Anything Goes A Feathered God Beneath The Sea [SVAG peak at 2014 elo + 93 gxe and 80-8 w/l record]

[The one and only buck]

Table of content
1. Introduction and team preview
2. Proof Of Peak
3. Teambuilding process
4. Team explanation
5. Replays and importable
6. Shoutouts
7. Threat list
8. Outro
1. Introduction and team preview
First of all, salutations to all of the Pokémon trainers who partake in this beautiful tier known as “Anything Goes” (although I would argue it’s the name that fit it best). As I said in my last rmt, I decided give another attempt to SVAG and build for the second time in an AG tier, a truly excellent team, not just one able to merely peak but bring along outstanding elo + gxe or w/l record (referring to my last Gen8ndag rmt). 21 days later, my objective has been reached. Without anymore delay, I shall present this amazing semistall of mine:

2. Proof Of Peak
Elo peak and gxe peak
NB: As long as the w/l is concerned, I lost a game due to a dcd and the battle was just at it start so I do not count that as an L in itself. Also got two draws vs the same team.

3. Teambuilding process
Part1: As mentioned in my last rmt as well, the playstyles I always carried on with are Hyper offense, Stall and Semistall. Naturally when I stepped into the meta again, I built and tested several teams along those lines but nothing was working. It didn’t come as easy I expected it to come —if anything, it was extremely hard. So I took a pause and tried to picture what would be the best approach. Ho was definitely out of the list. It can not be good as it has always been very luck dependent and not very hax resilient. At most I could obtain a little peak but not was I was looking for. Then a former friend said something like “stall is shit in this meta. Use bulky offense blah blah blah”. I listened to him for a while and did make bulky offense team which did help me peak at 1998 two weeks ago. I thought I had it. Then I tried to achieved a decent w/l record but failed and realized how inconsistent the team was, later after that I had a conversation with a very skilled player which changed or rather corrected my views on the matter. Peaking wasn’t enough to define a team as being truly good yet amazing. And at approximately the same time I watched and admired how the great Pokémon trainer Greenland Shadow, conquered the tier and achieved a gxe of 93.6 with a stall team and a record of 90-6. I turned upon stall and semistall again as I was now convinced only them could help me. I then entered a short process of building testing deleting. I built a lot of stalls all revolving around more or less the same mons and who shared more or the same weaknesses. Dismantled mons who grew in popularity like Gholdengo, garganacl or the scary annihilape. And I realized the teams that built had just started ressembling Greenland’s team or I was simply trying to copy em and make something better. But of course, I failed again. I was beginning to think I just didn’t have the skill to build a good stall team. A good stall wasn’t ez to make anyway after all. And so I wondered upon my last option, semistall. Many perceive it to be just another variant of stall as a play style (and they’re probably right) but I always saw it as something a bit different. My definition of it would be: pick a very dangerous mon able to do massive direct damage. So dangerous it can 2hko MOST if not all of the stuffs that are supposed to wall it. Then make and almost-perfect defensive core which synergies well enough with the “dangerous mon” to have its weaknesses smashed by it. At least that’s how I view it and apply it whenever I build one. The “dangerous mon” I settled for was choice band Koraidon, something which came to be my favorite mon tied with ho-oh. From that as a base, I built loads of defensive cores but it still wasn’t working. It couldn’t fit well. I was still losing a few times to the mons I mentioned above or sometimes I just failed to wall the stuffs I was supposed to wall like chien pao with sd or cm miraidon. So I applied the same technique I apply when I’m lost, daydreaming + enjoyable music with lyrics, and I then felt this “inspiration”. I hopped into the builder and started sketching the mons I would use as my defensive core.

Corviknight just felt mandatory. Not only is it the only reliable defogger but it possesses the very solid steel + flying typing granting it a lot of useful resistance and immunities. And more importantly, the amazing ability pressure. Pretty useful to possess on any stall.

