#competitive_discussion
1 messages · Page 624 of 1
Bro forgot Mega Salamence
Damn really did not read that mega part-
Lmao
I’m surprised as well
But also Zacian got OHKO by Ivy Cludde
They tera electric but didn’t matter
What would it even be used for aside from aesthetic
Does oshawott learn coaching, endevor, or sum shit?
They didn’t bring it in so Idk
I think it learns endeavor
Idk there's no use in trying to comprehend this team lmao
I mean scraggy is making it’s appearance 💀
So who knows
Yeah but Scraggy is super specific but has the justification of
Maybe it’s a ursh counter? Because of shell armor ability- well then again maybe not
Being slower than CIR and Hands and having coaching fake out intimidate and endeavor
Besides I think there would be better counters for ursh than a baby sea otter
Probably
Weakness policy Tera fire CSR flip turn oshawott?
Nah
Ig we will never know
Due to my work schedule I haven’t had time to research this but I have questions that do need some answers. So will Pokemon champions be the new game we play vgc on? And megas are gonna be in the format ?
Nothing is confirmed
The information we have points to that but there's nothing confirmed
I wonder why they never make mythicals legal. I know they are usually event exclusive so a lot of people don’t use them. But most of them aren’t very good to begin with. The only problematic one would had been Darkrai
But Dark Void got gutted
all Mythicals are kinda ass
except for one or two
and its not darkrai
the reason they are not legal cuz its not widely catchable which means acessability issue
Exactly many just have 100 to all stats
they were less accessible in the starting days of vgc so they just kinda rolled with it despite some of them being more accessible nowadays
i dont think it’d make that crazy of a difference other than liked arceus
the only good ones are Magerena (Trick Room Sweeper) and Jirachi (Serene Grace Iron Head)
Arceus is ass
120 to all stats isn’t bad
But basically has no ability
Arceus's other plate forms are ass
Even Espeed is worse than Dnite and Rayquaza
it isn't bad until you realise for a pokemon to succeed they need stats disturbution to not be even
120 on all bulk is good
but speed and being mixed attacker issue is very much here
When you realise almost all meta fast pokemon are 135 or ABOVE
And it needs set up to do restricted level damage and no Ability to defend itself makes it not that good as people expecting
I can see arguements on Gen 8
and 120 on both attack stat is horrible
Diancie would had been interesting
120 on itself is good but both attack stat is just no
Her maga at least
just use Magerena as the TR pokemon
it literally has Grim Neigh but apply on every fallen pokemon
So you can use explosion or memento from your support
Or healing wish
you need trick room
Yee and then make Indeedee go to the shadow realm
I think she has potential too
At least with Fari or psychic terrain support so she doesn’t get 1 tapped by bullet punch
Tho wait her movepool is kinda ass
if mythical's are ever available maybe
Watch a replay of a Pokémon battle between Shrekers13 and Gankzilla! Format: [Gen 9] VGC 2025 Reg I; Date: Jun 26, 2025
Lol these teams are so gimmicky
But they fail when you know what their plan is
at least for a muk smeargle team
its a bit original
cuz they just Slap CSR Lugia anyway
Evasion strategies are very bullshit tho if you don’t have an answer for it
Watch a replay of a Pokémon battle between Shrekers13 and Gankzilla! Format: [Gen 9] VGC 2025 Reg I; Date: Jun 26, 2025
Another one
i love rain
no i mean Rain's benefit on Hurricane and Sandsear
it just ignores whatever the fuck muk doing
me with a fucking bike
Hurricane, the genius storms and thunder ignore evasion in rain
Pretty nice
I had thunder Kyoger
I also have heavy slam in iron hands in case they follow me with smeargle in turn 1
Heavy slam ignores minimize
Watch a replay of a Pokémon battle between Shrekers13 and bombay12345! Format: [Gen 9] VGC 2025 Reg I; Date: Jun 26, 2025
I love when in the last turn the mon faints for recoil
After taking a KO
first ranked matched on cartridge and ive basically won with 3-1 against an amoongus and they are timer stalling just to waste time 🫠
only took like 3x longer to win the battle than it needed to
I tried a super unique team yesterday with CIR and AV Groudon as the restricteds, Coaching Iron Valiant, Leftovers Volcarona, Grimmsnarl and Life Orb Raging Bolt.
Volcarona and Coaching are so goated on this team, man.
Although I'd personally change Volc's Tera Type to Grass to prevent it from falling for Amoonguss' fuckery.
I think Im getting better at caly ice miraidon mirrors
I was losing the mirror a lot before
But iron bundle changed it into my favor
What kind of pokeball is that?
That's Magearna.
I found a cool rental team but I have some issues with it. Would anyone care to challenge me in a Link Battle just so I can figure out what the EV spreads are?
What a weird looking pokeball
So i see good amount of people use scovillain on ladder now what does it do exactly ?
Spicy extract sco with Koraidon
and then nuke
It has Chlorophyll and it can turn Koraidon into a nuclear bomb.
Oh so does clear amulet prevent the defense drop too ?
If i remember right, mega Latios was seriously dangerous before the rise of Fairies
thats dragon gem Latios
yeah
making it 0 draw back most of the time
Damn, I might actually run that.
ah right! yes!
