Battle Stadium Singles blog — "Win three 1v1s goodstuffs" (Season 3; Series 2)
The first ruleset rotation of generation 9 this month saw the release of the Paradox pokemon. As I see it, the most interesting result of this change-up involves the new special attackers admitted into the proceedings—Flutter Mane, Iron Bundle, Iron Moth—whose inclusion not only bumps up the top-end of the Speed creep game (Meowscarada and mixed Dragapult being some of the worst casualties), but who give teams more options for offensive pivot styles, as well as providing more ways of breaking through the Unaware trio (and Garganacl).
As for my offering for this month, I decided to post something a bit early like this because it's unlikely I will have the time to grind the last few days of the season. And variants of the team below got me above 1900 Elo with barely over a 60% win-rate, so it's not completely terrible!
It's not the 2.1k Elo of Season 1, but it'll have to do.
Fling Annihilape has the bulk to live Gholdengo's 252 SpAtt Shadow Ball, so it should get off both Fling and Stealth Rock.
Likewise, 252 HP / 4 SpDef is enough to live a 252 SpAtt Moonblast up to and including the highest possible roll (216), as here.
This time it was the 4.17%-er, but a similar outcome is meted out by turn one Tera-Fairy (Focus Sash set) and Choice Specs Flutter Mane.
Full five hits of +252 Att Bullet Seed also delivers the goods against the ape.
Self-harm is bad, m'kay.
When you EV to live the 252 SpAtt Shadow Ball in the mirror, you don't have to rely on Focus Sash or a defensive Tera-type to come out on top in the 1v1. Of course, as with Annihilape above, you need to be able to make the read that it's not Choice Specs Flutter Mane you are trying to tank.
Choice Band Bullet Punch damage.
Even here, Tera-Fire is mainly a defensive tool to avoid the super-effective STABs.
In addition to Gholdengo and Volcarona, with a neutral (Tera) typing, Assault Vest Baxcalibur also dominates standard offensive sets from newfangled special attackers Flutter Mane, Iron Bundle, and Iron Moth.
Flutter Mane's Substitute can't even tank an uninvested Salt Cure, not that it would have salvaged this game from turning into a 0-3 at the hands of SpDef-invested Garganacl.
The most embarrassing loss of gen9 for me thus far: despite Substituting on turn one Glare, I got swept by Tera-Ice Baxcalibur after Eviolite Dunsparce passed it some Coils, which let it Icicle Spear oneshot Flutter Mane through Tera-Fire Substitute.
That ain't Gholdengo!
Multiscale and Sturdy thrive in an aggressive metagame that has yet to be fully figured out.
It looked like an Espathra Speedpass opener into Gholdengo or Annihilape. But instead of a free Volt Switch into a priority user, I get handed the turn one loss by Tera-Ground ape.
A stirring of gen8 Dialga's ashes.
The transition from Series 1 to Series 2 was calamitous for Hydreigon, which saw its usage plummet from #6 at the end of Season 2 to #27 toward the end of Season 3.
Palafin remains a potent threat because of the defensive response it demands—of the bulky Unaware mons (and Garganacl), only Dondozo shuts it down decisively if having to switch in on Palafin momentum.
Garganacl went back to Tera-Ghost in a big way as of Series 2 (around 50% usage), largerly due to its SpDeffy Curse set. So, although +2 Tera-Fighting Drain Punch off +252 Att Life Orb devastates any salt man that switches in on Swords Dance, Garganacl is perhaps best answered by special attackers.
Choice Band locked into Extreme Speed against a team with three Ghost-types.
When you lose the big Tera-duel and end up in the final mon Mimikyu mirror with your Disguise down, you've lost.
Breaking (through) the bank.
Doesn't matter that you're faster than the average Assault Vest Baxcalibur if you only manage to land two Icicle Spears.
The most painful of punishes: a faster Tera-Ground Baxcalibur.
Bring all the Assault Vest bulk you want, it won't save you from crit Choice Specs Overheat.
Tera-Fire Choice Specs Overheat: this is either an above average roll from Timid Iron Moth (6.3% to 1HKO), or a low-roll from Modest (62.5% to 1HKO). I choose to believe it was the former.