My next step was to find something allowing to wall well enough physical attackers like koraidon, chien pao, baxcalibur and many more. And for a long period of time I thought skeledirge’s contribution was indispensable so adding it naturally became a habit. A bad one, I knew it was. I brainstormed upon what would the mon/mons that would do the job and thus settled upon a regenerator core of toxapex + alomomola. The first one possessing a tspikes set to pressure offensive teams even more and the latter to punish physical attackers a bit more with the rocky helmet and heal members of the team who are unable to do so themselves.

Next was to find the perfect combination of mons and sets to wall the omniscient miraidon. Walling this mon completely let in be in the builder or in practice isn’t an easy task, considering the various sets that it could run. I decided to use blissey + a ground type mon. The ground type mon in question would be ting Lu over clodsire for loads of reasons. It possesses a good Spdef bulk like clodsire and benefits from its ability but also possesses a reasonable if not very good defense too, allowing it to take less damage from mons like iron treads and even being capable of 1v1ing em. Ruination + Eq is also better to chip down mons, especially those who aren’t affected by toxic like corviknight. And lastly, it can act as a phazer vs strats like bp due to the fact that it can learn whirlwind.

At last my defensive core was completed and I added the feathered god to complete the team. From there the team underwent a lot of changes, let it be from the sets to the Tera types.
Part2: Let’s start with corviknight. I gave it the moves: defog/roost/brave bird/u turn + the water tera type. The water tera type had became a habit on corvi since at the start of the gen, baxcalibur was far common than it is now. But then it fell in usage and the Tera type couldn’t pull its weight anymore. I switched it to bug since it could wall both of great tusk’s stab but latter switched to flying who was able to wall great tusk better anyw and could benefit from the STAB X2 boost given by Tera. I also naturally gave it the least amount of speed possible.
Next comes Toxapex. I started with the moves chilling water/ toxic spikes/ recover/ haze and didn’t bother changing its Tera type because I never expected myself to have to Tera toxapex. Why? Cuz at the time I’d given it the black sludge to be able to chip down trick gholdengo. But then I found myself in situations were I needed toxapex to Tera and the black sludge would chip it. I decided it was better to give it leftovers and that I could handle gholdengo in another way. I gave it the move liquidation over cwater as it could break flutter mane’s sub + cwater wasn’t really pulling its weight at the time and I also gave it a flying Tera type as it could avoid being trapped by dugtrio, but sd wild charge koraidon or bulk up sets seemed to had become more common. So I switched it to tera ground and gave it back cwater so as to handle taunt bulk sets much more easily. I also gave it 4evs of speed so as to always out speed garganacl who wouldn’t run any speed. Out speeding it is necessary. I’ll explain why in the threat list. I realized sd wc still wasn’t that of a threat tho so I switched back to flying.
The next mon is blissey. For a long time I used the moves: seismic toss/shadow ball/ soft boil/ thunder wave and the ghost Tera type. It was optimal for a while but eventually stopped working vs what it was primarily here to wall, miraidon. I replaced thunder wave with calm mind which REALLY GAVE AN EASIER TIME VS CMs SETS. And gave it the Tera ground as trapping lost in usage. This enabled me to stonewall sets like cm parabolic charge.
Ting-Lu was a simple to set. Whirlwind/ ruination/ earthquake/ spikes. I gave it the Fairy tera type as it can can be handy to wall miraidon’s draco meteor. I gave it 4evs of speed so as to always use whirlwind first when facing other tinglus.
4. Team explanation

Faithful Knight (Corviknight) @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Flying
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Roost
- U-turn
- Brave Bird
- Defog
Corviknight is the team’s defogger and pivoter.
Roost and lefties are used to keep it healthy. Brave bird over body press because defiant annihilape has become more common so people would be tempted to mindlessly switch into a defog. U turn with minimum speed is to conserve the momentum, especially vs opposing corviknight. It’s also a safe way on bringing band koraidon to rapidly pick KOes. You should always deny opponent’s hazards in early game and stall them as much as possible with pressure and inversely, stall their defog.