Okay that makes sense now it do have really good synergy with korai then
tho the issue is Follow me still works on this move
and Ogerpon can captialise it
especially Cornerstone
The issue is that its defenses are now halved.
Cornerstone doesnt really care about it lmao
And if you have Ogerpon in front of you, there's always the option of just... not clicking SE.
yeah just saying cuz VGC community is like 90% of the players are lack of Knowledge
im not saying the s word
cuz i seen people dont respect follow me and paid the price
not saying you would its just i seen too many people fall for it
Why, is "stupid" an ableist slur now?
cuz people can be a bit fragile emotionally
lol
Fair point.
I discovered I was running suboptimal evs on Volcarona lmaooo https://pokepast.es/c62fdd440fe95da3
That being said this team felt good even though its from basically reg G
if it works it works lmao
Running berries in a meta where both forms of Calyrex are in the top four most used restricted Pokemon is certainly a bold choice.
Speedy hands is a threat
Yeah I may switch to leftovers
But this is what I used to run in reg G
Yeah, that will help you way more.
Well with urshifu water instead of Zamazenta
Still sitrus berry helps more into the mirror
Like Volcarona is already good into both Calyrex so
Quiver dance cooks CSR and the typing naturally takes glacial lance so it forces ice rider to use another move to hit it like high horsepower
And wide guard zama + volc creates a position where cir is walled
Or Wide Guard Lunala + Volcarona.
Think issue isn't stupidity as much as ignorance.
VGC isn't as straight forward as pick up a copy of Pokemon and click "play online" with everything explained to you ingame.
pokemon are getting better at teaching people outside of the game, but ingame is still horribly vague.
that and throughout all Pokemon content you are taught "Use your favourite pokemon", "be best friends with your pokemon to accomplish things".
Competitive pokemon does everything that you are told to hate on in the anime and story modes 🤣 Bin off shitty pokemon and only use the strongest most competitive mons to win
Not neccessarily.
so when people first join competitive, and want to win worlds with their sunflora, we sit here wondering wtf is wrong with them 😅
But I feel like people can never strike a balance.
Learning that there can be a balance, is where the ignorance lies.
They either make a whole team filled with niche Pokemon that have almost zero synergy or they justify the argument that restricted formats allow for no creativity.
You can always find ways to make lesser used Pokemon strong, but you will always have to pair them with other strong Pokemon to draw out their full potential.
you have one side, "only ever use meta mons or you'll lose all the time" and the other side, "i want to use all my favourites to win like a pokemon master"
Exactly.
thus, ignorance. 😁
I want to use miraidon cir incineroar farigiraf urshifu and landorus
"Spot the niche pick" ahh team 💀
You need understanding on how to make niches work and should not be the first thing to do when you play VGC
I rather just play full meta than finding a niche pokemon to work with in this format
you can make a balance but creating a balance is hard
and explaining that to a noob is like popping a bubble of all their hopes and dreams as the ignorance is broken
i rather if they have experience and can explain these
Why do you want it
What does it achieve
Who does it synergise in your team
My guy, i once said id make Hypno viable.
I was that ignorant guy 🤣 that bubble only burst for me after losing
and losing
and losing a lot more
and losing again
I dont even like hypno lol

it was me being stubborn on a nonsence "Trick" team
That raises even more questions then LMAO
that was never viable
i just made Greninja work but i slap the entire Tang Core into it
Cuz Greninja’s Best synergy for restricted is Ice Rider lmao
I got Ludicolo working as a super fast disrupter with fakeout and encore.
originally it was a choice specs nuke, but then things started outspeeding it 🤣
At least Ludicolo has had some competitive presence in the past.
mine is still Choice specs Greninja and Man OHKOing Kyogre with Protean Grass Knot is fun
I did not know this before beginning my journey lol
I just love Ludicolo
Greninja is no.1 pokemon and it was good in Singles but like not great in Doubles
It's won Worlds twice, if I can recall correctly.
And poor Greninja is slower than Meow lmao
Ludicolo, not Greninja.
It's pretty good both with and against Kyogre, isn't it?
The problem is that Kyogre isn't as good anymore.
yeah generally
its still good but not as good as like in the past
Are incin and rilla the mario and luigi of vgc
Urshifu is Sonic lol
Come to think of it, you might be right.
I like the idea that Sonic mauls Mario, but gets wrecked by Luigi.
So would Dark Urshifu be Shadow in this scenario?
Technically it fits Shadow
But we need to give Dark Shifu a gun
and what Tornadus is Tails?
Iron Hands?
Kinda ig?
I still need help with figuring out the EV spreads for the rental team.
Should I run Dragon Pulse on Raging Bolt instead of Draco Meteor for more consistency?
It already does enough damage with Life Orb, STAB and Protosynthesis, so it should be fine, right?
depends on your bolts staying power. If you know it can stick around to fire off a couple dragon pulses, then run that.
if you need it to blow something up to protect allies or itself, run Draco
I already have Calyrex and Groudon to blow shit up.
Did I hear Groudon?
Yeah.
Everyone's laughing till Groudon clicks Crunch and Calyrex starts seeing the light of Heaven.
