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Friday 5 April 2024

The King of The Jungle: Calyrex Ice Rider VGC Regulation G Team Report

So as Regulation G just dropped, my initial plan was to let the metagame form itself out before I step into the game. However, after seeing some videos on Youtube that discussed popular cores, I got excited to try one of them out, and quite a simple composition too. It worked out quite well for me so here’s a mini team report for those looking to find a team to play the format: I dabbled in this format a bit with a horrid Kyogre team being rounded out with Rillaboom, Incineroar and Farigaraf and fell flat quick.

Teambuilding:

These Pokémon didn’t really gel together in harmony and there wasn’t much synergy or inspiration to go off of. I did get swept 2x by an Ice Rider Calyrex. Later when I watched a video that mentioned the Trick Room core of Calyrex Ice Rider, Incineroar, Farigaraf and Ursaluna, I felt like it was quite worthy to give it a try.

I know from my experience thus far that the majority of dedicated Trick Room teams do work on a sort of flow chart function. Most basically, the premise is to set up Trick Room and sweep, making and sticking to game plans much easier. It also funnels down what your opponent brings to the game to counteract that. This is the reason why I got this spark of motivation to proceed with testing out and playing this core. 

The last two Pokémon were quite easy to pick on the team. I already had a Fire type on the team and had explored the theoretical potential of Rillaboom, Incineroar with Farigaraf. Additionally, Rillaboom has amazing potential in this format, being able to overwrite the Psychic and Electric terrain, both of which got a big boost in terms of usage. Lastly, the writing was on the wall to close out the FWG core, what would’ve been better than to go for Urshifu. During testing, I figured out maybe Ogrepon Wellspring would fit better, however, this is definitely the correct pick.

The Team:

Calyrex-Ice @ Clear Amulet 

Ability: As One (Glastrier) 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Water 

EVs: 252 HP / 220 Atk / 36 SDef 

Brave Nature 

IVs: 0 Spe 

- Glacial Lance 

- Close Combat 

- Trick Room 

- Protect

252+ SpA Choice Specs Kyurem-White Fusion Flare vs. 252 HP / 36 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider: 178-210 (85.9 - 101.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 252 HP / 36 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider: 182-218 (87.9 - 105.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

 

252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Kyurem-White in Snow: 130-154 (56 - 66.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

220+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 118-139 (67.4 - 79.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 220+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 177-208 (101.1 - 118.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

220+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 220 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane: 129-153 (81.6 - 96.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 220+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 220 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane: 193-228 (122.1 - 144.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

220+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 236 HP / 156+ Def Amoonguss: 198-234 (90.4 - 106.8%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

220+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Close Combat vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 188-222 (94 - 111%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO

 Calyrex Ice Rider is a beast in this format. I was many times impressed by its natural bulk and ability to survive attacks. Of course, the main threat of it is being able to quickly snowball games with Glacial Lance and Chilling Neigh combination. Terra Water is probably the best Terra type for this Pokémon as it allows it to resist Steel and Fire type hits further upping the defensive potential.

Clear Amulet is by far the best choice, stopping Intimidate spam in its tracks. Close Combat, in my opinion, is much better of an option than High Horsepower as it allows for Calyrex to hit Terapagos and Kyurem super effectively, all the while having a much stronger option to pick off Incineroar and Steel types in the way.


Farigiraf @ Throat Spray 

Ability: Armor Tail 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Fire 

EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA 

Modest Nature 

IVs: 0 Atk 

- Hyper Voice 

- Trick Room 

- Twin Beam 

- Helping Hand

252+ SpA Farigiraf Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Mienshao: 204-240 (145.7 - 171.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Farigiraf Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0- SpD Iron Valiant: 228-268 (153 - 179.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Farigiraf Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 236 HP / 116 SpD Amoonguss: 144-172 (65.7 - 78.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

+1 252+ SpA Farigiraf Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 236 HP / 116 SpD Amoonguss: 208-252 (94.9 - 115%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

252+ SpA Farigiraf Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Urshifu-Rapid Strike: 204-244 (115.9 - 138.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 Farigaraf is the perfect partner in crime for Calyrex in terms of setting up a Trick Room. Being a Normal type, it is immune to Astral Barrage from Shadow Rider Calyrex and then being a Psychic type, it is safe from the Expanding Force onslaught. Armor Tail is a fantastic ability to block the priority spamming, which is some people’s idea of what a Trick Room counter can be. Throat Spray thus far has allowed it to pressure opponents to score KO’s on my team, this will cascade to me bringing out an even bigger sweeper.

