Tales from Battle Spot Singles blog #1 — Kommo-o & the Hipposlayer (season 10-11)
Good day. I am Tox and this is the first of what I hope will be a series of blog posts on interesting looking teams available on nouthuca.com. The feeling in the non-japanese BSS community is that there is a bit of a drought of English-language content as of late, so hopefully I can contribute what little I have to offer to remedy that situation. Please excuse the poor formatting since this is a first effort on an unfamiliar platform, after all.
What, you ask, is interesting, then? Well, when I look for a new team to pilot, what I want to see is some fresh jank or a twist on an existing archetype that I haven't seen before. Oh, and a relatively high ladder finish on cart helps. Links to my personal stuff will located be at the bottom of the page.
These posts will be divided into two sections. First, an overview of the team, with links to the source that either originated or popularized the team, to a QR code of a close approximation of the original spirit of the team and to a pokepaste of with what I ended up playing. Second, I will present my personal finidings based on playing the team on cart. This might include, for instance, preview screen drafting information against common archetypes.
Tales from Battle Spot Singles blog #1 — Kommo-o & the Hipposlayer
This blog post is a brief write-up of season 10's top Kommo-o ladder finisher and season 11's second most popular rental team:
QR code: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-BF72-4AF8
Nouthuca: http://nouthuca.com/topic/?code=g7s10single
Relevant blogs: http://huyunoyuki1225.hatenablog.com/entry/2018/07/15/204105; http://copycatpoke.hatenablog.com/entry/2018/07/15/204053
(My butchered interpretation, natures/EVs from original blog posts: https://pokepast.es/d7d7b7a9e80ef325)
1) Team overview:
Please see links above for builds.
Greninja:
Greninja has always been popular as a lead and it's no different here. Except it actually kind of is, because you lead with this in literally every game. Does the opponent run Fini AND Venusaur AND an obvious Sash-breaker lead or multi-hit mega like Kangaskhan? Doesn't matter, just lead Greninja and Scald some people. Obviously, you'd rather not get hard walled and get at least a 1-for-1 trade with sashed Modest Torrent and your two water moves. Things like lead Breloom, despite your Koko and possibly Overcoat on Kommo-o in the preview screen, are also an annoying mindgame.
You will obviously get outsped by most opposing Greninja due to running Modest. Also note that your Water Shuriken is slower than a standard Jolly Mega-Metagross' Bullet Punch.
Tapu Koko:
The spdef EVs are for having your Substitute not get broken by Trace Porygon 2's Ice Beams while roleplaying as a gen3 Raikou. Physical bulk makes it so you always live an Earthquake from full HP from uninvested Hippowdon and Gliscor. As for usage, this is only really brought in if the opponent has Porygon2 or Cresselia, which are annoying for your megas.
Koko might also be a consideration against some variants of stall or generally defensive play featuring things like Amoonguss. Having the threat of Electric Terrain in the preview screen is often enough alone to deter Breloom play, which helps out with the 1-trick lead Greninja.
Mimikyu:
From full HP, this speed uninvested bulky Mimikyu lives and kills (thru Z-move or Z-move+Shadow Sneak)...
- +1 Waterfall/Crunch (not Iron Head, though) from standard Jolly Mega-Gyarados;
- Flare Blitz from Blaziken and +1 Charizard X;
- has a 75% chance to live Mega-Swampert Waterfall in the rain;
- lives a +252 Salamence Return/Frustration over 85% of the time; and
- lives both Psychic and Psyshock from Modest Scarf Tapu Lele in Psychic Terrain
You're slower than Breloom, though, and the heads-up Mimikyu mirror only goes your way if they +2 Shadow Sneak thinking it will 1hko (which it doesn't) while you Z-move or try for the 68% range Shadow Claw against the assumed defense-uninvested opponent.
