Tales from Battle Spot Singles blog #9 — Koko-Mawile (maygirl S14)
May's blog posts seeks to open up a solo-mega Mawile team without dedicated speed control, apparently seeing regular play across the team author's three separate accounts, the highest finishing as high as 2100 at season 14's end.
nouthuca: http://nouthuca.com/topic/?code=g7s14single&num=3
blogs: http://maygirl-pokemon.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/04/02/151740
QR code: https://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/rentalteam/usum/BT-415F-80E4
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/e8476c1cf4b8009e
1) Team overview:
Please see links above for builds.
Tapu Koko
Tapu Koko is mentioned as the #1 usage pick in the team author's original blog, forming part of the duo of Koko & Mawile in the title of this post.
Koko's main defensive benchmarks include living 252 +1 mega-Gyarados Waterfall, having a better matchup against Sash Greninja leads, and taking only 88.8% maximum damage from Adamant Scarf Landorus Earthquake. Koko can also take one U-turn and still live an Earthquake from Jolly Scarf variants. If above 90% health, this Koko can also do an emergency switch into a Salamence Dragon Dance and live the follow up +252 +1 Earthquake or Double-Edge (95.4% max roll on the latter), usually needing to get the KO with the mere 65.4%-79.5% HP Ice does back against fully offensive sets.
Understandably, this bulk comes at the cost of losing the Z-move nuke and Koko's fantastic speed tier, settling instead on the Greninja-outspeeding 192. Damagewise, then, Koko's Grass Knot kills physically defensive Hippowdon only after it switches into something like a HP Ice or is below 65% health through other means; mixed defense 50% berry Hippowdon running around 124 SpDef still takes over 50% from it, as well. The aforementioned Adamant Scarf Landorus takes a minimum of 75% from HP Ice, while more defensive variants still get 2HKO'd, barring the occasional Assault Vest sets, of course. Defensively uninvested Mimikyu only dies to a combination of Volt Switch and Thunderbolt if one of the hits takes place under Electric Terrain. Damage ranges like this should probably clue in every prospective player to the fact that Tapu Koko should only click a move other than Volt Switch if it is hitting something super-effectively or if it sets up a kill on a critical threat to your win condition (mostly Mawile) later on down the line in doing so.
Mawile
Having Gyarados on the team telegraphs a more standard, offensive double mega lineup, which can translate to double Intimidate when Gyarados is brought as the Earthquake immunity, especially against physical leaning hyper aggro. In any case, as the team's sole mega, Mawile's pick rate should be as high as possible.
This is chiefly accomplished through its defensive synergy with your other offensive threats: Mawile is among the freest switch-ins against purely offensive variants of Mimikyu, something Latias, in particular, appreciates. Mawile is also defensively mentioned in the team author's blog as a nifty follow up to Tapu Koko's Volt Switch. The second main defensive utility Mawile provides is, of course, as a secondary answer (alongside Heatran) to usual variants of Tapu Lele. The 20 EV investment in Spd is as much for the mirror as it is for uninvested Aegislash and -Spd Trick Room setter Porygon2, which sits at a real stat of 72, as opposed to this Mawile's 73.
Offensively, then, Mawile obviously does the job of punching through defensive teams that tilt towards the bulky offense side moreso than against fully committed stall. This is because Mawile alone lacks Fire Fang / terrain boosted Thunderpunch to easily muscle through Skarmory, Celesteela or even Ferrothorn, but can break the back of Porygon2 and many variants of Snorlax. Swords Dance boosted Sucker Punch is a mindgame that can often be forced and benefits greatly from friendly terrain against Tapu Lele.
Latias
In discussing Mawile's offensive shortcomings above, the topic of bulky steels came up as being annoying for it. Well, Latias makes short work of Skarmory and Celesteela, and has the distinction of adequately checking Blaziken / Celesteela cores. Still, not carrying Ghostium-Z Shadow Ball means that this Latias is not to be expected to take on Aegislash or Metagross, unlike the slightly more bulky lure Latias lead sets that are around.
Speaking of Metagross, Jolly Metagross' 252 Ice Punch misses the 1HKO whenever Latias loses the speed tie, and the defensive investments are also enough to cover mega-Gengar's 252 Shadow Ball and Specs Tapu Koko's 252 Dazzling Gleam (both only 6.3% to 1HKO).
