Resource National Dex Ubers Good Cores Thread [Submissions Open]

[bumboclaat]

Art by hexagonereal | Format (stolen) from National Dex Other Tiers Good Cores Thread which was (stolen) from SV National Dex Good Cores Thread which was (stolen) from SS OU Good Cores Thread​

A strong core is one of the most valuable things to form when creating a new team. Cores are typically made up of a group of Pokémon that, when used together, work excellently toward accomplishing a specific goal, and any good player uses them, intentionally or not. The majority of cores have varying characteristics that allow them to triumph in different areas, and depending on your team, cores can be built to succeed offensively or defensively.
An offensive core is a group of Pokémon that are both focused towards and designed to enable the team to break through most other team styles while being balanced for general play.
A defensive core is a group of Pokémon chosen to give a team a solid set of resistances and the ability to switch into many of the common and threatening attacks in the metagame, allowing it to stick around long enough to win the match.
Overall, cores function as a fantastic base or starting point for a wide range of teams and they are commonly used while teambuilding to achieve a specific goal.


Posting Guidelines

• Any person can post a core in this thread. The cores are broken down into four categories: offensive cores, balanced cores, defensive cores, and weather cores. When posting your core, please make sure to state which one of these categories your core falls under. Note: We've merged offensive and weather into one category, and balanced and defensive into another.
• Although the way your core works may be obvious to you, this may not be the case for others. As such, when posting a core, please make sure to explain how the core operates and any other details you think are important to include. The explanations don't have to be essays; as long as your post has some substance and conveys the main idea behind the core, it's all good. Here are some things you may like to include when explaining your core:
  • Offensive Core: Should your core be an offensive one, such as Tapu Lele + Kartana, you could explain how those two Pokemon work together to break down their similar checks and any other synergistic traits. You could also mention any weaknesses the core has and any partners you believe work well with the core.
    • Here is a good example of what we look for taken from the ORAS iteration.
  • Defensive Core: Should your core be defensive, such as Hippowdon + Skarmory, you could explain their typing synergy allows them to cover problematic Pokemon for one another, or any other synergistic attributes you feel are relevant. You could also mention any weaknesses the core has and any partners you believe work well with the core.
    • Here is a good example of what we look for taken from the ORAS iteration.
• This goes without saying, but do make sure your post includes the sets your core is using. In addition, please try to include an explanation of any EV spreads deviating from the standard 252 / 252. Replays are also very helpful and highly encouraged when posting cores.
• Please do not post a core that has more than 3 Pokemon because cores bigger than this can restrict building immensely.
• Please be respectful of the cores people post in this thread. If someone posts a core that you think is ineffective or just plain bad, there is no need to jump at their throats. With that said, constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged - simply be nice!

Core Selection Process

• We will carefully monitor the cores posted in this thread. When the time comes, we will look at the posted cores and decide which ones will be featured in the archive.
• While the selection of good cores can often be subjective, we will take into consideration a variety of aspects before deciding which cores are featured in the archive. This includes quality of explanation, effectiveness of the core in the current metagame, and so on. We will carefully discuss everything and seek feedback from the cores review councils.
• When we decide which cores will be featured in the archive, we will try to announce them and provide brief explanations behind why certain cores were selected and why certain cores weren't. This feedback can potentially help give people a clearer picture of what we are looking for.
• If a core is originally rejected from the archive, we can definitely provide some tips on how a set or spread can be tweaked so the core meets the standards we look for.
• Just like with anyone else who posts a core, please feel free to bring up any concerns you might have with our posts and/or the cores we select! However, please be sure to be polite, and if it is a simple question/concern, we'd prefer it being directed to us in a PM.

Explanations Coming Soon. Click on any of the Pokemon shown in the cores to view the sets.

Hyper Offense & Offense Cores

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Smeargle + Specially Offensive Yveltal + Darkinium Z Chi-Yu

Blurb

Yveltal is near mandatory on any Sticky Web structure due to how effortlessly it maintains Sticky Web against most of the metagame while exploiting it to beat Pokémon which would otherwise counter it such as Taunt Calm Mind Arceus-Dark and -Fairy. Chi-Yu has overtaken Ultra Necrozma as the primary Z-move user on Sticky Web structures as its speedy Taunt helps maintain Sticky Webs while also filling the role of a stallbreaker and wallbreaker.

