CAP Secret Santa

[G-Luke]

https://pokepast.es/1084fa2e99aa4b12

So, I was tasked with fulfilling the wishes of Jho in creating a team consisting of Tyranitar and Smokomodo. I had such fun with the build, that I actually made two separate teams, but this one is the main so I'll take the time out to handle this first.

So I went with offler's favourite spread for Smoko with its offensive stallbreaker set. Mega Tyranitar serves as a great Stealth Rock setter and Pursuit trapper, keeping up Rocks against most viable Rock removers, and beating top checks to Smokomodo in Mega Latios/as, Pajantom and even Snaelstrom. I decided I needed a Ground immunity, a more solid Fairy resist (Smoko is rather frail), and a physically defensive Mega Crucibelle check, so I went with Celesteela. I chose Earthquake over Flamethrower so it can not only better check Cruci, but not be switch in bait to Heatran, Smokomodo and Krilowatt, which can prove difficult to switch in on. I noted that Volkraken places enormous pressure on the team so far, so I added what is most likely its best switch in, Arghonaut. I originally went with Earthquake + Ice Punch to be able to cause immediate heavy damage to Volk, but I noted that the utility of Circle Throw was too good to pass up, so I went with it instead. After that I added Cyclohm to primarily beat Swords Dance Caribolt. It also acts as a secondary Tornadus-T check, as Static has proven to be most useful on predicted U-turns. Finally I slapped on Tornadus-T himself, as my team needed a Defogger and Torn is quite literally the best at the job. It also helps to have a secondary Ground immunity to place much more offensive pressure to Pokemon like Landorus-T much better than Celesteela ever could. I chose LO over Flyinium Z as I valued being able to do potent damage with Hidden Power Ground against switch ins like Mega Crucibelle.

Threats to Team

Krilowatt - I dont have much options against Krilowatt other than switching in Mega Tyranitar, or applying appropriate offensive pressure. While beatable, it is a major threat to the team.

Mega Alakazam - With its blazing speed and power, a well played Mega Zam can absolutely wreck the build. Tyranitar is the team's best bet, and that is afraid of Focus Blast.

Mega Diancie - This Pokemon is extremely hard to switch into, and very well maybe one of the best offensive measures to keep the team in check. Thankfully it is not anywhere near as common as the other previously mentioned threats, but it is still noteworthy.

I hope Jho will find as much success as I have using this team, as it was a blast to build and play with. And I promise the second Meme Dream Team version will be coming soon! Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

 

[Voltage]

https://pokepast.es/1084fa2e99aa4b12

So, I was tasked with fulfilling the wishes of Jho in creating a team consisting of Tyranitar and Smokomodo. I had such fun with the build, that I actually made two separate teams, but this one is the main so I'll take the time out to handle this first.

So I went with offler's favourite spread for Smoko with its offensive stallbreaker set. Mega Tyranitar serves as a great Stealth Rock setter and Pursuit trapper, keeping up Rocks against most viable Rock removers, and beating top checks to Smokomodo in Mega Latios/as, Pajantom and even Snaelstrom. I decided I needed a Ground immunity, a more solid Fairy resist (Smoko is rather frail), and a physically defensive Mega Crucibelle check, so I went with Celesteela. I chose Earthquake over Flamethrower so it can not only better check Cruci, but not be switch in bait to Heatran, Smokomodo and Krilowatt, which can prove difficult to switch in on. I noted that Volkraken places enormous pressure on the team so far, so I added what is most likely its best switch in, Arghonaut. I originally went with Earthquake + Ice Punch to be able to cause immediate heavy damage to Volk, but I noted that the utility of Circle Throw was too good to pass up, so I went with it instead. After that I added Cyclohm to primarily beat Swords Dance Caribolt. It also acts as a secondary Tornadus-T check, as Static has proven to be most useful on predicted U-turns. Finally I slapped on Tornadus-T himself, as my team needed a Defogger and Torn is quite literally the best at the job. It also helps to have a secondary Ground immunity to place much more offensive pressure to Pokemon like Landorus-T much better than Celesteela ever could. I chose LO over Flyinium Z as I valued being able to do potent damage with Hidden Power Ground against switch ins like Mega Crucibelle.

Threats to Team

Krilowatt - I dont have much options against Krilowatt other than switching in Mega Tyranitar, or applying appropriate offensive pressure. While beatable, it is a major threat to the team.

Mega Alakazam - With its blazing speed and power, a well played Mega Zam can absolutely wreck the build. Tyranitar is the team's best bet, and that is afraid of Focus Blast.

Mega Diancie - This Pokemon is extremely hard to switch into, and very well maybe one of the best offensive measures to keep the team in check. Thankfully it is not anywhere near as common as the other previously mentioned threats, but it is still noteworthy.

I hope Jho will find as much success as I have using this team, as it was a blast to build and play with. And I promise the second Meme Dream Team version will be coming soon! Enjoy, and Happy Holidays!

I made a video and gave this team a whirl. It's definitely really fun and well made.

EDIT: The team I mean, it's well made.

