Moltres for the final turn and heal the tiny bit of damage with Roost. The last two Pokemon weren't a problem though. Malamar's Quick Claw activated, letting them use Baton Pass to bring in Jellicent before Moltres could use Toxic. The timing didn't matter though because Toxic missed. Moltres outspeed and was able to poison with the second Toxic before Jellicent could use Substitute.
Leg 2: 5 Wins
So... Why was I afraid of having to do Fire?
Blissey wasn't really a threat, but it made "Battle" 13 funny. Wrap was actually kind of threatening to Heatran after the lead's Corrosive Gas removed Leftovers and Geomancy was a shock to see. Heatran was asleep during that and after the speed boost, I expected them to use Safeguard before I could use Toxic but I try it anyway. They used Metronome instead their random move was one that should be a death sentence for any Heatran, Stomping Tantrum. 75 Power and x4 Effectiveness added up to a whopping ~20 Damage! (I’m not sure if that was sarcasm. It’s a ton from a Blissey’s Physical Attack.)
After one of the best moves, they got one of the worst ones, Powder Snow... and the 20% Freeze Chance... I can't even be mad at Powder Snow Freezing Heatran. XD A few turns later, they used Flamethrower. I thought it was broken AI until I remembered that Metronome called Entertainment, which replaced Flash Fire with Serene Grace. Heatran somehow survived the Geomancy boosted attack and it thawed him, letting him use Rest! I’m not complaining about why Fire Attacks thaw frozen Pokemon, but I am asking why a Legendary Pokemon made of partly molten metal that’s probably hotter than most fire can be frozen.
There was good news and bad news about "Battle" 15's start.
Bad News: Heatran is asleep.
Good News: Against Talonflame, who cares?
They used Fly then U-Turn and Heatran woke up in time to use Toxic on Grapploct. I’m so switching to Moltres against that. Stomp Tantrum does nothing then Circle Throw brings out Torkoal. Another Stomping Tantrum did nothing because of another switch to Moltres and they used Taunt on their final turn before going down.
Lycanroc... Even if Moltres wasn’t Taunted, NOPE! Switch to Heatran and they used Roar to bring back Moltres. NOPE! Switch to Heatran and they used Stealth Rock.
Accelerock doesn’t do much to Heatran.
Moltres getting sent out twice is a KO, so... Dynamax blocks Roar! They used Roar as soon as Dynamax ended three turns later and their Roar brought back Moltres. NOPE! Switch to Heatran.
Talonflame spent their final turn using Overheat... against Heatran... Lol. I’d say it was bad AI if I didn’t think U-Turn would’ve been just as useless.
"Battle" 18 wasn't pretty. I had to switch to Torkoal against Golduck for Drought and Night Daze with a little previous damage brought her down to a little under half health. Zoroark used Flamethrower, which did nothing because I was switching back to Heatran, then 2 Night Dazes dealt almost half damage while Heatran used Toxic and Confide. I chose Rest expecting another Night Daze, but they used U-Turn to bring out the real Golduck instead. Crap...
I switched to Moltres and used Toxic agaisnt Golduck and Surf dealing about 1/3 damage per attack forced Moltres to use Roost. I would've stayed in, but the Sun ended! I expected the worst when I switched to Torkoal, but she barely endured Golduck Surf! That said, she can't take any hits so she's very unlikly to be able to use Rest and Heatran needs as much HP as possible to endure long enough to wake up... I didn't like having to do it, but I let Torkoal faint.
I sent out Heatran and had him Dynamax to take less damage before he woke up. He endured easily but had to use Rest again against Zoroark. He was about half HP and awake when Zoroark fainted.
The last Pokemon was yet another I had trouble with. Gallade's Sword Dance is (for most Pokemon) enough to make it a threat even if you resist its attacks. They used Sword Dance on their first turn and Toxic missed because of Night Daze lowering Accuracy twice. The second one hit brought Heatran to 1/3 of his HP, but he didn't miss with Toxic and was able to use Rest after enduring the second Psycho Cut at 3 HP! Going on with a Pokemon down is always a grim situation, especialy when it means you'll probably lose to a type of Pokemon, but you know what makes it even worse? Having to use Rest on the final turn against Gallade!
Final “Battle”
My opponent was trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but they failed. They tried so hard to let my weakened team win, but they were left with a Pokemon that couldn’t lose against Heatran.
