It's been a long time but I am back with a new personal best, reporting an
ongoing streak of 221 wins in USUM battle tree doubles.
I'm not sure how to provide proof now that the 3DS servers have gone away, but here is a picture of my in-game record, and I saved a few replays on the way. I don't have a capture card to record footage, but if I need to do more to provide proof I can add the extra bits.
This is part of my now years-long quest to achieve the battle tree ribbon with every mega pokemon. I've been tackling this extremely casually, sometimes taking weeks or even months off between attempts. After struggling for the better part of 6 months with Mega Sableye (It's soooo bad) I finally got the ribbon for it and moved on to better pokemon, starting with Mega Gardevoir, which has rewarded me with my longest streak yet.
I really liked the look of Couer7's Illumise/ Xurkitree team (shown
here) and wanted to try something similar out myself. Gardevoir seemed like an excellent partner for it, but after taking a loss against a sturdy Magnezone in the early 40s, I decided to make some slight tweaks to the moveset and ended up with the team below. After my last leaderboard team (203 wins with Mega-Alakazam, detailed
here) felt super strong but also boring af to play, this was a welcome new PB. This team is engaging, fun, and super powerful.
In additon, the opening pair feel like an absolute dream, like they were meant to play together. It's an iconic duo, leading to me naming this team:
TEAM MEAN GIRLS
Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 100 HP / 76 Def / 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 76 Spe
Modest Nature
- Hyper Voice
- Psychic
- Taunt
- Protect
The centrepiece of the team. I wanted to go with Modest 252 SpAtk to maximize the damage output from Hyper Voice, and in Tailwind 76 speed is enough for Gardevoir to outspeed everything in the tree except Aerodactyl-1 (which doesn't appear after battle 40). With some EVs left over I invested the rest into bulk as I felt my first attempt with 252spe felt too fragile. This version will survive bullet punches from Mega Lucario and every Scizor except Mega Scizor, which is good enough for me. Taunt was an excellent control move, especially in conjunction with Illumise's encore, and the pair exerted incredible control over every battle.
This Gardevoir has Trace pre-mega, and while the traced ability has almost never actually been useful, scouting out the opponents has been critical to this streak's length. Knowing an opposing Magnezone doesn't have Sturdy has come up more than once, and so has knowing when a Metagross doesn't have clear body. This team has a great toolbox, and knowing how to play (or not play) certain turns maximizes its effectiveness.
Diva (Illumise) (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 244 HP / 124 Def / 140 SpD
Bold Nature
- Struggle Bug
- Fake Tears
- Tailwind
- Encore
Honestly, this pokemon has been the star of the show. This is a slight variation on Couer7's Illumise, as my first run lost when Illumise was last mon standing against a Sturdy Magnezone with 1HP... with no attacking moves. I replaced Protect with Struggle Bug and I've never missed it. Struggle Bug is nice for chip damage, but it also has some decent utility, giving the team a bit more bulk against special attackers, as well as a much-needed option to do something against mono-dark trainers. The original version's Focus Sash felt a little redundant to me as after setting Tailwind it usually didn't matter whether Illumise survived a hit or not, and confusion/sleep/para/freeze would be much more threatening than a KO in that spot, so Lum berry felt like a much safer option. 220 battles later, opposing pokemon will still Thunder wave Illumise, only to get hit by Encore/ Taunt next turn, and having that anti-cheese option is incredibly satisfying. Encore has also been my primary answer to Trick Room, and outside of Tailwind is probably my most used move. Illumise has surpassed all my expectations - this thing rules.
Kommo-o @ Kommonium Z
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Clanging Scales
- Flamethrower
- Close Combat
- Protect
This is just a classic Battle Tree set at this point and it partnered up incredibly well with both Gardevoir and Illumise, making it the perfect third pokemon. If Illumise goes down, very little survives the onslaught of Clangorous Soulblaze + Pixilate Hyper Voice. If Gardevoir goes down, Fake Tears pushes Clanging Scales' damage high enough for Kommo-o to OHKO almost the entire tree. I feel this slot could be optimized a little more as it's a little tough to switch in and Soundproof feels sub-optimal as an ability (Bulletproof would allow it to switch in on Shadow Balls/ Sludge Bombs aimed at Gardevoir, and Overcoat would make it sturdier in Sand or Hail), but it's more than holding its own. Close combat is great against Heatran even with the Modest Nature, and I'd use it at -10% damage 100 times out of 100 before I'd ever click Focus Blast. Luckily I'm rarely in that situation, and while CC is a great tool, Clangorous Soulblaze feels like a cheatcode, and it easily closes out games by itself. It's a huge shame this thing was nerfed so badly in later gens, it's awesome.