The Grinch (Toxapex) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Flying/Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Haze
- Toxic Spikes
- Chilling Water
- Recover
The first part of the team’s physical regen-core. Toxapex acts as a hazer to prevent the likes of koraidon without taunt or cm flutter mane from gaining too much dangerousness. Tspikes helps to pressure offensive teams a lot. Cwater counters taunt + bulk up sets which would be used on mons like palafin or koraidon. Also enables it to 1v1 iron treads some times due to the attack drop assuming the iron treads would try to do stuffs like spinning or setting rocks. Recover is to stay healthy without having to necessarily switch. Tbh I tested flying and ground and both seem to fit. Though flying is more optimal. The ground Tera type is not die to sd wc kora.

The snamegoat (Alomomola) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Play Rough
- Wish
- Protect
- Whirlpool
The second part of the regen-core. Alomomola plays a great role in the team. Checks and chip down mons like choice koraidon or choice chien pao due to the rocky helmet. Play rough gives consistent damage against koraidon, chien pao, baxcalibur, great tusk and many more. Wpool gives an additional chip damage on them if necessary. Wish + tect is to stay healthy. Wish can also heal teammates like koraidon or ting Lu who cannot heal themselves. The Tera fairy is to resist koraidon’s stab and chien pao’s dark type. The minimum speed is to move after corviknight’s u turn.

Da Angelic Gardner (Blissey) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Natural Cure
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Soft-Boiled
- Seismic Toss
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
The team’s main spdef wall. Half-Checks miraidon and stonewalls iron bundle. Also a walls flutter mane without psyshock though psyshock sets are not every threatening themselves. Cm and Tera will rarely turn up to be use as the main purpose is for cm parabolic charge miraidon (or maybe it shall indeed be used a lot as I foresee that variant to rise in usage). Always keep it healthy when the opponent does possess a Spa attacker. Seismic toss is for a consistent damage output. And of course Shadow ball is to hit ghost mons like flutter mane.


The Santagoat (Ting-Lu) @ Leftovers
Ability: Vessel of Ruin
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Ruination
- Spikes
The team’s hazard setter and the second part of the miraidon wall. Ting Lu is the main miraidon switch in. Eq is for the consistent damage and ruination is to hit when Eq would be weaker or won’t hit. Spikes over rocks because they hit do more damage and the only notable flying type is corviknight but the team doesn’t need rock damage to handle it anyway. Whirlwind is to phaze vs bp, bulk up great tusk if necessary and cm miraidon. And of course, Leftovers for a minimum of recovery. The Tera Type is to for miraidon’s dragon move as mentioned before and the 4 evs is to not rely on speed ties vs other Ting Lus when it comes to whirlwinding.

The Feathered God (Koraidon) @ Choice Band
Ability: Orichalcum Pulse
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Outrage
At last, here comes The Ace. The choice banded Koraidon. Max attack and max speed with jolly to hit strong and fast of course. U turn is to pivot in case attacking with the three other moves wouldn’t be optimal. It’s more of a filler as I don’t think there isn’t really anything better. Flare blitz + Tera fire + sun is lethal. Close combat and outrage are his strongest STABs. With choice band, koraidon can 2HKO any of the mons supposed to switch into it or check it.

Notable calcs

252 Atk Choice Band Orichalcum Pulse Koraidon Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Dondozo: 264-312 (52.3 - 61.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after 1 layer of Spikes and Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Orichalcum Pulse Tera Fire Koraidon Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Skeledirge in Sun: 217-256 (52.7 - 62.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Orichalcum Pulse Tera Fire Koraidon Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Protosynthesis Great Tusk in Sun: 279-328 (64.2 - 75.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Choice Band Orichalcum Pulse Tera Fire Koraidon Outrage vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 214-253 (70.3 - 83.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after 1 layer of Spikes and Black Sludge recovery

5. Replays
Nb: some replays might have a few different sets (especially the replays with the acc “Buck is stallish” but they still show the team’s logic and effectiveness)

