VGC Hail Gary - Aspiring VGC Competitive - Thoughts please?

[SlickRado]

Hey all, I'll try to keep it short and to the point, I know I personally stop reading if there's information overload.

This is my first RMT. I'm wanting to start getting into competitive battling and would like to attend events but I could really use some help as I am no expert, just your average trainer that googles a lot. I dabbled in VGC 2016 battles last year and peaked out around an Elo of upper-1100's so I'm not good but I don't think I'm totally clueless either.

Here's what I've come up with for 2017 thus far, feel free to tear it apart:

HAIL GARY - PREVIEW

Importable

Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze-Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Protect

Gyarados (M) @ Waterium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Waterfall
- Ice Fang
- Protect

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Discharge
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect

Marowak-Alola (F) @ Thick Club
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Shadow Bone
- Bonemerang
- Detect

Garchomp (M) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Brick Break

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 36 Atk / 140 Def / 100 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Heavy Slam
- Toxic
- Leech Seed
- Protect

THE TEAM
​

Ninetales-Alola (F) @ Light Clay
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk

Blizzard

Freeze-Dry

Aurora Veil

Protect​

SYNOPSIS: The standard Alolan Ninetails, and usually my opening 'mon. I typically lead with her to hail-set which not only (obviously) allows for Aurora Veil, but also helps with (non-Ice) Sturdy and Focus Sash opponents thanks to chip damage. Blizzard is a must for double-hit and with hail set, how can you pass up 100% accuracy? Also great for checking Kartana, Garchomp and Salamence. Freeze-Dry also a must, checks all aforementioned PLUS water threats like Gyarados, Pelipper and Gastrodon.
ALT MOVES: Protect is obvious but honestly a lot of times I switch it out with Moonblast for offense and type diversity, it seems to come in handy, especially if I lose Tapu Koko early. I can't decide which is more beneficial. Your opinions are greatly welcomed.

​

Gyarados (M) @ Waterium Z [UPDATED 19SEP17]
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature

Dragon Dance

Waterfall

Ice Fang

Protect
SYNOPSIS: My all-time favorite Pokemon since I first played as a kid. I would be willing to change out any Pokemon on this team except him, as I always build my teams around him. Waterfall needs no explanation. Ice Fang provides coverage in case Ninetails falls. Crunch for coverage but sort of underwhelming sometimes, I'm open to suggestions here. I've removed Crunch due to its reduced need in VGC17 meta and replaced it with Dragon Dance. Gary here makes a great partner for Garchomp due to Earthquake synergy, and pairs well in defending Ninetails and Celesteela against threats like Arcanine and Alolan-Marowak.

ALT MOVES: There are so many things I could put here, most notably - Dragon Dance but running a DD setup just seemed less effective than a more offensive and diverse moveset, maybe I'm just not using it properly. Bounce I would loooove to use with Flyinium Z but it's just not possible because I don't have an event Magikarp. I've tried using Hurricane out of desperation but using any SpA with Gary is just straight up dumb, even with Flyinium it just wasn't enough. I used to run Earthquake in 2016 but I haven't had the need with Garchomp at his side.

It's hard for me to pick which moveset to use with this guy that best fits this team, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Tapu Koko @ Life Orb
Ability: Electric Surge
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature

Thunderbolt

Discharge

Dazzling Gleam

Protect
SYNOPSIS: My second lead, often at the front of the fight alongside Ninetails. Helps against other leads such as Tapu Fini and opposing Gyarados and with Life Orb can usually take care of annoying neutral leads like Smeargle right up front. Thunderbolt for power and Discharge for spread. Dazzling Gleam for additional spread since my Ninetails usually already has Moonblast covered. No need to explain his ability.
ALT MOVES: (Your thoughts here!) I really don't know what other moves I could use here, this moveset seems pretty standard. I know some people use Grass Knot but honestly it doesn't ever seem to do enough before squishy Koko is KO'ed on the third turn.