It’s like a frickin sleeper code for me at this point Jesus
And AV Groudon STILL dies to specs Tera water water spout in the sun
And this is why Sun needs a buff
Would be cool if there was some form of Sun that eliminated Water moves entirely.
Especially if it were given to a form of Groudon.
says needs buff when there is wide cast of Past Paradox Pokemon
Its more Groudon needs a buff more than Sun needs a buff
It would be primally raw.
And then give Groudon stab fire so his only weakness is Ground?
Tell me how Sandy shocks is helping me out
And give him a Special Attack stat which makes Eruption Groudon actually viable?
Sounds like a fever dream
Flutter Mane,Raging Bolt,Brute Bonnet,Walking wake would like to have a word with you
Brute Bonnet and Raging Bolt being the GOATs of Reg I:
Brute bonnet kinda fell off lowkey
I could see it being useful on specific teams though
Like I might use the guy on my current team
A redirector who's bulkier than Amoonguss, has an immunity to Prankster and a great Attack stat fell off?
In terms of usage yeah
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Felt like bro was on every team at the beginning of the format
Its more like * every Koraidon Team *
At least the giraffe is still hooping free throws from the other side of the court.
Amonguss is still used pretty regularly. Run into it a lot
18% of teams on ladder use it so that’s not shocking to hear
Also after my detour to Bo1 I will be retiring from Bo1 for this Regulation
Funny, adding the angry mushroom to my team yesterday is what changed it for me.
10-2 yesterday in and around 1500
Oh dang nice
And guys I was talking about usage not how good it was 😭
I swear I’m not blinded by Amoonguss
BB loves Groudon too.
He kinda just likes the sun
90% of Groudon teams could just have Koraidon or CIR in his place and that hurts me
I don't know, man.
I feel like Groudon suits my style more, but I might try SE Koraidon too.
I have literally been using Groudon for the entirety of Generation 9 and from personal experience Koraidon can 9 times out of 10 replace Groudon
He’s more consistent in pretty much every way
Conner trying to get rid of the groudon competition 🤣
Groudon is basically the 2%.
Nuh uh
I just don’t like hearing false information
He never gives up until he hits P-Blades on both targets.
Brute bonnet likes Koraidon just as much as it likes Groudon
So wait, what do SE Koraidon teams usually have for the other partners?
What does SE even mean
Spicy Extract.
Ohhh
I’ve seen them with just normal sun HO
Technically you could run like a clear body Mon to take advantage of spicy extract but that’s probably never going to do well
What about the second restricted?
I’ve seen them with Miraidon and CSR but that’s really it
But you’re running CIR?
I want my Pokemon to be capable of taking hits on their own.
Spoken like a true Groudon player
Just go Miraidon then, that thing actually lives a lot
Sure.
Double bike is cool
Yeah, except for when the opponent is Ursaluna and Miraidon is choice locked into Electro Drift.
And you're in Trick Room.
And Koraidon is Tera Fire.
Ursaluna kinda just cooks 80% of things in general
That’s not a bike problem trust
Like they don’t help it at all
But nothing likes to be against Ursaluna besides like Sinistcha
Speaking of Ursaluna cooking things, I managed to cook an opponent who had three Pokemon with only CIR.
Calyrexes do that
Though it was mostly an early Coaching from Iron Valiant and two Fiery Dances into Groudon that allowed the sweep to occur.
Bear in mind, I was Tera Fire facing down an Incineroar who'd knocked off my Clear Amulet and a Tera Ghost Ursaluna who had the boost from Guts active.
I remember my Volcarona once 1v4’d, I’ll never doubt Volcarona again
Volcarona still cranking 90s on restricteds after four gens of power creep:
I'm so disappointed at the fact that I can't nickname my Groudon "Fat Fuck".
The guy weighs 3,5 Dave Blunts.
Also do you guys think the bikes abilities would be balanced if they took recoil similar to how solar power works?
Perhaps.
And Zamazenta weighs more than Dialga, we’re focusing the wrong guy here
Zamazenta is carrying a big metal shield.
What is Groudon's excuse?
I just know he was devouring them Geodudes all winter.
He’s based off the Behemoth, I think it would be inaccurate if he weighed less
The Behemoth is an ox.
This theory is bullshit.
Leviathan is a serpent and Ziz is a bird.
Was the leviathan a whale?
No, it is a giant sea snake.
To be fair they’re pretty close
Mammals and serpents?
Big land creature
Big sea creature
Sky creature
That hardly counts as inspiration, but go off.
Hey man I wasn’t the one who made the theory
Again, Groudon is a fridge defender and I will die on that hill.
Ok
needs a raincoat my friend
he's supposed to be a continent?
seems like a pretty good excuse for a few extra Lbs
Guess that explains why he's built like Biggie Smalls.
I feel like they should make it so that Heat Wave, Muddy Water, P-Blades and O-Pulse never miss under their respective weathers.
Or they could make a Pokemon who sets Gravity upon switching in and make Ground types actually unstoppable.
So wait, does Koraidon on Spicy Extract teams run Close Combat or Collision Course?
And what about Scovillain's item and the rest of its moves?
