It's time to bring the Team Reports back and I will start with my Victory Road winning team and the team I brought to the Global Challenge. The team is very strong, so try it out yourself!
VR:
vrpastes.com/d5ANkJuL (ID: 6MR2813CFL)
GC:
vrpastes.com/GgfF424l (ID: CMFSMSEUW4)
Teambuilding Process:
My idea was to load something that I am comfortable with. My priority was also to use something that is good into Floette Balance which was the biggest archetype a month ago. Naturally, Gholdengo was the Pokémon that stood out to me, having a good matchup into Floette & Salamence. It also gives me a great Pokémon into Sneasler + Indeedee teams which were used a lot at the time. One of the best partners for Gholdengo is Staraptor. Intimidate & Tailwind support are incredibly valuable for a setup Pokémon and being able to threaten Dark Types is great as well. Gholdengo can deal with the Fairy Types that Staraptor struggles with. Since the duo can struggle into Charizard, I added Arcanine-Hisui which is one of the best Pokémon against it. It also gives the team a great check into opposing Gholdengo which was quite threatening until this point. Next, I added Rillaboom cause I wanted to have a Fake Out user and so far the team (even with Gholdengo) would just fold to Expanding Force spam. Rillaboom is also a great add in order to deal with Basculegion, another dangerous Pokémon for the team. Then, I was looking for good mega options and since the team resembled one of my favourite teams in Regulation M-B, I figured Raichu is a good fit. Another Fake Out user, more forms of speed control and most importantly, with the lack of Garchomp usage (back then), one of the best Pokémon in the metagame. Lastly, I added Sylveon cause it synergizes extremely well with the remaining team, being able to threaten Salamence and dealing good damage across the board. I wanted to have a bulky Pokémon that can deal with Trick Room based teams, so Sylveon felt good in that regard. Since the team can still struggle to Hard Trick Room teams, I added Primarina for the Global Challenge since HTR is a common archetype in this particular tournament. Its typing is better into threats such as Armarouge or Kingambit.
Starptor:
A very standard set and spread I just took over from my M-B team. I figured attack is not necessary and it's more important to take hits such as Draco Meteor from Salamence in case you mega your Raichu (32 SpA Mega Salamence Draco Meteor vs. 29 HP / 2 SpD Staraptor: 153-181 (80.9 - 95.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). Fairy Aura Moonblast from Whimsicott seemed important as well but Big 6 fell off way quicker than I anticipated (32 SpA Whimsicott Moonblast vs. 29 HP / 2 SpD Mega Staraptor: 164-194 (86.7 - 102.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO). There are many more defensive calcs I can show but trust me, it is definitely worth it to run this spread (32+ Atk Mystic Water Adaptability Basculegion Wave Crash vs. 29 HP / 1 Def Mega Staraptor: 162-192 (85.7 - 101.5%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO).
Arcanine-Hisui:
Here I can seriously say nothing about the spread. However, I want to highlight that the Jolly stat alignment is WAY better than Adamant. Yes, it's nice to get the OHKO on Kingambit or dealing more damage into Incineroar or Milotic but without Jolly, you are suddenly slower than Jolly Excadrill, Modest Floette / Zard / Zomp [non mega] & Timid Gholdengo. Not being able to speedtie opposing Arcanine is also a big deal, so please run Jolly x.x
Raichu:
For the VR tournament, I figured running lots of bulk on Raichu is beneficial. I made it faster for the GC cause Pyroar & Modest Dragapult are a pain to deal with otherwise. Since Glimmora can be a threat as well, I decided to run enough HP to take big hits such as (32+ SpA Glimmora Earth Power vs. 26 HP / 0 SpD Mega Raichu Y: 136-162 (84.4 - 100.6%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO) or (32 SpA Mega Glimmora Earth Power vs. 26 HP / 0 SpD Mega Raichu Y: 136-162 (84.4 - 100.6%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO). The original spread survives Jolly Close Combat from Sneasler (20 Adamant is a very good chance to survive) and most importantly Sucker Punch from +1 Kingambit due to Intimidate (+1 32+ Atk Kingambit Sucker Punch vs. 28 HP / 14 Def Mega Raichu Y: 136-162 (83.4 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO).
Rillaboom:
Simple, yet efficient. Lots of attack to knockout Basculegion (25+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 11 Def Basculegion in Grassy Terrain: 188-224 (96.4 - 114.8%) -- 81.25% chance to OHKO) or neutral targets like Sylveon (25+ Atk Miracle Seed Rillaboom Wood Hammer vs. 7 HP / 24 Def Sylveon in Grassy Terrain: 181-214 (102.2 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO) or Farigiraf. Speed stat is nice cause there might be moments you want to bonk a Mega-Aerodactyl when you have Tailwind up. 1 Defense is actually not random cause you survive Dire Claw + Poison from Sneasler which seemed quite important to me (32+ Atk Sneasler Dire Claw vs. 32 HP / 1 Def Rillaboom: 164-194 (79.2 - 93.7%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO after Grassy Terrain recovery and poison damage).
