Battle Stadium New to Battle Stadium Singles Competitive

[Krockodile]

I have the very little competitive battling experience, and I just beat the Crown Tundra for the SwSh. I am hoping to start competitive 3v3 battles for series 7 during December, though I'm not entirely sure if this team would work well together, so I would appreciate feedback as to whether to change my team or what moves or items to use. Though I am aware of how these pokemon are meant to be used, I am also aware that there is a difference between a team working in theory and working well in an actual battle. Whilst I do hope that I don't want any of my pokemon to be replaced, I would understand if they have to be for the better. I think my team is a little heavy on physical attackers, but that seems to be the meta.

Cinderace @ Life Orb
Ability: Libero
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- High Jump Kick
- Bounce
- Sucker Punch

The reason why I chose to use the pokemon is that I am at least theoretically aware that it can be adaptable to the situation at hand, such as beating Rock Types such as Tyranitar, or able to defeat Heatran with High Jump Kick, something that other fire types would struggle to do. I believe to counter that it would require Landorus-Therian or Tapu Fini to handle it, who have the bulk (the former having intimidate) and super-effective attacks. Having a wide move pool would allow it to handle a lot of opponents. It is also a decent matchup against Rillaboom, whose grassy terrain can make it difficult for earthquake users such as Landorus-Therian


Rillaboom @ Choice Band
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 172 SpD / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- High Horsepower
- Wood Hammer

The next pokemon in my team would be Rillaboom. In the metagame, I believe that terrains would be common in the field, and as such, I chose Rillaboom. The reason is that it would definitely handle other terrain setters such as Tapu Koko and Tapu Fini, as well as it would deal huge damage to those who don't resist the move. I also used Rillaboom to give opposing Landorus-Therian a hard time, as its earthquake would be weakened. While it is no means a counter to Landorus-T, it can make it easier for my other teammates to sweep.

Tyranitar (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Iron Head

Tyranitar is the third pokemon in my team. I mainly use the pokemon to wall special attackers such as Regeleki, Zapdos, Galarian Moltres, special attacker Salamence. As well, it would have sandstorm, which means that it would be a good counter to Dragonite, in which it is considered a bulky pokemon thanks to its Multiscale ability. Since sandstorm would cut Dragonite's health by Dragonite switching in, its ability would not work and Tyranitar could deal huge blows to it. Whilst Tyranitar does have many weaknesses, it actually is a benefit in this scenario, as it is holding a Weakness Policy, which would increase its 135 attack stat. This makes it a great candidate for a weakness policy user. I use iron head to threaten Mimikyu as well as having max steelspike to increase its defense

Landorus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Fly
- U-turn

Landorus-T is the fourth pokemon, and being that he has a 145 attack, physically bulky thanks to Intimidate, immune to Ground-type attacks, I believe that Landorus-T would make a good candidate for the team. The reason why I chose Assault Vest was that to take special attackers slightly easier, which can also be helped with Max-Quake increasing its special defense. Whilst it is counter-productive with Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain, it would be natural that I would use the pokemon depending on the opponent's team. (E.g If they have a Cinderace, I use Landorus-T, if they have Tapu Fini, Rillaboom)


Milotic @ Flame Orb
Ability: Marvel Scale
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Recover
- Ice Beam
- Haze/Mirror Coat

Though I will admit I chose the pokemon because it is one of my favourite water types, I chose this pokemon as I believe it does have a niche. Have the Marvel Scale ability would allow it to handle physical attackers, which are currently defining in the metagame. As well, it can be considered a counter to Cinderace, since it would not fear Gunk Shot, unlike Tapu Fini. It can also be used as a check against Landorus-T, in which it can take its earthquake and can strike back with a scald/ice beam. Recover would be used when its hp gets dangerously low, fulfilling its purpose as a tank. Ice Beam can be used against Landorus-T, as well as opposing Garchomp, Dragonite and Salamence. Finally Haze can be used to stop opponents such as Moltres-Galar, Landorus-T or Dragonite to buff with Nasty Plot, Swords Dance or Dragon Dance Respectively. Though Haze can also be replaced with Mirror Coat, in which it won't be helpless against other water types such as Tapu Fini or Gastrodon.


