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Published on January 29th, 2014 | by R Inanimate

24

Would you like an Ability Capsule? 1000W-0L Triple Maison Team Report

This is R Inanimate. Some people may know that before playing in the Video Game Championships, I played a lot of Battle Frontier, and Battle Subway. In a single attempt of playing Triple Battle Maison, I managed to reach a 1000 Win Streak for the first time ever. You may wonder why I’d report about a single player acheivement for a competitive VGC site. Well… have you ever had a situation where you hatched a Pokemon with flawless stats, but the wrong ability? Have you thought about fixing the ability, but were turned away by the steep 200BP price tag on Ability Capsules? This is a team that can go on long runs through the Battle Maison, with a consistant and simple win condition. After Battle 50, each trainer defeated will reward you with 7 Battle Points. Going on run of 100 or 200 wins will net you roughly 1000BP. More than enough for most of your battle item needs. And with that, lets get on to the team.

The Team:

Greninja (M) @ Life Orb ***Samidare
Trait: Protean
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Hasty Nature (+Spd, -Def)
– Surf
– Ice Beam
– Grass Knot
– Mat Block

Life Orb Greninja. Mat Block Support, High-Speed Offense. Leads on the Left. Yes, I know that its Nature isn’t optimal for what I am trying to do, and that a Timid nature would work a bit better, but this still gets the job done. It’s role is pretty self explanatory. Open battles with Mat Block, then go on the offense. Holding a Life Orb in combination with the automatic STAB gained from Protean allows Greninja to dish out respectable amounts of damage, often netting an OHKO when hitting opponents on their weaknesses. Although Mat Block only blocks damaging moves and has no boost in Priority, Greninja is usually fast enough to pull off Mat Block for the team before the opponents can move, and the opponent Pokemon will very likely go for damaging moves due to the presence of…

Lv 1 Aron (M) @ Berry Juice ***Aron Zheng
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: Champions don’t need to train, they just need to win
Rash Nature
– Endeavor
– Protect
– Toxic
– Sleep Talk

Lv 1 Endeavor Abuse Aron. AI Abuse. Leads front and center. The moment I was told that the Battle Maison does not scale levels up to 50 if under-leveled was the moment I decided I would try to revive my old 4th gen AI Abusive strategy. The idea here is that Aron is KO’d by any non-Poison damaging attack, and thus triggers the AI’s tendency to drop any thoughts of support or setup to go in straight for the KO that they see in front of them. However, due to Sturdy and Berry Juice, that “KOable” target will actually takes 3 hits to go down. Factor in Mat Block and Protect, and this Aron will often command the attention of the opponent’s pokemon for at least a good 3 or 4 turns, but by that point I’ll have a commanding lead.

Aron’s moveset is pretty basic if you are familiar with L1 Endeavor strategies. Its survivability is all in its item and ability, and its damage output is in Endeavor, which will reduce the opponent’s HP down to Aron’s current HP of 12. Toxic is used for targeting Ghosts, and crippled Pokemon. My last move is Sleep Talk, in case Aron ever gets put to sleep, but honestly I’ve never gotten to successfully use it. The one time Aron got put to sleep, it woke up immediately causing Sleep Talk to fail.

Garchomp (F) @ Focus Sash ***SHARK ATTACK
Trait: Sand Veil
EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
– Earthquake
– Dragon Claw
– Swords Dance
– Protect

Focus Sash Swords Dance Garchomp. Leads on the Right. A simple moveset. Greninja and Aron were originally used as a lead pair in Double Maison before I tried it out in Triples. It didn’t take me any time at all to decide that I wanted to run Garchomp as my third lead. Mat Block extends across your entire party, regardless of where Greninja is placed on the floor. With Mat Block and the Aron distraction, Garchomp is almost always able to get off a free Swords Dance boost at the start of the battle. A +2 Atk Garchomp with an active Focus Sash makes quick work of its side of the field while the opponent scrambles to take down Aron. In situations where all the opponent’s Pokemon are wiped out, and they only have one Pokemon remaining, they will always send it out on my right, and thus facing against my +2 Atk Garchomp.

