As usual I want to share my takeaways of what went right and what went wrong, so off we go.
Team Overview
Blaziken @ Life Orb
Level: 50
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch
- Swords Dance
The primary wincon of the team on which the team is centered. Can win either by Swords Dancing under screens or on predicted switches, as well as by immediately maxxing and using Knuckle + Flare to turn Flare Blitz into a nuke move; sun-boosted Flare Blitz can out-damage neutral coverage Thunder Punch even when resisted. Despite this, Thunder Punch is a critical coverage move specifically chosen over Earthquake to hit the likes of Urshifu-R and Tapu Fini when maxxed.
A standard 252/252 Atk/Spe spread is used here, with 4 SpD EV’s used to trigger an Attack Download for P2.
Tapu Koko @ Light Clay
Level: 50
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 228 HP / 84 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Nature's Madness
- Reflect
- Light Screen
The screen setter and one of the team’s primary leads. Helps Blaziken and Tapu Fini set up, though bulky Glastrier can absolutely benefit as well. Unlike other screen setters though, it provides important sleep protection with Electric Surge, can rack up respectable damage with Nature’s Madness and pivot with Volt Switch. The overall flexibility granted by its speed tier and Nature’s Madness can make it quite the wild card both in the early game and middle of a match.
The spread is a variation on the 252/252 HP/Spe spread for the standard Dual Screens set. SpD investment is made to trigger an Attack Download by P2, while still allowing Koko to avoid a 2HKO from Hippowdown and Swampert Earthquake after a Reflect. 196 Spe puts us at +2 on Timid Naganadel, outrunning both it and bulky Dragapult sets that EV to be +1 on Naganadel themselves.
Glastrier @ Custap Berry
Level: 50
Ability: Chilling Neigh
EVs: 164 HP / 252 Atk / 92 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Icicle Spear
- Close Combat
- Heavy Slam
- Endure
The primary bulky attacker of the team whose Endure-Custap combo allows it to harass more offensive-oriented teams. Its most important role on the team is to check/counter Dragon-types and Landorus-T especially for the Blaziken-Koko core, and it appreciates the screens set up by Koko. It certainly is no slouch in Dynamax either and functions as a secondary wincon; however, without Weakness Policy/Swords Dance it doesn’t have consistent setup opportunities, so it is important to scope out opposing threats that can abuse unboosted Glastrier.
The standard 252/252 HP/Atk spread was foregone here to shift some into speed. At 92 Spd investment, Glastrier outruns 4 Spd Rhyperior. Sadly, I don’t think this has come into play once, but despite the loss in bulk Glastrier still maintains highly favorable rolls against things like Urshifu Close Combat:
252 Atk Urshifu Close Combat vs. 164 HP / 0 Def Glastrier: 168-198 (85.7 - 101%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
Tapu Fini @ Leftovers
Level: 50
Ability: Misty Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 92 Def / 164 Spe
Bold Nature
- Surf
- Moonblast
- Taunt
- Calm Mind
Fini’s primary role on the team is to help stabilize the main core’s weakness to bulky Ground-types like Rhyperior and Landorus-T as well as checking offensive water types such as Urshifu-R and Dracovish. Of course, as a standard Calm Mind set, Fini can function as the target wincon in certain situations. Fini can do a lot but it doesn’t always have to, and figuring out when and how to use it on this particular team has been something of a process.
The EV spread and item choice are similar to the standard Calm Mind spread with just a single point uptick in speed to help beat opposing Fini in Taunt wars.
Zapdos @ Kee Berry
Level: 50
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 220 HP / 220 Def / 4 SpA / 4 SpD / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
- Discharge
- Hurricane
- Eerie Impulse
- Roost
The dedicated defensive cushion and main option against suspected Turn 1 Dynamax teams. The secret sauce of this set is targeted at the team’s aversion to physical Dragapult: assuming something like lead Koko held out for two turns against Dragapult, Zapdos can use Kee + Roost to counteract Max Phantasm on the final turn of Dynamax, at which point unboosted Dragapult is very unlikely to break Zapdos. Overall, Zapdos uses its status hax and Eerie Impulse to wear down threats or maneuver in the main sweeper. Of course, Zapdos can also Dynamax sweep itself if hard counters like SpD P2 are eliminated or simply absent. All things considered, I'm not sure this set has worked out as well as I'd hoped, but I think this variation has seen more success than the previous ones I've used.
