Metagame Partners in Crime

Scrafty, Aegislash, and Kecleon are pretty underestimated in this meta.

Scrafty has access to intimidate, fake out, taunt, knock off, drain punch, and dragon dance. It actually works great with Cresselia, Metagross (Regular or Mega), and Volcanion. Being 4x weak to dazzling gleam does suck but, there are ways around this with wide guard and matblock. It can honestly be a fun mon to use as it does work pretty well against mega metagross, lando-t, fat psychic types, and stakattakakakaka.

Aegislash has access to king's shield, wide guard, shadow sneak, and being able to switch from having awesome offensive stats to great defensive stats. It can easily fit on balanced, HO, and trick room teams. Being an all round great mon that can pair really well with immunity mons in general. It's also great to use against boomburst/e-speed -ate teams, and fairies.

Kecleon is awesome, being able to be on par with Greninja. It fits on most teams solely due to the fact of it's great movepool & ability in protean. It can provide trick room to trick room, as well as fake out, rock slide, and priority in shadow sneak. It can be even used against trick room, while off setting it by setting up trick room to return dimensions back to normal. Definitely an excellent mon that's good many teams, and being a decent check to Mega Gengar.
 
Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Toxic Spikes

Is it too unviable due to the fact that it nerfs your physical attackers?

It completely shuts down mons that rely on attack, such as heracross-mega
 
Cofagrigus @ Leftovers
Ability: Mummy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Trick Room
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hex
- Toxic Spikes

Is it too unviable due to the fact that it nerfs your physical attackers?

It completely shuts down mons that rely on attack, such as heracross-mega
This doesn't bother your physical attackers because they keep their ability plus Mummy. Furthermore, it only affects contact moves, not all physical attackers. Therefore, Heracross could use rock blast, e.g, to avoid mummy.

By the way, as a trick room 'mon, you should use a -spe nature, like Sassy. I'd also use a more offensive set, since double formats are much faster-paced, making defensive play difficult.
 
I think a pokemon that is worth trying out is Ampharos.


Ampharos offers: Plus and Magnetic Flux. It can also use moves like heal bell and cotton guard. Other moves to use may be Magnet Rise, Discharge, and Focus Blast. I think it's useful when paired with prankster and trick room. A good teammate is probably gastrodon since it can provide healing and special attack boosts.
 
With October coming around the corner, I suppose it's time for my stance on elements that are often complained about in Partners in Crime.

Shadow Tag
Back in December, I don't think too much about Shadow Tag in Partners in Crime. However, I change my mind about it now. While the ability technically can't be shared to its ally, the sharing moveset mechanic makes Shadow Tag much more abusive compared to how it does in Doubles OU. I suppose I can support a ban on Shadow Tag in Partners in Crime. As for Arena Trap, I doubt it will be a concern since Dugtrio isn't exactly ideal in Doubles with its frailty, so I will never support a ban on Arena Trap unless I was proven very wrong.

Trick Room
Trick Room is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in Partners In Crime as it drastically turns the table around by reversing speed order. Due to the sharing moveset mechanic (again), it's hard to predict who's going to use Trick Room. Even with Taunt and Roar/Whirlwind, there's a chance of guessing it wrong and tasting the wrath of Trick Room. With the being said, I don't think banning Trick Room from Partners in Crime is a good idea since it could cause a slippery slope that makes stuff like Speed Boost and (Quiver Dance) Dancer going out of control without Trick Room in Partners in Crime. I suggest a clause that restricts only one Trick Room per team and sees how it goes.

Greninja
While many believe that Protean GreninjaI is ban worthy in Partners in Crime as it is overcentralizing, I feel like it's better to hold a suspect test held for Greninja since I don't find it busted or unhealthy rather than banning it immediately. But due to it not being a permanent OM, it could be difficult to hold a suspect test for it.

Intimidate
Due to the mechanic of Partners in Crime, Intimidate work activate twice if the Pokemon with it switches in, thus reducing the performance of physical attackers unless they are paired with Contrary or Defiant. I personally think it's more centralizing than Greninja. I would suggest changing it so Intimidate cannot be shared, but that requires tweaking the mechanic of this format.

Anger Point
This. Any other user that can abuse the hell out of this ability?