Vs Greenland Shadow (an extremely skillful trainer who possesses the highest gxe achieved atm)
Vs adf test. Lost blissey to cm mirai due to a Crit but (there wasn’t a speed tie)
Vs world breaker odin
Vs Testinthisgarbage
Again
Again
Vs wrathoftheleopard
Vs 1729is56time (a skilled trainer)
Vs jb291 (a skilled trainer)
Again
Again
Vs banmeubot
Vs June (jojos)
Vs adhiraj8202
Vs Pureandsmashing (an extremely skilled trainer)
Vs Trade (a skilled trainer)
Again
Again
Vs smoolic alt
Vs RavenXistence
Vs Gigabytes7
Vs I like ganyu
Vs Salvagelordronin
Vs Lisa781 (a skilled trainer)
Vs LaprasPlayer
Vs inoion
Vs Taxfraud094
Again
Again
I will stop it here.
Importable

6. Shoutouts
Big shoutout to the Pokémon trainers Greenland Shadow and Pureandsmashing. Watching better players than myself achieve what I wish to achieve some day always acts as a big motivation booster on me + a source of inspiration.

7. Threat list
NB: I’ll be going over the top 35 mons in the usage.
: The relevant sets include specs, scarf, life orb and cm lefties (cm might be on lorb) Ting Lu is the prime switch in to miraidon in early game. If it uses Draco meteor and ting lu loses about half of its life then its a specs set. From there u start by laying a layer of spikes since miraidon would most likely switch and every now and then when miraidon manages to comeinto the field, blissey is the switch in, even if it gets volt switched on multiple times. Try to enable ting Lu to regain a bit of health with lefties by switching and keep blissey healthy. Alomomola can also be handy if miraidon comes vs it as it can help u scout for the move + wasting a pp from its most powerful moves (dmeteor or Edrift). If the situation calls for it, it can even kill a choice mirai as shown in one of my replays. Do not rely on it though, the opponent might just play cautiously and switch. If u switch ting lu into a cm set, immediately whirlwind. From there blissey becomes the optimal switch in by default. Lorb sets aren’t very scary as they still do not 2HKO ting lu (barring Tera)nor threaten a healthy blissey.