Does Destiny Bond fail if the Pokemon uses another status move on the next turn?
it would not work
Good to know.
Sooo… I got a question if anyone knows anything about competitive singles…. I think I have a valid team build that may have potential. I call it Dragoon centered, triple threat… or triple threat for short.
The photo of the team from showdown is in SV discussions
Unfortunately there aren't many (or any) people here who play single battles competitively 😦
252 SpA Life Orb Turboblaze Reshiram Draco Meteor vs. 172 HP / 12 SpD Terapagos-Terastal: 146-173 (76 - 90.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
Dillon This is not worth it for me to run Reshiram (I'm bored)
It’s not worth it to run reshiram at all 
Is there a good team to build around Oricorio?
no
What’s the best team you can build around it?
none…? its not a good mon😭
Playing it in VGC with Volcarona or Iron Moth is fun tho😭
If you're trying to relive your failed ballerina days
why is your name john
John VGC
The John VGC
Fiery Dance with Volcarona Oricorio is funny tho🥲
Anyways Dancer strat was very niche and ass even in A where you could pull off more niche stuff due to lower power
Everything is just way too overpowered now for Dancer
I mean yeah I tried it in ranked and people just use OP meta teams 
Yeah
Cuz they win
People use Miraidon and Koraidon at the same team
"People should win with their favorites"
Ok my favorites are Incineroar, Urshifu Rapid Strike, and Calyrex Shadow Rider
ok…. but also that is not rly a good combo😭😭
My other favorite is Ho Oh, is it at least decent?😭
What? Double bike goes kinda hard
its funny sure vut
Not the best but it definitely ain't bad
does not mean its good lmao
I like Rillaboom tho
Emma does not like Spicy Extract Koraidon and it shows
Ew I’ve noticed it in one game
Got my ass sweeped
@bold geode look in sv discussion there is a bacteria infection spreading
gigglin reading
Ho-Oh is definitely decent
you can use it easily
Is playing it with max speed max attack a viable strategy?
That’s how I built mine and I’m feeling lazy to rebuild it but if I have to I have to
It's better as a bulkier attacker
It's not the end of the world to use max attack/max speed if you're mostly casually battling
I wanna play in ranks to get to master ball tier in order to get the ribbon
you can get master ball with max attack/speed ho-oh if you're too lazy
but it will be a bit harder in some games
you need another restricted legendary to pair alongside it
Which team should you build around it?
Groudon?
@chrome knot I am engaging with the virus, my laptop will need to run McAfee
Bikes+Ho-Oh
Using this website, you can find teams where Ho-Oh performed well at a tournament
It's partner is normally Miraidon or Calyrex-Shadow
This feels like listening in to gossip about a group chat from another table
true

i'm just paitently waiting for next format
Michael's team is interesting
"Yeah guys my life is so hard you wouldn't understand. 🎶I still see your shadows in my room🎶"
Papa John
I'm John VGC
Can someone rate my team? Just watched a few videos and play casuals. It does pretty well 
Basically tried to make a reg I team for the first time ever XD
John Vader GC
sure, post the team here. Preferably a pokepaste link from showdown
I really hope I did this right XD
The ideal setup:
- lead with Miraidon + Farigiraf
- Miraidon uses volt switch for a cleanish switch, Farigiraf uses trick room
- Helping hand and Sweep XD
Do you have an Ogerpon, I'd like to see an Hearthflame or a Cornerstone form over the Amoonguss here
I do, I just wasn't sure if it was allowed XD
Oh it's definitely allowed
Better here than Amoongus
Ye, spore + electic terrain. Just needed a bulky redirect boi
Yeah that can be achieved with Hearth and cornerstone has Sturdy
I have a Flame trained up?
Adamant
192 hp/76 Atk/48 Def/188 Speed
Sounds good except just fyi, that Defense investment is technically wasting if you're at Lvl 50 during battles, 44 Def would be optimal and I'd just throw those 4 extra EVs into like Spdef
Other than that, at least for a start team looks pretty good, though if Ice Rider damage misses out at some points that you don't like, I'd also test out a spread that's like
252/116/140 in the same stats with same nature possibly but yeah for a start, not bad
The idea is to snowball with helping hand XD. I normally do raids
Electric terrain + Armor tail + Trick room makes it very hard to stop without protect spamming
For sure
Do all the viable teams have a shiny locked?🥲
Ho Oh, Farigiraf, Iron Hands, Iron Bundle, Iron Treads, Grimmsnarl, Ursaluna, Incineroar, Rillaboom, Clefairy and others are available as Shinies
Me when everything can't be shiny
but but
I realized something. Out of the 259 TPCi Worlds competitors, 229 played in a Top Cut before.
This shows how incredibly stacked Worlds is going to be this year, probably my biggest challenge so far.
I also think that the Non-Cutters have a decent chance to do well as well!
time to make a team that only features shiny locked pokemon
i want full shiny yeam :(((
those are just the best ones. If you’re goal is getting master ball, you can do it with a replacement
i think im ready to drop vgc for mkworld tho actually
No more VGC Emma?