Heatran
Heatran carries the defensive burden of checking non-Earthquake Charizard X/Y through Tapu Koko's Volt Switch, and by having the unenviable job of hard switching into the most common variants of Tapu Lele. Also pointed out by the author is the Volt Switch into Heatran against a Metagross that wants to click something that hits your Earthquake immune options.
The scenarios listed above represent a good defensive niche, but beyond it, Heatran's offensive power relies on prior damage on key targets to not get stuck as set-up bait, which might mean, for example, double switching out once the Scarf is made known — especially when brought against more defensive lineups — but as a potential Mimikyu check, its HP management can be at a premium. In any case, momentum drain is always a real danger with Scarf Heatran, something that demands special attention in the team select screen.
Gyarados
In terms of type coverage, Gyarados covers the Koko & Mawile duo's weaknesses to fire, water and ground, and does so all the more effectively with the longevity bestowed upon it by its 50% berry.
This complementary coverage also reaches into the offensive side, justifying running a non-Z-move, non-mega offensive Gyarados: Hippowdon and Celesteela, while fearsome against Mawile, tend to be checked by Gyarados; and, conversely, Porygon2 and Snorlax, two good options against Gyarados, are destroyed by Knock Off, with Ferrothorn listed by the author as not particularly enjoying Swords Dance boosted Knock Offs, either.
Mamoswine
Mamoswine provides mandatory electric immunity, powerful priority and a big nuke. Knock Off utility overlap with Mawile singals an infestation of Snorlax in top ladder play, but also finds a home in dealing with Porygon2, who would otherwise either wall or cripple everything short of Mawile.
As far as the EVs go, the 180 Spd investment translates to a real stat of 123, one point faster than Adamant Breloom, and faster than the 110 base group at -1, but still slower than a likewise Rock Tombed Greninja. Mamoswine's bulk investment lets it live a 252 Greninja Scald 50% of the time, letting Mamoswine potentially pull through against one that manages to switch in on Ice Shard, for example.
The author also makes mention of the survivability of Mamoswine against unboosted Salamence — that being only a 6.3% chance to die from a +252 Double-Edge — which lets Mamoswine safely click Rock Tomb against it even if it stays in. Rock Tomb also lets Mamoswine not get set-up on for free by things like Gyarados, and also lets it click its Z-move against most variants of Mimikyu after popping its Disguise with Rock Tomb. The choice of Z-Earthquake also lets Mamoswine follow-up on Rock Tomb by breaking through things like HP + SpAtt invested Tapu Fini and non-Scarf Kartana.
2) Usage notes:
Greninja is always a headache when bringing one of your Z-move users instead of the standard lineup above: Life Orb, Waterium-Torrent and Sash sets are difficult for Mamoswine, whereas Scarf sets, easy for Mamoswine, tend to do a number on Latias.
2.1 — Usual team compositions
Tapu Koko-Mawile-Gyarados
2.2 — Most drafted, by rate/member (descending)
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Tapu Koko
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Mawile
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Gyarados
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Heatran
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Mamoswine
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Latias
2.3 — Drafting and leading cf. matchup-archetype list
See link for my basic archetype checklist:
https://tinyurl.com/archetypes101
"Kabamanda"
Salamence/Hippowdon/Aegislash/Koko
Tapu Koko/Mamoswine-Mawile
This is arguably Mamoswine's best matchup, and the matchup around which this team's take on Tapu Koko is apparently also in no small part built in the first place. While Mawile is not excactly comfortable fighting Aegislash, it can dodge King's Shield turns with Sucker Punch or Swords Dance, and is immune to Substitute + Toxic attrition.
"Rizzagross / Kabarizza"
Charizard/Metagross/Greninja; Charizard/Hippowdon
Tapu Koko-Heatran-Gyarados/Mawile/Latias
Heatran does well against both megas Charizard + Metagross wants to bring. Gyarados does the job as a defensive backliner, and can act as an alternate win condition against Charizard / Hippowdon since it uses Hippowdon as set up bait so long as you have nothing left to Whirlwind out. Latias bears mentioning against the latter core since its Z-Psychic and speed tier lets it, with momentum, target both Hippowdon and Charizard Y with a powerful, unresisted, nuke.
"Landorus momentum"
Suicide lead Landorus+set-up sweepers (Naganadel, Dragon Dance megas, NagaScizor etc.)
