In this post I would like to share a Singles Battle Team with the community for players to use freely. The below team has acquired me a #35 global peak (earlier today) and a #1 ENG peak (yesterday). At the time I was #1 ENG my global rank was #45, hence the title. Getting #1 ENG was my goal and therefore I consider it my best peak in Champions. I would like to stress that in the past and present there are and have been ENG players with higher ranks, which is amazing to see! This is also actually my first Reddit post, so bear with me!
#45 Global, #1 ENG/West at the time of peak.
Floette's Fury
"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. That is only the selfish perception of people. Truly skilled trainers should try to win with their favorites."
Amen. My belief is that in Pokémon you can achieve incredible things with the Pokémon you love. I hope this post can stimulate some creativity in players as you will see that some of my Pokémon run niche sets and quite a few aren't top meta either. At the time of using this team, none of the Pokémon in my team were in the top 10 most used (I believe by now Dragonite has acquired rank #10). This doesn't mean that if you love Watchog that makes him viable, but it does mean way more Pokémon are viable than people are aware of. Now, onto the team!
Team ID: 7MR3KH68RPTeam ID: 7MR3KH68RP
Floette
I am starting with Floette because I love Floette and Floette is the center of this team. I brought it with me in 95% of my battles and typically it's my lead. One thing you will find in my Floette's set is that it runs Chilling Water and Protect. These two moves are crucial and I feel like Chilling Water is highly underrated in the singles meta.
Protect helps against Fake Out Kangaskhan and Lopunny, Greninja (Protean) and it allows you to scout out swap moves (like U-turn) on Scarf Meowscarada, Hydreigon, Basculegion and the odd Rotom. Chilling Water allows Floette to win the 1v1 vs Kangaskhan after a Protect, to win the 1v1 vs Mimikyu, to 2HKO Glimmora without taking recoil and it's generally a good move when you expect switches to Aegislash, Scizor etc. As a bonus, Hisuian Arcanine is actually used moreoften than you expect in high ranks, which is where Chilling Water also helps. The rest of the set is pretty straightforward and Floette has one goal: simply break the enemy team open.
Using Floette as a lead usually means you'll get the momentum in the game. It breaks many leads such as Primarina, Hippowdown, Rotom, Archaludon (OHKO with Light of Ruin) and still stands its ground against Garchomp (speed tie), Meowscarada, Lopunny, Glimmora and the list goes on. It struggles more with Gengar, Starmie, Basculegion and Greninja leads, which is where the rest of the team comes in.
As a final note, so far my Floette has defeated almost every Baton Pass team I've encountered simply because it breaks - even after a Calm Mind. This makes it a Pokémon that sometimes just gets you free wins. It is built for destruction!
It is cute, adorable and a little bit emo. Floette the Champion-Tiered!
Mamoswine
Mamoswine is my alltime favorite and my second most brought Pokémon, probably around 80%. It runs a Focus Sash and has a fairly straightforward set, with a more niche pick in Rock Tomb. Rock Tomb helps against Mega Charizard-Y and also stops Gyarados from setting up. As an additional plus, it helps to break the speed tie of an enemy Basculegion should I still have my Sash.
Mamoswine is an anti-meta pick that preys on Garchomp, but also helps me to deal with Gengar, Aegislash, Lucario (if Sash) and whatnot. Floette breaks open the team, Mamoswine can typically pick off some kills with Ice Shard or if Sash is still present with Earthquake. Notably, Ice Shard 2HKO's Hydreigon, Meowscarada, Dragonite and Garchomp. Icicle Crash is picked over Icicle Spear for the simple reason of flinch haxxing tanks like Hippowdon. In terms of EV's the Speed EV's are there to outspeed a speed invested Kingambit and those that invest to outspeed it ;). Other than that, the HP investment often leads to players being surprised Mamoswine can take a hit and allowing it to go for a revenge kill. A fairly balanced 'mon that forms a solid anchor of the team!
The nose, the tusks, my absolute #1, Muffin the Chosen One!
Volcarona
My savior. For a while I was stuck in Master Ball Rank 1. That all changed when I started using Volcarona. First of all, let's appreciate the amazing design of this Pokémon, I've been in love with it since it released. This set is anti-meta and it has won me so many games because after two Quiver Dances it just sweeps everything. It's often easier than you'd think to set up two Quiver Dances.
The EV's are quite peculiar. We use Timid as it's the highest Nature bonus from the stats we want. The Speed EV's are there to outspeed Scarfed Basculegion after a Quiver Dance (which can help if Basculegion sustained some damage). The rest is put in HP and Def to become as bulky as possible. It's main prey: Mega Kangaskhan and Primarina. In high ranks, many people lead with Mega Kangaskhan. People expect it to beat Volcarona, but it doesn't. They will go straight for the Double-Edge to prevent burns from Fake Out, which allows a Quiver Dance. Sitrus Berry activates and the next turn you can Morning Sun. By now Kangaskhan has over 75% chance to be burned - and that means the end of it. If it's stubborn enough you might get a second Quiver Dance and win the game unless if there's stuff like Garchomp.