Also, I want to talk about Guard Split (Shuckle using it on Chansey/Blissey). While I really didn't like the move, I have to ask one important question. What makes it different compared to how it does in Doubles OU aside from the ability and moveset sharing mechanic?
 
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With October coming around the corner, I suppose it's time for my stance on elements that are often complained about in Partners in Crime.

Shadow Tag
Back in December, I don't think too much about Shadow Tag in Partners in Crime. However, I change my mind about it now. While the ability technically can't be shared to its ally, the sharing moveset mechanic makes Shadow Tag much more abusive compared to how it does in Doubles OU. I suppose I can support a ban on Shadow Tag in Partners in Crime. As for Arena Trap, I doubt it will be a concern since Dugtrio isn't exactly ideal in Doubles with its frailty, so I will never support a ban on Arena Trap unless I was proven very wrong.

Trick Room
Trick Room is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with in Partners In Crime as it drastically turns the table around by reversing speed order. Due to the sharing moveset mechanic (again), it's hard to predict who's going to use Trick Room. Even with Taunt and Roar/Whirlwind, there's a chance of guessing it wrong and tasting the wrath of Trick Room. With the being said, I don't think banning Trick Room from Partners in Crime is a good idea since it could cause a slippery slope that makes stuff like Speed Boost and (Quiver Dance) Dancer going out of control without Trick Room in Partners in Crime. I suggest a clause that restricts only one Trick Room per team and sees how it goes.

Greninja
While many believe that Protean GreninjaI is ban worthy in Partners in Crime as it is overcentralizing, I feel like it's better to hold a suspect test held for Greninja since I don't find it busted or unhealthy rather than banning it immediately. But due to it not being a permanent OM, it could be difficult to hold a suspect test for it.

Intimidate
Due to the mechanic of Partners in Crime, Intimidate work activate twice if the Pokemon with it switches in, thus reducing the performance of physical attackers unless they are paired with Contrary or Defiant. I personally think it's more centralizing than Greninja. I would suggest changing it so Intimidate cannot be shared, but that requires tweaking the mechanic of this format.

Anger Point
This. Any other user that can abuse the hell out of this ability?

Also, I want to talk about Guard Split (Shuckle using it on Chansey/Blissey). While I really didn't like the move, I have to ask one important question. What makes it different compared to how it does in Doubles OU aside from the ability and moveset sharing mechanic?

I'd like to comment on your points (always taking the other side to generate a debate).

Shadow Tag
Shadow Tag users are either frail or with a weak defensive typing. Not only ghost types are immune (as usual), but any user with a pivoting move can give it to its partner and allow it to pivot out. An example of this is Incineror, which can force out both Gengar and Gothielle with Dark type moves and offer momentum with U-turn.

Trick Room
I believe the true potential of Trick Room has yet to be seen. Let's give a look at Sableye-Mega; it doesn't get Trick Room naturally but it's not a problem because of how the meta works. The thing is incredibly slow, is immune to Fake Out, it can't be phazed due to Magic Bounce and neither taunted; the thing is going to set Trick Room up. And it has both Recover and Painsplit to recover health, either for itself or the partner. Not to add Fake Out. The only counterplay to Sableye is imprisoning Trick Room or Mold Breaker phaze/Taunt, but then comes the partner with Fake Out. If there was a suspect, i'd want it for Trick Room. And "it is checking an otherwise broken play-style" isn't a great argument.

Greninja
While Greninja has certainly great options, it doesn't stand many chances against -ate spam (noivern is barely faster than it and boomburst ohkoes, otherwise it dies to espeed), trick room or tailwind users. It is very frail and once outspeed it doesn't help much.

Intimidate
To the stuff that beats Intimidate i'd add Competitive, Clear Body and Special Attackers as a whole category. And of the whole list, only Clear Body and special attackers do not care; the others are counters, sometimes hard counters.
Imagine a Contrary boosted Victini at +2 from intimidate; it's a disaster. Not only it will get faster, he will get bulkier and stronger if it keeps koing the opponent who is not giving intimidate. Defiant is getting the same boosts. Competitive is receiving a +4 from intimidate, and a speed boost with an eventual adrenaline orb. Only Unaware will save people from +4 spread moves, but Unaware would also invalidate Intimidate, which would make it pointless in the first place.

Anger Point
I have no experience with that.
 
Will there be a viability ranking for this? I curious what u guys think is gud.

