It's been a while since i last posted an RMT on smogon, so i thought i might make one after experimenting on battle spot.
One thing i noticed about a lot of battle spot teams is that they were all very prepared for xerneas, with tonnes of taunt, fake out and primal groudon on pretty much every team, which made it hard for xerneas to perform an effective sweep.
One style of team that a lot of current teams are not prepared for is double primal trick room, so i thought i would try building one of these teams myself.
This team style is designed to win the weather war. By being able to exploit two forms of weather, these teams can adapt to many different cores, meaning the team had to be built with a reactionary play style in mind (as opposed to offensive combo etc)
This is what i ended up with:
At A Glance:
When it comes to VGC 16 teambuilding, I always start by picking a legendary duo. These were the two mons i wanted to start with because of their sheer bulk, power and weather changing abilities.
Cresselia was the next pokemon I added. It has one of the best support movepools in the game for the primals, with access to helping hand, gravity and a whole bunch of others (unfortunately this means it has a really bad case of 4-move-slot-syndrome).
All VGC 16 teams need a mega. With this team I knew i needed fake out support to help set up trick room as well as general offense, so mega kangaskhan was chosen.
The next pokemon i added was crobat, because the team needed a way to deal with xerneas apart from trick room, and crobat seemed like the perfect fit because it also provides an alternative form of speed control in tailwind as a fast mode.
For the last team slot, i chose salamence as a secondary mega to deal with major threats to the team like mega rayquaza, and as another fast mode option that also provides intimidate support
In Depth:
Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
- Role: Fake Out Support/Offense
- Ability: Inner Focus>Scrappy because it allows kangaskhan to use fake out without worrying about faster fake out users like liepard, weavile, fast kang etc
- EVs: Max HP and Atk with an adamant nature for efficiency in both TR and TW modes. I haven't found a more optimal spread yet, as this one does everything i need it to do:
- Calcs:
- 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan in Harsh Sun: 177-208 (83.4 - 98.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Low Kick (100 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 184-218 (86.7 - 102.8%) -- 7.8% chance to OHKO
- 252 Atk Life Orb Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Mega Kangaskhan: 172-203 (81.1 - 95.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Mega Kangaskhan: 151-178 (71.2 - 83.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- Moves: Standard move choices: fake out for set up support, double-edge for a powerful STAB, sucker punch for priority and low kick>PuP for better sweeping capabilities under TR/TW
Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 8 Spe
- Trick Room
- Skill Swap
- Helping Hand
- Gravity / Magic Coat
- Role: TR setter/Primal Support
- Item: Mental herb is my favourite item on cresselia. It gives it temporary immunity to taunt, disable and encore which means it has a much easier time against potential counters like gengar/whimsicott, liepard, crobat, thundurus etc
- EVs: Very standard VGC '16 spread. Since cresselia sponges literally every hit from the ubers, this spread lives one of the most powerful hit in the meta, a +1 life orb mega rayquaza dragon ascent, whilst still having a tonne of EVs spare for SpD
- Calcs:
- +1 252 Atk Life Orb Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 156 Def Cresselia: 191-226 (84.1 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ SpA Primal Groudon Overheat vs. 252 HP / 100+ SpD Cresselia in Harsh Sun: 136-162 (59.9 - 71.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 252 HP / 100+ SpD Cresselia: 160-190 (70.4 - 83.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252+ Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 252 HP / 156 Def Cresselia: 126-150 (55.5 - 66%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- etc...
- IVs: The IVs here will mean that cresselia's speed at level 50 will be one point below primal groudon's, which will guarantee a safe skill swap under trick room (i have seen players running some speed on cresselia to steal a skill swapped ability), which is kind of useful
- Moves: I didn't really see the need for an attack here (correct me if i'm wrong), so all chosen moves are aimed at supporting both primals (primarily groudon): TR for speed control; skill swap to give immunity to ground moves to groudon/kyogre as well as resetting the weather; Helping hand as a damage booster to assist in sweeping and gravity to improve the accuracy of precipice blades/origin pulse.