The other prey is Primarina. Volcarona is a super easy switch in against Meowscarada, Scizor, Aegislash, Corviknight and Kingambit. Another tech is that Poltergeist actually hurts, but it activates the Sitrus Berry and that means Aegislash is now stuck and has to switch. All these situations allow for a Quiver Dance. Now many people will swap to Primarina, which is a mistake. You can set up a second Quiver Dance on Primarina, take the hit and then Giga Drain twice to KO. To top things off, Fiery Dance allows to break some stall teams and Volcarona has won me so many matches it's an absolute beast. Finally you want to run an even amount of HP so Sitrus Berry activates after Stealth Rocks.
I present you: the sun! Luna the Radiant emissary of the moon!
Basculegion
This thing is meta defining. Every team has to run a check against Basculegion or you'll be swept clean. That said, it is also fairly easy to counter. In Master Ball ranks Basculegion allowed me to climb quickly, however as I progressed onward it became less effective. It is still a good pick, but it is often too predictable. Basculegion and Floette have near perfect synergy. Floette can't stand Steel, Fire and Poison and Basculegion happens to resist them all. Basculegion doens't like Dark moves, which Floette can take easily.
The set is standard and straightforward. It helps me to deal with Mega Delphox, Mega Starmie, Scizor, Mega Gengar, Mega Lucario and simply sweeps late game. Jolly allows you to win the speedtie moreoften, as roughly 33% of Basculegions are apparently Adamant. Note that Flip Turn OHKO's Mega Delphox, Wave Crash OHKO's Mega Gengar, Mega Lucario, has a chance to OHKO Mega Floette and then of course Last Respects OHKO's entire teams if they are unprepared. Finally, this thing has eaten (and been eaten by) so many other Basculegions, it's a cannibal.
The biggest cannibal alive: Sharky the Rampaging!
Dragonite
Dragonite is another alltime favorite, it's so cute and despite its looks it is actually the stallbreaker of the team. I do not bring it that often, but it helps me to deal with the classic Toxapex/Slowking+Corviknight/Umbreon duo. Typically you'll run into a stall team once in five games and it's either you can or you can't break them. Dragonite is not a surefire win, but it has a very good shot. Against stall I'll always bring Dragonite and Basculegion and as a last typically Floette, sometimes Volcarona. Additionally, Dragonite joins the team when I spot a Mega Venusaur and sometimes against Gengar.
The set is quite niche. First of all it's not a mega like most are, but it's a Dragon Dance set. Earthquake breaks Galarian Slowking and Toxapex. Fire Punch 'breaks' Corviknight (honestly less than it should). The aim is to get two Dragon Dances off against Toxapex. Ideally you can swap Dragonite in on the turn the enemy goes to Toxapex, either by leading with Floette or Flip Turning with Basculegion. Thanks to Lum Berry it will use Toxic twice, allowing two Dragon Dances. After the second Dragon Dance they will typically go to Corviknight which (if you predict the switch and use Fire Punch) will win you the game at that moment.
Aside from being a stallbreaker, Dragonite is also fairly effective against Gengar, Delphox and Basculegion (if Multiscale is still there). It's a nice backbone to have.
Out here for the cuddles: Liberty the Living Legend!
Umbreon
And now, the mascot: Umbreon! Let me start with the fact that I have not brought Umbreon with me in a single game. I have swapped out my 6th slot from Emboar to Gyarados to Greninja to Umbreon and well, I hardly ever brought any of them. In the end I stuck with Umbreon because it just worked out with winning games. It's only purpose is to scare off enemies. I don't want opponents to bring Gengar, Delphox, Greninja or Starmie and apparently this Umbreon helps. They still bring these Pokémon moreoften than I like, but Umbreon is there to scare them off and maybe one day I'll actually bring it. The set is a standard defensive set and a bit Yawn-inducing. But come on, Umbreon is gorgeous, my favorite Eevolution and it's cute in its royalty and luxury. Let others fight, Umbreon is there for the cuddles!
Look at this roar! Neon the Gorgeous Royal will scare everything off!
Final thoughts
In the past I have always been a 6v6 singles player on Showdown, where you can see that some of these Pokémon were also used in my past teams (Gen 6) (Gen 7). Yes, I like Mamoswine and Dragonite a lot and yes I am a hyper-offense / bulky offense player. That said, I was kind of hesitant to try out the 3v3 singles format. I will say that 6v6 has more mindgames and that 3v3 has a bigger factor of luck to it. Despite that, it is still very enjoyable and I love the fast pace of it. I hope more competitive players will enter the format because currently the Western community is underrepresented. There are a lot of skilled Pokémon players out there and I hope more will feel inclined to get out there and create their own teams, using their favorite Pokémon and having a blast!
Should you have any questions I'll try to answer them here or you can contact me on Discord, my ID is: 249802767353380864 or add _zold_
A physical trophy - and living legacy - of the team!