Here's just sum thoughts of pokemon I've seen:
I feel like meowstic-m is pretty gud, since skill swap helps beat some strategies like boom burst spam, dancer, storm drain, volt absorb, flash fire, intimidate, contrary, sand rush, swift swim, etc. Reflect and lightscreen help your team to survive and they let you do something under psychic terrain. Safeguard was good for sleep spam, I still find it sometimes useful though. It has access to trick room and fake out too. It also lets you skill swap away regigigas's ability which usually forces a switch cause it halves speed and attack. People have tried using slaking, but that's not very safe imo since the opponent can just protect.

Greninja does not feel super amazing to me. It's okay, but it's very frail and there is a lot of trick room. Matblock can be a cool option. When the user soul dew latias used it, it felt decent though.

Smeargle can be surprisingly good because it has access to geomancy.

Diance provides the best or maybe second best physical spread move imo, which has a good chance to increase def sharply. It also has clear body which is good against intimidate, and it can mega evolve to allow you to bounce back status moves like spore. It also has access to trick room and skill swap.

Tapu lele's ability to stop extremespeed and other prio is very useful I feel.

Ampharos is decent. Magnetic flux can raise your defenses a lot and 1.5x spattack to both mons seems pretty good.

I don't really see no guard as much anymore, I'm curious if an1 finds it gud. It still lets you use no guard

Hoopa-U seems like it can be good b/c it can use moves that bypass protect and has huge attacking stats. I'm unsure if it can share hyperspace hole though. I know it can't share hyperspace fury. It's immune to prankster also.

Volcanion pretty good It has great spread moves like heat wave and surf. It can haze things. It has access to steam eruption, earth power, and sludge bomb. It has great stats, and a useful ability to add immunity to water.

Crabominable I don't see this used too often by other people. Sometimes it feels extremely good, sometimes it feels like dead weight. I use it just b/c I was thinking "if people are going to use intimidate spam, why not maximize my attack". This mon lets you use frost breath on your other mon which activates anger point, which maximizes your attack. Your other mon can also use frost breath on it. Also, it needs trickroom to be good, I feel.

Trick Room feels like the strongest strat to me. I feel that they have been the hardest to beat. One of the best abusers is gastrodon imo.

Contrary Seems pretty great since it helps to combat intimidate and it lets you raise your stats.

Dragonite + Aerilate can be scary. Having Psychic terrain helps to beat it.
I've seen people try interesting strategies like relic song spam and crit spam. I feel like I really like this meta just b/c of some of the interesting ideas i've seen.
 
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I played with crit spam quite a bit, and it had its moments, but overall I think its just a gimmick. A little wider distribution of moves like drill run and leaf blade would have went a long way.

looking at it now, I lost a focus energy somewhere in my tinkering, and it likely belongs there, but here is where I landed with crit spam:
Togekiss @ Life Orb
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 148 Atk / 252 SpA / 108 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Tailwind
- Extreme Speed
- Dazzling Gleam
- Heat Wave

Sceptile-Mega @ Sceptilite
Ability: Lightning Rod
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Leaf Storm
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch

Drapion @ Scope Lens
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Cross Poison
- Night Slash
- Protect

Honchkrow @ Razor Claw
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Night Slash
- Tailwind
- Roost

Kingdra @ Lansat Berry
Ability: Sniper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Ice Beam
- Substitute
- Hydro Pump

Skarmory @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Night Slash
- Slash
- Brave Bird
- Tailwind

I think the biggest advantage on my team actually came from the unique typings I was forced to use for abilities like super luck and sniper(flying/fairy, dragon/water, and dark/poison). This allowed for some strong switches in the early game to steal momentum, which I've found to be HUGE in this format, as backpedaling often translates to losing.
 
Off-topic completely, but here's a team I used in my Snake match vs. Pigeons and that went 24-1 on the ladder (under the alt 'Feast of Powder') before I got tired of using it. Click the sprites for the importable.


So I had the idea to use a team full of physical attackers, because A) If all of the team's moves are on one end of the spectrum, that maximizes the number of useful coverage combinations you can access, and B) If it packs sufficient Intimidate protection, then a lot of teams won't have any recourse for its strong attacks. I looked at the Contrary and Defiant users and they all have low Attack and/or just fucking suck, so I resorted to Clear Body. Luckily, there are a few cool users of that.

