Battle Tower streak team 2.0

THE TEAM (Level 50)

Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Timid nature
EVs: 252 HP / 40 Def / 4 SpA / 32 SpD | 180 Spe
Stats: 197/81/100/136/124/173
Thunderbolt
Hidden Power [Ice]
Calm Mind
Substitute

Gyarados (F) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Adamant nature
EVs: 244 HP / 204 Atk / 4 Def / 48 SpD / 8 Spe
Stats: 201/188/100/72/126/102
Hidden Power [Flying]
Earthquake
Dragon Dance
Substitute

Steelix (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sturdy
Adamant nature
EVs: 212 HP / 44 Atk / 248 SpD / 4 Spe
Stats: 177/122/220/67/116/51
Earthquake
Hidden Power [Steel]
Explosion
Protect

HOW GOOD IS THIS TEAM?

- My first streak with this team finished at 420 wins, although it's unofficial since I continued from a save state at 105 wins after losing battle 109 to a bad misplay. My streak has Toxic on Steelix instead of Protect, which I realized was suboptimal after about 150 wins. It also has a male Gyarados and some slight EV differences. Team Azure, a famous team very similar to this one, has a 650-win streak.
- My loss happened because of a slight misplay and was exacerbated by not having Protect on Steelix. The lead was Ursaring, and after switching to Gyarados and seeing Bulk Up, I knew it was Ursaring7 (Facade/EQ/Crunch/Bulk Up + Quick Claw). Since the Defense boost made it beat Gyarados 1v1, I decided to switch to Steelix and use Explosion. Then I faced Salamence4, which I weakened with HP Ice into Dragon Dance. Both DD Salamences have EQ, so I switched to Gyarados to block it, but Gyarados then died to a crit high roll Double-Edge. In the ensuing 1v1, Raikou lost to Steelix1. In retrospect, I should have PP stalled and/or crippled Ursaring using repeated Gyarados/Salamence switches. I've done this against other setup mons such as Marowak, and it works fine because the AI prefers not to use Bulk Up after being at +3 Defense (and can't use it once at +6 Defense). So eventually its Attack is so low and its PP is so drained that you can fully set up against it. Having said that, there are some Pokemon I have to explode against, which can lead to losses like this.
- This is a "goodstuff" team. That means it is created to win battles without PP stalling. You can do well with this team by just setting up 1 Calm Mind or Dragon Dance and using Steelix to beat specific threats such as Jolteon and Snorlax. However, it must frequently resort to PP stalling to consistently achieve long streaks (as evidenced above).
- This team was actually based off Team Azure, with a goal of creating the best possible "goodstuff" team that does not use Latios, Latias or Suicune. Given my initial success, it's possible that this team is better than Team Azure. However, it's also possible that a more defensive version of Team Azure would be better.
- Raikou has three key advantages over Lati@s: STAB Thunderbolt, defensive typing, and the ability Pressure.
   > STAB Thunderbolt pairs extremely well with Hidden Power Ice, better than any two offensive moves that Latios can use. It takes out dangerous Water types quickly even with minimal Sp. Atk investment, and it OHKOs almost everything in the game at +6.
   > Mono Electric type with high Defenses means only Earthquake is a threat, and Gyarados is the perfect pivot on predicted Earthquakes. For Earthquake/Rock Slide users, Steelix can be used to PP stall since it takes effectively no damage from Rock moves.
   > Pressure allows many dangerous Pokemon to be PP stalled. A good example is Regice6, which will always run out of Ice Beams on a Substituting Raikou, at which point it can no longer touch Steelix, who can force it to use Rest.
- Gyarados is better than Suicune for this team because it can effectively swap into Earthquakes or Fissures while crippling the foe's Attack. It's also just a great setup sweeper with its high bulk and Dragon Dance.
- Steelix is more defensive than the Team Azure version. This allows it to tank almost all Surfs while switching in more reliably against moves such as Psychic. However, the bulk is usually just used to aid its primary function -- to PP stall Earthquake/Rock Slide users by switch playing with Gyarados. Protect helps Steelix stall out dangerous moves like Cross Chop and Mega Kick. Explosion is almost never used. Earthquake is good for Jolteon4 but otherwise rarely used. A fully defensive Steelix with Protect, Torment and Rest would give a higher win rate, but that would make this a borderline stall team.
- This team is vulnerable to crits, Quick Claw and Brightpowder (although much less so than a typical offensive team). I think streaks will typically last 150-600 battles before dying to one of these. Probably about 35% of the deaths will be to Gardevoir4, Alakazam4, or Mr. Mime4.
- It's pretty easy to play with this team. Set up Substitute and Calm Minds with Raikou and sweep most foes. Switch to Gyarados on anything that threatens Raikou with Earthquake, and switch to Steelix when expecting an Electric or Rock move. PP stall as necessary using Gyarados/Steelix switch plays and Raikou's Pressure. Don't be afraid to sacrifice a Pokemon in order to PP stall -- all you need to win is a fully set-up Raikou OR Gyarados.

EV SPREADS EXPLAINED

Raikou's nature and Speed EVs allow it to hit the magic number of 173 Speed. Most serious Tower teams have a Pokemon with this exact Speed, since it outspeeds many dangerous Pokemon with 162-172 Speed. Running 181 Speed helps beat Dragon Dance Salamence, but this isn't a big enough threat to sacrifice bulk.