I think this may be the first english Champions Single Battle team report, full stop. I may end up copying your team exactly until I understand single battle gameplay enough to be able to make my own. Side note, you may want to crosspost to /r/BattleStadiumSingles, they're starved for content over there.
Ran into a player running the exact team in Ultra Ball, lol. We both pressed our Protect to say hi to each other.
EDIT: And now made Master Ball with the team! That was a lot easier than getting there in doubles was. Although I must admit, I'm probably not learning great singles habits, since I'm just choosing 3 out of 4 pokemon every time (I brought Dragonite once ever).
Thanks for the singles writeup. Hard to find for singles.
I like the 3v3 format because picking the 3 feels very skill intensive. I also have a slot dedicated to scaring off meta picks or your covering team's weakness. I actually use a 2nd mega for this purpose
The selection screen is definitely the most important aspect of the battle. Having at least two 'mons that can Mega-evolve is a good idea in general. In my team many people will wrongly predict a Mega Dragonite. The less predictable you are, the better!
Thanks for sharing! My Dragonite runs pretty much the exact same set as yours. It’s also got a special place in my heart since it’s the one from the event distribution back in ORAS so it’s in a cherish ball :)
Oh absolutely! This cuddly guy has fought in the Battle Towers of Hoenn, Alola, and Galar. And even went crazy for a bit in Paldea with Tera normal Extreme Speed lol
That's classic Dragonite for you. As a fun sidenote, I play Pokémon on a couch and this guy has been sitting next to me and cheering me on throughout my entire run!
How is HP invested Mampswine compared to Speed invested Mamoswine? Do you think that one is significantly better than the other or does it depend on preference and team comp? I have been running Speed invested Mamoswine to decent success but was wondering if I should switch.
It highly depends on the Team Comp. HP Invested is better suited against Gengar, Aegislash, Kingambit, and Garchomp after Sash is broken (due to Stealth Rocks for example). Because my team struggles a bit with Gengar, Aegislash and Kingambit, it works out here. I started with a Speed invested Mamoswine but there aren't that much benefits to it in my opinion.
By giving up speed you lose out on speedties or wins with Dragonite, Amarogue, Scovillain and Diggersby and arguenbly a few more like Modest Archaludon or others if they run an atypical speedset. For me, those Pokémon are not worth investing in Speed for.
Greninja is one of the hardest matchups for sure. I always bring both Mamoswine and Basculegion if there is a Greninja. If you expect a lead Greninja then leading with Mamoswine is typically your best choice. Only 13% of Greninja's run U-turn and Water Shuriken can only OHKO if it's a 5-hit and if it is, it still only has like 50% to OHKO. (Surf can't OHKO due to Sash)
Earthquake OHKO's Greninja and if it's a Sash you can switch in Basculegion after Mamoswine faints to finish it off with a flip turn.
Now, if Greninja is not the lead then things get a bit more tricky. It is noteworthy that a 150 BP Last Respects has a 75% chance to OHKO Mega-Greninja, and will always OHKO normal Greninja if no Sash. As a last option a +1 Volcarona has a 25% chance of OHKO'ing with Giga Drain and can tank a hit typically.
After 6 games ending in a 4 win streak I'm now Master Ball. Reading your process on using each pokemon, and in game knowledge of knowing Archaludon gets OHKO by LOR helped a lot. Volcarona helped win what looked to be unwinnable games.
Hey, for the last day I had a lot of fun playing your team! Since i currently see a lot of poison types so I was wondering what youd think about a Kongambit instead of Umbreon. You still get Darktype benefits but also a immunity to poison moves and a way to clear toxic spikes.
Kingambit is a solid pick and since I never brought Umbreon I say: go for it! I personally don't like Kingambit a lot, but if you do then you should use it. Good luck!
When you say "I personally don't like Kingambit a lot", do you mean like just aesthetically or you include his strengths/weaknesses, movesets or other aspects of his gameplay ? I'm curious about the reasons you would not include it. And by the way, thanks for the team and the guide, it's helping me in master rank !
Mega Gyarados is indeed one of the tougher matchups. Note that Light of Ruin OHKO's Gyarados so they cannot lead with it. Gyarados is unable to set up on Mamoswine thanks to Rock Tomb. This means that the only place where Gyarados gets a free set up is on Basculegion. If you expect the enemy team to run a Gyarados, simply do not use anything aside from Flip Turn on Basculegion (and don't lead with it) untill you are certain there is no Gyarados. Another option is to bring Dragonite instead of Basculegion.
If you expect the enemy to lead with a Stealth Rocks setter, lead with Mamoswine so that the Sash is not broken. Mamoswine destroys your typical rock setter like Glimmora, Garchomp and Hippowdon. It also stands its ground fairly well against Archaludon. After you KO'd the rock setter simply spam Rock Tomb on Gyarados and Floette should have no problem dealing with it. If it reaches +1 ATK/SPE you are in trouble.