Heatran was asleep, so I had to hope Barraskewda didn't boost their Attack with Acupressure. Drill Run did nothing to Moltres while I siwtched to them and they boosted their Attack while I use Toxic. Second Turn, I try to sacrifice Heatran, but he endured the somehow endured the Waterfall. I switched back to Moltres and Dynamaxed to survive. They spent their last 3 turns Spamming Acupressure.
Second Pokemon, Magneton. I used Roost to not die to Electro Ball and they used Thunder Wave. They took half Moltres's Health the next turn with Electro Ball and Pyralasis prevented Will-O-Wisp. Against Heatran, they used Magnet Rise instead of taking the easy KO. That let Heatran wake up and use Rest. After that, it took me a long time to realize I'd forgettoen to burn Magenton. Playing on Autopilot can be annoying sometimes...
The last Pokemon, Crustle, couldn't possibly lose, even if the AI wanted to. Heatran was weak to Body Press and there was no one to take it for him.
Leg 3: 7 Wins
I thought I'd be lucky to get 7 total with Heatmor.
After fearing this type because of one Pokemon I thought I'd have to use, I just want to say this. Suck it Heatmor!
My Psychic Team can be summed up in one word, Cresselia. Any team using Cresselia ends up being Cresselia vs almost everything. Pokemon that aren't weak to her weaknesses aren't much better at taking those attacks because Psychic isn't a very defensive type apart for a few glaring exceptions.
Cresselia @ Leppa Berry
Levitate
Calm 252 HP/188 Def/4SpD/60 Spe
-Recycle
-Toxic
-Moonlight
-Rest
Cresselia is bulkier than god. (Not exaggerating. Her Special Defense is higher than Arceus’s) That’s not as good as it sounds though. She’s only about 7% Bulkier than Snorlax (Would be about 10% without Speed EVs) and Cresselia can’t learn Cosmic Power. Still, being able to use Moonlight to heal 50% in one turn instead of Rest, which averages out to 33% per the three turns it lasts, is a major advantage. Moonight is 33% more effective if you’re spamming it every turn compared to spamming Rest every time you wake up. That difference is what makes Cresselia insanely hard to KO even though she can’t set up. Rest is still used to heal status problems though and can be used if you want if you don’t need Moonlight. That said, you usually need Moonlight. The alternative is Psycho Shift but that doesn’t heal you instantly.
Sometimes you see something like Gallade using Sword Dance twice before attacking then realize it's not a big deal because their Leaf Blade only dealt 5 Damage after Moonlight's healing.
The reason for Speed EVs is Tentacruel. Cresselia could spam Moonlight, but Waterfall causing flinches wouldn’t let her heal. The Defensive EVs give 164/166 Defenses, which is as balanced as possible while keeping Special Defense slightly higher in case of Porygon 2/Z’s Download. I can usually go with a Calm or Bold Nature, but this time forced me to go with Calm because a Stat Boosting Nature wouldn’t let me have 164 Defense. 163 jumps upto 165 with enough EVs for another stat point with a boosting Nature. Bold 252 HP/28 Def/60 SpD/164 could be used for outspeeding Butterfree before they can use Substitute, but I really don’t like how much bulk is lost. It seems like winning one matchup would cost so many others.
In theory, the rest of the team is for taking hits Cresselia can't. In practice...
252+ SpA Zoroark Night Daze vs. 252 HP / 4+ SpD Cresselia: 104-126 (45.8 - 55.5%) -- 59.4% chance to 2HKO (53.61% chance to 2HKO after accuracy)
252+ SpA Zoroark Night Daze vs. 252 HP / 140+ SpD Malamar: 70-84 (36.2 - 43.5%) -- 98.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery (84.11% chance to 3HKO after accuracy)
252+ SpA Zoroark Night Daze vs. 252 HP / 20 SpD Tapu Lele: 63-75 (35.5 - 42.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO (85.74% chance to 3HKO after accuracy)
Turns out, it's better to use the back line for niche situations and let Cresselia tank anything that doesn't KO her. I still made sure to have Neutralities to Bug, Dark, and Ghost though. Outside of their main niches, they were nice for taking Corrosive Gas.
(I know that doesn't look like the best example because of Illusion, but it's a better example than it looks.
