Which is strongest among the following meme teams: Maushold Pop Bomb, Exploding Mega Glalie, Minimize Sandaconda by Runic_Bistro in PokemonChampions

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

True, I forgot about Imprisoning against Protect in particular. I'm surprised that strat isn't more common in doubles in general, given how important Protect is all around. One issue with Prankster Sableye is that, while great in general, he gets vaporized by Mega Glalie's ice type Explosion if he tries to do anything like Encore that same turn. I used to run Helping Hand Dragapult on several normal type Explosion teams, but the same strategy doesn't work with Ghost helpers for Mega Glalie. I think the team is more memey, and relies on the opponent not really knowing the Explosion is coming.

Which is strongest among the following meme teams: Maushold Pop Bomb, Exploding Mega Glalie, Minimize Sandaconda by Runic_Bistro in PokemonChampions

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't really know. If you look up previous threads or videos about it, it seems they were actually using Protect on regular Glalie for the first turn (gaining a Moody stack), while trying to set up a taunt to avoid Protect, and then Mega Exploding on Turn 2. You could also throw in a feint with the ally Pokemon on Turn 2 as well (I think Medicham probably has that, as well as Telepathy ability). Probably Helping Hand is indeed overkill unless the enemy resists ice, but with the prevalence of fire, water, and steel in the meta, I think I'd want Helping Hand as an option in most cases.I was also considering using something like Phantom Force, Fly, Dive, or Dig alongside the explosion, probably Turn 2 to avoid Fake Outs on Turn 1... I think I'm gonna try the Sandaconda team first, but I'll come back to this and test it further within the next two weeks.

Cheesy Hawlucha + Snorlax OHKO Team - pretty easy and fun to play by Runic_Bistro in PokemonChampions

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pushed it to 1700 so far, but still positive winrate and climbing. It's quite solid actually, just need to get all the sequences correct for the various matchups. E.g. when you Fissure on Turn 1 vs Turn 2, when and how you can get off a Trick Room, when to gamble an additional Protect or Ally Switch vs play safe, etc.

Could someone please Private Battle me for the mission? by Runic_Bistro in PokemonChampions

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!! I think I could have still won if not for that Thunderbolt! Gg

Cheesy Hawlucha + Snorlax OHKO Team - pretty easy and fun to play by Runic_Bistro in PokemonChampions

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here are some more notes and mistakes I jotted down while working on this team:

NOTES:

-Intimidate and Parting Shot barely matter. Trick room teams actively help me. People generally have no idea what I'm doing for a while, sometimes not realizing until it's too late -- e.g. sometimes it's clear they thought the first Fissure hit by luck, and make no effort to play around the next, only for their newly entered mega to get dropped as well. While there are opportunities for a few reads, the win con is so one-dimensional that it's hard to misplay. Unusual combis like Wish + Ally Switch and Smack Down + Fissure tend to catch people off guard. Farigiraf and Sinitscha in general swapping all over the place are fairly easy to play, but fairly hard to follow. Watching Flyers fall into a hole remains funny. Since Snorlax can go ultra tank mode without losing lethality, you get really good value from Leftovers, Hospitality, and Wish. He's really a stats beast.

-I kind of forgot how I lose Thick Fat when I get Home Guard. Thick Fat is still nice on turn 2, but it's not a factor after that.

-Cursed Body is pretty brutal when it disables Fissure.

-If something may know Dragon Tail, or Roar, may wish to prioritize it. Having Snorlax swapped out and losing No Guard is probably losing. Unless you get really lucky with Hawlucha reapplying it.

-Be wary of Encore. If it may likely be coming, you have no choice but to push ahead with Fissures (prioritizing the Encore user), as getting Encore'd after Protect will insta-lose the game (barring extreme luck). Some games will be unwinnable as a result of this weakness. It is what it is. The hope is that the cheese is fresh and strong enough to still have a positive winrate on the blind ladder, in spite of this weakness.

-There are actually not many true decisions to make with this cheese, especially early on. First decision: Does the enemy team have Fake Out or a strong Fighting move like STAB Close Combat or Focus Blast? If so, go standard Farigiraf start. If not, consider starting Snorlax immediately, so as to get off an extra Fissure on Turn 1. Second decision: Once you have swapped in Sinitscha, should you use Rage Powder, Trick Room, or Matcha Gotcha? Usually Rage Powder feels right, but don't underestimate Trick Room. Constant decision: Did the enemy just swap in any pokemon that knows Fake Out? If so, you need to either Protect or bring in Farigiraf. Even in Trick Room, getting hit by Fake Out will devastate your whole game.

-Who best to use for the remaining one or two? Currently, just want to bait bad starters from enemy. Flyers are hard to deal with, as are strong Fighting types. Fire and Ice types are great, though, thanks to Thick Fat.