Marowak-Alola (F) @ Thick Club [UPDATED 19SEP17]
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 180 Atk / 4 Def / 68 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature

Flare Blitz

Shadow Bone

Bonemerang

Detect
SYNOPSIS: You might be thinking, "What the hell, no Lightning Rod?" but honestly I haven't had the need. The only real need I've seen would be against opposing Tapu Koko which Garchomp can quickly dispatch with Poison Jab. Lightning Rod would synergize well with Gyarados but my sister forbade me from passing up that unadulterated recoil-less 120 Flare Blitz STAB thanks to Rock Head. If you can present a better argument to use Lightning Rod over Rock Head with this team, I'm all ears. In order to complete the Steel+Water+Fire core synergy and give Gyarados more love, I've taken your strong recommendations into account and bred a Lightning Rod Marowak. Shadow Bone for STAB coverage. Bonemerang makes for a great alternative threat check to cover my Ninetails since Gyarados is allergic to Rock Slide, Marowak laughs at your rocks.
ALT MOVES: Again, open to suggestions but this set seems pretty standard as well. Only alt I can think of is Perish Song but Bonemerang comes in handy way too much for me to want to switch it out.
SIDE NOTE: I've actually considered switching out Marowak-Alola with Arcanine but I haven't tested it. Would that be a wise or stupid decision?

Garchomp (M) @ Assault Vest [UPDATED 19SEP17]
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature

Earthquake

Dragon Claw

Poison Jab

Brick Break
SYNOPSIS: KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Earthquake. Need I say more? Dragon Claw for STAB coverage/diversity and opposing dragons. Poison Jab because RIP Tapu Koko. Also checks other Tapus as well as Kartana. Brick Break is where I stray from the beaten path. I use it because it provides a huge range of coverage against a LOT of the current meta. Also breaks shields aside from Aurora Veil. Lastly, I use Lum Berry because it seems to be more beneficial than Groundium Z considering every freaking team has some sort of wall Pokemon relying stopping him with status chip damage. I've switched out Lum Berry for Assault Vest considering this is a strictly offensive moveset. This guy paired with my Gyarados make for a dynamic duo.
ALT MOVES: I typically don't run Protect on Garchomp because he can usually deal with threats fast enough for me not to want to sacrifice coverage STAB. Is this a mistake? Another option would be Fire Fang in lieu of Dragon Claw which would be great to check threats against my Ninetails if I lose or don't use Marowak as well as other steel types and opposing Ninetails. I'm still not sure if I want to add in Fire Fang because in practice the damage seems a bit underwhelming. Additionally, do you guys think it would be a nice idea to replace Dragon Claw with Dragon Tail? It seems like it would be helpful for control, although I'd be sacrificing offense. I was thinking it might help me with disrupting setups.

Celesteela @ Leftovers
Ability: Beast Boost
Level: 50
EVs: 228 HP / 36 Atk / 140 Def / 100 SpD / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature

Heavy Slam

Toxic

Leech Seed

Protect
SYNOPSIS: WE NEED TO BUILD A WALL! Here it is. Goodbye Ferrothorn, hello Celesteela. Counters top threats like Tapu Lele, Tapu Bulu, and opposing Garchomp. Heavy Slam is a must here, with its heavy weight vs little foe like opposing Ninetails and Tapus. Leech Seed, the life blood of Celesteela (along with Leftovers), used to suck the fun out of attempted sweeps and add to chip damage. If you can get down Leech Seed and Toxic while Hail is still going, opposing tanks and Garchomps are gonna have a bad time with 3 chips going per turn.
ALT MOVES: I could potentially use Flamethrower in lieu of Toxic to add more STAB coverage if I decide not to put Fire Fang on my Garchomp. What do you guys think would be the better option?

--------------------------------------------------------------

BASIC STRATEGY SIMPLIFIED

Usually lead with Alolan Ninetails and Tapu Koko or Gyarados. No immediate threat to Ninetails? Aurora Veil. No leads to eliminate with Tapu Koko? Switch to Garchomp. Opposing Tapu vs my Gyarados? Still, switch to Garchomp. Enemy Garchomp or tank? Gyarados / Celesteela.

It's really all situational so I can't really go into more depth with a blanket strategy.

--------------------------------------------------------------

That's pretty much the jist of my thoughts behind this build. Please feel free to take this team apart and let me know where to improve. I am all ears and want to learn as much as I can before I start entering comps. If you guys have any questions, please ask.
​

 

[MDK]

How do you deal with Trick Room?