Tyranitar (F) @ Choice Scarf ***Nabata
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 4 HP / 244 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SDef / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
– Rock Slide
– Crunch
– Earthquake
– Iron Tail

Choice Scarf Tyranitar. Weather Changer. Tyranitar makes a pretty good partner to Aron and Garchomp on the team. Hail can be very hazardous to my leads, as it neutralizes both Sturdy and Focus Sash if left unchecked. Tyranitar can get rid of the Hail, and in turn hit hard against those that set it up. Although it isn’t the fastest thing on the board, Choice Scarf Tyranitar’s speed is still decent enough to deal with a lot of threats. Rock Slide isn’t the most reliable of moves, but Tyranitar is usually good at knowing who to pick fights against, as I seldom run into situations where missing a Rock Slide or two would be a run ender. The boost in Special Defense from the sand also makes it pretty easy to switch it in on Special Attacks, even if they are super effective ones. No, I don’t use Iron Tail. Ever.

Gyarados (F) @ Choice Band ***HaiteiRaoyue
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 164 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SDef / 68 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
– Waterfall
– Earthquake
– Stone Edge
– Return

Choice Band Gyarados. Intimidate Support. Switch Option. Since Gyarados is immune to Garchomp’s Earthquake, and resists Greninja’s Surf… it makes something that Aron can switch out to, without causing me to lose one of my own Pokemon in the crossfire. This is the only Pokemon on the team with a non 252/252 EV spread, although there isn’t anything particularly special about its EVs. It’s pretty much a copy of the EV spread I was using for the CB Gyarados I was using in VGC battles post-Worlds. Return as the fourth move since I wanted a strong reliable neutral move to use against Pokemon that resist Waterfall, namely Grass and Water Types.

Aegislash (F) @ Spell Tag ***Hakurouken
Trait: Stance Change
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SDef
Brave Nature (+Atk, -Spd)
– Iron Head
– Shadow Sneak
– Sacred Sword
– Swords Dance

An Aegislash. Priority Attacker. Switch Option. I would say that Aegislash is a bit of a filler Pokemon for this team, though it does have its role. Due to having high defenses before a Stance Change, it can survive a few hits even in situations where I have to make a tough switch. Its immunity to fighting also helps act as a Switch option for Tyranitar, and in some cases Greninja and Aron. Aegislash is my only Pokemon with Priority attacks, so it is one of the few Pokemon I can use to act before some of the faster Pokemon in the Battle Maison that can give me some trouble.

Overall:

This Triple Battle Maison strategy is a all about having control over the opponent AI, and having them do what you want/expect them to. While I’d like to say that the team has a lot of fallback plans and stuff, it really actually does not. After all, I managed 1000 Wins on my first run in Triple Battle Maison, so I haven’t done much thinking on replacement team members or refining of EVs, items or movesets to allow myself to have backups to my backup plans. Losing the advantage provided by Greninja’s Mat Block, and Aron’s pseudo taunt and redirection can cause things to spiral out of control without some quick thinking, and possibly a few risky moves on my part to keep myself in the game.

Strategy:

The team’s basic strategy is as follows:

Turn 1:
Greninja uses Mat Block
Aron uses Endeavor
Garchomp uses Swords Dance

followed by:

Turn 2:
Aron uses Protect
Greninja and Garchomp Attack, KOing all 3 opponent leads (usually, Surf + Earthquake)

Or…
Alternate Turn 2:
Greninja KOs a Pokemon with Grass Knot/Ice Beam
Garchomp KOs a Pokemon with Dragon Claw
Aron uses Endeavor to drop the 3rd Pokemon to 12 HP

The alternative strategy leaves you at 6-4, with one of the opponent’s Pokemon in easy KO range, but since Aron doesn’t use Protect for this, it keeps your options open for the following turn.

Usually after pulling off a successful first few turns, and gaining a 6-4 or 6-3 lead, it is very difficult for the CPU opponents to pull a comeback, of which it is a matter of taking out the opponent’s remaining Pokemon in a low risk fashion.

