The Single Battle Metagame (GBU)

Hey, i`m a german battler an my expiriences so far:
Every second team am faced to is a rain team, normally running a politoed, jolteon, nattorei, dragoran/thundurus and goodstuff filler or anti things...
So always be aware of rain and have anti stuff against!

I also see much sandstorm normaly running tyranitar as bringer.

I`m ranked always about 1600 ( because i take my losses!) and i really laugh about ragequitters, althoug i dont see that much (i think about 10-20 percent, because i do not play a hax based team...)

My team normaly is a sandstorm team with a sashed tyranitar as lead, running with Thunderbolt, icebeam, flamethrower and the ground attack with 60 power which lowers speed ( dont know the english name..) evs are about full spatk, 80 speed or so (just to outspeed scizor and ohko with ft) and the rest goes to HP .

my other teammates are : exadrill with balloon, zytomega with thunderwave, physich, focusblast and recover carriing a LO.

Thundurus against rain, latias against rain ( leading when i`m faced to rain), choice band scizor (which is only used against good stuff with 2 dragons).

I´m standing about 30 wins and 15 losses...
 
If you see so many sandstorm teams, don't you feel a little boring using a Tyrannitar and Excadrill yourself?

It's not a dig or anything, but I'd hate to use an Excadrill because I'm just so sick of seeing them...

Not saying I don't use OU Pokémon or anything, but maybe I'm just that sick of seeing that mole... I have done just over 600 battles in total I think.
 
In my opinion tyranitar is better than the cloud7 users. and you really have to have a weatherchanger, for not loosing against politoeds+ kingdra or so.

And if i use sandstorm , it is nearly a must to use the superfaststronghitting Mole, although it normally isnt in my team.

And no, i´m not tired of using my despotar- because of its surprising moves. But you are right, i normally hate to pick up the mole, but in fact its a real beast in sandstorm...
 

Jibaku

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I use Tyranitar but dropped out on Excadrill because it was too reliant on Sandstorm to actually pose a threat, which limited my team options when I wanted to use him. Surprisingly, I havent encountered any Excadrill in the last 80 battles or so.

Speaking of team, I decided that since I've gone past 100 wins on this cart, I want to start trying out new things again. Unfortunately going completely new would be somewhat difficult for me, so only a few members got a change.

For reference, here's the current team

Gliscor @ Flying Gem
Sand Veil
Adamant Nature (should I go Jolly?)
- Swords Dance
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Substitute

Tyranitar @ Focus Sash
Lonely
- Stone Edge
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Crunch

Blaziken @ Life Orb
Speed Boost
Naive
- Flare Blitz
- Hi Jump Kick
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
(ps: Sandstorm works really well with Blaziken because the order in which Pokemon get hurt can help you identify random scarfers).

Ferrothorn @ Sitrus Berry (Formerly Leftovers but I gave that to Suicune. Stupid item clause x_x)
Sassy
- Gyro Ball
- Power Whip
- Stealth Rock
- Leech Seed

Latios @ Choice Specs (Formerly a different Latios set with Expert Belt and HP Fire)
Timid
- Draco Meteor
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse
- Trick

Suicune @ Leftovers (formerly Scarf Rotom-W)
Relaxed
- Sheer Cold
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Mirror Coat

Suicune basically acts as my current gimmick of sorts...kind of. I was inspired to use Suicune when someone used SC Cune to take out my Jellicent on another one of my replacement tests, and Suicune's bulk has been wonderful thus far. I used Surf > Scald here since it 2hkoes Gengar (...and Medicham lol), and Cloyster after a Shell Smash (+2 Rock Blast is a 3HKO on Suicune). Oh and it can potentially OHKO Infernape and Blaziken as well. Sheer Cold is an important move here - it means stuff like Jellicent can't stall out Suicune and deters Ferrothorn from coming in (Ferrothorn Power Whip is a 3hko so I have a few shots to fire it), so this acts as a stallbreaker of some sort (I could use Rest/Sleep Talk but Suicune is also my general counter to physical Dragons so I can't really throw away a moveslot here. Mirror Coat is filler, but it's awesome when it catches things like Rotom-W and kills it. Mirror Coat + Sheer Cold also work decently against Calm Minders - the threat of SC helps prevent further set ups and urge them to attack...right into the Mirror Coat. MC also helps take care of TR Reuniclus who is very annoying to this team otherwise.

