Optimizing Elite 4 runs with Amulet Coin

[GuiiHenrique]

Hello!
There's not much to explain. Team made up of only catchable pokes and low value TMs. The exception is for Houndoom that learns Dark Pulse only by Tutor but can be exchanged for Ninetales if you prefer. I also chose to use as few items as possible and chose to discard the Choices.

Grass Battle: There's nothing to explain.

Psychic Battle: The option to not change Houndoom's Ability makes Hypnosis no longer a threat. If you've already changed it thinking about PvPs, know that Taunt will solve your problem, but Houndoom is much more useful at e4.

Normal Battle: Protect should always be used on the first turn to prevent Electrode from falling to Crit. Fake Out by Ambipom. Volt Switch is for a safe switch and prevents Pursuit from dealing considerable damage. Dragonite must have at least IV 28 ATK, be equipped with an Expert Belt or Muscle Band, and have used Dragon Dance at least 5x to ensure Porygon2 drops into a Brick Break.

Dragon Battle: Theoretically, it's a little risky to use Cloyster here due to Garchomp's and Haxorus' Stone Edge, which if it Critical Hits it will take down with just one move. However, this did not present itself as a problem in my tests.

Champion Battle: Volt Switch only serves to guarantee some damage. Lapras cannot be frozen due to its Type, and Light Screen will grant you a few turns of safety to use DD.

Final Thoughts: The main goal of this team is to carry out E4 without too many difficulties and within an acceptable time (on average 10 min. per run), using only catchable Pokes with low commercial value TMs, making a team accessible to any player , whether beginner or experienced. Perhaps this objective has been achieved as this team has proved to be quite consistent, however I still prefer the team from my previous post.

Next challenge:

• Team formed only with Captureable Pokes;
• The moves used can only be those learned by LvL Up;
• Completion of E4 within an acceptable time;
• Allowed items: Amulet coin and Exp Share.

 

[Grivin]

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Next challenge:

• Team formed only with Captureable Pokes;
• The moves used can only be those learned by LvL Up;
• Completion of E4 within an acceptable time;
• Allowed items: Amulet coin and Exp Share.

Your dragon dance lapras was a really smart choice. Were waiting for this bro, so everyone could farm in elite4 and buy something nice

 

[Cleveland]

Here's my shot at an Elite 4 video...with some shine to it

I've also added links of the shared videos to the OP.

EDIT: The client skin I am using is a combination of the old Rocket Team one and the black one created by Klay. Unfortunately, the original downloads for those skins are no longer available. However, if anyone is interested in using this skin, let me know and I can upload it.

 

[whisMEAT]

Hi lamies. I want to share my latest e4 team so others may benefit. It needs some rare pokemons though, but fastest of mine so far. my record for a perfect run with amulet coin is 8.36. It is not %100 guranteed. here it is:

Houndom: nasty plot, flamethr, dark pulse
GorebEZ: shell smash, baton pass, hp spdef ev. slower is better. in both places it uses it is still slower, which is better for hera.
Heracross: Close combat, rock slide
Ditto: Instead of ditto scarfed outrage sala should work as well. But if haxorus or sala dances they may overspeed sala occasionally, ditto doesnt have this problem. but if a quick attack kills hera, sala is usually better to use.
Weavile: Icicle crash, ice shard.
Occasionally 100 or 200 hp potion

Grass: Houndom, simple.

Psy: Houndom. First nasty plot, then sweep. Dont worry for sleep cos exe's attacks are quite useless and leech seed doesnt do much cos other pokemons dies withouth healing. I failed a lot of times trying but in none hound died before sweeping.
Normal: Gorebyss, or rather, GorebEZ with amulet. 1 shell smash, 1 baton pass and scarfed hera sweeps. Commonly it doesnt need shellsmash but if it gets hit by low sweep hera will be slower then ambi. If hp is below %50 i advice using a potion. later frosslass may kill it.

Dragon: Weawile with iamulet. Hit hit hit! Usually it dies at sala or hydregion, sometimes at kingdra. At this point ditto is perfect. Die and let ditto use dragon attacks. If u need another dittoing u may throw hound as a canon fodder. Like if your ditto gets confused on sala, loses spatk after draco meteor etc. Weawile sometimes sweeps on its own.