I think you should run Lightning Rod, seeing this team I thought "Koko will wreck this team"
Kept scrolling and saw you had Marowak but then read your description, in a Bo1 sure you could fake the Lightning Rod but in a Bo3 VGC match you won't get away with victory.
This team will NEED that Lightning Rod

Next thing is Garchomp, it's running full offensive set, only time you should run that is on Assault Vest sets, every other item set needs Protect.
As for your item it's not good in VGC17, here's why:

1. Garchomp is Ground so it's immune to Paralysis
2. You have Koko, Electric Terrain means all ground Pokemon cannot fall asleep.
3. There are many many Tapu Fini in VGC17, means Garchomp cannot be hit with Status at all in the presence of Misty Terrain
4. As for being Frozen Garchomp cannot take an Ice attack let alone live enough to being frozen.

So for the item I recommend either AV or you rework Garchomp, maybe into a Swords Dance set.


Which brings me onto my next point since I mentioned Swords Dance, you have Ninetales to set up Aurora Veil, Gyrados has Intimidate, run some kind of Pokemon that can set up to become a threat using the defensive buffs, for example Crunch on Gyarados is wasted since it hits almost nothing for Super Effective damage in VGC17 (all I can think of is Driftblim and the almost never seen Gengar) so drop Crunch for Dragon Dance


Celesteela+Gyarados+Marowak is great because it's like AFK, you have a Steel type, Water type and Fire type to cover each others weaknesses+ Intimidate plus additional support in Lighting Rod, so work on that

 

[SlickRado]

*snip*

Thanks for the reply MDK, I really appreciate the input:

1.) If I spot a TR setter I typically run with Garchomp with the Brick Break (Most TR setters are weak to Fighting) and use Celesteela to wall and chip (especially against Porygon 2), as Celesteela typically fairs well in TR setting. As far as checks I guess I don't really have any. I could potentially run Encore on Ninetails or maybe even Taunt on Gyarados but I feel like running Taunt on Gyarados really takes away from his potential and I'd reaaaally hate to lose the Fairy STAB on Ninetails. What would you recommend?

2.) Most of the time I've dealt with Tapu Koko, I had zero issues. As I mentioned above I typically lead with Alolan Ninetails and if Tapu Koko is present then I'll lead with Gyarados. Hail is set, Aurora Veil turn one and then switch out Gyarados with Garchomp. 9/10 times the Tapu Koko will have attempted a Volt Switch or Thunderbolt onto Gyarados but instead lands on Garchomp which does nothing. Next turn I Blizzard and Poison Jab and he's gone, it works almost every time. That's why I say I haven't really had the need for Lightning Rod on Marowak because Tapu Koko is usually dispensed at the front of the match. I suppose I could test out a Lightning Rod Marowak but from the battles I've done so far, it just doesn't seem worth it. I dunno. What other electric threats are there in VGC 17? I guess Porygon 2 could also be a potential problem.

Another thing I realized this morning is that my battle-ready Marowak doesn't have the egg move Detect. Is Protect okay on Marowak or would Detect be better for some reason?

3.) The biggest bullets I've dodged with Garchomp I seem to have done so using Lum because against all non-Tapu Fini teams the #1 way opponents try to deal with my Garchomp is with Toxic and it almost always happens every match. I do like the idea of running Assault Vest though because typically I am not able to KO the toxic user with Garchomp on the next turn so I end up getting poisoned anyways although it does buy me a turn. Another plus to using AV is that I would definitely be able to OHKO Tapus, including Koko whom you deemed to be a threat to my team.

Based on your input here are my proposed changes thus far, let me know what you think before I update the post:

Gyarados (M) @ Waterium Z

Dragon Dance |

Waterfall |

Ice Fang |

Protect

Garchomp (M) @ Assault Vest

Earthquake |

Brick Break |

Fire Fang |

Poison Jab

 

[MDK]

I don't quite see how you can not have issues with Koko by using Ninetales, if it was Sash Ninetales maybe but Modest LO Koko can have a 43% chance to OHKO your Ninetales
And Gigavolt Havoc Koko can just OHKO it, again you could fake out the sash but in a Bo3 your opponent will see it is not sash and can outspeed and OHKO it before it can set up Aurora Veil.
And getting Veil out the way is a priority for experienced players. You need Lightning Rod on Marowak

You can run either Protect or Detect, some will say Detect is better but honestly considering how rare you see Imprison Muk the risk is so minimal it's really up to you if you want to put in the effort to breed for Detect.