Suicune's addition to the team also prompted me to change Latios to Specs Trick, because Tricking stuff is just a lot of fun :D
 

cosmicexplorer

pewpewpew
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Let it be known that Jibaku is an evil person who uses Sheer Cold.

This might seem obvious, but what does Tyranitar's Stone Edge hit specifically? I think Ice Beam would be very useful there, getting a surprise KO on Gliscor and Garchomp and 2HKOing Hippowdon.
 

Jibaku

Who let marco in here????
is a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
Volcarona and Togekiss mostly because they're both really annoying. Also helps against stuff like Arcanine, Blaziken, Heracross, etc. The combination of Suicune, Latios, and Blaziken should be enough to deter Garchomp and co.

(also get on irc x_x)
 
So, do you actually train your Pokémon - or hack them with that wi-fi thing? I actually know nothing about this whole side of things... I just bred my own Chandelure with HP Ice for example... (although it didn't see much use...)
 
or hack them with that wi-fi thing?
What are you talking about?
GTS distributions when someone breeds Pokemon and clones it afterwards? I use this method, I obtain lvl 1 Pokemon which I have to train myself afterwards.
 
I was under the impression you could create a Pokémon on a program on a computer and then connect your DS to its wi-fi settings and go into the Global Trade Centre to collect it... Like I said, I don't know how these things work.

I was just interested in how someone would get a Speed Boosting Blaziken with HP Ice...
 
Ah, yes, you can do it, but I think it's no fun.
Getting perfect IVs (or almost perfect) in order to avoid long hours of breeding is one thing but cheating Pokemon ready for the battle... I find it hard to feel any bond towards it.
You can get perfect IVs without creating Pokemon in some program - there's also RNG (well, it's your call whether you consider it hacking or not, imo it's fine).
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83057
http://www.smogon.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3446600
Of course it's the best when you breed/catch something yourself but getting perfect Hidden Power is almost impossible.
 

cosmicexplorer

pewpewpew
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Discussion on hacking is strictly disallowed.

Jibaku, have you tried Occa on Ferrothorn? I would imagine it'd be quite useful to allow it to take random HP Fires from the Latis and other Dragon-types. While Sitrus allows it to take a few more hits, the surprise advantage from Occa can be decisive.
 
Yeh, I breed all my Pokémon, it's part of the fun really... and I have bred a few with five 31s anyway too...

Might as well post what I am using at the moment (although it does change quite often...) if anyone is interested...

Gengar @ Life Orb
Timid
-Shadow Ball
-Focus Blast
-Thunderbolt
-Substitute

Since I started using Life Orb and Substitute, I have had much more success than with Focus Sash and Destiny Bond. Most notable is the 2HKO on Rotoms and 1HKO on Slowbro, etc...

Dragonite @ Lum Berry
Adamant
-Outrage
-Earthquake
-Extremespeed
-Dragon Dance

Standard I suppose. Lum helps with confusion and random paralysis/burns, and I trained the amount of Speed EVs so that after one Dragon Dance it outspeeds up to base 116 I think.

Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
-Superpower
-U-turn
-Aerial Ace
-Bullet Punch

This is my only Pokémon shipped directly from the fourth generation, and I always used it as a Swords Dancer, so only from today really I've been using the Band. It's been interesting I guess.

Reuniclus @ Leftovers
Bold
-Psychic
-Focus Blast
-Calm Mind
-Recover

My favourite design from the new generation, and it can be pretty handy battling. Special attackers have a hard time taking it down after a Calm Mind or two, and as long as this thing has at least one Calm Mind up, it can survive a Crunch and 1HKO Tyrannitar on occasions with Focus Blast, if it hits.

Mow Rotom @ Sitrus Berry
Modest
-Leaf Storm
-Thunderbolt
-Will-O-Wisp
-Substitute

First I used this with Trick and Choice Scarf, then not at all, and now I am bringing it with me mainly as a deterrent for Politoed. This can't do much to Dragons though... I was using a Scarfed Togekiss before this, but I think Rotom fits the team better, however cute Togekiss is.

Mamoswine @ Focus Sash
Adamant
-Earthquake
-Icicle Spear
-Ice Shard
-Stealth Rock

I trained this entirely for Garchomp, but when I started using it, it became apparent that this thing is pretty handy most of the time. Still considering the Stone Edge over Stealth Rock, but seeing as that's an inherited move, I wouldn't be able to get it back if I did.