Groudon (Groudon-Primal) @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 68 Atk / 4 Def / 164 SpA / 132 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- Eruption
- Precipice Blades
- Protect
- Role: TR sweeper/Weather setter
- EVs: The SpA EVs will guarantee that earth power OHKOs 0 HP / 4 SpD primal groudon, with the rest spread out in the defenses and the rest in attack (0 Spe EVs/IVs for efficiency in TR). The defensive benchmarks are as follows:
- Calcs:
- +1 252+ Atk Life Orb Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 140 HP / 4 Def Primal Groudon: 164-192 (84.9 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 4 Atk Aerilate Mega Salamence Double-Edge vs. 140 HP / 4 Def Primal Groudon: 81-96 (41.9 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- 252+ Atk Choice Band Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 140 HP / 4 Def Primal Groudon: 82-97 (42.4 - 50.2%) -- 1.2% chance to 2HKO
- 252 SpA Primal Groudon Earth Power vs. 140 HP / 132 SpD Primal Groudon: 162-192 (83.9 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Return vs. 140 HP / 4 Def Primal Groudon: 85-101 (44 - 52.3%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO
- Moves: Earth power for opposing primal groudon, eruption for massive spread damage and precipice blades for more spread damage options at low health
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 60 SpA / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Origin Pulse
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Protect
- Role: TR/TW Sweeper/Weather Setter
- EVs: This is a pretty bulky spread for effective use in both speed control modes. With the rest of the EVs in SpA/Spe, the defensive benchmarks are as follows:
- Calcs:
- 252+ Atk Ferrothorn Power Whip vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Primal Kyogre: 174-206 (84 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +2 252 SpA Xerneas Grass Knot (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Primal Kyogre: 174-206 (84 - 99.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
- +2 252 SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Dazzling Gleam vs. 252 HP / 76 SpD Primal Kyogre: 87-103 (42 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
- 252+ Atk Life Orb Mega Rayquaza Dragon Ascent vs. 252 HP / 116 Def Primal Kyogre: 179-212 (86.4 - 102.4%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO
- Moves: Pretty standard stuff: Origin Pulse for STAB (no water spout since kyogre is too slow for it to be efficient) and thunder/ice beam for boltbeam coverage.
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate --> Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
- Role: Secondary Mega/Fast Mode/Counter to: rayquaza-mega, groudon-primal etc
- Ability: Intimidate support is really appreciated by the team, as it weakens common physical sweepers like kangaskhan, rayquaza, primal groudon etc
- EVs: Really standard spread, please let me know if you have a better one
- Moves: Double-Edge for powerful STAB, Hyper voice for great spammable spread damage to weaken threats and Draco Meteor for mega rayquaza
Crobat @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 188 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Super Fang
- Taunt / Haze
- Tailwind
- Quick Guard
- Role: TW Setter/Counter to: Xerneas, smeargle, pranksters etc
- Item: Lum berry gives crobat the ability to switch in on smeargle, allowing it to use taunt with ease
- Ability: Inner focus really makes crobat shine, as it allows it to stop set up strategies supported by fake out very efficiently, such as xerneas/kangaskhan, smeargle/kangaskhan etc.
- EVs: A little different to your standard 252/4/252 crobat spread, this spread will optimise the chance of living a kangaskhan double-edge while still surviving a xerneas moonblast:
- Calcs:
- 252 Atk Parental Bond Mega Kangaskhan Double-Edge vs. 68 HP / 188 Def Crobat: 146-173 (86.3 - 102.3%) -- 7% chance to OHKO
- +2 252+ SpA Fairy Aura Xerneas Moonblast vs. 68 HP / 0 SpD Crobat: 144-169 (85.2 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
- Moves: Really standard moveset: super fang to chip down bulky opponents health for a sweeper to pick it off, taunt for xerneas/smeargle (haze is another option here although it doesn't stop smeargle), tailwind for speed controla and quick guard for pranksters.
So that's the team :)
Hope you enjoyed reading, and if you have any helpful criticism please feel free to share it
Kangaskhan-Mega @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 8 Spe
- Trick Room
- Skill Swap
- Helping Hand
- Gravity
Groudon (Groudon-Primal) @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 68 Atk / 4 Def / 164 SpA / 132 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- Eruption
- Precipice Blades
- Protect
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 60 SpA / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Origin Pulse
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Crobat @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 188 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Super Fang
- Taunt
- Tailwind
- Quick Guard
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Double-Edge
- Sucker Punch
- Low Kick
Cresselia @ Mental Herb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 156 Def / 100 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 8 Spe
- Trick Room
- Skill Swap
- Helping Hand
- Gravity
Groudon (Groudon-Primal) @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
Level: 50
EVs: 140 HP / 68 Atk / 4 Def / 164 SpA / 132 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Earth Power
- Eruption
- Precipice Blades
- Protect
Kyogre-Primal @ Blue Orb
Ability: Primordial Sea
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 116 Def / 60 SpA / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Origin Pulse
- Thunder
- Ice Beam
- Protect
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Aerilate
Level: 50
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Double-Edge
- Hyper Voice
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
Crobat @ Lum Berry
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 50
EVs: 68 HP / 188 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Super Fang
- Taunt
- Tailwind
- Quick Guard