I have come to love the Random Battle format as it really evens the field for a lot of underused pokemon, and let's face it, is the format that is most similar to the TV show. For those who have never played it, you pick 3 of your 6 pokemon to fight, they are all level 50, and NOTHING is banned except Ubers (expect Mega Kang, Swagger, Double Team, NO Sleep Clause, etc.). When making this team, I based it off of Krookodile. Initially he was a Taunt and SR user, which I thought was a great lead. However, I found from playing this format that a Choice Band version which just KILLS things, and can also easily sweep, is much preferred. I do not have a SR user at all because I feel that it is a waste of a turn in this fast format. I call this team "The Cave" because I picked a bunch of desert-themed pokemon, and I like to say it's a gym team hidden away in a cave in a desert. Despite this, I want to make it able to beat more teams, and can fix the theme later if needed. I've found my biggest problems to be Mega Venusaur and Thunderus-T, so would appreciate any advice on how I can fix that. I don't have a mega pokemon of my own, so that is on the table for me. Death (Krookodile) (M) @ Choice Band Trait: Moxie EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Earthquake - Knock Off - Aerial Ace - Stone Edge Krookodile is expected to be Scarfed, which is why the Banded version gets a lot of surprise KOs. One surprise KO in Random Battle is 1/3 of your team, so he brings me a lot of victories. EQ and Knock Off are hard-hitting STAB moves. Aerial Ace is an interesting choice which easily defeats Breloom and Heracross which would otherwise wall this. Stone Edge is a simple coverage move which kills Flying types that are immune to Ground. Madness (Heliolisk) (F) @ Life Orb Trait: Dry Skin EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Glare/Grass Knot - Hyper Beam - Surf - Thunderbolt The second pokemon I added, rather quickly, was Helioptile, for his versatility and immunities. He can counter many different pokemon including shutting down a lot of bulky Water types whose only attacking move is Scald, and additionally serves as a special attacker to complement Krookodile's physical. In Random Battle he is an invaluable tool to have, which I can bring out when I see one of the many things he counters. He checks Aegislash for me, being immune to Shadow Sneak and not affected by King's Shield. Thunderbolt hits hard, Surf defeats Ground types and other Electric types (except Thunderus-T, who has Focus Blast), and is extra powerful if they use a Politoed. Hyper Beam is perfect for when I have 10% HP left - the Life Orb recoil will knock me out, and I'll likely take one of theirs with me. Even if I don't kill them, and they take the chance to set up, I have a Scarf Ditto which will sweep them in return. The normal typing is generally good against everything, and a lot of people forget Heliolisk gets STAB on it. Glare is the move which helps Heliolisk be even more a jack-of-all-trades, anything not an Electric type will hate it. Since Heliolisk counters Electric types, it works quite well on him. Grass Knot is an alternative which will beat pokemon such as Swampert, but you lose versatility. Sanity (Xatu) (F) @ Weakness Policy Trait: Magic Bounce EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd) - Trick Room/Heat Wave/Giga Drain/Dazzling Gleam/Thunder Wave??? - Calm Mind - Stored Power - Roost For my next choice, I knew I had a Fighting weakness, and Xatu was an easy and natural choice to patch that. He is also very versatile, shutting down any pokemon that relies on non-attacking moves, and provides me with an additional Ground immunity. It is very important to have a Xatu when Klefki and Breloom are so common. Especially Klefki. Nothing is banned in this format so you need a way to deal with that Swagger. I use Calm Mind/Stored Power/Roost as Xatu doesn't really have a lot of power, and I need him to be a useful slot. You can't really afford a "supporter" slot in Random Battle. Weakness Policy gives Stored Power a huge boost which can let you hurt things like Aegislash after he Shadow Sneaks you, even if the Stored Power is resisted. +2 4 SpA Xatu Stored Power (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 179-211 (55.2 - 65.