MKWorld Emma
After worlds, its gonna be slow for SV
unless we get surprise free dlc update that adds more Pokemon
which is very unlikely
champions hopium
i mean even with sv being @ end of its life cycle
i don’t really find vgc fun atm
which i think is pretty normal given how bad it makes me feel
I've had VGC not be fun for me at moments, a break can be good and now there's actually a moment where you can
Bro stole my meme and thought he can get away with it

Alright thank you
abu_skibidi has given 1 Gen Rep to pizza.time
If it can’t shine, I ain’t gonna waste my time
sry but i dont gaf😭
Oh @chrome knot I got my team built on cart finally after God knows how long 
gen 9 has very good legendaries so people use them and gen 9 legendaries are still shiny locked
welp that sucks for me but I'm a man with principles
also calyrex and urshifu are shiny locked
i think the only archetype witohut a shiny locked mons is sword fish
that's pretty tragic💀
sword fish is not that bad
What is the archetype?
Like which mons does it use?
and even in some sword fish some people like to use urshifu
zacian and kyogre
Oh Zacian I'll try to hunt during this Sunday and Kyogre is Dynamax Adventures I suppose
Is there any archetype that fits Ho Oh well that isn't shiny locked?
Like I'm not trying to 100% min max but I just wanna reach master ball tier to get the ribbon
i will try to hunt shiny zacian too in the go fest
oh okay okay Im sending you a message
did iron defense increase body press' damage in gen 8? I think heard back then that it didn't but idk if that was a rumor or not since the game only had just come out back then
Yes it did
It did
It still does
thank you
Are trap moves like stealth rocks, and by extension is rapid spin used all that much in battle stadium formats?
stealth rock isn't a trap move, it's a hazard move
do you mean trap moves like sand tomb/fire spin?
Oh sorry, I meant hazard, I get the two terms confused some times
all good 😄 stealth rocks is very occasionally used on something like ting lu, but it's rare
I've never seen rapid spin used in VGC
is it more prevelant in unofficial 6v6 formats then?
yes, there's a lot more switching which means the damage can rack up
I've always liked the idea of a rapid spin Iron Treads set for some reason
Rapid spin is just not worth it in vgc
Very weak move with no real offensive use, not a good coverage and the speed boost is just ocassional
Rapid spin is more like a tech used in singles precissely for hazards but nothing more than that
I remember thinking the speed boost was cool when I first found out about it but idk if it's really any useful all that much in any format or for any pokemon. I don't have enough experience in that area
Hey, I want some advice on a new team I'm making. Can someone give some advice?
ya
Cinderace (M) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Libero
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pyro Ball
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Court Change
Revavroom (M) @ Air Balloon
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Poison Jab
- Toxic
- Parting Shot
Calyrex-Shadow @ Life Orb
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Astral Barrage
- Psyshock
- Nasty Plot
- Protect
Miraidon @ Assault Vest
Ability: Hadron Engine
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 108 Def / 140 SpA / 140 SpD / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
- Electro Drift
- Volt Switch
- Dragon Tail
- Dazzling Gleam
Ting-Lu @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Level: 50
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Ruination
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Whirlwind
Flutter Mane @ Booster Energy
Ability: Protosynthesis
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunder Wave
- Moonblast
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
Here's my team.
can you send the pokepaste link isntead of pasting in here?
it's easier to read and follow
How do I do that?
where did you copy those movesets from
@bold geode weegeecee
did you manually type them?
what website did you copy and paste it from
Pokemon Showdown
at the bottom of the teambuilder page, it should say something like "export to pokepaste"
click that, then post the URL link here
Is this for single battles or doubles? Just so we know
doubles
looks a lot like a singles team
you really think so?
only pokemon that would work are flutter miraidon and csr
maybe ting lu with a different set, mirai also would need a few improvements
heavy duty boots and hazards in general are kinda irrelevant in doubles
in doubles yes
^
was literally discussed just above lol
Half my matches with this team included hazards.
what doubles format are you playing? vgc reg i or some unofficial format
And I added Cinderace and Revavroom for a very specific reason. VGC 2025 Reg I (Bo3)
This is a slightly modified version of a rental team I saw being used by a small YouTuber named Bruneaux. The main changes are CIR's EV spread which allows it to survive an E-Drift or a Draco from Specs Modest Miraidon, as well as Volcarona's Tera Type being Grass instead of Dark.
https://pokepast.es/995c818d4ed291dc
Thanks, ima check real quick
seems decent tho i’d recommend tera dragon on volc here for a stronger defensive tera
tera grass works better with a giga drain set
Grass allows it to be immune to Spore.
I've lost a game because Brute Bonnet put my whole team to sleep.
I had no Spore immunities and I read my opponent really badly.
if you leverage your valiant taunt or if you force a tera on it
How do you let a Brute Bonnet wipe your whole team bruh
I'm bad at VGC, bro.
not super crazy
Being at Master Ball tier doesn't mean anything, trust me.
brute bonnet won’t wipe your team but spore is insane if you don’t deal with it fast
Ima hop into a match rq. Let's see how good it is.
It's going to be trash, isn't it?
Let me break it down pokemon by pokemon with my thoughts:
Cinderace
- The item is unfortunately useless in 99.9% of games. I have played thousands of VGC games in SV and have seen stealth rock/poison spikes maybe 50 times total, and most of that is from Glimmora or Kleavor setting them up as a byproduct.