Sample: Chi-Yu Webs by Emoxu9

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Deoxys-Speed + Dragon Dance Ultra Necrozma + Tera Dragon Meteor Beam Eternatus

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Choice Scarf Yveltal + Mega Diancie​

​

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Zacian-C + Wallbreaker Primal Kyogre ('SwordFish')

Blurb

The 'Swordfish' core fits on most hyper offense archetypes due to their offensive synergy. Zacian-C is a staple on hyper offense structures due to the offensive and defensive value it provides. Its typing and bulk provide resiliance against Extreme Killer Arceus and Marshadow - two of the biggest threats to hyper offense structures. Zacian-C's immediate power enables to cleave through many hyper offense structures without a boost while its Speed provides Speed control and a serviceable cleaner. Primal Kyogre is one of the strongest wallbreakers available and easily dispatches or chips Primal Groudon into Zacian-C range. Offensive Primal Kyogre forces progress on most defensive backbones and makes it easy for a teammate to clean up. Zacian-C also appreciates Primal Kyogre blitzing through Ho-Oh and Tera Water Zygarde, its other primary defensive checks on balance and bulky offense teams. Additionally, Primal Kyogre's ability to trade with specially offensive Yveltal means that Zacian-C does not have to waste its boost or risk getting smelted by Tera Fire Heat Wave.

Balance and Bulky Offense Cores

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Defensive Primal Groudon + Offensive Ho-Oh + Calm Mind Arceus-Dark + Coil Zygarde ('GHAZ' )

Blurb

The 'GHAZ' core defensively covers the majority of the metagame and fills many of the essential roles that a balance team wants: entry hazards, entry hazard removal, a Taunt user, and phazing. Consequently, this core can support nearly any two Pokémon in those last two slots. Some consideration should be given for removing Sticky Web as Ho-Oh can struggle to do it on its own and Tera Normal Silk Scarf Double-Edge Extreme Speed Arceus which blitzes through this core after a boost.

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Special Utility Giratina-O + Alomomola

Blurb

Giratina-O's typing is a double-edged sword that gives it fantastic or terrible defensive typing against most top-tier Pokémon. However, its bulk enables it to absorb some super effective hits by a hair. Although Giratina-O can frequently perform one or two important tasks, its longevity issues limit its potential contributions. Alomomola synergises well with Giratina-O as it can safely pass wishes on Pokémon such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Zygarde. Alomomola doesn't check much by itself, but it and Giratina-O are capable of supporting structures ranging from bulky offense to semistall. Giratina-O + Alomomola structures outside of semistall typically include Primal Groudon which can operate much more aggressively due to the longevity provided by Alomomola's Wish. Alomomola's pivot support also helps position frail offensive threats such as Chien-Pao, Deoxys-A. Giratina-O + Alo cores provide at least a playable matchup against much of the metagame outside of Sticky Web structures as they heavily struggle to remove Sticky Web due to Yveltal and Chi-Yu. Although this core has longevity, its slower pace of play can leave it vulnerable to powerful breakers such as offensive Primal Kyogre and Dragon Dance Zygarde.

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Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy + Choice Band Marshadow + Defensive Primal Kyogre

Blurb

Arceus-Fairy is an excellent offensive-defensive Pokémon, but suffers from getting blown up by Ultra Necrozma and Choice Band Marshadow solves that with its great matchup into hyper offense and its wallbreaking abilities against balance and bulky offense structures. Its stellar matchup into stall is appreciated, but so is its ability to help out against threats such as Dragon Dance Zygarde and Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM.

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Zacian-C + Wallbreaker Eternatus

Blurb

This core fits on balance and bulky offense alike. Zacian-C covers Eternatus's major weakness in Calm Mind Taunt Arceus formes. It is also a great anti-offense Pokémon provided Sticky Webs are not present. Zacian-C is also an effective cleaner of the wreckage Eternatus leaves behind. Wallbreaker Eternatus enjoys longevity courtesy of Recover and is happy to play the long game against Pokémon such as Ho-Oh. Eternatus also helps a fair bit against stall as it can drain lots of PP due to Pressure, but assistance is needed. This core fits well on teams that can remove Sticky Web or are willing to sacrifice Eternatus to do so.

