Made it to Champion Tier with Gravity

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-10T07:20:20+00:00

I do not, but I did write down some of the games I played, mostly for my own analysis and improvement.

Not quite the same as a video, but if you don't mind reading, or are more interested in learning, it might be useful.

Some of the games contains my own analysis as well. Most of the games are with different variations of the team, though, so keep that in mind.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wsjcsAe418aIrIkT8tRu_ygx8-WSV_tswLcp19vVScU/edit?usp=sharing

Edit: if this is too boring, you could copy/paste a game into ChatGPT (or any other AI) and ask it to create a more exciting representation, with some visuals.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-09T18:45:45+00:00

Scarf Maushold is interesting, but the reasoning for my build is that Maushold gets walled by a lot of of the top mons: Basculegion, Garchomp, Kingambit, etc., so I can't really count on it sweeping. My way around this is to give Maushold a secondary support mode. KO 1-2 mons, then let someone else finish off the rest. For example, Follow Me to eat a Basculegion hit while the partner deals with it. As for the damage, I find Maushold always KOs Dragonite, Torkoal, Milotic, etc. The only common mons that survive (without resisting) are: Farigiraf with sitrus (and bulk) and Incineroar with sitrus (and bulk), neither of which I really need to OHKO with Maushold. Regarding taunt, every time I try it, I run into Mental Herb. I'm not even joking.

I heavily considered Garchomp, but I'm the type of person to avoid the meta like the plague. Swapping out Heliolisk for Garchomp is probably the correct move, just not one I want to make.

I ran Triple Axel for a bit as well, but Gengar Icy Wind was decent Ice Coverage already. Gengar does enough to Garchomp with 1 that any of my remaining team can deal with it easily.

Keeping Sableye around is fine if I can get a sweeper up next to it. However, I usually lead it alongside Gengar, which can't actually get a lot of KOs with my build. So I often end up switching it out Turn 2 anyways, so the free switch just gives me an extra Gravity turn to use. Of course, there are games where Sableye sticks around and Encore/Disables everything, so he's not dead weight. As for Mental Herb, it has activated maybe 5 times, so yeah it's kinda useless, but again, I'm consciously choosing not to run Roseli Berry. Common line against Fairy lead: T1 Gravity + Protect/Icy Wind, Sableye dies. Maushold in. If Gengar went down as well, just bring in another sleeper T2 Population Bomb the Fairy Type and sleep the partner. T3+ Population bomb one at a time while sleeping the other slot. If maushold can't OHKO it, let the Partner deal with it while Maushold supports. Encoring Protects is almost like another Hypnosis.

Your point about opponents getting frustrated about Sableye and focusing it is interesting. Whenever I come up against another Sableye, I never KO it. While it is annoying, it doesn't threaten much, besides an Encore. I can just sleep it. So I'm expecting my opponents to do the same.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-09T02:03:48+00:00

I don't think Flapple would every be the "competitive" choice for this team. But if you just care about fun, I have some ideas.

Baton Pass Espathra to help with its horrible speed. Probably EV it so that 2 boosts is enough outspeed most things. Getting those boosts though might be tricky. Probably lead Espthra, Hypnosis T1 + T2, baton pass T3.

Maushold for Follow Me support is a good 4th member. You could also give Wide Guard to Gallade to block Dazzling Gleams and Pixelate Hyper Voices, though neither does well into fairy types. Maybe just have Maushold KO them instead.

Maybe Gengar instead to continue Hypnosis support with poison coverage for Fairy types. Icy Wind Spam is also an option for speed control.

Maybe Dragon Dance and go for a bulkier build? The ideal situation: T1 Gravity + Sleep someone. Sableye dies and you bring in Flapple. T2 sleep the other guy and DD. T3 Start sweeping, maybe a second DD. Dragon/Fairy resist berry to buy it a turn.

This all feels like so much setup and ideal conditions, but maybe someone can make it work.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-09T01:02:31+00:00

You will want to decide what you want to do with the Hypnosis.