Mimikyu @ Kee Berry
Ability: Disguise
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Play Rough
- Shadow Sneak
- Swords Dance
- Phantom Force

I will admit I have chosen this pokemon because I needed a Pokemon to counter Dark and Dragon Types, as well as Pheromosa. I couldn't use Tapu Fini because Milotic was used as a water type, and Tyranitar may have an advantage against Dragonite and Salamance, but it will struggle against Garchomp and definitely Pheromosa. As such, I have chosen to use Mimikyu, since it is immune to their Dragon attacks, and that it resists both of Pheromosa's stabs. Furthermore, its disguise ability along with Phantom Force will waste their Dynamax turn, allowing us to have an advantage.

 

[marilli]

Welcome to bss, your team has lots of strong Pokemon, but has some problem matchups. Let's first identify them before we go about how to fix that:

1. Zapdos. This is a manageable bad matchup alone. Tyranitar is a solid check, but it can be exploited / cushioned off. Something like Zapdos + Hippowdon may eat your team alive, as Tyranitar keeps getting hit with Stealth Rock and Discharge chip, while Zapdos easily switches into Rillaboom and Milotic, your best option forcing out Hippowdon.

2. Ferrothorn / Celesteela. This is the biggest problem on the team that demands a quick fix, and kind of worsens Landorus-T matchup. Cinderace cannot switch into Stealth Rock / Gyro Ball / Leech Seed / Air Slash forever. They will leech seed your Cinderace and make it easier to switch into Hippowdon and wall Cinderace. If you go into anything else vs Hippowdon, that is free switch into Celesteela / Ferrothorn and cycle starts again. Milotic can get into a standstill vs Celesteela with Recover, but nothing else on your team can recover so it's hard to take advantage of it, as Milotic eventually needs to switch out.

A lot of your problem stems from 1. lacking a true wallbreaker against strong physically defensive targets. 2. lacking a specially offensive win condition that can just bypass needing a physical wallbreaker (you don't need to wallbreak Hippo if you have, say, Zapdos, which can beat Celesteela + the grounds it is paired with.

I thought about Thundurus-T a bit which addresses Zapdos better, but it's more difficult to find an easy slot to replace, resulting in more potential changes. I think the easiest way to fix it is by putting Life Orb Zapdos on this team over Cinderace and trying to outplay the Zapdos with Tyranitar / Landorus.

Zapdos @ Life Orb
Level: 50
Ability: Pressure / Static
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Roost

It's possible to EV to live 2 opposing Timid Life Orb Zapdos Max Lightnings most of the time and 2HKO back no bulk Zapdos with a spread like Modest 188 HP / 164 SpA / 156 Spe, but I think with the priority, just guaranteeing damage on it and cleaning up may be best over trying to win the Zapdos 1v1.

Also, for smaller tweaks, refer to the analysis https://www.smogon.com/dex/ss/pokemon/mimikyu/battle-stadium-singles/ for the more popular Kee Berry spread. You want to actually take strong hits with the +1 Defense, so those Mimikyu usually invest into it. I would also not use 252/252+ AV Tyranitar, which is a bit overkill and any form of chip damage like SR or status completely bypass said overkill special bulk, so you may get more out of investing in its Attack. For example, 44 EVs with Adamant lets you break Kee Berry Zapdos Substitutes so you don't get SubRoost stalled out.

 

[1_TrickPhony]

Id consider using > on this team: your team seems Dynamax hungry enough that this simple change will help you manage your Dynamax. Simply put, Weakness Policy Ttar without using Dynamax is underwhelming, and you already have that really badly wants to be Dynamax. Alternatively, you could run a more flexible Cinderace set, potentially Choice Scarf or Sash Counter, opening up the Ttar slot a little more for its Dynamax.
Id opt for the first suggestion, > , which should address Marilli's concern of lack of special wallbreaker pretty well, while still cleanly beating in most scenarios.