Bullet Punch.
It's on when the bulb goes off.
Baxcalibur will never feel more free than when the opposing physical wall or physically defensive pivot is Corviknight.
Get me out.
Getting the Spore off against a natively faster Icicle Spear user.
Against a Sigma rental with Assault Vest Palafin.
1) Team overview
Pokepaste: https://pokepast.es/e3b5230662ce021d
Rental: 0J3MVB
Breloom
Breloom @ Focus Sash
Ability: Technician
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Mach Punch
- Bullet Seed
- Bulldoze
- Spore
Alongside Iron Valiant, Spore + three attacks Breloom is among the better Focus Sash pokemon available for taking offensive trades against similarly offensive teams.
Outside this role, Breloom will fall off in terms of impact against more defensive line-ups or modes, much like Mimikyu.
If anything stands out here, it's the Tera-type. The intention with Tera-Steel is to avoid being oneshotted through Focus Sash by Icicle Spear, Dragon Darts, Scale Shot (Roaring Moon), or even the occasional Dual Wingbeat (Salamence). When on a Stealth Rock-broken Focus Sash, this most notably applies to Dragonite's Extreme Speed.
Annihilape
Annihilape @ Light Ball
Ability: Vital Spirit
Level: 50
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fling
- Stealth Rock
- Rage Fist
- Curse
The standard crippler sets—irrespective of user—utilize some combination of Stealth Rock and Speed control, which aims to break opposing Focus Sash and Multiscale while establishing or reversing momentum.
I wanted to try out crippler Annihilape because of its relatively high native Speed tier and lack of reliance on Focus Sash to tank even some of the more potent super-effective hits. I arrived at this set after also testing Scream Tail, where the main takeaway was that Annihilape is simply less passive and less telegraphed than Scream Tail (both Fling and Thunder Wave sets).
In any case, Fling and Stealth Rock are employed to cripple the opposing lead in order to make a probable opposing Dragonite endgame more manageable. Next, Rage Fist is an attempt at putting direct damage on Flutter Mane and Gholdengo.
Curse, on the other hand, demands some more justification—especially when Taunt, Final Gambit, or even Rock Tomb/Bulldoze exist as options to round out the crippler set.
The narrative I used to rationalize Curse here concerns the weaknessess of the "goodstuffs win three 1v1s"-style of gameplay this teams tries to hit: dedicated Baton Pass and screens modes.
Simply put, without Dragon Tail (bulky Garchomp), Whirlwind (Hippowdon), or Perish Song (Scream Tail), teams like this can have problems muscling through even the most telegraphed of Screens modes, not to mention Drifblimpass, or Glalie-mode.
Now, granted, these aren't exactly prominent as far as playstyles go, but the lack of direct counterplay to them otherwise can make for some truly miserable games. Ghost-type Curse seeks to remedy this.
It should be noted that the EVs on this set are wildly unoptimized, only concerned with hitting a few key benchmarks—living 252 SpAtt Shadow Ball from Gholdengo and 252 SpAtt Moonblast from Flutter Mane. A savvy player would do well to build upon this. To this end, and without venturing too deep in the weeds, a possible additional defensive benchmark to aim for would be to guarantee survival of +252 Att Glaive Rush into Ice Shard by cutting some Speed, for example.
Finally, Tera-Normal is more or less the standard, and gives Annihilape the option to try to immune a hit from opposing Gholdengo or Flutter Mane, but in practice, its only real use is getting to get a hit on Mimikyu against Shadow Sneak—standard Adamant 252 Speed Mimikyu being slower than Annihilape.
Flutter Mane
Flutter Mane @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 116 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 132 Spe
Timid Nature
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Substitute
- Mystical Fire
Upon the introduction of Paradox pokemon into the format as part of the Series 2 ruleset, Flutter Mane quickly established itself is the #2 mon in terms of pure usage. In my view, as with Iron Moth, the best set is Choice Specs with bulky pivots or a defensive wall.