Twin Beam is a nice tech option against Mienshao as well as Iron Valiant who can be a bit of a thorn in this team’s way with their wide guards. Furthermore for Chien Pao and Chi Yu both being more common right now, tera fire seems like the much better tera option with much less Urshifu Single Strike around. Helping hand is here to give some much needed boost to Urshifu’s damage output.


Ursaluna-Bloodmoon @ Life Orb 

Ability: Mind's Eye 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Normal 

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD 

Modest Nature 

IVs: 0 Atk 

- Hyper Voice 

- Blood Moon 

- Earth Power 

- Protect

252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ursaluna-Bloodmoon: 170-204 (77.2 - 92.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Tera-Normal Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Blood Moon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider: 187-221 (90.3 - 106.7%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Helping Hand Blood Moon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider: 208-247 (100.4 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Helping Hand Earth Power vs. 236 HP / 124+ SpD Incineroar: 296-351 (148 - 175.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Earth Power vs. 236 HP / 124+ SpD Incineroar: 198-234 (99 - 117%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

 Ursaluna’s potential is already proven with Farigaraf. It is even better working in tandem with Calyrex Ice Rider as a special attacker. Having STAB Earth Power allows for it to pick off Steel types with much more ease. Being another Normal type and hitting Ghost types makes it a great way to answer Calyrex Shadow Rider’s Astral Barrage.


Urshifu-Rapid-Strike @ Choice Scarf 

Ability: Unseen Fist 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Water 

EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe 

Adamant Nature 

- Surging Strikes 

- Close Combat 

- U-turn 

- Rock Tomb

252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider on a critical hit: 126-153 (72 - 87.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider on a critical hit: 168-204 (96 - 116.5%) -- approx. 93.8% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Chi-Yu on a critical hit: 198-240 (122.2 - 148.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Helping Hand Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Tera-Ghost Chi-Yu on a critical hit: 147-174 (90.7 - 107.4%) -- approx. 43.8% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Helping Hand Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider on a critical hit: 192-228 (109.7 - 130.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 Urshifu provides some very specific solutions for this team. One of the biggest threats for this team is the lead of Chi Yu (Ghost Terra) and Flutter Mane, this is where my Fake Out strategy falters. On the other hand, the presence of Mienshao is also quite a big threat. Urshifu is able to answer both of these while outspeeding with a Choice Scarf. Moreover, with max speed Adamant, it is enough for this Pokémon to outspeed Calyrex Shadow Rider by exactly 1 speed point.


Rillaboom @ Meadow Plate 

Ability: Grassy Surge 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Grass 

EVs: 252 HP / 228 Atk / 28 SpD 

Adamant Nature 

- Fake Out 

- Grassy Glide 

- Wood Hammer 

- Taunt

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 220 HP / 132 Def Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane in Grassy Terrain: 102-120 (64.5 - 75.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 220 HP / 132 Def Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane in Grassy Terrain: 136-160 (86 - 101.2%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Urshifu-Rapid Strike in Grassy Terrain: 208-248 (118.1 - 140.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Urshifu-Rapid Strike in Grassy Terrain: 156-186 (88.6 - 105.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Helping Hand Grassy Glide vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Urshifu-Rapid Strike in Grassy Terrain: 234-276 (132.9 - 156.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Helping Hand Grassy Glide vs. 220 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane in Grassy Terrain: 151-178 (95.5 - 112.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider in Grassy Terrain: 93-109 (53.1 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Ursaluna-Bloodmoon in Grassy Terrain: 134-158 (61.1 - 72.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Helping Hand Grassy Glide vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Ursaluna-Bloodmoon in Grassy Terrain: 200-236 (91.3 - 107.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Ursaluna-Bloodmoon in Grassy Terrain: 180-212 (82.1 - 96.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Groudon in Grassy Terrain: 254-300 (122.7 - 144.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Groudon in Grassy Terrain: 116-140 (56 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

 

36+ SpA Protosynthesis Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Rillaboom: 174-206 (84 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252 SpA Choice Specs Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 252 HP / 28 SpD Rillaboom: 175-207 (84.5 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

 

Rillaboom works really well, just as well as I thought it would. Rillaboom also provides an out for me in the case I am unable to set up Trick Room with its strong Grassy Glides. I preferred to keep Taunt over some offensive coverage as Amoonguss checks need to be solidified as much as possible for a team like this.

Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry 

Ability: Intimidate 

Tera Type: Grass 

EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD 

Impish Nature 

- Fake Out 

- Flare Blitz 

- Knock Off 

- Parting Shot

Incineroar @ Safety Goggles 

Ability: Intimidate 

Tera Type: Dragon 

EVs: 252 HP / 180 Def / 76 SpD 

Impish Nature 

- Fake Out 

- Flare Blitz 

- Knock Off 

- Parting Shot

252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Miraidon Electro Drift vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Incineroar in Electric Terrain: 229-270 (113.3 - 133.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Miraidon Electro Drift vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Tera-Grass Incineroar in Electric Terrain: 114-135 (56.4 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Hadron Engine Miraidon Electro Drift vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Tera-Dragon Incineroar in Electric Terrain: 114-135 (56.4 - 66.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

 

Incineroar is one of the best Pokémon in the format and for great reason too. It is the name of the game when it comes to pivoting. Much-needed coverage is also added through Flare Blitz and Knock Off. Parting Shot further solidifies the defense of this team. Both Rillaboom and Incineroar interchangeably and sometimes in tandem with one another work great for positioning around difficult spots. In games, such as Trick Room mirrors, where speeds are a bit ambiguous and I am a bit hesitant to set up my own Trick Room, these two work to provide much-needed disruption to allow my slower Pokémon to work.

There are two sets I am debating between and its quite a toss up at this point. More testing is definitely needed. The first set has tera grass with sitrus berry which works well, the other set is safety goggles with tera dragon. Both the sets are aimed to serve as a hard counter to Amoonguss, hat I need more information on is whether I need to expend my tera on incineroar in those Amoonguss matchups or not. Furthermore going directly for safety goggles means that I have a direct switch in option to spores. Tera dragon gives it a slightest edge over tera grass as F/W/G cores are running rampant + Miraidon with the right set can OHKO certain Incineroars, which tera grass does save you from but a tossup isn’t the best when they are paired with a fire type in the back in case of grass tera. I say this is a debatable thing as I sometimes find myself needing the extra recovery from sitrus berry, on the other hand the threat of Amoonguss is quite eminent.

Matchups and Modes

Teams

Strategies

No non prankster taunt on ghost types or tera ghost mons + have fake out

Farigaraf + Incineroar

Tera ghost Chi-yu + Flutter Mane, Mienshao + Calyrex Shadow

Urshifu + Farigaraf

No fake out users, no prankster taunt,

Incineroar/Rillaboom + Calyrex

 

Modes of the Team:

 

Farigaraf + Incineroar/ Rillaboom with Calyrex and Ursaluna in the back

Farigaraf/ Calyrex + Rillaboom + Incineroar + Ursaluna/ Calyrex.

Farigaraf/ Calyrex + F/W/G core

 

So this was it from my end! I just wanted to quickly roll out this report in case others want a team to use. I feel it is quite simple yet effective, at least in this early stage of the format. If things pan out right, I might keep developing and use this team throughout the entire format. I will keep updating, either this post or a new short form post for the changes I make to this team. I may also add more in detail calcs as I get to learn and improve the team. Bye for now!

Bad Matchups:

Taunt Fluttermane

·         228+ Atk Miracle Seed Tera-Grass Rillaboom Helping Hand Wood Hammer vs. 212 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane in Grassy Terrain: 438-516 (278.9 - 328.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

·         52 Atk Incineroar Helping Hand Flare Blitz vs. 212 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane: 157-186 (100 - 118.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO


Clear Amulet Groudon

·         252+ SpA Life Orb Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Helping Hand Blood Moon vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Groudon: 285-335 (137.6 - 161.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

·         252+ SpA Life Orb Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Earth Power vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tera-Fire Groudon: 244-291 (117.8 - 140.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Clear Amulet Calyrex Ice Rider with Snow and Aurora Veil

·         252+ Atk Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Calyrex-Ice Rider in Snow on a critical hit: 72-90 (34.7 - 43.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

·         252+ Atk Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Helping Hand Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Calyrex-Ice Rider in Snow on a critical hit: 102-126 (49.2 - 60.8%) -- approx. 99.6% chance to 2HKO

·         252+ Atk Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 220 HP / 20 Def Ninetales-Alola in Snow on a critical hit: 120-144 (68.1 - 81.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

·         252+ Atk Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike Helping Hand Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 220 HP / 20 Def Ninetales-Alola in Snow on a critical hit: 180-216 (102.2 - 122.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

·         228+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Helping Hand Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tera-Water Calyrex-Ice Rider in Grassy Terrain through Aurora Veil: 237-280 (114.4 - 135.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 The bad matchups of this team was rather daunting. While I clearly did have outs into these bad matchups as I had adjusted with calcs above, I feel like that is too much of a 1 trick pony to have consistent victories over my opponents. Calling Groudon, Amoonguss and Flutter Mane the set of your bad matchups just clicked the wrong way for me on this team. Now with the metagame shifting and forming with more prominence as the format is quite young and ever transforming, the team could use a little (or big) patch to deal with the weaknesses in this form.