- On top of the item being useless, Cinderace doesn't do a whole lot either. Court Change is cute for giving yourself reflect/light screen (if it even works like that?) but other than that, Cinderace is a strictly worse fire type than a lot of other options. Chi-Yu, Incineroar, Entei, etc. all do the role of Fire type better. If you want a fast physical attacker, then there are better options too
Revavroom
- Very much a similar scenario as above. I've seen the pokemon a few times ever and it's never really done much. It is completely outpaced by a metagame where every team has 2 restricted legendaries and probably 1-2 other legendaries like Urshifu or the Ruin pokemon with substantially higher base stat totals and movepools. If you can explain a bit why Revavroom is on the team, I bet we can find a better replacement that is stronger on the whole
Calyrex-Shadow
- Nothing much to comment here, good pokemon with a pretty standard moveset. Psychic is typically seen over Psyshock but both have their merits. I like the defensive tera as well. It's a little hard to run Nasty Plot on a team with no redirection/fake out/etc., so just something to consider.
Miraidon
- Good pokemon with a pretty solid item. Your EVs are incorrect because you either want to invest in 3 or 5 stats, investing in 4 stats will always result in wasting EVs somewhere.
- Dragon Tail is completely useless as a move on Miraidon. You're much better off with Draco Meteor, your strongest STAB to threaten stuff like Amoonguss
Ting-Lu
- Consider Leftovers over Sitrus Berry due to the Calyrex forms
- Whirlwind is pretty useless, same with stealth rock. I prefer Sand Tomb
what for? cinderace and revavroom, especially with these sets don’t seem like they do much in the current format
The really fun shit is when IV starts clicking Coaching and Calyrex turns into a nuclear bomb.
you might encounter hazards in early ladder but that doesnt mean they’re relevant
It's such a monkey-ass team and I love it.
Ran out of room but..
Flutter Mane
- Standard moveset here for your flutter. Typically Flutter Mane with Booster Energy invest in bulk so they can live common attacks (Chien-Pao Ice Spinner, Urshifu Surging Strikes, etc.)
- The moveset is pretty good 😄 I think most prefer Icy Wind due to the ability to be spread and do a little damage, but Thunder Wave has its use cases and can be especially strong if you are willing to roll the dice on paralysis
Well that's exactly the point. I need something to counter the current format. Their movesets are specific to that
https://pokepast.es/cd5756c9a47b994a this is a fairly well performing csr miraidon team
the duo is a bit inconsistent imo but it works
Hey Tree, how's the team?
That's what Revavroom is for though. To complete shut off Fairy and Tera fairy.
I'm not done with match yet
Are you winning, son?
fairy types won’t run just fairy moves. a pokemon like lunala or mirai will just use their coverage to remove revavroom
Did Volcarona get the opportunity to set up?
was it an urshifu?
Obviously.
well yea im aware but it seems tree thinks aqua jet as a whole breaks through protect
urshifu’s contact moves are what break through protect
A TERRIBLE TEAM
I meant specifically on Urshifu bruh
mdb reference lmao
I love you mdb
By the way, I think Crunch on Groudon is an especially good call.
just wanted to make sure, i misunderstood my bad
I connect will always stay with me
I couldn't win cause I didn't bring Cinderace 
there’s better ways to deal with fairy types than revavroom
I need to replace thunder wave with icy wind
For vgc there are better fire types, the mere existence of Incineroar and if you want an offensive fire type Ogerpon has follow me which alone outclassed Cinderace
And more fire types but those are the most standard ones
Such as Zamazenta, Eternatus or even Okidogi.
I hate incineroar with a passion.
I still cannot get over the fact that Okidogi basically exists to maul CSR and do nothing else.
How does it tho?
Drain Punch, Knock Off and Poison Jab/Gunk Shot covers for all of CSR's standard Tera Types.
And with Tera Dark, you not only get an immunity to Psychic, but you also get STAB on Knock Off.
Idk I would use something better
Slap an Assault Vest and a few EVs and youu literally cannot die to it.
Instantly forces to tera for the x4 weakness to psychic xd
it’s
alright
I'm bouta obliterate this man, I know his strat. I wing game 2 and 3
I know, Incineroar does the same shit but way better, but it's still fun.
it’s only niche is court change atm cuz of screens
Wait, are you using my team or the one with Cinderace?
Tera normal ditto is fun
Kingambit also covers CSR and defiant is nice to have in case of incin
I had a team which had a 100% winrate against CSR-Zamazenta teams, but was kinda buns into everything else. Guess which big-ass dog was on the team.
CSR-Koraidon completely obliterates Gambit though.
I see much more CSR/zama but in either case I haven’t run kingambit in a minute. I prefer ditto lately
I haven't seen Ditto being run as much, actually.
Wrecks on my caly/miraidon team
And just having it plays mind games on the opponent for team selection
Sounds fun.
So I'm starting to realize that I'm bad against Tailwind teams
Play trick room or screens
Which team did you use?
The same one as- Never mind I made him rage quit
I'm talking about the Revavroom and Cinderace one
Those 2 mons are kinda really bad
It has a way better matchup into TW teams.