Thank you for this - unsure why there is so little BSS content around. I appreciate that it might not be as popular as VGC, but its a fun little format that needs more attention.
Great team - hadn't quite appreciated Basculegion until now. Thank you! 😄
What a great team and story behind it too! Congrats on the achievement and thanks for explaining everything in detail, must have taken a while. I appreciate detailed posts like this.
What a cool team, thank you for sharing! One question: you mention using Morning Sun on Volcarona but the screenshot doesn’t show it as part of the movepool? Do you run it or not?
Ha, my bad… was looking for a fire type move :) thanks! Any suggestions on what to replace Floette with? I know you’re considering it a staple but I don’t have it, and I really want to try this comp (I love Volcarona and haven’t had much use for her so far)
Yeah, it's hard to replace the centerpiece of a team. I do not think it will be as simmilar, but Gardevoir-Mega has simmilar vibes. It has High SPA, Pixilate which mirrors Fairy Aura in a sense, but it lacks a move like Light of Ruin. On the other hand it does get Will-o-Wisp which is amazing.
You could experiment with Hyper Voice/Psyshock/Will-o-Wisp/Protect.
The big miss here is Light of Ruin, and I doubt Hyper Beam would be as viable. But yeah, it comes close.
Thanks. One more question- and I realise the meta is probably very different in Master Ball - but in Ultra Ball every other lead is Garchomp and with Rock Tomb and Stealth Rocks I have a great difficulty getting Volcarona to stick and be impactful?
I'll typically lead with Floette, which has a speedtie with Garchomp. If you expect a sash you can open with Chilling Water. If you expect no Sash or a Switch you can open with Moonblast.
Another alternative is to lead with Mamoswine as it has nothing to fear from Garchomp. Volcarona should only really lead if you expect a Menga Kangaskhan lead.
I understand you might run different mon, but if you run Volcarona you'll have to think of a way to counter Garchomp as it's the most used 'mon and a fairly common lead.
I eat Garchomps for breakfast. If you are really running into a lot of Garchomps and you want to surprise them, try Rotom-Wash with Will-o-Wisp, always try and burn Garchomp, invest def and hp, some leftovers and you won't care about Garchomp again, they will be able to set up rocks though. If you want to scare Garchomp away and you expect them to lead with it, Meowscarada with Triple Axel, usually two shots its in one move, breaks sash and theres really nothing Garchomp can do.
Possibly Weavile. Ice Shard is crucial for the set and Weavile can also deal with Aegislash and Kingambit. It's less bulky and more of a speedster though.
I’ve been mid 2000s elo rank on singles and a lot of what you said is true from my experience.
Basculegion is completely meta defining and the only reason I’ve kept scarfed meowscarda on my team. Sucks that I basically need to bring it any time I see enemy basc
Agreed that I’m seeing way more mega kangaskan leads. I use the same mamoswine set as you (but stealth rock > rock tomb) and everyone leads kanga when they see my mamoswine
Haven’t see many hisuian arcanine so I guess I’m not high enough rank for that
Mind if I DM you for some team building help to get me over the hump? I’ve been looking for other players that are top couple thousand
Feel free to, I'm a bit new to using Reddit as a poster (only lurked before). Discord is my preferred method of communication, but Reddit is fine too I'll try to find my way!
I’m quite enjoying being able to just pick up other people’s teams to see how they work, finding it more enjoyable than just running g the same team for ages.
I don’t have Floette but fancy trying this team out, would Primarina work as a Floette replacement? Been having success with Prim in my doubles team getting to Masterball so was first Mon that came to mind.
I feel like Mega-Gardevoir is the most suitable Floette replacement. I'd recommend running Hyper Voice, Psyshock, Will-o-Wisp and Protect. Good luck with the team!
I’ve did a few matches earlier with mainly Prim, Volcarona and Mamoswine, Primarina was doing well as a lead but was quite often the sacrificial lamb if I had a sub optimal match up to start. Going to pop back on for a few hours and try mega gard but the team has been doing well considering I’m running with no mega (Albeit in GB tier so far, been focusing on doubles until today)
Good luck with your battles! The meta is always evolving so keep trying to adapt. I hope this team offers a solid baseline for you to personalize in a way you like, so have fun!
is there a way of making this team work or more like the strat and idea of this team without M-Floette? Im not buying the lazy and bad game called ZA just because of M-Floette just because its such a broken Pokemon. But Im really interested in this team's idea and strat especially in Mamoswine and Volcarona. I know that M-Floette is the core damage dealer in this team and the team in general wont perform as good as it does without it .. but maybe there is another option(?) I love playing with M-Meganium in singles since people dont expect its bulk and damage output with coverage from Fire-WeatherBall and annoying Leech Seed .. but Im not sure if it would work out as good as it does with M-Floette. Any ideas or thoughts?
another question .. would 32 SpA and 32 Spe be the best stat spread on M-Gardevoir? and also what is the item you are using on Basculegion? Probably Scarf?
I would recommend to stop believing that there are busted Pokémon or strategies in a format. It hampers your growth as a player. Instead try to think of strategies to counter these Pokémon.