Gholdengo:
Originally, I figured that Max Speed is correct. Outspeeding Modest Gholdengo & Floette gives you an autowin into Setup Balance almost. I also wanted to outrun many Modest Charizard or Jolly Basculegion if that picked up. 7 HP is nice cause you survive Life Orb recoil + -1 Flare Blitz from Arcanine (-1 32 Atk Arcanine-Hisui Flare Blitz vs. 7 HP / 0 Def Gholdengo: 132-156 (78.1 - 92.3%) -- 6.25% chance to OHKO). After the VR, I realized that the correct way to run Gholdengo in the current metagame is to use a Specially Defensive one instead. Opting out of the speedtie but surviving a Shadow Ball from them instead is better cause you also have multiple forms of speed control with Zap Cannon & Tailwind (32 SpA Life Orb Gholdengo Shadow Ball vs. 27 HP / 29 SpD Gholdengo: 156-187 (82.5 - 98.9%) -- 56.25% chance to OHKO). Also, that way the Perish matchup is almost unlosable too (0+ SpA Mega Gengar Shadow Ball vs. 27 HP / 29 SpD Gholdengo: 134-162 (70.8 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO). You are still strong enough to get knockouts on opposing Gholdeng [if offensive], Gengar or Metagross. Speed stat does not need further explanation I think x)
Sylveon:
I really liked Sylveon in my run but that was because of the spread I was running. The speed stat is for Tailwind / Paralyzes interactions agaisnt Sneasler, M-Froslass & M-Salamence. The true beauty lies in the bulk however. Being able to take a Dire Claw from Sneasler is a huge game changer (32+ Atk Sneasler Dire Claw vs. 13 HP / 28 Def Sylveon: 162-192 (88.5 - 104.9%) -- 25% chance to OHKO). There are many more attacks you can take, especially if the Pokémon drop attack in favour of bulk such as Kingambit (32+ Atk Kingambit Iron Head vs. 13 HP / 28 Def Sylveon: 164-194 (89.6 - 106%) -- 31.25% chance to OHKO). Definitely one of my favourite spreads. You gotta keep in mind though that you do not guaranteed knockout Salamence or Garchomp which I figured would be fine with all the priority on the team and denying a free switch into a full life Pokémon can sometimes be better (10+ SpA Fairy Feather Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 2 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 152-182 (88.3 - 105.8%) -- 31.25% chance to OHKO) / (10+ SpA Fairy Feather Pixilate Sylveon Hyper Voice vs. 2 HP / 0 SpD Garchomp: 162-192 (87.5 - 103.7%) -- 25% chance to OHKO).
Primarina:
Quite a similar role to Sylveon. Speed is very similar. Primarina however has a better chance to OHKO the dragons due to Moonblast (4+ SpA Primarina Moonblast vs. 2 HP / 0 SpD Mega Salamence: 162-192 (94.1 - 111.6%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO). You also have enough special attack to double tap Sneasler with Zap Cannon + Hyper Voice rather safely. The bulk is also quite similar to Sylveon (32+ Atk Sneasler Dire Claw vs. 22 HP / 24 Def Primarina: 152-182 (85.8 - 102.8%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO). The problem with Primarina is that 60% of teams have Rillaboom but you got lots of hate against it as well.
Matchups:
vs Floette Setup Balance - I'm explicitly talking about the Dragonite & Salamence versions here, not Delphox. The combination of Raichu, Gholdengo, Staraptor & Arcanine is incredible. You can either start with Raichu + Arcanine and prepare for a Gholdengo sweep or use Gholdengo for early game pressure. Most of the time you want to mega evolve Raichu to spread Zap Cannon and regular Staraptor to Intimidate Sneasler / Rillaboom / Incineroar and set Tailwind.
vs Perish - with the specially defensive Gholdengo, your matchup is quite insane. Use Raichu & Gholdengo to apply early pressure. Staraptor can be brought (really good if Base Staraptor outspeeds their Gengar) and Sylveon / Arcanine are both good here as well. Never bring Rillaboom (unless they have something like Scarf Basculegion obviously).
vs Trick Room - Really depends whether you have Primarina or Sylveon. If you got Primarina, just lead it and setup a Calm Mind. Either use Arcanine in lead to pressure lots of damage or Staraptor to help with Intimidate support. Bring the other one in the back and Rillaboom only if they have Psychic Terrain with Indeedee. Gholdengo is also a good Pokémon here. I don't recommend bringing Raichu (unless its Soft Trick Room, instead of HTR).
vs ZardVenu - Depends on the full team but Arcanine is obviously great. Pair it with Raichu or Staraptor to get an early advantage. Gholdengo is decent as well and Rillaboom can be used to finish Focus Sash Venusaur and apply Fake Out pressure. Against the Zomp ZardVenu teams, you need to bring Gholdengo instead. Setup a Nasty Plot early and pressure your opponent with speed control on Staraptor / Raichu.
vs Sand - I really like leading Gholdengo + Staraptor here. Don't focus on setting up a Nasty Plot. In many leads you can go for Tailwind + Make It Rain. Afterwards you can clean the game with Staraptor + Rillaboom / Arcanine. Arcanine needs to apply the pressure on Corviknight cause it's otherwise hard to deal with if you lose Gholdengo early on.
Conclusion:
I am very proud of the team and also happy that I was able to contribute to the metagame. Usually, I use teams that only I vibe with. As mentioned before, try out the team and see if it suits you. It has a very unique playstyle in trading damage instead of positioning every single turn which is what I love about the team 😁
Thanks for reading until this point and until next week 🫡 (Please let me know which team I should feature next)