This is all fine and all, but the real merit of a team is knowing when your go-to strategy will certainly fail.

Threats

A very quick way you can lose is by getting caught off guard on turn one, causing the regular setup to turn into a disaster. Nothing like losing Greninja to Choice Scarf Manectric, because you thought you would be faster. And in turn, leaving Garchomp and Aron exposed. It’s not that big of a stretch for the opponent to happen to have a Pokemon with Blizzard. Similarly, it would be foolish to try to use Mat Block when all three opponent leads are packing priority moves. I’ll try to simplify things down to specific examples in this section.

Threats to Greninja

Pokemon faster than Greninja and can KO it (placed on Center, or Left)

This section includes: Jolteon, Electrode, Choice Scarf Manectric, Choice Scarf Darmanitan, Choice Band Aerodactyl, Choice Scarf Terrakion, Accelgor, and Choice Scarf Pinsir.

Manectric will always hold a Choice Scarf unless used by a Roller Skater.
Darmanitan will always hold a Choice Scarf unless used by a Chef?
Aerodactyl will always hold a Choice Band unless used by a Roller Skater.
Pinsir will always hold a Choice Scarf.

While these Pokemon are able to KO Greninja, they’ll have to decide between attacking Aron and Greninja, so it isn’t always a guarantee that Greninja will be taken out. As such, it is always important to weigh in the options, and decide whether it is worth risking sacrificing Greninja on the first turn or not.

Quick Claw

Specifically look out for Leafeon, and Ursaring. Assess the situation to make sure you’ll be fine even if Greninja is taken out by a Quick Claw’d attack.

Threats to Aron:

Priority Users

There’s a fairly large number of Pokemon with Priority moves. To name a few that are very common to see with them past Battle 40 include: Arcanine, Dragonite, Abomansow Hariyama, Lucario, Carracosta, Muk, Scizor, Conkeldurr Dusknoir, Articuno, Spiritomb*, Bisharp*  Toxicroak*, Shiftry*, Honchkrow*, Kangaskhan’, Ludicolo’, Infernape’, Medicham’, Mienshao’

* These Pokemon only have Sucker Punch. While they use it more often than they did in the past, they don’t fully commit to trying to use it against you, opting to only attack with Sucker Punch on Occasion
‘ These Pokemon have Fake Out. Strangely enough, despite it being able to OHKO Aron, and only usable on turn one… they DON’T always use Fake Out. In fact, they are more likely to use a regular damaging move instead of Fake Out for a turn.

Don’t be afraid to use Mat Block even if there is one priority user in play on the opponent’s side. A number of the Pokemon may instead use something like Earthquake instead of their priority move, and a similar situation had caused me to lose a battle in Double Maison. It’s better to just let Aron take a hit, in order to preserve Greninja and Garchomp’s health from various spread moves, or things like Lucario deciding to want to KO Greninja with Aura Sphere instead of Aron with Extreme Speed. Usually, if the opponent has two priority users, or two Pokemon faster than Greninja, I’ll use Protect with Aron on the first turn.

Mold Breaker

For obvious reasons. Since Mold Breaker is an announced ability, try to prioritize in KOing them, and not letting Aron have all three of its “lives” taken out in one blow.

Swagger

It’s no god. Be on the look out for any Mandibuzz or Absol, as they can often be a pain with trying to spread confusion to your party. Though usually it doesn’t change the game plan of Mat Blocking and using Endeavor.

Pokemon that will not try to attack Aron on turn one

For whatever reason, there are some Pokemon that will decide to instead use set up moves, or even use Protect instead of attacking at Aron. A list of the common ones are:

Feraligatr, Haxorus, Volcarona – These Pokemon will use Dragon Dance or Quiver Dance respectively. Feraligatr can be OHKO’d by Grass Knot. Using Endeavor on it will activate a Liechi berry and possibly Torrent, so that is unadvised. Haxorus can be KO’d by Dragon Claw, but not Ice Beam due to Yache Berry. Volcarona will still be slower than Greninja even after a Quiver Dance.

