
- With Stealth Rock, Flip Turn, and that great defensive typing, Empoleon is among the best pivots for Water teams. Empoleon can sit on Pokemon that irritate other Water-types, such as Toxapex or Amoongus. Surf is Empoleon's best STAB, and still deals good damage with Empoleon's naturally good Special Attack. Empoleon's last move is up for debate, between Roost and Flash Cannon being recommended to me. However, I've stuck with Ice Beam since this team lacks great ways to directly threaten Grass-types. Finally, Competitive is a good way to dissuade Defog. Since this team likes stacking hazards to play around Pokemon that my team can't take on directly, having some sort of punish to Defogging is useful, especially since common spinners (Great Tusk and Iron Treads most notably) don't like Water-types.

- The physically defensive counterpart to Empoleon's special bulk, Quagsire also has a great defensive typing and hazards to pressure the opponent. Spikes help wear down Rock-resistant Pokemon that Stealth Rocks don't do as well, and stacking hazards is a tried and true strategy in competitive Pokemon. Toxic also helps Quagsire punish switches and pressure the opponent's Pokemon further, and Earthquake and Recover round out the set for reliable STAB and longevity to handle threats and stack hazards. Finally, Unaware on Quagsire lets me deal with boosting Pokemon well, namely Baxcalibur.

- The main wallbreaker on the team, Urshifu-Rapid Strike's damage is ridiculous with Choice Band. The reason why Urshifu is Choice Band here is because I tried both Choice Scarf and Swords Dance, but I didn't like either set, so I settled on Choice Band, whose threat level is immense with Spikes down. Traditionally, Fighting-types don't abuse Spikes well since Flying-types switch into Fighting-type moves, but a) Flying-types aren't the most common in a format where you are forced to share types, and b) Urshifu's other STAB and U-turn takes advantage of Spikes plenty well.

- I needed a Choice Scarf user who also brought me some respite into some of my tougher matchups, namely Grass and Electric. Walking Wake's typing and Speed made it the perfect choice for the role. The Dragon-type gives it a neutrality to Grass and Electric moves, as well as giving me an offensive check to opposing Dragons like Baxcalibur. What's more, Protosynthesis and Hydro Steam gives this team a better matchup into opposing Sun teams, which is important since this team doesn't bring its own weather to counter it. The choice of getting the Special Attack or Speed boost on Protosynthesis is up to personal preference. Generally, Speed is better since it lets you outrun Chlorophyll Pokemon in the Sun, but you often don't need the extra power against naturally frail Sun teams.

- Ogerpon-Wellspring is another attacker that provides another offensive check to various attackers, and provides utility in Taunt. Wood Hammer is used here for its extra power, especially since I'm not super concerned about Ogerpon sticking around throughout the battle. However, Horn Leech is also a fine option to give Ogerpon some recovery. After Ivy Cudgel and U-turn, I opted for Taunt as the last move. Earlier I used Knock Off, which comes with the benefit of removing Heavy Duty Boots to enable my hazards, as well as Leftovers and Alolan Ninetales's Light Clay. However, Ninetales would set up Aurora Veil anyway and then I would be in trouble vs Baxcalibur. While I've restructured the team to be safer into Ice's threats behind Aurora Veil, but I still like Taunt to disable many defensive Pokemon like Toxapex or Amoongus. However, Knock Off is still a great option it; pick whichever you like.

- God this thing is so broken. Manaphy gives this team a legitimate win condition, and giving this thing free turns is probably the easiest way to lose. With Acid Armor and Take Heart, Manaphy can become virtually unkillable once it gets going. Take Heart's status curing effect also makes it so that you can't poison or paralyze it to make progress. These two moves, in conjunction with Stored Power, lets Manaphy sweep teams that don't play actively against it. Scald is the cherry on top, giving Manaphy STAB and also hits Dark-types immune to Stored Power. The burn chance is also very handy to help it set up more.