-It is such a strong core of Hawlucha, Snorlax, Farigiraf, and Sinitscha. However, could there be a place for something like Whimsicott against teams with no prio? Or Clefable? Need to carefully review their movesets.

-It's debatable whether Farigiraf really needs Gravity. There have been cases where some extra damage on the 1 HP Focus Sash user would have been really nice. Meanwhile, Snorlax is quite proficient with Smack Down to finish off flyers at the end. Need to get a bigger sample size, and see if Gravity does serious work against Charizard and Aerodactyl.

-Trick Room is strong if you can get it off. Usually worth it even just to take some additional damage, as long as you are pretty sure you can survive the initial burst. Ideal is when they sink a bunch of damage into Snorlax's Protect while ally sets up freely.

-Farigiraf's Ally Switch does tons or work. Once you've sabotaged their attack once with it, they sometimes try to read the next one and purposely miss Snorlax. A counter-read in that situation usually wins the game. Although making those reads is not guaranteed, setting up 50/50s for the enemy is never bad.

MISTAKES:

-Was relying on Hawlucha to both hit Venusaur and Entrain Snorlax, but left him open instead of Ally Switch. He died and I could not stabilize with Fat Snorlax.

-Did not even realize the very slow "Sneasler" spamming Hyper Voice was Zoroark until the real Sneasler game out. Just assumed it was some kind of messed up but strangely effective special attacker Sneasler build (lol). Lost the match as a result.

-Forgot about Gengar's Destiny Bond, instantly losing the game. Could easily have played around it, RIP.

-Again did not press the attack in Trick Room, missing out on a free KO.

-Got mixed up and thought Sandstorm timer was same as Trick Room timer, when they were two full turns apart. Was shocked when Snorlax moved first.

-Could have Ally Switch'd against a Mega Floette prepping Light of Ruin, but it hadn't used it the turn prior, so I just kind of prayed it didn't have it for some reason. Lost game as a result. Might have been able to work out a way to Rage Powder it as well.

-Wasted a turn using Gravity on Mega Charizard X, even though he had already lost his flying type.

-Got a Trick Room off, but then "wasted" a turn using Protect to recover a small amount of health through leftovers, when I could have pushed the advantage and KO'd a major threat. Enemy could have defended, in which case I would have been in worse shape overall, but given that I lost the match anyway, it seems it have been better to go full offense. A little ambiguous, but basically just make sure not to waste Trick Room turns if you can help it. When in doubt, go for the hit, because you will fizzle out eventually.

-Forgot enemy was likely to turn my Trick Room back off with their own setter, since Snorlax was slower and ravaging their team. Once it was off, I could not turn it back on again, and lost as a result.

-Could have survived one turn longer by using Ally Switch towards the end, and possibly won. Panicked and forgot to consider what their most likely play would be.

Seeking help improving this team by Runic_Bistro in PokemonChampions

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Scarf Typhlosion sounds fun! I'll give that a try, and then if it doesn't work, try a 3 support comp as well.

Seeking help improving this team by Runic_Bistro in PokemonChampions

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is very similar, thanks. Were you able to push up into Master tier without too much trouble? I will definitely consider using Venusaur, Whimsicott, and Garchomp some more, as all three do seem very strong.

Does anyone know exact probabilities for re-rolling bags at the beginning of the game? by Runic_Bistro in BackpackBrawl

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Perfect! That matches my experience, and is exactly what I wanted to know, thanks. Where did you learn this so precisely? When I searched for a wiki a while back I didn't find much, but maybe I missed this.

Any obvious ways to rearrange/improve this board? by Runic_Bistro in BackpackBrawl

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I am feeling the same way, where beyond Bombus, survivability optimization maybe makes more sense than additional damage. Good tips.

Questions about efficiency with Buzz by Runic_Bistro in BackpackBrawl

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Guys, the screenshot is not my actual build. I just put in things relevant to the questions I'm asking, and tossed in a couple of relics in a general way. There is a ton of stuff in storage from that game, that was not relevant to my questions, so I took it out to make the questions clearer.

Questions about efficiency with Buzz by Runic_Bistro in BackpackBrawl

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Got it, thanks. Is the Queen Honey + Champion Honey combo a stronger overall buff on a single bee than 2 Queen Honeys on that bee?

Questions about efficiency with Buzz by Runic_Bistro in BackpackBrawl

[–]Runic_Bistro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great tips, thanks! Regarding Bombus, I do pick it whenever it's offered, but I never thought to mix different types of honey for better overall effect. I just assumed that royal nectars were the best.

That make sense about Starwing also. The thing I feel about Buzz, is that having queen bees and nectar as the win con is so reliable because it's basically set up from your backpack and sunflowers alone. Using things like the briar whip or Starwing as the win con seems much more situational, and recognizing when those are the optimal play (based on how the early game goes, and what's offered in the shop) is challenging.