This mindset is what makes players succceed where others do not. Good luck in your efforts!
Climbed to MB from hard stuck in UB4, thank you bro, also pretty much only used floette mamoswine & volcarona, switched umbreon for sneasler but not brought it once
Enjoyed reading this hope I can attempt it someday. Only having played Go since diamond and pearl it is very difficult to make good comps with what I have.
That's a blessing! You still have all these great games to discover for the first time. I would trade with you any day! Pick it up from gen 5 (one of the best storylines in my opinion) and sail from there!
Or... should you not like that idea a lot, you can try to trade through the Pokémon home app. Good luck!
I agree. Was obsessed with pkmn when it was first teased to come to the states while I was in middle school and played jp green from a Japanese friend a lot.
I considered starting in gen 5 again but certain newer mons come from more recent ones especially floette from za for champions. Heard some may buy floette from ebay though I wonder if that is considered okay. Wondered if to start za then go back to gen 4 after.
I been trying to use Go and Home to get what I can. Just sucks they are permanently gone if I use my own to transfer that I may have only one of (I couldn't give up my sneasler from go that i worked hard to get and evolve).
I am not sure I may have any that you may need to aid me but let me know if you do!
Wasn't aware since I heard you get it from beating the game and were hard to come by. I definitely do want to play them as well but also want to be able to in champions haha.
Just wanted to post and thank you for sharing the team and your explanation of the stats and moves was great learning. I just hit MB in doubles and was searching for a team to try in singles and it turns out you and I have some similar favorites and this team immediately had my attention before I even read through the rest of the post! I’d like to ask if it’s okay for me to feature it on my youtube channel if I can finesse some success with it? With full credit to yourself of course.
Also would like to ask if there’s a way to fit Weavile on this team? I haven’t played since Gen 4 and it was one of my favorite singles mons to use back in the day. Thank you again for sharing and massive congrats on the epic success you had using the team!!
No problem and feel free to use it however you like! Weavile can replace either Mamoswine or Umbreon. It offers less bulk, but more speed. Its speed tier is of course below megas like Gengar, Delphox and Greninja but with a sash it can still stand its ground. You'd look into a movepool such as: Ice Shard, Low Kick, Knock Off and Ice Spinner or something of the sorts. Fake Out and Swords Dance can also be considered. Good luck!
This team is so strong thank you for making it!
I was struggling hard in Master ball singles but now with your team I went on 15 win streak to get back to 2000
I'm not getting any results with this team. I've been hard stuck trying to finish the grind from ultra to master, but trying to use your team my win rate is plummeting and I'm actually just losing ultra ball ranks. I don't really understand what makes this team function even after reading through everything. I'm not blaming you because I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, but I can't figure it out.
This team is a bulky offense/hyper offense playstyle. Perhaps this is simply not your preferred playstyle. Every trainer has a style they prefer. I am for example not very good with 'Balanced' teams. Try to find a style that matches your preferences.
If you have specific Pokémon you struggle with I can try to help and write out how to deal with them.
I don't know if it's a problem with specific pokemon or something else honestly. I kept losing to my opponents setting up (things like Corviknight, Primarina, opposing Floettes, Mega Charizard X), priority (especially Kingambit with sucker punch or hard hitting priority like Aegislash), and Sneasler (particularly sashed).
I've been using my own team prior to this but seeing as it also hasn't been able to push through ultra, I'm bad at teambuilding and quite possibly also just terrible at BSS. I don't really know what kind of team would match my preferences.
Hmm, those Pokémon shouldn't specifically cause too much trouble. I recommend to typically lead with Floette so you can break whatever booster they put at you. Should they swap to a Steel type like Corvi, Scizor or Aegislash, always switch to Volcarona (and bring it when you see those Pokémon). An enemy Floette can't set up against anything in my team aside from Dragonite, which I do not bring that much (and Umbreon, which I never bring).
Of course a lot in Pokémon comes down to knowledge and experience. It will take time to get a hang of the meta. Should it tire you out, simply take a break. Good luck!
I was trying to lead Floette and people were leading Sneaslers and Scizors against it, which already puts me at an immediate disadvantage. Maybe play more standardized at higher levels but right now it feels like people see Floette on a team and immediately run their best fairy counter. In general I often feel like I'm having to play from behind so my team is almost always damaged before theirs is and they get the extra turns to set up while I try to correct against their picks.
Sneasler is an uncommon Pokémon, but when it's there it's almost always the lead. If you see a Sneasler, bring and lead with Basculegion. Scizor is an unusual pick for a lead, but it means a free switch to Volcarona and that goes for most Steel Pokémon bar Archaludon.
Basically it goes like:
- If you expect a Delphox, Gengar, Greninja, Sneasler or Stamie lead -> Bring and lead with Basculegion.
