https://pokepast.es/e9e1b891a84389ce
Teambuilding process
I obviously started off with pawmot being my favourite pokemon of the new generation
With one of pawmots abilities being volt absorb, I had the idea of discharge for added healing meaning I can get more value and Rotom + Garchomp forms one of the best vgc synergies that I have used in the form of DisQuake
Murkrow is probably the staple of HO right now with its incredible support moves
Faragirif synergises perfectly with murkrow for reasons I will reveal later and provides a solid lead if pawmot isn't viable
I was kind of stumped by this point so I tossed gholdengo in because its probably one of the best mons out there and is just straight up a great mon in any situations.
The team
Pawmot @ Focus Sash
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 50
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 204 HP / 48 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Revival Blessing
- Nuzzle
- Fake Out
- Volt Switch
Pawmot is my favourite pokemon of the new gen and what I built the base of my team on- its not a lot to go on but the more i explored and tested, the more I realised how powerful it actually is. To start off with the moves, a lot of people see it as mainly a revival blessing mon and don't get me wrong, its a great move and very very good in almost all situations and I often find myself clicking it, but this mon isn't limited to just that. Gaining access to nuzzle and fake out on top of revival blessing make it- in my opinion, a better raichu. For my 4th move, I chose Volt switch over Sweet kiss to give it more access to pivoting and allow it to survive longer to revival blessing if I lead with it. Whilst not a prodominant attacker, 48 spA gives it enough to OHKO a post haze dondozo and deal a lot of damage to palafin and a bulky peliper. As for everything else, 252 and a +speed nature allows it to get its moves off first a majority of the time adding power to it being a support mon and despite having a sash, I chose to give it bulk as it can heal with moves you will see later allowing it to last longer.
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
Tera Type: Dragon
EVs: 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Hydro Pump
- Will-O-Wisp
- Volt Switch
Rotom-wash is probably the best rotom form due to fantastic coverage and typing along with generally strong and a vast range of moves for most scenarios. I mainly chose Rotom origanally as I thought discharge volt absorb was a cool combo with Pawmot however it isn't limited to that. Will-o-wisp is one of the best status moves halving a mons attack and giving some chip damage back to ensure KOs and hydro-pump access's its pre-tera STAB and offers great coverage on a strong moves into mainly ground types where Discharge is useless. Volt switch allows it to pivot and bait out moves to reposition and is generally a good move to have in your arsenal. Tera Dragon is a fantastic defensive typing and due to its good spread and single target damage, I don't think a STAB tera would be useful.
Garchomp @ Life Orb
Ability: Rough Skin
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Protect
- Dragon Claw
Garchomp synergizes well with Rotom unlocking something called DisQuake. The only single type that resists ground and electric is Grass but thats fairly easy to work around and allows you to mindlessly spam Discharge and Earthquake and pick up a whole lot of KOs. Ontop of Earthquake, Garchomp gets rock slide, a multi targeting move which, if both hit, carries around a 50% chance of flinching a mon which can win games or swing momentum in your favour. Dragon claw is a great STAB move dealing good damage and protect is just a good move all round. Max attack and speed on top of the things base stats mean that it can pick up KOs frequently and quickly. Tera steel makes the most sense to me and it turns a 4x and 2x weakness to Ice and Fairy to two not very effective moves.
Murkrow @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Haze
- Tailwind
- Foul Play
- Taunt
Murkrow is the only prankster tailwind user in the gen so far and it makes sense why it is one of the most used mon this VGC series. It is also one of the few mons to learn haze making it one of the best support mons. Foul play uses the targets base stats against them so murkrows poor offensive presence doesn't matter and can sometimes pick up KOs despite primarily being used as a support mon. Sash is taken by pawmot so an Eviolite build is used here which doesn't really make a difference as thing thing is still pretty hard to get off the field nonetheless.
Farigiraf @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Armor Tail
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 180 HP / 68 Def / 76 SpA / 180 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Dazzling Gleam
- Trick Room
- Imprison
Being not sashed, I found myself sometimes losing it and sometimes the game to the priority move Ice shard which often OHKO'd my murkrow before it could set up a tailwind. Armor Tail protects murkrow from this making it a very solid lead. It can also counter Trick room quite well, most trick roomers run a -speed nature so often an imprison outspeed and stops trick room from being clicked. This once again brings the best out of murkrow as it means that tailwind isn't completely useless. Both hyper voice and Dazzling gleam are multi-targeting moves which make it more of an offensive threat. The EVs may seem weird and originally I was running a 252/252 spread but after finding some flaws to it, I checked the Smogon analysis and found my Farigiraf being better by copying the spread. Essentially it survives Final gambit from annahilape, tera steel gholdengo and meowscarada knock off but you can read more here. Tera fairy gives dazzling gleam STAB and is just a good defensive typing.
Gholdengo @ Air Balloon
Ability: Good as Gold
Level: 50
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Make It Rain
- Nasty Plot
- Shadow Ball
- Recover
I felt the team was pretty solid so I just added Gholdengo as it is a fantastic mon with great typing and one of the best moves in Make it Rain. I went with Air Balloon so it worked better with Earthquake Garchomp but also for one turn stops enemies from threatening it with a ground OHKO meaning it can usually set up a nasty plot and sweep from there. I chose bulky sweeper EVs as it has naturally decent speed and in tail wind it just doesn't need the extra speed so I didn't want to waste EVs where I didn't need it. (Garchomp is used to hit other tailwinds for hard damage hence speed evs there especially as it has a lot of weakness's pre tera). Tera steel adds even more power to a move that is fantastic without more power and also removes the weakness's it gets from being a ghost type and steel is probably the best typing on the game. Bulky Evs also make the move from recover grant more HP which can sometimes prove to be very useful where neither mon is doing much damage to the other.