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO +3 4 SpA Xatu Stored Power (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Aegislash-Blade: 313-369 (96.6 - 113.8%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO This set of course also beats many troublesome stall pokemon, such as Blissey and Ferrothorn. My final move is Trick Room, which I am not totally sold on. I don't have many slow pokemon, and the ones that are, I put speed EVs on to help them out. The move will help Xatu sweep and helps my team against hyper offense, but I could really use at least one other slow pokemon to go with it, or maybe select a coverage move. Sanity (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf Trait: Imposter EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Transform Ditto is a catch-all for setup sweepers. He is a tool in my toolbox which I would never take out. Combined with Xatu for stallers and I have a very good general combo. Considering Team Preview, it might even discourage the opponent from using his most dangerous pokemon. Also combos with Heliolisk's Hyper Beam as mentioned earlier. Ditto is sometimes picked even when I don't see any potential set up sweepers, such as against a Ghost or Dragon type that I can defeat with its own moves. Breloom (M) @ Focus Sash Trait: Technician EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Bullet Seed - Focus Punch - Mach Punch - Spore We are now getting into the recent additions, which you can tell as I have not named them yet. Breloom is just, generally, great in this mode. It would be a shame not to have a sleep move at all, because it's a free 1/3 of their team down, and guess what, there is NO Sleep Clause if they happen to switch. He is also capable of taking advantage of his own sleep, who would want to switch into that Focus Punch? I choose him almost every match in practice. Krookodile can take care of Ghost and Poison types that resist him if needed, making for an unexpected synergy. Breloom appears to be basically the Arceus of Random Battle, fits well on the team, and I don't see myself removing him any time soon. Since item clause is in effect and Stealth Rock isn't as common, Focus Sash is incredibly common. Not only is he my Focus Sash user, but the best at handling them, with Bullet Seed or Mach Punch. Hippowdon (F) @ Rocky Helmet Trait: Sand Stream EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Earthquake - Toxic - Whirlwind - Slack Off Hippowdon is here because I needed a Mega Kangaskhan counter, hence the Rocky Helmet. I used to have Sableye, but I felt it was too easy in this format to have one of their pokemon be a special attacker, one be a Fire type, and then Sableye is just useless. Additionally, Blaziken is one of the most common physical pokemon, because people are oh so happy they can use him. Hippowdon checks Blaziken, Sableye does not. You'll notice a lack of Stealth Rock because he already has Sand Stream to break sashes/kill Shedinjas, and Toxic gives him a lot more favorable matchups. I haven't actually used the Whirlwind yet, but in theory it's there in case I neglected to bring my Ditto, or against slower, bulky set up sweepers. Since Double Team is a thing, I will definitely be glad I had it one of these days. Importable: Spoiler Death (Krookodile) (M) @ Choice Band Trait: Moxie EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk) - Earthquake - Knock Off - Aerial Ace - Stone Edge Madness (Heliolisk) (F) @ Life Orb Shiny: Yes Trait: Dry Skin EVs: 252 SAtk / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Glare - Hyper Beam - Surf - Thunderbolt Sanity (Xatu) (F) @ Weakness Policy Trait: Magic Bounce EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SAtk Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd) - Trick Room - Calm Mind - Stored Power - Roost Sanity (Ditto) @ Choice Scarf Shiny: Yes Trait: Imposter EVs: 252 HP / 4 SDef / 252 Spd Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk) - Transform Breloom (M) @ Focus Sash Shiny: Yes Trait: Technician EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Bullet Seed - Focus Punch - Mach Punch - Spore Hippowdon (F) @ Rocky Helmet Shiny: Yes Trait: Sand Stream EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spd Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk) - Earthquake - Toxic - Whirlwind - Slack Off
Recommending VSwitch on Heliolisk to buffer against gothitelle which makes short work of 4/6 mons on this allowing suicune to kill everything else which lives a hit from loom, doesn't mind the sleep and can burn everything on the team 252 Atk Choice Band Krookodile Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Suicune: 144-171 (35.6 - 42.3%) -- 90.9% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery Will add more when not lazy