The Change:

The primary motivation to get into testing was a spark of a few more ideas that came to my mind. As I already said, primarily the goal was of covering the poor matchups and limitations of this current team.

One of the glaring issues was non prankster taunt coming from ghost types rendering my team unable to outright set up a trick room. This could be easily solved by the employment of a follow me user. With the initial reason I got back into VGC was to give one of my gen 9 favorites in maushold a chance and essentially ‘win with my favorites’ it proved extremely lackluster in the previous format, however now with the advent of calyrex shadow rider, all normal types get an extreme boost in viability, giving it an essential 1 up vs clefairy as a friend guard user. Its high speed stat also meant I can easily taunt opposing imprison trick room disruptors before they intercept.

3 normal types didn’t seem too grand of a scheme and opposing hail was a trouble matchup, keeping in view the eminent threat of Amoonguss switching in to wreak havoc, Torkoal seemed the most logical solution. Then to round out the FWG core, I went with testing for a chlorophyll user with Walking Wake considering my groudon and incineroar matchup to improve with the innovation. Things worked where they worked and I was surprised by using vileplume as I, on paper, valued the poison typing and coverage to githing coverage as in with hisuian lilligant, but still wanted something that can use the move after you in a last effort to provide a fast mode to the team. Walking wake was clunky in testing as I would have to use it within trick room, and it wasn’t the fastest mon outside of it. This also meant the transition from trick room to sun mode was hanging in the balance between a 5 turn timer and people could stall it cleverly.

The core of four in calyrex-ice, farigaraf, maushold and torkoal seemed to dominate some games. I was also able to score effective matchups with leading vileplume and torkoal in between sleep powder and after you eruptions. However then again, the main aim of the team was setting up trick room. Just to experiment a bit, I tried a bulkier version of Walking wake with assault vest to pack more coverage (Snarl) and then test venusaur but without after you, venusaur didn’t provide much value, also you have to then pivot a rather vital offensive source in torkoal and it would fizzle out quick easy where I lead the sun duo.

Focusing on the root of making the change, I figured why not go for the original team but do more testing with ogerpon instead of Urshifu in the last slot? It did cover some of the matchups as in redirecting taunts and resisting precipice blades while giving me a double grassy glide option in tandem with rillaboom, but it also, without much needed practice felt like something I couldn’t find a flow with.

I was also watching the uploads of Jamie Boyt’s EUIC prep on Youtube and was absolutely fascinated by how Jamie’s mind works. He has been someone I have always been on the lookout for in terms of his team creativity and genius, to have such an insight is important. In this video series he is testing the concept of a zoom lens Heatran with magma storm as paired up with a yawn using partner. He went through multiple versions of this team, innovating and reinventing the strategy to get a feel for what is working best. This showed me that finding and exploring new ideas can always be worthwhile. In a specific part he aimed to combine the previous ideas he had and it made a lightbulb go off in my head! I just did the same to test things out with the knowledge of testing these elements individually I know what a better adjusted moveset will be.

The Members:

King Elias (Calyrex-Ice) @ Clear Amulet 

Ability: As One (Glastrier) 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Fire 

EVs: 252 HP / 236 Atk / 20 SpD 

Brave Nature 

IVs: 0 Spe 

- Glacial Lance 

- Close Combat 

- Trick Room 

- Protect

Calyrex Ice rider stays basically the same except for one change, that being its tera type. While water and fire type both would cover the fire and steel weaknesses of Calyrex all the while giving it neutrality into its previous psychic type weaknesses, Fire type felt better especially as now I had sun on the board giving myself a pseudo neutrality into water type moves covering up a weakness. Now that the format developed, most people are calcing their Incineroars to live a neutral close combat from calyrex, this creates an opportunity for them to go for a knock off and worse will-o-wisp to deter the offenses of my calyrex, fire tera type protects against that too.