The EV spread is a modification of the defensive Zapdos spread of 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spd. By redistributing to hit 220 Def, the damage numbers on Dragon Darts take a significant hit and drastically improve the matchup:
252 Atk Life Orb Dragapult Dragon Darts (2 hits) vs. 220 HP / 220+ Def Zapdos: 86-104 (44.5 - 53.8%) -- approx. 20.3% chance to 2HKO
Keeping the 60 Spd EVs as is was prioritized, since being able to outspeed Timid Naganadel after an Airstream is another valuable asset for this team.
Garchomp @ Focus Sash
Level: 50
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 228 Atk / 28 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 16 Def
- Scale Shot
- Earthquake
- Rock Tomb
- Stealth Rock
The rock setter of the team and a very respectable combatant in its own right. Rocks were wanted on this team for obvious Sash-breaking reasons, but Garchomp was specifically chosen over other candidates because of its less passive nature combined with a desirable defensive typing (many offensive rockers are weak to Ground-type moves and I didn’t want to have a third Ground weakness on the team.) Much like Koko, it has multiple tools via its raw offensive prowess and speed control. It’s Sash allows it to surprise key threats like Dracovish.
The Defensive IV of 16/17 allows Garchomp to trigger an Attack Download for P2 with only 28 SpD EVs invested. As a sash user, this small loss in defense is less significant; the baseline for choosing the defense IV was banded Surging Strikes from Urshifu-R:
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Surging Strikes (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Garchomp on a critical hit: 162-192 (88.5 - 104.9%) -- approx. 12.5% chance to OHKO
Jolly with maximum 252 Spd EVs is obviously desired to stay above threats like Timid Zapdos, with the rest then going into Atk.
Gameplay
I cannot stress enough that Blaziken is your main wincon the majority of the time, for better or worse. This team is structured around getting him inserted as soon as possible and setting up before the opponent can. And I mean as soon as possible; if something else revs up with Airstream before Blaziken can, that can be a very hard hill to climb. Most of the time this involves leading Koko or Garchomp to prime something for Blaziken to abuse.
The following cores are the main ones used throughout my playtime.
Super Bird Bros. Core
+ The namesake of the team, Koko sets screens and uses Nature's Madness to prepare for a Blaziken set-up. Screens allow Blaziken to use SD or survive a hit if forced to go straight to Max Knuckle, while Nature's Madness can put bulkier foes in range of said Max Knuckle. Koko as a lead here is also great because he resists both Max Airstream and Max Knuckle, making it less likely that the opponent can boost effectively.
Although I've already mentioned that Koko has a lot of utility outside of screens, a big reason for using him--and for running Thunder Punch on Blaziken--is because this team cannot afford to let top-tier water threats gain significant momentum. Allow me to explain : what does this team have against rain-boosted Geysers should Blaziken go down? Fini, and that's about it. While Earthquake theoretically helps with other matchups such as Naganadel and Dragapult, the team has a much better chance of using Glastrier/Fini/Garchomp to recover from those as opposed to something like Urshifu-R. Combine this with the fact that sun-boosted Flare Blitz beats both T-Punch and Earthquake even when resisted, and the loss in those Dragon matchups isn't as bad as it looks. Koko and T-Punch Blaziken simply provide more flexibility at team preview, at least how the team is structured now.
Who you bring in the back mainly depends on what is likely to sit in front of Koko that Blaziken doesn't want to see, mainly Ground-types but occasionaly Dragon-types as well. Glastrier and Fini are both decent for this, and who you bring depends on what other threats you are worried about. For instance, you bring Fini over Glastrier if opposing Urshifu play is a concern. Defensive Kee Zapdos isn't a bad pick here either if both Glastrier and Fini have major matchups concerns. Sash Garchomp as a "last chance" can occasionally work, though it lacks the appropriate tools to kill quickly against Dynamax threats.
Rocks Snowball Core
+ There are times when Blaziken can sweep straight from Dynamax if sashes are broken; this is where you lead Garchomp to speed control threats and put down rocks. Garchomp can also draw in Ice Beam P2, a great setup target for Blaziken though you need to be wary of the counter Dynamax. Use the standard strategy of sweeping with Blaziken as soon as possible via Swords Dance or Max Knuckle.
Your decision on the third is much the same as above, but keep in mind that without screens you need to be able to withstand hits. Fini over Glastrier is preferred against Swords Dance Landorus-T, for instance, since Fini appreciates the speed control from Rock Tomb more than Glastrier does.