If you are more flexible to switching up , you could use dual dance with Calm Mind / Iron Defense / Draining Kiss / Scald + Leftovers, which does the physical check much better than atm.

 

[Krockodile]

Regarding how Tyranitar countering Zapdos can be exploited due to Zapdos' teammate Hippowdon setting up stealth rocks'; if Hippowdon setting up stealth rocks is a viable set in Battle Stadium Singles, does that mean stealth rock as a move is still viable in the BSS format? If that's the case, I could use Tyranitar or Landorus-T to set up stealth rock instead, weakening opponents such as Dragonite, Zapdos, Salamence, Cinderace. Special mention goes to Dragonite because its Multiscale ability will be useless against it.
Also, are they any viable counters of Zapdos and Cinderace?
For the latter, I could replace Milotic with Tapu Fini, but if Cinderace has Gunk Shot, it might stand no chance against the hyper rabbit.
Also, regarding the smogon analysis on Mimikyu's EV spread of Kee Berry, would it not be outdated by the recent data collected by Pikalytics in BSS?

 

[marilli]

SR is viable and seen often. I wrote up a post here if you're interested in reading more. If you are more of a person that likes numbers and hard evidence, the SR usage combined on common SR users - Hippowdon, Landorus-T, Swampert, etc. in addition to common Pokemon that don't use SR all that often, like Ferrothorn, Nihilego, Tyranitar, Excadrill, etc. they often just don't have room to fit in SR, add up to more than 50%, easily.

Kee Berry spreads are honestly everywhere but also at the same time they kind of all do similar things. A lot of people also speed creep significantly because of Mimikyu mirror, and people tend to drop bulk because if you go lower you start hitting depressingly weak. 228 HP / 156 Atk / 124 Def Adamant as seen on https://www.smogon.com/stats/2020-11-H2/moveset/gen8battlestadiumsingles-1760.txt is fine (gives you better rolls vs Landorus-T and Cinderace) I use 228 HP / 156 Def instead for better survival odds and that's never bothered me. There are a lot of high-ranked players using even less bulk than our on-site analysis spread and that's still fine. It depends on what attacks you are trying to live, and depends if you are OK with a 7/8 survival, or 15/16 survival, or a 70% survival.

The point was that 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe Jolly Kee Berry isn't a set, for a pretty good reason.

 

[Krockodile]

Hey, I know I am referring to an old post I made, but I just want to advise on a certain team member's position. I am considering of replacing Rillaboom. The reason is that Rillaboom's Grassy Terrain may end proving a hamper to my team than not. If I am replacing Cinderace with Zapdos, then Grassy Terrain will be useless to it, since Zapdos is immune to Ground Type attacks. As well, it will hamper Landorus-T, in which its earthquakes will be weakened by said Grassy Terrain. It will also be useless if I choose to replace Milotic with Tapu Fini (who is, to be blunt far superior) since its Misty Terrain will override Grassy Terrain. The only Pokemon that I see will be helped by Grassy Terrain is Tyranitar, in which its weakness to Earthquake as a Ground Type attack will be quite useful. Unfortunately, unless it has Ice-Punch, it cannot do much to Ground Type attackers such as opposing Landorus-T, Garchomp and physically defensive Hippowdon.

Therefore, I might think that Celesteela may be a better candidate than Rillaboom. The first reason is that it is immune to Ground-type attacks, which means that it has a good matchup against the following pokemon (Landorus-T, Garchomp, Dragonite, Hippowdon). Granted, Hippowdon can threaten with SR or Yawn, but that's all it can do. The best thing opposing Hippowdon can do is that it can recover, though even that could be limited by the number of PP it has. As well, Celesteela would be a dangerous pokemon, holding Leftovers and threatening opposing Pokemon with Leech Seed. Granted Tapu Fini has leftovers as well, and that in BSS rules, you cannot have two pokemon holding the same item. So I will be having Tapu Fini holding the sitrus berry instead. As well, it can use Flamethrower to outright defeat those who can pose a problem, such as Ferrothorn and Kartana. Another notable thing would be that Celesteela may be a good counter to Excadrill, who could abuse Tyranitar's sand stream to take down my teammates such as Zapdos. As well, since Celesteela will be a special attacker instead of a physical attacker, I thought that it would be nice to not only rely on one special attacker, Zapdos. The reason why I chose Celesteela over Ferrothorn is because it has a ground type immunity, leaving it a good counter to Excadrill and Garchomp.