: Toxapex is the switch in by default in early game so as to prevent any setup. If it uses sd then haze. If it uses bulk up then immediately use cwater. If it u turns then it’s most likely a choice set. In any case, if you have the confirmation it’s not a setup set, alomomola becomes the switch in by default so as to rack a maximum amount of chip with from helmet + wpool and possibly kill it with play rough. If it’s an sd with wc and toxa dies, Tera alomomola.
: toxapex is the default switch in to this one too. If it uses sd then haze and recover. If it’s an sd + lorb then switch to alomomola to chip and kill it with helmet and (possibly Tera boosted) play rough. If pex loses half of its life on a STAB move without recoil damage then it’s a band set, use the power of the regencore and Alo’s helmet to wall and chip it.
: Not a threat on its own tho a rocky helmet set could annoy koraidon. The team’s own corviknight is the main switch in to it so as to pressure a potential defog or anything. Alomomola can also help chip and force it to roost it with helmet + wpool as you’ll always hit after corviknight. And ofc koraidon can always nuke it with a big 120 BP move (barring outrage unless it teraed to something that do not resist it)
: twave blissey made facing it a lot easier but it’s still easy to handle it without twave. Blissey is the main switch in. Use sball and fetch for Spdef drops forcing it to heal and switch. If u get no Spdef drop and it’s at +2, switch to ting lu and phaze. Try to stall torch song with blissey n ting lu. Koraidon can also handle it with band let it be with Tera fblitz or outrage (preferably the first one). Ofc if you bring or intend to bring koraidon vs it then you’ll need to Tera fire so conserve Tera.
: Not really an issue at all. Corviknight is ALWAYS the switch in most of the time so as pressure possible hazards, toxic or Eq pps. Brave bird does enough damage to fairly threaten it (3hko iirc, I’ve been typing for too long and couldn’t be bothered calcing).
: Can be dangerous. I’d say blissey or pex are good switch ins since they both tank flutter’s STAB + psyshock fairly well. Always safer to go blissey tho. If it’s a cm set (regardless of item) try to haze then go ting lu as it will go cm again. Ting Lu can take the hit and kill it or reduce its hp to under 25%. Blissey can take the baton with sball from there. Tera ting Lu if necessary to be able to take it down and win ( assuming the opp doesn’t possess miraidon or his miraidon can be walled by blissey)
: Won’t say much about it, walled by blissey normally. Don’t Tera blissey if the opp has it. The scariest set would be Tera water specs under rain. You might find yourself having to sacrifice a mon and Tera ting lu in that case. Not a very common style though.
: Annoying mf. You would most likely need to avoid denying hazards assuming the opponent has it as it will most likely run defiant. Brave bird 2hkoes and tera flying can also reduce the healing from drain punch. Normally, koraidon switch ins into taunt is how u dismantle teams with annihilape as u can still ohko at +1/+2 defense. You either kill it or the opp sacks something to try to conserve it. If they do then the same process will repeat.
: not that much of a threat. The only thing that can be annoying would be a fissure set as it would force corviknight to always be the switch in. Deny its hazards and stall its ruination pps while healing with lefties or roost. Corviknight usually moves after it so it makes it easier. If it doesn’t have fissure then koraidon can just switch into it to either chip and pivot out of a threat with u turn or pick rapid KOes. Alomomola too can chip/kill if it’s at range with wpool + play rough.
: Corviknight is the switch in by default. If it’s a rock set then deny them while lowering its hp with bbird. Bulk up is more annoying to deal with. Usually, chip it with a bbird or two (usually one) then uturn to alomomola to chip it more with wpool + a possible helmet damage + play rough. In theory, even if u failed to kill it, u chipped it enough for koraidon to finish the job.
: No designated switch ins for it, depends on the situation mostly. If anything corviknight or ting lu, to either deny its hazards or chip/kill it while trying to set ur own hazards assuming they switch out. Try to uturn v it into a koraidon too as it will enable it do its job more easily and start shredding teams.
: Not really a mon worth talking about. Can be walled by essentially all of the team’s defensive core members. Assuming that, last respect has a very high BP, ting lu would be the optimal switch in to handle it (assuming it’s still healthy) . If it’s sand rush then koraidon can disrupt it and simply nuke it. Don’t switch in with koraidon though, it might get will o wisped.
: Bulk up handled by pex. Any other set is chipped and handled by abusing the regencore + alo’s helmet.
: Ting lu is the main switch so as to avoid any paralysis. If it has rocks tho, corviknight can as well switch into it, defog and threaten it with brave bird.
: Usually a lead. Always send koraidon and kill with cc (2HKO if sash). Toxapex can always remove the tspikes later.
: don’t really know what to say about it, the only set I saw was scarf and from one person. Blissey is threatened though.