 

[snake]

Heaven Jay asked me to build a team using the powerful Choice Band Victini + Drought Jumbao core. Unfortunately, this team includes Zygarde, so if the Pokemon is rendered banned, I'll rebuild the team (although I think it'll be significantly clunkier if I have to change it). Without further ado, here is the team:

https://pokepast.es/4652e0fc402a79e7

Here's how the teambuilding process went down.

First, I added on Choice Band Victini and Drought Jumbao, key components of the "kablam" strategy. Sun- and Choice Band-boosted V-Create is insane, 2HKOing even Arghonaut. I left the Jumbao set for later, trying to decide between Choice Scarf or Choice Specs, but I had a feeling Choice Scarf would prevail.

Then, I recognized that Mega Crucibelle, Heatran, and Pajantom were key threats that made spamming V-Create tough. I added Zygarde and Weavile in response to these threats, but they provide utility outside of simply checking these Pokemon. Zygarde provides a way to clean the opposing team with Dragon Dance and speed control with Glare. While the set is team-specific, it fits this team quite well, slowing down almost offensive Pokemon into "kablam" zone. Weavile stops Necturna from utterly demolishing the team and is another great wallbreaker that likes to pivot out of some of the Pokemon that Victini draws in.

It was at this point that I wanted to set Jumbao to Choice Scarf, improving the team's matchup against Aurumoth and providing Healing Wish support, which is useful for a fast-paced team like this.

Finally, I finished the team with a tried-and-true "regen" core, Tornadus-T + Mega Crucibelle. These on their own provide hazard control and great offensive presence. While I wanted Fightinium Z Tornadus-T to capitalize on Mega Tyranitar switching in, Flyinium Z proves too useful with sun up often. Overall, with the team being hyper offense, one wrong move can cost a game, but aggressive plays can end matches quickly. It's satisfying when it's safe to click V-Create under sun and watch the switch-in under the "kablam."

 

[Jho]

For my Secret Santa, I built a team using Caribolt and Kitsunoh, requested by Marjane Here it is:

https://pokepast.es/5127442807834222

This build was actually quite hard for me to figure out because Caribolt and Kitsunoh dont really have any synergy with each other, making fitting them together on a team quite difficult. After trying to build around the "core" for a few teams and getting results i wasn't quite happy with (which will be included for everyone's enjoyment), I instead tried to build around Caribolt itself and forcing the team in a way that made Kitsunoh a good pick.

We started with the Pretty standard Caribolt + Weavile core which is pretty self explanatory: Weavile traps all of Caribolts best checks, namely Mega Lati@s and Pajantom.

Next up i wanted a fire resist, something that could come in on Volkraken but could also deal with Ash Gren since my current water resist could not. After some previous versions of the team had struggled immensely in stall matchups, Mega Gyara made its way onto the team - giving me a much sturdier water resist, a much needed Volkraken check and a secondary win condition in the form of Dragon Dance. The chosen spread lets it switch into Specs Greninja even when rocks are up, which is nice.

Clearly still not content with the stall matchup, I added a Lele. This was actually in order to have a Fighting resist which helps break through things like Jumbao, Magearna and Tangrowth which the team struggled with up till this point. Granted it still struggles with them but Leles threat will often force in something our sweepers can set up on (ferrothorn, Celesteela etc) or get big chip on something they struggle with, helping out the sweep later on. Basically, let lele dent everything so Gyara or Cari can win, p simple.

Here was the perfect time to add Kitsunoh, as i needed a scarfer aswell as a strong U-turn user in order to get Weavile and Lele in as often as possible to threaten opposing walls and checks to the sweepers. Kitsunoh is earthquake to help with the Crucibelle / Magearna matchup but could also be meteor mash to help vs Jumbao.

Finally, my inner snor came out and i slapped on a Landorus-T for the Crucibelle matchup (It was originally a Zygarde until I saw i forgot rocks...). This Landorus set lets you soft check cruci whilst outpacing nect so you can toxic it if it tried to set up on you as well as giving you another uturn user to bring in your breakers as often as possible. As the only real pivot on the team Landorus is often strained, which Iapapa does help with, but it can still get word down easily and is best saved for an emergency Crucibelle check if the opponent does have one.

Anywhomst thats the team i actually really enjoy it! The build was interesting because i tried to go fatter than a normal Caribolt build but more offensive than teams Kitsunoh is comfortable on, as they really dont matchup well together but this team does it pretty okay imo. In all honesty, Kitsunoh could probably be something else that helps in the worse matchups a bit better. Something like Magearna could be hot but its still pretty servicable.

Onto the bit everyon's waiting for: The Rejects. There were 4 to be exact but i deleted the first one because it annoyed me, so heres the other 3

reject

https://pokepast.es/d40661a60593d796
Rejected because stall matchup was based entirley around fini which meant if i tspike went up you lost, very fun.

https://pokepast.es/ab8bcafee1495859
Rejected because no one should be forced to use this landorus set just to deal with stall. I do like this team shell tho as you can tell i used it twice. Ill probably return to it with a Reuniclus over Caribolt and see what good comes of that...

https://pokepast.es/8bcc57d611de942b
And here we see the exact moment in time I became insane

So theres that, this was really fun and i you enjoy the team as much as I did, Marjane!
Hope to see everyone for this again next year, Mery Xmas and have a good new year