Boss: GorebEZ with left overs, 1: shell smash and then baton pass to heracross(with amulet).. hera sweeps the rest. Problems that may occur here: 2 shadow ball, first lowering stat if hp is low and then killing the gorebEZ, freezing it or stone edge missing. If hera is just for e4 run i advice rock slide as it is enough (use close combat on arca). Another problem is if froslass spams destiny bond. If only-e4 hera is to be done i suggest endure or something else to pass turn.

This is so far my fastest run with amulet. Hope it helps. Problem is clamperl is rare and evo item of it is even rarer. Good luck and stay with gorebEZ.

 

[whisMEAT]

Hi lamies. I want to share my latest e4 team so others may benefit. It needs some rare pokemons though, but fastest of mine so far. my record for a perfect run with amulet coin is 8.36. It is not %100 guranteed. here it is:

Houndom: nasty plot, flamethr, dark pulse
GorebEZ: shell smash, baton pass, hp spdef ev. slower is better. in both places it uses it is still slower, which is better for hera.
Heracross: Close combat, rock slide
Ditto: Instead of ditto scarfed outrage sala should work as well. But if haxorus or sala dances they may overspeed sala occasionally, ditto doesnt have this problem. but if a quick attack kills hera, sala is usually better to use.
Weavile: Icicle crash, ice shard.
Occasionally 100 or 200 hp potion

Grass: Houndom, simple.

Psy: Houndom. First nasty plot, then sweep. Dont worry for sleep cos exe's attacks are quite useless and leech seed doesnt do much cos other pokemons dies withouth healing. I failed a lot of times trying but in none hound died before sweeping.
Normal: Gorebyss, or rather, GorebEZ with amulet. 1 shell smash, 1 baton pass and scarfed hera sweeps. Commonly it doesnt need shellsmash but if it gets hit by low sweep hera will be slower then ambi. If hp is below %50 i advice using a potion. later frosslass may kill it.

Dragon: Weawile with iamulet. Hit hit hit! Usually it dies at sala or hydregion, sometimes at kingdra. At this point ditto is perfect. Die and let ditto use dragon attacks. If u need another dittoing u may throw hound as a canon fodder. Like if your ditto gets confused on sala, loses spatk after draco meteor etc. Weawile sometimes sweeps on its own.

Boss: GorebEZ with left overs, 1: shell smash and then baton pass to heracross(with amulet).. hera sweeps the rest. Problems that may occur here: 2 shadow ball, first lowering stat if hp is low and then killing the gorebEZ, freezing it or stone edge missing. If hera is just for e4 run i advice rock slide as it is enough (use close combat on arca). Another problem is if froslass spams destiny bond. If only-e4 hera is to be done i suggest endure or something else to pass turn.

This is so far my fastest run with amulet. Hope it helps. Problem is clamperl is rare and evo item of it is even rarer. Good luck and stay with gorebEZ.

some updates:

Against normal: lead with hound with amulet and let it die. then sweep with scarfed hera. not usefull later anyway, no need to tire gorebEZ more which also stops to need of a potion.

@AsianKid suggested that instead of endure hera would be better with substitute.

 

[GuiiHenrique]

Simple and efficient team
Team formed only by Catchable Pokémon and Moves learned by Lvl UP. The option to use items in battles except Amulet Coin and Exp Share has been discarded.
Not much to explain. Weavile can be exchanged for Gyarados which works perfectly fine, use whichever you like.
Identified Problems:​

• Champion NPC – In some tests Froslass was faster than Weavile causing Destiny Bond to become a problem. Gyarados DD is an excellent solution, but you run the risk of getting frozen with Ice Beam.​
• Dragon NPC – Cloyster may struggle with critical hits, but it hasn't been defeated in my tests. Prioritize one with high defensive IVs.​

_________________________________________

Good and cheap team
It's the same video as my previous post. Dropped the option to use Choice Items. Houndoom only learns Dark Pulse by Tutor, however it can be replaced by Ninetales.
Identified Problems:

• Dragon NPC – Cloyster may struggle with critical hits, prioritize defensive IVs.