Kommo-o:
This is a max speed special attacker with Bulletproof. If your opponent doesn't have a fairy, or their only fairy is Koko or Bulu, both of which can be worn down with Flamethrower, Kommo-o is a strong win condition. Whatever the case, having Kommo-o in the select screen usually forces the fairies, especially Tapu Fini, which is unfortunately too prohibitively annoying for it.
Stall or very defensive play is a situation in which you want to bring Kommo-o since you have Taunt+Spikes on your lead and Drain Punch sustain against the likes of Chansey, Heatran and Porygon2.The Hasty nature seeks to leverage Dragon type Substitutes against things like Suicune/Toxapex/Mega-Slowbro Scald while wearing them down with Clanging Scales.
Bulletproof makes Kommo-o a safe switch in+Substitute on Ferrothorn Gyro Ball or Bullet Seed, which you can sometimes lock them into with Taunt. Mega-Gengar's Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb are also noteworthy immunities.
Kommo-o is also exceptionally good against the Pelipper/Politoed+Swampert core since it lives an Ice Punch and outspeeds Adamant Mega-Swampert in the rain at +1 after using its z-move.
Metagross:
If a Hippowdon switches into Iron Head and it's the standard physdef with Rocky Helmet, it always dies to Grass Knot. The rare FIGWAM (figy iapapa wiki aguav mago) berry ones tend to have more spdef bulk and should be Iron Headed to under 60% life to get good Grass Knot ranges. Rock Tomb, while being a coverage move for the likes of Volcarona and the Charizards, also helps with speed control, which is always appreciated by slow Mimikyu and is essential for Kommo-o to get its Z-move off against Mega-Gyarados in particular.
While the Hasty nature doesn't change any relevant Flare Blitz from a 2hko to a 1hko, any Landorus Earthquake coming from 252 attack is lethal. You do also still win the heads-up against non-Sash/Ghostium Mimikyu even without Bullet Punch.
Salamence
This team has some unconvential movesets, natures and EVs, so here's a full offense Salamence.
2) Notes based on 50+ games on cart:
Do note that all of the observations below are based on games played in the cart metagame up until the low 1800s on the Pokemon Global Link, an environment criminally underexplored outside the Japanese community.
Usual team composition:
Greninja / mega / Mimikyu
Most drafted, rate/member (descending):
-
Greninja
-
Mimikyu
-
Metagross
-
Salamence
-
Kommo-o
-
Tapu Koko
How to draft against...
Format:
- Arcehtype
- Draft
- Brief explanation
“Kabamanda”
Salamence/Hippowdon/Aegislash/Tapu Koko
Greninja-Metagross-Mimikyu
You try to surprise the Hippowdon with Grass Knot and go down serving up the game for Mimikyu. Kommo-o is not unreasonable since Flamethrower is usually a 3hko on Koko in sand and they sometimes lead with and suicide it into Torrent Scald+Shuriken Greninja, or you can Shuriken the far more likely turn 1 Volt Switch to chip it down to size.
“Mimigassa / suropoke”
Mimikyu/Breloom/Mawile/Porygon2
Greninja-Tapu Koko-Mimikyu
Koko stops Spore, can stall Trick Room turns with Substitute and Calm Mind up on Porygon2. These teams often have Greninja or a second mega like Gyarados in their 5th/6th slot.
“Rizzagross / Kabarizza”
Charizard/Metagross/Greninja
Charizard/Hippowdon
Greninja-Metagross-Mimikyu
Whenever you see a Hippowdon on the enemy team, it's probably a good idea to bring Metagross as your mega. Similarly, if the opponent doesn't have a fairy, Kommo-o is probably the go-to win condition.
Rain core modular
Politoed/Pelipper/Swampert/steel type
Greninja-Kommo-o-Salamence
Your last pick depends on the non-rain team they brought. Again, Kommo-o survives Ice Punch and outspeeds Adamant Mega-Swampert in the rain after Z-moving. Depending on how the opening goes, Salamence might have to be sacrificed early. Running Mimikyu over Salamence is not unthinkable even with the Z-Crystal overlap simply because it's a 3hko for Swampert.