Meganium, Venusaur – These two Pokemon have no damaging attacks that can harm Aron, so there is a high chance that they will use Protect on the first turn. As such, avoid using Endeavor on them on the first turn. There is also a Cresselia that has Toxic which is also unable to harm Aron.

Tentacruel, Cradily, Shuckle, Roserade, Mismagius, Eelektross – Theses Pokemon do have damaging attacks against Aron, but still may try to use Protect instead.

Victreebel – This Pokemon will use Solar Beam

Rough Skin/Iron Barbs

So just Druddigon, Ferrothorn, and Garchomp. This is just to make a point of awareness, as it will disable Sturdy if you activate these abilities.

Multiple Ghost Types

Aron isn’t going to do much if it can’t hit anything. This sort of situation will likely happen against Hex Maniacs or Psychics, as they run a heavy amount of Ghost and Psychic type Pokemon. In these cases, it’s best to just switch out to Tyranitar, while still using Mat Block of course.

Snow Warning

Either Abomasnow, or Aurorus will be what you are looking for. When Snow Warning occurs, it is best to switch either Aron or Garchomp out for Tyranitar immediately, in order to preserve Aron’s Sturdy and Garchomp’s Focus Sash.

Threats to Garchomp

Froslass, Cryogonal, and Weavile

They are faster than Garchomp, and can do a ton of damage with Blizzard or Ice Punch, respectively. Weavile is especially a problem since it is also faster than Greninja, so you can’t stop it with Mat Block. Cryogonal can be OHKO’d by a Dragon Claw, but Froslass and Weavile run Focus Sash. If Froslass or Weavile are placed on the far right, it’s better to just switch out to Tyranitar.

Starmie (on far right)

Starmie is similar to the previously mentioned Ice Pokemon. The difference is that if Starmie is in the center, it can be OHKO’d by a Grass Knot.

Togekiss (on far right)

Garchomp can’t hit Togekiss. Enough said.

Intimidate

In some cases, its better to just switch out Garchomp instead of trying to counteract a large amount of Intimidates.

Bastiodon

Bastiodon has Wide Guard, and isn’t afraid to use it at times, even with Aron’s presence. After a close call where Bastiodon’s Wide Guard nearly cost me the battle, I’ve learned that they are a high priority target to be taken out.

Threat Trainers:

Trainers in the Battle Maison each have a set list of Pokemon they can use. Trainers with the same trainer class often have similar Pokemon selections to others of the same class. Here are a few types of trainers that you should watch out for in the Battle Maison.

Scientists/Roller Skaters

These two trainer classes are the most likely ones to come with Pokemon that are faster than Greninja. Fortunately, beyond that, their Pokemon tend to be easily handled by Garchomp, due to having a fairly large bias towards Electric type Pokemon. So while you may have to do a bit of maneuvering at the beginning, it will often be smooth sailing once you get past that.

Veterans

Even with this sort of team set up, the Legendary Pokemon teams of Veterans are something to watch out for. The biggest issue when facing them is that all their Pokemon may be running one of four different movesets. In particular, watch out for Choice Scarf on Entei or Terrakion.

Punk Guy Puck

He only runs Pokemon that can have Intimidate. This can sometimes create situations where Garchomp is lagging behind on offensive pressure, which can give the opponent an opportunity to try to do something. Plan accordingly.

Conclusion:

1000 Wins in one run. 1000 Wins with my only run. As stated earlier, the team isn’t fully optimized yet. Feel free to try out other combinations of Pokemon with Greninja, Aron, Garchomp as the leads. You should have yourself a respectable reserve of BP, and be easily able to afford Ability Capsules in no time.

Article image created by feathers for Nugget Bridge. View more of her artwork on her tumblr or Nugget Bridge forums thread.

About the Author

R Inanimate R Inanimate is a long time participant in official Pokemon Tournaments, first attending the 2005 Battle in Seattle Tournament. Known for using teams that are a bit off from the standard, and not using RNG'd Pokemon. Avid Battle Frontier fan. Worlds 2013 competitor, known for running Togekiss and Mold Breaker Excadrill.

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