As for Lum Berry on Garchomp to cure Toxic I have to ask, what exactly is using Toxic on you that warrants it?
Only time I have seen Toxic commonly used is from Pokemon like Arcanine and Porygon2, the former cannot stay in on Garchomp long enough to use Toxic and the latter Garchomp cannot stay in on because Porygon2 is one of the best Garchomp counters with Eviolite and Ice Beam

 

[Garris_san]

Like Mdk says, change that wak to lighningrod as you have three Pokemon that directly benefit from it either through protecting a weakness or helping ensure Ninetales gets off aurora veil. You could also change that Ninetales set to either the focus sash variant or give it the following set.

Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay/Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 28 Def / 212 SpA / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Protect/Encore

Damage Calcs:

Offensive:

212 SpA Alolan Ninetales Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 102-122 (57.6-68.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage and Grassy Terrain recovery

212 SpA Alolan Ninetales Blizzard vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Krookodile: 132-156 (77.1-91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage

Defensive:

252+ SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 4 HP / 12 SpD Alolan Ninetales in Psychic Terrain: 126-148 (84.5-99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Tapu Koko Wild Charge vs. 4 HP / 28 Def Alolan Ninetales in Electric Terrain: 129-153 (86.5-102.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

It's a nice looking team in preview, but an elo of only 1100 leaves a ton for improvement. Most of that is probably just the more obscure meta knowledge, so if you plan on going to events (I'll actually be at my first come February), you need to know speed tiers, battle calcs, possibly even usage stats to give you a better idea of what the opponent may be running based on it's team members. Check out trainer tower and read an article a day and I think you'll start seeing little improvements in your battles.
Edit: plus I'd throw flamethrower on Celesteela or you'll get walled by kartana.

 

[SlickRado]

Sorry for not replying, I've been away from home. I spent a lot my time away chain breeding for a perfect Alolan Marowak for Lightning Rod and threw in Detect while I was at it. Wow what a pain. Also working on leveling my Celesteela and Tapu Koko to 100 so I can Hyper-Train them. Leveling this gen seems much slower than it used to be. I've updated my original post, changes are highlighted in red.

I don't quite see how you can not have issues with Koko by using Ninetales, if it was Sash Ninetales maybe but Modest LO Koko can have a 43% chance to OHKO your Ninetales
And Gigavolt Havoc Koko can just OHKO it, again you could fake out the sash but in a Bo3 your opponent will see it is not sash and can outspeed and OHKO it before it can set up Aurora Veil.
And getting Veil out the way is a priority for experienced players. You need Lightning Rod on Marowak

You can run either Protect or Detect, some will say Detect is better but honestly considering how rare you see Imprison Muk the risk is so minimal it's really up to you if you want to put in the effort to breed for Detect.

As for Lum Berry on Garchomp to cure Toxic I have to ask, what exactly is using Toxic on you that warrants it?
Only time I have seen Toxic commonly used is from Pokemon like Arcanine and Porygon2, the former cannot stay in on Garchomp long enough to use Toxic and the latter Garchomp cannot stay in on because Porygon2 is one of the best Garchomp counters with Eviolite and Ice Beam

As I mentioned, I've taken your advice and replaced my Thick Skull Marowak for a Lightning Rod Marowak. I've also replaced the Lum Berry with Assault Vest on Garchomp. I do have an additional question regarding alternative suggestions for Fire Fang as well as a question about the use of Dragon Tail if you could refer to the changes in the original post.

I was also wondering if you think it might be helpful to play it safe on Tapu Koko and run a Zap Plate rather than Life Orb, considering Tapu Koko already can't take much abuse as it is without the Life Orb damage.