Mega Metagross was an obvious first pick to power up most of the team's moves, and since I half-expected to face Mega Gengar, I EV'd it to live a Shadow Ball while still outspeeding Garchomp. It's a nice spread even outside of that matchup.

Klinklang was my second, non-mega Clear Body user, and it has disgusting tech in Shift Gear and Ally Switch, which can turn most of the team into monsters and be just fucking stupid, respectively. Its coverage sucks so I didn't give it any. Sash cuz it rly needs to shift those gears. EVs from the dex.

Incineroar brings an insane amount of utility to the team, and I'm shocked to see so little of it around. Fake Out + Intimidate makes lead matchups very reliable, it lives every fucking hit oh my god, and Knock Off + Flare Blitz + U-Turn bring immense offensive utility to the team. EVs are from the dex. Broken mon. All there is to say.

Tapu Bulu mitigates the obvious weaknesses to Discharge and Earthquake spam with a pretty standard AV set; its terrain-boosted Wood Hammers are very good to have around. Since its physical movepool was mostly redundant, I gave it Toxic (for a partner's use, obviously) as a way to get around really stupid Defense-boosting strats. EVs are from the dex.

Hoopa-Unbound is there because I wanted Mega Metagross to have Zen Headbutt, because Hyperspace Fury circumvents the Sweet Scent+Contrary+MBounce strat, and it's just a solid backup special tank. Realizing that its natural power lessens the impact of investment in its offenses, and that I didn't want to bring the same Hoopa-U set to the tourney twice, I instead gave it a physically defensive set with Grassy Seed to make it live hits it has no business living. EVs outspeed something after Shift Gear. Check it:

252 Atk Victini V-create vs. +1 252 HP / 188+ Def Grassy Seed Hoopa-Unbound: 174-205 (47.8 - 56.3%) -- 30.5% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

Kommo-o is there as a finisher, and also because it patches up the holes in a Fairy/Steel/Dragon core. I also had an open Z-slot, and Clangorous Soulblaze is the most devastating Z-move in the meta, even without investment. Soundproof probably had something to do with it, too. Don't really remember. But yeah, the extra bulk gives me a lot more room to work than if I just gave it, say, Dragon Dance. Close Combat is a strong STAB that the rest of the team really loves to use, and Thunder Punch is for Waters and shit idk. EVs are just physically offensive.

Anyways the team isn't difficult to pilot. Just do predictions, get the coverage you need onto the field, pivot into Incineroar liberally, and trust in Fat Hoopa. Don't let anyone tell you that physical attacks don't work in this meta.
Also, ban Sweet Scent.
 
I haven’t had the opportunity to attempt this pair yet, but while I was considering viable combinations, my mind settled on this possibility.

Serperior @ Leftovers

Ability: Contrary

- Leaf Storm
- Substitute
- Hidden Power Ground
- Giga Drain

Combined with:

Victini @ Life Orb

Ability: Victory Star

- V-Create
- Blue Flare
- Stored Power
- Thunder

Again, I haven’t had the chance to attempt it and test it yet, but I figured the combination of these two would be stellar. Serperior’s Contrary, combined with Leaf Storm for SpA boosting, and V-Create for speed and defense raising. Giga Drain can be used to provide each member with longevity, combining with enhanced bulk and power for a better drain. HP Ground is to check Heatean, while Thunder can be used for dealing with some other threats like Toxapex, and at least better handle ones like Dragonite. Stored Power is an obvious one, a move that will quickly grow in power after a few moves.

I plan to test it soon, but it’s an idea I wanted to run by
 

Pigeons

pidge pidge
is a Tiering Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
My team's out of snake and PiC's time on the main server is almost up, so I thought I'd drop some of the fun (and largely stupid) teams I've built.


Sableye-Mega @ Sablenite
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 84 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Night Shade
- Taunt
- Recover
- Fake Out

Shuckle @ Mental Herb
Ability: Sturdy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Guard Split
- Encore
- Protect

Chansey @ Eviolite
Ability: Healer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seismic Toss
- Psywave
- Soft-Boiled
- Defense Curl

Tapu Fini @ Icium Z
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 248 HP / 136 Def / 48 SpA / 72 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Scald
- Nature's Madness
- Haze

Gothitelle @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Ally Switch
- Heal Pulse
- Trick Room

Clefable @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Cosmic Power
- Follow Me
- Protect

Probably my favourite team, it's quite broken and ridiculously easy to use. Lead Sableye + Shuckle, switch Sableye to Chansey and Guard Split it. Double Protect turn 1 if they have Fake Out, afterwards enjoy not dying. Setup needs to be played around carefully with Fini's Haze and Cosmic Power from Clefable, if the opponent has recovery play smart with your own recovery moves and use Nature's Madness and Night Shade to attack the opponent when possible to conserve Chansey's pp.