Full cancer (dedicated stall)
Chansey/Toxapex/Sableye/Celesteela/Slowbro/Skarmory/Venusaur/Shedinja/Gliscor etc...
Greninja-Kommo-o-Salamence
Not only is there usually not a fairy in sight, but their hazers/phazers get worn down by unboosted Kommo-o anyway. Not to mention the Taunt+Spikes lead. Know the right time to pull the trigger on the Soulblaze.
Dedicated Baton Pass
Scolipede, Tapu Lele / Blaziken in a multi-mega preview screen etc.
Greninja-Mimikyu-Salamence
Taunt+Water Shuriken is good against Scolipede and any kind of obvious Thunder Wave/Will-o-Wisp and the occasional Fling Light Ball lead. Still, absolute madmen can and still do run Mental Herb on some of their cripple leads.
Dual Screens Espeon can't be Taunted but also can't usually do damage to Greninja, relying on Yawn instead so its screens turns can, in principle, be wasted by repeatedly going back to Greninja, while still having Sash intact to Taunt/duel whatever comes after it.
Salamence and Koko are good for the last slot since both can Substitute to exploit things like Protect turns and boost their stats via Dragon Dance and Calm Mind.
Lele & friends (relevant since Season 7)
Pheromosa/Tapu Lele/Heatran
Greninja-Salamence-Mimikyu
These guys usually have Ferrothorn and a sweeper mega like Salamence on their team as well, but the main lineup is the one above. They like to lead Pheromosa and U-Turn into Timid Scarf Lele or Stealth Rock/Roar Heatran (this looks very much like a Stealth Rock team if ever there was one). Ferrothorn is the scariest thing ever.
Against the basic lineup, Scald against Pheromosa turn 1, Scald Lele to death as it procs your Sash on turn 2. Don't let Pheromosa get Beast Boost from Greninja and go to Mimikyu on 3. After that try to waste Psychic Terrain turns or get Salamence tempo. Basically, just try to get Salamence tempo in general.
Required reading stops here.
Personal tweaks & stuff:
I got comfortably up to 1761 before resigning with this team by just autopiloting with the Greninja lead every game. Tapu Koko I only ever brought against Porygon2 (mostly “suropoke” Trick Room with Mimikyu/Mawile/Breloom). Mimikyu did its job, but there were definitely times where having, say, Curse or Destiny Bond over Shadow Claw would have been preferable.
I ended up experimenting with HP Fire on Metagross. Now, I won't pretend it's not trash, but my justification went something like this: when your only fire coverage is Kommo-o, and the stuff that you need it for most—Ferrothorn (2hko), Scizor (2hko), even Kartana—is too often paired with Tapu Fini, having an out on your already jank-leaning Metagross was helpful. Of course Earthquake, Hammer Arm and Ice Punch and bringing Salamence as your mega are all objectively far superior choices.
As far as Kommo-o's EVs are concerned, I think the spatt EVs could be lowered some more without missing any 2hkos on either Clanging Scales or Flamethrower. But I haven't found any major defesive benchmarks to hit to justify jeopardizing the guaranteed Clangorous Soulblaze 1hko on things like 4sdef Mega Blaziken, whose Hi Jump Kick is only a 12.5% 1hko on you. The Kommo-o vs. Fairies “will-he-or-won't-he” mindgames in team selection I found far more interesting than something like, say, Sucker Punch Mega-Mawile has ever been able to provide.
For Salamence I went back to Roost on the back of Greninja Scald burns, Intimidate and out of a discomfort with playing Salamence in general (read: it's a combination of Salamence fatigue and being bad). Logic dictates one should then run a more defensive EV spread, or since being fully attack invested, run Double Edge. So do that instead.
Apologies for the abrupt conclusion, but there's only a certain level of writing you can expect from this alive a community. Hopefully this will be useful for someone.
- Tox
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tox.146/