: Now that blissey lost the ghost Tera it could be more of an issue. Usually you might need to Tera tox. Don’t try to hard to keep blissey alive with weird switches tho.
: The only set which can disrupt the team is choice trick. There are generally 3 mons who wouldn’t mind getting tricked: pex, ting lu, koraidon. By “wouldn’t mind” I mean it would usually not be very game-changing. If koraidon is healthy enough, it can switch in and threaten it with flare blitz. You can also play safe and let one of the other two mons get trick. Gholdengo wouldn’t be able to break through normally as it suffers from 4MSS, it can’t run everything at the same time.
: Not really a threat. 2hkoed by cc from koraidon. Do not outrage vs it unless the opponent already revealed tera as it could be a wpool play rough set.
: walled by corviknight, toxapex and alomomola.
This one is probably one of the most dangerous threats if not the most dangerous this team would face. It’s manageable if it’s not a scarf set as even if u end up sacking some mons vs it, koraidon can come in and reverse the situation. Scarf is walled by blissey. Ting Lu can tank a hit from it and ohko with Eq.
: Can’t really threaten the team regardless of who it copies. If it copies koraidon then alomomola is the switch in, so as to chip it with the helmet.
: toxapex is the prime switch in to it unless you already know the set. This is because it can usually be a mix set and iron valiant can not ohko toxapex regardless of the set or move (from what I’ve seen). If there’s isn’t a physical fighting move, blissey and ting Lu can handle it.
: Normally this is only on bp. Ting Lu is the main switch in. It doesn’t take Eq very well so just spam till it faints or whirlwind on an eventual baton pass.
: Only baneful banker sets can cause troubles as they would usually poison koraidon if not handled well. Corviknight is the main switch in so as to pressure anything like toxic. Do not defog its spikes as ur own pex can remove em.
: Have never really been troubled by it nor did I face it often. Pex can haze, ting lu can just set hazards and Ww. They’re bulky enough to tank any ice move (usually one attacking move) it uses.
: Only sd is a threat. Normally you’ll have to keep koraidon’s type to ensure not getting killed by spunch. Toxapex is the prime switching tho. If it sd then haze. If it does anything else apart from switching then use cwater as it could potentially still be sd. If it’s definitely not an sd set then no need to really care about it. Set hazards while slowly chipping it.
: Can be annoying but not a massive threat. Corviknight is the main switch in. If breloom has spore then it’s usually sd with technician. Just stay on corviknight to burn some sleep turn and eventually ohko with brave bird (some don’t run sash) or u turn into koraidon to kill it. If it gains too much boosts then Tera flying is likely the next thing to do.
: Can become dangerous if not taken care of. Ting Lu is usually the main switch in. Normally it’s ALWAYS CM so chipping with Eq and using Ww is usually what to do. If it doesn’t have enough boosts then Tera fire koraidon can also kill it (Tera fire because they usually run dgleam). Don’t let it get at +3 in SPA.
: Alomomola is the main switch in. It’s usually a set up set of either dd or sd. Teraing Alomomola is usually needed to kill them quickly with wpool + play rough. Do not Tera on it immediately though.
: Set up sets with the right Tera type like electric can nuke the defensive core. Normally if I fear such a set, I would switch in with koraidon (assuming it’s healthy) to check if it’s gonna sd, and threaten it with a cc if it does. It’s walled by pex even if it’s an sd set assuming it doesn’t possess a super effective Tera blast.
: It’s low in usage but it can be a huge threat if it has the correct Tera type and set. Pex is the switch in so as to haze after a dd. If it possesses Eq then lay a layer of tspikes (assuming you live without an att boost) and switch ting lu to phaze and potentially poison a mon or u can just immediately switch ting lu to use ruination and Ww. If it doesn’t have roost then alomomola is able to bring it down.
Switch blissey or ting lu to check if twave. If it has rocks then corvi is the switch-in to deny em. It’s 2HKO by Tera fire blitz but do not let koraidon in after hitting it once, unless the opponent revealed his Tera. It could possess the water tera and twave koraidon.
: Ting lu is the switch in. Kill it with Eq. If it Teras and happens to have morning sun then just ww and kill it later with koraidon. If doesn’t have morning sun then blissey and ting Lu can take it down, separately.
8. Outro
Climbing the SVAG ladder was a rather long annoying-but-satisfying experience and it helped me make a little more steps on journey to Pokémon mastery. I feel like I really need to try out something else though so ladder-wise, I’ll be turning my attention towards Balanced Hackmons and hopefully I’ll achieve something comparable to what I did on this ladder. I was lucky enough and my AG-laddering happened to end near the same time where the poison heal suspect test ended as I wouldn’t have touched the meta before it was. Though I might still randomly ladder in AG when I feel like to (will update the peaks if I achieve higher than that) Pardon me if the threat list feels sloppy (idt it is though), I was out of time and tried to be brief. Cya .