Gengar-Mega @ Gengarite
Ability: Shadow Tag
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Substitute
- Protect

Gothitelle @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 172 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Calm Mind
- Heal Pulse
- Protect

Durant @ Eject Button / Choice Scarf
Ability: Truant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
- Endeavor
- Entrainment

Scrafty @ Eject Button
Ability: Intimidate
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Roar
- Fake Out

Whimsicott @ Eject Button
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Misty Terrain
- Tailwind
- Encore
- Taunt

Tsareena @ Eject Button
Ability: Queenly Majesty
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Power Whip
- High Jump Kick
- U-turn
- Feint

Harder to use but if you manage to get the opponent entrained and trapped at the same time there's nothing they can do which is cool. If the opponent's team is slower just lead Tsareena and Durant, Feint + Entrainment your target and then pivot to Gothitelle with Eject Button. That's pretty unlikely though and if they're in with a U-turn Pokemon you can't really trap them, Imprison + U-turn Type Null could be an option with Psych Up MGar or something, I don't think this strategy is very consistent though.


Gardevoir-Mega @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Stored Power
- Ally Switch
- Protect

Smeargle @ Power Herb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spore
- Geomancy
- Baton Pass
- Mat Block

Thundurus @ Power Herb
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Taunt
- Protect

Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Friend Guard
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Moonblast
- Heal Pulse
- Follow Me
- Protect

Espeon @ Shell Bell
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Def / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stored Power
- Dazzling Gleam
- Baton Pass
- Psych Up

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psych Up
- Protect

Boring Geopass, works fine I guess? Leading Smeargle + Thundurus generally works with Prankster Spore / Mat Block being perfect support for the other member to Geomancy and Baton Pass on the next turn. Dual Power Herb gives you more flexibility in that scenario and opens up the possibility of being able to pass twice. MGarde is the primary recipient because it has a strong spread move, other potential receivers have Psych Up so you can have multiple Geomancy boosted mons at once which is cool. Clefairy's just there for Friend Guard and Follow Me, sort of a filler slot so if you feel there's a more useful option there try away.


Pidgeot-Mega @ Pidgeotite
Ability: Big Pecks
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hurricane
- Heat Wave
- Tailwind
- Protect

Darkrai @ Focus Sash
Ability: Bad Dreams
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Dark Pulse
- Sludge Bomb
- Hypnosis
- Nasty Plot

Tapu Lele @ Psychium Z
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Moonblast
- Taunt
- Protect

Kyurem-Black @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Teravolt
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 56 Atk / 96 Def / 68 SpA / 40 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Fusion Bolt
- Roost

Genesect @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Download
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Ice Beam
- Flamethrower

Volcanion @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 208 HP / 252 SpA / 48 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Steam Eruption
- Heat Wave
- Substitute
- Protect

Never brought this to Snake b/c it's actually close to a standard team with 1 gimmick. No Guard + Hypnosis with MPidge and Darkrai's pretty funny because the opponent loses 25% per turn with Bad Dreams passing which puts shit in ko range real fast. You also have Nasty Plot and Download to get boosts passed around while shit's asleep which can spiral out of hand p quickly. Otherwise boring team though.


RATATOUILLE (Dedenne) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Plus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk
- Thunder
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice]

MICE AND MEN (Plusle) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Plus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder

BRING IT ON (Minun) @ Wiki Berry
Ability: Minus
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Nuzzle
- Encore
- Helping Hand
- Protect

DOGS OF WAR (Manectric) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Minus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Thunder

KOKO IN MY ASS (Tapu Koko) @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- U-turn
- Sky Drop
- Nature's Madness

SPIDERMAN (Galvantula) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Compound Eyes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Electroweb
- Sticky Web
- Protect

So in the good old days of VGC 2015 I ran a team that had all 6 Pikachu clones, the core of which was the unexpected power of Minus + Helping Hand boosted shit from the Hoenn mice and Dedenne. This is basically that on steroids and u can do ridiculous shit like 1hko Chansey in ETerrain with a Helping Hand boost using an unboosted Plusle which is hilarious as fuck.