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Choice Band Calyrex-I + Defensive Primal Kyogre

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Choice Band Rayquaza + Zacian-Crowned

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IDBP Garganacl + Coil Zygarde

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Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM + Wallbreaker Eternatus

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Defensive Primal Groudon + Ferrothorn

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Fezandipiti + Deoxys-A

Stall Cores

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Dondozo + Giratina + Chansey

Blurb

Stall does not have much variation, but these four will always be present. Most of the development of stall comes from slightly tweaking EVs, moves, and Tera types to account for current metagame trends if necessary. There are other viable stall structures beyond the sample, but none have demonstrated staying power equivilant to the standard six.

Sample: Sample Stall by the Council

 

[Sami]

wait this art is fucking fire hexagonereal u cooked

 

[bumboclaat]

Hi all, so some cores I've liked using:

Taunt CM + This is a core which fits well on both balance and bulky offense structures. Both Arceus-Dark and Eternatus leverage their defensive attributes to create offensive pressure at the drop of a hat. Notably, these two work in tandem against stall teams as they are able to overwhelm Chansey and Ho-Oh. They are also effective cleaners and sweepers against balance and bulky offense teams due to their solid speed tiers and bulk. The primary mon these two struggle against is Calm Mind Arceus-Fairy, but fitting counterplay, whether offensive or defensive is reasonably easy. Zacian-C can beat both, but isn't difficult to check defensively for the types of teams this core fits on and is OHKOed by +1 Fire Blast. Eternatus soft checks Marshadow while Arceus-Dark soft checks Dragon Dance Necrozma-DM, but both require additional checks. Lastly, this core can be overwhelmed offensively, but Sticky Web is the main concern when it comes to HO.

+ This is a great core for offensive and some bulky offense structures. It can be summed up as 'anti-ho' as both mons are fantastic against most HO teams. Choice Scarf Yveltal is both the goat due to its role compression and sucks at the same time. It provides speed control, is a great revenge killer, and is the only defogger which consistently removes entry hazards against HO teams. It is great at revenge killing pokemon such as Dragon Dance Arceus-Ground and Zacian-C while providing a solid check to Dragon Dance Zygarde. Choice Band Marshadow is arguably the scariest mon for many HO teams to see on the other side of the field while being a fantastic wallbreaker. However, neither of these are great into stall and Yveltal is a poor Defogger in longer games so their teammates will have to pick up the slack there.

+ This core works best in bulkier balance structures as Alomomola absolves Chien-Pao's biggest issue of actually getting onto the field. Chien-Pao's power and speed make it a fantastic revenge killer and wallbreaker. Furthermore, its defensive profile provides a crucial resistance to Shadow Sneak and Sucker Punch, leaving Extreme Speed as the only form of priority it needs to worry about. However, its inability to handle Zacian-C mandates firmer answers to it, but these are not difficult to fit alongside this core.

 

[Sami]

Offense Cores

+ Dragon Dance Duo | A solid HO core. Arceus-Ground pressures out Primal Groudon and Necrozma-DM for Kyurem-B, while also forcing Ho-Oh to Tera Grass/Ground to beat it, which Kyurem-B benefits from greatly. In return, Kyurem-B pressures Primal Kyogre, Alomomola, Zygarde and Dondozo, all of which would beat Arceus-Ground one-on-one.

+ Double Dance Primal Groudon + Life Orb Yveltal| Primal Groudon beats Fairy-types like Arceus-Fairy and Zacian-C while Yveltal deals with physical walls such as Zygarde, support Arceus-Ground and Dondozo, while it appreciates Primal Groudon making quick work of Ho-Oh with Stone Edge. It also threatens out Giratina-O which Primal Groudon really likes.

+ Specs Lunala + Zacian-C | Specs Lunala dents everything that would want to come into Zacian-C, notably Primal Groudon and Dondozo. Zacian-C scares away all the Ghost-type resists, such as Arceus, Arceus-Dark and Yveltal, while they can both overwhelm or cripple Ho-Oh with Wild Charge and Trick.

+ Extreme Killer + Power Herb Eternatus | Arceus is usually pressured out by Arceus-Dark, Foul Play Yveltal and Dondozo, all of which are setup fodder for Eternatus, which appreciates Arceus weaking the opposing team for it to clean easily. They both overwhelm Zacian-C and Necrozma-DM with Tera + Coverage.