As a Leftovers user, Raikou needs both physical and special bulk. Maximizing its HP EVs is the most efficient way to do this. Although Raikou usually doesn't handle physical attackers, it needs to survive non-STAB Earthquakes from strong physical attackers in case it ends up facing them. It also needs its Substitutes to survive strong physical attacks that have been weakened by multiple Intimidates. On the special side, Raikou needs its Substitutes to survive STAB Surfs, Psychics, and Ice Beams with as few Calm Minds as possible, in order to protect against crits and freezes. It also needs to minimize the chance of dying to a crit special move while setting up Calm Mind.

Special Attack isn't needed for Raikou, except the 4 EVs to give it an even number that maximizes Calm Mind's value. Most of its battles are won by setting up multiple Calm Minds and a Substitute, at which point it has more than enough power to sweep.

Without Leftovers and Pressure, Gyarados lacks Raikou's stalling ability and staying power, so it runs a more offensive spread. However, it still has great bulk thanks to Intimidate and Dragon Dance, which allows it to run effectively minimum Speed. Running 112 Speed is considerable for outspeeding more Metagross sets at +0 and Pokemon like Espeon and Sceptile at +1. But Gyarados usually sets up more than 1 Dragon Dance unless facing a Fire team (in which case +1 is enough). And I prefer the extra Special Defense for surviving non-STAB Electric moves and setting up a Substitute on non-STAB Ice Beams.

Gyarados is female to improve the tricky matchup against Blissey2. Attract is also more common on females.

Steelix is given enough Special bulk to survive all STAB Surfs, except a high roll from offensive Starmies. It also fares better against Lati@s, which can often hit it with 3-4 Psychics. The Attack EVs allow it to hit a jump point and an even number, and they help get for ranges against Gardevoir, Lati@s, and a few others. But to be honest, Steelix shouldn't really have any Attack EVs or even attacking moves -- they are just there to prevent this from being classified as a stall team (in which case it is inferior to many others).

The 4 Speed EVs for Steelix allow it to outspeed Snorlax and other base 30s.

THREATLIST

- A Gardevoir4 lead is probably the biggest threat to this team, with about a 5% chance of causing a loss. It has about a 15% chance to beat Raikou with crit or Brightpowder hax, and then Steelix has to dodge a crit Fire Punch and hit an Explosion. Even if Explosion hits, Gyarados must win the rest of the battle 1v2. Alakazam4 and Mr. Mime4 are threatening for similar reasons, although they usually have fewer chances to kill Raikou and sometimes fail to OHKO Gyarados. Unfortunately, even maximum Special bulk on Steelix doesn't avoid the Gardevoir 2HKO.
- Regirock leads are generally bad news. Sometimes you can PP stall with Gyarados/Steelix, and sometimes you just lose Gyarados to Explosion in the process. Regirock3 can do serious damage to the team, and Regirock5 can lead to disaster with enough hax.
- Double Teamers with lots of attacking PP can win if miss luck is bad. Most of these are Focus Punchers. Claydol2 can also technically force an infinite battle with Raikou.
- Lanturn4 is a threat because of its unpredictability. Since Gyarados is outsped and OHKO'd by Thunderbolt, you have to rely on Raikou and Steelix, but both of them can be ruined by Confuse Ray. However, Confuse Ray is only 50% likely to be used, so Raikou's Substitute isn't safe until a Calm Mind is set up. Losing enough coin flips here can cause a loss.
- Metagross is a threat as usual, especially the Quick Claw variants. Some have Thunderpunch for Gyarados, and almost all can be dangerous with hax.
- Latios, Latias, and Snorlax sometimes force Steelix to explode, which means the remainder of the battle must be won without Earthquake/Rock Slide PP stalling.
- Some Pokemon are very scary to see if one of my team members is dead (usually Raikou). It's best to keep them all alive unless they are sacrificed to ensure a full setup.
- Honorable mention to Whiscash2 for being the perfect counter to my team (but still being useless enough to not really be a threat).

A FINAL NOTE ON GYARADOS

- In my 20-year history of playing the Emerald Battle Tower on and off, I've noticed Gyarados always overperforms. My best streak as a kid was 144 with Leech Seed Sceptile, Dragon Dance Gyarados, and... Magmar? I don't even remember what the third Pokemon was because it so rarely needed to come out. I never broke 100 wins with any other team. It should be obvious that Gyarados carried this team (although Sub/Protect/Leech Seed was quite effective too).
- Conversely, the other popular Dragon Dancer, Salamence, has always underperformed for me. I frequently set up 1-3 Dragon Dances on the lead, only to die to the 2nd Pokemon being bulky and having Ice Beam. But it does great against all the non-threatening Grass types! :)
- I think there are four key reasons that Gyarados has performed so much better:

1. Water types and teams are abundant and dangerous. Gyarados owns these Pokemon as long as it has some Special Defense investment and a Lum Berry. I prefer sacrificing Speed so that I can match up as well as possible against bulky Waters. Salamence, on the other hand, usually just loses to them 1v1.
2. Metagross is a threat for almost every team, and it generally 2HKOs Salamence thanks to its Clear Body blocking Intimidate. Gyarados easily survives 3 Meteor Mashes.
3. Gyarados' Electric weakness is easily covered with a Ground type or Special wall such as Blissey. And sometimes you can switch play a Ground type with Gyarados to PP stall electric moves. Salamence's Ice weakness is much harder to cover because nothing is immune to Ice Beam and freezes are scarier than paralysis.
4. Salamence's access to Aerial Ace isn't actually an advantage. Aerial Ace's primary purpose is to cover Double Team users, but I've found other ways of beating them. Substitute beats many Double Team users outright. And the drop from 105 power to 90 can be significant.