"All-In on Blaziken" Core
+ + Basically, pool all your resources into making Blaziken unstoppable. Set rocks and screens and have Blaziken win the 1v3 from the back, though occasionally you can steal kills with the other two given their respectable power. This can work but is risky especially in the face of something like Mimikyu. Make sure you feel comfortable that Blaziken will have an easy sweep or that Garchomp + Koko can trade at least one thing out without losing momentum.
Tapu Bulk Core
+ If it really doesn't look good for Blaziken--such as in the face of Landorus or Sand Rush Excadrill--this is where you bring Fini's Calm Mind set to take over. Koko screens are still desirable since Fini is very hard to break without super-effective coverage under them. I should stress though that the team is not built around Fini the same way its built around Blaziken, so there really are only certain matchups where you want to go for this. Beware in particular of poison matchups such as Naganadel and even Gunk Shot Cinderace. Still, Calm Mind Fini under screens is disgustingly good when you can get away with it.
Team Preview and Notable Threats
The biggest danger as already mentioned is not getting Blaziken into position quick enough. If an opposing Zapdos gets set up without something like screens to buffer its power, you need something like Glastrier or our own Eerie Impulse Zap to check it. Again, this is why you have Koko Screens and Garchomp speed control; keep them within striking range of Blaziken. As for threats that deserve special mention, I've listed them below. Mons I consider particularly problematic threats are labeled accordingly:
Worth mentioning since the only hard switch you have is Tapu Fini, who can obviously switch in and tank a hit or two but it can't effectively Calm Mind from that position and Vish is likely to switch out rather than eat a Moonblast. Garchomp as a Sash lead can surprise kill it with Scale Shot as well. In short, make sure you don't let this thing get an easy kill upfront, then get Blaziken going before it can step in and be a real problem. Watch out for TR Mimi + Dracovish setups at preview. In those instances you pretty much always want to bring Fini as the third behind Blaziken's main sweep.
Sand rush Excadrill is a problem for Blaziken since Blaziken can't outspeed it even at +2 (if sand is down.) However, if Blaziken has screen support it can tank a hit and Max Flare into it, either outright killing it or denying sand so that Blaziken will go first on the follow-up turn since he'll be at least +1. Otherwise, Fini is normally the best call for any kind of Sand Rush offense that doesn't involve Dracozolt.
A pain in the rear end to be sure, especially since we have no super-effective coverage for it. Nonetheless, Blaziken wins here because of Swords Dance outpacing Strength Sap and being immune to burns. Just don't make the mistake of trying to have anything else get into a war of attrition. Screens are useless against this thing in the long run so it doesn't mind burning that time up. As for our other setup mon in Calm Mind Fini, it hates getting hit by Night Shade. A pest for sure but thankfully our main wincon isn't that scared of it.
( ! )Its the premier reverse sweeper in the game, so what did you expect? Furthermore, Trick Lagging Tail, Curse and Trick Room are all huge problems that can immediately neutralize Blaziken's influence. Always pay attention to what's around it and prepare accordingly.
( ! )Easily one of the hardest things to play around because of all the things it can do to invalidate the team. Infiltrator (and a higher speed tier than Koko,) Wisp for Glastrier, or even the possibility of its own screens and Curse, the latter of which is a huge problem for Fini. At least in terms of Dynamax, Zapdos can use Kee + Roost to absorb a turn, so that's something to keep in mind. Blaziken really needs to power up if it wants to blow through this with resisted Max Flare / Flare Blitz.
( ! )The other big dragon threat, though again Blaziken can muscle past if its gets a Swords Dance and sun up. That is, of course, the big if. Poison coverage sucks for both Koko and Fini, and once it starts getting Beast Boosts it can be a tall ask to come back against. Both Garchomp and Glastrier can threaten it, though they don't like eating attack drops from Max Wyrmwind. As usual, just try to make it uncomfortable enough to run away long enough for Blaziken to get in; its defenses suck so it can be overwhelmed.
The fire bunny gets a special mention because of Gunk Shot. Never go bulky with Koko and Fini if Cinderace is in the mix, since Gunk Shot can just win the game at that point. Furthermore, scarf variants just outright kill Koko before he can put down screens. Thankfully, Gunk Shot is only around 25% usage and scarf even less than that. Just make sure you aren't putting yourself in position to get completely bowled over by one move.