OOGA BOOGA! (Darmanitan) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Rock Slide
- Encore
- Protect
In the final slot I really wanted a physical fire type because Mega-Mawile and all forms of Metagross completely demolish the rest of the team. I've wanted to try out Darmanitan for a while, and with the Z-move already allocated (locking out my usual Fire options of Arcanine, Entei and Incineroar), this was its time to shine. It has not disappointed. STAB Sheer Force Life Orb Flare Blitz in Tailwind dishes out absolutely absurd damage, even on resisted hits. Fire/Rock coverage is awesome, and Rockslide does some very respectable spread damage, even if the chance to miss is sometimes a bit painful. Having a second Encore pokemon sometimes feels redundant and sometimes feels excellent, but tbh 90% of the time it's either Flare Blitz or Protect with this thing, so having a
sometimes excellent third move is more than good enough.
Tailwind made Jolly nature a bit redundant, but usually by the time Darmanitan hits the field Tailwind has expired, so the extra points in speed were useful more often than not.
THREATS
Unlike my last listed team, I feel like this team has a number of credible threats which actually take some very careful maneuvering to handle.
Mega-Mawile
It can OHKO the entire team. Darmanitan is the only pokemon on the team that can handle Mawile reliably, and it is not sturdy enough to switch in on it. When it comes out, the only play is to sac whatever's on the field to get a clean switch into Darmanitan and kill it ASAP. Darmanitan is the best option, but notably both versions of M-Mawile will also die at -2 SpDef to Kommo-o's Flamethrower, so you need to prioritize killing it over setting up Clangorous Soulblaze, which then leaves Kommo-o exposed. It's nuts. This thing forces the whole gameplan to warp around it more than anything else in the tree, and it is the number 1 threat to the team.
Metagross
Some versions are more threatening than others, but it's always a problem. If it's either Mega-metagross or not Clear Body, then Fake Tears makes Hyper Voice do some decent damage to soften it up well for Kommo-o, but realistically Gardevoir is
not going to live vs this thing. The key decision vs Metagross is whether to sacrifice Gardevoir for some chip damage or risk taking damage on either darmanitan or kommo-o switching into it. It's never an easy decision.
Mono-Fairy Teams
It seems like a weird threat to identify as Gardevoir should mow down these teams easily, but if the opposing trainer has a Mawile you absolutely
cannnot risk losing Gardevoir - Kommo-o is completely useless vs fairies, and Darmanitan will kill itself to recoil chip damage before the other team dies. Underestimate them at your peril. Play strategically, sac Kommo-o, conserve Gardevoir, and eliminate Mawile ASAP.
Magnezone
It resists both Gardevoir's STAB attacks and takes negligible damage even after Fake Tears, but worst of all, if it's Analytic it will also tear ENORMOUS chunks out of Kommo-o or Darmantian switching in. Disable on Gardevoir might have been nice vs this, but tbh Analytic Thunderbolt still does tons of damage, so it's not worth giving up Taunt for. Treat it with caution.
Primarina
It's no serious threat to the front two, but Kommo-o/ Darmanitan literally
cannot beat this thing. Fake Tears + Hyper Voice should make short work of it, but getting the opportunity to land those attacks is not easy, especially as its Water attacks still deal tons of damage to Gardevoir. It's not as threatening as everything else on this list, but requires careful play to beat all the same.
Heatran
There's just no pretty way to handle this thing. Gardevoir + Illumise can barely touch it and Darmanitan's Flare Blitz is useless too. Kommo-o is a decent answer but it's not an easy switch in. Pave the way for a clean switch in to Kommo-o and hope that's good enough.
The run continues and I will update here when it inevitably ends, but I am glad this now my highest performing team. It's fun to play, has a ton of control options, a decent amount of hax insurance, and difficult but not insurmountable weaknesses. I feel like every win is earned, and when the inevitable loss comes it'll probably have been preventable somehow.
Only 8 megas remain, including Kangaskhan, Metagross, Salamence, and both forms of Charizard, so I expect this may not be my last leaderboard entry, but if it is - it's a great team to close out on.