Malamar @ Leftovers
Contrary
Calm 252 HP/116 Def/140 SpD
-Toxic
-Topsy-Turvy
-Confide
-Rest
Wouldn't it be better to use a Psychic/Normal Type for a Ghost Immunity? I tried Oranguru and I don't think it's better for this team. Cresselia wins against enough Ghosts for me to be okay with not having an Immunity and Topsy-Turvy has proven to be a very useful move for set up Pokemon, like Shell Smash Cloyster, especialy the ones Cresselia can't stay in against, like Toxicroak, who'd be an automatic loss without Malamar. Besides, having a Pokemon that's only weak to Bug and Fairy is nice. Bug being a x4 Weakness isn't that nice, but Fairy pretty much doesn't matter.
Tapu Lele @ Rocky Helmet
Psychic Surge
Bold 252 HP/236 Def/20 SpD
-Toxic
-Charm
-Confide
-Rest
For my Bug Neutrality, Tapu Lele, despite being known for being offensive, is the bulkiest Psychic/Fairy and Fairy is an amazing type with only two rare weaknesses, Steel and Poison. Wait... aren't those the types Immune to Poison? There were a few other options. Steel also resists Bug but is weak to Dark and the Psychic/Steel types, but they either don't have many useful moves or are less bulky than Non-Steel alternatives. Psychic/Fighting looked good and would've brought me back to one of the first species I used in Restricted Sparring. Gallade is also Neutral to Dark and Bug, isn't much frailer than Tapu Lele, learns Will-O-Wisp, and is weak to Flying and Fairy instead of the types Immune to Toxic.
Why aren't I using Gallade? Scizor. There's so few things that can 1v1 Cresselia so I looked at the few things that can't and Sword Dance Scizor is a big one. Turns out Gallade loses because of Dual Wingbeat. I thought Tapu Lele would lose too until I remembered something that never comes up when you're using Status Moves all the time, Psychic Terrain blocks Bullet Punch! With everyone resisting Psychic, buffing Psychic attacks is barely a downside so there was no way Psychic Surge could go wrong! (Or so I thought. Turns out Steel Roller can do something if there's terrain up, which I didn't remember until Scolipede used it against Tapu Lele. It wasn't a KO though, so I could just use Rest then switch between Cresselia to take Steel Roller and Tapu Lele to set up Psychic Terrain again.) With Charm to counteract Sword Dance and a Rocky Helmet to put Scizor on a time limit, I could win against them. The Rocky Helmet also helps against other Physical attackers in case of emergancies.
Amazingly, being paranoid about Scizor paid off because I faced and beat one in the streak I'm sharing. I feel like I might have got lucky with it using Dual Wingbeat multipule times though.
There's so many fewer Pokemon worth talking about becase Cressela struggles with so little. I got to use Topsy-Turvy on Cloyster in "Battle" 3 and Pinsir in "Battle" 4 made me switch to Tapu Lele to avoid Bug Bite taking the Lepa Berry. I Dynamaxed against Dedenne for Max Guard before "Battle" 5 ended so Cresselia wouldn't have to start with 1/2 Health from Super Fang. The main reason to not use Cresselia is incase of Corrosive Gas of Bug Bite, but even then, keeping Recycle at 2 PP lets me get around that by Dynamaxing. Turn 1, Max Guard. Turn 2, doesn't matter if Max Guard works. Either way, the Leppa Berry is eaten before they can use another Corrosive Gas. That made "Battle" 6's Salazzle as much as a joke as it should be.
"Battle" 7's Sandaconda made me switch to Tapu Lele to take Skitter Smack and weaken it with Charm, but Shed Skin didn't let Toxic be very effective. I also used Confide a few times to weaken Scorching Sands for when Tapu Lele had to take it and switch back to Cresselia when they started using Ground attacks. I'd switch beck to Tapu Lele to take Skitter Smack and let their Rocky Helmet to what Toxic couldn't. After that, Kangaskhan couldn't touch Cresselia with Sucker Punch and their other attacks were barely more effective. The last Pokemon was also weak, but it caused way more trouble than it usuayl did. Skuntank usualy uses Corrosive Gas and Memmento, but it refused to use Memmento until ever other move was useless. I switched to Tapu Lele to use Confide a few times and let them disolve my Rocky Helmet. After Acid Spray, I switched between Malamar, who healed what they took with Leftovers, and Tapu Lele, who took every Corrosive Gas aimed at Malamar's Leftovers.
"Battle" 8 could've gone very baddly. I used Toxic against the second Pokmeon because Solrok was easy to stall against. It used Foul Play. It's Zoroark! I spammed Moonlight to endure the Night Daze barrage and was even able to recover to full HP when one missed. The miss shouldn't have mattered, but it saved me from being KOed by a Critical Hit!