Send link
Also, their bad? Alright, let me send ya a clip rq after this match
1 clip from 1 game? I’m sure that beats statistics from every tournament in this regulation (for which no one uses those mons) but yes go off
I had so many choices with Volcarona, but I felt like I didn't exactly need redirection support.
Quiver dance volc + screens >>>
Its broken
That's literally this set.
QD volc's best friend is grimm
I know that’s why I said it’s better than anything
And Coaching from Iron Valiant also means that you can raise your physical Defense.
I don't know where Giga Drain should go.
Over struggle bug
Struggle bug
You have spirit break and light screen on snarl
Sure.
I was able to get a miraidon to -4 spa earlier with snarl 😂
Couldn’t even get half damage on my Tera water caly with electric terrain up
And Brute Bonnet.
It doesn't use BB's Protosynthesis-boosted Defense, it doesn't trigger Rocky Helmet and it also just nukes BB out of existence.
I don't know, I just don't see any reason for Giga Drain to be run here.
Maybe as a counter to Urshifu?
It gives you more healing and a second coverage for water and ground types
Would be even for rock but the only rock type in the meta is rockpon :v
Ig if they tera it would be good but yeah
Sure.
Here's the updated version with Giga Drain.
I'll make a rental team for it too later.
Are there any specific weaknesses this team has that I should look out for?
Urshi/ogre
Yeah, we talked about them.
I was grocery shopping 🙈
I'm really bad at figuring out matchups, so I'd appreciate it if someone were to point out any major flaws.
Rain
You’re forced to swap your groudon if you face rain
Yeah, but Bolt and CIR deal with Kyogre pretty well.
CIR only if they Tera grass and bolt only if they don’t
Now imagine having both on the field.
Sure.
I will try to find a decent strategy to deal with Kyogre teams though.
What is the general strategy they like to follow?
I haven't played against any of them so far.
Kyogre teams? Set up tailwind and water spout go BRRRRR
they usually have tornadus so he threatens your sun with rain dance
That’s why I like jumpluff, it will force your opponent to rain dance over tailwind and you will still outspeed kyogre so you can sleep powder or set your own tailwind
Got it.
Dang the one time Groudon is being talked about I’m missing out 😔
I wanna see the helping hand groudon + miraidon discharge teams now
Lol
It's fine.
By the way, why do all the builds I find for Raging Bolt specify that it has to have 20 Attack IVs?
It's a special attacker, why should they be anywhere above 0?
Oh, I didn't know that.
So that's why every Raging Bolt has the same Attack stat.
Mhm
I wonder if anyone has run the 20 iv speed raging bolt for tr
Guess we'll never know
Doubt it.
i think mdb considred that for his stockholm hard tr team
vaguely remember him mentioning that in his team report
Anyone have an EV spread for Caly Shadow?
Depends on what set/needs
Most usually 252 spa 252 speed and then 4 points in whatever
That’s what I figured, thank you
But some spreads live surging strikes, other go slow
Hmmm
Yeah but given the bolt set he used of
Safety goggles it looks a lot like something to lead into some teams so
Makes sense he used the 31 ivs
do you think there any online places that might be running fan held tournaments for sword and shield now a days?
Limitless is your best shot and I still doubt there are
But you don't lose anything from trying there
what is limitless?
Is a website that hosts a lot of tournaments of any kind of game, mostly used by TCG players but they also have VGC tournaments
Everything there is hosted by players and usually not big companies
Idk if there have been any tournaments hosted by organizations there
thank you
👍
Whats the item?
With how successful Raging Bolt and Farigiraf have been, is it fair to say that Game Freak loves giraffes?
I haven’t decided yet
You basically have three options.
Focus Sash, Life Orb and (in more niche cases) Spell Tag.
I’d probably do either Sash or Orb
Despite the "glass cannon" name, Life Orb CSR does more damage than Sash CSR and survives way more attacks, while also having the ability to set up.
So Orb?
Yes.
If there aren't any other Pokemon that would like to use it on your team, go for it.
Nah the rest of my team is already built, I’m just wanting to swap out Whims for Caly
yea 28 HP, 4 Def, 220 SpAtk and 252 Speed with timid is usually your best bet
A set of all time
looks like they couldn't decide which of the ursalunas to use
And then chesto resto
The guy using this has a 100% win rate
Now a 50% winrate after me
We LOVE low elo
Man it took me 4 games to realize I need a new avatar
The hardest part about any team, finding a new avatar to suit my Groudon nicknames
Low kick and chesto rest would even be weird on regular ursaluna because wouldn't you want the burn?
Low kick is such an underrated move in restricted formats
do want to know the lore behind that too
I just love the dude
I wish I had a better answer for you guys
Like I never played any Gen 3 games so it isn't that
His simple design just has me in a chokehold
I expected more like "oh because ruby was the first game I played and my parents gifted to me and"
But its fair lol
My first game was Y
Lmao
Which might be why I like red legendaries?