GroudonAtHome (Torkoal) @ Choice Specs 

Ability: Drought 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Fire 

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD 

Quiet Nature 

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe 

- Eruption 

- Flamethrower 

- Earth Power 

- Fissure

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 4 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Shadow Rider in Sun: 177-208 (100.5 - 118.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Groudon in Sun: 192-226 (92.7 - 109.1%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera-Fire Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Groudon in Sun: 256-302 (123.6 - 145.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider in Sun: 284-336 (137.1 - 162.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Ice Rider in Sun: 230-272 (111.1 - 131.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Earth Power vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Miraidon: 114-136 (64.7 - 77.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Earth Power vs. 236 HP / 124+ SpD Incineroar: 112-132 (56 - 66%) -- 24.6% chance to 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Earth Power vs. 188 HP / 4 SpD Assault Vest Raging Bolt: 94-112 (41.9 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Earth Power vs. 188 HP / 4 SpD Raging Bolt: 140-166 (62.5 - 74.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Tera-Fire Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 188 HP / 4 SpD Raging Bolt in Sun: 130-154 (58 - 68.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

 

252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider High Horsepower vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Tera-Fire Torkoal: 108-128 (61 - 72.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tera-Fire Torkoal: 156-185 (88.1 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Torkoal: 140-168 (79 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Tera-Dark Urshifu-Single Strike Wicked Blow vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Torkoal on a critical hit: 146-174 (82.4 - 98.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+1 252+ SpA Tera-Stellar Terapagos-Stellar Tera Starstorm vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Torkoal: 134-158 (75.7 - 89.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

+3 156+ Def Zamazenta-Crowned Body Press vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Torkoal: 139-165 (78.5 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Torkoal is here to sit on the field and do big damage with its moves. Tera fire eruption is an eradicator in trick room. Hwoever that strategy doesn’t always bode well especially if opponents have priority on the field after farigaraf has gone down or I was caught with tons of damage on a switch in within trick room. In such case I went with flamethrower as I have horrid luck with using overheat, it always misses when I need it to hit, + flamethrower does not dwindle down in power keeping up the pace of damage in trick room for torkoal. Earth power is extremely useful for opposing fire types as well as the mons that terrastalize into fire types in the face of my Calyrex and Torkoal combination. Lastly I chose Fissure and not something like solar beam or Heat wave particularly as I already have 2 grass types on the team to take care of water types and heat wave again poses the risk of being inaccurate, which is something I don’t want to bank on in a doubt situation where I am put against the wall. Also from a statistical POV, fissure has a 30% chance to hit and call be a great counter play to evasion gimmicks in long drawn out games, moreover getting a chance to get a crit for the 1 or being lock 1v1 against a resisting mon in the last turn of the game where I need a crit (of appropriate damage rolls in the first play) being a 4% chance vs hitting an OHKO move for the win, I see the latter as the most appropriate choice.

 


FavsForTheWin (Maushold) @ Focus Sash 

Ability: Friend Guard 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Ghost 

EVs: 252 HP / 36 Def / 220 Spe 

Timid Nature 

IVs: 0 Atk 

- Follow Me 

- Taunt 

- Helping Hand 

- Super Fang

252+ Atk Urshifu-Rapid Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 252 HP / 36 Def Maushold on a critical hit: 138-165 (76.2 - 91.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

When I first thought of this idea, I thought it was just my anti-meta loving side taking over and its going to be another failed experiment (which in hindsight is a clever way to put it, given mice are often an icon for being experiment subjects). However I was blown away by how good it worked out, it completely performed as I theorized on paper, which as we all know never turns out exactly as is. The EVs allow it to love an Adamant scarf Urshifu’s Surging Strikes all the while giving it enough speed to outspeed a Mienshao. Moreover it is timid to take least damage from foul plays as attack stat is not needed at all.

It can go for fast taunts to prevent wide guard users and other setup mons from doing their deeds on my team. Taunt in combination with super fang makes this guy a great counter to terapagos or other bulky setup mons as my team is designed in a way to have atleast 1 completely passive turn before I start to unload damage allowing my opponents the opening to setup. Helping hand is great to keep up the pressure as many of the opponents would realize if maushold lives once trick room is up on the non helping hand movesets I tested, it would be kind of dead weight waiting to go down, allowing for my opponents to reposition favourably. In practice it applied as I theorized converting Maushold into a threat inside of trick room given the utility it provides with redirection, helping hand and Friend guard ability.