Additionally, for Gyarados, I've seen many people (like Markus Stadter) run Iapapa Berry rather than Waterium Z which helped a lot with survivability and enabled even a frozen Gyarados to provide great Intimidate support. Do you think it would help or hurt my team if I replaced Waterium Z? (I would of course, then, not have any Z moves on my team.)

Like Mdk says, change that wak to lighningrod as you have three Pokemon that directly benefit from it either through protecting a weakness or helping ensure Ninetales gets off aurora veil. You could also change that Ninetales set to either the focus sash variant or give it the following set.

Ninetales-Alola @ Light Clay/Focus Sash
Ability: Snow Warning
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 28 Def / 212 SpA / 12 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Blizzard
- Freeze Dry
- Aurora Veil
- Protect/Encore

Damage Calcs:

Offensive:

212 SpA Alolan Ninetales Blizzard vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Tapu Bulu: 102-122 (57.6-68.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage and Grassy Terrain recovery

212 SpA Alolan Ninetales Blizzard vs. 4 HP / 0 SpD Krookodile: 132-156 (77.1-91.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after hail damage

Defensive:

252+ SpA Tapu Lele Psychic vs. 4 HP / 12 SpD Alolan Ninetales in Psychic Terrain: 126-148 (84.5-99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Tapu Koko Wild Charge vs. 4 HP / 28 Def Alolan Ninetales in Electric Terrain: 129-153 (86.5-102.6%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

It's a nice looking team in preview, but an elo of only 1100 leaves a ton for improvement. Most of that is probably just the more obscure meta knowledge, so if you plan on going to events (I'll actually be at my first come February), you need to know speed tiers, battle calcs, possibly even usage stats to give you a better idea of what the opponent may be running based on it's team members. Check out trainer tower and read an article a day and I think you'll start seeing little improvements in your battles.
Edit: plus I'd throw flamethrower on Celesteela or you'll get walled by kartana.

Lightning Rod Marowak has been bred and is now in service. Do you guys believe that a Focus Sash Ninetails would be more beneficial than Light Clay? It's hard for me to decide. Those extra 3 turns of Aurora Veil have helped me in some sticky situations, especially considering that I tend to lose my Ninetails early on most of the time.

I'll take your advice as far as fine-tuning the EVs for Ninetails and start re-doing her stats in-game. I appreciate the suggestion and the calcs.


As a side-note, I've decided to enter a Regional Competition with my sister and her boyfriend weekend after next. It will be my first time going to any Pokemon event ever. I don't expect to make it past day 1 realistically but I think it will be a great experience. I was overseas for the release of XY and when I came home I spent all my time number crunching and practicing and never felt ready and sort of psyched myself out of going to any event. I don't want to make that mistake this year and would like to seize the opportunity even if I feel ill-prepared, so I greatly value the advice given here.

 

[Garris_san]

Sorry for not replying, I've been away from home. I spent a lot my time away chain breeding for a perfect Alolan Marowak for Lightning Rod and threw in Detect while I was at it. Wow what a pain. Also working on leveling my Celesteela and Tapu Koko to 100 so I can Hyper-Train them. Leveling this gen seems much slower than it used to be. I've updated my original post, changes are highlighted in red.



As I mentioned, I've taken your advice and replaced my Thick Skull Marowak for a Lightning Rod Marowak. I've also replaced the Lum Berry with Assault Vest on Garchomp. I do have an additional question regarding alternative suggestions for Fire Fang as well as a question about the use of Dragon Tail if you could refer to the changes in the original post.



Lightning Rod Marowak has been bred and is now in service. Do you guys believe that a Focus Sash Ninetails would be more beneficial than Light Clay? It's hard for me to decide. Those extra 3 turns of Aurora Veil have helped me in some sticky situations, especially considering that I tend to lose my Ninetails early on most of the time.

I'll take your advice as far as fine-tuning the EVs for Ninetails and start re-doing her stats in-game. I appreciate the suggestion and the calcs.


As a side-note, I've decided to enter a Regional Competition with my sister and her boyfriend weekend after next. It will be my first time going to any Pokemon event ever. I don't expect to make it past day 1 realistically but I think it will be a great experience. I was overseas for the release of XY and when I came home I spent all my time number crunching and practicing and never felt ready and sort of psyched myself out of going to any event. I don't want to make that mistake this year and would like to seize the opportunity even if I feel ill-prepared, so I greatly value the advice given here.