( ! )Again, a lack of super-effective coverage really hurts us here, as these Unaware mons can just outright checkmate the entire team. Heavy Slam Glastrier hurts Clefable but getting that in position is awkward. Blaziken can still boost using sun, but it needs to be wary of Kee. Fini can Taunt both of them and wear them down over time assuming they haven't already started boosting defensively. This is one of the few situations where "get Blaziken in right now" doesn't apply, and it definitely exposes one of the major weaknesses of the team (more on that in just a bit.)
( ! )So here's an interesting one that I actually ran into a couple of times and I would not be surprised if this was sneaky anti-Blaziken tech specifically for Toxapex stall teams. It resists or outright walls the Fire-Fighting-Electric trifecta with its typing and Lightningrod, though it is vulnerable to Earthquake (which is not even a top 10 usage move, by the way.) Mark my words: if Blaziken starts surging in usage you're going to see more of this thing.
Lessons Learned
Blaziken is a BEAST! But...
This team has made me a believer. I said it on Discord earlier : "Why use Speed Boost when you can just Max Airstream?" Because you get to boost twice per turn instead of once. Swords Dance, Max Knuckle and Max Flare sun all make Blaziken devastatingly powerful while Speed Boost just does its thing automatically. Plus, all those options give Blaziken a crap ton of flexibility in what he can use to kill and/or boost at the same time.
However, this team is just too reliant on Blaziken to win everything. I added Fini both to cover ground types and to be a second wincon and it worked to a certain extent, but there are sore spots shared between the two, not least of which is the big bad Zapdos. Blaziken needs a little more help without sacrificing momentum...
In particular, this team struggles with teams that can cycle around screens all while preventing Blaziken from getting in comfortably. Sure, I can pester with Nature's Madness but that doesn't usually win the game; Blaziken going ham does. What little defensive capabilities the team has don't seem to match up well with stall. For instance, Fini blocks status with Misty Surge but has no business going up against Toxapex. Zapdos can't take advantage of either terrain effects the team has because its a Flying type. I wonder if in some of these scenarios I should've just hard-led Blaziken and hoped for an optimal Swords Dance matchup.
Going along with the stall issues, I have also concluded that screens are really hard to do well in this meta. I tried making Koko more aggressive with things like Nature's Madness, but the reality is that most of the time you sack him to set screens or the opponent cycles and just burns them up. Both scenarios represent different types of matchups but either way it generally ends up that Blaziken has to do most of the work in the ensuing 2v3. And with the surge of turn 1 Dynamax teams and Mimikyu shenanigans also being a big factor right now, its too much for Blaziken to shoulder all on his own. If I make another Blaziken team, I'm thinking of trying something more offensively oriented in terms of support.
A Tightening Grasp on Teambuilding
Of course, I don't think it was a total fluke that I got below 500 with this team and consistently trended in the 2000-1000 range to end the season. There was a lot of good stuff going on here, and I think a lot of it had to do with improving my teambuilding throughout the lifetime of this team.
This team started much like a lot of my other teams did: a desire to be anti-meta and screw with people’s expectations. For instance, this team started with Volt Switch Rotom-W as a way to bait in Ferrothorn matchups that Blaziken could then set up on. In theory, it sounded great; in practice, I don’t think that exact scenario happened even once. This was a realization I at least partially came to back with my first semi-successful team “Sand Bluff.” If they take the bait, awesome. If they don’t take it either by having a different switch-in or by not even bringing the targeted mon, you often just lose. This is exactly what happened with Rotom-W: pretty much everything except Ferrothorn was showing up.
As I worked through this and a former unsuccessful team through season 9, I think I finally began to identify the key pieces of a truly successful team. My tendency these days is to try and break down challenging or complicated things into their “basic” component parts; I think I may finally have done it with BSS. The way I see it now, there are three key concepts that have to be properly balanced if you want to have high levels of success:
- Role Identity
- Type Synergy
- Meta Knowledge
It’s well known that if you want to kill the Steel-Grass beast, the most effective way to do it is to bring fire-type coverage. But to point at that and go “if I bring my fire-type, Ferrothorn loses” is to severely misunderstand team dynamics. Of course fire moves destroy Ferrothorn and of course any competent team builder is prepared for that near inevitability. They bring a defensive partner or revenge killer who has type synergy with Ferrothorn so that you can get out of bad matchups. They use meta knowledge to determine the highest-usage fire users so that you can pick counters who don’t easily die to common secondary coverage. Then Ferrothorn uses Leech Seed not just to enhance its own defensive prowess but to provide healing to its switch-in, giving it a hybrid role identity of defensive tank and medic.