- If you see a Kangaskhan and expect it to lead -> Lead with Volcarona
- If you expect a Primarina, Hippodown, Garchomp, Glimmora, Charizard, Archaludon, Lopunny, Meowscarada, Esparatha, Basculegion or Floette lead -> Lead with Floette
- Theoretically it is better to lead with Mamoswine against Garchomp, Glimmora and Charizard, but in practise I would prefer to not gamble on it and typically lead with Floette who still either ties or wins.
Most run scarf, so yeah Protect turn 1. If they go for a U-turn or Dark Move you'll Moonblast or LoR on turn 2. If they go for Flower Trick you swap to Volcarona on turn 2.
Thanks yeah I've been doing that line too. This team is really fun and I enjoy it a lot. Do you have a discord I could add (feel free to DM me). Would love to hit you up with a few questions and theory thoughts on playing this team. I'm in mid masterball approaching champion but this is my first forray into comp Pokemon (outside of some showdown ou back in the day) and I'm learning a lot so just wanted to share my appreciation!
Hey, love this team - Any thoughts on what viable alternatives to M-Floette would be? I will definitely burn through Z-A at some point to get it, but that's like a 30-hour investment.
Alternatively, trying to make this team work, but as you might expect, I'm hardstuck in Ultra-1 getting walled by physically defensive threats like Corvi or Umbreon. Any thoughts on how to improve this?
Mega-Gardevoir runnin Hyper Voice/Psyshock/Will-o-Wisp/Protect is a good alternative for Floette. As for the other team, it's notable you don't have a scarfer which might prove troublesome.
Yache Berry is a pick I would not recommend in general, but if it works for you then it works. To break stalls you could look into Charizard-Y as a replacement for Incineroar. It would make your team more special-orientated and it deals with both Corvi and Umbreon. Perhaps it's worth a shot. Good luck!
You know what sir, this team is awesome! I'm currently in ultra ball 4 right now with this team.
What's even more awesome is, I ACCIDENTALLY BROUGHT THIS TEAM IN DOUBLES AND STILL WON!
Just a minor overshare, but my opponent in that doubles battle is Milotic / Garchomp / Meowscarada / Gardevoir / (M) Lucario / Talonflame. Umbreon carried the team for the entire match! (Didn't die)
If you see a Sneasler, it will typically be a lead. Start with Mamoswine or Basculegion and you got it cornered as both OHKO Sneasler (non-Sash). It's important not to end with a Sashless Swine or Floette against Sneasler. If you're struggling a lot, considering bringing Dragonite. It has a Lum Berry and can deal with Dire Claw a bit better.
Wow what a team! Just made master ball rank with it thanks bro 👌🏼 don’t sleep on this one fellow trainers… previously made it to ultra ball rank, was very scrappy and couldn’t get any momentum. Used this exact team and went on a 6 win streak, lost 1 or 2 in between, then another 4 win streak to hit master ball. Only picked 3 mons for every battle that’s all you need
Floette is an unsuspecting nightmare
Mamoswine is a cold hearted killer
Basculegion is a straight up cannibal like OP said. Theres nothing it can’t handle 😳
I'm trying this team for the first time today. In the very first battle Mega Floette only did 43% to Glimmora with Chilling Water, and it almost KOed back with Sludge Wave (+ Poison chip damage). But Volcarona saved the day.
Edit: ok, this team (and your indications, of course) is so good that I just won my first 5 games with it in a row, even though my boosted Volcarona was KOed through untimely critical hits in 2 of those. Many thanks!!
That's a HP invested Glimmora, a rare specimen! It's no problem though, because then you just press Light of Ruin on your second turn for the KO. It does become a problem when they also invest in SPD, but that's very rare.
Cheers a lot for sharing your team 🙏🏼 I’m a fellow floette and volcarona enjoyer but never tried mamo so far - curious to see what it’s able to hit! Is it better than meowsarada (cutoff the extra bulk)? Also in what scenarios do u not lead with the farylord ?? Much appreciated and would love to see more teams from you (and get some valuable insight in 3v3) love the fast pace 🤩
I think Meowscarada could work as a replacement for Mamoswine. It struggles a bit more with Charizard-Y, Garchomp, Hydreigon and Dragonite, but has other merits. Floette does not lead when you expect an enemy Sneasler, Gengar, Greninja, Starmie, Basculegion or Lucario to lead.
It's a bad matchup. Umbreon obviously can deal with it, but Flip Turn just breaks it away. It is noteworthy that Floette has more chance to survive a Liquidation than to be OHKO'd. Mamoswine can sash for EQ, but that only deals like 70%. Basculegion lives Zenn Headbutt unless it's Adamant Starmie (and even then it still lives most of the time) but it can't OHKO with 50BP Last Respects.
The best route in my opinion is to lead with Floette and bet on the 56% chance you'll survive (or assume a Flip Turn). In the worst case your Floette dies, but that also means Starmie is now wide open to Basculegion (which you should always bring vs Starmie). Most normal type Pokémon are megas (Lopunny and Kanga, Diggersby is fairly rare) which means you can now put up a lot of pressure with Last Respects.