Another really neat mechanism I figured out was that super fang now picks up 1 hp pokemon, which allows Maushold to pick off 1 hp mons hanging off of a focus sash, or sturdy in case of Rockpon.

Order! Order! (Farigiraf) @ Life Orb 

Ability: Armor Tail 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Fairy 

EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD 

Modest Nature 

IVs: 0 Atk / 25 Spe 

- Hyper Voice 

- Trick Room 

- Twin Beam 

- Shadow Ball

252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 188 HP / 68 Def Farigiraf: 121-144 (55.2 - 65.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 188 HP / 68 Def Farigiraf in Grassy Terrain: 172-204 (78.5 - 93.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252 Atk Orichalcum Pulse Tera-Fire Koraidon Flare Blitz vs. 188 HP / 68 Def Farigiraf in Sun: 255-301 (116.4 - 137.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

220 SpA Choice Specs Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 188 HP / 124 SpD Farigiraf: 186-220 (84.9 - 100.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Tera-Electric Miraidon Electro Drift vs. 188 HP / 124 SpD Farigiraf: 200-236 (91.3 - 107.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 188 HP / 20 Def Farigiraf in Grassy Terrain: 184-217 (84 - 99%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 188 HP / 140 SpD Farigiraf in Sun: 198-234 (90.4 - 106.8%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Blood Moon vs. 188 HP / 140 SpD Farigiraf: 195-230 (89 - 105%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Groudon Heat Crash (120 BP) vs. 188 HP / 20 Def Farigiraf in Sun: 163-192 (74.4 - 87.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

Friend Guard Changes:

+2 252+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 188 HP / 20 Def Farigiraf with Friend Guard: 181-214 (82.6 - 97.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 188 HP / 20 Def Farigiraf with Friend Guard: 97-115 (44.2 - 52.5%) -- 20.7% chance to 2HKO

252+ SpA Choice Specs Torkoal Eruption (150 BP) vs. 188 HP / 140 SpD Farigiraf in Sun with Friend Guard: 148-175 (67.5 - 79.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ SpA Life Orb Tera-Normal Ursaluna-Bloodmoon Blood Moon vs. 188 HP / 140 SpD Farigiraf with Friend Guard: 195-230 (89 - 105%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

 

Offense:

156+ SpA Life Orb Farigiraf Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Urshifu-Rapid Strike: 250-296 (142 - 168.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

156+ SpA Farigiraf Shadow Ball vs. 4 HP / 4 SpD Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 168-200 (95.4 - 113.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

156+ SpA Life Orb Farigiraf Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 236 HP / 116 SpD Amoonguss: 172-208 (78.5 - 94.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

156+ SpA Life Orb Farigiraf Helping Hand Twin Beam (2 hits) vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Amoonguss: 224-270 (101.3 - 122.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

156+ SpA Life Orb Farigiraf Helping Hand Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 322-385 (184 - 220%) -- guaranteed OHKO

 

I chose to go for life orb on farigaraf this time as the item was not taken up. 2 life orb boosted hyper voices would do more damage than a single neutral hyper voice in combination with a boosted hit. With helping hand no longer needed having a super effective option in what previously walled this mon, both calyrex shadow and fluttermane, shadow ball feels great in theory and proved in testing. People are now much less likely to set up with their Calyrex Ice riders


ゴリランダ (Rillaboom) @ Assault Vest 

Ability: Grassy Surge 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Grass 

EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe 

Adamant Nature 

- Fake Out 

- Grassy Glide 

- Wood Hammer 

- High Horsepower

116+ Atk Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Ursaluna-Bloodmoon in Grassy Terrain: 222-264 (100.9 - 120%) -- guaranteed OHKO

116+ Atk Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 220 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane in Grassy Terrain: 169-199 (106.9 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

132+ Atk Tera-Grass Rillaboom Helping Hand Grassy Glide vs. 220 HP / 132 Def Flutter Mane in Grassy Terrain: 158-186 (100 - 117.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

132+ Atk Tera-Grass Rillaboom Helping Hand Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider in Grassy Terrain: 142-168 (81.1 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

132+ Atk Tera-Grass Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider in Grassy Terrain: 206-244 (117.7 - 139.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

220+ Atk Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Groudon in Grassy Terrain: 210-248 (101.4 - 119.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

-1 220+ Atk Rillaboom High Horsepower vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 80-96 (40 - 48%) -- 14% chance to 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery and Sitrus Berry recovery

220+ Atk Rillaboom High Horsepower vs. 188 HP / 132 Def Raging Bolt: 108-128 (48.2 - 57.1%) -- 40.2% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