I prefer light clay to sash, but it's good enough to warrant mentioning as well as encore or even icy wind, but since you don't have any answers to hard trick room, the combination of blizzard and freeze dry is pretty good. Dragon Tail would be an answer to most trick room setters (barring Mimikyu and porgon2 as it threatens lots of damage with ice beam). Dragon claw might be better for opposing garchomp. I usually use a Groundium z garchomp because honestly, it doesn't need an item and aurora veil may just let it get off a swords dance. +2 Garchomp is a threat on a team with two flying Pokemon.

I would try a few different things to see what you like. Encore over protect for example as well as Arcanine, as roar does give you a somewhat reliable answer to trick room. If you give Koko taunt over discharge you can lead that and Arcanine to stop most any trick room setters without mental herb and fake out support.
Edit: It's a difficult call honestly. I'd probably find taunt on something's moveset and keep the team composition the same. You have two Pokemon that don't actually mind trick room. I wish I had more time to help or better advice. Best of luck if I hadn't already said that btw.
Wait... What about alolan Persian over Ninetales? It gives you a fast fake out, snarl and intimidate, taunt, etc. I also suggest maybe playing around with that.

 

[SlickRado]

The struggle to climb the ladder is real... Here's my performance so far, I seem to be struggling to stay afloat under 1100 with this team:

Wins:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634106821 (Marowak dominates the field)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634092583 (Mind games & chipping vs. Bulk + Tapu Lele)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634097356 (vs. an unorthodox team, not much else to say about this one)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634099248 (vs. a fairly similar team to mine, display of great performance by Marowak)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634099991 (vs. an interesting team with Ghost-Silvally and Tapu Bulu, good display of Gyarados' strength here)

Fundamental Losses:
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634101295 (Absolutely swept by Metagross)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634102693 (Struggle vs. Kartana, also I'm a dummy and still getting used to Lightning Rod so I Thunderbolted with Marowak in play.)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634104643 (Me vs. Trick Room team, failed to set up, lost Ninetails, Wall checked by boosted Drampa, major f-ups, it was just sloppy on my behalf. I think I could have won this.)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634110227 (Destroyed by Tapu Lele + Swords Dance Garchomp + Arcanine, bringing my wall was a poor choice here. Also RNGesus denies my Bonemerang on Arcanine.)
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7vgc2017-634111843 (Good example of my poor intuition and decision-making. Quickly lost Ninetails to a Salamence after bad call on which to Protect, OHKO Supersonic Skystrike on Gyarados, I had the typing advantage the entire fight and I dropped the ball hardcore.)

 

[Garris_san]

I actually couldn't watch any of these as they weren't saved, but it's good that you're rewatching these to get an idea of how you can improve. I struggled a lot with breaking 1300 elo when I started. Have you tried using sample teams before? The best way to learn a team's weaknesses at first is to use them yourself. For example, Markus' pollasand Smeargle team is weak to Lele and Fini, as well as a few other special attackers, haze, etc. So knowing this would help you preserve your win con.

 

[Garris_san]

So I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to playtest this, and I hope this gives you enough time to be of any use, but I was sitting at about a 1400 elo with these small changes.
Persian-Alola > Ninetales Alola

Persian-Alola @ Assault Vest
Ability: Fur Coat
EVs: 220 HP / 36 SpD / 252 Spe
Serious Nature
- Fake Out
- Foul Play
- Feint
- Snarl

This I feel still retains some of the same utility as Ninetales for giving you added bulk to help set up Gyrados while also giving you a lead against opposing trick room teams by giving tapu Koko taunt (I think you should drop discharge for this)

Gyarados @ Waterium Z
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 52 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 4 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Dragon Dance
- Ice Fang
- Protect

Just a more optimised EV spread.

Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Poison Jab
- Rock Slide
And seeing as how I used the assault vest for Persian, I gave garchomp a choice scarf to alleviate your tapu Koko matchup.
Edit: plus I gave Celesteela flamethrower to not get walled by kartana.