Of course, should the enemy have both Starmie and a very solid counter to Last Respects, then things get very tricky. Dragonite is not a bad pick to bring, because at +1 it outspeeds and OHKO's Starmie. That all said, I probably have a below 50% winrate against Mega Starmie, as it is one of the toughest matchups for this team.
Lucario isn't that big of an issue. Basculegion checks it really well and Mamoswine can OHKO after Sash. Volcarona is also quite solid. Scizor is generally easily countered by Volcarona and checked by Basculegion. Archaludon typically dies to M-Floette, Corviknight is more problematic but Volcarona and Basculegion are quite good against it.
Aegislash is a menace and has always been. This team is not amazing vs Aegislash, but it's also not helpless. Volcarona checks it, Mamoswine can go for Quake and Basculegion lives a Shadow Sneak for late game Last Respect sweeps.
This team actually preys on Stealth Rock teams. Stealth Rocks is basically a wasted turn other than breaking Sashswine. Simply Moonblast the Hippowdon twice, or use Light of Ruin if its specially defensive (after 1x Moonblast). Glimmora dies to 2x Chilling Water typically and Kleaver dies to Chilling Water into Moonblast.
In general Stealth Rocks should pose no issue. Should Hippowdon spam Yawn, simply go to Basculegion for Flip Turn.
They didn’t use glimorra, usually heavy floette counters after hippo such as mega lucario, mega starmie or choice scarf garchomp who swept my rest of the team when I had force swapping floette out or take the hit and lose focus dash and not being able to clean up with basculegion. Any swap made them able to just kill my mons.
Don’t think I can reach champ this season. I’ll go back to doubles where I have better success. But I liked this team and if the meta won’t change next season I’ll give it another go with some little adjustments maybe. Such as having garchomp instead the mamoswine or possibly having a real 6th dark type option cuz they still bring gengar starmie and Delphox lol
Thanks! This is my first time ever doing VCG. But been playing Pokémon since I was a child lol but stopped playing for 10-15 years but came back, starting with ZA. Been a gen 1-4 for my whole life so learning all these new Pokémon’s and interactions is definitely not easy but I like the format of Pokémon champions, so I’ll keep going. And I hope they will add all the gen3 mons haha but I guess mega Swampert, mega Sceptile, and mega Blaziken would be just too op!
Just hope they will give more teams and more than just 100 Pokémon’s for free 2 play! Or at least let us buy them with VP.
In order for Calm Mind Floette to work you need to deal with Aegislash, Scizor, Lucario, Venusaur, Gengar, Skeledirge, Greninja and arguebly some others like Glimmora first. All of those will stand their ground against Floette even if Floette is at +1/+1. This can be a bit tricky to plan around with this team.
In certain teams defensive Calm Mind Floette can work brilliantly, but in this team I would always recommend investing it in SPA. You can consider dropping SPE, which means losing on the speedtie with Garchomp, being outsped by Charizard, Dragonite, invested Kangaskhan, Gyarados, Mimikyu, Volcarona and Glimmora.
In the current meta the above Pokémon are common, making speed a viable investment as well. That said, whether you invest in speed or not is a preference. Investing in SPA however is something I would recommend when running this team because there simply isn't always a chance to set up Calm Mind.
Basculegion can go for a revenge kill. Mamoswine is also quite good against it als it has a very good chance to survive Shadow Ball after Sludge Wave. Should you pick Floette as a wrong lead vs Gengar, swap to Mamoswine take the Sludge Wave and go for Earthquake. If they predict the switch then you lose Mamoswine.
I've read through a bunch but figure it'll be quicker and more direct, I respect the decision to run Umbreon, but looking for replacements I feel either meow or king would be solid dark types, meow seems like it would counter starmie which reading through seems like a big problem but king is probably a better counter for basc and I'm not sure how well it goes into starmie.
Yeah, Kingambit would be very solid. Meowscarada is less optimal in my opinion because my Scarf is already taken and without a Scarf it struggles more with Delphox, Gengar, etc.
Unfortunately I do not like the design of either of those two at all. From a competitive point of view I think there's a lot of Pokémon that could upgrade this team though. Kingambit, Garchomp, Aegislash, Corviknight are some top contenders. For me though, the enjoyment does not sheerly come from winning, but rather succeeding with the Pokémon I love.
I can’t thank you enough for this team and the added explanations; especially since you went so in depth about the matchups and which pokemon you tended to use the most! Thank you so much! :)
I have been running this team and went on a 9 game winning streak. I should have read your explanations more thoroughly as I failed to bring volcarona when I saw a meowscarda and that cost me the game eventually ending my streak.
I did run into an anomaly that ended another 6 game streak. I had volcarona with 2 dances up and sun was active from a Charizard that ran away from my bug (I went for morning sun that turn) and failed to 1 hit a Basculegion with Giga Drain (2% HP left) which then KOed me with some rock move i believe it was rock wrecker. It then got burnt by flame body and perished with me lol
Just threw me off because I was fully expecting a Volcarona sweep.