However, without really any defensive play going on with this team, playing to refresh Flutter Mane's Choice Specs like that is not really on the table. Instead, I opted for a slightly bulkier Booster Energy (Speed) set that functions as a fast revenge kill mon with decent 1v1 potential against most special attackers in the format.
To this end, the main attraction here is the EV-spread, which I first saw used by Porygon_X. Defensively, this build lives 252 SpAtt Shadow Ball from both Flutter Mane and Gholdengo, with +252 Att Life Orb Shadow Sneak from Mimikyu only having a single roll (6.3%) to 1HKO. It is this that translates to Flutter Mane both outspeeding and getting positive trades against key pokemon in the format without having to Terastallize.
The Speed benchmark chosen beats +252 Speed Roaring Moon's 188 by one without the Booster Energy boost. This is a corner I intend to cut for more bulk in the future, with +252 Speed Iron Valiant's 184 the next major benchmark to aim for, as I see it.
The Tera-type elected is mostly a defensive one, turning Steel (Bullet Punch, Make It Rain, Flash Cannon), Fairy (Moonblast), and Ice (Ice Shard, Icicle Spear) into resisted types.
Indeed, even Tera-boosted, Mystical Fire seldom does more damage than Flutter Mane's STAB-moves. Mystical Fire is, however, especially great in the Flutter Mane mirror: with its higher Speed tier, this set should do well against both standard sets—Choice Specs and Focus Sash.
Another use case for Mystical Fire prevents Flutter Mane from becoming set-up bait for Volcarona (Quiver Dance), as well as improving an already nice match-up against Espathra's non-receiver/wincon sets (Screens or Speedpasser), where Flutter Mane should still outspeed even most +2 Speed Espathra.
Substitute in the fourth moveslot seeks to leverage Flutter Mane's Speed tier by scouting for an opposing Terastallize, defensive switch, or Choice-locked move. Substitute also lets Flutter Mane dodge Yawn/Protect (Umbreon, Dondozo), and lets it play for Annihilape's Fling or Curse.
Magnezone
Magnezone @ Choice Specs
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 50
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 172 HP / 252 SpA / 84 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Steel Beam
To be clear, Analytic represents far more offensive power, and is the preferred ability, especially on Assault Vest sets, affording Magnezone many more opportunities to switch in with its nice defensive typing and formidable native bulk. Sturdy is also hurt by the lack of Custap Berry in the game, which will no doubt be sold to us as DLC alongside the equally conspicuously absent Kee and Jacoba Berries.
In any event, with the plan here being to take offesive trades, even without Analytic, a Choice Specs boosted neutral attack is enough to put most opposing pokemon into priority range for Breloom, Mimikyu, or Baxcalibur, with Booster Energy-buffed Flutter Mane also able to pick up offensive momentum against sufficiently bruised opponents.
Magnezone's secondary offensive role is against physically bulky opposition, punishing targets like Skeledirge, Garganacl, Dondozo, and Corviknight. Against hard stall, Volt Switch pivoting should be fairly free, too.
Regarding EVs, I chose to try to creep past Skeledirge, Scizor, and Corviknight, the rest of the investment simply going to offense and general bulk. Tera-Flying, too, is merely a defensive Tera-type, targeting Ground and Fighting-type attacks.
Finally, the comparison to Gholdengo demands addressing. It is an undeniable fact that Gholdengo is just more threatening in the team select screen than Magnezone. Furthermore, Gholdengo has also amassed a sizeable corpus of defensive EV-spreads for every imaginable set, letting it avoid getting oneshotted in key match-ups, like Annihilape and Flutter Mane above. So, what gives?
True enough, Gholdengo would no doubt be just as good, if not better, especially for wall-breaking, even potentially carrying Trick to cripple a defensive target when carrying Choice Specs!
But at the end of the day, for what this team is trying to do, I value a Sturdy-intact Choice Specs-boosted hit more than what Gholdengo offers—not only do you get comparable levels of special burst as you do with Gholdengo, but a Sturdy trade into a priority follow-up is also a form of momentum recovery that does not involve being forced into a defensive Tera-type to live a boosted hit.