So there we go... I have a box full of other stuff I have trained too, other favourites include - the Togekiss, Conkeldurr for sand teams, Kingdra to take advantage of other rain, Gyarados with Dragon Dance, Volcarona and a bunch of other stuff really...

I mostly seem to have problems with rain teams, Volcaronas and on occasions Scizor, Skarmory and Blissey. The old Tyrannitar/Hippowdon and Excadrill can be tricky too.

Also, as weird as it sounds, I like to have a variety of colours on my team... I hate to look at my team preview and see a bunch of dull stuff, hahaha.
 

Jibaku

Who let marco in here????
is a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
Discussion on hacking is strictly disallowed.

Jibaku, have you tried Occa on Ferrothorn? I would imagine it'd be quite useful to allow it to take random HP Fires from the Latis and other Dragon-types. While Sitrus allows it to take a few more hits, the surprise advantage from Occa can be decisive.
I dont remember the last time I ever used the quote button heheh..

Occa berry was something I've considered, but in the long run I've found that Sitrus Berry is better. Occa is pretty much only better if it stops a fire move that would otherwise OHKO it, and given Ferrothorn's defenses and the lack of unpredictable Fire Blasts (unless it's like from Gyarados -_-. But its not ohkoing regardless), it can usually survive a hit. Stuff like Latios HP Fire 2HKOes through Occa anyways, and Sitrus is really helpful as Ferrothorn misses its Leftovers recovery dearly.

This is the RNGing age; everything is possible :p

Also yes, you aren't the only one who enjoys a pretty team preview xD.
 
Scizor @ Choice Band
Adamant
-Superpower
-U-turn
-Aerial Ace
-Bullet Punch

This is my only Pokémon shipped directly from the fourth generation, and I always used it as a Swords Dancer, so only from today really I've been using the Band. It's been interesting I guess.
Is this a bulky one or the fast spread? I have max Atk/max Spe Scizor I use every so often, but most of the time I regret not training a defensive set first!

About colors, I occasionally play with the idea that the opponent could miss my Garchomp, Gastrodon (East), or other dark blue Pokemon if they look over the team quickly. :P
 
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Speed Boost
Naive
- Flare Blitz
- Hi Jump Kick
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Protect
(ps: Sandstorm works really well with Blaziken because the order in which Pokemon get hurt can help you identify random scarfers).
Gah, I wanted to use that Blaziken as a replacement for Moltres but there are no legit Torchics with HP Ice on Pokecheck :/

I'm trying out Thunderus and Slowbro now. Haven't got the chance to use Bro yet, but Thunderus was quite amazing so far. I'm using the set-up stopper set with Thunder Wave and Taunt and it really makes my life easier.

I was also thinking of dropping Ferrothorn, but Cloysters are still way too common for me to consider that :/

I also got swept by a random Surf / Ice Beam / Sheer Cold / Extremespeed Suicune the other day. If only Sheer Cold didn't hit my Ferrothorn on the first turn...
 
Is this a bulky one or the fast spread? I have max Atk/max Spe Scizor I use every so often, but most of the time I regret not training a defensive set first!

About colors, I occasionally play with the idea that the opponent could miss my Garchomp, Gastrodon (East), or other dark blue Pokemon if they look over the team quickly. :P
Well the EVs are a bit strange on this Scizor actually, because I wasn't so into battling too much before the fifth generation. I've been playing Pokémon since the very first games came out, but only now with the wi-fi I've actually battled humans.

Anyway, the EVs are 252 in Attack, 200 in HP and 58 in Speed... I think the extra speed does help out every once in a while, but I guess when I trained it (who knows what year...) I wanted it to be a bit bulkier.
 
Been seeing more and more Speed Boost Sharpedo lately, usually on Rain teams. Can do around 44-52% with a Rain boosted Life Orb Aqua Jet to a 252 HP EV Conkledurr before Mach Punch lands, so there is still some danger present if you're trying to counter with a Fighting Pokemon/move.
 
Been seeing more and more Speed Boost Sharpedo lately, usually on Rain teams. Can do around 44-52% with a Rain boosted Life Orb Aqua Jet to a 252 HP EV Conkledurr before Mach Punch lands, so there is still some danger present if you're trying to counter with a Fighting Pokemon/move.
Focus Sash is generally a much better item on Sharpedo in GBU due to a general lack of entry hazards in 3v3 format. It allows you to nail Conk with a Waterfall/Hydro Pump and tank the Mach Punch, then you can finish with Aqua Jet.
 