220+ Atk Rillaboom High Horsepower vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Miraidon: 114-136 (64.7 - 77.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

 

252 SpA Choice Specs Calyrex-Shadow Rider Helping Hand Astral Barrage vs. 132 HP / 92 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 160-190 (83.3 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

+1 252 SpA Choice Specs Calyrex-Shadow Rider Astral Barrage vs. 132 HP / 92 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 160-190 (83.3 - 98.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252 SpA Choice Specs Miraidon Draco Meteor vs. 132 HP / 92 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 135-159 (70.3 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252+ SpA Choice Specs Protosynthesis Tera-Fairy Flutter Mane Moonblast vs. 132 HP / 156 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 174-206 (90.6 - 107.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Calyrex-Ice Rider Glacial Lance vs. 132 HP / 4 Def Tera-Water Rillaboom: 54-64 (28.1 - 33.3%) -- 89.6% chance to 4HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

 

Rillaboom changes to assault vest to live hits better, have high horsepower for fire types and for the fact that Amoonguss counters are now significantly improved. I initially did calc for the tera grass movesets and ran that for the majority of my practice, but realizing that I already had 2 fire tera types on the team and I could use a little assurance against the Calyrex Ice teams Tera water seemed suitable. Moreover tera fire as a defensive option would be quite redundant as Rillaboom is often a key part of strategy against Kyogre compositions.

The EVs were transformed as such from 252/252/4 keeping in mind the extra 1 hp bump you get for investing in HP so that the number is a multiple of 16.

FrndshpWKieranOvr (Ogerpon-Wellspring) (F) @ Wellspring Mask 

Ability: Water Absorb 

Level: 50 

Tera Type: Water 

EVs: 196 HP / 124 Def / 188 Spe 

Jolly Nature 

- Ivy Cudgel 

- Grassy Glide 

- Follow Me 

- Spiky Shield

-1 0 Atk Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel (1.2x Mask Boost) vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 114-134 (57 - 67%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

0 Atk Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel (1.2x Mask Boost) vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 174-206 (105.4 - 124.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

-1 0 Atk Tera-Water Ogerpon-Wellspring Ivy Cudgel (1.2x Mask Boost) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Landorus: 156-184 (95.1 - 112.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Sludge Bomb vs. 196 HP / 0 SpD Ogerpon-Wellspring: 166-198 (92.2 - 110%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Sword of Ruin Tera-Normal Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 196 HP / 124 Def Ogerpon-Wellspring: 153-181 (85 - 100.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

 Waterpon is here mainly for the purpose to redirect. I haven’t calced for it in the most cases for being optimal as when I need it to actually do damage I do boost it up with grassy terrain on the side and Helping hand from Mauhsold, It is quite honestly the best fit on this slot for the team. Now that people are figuring out how to be smart about their Kyogre use, it is becoming more of an increasing threat in the format, making water absorb all the more valuable. The special defense boost it gets upon terrastalizing further does wonders for increasing its bulk allowing it to threaten by both follow me or boosted Ivy Cudgels. Speed is here to outspeed Landorus Incarnate.

The defense EVs might be too specific for the team but I decided to arrange them, after investment of enough speed to outspeed Landorus’ that it takes the least likelihood of being KO’d from a full power Dragonite’s extreme speed. Again too specific and likely subjected to change as I practice more with it.

Matchups:

Following is made using the amazing matchup sheet tool of SPAMS created by SableyeVGC, it truly is quite revolutionary to get this thing made in such a short time and visually appealing form. Needless to say this tool will keep returning in my future team write-ups. Yes I do see that some of these are copy/pastes of one another, as the core strategy remains the same for most teams. The samples were self-made in case of Calyrex Shadow Rider teams and rest were picked up VGC Pastes Repository.