"Battle" 9 is where things started to go bad. Lead Froslass was annoying, but Cresselia beat it. The second Pokemon, much worse. Krookodile started with Bulk Up while I used Toxic. I try Moonlight hoping they'd attack, but they used Bulk Up again. I switched to Malamar and they barely survived Power Trip. It's Dynamax or die and I think I die either way. First Max Guard blocks a KO. Second Max Guard succedes. The Third always fails and this was no exception. Krookodile's Moxie boosted their Attack even more... and they fainted to Poison. The last Pokmeon was Conkeldurr, but that didn't matter. I needed to use a Heal.
Leg 1: 9 Wins.
You know you have a good team when you can get around 10 Wins in a leg.
"Battle" 12 is where planning for the biggest threats paid off. I switched to Tapu Lele against the lead Scizor. X-Scisor landed a Critical Hit, but it was only 52 Damage. I used Charm twice and they used X-Scisor twice more before I had to Rest. They then used Dual Wingbeat, which was awesome to see with a Rocky Helmet. They used two More X-Scisors and stood standing with a sliver of health. On the turn Tapu Lele's second turn of sleep, Scisor finished its fight with a 1 Hit Dual Wingbeat. I wasn't able to have Tapu Lele come back in to actualy wake up and use Rest again. Maybe I should've used a heal, but I wasn't taking a Leg of 3 after a Leg of 9!
"Battle 13 was another minor one and Tapu Lele was able to wake up and use Rest again against Dragalge when they were down to Toxic Spikes.
I remembered about Psychic Surge enabling Steel Roller to do something in "Battle" 14. It was disapointing for a Power 130 Super Effective Attack.
"Battle" 17 had Whiscash second and there was no way I wasn't using Toxic before it started usig Dragon Dance! It used Foul Play instead. Another Zoroark AND it started with Foul Play again! Moonlight spam ler Cresselia survive again, but Night Daze lowering Accuracy twice made Toxic miss against the real Whiscash. Fourtantly, Creselia was able to use Toxic before Waterfall was dealing too much to heal. I Dynamaxed for the last few turns and only took about 1/4 Damage form the Waterfall that wasn't blocked.
"Battle" 18's Sirfetch'd made enduring easy with Defog spam and I faced another Skuntank. I did the same thing as before. Let Malamar take hits and Tapu Lele take Corrosive Gasses.
I hoped "Battle" 19's wouldn't ue Substitute on turn 1. I thought I remembered Butterfree not using that against Cresselia before, but this time, they used Substitute and I knew I was doomed when it bloced Toxic. My only hope would be if they used all their Hurricane PP before boosting too much
Butterfree launched its first Huricane after two boosts and missed. My heart sank a little more at another Quiver Dance but the second Huricane also missed. And then they used Quiver Dance again until they had max boosts. Tentacruel would leave me hope, but Butterfree?
+6 0 SpA Butterfree Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 4+ SpD Cresselia: 153-180 (67.4 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (49.00% chance to 2HKO after accuracy)
(153, 154, 156, 157, 159, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175, 177, 180)
It doesn’t help that they used Sleep Powder when I Dynamaxed. My second Max Guard failed and the second Sleep Powder put Cresselia to sleep. On the last turn of Dynamax, Hurricane missed again!
The fourth Hurricane finally hit and brought Cresellia down to 65/227 HP! I switched and the next three turns are how I expected it to end.
Hurricane 5, KO Malamar.
Hurricane 6, KO Tapu Lele
Hurricane 7, KO Cresselia.
Leg 2: 9 Wins.
Bummer but not bad.
"Battle" 7's Sandaconda made me switch to Tapu Lele to take Skitter Smack and weaken it with Charm, but Shed Skin didn't let Toxic be very effective. I also used Confide a few times to weaken Scorching Sands for when Tapu Lele had to take it and switch back to Cresselia when they started using Ground attacks. I'd switch beck to Tapu Lele to take Skitter Smack and let their Rocky Helmet to what Toxic couldn't. After that, Kangaskhan couldn't touch Cresselia with Sucker Punch and their other attacks were barely more effective. The last Pokemon was also weak, but it caused way more trouble than it usuayl did. Skuntank usualy uses Corrosive Gas and Memmento, but it refused to use Memmento until ever other move was useless. I switched to Tapu Lele to use Confide a few times and let them disolve my Rocky Helmet. After Acid Spray, I switched between Malamar, who healed what they took with Leftovers, and Tapu Lele, who took every Corrosive Gas aimed at Malamar's Leftovers.
