The inspiration for this team is that Tera Normal Maushold Population Bomb is an absolute unit, OHKO'ing most of the meta, including fat support Arceus and Ting-lu after some chip. Maushold has two problems though: 1) Extreme Killer Arceus and 2) its speed tier. Both of these problems are addressed (mostly) via Sticky Web and Psychic Terrain, which is where Ribombee and Indeedee come in. I say mostly because of things like Heavy-Duty Boots making Sticky Web support moot, but Maushold can't just be a one-man army (or I guess a four-man army?). Calyrex-Shadow was an obvious addition, as it can take advantage of psychic terrain to fire off some devastating Expanding Forces and continue to prove why it's the most powerful Pokemon GameFreak has ever created. Koraidon was another addition that was obvious (to me) as not only does it provide some more physical offense to hit the Steel types that Maushold doesn't like, but it's also just an insane Pokemon that I very much enjoy using. Sneasler was the final pickup here, being a very nice glue Pokemon that clutches me out of some otherwise troublesome matchups, as it's speed tier after Unburden is unmatched.
THE TEAM
Ribombee @ Focus Sash
Ability: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- Skill Swap
- Pounce
Ribombee is the de-facto Sticky Web user in Anything Goes; it's extremely fast and has some great tools to get around ways to stop Webs, such as Skill Swap to remove Magic Bounce from Hatterene (unless it has Ability Shield, but what can you really do there). Pounce is to slow down faster Pokemon that either try to taunt it or try to get the jump on you from early on in the match and allows you to slow the momentum and swing it in your favor. Tera Steel is to block Mortal Spin from Glimmora, although you don't really want to be clicking Tera on your Ribombee if you can afford not to. In the case of priority users or Prankster Taunt from the likes of Grimmsnarl, you can easily switch into Indeedee to set up Psychic Terrain to block that and proceed from there.
Sneasler @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Unburden
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dire Claw
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
Sneasler was a pick I thought would be fun as it has a monstrous base 130 attack as well as Unburden to boost its speed to insane levels, activated by the Psychic Seed in Psychic Terrain. The moveset is fairly straightforward, with Swords Dance used to, well, double Sneasler's attack to deal more damage, Dire Claw being the broken roulette wheel that is is, Close Combat being the best Fighting move in the game and Sneasler's best STAB option, and Throat Chop to hit Ghost types like Calyrex-Shadow and being a stronger option than Shadow Claw. I opted for Tera Stellar as a way for Sneasler to output huge burst damage if it needed to, regardless of what move it wants to go for, as it doesn't need Tera Ghost if it's under psychic terrain.
Koraidon @ Loaded Dice
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Scale Shot
- Low Kick
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Ah, Koraidon, the absolute monster of a bike and the best pokemon introduced in Gen 9 (no, not Miraidon, and I'll debate you all day on that). The set is a fairly straightforward Scale Shot Swords Dance set designed to do nothing more than deal huge damage and take KOs. I opted for Tera Dragon to boost Scale Shot's damage output even more if I need to take a KO on something like a Ho-oh, Arceus-Water, or a Skeledirge if needed in a pinch. I also opted for Jolly over Adamant as some insurance in case Webs either don't get up, or there's something like a 252 Timid Boots Miraidon standing in front of it and I can try to speed tie it. I'm willing to have my mind changed on this, as I'm not 100% sold on Jolly here.
Indeedee @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Psychic Surge
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Shadow Ball
- Healing Wish
- Encore
Indeedee is here mainly to set up Psychic Terrain and not much else. It does have a pretty great typing in Psychic Terrain, as it completely shuts down most Extreme Killer Arceus sets that only run Extreme Speed and Shadow Claw as offense, and it shuts down many Calyrex-Shadow sets, as Grass Knot isn't doing much, and neither is Draining Kiss unless it's set up to a high level. Healing Wish is mainly so that Indeedee can get out of its own way, but it can also come in clutch as a way to heal up something that's heavily crippled to pave the way for a win down the line. Encore is a nice option to halt momentum by locking in something like an Arceus into Recover. I did opt for the Male version of Indeedee mainly because it gets Expanding Force, but I can see the argument for using Female instead, since it gets Baton Pass. This is something I'll have to play with more.
Maushold-Four @ Wide Lens
Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Population Bomb
- Bite
- Thunder Wave
The star of the show (or stars?). It's main job is to click Population Bomb and deal big damage. Agility is here to boost its speed to outpace stuff like Boots Miraidon and Boots Calyrex-Shadow, and I opted for Agility over Tidy Up so that I don't get rid of my own Webs. Technician-boosted Bite is the best way to hit Ghost types, and it also can get clutch flinches, especially when paired with Thunder Wave. It's a very gimmicky set (and Maushold is a very gimmicky Pokemon in this format), but it's a lot of fun and can deal a LOT of damage.