+1 252 SpA Choice Specs Plus Plusle Helping Hand Thunder vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Eviolite Chansey in Electric Terrain: 654-769 (93 - 109.3%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

Need I say more? Webs Galvantula is there so you actually outspeed shit, once webs are down go to town.


That's all I got, hope you enjoy
 

Snaquaza

KACAW
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
To celebrate the rotational ladder, I'll share my favorite team I used during OM Snake.

Standard HailRoom

The team is based around, well HailRoom, which works really well, because Blizzard is an insanely threatening move in Hail, and Abomasnow Mega is insanely slow. It will outspeed and kill a lot of things under Trick Room. It's complemented by Kyurem, which while not slow, underspeeds a lot of the offensive mega and can really hit things hard with Specs. It can also help me outspeed opposing Trick Room when it's not up, sometimes.

Chandelure helps the team a lot, by giving the Ice-types a Fire-type immunity, while being able to set Trick Room and being very strong as well. Scrafty is Intimidate and Fake Out support, which helps get Trick Room up as well. Scrafty could probably have a more defensive stat spread (didn't realise before), as I gave it Foul Play to do better against opposing Intimidate spam, and Chandelure can use it too. However, Knock Off is a viable alternative especially with this spread.

Abomasnow and Kyurem seem self explanatory, but Abomasnow has one cool trick: You don't want to Mega Evolve it too quick if you're facing Noivern or Salamence Mega, or a similar Pokemon, as it gets Soundproof pre-mega. This makes you immune to their Boomburst / Hyper Voice, while you can just Ice Shard them yourself!

Oranguru is pretty basic. It can also get Trick Room up, and support the team well. Finally, Tapu Lele is kind of odd on the team, and definitely the Pokemon I'd replace first. It's a bit of priority control, but in my experience priority spam wasn't too common and otherwise it didn't synergise with the team that well. If you are worried about priority after this, you can give Scrafty Quick Guard as well.

I generally lead Chandelure and Scrafty, as they can guarantee Trick Room most of the time (although I played them horribly in the Snake match...). One of them uses Fake Out, while the other sets Trick Room. I advice that you Trick Room with the Pokemon that can survive the opponent's attacks the best. They can hit decently hard too, but the real wreckage starts when you get Abomasnow and/or Kyurem in. They're surprisingly easy to switch in, too, on moves like Earthquake. Oranguru can often set up Trick Room again later in the match, and help your Pokemon sweep!

If you have more questions, feel free to ask me on PS. It's a pretty nice and well rounded team to use!
 
as well as open up discussion surrounding Baton Pass for a possible suspect / ban
I'm against doing anything to Baton Pass whatsoever simply because nobody wants to use the move right now, due to the moveslot and ability sharing mechanic. Smeargle doesn't have to do the difficult Geomancy + Baton Pass to its partner in Partners in Crime, opting to let its partner (mainly Thundurus) use Geomancy with the moveslot sharing mechanic instead. Also, Blaziken doesn't use Baton Pass to pass its speed boosts, sharing its Speed Boost ability to its partner so they will get the boost. At least, that's what I think. Leave your thoughts about Baton Pass afterward.
 
Thank you to everyone for enjoying this metagame and for making this possible!
With this meta now being rotational, I'd like to both quick ban Sweet Scent due to its uncompetitive nature as well as open up discussion surrounding Baton Pass for a possible suspect / ban
Thanks again everyone!
I don't think I encountered much, if any, BP last time PiC was on the ladder. Does anyone have examples of teams that abuse BP and/or replays of BP being abused?

Congrats on rotational tho, should be a bunch of fun
 

Snaquaza

KACAW
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
I've not really seen Baton Pass yet, though I considered using it. When it's Rotational I'll be sure to make a team, though I think HeatEdgeSword may be right in saying that it's optimal to just have the Pokemon boost itself. Seems like it'd be fun to try, though.
 

Champion Leon

Banned deucer.
Serperior @ Life Orb
Ability: Contrary
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

- Substitute
- Leaf Storm
- Dragon Pulse
- Filler

Persian-Alola @ Darkinium-Z
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature

- Fake Out
- Feint
- Parting Shot
- Hypnosis / Quash / Taunt

Have Serperior use Fake-Out, while Persian uses Hypnosis.