Defense Cores

+ Giratina-O + Defensive Arceus-Fairy | Giratina-O handles Primal Groudon for Arceus-Fairy which deals with Marshadow, Yveltal and Arceus-Dark in return. Although this is a bit weak to Zacian-C, checks like Primal Groudon can be added, and Zacian-C can struggle versus Arceus-Fairy if it's Tera Fighting has been used, or if its Tera Ground, it loses to Tera Steel Giratina-O.

+ + Double Ground + Flying | A lot of teams use this core and its really solid. Primal Groudon handles Zacian-C and Primal Kyogre while offering hazard support and a soft way of breaking Stall with Overheat. Ho-Oh checks Eternatus and Arceus-Dark while removing hazards. Zygarde checks Primal Groudon and Mega Salamence while being a decent wincon. All three of these guys spread status.

 

[terrorsDomain]

Supa Long Paragraph​

(I’d recommend skipping to the summary, I included way too much in the paragraph and explained every little bit).

Offensive Core
Focus_Sash_Spidops + Aguav_Berry_Gholdengo Sticky Web Setup + Nasty Plot Setup | I find this to be a very solid core, probably not as good as others but eh. Anyways, the Focus Sash Spidops is able to guaranteed setup a Sticky Web, then it can Silk Trap to slow down an opponent if they use a Contact Move if it’s a Contact Move Attacker or Circle Throw a Setup or Hazard Setup. If the first Pokémon is a Setup Ghost type, deploy Gjoldengo first and you can easily Shadow Ball them to death (Ex: Drifbloom). After that you can stall out a bit with Spidops or throw any dangerous opponent for Gholdengo, once your all clear or Spidops dies, switch to Gholdengo. Now, Gholdengo can outspeed almost every Pokémon in the game unless they have a Priority Move or they are Flying/have Levitate. Now, try to get Gholdengo to 2 Nasty Plot’s, but if their team lacks SpD one should suffice. Take out any Ghost types immediately though and remember to prioritize Gholdengo over Setups unless you’re sure Gholdengo will survive, once he’s finally Setup you can go ahead and hopefully Sweep.

Summary of Strategy + Notes.​

Remember, much of this can change, but the important part is using Silk Web with Spidops, and then Circle Throwing any threatening opponents until Gholdengo can setup. You can use Air Balloon, Heavy-Duty Boots, or other recommended items over Aguav Berry, in fact I recommend you do. You can also swap out Focus Blast for Psyshock or Recover. Finally a Pokémon with fast Speed and a move that swaps put others and works on Ghost types also has good synergy with this strategy. (I forgot to include this but Gholdengo’s Good as Gold prevents decoy which makes this strategy very consistent and has good Synergy as well. This as well as try and go for Spikes to abuse Good as Gold and it justifies a single Nasty Plot more.)

 

[Bobsican]

Supa Long Paragraph​

(I’d recommend skipping to the summary, I included way too much in the paragraph and explained every little bit).

Offensive Core
Focus_Sash_Spidops + Aguav_Berry_Gholdengo Sticky Web Setup + Nasty Plot Setup | I find this to be a very solid core, probably not as good as others but eh. Anyways, the Focus Sash Spidops is able to guaranteed setup a Sticky Web, then it can Silk Trap to slow down an opponent if they use a Contact Move if it’s a Contact Move Attacker or Circle Throw a Setup or Hazard Setup. If the first Pokémon is a Setup Ghost type, deploy Gjoldengo first and you can easily Shadow Ball them to death (Ex: Drifbloom). After that you can stall out a bit with Spidops or throw any dangerous opponent for Gholdengo, once your all clear or Spidops dies, switch to Gholdengo. Now, Gholdengo can outspeed almost every Pokémon in the game unless they have a Priority Move or they are Flying/have Levitate. Now, try to get Gholdengo to 2 Nasty Plot’s, but if their team lacks SpD one should suffice. Take out any Ghost types immediately though and remember to prioritize Gholdengo over Setups unless you’re sure Gholdengo will survive, once he’s finally Setup you can go ahead and hopefully Sweep.

Summary of Strategy + Notes.​

Remember, much of this can change, but the important part is using Silk Web with Spidops, and then Circle Throwing any threatening opponents until Gholdengo can setup. You can use Air Balloon, Heavy-Duty Boots, or other recommended items over Aguav Berry, in fact I recommend you do. You can also swap out Focus Blast for Psyshock or Recover. Finally a Pokémon with fast Speed and a move that swaps put others and works on Ghost types also has good synergy with this strategy. (I forgot to include this but Gholdengo’s Good as Gold prevents decoy which makes this strategy very consistent and has good Synergy as well. This as well as try and go for Spikes to abuse Good as Gold and it justifies a single Nasty Plot more.)