Calyrex-Shadow @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Astral Barrage
- Encore
- Expanding Force
The final Pokemon is the most powerful Pokemon in existence, Calyrex-Shadow. It's a fairly standard, straightforward set, though opting for Expanding Force instead of something like Grass Knot, since Expanding Force does nuclear amounts of damage in psychic terrain. This does make it not good into Ting-lu at all, but the team has 2 fighting types and 4 mice that make that matchup a lot easier to handle. Tera Dark is mainly an improof measure but is also good into opposing Calyrex-Shadow as defensive counterplay into the speed tie or scarf matchup.
Ribombee @ Focus SashAbility: Shield Dust
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Sticky Web
- Moonblast
- Skill Swap
- Pounce
Ribombee is the de-facto Sticky Web user in Anything Goes; it's extremely fast and has some great tools to get around ways to stop Webs, such as Skill Swap to remove Magic Bounce from Hatterene (unless it has Ability Shield, but what can you really do there). Pounce is to slow down faster Pokemon that either try to taunt it or try to get the jump on you from early on in the match and allows you to slow the momentum and swing it in your favor. Tera Steel is to block Mortal Spin from Glimmora, although you don't really want to be clicking Tera on your Ribombee if you can afford not to. In the case of priority users or Prankster Taunt from the likes of Grimmsnarl, you can easily switch into Indeedee to set up Psychic Terrain to block that and proceed from there.
Sneasler @ Psychic Seed Ability: Unburden
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dire Claw
- Close Combat
- Throat Chop
Sneasler was a pick I thought would be fun as it has a monstrous base 130 attack as well as Unburden to boost its speed to insane levels, activated by the Psychic Seed in Psychic Terrain. The moveset is fairly straightforward, with Swords Dance used to, well, double Sneasler's attack to deal more damage, Dire Claw being the broken roulette wheel that is is, Close Combat being the best Fighting move in the game and Sneasler's best STAB option, and Throat Chop to hit Ghost types like Calyrex-Shadow and being a stronger option than Shadow Claw. I opted for Tera Stellar as a way for Sneasler to output huge burst damage if it needed to, regardless of what move it wants to go for, as it doesn't need Tera Ghost if it's under psychic terrain.
Koraidon @ Loaded Dice Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Scale Shot
- Low Kick
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
Ah, Koraidon, the absolute monster of a bike and the best pokemon introduced in Gen 9 (no, not Miraidon, and I'll debate you all day on that). The set is a fairly straightforward Scale Shot Swords Dance set designed to do nothing more than deal huge damage and take KOs. I opted for Tera Dragon to boost Scale Shot's damage output even more if I need to take a KO on something like a Ho-oh, Arceus-Water, or a Skeledirge if needed in a pinch. I also opted for Jolly over Adamant as some insurance in case Webs either don't get up, or there's something like a 252 Timid Boots Miraidon standing in front of it and I can try to speed tie it. I'm willing to have my mind changed on this, as I'm not 100% sold on Jolly here.
Indeedee @ Terrain Extender Ability: Psychic Surge
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 248 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Expanding Force
- Shadow Ball
- Healing Wish
- Encore
Indeedee is here mainly to set up Psychic Terrain and not much else. It does have a pretty great typing in Psychic Terrain, as it completely shuts down most Extreme Killer Arceus sets that only run Extreme Speed and Shadow Claw as offense, and it shuts down many Calyrex-Shadow sets, as Grass Knot isn't doing much, and neither is Draining Kiss unless it's set up to a high level. Healing Wish is mainly so that Indeedee can get out of its own way, but it can also come in clutch as a way to heal up something that's heavily crippled to pave the way for a win down the line. Encore is a nice option to halt momentum by locking in something like an Arceus into Recover. I did opt for the Male version of Indeedee mainly because it gets Expanding Force, but I can see the argument for using Female instead, since it gets Baton Pass. This is something I'll have to play with more.
Maushold-Four @ Wide Lens Ability: Technician
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Agility
- Population Bomb
- Bite
- Thunder Wave
The star of the show (or stars?). It's main job is to click Population Bomb and deal big damage. Agility is here to boost its speed to outpace stuff like Boots Miraidon and Boots Calyrex-Shadow, and I opted for Agility over Tidy Up so that I don't get rid of my own Webs. Technician-boosted Bite is the best way to hit Ghost types, and it also can get clutch flinches, especially when paired with Thunder Wave. It's a very gimmicky set (and Maushold is a very gimmicky Pokemon in this format), but it's a lot of fun and can deal a LOT of damage.
Calyrex-Shadow @ Heavy-Duty Boots Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Astral Barrage
- Encore
- Expanding Force
The final Pokemon is the most powerful Pokemon in existence, Calyrex-Shadow. It's a fairly standard, straightforward set, though opting for Expanding Force instead of something like Grass Knot, since Expanding Force does nuclear amounts of damage in psychic terrain. This does make it not good into Ting-lu at all, but the team has 2 fighting types and 4 mice that make that matchup a lot easier to handle. Tera Dark is mainly an improof measure but is also good into opposing Calyrex-Shadow as defensive counterplay into the speed tie or scarf matchup.
That's the team! It's a lot of fun, and I hope you can have as much fun with it as I've had over the course of DLC2 Scarlet and Violet. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on how to improve the team. Thanks for reading!
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