___________________________________________

My favorite team
Update from my first post, now with a solution for Dragon NPC. I've never had problems with this team, but it uses Moves that can be difficult to get (which can be a problem for beginners), in addition to using Items found in the Battle Tower (which makes the need to have another one team).
Explanation:​

• Dragon NPC – Outrage is used to ensure that the NPC's Garchomp drops with a Move and doesn't use Dragon Tail. In case Salamence falls due to confusion, Scarf Dragonite with Outrage solves the problem. Garchomp and Flygon are also good options, but can suffer from NPC Salamence's Intimidate. If you're not confident with Dragonite, try Double Sala (2 Salamence on your team).​
• Champion NPC – It is necessary for Weavile to use Swords 3x to defeat the NPC. If not possible, it will be defeated in Gyarados. If this happens Scarf Magmortar solves the problem.​

___________________________________________

Final Thoughts – The objective of these teams is to carry out Elite 4 without too many difficulties within an acceptable time, presenting different options where their commercial values are taken into account, making E4 accessible to any player, whether beginner or more experienced.

I walked through all the routes and entered all the buildings, but I still haven't found the NPC that sells TM Reflect and Light Screen - Generation I...​

 

[Cleveland]

While training new pokes I have been running some experiments in Elite 4 and found a nice variation to @AsianKid 's typical speedrun that I think is pretty efficient.

In this method, only 4 pokes are needed:

Houndoom with Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Taunt, Nasty Plot
Infernape with max speed, Close Combat, Taunt, Swords Dance, Protect
Salamence with Moxie, Choice Scarf, Dragon Claw, Outrage
Gyarados with Moxie, Leftovers, Waterfall, Stone Edge, Taunt, Dragon Dance

The other 2 spots can be whatever you want. I've been using a Choice Specs Starmie with coverage and then a poke holding EXP share for training.

Lisa (Grass)
Houndoom holding Amulet Coin
-Flamethrower everything

Cameron (Psychic)
Houndoom holding Amulet Coin
-Taunt & Nasty Plot on Exeggutor, then Dark Pulse everything until...
-Flamethrower on Metagross

Joey (Normal)
Infernape holding Amulet Coin
-Protect, Close Combat on Ambipom
-Taunt & Swords Dance on Chansey, then Close Combat everything

Samuel (Dragon)
Infernape holding Amulet Coin
-Close Combat or Flamethrower once then Taunt/Swords Dance until Garchomp faints you
Salamence holding Choice Scarf
-Dragon Claw everything

Note: You're simply sacrificing Infernape here, but doing some damage to Garchomp first to ensure Salamence can sweep.

Alexa (Champion)
Houndoom holding Amulet Coin
-Taunt/Nasty Plot until Froslass faints you
Gyarados holding Leftovers
-Dragon Dance, Stone Edge on Froslass
-Waterfall on Arcanine
-Taunt & Dragon Dance on Blissey, then Waterfall everything

Note: Sacrifice Houndoom right away, do not faint Froslass with them. After bringing in Gyarados, make sure to not get setup by Destiny Bond; use additional Dragon Dance if needed. Make sure to have used at least 2 Dragon Dance's total before fainting Blissey; this ensures your Gyarados can Waterfall everything to victory and avoid getting Dragon Dance spam swept by Alexa's Gyarados. If things get weird and you have terrible luck (suffer multiple hits from Froslass due to Stone Edge missing, extremespeed from Arcanine, sucker punch from Zoroark, etc) that leads to your Gyarados fainting, you should be able to finish the battle off with Salamence/Starmie. With your Gyarados holding Leftovers though this rarely happens. If your health is low heading into Blissey, you can just continue using Dragon Dance if you want to continue healing via Leftovers. I do recommend having some Ice Heals just in case you get frozen by Froslass.

I spent many hours over the weekend running this method and it's money. I recommend giving it a shot, if you have the proper pokes & items.

Question: Why does Infernape need max speed? Can any other poke be used instead of him for this method?
Answer: Infernape needs max speed (31 IV/252 EV) to ensure it always goes first against Ambipom. It will get out-sped on occasion with anything less. With that said, any Infernape is viable, you just risk taking hits and potentially fainting. Other viable options are Blaziken with Speed Boost, Protect, Swords Dance, and Brick Break. A high ATK Salamence with Dragon Dance could probably work as well. Most other pokes will require using multiple Swords Dance/Dragon Dance though and at that point it gets pretty risky, especially if they can't learn Taunt. And things can really go downhill if Ambipom uses Low Sweep and lowers your speed. With that said, I certainly can't say I've tried every poke, it's very possible there are other good options out there.

Question: Both Houndoom and Infernape are holding Amulet Coins; is more than 1 needed for this method?
Answer: No, but it does make it less tedious so you don't have to continue switching 1 Amulet Coin between the two pokes.