“I can never kill Ferrothorn! It just runs away when I put in my fire type!” OF COURSE IT DOES! Your typical frontline Ferrothorn expects to switch out and it’s moveset and teammates have been structured around this. This is why beating Ferrothorn is so much more complicated than “fire move go brrrrrrr” and why he continues to be a decent threat in the face of one of the strongest fire-types to ever terrorize a generation (though to be fair, he has dropped in usage simply because that particular fire-type is really really hard to efficiently cover.)
Once I began to understand these things not as individual factors but as cohesive pieces is when things really took off. There was a Mamoswine vs. Glastrier decision that I made at one point: Mamoswine was the first consideration as a backline Sash user but I realized that paired with Koko-Blaziken that meant I had no ability to switch in the face of offensive pressure. Mamoswine covered the type synergy aspect of handling ground types for the two, but his role mismatched with what was needed to support the team. So I went the psuedo-sash route of using the more bulky Glastrier and gave it Endure + Custap Berry. I would eventually get my Sash and Rocks user in Garchomp, but his purpose was different and certainly not the one to be called on for switching into something like Landorus.
A different example is that at one point I had Grimmsnarl and Blaziken as the screens pair. This created a problem of the main core being too weak to Fini, particularly because I was already running Glastrier who definitely did not like Fini either. This time the roles were correct but the type synergy was wrong. That is where I realized I couldn't let waters like Fini and Urshifu-R in simply because they were too good at creating their own momentum against the team, so I switched to Koko and never really looked back. Sure, there was still the issue of the shared ground weakness, but that matched up much better with my Glastrier pick.
There is so much to unpack here, but I’ll try to roughly summarize. Good type matchups, raw sweeper/tank stat lines, team flowcharts, meta counterplay… these things do not exist in a vacuum. The best teams know how to put all of these things together to create versatility at minimum expense to overall power. Then, you try to build a squad at team preview that breaks the opponent’s flowchart before it breaks yours.
“Perfect Counters” aren’t always perfect fits. Always be shipping your ideas!
To all beginner/intermediate players out there, if you only come away with one helpful piece of advice from all of this, please make it this: just play the game. Whether you build your own team or rent one, play the game. If you have no idea what you are doing, play anyway. And at the end of the day, always ask questions and be willing to try new things.
The first iteration of this team was nowhere near the level it is now, but if I wasn’t willing to beat my head against a wall and try different things I wouldn’t have gotten to this point. Had I not just thrown Calm Mind Tapu Fini on the team as a YOLO pick for ground/rock types (albeit a very meta YOLO pick,) I could’ve easily settled on something more “big brain” and ego-stroking but less effective overall; no joke, I was considering bulky Ludicolo at one point to counter Excadrill (and kinda sorta other ground-types.) Or I could have just theory-crafted for another week and not played at all. That’s not to say you can’t be creative--Tapu Koko is kinda “off-meta” as a screens setter and maybe I really should’ve tried Ludicolo--but you want to ship that idea sooner rather than later as opposed to meticulously theory-crafting a team that wins only in perfect situations. Remember: a perfect counter really only matters if you draw that matchup in the first place. Having something that does well in several matchups is often better than something that does excellently at only one, and that flexibility generally helps it fit in with more team compositions.
Finally, everyone learns in different ways. I do firmly believe you have to actually play the game if you want to get good at it, but how you supplement that is up to you. For instance, I’m not a big question-asker on the forums or Discord, but I love to watch streams and see what other people are doing. Find a process that works for you; if you don’t know what that is, keep looking until you find it.
In Conclusion
Uh, yeah. I've said a lot already so not much else to say. I drove myself a little crazy at the end of the season but all in all I'm happy with the progress that was made. Its nice to feel like I have something worth posting in the Team Bazaar for once!
To close, I'd like to give a shoutout to cant say for putting this team through its paces on stream. I don't think he knew what to expect when I forced him to use it with a channel reward redemption (and given my last several teams, I assume he was rather apprehensive,) but it was absolutely awesome to see someone else take my team and see some level of success with it. I was able to learn from that as well and even bounce some ideas off of him. Thanks man!
As always, insight and critiques are welcome. Thank you for reading!