"Battle" 8 could've gone very baddly. I used Toxic against the second Pokmeon because Solrok was easy to stall against. It used Foul Play. It's Zoroark! I spammed Moonlight to endure the Night Daze barrage and was even able to recover to full HP when one missed. The miss shouldn't have mattered, but it saved me from being KOed by a Critical Hit!
"Battle" 9 is where things started to go bad. Lead Froslass was annoying, but Cresselia beat it. The second Pokemon, much worse. Krookodile started with Bulk Up while I used Toxic. I try Moonlight hoping they'd attack, but they used Bulk Up again. I switched to Malamar and they barely survived Power Trip. It's Dynamax or die and I think I die either way. First Max Guard blocks a KO. Second Max Guard succedes. The Third always fails and this was no exception. Krookodile's Moxie boosted their Attack even more... and they fainted to Poison. The last Pokmeon was Conkeldurr, but that didn't matter. I needed to use a Heal.
Leg 1: 9 Wins.
You know you have a good team when you can get around 10 Wins in a leg.
"Battle" 12 is where planning for the biggest threats paid off. I switched to Tapu Lele against the lead Scizor. X-Scisor landed a Critical Hit, but it was only 52 Damage. I used Charm twice and they used X-Scisor twice more before I had to Rest. They then used Dual Wingbeat, which was awesome to see with a Rocky Helmet. They used two More X-Scisors and stood standing with a sliver of health. On the turn Tapu Lele's second turn of sleep, Scisor finished its fight with a 1 Hit Dual Wingbeat. I wasn't able to have Tapu Lele come back in to actualy wake up and use Rest again. Maybe I should've used a heal, but I wasn't taking a Leg of 3 after a Leg of 9!
"Battle 13 was another minor one and Tapu Lele was able to wake up and use Rest again against Dragalge when they were down to Toxic Spikes.
I remembered about Psychic Surge enabling Steel Roller to do something in "Battle" 14. It was disapointing for a Power 130 Super Effective Attack.
"Battle" 17 had Whiscash second and there was no way I wasn't using Toxic before it started usig Dragon Dance! It used Foul Play instead. Another Zoroark AND it started with Foul Play again! Moonlight spam ler Cresselia survive again, but Night Daze lowering Accuracy twice made Toxic miss against the real Whiscash. Fourtantly, Creselia was able to use Toxic before Waterfall was dealing too much to heal. I Dynamaxed for the last few turns and only took about 1/4 Damage form the Waterfall that wasn't blocked.
"Battle" 18's Sirfetch'd made enduring easy with Defog spam and I faced another Skuntank. I did the same thing as before. Let Malamar take hits and Tapu Lele take Corrosive Gasses.
I hoped "Battle" 19's wouldn't ue Substitute on turn 1. I thought I remembered Butterfree not using that against Cresselia before, but this time, they used Substitute and I knew I was doomed when it bloced Toxic. My only hope would be if they used all their Hurricane PP before boosting too much
Butterfree launched its first Huricane after two boosts and missed. My heart sank a little more at another Quiver Dance but the second Huricane also missed. And then they used Quiver Dance again until they had max boosts. Tentacruel would leave me hope, but Butterfree?
+6 0 SpA Butterfree Hurricane vs. 252 HP / 4+ SpD Cresselia: 153-180 (67.4 - 79.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (49.00% chance to 2HKO after accuracy)
(153, 154, 156, 157, 159, 162, 163, 165, 166, 168, 171, 172, 174, 175, 177, 180)
It doesn’t help that they used Sleep Powder when I Dynamaxed. My second Max Guard failed and the second Sleep Powder put Cresselia to sleep. On the last turn of Dynamax, Hurricane missed again!
The fourth Hurricane finally hit and brought Cresellia down to 65/227 HP! I switched and the next three turns are how I expected it to end.
Hurricane 5, KO Malamar.
Hurricane 6, KO Tapu Lele
Hurricane 7, KO Cresselia.
Leg 2: 9 Wins.
Bummer but not bad.
I’m not going to say I’m happy with losing after 2 Legs, but I think a streak of 18 with this team is worth sharing and using Cresselia caused some interesting situations.
I also figure the main problem with this team is if loses if Cresselia loses and there’s just some things Cresselia can’t beat, so losing before Leg 3 even with a good streak was kind of likely. I’m pretty sure Volcarona is also unwinnable because Tapu Lele can't outheal the damage with Rest and the idea of Malamar standing a chance is pretty.