Went for the 7 years old explanation "because dinosaurs are cool"
But who knows
Y was good
Literally
xy were the first games i finished
Emerald was my first game but miraidon is my favorite legendary so idk
And dinosaurs are frickin awesome
i played heart gold as a kid but never played it all the way through
The first game I played was ruby actually
But the first game I really like owned was moon
And Lunala is my favourite legendary
Favourite psychic type and my favourite ghost type is Mimikyu
Can’t lie my 1 playthrough of ultra sun was the worst Pokemon experience of my life just to get a magearna
https://pokepast.es/37d11c1c8fe7d391 i've been having a lot of fun with this team, i tried my best to replicate eric rios' grasspon evs, literally counted pixels on the damage it was dealing lol
the more i use it the more i get eric's decision
encore is so opressive especially if I can get to tera it
Riopaser used 191 HP Volcarona with Rillaboom
Interesting take on a classic team
I wanted to destroy it
yea i was so confused by that
imagined mdb raging about that like he's done in the past
My guess is that it was a mistake in the evs
But its still weird that a player like him would make that mistake
He seems to care a lot about optimizations
Whims moment
i wish i had eric's patreon to see the ev's and a full analysis of the team
the top tier is so worth it tho for the money, the 2 hours of coaching alone make up for it
What I saw was that the initial concept of the team starter with Miraidon Lunala and electric seed cobalion lmao
Not future cobalion just cobalion
lmao i think he mentioned that in the video he made abt his run lol
Yeah
But the team is crazy I didn't think a no follow me ogerpon could do well in this format
love being bilingual so I get double the vgc content lmao
I wish I could understand japanese ngl
Or italian
Italian is maybe not that hard cause I think some words sound similar between spanish and italian
But still
yea to me italian kinda sounds like spanish but if i had just woken up and im not really processing the words
why is his spanish so good 😭 the whole juanfi ordeal during naic was hilarious
Someone got "inspired" from Wolfey's vid
I love low ladder one day I fought someone playing Koraidon Politoed with perish😭
Imagine wolfey uses double weather at worlds
some poor beginner thinking the team's still viable is gonna get humbled lol
Amoog us
We call those free 2-0's in the books
Did Groudon shred that team
I thought you were using miraidon
Nah
After taking a detour to Bo1 I have decided Lunadon is my duo
(I don't have a Miraidon)
poor soul want to be a Wolfey Hardliner yet failed miserably
that sucks lmfao
oof

Lowkey going insane
Oh yeah nah I just gotta accept it move on
Lunadon is feeling quite weak without Primal Groudon, or Lunalium Z, or Gmax Charizard

the gimmick that does the worst for groudon is ofc, the one that doesnt buff its stats or smth
Also I hate this team with a burning passion
i think a lot of people do
ik monke does, and it looks GROSS
like we gotta make arguably the top duo even worse to deal with
I hate smeargle
smeargle hate is valid
#1 most hated mon
fuck smeargle, stupid dog
Thank you Arubega
Yeah yea
ty arubega, you suck
How do I miss 2/3 of my pblades to lose bruh
precimiss blades at its finest
At this point it ain't even funny
No wonder I can't hit an 80 GXE
My GXE will never be higher than pblades accuracy

To end a game 3 too
thats brutal
Yup
It hurts a lot
I'm about to drop Groudon
Clearly mine was dropped on his head

Brev
and lowkey cursed, LMAO
thats usually my sign to stop lol
Yeah nah, this is my last game for sure
you start losing games and all your rng is shit
SCRAHHH
hey guys miraidon is a balanced pokemon
Groudon has 100/90
So incredibly weak on the special side
Ground
Drought
100/150/140/100/90/90
670
Groudon-Primal
Electric/Dragon
Hadron Engine
100/85/100/135/115/135
670
Koraidon has better special bulk
IT DOES
Fighting/Dragon
Orichalcum Pulse
100/135/115/85/100/135
670
but incin
ggwp
Welp this Bo3 has lead to this
lmao
Rejoice !
rngsus moment

THATS A CORPHISH
I am not impressed
and then yk, the face of hell
well its not groudon
Me when I spam follow me
HE LED IT
pfffff
the low elo csr zama players suck lmao
Hey man I'm down here with em
you're playing groudon
17-6, not my best record
Hey man, he tries his best
ik, its still groudon
And I queued another game
I'm autopiloting so hard
Uhhh, could I get the corphish back
you cant make this shit up
Oh bless a moonblast drop
Who looked at that move and said "Yeah that's fair"
I would like a word with them
Has a 10% chance to lower the target's Attack by 1 stage.
Fairy
Physical
90
90
10 (16)
Copied by Mirror Move.
Makes contact.
Has a 30% chance to lower the target's Special Attack by 1 stage.
Fairy
Special
95
100
15 (24)
Copied by Mirror Move.
Does not make contact.
hold up
Yep
GIVE US A STRONG 100% ACCURATE FAIRY MOVE FOR ZACIAN
i love ogerpon
Ogerpon is dope
goated mon, really cool role imo
which shifu
Nah lived on like 3%
it took 27% from a crit precipice blades
I was burnt
ah
damn
wouldn't you have known if they changed the team when looking at it
ic
damn
BRO
That's what I'm thinking right now
Oh and bleakwind kills Oger with sharp beak right
probably, i imagine thats what its for
Ok wait I cooked
huge
God I'm goated