Team Report No One Mourns The Wicked - VGC 2013 RoA Ladder Top 10 Team Report

[MosquitoVGC]

No One Mourns The Wicked
VGC 2013 Ruins of Alph Ladder [2025 January]
A team report by Mosquito

==Team and Performance==

Team
https://pokepast.es/03f0ff4daa79efb3

Text-only

Landorus-Therian (M) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect
- U-turn



Thundurus (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 36 SpA / 212 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave



Cresselia (F) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 216 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Rest



Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect
- Earthquake



Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Protect
- Low Kick



Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Snarl

Final Ladder Ranking
8th Place (Elphaba Thropp) - 1429 Elo, 81.5% GXE
13th Place (Mosquito) - 1407 Elo, 76.3% GXE

===Introduction===
I'm Kristian Mosquito! My VGC career goes back to 2009, when I used the account (Mosquito). I was especially active in the 2012-2013 season, the "golden age" of VGC. I managed to top cut two Regionals (Philadelphia October 2012 and Philadelphia October 2013) in that time.

Fast-forward to 2025! Following a community vote, the Ruins of Alph forum implemented a VGC 2013 ladder on Pokémon Showdown for the month of January. Immediately both players who play past formats (for example, members of the Pokétopia Discord Server) and veterans from the VGC 2013 era hopped onto the Showdown ladder to play what is possibly the best VGC format to date.

As both a VGC 2013 veteran and an active past generations VGC player, I immediately began battling with strategies from the era. I laddered with a TopMoth team, with Senior World Champion Hayden McTavish's team, and with a Sand core designed in 2013 by yet-to-be-crowned World Champion Shoma Honami. It was fun the first few days matching with players I knew a decade ago. There was stiff challenge from some of the higher rated players, notably "mizukurage1".

My goal for the month was to be ranked Top 10. After multiple stressful nights, I parked my main account "Mosquito" in the Top 10, then switched to alternate accounts to test new teams. After a while I grew both busy and burnt out from laddering too much. My test teams on my alts didn't rank higher than 1150, and I was stumped. It wasn't until the middle of the month I started laddering again with a strong team.

===Process===

During my battles on my alts, I kept encountering the Top 10 player "mizukurage1". My friend Kenan (Lucien Lachance / pepemd), another VGC 2013 veteran, was convinced this was 2023 World Champion Shohei Kimura based on mizukurage's ladder team. This led to the Pokétopia server referring to mizukurage as "zeen" for the entire month, though we found out after ladder ended that "mizukurage1" was actually Zubola.

Mizukurage's team consisted of a strong balance core of Landorus-T, Thundurus-T, Cresselia, Metagross, Tyranitar, and Suicune. The average BST of the team is a massive 590 because it only consists of legendaries and pseudo-legendaries. With an offensive genies core complemented by 2 physical and 2 special tanks, it was difficult to easily KO with my other teams. Suicune in particular poses an enormous obstacle to Rain teams.

With no faith in any of the other teams I built, I decided to copy this core and update it to movesets that I preferred. First, I replaced the offensive Thundurus-T with the more balanced Thundurus-I, since 2025 me feels more comfortable with balance teams (as opposed to 2013 me, who really liked offense!). I fell in love with Substitute Thundurus from my experience laddering with Hayden's team, so I used it instead of Taunt. The other 5 Pokémon covered major ladder threats and dealt enough damage to stomp low-rated players solely off their higher BST.

This team went through two revisions to adjust EVs, items, and moves as I gained experience with ladder. The version you see is my final version, v1.1, which I used for the final week of ladder.

===In-Detail===


Landorus-Therian (M) @ Yache Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Protect
- U-turn

252S+ to speedtie other max Speed Landorus-T
252A to otherwise maximize Attack
4H dump remainder EVs

A mostly-standard Landorus-T. I opted for Stone Edge to OHKO Thundurus when Intimidated, since this seemed more important than fishing for Rock Slide flinches. I opted for Yache Berry instead of Focus Sash because I enjoy pivoting. I think both are equally strong options for non-Choice Landorus-T, and choosing one or the other comes down to preference for pivoting vs. dealing with the Rain matchup.