Next turn, one of your opponents’ Pokémon has to be switched out as it is sleeping, so have Persian uses Parting Shot ON Serperior as Serperior uses Substitute, triggering Contrarian to boost SpA and Atk by +1 (sound moves hit beyond Substitute).

Now you have effectively pivoted your Tapu Bulu in to activate Grassy Surge before your Substitute Serperior can fire off a Life Orb + 1 SpA Leaf Storm on the awake Pokémon, hopefully KOing it.

Basically Leaf Storm is 195 after STAB, then is 253 after Life Orb, then is 380.2 after Grassy Surge, then is 570 after +1 from Parting Shot, likely KOing anything that doesn’t resist it.

The great thing about this combination is how Persian has the movepool to basically enable Serperior to use Fake Out to stop a foe that is likely slower (blocking the foe from using Fake Out as well).

Feint allows Persian to break Protect spamming foes, so Serperior can use Leaf Storm and boost. Now that anything can be hit, Quash or Taunt can be used over Hypnosis so that if Serperior is ever threatened by say a Pokémon that hit it with Icy Wind, etc. then Persian can slow the other foe down and allow Serperior to go before a faster foe. Taunt is Taunt.

The other good thing is that Tapu Bulu also gets Leaf Storm and Contrary added to its moveset due to Serperior, allowing it to boost its offense alongside it. It’s Grassy Surge, STAB, and item can boost Leaf Storm to respectable damage even though it’s Special Attack isn’t the highest.

Lastly, Persian’s item can heal a teammate to full HP for the Parting Shot pivot, and safely bring a teammate in.

Who needs Baton Pass when you can boost a teammate before they attack and then pass to (and potentially fully heal) an ally in the same turn? It’s like Helping Hand with pivoting.
 
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So a bit ago, I RMTed a team I used to get to the high ladder, but neglected to link it in this thread I think. You can see it here. For this month I made another team in much the same vein and actually used it to peak #1 briefly. Here's that team: https://pokepast.es/dce0946e821361ff

The teambuilding isn't anything special and piloting it isn't particularly rocket science so I'll just leave a few replays of it in action.

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7partnersincrime-832194652 (Not a strong showing on the opponent's part but it was the finals of an 8-man roomtour)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7partnersincrime-833165602 (Strong neutral hits blow back immunities that would otherwise cause trouble)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7partnersincrime-833203370 (Most turns consist of clicking a STAB or TR while an appropriate type/effect immunity pivots in. A typical game.)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7partnersincrime-833622392 (It's worthwhile to pick a sweeper and focus the other slot on keeping it safe)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7partnersincrime-835771877 (finals of 13-man roomtour, Kecleon and Bisharp are irritating but not fatal)

Known weaknesses of the team include sleep spam (Gastro's Lum Berry helps, Hoopa-U slaps Smeargle+Thundurus silly), Psych Up teams (Zong's own Psych Up mitigates the problem a little), and screens (pray for a choke). Zygarde could also be an issue since Bronzong isn't really a Ground resist but shockingly I haven't really seen anyone use it.

Suffice to say that I'm convinced Trick Room is probably the strongest playstyles in the meta. This wouldn't be the case if the ladder deigned to prepare for it (HINT: IF YOUR TEAM HAS NO DEFENSIVE SYNERGY IT WILL GET FUCKED. SPEED CONTROL IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR ACTUAL TEAMBUILDING.) but even then I think it would be pretty strong, since you get to use some strong attackers that most teams just aren't capable of dispatching in one shot.

During this time, I think I've seen Baton Pass... maybe once or twice? I just don't think it's a serious part of the meta. Psych Up, IMO, is a much more dangerous way of sharing boosts, since with move sharing it's fairly trivial to get two Psych Up users and like Geo-Smeargle on a team and then have those boosts on the field the whole battle unless your opponent is running like Clear Smog. I think if anything needs to be looked a in the present meta, it's Psych Up.

That said the ladder is really not that good so maybe I'm not getting a good look at the meta.
 
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Mega Gengar is now banned in Doubles OU. Since Partners in Crime follows Doubles OU clause, the ban carries on there.

also can we unban normalize
 

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