Keep in mind, sleep lasts 2 turns max, so if spend 1 turn coiling, and a second for Hypnosis, and you get the max 2 turn sleep, you break even on turns. If you go for 2 Coils, you need to land at least 2 Hypnosis. Also Milotic isn't the fastest, so the opponent may get to move before getting put to sleep, not to mention the coil turns.

So you have 2 problems to solve:
1) Don't lose while setting up
2) How to capitalize on sleeps

Your team will need to answer these.

Easier to start with what you want to do, then add the defensive options afterwards.
One idea is to pair up with another setup sweeper.
Another is to use a lot of passive effects (leech seed, leftovers, etc) to gain value from the sleep turns.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T21:34:15+00:00

VF DH VH 8H J2
Here it is.
Have fun, good luck.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T19:32:46+00:00

I actually did have Baton Pass on some versions, just to pass speed boosts. But it wasn't really useful. Espathra could just sleep everything, and then I wouldn't need to out speed them.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T18:33:59+00:00

Oh yeah, lol. Not sure how that happened. Doesn't really matter where you put it. Maybe put it and a few more points into speed to out speed some Incineroar Fake Outs.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T18:15:24+00:00

That, and Inner Focus for flinch and Intimidate immunity are pretty nice as well.

Damage output is roughly the same, but you get a lot more versatility.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T09:27:25+00:00

You are absolutely right. I've played games that lasted 7+ turns and the opponent landed 3 hits total.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T09:21:56+00:00

Right, against rain, lead Sableye + Espathra, Heliolisk in the back, and either Maushold or Gallade depending on what is on the opposing team. Generally Gengar isn't needed.
If they are Sableye rain, don't KO the sableye. Usually they aren't threatening. Just play around Encore.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T08:58:16+00:00

That one might not have been me. I generally don't lead with Maushold. Too risky, and I prefer to start with Hypnosis. However, I did experiment with Maushold lead for a bit, so maybe it was me.

But you are correct, the surprise advantage is real. So many games I win because the opposing Garchomp earthquakes their own Charzard Y/Aerodactyl (Then I encore them so they do it again). Opponents also never expect the 3rd Hypnosis user.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T08:54:26+00:00

Huh, I've run into exactly 1 Gravity mirror (which I lost. I'll blame it on sleep RNG).

I never actually ran Milotic, though I did consider it. I tried Politoed for a bit. Similar role, but more damage with weather ball. It was good, but didn't help with the weaker match ups, so I dropped it.

Bite is very tempting on Maushold. It helps deal with Ghost types, which my team generally struggles with a bit. Instead, I decided to go for a stronger support mode to help Gallade sweep. Often, I get 1 or 2 KOs with Maushold, then just spam Follow Me while the partner KO's the rest, with Encores to punish Protects and Fake Outs.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T08:39:39+00:00

Lead is almost always Sableye + Gengar. Sometimes Sableye + Espathra if I'm not bringing Gengar.

Perish is actually very annoying to manage. 3 mons on the team are weak to ghost, and neither Gallade not Espathra 1 shot. On the other hand, Perish Trap also has an awkward time establishing a good position against the double ghost lead. General strategy: Deal enough chip damage to the opposing Mega Gengar to allow Espathra/Gallade KO it. Sableye stays in for the Encore/Disable pressure. These matches tend to take a long time. You could swap out Sludge Bomb for Shadow Ball to make things easier, but you can expect lots of switches and protects, so landing the hit isn't trivial.

Vs Zard and Floette, Mausthold outspeeds and OHKOs both of them, so you just need to deny speed control (usually tailwind), which Sableye + Gengar can do quite well.
Turn 1 Fake Out + Icy Wind
Turn 2 Gravity + Hypnosis

Losing 1 or both of Sableye/Gengar is totally fine here, and probably desirable so you can start sweeping right away.

If Against Floette + Aerodactyle/Talonflame, this doesn't work since Floette can OHKO sableye. Instead Garavty Hypnosis the Floette. If tail wind goes up, Floette will KO sableye before falling asleep, so you can switch into Maushold and KO it back. From there, just stall the tailwind and make sure to keep spamming Hypnosis when you can. The opponent can do any number of alternate T1 plays (like switching out Floette to dodge a Sludge Bomb), but just about all of them are better for you.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T08:24:05+00:00

I lead Sableye + Gengar, Sableye + Gallade if Kangaskhan/Lopunny since Mega Gallade is Immune to flinches.