Seriously though, just use Gholdengo, unless you're defensively pivoting for Palafin or something as Assault Vest Magnezone.
Mimikyu
Mimikyu @ Life Orb
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 52 Def / 4 SpD / 68 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Shadow Sneak
- Drain Punch
- Play Rough
The hallmark of offensive teams like this is that they simply do not offer defensive play beyond switching into immuned moves, so glue pokemon like Mimikyu have to be employed to reverse opposing offensive momentum and get yet another 1-for-1 plus.
Another current option is, of course, Dragonite, whose ability to blunder its way into the victory screen is simply frightening. Now, as it happens, I am currently experiencing severe Dragonite fatigue, so Mimikyu it is.
In a vacuum, something like a spread of 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spe would probably be more consistent for full offense with maximum general bulk, while still clearing arguably the most contested bulky offense Speed benchmark of Adamant Breloom's 122 by 2 points of Speed. Here, though, I have gone for even more creep (122+3).
And as for the investment in Defense, although admittedly experimental and unrefined, I've found does meaningfully move the numbers against opposing Baxcalibur's Icicle Spear and opposing Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak, reminiscent of gen8's bulky Kee Berry Drain Punch Mimikyu.
Although factoring in Life Orb ticks and Stealth Rock damage can make defensive theorymonning on Mimikyu a thankless endeavor indeed, surviving four hits of +252 Att Baxcalibur Icicle Spear (Disguise +3) at least ensures Mimikyu gets its damage off against opposing Assault Vest Baxcalibur hoping to home in on Flutter Mane and Magnezone.
As for offensive coverage, Tera-Fairy Play Rough represents the highest possible burst damage Mimikyu can put out, and should be considered the standard right alongside Tera-Ghost. However, in opting for Tera-Fighting, I have tried to target Tera-Normal Dragonite, Kingambit (also turning Sucker Punch into a resisted move), and the occasional Tera-Steel Dragon.
Scizor and Corviknight are also made somewhat playable with Swords Dance momentum, but Garganacl with a defensive Tera-type (Fairy, Ghost, Flying) should moot Mimikyu's attempts at wall-breaking with boosted Tera-Fighting, even if only 45% of Garganacl actually carry Iron Defense.
Without Kee Berry bulk and juicy targets like Porygon2 or Ferrothorn around, leveraging the Drain Punch recovery to get through 1v1s is not really a thing, it should also be noted.
Baxcalibur
Baxcalibur @ Assault Vest
Ability: Thermal Exchange
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Earthquake
- Tera Blast
- Ice Shard
Baxcalibur is the definitive Assault Vest user currently, effortlessly Tera-dueling the pre-eminent special attackers in the format.
Full disclosure: I started out using the more common Tera-Ground set with Glaive Rush over Tera Blast, but switched back to Tera-Electric because of Corviknight, Dondozo, and Rotom-W (Tera-Steel).
Thus, if the Speed creep here, merely enough to outspeed Adamant Breloom's 122, is not enough in a Baxcalibur mirror, Tera-Electric Baxcalibur is in for a bad time. On the more positive side, the change over to Series 2 has seen a significant dip in the usage of Garchomp, whose Tera-types also made sure to see Tera-Electric Baxcalibur to the door rather swiftly in the past.
Tera-Electric also has some defensive upsides the standard set does not have: resisting Make It Rain and Bullet Punch are now joined by a neutral typing against Iron Bundle's STABs, and more importantly, against Iron Moth, whose Booster Energy (SpAtt) Tera-Grass Energy Ball is effectively a lure set for Tera-Ground Baxcalibur.
2) In conclusion
I'll be moving into a new apartment at the end of March, so chances are the next entry will likely drop no later than week 12-13. And that's assuming there won't be anything else to cover in the meantime!
As for what I am looking to play next month, revisiting Palafin is something that looks like a smart thing to do, and I will go through February's constuction blogs for Espathra Speedpass stuff in order to throw together something with Tera-Bug Iron Thorns (!) and Gholdengo as receivers for the initial climb.
- Tox
SW-0021-9848-8999