I wouldn't say Focus Sash would be a "much better" option necessarily... My Gengar is pretty much as frail as Sharpedo and has been much more useful with the Life Orb. Still, perhaps Gengar has more opportunities to switch in/scare things out.
 
In my opinion tyranitar is better than the cloud7 users. and you really have to have a weatherchanger, for not loosing against politoeds+ kingdra or so.

And if i use sandstorm , it is nearly a must to use the superfaststronghitting Mole, although it normally isnt in my team.

And no, i´m not tired of using my despotar- because of its surprising moves. But you are right, i normally hate to pick up the mole, but in fact its a real beast in sandstorm...
I've actually seen a lot more SS teams
THe number of SD Garchomp is just ridiculous
 

cosmicexplorer

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Sand Veil is ridiculous by itself, and when paired with an excellent Pokemon such as Garchomp, it's no wonder it sees so much use.

Baz Anderson, both Gengar and Sharpedo are incredibly frail and can not take a hit, but Sharpedo has even more of an issue than Gengar does, as it has no usable resistances or immunities to abuse. Gengar in particular has a crucial immunity to Mach Punch, wile Sharpedo is weak to it, which makes a huge difference. However, the frequency of sandstorm teams nullifying sash makes Life Orb also a definitely usable option over Focus Sash; in no way is it entirely outclassed.
 
I just had a great battle on the GBU with a killer prediction that won me the game. My rating was 1711 I think, my Japanese player opponent's was 1800 exactly.

I anticipated them to lead with their Volcarona, so I lead with Gyarados. First turn they did lead with Volcarona, so I didn't want to overpredict and used Aqua Tail as they switched to their Rotom-Wash. I switched into my Mow-Rotom as they Volt-Switched back to their Volcarona.

So now it's my Mow-Rotom and their Volcarona... this is the cool part... I actually anticipated them to double switch back into their Rotom-Wash - thinking that they would be thinking I would switch back into my Gyarados - so I actually used Leaf Storm on the Volcarona, which actually did switch back out to the Rotom-Wash to take the Leaf Storm and knock it out. This was pretty risky knowing that both the Volcarona's STABs would OHKO my Rotom, and it would have been free to Quiver Dance up as well.

So that was cool. They brought in their Dragonite now and used Dragon Dance, my Mow-Rotom used Will-O-Wisp praying he didn't have a Lum Berry, which he didn't. I switched to my Reuniclus now as he Dragon Danced again. At this point his attack was back to the normal level and was fearing for my Reuniclus - because I've been using this Trick Room set one over my bulky Calm Mind set recently, and this one can take no way near as many hits as the bulky one can.

He used Outrage and my Reuniclus survived with 3 HP and used Trick Room. This was good because in the Trick Room I knew that my Gyarados would out-pace both the Dragonite and his Volcarona (and has Stone Edge/Aqua Tail)... I was anticipating an Extremespeed but obviously he didn't have it and my Reuniclus used Psychic with it's Life Orb to knock the Dragonite out (after it's 3 turns of burn damage, so no Multiscale).

The game was obviously mine there, so he forfeited... no ragequit, which I was expecting with his high rating... so there we go, that was pretty cool.
 
Sand Veil is ridiculous by itself, and when paired with an excellent Pokemon such as Garchomp, it's no wonder it sees so much use.

Baz Anderson, both Gengar and Sharpedo are incredibly frail and can not take a hit, but Sharpedo has even more of an issue than Gengar does, as it has no usable resistances or immunities to abuse. Gengar in particular has a crucial immunity to Mach Punch, wile Sharpedo is weak to it, which makes a huge difference. However, the frequency of sandstorm teams nullifying sash makes Life Orb also a definitely usable option over Focus Sash; in no way is it entirely outclassed.
fought some sv-abusing gliscers and cacturne
they were terrible. it's sv ability + garchomp's typing and stats that make garchomp popular. most teams are see are either garchomp+tyranitar+filler (usually escadrille) or politoad+kingdra+filler.
surprisingly, i rare see blaziken.
 

Taylor

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I am sat here waiting for an opponent to turn up!

You see I'm eager to test SDChomp, ScarfToed, LOKingdra, SashPlotThund, MixedBlaze [HP Electric] and SpecsLatios
 

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