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Sadly nobody picked Nidoking, which was probably one of the biggest threats I’ve faced using this team. But there were some good picks I think to break my team. Mane + Drei isn’t really effective considering Togekiss walls
and Mane is either completely stopped by Swampert or Sceptile. DD Kommo in theory is hard to stop, but it isn’t setting up on anything and cannot OHKO Toge at +1. Babiri Toge will struggle to set up constantly switching into Mega Sceptile, as it is forced to Roost without Leftovers. Plus, Gengar and Rotom both counter it. My pick would be one of the NP Fire types, as they are both pretty big threats on paper. I’d pick Twilight, because I love Doomer and that specific Zera can also deal
Some damage.
We had a bit of a tiebreak scenario and it was really tough to choose between Hilomilo's and Twilight's submissions, but I'll go with Hilomilo's core because it seems to have a more flexible time operating vs Adaam's team as opposed to Twilight's core which is heavily pressured by Mega Sceptile. Congratulations to Hilomilo for winning this week! Thanks to our contributors for whipping up some great submissions as per usual.
So I initially wanted to build around Choice Band Stakataka because good user dingbat told about how amazing this set was and Twilight has also used this team to some extent. So this team ended up being created pretty fluidly and through some changes, is a well-rounded team. So when I think of Stakataka, I immediately thought of Palossand which pairs up nicely as a rocker and improves my Fighting mu immensely and is a Mega Aerodactyl check. I did lack something to face against opposing bulky Grounds so Mowtom came up as my hazard removal and better matchup against the likes of Hippowdon, Swampert, and Seismitoad which Stakataka seriously appreciates. I soon enough would find out that this team needed something against Amoonguss so Z-Dream Eater worked nicely to lure in and remove it. Next up was that I looked kind of weak to Scizor so Moltres was easy to place on the team and it has a Sharp Beak for deadlier Hurricanes. It also forms a solid VoltTurn with Mowtom as these two mons remove each other’s answers. Next up was my speed control and revenge killer to Hydreigon and Latias so I have Zeraora to remove them through strategic play and support from pivoting. Finally Mega Altaria just provides that nifty blanket check to Krookodile, Latias, Terrakion, Hydreigon and also being the set-up sweeper and stallbreaker that capitalizes nicely from Mowtom and Stakataka and removes weakened teams. This team is overall a fairly solid team that utilizes some good simplicity. It was also a team that came together fluidly as said before.
Good luck, and please remember to submit your cores by Thursday.
Terrakion @ Choice Band
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Quick Attack
Moltres @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- Fire Blast
- Roost
- U-turn
I see this team is kinda weak to this core, palossand gets forced out and Flyinium Z Hurricane does alot to all but Staka which gets 2hko with the right prediction in Fire Blast. Terrakion using quick attack to either weaken or revenge zeraora. Moltres being a good pivot and forcing Staka to predict hard which it either takes a Fire Blast or deals with a Terrak
Barbaracle + Spikes is fun as hell and does a number against this team. Magnet Rise keys forces Moltres or Mega Altaria to switch into Klefki, which lets Barb set up Shell Smash and go ham. Earthquake hits Stakataka hard as possible and in general is nice since it hits Empoleon. Liquidation gets Moltres, Zera, and Pablo. Mega Altaria drops to Z-Move. Mow dies to Stone Edge. ez clap
+2 252 Atk Barbaracle Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 0- Def Stakataka: 448-528 (137.4 - 161.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Barbaracle Stone Edge vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Rotom-Mow: 265-313 (109.9 - 129.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
etc
Hydreigon @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Dark Pulse
- Fire Blast
- U-turn
To say the least, this team has 0 switch-ins to gengar. While it doesn't outright OHKO everything, it does so much work. Has coverage to hit everything, and the choice of ghostium to one hit a mon. Hydreigon lets gengar come in safely on altaria, which is pretty much sub bait due to having no earthquake. These two are a deadly combo, and really are not to be messed with since the combo can deal with the whole team.
After I noticed that the team’s water switchins were Rotom-mow and altaria-mega, icium-z suicune seemed like a great idea to lure those 2 mons in and nuke them with z-ice beam. Furthermore, suicune has the ability to set up easily against mons like pallosand and band locked Stakataka in gyro ball. However, zeraora is a mon that can stop suicune’s sweep short. This is where amoongus comes in, easily tanking any move that zeraora throws at it, and in return lures in mons like moltres and Rotom-mow, which it can cripple with spore/stun spore or deal heavy damage with sludge bomb respectively.
SubRoost Kyurem is a huge threat for the team since it can pressure almost every single Pokemon in the team thanks to Ice Beam + Earth Power. It can also force out Palossand and Rotom-Mow which gives it a free sub. Once under its Sub, it can threaten even more the team. On the other hand, we have DD Refresh Altaria-Mega which enjoys the fact that Kyurem can get rid of Stakataka. Altaria-Mega can also check Zeraora for Kyurem.
Been a while since I've used Bayb's squad. I think Celebi has the potential to be super scary for this squad at +2 especially with how easily it can set-up vs Palossand and Mowtom. As the team has no Dark type it can freely run the Groundium-Z set and just kill stuff like Staka, Zera and Malt. The best response to it is either Malt which has a chance to drop to Ground-Z after SR or Moltres which dies to Psychic after little chip dmg. Needless to say it will beat the other members for obvious reasons, even Zera does some pitiful dmg back with Knock Off. Mega Aero is a nice partner which pressures the Staka with EQ and comfortably switches into Moltres. It invites in Palossand as well which is a free double into Celebi to set-up. Its faster than Zera so it can just kill that at some point and can get the chip dmg vs Malt for Celebi to sweep. Last moveslot is up to the user. Pursuit gets the garuanteed chip vs Moltres or Ice Fang to do more dmg to Rotom and Malt without fearing the miss. Hope you like the core ^_^
252 Atk Life Orb Zeraora Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Celebi: 166-198 (48.6 - 58%) -- 96.1% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 SpA Celebi Tectonic Rage (175 BP) vs. 248 HP / 0 SpD Altaria-Mega: 305-359 (86.4 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 SpA Celebi Psychic vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Moltres: 280-330 (87.2 - 102.8%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
Recently I've been a pretty big fan of Zydog and its DD set is no exception. It matches up super well against this team, since at +1 Thousand Arrows can 2HKO Altaria while a boosted Z-Outrage powers through Palossand. It can also set up as it forces out Moltres and Staka. Moltres is a really nice partner for DD Zydog and strengthens the matchup against this team in that it switches into Mega Altaria and weakens it, does some wallbreaking, and pivots Zydog into play. It also outruns and KOs Rotom which can be annoying for Zygarde-10% sometimes. Thanks for reading!
First going with Moute since my Kyurem switchin is clicking x
Next is Twilight Groundium Celebi has been pretty inferior for a while now but sometimes that inferiority can be a blessing in disguise.
