Battle Stadium Dragon King Cup

[ezlaturbo]

So I was bored and decided to try this. This was my attempt.

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Transform

So nothing much to say here. Classic Scarf Ditto. Minimum speed IVs to not lose struggle wars, not really needed. Ditto is really good here cuz it allows you to use 2 Dragon Kings or Ubers. Also great for Dynamaxing and revenge killing Ubers. I guess the physical defense EVs and Relaxed Nature are better cuz every Dragon King is pretty much physical aside from the occasion mixed Yveltal, Xerneas, Lunala, Scarf Kyogre or Calyrex Shadow.

Ferrothorn @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Stealth Rock
- Gyro Ball
- Knock Off

I put this to help counter some physical attackers, and because it had a decent attack stat and Gyro Ball. Knock of is for Utility, sadly still triggers Solgaleo/Necrozma Dusk Mane's Weakness Policy. Leech Seed is for HP recovery, Stealth Rock for Sashes and Gyro Ball to kill Rock types I guess? Gyro Ball hits pretty hard, though maybe I should run Body Press for perfect coverage excluding Fairies. Leech Seed to recover HP, and Rocky Helmet+Iron Barbs to punish physical attackers.

Calyrex-Ice @ Leftovers
Ability: As One (Glastrier)
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Brave Nature
- Trick Room
- Glacial Lance
- Crunch
- High Horsepower

Main sweeper of the team. Basically Glastrier but it can set TR. Oh and it has a no drawback 130 BP Ice move. Loses out on Flinch chance and some PP with Icicle Crash, in exchange for perfect accuracy and a significant increase in BP. I used Crunch is a great move to nail Lunala and Calyrex Shadow, and to not waste Glacial Lance PP on stally Lugia. Glacial Lance STAB is a must, it's the hardest hitting option. High Horsepower allows it to hit Fire and Rock Types, I used it over Close Combat as Close Combat doesn't hit many of the Ubers or notable non-ubers other than Urshifu. Also doesn't drop my defenses allowing me to set up TR again.

Klefki @ Light Clay
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 116 SpD
Calm Nature
- Play Rough
- Reflect
- Light Screen
- Thunder Wave

Klefki sets screens and messes with opponents. Originally I was going to use SwagPlay, but Swagger doesn't exist in Gen 8. T-Wave messes with opponents, and even after T-Wave, Calyrex-Ice still underspeeds, so it doesn't affect TR too much. Also helps it set screens. The spread is a bit unusual, adapted from Uxie's TR spread of 252/116/140 with Relaxed. This was to maximize both defenses as I will be essentially doubling them. Play Rough is not to be Taunt bait, though honestly I wish I had Toxic sometimes.

Urshifu @ Focus Sash
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Counter
- Wicked Blow
- Close Combat
- U-turn

Not sure about this one. This is supposed to kill things that are under screens, specifically strong physical attackers like Lando-T, opposing Calyrex-Ice, WP Solgaleo/Necrozma Dusk Mane, and Zacian-Crowned. I wasn't sure about not having Sucker Punch, U-Turn is helpful for pivoting out of bad MUs and without Close Combat it basically only has Dark type moves. Not sure though, Sucker Punch could help VS Calyrex-Shadow, but I usually save the sash for the Uber, so I could hit with Wicked Blow.

Blacephalon @ Life Orb
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Shadow Ball
- Flamethrower
- Psyshock

Nearly forgot Blace. Pretty standard CM set, I thought I needed a fast special attacker, and CM Blace seems like it would appreciate Screens support, and it hits pretty dang hard, though it gets outsped by most everything it hits. Probably should change it, as base 100 speed means it gets outsped by Mewtwo, Calyrex and Zacian.

Format:
BSS with 1 banned mon.
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/dragon-king-cup.3673851/

 

[marilli]

I like your Blacephalon pick, it isn't a common Pokemon, but it's good vs Zacian + Stall cores with that set. But it does leave you with weaknesses to Yveltal that is minimally checked.