Total of all Steak: 324
Current Average Streak Length: 18
At the beginning I was aiming for 5 in each type but arragant to think I'd be able to get 10 in most types easily or even 20 in the good types. I underestimated how tough Restricted Sparring would be. The wake up call was strugling to get 5 Wins with the first type, Fighting. I was so wrong about how easy it'd be, but I was also wrong about the limits. Every streak has gone up to 11 and I'm shocked I've averaged 18! That's even without being happy with every streak!
Even with Scarlet and Violet released, I'm pretty sure I'm not done with Restricted Sparring and some of my teams aren't near their limits. Water and Poison have so much more potential than where they stand and Psychic could probably hit 20. Maybe I could even do better with Fighting if I try it again. Should I try some types without Recycle? It worked so well for Dark.
One last thing for now, thanks to everyone that helped me with Pokemon I needed help getting and help with transfering Pokemon and thanks to you for reading this. (or at least checking how for I got)
set that 
was a Steel neutrality that could handle 
and 
by setting up with Shell Armor + Body Press. Simple max HP and max Defense EVs, and Crunch was to chunk Ghost types.
was a Psychic immunity that could set up and sweep with Dragon Dance and Crunch through pesky Pokémon like 
. Its Sand Stream ability was also nice for boosting the special defense of itself and its allies while chipping down enemies. Sharp Beak and Aerial Ace gave it a chance against fighting types; it had a 68.8% chance to take out 
with a +0 Attack Max Airstream. It also took out 
and 
at +3 with Max Airstream, which is why I preferred Sharp Beak to Expert Belt. Crunch is reliable STAB (one generation too early for Knock Off), and Rest allowed for healing. Max Attack EVs and Adamant nature for maximum power.I think the 4 speed EVs did something. Otherwise, the Special Defense EVs make it so Download boosts 
and 
’s Attack instead of Special Attack, and the rest went into HP.
on battle 37 after maiming it with Body Press; 
against a fully set up Drednaw at one point. Had another magnezone: whiff a Steel Beam against 
battle 63; I was Dynamaxed at +1, which doesn’t OHKO even discounting sturdy, and 
. 
has Regenerator combined with great attack and speed. With Life Orb, it hits an equivalent of 230 attack, compared with the 194 of Adamant 
. It also naturally hits 170 speed, allowing a useful outspeed on 
before any boosts. This is where most favorable comparisons with 
, 
, and 
, and it provided minor healing via Grassy Terrain from Max Overgrowth. Rock Tomb was chosen to hit 
, and 
, the last of which was an especially massive issue for the backline. In retrospect, Knock Off may have been better in the place of Grass Knot.
’s Speed Boost ability doesn’t proc on switch in, 2) Psychic immunity would be really nice, 3) without HP and defensive investment, Cobalion is pretty frail, especially on the special side, 4) Steel + Electric coverage is bad.
due to 
’s ability to heal with Drain Punch and spontaneously wake up from Rest with Shed Skin.
/
), Miracle Seed-boosted Wood Hammers (
), and Power Herb Solar Beams (
, where 
and 
are potent physical tanks. Water also struggles a lot with Psychic types, especially those with Grass or Electric coverage, such as 
, 
, 
. The Psychics cause problems by making the otherwise good 
); OHKOing all of them with a Water lead is a tall order.
/ 
/ 
for a Rising Voltage KO on 
for a Mystic Water-boosted KO on 
. Of those, only 
(can still use Quick Claw Scorching Sands)
(Lightning Rod only)
(not worth the Sturdy risk)
with Intimidate
, Intimidate-wielding 
, and notorious Sturdy users 
and 
were still notable guaranteed Max Lightning KOs, but I don’t think those two calcs ever came up (
. Ice Beam could have been OK for coverage. I already talked about the Special Attack and Speed EVs, but the nature and bulk EVs simply maximized Special Defense to handle Special Attackers that 
as a Steel type, but it’s not in SwSh. When trying to find a good 
. Both 
and 
. In the back line, Intimidate is much better than Moxie, especially when 
, though in practice I usually set up to +2. HP is divisible by 16 for Leftovers, and the rest went into Defense to work with Intimidate.
) that lacks massive initial fire power. This placement for Water “feels” right to me. For the longest time, Dark in the 100s felt out of place to me, too, until I noticed the 2023 record Dark run by 