Mamoswine-Heatran-Gyarados
Mamoswine-Heatran-Tapu Koko
Mamoswine can lead against Landorus, which has to choose whether to break an assumed Sash or set up Stealth Rock. Both Naganadel and Scizor serve as a viable follow up to Explosion — both of which get stomped by Heatran — and opposing Gyarados can't Dragon Dance on a bruised and Intimidated Mamoswine to get the winning momentum due to Rock Tomb.
Rain core modular
Politoed/Pelipper/Swampert/steel type/Tapu Koko
Tapu Koko-Gyarados-Mawile/Mamoswine/Latias
Tapu Koko survives an Earthquake from Swampert, but has a 56.3% chance to get 1HKO'd by Waterfall in the rain, and only netting the Grass Knot 1HKO some 43.8% of the time. Mawile also lives a hit after Intimidate, and Gyarados can be utilized to not only double up on Intimidate, but also to set up on most variants of Swampert thanks to Mago Berry, whenever Ferrothorn, Kartana or even opposing Koko are not waiting in the wings.
Latias provides an alternative lead against opposing Koko or even Thundurus, whereas Mamoswine, while usually a bad bring against Swampert and its rain setter, does well against the non-rain gameplan when it comprises of a Salamence core, and can finish off things like Ferrothorn even in the rain matchup.
"Mimigassa / suropoke"
Mimikyu/Breloom/Mawile/Porygon2
Tapu Koko-Heatran-Mamoswine/Mawile
The iconic BSS suropoke lineup is no longer such a presence as it once was, but Mawile Trick Room is still around in other forms. Nevertheless, Heatran remains a strong switch-in on Trick Room setter Porygon2 and non-Curse variants of Mimikyu.
Dedicated stall
Chansey/Toxapex/Sableye/Celesteela/Slowbro/Skarmory/Venusaur/Shedinja/Gliscor etc...
Tapu Koko-Mawile-Gyarados/Latias
Latias and Mawile, through their stat boosting options, do a good enough job depending on the type of stall you hit, but neither enjoys hitting Will-o-Wisp Sableye + Shedinja. If, on the other hand, the opponent is based around something like Gliscor + Toxapex + Porygon2 / Snorlax without another water option in the back (read: Greninja), Mamoswine will be phenomenal.
Dedicated Baton Pass
Scolipede, Blazikenpass, Eeveepass, Dual Screens lead etc.
Tapu Koko-Mawile-Latias/Gyarados
Tapu Koko into Mawile will stop Yawn from dual screens Espeon or Uxie, letting it usually Swords Dance enough to overcome Eeveeboost. Latias' raison d'être is hardcountering Blazikenpass, making it more or less an auto-bring whenever Blaziken might make an appearance. Latias can also lead to dodge Yawn or non-Prankster Memento (Whimsicott) with Substitute.
Against a clearly telegraphed, mono-attacking dual screens Tapu Koko lead, Heatran can be employed since it should prevent Reflect from being deployed by 2HKOing bulky Koko through the Light Screen it in all likelyhood gets up first after being hit by Scarf Earth Power or Overheat on turn 1, thus making Mawile and even Gyarados all the more relevant when it comes time to take on the opposing team's win condition, so long as it is a physical stat booster like Gyarados or Salamence, that is.
Dedicated Glalie
Cripple lead (Glare Serperior, Thunder Wave/Will-o-Wisp Mimikyu, Light Ball Fling users etc.), Thunder Wave + Lunar Dance Cresselia, Glalie
Tapu Koko-Mawile/Gyarados-Latias
Having no reactive answers like Curse Mimikyu for a well-inserted Glalie is a problem for this team. Now, Heatran is a decent lead option against the likes of Serperior, but obviously risks getting completely blown out if it's not benched against something like a Cresselia + Kangaskhan / Lopunny game plan. Latias can also dodge paralysis with Substitute, but can't really be expected to carry the day against Mimikyu or Cresselia unless they try to open by clicking a status move (Cresselia can't break a +1 SDef Substitute with Ice Beam / Icy Wind or Moonblast).
Tapu Koko is immune to paralysis but can only really bruise things with its Volt Switch, and a paralyzed Mawile will eventually always lose to Glalie. Overall, trying to play for Gyarados momentum if at all possible seems like a sensible plan since it brings both Substitute and Dragon Dance.
3) In conclusion:
For June's blog post I am looking at doing either one of the well-performing monotype teams like mono poison or dark, and if those turn out to be unpalatable, I'll probably end up chronicling another 1500-1800 run for the upcoming 16th season with an original creation or some kind of frankenteam.
- Tox
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/tox.146/