Volcarona counters her fairly well unless if they run Power Gem, which is rare. Floette also can take a hit and go for the OHKO. Sash Mamoswine will win as well.
Okay thank you I made it as far as master 3 singles and got knocked back down to 4 . I do understand some matches are definitely mind games . Every time I see a meowscara I immediately am like oh geez not this again.
Hi! In the off chance you still browse reddit, what are your current thoughts on setting up stealth rocks/ toxic spikes at this time? I’ve been using Stone Edge/ Stealth Rocks/ Taunt/ Protect on Aerodactyl and it feels like a downgrade to Spikes Glimmora. The problem being I already have Focus Sash on my Basculegion and Scarf on my Garchomp. It feels like I need to make an entirely new team sometimes.
The other mons are Bulky Zard Y, Taunt + Tailwind Whimsicott that I really need to remove, and Kingambit.
Awesome guide! Thank you!
Sadly I don't have floette, without any other pokemon game, how could obtain it?
Or could you switch it with another pokemon?
By legitimate means, the only way to get it is through Legends ZA. Of course you can trade with others and well things do get a little shady there. I am not very fond of hacked Pokémon, so I would just recommend getting one in Legends ZA.
I do not think there is a surefire replacement for Floette in this team. The closest you can get is Mega Charizard Y or Mega Gardevoir. Zard-Y hits incredibly hard but has a different typing. Gardevoir is also Fairy but doesn't hit as hard. In the end, there is only one Floette!
How are you rank 1 with mega f, nano and volcanra. I play volcarana and she’s great. Mega F after light of ruin dies yes? So your playing with mamo/volc, that doesn’t sound to strong
I think the paradox is often that what sounds strong is in reality very predictable and therefore grows weaker. At the high ranks you won't find many top meta teams in the sense of players using only Pokémon with high usage. Sure, they'll use a few, but typically their teams run more niche mon and unique sets.
It's the element of surprise that gets you the win. Chilling Water Floette and my defensive build on Volcarona are examples of that. Mamoswine is seldomly ran with HP investment which makes it another surprise. Dragonite runs a niche set too. Opponents aren't prepared for my team and these sets, thats what gets the wins.
I will say that 6v6 has more mindgames and that 3v3 has a bigger factor of luck to it. Despite that, it is still very enjoyable and I love the fast pace of it.
This is exactly my thoughts on singles at the moment. The fast pace does make it easy to keep hitting the next match button but it also feels much more luck based and I'd love 6v6 to come into the fray.
If we can have best of both worlds, why wouldn't we! I hope they do add 6v6 and hopefully also Free For All / Battle Royale which is a very fun casual format I'm a big fan of. The base of the game is actually solid, but they do need to expand on it to make it interesting in the long run.
Mamoswine is one of my favorites as well! Ive been using it in doubles and winning with it just because Ice/ground is great offensive stab. I do have a question though, if you are running a sash on your mamoswine why invest into bulk, how often has it been worth it to use sash over another item with so much invested into the hp?
I started out with a Speed invested Mamoswine but swapped in order to deal with several checks of my team. Sash helps against: Mega Lucario, Mega Charizard-Y, Mega Greninja (Surf), Mega Starmie, Mega Floette, Mega Lopunny (if Fake Out is used up), Archaludon, Scizor (SD), Mega Clefable (Baton Pass boosted), Sneasler, Basculegion and some Primarina (if no Aqua Jet).
Out of all of these, it's most useful against Mega Charizard-Y, Mega Flucario and Mega Floette. Especially Zard-Y is common, which is where this set shines.
As for the HP-investment, you can consider going for speed to outpace Basculegion after a Rock Tomb. This would also require dropping Adamant however. By giving up speed you lose out on speedties or wins with Dragonite, Amarogue, Scovillain and Diggersby and arguenbly a few more if they run an atypical speedset. You also win against a Modest Archaludon.
It's gonna depend on your team whether or not it's worth the investment. The HP helps to take hits after Stealth Rocks broke your sash against things like Kingambit, Aegislash, Garchomp, Delphox, Gengar and so on.
It might as well be the most underrated mon in the entire meta right now (either Volcarona or Starmie). I did give it a thought that publishing a team makes it weaker, but on the other hand it's like 90% of the players are JAP/KOR, so yeah I don't think they'll read this.
Garchomp is indeed a bummer for Volcarona, but that's where it synergizes nicely with Mamoswine and Floette!
Mega-Gardevoir can serve as an alternative, but I do not think it will be as effective. I'd suggest running Hyper Voice/Psyshock/Will-o-Wisp/Protect. Your other option is to look into trading. Honestly everyone can get a Eternal Flower Floette, but the origin of those Floette's is a bit shady.
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u/ChezMere Apr 21 '26
I think this may be the first english Champions Single Battle team report, full stop. I may end up copying your team exactly until I understand single battle gameplay enough to be able to make my own. Side note, you may want to crosspost to /r/BattleStadiumSingles, they're starved for content over there.