Shuckle does the same thing here while also having an usable ability (Sturdy) letting it afford to run Mental Herb to not be vulnerable to Taunt, almost ensuring the act of setting Sticky Web bar Magic Coat Deoxys-S or Mega Diancie. Additionally, Shuckle's capability to blow itself up with Final Gambit also means that it has minimal passivity once its job is done, or by using Encore to avoid itself from being setup fodder, especially against foes using Substitute, which Circle Throw from Spidops can't phaze.

Drifblim isn't viable in the current metagame to be a noteworthy mention (assuming you meant that and not Drifloon, which is even worse per its lower stats). Additionally, Gholdengo has a poor matchup against most entry hazard removers in the metagame (Ho-Oh, Giratina-O, etc), demanding it to Terastallize to pull this sort of role and by extension being quite limiting to fit in a team that'd want this kind of utility (namely offense).

It sure is nice to see this enthusiasm for something relatively innovative, but this seems to assume the opposing team is just going to freely let this pair of Pokemon that severely limit the teambuilding capabilities of an offense team (doing the opposite a good core would do, being a mostly self-sufficient pair of Pokemon for a variety of certain team structures) and implies this is meant for a lower power level that simply isn't the case.

Overall, this'd just leave Gholdengo as a remotely usable pick that is not outclassed, but that's just a single Pokemon, and that fits better in the Smogdex once someone is willing to write an analysis for it in the tier.

 

[terrorsDomain]

I actually do agree that this is a bad core, especially because as you said, it does limited teambuilding, this is more or less a combination rather then a core. I do however think Spidops is pretty good in this setup just due to the fact that it can easily gain a lot of damage and weaken the team via Circle Throw Hazard damage, and that it can easily get rid of Gholdengo’s checks so Gholdengo can setup. Also if your going for a sweep, then it just makes a lot of sense to Tera, and considering that Gholdengo is a setup sweeper, I don’t think that’s really a downside, I do agree though that it makes them even worse a core. Overall, I think it’s a good combination that do have good synergy together, but you are right that they’re bad cores, and this is about cores. (Also how do insert those miniature sprites? And can you list an example for both items and Pokémon?)

 

[Bobsican]

Thing is that Spidops is simply outclassed, and this situational niche is ineffective against bulky teams as they can just bring in a Regenerator Pokemon or a Ghost-type/Substitute user, and in fact Spidops has no way to discourage foes from using Defog. Smeargle has the threat of Nuzzle and Mortal Spin, or even Perish Song to avoid being setup fodder against Substitute users like Zygarde, M-Diancie threatens offensively with super effective STAB all notable hazard removers, Shuckle has Encore to steal momentum as they're locked on that move, etc. Ultimately Spidops is limited as a situational counterpick for hyper offense, as it's quite passive and can't perform its role as effectively as other options, and the situational benefits aren't worth the trade-off.

Also, Gholdengo is at best an stallbreaker, it can't actually sweep as it doesn't hit that hard relative to the tier (say, compared to Chi-Yu, which is a trending Sticky Web abuser as it can overwhelm stuff with Nasty Plot and Z-Dark Pulse, all without even consuming the Tera slot) and just loses to Yveltal and Ho-Oh.

Mini-sprites work based on text, more specifically just list the name of a given Pokemon and add " : " before and after the name, for example,

becomes , the same also applies for items, say,

becomes .

Any further comments would go better in DMs or in the Discord server to avoid derailing this thread, namely as it's meant to host proposals, rather than in-depth chatroom-like discussion for each one too, so further talk stops here, thanks.

 

[Cancel cult]

Supa Long Paragraph​

(I’d recommend skipping to the summary, I included way too much in the paragraph and explained every little bit).