I would say Mimikyu is the best fit for the team. Consider a Trick Room Mimikyu, or a Kee berry SD set. Both sets should be on-site. It lets you check Yveltal and opposing Urshifu, and the SD one is good with screens, too, and Trick Room one allows you to set two Trick Rooms for Calyrex in 1 game. As for what to replace, both Blacephalon and Urshifu seem mostly expendable.

As for the rest of the team, Leftovers on Calyrex-Ice is pretty useless all things considered - you should use Life Orb for immediate dynamax power or Weakness Policy if you don't like taking passive damage every turn (or if you want to keep Life Orb on Blacephalon). Weakness Policy has good synergy with screens and dynamax.

If you don't find much use out of Gyro Ball, consider using Power Whip over it. It's your main Kyogre check, but it sucks losing that 1v1 because of not having Power Whip. Either Gyro Ball or Knock Off is expendable.

Having Sucker Punch over U-turn is better for a few reasons. Most important is that it allows you to squeeze out as much damage in 1v1 scenarios. Finishing off Focus Sash Pokemon for example is a big deal. Dynamaxed Psychic-type Legendaries like Mewtwo or just plain bulky ones like Necrozma will not faint to a single Wicked Blow, so Sucker Punch lets you do as much as possible.

Cheers,

 

[ezlaturbo]

OK, thank you for the advice, Mimikyu, why Kee? Also, Shadow Claw or Drain Punch? Why not Lum or Custap? Also, WDYT of Klefki's spread?

 

[marilli]

I did take a bit of a leap in my thought process there when suggesting Mimikyu - I thought you needed a better Pokemon vs Urshifu and Yveltal, so a Fairy type was the easiest fix. Mimikyu is one of the best Fairy-type options in this format due to having a guaranteed action even vs most restricted legendaries, and has good synergies. There's other options like Tapu Fini that can achieve that role, but I thought that Tapu Fini doesn't fit as well into screens mode or trick room mode as Mimikyu does. But you should probably try that out yourself.

Physical Defense investment is needed for an exposed Mimikyu to survive a Wicked Blow from Sash Urshifu, which is going to help on this team a lot. Kee tends to be standard on said bulky sets in order to help against things like Landorus-T, Cinderace, and such, because you've already invested into physical defense. and these Berries, while it does not specifically help vs Urshifu because of its crit, will have more efficiency on those type of bulky spreads against other common physical attackers like Landorus-T. But especially with you using it to check Yveltal, I can see items like Maranga Berry working as well. It's not seen as a typical item choice in normal BSS, but it could work in this specific context due to Yveltal being a problem Pokemon.

Lum and Custap are also good Mimikyu items, but generally see use in different contexts. Lum is often used in offensive SD sets with Attack / Speed investment. It's a fine set and you should try that out if you like, though it does worse vs Urshifu. Custap is usually only reserved for Substitute sets - something like Substitute / Curse / Phantom Force / Endure sets with custap can take advantage of Mimikyu's disguise to effectively switch into every non-sand/hail Dynamax attacker, Endure, and Phantom Force with Custap to effectively cushion all 3 turns of dynamax. Trick Room Mimikyu's item choice usually do not matter except in specific niche scenario, so if you want you can experiment with different items there if you have a specific scenario in mind you believe is going to be common.

 

[ezlaturbo]

OK, so what spread would Bulky Mimikyu use? I've only ever run fast sets, unless I'm using it specifically for priority or TR. Again, would Shadow Claw or Drain Punch be a better final move, as I usually run Drain Punch for some HP recovery and Ttar kills, but Shadow Claw hits neutrals harder.

 

[1_TrickPhony]

OK, so what spread would Bulky Mimikyu use? I've only ever run fast sets, unless I'm using it specifically for priority or TR. Again, would Shadow Claw or Drain Punch be a better final move, as I usually run Drain Punch for some HP recovery and Ttar kills, but Shadow Claw hits neutrals harder.

Id go with Drain Punch here, allows you to beat or at least hurt various Steels that would otherwise wall, such as Dialga, Ferrothorn, as well as the aforementioned ttar. The set almost always runs PR/Sneak/Drain Punch/SD, with the only exception being you can run phantom force over play rough in regular BSS (but Id definitely opt for play rough here)