The moveset and EVs spread I have thought of is as follows

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Leech Seed
- Substitute
- Flamethrower / Protect

If I have the team of Landorus-T, Tapu Fini, Zapdos, Mimikyu, Tyranitar and Celesteela. It does hold a unique combination. For one, half of the team is immune to Ground Type attacks (Landorus-T, Zapdos, Celesteela), making it at worst be a decent counter to other Ground Type Attackers such as (Landorus-T, Garchomp, Hippowdon, Sand Stream or Mold Breaker Excadrill). As well, all three pokemon would immune to Tyranitar's sand stream, meaning that whilst Celesteela can recover easily from leftovers, Tyranitar's special defence will be boosted and stalling Landorus-T will be more difficult, walls such as Tapu Fini and Glastier will at worst have their leftovers be nullified by the sand steam. Finally, (though I admit myself this is not a good reason), all pokemon would have at least one immunity, meaning that they could be easy to switch in against Ground or Dragon attacks. The exception would be Tyranitar, in which the lack of psychic moves (except for Metagross) in the metagame would be irrelevant.

I have thought of other candidates as well. Rotom-Wash was another pokemon I have thought of replacing with Rillaboom.

Rotom-Wash @ Sitrus Berry
Level: 50
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 92 SpA / 12 SpD / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Hydro Pump
- Discharge
- Will-O-Wisp

Since Rotom-Wash does have immunity to Ground-Type attacks and has STAB super-effective Water moves, it would be a good counter to Landorus-T. As well, to those who are not scared of Rotom-W's hydro pump, it can potentially threaten physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp such as Dragonite, Salamence, Pheromosa, Cinderace without being a fire type etc. However, the problem is that it will be useless against my teammates Tapu Fini's Misty Terrain, in which it will clear out burns from opposing landed pokemon. This will include Pheromosa, Garchomp, Rillaboom etc.

The last candidate I thought of is Obstagoon.

Obstagoon @ Flame Orb
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Facade
- Knock Off
- Obstruct
- Switcheroo

Whilst it is outclassed in terms of sheer Power by Urshifu Single Strike, and I admit I used it before online because it is one of my favourites, I believe it does have a few notable facts that makes it not a better attacker, but better supporter on the battlefield
Obstagoon is one of the few Pokemon that has STAB knock off, which gives it the capability of knocking off an opposing Pokemon's item. This could be Celesteela's or Ferrothorn's leftovers, Dragonite's or Tyranitar's Weakness Policy, or Nihlego's Power Herb. This is something that many Dark-Type pokemon, including Urshifu, could not do. Obstruct could be used to stop most physical attackers from recklessly spamming their STAB attacks, including cocky's Cinderace High Jump Kick, Pheromosa's Close Combat, Garchomp's, Dragonite's or Salamence's Outrage, or Mimikyu's Play Rough. Their physical defence would be lowered making it easier for its teammates to sweep. Lastly, Switcheroo could be used to further hamper opposing physical attackers attempts to sweep, such as Landorus-T and Tyranitar. Also, since Obstagoon will be burned on its first turn, it cannot be put to sleep by Hippowdon.

The problem is that similar to Rotom's Wash conundrum, that Tapu Fini's Misty Terrain will eliminate Obstagoon's burn, making its niche all but void, include its Guts sweeping potential and switcheroo tactics.

Again, I know this is an old post I am referring to, but it would be great whether the teammate change would be worth it.