Thundurus (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 36 SpA / 212 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 Def
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Substitute
- Thunder Wave

212S outruns 252S+ Landorus-T by 1 point
36C+ hits 165 Sp. Atk stat (11n aka a positive nature stat number)
252H maximizes overall bulk
8B dump remainder EVs

What a fun Thundurus set! Substitute greatly increases Thundurus's longevity, provides counterplay to Spore Amoonguss and Breloom and slower Thunder Wave Thundurus, and allows Thundurus to "burn" opposing gems. With Hidden Power Ice, it can outrun and OHKO non-Choice Scarf 4H Landorus-T that lack Yache Berry or Focus Sash, though in practice Landorus-T will run one of these three items. Substitute ties well with the speed investment both because it can set up against slower Thundurus and because the ability to negate Dragon Gem means I don't need to invest an excessive amount into bulk. Prankster Thunder Wave is frankly an insane option, and I'm glad it was nerfed in later generations. I'm much happier overall with Substitute than I would have been with Swagger or Taunt, though on rare occasions I wish I had them. While Substitute Thundurus would prefer Leftovers, I decided Suicune needed it more, so I opted for Sitrus Berry.


Cresselia (F) @ Chesto Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 220 HP / 216 SpA / 72 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Psychic
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Rest

216C+ HP Fire OHKOs Scizor and Ice Beam OHKOs 4H Garchomp
220H hits 223 HP stat (16n-1 aka sand damage reduction number)
72S dump remainder

Kenan convinced me early in the month that offensive Chesto Berry + Rest Cresselia was the play, as it checks numerous common threats, provides an answer to Amoonguss, and still maintains the bulk of Sitrus or Leftovers Cresselia. The ability to win entire endgames with Rest was something I explored during the April 2012 Philadelphia Regional and that Aaron Zheng proved effective at Worlds 2013. I opted for Psychic over Psyshock due to its higher base power and its improved effectiveness against Conkeldurr. In retrospect, Psyshock may have been better to deal with the numerous specially bulky Pokémon EVed to live Latios Dragon Gem Draco Meteor (e.g. Rotom-W, Politoed, Thundurus). Hidden Power [Fire] was my team's Hail Mary against Scizor, as without it I'm forced to awkwardly play via Suicune Scald, Thundurus Thunderbolt, and Metagross Iron Head flinches.

I'd like to reiterate how strong ChestoResto Cresselia is: your opponent must spend 3-4 attacks to KO Cresselia, and by clicking Rest and immediately healing the sleep, Cresselia now lives another 3-4 attacks. All the while, it threatens OHKOs vs. many Landorus-T and Scizor; 2HKOs on most Ice-weak or Psychic-weak Pokémon; and 3HKOs vs. Metagross and Sitrus Amoonguss and Thundurus. My only wish is that Cresselia could run Protect; almost everyone instinctively targets Cresselia on "dead" turns because the damage is guaranteed. The ability to hit Scizor and Metagross, however, is too important to give up.


Metagross @ Lum Berry
Ability: Clear Body
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Iron Head
- Zen Headbutt
- Protect
- Earthquake

252A+ maximizes Attack
252H maximizes bulk
4S dump remainder EVs and speedcreep 0S Metagross

A mostly-standard Metagross. I despite Metagross's tendency to miss Meteor Mash in the Orre Colosseum format to the point that I insist on Iron Head in VGC 2009 and 2013. The 30% chance to flinch makes up for the relatively low 80 BP. In retrospect, Zen Headbutt is Metagross's best attack. STAB Psychic coverage is much better than Steel coverage, though we didn't realize this in the years 2009 and 2013 because we were obsessed with Meteor Mash. The Psychic-type covers Thundurus, Amoonguss, and most Fire-types and Water-types really well. While other players opt for Bullet Punch, I chose Earthquake to improve my Heatran matchup. Cresselia with Hidden Power [Fire] is unfortunately walled by Heatran, which can easily punish her with Substitute. Lum Berry is selected over Psychic Gem because I figured a decent matchup against Amoonguss, Thundurus, and Rotom-W was better than a winning matchup against Amoonguss with a poor matchup vs. the bulky Electric-types.


Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Protect
- Low Kick

252A+ maximizes Attack
252H 4B maximizes bulk and survives 252A+ Metagross Meteor Mash

Standard Tyranitar. There's nothing special here. Tyranitar proved to be the weakest member of the team. While I remember it dominating in the years 2012-2013, it felt much more difficult to bring it in 2025 because ladder players tended to carry multiple Pokémon with super-effective STAB moves (namely Landorus-T and Metagross). Instead, Tyranitar should be seen as a "tech" Pokémon. You use it to beat Sun and Hail teams, to cancel Rain, to improve the Heatran matchup, and to bully improperly-built Thundurus+Cresselia teams. Outside of those specific scenarios, Metagross or Suicune provide much more value.


Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Level: 50
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA / 12 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Snarl

252C+ maximizes Special Attack
4S speedcreep 0S Suicune
236H 4B 12D maximizes bulk with the remainder while keeping Special Defense higher than Defense in case of Download Porygon2

Suicune is one of my favorite Pokémon in my revisit of VGC 2013. For whatever reason, we didn't use it as often in the years 2012-2013. Perhaps it was the preference for Rotom-W, which takes less damage from Thunderbolt and has a Ground-immunity. Suicune's advantages over Rotom-W are a reliable Water STAB and a higher-damaging Ice move. Suicune's advantages over the comparable Jellicent is a better matchup vs. Dark-types in exhange for a worse Fighting-type matchup. Suicune's advantages over both Rotom-W and Jellicent is its higher stats and access to Snarl (and Tailwind I guess). Snarl and Leftovers combine to almost single-handedly counter the Rain duo of Politoed + Kingdra, especially with Pressure capable of stalling out Draco Meteor (i.e. no more risk of a critical hit). Scald and Ice Beam hit everything else for respectable damage, letting Suicune trade damage like it's a second Cresselia. Suicune is especially good in the Bo1 CTS format of ladder, since it has less polarizing matchups than Jellicent and more consistent moves than the inaccurate Rotom-W.

===Strategy and Battles===

Landorus-T + Thundurus lead with Cresselia in the rear is a safe strategy against most teams. Metagross vs. Suicune often comes down to the number of positive and negative matchups on the opponent's team (Heatran, Amoonguss, Rotom-W, and Tornadus come to mind). Due to the Bo1 nature of ladder, I defaulted to double genies as a lead solely because of its consistently neutral matchups. Intimidate, U-Turn, Prankster Thunder Wave, and Prankster Substitute offer numerous options regardless of the opponent's lead. In addition, the very threat of Taunt forces opponents to reconsider their Turn 1.

One of the main lessons learned with this team is positioning. It's a balance team after all! Learning to position to endgames where Cresselia or Landorus-T can win is critical for this team. Many times it's worth taking 75% on a Pokémon rather than take <25% into a KO because having more positioning options can be more valuable than the material HP disadvantage. This is especially true for late-game Thundurus, who can even-out a losing endgame solely via paralysis.

Like many other successful players on ladder (like contra92 or Zubola), my choice of a bulky balance team gave me more leeway with my decision making. Unlike offensive teams, I could accept losing on a given turn because I could reposition or make up material loss later. As I have noted in my times playing Series 9 and Regulation C, balance promotes player skill because each turn leads to incremental gains that must be added and managed, rather than banking entire games on single hard reads.

Finally, this team, like other balance teams, wins on ladder because numerous low-rated opponents will run odd Pokémon with surprising coverage. They may simply attack in situations where more experienced players would always Protect or switch because of the danger. A team with such high stats simply gets to brute-force its way past low level players. This ability to fight literally everything in the game on even footing makes it a safe choice for ladder.

I'm serious. Literally everything in the game. I can't think of any significantly negative matchups for the team as a whole. You have to spend every turn thinking and solving toward an endgame with your pieces, but your pieces can do it all. It's beautiful how consistent this team is.

===Post Ladder Reflection===
I achieved my goal of Top 10, in spite of multiple players (especially contra92) using alts to clog up high ladder. My account "Elphaba Thropp" managed to get the 2nd highest GXE at 81.5%.

It's important to stress how different Bo1 CTS ladder is from Bo3 matches, whether CTS or OTS. Bo1 ladder not only forces you to play safely due to unknown movesets, it forces you to play safely to avoid luck-based or matchup-based losses against thee low-rated players you repeatedly encounter. Bo1 ladder encourages bulky balance and discourages alternative playstyles with polarizing matchups, as seen by oopsgtg's inability to finish in the Top 30 with his Perish Rain team.

I do believe this team is inherently strong as safe. It may not be as extraordinary in Bo3 compared to its ladder performance, but it's a strong team. I encourage you to play this team or a similarly bulky balance team (e.g. contra92's team) to learn your fundamentals.

I'd like to thank the Pokétopia server for their enthusiasm during the month of ladder. I'd like to especially thank Kenan for his encouragement that we relive our teenage years. Laddering really brought me back to those fun times, the golden age of VGC, where we messed around, played a lot, and learned to let go in the face of luck.

I'd like to acknowledge contra92, who managed to get 4 alts into the Top 10. This is a true ladder warrior who earned their spot by playing a massive number of games and learned how to properly play on ladder. They're undeniably the best Bo1 VGC 2013 player in the world right now. I hope they join Smogon and/or the Pokétopia server, but after having reached out twice and not seeing them join, I doubt it.

Thank you for reading this report, and I hope it's encouraged you to try out the most revisited and one of the most respected past VGC formats!

 

[Potatoman299]

this is just so frickin tuff that i wanna explode