Offensive Core
Focus_Sash_Spidops + Aguav_Berry_Gholdengo Sticky Web Setup + Nasty Plot Setup | I find this to be a very solid core, probably not as good as others but eh. Anyways, the Focus Sash Spidops is able to guaranteed setup a Sticky Web, then it can Silk Trap to slow down an opponent if they use a Contact Move if it’s a Contact Move Attacker or Circle Throw a Setup or Hazard Setup. If the first Pokémon is a Setup Ghost type, deploy Gjoldengo first and you can easily Shadow Ball them to death (Ex: Drifbloom). After that you can stall out a bit with Spidops or throw any dangerous opponent for Gholdengo, once your all clear or Spidops dies, switch to Gholdengo. Now, Gholdengo can outspeed almost every Pokémon in the game unless they have a Priority Move or they are Flying/have Levitate. Now, try to get Gholdengo to 2 Nasty Plot’s, but if their team lacks SpD one should suffice. Take out any Ghost types immediately though and remember to prioritize Gholdengo over Setups unless you’re sure Gholdengo will survive, once he’s finally Setup you can go ahead and hopefully Sweep.

Summary of Strategy + Notes.​

Remember, much of this can change, but the important part is using Silk Web with Spidops, and then Circle Throwing any threatening opponents until Gholdengo can setup. You can use Air Balloon, Heavy-Duty Boots, or other recommended items over Aguav Berry, in fact I recommend you do. You can also swap out Focus Blast for Psyshock or Recover. Finally a Pokémon with fast Speed and a move that swaps put others and works on Ghost types also has good synergy with this strategy. (I forgot to include this but Gholdengo’s Good as Gold prevents decoy which makes this strategy very consistent and has good Synergy as well. This as well as try and go for Spikes to abuse Good as Gold and it justifies a single Nasty Plot more.)

This town aint big enough for the two of us.

 

[terrorsDomain]

Thing is that Spidops is simply outclassed, and this situational niche is ineffective against bulky teams as they can just bring in a Regenerator Pokemon or a Ghost-type/Substitute user, and in fact Spidops has no way to discourage foes from using Defog. Smeargle has the threat of Nuzzle and Mortal Spin, or even Perish Song to avoid being setup fodder against Substitute users like Zygarde, M-Diancie threatens offensively with super effective STAB all notable hazard removers, Shuckle has Encore to steal momentum as they're locked on that move, etc. Ultimately Spidops is limited as a situational counterpick for hyper offense, as it's quite passive and can't perform its role as effectively as other options, and the situational benefits aren't worth the trade-off.

Also, Gholdengo is at best an stallbreaker, it can't actually sweep as it doesn't hit that hard relative to the tier (say, compared to Chi-Yu, which is a trending Sticky Web abuser as it can overwhelm stuff with Nasty Plot and Z-Dark Pulse, all without even consuming the Tera slot) and just loses to Yveltal and Ho-Oh.

Mini-sprites work based on text, more specifically just list the name of a given Pokemon and add " : " before and after the name, for example, View attachment 707434 becomes , the same also applies for items, say, View attachment 707435 becomes .

Any further comments would go better in DMs or in the Discord server to avoid derailing this thread, namely as it's meant to host proposals, rather than in-depth chatroom-like discussion for each one too, so further talk stops here, thanks.

Alright, you convinced me that Spidops is to niche, I’ll only DM which I probably won’t.

 

[Cancel cult]

+ +
these two might not seem like they would be good together, but they have a surprising amount of synergy. Chien-Pao is a fantastic cleaner, but it needs chip damage to do well. T-spikes provides that chip damage, making chien pao rather dangerous on balance. Now, of course t-spikes aren't easy to maintain, and a poison type Pokemon can effortlessly remove them. by far the most relevant one is eternatus, and would you look at that, chien pao beats it. Also, I added lando, because Bumbo said I needed a pivot, and sami said it folds to zacian.

 

[MirrorSaMa]

+
Life Orb Rayquaza is a very good breaker. Due to his spe limit, he can't fight against some mos such as Arc, Eternatus, Yveltal, and Zacian, but his SPE still surpasses Groudon-Primal, Kyogre-Primal, Ho-Oh, Zygarde,NDM and a series of stall members. The attack range of Flying+Fire+Dragon is very noble in UB, especially when Dragon Ascent is a 120 power main move. Scale Shot gives you the power to beat Smeargle, and gives you the opportunity to surpass zacian's spe.
As for Alomomola, he gave Ray a chance to play consistently while also providing treatment.
This combination is good against slower-paced balance and stalls, but don't forget to bring a Choice Scarf Yveltal or other high-speed mon to provide speed control.