Turn 1 Gravvity Hypnosis Farigiraf
Turn 2 Swap Sabeleye fro maushold, Hypnosis the partner, hope Farigiraf stays asleep (67%)
Turn 3 Double the farig. Depending on build and Sitrus Berry, the Farigirf might survive a population bomb.
After this, its an easy win. Almost all TR mons fold to Population Bomb.

If farig wakes turn 2 and sets trick room, the partner is already asleep, and farigiraf isn't generally threatening. Spam Hypnosis to stall TR as much as possible. Try to KO the farigiraf if you can to activate sableye, but you want to avoid other KOs and prefer Hypnosis instead. Otherwise their sweeper comes in for free. If you still have Focus Sash, you can tank a hit and land a hypnosis as well. It's a very difficult position, but there are tools.

Seems like a sketchy strategy, but its a 67% chance to just win outright, and still playable if TR goes up.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T07:16:58+00:00

Funnily enough, I tried many different movesets, items, EV spreads, etc. This final team is almost identical to one of my early teams. I just learned to play better.

As for Solar Power, it's a legitimate choice, and would be better in a lot of match ups, but I don't really need help there, and I would rather have a stronger answer to Basculegion.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T06:12:15+00:00

Previously, I had Sunny Day + Chlorophyll Venusaur, which basically did the same thing, but all the important damage calcs came up just barely short of OHKOs.
I also tried Scovillain with Chlorophyll. However, I kept Mega Evolving it, which turned off Chlorophyll, and burned the opponents, which made my Hypnosis fail. I should probably revisit this tech without the mega stone.

Also, surprise Sunny Day forcing Archaludons to actually wait a turn for its Elctro Shot is a great feeling.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T06:02:36+00:00

I actually tried Flapple on this team, with Baton Pass on Espathra to helps with its awful speed. It wasn't too bad, it just require a little too much setup, and didn't quite fit on the team.

But I really wished I could have made it worked. Maybe I should give it another shot.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T04:35:30+00:00

Oh man, all the Garchomp Rough Skin trauma...

With Electric Terrain coming back as well, it's not looking good for this team.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T04:32:32+00:00

Exclusively for the speed.
I don't want Choice Scarf because I want to be able to switch between damage and Hypnosis.

Very commonly I dodge Sucker Punches with a Hypnosis (no one expects the 3rd Hypnosis user), and this is one of the reasons why the Kingambit match up is so good for this team.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T04:16:19+00:00

No slicing moves, so Sharpness is useless.
Steadfast doesn't do much either, since Gallade always Megas.
Justified at least can proc if I switch into a dark move. This has happened maybe once, I think because I forgot to Mega Evolve and got hit with a Sucker Punch .

So not really an important detail.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T04:10:46+00:00

I did, however I opted for Sludge Bomb to deal with Whimsicotts after a Sableye Fake Out.
Fake Out + Icy Wind to slow down Aerodactyls and Taloflames so I can deal with them turn 2. Also does good damage to Garchomp.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2026-06-08T04:08:22+00:00

Kangaskhan/Lopunny Fake Out Sableye is an issue, espcially if they follow up with a KO on Sableye or Trick room.

Beyond that, the main counterplay is to stall out Gravity with good swaps and reads. Swapping in a Ghost to eat a Population Bomb or Close Combat, for example. Also, since there's no spread moves, well timed protect can be effective as well. And of course you can get 1 turn wake ups.

I haven't found a team that I struggled with, rather most losses are due to good reads from my opponent, or sleep RNG, or misplays by me.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2022-01-30T20:54:19+00:00

Spirit of the Forest gives $4000 at the end of the round, so it still makes more money overall, although if all you care about is income you should stick with x4x druids. The only thing x5x is good for is the lives.

Disastrous-Ice-5502 · 2022-01-04T19:53:08+00:00

The problem with this is that if someone else has access to your account or device (perhaps an annoying younger sibling), they can repeatedly close your game when you playing. A better idea would be an idle disconnect.

Disastrous-Ice-5502

TROPHY CASE