https://pokepast.es/6c0bb57dd94355a9PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Groudon Protospam
Use Follow Me, Taunt or Super Fang to disrupt at leads. All out offense afterwards
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/9ac8c61bc00ed0b5PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Koraidon Protospam 1
-No fake out so calyrex can be lead, all out offense after that
-Rillaboom and Torkoal help as a barrier against the everpresent threat of amoonguss
-Super fang can snipe the bulkier mons.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/ffe7e21d22e5792dPLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Koraidon Protospam 2
-No fake out so calyrex can be lead, all out offense after that
-Rillaboom and Torkoal help as a barrier against the everpresent threat of amoonguss
-Super fang can snipe the bulkier mons.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/eed78a3238481290PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Calyrex Shadow 1
- Most standard the team gets.Assures trick room setup and barrage of offense to pick up victories
- Sometimes Farigaraf needs to be preserved so that fake out pivots are not going to stall out my trick room.
- Calyrex and Torkoal spamming double spread moves is the most effective this team's offense works.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/390c6cc333374ed7PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Calyrex Shadow 2
- Most standard the team gets.Assures trick room setup and barrage of offense to pick up victories
- Sometimes Farigaraf needs to be preserved so that fake out pivots are not going to stall out my trick room.
- Calyrex and Torkoal spamming double spread moves is the most effective this team's offense works.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/b413330924575b31PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Kyogre 1
- Really fair lead into a Kyogre team, can go for double protect to stall for fake out.
- Goal is to not let Kyogre set up and stall recover.
- Torkoal, Ogerpon and Calyrex together pressures one or the other state of tera.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/5e99a96bbb849c44PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Kyogre 2
-- Really fair lead into a Kyogre team, can go for double protect to stall for fake out.
- Goal is to not let Kyogre set up and stall recover.
- Torkoal, Ogerpon and Calyrex together pressures one or the other state of tera.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/f4c7cc206fb570cdPLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Kyogre 3
-- Really fair lead into a Kyogre team, can go for double protect to stall for fake out.
- Goal is to not let Kyogre set up and stall recover.
- Torkoal, Ogerpon and Calyrex together pressures one or the other state of tera.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/e6564ceca9c2fed7PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Calyrex Ice 1
- Most standard the team gets.Assures trick room setup and barrage of offense to pick up victories
- Sometimes Farigaraf needs to be preserved so that fake out pivots are not going to stall out my trick room.
- Calyrex and Torkoal spamming double spread moves is the most effective this team's offense works.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/5c92419de5eba386PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Calyrex Ice 2
- Taunt is great on lead here. Incin Amoonguss lead sucks for this and forces a ghost tera from maushold
- Torkoal works like magic against this team comp.
- Rillaboom provides an excellent offensive coverage against the team, especially if calyrex or Amoonguss go for a tera water.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/32c644248bce248cPLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Calyrex Ice 3
- Lead saves from spores and manual taunts.
- Need to keep up the pace of offense to not allow for pollen puff + recover spamming
- Torkoal needs to manage Calyrex Ice before it gets out of hand.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/f601d5bdd7805669PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Zamazenta
- It is important to lead these two to cover for Ting Lu dozo lead as taunt doesn't deter yawns due to oblivious.
- Torkoal is key in Zamazenta mangement or baiting out a tera type or even forcing a passive wide guard play
- Fairgaraf might be needed for the priority spamming aspect.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/d4c8a87f1b5541efPLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Zacian
- Most standard the team gets.Assures trick room setup and barrage of offense to pick up victories
- Sometimes Farigaraf needs to be preserved so that fake out pivots are not going to stall out my trick room.
- Calyrex and Torkoal spamming double spread moves is the most effective this team's offense works.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/3c4456dd730225f5PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Miraidon
-Removes Electric terrain for the team with a Rillaboom lead, fakes out iron valaints with taunt
-All out offense again once trick room is set up.
- Tera type management comes up in this matchup
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/01a5f3853d37489aPLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Kyurem White
- Baits blizzards so that i can switch to Torkoal, Farig isn't essential as Rilla Outpaces Incin anyhow
- Ogerpon allows for an out into opposing ogerpon, Gholdengo and blizzard spam
- Torkoal management is key to winning, Cannot let it go down early.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/106f94c7139ffab1PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Terapagos 1
- Most standard the team gets. Using Taunt or Super Fang into Terapagos helps disarm it really well.
- Sometimes Farigaraf needs to be preserved so that fake out pivots are not going to stall out my trick room.
- Calyrex and Torkoal spamming double spread moves is the most effective this team's offense works.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays
https://pokepast.es/25e22af613a32f48PLAN 1GAMEPLAN / NOTES
Terapagos 2
- Most standard the team gets. Using Taunt or Super Fang into Terapagos helps disarm it really well.
- Sometimes Farigaraf needs to be preserved so that fake out pivots are not going to stall out my trick room.
- Calyrex and Torkoal spamming double spread moves is the most effective this team's offense works.
LEAD
----------------------------
BACK
Replays

 This has been an absolutely fantastic and joyous journey to teambuild and analyze it. I am looking forward to play this game in my leisurely time and even explore further into the format! Bye for now!

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