Question: Why are you sacrificing Houndoom and Infernape in the Dragon & Champion battles?
Answer: Because they're holding Amulet Coin, ensuring you get double the payout. Plus, the initial damage done to Garchomp is key to the Dragon battle. Additionally, Gyarados holding Leftovers instead of Amulet Coin makes the Champion battle much easier.

Question: What happened to using Ambipom with U-Turn? Ninetales? Heracross? Electrode? Choice Scarf Gyarados?
Answer: Those methods and pokes are still great. But over time, as more players continue running more experiments, more efficient methods are discovered. This method is just better. It's smoother, more efficient, and requires less pokes.

Any additional questions/comments are welcome, of course. I will mention I do have an extra max speed Chimchar that I can sell if anyone is interested

Now, onto updating the OP...

 

[Cleveland]

Here's a video of the above mentioned method:

EDIT: Start with 'Protect' against Ambipom to protect against Fake Out

 

[Cleveland]

Recently switched up my Elite 4 strategy a bit using some inspiration from both @AsianKid and @GuiiHenrique ...

Houndoom with Early Bird ability, Flamethrower, Dark Pulse, Taunt, Nasty Plot
Heracross (high ATK) with Moxie ability, Choice Scarf, Brick Break, Close Combat, Stone Edge, Megahorn
Electrode with Explosion, Thunderbolt, Volt Switch
Salamence with Moxie ability, Choice Scarf, Dragon Claw, Outrage
Weavile with Ice Punch, Night Slash, Swords Dance

Lisa (Grass)
Houndoom holding Amulet Coin
-Flamethrower everyone

Cameron (Psychic)
Houndoom holding Amulet Coin
-Nasty Plot on Exeggutor, then Dark Pulse everyone until...
-Flamethrower on Metagross

Joey (Normal)
Houndoom holding Amulet Coin
-Nasty Plot until Ambipom faints you
Heracross holding Choice Scarf
-Brick Break everyone

Note: You're simply sacrificing Houndoom to start. Brick Break is recommended over Close Combat because it makes the battle go significantly faster (less prompts). In the highly unlikely scenario that Chansey tanks and uses Toxic, just use an antidote to cure the poison.

Samuel (Dragon)
Electrode holding Amulet Coin
-Explosion right away
Salamence holding Choice Scarf
-Dragon Claw everyone

Note: You're simply sacrificing Electrode here, but doing some damage to Garchomp first to ensure Salamence can sweep.

Alexa (Champion)

Weavile holding Amulet Coin
-Swords Dance 3x, then Night Slash on Froslass & Arcanine
-Ice Punch everyone else

Note: Weavile is so smooth against the champ, particularly since it cannot be frozen. If things get weird you always have Sala & Hera for cleanups.

 

[AsianKid]

Just thought I'd post my fastest run thus far which rounds up to 7:20.

I use the strategy Cleve mentioned, though I'd like to add a few things.

1. Nasty Plot Houndoom can Flamethrower everything except Reuniclus (which is a roll), so you Dark Pulse Reuniclus for a consistent time - just a 1 second time loss with the "Super Effective" prompt. I sometimes go for the Flamethrower roll on Reuniclus for speed runs/I'm lazy.
2. Weavile should learn Taunt to prevent a Speed-Natured Froslass from using Destiny Bond before the Night Slash. Taunt after the 3x Swords Dance and use a Hyper Potion if need be.

Also, Samuel (Dragon) can be faster with a Froslass Ice Beam and fainting to Kingdra and then a Salamence clean-up, if and only if, Kingdra OHKOs on the first move. This is RNG, so I prefer the ~5-second slower Electrode option for consistency's sake. I will only switch to the RNG Froslass for strictly speed runs in the future. In an ideal run, you want the opposing Froslass to only use Spikes or Destiny Bond during your Weavile set-up.

 

[Cleveland]

Just remembered this needed an update now that Cryogonal is in the game. I've updated the OP as well.

Samuel (Dragon) Alternate Option
Cryogonal holding Amulet Coin
-Ice Beam until Kingdra, then Explosion
Salamence holding Choice Scarf
-Outrage everything

Note: This alternate option is slightly more efficient than Electrode, though requires a bit more thinking. It also saves health for your Salamence, which is my favorite part. If you accidentally click Ice Beam on Kingdra, no problem, just use Explosion next. Also, you'll want a Cryogonal with a good speed IV to ensure you're never outsped.